Beastly by Alex Flinn

Posted on December 20, 2010 by janicu

Alex Flinn

Beastly, a modern day retelling of Beauty and the Beast told from the point of view of the beast, has gotten a lot of positive reviews, so I’m happy that thanks to my Secret Santa from the Book Blogger Holiday swap I finally had a chance to read it.

The Premise: Kyle Kingsbury is handsome, popular, and, a big superficial jerk. His father is a famous newscaster and taught Kyle that people who did things out of friendship or love are suckers, so Kyle lives only for himself. Life is good: he goes to an elite school in Manhattan where he’s ultra popular and has a lock on being voted king of the ninth grade spring dance. Then Kyle decides to humiliate a strange new girl at the dance, and is rewarded with his comeuppance – cursed to be a beast unless he can love and be loved in return. He has two years to learn and to become someone worth loving or he will stay a beast forever.

Read and excerpt of Beastly here

My Thoughts: Kyle is incredibly unlikable in the first few pages of this book. Before his world is rocked by the curse, he really turned me off. In fact, I read a few pages of Beastly through Amazon’s Look Inside program a year or so ago and I was worried I wouldn’t like the book because of him. But once I got a chapter or two in, I empathized with Kyle despite my first impressions. Kyle’s growth from the snobby pretty-boy with negligent parents into a man of character doesn’t happen overnight. It took much of the two years he’s allocated and it’s not an easy road, but I believed and hoped he could make it eventually.

Kyle (who renames himself Adrian), is exiled by his father to a house in Brooklyn when it becomes clear that nothing can fix his appearance. All he has is his faithful housekeeper Magda, and after he asks for it – a blind tutor named Will. Adrian watches the world through a magic mirror. The forced isolation produced by becoming a beast gives him plenty of time for introspection, and he uses the time productively. He starts to appreciate things he thought of as unimportant before, and I enjoyed his discovery of less superficial interests, although he continues to despair of really breaking his curse. That is until circumstances allow Lindy, the “Beauty” of the story to enter the picture.

Lindy is probably the opposite of what Adrian used to be when he was Kyle – not popular, not good looking, and not rich. She lives in a poor neighborhood with an addict father. Despite being rather plain and not particularly noticeable, there’s something that draws Adrian to her. Adrian’s feelings for her were rather sweet – wanting her to like him, and realizing he can’t buy or bargain for her affections. His loneliness and yearning at this point made their tentative friendship something to root for. While I found Lindy to be a nice person, but not particularly compelling compared to Adrian, I wholeheartedly believed the feelings Adrian had for her. And I believed this version’s explanation of why her family so easily let her go to the Beast.

As a bonus, I loved that Beastly was based on the version of Beauty and the Beast in which Beauty is a reader. Reading books like Jane Eyre, The Hunchback of Notre-Dame, Les Misérables, Phantom of the Opera and The Picture of Dorian Grey are all part of the story, and I loved the parallels, which were not lost on Adrian/Kyle. I also enjoyed the “transformation” chat room conversations that Adrian joined. It was hilarious to see the little mermaid, the frog prince and others kvetching online.

Overall: A very pleasing modern-day Beauty and the Beast. I really liked this spin on my favorite fairy tale: told from the first person point of view of a spoiled Manhattan teen who does become a better person and has to win the girl the hard way. If you’d like to read a YA with a sweet romance, and you like the Beauty and the Beast fairy tale, I recommend this one.

I’m looking forward to reading the other books in this series – A Kiss in Time, and Cloaked. And I’ll probably look for the DVD of Beastly the movie whenever it comes out (it’s been suspiciously delayed in it’s release).

Buy: Amazon | Powell’s | The Book Depository

Other reviews:
Steph Su Reads – 3.5 out of 5
My Favourite Books – positive review
Chachic’s Book Nook – positive review
All Things Urban Fantasy – 2/5
The Book Smugglers – 6/10
Angieville – positive review
See Michelle Read – positive review

Almost to Die For by Tate Hallaway

Posted on December 15, 2010 by janicu

Almost to Die For

Tate Hallaway

I won this book over at The Book Pushers blog. I’d read a couple of books in the Garnet Lacey series (still plan to get around to the rest one day), and was interested in seeing what this new YA series would be like.

The Premise: Anastasija (Ana) Parker has just turned sixteen, which is the day she becomes a full witch in the coven which she and her mom belongs. Ana dreads the ritual which will prove that she has no magic: although she can feel spells, she can’t cast any herself. Her birthday turns out to be even more of a disaster when her father, a man Ana never met, turns up. And he’s the vampire king. Ana discovers she’s a dhampyr, and each parent wants her to reject the other and embrace their particular heritage.

My Thoughts: At 241 pages, this is a really fast read. Ana is a typical high school student, albeit one who has been put into the “weird” crowd because of her different colored eyes, and odd friends (Bea is witchy, Taylor is one-of-a-kind). Besides a jock trading barbs with her at school, and interactions with the coven, she’s nothing very special. This all suddenly changes overnight on her birthday when her vampire father shows up and the cat is out of the bag. Her mother flips out and begins throwing spells like crazy. Ana has no idea why and her mother refuses to explain anything. Things get worse at the ritual, but Ana seems to be catching the eye of both Nicolai – a witch her age with a family tradition of vampire hunting, and Elias, the captain of her father’s guard. Ana finds herself ping-ponging between parents and trying to decide what she should do.

