Review- A Torch Against the Night

Stars: 5 stars
Author: Sabaa Tahir
Genre: YA Fantasy
Publisher: Razorbill


Review:

ARC provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

I'm happy to report that after a decidedly difficult experience with the first book, An Ember in the Ashes I LOVED this installment. Maybe I loved it because it reads more like traditional adult fantasy than the first one. Tahir doesn't pull any punches with the amount of dark and downright horrible things that happen in this second installment-- and I respected her commitment to the story and the characters.

It took me more than a third of the first book to get into the story largely because it read like most other teen fantasy novels. There were a bunch of love trials and what felt like teenage angst. There were hints that Laia was more than what she seemed, a lot of things that have been done a lot by a lot of people.

However, by the second third of the first book, there were hints of depth and Laia's character had started to fill out. The introductory and development of the secondary characters like Izzi, Cook and Helene started to work and I started to care what happened to them. There were a lot of mysterious elements introduced in that first installment not properly answered and sadly, many of them were again NOT answered in Torch. Like WHO is this Cook person?! (I have my suspicions.)

But, in this installment, Laia is fully formed as a character. She is fierce and tenious-- someone you can really route for. More importantly so is Elias. His demons come front and center in this book and he becomes a character that I really, really connected with. I wanted his and Laia's love story so bad! I did not feel fulfilled! That alone will get me reading book 3.

Even better, we get into Helene's head and find her to be a deeply conflicted, rounded character. Somehow the three head POV rotation works here in a way that it maybe doesn't for me a lot of the time. In the first book, I mostly wanted to brush off Helene because I couldn't really understand her blind allegiance to the empire despite the genuinely shitty things that were happening to and around her. Here, we get to see inside her head, what makes her tick, and understand the truly horrible choices put before her.

The setting reads like Gladiator which is unique, but the newness ends there. Book one introduces relatively little of what would be found in adult fantasy and so the Romanesque setting is really the only novelty from other YA reads in this genre. What I really liked in Torch was the full-on dive into fantasy: wraiths, the Forest of Souls, magical abilities, etc. There are elements of great fantasy here, reminiscent of Lord of the Rings and Game of Thrones. And as I said before, Tahir doesn't shy away from the darkness. People die. There is a genocide. There is torture. These elements make the story incredibly engrossing and much more emotionally relevant than if Tahir had written a lighter, more friendly book. At the end, I was DYING for the next installment (which I will have to wait until next year for!!!! *sighs*)

Book Review: Dumplin'

Stars: 4
Author: Julie Murphy
Genre: Young adult fiction
Publisher: Balzer & Bray

I fought against liking this book, I'm not sure why, but I did. In the end, it overcame all of the negativity I could throw against it and was a really excellent read-- and not just for girls who have felt "fat," or bad about themselves their whole lives-- this is an empowering story for anyone who has struggled with body image or self-esteem. My initial concern with the book came from thinking that this would be a book that encouraged girls to be unhealthy. I think everyone should be happy in their body, no matter the size, but eating healthy and maintaining a healthy weight is important, especially for teens. The blurb makes it sounds like Will (Dumplin') is one of those "fat" girls that is all in your face about how she's fat and she's proud and she doesn't care if that means she is unhealthy.

It turns out that Will, like all of us, has a confident front that she puts on, but is insecure deep down. But she's insecure about lots of things in her life, not just her weight, I guess you could say that most of them stem from her weight, but really this is more than just a story about a girl with body-image issues.

I LOVED the setting in Texas. Somehow a Texas setting always feels like you are reading about some exotic foreign country (if you are living in the Northeast like me). I also loved the excellent development of the secondary characters. Will's mom was well-fleshed out, and Will's aunt Lucy, though deceased, plays a big, important role in the story-- a complex role. Will has really complicated feelings about her aunt and the things that she struggled wit h in her life (Lucy was morbidly obese). The other girls competing as the ugly ducklings of the pageant are pretty great and are given more than just the token-misfit roles here. And lastly, Dolly Parton plays a big role in the story which sets the whole story apart.

There is (I hesitate to call it a love triangle) some conflict for Will about her feelings for Bo versus Mitch. I liked the way that conflict was resolved. Although you can see going along that Mitch-- the nice guy-- is going to get the short end of the stick. It's hard to watch Will treat Mitch badly and know what she is doing, but continue to do it anyway. But I could relate to that, and I think lots of others will too sometimes you hurt people carelessly and then feel bad about it.

