This Savage Song review

This Savage Song
Victoria Schwab
Greenwillow Books
June 2016

First line: "The night Kate Harker decided to burn down the school chapel, she wasn't angry or drunk. She was desperate." 

I loved this fresh, inventive urban paranormal fantasy. In Schwab's dystopian future, the world has come under attack from monsters of our own making - Corsai, Malchai and Sunai, each type springing up when humans commit violent acts. They are kind of like fey-folk, kind of like vampires, kind of totally their own thing.

Super-rare, Sunai only burst into existence after mass murders. Corsai are quite vampire-like, and Malchai are simply ravening monsters that roam the countryside, keeping most humans penned into small fortress-like cities.

Kate Harker is the daughter of a famed crime-boss who wants to prove her toughness to her father, more than anything. August Flynn is a Sunai who hates his hunger for human souls and struggles to reconcile his love of music with it's deadly effects. I liked his unconventional family; murderous Leo who gives in to his taste for killers and sweet Ilsa who models astonishing restraint each provide August with a completely different path that he might try to follow. August Flynn seemed like a smarter, more thoughtful Edward Cullen, that's for sure.

There's the very lightest hint of romance, as August goes undercover at Kate's school, but nothing really develops on that front. Which makes perfect sense! With a city under siege and competing human crime syndicates, who has time to think about romance?

Moody and atmospheric, perfect for Halloween, I'll recommend this to any teen readers who enjoy reading magical books about tortured souls. 

Compare to:
Shiver - Maggie Stiefvater
The Replacement - Brenna Yovanoff
Chime - Franny Billingsly
White Cat - Holly Black

Juliet Immortal review

Juliet Immortal
by Stacey Jay
Delacorte Books for Young Readers
August 2011

First line: "Tonight he could have come through the door - the castello is quiet, even the servants asleep in their beds, and Nurse would have let him in - but he chooses the window, climbing through the tangle of night flowers, carrying petals in his clothes."

I was pleasantly surprised by the reinterpretation of this Romeo and Juliet story. In this version, Romeo and Juliet are traveling through time, inhabiting the bodies of star-crossed lovers who've had near-death experiences. In each incarnation, Juliet, who is working for the Ambassadors (presumably the good guys) has a limited amount of time to get the couple back together again. Romeo, who sacrificed Juliet (and in some ways, himself) to the Mercenaries in exchange for eternal life, catches up with her, possessing a newly dead body each time, and tries to foil her plans.

This go around, Juliet finds herself in the body of Ariel Dragland, a shy blonde teenager in the small California town of Solvang. After a reckless driving accident, Romeo is in possession of the body of Dylan, the school bully and sometime crush of Ariel's. There are a few hints that are dropped that all is not right - Juliet/Ariel has never seen Romeo track her down so quickly before. She's noticed that the gaps between each mission are growing shorter and shorter. Nurse, her Ambassador handler, has gone missing. She's beginning to wonder if the Ambassadors have her well-being at heart after all.

As Ariel, she's landed in the middle of a tricky situation. Ariel's been recovering from severe burns she received as a child. Years of surgery have restored her looks, but not her confidence, as she copes with a strained relationship with her single mom, and an overbearing best friend, Gemma. I had trouble visualizing Ariel's ugly/pretty look - she's supposed to be a former burn victim, but she's also supposed to have an elfin, delicate beauty, with scars that only add to her unique look. Juliet explains that once she's inhabiting someone's body, she picks up their language, memory and abilities, and she's pleased that she and Ariel share a "soul gift" - both are talented artists. I liked the kind of maturity and distance that Juliet brings to the situation. When Ariel is in a fight with her mom, Juliet decides to let some matters drop, instead of escalating the situation. They end up having a heart-to-heart talk that is very healing for them both. Juliet is very conscious of wanting to leave her host's relationships better than when she found them, which made me wonder how and what her former hosts remember after she leaves them and returns to the void she inhibits while waiting to be pulled to Earth again. The last thing Juliet expects is to be slammed with "love at first sight" feelings for sensitive and kind Latino transfer student Ben. Unfortunately, she feels duty-bound to stick to her mission and try to fix him up with Gemma, who is glowing with the aura of true love. Juliet also has to avoid Romeo/Dylan's attempts to kill her - he truly comes across as a psychopath, coming up with whatever threats and lies that cross his mind just to try to distress her. Ben, on the other hand, is a total fantasy - no high school boy in the world has ever been so kind and virtuous and good. He instantly falls head-over-heels for Ariel/Juliet and within a few days is already talking marriage.

I was curious if readers not familiar with Solvang, CA would get the references to Danish windmills, tourists, and of course, easy access to wine country, with most high school students finding it easy to host bootleg wine parties.

