Review: Starry Nights

Starry Nights

Author: Daisy Whitney
Pages: 288
Publisher: Bloomsbury USA Childrens
Publication Date: September 3, 2013
Read: August 25-26, 2013
Source: ARC from BEA

Description from Goodreads:
Seventeen-year-old Julien is a romantic—he loves spending his free time at the museum poring over the great works of the Impressionists. But one night, a peach falls out of a Cezanne, Degas ballerinas dance across the floor, and Julien is not hallucinating.

The art is reacting to a curse that trapped a beautiful girl, Clio, in a painting forever. Julien has a chance to free Clio and he can't help but fall in love with her. But love is a curse in its own right. And soon paintings begin to bleed and disappear. Together Julien and Clio must save the world's greatest art . . . at the expense of the greatest love they've ever known.

Like a master painter herself, Daisy Whitney brings inordinate talent and ingenuity to this romantic, suspenseful, and sophisticated new novel.A beautifully decorated package makes it a must-own in print.

First Sentence: "The padlock glistens with rain."

Review:

At first, I totally thought this was going to be one of those times where I really like a book that most of my friends did not. The early reviews were discouraging, but it was a 4 star book for the first 75 pages or so. From there, things slid downhill. My hopes were high for Starry Nights, but, sadly, a highly original, creative, beautiful concept turns into a cheesy pile of instalove. Be warned that this review does contain some spoilers.

The opening of this novel is so strong. Whitney's a talented writer, and the concept is gorgeous. At the outset, we have Julien, an artist of limited talent, whose mother runs a Parisian art gallery. He does tours and generally loves art of all forms, music, paintings, sculpture, dance, etc. At night, Julien wanders the halls and sees the art come alive. The subjects pop out of their frames, Degas' dancers performing ballets that only he can see.

The imagery of this, the idea that the paintings have lives of their own within the museum after dark, is stunning. While, yes, there are all sorts of reasons this is unlikely, it's beautiful magical realism, and done very well. At least, until it ceases being magical realism and turns into a paranormal/mythological plot.

While I wasn't a fan of this plot twist where the story went for the mythological rather than the subtle beauty of magical realism, which is one of my favorite things right now, I still admire the originality of the world building that Whitney devises. She's built a novel around the Muses, which I've not personally seen done before. On top of that, she brings in a look at the evolution of art, the way it went from being something done solely by educated men to something that can be created and appreciated by anyone. These are powerful themes, and I still think she handles her concept well. Though not quite what I wanted, her Muse mythology is fascinating and meaningful.

Where Starry Nights flops is the romance. It's a classic case of instalove, complete with the relatively flat characters so typical of this romantic "arc". Even before that, though, I have issues with the romance. She's a girl in a painting and he's a person, so their options are pretty limited, and, though I do sometimes go for weird ships, they didn't have enough of a connection for me to root for them in the face of odds where she's not even a real person. Sure, she likes to eat and he brings her food. They both like art. Wow, do they both like Breakfast at Tiffany's too? There wasn't any real verve or banter in their conversations which are largely boring, and I personally thought he and Emilie, who's in a total of three scenes, had a lot more chemistry.

This is the dog version of: "Is this a kissing book?" *groans*

Julien and Clio, the girl in the painting, fall in love pretty much immediately. In a rather classic Romeo & Juliet scenario, Julien is just out of a bad breakup. Clio, on the other hand, has been in a painting for over a hundred years in a private home, meaning that she hasn't seen ANYONE BUT HIM. He is literally the only boy she's seen in hundreds of years. Instalove is bad enough when there are options, but, when it's "I love you because you're the only person I've literally ever been capable of loving," to me that's not romance but desperation. Part of love is choosing that person over other people, not being cornered into it by circumstance.

Then, there's the ending, which is completely cheesy and convenient. The book could have at least ended in the expected heartbreaking place, but, oh no, this is paranormal romance world and there just HAS to be an HEA, even if it makes no sense. Let's nurture the concept that manicpixiedreamgirls will literally step out of our pop culture to love us. Yeah, that's healthy. Well, good luck to you, Clio and Julien. Two people with no marketable skills who got together when one was on the rebound and one had never spoken to another boy. I'm sure this will end well.

All told, I do think there is a good framework to Starry Nights, but the instalove killed it. I'm left feeling not angry, but disappointed. This could have been a thoughtful, slow-paced, magical novel, but instead went the way of paranormal romance tropes.

Rating: 2.5/5

Favorite Quote: "'All artists are a little bit insane. I was hoping that was your crazy.'"

Review: The Mirrored World

The Mirrored World

Author: Debra Dean
Pages: 256
Publisher: Harper
Read: July 21
Source: Finished copy from publisher via TLC Books Tours

Description from Goodreads:
The bestselling author of The Madonnas of Leningrad returns with a breathtaking novel of love, madness, and devotion set against the extravagant royal court of eighteenth-century St. Petersburg.

Born to a Russian family of lower nobility, Xenia, an eccentric dreamer who cares little for social conventions, falls in love with Andrei, a charismatic soldier and singer in the Empress's Imperial choir. Though husband and wife adore each other, their happiness is overshadowed by the absurd demands of life at the royal court and by Xenia's growing obsession with having a child—a desperate need that is at last fulfilled with the birth of her daughter. But then a tragic vision comes true, and a shattered Xenia descends into grief, undergoing a profound transformation that alters the course of her life. Turning away from family and friends, she begins giving all her money and possessions to the poor. Then, one day, she mysteriously vanishes.

Years later, dressed in the tatters of her husband's military uniform and answering only to his name, Xenia is discovered tending the paupers of St. Petersburg's slums. Revered as a soothsayer and a blessed healer to the downtrodden, she is feared by the royal court and its new Empress, Catherine, who perceives her deeds as a rebuke to their lavish excesses. In this evocative and elegantly written tale, Dean reimagines the intriguing life of Xenia of St. Petersburg, a patron saint of her city and one of Russia's most mysterious and beloved holy figures. This is an exploration of the blessings of loyal friendship, the limits of reason, and the true costs of loving deeply.

First Sentence: "Yes, this was her house many years ago, when she was still Xenia."

Review:

I suspect this shall be one of those reviews that sounds like I didn't like the book, but I did for the most part, so make note of that. Debra Dean writes beautifully, and I never found my attention waning from The Mirrored World. However, the story really lacked any sort of emotional impact or connection, largely because of the over-brisk pacing and dull main character.

Let me start, however, with what kept The Mirrored World a positive read for me. For one thing, I am hugely into anything about Russia or the Soviet Union, thus my interest in Dean's novel. There's something about Russia I find so captivating, and I suspect that has to do with the wide divide between the serfs and the upper classes. The pomposity of the events and the exhibitionism of the tsars and tsarinas is astounding. Dean delves into the excesses of the reins of Elizabeth, Peter III, and Catherine the Great. Throughout are such historical goodies as a party where Elizabeth ordered everyone to crossdress or the way she married off people for her own entertainment. I was definitely in it for the historical pageantry, and that was enough to get me through.

Unfortunately, the pace moves so quickly through time that much of history is glossed over, like watching decades of Russian history pass by from a bullet train. The Mirrored World clocks in at just over 200 pages, and it could have been much longer. In those pages, Dean takes Dasha from a child to an old woman, which gives you a sense of how quickly the pace goes. Brevity may be the soul of wit, but this novel is not a humorous one and meaning was obscured in the rush to the finish.

Dasha, however, is the biggest obstacle. She has almost no personality, and is more an observer of the people around her than anything. Of course, the people around her are interesting, but I kept expecting their to be a purpose to her, for her to learn something or do something in the course of the narrative, but she only ever reflected the values of those around her, particularly Xenia, though for a while she reflects her eunuch husband, who was definitely my favorite character.