Ultimately, I enjoyed the storyline with the pageant, and Dolly Parton references, and how Murphy resolves everything. And it's not some silly, ridiculous, tied-up-in-a-bow perfect ending, it felt legit.

I immediately picked up Murphy's first novel: Side Effects May Vary, because this was a great read.

Review: Isn't She Lovely

Rating: 3 stars
Author: Lauren Layne
Genre: New Adult
Publisher: Flirt

It worked, it didn't work. I really don't know. I liked it and yet it didn't really make much of a lasting impression. 

Here I am about a week later struggling to remember anything that made much of an impression from this book. It's a the premise is that two college students decide to do a real-life Pygmalion scenario. Only we've got the goth-girl with a troubled past and the fancy rich boy with a broken heart. 

Don't worry if you can't remember the story of Pygmalion. It's Elizabeth Doolittle or Julia Roberts with Richard Gere, but fortunately they explain all in the book, with examples. 

The relationship is sweet and moves at a reasonable speed. There is no insta-love (thank god!). The thing I liked best was that Stephanie leaves Ethan for a really good reason at the end of the book. She feels like he isn't going to accept her for who she truly is, not the reinvented polished "pretty woman" version of herself.  

The way Ethan gets their HEA, well that was precious and hilarious. I liked it a lot. 

It's also well-written, with some depth of characterization. It's a nice little light read.

Review: Struck by Lightening #1-3

Stars: 2.5

Author: Cecilia Tan

Publisher: Hachette Book Group

Genre: Romance/Erotica

As a whole work I'm very unsure how to rate these books. I feel like the first book was maybe a 3.5 star read, but it lacked an ending which certainly knocked it back a star. Then there is the fact that the first book feels like almost a completely different story than the next two, though one does not work without the other two which makes it confusing. The second two books are very, very short, more like novellas which was aggravating since they are the same price. 

Slow Surrender is more like novel length, but it feels like the author just didn't feel like giving the reader the ending because she wanted it to be a trilogy. The trouble then is that the ending isn't provided for the reader until Slow Seduction, but there is a lot that really isn't needed in those last two books and so I feel like the whole thing could just be condensed into one volume and share the reader a lot of trouble and reduce the amount of skimming.

Slow Surrender grabbed my attention because of the very mysterious James who is introduced right away as he asks Karina a question when she waitressing. They immediately begin playing a "game" of seduction. Karina doesn't know the rules, and neither does the reader. That works well and draws the reader into the story. The reader remains in the dark about who James is and his intentions with Karina throughout the entire book. That mystery provides thrilling aspect that makes you want to keep reading. There are definitely obvious clues as to James' true identity, but it is still fun to read about Karina and James' encounters because for the whole first volume it feels like they are virtual strangers becoming more and more intimate without their relationship progressing in any "normal" way.

However, James' true identity was a bit of a deal-breaker, really a jump-the-shark moment for me because it just seemed utterly ridiculous. 

SPOILER!! Seriously, I'm going to spoil it, stop reading.

It turns out that not only is James a rich, reclusive, dominant, and a billionaire  (so I'm totally fine with him up to this point), he is also--- wait for it--- a international rocker star of MYSTERY. I mean that literally, he is this ridiculously well-known rock star (known for his rock operas, of course! you know, like all those rock stars that are known for such things) who has always kept his real identity a secret from his fans by using masks during performances and hiding literally from the press. 

Now, I don't have any problem with the idea of hidden identities or rock stars. In fact, I like both tropes in my romance, but this whole scenario seemed a bit over the top. And I'll tell you why: James is initially presented to the reader as a sort of refined business man type. He's constantly in and out of meetings, and going various places with his driver in his limo, talking on his phone and he's always very, very busy. Classic, billionaire romance hero stuff, you know. THEN we find out that James is also a gifted artist not just a rich guy who asks random waitresses to stick marbles in their panties. In fact, it turns out that his glassworks are re-known in the art community and he has displayed his work at various art shows, also keeping his true artist identity a secret. THEN we find out that James is also very involved in the BDSM scene and is a member of an exclusive and secretive BDSM club where he attends and is a well-known and much coveted dominant.  Finally, we also find out that he is a gifted modern dancer, and performs on stage when in his rock-star persona with other dancers.  **Just a quick insert here-- he practices and performs for his "rock operas" wearing spandex pants and a mid-drift top. Karina of course thinks this is so HAWT. I do not. I think that might actual have been the exact moment that this character was lost to me. I cannot in good conscious believe that a man who has been described as urbane and sophisticated, driving around in a limo in NYC wearing three piece suits would then don a pair of spandex leggings and a belly shirt and prance about on a stage doing modern dance.

