false 15 296 246 true 5670759 read 2 true 1178992 currently-reading 48 true 1178991 to-read 33 false 2325015 ya 32 false 3596209 book-eval-book 9 false 3703062 favorites 5 false 3766720 adult-book-group http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/73615489 to: Thirteenth Child (Frontier Magic, #1) by Patricia C. Wrede
bookshelves: book-eval-book, ya
Eff Rothmer is the thirteenth child and believed by many in her large extended family to be a bad omen. Her aunts, uncles, and cousins make her life miserable because of her birth order. Her twin, Lan, by contrast, is the seventh son of a seventh son, which is deemed not only to be lucky but that he should also have extra-strong magic powers. The novel takes place in an alternate reality or history in the early to mid-nineteenth century United States and people use magic for everything from household chores to setting the magical settlement boundary in the west to keep out dangerous magical creatures. When the Rothmer’s move out west so Papa can take a job teaching magic at the college in the frontier, Eff is relieved to be leaving the miserable cousins, aunts, and uncles who torment her behind. Maybe no one out west will know she is the thirteenth child. As the twins grow in the western settlement, Lan receives extra magic lessons from his father and another professor and Eff finds a wise teacher, Miss Ochiba who teaches her about the world’s other magical traditions and that being a thirteenth child is not all bad; it comes with it’s own magical power as strong as her brother’s. Eff learns this in dramatic fashion in the climax of the book. This is a slow-moving tale of self-discovery that might appeal to some readers who like historical fiction with some fantasy thrown in. Kirkus starred. ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/73615427 to: The Breakthrough (Paperback) by Ann Tufariello
bookshelves: book-eval-book, ya
Thirteen-year-old Jack’s brother rescues him from a riptide but almost dies himself and lies in a coma. While at a carnival, Jack sneaks onto an unattended hot air balloon and is transported to a fourth dimension of the universe where other planets have inhabitants much like humans. Jack receives a magic crystal that will heal his brother but there are others after it as well. One would think that this good versus evil conflict would set up an interesting story but the writing is repetitive and dull and unlikely to appeal to any young adult. ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/73615611 to: Jessica's Guide to Dating on the Dark Side (Hardcover) by Beth Fantaskey
bookshelves: book-eval-book, ya
Jessica Packwood is looking forward to her senior year with her best friend Mindy and competing on the Math team. However, the first day begins on an ominous note, when a tall stranger emerges from the early morning gloom and calls her by her birth name—Antanasia. Her college professor mom and yoga instructor/organic farmer dad adopted her from Romania when they were there on a research trip and that is all she knows of her origins. Until the stranger, Lucius Vladescu tells her they are betrothed because of a pact made between the Dragomirs and the Vladescus, and her parents finally tell her the story of her vampire princess origins. Lucius has come to the States to fulfill the pact but Jessica, the rational mathlete who believes in science not myths, was having none of it. This engaging first novel has a main character that is smart, funny and likeable; her internal dialogue is hysterical and the repartee with Lucius in the beginning of the book is delightful. Lucius finds Jessica wanting in the vampire princess department and gives her a copy of A Teen Vampire’s Guide to Dating, Health and Emotions, which she promptly deposits under her bed. The novel, however, becomes darker about midway, when Lucius becomes interested in the stereotypically witchy and scheming cheerleader and Jessica realizes, maybe too late, that she is falling for him. Even though it is another vampire novel, it is clever, well-written, sexy, and exciting. Publisher’s Weekly starred. ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/53350015 to: City of Bones (Mortal Instruments, #1) by Cassandra Clare
]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/80986883 90 Minutes in Heaven (Paperback) by Don Piper
bookshelves: adult-book-group, currently-reading
]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/73616157 to: Chasing the Bear: A Young Spenser Novel (Hardcover) by Robert B. Parker
bookshelves: book-eval-book, ya
]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/73615304 to: Punkzilla (Hardcover) by Adam Rapp
bookshelves: book-eval-book, ya
]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/73615349 to: Blade: Playing Dead (Hardcover) by Tim Bowler
bookshelves: book-eval-book, ya
Blade is running from his past but he gives few clues throughout the book to what that past entails. Blade lives in an unnamed British city, he is homeless, and he breaks into houses and apartments just to sleep, shower, eat, and read books, which helps to humanize him. The writing style is reminiscent of A Clockwork Orange with short, choppy sentences, an unusual slang, and the first person narration is directed at someone he calls “Big Eyes.” The short sentences contribute to the excitement and tension that build throughout the book beginning with when he is seven years old and the “porkers” are questioning him about his role in a traffic incident. Time leaps ahead to when Blade is fourteen and the main action takes place. First he is jumped by a vicious girl gang, and then a Good Samaritan rescues him. But then she is murdered by some thugs who Blade thinks he recognizes from his past, but is she really dead? He realizes he has to leave the city and find a new place to live to escape these people from his past, and winds up allowing a teen mother and her daughter to tag alone. This brutal, violent book is a page turner sure to appeal to reluctant readers, but it leaves more questions than it answers which will hopefully be addressed in the planned six additional sequels. ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/73615653 to: Triskellion 2: The Burning (Triskellion) by Will Peterson
bookshelves: book-eval-book, ya
]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/77445315 Maybe a Miracle: A Novel (Paperback) by Brian Strause
bookshelves: currently-reading
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