Wish by Beth Bracken, Kay Fraser (review)

Hardcover, 306 pages
Published April 1st 2013
Source: Publisher

Synopsis:
With one wish made in Willow Forest, Soli and Lucy are pulled into Faerieground – and into the middle of an ancient battle. In the faerie kingdom, an evil queen searches for her daughter while the palace crumbles. To save her best friend, Soli must find her hidden strength. This is a story about friendship, growing up, and the power of wishes. This is a story about faeries and spells, queens and lost princesses, fireflies and four-leaf clovers. But mostly, this is a story about love.

Review:

Wish tells its story using the illustrations and rather simple prose. The plot itself is mostly straightforward though it does contain some twists that you may or may not be able to guess. It all depends on your level of familiarity with the fantasy genre. The book is beautiful. I was sent an ARC and it was full of full colour illustrations and photographs that depict an eerie forest and strange otherworldly beings.

The story itself is about two friends who are close enough to be sisters until a boy comes between them. There is a forest, a wish and then the story plays out as it was meant to. The book deals with themes of friendship and family. There are mommy issues though that is not addressed with as much depth as I would have liked it to be. As I said previously, the prose is simple and this makes it suitable for younger readers. I would say it could work for elementary school kids because it is just this side of a picture book. Middle graders will love this one as well.

I was enchanted by the fairytale and look forward to more installments in this series. Buy this one for the fledgling reader in your life. She or He will love it and you too.

Grave Memory – Kalayna Price (review)

Mass Market Paperback, 1st Edition, 373 pages
Published July 3rd 2012 by Roc
Source: Library

Synopsis:
As a Grave Witch, Alex solves murders by raising the dead—an ability that comes at a cost, and after her last few cases, that cost is compounding. But her magic isn’t the only thing causing havoc in her life. While she’s always been on friendly terms with Death himself, things have recently become a whole lot more close and personal. Then there’s her sometime partner, agent Falin Andrews, who is under the glamour of the Winter Queen. To top everything off, her best friend has been forever changed by her time spent captive in Faerie.

But the personal takes a backseat to the professional when a mysterious suicide occurs in Nekros City and Alex is hired to investigate. The shade she raises has no memory of the days leading up to his brutal ending, so despite the very public apparent suicide, this is murder. But what kind of magic can overcome the human will to survive? And why does the shade lack the memory of his death? Searching for the answer might mean Alex won’t have a life to remember at all…

Review:

I was anticipating the third installment in the Alex Craft series because I had really really enjoyed the first two and I suppose I did enjoy this one to a certain degree but I also felt let down to a certain degree. I disliked how all the action was distilled down to the last two percent of the novel and I read on fearing that I’d be left at a horrible cliff hanger with no way to bring myself down. The novel was peppered with varying degrees of action but it in no way reflected the roller coaster razziness (yes, I made up that word) of the first two novels. For one thing, there was too much in the way of the love triangle. Who is she in love with? Is she in love with both? Does it really make a difference? Do I care? Is she going to be with any of them for any length of time? For a satisfying length of time?

Can we just focus on the world and the case? I guess. I think the relationship that fascinates me most if the one between Alex and her father. It is chockfull of unspoken things and I have a feeling that when we do get into it, it’ll surprise the hell out of us. As for the major case/crime of the novel, it was interesting in that it proved the existence of yet another dimension that Alex can tap into.

Alex’s friends are rather…interesting but I like their relationship because there’s a certain give and take that I can relate to. There was way too much romance in this one to suit me so I hope the next one focuses on one guy. I can only handle them one at a time because they are both hot that I cannot choose. Also that mortal woman is so badass. I hope she is added to Alex’s coterie.

The Water Witch (Fairwick Chronicles #2) – Juliet Dark

Paperback, 352 pages
Expected publication: February 12th 2013 by Ballantine Books
Source: Edelweiss

Synopsis:

After casting out a dark spirit, Callie McFay, a professor of gothic literature, has at last restored a semblance of calm to her rambling Victorian house. But in the nearby thicket of the Honeysuckle Forest, and in the currents of the rushing Undine River, more trouble is stirring. . . .

