Gretchen C. Hohmeyer's Blog, page 71
June 3, 2013
ARC Review: “Criminal” by Terra Elan McVoy
Criminal by Terra Elan McVoy
A searing and gripping read that explores the depths of desperation true love can inspire, from the author of Being Friends with Boys.
Nikki’s life is far from perfect, but at least she has Dee. Her friends tell her that Dee is no good, but Nikki can’t imagine herself without him. He’s hot, he’s dangerous, he has her initials tattooed over his heart, and she loves him more than anything. There’s nothing Nikki wouldn’t do for Dee. Absolutely nothing.
So when Dee pulls Nikki into a crime—a crime that ends in murder—Nikki tells herself that it’s all for true love. Nothing can break them apart. Not the police. Not the arrest that lands Nikki in jail. Not even the investigators who want her to testify against him.
But what if Dee had motives that Nikki knew nothing about? Nikki’s love for Dee is supposed to be unconditional…but even true love has a limit. And Nikki just might have reached hers.
3 stars
Thanks to Simon Pulse and Edelweiss for this eARC! This title is now available.
I will be the first person to admit that I’m a fairly easy to please reader in a lot of big ways. Sadly, though I appreciated this book’s brutal honesty and unflinching storytelling, it failed me a couple of big ways.
The book opens up with a phone call. Dee and Nikki wake up to the news that the police want to talk to him about something. He tells her to follow, and she dutifully does. They make up a story on the way there to hide the truth: a cop was killed, Dee killed him, and Nikki drew the getaway car. She had no idea what was going to happen, or even what really happened, but she loves Dee and she wants to protect him. Though scared out of her wits, she goes along with his plan. But when the police start uncovering the lies and come after the people that have helped Nikki through everything Dee was never there for, she starts questioning her choices and realizing that maybe she is really being blinded by love.
To be honest, I hated Nikki from the second the story started. (Maybe it was the gratuitous sexual actions with which the book began and continued throughout the story.*)It is made clear that she’s always taken care of herself, from when her step-dad went to jail to when her mom spaced out on drugs. She pays her own bills, she has a job that she’s very good at, and she even looks after her friend Bird, Bird’s daughter and even her mother. From what is said about her, there is no doubt that Nikki should be able to stand on her own–and has done so on the past. This makes her complete devotion to Dee is ridiculously out of character. As far as I could tell, he had never done anything remotely large enough for her to destroy the self-made life she’d built for herself and made her dependent on him. Even he says he only bought her beer and weed when she asked for it. (Given the ease of which Nikki forgets her drug problem, she wasn’t really dependent on drugs anyways.) Dee is also never a fleshed out character. He wants sex, and he screams at her. That’s all there is to his character. There was just missing something from Nikki, because I never even felt sorry for her.
There is also the matter of the entire action part of this plot being over by the time the book starts. The murder is rehashed, yes, but in flashbacks. Most of it is waiting, whining and crying. (And doing other inmates’ hair in prison.) The amount of self-discovery that Nikki was undergoing was enormous, yes, but since her character never caught me I cared less and less as each paragraph flew by. It was mostly thinking and self-rumination that guided 95% of the book, and I got bored.
Don’t get me wrong, this book was beautifully written and tackled serious subjects with brutal honesty that was impressive. This just isn’t the kind of book that meshes with every kind of reader, and I admit without shame that I am not the reader for which it was intended. I tried, but I could never connect with any of the characters and so the rest of the self-exploration that occurred never felt important to me.
This book is not one for someone looking for a light read (which you can guess straightaway, let’s be honest). It is also not for someone looking for an action packed thriller. This is an examination of the human psyche that takes its strength from the exploration it takes into the human mind. If you’re looking to wax philosophical, check it out. If not, you’ve been warned.
*The act of sex is only described once, but not in the overt language used in a romance novel. However, there are a few description of sexual actions that take place before sex and a few uses of mid-vulgar language.