I don't know about you but for me James has WAY TOO MANY THINGS GOING ON FOR ONE CHARACTER.  Like WAY too many. He loses all credibility by book three because there is just too much going on. He cannot be amazing at everything and it doesn't even make sense for all of these interests to be combined in one character. In the first book the reader doesn't really know or understand the many facets of James the Amazing Spandex Prancer, but by book three you are blown away by the sheer amount of things happening with him, and not in a good way.

So that whole angle really didn't work for me, and it basically made the books not work for me. 

SPOILER END.

However, what did work for me is the very good writing and excellent portrayal of the BDSM culture. The D/s scenes that James and Karina play out with each other I felt were well-done and pretty stand out for the genre as a whole. I wish actually that this book had focused only on D/s element between the two characters because there is a lot to explore there as Karina experiences being a submissive with James for the very first time. The reader gets to see her go through that as she realizes that she really enjoys it and she is sort of flummoxed abut her feelings. Also, the latter two books briefly, but in my opinion much too superficially, explore Karina's mental state as she wonders if she enjoys being a submissive in general, or if it is just James that gets her going. That would have made a better, more emotionally potent book for me.

The whole thing should be condensed in to one volume and all the other nonsense in James character should be taken out. Tan should also get rid of the whole bit with Karina going to London and almost becoming a submissive at the secret BDSM club, but then doing actually doing it, and go straight to the reconciliation between her and James. If I was editing this book that is what I'd do.

Review: Beautiful Stranger

Stars: 4 stars
Author Christina Lauren
Publisher: Gallery Books
Genre: Romance
Amazon

Christina Lauren writes good romance people.

I didn't get on the bandwagon with their first fanfic-- Beautiful Bastard because reviews in various places made me wary. Either that book is actually something I should read, or they have improved their writing significantly because I liked this book SO much.

Max is a GOOOOD romance hero. Somehow he is a bad-boy, but not really (or at least not to Sara). He and Sara have some really crazy times together and this book could easily have degenerated into mindless erotica, but it didn't. Sara and Max have a genuinely solid connection to one another that neither one of them can really deny after their first encounter together as strangers.

Sara has some issues with the idea of having a relationship due to the fact that her ex was a cheating scum-bag and so she gives Max a run for his money before admitting that she likes him. That usually bugs me-- when the heroine obviously really likes the guy but can't get out of her own head enough to admit it-- but for whatever reason, it didn't bug me here.

The other book I read by this duo that I really enjoyed was Diry Rowdy Thing that was similarly fun to read. I'll pick up some of their other books for sure.

Review: A Different Blue

Stars: 4
Author: Amy Harmon
Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform
Genre: New Adult
Amazon


This might have been a five star read had I read it before The Law of Moses (also by Ms. Harmon), but I didn't, and so some of it felt recycled. Although, in retrospect, I guess Moses was a recycled from this book not the other way around since this was published first...

This is my third Amy Harmon book and I wasn't disappointed. She is writing some quality new adult literature in a landscape that can sometimes be bleak. Her books are pretty tame: closed door love scenes, very little swearing and always a bit of religion thrown in. I don't like inspirational fiction, but Harmon usually doesn't enter into that territory.

Blue is a quality character. Other reviews said they found her hard to like. I can understand that, but she worked for me. I get tired of characters with really crappy lives that are all timid wallflowers hiding behind horrible outfits. Blue deals with her issues using a sexy persona and false confidence. It was interesting watching her peel away her layers as she gets to know Wilson.

The other thing I liked about this book was that even though there is a teacher-student thing going on here, it isn't a taboo book about a clandestine romance. It is a romance, but that doesn't really begin until Blue is fully an adult, making her own choices and no longer a student.

I also liked that Blue is Native American and she's an artist-- but not a painter-- she carves wood, now there is a cool talent.

The reason this wasn't a five star read for me was that there is the...

SPOILER

 accidental, unwanted pregnancy which makes up a big part of the conflict.