There are a few things that I liked about this book, but I think I had more problems than I had positive reactions. The main issue was the feeling like this was very well-trodden territory – there were too many things in this book that I’ve read before. This in itself is I suppose OK, but it wasn’t balanced by enough original ideas to keep me connected to the story:

Teen girl discovers that her parents have been hiding information about herself
Teen girl discovers she’s the daughter of a king and is therefore a princess
Teen girl gets a bodyguard of supernatural origin who is immediately interested in her
Teen girl must choose between new hot guy and hot guy she’s known for a while. Cannot decide. Dates both.
Teen girl likes boy who is basically a hunter of whatever she is, but makes exception for her
Teen girl has unique special powers no one else has and has some special Destiny

The fact that I didn’t really like her mother (who kept Ana’s half-vampire status hidden when a lot of the coven knew about it, and then puts spells on Ana which basically enslave her) did not help. I had a lot of questions about why her mother was like this that didn’t feel explained. I didn’t quite believe her explanation for keeping Ana in the dark either. Maybe that’s for another book, but it frustrated me in this one. The beginnings of the love triangle in this story was another issue. I think both guys were interesting, but I couldn’t buy their attraction to Ana because it almost seemed like both guys liked a concept of her, but didn’t really knew her. Perhaps this is something else that gets addressed in a sequel.

What I did like was Ana’s friendships with Bea and Taylor. I liked that Bea was someone Ana didn’t always like, but there was love there – I was interested in what their history was and I wished there was more room in this book to explore their friendship. Taylor has an even smaller role – she’s basically a friend with a lot of interesting (if a bit geeky) interests, who wears a hijab with jeans to school. She doesn’t know what’s going on with Ana’s supernatural life, but when she’s on the page, I loved her. I also liked the particular spin on the origins of vampires and the world building there. The explanation behind the enmity between witches and vampires was a good one. Finally – I thought that the way cell phones/communication in this story was well thought out.

Overall: An average read. I wanted to like this book, but there was a lack of freshness to the story that left me feeling underwhelmed. Maybe this would work better as an introduction to paranormal YA genre than someone who has read a lot of these.

Buy: Amazon | Powell’s | The Book Depository

Other reviews:
I couldn’t find other reviews yet. Let me know if you have one and I’ll link it here.

The Secret Society of the Pink Crystal Ball by Risa Green (w Giveaway!)

Posted on December 6, 2010 by janicu

The Secret Society of the

Pink Crystal Ball

Risa Green

Book Girl of Mur-y-Castell did a review of this book a while ago and I filed it in my mind as a rather sweet, fun book to look out for. When I was offered the book for review, I was quick to say yes.

The Premise: Erin Channing is a tenth-grader with the “most boring, normal, regular life ever”, until her aunt Kiki dies and leaves her a pink plastic ball with a set of cryptic instructions. Erin doesn’t believe in magic. She’s known as an “inside the box” thinker, but her two best friends, Lindsay and Samantha convince her to try the ball, and when it seems to actually get results, it begins to change Erin’s outlook.

My Thoughts: I liked Erin. She’s a good kid — that girl in school who works hard and listens to teachers. She follows the rules and has the highest GPA in tenth grade. But because she doesn’t really have any interests outside of school and doesn’t have any quirky traits, she considers herself boring. So boring, in fact, that she worries she has nothing interesting to say in her essay to apply for a coveted position for a school sponsored trip to Italy. And she really, really wants to go to Italy. Two things stand in her way – the essay, and making sure she gets at least an A- in the class.

Writing the essay is something Erin obsesses over, but she can’t think of anything interesting to say. She’s well aware of her “in the box”, “follow the rules” persona, but she doesn’t know how to get out of it, but her aunt’s death and the Pink Crystal Ball is a start. Her friends are the ones who push her into even trying it, and pointing out that she needs to expand her horizons. In the meantime, the A- grade in her AP Art History class also depends on her end of year project which is worth one third of her final grade. Unfortunately, she gets partnered with Jesse Cooper, the last person in class she wants to work with. Jesse used to be a close friend, until his father died at the end of eight grade. Suddenly, the guy who was her first kiss stopped talking to her and started dressing like an art school punk kid, leaving Erin wondering: “What happened?” and what Jesse’s neutral expressions and his offhand comments mean. It’s clear that she’s not exactly over the crush she had on him.

The story is full of thoughtful layers. Although Erin, Lindsay and Samantha seem to fit a particular mold at first (Erin is the brainy one, Lindsay is the nice one, and Samantha is the cool one), they aren’t cardboard characters. Each of them has their own lives and problems, which Erin explains as the story progresses. Lindsay has a bully at school, and her father has begun dating a young, twenty-something girl. To escape, she spends her money on new-age, metaphysical objects like voodoo dolls and crystals. Samantha is chasing after Aiden, a boy who can’t stand her, and her parents are always fighting. She may be the beautiful and cool rebel, but when coming home at 3am gets noticed by the Portuguese housekeeper, not her parents, you know there’s something wrong there. But these girls aren’t in their own personal bubble. They play off each other and affect one another”s lives. The dynamics of their friendships is laid out throughout the story, and the reader is catches glimpses of how well they know each other: when Lindsay is upset she’s known to take it out on whoever is nearby, Erin can’t stand disappointing authority, and Samantha knows how to get the girls to follow her lead.

This attention to detail extended to the plot. With a magic ball, the story could have become something that conveniently took shortcuts and relied on suspension of disbelief, but it doesn’t. There are always consequences or reasons for what happens. The main focus of course is on Erin’s problems, and on how the pink plastic ball from her dead aunt begins to affect her life, but she is loyal to her best friends and tries to help them. These leads to consequences that the girls don’t expect. I liked that this story eventually led to some growth for everyone, rather than the it being just a entertaining romp involving magic. The ending left us with the possibility of a continuation, perhaps from Samantha’s point of view, and I’d love to find out what happens next.