More than anything, The Mirrored World is a tale of Dasha mirroring Xenia's life. She follows the lively Xenia everywhere, going to live with Xenia and her husband after the marriage. When Xenia tells Dasha to wed Gaspari, Dasha does. As Xenia becomes a holy fool, Dasha turns more and more to charity, even with the prospect of bankrupting herself in the process, as Xenia did before her. Their dynamic baffled me, and is perhaps a bit alien to our culture.

While a prettily-written novel, The Mirrored World failed to captivate me, skimming on the surface of history, rather than really diving in to where the feelings and the meaning reside. I liked it, but couldn't help comparing it to another book I enjoyed more set in the exact same time period, The Winter Palace by Eva Stachniak. By no means will this experience with Debra Dean be my last, but I do hope for a bit more from The Madonnas of Leningrad.

Rating: 2.5/5

Favorite Quote: "Whatever we know as children, this is the world, eaten whole and without question."

Review: Replica

Replica
Replica Trilogy, Book 1

Author: Jenna Black
Pages: 368
Publisher: Tor Teen
Publication Date: July 16, 2013
Read: July 7-9, 2013
Source: ARC and finished copy from publisher for review

Description from Goodreads:
Breathtaking new YA SF from the author of the Faeriewalker series

Sixteen-year-old Nadia Lake comes from a high-class Executive family in the Corporate States. Her marriage has been arranged with the most powerful family in her state, which means she lives a life of privilege but also of public scrutiny, followed everywhere by photographers, every detail of her private life tabloid fodder. But her future is assured, as long as she can maintain her flawless public image — no easy feat when your betrothed is a notorious playboy.

Nathan Hayes is the heir of Paxco — controller of the former state of New York, and creator of human replication technology, science that every state and every country in the world would kill to have. Though Nadia and Nate aren’t in love, they’ve grown up close, and they (and the world) are happy enough with their match.

Until Nate turns up dead, and as far as everyone knows, Nadia was the last person to see him alive.

When the new Nate wakes up in the replication tanks, he knows he must have died, but with a memory that only reaches to his last memory backup, he doesn’t know what killed him. Together, Nadia and Nate must discover what really happened without revealing the secrets that those who run their world would kill to protect.

First Sentence: "The limo pulled up to the curb at the entrance of Chairman Hayes's Long Island mansion, and Nadia dug deep in search of an untapped reserve of energy."

Review:

Back when I requested Replica, months ago, I was still fully enthralled by the dystopian fiction trend. Sadly, by the time it arrived, I'd already hit a wall, a point where every single one I read reminds me of others, and I just haven't been wowed by any for some time, even The Fifth Wave, which has been highly praised. With that in mind, my expectations for Replica were pretty low, and, happily, Replica turned out to be much better than anticipated. Though the world building is shaky, the unique make up of the cast made Replica an interesting variant from the usual formula.

Black uses third person limited narration, switching between Nate and Nadia. Nate is the Chairman Heir, destined to inherit Paxco, the insanely powerful corporation based in New York City that runs pretty much everything. Nadia has been betrothed to Nate since they were both children, and she's always loved him, despite his increasingly drastic antics.

With his latest stunt, though, Nadia has had just about enough. That Nate is gay and the romantic part of their relationship will only ever be for show Nadia has made her peace with. She still loves Nate and she does not begrudge him other lovers, even though she wouldn't mind if his heart had turned to her. Though she supports him, she still does not want to be an accomplice to his sneaking out of a party to have sex with his boyfriend and valet, Kurt Bishop. She storms off, and the next thing she hears Nate has died. And been replicated.

There are two solid points in Replica's favor for me. First, the inclusion of an LGBT main character. While it's sad that this society still hasn't evolved to be a hundred percent okay with homosexuality, the attitude still seems more open than now and I certainly feel like Jenna Black is promoting that romance. Plus, it spoke volumes to me that the only romance of any sort in Replica is that between Kurt and Nate. Though there's an obvious impending relationship for Nadia, she has no romantic arc in this one.

Second, rather than focusing on romance, friendship is to the fore. Nadia and Nate do not have the perfect friendship, but they are there for each other when it counts. Nadia disapproves of a lot of Nate's choices and Nate's a bit too self-involved, but their affection for each other is evident in spite of all of that. There's a dearth of real friendships in YA, and even less with a male/female friendship, so that was nice to see.

Some of the minor plot elements did surprise me, but, for the most part, the plot covered pretty familiar territory. Corrupt corporation managed by untrustworthy parents. Human regeneration. Questions of whether a replica is actually human, and what that means about human nature. A plot to overthrow the evil corporation. I've been through all of that before, and it even comes with the villainous monologue because of assured victory. And, much as I appreciated the out of the box main characters, characterization was still tepid all around. Much of this is decently well done, like the replication element, but it's been done so often and didn't do anything to stand out from the crowd.

Replica entertains well enough and includes LGBT themes, putting a unique spin on otherwise familiar territory. Also, romance doesn't dominate the story, though the book still does read a bit like a CW show, with spoiled rich kids rebelling against their parents and going to party with hot poor people in the process. That doesn't sound like I enjoyed Replica, I suppose, but I did for the most part. Still, I'm not sure that I'll read the sequel, just because I feel like this one wrapped up well enough for me to be satisfied with ending there.

Rating: 2.5/5

Favorite Quote: "'I don't have the patience to play this game anymore. I know you put that message on my tray. You were seen, okay? So denying it just makes you look like a dumbass.'"

Review: Charm & Strange

Charm & Strange

Author: Stephanie Kuehn
Pages: 213
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
Read: June 11-12, 2013
Source: Publisher for review

Description from Goodreads:
When you’ve been kept caged in the dark, it’s impossible to see the forest for the trees. It’s impossible to see anything, really. Not without bars . . .

Andrew Winston Winters is at war with himself.

He’s part Win, the lonely teenager exiled to a remote Vermont boarding school in the wake of a family tragedy. The guy who shuts all his classmates out, no matter the cost.

He’s part Drew, the angry young boy with violent impulses that control him. The boy who spent a fateful, long-ago summer with his brother and teenage cousins, only to endure a secret so monstrous it led three children to do the unthinkable.

Over the course of one night, while stuck at a party deep in the New England woods, Andrew battles both the pain of his past and the isolation of his present.

Before the sun rises, he’ll either surrender his sanity to the wild darkness inside his mind or make peace with the most elemental of truths—that choosing to live can mean so much more than not dying.

First Sentence: "I don't feel the presence of God here."

Review:

Stephanie Kuehn's debut Charm & Strange is a lot of things: confusing, frustrating, disturbing, thought-provoking, dark, and original. Starting out a career as an author with such an unusual book shows daring. Charm & Strange will not please every reader, and I myself felt largely ambivalent towards it until the very end. Those final scenes, though, helped Charm & Strange coalesce into something harsh but meaningful, something I'm glad to have read, if not understood fully.

Kuehn's writing style perfectly matches the character of Anrew/Winston (his first and middle name, which he goes by at different times of life). The narration is sort of fragmented, filled with commas and semi-colons. Punctuation breaks up the thoughts into little pieces, clearly illustrating Winston's troubled mind. He says nothing directly. For me, the writing was really tough to fathom, to piece together, which did result in a lot of confusion, but, artistically, I do think it's brilliant.

Much of what's admirable I cannot really speak to, as talking about this book to any great degree would involve spoilers. Suffice it to say that the twists are both deeply upsetting, perhaps even going marginally too far, but that the way everything ties together is impressive. From a psychological perspective, the conclusion is compelling and satisfying.

What brought things together for me were the final scenes. Kuehn imbues the ending with a bit of hope, but there's no happily ever after, and Winston's still got major issues to deal with. Rarely do endings like this show up in YA, with the hero or heroine still mostly broken and without a true love to cushion the loss of everything else. Still, there is that ray of hope, which shows through in Andrew's reversion to his first name and his much more easily parsed language.

