Review: City of Ghosts by Victoria Schwab

City of Ghosts (Cassidy Blake #1)
By Victoria Schwab
Publisher: Scholastic Press
Format: Hardcover
Source: Purchased

To Sum It Up: Cassidy Blake’s parents may write books about ghosts for a living, but for Cass, ghosts are all too real. After being saved from drowning by a ghost named Jacob, who becomes her best friend, Cassidy can step into the Veil, the curtain between the living and the dead. When her parents are given the opportunity to film a TV show about haunted places around the world, the family packs their bags for Edinburgh, Scotland, where Cassidy is about to discover that not all ghosts are friendly like Jacob.

Review: Victoria Schwab has become an auto-buy author for me, so of course I had to check out her middle grade novel, City of Ghosts. In it we meet Cassidy Blake, a girl whose near-death experience has given her the ability to cross into the Veil, the barrier between the worlds of the living and the dead. Cass’s best friend is Jacob, a snarky, comic book-loving ghost who saved Cass from drowning. Cass and Jacob’s friendship was definitely the highlight of the novel for me; I loved the banter between them.

Overall, though, I’m bummed to say that I just wasn’t feeling this book. While I loved the concept and the wonderful, thoroughly detailed descriptions of Edinburgh, the story itself seemed to be missing something. As spooky as some of Cass and Jacob’s forays into the Veil are, the sense of danger doesn’t feel all that palpable.

I also thought that the book took a while to get going, and even then, the plot is pretty straightforward. I think I expected more suspense and tension build-up given that this is a story about ghosts. I realize that this is middle grade, but I felt there was still room to add more layers to the plot and to the characters.

Perhaps I’m too used to the complicated characters of Schwab’s adult novels to fully appreciate City of Ghosts. This one fell a bit short for me, but I do think that the book offers plenty of chills to thrill younger readers who will enjoy watching Cassidy and Jacob grow as characters as they continue their ghostly adventures together.

All in All: Sadly, I didn’t love this as much as I’d hoped despite some snappy dialogue and an immersive setting. The plot was a tad thin for me to really get into the story. Middle grade readers, however, will very likely find City of Ghosts to be a promising start to the series.

Review: Shadow Me by Tahereh Mafi

Shadow Me (Shatter Me #4.5)
By Tahereh Mafi
Publisher: Harper
Format: eBook
Source: Purchased

To Sum It Up: As Juliette prepares to face the sector leaders of The Reestablishment as supreme commander, the rest of her world seems to be falling apart. Kenji tries to support his friend, but he has his own distractions to deal with. He needs to find his focus quickly, though, as Sector 45 is in danger of being obliterated.

Review: I LOVE Shatter Me’s resident smartass Kenji Kishimoto, so I was thrilled by the news that the newest Shatter Me novella, Shadow Me, would feature his POV. Kenji’s unfiltered, in-your-face snark is one of my favorite things about the series. Plus I was hoping to learn more of his backstory.

I was surprised that Shadow Me only touched on that briefly. Instead the novella is more of a retelling of the last few chapters of Restore Me from Kenji’s perspective. I was a bit disappointed by that. I didn’t feel we got to dive into his character the way that we did with Warner’s in the series' first novella, Destroy Me. With Kenji being the kind of person who freely shares whatever is on his mind, I’d hoped to gain more insight into that mind rather than just observing the chaos of the ending of Restore Me through his eyes.

While of course I enjoyed Kenji’s often hilarious take on everything and everyone—especially Warner—Shadow Me didn’t shed as much light on his character as I’d expected. I’d read if all over again, though, because: Kenji.

All in All: Not essential reading in order to follow the series, but no doubt Kenji fans will want to check this out.

Review: The Afterlife of Holly Chase by Cynthia Hand

The Afterlife of Holly Chase
By Cynthia Hand
Publisher: HarperTeen
Format: Hardcover
Source: Purchased

To Sum It Up: Holly Chase is a failed Scrooge. After receiving a visit from three ghosts on Christmas Eve warning her to change her ways, Holly completely ignores them and a few days later, she dies. Then begins Holly’s afterlife as an employee of Project Scrooge, the company that tried to reform her. Holly is Project Scrooge’s Ghost of Christmas Past, a job that she’s not entirely keen on until the team begins planning for this year’s assignment: Ethan Winters, a Scrooge whom Holly takes a particular interest in when she starts to realize how much his life experiences mirror her own. As Christmas Eve approaches, Holly’s duties as the Ghost of Christmas Past increasingly take a backseat to what her heart wants.

Review: I’m a huge fan of Cynthia Hand’s angel series Unearthly, so I was very excited to read her modern take on A Christmas Carol. Hand’s version tells the story of Holly Chase, who failed to be swayed by the efforts of Project Scrooge, a secret company that tries to save one Scrooge-like individual every Christmas. After being visited by the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Future à la Dickens’s classic tale, Holly ignores all of the ghosts’ warnings and subsequently dies. Her afterlife consists of being a Project Scrooge employee, as its current Ghost of Christmas Past. Holly is less than thrilled about this purgatory/hell she’s landed in and hasn’t changed much, if at all, from her days as a mortal.

It doesn’t take long to realize why Holly was selected as a Scrooge: she’s selfish, materialistic, and mean. A good portion of the novel sees Holly put her responsibilities as the GCP on the backburner as she falls for the current Scrooge, Ethan Winters. Holly’s recklessness is sometimes cringe-worthy, yet it also builds suspense. Will Project Scrooge discover what she’s up to? Will she put Ethan’s future in jeopardy by not doing her job?

I found the middle section of the book, which focuses on Holly meeting Ethan in secret when she should be carrying out her GCP duties kind of slow moving. I wasn’t really sold on the romance here. My investment was in whether or not Ethan would be another failed Scrooge thanks in large part to Holly’s egregious breaking of Project Scrooge protocol.

I admit that I was prepared to be a bit disappointed with this one until—and I must squeeze in a bad Christmas pun here—things started wrapping up. I loved the book’s conclusion; it was extremely satisfying with just the right amount of closure, yet without being hokey. Although I would have enjoyed the book even more if the middle part had been as strong as the finish, overall this was a solid retelling as well as a solid holiday read.

