Dreaming In Books

Title:  Chime

Author:  Franny Billingsley

Publisher:  Dial

Series:  None

Other Reviews for This Author:  None

Sometimes you expect a book to be one thing, and it ends up becoming something else.  A case of cocoon versus butterfly, if you think about it.  Chime is one of those books.  The cover is pretty, but gives one a vibe for paranormal romance.  While romantic intentions do occur in the book, it's definitely not the PNR variety we see in YA.  It's pages open instead to a beautifully rendered world that is part history, part fantasy.  The first page astounded me with how beautiful the passages were, and it only got better from there...

There is nothing more gruesome to Briony than her secret.  Her secret is the cause for her life's many misfortunes.  The death of Stepmother.  Rose and her addled mind.  Even, perhaps, the haunting sickness that overcomes the children of the Swampsea with racking coughs until they slowly fade away.  Moving back to the Swampsea after Stepmother's death has left her entire family out of sorts.  Her father continues to go on inspiring the people with his holy ways, but seems to forget about his daughters.  Is there no escape from bad Briony? 

Briony finds things all the more frustrating when Eldric moves in with them in Swampsea.  Getting kicked out of school has left him in a tight position, and he is more than welcomed in their household.  He's just a man-beast to Briony.  Rose doesn't particularly care for men, either.  Men are just another thing to worry about in the Swamp.  Dark Muses, the Dead Hand, and even the fabled Boggy Mun.  Swampsea is not safe for people inside or out.  It's also home to witches who ride broomsticks and do black magic on the poor townsfolk.  There is many a reason why Stepmother told Briony to never go in their again.

She can't go in because she is a witch.  That is the secret she holds closest to her heart.  The black as night secret that would get her hung on the gallows for any kind of indiscretion.  Bad, bad Briony is not deserving of this life, but she must not tell this secret.  Even to Eldric, whom she and Rose begin to befriend.  Not her father, who firmly believes in the right of the law.  The appearance of a few witches that causes the need for a trial sets things off once again.  The Chime child - someone born neither on one day nor the other - has the final say in the destruction of witches.  Little can Briony know that she will tell her story in the same position as the poor woman who is believed to be a witch. 

The unreliable narrator is perhaps one of the most difficult but rewarding writing devices in YA fiction.  Do you believe the person telling the story or not?  Where does fact end and fiction begin?  Briony is such an interesting character to use this with, because she isn't a pathological liar or a criminal.  She has no reason to be false about her accounts.  If anything, her position requires her to be truthful.  She starts and ends her tale on the verge of being executed for witchcraft.  It brings to question an entirely different mindset.  How is the character's history different from the historical reality?  We see people like her father and Stepmother come into the picture, and she has them stereotyped.  Yet we know they are not like that.  There is a great sense of layer to the story.  Briony narrates in a self-depreciating voice.  Doom and personal gloom.  It draws you in, and before long you get caught up in a frenzied and poet mass of storytelling that is both an outward and personal struggle to find out where the truth is among the muck.  You question the existence of love and light in a world that is both dark and dreary yet a near parody in how it's written.  Briony really makes you think.

This is one volume where the characters are fleshed out on all parts.  Rose is the best example of someone with an 'addled mind' as I put it above that I have seen in a while.  It's so hard to write a character like that in historical context because one has to put it into perspective.  Rose can be childlike, but Billingsley doesn't shy away from making her have some interesting and thought-altering ideas and situations.  Their father is at first glance another workaholic, but he too emerges as someone who has more care and thought behind his actions.  There was something really intense when learning his truths later on in the story that made me respect his character.  Eldric was my favorite, though.  Light and fun and the complete opposite of Briony in so many ways, he was the flame to her oil lamp.  The way the narration would lighten and Eldric would joke and chuckle, bargain and deduce...it was brilliant!  He made his way into my heart, and I never supported a romance more. 

If you can't tell, there is an undeniable and newfound love (and I use this term very seriously) for the writing style of Franny Billingsley.  It's raw and poetic and beautiful.  She made me feel like I was in a demented storybook.  Swampsea is so easily imaginable.  I loved the subtle differences and similarities to our time.  She also does the fantasy in a way as to be accessible but not overbearing.  It feels the kind of magical that you find in children's stories.  It just makes total sense with everything.  Her adjectives and use of narrative are really effective.  I wondered how her style would match up with Nancy Werlin's, considering a blurb is from her, and I was happy to find it was the same type of high quality stuff.  So much better than some other trite things people try to pass off as extremely well written.  This, this is awesome. 

Let this convince you to read this book.  It's subtle and harsh, with the voice of a poet and the storytelling that begs to be remembered and thought upon.  You will find the thoughts and whirs of story events completely appetizing, and I assure you that you will find nothing more obsession worthy than this type of story.  I intend to plow through this author's backlist and push this book on anyone willing to lend an ear.  Disappointment cannot be found in it's presence, in my opinion. 

Cover:  It's dark and a little misleading, but I think in hardback it will look smashing.

Rating:  5.0  Stars

Copy:  Received for a publicity tour  (Thank you Wiley and Penguin!)

Title:  Summer in the City

Author:  Elizabeth Chandler

Publisher:  Harper Collins/Avon

Series:  None

Other Reviews for This Author:

Many people in the blogging community have told me about how they love Kissed by an Angel.  A series of three books (now four, apparently) by this author with a guardian angel and angst and what-not.  I admittedly am interested in picking up the bind-up and its celebration of 90's YA cheese, but I have yet to do so.  This book was in my library, and I was looking for something I could read in a short time and just enjoy.  Chick Lit like this aimed at the YA set tends to be like that, and it definitely fit the bill for what I wanted to read about.

Summer with her family seems like something new post-graduation.  Jaime has always been the athletic girl in the family.  The son her dad wanted and sort-of got.  Baseball, basketball, lacrosse...she's practiced it all and has won the friendship of many a male figure.  Even the romantic interests.  At least, that's what they want her to think.  It always ends up being an attempt to get a good position on one of the sports teams her dad coaches.  She's just a little fed up with everything.  Having her dad bring a teacher from school to their summer cabin is just the final straw.

The only way to get out is to go visit her mother in the city.  She hasn't seen her in goodness knows how long, but Jamie needs a break and a way to reinvent herself.  What better place than the hustle and bustle of the city and a high-end lacrosse camp?  She can also use the time to hang out with her romance novelist mom and maybe - just maybe - meet a guy that's more her style.  As in one that likes her for her instead of her dad's influence.  That shouldn't be too hard, right?

Jamie soon finds that life in the city isn't what she thought it would be.  Yes, camp is exciting.  Yes, she has made some great friends.  Yes, there are cute boys.  Problems can't seem to stay away from her, though!  Bets with the other lacrosse girls involving their cute instructor stem up to her chagrin, and it feels majorly uncomfortable when she knows he couldn't like her like that.  Her mother is shacking up with her foreign health instructor from the gym who grins creepily and doesn't let her eat cookies.  All of the hot guys around her seem just as confusing as the ones back home, too.  Will the poet be the one to steal her heart?  Or the lacrosse coach?  Or perhaps the guy she sits on the stoop and talks sports with.  Jamie's summer is going to be one heck of a journey in romance...and not just her own.

A character like Jaime is what we would call an every-girl, or a Mary Sue if you want to get specific.  Totally fine for me to read about in fluff fiction, but it doesn't win points for characterization.  She always wants to be understood and accepted for who she is even though she is clearly pretty, smart, and athletic.  Where I come from, that's a definite for someone who wants a lot of boyfriends.  She hardly mentions any dating experience - none of it good - and she also always does the right thing.  It's not like you get annoyed with her.  She manages to be pretty palatable despite the Mary Sue ideal.  It's just that you never really get to know her.

