young adult Archives - Page 17 of 19

Yzabel / August 28, 2012

Review: The Annihilation Of Foreverland

The Annihilation of Foreverland by Tony Bertauski

My rating: [rating=4]

Summary:

When kids awake on an island, they’re told there was an accident. Before they can go home, they will visit Foreverland, an alternate reality that will heal their minds. Reed dreams of a girl that tells him to resist Foreverland. He doesn’t remember her name, but knows he once loved her. He’ll have to endure great suffering and trust his dream. And trust he’s not insane. Danny Boy, the new arrival, meets Reed’s dream girl inside Foreverland. She’s stuck in the fantasy land that no kid can resist. Where every heart’s desire is satisfied. Why should anyone care how Foreverland works? Together, they discover what it’s really doing to them.

Review:

(This review was done for {Read It & Reap 57} in the Shut Up And Read group. It dates back to May, but I felt I should have posted it here way sooner, so here goes.)

The new cover is really much better! ~~Although I really wasn’t thrilled by the cover~~, the book’s summary got my attention, and I don’t regret picking it. It turned to be a pretty good surprise.

I got pulled in the story fairly quickly and easily. No dilly-dallying, no slow build-up, but the mystery from the start: where are those boys, what’s happened to them, and what lies behind this weird island they’re living on. I like when something’s smelling fishy from the start, and here I wasn’t disappointed. The world built up by the author was believable, felt real enough, and its secrets were revealed with just the right amount of pacing in my opinion. As for the main characters (three for me, Reed and Danny Boy, of course, but also Zin), I really liked following their progress. They proved likeable, and resourceful in the case of Danny and Zin. And while Reed wasn’t given that much screen time comparatively, I could feel his presence pervading the narrative all the time, his fate an impending Damocles sword. In fact, I felt that this novel offered more than just your standard YA plot, raising questions and darker themes that may appeal to an older audience too. Finally, a word about the few news clippings inserted at the beginning of each part: I think they are a nice add-on, distillating some information that made me wonder what character they were about. It wasn’t too hard to find out, of course, yet it was enjoyable nevertheless.

There are a few things I couldn’t wrap my mind around, though, and it’s too bad, because there weren’t that many, but they made me wince regularly enough (hence the 4-stars rating, but really, I’d have probably made it a 4.5 if GR had allowed it). A few uses of capital letters that I found jarring—I get it that they were here to illustrate a point, but no need to shout it in my face. Sometimes too the style was a little too abrupt, and the point of view tended to change abruptly too, which made things a little confusing in a few places. Mostly, though, what irked me was the use of the word ‘son’ by approximately everyone. I’d expect it from the Investors addressing the boys, but not from one boy to the other; it felt really weird every time it happened, and it happened often.

Other than that, it was a compelling story, and I heartily recommend it.

Yzabel / August 24, 2012

Review: Taste

Taste by Kate Evangelista

My rating: [rating=3]

Summary:

At Barinkoff Academy, there’s only one rule: no students on campus after curfew. Phoenix McKay soon finds out why when she is left behind at sunset. A group calling themselves night students threaten to taste her flesh until she is saved by a mysterious, alluring boy. With his pale skin, dark eyes, and mesmerizing voice, Demitri is both irresistible and impenetrable. He warns her to stay away from his dangerous world of flesh eaters. Unfortunately, the gorgeous and playful Luka has other plans. When Phoenix is caught between her physical and her emotional attraction, she becomes the keeper of a deadly secret that will rock the foundations of an ancient civilization living beneath Barinkoff Academy. Phoenix doesn’t realize until it is too late that the closer she gets to both Demitri and Luka the more she is plunging them all into a centuries old feud.

Review:

(Book provided by the author through ARR #32 in the We ♥ YA Books! group, in exchange for an honest review.)

Alright, first, I appreciated that there weren’t any vampires in this book. This might not ring a bell to every reader, far from it, but the “prestigious academy with day students and night students” is something I had already read about in a manga (Vampire Knight); it would’ve been too bad if “Taste” had been about ‘mere’ vampires in that regard, and I much preferred the flesh-eating approach than the bloodsucking one. One good point for Kate Evangelista here.