Overall: Before reading this book, I think I had expectations that matched the cover – a story that’s young, a little girly, cute and fun. You know: a Disney movie aimed at teens with three best friends who discuss boys and do somewhat silly things and then work together to fix some problem. This book takes that formula but produces something with much more depth. I thought I would like this book, but I ended up being very pleasantly surprised by how much I liked it when I was done. It left me feeling much like I felt about Polly Shulman’s Enthusiasm: like I’d read something sweet but not fluff.

Buy: Amazon | Powell’s | The Book Depository

Other reviews:
Book Girl of Mur-y-Castell – 3.75
(please let me know if you’ve reviewed this and I’ll add it to my list)

GIVEAWAY:
I have ONE extra copy of this book to giveaway (generously sent to me by a publicist). For a chance to win it:
1. Email janicu[at]gmail[dot]com with the subject PINK CRYSTAL BALL GIVEAWAY, and with “please enter me” or something like that, and that should be it.
2. One email per person please.
3. This giveaway is INTERNATIONAL
4. This contest ends midnight EST December 9th. — that’s three days from now!

Firelight by Sophie Jordan

Posted on November 24, 2010 by janicu

Firelight

Sophie Jordan

This is a review of an ARC copy of this book that I picked up at BEA.

The Premise: Jacinda is a draki – a dragon descendant who can shift into human form. She’s also the only fire-breathing draki of her pride, and because of this, they have her earmarked as a pride asset whose genes they want bred with Cassian, the leader’s son. When Jacinda impulsively breaks pride rules and sneaks out for a flight, and subsequently is almost killed by hunters, the punishment promises to be severe. Rather than continue to let her daughter be controlled, Jacinda’s mom takes her twin daughters and escapes their secret draki town in the middle of the night. However, where they relocate to (a desert town miles away from the mountains and rivers that sustain the draki), may prove to be more dangerous. Not only is this where Jacinda’s abilities begin to fade, but it’s also where a draki hunter family lives, and Jacinda can’t seem to stay away from Will, who is one of them.

My Thoughts: I’ve been a little bit wary of the young adult shape shifting dragon subset of fiction ever since I read MaryJanice Davidson’s Jennifer Scales and the Ancient Furnace (). I had huge, ranty problems with the way the parents acted and many of the characters, but it’s been a while since that experience, and I was drawn to the subtlety of the Firelight cover. In comparison, Firelight comes out as the better book, but it’s not without its problems.

The story begins promisingly enough, with Jacinda narrating to us about her (restricted) life within the tribe, giving us some back story about her being a draki. She was aware that ever since she manifested as a draki (her twin Tamra never did), that everyone has looked at her differently. Rather than Jacinda, they now see The Only Fire-Breathing Draki In Generations, and so they’ve been suffocating her with their expectations. They’ve all decided that to preserve her unique genetics she must be married off to the strongest young male, the Alpha’s son, Cassian. Jacinda chafes at this because she doesn’t particularly want Cassian, but she’s started to resign herself to this fate. When Jacinda breaks the rules and almost gets caught by hunters (a certain death), her worth to the tribe promises a particularly ugly punishment. Fortunately, her parents aren’t sitting idly by while their daughter gets treated like chattel. Jacinda’s mother packs up and sneaks out of town with her daughters.

Jacinda goes along with this, but unlike them, she fears leaving her home. Her sister Tamra has always wanted to be normal, and is sick of living in Jacinda’s shadow ever since Jacinda manifested, and Jacinda’s mom has voluntarily let go of her draki side. For them it’s easy to live among humans, but for Jacinda, who LOVES being a draki, it’s extremely difficult to let her draki die. This conflict within the family was pretty interesting. Although I did find the family dynamics frustrating at times (there seem to be a lot of arguments where Jacinda and Tamra didn’t really try to understand each other or just shut down), her relationship with her mother and her sister feel realistic. Jacinda can come off as a little whiny around them, but I don’t particularly fault her for it because of what she’s been going through, and I don’t fault her mother or her sister’s reactions or feelings either.

What I did have a problem with in this story is Jacinda’s relationship with Will. It’s overly-dramatic for me. When Jacinda finds him at her new school, she practically has an attack and changes into a draki in front of a crowded hall of students, and from then on their reactions to each other are along this same vein, with Jacinda hyper-aware of Will and longing stares between the two of them. Will is some kind of fantasy boy: rich, good-looking and has never shown interest in a girl before. Jacinda’s mom and sister don’t approve of a guy who makes her so emotional she could the manifest, and that’s without knowing he’s a hunter. And Will doesn’t want anyone near him so he can keep them away from his creepy killer family. Will and Jacinda sneak around, imagining that they are Romeo and Juliet, but an incredibly indecisive Romeo and Juliet. They swing back and forth between “no, I must stay away” and “Oh no, I can’t stay away” so much that I was really irritated – particularly because there is all this hand-wringing when I have no idea why Will and Jacinda even like each other. Jacinda and Will barely speak and when they do it’s about how they shouldn’t be together or how much they want to be together. I think this idea of an impossible love is why it’s touted as something that will appeal to fans of Twilight (the hunter falls for his prey in Firelight, the lion with the lamb in Twilight), but there’s something missing in the formula here which Twilight had. (And Jacinda didn’t win any points when she finds herself musing on Cassian’s attractiveness when he reenters the picture!)

If not for this forbidden love, the people around Jacinda and Will, and the consequences of who they both are make for an intriguing plot. I had questions about what the reaction of Will’s cousin would really be if he found out what Jacinda was, what really happened to her father, and what would happen to her if she was dragged back to her pride. There’s plenty of room for more revelations here, and I wish some of it was explored further, but the Jacinda/Will relationship took much of the room.