The side characters are pretty much the same way.  Fun.  Fluffy.  Stereotyped to an extent.  Nothing really beyond what the 'call of duty' for this type of book (by that I mean one written purely for enjoyment and published purely for enjoyment) is.  I did love Jamie's mother.  She had some good conflict with her attempts at finding romance again in her life, and I do have a soft spot for a character that is a romance novelist.  That made it bearable.  Jamie's love interests are all pretty flat in terms of their appeal, but I do admit to thinking that (at least the kissing) between her and the guy she's meant to be with was well written.  Chandler got the idea of the romance down, if not the spark that should be expected to accompany it.

Can you imagine what this section is?  Rinse and repeat.  Funny and cute, but nothing new.  Pretty basic in terms of what you expect.  First person, focuses on the guy part, fun and quick but still manages to have slow parts.  It's what I expect of an okay book of it's type, which is okay.  I mean, I'd probably buy a copy to keep because of its nature.  Yet I can't say it's anything beyond average.  I will be checking out Chandler's other books because of it, though.  They may still be fluff, but the writing was the kind of fluff writing I can handle.

This is a great summer read you can get from a library or a used bookstore and be content with.  It's all around average, but the hour or two it takes someone like me to read it is adequately spent.  I'm still interested in Chandler's stuff, and it reminded me of why I get so many library books like this in the first place.  It ended up being a great novel to de-stress with.  Now if only more books of the romantic comedy/chick lit variety would be published in YA for this price range (6 or 7 dollars).  I'd definitely pick up a few here and there.

Cover:  Eh.  I like the idea, but the drawing is really basic.  Nothing I'm impressed with.

Rating:  3.0  Stars

Copy:  Borrowed from library

Title:  Sean Griswold's Head

Author:  Lindsey Leavitt

Publisher:  Bloomsbury

Series:  None

Other Reviews for This Author:

You tell me your reaction to a contemporary YA romantic comedy that centers around charts, anal retentiveness, and a boy's head?  The reactions I've seen have either been of the 'sounds amazing' or 'sounds weird' variety.  It is weird, but in a totally amazing way.  This is why I happily accepted to review the book for a blog tour.  It had been on my radar for a while, and the cover showed what is perhaps one of the cutest heads I have ever seen.  I didn't know it was possible to have the back of the head be a center of cute, but it has happened in both this book and its cover.

Payton's life has been spiraling out of her control.  She's always needed to make lists and charts to keep things in order.  Order is good.  Order is organized.  That's how Payton likes to be.  Organized.  Finding out her dad has MS - and that everyone in her family but her knew - has thrown that order out the window.  Payton can't believe that they kept it from her.  How could they be allowing her dad to do all of the stuff he does with his now present health concerns?  It's ridiculous!  Once put-together Payton finds her life being mishmashed and unimaginable with this news, and she just doesn't know how to cope.

The school guidance counselor is the person who seems best fit to help Payton deal with her problems.  Dropping grades and morality are not good to have in a school environment.  She tells Payton to try and keep a focus journal and pick one object - one simple thing - she can focus on.  Dumb sounding?  Definitely.  But Payton is willing to try anything if it means getting back to her semi-together self, even if it means paying attention to a random object and writing about it in a journal on a regular basis.  The only thing she can come up with is Sean Griswold's head, which is in front of her several times throughout the day.

Fate through alphabetical last names or otherwise, Payton and Sean begin to see more of each other.  She soon finds her fascination with his head to be a little more than strange, but she's finally beginning to notice the boy behind the head of hair.  He bikes and wants to ride in a triathalon.  Payton's bestie, Jac, is also experiencing some strain as she tries to help her friend realize her feelings for the boy they've known for a while.  Her dad's MS has still been putting a strain on things, which means that Payton's stress isn't going to end with a major obsession with someone's head...

Payton was a main character I was easily won over by.  There's something about the OCD/anal retentive humor that I really adore every once and a while.  I find it so much fun to read about a character who literally must have that much control in their life.  It makes for some great situations (see cleverly stalking Sean in small ways or getting into angst-ridden fights with the best friend) that move the plot forward, as well as show as that the heroine/hero needs to loosen up a bit.  Open up their inner clockwork so we can identify with them on a more basic level.  Payton's story is exactly that, and she tells it in a way that is adorable yet cringe worthy during some scenes.  She has a tendency to feel extremely betrayed when someone keeps information from her or goes against her wishes, and the book is oftentimes a testament to how people need a level of surprise about their life in order for some things to work out.  This means that some people would find her frustrating - as anyone who holds grudges and has breakdowns would be - but overall it's good for her character and humanity to be this way.

The other people in Payton's life build on this same kind of writing.  They are often extremely humorous or very angsty, and thus reflect how a lot of people come across during times of stress or excitement.  Jac is the more outgoing of the two, and her antics can cross boundaries but help Payton get out of her shell.  Seeing the two of them fight is very difficult, because there is a genuine bond of friendship between the characters that I felt and understood while reading.  Payton's relationship with her family seemed a little odd to me, though.  While I could fathom why they would wait to tell her, the sixth month period of everyone but her knowing seemed a little farfetched.  It would be rough going to do hospital visits, taking shots in the ass, and everything else that comes with a disease that requires attention.  Especially when trying to keep it from your daughter or sister.  That whole conflict was understandable ( I mean contracting MS isn't the best thing ever ) but the way the author went about the hiding seemed false to me through the characters.

I felt Leavitt was especially strong with her writing as a whole despite the character problem.  I loved how she voiced the narrator, and she incorporated some fun pie charts and lists that fit her to a 'T'.  It flowed and the book was a smooth and easy read.  Everything was very 'clean' - some spooning and kissing, but basically everything I would deem a younger teen/older MG level would be suited for on average.  It can definitely be read by older or younger people, but the target audience is slightly younger than we usually see YA marketed to these days.  Plotting seemed strong except for the issue I had with the hiding of the disease, but everything else exhibited a good balance of humor and angst that made the book a good choice for people that want a smart comedy. 

My best friend's parent has MS, so this book really spoke a lot to me.  It's great to see a book that has someone's parent dealing with the disease, and I think the humor, angst, and emotion will be great for readers that need that kind of outlet.  The heroine is well-drawn as are her friends.  The conflict with her family will be something you can connect to even if its execution feels off, and the writing is a good blend of fun that will attract readers of all ages - and should be deemed appropriate for them all, too.  This is a great contemporary romance that readers will be sure to devour.

Cover:  His head is so cute!  It fits the mood of the book perfectly.

Rating:  4.5  Stars

Copy:  Received from Kate at Bloomsbury  (Thank you so much, Kate!)

Hi everyone!  My head is very sleepy today, so I apologize for the brief IMM stuff, and the long string of pictures.  As always, it's done to showcase what books I've gotten in the hopes of some deserved publicity - all thanks to The Story Siren and Alea from Pop Culture Junkie for creation and inspiration respectively.  I just do the meme for fun.  :)

Review:

I'm not listing them because I just honestly don't feel like it.  xD  I am particularly excited for The Survivors and Malinda Lo's books, and Robin and Ruby looks pretty interesting as well.

A huge thank you to Amanda Havard, Little, Brown, Random House, Scholastic, and Kensington books for these review copies!

