Sadie Hawkins Sunday Review #27: Vigilant

Vigilant

Author: Angel Lawson
Pages: 268
Publisher: Self-published
Read: July 30-31, 2013
Source: Free for Kindle
Recommended by: Rochelle - whose info I forgot to write down. If anyone knows her, please link her up! (Note to self: BE. MORE. RESPONSIBLE.)

Description from Goodreads:
Ari Grant spends her days helping the troubled youth of Glory City, and her nights trying to feel something other than the cold numbness that has settled in her bones. For years, she satisfies this urge with trips to the tattoo parlor or late night clubbing, but everything changes when she becomes a victim of an armed robbery.

She manages to escape notice from the gunman, a former client, but only because she’s saved by Glory City’s own Vigilante. A hooded man who has impeccable timing when it comes to those in need.

It seems Ari isn’t the only one trying to save lost souls or looking for a life outside their job. She’s caught the attention of Nick Sanders, a handsome attorney at juvenile court. Solid and steady, he seems the perfect fit, but Ari has developed an obsession with Davis, the mysterious and sexy director of a local fight club that rehabilitates delinquent boys.

Each of these men fight for the less fortunate, but not everyone has altruistic motives. When Ari’s female clients begin to disappear, she can’t figure out who to trust. Soon enough it becomes obvious that while Ari watches over the kids of Glory City, someone else has taken to watching over her.

First Sentence: "What kind of person robbed a hardware store?"

Review:
Oh man, reading self-published books is always a little terrifying. Will it be edited? Will a negative review garner you the sort of attention you don't want? With Vigilant there was also another kind of pressure: would I lose the friendship of the author who I've chatted with on Twitter? Angel Lawson's been very nice to me about Cover Snark (I think that's what she first tweeted me about) and we've had some great conversations about negative reviews. I know she's cool, but I'd still just feel so awful if I didn't like her book. Thankfully, it's a Sadie Hawkins miracle (only not really, because that's not what miracles are), because I actually really liked Vigilant.

As you may know about me by now, I tend not to read blurbs, so unless the cover is seriously indicative of the book inside, I generally have no clue what's going on. As such, I was totally stoked to realize that Vigilant is about superheroes. Well, not quite, but about vigilante justice. Do you know how much I love this sort of stuff? SO MUCH. Now, the Vigilante, as he's being called, isn't dressing up in a costume. There's no cape, no calling card, and no screaming hordes of fans. It's just a guy in a hoodie, coming to help save people when the cops can't or won't.

Vigilant opens with a robbery. Ari, the heroine, is kneeling on the floor, trying to escape notice as armed men rob the hardware store in which she was shopping. The Vigilante arrives, saving her specifically before capturing all but one of the bad guys. Pretty thrilling start, no? During the robbery, Ari recognizes one of the perpetrators from her day job. No, she's not a criminal. She's a case worker for juvenile delinquents, one with the utmost belief in her charges. Ari has a really huge heart, and hopes for bright futures for all of them. Though she's not meant to, she reacts emotionally to each and every case, believing in them like no one really has before. I love this about Ari, and it's not a profession I've read about before.

Vigilant takes place in lower income neighborhoods, most of the characters are delinquents or work with them daily. This could easily go very wrong, but Lawson handles it well. In no way does anyone feel stereotyped or dismissed because of how they were born. While some of the delinquents give up on themselves, others are respectable people who didn't know what else to do in horrible circumstances. The racially diverse cast and the unique setting really make Vigilant stand out from the norm.

Ari has two sides to her: the caring professional and the wild, tattooed girl who likes to go out dancing. Even her roommate and best friend Oliver has no idea about her other self. One night, out at the dance club, she makes out with this random guy, who turns out to be significant. During the daylight hours, she's being wooed slowly (too slowly!) by Nick, a lawyer. The two men appeal to the different sides in her nature, and Vigilant also focuses on her own journey to self-acceptance and finding a way to bring the two halves of herself together. The romance sort of represents this journey, but doesn't take over. Even when she's made her choice, she remains independent first and in love second, which is fabulous.

Can we talk about Oliver a little more? How many books have a straight man and a straight woman who are roommates and best friend and aren't going to fall in love by the end of the story? NOT MANY. Now, they did sleep together once a long time ago, but they have no sexual tension now. They care for one another, they banter, and they discuss each other's romantic lives openly. I loved their friendship so much; I get tired of the whole men and women can't be friends thing, because they can, Harry. They really can.

When it comes to the plot, I saw most of the twists coming, but that wasn't really a big deal. It was well executed and entertaining whether surprising or no. There are some slight hints of possible paranormal twists if there prove to be follow up books, but that could really go either way. There's a good deal of action, as well as day to day life working as a case worker.

I can definitely recommend Angel Lawson's Vigilant. It's got a smart, practical, caring heroine, a respectful hero, and a unique setting. The book's been fairly well edited, as I only noticed a couple of significant mistakes (the most amusing of which was "marital arts" instead of martial), which I plan to report to Angel, so hopefully they'll be fixed soon. Vigilant is an all around quick and enjoyable read.

Rating: 3.5/5

Favorite Quote:

"'To watching our friends fall in love,' Nick held out his beer for a mock toast. 'Or crashing disastrously.'
     Ari held out her glass and clicked it to his and laughed. 'I'll drink to that.'"

---

Up Next:

The next Sadie Hawkins Sunday book is All Our Yesterdays by Cristin Terrill, which I was forced to read by Lili. I have learned a valuable lesson: do not tell her until I'm done or I will get in trouble for not reading quickly enough! What a bully! :-p (Please all take this in the tongue-in-cheek manner in which it is intended.

Want to tell me what to read? Fill out the following form with a suggestion! For more details, check this post.

Review: The Distance Between Us

The Distance Between Us

Author: Kasie West
Pages: 320
Publisher: Harper Teen
Publication Date: July 2, 2013
Read: June 29-30, 2013
Source: Gifted - thanks Lenore!

Description from Goodreads:
Seventeen-year-old Caymen Meyers studies the rich like her own personal science experiment, and after years of observation she’s pretty sure they’re only good for one thing—spending money on useless stuff, like the porcelain dolls in her mother’s shop.

So when Xander Spence walks into the store to pick up a doll for his grandmother, it only takes one glance for Caymen to figure out he’s oozing rich. Despite his charming ways and that he’s one of the first people who actually gets her, she’s smart enough to know his interest won’t last. Because if there’s one thing she’s learned from her mother’s warnings, it’s that the rich have a short attention span. But Xander keeps coming around, despite her best efforts to scare him off. And much to her dismay, she's beginning to enjoy his company.

She knows her mom can’t find out—she wouldn’t approve. She’d much rather Caymen hang out with the local rocker who hasn’t been raised by money. But just when Xander’s attention and loyalty are about to convince Caymen that being rich isn’t a character flaw, she finds out that money is a much bigger part of their relationship than she’d ever realized. And that Xander’s not the only one she should’ve been worried about.

First Sentence: "My eyes burn a whole in the page."

Review:

Kasie West debuted earlier this year, and she's pretty much one of my favorite authors already. She excels at characters and romances. Basically, her books make my heart oh so happy. The Distance Between Us has a little bit in common with Pivot Point, but is largely a departure from the much more serious tone of that series. The Distance Between Us is fluffy good times of the highest order.

