Daughter of Dusk by Livia Blackburne

Title: Daughter of Dusk
Author: Livia Blackburne
Publisher: Disney Hyperion
Release Date: August 4, 2015
Rating: 3/5

The Gist: After learning the truth about her bloodlines, Kyra can’t help but feel like a monster.

Though she’s formed a tentative alliance with the Palace, Kyra must keep her identity a secret or risk being hunted like the rest of her Demon Rider kin. Tristam and the imprisoned assassin James are among the few who know about her heritage, but when Tristam reveals a heartbreaking secret of his own, Kyra’s not sure she can trust him. And with James’s fate in the hands of the palace, Kyra fears that he will give her away to save himself.

As tensions rise within Forge's Council, and vicious Demon Rider attacks continue in surrounding villages, Kyra knows she must do something to save her city. But she walks a dangerous line between opposing armies: will she be able to use her link to the Demon Riders for good, or will her Makvani blood prove to be deadly?

In this spellbinding sequel to Midnight Thief, Kyra and Tristam face their biggest battle yet as they grapple with changing allegiances, shocking deceit, and vengeful opponents.

Review: 

Daughter of Dusk picks up shortly after the events of Midnight Thief.  Kyra is working for the council and struggling to keep her birthright a secret.  In this second book, a former background character steps forward as the big baddie.  His aims go far beyond the destruction of the Makvani race and Kyra must discover his secrets before both sides suffer tragic losses. With one foot in both worlds, Kyra is the only one who can prevent a war and save those she cares about.  

I stopped and started Daughter of Dusk a couple of times as the beginning was quite slow.  There is a little too much political drama and too little action. Kyra spends a great deal of time contemplating whether or not she is a monster and has a difficult time coming to terms with who she is.  This is not necessarily a BAD thing as it makes for good character development, but I was pretty anxious to see her meld both sides of her heritage and kick some serious butt.  Things picked up at about the halfway point when circumstances demand that Kyra leave Forge and come out of hiding as half-human and half-Makvani.  During this time we also get to learn more about Kyra's family history and there are one or two interesting surprises.  

The characters are enjoyable and I was particularly happy that we got to see another side of Flick.  I was quite pleased that he never became a serious love interest and thrilled that he found his own match (can we get a story about them please?)  The romance between Kyra and Tristam continues to be teased as both realize their stations make a serious relationship impossible.  While I like these two characters together and we got to see a deeper side of Tristam as he struggles with his own prejudices towards the Makvani, I didn't feel a great deal of chemistry between them, so that part of the plot fell a little flat.  

Daughter of Dusk has a satisfactory end that leads me to believe it is the last in the series (at least the last that tells Kyra's story) but there are still stories to tell.  We may see these in novella form or in additional books set in this world, but concentrating on other characters - at least that is what I am hoping. 

Bottom Line: Daughter of Dusk is a solid second book in a series with potential for more. 

Teaching/Parental Notes:

Age: 13 and up
Sex: Kissing
Violence: Swordplay, Knifeplay, Violence towards a child
Inappropriate Language: None
Substance Use/Abuse: None

Welcome the the Dark House by Laurie Faria Stolarz

Title: Welcome to the Dark House
Author: Laure Faria Stolarz
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Release Date: July 22, 2014
Rating: 2/5

Cover Impressions:  The title and background image don't seem to go together and I hate that font.  It doesn't have the creep factor that I would expect from this type of book.

The Gist: A group of teens is brought together by a mysterious contest.  Write an essay about your greatest nightmare and win an all expenses paid trip of a lifetime to meet a directing legend.  As they reach The Dark House, each person starts to realize that a weekend reliving their greatest fears may be more than they bargained for and the danger may be more than they realized. 

Review:

Welcome to the Dark House feels like a super campy, straight to video, horror movie.  With villains torn from a fictional series of movies who spout the cheesiest lines and terrible rhymes who often felt more like comic relief than a real source of danger.  It features a plethora of characters who are rather static and a bit boring.  I cared more for some characters (why wasn't Natalie the main character?) than others.  For example, I did not care one bit for Garth and, frankly, didn't give a damn what happened to him.  It also seemed very strange that we never even got to meet one of the contest winners and were expected to actually care when she disappeared.  I have a sneaking suspicion her scenes got the chop when Stolarz's editor felt the book was too long. 

