by Kay | Sep 29, 2011 | Reviews |
Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor
Published by Hodder & Stoughton, Little Brown Books for Young Readers on September 29th 2011
Pages: 448
Genres: Paranormal YA, Urban Fantasy, Young Adult
Source: Received for review from publishers
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Rating: There once was a young artist called Karou who drew tales of monsters and demons that delighted and enthralled those around her. But she has a secret, a secret that ties her to a dusty subterranean chamber, where her beloved guardian brokers dark deals in a place that is not here. A place that is Elsewhere. Living with one foot in each world, Karou has never really known which one is her true home.
Now the doors to Elsewhere closing . . .
Thoughts: I was expecting great things from Laini Taylor, and I got them. I got them in spades. Daughter of Smoke and Bone is probably the most unique paranormal Young Adult novel I’ve ever read. Absolutely everything took me by surprise: the characters, the universe and – amazingly – even the romance.
US cover
Daughter of Smoke and Bone starts off in Prague, narrated by multi-lingual, blue-haired, and tattooed Karou. In between trips to gothic cafes and studying at an art school, she tries to keep up a secret life in a magical world. And before you start imagining Diagon Alley, let me clarify. Karou’s other world is filled with body parts and bizarre creatures, it is rough around the edges and dark in the centre… dark but not evil, per-say.
While there are plenty of more detailed reviews out there, you really should not know more than that. Because past the introduction? Everything goes haywire. Daughter of Smoke and Bone is a book about angels and demons, but it is also not about angels and demons. It is about forbidden love, but it is about so much more than forbidden love. It is a book that takes every stereotype you’ve ever loathed and turns them into something magical and utterly unique. I was stunned by how Laini Taylor could make me accept things that – only ten pages before – I would have thought utterly implausible or unjustifiable. It turns out, all I needed was a stellar author guiding me!
The only thing that keeps me from giving this a full five stars – and there really is only one thing, this novel is almost perfection in writing – is the central romantic relationship. While I loved both characters individually, I wasn’t completely sold on them together. I think I just need some more time to become enamoured with the two of them together… something the next novel should accomplish!
One final note: Brimstone. Brimstone, Brimstone, Brimstone. He was the one and only character that made me tear up in this book, and just thinking about him gives me a lump in my throat. Apparently I have a thing for tender-hearted father figures who show little-to-no emotion – and if you do too, you’ll love him just as much as I did. ♥
Bottom line? Daughter of Smoke and Bone is a book about wishes and monsters, hope and betrayal, love lost and love found, teeth and smoke. Read it.
Daughter of Smoke and Bone is out today in the UK. Go get a copy!
by Kay | Sep 22, 2011 | Reviews |
13 to Life by Shannon Delany
Series: 13 to Life #1
Published by St. Martin's Griffin
Pages: 308
Genres: Paranormal YA, Young Adult
Source: Purchased myself
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Rating: Everything about Jessie Gillmansen's life changed when her mother died. Now even her hometown of Junction is changing. Mysterious dark things are happening. All Jessie wants is to avoid more change. But showing a hot new guy around Junction High, she's about to discover a whole new type of change. Pietr Rusakova is more than good looks and a fascinating accent—he's a guy with a dangerous secret. And his very existence is sure to bring big trouble to Jessie's small town. It seems change is the one thing Jessie can't avoid...
Thoughts: This book is… odd. Very odd. It is basically a book of disjointed scenes, held together by the fact that they all feature the same characters. The first half of this book is your typical teenage he-loves-she-loves love triangle saga – complete with a football game, a bizarre homecoming, a girl-fight, history classes, and a sweet best friend. And then, about half way through, that book ends. Now it is a book about the main character’s epic tragedy, her best friend’s evil under layer, and the hot new boy’s mafioso family… Needless to say, I liked the “second book” better.
Besides the two-book divide, there are all sorts of bizarre plot holes in 13 to Life. For starters, the protagonist Jessie is supposed to be smart. And yet, when presented with extraordinary evidence proving that her crush is a serious ass, she remains in love with him. Huh? I can understand nursing a hopeless crush, but when said crush uses you to get back together with his girlfriend? Well, it’s time to let it go. That Jessie doesn’t “let it go” isn’t really her fault, Shannon Delany just wanted to keep her and Pietr (the aforementioned hot new boy) from getting together for a little while longer.