The ending has a number of surprising twists. I had a few of my own favorite pet theories brewing, and I sure didn't see that ending coming. I had been hoping that Juliet would realize that she'd been a dolt - that every time she'd been deposited into someone else's life mid-stream, it was actually a chance for her to grab a chance at happiness and realize there is no such thing as a "one true love" pre-destined by fate. I was shocked by the revelation of Gemma's relationship with a teacher, and more shocked by the Ambassadors cold admission that they were going to somehow use the psychic power of the relationship, which suits them just fine. The actual ending felt like a bit of a muddle to me, with time traveling, alternate realities, awful fates for most of our modern day characters (if we find out what happens to them at all!) and Romeo getting the last word. Normally, I'm not one to recommend a book with such a let-down of an ending, but it was still such an enjoyable read - brace yourself for the oddness at the end and you will enjoy it. I really liked the characters of Juliet/Ariel and Ben, they made the book worthwhile for me.

Compare to:
Hexed - Michelle Krys
Everneath - Brodi Ashton
Dead Beautiful - Yvonne Woon
Wondrous Strange - Lesley Livingston

I borrowed this book from the library.

Shadowland review

Shadowland

by Alyson Noel

St. Martin's Griffin

2009

Immortal Damen has finally been reunited with his long-lost love Ever, but is now suffering a curse that leaves him allergic to her bare skin. One touch from her will banish him to the Shadowlands, a murky underworld for lost souls.

As Ever starts to search for a cure for Damen, she meets Jude, a hot surfer guy who works in a New Age bookshop. Just as Ever is on the brink of a breakthrough with a potion that might fix their problem, Damen admits to her that he knows Jude... that Jude has also been reincarnated many times over the years, always as a love interest for Ever. He decides that the only honorable thing to do is to stand aside, and give Ever a chance to get to know Jude better so that she can truly make a choice between them. For a guy who's been pining for Ever for centuries, Damen sure doesn't act like he's eager to be with her after all!

One minor quibble I had with the book was the description of the Getty museum. I wasn't clear if Ever and Damen were at the Getty, or the Getty Villa in Malibu, and my brain kept switching back and forth between the two trying to visualize where they were. The way they drive up, it seems like the Getty Villa. The Getty is famous for the trolley car you must take up the high hillside. Yet, the exhibits and the view that are described really seem like the new Getty. I was distracted by this, but most readers who aren't familiar with Los Angeles probably wouldn't be.

A number of the side-plots seemed compelling. While visiting the Summerlands, a mystical realm where visitors can manifest nearly anything simply by the power of thought, Ever becomes acquainted with twins Romy and Rayne, friends of her sister Riley's ghost. When they accidentally get ejected from the Summerlands, they are taken in by Damen, who is attempting to swear off his materialistic ways. Miles, Ever's gay friend, is excited by his upcoming opportunity to perform in Florence, Italy. Ever is horrified by one of her teacher's crush on her aunt Sabine, but she finally comes around and decides that Sabine deserves a chance at romance, too. At the end of the book, Ever is deeply dismayed that her only chance to revive her friend Haven ends up leaving her Immortal as well. Haven, on the other hand, is delighted, saying something to the effect of, "This is exactly like being a vampire, but without any of the bad side effects!" I have to admit, Haven has a really good point. I wasn't really sure why Ever sees her immortality as such a curse.

While there isn't a tremendous amount of forward plot movement in this middle volume to the series, it's an enjoyable read nonetheless.


I borrowed this book from my public library.

Evermore review

Evermore
Alyson Noel
St. Martin's Griffin
February 2009

16 year old Ever is the sole survivor of a horrific car crash that killed her entire family. The shock of the incident has awakened psychic powers in her which allow her to speak to her bratty younger sister's ghost, and read the thoughts of everyone around her. Overwhelmed by the barrage of thoughts from her classmates, and trying to adjust to her new life with her career-driven aunt Sabine in Southern California, she withdraws into herself, wearing oversized hoodies, and listening to headphones as a way of trying to block everything out. Ever is fascinated with a new guy at her school, Damen Auguste, as she finds that he is one of the only people that she cannot read, and spending time with him brings merciful relief from the normal psychic chatter that she is subject to. This reminded me a lot of Twilight, as her power seemed similar to Edward's. Ever remains timid and helpless throughout most of the story.

Wealthy, jet-setting, sophisticated and bored, Damen Auguste doesn't eat much except for a mysterious "red juice" and it seems as if he's much, much older than he's letting on. School is a breeze for him. Surprisingly, the big reveal is that he's not a vampire, but an Immortal, an alchemist from the Middle Ages who has discovered a potion which gives eternal youth. Damen treats Ever badly, pouring on the charm, and then ignoring her, getting her into dangerous situations and then disappearing, leaving her to deal with the consequences. He showers Ever with tulips, and then turns around and starts flirting with other girls right in front of her.

Ever's reaction to this treatment is rather spineless. She's hopelessly devoted to Damen, and with every cruel little barb he throws her way, she finds ways to justify his behavior. Ever eagerly dumps her only friends, poor-little-rich-girl Haven and gay musical theatre kid Miles as soon as Damen is on the scene. She discovers that she has been reincarnated many times over the centuries, each time meeting and falling in love with Damen, but always meets an early end via Damen's jealous ex-wife, Drina, who is determined to keep her man to herself. Ever's final showdown with Drina seems anti-climatic when Damen steps in at the last possible moment and rescues her.

