Down with the Shine by Kate Karyus Quinn

Title: Down with the Shine
Author: Kate Karyus Quinn
Publisher: HarperTeen
Release Date: April 26, 2016
Rating: 4/5

The Gist: Lennie always thought her uncles’ “important family legacy” was good old-fashioned bootlegging. Then she takes some of her uncles’ moonshine to Michaela Gordon’s annual house party, and finds out just how wrong she was.

At the party, Lennie has everyone make a wish before drinking the shine—it’s tradition. She toasts to wishes for bat wings, for balls of steel, for the party to go on forever. Lennie even makes a wish of her own: to bring back her best friend, Dylan, who was murdered six months ago.

The next morning gives Lennie a whole new understanding of the phrase be careful what you wish for—or in her case, be careful what wishes you grant. Because all those wishes Lennie raised a jar of shine to last night? They came true. Most of them came out bad. And once granted, a wish can’t be unmade…

Review: 

Kate Karyus Quinn has this way of writing a new novel that makes me want to go back and re-read all her other books so that I can savor them the way that they deserve.  She never shies away from the darkness and, while that is what makes her so appealing to many readers, it may also result in some scenes that are rather intense for those on the younger end of the YA spectrum.

The characters in Down with the Shine are all incredibly complex and interesting.  Lennie is a snarky teenage outcast with reason to feel like the world owes her one good night.  I loved her strange relationship with her uncle, especially in the scene where they had been explaining the magic behind their moonshine and Lennie thought they were trying to have the sex talk.

Where the novel falls, unfortunately, is in the ending, which can't really be discussed without giving away the plot.  Despite this, I enjoyed the writing and the story enough to give it 4 stars.  

Shallow Graves by Kali Wallace

Title: Shallow Graves
Author: Kali Wallace
Publisher: Katherine Tegan Books
Release Date: January 26, 2016
Rating: 3/5

The Gist: When seventeen-year-old Breezy Lin wakes up in a shallow grave one year after her death, she doesn’t remember who killed her or why. All she knows is that she’s somehow conscious—and not only that, she’s able to sense who around her is hiding a murderous past. In life, Breezy was always drawn to the elegance of the universe and the mystery of the stars. Now she must set out to find answers and discover what is to become of her in the gritty, dangerous world to which she now belongs—where killers hide in plain sight and a sinister cult is hunting for strange creatures like her. What she finds is at once empowering, redemptive, and dangerous.

Review:

Shallow Graves features a new and interesting concept of the dead.  Breezy is dead, or undead, but not in the 'must have braiiiiiiiiiiins' fashion that has become so popular in fiction today.  She seems just like a regular girl, she just can't die.  And believe me, she has tried.  One of my favorite parts of this book featured Breezy's lists, one of which was her list of ways in which she has tried to die including drowning, shooting and crashing head-long into a tree.  The writing style worked well and Breezy is a great new voice.

I love seeing diversity in main characters and Breezy ticks a lot of boxes; she is a Chinese, bisexual teenage girl who loves Science and was obsessed with being an astronaut.  I really felt her pain as she lamented the fact that her one ambition in life was now off limits despite the fact that she was now perfect for the job - no need to eat or breathe and apparently indestructible.  It was also really interesting to read as she tried to apply her analytical mind to the new task at hand - namely figuring out this new world and finding out why she isn't dead.

Shallow Graves does not follow down the traditional path of distracting from the plot with an ill-fitting love interest.  There is a boy, there is potential with the boy, but neither of them seems interested in pursuing that at the moment.  There is also an underlying thread that makes social commentary on the issues of slut shaming and victim blaming.  I loved that Breezy was self and socially aware enough to recognize how differently her life (and death) would have been if she had been a teen boy murdered rather than a girl and these sections come off as thought-provoking, rather than preachy.

Unfortunately, not everything in this story worked quite as well as it could have.  The author chose a non-linear manner of storytelling which worked in parts, but other times was strange and confusing.  There are two main mysteries and neither of them ends particularly strongly.  I was particularly disappointed in the reveal of who killed Breezy.  I was hoping for one of those 'oh my god, no way?!' moments, but it just fell a little flat and felt frustrating.  The other storyline featured a big baddie who, rather than being defeated, was merely contained.  This made the book feel like the first in a series, though that doesn't appear to be the case, and I didn't like that ambiguousness. 

Bottom Line: A fun book with an interesting new character.  Wish it was a series though....

Walk on Earth a Stranger by Rae Carson

Title: Walk on Earth a Stranger
Author: Rae Carson
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Release Date: Sept 22, 2015
Rating: 4/5

The Gist: Gold is in my blood, in my breath, even in the flecks in my eyes.

Lee Westfall has a strong, loving family. She has a home she loves and a loyal steed. She has a best friend—who might want to be something more.

She also has a secret.

Lee can sense gold in the world around her. Veins deep in the earth. Small nuggets in a stream. Even gold dust caught underneath a fingernail. She has kept her family safe and able to buy provisions, even through the harshest winters. But what would someone do to control a girl with that kind of power? A person might murder for it.

When everything Lee holds dear is ripped away, she flees west to California—where gold has just been discovered. Perhaps this will be the one place a magical girl can be herself. If she survives the journey.

The acclaimed Rae Carson begins a sweeping new trilogy set in Gold Rush-era America, about a young woman with a powerful and dangerous gift.

Review:

Walk on Earth a Stranger is, ultimately, a story about how Leah learns to trust people and finds a new family.  After her parent's brutal murder and the loss of the gold she had been collecting for years, Leah finds herself the target of their murderer, a person who will stop at nothing to gain control of her gift.  With very few possessions and even less money, Leah begins the arduous trek to California to find her fortune along with so many other Argonauts.  The journey is not an easy one, and certainly not a safe one for an unescorted young lady, so Leah becomes Lee - a young man setting out on his own, and gets hired on by a family also headed West. 

While I found the plot to be a little less exciting than I would have preferred, the novel really shines in its character development.  Throughout the journey, we get to see many sides not only of Leah, but also of the many companions that she meets along the way.  By the end, she has learned to trust again and created a new family of her own.  She has also learned just what she is capable of not in spite of, but because of, being a girl. 

I was a little disappointed that the whole 'gold sense' didn't play as much of a role as I had expected, however, I also thought that this was a stand alone and not the beginning of a series.  I am hopeful that Leah's gifts will play a greater role in the next book.  The same can be said of the villain of the story.  He book-ended the story with parts at the beginning and the end, which was slightly disappointing as he was dealt with rather quickly at the end.  I will be much happier if he plays a larger role in the second book and adds and extra sense of tension. 

There is also a theme of feminism that runs through the novel.  This was refreshing and interesting as we watched Leah live as herself and disguised as a boy.  As Lee, she was able to see how differently people treated her when she was in pants rather than skirts and as Leah she became more and more frustrated with the way that men, even those who care about her, tried to control her.  I loved this aspect of the plot and look forward to even further development in the next book.

Teaching/Parental Notes:

Age: 13 and up
Sex: Kissing
Violence: Hunting, Murder by gun
Inappropriate Language: None
Substance Use/Abuse: None

Other Issues: Death from exposure, illness, childbirth

The Last Ever After by Soman Chainani

Title: The Last Ever After
Author: Soman Chainani
Publisher: HarperCollins
Release Date: July 21, 2015
Rating: 5/5

The Gist:
In the epic conclusion to Soman Chainani’s New York Times bestselling series, The School for Good and Evil, everything old is new again as Sophie and Agatha fight the past as well as the present to find the perfect end to their story.

As A World Without Princes closed, the end was written and former best friends Sophie and Agatha went their separate ways. Agatha was whisked back to Gavaldon with Tedros and Sophie stayed behind with the beautiful young School Master.