There were three reasons I struggled so much with this book for most of its pages. The first is our narrator. Win is a brilliant teen, but a cold, aloof one. He keeps himself distant even from the reader, not just from the other kids at his boarding school. As such, he's hard to like, because he really doesn't want the reader to know anything but his worst moments, barely even explaining why he is the way he is, because he wants to wallow in the guilt.

The other two reasons are all bound up together. Win excels at science, and science terminology is dropped throughout the book. In fact, the title is a reference to something to do with quarks, and the chapter headings, alternatively Matter and Antimatter, are scientific as well. Their meaning is actually explained (see p.35-36), but it whooshed right over my head. I was able to put together that Matter was Win in the present and that Antimatter was Drew in the past, but that was it. I feel like there's so much that I'm missing from a lack of science brain. Also, I had a lot of trouble navigating between the two timelines, finding that I would have forgotten what Win was doing by the time I finished a Drew section and vice versa.

Though short, Charm & Strange is a read for a patient and well-educated reader, one with a high threshold for tough subject matter. If you're looking for an action-packed paranormal romance, you are in one hundred percent the wrong place. I will be very curious to see what Kuehn follows this up with.

Rating: 3/5

Favorite Quote: "And yes, I say, I do like girls. I don't pursue them, though, and there are a lot of reasons for that. It's gotten me in trouble before, but I also think I have ridiculously high standards because the whole dating, fooling around thing seems so complicated. And not in a good way. I hate obligations, and if you want to be with a girl, it's like you're expected to do certain things. And do them a certain way."

Review: The Original 1982

The Original 1982

Author: Lori Carson
Pages: 240
Publisher: William Morrow Paperbacks
Read: June 6-7, 2013
Source: Publisher via TLC Book Tours

Description from Goodreads:
The Original 1982 is the wise and memorable debut novel of love, regret, music and motherhood, by singer and songwriter Lori Carson of the Golden Palominos.

It's 1982, and Lisa is twenty-four years old, a waitress, an aspiring singer-songwriter, and girlfriend to a famous Latin musician. That year, she makes a decision, almost without thinking about it.

But what if what if her decision had been a different one?

In the new 1982, Lisa chooses differently. Her career takes another direction. She becomes a mother. She loves differently, yet some things remain the same.

Alternating between two very different possibilities, The Original 1982 is a novel about how the choices we make affect the people we become-and about how the people we are affect the choices we make.

First Sentence: "You were the first, Little Fish."

Review:

Singer and songwriter Lori Carson makes her fictional debut with The Original 1982. To be perfectly frank, I'm entirely unfamiliar with her music, and didn't recognize the name as someone famous. What drew me to the book was the parallel lives premise, which recalled Lionel Shriver's The Post-Birthday World. Such premises call to me, because, really, who hasn't wondered about the alternate ways a life could go.

As I mentioned, I know almost nothing about Lisa Carson's life, but I feel fairly confident making the assumption that The Original 1982 is largely autobiographical. The whole novel feels very personal, and, honestly, there doesn't seem to be an effort to hide that the writing thereof is a journey for Carson. The heroine's name is Lisa Nelson, and at least one of the songs mentioned is one that appeared on one of Lisa Carson's albums, or at least a song of the same title. Like Lori, Lisa is a musician, a singer and songwriter.

In The Original 1982, Carson considers what Lisa's life might have become had she not aborted her pregnancy in 1982. Nelson faces the classic choice of career or family. In the original 1982, she chose her career, and became somewhat famous. In this imagined 1982, she keeps the baby, raising a daughter, Minnow, largely alone. Though she keeps playing, motherhood is a job in itself and she has to earn money to support them, so she doesn't have enough time to ever make it big. In one life, she is successful and lonely; in the other, unknown but with a lovely daughter.

Carson uses second person fairly effectively here, and I say that as a person who really does not enjoy a second person narrative. This is what makes the novel feel so personal: it's addressed wholly to Minnow, her Little Fish. Lisa Nelson is talking to the daughter that could have existed, and the loss of that person she never knew is visceral. Of course, the second person also has another interpretation, perhaps inadvertent. The reader, presumably a fan of Carson's music, is a child of a sort too, a brainchild born at the expense of an actual child, using the simplified logic of the novel.

The writing style, while not one that necessarily appeals to me, does have a unique cadence, no doubt influenced by her songwriting. The sentence structures are often odd and slightly offbeat. The style does very much suit the story and the character.

What might have been more effective in telling this story is the framework that most stories of this nature use (The Post-Birthday World and Pivot Point are good examples), wherein the story starts and ends in roughly the same place, and the chapters in between alternate futures. Instead, Carson largely focuses on the imagined 1982, occasionally dropping information on what she was doing in the original 1982. This felt really disorganized. Then, when her daughter reached her teen years, the imagined narrative ceased and the novel turned to the actual 2010, focusing on that for thirty pages. The alternating pattern allows for better comparison of the two, and I feel like a lot was left out of both timelines, perhaps because Carson hit what she needed for her own state of mind, but not for mine.

In the end, Carson's book is an interesting one, but not one I am the ideal audience for. At 25, I've not been through any experiences like Carson's. I've never been pregnant, so I don't live with the question of how my life might have been different were I a mother or not a mother. For those who have lived through such things, this might be a powerful read, but it did not resonate with me.

Rating: 2.5/5

Favorite Quote:

"When I catch my reflection in the glass, I note again that I've become someone who's resting face falls into a mournful expression.
     As if the cabdriver can read my thoughts, he says, 'Smile! It can't be that bad.'
     This is one you hear a lot as a young woman, Minnow. Why do men think we enjoy being commanded to smile?"

Audiobook Review: Maya's Notebook

Maya's Notebook

Author: Isabel Allende
Narrator: Maria Cabezas
Duration: 14 hrs 40 mins
Publisher: Harper Audio
Read: May 10-18, 2013
Source: Publisher for review

Description from Goodreads:
Neglected by her parents, 19-year-old Maya Nidal has grown up in Berkeley with her grandparents. Her grandmother Nini is a force of nature, a woman whose formidable strength helped her build a new life after emigrating from Chile in 1973. Popo, Maya's grandfather, is a gentle man whose solid, comforting presence helps calm the turbulence of Maya's adolescence.

When Popo dies of cancer, Maya goes completely off the rails, turning to drugs, alcohol, and petty crime in a downward spiral that eventually bottoms out in Las Vegas. Lost in a dangerous underworld, she is caught in the cross­hairs of warring forces. Her one chance for survival is Nini, who helps her escape to a remote island off the coast of Chile. Here Maya tries to make sense of the past, unravels mysterious truths about life and about her family, and embarks on her greatest adventure: The journey into her own soul.

Review:

Wow, so this was my first experience with Isabel Allende and it was not what I was expecting at all. I'm not sure what I was expecting exactly, just that it wasn't this. Also, just fyi, let's just put a big ol' trigger warning all over this book for pretty much every trigger ever.

Why Did I Read This Book?
I'd run out of audiobooks for review and selecting them on my own takes forever, and this showed up in a newsletter. I've been curious about Allende for a while, thus why I own several of her books (*side-eyes*), and this seemed as good a place to start as any. Plus, I've discovered that I generally love books about dark subject matter and this did sure sound dark.

What's the Story Here?
Nineteen year old Maya Nidal has been sent by her grandma to a small Chilean island to escape some tragic past and possibly pursuers. The story follows two timelines, Maya's past and her present, until the past catches up to where the book started. What unravels is a tale of how Maya made pretty much every wrong decision it was possible to make. Seriously, she does drugs, is an alcoholic, gets raped (this isn't a decision, but getting into a truck with a sketchy trucker after escaping from rehab may not have been the wisest course), joins the underworld and sells drugs so she can earn drugs, pisses off people in the underworld, and then, living on the street, prostitutes herself to obtain money for drugs. The point of the book is that the Chilean island, the name of which I don't know how to spell because audio, opens her up and lets her live again.

