The Night Circus

The Night Circus, is essentially a story of two real-magic magicians who are pitied against each other against their will to a battle to the death. What makes the story so intriguing is the circus itself and how the lives of these two characters intertwine with other people in the circus.

My main issue with this story is how the chapters are not written in chronological order. From one aspect, this echos the mysterious feel the circus itself holds. But from another, it adds confusion for the reader. Especially when certain chapters take place years after the time of the chapters surrounding it.

For example, we are introduced to a character named Bailey, whose chapter, is placed between other chapters that take place years before he's even born. At first, I was thrown off, wondering who this Bailey was when he didn't connect with any other characters I'd been introduced to at that point. Then, I started to like Bailey, and I wanted to read more of him. And then chapter after chapter passes without mention of him. We finally do catch up with him in the proper time line. But then why take one chapter and set it so far off? Why not have his whole story fit more chronologically so I'm not thrown off when I first meet him and I get to continue to read about him when I grow attached to him? The placement of that first chapter makes no sense to me.

It's possible the author was trying to create a certain feeling of suspense or foreshadow by mixing up the chronological order of the chapters, but sometimes even this fails. There's several references in the book of a blinding light that will mean something bad for the circus. As we're following a character who is trying to figure out what happened, we are jumped into the past in a chapter that reveals some of what happened or at least gives the reader enough information to guess, all the before the character we are following figures it out. Why ruin the suspense like that?

There are certain readers, I think, who respond well to such a mixed way of telling. But I was thrown off so many times (not just by the order of chapters, but how some chapters begin in such a way that you have no idea what is going on in relation to what you just read), that I didn't care much for it. I think I would have liked this story a lot better if the chapters had been in order according to their time line.

The other thing that really annoyed me was the complete lack of relationship development between the two main characters. They have one meeting full of electric charge between the two of them - a terrible romance clique, even if it is real in the case of these two - and then the narrative jumps three years and they are desperately in love with each other. We don't get to see their love develop at all. We're just supposed to accept it. And I felt cheated for not getting to see the love grow between them.

Now, I did listen to this story on audio CD, and I had a friend point out that the mixed chronology is less jarring in print. However, what really bugs me is I just can't justify why the chronology is mixed. I don't see the reason behind it. And I really can't get over how glossed over the love story was. Even if I did like the print version better, the issues I take with how the story was told and the love story in particular would still probably bring the book to three stars. I did enjoy the characters, and I did enjoy the circus. But the love story is such an important part of the plot and with the story's structure being so mismatched ... I don't feel loving the circus and the characters can make up for that. I'm sure for the right reader, this book would be perfectly enchanting.

The Reckoning

I zoomed through this book so quickly it's a little difficult to gather my thoughts about it. New dangers pop up, people die left and right, Chloe finally takes charge of her powers, the organization goes down ... things get crazy.

All in all, this book came to a very satisfying ending. Some things were left unexplained and others obviously left open for further books. And there is a trilogy after this one, but I don't know if I'll read it. What I really want to know is how life is like on the run for Chloe and the others. I want to see them grow together as a ragtag family. I want to see Chloe and the others learn to further control their powers. And I want to further understand the risk the kids face by having heightened powers. I want to see this series grow beyond the formulaic kids-manipulated-by-bad-organization-and-bring-it down plot. And I'm pretty sure a whole new trilogy of new kids basically going through the same things Chloe and the gang went through is going to give me what I'm looking for.

This book was definitely the best of the three, and yet it follows a similar plot to the others, with the kids in distrust of their surroundings and needing to escape the danger around them. And then, once the kids start to get into their power and the organization falls, the story ends. I feel like there's so much more that can be done with this story, to become something all its own, and yet it falls to the formula ... to start a new series that as far as I can tell follows the exact same formula, the only difference between the cast of characters, new powers, and a new setting. The sad thing is Chloe's story ends just when it seems to be starting.

I'd love to see Armstrong continue Chloe's story and take it new places. Until then, I'll leave this series here.

Page

Given the mixed reviews I read about this book, I wasn't sure what I'd think of it. Those who didn't like the book cited the jarring lapses of time as the short book crams in a number of years and the odd plot of Keladry's maid. It was a pleasant surprise to find I liked this book even better than the first.

While the first book mainly focused on Keladry's training and the question of whether she'd be able to keep up with the boys physically and if the training master would allow her stay even if she did prove herself, this book starts to go into deeper issues. There's a lot of corruption in the world, and it starts to come to light through the story of Kel's maid, the summer excursion that nearly kills Kel and her classmates, and hints of war coming in future years. We also get some of Kel's personal issues as she starts to notice boys and they start to notice her. All in all, this book was just way more interesting and engaging. The odd passage of time didn't bother me at all.