END SPOILER

While I appreciated that that was absolutely a situation Blue could have gotten into, I was annoyed since the same thing had happened in The Law of Moses.

There was also an incredible amount of will-they-won't-they? between Wilson and Blue which could have been cleared up by either one of them actually using WORDS and expressing their FEELINGS, but of course neither of them could do that. It takes the WHOLE damn book for them to figure anything out, so don't go into this book thinking that you are getting a full-on romance because you are not.

Review: Forever by Judy Blume

Star rating: 4 stars
Author: Judy Blume
Genre: Young Adult
Publisher: Pans Children


This is the story of two high school seniors, Katherine and Michael and how they fall in love. It is also the story of how their relationship develops until they decide to have sex. The novel follows their entire relationship, and Blume presents a realistic, though ultimately unhappy, look at young love. Katherine and Michael are ultimately forced to separate for the summer (by their parents against both of their wishes) but vow that they will stay together forever.

Many of the parents and censors that I read about felt that students reading this book would promote sexual activity. It was pointed out in the New York Times article that just because a kid feels old enough to read about the sexual relationship presented in Forever, does not mean that that child feels old enough to go out and engage in sex themselves. This goes back to the idea that we as adults can predict and understand exactly how a book will affect a specific child. Children will take what they want from books.

This book is a slippery slope because it does contain graphic sexual content. Though I would point out that the sex between Michael and Katherine is ridiculously responsible: Michael doesn’t pressure Katherine, he waits until she is ready, they use condoms, Katherine takes herself to Family Planning and gets on birth control. Though young, they are enter into a mature relationship. Those points alone are enough for me, were I parent, to allow my child to read this book. However, I don’t believe that reading books will convince children to do things that they weren’t already considering. Just as I don’t believe that reading Harry Potter will convince children that magic is real and that there is no God, I don’t believe that reading about sex makes people have sex.
However, I can understand the reaction to this book, especially in light of when it was originally published. Not only were there different standards for the content of books at the time, but there weren’t as many books being published that pushed the limit. Were this book to be published today I don’t believe it would receive as much negative notice.

Review: Making Faces

Stars:  4 stars
Author: Amy Harmon
Genre: New Adult

Publisher: Smashwords
 
After reading review after review of people who read an Amy Harmon book and were hooked I figured it was time to pick one up.

This is a very sweet, but heart-wrenching story. Since the blurb talks a lot about Ambrose coming back from war and having to face life again after losing four friends and being disfigured, I thought the story would dive right in there and begin with the romance between Fern and Ambrose, but it doesn't. In truth the story reads more like a YA book than either New Adult or romance. The romance between Fern and Ambrose is a strong central element to plot but much of the story is the back story of Ambrose, Fern and Bailey growing up in a small town in Pennsylvania.

Bailey, Fern's cousin, is also essential to the story. He is Fern's best friend and confidante. Bailey has Duchenne's muscular dystrophy. Bailey's character was one of the most important parts of the story for me. I have personal experience with a friend with muscular dystrophy and felt Bailey's struggles keenly.

Without spoiling it, Harmon does a good job of introducing all the elements and characters she needs for the ending of the book early on, but it isn't a standard romance. The plot, flow and overall feel of the book are more young adult than romance. I liked that about it, because it was very PG, sweet and thoughtful.

Review: Maldeamores

Rating: 5 stars
Author: Mara White
Genre: Romance/Erotica
Publisher: Heightsbound

I should have known what I was getting myself into. I read White’s first novel Heights of Desire in one sitting, palms sweating, agonizing about what was going to happen—even though I knew, from the blurb that I wasn’t going to get my happy ending.

The same was true of Maldeamores, the third in her Heightsbound series, I couldn’t put it down, and believe me, I tried. At two am, frantically worrying about lack of sleep, I thought maybe I could just finish in the morning. But who was I kidding? Screw sleep. I had to know what happened to Lucky and Belén.

There is no disclaimer about the lack HEA on this one, but maybe there should be because it goes against the grain for normal romance readership (though the prologue will give you a pretty good idea). Though, if you’ve read White’s other books you know that a happy ending isn’t really her style.  I’m the type of reader that enjoys reading outside of my comfort zone so it worked for me. That’s one of the reason I’ve so enjoyed White’s books. The other reason is that the woman always nails the voices of her main characters. White’s writing is sharp and her characterization distinct and spot on. She writes Spanish Harlem in New York City like no one else you can practically imagine yourself watching the story from the corner bodega. And, perhaps the thing I enjoy most she has an uncanny ability to write an authentic, Hispanic-male, bad-boy. Need I say more? Yum.

