Review: Crossed by Allie Condie

Title: Crossed

Author: Allie Condie

Rating: 1/2

Who Should Read It? Those who can find beauty and action in the subtle, who can find dialogue to be fast-paced, who enjoy beautifully written, great stories that take their time. If you're looking for non-stop action, this book probably isn't for you. If you're a reader like me, totally check it out.

What I Have to Say:
I read Matched a VERY long time ago, and I ADORED it. I adored Crossed (almost) just as much. Crossed was AMAZING! Seriously, I loved it! I sometimes have trouble with books (and movies, for that matter) that are too action-packed. I get bored with the action, feeling like there's just never enough substance. Crossed, while being a YA romantic action adventure story, definitely has its fair share of action. It's fast-paced and non-stop. But, it's chock full of dialogue and thought and substance. To the point where I could understand if there were maybe some who found it slow.

Th world Condie has created is absolutely terrifying but totally believable. What really struck home for me is that, despite being totally horrified by what was happening, by the actions of the government, I could totally see how something like that would work, for population control, to save the human race from our impending doom. It's refreshing, though, the characters that Condie has created. Cassia and Ky are like a breath of fresh air in this crazy world, seeing through the government, finding beauty and peace in the smallest of things, finding love in places they would never have thought to look.

I thought that Crossed was beautifully written, with poise and grace and poetry in all the right places. The story is heart-warming and frightening, and the characters are lovely. The ONLY problem I had with this book was the double perspective. It was written alternating between Ky's perspective and Cassia's perspective, and I don't feel like Condie really did a great job differentiating between their perspectives.

Final verdit - while I can see why this book might not appeal to those needing constant stimulation, I absolutely adored it, and I can't wait to read Reached, the final book in the trilogy!

Summary: In search of a future that may not exist and faced with the decision of who to share it with, Cassia journeys to the Outer Provinces in pursuit of Ky - taken by the Society to his certain death - only to find that he has escaped, leaving a series of clues in his wake. Cassia's quest leads her to question much of what she holds dear, even as she finds glimmers of a different life across the border. But as Cassia nears resolve and certainty about her future with Ky, an invitation for rebellion, an unexpected betrayal, and a surprise visit from Xander - who may hold the key to the uprising and, still, to Cassia's heart - change the game once again. Nothing is as expected on the edge of Society, where crosses and double crosses make the path more twisted than ever.

Cover Story: Beautiful! I love the blue cover and the girl trying to escape the ball that is her world. It's perfect!

Review: Along for the Ride by Sarah Dessen

Title: Along for the Ride

Author: Sarah Dessen

Rating:
1/2
Who Should Read It?Sarah Dessen mold: teenage girl with family problems (and thus problems of her own) falls in love with boy off the beaten track and must overcome obstacles to make the romance happen. Sound interesting? Then this book is for you.


What I Have to Say:
As is often the case for Sarah Dessen, this book was absolutely ADORABLE! Heart-wrenching, cutesy, deeply intense, adorable. Dessen has this way of reaching into the reader's heart and finding the teenage girl within, and Along for the Ride is no exception to this. While Auden's teenage-girl situation is quite a bit different than mine was, I found myself transported back to the dramas

I loved Auden, with her intelligence that was limited only to books. I loved how selfish and self-centered she was without even seeming to notice. I loved how much she grew throughout the book and, ultimately, began to turn into someone I might actually like. Turned from someone I could have related to as a teenager to starting to be someone I could relate to now (for the record, I would have MEGA trouble relating to my teenage self). I loved Eli I loved Maggie and Leah and Ester and Adam. Even the secondary characters were given enough depth, enough personality to make them interesting. I love the life-lessons that Auden manages to learn, which to me today seem totally obvious, but which were definitely much less obvious to my teenage self. For me Dessen is a master of creating wonderful, believable teenagers, and, in Along for the Ride, she has not failed.

I also love the way the story progresses. Dessen has taken an extremely rare situation and turned it into something that can be FELT by everyone. Somehow, in Along for the Ride, I felt like the plot didn't move along smoothly or have shocking, unexpected happenings, I felt like the plot actually grew. And the growth of the plot was more than appropriate, as the theme of Along for the Ride seems to be "growth." Growth through friendship, growth through romance, growth through family, growth through new experiences, growth through growth.

Along for the Ride had me laughing and in tears all at the same time, and for totally different reasons than I would have expected when I started reading. I felt like I myself maybe grew a little bit through the reading. It's a fabulous book with a fabulous story, and I highly recommend it. It's a great vacation read (I read it lying by the pool in Turks and Caicos), but I think it's also the perfect read for a cold winter night by the fire, dreaming of summer. Definitely check this book out!

Summary:It’s been so long since Auden slept at night. Ever since her parents’ divorce—or since the fighting started. Now she has the chance to spend a carefree summer with her dad and his new family in the charming beach town where they live. A job in a clothes boutique introduces Auden to the world of girls: their talk, their friendship, their crushes. She missed out on all that, too busy being the perfect daughter to her demanding mother. Then she meets Eli, an intriguing loner and a fellow insomniac who becomes her guide to the nocturnal world of the town. Together they embark on parallel quests: for Auden, to experience the carefree teenage life she’s been denied; for Eli, to come to terms with the guilt he feels for the death of a friend. In her signature pitch-perfect style, Sarah Dessen explores the hearts of two lonely people learning to connect.

Cover Story: Tooooootally off. Not into it at all!

Review: A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness

Title:A Discovery of Witches

Author: Deborah Harkness

Rating: 1/2

Who Should Read it? Like books about magic? Quirky, adorable witches? Vampires and Demons? Then this book is for you; especially if you are tired of the nonstop romance that most vampire books seem to be. Don't get me wrong, this book has romance, but it's also got something that makes it feel a little more literary. It's important, though, that you don't a book with a lot of detail that takes a while to get to the point.

What I Have To Say:
Diana Bishop is not your typical witch. Born to a long line of witches, she decided to give up witchcraft at a young age, in an attempt to live a normal, magic-free life. But I guess normal is all relative, and witchcraft may be more impossible, and more dangerous, to give up than she ever thought.

I loved this book. It was like historical fiction meets magic, thus combining two of my favorite genres. The history comes from Diana herself - she is a quirky, independent, strong-willed and totally lovable character (who seems way more like a high-schooler than a full grown historian), and she has given up the life of magic to lead a totally ordinary life in academia, where she studies, of all things, alchemy. I immediately connected to her.

The book starts when Diana uncovers a book, Ashmole 782, that just so happens to be a book all the witches, demons, and vampires have been searching for for ages. How did she get her hands on it? Will she do it again? Suddenly, the library where she is working is FILLED with all sorts of magical creatures trying to figure out the answers to these questions. And of course, one of the creatures to show up is, naturally, a REALLY HOT vampire by the name of Matthew Clairmont. And, as must happen, because he is a vampire and a creature of lust, and despite Diana's natural and understandable fear of vampires, they fall immediately in love and, within 3 weeks, are wondering how they could ever be separated.

I understand that vampires supposedly have that effect on people, but I'll admit it - I'm sort of tired of reading about it. Diana is witty and charming and, most of all, INTELLIGENT, and I just can't believe that she would allow herself to be enamored so quickly. By a vampire. I know, I said I loved it, and now I'm ranting - this bit really did bother me, and I wish Harkness had managed to make this book happen WITHOUT vampires and love-at-almost-first-sight, but I also understand that it was necessary to set things up for the rest of the book.
Which was AMAZING!

