Where the Mome Raths Outgrabe

2014 Was Last Year

2015-01-01T20:02:00.003-05:00

2014 was a shitty year. Just so, you know, mome raths and 2014 don't get along. Actually mome raths don't get along with years that are a multiple of 7 because 2007 was shitty too. And 2021 isn't looking very promising.

Yet.

But here at Where the Mome Raths Outgrabe, we're all about breaking traditions and cycles. Eventually, that is. We have a whole bunch planned that will fill 2015 and beyond with enough awesome-sauce to keep it swelled to bursting well past 2021. However, the awesomeness doesn't start until sometime during/after May. Reasoning? Mome raths graduate in April. And get jobs. Yay employment.

But we have plans! Plans include a blog makeover, new reviewer, giveaways, new weekly segments, and even some vlogging. It's going to fun... eventually. Hold onto your pants.

Summer is coming.

Review: WitchStruck by Victoria Lamb

2014-10-18T16:53:00.000-04:00

If she sink, she be no witch and shall be drowned.

If she float, she be a witch and must be hanged.

Meg Lytton has always known she is differentthat she bears a dark and powerful gift. But in 1554 England, in service at Woodstock Palace to the banished Tudor princess Elizabeth, it has never been more dangerous to practise witchcraft. Meg knows she must guard her secret carefully from the many suspicious eyes watching over the princess and her companions. One wrong move could mean her life, and the life of Elizabeth, rightful heir to the English throne.

With witchfinder Marcus Dent determined to have Meg's hand in marriage, and Meg's own family conspiring against the English queen, there isn't a single person Meg can trust. Certainly not the enigmatic young Spanish priest Alejandro de Castillo, despite her undeniable feelings. But when all the world turns against her, Meg must open her heart to a dangerous choice.

The Secret Circle meets The Other Boleyn Girl in Witchstruck, the first book of the magical Tudor Witch trilogy.

Published September 24th 2013 by Harlequin Teen

(info grabbed from GoodReads)

"Oh, d-d-dear."

-Piglet

This chick needs to take a lesson from Piglet from Pooh Corner. That quote would be an appropriate reaction to being a witch in Tudor times. Seriously. We need to go back in time and into this fantasy land to get this girl some Winnie the Pooh.

Witchstruck is about a young witch, Meg, and her escapades in witchcraft while being bestie to the future Queen Elizabeth. There is also a Spanish priest that makes Meg’s heart pitter-patter. There’s the plot of Protestants trying to overthrow the Catholics that really felt more like a sub plot thrown in there too. But really, this book is about one thing: stupidity.

Meg is somewhat interesting in the sense that she is not what I'd expect of a girl from this time period. She isn't quiet, timid, or any other of those supposed girlish traits that were more admired in those days; she is stubborn and slow witted. She also does not know what fear is, in a bad way. You could say she doesn't let fear stop her from using her craft -- she doesn’t. I would say that she has an inability to think things through and likes to show off her power. She consistently picks bad times and places to practice witchcraft with little reason to her actions. The reasons she continues practicing witchcraft are never established that solidly; she does it because she can for all I can tell. It doesn’t really help predict anything or have any benefit. It comes off as pointless and exercising “power” just because. She is rash… and I guess that could be interesting to someone. There is little to no reason behind what she does why she does it, but everything ends up magically working in her favor.

The romance has very little purpose in the story and makes no sense, which is why I would recommend Witchstruck to people who get less hung up about facts. A catholic priest and a witch? And he knows she is a witch? And no explanation to the priest's motives and blind trust on both sides? Let's get real. The backstory on the priest didn't explain why he is okay with Meg being a witch; it actually was fuel to hate witches. But he doesn't. He isn't so much as flustered by it. He is Sexy-Spanish-Priest-in-Training-Man here to save the day and make sexy glances. Not really a defined personality or capable of conversation as far as I can tell -- just sexy sex sex.

I liked Meg's relationship with Elizabeth, but I don't understand why the future queen is sticking her neck out (quite literally) for Meg. People are constantly helping Meg, but there isn't a lot of reason written into the pages. Meg has an extraordinary ability to get herself into trouble, but also is exceptionally lucky. She makes irrational decision after irrational decision and somehow doesn’t die. If I was the future Queen is such a predicament as Elizabeth (her sister is looking for an excuse to kill her), I would drop Meg like she was hot. But that’s me.

WitchStruck gets a big ol' resounding "Meh."

Final Thought: 1 out of 10 toadstools

This review is also posted on GoodReads

Review: Feuds by Avery Hastings

2014-09-16T19:14:00.001-04:00

In this breathless story of impossible love, perfection comes at a deadly cost. For Davis Morrow, perfection is a daily reality. Like all Priors, Davis has spent her whole life primed to be smarter, stronger, and more graceful than the lowly Imperfects, or “Imps.” A fiercely ambitious ballerina, Davis is only a few weeks away from qualifying for the Olympiads and finally living up to her mother’s legacy when she meets Cole, a mysterious boy who leaves her with more questions each time he disappears. Davis has no idea that Cole has his own agenda, or that he’s a rising star in the FEUDS, an underground fighting ring where Priors gamble on Imps. Cole has every reason to hate Davis—her father’s campaign hinges on the total segregation of the Imps and Priors—but despite his best efforts, Cole finds himself as drawn to Davis as she is to him. Then Narxis, a deadly virus, takes its hold--and Davis’s friends start dying. When the Priors refuse to acknowledge the epidemic, Davis has no one to turn to but Cole. Falling in love was never part of their plan, but their love may be the only thing that can save her world...in Avery Hastings's Feuds. Hardcover, 272 pagesPublished September 2nd 2014 by St. Martin's Griffin(info grabbed from GoodReads)

Feuds is a set in a future with a dystopian hierarchy based on if you're an upgraded human or not. There are essentially two levels: super humans (Priors) and normal people (Imps), with normal people being the underbelly of society. Davis is a Prior with aims of being a ballerina and competing in the Olympiads, who unknowingly falls in love with an Imp, Cole. There is the complication of Priors getting sick with Narxis and a bunch of other stuff that's not that important to the story.

Honestly there is a lot going on and nothing at all at the same time.

The entire story -- world building, characters, plot, setting, everything -- took a back seat to the romance. And while that might not necessarily be a bad thing, the romance wasn't that spectacular of a read. It was insta-love. There was no witty banter or chemistry between characters; just all of sudden they would be making out. The conversation to make out session ratio was way off. Halfway through the book, they have kissed several times and had one instance of actual dialogue. I kid you not. One. Meaningful. Conversation. How can anyone take such a relationship seriously or rally behind the characters? I would have liked to have read a less hormone induced romance.

Characters in the story were little more than plot devices or foils. There was no depth to a single character other than Davis or the romantic interest, Cole. For example, when Vera, one of Davis's friends, brings up DirecTalk, it doesn't feel like a conversation between friends; it was an excuse to explain a piece of technology in the world. So while yes, she does have some purpose (of sorts), there are no real feelings of friendship and she doesn't move the plot in any way. The sad thing is that Vera is the most defined "friend" character.

Speaking of DirecTalk, there is very little technology or world building to speak of. DirecTalk is one of the only technological advancements to speak of and it's only cell phones disguised as jewelry. The futuristic dystopian setting felt like a filter laid over the story to add interest and cause problems for the relationship of Davis and Cole. Other than mentioning a tech here and there, it's never explored how the future is different. There's also corrupt government officials, including Davis our main character's father, but that's not really addressed either.

I was not impressed with Feuds to say the least. The writing was not fluid and immersive, the characters were one dimensional and inconsequential to the story, and the plot -- what plot? The background, setting, and everything else that was interesting in the book was skimmed over. But even the parts that were interesting formed together into another generic mediocre dystopian novel. There is nothing worth reading in this novel. The end.

Final Thought: 2 out of 5 toadstools.

This review is also posted on GoodReads

Review: The Kiss of Deception by Mary E Pearson

2014-08-05T15:38:00.001-04:00

A princess must find her place in a reborn world.

She flees on her wedding day.

She steals ancient documents from the Chancellor's secret collection.

She is pursued by bounty hunters sent by her own father.

She is Princess Lia, seventeen, First Daughter of the House of Morrighan.

The Kingdom of Morrighan is steeped in tradition and the stories of a bygone world, but some traditions Lia can't abide. Like having to marry someone she's never met to secure a political alliance.

Fed up and ready for a new life, Lia flees to a distant village on the morning of her wedding. She settles in among the common folk, intrigued when two mysterious and handsome strangers arrive—and unaware that one is the jilted prince and the other an assassin sent to kill her. Deceptions swirl and Lia finds herself on the brink of unlocking perilous secrets—secrets that may unravel her world—even as she feels herself falling in love.

Kindle Edition, 492 pages

Published July 8th 2014 by Henry Holt

Thank you to Macmillan Children's Publishing Group for approving me for an ARC for review.

The Kiss of Deception was not your typical YA high fantasy. Lia is a feisty young princess engaged to a "stuffy old prince" she has not met, and promptly runs off from her kingdom to hopefully never be seen again. She travels across her country with her maid and friend, Pauline, to a peaceful city by sea. Aiming to start a new life, she assimilates into village life. Unbeknownst to her, two young men have followed her to the village: one the stifled prince she left at the altar, and the other an assassin sent to kill her.

With the story alternating between Lia and the two men as narrators, what makes the story so different is that the reader is never quite sure which man is the prince or assassin for a majority of the book. The reader knows one is the assassin and the other the prince, but Lia is in the dark entirely believing them to be a trader and a farmer. There were moments where I as the reader thought I knew who was who, but at the same time I tried not to get too invested in figuring it out because that is part of the fun of reading this book: being surprised at the reveal.