I still give this book three stars simply because I'm waiting for something more exciting to happen. This book still mainly circles around Kel's training with hints at how the plot is going to pick up in later books. I'm excited to keep moving forward with the series and see how the struggle started in this book lead into the others.

The Awakening

You'd think with how quickly I'm going through this series, I'd be giving it more than three stars. I have to admit that when I pick the book up, I don't want to put it down. Even so, I don't get that "this is great" thoughts/feelings I get that would warrant a four or five-star review.

Chloe has been captured by the big bad organization. She escapes, meets up with the rest of the gang, and the group of them are on the run, searching for someone to help them while they try to keep each other alive.

Here's what I've realized about this series so far - it's a story about teenagers running from the "big bad organization" that's out to get them. In that, this story is nothing new. It's been written before. And yes, this series has necromancy and werewolves and magic, but it's such a small part of the story. Take those elements away, and this story is nothing special or unique. And while I'm enjoying the series, it doesn't have that spark that makes it jump out at me and claim it as my favorite.

I still recommend pick it up and giving it a try. I enjoy the characters, and I like that the author doesn't skimp over the hard stuff - werewolf transformations, rotting corpses. I'm definitely sticking with this series still the end, and I'll still be quite happy for getting into it. But, as I said, this story has been written before and that keeps it from standing out, at least for me.

Sister Light, Sister Dark

This book has consistent 5-star ratings on Goodreads, so I feel a little bad for not enjoying it as much.

The world is certainly imaginative. The women of Alta hames have the power to call forth their dark sisters from the other side of the mirror, sisters who are them and not them at the same time. Learning the culture of the hame was a large draw of the book for me. I got into it, and I enjoyed being in that world.

What I didn't like is how the book is divided up into sections - Legend, Myth, History, Song, Ballad ... These sections add little, if anything, to the story itself and mostly served to pull me out of the narrative. I didn't care about the historical analysis of the Alta women from 700 years in the future. I didn't care about a song written about the events I had just read. I didn't care about a legend that foretold what I was about to read. I just wanted to read the story without being interrupted by extraneous information. 

After a couple chapters I just skipped over the extra sections, making an already short book (about 200 pages) even shorter, which brings me to the second thing that annoyed me a little. This is the first book in a two-book story that could have easily been combined into one. Not only is the book short, but it has the same issue I felt with Star of the Morning, which is this book by itself does not tell a complete story. The plot really only picks up at the end with what really should be the middle of the book or just before it. 

This first book, really is just set up for the next one, and I just take issues with stories that are published like this. One book, should tell one complete story, in my opinion. It can have lose ends. Questions can be left unanswered. But there needs to be a rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution. This book doesn't have that. It's all just rising action. And that bothers me.

So, it gets three stars because I found the book itself to be lacking. But I do plan on continuing on to the next book.

The Summoning

This book took a while to get into its stride. First we have a girl running around while being chased by ghosts, so a supernatural thriller kind of feel. Then we find ourselves in a house full of kids with special powers that gave off a kind of x-men vibe. And then we have the dead rising and werewolves ... which I think finally got the book to match up with the feel the blurb had promised.

Chloe is a 15 year old girl, who one day runs screaming down the halls of her high school while being chases by a ghost. Diagnosed with schizophrenia, Chloe is placed in a group home for teens with mental illnesses. Through interactions with the doctors and her housemates, Chloe soon discovers things are not as they seem.

This book has a good pace to it. I read it quickly and was continuously turning the pages, unwilling to put the book down. I enjoyed the story, and I'm looking forward to picking up the last two books in the series.

Fangirl

This is one of those books that's difficult for me to wrap my head around. It doesn't follow the traditional rise and fall of stories I like to read. There's no real building up to the climax and then coming back down for the resolution. It's more like a book of evens that just take place during the novel's time line. Come to to think of it, First Test did the same thing.

Cath is the biggest Simon Snow fan ever. She embarks on her first year of college, dealing with boys, classes, and her family. In many ways, I loved this book. Cath is me in so many ways. My social anxiety is nowhere near as bad, but it's enough that I understood hers. Her experiences as the fandom she loves just breaths through her ... I get it. And her uncertainty with her fiction classes ... is she really cut out to be a writer or does she just want to write fanfic for the rest of her life? I've been there. There's a lot in this book I relate to.

But, taking a step back and looking at this in terms of a story ... For one, the book just kind of ends. There's not much of a resolution to anything other than Cath's boy anxiety. She does finally turn in the fiction story she's been procrastinating about the whole year, but we don't get anything about how she felt writing it or how she felt after. Does she still think fanfic is only for her, or is she more confident in her abilities now? Does she want to keep trying with original work? What about the fanfic she's been working so hard on for the past two years? Did she finally finish it? What are her thoughts and feelings about that? How does she envision Simon and Baz in her life now that the series and her project is final over?