Harkness uses lavish descriptions, painstaking and well-researched details, and witty conversation to move the plot along. And even though it was only her first novel, she masterfully weaved the world and idea of magic together with the world of academia and logic. It's beautiful, historical paranormal fiction, and I loved it. I'd read a lot of reviews that said some of the research and detail was overdone, but in the end, I totally disagree. I had a great time imagining all of the beautiful places, the intricate architecture she described. And I was presented with just enough information on the history of alchemy that I found myself wanting to actually research it myself.

So, the verdict - this book was amazing; I loved the detail, I loved the information on alchemy, and the only things I would change are the love story and the vampires. And I will definitely be reading the sequel just as soon as I manage to catch up on all the other books I have to read.

Summary: A richly inventive novel about a centuries-old vampire, a spellbound witch, and the mysterious manuscript that draws them together. Deep in the stacks of Oxford's Bodleian Library, young scholar Diana Bishop unwittingly calls up a bewitched alchemical manuscript in the course of her research. Descended from an old and distinguished line of witches, Diana wants nothing to do with sorcery; so after a furtive glance and a few notes, she banishes the book to the stacks. But her discovery sets a fantastical underworld stirring, and a horde of daemons, witches, and vampires soon descends upon the library. Diana has stumbled upon a coveted treasure lost for centuries-and she is the only creature who can break its spell. Debut novelist Deborah Harkness has crafted a mesmerizing and addictive read, equal parts history and magic, romance and suspense. Diana is a bold heroine who meets her equal in vampire geneticist Matthew Clairmont, and gradually warms up to him as their alliance deepens into an intimacy that violates age-old taboos. This smart, sophisticated story harks back to the novels of Anne Rice, but it is as contemporary and sensual as the Twilight series-with an extra serving of historical realism.

Cover Story: Totally love it! Just looking at it makes me want to study witchcraft. :-)

Review: Audrey, Wait! by Robin Benway

Title: Audrey, Wait!

Author: Robin Benway

Rating:1/2

Who Should Read It?
Everyone! Seriously, this book is great for the lover of young adult novels, but it will also appeal to their non-young adult loving parents and friends. And I can even see dudes liking it. So check this book out!

What I Have to Say:
Squeeeeaaaalllll!
Have you ever read a book and just had "squeal" and nothing more be your primary reaction? That's sort of how I felt after finishing Audrey, Wait! I knew I was going to love it, as it's about a girl of my name, but I could never have predicted that I would love it as much as I did. I was filled with so much happiness from how much I enjoyed this book that I could barely contain the giddiness that needed to escape, and so I just felt like - squeal!

First of all the concept - awesome! What a great idea to base a book on the girl behind the song, the girl that broke up with the boy, causing him to write a song, eventually leading to his fame.

The writing style - lovely. Benway has created an Audrey who is awesome, but who also has enough flaws that she actually seems like a real teenager. She's funny and sarcastic, witty and crazy, but she's also just your typical teenager, and through her typical teenager narrative, Benway has made a totally implausible situation seem almost plausible.

Of course, now it's been about a month since I read the book, and further away from it I find myself overwhelmed with the complete and utter implausibility of it all. This feeling is strengthened by some of, what seem to me to be, the glaring plot holes. One of the things that I think makes this book so amazing, though, as that none of these stood out to me at all while I was reading. I was too busy laughing and enjoying the dialogue and being lost in the horror that Audrey was living through.

And now ignore that last paragraph I wrote. Because Audrey, Wait! is a winner of a book that will hook you so much you'll be losing sleep to finish (and then waking up the rest of the household with your laughing).

Summary:When her ex writes a break-up song about her that rockets up the charts, Audrey is suddenly famous--she can't go out without being mobbed by fans and paparazzi. Readers can take a wild ride with Audrey as she makes headlines, confronts her ex on MTV, and shows the world who she really is. This irresistible, fast-paced novel has a totally hot new paperback cover! Its the song everyones singing. And its about her! But for Audrey, becoming famous overnight equals total, life-changing disaster. . .

Cover Story: There are quite a few covers for this book, and most of them are awesome. The Audrey on the cover I have posted here is the one that reminds me most of the Audrey I imagined. I don't like the cover that has red and yellow sun-like rays around it. It seems hippie and just wrong. . . that's not the feeling I got from the book at all.

Review: White Cat by Holly Black

Title: White Cat

Author: Holly Black

Rating:1/2

Who Should Read It? Everyone who has ever enjoyed a YA book. For serious! Especially those who enjoy male protagonists but find good ones hard to come by.

What I Have to Say:
I seriously ADORED this book. Unexpectedly adored this book. I'd read several reviews of it, and everyone said it was good, but after how I felt about "the Spiderwick Chronicles" (liked but certainly didn't love), I never felt over inspired to read it. Then a friend gave me a copy, and I was looking for something a little different, so I gave it a try.
And I am SO glad I did.
Cassel grows up a non-curse worker in a family of curse workers, and this has caused some resentment and some problems for him throughout his life. When he wakes up one morning to find that he has sleep-walked to the school roof after a dream in which a White Cat steals his tongue, his entire world changes.
Holly Black does an AMAZING job of subtly creating a world that is similar to ours but also completely different. The world she has created is fascinating. Curse workers work with their hands, so everyone wears gloves. The idea of being touched by bare hands actually repels some people. She slowly develops it throughout the book in such a way that you're dying for more, to know more, without ever realizing why.
Cassel's attempt at coming to terms with his past and allowing himself to live in the present, dealing with his manipulative brothers and his jailed mother.
White Cat was filled with twists and turns that will keep you wanting more until the very end. As the plot develops and Cassel learns more about his somewhat mysterious past, you'll find yourself rooting for him despite some of the horrible things he's done.
The only unfortunate thing about this book is that it doesn't keep you guessing. Some of the bigger plot points were extremely obvious very early on in the book. Luckily, this didn't really take away from anything. And I would recommend against reading the summary beforehand. It gives way too much away.
Definitely worth the read!

Summary:Cassel comes from a family of curse workers — people who have the power to change your emotions, your memories, your luck, by the slightest touch of their hands. And since curse work is illegal, they're all mobsters, or con artists. Except for Cassel. He hasn't got the magic touch, so he's an outsider, the straight kid in a crooked family. You just have to ignore one small detail — he killed his best friend, Lila, three years ago.

Ever since, Cassel has carefully built up a façade of normalcy, blending into the crowd. But his façade starts crumbling when he starts sleepwalking, propelled into the night by terrifying dreams about a white cat that wants to tell him something. He's noticing other disturbing things, too, including the strange behavior of his two brothers. They are keeping secrets from him, caught up in a mysterious plot. As Cassel begins to suspect he's part of a huge con game, he also wonders what really happened to Lila. Could she still be alive? To find that out, Cassel will have to out-con the conmen.

Holly Black has created a gripping tale of mobsters and dark magic where a single touch can bring love — or death — and your dreams might be more real than your memories.

Cover Story: I guess it's alright. It's got the right feel, even if I don't love the real person on the cover making it seem like a movie cover for the book. It's better than the original brown cover, though.

I CAN'T WAIT TO READ THE NEXT BOOK IN THIS SERIES!!!!

Review: Nightshade by Andrea Cremer

Title: Nightshade

Author: Andrea Cremer

Rating: 1/2

Who Should Read It? A great read for lovers of YA and lovers of dystopian fiction with big imaginations and an enjoyment of the paranormal.

What I Have to Say:
Nightshade was one whopping surprise of a book for me! I expected to like it, sure, but I never expected to LOVE it, and I certainly never expected it to make me think (even if only a little bit).

