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 9, 2011 | Reviews |
I don’t finish a lot of books. Truck loads. I’d say about 1 in 4 books I start, I don’t actually finish. While I do love writing negative reviews (because they are just so much more entertaining) I am not going to suffer through a book just in order to rant about it! But it means that I never get the chance to not recommend the books I don’t finish. So this year, I’ve taken note of the books I haven’t been able to finish and why I haven’t been able to finish them.
I’d say “enjoy”, but that feels rather wrong.
Blue Bloods by Melissa de la Cruz: I was not expecting miracles with Blue Bloods, I knew it wouldn’t be very good. But seriously? What was with the 300 narrators? I’m fine with multiple narrators, as long as they are all following some sort of game plan. Blue Bloods just seemed to follow a dozen inane, unrelated, and petty squables. Oh, and what was with the overblown clothing descriptions? Who the hell cares what they are wearing??!
Across the Universe by Beth Revis: I read a review calling this the YA book for people who thought The Host by Stephanie Meyer was science fiction. And after only 20 pages, I completely agreed with them. Across the Universe felt like science fiction 101. Barely-there world building, boring characters, and no apparent originality. Perhaps it improves after a few hundred pages – but given the vague, emotionless writing, I doubt it.
The Hollow by Jessica Verday: Girls who follow creepy boys around cemeteries are my definition of the Too Stupid to Live (TSTL) heroine. I worked out the “twist” 40-odd pages into the book, and jumped to the end to find out I was right. Everything in this book was too cookie-cutter: the villain, the romance, the spooky setting. It felt a lot like Light Beneath Ferns by Anne Spollen (which was another book I didn’t like!). Alas.
Torment by Lauren Kate: God, the first chapter of this book made me roll my eyes so hard I hurt. I look back on my review of Fallen, and all I can say is “what was I thinking?”. Fallen must have had little of the nauseating tru wuv business – but Torment has it is spades. Horrible, pinching, nasty spades. Eugh. The whole “we’ve been in love for centuries… you just don’t remember” business is just such a cop-out. And lame. Really really lame.
Blue Moon by Alyson Noel: I’ll be honest, I didn’t make it past page 5. Because everything I disliked about Evermore was in abundance in Blue Moon… rather like Torment. Just skip this series. No, seriously, just skip it.
Tiger’s Curse by Colleen Houck: I had been so excited to get Tiger’s Curse along with its sequel Tiger’s… something else. I had gotten an email from the publishers asking me to review it, and I went “OMG YES”.
And then I started reading it.
And, yeah… no. Just no. The main character is ludicrously childish and the writing is extremely disjointed. I had to re-read passages two or three times in order to understand who was doing what… until I just didn’t care what happened next. Also, writers that insult vegans? So off my wishlist.
by Kay | Aug 4, 2011 | Reviews |
Siren by Tricia Rayburn
Series: Siren #1
Published by Faber and Faber on February 1st 2011
Pages: 377
Genres: Paranormal YA, Young Adult
Source: Received for review from publishers
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Rating: Seventeen-year-old Vanessa Sands is afraid of everything—the dark, heights, the ocean—but her fearless older sister, Justine, has always been there to coach her through every challenge. That is, until Justine goes cliff-diving one night near the family’s vacation house in Maine, and her lifeless body washes up on shore the next day.
Though her parents hope that they’ll be able to find closure back in Boston, Vanessa can’t help feeling that her sister’s death wasn’t an accident. After discovering that Justine was keeping a lot of secrets, Vanessa returns to Winter Harbor, hoping that Justine’s boyfriend might know more. But Caleb has been missing since Justine’s death.
Soon, it’s not just Vanessa who’s afraid. All of Winter Harbor is abuzz with anxiety when another body washes ashore, and panic sets in when the small town becomes host to a string of fatal, water-related accidents in which all the victims are found, horrifically, grinning from ear to ear.
Vanessa turns to Caleb’s brother, Simon, for help, and begins to find herself drawn to him. As the pair try to understand the sudden rash of creepy drownings, Vanessa uncovers a secret that threatens her new romance—and will change her life forever.
Thoughts: Siren is exactly what I expected: no more, no less. It is a YA novel with a paranormal heroine, a protective love-interest, inexplicably evil villains, a toothache-sweet best friend, and a bitchy-but-beautiful teenage competitor. I’d compare it to The Body Finder… except I actually liked Siren!
Siren had quite a few unexpected twists in it. For starters, we actually get to meet Vanessa’s sister before she dies and see what happens in the immediate aftermath of her death. It made the loss all the more real, so it is actually believable when Vanessa goes to her vacation home looking for answers into her sister’s death. Her relationship with Simon Carmichel was also extremely unusual for a YA book. There is none of the pining and hand-holding – they gradually grow to like each other, but the death of her sister and the disappearance of Simon’s brother are the priority.
But my real problem? The writing. Not necessarily the words on the page, but the words that weren’t on the page. Siren was just extremely confusing. The simple things – like who is driving the car, or what the weather is like – could not be followed. All of the sudden a character would be throwing a cup of coffee that had never been mentioned, besides a short line written paragraphs before vaguely that mentioned a convenience table.
And while we’re at it, character relationships and their individual motivations were just… unintelligible. I felt like Tricia had a plot in mind, complete with 3D characters, she just couldn’t get it onto paper! Although her one-dimensional, evil-for-the-sake-of-it villains? Yeah, I don’t think Tricia had any motivation in mind for them.
Bottom line? Siren is enjoyable but flawed. Pick it up if you’re looking for something a bit different in your paranormal YA, but don’t go out of your way to get a copy.
