Ink in the Blood by Kim Smejkal {review}

Ink in the Blood
by Kim Smejkal
♦publisher: HMH Teen
♦release date: February 11th, 2020
♦intended audience: Young adult
♦hardcover, 411 pages
♦series: Ink in the Blood, book 1
♦source: ARC from publisher for honest review

Celia Sand and her best friend, Anya Burtoni, are inklings for the esteemed religion of Profeta. Using magic, they tattoo followers with beautiful images that represent the Divine’s will and guide the actions of the recipients. It’s considered a noble calling, but ten years into their servitude Celia and Anya know the truth: Profeta is built on lies, the tattooed orders strip away freedom, and the revered temple is actually a brutal, torturous prison.

Their opportunity to escape arrives with the Rabble Mob, a traveling theater troupe. Using their inkling abilities for performance instead of propaganda, Celia and Anya are content for the first time . . . until they realize who followed them. The Divine they never believed in is very real, very angry, and determined to use Celia, Anya, and the Rabble Mob’s now-infamous stage to spread her deceitful influence even further.

To protect their new family from the wrath of a malicious deity and the zealots who work in her name, Celia and Anya must unmask the biggest lie of all—Profeta itself. 

{REVIEW}

So I ended this one with some very mixed feelings.  On one hand, the concept is just so unique and magical---under the religion of Profeta, inklings send prophetic messages to people through magical tattoos that they ink onto their own skin and then "release". It then transfers the tattoo to the one who it's meant for.  Celia Sand, an inkling since she was 6, is our feisty and high spirited protagonist, whose eyes begin to open and she starts to doubt the true legitimacy and faith behind the tattoos they deliver. Is it truly about faith and altruistic intentions or is it about manipulation and control? 

Such an interesting tale, and the writing at first was beautiful, but as we got deeper into the story, I felt at times it just got a little overdramatic and muddled.  It just wasn't staying with me, wasn't keeping me engaged. I did love the strong friendship and love between Anya and Celia, if anyone seemed capable of bringing down a corrupt religion it was the two of them, both clever and passionate and able to lean on each other infallibly. There was a very light romance but I found the Plague doctor to be a little too broody and cryptic to keep me invested and hoping for a connection between him and Celia. There are so many side characters and many of them are interesting, but we don't learn much about them and at times it was hard to keep them straight. 

Though I struggled through much of it, I did make it to end and was glad I did---the resolution was bloody and hard-won, thrilling and tragic. I'll likely pick up book two to see if this beautiful and unique world can fully draw me in next time.

{About The Author}

Kim Smejkal writes dark fantasy for young adults and not-so-young adults, always with a touch of magic. Her debut novel, INK IN THE BLOOD, will release from HMH in early 2020.

When she’s not writing, she’s homeschooling her kids, tutoring other people’s kids, and voraciously hoarding any precious alone time. Though she grew up on the Canadian prairies, she now lives with her family on beautiful, muse-satiating Vancouver Island. She is represented by Daniel Lazar of Writers House.

WEBSITE   •   TWITTER  •   INSTAGRAM

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Of Fire and Stars by Audrey Coulthurst {review}

Of Fire and Stars
by Audrey Coulthurst
♦publisher: Balzer & Bray
♦release date: November 22, 2016
♦hardcover, 400 pages
♦intended audience: Young adult
♦stand-alone
♦source: from publisher for honest review

Betrothed since childhood to the prince of Mynaria, Princess Dennaleia has always known what her future holds. Her marriage will seal the alliance between Mynaria and her homeland, protecting her people from other hostile lands. But Denna has a secret. She possesses an Affinity for fire—a dangerous gift for the future queen of a kingdom where magic is forbidden.

Now, Denna must learn the ways of her new home while trying to hide her growing magic. To make matters worse, she must learn to ride Mynaria’s formidable warhorses before her coronation—and her teacher is the person who intimidates her most, the prickly and unconventional Princess Amaranthine (called Mare), sister of her betrothed.

When a shocking assassination leaves the kingdom reeling, Mare and Denna reluctantly join forces to search for the culprit. As the two work together, each discovers there’s more to the other than she thought. Mare is surprised by Denna’s intelligence and bravery, while Denna is drawn to Mare’s independent streak. Soon their friendship is threatening to blossom into something more.
But with dangerous conflict brewing that makes the alliance more important than ever, acting on their feelings could be deadly. Forced to choose between their duty and their hearts, Mare and Denna must find a way to save their kingdoms—and each other.

Review: After starting out loving this one, by the end I came away with some pretty mixed feelings.

Both Denna and Mare were characters I really enjoyed. Denna is this sheltered out-of-place princess with a life-threatening secret and a desire to prove her worth in her new kingdom. Mare is such a wild child without a shred of care for what people think of her or expect of her, and a completely justified chip on her shoulder from years of being treated like her word was worth less than her younger brother's. From the time they meet, you see them go from spite to tolerating eachother, to trust and friendship, to desire, and finally realizing they've fallen in love. I liked that Mare showed so much doubt in Denna's feelings for her even after they'd been together, as a result of being surrounded by people who didn't show any confidence or belief in her. It made complete sense and I felt for her, even while being frustrated with her! I liked that Mare's confidence sparked bravery in Denna and slowly pulls her out of her sheltered box. Denna has it so ingrained in her that duty comes first that she makes some pretty selfish decisions, but she makes it back to the right ones in the end.  I also really loved that the LGBT aspect of this story was not written as an "issue". No one was shocked, it wasn't something they were hiding (well, not because of that, anyway). They, and many others in the story loved who they loved and it was the most natural thing in the world. As it should be--but this is one of the few stories that I've seen treat it that way and I loved that.

