Ravenous Bookshelf

Rating: Four zombie bunnies and a ninja midget

So this book was full of crazy. Just, crazy everywhere. Not only do we have a protagonist who hears voices and hallucinates (all well and good), but she runs away to track down her mother who is arguably crazier than her and lives in a town that makes said Nutty Protagonist look plain-vanilla sane.

Did I mention the talking swan dolls and monsters in the windows and ghosts in the classrooms and the copious amounts of blood?

It makes for an interesting setup, since you're not quite sure how much of Hanna's experiences are a result of her own lack-of-pills reaction or the actual wackiness of Potero, Texas. But hey, why fight over the origins? There is plenty of crazy to go around. And as long as you go with it, you'll probably be fine. Or eaten. Whichever.

Hanna herself is a troubling character -- bipolar schizophrenic really doesn't begin to describe her. She has this terrifying capacity for both intense empathy and total disconnection that means you'll be feeling kind of sorry for her and then she'll go and bash someone's head in. Which leaves you as reader pretty conflicted most of the time, unless you decide to just go with it (see above).

But Hanna is nothing compared to her mother. Rosalee has this mythic status as Queen Badass in the Ultimate Town of Crazy, and she is not pleased to see her daughter. Hanna is determined to make her mother love her (also some disturbing implications here) and as Rosalee is completely lacking in a maternal instinct, has little self-control and possibly no conscience, this quickly gets messy.

And then Hanna goes to school.

There are monsters at school. And ghosts, and other weird stuff, and pretty much everyone is betting on Hanna getting mauled/devoured in the first week. This is high school angst with rabies, and you end up pretty grateful to have a crazy protagonist since anybody else would be lunch by now. But Hanna has wiles and guts and quickly settles on the speediest way to assimilate: snag the most popular boy in school, Wyatt. Who may actually be a bit of a monster himself.

This gets messy, too.

What I loved most about this book was actually the manic mixture of cultures; Hanna is biracial, speaks Finnish, cooks blood pancakes, and has absolutely no inhibitions about failing to fit in. Wyatt, lovely demon-hunter boy, takes this in stride and approaches Hanna on her own baffling terms, which is part of what makes their relationship interesting.

I was not particularly fond of the gore (there is gore galore), but the overall twisty, squishy fun (?) of this book made it worth a few showers of entrails. Not recommended for the queasy and not a tranquil read, but for those who'd like a bath of crazy: jump in!

Rating: 3.5 / 5 stars

Nimira grew up in a world of lush gardens, court intrigue, and the luxury of the palace. But after her mother's death and her father's debts, she finds herself on a dingy stage, singing the ballads of her homeland to a rabble of commoners who see her as an exotic sideshow. A trousergirl.

Not exactly what she had dreamed of, growing up.

However, Nim is resilient and determined, and she keeps her eyes fixed on her goal. Even if she could never compare to her own mother's brilliant performances, Nim wants to make a name for herself. She wants to earn true respect for her art, and make her audience recognize her as more than just a novelty.

Trouble is, Nim's career seems to have stalled. Until a Mysterious Gentleman appears in her audience and offers her a new job: singing accompaniment to a fairy-made automaton, to an audience of Lorinar's upper set.

There are a few problems with this scenario. For one, Nim isn't all sure that she wants to put herself in the hands of a stranger, having so little legal and financial protection herself, to become basically another set-piece to an exotic show -- the Machine and the Heathen. For another, Mr. Parry is said to have a tragic past, including a dead wife.

For a third thing, the automaton is said to be haunted.

Nim says yes anyway, and then things get complicated.

I enjoyed this book, especially for how Nim managed to maintain her autonomy and Get Things Done -- not by rebelling against her limited position and smashing things up, but by working within her constraints. This showed control and strength of character far more impressive than a "can't hold me down" tantrum ever would (not to mention: far more effective).

It was a bit sparse on supporting character details, and the world-building is not done, but I expect that shall be covered in later installments. There must, of course, be later installments. I'd have liked more solid character building and setting work, but you can't help but love and admire Nim.

So, I may be tepid on the overall book, but I am Team Nim all the way.