But as they settle into their new lives, their story begs to be re-written, and this time, theirs isn’t the only one. With the girls apart, Evil has taken over and the villains of the past have come back to change their tales and turn the world of Good and Evil upside down.

Readers around the world are eagerly awaiting the third book in The School for Good and Evil series, The Last Ever After. This extraordinary conclusion delivers more action, adventure, laughter, romance and fairy tale twists and turns than you could ever dream of! 

 

Review: 

I have adored this series from the very first book.  The world is lush and detailed with classic fairy tale characters who pop up unexpectedly and add an extra layer of whimsy.  It is also a world that can be dark and scary and where there are real consequences (ie. characters dying) that you don't often find in middle grade novels.  I really just want more of this series and would probably do unspeakable things in order to get a spin off featuring Hester, Anadil, and Dot.

In The Last Ever After, Sophie, Agatha, and Tedros must find a way to win their Happily Ever After and close their storybook for good.  While Agatha and Tedros try to find a way to be happy with one another, Sophie struggles to decide between fighting for Tedros, the boy who may never love her, and Rafel, the evil school master who claims that he always will.  Ultimately though, it is a story of two friends.  Sophie and Agatha must choose a world where they each find love, or a world where they find each other. 

The one detriment to this series, in my eyes, has been Tedros.  At the beginning of this novel he continues to be spoiled and insufferable.  However, there is a great deal of growth for him in these pages and, by the end, he is at least tolerable.  Sophie and Agatha continue to be wonderful, complex, and well-rounded characters.  Each is equal in this fairy tale, with their own desires and insecurities.  We also get to meet a plethora of classic fairy tale characters in this book, both heros and villains.  I won't say WHO because Spoilers, but I loved seeing how their lives ended up after their Happily Ever After and the role that they still played in this world. 

I loved seeing the school under the Rafel's control.  In each book it has taken a physical transformation as the management has changed and this is the darkest theme yet.  With the School for New and the School for Old we see Evers and Nevers learning evil side by side, or suffering the consequences.  I did miss some of the humor of the previous books that came from seeing the students interacting in the schools and in classes but I was quite glad to see the coven at work again - though, as I said, it will just never be enough for my taste!

There is no shortage of excitement in The Last Ever After.  We have some terrifying villains, some great twists and turns and there was not any point where I really felt I knew how this plot was going to turn out.  We finally get answers to the great mysteries of this series and the threads hiding just below the surface that tie past and present together and teach our characters more about themselves than they ever expected.  This allows for some fantastic character development and lends to the theme of Old and New that runs through this final book. 

The ending is satisfying and heartwarming, despite the very real loss that occurs in this book.  It is one of those conclusions that leaves the reader thinking about those characters and where life might take them, long after the book has been closed.  Thank you Soman Chainani for such a rich and wonderful series.  Now, what's next?! 

Bottom Line: A fantastic conclusion to a fantastic series. 

Teaching/Parental Notes:

Age: 10 and up
Sex: Kissing
Violence: Swordplay, Death by Axe
Inappropriate Language: None
Substance Use/Abuse: None

A Madness So Discreet by Mindy McGinnis

Title: A Madness So Discreet
Author: Mindy McGinnis
Publisher: Katherine Tegan Books
Release Date: Oct 6, 2015
Rating: 3/5

The Gist: Grace Mae knows madness.

She keeps it locked away, along with her voice, trapped deep inside a brilliant mind that cannot forget horrific family secrets. Those secrets, along with the bulge in her belly, land her in a Boston insane asylum.

When her voice returns in a burst of violence, Grace is banished to the dark cellars, where her mind is discovered by a visiting doctor who dabbles in the new study of criminal psychology. With her keen eyes and sharp memory, Grace will make the perfect assistant at crime scenes. Escaping from Boston to the safety of an ethical Ohio asylum, Grace finds friendship and hope, hints of a life she should have had. But gruesome nights bring Grace and the doctor into the circle of a killer who stalks young women. Grace, continuing to operate under the cloak of madness, must hunt a murderer while she confronts the demons in her own past.

Review: 
Grace Mae, pregnant and broken, has been locked away in an asylum by the family that is supposed to love and protect her, but which has done neither.  She endures the abuse and neglect of the asylum until she meets Dr. Thornhollow, who performs surgery on the more violent offenders.  She concocts a scheme which will allow her to escape both the asylum and her family and which leaves her in the care of the doctor as his assistant.  Under his tutelage, she begins to learn the science of profiling and seeking out murderers.  As they get closer and closer to the serial killer they are trailing, Grace's past comes back with a vengeance and she creates a trap to punish her abuser, and save all those who might become his victims. 

A Madness So Discreet explores the emerging science of profiling.  Dr. Thornhollow and Grace study crime scenes in order to create a picture of the murderer and narrow down the pool of suspects until they are able to locate their prey.  Unfortunately, this meant Grace received regular "lessons" in which Dr. Thornhollow droned on about profiling.  If this is new information for the reader, it would be interesting.  However, I feel like profiling has become such a big plot point for so many movies and TV shows now that all of this information seems like something everyone knows already; that murderers like to revisit the crime scene, that they are often impotent, that they have overbearing mothers etc.  Since I was pretty familiar with all of this, these scenes were rather tedious and slowed down the plot.

The plot is can really be broken into three parts: the Boston Asylum, Grace's Instruction, and Grace's Revenge.  The first section is a great read, but is full of triggers.  The treatment of patients in the asylum is deplorable and, as a mother, I found certain scenes very difficult to get through.  However, this sets the tone for a very creepy novel about madness and the treatment of the insane, but that is not the book that we get.    Once she escapes, the tone changes completely and the plot slows considerably as Dr. Thornhollow teaches Grace the basics of profiling and she acclimates to her new hospital.  Things become interesting again in the final part as we start to see a whole new side of Grace.  By this point, she has received enough instruction to be able to operate capably on her own and has finally begun to take control of her own life.  This makes her a much more interesting character.  At this point, the plot moves much more quickly and we get to see just how devious, and forward thinking, Grace can be. 

The novel was hit and miss when it came to the characters.  Some, like Grace, were interesting and well developed while others, like Dr. Thornhollow and his sister were flat and unbelievable.  Thankfully, there were no romantic elements as would often be expected in this type of novel and I was quite glad that the only part of Grace's body that the doctor seemed interested in was her mind.  There are also characters that, while enjoyable, did deplorable things that were applauded.  Overall, there was a theme of women gaining revenge against the men who wronged them, however they often did it in ways that I simply couldn't stomach.     

Bottom Line: Solidly in the "Meh" category.  It wasn't bad, but there wasn't anything that I LOVED about it. 

Teaching/Parental Notes:

Age: 15 and up
Sex: None
Violence: Sexual Abuse, Abuse of a patient, Murder
Inappropriate Language: Bitch, Bastard, Whore
Substance Use/Abuse: Smoking

The Rest Of Us Just Live Here by Patrick Ness

Title: The Rest of Us Just Live Here
Author: Patrick Ness
Publisher: HarperTeen
Release Date: Oct 6, 2015
Rating: 4/5

The Gist: What if you aren’t the Chosen One?

The one who’s supposed to fight the zombies, or the soul-eating ghosts, or whatever the heck this new thing is, with the blue lights and the death?

What if you’re like Mikey? Who just wants to graduate and go to prom and maybe finally work up the courage to ask Henna out before someone goes and blows up the high school. Again.

Because sometimes there are problems bigger than this week’s end of the world, and sometimes you just have to find the extraordinary in your ordinary life.

Even if your best friend is worshiped by mountain lions.

