Kin (The Good Neighbors) by Holly Black, Illustrated by Ted Naifeh

Posted on October 5, 2008 by janicu

Holly Black

Once I found out that Holly Black was doing a graphic novel and it was similar to her Modern Faerie Tales series as in it centers on teens who get somehow involved with the faerie world, I wanted to read it. It's one of those books where I like the author but I wasn't paying attention. So when a new book comes out I am thrilled and also happy that I didn't have to go through the torture of anticipation for months! I thank the avidbookreader blog for pointing out that this book was available.

Anyway, this story is about Rue Silver, whose mother has been missing for weeks. Her father is depressed and does nothing all day, while Rue tries to keep doing her usual activities with her friends, like going to her boyfriend's concerts and breaking into vacant buildings to take pictures. One day the police surround her house and accuse her father of killing one of his students at the university – Sarasa Narayan. Sarasa's last known meeting was with her father, and now there are also suspicions he killed his wife. Rue begins to believe that Rue's dad broke a promise, and Rue's mom, had to leave because of it. Rue realizes her mother is a faerie and so she has faerie blood. Rue starts to see all kinds of strange things, while she tries to find her mother, in the meantime also running into her mother's family, who are dangerous beings with their own agenda.

Overall: I enjoyed this. Recommended to Holly Black fans. It was a quick read, with some things that make more sense the second time you flip back and reread them. The story is however not finished so after this book you'll want to read the next one. While we find out what happened to the dead university student, Rue still has to figure out a few other things. The artwork is good, but sometimes the faces were inconsistent which made me sometimes wonder who I was looking at for a second. The book is in black and white, I'd love to see this in color! The coverwork is gorgeous though, and I liked how the dustcover matches the cover of the book, but it also has a matte finish with some shiny parts. Very tactile. I find myself picking it up and rubbing my fingers against the raised shiney font a lot, it's lovely.

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The Decoy Princess and Princess at Sea by Dawn Cook

Posted on September 21, 2008 by janicu

The Decoy Princess

Dawn Cook

Princess at Sea

Dawn Cook

I’ve had The Decoy Princess and the following book Princess at Sea in my TBR for a long time, but haven’t gotten around to reading them till now. It feels like it’s been a while since I read a straight fantasy so it was a nice change of genres. I also have Cooks Truth series and I read the first one of the four, First Truth. That one was a bit slow for me so I haven’t started Hidden Truth yet, but the Princess series is a newer work and the premise seemed more intriguing to me so I decided to take a look.

The title says it all – a princess discovers that she was really plucked from the streets as a baby, to be used as a decoy for the real princess of Costenopolie. Unfortunately, she discovers this truth at the same time her betrothed Prince Garrett does, and as second son of a neighboring kingdom with a chip on his sleeve, he reacts with violent anger at being duped. At first I thought that Tessa was superficial and spoiled, but once she discovers who she really is and things start to hit the fan, she quickly adapts and manages to escape the palace on her own. Her plan is to find her sister, the real princess, and Kravenlow, her parent’s chancellor, but she is being pursued by Garrett’s Captain of the guard, a formidable man named Jeck. Along the way she also meets a cheat named Duncan, who admires Tess for her smarts, but also urges her to throw off her responsibilities and run away with him. The story is told from the first person viewpoint of Tessa, which seems to add to the urgency of the writing. It also felt more real – there was so much detail about how dirty and beat up Tess got from her travelling I wanted to take a shower or soak in the bath. Adding to everything is that Tess, Jeck and Kravenlow are all part of a huge game controlled by hidden “players” who influence history according to their own rules. Book 2 continues about six months or so after book one, and without spoilers it all starts during her sister’s honeymoon voyage with her new husband on board Tess’ boat. Hmm, can’t say much more than that.

Both books followed the same pattern where at first I was just reading along but not really sucked in, and then something would happen and I just had to know what happened next. I admit I did skim ahead because I was really really curious, but then made myself come back and read it properly. There were a few surprises, and unexpected angst. I found most of the characters had layers which got slowly peeled back as time went by, and some things get revealed that I sort of expected, yet didn’t quite see it going down that way. Tess is also at turns quite quick thinking, but also blind/dumb when it came to people she really loved. So her weaknesses seem to be linked to naivete, and it’s quite painful for her when she realizes them. Once the end of the books came, it felt that the author had planned out the character arcs and plots really well. Both books hint through prophetic dreams at what will happen, but they didn’t give me much information and left me only tantalized. I felt rather satisfied by the final result, but I’d like to keep reading about Tess and I’m a bit sad I can’t find any information about a third book (I really hope there is one). Dawn Cook’s website is very sparse on the details. I know she writes under another name but those books aren’t straight fantasy like this. Sigh, I plan to keep my eye out. And to get around to reading the Truth series sooner.

