Review - Fins are Forever

Fins are Forever marks the latest book coming out from Tera Lynn Childs... and the fourth I have read. I find her books to be likeable and fun... completely good for a quick read in an evening. Fins 2 was no exception.

Lily has made her decision to stay on dry land with Quince, but her choice may cost those she loves dearly. The oceans are unrestful and Thalassina needs their Queen. When Lily's cousin, Dosinia, shows up at her doorstep in exile it triggers a series of events that make Lily rethink her decision.

It's fun. It's quick. It's exactly what I expected... fun and whimsical. For an uber light, but very fun read check out Forgive my Fins first. For now, 4 out of 5 stars. I'm still looking forward to TLC's Medusa Girls series coming out this fall.

- BP

*Fins are Forever releases July 1, 2011.

Review - Hereafter

I received an ARC of Hereafter, a debut by Tara Hudson. At first I was skeptical, and this feeling of wariness only continued through my reading of this book. I wanted to love it... but I didn't. Part of the book's weakness is that it feels terribly contrived but the lack doesn't stop there... the characters are flat and wooden. The protagonist, Amelia, is wishy-washy and drippy and barely grows at all.

But I've torn into it enough for the opening of a review... you should really know what the book is about first.

Amelia died some unknown time ago. She dreams of churning water and wakes up at a river's ditch. One day there is a young man in the water and Amelia somehow rescues him from drowning. In an instant moment of death he sees her, and they touch, and she realizes she can feel him. This sets of a series of events that will change Amelia's entire outlook on her death, particularly when Joshua returns to visit her a few days later.

She begins to spend more time with Joshua and notices very strange things. Her memories of her life return when he reminds her of like instances; music and math and much more remind Amelia of who she used to be. But there is a cost for her new found "life" with Joshua. Someone wants her for his own, a threatening ghost named Eli who insists that she was made for him... and no one else.

I enjoyed parts of this book quite a bit, but like I said earlier it's contrived. Even as a ghost Amelia experiences signs of the living to the nth degree... gaspings, breaths of air, signs of terror, human fears... it's all part of Hudson's attempt to make this ghostly girl human. And it's overdone. The other annoyance is that this book severely suffers from what I affectionately call the post-Twilight syndrome. Introduce otherworldly plot scenario, introduce a humdrum heroine who vacillates on everything, introduce a wonderful boy who she defines herself by, introduce bigger supernatural conflict... you get the idea. It's Twilight all over again with a different mythos.

With this book the helpless heroine is even more obnoxious. Amelia cannot do anything for herself... anything. She can't move through walls like most ghosties so whenever she has to enter a room, house, etc. someone has to do it for her and nine times out of ten it ends up being Joshua, which adds a forced gallantry to everything he does. Even him trying to help her remember her past has a weird element to it... it's all about him sharing his favourite things which quickly become hers too... like she has no personality of her own. The last thing that really irks me is the touchy-feely moments between them. It's supposed to be sweet but it reads as sappy... and saccharine. The fact that she can feel his touch conveys a Twilight-esque sexual tension to everything as well... "I can have you but I can't have you", as it were. The doomed nature of their relationship doesn't do anything to endear the reader either... either she gets reanimated... or he has to die for them to be together... it's overall extremely predictable.

I'm hit or miss on books about the afterlife typically. If it becomes very God-y I'm out in an instant. This wasn't preachy but it was just... flat. I don't really have any desire to read another book of these characters despite having finished Hereafter. I don't really care how Hudson continues to tell the story. It's very bland, and I wanted it to be better. It's very much a 3 out of 5 star book... I finished it for curiosity sake, but I won't be reading the sequel. I really don't care to see how Amelia continues to shape herself around Joshua. I've read this before... been there, done that... it was better the first time. It needs some serious jazzing up to be as good the second time.

- BP

Review - Clarity

I really needed something light this week. I keep trying heavier, denser things and quickly burn out on them. Something in my brain is not wired well for it at the moment. So, I looked in my pile, scanned a few titles (and ratings online!) and grabbed one that everyone really seemed positive about - Clarity by Kim Harrington.