What Did I Think Was Missing?
Maya's emotional arc didn't really work for me. We're spared most of her struggle of recovery from addiction. There's some mention of it, but not enough. Recovering from addictions to crack and alcohol is a painful process and she doesn't seem to suffer all that much. In Chile, people regularly drink in front of her and it seems hardly to tempt her, though she does know better than to drink anything herself. From what I've heard, most alcoholics can't handle that. Seeing that she will be dealing with those unhealthy urges forever would have been a more powerful statement, I think. She just seemed to get over it all way too easily.

How are the Characters?
Mostly, they're all terrible people. The rest, like Maya, her grandmother, and Manuel, who Maya stays with in Chile, are on the border between likable and unlikable. I will say that Allende does give them all distinct personalities and they do feel like real people, so points for characterization. However, they're just not people I particularly want to get to know. This was sort of like listening to a radio drama of some super dark soap opera or something. On the one hand, you can't stop listening because you want to know what happens next, but it was also melodramatic like whoa.

And the Romance?
Lol, okay, so this part I did like. Maya's this girl who's been through pretty much everything life has to offer. She's seen and done a lot. Anyway, this guy, Daniel, comes to the island and she sees him and hearts pop out of her eyes like in an anime. The moment she sees him she's like "this is the man I'm going to marry," because her feelings on seeing him reminded of the story of how her grandma met her beloved grandpa. She instaloves all over Daniel, which would be irritating, except that it totally pans out like most actual teen instalove would: a big, huge, awkward dumping. After it happens, Maya's all "this is the worst thing that has ever happened to me," and I was all "trololol." This was basically the comic relief of the piece.

How was the Narration?
Maria Cabezas definitely makes a convincing Maya. She reads with just the slightest accent, like her time in Chile has rubbed off on her. Her voice conveys both Maya's gruffness and youth, and she was just really well-suited to the character. I'm glad I tried this on audio, because I would have DNFed the print really quickly.

Sum It Up with a GIF:

Rating: 2.5/5

Audiobook Review: The Ward

The Ward
The Ward, Book 1

Author: Jordana Frankel
Narrator: Meritt Hicks
Duration: 12.4 hrs
Publisher: Harper Audio

Source: Publisher for review

Description from Goodreads:
Set in a futuristic New York City after a catastrophic flood called the Wash Out, The Ward is the story of sixteen-year-old Renata Dane, a daredevil champion racer who will risk everything she has to take care of her sick foster sister, Aven.

Ren's sister is suffering from the Blight, an incurable, deadly illness thought to be caused by years of pollution. The disease is ripping through the Ward—formerly known as downtown Manhattan—and since the region is home to the poor and the vagrant, little is being done to help the sick.

But when the Blight somehow spreads to the affluent Upper Islets, the government recruits Ren for a secret mission: to search for a freshwater source in the Ward, with the hope of it leading to a cure. She is the only girl in the Ward to master helming a mobile—a car that can defy gravity and drive up the walls of a skyscraper, or transform into a high-speed boat at the push of a few buttons.

However, when Ren accepts this job—and the big paycheck that comes with it—she never expects that it will lead her to dangerous encounters with a passionate young scientist, a web of deceit and lies, and a confounding mystery that's lurking deep beneath the water's rippling surface.

Cinematic and thrilling, The Ward is Jordana Frankel's debut novel.

Review:

Oh, post-apocalyptic and dystopian fiction, I love you so much, but you keep trying to make me stop. The Ward fails to stand out, aside from the largely lackluster writing.

Why Did I Read This Book?
Because I am a sucker for dystopian fiction. What can I say? I've been burned over and over again, but I keep sticking my hand in the fire. I never claimed to be incredibly intelligent. Well, I think I have claimed that but solely in jest.

What's the Story Here?
Ren lives her life to support her sister (not biologically but in everything that matters), Aven, who is sick with the Blight. She earns money racing and by scouting for freshwater as a mole for the Blues, the police force. Basically, she finds some fresh water and it can cure diseases, but then there are suddenly a bunch of forces trying to do different things with the water. Ren, of course, is heading up the good guys and trying to make sure her sister and others get cured.

And the Romance? 
There's some sort of half-hearted love triangle going on between Ren, Derek, and Callum. Derek is her bookie and she's been crushing on him for ages, but, now that she's mixed up in things, he's all interested suddenly. Then there's Callum who pretended to be a Blue and sent her on the quest for the fresh she found. He's also rich. So far, it's mostly been all about Ren and Derek, but he's weird and creepy, so I think I would be rooting for Callum if I had to root for someone.

What About the Writing?
Ugh. There were so many awkward phrases, clearly intended to be thought-provoking or poetic which landed with a thud. I did quite a bit of eye-rolling at stupid sentences. Plus, it was REALLY repetitive. The evil sentence was in this book at least four times, which is just crazy. That's just the top of the iceberg, though. If there's a breath that Ren takes or holds that the reader doesn't have to hear about it, I will consume my bonnet with a freaking cherry on top.

Am I Going to Continue with the Series?
Nope. Not happening. I don't care about any of these characters one bit. They're flat and failed to make me love them, so, even if I were enthralled with the minimal plot, I probably wouldn't venture forth.

How was the Narration?
The saving grace of The Ward is that I listened to it, rather than reading a print copy. I love Merritt Hicks as a narrator. Her voice is soothing and a bit huskier than the average female narrator who does YA audiobooks. Her voice matches perfectly with Ren's character too. She makes the story a much more pleasant experience, but she can only do so much with what she's given.

Sum It Up with a GIF:

Rating: 2.5/5

Review: The Symptoms of My Insanity

The Symptoms of My Insanity

Author: Mindy Raf
Pages: 384
Publisher: Dial Books for Young Readers
Publication Date: April 18, 2013
Source: Gifted by Steph of Cuddlebuggery

Description from Goodreads:
A laugh-out-loud, bittersweet debut full of wit, wisdom, heart, and a hilarious, unforgettable heroine.

When you’re a hypochondriac, there are a million different things that could be wrong with you, but for Izzy, focusing on what could be wrong might be keeping her from dealing with what’s really wrong.

I almost raised my hand, but what would I say? “Mr. Bayer, may I please be excused? I’m not totally positive, but I think I might have cancer.” No way. Then everyone at school would know, and they would treat me differently, and I would be known as “Izzy, that poor girl who diagnosed herself with breast cancer during biology.”

But Izzy’s sense of humor can only get her so far when suddenly her best friend appears to have undergone a personality transplant, her mother’s health takes a turn for the worse, and her beautiful maybe-boyfriend is going all hot and cold. Izzy thinks she’s preparing for the worst-case scenario, but when the worst-case scenario actually hits, it’s a different story altogether—and there’s no tidy list of symptoms to help her through the insanity.

First Sentence: "I'm standing inside a large fitting room at Lola's lingerie."

Review:

Yet again, my strong desire for a book stemmed from the awesome cover (not the final cover shown above) more than the blurb. Sure, the blurb is funny and all, but that's not what really raised my interest. This turns out to be yet another reminder that I should probably stop seeking out books that I wasn't especially interested in before I saw the cover. Though I didn't precisely dislike The Symptoms of My Insanity and some of it was quite humorous, I had a lot of issues with it as well.

What Mindy Raf does best are the funny, awkward scenes, and those are where she comes closest to capturing teenage life. The horrors of getting fitted for a bra, the discomfort with you body, and getting your long hair stuck on someone's glasses, prolonging an already tense moment. Those things work well, and Raf made me chuckle a handful of times. These small moments, the teasing and the day-to-day stuff are the aspects of The Symptoms of My Insanity that really worked.