All in All: I struggled some reading through the romance bits, but the ending was totally worth hanging in there for.

Review: All the Crooked Saints by Maggie Stiefvater

All the Crooked Saints
By Maggie Stiefvater
Publisher: Scholastic Press
Format: Hardcover
Source: Purchased

To Sum It Up: Pilgrims flock to Bicho Raro, Colorado, home of the Soria family, in search of a miracle. While the Sorias can perform miracles, they are forbidden from helping the pilgrims permanently banish their darkness, lest the Sorias bring the darkness onto themselves. Cousins Beatriz, Daniel, and Joaquin know this rule as well as any Soria, but when Daniel, the Saint of Bicho Raro, finds himself battling the very thing all the Sorias fear, it’s up to Beatriz and Joaquin to find a way to save their beloved cousin.

Review: Soooo, according to Goodreads, I began reading All the Crooked Saints on July 31, 2018, and finished it on December 9, 2018. And this review is posting in January of 2019. Yikes!

So, what happened here? I did read a few self-help books for work during that stretch but . . . what happened here?! Maggie Stiefvater is one of my all-time favorite authors!

Looking back at how long it took me to read All the Crooked Saints, I’d say that 90% of it taking forever was due to life and necessary adulting usurping reading time. The remaining 10% was due to just not finding my groove with this book. There was nothing really concrete that I disliked about it. Stiefvater’s prose is as beautiful as ever, and once again, she has assembled a cast of finely crafted characters. I think my struggle here was the same as it was with another Stiefvater standalone, The Scorpio Races. Both novels moved very slowly for me, and I found it challenging to get invested.

I did manage to find more investment in All the Crooked Saints than I did in The Scorpio Races thanks to the compelling backstories of the members of the Soria family and the miracle-seeking pilgrims who still haven’t left the Sorias’ home in Bicho Raro, Colorado. I also loved the contagious charisma of Diablo Diablo, AKA Joaquin Soria, pirate radio DJ extraordinaire, and the role that his rogue broadcast, engineered by Joaquin’s clever cousin, Beatriz, played throughout the novel.

The last 70 pages really picked up for me, and when, after reading this book in fits and starts for about four months, I reached the last page, I realized that I’d quite enjoyed the book. Maggie Stiefvater is brilliant at threading magic through reality. Pilgrims with coyote heads or nonstop rain falling over them are entirely the norm in Bicho Raro.

My rating does reflect the difficulty I encountered with the book’s overall pacing, but the strong finish left an impression deep enough to bump the rating up by another half star. No ravens or quests to find sleeping kings to be found in this one, but there are owls and an atmosphere infused with magic that makes Bicho Raro much more than just a setting for a story about saints and pilgrims.

All in All: Although it took me quite a while to get into All the Crooked Saints, it ended up being the type of read that grew on me the more I thought about it.

Review: Ink by Alice Broadway

Ink (Skin Books #1)
By Alice Broadway
Publisher: Scholastic
Format: Print ARC
Source: YALLFest

To Sum It Up: In Saintstone, the marks inked onto a person’s skin tell his or her life story, both the good and the bad. When someone dies, that person’s skin is turned into a book and either deemed worthy of being preserved and remembered or forgotten and burned depending on what kind of life the individual led. Leora Flint has always followed Saintstone’s rules and traditions until her beloved father dies, and questions begin to arise about possible past misdeeds and secrets he might have kept, even from his family.

Lee's Review: Ink is kind of a hard book to describe, even when trying to pinpoint its genre. Because folklore is such an integral part of the novel, Ink sometimes feels like a fantasy. The unquestioning certainty with which the people of Saintstone, the town in which the book is set, must accept these stories as the absolute truth throws some dystopia into the mix.

The life stories of everyone in Saintstone are literally open books because they’re told through the tattoos people acquire—sometimes not voluntarily—throughout their lives. After death, one’s skin is turned into a book, and the books of those judged not worthy of being remembered are burned. It took me a moment to wrap my head around the bit where dead people’s skins become books, but once I got past the initial ewww factor, Ink was an intriguing read. Alice Broadway’s prose is very elegant, even when bringing to life a society ruled by a government that keeps a vigilant watch over its denizens.

Ink is narrated by Leora Flint, who at the book’s open is mourning the loss of her father. In the weeks leading up to the ceremony that will determine whether or not her father deserves to be remembered, Leora becomes increasingly anxious that his book will be thrown into the flames for possibly breaking Saintstone’s laws. Leora herself is not the rebellious type, and it comes across in her narrative voice. That posed a problem for me later in the book, when Leora makes decisions that seem uncharacteristic for her. I felt she needed more development leading up to that point so her actions made more sense for her character.

I also didn’t find the book’s big reveal all that revelatory. Again, I think it’s because Leora’s narration is so steady, it didn’t have the inflection needed to deliver an impact.

While Ink wasn’t quite a page turner for me, I did admire Alice Broadway’s lovely writing and creativity in devising the book’s premise. For me to read the sequel, though, I’d want to see more depth to Leora’s character and the secondary characters as well.

All in All: I really liked the genre mashup here and the prose, but I was looking for a bit more to Leora’s character.

Melissa's Review: In Ink, Alice Broadway crafts an exceptional setting through magnificent world building. She forms a unique culture that propels the plot and her characters successfully throughout the book. Because the society she places her characters within is so complex, the story carries a deeper meaning. The theme of the story becomes one of man (or in this case, woman) against a corrupt government, a theme I find particularly captivating. The theme does, however, cause Leora to be somewhat naïve in the beginning, but the reader does see her make some satisfying progress as the story continues.

Ink is very well written, and Broadway does an excellent job of describing the artistry behind the inking culture, truly showing the reader what these tattoos look like. The pacing of the novel is mostly consistent, keeping the reader interested. Additionally, the characters are likable, but not quite lovable. All of the important aspects of a good book are present, but the characters could not connect with me in a way to take this book to the next level.

The only true problem I had with Ink was that the ending felt slightly rushed. I would have really liked to see Leora develop more as a character while she dealt with the truths she had discovered. I think that growth would have made the resolution feel more complete. I do think the ending scene was quite powerful, but it could have been even better with more insight into Leora’s decisions.

All in All: This was an excellent read, and Broadway’s world building skills are phenomenal. I just wish the main character’s development felt more complete.