I just feel like Cath had a lot of questions and a lot of struggles during her first year, and I know a lot of them can't be resolved realistically in one year of school. But I also feel like a story has to have some kind of resolution, not just end. And that's how I felt finishing this book, like, "Wait a minute? This is the end of it? What happened to all this stuff?"

I liked the book, it was enjoyable. And I related to a giant chunk of it on a deeply personal level. I just would have liked there to be more a resolution to the story. I prefer it when a book has a more solid story arch. That's just me.

First Test

This is the first book in Tamora Pierce's Protector of the Small series. This is also the first book of Tamora Pierce's that I have read. Looking at her other series, this is the one that interested me the most, so I picked it up. This series follows the story of Keladry, or Kel for short, who is the first girl admitted to training to become a knight since the King's proclamation that girls could do so. Kel has one year to prove she can keep up with the boys or else she'll be sent home.

I read this book within a day. It's short - about 200 hundred pages. And there's no real overarching plot - the story mostly just goes through Kel's training as the year progresses. What makes it much more interesting than say the training in Gwenhwyfar: The White Spirit is it's not just details of the children's chores for the day. We get Kel's thoughts and emotions as she tries and sometimes fails and sometimes succeeds at the tasks. We get the slow progression of friendships Kel forms with her fellow students. We get the back and forth sense of uncertainty from the training master - is he for or against Kel?

For such a simple book, there's a lot of emotion packed into it. You are driven to care about the characters and what happens as the year moves on. I had no desire to put the book until I was through to the end. Kel herself is very likable, befriending animals and protecting her smaller classmates (Kel is tall for her age). She's smart and capable, though at times uncertain. And she has a fear of heights.

I liked this book, and I'll definitely be picking up the rest of the series.

The Mage's Daughter

And we are back with the second book in the first trilogy of Lynn Kurland's The Nine Kingdoms series. As we return, this book focuses primarily on Morgan and Miach. Morgan is as stubborn and willful as ever, though a little unsure of herself given the evens of the previous book and with Miach's affections continuing to catch her off guard.

Finally, in this book the plot picks up. Morgan's true identity is realized, the danger to the kingdom is identified, and Morgan and Miach's relationship is eventually solidified. There's still magic and swordplay going on, though not as much as the previous novel. Primarily this book focuses on Morgan and Miach's relationship. And me, being a lover of romance, ate it up. Unlike the previous novel, this does seem to have a solid beginning and ending - mainly the relationship arc - and I feel like I could go back and read it on its own if I wanted, though reading the first book prior to is still required to give this one context.

I'm very excited to move on to the final book in the trilogy. I expect it to have plenty of action with magic and sword play, and danger and romance of course. I can't wait!

Dead Witch Walking

A witch working as law enforcement to round up criminals in the form of leprechauns, vampires, werewolves, and other otherworldly creatures as she dodges murderous charms from the her former work agency with her pixie sidekick and vampire roommate looking out for her? I was all over this. Seriously, what could be better?

And then things got weird and annoying. First there's the history of a bio-engendered virus escaping its lab and killing most of the human race to the point that all those otherworldly creatures find themselves at level numbers with the humans so they don't feel they needed to hide anymore. I was fully on board with suspending reality and believing this was a world where humans and otherworldly creatures co-exist with each other without needing any further explanation. Having the back story of every apocalypse movie ever didn't add anything for me. It just felt out of place. (And I have a hard time believing humanity would boycott pizza for all eternity just because the virus was transmitted by an infected tomato.)

The main character's interactions with Ivy drove me up the wall. They've worked together for 10 years. I was under the impression they were supposed to be good friends. And yet Rachel scrutinizes her every word, every move, and every look (and I mean every single one) like she's just waiting for her to attack. Why do you hang out with this woman if you don't trust her that badly? Even after Ivy goes all vampire and freaks Rachel out, the scrutinizing just got on my nerves. Ivy apologizes and Rachel just can't get over it. And after the two of them have a heart to heart, Rachel still scrutinizes her every move. Through the entirety of the book Ivy's just trying to help, and all Rachel can do is accuse her of wanting to drink her blood.

Rachel is annoying. Aside from the condescending way she treats Ivy, she is constantly running head long into things, never thinking them through. Through the whole beginning of the book, people are removing death charms off of her that she admits she should have seen but was too preoccupied to notice. She comes up with the idea of breaking into the office of the biggest drug dealer in the city (while in a disguise she knows most people can see through), gets caught, and makes a plan to go back the next day, knowing she's likely to get caught again, which she does.