It started off slowly, which, as those that know my reading tastes will know, means that this book was right up my alley. I love books that start off lacking in action, instead full of explanations, story set-up, and character build-up. And that's exactly what this book had. Cremer didn't feel like she needed to pull her reader in with non-stop action, because the story and background was enticing enough in and of itself.

And thus,　far before the intrigue started happening, I was intrigued. Because I wanted to know more about the background story, and I had come to love Cally's fierce alpha personality, Ren's over-arrogant, cocky self-assurance to cover up his lack of surety, and Shay's sexy, perfect-guy book lover persona. The rest of both of the packs, while being more background, had also come to be people I cared about. So, when action finally did start to happen, I was interested, and I cared about the outcome, because I cared about the people involved. I find that this is often not the case in books that start out action-packed.

The main thing made Nighshade so special, though, in my opinion, is that, though it is paranormal YA, it didn't have to be. There is SO much more to this book than meets the eye. The "werewolf" aspect definitely added some suspense and excitement to the book, but if werewolves would have been replaced with normal humans, it would have been just as amazing. I envisioned a world in which slaves exist and are brought up to believe that they are not slaves; a sort-of fantastic and fantastically horrifying dystopic future. While that's not what this book was, it easily could have been without changing anything else - same story, same plot, same characters, same intrigue. Just a different species. I feel like so many paranormal books rely far too much on the paranormal aspect to make things happen. This book doesn't, at all, and that just makes the paranormal seem like an added bonus, which is even better.

Overall, Nightshade was one well-written tight little story of, love, revenge, sacrifice, and betrayal; and while it could be read as your typical paranormal YA, if you let it take you deeper, and allow yourself to think about the ways a story like this could play out in the human world, it will leave you chilled to the bone. The ending is something to be commended, and I know I will be thrilled beyond belief when it finally comes time for the release of part two.

Summary: Calla Tor has always known her destiny: After graduating from the Mountain School, she'll be the mate of sexy alpha wolf Ren Laroche and fight with him, side by side, ruling their pack and guarding sacred sites for the Keepers. But when she violates her masters' laws by saving a beautiful human boy out for a hike, Calla begins to question her fate, her existence, and the very essence of the world she has known. By following her heart, she might lose everything--including her own life. Is forbidden love worth the ultimate sacrifice?

Cover Story: I actually really like this cover, despite the firl being nothing at all like I would imagine. And the flower feeling wrong. It's quite lovely, though, and the purple is so appealing that, even though I think it's wrong for the book, I love it!

Disclosure: This book was sent to me via Shelf Awareness.

Review: A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle

Title: A Wrinkle in Time

Author: Madeleine L'Engle

Rating:

Who Should Read It? I think this will mostly appeal to 11-12 year old girls, but there's really something in it for everyone, so I think that boys and adults have the potential to enjoy it as well!

What I Have to Say: I read this book when I was about 12 years old, and I remember absolutely ADORING it! Recently, though, I have been reading reviews of it by people that reread it as adults and didn't love it nearly as much. I was horrified! These people must have grown up too much, I thought. And so I of course decided that I had to reread it to see for myself.

And I feel justified in my thought that these people must have grown up too much. Reading this book over again, I was once again filled with my initial sense of childish wonder. I was once again awed and inspired, and I once again fell in love the characters and places that L'Engle brings to life in this enchanting story. Meg's intelligence combined with her feelings of awkwardness and separateness resonated just as true with me now as it did then. Her desire to overcome this awkwardness without losing herself, and her ability to be strong through all of her travails, were even more inspiring to me now, as an adult (agh! Do I really have to call myself that?), I think, than they were when I was 11 or 12 years old and reading this.

Rereading it, I realized that there were so many things and ideas involved that I without a doubt missed the first time around. It appealed to my older person sensibilities as well as appealing to the child in me, as there is something for everyone contained in this little work. It combines fantasy with action with physics (or rather, time travel) with mystery with youth, and what comes out is just amazing and wonderful! I almost felt like it was a mixture of Flatland with the Borrowers and maybe throw in a little Harry Potter.

To be honest, I'm truly shocked to think that there are people that enjoyed this as a child that didn't enjoy it the second time around. There's a little something for everyone, and despite the intrigue being resolved in the end, it's got great re-readability potential! And now I'm excited to read the rest of this series, which I for some reason did not read when I was younger.

Summary: Meg's father mysteriously disappears after experimenting with the fifth dimension of time travel. Determined to rescue him, Meg and her friends must outwit the forces of evil on a heart-stopping journey through space and time. A Newbery Medal winner.

Cover Story: There are so many different covers of this book that it's hard to really make a comment. The cover of the version I read, though, is absolutely amazing, with a beautiful centaur in front of a gorgeous purple sky, flying over amazing mountains. And then, of course, interesting geometrical shapes at the bottom. It encompasses everything that is good about this book.

Nihon No Kinyoubi (15) Review: Kwaidan by Lafcadio Hearn

Nihon no Kinyoubi (Japanese Friday) is a weekly feature here at Brizmus Blogs Books inspired by French Friday, which is a weekly feature hosted by Charlotte at the Book on the Hill. Charlotte features French bookish things, and I plan on featuring Japanese bookish things, though I won't limit myself if I find something non-bookish that I think will interest you guys.

This week I thought I would treat you guys to a review of a book of Japanese stories that I absolutely loved! Since it's close to Halloween, I think it's especially appropriate!!

Title: Kwaidan

Author: Lafcadio Hearn

Rating: 1/2

Who Should Read It? This is a fabulous book for anyone interested in ghost stories or Japan!

What I Have to Say:
Kwaidan is a beautiful selection of Japanese ghost stories; some of them are horrifying, some of them are touching, and all of them provide an intricate look into the many subtleties that make up the Japanese culture. I am greatly enjoyed each and every story in this book, and each of them I enjoyed for different reasons. Some of the stories were translations of old Japanese texts wheras, for others, this book was the first place they were ever written. The author heard them while traveling through small-town Japan and enjoyed them so much that he transcribed them. Because of this, it is somewhat difficult to write a real review. The stories are not his; they aren't even retellings, but the author does an amazing job of transcribing/translating them and making them his own. Obviously, some things are lost in translation, but the author did a great job of minimalizing this loss, and I really feel like I got the full effect of what was originally being said.

At the end of this book, there was a brief study of insects in relation to Japanese culture which I found absolutely FASCINATING. I found the sections on ants and butterflies to be especially enjoyable (though I should perhaps note that I am slightly obsessed with ants). The chosen poems and texts along with the author's observations and commentary gave me great insight as to the roles that insects played (and insects are VERY prominent in Japan) in ancient Japan.

I GREATLY enjoyed this book (and learned a lot!), and, for the first time in a very long time, I found myself so enraptured that I couldn't stop myself from staying up into the wee hours of the morning reading. I highly recommend this selection of stories to anyone who is even remotely interested in Japanese culture.

Summary: KWAIDAN is a collection of weird, ghostly legends and beliefs of old Japan. Hearn spent 14 years in Japan, translating into English with superb effect the atmosphere of the tales which he avidly collected.

Based on Japanese literature and folklore, KWAIDAN contains 17 stories. The stories of Loichi, the blind biwa player who was called to perform for the dead; of Muso, the journeying priest who encountered a man-eating goblin; of the samurai who outwitted the ghost of a dead man. All these plus 14 other spooky tales are included in this collection.

Cover Story: It's so creepy and Japanesey and perfect! I absolutely LOVE it! With a capital heart! :-)

Review: Soulless by Gail Carriger

Title: Soulless

Author: Gail Carriger

Rating:

Who Should Read It? Anyone into steampunk or quirk or hideous hats and parasols. This book is ace!

