Review: The Future of Us by Jay Asher & Carolyn Mackler

The Future of Us

by Jay Asher & Carolyn Mackler
Release Date: November 21st, 2011
2011 Razorbill
Hardcover Edition; 356 Pages
ISBN: 978-1-59514-491-1
Genre: Young Adult Fiction
Source: Review Copy from Publisher

3 / 5 Stars

Summary
It's 1996, and Josh and Emma have been neighbors their whole lives. They've been best friends almost as long - at least, up until last November, when Josh did something that changed everything. Things have been weird between them ever since, but when Josh's family gets a free AOL CD in the mail,his mom makes him bring it over so that Emma can install it on her new computer. When they sign on, they're automatically logged onto their Facebook pages. But Facebook hasn't been invented yet. And they're looking at themselves fifteen years in the future. 

By refreshing their pages, they learn that making different decisions now will affect the outcome of their lives later. And as they grapple with the ups and downs of what their futures hold, they're forced to confront what they're doing right - and wrong - in the present.

My Thoughts
The Future of Us was an enjoyable read, if anything for the great trip down memory lane.  Although I was way past high school, even in 1996, I do remember the advent of the Internet in the workplace and the changes it brought to the job, and since I am a teacher I was thinking of the moments when the Internet was first introduced in school, and the impact it had on everyone, and the job.


I really thought the idea of this novel was fabulous.  The idea of two teenagers discovering Facebook in 1996 would have been crazy and catastrophic, and the authors could have had so much fun with the storyline.  But this is where is all stopped because as much as I enjoyed the trip down memory lane, the many references to pop culture grew old very quickly and I wanted to focus a lot more on the storyline.  The story was rather interesting at first as Josh and Emma discover they are looking at something from the future, and finally realize it's their future selves.  They both quickly learn that any action/reaction they have in the present will have repercussions in the future.  For Emma this is a good thing as she is not happy with her future and spends a large portion of her time trying to change her future, while Josh is quite clearly happy with his and gets angry at Emma for changing everything.  I have to tell you, the constant focusing on their own futures rather got on my nerves.  Or maybe it's because I am too nosy as I know for a fact I would have spent a considerable amount of time looking up as many people as I knew in order to discover their futures.  There was mention of this fellow student who promised to commit suicide if he wasn't a millionaire by age 30, and did they look him up?  What is wrong with these two people???  What about lottery numbers, for heaven's sake!!!  Or mutual funds and stock market numbers?  Gosh, the possibilities are endless.


I enjoyed Josh as a character far more than I enjoyed Emma.  To be honest, as the book progressed, I grew more annoyed with Emma and didn't really care for her a whole lot by the end.  I actually found her to be somewhat shallow and selfish as a person, someone who cared more about appearances than true character, having boyfriends because of the way their hair looked.  One of her decisions to dump a guy was based on the fact he shaved his head, and she mourned the loss of his hair.  The final straw for me was when Emma kissed Josh knowing the crush he had on her just to see how her future would change.  And then she got mad at him when he called her on it.  I was not overly impressed with her reaction.  I did however, like the interactions between Josh and Sydney and found Syd to be the more interesting character.  There just seemed to be a bit more depth to her and while there were hints at some previous hurts, nothing really materialized.


The writing style actually flowed quite smoothly considering it was a joint effort and I was surprised at that as the collaborative thing doesn't always work.  My main concern with the plot was the many interesting threads that were started, but then didn't go anywhere such as the one about Josh's brother, Sydney's relationship with Rick, Emma's sister Rachel, and so on.  These were far more interesting that the shallow behaviours exhibited by Emma in her quest to date Cody.  I just think if some of these more gritty threads had been developed, it would have been a different, more developed, deeper story.


Verdict
The Future of Us was interesting in that I got to go back and remember a few things about the 90s.  There were some compelling moments in this novel and definitely some concepts and ideas that could have been developed and written about in more depth and with detail.  The novel does carry a great message about choosing your own future, and being careful about the choices you make; only you can change your future so make the best of it.   While I had trouble identifying with the main characters as well as the plotline, it won't stop me from reading another book by either of these authors as I did like their writing styles.

Review: Crossed by Ally Condie

Crossed (Matched, Book #2)
by Ally Condie
Release Date: November 1st, 2011
2011 Dutton Books
Softcover ARC: 384 Pages
ISBN: 978-0-525-42365-2
Genre: Young Adult Fiction
Source: Review Copy from Penguin

3 / 5 Stars

Summary
In search of a future that may not exist and faced with the decision of who to share it with, Cassia journeys to the Outer Provinces in pursuit of Ky - taken by the Society to his certain death - only to find that he has escaped, leaving a series of clues in his wake.

Cassia's quest leads her to question much of what she holds dear, even as she finds glimmers of a different life across the border. But as Cassia nears resolve and certainty about her future with Ky, an invitation for rebellion, an unexpected betrayal, and a surprise visit from Xander - who may hold the key to the uprising and, still, to Cassia's heart - change the game once again. Nothing is as expected on the edge of Society, where crosses and double crosses make the path more twisted than ever.

My Thoughts
Crossed is one of those books where I had a lot of trouble deciding what to do with this review.   There were a number of things I did like about this novel, but unfortunately, I did have an issue with the plot and the characterization and it was pure drive and adrenaline that made me read the book to the end.

One of the things I did enjoy was the growing romance between Cassia and Ky and the increasing complications implicated in that relationship.  The differences between the two were much more apparent in this novel, and this inevitably allowed some of the issues between them to come out and led to some interesting discussions about Ky's background and even more interestingly, about Xander's.   The little bit of romance that was there was sweet, but it dealt with more complex emotions and I really liked that.  I'm also not sure if I was reading into things too much, but I'm also starting to wonder about Ky and Indie and what role the two of them are going to play in this.  To be honest, I've always been a Cassia and Xander fan anyways, so if it plays out like I sort of see it playing out towards the end of this novel, things could get rather interesting for everyone.

I very much like the introduction of Indie, Eli, Hunter, and Vick, and although Indie kind of bothered me at the beginning as I was a big Cassia fan, I have slowly become a big Indie fan as well, although I am not sure of her motives.  Even though I enjoyed meeting the new characters and learning about them, I did find their character development to be somewhat lacking and I really wished that Ms. Condie had spent more time on the secondary characters and not so much on Cassie and Ky.  One of the things I wasn't a huge fan of in this novel was the pace of the novel and I'm talking about it here because the author spent so much time focused on what the characters were thinking that it wasted valuable plot time.  I can't tell you how often Cassia would look at something and think about creating a poem and it would go on for paragraphs, or how Ky would think about his mother's rain drawings, and it would go on forever.  Don't get me wrong, I liked the philosophical thinking as I enjoy that kind of thing, but too much is overkill and it takes away from the overall tone of the novel, especially when there is no point to them at all.

As always, Ms. Condie's writing style is descriptive and flowing, and has a way of using contrasting language very effectively.  The descriptions of the caverns, the settlement, the Carving, and the landscape were very clear in my mind, and I love the constrasts she uses so very well to show the good and the destructive.  Despite the writing style, there is very little in this novel that I felt really advanced the plot a whole lot.  I don't feel like I learned anything new about the Society, the Rising, the Enemy, or anything else and was extremely frustrated because of this.   I felt like the plot was bland, with very little action, a lot of thinking, and it just seemed to wander around without any point that I could really see except that Cassia and India really wanted to find the Rising.

Verdict
Crossed is an okay story, but if you are looking for answers to the many questions you may have had after reading Matched, you will not find them in this novel.  I found the elements in this story to be quite unclear, and while it was interesting to watch Ky and Cassia's relationship face new hardships as they learn about their intrinsic differences, the world around them seems to be falling apart at the seams and we have no clue what is going on or why.  While I will probably read the third novel in this series, I really hope that it contains a lot more action and suspense than this one as this one felt sort of bland, and I think it fell a bit short of the impact it intended to make.  I'm still rooting for Xander though!!!

Review: Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendare Blake

Anna Dressed in Blood (Book #1)
by Kendare Blake
Release Date: August 30th, 2011
2011 TOR Teen
Hardcover Edition; 316 Pages
ISBN: 978-0-7653-2865-6
Genre: Young Adult Paranormal
Source: Review Copy from TOR

4.5 / 5 Stars

Summary
Cas Lowood has inherited an unusual vocation: He kills the dead.


