Review: Steel Lily by Megan Curd

Steel Lily (The Periodic Series #1)
By Megan Curd
Publisher: Self-Published

* A copy was provided by the author for review.

To Sum It Up: Avery Pike’s talent for creating steam is invaluable in Dome Four, which depends on it for power and to make conditions livable for its inhabitants. World War III has turned the air outside toxic and reduced people to existing inside of domes. Although being an Elementalist like Avery is brings a higher social status and certain privileges, she would give up everything, including her gift, to find out what happened to her parents, who vanished eight years ago. When a stranger appears one day with possible information about them, Avery can’t resist agreeing to hear what he has to say, not only about her mother and father but also about Chromelius Academy, a school for Elementalists. Anywhere other than Dome Four and required steam production seems like a better opportunity, but it isn’t long before Avery beings to wonder if Chromelius Academy isn’t its own kind of prison.

Review: The few (by which I mean, like, three) books I’ve read that featured a steampunk-ish touch to them had precisely that—just a touch. Steam-powered vehicles and clockwork gadgets were everyday objects in these worlds, but the steampunk element itself wasn’t all that integral to the story. Steel Lily was different in that respect, with fifteen-year-old Avery Pike’s ability to create the steam necessary to power the dome under which she must live because the air outside isn’t fit for breathing playing a key role in the plot. Avery’s talent as an Elementalist is obviously highly prized, and the book revolves around her trying to figure out who her true friends are and who just wants to use her gift for nefarious purposes.

I was fascinated by the idea of Elementalists as well as the technology of this world, and I think what really stood out to me about the latter was seeing it in action. Like Avery’s ability, the gadgets, including a mechanical buggy that resembles, well, a giant bug, aren’t merely described but are given vivid demonstrations of what they do. This made all the difference to me because I’ve read other dystopian/post-apocalyptic novels in which the tech stuff was discussed in minute detail but not put into actual use enough for me to take an interest in it. Here, I found myself intrigued by the workings of the machinery.

The one aspect of the world that I thought needed a bit more fleshing out was the history of World War III. The novel supplies the basic facts, but that was my quibble with them. They felt too bare bones and didn’t sate my curiosity about what had happened.

I really liked the novel’s characterizations and thought they were its strongest point. Avery is a smart, feisty heroine, and I admired her protectiveness toward her best friend, Alice, a Traditional (someone without a gift like Avery’s). Their bond of friendship runs deep, and one would never go anywhere without the other. I was also impressed with Sari, Chromelius Academy’s tech genius extraordinaire, because I think female computer experts are extremely cool.

Mr. Jaxon Pierce, without a doubt my favorite character in the book, requires his own paragraph because . . . he’s Jaxon. If mind-bogglingly egocentric and acerbic male characters are your thing, as they are mine, then you should love Jaxon. This guy never seems to be at a loss for something witty to say, and I lost count of how many times he cracked me up. But there’s also a hint of a tortured soul lurking inside of him; one-dimensional he most certainly is not. I believe that Jaxon would agree that every page he appears on would not have been the same without his magnetic presence. I can tell you now that I’ll absolutely be continuing with the series because he’s such a great character to read about.

While the middle of the book moved a little slowly for me, the ending came as a big surprise. The turn it took was clever and unexpected, and the conclusion itself gave a good amount of closure while smoothly setting up the next book. Series these days seem to almost always end on a cliff-hanger that makes you want to slam your head against the nearest surface, so this was a welcome change. You’re left wondering what the future holds for these characters, but there’s also a sense of satisfaction in knowing they’ll be okay until you next meet up with them. Which I hope will be soon.

All in All: Steel Lily is a promising start to a new series that finally made steampunk work for me, and Jaxon is a character whom I think everyone should meet, especially if you love snarky boys.

Harry Potter Moment of the Week (11): Favorite Character

Harry Potter Moment of the Week is a meme hosted by Uncorked Thoughts. The aim of this meme is to share with fellow bloggers a character, spell, chapter, object or quote from the books/films/J. K. Rowling herself or anything Potter related! A list of upcoming topics can be found here.

