Review: The Secret of Ka by Christopher Pike

So, things in my life are changing, and it seems like over the next few months, I'm going to be having quite a bit of free time. . .at least for the months of February and March. And I'd really like to take that free time to get back into book blogging. . .so I'm hoping to take the month of January to ease into it, and I figured I'd start with this lovely little book I read a while ago from Net Galley. Enjoy! And say hi! :-)

Title: the Secret of Ka

Author: Christopher Pike

Rating:

Who Should Read It?
I've always thought of Christopher Pike as a horror author. If you've never really been into that aspect of him, you could still love this book. It's a beautiful, wonderful mystery style YA book that's got a little something for everyone! As long as you can deal with the occasional discrepancy.

What I Have to Say:
The Secret of Ka reminded me of the 80's, and for those of you wondering, that's a good thing. A great thing, even. I used to love R.L. Stine and Christopher Pike and the Babysitter's Club and Sweet Valley High, and this book somehow managed to feel to me like all of those things combined while reading it. It's a lovely, somewhat fluffy, magical mystery, with bored teenagers, love, and magic carpets.

So it was good, a super fun read! Unfortunately, that's all it was. I don't feel like we really got to know Sara and Amesh, the two main characters, all that well. They were lacking in dimension, and I didn't really like what I did learn about them. And I never really understood why they came to like each other. . .they somehow just didn't seem like a good fit to me. Also, I felt like, since the author decided (seemingly at random) that the story was to take place in Turkey, I felt like he could have done a little bit more research on Turkey itself.

The thing is, though, it didn't have to take place in Turkey, as so much of it was in this beautiful, fantasy place of Pike's creation. I almost felt like it would have been better if the entire thing had just been in some fictive place or even some place totally boring and plain, like Montana. I'm not entirely sure why Turkey had to even come into the picture.

All of this aside, I really did enjoying reading. It was a quick, light read with lots of twists and turns and enough action and thinking to keep you turning the pages right up to the very end. Final verdict - I liked it, despite the bad things I have to say about it!

Summary: One minute Sara's bored on vacation in Istanbul. The next, she's unearthed a flying carpet that cleverly drags her to the mysterious Island of the Djinn—or genies. By her side is Amesh, a cute guy she has a crush on but doesn't yet trust. When Amesh learns the secret of invoking djinn, he loses control. He swears he'll call upon only one djinn and make one wish. The plan sounds safe enough. But neither Sara nor Amesh are any match for the monster that that swells before them. It hypnotizes Amesh, compelling him to steal Sara’s flying carpet and leave her stranded on the island.

Discovering the carpet has sparked a new path for Sara, one that will lead her to battle creatures even deadlier than djinn. In this fight, Sara can save mankind, herself, or the boy she cares for. Who will she be forced to sacrifice?

Cover Story: Love love LOVE this cover! It's absolutely GORGEOUS with the dark blue night sky and the stars twinkling in the sky. And then Sara majestically flying on the carpet. Just lovely!

Disclosure: I received this book for free via net galley. This in no way affected my review.

Review: Wildthorn by Jane Eagland

Have you entered my Book Blogging to Save Japan contest yet! Do something to help Japan in this time of crisis, let me know what you did (either in a comment or by e-mail - zedster.tbb(at)gmail(DOT)com), and be entered to win! Ending in two weeks, so check it nowish! :-)

Title: Wildthorn

Author: Jane Eagland

Rating:

Who Should Read It?
A GREAT book for all fans of YA, especially those that like a lot of intrigue and a bit of mystery.

What I Have to Say:
I really really really LOVED this book, and I desperately wanted to feel like I could give it 5 stars or even 4 1/2 stars. Unfortunately, though, there were just some parts that felt over-contrived. If that makes sense. As difficult as it was to get to the point in which things worked out for Lou, things worked out just a little bit too easily for her. Things always ended up being pretty much EXACTLY as you expected them to be.

That said, this book read SO smoothly. I had barely started before I was finished - almost like I got so into it that I never even really felt myself reading.

The story starts off when Lou ends up at the doors of a mental institution, where she is told she is crazy, and she must be schizophrenic, as she doesn't even seem to know her own name. The more she tries to convince the people there that she is not crazy, the crazier she seems. No one believes her, except for one exceptionally sympathetic worker, Eliza.