Rating: 3.5 / 5 stars

Tessa Gray has a problem. Several problems, actually. Her aunt has died suddenly, leaving her an orphan in New York in 1878 with no worldly belongings and little cash. Fortunately, her brother Nate has just sent her steamer tickets and a letter, inviting her to come live with him in London. Except that when she gets there, Nate is not, and Tessa is kidnapped.

Oh, dear.

This is actually a prequel to Cassandra Clare's bestselling Mortal Instruments series, but you don't need to have read those to enjoy Clockwork Angel. Honestly, besides one lovely side character and a few surnames, I didn't recognize much - though it should please fans of the 'later' books.

Also, do not fret: this may be set in Victorian times, but there is no shortage of blood and battle and even some scandalous drenched-shirt action. After all, Clare specializes in three things: action, witty banter, and sizzling chemistry (with some banter on the side).

Tessa is a great protagonist; she is tossed into an overwhelming supernatural world and yet avoids becoming either a) google-eyed and passive or b) improbably adept and Chosen One-ish. The second option was a definite possibility, since Tessa soon discovers that she may not be altogether human. Which is rather a nasty shock.

But, our heroine keeps her priorities straight! First, she must find and rescue her brother from Certain Peril. And if this means consorting with the Enclave, a secret band of supernatural warriors pledged to defend the human race, so be it. And if that means dealing with Will Herondale, a beautiful, magnetic boy with a worrying lack of self-preservation instinct or respect for personal space...well, all in the name of duty!

Will is the obligatory devil-may-care-but-I-sure-as-hell-don't male lead, but I found myself more interested in the other characters through most of the book. And they are well worth the attention, especially Jessamine, a Shadowhunter who is trapped as warrior in a society that values gentle wives -- and the way that she deals with this is fascinating. Yet also frequently annoying.

This book is the first in a trilogy, so do not be surprised at cliffhangers! Because Clare has a nasty habit of those. But I care far too much about the characters now (and my love for Victoriana is neverending) so I'm just going to have to wait with the rest of you. Oh, the pain!

Rating: 4 / 5 stars

You'll probably like this book if you enjoy the following:

*a (literally) kickass heroine

*an intriguing and engaging romance

*an intricate, magnificent mythology

In Guardian of the Dead, the landscape and legends of New Zealand deserve just as much focus as the main character (who is impressive in her own right). I'm not terribly myth-knowledgeable beyond some of the basics -- certain Greek stories about incest and such, the old faeire tales of getting stolen away, a few creation myths here and there. So it was a real pleasure to enter Ellie's world and find a rich cultural tradition waiting for me...which makes it sound way too academic and dusty. Believe me, this is about blood and fury and fighting for your life and soul, not to mention dealing with incredibly creepy things happening to eyes. (Aghgh).

But Ellie really sold the book on me. This girl is strong. Yes, physically, since she's a black belt in tae kwon do and not a lightweight either -- but also emotionally and mentally. She's dealt with her mother's battle with cancer and adjusting to a new boarding school without becoming bitter, and she's steadfast in her commitments to friends. She's also nobody's fool, which made the mythological events in this book really work -- if Ellie could come to terms with this crazy stuff happening, then so could I.

And what crazy stuff it is. Besides the not-unpleasant oddity of her longtime crush Mark suddenly taking notice of her, Ellie is also experiencing sudden lapses in memory followed by vomit-inducing migraines when she tries to fill in the gaps...not to mention that a deeply creepy red-haired woman has come striding out of the nightly mists to join their school production of A Midsummer Night's Dream. In the role of Titania, of course. And this lady is taking an odd interest in Ellie's best friend Kevin...

Ellie's only involved in the play to direct the fight scenes, which is both totally awesome and totally appropriate. Other bloggers have made note of how often Ellie gets beat up in this book, and it is true -- our girl takes it on the chin a lot. But she dishes it out, too, and I don't want to spoil the book but I will pose a question: Wouldn't you just love it if the heroine's response to Mysterious Boy Being Frustratingly Mysterious was to punch him in the face?

Answer: yes.

So read this book for Ellie. Because she rocks.

Rating: 5 / 5 stars (plus ETERNAL LOVE)

First: why has EVERYONE not read this book? I am aghast and outraged and saddened and deeply shamed.

So this isn't going to be a review so much as a giant incoherent mess of READ THIS NOW PLEASE K?