Recommended if you like:
Moira Moore’s Hero series (the travelling and action seems similar)
Mindy Klasky’s Glasswright series (for the secret society that can trump even kings)
Maria V. Snyder’s Study series (Jeck/Tess’ relationship reminds me a little of Valek/Yelena’s)

Excerpt of book 1 – The Decoy Princess
Excerpt of book 2 – The Princess at Sea

Beauty is the Beast by Tomo Matsumoto

Posted on September 19, 2008 by janicu

Beauty is the Beast, Volume 1 (Beauty Is a Beast)

I used to read a lot more manga than I do now. Maybe 3 or 4 years ago it was, but then I started focusing more on books because you only have so many hours in the day when you aren't working, and there are so many open series going on right now that I'm afraid to start anything. 30+ books and the author is still going on? Nooo, I can't take it! Meanwhile my cousin is a connoisseur of all things manga, and is always trying to lure me back. Despite my hysterical "no, don't try to get me sucked in" conversations with her on the phone, she's taken to just sending me volumes of manga in the mail.

Last week out of the blue I received the complete 5 volume set of Beauty is the Beast. I think she decided on this series because:

1) It's finished so I won't be complaining about that

2) Each book is broken up into a series of short vignettes about eleventh grader Eimi Yamashita's life at the boarding house she lives in, so there are plenty of places for me to put the book down and take it slow.

3) The artwork is very nice

4) There is a love triangle with 2 cute guys and one girl.

Eimi is a humorous character – small and cute, always eating and without any real care for social boundaries, she has no problems befriending "The Beast" – who she nicknamed Wanichin. That's Takami Wanibuchi, a gorgeous but scary guy who lives in the boy's dorms and who no one knows much about so speculation runs wild. Everyone is amazed that he tolerates Eimi and allows her to give him a silly nickname (like she does everyone else). Eimi idolizes him, even though she has her own admirer – Satoshi Shimonuki, another good looking boy. Thier relationship evolves slowly throughout the volumes, but it's very lightly and humorously done. Meanwhile we also meet a lot of other friends and characters that live at the dorm, like Misao, Eimi's beautiful roommate who loves the female form, or Suzu a cool androgenous girl who is the object of many girl-crushes. It's a light-hearted glimpse into typical dorm room living in Japan. It didn't take me long to read, and while I wasn't turning the pages in a frenzy to find out what happens next it was a decent read. The focus of the volumes seemed more on showing what life was like in the dorms with the romantic relationships taking a backseat to friendships and bonds formed from living together. I found the mystique of Wanichun a bit silly, but I guess rumor can make a reputation very exaggerated, and he was considered special for being a "returnee". That's someone who lived outside Japan and came back (in his case he lived with his grandfather in Mexico for some time). I didn't find it that special, but anyway. The other complaint I had was how abruptly the series ends. There is little (maybe two pages) to let you know who ends up with who and no information as to how that happened. Just one moment Wanichin is talking to Satoshi, and the next we see the future years later. I suppose it's to make the reader fill things in with their imagination, but it was a bit of an artsy ending and I prefer something more to the point.

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New Moon by Stephenie Meyer

Posted on September 19, 2008 by janicu

New Moon (The Twilight Saga, Book 2)

Stephenie Meyer

I have written a haiku:

Liked Twlight but then,
Heard Bella is annoying,
Now that’s all I see.

I read Twilight years ago and remember liking it. I thought it was a sweet high school romance, and I remember being pulled in by wondering what was going to happen next - especially the second half when the action kicked in. I enjoyed it. Since then I think the whole world has read the books, and I haven't gone out of my way to read other people's opinions, but it's kind of hard not to run into them. You know when someone points out something annoying about someone that you never noticed and then after that you do start to notice? I think a whole episode of How I Met Your Mother was centered around this. WELL NOW, the whole time I was reading New Moon I was thinking to myself – wow, Bella really is annoying! Was she like this in Twilight? And Edward really is controlling! I didn't think he was as bad in the first book, was I just completely unaware?