What I Have to Say: So while this wasn't my first foray into steampunk, it was my first foray into the genre known as steampunk romance, and let me just say: thank goodness I didn't let that little word "romance" scare me.
THIS BOOK WAS AMAZING!
Seriously.

Everything about this book is quirky and exciting. It is the quirkiness, I think, that makes this book so unique, and the non-stop excitement that makes this book so fabulous.

I'm not usually one to go in for British humour (seriously - all those books like Georgia Nicholson that everyone think are HILARIOUS usually do little more than just annoy me), but somehow the humour in this book (and the occasional degrading of Americans and Italians) had me laughing out loud on a regular basis.
For someone without a soul, Alexia Tarabotti sure brings a lot of soul to this book - she is fun, quirky, strong-willed, opinionated, intelligent - put all of this together, and you've got the perfect narrator for a book including flamingly gay vampires, scruffy, uncontrollable werewolves, useful parasols, and hideous hats.

Of course, I think one of the reasons that I liked this book so much is that I really enjoy a lot of build-up before any real action happens. And while I do ENJOY action, if it's not done PERFECTLY, I sort of just glaze over it. This book is not lacking in build up. I have heard a lot of people say that it is slow to get started, and while I don't agree, I can understand where they're coming from. ESPECIALLY if you're not used to reading things with lots of language and words that you might not understand (and therefore having to read through all of the descriptions). Even if you're not like me, though, once this book finally does get moving, it's fabulousness does not stop. And there is plenty of action and quirk hiding at every twist and turn for those of you out there that are action addicted. Who can help but love a heroine who will, no matter what the cost, have her tea?

My biggest problem with this book was the occasional slightly racy love scene. I know people like me are few and far between, but reading about "sex" really rubs me the wrong way. I mean, my favorite love stories in books are those that end with one, sweet kiss. Nothing more. And while Soulless is not over the top by any means, there's still a little more of that in it than would suit my tastes. That said, there is mega chemistry between the two love interests, and Carriger did an amazing job of building that up throughout the book.

So, in other words, if you're one of the few like me to be late in the reading of Soulless game, WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!? Get yourself a copy now. You will not regret it.

Summary:Alexia Tarabotti is laboring under a great many social tribulations. First, she has no soul. Second, she's a spinster whose father is both Italian and dead. Third, she was rudely attacked by a vampire, breaking all standards of social etiquette.

Where to go from there? From bad to worse apparently, for Alexia accidentally kills the vampire -- and then the appalling Lord Maccon (loud, messy, gorgeous, and werewolf) is sent by Queen Victoria to investigate.

With unexpected vampires appearing and expected vampires disappearing, everyone seems to believe Alexia responsible. Can she figure out what is actually happening to London's high society? Will her soulless ability to negate supernatural powers prove useful or just plain embarrassing? Finally, who is the real enemy, and do they have treacle tart?

Cover Story: Honestly, it's the cover, more than the title or the summary or the reviews that I read, that originally had me wanting to read this book. There's something about the dress and the parasol and the hideous gray background that just scream interesting and exciting to me!

Review: Acacia: The War With the Mein by David Anthony Durham

Title: Acacia: the War With the Mein

Author: David Anthony Durham

Rating:1/2

Who Should Read It? If you love epic style fantasy, then this absolutely the book for you. It is super good, for real!

What I Have to Say:
So, I'm a HUGE fan of fantasy, but it's been an extraordinarily long time since I last read an epic fantasy like Acacia. To be honest, I think I've always been a little bit afraid of them - I mean, they tend to be SO long, and there are SO MANY other books that I want to read that I'm sort-of afraid to "waste" my time with such a lengthy book. But then, when I read one, I NEVER feel like it was time wasted.

Acacia, the beginning of the Acacia Trilogy was no exception to this. It was long, but it was in no way time wasted. And it's funny - because of how extraordinarily engaging and awesome it was, I found that I read it more quickly than the typical shorter book that I read. Acacia was a true case of "I can't put this book down!"

Acacia is separated into three different books, and it almost seems as if each one of them should be reviewed separately despite the way they so easily flow one into the other.

In the first book, we learn about the Empire, how it was formed, and the horrrible evils of slavery and the Mist that are associated with the empire. Most importantly, we get to know the four Akaron children as children of the kind king, members of the Empire, and we begin to get to know the Mein. What was so interesting about this was that, while the Mein were so clearly supposed to be the bad guys and the Empire the good guys, it was really hard for me to pick anyone out as a real good guy or a real bad guy. Durham did a masterful job at allowing us to see how evil really is in the eye of the beholder. More than that, we saw how people can remain truly good while promoting and being a part of something extraordinarily evil.

In the second book, the Akaron children are all carted off to four different corners of the Empire, and while things don't go exactly as planned, they all find themselves in completely unique situations that allow them to mature into strong but very different people. The fact that they each grew up in a different race, surrounded by different beliefs and different cultures allowed the reader to really get a grasp for this world and the ways in which it parallels the world in which we live today. It also allowed him to continue with his theme of good versus evil. This second book was, by far, my favorite of the three. It was easily the most solid and most well written of the three, and I found it so exciting to get to learn about all these different cultures while still knowing that it was leading up to something big and exciting. It was interesting and fun to compare these fictional, fantasy worlds with those that we know today or have known in the past.

In the third book, well, I don't want to give too much away, but Durham ends us off with an absolute BANG! Things come to a climax with a boom, mixing the unexpected with the expected, the good with the evil, and ideals with treachery. It has you feeling utterly satisfied while still craving more, more, MORE!

The characters are extraordinarily well-developed, living, breathing beings, and this in no way takes away from the aliveness and realness of the worlds he created. No word was wasted, everything was beautifully described and played out. Durham has a way with words that, in the epic fantasy, had room to flourish. I've never read anything else by him, but I would say this is his genre. This book was great! And I am SO psyched to have the second one waiting. I would be much disturbed if I had to wait.

Summary: Leodan Akaran, ruler of the Known World, has inherited generations of apparent peace and prosperity, won ages ago by his ancestors. A widower of high intelligence, he presides over an empire called Acacia, after the idyllic island from which he rules. He dotes on his four children and hides from them the dark realities of traffic in drugs and human lives on which their prosperity depends. He hopes that he might change this, but powerful forces stand in his way. And then a deadly assassin sent from a race called the Mein, exiled long ago to an ice-locked stronghold in the frozen north, strikes at Leodan in the heart of Acacia while they unleash surprise attacks across the empire. On his deathbed, Leodan puts into play a plan to allow his children to escape, each to their separate destiny. And so his children begin a quest to avenge their father's death and restore the Acacian empire–this time on the basis of universal freedom.

ACACIA is a thrilling work of literary imagination that creates an all-enveloping and mythic world that will carry readers away. It is a timeless tale of heroism and betrayal, of treachery and revenge, of primal wrongs and ultimate redemption. David Durham has reimagined the epic narrative for our time in a book that will surely mark his breakthrough to a wide audience.

Cover Story: It's weird - I read this book on my kindle, and I had never actually SEEN the cover until right now when I was looking for a picture of it to put in the post. I can't even remember the last time when a cover in NO WAY affected my desire to read a book. My afterimpression of the cover is no more than a noncommittal "eh."

Review: In the Garden of Men by John Kupferschmidt

Title: In the Garden of Men

Author: John Kupferschmidt

Rating: 1/2

Who Should Read It? I think this is a great book for adults and teens, alike. As long as adult books appeal to you, and you enjoy a little thinking and don't mind a bit of politics (you can enjoy politics, too - that's okay!), this book could be great for you.