So did his father before him, until he was gruesomely murdered by a ghost he sought to kill. Now, armed with his father's mysterious and deadly athame, Cas travels the country with his kitchen-witch mother and their spirit-sniffing cat. Together they follow legends and local lore, trying to keep up with the murderous dead—keeping pesky things like the future and friends at bay.

When they arrive in a new town in search of a ghost the locals call Anna Dressed in Blood, Cas doesn't expect anything outside of the ordinary: track, hunt, kill. What he finds instead is a girl entangled in curses and rage, a ghost like he's never faced before. She still wears the dress she wore on the day of her brutal murder in 1958: once white, now stained red and dripping with blood. Since her death, Anna has killed any and every person who has dared to step into the deserted Victorian she used to call home.

But she, for whatever reason, spares Cas's life.

My Thoughts
Anna Dressed in Blood took me completely by surprise, and I have to admit to staying up rather late in order to finish.  Besides the fact that this was a ghost story, and I will usually drop anything to settle down and read a ghost story over any other type of novel out there, this novel also took place in Canada, my native country, and it was a combination I couldn't resist.  With a beautifully written prose, intriguing and fun characters, and a storyline that I found delightful, there was a lot to admire in this novel, and I devoured it eagerly.

Cas is not your typical hero or main character, but I loved his sarcastic sense of humour and wit, and found myself chuckling endlessly over his insightful comments about the world around him.  Not your usual teen, he inhabits a world full of ghosts and ghoulies, and after the death of his father, has inherited a power that makes him responsible for getting rid of the evil monsters that pester humans, using his trusty knife, the athame, he also inherited.  Tracking ghosts has become a job for Cas, and he finds himself facing one of the worst when he moves to Thunder Bay, Ontario, and meets the local ghost known as Anna Dressed in Blood who is responsible for killing scores of people in the sixty years since her murder.  As Cas becomes embroiled in the mess he creates, he comes to rely on some unusual friends to help him, and needs all the allies he can find to help him survive.  I really enjoyed Cas's character development as he learned to rely on others and realized that he wasn't necessarily the arrogant, self-sufficient boy he thought he was.  Cas's realization that he needed other people, not only for help defeating ghosts, but for love and companionship, was interesting to explore and I thought the author did a remarkable job in Cas's development. 

I enjoyed the dichotomy of Anna's character as she revolved between evil Anna and nice Anna and wished the author had explored this aspect a bit more in this novel.  To be honest, I think I liked the evil Anna better as the scenes involving her were fun, if spooky and dangerous.  I couldn't quite understand the attraction Cas felt for Anna, but perhaps his constant living with ghosts made this unavoidable as he doesn't quite live in the land of the living, per se.  Anna's changeable nature does make Cas doubt all the other ghost killings he has done, and perhaps this perspective is good for him and he won't be so quick to judge situations in the future.  I have to give credit to Ms. Blake however, for making me feel sympathy for a ghost who has killed countless people, something I had to keep reminding myself throughout the novel; it definitely shows how skillful she is with words if she is capable of wringing such sympathy.

Ms. Blake's writing is certainly beautiful and it drew the reader into Cas's world, without ever letting go.  The descriptive setting made me feel like I was there, although being able to picture a typical Canadian fall definitely made it help especially as I have been through that neck of the woods.  The characters were fun without being stereotypical, and although some of the scenes were quite graphic, they were over rather quickly, and were not dwelled on for long.  After some fantastic opening scenes, and great build-up for the first half of the novel, I felt somewhat of a let down during the second half as I expected a bit more of a scare in the second half than there was.  It wasn't a great disappointment, just that I wanted something a bit more scarier and spookier and it wasn't there.

Verdict
Anna Dressed in Blood was well worth the read and I enjoyed the novel tremendously.  With some eerie and spooky moments, and characters that are fun and intriguing, this novel has an edge to it that is worth the time and effort.  I am looking forward to Girl of Nightmares when it is released next year, and if you are looking for some thrills and chills, this one may be right up your alley.

Review: Awaking by Madeline Freeman

Awaking (The Naturals, Book 1)
by Madeline Freeman
Release Date: August 12, 2011
2011 CreateSpace
E-book Edition; 294 Pages
ISBN: 978-1463738914
ASIN: B005GSESJA
Genre: Young Adult Urban Fantasy
Source: Review Copy from Bewitching Book Tours

3.5 / 5 Stars

Summary
Morgan Abbey’s life is about to change.

Just weeks before her senior year is set to begin, a mysterious stranger approaches Morgan with information that has far-reaching ramifications. First, the psychic ability she believes she has just been pretending to have since middle school might actually be real.

Second, her mother, who disappeared abruptly and completely almost a decade ago, might still be alive.
Morgan finds herself in the drawn into a centuries-old struggle involving a group of people who quietly coexist alongside the common people of the world. This shadowy group believes it is time for them to reclaim their former positions of power—and they believe Morgan is the key.

But when the time comes, will Morgan be able to do what it takes to reunite with her mother and fulfill her destiny?

My Thoughts
Awaking, the first novel in The Naturals series, definitely has a lot of potential.  And while I did find it interesting and fun to read, the pacing was somewhat slow and I found it difficult to stay focused at times as the story had a tendency to meander. 

Out of all of the characters in the novel, I thought Corbin was the most interesting.  With a quirky personality and a friendliness to him that was engaging, I found myself drawn to his character as a reader and looked forward to the scenes in which he appeared.  There was something that was guileless about him and you always knew that he would be there to help save the day and while that may sound boring or uninteresting, I found it endearing.  Morgan, the principal character, sometimes rubbed me the wrong way as I found her to be imperious and cold.  She really didn't have a lot of time for other people in her life except for a rather select few, and pretty much snubbed everybody else and didn't give them much of a chance.  There were times when I wasn't too sure about her, but it's not the first book I've read where I've disliked the main character so I went with it.  Luckily, she began to grow on me towards the end.  As for the rest of the characters, the verdict is still out on them as there wasn't a lot of character development on their parts and I will wait and see what happens with them.  I do find it interesting how quickly one can go from liking a character to disliking a character however, as Kellen is definitely not on my favourites list at this point.  I find him a bit creepy and his aloofness and coolness can be somewhat irritating.

One of the things I did like in this novel was the lack of the 'love' relationship.  I have grown tired of novels where the characters fall in love immediately and the entire book is about their so-called relationship and how to deal with it.  Luckily, this novel was not about that, and although there is some romance, and looks to have some romantic entanglements in the future, there was not a lot of that happening here.  Sometimes it's nice to have the relationship play a secondary role in the events surrounding the characters.  Not that I object to romance, it's just the "love-at-first-sight" thing that really gets to me.  And what I thought would be a romantic entanglement turned out to be the opposite, which threw me completely off guard as I was not expecting it at all.  Love it when that happens!! 

Although the plot and the novel were well-written with a great writing style, I did feel that the action took a little too long to build and I found myself getting bored with some of the events that were going on in the characters' lives.  If the entire novel however, had picked up pace like it did in the last twenty-five percent, it would have been an amazing read as the ending caught me completely by surprise.  While there are definitely gaps in the storyline, and questions that need to be answered, I enjoyed the last part of the novel and was satisfied with how it ended.

Verdict
Awaking has set up a storyline that is interesting and fun, with some quirky characters and what looks to be some rather interesting future developments and entanglements between the characters.  While the novel itself showed a lot of promise, a slow-to-start pace and a meandering plotline did not always keep my interest as a reader and I had to focus at times in order to keep reading.  That being said however, there is great promise in this series, and definitely some great moments that I did enjoy, and I would like to see where Ms. Freeman takes the reader in the sequel.  With her great writing skill, she certainly has the talent to pull off a great second book to this series and I am looking forward to it.

Review: Entwined by Heather Dixon

Entwined
by Heather Dixon
Release Date: March 29, 2011
2011 Greenwillow Books
Softcover Edition ARC: 474 Pages
ISBN: 978-0-06-200103-0
Genre: Young Adult
Source: Review Copy from Publisher

3 / 5 Stars

Summary
Azalea and her younger sisters dance in the mysterious silver forest every night, escaping from the sadness of the palace and their father's grief.  What they don't understand - although as time passes they begin to get an inkling of the danger they are in - is that the mysterious and dashing Keeper is tightening his snare with deadly purpose. 