To be honest though, I have an aversion to reading about angsty teenagers. I read Harry Potter until book 5 (Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix) when Harry suddenly got mood swings and I just couldn't finish it. That's where I stopped the series. Maybe one day I'll pick it up again, but it's not high on my list.

In New Moon, Edward decides for Bella that their relationship is dangerous for her so he removes himself, so almost all of the book is centered around Bella on her own, and we're basically in her head for months. Months and months of completely dramatic depression. The book felt very long despite the simple writing and the larger font. I kept checking to see how much more I had to read. I seen depressed people, but Bella takes the cake – "catatonic" is used to describe her – and I found myself unsympathetic to someone so self indulgent and childish. Maybe it's my own age and experience here that I don't find it very romantic when someone can't pay any attention to the other people in their lives and only center on their own issues. While Edward is gone Bella begins to use Jacob Black as a crutch. He makes her feel better, so while she knows that Jacob likes her romantically, Bella feels that she needs him and when he holds her hand, she tells herself that Jacob knows that she's not interested in him that way, so she lets him. Strangely Jacob still likes her, no idea why – she's depressed half the time and he notices. I couldn't see what she was giving him besides companionship that wasn't male. I felt that Bella was giving herself excuses to do whatever she wants at the expense of others. This is not a nice trait, and this is not just with Jacob. Whenever things did go the way Bella wanted, her reactions made me wonder if she's as grown up as she thinks she is. To top it off, Bella really believes that Edward lost interest and her response is to become a depressed zombie. Not anger at being thrown off like an old plaything. Yay, women's liberation. Speaking of, it ticked me off that Edward decided what was best for her, and keeps at it later. Their relationship is not healthy. I think in book 1, I was seeing this as one of those intense first loves. Edward wanted to protect her yadda yadda, but it wasn't in your face controlling to me, and at the end of the book there was a relatively happy ending and that was it. But, in New Moon, this intense love continues and the seriousness starts to become disturbing. That they think of themselves as having a love like Romeo and Juliet makes me want to slap them. To compare yourselves to star-crossed lovers who killed themselves is ridiculous!!

Speaking of odd relationships - I couldn't remember why Bella called her parents by their first names and had to cook and clean for her dad. There was a point where she was up to her arms in Comet while cleaning the bathroom. Yet her father was supposedly living by himself before her – is he that hopeless? Or does Meyer only know hopeless men who can't cook and clean for themselves? I'm baffled. Also baffled by how even when Bella is grounded she's still allowed to have her boyfriend to come over every day for an hour and a half. In her room. By themselves. My brow furrows.

Overall: Liked book 1 better. This one makes me feel ranty. In the end not too much happens, though we get some information about Jacob's tribe at La Push and we learn a bit more about other vampires in the world. There is a set up for book 3 because there are rising tensions between Jacob's family and Edward's, but besides that there is very little actual action, and even that is only towards the last 100 pages. This was more a book that focused on Bella's inner turmoil, which made me I feel like a lot of what I read could have been condensed. Even with the ease of reading the simple language, teenage angst is tedious reading material. I have Eclipse and Breaking Dawn on my TBR because they were gifts, so I will shoulder on, but not right away. I really hope that I'm less annoyed by the main characters when I do.

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Ironside by Holly Black

Posted on August 27, 2008 by janicu

Ironside: A Modern Faery's Tale

Holly Black

Ironside is the third (and final?) installment in the Faery Tale series by Holly Black.

The first one, Tithe follows Kaye who is "not human and doesn't know it" as she discovers the faerie world and gets caught up in their politics. The second one; Valiant follows Val as she is homeless in New York City. Val runs into problems with the faerie drug "Never" – used by the exiled fae to lessen the issues caused by the iron in the city, but addictive and bad for humans. Ironside returns the focus to Kaye and finishes up the story.

The protagonists in this series are teens in the New Jersey, New York area who are independent outcasts, with friends of a similar ilk. There is a familiarity and ease in their conversations that feels real and reminds me of teenagers, except these teenagers are a little bit less innocent than others. They do a lot of adult things like smoke, drink, have sex, take drugs, get themselves in trouble..its all part of the dark edge to these books. The faery side of things is not light and fluffy - they're beautiful but disturbingly dangerous creatures. Humans are of little value and often toyed with because fae have powers and like to have some fun, even if it means death to an innocent that stumbled onto their path. Despite the dark side to the books, there are some happy endings to be expected out of them – each has a bit of romance thrown in, usually between a human and someone they thought was out of their league. It's sweet if you aren't a cynic about that stuff. Underlying that all three books are tied together by the same thread – unrest between the Seelie and Unseelie courts - first there is the unraveling of a peace agreement, then there are changes to who rules the Unseelie court.