What I Have to Say:
In the Garden of Men is the 2007 winner of the 3-Day Novel Contest. As such, going into it, I wasn't entirely sure what to expect. I mean, how can one really write anything significant in a mere 3 days?
By the end of the first chapter, though, any doubts that I may have had were assuaged. It became immediately clear that Kupferschmidt's exploration of Soviet-era communist Czechoslovakia was going to be meaningful in a very intense way. It was the first paragraph of the book, actually, that did me in.

"I do not believe in goodness. . .There is no such thing as universal good, and this is why I say that I do not believe in goodness."

This particular issue is one that has plagued me for as long as I can remember. What is good? Goodness, or morality, rather, is defined by any particular society. When a culture comes together and agrees as a unit that something is good, does that thus make it good? Before the Civil War, Americans has decided that slavery was good. Some citizens disagreed, and they fought against it and, for the most part were punished for this but eventually, because of those people, Americans were able to change their minds and decide that slavery is actually bad. Goodness is relative.

This is why, despite our main character's assessment that he does not believe in goodness, I knew he had to be good, and I knew I would "get" him. I believe it takes a good person to understand that "good" doesn't really exist. This is also why I knew I was going to love this book.

We follow the main character, a blase nobody, a government worker who prefers not caring to thinking, as plays the role of perfect communist, acting as a pawn for the government not because he believes in his government but because he just doesn't care enough to do otherwise. As he slowly is forced by external circumstances to think about his role in society and judge himself as he has previously, unthinkingly, judged others, to come to terms with the things has has done and is being asked to do. And, most importantly, as he learns to take responsibility for himself and for his actions as opposed to allowing himself to be blindly led along by a communist state that he does not and cannot believe in.

Kupferschmidt writes with a humility rarely seen in modern authors. His storyline, while in and of itself simple, is woven through with complex, profound thoughts and intriguing twists and turns. The easy stream-of-consciousness flow is beautiful, captivating, and more than that, real. What happens in this book is so important that understanding it as something real, I think, is vital. While what happens is in the past, it reminds you that being aware is necessary and that we shouldn't let society define things for us - we are allowed to disagree, and even if we can do very little about it, we can, at the very least, change ourselves. Which is one step in the right direction.

If it's not totally evident, I loved this book, and I really think you will, too! It's short and easy to read, and, while you may not love it as much as I did, I sincerely doubt that you will be disappointed.

Summary:In 1968, an inconsequential government worker finds himself swept into the mechanism of state oppression when the Soviet Union invades Czechoslovakia. Put to work processing the warrants for anyone who opposes the new regime, he falls quickly into the moral no-man's-land of repressive bureaucracy. As his signatures send thousands to their fate, a series of encounters with a priest, a prostitute and the ghosts of the disappeared forces him to face the fundamental choice between action and safety.

Cover Story: I think this cover is beautiful. The sad look on the angel's face, to me, really captures the feel of the book.

Review: the Transformation of Bartholomew Fortuno by Ellen Bryson

Title: the Transformation of Bartholomew Fortuno

Author: Ellen Bryson

Rating: 1/2

Who Should Read It? If you liked Water for Elephants, definitely read this book! Even if you didn't, if you've ever felt like an outcast, this may just be the book for you! I loved it, and I highly recommend it!

What I Have to Say:
Let me just start off by saying "Go Ellen Bryson!" With "the Transformation of Bartholomew Fortuno" she has created an easily readable, easily enjoyable story that touches on the one thing from which, at some point in time, all humans have suffered: the feeling of being an outcast. And she has done it well. This book, though it be a first novel, makes it obvious that, when it comes to writing Bryson knows her stuff. I had almost forgotten how pleasant it can be to read a genuinely well-written book. This book has been compared to "Water for Elephants," and the circus feel and pseudo-autobiographical point of view paired with the unique yet plain writing style make this view, in my opinion, right on. Though I would stay that Bryson takes it a notch up stylistically. Her prose is so fluid and vivid that I am still wondering what parts of the story were true and which not.

Bryson's book is told from the point of view of Bartholomew Fortuno who, at 6 feet tall, 67 pounds, is the self/Barnum-appointed skinniest man in the world. He lives in Barnum's museum in Manhanttan along with Barnum's other "curiosities." He, unlike his best friend, Matina, the token fat woman, believes that his body is a gift. He knows that he is a freak, an outcast, but he loves his body despite this, and he believes that it is his job to teach others with his gift. By showing all of himself, he believes that people will take a deeper look into themselves.

When the bearded lady comes along, though, his entire world is turned upside down. Through conversations with her and about her, he begins to see the world in a slightly different way and to question his beliefs about himself and his body. Does he have a choice? And if he does have a choice, can his body actually be a god-given gift?

Through her use of such an extreme as the "freak" circus, Bryson has really captured what it means to be an outcast. Through Fortuno, his friends, and his transformation, we see the world from all of the different possible points of view of "outcast." We see that it is possible to accept and love ourselves no matter what our situation. As all people have at some point in time felt different, it will be hard not to find something or someone to relate to in Bryon's medley of curiosities. Through the questions asked and the transformation of Bartholomew Fortuno, we see just how possible it is to feel stuck without even realizing it. We also see just how possible it is to unstick ourselves.

As you can tell, I loved this book, and I will definitely be looking forward to Ellen Bryson's next work! My biggest problem with this book, though, was that the end just seemed to easy. It seemed like there was all this build-up and then she just sort-of took the easy way out. I also found Forutno's ridiculous obsession with the bearded lady to be at times frustrating, especially in regard to how it caused him to act (or not act) with Matina. It was an integral part of the book, but I thought that it could have been better explained.

This book was a joy to read. It was incredibly simply written and yet, at the end of each chapter, I stopped to think about what I had read. It wasn't necessary, but I feel like I got so much more out of it this way. This book has been billed as a love story, and maybe that's what the author meant it to be, but I didn't see it that way. I almost feel it is a degradation of the book's worth to call it such. It, as the title says, is a book of growth, development, TRANSFORMATION. It is a story of beauty and love and uniqueness, but I fear that if you go in expecting a love story, you will be disappointed. And this book is so great that I really wouldn't want that.

Thanks, Ellen Bryson, for such a new, refreshing read! Now, go out and read this book!

Summary: Water for Elephants meets Geek Love in this riveting first novel, an enchanting love story set in P. T. Barnum's American Museum in 1865 New York City

Bartholomew Fortuno, the World's Thinnest Man, believes that his unusual body is a gift. Hired by none other than P. T. Barnum to work at his spectacular American Museum—a modern marvel of macabre displays, breathtaking theatrical performances, and live shows by Barnum's cast of freaks and oddities—Fortuno has reached the pinnacle of his career. But after a decade of constant work, he finds his sense of self, and his contentment within the walls of the museum, flagging. When a carriage pulls up outside the museum in the dead of night, bearing Barnum and a mysterious veiled woman—rumored to be a new performer—Fortuno's curiosity is piqued. And when Barnum asks Fortuno to follow her and report back on her whereabouts, his world is turned upside down. Why is Barnum so obsessed with this woman? Who is she, really? And why has she taken such a hold on the hearts of those around her?

Set in the New York of 1865, a time when carriages rattled down cobblestone streets, raucous bordellos near the docks thrived, and the country was mourning the death of President Lincoln, The Transformation of Bartholomew Fortuno is a moving novel about human appetites and longings. With pitch-perfect prose, Ellen Bryson explores what it means to be profoundly unique—and how the power of love can transcend even the greatest divisions.