My Thoughts
Entwined was a fun, delightful read, loosely based on the Brothers Grimm fairytale "The Twelve Dancing Princesses" ("The Worn-Out Dancing Shoes") published in 1812.  While I found this novel to be enjoyable and lighthearted fun, it wasn't one of those novels that gripped me or developped any of the darker elements that can be found in the Brothers Grimm story.  To be honest, I had difficulty continuing this novel in one sitting, and actually had to put it down for a while before reading it through to the end. 

While Azalea was intended to be the main character in this novel and she grew on me as the novel progressed, I actually found myself more impressed with Bramble and the way she constantly fought against everything; she wasn't as willing to take everything as given fact and just go with the flow as Azalea was prone to do.  Azalea did begin fighting back more and more as events unfolded, but I still wished she had more of a backbone to her as she will be queen one day; it's not a position I can actually see her in.  And while I liked how Ms. Dixon tried really hard to give all of the characters individuality, it seemed a little forced at times; how many times can Azalea dig her nails into her palms without blood seeping down her arms?  I also found the focus on the dancing to be a little much; while it's central to the novel, I found the constant talk of dancing, and solving all of your problems through dance to be a bit much.  Don't get me wrong, the dance between the Keeper and Azalea was necessary and fascinating, but some of the other dances seemed to be space fillers rather than important to the story.

While I enjoyed the plot, there were some things that did bother me.  First of all, the issues with the royal palace and the lack of money were never really explained.  It was kind of ambiguous as the girls were lacking food and clothing, yet they had servants and other things that were very contradictory to the state in which they lived.  I also had a problem with some of the language and the short forms.  Things like R.B. (Royal Business), and modern lingo were used constantly and for some reason it bothered me as it didn't seem to fit into the setting of the story.  I never did figure out exactly how some of the enchantments occurred in the novel as it wasn't fully explained.  And sugar teeth?  I never figured out what those were exactly.  In the end, I found the plot to be loose and full of holes, but at the same time, there were still many elements that were enjoyable and fun.  Unfortunately, some of the negatives did impact on the many positives for me.  The story was either too slow, or contained too many irrelevancies that interfered with the flow of what could have been a really great story.

Verdict
Entwined was an enjoyable read, and while I would recommend it to anyone who loves to read re-worked fairytales, for me the plot was simply too shallow, not containing enough depth to really grab and hold my interest for long.  I found the novel to be fairly repetitive and while I did enjoy some of the magical enchantments and some of the dancing elements, I thought the modern dialogue interfered with the more Victorian setting.  Ms. Dixon writes with an engaging style however, and while I was not crazy about this one which is perhaps more suited to a younger age group, I would definitely pick up another of her novels based on her writing alone.

Review: Beautifully Broken by Sherry Soule

Beautifully Broken (Spellbound, Book 1)
by Sherry Soule
Release Date: June 30, 2011
2011 Moonlight Publishing
E-Book Edition; 325 Pages
ISBN: 978-0-976-18047-0
Genre: Young Adult / Paranormal
Source: Review Copy from Betwitching Book Tours

4 / 5 Stars

Summary
They say every town has its secrets, but that doesn’t even begin to describe Whispering Pines. The townsfolk are a superstitious lot and the mystical disappearance of a local teen has everyone murmuring about a centuries old witch’s curse.


Sixteen-year-old Shiloh Ravenwolf is a heritage witch from the Broussard family, a family both destined and cursed. When she takes a summer job at Ravenhurst Manor, she discovers a ghost with an agenda. That’s where she meets the new town hottie, Trent Donovan, and immediately becomes spellbound by his charms. Yet she is determined to discover the connection between them.

Finally, Shiloh's met someone who is supercute and totally into her, but Trent may be the next victim on the supernatural hit list. And Shiloh is the only person with the power to save him. Complicated much?

It sucks to have a destiny, especially since Shiloh would rather spend her summer being a normal girl who worries about clothes and boys, not the supernatural. But she’s never been normal, and the stranger things become the more her own magical senses awaken.

With cryptic messages from a pesky wraith, she will begin to understand the mysterious significance of the strange mark branded on her wrist and decide how much she's willing to sacrifice to protect the other teenagers in town.

Unfortunately, for Shiloh, not all ghosts want help crossing over. Some want vengeance.

My Thoughts
Beautifully Broken was an enjoyable, fun read that held all the supernatural elements that I adore.  Throw in a haunted mansion, a coven of witches, an old curse, old secrets, a town constantly filled with fog and little sunlight, an enforced curfew of 10 o'clock, a girl being haunted by wraiths, teenagers being murdered, and a new boy who can make a girl's blood sing, you have the elements of a novel that is creepy, scary, but also a lot of fun. 

Shiloh Ravenwolf is a strong female character who I also found endearing with all of her flaws and her dramatic tendencies.  With her strong sarcastic wit and sense of humour, I enjoyed her banter with the other characters and saw her sarcasm as a way of hiding her true feelings and true self from others; it was a wall she has built over the years of being labelled a freak and loser by her classmates and by the townspeople.  She begins to open up a bit more when she meets Trent Donavon and begins work as an apprentice for his uncle at the family estate, Ravenhurst Manor.  The relationship between Shiloh and Trent was rather interesting as it was not all roses and definitely did not end off the way I thought it would. Kudos to the author for not giving us the usual romantic entanglement, and for making things somewhat difficult between the two main characters as it reflects real life a bit more.  I've never been a fan of instant love and being in love within hours of meeting someone and those books tend to turn me right off.

One of the things I really enjoyed was the descriptions of Ravenhurst Manor and all of the events that occurred at that mansion.  It gave the novel more of a gothic feel and the atmosphere was creepy and dark most of the time.  The shadows and the evil centered at Ravenhurst Manor and although Shiloh was surrounded by paranormal activity while working there, she forced herself to continue and to delve into its secrets.  What she found was unexpected; first of all, she found an unexpected ally in Trent's uncle, and second of all, with digging, she learned more about the secrets of her own family and the secrets her parents refused to confide in her.  And events that kept me racing through the last 100 pages or so of the novel all began at Ravenhurst. 

Ms. Soule definitely knows how to keep a reader's interest and the novel began with quite a bang as Shiloh is attacked right from the beginning by a wraith and left wondering why this is happening to her.  As the answers unfold, we are left with more questions and this keeps the reader wanting to know more and more.  I did like how the action unfolded, with one scene leaping at you directly from another scene, but there were some things where you did have to suspend disbelief and just go with the flow.  The girls' disappearance was a perfect example where I don't think it was handled as well as it could have been and I am hoping more will be explained in future novels.  I would also like to have seen more interaction between Shiloh and her dysfunctional parents as she seemed to have a lot of freedom, and then suddenly her mom would appear in one scene and take her to task for missing her curfew. I would like to learn more about Shiloh's mom and her aunt as it looks like they are going to play crucial roles in coming events, but I felt like the interactions were somewhat jumbled and not always clear. 

Verdict
Beautifully Broken was a great read and gave the reader a lot to think about.  With a lot of interesting characters, and a house with a character of its own, Ms. Soule delivered a novel packed with twists and turns, suspense, romance, and many secrets, which I loved.  With an ending that is not quite satsifactory, all it does is make you look forward to reading the next book in the series, Beautifully Haunted, releasing November 2011.  Until then, I would recommend this novel to anyone interested in the paranormal.

About Author Sherry Soule

Sherry Soule has won awards for her short stories and writes full-time. She has been writing seriously for twelve years, during which time she has completed seven romantic suspense and supernatural-style manuscripts. She was a Creative writing Major and because of her love of reading and her dedication to the craft of writing fiction, she also did some freelance work as an Acquisitions Editor for Crescent Moon Press.

She is an active member of the SCBWI, RWA, and YACHATLIT.

Sherry writes young adult, horror, and paranormal, but no matter what genre she's writing, there has to be an element of romance. She lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with her black cat, Charm. And her cat would like you to know that she’s not a morning person, rarely cooks, and loves all things supernatural.