This week's topic is:
Favorite Character

My favorite character from the Harry Potter series is easily, hands down, Sirius Black. I love him! I love everything about his character. Good looks and charm aside, Sirius is a genuinely good person. His whole life has been a battle against right and wrong. Being raised in a pureblood household seriously took its toll on him. His parents were monsters and they made it their life goal to make their children little monsters as well. Sirius beat the odds and went against his family—his whole upbringing. That’s very admirable in my eyes. The absolute best thing about Sirius Black though has to be his relationship with the Marauders. The Four Marauders are the best part of the whole entire series to me. Words can’t describe how much I love them and how much I wish I could be one of them. I honestly can go on for ages about Padfoot and the gang, however, this post is only supposed to be a paragraph or so. I think I should stop now before this turns into an essay.

Review: Out of the Easy by Ruta Sepetys

Out of the Easy
By Ruta Sepetys
Publisher: Philomel Books

To Sum It Up:

From an early age, Josie Moraine learned to fend for herself. Her mother is a prostitute in a New Orleans brothel and cares only about herself. Josie has a job in a bookstore—and a job cleaning up in the mornings at the brothel—and hopes that one day, her savings will amount to enough for her to have a different kind of life. One chance encounter puts a college education far away from New Orleans within her reach, while another pulls her deeper and deeper into a murder investigation. Josie has a difficult choice to make: escape, or let New Orleans continue to keep its hold on her.

Review:

I love the cover of Out of the Easy, and it plus all the praise I’d seen for Ruta Sepetys’s writing landed this on my TBR list. Out of the Easy is very much a character driven novel; I don’t always have the best luck with those, but for the most part, Sepetys’s characters carry the novel well. They’re also aided by the fantastic work she does in bringing the New Orleans of 1950 to life on the page.

I was fascinated by the book’s portrayal of the city and how Sepetys juxtaposed its upscale face with its seamier one. The majority of New Orleans that is seen through the eyes of Josie, the protagonist, is the latter. The respectable locals know who and what her mother is—a prostitute—and their sneers trail Josie when she walks by. Thanks to her mother, Louise, Josie has grown up among what might be considered questionable company, but in fact several of these people have cared for Josie more than her mother has. Josie’s dealings with a member of high society who’s thoroughly vile underscore how appearances aren’t everything with these characters.

So much of the book hinges on Josie’s story, and meeting her as a child at the beginning of the book made me a little wary of how I was going to like her later as a seventeen-year-old young woman. Based on her sassy conversation with Willie, the madam of Louise’s brothel, I thought Josie might turn out to be an I’m-Too-Smart-for-You type of character, but she didn’t. She was quite complicated, which was a good thing, but the street smarts that made her pretty cool sometimes conflicted with her decisions. I was particularly frustrated with Josie when she found herself in a heap of trouble trying to mop up her mother’s mess. All right, Josie kept mum because she didn’t want anyone to get hurt because of her, but I thought she should have realized that she did have people, like Willie, whom she could tell anything to.

Willie was definitely my favorite character and stole the show, in my opinion. She may be a brothel madam, but she’s also one incredibly shrewd businesswoman. At the end of the day, her money is as good as that of any other business person in New Orleans. Willie taught Josie how to use a gun, and it’s also Willie who looks out for Josie in a way that Louise never has. And you just don’t mess with Willie Woodley. I’d equally fear incurring her wrath as I would that of the city’s gangsters.

I slightly preferred the murder mystery plotline over the one revolving around Josie’s efforts to gain admission to Smith College. Again, I saw the reasoning behind her actions, but I didn’t necessarily agree with them. Josie wants out of New Orleans and, for once in her life, not to be judged because of her mother. I get that. Yet she’d also be among some of the very sort of social elite who’ve put her down. This is totally a hang-up on my part, though, because I think more along the lines of, if I’m not good enough for your little club, well, forget you, too. I did enjoy reading Out of the Easy; whether you like the characters or would like to see Willie use some of them for target practice, they certainly leave an impression.

All in All:

I will definitely be reading more of Ruta Sepetys’s books in the future. I don’t always go for character studies, but this one was quite well done.