Clarity (Clare) Fern hails from a family who are all spiritually gifted. Clare herself is a psychic with the ability to recall events from touching objects. She lives with her mother (a telepath) and her brother (a medium) in Eastport, a tourist community off Cape Cod. Together the three run a psychic reading service for entertainment purposes.

Clare has always been considered a freak and is picked on for her abilities. But when a murdered tourist brings a new detective (and his son Gabriel) in to investigate they hire Clare for help. She can finally use her gift for good, as long as Gabriel doesn't keep distracting her.

I didn't watch Medium, but I imagine that it's like this if you wrote it for a teen audience - with all the camp and angst. That said I quite enjoyed it. It was exactly what I wanted... nothing too overblown or too conceptual... just light and fun and entertaining. I really adored all of the characters in this, and Clare herself is extremely likeable and down to earth (despite a strange ability). I even enjoyed following the mystery and I'm not usually a mystery kind of girl.

Overall, it was precisely what I wanted this week and a charming debut from Harrington. I'm giving it 4 out of 5 from a lot of grammar quirks but that didn't lessen my enthusiasm for the story. It's quite a fun book, perfect for a beach read... and, lo and behold, set on the beach! Shiny. I'll be reading Perception when it comes out in 2012.

- BP

Review - Blood Magic

Nicholas, as pictured in my head...

However, he showed up as Nick Cave. So I'm keeping him as Nick Cave.

I picked up Blood Magic by Tessa Gratton on a whim. It was one of those books I pulled out of the pile because I absolutely did not know what to read next. I thought if I made it a few chapters in I would keep going.... 2 pages in I knew I was going to love it. Utterly.

Silla has it rough. A few months ago both of her parents died, by her Father's hand. Now most of school treats her like a freak and Silla has withdrawn into herself. Her brother, Reese, and her Grandmother, Judy, try to do what they can to help heal the rift but it's a battle of Sisyphean proportions. One day Silla receives a journal that belonged to her father from an unnamed source. She finds within a magic that is very powerful but also exacts a price from the user - blood.

Meanwhile, Nicholas has moved into town and his path crosses Silla's at an unopportune moment... in the graveyard between their houses, while Silla is practicing her first spell, and spilling her own blood. Nick doesn't seemed shocked at all and finds himself drawn to the strange and brooding Silla.

There is so much to say about this book... and so much I don't want to ruin for you all. Rest assured, it's fabulous. I am so in love with this book. It has everything that I like in it; small town, unique outcast, outsider, magic, angst, lots of red herrings, aging diaries, masks, Shakespeare, keys from the past, immortality, mystery, intrigue... yeah, it's pretty damned fabulous. But there's so much not to say about it too.

I enjoyed Silla. I love her conflict, I love that she doesn't let everyone see who she is. I loved her strength, even if it was expressed in very off beat ways. I loved that Gratton didn't glamourize cutting in this book and that Silla knows it's not cool. I loved (lovedlovedloved) Nicholas too... good gods... LOVED with a capitol "I'd like this man to be real so I can idolize him shyly from afar". He's brash, and sexy, and completely original. And I want him to be mine.

...I visually crafted him as Nick Cave in my brain... hence the photo... I had to, it's the "slicked back longer hair and pinstripe suits" that did it. Truth. I also appreciated that Gratton had him listening to Swedish Electronica, because I immediately had an excuse to put The Knife on my i-tunes... not that I really needed one, but Squee!

This book sizzles, it's radiant. It's everything right. It's awesome contemporary Southern Gothic Young Adult romance... etc. etc. It's gritty and it's real and has a pretty damn good love story too. I was annoyed I had to do other things while reading this, I wanted to turn the world off. I wanted to hole up in a field on a sunny day with a bottle of wine and The Dead Brothers playing for background. I wanted to devote myself to this book, and I am just so glad it delivered. It's become my first real "favourite" book of 2011.