But romance aside, the rest of the storyline was very political and I found that part to be a bit boring. A lot of meetings of the directorates and talk of joining kingdoms and who is planning to attack who. For me, this dragged and I found myself putting the book down a lot during these parts.  The magical side of the story was interersting but not really fleshed out enough and same went for the different kingdoms and elemental gods they worshiped. I definitely wanted to know more about Zumordia, too!

One thing that I really didn't like about this one stood out quite a bit to me. Yes, the story of Denna and Mare was enchanting and sweet and a beautiful story of love between two young women.  But as a very stark contrast, almost every male in the story was a complete jerk. There is one, Mare's best friend, Nils, who was funny and charming and such a great friend to her, but even he was a bit of a womanizer. The king and the prince were just condescending and dismissive and bordering on cruel. It seemed like the one good and kind man in the story dies in the first few chapters.

The story picks up pace near the end, but also gets a bit rushed. There were some plot leads that fall off and get swept aside for an easy and obvious sort of ending and there's a bit of villanous monologuing. It was still pretty exciting and definitely an HEA. Not a read I regret, but definitely not one I loved as much as I'd hoped I would.

•ABOUT THE AUTHOR•

Audrey Coulthurst writes YA books that tend to involve magic, horses, and kissing the wrong people. Her debut novel, Of Fire and Stars, will be published on November 22, 2016 by Balzer+Bray/HarperCollins. When she’s not dreaming up new stories, she can usually be found painting, singing, or on the back of a horse.

Audrey has a Master’s in Writing from Portland State University, is a member of SCBWI, and studied with Malinda Lo as a 2013 Lambda Literary Foundation Fellow. She lives in Santa Monica, California.

WEBSITE   •   TWITTER   •   INSTAGRAM

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Curio by Evangeline Denmark {review}

Curio
♦by Evangeline Denmark
♦publisher: Blink
♦release date: January 5th, 2016
♦hardcover, 432 pages
♦intended audience: Young adult
♦series: Curio, book 1
♦source: from publisher for honest review

Grey Haward has always detested the Chemists, the magicians-come-scientists who rule her small western town. But she has always followed the rules, taking the potion the Chemists ration out that helps the town’s people survive. A potion that Grey suspects she—like her grandfather and father—may not actually need.

By working at her grandfather’s repair shop, sorting the small gears and dusting the curio cabinet inside, Grey has tried to stay unnoticed—or as unnoticed as a tall, strong girl can in a town of diminutive, underdeveloped citizens. Then her best friend, Whit, is caught by the Chemists’ enforcers after trying to protect Grey one night, and after seeing the extent of his punishment, suddenly taking risks seems the only decision she can make.

But with the risk comes the reality that the Chemists know her family’s secret, and the Chemists soon decide to use her for their own purposes. Panicked, Grey retreats to the only safe place she knows—her grandfather’s shop. There, however, a larger secret confronts her when her touch unlocks the old curio cabinet in the corner and reveals a world where porcelain and clockwork people are real. There, she could find the key that may save Whit’s life and also end the Chemists’ dark rule forever.

Review:  Curio delivers a healthy dose of steampunk, magic, and mystery, but for me, fell short of being a story that really captured me. 

Curio, the world inside Grey's grandfather' curio cabinet, is beautifully imagined, with visual descriptions that put me in the mind of Dorothy going from colorless Kansas to the vivid brightness of Oz.  Lots of bizarre little details, a mysterious loner soaring around on a flying contraption, a society of porcelain people who feed on water from each other like vampires, the slums full of clockwork rejects who are pushed to fight for their freedom. The setup of the society, however, felt a bit cliche---insert any aristocratic society with the poor and down-trodden on the brink of revolt. 

There are three alternating viewpoints, that of Grey, Blaise, and Whit, two of them in Curio and one back in the human world where people are kept subservient by sinister chemists and their potions.  I think where it went wrong for me was the alternate worlds being a little too disjointed and being left too long in the dark about how they were connected. There are times when alternate view points really lend a lot to a story, but for me, this wasn't one of them. It felt like two stories running side by side, rather than one cohesive story. Again, lots of interesting little details to each world, but it just took a little too long to connect with either and get an idea what the purpose of it all was.  Grey, herself, discovers she is part of an ancient race of "Defenders",  but we're left wondering how that is even significant for far into the story. 

The creativity is good and the descriptions are lovely, but just a little excessive at times. If you can push through the slow-moving plot, Curio is an intriguing world to discover. 

Find Evangeline Denmark online: Website  •  Twitter  •  Instagram

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Alive by Chandler Baker {review}

Alive 
by Chandler Baker
♦publisher: Disney-Hyperion
♦release date: June 9th, 2015
♦hardcover, 368 pages
♦intended audience: Young adult
♦stand-alone
♦source: conference

Stella Cross's heart is poisoned.

After years on the transplant waiting list, she's running out of hope that she'll ever see her eighteenth birthday. Then, miraculously, Stella receives the transplant she needs to survive.

Determined to embrace everything she came so close to losing, Stella throws herself into her new life. But her recovery is marred by strange side effects: Nightmares. Hallucinations. A recurring pain that flares every day at the exact same moment. Then Stella meets Levi Zin, the new boy on everyone's radar at her Seattle prep school. Stella has never felt more drawn to anyone in her life, and soon she and Levi are inseparable.

Stella is convinced that Levi is her soul mate. Why else would she literally ache for him when they are apart?