The aspect of not being sure who the narrator was added a special something to The Kiss of Deception. It took the idea of the unreliable narrator to a different level, though it also added a layer of frustration to the story. In addition, it created a barrier between the reader and the characters that prevented getting attached to the characters. The reader knows the entire time that both male characters are deceiving Lia, but Lia doesn’t. The difference in distrust from the reader to the main character changed the reading perspective.

Lia, however, was a character easy to root for. She is feisty and impulsive and just wants a normal life. She is tired of being told what to do and doesn’t want to be a pawn for her father’s diplomacy, thus running from her own wedding. What was interesting about Lia was how she surprises everyone by knowing she simply wants a peasant’s life and then falling into it easily and proving it -- she doesn’t get discouraged by chores or not having money.

While the story had a great premise, interesting storytelling, and fun main character, I still found myself bored with the details in the book. The pacing felt slow, overly long at times, and I would’ve preferred a bit more flow in the reading process. The book definitely picks up after the reveal of the two male characters. It will be interesting to see if and how the author continues this way of storytelling, but I almost hope she doesn’t. I felt that it held the story back and was the cause of the odd pacing and occasional drag.

Regardless of the minor hang-ups I had with pacing, I still very much so enjoyed The Kiss of Deception. I would recommend it to anyone who loves high fantasy and those who might still be getting their feet wet in the genre. It has great world building, full fleshed characters, and a great love story with a big dash a deception all laced throughout.

Final Thought: Almost 4 out of 5 toadstools

This review is also posted on GoodReads.

Review: The Stepsister's Tale by Tracy Barrett

2014-07-20T09:03:00.000-04:00

What really happened after the clock struck midnight?

Jane Montjoy is tired of being a lady. She's tired of pretending to live up to the standards of her mother's noble family-especially now that the family's wealth is gone and their stately mansion has fallen to ruin. It's hard enough that she must tend to the animals and find a way to feed her mother and her little sister each day. Jane's burden only gets worse after her mother returns from a trip to town with a new stepfather and stepsister in tow. Despite the family's struggle to prepare for the long winter ahead, Jane's stepfather remains determined to give his beautiful but spoiled child her every desire.

When her stepfather suddenly dies, leaving nothing but debts and a bereaved daughter behind, it seems to Jane that her family is destined for eternal unhappiness. But a mysterious boy from the woods and an invitation to a royal ball are certain to change her fate...

From the handsome prince to the evil stepsister, nothing is quite as it seems in Tracy Barrett's stunning retelling of the classic Cinderella tale.

Hardcover, 272 pages

Published June 24th 2014 by Harlequin Teen

The Stepsister's Tale was surprisingly delightful. In the story, we get to follow the elder of the two "ugly stepsisters" from the classic tale of Cinderella. Jane Montjoy is not what those of us who remember the Disney version would expect: she is hardworking, caring, and impoverished. Jane constantly has to worry about how to feed herself, her sister, and her mother -- who is living in denial of losing their fortune. The house they live in is in shambles. In an attempt to relieve them of their trials, mother Montjoy remarries to a man who appears to have a wealth that could save them, and also a very spoiled daughter. The plot is filled with little twists and perspective that completely changes the context of the classic tale.

Jane's perseverance and spunk make her a character worth rooting for. She is the low maintenance counterpart of herself from the classic. She doesn’t care about jewels or how she looks; she cares about not freezing at night and how the cow in the barn is starving. She has practical dreams of farming with the manners of an aristocrat. This combines into a very complex and likable girl who I genuinely hoped things would work out for.

There is uneasiness throughout the reading experience, however, from knowing things won’t work out for the ugly stepsisters. They don’t get the prince or get out of poverty and we know this from the original tale. Right? I loved how perspective can change an ending that I thought I knew. With this character with her practicality and spark, would she even want riches and formalities?

The other reason for this uneasiness, at least for me, was that Jane has a hard life. I was on edge the whole time just waiting for an atrocity to befall her. Reading a book like this always left me with a sour pit in my stomach, and I don’t like that. It’s a personal thing, so if you like being afraid for characters, maybe that aspect will be more your thing.

While being a tad on the dry side of writing, the book is very enjoyable. Anyone who loves fairy tale retellings could find some joy in The Stepsister’s Tale. The small twists on the classic were smart -- they didn’t completely change the story. It made me think that maybe we’ve had Cinderella wrong this whole time. And that was the most enjoyable part of reading this tale; I loved doubting the childhood tale since this version just makes more sense. Though maybe not my favorite book ever, The Stepsister’s Tale proved itself worth a read.

Final Thought: 15 out of 25 toadstools

This review is also posted on GoodReads

Review: Plus One by Elizabeth Fama

2014-07-11T11:50:00.000-04:00

It takes guts to deliberately mutilate your hand while operating a blister-pack sealing machine, but all I had going for me was guts.

Sol Le Coeur is a Smudge—a night dweller in an America rigidly divided between people who wake, live, and work during the hours of darkness and those known as Rays who live and work during daylight. Impulsive, passionate, and brave, Sol deliberately injures herself in order to gain admission to a hospital, where she plans to kidnap her newborn niece—a Ray—in order to bring the baby to visit her dying grandfather. By violating the day-night curfew, Sol is committing a serious crime, and when the kidnap attempt goes awry it starts a chain of events that will put Sol in mortal danger, uncover a government conspiracy to manipulate the Smudge population, and throw her together with D'Arcy Benoît, the Ray medical apprentice who first treats her, then helps her outrun the authorities—and with whom she is fated to fall impossibly and irrevocably in love.

Set in a vivid alternate reality and peopled with complex, deeply human characters on both sides of the day-night divide, Plus One is a brilliantly imagined drama of individual liberty and civil rights—and a compelling, rapid-fire romantic adventure story.

Hardcover, 373 pages

Published April 8th 2014 by Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR)

(info grabbed from GoodReads)

This book started off real well, which a main character with a lot of personality and with an interesting concept for a dystopian. It fell apart somewhere in the middle. Plus One takes place in a dystopian Chicago where people are separated into Day and Night classes. People are not allowed to mix between each or even be outside during hours not approved for them. Sol is a Smudge, a night dweller, with a pension for trouble. She lives with her kindly (and dying) grandfather and used to live with her older brother, Ciel. While Sol was in her younger teens, Ciel was transferred to Day class to never be seen from again. Since then Sol gets word that her brother had a baby. The story begins with Sol setting off with plans to kidnap said baby so her grandfather can hold the child once before he dies.

With the cover and blurb, I was surprised that the romance was not more a part of the story. For more than half of the book, it is non-existent. For some readers, that may be more of what they are looking for. With the cover and implications of the blurb, I was expecting a more emotional dystopian story like Delirium by Lauren Oliver. That is not Plus One. Plus One is more about half baked kidnapping plans and terrorist plottings than anything else. What the blurb doesn't tell you is that Sol's plan goes awry and she gets swept up a conspiracy that could shake her world. It's jarring to read a book that is completely outside of your expectations. But really, that is all marketing's fault and the team did not do the book justice.

Even though the book was not what I was expecting, I did enjoy it at first. I thought it read really well and that Sol was interesting, even if her plan was a little undeveloped in her mind. But the story quickly spiraled into something else: a hot mess of family drama, escapades in Iowa, and more plans that shouldn't work but somehow do.

The back story of the system's origins came from hospitals having day/night shifts, and thus resulting in better work flow and producing power. I thought the idea that economics and productivity could create a divided society such as this was profound. Especially with the setting choice of Chicago, made to be one of America's biggest cities because of booming business, I thought it could be plausible. For a minute. While I thought the idea of this Day versus Night class system was cool, it seemed so weakly put together it was unbelievable it could have lasted so long. Maybe in one city in one country, but it not the entire world.

Everything felt about to collapse at any moment within the story -- and not just the system, but the whole book. The world building was just so fragile, it might as well have been a house of cards and desperately needed to be elaborated on. Hour Guards are mentioned, but not explained. They do random checks on people to see if they are breaking curfew, but what power do they have? Are they police or are they KGB? Do they have any kind of enforcement power? There is a Night Minister, but that role is not fully explained. The dystopian aspect of this world was skimmed over; it's never clear what is holding this system together. There’s very little tyranny in this supposedly oppressive society.

Even with less than stellar world building and story that came out of left field, I really liked Sol as a character. She is smart, impulsive, and full of life. Her snark is the sunlight of this novel. However, that is the book's only saving grace. D'Arcy, the day-dwelling love interest, had no spark to his personality, and the relationship between him and Sol was a fickle match that burned out before the plot even began. His motivations are never clear or make sense, and he just wasn't enough to hold a candle with Sol. The myriad of other characters were just... I don't even know. Blah. They were a blah blur. It felt like random characters were being thrown at the reader in this whirlwind of story. And not a good whirlwind of story; it's a backwards tornado with a bunch of things that don't belong together.

Without Sol's unrelenting personality, I would have given this book one star. The story is a bit of mess, the world building was less than stellar, and I just didn't like it. I was bored. Plus One earns the stars it does with its good writing and interesting main character, but it wasn't enjoyable. I read the entire book out of stubbornness, purely. It really did nothing for this review, because as I kept reading I only got more upset at myself for continuing to read. Just... ARGH.

Final Thought: 2 out of 5 toadstools

This review is also posted on GoodReads

Review: Dollhouse by Anya Allyn

2014-07-05T11:38:00.000-04:00

Dress-up turns deadly. . .

When Cassie’s best friend, Aisha, disappears during a school hike, Cassie sets off with Aisha’s boyfriend Ethan and their best friend Lacey, determined to find her. But the mist-enshrouded mountains hold many secrets, and what the three teens discover is far more disturbing than any of them imagined: beneath a rundown mansion in the woods lies an underground cavern full of life-size toys and kidnapped girls forced to dress as dolls.