Review: 

 

Mikey is a completely normal guy; at least he seems to think so.  In his world you are a normal, or an Indie.  The Indies are the chosen ones.  When the world comes crashing down and aliens invade or vampires take over the school, it is the Indies who save the day.  It is also the Indies who die, a lot.  Mikey and his friends are just trying to get to graduation.  To get into good colleges far away from their home town and leave the messy parts of their lives behind.  However, Mikey suffers from anxiety and OCD, things that got really bad during his mother's last campaign and after his sister nearly died from and eating disorder.  He thinks he has things under control but when mysterious blue lights start showing up in town and Indie kids start disappearing he fears the worst - another end-of-the-world showdown and he and his friends may not escape this time.  

 

The worldbuilding here is wonderful.  Through the chapter titles we are told a parallel tale of the fight between Satchel, an Indie kid, and The Immortals, strange beings bent on taking over the world, one host at a time.  

"Chapter the Second, in which indie kid Satchel writes a poem, and her mom and dad giver her loving space to just feel what she needs to; then an indie kid called Dylan arrives at her house, terrified, to say a mysterious glowing girl has informed him of the death of indie kid Finn; Satchel and Dylan comfort each other, platonically."

 

There are also mentions throughout the text of things like 'that time the kids were all dying beautifully of cancer' or how Indie kids never seem to use the Internet and are always flipping through the card catalogue.  The only complaint that I have is that I wanted MORE!  Intense break up scenes in the restaurant every night, a new kid moving in once a week and falling in insta-love with the least likely person, wildly inappropriate declarations of love in public places, groups of teens obsessively waiting on the next big trend and arguing the merits of vampires vs werewolves vs zombies.    

 

Against this backdrop, we have the quirky, but fairly normal story of Mikey and his friends as they just try to survive the latests attack and figure out where they stand with each other as the prepare to separate for the first time.  Mike not only has to deal with his feelings for Henna, but also the arrival of a strange new kid who seems to have divided her attention.  While Mike is certainly not the kid of character we LOVE, he is the kid of character we root for and he is real.  One of my favorite parts of the novel was the exploration of Mikey's anxiety and OCD.  He speaks about getting stuck in loops, doing something over and over again until he gets it 'right' (even though even he can't say what 'right' is).  He also talks about how scared he is and how going back on medication feels like a failure.  There are far too few novels that show the reality behind mental illness and that it is not just something that can be worked through by the end of the book.  Mikey is really afraid of his illness and what it might cause him to do and he talks about it, he seeks help and he makes steps towards getting better. 

The romance between Mike and Henna is sweet, but where this book really shines is in the group dynamics. They are such a great cast of characters and they mesh so well together than they make me wish I had friends like that in high school (albeit I could skip the whole apocalypse every couple of years part).  I do wish that we had alternating narrators between the four main characters as I would have loved to see their take on this world as allow for the female characters to be fleshed out a little more as they did tend to fall a little flat compared to Mike and Jared.

Bottom Line: The Rest of Us Just Live Here has a fantastic premise and executes it fairly well.  The story it tells is not the exciting I-Saved-The-World story, but it is an interesting and important one.  Here's hoping little sister Meredith has her own story to tell in another book. 

Teaching/Parental Notes:

Age: 15 and up
Sex: Kissing, Sex between teens (not described), talk of masturbation
Violence: Car crash
Inappropriate Language: Dick, Pissed, Bastard, Shit, Fuck
Substance Use/Abuse: Smoking, Underage Drinking

Dumplin' by Julie Murphy

Title: Dumplin'
Author: Julie Murphy
Publisher: Balzar and Bray
Release Date: Sept 15th
Rating: 5/5

The Gist: Self-proclaimed fat girl Willowdean Dickson (dubbed “Dumplin’” by her former beauty queen mom) has always been at home in her own skin. Her thoughts on having the ultimate bikini body? Put a bikini on your body. With her all-American beauty best friend, Ellen, by her side, things have always worked . . . until Will takes a job at Harpy’s, the local fast-food joint. There she meets Private School Bo, a hot former jock. Will isn’t surprised to find herself attracted to Bo. But she is surprised when he seems to like her back.

Instead of finding new heights of self-assurance in her relationship with Bo, Will starts to doubt herself. So she sets out to take back her confidence by doing the most horrifying thing she can imagine: entering the Miss Clover City beauty pageant—along with several other unlikely candidates—to show the world that she deserves to be up there as much as any twiggy girl does. Along the way, she’ll shock the hell out of Clover City—and maybe herself most of all.

With starry Texas nights, red candy suckers, Dolly Parton songs, and a wildly unforgettable heroine— Dumplin’ is guaranteed to steal your heart.

Review:

Dumplin' is one of those books where I feel woefully unqualified to write a review.  How can I possibly do justice to the brilliant, sweet, heart-wrenching and, ultimately, triumphant book that is Dumplin?  Julie Murphy has created a cast of characters that are so real and well-developed that I often felt they could walk right off the page.  Every character is shown as being multi-faceted.  Ever. Single. One.  I loved watching their hidden sides emerge alongside Willowdean, especially the girls who joined the pageant with her.  Aunt Lucy plays a fantastic role, even though she has passed on before the events of the book, and it is heartbreaking to watch Will struggle to find her place in the world without Aunt Lucy in her corner.  This plays into the incredibly realistic relationship that she has with her mother, and while it is clear that they love each other, neither seems to quite understand the other. 

Willowdean herself has a tough and confident exterior, but the author does a phenomenal job of showing how even girls that appear to have it all together can have crippling insecurities.  Throughout the novel we watch Will as she fights her own demons and struggles against the messages that the world is constantly pushing at her; that she isn't good enough, that she should be ashamed of her body, that someone her size doesn't deserve happiness.  Sometimes she falters, which makes this novel all the more relatable, but she gets back up again and comes out stronger than before. 

Dumplin' features a not-so-typical romance between Will and Bo - the last guy she ever expected to be interested in her.  There is a touch of a triangle, as another suitor tries to garner her affection, but it never actually ventures into the been-there-read-that territory of the literary trope.  The reader is never quite sure of Bo's intentions and, for most of the novel, we get wrapped up in the mystery of him right alongside Willowdean.  It is heartbreaking to watch (but oh so relatable) as Will stiffens at his touch and wonders if she is good enough or if he is being honest. 

Dumplin' is not just a story about a self-proclaimed fat girl finding her place in the spotlight.  It runs deeper than that.  Through Willowdean's internal struggle and the revelations of the other girls in the pageant, we see how everyone suffers with insecurities, no matter their shape or size.  The overwhelming message, however, is that we not allow the internal monologue of "not good enough" to hold you back from wonderful and important life experiences.

Bottom Line: Dumplin is a book that I would recommend to anyone and especially one that all teenagers should read.  It now sits on a special shelf in my classroom (at least it would if it wasn't being read so often!)

Teaching/Parental Notes:

Age:13 and up
Sex: Kissing, Discussion of sex between teens (not described)
Violence: Fist Fighting
Inappropriate Language: Shit, Douche, Asshole, Fuck, Jesus Christ, Bitch, Dick, Whore
Substance Use/Abuse: Underage drinking

Notable Quotables:

"I sit down to eat and liberally spread salad dressing across my plate, because on the eighth day God created ranch dressing."

"It's not that I don't like new people.  It's just that, in general, I do not like new people."

The Night We Said Yes by Lauren Gibaldi

Title: The Night We Said Yes
Author: Lauren Gibaldi
Publisher: HarperTeen
Release Date: June 16, 2015
Rating: 1/5

The Gist: Before Matt, Ella had a plan. Get over a no-good ex-boyfriend. Graduate from high school without any more distractions. Move away from Orlando, Florida, where she’s lived her entire life.

But Matt—the cute, shy, bespectacled bass player who just moved to town—was never part of that plan.

And neither was attending a party that was crashed by the cops just minutes after they arrived. Or spending an entire night saying “yes” to every crazy, fun thing they could think of.