Overall: I liked the ideas in this one, it has thoughtful world building, and the writing isn’t bad either. I’d call this a solid read, but I had really big problems with the superficiality of the relationship between Jacinda and Will, so the romance brought down my enjoyment. The ending leaves the reader wanting more, but I’m not eager for more of Jacinda’s love life (I feel like a cynical curmudgeon, but there you have it), so I’ll pass on book 2.

Buy: Amazon | Powell’s Books | The Book Depository

Other reviews:
Lurv a la Mode – 1 scoop (out of 5)
The Vampire Book Club – 4/5
Jawas Read, Too – 6 (out of 10)
My Favourite Books – positive review
Chachic’s book nook – mixed
All Things Urban Fantasy – 4/5
Debbie’s World of Books – 4/5
Books and Things – 4/5
YA Book nerd – positive

Book Trailer:

Although my review shows I had problems with this story, I know others may not have the same kind of reaction. I’d like to pass it forward. I’ve done this before and just asked that whoever got the book write a review for it, but it’s Thanksgiving so this time – no need for a review. If you think you’ll like this one, let me know, and I’ll send along my copy which is a ARC signed by the author. Open to everyone, but first come, first served! Taken

The President’s Daughter by Ellen Emerson White

Posted on October 29, 2010 by janicu

The President’s Daughter

Ellen Emerson White

Angie is continuously pimping Ellen Emerson White so I finally took the plunge and bought the whole President’s Daughter series this year. This is the first book.

The Premise: “Sixteen-year-old Meghan Powers likes her life just the way it is. She likes living in Massachusetts. She likes her school. And she has plenty of friends. But all that is about to change. Because Meg’s mother, one of the most prestigious senators in the country, is running for President. And she’s going to win.”

My Thoughts: I had to steal the blurb for The President’s Daughter because when I tried to come up with the premise myself, all I could think of saying was: “Meghan’s mom, a senator, runs for president. The title gives you a clue to how that turns out.” The premise is simple, and the plot is straightforward. There aren’t any crazy plot twists, or drama that keeps you on the edge of your seat wondering what happens next. Although the election happens throughout the book and Meghan is politically aware, the book follows Meg, not her mom, so the political life is conveyed by someone in the periphery. It’s fascinating to see glimpses of the election process from someone close to a candidate and to see how the media treats Meg’s family (and how Meg herself deals with it), but it’s not what I feel the heart of the book is about.

What the focus of this book is Meghan and her family. At the first glance, the Powers are incredibly All-American and privileged. When the book begins, Meghan (or Meg), is at a country club meeting her mother to play tennis. The other members of the club greet her mother as “Senator Powers” and afterward, they go home to a housekeeper, Meg’s two precocious brothers, and her lawyer dad. It’s all very American Dream, but the dynamics within this family that are universal. If you’ve ever smart mouthed at a parent to get a laugh, or said something cutting which you immediately regretted, then you’ve been a teenager and you will understand Meg.

I found Meg to be one of those girls you admire in high school. She knows how to present herself well and she has a quick wit and her mother’s looks. She’s aware that people are watching her for any mistakes she may make, and she is smart about how she acts, but on the other hand, she isn’t thrilled she has to keep herself in check. Knowing that she looks like her mom, and that boys are suddenly asking her out after her mom started running, Meg isn’t above secretly wanting her mother to lose the election so her life can go back to normal. The years growing up with a mom who has a job that keeps her away from home is another bone of contention. These are the undercurrents that run throughout the book, and yes, something comes out of them, but the drama in this book is over quickly. Meg is a kid with a certain amount of sense, and when she makes a mistake, she recognizes it fairly instantly. This includes boys. Meg is not immune to a pretty face, but she sorts through who the good guys and the not-so-good guys are in a way I found very satisfying.

Overall: I had a hard time with this review. After I finished, if someone asked me what happened in this book, I’d find it difficult to make the plot sound exciting, but I really enjoyed it for the humor in the day-to-day lives of the Powers family. Don’t read the book for pulse pounding action, read this book for the interactions between people. When Meghan is with her family, they play off each other. They zing.

(This is a review for the reissued version of the book, not the original that came out in the 80s. I believe it has been updated to make it more modern).

Buy: Amazon | Powell’s | The Book Depository | Book Closeouts (currently 99 CENTS!!!)

Other reviews
Robin McKinley reviewed it! (and liked it quite a bit)
The Book Harbinger – positive
Chachic’s Book Nook – had a lukewarm reaction

Enthusiasm by Polly Shulman

Posted on October 22, 2010 by janicu

Enthusiasm

Polly Shulman

Another book bought because of book bloggers. I think the one review that had me paying attention was over at The Hiding Spot, although I see that the usual suspects have also reviewed and recommended this book. The Jane Austen connection also had me interested (of course).

The Premise: Julia (Julie) Lefkowitz’s best friend (and next door neighbor) Ashleigh is an Enthusiast. Every few weeks or so Ashleigh has a new interest which she throws herself into with unabashed vigor, dragging Julie along. Julie follows her friend, a little exasperated but knowing that nothing will dissuade Ashleigh. One day Ashleigh’s newest craze is one of Julie’s favorite things – Jane Austen. Determined to find her own Mr. Darcy, Ashleigh talks Julie into crashing the Columbus Cotillion at Forefield Academy. There she decides the Mr. Darcy role will be filled by Grandison Parr, the boy Julie has been secretly crushing on.