Even as Cassie desperately tries to escape the Dollhouse, she finds herself torn between her forbidden feelings for Ethan, and her intense, instinctive attraction to The Provider, a man Cassie swears she has known before…

Because Cassie’s capture wasn’t accidental, and the Dollhouse is more than just a prison where her deepest fears come true—it’s a portal for the powers of darkness. And Cassie may be the only one who can stop it.

Kindle Edition, 205 pages

Published May 20th 2014 by The Studio, a Paper Lantern Lit imprint

(info grabbed from GoodReads)

The Dollhouse, a young adult horror set Down Under, begins with Ethan, Cassie's best friend's boyfriend, bursting through her bedroom window in the middle of the night. This is an awkward dream come true for Cassie, as she has been pining over Ethan for over a year, but he is her best friend's boyfriend. Her missing best friend's boyfriend. Ethan has decided to pop in on Cassie to let her know the cops are after him and that he didn't do it even though there may be evidence that indicates otherwise. He informs her that he is running into the woods to avoid being arrested. Cassie and her friend Lacey decide to chase after Ethan, the boy who may or may not have murdered Aisha, and help find Aisha (their missing friend). Cassie has lingering guilt over crushing on Aisha's boyfriend and feels that she is responsible for Aisha running off, which serves as her motivation to run into the forest that three other girls have disappeared without a trace into. Mayhem ensues.

So, I think I made it clear in my synopsis that these teens don't make the brightest of decisions. It felt like the author had to dumb her characters down to get them into a horrific situation. Which isn't anything new, unless you missed the slasher flick bonanza of the 1990's. I love horror and especially so when it's creepy. The Dollhouse promises that and so much more in the blurb, but it doesn't really deliver. It's hard to be horrified when you can't stop thinking about how all of this nonsense could have been prevented. I mean, really, your friend just disappeared into the woods and you go breaking and entering into a creepy mansion? That just screams, "Murder me." Darwin award goes to Cassie.

The biggest problem for me, however, is the writing. It is what I have decided to call green writing -- it needs to ripen on the vine a bit. Or be breaded and deep fried. Anyway, the pacing of the novel was all over the place. It's fast, it's faster, it's normal; The Dollhouse was like being on a possessed treadmill with all it's stopping and going. The story starts off in a rush with Ethan busting in through the window and promptly delivering an info dump. Half the plot and all the build up between characters happens before the novel even begins. While I appreciate the different approach, it really destroys any chance to get attached to the characters. Along with the rushed beginning, there is an info dump every couple pages in the first couple chapters to make up for the lost beginning. Where could have been build up, world building, and character development, we get a rush into a haphazard romp in a creepy house.

The ideas of The Dollhouse really stuck out to me as I love all things messed up and creepy. I was hoping to be shocked and horrified, but that just didn't really happen. Reading the Dollhouse is like watching a bad slasher flick in slow motion, but with a lot less blood and entertainment. I really just wanted to shake the main character until she got some sense and went home, forgetting about her self-rightous journey into the woods to find her friend.

Final Thought: 1 out of 5 toadstools

This review is also posted on GoodReads

Review: Second Star by Alyssa B. Sheinmel

2014-06-29T16:10:00.000-04:00

A twisty story about love, loss, and lies, this contemporary oceanside adventure is tinged with a touch of dark magic as it follows seventeen-year-old Wendy Darling on a search for her missing surfer brothers. Wendy’s journey leads her to a mysterious hidden cove inhabited by a tribe of young renegade surfers, most of them runaways like her brothers. Wendy is instantly drawn to the cove’s charismatic leader, Pete, but her search also points her toward Pete's nemesis, the drug-dealing Jas. Enigmatic, dangerous, and handsome, Jas pulls Wendy in even as she's falling hard for Pete. A radical reinvention of a classic, Second Star is an irresistible summer romance about two young men who have yet to grow up--and the troubled beauty trapped between them.

Hardcover, 248 pages

Published May 13th 2014 by Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR)

(info grabbed from GoodReads)

I don't know why the idea of a love triangle between Peter Pan, Wendy, and Captain Hook made me so excited, but it did. I was very excited to get my hands on this one, and Second Star started off with a bold and interesting take on Peter Pan, but it pittered out as it went on. The book begins with Wendy going to her senior party on the beach and lamenting her lost-at-sea surfer brothers, John and Michael. While there, she walks into the ocean and sees a surfer “flying” over the waves. Wendy then seeks out this mysterious surfer, hoping to find some lead on her brothers, as she cannot accept their death. This leads her to much mayhem and excitement, and all those other things books are made of.

I really liked the surfing twist of Second Star and thought it made the book original and into a whole new story. Retellings are all over the YA market now, and it’s hard to find one that sticks out. Second Star accomplishes this by changing the perspective a bit, adding different issues, and completely changing the setting to make Peter Pan into a whole new story. The surfing element of the book was what made the book; the lifestyle was explored and it felt like a small but playful twist that worked with Peter Pan so well.

Unfortunately, that was about all that I liked. I really did not enjoy Wendy as a character. She is mopey, but beyond that has very little discernible personality. She’s trying to find herself by shedding everything she knew before and running into the sunset after her brothers, but I couldn’t get behind her on her journey because I didn’t feel anything for her. We find things about her: she is a good student, she loves her brothers, and she comes from money. But her as a character felt wishy-washy; she’s not terribly consistent. This makes sense for a character in such dilemma as Wendy - trying to find her brothers and losing track of herself in the process - however, it made it hard for me to be in her corner. I couldn’t care for what was happening. Her depressive state wasn’t done in a relatable way – for me at least.

Second Star really failed me in that the rest of the cast lacked depth. I would have really liked some more character building of some of the key characters, but with a large cast like this book tried to pull off, it's hard. Bestowing unique personality into each character is tough, and a lot of the characters came off as generic. I feel like each of them, Pete (Peter), Belle (Tinkerbelle), and Jas (Captain Hook) were shallow and hollow. Each was defined by a handful of personality traits. Pete was mysterious, kind, and mischievous with the added twist of being a surfer… and that’s about it. The complexity that could be there within and between each character is hinted at, but never explored. Contemporary YA lit is all about the characters, and none really held much ground in this story. It was like they’re about to wash away with the tide.

While having an interesting take on Peter Pan, Second Star is lacking in its character development something fierce. If you like contemporaries that immerse you into a world that you’re more unfamiliar with (like surfing culture), you might find some enjoyment in Second Star. If you’re looking for an exciting retelling of Peter Pan with a creative twist and intriguing versions of the characters you already love, you may want to look elsewhere. If this was simply a contemporary, I may have given it three full stars. Because it is a retelling of a beloved classic, I only give it two. Second Star is enjoyable, but it fails and pales in any comparison to the original.

Final Thought: 2 out of 5 toadstools

This review is also posted on GoodReads

Review: The Here and Now by Ann Brashares

2014-04-03T23:12:00.001-04:00

An unforgettable epic romantic thriller about a girl from the future who might be able to save the world . . . if she lets go of the one thing she’s found to hold on to.

Follow the rules. Remember what happened. Never fall in love.

This is the story of seventeen-year-old Prenna James, who immigrated to New York when she was twelve. Except Prenna didn’t come from a different country. She came from a different time—a future where a mosquito-borne illness has mutated into a pandemic, killing millions and leaving the world in ruins.

Prenna and the others who escaped to the present day must follow a strict set of rules: never reveal where they’re from, never interfere with history, and never, ever be intimate with anyone outside their community. Prenna does as she’s told, believing she can help prevent the plague that will one day ravage the earth.

But everything changes when Prenna falls for Ethan Jarves.

From Ann Brashares, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants series, The Here and Now is thrilling, exhilarating, haunting, and heartbreaking—and a must-read novel of the year.

Hardcover, 288 pages

Expected publication: April 8th 2014 by Delacorte Press

(info grabbed from GoodReads)

This book was written with only half baked ideas that needed to go back in the oven BECAUSE THEY WERE NOT DONE COOKING. The science is deplorable, Prenna is an idiot, and no other character is even defined other than an outline of what could perhaps be a person. THE HERE AND NOW is the story of Prenna, a time traveling girl from a future where most of the population has been wiped out by a plague. The book then tries to be a dystopian, mystery, and love story all at once, but is fails at all three. The story just skims the surface of a story; it's like reading an outline based on good ideas, but not a full, finished novel.

This is the worst thought out dystopian society I’ve ever read. They are controlling, but they let people live their lives with little restrictions. There are vague rules, but they give people freedom to break those rules and then follow through with inconsistent punishments. It’s not the imposing society of a dystopian that we’re used to. For example: Prenna’s friend is found to have been speaking with Prenna about things they shouldn’t be. Her punishment is being sent away to boarding school. Whatever. However, another of the children of the time traveling society raises the suspicion of one of his teachers at school. The teacher asks questions. So what does the society do? They kill the child and his family.

WTF.

I actually had to read that section in the book a couple times to wrap my head around it. First of all, if you’re trying to be all secretive, why was the kid in regular schooling? And furthermore, after the issue happened, I would think that every other child a part of this society would be a prime candidate for home schooling.

But there’s more! Prenna herself isn’t safe from the wrath of her society. For catching pneumonia, they would let her die rather than let her get medical help. After all the trouble of traveling through time, they are very willing to just let people die. It makes no sense; travel all this way to escape a plague and then let your youngest citizens die of something there’s treatment for?

But Prenna’s pneumonia episode brings up other issues in the book: it’s complete lack of research. If you’re going to have anything medical, one could at least check out webMD to see if something is plausible. In the book, Prenna has asthma and gets pneumonia, but her mother is a doctor and insists all she would need is a ventilator.