Bought:






Blogosphere News:

LGBTQ Voice is only two weeks away!  Oh the excitement!  My boots are quaking, I say.  More news will be up as things go along, but I have a stellar cast ranging from award winning authors to readers and writers who may not be in the publishing world yet.  Also some interesting giveaways you'll definitely want to enter.

The lastest inkpop challenge concerns the book Through Her Eyes, and it sounds pretty interesting.  Cameras, dead boys...I can get into that.  I'm reading one of the past challenge books, Blood and Flowers, and it's pretty rocking.  These things can be great if you need a writing prompt.  As always, follow the link for more detailed information on what the prompt is and what you could win.

Diana Wynne Jones, as many of you know, passed away this weekend.  She was a wonderful author whom I finally read last year with Howl's Moving Castle.  A daring and wonderful book, it made my life so much richer.  I aim to read all of her books someday, for I can only imagine the depth and cunning they contain.  It is my way of remembering this sensational author who made a mark no one can ever erase.  

Title:  Tiger's Curse

Author:  Colleen Houck

Publisher:  Sterling Children's

Series:  Tiger series;  Book 1 of 4

Other Reviews for This Author:  None

My semi-fetish for books set in Asiatic regions came full force with this novel.  It deals a lot with India.  INDIA.  There were tigers and shape-shifting and amour beaucoup (a lot of love.)  The notion of a self-published book being published in traditional format also got me.  How good was this book?  Did the hype online live up to the hype in print?  I was eager to find out, and I have to say I got about what I expected for a better than average self-published read.  Was that a good thing?  Eh, not really.

Kelsey has always wanted to work with animals.  She loves them to death.  So when a traveling circus comes to town and offers the opportunity to work with its animals, including a gorgeous tiger from India named Ren, Kelsey just can't pass it up.  She manages to get the job despite a lack of experience, and begins working with the tiger like she's been doing it all her life.  Ren takes to her, and she notices the gentility behind the powerful jungle cat.  With fur the color of snow and cats eyes that are the iciest of blues, he captures her interest right away.

The appearance of a mysterious benefactor who wants to purchase Ren from the circus leads Kelsey to surprise.  Especially when he invites her to travel with Ren to India!  Supposedly she brings out something in the tiger that calms him.  A free trip to India is something Kelsey can't pass up.  Her growing attachment to Ren makes sure of that.  With permission from her father, she begins the trip to an entirely different country.  Leaving the states altogether is a new experience that soon brings her new adventures and challenges.

Discovering the truth about Ren is just one of them.  This graceful beast she's known for so long now is actually an Indian prince of legend.  Turned into a tiger, he has been unable to turn human for hundreds of years.  Kelsey, for whatever reason, has been able to change that.  The beautiful tiger is now a sultry Indian prince, and Kelsey realizes that her affections for the tiger part may or may not follow the human part.  Polite.  Honest.  Sensual.  Ren is everything she could imagine in a great guy.  Kelsey's new mission is to try and make it so he can be a guy forever.  Which means lifting an ancient curse, dealing with his equally dashing but darker brother, and navigating the perils of alternate worlds and temples from Indian mythology. 

There's nothing that I can't stand more than a heroine I have no reaction to.  There really isn't.  It takes a lot for me to pick up a book and finish it when the heroine has a story to tell and she has the personality of the wooden stick most likely shoved up her butt.  Kelsey isn't uptight, but she doesn't have a lot of personality.  That really made the narrative slow going for me.  She's 'plucky' according to the back blurb, and that's probably the only adjective-like descriptor with any real flavor that I would use for her.  What made me as a reader lose any care for her was the lack of emotional investment she gave me.  I didn't mind reading about her, but she could have been nameless, faceless, and had five arms and she probably would have seemed just as inconspicuous and average.  Whenever she talked she was just listing her events and standard emotions.  I never really felt like there was a character there, and it made me emotionally distant from the book.

Ren and company were a little more interesting.  Ren was romantic and strong, and I liked him.  I could understand why one would enjoy being in his company and lusting after his fine, romantic self.  His helpful benefactor and dark boy brother were also pretty interesting.  They were a much more interesting cast of characters - even if they did fall into tropes - than Kelsey, and I felt like the general story was really helped out because there was someone than her on the page at the time.

Houck's writing is just really what got to me.  Everything is told in a list-of-events like way that ruins any emotional connection.  It's readable, but Kelsey uses random vocabulary words that don't have any real connection to the character and her lack of emotion beyond saying 'he made me happy' just didn't do it for me.  Show, not tell.  One or two authors can break that rule (and maybe Harlequin Presents can as well), but in stories like this you need to show the emotion.  Some authors manage to have a voice without showing, and Houck can at times show that, but for the most part it just feels more like a draft than a fully fleshed out novel. 

The plotting was good, and I have to admit it was the reason I continued reading.  I enjoyed the Indiana Jones-style quests through temples and curses, and I think Houck used those effectively if joltingly.  There were a lot of 'stop and camp so the characters can emotionally stew' moments that really didn't need to happen, and the pacing ended up being slow.  I also really liked the paranormal aspect.  Aside, of course, from the minor inconsistencies I felt occurred.  It seemed odd to me, for instance, that Ren would know within a day that he could only stay a tiger for 24 minutes exactly.  Plus whenever he shifted the time was so vague it felt like it was overstepping the rule soon after.  Just little things that got on my nerves.  I might not have cared about them if I was more into the novel, but since I was already detached, I felt the flaws more apparently.

While this review seems predominately negative, I have to inject a final though I had about this book.  It's still fun.  Some of it was slow, and it was definitely a set-up for future books (think like the first Delcroix Academy book in terms of pace and plot movement), but I still enjoyed it.  I may buy a hardcover (because the cover is gorgeous), but I'm not sure.  It's one of those books I'm conflicted about liking (I have a lot lately), because the plot is one I like to read.  The rest of the experience just wasn't living up to my expectations for a quality book.  A flat protagonist, confusing supernatural workings, and basic writing just made for an subpar read.  It was nothing too bad, but it didn't set off any 'impressed' buttons.  I hope Houck improves with her sequel, because the series does have potential.  I just don't know if I'm going to stick around to find out. I could see paying a few bucks for it on Kindle, but hardcover prices have it playing on a whole new field.

Cover:  Gorgeous.  There is shiny bordering and font, and the tiger and the surrounding swirls are gorgeous.  The inside isn't my favorite, but the package is.

Rating:  3.0  Stars 

Copy:  Received from Sterling Publishing for a solicited review  (Thank you, Sterling!) 

Title:  Warped

Author:  Maurissa Guibord

Publisher:  Delacorte Press

Series:  Not Available

Other Reviews for this Author:  None

Weave and sew and tie the knot.  There's something about the idea of making things from fabric that really interests me, even if I have no real knowledge of a process of this type. Mention of time traveling, a unicorn tapestry, and a few other supernatural bits had me sold.  This was a book I was looking forward to.  It took me a while to get around to, but I'm extremely glad I was watching for Warped.  There's something great about discovering a debut novel that hits all the right notes, and Warped was just that kind of book for me.

Tessa Brody is attending an auction with her father when she first sees the tapestry.  It seems to draw her in despite its noted age and faded thread.  Her father doesn't even want to buy the lot of books that comes with it when the price goes high, but Tessa's subconscious determination kicks in until they win the lot.  Found with it is a tome dating back to the 1500's with herbalist information inside brittle pages.  Tessa can't explain her attraction to the objects, but they feel like they have a force that pulls her in.  Soon, Tessa starts having dreams of a wood and a strange talking knight.  Could they be connected to the tapestry?