For the most part, I feel like this novel couldn't decide whether to be serious or funny, and often ends up being vaguely disquieting, as the lighthearted tone jars with the serious subject matter. Mindy Raf attempts to tackle cancer, sexual harassment, friendship, and slut-shaming, all while keeping things funny, and the darker subjects do not get the respect they deserve.

Take, for example, Izzy's hypochondria, which she develops as a coping mechanism for her mother's slow but fatal cancer. Izzy started out researching her mother's disease, and gradually became a bit addicted to an online web diagnosis site, paranoid that every sniffle or stomach ache is an omen of disaster. Sure, hypochondria can be rife with humor, and Izzy's development of it in correlation to her mother's illness is convincing. What is less convincing is the way that, once a few jokes have been told at her expense and her hypochondria has been pointed out to her by more than one person, poof, it disappears. Awareness of a problem does not immediately conquer it.

Then there's Izzy's mother, who I suppose I ought to be sympathizing with, since she's dying a slow death from cancer. However, she is enormously hard to like, since she tears down Izzy's self-esteem left and right. Izzy's body issues mostly come from her mother, who suspects her of being a lesbian if she wears loose clothes and accuses her of being inappropriate if she wears anything tight. Apparently, if a girl has large breasts, wearing anything form-fitting or remotely low cut is inappropriate. Way to make her feel like her body is disgusting. Yes, Izzy's mom learns lessons about this in the long run, but, again, I felt like the denouement was rushed, and a bit unsatisfying, since it came basically two pages from the end after hundreds of pages of narrow-minded vitriol.

Most upsetting by far, though, is the plot line involving sexual harassment. Izzy ends up in a compromising position with a boy, very much against her will. Despite the fact that he and his friends have similarly harassed two other girls, her friends, Izzy doesn't report him or do anything other than give him the cold shoulder. Izzy and her friends are just sending them off to hurt other girls, because, if they hadn't learned their lessons hurting the two friends, they certainly won't have learned it now.

Along this vein, I don't think the female friendships were handled well. Jenna and Izzy are supposedly best friends, but neither one seems to care for the other at all. Jenna withholds information that could help Izzy avoid pain, all because Jenna felt neglected by Izzy over the summer. Now, I get feeling neglected, but the reason Izzy was so busy was taking care of her mother who was going through cancer treatments, so how about a little leeway. Yes, Izzy could have been more thoughtful of her best friend, but she also didn't know anything was happening. Of course, once Izzy learns what Jenna's issues were, she still doesn't inquire or support Jenna, so there's that. Meredith, who neither liked much at the outset, proved a much better friend to both, even they judged her unfairly.

The language is a bit stilted, and rarely does Izzy really coalesce into a character I had a strong handle on. Her personality doesn't seem particularly set in stone yet, and, if I were to describe her in one word, that word would be naive. So many things are going on that should be obvious to Izzy, like the issues with her crush or Jenna. I called what was up with both of them in their earliest scenes, but Izzy was completely shocked to figure out the truth hundreds of pages later. For all that she's concerned about her mom's health, that, too, takes her time actually believing that she's having health problems, despite the really obvious evidence and her obsession with all things medical.

Izzy's burgeoning healthy romance I did like. In fact, for once, I am wishing for more romance, rather than having that as the weak point in a novel. The scenes in which Izzy speaks with the boy are the ones where the dialog feels most natural, even in the way they end up saying the wrong things and fighting. They banter and have things in common the way that Izzy and the rest of her friends and family do not really seem to. Overall, there was an authenticity of character and emotion that was lacking.

I realize this has turned into a rant, but I did like parts of this novel quite a bit, and I do envision a good future for Raf as a writer. The humor is well done in places, and the tougher subjects show promise. The Symptoms of My Insanity tries to do too much and ends up not quite satisfying overall. Though I didn't end up loving this, I will be open to trying Raf's sophomore novel.

Rating: 2.5/5

Favorite Quote: "Maybe facts and formulas comfort Marcus, but I think that article he read was totally wrong. You don't love chemical reactions or particles or neuron receptors. You love whole people. Including the parts you didn't know were there, and the parts you're waiting for them to become."

Sadie Hawkins Sunday Review #10: The Essence

The Essence
The Pledge, Book 2

Author: Kimberly Derting
Pages: 352
Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry
Source: Library
Recommended by: Blythe of Finding Bliss in Books

Description from Goodreads:
At the luminous conclusion of The Pledge, Charlaina defeated the tyrant Sabara and took her place as Queen of Ludania. But Charlie knows that Sabara has not disappeared: The evil queen’s Essence is fused to Charlie’s psyche, ready to arise at the first sign of weakness.

Charlie is not weak, but she’s being pushed to the brink. In addition to suppressing the ever-present influence of Sabara, she’s busy being queen—and battling a growing resistance determined to return Ludania to its discriminatory caste system. Charlie wants to be the same girl Max loves, who Brook trusts, but she’s Your Majesty now, and she feels torn in two.

As Charlie journeys to an annual summit to meet with leaders of nearby Queendoms—an event where her ability to understand all languages will be the utmost asset—she is faced with the ultimate betrayal. And the only person she can turn to for help is the evil soul residing within.

Previous Book in Series:
1: The Pledge

First Sentence: "He approached respectfully, cautiously."

Review:
As anyone who has read my review of The Pledge knows, I was not a big fan. I had absolutely no intention of reading the sequel, but such are the joys of the Sadie Hawkins feature. Blythe wanted me to read this, so here we are. On the plus side, I didn't dislike The Essence the way I did The Pledge, largely due to the decrease in romance, but I still don't think this series is particularly impressive.

One part of The Essence is super cool, and that is Charlie's relationship to the queen she displaced. At the end of The Pledge, Charlie took over from Sabara, but, in so doing, Sabara's essence became part of Charlie. Now, Charlie can here Sabara's voice in her head, and dreams Sabara's memories. In moments of weakness, Sabara can even assume control of Charlie's body for brief periods of time and sway Charlie's emotions.

The interplay between Charlie and Sabara is fascinating, and it's the sort of mindfuckery that I appreciate greatly. Charlie can never be entirely trusted, and her feelings can be hard to separate from Sabara's. I like, too, that Sabara becomes a bit more complex and sympathetic here than she was before, as Charlie dives into her memories. Similarly, Charlie becomes more interesting as Sabara's presence in her mind starts pushing her into a crazy, evil direction. Charlie's character arc reminds me of Anakin slowly sliding into Darth Vader, which is awesome.

What made me dislike The Pledge so was the pathetic, illogical world building (which is still weak) and the romance, which is nauseating. Thankfully, Sabara messes with some of the fairy tale perfection of Charlie's relationship with Max. Even better, they're hardly together during the course of the book. The few romance scenes that do transpire are pretty cheesy and eyeroll-inducing, but are kept to a minimum.

For the most part, though, the awesome mind stuff aside, there's really not a whole lot that happens in this book, other than Charlie being an utterly crap queen. Though I admire Charlie's goal of removing the punishing social hierarchy, she does so in a really stupid way: all at once. Nor does she have the infrastructure prepared to deal with backlash. Surprise, things don't go well. She spends the whole book ineffectually running from an assassin and trying to avoid having to go to her queen lessons. Despite skipping her lessons and remembering the few she attended, she is praised by everyone, except the ones who want to kill her, for her marvelous queenship. She's just speshul that way.

The perspective largely follows Charlie in first person, but does switch to a couple of other characters in third person limited. I'm rarely a fan of this technique, and this is no exception. The reason she's done this is because Brooklynn, Charlie's friend and the head of her guard, split up for much of the novel. Still, I find some of the perspective-hopping entirely needless. For example, there was one scene from the perspective of the mole in the guard, intended to add tension, but that could have been conveyed just as effectively by someone finding the body. I'm a firm believer in not hopping into a perspective just once, and, if she needed both Brooklyn's and Charlie's, going with first person on both would seem a wiser choice.