******* From this point on there are spoilers for the first books ***********

In Ironside, Kaye is still in love with Roiben, who is the newly crowned Unseelie king. Kaye lives with humans still, but visits the faerie world whenever she can. Unsure of her place in faerie society, Kaye gets tricked into declaring her love for him publicly, and Roiben responds by giving her an impossible task: find a faerie who can tell an untruth. Kaye can't see Roiben again until she fulfills this task, and if she can't see him, she questions if she belongs with the faerie – there is no one to belong to. This is mirrored with her life as a human girl – her mother doesn't know that Faye is a changeling that replaced her real daughter, and Kaye feels very guilty about this.

My thoughts: I liked this book and it does tie up the story very nicely, though I think I preferred the first two books over this one. The beginning dragged a little for me, but I was really into the story in the second half of the book – I wasn't sure how it was going to end and I liked that. A couple of minor things I guessed, but for the most part I was an on the edge of my seat wondering what would happen to everyone. There was also a couple of cameos from characters in Valiant here too (brief appearances from them with the exception of Luis, who plays a bigger part in Ironside). As usual I really liked the descriptions of the faerie world and how they continue to secretly survive amongst humans (who can't see them as they really are).

There are some minor moments of disbelief – like I have a problem with Kaye being a blond asian (I'm half chinese so I pay attention to mixed race characters, and this little detail bugged me). Being blond is pretty much an impossibility if she is half Japanese. I would believe brown, but not blond (recessive gene yo)! Anyway, this wasn't brought up much in Ironside as much as it was in Tithe.

This book also shifted focus a bit more onto other characters besides the main one (Kaye). We see some of the thoughts of Roiben, who is usually distant and hard to understand from Kaye's point of view, and we also see what's going on in Corny's head. Corny is an interesting character because he's become fragile and fearful after his experiences in Tithe. In Ironside, Corny goes very far to try to protect himself. Actually the theme of doing something that's not quite right because you want to protect something else is a reoccurring one in this book. Right and wrong gets murky, like life, and this is especially true in Roiben's case, who is responsible for his people and wants to protect those he loves, even when they think he doesn't care about them.

P.S. This is a book I waited to read because it wasn't in softcover. The paperback edition came out July 08, but the hardcover was out April 07. Sigh. Not sure why there was such a long wait there.

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Easy Connections and Easy Freedom by Liz Berry

Posted on August 14, 2008 by janicu

Easy Connections

Liz Berry

Easy Freedom

Liz Berry

I'm not sure when I first read a recommendation for Liz Berry's books. I think it may have been maybe 5 years ago. The only book I could find in the US was The China Garden – which was this young adult romance/mystery with paranormal aspects combined with a very British voice. I was very struck by it. The author was really good at creating an emotional atmosphere and a tone of inevitability. I'm partial to books set in England because growing up in a British colony, many kids books I read were set there. I also found Mel, and liked that too – that one had a girl renovating a house all by herself, and I had just moved into the first place I ever *owned* so I was interested in that home-beautifying process. Liz Berry worked in the arts and with high school students, and her characters are on this cusp of adulthood, dealing with serious issues (pregnancy, homelessness, physical attraction, love and sex) and they are often artists (painters, designers, musicians). The person she most reminds me of is Ai Yazawa of Nana and Paradise Kiss fame, except Yazawa uses the slightly different medium of manga).

Anyway, I did some rooting around on the internet and discovered that a lot of Liz Berry books are out of print and hard to find (of course!) – including this duology Easy Connections (book 1) and Easy Freedom which are probably the books shes most well known for. I couldn't find it for under $40. For the longest time I would periodically check to see if there were any cheaper copies but was always out of luck. Finally about a month ago – someone put Easy Connections up for sale on half.com for only $10, so I snapped it up. As soon as I finished it I had to read Easy Freedom, so I coughed up the $40 to buy it from amazon.uk. The website said "one book left in stock"!