Review: Night Study by Maria V. Snyder

* This review may contain spoilers for the previous book, Shadow Study.

Night Study (Soulfinders #2)
By Maria V. Snyder
Publisher: Mira
Format: Paperback
Source: Purchased

To Sum It Up: Yelena and Valek find themselves in danger once again, and this time, not even their combined formidable escape skills may save them. Yelena is still without her magic and the target of assassins. Valek, meanwhile, is no longer certain of his once unwavering loyalty to the Commander of Ixia, and the Commander is no longer sure that he can completely trust Valek. As Ixia and Sitia edge closer to conflict, Yelena, Valek, and their family and friends race to thwart it, but their numerous enemies always seem to be a step ahead of them.

Review: Night Study is the second book in Maria V. Snyder’s new series featuring Yelena, Valek, and all the gang from her original Study series plus characters from her spin-off Glass series. So this is technically the eighth book set in this world that I’ve read, and it’s always a bit of a homecoming to return to it.

Yelena and Valek are one of my favorite fictional couples; their slow burning romance way back in Poison Study was just perfect. I can’t begin to quantify how much sentimental value this series holds for me thanks to these two and their close-knit circle of family and friends. In all seriousness, I’d read books about Yelena and Valek in their old age; they’d probably eschew retirement and still be running about Ixia and Sitia trying to save everyone.

As much as I love these characters, though, there were a few things about Night Study that I couldn’t quite look the other way on. The first was the book’s pacing; it took me almost two weeks to read this. While there was no shortage of action scenes, which Snyder has always written well and continues to do so, the story itself just felt slow moving in places. Valek goes off on a solo mission that for the most part seems better suited for a standalone short story. Although an interesting twist awaits at the conclusion of his mission, the path to it is somewhat circuitous.

While I liked the addition of Valek and Janco’s POVs in the previous novel, Shadow Study, the multiple POVs, which also include Yelena’s brother, Leif, didn’t work quite as well for me this time around. You will never hear me complain about reading from Valek’s perspective. Ever. And that’s not to imply that I’m going to complain about Janco and Leif’s chapters. Maybe it’s because every POV except Yelena’s is written in the third person, but Janco and Leif’s narrative voices don’t always come across as distinct from one another.

So on to what was awesome about Night Study. I liked seeing Valek conflicted over his loyalties. He’s been the Commander’s right hand man for years, but Night Study sees their relationship grow increasingly strained. The Commander is wary of Yelena, with her ties to magic and to Sitia, where magic isn’t banned as it is in Ixia, which also drives a wedge between Valek and the Commander. Valek would do anything for Yelena, his heart mate, even defy the Commander. Watching Valek have to make a difficult choice made for a very compelling plotline.

We also get the usual witty observations from Janco, a narrow escape or two or three, and a development that’s sure to elate longtime fans of the series. I know I almost melted. While this wasn’t my favorite installment in the chronicles of Yelena, Valek, and co., I’m still very much invested in their next set of adventures.

All in All: I found the pace at which Night Study moved on the sluggish side at times and would be OK with fewer POVs, but the swoony Yelena and Valek moments and a big revelation definitely helped balance things out.

Review: Whatever Life Throws at You by Julie Cross

Whatever Life Throws at You
By Julie Cross
Publisher: Entangled Teen
Format: eBook
Source: Purchased

To Sum It Up: When Annie Lucas’s father accepts a job as pitching coach for the Kansas City Royals, they uproot from Arizona to Missouri. Not only does Annie find herself in a new city and a new school, but thanks to her dad’s new position, she’s in the frequent company of Royals rookie pitcher Jason Brody. Brody has the potential to be a pitching ace if he can overcome the bad reputation that’s followed him to the majors, one that will only be given credence if he and Annie get too involved.

Review: Whatever Life Throws at You falls outside of my typical reading fare as both a contemporary and a straight up romance, but it also has . . . BASEBALL. I love baseball! Lifelong New York Yankees fan here! Although the Yankees are referenced a couple of times in the novel, it’s the Kansas City Royals who are the featured team here. But still: BASEBALL!

I bought Whatever Life Throws at You almost a year ago, with the intention of reading it before the 2015 baseball season ended. That didn’t happen. We are, however, just in time for the start of the 2016 season! Even more coincidentally, the Royals are the current reigning World Series champs. So this turned out to be a pretty good moment to finally dust this off my Kindle shelf, coupled with just feeling like reading something different.

While we’re talking baseball, I’ll mention that you don’t need to know the ins and outs of the game to read this. The sweet, slow-burning relationship between protagonist Annie and Royals hotshot rookie pitcher Jason Brody is the book’s centerpiece. As a baseball fan, I really liked how the sport was worked into the novel, and I got very sentimental at one point when the Royals’ manager and close friend of Annie’s father reminisces about the Yankees’ 1995 season. It was a lovely trip back in time for me, too. I did think that a few elements of the game were stretched to suit the story, like Brody batting in a game against another team in the American League, which uses the designated hitter. I know I sound nitpicky and it probably won’t matter to most readers; I just happen to go full geek over things I’m passionate about, baseball being one of them.

I loved that Annie and Brody’s romance took its time reaching that point—not a whiff of insta-love to be found in this book. There’s also zero pressure from either side to take what begins as friendship to a level that the other isn’t comfortable with. The progression develops at a really wonderful pace; I’m quite impressed with how the romance was written.

Something that I wasn’t so keen on was the way Annie came across judgy at times. Brody’s reputation as a guy with a troubled past precedes him, but even after getting to know him better, Annie is still prone to jumping to the conclusion that Brody is living it up as a 19-year-old bachelor who’s just come into a sizeable payday. The book also feels a bit angsty when things start getting serious between Annie and Brody and both fear her father’s reaction if he finds out about them. I mean, I understand that every story needs a conflict and this is a significant one, especially since Annie is extremely close to her dad and he’s become a mentor to Brody, even outside of baseball. But, I don’t know, all the talk about how the long term wasn’t going to work out because Annie’s dad wouldn’t approve and the fact that Annie was still in high school while Brody was an adult got to me somewhat.