Then Matt abruptly left town, and he broke not only Ella’s heart but those of their best friends, too. So when he shows up a year later with a plan of his own—to relive the night that brought them together—Ella isn’t sure whether Matt’s worth a second chance. Or if re-creating the past can help them create a different future.

In alternating then and now chapters, debut author Lauren Gibaldi crafts a charming, romantic story of first loves, lifelong friendships, uncovered secrets, and, ultimately, finding out how to be brave.

Review: No, no, no, no, no. I am so annoyed with this book that I can barely be bothered to write the review.  First of all, the whole premise is flawed from the start.  The characters are supposed to be reliving a magical, romantic night in which they promised to say yes to all suggestions and dares.  In theory, it sounds fun.  In reality, it was a mess of whiny teenagers fighting with each other, punctuated by occasional running from the police.  There were very few dares, and those were lame and boring.  We were treated to the drama of not one, but two couples and one or both of them was constantly bickering.  

 

The main character managed to be both boring and infuriating.  She showed zero personality and suffered from a serious case of "my life is incomplete without a boyfriend" syndrome.  She didn't seem to have any interests other than tagging along with her friend, Meg, and watching their friend's band play (Note: I always find it incredibly unrealistic when books feature teen bands that a) have actual gigs b) have actual fans and c) are provided enough autonomy by their parents to pull off the shit they do).  The most irritating part was that, after getting a more than reasonable explanation for her ex-boyfriend's disappearance and inability to tell her why (including some serious family issues that his parents did not want him to speak about) she continues to pout, whine, and stamp her feet in some childish temper tantrum because he didn't trust her enough to tell her anyway.  All this, despite the fact that they had dated for only a few months.  It was at this point of the plot (which was pretty early on) that I started to tune out.  

The rest of the story consisted of re-hashing their "one perfect night" and Ella convincing herself that she should give Matt another chance, despite the fact that she was leaving in 3 months.  UGH! whiny teenage crap.  This book was not romantic, it was not exciting, it didn't even have a point.  Leave it on the shelf.

Teaching/Parental Notes:

Age: 13 and up
Sex:  Kissing
Violence:  None
Inappropriate Language: Piss, Fuck, Bitch
Substance Use/Abuse: Underage Drinking, Smoking

Other Issues: Drinking and driving

Lies I Told by Michelle Zink

Title: Lies I Told
Author: Michelle Zink
Publisher: HarperTeen
Release Date: April 7, 2015
Rating: 3/5

Cover Impressions:  Not as compelling as it could be.  I like the mysterious feel of the shadowy figure but this cover has been done before. 

The Gist:
Grace Fontaine has everything: beauty, money, confidence, and the perfect family.

But it’s all a lie.

Grace has been adopted into a family of thieves who con affluent people out of money, jewelry, art, and anything else of value. Grace has never had any difficulty pulling off a job, but when things start to go wrong on the Fontaines' biggest heist yet, Grace finds herself breaking more and more of the rules designed to keep her from getting caught...including the most important one of all: never fall for your mark. 

Review:
Lies I Told tells the story of a family of con artists as they embark on their biggest heist to date.  Having spent considerable time in the foster care system and been adopted during her teens, this life is the only one that Grace knows.  She trusts her family implicitely and follows their rules to elude suspicion.  Until there is a boy.  Logan is supposed to be just another mark and Grace is supposed to worm her way into his good graces in order to allow her family the opportunity to steal from his father.  But this is different than other jobs and Logan is different from other boys.  Grace finds herself losing her drive and wishing for a different life, a life in which she can have a future with the boy she is falling for.  Meanwhile, her brother Parker is becoming more and more disillusioned with the life they have been taught to lead.  He wants out, and he wants Grace to come with him.  As she falls deeper and deeper into the con, Grace must decide which will stand, her loyalty to her brother, to her parents, or to the boy who has won her heart.

While the first half of the book is a little slow to get started, it does feature some fascinating facets of the life of a con family, for example the fact that they have a "war room" in each home and that details of the job are only discussed there.  It also develops the details necessary to pull of their job and allows for the developing romance of Grace and Logan, a romance that is, thankfully, more slow-burn than insta-love.  The plot gets more and more exciting as we approach the heist and it has some truly heart stopping moments.  

I was a little disappointed in the characters.  Most of them are pretty one-dimensional and, other than Grace herself, we see most characters as part of a larger group and don't get to know any of them all that well on their own.  The one stand-out was Rachel.  She was suspicious of Grace from the moment she met her and didn't quite fit the stereotype of Rich Girl Queen Bee.  In fact, I found myself wishing that this had been written as a dual narrative so that we could watch Rachel as she sought out the truth about Grace and her family.  I wasn't a great fan of Grace at the beginning as she tended to whine a little too much about the type of life she had.  Coming into the book, I had been hoping for a character who reveled in the life and, perhaps, began to change her ways through the plot.  Grace however, was already becoming frustrated with never staying in one place and with the guilt that came from befriending people only to betray them.  As the novel wore on, she became much more of an agreeable character and, with help of the surprising ending, I have high hopes for her in the next novel.  
The novel truly shines in its ending.  From the moment the heist itself gets under way the plot becomes much more exciting and each page had me coming up with a new theory about how it would end.  I was surprised by how satisfying the ending was, while still making me anticipate the next book. 

Lies I Told is a solid introduction into a new series and a great read for fans of espionage and betrayal. 

Teaching/Parental Notes:

Age: 13 and up
Sex: Kissing, Sex between teenagers - not described
Violence: None
Inappropriate Language: Fuck, Shit, Assholes, Bitch, Jesus
Substance Use/Abuse: Underage Drinking, Marijuana Use

This Review can also be found on Young Adult Books Central

The Cemetery Boys by Zac Brewer

*Note: Since my original reading and review of The Cemetery Boys the author has announced publicly that they identify as male and are going by the first name Zac.  I have changed my review to reflect this.


Title: The Cemetery Boys
Author: Zac Brewer
Publisher: Harper Collins
Release Date: March 30, 2015
Rating: 4/5

Cover Impressions: Seriously, the book is called the Cemetery Boys and you didn't include a creepy graveyard scene?  WTH?

The Gist: When Stephen is forced to move back to the nowhere town where his father grew up, he’s already sure he’s not going to like it. Spencer, Michigan, is like a town straight out of a Hitchcock movie, with old-fashioned people who see things only in black-and-white. But things start looking up when Stephen meets the mysterious twins Cara and Devon. They’re total punks–hardly the kind of people Stephen’s dad wants him hanging out with–but they’re a breath of fresh air in this backward town. The only problem is, Cara and Devon don’t always get along, and as Stephen forms a friendship with the charismatic Devon and something more with the troubled Cara, he starts to feel like he’s getting caught in the middle of a conflict he doesn’t fully understand. And as Devon’s group of friends, who hang out in a cemetery they call The Playground, get up to increasingly reckless activities to pass the summer days, Stephen worries he may be in over his head.

Stephen’s fears prove well-founded when he learns of Spencer’s dark past. It seems the poor factory town has a history of “bad times,” and many of the town’s oldest residents attribute the bad times to creatures right out of an urban legend. The legend goes that the only way the town will prosper again is if someone makes a sacrifice to these nightmarish creatures. And while Stephen isn’t one to believe in old stories, it seems Devon and his gang might put a lot of faith in them. Maybe even enough to kill for them.

Now, Stephen has to decide what he believes, where his allegiances lie, and who will really be his friend in the end.

Review:

The Cemetery Boys was a pretty surprising read.  I wasn't expecting to like this one as much as I did.  There was a great atmosphere - it was very creepy and an interesting mystery.  It had a touch of the paranormal that kept me guessing right up to the end (and past that to be honest).  The Winged Ones are fascinating.  Devon and the boys certainly believe in them and Stephen can't quite decide whether he does or not - and neither could I.  It could have been a case of mental instability that latched onto a small town myth, or there could have actually been giant winged creatures that attacked people in the town.