May 31, 2013
ARC Review: “Going Vintage” by Lindsey Leavitt
Going Vintage by Lindsey Leavitt
When Mallory’s boyfriend, Jeremy, cheats on her with an online girlfriend, Mallory decides the best way to de-Jeremy her life is to de-modernize things too. Inspired by a list of goals her grandmother made in1962, Mallory swears off technology and returns to a simpler time (when boyfriends couldn’t cheat with computer avatars). The List:
1. Run for pep club secretary
2. Host a fancy dinner party/soiree
3. Sew a dress for Homecoming
4. Find a steady
5. Do something dangerous
But simple proves to be crazy-complicated, and the details of the past begin to change Mallory’s present. Add in a too-busy grandmother, a sassy sister, and the cute pep-club president–who just happens to be her ex’s cousin–and soon Mallory begins to wonder if going vintage is going too far.
4 stars
Thank you to Bloomsbury Publishing for this eARC! This title is now available.
Sometimes there are moments when a book turns out to be exactly what you need. This was one of those times.
The book begins with Mallory and Jeremy “studying” in his room. When they finally separate from their lip lock, they attempt to keep working on their school project together–or rather, Mallory keeps working on it. Jeremy is letting her do the whole thing. She logs onto this computer to find some sources, and instead finds that Jeremy has not only married a different girl on a Sims-like computer game, but has also been conversing with this girl on a far more personal level than he ever talked to her. Filled with hurt and betrayal, Mallory goes home and holes up in her basement, packing up her grandmother’s things to bring to her at her new retirement complex. In a box, she finds a notebook with a list of things her grandmother hoped to accomplish her junior year, and it seems absolutely perfect. If she’d lived in the 60s, there wouldn’t have been internet and Jeremy never could have cyber-cheated. Viva la Dark Ages!
This book has a super cute premise. I loved it from the second I heard it. It works really well for the book, too, with Mallory exploring both the pros and the cons of the whole thing. It causes self discovery, but it also causes conflict, which is nice. At the same time, though, there were times when I thought the characters were acting a little bit crazy. At times, multiple characters had overblown reactions that made me dislike them. This is especially true of Mallory’s sister, Ginnie, and sometimes of Mallory herself.
The plot seems pretty low key for most of the book. Mallory’s issue stem deeper than just her break up. Her mother isn’t being supportive and is too prying, her father isn’t making much money and her grandmother is trying to reinvent herself after the death of her husband. This interweave pretty well for most of the book. However, at the end they seem to blow up catastrophically into mountainous revelations in their own right, and each one is fighting for prominence rather than being given the space it deserves. Even Mallory can’t seem to find the time to explain them all, and she tells her sister so. In the end, I was a little unsure how her grandmother and then her mother’s revelations had to do with the plot at all.
The character of Oliver (Jeremey’s cousin) deserves his own paragraph, of course. I was a little affronted when he popped onto the scene so soon after Jeremy and Mallory’s breakup. I didn’t want this to be one of those books where the problem is instantly solved by another guy. I don’t want to spoil anything, but that isn’t what happens, and that made me extremely happy. Besides my worry that he was going to turn into Mallory’s knight in shining armor, he was a likable character who was a great friend and believable.
As always, the endings of these stories are always the make-it-or-break-it point for me. It’s important to me what the final message is. In the end, I was pleased and proud. Mallory becomes her own person in a believable way. She doesn’t need a man to save her. Jeremy, too, becomes a more fleshed out person throughout the story, so by the end you understand him, even if you still don’t like him. After too many books where we’re left just knowing the ex is a “bad guy,” this was refreshing.
If you’re looking for a good contemporary romance that’s really about the inner struggle with finding yourself after a break up, but don’t want the answer to be yet another guy, READ THIS BOOK!
May 30, 2013
ARC Review: “The Boyfriend App” by Katie Sise
The Boyfriend App by Katie Sise
In The Boyfriend App by Katie Sise, super-smart, somewhat geeky Audrey McCarthy can’t wait to get out of high school. Her father’s death and the transformation of her one-time BFF, Blake Dawkins, into her worst nightmare have her longing for the new start college will bring.