The writing in this book is a little disjointed. There were several points where I had to go aback and re-read the last paragraph because I didn't understand how we had gone from one point to another. The main plot line also just seemed a little weird to me. Rachel is in law enforcement, not the mafia. Why would they kill people who decided to leave the agency? And if you have enough money to buy out of your contract, you're free to go with no strings attached? They aren't going to hound you for the rest of your life to get more money? There doesn't seem to be any reason to this. It just is.

I enjoyed the different creatures in this book. The vampires, the pixies, the weres. I liked the different forms of magic. I wanted to keep reading just to say I'd gotten through it all. But after skimming through the third quarter of the book, I just had to give up. I couldn't take it anymore.

Zel

I've been wondering lately if fairy tale retellings just aren't for me. As much as I liked this book, it didn't captivate me in the way I felt it should, and I can find no fault in the novel to suggest why. So I can only assume in some way this story just wasn't for me. And then I think of how much I love Ella Enchanted ... maybe I just need the right kind of retelling?

Zel is a retelling of the Rapunzel fairy tale and follows the dark Brother's Grimm version - the one where the prince sleeps with Rapunzel and when the Mother finds out she gouges out the prince's eyes and banishes Rapunzel to wonder the desert and birth her children alone, that version.

Some people aren't going to like this book because of the darker material, but I believe Napoli handles the material well. She doesn't shy away from the fact that someone locked up in a tower for years with no one for company would slowly go insane. She doesn't brush aside that having hair that long and having someone climb it would cause excruciating pain.

What this book does well is provide insight into each character - their thoughts, their emotions, their motivations for doing things. Why would anyone trade their child for handfuls of lettuce? Why is Rapunzel locked in the tower? Why doesn't she try to leave? And how does the prince become so infatuated with her? I appreciated these clarifications on the original tale, I enjoyed having such well-rounded characters, and liked that the darker elements of the story were given and explored and not sugar coated or brushed aside.

The novel switches back and forth between three points of view - the Mother, Zel, and the prince. Normally, I don't like novels that switch perspective between characters because it usually isn't done well and I end up confused. But I experienced no such confusion with this novel.

So, why three stars if I can point out so many good things? It's hard to explain ... I didn't feel absorbed into the story. I wasn't enchanted by it. I liked it. It's a good story. It just didn't seem to have whatever I need to say that I really like a story or that it was fantastic.

I would definitely recommend picking up Zel if you like the story of Rapunzel and are looking for retellings on it, especially if you don't mind the darker stuff. As a retelling, the novel does what it does well and is very good in that aspect. If you are not looking for a retelling specifically, and just want a good book to curl up with and get sucked into, this novel might not be what you are looking for.

Poison Study

Okay, so I'm throwing out the idea of reviewing series as sets unless I have reason to otherwise. Ha. Next up, we have Poison Study by Maria V. Snyder. I've been thinking lately about how a lot of books have pointless prologues or just have poor beginning chapters that don't offer much substance and their books take too long to get to the point. This book, however, is awesome in that we are dumped right into the action.

We meet Yelena as she is about to go to her execution for killing a general's son. The Comander's poison taster (this is a kingdom controlled by the military) has recently died, and as per the Code of Conduct, the position must be offered to those facing execution (I guess since no one but someone already facing their death would be crazy enough to take the job). Yelena accepts, and finds herself in a position where her life is threatened every bit as much as before.

This novel suffers from an identity crisis. Since the characters are in a castle and there's no electricity, I would think the setting is going for middle ages (and the cover helps with that). There's also mention of period appropriate clothing. But there are modern influences that pop up that shouldn't. For one, not even the most prestigious castle would have running hot water. Technology would not be advanced enough for switchblades or trampolines. I'm not sure "disinfectant" would have been a word. "Military district" would not have been shorted to "MD" in conversation or conscious thought. Yelena wouldn't bathe everyday. And even though this is a fantasy kingdom with it's own customs, animals, people, and countries, coffee somehow exists. This book doesn't know if it wants to be medieval, it's own fantasy realm, or modern.

There's some not so well constructed story elements. Yelena is given a poison that she needs a daily antidote to for the rest of her life or she'll die. I might be willing to believe Yelena doesn't realize poisons don't work like that, but you're telling me no one out of the multiple people Yelena goes to for help don't know poisons don't work like that? There's no possible way Valek could have switched out a poisoned bottle of wine with a clean one. He'd have to have the second bottle close by, for one. And since the wine is from a country they don't import with, it'd be impossible. And there's no way a master chief wouldn't have thought of roasting some mystery beans to change their flavor, especially not when Yelena asked if they were coffee beans, which he's been craving for years.

Transitions are severely lacking between paragraphs. For example: In one sentence Yelena is talking with Lisa, then paragraph break and Yelena is with the Camander. Yes, I know Yelena was on her way to the Camander and she caught Lisa on the way there. I can figure that out, but you need to tell me that Yelena moved from Lisa's side and continued on her way so I don't sit there and go "wait-wha?" in the moment. This kind of thing happens throughout the book.

