Marie August's Blog, page 35

The Fox and The Firebird - Page 12

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Thursday

August 11th, 2011


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Book Review: Outside In (Insider #2) by Maria V Snyder

Exciting sequel to Inside Out, a teen, science-fiction, dystopian thriller

Outside In (Insider #2) by Maria V. Snyder
Reading Level: Young Adult
Release Date: February 15, 2011
Publisher: Harlequin
Pages: 336
Source: NetGalley
Reviewed By: Kate McMurry

Warning: This review is inevitably a spoiler for anyone who has not read book one in this series, Inside Out . Please read that book before you read this review. 

The revolution is over and former scrub, Trella, has no interest in participating in the ruling council she's been elected to as one of the leaders of the successful rebellion that freed her people from brutal tyranny. The problem is, the council bores and irritates her. Its members can never agree on anything because the council is made up of people from both the previous ruling class called "uppers" and the formerly enslaved "scrubs" who did all the grunt work for the ship.

The bulk of the ship's population of about 2000 people is made up of former scrubs since the uppers were previously only allowed to have one child per mated pair, but the scrubs weren't allowed to use birth control. Everyone on the ship is formerly from Earth, and during the recent rebellion Trella and the scrubs, and all but a few of the uppers who were in on the secret, discovered for the first time that their home is a space ship which is on a mysterious voyage heading for an unknown destination that will last for uncounted generations.

What Trella, known as "queen of the pipes," wants to do instead of wasting her time with the bickering council is to contribute to her people her true skills--climbing through the spaces between walls of the ship. Trella recently discovered relatively vast, untapped reaches of the space ship, and she is anxious to explore and map out their full dimensions so that they can be converted as soon as possible into additional living space. That extra room would mean they could all spread out a bit, most especially the ex-scrubs, who have spent their entire lives until now in crowded barracks in the lower part of the ship, doubling up even on the very beds they sleep in, sharing them in shifts.

Unfortunately for Trella's plans, though, the council is doing such a bad job of governing that her friends insist that only she can bring everyone together and to do anything but that is a betrayal of all they fought for. The revolution should have ended the stratification of their society, but it hasn't. Only a handful of the former uppers and scrubs have made any attempt to stop living and working segregated from each other. The bitterly resentful ex-scrubs go on strike, refusing to perform their previous tasks until the ex-uppers do these jobs, too, including raising and preparing food, cleaning and maintenance, washing and repairing clothing, and recycling waste and water.

As Trella struggles to figure out what she can possibly do to fix such a huge problem, the situation suddenly becomes unimaginably worse. There are dangerous explosions in key areas of the ship, wounding and killing numerous people and shutting down vital functions in the ship. Who is doing this? Is it the angry ex-scrubs? Or could it be something else--a threat far more dangerous than the terrible dictators the rebellion took down?

Snyder doesn't disappoint with this wonderful sequel that fully stands up to the terrific first book in this series. I normally rarely read science fiction, but the world-building in this series is top notch, and the story utterly riveting. Trella is a strong, dynamic, intriguingly complex heroine, and she and all of the secondary characters leap off the page. Even the most peripheral characters feel real, and the villains have fascinatingly layered motivations. Snyder also delivers on something that is especially desirable in teen fiction--but is great in any fiction with an action-based plot--creating a multifaceted band of allies for the protagonist.

In book one, Inside Out, we learned that Trella is a natural loner, an intriguing trait that hasn't gone away in this sequel. In spite of the fact that spending too much time around people is draining for her, though, Trella is loyal and protective of those she cares about, and she is willing to go to the point of death time and time again to save everyone on the ship. Her relationship with her terrific romantic interest, Riley, grows and evolves in this book, as does her relationship with her birth mother. In fact, Snyder does a fantastic job of providing growth arcs not just for Trella, but for many of the subcharacters, too. In that regard, there is a brilliant unifying theme in this book that involves a mirroring about-face in a number of Trella's relationships: People that Trella formerly thought of as enemies begin to function as allies, and some of her former allies begin to look as if they are enemies to Trella, and possibly everyone on the ship.