In the end, though, the truly irresistible romance made this an overall enjoyable read. And now please bear with me as I indulge in some bad baseball puns to close this review: the book as a whole is a solid triple; the romance between Annie and Brody: a bona fide grand slam homerun.

All in All: I probably wouldn’t have picked this up had it not been for the baseball, but I’m glad I did. I don’t think non-baseball fans needs to worry about being overwhelmed by the game’s lingo. Just sit back and enjoy watching the romance bloom.

ARC Review: Tell the Wind and Fire by Sarah Rees Brennan

Tell the Wind and Fire
By Sarah Rees Brennan
Publisher: Clarion Books
Format: eARC
Source: NetGalley
Publication Date: April 5, 2016

To Sum It Up: New York is divided into two cities: the Light, which the wealthy and privileged call home, and the Dark, whose citizens live in stark contrast to their Light counterparts. Lucie Manette has known both halves of New York, having been born in the Dark but now a famous political symbol residing in the Light and connected to the Light’s powerful Stryker family. No one would dare associate them with Dark magic, but when a figure emerges from the Dark city with an obvious tie to the Strykers, Lucie finds herself caught between trying to protect the boy she loves and showing compassion for someone who, like her, comes from the Dark.

Review: Sarah Rees Brennan’s Gothic-tinged The Lynburn Legacy managed to both make me cackle like a madwoman with its sparkling wit and harpoon my heart with its more agonizing moments. Sometimes these emotions came over me within mere pages of each other. So when I found out that SRB had a new book coming out, of course I said, yes, please sign me up for more hilarity and heartache!

Tell the Wind and Fire is a retelling of Charles Dickens’s A Tale of Two Cities, which, alas, I have not read and know but a handful of details about. I didn’t feel that reading Dickens’s original was necessary in order to follow Tell the Wind and Fire, though; the latter read like a self-contained story.

Instead of Paris and New York, the two cities here are Light and Dark New York. Light magicians live very comfortably, and even luxuriously, in their part of the city while Dark magicians are kept downtrodden under the thumb of the ruling Light Council. Unrest is spiking among the buried, as the Dark city’s denizens are called, and the novel’s protagonist, Lucie Manette, is a key figure to both sides.

It’s the social divide between the two New Yorks that lies at the heart of Tell the Wind and Fire, with the magic woven subtly throughout the story. Readers expecting epic magical showdowns may be a tad let down because this isn’t that type of book. Although I didn’t mind too much that magic wasn’t the book’s primary focus, I still wished for a bit more world-building. This world of a split New York with two types of magic just didn’t feel entirely fleshed out and immersive.

I sometimes became frustrated with the main character, Lucie. She makes a really, really big mistake early on in the novel, one that keeps the consequences rolling throughout. While she owns up to what she’s done—repeatedly—she’s also occasionally critical of other characters’ actions when she herself has demonstrated a pretty serious lapse in judgment. Lucie’s narrative voice also fell kind of flat for me, with quite a lot of self-reflection that looped around in circles after a while. Sometimes you just can’t seem to form a connection with a protagonist, and that’s what happened here.

The character who really livens up this book is Carwyn, a doppelganger from the Dark city with an ultra secret connection to the family of Lucie’s boyfriend, Ethan. Doppelgangers are created from illegal Dark magic and believed to be soulless. Judging from the number of sarcastic comments Carwyn cracks, doppelgangers are also snarky! One of the things I loved most about The Lynburn Legacy was its riotous humor, and I’d hoped for similar laugh-out-loud moments in Tell the Wind and Fire. The tone here is more serious, though, and the wittiest lines of dialogue belong to Carwyn. What also makes him the novel’s most intriguing character to me is his unpredictability. He doesn’t always act like the evil twin everyone expects him to be (although there are plenty of occasions when he does). I’m endlessly fascinated by morally ambiguous characters, and it’s the fact that Carwyn isn’t without faults, unlike Lucie’s almost too perfect boyfriend Ethan, that I found compelling. Yes, I have a thing for the bad boys and the sorta bad boys, and Carwyn defies fitting neatly into one category, which in turn keeps you the reader wondering what he’ll do next.

It’s taken me a few days to write this review and hash out my overall feelings about this book. Lucie wasn’t an especially engaging narrator, but Carwyn kept me invested in the story, even though he’s off page at times, building suspense around what he’s up to. I also have to praise Sarah Rees Brennan’s prose, which is as pretty as ever. There are some very beautiful yet heartbreaking quotes that got an additional half star all on their own. Tell the Wind and Fire may not be the book you’re looking for if you seek a read heavily focused on magic, but you may want to hang around for the smart-alecky doppelganger.

All in All: Obviously, the doppelganger story line was the highlight for me. I wasn’t as crazy about Lucie’s character, but the caliber of the writing kept me reading. And this book has definitely made me curious about its inspiration, A Tale of Two Cities.

Review: Truthwitch by Susan Dennard

Truthwitch (The Witchlands #1)
By Susan Dennard
Publisher: Tor Teen
Format: Hardcover
Source: Purchased

To Sum It Up: Safiya and Iseult’s friendship can withstand anything, including life on the run when the ladies find themselves pursued by multiple parties. Safi’s Truthwitch magic, unknown to most, makes her the perfect political asset in a world that’s about to reach the end of a twenty year truce between empires. Prince Merik Nihar knows all too well the destruction of war, and his efforts to restore vitality to his ravaged homeland put him directly in Safi and Iseult’s path. Although they’re fiercely independent and used to relying only on each other, this time Safi and Iseult may need the outside help, as their current predicament is far from being one of their typical brushes with danger.

Review: With the massive marketing campaign that preceded its release, it was nearly impossible not to have heard about Truthwitch. What really sold me on needing to read this book, though, was its being compared to Avatar: The Last Airbender. You had me at Avatar: The Last Airbender because I. Love. That. Show. So the expectations were high for this one, and try as I did to keep them within reason, I think it’s always a bit of a challenge to not anticipate perfection or something very close to it from ultra hyped books.

Truthwitch wastes no time cutting straight to the action. Best friends Safiya and Iseult become wanted young women almost immediately after we meet them when their little attempt to recoup some gambling losses goes awry. This puts a mercenary monk named Aeduan hot on their trail with Javert-like doggedness, a chase that persists for the rest of the novel but for motives that shift over the course of the book.