The nobleman William de Chaucy has his own problems involving the tapestry.  However, they take place in a different time period entirely.  William was living in the 1500's, when a witch named Gray Lily turned him into a unicorn and wove him into a special tapestry.  With his thread of life, Gray Lily was able to be immortal.  Her youth and vigor would never leave her as long as her unicorn stayed with her in its tapestry.  William's thread of life was thus removed from the tapestry governed by the Fates, which controlled the lives of every being in the world.  The missing threads were of minor concern until they began to reappear in the life of one particular human named Tessa....

Fate and time are spinning out of control, and Tessa soon begins to see this as she touches the tapestry that is attracting her so...and William appears in her room.  The tapestry is now minus a unicorn, but Tessa has something else to be concerned with.  A knight from hundreds of years in the past living in her house and not coming to the attention of her dad.  A mysterious woman who wants to buy back her mistakenly packed tapestry and herbology book...with a suspicious motive underneath her simple request.  A visit from the Fates sparks even more questions from Tessa.  What do they mean by missing life threads?  How is she, an ignorant player in this chess game, expected to find them?  Warped is a great debut novel that combines a fairy tale voice with beautiful writing and a storyline that will leave you breathless.

I loved reading about Tessa.  What's different about Warped is that Guibord utilizes her third person perspective beautifully.  We don't see just in Tessa's mind, but she's very much focused on enough to be considered the main character.  She has a great level of angst dealing with her dearly departed mother, her dad's 'blah' girlfriend, and her lack of focus in life.  All of which are connected.  Her story doesn't come across as dreary, though.  Her sadness does overwhelm her in certain moments - of which we get to see a great vulnerability in character - but her discovery of her artistic passion and the slow opening up she has as a person really works out for her as a character.  She never settles for a guy that's being a douchebag, and kindly informs Will when he's acting out of hand.  There's just a real easy-going thing about her character that uses a good kind of sensibility about itself.  She doesn't jump off the page, but slowly pulls you in.  A quieter character that works for the storytelling feeling that Guibord projects.

Outside of Tessa, I really enjoyed the other characters of the story as well.  William was a good example of how the fish out of water hero can work for you.  His temper got out of hand maybe once or twice, but his gradual submission (and romancing) of Tessa is adorable.  I totally go for that kind of plot, though, so it worked well for me on that level.  His adaptation to the present culture was fairly quick in my eyes, but I could get past it considering the severity of the situation.  Still, it didn't ring completely accurate to me.  Gray Lily is a really provoking antagonist.  Her goals are shallow and vanity based, but she does have a level of humanity and richness that especially comes out in her desperation near the end of the book.  Her tale weaved together with Tessa, William, and the Fates leaves a striking level of conflict.  The Fates themselves were really quirky in how they were pictured.  I could easily see that as being the personality of someone in their position, and they nicely balanced the narrative in such a way that you still questioned exactly what force - fate or Tessa's own actions - propelled the story. 

Guibord's writing style was a great frame for all of this.  It added a lot of interesting description that just felt really stunning in its entirety.  It's not something you'd say would be literary, but it manages to be very accessible while still feeling special.  The third person does wonder for the story's feeling, and it makes it feel like something that Gail Carson Levine would write.  The villain is villainous, the hero(ine) is heroic, and it all feels natural because the narrative can switch off.  Some people would find the switching of the 3rd person focus between occasional chapters to be annoying, but in this book's case it's often enough to give you a good perspective, but not done too much so as to confuse the reader and basically just cover already tread ground.  The events that occur during the book are ones I've read before, but it's all done with a fresh new twist that made me really love it.

Some minor inconsistencies and flaws (namely William's fairly calm adaptation to society and another issue involving Tessa getting accepted to college for something she didn't decide on until late in the story) did occur in this book.  Do not get me wrong.  Yet I love it.  Everything just works.  A great heroine, supporting cast, romance, and storytelling voice just make it a strong overall read.  I forgave any minor issues while reading because my brain was so sucked in to the tail.  Guibord has started out of the publishing gate strong, and her next book can only get better.

Cover:  Really love it.  It's very striking.

Rating:  5.0  Stars

Copy:  Received from Random House for unsolicited review  (Thank you, Random House!)

So there was a lack of IMM on Sunday.  For good reason.  School is swamping me right now.  Two grades are below the level I want them at (not to an absurd degree, but still) and that's hard when its your first time.  B's are not fun when you've been an A student.  Disney tripped me up, though, and the classes are either AP ones (so extremely hard) or ones I dislike intensely (I'm looking at you, Chemistry.) 

That's also why I really can't take the time to formulate a coherent book review at the moment.  My brain is doing that throbbing thing that clouds up your thoughts and makes your eyes feel on the verge of sleeping even though it's the middle of the afternoon and there's no way you are going to sleep.  I figured I'd share more news on the Rainbow Thursday post's front and the inkpop challenge I didn't share because I didn't have an IMM to share it on.  Maybe some other random links as well.

You know I like a good random link.  Some of these may not be for children. 

Those ones come from The Bloggess.  Who is perhaps one of the most hilarious bloggers ever. 

Rainbow Thursday's decision has been completed (kind of).  I'm doing at least two weeks (if not more) of LGBTQ Voice (the official title now.)  Someone is making a banner/button/whatever thing that I'm sure will be fabulous.  It's going to be extremely exciting!  Reminder to any authors/people that want to contribute guest blogs/review things/giveaways to contact me about it asap. 

Inkpop's latest contest is for Afterlife by Claudia Gray.  I loved Evernight, as you know, so this is interesting to me.  Two people with challenges keeping them from being together.  I love the dramatics of the plotline.  I think it could make for some very interesting stories.

How to say no when someone you don't want to have sex with asks you via The Bloggess.  I know this one is a little racy for you under teens, so look away.  You heard nothing about chipmunks.  I claim my right to post this because it is friggin hilarious and I think I have a new way to protest deforestation from it. 

This is also found via The Bloggess, but is by someone else.  It's a great short story.  Really.  It's very poignant.  Sigh.  Definitely check out Fourteen. 

Title:  Eat, Prey, Love

Author:  Kerrelyn Sparks

Publisher:  Avon

Series:  Love at Stake #8

Other Reviews for This Author:  None

Paranormal romance is the genre I go to when I need something to unwind with.  Historicals and categories are also in that same subset (really any romance is), but I'm the least picky about PNR.  I still notice the book's quality, but I can let things go and just have a fun time reading it without much of a personal hassle.  Reviews online had mentioned this series as something funny and light, and coupled with its infamous passage of panther spoodge (which I never found in the text for some reason), I had to try it out.  Surprisingly, I enjoyed it a lot more than I expected I would.

*Edit*  Okay, so I searched on the website, found the page, and realized I must have read over it.  I blame reading on a bus with many teenagers around me and it being like 11 o'clock at night.  It's ignorable, though.  I've truthfully read weirder.  And it IS meant to be comedic. 

*Edit Again*  It's still weird, though.  Here's the What Not to Write post for some (out of context) humor. 

Caitlyn Whelan is looking for a new job, and she may have found it at her brother-in-law's million dollar making company.  She hasn't had contact with her sister in ages, but since reconnecting she has been surprised to find that she had married into money.  Apparently a lot of money.  Brother-in-law dearest also appears to be a vampire.  Vampires don't exist, Caitlyn thinks.  She soon comes to understand that they do indeed, and her sister is around a lot of supernatural creatures - including a sexier than sexy shifter named Carlos.