Sherry currently writes both adult and young adult tales of magick, ghosts, romance and demon slaying.

Please visit her on the web http://www.sherrysoule.com/
http://sherrysoule.blogspot.com/
http://www.darkangelwritingtools.com/
http://twitter.com/#!/WriterSherry

Review: The Bronze And the Brimstone by Lory Kaufman

The Bronze and the Brimstone (Verona Trilogy, Book 2)
by Lory Kaufman
Release Date: June 7, 2011
2011 Fiction Studio Books
Softcover Edition; 334 Pages
ISBN: 978-193655808-7
Genre: Young Adult Post-Dystopian
Source:  Review Copy from Pump Up Your Book

4.5 / 5 Stars

Summary
Hansum, Shamira and Lincoln, three teens from the 24th-century, are trapped in 14th-century Verona, Italy. They’ve survived many deadly experiences by keeping their wits about them and by introducing futuristic technology into the past. Principal among these inventions is the telescope, which brought them to the attention to the rich and powerful.


But standing out can get you into unexpected and dangerous situations. The nobles of Verona now believe Hansum is a savant, a genius inventor, especially after he brings them plans for advanced cannons and black powder. Being the center of attention is great, but the potential for trouble is now exponentially greater because people are watching Hansum’s every move.

My Thoughts
The Bronze and the Brimstone picks up several months after the events in The Lens and the Looker, and features most of the main characters, along with a few new ones, introduced to us in the first novel.  Hansum, Shamira, and Lincoln have settled into their new lives quite comfortably and have resigned themselves to remaining trapped in fourteenth century Verona.  And while at first everything seems homey and good, you can soon pick on the undercurrents and the tensions that existed in the first novel as the characters learn to deal with an environment that is considerably different from the one in which they grew up.

I have always been rather intrigued by the concept of time travel, and have often wondered if it were ever discovered whether we, as a human species, would rather muck up our past because we would never be able to avoid introducing future technology into it.  This is basically what this novel is about as Hansum, Shamira, and Lincoln, with the help of their trusty genie, Pan, set out to save themselves politically and socially, introduce technology that would not be seen for hundreds of years.  I was especially intrigued to see how the author would deal with this and how it would all play out, and I was not disappointed as nature has a way of always intruding and fixing up problems.  Personally, I loved the resolution to the mess the three teens created, but I was surprised as well as I was not expecting it to be dealt with in the manner that it was. 

As a history buff, I really enjoyed the particular attention to detail the author demonstrated in the historical facts in this novel.  I loved reading about the daily life of the people of Verona and its outskirts, the palace life, how things were dealt with by the Podesta, and it certainly gives you an insight into why the nobles did some of the things they did or made some of the decisions they made.  Life would definitely not have been easy for anyone, of any class, for different reasons. 

My only disappointment in this novel was the particular attention it paid to Hansum and his doings rather than to Shamira and Lincoln.  While they were featured, I found it to be more to do with Hansum's doings rather than for themselves and I am really hoping this changes in the next novel as I really enjoyed the development in all of their characters.

Verdict
The Bronze and the Brimstone was a worthy sequel to the Lens and the Looker.  It was full of interesting historical tidbits and fascinating characters that twisted around a plot that was for the most part original and fun.  I am looking forward to the further adventures of Hamsum, Shamira, and Lincoln in The Loved and the Lost when it is released.

Review: The Lens and the Looker by Lory Kaufman

The Lens and the Looker (The Verona Trilogy, Book 1)
by Lory Kaufman
Release Date: March 16, 2011
2011 The Fiction Studio
Softcover Edition; 322 Pages
ISBN: 978-193655802-5
Genre: Dystopian / Historical Fiction
Source: Review Copy from Publisher

4 / 5 Stars

Summary
It's the 24th century and humans, with the help of artificial intelligences, have finally created the perfect post-dystopian society. To make equally perfect citizens for this world, the elders have created History Camps, full-sized recreations of cities from Earth's distant pasts.  Here teens live the way their ancestors did, doing the same dirty jobs and experiencing the same degradations.  History Camps teach youths not to repeat the mistakes that almost caused the planet to die. 

In this novel, we meet three spoiled teens in the year 2347.  These three "hard cases" refuse the valuable lessons History Camps teach.  But when they are kidnapped and taken back in time to 1347 Verona, Italy, they only have two choices: adapt to the harsh medieval ways or die.  The dangers are many, their enemies are powerful, and safety is a long way away.  In an attempt to survive, the trio risks introducing technology from the future.  It could save them - or it could change history.

My Thoughts
I thought the concept of this trilogy was very intriguing and the idea of someone from a post-dystopian future going into the past in order to learn was an interesting idea.  Three incredibly spoiled teens are sent to the most dire and strict of History Camps as a last resort and test their elders to the limit; however, before restitution could be made by the teenagers, all three are kidnapped and sent back to the real 1347 Verona and apprenticed to a lens maker. 

All of a sudden, causing mischief isn't as important as it seemed, and now the three teenagers are tested to the limit as the need to survive in a world in which they have no familiarity becomes the most important thing.  This is the part of the novel that fascinating me the most.  As a history lover, I thought Mr. Kaufman did a remarkable job in bringing 1347 Verona to life and his vivid descriptions of life, clothing, food, housing, and other daily occurrences were rather fascinating.  To the teenagers, who up to this point lived in a very pristing and sanitary world, the daily conditions they saw around them would have come as a huge shock.  The descriptions of Ugilino using the chamber pot, the state of the food they had to eat, when Shamira cut herself for the first time and went into absolute hysterics, when Lincoln broke his tooth on a stone in the bread, and other such happenings, certainly were vivid and brought the world around them to life.  I am impressed by the amount of research that went into the descriptions of the city and the daily life of its citizens. I definitely learned a lot about lens making and the telescope, objects I actually thought were developed around this time period.  It's always nice when a novel can instruct as well as entertain.

Hansum, Shamira, and Lincoln definitely grew on me as the story developed.  As I was first introduced to them, I did not really care for them at all, and thought they were pretty spoiled and selfish.  As the story unfolded however, all three had their own challenges and lessons to learn and not all of them learned them at the same rate.  Some were rather more stubborn about accepting their fate and working harder than others, and it was interesting watching the transformation of these characters' personalities and dedication and commitment to the family and to each other develop.  There were things that made me wince in this novel and I feel sure I could not have accepted them with as much grace as these three teenagers. 

I particularly liked the character Pan, their genie, who helps them negotiate the terrifying new world in which they find themselves.  He is a fount of knowledge and is able to guide the teens skillfully and help them learn the language and the customs of this time period.  I love the scenes in which Pan reprimands the teens for things that they do as they are not fourteenth century customs. And when the teens start introducing advanced technology into this world, they all fear the results and worry about the time line being changed or erased.  But desperation sometimes allows for poor choices, and when one thing leads to another, the teenagers suddenly find themselves thrust into political twists and turns they would never have imagined.  Pan, naturally, doesn't agree with what the teenagers are doing, but at the same times encourages them in their designs and in their presentations.   I always felt like there was a foreshadowing aspect to Pan however, and I still worry that something is going to happen with him in future novels that doesn't portend good for our three teenagers.  It's just little glimpses here and there, but it is what it is.

Verdict
The Lens and the Looker was a quick, enjoyable read and I found myself engrossed in the descriptions of fourteenth century Verona.  While the events built up quickly towards the end, I found there was little in the way of resolution, although events are certainly set up for a very entertaining and interesting second novel in this trilogy.  I am looking forward to reading The Bronze and the Brimstone as I think Mr. Kaufman did a wonderful job creating a dystopian world with a fascinating historical twist.

Review: The Splendor Falls by Rosemary Clement-Moore

The Splendor Falls
by Rosemary Clement-Moore
Release Date: September 8, 2009 (Hardcover), January 11, 2011 (Softcover)
2009 Delacorte Press
Softcover Edition; 528 Pages
ISBN: 978-0-385-73691-6
Genre: Young Adult / Gothic
Source: Local Library

4 / 5 Stars

Summary
Can love last beyond the grave?


Sylvie Davis is a ballerina who can't dance. A broken leg ended her career, but Sylvie's pain runs deeper. What broke her heart was her father's death, and what's breaking her spirit is her mother's remarriage - a union that's only driven an even deeper wedge into their already tenuous relationship.