My Thoughts: I was in a not-really-in-a-reading mood, so the length of Enthusiasm appealed to me (198 pages). When I started, I was pleasantly surprised by how soon I was caught up in this cute story. Julie narrates to keep us informed about everything going on in her life, and it’s a pretty normal one. The people around her are as you’d expect: a best friend, her parents (divorced and living separately, sharing custody of Julie), kids in school, and boys. What I really enjoyed was how amusing this normal life could be, seen by the reader, as Ashleigh came up with another crazy idea which Julie would try to suppress, or as misunderstandings abounded.

I liked the dynamic between Julie and Ashleigh, particularly their loyalty to one another. Sure, Julie feels a twinge of annoyance that Ashleigh is appropriating an interest that was once hers alone, but even that twinge makes her feel guilty. She doesn’t want to begrudge Ashleigh anything, when she knows that Ashleigh would bend over backwards for her. This quiet suppression of how she feels so she doesn’t hurt her friend is fine sometimes, but when it comes to her feelings for Parr, that’s when I felt a little frustrated for her. Ashleigh has a personality that takes over a room, and she can railroad Julie unintentionally, which she does when she assumes (and announces) that the man for Julie is Parr’s friend Ned, a Mr Bingley to her Mr. Darcy. Julie of course keeps her real feelings back because she loves Ashleigh, but we readers know that Julie has noticed Parr around town long before the Cotillion and had nicknamed him the Mysterious Stranger. Of course, this secret from her best friend only serves to bite her in the butt. It’s not Ashleigh’s fault that she doesn’t know how Julie really feels, and it’s admirable that Julie puts her friend before herself, but throughout the book it seems to be a theme that Julie stays silent, not just with her best friend. It all works itself out, but I really wish that Julie had said something in at least one of the situations instead of being quiet. Maybe the merits of speaking up is a lesson she’s learning.

Julie loyally follows Ashleigh in Ashleigh’s schemes to see more of Parr, internally pained by the idea of seeing him with someone else, but trying to keep herself apart from him. What romance there is, is low key because it stays in the background until it’s time, but when romance does come to the forefront, it’s quite satisfying. Ultimately I really liked how things played out, and I loved how poetry was incorporated into this.

Overall: This is a perfect sized book for an evening when you find yourself craving something sweet but not without substance. I enjoyed how friendships and being a teen was conveyed, and the good-natured humor that overlaid everything made it a fun, feel-good read.

Buy: Amazon | Powell’s | The Book Depository | Book closeouts ($3!)

Other reviews:
The Hiding Spot – A
Tempting Persephone – positive review

This is #4 for the Everything Austen challenge

Jane by April Lindner

Posted on October 18, 2010 by janicu

Jane

April Lindner

Well, as I’ve mentioned before I’ve been eying Jane by April Lindner first because of the cover posted on Tempting Persephone, then because of Angieville’s review. There was one reviewer who didn’t find the book worked for her, but I decided to plough on and try it. The idea of a modern day retelling with Mr. Rochester as a famous rock star was too appealing to miss. (Also the cover is amazing and it called to me).

The Premise: Jane is a modern day retelling of Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre. Left homeless and penniless after her parent’s accidental death, Jane Moore applies for a job as a live-in nanny, and because of her serious nature, she is considered perfect for the job as a nanny to the daughter of famous rocker, Nico Rathburn. When she gets to Thornfield Park and finally meets Nico, he isn’t the partying playboy she imagined, and she is not the easily impressed fan he’s used to dealing with. There’s a mutual fascination which turns into something more, but the secrets of Rathburn’s past threaten to ruin their fledgling relationship.

****** This review assumes you know the basic story behind Jane Eyre. If you do not, it’s probably best you just skip to the “Overall” section ******

My Thoughts: This book started off muy excellente. I felt my pulse quicken in the early pages, learning about the serious, practical Jane, desperate to find a place to live now that her semester at Sarah Lawrence is over. As she muses about her indifferent family and selfish siblings, I can’t help thinking ahead, knowing that she’s going to get the job. The anticipation was delicious, certain that she deserves something good, and but well aware that Jane has no idea what awaits her at Thornfield Park. I took to Jane very quickly. She has a level headed practicality which actually feels rather refreshing. Under circumstances where the cliched young adult heroine could be twittering and making me cringe, Jane keeps her spine up and never falters. Hooray for a nineteen year old girl who isn’t portrayed as a dimwit!

The fact that Jane didn’t compromise herself in childhood in order to please her family serves her well when she arrives at Rathburn’s estate. She’s a firm but understanding nanny to 5 year old Maddy, and when Nico Rathburn finally appears, despite an internal turbulence caused by his presence, she stays true to her steady self. Unlike other people, she doesn’t coddle the rock star, and initially she keeps herself well-contained, but Nico is intrigued by the new nanny and keeps her nearby. I knew where things were headed and so I paid careful attention. I think that at first, I liked how the two got along, but the romance may have moved a little more quickly than I would have liked. The looming disaster I knew was coming, the difference in their ages and most importantly, Nico’s role as Jane’s boss worried me more than I remember being worried by the original. I felt unsettled by them in this book, and because I knew Nico’s secret I paid more attention to how he hid it (and how he lied to do so).

I haven’t read Jane Eyre since high school, and I remember the general story, but the details are fuzzy. I remember when I first read it, I was shocked to find out about what was in the attic. After the revelation, previous hints made sense in the original book. In Jane, I already knew what was coming, so the shock value was not there, and the hints strewn throughout the book felt more heavy-handed than necessary. I wondered – did Brontë’ really leave as many hints as this? After finishing Jane, I got a copy of Jane Eyre to compare, and Jane is surprisingly true to the original, and the hints are the same. So are the lies that Mr Rochester tells his Jane about the strange things she sees in his house. I like that Jane is faithful to the original, but on the other hand, this faithfulness to Nico/Mr. Rochester’s deception left me cold.