While I loved the whirlwind pace of Truthwitch and the relentless action, I also found myself wishing for more exposition. Other readers have mentioned that the world-building was a bit lacking for them, and I’m afraid I agree. This world is busy, with quite a lot to absorb from the get-go regarding elemental magic and the politics of the Witchlands. I struggled to add everything up and often felt like I had plenty of puzzle pieces to work with but no matter how I arranged them, I couldn’t assemble a full picture.

As with Rebel of the Sands, I also wondered about the overall story arc for Truthwitch. The twenty year truce between the empires of the Witchlands is about to end, and war could be on the horizon. The potential for conflict eventually gathers steam, but for most of the book, it takes a backseat to Safi and Iseult’s adventures. Truthwitch is very much Safi and Iseult’s show, not that this is entirely a bad thing, but every time the pair wound up in a new predicament, I couldn’t help thinking, but where is this going? How does this latest narrow escape figure into the broader story?

My difficulties fully grasping the world aside, there was still much to enjoy about Truthwitch. Safi and Iseult’s friendship is by far the book’s highlight. These two share an utterly unbreakable bond; there’s absolutely nothing one wouldn’t do for the other. Readers whose hearts melted over the epic brotherhood between Will Herondale and Jem Carstairs in The Infernal Devices should be very happy here.

Truthwitch also boasts some witty dialogue exchanges, particularly those between Safi and Prince Merik, a Windwitch with a temper that ignites as easily as Safi’s does. They bait each other frequently, usually to hilarious effect. Merik’s aunt, Evrane, a Carawen monk like Aeduan but unlike Aeduan, not a threat to Safi and Iseult, was one of my favorite characters. Evrane is as badass a fighter as Safi and Iseult, and her relationship with her nephew kind of reminded me of Uncle Iroh and Zuko in Avatar: The Last Airbender. Aha—I’ve made my AtLA connection!

The characters are what made this book for me, and I definitely have enough investment in them to continue with the series. I do hope, though, that the sequel provides some more backstory to the world, especially the inner workings of the magic. If that happens, this will be a knockout of a series.

All in All: While Truthwitch was a solid read overall thanks to the wonderful friendship, the strong female characters, and the clever banter, the world-building left me with more than a few unanswered questions. This may not be a big deal for some readers; I just happen to like my fantasy reads highly detailed, and this one was a tad light with the explanations in my opinion.

ARC Review: Rebel of the Sands by Alwyn Hamilton

Rebel of the Sands (Rebel of the Sands #1)
By Alwyn Hamilton
Publisher: Viking
Format: Print ARC
Source: YALLFest
Publication Date: March 8, 2016

To Sum It Up: Amani dreams of a life far away from her home in Dustwalk and hopes that her sharpshooting skills will help her obtain the money she needs to escape. Her plans get set into motion with some unexpected assistance from a mysterious stranger named Jin, with whom Amani finds herself fleeing across the desert from the authorities. The pair must not only evade their pursuers but also the dangerous otherworldly beings that dwell in the sands. While Amani doesn’t entirely trust her new companion, she also isn’t sure she wants to strike out on her own, either.

Review: This is one of those instances where I’m going to need to talk through what did and didn’t work for me about a book because I’m really torn over what to rate Rebel of the Sands. Overall it’s a solid debut novel, but there were also a few key things that I thought could have used some fine tuning, like the pacing. One rating seems like it gives too much weight to these items, while another feels like it doesn’t take them into consideration enough. So let’s see if we can sort this out.

Rebel of the Sands can best be described as a Western set in the Middle East. Our heroine, Amani, is a feisty gunslinger who’s banking on her sharpshooting prowess to get her the hell out of dead end Dustwalk. Although it took a while for me to buy into the world, I give Alwyn Hamilton a lot of credit for coming up with an intriguing mash-up that also tosses supernatural elements into the mix. In this world, beings such as djinni, ghouls, and skinwalkers are not just myths. Again, I did think that it took some time for the separate components of the world to cohere. By the end of the novel, everything had meshed together nicely, but I can’t help wondering what the effect would have been if this had happened earlier on.

My primary issue with this book boils down to the difference in pacing between the first half of Rebel of the Sands and the second. When we first meet Amani, her sole focus is on putting as much distance as possible between her and Dustwalk. Once she leaves the town behind, though, the plot wanders for a while until the “rebel” part of the title fully moves to the forefront of the story. Yet even as I found myself asking what was next for Amani beyond Dustwalk and waiting for something big to happen, I didn’t lose my investment in the book because the prose is engaging throughout. The plot definitely picks up again when Amani and her traveling companion, Jin, meet up with a set of lively characters and the fantasy aspects are much more tightly integrated into the story.

I’m still not entirely sure how I feel about the development of the romance in the book. While there’s undeniably chemistry between the two characters involved, the relationship proceeds to the romance stage a bit fast. But then I love a good slow burn, so perhaps my bias is showing here.

Although I thought the first half of Rebel of the Sands felt a little light on plot, at no point did I want to put the book aside because the writing kept me turning the pages. I really enjoyed the second part of the novel, when the world and the fantasy clicked into place for me. If the series carries this momentum forward, it’s going to be a good one.

All in All: This is worth a read if you’re looking for a fresh spin on fantasy, though you may need to be a bit patient with it waiting for the world to gel and the pacing to gain its footing. But the second half of the book really soars and demonstrates the series’s strong potential.

Review: The Young Elites by Marie Lu

The Young Elites (The Young Elites #1)
By Marie Lu
Publisher: G.P. Putnam’s Sons
Format: Hardcover
Source: Library

To Sum It Up: Adelina Amouteru is a malfetto, left physically and permanently marked by the blood fever that devastated the nation of Kenettra. The blood fever also gave Adelina formidable powers, meaning that she’s one of the Young Elites, other survivors who possess superhuman talents. Adelina attracts the attention of the Dagger Society, a secret group of Young Elites that recruits other Elites before the Inquisition Axis, which views them as a threat, hunts them down. Adelina hopes that she has found safety and acceptance among the Daggers until some powerful leverage is used against her and she’s forced to choose where her loyalties lie.