After all, the heart never lies...does it?

Review: Alive, for me, was a very mixed bag.  The idea intrigued me, the promise of eerie things going on after receiving someone else's heart.  The story rolled out in a suspenseful pace and don’t be fooled by that playful cover—this story is full of seriously chilling moments.

The hard part for me was the characters. I really disliked Stella. For someone who came so close to death only to be given a second chance at life, she is incredible bratty and unappreciative of her parents, her little sister (who certainly wasn’t at fault for being born as the “replacement child” as she called her) and her friends.  And Henry—though I initially hated that he thought Stella foolish for wanting to make up her missed schoolwork on her own instead of taking his offer to cheat, he did eventually grow on me.  Just a bad first impression.

The description of the excruciating pain that happens at 5:08 every night had me cringing. When she meets Levi, the pain mysteriously goes away so it’s not hard to understand that part of her draw to him, but he also has a sinister sort of stalker-like feel to his character, so I had a hard time with her nearly obsessive attraction.  I was grateful when Stella did finally snap out of it and started to suspect something off about him---this was about two-thirds into the story, and from then to the end, I really enjoyed it!

This author definitely knows how to do creepy—some of the hallucinations that Stella starts to experience were absolutely terrifying, some even a bit gory.  I really enjoyed the way the author kept focus on the heart through the entire story.  Stella was always aware of how her new heart felt in nearly every scene: heavy, hurt, fluttering, pounding---almost like a character on its own.   

I thought I had this one all figured out from the get go, but I was surprised!  What I suspected was happening was not what was going on at all and unpredicability is always a fun twist.   It also made the climax complicated and dark as far as what Stella needed to do solve her dilemma.

Though I had a few issues with the romance and characters, I thought Alive was entertaining and worthy of a read when you’re in the mood for a bit of creepiness!

Find Chandler Baker online:  Website  •  Twitter 

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Unwept by Tracy & Laura Hickman {review}

Unwept
by Tracy & Laura Hickman
♦publisher: Tor
♦release date: July 1st, 2014
♦hardcover, 272 pages
♦intended audience: Adult
♦series: The Nightbirds, book 1
♦source: from publisher for honest review

Gamin, Maine, is a remote seaside town where everyone seems to know Ellis Harkington better than she knows herself—but she doesn’t remember any of them.

Unknown events have robbed Ellis of her memory. Concerned individuals, who purport to be her friends and loved ones, insist that she simply needs to recuperate, that her memories may return in time, but refuse to divulge what has brought her to this state. For her own sake, so they say.

Ellis finds herself adrift in a town of ominous mysteries, cryptic hints, and disturbingly familiar strangers. The Nightbirds, a clique of fashionable young men and women, claim her as one of their own, but who among them can she truly trust? And what of the phantom suitor who visits her in her dreams? Is he a memory, a figment of her imagination, or a living nightmare beyond rational explanation?

Only her lost past hold the answers she seeks—if she can uncover its secrets before she fall prey to an unearthly killer.

Review: Unwept, for me, was an odd one. I found myself quickly and completely drawn in to the dark mystery of how Ellis lost her memory, the creepy town where everyone is just a little shady, the eerie atmosphere, and finally the touch of fantasy as her nightmares start seeping into her real life. But somewhere along the way, it lost me. And as the ending crept closer, even knowing that this was a planned series and that a conclusion would not be reached (thank you for the warning, Rachel!) I still felt unsatisfied and that the idea behind the story was a bit confusing and muddy. 

As each characters introduced themselves, I was immediately curious about how they fit into Ellis's story. However, I found as the story went along, the extent of each one's cryptic behavior made it really hard to feel invested in any of them. Jenny, Ellis's cousin, was especially annoying to me, constantly childish and pouty. We're sort of left in the dark about what is really going on for a bit too long, which would have been okay if we had interesting players to cling to, but without that connection, I just found it slowed the pacing. Still, several of them take a slow-building turn toward the sinister, which turns the whole thing very dark and macabre. As Ellis starts to have strange nightmares and visions,  and everyone seems to be telling her a different story, her confusion and distrust and certainty that everything is just competely wrong in Gamin becomes palpable. 

Just the sheer need to find out what this crazy town was all about, to be let in on the big dark secret, kept me reading this one until the end. I can't say whether I will give book 2 a chance to clear up some things that I was left confused about (for instance: chapter 1???) or to find out what will happen next to Ellis, Merrick, and the bizarre moth-man. But Unwept was a interesting, eerie reading experience---just one that didn't completely work for me.

Find Tracy & Laura  Hickman online:  Website  •  Twitter 

Purchase Unwept:  BN.com  •  BookDepository  •  Indiebound

Burn Bright by Bethany Frenette {Review}

Burn Bright by Bethany Frenette
♦publisher: Disney Hyperion
♦release date: February 25th, 2014
♦hardcover, 352 pages
♦intended audience: Young adult
♦ series: Dark Star, book 2
              review of book 1
♦source: from publisher for honest review

*Fair warning: description and review may contain slight spoilers for book 1.*

Audrey Whitticomb saved her entire city.

Well, kind of. The superhero Morning Star (who just happens to be Audrey's mom) might have played a small part, and her sidekick, Leon—Audrey's sort-of boyfriend, who is gorgeous... and frustrating—maybe helped, too.

But after two peaceful months, there is a vicious new threat in Minneapolis. Her name is Susannah, and she's a Harrower, a demon hell-bent on destroying people like Morning Star, Leon, and Audrey—the Kin. Like others before her, she seeks the Remnant, a Kin girl who has the power to unleash the inhabitants of the Beneath. But to what end?