The characters were interesting enough, but I would have appreciated a little more time with them.  It seemed like there were too many boys in the gang to get an opportunity to learn about any one of them.  Stephen was a self proclaimed boring guy and I didn't have the strength of feeling for him that I had hoped.  I was a big fan of his bitter and cruel grandmother - at least she kept things interesting.

The plot of The Cemetery Boys didn't quite go the typical route.  There were some events that were pretty predictable, but one or two plot twists that I didn't see coming.  It was fast paced enough to keep me connected to the plot while still allowing for an air of mystery.     

There was one particularly large issue (though I don't know how much power an author has over this, it may be a publishing decision): I hate prologues that consist of an insert of a scene from later in the book.  In some books, the prologue is an integral part of the plot, in others it acts as some type of teaser for the most exciting part of the book.  In this case, it was the later.  It featured a seriously important scene which gave away a large part of the story.  Reading it ruined the flow for me as I just kept waiting for that scene to happen. If you have this one on the TBR pile, do yourself a favor and skip the prologue. 

Teaching/Parental Notes:

Age:13 and up 
Sex: Kissing
Violence: Fistfighting, Knifeplay, Fire
Inappropriate Language: Shit, Piss, Pussy, Fag, Dick,
Substance Use/Abuse: Underage Drinking, Smoking 

Unanswered Questions: When reading Tarot Cards was Cara only using the major arcana?  If not, how did she manage to NEVER pull a minor card?

The Half Life of Molly Pierce by Katrina Leno

Title: The Half Life of Molly Pierce
Author: Katrina Leno
Publisher: HarperTeen
Release Date: July 8, 2014
Rating: 2/5

Cover Impressions: I love the shade of blue that they used for the font, but the cover is not nearly as interesting or compelling as it could have been.  I would have liked to see something that fit better with the subject matter.

The Gist: For all of her seventeen years, Molly feels like she’s missed bits and pieces of her life. Now, she’s figuring out why. Now, she’s remembering her own secrets. And in doing so, Molly uncovers the separate life she seems to have led…and the love that she can’t let go.

The Half Life of Molly Pierce is a suspenseful, evocative psychological mystery about uncovering the secrets of our pasts, facing the unknowns of our futures, and accepting our whole selves.

Review: 
I so wanted to love this book.  There are elements that are fantastic and fascinating - but I can't talk about them without filling the review with spoilers.  Sooooooo I will put a Spoilerific section at the end.

First off, things that didn't work: The author has a strange writing style.  A lot of the narration takes place in Molly's head - which is itself a hard place to be as she fixates on every little embarrassing action and berates herself for it internally.  This is interrupted by strange, choppy dialogue - usually with her two friends who were beyond dull and annoying.  They had no personality to them (beyond the girl, whose name escapes me, texting non-stop and getting irritatingly pissy whenever Molly didn't respond) and the conversations were typical of how authors who have never spent time around teenagers, seem to think teenagers speak.
 
There was a great deal of "I know what is going on but I can't tell you" throughout the first half of this novel.  And when I say great deal, I mean EVERY CHARACTER KNEW! Even down to the students and staff at school and NOBODY will tell Molly anything!  Worse than that, Molly doesn't seem to care all that much.  The entire plot is based around her finding out what goes on during her missing time, but she doesn't seem the least bit driven to discover the answers.

What worked: The whole love interest plot line was unique as it happens in reverse.  We discover that they are in love, and then work backwards to find out how it all happened.  There isn't a whole lot of chemistry between Molly and Sader, but the mystery at least keeps it interesting.   This occurs through flashbacks that work from the present time, back to when Molly started losing track of time.  The time jumping works to keep the plot moving and, frankly, those parts were way more interesting than watching Molly in the present.  

SPOILERS SECTION BELOW:

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Molly has a dissociative identity disorder.  Specifically, she has one alter named Mabel who has been with her for most of her life and who is able to take over Molly's body and live her own life.  This particular point was fairly easy to guess, but once Mabel is revealed, I was really interested in the book.  I don't know much about this disorder (other than watching and loving United States of Tara), so the subject matter was fascinating.  I loved watching how Mabel was different from Molly and how she managed to keep herself hidden from Molly for so long.

In the end, however, Mabel simply fades away and allows Molly to live her life.  This felt incredibly unrealistic.  I very much doubt that most people with dissociative identity disorder are able to simply will their alter into submission and go on with their life as if it never happened.  Beyond this, Molly was B-O-R-I-N-G, I would have been much happier if the novel had gone the less predictable route of having Mabel take over and Molly become the alter.  Especially if this meant there would be a struggle for control - now THAT would be fun to read.     

Bottom Line: The Half Life of Molly Pierce is based on a really fascinating premise, but the execution is not nearly as strong as it could have been. 

Teaching/Parental Notes:

Age:13 and up
Sex: Kissing, Sex alluded to but not shown
Violence: Death by motorcycle accident, attempted suicide
Inappropriate Language: Fuck, Jesus, Asshole, Shit, Bitch
Substance Use/Abuse: Underage Drinking

Great For Readers Who Loved:

The Wizard Returns by Danielle Paige

Title: The Wizard Returns
Author: Danielle Paige
Publisher: Harper Collins
Release Date: March 3, 2015
Rating: 4/5

Cover Impressions: It is not often that a novella cover appears this well done.  I love the green on green effect for an Oz story and how well this fits with the other covers in the series. 

The Gist: Dorothy Gale is back . . . and she's not the sweet little heroine of Oz anymore. She's power-hungry and vicious, and she leaves a trail of destruction beneath her spike-heeled, magical shoes. But she wasn't always in charge. There used to be a different ruler of Oz. Someone who also came from the Other Place, and who stole power for himself. They called him the Wizard.

The story goes that when a young Dorothy revealed the Wizard as a fraud, the man behind the curtain fled Oz in his hot air balloon. But in The Wizard Returns, he wakes in a field of poppies to find out that not only had he never left, but that he has no memory of who—or where—he is. As he undergoes a series of tests to uncover his memories, he finds that the very girl who threw him from the Emerald Palace is in control. And that Oz may be his destiny after all 
Review: The Wizard Returns answers the question of what exactly happened to the Wizard after supposedly leaving Oz.  Following a drug induced, 25 year long snooze, the Wizard is found by a young man calling himself Pete and sent on a mission to redeem himself.

 

The plot has a very Christmas Carol feel to it as Hex (the Wizard) encounters a number of tests which are meant to reveal or change his character for the betterment of Oz and set him on the path to defeating Dorothy.  It is fast paced and allows the reader to delve more deeply into the Oz that Paige has created, which is one of magic and wonder but also terrible injustices.   

 

Hex is unable to remember the terrible deeds he had done as the Wizard, but his deplorable sense of self-preservation at all costs, remains.  This novella allows a really interesting glimpse into his motivation and makes me really excited to see him become a more prominent figure as the series continues.    

Bottom Line:I love this series and The Wizard Returns is a great addition.  GIVE ME The Wicked Will Rise!!!

Teaching/Parental Notes:

Age: 15 and up
Sex:  None
Violence:  Attack by a lion,
Inappropriate Language: None
Substance Use/Abuse: Drinking

Great For Readers Who Loved:

Vanishing Girls by Lauren Oliver

Title: Vanishing Girls
Author: Lauren Oliver
Publisher: Harper Collins
Release Date: March 10, 2015
Rating:  3/5

Cover Impressions: Pretty, but not outstanding.