This book is a great read for older teens--the violence might be a bit too intense for some younger teens--and adults will love it, too. I am among those fans who hope this series will be made into a movie. I can't wait for the next book in the series.

Heroine: 5

Subcharacters: 5

Fantasy World-Building: 5

Writing: 5

Magical Thriller Plot: 5

Romantic Subplot: 4


Overall: 5

The Fox and The Firebird - Page 12

I've finished Page 12 of The Fox and The Firebird. For more information on the comic, please visit http://www.fairytaletwisted.com



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Thursday



August 11th, 2011

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Book Review: Inside Out (Insider #1) by Maria V Snyder

A gripping dystopian tale

Inside Out (Insider #1) by Maria V. Snyder
Reading Level: Young Adult
Release Date: April 1, 2010
Publisher: Harlequin
Pages: 320
Source: Purchased
Reviewed By: Kate McMurry

Trella is "fifteen point one four centiweeks" old or, in "old-time measurements," she is "seventeen point three years old." She lives in a huge structure which has four levels with nine quadrants on each level. The privileged members of her society are called Uppers because they live on Level Four. The enslaved workers of the society live and work on Levels One and Two and are called scrubs because they spend their lives doing menial labor. The brutal Population Control Police, or Pop Cops, rigidly control every aspect of the scrubs' lives, including the most personal one of all--they don't allow the scrubs to form family groups.

All children are taken away at birth and raised by Care Givers in small foster-care groups until they are around age fifteen. At that time they are assigned to their lifetime job, which is based on the aptitude they show from childhood. They either work in the food-production area, the kitchen, the laundry, the recycling plant, the waste-management plant, or some form of maintenance or cleaning--the accumulation of dust and rust are absolutely forbidden.

From her earliest years, Trella displayed a strong interest in and talent for climbing. Due to that and her relatively small size, she was a natural to be assigned to the pipes, the network of ventilation and plumbing pipes throughout the four levels. Scrubs never have vacations or days off. They spend their lives working ten hours on and ten hours off, day after day. They are not provided any form of recreation, including anything to read--they know the basic Three R's (reading, writing and `rithmetic), but only so they can learn the Pop Cop propaganda version of their people's history and obey written instructions.

Trella is an intense loner who trusts no one but Cog, a slightly older member of her care group from childhood. She sleeps in the pipes as much as possible because the thousands of scrubs are crammed together in huge barracks with zero privacy. They even have to share the bed they use, with one scrub having the bed for one ten-hour shift, and the other one getting it for the alternating shift. Trella hates her life, but she's found a certain level of grudging acceptance, until Broken Man, the latest in a line of prophets slumming among the scrubs from the upper levels, shows up preaching the religion of the Gateway. Trella hates the myth of an imaginary doorway that leads from "Inside," this structure they are all trapped in, to "Outside," a world of wide-open space and glorious freedom. Life is already hard enough without false hope.

Most prophets limit themselves to asserting that this world of freedom comes after death, if a scrub has lived a hard-working, obedient life. But Broken Man dares to claim that Gateway is real, something living people can access. This is truly dangerous talk, and Trella is convinced that he's a Pop Cop spy, sent to help them weed out anyone among the scrubs with rebellious tendencies. Cog fervently disagrees with her. He firmly believes in the prophet, and Trella is terrified for his safety. She is determined to turn him away from Broken Man by finding evidence that proves the prophet is a fake. But shockingly, her search through the pipes uncovers information she never could have imagined existed that indicates the Gateway might actually exist, exactly as Broken Man asserts, as a reality in this world. When word of her finding gets out, Trella learns she has inadvertently lit the fire of a scrub rebellion that puts Cog's life at far greater risk than before, as well as her own life and that of uncounted other scrubs.

I found this book absolutely gripping. The action and suspense never let up. Trella is vividly drawn, believable and, in spite of her disillusionment and bleak outlook, an ultimately hopeful character, because she is resilient and a true survivor. As Queen of the Pipes, she has unique and amazing skills that make her a powerful freedom fighter who, in spite of her natural fears and misgivings, never gives up.