Audrey already has a ton on her plate: dealing with her best friend Tink's boy drama, helping her other best friend Gideon figure out his nightmares, and exploring the highs and lows of "dating" Leon. But when she develops a powerful new ability, Audrey seizes on the chance to fight, despite her mother's protests and Leon's pleas.

As Audrey gets closer to figuring out Susannah's motives and tracking down the Remnant, she'll uncover more than she bargained for. The terrible truth is staring Audrey in the face. But knowing the truth and accepting it are very different things.

Review: Though I readily admit that it may have been a timing issue, I had a hard time getting into Burn Bright.  I recall that the very beginning of Dark Star was kind of slow for me as well, but this one didn’t really grab me until over halfway into the book. 

There were many things about the plot that felt like a “middle book”, lots of little details that are building up to a big battle between Harrower and Kin in book three. Still, it did have its own exciting story arc and some really great shocking moments and reveals, even a few touching moments that had me tearing up a little. It centers, however, around a Harrower trying to find the Remnant to bring down the Kin---which is much the same as the first book.  There is a new scary demon running amok, taking out Kin, but there is also a new rogue guardian on the scene carelessly taking out all demons, even the ones that live peacefully in the human world. Though he was far from being a likable character, I was captivated by his backstory.

The budding romance between Leon and Audrey takes an interesting turn.  They are still cautious with each other since they are unsure how their romance will affect Leon being her Guardian---which it does. Not in a good way.  They’ve gone from playful bickering in book one, to romance, to full-blown arguing through this book, so don’t expect a lot of warm-fuzzy romance.  Well, a little bit…but not a lot. :)

My favorite part of the story is still the dynamic between Audrey and her mother. They have such a complex relationship. Even with such outlandish situations all around them, the two of them, as mother and daughter, still ring true.

Despite a few issues, all the little details and twists that popped up in this installment definitely will have me picking up book three---I have the feeling that what we find out about Gideon is going to lead to a frenzy of excitement and heartbreak. 

Find Bethany Frenette online:  Website  •  Twitter

Purchase Dark Star: Amazon  •  BookDepository  •  Indiebound

Becky's View: The Secrets of Lily Graves by Sarah Strohmeyer

The Secrets of Lily Graves by Sarah Strohmeyer
♦publisher: Balzer & Bray
♦release date: May 13th, 2014
♦paperback, 304 pages
♦intended audience: Young adult
♦stand-alone
♦source: from publisher for honest review (via SF book review)

Growing up in a house of female morticians, Lily Graves knows all about buried secrets. She knows that perfect senior-class president Erin Donohue isn’t what she seems. She knows why Erin’s ex-boyfriend, hot football player Matt Houser, broke up with her. And she also knows that, even though she says she and Matt are just friends, there is something brewing between them—something Erin definitely did not like.

But secrets, even ones that are long buried, have a way of returning to haunt their keeper.

So when Erin is found dead the day after attacking Lily in a jealous rage, Lily's and Matt’s safe little lives, and the lives of everyone in their town of Potsdam, begin to unravel. And their relationship—which grew from innocent after-school tutoring sessions to late-night clandestine rendezvous—makes them both suspects.

As her world crumbles around her, Lily must figure out the difference between truth and deception, genuine love and a web of lies. And she must do it quickly, before the killer claims another victim.

Review: The Secrets of Lily Graves is a morbid but colorful murder mystery.  It’s told from the POV of a teen that has grown up surrounded by corpses in the family mortuary. Lily lives with and gets a daily dose of guidance from a very eccentric group of women; her mother, her grandmother, and especially her aunt.  Reflecting that upbringing, we get her skewed, slightly cold attitude toward death.  She’s a bit of a gothic outcast, and we know from the get-go that she and Erin, the girl who is found dead in her bathtub, were far from friends.  

The story itself is good, though nothing about it truly stood out to me. I did like the way Lily used her family’s insider info and knowledge from working at the mortuary to really help work the mystery out.   Lily was tutoring Erin’s boyfriend, and she suspected they were getting a little too close right before she winds up dead, so Lily must do everything she can to find the killer and keep the fingers from pointing at her and Michael.  

Many of the characters suffer from a bad dose of heavy cliché: here we have the goth girl who grew up in a mortuary, here’s the jock with questionable intentions, there’s the town stoner, and oh look, there are the mean girls that all the adults think are angels.  I also found the humor to be a little off-putting at times, and while it might not bother some, it took away slightly from my enjoyment of this book. 

 Still, there are a few really good surprises to keep the reader guessing and a shocking twist ending will leave your head spinning! It was, for the most part, a fun and fast read that kept me entertained. This may be a win for fans of Pretty Little Liars (I watch the show, but haven’t read the books, so don’t quote me on that!), it's definitely a similar vibe.

Find Sarah Strohmeyer online:  Website  •  Twitter 

Purchase The Secrets of Lily Graves:  Amazon  •  BookDepository  •  Indiebound

Becky's View: All That Glows by Ryan Graudin

All That Glows by Ryan Graudin
♦publisher: HarperTeen
♦release date: February 11th, 2014
♦hardcover, 480 pages
♦intended audience: Young adult
♦stand-alone
♦source: from publisher for honest review

Emrys—a fiery, red-headed Fae—always embraced her life in the Highlands, far from the city’s draining technology, until she’s sent to London to rejoin the Faery Guard. But this isn’t any normal assignment—she’s sent to guard Prince Richard: Britain’s notorious, partying bad boy and soon-to-be King. The prince’s careless ways and royal blood make him the irresistible for the dark spirits that feed on mortals. Sweet, disheveled, and alive with adventure—Richard is one charge who will put Emrys’s magic and heart to the test.