The Gist: Dara and Nick used to be inseparable, but that was before the accident that left Dara's beautiful face scarred and the two sisters totally estranged. When Dara vanishes on her birthday, Nick thinks Dara is just playing around. But another girl, nine-year-old Madeline Snow, has vanished, too, and Nick becomes increasingly convinced that the two disappearances are linked. Now Nick has to find her sister, before it's too late.

In this edgy and compelling novel, Lauren Oliver creates a world of intrigue, loss, and suspicion as two sisters search to find themselves, and each other.

Review:
Vanishing Girls wasn't a bad book, in fact, it was a pretty damn good book.  The characters were fine, not overly annoying and there was a fairly distinct voice difference between the two sisters.  The love interest was dramatic enough to add interest but didn't overtake the plot.  There was a sense of mystery that would keep readers on the edge of their seat, but - and this one is a big but - I feel like this story has been told before.  In fact, I'm pretty sure I have read this story 2 or 3 times before.

The problem comes with the big plot twist - I'm going to try not to spoil anything, but that may get difficult so please, stop reading if you don't want to ruin your own reading experience.  I figured out the big, unexpected, plot twist about 10% into the book and spent the rest of the time hoping that I was wrong.  Once I had figured it out, it all seemed rather obvious and there were a lot of clues dropped along the way.  I would love to hear from someone else, who perhaps hadn't read this particular story before and see when/if they figured it out and how their enjoyment of the novel differed. 

On top of this, the whole "girl goes missing" mystery felt tacked on as a means to get the main character investigating, thereby revealing the plot involving her own family. 

Teaching/Parental Notes:

Age: 15 and up
Sex:  Kissing,
Violence:  Car crash, exploitation of underage girls
Inappropriate Language: Dick, Shit, Fuck, Slut, Tits
Substance Use/Abuse: Underage drinking, smoking, use of drugs (marijuana, mushrooms, cocaine)

Playlist For The Dead

Title: Playlist for the Dead
Author: Michelle Falkoff
Publisher: Harperteen
Release Date: January 27, 2015
Rating:  2/5

Cover Impressions: Super cute cover.  Love the silhouettes and the looping earbuds cord. 

The Gist: A teenage boy tries to understand his best friend's suicide by listening to the playlist of songs he left behind in this smart, voice-driven debut novel.

Here's what Sam knows: There was a party. There was a fight. The next morning, his best friend, Hayden, was dead. And all he left Sam was a playlist of songs, and a suicide note: For Sam—listen and you'll understand.

As he listens to song after song, Sam tries to face up to what happened the night Hayden killed himself. But it's only by taking out his earbuds and opening his eyes to the people around him that he will finally be able to piece together his best friend’s story. And maybe have a chance to change his own.

Part mystery, part love story, and part coming-of-age tale in the vein of Stephen Chbosky’s The Perks of Being a Wallflower and Tim Tharp’s The Spectacular Now, Playlist for the Dead is an honest and gut-wrenching first novel about loss, rage, what it feels like to outgrow a friendship that's always defined you—and the struggle to redefine yourself. But above all, it's about finding hope when hope seems like the hardest thing to find.

Review:
I really loved the concept of this book and I was really excited about the whole idea of a built in playlist.  I started out strong, listening to each song as I was reading the chapter, but after a while I started to find it distracting.  It also required that I only read while also wearing headphones which is more difficult than you can imagine with a three year old and an almost 2 month old.  Basically, I could only read for the 10 minutes or so in bed before I fell asleep from exhaustion.  So, while I applaud the idea, it didn't quite work out for me.

The story was decent, though not all that exciting.  Basically we follow Sam around town as he listens to his ipod and tries to figure out why his best friend committed suicide.  He is aided by an ohsospecial pixie girl with her own strange connection to Hayden.  Adding to the drama is a series of attacks on Hayden's main tormenters and Sam's weird hallucinations and/or supernatural encounters.  This had the makings of a good story, but it fell flat because

a) I didn't give a shit about the pain and suffering of the bullies
b) the bullies didn't ACTUALLY get all that hurt.
c) I didn't really get the attraction to the love interest

The characters weren't all that interesting, and the drama just didn't pan out.  It also got a little preachy towards the end.  Sam was just too good to be believable, easily forgiving everyone and things wrapped up way too cleanly.  Everyone learned a lesson and the characters were all set on the road to redemption.

Playlist for the Dead isn't an inherently BAD story, it just wasn't all that great.  The cover blurb compares it to The Perks of Being a Wallflower..... um no.  No. No. No.  It had a great concept, but the execution just didn't cut it.     

Teaching/Parental Notes:

Age:13 and Up 
Sex: Kissing
Violence: Suicide, Fistfighting, Bullying, Character attacked with a baseball bat
Inappropriate Language: Fuck, Shit, Piss,
Substance Use/Abuse: Smoking, Underage Drinking

Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard

Title: Red Queen
Author: Victoria Aveyard
Publisher: HarperTeen
Release Date: Feb 10, 2015
Rating:  4/5

Cover Impressions: Oh this is so cool.  I love the dripping blood and the simplicity of the background and font.  I can't wait to see how they continue this series, I bet they are going to be some fantastic covers.

The Gist: The poverty stricken Reds are commoners, living under the rule of the Silvers, elite warriors with god-like powers.

To Mare Barrow, a 17-year-old Red girl from The Stilts, it looks like nothing will ever change.

Mare finds herself working in the Silver Palace, at the centre of
those she hates the most. She quickly discovers that, despite her red blood, she possesses a deadly power of her own. One that threatens to destroy Silver control.

But power is a dangerous game. And in this world divided by blood, who will win?

Review: Ever wonder what would have happened if Magneto had won and the bad-guy mutants had taken over the world, turning the "normals" into the lower-lower-lower class, just one step above slaves?  Well here it is! 

 

In Red Queen, the reds (those with red blood and without superspecial powers) live lives filled with toil and strife while the Silvers (those with silver blood and crazy-ass powers) follow the king and queen on an endless tour of leisure and parties.  Mare is on the edge of seventeen and that doesn't mean she gets to spend a year rocking out to Stevie Nicks - it means conscription to fight the war that has already taken three of her brothers.  In a strange twist of fate, she ends up working in the royal palace and a life-threatening situation reveals that she has more power than she ever imagined.

I will admit, I was trepidatious, I have never been the biggest fan of fantasy and I was a little nervous that this would be like the great Graceling fiasco (cliffnotes version: tried to read it 4 times, quit every time. BLECH!)

but, after reading, this isn't that high on the fantasy meter and the whole "talent" thing was pretty interesting.  In fact, the families having the same powers and some powers being less effective against others (water beats fire) totally reminded me of pokemon types. 

I do wish we had been able to spend a bit more time getting to know the different types of powers.  I could have used a legend in the back to remind me what types does what (did this end up in the final version?  I had an advance ebook...).

Full disclosure - there was a love triangle of sorts, but it didn't overwhelm the story and didn't quite end the way you expected - refreshing, I know.  And there was a bit of whole "every girl hates me and every boy loves me" thing going on.  I'm hoping that we will get less of this as the series continues.  Mare is a decent character, very naive and willing to believe practically anything.  For someone who grew up as a thief in a pretty rough situation I was very surprised at how trusting she was.  I kept questioning the motives of everyone around her but she seemed to believe everything that she was told.  It was almost like she had no idea she was in the middle of a YA novel.

I liked her much more at the end, once she learned some valuable life lessons, than I did at the beginning.  The other characters aren't all that interesting, unless they are using their powers and I wasn't really sold on the romance element.

The plot was fast paced and suspenseful where it needed to be.  I was pretty much on the edge of my seat for the inevitable Final Showdown scene at the end.  There were one or two plot twists which were a surprise but others that were pretty predictable to anyone who has read YA before.   But it was still enough to keep me interested and get me hooked.  Can't wait for news on the next book - especially a kick ass cover.     