This book moves flawlessly back and forth between Louisa's time at Wildthorn, the mental institution, and her memories of growing up with her mother, her doctor father, and her terrible brother. This book moves back and forth between past and present so smoothly that, if you don't think about it too much, it's difficult to know whether Lou's memories are memories or figments of her imagination. Is she actually Louisa Cosgrove? Or is she really the crazy Lucy Childs?

I really enjoyed every aspect of this story, except maybe the love story. I don't want to say too much about it, as I'm afraid it will give to much away, but it really just felt out of place to me. I was totally incapable of believing it, even from a fictional point of view.

Anyway, overall, this book is mysterious, well-written, and full of mystery and intrigue! It will keep you easily reading and excited right up until the very end.

Summary:Seventeen-year-old Louisa Cosgrove longs to break free from her respectable life as a Victorian doctor's daughter. But her dreams become a nightmare when Louisa is sent to Wildthorn Hall: labeled a lunatic, deprived of her liberty and even her real name. As she unravels the betrayals that led to her incarceration, she realizes there are many kinds of prison. She must be honest with herself - and others - in order to be set free. And love may be the key...

Cover Story: It's kind of fabulous. Maybe I'm wrong, but it seems like the corsette might be symbolic for all the different ways that Lou found herself trapped throughout her life. Wonderful cover!

Disclosure: This book was received for review from Net Galley. This in no way affected my review.

Review: Karma Bites by Stacey Kramer and Valerie Thomas

As I think has been evidenced by my lack of presence in the blogging world lately, I haven't really been feeling the desire to say anything about books lately. I want to read them and not feel like I HAVE to have something to say. It's weird, as I used to feel like I was just DYING to get something out every time I would finish reading something. Anyhow, I'm going to give this a try here, but it's been a while. Also, have you entered this awesome contest yet? If not, you should. So go do it. Now.

Title: Karma Bites

Author: Stacey Kramer and Valerie Thomas

Rating: 1/2

Who Should Read It?
This is a book that will really appeal to middle grade readers. It's absolutely brilliant for the age range to which it's aiming, and adults might still enjoy it for nostalgia purposes.

What I Have to Say:
Karma Bites was cute. Really cute. An absolutely adorable read for any middle grade reader, I think. I feel like the problem I have, a lot of times, with middle grade books, is that I am so far away from being that age that I'm just totally incapable of understanding the main character. Which leaves me finding them absolutely annoying and unsupportable. Franny Flanders, while slightly annoying at times, managed to escape the annoying middle grade main character stereotype.

She was funny and ballsy and ridiculous, and even though she often had absolutely nothing going for her, she managed to be just the right amount of OCD neurotic ridiculous (which is something, I must say, I can totally understand). And maybe that's why I almost ended up loving her at the end. She messed up EVERYTHING, but in that way that it's just messed up enough so that everything is okay. And this is something I also do regularly in my daily life. Which made her, despite our age difference, totally relate-to-able.

Franny Flanders aside, the rest of the characters, from the into the occult Granny with the magic box to Alden, the supposed love of Franny's life who once managed to touch her ear for a whole few seconds, to her two best friends who can't talk to each other, were all just the right amount of ridiculous. I loved reading about everything and everyone Franny managed to screw up.

Unfortunately, there were also times when this book lagged. Some things that were funny in the beginning just kept going on and on and on and on and on (and then on and on some more), when I really wished they would just end. The twists never really felt like twists, instead feeling more like inevitabilities. The plot was just too easy at times. And then, while I'm into magic and therefore loved that aspect of the book, I'm also tired of reading about stereotypical cliques, and without those, this book couldn't have existed.

Still, my final conclusion is that it was an overall pleasant and funny read, best read in one sitting.

Summary: Life seems to have it in for Franny Flanders.

Her best friends aren’t speaking, her parents just divorced, and her hippie grandmother has moved in. The only karma Franny’s got is bad karma.

Then Franny gets her hands on a box of magic recipes that could fix all of her problems. It could even change the world! Finally, life is looking up.

But Franny is about to learn that magic and karma aren’t to be played with. When you mess with the universe, it can bite back in unexpected ways.

Ouch!

Cover Story: I really enjoy this cover! I don't know why, but it sort of reminds me of a Goosebumps cover. I used to LOVE those books back when I was, like 10. Definitely got the nostalgia feeling going on!