Uprooting her from her Manhattan apartment and shipping her to Alabama is her mother's solution for Sylvie's unhappiness. Her father's cousin is restoring a family home in a town rich with her family's history. And that's where things start to get shady. As it turns out, her family has a lot more history than Sylvie ever knew. More unnerving, though, are the two guys that she can't stop thinking about. Shawn Maddox, the resident golden boy, seems to be perfect in every way. But Rhys - a handsome, mysterious foreign guest of her cousin's - has a hold on her that she doesn't quite understand.

Then she starts seeing things. Sylvie's lost nearly everything - is she starting to lose her mind as well?

My Thoughts
Sylvie was a promising young ballerina with a great future ahead of her until a devastating accident ended her career.  Getting accidentally drunk at her mother's wedding didn't help matters, as her psychologically-trained step-father and new step-brother, worried over her state of mind, decide, along with her mother, that several weeks in Alabama learning about her dad's family and his roots would be good for her and her psychological state of mind.  Sylvie, knowing little of her father's family, and not caring too much about it, sets off reluctantly to what she considers another prison, and finds her self amidst secrets, ghosts, and fascinating family history she didn't know existed. 
 
I really enjoyed this novel and thought the premise was quite interesting.  While a slow-read at first, and a main character who wasn't exactly endearing, it certainly did pick up and became a fascinating novel about the history of the area and characters trying to deal with personal problems and issues in context of their historical pasts.  Having an old plantation-house as a setting was the perfect environment for many things to go bump in the night and to evoke chills and goosebumps and to bring out long-held fears and terrors. 
 
I didn't particularly find Sylvie endearing at first; actually, I thought her to be spoiled and vain and somewhat condescending towards others.  I liked how she stood up for herself however, and as the novel progressed, and she relaxed and became more self-aware of her actions and her behaviours, she rather grew on me.  I understood where she was coming from, and how difficult a time this was for her, but I didn't felt it excused her behaviour.  I was really glad to see her character develop from one of "poor little me" to one of "I can do anything I set my mind to".  Her little dog, Gigi, while adorable, spent too much time in the limelight for my liking.  The novel was not about the dog and I thought there was too much emphases put on her.  Just a personal annoyance, and I an a total dog-lover.
 
The two probably love interests were rather interesting, although it was pretty obvious who Sylvie would end up with in the end.  I took a dislike to one of them almost right away, and I couldn't figure out if it was the author's intention or if it was just me for no obvious reason.  Sometimes characters remind us of people in our real lives although we don't always recognize the connection at the time, and I wracked my brain trying to figure it out.  I did enjoy Sylvie's interactions with both of the swains however, as thankfully, she does not act like a love-smitten idiot, but reacts cautiously and realistically towards both of them.  I really like how all of the characters are flawed whereby they can be grumpy as well as friendly, be short-tempered and take things the wrong way, just like anyone.  It makes them feel normal and people in whom we can empathize.
 
The novel is beautifully written, and while it is longish in nature, that didn't bother me as I really enjoyed the descriptive nature and the spookiness about it.  One concern I have with this novel is the resolution, as I felt that there was something lacking.  Don't get me wrong; I love the paranormal and the supernatural, but something just felt off in the end, although I can't put my finger on it exactly.  I personally didn't feel like everything was resolved nicely in the end, and I wish more of an explanation had been given for some of the ghost-related events. 
 
Verdict
The Splendor Falls was an absorbing, interesting reading with a great amount of spookiness and eeriness thrown in.  Beautifully written, descriptive in nature, the somewhat long novel flowed easily between events and chapters, although I did feel that there was something lacking in the supernatural portion of the novel and in the resolution.  That being said, I am really glad I read this novel, and I would definitely read further novels by this author.

Review: Hereafter by Tara Hudson

Hereafter (Hereafter, Book 1)
by Tara Hudson
Release Date: June 7, 2011
2011 HarperTeen
Ebook Edition
ISBN: 978-0-062-02677-4
Genre: Young Adult Paranormal
Source: Net Galley

3.5 / 5 Stars

Summary
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.

My Thoughts
Hereafter is a differentl take on what could have been a mundane love story between a ghostly girl and a human boy.  With haunting language and beautifully written prose, Hereafter goes beyond the mundane and gives us a story about forbidden love that is interesting and explores human emotions in a way that really touches you and makes you hope that all will end well for everyone.

Amelia is a ghost haunted by her past; it's a past that slowly comes back to her in flashes after she saves Joshua, becoming her guardian angel of sorts.  As she makes sense of the flashbacks and comes to realize what exactly happened the night she died, she must find the fortitude to face the horror of what is around her and what it is with which she is dealing.  I found Amelia's character endearing as she slowly comes to realize exactly what she is and the powers she has developed.  I found this an interesting dichotomy to the vulnerable and sensitive side of her nature when all she wants to do is be a normal girl. I would have liked Amelia to be more aggressive and stronger than she was, and maybe a little less attached to Joshua and needing him so much to do everything for her, but maybe I am expecting too much.  I was not crazy about Eli however, as I supposed he was the resident bad guy, but wondered if the author vacillated with her ideas about him in the end as his character seemed underdeveloped and confusing.  I rather wish there was more 'bad' in this book as it would have made things more interesting. 

At first, I wasn't really sure of this novel and it took me several chapters to become absorbed by the events that were happening around Amelia and Joshua.   And I found the same thing happened towards the end, where the events just seemed to run their course and didn't really live up to the potential that was possible.  I did find myself completely enthralled in the middle, totally enthralled by Ms. Hudson's ability to weave emotions around a predictable story, and it was those emotions that really drew me in.  The only point that really turned me off, as anyone who knows me well, is that I am not a fan of the 'love at first sight' idea and the deep, electrifying emotions that go with only knowing someone for a few hours.  This is usually a turn-off for me, and while the scenes were beautifully written, I didn't buy into them. I often wondered what it was about Joshua, a cute and popular boy at school, that would drive him into wanting to spend time alone with a ghost.  We never do learn a lot about him and it is rather frustrating, to be honest.  I also wondered what happened to Joshua's grandma and her coven, and how that was really relevant to the story;  There seemed little point to them at the end, and it was the grandma I found truly fascinating.  Tough and with the ability to see ghosts, she would have been a formidable character if developed properly.

Verdict
Hereafter was an interesting, if rather predictable read, but it was definitely Ms. Hudson's writing ability that really impressed me with this novel.  I wanted to like this book more than I did, but I couldn't bring myself to do so as the events and the characters just seemed unfinished and lacked polish.  I will definitely read the next novel in this series in the hope that Ms. Hudson will develop the characters a bit more, and make them a bit more interesting so I can connect with them on a deeper level.  That being said, Hereafter is still a fun read and I recommend it as such to anyone looking for something on a lighter level.

Review: Unearthly by Cynthia Hand

Unearthly (Unearthly, Book #1)
by Cynthia Hand
Release Date: January 4, 2011
2011 HarperTeen
Hardcover Edition; 448 Pages
ISBN: 978-0061996160
Genre: Young Adult
Source: Review Copy from Publisher

4 / 5 Stars

Summary
In the beginning, there's a boy standing in the trees . . .

Clara Gardner has recently learned that she's part angel. Having angel blood run through her veins not only makes her smarter, stronger, and faster than humans (a word, she realizes, that no longer applies to her), but it means she has a purpose, something she was put on this earth to do. Figuring out what that is, though, isn't easy.

Her visions of a raging forest fire and an alluring stranger lead her to a new school in a new town. When she meets Christian, who turns out to be the boy of her dreams (literally), everything seems to fall into place - and out of place at the same time. Because there's another guy, Tucker, who appeals to Clara's less angelic side.

As Clara tries to find her way in a world she no longer understands, she encounters unseen dangers and choices she never thought she'd have to make - between honesty and deceit, love and duty, good and evil. When the fire from her vision finally ignites, will Clara be ready to face her destiny?

My Thoughts
I am always skeptical when reading books about angels as there are many times I have been disappointed in the past and as a result, I have tended to shy away from these types of novels.  When asked to try this one, I figured it's been a while, so why not give it a shot.  To my surprise, I really enjoyed this one, despite some drawbacks, and am looking forward to the sequel when it is released next year.