The narrative switches perspectives between these characters and there were simply too many to keep track of.  There was very little change in the voice of the narrators which made following the switches difficult and I had to keep going back and reminding myself of who was speaking (until I stopped caring and gave up).  The plot is fairly fast paced and doesn't feature too much lag in between creepy happenings but gave way to quite a bit of explanation of the fictional films and their characters - of which there were MANY.  I almost wish (and I'm fairly certain this would infringe on copyright and therefore wouldn't be possible) that it could have been based on a real franchise like Halloween or Scream. 

Some of the scenes were pretty disturbing (I kept cringing at the whole eels in a tank scene) and I really enjoyed watching each character encounter their own fears (though it might have been more effective if there had been a little bit of mystery around what each one was afraid of).  However, I had some trouble as I kept questioning whether or not this was supposed to include some element of the supernatural or if it was some elaborate scheme set up by a real murderer.  I kept being distracted by nagging questions like how was this guy in so many places at once?  How did he set up an amusment park filled with cameras in the middle of the woods with no one taking notice?  Whose name was on the electric bill?  Why were there no work orders or witnesses to the construction?  What about purchase info for some of those pretty much priceless guitars and manuscripts in the house? 
 
In the end, I was sincerely hoping for a twist that would make this all worthwhile (this was all a shared psychosis or was set up by their therapists as a form of extreme therapy or it actually was set up by the murderer or Ivy's parents and he had somehow had a hand in each child's trauma)  But, I was disappointed.  It seemed to leave some room for a sequel, but I don't think I will bother if that is the case. 

Teaching/Parental Notes:

Age:  15 and up
Sex: Kissing
Violence: Violent murders by various means (buried alive, choking, stabbing)
Inappropriate Language: Piss, Shit
Substance Use/Abuse: None

ARC Book Review: Midnight Thief by Livia Blackburne

Title: Midnight Thief
Author: Livia Blackburne
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Release Date: July 8th, 2014
Rating: 2/5

Cover Impressions:  This cover is just stunning.  It is the real reason that I picked it up in the first place.  I can't wait to see if the next one follows the same theme. 

Review:
Kyra has gained a reputation as a girl who can get into any building.  Stealing coin from the richer part of town keeps her from starving but not much else.  When the leader of the assassin's guild offers her a job that will allow her to take care of those she cares about, Kyra agrees.  Before long, the desire to prove herself leads her deeper and deeper into the guild's secrets and, when Kyra refuses to play by their rules, she learns it is not so easy, or safe, to go back to her old life.  

Midnight Thief has a rather generic feel.  Despite the fantastic cover, there isn't much content to make this stand out from other mildly fantastical novels.  Kyra is an orphan girl, trying to make it in a cruel and difficult world, who is chosen by a super secret society because she is oh-so-special.  The worldbuilding doesn't get really interesting until over halfway through the novel.  Once it does, things pick up, but by that point I had mostly lost interest. 

The characters, for their part, are rather bland.  Kyra doesn't have a great deal of personality to build the plot around.  Tristam was equally uninteresting and I felt no chemistry between the two main characters.  The romantic angle felt forced and, in the end, didn't really amount to much.  There were some side characters who showed promise, like Flick and Martin, but they didn't enough play to have that pan out.

Overall, the biggest downfall for me was the fact that there were a lot of threads - the corruption of the governement, the tactics of the assassin's guild, and the barbarian attacks - which caused the plot to be spread a little thing.  As a result, none of them had any forward movement or sense of momentum.  I realize that this is the first of a series, but I was still hoping for a little more headway in the whole "our government is corrupt and our people are miserable" storyline.

With a stronger second half, I was able to give a little more credit to this novel, but it was mostly a case of too little, too late.  

Teaching/Parental Notes:

Age:  13 and up
Sex: None
Violence: Death by: Poisoning, Knife
Inappropriate Language: None
Substance Use/Abuse: None

ARC Book Review: Don't Look Back by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Title: Don't Look Back
Author: Jennifer L. Armentrout
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Release Date: April 15th, 2014
Rating: 2/5

Cover Impressions:  The English teacher in me hates that the title is all lower case letters.