Because Sunshine is pure awesome. It is the kind of awesome where you are consciously reading slower, dragging your feet so that it can all last longer and getting all panicky and weepy at the sight of dwindling pages to-be-read even as you cannot stop reading.

This is what a vampire-fantasy-YAish novel should be. I would advocate it as the cure for Twilight Madness, but I fear if hardcore Twilight fans read it it would blow their minds.

I hardly even know how to introduce this without babbling on forever -- our heroine is Sunshine, nicknamed not for a sunny disposition but rather her odd affinity for daylight. She is baker at Charlie's Coffeehouse, which is more of a giant family gathering than anything, what with her mother marrying Charlie and her two stepbrothers always stealing the cinnamon rolls and her tattooed-yet-mellow boyfriend Mel working as the cook. But this isn't some idealist fantasy of small town life -- baking is brutal work, getting up at ungodly hours and pounding dough into submission in a blazing kitchen and everyone running like mad and the customers streaming in and out and then oh god the tour buses...

So it's understandable that Sunshine needs a break once in a while. So she drives out to the lake one night -- and the vampires grab her. Dammit.

They give her a cranberry formal dress, and drag her to a grand deserted house in the moonlight, and chain her in the ballroom with another vampire....who is also chained to the wall. But within easy arm's reach.

What the hell?

This will take your assumptions about vampires, about supernatural romance, about pretty much everything in this 'genre' and flip them all sorts of ways. McKinley's worldbuilding is masterly and lush and detailed without turning to overload, and oh would you just read this already?

Please?

You need to read it for Sunshine, most of all -- a cranky, sarcastic, brilliant heroine who thinks of herself as a coward but has more backbone than Rambo in everything that matters. I love how she describes the world, this almost-rambling style that has so much fun with words without showing off, and she's so perceptive that we get to pick up on all the rich nuances of the people and the world around her, too. By the end of the book, I wasn't just in love with Sunshine -- I loved everyone she loved, I loved her work, I loved her entire life and how she was living it. Not even in the wish-I-had-it way (4 am wake up call, no thanks) but just how right it felt for her even in all the complicated mess of it.

Plus? I cannot even say how much I love the human-vampire interaction. FINALLY, we have a Girl-Meets-Otherworldly Creature of Darkness story where the heroine's first reaction isn't "Hot damn!" but "YEAEAACCHH!"
Because, you know, DEAD and EVIL and WRONG and WANTS TO EAT ME equals GET AWAY NOW, not 'Come and get it!'

And our vampire is fantastic too -- Con is not human and so he thinks differently about the world and he's been around for a long time, so we get a character who is truly alien -- not just some angst-ridden Byronic hero with a complexion issue.

And these characters grow through their interactions with each other and the awful, impossible choices they are making and that is also why you will fall in love. Because the Sunshine you meet in the beginning is not the same Sunshine at the end, and you've been with her the whole way and you're changed, too.

I need to stop. Please just read this book. Please. I'll even leave you with a link to an excerpt.

Have fun!

Rating: 4 / 5 stars

WARNING: Contains spoilers for Rampant, the first book in the Awesome Girls Who Are Also Unicorn Hunters series (my title).

Well, Diana Peterfreund certainly doesn't pull her punches. I picked up this book at a signing at ALA where I actually got to meet her (and be all incoherent in her face, yay!), and she invited me to share what I think.

And I'm still not quite sure.

Life continues to be suckily complicated for Astrid Llewelyn, reluctant unicorn hunter, as we find her still with no solution to the conundrum that unicorns are both a) vicious, man-eating monsters and b) magical, wild animals whose habitat has been decimated. Sure, her cousin Phillippa has become a champion of the unicorn-preservation movement, lobbying for endangered species status and a nature preserve and legislation against hunting and trafficking -- but meanwhile, unicorns are still out there killing people. Which means that Astrid has to go out there and kill the unicorns first.

And she's not sure how much longer she can stand it, especially since it's getting easier to sense the unicorns around her, their desperation and hunger and terror as they die...

Meanwhile, Cory is getting mysteriously sick and things are getting horrendously complicated with Giovanni and Gordian Pharmaceuticals menaces in the background and Astrid's chance of a normal life and medical school and her aspirations to help people seem to be slipping further away every day.