What this book does have going for it, is readability. It's a light, undemanding read. Noel's alternate take on immortality will appeal to teen readers who enjoyed the Twilight series.


I borrowed this book from the library.

Hexed review

Hexed

by Michelle Krys

Delacorte Press

June 2014

Sixteen year old Indigo Blackwood wants nothing more than to focus on her role on the cheerleading squad, her new boyfriend Devon and patching things up with her jealous friend Bianca. Hoping to increase her popularity, Indigo is eager to avoid her nerdy former friend Paige. Indigo is also embarrassed by her New Age hippy dippy mother who runs an occult shop in Los Angeles and her party animal aunt Penny. 

After witnessing an apparent suicide, Indigo finds herself embroiled in a top secret bloody feud between dueling factions of wizards and sorcerers. Her family had been tasked with protecting a witchcraft Bible that holds the key to destroying witches everywhere. Villains Frederick and Leo's powers are truly far-reaching, as they wipe memories, use telepathy, and freeze the entire city for their epic showdown. With the aid of a hunky stranger, Bishop, Indigo must quickly master her newly developed magical flying abilities in order to protect her friends and family. There is a hint of a love triangle, and plenty of drama as Indigo discovers who her true friends are. Krys' debut novel offers a fast paced plot with plenty of shocking twists and turns, and a cliffhanger ending that will appeal to fans of teen paranormal romances.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher.

This review originally appeared in School Library Journal.

This Wicked Game review

This Wicked Game
by Michelle Zink
Dial Books
November 2013

Seventeen year-old Claire Kincaid resents working in her family's voodoo supply shop. Claire has always eschewed her heritage - she's a descendent of Marie Leveau, a famed voodoo priestess in New Orleans. Claire finally turns to magic for answers once a series of break-ins threaten her friends, all firstborn children of prominent voodoo families. The action takes place weeks before the Priestesses Ball, an exclusive prom-like gathering. 

This post-Katrina mystery uncovers family secrets that have been festering for a generation. Fearing their parents disapproval, Claire wants to keep her relationship with Xander, the son of prominent Guild leaders, secret. Together they arrange a series of break-ins of their own to discover what the mysterious woman purchasing dangerous magical items from their voodoo shops and exiled Guild member "Crazy Eddie" have been hiding. Using information obtained while in a dream state, and aided by some incredibly lucky coincidences Claire ends up fighting off a ring of black magic users who want to use her charmed blood for evil. Teens looking for mystery with a hint of paranormal will enjoy Zink's fast-paced, undemanding story.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher.
This review originally appeared in School Library Journal.

Black Heart review

Black Heart
by Holly Black
Margaret K. McElderry
April 2012

First line: "My brother Barron sits next to me, sucking the last dregs of milk tea slush noisily through a wide yellow straw."

The ending of this epic series was truly amazing! Gifted teen shapeshifter Cassel Sharpe is once again, torn between doing the right thing, or siding with his decidedly shady magically-gifted criminal family. In Black Heart, Cassel has gained fairly good control over his transformation magic but spends a lot of time stressing out over his work as a double-agent. 

His long-time unrequited love, Lila, has officially joined the magical mafia (with the tattoos to prove it) and in the meantime, he's been offered a very sweet deal with a witness protection program - provided he can deliver a couple of big-time mafiosi hold-outs to justice. Conspiracies and backstabbing abound as criminals and politicians vie for control over the "curseworkers" - the small segment of the population with magical ability who are hated and distrusted by everyone.

I love how Cassel really comes into his own in this book. One of the things he says is, "Now I know why people are afraid of transformation workers. Now I know why they want to control me. Now I get it. I can walk into someone's house, kiss their wife, and eat their dinner. I can lift a passport at the airport and twenty minutes later it will seem like it's mine. I can be a blackbird staring in a window. I can be a cat creeping along a ledge. I can do anywhere I want and do the worst things I can imagine, with nothing ever to connect me to those crimes. Today I might look like me, but tomorrow I could look like you. Tomorrow, I could be you. Hell, I'm scared of myself right now."

I can't quite decide if this is a "good guys don't always finish last" or an instance where the bad guys win, or a bit of both, since Cassel has always been this fish out of water in his criminal family. I don't want to spoil anything, but I can say, after having been through so much, Cassel finally does get a much deserved respite.

Compare to:
Thirsty - M.T. Anderson
Eighth Grade Bites - Heather Brewer
The Replacement - Brenna Yovanoff
The Wizard Heir - Cinda Williams Chima


I borrowed this book from the library.

Shattered Dreams review

Shattered Dreams
by Ellie James
St. Martin's Press
December 2011

First line: "I heard this place is like... haunted."

Sixteen year old Trinity Monsour goes to live with her aunt in New Orleans after the death of her grandmother. More than anything, she wants to fit in. On a dare, she goes to an allegedly haunted house and is overwhelmed by disturbing visions.

The story was set in post-Katrina New Orleans... affording plenty of opportunity for the main characters to explore abandoned and flooded homes.  But I still had trouble picturing a lot of the places in the book. To me at least, it felt like this story could have happened in any small town, with a number of older, decrepit buildings, anywhere.