But college takes money. So Audrey decides she has to win the competition for the best app designed by a high schooler—and the $200,000 that comes with it. She develops something she calls the Boyfriend App, and suddenly she’s the talk of the school and getting kissed by the hottest boys around. But can the Boyfriend App bring Audrey true love?
4 1/2 stars
Thank you to Edelweiss and HarperCollins Children for this eARC! This book is now available.
First all, we all need to admit something. Some times it is just SO FANTASTIC to have a book that is utter mind candy in our hands. I really needed one of those, and this book jumped right up to fill that gap SO perfectly. If you require that your books be completely believable…you may want to step away. If you think this is a contemporary romance that won’t have scifi elements jumping up and screaming GOTCHA, then you are wrong. Now you have been warned.
The Boyfriend App opens up in a pretty cliche place. Proud geek Audrey is hanging with her geeky friends, staring longingly at the popular table where her ex-best friend Blake sits with Xander, the handsome lacrosse player that Audrey is convinced that Blake only dates because she knows that Audrey liked him. Audrey is also completely immune to the obvious wanting of friend and fellow geek Aiden, who is almost pretty enough to make her forget Xander. Almost. Blake makes a scene and Audrey ends up having to go to the counselor, in whose office she hears about an app contest worth her college scholarship. Since her dad died, she and her mother have very little money, and this could be the ticket to her dream school: Notre Dame. Audrey comes up with the best idea: Why not create an app that finds your perfect boyfriend?
I will be the first person to admit that I found this premise completely cheesy and ridiculous. I honestly don’t even remember why I requested it. But as I read on, I fell in love with Sise’s quirky characters and storytelling ability. The pace was fast, the dialogue was funny, and the characters had enough quirks to stay mostly out of the realm of cliche. There was actually a lot of serious tech speak in this book that I wasn’t expecting, but it both flowed naturally into the story while also convincing me that Sise really knew what she was talking about. The amount of tech speak that happened could have drowned this cute and fluffy story, but it didn’t, and I’m impressed by that.
So there I am, zooming through the pages, and suddenly in the middle of the book it seems like everything’s going to pot. The App isn’t working correctly, her friends are getting hurt. This is usually the point where the real boy she’s supposed to be with swoops in and tells her that winning isn’t everything and friendship is the real prize and blah blah blah. But it’s the MIDDLE of the BOOK. Is this book going to drag out the emotional touchy feely stuff? Am I going to have to learn moral stories for 50% of this thing? The answer is no. What’s really happening is:
THE STORY IS GOING CRAZY.
All of the sudden, Audrey breaks her phone and realizes what’s so special about the technology in her phone. (I can’t tell you or it’d be spoilers, so run with the vagueness for a second.) She hacks in, steals the technology, and uses it to create a new and improved Boyfriend App. I am not kidding about the crazy part. Her new app causes legit worldwide riots of love. The cute and the quirky are suddenly put on acid and start freewheeling across the pages.
I’ll be honest. If you want to look at it critically, then the second half of this story are pretty unbelievable. The logical part of your brain will without a doubt be standing and shouting SHENANIGANS! But the great thing is, I was having so much fun I wasn’t listening. (Plus, even the love triangle gets almost sidelined because there are RIOTS OF LOVE HAPPENING, PEOPLE!) It’s completely crazy and ridiculous, but the entire charm of the book is just that.
Like I said before, if you want a contemporary romance of completely believability, I’d suggest you look elsewhere. If you’re looking for a crazy, cute ride that’s more scifi then it appears, then GIVE THIS A GO. This is a super fast and fun read that might be the perfect option if you’re looking for a little mind candy to amuse you for a while.
May 29, 2013
Bibliomancy for Beginners: Review and Hangout Video for “The Innocent Mage” by Karen Miller
In our second week, Bibliomancy for Beginners tackled Karen Miller’s high fantasy novel The Innocent Mage. This was Rachel’s choice, and it was a good one! If you missed out on this week’s hangout, you can check out the video below my review. Come hang out with us next week, when we do my choice of book: City of a Thousand Dolls by Miriam Forster!