The trouble is.. what do I read now? I read this one on a lark because I didn't know what else to pick up... and now my brain is broken. I'm always at a loss as where to go after I love something so much... the next read cannot possible measure up to the previous. As if it weren't obvious enough, this one ranks high. 10 out of 5. It's severely good.

- BP

* Blood Magic does not release until May 24th.

(this turned out to be very musical... here's more Dead Brothers...just cuz)

Review - The Dark and Hollow Places

I've been slowly working through The Dark and Hollow Places by Carrie Ryan for the last couple of days. Partly, I blame the stupidity of ongoing health dramas... partly I blame myself. This is "the final" book in the trilogy... and I simply did not want to let these books go.

The Dark and Hollow Places starts out with a new character - Annah, the twin sister of Gabry from book 2. Annah lives in the Dark City and is patiently awaiting the return of Elias, who went off to find Annah's sister, Abigail. Annah and Elias left Abigail behind in the Forest of Hands and Teeth ten years ago while fleeing the Unconsecrated. Since then Annah has regretted the decision every day. Her guilt is visibly represented on her flesh by severe scars, an accident caused by barbed wire. Annah thinks of her sister and knows that she herself is ugly.

Three people come into the city that irrevocably change Annah's life. One is Elias, the man Annah is in love with. Another is Gabry, Annah's sister, who is in love with Elias as well. The third is Catcher, the Immune former flame of Gabry. All three of these characters serve as symbolic counterpoints for Annah in provocative ways. They also make a very impacting point in the story. Because of Catcher's immunity the Recruiters (who secure the defenses in Dark City) have forced him to infiltrate the infected areas for supplies. To keep him in line they imprison Annah, Gabry, and Elias... but they really only need to keep one alive to maintain Catcher's loyalty. The threat of their deaths are ever present in (and out) of Dark City.

I really like what Ryan did with this book. Granted, it took me a minute to get into the storyline... but once Gabry and co. made their presence known I was hooked. Annah is a hard character to wrap your brain around. I wasn't convinced, at first, that I was going to like her voice... I wasn't sure I was ready for her darkness. She's a completely different character than the first two women; her inner strength comes from years of self-loathing more than success. I was scared of how dark she was in the beginning, but I quickly grew to appreciate her. To love her.... I really grew to love her.

This is, potentially, the darkest book in the series. But it's not because of the dead... it's because of the living. The things that people do, the things that people become in order to survive, is truly monstrous... and Ryan drives this home with efficient grace. It's not the undead we need fear, it's ourselves. Beautifully, masterfully done.

I'm really glad that I had this book to read this week. Really. Very. Glad.

5 out of 5 stars. It's bittersweet to see this series end, but I'm very happy with the final book.

- BP

* The Dark and Hollow Places releases March 22, 2011. Please so not ask to borrow my copy. I'm being greedy with this one.

City of Bones movie

Alex Pettyfer as Jace Wayland (still in negotiations).

Lilly Collins as Clary Fray.

Gaspard Ulliel as Alec Lightwood (rumoured).


GASP! SHOCK! AWESOME!
They've started casting the principle characters for City of Bones by Cassandra Clare. How did I miss this? How did I miss this?! * Overwhelmed with glee *

... I don't know how to feel about Alex Pettyfer as Jace... It's like casting Edward Cullen all over again. You have to get the absolutely right guy... I still have not seen anything with Pettyfer in it so I am dubious. He seems to be the new golden-go-to-boy for literary adaptations (Beastly, I am Number Four, Alex Rider) but I was really hoping they would cast an unknown (or lesser known) for Jace.

I mean... come on... it's Jace-effing-Wayland... for Chrissakes! It's just... it's Jace!

(Of course, many of you know how I feel about I am Number Four, so maybe some of that hate is wearing off.)

Other than that... Gaspard Ulliel as Alec?! !!! ...um... squee....!!!!!!!! * faints dead away *

(Gaspard is who I originally wanted to play Edward. Win!!!)

- BP

Review - Never Let Me Go

Well... this book hit the wall.... rather, my 75 pages limit... and I'm done.