Review: For me, The Young Elites was the type of read that was loaded with potential, but that potential wasn’t always fully realized. The book has some really strong points going for it—a protagonist who thrives on darkness, a secret society whose members wield superhuman gifts, and a setting that evokes late medieval/Renaissance Italy. The world in particular intrigued me, but as with a couple of other aspects of the novel, I couldn’t help feeling that it wasn’t explored deeply enough.

The main character, Adelina, is a malfetto; although she survived the blood fever that claimed many other lives, including her mother’s, she lost an eye and her hair turned silver. Some of the malfettos have also developed strange powers and are known as the Young Elites, Adelina among them. Her ability to create illusions feeds on fear and anger, and the more she uses her newly awakened power, the more she finds herself embracing her dark emotions and even reveling in them. I have to say, I really liked this character arc; Adelina is ostensibly the heroine of the novel, but she heads down a rather unheroic path. What can I say? I go for characters who aren’t 100% good, and often, the lower that percentage is, the more fascinated I am by them.

I do wish, however, that the plot hadn’t been so centered around the big secret that Adelina obviously needs to keep to herself . . . or else. That never turns out well, especially when you definitely can’t breathe a word to the members of the secret society that you hope will accept you as a new member. I think my issue here was that I was looking for more complexity to the conflict beyond Adelina facing serious consequences if she didn’t remain mum.

While most of The Young Elites is written from Adelina’s POV, a few brief chapters are told from the third person perspectives of Enzo, the leader of the covert Dagger Society that searches for other Young Elites, and Teren, head of the Inquisition Axis whose mission is to eliminate the Elites. Enzo is an instantly commanding presence on the page; I seriously couldn’t wait for his next scene. I thought he had a great backstory, too. Teren, fanatical in his belief that the Elites need to be eradicated, also has a lot more going on with his character than appears at first glance. I became really invested in what happened to both him and to Enzo, so much so that I would have loved more chapters focused on them. Like, many more. And I would have absolutely been okay if that meant less Adelina chapters.

Overall, I still have some mixed feelings about this. There were parts that I very much enjoyed reading (i.e. every Enzo scene), but there were also stretches when it seemed like not much was happening other than Adelina worrying about her predicament and remembering the cruelty her father inflicted on her in an attempt to stir any latent power she might have had. I personally think that more is better with fantasy, and in this case, more layers to the plot, more details about the world, and more scenes with the two characters with the strongest presences were what I needed here.

All in All: The Young Elites is more substantial than fantasy lite and has some solid building block elements, but I just didn’t feel that they reached the heights they could have. I don’t know about continuing the series; maybe if multiple first person POVs were added, I’d consider it.

Review: Every Breath by Ellie Marney

Every Breath (Every #1)
By Ellie Marney
Publisher: Tundra Books
Format: eBook
Source: Purchased

To Sum It Up: With all of his logic and forensics knowledge, James Mycroft is more than an amateur sleuth. When he and his friend/neighbor Rachel Watts happen upon a murder scene, Mycroft’s brilliant mind immediately sets to finding the killer. Assisted by Watts, the two work to solve a mystery that looks likely to fall through the cracks in the justice system otherwise.

Review: Confession time: I’m one of the few people on the planet who’s never seen an episode of Sherlock; I’ve also never read any of Arthur Conan Doyle’s novels about the world’s most famous detective. I don’t even read mysteries often; I can count on one hand the number I’ve read as an adult (I did love reading the Encyclopedia Brown books when I was a kid, though). But I kept coming across Ellie Marney’s contemporary, Sherlock Holmes-inspired Every Breath, and, looking to read something outside of my usual genres for a change, I decided to give Every Breath a go.

James Mycroft and Rachel Watts are friends/neighbors/classmates in Melbourne, Australia. Watts handles the narrating duties; she’s still adjusting to city life after her family’s financial situation forced them to give up their farm. Mycroft is not without his own struggles; he lost his parents as a child and has been raised by an aunt who provides the basic necessities but with whom he has no emotional connection. If you’re beginning to think that Watts and Mycroft are two kindred souls who perfectly complement each other, you would be correct.

Many other readers have swooned over the development of Watts and Mycroft’s relationship, and I shall add my own swoons to the pile. Truly, truly, my favorite aspect of Every Breath was the irresistible Watts/Mycroft combination. Not only does the pairing work in the sense that they’re an ace investigative team, but there’s also the undeniable chemistry between them from the novel’s outset. Their banter is so easy, and there’s just always this sense, even when they’re at odds with each other, that they’re right together. This is one of the best written YA romances I’ve read in a while, and for me, was the standout here, even over the unraveling of the murder mystery.

I took to Mycroft straightaway because—what’s not to love? He’s hyper-intelligent, logical, and fastidiously attentive to details. In other words, he couldn’t be better suited to detective work. Mycroft is also on the quirky side, but he wouldn’t be Mycroft without his little eccentricities. And Mycroft is the real deal; he’s not playing at being a detective. The only thing that’s missing is the badge to make it official.

Watts may not be into studying forensics like Mycroft is, but she brings plenty of her own smarts to the partnership. She doesn’t shy away from voicing her opinions, either, and I can’t emphasize enough how she’s not merely second fiddle to Mycroft. My only quibble with Watts’s character was how much the novel seemed to dwell on her yen for the country. Granted, feeling out of place in the city and longing for her former way of life were central to her character’s conflict, but I couldn’t help feeling that Mycroft’s internal battles were integrated into the book more subtly. After the first few times Watts mentioned her difficulties adapting to Melbourne, I got the picture and thought the additional references began to belabor the point a bit.

As for the mystery that forms the heart of Every Breath, the suspense buildup is very well done. The crime itself is portrayed unflinchingly, and the fact that it’s not sugarcoated lends the book a rather impressive sense of gritty realism. What I was not so keen on was the big reveal. Although I really enjoyed following Mycroft and Watts as they looked into every possible lead to figure out who killed their homeless friend, Dave, I immediately picked out the perpetrator. When it came time for the culprit’s tell-all speech, the motives just didn’t deliver the impact that I’d been expecting in comparison to how skillfully the investigation itself was plotted.

Although Every Breath pulled up a tad short for me with its resolution, I loved Watts and Mycroft and their snappy dialogue and their wonderfully simmering romance. The latter was a most pleasant surprise, and I’d recommend this book on the strength of the romance alone. And believe me—I do not typically read books for the romance!