When an ancient force begins preying on the monarchy, Emrys must hunt through the London’s magical underworld, facing down Banshees, Black Dogs and Green Women to find the one who threatens Richard’s life. In this chaos of dark magic, palace murders and paparazzi, Emrys finds herself facing an impossible choice. For despite all her powers, Emrys has discovered a force that burns brighter than magic: love.

Review: In the world of All That Glows, British royalty dating all the way back to Camelot has been secretly protected by the Frithemaeg, a guard of faeries trained to fight off evil creatures that are after royal blood. The blood of royalty holds power and magic that every Green Woman, Banshee, and Black Dog would happily kill for. The story is set in modern London, a dangerous place for fae, as all modern technology saps them of their powers. Still, they risk it to defend the crown.

Emrys is charged with guarding Richard, the Prince who will soon be king. The danger is high enough, but he makes it worse by being lazy and out of control. I found both main characters a bit unlikable but still intriguing, though in turn that left me disconnected from the love story. While it was sweet, and was explained away as a “soul-tie” between Emrys and Richard, it often felt like a college fling.  Not to mention, he spent most of the time getting stinking drunk and dodging responsibilities where he could, so I was never quite sure what his initial appeal was for Emrys, aside from superficial good looks.  As for Emrys, she is flawed and flighty but shows great heart in her friendship with Breena and her love of being a fae. She was, however, somewhat terrible at her job!  Granted she was thrown off by being so drawn to Richard, but for being his guardian, he often had to come to her rescue or they would have both been lost. However, being unappealing to begin with gave them much room to grow, and they did redeemed themselves quite a bit by the end.

There's a mystery that keeps the reader guessing the identity of the villainous faery through about two-thirds of the book, but one bit of foreshadowing gives it all away a bit too soon. The faery-lore is interesting and the structure of their world works, but I wish there would have been a bit more delving into the history of it, the connection to Arthur Pendragon and Camelot, since that was the very beginning of the Frithemaeg.With that aside, the ending still sparkles with magical excitement as both Richard and Emrys fight for survival and for love. It's a fun, fast and fluffy read, not exactly what I'd hoped for, but entertaining still. 

 

Find Ryan Graudin online: Website  •  Twitter

 Purchase All That Glows:  Amazon  • BookDepository  •  Indiebound

Becky's View: Memory by Christoph Marzi

Memory by Christoph Marzi
♦publisher: Orchard Books(UK)
♦release date: August 1st, 2013
♦paperback, 329 pages
♦intended audience: Young adult
♦stand-alone
♦source: from publisher for honest review

This is a book about a ghost called Story. She's lost in the city - alone, afraid and without her memory. Then she meets Jude, a boy who sees the dead. And he is the only one who can help her remember...
A thrilling urban ghost story set in the twilight cemeteries of London.

Review:  Even just this tiny little blurb was enough to get me excited for this book.  Tell me it's a ghost story set in the cemeteries of London and I'm all in.  I wasn't sure what to expect beyond that, so I wouldn't say I was disappointed---but I didn't love it as much as I'd hoped. Christoph Marzi's Memory has a bit of a mishmash of things going on: a fun cast of characters, a likable main character, a mystery, some chills and thrills, and a last minute direction change that left me feeling like it was too different from the rest of the book to be a satisfying twist.

Jude is a sweetheart.  He recently discovered that he can see ghosts and enjoys spending his days in the cemetery with his newfound ghost friends. Despite being seventeen, Jude read much younger for me.  I couldn't help but picture him as closer to 13 or 14 from his personality throughout the book.  One day he finds a girl on a bench and discovers that she's not quite a ghost and not quite alive.  He brings her to Gaskell, an eccentric and long-dead rock star, and Miss Rathbone, a living not-quite-human who also hangs with the cemetery crowd.  They name her Story and realize that her current state means she is not dead, but in danger of dying if they don't find her body soon.  She has no memory except for a few details, so Jude follows the meager clues to find out who she is and what happened to her.  And so, the adventure begins. 

Their quest is filled with stories within stories; legends, backstories, histories.  At times, this made the story all the more rich.  But there were also times when the pacing and plot felt bogged down with overabundant and sometimes insignificant details.  I was surprised by a lot of the quirkiness and humor.  The story's mood swings from comical to sweet, spine-chilling to joyful, casual to fantastical.  There are so many characters and creatures that it is sometimes hard to follow, but the main crew is colorful and fun to read.  There are more than a few nods to every corner of British culture: Mary Poppins (a chalk artist in the park that calls himself Van Dyke), The Beatles (both musically and the main characters are named Jude and well, I won't tell you Story's real name...spoilers!), and Dr. Who (creepy angel statues that attack, creatures that you can only see out of the corner of your eye)...just to name a few.

All in all, a mostly fun read with a few drawbacks and distractions.  Despite my own few quirks with it, I do recommend giving Memory a try for a lighter Halloween read!