First of all, you don’t get pneumonia from asthma. Asthma is chronic illness that is characterized by episodes of spasming of the bronchioles. People are on lifelong medication oftentimes for this illness. Pneumonia is an infection. Asthma does not cause infections. Bacteria (and viruses) cause infections. Also, it’s never mentioned again if Prenna has an asthmatic issue, but she does have moments of being in and damp potentially moldy places and also moments of running. No mention of so much as a wheeze. Next, Prenna did not need a ventilator, she needed a nebulizer. A ventilator is a device that breathes for you and puts you at higher risk for pneumonia. A nebulizer delivers medication to expand your lungs. But really, she needed to be hospitalized with an “as needed” order for suctioning, if you asked me.

But what’s really irritating is that this whole episode of Prenna’s illness is simply a plot device to show the society as being controlling and cold. It could have been interesting to have a character with asthma or to see how the society adapted to unexpected situations the children cause, but it’s not explored. These ideas are only half good, and it’s the other half of the idea that makes the story bad.

I can’t really complain about the time travel science too much because it was never addressed. Physics are not mentioned, the potential of a paradox is skimmed over; just poof, naked and wet Prenna in a pond. That’s how they arrive. Why is she naked? Never mentioned. Other than that she had to be naked so Ethan can give her his hoodie. Or whatever he gave her, it was kind of a big deal in comparison to everything else.

I could rant about the science for days, but it’s not that large a part of the book (which is funny since its science fiction). So how was our main character, Prenna? DUMB. She makes one bad decision after another, but somehow everything works out. She doesn’t figure a single thing out for herself and only has a brain when it’s convenient to the story. There is one thing (that is a bit of a spoiler) that any person with half a brain would figure out or notice that Prenna doesn’t get until the last second. It was just handled badly; the characters are being cryptic at time where it doesn’t make any sense to be cryptic. Seriously, the fate of the world is at stake and the moment to change it is in less than 24 hours, and our protagonist is at the beach with her new beau. … WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH THIS. How could you relax enough to laugh? …But on the bright side, she is the most fleshed out character in the book.

Oh, Katherine. She is the only character other than Prenna and Ethan that has a significant role in the story and I cannot for the life of me think of a personality trait that describes her. She is the Best Friend. She is concerned for Prenna. She wears glasses and is from a society from the future where everyone wears glasses. Real exciting character building there. When she is taken away, I should care, but there is no character to care about. The only reason to care is because it’s causing problems for Prenna.

What’s sad is that I barely touched half of the notes I wrote while reading this. There is so much wrong with this book. It’s a huge pet peeve of mine when an author didn’t do their research or didn’t think an idea out, and this book is guilty of that. Super guilty. There is nothing I thought redeeming in the story. The ending is the best part of the book, but it’s not anywhere close to saving it. I recommend THE HERE AND NOW to no one.

Final Thought: MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEH

This review is also posted on GoodReads

Review: Lost Voices by Sarah Porter

2014-03-16T19:44:00.000-04:00

What happens to the girls nobody sees—the ones who are ignored, mistreated, hidden away? The girls nobody hears when they cry for help?

Fourteen-year-old Luce is one of those lost girls. After her father vanishes in a storm at sea, she is stuck in a grim, gray Alaskan fishing village with her alcoholic uncle. When her uncle crosses an unspeakable line, Luce reaches the depths of despair. Abandoned on the cliffs near her home, she expects to die when she tumbles to the icy, churning waves below. Instead, she undergoes an astonishing transformation and becomes a mermaid.

A tribe of mermaids finds Luce and welcomes her in—all of them, like her, lost girls who surrendered their humanity in the darkest moments of their lives. The mermaids are beautiful, free, and ageless, and Luce is thrilled with her new life until she discovers the catch: they feel an uncontrollable desire to drown seafarers, using their enchanted voices to lure ships into the rocks.

Luce’s own talent at singing captures the attention of the tribe’s queen, the fierce and elegant Catarina, and Luce soon finds herself pressured to join in committing mass murder. Luce’s struggle to retain her inner humanity puts her at odds with her friends; even worse, Catarina seems to regard Luce as a potential rival. But the appearance of a devious new mermaid brings a real threat to Catarina’s leadership and endangers the very existence of the tribe. Can Luce find the courage to challenge the newcomer, even at the risk of becoming rejected and alone once again?
Lost Voices is a captivating and wildly original tale about finding a voice, the healing power of friendship, and the strength it takes to forgive.

Hardcover, 291 pages
Published July 4th 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
(info grabbed from GoodReads)

Note: this is the most positive negative review I've ever written. When I started writing it, it was filled with a bit more snark. However, as I continued and really thought about it, this is a really thought provoking tale. Bear with me and keep an open mind.

This book could be summed up as LORD OF THE FLIES, but with mermaids. Some may read that and think, "Oh that sounds kind of interesting."

Well. It's not.

But I hated LORD OF THE FLIES. Anyway, I'm actually rather torn about how I feel about this book. It's bad and great at the same time. It's kind of good, but not solidly okay; it is a wavering on a balance beam kind of good. Anyway, LOST VOICES is the story of Luce, a fourteen year old girl caught in a pretty rough situation. Her parents have both passed on and now she is stuck in her parents home town living with her abusive uncle. In the world of LOST VOICES though, there is a secret: unwanted and unloved girls become mermaids. Such is the fate of Luce, and she joins the local mermaid tribe.

The mermaid tribe is where I draw parallels with LORD OF THE FLIES. You stick a group of boys on an island and what happens? Mayhem and murder. You stick a bunch of girls in the ocean with fins and what happens? Mayhem and murder, but more high strung and catty. Instead of imploding inwardly as the boys did since they were stranded with nothing but each other, the girls in LOST VOICES turn there destructionn outward, destroying passing boats and drowning all aboard. Catarina (the Queen mermaid) is a slightly off-kilter version of Ralph, leading the tribe under the laws of the timakh, which are undisputable mermaid rules. While Anais is almost a perfect caricature of Jack from LOTF with her antagonizing the group and leading a revolution against Catarina. Luce, our MC, would fit as Simon, the only "good" character, as she has morals and doesn't want to kill people. And because she hides in a cave for a large portion of the book. I don't agree with such a bleak outlook of humanity, which is I didn't particularly like LORD OF THE FLIES or LOST VOICES.

My biggest writing issue was that it was really hard to put my finger on what the plot was in this book. For over half the book, we are observing Luce getting into the swing of being a mermaid: Luce has become a mermaid, Luce has met a tribe of mermaids, Luce has met more mermaids, Luce has swam like a mermaid, and Luce has sunk a few boats. That's about it. Nothing really resembling an issue here other than she doesn't really want to sink boats and the queen is a little crazy. It's good to keep an audience guessing, but you have to be going somewhere. No real conflict arises, making it feels as if the story is standing still -- and standing still doesn't make for a very exciting read.

The other writing issue is that it was hard to read at times due to the prose. The writing is somewhat poetic -- like the author is trying to be poetic, but it came off as haphazard purple prose at times. Sometimes it was very pleasant to read, and sometimes I was utterly confused. Not a good trait in a book. I don't know why, but I was determined to read this book and got past the prose issues. There are some parts that jump around and there isn't a clear picture as to what's going on, but that is mostly in the beginning. Once Luce became a mermaid (which is real early), the imagery was a lot more clear.

LOST VOICES has a completely different tone than most YA because it does try to approach real life issues through a fantastical story. It deals with tough issues (child abuse, neglect, group think, and the anger of children betrayed). However, I think a lot of the message got lost in the catty drivel that went on for a lot of the book, but furthermore, I think the message that was there is incredibly negative. Luce fails to have a meaningful and non-abusive relationship for the entire book. There is the overt abuse by her uncle, the petty hate between some of the mermaids, but then there is the manipulative queen. It is a very covert abuse that Luce doesn't even understand and the book ends with her still believing she is friends with this girl. There is very little hope within the binding of this book, and that gave me a real sour taste for it.

LOST VOICES projects a very bleak outlook. Especially when the story is YA and the target demographic includes girls potentially dealing with these issues. I do appreciate that an author had the guts to try and approach a story openly involving child abuse and it's affect on the psyche of its victims, but I don't know that I can recommend this book to someone that's not an adult. But while I didn't like LORD OF THE FLIES, it didn't have a sequel whereas LOST VOICES does. I'm still very intrigued by this book and it may still prove to be the more uplifting tale I'm hoping it could be. But I know there is a place in this world for unhappy endings, and that may prove to be the case with the trilogy. I'm hoping for the best.

Final Thought: 25 out of 50 toadstools

This review is also posted on GoodReads

Review: Don't Even Think About It by Sarah Mlynowski

2014-03-10T14:12:00.000-04:00

Contemporary teen fiction with romance, secrets, scandals, and ESP from the author of Ten Things We Did (And Probably Shouldn't Have).

We weren't always like this. We used to be average New York City high school sophomores. Until our homeroom went for flu shots. We were prepared for some side effects. Maybe a headache. Maybe a sore arm. We definitely didn't expect to get telepathic powers. But suddenly we could hear what everyone was thinking. Our friends. Our parents. Our crushes. Now we all know that Tess is in love with her best friend, Teddy. That Mackenzie cheated on Cooper. That, um, Nurse Carmichael used to be a stripper.

Since we've kept our freakish skill a secret, we can sit next to the class brainiac and ace our tests. We can dump our boyfriends right before they dump us. We know what our friends really think of our jeans, our breath, our new bangs. We always know what's coming. Some of us will thrive. Some of us will crack. None of us will ever be the same.
So stop obsessing about your ex. We're always listening.