All told, I wouldn't say this was a terrible book, but I still really can't personally recommend this series, because there's so much better out there to be read. A resounding meh to The Essence.

Rating: 2.5/5

Favorite Quote: "'Oh, Charlie, when will you realize: We've never matched. It's what makes us perfect for each other.'"

---

Up Next:

The next Sadie Hawkins Sunday book will be Sever by Lauren DeStefano, selected by someone who wishes to remain anonymous. I know who you are though, and you know the expression on my face.

Want to tell me what to read? Fill out THIS FORM with a book suggestion! For more details, check this post.

Review: The Shadow Girl

The Shadow Girl

Author: Jennifer Archer
Pages: 336
Publisher: Harper Teen
Source: Publisher for review

Description from Goodreads:
Sometimes I forget for an hour or two that she's with me. Sometimes I convince myself that she was only a dream. Or that I'm crazy.

For as long as Lily Winston can remember, she has never been alone. Iris, a shadowy figure who mimics Lily's movements and whispers in her ear, is with her always—but invisible to the rest of the world. Iris is Lily's secret.

But when Lily's father is killed in a tragic accident, his cryptic final words suggest that he and Lily's mother have been keeping secrets of their own. Suddenly, Iris begins pushing Lily more than ever, possessing her thoughts and urging her to put together the pieces of a strange puzzle her father left behind. As she searches for answers, Lily finds herself drawn to Ty Collier, a mysterious new boy in town. Together, Lily and Ty must untangle a web of deception to discover the truth about her family, Iris . . . and Lily's own identity.

First Sentence: "Ty Collier shivered as he paused in front of the Daily Grind coffee shop to wipe his boots on the mat beside the door."

Review:
Though The Shadow Girl has a potentially hard-hitting premise, the end result doesn't really wow. I feel like I probably should have disliked this, but I didn't really; instead I feel largely ambivalent towards it. I've got a fair amount of criticisms to deliver, but, overall, this was a nice easy read, and wasn't a struggle to get through.

On the plus side, there's the concept of Lily having this other person in her brain, Iris. At the beginning the reader doesn't know why Iris is in her head or if Iris is a sign of Lily's insanity, but the idea is still a compelling one. Such concepts appear fairly frequently in YA, I think because there's something about the idea of hearing voices, whether real or imagined that calls to the human imagination. Do we all inherently both fear and desire such a voice? Also, given the popularity of the themes covered, I do think Archer considers them in a slightly different way, a less harried, action-packed way, that is refreshing. Though The Shadow Girl does briefly appear to be heading for a climactic showdown, there's really nothing of that sort here; it's a mental journey for Lily, and that's it.

Sadly, I figured out what was going on early on in the book, and I do not think I was especially clever to have done so. In fact, I think that the 'twist' is glaringly obvious. Lily does not really think there's anything weird about some of the facts she's uncovering when they should have been setting off immediate warning bells. Archer implies that this is because Lily doesn't want to believe what's going on, but that's a bit far-fetched for a girl as well-educated as Lily.

Perhaps my favorite part involves the Stradivarius violin that Lily locates in the garage in the wake of her father's death. Now, I can't delve into this because of spoilers, but I'll do my best. Archer weaves the power of music into her story, and I just love the idea she puts forth. I would have liked to see her do more with that, since it takes a backseat to the investigation plot line, which, again, was heading for a super obvious conclusion.

Otherwise, all that's really going on in this book is romance, which is pretty unfortunate. There is yet another love triangle, and there's instalove, or at least insta-serious-feelings. As ever, the two players for Lily's affections are her best friend Wyatt and the mysterious newcomer Ty. Lily is torn between the two, finding both physically attractive, nice, and eminently kissable. Now, on the one hand, I don't have a big issue with her being torn between the two guys; she's not made a commitment to either one, and she's welcome to make out with whoever she wants to. However, she's a total dick to her best friend in the process. While she's not unfair to Wyatt as a dating prospect, she's a horrid friend, and never fully apologizes for that.

Further, Lily's crush on Ty boggles my mind. She essentially discovers that he's been stalking her family for reasons that are basically insane. Lily, however, is totally okay with this and still deems him totally datable. Even better, having stalked her and lied to her makes him a great candidate for a road trip buddy. Apparently, attending Columbia makes you totally respectable no matter what the circumstances. In real life, this would have ended with her death, as would that whole thing with Jake. This girl has NO survival skills at all. Well, actually, she does have one that puts her above most YA heroines, the ability to realize when she's holding her breath.

Then there's Lily's relationship with her mother, or lack of relationship. Even though it's obvious all of the information is coming out, the mom freaking refuses to say a single thing to Lily about what exactly is going on. This pushes Lily to ask other people. Why was the mother so against explaining? Why did she cave so easily once Lily left? Was her daughter driving across country with a possible serial killer really the only catalyst to push her to admit she has a problem and get over herself?

I realize that based on this review, it sounds like The Shadow Girl should have a lower rating, but I honestly didn't dislike it. Nor did I exactly like it. Meh.

Rating: 2.5/5

Favorite Quote: "I exhale the breath I've been holding."

Review: Children of Liberty

Children of Liberty

Author: Paullina Simons
Pages: 576
Publisher: William Morrow Paperbacks
Source: Publisher via TLC Book Tours

Description from Goodreads:
At the turn of the century and the dawning of the modern world, Gina from Belpasso comes to Boston’s Freedom Docks to find a new and better life, and meets Harry Barrington, who is searching for his.

The fates of the Barringtons and Attavianos become entwined, on a collision course between the old and new, between what is expected and what is desired, what is chosen and what is bestowed, what is given and what is taken away.

As America races headlong into the future, much will be lost and much will be gained for Gina and Harry, whose ill-fated love story will break your heart.

First Sentence: "There had been a fire at Ellis Island the year before Gina came to America with her mother and brother in 1899, and so instead of arriving at the Port of New York, they had set sail into the Port of Boston."

Review:

From what I can gather, Children of Liberty is the first book in a new series, which leads up to her most popular series, the Tatiana and Alexander trilogy. I haven't read that series yet, though I plan to begin it in the next week or so, but my research indicates that the main characters in Children of Liberty, are the parents in The Bronze Horseman. Sadly, while an okay read, all signs indicate that Children of Liberty pales in comparison to Simons' previous works.

By far, the biggest problem here is the writing. So much of it is odd, sentences strung together in strange ways that don't add to the narrative. Much of the dialogue is stilted and unnatural. Characters will be discussing one topic and then suddenly veer off onto another one without any warning or natural progression. These weaknesses are especially prevalent in the first half of the novel, but continue throughout.

The novel is also quite slow to begin, as I did not care at all about any of the characters right off the boat. Gina is 14 when Children of Liberty begins, and she acts it, her thoughts and words childish and naive. Her mother, the annoyingly named Mimoo, never serves any purpose but to worry. Her brother, Salvo, is an asshole who treats everyone with disdain, especially his sister. Even worse, he turns out not to matter a whole lot in the overall story, not appearing once after about the halfway point. Why spend so much time on him if he doesn't matter? I suppose if the rest of the intended series is published he'll matter again, but it's awkward for now.

The historical setting at the turn of the century should have been enthralling. Ben, Harry's friend, is working to get the Panama Canal constructed to revolutionize exporting around the world. Radicals like Eugene Debs and Emma Goldman are often referenced and even make appearances. As a history nerd, these elements should have left me feeling more educated and curious, but they were poorly integrated and I found myself sorely tempted to skim. Ben just kept going on and on about his bananas. Ben's mom kept getting on her soapbox about anti-imperialism. Later, Gina becomes interested in anarchism. Yet, none of these seem to matter all that much in the grand scheme of things. So far as I can tell, the anarchism only matters because it loosened Gina's morals.