The real issue here, and what is going to perhaps turn people off is the topic of this book: incest. I suppose we can argue that cousin to cousin romance isn't technically incest-- but really? think about that doesn't make you the tiniest bit squeamish? It does me. I guess if incest is an absolute deal-breaker for you then put the book down now, but I urge you to read on because it’s worth it. I’ve read a couple of books on the subject of incest, most notably Forbidden by Tabitha Suzuma which is both disturbing and amazing. Reading that book you are uncomfortable, questioning everything, but you can’t put it down. This story is like that, though perhaps more tame. I have stayed away from the more popular, voyeuristic titles on incest-that-really-isn’t-incest: books about step-brothers and adopted siblings etc. Those books sole purpose is to titillate with the idea of the forbidden without actually delving into the issue for real. I think those books are fine, they are just not for me.

This isn’t one of those books.

There is nothing hedonistic about White’s exploration of the idea of two cousins falling in love with one another, though I wasn’t sure for the first part of the book. In the first 30%, I wondered where White was going with her characters and her conflict. The beginning of the novel explores Belén and Lucky’s childhood as they grow up, grow apart, and grow more and more attracted to one another, and while I enjoyed that part, the novel grew in depth in the latter half.

The second part of the novel follows Lucky to the marines and Belén to Vassar, as they continue to think about, and fight with their feelings for one another. Certainly there is a good amount of erotic content, particularly toward the end, including a ménage situation. It should be noted, that this ménage serves to further the plot not just because the author really wanted a menage.

However, what pushed this book from one that I was enjoying, to one that I couldn’t put down, was what happens after Belén goes to college away from home. There Belén begins to explore of the topic of being in love with her cousin, and the book takes on a different tone. She discusses the topic with her roommate and best friend, goes to therapy, and even joins a support group for co-dependency in an attempt to grapple with this issue. Giving the reader access to all of those different perspectives on the conflict added a lot to the book and made it much more than just a naughty book about two cousins who love each other.  Because quite frankly, as Belén struggled with her feelings, so did I.

I hesitate to call this a romance. It is sort of a genre-bending novel. It IS a romance, but it doesn’t follow the formula. It has elements of erotica too, but while your reading those parts, at times you feel like maybe you should be disgusted instead of riveted. And, like White’s other books, this is a tragedy and it is taboo. All that rolled together makes for one damn fine read, and I loved it.

Review: Believe (True Believers)

Rating: 2.5 stars
Author: Erin McCarthy
Genre: New Adult
Publisher: Penguin Group

I'm just not sure what to make of this book. I don't think it's a bad book. In fact, I think a lot of people will probably like it. There were just a lot of things that didn't work for me.

I read this book because it was on sale, had a catchy synopsis, and a compelling cover. It's NA and I've been on a winning streak lately with NA, reading pretty good stuff which is sort of unusual for this genre.

The streak is now officially over and I have to blame Believe. Like I said, I think a lot of others will like this.  For me, it was too fast, too superficial and too inconsistent.  

We are told that Robin was a party girl in the first few pages. She literally tells us. Explaining that she spent most of college going to parties, making out with random guys and getting drunk. A few pages in and she sleeps with her best-friend's boyfriend while black out drunk.  Post-sleeping-with-boy-disaster she's a hot mess. She feels terrible, and naturally friend's boyfriend turns out to be a total creeper. 

The problem for me here was that she tells us that she used to be a party girl, but we never get to see it, so it's hard to believe that it is part of her character. Telling just isn't as effective as showing. Yes, we see that she slept with her friends guy, but that's all. That isn't enough to establish her as a reckless and out of control character, which is what the rest of the book is predicated upon. 

Robin does a completely 180 after her mistake. The Robin the reader actually gets to know is reclusive, unconcerned about her looks, and depressed. The opposite of a party-girl. That's all we see for the rest of the book. 