Hardcover, 320 pages

Expected publication: March 11th 2014 by Random House Children's Books

(info grabbed from GoodReads)

I was skeptical when I got this off of NetGalley. It really isn't something I would pick up as the cover seemed kind of cheesey -- I'm really picky about cheese. I need a good Muenster or a sharp cheddar rather than cheep, run-of-mill, oil-based crap. But DON'T EVEN THINK ABOUT IT turned out to be a creamy cranberry cheese ball: sweet and surprisingly delicious.

When I started reading, I was a bit duped (because I judged a book by its cover) and thought, "Oh, another story about three savvy New Yorker (young) ladies -- never seen that before." But this book is not about three savvy New Yorker ladies -- it's about the greater part of a home room of savvy New Yorkers. Boys and girls. Twenty two of them. Anyway, the first chapter pulled me in and erased my doubts that this was just another book by dropping that the story will be told by all the mind readers at the same time. It's third person limited, but in a way I'd never imagined.

With over twenty characters as just narrators, it does get a little chaotic trying to keep everyone straight, but not nearly as chaotic as it could be. The story focuses in on about five characters, with the others remaining not more than side characters. After the novelty of the storytelling wore off a bit, I did miss that you don't get as emotionally involved with any one character. But the story still worked and was enjoyable regardless. It made the book a lighter read, but fresh and interesting in ways I didn't expect.

DON’T EVEN THINK ABOUT IT was unexpected in its originality. It is an interesting and new way to tell a story, and I really recommend it to anyone craving some lighter reading. Like the creamy cranberry cheese ball, DON’T EVEN THINK ABOUT IT is like a tasty appetizer as opposed to a deeply satisfying main course. You don’t get too emotionally involved in any one character; I didn’t feel changed by the end of the book. And sometimes, one might need that: an enjoyable read that left me with a small smile at the bittersweet ending.

Final Thought: 28 out of 35 toadstools

This review is also posted on GoodReads

Review: Imposter by Susanne Winnacker

2014-03-05T13:18:00.000-05:00

Can Tessa pose as Madison . . . and stop a killer before it’s too late?

Tessa is a Variant, able to absorb the DNA of anyone she touches and mimic their appearance. Shunned by her family, she’s spent the last two years training with the Forces with Extraordinary Abilities, a secret branch of the FBI. When a serial killer rocks a small town in Oregon, Tessa is given a mission: she must impersonate Madison, a local teen, to find the killer before he strikes again.

Tessa hates everything about being an impostor—the stress, the danger, the deceit—but loves playing the role of a normal girl. As Madison, she finds friends, romance, and the kind of loving family she’d do anything to keep. Amid action, suspense, and a ticking clock, this super-human comes to a very human conclusion: even a girl who can look like anyone struggles the most with being herself.

Hardcover, 274 pages

Published May 28th 2013 by Razorbill

(info grabbed from GoodReads)

So, I hated this book. I hated it so much, I don't even want to go through the effort of writing a proper intro paragraph. Quick summary: Tessa is a variant with the power to change her appearance into anyone she touches (like a cross between ANIMORPHS and Mystique from X-MEN). She is part of a special faction of the FBI called FEA, which is a collection of variants formed for the purpose of fighting crime. Woop, sounds cool -- but this book is really about Alec and Tessa's relationship and petty hate between girls.

I find it rather pathetic that Tessa's relationship with Alec can be summed up with the Taylor Swift song "You Belong with Me," but without the upbeat music. Nope, it's just a girl whining about how she should be with a guy because she is less of a primped up skank. She seriously thinks she's entitled to Alec because she gets him, because liking the same movies and being great friends means you are meant to be. No, that's not how relationships work. The only saving grace for any of the characters in this book is that Alec tells her off because he does have a girlfriend.

Everyone adores Tessa. They love her so much, they're giving her a super special top secret mission even though she's still a minor. And for what reason does everyone love Tessa? Because she is abnormally average except for having a Variation like everyone else at this FEA summer camp? I'm still trying to figure out why anyone would love Tessa, because there is nothing really likeable about her. She is jealous, she is impulsive, and she isn't remarkably talented other than having a cool variation. It drove me crazy that I couldn't stand the main character, but everyone in the book does without reason.

Everyone, except Kate. Who is conveniently Alec's girlfriend and placed in the hateful bitch trope without any depth. Kate has no reason to hate Tessa; she just does. If there was a bit more feeling or a history there, I would have enjoyed that whole bit more. But alas, this character solely exists as a foil to Tessa, to show how "girl-next-door" and plain Tessa is. And so we're supposed to not feel so bad that Tessa is attempting to be a homewrecking tramp.

The girl on girl hate in this book is so rampant and petty, it is unreadable. The mystery is not very mysterious or even what the majority of the book seemed to want to focus on. Nope, it seemed rather intent on focusing on Tessa's pity party over not feeling ready for such a mission and pining over her taken best friend. The end.

Final Thought: NOPE

This review is also posted on GoodReads

Review: A Darkness Strange and Lovely by Susan Dennard

2014-03-02T11:49:00.000-05:00

Following an all-out battle with the walking Dead, the Spirit Hunters have fled Philadelphia, leaving Eleanor alone to cope with the devastating aftermath. But there’s more trouble ahead—the evil necromancer Marcus has returned, and his diabolical advances have Eleanor escaping to Paris to seek the help of Joseph, Jie, and the infuriatingly handsome Daniel once again. When she arrives, however, she finds a whole new darkness lurking in this City of Light. As harrowing events unfold, Eleanor is forced to make a deadly decision that will mean life or death for everyone.

Hardcover, 406 pages

Published July 23rd 2013 by HarperTeen

(info grabbed from GoodReads)

I was not really sold on this series when I decided to pick up A DARKNESS STRANGE AND LOVELY -- I was on a historical fiction/steampunk kick and not really wanting to try something new-new. I started reading and it was like "Yeah. Yeah. Meh." but then: "YES. OMGOMGOMG. YAY." I don't know what exactly happened, but I now am in love with this series. It's not like I didn't like SOMETHING STRANGE AND DEADLY, it just didn't have a certain... je ne sais quoi-

Oh. That's right. I'm in love with France. I forgot for a second.

This review could quickly spiral into a rant of how much I enjoyed the fact this book is set in France, but I'll try and stay coherent: I loved the rich descriptions of Paris and how the setting was actually used within the story. I get annoyed when a book is set in a destination for no real purpose to the story. A DARKNESS STRANGE AND LOVELY definitely used the locale change to the story's advantage, from Eleanor's excitement over sightseeing, to eating at a cafe as well as other French novelties, to seeing the Palais Garnier and inserting other such landmarks into the plot. It was wonderful and brilliant and other positive adjectives. Viva la France!

With a new setting come a couple of new characters. Laure was a fun addition serving as a female friend to Eleanor and bringing a bit of light to Eleanor's somewhat drabness. She was charming, insightful, and a little quirky. Her presence added a bit more spark to the story than it's predecessor had. And then there's Oliver. Oliver is the other new character worth mentioning (I suppose). He wasn't as welcome for me or for Eleanor, and I found him annoying for most of the novel. It wasn't anything he did, I just didn't like his whole deal. Why? Because he is not French. And he's whiney, but mostly because he is not French. That aside, both characters add to the story.

The other reason this book was better can be summed up in two words: Daniel Sheridan. Yes, I am aware he is in the first book. He is actually in MORE of the first book, but his limited presence made it so much more special when he was around. Because hot damn, insert GIF here.

All in all, I'd recommend reading SOMETHING STRANGE AND DEADLY just so you can read the sequel. And if you have read SOMETHING STRANGE AND DEADLY and were on the fence about reading the sequel, then get off that damn fence and experience the glory that is this book. Because it's amazing and France, France, France, France, France, and sexy rakish Daniel, but mostly France.

Final Thought: TOADSTOOL.

This review is also posted on GoodReads

Review: Grim by Christine Johnson

2014-02-26T19:58:00.000-05:00

Inspired by classic fairy tales, but with a dark and sinister twist, Grim contains short stories from some of the best voices in young adult literature today:

Ellen Hopkins
Amanda Hocking
Julie Kagawa
Claudia Gray
Rachel Hawkins
Kimberly Derting
Myra McEntire
Malinda Lo
Sarah Rees-Brennan
Jackson Pearce
Christine Johnson
Jeri Smith Ready
Shaun David Hutchinson
Saundra Mitchell
Sonia Gensler
Tessa Gratton
Jon Skrovan

Kindle Edition, 480 pages

Expected publication: February 25th 2014 by Harlequin Teen

(info grabbed from GoodReads)

GRIM is an anthology of short story retellings of fairy tales. This is true. However! not every story is as dark as the blurb promises. It was a nice surprise to me that the stories are all mixed up: you have dark tales and funny tales, urban fantasy and science fiction. GRIM ended up being a delightful collection in how eclectic it was.

I'm not going to go through every story's ups and downs individually; each story in the collection was enjoyable (though to varying degrees). Some highlights for me where Julie Kagawa's THE BROTHERS PIGGETT, an awesomely dark tale, and also Sarah Rees Brennan's BEAUTY AND THE CHAD, which had me laughing out loud. And although I personally didn't enjoy SKIN TRADE by Myra McEntire, it definitely made my skin crawl, and I'm sure there are those out there where that is exactly what they're looking for. And that is my point: there is something for everyone in this anthology. There was a lot of variation from each original story, but also from each story within the anthology.

All in all, a great collection of short stories perfect for anyone who wants to revisit some familiar tales, but each with a twist. The authors are truly talented and packed so much emotion and fun into their stories. It was a fast read and surprisingly easy to read in one sitting. Each tale stood on it's own and didn't blend into one another while reading. I'd recommend it to anyone and everyone, because who doesn't love a good fairy tale now and again?

This review is also posted on GoodReads

Review: Of Beast and Beauty by Stacey Jay

2014-02-04T10:47:00.000-05:00

In the beginning was the darkness, and in the darkness was a girl, and in the girl was a secret...