Find Christoph Marzi online:  Website  •  Facebook

Purchase Memory: Amazon  •  BookDepository 

Becky's View: Neptune's Tears by Susan Waggoner

Neptune's Tears by Susan Waggoner
♦publisher: Henry Holt & Company BYR
♦release date: June 25th, 2013
♦hardcover, 224 pages
♦intended audience: Young adult
♦series: Timedance, book 1
♦source: from publisher for honest review

London, 2218 A.D. Seventeen-year-old Zee is an intern empath. She’s focused on her job, poised for a great career—until one day an attractive patient undoes her hard-earned calm. As an empath, she cannot afford such distractions, but neither can she stay away from David, even when she discovers he’s one of a mysterious alien race. As London comes under attack by anarchist bombings, and as Zee struggles to get a handle on her unusually strong psychic abilities, David starts pulling away. Although Zee’s sure he’s attracted to her, David has secrets he cannot share. But it’s too late for Zee. She’s losing her heart to the gray-eyed alien boy, and she’s determined to follow him—no matter how far it may take her.

Review: Every once in awhile, it is nice to depart from the 400-500 page epic tales and dive into something that’s a quick read.  While shorter books are a nice break, there is always a danger that the story itself will end up feeling like it’s been shorted, and unfortunately that’s the feeling I got from Neptune’s Tears.

The story was enjoyable and entertaining.  Zee is an empath with a promising career ahead of her.  She meets David and instantly feels a dangerous attraction there---dangerous because love can derail an empath’s powers and because he is of the alien race that is visiting Earth.  Despite her fears, their relationship blossoms.  After they fall in love, the idea that her powers would be compromised seemed to go by the wayside; as a matter of fact, they seemed to become even more developed. The writing has a stark quality that sets an intense mood but sometimes feels ironically cold for a story about a girl who works with feelings and emotions.

I would have loved to get to know the supporting characters a bit more; Rani, Mia, Jasmine, Mrs. Hart---there are tons of interesting people who are part of Zee and David’s story but again, they pop in and out and we barely get to know them. Especially Zee’s best friend, Rani---she ends up being such a huge part of the ending, but I think fleshing out her character and their friendship a bit more would have given that a bit more impact. I really enjoyed each subplot: Zee’s relationship with the elegant and proud Mrs. Hart, her family that she’s grown apart from, the mystery behind what David and the aliens are really on Earth for, and a futuristic London that is constantly threatened by anarchist attacks.  I just wish all of these elements had been expanded on---I felt like we really just skim the surface of the story’s potential in favor of centering it around a story of forbidden love.

With the big twist at the end, I am interested to see where this story goes next. I’ll likely pick up the second book and see if I can delve a little deeper into this mysterious futuristic world!

Find Susan Waggoner online:  Facebook

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Amy's Series View: Twice Shy and Special Dead by Patrick Freivald

Twice Shy by Patrick Freivald
♦publisher:  JournalStone
♦release date: October 26, 2012
♦paperback, 231pages
♦intended audience: Young Adult
♦source: from publisher for honest review 

High School Sucks...... It's worse when you're dead.............

Ohneka Falls is a small, Western New York town where everyone knows everyone and nothing of note happens. Ani Romero is a sixteen-year-old girl who wants to play sports, hang out, and kiss Mike, her middle-school crush. A childhood carrier of the zombie virus, she died at fourteen but didn't become a mindless, brain-eating monster. Her controlling mother forces her to join the emo crowd to hide her condition behind a wall of black clothes and makeup, and her friends abandon her. When creeper Dylan learns her secret, he falls into obsession, with Ani and with death. She bites him in self-defense. Persecuted by the jocks and ignored by Mike, Ani struggles through the motions of life hoping her mother's research unveils a cure, or Dylan dooms them all to a hungry, walking death. As her emo facade crumbles in the face of jealousy and obsession, Ani knows that the worst thing she can do is be true to herself.

 
Review: A contemporary, gothic horror that leaves zombies fans cheering for more.

Ani just wants to be a normal teenager, but hiding deep down is a secret she can only share with her mother. Which in turn, results in way too many rules: be part of the emo crowd, stay covered, only limited sunlight, take formaldehyde baths, get good grades, no secrets, and never ever tell anyone that you are a zombie. All of which is easy, if you’re ok being called a freak. Not to add, the one boy you have ever liked can’t stand looking at your new emo style and his girlfriend is determined to make your life miserable. Life would be simpler, if only she could keep the thought of brains off her mind. The serum her mother, (Doctor and scientist) creates helps a bit, and even keeps the decaying process down but it still isn’t a cure. Leaving Ani with the illusion of a normal teenage life with her piano, job , and finding simple ways to distract her from eating brains.

However, Ani’s life starts to change when Dylan, local creep and obsessive emo boy, turns his obsession onto her and discovers the truth. Turning Ani’s life into chaos, threatening the very life she has grown to tolerate.

With love and hate and hate again, Ani’s heart is constantly tugged between her junior high crush Mike and his toying affections, while his girlfriend Devon goes to any length to make sure Ani knows who’s boss. Causing a cat and mouse chase with her heart that doesn’t even beat. All leading up to one explosive ending, that leaves the door open to its sequel.

Patrick Freivald captures the essence of a teenager. With great dialogue, true problems and the angst of complicated love. Addressing real social issues such as: cutting, drinking, and acceptance at any cost. I was pleasantly delighted by the unusual and creative spin on capturing the zombie essence. Adding a little teenage undead drama, with all the gory details one would expect there to be in a good zombie classic.

Special Dead by Patrick Freivald
♦publisher:  JournalStone 
♦release date: July 12th, 2013
♦paperback, 260 pages
♦intended audience: Young Adult
♦source: from publisher for honest review 

Shackled to her desk, Ani Romero has a hard time concentrating on her studies. One of eight zombie survivors of the Prompocalypse, she's back at school, but this time it's no secret. Locked in their room, flamethrower-toting soldiers watching their every move, they're tasked with homework and classes during the week, and macabre experiments on the weekend.