The Innocent Mage (Kingmaker, Kingbreaker #1) by Karen Miller
Enter the kingdom of Lur, where to use magic unlawfully means death.The Doranen have ruled Lur with magic since arriving as refugees centuries ago. Theirs was a desperate flight to escape the wrath of a powerful mage who started a bitter war in their homeland. To keep Lur safe, the native Olken inhabitants agreed to abandon their own magic. Magic is now forbidden them, and any who break this law are executed.Asher left his coastal village to make his fortune. Employed in the royal stables, he soon finds himself befriended by Prince Gar and given more money and power than he’d ever dreamed possible. But the Olken have a secret; a prophecy. The Innocent Mage will save Lur from destruction and members of The Circle have dedicated themselves to preserving Olken magic until this day arrives. Unbeknownst to Asher, he has been watched closely. As the Final Days approach, his life takes a new and unexpected turn …
3 1/2 stars
Let me be straight about one thing first: I usually do not like high fantasy. I just get really, really bored with the extensive world building and background and everything that’s dropped into this book. So I’m going so say straightaway that I thought a lot of the world building and back story was really unnecessary, but I tried not to let that influence my rating of the book because I know that’s a lot of what high fantasy is about.
The book opens up with the strong personality of Asher, who leaves his small fishing village to go make money in the capital. He is an Olken, a race considered subservient to the ruling Doranen, who have magic. Within hours of entering the city, Asher rescues the Crown Prince from his bucking horse. As recompense, he is offered a job at the Crown Prince’s stables. But the Crown Prince has bigger plans for Asher, and a secret society of Olken mages called the Circle has even GREATER plans.
When this book opened up, I knew within seconds that Asher and I were going to be great friends. His sarcastic personality made the book for me, through and through. He always had the best comebacks for everything. I was a little annoyed with the heavy dialect that ran rampant throughout his dialogue, but once I muddled through that I was laughing out loud. Sadly, he was one of the only characters that I really connected with. Too many of the other characters seemed to have bipolar disorder throughout the parts of the story, or seemed flat next to Asher’s personality. I was further frustrated when Asher seemed to take a back seat as the book went on, mostly to Prince Gar. Because here’s the thing:
We were promised that Asher would become the Innocent Mage. It’s the TITLE of the book. But the only thing that is established as far as Asher and magic are concerned is that Asher HATES it. Prince Gar deals with more magic than Asher does, and Prince Gar is called a cripple because he was born without it.
As I expected it would, this book dragged on with me. It just wasn’t for the reasons I expected. I knew there would be parts that were slow for me, but there were entire characters whose entire purpose was to say “We must wait for the Prophecy to make itself known,” “We must wait,” “We must wait.” This book is 1 in a 2 part series. That means that there is now only 1 book for Asher to become the Innocent Mage, learn magic, get over his hatred of magic and save the world. Let it be known that I am asking for this to have been extended, so you know that there is more time that should have been given to this. It was also a complete let down after reading, considering the title of the book is the Innocent Mage.
In terms of plot, I found several key events to be rather thrown in there for the sake of moving the action along, especially in the beginning and the end. The middle, though, flowed quite nicely–especially since, again, Asher tended to carry this bit. Anything with Asher made my day, and continued to give me faith despite being jerked around in other corners and not liking characters in others.
All in all, this book is somewhere in between a like and a love for me. This is a really high rating on a high fantasy, coming from me. I want to lend this book to my brother and several friends because I enjoyed it so much, and I’m glad I owned it. Also, I didn’t realize had as many feels for this book until the ending happened and then I was screeching IT CAN’T END THERE IT CAN’T OHMYGOOOOOOD. I was ready to dislike this one a lot more than I did, and I ended up being pleasantly surprised.
Want to know more about what I and my book club think about it? Watch the video below! (This was the most impassioned discussion EVER.)
May 28, 2013
Bibliomancy for Beginners Google+ Hangout happens TONIGHT!
This is just a reminder that my book club, Bibliomancy for Beginners, has their second Google+ hangout tonight, starting at about 8:30 PM give or take a few technical difficulties. This week we read The Innocent Mage by Karen Miller and OH LORD is tonight’s conversation going to be interesting. One reader was moved to tears, another reader moved to rage. I’m not either one of those people, but I have some pretty strong opinions of my own. This is going to be a hangout you WON’T want to miss! If you have to, however, there will be a recording posted along with my review tomorrow. Make sure you check back next week when we read City of a Thousand Dolls by Miriam Forster!