The enchanted town of Fairwick’s dazzling mix of mythical creatures has come under siege from the Grove: a sinister group of witches determined to banish the fey back to their ancestral land. With factions turning on one another, all are cruelly forced to take sides. Callie’s grandmother, a prominent Grove member, demands her granddaughter’s compliance, but half-witch/half-fey Callie can hardly betray her friends and colleagues at the college.

To stave off disaster, Callie enlists Duncan Laird, an alluring seductive academic who cultivates her vast magical potential, but to what end? Deeply conflicted, Callie struggles to save her beloved Fairwick, dangerously pushing her extraordinary powers to the limit—risking all, even the needs of her own passionate heart.

Review:

I quite enjoyed Demon Lover, the first in the series so I expected to like The Water Witch just as much. Unfortunately, some elements in the novel prevented me from immersing myself into the world as fully as I wanted to and this in turn affected my enjoyment of it.

I think there were too many things occurring in the novel and not enough attention given to all of them. There are a lot more supernatural beings added to the mix, the Nordic (I think) handyman gets badly hurt and is stuck somewhere in the ever after, Callie gets dangerously addicted to a faery drug (or not, I wasn’t quite sure), there is another supremely hot male who has ambivalent plans for Callie, Callie’s grandmother waltzes into town, there are Elves who call themselves Seraphim and oh, Liam makes another appearance in the form of someone I won’t tell you who and there’s a handyman called Bill (I am not making this up).

For all the events populating the plot, the story itself seems to lack tension. It’s not gripping and I found it difficult to find myself caring. Even though the odds are high, the door to faery could close, Callie assures the reader she has it under control when that is the last thing she does. I wished the author had chosen one thing out of all the things happening and worked to develop it as much as was possible before introducing something else.

The ending is just too simplistic and not in a good way. I didn’t like the ending and I didn’t like the way the romance angle played out. It seemed a bit too cliché. I don’t know, you guys, the book wasn’t for me. I may still read the third one because I am curious but I certainly didn’t think much of the sequel to the Demon Lover – especially when I think about what the demon lover ended up as.

Ironskin – Tina Connolly (Review)

Hardcover, 304 pages
Expected publication: October 2nd 2012 by Tor Books
Source: Net Galley

Synopsis:

Jane Eliot wears an iron mask.

It’s the only way to contain the fey curse that scars her cheek. The Great War is five years gone, but its scattered victims remain—the ironskin.

When a carefully worded listing appears for a governess to assist with a “delicate situation”—a child born during the Great War—Jane is certain the child is fey-cursed, and that she can help.

Teaching the unruly Dorie to suppress her curse is hard enough; she certainly didn’t expect to fall for the girl’s father, the enigmatic artist Edward Rochart. But her blossoming crush is stifled by her own scars, and by his parade of women. Ugly women, who enter his closed studio…and come out as beautiful as the fey.

Jane knows Rochart cannot love her, just as she knows that she must wear iron for the rest of her life. But what if neither of these things is true? Step by step Jane unlocks the secrets of her new life—and discovers just how far she will go to become whole again.

Review:

The trick to enjoying this novel is to completely disregard the publicity that states this is a retelling and go into it with the mindset that though it may have some similarities to the Bronte masterpiece, it is very much its own novel and deals with themes that are not at all similar (somewhat) to the original. I started this book quite a while ago and then, due to lack of interest, closed it and read something else. Google Calendar told me I had better read it soon as its release date is fast coming up and I thought, oh why not, let me try it. So I did and I finished it liking it more than I had thought I would, considering the rather blah beginning. So the following will be something of a review with the inevitable comparison thrown in. For the record, I am a huge Jane Eyre fan and very critical when it comes to retellings (as evidenced by my review of Jane by April Lindner).