Review: Seraphina by Rachel Hartman

Seraphina (Seraphina #1)
By Rachel Hartman
Publisher: Random House Children’s Books

To Sum It Up: With the recent murder of its prince, unrest stirs in the kingdom of Goredd. Some suspect that a dragon may be responsible, though there’s a peace treaty between humans and dragons. In fact, the anniversary of the treaty approaches, and Seraphina Dombegh, the assistant to the court composer, is busy with preparations for the celebration. She seems an unlikely person to get caught up in court politics, but Seraphina increasingly finds herself involved in attempting to discover whether or not the treaty is about to fall apart, all while she guards her own explosive secret.

Review: If I were to describe my feelings for this book in a GIF, the image would show me with a dorky, rapturous grin on my face, bear hugging a copy of Seraphina. Because I loved it that much. It’s epic high fantasy done to perfection—the characters, the medieval style world, the prose, the importance of music, the imaginative take on dragons—every aspect of this book blew me away.

I’d never read a book in which dragons featured so prominently, and I thought they were portrayed in a very unique fashion here. They can transform into humans, and their extremely logical minds make them perfectly suited for teaching. The saarantrai, as they’re called, don’t experience emotions like humans do, and they’re not supposed to. Saarantrai who demonstrate too much human-like emotion are punished by having their memories purged. The question of whether or not dragons are capable of feelings like love and hate plays such an important role in the novel, and let me tell you, it certainly yanked on my heartstrings quite a few times.

I absolutely loved Seraphina. She’s funny, excels at thinking on her feet, is an outstanding musician, and has the kindest heart. I laughed at how bossy she could be with the musicians she was in charge of, and I felt so sorry for her because the burden of her secret weighed so heavily upon her. Self-preservation forces her to lie often, including to the one person who cannot tolerate anything but the truth: Prince Lucian Kiggs, the Captain of the Queen’s Guard. Kiggs possesses an uncanny knack for knowing things that you never told him, and Seraphina has to tread extra carefully around him. She hates deceiving everyone, especially Kiggs, but revealing the truth about herself would bring unthinkable consequences.

There’s quite a large cast of supporting characters, but they’re all given such individual personalities that I had no trouble whatsoever keeping track of them. From Viridius, Seraphina’s cantankerous boss, to Princess Glisselda, Kiggs’s fiancée and Seraphina’s friend who matures a lot throughout the novel, these are some excellently developed characters. But the one who nearly had me in tears the most was Orma, Seraphina’s music teacher and mentor. He’s such an enigmatic figure at first, but the more his character was revealed, the more I admired him. So many of his scenes with Seraphina are so poignant; this book truly wrung my heart.

There are so many facets to this novel: Seraphina’s inner struggles, the mystery of who killed Prince Rufus, growing anti-dragon sentiment inflamed by the dangerous Sons of St. Ogdo organization, and plenty of political intrigue. What amazed me was how they all worked in concert, with each component inextricably tied to the others. Seraphina is a decent-sized book, yet it never hit a lull, at least for me. I turned the pages at a steady clip, and I can’t think of a single part that could have been shortened or omitted. Oh, and before I forget, this book also contained a good amount of humor! I even chuckled out loud on a handful of occasions.

Seraphina was everything that I could ask for in a high fantasy novel, and then some. It became an instant favorite, as well as cemented a place on my list of books that will linger in my mind long after I’ve read them.

All in All: I really don’t have anything else to say other than I loved this book immensely!

The White Queen Recap: The Bad Queen

* Spoilers ahead if you haven't seen Episode 4, "The Bad Queen."

I rather enjoyed this week's episode, maybe because quite a lot happened, plus we're inching closer and closer to an actual battle (judging from the preview of next week's ep, it looks like we'll see Barnet).

Don't Give Me That Look, Young Lady

Elizabeth has a vision in her washbowl (no, really) of the baby Isabel lost and freaks out. Jacquetta comes running into the room, and Elizabeth tells her mother to leave her alone. Jacquetta gives Elizabeth this look that says, "You may be the Queen of England, but I'm still your mother, and don't you dare speak to me like that." Elizabeth feels a bit guilty about summoning the wind that battered Warwick's ship on which poor Isabel had to give birth and worries that Warwick is more desperate than ever to get a handhold on the throne.