When the courts rule they're not human, only an appeal keeps them alive long enough to discover a cure. College applications and SATs pale under the threat of incineration, and desperation turns them into lab rats... ...but the scientists helping them have ulterior motives, and the promised cure destroys more than the virus.

Surviving high school has never been so hard.

Review: Follow Ani through the zombie filled continuation of Twice Shy, where life as a zombie is not what it is cracked up to be.

 With the event of prom fourteen months earlier, and Ani’s small slip up, her secret is partially out, and the zombie virus has been discovered. Leaving Ani and 7 of her classmates infected and known world-wide as the zombie survivors of, Prompocalypse.

Now acting like a new undead person, Ani must suffer with her classmates the horror of returning back to high school. If you call being chained to your desk, wearing helmets and metal bite guards, while surrounded by guards with flame throwers, a normal high school day. Luckily she has Mike, her partly brain eaten boyfriend, there with her. Although, Devon his ex girlfriend just happens to be there as well.  Life could only get worse if they were all dead- wait they already are.

With a storyline that stretches through their days at school, medical testing, zombie virus injections you follow the trial and tribulations of not only being a teenager but being a zombie teenager.

With a realistic approach to how society might actually react to a zombie virus outbreak. This book highlights social disorder and raises the question of, “What do you do with the living undead?” Are they people with rights or subjects only to be kept around for medical experiments?

Special Dead highlights the fall of social structure at the dawn of a deadly virus and the challenges faced by those who are left to cope with the disease. Although teenagers themselves, they are faced with choices of which all  have deadly consequences, as well as being emotionally charged. If you are a fan of zombies, sci- fi, or gory medical research this book taps into it all.

Find Patrick Freivald online: Twitter  •  Goodreads

Purchase Twice Shy and Special Dead:  Amazon  •  BookDepository  • Indiebound

Becky's View: Plague in the Mirror by Deborah Noyes

Plague in the Mirror by Deborah Noyes
♦publisher: Candlewick Press
♦release date: June 11th, 2013
♦hardcover, 272 pages
♦intended audience: Young adult
♦stand-alone
♦source: from publisher for honest review

In a sensual paranormal romance, a teen girl’s doppelgänger from 1348 Florence lures her into the past in hopes of exacting a deadly trade.

It was meant to be a diversion — a summer in Florence with her best friend, Liam, and his travel-writer mom, doing historical research between breaks for gelato. A chance to forget that back in Vermont, May’s parents, and all semblance of safety, were breaking up. But when May wakes one night sensing someone in her room, only to find her ghostly twin staring back at her, normalcy becomes a distant memory. And when later she follows the menacing Cristofana through a portale to fourteenth-century Florence, May never expects to find safety in the eyes of Marco, a soulful painter who awakens in her a burning desire and makes her feel truly seen. The wily Cristofana wants nothing less of May than to inhabit each other’s lives, but with the Black Death ravaging Old Florence, can May’s longing for Marco’s touch be anything but madness? Lush with atmosphere both passionate and eerie, this evocative tale follows a girl on the brink of womanhood as she dares to transcend the familiar — and discovers her sensual power.

Review:  When I first started reading this dark historical story, I loved it.  The beautiful descriptions of both modern-day and 14th century Italy enchanted me and the hint of something creepy and bizarre and ghostly about to happen drew me in.  You meet the main character, May, during her first eerie encounter with Cristofana, and she doesn’t know if she’s seen a ghost, had a nightmare, or is just going insane.  I liked May from the get-go, she seemed genuine, a bit of a thinker, a girl going through some emotional family problems.  

The story, though, was not what I was expecting: a story about a girl who gets pulled into the past by her creepy doppleganger, and the adventure and romance that she finds there.  What I got instead was this:  a girl is contacted by her ancestor, Cristofana, who lures her to the past where she meets a handsome stranger; Cristofana then implores May to switch permanently.  The rest of the story is May trying to find out who Cristofana really is and actually considering switching with her, partly to be with the man she met, partly to escape the stresses of her life at home, and partly because Cristofana’s urgency to switch quickly turns into violent threats.

Those looking for an engaging love story should probably look elsewhere.   There is meant to be something brewing with May and her best friend Liam, but it fell short for me as he came off a bit whiny, unsupportive when she tries to reach out to him, and I didn't really get a connection between them beyond anything friendly and slightly superficial.  There is also Marcus, the mysterious man she meets for only moments in her first trip into the past.   I’ll admit it was a romantic moment, full of long looks and a sweet patching-up of her injured knee, but for May to suddenly be contemplating leaving her life in modern times to face the Black Death just to be with this complete stranger just did not seem believable to me. 

Despite a few hiccups, I found Plague in the Mirror to be both lush in historical descriptions and terrifying in a way that fully immerses the reader in the horrors of the black plague.  It was a slow-moving plot in many parts, with maybe just a bit too much historical atmosphere and not enough meat to the story, but interesting enough to keep me reading until the end.

  Find Deborah Noyes online:  Website  •  Twitter  

Purchase Plague in the Mirror:  Amazon  •  BookDepository  •  Indiebound 

Becky's View: The Last Academy by Anne Applegate

The Last Academy by Anne Applegate
♦publisher: Scholastic Point
♦release date: April 30th, 2013
♦hardcover, 320 pages
♦intended audience: Young adult
♦stand-alone
♦source: from publisher for honest review

What is this prep school preparing them for?