Ironskin takes place in an alternate world that is recovering from the aftermath of a war with the Fae. The humans won though it was a pyrrhic victory and the human survivors of this war found a number of themselves suffering from a fey curse. Jane Elliot is one such survivor. She is cursed when she tries to save her brother from the fae and ends up being cursed with rage. The curse emanates from one scarred side of her face and she wears ironskin to hold the curse in. The only similar thing, in my opinion, the novel has to Jane Eyre is the superficial setting – a widower and his daughter wanting a governess – and shades of Jane, both the original and the one in Ironskin. Jane finds herself situated at the manor with instructions to ensure that the fey cursed daughter of a Mr. Rochart remembers how to be human.

The novel gives Dorie a larger part than Jane Eyre gave the child character and I appreciated that. Jane’s struggle to establish some sort of relationship with Dorie also makes for interesting reading as do her relationships with the domestic staff. I liked her relationship with her sister, a new addition, and I also liked the various other characters. The plot diverges from the original story and though there is another woman present, she is markedly different from the crazy wife in the attic…well, she is still crazy but there is no attic present. The pacing is good and the reflective voice of the protagonist is engaging. Rochart is not creepily older than Jane though he acts as if he is (thank you Ms. Connolly) and there is also very little romance present. Actually, let me talk about this for a bit. I found Rochart the least developed of all characters. I couldn’t connect to him because he just not present in the novel – not as much as I would have liked him to be anyway. The romance also, though there is not much of it, is also the weakest portion. There is potential for the chemistry to be developed but it isn’t. But since this is a series, I can hold out hope that Connolly will work on her characterizations (and romance) more. I had no problem with Jane actually and I quite liked her but where Jane Eyre has this internal monologue going on, Jane of Ironskin does not. Not really. But honestly, Bronte was a master at characterization and it seems a tad unfair to compare. We know what Jane Elliot’s primary conflict is and I liked how Connolly expounds on this conflict and makes it into one of the greater themes of the novel – beauty. What beauty is and the sacrifice one must make for it. Can a sacrifice be too much? And how are we prisoners of beauty?

I can’t go into a true discussion of the novel without giving stuff away but I’d love to discuss the greater implications of the masks with anyone who is interested. I ended up liking the book even though I was convinced I wouldn’t. I liked how it took Jane Eyre but instead of being faithful to it, gave the novel its own twist that suited the setting Ironskin occurs in. Also – badass fairies who straddle the line between black and grey. Do I recommend it to you? Yes but it is a conditional recommendation and your enjoyment of this totally depends on how much you want this book to be like Jane Eyre.

This Case is Gonna Kill Me – Phillipa Bornikova (review)

Paperback, 1st Edition, 320 pages
Expected publication: September 4th 2012 by Tor Books
Source: Net Galley

Synopsis:

What happens when The Firm meets Anita Blake? You get the Halls of Power—our modern world, but twisted. Law, finance, the military, and politics are under the sway of long-lived vampires, werewolves, and the elven Alfar. Humans make the best of rule by “the Spooks,” and contend among themselves to affiliate with the powers-that-be, in order to avoid becoming their prey. Very loyal humans are rewarded with power over other women and men. Very lucky humans are selected to join the vampires, werewolves, and elves—or, on occasion, to live at the Seelie Court.

Linnet Ellery is the offspring of an affluent Connecticut family dating back to Colonial times. Fresh out of law school, she’s beginning her career in a powerful New York “white fang” law firm. She has high hopes of eventually making partner.

But strange things keep happening to her. In a workplace where some humans will eventually achieve immense power and centuries of extra lifespan, office politics can be vicious beyond belief. After some initial missteps, she finds herself sidelined and assigned to unpromising cases. Then, for no reason she can see, she becomes the target of repeated, apparently random violent attacks, escaping injury each time through increasingly improbable circumstances. However, there’s apparently more to Linnet Ellery than a little old-money human privilege. More than even she knows. And as she comes to understand this, she’s going to shake up the system like you wouldn’t believe….

Review:

Whoever named this novel must have been on crack because honestly, along with book covers, no, more than book covers, it is the titles of books that lure me in and This Case is Gonna Kill Me does not, in any way, attract me as a reader. The book could have been called so many other things that would have aptly, more attractively, reflected the story within but alas.