The subcharacters in this book are also vivid and compelling. My favorites were the tech experts among the scrubs. They are Mission Impossible type nerds, and I loved their contribution to the rebellion.

The book leaves a great many questions unanswered about the history of Trella's world, but this is the first book in what will, I presume, be at least a trilogy, so I assume the missing information will be revealed later. This book is followed by the sequel, Outside In.

I highly recommend this book to fans of YA dystopian novels. Fans of Birthmarked and The Hunger Games, in particular, will appreciate this new series.

Heroine: 5

Subcharacters: 5

Fantasy World-Building: 5

Writing: 5

Magical Thriller Plot: 5

Romantic Subplot: 4


Overall: 5

Book Review: Inside Out by Maria V Snyder

A gripping dystopian tale

Inside Out by Maria V. Snyder
Reading Level: Young Adult
Release Date: April 1, 2010
Publisher: Harlequin
Pages: 320
Source: Purchased
Reviewed By: Kate McMurry

Trella is "fifteen point one four centiweeks" old or, in "old-time measurements," she is "seventeen point three years old." She lives in a huge structure which has four levels with nine quadrants on each level. The privileged members of her society are called Uppers because they live on Level Four. The enslaved workers of the society live and work on Levels One and Two and are called scrubs because they spend their lives doing menial labor. The brutal Population Control Police, or Pop Cops, rigidly control every aspect of the scrubs' lives, including the most personal one of all--they don't allow the scrubs to form family groups.

All children are taken away at birth and raised by Care Givers in small foster-care groups until they are around age fifteen. At that time they are assigned to their lifetime job, which is based on the aptitude they show from childhood. They either work in the food-production area, the kitchen, the laundry, the recycling plant, the waste-management plant, or some form of maintenance or cleaning--the accumulation of dust and rust are absolutely forbidden.

From her earliest years, Trella displayed a strong interest in and talent for climbing. Due to that and her relatively small size, she was a natural to be assigned to the pipes, the network of ventilation and plumbing pipes throughout the four levels. Scrubs never have vacations or days off. They spend their lives working ten hours on and ten hours off, day after day. They are not provided any form of recreation, including anything to read--they know the basic Three R's (reading, writing and `rithmetic), but only so they can learn the Pop Cop propaganda version of their people's history and obey written instructions.

Trella is an intense loner who trusts no one but Cog, a slightly older member of her care group from childhood. She sleeps in the pipes as much as possible because the thousands of scrubs are crammed together in huge barracks with zero privacy. They even have to share the bed they use, with one scrub having the bed for one ten-hour shift, and the other one getting it for the alternating shift. Trella hates her life, but she's found a certain level of grudging acceptance, until Broken Man, the latest in a line of prophets slumming among the scrubs from the upper levels, shows up preaching the religion of the Gateway. Trella hates the myth of an imaginary doorway that leads from "Inside," this structure they are all trapped in, to "Outside," a world of wide-open space and glorious freedom. Life is already hard enough without false hope.

Most prophets limit themselves to asserting that this world of freedom comes after death, if a scrub has lived a hard-working, obedient life. But Broken Man dares to claim that Gateway is real, something living people can access. This is truly dangerous talk, and Trella is convinced that he's a Pop Cop spy, sent to help them weed out anyone among the scrubs with rebellious tendencies. Cog fervently disagrees with her. He firmly believes in the prophet, and Trella is terrified for his safety. She is determined to turn him away from Broken Man by finding evidence that proves the prophet is a fake. But shockingly, her search through the pipes uncovers information she never could have imagined existed that indicates the Gateway might actually exist, exactly as Broken Man asserts, as a reality in this world. When word of her finding gets out, Trella learns she has inadvertently lit the fire of a scrub rebellion that puts Cog's life at far greater risk than before, as well as her own life and that of uncounted other scrubs.

I found this book absolutely gripping. The action and suspense never let up. Trella is vividly drawn, believable and, in spite of her disillusionment and bleak outlook, an ultimately hopeful character, because she is resilient and a true survivor. As Queen of the Pipes, she has unique and amazing skills that make her a powerful freedom fighter who, in spite of her natural fears and misgivings, never gives up.