The Gist: Sam wakes up in a strange place with no memory of her former life other than fuzzy recollections of rocks and blood.  As she rejoins her family she discovers that she wasn't alone when she disappeared, her best friend, Cassie was with her and Cassie has not come home.  As Sam tries desperately to remember what happened to her, and Cassie, she starts to realize that her former self was not someone she wants to be anymore.  As the truth begins to unravel, Samantha discovers that she may not be able to trust anyone - including herself.

Review:
Don't Look Back is one of those mystery books where it is very difficult to write a review without giving away major plot spoilers, in this case: the identity of the murderer.

The premise behind this novel was interesting and there were some real elements of suspense and excitement.  However, it was carried by characters who were bland and uninspiring.  Samantha does not seem to have anything interesting about her, other than the fact that she has suffered a tragedy and is dealing with amnesia.  Pre-amnesia Sam was a mean and cruel young girl who tortured her friends and classmates, but at least she was interesting.  The rest of Sam's friends and family are equally boring with very little compassion for the fact that she has suffered a horrible event and Cassie is still missing.

The only one who seemed the least bit concerned with her welfare was Carson but Sam's lusting, which often bordered on obsession, left me annoyed whenever he was around and I was unable to warm up to him as a character.  This novel featured a sort-of love triangle between Des, Sam's boyfriend in her pre-amnesia days and Carson, the boy childhood friend that she left behind.  While I was happy to see Sam in what seemed to be a much more healthy relationship, her constant descriptions of him became more than a little nauseating and distracted from the plot. 

I was particularly annoyed by Samantha's attitude towards seeing a psychologist.  She had been through a crippling situation and clearly suffered from issues with amnesia and hallucinations.  Even without these circumstances there would be no shame in her seeking help and even less so seeing what she had to deal with.  She balked whenever anyone mentioned her seeing a doctor and her comments were a clear example of the unfortunate attitudes that many people hold towards those dealing with mental health issues.

The entire plot was built around Sam having amnesia and her memory resurfacing in bits and pieces.  I am not exactly sure how realistic this type of diagnosis is and was more than a little surprised that the murderer didn't try a little harder to prevent her from remembering what happened.  I was really disappointed in the identity of the murderer.   It was an interesting twist, but one that I feel like I have read/heard/seen before. So much so that I had figured out the ending within the first 30 pages and spent the rest of the book hoping that I was wrong and that the author would go in another direction.  Is anyone else with me?  Has this story been told before?

I enjoyed the level of excitement in this plot, but the predictability of the plot and the bland and boring characters allowed the book to fall flat.    

Teaching/Parental Notes:

Age: 15 and up
Gender: Both
Sex: Kissing, Sex between teenagers (not explicit)
Violence: Murder by blunt force trauma, Gunplay
Inappropriate Language: Piss, Shit, Bitch, Dick, Fuck
Substance Use/Abuse: Underage Drinking, Alcoholism

ARC Book Review: Far From You by Tess Sharpe

Title: Far From You
Author: Tess Sharpe
Publisher: Disney - Hyperion
Release Date: April 8, 2014
Rating: 4.5/5

Cover Impressions:  The cover is pretty, but I don't really see the connection to the story itself.  There isn't really anything to make it stand out on the shelf. 

Review:
Sophie Winters is a survivor.  She survived a car crash that left her with a limp, physical limitations and a crushing oxy addiction.  She survived getting clean with the help of her family and she survived a brutal attack that left her best friend murdered and her locked away in rehab.  As she returns home she must face a new reality without Mina and with all eyes on her.  Under this intense scrutiny Sophie is determined to find out what actually happened that night and bring the killer to justice. 

I was really surprised by how much I enjoyed the book.  I don't read a great deal of mystery but, when I do, I tend to find them fairly predictable.  Far From You, however, kept me guessing for quite some time.  The mystery was solid and the plotting was well done, with tidbits of information keeping the story moving.  Sophie was a great narrator who was aware of her own limitations, but did not whine about them.  I was happy that this choice allowed me to see Sophie's struggle with her addiction in a very realistic way.  She avoids certain triggers and fights through cravings with breathing and mantras.  I have never read anything else that so thoroughly understood the constant struggle of addiction.

Where this novel really shines is in the story of love and friendship between Sophie and Mina.  It is not your conventional love story and was actually not something I was expecting.  Despite being the character who as died, Mina is not portrayed as a flawless saint as we so often do of our dead.  She is shown to be a girl who had some serious trust issues, who was childish and tempestuous and who may have put herself into a very dangerous situation.  Yet, as a reader, I truly liked her sense of fun and her unwavering loyalty to Sophie in her time of need.