Moving on, the novel has a very interesting set up. Vampires, werewolves and fairies all inhabiting the world of law. Lawyering and law are hardly the stuff made for excitement – unless it is criminal law of course. But Bornikova succeeds in creating a fresh new world where vampire lawyers exist and female vampires do not. Where werewolves are violent and faeries are fae. Linnet is a human lawyer who is also a vampire fosterling and following her acceptance at one of the most lauded law firms, gets inexplicably embroiled in hair raising situations. She has an uncanny knack for survival and this tells me that there is more to Linnet than meets the eye. Where law, lawyering and the business are concerned, the writing is crisp and on point. The plot, while predictable, is exciting and keeps you turnings the pages. What I had problems with is the romance.

Bornikova needs to work on her characterizations.  Linnet is not very interesting or compelling but the love interest, the fae whose name I can’t remember, is even flatter. I do not understand why he drops everything to help her out – to the point that he even got out of bed with another woman to come rescue her. The mush factor is huge and feels very improbable. The love interest is created more as an ideal partner than a person in his own right, with his own foibles and flaws. Linnet has, not very originally, gay best friends. She also is not very secure about her looks. I would have thought that someone with the smarts to be a lawyer would have more esteem and confidence that she shows.

Despite my quibbling, however, I did enjoy the novel. I just hope that the sequel tones down the romance and fleshes out the characters.

Lies, Knives and Girls in Red Dresses – Ron Koertge, (illustrator) Andrea Dezso

Hardcover, 96 pages
Expected publication: July 10th 2012 by Candlewick Press
Source: Net Galley

Synopsis:

Once upon a time, there was a strung-out match girl who sold CDs to stoners. Twelve impetuous sisters escaped King Daddy’s clutches to jiggle and cavort and wear out their shoes. A fickle Thumbelina searched for a tiny husband, leaving bodies in her wake. And Little Red Riding Hood confessed that she kind of wanted to know what it’s like to be swallowed whole. From bloodied and blinded stepsisters (they were duped) to a chopped-off finger flying into a heroine’s cleavage, this is fairy tale world turned upside down. Ron Koertge knows what really happened to all those wolves and maidens, ogres and orphans, kings and piglets, and he knows about the Ever After. So come closer
- he wants to whisper in your ear.

Review:

Readers and fans of collections such as those of Emma Donoghue and Angela Carter will delight in the short retellings of the canonical fairytales by the multi-talented Ron Koertge. His stories are pithy, slightly acerbic, with a refreshing tongue-in-cheek flavour that will have readers giggling or smirking in response. Koertge resituates several of the stories and one of the more memorable ones is the retelling of Red Riding Hood, with the main character conveyed as a sulky teenage girl recounting the events after they have happened. I’d recommend this collection for readers who are not too attached to the traditional versions.

Tiger Lily – Jodi Lynn Anderson (Review)

Hardcover, 292 pages
Expected publication: July 3rd 2012 by HarperTeen
Source: HarperCollins Canada (Thanks Shannon)
Official Website

Synopsis:

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.

From the New York Times bestselling author of Peaches comes a magical and bewitching story of the romance between a fearless heroine and the boy who wouldn’t grow up.

Review:

I don’t know if I’m ready to write a review of this book. Then again, I don’t know if I ever will so let me put on my big girl pants and get on with it.

The novel is narrated from Tinkerbell’s perspective and before I continue, I must point out a sticking point here. Tink says she has no language (by which I think she meant she can’t talk) but she is TALKING or rather narrating to us which belies her assertion that she has no language. She also talks about her father telling her to stay away from the Lost Boys again indicating that the fairies communicate in their own way. So I think that the author may need to make it more specific that she couldn’t talk to humans or that she had no language for the humans or whatnot rather than making the sweeping comment that fairies have no “language” when clearly they do.