There's a lot of drama that unfolds, as Trinity has a crush on the alpha mean-girl Jessica's boyfriend, Chase. When Jessica is murdered, Trinity and Chase waste no time whatsoever in hooking up. Trinity's visions lead to clues that may unravel the mystery of Jessica's murder -- but it sure does look suspicious that Trinity is the one coming forth with all of this information.

Despite the romance and the mystery of Trinity's heritage (why does she get these visions? who were her parents?) I never really connected with the main character. This is the first in the Midnight Dragonfly series, but I'm pretty sure I won't be picking up the sequel. I'll recommend this to readers who are looking for a spooky, ghosty, paranormal romance that isn't too triangular.

Compare to:
One Hundred Candles - Mara Purnhagen
The Summoning - Kelley Armstrong
Deadly Little Secret - Laurie Faria Stolarz

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher.

Everneath review

Everneath
by Brodi Ashton
Balzer + Bray
January 2012

First line: "I was picturing his face - a boy with floppy brown hair and brown eyes - when the Feed ended."

High school junior Nikki Beckett has been missing from her friends and family for the past six months and returns to them shaky and fragile. While her classmates assume that she's been strung out on drugs, and maybe returned from rehab, in fact, she's been taken underground into the Everneath for what felt like a hundred years.

Now she is torn between her old human boyfriend Jack - who has been nothing but loving and supportive while she has been coping with the death of her mother, and sexy dangerous Cole, the Eternal who initially tricked her into going underground - thinking that she wouldn't survive him feeding vampire-like off her energy for a century.

This story was loosely - very, very loosely based on the Hades and Persephone myth. There is quite a bit of a drug metaphor there too - Nikki is literally addicted to Cole and it is a struggle for her to give him up, even though he's ruining her life by leaving her with little to no energy as well as overly sensitive to sights, sounds and smells. This is a hardcore and unpleasant addiction - like heroine or meth, in the way that it takes over her life, leaving her feeling emotionless and flat.

The timeline is a bit disjointed. We swerve back and forth from present day to six months ago, with flashbacks and flashforwards. There's a countdown at the top of each chapter which rachets up the tension slightly - Nikki's been told that she has six months to spend saying goodbye to her family and her old life before she has to return to the Everneath for good, either to rule as their Queen, or to be punished in The Tunnels. The story ends on a bit of a cliffhanger... so you'll want to check out the next book in the series if you want to find out what happens.

Compare to:
A Long, Long Sleep - Anna Sheehan
Crave - Melissa Darnell
The Goddess Test - Amy Carter

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher.

One Hundred Candles review

One Hundred Candles
by Mara Purnhagen
Harlequin
February 2011

I picked up this book without realizing that it was the second book of the series. The story stood very well on it's own though. Seventeen year-old Charlotte Silver is adjusting to her new life to Charleston, South Carolina. Her parents are famous paranormal investigators. The rest of her family is fairly well fleshed out - her older sister Annalise is heading off to college, family friend Shane has been her parents cameraman for many years. Shane is dating Trish, the mother of Charlotte's long-time crush Noah. Dr. Zelden, a renowned demonologist, invites her family to investigate a supposedly haunted insane asylum. After a bizarre attack from Zelden's assistant Marcus, Charlotte wonders if there could be some truth to their paranormal claims, while her parents remain as skeptical as ever. I loved the smirks and eyerolling from Charlotte's family as they dubiously hear one supernatural claim after another. There is a hint of a love triangle between Charlotte, Noah, and high-school football player Harris. As the students at her new school begin playing a 100 candles game (over the course of several nights, a supposedly true ghost story must be told for each candle that is lit) more and more inexplicably strange and creepy things keep happening. It seems as if malevolent paranormal forces are slowly but surely closing in on Charlotte. This was a fast and fun read. I'm a big scaredy-cat, and this book had me on the edge of my seat without being too gory, which I really appreciated.


I received a free copy of this book from the publisher.

Waiting on Wings of the Wicked

This description doesn't actually sound that exciting to me... it's kind of overly long, sounds melodramatic and a bit too religious. Based on this blurb alone, I don't think I would pick this book up. But, I read the first book, and I loved it. So, I've been looking forward to the sequel pretty much since I set down Angelfire.

Wings of the Wicked
by Courtney Allison Moulton
Harper Collins

January 2012

Life as the Preliator is harder than Ellie ever imagined.
Balancing real life with the responsibility of being Heaven’s warrior is a challenge for Ellie. Her relationship with Will has become all business, though they both long for each other. And now that the secret of who she really is has come out, so have Hell’s strongest reapers. Grown bold and more vicious, the demonic threaten her in the light of day and stalk her in the night.

She’s been warned.
Cadan, a demonic reaper, comes to her with information about Bastian’s new plan to destroy Ellie’s soul and use an ancient relic to wake all the souls of the damned and unleash them upon humanity. As she fights to stay ahead of Bastian’s schemes , the revelations about those closest to her awaken a dark power within Ellie that threatens to destroy everything—including herself.