When Phoenix steps into the picture, fresh out of jail, I got back on board. So what if the heroine is tepid? A hot bad boy is all a story really needs. He was attractive and interesting. Nothing like a bad boy with tattoos to spice a book up. So we find out he's had a hard life (haven't they all?) and of course he and Robin hit off immediately.  I do mean IMMEDIATELY. Within days of knowing each other, really within seconds of kissing each other, Robin is ready to go all the way. That's also fine, if that worked for her character, but it just didn't resonant with me. They moved too fast. Sex doesn't always equal love, but since the premise of the book is that these two characters are falling in love, I didn't think leaping into bed was the way to do it. Especially since Robin had just freaked about her latest sexual escapade. Also, they declare their love for each other WITHIN PAGES. Insta-love really only works when it is in a paranormal and the supernatural beings are not suppose to follow normal human emotional patterns. Even then it gets dicey. So I was annoyed. Insta-love is no bueno.

Oh and lest I forget, to add to the insta-love ridiculousness, Phoenix is a tattoo artist (because that is what bad boys do these days) and he decides, in the tradition of Maddox from Beautiful Disaster by Jamie Maguire, to get a tattoo.  Not just any tattoo, but you guessed it! a portrait of his one-true-love (well at least his true love of the last three days) on his ribs.

(Don't worry, Robin ALSO gets a tattoo-- of a blue bird. Because her name is Robin and in Phoenix's tattoo of her she is wearing a blue bird necklace that she doesn't actually possessed. So this was clearly the right choice for Robin to get on her to represent Phoenix on her body.  Yes, I'm confused too.) An

Moving on, Phoenix and Robin are in love and want to be together. Then comes the baggage. They've each got a lot and they have to get over it-- together. That all worked too.  

The next thing that didn't work for me was that Phoenix and Robin are both clean. Phoenix has always been drug and alcohol free because of his junkie mom. Okay, I can buy that. But he came off sounding like a public service announcement at times, even though the obligatory, "you can do what you want, it doesn't bother me, I just have chosen to live my life this way," comments were thrown in.

Then we're expected to believe that Robin has also gone clean and now essentially considers herself an alcoholic. Again, that's fine, maybe she was making poor choices with alcohol and I applaud her decision not to drink, but it got a little over the top.  

SPOILER ALERT:

By the end Robin in a her darkest moment has basically chugged a bottle of tequila and winds up in the hospital with alcohol poisoning. Then she decides she is an addict and goes to rehab?! I'm just not sure how this series of events played out. One minute she had made some bad choices and needed to cut back and the next she is sitting alone in her apartment chugging straight from a bottle?! A lot of disconnect going on here. She got to the lowest place an addict could go within the span of like an hour and there was no gradual downhill slide, there was just fine and then REALLY NOT FINE? So the message is that if you ever make a bad choice with alcohol you have a problem with it? Even in college when kids are likely to make a lot of really bad choices before they wise up and make good ones? I think not. I think she could probably have just called it quits for a bit, rehab was overkill. Really the whole thing just seemed like overkill.  

All that just overshadowed the rest of the story for me. 

Review: The Ocean at the End of the Lane

Rating: 5 stars
Author: Neil Gaiman
Genre: Fiction-fantasy
Publisher: William Morrow Books

Not much needs to be said about this book.  

1. It's a Neil Gaiman. If you like Gaiman, you'll like this. If you don't like Gaiman, you'll probably like this. It's that good.  Though be sure to put on your thinking cap and your weird shoes, but after all, as I said-- it's Gaiman.

2. Listen to the audio book. Really. I mean it. LISTEN TO THE AUDIO BOOK. Gaiman narrates. He's amazeballs. His narration has more atmosphere than any of the audio books I've read in the past year combined. If his author gig fails, I think he has a career as a audiobook reader. That voice!

3. The story is simple, poetic and gorgeous. It's also creepy as hell. Gaiman's descriptions and use of language are just...I don't even know...completely captivating.  

4. In fact, everything about this short little book is captivating. I'm not even going to tell you what it is about, because honestly it doesn't matter. The story is beautiful and interesting, but it's all about the ATMOSPHERE, like I said. 

5. Go, read it.

Review: These Broken Stars

Rating: 4 stars
Author: Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner
Genre: YA/Science Fiction
Publisher: Disney Hyperion
Goodreads
Amazon

A very enjoyable read. It didn't have me glued to the page which is why I didn't give it five stars, but it was solid. There was also the teeny tiny  over use of the phrase, "he/she couldn't help but wonder," which annoyed the crap out of me. That is a really a really stupid reason to feel annoyed with a book, but I couldn't stop thinking about Carrie Bradshaw and her Sex in the City voice-over narration every time it came up.  