This book was a nice read, compelling and well-paced enough for me to read it in a breeze. I especially liked its take on ‘zombies’: not undead, brain-eating monsters, but a civilisation of flesh-consuming human-looking beings, with thoughts and feelings of their own, but who had to turn away from their natural food sources due to specific reasons, and whose survival is quite the conundrum now. Their laws and way of living had a tight, enclosed feeling that mirrored the abstinence they had to inflict upon themselves, and of course it made sense that sooner or later, all of this would rot and fester, and lead to conflict. The scientific twist brought in all that was also a nice add-on: not too complex for a non-scientific to understand, but believable.

I liked the male cast overall. Demitri’s and Luka’s classical archetypes opposition worked well, and their hidden pains gave them depth; Dray was touching in his own ways, with his mad scientist antics walking hand in hand with deep love and caring for his people, and a genuine desire to help; and Darius’s personality seriously made me grin, especially after a certain description Phoenix made of him. What I appreciated less was the love triangle: the two boys seemed to have equal chances at getting the girl, but Luka’s interest felt somewhat forced—he gave more vibes of ‘naturally a good friend’ than ‘love interest’.

On the other hand, I really, really didn’t like Phoenix. At all. I found her tremendously annoying, whiny, bitchy, and not so clever for someone supposed to have a high IQ/study at a prestigious academy for talented youth. Granted, she was brave… although I often wondered if this was bravery or sheer stupidity on her part. Her childish reactions spelled ‘catastrophe in the making’ from beginning to end; it’s a wonder she managed to stay alive at all (poor Demitri and Luka, such a piece of hard work keeping her safe must have been for you two!). This is too bad, because if not for her character, I’d likely have rated this book higher (for now, it’s more of a 3.5/5 for me).

Yzabel / August 18, 2012

Review: The Fallen Star

The Fallen Star by Jessica Sorensen

My rating: [rating=1]

Summary:

For eighteen year-old Gemma, life has never been normal. Up until recently, she has been incapable of feeling emotion. And when she’s around Alex, the gorgeous new guy at school, she can feel electricity that makes her skin buzz. Not to mention the monsters that haunt her nightmares have crossed over into real-life. But with Alex seeming to hate her and secrets popping up everywhere, Gemma’s life is turning into a chaotic mess. Things that shouldn’t be real suddenly seem to exist. And as her world falls apart, figuring out the secrets of her past becomes a matter of life and death.

Review:

Not sure if it’s more of a “It was OK” or a “Didn’t like it” book for me. I got it for free on Kindle, and gave it a try because the basic plot points—a girl without emotions, the fallen star—seemed interesting. And I still think they are. Or could be, if used differently, of perhaps with a different pacing. The way things were, the first half of the novel went too slowly, with too much detailing and repeating on the one hand (I doubt the weird, uhm, electricity between Gemma and Alex needed to be mentioned every ten pages or so), and on the other hand not enough details about other aspects (for instance, the ’emotionless girl’ part, that got me attracted to the book in the first place, is thrown through the window quite fast).

Well, I could forgive a slow-paced plot if characters and relationships were making up for it. Unfortunately, for the whole story, I just couldn’t get any liking to the characters. Gemma was just too whiny and unable to stand up for whatever, letting herself be bossed around, or doing a half-arsed job at getting the answers she wanted; maybe this fits with her previous emotionless self, but it doesn’t make for a very likeable heroine. Also, how can one be so absolutely clueless about what was truly happening, in spite of the very fishy and messed up stuff that was staring her in the face? As for Alex… no kidding, that guy was just infuriating. Not witty, not dark and mysterious: just an infuriating liar doubled with an asshole whose reactions were weird at beast, and seriously bordering on sociopathic at worst. Even Nicholas didn’t feel as creepy, because at least he was true to his ambiguous self, instead of repeating “you can trust me, tell me everything, blah blah” while openly lying most of the time (to himself as well as to Gemma, I guess). The constant bickering, arguing, glaring and hate me-hate me not that went on between those two for the whole story kept on annoying me, too. I’m all for snark and tense relationships, only here it was more like teenage angst going rampant, and this quickly gets old in my opinion. On top of it, I couldn’t really find the ‘romance’ part in this; telling the reader repeatedly about ‘electricity’ between them doesn’t make me instantly go “oh, sure, they’re falling in love”. I kept on waiting for an explanation to this phenomenon, and ‘love’ certainly wasn’t cutting it.