Geeze, Louise.

It is a tribute to Astrid as heroine that I felt compelled to stick with her throughout all this horrible mess, even as she screws up and gets lost and hurts people she cares about -- I just couldn't leave her. Because she was doing the best she could and being strong and smart and funny despite it all and let me tell you that is a kickass heroine.

It's awfully risky to have your main character go through the wringer, mostly because as readers we want to identify with our protagonist and no one likes having Life kick the snot out of them. But Life Happens, and props to Diana Peterfreund for developing this story in the way it should happen even if it means a rougher ride.

Lots of more excellent stuff in this book with the tangled mess of being a powerful, strong woman in a world that favors the 'wilting willow' stereotype; dealing with others' expectations while trying to forge your own identity (a note about Astrid's mother: HOLY HELL WOMAN, GET AWAY); struggling between responsibilities and your own desires (if you can even figure out what they are)....I could write a whole different loving review about this stuff right here. Not to mention the Endangered Species/Vicious Killers problem that the unicorns bring in, along with drug development and animal testing and woah....

But I should stop, because it boils down to this: get this book, and read it. It is a wild ride with our fantastic heroine and moments of pure magic, and believe me you don't want to miss out on that.

P.S. If you're wondering (as I did) about all the amazing unicorn-lore, Diana Peterfreund has an awesome page on her site full of Unicorn Research. LOVE.

Rating: 4 / 5 stars.

I've heard about Holly Black in terms of awesomeness before, but I've never really gotten into her modern faeire tale series with Valiant, Tithe, and Ironside. It isn't that I doubted the reviews, but each time I picked up one of her books they failed to really grab me...the timing just felt off.

And then I went to the ALA Annual Conference in DC, and saw the lines for White Cat. I decided enough was enough! No more lollygagging! I would enter the world of Holly Black and not look back!

Oh man.

I was so not prepared for the awesome. First off, White Cat is a con man's story, which means it's full of twists and tricks and glorious lies. Second, this is a world of magic, where certain people -- called workers -- have the ability to curse others by touch alone. There is a ban on 'working,' and the government is eager to have mandatory tests to determine who has this ability (which workers are understandably eager to avoid). So everybody wears gloves, just to be safe. Meanwhile, a lot of workers are drawn into a black market world by their talents, recruited - and someones forced - to work for crime syndicates with their mojo.

The main story centers around Cassel, who seems like a decent guy. Okay, so maybe his mother's in jail for scamming rich guys out of their fortunes (with a little help from her emotional 'working' magic), and his brothers might be sort of working the black market with their talents for luck and broken bones, respectively, but Cassel doesn't have the working talent, so he's not in the family business. Instead, he's going to boarding school, becoming an upright young man and keeping out of trouble...except for that little betting pool he's operating on the side. Oh, and that time he murdered a girl in cold blood.

Um, yeah.

It took me a little while to get into this story, but once I was hooked and the con games got going, well -- I finished this one in a day. And kept making these shocked noises that disturbed my fellow passengers on various transports, because by the end my head was spinning off. I mean, I sort of saw one twist, but then there was another, and then I did not see that coming and oh what? -- so I just had to sit back and enjoy the ride.

As a narrator, Cassel was hard to warm to, especially given his habit of envisioning killing his ex-girlfriend as a sort of litmus test for Evil. (Cassel: Hmm, does the thought of strangling this girl fill me with horror? ....Yes...okay, so, still not evil!). But it was through his interactions with his family -- his crazy, criminal, messed-up family, that I really started to sympathize with him. By three-quarters of the way through the story had really kicked into gear and I was with Cassel to the end, whatever that turned out to be.

I'll stop babbling to avoid spoilers, but I can say now with confidence: Holly Black's reputation of awesome is fully justified. And con games + mobsters + prickly, difficult characters + magic = win.

Rating: 2/5 stars.

When I set out to write this review, I had trouble remembering the title -- was it Eternal? Abiding? Undying? Something to do with lasting forever...

Sadly, the book was equally forgettable. Take every Gothic cliche you've ever stumbled across on a stormy night in the churchyard, toss in some diary entries from a Ghostly Presence and stir in all the angst-ridden spices of a Doomed Teen Love, and you end up with something pretty bland and predictable. After The Splendor Falls, it almost felt like an object lesson in all the ways a supernatural-digging-up-the-past while exiled-to-a-strange-place story can fall flat.