Why the huge demand? Well, I can see a lot of people never forgetting these books after reading them. They are actually a lot darker than I expected them to be, not quite the same as the other Liz Berry novels I've read, and I think this is why they were never published in the States – they deal with rape. I feel like I have to put that out there – I don't think it's a spoiler even though the back copy doesn't really say the word – the two books revolve around what happens after the violent act. And in a very controversial way. This is a squick topic for a lot of people and I find it hard to read about without feeling disturbed. So I was disturbed and uneasy for much of these books.

Cathy Harlowe is a young artist, only 17 and just out of high school, staying with her brother in the country before going into art school. She doesn't realize she is trespassing on the property of Paul Devlin (Dev), from the band Easy Connections. Apparently he's beautiful, like some kind of elven god, and throughout the book he and his bandmate Chris seem to put everyone into a spell with how dangerous and alive they are. Cathy is "attracted and repelled in equal measure". When they meet Dev is high on alcohol and lack of sleep from a tour and eventually forces her to have sex with him. The messed up thing is that he feels like she is his soulmate, is sorry later for what he did, but then he uses all his money and power to make Cathy marry him. She runs away but nothing she does can escape his influence, and even more disturbing, everyone thinks she should marry him too. They either don't believe she was raped because he seems soo in love with her, or they think she should marry him anyway. Her dreams of being a famous painter sort of get swept away in the tidal wave of Dev's fame, money, and power, and the attention of the media. Feminist SF would have a field day.

I spend a lot of the book speechless. Kind of thinking that surely Cathy will get away, people will come to her side but no, it doesn't happen! In book 2 even more occurs when we have the manipulations of Chris, the lead singer of Easy Connections, trying to get Cathy himself. Cathy goes through a lot where she feels like a doll and wants to be "free" (thus the name of the book), but freedom ends up being a complicated thing. She is also eaten up with anger and resentment at what has happened to her because of Dev. She is physically ill and full of terror when he tries to touch her. We also see the reaction of Dev who sees things and Cathy's actions in a very different way. Everything seems like this big complex, crazy mess. It was really addictive to read because I was wondering where the author was going! I'm not sure I could even say what the message from these books are. Maybe it's about how difficult it can be to be a young woman, without any means to support yourself? Or is it about rape and it's consequences? Or fame and power? Or what freedom is? Or forgiveness? Or all of the above and more? I wonder if the author *wanted* the reader to be shocked and frustrated, or angry at the main characters – in her website, she posted reviews of her books which say things like 'Easy Connections shocked and angered me more than anything I've read for a long time.' ILEA English Magazine (l985).

The only thing a bit off about the book was that it did feel slightly dated – I don't know if people would react the same way today as they did then (ug, well not EVERYONE), and the descriptions of the pop rockers seem very much like they belong in the 70s and 80s – skin tight pants, flowing collared shirts, longish hair.. sounds like big hair bands, not quite what's in fashion today.

A very absorbing read, but also a disturbing read. Only read it if the review above intruiged you rather than made you want to run screaming. If you think you may throw these books at the wall – it is quite possible. Yet you may pick it up and still want to see what the eff is going to happen next. I'm definitely going to remember and find myself mulling them over later on. Doesn't really leave you when you finish reading them.

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I’d Tell You I Love You, But Then I’d have to Kill you/Cross My Heart And Hope to Spy by Ally Carter

Posted on July 24, 2008 by janicu

I'd Tell You I Love You, But Then I'd Have to Kill You (Gallagher Girls)

Ally Carter

Cross My Heart and Hope to Spy (Gallagher Girls)

Ally Carter

There was a big flea market sale in the Catholic girls school a block away from us so I ended up picking through the books there and getting these. I've heard the titles before - they're long, but memorable titles. These two are the first in a series about a girl who is going to what everyone thinks is a rich girls boarding school for geniuses, but is really a school for spies. I'd Tell You I love You, But Then I'd Have to Kill You is book 1, and Cross My Heart and Hope to Spy is book 2. Book 3 is not out yet and scheduled to come out next year (June 9th, 2009).

Cammie Morgan is the daughter of the school headmistress (a former spy naturally), who has grown up at the Gallagher academy and with spying as a family tradition. Her father was also a spy – who left on a mission and never came home – this is a source of internal grief for Cammie. Since she's the headmistress' daughter, Cam knows many of the secret passages and hideaways within the academy, and she's a master at blending in (her nickname is Cameleon).