Speaking of Gina's morals, we're coming to the stumbling block that really mattered more than most of those other things: I really hate Harry. Gina wants Harry from the moment she first meets him, when she's 14 and he's 21. She pursues him for six goddamn years. That's pathetic enough all on it's own, but, worse, he's in a serious relationship the entire time, engaged for five of those years. Of course, since the book is about their romance more than anything, he eventually capitulates to her charms and they have a whole lot of sex. While he's engaged to another woman. There is nothing that can make this okay with me, and Harry was already a weak-willed, annoying, whiny liar to begin with. Gina's attraction to him made me dislike her, even though in every other respect her older self is actually fairly likable.

Still, Children of Liberty was a decent read on the whole. I appreciated the banter between Ben and Harry at least, and it was fairly fast-paced. I didn't quite dislike it, but there is so much room for improvement. I really hope The Bronze Horseman is better, but every review I've seen assures me that it is. If you're a fan of that series, don't embark on this one expecting it to be anywhere near as good.

Rating: 2.5/5

Favorite Quote: "'I know for a fact that the damming of rivers is enticing to young girls.'"

Review: The Rogue's Princess

The Rogue's Princess
The Lacey Chronicles, Book 3

Author: Eve Edwards
Pages: 272
Publisher: Delacorte Books for Young Readers
Source: YA Books Central for Review

Description from Goodreads:
England, 1586

Mercy Hart, daughter of one of London's wealthiest and most devout cloth merchants, is expected to marry her equal in rank and piety. Certainly not Kit Turner, a lowly actor and playboy, who also happens to be the late Earl of Dorset's illegitimate son. But when a chance encounter throws them together, Kit instantly falls for the beautiful Mercy's charms . . . and Mercy can't deny the passion that Kit stirs within her. She seems ready to defy her father's wishes--ready to renounce her family and her family name for true love.

Then Kit finds himself accused treason.

Will Mercy have the strength to stand by him? Or will she succumb to pressure and break his heart?

Prior Books in Series:
1: The Other Countess (Review|Goodreads)
2: The Queen's Lady (Review|Goodreads)

First Sentence: "The moment the earthquake struck, Mercy Hart knew it was her fault."

Review:

Eve Edwards' Lacey Chronicles offer up historical romance for a young adult audience. I enjoyed both the previous two novels in the series, and was eager to break into this one. As with the rest of the series, The Rogue's Princess is a quick, light, romantic read, full to the brim with love, betrayal, drama, and sumptuous clothing. This series is perfect for fans of light historical romance. Though this is a series, each novel stands alone well. There is no need to read all of them or to read them in order unless that is your wont.

The Rogue's Princess features the illegitimate half-brother of the Laceys. Kit Turner works as a player on Burbage's stage, a peer of William Shakespeare. I love that in the first chapter, we get a glimpse of Kit's youth, when he tread the boards in women's weeds as a young boy. Now fully grown, though, he plays the romantic leads, the young heroes.

Kit lives a life of drinking and flirting until the day he attends the same party as young Puritan Mercy Hart. She captures his heart at first sight, and he sways her easily with his charms. Their instalove does bother me a bit, but it fits the time, as courtship was a much faster process in those days, since people needed to get married and breeding as soon as possible. The two have several cute moments, and, while they're not my favorite couple of the Lacey series, they are sweet.

Mercy runs more to the Fanny Price end of the heroine spectrum than the Elizabeth Bennet. What I mean by this, for those less familiar with Jane Austen, is that Mercy is shy, quiet, and endlessly determined to do right by God. She often doesn't stand up for herself when I think she should, and her constant reference to prayers and sins made me crazy. For other readers, perhaps those who enjoy Christian fiction, this could be an asset rather than a negative, however. On the plus side, Mercy does gain in spirit as the story goes along, all while retaining her values.

The attempt to add historical weightiness to The Rogue's Princess with Kit's imprisonment for treason does not succeed. He is imprisoned for such a stupid reason (drinking once with people who spoke of putting Mary on the throne) and there is no question that he shall be found innocent in this sort of novel. I appreciate the attempt to make it more historical and less a romance, but I do not think it played out particularly well, especially in how easily it is resolved in the end.

Easily readable as standalones, The Lacey Chronicles consists of romantic stories set during the reign of Elizabeth I. The Rogue's Princess will even have appeal for a Christian audience.

Rating: 2.5/5

Review: Dr. Frankenstein's Daughters

Dr. Frankenstein's Daughters

Author: Suzanne Weyn
Pages: 247
Publisher: Scholastic Press
Source: YA Books Central for Review

Description from Goodreads:
A new generation is creating a monster....

Giselle and Ingrid are the twin daughters of Doctor Victor Frankenstein, but they are very different people, and when they inherit his castle in the Orkney Islands, Giselle dreams of holding parties and inviting society -- but Ingrid is fascinated by her father's forbidden experiments.

First Sentence: "What unbearable guilt!"

Review:
No matter my opinions on the source material, I cannot resist retellings. I read Mary Shelley's Frankenstein in high school, and I loathed pretty much every bit of it. Perhaps I might be able to appreciate its wordiness and lack of action more now, but, at the time, it was torture. Suzanne Weyn's novel picks up some time after Frankenstein concludes, following his daughters, in a very different kind of story.

Where Frankenstein consists of a lot of endless descriptions and foliage, Weyn substitutes the castle and mysterious murders to create the gothic feeling of the original. Weyn also does a good job of simulating the language of the time. It's a bit stilted occasionally, but largely well done. The narration switches between Giselle's and Ingrid's journal entries, and the two narratives are kept distinct by the entirely different interests held by the two girls.

The major theme in Dr. Frankenstein's Daughters, as with Frankenstein, is that of madness. With the two Frankenstein girls, Weyn highlights two different kinds of madness, with the most obvious being the madness of obsession in scientific discovery. The desire for knowledge, to know whether something can be done without considering whether it should be done, runs through Ingrid, the smart twin, just as it ran through Victor.

Though much of Dr. Frankenstein's Daughters moved at a pretty sedate pace, again akin to the original, the ending is quite shocking. The first half focused largely on romance, and it seemed less a retelling and more a historical romance with a needless reference to Shelley's creations. In the second half, Weyn really sells it, and the shift is startling in a good way. I did not expect her to end things quite as she did, and it's nice to be surprised by a book.

Unfortunately, the novel has a major flaw in my opinion. Though I do not think it is Weyn's intention to do so, I do not like the treatment of female characters in the novel. Besides Giselle and Ingrid, there is only one other female character who gets a line. The girls are on this isolated island, but meet multiple attractive men. Yet, somehow, they do not meet any women. I do not like the message this sends that aside from our heroines, females really are not important. Though perhaps I should be grateful that the two girls are the only ones to receive any sort of character development; all those multitudes of men are flat as pancakes.

The only other woman to have a voice is Mary Shelley. Weyn has done what so many retellers like to do: brought the author into her story. This is, actually, one of my least favorite literary devices. An author chooses to retell a story, most likely because of a great respect and admiration of the original work and its creator. Generally, the author is brought in as a character to be inspired by the scenes he/she witnesses, and to then go on and write their famous work. Am I the only one who finds this incredibly insulting to the original author, diminishing the power of their imagination to that of a chronicler?

Dr. Frankenstein's Daughters is a quick read that becomes progressively darker as the pages fly by. This will be a good read for those who appreciate gothic narratives, but don't want to wade through 400 pages of dense prose.

Rating: 2.5/5

Favorite Quote: "I read and read without ever being bored as long as there is daylight."

Review: Unremembered

Unremembered
Unremembered, Book 1

Author: Jessica Brody
Pages: 320
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR)
Publication Date: March 5, 2013
Source: Publisher for review

Description from Goodreads:
The only thing worse than forgetting her past... is remembering it.

When Freedom Airlines flight 121 went down over the Pacific Ocean, no one ever expected to find survivors. Which is why the sixteen-year-old girl discovered floating among the wreckage—alive—is making headlines across the globe.