Cover Story: I think this cover, with the curtains and the bird escaping from the cage, is oddly appropriate. Through it's lack of too much detail, it manages to convey the deeper meaning of the book. I love it!

Disclosure: This book was sent to me for review by the publisher. This in no way affected my review.

Review: the Queen of Palmyra by Minrose Gwin

Title: the Queen of Palmyra

Author: Minrose Gwin

Rating:

Who Should Read It? If you can handle feeling tortured on the inside, and if you know how to appreciate good writing, read this book.

What I Have to Say: Minrose Gwin is one of those writers that just knows what she's doing. It doesn't seem like she just woke up one day and decided to write a book. It seems more like she worked hard at it and studied and learned how to become a writer. Which is a good thing. Her prose felt so perfect and natural that it just seemed like it had to have been learned. No one with that amount of talent could have just "decided to have a book" and miraculously have it turn out as the Queen of Palmyra. It is just too well-written.

The Queen of Palmyra is a deeply touching, deeply affecting novel. 11-year old Florence grows up in 1963 in Mississippi. Her education is lacking, and her loyalties are separated between her cake-baking mother and her racist father, who allows her to practically be raised by her grandparents' black maid. Through Florence's uncomprehending eyes, the reader comes to understand just how horrifying it must have been to grow up in small town Mississippi during this time. She loves her father, and she loves her mother, and she loves Zenie, and she is completely oblivious to the tension between them.

It is Florence's innocence, really, that makes this book so amazing. Somehow, Minrose Gwin manages to reveal all to the reader through a narrator that didn't understand all. She composes an intricate, complicated story with well-developed characters and believable, torturous events. I have no doubt in my mind that some of these things probably happened. Nothing could have prepared me for my reaction to this book. I'd heard that it was painful, I'd heard that it hurt to read, but it was more than that. Florence's innocence and the way she was just pulled along by the events, by the horrors that her father committed and her mother's inability to escape him, was torturous. I felt for her, I cried for her, I wished that someone would explain things to her, but at the same time I was glad that they didn't. Because she might not have survived if she had really understood her father.

Racism was such a big issue back then, and Minrose Gwin approached this issue in a valid, believable, horrifying way. It's obvious that Gwin herself must have grown up in a place where racism is still a palpable thing. There is no way that she could have described it with such precision and grace otherwise. It felt like she was in the minds of her characters, and as such, I felt able to step into their shoes for a moment. And I wanted out.

I don't really know what else to say, other than read this book. The summary calls the summer turbulent, and that really is the best word I can think of to describe this book. Turbulent. Turbulence that you will enjoy. It's not an easy read, and you can't expect it to be. But it is enjoyable, and it will affect you, and you will be glad that you did decide to read it.

Summary:

"I need you to understand how ordinary it all was. . . ."

In the turbulent southern summer of 1963, Millwood's white population steers clear of "Shake Rag," the black section of town. Young Florence Forrest is one of the few who crosses the line. The daughter of a burial insurance salesman with dark secrets and the town's "cake lady," whose backcountry bootleg runs lead further and further away from a brutal marriage, Florence attaches herself to her grandparents' longtime maid, Zenie Johnson. Named for Zenobia, Queen of Palmyra, Zenie treats the unwanted girl as just another chore, while telling her stories of the legendary queen's courage and cunning.

The more time Florence spends in Shake Rag, the more she recognizes how completely race divides her town, and her story, far from ordinary, bears witness to the truth and brutality of her times—a truth brought to a shattering conclusion when Zenie's vibrant college-student niece, Eva Greene, arrives that fateful Mississippi summer.

Minrose Gwin's The Queen of Palmyra is an unforgettable evocation of a time and a place in America—a nuanced, gripping story of race and identity.

Cover Story: I love this cover. Florence's innocence and sadness is conveyed perfectly. It is so appropriate.

Disclosure: This book was sent to me for review by the publisher. This in no way affected my review.

Review: Looking for Alaska by John Green

Title: Looking for Alaska

Author: John Green

Rating: 1/2

Who Should Read It? Teenagers of all shapes and sizes and adults who remember being teenagers!

What I Have to Say: This book begins with a boy who goes off to boarding school and starts smoking; I really thought there was no way I could like it. It was so immensely real and powerful, though, that disliking it was just an impossibility. Even with all the high school smoking.

before: Boarding school. If you've ever wondered what it's like to attend a merit-based boarding school, read this book. This is it. This is what my junior and senior years of high school would have been like if we had had as much freedom at my boarding school as they had at Culver Creek. The bond so immediately formed between Pudge, Alaska, and the Colonel is something that can only exist between high schoolers living in such close proximity; who spend all of their time together by default, by circumstance. It doesn't matter if they have anything in common. They are basically obliged to grow to know everything about each other so that their lives are literally cemented together. What happens to one happens to all; what matters to one grows to matter to all.

I was shocked and impressed by just how right on John Green's descriptions of their boarding schools lives and their relationships were. Reading, I almost felt like I was in boarding school all over again. Pudge, the Colonel, Takumi, Alaska, and Lara were all just so right, so real, so emotional and deel and intense and screwed up and wonderful. Discovering them and their lives and the bond they formed was like making friends. Alaska is practically bipolar, and it's exciting to guess what she might do next. Pudge, with his obsession with last words; the Colonel with his no BS attitude, Takumi with his raps - they all brought something to the group which, in a way, was more important than the individuals themselves.

after: I sobbed. And most likely, you will, too. Like it says in the summary "nothing will ever be the same." It won't. Not just in the book, but in your life. Because what happens and the way of dealing with it WILL affect you in a deep and profound way. It's edgy and gritty, and from it you'll learn a new way of coping, which in one sense is universal and in another sense is something that could only exist in a boarding school setting. After, the individual becomes key while still stressing the importance of the group.

Days after reading this book, I once again find myself crying while writing and re-thinking about what happened. I think it moved me so deeply because of my boarding school experiences, but I don't want to downplay the power of this book. I think if it doesn't move you in some way, you must be unmovable.

This was my first experience reading John Green, and let me assure you, it won't be my last. Read this book. Now!

Summary: Sixteen-year-old Miles Halter's adolescence has been one long nonevent - no challenge, no girls, no mischief, and no real friends. Seeking what Rabelais called the "Great Perhaps," he leaves Florida for a boarding school in Birmingham, AL. His roommate, Chip, is a dirt-poor genius scholarship student with a Napoleon complex who lives to one-up the school's rich preppies. Chip's best friend is Alaska Young, with whom Miles and every other male in her orbit falls instantly in love. She is literate, articulate, and beautiful, and she exhibits a reckless combination of adventurous and self-destructive behavior. She and Chip teach Miles to drink, smoke, and plot elaborate pranks. Alaska's story unfolds in all-night bull sessions, and the depth of her unhappiness becomes obvious. Green's dialogue is crisp, especially between Miles and Chip. His descriptions and Miles's inner monologues can be philosophically dense, but are well within the comprehension of sensitive teen readers. The chapters of the novel are headed by a number of days "before" and "after" what readers surmise is Alaska's suicide. These placeholders sustain the mood of possibility and foreboding, and the story moves methodically to its ambiguous climax. The language and sexual situations are aptly and realistically drawn, but sophisticated in nature. Miles's narration is alive with sweet, self-deprecating humor, and his obvious struggle to tell the story truthfully adds to his believability. Like Phineas in John Knowles's A Separate Peace(S & S, 1960), Green draws Alaska so lovingly, in self-loathing darkness as well as energetic light, that readers mourn her loss along with her friends. - Johanna Lewis, New York Public Library

Cover Story: I find this cover intriguing and slightly beautiful, and it actually took me a little while to figure out how it tied in with the book, which of course made me love it even more.