In the domed city of Yuan, the blind Princess Isra, a Smooth Skin, is raised to be a human sacrifice whose death will ensure her city’s vitality. In the desert outside Yuan, Gem, a mutant beast, fights to save his people, the Monstrous, from starvation. Neither dreams that together, they could return balance to both their worlds.

Isra wants to help the city’s Banished people, second-class citizens despised for possessing Monstrous traits. But after she enlists the aid of her prisoner, Gem, who has been captured while trying to steal Yuan’s enchanted roses, she begins to care for him, and to question everything she has been brought up to believe.

As secrets are revealed and Isra’s sight, which vanished during her childhood, returned, Isra will have to choose between duty to her people and the beast she has come to love.

Hardcover, 391 pages
Published July 23rd 2013 by Delacorte Press

(info grabbed from GoodReads)

It's been so long since I've been this ... I don't know, surprised? Satisfied? Emotional?

Maybe one of those is the right word. I am having a real difficulty with putting words to how much I liked OF BEAST AND BEAUTY. I don't remember the last book I read that had non-insta-love, developed and mature feelings with well written characters and flowing prose. At least not on this level. I'm impressed and starting to doubt every rating/review I've done in the last three or so months. OF BEAST AND BEAUTY pulls you into this odd mash up world of science fiction and fantasy that left me rather stunned. The story was beautiful and I loved the characters -- even the ones I loved to hate. This book is a retelling of BEAUTY AND THE BEAST like no other, made into a brilliant novel by its everything -- the story, the characters, and (of course) the feels.

OF BEAST AND BEAUTY is set on a planet not so different from our own, but with a much harsher environment. Oh, and magic exists and has a mind of its own. Because of this harsh environment though, the people began to adapt, but in ways that were horrifying for them. Thus, the remaining “smooth skins” sealed themselves off inside domes to protect themselves against the harsh weather and the now transformed outside. Isra, a princess inside one of the domes, becomes the captor of one such outsider.

While still retaining traces of the original tale, we are swept into this magical and terrifying land. I loved how original the world building was and also how switching of captor/prisoner role reversal. It brought a whole new dynamic to the relationship of the Beauty and the Beast, and also made you question what makes one a Beast.

Speaking of the characters, each was a well carved out being. And I don’t just mean the main characters, as so often those are the only characters with any real depth to them. Each side character had a purpose, but didn’t simply feel as if they were there to serve a purpose. I don't even know what to say about the feels -- I just want to post a GIF in an attempt to explore what I'm feeling with internet humor. But that just wouldn’t do it justice.

I want to read this book again. And again and again. With flawless writing and a breathtaking story, this is a book not to miss. I adored it cover to… whatever you call the back of the book. Seriously, I live for books where love can save the world.

Final Thought: ALL the toadstools

PS: I just want to point out there is a rose on the cover.

This review is also posted on GoodReads

Review: Hereafter by Tara Hudson

2014-01-23T13:00:00.000-05:00

Can there truly be love after death?

Drifting in the dark waters of a mysterious river, the only thing Amelia knows for sure is that she's dead. With no recollection of her past life or her actual death, she's trapped alone in a nightmarish existence. All of this changes when she tries to rescue a boy, Joshua, from drowning in her river. As a ghost, she can do nothing but will him to live. Yet in an unforgettable moment of connection, she helps him survive.

Amelia and Joshua grow ever closer as they begin to uncover the strange circumstances of her death and the secrets of the dark river that held her captive for so long. But even while they struggle to keep their bond hidden from the living world, a frightening spirit named Eli is doing everything in his power to destroy their newfound happiness and drag Amelia back into the ghost world . . . forever.
Thrilling and evocative, with moments of pure pleasure, Hereafter is a sensation you won't want to miss.

Hardcover, 404 pages
Published June 7th 2011 by HarperTeen
(info grabbed from GoodReads)

What teenager is this forward? Ridiculous quote time! I think three from the first 100 pages will suffice:

"'Beautiful. Too beautiful for people not to have noticed you the other night.'"

-Joshua pg 35

"'...otherwise I'm crazy and I'm talking to a beautiful, electrified, imaginary girl.'"

-Joshua pg 71

"'Anyway, it doesn't matter where we go, I just want to be wherever you are.'"

-Amelia pg 87

Joshua, I do believe you are crazy. I understand some odd behavior from Amelia since she's been dead for a mysterious length of time and hasn't brushed up on how to act like a non-dead-and-desperate person. But Joshua? His only reason for wanting to be around Amelia is "UR BEAUTIFUL AND I SAW YOU IN THE WATER WHEN I DIED. WEIRD." Granted Amelia's main reason for wanting to be around Joshua is also his looks, added with the fact he's the only person who can see her so, you know, slim pickings. I don't like it. It's not even insta-love; it's insta-attraction and nothing else. No chemistry. Just stupid.

Also, all mysterious-ness is forced. All questions regarding Amelia could be answered with a minute of research. And on that note, if I was a ghost and suddenly starting to remember my previous life, I think I'd be more interested in that than following around a boy who is perfectly aware of who he is. Furthermore, if I were a boy hanging around a ghost only I could see who didn't even remember her last name, I would start investigating. Immediately. This book is written in the modern age (or not stated otherwise), and Joshua doesn't even think to look up recent obituaries on his smart phone? Or go look up old newspaper articles about a girl who died in the river? No desire to know the unknown? What the hell!

There is no love between HEREAFTER and me. It is unfortunate, because I don’t like to not like books, but this one was a complete dud with me. Momo and the infinite sadness.

Final Thought: Zero. Just zero, no toadstools.

This review is also posted on GoodReads

Review: Witch Finder by Ruth Warburton

2014-01-08T16:53:00.000-05:00

London. 1880. In the slums of Spitalfields apprentice blacksmith Luke is facing initiation into the Malleus Maleficorum, the fearsome brotherhood dedicated to hunting and killing witches.

Luke’s final test is to pick a name at random from the Book of Witches, a name he must track down and kill within a month, or face death himself. Luke knows that tonight will change his life forever. But when he picks out sixteen-year-old Rosa Greenwood, Luke has no idea that his task will be harder than he could ever imagine.

Paperback, 374 pages

Published January 2nd 2014 by Hodder Children's Books

(info grabbed from GoodReads)

WITCH FINDER is a wonderful and atmospheric read, but with a few hang-ups. The story was very dry -- dry is the best way I can put it, I think. Not that I’m sure what a moist story would be, but it’s definitely the opposite of WITCH FINDER. The dryness in addition to being a somewhat depressing story made this book harder to read for me and even harder to review. I’m rather torn: I did enjoy the story and remained interested while reading, but it was hard to keep reading for long or the world would seem to turn gray around me.

The treatment Rosa experiences is absolutely abhorrent. It was hard to stomach at times and honestly left a bad taste in my mouth after reading some passages. I had to take this book baby steps at a time because there was just only so much sadness I can handle reading at a time. Also, animal lovers be warned: there are some despicable things that happen to a puppy and a horse.

The romance was sweet, but felt kind of forced and the pacing was off. It was hard to believe that someone with such hatred towards witches could fall in love with one knowing exactly what she was. I mean, I adore forbidden love, but this one didn’t feel right. Not quite instalove, but close; our main man’s transition between being murderous and then in love felt a bit cut short. Also, let me repeat that: he is murderous. He is actually plotting her demise and falls in love with her. Just sayin’.

While the romance was hard to swallow and Rosa’s life was draped in sadness, I think the book really excels in its world building. The story is crafted in a darkly realistic Victorian London where witches are real and deadly. I liked how the author pulled together fantasy and historical fiction to make a Victorian magical realistic setting. It was different, and I happen to really like different.

I will more than likely continue with this series, as I am super interested to see where the story is going. Though WITCH FINDER seemed a little messy and had its ups and downs, I overall still really liked it. I’m hoping to feel a bit more connected to the story in the sequel, but I guess we’ll see on that.

Final Thought: 3 out of 5 toadstools

This review is also posted on GoodReads

Review: Another Little Piece of my Heart by Tracey Martin

2014-01-07T21:57:00.002-05:00

What if your devastating break-up became this summer’s hit single? In this rock-and-roll retelling of Jane Austen’s Persuasion, music can either bring you together or tear you apart.

At her dying mother’s request, Claire dumps Jared, the only boy she’s ever loved. Left with a broken family and a broken heart, Claire is furious when she discovers that her biggest regret became Jared’s big break. While Jared is catapulted into rock-star status, another piece of Claire’s heart crumbles every time his song plays on the radio.

The summer after her senior year, it’s been months since the big break-up, and Claire is just trying to keep her head down and make it through a tense trip to the beach with her family. But when Jared shows up, and old feelings reignite, can Claire and Jared let go of the past? Or will they be stuck singing the same old refrain?

ebook, 304 pages
Published December 1st 2013 by Harlequin Teen

(info grabbed from GoodReads)

Could this retelling be as good as the original PERSUASION by Jane Austen? I don't have a clue, I have not read PERSUASION -- but I'm starting to think I should. I don’t read contemporary often, but when I do, I read PERSUASION retellings. And ANOTHER LITTLE PIECE OF MY HEART makes my insides do a happy dance thinking about it.

It was filled with sweetness and spark, with a dash of modern day teenage angst. Claire and Jared made for believable and relatable characters and had such chemistry. I could fall in love with their story again and again. The only complaint I have is that Claire’s stubbornness started to get a bit silly towards the middle of the book, but whatever. It’s forgivable, because in my head she’s a real person. You forgive your friends when they’re being a little over emotional, right?

My favorite thing about ANOTHER LITTLE PIECE OF MY HEART was how absorbed into the story I was. It is a rare thing for me to find a book I can’t put down, and I could not pry myself Kindle away for long after I started this story. Each character had depth, there were moments of pleasant unpredictability, and the plot moved along at a good pace. There is nothing to complain about.