These were fast, enjoyable reads. I read them at the end of my day and had to stop and make myself sleep, but I could have easily read them in one 2 or 3 hour sitting. There's a lot of fun in reading about the unique school - all the students that may go to it, and the classes that they need to take. So that part is entertaining, but here are some realistic teenage problems that occur in the unusual setting, which made the books are surprisingly more relatable than I first expected them to be. Mostly because in between learning how to be a good agent, Cammie Morgan is learning about boys. That's a universal subject – and something girls in the Gallagher academy have no experience on. I think all girls in this world have once felt like boys were speaking a foreign language with one word answers and cryptic sentences that need dissecting later to figure out what he really means. It was sort of funny that even the talented Gallagher girls, who know several languages, have genius IQs and secret agent training, can't figure out out the mystery of the opposite sex. They even talked about a writing a translator. Nothing is really easy or pat in terms of relationships, so I felt like the story was a bit above the usual young adult "girl gets boy" novel. The book was light reading for the most part, and the spy school is fantasy, but there is some depth in the growing pains I read in here. Cammie's reactions felt believable – she takes her time and is more cautious after certain experiences – a bit less trusting, more wary, which seems more realistic, especially with her life. I also liked how the author made a point for the school to really want to teach the girls that what they're learning isn't just fun and games- it's often a dangerous job and people die. The adults do not take what they put the girls through lightly.

Fun way to pass the time – probably a hit with it's target audience. I can see this as being a good book for 12-14 year olds.

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Vampire High by Douglas Rees

Posted on June 22, 2008 by janicu

Vampire High

Douglas Rees

This is another book I picked up at Goodwill. Vampire High is a young adult novel, probably appropriate for ages 10 and up. While I was reading it I thought that this might be the kind of book to give to a kid who doesn't like to read. It reminded me of the Phantom Tollbooth in a way because there is a lesson in here about at least making an effort in life.

Cody is an underachiever because he's unhappy that his parents moved to New England, and after he fails all his classes, his dad transfers him to Vlad Dracul. This school is amazing but mysterious – there huge buildings, high ceilings, marble, chandeliers and oil paintings and silent, tall, super-smart and super-strong students. Cody is amazed he get in right away just for agreeing to try out for the water polo team. It isn't long before he learns the reason why – his classmates are vampires, and they don't like water. Cody is one of a handfull of human students in the school, and he'll be guaranteed As and cruise through life, but it also means he's mostly ignored and nothing he does matters. This doesn't sit well for Cody, but when he actually wants to earn his grades he meets resistence from the vampires and the other lazy human students. I thought this was a fun, engrossing book and a pretty fast read. This felt like it could be the beginning of a series but I didn't see any other books out.

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Midnight Alley (book 3 of the Morganville Vampires) by Rachel Caine

Posted on May 24, 2008 by janicu

Midnight Alley (The Morganville Vampires, Book 3)

Rachel Caine

This is book 3 of the young adult series about vampires in the college town of Morganville by Rachel Caine (author of the urban fantasy series of Weather Warden books).

This series keeps the focus on four friends who live together in Morganville at the Glass House, but the youngest one – Claire Danvers is the main protagonist. Claire is a college student who, because of her intelligence started college early, and she soon discovers that Morganville is a unique place – it's run by vampires. While most people who were raised in Morganville know this secret, temporary visitors, like many of the college students, do not. Claire stumbles on the secret in book 1, and soon finds herself embroiled in the intruige and politics that stem from humans coexisting with the supernatural. Everyone has a secret – all her roommates have pasts that have been affected by the vampires, and Claire is soon tangled up with their problems as well as those of the vampires.

Book 1 deals with Claire moving into town, discovering the secret and meeting her roommates Michael, Shane, and Eve. In book 2, vampire slayers come to town and chaos ensues. In book 3 some more secrets are revealed and Claire gets more and more involved with the mysterious vampires. It's pretty difficult to talk about it without spoilers, but again much of the tension stems from humans resisting the vampires and vampire against vampire politics and secrets. Claire gets quite involved because of a relationship with the oldest vampire in town and founder of Morganville. This relationship makes Claire the target of people with hidden agendas and causes tension with her roommates. A lot of what drew me into the book was the constant danger that Claire is in. I found her to be an intelligent person who was also pretty naive. She often is really emphatic and nice – to people who maybe she shouldn't be nice to. There were a few instances in this book where I think she begins to realize that while she sees something like humanity and flashes of sympathy from the vampires, in reality her life and the lives of many humans is meaningless and expendable to them. I'm curious to see how the author is going to resolve this problem – whether these creatures deserve a "happy" ending for the series. I am not sure what will happen – if Claire and her friends survive, I doubt the it will be without cost. Claire's reactions to things sometimes seemed inconsistent (like she is unmarred by what she has gone through and is way too forgiving or sometimes doing things that seem dumb after being told over that she's smart), but I've been able to ignore this for the story.