To figure out if you would enjoy The Distance Between Us, ask yourself if you like the following things: Pretty in Pink and The Gilmore Girls. If you answered yes to one or both, then you should probably make reading this book a priority. If you haven't seen them, then you should probably rectify that AND THEN read this book. If you don't like either one, well, GOOD DAY SIR.

Caymen, whose name is never explained, which is to me the biggest flaw of the book, is my girl. Seriously, she is acerbic and sarcastic like you would not even believe. I imagine that some readers will be rubbed the wrong way by her attitude, but it was like coming home. People never know if she's serious or joking, because she always says things with a straight face. Also, she cannot resist answering a stupid question with an especially sarcastic response, and, oh, how I love her for it.

Here's where things get quirky. Caymen works in a doll store, owned by her mother. Dolls and More barely pays the bills, and Caymen has been raised to hate the privileged, like the man who left her mother. As such, Caymen is disgusted when this obviously rich guy comes into the store and beckons to her, as he talks on the phone. His outfit alone would probably pay expenses for her and her mom for a month. He also happens to be kind of cute, but, ugh, so stuch up and rich.

Of course, that's not all there is to it, because cute, rich boy (Xander) comes back. The relationship between these two is super sweet, especially because all of their problems coming together are really internal aside from her mom being iffy on her dating a rich boy. However, otherwise, the only obstacle really is Caymen's trust issues, which are pretty mighty. Xander definitely becomes a candidate for best book boyfriends, because he is so considerate, doesn't overreact, and apologizes when he's been out of line. There's a lot of bonding and banter here, and, though they do get serious, it feels real and not like forever love; maybe it will last and maybe it won't.

Social classes and economic disparity are central to The Distance Between Us, which is pretty great. Caymen's poor, like shops at thrift stores because she has to poor. There's an incredibly adorable moment where Caymen takes Xander there because his clothes are too nice for a particular outing. The treatment of some of it's a bit idealized, since most of the discomfort about her economic status comes from her. However, Caymen does have some insulting friends, like the ones that show up in Pretty in Pink. Anyway, I really appreciate that West chose a heroine who's not in the upper or middle classes.

On top of that, West, like in Pivot Point, does a fantastic job building out the supporting cast. There's a healthy female best friendship depicted between Caymen and Skye, who couldn't be more different, but love and support each other endlessly. Skye's boyfriend, Henry, who initially is kind of weird and didn't mesh with Caymen or me, turns out to be a sweetie and hilarious. Xander and Caymen's families both are well built as well. I love that West doesn't skimp out on the supporting cast. I love it so much.

When you find yourself in need of a fluffy, happy-making read, look no further than The Distance Between Us. With well-developed characters, snappy dialogue and abundant humor, Kasie West's novels are must reads for me.

Rating: 4.5/5

Favorite Quote:

"'What rhymes with "fire hydrant"?'
     Mason gets serious and I think he's going to say something like 'Don't be an idiot. Why are you singing about a fire hydrant?' But instead he says, 'I don't know, "wire tyrant"?'
     'What's a wire tyrant'?
     'You know, someone who hoards all the wire. It's a rising epidemic.'"

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Review: Circles of Time

Circles of Time
Passing Bells, Book 2

Author: Phillip Rock
Pages: 425
Publisher: William Morrow
Source: Publisher via TLC Book Tours

Description from Goodreads:
Traces the lives of Alexandra Greville, Jamie Ross, and others during the era between the World Wars through the observations of freelance journalist Martin Rilke.

Prior Book in Series:
1: The Passing Bells (Review|Goodreads)

First Sentence: "He drove up to Flanders in the early summer of 1921 knowing that it would be for the last time."

Prior Book in Series:
1: The Passing Bells

Review:
Due to some complications with the shipping of the second and third books in this series, my tour dates got pushed back. As such it has been over a month since I read The Passing Bells. That's enough time for a lot of the little details to go rushing out of my head. Thankfully, who was who came back quite quickly. Circles of Time is just as enjoyable, both from a family drama perspective and a historical perspective as the first book in the series.

Fiction set during WWI and WWII abounds, but there's a definite shortage of works that bridge the gap between the two. Circles of Time covers the years 1921-1923, the post-war period in which Europe tries to rebuild and find its footing in this new world. The first half of the novel focuses primarily on the disconnect between the modern lifestyle of the 1920s and the old-fashioned values embodied by old estates and money, like Abingdon Pryory.

The conflict between modern sensibilities and tradition comes up in a lot of ways, especially in the romance. Where marriages of convenience, made for financial concerns or to obtain a title, ruled the upper classes before the war, more and more couples are marrying for love, even if it offends the family. Alexandra is the best example of this. Her marriage to a Scottish doctor just barely before she became pregnant resulted in a rift with her family, who cannot except that a lady would have an affair with a married man or almost have a child out of wedlock. Increasingly, love is winning out over social concerns. Romantic and family drama comprise most of the first half, and I found Alexandra's arc in particular quite touching.

In the postwar period, there's also a move towards the acknowledgement of just how awful the war was for everyone. War was once this glamorous thing, romanticized and considered an honorable death for a man. WWI, with its trench warfare and unbelievable death toll, was nothing but a mindless slaughter. Martin Rilke's story arc deals with the tension between those determined to cover up the senselessness of most of the fighting and those who think the truth should out.

The second half of Circles of Time changes gears to focus almost entirely on post WWI Germany, during the years of the unstable Weimar Republic, reparations, and Hitler's initial rise to prominence. The Weimar years are really sad, because France's desire for reparations destroyed the German economy, which printed off money like it was going out of style to pay the French. That brought about rampant inflation to the degree that money no longer had any meaning. The inflation resulted in desperation in the people, and the desire for a leader to make things better. Then came Hitler. I've not seen this period in fiction before, and, as it's one of my favorite eras to study, I loved reading about it here. However, those who are less into history will probably be disappointed in the change in tone and focus from the more Downton-esque first half.

For those who enjoyed The Passing Bells, Circles of Time will not be a disappointment. I'm excited to finish up the trilogy this week.

Rating: 4/5

Favorite Quote: "'I view almost everything with a degree of amusement—bitter amusement most of the time. Perhaps it's because I'm quicker than most people. I grasp the heart of things while others are still fumbling around the edges.'"

Review: Things I Overheard While Talking to Myself

Things I Overheard While Talking to Myself

Author: Alan Alda
Narrator: Alan Alda
Duration: 6 hrs, 1 min
Publisher: Random House Audio
Source: Library

Description from Goodreads:
On the heels of his acclaimed memoir, Never Have Your Dog Stuffed, beloved actor and bestselling author Alan Alda has written Things I Overheard While Talking to Myself, an insightful and funny look at some of the impossible questions he’s asked himself over the years: What do I value? What, exactly, is the good life? (And what does that even mean?)