In the end, I found myself skimming through the novel to get to the finale. And then I had to stare at one annoying cliffhanger, with too few answers regarding the overall plot. Alright, I get that more will be revealed in the next book. Still, this is highly frustrating.

Yzabel / August 17, 2012

Review: Entangled

Entangled by Nikki Jefford

My rating: [rating=4]

Summary:

Two months after dying, seventeen-year-old witch Graylee Perez wakes up in her twin sister Charlene’s body.

Until Gray finds a way back inside her own body, she’s stuck being Charlene every twenty-hour hours. Her sister has left precise instructions on how Gray should dress and behave. Looking like a prep isn’t half as bad as hanging out with Charlene’s snotty friends and gropey boyfriend.

The “normals” of McKinley High might be quick to write her behavior off as post-traumatic stress, but warlock Raj McKenna is the only person who suspects Gray has returned from the dead.

Now Gray has to solve the mystery of her death and resurrection and disentangle herself from Charlene’s body before she disappears for good.

***Entangled is a young adult paranormal fantasy romance suitable for ages 15 and up.***

Review:

Although I had to spread the reading of this book over two days, it went fast and smoothly, and turned to be highly addictive. The first chapters may have been a little slow—what was needed, I suppose, to set the backdrop for Gray and Charlene’s ‘ordinary’ life, and thus contrast Gray’s sudden death against it. But past that point, I was hooked. Firstly because of the themes tackled throughout the story: revenge, deception, resentment, grief, death, how do people cope with it and to what lengths would they be ready to go if they had a chance to have a beloved one back… Secondly, while those themes are of the dark kind, the narrative itself doesn’t feel desperate nor gloomy, therefore making for a lighter reading moment no matter what. Last but not least, because I wanted to know how things would unfold, all that simply (already suspecting the kind of outcome the author would come up with didn’t detract from my reading pleasure: it’s the kind of predictable I appreciate).

The characters were both archetypal for that kind of novel (the popular bitchy sister, the nice and hard-working one, the boy with a bad reputation but a heart of gold, the sidekick ready to do everything for the one he has his eyes on…), yet at the same time convincing enough. They behaved with the kind of intensity in feelings and actions that tend to seem fitting for teenage characters, and there were often some darker, secret areas to their personalities. After all, when the girl intent on snagging her boyfriend back is also a witch, can things really go as normally as they would if she wasn’t? When she’s jealous of someone, and want to hamper that someone’s efforts, why stop at just feeling frustrated? And yet, some of those traits may also become understandable: I can understand how suddenly having her dead sister snatch her body one day out of two, putting a regular dent in her life, may feel extremely hard to bear for Charlene. (Alright, this said, she was still an absolute bitch who deserved to be slapped around with a trout full of long, pointy nails. Seriously. Borderline psychopathic much?)

I also liked that the story followed not only Gray, but Raj as well. He was by far my favourite character, being an actual good guy, respectful of others, even though he kept entertaining a facade that in the end hurt himself the most. (And Adrian. Why, Adrian, always full of smiles: I hope you do realize that you’re so creepy, man! And that I love it.)

What I was less satisfied with in “Entangled” was some unanswered questions. The reason to Gray’s death wasn’t so clear (not to mention that it was pretty stupid, to the point of little old me wondering if the ‘culprit’ didn’t act so dumb on purpose, knowing that of course it was just but an accident waiting to happen). And I admit I didn’t really understand what happened with Raj and his mother at the end—well, I *think* I understood, only that part went too fast for me to be certain I really did; more details about that (and the role of the Zippo lighter) would have been appreciated.

