Book review: Days of Blood & Starlight (Daughter of Smoke & Bone, #2)

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

4.5 stars really, only because Taylor used the phrase "off of" (and not even in dialog). Why? WHY?

There wasn't much of Prague in this book, which was one of the main attractions for me in the first one. Instead, the setting on the human side of the portal shifts to an abandoned casbah in Morocco (the Shareef don't like it!) which has been taken over by the chimaera forces.

The characters are more developed here and Taylor's gifted prose, lyrical at times, makes for an enjoyable read. The world-building, in both the human realm and in Eretz, is also far more developed. Overall, I enjoyed this sequel more than the first book, largely because there was less sappy romance. Now, I have to get a hold of book three.

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Book review: The Book of Blood and Shadow, by Robin Wasserman

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I discovered Robin Wasserman by accident (with the Cold Awakening trilogy) a couple of years ago, when looking for Scott Westerfeld's books. I haven't read anything by her since then, so I'd forgotten what a fantastic writer she is.

Part of my attraction to this book was the setting. I'm fascinated by Prague, and it's near the top of my list for cities I'd visit if I were independently wealthy and could spend my days traveling. Wasserman certainly does the setting justice: the dual storyline, with the parallelism between 16th-century Prague and the present day, added to my enjoyment.

I'm not a big fan of the current trend to stick a romance in every YA book, but in this book it was woven into the story well enough that it was integral to the plot. The characters have surprising depth, again a tribute to Wasserman's skill. I've heard others draw comparisons to certain Dan Brown books, and that's probably apt, except I would add the qualifier that I enjoyed the writing much more--it often has a poetic quality that you don't find in many fast-paced YA books. Highly recommended!



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Book review: The Rest of Us Just Live Here by Patrick Ness

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is my second book this month that involves two stories in one, and both books were by two of my favorite YA authors. In this one, however, the secondary story happens mostly in the background, unlike Scott Westerfeld's Afterworlds, in which the chapters alternate between two very different stories.

The writing was, as usual for Ness, excellent: quirky, well-developed characters, settings with just the right amount of detail to make them come alive, and a compelling narrative voice. Somehow, though, the book just didn't grab me by the throat and shake me until my teeth rattled, which is something I've come to expect from Ness. Instead, it was more of a slow, simmering process. Well worth reading, though.

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Book review: Afterworlds by Scott Westerfeld

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

4.5 stars

I couldn't give this a perfect score, only because I have very high standards when it comes to Scott Westerfeld: I expect every book to be uniformly excellent. This one was pretty damn good, but it was missing just the tiniest touch of his magic.

The dual-story concept was a bit jarring at first, but I actually liked it as I went along. I may be doing something similar for a novel I'm working on (1st-person narrative with 3rd-person main story), so the book was helpful from that standpoint.

Like many reviewers, I thought the premise of the whole Darcy story was pretty far-fetched (as much as I'd like to have that much faith in the publishing industry). But hey, this is fantasy, right? Still a good read.

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Book review: James Potter and the Morrigan Web, by G. Norman Lippert

James Potter and The Morrigan Web by G. Norman Lippert

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


"Bloody brilliant," as Ron would say.

Lippert captured Rowling's magic in his setting and characters from the first book. However, he's even managed to develop her famous, progressively darker story arc across the series. This book is a page-turner, with a complex plot that builds to a larger conclusion. Unfortunately, we may never get to see the rest of the series. I really wish Rowling, her publishers, and Warner Brothers could work out an arrangement where Lippert could be compensated for his work. Meanwhile, I'll continue to buy him coffee.



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Book review: Dying To Forget, by Trish-Marie Dawson

Dying To Forget by Trish Marie Dawson

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Three and a half stars. An interesting take on a serious issue that you don’t find in most popular YA books—suicide. Dawson presents some of the issues without sugar-coating. It’s a quick, light read, and the pacing is generally good, as is the voice of Piper. However, I thought the second “assignment” (Abby) seemed rushed and unrealistic, in contrast to the first. Her story read almost as if she changed her life overnight simply by changing her appearance.

Overall, I enjoyed the book except for the ending—I prefer each book in a series to stand alone. The other issue that lowered my rating was repeated typos (e.g., “confidant” for “confident”) and punctuation errors, especially unnecessary apostrophes. Hopefully, the next book in the series will benefit from professional editing.