Except it gets worse. Once I’ve accepted the fact that Jessie is stupidly in love with I-can’t-even-remember-his-name, she promptly forgets about him. Oh, and starts making out with Pietr, who is now her creepy best friend’s boyfriend. Huh? What? She pushes the guy she likes into the arms of another girl, only to turn him into a cheater? WTF?
The only vaguely reassuring thing about this love-square mess is that Shannon Delany is aware of how needlessly crazy she’s made everything. And I quote:
“I was so stupid. As a writer, I knew if I’d been a character in a novel a good editor would have scrawled TSTL (Too Stupid To Live) on the manuscript pages. Well, maybe not too stupid to live, but definitely too stupid to date.”
Chapter 14, 13 to Life by Shannon Delany
So even though I could overlook the bizarre romance business going on – despite it being the only thing going on for the first half of the book – there was one thing I could not overlook: the dogs. Or more specifically, how Jessie treats her dogs. She screams at them to shut up and calls them stupid. And in another event, where a German Shepherd acts out due to Pietr being a bloody werewolf, she screams about how the dog is crazy. When the dog clearly clearly isn’t. Her behaviour, for me, was borderline animal abuse – if she had started hitting one of the dogs, I wouldn’t have been surprised. I didn’t like it one little bit and I couldn’t help but think that Maya (from The Gathering) would never have treated her hounds that way.
So, by now you’re thinking: why on Earth should I read this book? Excellent question. While there were times when I really wanted to take a red pen to the text, it did keep me engaged and entertained for 5 solid hours. Mostly due to Pietr and his brilliant Russian werewolf mafioso family. Pietr is a mix between Edward (Twilight) and Dmitri (Vampire Academy) – in other words, he’s engaging, mysterious, and has an accent to die for. And his family? They are the werewolf version of the Cullens. I want to know more about them… I want to know everything about them! Even by the end of the book, we know next to nothing about Pietr’s background. That might be enough for me to pick up the next novel.
That, and to see if Jessie grows a brain.
Bottom line? 13 to Life has decent writing, a needless complicated plot, and supremely frustrating characters. But there are Russians in it, so…
by Kay | Sep 8, 2011 | Reviews |
Sea Change by Aimee Friedman
Published by Scholastic on June 1st 2009
Pages: 292
Genres: Paranormal YA, Young Adult
Source: Purchased myself
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Rating: Sixteen-year-old Miranda Merchant is great at science... and not so great with boys. After major drama with her boyfriend and (now ex) best friend, she's happy to spend the summer on small, mysterious Selkie Island, helping her mother sort out her late grandmother's estate.
There, Miranda finds new friends and an island with a mysterious, mystical history, presenting her with facts her logical, scientific mind can't make sense of. She also meets Leo, who challenges everything she thought she knew about boys, friendship. . .and reality.
Is Leo hiding something? Or is he something that she never could have imagined?
Thoughts: Oh my, this book was so very very lovely. I realised the other day that I hadn’t reviewed it and – even though I read it months ago – I knew I had to post something about it. Because, like many standalone novels, I feel like Sea Change doesn’t quite get the press it ought to!
Let’s start off with the main character, Miranda, who I absolutely adored. She had a thirst for logical answers that I could completely relate to. And, on occasion, she wanted something completely out-of-the-box illogical… which I could also relate to! She is a scientist with an artistic heart. Unlike a lot of YA novels, Miranda’s mother plays a key role in this novel, and in Miranda’s overall development. While Miranda had a lovely but realistic relationship with her mother before the book – over the course of the novel, her mother begins to act most peculiarly. She begins to seem rather foreign to Miranda… and it is scary, having someone you love seem different. I loved how their whole plot line developed – realistic but beautiful.
While Sea Change is a paranormal novel with real romantic elements in it, it is a coming of age novel above all. That isn’t something that usually makes me pick up a book, but in Sea Change it was perfect. While there is a slight paranormal mystery, uncovering the answers to the island is not the most important part of the book. Miranda needed to find the answers to herself (does that sound deep, or what?). And when she does, the book ends.