The story plays out by jumping through time to points in and around several key events: the car accident and recovery, the development of Sophie's drug addiction, Sophie getting clean, The lead up and day of the murder, and the present day.  I had thought, upon starting, that this would quickly get confusing but each shift is marked by how long ago it was and what age Sophie was.  This allowed me to follow very easily and, if a reader were so inclined, you could even make a timeline of the events.  This approach actually worked very well to allow the secondary story to be fleshed out as well as to create a sense of suspense in the primary storyline.

This novel does have some adult themes and a considerable amount of swearing.  While it certainly didn't take away from the story, I would be careful about recommending this to readers who are a little too young.

Tess Sharpe has created a fan in me.  I am signing on for whatever else she has in the works.       

Notable Quotables: 

"Sometimes we were downright ruthless to each other.  For once, it isn't some cotton-candy idea of her; it's who she was, in all her maddening, heart-squeezing truth."

"I'm too in love with the idea of more and numb and gone."
 
Teaching/Parental Notes:

Age: 16 and up
Gender: Both
Sex: Kissing, Sex between teenagers
Violence: Statutory Rape, Gunplay, Hand to Hand Combat, Attempted Strangulation, Murder by Gunshot
Inappropriate Language: Ass, Whore, Fuck, Piss, Bitch, Jesus Christ, Shit, Dyke
Substance Use/Abuse: Underage Drinking, Abuse of Prescription Medication

ARC Book Review: Never Fade by Alexandra Bracken

Title: Never Fade

Author: Alexandra Bracken
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Release Date: October 15, 2013
Rating: 4/5

Cover Impressions:  I seem to recall that, when this cover was released, people were less than enthusiastic.  But I kinda like it.  It isn't all the awesomeness of Darkest Minds, but it is still a solid cover.  I like the colors and the star (compass??) under the ice.  I do wish the imagery linked more closely with the book itself.

The Gist:  Ruby's time with the Children's League is cut short as she is sent on a secret mission to recover a flashdrive.  The information she is seeking could change the world as she knows it and, naturally, it rests in the hands of Liam Stewart - the boy she thought she left behind for his own good.  Tracking him down means exposing herself, and her terrifying abilities, to those she loves and trusts.  As she crosses the country she encounters danger at the hands of adults and teenagers alike and must decide whether her loyalty lies with her friends, or with her promises to the League.

Review:

I am a huge fan of The Darkest Minds.  I have read it twice and I recommend it to all of my students and colleagues.  I loved the way that Bracken managed to fill a young adult novel with cruelty and brutality but still maintain a warmth for her characters and a sense that things could get better.  Though this theme continues in Never Fade, things do tend to seem a little more bleak.  Ruby thought she had seen the worst that humanity had to offer, but she soon finds she has been mistaken.  Nothing with the league is what it seems and her ability to trust has been destroyed time and time again.  I still rooted for Ruby, and I love that she is a wonderfully broken character who continues to grow, but I found it a little difficult in getting to know the new characters.  Perhaps, it is a testiment to how well Bracken wrote the characters in the last book, as I was simply awaiting their arrival.  As such, I wasn't able to develop a love for the new characters while still mourning the old ones.  Once we meet up with Chubs and Liam I almost sighed in relief and was finally able to relax into the story.

I almost wish I had done a re-read of The Darkest Minds before picking up Never Fade.  There are very few reminders in the beginning of the book and I had a little trouble remembering the details of what had taken place already.  I did really enjoy getting to see the inside of the League and the intrigue involved in determining exactly who was in charge.  As the novel continued, it proved to be just as action packed as its predecessor, and just as poignant in its observation of the cruelty, but also the glimmers of kindness, possible by mankind.  The ending did an excellent job of setting up for the next book in the series and leaving the author wishing the time away until the release date of #3.

I am most definitely in this series for the long haul.  Buying a copy of this book for my classroom, recommending it to my student book club and anxiously awaiting my next foray into this world.

Teaching/Parental Notes:

Age: 13 and up
Gender: Both
Sex: Kissing
Violence: Fist Fighting, Gunplay, Knifeplay
Inappropriate Language: Frequent: Jesus, Fuck, Shit, Dick,
Substance Use/Abuse: Smoking