Nevertheless, I liked this book, and definitely want to read the next installment.

Yzabel / August 16, 2012

Review: City of Bones

City of Bones by Cassandra Clare

My rating: [rating=3]

Summary:

When fifteen-year-old Clary Fray heads out to the Pandemonium Club in New York City, she hardly expects to witness a murder — much less a murder committed by three teenagers covered with strange tattoos and brandishing bizarre weapons. Then the body disappears into thin air. It’s hard to call the police when the murderers are invisible to everyone else and when there is nothing — not even a smear of blood — to show that a boy has died. Or was he a boy?

This is Clary’s first meeting with the Shadowhunters, warriors dedicated to ridding the earth of demons. It’s also her first encounter with Jace, a Shadowhunter who looks a little like an angel and acts a lot like a jerk. Within twenty-four hours Clary is pulled into Jace’s world with a vengeance, when her mother disappears and Clary herself is attacked by a demon. But why would demons be interested in ordinary mundanes like Clary and her mother? And how did Clary suddenly get the Sight? The Shadowhunters would like to know. . .

Review:

As weird as it may seem, before reading this book, I had no idea who Cassandra Clare was, nor about her ties with the Harry Potter fandom. One of the first things I thought when reading the first chapters was that I could feel a strong HP influence in it, probably too strong (even in the family names: Lightwood/Rookwood). The whole Circle thing reminded me of the Death Eaters, Jace was enough of a blond jackass to smack of Draco, Simon might just have well have been Ron… I won’t list other parallels I drew, since they’d be spoilers, but I felt them nonetheless. This, I must said, irked me a little: not that I dislike J.K. Rowling’s series (on the contrary!), just because at first it seemed, well, too much like fanfiction turned into original fiction at the last moment. This sometimes detracted me from the story’s intrinsic values, and it was too bad (probably, also, what partly explains why I’m not giving it a higher grade).

On the other hand, I still managed to enjoy “City of Bones” in the end, so there are clearly good things about it.

The story is pretty much built along traditional plot lines, that anyone familiar with Campbell’s “journey of the Hero” will likely recognize, because they’re as old as humanity itself. Some may be bothered by this, some may like it, some may not care. As far as I’m concerned, as long as it works in terms of storytelling, I enjoy that. And it worked here, so it’s all good for me, even though it makes it a little easier to predict where things are going (for instance, “J.C.”: alright, who couldn’t see at least that one coming?). It also worked in HP, by the way. It’s not something that prevents me from enjoying a piece of writing. I found many interesting things in the novel as a whole, such as the beginning scene (among other things: the killers that nobody but Clary can’t see; the Shadowhunters who’re clearly not such nice guys; where all the non-human originate from). All in all, it was an entertaining read, meaning I didn’t have to think too much, wanted to see the plot progress, kept turning the pages, and thought at the end: “OK, I kind of what to pick up the second book.”

Oh yes, I forgot to mention the author’s writing itself, which I found good enough, even though she sometimes makes use of weird similes. ften the dialogues made me smile or even chuckle, and it was pleasant. (Yes, there were lighter moments in the darker plot; those are never a bad thing, in my opinion.)

Unfortunately, I was less than thrilled about the characters, whose main flaw was that they lacked substance. They’re likeable in their own ways, but didn’t feel ‘present’ enough throughout the story—as if the substance was here, underneath, but not fleshed out enough. I don’t think it has to do with the fact that they pretty much fit archetypes that are often seen in YA novels or TV series in general—I’m convinced that archetypes, if made deep enough, can be very interesting. It’s just that they struck me as bland at times. Jace often came too much as a jackass (oh, boy, you’re not as witty as you think you are, and no, you’re clearly not more witty than Simon, and putting him down all the time won’t make you appear more badasse). Isabelle seemed too cookie-cutter. Alec would’ve deserved more attention. Clary was a nice girl, but didn’t stand out more than the supporting characters (and I kept on wanting to smack her head because she was so blind to what was so evident from the beginning). Poor Simon was really played for the resident butt-monkey, when he’d deserve to be treated better. I think I liked Magnus Bane best; too bad he got only minimal screen time.