And, oh, what an ending! I love books that leave you wondering; books that leave you hopeful yet still thinking. Aimee Friedman doesn’t answer all the book’s questions – and trust me when I say that you will love her for that.
Bottom line? Sea Change is a beautiful, mystical, romantic YA novel that I can easily recommend. Get a copy!
by Kay | Sep 4, 2011 | Reviews |
Hourglass by Claudia Gray
Series: Evernight #3
Published by HarperCollins, HarperTeen
Pages: 256
Genres: Paranormal YA, Young Adult
Source: Purchased myself
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Rating: Bianca will risk everything to be with Lucas.
After escaping from Evernight, the vampire boarding school where they met, Bianca and Lucas seek refuge with Black Cross, an elite group of vampire hunters. Bianca must hide her supernatural heritage or risk certain death at its hands. But when Black Cross captures her friend—the vampire Balthazar—all her secrets threaten to come out.
Soon, Bianca and Lucas are on the run, pursued not only by Black Cross, but by the powerful vampires of Evernight. Yet no matter how far they run, Bianca can't escape her destiny. Bianca and Lucas have always believed their love could survive anything—but can it survive what's to come?
Thoughts: The one thing good thing I can say about Hourglass is that it is easy reading. Even when I wasn’t enjoying myself, I could get through the pages. But – honestly – that is the one and only good thing about this book.
Seriously. That’s it. But just because the book was readable, that doesn’t mean I’d recommend you actually read it. In Hourglass, all the things that had once merely annoyed me about Claudia Gray’s series amalgamated into 300+ pages of pure hell.
My problem with this novel – and the entire series, now that I think about it – is that it all revolves around the hideous Lucas/Bianca relationship. And guess what? I would pay money to have both of those characters killed. They are just so utterly and terribly self-involved – hideously self-involved. Every single waking thought that Bianca has revolves around Lucas… and yet, she seems more in love with being in love than she is with him. *spoilers* When Lucas is literally dying in her arms, is she thinking about him? Is she utterly distraught beyond recognition? No. She is comparing herself to Juliet watching Romeo die in her arms… seriously?? *end of spoilers* I mean, people complain about the Twilight series? Seriously? Bella is absolutely nothing compared to Bianca.
And, you know what, that would be fine if this were any other series. But in the Evernight world, Bianca and Lucas being together doesn’t just affect them – it affects everyone else too (although, mostly due to their stupidity and inability to form a plan – they could have found a nice island to live on if they had been more with it). Bianca and Lucas will commit crimes and condone murder in order to stay together. And I find that kind of selfishness absolutely loathsome. Your relationship is NOT more important than someone’s life. Full stop.
Bottom line? Even hardcore YA Paranormal Romance fans should stay far far away from this series.
by Kay | Aug 16, 2011 | Reviews |
Heat Stroke by Rachel Caine
Series: Weather Warden #2
Published by Ace/Roc, Allison & Busby
Pages: 335
Genres: Urban Fantasy
Source: Purchased myself
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Rating:
Also in this series: Ill WindReview is spoiler-free - the summary is not!
Accused of murder, Weather Warden Joanne Baldwin was chased across the country—and killed—by a team charged with hunting down rogue Wardens. Five days later, Joanne had a lovely funeral and was posthumously cleared of all charges. Her human life was over, but she had been reborn in Djinnhood. Now, until she masters her enhanced powers, Joanne must try to avoid being "claimed" by a human. But when a hazard that only a Djinn could sense infiltrates Earth's atmosphere, Joanne must somehow convince someone to do something about it—or the forecast will be deadly. So who said being all-powerful was going to be easy?
Thoughts: When I started Heat Stroke, it had been over a year since I read Ill Wind, the first book in Rachel Caine’s Weather Warden series. And while I had geniunely enjoyed Ill Wind, and I could remember as much, I couldn’t remember anything that had happened in it. I vaguely recalled the ending, I remembered the main character had a thing for fast cars, and… that was it.