She’ll be betrayed.
Treachery comes even from those whom she loves, and Ellie is broken by the deaths of those who stood beside her in this Heavenly war. Still, she must find a way to save the world, herself, and her love for Will. If she fails, there will be hell to pay. 

Waiting on Havoc

I greatly enjoyed Vesper. Great paranormal universe, and a really appealing main character coming to terms with new powers. I'm looking forward to the sequel coming out next month.

Havoc
by Jeff Sampson
Balzer + Bray

January 2012

Emily Webb thought life would return to normal after the death of the man who attacked her and her fellow “Deviants.” Or as normal as it could be, after discovering that she has nighttime superpowers . . . and she’s a werewolf. But when Emily awakes one night to find an otherworldy Shadowman watching her, she knows the danger has only just begun.

So Emily and her pack-mates set out to find the people who made them what they are, and why. But as they get closer to the truth, they realize they aren’t the only ones in town with special powers: The most popular girls in school might just have a secret of their own–and they might just have it out for Emily.

With shadowy beings stalking them, a mysterious company doing all it can to keep the truth hidden, and the secrecy of her new identity in jeopardy, life threatens to spiral out of control for Emily. Soon these dangers will come together in one terrifying confrontation that may force her to make the toughest choice of her life . . . so far.

Darker Still review

Darker Still
by Leanna Renee Hieber
Sourcebooks Fire
November 2011

17 year-old Natalie Stewart lives a privileged life amongst the New York art scene elite in the 1880's, thanks to her father's connections in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Because of the tragic loss of her mother at a young age, Natalie has not spoken in years.

Natalie becomes transfixed by a new painting of Lord Denbury, rumored to be haunted. With the help of wealthy, older patroness of the arts, Mrs. Northe, she and her father purchase the painting for the museum. Natalie is stunned to discover that she actually has the ability to cross over into the painting, where she learns that Denbury is trapped in the painting, while a demon wearing his form is terrorizing lower Manhattan, brutally killing young women.

The book is described as "The Picture of Dorian Gray meets Pride and Prejudice, with a dash of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde," and I honestly can't think of a better description. The tone of the book is unmistakably Gothic, through and through. The pacing is slow and mysterious. The romance between Denbury and Natalie is quite restrained. Much like Bram Stoker's Dracula, the story mainly consists of diary entries, mixed with a few letters and official police reports.

Natalie is taken under Mrs. Northe's wing as she struggles to regain her powers of speech. Mrs. Northe, who is a bit of a spiritualist with psychic powers, mentors Natalie as she begins to gain her own mentalist abilities. When Natalie theorizes that she and Denbury may be soulmates, which would explain their deep and immediate connection, Mrs. Northe delivers one of the best monologues on love I've heard in a long time:

Don't put stock in past lives. It's this life that makes the difference. And in this life there may be certain destinies, people you're meant to meet... But there is no sole person for another's heart. Souls cannot be broken and then completed by another. That's not healthy, nor wise. There are infinite possiblilites as there are infinite people and some matches better made than others... Just don't say that you'll die without the other one or that you'll never love again or that you're not whole - That's the stuff of Romeo and Juliet, hasty nonsense, and you know how well that turned out. There's magic about the two of you, yes. Just don't be desperate about it. That's where souls go wrong.

The ending of the book kind of dragged for me. Everything comes to a fairly satisfying conclusion, but I felt that the follow-up with constable, who reads Natalie's diary, but finds he can't believe the tale within was unnecessary and a bit belabored. The book ends with a definite lead-in to a sequel, with Natalie and Denbury on the run together to Chicago. Fans of the Brontë sisters, or du Maurier's Rebecca will find a lot to like in this debut offering.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher.

Forgotten review

Forgotten
by Cat Patrick
Little Brown Books for Young Readers
June 2011

16 year-old London Lane is harboring a secret. Her memories and her mind work differently than most. Instead of remembering the past, she remembers the future, seeing the next day very clearly, and further events slightly less so. Every morning at exactly 4:33 am, the slate is wiped clean and she forgets the events of the previous day.

This book is, dare I say it, eminently readable. Even that beginning premise isn't explicitly given away to readers right away. I had read the first few chapters before I figured it out. She "remembers" the events that will spawn a long-running inside joke between her and her best friend Jamie, and knows that she and Jamie will backpack Europe together, that Jamie will develop a signature flirting move and have her heart broken by several bad romances in college. There's a fascinating dynamic to their friendship, as Jamie is one of the few people who knows about London's ability. Jamie helps London cover for her memory lapses at school and London futilely tries to keep irrepressible Jamie from falling for the wrong guys.

The plot thickens when London meets a new guy who she didn't predict coming into her life, and who she consistently doesn't see in her future. She writes careful notes to herself so she can quickly catch up on what she did the day before and it's interesting to see how she approaches things with her new boyfriend Luke. After they have a fight, she alters her past notes, effectively "forgetting" him for a while. They eventually work things out, and London continues to feel that rush of euphoria of first-time attraction every time she she sees him.