Picking up where his bestselling memoir left off–having been saved by emergency surgery after nearly dying on a mountaintop in Chile–Alda finds himself not only glad to be alive but searching for a way to squeeze the most juice out of his new life. Looking for a sense of meaning that would make this extra time count, he listens in on things he’s heard himself saying in private and in public at critical points in his life–from the turbulence of the sixties, to his first Broadway show, to the birth of his children, to the ache of September 11, and beyond. Reflecting on the transitions in his life and in all our lives, he notices that “doorways are where the truth is told,” and wonders if there’s one thing–art, activism, family, money, fame–that could lead to a “life of meaning.”

In a book that is candid, wise, and as questioning as it is incisive, Alda amuses and moves us with his unique and hilarious meditations on questions great and small. Things I Overheard While Talking to Myself is another superb Alan Alda performance, as inspiring and entertaining as the man himself.

Review:

Though I should have been reading other books, I simply had to sit and listen to Things I Overheard While Talking to Myself. My parents raised me to appreciate M*A*S*H, and so I've always had an interest in Alan Alda. Of course, as Alda discusses, celebrity is a strange thing, and celebrities often disappoint on closer inspection. I will probably never meet Alan Alda, so I can't say whether he would disappoint if I did meet him, but listening to this audiobook has only made me admire him more.

The title is a strange one, and means exactly what it says. In Things I Overheard While Talking to Myself, Alan Alda considers various speeches he gave throughout his life, such as commencements and eulogies. He looks back at what he said then and tries to boil down them down to what he really believes and what he really wants to pass on to people about living life. While initially skeptical about this construct, it proves to be an incredibly fascinating pursuit, as he learns from his past self.

No doubt this book will also lose him fans. Alan Alda is a very political man. He has very strong opinions on things like equal rights and the environment and the arms race. I happen to agree with him on pretty much all of this, so I appreciate his candor, but those staunchly on the other side of the spectrum will likely be offended.

Alda makes several basic observations and then looks at them again and again. Still, the book managed not to come across as repetitive, though it might seem that way to those less interested in continual philosophical musings. His thoughts on the divide between the humanities and science are especially compelling.

For those looking for an in depth look at Alan Alda's life, this is not the place to get it. He does mention his family quite often and famous friends too, but they are not the point of the book. They are sometimes illustrative of an argument he's trying to make, but this is not a biography. The subjects covered are those dealt with in speeches to a public audience, so he mostly skims the surface of private life.

If you read Things I Overheard While Talking to Myself, I recommend the audio highly, because, hello, you can listen to Alan Alda. He has a unique and delightful voice, so immediately recognizable as him. He's a delight to listen to, and who better to tell his story than him?

Rating: 4/5

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."

Review: The Sweetest Dark

The Sweetest Dark

Author: Shana Abé
Pages: 352
Publisher: Bantam
Publication Date: April 2, 2013
Source: Random House via Edelweiss

Description from Goodreads:
For fans of Lauren Kate and Libba Bray, The Sweetest Dark is filled with thrilling romance, exciting adventure, and ancient magic. Shana Abé brilliantly captures the drama of post-Victorian England, while unfolding a passionate love story that defies time.

“With every fiber of my being, I yearned to be normal. To glide through my days at Iverson without incident. But I’d have to face the fact that my life was about to unfold in a very, very different way than I’d ever envisioned. Normal would become forever out of reach.”

Lora Jones has always known that she’s different. On the outside, she appears to be an ordinary sixteen-year-old girl. Yet Lora’s been keeping a heartful of secrets: She hears songs that no one else can hear, dreams vividly of smoke and flight, and lives with a mysterious voice inside her that insists she’s far more than what she seems.

England, 1915. Raised in an orphanage in a rough corner of London, Lora quickly learns to hide her unique abilities and avoid attention. Then, much to her surprise, she is selected as the new charity student at Iverson, an elite boarding school on England’s southern coast. Iverson’s eerie, gothic castle is like nothing Lora has ever seen. And the two boys she meets there will open her eyes and forever change her destiny.

Jesse is the school’s groundskeeper—a beautiful boy who recognizes Lora for who and what she truly is. Armand is a darkly handsome and arrogant aristocrat who harbors a few closely guarded secrets of his own. Both hold the answers to her past. One is the key to her future. And both will aim to win her heart. As danger descends upon Iverson, Lora must harness the powers she’s only just begun to understand, or else lose everything she dearly loves.

Filled with lush atmosphere, thrilling romance, and ancient magic, The Sweetest Dark brilliantly captures a rich historical era while unfolding an enchanting love story that defies time.

First Sentence: "Are your eyes truly open?"

Review:
This book sounded so completely awesome, right up my alley. Historical fiction and paranormal? Sign me up. Well, I did sign me up and I read it and here we are with me trying to put a handle on just how I feel about The Sweetest Dark. It definitely falls into the category of really weird books. Parts I really enjoyed, and parts I loathed, while others I just didn't care about. Ultimately, I feel like Abé tried to do to many things, and the book came out a bit of an awkward mishmash.

I loved the beginning, and, had the book continued in that vein, I would have been so happy. The prologue is seriously creepy and establishes a gothic tone. Abé writes gothic so well! Whenever she went into a section like that, such as the ones describing the castle and the school, I just ate it up, though I do want to prevent her from ever again using the word 'velveteen' to describe nature. Unfortunately these moments were all too brief once the paranormal plot line got going.

Eleanore, or Lora, our heroine has had a rough life. Raised in an orphanage, she garnered the wrong kind of attention by mentioning the songs and voices she can hear in her head. This gets her institutionalized for a time, with shock therapy and everything. Voices finally quieted, she is released and sent to a prestigious school in the north, away from the bombs falling in London as World War I has just kicked off.

As already intimated, I liked the bits at the school quite a bit, but that really just wasn't the focus at all, sadly. She doesn't attend a class until over a hundred pages into it, and only goes to 4 or so of them as far as the reader knows. Another thing we don't learn until a fair way through the book: what Lora's deal is, what kind of paranormal creature she is. Spoiler: she's not crazy, or, if she is, it's a collective delusion.

The big reveal of the truth of Lora's dreams and oddness is likely supposed to shock and awe. My response: an eyeroll. The whole thing, while admittedly fairly original, is completely ridiculous. I didn't see it coming, because I don't like this mythology she's gone with. When it comes to this bit, you'll probably either love it or you won't. Oh, also, her secret results in her spending a lot of time naked with boys, which resulted in more eyerolling, although props for her not being insanely embarrassed or flirty as a result; she covers up when she can but doesn't freak out, which is admirable.

The love triangle, though, I loathed wholeheartedly. For one thing, it's one of those super pathetic love triangles where the heroine will obviously never choose the second guy, but, thanks to paranormalness, he can't help but love her. Actually, both of the guys will always love her because of her paranormal nature, which I don't find especially romantic; they don't love her, so much as what she is.

Bachelor #1 is Jesse, the purportedly mute carriage driver for the school. She hears symphonies when they touch and they promptly fall in instalove. In the carriage on the way to the school, she's wrapped up in blankets. After she goes into the school, he SMELLS THEM. *shudders* He also comes into her room while she's sleeping on the first night to leave her an orange in proper YA stalker style, though, to be fair, she does tell him not to come in anymore. STILL. I found Jesse so incredibly bland and just did not care about him one whit.