Okay...back to the book.  

Lilac and Tarver the only survivors of the Icarus after a crash landing on an uninhabited, alien planet.  There was a good amount of set up before the crash, which I appreciated because otherwise there was NO way I was buying Lilac not ever even being able to talk to men because her psycho father kept sending them into active war zones if she did.  I had to keep reminding myself that this is supposed to be an alternate reality where the social classes are experiencing a truly ridiculous divide-- think French Revolution type differences. Serious problems in this reality. So, we've got a snooty little rich girl and a rags to riches war hero and of course...they fall in love.  

I love a good survival/love story. There's the constant tension of keeping themselves alive coupled with a good reason to spend most of the book in each others' company. Lilac is a pain in the a** at the beginning of the book, but soon develops into a fighter. Tarver is the tough, survivor-type, but he gets a chance a role reversal when Lilac has to take care of him. 

This book is told in alternating points of view, there are two authors, so the POVs are distinct and believable. There's also some world building, it's not spectacular but it is passable. There definitely could have been more information and building around the different social classes since that was the real conflict for our couple being together. 

The best bit is when the reader is unsure what is happening with the life (or lack of life) on the planet. It gets a little creepy, nothing like visions and hearing voices to add a little intrigue. 

The pull for this book is really how the characters grow and change and become good for each other and it doesn't hurt that it has a HEA.

Review: The Winner's Curse

Rating: 4 stars

Author: Marie Rutoski

Genre: Young adult fantasy

Publisher: Farrar Straus Giroux

Goodreads
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Click here for the first five chapters on Kindle.

This novel is thought-provoking and deliberate. I enjoyed it and I want to the next book in the series sooner rather than later. I didn't give five stars because I felt like there was purposeful distance between the reader and our two protagonists, Kestrel and Arin. The distance I felt was probably due in part to the fact that both Kestrel and Arin are both very stoic characters, deliberate in their actions and their thoughts, but I still felt I couldn't get close enough to them to really understand everything that they were doing. Sometimes I felt like I was on the outside watching them, inside of right there with them. It was told in the third person, alternating between Kestrel and Arin. Another strange thing was the that when Arin's perspective was first introduced he is referred to as "the slave." This was because the reader hadn't yet been given Arin's name so we only knew that he was a slave and not much else about it, but it was still a bit jarring. I don't think it would have been as confusing if it were a third person narrator telling us about him, but the 3rd person perspective was supposed to be from the Arin and Kestrel's perspectives, respectively.


Another thing that contributed to the distance between reader and the characters is that there is a lot of implied communication between the two of them. While this made the novel feel smart and intriguing, it also didn't allow me to feel a lot of intimacy with the the characters.


Both Arin and Kestrel as intelligent and calculating, excellent at reading other people, both strategists with complicated agendas which are not always clear either to the reader or to each other. These implications make the book both intriguing and sometimes frustrating. Intriguing because you want to keep reading, because you don't really know what Kestrel's ultimate plan is, or who Arin is really. Lots of agendas here. Lots of subtlety from the author.


Rutkoski writing is quite brilliant. She leads you through her story and the world that she has created without being heavy-handed. There is a lot to consider in this novel. It is a story about loyally, ownership and slavery. There is a lot that is provocative about its exploration of slavery and what it means for both the owner and the owned. Kestrel struggles with the idea that she owns slaves and more importantly that she owns Arin-- in fact she bought him herself-- she is no bystander to the act of slavery, she actively chooses to participate. But a lot of Kestrel's behavior is dictated by the rigid rules of her society. Her situation is complicated by the fact that she is the daughter of the Empire's top general. There's not a lot of room for her to rebel, or dissent without completely going AWOL. Though she struggles with the idea of slavery as accepted by her society, parts of her don't agree. She is a rebel, but at first a passive one.


Once love enters into the mix and all bets are off. (But don't get too excited, while this is a "romance" there is very little true romancing going on here.) The tables get turned in the middle third of the book and the master becomes the slave. That's where things got a little jumbled for me. Both Arin and Kestrel are fighting so hard against each other, what they want and what they believe, that is becomes a bit trying. I could understand them both, but I also just wanted them to make a decision. But I guess that was really the point of the thing, they are star-crossed lovers.