I was dismayed when I felt out of love with where Nico and Jane’s relationship had been going. Then a surprising thing happened. I fell back in love with them. I kept reading; Jane does the right thing and leaves, and then she spends time hiding away with the St. John siblings in New Haven, Connecticut. In her time apart from Nico, Jane convinced me that her feelings weren’t just something that happened because of the thrill of having someone like Nico paying attention to her. She can go on with her life and there are other options open to her, but it’s clear that Nico has her heart, even after what he’s done. In her path to forgiving him, I guess I did too. Maybe this is a process I would have gone through re-reading Jane Eyre today. At any rate, I have a new appreciation for Jane’s withdrawal, because it makes all the difference.

At night ,though, I would drift into dreams so vivid I felt I was actually reliving moments Nico and I had shared – his hands on my back, his smell, his taste on my tongue, his voice calling my name, his weight in the bed beside me – and I would startle awake. For minutes afterward, I refused to believe it had only been a dream. And then I couldn’t get back to sleep, my sadness so heavy and palpable I feared I might never sleep again. In those long, dark hours, Nico haunted me like a phantom limb.

Overall: This modern day retelling cleverly leaves the bones of the original intact, staying remarkably close to the plot of Jane Eyre, but in a fresh and youthful package. Jane and her rock star love are nods to Bronte’s original characters, but they are all their own. I may have been disenchanted in the middle, but the ending reversed those feelings. Ultimately, this is a book that lived up to my expectations and I closed the book with a sigh of satisfaction. Highly recommended for fans of Jane Eyre.

Buy: Amazon | Powell’s | The Book Depository

Other reviews:
Angieville – positive
Persephone Reads – positive review
Book Fare Delights – 2 out of 5 (It didn’t work for her, but she explains why very nicely)

Glimmerglass by Jenna Black

Posted on October 12, 2010 by janicu

Glimmerglass

Jenna Black

This was a book that calico_reaction was kind enough to pass along to me earlier this year (I’d like to pay it forward and pass it along to someone else, but more on that later). I read this during the 24 hour readathon this past weekend.

The cover is also gorgeous. I love this cover design – the pale colors against the black, the gray spots, even the font of the title and author’s name. The cover for the second book looks equally dreamlike and lovely.

The Premise: The narrator of this young adult paranormal is Dana Hathaway, a teen who is sick of dealing with her alcoholic mom. When her mom arrives at her recital sloppy drunk, Dana has finally had it. She knows that her father, Seamus Stuart, is Fae and lives in Avalon, an independent city-state in England. Dana calls him and before long she’s running away to Avalon to stay with her father. Although Dana’s mom told Dana that her father was something of a bigwig, Dana doesn’t realize how big or that her arrival in Avalon would make her the target of political manipulations from pretty much every faction you could think of.

My Thoughts: This is a pretty fast read. It’s only 294 pages but it moves quickly. I was surprised by how quickly I got through this one during the readathon.

It’s in the first half of the book that I hit most of my problems with the story. That’s unfortunate, because I found the second half much better. The biggest issue I had was with Dana herself. I found myself repeatedly wondering why she didn’t ask more questions! First, Dana decides to run away from home, but doesn’t question why her father was OK with her going to Avalon without knowing how Dana’s mother felt about it. When Dana arrives, she find out that her father is in jail. Dana never asks what her father was in jail for and just accepts that he will be there a couple of days. I found that incredibly surprising. I also found it surprising that she knew who her father was but didn’t bother to find out as much about him as possible. She didn’t bother to google him, she didn’t bother to research into her heritage or to ask him about her other relatives? She had no questions about being half Fae? I could go on. It was incredibly naive, and as a result she looks like a fool when she learns that her father is in the running for the Council (Avalon’s governing body), that she has an aunt, and that there are possible complications in being half-Fae.

What made this worse was that the naïveté contrasted sharply with Dana’s upbringing. Her mother is an alcoholic and it’s clear that Dana has had a lot of responsibilities thrust upon her. Dana is used to a mother who lies to suit her own purposes. You would think that this would make Dana wary of being lied to. Yet, she’s very gullible when she gets to Avalon. It bugged me to see how she reacted to obviously suspicious behavior. For example when strange people burst into her room, Dana notices the intruder’s pretty eyes and is disappointed when he (a young Fae named Ethan) is clearly chummy with the girl he brought. Then chastises herself .”Why on earth would I care?” – YES, why on earth would you care about this when this strange guy just broke into your room? To compound this, when Dana becomes friendly with Ethan’s sister, Kimber, she is warned about Ethan, yet Dana continues to lose all sense. When she’s betrayed – yep, that’s a big ol’ surprise to her, but not the reader.

It was frustrating to read about these initial mistakes. Thankfully Dana learns some lessons, and in the second half of the book and she finally begins to question people’s motivations. Once this happens, I found her a much less annoying and could just enjoy the story. At this point we’re also introduced to Dana’s father (finally out of jail), along with Finn, a Fae Knight who acts as Dana’s bodyguard, and Keane, Finn’s son who teaches Dana some self defense. I liked Dana’s interactions with these characters a lot better than her interactions with characters in her first couple of days in Avalon. Dana’s dad takes honesty to painful extreme, but we do get the feeling like he is being honest and that he acts like a parent. He has rules and boundaries that he makes clear to his daughter. There’s still a question of who should be trusted and what everyone wants from Dana, but at least Dana knows this. It’s too bad that it took half the book to get to this point.