The link for the live hangout will be RIGHT BELOW THIS SENTENCE in this post when it gets going!
May 27, 2013
Armchair BEA: Introductions
Have you ever had that moment where you’re like “I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT I’M DOING BUT GERONIMO”? Because I’m having that right now. This is my first time participating in Armchair BEA, because I’m way too depressed that I don’t get to actually go to BEA. Also, I’ve been stalking this event since I first heard about it and decided it was time to man up. So here’s my introduction, I guess!
1. Please tell us a little bit about yourself: Who are you? How long have you been blogging? Why did you get into blogging?
Well, my name is Gretchen, and I’ve been blogging for about three years. When I started this blog, it was for my poetry, because I got it in my head that I wanted to try writing a poem a day. When the embarrassment of having my poetry online for all to see became too much, I realized DUH I LOVE BOOKS and that it was far less painful to fangirl over the books I was reading. That transition happened slowly, though, so I can’t give it an exact date. From that point on, blogging was practically an addiction because … well, I don’t have to tell you guys how cool this is. 
2. Where in the world are you blogging from? Tell a random fact or something special about your current location. Feel free to share pictures.
I am blogging from a teeny tiny town in the Adirondacks of New York. Middle of Nowheresville, Nowhere, is honestly the best name for it. Although most of the year I blog from college, which is Ithaca College in Ithaca, Ny (I’m a rising sophomore). For something special about my current location … I live on a lake with awesome sunsets? I think that’s pretty special.
3. What are you currently reading, or what is your favorite book you have read so far in 2013?
I’m currently in between books, having just finished The Innocent Mage by Karen Miller and just about to start The Boyfriend App by Katie Sise. My favorite book so far in 2013 is probably Clockwork Princess by Cassandra Clare. ALL. THE. FEELS.
4. Tell us one non-book-related thing that everyone reading your blog may not know about you.
I am a PADI certified scuba diver, with certifications in Altitude Diving, DPV or underwater scooter driving and underwater photography! I think that’s pretty awesome, if I do say so myself.
5. Which is your favorite post that you have written that you want everyone to read?
Is it bad that one of my favorite posts is a rant post that I wrote? I had just DNFed Shattered Souls by Mary Lindsey, and I got on my soap box about the messages that young girls can take away from books like that. It was the most impassioned post I think I’ve ever written, and I’m still really proud of it.
Top Ten Books on My Have-But-Need-To-Read List
Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by The Broke and the Bookish!
This week’s topic is a TTT Freebie, so I decided to give you guys a taste of what’s coming up on the blog! These are the next ten books I’ll be reviewing – roughly. I’m trying to make it through the pile of ARCs I’m behind on, but there’s no telling when a book I have on my actual shelf will call me and then I’ll derail and read that one. But this should give you a general idea!
1. The Boyfriend App by Katie Sise
I’m not sure why I requested this contemporary romance, but it sounds interesting so what the heck? If my calendar goes as expected, this review will be up May 30.
2. Going Vintage by Lindsey Leavitt
I’m excited about this book for multiple reasons. I’ve been tracking it ever since I found it, and Bloomsbury was nice enough to give me and eARC. This review should be up May 31st.
3. Criminal by Terra Elan McVoy
This book seems darker than the stuff I usually read, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing! It’ll be interesting to see how my stomach takes this. This review should be up June 3rd.
4. City of a Thousand Dolls by Miriam Forster
This actually isn’t an ARC, but rather the next book my book club is doing – it’s my pick, if you couldn’t tell by the ya-ness of it all. I’m really excited for this one. Hopefully it’s going to be good! This review should be up, with the hangout video, on June 5th.
5. Reboot by Amy Tintera
I don’t know if the people who did the covers for Criminal and Reboot know each other, but I’m loving the minimalist colors on black that’s going on. Can’t wait to read this one, with the review going up June 6th.