The subcharacters in this book are also vivid and compelling. My favorites were the tech experts among the scrubs. They are Mission Impossible type nerds, and I loved their contribution to the rebellion.

The book leaves a great many questions unanswered about the history of Trella's world, but this is the first book in what will, I presume, be at least a trilogy, so I assume the missing information will be revealed later. This book is followed by the sequel, Outside In.

I highly recommend this book to fans of YA dystopian novels. Fans of Birthmarked and The Hunger Games, in particular, will appreciate this new series.

Heroine: 5

Subcharacters: 5

Fantasy World-Building: 5

Writing: 5

Magical Thriller Plot: 5

Romantic Subplot: 4


Overall: 5

Book Review: Always a Witch (Witch #2) by Carolyn MacCullough

Book 2 of the Witch Urban-Fantasy Series for Teens

Always a Witch (Witch #2) by Carolyn MacCullough
Reading Level: Young Adult (16+)
Release Date: August 1, 2011
Publisher: Clarion Books
Pages: 288
Source: NetGalley
Reviewed By: Kate McMurry



Note: Please do not read this review if you have not read Book 1 of the Witch series, Once a Witch , because there will inevitably be spoilers for that book.

Once again 17-year-old Tamsin Greene's life is strongly influenced by one of her grandmother's prophecies, in this case that she will soon have to make a huge decision that could affect her family's very survival. After the events of Once a Witch, Tamsin has become fully aware of her enormous Talents as a witch. Other witches' magic has no affect on her (a common motif in many traditional fantasy novels, as well as an ability of Bella in Twilight, but still quite intriguing here), and if other witches use their magic against her three times, she absorbs, but does not steal, their ability (much like Peter Petrelli in the TV series, Heroes). She also knows that the evil witch family, the Knights, have a long-time blood feud with the Greenes, because the Greenes found a way to inhibit their magical power. The Knights are determined to get their magical power back, and they will stop at nothing, including murder, to accomplish their goal.

The action begins in Book 2 when Tamsin discovers that the villain from Book 1, Alistair Knight, has traveled through time to Victorian-era New York in order to help his ancestors wipe out Tamsin's before they can halt the Knight family's magical crimes. Tamsin is determined to go back in time just prior to Alistair's arrival and cut off his scheme, but she refuses to let anyone else get involved. If someone is going to be killed in this overwhelming mission, she is determined that the only loss of life will be her own.

Unfortunately, without her boyfriend Gabriel along as he was in Book 1, she can only manage a one-way trip to the past. She also doesn't have the assistance of his other crucial Talent of being able to find anything in her quest to locate and warn her Greene ancestors about Alistair Knight. As a result, Tamsin has no luck in her search for the Greenes, but she stumbles on the Knight family when she is offered a job as a lady's maid in the Knight mansion in New York City.

Tamsin quickly shifts direction and sets herself up as a mole within the Knight family in order to prevent the vicious matriarch of the Knight family, La Spider, from connecting with Alistair. Unfortunately, her task is made much more difficult when she is forced to resist the seductive charisma of the magnetically handsome and magically compelling Liam Knight, the eldest son of the family.

This book is not only a worthy successor to Once a Witch, but actually in many ways even better. Tamsin continues to be a dynamic heroine who is extremely sympathetic because of her willingness to sacrifice herself for the greater good. She is also a true survivor, as evidenced by her willingness to improvise and persist against overwhelming odds as she deals with the horrible Knight family in the 19th century, completely out of her element, cut off from all support.

The writing throughout this book is very well done, both as to the actual words on the page and the content of those words. The urban fantasy world-building continues to be well executed, the time travel element in particular. Tamsin's relatives and magical enemies are very convincingly portrayed, particularly Liam Knight. He is the best kind of villain, a multilayered one who is both attractive and repulsive at the same time.

In this book, unlike Book 1, Tamsin doesn't smoke, and though she does drink a beer that is offered to her in the 19th century, it is more as a thirst quencher rather than a mood-altering substance. However, Liam's sexually seductive attitude toward all females, including Tamsin, may cause some parents to judge this book less suitable for pre-teens and younger teens than Book 1. The age range for YA extends from age 11-19 according to YALSA (the YA portion of the American Library Association), and I would personally peg this book as appropriate for the more mature end of that range, for teens 16 and above.