One of the things I really liked about this book is the characters.  I love it when teenage characters aren't always full of angst and tend to be rebellious and annoyed about everything.  Clara and Jeffrey appear to be well-adjusted teenagers, generally happy with life, and have a relatively great relationship with their mom.  There are the usual family squabbles and the usual arguments that come with being a normal teen, but that's to be expected.  I rather enjoyed it when Clara tried to outsmart her mother and ended up grounded, or when Jeffrey did something at school he wasn't supposed to and had to stay in his room.  It was quite refreshing.  Of course Clara did try to sneak out of her room when in trouble, only to get in more trouble.  Love it!! 

Clara is a rather intriguing character.  Throughout the book, although growing in her power as an angel, she still felt vulnerable and natural.  She was always really good at everything she did, so when she had trouble learning how to fly, I liked that as it made her appear more human, with normal human foibles and weaknesses.  She could also be rather clumsy at times and was often tongue-tied around people she really admired.    All of the characters had to work out things in their lives, some more challenging than others, but I enjoyed how the author allowed other characters to shine through and often put Clara in her place, reminding her she wasn't the center of the world and others had issues they had to deal with as well. 

While the romance was interesting, I'm glad it didn't overwhelm the novel.  So often, the entire plot becomes the romance between the two main characters and that turns me right off the novel.  I found both Christian and Tucker to be rather intriguing and I'm curious to discover what will happen with them in Clara's life and how it will alll pan out in the future.  It's rather nice to have a main character who really dwells on the choices she has made and the impact her choices will have on the future and the future of those around her and feels guilty when she chooses selfishly.  Clara has a conscience and understands that her choices are important, not just to herself, but to everyone.

One of the things that did concern me was the ending.  It felt like the novel was intended to be a stand-alone and somewhere along the way, ideas were changed and now is intended to be a series.  Something just didn't sit right and I feel like I missed something important along the way.  I didn't feel like there was any climax to what was happening and therefore, no real resolution; I was just left hanging, waiting to read the next book.  There were a lot of things that were not explained, so hopefully, the sequel will explain a few more things to my satisfaction.  That being said, I still enjoyed the book very much.

Verdict
Unearthly was a good start to what I believe is now intended to be a trilogy.  While I enjoyed the novel very much, I wasn't crazy about the ending as I felt like things were not really resolved, nor did I feel like there was any climax; the story just seemed to end, and I was left wondering what I really missed.  Despite this, I will definitely pick up book two when it is released next year.

Take a look at the trailer:

Review: Steel by Carrie Vaughn

Steel
by Carrie Vaughn
Release Date: March 15, 2011
2011 HarperTeen
Softcover Edition; 304 Pages
ISBN: 978-0061547911
Genre: Young Adult
Source: Review Copy from Publisher

3 / 5 Stars

Summary
Sixteen-year-old Jill has fought in dozens of fencing tournaments, but she has never held a sharpened blade. When she finds a corroded sword piece on a Caribbean beach, she is instantly intrigued and pockets it as her own personal treasure.


The broken tip holds secrets, though, and it transports Jill through time to the deck of a pirate ship. Stranded in the past and surrounded by strangers, she is forced to sign on as crew. But a pirate's life is bloody and brief, and as Jill learns about the dark magic that brought her there, she forms a desperate scheme to get home—one that risks everything in a duel to the death with a villainous pirate captain.

My Thoughts
Steel was an interesting novel about swordsmanship and piracy, and while it didn't blow me away with adventure scenes and out of this world suspense, I did find it enjoyable.  It is one of those novels that I read purely for entertainment purposes, but it leaves no lasting impressions once finished and I've moved on to another novel.  I enjoyed the concept of the novel, thought the descriptions of life on the ship were pretty interesting, but in reality, the lack of suspense and intrigue wore me out in the end, and I was counting the pages down, glad to be finished.

I liked Jill very much, but I couldn't relate to her all of the time.  As a competitive athlete myself, I know what it feels like to be down after a competition, but I found her character to be distant and I couldn't seem to attach myself to her feelings and emotions.  Again, it wasn't that I didn't like her, I just couldn't seem to relate to her on an emotional level.  I did however, really like Marjory Cooper, the captain of the ship, and really felt a connection for her.  I kind of wished the story revolved more around her as I found her fascinating and her story so tragic.  She would have had so much to say, I am sure.   The other characters just seemed to be around, and I would have liked to have known more about them as well, as I think it would have made the novel so much more interesting.  I felt like the characters took a back seat to the descriptions of life on the ship and this bothered me to a certain extent.

I found the plot to be somewhat predictable and even Ms. Vaughn mentions that the pirates didn't always act true to character of the time period.  While maybe she was downplaying the violence and tone because this was a young adult novel, for someone who knows a little about piracy during this time period, the events do come across as somewhat false.  While I understand the possible thinking, I wish it was somewhat grittier at times.  That being said, I really did enjoy the descriptions of life on the ship, the sailing terms, and the fencing aspects as that is something I know little about.  I think the shock for Jill when she realized she was fencing for life or death instead of for medals and ribbons would have been far bigger than it was. 

I was a little disappointed in the ending.  I wasn't expecting a big farewell or anything, but I was expecting something a little different.  It just felt anticlimatic, and unfortunately, that's all I can say or I will give away too much. 

Verdict
I enjoyed Steel, but I wasn't overly crazy about it.  It did have some good moments about it, especially concerning the descriptions of pirate life on board the ship which I really thought were interesting.  And while Ms. Vaughn is a beautiful writer, the plot just didn't live up to expectations and I found it predictable and forgettable.  It is evident that Ms. Vaughn put a lot of research into this novel and I have to commend her for that.  Despite the formidable amount of research that went into this novel, and the amazing descriptions, the lack of plot and character development made it a disappointing read. 

 

Review: Demonglass by Rachel Hawkins

Demonglass (Book 2, Hex Hall Series)
by Rachel Hawkins
Release Date: March 1st, 2011
2011 Hyperion
Hardcover Edition; 359 Pages
ISBN: 978-1-423-12131-2
Genre: Young Adult Paranormal
Source: Local Library

4.5 / 5 Stars

Summary
Sophie Mercer thought she was a witch.


That was the whole reason she was sent to Hex Hall, a reform school for delinquent Prodigium (aka witches, shapeshifters, and fairies). But that was before she discovered the family secret, and that her hot crush, Archer Cross, is an agent for The Eye, a group bent on wiping Prodigium off the face of the earth.

Turns out, Sophie's a demon, one of only two in the world - the other being her father. What's worse, she has powers that threaten the lives of everyone she loves. Which is precisely why Sophie decides she must go to London for the Removal, a dangerous procedure that will destroy her powers.

But once Sophie arrives she makes a shocking discovery. Her new friends? They're demons too. Meaning someone is raising them in secret with creepy plans to use their powers, and probably not for good. Meanwhile, The Eye is set on hunting Sophie down, and they're using Acher to do it. But it's not like she has feelings for him anymore. Does she?

My Thoughts
I thoroughly enjoyed Demonglass, the second novel in the Hex Hall series.  It had everything I could pretty much ask for in such a novel: there was a nice romantic triangle where I can't decide which boy I like better for our heroine, suspense, plenty of action, and enough magic to satisfy even me.  With a few surprising twists and turns, and an ending that was satisfying, but at the same time frustrating, Ms. Hawkin's second novel was full of interesting and intriguing characters, a lot of mystery, and I found myself engrossed from beginning to end.

First of all, I really enjoy Sophie as a heroine and find her sarcastic wit and biting humour to be hilarious.  She is strong and funny, yet vulnerable at the same time, needing her friend Jenna, another favourite character of time, to boost up her self-esteem on a number of occasions.  It is this combination of toughness and gentleness that I find endearing in Sophie as she grapples with newfound mysteries surrounding her in England where she is spending the summer with her dad at Council Headquarters.  Trust is a difficult thing to come by and as she learns to trust those around her, she soon learns that not everyone in the Council may be trustworthy. The only thing I couldn't really understand is why she wanted to go through the Removal process so badly, as pretty much everyone at Hex Hall has the power to kill and to go 'beserk'.  It just seemed like a strange thing to want to go through.