So, needless to say, this book started off a bit rough. There were a lot of characters dealing with the emotional fall-out of the last book – and that really meant nothing at all to me. But soon enough, Caine ramped up the action and I no longer had to worry about what I didn’t remember. There were are new problems to worry about!
Heat Stroke reminded me of what I adored about the first 6 books of the Morganville Vampire Series: the out-of-nowhere twists and turns. Rachel Caine is not an author to stick with the status quo. She’ll set you up in one direction and then – BAM – she’ll move you into another. Heat Stroke was filled with twists and turns – all of them utterly realistic.
UK Cover
And now that I write that, I realise that that is exactly it. I’ve read 10+ Caine books and now I’ve finally worked out why she is such a joy to read! It’s not just that she puts in great twists into her books, it’s that the twists feel completely natural. A lot of excellent fantasy novelists put in mind-blowing twists into their books (Rachel Vincent and Richelle Mead, I’m looking at the two of you), but they always feel like twists. Your reaction to them will always be “Wow, I can’t believe that author did that!”. But with Caine, you don’t even feel it. She creates characters and universes so complete within themselves that they can drive the show all on their own. It’s fantastic.
I can officially say that Heat Stroke took me from just being a Rachel Caine fan to being a Weather Warden fan. Apparently, Rachel Caine can write a main character in love with more than one leading man without turning the novel into a migraine inducing disaster. She can writes 3D villains who you can both pity and wish dead. She’s also one of the few authors I’ve read who “abuses” her male characters just as much as her female ones. In short, she’s fab – there is a reason she has so many fans!
Bottom line? Read the Weather Warden series! It is extremely enjoyable, highly realistic, kick-ass urban fantasy filled with fast cars and physics.
by Kay | Aug 14, 2011 | Reviews, Summer Shorts |
Summer Shorts is weekly feature of short story/novella reviews, posted every Saturday of July and August, 2011. Every week has a different theme – be it featuring a specific anthology, a particular genre, or a great author.
Last week I reviewed two stories from the special YA edition of Subterranean magazine, and this week I’m featuring another wonderful magazine… Fantasy Magazine, the sister publication to Lightspeed. Fantasy Magazine features some absolutely extraordinary authors and also has audio versions of their fiction available as podcasts. All the ones I’ve heard have been extremely well read, so if you are looking for some new audio fiction check out their itunes page!
The Wolves of Brooklyn by Catherynne M. Valente
(Available here – Valente is the author of The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making and other novels.)
Favourite Quote:
I asked one of them once. She’d followed me home from the F train—what I mean is she’d been all the way down on the platform, and when I got off she trotted up after me and followed me—me, specifically. And I turned around in the snow, the fucking snow that never ends, and I yelled: Why? Why are you here? What are you doing? What do you want? I guess that sounds dumb, like a scene in a movie if this were happening in a movie and DiCaprio or whoever was having his big cathartic moment. But I wanted to know so badly. And she—I noticed it was a she. A bitch. She bent her head. God, they are so tall. So tall. Like statues. She bent her head and she licked my cheek. Like I was a baby. She did it just exactly like I was her puppy. Tender, kind. She pressed her forehead against mine and shut her eyes and then she ran off. Like it hadn’t even happened.
Thoughts: The Wolves of Brooklyn is an extraordinary story… there was something about it that I both loved and hated. I’m not sure what it was exactly but, like everyone else in this story, it had something to do with the wolves.
Valente’s tale is rather simple, in a way. One day, wolves turn up in Brooklyn. They don’t talk or heal diseases, but neither are they your Yellowstone variety canid. They are huge, magical wolves that control the city and everyone in it. They are simultaneously loved and feared… because, yes, they do eat people on occasion. It’s an extraordinary concept.
But the idea unnerved me. I love wolves and loathe stories that set them up as the villains. However, The Wolves of Brooklyn never really defines the wolves as good or evil… they just are. The wolves are a force of nature beyond everything else in the tale. It is unnerving and stunning all at once. And to have this amazing concept directed by such a talented writer… well, it completely transported me.
Bottom line? Valente delivers a true modern fairy tale. The Wolves of Brooklyn is a Grimm’s Fairy tale set in a twenty-first century world: gorgeous, unnerving, and utterly realistic.