Carlos Panterra has tried to keep himself aloof around his friends.  Many of the women around him even (sadly) think he's gay!  Well put together and visited every once and a while by a close gay friend - and no apparent interest in women - it's no surprise.  Seeing Caitlyn for the first time stops him in his tracks though.  She's beautiful and enticing.  Unlike anyone he's seen before.  The beast inside of him aches to have her as a mate, but she is just a regular old human.  Not a werepanther.  With his species dwindling away, he needs to find a female werepanther to mate with.

Growing attractions between Carlos and Caitlyn mean they can't keep away from each other.  Caitlyn is actually assigned to work with Carlos in the company, angering her ex-CIA father.  Finding out he's also a member of an organization that believes supernatural creatures like Carlos should be destroyed isn't the best thing, either.  Both of them have something that means they should pull away...yet the sexual attraction just can't be contained.  Their journey to find more werepanthers like Carlos and the few orphans he's picked up leads them to new knowledge and new romance.


The heroine, Caitilyn, was one I enjoyed a lot during my reading.  She was funny and had her values and strengths, but submitted to Carlos pretty easily.  She didn't have a super memorable personality, but she fit the read well with her good humor.  Carlos was more my style.  His attempts that were almost farcical to keep women away from him were too cute.  Not to mention the pseudo-fathering he did with the werepanther orphans.  His personality was stronger than Caitlyn's, but he managed to bring out the best in her in scenes where they were learning how to fight or climbing through a cave or something. 


Romance was pretty solid between them, and I think it was why I was so addicted to the book.  From the first time they see each other there is a definite chemistry that the reader rides along with.  Slow build is what makes it really tempting, as there are many moments when they can go for hot smex, but instead struggle with their personal issues and their attempt at not getting involved in a relationship they believe will go nowhere.  I love that kind of trope when it isn't too far flung, and in this case the author played with some interesting (if sometimes redundant) ideas of keeping a species alive.  If we were to come to that - would we tear away from it for love?  It's a rather interesting concept, and it made me think as I was reading.  The personal angst was a definite plus for the romance end of things, although I felt the controversy between Caitlyn and her father was underplayed in the second half of the story.  You find a lot of angst, but also a lot of humor and cuteness with this couple, and the ending adventure brings them together nicely. 


Sparks has an interesting way of writing.  It engages you right away, and even though you can tell she has a certain story formula she likes, you enjoy the ride anyway.  There's a lot of cute humor in her books (or in the case of spoodge - some salty humor) and she manages to fit it in with the angsty relationship drama quite well.  The secondary characters didn't strike me like I would have expected, but I came into this series on Book 8, so I didn't have any connections to the ones who already had their books.  I could see liking them through subsequent books as background characters, though.  Her writing makes for a quick read that you ultimately enjoy despite some use of formula/cliche.


I found Eat Prey Love to be an amusing PNR read that struck the right kind of 'fluff' chords and made me interested in picking up more of Kerrelyn's work.  Her characters read easy, even though her hero is more memorable than her heroine, and the writing is breezy and fun.  Some cliches occur, but the romance is tense enough that you don't really mind them.  Definitely pick this up if you, like me, enjoy a lighter PNR read once and a while that focuses on the fun more so than the world and the angst. 


Cover:  I really enjoy the cover, actually.  The man on the stepback is rawr. 


Rating:  4.0  Stars


Copy:  Bought

Rainbow Thursday is a semi-regular (meaning - whenever the hell I can manage to get a post in) feature of mine where I focus on things of the LGBTQ nature.  This time, I am focusing on something that has to do with my blog AND it's LGBTQ nature.  Not that my blog is going out with another boy blog.

Maybe it is.  I really don't know what this thing does when I'm off of it. 

Hell.  Now I'm thinking my blog has some secret affair with Smart Bitches, Trashy Books or something.  I fan a lot of great blogs.  This thing is probably jealous and wants to hurt me.  You can't do it, blog.  I am immune to you and your philandering ways.  If you even have them. 

Apologies.  A tangent I had to work with.

Point being:  I have something to ask you concerning my blog.  For a while I've wanted to plan a week (at least!) of LGBTQ stuff starting on April 11th to promote the Day of Silence for LGBTQ rights.  To me, it's something teens should know about and help with.  A ton of people do it for abortion rights, so why not gay rights?  It would mean a lot, and silence can be a powerful tool.

So, readers.  I need to know from you.  How many weeks would you be interested in seeing?  One?  Two?  Three?  A whole month?  I need to know and plan, guys.  *looks frantic*  I cannot plan unless other people boss me around.  So tell me!  I need to know. 

Also - interested bloggers and authors (and yes - you don't have to be a member of the LGBTQ community) should contact me through dreaminginbooksATgmailDOTcom or my twitter, @dreamingreviews, if they want to participate.  All I require is that the guest blog would have to deal with LGBTQ themes - preferably connecting to writing or books or something. 

Creativity is thus quite welcomed.  Giveaways of the book or swag variety would also be nice.  I am planning a small giveaway of some lesser known LGBTQ titles myself, as I have a few stashed up, but the more the merrier.  I would like to start getting this planned by the end of March, so please let me know through comments or email or what have you.

Please?  I'd love you forever if you participated.  *gives winning smile and makes a heart shape with my hands* 

--  Also, I would need someone interested in making a button/banner of sorts for the week/month/day/hour/pickle of time that this will occur in if it even occurs.  I can promise only my undying love, a mention, and a book from my stacks of 'need to give away already'. --

In lieu of a book review (which I have been behind on since the last few books I've read have either been for Dear Author or really long) I have instead a few tidbits of coolness I've gotten in my inbox that may be of interest to you readers.  For the record, for posting the Shimmer book trailer I am going to get a review copy of the book.  This does not change my opinion of the trailer in the slightest.  I rarely get emails advertising trailers so I figured it wouldn't hurt to post about it.

Inkpop is having a live chat with LAUREN OLIVER on Sunday, March 22, 2011.  I know it's pretty awesome.  I look forward to it so much.  You have no idea just how much.  I probably won't even be able to go, but the idea of talking to Lauren Oliver is pretty rocking.  Her work has consistently impressed me with it's depth and beauty, and I definitely encourage any fans of hers to look into this.  Short of meeting her in real life, this may be the coolest way to get to talk to her.

On a less-exciting but still interesting note, I got a link to the summary and book trailer for Shimmer, the next book in Alyson Noel's middle grade series based on her Immortals books.  I liked the first one quite a bit, and I expect the second to be even better. 



I just discovered something - and it has nothing to do with my email this time. The Vast Fields of Ordinary by Nick Burd, one of my most favorite (if not my favorite) gay YA novels, is coming out in paperback. It is affordable to those who haven't (like me) bought a copy to treasure and love forever. This is a great story that helped me a lot when I first came out, and I cannot recommend it enough to my readers. Here's the purchase link from Amazon (although I have to admit I love the hardcover cover photograph much more.) Buy The Vast Fields of Ordinary at Amazon.

Title:  The Explosionist

Author:  Jenny Davidson

Publisher:  Harper Teen

Series:  Explosionist series.  Sequel is Invisible Things

Other Reviews for This Author:  None

Alternative history is pretty much one of my favorite things ever that I rarely get to read.  Scott Westerfeld's Leviathan series is one example of it, and it is very excellent.  The Explosionist actually came to my attention by my obtaining an ARC of the sequel for a review site...and being unable to review it because I hadn't read the prequel.  I finally got around to ordering it through my library, and I eagerly took to the story of intrigue, spiritualism, and politics in alternative Scotland.  It really impressed me, and I feel the urge to track down a hardcover on Amazon because it has been severely under-read.  I have to ask why, considering I found the book to be supremely well worth the read.