The heroine is banished to Wyldcliffe Abbey School for Young Girls after her grandmother and primary guardian suffers a stroke (her father is off on military duty). The school, an appropriately gloomy Castle On the Moors type, just seems to be haunted -- by a redheaded girl who strikingly resembles Evie herself.

Le gasp! Of course, Evie doesn't even make it to the school ("That cursed place!" the cabdriver hilariously --er, ominously -- snarls) before having an Eerie Encounter, with a young man on a dark horse who knocks her down in the rain and is terribly rude and yet mysteriously appealing...

Oh, I can't go on.

I didn't hate the book. I was just totally indifferent. To pretty much everything, from the prose to the characters to the themes (women harnessing magic = girl power! Evil controlling man who wants the magic = thinly veiled metaphor for male oppression!).

If you want to be inundated with Gothic sensationalism, read a Wilkie Collins. If you want a Doomed Romance on the Moors, read Wuthering Heights. Even better, check out Jane Austen's Northanger Abbey, which takes all those stereotypes and gives them a firm tweak on the nose. Plus, you'll get a great romance with characters you'll care about (oh, Henry Tilney, please do smirk in my direction!). But unless you've never before encountered a Mystery on the Moors with a Young Girl and Shadowy Male Figure, you can give this book a pass on the shelves.

Rating: 4/5 stars.

I had an inkling I'd enjoy this book, based on how much I've liked Clement-Moore's supernatural Nancy Drew-meets-Buffy Prom Dates from Hell series. And I wasn't disappointed.

Sylvie Davis is a ballerina; dancing is her entire life. She has worked tirelessly for years to build her career, to become the youngest prima ballerina in her company. Then, in a single freak moment, her entire future falls apart. After all, who ever heard of a ballerina with a broken leg?

And then her divorced mother remarries Sylvie's psychiatrist, and Sylvie gets shipped off to Alabama to spend some quality time with her deceased father's family.

Life sucks, no?

But thankfully we've got a heroine with chutzpah, who may not be underprivileged but who doesn't take herself too seriously -- not at all the snobby, stuck-up princess type you'd expect. Ballerinas work hard, and that means knowing your own limits as well as your abilities. Sylvie has a wry, clear-eyed view that makes her situation a lot more interesting than the typical 'rich girl shipped to Podunk, Nowhere.'

Plus, there are all those ghosts lurking around.

Bluestone Hill, the ancestral Davis mansion, has its share of secrets, and Sylvie finds herself caught up in disturbing visions of the family's past. Not to mention being unwillingly enlisted in the town's future --there are plans for development that threaten to destroy old historical sites like the Cahawba Old Town remains, and not everyone is thrilled at the prospect of turning into another tourist-trap for cityfolk.

The conflict is nicely personified in the form of two boys, of course -- the handsome but infuriating Rhys, an archaeology grad student from Wales who excels at getting under Sylvie's skin, and the charming Tom-Sawyer-Golden-Boy-of-the-South Shawn Maddox, who takes a marked interest in Sylvie's arrival (and for reasons beyond 'rich girl from NYC,' it seems). Of course, things aren't simple, as both boys seem to be hiding something. Rhys is decidedly cagey about his supposed 'research' in the area, while Shawn is head of the Teen Town Council, a youth group that seems to have the run of the town and gives off an eerie Leave It To Beaver vibe.

Tugged by these opposing attractions, tangled up in her own emotional turmoil over the loss of her dancing career and coming to terms with her father's death -- Sylvie has to wonder if she's cracking up when she starts seeing the woman running in the woods, or feeling the chill of an old Colonel's stare on the deserted landing. But then she finds the diary, and starts doing her own digging into Bluestone Hill's past...

Satisfyingly rich and well-paced, this book held up for its length and kept me caught up in Sylvie's story all the way through. Rhys and Shawn were excellent as well, and the supporting cast (Paula, the unofficial matriarch of Bluestone Hill; Addie, the snotty Girl Rival) were also well drawn. The only complaint I have is in the conclusion; after all that buildup, things were wrapped up a bit too quickly for my taste. But it didn't hurt my enjoyment of the book overall, and the characters and setting were so vibrant that when I turned the last page I was mostly just disappointed to be leaving Bluestone Hill and Clement-Moore's Haunted South.