The doomed party of the love triangle, Armande, has wealth on his side. The son of the local Duke, his interest opens doors for Eleanore, making it possible for her to attend more events than classes. Armande was more interesting than Jesse, not that that's difficult. What I did enjoy about his character is how snarky Eleanore is with him. All of her best moments are when she tells him off. However, I couldn't like him for two reasons. First, before she arrived he had a flirtation going with Chloe, a snotty girl that he later admits he cannot stand. Why spend time with her if you hate her? Playboy much? Second, and I admit this is a completely superficial reason, he likes to be called Mandy. Sorry, but the only man who can pull off that name is this one:

At the end, I had some hopes that Abé would take the plot somewhere original and recover the romance bits a smidge. She actually did sort of, but ruined it all with a completely lame epilogue. Rarely are epilogues used correctly. *headdesk*

In the end, I didn't like this much, but  it did show promise in some areas. I just wish this had been a little more Wildthorn, a little less your average paranormal romance.

Rating: 2/5

Favorite Quote: Not my favorite, but my favorite non-descriptive quote. Those were really long and probably not interesting to a lot of people.

"'Is that why you came?'
   'No, I came because I simply can't get enough of people looking down their noses at me. The girls at school are getting frightfully lax about it.'
   'Are they? How remiss of them. We're taught from the cradle how to look down our noses, you know, we rich sons of birches. Perhaps Westcliffe's curriculum is a tad too liberal these days.'"

Review: Princess Academy

Princess Academy
Princess Academy, Book 1

Author: Shannon Hale
Pages: 314
Publisher: Scholastic Inc.
Source: Own

Description from Goodreads:
Miri lives on a mountain where for generations her ancestors have quarried stone and lived a simple life. Then word comes that the king's priests have divined her small village the home of the future princess. In a year's time, the prince himself will come and choose his bride from among the girls of the village. The king's ministers set up an academy on the mountain, and every teenage girl must attend and learn how to become a princess.

Miri soon finds herself confronted with a harsh academy mistress, bitter competition among the girls, and her own conflicting desires to be chosen and win the heart of her childhood best friend. But when bandits seek out the academy to kidnap the future princess, Miri must rally the girls together and use a power unique to the mountain dwellers to save herself and her classmates.

First Sentence: "Miri woke to the sleepy bleating of a goat."

Review:
On the surface, Princess Academy seems a silly tale, a story of a Prince choosing a bride, an obvious read-a-like for Kiera Cass' The Selection. Of course, that is the crux of the story: the prince of Danland is to choose his bride from among the twenty girls of the proper age in Mount Eskel, a small territory town full of quarriers. The girls are required to spend a year in training for the Prince's coming. However, Princess Academy is so much more than that, and you would be a fool to pass it by because of that expectation.

The covers given to Shannon Hale's books market to middle grade readers, which I think is a shame. While middle graders could certainly read this book and enjoy it, so too can teens and adults. There is nothing childish about Hale's writing or the stories she tells. They are, however, free of swearing and sex, which might age them in the eyes of publishers. These books are not just for young folks.

When I saw Shannon Hale in person, she spoke to her motivations in becoming a writer for young people. She talked about how much reading meant to her as a child, and how she loved the stories of journeys. She compared that to all of the literary classics she was made to read in college, beautifully composed, but lacking in plot and story. As an author, she aims to compose books that do both, that can be both quality literature and entirely fun to read, told in a classic story arc. To my mind, she succeeds beautifully.

One of the largest themes of Princess Academy is that of class. Those in Mount Eskel live far from the rest of Danland. They have their own customs and interests. Their sole source of income is from the mining of linder, the best building stone in the land. Only in Mount Eskel can linder be found, and those that live there build their lives around it. They even have their own form of speech for use within the quarry, which is so loud normal conversation cannot be used. Quarry-speech constitutes the only truly fantastical element of Princess Academy. This ability feels magical and wondrous, and I commend Shannon for devising it.

Despite their unique skills, those in Mount Eskel are looked down upon by the lowlanders, the traders that come through town. Seen as stupid blue collar workers, the mountain people get no respect. As such, they have just as little affection for the lowlanders, viewing them solely as hateful people out to mess with hardworking citizens. These tensions can be felt in any society, the gap between the wealthy and the poor.

In the Princess Academy, the possible princesses get an opportunity no Mount Eskel person has ever had before: the chance to obtain a traditional education. In Mount Eskel, the learning always ran to the mining of Linder, and other skills necessary to survive on the mountain. No one in the town knew how to read or much of anything about the history of their country. Princess Academy points to the value in book learning and of language, but also indicates the power and beauty of the work of the miners. Both are important, and learning can improve anyone and any profession.

Miri, our heroine, is a tiny girl, not strong enough to mine linder, who does not really fit in. Perhaps the most important theme of the book is about realizing one's own strengths. While Miri may have no physical strength, her extraordinary cleverness helps her and others through life. Even that, though, might not be her largest contribution. Miri has a wonderful attitude and the ability to make others laugh. She excels in finding common ground with others, in creating friendships. This makes her such a wonderful, touching heroine.

The other girls, too, have real personalities. Unlike The Selection, in which only a couple of girls receive much notice, Shannon manages in this short book, to make sure that we have a good sense for quite a few of the girls. She gives even the most annoying ones a real sense of self, and attributes them with motivations for acting the way they do. In fact, even the evil school marm, who reminds me quite a bit of Umbridge in her disdain for the students and draconian punishments, is not simply a figure of evil. Shannon develops fascinating, lovable, flawed characters.

The romance, which I just have to comment on, is so well done. Shannon does not go for the easiest and most obvious routes. Her books always make me feel and give me butterflies of happiness when the couples finally get together. She manages to make me swoon without even writing in a kissing scene. This, my friends, is true skill.

This was my second read through Princess Academy and I love it every bit as much as I did on my first time through. Shannon is one of my favorite authors for a reason.

Rating: 4.5/5

Favorite Quote: "'I keep thinking about a tale mmy nurse used to read to me about a bird whose winds are pinned to the ground. Have you heard it? In the end, when he finally frees himself, he flies up so high he becomes a star. My nurse said the story was about what keeps us down. So here's what I'm wondering—if Miri's wings are free, what will she do now?'"

White Flag - Dido

For Darkness Shows the Stars

Author: Diana Peterfreund
Pages: 402
Publisher: Balzer + Bray
Source: Diana Peterfreund signing at BEA

Description from Goodreads:
It's been several generations since a genetic experiment gone wrong caused the Reduction, decimating humanity and giving rise to a Luddite nobility who outlawed most technology.

Elliot North has always known her place in this world. Four years ago Elliot refused to run away with her childhood sweetheart, the servant Kai, choosing duty to her family's estate over love. Since then the world has changed: a new class of Post-Reductionists is jumpstarting the wheel of progress, and Elliot's estate is foundering, forcing her to rent land to the mysterious Cloud Fleet, a group of shipbuilders that includes renowned explorer Captain Malakai Wentforth--an almost unrecognizable Kai. And while Elliot wonders if this could be their second chance, Kai seems determined to show Elliot exactly what she gave up when she let him go.

But Elliot soon discovers her old friend carries a secret--one that could change their society . . . or bring it to its knees. And again, she's faced with a choice: cling to what she's been raised to believe, or cast her lot with the only boy she's ever loved, even if she's lost him forever.