All in all, this novel was enjoyable. I’m quite tempted to go on reading “The Mortal Instruments”, or at least the next installment, because there *is* room for improvement, and it may very well still happen. In spite of what I didn’t like in it, it isn’t enough to drive me off the series.

Yzabel / August 13, 2012

Review: Tiger Lily

Tiger Lily by Jodi Lynn Anderson

My rating: 3

Summary:

Before Peter Pan belonged to Wendy, he belonged to the girl with the crow feather in her hair. . . .

Fifteen-year-old Tiger Lily doesn’t believe in love stories or happy endings. Then she meets the alluring teenage Peter Pan in the forbidden woods of Neverland and immediately falls under his spell.

Peter is unlike anyone she’s ever known. Impetuous and brave, he both scares and enthralls her. As the leader of the Lost Boys, the most fearsome of Neverland’s inhabitants, Peter is an unthinkable match for Tiger Lily. Soon, she is risking everything—her family, her future—to be with him. When she is faced with marriage to a terrible man in her own tribe, she must choose between the life she’s always known and running away to an uncertain future with Peter.

With enemies threatening to tear them apart, the lovers seem doomed. But it’s the arrival of Wendy Darling, an English girl who’s everything Tiger Lily is not, that leads Tiger Lily to discover that the most dangerous enemies can live inside even the most loyal and loving heart.

Review:

I read the original Peter Pan story a long, long time ago (over 15 years), and so I can’t tell honestly that I remember its every little detail—therefore I can’t tell if this retelling is especially good or bad, compared to J.M. Barrie’s piece. This point notwithstanding, “Tiger Lily” was for me what I’d call an average pleasant book: neither detestable nor excellent.

I liked that the author chose to have the story told from Tinkerbell’s point of view; in itself, this was an interesting idea, and I found her character actually more likeable here than I remember having perceived it in the original tale. Besides, having the faeries be able to feel people’s thoughts and emotional states justified her comments about Tiger Lily’s and Peter’s story. Said story was touching, and never all black nor all white (especially considering the presence of darker themes like rape and suicide), which is something I prefer to clear-cut morality in my reading in general. Tiger Lily herself was strong, independent, able to face a lot of hardships, yet those very strengths in her were also what made her vulnerable, what prevented her from finding the right words to say. In fact, I found several other characters were really likeable, especially Tik Tok the shaman, and the issues his ways of living raise in terms of acceptance and difference.

On the other hand, the very choice of point of view I mentioned above may have made things a little too far-fetched at times: could Tink *really* know everything, be in the protagonists’ heads with such efficiency? There were a few moments when I found maintaining my suspension of disbelief rather… difficult. Second, while the story was touching, its pace was too slow, and dragged now and then. I also regretted the way certain events seemed to be rushed, such as what happens with Moon Eye or Tik Tok; in my opinion, they’d have deserved something better, just like the pirates would have deserved more spotlight. Finally, I want to say: where was the magic? Just like Nevereland here wasn’t the magical place I expected, save for the presence of mermaids and faeries, and the fact that the tribes’ people wouldn’t age, I felt that it lacked just that little touch that would have allowed me to really like this book, more than just ‘like’ it.

Yzabel / August 12, 2012

Review: Angel Evolution

Angel Evolution by David Estes

My rating: [rating=3]

Summary:

When Taylor meets Gabriel at college, she is in awe of the subtle glow that surrounds him. No one else, not even her best friend, seems to notice.

Something about him scares her.

Is all as it appears? While Taylor struggles for answers, she finds herself in the middle of a century old war centered on one miraculous revelation: evolution.

Review:

I had had this novel on my radar for some time, and finally got to read it in July (although I hadn’t posted my review yet). I must say it made me spend a good moment, even though it has its flaws.