6. Born of Illusion by Teri Brown
A book set in 1920s New York, all about magicians and mediums? This book promises to be interesting if nothing else! Look for this review about June 7th.
7. Gameboard of the Gods by Richelle Mead
Alright, technically this isn’t a young adult, but it’s RICHELLE MEAD. When it popped up I HAD to request an ARC and then I got it and I’m so happy. Look for this review about June 10th.
8. Transparent by Natalie Whipple
This is a story about an invisible girl. I was sold before I had to read any more of the blurb. This review should be up about June 13th.
9. Dare to You by Katie McGarry
If you read my review of Pushing the Limits, then you know that I have a shameless LOVELOVELOVE for that book. I got an ARC of this one, and I’m crossing my fingers its as good as the first! Look for this review June 14th.
10. Tree of Codes by Jonathan Safran Foer
This is likely to be the craziest book I have ever read. It’s for book club, and it’s one of those post modernist texts that are just cuckoo for cocoa puffs. The pages are all cut funny and … man, this is going to be one hangout you won’t want to miss. See the review and video June 19th.
Review: “Prodigy” by Marie Lu
Prodigy (Legend #2) by Marie Lu
June and Day arrive in Vegas just as the unthinkable happens: the Elector Primo dies, and his son Anden takes his place. With the Republic edging closer to chaos, the two join a group of Patriot rebels eager to help Day rescue his brother and offer passage to the Colonies. They have only one request—June and Day must assassinate the new Elector.
It’s their chance to change the nation, to give voice to a people silenced for too long.
But as June realizes this Elector is nothing like his father, she’s haunted by the choice ahead. What if Anden is a new beginning? What if revolution must be more than loss and vengeance, anger and blood—what if the Patriots are wrong?
In this highly-anticipated sequel, Lu delivers a breathtaking thriller with high stakes and cinematic action.
2 1/2 stars
WARNING: This review WILL have spoilers of the first book; read my review of Legend if you’re interested!
I need to stop reading sophomore/middle/second books in trilogies. I can’t seem to find one that isn’t suffering from a sophomore slump HARD.
To put it bluntly? This was not a “breathtaking thriller”–I was so bored, I might not have finished the book if it wasn’t due back at the library and I didn’t want to have to rent it out again.
When the book begins, Day and June are hunting for the Patriots…despite the fact that Day has ardently tried to have nothing to do with them for years upon years. Right before they find the Patriots, the old Elector Primo dies and his son, Anden, ascends to the position. When they meet up with the Patriots, they realize–quite quickly and without asking the price–that it is best to take the mission the Patriots want to give them in order to get Day medical attention. Only after they agree are they told that the Patriots want them to assassinate the new Elector–and they want to pimp June out as bait.
Now, maybe this is a personal opinion, but Day and June’s relationship has always been iffy for me. I mean, they’re fifteen, even if it is hard to remember that sometimes. In Legend, I thought it could work because, hey, it’s young love and what have you. In Prodigy, it just gets ridiculous. Too much of the book is driven by their “love,” even though they spend a majority of the book apart. Also, I wasn’t kidding. The Patriots grand plan is to send June out to win the new Elector’s heart because he’s ridiculously attracted to this fifteen year old girl and wants to make her his wife so bad he conveniently forgets there’s pretty compelling evidence she’s a traitor. The entire situation makes me feel awkward, and I don’t buy a cent of it. It gets worse when even Lu seems to forget that they are actually fifteen, not older.
This isn’t the only characterization problem, though. Remember Day’s friend, Tessa? Well, when we get back to her–and it really hasn’t been that long since we’ve seen her–she’s suddenly really in love with Day and “a lot more grown up.” Though there may have been a gap between the publishing of the two books, in book time this is like her character flipped a switch real fast. Her severe hatred of all things June also makes this worse.
The way this book is written also works against it this time. It tries to go back and forth between Day and June, but this is totally Day’s book–despite the fact that June is the one constantly referred to as the “prodigy.” June has her own story line, yes, but where it really gets interesting is how it affects Day and their combined relationship.