Review: the Puzzle King by Betsy Carter

Title: the Puzzle King

Author: Betsy Carter

Rating: 1/2

Who Should Read It? If you have any interest whatsoever in World War II (and you're a girl), then this book is absolutely for you! Other than that, I'd say this book is for people that enjoy a great story with tons of history weaved and that don't mind crying at the end of a book.

What I Have to Say:
I ADORED this book. Those of you that read by review of Songbird Under A German Moon know that I unfortunately sort of missed out on World War II history. This is one of the many reasons for which I absolutely adore books that give me a glimpse of what it was like. In Betsy Carter's gripping tale of love and family and heartache, that is exactly what she does. She brings Jewish characters to life in the times leading up to war. She breathes life into faceless characters who were previously no more than a name. She brings Judaism in America and Germany alive in a time when the focus was on death.

Betsy Carter did an amazing job of showing what it must have been like to be a Jewish living in America at the time, trying to remember their roots and their families back in Europe but at the same time trying to become American and to take advantage of the opportunities that being American brought to them. How does one balance such things in a such a time, when these interests are clearly conflicting? It is clear that extensive research went into the writing of this book, and it seems like she covered all of the bases. Both the story and the style were engaging, and I found that I learned a lot from a book that, ultimately, I found I couldn't put down.

Simon Phelps and Flora Grossman are two European born Jewish Americans, and when they meet, it seems as if things are meant to be. The love and history and life they share is nothing short of beautiful. These two people really existed, and Simon Phelps really was the puzzle king, but after that there is no way of knowing their true stories. I like to believe that there story is at least something like the story of these two amazingly strong, caring people in the book. The stories of their families are just as engaging.

The only real problem I had with this book, and the reason I didn't give it 5 stars, is that it ended too soon. Towards the end, it sped up too quickly and then suddenly ended, when there were still things that I wanted to know. What happened to Flora's family, to her sister Seema and to her niece and everyone else. These people had become important to me, and they seemed to have no real endings.

Despite that, this book struck me, and when, in the end, I learned that Simon and Flora Phelps nee Grossman existed and were actually related to the author of this book, I almost started crying. I needed to call everyone I know and tell them about this wonderful, touching story. It is, without a doubt, one I won't be forgetting for a long time to come.

Summary: On a gray morning in 1936, Flora Phelps stands in line at the American consulate in Stuttgart, Germany. She carries a gift for the consul, whom she will bribe in order to help her family get out of Hitler’s Germany. This is the story of unlikely heroes, the lively, beautiful Flora and her husband, the brooding, studious Simon, two Jewish immigrants who were each sent to America by their families to find better lives. An improbable match, they meet in New York City and fall in love. Simon—inventor of the jigsaw puzzle—eventually makes his fortune. Now wealthy, but still outsiders, Flora and Simon become obsessed with rescuing the loved ones they left behind in Europe whose fates are determined by growing anti-Semitism on both sides of the Atlantic.

Inspired by her family’s legends, Betsy Carter weaves a memorable tale. In the tradition of Suite Française or Amy Bloom's Away, she explores a fascinating moment in history and creates a cast of characters who endure with dignity, grace, and hope for the future.

Cover Story: I like this cover, but I don't think it really gives a feel for what the book actually is until AFTER you have read the book, if that makes sense. I felt one thing about it before I read the book, and then, after reading the book and understanding the cover, I absolutely fell in love with it.

Disclosure: This book was sent to me by the publisher for review.

Review: Veracity by Laura Bynum

Title: Veracity

Author: Laura Bynum

Rating: 1/2

Who Should Read It? Lovers of dystopian fiction, young and old alike. Anyone looking for an exciting, fast-paced sci-fi read that doesn't mind a little bit of politics added into the mix.

What I Have to Say:
ve-rac-i-ty: habitual observance of truth in speech or statement; truthfulness; conformity to truth or fact

Veracity is one of the most believable dystopian fiction novels I have read, because it is so closely based on what seems to be happening in our world today. Slowly, all of their freedoms are taken away for the sake of "security." Over half of the population is killed from a huge pandemic (in real life, "they" keep announcing that one is going to happen any day now). The government slowly takes more and more liberties with the peoples' lives in the name of making their lives more easily livable. Slowly, their world becomes socialist, which slowly and easily turns into totalitarianism. Hmmmm. . .sounds very familiar to me, and I can easily imagine what is happening in the United States today turning into this book. We'll still be allowed to smoke cigarettes, killing everyone around us, and eat meat, thus torturing the animals of the world, but words will be Red-Listed, and if we say them, the slates implanted in our necks will give off an electric charge, quite possibly killing us.

Laura Bynum's "Veracity" was so spine-chilling and frightening because IT COULD HAPPEN. It makes you grateful for the world you live in while at the same opening your eyes to the fact that the path on which we are presently might lead us to such a devestating freedomless world, in which you can't even say the word "democracy" unless you are willing to risk possible death from slate-shock.

Her descriptions of this future dystopic world were vivid and gruesome, and the characters with which she peopled her world were well thought-out and brutal, from the moniters with their extra-sensory abilities to the Blue Coats who raped and tortured without a second thought to the resistance who stayed strong and believed in truth and freedom through it all.

Harper Adams is a very interesting protagonist, and in a way, she sort of makes the book. She's a complete walking contradiction - strong yet weak, bold yet timid. At times she's a leader, and at other times it seems like circumstances have her following a course that she might not otherwise have followed. If it weren't for her daughter, would she ever have found the courage to do what she did? Would she ever have had the desire? She was an amazing protagonist, and it was an absolute joy reading her story.

There were, of course, a couple problems that I had wwith this book. It jumped time periods with regular consistency, and since the time periods were always so close together, it was sometimes hard to follow. I kept having to look back to see if the previous chapter also took place in 2045, and if so, in what month. Also, I wanted to know SO MUCH MORE! There was so much more background information that I wanted, but it just wasn't there. And it would have been hard to put it there because there was alreay SO MUCH INFORMATION! I think that the book could have been a good 100 pages longer, but at the same time, if it had been this might have been overwhelming for some.

These problems, though, in no way dampen the impact and enjoyability of this book. It will have you turning pages in a frenzy and thinking for days. I highly recommend it to all lovers of dystopian fiction!

Summary: Harper Adams was six years old in 2012 when an act of viral terrorism wiped out one-half of the country's population. Out of the ashes rose a new government, the Confederation of the Willing, dedicated to maintaining order at any cost. The populace is controlled via government-sanctioned sex and drugs, a brutal police force known as the Blue Coats, and a device called the slate, a mandatory implant that monitors every word a person speaks. To utter a Red-Listed, forbidden word is to risk physical punishment or even death.

But there are those who resist. Guided by the fabled "Book of Noah," they are determined to shake the people from their apathy and ignorance, and are prepared to start a war in the name of freedom. The newest member of this resistance is Harper -- a woman driven by memories of a daughter lost, a daughter whose very name was erased by the Red List. And she possesses a power that could make her the underground warriors' ultimate weapon -- or the instrument of their destruction.

In the tradition of Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale, Laura Bynum has written an astonishing debut novel about a chilling, all-too-plausible future in which speech is a weapon and security comes at the highest price of all.

Cover Story: Okay, so I don't like this cover. I like the color, but it doesn't really feel like the book to me at all. It seems to be a complete misrepresentation.