Basically, I ate this book up and am eager to read anything else Tracey Martin dishes out. The story is adorable and I highly recommend it to anyone who likes breathing.

Final Thought: 9.5 out of 9.5 toadstools.

This review is also posted on GoodReads

Review: Hero by Alethea Kontis

2013-12-06T10:51:00.000-05:00

Rough and tumble Saturday Woodcutter thinks she's the only one of her sisters without any magic—until the day she accidentally conjures an ocean in the backyard. With her sword in tow, Saturday sets sail on a pirate ship, only to find herself kidnapped and whisked off to the top of the world. Is Saturday powerful enough to kill the mountain witch who holds her captive and save the world from sure destruction? And, as she wonders grumpily, "Did romance have to be part of the adventure?" As in Enchanted, readers will revel in the fragments of fairy tales that embellish this action-packed story of adventure and, yes, romance.

Hardcover, 304 pages

Published October 1st 2013 by Harcourt Books

(info grabbed from GoodReads)

This book was a huge let down. I adored ENCHANTED with its magical world chock full of fairy tales and was thrilled to read the sequel. HOWEVER. This sequel does not live up to any of my expectations. Maybe the bar was set pretty high after how much I loved ENCHANTED, but HERO honestly doesn’t even come close on any level to the amount of enjoyment of its predecessor.

HERO follows Saturday Woodcutter, Sunday from the first book’s next oldest kin. The non-magical sister gets a fantastical tale of her own: whisked away to a mountain cave inhabited by a witch, Saturday faces danger and excitement, with a touch of romance. It sounds like this story couldn’t go wrong.

My first bone of contention? Saturday. Saturday Woodcutter is not nearly as fun to read as her little sister Sunday. Whereas Sunday was whimsical and dreamy, Saturday is tomboyish and … boring. She is a generic I-wish-I-were-a-boy character that had no original spunk. Her lack of personality made reading her adventure tiresome, and I just couldn’t keep reading.

Next issue: the writing is pretty bad. Alethea Kontis excels at writing interesting dialogue. Other than that, everything gets confusing and isn’t described nearly enough -- there was never a moment where there was a beautifully painted picture of what was going on. It seemed like guesswork whenever there was any action, where this was less of a problem in ENCHANTED. The characters were what pulled you into the story and kept things interesting in addition to helping the reader find their way through the somewhat lacking prose. In HERO, where I had no connection to the main character, the writing issues were all the more apparent and unforgivable.

HERO ended up being completely dissatisfying and disappointing. I had other issues that I decided if I fully disclosed, this would turn more into a rant than review. If you’re a fan of ENCHANTED, then you probably are going to pick up this book regardless. Maybe with a bit of warning the reading experience will be more enjoyable for you.

Final Thought: 2 out of 5 toadstools

This review is also posted on GoodReads

Review: That Time I Joined the Circus by J J Howard

2013-11-15T18:25:00.003-05:00

Lexi Ryan just ran away to join the circus, but not on purpose.

A music-obsessed, slightly snarky New York City girl, Lexi is on her own. After making a huge mistake--and facing a terrible tragedy--Lexi has no choice but to track down her long-absent mother. Rumor has it that Lexi's mom is somewhere in Florida with a traveling circus.

When Lexi arrives at her new, three-ring reality, her mom isn't there . . . but her destiny might be. Surrounded by tigers, elephants, and trapeze artists, Lexi finds some surprising friends and an even more surprising chance at true love. She even lucks into a spot as the circus's fortune teller, reading tarot cards and making predictions.

But then Lexi's ex-best friend from home shows up, and suddenly it's Lexi's own future that's thrown into question.

With humor, wisdom, and a dazzlingly fresh voice, this debut reminds us of the magic of circus tents, city lights, first kisses, and the importance of an excellent playlist.

Hardcover, 259 pages

Published April 1st 2013 by Point

(info pulled from GoodReads)

The thing I love about contemporary is the more direct and realistic life lessons it hands out. Not that there isn’t a bit of wisdom to be found in science fiction or fantasy, just a different variety of it. THAT TIME I JOINED THE CIRCUS dishes out some hard to learn lessons in particular to our hero, Lexi, such as finding that people aren’t always who you think they are and that even good people can make terrible mistakes. People can do you wrong, and still be exactly who you need them to be. These messages are delivered with an honest story, fun, and a touch of snark.

This book blends a great story with the excitement of the circus. We get a glimpse into the life of a working circus, which filled that hole inside of me (and more than likely you) that always did want to run away and join the circus. Lexi didn’t run away or join the circus for the more traditional reasons (you know, like fun), and that makes the story more relatable and believable. She is rational and in need of a family, which the circus can provide. I liked that the book highlights the highs and lows of circus work while tying it into a beautiful story of self discovery.

This is the paragraph that I would put negative aspects about the book in. I don’t have anything to put here so this is a paragraph about nothing. THAT TIME I JOINED THE CIRCUS wasn’t a perfect book that pulled at all my feels, but there isn’t anything bad to say.

There was a sweetness to this story that I wasn’t expecting. It has very uplifting messages about being who you are and who you want to be and was an all around feel good novel. I was surprised many a time within this novel, reminding me that books -- and life -- usually go exactly where you don’t expect them to.

Final Thought: 4 out of 6 toadstools

This review is also posted on GoodReads

Review: Pawn by Aimee Carter

2013-11-11T15:27:00.001-05:00

YOU CAN BE A VII. IF YOU GIVE UP EVERYTHING.

For Kitty Doe, it seems like an easy choice. She can either spend her life as a III in misery, looked down upon by the higher ranks and forced to leave the people she loves, or she can become a VII and join the most powerful family in the country.

If she says yes, Kitty will be Masked—surgically transformed into Lila Hart, the Prime Minister's niece, who died under mysterious circumstances. As a member of the Hart family, she will be famous. She will be adored. And for the first time, she will matter.

There's only one catch. She must also stop the rebellion that Lila secretly fostered, the same one that got her killed and one Kitty believes in. Faced with threats, conspiracies and a life that's not her own, she must decide which path to choose—and learn how to become more than a pawn in a twisted game she's only beginning to understand.

ebook, 346 pages

Expected publication: November 26th 2013 by Harlequin Teen

(info grabbed from GoodReads)

This is the second series I’ve read by Aimee Carter and was very excited before reading PAWN to see how she could do a dystopian. The concepts for each series are so different that I was very intrigued to see how that would be handled. I am glad to say that PAWN is very different from THE GODDESS TEST series. Where THE GODDESS TEST was light and magical, PAWN is dark and realistic, while still having the same spark I’ve come to expect from Aimee Carter’s writing. It’s a very different turn for this author, but I really like it.

Dystopian usually revolves the choices a character makes that ultimately start to the dissolve the society. PAWN is a bit different. In this story, Kitty is very much at the whims of everyone around her. This installment of THE BLACKCOAT REBELLION series has Kitty reacting to her predicament time and again; the story is propelled by events around the character rather than the character herself. While this is normally a bad thing, the way the story flows in PAWN made it less exhausting to read than in other books. I appreciated it more as something that made the novel different rather than it being a negative. However, it will be interesting to see in the sequel how Kitty will start to make her own decisions more and how that will affect things.

The way Aimee Carter writes actually feels like it’s coming out of a teenager’s head. I was worried that Kitty would turn into another Kate; same character with a different name. Kitty has similarities with Kate, but is definitely a separate character. She is more… severe. They are both stubborn and want to do what’s right, but Kitty has more guts. She is brave and will do whatever it takes to get her out alive. Kitty has a strength and potential that Kate didn’t have, and her actions and thoughts made sense for a girl living in the world of PAWN.

The world of PAWN is filled with cruelty that sometimes pushed my limits of what was believable for an entire society. But at the same time, stranger things have happened in real life. I love that dystopian literature reminds us not to forget what people are capable of when they have power. Aimee Carter pushed the limits of what I had ever thought about and I loved it. Set in a world that’s a mash of Marie Lu’s LEGEND and George Orwell’s 1984, PAWN is a fresh take on dystopian I recommend for all lovers of the genre.

Final Thought: 24 out of 28 toadstools

This review is also posted on GoodReads

Review: The Mad Scientist's Daughter by Cassandra Rose Clarke

2013-11-10T23:26:00.000-05:00

"Cat, this is Finn. He's going to be your tutor."

Finn looks and acts human, though he has no desire to be. He was programmed to assist his owners, and performs his duties to perfection. A billion-dollar construct, his primary task is now to tutor Cat. As she grows into a beautiful young woman, Finn is her guardian, her constant companion...and more. But when the government grants rights to the ever-increasing robot population, however, Finn struggles to find his place in the world, and in Cat's heart.

Paperback, 391 pages

Published January 29th 2013 by Angry Robot

(info grabbed from GoodReads)

A note: THE MAD SCIENTIST'S DAUGHTER is an adult read and contains adult things. If you don't like adult things (like smoking, divorce, and sex, just to name a few) in books ever, maybe skip this one.

I wasn't sure what I was getting into when I started reading THE MAD SCIENTIST'S DAUGHTER. The story follows Cat from her childhood where she meets Finn, an android assigned as her tutor, and onward through her life as she has experiences with him. The story, which I think is best described as a cross between FORREST GUMP and BICENTENNIAL MAN, focuses on Cat trying to grasp her feelings for her mechanical friend and the ethical and social issues surrounding it. It proved to be a much deeper and mature novel than I was expecting, but it was a pleasant surprise. Cassandra Clarke guides the reader through the turmoils of Cat's life with beautiful prose and great insight.