London begins seeing disturbing visions for the first time. "Memories" that aren't quite clear to her, but she sees herself at a funeral for a little boy and lives with a sense of dread, not knowing who the boy is, or how he will come into her life, but knowing that she will feel awful about his loss. Unless...? Maybe this vision is so different from the rest because she's finally remembering her past?

There were a few things that I wondered about. With an ability like hers, why doesn't London read up on winning lottery numbers and buy a winning ticket? I found it odd that she and her mother are reluctant to seek any medical attention to find out why her brain is wired like this. Why on earth is Luke the sole exception to London's memories. He does feature in her future, why can't she see it? What makes him different? And, of course, her vision of the funeral is so mysterious. What does it mean? Everytime you think you have things figured out, Patrick throws another spanner in the works, introducing yet another surprise twist of the plot, ret-conning things over and over again. Everything wraps up very satisfyingly, with most questions answered by the end. This feels like a stand-alone book, rather than the start of a series.

I preferred the cover on my Advanced Reader's Copy, rather than the finished cover which I can't help but read as three words: For. Got. Ten. It took me a second to realize that it's the same photograph! Fast-paced, smoothly-written mystery and adventure makes this an easy book for me to recommend.


I received a free copy of this book from the publisher.

Waiting on Shattered Souls

Okay, this story does not sound that unique... I can think of about a dozen books right off the top of my head with a very similar plot. But that doesn't matter, because I could read this story a hundred times and never get bored. Young person develops paranormal powers. Adventures ensue. I'm sold.

Shattered Souls
by Mary Lindsay
Philomel Penguin

December 2011

Lenzi hears voices and has visions - gravestones, floods, a boy with steel gray eyes. Her boyfriend, Zak, can't help, and everything keeps getting louder and more intense. Then Lenzi meets Alden, the boy from her dreams, who reveals that she's a reincarnated Speaker - someone who can talk to and help lost souls - and that he has been her Protector for centuries.

Now Lenzi must choose between her life with Zak and the life she is destined to lead with Alden. But time is running out: a malevolent spirit is out to destroy Lenzi, and he will kill her if she doesn't make a decision soon.

Waiting on Shattered Dreams

It looks like the cover has been changed on this one... I think I may have liked the original cover slightly better. But still! I am interested to tackle this book.

Shattered Dreams
by Ellie James
St. Martin's Griffin

December 2011

Sixteen year-old Trinity Monsour wants nothing more than to live a normal life. But that isn’t as easy as it seems. Trinity is different. She is special. She sees visions, and for those she’s seen, it’s already too late.

Trinity arrives on her aunt’s doorstep in New Orleans with virtually no knowledge of her mysterious heritage. She begins settling into life at a new school and even starts making friends. But all too quickly her dreams accelerate; twisted, terrifying visions of a girl locked in a dark room. And when the head cheerleader, Jessica, goes missing, Trinity knows she has no choice but to step forward with what she’s seen.

But people believe that Trinity has information about Jessica’s disappearance not because of a dream, but because she is involved. She is kind-of dating Jessica’s ex-boyfriend, Chase, and Jessica did pull a nasty prank on Trinity. Revenge seems like the likeliest scenario.

Nothing prepares Trinity for the dark odyssey that ensues while searching for Jessica, including the surprising romance she finds with Chase, or the shocking truths she learns, not just about the girl who has gone missing, but the past that has been hidden from her.

The Mephisto Covenant review

The Mephisto Covenant
by Trinity Faegen
Egmont USA
September 2011

This book, hands-down, wins the award for Worst Book I Have Ever Read. It seems to have all the ingredients for success: teen paranormal romance, gorgeous cover, mysterious debut author. I was surprised and disappointed by how quickly the story went downhill. The mythology is actually fairly well-thought out, and perhaps the strongest part of the book. Eryx, an evil demon, is attempting to overthrow Lucifer by collecting enough followers to challenge his ruling in Hell. Eryx has started a secret society called The Ravens, recruiting in high schools around the country, to further his plans.

Seventeen year-old Sasha's life is turned upside down when her mother Katya must return to Russia after the murder of her father. Sasha, in the meantime, is sent to live with her Uncle Tim, Aunt Melanie and cousins Brett and Chris in Colorado to finish out the school year while her mother gets settled in Russia. It's soon obvious that Brett and Melanie are deeply involved with the local Ravens group. Sasha meets gorgeous Jax and learns that she is Anabo - a direct descendent of Eve imbued with powers of good, and Jax is a Mephisto, a rare son of Hell tasked with punishing evil-doers in order to gain redemption.

Parts of this story read a bit like Laurell K. Hamilton Jr. - a younger, cleaner version of Hamilton's Anita Blake series, or Sherilynn Kenyon's Dark-Hunter series.