All in All: I thought Every Breath lost some of its steam toward the end, but that didn’t overshadow all of the Watts/Mycroft awesomeness. I don’t think anything could, really, because the relationship is developed so brilliantly.

Review: Prudence by Gail Carriger

* This review may contain spoilers for The Parasol Protectorate series.

Prudence (The Custard Protocol #1)
By Gail Carriger
Publisher: Orbit
Format: Hardcover
Source: Purchased

To Sum It Up: Lady Prudence Alessandra Maccon Akeldama is all grown up and sent on a mission to India on behalf of her beloved adoptive father, Lord Akeldama. But what should have been a relatively straightforward task turns into a matter of all sorts of intrigue involving a kidnapping and some supernatural hostilities. Rue may need to call upon her metanatural talents to get to the bottom of things as only the captain of a floating ship painted to resemble a ladybug can.

Review: When we last saw young Prudence, daughter of preternatural Alexia and werewolf Conall Maccon as well as adopted daughter of vampire Lord Akeldama, in the final Parasol Protectorate novel, Timeless, she was but a toddler. So too were the Tunstell twins, Primrose and Percival, offspring of Alexia’s dearest friend, Ivy, now queen of the Wimbledon vampire hive. Prudence finds everyone grown up, and here marks the beginning of the adventures of Rue, as she prefers to be called.

It must have been quite the challenge for Gail Carriger to not have Rue resemble Alexia too much (or Prim be a carbon copy of Ivy), and Carriger succeeds at portraying both young ladies with distinct personalities of their own. Rue is a little softer around the edges than Alexia, with considerably less bluster and bluntness than her mother. Likewise, Prim is a little more sensible than Ivy. Alexia and Ivy always did make a great best friend duo, and their daughters do as well.

Rue and Prim are joined on their journey to India via Rue’s dirigible, The Spotted Custard, by Prim’s twin Percy and Quesnel Lefoux, son of inventor Genevieve Lefoux from both the Parasol Protectorate and Finishing School books. Percy is a brilliant academic who barely takes notice of anything not related to academics. His pedantry is quite humorous. Quesnel shares his mother’s love for gadgetry, and his other pastimes include getting flirty with Rue. Definitely keep an eye out for what develops between these two as the series progresses.

Parasol Protectorate readers will not be disappointed by the various appearances of some very familiar faces from that series. They turn up just enough to remind you why you love them, yet they don’t overshadow Rue and her friends. Carriger also does an excellent job of expanding the supernatural aspect of this world, pushing it beyond vampires and werewolves. Rue’s rare metanatural talent, which was introduced in Parasol Protectorate and which allows her to temporarily steal a supernatural being’s abilities, of course features prominently in the novel and further gives the world of Prudence its own personality, distinct from that of its parent series.

As thrilled as I was to meet an older Rue and her companions as well as catch up with some beloved characters from Parasol Protectorate, I can’t overlook the rather large issue I had with the book’s pacing. Nothing much of significance happens for about the first third of Prudence, as Rue and her three friends make their way to India. I found myself asking, “Are we there yet?” often because I felt like I was getting nowhere. The lengthy clothing descriptions could have been trimmed in favor of more action to move the story along. It gets there eventually, but that’s the point—eventually. Plus there was just something missing here; the wit that I’ve come to love and expect from Carriger’s novels didn’t seem as sharp in comparison to both the Parasol Protectorate and Finishing School books. Nevertheless, I’m heavily invested in this new generation of characters and what happens to them and will certainly be picking up the sequel.

All in All: Prudence was very slow to start for me, although the pacing did improve markedly by the end of the book. It also didn’t quite have the magic of Carriger’s other two series, but I’m very hopeful that the next book will live up to the potential that’s been formed here.

Review: Fire Study by Maria V. Snyder

Fire Study (Study #3)
By Maria V. Snyder
Publisher: Mira
Format: Paperback
Source: Purchased

To Sum It Up: As a Soulfinder, Yelena’s powers are stronger than those of most magicians, much to the concern of Sitian leadership. Sitia is on the brink of war with Ixia, and Yelena’s loyalties are caught in the middle. She’s also up against one of the most intimidating foes she’s ever faced, and not even Yelena’s magic may be able to stop the Fire Warper.

Review: We have arrived at the end of the original Study trilogy, and I’m feeling rather conflicted. It’s not as though I wasn’t expecting the things that still, after a reread, didn’t quite work for me about Fire Study. I mean, I still love the series, but a lot of that love stems from how amazing the first book, Poison Study, was and my attachment to some of the characters, including the equine ones (love you, Kiki!). I also just have really warm, fuzzy memories of reading all three books way back in my pre-blogging days, and sometimes it’s tough to turn a critical eye toward this series.

I will say that neither Magic Study nor Fire Study surpasses the superb Poison Study, and I think Fire Study lags behind the most, especially in terms of pacing. Magic Study seemed a little long to me; Fire Study definitely felt too long. Yelena makes several pit stops as she criss-crosses her way through Sitia, Ixia, and Sitia again in her quest to save Sitia and Ixia and everybody and everyone.

Yelena takes it upon herself to do all of the rescuing in this one, which, being one person against a slew of evil Daviian Vermin, Warpers, and one extremely troublesome Fire Warper, leads to a host of headaches for our heroine. It’s unnecessary trouble at times. Yelena has dedicated allies who are more than willing and capable of lending a hand, but her determination to protect them means she gets into a couple of avoidable scrapes that don’t really add much to the story. Don’t get me wrong, I love Yelena and how far her character has come since we first met her, but some of her decisions and actions here are frustrating.

Once again, Valek is absent for a good deal of the book, and again, it’s not an easy absence to ignore. Yes, I love Valek, but I don’t miss him for purely selfish reasons alone. His presence demands your attention, and when he’s not there, the books simply aren’t the same. I savored every scene he was in, as well as every page that featured the spin-off-worthy duo of Ari and Janco.