Heroine: 5

Subcharacters: 5

Fantasy World-Building: 4

Writing: 5

Action-Adventure Plot: 4

Romantic Subplot: 4


Overall: 4.5 rounded up to 5

Book Review: Always a Witch by Carolyn MacCullough

Book 2 of the Witch Urban-Fantasy Series for Teens

Always a Witch by Carolyn MacCullough
Reading Level: Young Adult (16+)
Release Date: August 1, 2011
Publisher: Clarion Books
Pages: 288
Source: NetGalley
Reviewed By: Kate McMurry



Note: Please do not read this review if you have not read Book 1 of the Witch series, Once a Witch , because there will inevitably be spoilers for that book.

Once again 17-year-old Tamsin Greene's life is strongly influenced by one of her grandmother's prophecies, in this case that she will soon have to make a huge decision that could affect her family's very survival. After the events of Once a Witch, Tamsin has become fully aware of her enormous Talents as a witch. Other witches' magic has no affect on her (a common motif in many traditional fantasy novels, as well as an ability of Bella in Twilight, but still quite intriguing here), and if other witches use their magic against her three times, she absorbs, but does not steal, their ability (much like Peter Petrelli in the TV series, Heroes). She also knows that the evil witch family, the Knights, have a long-time blood feud with the Greenes, because the Greenes found a way to inhibit their magical power. The Knights are determined to get their magical power back, and they will stop at nothing, including murder, to accomplish their goal.

The action begins in Book 2 when Tamsin discovers that the villain from Book 1, Alistair Knight, has traveled through time to Victorian-era New York in order to help his ancestors wipe out Tamsin's before they can halt the Knight family's magical crimes. Tamsin is determined to go back in time just prior to Alistair's arrival and cut off his scheme, but she refuses to let anyone else get involved. If someone is going to be killed in this overwhelming mission, she is determined that the only loss of life will be her own.

Unfortunately, without her boyfriend Gabriel along as he was in Book 1, she can only manage a one-way trip to the past. She also doesn't have the assistance of his other crucial Talent of being able to find anything in her quest to locate and warn her Greene ancestors about Alistair Knight. As a result, Tamsin has no luck in her search for the Greenes, but she stumbles on the Knight family when she is offered a job as a lady's maid in the Knight mansion in New York City.

Tamsin quickly shifts direction and sets herself up as a mole within the Knight family in order to prevent the vicious matriarch of the Knight family, La Spider, from connecting with Alistair. Unfortunately, her task is made much more difficult when she is forced to resist the seductive charisma of the magnetically handsome and magically compelling Liam Knight, the eldest son of the family.

This book is not only a worthy successor to Once a Witch, but actually in many ways even better. Tamsin continues to be a dynamic heroine who is extremely sympathetic because of her willingness to sacrifice herself for the greater good. She is also a true survivor, as evidenced by her willingness to improvise and persist against overwhelming odds as she deals with the horrible Knight family in the 19th century, completely out of her element, cut off from all support.

The writing throughout this book is very well done, both as to the actual words on the page and the content of those words. The urban fantasy world-building continues to be well executed, the time travel element in particular. Tamsin's relatives and magical enemies are very convincingly portrayed, particularly Liam Knight. He is the best kind of villain, a multilayered one who is both attractive and repulsive at the same time.

In this book, unlike Book 1, Tamsin doesn't smoke, and though she does drink a beer that is offered to her in the 19th century, it is more as a thirst quencher rather than a mood-altering substance. However, Liam's sexually seductive attitude toward all females, including Tamsin, may cause some parents to judge this book less suitable for pre-teens and younger teens than Book 1. The age range for YA extends from age 11-19 according to YALSA (the YA portion of the American Library Association), and I would personally peg this book as appropriate for the more mature end of that range, for teens 16 and above.