Even more strange is that her body is miraculously unharmed and she has no memories of boarding the plane. She has no memories of her life before the crash. She has no memories period. No one knows how she survived. No one knows why she wasn’t on the passenger manifest. And no one can explain why her DNA and fingerprints can’t be found in a single database in the world.

Crippled by a world she doesn’t know, plagued by abilities she doesn’t understand, and haunted by a looming threat she can’t remember, Seraphina struggles to piece together her forgotten past and discover who she really is. But with every clue only comes more questions. And she’s running out of time to answer them.

Her only hope is a strangely alluring boy who claims to know her from before the crash. Who claims they were in love. But can she really trust him? And will he be able to protect her from the people who have been making her forget?

From popular young adult author, Jessica Brody comes a mesmerizing and suspenseful new series, set in a world where science knows no boundaries, memories are manipulated, and true love can never be forgotten.

First Sentence: "The water is cold and ruthless, lapping against my cheek."

Review:
Unremembered is the kind of book that is really difficult to review. For one thing, Brody relies heavily on twists, which means that the less you know going into it, the more fun it's going to be for you. I would actually recommend not reading the blurb first. I didn't know anything when I started except that she survived a plane crash, and that was about ideal. The other thing that makes this tricky is that, while Unremembered is a fun read, I don't have all that much praise to give it, so it's going to come across more negative than perhaps intended.

What makes Unremembered a fun read and one that I don't regret taking the time to sift through is that it's full of action and mystery. Brody keeps the story moving along at a quick pace, and you can't help wanting to find out what her explanation for everything is. Brody successfully snagged my interest, and I sped through the book. Unremembered might be a good title for more reluctant readers, though I would recommend the somewhat similar Mila 2.0, which I'm reading right now to readers not threatened by the addition of 200 more pages.

On the downside, though, Brody's explanation, as it unfolds, really does not make any sense, and there are some definite plot holes. There are so many strange things where I just could not suspend disbelief. For example, when Violet, a name given to her for her purple eyes (*rolls eyes*), is pulled from the wreckage, doctors run tests on her and determine that she is definitely sixteen. This is a small thing and really doesn't matter much, but how? Kids develop at different rates, and it's not like humans have rings you can count to determine age like trees do. Maybe this is possible, but I really don't think it would be that easy to figure out if she's precisely 16. That might be their best guess, but how could they really know?

The only other oddness I can mention without spoiling anything for you is that the reader never actually finds out how Violet ends up in the plane crash. This is such a huge gaping error. You learn some things that are supposed to make that make sense, but it's actually not settled. This is a huge plot hole that I really can't ignore. Many of the other explanations have a lot of issues too, but I can't get into them now.

Then there's Violet, the main character, who has a perfect memory for language and a largely perfect vocabulary, but holes for a number of terms. Some things make sense for her not to know, but there are plenty of words she finds confusing that there is absolutely no reason for her not to be familiar with. Her personality is very similar to the main character in Rachel Cohn's Beta or to the dolls on Joss Whedon's show Dollhouse. For those who are familiar with those, you know that it's not a particularly engaging personality, involving a lot of head-tilting and wide-eyed innocence. I also found that her ability to react to situations with human emotions was incredibly inconsistent, because she shows a lot of anger and passion in the first couple of chapters, but then proceeds to act like a robot for all of the middle of the book.

If you're looking for a quick, fast-paced read and aren't the type of reader to get hung up on logic, then Unremembered is a good choice for you. For me, though, I suspect Unremembered will ultimately live up to its title.

Rating: 2.5/5

Favorite Quote: "'What can I say? I was curious. You put a giant concrete wall in front of a guy, he's gonna try to find out what's on the other side.'"

Review: Ashes of Twilight

Ashes of Twilight
Ashes Trilogy, Book 1

Author: Kassy Tayler
Pages: 320
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
Source: For review from YA Books Central

Description from Goodreads:
Wren MacAvoy works as a coal miner for a domed city that was constructed in the mid-nineteenth century to protect the royal blood line of England when astronomers spotted a comet on a collision course with Earth. Humanity would be saved by the most groundbreaking technology of the time. But after nearly 200 years of life beneath the dome, society has become complacent and the coal is running out. Plus there are those who wonder, is there life outside the dome or is the world still consumed by fire? When one of Wren's friends escapes the confines of the dome, he is burned alive and put on display as a warning to those seeking to disrupt the dome’s way of life. But Alex’s final words are haunting. “The sky is blue.” What happens next is a whirlwind of adventure, romance, conspiracy and the struggle to stay alive in a world where nothing is as it seems. Wren unwittingly becomes a catalyst for a revolution that destroys the dome and the only way to survive might be to embrace what the entire society has feared their entire existence.

First Sentence: "The Bible teaches us that the heavens and earth were made by the one true God."

Review:

Having seen a couple of uninspiring reviews for Ashes of Twilight, I did not have high hopes for my own enjoyment of the novel. However, when a review copy comes, you do what you have to do. Thankfully, I enjoyed this more than my compatriots did, finding it an easy, enjoyable read.

The best part of Ashes of Twilight is the writing. Tayler's style suited me well, with pretty sentences and just enough slang that I guessed the book was set in England. By the end of the book, I marked down several quotes I enjoyed. Tayler has a mature writing style, with no abuse of sentence fragments.

Wren MacAvoy wants more out of life. Born a shiner, she climbs out of the mines every day into the more dangerous reaches of her domed world to speculate on what's above. The rulers say that flames fill the world outside, making the dome a necessity, but she does not think she sees flames out there. Wren is a seeker, curious and unwilling to settle for anything, most especially a life she's been told to live and a boy she's been told to marry.

The characters that stole the show were the animals. I just love adorable animals with tons of personality in my fiction, and Tayler included bunches. Even better, none of them die, which there has been altogether to much of in my recent reads. Tayler kills people instead. Cat, a cleverly named cat, is my personal favorite. Pip, a canary, also warms my heart. So do the ponies with whom Wren works in the mines, who would not have survived without her aid. I love Wren and Pace for taking such good care of them, and I love Tayler for not putting animals in just to kill them off tragically.

While I did enjoy Ashes of Twilight, I really wish there had been more to it, something unique. None of the elements herein were unfamiliar to me: the dome, the class hierarchy punishing to those on the bottom-most rungs, the terrible air quality, the mining, the instalove, the abusive guy who wants to marry Wren, the twist regarding Wren's father, or the plot arc. All of this I have read in other dystopian novels, not all together like this, but I would still hope to see something solely of Tayler's creation. I have read a lot of dystopian novels, however, so this might not be an issue for readers without so much knowledge of the genre.

One element which should have been better handled is the inclusion of the biblical references. For whatever reason, the shiners only have one book, The Bible. As such, Wren references scripture a lot, as she does in the first sentence. I never really could see a point made with this. The references come thick and fast at the beginning of the novel, but drop off significantly towards the end, without seeming to impact the plot. These should either have served a plot purpose or be taken out entirely. They were not preachy particularly, just out of place.

The most worrying aspect of Ashes of Twilight is Wren's tendency to exhibit TSTL syndrome. As I mentioned, the guy she was supposed to marry, James is abusive. In one of the first scenes, he tries to force himself on her. She is, rightly, uncomfortable around him for the rest of the book. However, she also tells him multiple times that he is a great guy who will make some other girl very happy. No, Wren, he's actually not a great guy, and this makes me doubt your sanity. Can we please stop this trend of pretending that attempted rapists are the kinds of guys any girl should want? They're not. End of story.

Ashes of Twilight does have rather a slow pace, but, if you do not mind that, you might enjoy this book. Tayler's debut might work better for those without too much familiarity with the dystopian genre.

Rating: 2.5/5

Favorite Quote: "'I'd rather be burned after I'm gone. Because then at least maybe my ashes would have a chance to escape."