Inspired by Jane Austen's Persuasion, For Darkness Shows the Stars is a breathtaking romance about opening your mind to the future and your heart to the one person you know can break it.

First Sentence: "Dear Kai, My name is Elliot, and I am six years old and live in the big house."

Review:
This is going to be a tough review for me to write. It seems the books you've most been anticipating are the ones that are most difficult to reflect upon. I had so many expectations going into For Darkness Shows the Stars (FDStS), something you can tell if you scroll back through my blog posts. In fact, I was entirely confident that this book would be a new FAVORITE, because how could a dystopian/Austen combo NOT become one of my top reads of all time? Well, with those weighty expectations, FDStS did not entirely satisfy me.

Peterfreund is a marvelous author, and she truly accomplishes what she aimed for in FDStS. First off, she got the Persuasion aspects of the story pitch perfect. The characters and their emotions are all by the book. Though many of the scenes and the overall situation are greatly changed, there is no doubting that this is a futuristic retelling of Persuasion. I am seriously impressed by Peterfreund's talent and how she made a story about an older couple (for their time) into a story about teenagers. Though I do feel it might have worked a bit better with slightly older main characters, she did make the tale work for youths.

What makes that work is the society in which FDStS is set. The world has regressed, run by Luddites, those who fear technology. Messing with genes, robotics and medicines, humans became close to gods, but there was an unfortunate consequence: the Reduction. Wars and, perhaps, divine punishment left the world populated by the Luddites, largely unchanged and the Reduced, unable to speak and used as slaves. The Luddites are much like the landowners of Austen's time: wealthy, privileged and built upon the backs of abused workers.

This political and social landscape is complicated more and more as time passes. Not all children of the Reduced are Reduced as well. Some of them (1 in 20) has all the capabilities of a regular person. The Luddites, comfy in their estates, try to keep the CORs (Children of the Reduced) in the same menial state, bound by the same laws. The CORs prefer to think of themselves as Posts (Post-Reduction), the beginning of something new. This is a time of upheaval, a nice parallel to the social issues in Austen's novels. The Posts have money and talent that Elliot's Luddite family now lacks, much like Captain Wentworth earned a fortune in the army in Austen's Persuasion.

Elliot, like her namesake Anne Elliot, does not fit in with her family. Her father and sister care only about material things: clothing, racetracks and other such trappings. Elliot works hard to try to help the Posts and the Reduced on the family farms and estate, burdened by her family's extravagance. Meanwhile, she is haunted by worries about what has become of the boy she loved as a child, Kai, who left to find fortune at 14.

In Persuasion, Anne Elliot turned down Wentworth's initial proposal because her family deemed him unworthy. In Elliot's case, she let him go of her own volition, not because of any direct social pressure. Still, she has always loved him and they have been friends since a young age, due to their shared birthday. Interspersed with the main part of the novel are letters the two snuck back and forth to one another throughout their childhood. These, while sometimes entertaining, perhaps could have been reduced, or at least put into chronological order. Bouncing around in time really didn't help their impact.

My issue with the book, despite its quality, is that I did not connect to Elliot or to Kai. Persuasion, though beautiful, is not my favorite Austen novel. I have trouble forgiving Anne and Wentworth for their behavior to one another, especially Wentworth's stupid and shameless flirting with the stupid neighbor girl. Peterfreund did such a good job with their characters that I feel much the same about Elliot and Kai. While I root for them more than I do for the other characters, I also didn't feel any special warmness towards them.

So there you have it as clearly as I can manage to put it. FDStS is brilliantly done, but it didn't touch my heart, at least not on this reading. I do think it's funny that her unicorn series is much darker than her dystopia. Still, if you're interested in this one, do give it a try.

Favorite Quote: "The old poems said that lovers were made for each other. But that wasn't true for Kai and Elliot. They hadn't been made for each other at all—quite the opposite. But they'd grown together, the two of them, until they were like two trees from a single trunk, stronger together than either could have been alone."

"And when we meet
Which I'm sure we will
All that was there
Will be there still
I'll let it pass
And hold my tongue
And you will think
That I've moved on....

I will go down with this ship
And I won't put my hands up and surrender
There will be no white flag above my door
I'm in love and always will be"

Remember: Every comment on a post during Dystopian August is an entry to win one of fourteen dystopian/post-apocalyptic novels IF you've filled out the form from this post.

Colors of the Wind - from Pocahontas

Under the Never Sky
Under the Never Sky, Book 1

Author: Veronica Rossi
Pages: 374
Publisher: HarperCollins
Source: Won from I Am a Reader, Not a Writer

Description from Goodreads:
Since she'd been on the outside, she'd survived an Aether storm, she'd had a knife held to her throat, and she'd seen men murdered. This was worse.

Exiled from her home, the enclosed city of Reverie, Aria knows her chances of surviving in the outer wasteland - known as The Death Shop - are slim. If the cannibals don't get her, the violent, electrified energy storms will. She's been taught that the very air she breathes can kill her. Then Aria meets an Outsider named Perry. He's wild - a savage - and her only hope of staying alive.

A hunter for his tribe in a merciless landscape, Perry views Aria as sheltered and fragile - everything he would expect from a Dweller. But he needs Aria's help too; she alone holds the key to his redemption. Opposites in nearly every way, Aria and Perry must accept each other to survive. Their unlikely alliance forges a bond that will determine the fate of all who live under the never sky.

First Sentence: "They called the world beyond the walls of the Pod 'the Death Shop.'"

Review:
When Under the Never Sky first came out, I was really excited, hoping to love it. I nearly ordered a copy for myself a couple of times, but, ultimately, decided against it. I feared this would be another disappointment, with a trap of a cover. For whatever reason, I was pretty sure this was going to be another instalove dystopia, but I'm glad to say that it's definitely not that.

Under the Never Sky is told in third person from the perspectives of Aria and Peregrine (aka Perry). Aria lives in Reverie, a Pod, safe from the aether outside. Most of her life is spent in the Realms, complex simulations that are thought to be even better than the real world. She has no issues with her life, except for her worries about being separated from her mother, a doctor working on a project in another Pod.

Having lost contact with her mother due to network issues for longer than usual, Aria decides to investigate. To do so, she befriends Soren, the son of a powerful man in Reverie, hoping to lure the information from him. Little does she know what a creep Steldor and his dad are. This first section made it difficult for me to relate to Aria, not so much because she found herself in a bad and stupid situation, but that she should have seen it coming. She has observed some weird behavior from him before, but did not think better of going somewhere with him. Not wise.

Peregrine, desperate and searching for a way to save his nephew's life, breaks into Reverie just in time to save Aria. Ultimately, though, this condemns both of them to expulsion from their respective homes, him from his tribe, The Tides, and her from the Pod. Even worse, a bit of tech he took from her brings Reverie's soldiers after him, during which attack they kidnap his nephew.

Gifted with night-vision and a crazy good sense of smell, Perry finds her, doomed for death in the desert and rescues her despite his loathing for her. Note: there's no instalove. They both hate one another for a good portion of the book. Real trust and affection are slow in coming. In fact, she thinks he's a monster, a savage, and he thinks she's useless, a mole. Circumstances require them to put their feelings aside and work together.