The imminent war between Scotland and France is causing Sophie to feel the rush of politics and technology in the air.  Her chemistry teacher, Mr. Petersen, is the most interesting part of her day during this time.  His talk of chemistry and explosives is mostly intriguing - but that's because she has a gigantic crush on him.  Bombs and explosives are Scotland's biggest resource with war looming, but it hasn't escaped the rumor mill that Mr. Petersen could be one of the terrorists trying to bomb some of Scotland's buildings and areas.  Politics and endangerment are pretty high up on the worry meter, especially since Sophie has an influential aunt.

Great-aunt Tabitha's influence is in the making of a women's organization called the IRYLNS.  It trains women to be fully functioning secretaries and help out as much as possible at home.  Perhaps the most honored and patriotic women's profession in Scotland, it gives Tabitha a load of political ties and knowledge.  Sophie sees this side of her aunt along with the spiritualist side.  Her Great-aunt is prone to inviting mediums over with her friends to give them seances and to predict things in the future.  Sophie doesn't put any stock in them beyond the accepted knowledge of the spirit world everyone in Scotland has come to have, but a strange incident involving a specific medium sends shivers up her spine.

The medium soon turns up dead in her hotel room, and the reasons behind it are far more than a random act of killing.  Sophie's friend Mikael is a witness to it, and soon both of the teens get wrapped up in a plot that involves secret organizations, explosives, hidden agendas, and a connection with the spiritual world that leaves Sophie confused and in possession of abilities that may soon prove useful to her journey.  An alternate world where Napolean won Waterloo, setting course for a chain of events that make the world politically fragile.  That is the world of The Explosionist.  Like the explosives it talks about in great detail, this book is destructive, loud, and made up of many delicate elements that make it something worthy of talking about.

The protagonist Sophie is a strange combination of an alpha and beta heroine.  She is the first to want to get an education and better herself, but in the wake of Mikael and her aunt she is decisively in the background on several issues.  We see her as a girl of practicality and a self-preserving nature with little up front to impress us.  Her underlying self is a lot more complex than her initial actions seem, though.  Sophie knows how to collect information and use her influence to sneak out of school or into a building in order to get what she needs, and she balances many friendships flawlessly by being able to recognize flaws and character differences.  The ultimate campaign for being able to express one's self is her goal in the second half of the book, and the expression of this is vivid yet very subtle in its connection with the political and spiritual aspects of Sophie's life.  A wavering grasp on spiritualism and the world of the unliving gives her more added conflict, and she is able to seem as a very balanced character despite dealing with a lot of problems on a multitude of levels.  A protagonist I see as so efficient yet relative is a welcome change, and readers will find her story very interesting.

Characters surrounding Sophie in the narrative are just as well humanized and complex.  Great-aunt Tabitha is a character that is very clear on how she would rather not have strong feelings - as they are unproductive.  Clear moments of her love for Sophie and her conflict with her ideals make the story extremely interesting.  Mr. Petersen and Miss Chatterjee are my favorite of Sophie's teachers because they are a lot like Tabitha.  They are quirky and could easily be used for simple plot devices and character stereotypes, but they end up being a lot more mysterious.  The ability to feel fully formed yet have so much story potential is a nice one, and I love that Davidson can convey such a feeling to me.  Mikael was a nice romantic interest who starts out as a friend, and I liked his relationship with Sophie except when he acted like an ass one time out of a feeling of possessiveness.  Their relationship build was believable but that moment seemed out of character for him and it caused me to not like him as much for a portion of the book.

The book truly shines in how it all comes together, though.  Davidson's writing is so intelligent, and she makes you connect with Sophia and the crew with a tight third person narrative, and it makes the story experience a great one.  The politics are complicated and hard to explain, but her knowledge of history and a light dab of the paranormal (but nothing too much) combine to form an interesting alternative and more English society in Scotland that is really intriguing.  The elements play a lot with the concept of humanity and nationalism.  Is there such a thing as being too sacrificial for your country?  The government's corruption and the IRYLNS really make you think on this stuff.  Intelligence is a key success to the novel's workings and to Sophie's personality, and the author has more than enough of it to pull everything off.  Less intensive readers may not appreciate the political workings, but if you are up for something more complicated and fulfilling (think something like Jennifer Donnelly but slightly less literary prose) this book's writing will do you wonders.

To say I was impressed with The Explosionist is an understatement.  While one or two character flibs made me get out of it for a few pages, the overall presentation is one of skill and finesse with a concept that really fills up your brain.  Sophie was very satisfying as a heroine, and the characters (aside from the flub-up) were well done and human.  The sequel should be an honest delight, and I really want to purchase this for myself now.  Well done, Jenny Davidson.  Well done.

Cover:  It's old photo quality is really nice, although the cover model is kind of generic.  Overall sets the mood quite well.

Rating:  5.0  Stars

Copy:  Borrowed from library

Title: Daughter of Xanadu

Author: Dori Jones Yang

Publisher: Delacorte Press

Series: None

Other Reviews for This Author: None

I am at least mildly obsessive about books that feature Eastern countries in YA. Korea, Japan, China, and India are probably my favorite settings to see in a YA crowd.  There is such a level of culturality (here I am, making up words) to them that our own Western/European civilizations don't have.  It's not to say I don't like reading Western based books, because I do.  There just so happens to be a special fuzzy place in my heart for books that take place in or bring memories of these countries and cultures.  No hesitation came with picking up Daughter of Xanadu, and it managed to hit a lot of sweet spots for me as a reader and lover of these cultures. 

Emmajin is a Mongolian princess and the granddaughter of the great Khan Khubilai.  Born and raised at the height of the vast Mongolian empire, she has been under the wings of her family and destined to become the wife of someone of good ranking.  Emmajin still hasn't married at the age of 16, however.  Instead she has focused on archery and other things considered too 'manly' to be known beyond a basic knowledge.  The Mongols may find it endearing to have their women trained to an extent, but spending as long as Emmajin has on the more violent arts is considered problematic.  She won't ever impress a husband if she continues acting like such a man.

Her dream isn't to get married to some nobleman, but to be a warrior in the Mongolian army.  Emmajin wants to live as a soldier and to feel the bloody victory over an enemy in the name of the Khan and his holy mission.  She decides to butt in on an archery contest between her brother and cousin to show off her skills for the Khan, and manages to impress him enough to think of sending her in the army.  Firstly, she is assigned a mission of a different sort.  She is to take care of a foreigner in the Mongolian land - a Venetian trader's son by the name of Marco Polo, who has come with his father and uncle to travel and trade in the name of their country.  With both of his relatives incapacitated by disease, he has to rely on someone like Emmajin to show him the country.

A rocky start aside, the two of them become fast comrades.  Emmajin impresses Marco with her bravery and skill in archery.  The power she exhibits is unlike any of the girls he sees in his home.  To Emmajin, Marco is a stranger who speaks in poetry and tells of the strangest things.  He teaches her Latin and grows hair on his face that is far beyond the men she has seen in her life.  He is a stranger from a land that seems almost mythical, and yet he intrigues her enough to gain her trust.  When the time comes for Emmajin's trustworthiness to be tested, can she be both a friend to Marco and follow her dream for her country? 