Camden Fisher arrives at boarding school haunted by a falling-out with her best friend back home. But the manicured grounds of Lethe Academy are like nothing Cam has ever known. There are gorgeous, preppy boys wielding tennis rackets, and circles of girls with secrets to spare. Only . . . something is not quite right. One of Cam's new friends mysteriously disappears, but the teachers don't seem too concerned. Cam wakes up to strangers in her room, who then melt into the night. She is suddenly plagued by odd memories, and senses there might be something dark and terrible brewing. But what? The answer will leave Cam—and readers—stunned and breathless, in this thrilling debut novel.

Review:  The Last Academy was a very fast, fairly entertaining, but slightly frustrating read.  There is a lot I can't tell you without giving a major plot twist away, but actually someone with a good knowledge of mythology can guess right away what is really going on at this school, just from the name of the school and the name of the main villain.  I am not that someone, but I would guess that I figured out what was going on right about the time the first friend mysteriously disappears.

But the predictability was not a problem.  I actually liked how the story flowed and unfolded.  It was fun, a bit humorous at times, some good conflicts and had some good twists.  It had a good mystery running through it, too, as Camden desperately tries to figure out what happened to her missing friend and if the creepy, sinister Barnaby Charon is responsible---all while dodging the other students' bullying because they hold her to blame for the girl's disappearance.

The big problem I had with this story was the characters.   There wasn't any one character that I would say I could connect with.  Camden had her moments of funny wit, but she lost me within the first 20 or so pages when (and I don't consider that a spoiler) a complete stranger violates her on a plane and she does nothing about it.  Their actions, while some made a little more sense by the end, were just so disconnected and confusing.  The behavior and reactions of everyone (and I mean even the teachers at the school) were a bit dumbfounding and sometimes completely immature.  It made for an interesting story but one that you can't really immerse into because the character were all pretty irksome.

The ending though..well, the ending was what brought this book back from a two-cupcaker to a three.  Despite my lack of connection to the characters throughout almost the whole book, as each one's story is revealed, I felt a little more for them.  What happens at the end for Camden touched my heart so completely that I actually found myself in tears.  It made the whole book worth a read.    

If you decide to give this one a try, go in with a little trepidation, but know there is a bit of lovely payoff at the end! 

Find Anne Applegate online: Website  •   Twitter  •  Facebook

Purchase The Last Academy: Amazon  •  BookDepository  •  Indiebound

Amy's View: Going Vintage by Lindsey Leavitt

Going Vintage by Lindsey Leavitt
♦publisher: Bloomsbury
♦release date: March 26, 2013
♦hardcover, 320 pages
♦intended audience: Young adult
♦stand-alone
♦source: ALA midwinter

When Mallory’s boyfriend, Jeremy, cheats on her with an online girlfriend, Mallory decides the best way to de-Jeremy her life is to de-modernize things too. Inspired by a list of goals her grandmother made in1962, Mallory swears off technology and returns to a simpler time (when boyfriends couldn’t cheat with computer avatars). The List:
1. Run for pep club secretary
2. Host a fancy dinner party/soiree
3. Sew a dress for Homecoming
 4. Find a steady
5. Do something dangerous
But simple proves to be crazy-complicated, and the details of the past begin to change Mallory’s present. Add in a too-busy grandmother, a sassy sister, and the cute pep-club president–who just happens to be her ex’s cousin–and soon Mallory begins to wonder if going vintage is going too far.

Review:  “Adolescence is the same tragedy being performed again and again. The only things that change are the stage props.” Page 284

List maker Mallory, swears off all things electronic after she finds her boyfriend cheating on her with an internet girlfriend; no cell phone, no computer, no internet and definitely no friendspace. Longing for a simpler time, she decides on living life as if it’s 1962.  

Finding her grandmother’s old journal, filled with lists, Mallory sets out to complete the one dated- Junior Year 1962. Seeming like the perfect answer to her cyber problems, she quickly takes on the challenge of “Going Vintage”. Following her grandmother’s uncompleted list of “Junior Year Back to School Resolutions”-1) Run for prep club secretary. 2) Host a dinner party 3) Sew a homecoming dress 4) Find a steady 5) Do something dangerous. 

Mallory sets out to be truly authentic, in her seer-sucker dress and broach circa 1960’s, to the rotary phone in her room, Mallory dedicates her life totally vintage.  Discovering that she may, once again, be confident enough to conquer the vicious rumors of her breakup. However, living vintage is not as easy as just checking off each task, tasks that aren’t so 2013.  

With the new list, and new simpler lifestyle, problems still arise.  Internet school projects, minus the internet, means hours after school at the library looking through old books. Along with the truly archaic resolutions of starting a pep club, hosting a soiree with an all 1960’s menu and all without modern conveniences. Not to mention, trying to find a steady, when the last thing she wants to think about is boys.  

With the help from her sister Mallory, the epitome of sisterly love, they do their best. They stay true to the rules and conquer not only the list, but gain knowledge, friendship and a little more self confidence along the way. Causing Mallory to discover more truth than she set out looking for and closer relationships than she started with.

While this book has its many promises, it fell short of the vintage flair I was hoping for. Although the storyline was truly original and sweet, I hoped for a little more authenticity. Still fun, contemporary and entertaining, this book highlights the wonderful and amazing attributes of sisterly bonds.  Totally authentic at times, from the menu choices for the dinner party, to the clothing that Mallory chooses to wear and draw inspiration from.  A book blended with great ingredients of humor, family bonding and discovering the real meaning behind completing a goal.

Find Lindsey Leavitt online:  Website  •  Twitter  •  Facebook

Purchase Going Vintage: Amazon  •  BookDepository  •  Indiebound