For the most part, I didn't particularly connect with Perry and Aria. With Aria especially, I just didn't really have a sense of her personality. Perhaps this stems from the fact that she wasn't a real person until she emerged from the pod and really got to experience life, but I found her very bland for roughly the first 3/4 of the book. Thankfully, a lot of the side characters grabbed my interest, particularly Roar.

What really caught my interest in Under the Never Sky were the powers possessed by folks on the Outside. These powers are essentially enhanced senses. Did they evolve? It's curious. I'm also really interested to know what's up with the aether. Is that from people having destroyed the environment? That's what I would guess, but I could be wrong.

While I was not blown away, I am definitely eager to read the next book, because I would like to learn more about this world and how it came to be this way. I also hope to see Aria really grow into a powerful heroine.

Favorite Quote: "She had no illusions about becoming a master knife fighter. This wasn't the Realms, where a thought delivered a result. But she also knew she'd given herself a better chance. And in life, at least in her new life, chances were the best she could hope for. They were like her rocks. Imperfect and surprising and maybe better in the long run than certainties. Chances, she thought, were life."

"You think I'm an ignorant savage
And you've been so many places
I guess it must be so
But still I cannot see
If the savage one is me
Now can there be so much that you don't know?
You don't know ..."

Remember: Every comment on a post during Dystopian August is an entry to win one of fourteen dystopian/post-apocalyptic novels IF you've filled out the form from this post.

American Idiot - Green Day

Article 5
Article 5, Book 1

Author: Kristen Simmons
Pages: 362
Publisher: Tor Teen
Publication Date: January 31, 2012
Source: Won in Giveaway from Katie McGarry

Description from Goodreads:
New York, Los Angeles, and Washington, D.C., have been abandoned.

The Bill of Rights has been revoked, and replaced with the Moral Statutes.

There are no more police—instead, there are soldiers. There are no more fines for bad behavior—instead, there are arrests, trials, and maybe worse. People who get arrested usually don't come back.

Seventeen-year-old Ember Miller is old enough to remember that things weren't always this way. Living with her rebellious single mother, it's hard for her to forget that people weren't always arrested for reading the wrong books or staying out after dark. It's hard to forget that life in the United States used to be different.

Ember has perfected the art of keeping a low profile. She knows how to get the things she needs, like food stamps and hand-me-down clothes, and how to pass the random home inspections by the military. Her life is as close to peaceful as circumstances allow.

That is, until her mother is arrested for noncompliance with Article 5 of the Moral Statutes. And one of the arresting officers is none other than Chase Jennings—the only boy Ember has ever loved.

First Sentence: "Beth and Ryan were holding hands."

Review:
You know what's awesome? When a book totally grips you from the beginning to the end. There was seriously not a moment of Article 5 where I was not totally into the story. Kristen Simmons definitely had me right where she wanted me. Article 5 has tons of action, as well as world building that I can totally get behind AND a rocking heroine. Hell to the yes.

Article 5 falls into the vein of dystopias that clearly stem from our modern society. The direct correlation to forces at play in current politics makes this a great read-a-like for Cory Doctorow's Little Brother. In Simmons' horrific future, the fundamentalists have taken over, after various factors caused problems. The country is policed by the FBR, also known as the MM (Moral Militia). Women are being forced back into a subservient role: wives and mothers. There is talk of no longer allowing women to take math, for example, because what use is that to ladies? Women must wear appropriate clothing. All sorts of reading materials (ex. romance novels) and actions (ex. doing anything romantic outside of marriage) are prohibited.

Even more horrifying, the military now has such power that trials for crimes are becoming a thing of the past. Even if a trial is planned, nobody looks to closely if a 'criminal' dies in an 'escape attempt' or something of that sort. Not only that, but you can now be held responsible for something done years before. Take, for example, our heroine's mother, arrested at the beginning of the book for having a child out of wedlock. Note that the child she had is 17 year old Ember. The law didn't exist when Ember was born, but it's written now, so off to jail you go.

Ember was a wonderful heroine. She has so much personality and I really felt like I knew her. Told in the first person from her perspective, I just loved the way Ember thought and phrased things. She has a sarcastic and occasionally off-the-wall humor that I really appreciate. I thought the storytelling was effective, and that, though I knew Ember best, I did get a hint of depths to some of the other more minor characters.

What I really love about Ember as a heroine is how ordinary she is. Now, she is cleverer than average and definitely braver, but she has no special physical skills or powers to aid her in her quest to save her mother from prison. Despite that, Ember is a force to be reckoned with. She fights back, even when that is really not the advisable action. Ember cannot NOT act when someone does something to her. She does not take abuse quietly. She stands up for herself first and foremost, and sometimes or others. The selfishness underlying most of her actions I really liked too, because, let's be honest, that's how she's going to have a chance of surviving.

Plus, her personality made the romance stand out from the ordinary YA relationships. Though on the surface, we have an obvious match with Chase and Ember, childhood sweethearts torn apart by his induction into the MM. Whereas most YA heroines when reunited with the strong, tall, gorgeous Chase would forgive him his trespasses and do whatever he asked, like good girls do, Ember does not trust him at all. Any trust he gets from her has to be EARNED. She knows well that just because she loved him before does not mean he is the same person now.

Chase and Ember's relationship appeals so much more to me because of the realistic way in which she views it. Though she's drawn to him, she can resist him. She can think logically in the face of his presence. She can use him to get what she needs. She listens to him when it's in her benefit, but also will disobey his orders if she feels that necessary. Despite his training and strength, she always does what she can to fight and comes up with great ideas, rather than expecting him to protect her.

Article 5 is chock full of action, awesome characters, sassy writing and a horrifying dystopian society that I dearly hope never comes to pass. Book two, Breaking Point, should probably make its way to my hands immediately; I want it like BURNING.

Favorite Quote: This quote is Ember talking about her favorite book, Frankenstein: "'He's not really a monster, anyway,' I said. 'It's everyone else that makes him that way because he's different. It's sad, you know? How people can tear you down like that. How you try to do the right thing but you just can't."

"Don't wanna be an American idiot.
Don't want a nation under the new media
And can you hear the sound of hysteria?
The subliminal mind fuck America.

Welcome to a new kind of tension.
All across the alien nation.
Where everything isn't meant to be okay."

Remember: Every comment on a post during Dystopian August is an entry to win one of fourteen dystopian/post-apocalyptic novels IF you've filled out the form from this post.

Caring Hands - Felicia Day (+ Giveaway)

Good Neighbors

Author: Ryan David Jahn
Pages: 280
Publisher: Penguin Books
Source:  From Penguin in exchange for an honest review

Description from Goodreads:
A compulsively readable debut crime novel inspired by the legendary real-life murder of Kitty Genovese.

At 4:00 A.M. on March 13, 1964, a young woman returning home from her shift at a local bar is attacked in the courtyard of her Queens apartment building. Her neighbors hear her cries; no one calls for help.