There is also a brief jaunt into the Colonies for some reason, which paints the Colonies as some communist crazy town. Why this happens I have no idea, and it just seems to take up space at the end of the book.
I don’t want to spoil anything, but the ending is also a complete cliche. The things that happen between Day and June were the final straw in leaving me to close to book and whallop it against my forehead.
I continued to read this book for the character of Day, and he did not disappoint me–except when he was thinking about June. I honestly hope that they end up with different people, because that seems to make them both happier. I might read the last book in this trilogy, only because I made it so far. I rated Legend 4 stars, and I do think this story can get back to that. Here’s to hoping.
May 24, 2013
ARC Review: “The Ward” by Jordana Frankel
The Ward (The Ward #1) by Jordana Frankel
Sixteen-year-old Ren is a daredevil mobile racer who will risk everything to survive in the Ward, what remains of a water-logged Manhattan. To save her sister, who is suffering from a deadly illness thought to be caused by years of pollution, Ren accepts a secret mission from the government: to search for a freshwater source in the Ward, with the hope of it leading to a cure.
However, she never expects that her search will lead to dangerous encounters with a passionate young scientist; a web of deceit and lies; and an earth-shattering mystery that’s lurking deep beneath the water’s rippling surface.
Jordana Frankel’s ambitious debut novel and the first in a two-book series, The Ward is arresting, cinematic, and thrilling—perfect for fans of Scott Westerfeld or Ann Aguirre.
3 1/2 stars
Thank you to Edelweiss and Katherine Tegen Books for this eARC! This book is now available.
Can you suspend your disbelief well? If so, then read on. If not … this book may not be for you.
The story starts out with a three years earlier prologue, where a 13 year old Ren is sneaking out of her orphanage to go race in her first mobile race. In this we learn that she is immune to the deadly illness that is ravaging the Ward for one reason or another, and that the Ward is actually what’s left of Manhattan though most of it is underwater. The important points are that she shouldn’t be able to race at 13 (but she’s going to), she is “un-adoptable” because she … doesn’t like people? (I didn’t really understand that; after all she’s IMMUNE, someone’s going to notice she doesn’t get sick and she’d be the prized stallion by that alone.), she hates this girl called Aven who’s always hanging around her and she will never work for the government as a mole, informing on who’s sick in the Ward so the peacekeepers (or Blues) can come and arrest them, since being a contagious carrier of the illness is now a crime.
Cut to three years later, when Ren is now an undefeated mobile racer who was never adopted despite all her fame and fortune who loves Aven, her “sister,” more than anything else in the world, so much so that she became a mole for the Blues to keep her safe and fed. Do you see how some disbelief could be cutting in? Ren is at once everything she said she would be and everything she said she wouldn’t be. She also looses the first and only race we see her in, because the Blues tell her to go searching for freshwater. She ends up almost dying in the attempt, but lo and behold–she finds it. Freshwater. Freshwater with powerful, secret properties.
The world-building throughout this story was rather iffy, but it never really bothered me that much. I tend to be really easy on world building as long as I can’t poke huge holes in it, and I got enough as the story went on to breeze through it really quickly. It’s just better if you don’t think about it too hard. I thought it was a really cool idea, and I just ran with it.
The plot itself was okay as well; not great, but not desperately horrible. The focus is really on Ren and her personal struggles, while connecting to the larger problem of the disease filled Ward. Though it would have been easy to find this annoying, I found that Ren’s debate over saving just Aven or the whole Ward refreshing. I think protagonists too easily accept sometimes that it is their destiny to save the entire world. Ren’s only goal was to save Aven from the sickness, and her zeal to heal the Ward stemmed from that. Her constant flip-flopping about whether it would be safer to just save Aven is also realistic and unique, and I enjoyed the fact that her character explored the possibility of saying to Hell with the rest of the world and just saving what mattered to her.
Besides Aven and Ren, however, the other characters in this story were pretty weak and verged on the stereotype. Very few had their motives explored, and their use and actions were fairly shallow. This was particularly annoying in the love interest, Derek. I much rather enjoyed Ren’s friendship with the scientist Callum, which was more real and at least made sense. Ren even liking Derek at all didn’t seem to have much of a basis. I certainly didn’t.