Heroine: 5

Subcharacters: 5

Fantasy World-Building: 4

Writing: 5

Magical Thriller Plot: 4

Romantic Subplot: 4


Overall: 4.5 rounded up to 5

Book Review: Once a Witch (Witch #1) by Carolyn MacCullough

A teenage girl with no magical power comes of age in a family of witches, Book 1 of a series

Once a Witch (Witch #1) by Carolyn MacCullough
Reading Level: Young Adult (11-19)
Release Date: September 6, 2010
Publisher: Graphia
Pages: 312
Source: Library
Reviewed By: Kate McMurry


Tamsin Greene comes from a long line of witches, each with his or her own special "Talent," and she has been waiting 17 years to fulfill the prophecy made by her revered grandmother at the time of her birth on the mystical night of Samhain. Tamsin is supposed to become the most powerful witch her family has ever known, but so far she has yet to exhibit any Talent whatsoever.

Tamsin has lived all her life on a farm in upstate New York with a huge extended family, but the previous year she begged her mother to let her go to a boarding school in New York City to finish the last two years of high school so she wouldn't have to be constantly reminded of her Ugly Duckling status in the family nest.

During summer vacation before her senior year, Tamsin is working in her grandmother's book shop when a mysterious professor named Alistair arrives looking for Tamsin's supremely talented older sister Rowena to help him recover a missing family heirloom, a clock. Tamsin impulsively accepts the assignment because she is tired of never participating in any of the magical activities that are routine for her relatives. Fortunately for her plan, her childhood friend Gabriel, now grown into a handsome teenager the same age as Tamsin, returns with his mother to the Greene family compound. Gabriel's Talents include the ability to find anything and to travel through time. With Gabriel's help, Tamsin begins an exciting--and often frightening--adventure that brings her in touch with long-buried, dangerous, family secrets whose exposure threatens the survival of many in her family, as well as Tamsin herself.

Coming of age stories are always fascinating, but magical versions are particularly fun. Tamsin is a compelling heroine who is quite sympathetic in spite of the fact that she is sometimes gruff and abrasive. It is easy to forgive her those traits because she isn't whiny, and when the chips are down, she is more than willing to sacrifice herself to keep her family safe.

I really enjoyed the romantic subplot, my only complaint being that I wish there had been a bit more time for it in the story because Gabriel is such a great guy. He is strong, but not overwhelmingly so, and his relationship with Tamsin began as a long-term, childhood friendship, rather than appearing like a bolt of lightning as a sudden, obsessive connection.

It is also enjoyable to read a YA romance plot within an urban fantasy where the male isn't overwhelmingly dominant compared to the female. Though initially it seems as if Gabriel, like everyone else within or close to Tamsin's family, is far more magically endowed than Tamsin because she apparently has no Talent, Tamsin's determination and drive make her more than a match for Gabriel and every other magical character in this book. When her sister Rowena is threatened by a terrible villain, Tamsin will stop at nothing to save her, no matter how outmatched she appears to be.

The writing throughout this book is very well done. The characters are convincingly portrayed, especially the heroine, and the world-building with the witch family and their powers is believable and very entertaining to read about.

Overall, I only had one real issue with the book. As an adult, and a very picky reader, I personally objected to the way that the villain managed to become a threat to Tamsin's sister. Anyone who knows anything at all about witchcraft--as presumably Tamsin does being raised among witches, and Rowena does because she is a powerful witch--would have spotted the villain's ploy a mile away. However, once the plot is set in motion because of this device, and Tamsin rushes to the rescue, it was easy for me to forget about this difficulty as I immersed myself in Tamsin's adventures.

Other than the fact that the heroine smokes and drinks (which she does not do in the sequel, Always a Witch), most parents would likely not object to the content of this book for even the youngest age range for YA, which extends from age 11-19 according to YALSA (the YA portion of the American Library Association). There is also enough magical action and adventure to keep teens as old as 16-17 highly entertained.