Dana’s mother’s alcoholism is a big part of the story (it’s why Dana left her, and is said to be the result of Dana’s mom’s stress of leaving Avalon), and I want to put in my two cents about the way it was depicted. What I thought worked: Dana has a conversation on the phone with her mother who had been drinking and Dana can tell. The description of her mom’s clear but slightly sleepy-sounding voice and indignation at being called out do fit. Dana wanting to blackmail her mother into going into detox and her father telling her that that would not work was also true to life. What didn’t work so well: I already mentioned that Dana not having a very good lie detector didn’t seem to mesh with dealing with her mom. I also thought that if Dana is so used to hiding what’s going on at home, she would have a better poker face than she did. Lastly, Dana’s dad said that Dana’s mom didn’t drink any more or less than anyone else and she must have become alcoholic after she left Avalon. I don’t think this is something where someone can be “normal”, then after some traumatic event become alcoholic. I think it’s always there.

When this book was done, I think what we have is an introduction to a series. Dana’s heritage and particular talents are established along with the possible political ramifications it could entail. Avalon and the factions within it are set up. And so is a potential love triangle between Dana and the two boys close to her age – Ethan and Keane. I think that I’m in the Keane camp because I found Ethan on the swarmy side (and it’s a big warning sign that his sister is telling Dana to watch out). Keane seems to be pretty up front in comparison and I liked how Dana was around Keane. I’d like to see where that goes and also to see what else Dana finds out about being half-Fae, but I’d like to avoid the naïveté that I saw in the first half of this book. I also had the impression that the plot could have been tighter (the climax has a cartoony evil villain wants to rule the world feel). I think I’d wait and read the reviews before picking up the second book (Shadowspell).

Overall: It falls in the “OK, but I had reservations” camp for me. The second half balances off a pretty poor beginning, which is hampered by a teen protagonist who fits an overly naive, silly girl stereotype. Dana improved a lot by the end of the book, but ultimately this feels like a set-up-for-a-series book.

Buy: Amazon | Powell’s | The Book Depository

Other reviews:
calico_reaction – Glad it was free
Karin’s Book Nook – positive review

Although my review shows I had problems with this story, I know others may not have the same kind of reaction. I’d like to pass it forward. If you are someone with a book blog who is willing to review this book, let me know and I’ll send it along (first come, first served). The book has been claimed!

Return to Paradise by Simone Elkeles

Posted on September 4, 2010 by janicu

Return to Paradise

Simone Elkeles

This is the continuation of the story that began with Leaving Paradise

(my review for that is here: ).

Again, this was a signed ARC copy that I picked up at BEA.

The Premise: Months have passed since the events in Leaving Paradise, and Caleb Becker, the misunderstood “bad boy” of Paradise finds his path unexpectedly crossing Maggie Armstrong’s once again. This time the two teens whose lives were so changed by the drunk driving accident that sent Caleb to juvenile detention and Maggie to the hospital, find themselves together in Re-START, a program for teens affected by teen reckless driving. Caleb needs to do this program to stay out of the latest trouble he’s found himself in, and Maggie is using Re-START as a thesis paper for a scholarship to Spain. Neither can leave and have to endure each other’s company and the awkwardness of rehashing the accident to an audience of other teens.

******Spoiler for the end of LEAVING PARADISE, but it’s the spoiler on the back of the blurb for RETURN TO PARADISE.. *****

My Thoughts: At the end of Leaving Paradise, things were left up in the air between Caleb and Maggie. The two had acknowledged the feelings that they had for each other, but Caleb’s other issues with Paradise overwhelm the positive effect of their relationship. Caleb sees no other choice but to leave, and we’re left with an unresolved, bittersweet goodbye.

Maggie understood that Caleb wasn’t ready to completely trust her in the previous book, but when he returns in this one, enough time has passed (eight months) for Maggie to feel abandoned. There may be a physical attraction between the two, but their once sweet relationship is now a volatile minefield. Hurt feelings and misunderstandings abound. At first this works for the story. Maggie and Caleb needed to talk to each other about the accident that lies between them and about why Caleb left, and until they do, things would not be right between them. Caleb and Maggie dance awkwardly around each other as they get used to Re-START and the other teens in the program. Maggie is hurt that Caleb never contacted her when he was gone or that he won’t admit the truth about who really hit her. Caleb doesn’t know Maggie knows his secret and is frustrated that he’s the one blamed, that she is avoiding him, and that she may like another boy.

Unfortunately, these initial problems got even messier. The barriers and misunderstandings between Caleb and Maggie needlessly multiply, and somewhere along the way, I felt like I couldn’t recognize the couple that I met in Leaving Paradise. They were arguing, then making up, then arguing with dizzying regularity. They did things that felt completely out of character. I often found myself asking, “OK, why are they mad at each other now?” because I couldn’t keep track. I was even confused when they weren’t mad at each other. At one point Caleb announces some deliberate mistruths about Maggie. Later that night he makes some pretty stupid decisions, gets into more trouble that makes him look like a HUGE jerk. Any girl would be appalled to find him in the state he was in, but Maggie helps him get out of that situation by pretending to be his girlfriend. Do they ever talk about his earlier betrayal? No, because they’ve moved on to the next wrong. It was so frustrating. Actually, it was doubly frustrating – first that that these two would act this way at all, and then rather than resolution, there’s waffling. When I thought that these two were going to sit down and hash out their problems, the plot veered sharply away. I wondered why these two were talking in circles and when the crazy train would stop.