Unfolding over the course of two hours, Good Neighbors is the story of the woman's last night. It is also the story of her neighbors, the bystanders who kept to themselves: the anxious Vietnam draftee; the former soldier planning suicide; the woman who thinks she's killed a child and her husband, who will risk everything for her. Revealing a fascinating cross-section of American society in expertly interlocking plotlines, Good Neighbors calls to mind the Oscar-winning movie Crash, and its suspense and profound sense of urban menace rank it with Hitchcock's Rear Window and the gritty crime novels of Dennis Lehane, Richard Price, and James Ellroy.

First Sentence: "It begins in a parking lot."

Review:
In my AP Psych class, we learned about Kitty Genovese, murdered on the street in front of her New York apartment building. Though many of her neighbors heard her cries, no one helped her; no one even bothered to call the police. We learned that this is an example of 'diffusion of responsibility,' each witness assumes that someone else will have informed the authorities, so they don't call because that would just tie up the phone lines. Not stepping between a woman and a madman is one thing, but not making a call to save her life, the life of a woman you've probably seen any number of times?

When I heard about Jahn's novel based on this incident, I immediately added it to my to-read list, because that whole thing is so incredibly morbidly fascinating to me. So, when I was offered a review copy of Jahn's newest, The Dispatcher, I accepted, and, when offered this one as well, I took it.

Jahn presents the idea in the form of fiction. He changes Kitty Genovese into Kat Marino. The story covers only a few hours, making use of short vignettes. All of the people involved in Marino's murder are shown during the same timeframe: her murderer, the people in her building who heard or saw but did nothing, the people who finally found her, the ambulance drivers who arrived to take her, still alive despite many stabbings, to the hospital. I suspect this is probably the most effective way to tell this story, however I didn't really connect to the characters.

The only people in the story I felt any sort of real interest in were a possibly forming gay couple and an older black man with a strong sense of justice. Otherwise, pretty much everyone here is either awful or boring. There's an adulterous husband, a father who wants to murder a child rapist, and a dirty cop, trying to frame other people for his own actions.

Jahn's writing style, while very apt for a thriller of this sort, isn't one that resonates with me. He uses primarily short sentences and makes heavy use of repetition, not accidentally but intentionally. Others may like his writing, but I prefer longer, more ornate syntax.

What made this still a worthwhile read for me was the subject matter. My mind is still turning over how people could witness a woman being attacked in a courtyard and do nothing. Not only that, but they don't check on her later, once the man is gone. That could have made a difference between her survival and death. It's not like they needed to step in front of the serial killer. They might have been able to save her while never risking themselves, especially since there were so many of them watching. Mankind is awful.

If you like thrillers, ethical questions, or shows like CSI, you might like Ryan David Jahn's work. The books are quick reads, and very dark. I'm giving away both The Dispatcher and Good Neighbors, since I can't see myself rereading them. Just fill out the rafflecopter form below! US only, since I have to ship them myself!

Rating: 3/5

Favorite Quote: "Ten minutes ago, Frank though he was going to prison. Now he knows he’s not, and part of him thinks he should just be glad he’s getting out of this at all, but he’s not. He’s not glad. He’s furious. He’s known the world is broken for a long time, he’s known that, but sometimes he’s amazed at how broken; even now, at this point in his life, nearing fifty years old, he can stumble across something that makes him realize all over again that the world is not only broken, but beyond fixing. No amount of glue can ever make it right. And yet, you have to focus on your little part of it, don’t you? You have to focus on your little corner of the world and glue what cracks you can. Otherwise there’s no hope at all."

"Will you lend a caring hand
To shelter those who need it
Only have to sign your name
Don’t even have to read it

Would you help… No? How about you?

 
a Rafflecopter giveaway

The Leave Taking - Howard Shore

The Wicked and the Just

Author: J. Anderson Coats
Pages: 
ARC Acquired from: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt via NetGalley

Description from Goodreads:
Cecily’s father has ruined her life. He’s moving them to occupied Wales, where the king needs good strong Englishmen to keep down the vicious Welshmen. At least Cecily will finally be the lady of the house.

Gwenhwyfar knows all about that house. Once she dreamed of being the lady there herself, until the English destroyed the lives of everyone she knows. Now she must wait hand and foot on this bratty English girl.

While Cecily struggles to find her place amongst the snobby English landowners, Gwenhwyfar struggles just to survive. And outside the city walls, tensions are rising ever higher—until finally they must reach the breaking point.

First Sentence: "Tonight at supper, over capon and relish, my father ruined my life."

Review:
The first thing that struck me about this book was what a complete brat Cecily is. I guess this should not have been surprising with a name like Cecily (literary reference: The Importance of Being Earnest). The book begins with her complaints about having to move to Wales (god forbid!), where there will be a bunch of savages and not a single marriage prospect. Admittedly, moving is a huge deal when you're young and will have to leave behind everything you know, but it is does not make you exactly "like the saints who were sent into the desert to be killed by infidels."

Of course, the second chapter comes from the viewpoint of a Welsh girl who has to serve this English family. After that first chapter, it is so satisfying that this girl calls her a brat. Spot on! Gwenyfar and I spent at least half of the book wanting to do nothing more than slap Cecily silly. Thankfully, she does grow as a person somewhat throughout the book.

However, she doesn't necessarily make as much progress as I was expecting. The way things play out is likely more realistic. Having to read so many pages from her insufferable perspective was definitely a pain, and I wondered why Coats set the book up that way. Eventually, I did figure it out, and felt kind of dumb for not having caught on earlier. Oh well. Cecily's character being the way it is shows starkly just how terrible the situation in Wales is, if even she can feel pity for the locals.

Except for the narrators, I loved The Wicked and the Just. The historical period and subject covered, that of the English domination of Wales, is one I have never encountered in fiction before. Getting to learn something from fiction is always a pleasure. Who says you can only learn from non-fiction? To those people, I say PSHAW.

Unlike a lot of YA fiction, Coats focuses on social issues and family relationships, rather than romance. There are some elements of romance, but they definitely take a back seat, and aren't even necessarily romantic, so much as part of the social order. I definitely recommend this for readers in search of realistic, well-written historical fiction.

Rating: 4/5

Favorite Quote: "God save me ere I have any babies. They are grabby, clingy creatures who steal your figure and always want a ribbon or a wooden sword. And who sometimes make you die bearing them."

American Dream - Switchfoot

The Darlings

Author: Cristina Alger
Pages: 338
Review Copy Acquired from: Viking

Brief Summary:
The Darlings are a wealthy New York family, working on Wall Street during the economic downturn. Carter Darling is the head of the family and CEO of Delphic. Despite the economy, the company is doing pretty well. Until Carter's friend Morty Reis, who runs a company called RCM with whom Delphic invests, commits suicide. His suicide brings to light corruption in RCM, Delphic and even the SEC.

Review:
Normally, I probably would not have picked this up, despite the lovely cover. When offered a review copy from Penguin, I figured why not, since I can be a bit narrow in my reading tastes these days (YA, YA, YA). Yet again, I am glad I did. The Darlings was a good read, even for one such as myself, who does not follow anything about the economy (more than my own bank account anyway).

The entirety of the story, with the exception of the epilogue, takes place within just one week. I love that Alger set it up this way, because it really drove home how quickly a situation can devolve to a snafu. On Monday, everything was good, and in a matter of days two companies were pretty much destroyed (or likely to be so).