First and foremost, my major problem with the book was the male hero, Jax. He's irresistibly drawn to Sasha, and quickly turns into a completely creepy Stalky McStalkerson. Just a few examples of things he does that would put Twilight's Edward to shame: turns himself invisible and watches Sasha sleep, punches a guy for daring to talk to her, erases her memory of their first meeting so that he can have a "do over" after he's had the chance to re-con more information about her, kisses her and then decides things are moving too fast so he attempts to erase her memory again (but fails) - but not before selfishly grabbing a few extra smooches before he tries to brainwipe her, logs into her Facebook account and reads all her messages. Another move he makes that I'm sure many women would find romantic, but I find utterly gross; after Sasha's dysfunctional aunt Melanie destroys all of her clothes, he teleports her to San Francisco where he purchases a sexier, cooler wardrobe for Sasha. He even pops in to her dressing room, uninvited, prompting harsh words from nearly-nude Sasha.

I hated the trope of thousand year old man-whore being redeemed by underage virgin. Jax has gotten around the block a time or two, because after all, "a man has needs" but innocent, naive Sasha is his destiny, so he'll clean up his act for her.

What I found hardest to swallow was that much later, Sasha gets an opportunity to spy in Jax's closet, and is incredibly impressed by an ancient wooden box he's saved with keepsakes of his mother from Ancient Greece. He's angry that she's been snooping, and she actually feels incredibly guilty about it. Wha-aaat? Why??? After his complete lack of boundaries (and Sasha's occasional annoyance at his intrusiveness) why on earth would she feel even the slightest bit guilty?

Unfortunately, there are several info-dumps in the book that are repeated when one character has learned something, but another hasn't, so we readers have to hear the whole thing again - I'm sorry, Nanowrimers, but you know the sort of thing I'm talking about - cheap ways to up a word count without moving the story forward.

Most of the characterizations are quite flat. Sasha is good and sweet and a bit Mary-Sue'ish and boring. Aunt Melanie is hell-on-wheels evil and batshit crazy. Sasha's cousin Brett is moustache-twirlingly villainous, murdering a girl and getting away with it, spreading rumors at school that Sasha is a whore and generally being a bully and a big dumb jock. Jax's brothers are hopeless around women and only minimally fleshed out with personalities or interests of their own.

There was simply too much going on throughout the story - I could have done without the whole subplot about Sasha's schoolfriend Amanda having a crush on Brett and when she finally decides to take the oath to Eryx, Brett forces her to strip nude and is threatening her with hot-pokers, but despite all that she still likes him.

Things come to a head when Sasha melodramatically learns that she was illegally adopted from Russia (as was her cousin Chris) and Brett decides decides that now that they aren't "really" cousins, now would be a perfect time for raping - Sasha's dog Boo comes to her defense, and heartless Brett kills the animal by throwing him into a wall, at which point Melanie and newly-evil uncle Tim bitch her out for sneaking a dog into the house in the first place and demand that Sasha sleep in the uninviting basement. After this whole horrifying episode, the dog is never thought about or mentioned again.

I was only surprised that Sasha agrees to stay with her aunt and uncle for so long. Being threatened, denied food, having her clothes and computer destroyed, her dog killed and  jewelry stolen, why does she stay? When she visits Jax in his awesome extra-dimensional hilltop palace, filled with servants and every imaginable luxury, you have to wonder why she wants to leave. There is a lot of talk about free will - Sasha has to decide to give up her pure Anabo status if she wants to redeem Jax, but it has to be her choice. By the end, it honestly doesn't feel like much of a choice. Pretty much every single family relationship or friendship has been lost to her - of course she chooses Jax, she doesn't have anyone else! Even her mother Katya takes an oath to Eryx and sells her out.

Much is made of the fact that once Sasha decides to have sex with Jax, the process of her turning from Anabo saint to Mephisto warrior will be irreversible, and she'll be trackable to Eryx and his bloodthirsty minions. When they finally do the deed the pages feel ripped straight from a romance novel, tacky and too explicit for a YA novel.

I'm loathe to say this, but with the emphasis on "choice" this story would have read better to me if there had been a love-triangle, with an alternative to Jax for Sasha to actually get to choose from. Dial back Jax's completely inappropriate and borderline abusive stalking behaviors by a factor of a hundred, and I might actually start to approve of their romance a little.

Don't pick up this book, unless you enjoy the schadenfreude of reading something that is so horrible, it's actually kind of amazing.


I received a free copy of this book from the publisher.

Waiting on Shatter Me

This sounds so intriguing. I'm not a huge X-Men fan (not as big as some) but the storyline makes me think a little of Rogue from the X-Men. Should be very interesting!

Shatter Me
by Tahereh Mafi

HarperCollins

November 2011

Juliette hasn't touched anyone in exactly 264 days. The last time she did, it was an accident, but The Reestablishment locked her up for murder. No one knows why Juliette's touch is fatal. As long as she doesn't hurt anyone else, no one really cares. The world is too busy crumbling to pieces to pay attention to a 17-year-old girl. Diseases are destroying the population, food is hard to find, birds don't fly anymore, and the clouds are the wrong color.

The Reestablishment said their way was the only way to fix things, so they threw Juliette in a cell. Now so many people are dead that the survivors are whispering war- and The Reestablishment has changed its mind. Maybe Juliette is more than a tortured soul stuffed into a poisonous body. Maybe she's exactly what they need right now.