For those of you familiar with Caine's books, you may realize that this author enjoys cliffhanger endings. I noticed this trend in not only the Morganville books, but also in the Weather Warden series. There's always a "to be continued" aspect. Once I got used to it I haven't been bothered by this, and I found that book 1 (Glass Houses) had the most edge of your seat ending, though book 2 and 3 do make you want to get the next book. Some readers may find the episodic nature of the books aggravating.

My review of book 2 is here.

Excerpt of book 1, Glass Houses

Excerpt of book 2, The Dead Girls Dance

Excerpt of book 3, Midnight Alley

Book 4 – Feast of Fools, comes out June this year.

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Prom Nights from Hell by Meg Cabot, Kim Harrison, Michele Jaffe, Stephenie Meyer, Lauren Myracle

Posted on March 23, 2008 by janicu

Prom Nights from Hell

Meg Cabot

I read this book sometime last year but I was so disappointed with it I didn't even bother to review it. Everything felt like it lacked effort. Anyway, I've had this nagging unfinished feeling about not reviewing so here goes. This is a anthology of prom stories with some kind of paranormal aspect to them.

The good thing about this book is that a portion of the proceeds goes to firstbook.org, which is a charity I like. Um.. otherwise, it was in the average to meh range for me.

The Exterminator's Daughter by Meg Cabot – This was a story of a vampire slayer's daughter, trying to track and kill the son of her mother's killer (that would be Dracula, naturally). Each chapter was told from the point of view of Mary, this girl, or of Adam, another teen involved. Well this seemed very predictable. Teen + paranormal + prom, let's just have a vampire slayer going after a vamp at prom. Add a dash of back story, some other teens for perhaps a romantic angle. The end. This lacked kick and I didn't understand the point of switching narrators so much (to show how they liked each other? not really that necessary).

The Corsage by Lauren Myracle – Well there's a warning on the front of this story that this is inspired by "The Monkey's Paw" by W.W Jacobs, and talks about being careful what you wish for. This was definitely in the creepy camp, and the most memorable story in the book. The narrator is a silly teen girl with foot in mouth syndrome, who, just to get the boy she likes to take her to the prom, makes some really dumb decisions involving a bad voodoo-vibe object – an old corsage. I could have smacked this girl, but I still felt sorry for her after what happened.

Madison Avery and the Dim Reaper by Kim Harrison – well this girl was another one I could have happily smacked. Another one who didn't listen to other's advice and made rash decisions out of spite, then other rash decisions out of fear. But there was an interesting paranormal aspect about dark and light reapers, and about the protagonist's role in the future. The reapers reminded me of the shinigami in Full Moon o Shagashite. I felt like this could be the start of an interesting series, and there seemed to be more detail and thought to this world than some of the other stories. And I hope if this is the start of a series, that Madison starts acting after thinking. I would really like a teen protag that I do not want to smack. Why are they lacking in recent young adult fiction?

Kiss and Tell by Michelle Jaffe – Ok, so a protag (Miranda Kiss) who is a princess with special powers, hiding out as a town car driver. She befriends a girl (Sibby) who she drives from the airport. A special girl who has some other powers herself. Miranda decides to rescue her from a cult, some actiony stuff ensues, but the suspension of disbelief I had was hard to maintain. Not badly written, but too many leaps in logic to get the story going.

Hell on Earth by Stephenie Meyer – This was about a junior demoness spreading despair and unhappiness with mental nudges at a school dance, but she can't seem to get everyone unhappy because a boy at the dance seems unsucceptable to her powers – he's just full of goodness and light. Not only that, he senses the darkness in her and wants to help her. Not a bad idea, has a sort of open ended conclusion, but it also felt somewhat predictable to me. And a little sappy.

Sighh. I am old I think. Old and crabby about young adult books now.

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