Dori Jones Yang does to aspects of this book really well, and the first is her characterization.  Emmajin is a heroine we see often enough in YA - and a heroine I often enjoy and praise.  She's strong and able, with a want to be better and on equal footing with her male counterparts.  By all means she is a type I see often and think is often well done in the genre, but Ms. Yang does something special with her by making her so considerate.  There is a nationalism we see in Emmajin because of her background and station in life that other heroines don't often show.  Her duty to her country is honorable and true, and she is the first to admit when her bias and outlook on life changes because of something Marco points out to her - or something that goes on in her life.  Her susceptibility to change makes her have a lot of character growth in this novel, and makes it an easy standalone book to enjoy. 

Marco Polo was also a character I found very enjoyable.  Taken from the pages of history, he is perhaps more interesting at first glance than our heroine.  The author does well to show the more off-putting differences between him and the Mongolians he comes to spend a lot of time with.  The culture boundaries make you read more into him, and you note the successes and faults as compared to Emmajin.  Religion, commerce, women...there are many differences Marco brings up that leave the reader thinking on the historical end of things.  His personality was more Beta than you usually see - although there were moments of excitement and masculinity from him - and it worked with Emmajin.  The relationship grew slowly and wasn't some instant love-fest that fizzled for the reader because of it's unbelievable status.  It was balanced and problematic without being dramatic, and it showed the greatness of mutual character respect.  The other background characters were fairly interesting.  I enjoyed Emmajin's brother and the way her family was pictured.  Their politics and ideas were interesting, and made them feel very real despite a lack of page time.

The other place Dori Jones Yang does well is her writing.  More specifically her descriptive detail.  Her history is down pat, and she provides such specific detail that you can see everything Emmajin is experiencing.  The Mongolian culture came alive for me and I savored every second of it.  Mongolian words and robes and festivities have never sounded more delightful than in my reading of this book.  Dialogue was done pretty well, also.  Where I had some trouble was the pacing.  It was slower, and while I can enjoy a slow novel, at times it felt like it should have been faster.  Her prose is a little too serviceable for me to think it fits in with a read that doesn't go at a speedy pace.  It didn't hinder my enjoyment of the novel, but it made it one I didn't love so much as really like. 

My overall impression of Yang's debut YA is a good one.  She takes great characters and infuses them with an expert knowledge of the culture to make a really good story of history and politics, throwing in war scenes and romance that expertly weave into the main conflicts.  Her plotting and description worked well for the history, but like many historical novels made the pace go slower for me.  Readers who need or like a good dose of history or Eastern cultures should do themselves a favor and pick up a copy of this underpraised book. 

Cover:  I love the cover!  Action-y and has a great PoC model who fit my image of Emmajin very nicely.

Rating:  4.0  Stars

Copy:  Received from Random House for unsolicited review  (Thank you, Random House!) 

Hey, blog readers and comrades.  This is my first IMM since I got back from Disney.  So expect accumulation.  This is two good weeks worth of stuff (which rarely happens) and I'm extremely thankful for the luck I've had.  Reading all of these is going to be a journey!  O.o  In My Mailbox is a meme started by Kristi from the Story Siren and inspired by Alea from Pop Culture Junkie.  It's meant to give some publicity to books we receive for review - even if our schedules mean a review will be late coming or if the book will end up being transferred to another blogger.

For Review:

(Thanks to Kensington, Wiley S. and Penguin, Random House, and Ames and Sara from Little, Brown for these pretties!)

Unnatural by Michael Giffo

Chime by Franny Billingsly

So Shelly by Ty Roth

There's No Place Like Home by Jen Calonita

I Am J by Chris Beam

(Thank you to Simon and Schuster, Erika from Harper Teen, Anna from Penguin, and Scholastic for sending these books!)

Darkness Becomes Her by Kelly Keaton

Blood and Flowers by Penny Blubaugh

Angelfire (final copy) by Courtney Allison Moulton

Leverage by Joshua C. Cohen

Back When You Were Easier to Love by Emily Wing Smith

Crossing Lines by Paul Volponi

Animorphs #1 and 2 by K.A.Applegate (Note - new covers look very different)

(Thanks to Natashya from Harlequin and Goodreads Firstreads program for these lovelies!)

Spanish Magnate, Red Hot Revenge by Lynn Rae Harris

The Prince's Royal Concubine by Lynn Rae Harris

Bought:  The Greek's Innocent Virgin by Sarah Morgan

Beneath a Starlet Sky by Amanda Goldberg and Ruthanna Khalighi Hopper

Bought/Traded/Won:

(Thanks to Carrie from In the Hammock, Kelsey from The Book Scout for the first two.  Y'all rock!)

How to Marry a Duke by Kerry Dreiling

Wither by Lauren DeStefano  (already started and JUST as perfect as I imagined)

Twenties Girl by Sophie Kinsella

Across the Universe by Beth Revis

Other News:

The latest inkpop challenge is for Desires of the Dead.  I haven't read this series, but it sounds pretty cool.  You all can find more information on the forum page for it.  Has anyone actually entered?  I'm curious to see what you think of these inkpop links I do, readers.

Contest winners are also afoot.  I am emailing you all tonight, so be prepared.

For the signed copy of The Secret Year, the winner is....

Serena from the Pensive Book Eaters!  Woot!

The five copies of The Way of the Dragon are going to....

Victoria D.

Jeannie Lin

Chelsea B.

Maggie H.

Lisa G.

Congrats to everyone who entered, and I promise that I will have some killer contests (*coughAngelfireARCDeliriumFinalCopyAndMoreAwesomecough*) later.  :)

And Beth Revis is hosting an awesome contest for signed copies for each of the Breathless Reads books.  Awesomeness!

Title:  Great Philosophers Who Failed at Love

Author:  Andrew Shaffer

Publisher:  Harper Perennial

Series:  No

Other Reviews of this Author:  None

You all know non-fiction is the exact opposite of what I like to read on a regular basis.  Normally, I avoid it because it bores me or is written in a style that just doesn't appeal to me.  The few exceptions are authors like David Sedaris who take a humor approach to their non-fiction accounts (or who write interesting memoirs or something.)  So why was I interested in this?  A great book trailer, an intelligent author Twitter account, and a subject matter that actually got my attention.  The shorter length was also nice, because it meant my read wouldn't be plagued by unneeded information. All in all, I was impressed and had a good reading experience. 

As with all non-fiction reads, I'm going to limit the plot summary here since there isn't much of one.  Instead, consider this a concept and organization of subject matter summary.  Or just a summary.  That sounds less boring.

Great Philosophers Who Failed at Love starts off with a small introduction from the author about the subject matter, then delves into an alphabetical listing of the various philosophers found in the text.  Each has a portrait, the dates of living, and the general story of their lives that chiefly relates their romantic misgivings.  There are quite a number of philosophers, and they take up anywhere from 2 to 4 pages on average for their stories.  There is a timeline of the philosophers and their events in the back of the book.  It ranges at 194 pages.  Pretty much a basic, informational little text that doesn't intimidate. 

The information you get in Great Philosophers Who Failed at Love is surprisingly of a high caliber.  Not to say the author isn't capable of it, but the size and length of the book tricks you into thinking this is a coffee table kind of read.  I'm not a student of philosophy, but I recognized a decent number of names in the book and found the subject matter at least mildly intriguing.  The presentation was clean and easy to comprehend, so I didn't feel the need to put the book down.  Some biographies and informational books just start off on such a wrong note with their organization, and it totally ruins any chance of me enjoying the read.  I do not expect to read a textbook, and Shaffer is perfectly clear this book is not meant to put you to sleep.  He's straightforward about each of the philosophers and doesn't shy away from factoids that would be considered controversial (considering the controversial facts are the reason for the book, I guess that would make sense.)