Never Let Me Go by Kazua Ishiguro has been lauded as one of the best books of the decade. It's "Brilliant!". It's "A tour de force!" Frankly, it's a "BOYS" book... allow me to explain.

I've worked for 5 years in an independent book store. For a while during that stint there were a couple of men who worked in the fiction contingent we affectionately dubbed "The Boys". The Boys liked their fiction... more appropriately they liked the old man brigade of literature that contemporary fiction is based upon... and nothing else. If the author was old, or dead, or male and liked to write these long winded diatribes about everything (and nothing) in tandem the boys would eat it up with a spoon. Mind you, many of these authors they loved are probably good but they were only good in the strictest literary sense of the word. What they often lack is heart and soul even though the words are beautiful.

...the boys also believe that Genre Fiction, specifically Science Fiction and Fantasy, is "lesser" fiction because it follows characters with swords or spaceships... I still have not forgiven them for that.

Never Let Me Go is a boys book. It reads beautifully, but it has no soul. I don't have a lot to say about the actual book because I made it to my usual 75 page limit and decided to stop. The most interesting thing to happen in the entire first 75 pages was the scandal surrounding a pencil case and how the one character acquired it. Yeah, it's that dry. Anything that is interesting in the dialogue or story is totally washed by the fact that it takes so damn long to get to the bloody point. It's also very hard to maintain concentration, or get back into the book, if you get interrupted during the read.

The other major problem is this - the reveal of the story was heavily used in the marketing campaign promoting the book. For the last couple of years I have heard about this book from various patrons, publisher reps, and reviews that talk about what these characters are. This is a ridiculous piece of work... you do not reveal the only really interesting thing about the book preemptively. It kills the mood for the book. Why tell everybody what these characters are? The main oomph is usually the reveal... why destroy that?

I can't recommend this book. See the movie... I will be. Other than that the book is not good. 1 out of 5 stars. Too "literary" for my taste.

- BP

Review - Red Glove

Last year I read Holly Black's White Cat. I really enjoyed it; illegal magic, forbidden love, male protagonist...what's not to love? Over the last couple of days I picked up the sequel, Red Glove, and it was exactly what I expected it to be.

In Red Glove Cassel is being pursued by both the law and the Curse Workers. The workers want to bring him (and his rare transformation powers) into the fold and the law wants him to rat everybody out. Meanwhile, Lila has enrolled at Wallingford and Cassel is desperately trying to avoid her and her emotion-worked feelings for him, despite his love for her. Very early in the story Cassel's brother, Philip, gets killed. Cassel's life is changing in all the worst ways and he can seem to stop the trajectory.

Reading Black is always a treat. In this series she uses a lot of pared down, simplified prose. Her wording is beautiful, she conveys so much in a single sentence with as simple an explanation as possible. I really appreciate the style for this series... it enhances the storyline perfectly.

I don't want to give up any spoilers, but this is a great continuation of the story. It is, tragically, very much a middle book... but, that said, it's pretty fun. I'll rank it a 4 out of 5 stars. I really want Black Heart now.

- BP

* Red Glove releases April 5, 2011.

Review - Gale Force

It took me a few days to read through Gale Force. I blame an abominable head cold more than the book. It was really good... too good to not read during the dizzies. I had to peck at it...very...slowly.

Rachel Caine has created a series rich in mythos and varying at every turn. That's one of the things that is so bloody brilliant about the Weather Warden books - that ever single one of them is very different. In Gale Force Joanne and David have made the the ultimate commitment to one another... they are planning to wed one another. This enrages both the Djinns and the Wardens who fear the impact this decision may have on the world. Joanne is not without her own doubts, but she loves him... and wants him... and very much wants to wed him. The Djinns have declared war and earth is on the line. Will Joanne have the will to carry this one out?

A large part of this book follows the wedding plans, the build ups, the ensuing chaos... it's much ado about nuptials. I did enjoy that a bit. There's something off about this enough to make me to not blow through it... but that could be the excessive amounts of cold medications. I think I'm going to take a small break from these and resume in a bit with the rest of them.

4 out of 5 stars.

- BP