Rating: 2/5 stars

This isn't great fun for me; I don't like writing less-than-raving reviews (then again, I don't like reading less-than-awesome books). But I couldn't get into Magic or Madness so much. Part of it maybe was the description; although there were some beautiful passages about winter in NYC, and I did get a nice sense of Sydney as a city-with-green, most of it felt like pretty standard placesetting.

Briefly:
Reason has been taught two very important things by her mother, Sarafina:
1) Magic isn't real
2) Don't let your grandmother catch you.

This is because Reason's grandmother is a witch. Or thinks she is. And so Reason grew up rambling the Australian outback with her mother, learning rational explanations of the world around her and carefully avoiding all contact with the occult. Until her mother goes insane, and her grandmother finally catches her.

Oops.

Once Reason is trapped in the Wicked Witch's house, she discovers that everything she's been taught just might be wrong. After all, how else could she open a back door in Sydney, Australia and end up in New York City? And why is there a girl waiting for her there? And if her own mother has been lying all this time, who exactly can she trust?

The characters were fair enough -- Reason had some lovely quirks due to an upbringing on the run (a nagging habit of cataloging all available escape routes, for instance), and her math-oriented view of the world was also neat to experience. But I wasn't so in love with the jumping around to other characters' POVs. Not only did it not seem to add much besides filling in The Things Reason Cannot Know But We As Readers Should, it also made the main heroine seem kind of...flat, seen through everyone else's eyes. Of course, it didn't help that one of the other characters thought Reason was a total dimwit.

There was way too much cutesy 'divided by a common language stuff,' in my opinion -- yes, the first few Aussie/American slang clashes were bound to happen, but eventually the characters should cotton on a bit and stop being so surprised at This Foreign Tongue They Speak There.

I was probably expecting too much, really. This book was a setup piece to a longer series, so it obviously needed to lay the groundwork for further - more interesting - developments. In the meantime, worldbuilding was the main agenda; spinning out the main questions and shaking up characters' preconceptions, rather than actually answering anything or getting big questy things done. Like when Harry finds out he's a wizard, but before he actually gets rolling at Hogwarts with all the killer trolls and killer professors and scary frizzy-haired girls.

So maybe I'll put a hold on any final verdict for the series. It definitely wasn't boring in terms of 'OMGs They're All Just Talking,' or 'Ooh What's Behind This Door,' and at least the main character isn't like the Gorgeous Bitch in Blood and Chocolate (more on that later). With hope for later installments featuring more action and less talking/confused looks all around.

Rating: 5/5 stars

Gorgeous tale of Sophie Hatter, the eldest of three daughters (and therefore destined to fail first and worst in fortune-seeking), who gets cursed by the Witch of the Waste after an altercation in a hat shop. The curse turns Sophie into an old woman and forces her into the very sort of fortune-seeking that she had been trying very hard to avoid, which in turn leads to her becoming a tenant in the moving castle of the Wizard Howl – a mysterious character infamous for seducing young girls and eating their hearts. Sophie soon discovers that things aren’t exactly what she thought they were through her encounters with the chatty and untrustworthy fire demon Calcifer, a menacing hopping scarecrow and the infuriatingly vain and self-absorbed Howl himself.

Liked: Absolutely spot-on tone, perfect mixture of magical whimsical and an incisive practicality that oddly reminds me of Jane Austen. Sophie is wonderfully strong-willed even as she struggles under a sense of perpetual failure that is all the more powerful for its muted presentation. Howl, of course, becomes totally delightful; I fell in love with him and the book itself at the line:

“On the other hand, it is quite a risk to spank a wizard for getting hysterical about his hair.”

Sophisticated and neat use of magic through interwoven threads of meaning that aren’t fully explained; curses through poetry, talking life into objects, and so on.

Setbacks: That there aren’t an infinite number of Diana Wynne Jones books. The ending was a bit abrupt in a sense, but it ties together quite neatly and there wasn’t any reason to dawdle. But now I need more Diana Wynne Jones. It is a tragic state I'm in, I tell you!