That said, Tiger Lily is such a beautiful book. Obviously the readers are already acquainted with Never Land but Anderson builds the world so exquisitely that you can almost smell the damp earth in the forest, hear the sound of the waves hitting the surf and envision the burrow where the Lost Boys tumble around like puppies. Her characterizations are also spot on. Tiger Lily is written as an almost feral girl, at one with the nature she revels in. Her life in all its twists may try to break her but she has more pride, more strength than to let it. She is perhaps one of the most compelling heroines I have read this year. Her relationship with Peter Pan who is also as broken and as beautiful as she is is the kind of romances you secretly read about and yearn for. I never thought I’d hate Wendy but I think in this book, I did. I hated her a lot. Tiger Lily’s heartbreak is exquisitely written and I mean it is so well written that you can’t stop reading even as your heart cracks and breaks. There is this otherworldly sense about the book; it almost feels as though you are peeking into the past and you cannot breathe too loud lest you scare the characters away. The plotting, pacing and the bittersweet ending are, again, exquisitely rendered.

Tiger Lily is a beautiful reimagining of Peter Pan and The Never Land. Anderson gives the story more depth and more dimension. She makes it richer both with her narration and her additions to the classic. I truly recommend it.

Dust Girl (The American Fairy Trilogy #1) – Sarah Zettel

Hardcover, 304 pages
Expected publication: June 26th 2012 by Random House Children’s Books
Source: Net Galley

Synopsis:

Callie LeRoux lives in Slow Run, Kansas, helping her mother run their small hotel and trying not to think about the father she’s never met. Lately all of her energy is spent battling the constant storms plaguing the Dust Bowl and their effects on her health. Callie is left alone, when her mother goes missing in a dust storm. Her only hope comes from a mysterious man offering a few clues about her destiny and the path she must take to find her parents in “the golden hills of the west” (California).

Along the way she meets Jack a young hobo boy who is happy to keep her company—there are dangerous, desperate people at every turn. And there’s also an otherworldly threat to Callie. Warring fae factions, attached to the creative communities of American society, are very aware of the role this half-mortal, half-fae teenage girl plays in their fate.

Review:

It took me half the book to get really invested into the novel and Callie and I think a lot of that has to do with the fact that Callie reads very differently as a character. I would have said differently than I am used to but really, that is not the case. I can’t quite put my finger on the exact reason why it’s difficult to get immediately immersed into the story but I think it might be because Callie’s “voice” is much younger than what I was expecting. There’s this skein of immaturity running through her observations which, while not unattractive, is a bit jarring. Plus, I think I had a bit of problem with the world building. I would have appreciated some more details about what’s happening, something more exact.

However, once the novel finds its pace and gets comfortable with the story it’s telling, it becomes compelling and the reader (me) is able to make a connection to Callie, her parental issues and her burgeoning feelings for the boy who has become the impetus for the journey she is undertaking. And okay, I have a gripe with the cover of the novel. Callie is clearly African American so why is the model on the cover white? I would understand if the issue remained ambiguous in the novel but her colour is one of the themes of the novel and since it is such a strong theme, I would have appreciated that the cover reflect the protagonist because generally that’s what covers are meant to do, no?

The mythology needs to more work. The thing is, the novels functions very strongly where the characters are concerned, Callie’s voice is distinct, the other characters are solidly developed and the internal conflicts that occur within Callie are well portrayed. The second half of the book is way stronger than the first in terms of plot pacing and development. And it ends on a good note too which makes me have higher hopes for the second book in the trilogy. I just hope there’s more world building (and the cover story is straightened out). Gah, my review is definitely scattered but take this from it if you will: if you can get yourself to read beyond the first half, you will definitely enjoy the book. It’s a different take on the fairies and I actually appreciate the way Zettel has woven in African American culture into her narrative. But what the novel is trying to do is undermined by the cover and…yeah.

A Perfect Blood – Kim Harrison

Hardcover, 438 pages
Published February 21st 2012 by Harper Voyager
Source: Purchased

Synopsis:

Ritually murdered corpses are appearing across Cincinnati, terrifying amalgams of human and other. Pulled in to help investigate by the FIB, former witch turned day-walking demon Rachel Morgan soon realizes a horrifying truth–a would-be creator is determined to make his (or her) own demons. But it can’t be done without Rachel’s blood, in this latest blockbuster by a “New York Times”-bestselling author.