All in all, I’d recommend this to people looking for an unique dystopian to breeze through. Don’t come to it looking for rock solid writing, but rather for a fast-paced adventure in a unique location that asks real questions in the actions of its characters. This might not be one to buy, but if you see it at your library I strongly suggest that you give it a go.
May 23, 2013
Review: “Sweet Peril” by Wendy Higgins
Sweet Peril (The Sweet Trilogy #2) by Wendy Higgins
Anna Whitt, the daughter of a guardian angel and a demon, promised herself she’d never do the work of her father—polluting souls. She’d been naive to make such a vow. She’d been naive about a lot of things.
Haunted by demon whisperers, Anna does whatever she can to survive, even if it means embracing her dark side and earning an unwanted reputation as her school’s party girl. Her life has never looked more bleak. And all the while there’s Kaidan Rowe, son of the Duke of Lust, plaguing her heart and mind.
When an unexpected lost message from the angels surfaces, Anna finds herself traveling the globe with Kopano, son of Wrath, in an attempt to gain support of fellow Nephilim and give them hope for the first time. It soon becomes clear that whatever freedoms Anna and the rest of the Neph are hoping to win will not be gained without a fight. Until then, Anna and Kaidan must put aside the issues between them, overcome the steamiest of temptations yet, and face the ultimate question: is loving someone worth risking their life?
3 1/2 stars
WARNING: This review WILL have spoilers for the first book. Read my review of Sweet Evil if you’re interested!
Full disclosure: I was up until 2 AM reading this book because I have finally accepted that this is a guilty pleasure I’m just going to have to live with. I have also realized that the only reason I’m still reading this book is because of Kaidan.
Sweet Peril starts off at a party. Anna is working like a boss. She hasn’t talked to any of her friends since the summit, because she’s kinda still in trouble. She’s moody because Kaidan has moved to L. A. and basically fallen off the face of the planet. She gets the chance to see him at a record store signing, but he blows her off hardcore and goes off with a much older woman. When Anna shows up at home all depressed, Patti tries to have a movie night until the spirit of Sister Ruth, who died in the first book, comes to visit Anna and tell her of a prophecy of a Neph who could set everything right with the fallen angels and the Neph. That’s Anna, and that’s what the sword is for.
The whole premise of this book is iffy to begin with. Anna’s dad seems to think that Anna needs an army, and the best way to get one is to … travel around the world once every season to get one person at a time? This book covers a HUGE span of time, given that. Her first stops aren’t even to her friends either, but rather to some alcoholic daughter of Hate in Israel. Despite the huge span of time taken in the book, besides Kai, Blake, Marna, Ginger and Kope, Anna makes only two other friends. Um. That’s not an army.
The whole love triangle thing with Kope also turned me sour on Anna and Kope’s characters. It is so freaking clear that Anna is still in love with Kaidan, and she knows it. But I guess Kope’s just … there? I mean, I get that she’s hurting and everything but Anna KNOWS she loves Kaidan and Kope KNOWS Kaidan loves her and Anna does pretty much guesses that Kaidan isn’t over her. Nothing that happens between Anna and Kope makes any sense at all.
But Kaidan. Oh God Kaidan. When he was first introduced in Sweet Evil, I thought he was the epitome of the bad boy stereotype/cliche. But by this book, I’m completely buying him as a person. He’s scared and he’s trying and he’s sweet and under all that cliche there is an actual person. Though he is absent for much of the first part of the book, when he is there he redeems every part of the book for me. I don’t completely buy Anna as a character, but Kaidan? I admit it, I’m in love.
All in all, I’d say that this book is once again a victim of “middle book syndrome.” A lot of it felt like filler and character development. I zoomed through it simply to find Kai. I will say, however, that the ending certainly raised the stakes quadruple the amount they ever were in this book. Because of Kai, I put this at about par with the first one. I’m really excited for the second one for sure, though. That’s more than I ever thought this series would hook me after Sweet Evil.