The author needs to give more description in certain instances. At one point Yelena gets out a grappling hook and "climbs through the trees." How? How is this working with the grappling hook? How is she moving from tree to tree? You need to describe it to me. When Yelena and the love interest finally kiss, it's glossed over so quickly, the meaning that's supposed to be attached to it went right over my head. More description was needed here and in other places.

Yes, this novel has issues. It makes me sad to think these are all things a good editor could have caught and worked with the author to correct. When you look at it all written up, the damage would seem pretty major. Yet, I've always said that if a story is good, I can overlook almost any other issues. And this book proves to follow that rule. Despite everything, I got caught up in the story. I couldn't put the book down. And when I finished with it, I immediately wanted the next one.

Devil May Cry

I decided to read this after reading Acheron because it involves Acheron's daughter. I wanted to read about her and the moment when she and Acheron meet. And in that I was satisfied. In other ways ...

As I've said before, I love the mythology in these books and the interactions between the gods - learning about their mistakes, their loss of power, their family relations. I eat it up. The modern day vampire romance doesn't do much for me. And having the main characters throw themselves at each other after a few minutes of having met doesn't help. But, it comes with the territoriality. Honestly, I think the romance genre could be done well if an effort was made to form realistic relationships. But, I digress.

All in all, I wasn't very interested in the plot of this book. And I found myself reading it just so I could get to the end and be done. One of the things Kenyon usually does well in her novels is sass. Kat dishes out a lot of it and Sin dishes it back to her. For the first few chapters, I loved it, but then it started to get annoying. I don't know if it was too much or if I was just annoyed at everything else.

This book is basically one huge pity party. Through the entirety of it, Sin is constantly wondering and often out right asking Kat if she's going to betray him. Even after she confesses her love for him and risks her life on more than one occasion and bends over backwards to help him out, he's still wondering when she's going to put a knife in his back. And then Kat starts questioning if he's going to betray her, like Sin's issues have rubbed off on her or something. And then Acheron starts - it's a wonder I actually finished this book instead of throwing it against the wall and saying the heck with it!

As side from the story itself, there's a lot of information in here that deals with what is in Acheron, and some of it is near word for word scenes that go into the book. Why, as an author, if you knew you were going to write a book on a particular character, would you pack so much information into the previous novels? Part of my enjoyment of Acheron was that most of it was new to me. I'm not sure I would have enjoyed it that much if I had read the series in order and had had so much of it explained to me beforehand.

I won't be continuing with the rest of series, but that was pretty much a given. I only really wanted to read Acheron, which I've done. The rest of this series really isn't for me. But if you're interested in trying it out, my recommendation would be to pick up Dance with the Devil and go from there.

Magic to the Bone

I'm looking for a fantasy series that I can get into for a while - one longer than just a trilogy. Maybe I'm looking in the wrong place by turning to the romance genre, but some of them just look so darn fascinating. I mean, look at that cover! Doesn't she just seem bad ass?

The world of Allie Backstrom is one is which you don't just use magic, magic uses you. Each use of magic has a price, and it can be anything from a headache to lost memories to death. Magic is a kind of power source, and like electricity it comes from certain sources within the earth that have to be channeled through pipes or wires to make it available for people to use if they are not near one of these direct sources.

I have mixed feelings about the magic in this world. It's definitely a new spin on things, but I tend to favor the idea of magic being an internal ability that not everyone has. That said, there were hints in this book of magic being more than is understood.

This novel had a few small things going against it that just added up to too much for me to continue with it. For one, in the first half of the novel, Allie travels back and forth between two exact same places a total of three times. It felt completely unnecessary and redundant and it annoyed me.

Second, Allie makes some seemingly irrational choices. She's poor and uses up her last $10 on the first cab ride. She continues to ride the cab after this and someone always pops up at the last minute to pay her fair. And then, at the very end, after traveling back and forth between these places repeatedly, she decides to forgo the cab and get on a bus because she has a pre-paid bus pass.

I about fell about of my seat. When you're poor and you don't have money, you don't spend your last $10 that you could use for food on a cab ride when you have freaking pre-paid bus pass! In addition, there's several points in the novel when she wants to contact the police, but instead of having the cab take her to the police station, she has it take her somewhere she can call the police ... and then inevitably gets distracted and fails to do so. *headdesk*

There's a scene in the middle of the night where there's some creepy guy who sees her looking at him out the window, and her response to this is to go outside where he is because she can't stand the thought of staying inside (where it's safer) when the creepy guy knows she's there. (what?!) She's doesn't even know the guy is coming after her. He just looked at her because she was looking at him from the window. There's six or seven dead bolts on the door, girl, you'll be fine. Chill.