Review:

Another rollercoaster ride but one that I did not love as much as the one before it. That one was kinda awesome so I am not surprised that A Perfect Blood shone a bit dimmer in the face of its brilliance. Also it might be because I read both within a space of twelve hours and my mind was reaching oversaturated levels in Brimstone (jnsiders will get this). Anyway, at the end of the last book, Rachel’s demon-ness was established and her absolute lack of rights in the human world was also alluded to. This novel elaborates on the premise laid down in the previous novel by showing how exactly circumstances have changed for Rachel especially with regard to the way she is treated by human and supernatural alike.

The humans, who have not really been key players in this series, come to the surface in the novel and complicate things a whole lot, showing that things are a lot more complex than Rachel and in extension, we the readers may have realized. It also reworks the supposed hierarchy which features the supernaturals at the top of the food chain. It also exposes some of the uglier aspects of human nature and I was very ready to become a witch by the end of the novel. Rachel’s growth in the novel was frustrating and there were moments when I wanted to scream at her for her stupidity and her thick headedness and her stubborn need to learn every lesson the hard way.

But she does learn those necessary lessons and if she has scars to prove that she did, well, it’s her fault. What’s more interesting is the way Trent is developed in this novel. I really enjoyed seeing him in a way different than what we had been shown previously. Since Pale Demon, his character has been slowly unraveling to reveal someone more approachable, more…human for lack of a better word and someone who is, again, more complex than we had been shown. And his relationship with Rachel becomes a lot more interesting though she is still mooning over her bodyguard’s butt who is also making her offers of unattached sexytimes. I don’t know. If Harrison goes down that road, I am going to very disappointed. Hm. I enjoyed this book, there were glimmers of Al as a more substantial character and more hints about the conclusion of the novel. The next three books in the series promise to be really, really good and I can’t wait to read them.

Magic Under Stone – Jaclyn Dolamore (Magic Under #2) A Review

Hardcover
Published February 28th 2012 by Bloomsbury USA Children’s Books
Source: Net Galley

Synopsis:

For star-crossed lovers Nimira and Erris, there can be no happily ever after until Erris is freed from the clockwork form in which his soul is trapped. And so they go in search of the sorcerer Ordorio Valdana, hoping he will know how to grant Erris real life again. When they learn that Valdana has mysteriously vanished, it’s not long before Nimira decides to take matters into her own hands—and begins to study the sorcerer’s spell books in secret. Yet even as she begins to understand the power and limitations of sorcery, it becomes clear that freeing Erris will bring danger—if not out-and-out war—as factions within the faerie world are prepared to stop at nothing to prevent him from regaining the throne.

Review:

I truly liked the first book in this series. The idea of being in love with the soul of a person rather than the physical body was just such a novel concept that it immediately drew me in. The first novel, too, was an enchanting mix of the quixotic with old world, traditional storylines. You know, fairy kings, dastardly villains, a dancer girl, a Jane Eyresque romance story – so you can understand why I was so keen to check out Magic Under Stone. I felt that I would be in store for another installment of the loveliness that so enchanted me in the first novel. Unfortunately, I didn’t get that. Nimira didn’t just not retain the charm she had in the first book, she went one step ahead and became one of the most annoying, self-absorbed protagonists I have had the misfortune of reading. Her treatment of Erris’s niece turned me off completely and I really don’t understand what happened.

Erris becomes a cardboard character – in fact, the entire novel felt to me a series of incidences forcibly linked together to create a facsimile of a continuous narrative. Me no gusta. I don’t know whether it is me who has changed as a reader or it is the writing in the book that has changed. I just found Nimi’s whining about Erris’s inability to move their relationship into a physical realm grating as well as her “flirting” with her ex-fiance. But don’t trust my word for it, make up your mind. I am sure there are other people who liked it and perhaps they’d offer you a better look into it. I, however, did not find it to my liking.