Even though the book seems lengthy and wordy at times, I could not stop reading. Usually, if I feel that a book is dragged out, I'm done. I can't keep reading and I don't. But even though I felt the prose was lengthy and over elaborate on details at times, I had to keep reading. I had to know what happened in Cat and Finn's world -- I felt deeply involved in the well developed lives of these fictional characters. Cat is a wonderful character in that she is flawed, but those flaws make her feel real. So real, I'm almost expecting her to show up at my high school reunion; we'll drink, have a laugh, talk about how our lives didn't go exactly the way we thought they would after high school and call it a night. The depth to her person is impressive and something I don't see in books very often. And then there's Finn, who can't exist (yet?) but is as full and whole as a character as an android with emotional issues should be.

The only character issue I would note is that all the other character's in the book were not developed. The story goes through almost thirty years of Cat's life, so her friends change throughout the story, as does the setting. And like that setting, they seemed like a backdrop to everything else. Some of these characters were plot devices, others were just there. But in the span of real life, there are characters/people who are simply plot devices that keep our lives moving and others who are just there, so it seems appropriate in the story. And on another thought, it could just have been that the author was trying to exagerate that distanced feeling Cat felt from other people. Intentional or not, the side characters were scattered throughout, generic and unmemorable.

Overall, THE MAD SCIENTIST'S DAUGHTER is a beautiful book. It's the type of read that will invade your thoughts when you're not reading it, so I suggest not picking it up until you have adequate time to read. It wasn't one I personally could put down and come back to -- I was constantly wanting to read it through my day. I highly recommend it to anyone who likes speculative science fiction and is looking for a deeper, more emotion packed read.

FINAL THOUGHT: 3.99 out of 5 sexy robot toadstools

This review is also posted on GoodReads

Review: Shadows on the Moon by Zoe Marriott

2013-10-30T21:35:00.002-04:00

Trained in the magical art of shadow-weaving, sixteen-year-old Suzume is able to re-create herself in any form - a fabulous gift for a girl desperate to escape her past. But who is she really? Is she a girl of noble birth living under the tyranny of her mother's new husband, Lord Terayama? Or a lowly drudge scraping a living in the ashes of Terayama's kitchens? Or is she Yue, the most beautiful courtesan in the Moonlit Lands? Whatever her true identity, Suzume is destined to use her skills to steal the heart of a prince in a revenge plot to destroy Terayama. And nothing will stop her, not even the one true aspect of her life- her love for a fellow shadow-weaver.

Hardcover, 447 pages
Published April 24th 2012 by Candlewick Press

(info grabbed from GoodReads)

I was really expecting to like this one.

For supposedly being a retelling of Cinderella set in an alternate version of Japan with a moon kingdom, there is surprisingly little magic. And what magic is there has very little spark for me. This one is really struggled to hold my attention. I could see where the book was going at every turn and that it is a story of revenge, but I'm just not feeling any urgency with the story. Everything feels drawn out and wordy. Rather than flowing right along like a river, the story moves like a trickling creek that is about to run dry. I think SHADOWS ON THE MOON is a good book, maybe a great book to some, but overall just not for me.

I was worried when reading the description that SHADOWS ON THE MOON would be similar to CINDER, in that they are both retellings of Cinderella, they have Asian inspired settings, and that they both involve a moon kingdom. However, all of those similarities just lay on the surface of both books; at their core, they are nothing alike. CINDER is a science-fantasy retelling whereas SHADOWS ON THE MOON is a slower paced tale of revenge that has very little in common with the traditional Cinderella tale. And it has no robots, which makes me sad.

Speaking of things that make me sad, the pacing also felt off. The story would stop and go as I was reading and I personally don’t like playing red-light-green-light with books. I like a nice flow, which unfortunately, I did not get with SHADOWS ON THE MOON. One thing that also worsened the slow pacing was the lack of urgency. All these terrible things happen but we’re not going to do anything other than wait. Let’s hurry up and wait. Not digging it.

Basically this all adds up to: this book wasn’t for me. If you’re looking for an anger fueled journey of revenge riddled with self-mutilation and a lot of reflection in a semi-magical Japan, SHADOWS ON THE MOON is for you. If you want a story with a bit more of a kick and excitement, maybe look elsewhere. Whatever you do, happy reading

Final Thought: 1 out of 3 moon bunny toadstools

This review is also posted on GoodReads

Review: The Goddess Inheritance by Aimee Carter

2013-10-20T20:12:00.001-04:00

Love or life.
Henry or their child.
The end of her family or the end of the world.
Kate must choose.

During nine months of captivity, Kate Winters has survived a jealous goddess, a vengeful Titan and a pregnancy she never asked for. Now the Queen of the Gods wants her unborn child, and Kate can't stop her--until Cronus offers a deal.

In exchange for her loyalty and devotion, the King of the Titans will spare humanity and let Kate keep her child. Yet even if Kate agrees, he'll destroy Henry, her mother and the rest of the council. And if she refuses, Cronus will tear the world apart until every last god and mortal is dead.

With the fate of everyone she loves resting on her shoulders, Kate must do the impossible: find a way to defeat the most powerful being in existence, even if it costs her everything.

Even if it costs her eternity.

(info grabbed from GoodReads)

THE GODDESS INHERITANCE was a great (potentially temporary) end to THE GODDESS TEST trilogy. It was action packed and filled with the same spark that made me love the first two books. I also really liked how Aimee Carter left the ending open while still maintaining that complete feeling. There is so much left in this world she created to explore; there are several characters that could have their own story and so many places that are only touched upon.

I love how marriage is sexy in this series -- holy matrimony never looked so good. Henry and Kate’s relationship still has a lot of spark to it, which I found especially lovely because they’re married. Marriage isn’t terribly common in young adult (which makes sense; it’s young adult), but I love that THE GODDESS TEST series portrayed marriage in a good (and sexy) light. In young adult, the glimpses of marriage you do get are usually through the parents of the characters. And let’s face it, in young adult, there’s an abundance of absent and/or divorced parents. Kate’s (somewhat incestuous) family is refreshing. Plus, who doesn’t love a bit of win-cest? I don’t usually, but for some reason I find myself loving how Kate’s mom is also her auntie and sister-in-law.

There’s nothing I would say is bad about the book, but there is something that was just okay. I felt like I didn't have a strong feel for Henry's character anymore -- he's barely a main character in this book. Actually, he is the definition of a supporting character, as he literally supports Kate. That is his main role in the book, at least from my perspective. Henry doesn't have the strongest personality to begin with, so with his depleted role, it was really easy to lose sight of who he is. Henry is in the book more than he was in GODDESS INTERRUPTED, however, he just didn't have a lot of moments where his character shined. In THE GODDESS TEST, my favorite part of the book was the chemistry between Henry and Kate, so the sequel and this one let me down a little in that way.

I love the way Aimee Carter writes; she has a relaxed way of writing that is so easy to read. Not to say that her stories aren't dynamic or suspenseful, because they are. The way she writes is kind of like how people normally talk: it is relaxed. It is fluid. It makes her books a quick, fun reads consistantly. I would pick up another book written by her in a heart beat. And it's nice to know I won't have to wait too long: her next book is out next month. PAWN is the start of a dystopian series, which is a bit of a jump from THE GODDESS TEST, but I'm betting it will be just as good.

Final Thought: 23 out of 29 toadstools

This review is also posted on GoodReads

Review: Indelible by Dawn Metcalf

2013-08-31T12:33:00.002-04:00

Some things are permanent.

Indelible.

And they cannot be changed back.

Joy Malone learns this the night she sees a stranger with all-black eyes across a crowded room—right before the mystery boy tries to cut out her eye. Instead, the wound accidentally marks her as property of Indelible Ink, and this dangerous mistake thrusts Joy into an incomprehensible world—a world of monsters at the window, glowing girls on the doorstep, and a life that will never be the same.

Now, Joy must pretend to be Ink’s chosen one—his helper, his love, his something for the foreseeable future...and failure to be convincing means a painful death for them both. Swept into a world of monsters, illusion, immortal honor and revenge, Joy discovers that sometimes, there are no mistakes.

Somewhere between reality and myth lies…

Paperback, 384 pages

Published July 30th 2013 by Harlequin Teen

(info grabbed from GoodReads)

I am going to get right to the chase: Indelible was a good book, but not a great book. Not on the fence on being a great book either, it was just good. It was enjoyable and I didn’t want to throw it across the room, but I didn’t ache to keep reading either. The biggest pro is that Dawn Metcalf has a great imagination and has created a novel using new ideas -- something not seen terribly often. She mixes faerie mythos and creatures from her own mind to create a new world for the reader. However, fresh ideas do not necessarily make a great novel.

The book revolves around a very original mythology of fae created by the author. The world of Indelible is creative and great imagination food. The issue became though, that there was very little that was original besides the backdrop of the story. Joy is your average YA female lead; she doesn't have a particularly strong personality, she's not a dynamic character in any sense, and she's not particularly joyful. She's not particularly anything. Ink is your typical aloof male character, with his lack of interest at first but overall vulnerability that develops because of the female lead. Though there were some very well done scenes between the two characters that sparked with emotion, overall it wasn’t enough for me. The romance, which was more the focus of Indelible, was rather blah for a romance novel.

My big dilemma with the world building was the stark contrast of the original concepts in the world mixed with the bland romantic plot. It felt to me as though the story was too original in some aspects for how unoriginal it was in others. I got the overwhelming feeling at times that I had read this book before, but with a different backdrop. It made it hard for me to continue reading at times as I found myself bored.

Indelible, in my opinion, is a book that readers are going to be torn about. Some readers, those who are big fans of PNR in all forms and have a less discriminatory eye, will love this book. Others who are craving something new will feel half starved and underwhelmed.

Final Thought: 5 out of 10 toadstools

This review is also posted on GoodReads