Lastly, the romance annoyed the crap out of me. She's just met this guy. He's been hired by her super controlling father (who Allie suspects may also be partial to murder) to spy on her. And the minute they're alone together, she just can't help herself over his oh-so-hot body, and throws herself at him.

And then, after someone tries to kill her, spy-guy picks her up in his car to take her to safety. She's covered in blood and grime from walking through a garbage dump to escape her chasers and having found a near-dead body. Said body is lying unconscious in the seat next to her, and she and spy guy proceed to nearly have sex in the back of the car.

Allie, girl, you are on the run from someone trying to kill you. For all you know, they are right behind you. There's a kid possibly dying in the seat next to you. You stink to high heaven. And spy-guy's trust worthiness is still in question. You do not stop to have sex in the back of a car! You are not a bag of teenage hormones devoid of all rational thought!

There's some good elements to the story. Cody's story is really interesting and makes me want to continue. The magic element, how it is obtained and how it uses you back, is very intriguing. There's some very bad people doing some very bad things ... I wanted to like this, and I tried to keep reading. But at this point, I was half way through the book, and every time I opened it to continue I couldn't bring myself to do it. It just didn't seem worth dragging myself through. There's other books on my to re-read list, and I'd rather visit them.

The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry

This is an interesting novel. Each chapter begins with a short story that usually relates to the chapter. The characters talk about books or reference them in conversation. There's book clubs formed, books that are stolen, a baby that's left in the bookstore A.J. runs ... it's a book about books.

I would definitely say that I enjoyed this book. It's witty at times. Other times the references go over my head because they are talking about something I haven't read. But it was still a good read and I could find no major fault with it. That said, I have nothing particularly stirring about it to say either. It was what it was, and it was enjoyable.

Another fascinating three-star review, at your service.

Gwenhwyfar: The White Spirit

The synopsis of this book is extremely misleading. You'd think the Gwen in the novel is the Guinevere who becomes Arthur's wife, but she's not. In fact, the novel opens just before Arthur's wedding. The protagonist of the novel is a girl who shares Guinevere's name and who lives on the very outskirts of Arthur's kingdom. In fact, she mentions they are so far on the outskirts that anything Arthur does would barely cause a ripple for her and her family.

The book is interesting to a certain extent. You can tell Lackey really did her research on this one as she goes into great detail involving the goings on of the castle, the clothing, the decor, etc. The religious aspects are interesting to. Part of me wanted to continue with the story just so I could fully understand this world Lackey had put together.

Yet, the pacing of the book is slow. By chapter six, I still had no idea why we were following this not-Guinevere around. We learn about her sisters, none of which she is particularly attached to, and her desire to be a warrior, which is fulfilled as she undergoes training. And training itself is nothing particularly interesting either.

If I'd had this in book form instead of audio CD, I would have been skimming over the pages in the hopes to getting to something more substantial. As it was, I kept listening to the book for background noise, not because I had any further interest in it. A third of the way through the book is when the plot finally gets moving. And even then, it's in such a sinister way as to make me certain that not only would I not enjoy this book but I'd be frustrated and angry until the final pages.

I've read Mercedes Lackey before and enjoyed her work. I thought I was going to like this, and I really wanted to. The detail she puts into the world is admirable, and from what I've read from other reviews of this story, she goes into some of the less favorable tales of Arthur - the killing of all the May born babies in an effort to kill Mordred, the switching out of Guinevere for a fake one so that Mordred can have the real one...

I think it's clear that Lackey set out to do something specific with the book, and I applaud her efforts. It's possible she even succeeded at what she had hoped to do, but this book - with it's slow pacing and what I'm sure was to be an utterly depressing plot - isn't for me.

Star of the Morning

The Nine Kingdoms series by Lynn Kurland consist of three trilogies. We'll be looking at the first one, which follows the story of Morgan, a willful and stubborn sword hand, and her mage-love, Miach. Some readers encounter this series and are turned off my Morgan's attitude, finding her whiny. I liked her.

I'm always impressed when an author can write something that sounds boring - a long journey from one end of the country to the other - and make it exciting. Really, that's what this novel entails, just one long journey from the first few chapters to the last. And yet there's plenty of danger, swords, magic, and some flirtations to keep the reader entertained. The characters themselves are likable and enjoyable to read about.

And yet, in the form of a story ... there isn't much here. There's the beginnings of a romance. Morgan's identity has only begun to be understood. There's still no telling where exactly the dangers of the kingdom are coming from. And the novel just ends with the journey finished but no real resolution to anything. It's an enjoyable enough of a read, but on it's own it feels incomplete and leaves something to be desired. That said, I connected with the characters and the plot enough to want to continue the series.