This Was a One-Way Trip

In France, Anne wonders when it'll be possible to return to England, and Isabel informs her that after everything that's happened, there will be no return for them. This is only the beginning of the bad news for Anne in this episode.

Yay Henry, Yay!

Young Henry Tudor is practicing his swordsmanship, and Margaret wholeheartedly approves of his mad skills, obviously. She also nearly has a heart attack when her precioussss takes a nick to the face from his instructor's sword. Imagine what her reaction would have been if Henry had gotten seriously injured.

George Doesn't Understand

Warwick's latest power scheme involves marrying Anne off to Edward of Lancaster, son of the former King Henry VI, and return Henry to throne. George, upon whom Warwick once rested all of his dreams of being an in-law to a king, does not approve of this plan and lets Warwick know it.

Where's Jasper?

Yorkist Sir William Herbert turns up at Pembroke Castle looking for Jasper Tudor and and busts up Margaret's happy reunion with Henry with the news that the place is now his. But it belongs to Henry, protests Margaret! She gets all agitated and not very nicely tells her husband that Jasper would have done something about this travesty. I really do feel sorry for Henry Stafford; the guy never gets a break from hearing about how awesome Jasper Tudor is.

The Other Margaret

This was our first look at Margaret of Anjou, queen to Henry VI and mother of Edward of Lancaster. Like Margaret Beaufort, this Margaret is also crazy. I thought she put some much needed spark into the show, though. As for Edward—what is going on with his hair?! On first impression, he does not look like a pleasant fellow at all, and later in the episode, he reveals just what a monster he is. While his mother looks on. Yuck. Poor Anne; not only does she end up with a horrible husband, but a horrible mother-in-law as well. And Elizabeth thinks she has the worst mother-in-law in the world!

Word Travels Fast

Back in England, Edward receives news of Warwick and George's alliance with Margaret of Anjou. Edward, ever the forgiving brother, is prepared to offer George yet another chance to prove his loyalty. Jacquetta and Elizabeth go see Cecily, the Duchess of York, and ask her to persuade George to ditch Warwick and return to Edward. Cecily complies, sending one of her ladies to France to deliver the message to George via Isabel.

More Margaret (Beaufort) Rantings and Ravings

I figured I'd sum up the rest of Margaret's shenanigans here. She goes ballistic when Herbert won't let Henry leave Pembroke because the boy is now under his guardianship as punishment for the treason committed by Margaret's brother. Her departing words to her son take the form of her diving into her "You'll be king one day, Henry!" inspirational speech. Later we see Margaret all depressed because she hasn't heard a peep from Henry, and she confesses to her husband that as a girl, she wanted to join a convent and become a saint. That was like, the funniest thing I've heard her say so far, seconded by her cry later on in the episode that it's against God's will for Henry to fight for York when he's forced to go with Herbert to support Edward against Warwick and George's impending invasion.

Guess Who's Not Queen Anymore?

Elizabeth's sons from her first marriage, Thomas and Richard Grey, rush to their mother in the Tower of London to tell her that Warwick didn't land where he was expected to and took Edward and his troops by surprise. Edward, Richard, and Anthony Woodville have fled to Flanders, and Warwick has ordered Jacquetta's arrest for witchcraft. Elizabeth narrowly escapes the Tower with her children and seeks sanctuary in Westminster Abbey, where she gives birth to a male heir for Edward. Meanwhile, Warwick has successfully restored Henry VI to the throne, but worryingly for Warwick, Margaret of Anjou still hasn't upheld her end of their deal to bring her promised army to England.

The Richard Watch

Richard has a new hairstyle! Not sure how I feel about this yet. He only had a handful of lines again, but at least he was by Edward's side during the discussion of bringing George back into the fold. I really, really hope that if the battle of Barnet is the centerpiece of next week's episode, Richard gets the spotlight he deserves because, you know, he only commanded the vanguard and all. Oh, and this is the battle that took place in a thick fog, and I think I've already figured out how the show is going to explain the weather conditions. It looks like Elizabeth and Jacquetta will be quite busy next week.