Return to Paradise has the same sort of addictive style as Leaving Paradise, and yes, Maggie and Caleb have an electric pull on me when they’re together on the page, but this book had too much see-sawing filler and not enough substance. Frankly, Return to Paradise was so disappointing in comparison to Leaving Paradise that I am baffled by it! I wonder if these uncorrected proofs from BEA are far from finished work. I did notice discrepancies in the plot time line issues. Could these be copies sent out before some massive editing and corrections were made? Sadly, I can only review the book I was given, not the book I wished it was.

Overall: I think that it would be difficult to read Leaving Paradise (which I loved), and not want to read Return to Paradise. Unfortunately, the sequel does not live up to it’s predecessor, and a lovely teenage romance becomes overly complicated. Liberal use of the Big Mis mixed with confusing plotting made this a book that felt unpolished, and I am actually hoping that my uncorrected proof is far from the final product.

Buy: Amazon | Powell’s | The Book Depository

Other reviews:
Angieville – “A very big disappointment” – I think she makes an excellent point about Caleb being mean here which he wasn’t in Leaving Paradise.

Leaving Paradise by Simone Elkeles

Posted on September 3, 2010 by janicu

Leaving Paradise

Simone Elkeles

Since I loved Jennifer Echols’ Going Too Far, i was told that I would probably also like Simone Elkeles. I kept this in mind when I went to BEA, and I glommed onto every Elkeles book I could find. I got three – Leaving Paradise, Return to Paradise, and Rules of Attraction. After reading a bunch of speculative fiction books in a row, I was ready for a little genre palette cleansing, so I looked at my TBR and decided to finally give Elkeles a go. Leaving Paradise was the obvious choice to begin (the other two were sequels), and I spent a lovely weekend reading both this book and it’s continuation (I’ll be reviewing Return to Paradise next).

The Premise: This story is about two teens whose lives were most changed by an accident that rocked the small town of Paradise. Over a year ago, Maggie Armstrong was hit by a drunk driver and had to go through hospitalization and intensive physical therapy for the past year. She will forever walk with a limp. Caleb Becker was the boy charged with the crime and has spent the past year in juvenile detention. He will forever be associated with crippling Maggie. Now a year later, Caleb is out and the two have to meet again. They see in each other the person who damaged them, but they also see the only person who can understand what they’re going through.

Read an excerpt of Chapter 1 of Leaving Paradise here

My Thoughts: What a premise! I’m not sure if anything connects two people more closely than a shared tragedy, and this is one that obviously left things in pieces for both Caleb and Maggie. The book is told in alternating chapters from each of their points of view and I felt rather addicted to finding out what each of them thought of their situation and to the ensuing drama when they see each other again.

Surprisingly (or perhaps not), they have lives that strangely reflect each other’s. Maggie has an protective mother who anxiously tracks the progress of her daughter, and she’s isolated at school because of her injuries. Once a strong tennis player and peripheral member of the popular set, Maggie is now ignored. She’s even lost her best friend Leah, because Leah is Caleb’s twin sister. Maggie’s father is pretty much absent from the picture after he divorced Maggie’s mom years ago. All Maggie wants to do is go to an exchange program in Spain where no one will treat her as that girl who was hit by a drunk driver.

Caleb’s family on the other hand, especially his mother, don’t want to face the realities of the accident. His mother pretends that they are an ideal family, his father just goes along with the farce, and his sister has turned Goth and walled herself off from the world. Caleb’s friends have changed as well, but in less obvious ways, and Caleb has a big chip on his shoulder because no one really seems to understand his life in the past year was like. He never wants to go back there again, and he’s angry at how he’s treated as a criminal by everyone he knows.

The two of them together? The pages are charged:

“I’ve been face to face with him many times, but now everything has changed. He doesn’t even look like himself, except for his straight nose and confident stance that has been, and I suppose always will be, Caleb Becker.
“This is awkward,” he says, breaking the long silence. His voice is deeper and darker than I remember.
This is not just seeing him out of my bedroom window.
We’re alone.
And it’s dark.
And it’s oh, so different.
Needing to go back to the safety of by bedroom, I try to stand. A hot, shooting pain races down the side of my leg and I wince.
I watch in horror and shock as he steps forward and grabs my elbow.
Oh. My. God. I automatically jerk away from his grip. Memories of being stuck in the hospital bed unable to move crash through my mind as I straighten.
“Don’t touch me,” I say.
He holds his hands up as if I just said “Stick ’em up.”
“You don’t have to be afraid of me, Maggie.”
“Yes… yes I do,” I say, panicking.
I hear him let out a breath, then he steps back. But he doesn’t leave, he just stares at me strangely. “We used to be friends.”
“That was a long time ago,” I say. “Before you hit me.”

This story was so full of emotion, but it’s done with a delicate hand and the overall effect leaves you breathless. I zoomed through this book, experiencing the pain and frustrations of Maggie and Caleb, but also feeling like there was something hopeful for both of them at the end of it all. I wanted the two of them to be whole again and it really felt like the key to that was each other. I wanted them to forgive each other and I really wanted them to be honest about what happened between them that fateful night, but a good book is not predictable. Elkeles had me worrying about the couple and their fledgling feelings for each other, and once the book was done it did not go the way I expected. I think that if I didn’t have the sequel in my possession I would have been very upset. I closed this book and immediately started reading Return to Paradise with barely a pause.

Overall: Loved it. Another one that does that slow build of romantic tension that comes with falling in love well, and it does it in a emotionally satisfying package. I would put this in the ‘Blew me away’ category if it wasn’t for an ending that leaves you yearning for the sequel.

Buy: Amazon | Powell’s | The Book Depository

Other reviews:
Angieville – she loved it too
Stacy’s Place on Earth – 5 out of 5 stars
Monkey Bear reviews – recommended
See Michelle Read – positive review