I think the major problem for me as a reader was that I found connecting with the characters a little hard. Especially the main female character, Taylor, who remained quite bland for a good deal of the story, until she finally grew something of a spine. Besides, she accepted Gabriel’s story so quickly! It would’ve been more believable if she had been more of a skeptic, asked more questions, be warier of him, kept a distance at first… not fall into his arms so soon. I didn’t know where to stand regarding Gabriel either, couldn’t decide if he was suffering from chronic lying disorder, or was just brainwashed, or tried to convince himself he believed in all of that. I guess this is part of his evolution, of how he goes from obeying orders to standing for what he thinks is really right, but it still came off as shaky.

On the other hand, the story itself was enjoyable, with an original twist about angels and demons. Well, alright, at first I wasn’t sure whether I would’ve wanted those to be closer to their original myths, or not; however, now that I’ve finished the book, it feels like a positive aspect, that provides a nice change from more classical retellings of such fights. It’s a good thing that there is no God here to steer the ship; we are presented with people who, all in all, are still human, or at least evolved from humans, and as such, who are prone to mistakes (but then, there’s the black snake… will more be revealed about its role later on?). The ending of this first novel leaves several doors open, regarding various possibilities of action for the characters; I feel like it doesn’t have to end in a full-blown war… yet it could just as well… or there could be yet another path to follow. At this point, the outcome is not predictable, and I like that.

What I appreciated most was that there was more than met the eye to the two sides of the war. The angels whom everyone expects to be ‘pure’ and ‘good’ actually have their lot of bastards, double-standards, lies and downright crass goals; while the demons, supposedly evil and dark, probably have their lot of ambiguous characters and darker aims as well (I don’t know what’s going to be tackled in the two other novels, after all), yet were clearly not the totally bad guys they were made to look like. In fact, the character I liked the most throughout the whole novel was Chris, and I hope we get to see more of him in book 2! Even Jonas had a nice side to him, in spite of not being shown under the best light in the world.

Although I’m not giving full marks to this novel, I am positive that its setting and story have strong bases, and that the author’s next works can only evolve in an even better direction. (See my review of The Moon Dwellers for more David Estes.)

Yzabel / August 7, 2012

Review: Crushed

Crushed by K.C. Blake

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Summary:

The Noah sisters rule Titan High with their beauty, brains, and magical powers. Each year they play a secret game: Crushed. The girls pick their targets carefully and blow enchanted dust into the boy’s faces, charming them, but this year Kristen makes a grave mistake. She chooses the wrong boy and almost dies that same day. Coincidence? Maybe. But something isn’t quite right about Zach Bevian. He doesn’t behave like a boy who’s been Crushed. He goes from hot to cold, from looking at her with contempt to asking her out on a date. She doesn’t know what to think. Does he hate her or is he truly falling for her? Is he trying to kill her, or is he trying to save her?

Review:

(Book provided through ARR #27 in the We ♥ YA Books! group, in exchange for an honest review.)

Although I didn’t find this book exceptional, it made me spend a good time. Its good sides managed to balance the peeves I had with it.

The characters were fun and pleasant to read about. While they appear as cookie-cutter high school caricatures at first (the bitchy twin-nice twin pair, the perfect popular girl, the tall, dark and scary guy with a bad reputation…), they all proved to be deeper and more complex people by the end of the novel, each with his or her motives to act the way they did. They had their strengths and weaknesses, and both of those played a role in how the story evolved. The relationship between Zach and Morgan was pretty touching, the ‘bad boy’ act being pretty much a way of keeping people at bay and protecting what was dearest to him. And I liked how Kristen managed to grow up emotionally and mentally, her experience allowing her to understand what she should do and not do.

The Crushed game itself (complete with rules stated at the beginning of the book) was intriguing, and has the potential to raise a lot of questions in the reader’s mind. As in, ‘would I be happy to have a boy obey my every whim like that’, ‘would I do it if I could’, ‘how would I react if I knew I had been under such a spell’… While those may seem evident to a mature audience, I think their answers aren’t so obvious no matter what, especially for younger readers. And I’m always up for anything that challenges people’s opinions and makes them reflect, whether they’re teens, young adults or older.