Acheron

I had said I would review books in a series all at once. It seems I'm just finding more and more exceptions to that rule. I began the Dark Hunter series by Sherrilyn Kenyon with Dance with the Devil, which I found to be very charming and endearing and lovely. The series itself is some 23 books long currently, and I knew I wasn't interested in reading the entire list. But, the character of Acheron fascinated me, so I decided to just jump to his story.

In regards to the Dark Hunter series, think Greek myth meets vampires. Basically, the Dark Hunters are people who have died and are brought back from the dead without their souls, twisting them into vampires. Their purpose is to hunt the demons that hunt humanity ... or something like that. And they can only regain their soul if someone loves them enough to fight for it ... again, something like that. I'm a little rusty on the specifics.

I plowed through the first half of Acheron's book which deals with his life in ancient Greece. This is the aspect of this series that I just eat up - Greek mythology, ancient times - I just loved seeing that environment and seeing how Acheron met Artemis. I didn't want to put the book down.

The second half of the book is slower and deals with aspects I'm less interested - modern times and vampire romance. But there's still plenty going on to make it interesting, and I enjoyed reading through it. I just didn't find it as engaging as the first half. It was still a very enjoyable novel and I'm glad I picked it up. If you read the Dark Hunter series, Acheron's book is a must have (and you don't need me to tell you that). If you don't ... some of this stuff will go right over your head. But I think you could still enjoy it.

Princess of the Midnight Ball

This is another instance where I think it's appropriate not to review a series all together. For one, I don't know when I'll get access to the other books. For another, this seems like a series where the individual books stand on their own.

Princess of the Midnight Ball is a retelling of the fairy tale, The Twelve Dancing Princesses. Every night, the twelve princesses of the kingdom have ruined their slippers as though they had spent the whole night dancing. No one knows how, though, as the princesses never appear to leave their rooms.

I'm already noticing an odd trend with these three-star books. The story was entertaining. I have nothing bad to say about it, though also nothing relatively spectacular either. The plot and characters kept my attention, and that's all a book really needs to do to keep me interested from the first page to the last. And that's all this book did. Again, not to say that's bad - I liked it enough to want to pick up the rest of the series - but that's all I have to say about it.

Howl's Moving Castle

I've seen the movie, Howl's Moving Castle, a number of times. I found it enchanting, even if certain elements seemed a little unclear. I have to say that if you've seen the movie and liked it, even a little, then you should read the book. It's better.

Sophie is the eldest sister of three, and believes she will never amount to anything. She works as a hat maker in a shop run by her step mother. One day, the Witch of the Waste arrives and curses Sophie into an old woman. Unable to explain her curse, Sophie flees town. She finds herself on the doorstep of the evil wizard Howl's castle. Taking on as Howl's cleaning lady, Sophie uncovers the wizard's true nature and works to break his own curse as well as his contract with a fire demon.

The book is every bit, if not more so enchanting than the movie. The building of the world, the characters, and the magic is simply wonderful and immediately sucks you in. Things only started to slow down for me when the real world was introduced. I felt it broke some of the magic going on. And how Howl came from this ordinary world into this magical world to be one of the most powerful wizards isn't explained.

The ending of the novel also seems to happen very suddenly. It's not clear when exactly Howl turns his attentions to Sophie, nor is it clear when Sophie stops believing she can't achieve anything grand in life. The change happens subconsciously for Sophie and she mistakes it on Howl, making it easy for the reader to miss since the novel is told from Sophie's point of view. I think a re-read could fix this and might soften the blow I felt from the introduction of the real world as well.

All in all, I liked the novel very much. I don't feel I could call it one of my favorites without giving it a second read, but I'd pretty much recommend it to anyone who likes fantasy or has seen the movie to give it a try.

Once Upon a Marigold

Once Upon a Marigold is a cutesy, pun-filled, predictable book. For the right person, that's all you need to know to never pick it up. For the first two chapters, I wasn't sure where the book was going. Even once we got to the main plot, I wasn't sure this book was something I would continue with.

What did keep me going were the characters. They aren't cardboard cutouts and are surprisingly well rounded for a book of this nature. I really got to enjoy hanging out with them, and they carried me through the book. 

That said, this book is the first in a trilogy. And while I would say I liked this book, I can't say that I liked it enough to pick up the others. These just aren't the right kind of books for me.

Fairest

I feel kind of bad starting the blog off on a book that is going to receive less than a three star rating, but here we are. I picked up Gail Carson Levine's Fairest because I absolutely loved Ella Enchanted - it's a five star book. I had expected Fairest to hold to a similar caliber, but was disappointed.

The story follows a young girl, named Aza (who we may know as Snow White) who believes she is ugly and has a talent for singing. Through some luck and talent, she has the opportunity to visit the royal castle where she wins over the new Queen and becomes her lady in waiting. When the king falls ill, the Queen proves disastrous in her rule and Aza finds herself running for her life.