Teaching/Parental Notes:

Age:15 and up 
Sex: Kissing 
Violence: Swordplay, Gunplay, Violent Deaths due to supernatural means
Inappropriate Language: Bastard, Bitch
Substance Use/Abuse: Drinking

Book Review: Fan Art by Sarah Tregay

Title: Fan Art
Author: Sarah Tregay
Publisher: Katherine Tegan Books
Release Date: June 17, 2014
Rating: 2/5

Cover Impressions: I really liked it when I first saw it, but, having read the book, I feel like there was so much more potential cover fodder that they could have used.  I would have loved to see part of the actual comic that was such an important part of the story.

The Gist: In Jamie Peterson's high school being gay is right up there with kicking puppies and stealing candy from babies.  He is out, but only to his mom and is trying to hide who he is from the rest of the town, including his best friend who he maybe, kinda, sorta, definitely likes.  The art girls in his school have created a fantasy world where they are together and their interference, not to mention their artwork, threaten to crumble the walls Jaime has so carefully built. 

Review:
I really wanted to love this book.  It had a nice premise - not the most unique but fair enough.  It had a great forbidden romance angle - who hasn't pined after someone that they thought they could never have?  There were some side characters who were enjoyable - though they didn't get nearly enough page time.  I guess where it really fell flat for me was the conflict.  I just didn't care that much about the literary magazine (P.S how many high schools actually have these things?  I feel like every other YA book is featuring one nowadays) I get it, the comic was good and it was a step towards showing the LGBTQ kids that they were not alone, but the way Jaime went about including it annoyed me and I got bored to tears every time he went to another office to check font or color or whatever.

When he wasn't making terrible decisions to hijack his way into a magazine, Jaime was whining about how he loved his best friend and trying to tell the reader that his gayness should be a big secret because he didn't play with dolls as a kid and he took pains to never dress nice or stand out in a crowd.  Way to perpetuate some stereotypes Jaime!  Meanwhile, it was painfully obvious to everyone but him that, not only was he gay, but he was in love with his best friend who - to the surprise of NO ONE - clearly loved him back.  Despite all of this being clear, we had to spend the entire book getting Jaime to put down the I'm Not Gay sign (that no one was buying anyhow) and see it for himself. 


Teaching/Parental Notes:

Age:  15 and up
Sex: Kissing
Violence: Child Abuse
Inappropriate Language: Pissed, Fag, Queer, Tit, Pussy
Substance Use/Abuse: Underage Drinking

Book Review: Don't You Forget About Me by Kate Karyus Quinn

Title: Don't You Forget About Me
Author: Kate Karyus Quinn
Publisher: Harper Teen
Release Date: June 10, 2014
Rating: 4/5

Cover Impressions:  So pretty, though I don't quite connect the tree with the story.  I would have loved to see something around the Rehabilitation Center or the Forget-Me-Nots.

The Gist: At first glance, Gardnerville is a magical place where the dying experience a miracle cure and no one ever gets sick.  However, no great magic comes without a price and Gardnerville is no exception.  In cycles of four years, the teens in town undergo a transformation.  Some might walk off never to return, others might set a building on fire.  In fourth years, things get even more dangerous and lives are often lost.  Skyler struggles to forget the fourth year when her sister, Piper, led the town's teens on a parade that ended in a plunge off a bridge.  Popping pills and avoiding people, she tries to numb the pain but she cannot escape the fact that a fourth year is coming, and her own inner demons are calling from the depths. 

Review:
I loved Another Little Piece and was very excited to see what Kate Karyus Quinn had in store for this novel.  Again, I adore her world building.  The town of Gardnerville is like nothing I have encountered before.  Magic simmers just below the surface and erupts with volcanic power and devastating consequences.  I am a huge fan of the premise that great magic requires great sacrifice and the way KKQ has created an idyllic small town with a very dark secret was whimsical, but with a serious bite. 

Each inhabitant of Gardnerville seemed more interesting than the last.  Each had their own story and I loved seeing them play out through Skyler's story.  I found it hard to sympathize with Skyler as she numbed her pain with pills but I could see how she struggled to maintain a grip on a reality she had spent so long altering.  I was not a fan of the love interest and could really have done without it or him.  Likewise, the "Bad Guy" (whose name I have forgotten).  Perhaps I could have enjoyed his character a little more, had it not been for the fact that he was a teacher who was (at one point) involved with a student.  The ick factor on that one is just too high for me and I cannot deal with it nor get past it. 

KKQ's manner of storytelling continues to be unique and intriguing.  We chase Skyler's memories through the rabbit hole and end up in a place that is even more dark and disturbing than the Gardnerville we had thought we had known.  I will say, though the twists were interesting and well-planned, I did figure them out far in advance of the plot.  This is certainly not meant to be a deterrent for another reader, I just was so hoping for a shocking surprise and didn't get it. 

I love Kate Karyus Quinn's writing and will be signing on for anything else that she writes. 

Teaching/Parental Notes:

Age:  15 and up
Sex: Alluded to
Violence: A number of violent deaths: drowning, suicide, etc Sexual Abuse of a Child
Inappropriate Language: Bastard, Asshole, Fucking, Pissed, Shit, Bloody
Substance Use/Abuse: Drug use

ARC Book Review: Sleep No More by Aprilynne Pike

Title: Sleep No More
Author: Aprilynne Pike
Publisher: HarperTeen (Harper Collins)
Release Date: April 29th, 2014
Rating: 3/5

Cover Impressions: Love the color, but I feel like the cover model must be choking on her own hair.  The tagline is decent and the fonts work fairly well.  There isn't much else to say as there isn't much more to it.

Review:
Charlotte learned the hard way not to interfere with the future.  As an oracle, she has always seen glimpses of what is to come - usually boring and insignificant events but occasionally a terrifying vision will break through.  As a child, Charlotte saw the death of her aunt, Sierra and, in trying to prevent it, brought about the events leading to her father's death and the crippling of her mother.  Now, Charlotte listens to Sierra's teachings and blocks every vision that she can.  On the day she finally fails, she sees the murder of a classmate and, when the body is found, she is wracked with guilt about not having prevented it.  As more visions come, she is approached by a stranger claiming that he can help her take control of her visions and catch the murderer, but it means betraying everything that Oracles believe in and putting herself in the crosshairs of a killer. 

Sleep No More was an enjoyable, exciting novel but I felt it suffered slightly from a lack of substance.  The plot was fast paced and suspenseful.  I even found myself skimming some of the dialogue because I was genuinely excited by the action in the story.  My most constant reading time is just before bed and I found, in reading this one, that it was actually hard to get to sleep.  This pace continued until about 3/4th of the way in, when things got a little strange.  At this point, the action of the plot mostly occurred on Charlotte's "Supernatural Plane".  The rules in this realm were difficult to understand and, just when I thought I had a handle on them, they would change.  I found this slowed down the plot a little and, in order to move forward, I had to just let go of trying to understand how that world worked and just go with it. 

I think this novel could have benefited from some more interesting and compelling characters.  Charlotte was boring, but seemed intelligent enough.  I was surprised at how easily she allowed herself to be manipulated and how little she did to inform herself of how her power worked.  To be fair, a large part of this came from the choice by the author to have Sierra act as a complete stonewall.  She refuses to give Charlotte any information about her gift (or curse) and even goes so far as to deny her access to any books - locking them in her room whenever she leaves the house.  I really despised this aspect to her character as she left Charlotte with no resources and without the sense of trust that would have sent her to ask Sierra for help when she was clearly in over her head.  The last character that really needs discussing is Linden.  Naturally, we cannot simply have a YA paranormal mystery, we have got to have a love interest.  I did not feel any sparks or excitement when it came to their romance and it made me feel sorry for Charlotte, having pined away for this boy for years.  The one positive thing I will say about the romance is that it ended very well.  I was happy to see my suspicions confirmed and that we did not go down the typical lovecanovercomeallodds route. 