I found the plot to be not overly complex, but with enough twists and turns to keep me wanting to know who did what and who was influencing who in the end. There’s clearly a game of power and influence here, one that makes use of emotions and beliefs in order to deceive, and that’s why the relationships between the main characters were made all the more important: if it had only rested on paranormal means, it wouldn’t have been as interesting.

A few things prevented me from giving this novel a higher mark, though. First, I would really have wanted to read more about the Crushed game itself—to see more of the girls toying with people, perhaps, more of Kristen and Zack trying to fool each other, before falling in love. From the summary, I expected more in that regard. The first half of the story also had lengths, especially towards the middle. I also wondered about Kristen’s reaction during her ‘cold war’ with her sister (shouldn’t she have put up more of a fight, as the perfectionist and overachiever that she was, and not just give up like that on her reputation?). Finally, there were a couple of occurrences when I felt something was missing, and I had to read again to make sure it wasn’t my mind playing tricks on me (I’m thinking more particularly about a chapter that ends with one of the sisters telling the other “your aura is black”, which didn’t seem to bode well… but then, the next chapter, they’re sitting and talking together as if nothing had ever happened?)

That said, it’s a story that has a serious potential of appealing to younger audiences. I think age also affected my views on it: it’s the kind of book I’d have loved when I was a teenager, but am just feeling a little more detached from, now that I’m older. My actual grade would be more a 3.5 than 3/5.

Yzabel / July 25, 2012

Review: A Strange Fire

A Strange Fire by L.H. Cosway

My rating: [rating=4]

(Book provided through ARR #24 in the We ♥ YA Books! group, in exchange for an honest review.)

After years of abuse at the hands of her father, 17-year-old Florence Vaine is suddenly sent to live in Chesterport with her grandmother, a kind woman who may at last give her the affection and life she never had before. And her life sure hasn’t been easy, between her constant fear of her father, the stammer that afflicts her as soon as is in stressful situations, and her strange, unexplained power that allows her to see people’s emotions through their auras. Although Flo meets nice people who may become friends, she also finds herself the target of bullying because of her speech impediment. One student, Frank, immediately stands for her, attracting her attention: for his aura, as well as that of her brothers, are of a fiery kind Flo has never seen before.

Such a beginning had me a little scared : a girl arriving in a new, small town in which she doesn’t know anyone, but is from the start attracted towards the band of mysterious, different yet gorgeous pupils who always keep to themselves, have various rumours floating around them, and to whom there is clearly much more than meets the eye. This could have been the beginning of another “Twilight” (a novel I didn’t like). Fortunately for “A Strange Fire”, it wasn’t the case at all. First because Frank is nothing creepy like Edward Cullen, and is on the contrary a very sweet boy whose odd reputation hides an otherwise brave and nice persona; as the story unfolds, so does the relationship between Flo and him, in a believable way—he is attracted to her, but respects her reactions and feelings, and doesn’t force himself upon her, instead doing his best to win her friendship and trust first. His brothers, in spite of who they all really are, seemed to be good people overall, doing their best to live with what had been imposed to them from their birth.

As for Florence, I think she was portrayed in a realistic way, considering her powers, personality and past life. She’s a young woman, still a girl in some aspects, who has suffered a lot of abuse. She’s mature enough to realize how fearful this has made her, and to acknowledge how difficult it has made things for her; at the same time, she still struggles with the resulting lack of self-esteem, her need for medication, her wariness regarding people in general. During the story, she tries to overcome those hurdles, and this in turn helps her growing, getting stronger. It’s too bad that the ending couldn’t be the happy-ever-after one she would have deserved, but at the same time, I feel it was appropriate: now that she has her newly found inner strength and power, she can probably face and come to terms with what awaits her, and not just turn her back on it and run away.

There were a couple of things that left me wanting, though. I wish we would have seen or learnt more about some of the characters: Ross, for instance, who was a little bland compared to Frank and Alex; or Caroline,who was exactly the kind of nice friend Flo had always needed… but after a while, this budding friendship seemed to have retreated in the background. Also, the overall plot with the witches may have benefitted from being a tad bit more present. And what was revealed about the true nature of Frank and his family was weird—actually, it’s probably how it was introduced and explained that felt a little off.