Juliette has to make a choice: Be a weapon. Or be a warrior.

Waiting on The Space Between

Another beautiful and mesmerizing cover. The main character is half-demon/half-angel... I wonder if this will be similar to Misfit by Jon Skovron. I really enjoyed Yovanoff's The Replacement, even though it pushed the envelope on creepiness for me. This one should be good!

The Space Between
by Brenna Yovanoff

Razorbill

November 2011

Daphne is the half-demon, half-fallen angel daughter of Lucifer and Lilith. Life for her is an endless expanse of time, until her brother Obie is kidnapped - and Daphne realizes she may be partially responsible. Determined to find him, Daphne travels from her home in Pandemonium to the vast streets of Earth, where everything is colder and more terrifying. With the help of the human boy she believes was the last person to see her brother alive, Daphne glimpses into his dreams, discovering clues to Obie's whereabouts. As she delves deeper into her demonic powers, she must navigate the jealousies and alliances of the violent archangels who stand in her way. But she also discovers, unexpectedly, what it means to love and be human in a world where human is the hardest thing to be.

Juliet Immortal review

Juliet Immortal
by Stacey Jay
Delacorte Books for Young Readers
August 2011

I have to say, I'd heard a little bit about this re-telling of the Romeo and Juliet story, and thought it might read a bit more like Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. Instead, it was nothing like that. I was pleasantly surprised by the reinterpretation of this story. In this version, Romeo and Juliet are traveling through time - inhabiting the bodies of star-crossed lovers who've had near-death experiences. In each incarnation, Juliet, who is working for the Ambassadors (presumably the good guys) has a limited amount of time to get the couple back together again. Romeo, who sacrificed Juliet (and in some ways, himself) to the Mercenaries in exchange for eternal life, catches up with her, possessing a newly dead body each time, and tries to foil her plans.

This go around, Juliet finds herself in the body of Ariel Dragland, a shy blonde teenager in the small California town of Solvang. After a reckless driving accident, Romeo is in possession of the body of Dylan, the school bully and sometime crush of Ariel's. There are a few hints that are dropped that all is not right - Juliet/Ariel has never seen Romeo track her down so quickly before. She's noticed that the gaps between each mission are growing shorter and shorter. Nurse, her Ambassador handler, has gone missing. She's beginning to wonder if the Ambassadors have her well-being at heart after all.

As Ariel, she's landed in the middle of a tricky situation. Ariel's been recovering from severe burns she received as a child. Years of surgery have restored her looks, but not her confidence, as she copes with a strained relationship with her single mom, and an overbearing best friend, Gemma. I had trouble visualizing Ariel's ugly/pretty look - she's supposed to be a former burn victim, but she's also supposed to have an elfin, delicate beauty, with scars that only add to her unique look. Juliet explains that once she's inhabiting someone's body, she picks up their language, memory and abilities, and she's pleased that she and Ariel share a "soul gift" - both are talented artists. I liked the kind of maturity and distance that Juliet brings to the situation. When Ariel is in a fight with her mom, Juliet decides to let some matters drop, instead of escalating the situation. They end up having a heart-to-heart talk that is very healing for them both. Juliet is very conscious of wanting to leave her host's relationships better than when she found them, which made me wonder how and what her former hosts remember after she leaves them and returns to the void she inhibits while waiting to be pulled to Earth again. The last thing Juliet expects is to be slammed with "love at first sight" feelings for sensitive and kind Latino transfer student Ben. Unfortunately, she feels duty-bound to stick to her mission and try to fix him up with Gemma, who is glowing with the aura of true love. Juliet also has to avoid Romeo/Dylan's attempts to kill her - he truly comes across as a psychopath, coming up with whatever threats and lies that cross his mind just to try to distress her. Ben, on the other hand, is a total fantasy - no high school boy in the world has ever been so kind and virtuous and good. He instantly falls head-over-heels for Ariel/Juliet and within a few days is already talking marriage.

I was curious if readers not familiar with Solvang, CA would get the references to Danish windmills, tourists, and of course, easy access to wine country, with most high school students finding it easy to host bootleg wine parties.

Wow, the ending! I had a few of my own favorite pet theories brewing, and I sure didn't see that ending coming. I had been hoping that Juliet would realize that she'd been a dolt - that every time she'd been deposited into someone else's life mid-stream, it was actually a chance for her to grab a chance at happiness and realize there is no such thing as a "one true love" pre-destined by fate. I was shocked by the revelation of Gemma's relationship with a teacher, and more shocked by the Ambassadors cold admission that they were going to somehow use the psychic power of the relationship, which suits them just fine. The actual ending felt like a bit of a muddle to me, with time traveling, alternate realities, awful fates for most of our modern day characters (if we find out what happens to them at all!) and Romeo getting the last word. Normally, I'm not one to recommend a book with such a let-down of an ending, but it was still such an enjoyable read - brace yourself for the oddness at the end (perhaps it will all be addressed in a sequel??) and you will enjoy it. I really liked the characters of Juliet/Ariel and Ben, they made the book worthwhile for me.

I borrowed this book from the library.