Dad was the biggest surprise in this novel.  I was prepared to dislike him after reading the first novel, but I really enjoyed his personality and his characters.  He tried really hard to get to know Sophie and understand her and her friends, and the pressures of running the Council were really getting to him.  I really enjoyed the banter and bickering that went on between the two of them and can't wait until Sophie's mother re-enters the drama - the possibilities are endless. 

I really liked learning more about the Prodigium and some of the history of how things happened to Sophie and her family; it was fascinating and made some events in the first novel make more sense.  I found the interplay between Sophie and Cal and Sophie and Archer to be intriguing and I am really on the fence as to whom I want her to choose as I like both of them for different reasons.  I really like Cal and don't want to see anything happen to him as that would be devastating.  As always, I enjoyed Ms. Hawkin's writing style as I found it to be smooth and easy to read.  I enjoy the fact that all of the characters are flawed, with many shades of gray in both the plot and in them, so you are not really sure who is villain and who is hero, all of the time.  It makes it really easy to connect with everyone, and not just the heroes. 

Verdict
Demonglass was a fantastic sequel to Hex Hall and I enjoyed it tremendously.  The cliffhanger ending was frustrating, but after dealing with the Karen Marie Moning endings these past few years, I've started to adapt and get used to them.  Sophie is an endearing character and I am looking forward to her continuing adventures when the next book is released in 2012.

Review: The Betrayal of Maggie Blair by Elizabeth Laird

The Betrayal of Maggie Blair
by Elizabeth Laird
Release Date: April 18, 2011
2011 Houghton Mifflin Books for Children
E-book Edition; Hardcover (432 Pages)
ISBN-13: 978-0-547-34126-2
Genre: Young Adult Historical
Source: Review Copy from Net Galley

4 / 5 Stars

Summary
In seventeenth-century Scotland, saying the wrong thing can lead to banishment - or worse. Accused of being a witch, sixteen-year-old Maggie Blair is sentenced to be hanged. She escapes, but instead of finding shelter with her principled, patriotic uncle, she brings disaster to his door.


Betrayed by one of her own accusers, Maggie must try to save her uncle and his family from the king's men, even if she has to risk her own life in the process.

My Thoughts
The Betrayal of Maggie Blair was an amazingly rich blend of history and fiction and I enjoyed it tremendously.  I thought the cover to this book was really beautiful, and really seemed to match the haunting prose of this richly written novel.

Maggie Blair was an interesting character and definitely a product of the times.  Growing up with her grandmother, she is ostracized from the community and living on barely nothing.  Her conditions growing up have made her insecure and uncertain, and it didn't help that her grandmother did not show her her the care and concern she craved and needed growing up.  To be honest, I really wasn't sure what to think of Maggie at first, as she didn't really have a lot of confidence and sort of let herself be led along by her overbearing and frightening grandmother.  When her grandmother was accused of being a witch, Maggie was renounced with her and arrested as well.  Growing up with the hardships she had to endure had made Maggie's grandmother a hard and cold woman and she often reacted with threats and dominance over others.  In a suspicious community such as this, it was inevitable that the cry of "Witch!" would eventually rear its ugly head.  I had to admire both Maggie and her grandmother as they endured the endless humiliation of the trials and imprisonment and stoically faced their neighbours with their pride intact. 

And Tam?  I just loved this man.  He was a scoundrel, a thief, a liar, and a drunkard, but his one redeeming quality was his loyalty and faithfulness and love for Maggie.  He went out of his way to protect her and help keep her safe and because of him, Maggie was able to help her Uncle during his imprisonment and escape during her own imprisonment.  His dodgy appearance was in complete contrast to Annie, who looked like an angel, but helped send Maggie to prison in the first place and caused her nothing but grief.  You always have the one character in a novel you would happily toss into the sea and she was the one for me. 

Ms. Laird describes seventeenth-century Scotland remarkably well.  The rich and vivid descriptions and beautiful language makes it feel as if you were right there along with Maggie, experiencing everything she experienced, including her doubts and fears and concerns.  That the story is loosely based on a true story makes it even more touching; everything Hugh Blair went through in this novel, the real Hugh Blair actually experienced.  Other characters in the novel also derive from the author's actual historical background and I found this knowledge quite fascinating and intriguing.  While I was somewhat familiar with the religious wars during this time period, this novel made me more interested in this time period and the plight of many people.  The descriptions of the tortures and tragedies that some of these people faced is heartrending.  The way of living, the people's attitudes and beliefs, the religious conflicts, the difficulties between the King and religious factions, were brought vividly to life and I devoured it.

I also really enjoyed the ending.  While I would have liked to have seen some romance in Maggie's life, with everything she went through, and everything she still had to deal with, she certainly wasn't ready to deal with a romantic entanglement at this point in her life, and it wasn't due to lack of opportunity either.  It is refreshing to read a novel where the story doesn't revolve around romantic entanglements, but deals with other areas of life.

Verdict
The Betrayal of Maggie Blair was a fascinating blend of fiction and history.  With a rich portrayal of the time period, and the various superstitions and fears that existed, Maggie's amazing story is brought to life as she is betrayed over and over again, but rises to become a confident and fascinating young woman.  Learning to trust others as she was never taught to do, she teaches herself to find happiness in her life by searching her heart for what she truly seeks.  I really enjoyed this novel because it was about Maggie and her fighting for what she believes in; it was also about her seeking peace and comfort throughout everything, questioning the beliefs of all those around her, and drawing her own conclusions about events.  I am definitely looking forward to reading more by this author.

Review: Matched by Ally Condie

Matched (Matched, Book 1)
by Ally Condie
Release Date: November 30, 2010
2010 Dutton Books
Hardcover Edition; 373 Pages
ISBN: 978-0-525-42364-5
Genre: Young Adult
Source: Review Copy from Penguin Canada

3.5 / 5

Summary
Cassia has always trusted the Society to make the right choices for her: what to read, what to watch, what to believe. So when Xander's face appears on-screen at her Matching ceremony, Cassia knows with complete certainty that he is her ideal mate . . . until she sees Ky Markham's face flash for an instant before the screen fades to black.

The Society tells her it's a glitch, a rare malfunction, and that she should focus on the happy life she's destined to lead with Xander. But Cassia can't stop thinking about Ky, and as they slowly fall in love, Cassia begins to doubt the Society's infallibility and is faced with an impossible choice: between Xander and Ky, between the only life she's known and a path that no one else has dared to follow.

My Thoughts
Matched is an interesting love triangle involving 17-year-old Cassia and her best friend Xander and a boy she never really gave much thought to until she sees his face flash across her screen the night of her Matching ceremony.  Intrigued, though in denial to herself, she sets about getting to know him better, breaking the rules of her society for the first time in her life.  Her slow development into a questioning being is rather intriguing and her fall into someone who sneaks around and learns to lie about her activities definitely sets up some scenes for some rather interesting drama.

I was rather fascinated by the dystopian world that Ms. Condie created as it made a lot of sense and seemed like a natural progression from where we are currently.  In fact, it's rather creepy seeing a world that could one day be our own.  Cassia's world is one that abides strictly by rules, where Infractions and Warnings can lead people to be relocated almost immediately and Aberrations can never be fully functioning members of the Society.  People are served their own personal meals, full of specialized vitamins and minerals, the goals being to produce healthy, functioning people.  While it makes perfect sense, I often wondered what else was put into the food; besides, it takes the fun out of shopping and cooking.  People's lives are so organized they are told what to do and when to do it, with little will of their own.  The Society, a totalitarian type government, controls every aspect of a person's life, and while perfectly logical, it is terrifying in the extreme.

While the novel was about learning to fight against Society, but in subtle ways, there was some romance involved as well.  This was part of the problem for me however, as I just didn't feel the connection between Cassia and Ky on that level, or between Cassia and Xander either, for that matter.  While I enjoyed the characters, I felt like they didn't have a lot of depth to them and really wanted more from them.  I wanted to feel the emotions, the anger, the love.  While I did enjoy the plot and found it engrossing, it was definitely on a lighter note and didn't match the heavier subject material of The Giver, The Hunger Games, or Fahrenheit 451.  The writing style was incredibly easy to read, and is perfect for a younger audience.  The ultra-clean material also makes it perfect for a younger age group to sink themselves into.  For me however, it lacked a lot of the rich description and expressive language that would have made it a more interesting read.   I did like how Ms. Condie used poetry in this novel to set up some of the plot points however, and Dylan Thomas is an old favourite of mine.