Regardless of those few gripes, “A Strange Fire” is a book I thoroughly enjoyed, and would recommend. It was my first foray into L.H. Cosway’s works, but likely not the last one.

Yzabel / July 24, 2012

Review: Unraveling

Unraveling by Elizabeth Norris

My rating: [rating=3]

Summary:

Two days before the start of her junior year, seventeen-year-old Janelle Tenner is hit by a pickup truck and killed—as in blinding light, scenes of her life flashing before her, and then nothing. Except the next thing she knows, she’s opening her eyes to find Ben Michaels, a loner from her high school whom Janelle has never talked to, leaning over her. And even though it isn’t possible, she knows—with every fiber of her being—that Ben has somehow brought her back to life.

But her revival, and Ben’s possible role in it, is only the first of the puzzles that Janelle must solve. While snooping in her FBI agent father’s files for clues about her accident, she uncovers a clock that seems to be counting down to something—but to what? And when someone close to Janelle is killed, she can no longer deny what’s right in front of her: Everything that’s happened—the accident, the murder, the countdown clock, Ben’s sudden appearance in her life—points to the end of life as she knows it. And as the clock ticks down, she realizes that if she wants to put a stop to the end of the world, she’s going to need to uncover Ben’s secrets—and keep from falling in love with him in the process.

Review:

An overall enjoyable novel, that I finished quite fast, considering its length, because I really wanted to see the events unfold. Thus I can say I liked it, and probably liked it enough to pick another book by this author someday.

The writing was quite flowing, and Janelle as a main character was interesting to follow: not the average, powerless heroine who gets carried around by whatever happens, but someone who tries to act, to take matters into her own hands, and is both aware of and frustrated at when things force her to react rather than act directly. What’s more, although she’s been going through several harsh experiences, her death being only the latest, she does her best to keep strong and not give up. This is the kind of protagonist I like. The plot and setting reminded me of some of my favourite shows, such as The X-Files and Fringe, with elements I tend to gravitate towards—FBI agents facing difficult cases, suspicions of bio-terrorism, characters not knowing anymore who’s their foe and who they can still trust… Those are the things that got me hooked.

However, the reason why I’m only giving three stars to “Unraveling” is that, as I was reading along, I couldn’t get rid of the nagging feeling that something was wrong. At first, I couldn’t place my finger on it, and this left me confused for a good part of the story. Then at last (and upon some more reflecting, now that I’m done with the book), it dawned on me: to me, it felt like the author was trying too much. Trying too much to elicit responses from the reader; to cram as many elements as possible within 400-something pages; to make Janelle too strong, too, in a way. For instance, early enough we learn that a couple of years ago, while at a party, Janelle woke up at the back of a car with her pants half-torn, and had never been able to piece that part together; we are of course left with the impression that she was raped, and this is evidently the effect sought after… but considering all the other hard events Janelle has to face in the story, I wondered: “Isn’t this just a bit too much? Isn’t there already enough going on? Do I really need that to be convinced that, alright, she’s a girl who had to become strong?” I don’t think so.

Besides, although I can’t exactly explain why, the turning point (the big revelation about Ben & Co, and what the countdown is about) didn’t have me squealing, but rather felt as slightly off. I’m not sure if the cause was the pseudo-scientific explanations, or the way it was all brought out. The second half of the book was full to the brim, when a lighter string of events would already have done the job well enough. In the end, I wasn’t sure anymore about who or what to root for, whose death I should regret or not, or if I cared or not about some of the characters, nor if I had properly understood everything. (I’m also still unsure of what to do with the relationship between Kate and Janelle. For the whole story, I thought something would happen, some discussion, some revelation… and then, nothing. I was a little disappointed, and wondered if those scenes involving Kate were really important.)

“Unraveling” had me spend a good time, and was mostly interesting. I just wish it hadn’t been so full, and that some plot points had been better exploited (or discarded as a whole, since they didn’t bring that much to the story).