Disclosure: This book was provided by Pocket Books, which in no way reflected my review.

Review: Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater

Title: Shiver

Author: Maggie Stiefvater

Rating: 1/2

Who Should Read It? This is great YA with just the right amount of paranormal. I would recommend it to anyone who regularly enjoys YA reads. In its own way, it will appeal to both the adult end of the YA spectrum and the much younger end of the spectrum.

What I Have to Say:
This book starts off like poetry, like breathing. Each page is a lyrical inhale, a lyrical exhale. Nothing has to happen - all that matters is Grace and Same, a girl and her world.

This is one of the most beautiful love stories I have ever read, and yet, to call it romantic would be an understatement. Every word, every phrase, every paragraph was written with such love and care that to call it romantic would cheapen its beauty, its impact. It's just love, pure and simple, and yet somehow also oh so complicated.

Grace and Same are one of the most intense and believable couples I have ever read. How they fell for each other, their immediate attraction, seems so real and makes so much sense to me. And their interactions with each other reinforce their intrinsic attraction over and over again. They are so different and yet so alike; they complement each other perfectly. They made me laugh, they almost made me cry, and they regularly made me hold my breath in anticipation, full of hope and desire that things would work out for them.

They are both incredibly well-developed characters with incredibly well-developed, beautiful stories. The secondary characters are also full of life and history, and I felt almost as connected to them as I did to Sam and Grace. Isabel with her straightforward spunk, never whom you expect her to be; Trevor, so full of anger and yet also so full of hope; Rachel, with the bit of livelihood and humour she brings to an otherwise heart-wrenching story. Through Stiefvater's poetic cadence, they all became so alive, so important.

This book ends the same way it begin - like poetry, like breathing. Your heart will be breaking while at the same time bursting with hope. And maybe even joy. I think at heart Maggie Stiefvater is really a poet. And it's hard not to get caught up in the beauty and tragedy of this book.

Summary (from GoodReads): For years, Grace has watched the wolves in the woods behind her house. One yellow-eyed wolf—her wolf—is a chilling presence she can't seem to live without. Meanwhile, Sam has lived two lives: In winter, the frozen woods, the protection of the pack, and the silent company of a fearless girl. In summer, a few precious months of being human ... until the cold makes him shift back again.

Now, Grace meets a yellow-eyed boy whose familiarity takes her breath away. It's her wolf. It has to be. But as winter nears, Sam must fight to stay human--or risk losing himself, and Grace, forever.

Cover Story: I think this cover is beautiful, just like the book. The subtlety greatly appeals to me - the wolf hiding in the background, so you almost don't notice him, captures the feel of this book perfectly.

Review: Sixteen Years in Sixteen Seconds: The Sammy Lee Story by Paula Yoo with illustrations by Dom Lee

Title: Sixteen Years in Sixteen Seconds: The Sammy Lee Story

Author: Paula Yoo

Illustrations: Dom Lee

Rating: 1/2

Who Should Read It? I think most people could benefit from this book, and it is such a pleasant read that I think anyone would enjoy it. It is especially great, though, for classroom reading, especially in more underprivileged areas.

What I Have to Say: This is one of those fabulous books that makes kids curious about learning. The story of Sammy Lee's fight for racial freedom, his struggle balanding his father's wishes and his own, and of his determination in all his endeavours is nothing short of inspiring. His struggle as a Korean American trying to become an Olympic swimmer was so inspiring that I almost cried.

Any child who reads this book will, by the end, have no doubt that the final phrase is true: "In America, you can achieve anything if you set your heart to it." As such, this is a great story for a teacher to read with his class. Young students have often been known to be lazy and to feel entitled. This book will help them understand that it is not that way for everyone, that struggling is a part of life, and it will hopefully inspire them to work harder, especially in the face of difficulty.

In the summary, it says "Sammy Lee's story of determination and triumph sets an extraordinary example for anyone striving to fulfill a dream." I couldn't have said it better myself. I can't over-express how true that statement is.

All this raving, and I haven't yet said anything about the gorgeous illustrations. Each image was beautifully drawn with such obivous love and care that they were all inspiriations in and of themselves.


I highly recommend this book!

Summary (from Good Reads): The inspirational true story of Sammy Lee, a Korean American who overcame discrimination to realize both his father's desire that he become a doctor and his own dream of becoming an Olympic champion diver.

Cover Story: I think this is a beautifullly illustrated cover that fits the mood and feel of the book perfectly.

Disclosure: This book was provided to me by the publisher. This in no way affected my review.

IBBMP Review: Magic Under Glass by Jaclyn Dolamore

I'm so excited because I was chosen this month for the International Book Blogger Mentor Program by Lenore from Presenting Lenore. She sent me three absolutely FANTASTIC books, and this is my first review of one of those books. THANK YOU, LENORE!!!!

Title: Magic Under Glass

Author: Jaclyn Dolamore

Rating: 1/2

Who Should Read It?

What I Have to Say: I finished this book 2 days ago, and I'm still sort-of in awe. Magic Under Glass was a stunning, beautifully written, uniquely nontraditional debut novel. It left me breathless.

Right from the start, I knew that Nimira was going to be the type of narrator that I love - gutsy and ballsy and totally identifiable. She keeps a good attitude and a strong composure despite all of the hardships she has suffered, and even if she has trouble admitting it, she continues to let herself dream.

When Mr. Parry, a fancy magician, comes along and wants to hire her to sing with his automaton, she believes that her dreams have come true. What actually happens, though, is unlike anything she had ever even thought to dream of. The secrets Nimira uncovers when she moves into Mr. Parry's house send her on a wild journey of magic and love and deceit and friendship and betrayal.

Dolamore has done an amazing job of giving Nimira a distinct voice, that leaves the reader believing they are reading something that takes place in the past while at the same time taking place in a creative, believable fantasy world, rife with magic and faeries and racism and politics. She has peopled this world with interesting, unique, believable characters and hard-hitting problems.

In the end, though, "Magic Under Glass" is, in essence, a love story like no other, and I have always been a sap for forbidden, strange love. Nim, a lowly trouser girl, and Erris, a fairy prince, are so different, and yet their circumstances are so similar that it is easy to see how their friendship, as it develops, easily turned into love. I fell hard for them both, and I couldn't stop turning the pages, practically praying that things would work out for them.

Magic Under Glass is fast-paced and enchanting, with an ending that will leave you shocked and wanting more. No, make that needing more. Dolamore has written her debut novel with such beauty and grace that I couldn't help but wonder if it really is a debut novel or if there's something she's not telling us.

Summary:Nimira is a music-hall performer forced to dance for pennies to an audience of leering drunks. When wealthy sorcerer Hollin Parry hires her to do a special act - singing accompaniment to an exquisite piano-playing automaton, Nimira believes it is the start of a new life. In Parry's world, however, buried secrets stir. Unsettling below-stairs rumours abound about ghosts, a mad woman roaming the halls, and of Parry's involvement in a gang of ruthless sorcerers who torture fairies for sport. When Nimira discovers the spirit of a dashing young fairy gentleman is trapped inside the automaton's stiff limbs, waiting for someone to break the curse and set him free, the two fall in love. But it is a love set against a dreadful race against time to save the entire fairy realm, which is in mortal peril.

Cover Story: There was quite a bit of controversy about the US cover of this book, and so they changed it. After reading the book, I understand why this was so necessary, as Nim's race is such a major part of who she is and what she has to go through in a new country. Unfortunately, I think the new cover is attrocious, and it gives me no desire whatsoever to read this book. The British cover, however, is quite lovely.