The story is charming enough. We watch Aza grow into her own and discover her strengths and inner beauty. We follow her struggle to overcome her circumstances and eventually claim her birth right (I'm being vague here to avoid spoilers). The world itself has some enchanting elements - particularly the visit to the gnomes.

But for me, the story falls flat with the characterization of the Queen. I simply don't know what to make of her. We know that she's vain, and she goes to lengths to kill to preserve her image. And yet we also know her mind is being poisoned by the mirror, which has it's own agenda. So we don't know how much of the Queen's actions are really her own. When Aza eats the poisoned apple, the Queen becomes distraught, calling Aza her friend. She even seems confused as to what actually happened. It's the mirror that reassures her that what's done is done and right.

The Queen also seems a little air-headed. Upon her first meeting with the royal counsel, she dissolves it, finding it tiresome and boring. It would seem that she doesn't have a head for ruling. And yet she says repeatedly that she wants to be a strong queen, like those of history. It would seem she wants to put forth a solid rule for the people but simply doesn't know the right way to go about it. The people hate her for her actions, and at the end of the novel she apologizes for some of them, saying that she simply didn't understand how upsetting some of them were.

There's also the question of why the King married her. It is revealed the mirror enhanced the Queen's beauty. Is it possible the King had been mesmerized? The Queen also does not appear to love him. She flirts with several other men in the novel and goes so far as to debate her future husband should the King not recover. She bemoans his possible death only because she will not have someone to love her. She never once admits to loving him.

And yet when the King recovers he says it was the Queen's voice that led him out of the darkness and saved his life. When it is revealed to him how terrible her rule has been, he plans so that he can pass the rule onto his son and he and the Queen can go off and live in retirement. It's unclear if this decision is because the King realizes the Queen is incapable of ruling or if he feels recent events have blemished the people's trust and it would just be better to step down. Never does he have anything bad to say about his wife. He seems to be acting purely on blind love.

All that does is bring up more questions about the Queen. Is she a good person who was manipulated by a magical object? Or is she a vain and superficial woman in which the mirror brought out her worst qualities? Am I supposed to dislike her or feel sorry for her? Could she and Aza have been good friends if it hadn't been for the mirror? Would her rule have been any different without the mirror present?

The problem with this is when the main villain of a story is so ambiguous, the main conflict of the story becomes ambiguous as well. I'm not sure how to feel about Aza's conflicts with the Queen as the story progresses - again, how much is her and how much is the mirror? Aza's poisoning seems due to the mirror's influence, and yet when the mirror is destroyed, there is no clear difference in the Queen's attitude. The novel's ending, though certainly a good for Aza feels incomplete when the Queen's struggle is so unclear. Should I be happy for her? Worried for the King? Should I feel justice has been served?

I might feel different if the mirror had a larger role. It's the only clear villain in the story, and yet Aza encounters it briefly and destroys it quickly. Another area that might have helped are certain points where Aza seems in danger of falling to vanity herself, which makes her similar to the Queen and might suggest we should sympathize with her if our hero could have ended up the same. However this is never fully explored, and so I'm not sure what was intended by it.

When it's hard to understand the main characters in a story, the story itself lacks. And that's how I felt while reading this story - something was lacking. I didn't have all the information I needed to make the story exciting and engaging. It was just okay. Had the Queen's character been more clear, I'm sure I would have felt differently.

Introduction

I am terrible about keeping blogs, absolutely terrible - a fantastic introduction, I know. And yet every time I fail to keep up with one, I find myself itching to start another. So here I am again.

The idea behind this blog is to post reviews of books I read as I read them. I've fallen behind on my reading habits in recent years and now that I have access to two local libraries, I've been picking it up again. I'm hoping to keep it up and give myself a reading challenge for next year. So, ideally, this blog will be full of stuff, at least for the year.

My reading interests mostly involve low fantasy. I like ghosts, magic, witches, swords, and kingdoms. I enjoy the occasional romance novel, though I'm often frustrated by the formulas of that genre. I like some YA that doesn't follow the current trends of girl-faces-distopia. I'd like to read more graphic novels. I delve into other genres from time to time, and I have a few on my to-be-read list. I don't generally read non-fiction.

My reviews won't contain any in depth analysis of the novel's language, symbolism, or anything else of that sort. For me, a novel must contain relatable characters and an exciting plot that adds up to an engaging story. That will be the main criteria for reviews.

If I read a series, I'll be reviewing it all at once. So, time between reviews will vary. I may mix things up by reviewing books I've read previously. I don't have a set schedule for reviews planned. I'm thinking of trying to go with once a week or every other week or maybe just as I read things. We'll have to see.

Review ratings will consist of the following format:

And I think that's all we need to know to get started! I'm excited to see what the year will bring!