Heroine: 5

Subcharacters: 4

Fantasy World-Building: 4

Writing: 4

Action-Adventure Plot: 3

Romantic Subplot: 4


Overall: 4

Book Review: Once a Witch by Carolyn MacCullough

A teenage girl with no magical power comes of age in a family of witches, Book 1 of a series

Once a Witch by Carolyn MacCullough
Reading Level: Young Adult (11-19)
Release Date: September 6, 2010
Publisher: Graphia
Pages: 312
Source: Library
Reviewed By: Kate McMurry


Tamsin Greene comes from a long line of witches, each with his or her own special "Talent," and she has been waiting 17 years to fulfill the prophecy made by her revered grandmother at the time of her birth on the mystical night of Samhain. Tamsin is supposed to become the most powerful witch her family has ever known, but so far she has yet to exhibit any Talent whatsoever.

Tamsin has lived all her life on a farm in upstate New York with a huge extended family, but the previous year she begged her mother to let her go to a boarding school in New York City to finish the last two years of high school so she wouldn't have to be constantly reminded of her Ugly Duckling status in the family nest.

During summer vacation before her senior year, Tamsin is working in her grandmother's book shop when a mysterious professor named Alistair arrives looking for Tamsin's supremely talented older sister Rowena to help him recover a missing family heirloom, a clock. Tamsin impulsively accepts the assignment because she is tired of never participating in any of the magical activities that are routine for her relatives. Fortunately for her plan, her childhood friend Gabriel, now grown into a handsome teenager the same age as Tamsin, returns with his mother to the Greene family compound. Gabriel's Talents include the ability to find anything and to travel through time. With Gabriel's help, Tamsin begins an exciting--and often frightening--adventure that brings her in touch with long-buried, dangerous, family secrets whose exposure threatens the survival of many in her family, as well as Tamsin herself.

Coming of age stories are always fascinating, but magical versions are particularly fun. Tamsin is a compelling heroine who is quite sympathetic in spite of the fact that she is sometimes gruff and abrasive. It is easy to forgive her those traits because she isn't whiny, and when the chips are down, she is more than willing to sacrifice herself to keep her family safe.

I really enjoyed the romantic subplot, my only complaint being that I wish there had been a bit more time for it in the story because Gabriel is such a great guy. He is strong, but not overwhelmingly so, and his relationship with Tamsin began as a long-term, childhood friendship, rather than appearing like a bolt of lightning as a sudden, obsessive connection.

It is also enjoyable to read a YA romance plot within an urban fantasy where the male isn't overwhelmingly dominant compared to the female. Though initially it seems as if Gabriel, like everyone else within or close to Tamsin's family, is far more magically endowed than Tamsin because she apparently has no Talent, Tamsin's determination and drive make her more than a match for Gabriel and every other magical character in this book. When her sister Rowena is threatened by a terrible villain, Tamsin will stop at nothing to save her, no matter how outmatched she appears to be.

The writing throughout this book is very well done. The characters are convincingly portrayed, especially the heroine, and the world-building with the witch family and their powers is believable and very entertaining to read about.

Overall, I only had one real issue with the book. As an adult, and a very picky reader, I personally objected to the way that the villain managed to become a threat to Tamsin's sister. Anyone who knows anything at all about witchcraft--as presumably Tamsin does being raised among witches, and Rowena does because she is a powerful witch--would have spotted the villain's ploy a mile away. However, once the plot is set in motion because of this device, and Tamsin rushes to the rescue, it was easy for me to forget about this difficulty as I immersed myself in Tamsin's adventures.

Other than the fact that the heroine smokes and drinks (which she does not do in the sequel, Always a Witch), most parents would likely not object to the content of this book for even the youngest age range for YA, which extends from age 11-19 according to YALSA (the YA portion of the American Library Association). There is also enough magical action and adventure to keep teens as old as 16-17 highly entertained.

Heroine: 5

Subcharacters: 4

Fantasy World-Building: 4

Writing: 4

Magical Thriller Plot: 3

Romantic Subplot: 4


Overall: 4

The Fox and The Firebird - Page 11

I've finished Page 11 of The Fox and The Firebird. For more information on the comic, please visit http://www.fairytaletwisted.com



If you like my comic, please vote for The Fox and The Firebird on Topwebcomics.com.



Thursday



August 4th, 2011

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