Also, I want to give Alger props for managing to write sympathetic characters. I was definitely out to hate everyone in this book, because I can likely never (realistically) dream of having as much money as these guys would still have if the company bit it. I know life's not fair, but that does not mean I have to like it.

Actually, pretty much every character in here was at least a little bit likable. Certainly, by the end, there were some folks I was not a huge fan of, but I didn't hate anyone entirely (except maybe for Jane, who didn't get much screen time). I couldn't hate Carter because of how much he cared for his family, and because he apparently resembles Cary Grant. My favorite characters were definitely Paul and Merrill, who seem least messed up by the world they're living in. I would also really like to find out what happened to Marina.

The Darlings is a well-written story set in the economic landscape of post-9/11 New York City. Expect love, betrayal, and plot twists. Enjoy!

Rating: 3/5

"When success is equated with excess
The ambition for excess wrecks us
As top of the mind becomes the bottom line
When success is equated with excess"

Hold On Hope - Guided by Voices

A Raisin in the Sun

Author: Lorraine Hansberry
Performers: L.A. Theatre Works Cast:
Judyann Elder, James Gleason, Noah Gray-Cabey, Corey Hawkins, Deidrie Henry,
Terrell Tilford, Rutina Wesley, and Mirron E. Willis
Duration: 1 hr, 19 mins
Publisher: L.A. Theatre Works

The Story:
It's really shameful how little I know about some classics in English literature. Prior to receiving this audiobook, I'm not sure whether I had ever even heard of A Raisin in the Sun. Since I had actual discs of this, I had to load it onto my iPod in three minute chunks as 'songs,' rather than as an audiobook. Unfortunately, this means that chunks kept coming on my shuffle, which I can tell you is really irritating, especially since one part begins with an alarm clock. Not cool. So, because of this, I was a bit biased against this play and assumed I would hate it.

Well, sometimes, I don't so much mind being wrong. This was a really good play, albeit a short one. It follows a brief period in the life of the Younger family of Chicago. They live in a small apartment, three generations all together. Even though all of them are working (or going to school) like they should be, money is tight.

However, there is a gleam of hope on the horizon, because an insurance check for $10,000 dollars is coming to Mama. Everyone in the family has their own idea of what should be done with the money. Mama wants to buy a house for everyone. Well, the down payment anyway. Beneatha wants money so she can attend medical school. Walter wants seed money for some money-making scheme with his drinking buddies.

The characters all seem very real in the way they interact and behave. I love the little squabbles they get into, which are so...family.

The Performance:
Everyone in the cast did a completely awesome job. I really liked all of their voices, and they all seemed well matched to the characters. Fun fact: Beneatha is actually voiced by the actress who plays Tara on True Blood.

I wasn't sure how it would be to listen to a play being acted out. I thought it might be confusing, especially since I did not have a copy of the play with me while I was listening. Plays are meant to be watched, so I thought I might lose out on some things. Well, I'm sure I did, and I would like to see it performed. However, it doesn't feel like I really missed out on anything enjoying the play this way.

Rating: 4.5/5

"But time still goes on
And through each life of misery
Everybody's got a hold on hope
It's the last thing that's holding me"

Summertime - Glenn Miller

Five by Fitzgerald:
Classic Stories of the Jazz Age

Author: F. Scott Fitzgerald
Narrators: Bronson Pinchot, Stephen R. Thorne
Duration: 5 hrs, 6 mins
Publisher: AudioGO

Stories:
This audiobook consists of five short stories by F. Scott Fitzgerald. The included stories are: "Bernice Bobs Her Hair," "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," "The Diamond as Big as the Ritz," "Dalyrimple Goes Wrong" and "Head and Shoulders." My only previous experience of Fitzgerald, as is the case with most people I imagine, is The Great Gatsby which we read in high school. While I liked it more than I didn't, I mostly felt meh about it. These stories, though, I greatly enjoyed, particularly the fantastical ones.

In "Bernice Bobs Her Hair," the title character is staying with her cousin Marjorie, a bright, popular girl. Bernice, in contrast, is dull and disliked, despite her pretty face. Marjorie, sick of having to take this depressing girl with her everywhere, teachers her all the tricks to flirting with the boys and being popular. When Bernice does too well, Marjorie challenges her to follow through with her promise to bob her hair. Although I didn't like the characters and would not like this as a full-length novel, it made a fun, light short story about the 1920s.

I must confess that I have never managed to watch the movie version of "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button." I have tried twice (once on an airplane and once on Netflix watch instantly), but was too creeped out by the old man baby and too annoyed by his voice to keep going. Plus, kinda bored. The story is an interesting one, really making you consider how much it would suck to age backwards. My guess is that the movie made more of a romance out of it; I can tell you right now that the story is not romantic. Unfortunately, Pinchot chose to use pretty much the exact same creepy, obnoxious voice for the old man baby. Sigh.

The third story is both somewhat creepy (they do seem to be this way) and really fascinating. In "The Diamond as Big as the Ritz," Fitzgerald created a family blessed with impossible wealth, their forefather having discovered a mountain made out of a flawless diamond. The eerie part comes in with the lengths they have taken to keep the source of their wealth secret. Something about this was really incredibly interesting to me, although, now, it's hard to say why.

"Dalyrimple Goes Wrong" was definitely not my favorite story of the bunch. However, having reached the end of it, I was surprised and enchanted to find that Fitzgerald is capable of some delightful dark humor. Plus, the whole story renders a social commentary that I find quite amusing. Most, perhaps all, of his works are social commentary, but I think this one takes a slightly different bent.

This last may have been my favorite story. The main character, Horace, is a philosopher, with little interest in doing anything but read philosophical tomes. He even named his two chairs after philosophers (Berkeley and Hume). Then, thanks to a practical joke by a friend, a beautiful actress comes sweeping into his life. I don't want to spoil the humor of the story, so I'll stop there. Anyway, Horace is so delightfully written, fully the socially awkward, hyper intelligent personality I know so well. He reminds me of many dear friends.

Performance:
Only the final story is narrated by Stephen R. Thorne. I rather wonder why they didn't just have Pinchot finish it out. Despite finding this strange, I didn't find the narrator shift unpleasant. However, I do not approve of a change of format that took place along with the shift; namely, Pinchot announced the chapter numbers, as each story is divided into sections, and Thorne skipped these, merely reading his story as one long, unbroken tale. I find the latter approach untrue to what Fitzgerald wrote. The audiobook does still start a new chapter with each of these, though, to aid in navigation.

As much as I disliked Bronson Pinchot's narration on the last audiobook I finished, I was not much thrilled to see he was also a narrator for this one. Thankfully, I didn't find his voice distasteful here. I suppose, then, that much of the obnoxiousness, like the accent, of his voice must have been assumed for the role. I don't know why he thought that was a good idea. Anyway, I liked his work here and was almost sorry to see him go when it switched to the last story.

That said, Stephen R. Thorne did a good job as well. He played the socially awkward guy superbly well, and, given how many people I know of that type, this was very important to me.

I think I'll be searching out more Fitzgerald in the future. Thank goodness I didn't miss out on good things because of forced reading in high school.

Rating: 3.5/5