Disclosure: This book was sent to me for review for the publisher, which in no way affected what I had to say. :-P

Review: The Atomic Weight of Secrets or the Arrival of the Mysterious Men In Black by Eden Unger Bowditch

Title: the Atomic Weight of Secrets or the Arrival of the Mysterious Men In Black

Author: Eden Unger Bowditch

Rating:

Who Should Read It?
This is a great book for ages 12 or 13 and over. I think it might be a little too slow for those younger than that, but adults interested in YA (especially those that have ever been intrigued by a bit of science) will love it!

What I Have to Say:
i LOVED this book! I'm going to be honest - what attracted me to this book most in the beginning was the title. I liked how it was long and started off with "the Atomic Weight of Secrets." It sounded mathy to me, and I love math!

It starts when 5 exceptionally brilliant children are, seemingly without warning, separated from their brilliant, scientist parents, and brought to live together. When I started reading it, even though I immediately enjoyed it, it was initially hard for me to tell if it was really a book for me. It did start off a little bit slowly, and there was something about the men in black with their odd outfits and even odder hats that didn't sit right with me. It almost felt, well, pointless. And even after finishing the book, I'm still not sure I understand.

By the end, though, that didn't matter, and I actually began to enjoy the author's creativity in describing these elusive "men in black." The character's were all extremely wonderfully developed and enjoyable - you could tell, by the time the author put into giving back story and helping us to know everything there was to know about each of the five children, that she really loved these children. As such, I also grew not only to know them, but to love them.

All five of the children are brilliant scientists, just like their parents, but the fact that they are also children and, thus, childish, makes them incredibly endearing. It's impossible not to find yourself completely drawn in as these children fight and work to understand each other, the men in black, and why their parents would just allow them to be abandoned like that. As they learn to work together to try to "save" their parents, their five separate stories begin to meld together in a beautiful way.

Though the book did feel slow at times, for the most part it was just action-packed and exciting; absolutely perfect for the train on which I was reading it!

I would definitely recommend it to those interested in YA! And I know I'll definitely be reading the second book in the series, if only to find out more about what is up with these men in black and their funny goggles or black bunny ears!


Summary:In 1903, five truly brilliant young inventors, the children of the world’s most important scientists, went about their lives and their work as they always had.

But all that changed the day the men in black arrived.

They arrived to take twelve-year-old Jasper Modest and his six-year-old sister, Lucy—he with his remarkable creations and she with her perfect memory—from their London, England home to a place across the ocean they’d never seen before.

They arrived to take nine-year-old Wallace Banneker, last in a long line of Africa-descended scientists, from his chemistry, his father, and his New York home to a life he’d never imagined.

Twelve-year-old Noah Canto-Sagas, already missing his world-famous and beloved mother, was taken from Toronto, Canada, carrying only his clothes, his violin, and his remarkable mind.

And thirteen-year-old Faye Vigyanveta, the genius daughter of India’s wealthiest and most accomplished scientists, was removed by force from her life of luxury.

From all across the world, they’ve been taken to mysterious Sole Manner Farm, and a beautiful but isolated schoolhouse in Dayton, Ohio, without a word from their parents as to why. Not even the wonderful schoolteacher they find there, Miss Brett, can explain it. She can give them love and care, but she can’t give them answers.

Things only get stranger from there. What is the book with no pages Jasper and Lucy find in their mother’s underwear drawer, and why do the men in black want it so badly?

How is it all the children have been taught the same bizarre poem—and yet no other rhymes or stories their entire lives?

And why haven’t their parents tried to contact them?

Whatever the reasons, to brash, impetuous Faye, the situation is clear: They and their parents have been kidnapped by these terrible men in black, and the only way they’re going to escape and rescue their parents is by completing the invention they didn’t even know they were all working on—an invention that will change the world forever.

But what if the men in black aren’t trying to harm the children? What if they’re trying to protect them?

And if they’re trying to protect them—from what?

An amazing story about the wonders of science and the still greater wonders of friendship, The Atomic Weight of Secrets or The Mysterious Men in Black , the first book of the Young Inventors Guild trilogy, is a truly original novel. Young readers will forever treasure Eden Unger Bowditch’s funny, inventive, poignant, and wonderfully fun fiction debut.

Cover Story: I hadn't seen the cover before reading the book (or if I had, I don't remember it), but looking at it after the fact, it would certainly inspire me to read the book. It's intriguing! Unfortunately, I think it's also a little bit more adult than the book itself. Other than that, great cover, which I'm planning on taking a little more time to examine in a minute!