I found myself really interested in the stuff Shaffer had to offer on the philosophers.  More 'contemporary' ones like Ayn Rand are people that I've read about or read the writings of, so I found them to be prioritized in my information bank.  My attention was grabbed with each philosopher bio and I found each to be satisfying and treated with a nice amount of seriousness.  Humor was also effortlessly interspersed within them, so I didn't find the reading too dry or basic.  For a teenager, most nonfiction is like the book equivalent of hard tack from the Civil War.  So the fact reading this book was fun is something of a revelation to me.  I might just think about reading more informational books in my future.

This, of course, all ties into Shaffer's writing.  It's a good blend of funny and intelligent, and is basic enough to be accessible without feeling dumb.  He manages to make this book go by very quickly and keeps to his subject matter nicely.  The stories are all focused on the philosophers and their contradictory love lives, and he doesn't go without making a nice quip or two in between them.  There's not a lot to say beyond that, but I'd definitely read more of his work - fiction or non-fiction - based on the quality of the writing in this one. 

Non-fiction may not be my thing, but in some cases it works really well.  Great Philosophers Who Failed at Love provided me with a cool outlook on philosophers that at the same time helped me learn some new stuff.  The writing style was good and the organization was easy to understand.  It didn't really transcend enjoyable for me - but nonfiction rarely does - but for its purpose I think it's an excellent little source that does what it means to do in the best and most efficient way possible.  A small and quick paperback read that I'd love to see more people pick up.  The conversations you can have about effed up philosophers would be mighty interesting with Great Philosophers Who Failed at Love.  (It also helps you feel better about your love life.  But we don't have to say that.) 

Cover:  Simple, and the heart in love is cute. 

Rating:  5.0  Stars

Copy:  Received from author for review  (Thanks, Andrew!  Those kittehs really won at love.)

(Note:  This is actually Friday, but Thursday had me limited posting time since I had a four hour practice for the musical.  I know I'm all over the place anymore but I was kept quite busy!  :) 


Title:  The End

Author:  Nora Olsen

Publisher:  Prizm

I make it a point to try and read as much of Prizm's offerings as I can, because they are one of the few small presses that caters exclusively to LGBTQ YA books.  Through them, I've discovered Hayden Thorne and Dakota Chase and others.  While not every book they publish is perfect, the reads are always enjoyable and I love bringing them to the attention of other readers.  The End was solicited to me for review and I was eager to try it out, as a friend had told me about the gay dystopian Prizm had been publishing towards the end of 2010.  Don't know about you, dear readers, but I had yet to see or hear of a gay dystopian (except Hidden - but whoever said that was dystopian was on crack, because it wasn't.)  I ended up enjoying The End, but some key points kept it from getting past 'good' for me.

It's 2014, and the outbreak of World War Three has begun.  Julie, a 17 year old girl from the States, is on a school trip to Amsterdam when the bombings begin.  Her life threatened, she and her school group fight to survive in the new war-trodden environment.  People are dying left and right, and Julie believes she is getting new supernatural powers.  Her minds eye shows her the image of a boy showing survivors onto a boat.  Maybe to safety away from the radiation and the scavenging going on in Amsterdam.  With two other girls from her group, Julie sets off to find this mysterious boy and a way out of the mess of the world.

Across the ocean in Julie's home turf, 14 year old Marly is dealing with radiation and disease, too.  But from the confines of a juvenile detention facility in New York City.  She's been in and out of trouble for years, so the new sentence wasn't a total surprise.  The girls of the facility are more than a little miffed when they get left to die by the guards.  The only thing protecting them is the little air and sunlight escape from outside.  Food stores are scarce and they can't survive forever, so Marly, who is the undisputed leader, has to try and find a solution.  A cat goddess ends up giving her a mysterious amulet that can let her walk through walls, and potentially save the group of girls from the juvenile hall.

Brought together by a twist of fate, Julie, Marly, Skilly (the boy from Julie's vision), Vikki, and several other queer teens end up doing more than surviving.  Chosen by the gods, they are meant for greater things.  Like saving the world from a demonic goddess with marital problems.  They use the powers of their amulets - enhanced by the gods - to travel in time, create a new history, and other things to try and fix the world from becoming the rough wasteland its become in their time.  The End is a dystopian/time travel/sci-fi/fantasy with a cast of LGBTQ heroes that bring romance, drama, and a whole lot of action to saving the world. 

Olsen's characters were my favorite part of the book.  They made it really fun and caused my reading time to be a lot more enjoyable than expected.  Julie and Marly are the two main protagonists, although Skilly's point of view is sometimes explored (though Olsen writes in third person so the writing style doesn't change along with the focus).  Julie is hardworking and more structured than Marly, and her life is pretty happy despite the fact that her grandma doesn't know she's a lesbian.  Her feelings for the bombshell Vikki early on in the book may surprise readers who have ignored the LGBTQ signs I've posted this review with, but they made me so happy.  It's established then and there that Julie is okay with herself and is fine with talking about liking another girl.  Her ability to navigate and be a strong and stable body really helps the cast of characters along.  Marly is tougher and more resourceful in the new bombed landscape.  Her reactions to the situation were pretty admirable, and the leadership of Marly really meshes well with Julie's resources.  Their budding romance made an interesting first half of The End.

Skilly was one of my favorite characters because of his issues.  Cocky and slightly grungy, he's a bisexual immortal from the beginning of time.  It makes for a rather mature yet crude personality.  I didn't care for when he and Vikki would be randomly making out or something for sport, though.  I'm not a huge fan in general of free-for-all-smooching.  Or smexing.  Their relationship may have been better if it was explored more, but it was pretty free of depth, so I didn't really care for it.  Vikki herself was a character I ended up liking despite the ambiguity.  Evil and good at the same time...she encompassed a fun and explosive aspect to the plot.  Her shock value was pretty good.  The characters I didn't care for were the gods.  They weren't in their much, but they seemed contrived to me based on how they were written.  Are they meant to be a parody or serious?  The writing made it hard to figure out, and it just came off as childlike serious to me.  Some parts had me very interested, but most of them were just disappointing. 

The place where Nora Olsen lost me was the writing.  I liked her style because it made the book go by fast and fun to read, but in the cases of the gods and fantasy portion of the story - it felt rushed.  An idea that never really formed to a functioning level.  The amulets were a nice idea, but the gods and their motives seemed rather paltry an explanation for it.  I would have preferred they were kept more mysterious or if they had a more definable purpose.  The other issues were mostly in the plotting.  The first two thirds of the novel were great.  It's the time travel portion that really lost me.  There were a lot of major plot events and conflicts that were amplified or added because of it, and it felt supremely rushed.  I had no understanding of why things were happening at the pace they were.  Things get established and reasoning takes a backseat.  It felt like a plot that would require at least another book or two if it really wanted to keep the pace and worldbuilding in check.  The rest of the plotting was great, but the plot rush just didn't sit well with me.

I would easily recommend The End, but only after giving my reservations about the ending.  It was a fun book with enjoyable characters, whose only problems lined in the plotting and pacing of the book.  The latter parts especially.  A fun and worthy read it is (especially if you get it as an ebook, since the price is a little more reasonable for those who have qualms trying new authors) and I look forward to seeing how Nora Olsen matches this with her next book (you are writing something else, Nora?  Please?)

Cover:  This is one of Prizm's better covers.  Love the black and green coloring.

Rating:  3.5  Stars

Copy:  Received from author for solicited review  (Thank you so much, Nora!)