Verdict
Matched was an interesting novel, and just plain fun.  I enjoyed the characters, the setting, and the plotline.  I really wish however, that there had been more depth to the storyline and to the characters themselves as it would have added that extra something to make this novel great.  I am definitely looking forward to reading Crossed when it is published in November 2011.

Review: Across the Universe by Beth Revis

Across The Universe
by Beth Revis
Release Date: January 11, 2011
2011 Razorbill Books
Softcover Edition; 416 Pages
ISBN: 978-1-59514-397-6
Genre: Young Adult Science Fiction
Source: Review Copy from Penguin Canada

4 / 5 Stars

Summary
Seventeen-year-old Amy joins her parents as frozen cargo aboard the vast spaceship Godspeed and expects to awaken on a new planet, three hundred years in the future. Never could she have known that her frozen slumber would come to an end fifty years too soon and that she would be thrust into the brave new world of a spaceship that lives by its own rules.


Amy quickly realizes that her awakening was no mere computer malfunction. Someone-one of the few thousand inhabitants of the spaceship-tried to kill her. And if Amy doesn't do something soon, her parents will be next.

Now Amy must race to unlock Godspeed's hidden secrets. But out of her list of murder suspects, there's only one who matters: Elder, the future leader of the ship and the love she could never have seen coming.

My Thoughts
I really enjoyed this young adult science-fiction novel, especially as they are few and far between.  I found the premise rather intriguing and wondered what would make a young girl decide to leave her friends and her life, let herself be cryogenically frozen, and placed aboard a ship destined for a new planet 300 years in the future.  In a way, this novel was also partly dystopian, with some mystery and romance thrown in as well. 

Across the Universe follows the story of Amy, a seventeen-year-old girl, who is accidentally awakened from her cryogenic chamber almost fifty years before landing on the new planet.  Her bright vivid hair and colouring and different thought processes set her apart from the other people on the ship and she finds herself confused as she fights for her life in the face of dangers she little understands.  The novel also follows the story of Elder, a boy who is destined to be the next leader of the ship, and we learn through his eyes some of the problems the ship, and its people, are facing.  As Elder and Amy become friends and allies, together they must discover the secrets of the ship in order to stay alive.

I really enjoyed Amy's character and could understand her bewilderment and frustration as she learns of the lies and untruths the people have been taught.  I found her courageous and smart, someone who is trying to survive in surroundings that are strange and bewildering.  When she learns about the strange behaviours of the people on the ship, we see things through her eyes and it makes it seem even worse.  The control and discipline that is doled out on the ship is scary and frightening, and many of the scenes are meant to make the reader as uncomfortable as Amy.  Ms. Revis is very subtle in her use of language and I have to admire the way she manipulates the language to make you feel a certain way or to make you feel uncomfortable.

The plot was interesting and moved along quite steadily, with engaging questions that kept me entertained for many pages.  I enjoyed having the two viewpoints to the story and while that may bother some people, it certainly didn't bother me.  The differing point of views really added to the storyline, often adding important clues to the story or sometimes witholding information that made you want to know more.  I found that the ending however, was somewhat rushed and I wasn't completely satisfied; it just seemed to end abruptly and too neatly.  I wish there had been a little something more to the ending. 

Verdict
I really enjoyed this novel and found the concept of being cryogenically frozen and shipped to another planet rather intriguing.  To be awoken before reaching your destination, and dealing with the bitter aftershock of that realization, is an interesting concept and one that was dealt with moderately successfully in this novel.  I think that some of the moral implications of this novel were not addressed, but I don't want to speak about them here as I will give away some important plot details, but they do need to be discussed somewhat further.  Hopefully, some of the unanswered questions that I have from this novel will be addressed in further sequels to Across the Universe.  Otherwise, Across the Universe was a satisfying read.

Review: The Discovery of Socket Greeny

The Discovery of Socket Greeny
by Tony Bertauski
Release Date: July 13, 2010
2010 Bertauski
E-Book Edition; 282 Pages
ISBN: 978-0982845202
Genre: Young Adult
Source: Review Copy from Author

4 / 5 Stars

Summary
Work comes first for 16-year old Socket Greeny's mother ever since his father died.  Now, in this tech-driven futuristic society, he’s zoned on energy drinks and living in virtual worlds because Mom rarely comes home. He doesn’t know what she does for a living.  His only real world thrill is fighting. But a world can change in a single moment. It’s a school day like any other, until Socket starts hearing other people’s thoughts. He’s hallucinating, maybe brain rot from too much virtualmode. Even when time seems to stop, he ignores it.  But when his mom arrives at school, he knows it’s for real. She’s there to take him to work. The Paladin Agency. He discovers an evolved race of humans that have existed for centuries, where thoughts can be heard. And felt. They are people that can manipulate time through the body’s metabolism. They protect the rest of humankind and strive to bring them understanding of their full potential. But some Paladins see humankind as inferior.  Socket soon finds himself in the center of controversy when he's anointed a Paladin prodigy. He didn't ask for the "blessing" of psychic powers and the ability to timeslice, he just wants to go home and be normal again. But, sometimes, life doesn't give us that privilege, his mom tells him. And when humankind is threatened and the Paladins are forced into the public eye, Socket discovers what his mother means. If he doesn't embrace his true nature, the world will change forever.

My Thoughts
While it took me awhile to figure out what was happening in this novel, and to understand the virtual mode of these teenagers, The Discovery of Socket Greeny was entertaining, interesting, and fascinating.  Once I got past the technological lingo that was used extensively in this novel, I was hooked by the plot and the characters, by Socket in particular, and had a difficult time putting it down.

In this world, there exists an entire viritual mode than can be accessed anywhere, including every school and every home, where one can create whole worlds and sims, being whoever you want, doing whatever you want.  One day as Socket and his friends Chute and Streeter hack into the virtual mode and a small war ensues with a rival school, something goes terribly wrong and Socket makes an amazing discovery.  He learns that his sim can feel, touch, and use his other senses, something that should be impossible in the virtual mode.  As he realizes the danger he is in, and calls upon tapped reserves he didn't know he had, a mysterious stranger comes to his rescue and saves him from annihalation.  Even Streeter, the computer whiz, doesn't understand what is happening, and the virtual world is shut down as a result.  Soon, Socket's mother arrives at school to take Socket away and he finds himself in a strange world, a world he didn't know existed, having to face the possibility that he has latent talents of which he knew nothing about, and enemies he didn't know existed.

I found the Paladins' alternate world somewhat confusing, but then I was experiencing it through Socket's eyes.  Imagine a boy, one day having full freedom and rarely seeing his mother, suddenly thrust in the middle of a deadly game of survival, realizing he has the potential to save the entire world, thrust into an explosive political situation, with little choice but to play along.  I fully understood Socket's confusion, anger, and betrayal, and the emotions that were behind everything he did, and I liked him more and more as I read.  He just seemed like a nice, genuine guy who did the best he could in an impossible situation.  The Paladin world seemed so different in comparison to Socket, so ordered and structured and sanitized, that he was like this bright spark in a stark world.  How anyone could live there and not go raving mad is beyond me.  And I do have problems understanding his mother, who doesn't always seem to have Socket's best interests at heart. 

The novel is also about embracing fate when it comes to you and about choices.  Socket struggles inwardly to embrace the new world he is shown and his new talents and the new friends he has made, and often wishes he could go back to his old life, but at the same time he realizes that is not possible after everything he has seen.  He often asks himself the age-old question that after everything you have done and learned, would you be content to go back to the old you or are you strong enough to embrace your destiny and take on the responsibilities you have been given?  It is a difficult choice for Socket, and one he struggles with continuously, especially as he is betrayed by one of his own.

Verdict
The Discovery of Socket Greeny is a fast-paced, entertaining novel, with great character development.  I really enjoyed the technological aspect as well, and found the virtual mode to be fascinating, if confusing.  I am looking forward to reading The Training of Socket Greeny, the second novel in this trilogy.