 The big reveal of the murderer wasn't much of a reveal at all.  It didn't have the impact that I expected it to and was pretty easily predicted.  I think I would have much preferred if he had turned out to be a plain ol', albeit evil, human.  Once the killer was out in the open, the book slowed down considerably for me.  I knew where it would be going, but it seemed to take a very roundabout route to get there.  Before and after the climax, we are told quite a bit of information regarding the murderer's past and motivation that could have been much more effective were we shown it through the plot rather than told after the fact through wind-down dialogue.     

Sleep No More features some particularly brutal murders, including choking, stabbing and even dismemberment.  These scenes might be disturbing for some readers and I had a hard time getting through one or two of them.  

This was my first foray into Aprilynne Pike's work and I am not sure that there was enough that was unique about this book to bring me back to her work in the future.   

Teaching/Parental Notes:

Age:15 and up
Sex: Kissing, Light Petting - Non-Graphic
Violence:Violent Murders, Gunplay, Knifeplay, Choking
Inappropriate Language: Bastard, Shit, Bitch
Substance Use/Abuse: Marijuana Use

ARC Book Review: House of Ivy & Sorrow by Natalie Whipple

Title: House of Ivy & Sorrow
Author: Natalie Whipple
Publisher: HarperTeen (HarperCollins)
Release Date: April 15, 2014
Rating: 3/5

Cover Impressions:  Very pretty.  I love the title, though it is a little misleading.  I do feel like the cover is missing some focal point and I find myself trying to figure out if there is some pattern to the image behind the writing.

The Gist: Josephine Hemlock is a young witch in training living with her grandmother in their mysterious and powerful house.  The last of the Hemlock line, she is constantly in fear of the curse that took her mother and the witch that cast it.  When a mysterious stranger comes to town covered in a darkness Jo has never seen before, she realizes that it is time to stop hiding and time to start fighting.  But, the spell is stronger than she ever realized and fighting it may not only put her in danger, but also all the people that she loves. 

Review:

First off, a disclaimer.  In order to enjoy this novel, you have to realize that, despite the gothic title and the fanciful cover, this is not a dark and sorrowful tale.  I believe this was poor marketing as it is setting readers up for one type of story and leaving them disappointed when they get another.  If you can accept that this is not an author attempting to give Poe a run for his money, you can settle in and enjoy a fun story with some interesting world building and enjoyable, if not all that well developed, characters.

The best part of this novel was the world building.  It had an interesting take on witches and magic where nothing came without a sacrifice.  This led to some pretty gruesome scenes where characters yanked out handfuls of hair, chopped off pieces of flesh or even (YUCK!) pulled out their own fingernails.  I really liked how the witches had to sacrifice for what they wanted and that it made them think about how much they were willing to give up, as opposed to many other books where the witches cast spells willy nilly. 

I also really enjoyed the relationship between the three girls.  So many books today show the catty side of teenage girls and allow the story to get bogged down with nastiness and jealousy.  I was happy that in House of Ivy and Sorrow Jo, Kat and Gwen showed an intense loyalty and a willingness to sacrifice for one another. 

While the novel was relatively fast paced, with one disaster following another, it did suffer slightly in that I didn't quite understand how the curse worked and the twists were a tad predictable.  Where it really got waylaid was in the puppy love between Jo and Winn.  Their sweeter than sugar romance became more than a little nauseating as the novel wore on and I could never see (other than the fact that he was handsome) what Jo actually saw in Winn.  There was also the fact that Jo was constantly being proclaimed as the most beautiful creature in the entire world and that everybody immediately wanted her.  I believe we could have gotten a more well rounded character and relatable character if we were not told over and over again how drop dead gorgeous she was, as if that one defining characteristic eclipsed all others.  

I actually liked this book and had a fun time reading it, despite its downfalls.  I don't think that this is meant to be a series, but I would definitely pick up a sequel if it were offered, if only for the interesting witchy world that this one presented. 

Teaching/Parental Notes:

Age: 15 and up
Gender: Girls
Sex: Kissing, Making out - nothing particularly racy.
Violence: Self mutilation: removal of hair, skin and fingernails
Inappropriate Language: Piss, Shit, Bastard
Substance Use/Abuse: None

ARC Book Review: A World Without Princes by Soman Chainani

Title: A World Without Princes
Author: Soman Chainani
Publisher: HarperCollins
Release Date: April 15, 2014
Rating: 4/5

Cover Impressions:  I love, love, love the cover art for this series.  The expression of distrust and wariness on the girls' faces is perfect and the colors are just stunning.  There is so much detail that I keep picking up on things that I never noticed the first time around.  Anyone know who the artist is?

Review:
Sophie and Agatha are back at home, but things have not ended so happily ever after.  Sophie is fighting to stay the centre of attention as her father plans to re-marry and Agatha is secretly dreaming of the price that she left behind.  When she secretly wishes for a new ending, Agatha re-opens their story and re-writes the rules of their fairy tale world.  Back at the School for Good and Evil, girls are fighting against boys and no one is getting a happy ending.  Agatha and Sophie must steal the Storian and finish their story once and for all, but how can they work together when they don't really want the same things?

I really love the premise behind this series.  Fairy tales are even more fun when they are turned on their ear and Chainani does an excellent job of re-writing the rules for a new generation.  I was so dismayed to see what had happened to the school, standing on the brink of war between the genders and so thrilled to see that the Three Witches were the only ones not taken in by the new roles.  Still, I NEED MORE WITCHES, Hester, Anadil, and Dot were my favorite part of the first book and, though they play an important role in this one, there is still just not enough.  Can I get a side story or novella that just features them??  I am also a big fan of how the evil in this story did not take on the traditional form and came from a more unexpected place.

The story itself was fast paced and fun.  It was frustrating to see Sophie and Agatha mistrust each other so much but it added some great conflict that had nothing to do with the traditional love triangle and everything to do with their own relationship.  Though there was an aspect of romance, the story did not get bogged down with this story and instead explored the friendship between the girls and their own struggle with good and evil.  The character did fall a little flat for me this time around.  I found Agatha's suspicion of Sophie without proof more than a little annoying and her desire for a boy that wanted to murder her best friend, more than a little unbelievable.  How can Sophie show that she is loyal if you never give her a chance?
She seemed like such an intelligent character the first time around and I am not sure where that girl went.  The one thing that I appreciated much more in this book was getting some backstory on the girls' parents and the issues surrounding their town.  There were some unanswered questions about Sophie's parents' relationship and I am hoping the answer will be found in the third book, shedding some light on why Sophie is the way that she is.

This novel also featured some amazing illustrations.  I love middle grade novels that have illustrations.  It adds so much to the book to see how someone else is picturing a particular character or scene and I got a little thrill every time that I came across one. 

I have to say, there was one aspect that threw me off a little.  It almost seemed like the plot being centered around Sophie and Agatha's "mistake" and the dangerous circumstances that result was a criticism of women who don't "need" men.  There seemed to be a lot of pressure for Agatha to make the "right" choice - which just happened to be reuniting with her prince (a man and attempted murderer). 

The only people who seemed genuinely happy in the girls being one another's soulmate, were being hoodwinked by the BadGuy.  I found this theme very distracting as I kept wondering where exactly the author was going with this.  I certainly didn't see this in the first book, and am very much hoping that it will be resolved in the third.

The book ends on a bit of a cliff hanger, ensuring that I will be back for the third installment, even if it is just to see what secrets will be revealed about Sophie's parents and the fate of the School for Good and Evil.  

Teaching/Parental Notes:

Age: 10 and up
Gender: Both
Sex: Kissing
Violence: Swordplay
Inappropriate Language: Ass
Substance Use/Abuse: None