Yelena’s brother, Leif, lightens up considerably in Fire Study, making him considerably more pleasant than the dour Leif of Magic Study. The siblings banter often with each other, which is very welcome amidst the perilous situations they frequently find themselves encountering in Fire Study. The action in the first two-thirds of the book isn’t as exciting as what happens in the last third, when it all gets real. I thoroughly enjoyed this part of the novel and how the sequence of events unfolded, and it reminded me why I fell in love with the series in the first place. While I had some issues with Fire Study, its strong finish closed out the trilogy in a very satisfying manner.

All in All: Your feelings toward Fire Study will likely depend on your overall investment in the series. By the time I read this, I was madly in love with the books (and Valek, of course) and admittedly viewed this novel with a more subjective eye than usual. Although Poison Study is easily my favorite book out of the three, staying with this series was absolutely worthwhile for me, as was reading the Glass spin-off series. Yelena and Valek have so firmly taken hold of my heart that obviously I’ll be following their continued adventures in their brand new series of novels.

Review: Team Human by Justine Larbalestier & Sarah Rees Brennan

Team Human
By Justine Larbalestier & Sarah Rees Brennan
Publisher: Harper Teen
Format: Hardcover
Source: Library

To Sum It Up: Vampires are just part of the population of New Whitby, Maine, but Mel Duan has never been fond of them. Her best friend Cathy, however, finds them fascinating and is smitten with Francis Duvarney, the new vampire student at school. Mel does not approve in the least, and she’s determined to prove to Cathy that there is nothing at all desirable about a vampire’s way of life.

Review: This month marks six years since I first read a little novel about vampires called Twilight, so I chose a pretty apt time to pick up and read Team Human, which takes a very tongue-in-cheek approach to our fanged friends. If you’ve read any vampire book at all, not necessarily Twilight, you’ll still appreciate the plentiful humor in Team Human that mostly targets all things vampiric.

I’d seen multiple reviews that mentioned how hee-larious this book is, and I’d like to add to the chorus. Francis, the new vampire arrival at school, is old (if you count back to when he was transformed), old-fashioned, and has a penchant for speaking in an old-timey manner. I couldn’t help but think of another fictional teenage vampire whenever Francis appeared on the page, and I also couldn’t help cracking up at the spoof here. Francis isn’t the main character, however; that would be Mel, best friend to the human girl who falls for Francis and vice versa.

To say that Mel does not like Francis or vampires in general is an understatement. She vehemently opposes the budding relationship between him and her best friend Cathy and makes her disdain for Francis very obvious. Although some of Mel’s wisecracks are a riot (she refers to Francis as an “undead love weasel”) and her protectiveness of her friends, especially Cathy, is undeniable, Mel’s methods for helping her friends can be heavy-handed at times. I thought that some of her actions in the name of keeping Cathy from getting hurt were more meddlesome than beneficial to Cathy. Mel does get called out when she goes too far, but that wouldn’t be necessary if she didn’t overstep boundaries in the first place. I still have mixed feelings towards Mel; I really liked her wicked sense of humor but was far less keen on her overbearing side.

With Team Human being very much a plot-driven novel, most of the characters aren’t overly complex. Kit, a character whom I found endearing straightaway, was a notable exception. His backstory is quite interesting, and he’s also quite witty, especially when the subject is Francis (poor Francis). Even six years after Twilight, I still haven’t grown weary of reading about vampires, and Team Human was an enjoyable vampire parody.

All in All: Recommended for anyone looking for a vampire book that doesn’t take itself too seriously.

Review: Of Metal and Wishes by Sarah Fine

Of Metal and Wishes (Of Metal and Wishes #1)
By Sarah Fine
Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry Books
Format: Hardcover
Source: Purchased

To Sum It Up: Moving on with her life after the death of her mother isn’t easy for Wen Guiren, not when she often assists her father, a physician in a slaughterhouse. The place is also allegedly haunted by a ghost who grants wishes, and Wen discovers the truth of this firsthand when a young worker who publicly humiliated her is badly injured following Wen’s offering to the ghost. Wen seems to have the ghost’s attention, but that may not be in her best interest as the number of seemingly unexplained—and alarming—events around the slaughterhouse rises.

Review: Of Metal and Wishes is one of the most unique books I’ve read in a while, which may sound like a bit of an odd thing to say when you also consider that this novel is based on The Phantom of the Opera. I haven’t read the latter, and the extent of my knowledge of the story is limited to watching part of the 25th anniversary production of the musical version on TV. Not being entirely familiar with the original Phantom, in literary or musical form, didn’t keep me from appreciating the complexity of Sarah Fine’s Ghost, though. This character is simultaneously frightening and sympathetic, and I’ll return to gushing about how much I loved this plotline shortly.

Of Metal and Wishes is set in a refreshingly different world that draws on Asian culture for some of its elements. Fine cleverly keeps you guessing as to what time period you find yourself in. It’s not quite modern, yet it’s not that far in the past, plus there’s a hint of steampunk to it, AND all of this centers around a slaughterhouse. That last bit alone lends the book an eerie atmosphere, and that’s before you even factor in the rumors among the workers that it’s haunted.

Ah, the Ghost. Benevolent or malevolent? That’s the question you’ll keep asking yourself as his story unfolds. While he’s actually only a part of a larger mosaic, the Ghost was the character who drove the novel for me. I wanted to know everything about him, even when I suspected that the truth would be chilling.

Wen, the protagonist, was my main reason for feeling disconnected from the book at times. I just never clicked with her narrative voice, and I found her a little immature on occasion, too. She’s self-aware enough to realize that she has some growing up to do, though, which kept me from getting annoyed with her whenever I felt she sounded kind of whiny. I also have to say that I didn’t find Melik, a slaughterhouse worker from a social class that’s looked down upon by Wen’s fellow Itanyai, especially memorable, either. I liked how Melik spoke his mind and looked after his fellow Noor, but as with Wen, forming a connection with him eluded me. It’s not that both aren’t well written characters because they are; it’s just . . . me.

I loved Sarah Fine’s debut, Sanctum, and her prose continues to impress me with Of Metal and Wishes. She’s also created a world that you don’t come across every day in YA. Although Wen was an average main character, the Ghost’s compelling story still made this book very much worth a read for me.

All in All: If you’re looking for a very different YA read, give Of Metal and Wishes a try. I had an issue here and there with Wen, but the Ghost bits were delightfully creepy.