The ending redeems the book. For me it wrapped it up and made it a four star read and not a three star. This is how a book in a series should finish. The central conflict is resolved and a secondary conflict is left undone making you want to read the next book. I was glad that there wasn't a cliffhanger, or an "ending" that resolves nothing and just stops in the middle of the story-- that seems like has been happening with more and more books recently. Here we get good closure. The kind of closure that makes clear, finally just want the characters mean to each other and they lengths they will go to for one another.


ARC copy provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Review: No Good Duke Goes Unpunished by Sarah McLean

Rating: 3 stars
Author: Sarah Maclean
Genre: Historical romance
Publisher: Avon
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I keep trying with Maclean's books because I love the out of the box premises, troubled heroes and plucky heroines. This was no different. The set up was great, very intriguing: a man framed for a murder he didn't commit and a woman with a forged identify. Also our hero, Temple, is a fighter. He boxes for the gaming hell The Fallen Angel. He's never lost a fight. This was all vey intriguing, right up to the meeting between our heroes, but I got a bit lost in the angst. And boy was there a lot of angst. Rightfully so, there was a lot to cover: Mara's troubled, secret past, Temple's demons over losing his life as a Duke and place in society. And of course, of course the characters can't just come out and say what they feel, so that takes up most of the book.  Mara fighting with herself about her feelings for Temple and her reason for coming to him, showing that she's really alive and demanding money in exchange for revealing herself to the world. 

In fact the whole conflict is predicated Mara's inability to tell Temple why she needs the money. It is not, as Temple believes, just to save her brother from financial ruin, but rather because her brother frittered away all of her money for the running of her orphanage as well. So really, she could have saved them all a lot of trouble if she would have come out with the "secret" about 40%, naturally. And her rubbish excuse for not doing so and dragging their nonsense out for pages and pages is that Temple upon first discovering her alive says, "nothing you could do would make me forgive." Well that obviously a load of bollocks, Mara knows it and the reader knows after a few more interactions between.  The two of them can't keep their hands off each other, they keep finding excuses to see each other and they really like each other, from the get-go. I just got irritated with them running from each other for the whole book.

This makes it seem like the book. I did like it. I think that Maclean writes well and her characters are always dynamic and out of the ordinary. I think the real problem for me is that I enjoyed Nine Rules For Romancing a Rake so much that I just hold all of her other books to that standard.  If you like a dark hero, some angst in your historical, this one is for you.

Review: This is What Happy Looks Like

Rating: 3.5 stars
Author: Jennifer E. Smith
Genre: YA Romance
Publisher: Headline
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More of a 3.5 rating. I really liked the beginning of this book. It started off gangbusters-- I was pulled right into the writing and the characters. I think beginning the book with emails was a great move, different and interesting. Smith does a nice job with the movie star meets and falls in love with-one-of-the-common-folk trope. Graham and Ellie were both very three-dimensional characters. The setting, a small coastal town in Maine was gorgeously done. 

In other books where the hero is a famous person, I've never really "gotten" why it was so rough to be in their shoes. I usually think, yes it sucks that they are being chased around by the press and that they have to live under a microscope, but really, wasn't that what they signed up for when they decided to become celebrities? With Graham though I could understand how he was feeling and why he was feeling this way. The fame just sort of snuck up on him all of a sudden. One thing led to another and suddenly, sort of without warning he was famous-- and lonely and isolated. I really felt for him. 

Ellie...well I felt for her as well, but not as much as Graham. I understand the "secret" bad idea, and why she felt she had to keep it a secret, but it got old for me pretty quick. After her first angst filled decision to back away from Graham and his fame for personal reasons I was behind her, but when she kept doing it, again and again, it got old. 

The reason that this book got demoted from a five-star read to a three point five star was that even though Graham and Ellie came to really understand each other by the end and got their happily ever of a sort, but I didn't really feel it. There was something lacking the whole last half of the book with regard to their connection. After their first encounter and all their emails, I was expecting them not to be so typically teen-angsty, all muddled in their own emotions. In the last half of the book, they kept finding reason after reason why they couldn't see each other and had to keep rushing off to deal with other things in their lives. The things they were dealing with, especially Ellie, were no doubt important, but it seemed to detract rather than add to the central plot which was the story between Ellie and Graham. I guess I got the rationale for why the author included these things, but it wasn't the direction that I thought the story should go in. It stopped being the happy little love story and tried to go in a different direction-- one that I just wasn't feeling.

Just the same it was a pleasant little read and I recommend it.