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Book review: The Aftermath, by Jen Alexander

The Aftermath by Jen Alexander

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I'm not a gamer, and this book is clearly designed to appeal to gamers. And yet, I found myself sucked in right from the start. The writing is solid--it's hard to believe this is a debut novel. The plotting and very capable story-telling keep you turning the pages. There's a lot of action, as you might expect for the genre, and the pacing is generally taut, except perhaps for a slight sagging in the middle. I would have liked some more character development, although I suspect that most readers wouldn't want that to happen at the expense of the action.

Perhaps the best part of Alexander's achievement is the world-building. At times, it had an almost Gibsonesque feel, and again something even a non-gamer could appreciate. I must also praise Alexander for writing this novel in first-person present. I've heard, so many times, how YA readers are turned off by this particular POV and tense combination, but it happens to be one of my favorites (thank you, Suzanne Collins) and Alexander once again proves that it works.

I'm not a big fan of cliff-hanger endings. However, this one had the desired effect: I'm definitely looking forward to reading the next book in the series.

Note: I received a free advance review copy of this book from the publisher.




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Book review: Notes to Self, by Avery Sawyer

Notes to Self by Avery Sawyer
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
This book is about so much more than the story: a girl recovering from a brain injury, whose best friend is still in a coma. If you're looking for a run-of-the-mill, action-packed YA novel, Notes to Self isn't it. Instead, it's a character-driven masterpiece that explores issues of identity, dealing with loss, being isolated by your peers, and discovering new depth in old relationships. Sawyer manages to create a compelling, deeply moving story without melodrama or excess. I'd definitely recommend this book for anyone who wants more depth than the average YA genre novel.
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Book review: A Monster Calls, by Patrick Ness

A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Like the Chaos Walking trilogy, this novel is filled with gut-wrenching emotional intensity, though it's a very different type of story. The writing is aimed at a younger audience, but Ness doesn't shy away from the complexity that his subject demands. As in Chaos Walking, Ness builds on the theme that the most difficult demons to face are those within ourselves. The hauntingly beautiful writing is enhanced by the superb illustrations by Jim Kay--if ever there was a book that made the case for print over e-books, this is it. It's a work of art in every sense of the word, and a fitting tribute to the late Siobhan Dowd, who inspired its creation.



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Book review: City of the Falling Sky by Joseph Evans

City of the Falling Sky by Joseph Evans
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

3.5 stars. I downloaded a sample of City of the Falling Sky and liked it enough to buy the book. There are the obvious tie-ins with Harry Potter--strange creatures and foods--but it's hard to find a YA fantasy book that doesn't have any, these days. I liked Seckry's character; it was realistic enough that he didn't come off as the perfect protagonist who has no flaws. On the whole, the writing level seemed more MG than YA, and there were some rough edges that could easily be fixed by a good editor. Still, an enjoyable, well-plotted read. I wouldn't place it in the same class as J K Rowling, though.


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A tale of three trilogies

In the past year or so, I've read three trilogies that have redefined the world of YA science fiction. They have, each in their own way, made me rethink the first (or actually zeroth) draft of my own YA work in progress. The trilogies are all dystopic, brutally so. I enjoyed them all, for different reasons.

The first, The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, was a cold, hard look at the effect of violence on children. The basic premise of the books is that children are thrown together in an arena and have to fight to the death until one emerges victorious. As you might expect, these books are extremely, graphically violent.

The second is the Cold Awakening trilogy by Robin Wasserman. These books deal with a future in which those rich enough to afford the procedure can have their consciousness downloaded into an artificial body, in the event of their death. It addresses issues of human identity and self-perception with a light touch, so that the characters never come across as preachy.

I just finished reading the Chaos Walking trilogy by Patrick Ness, and this is the one that made the greatest impression on me. The issues addressed are timeless: war and suffering, humanity's greed and cruelty to its own species and others. Like the Hunger Games, this trilogy is extremely violent, covering issues that range from the use of torture to interrogate prisoners to violent subjugation of women in a male-dominated society. Most importantly, it has realistic characters that are shaped by their choices--no-one is truly good or truly evil.

(I could add a fourth, the Gone trilogy by Michael Grant, but I only read the first book.)

Dystopic science fiction seems to be what's hot in the YA market at the moment. I wonder what that tells us about our present-day hopes and aspirations, and those of our children.

Why I can't write steampunk...yet

I've read a handful of steampunk novels over the years but never really got into the genre. That all changed when my favorite YA author started a steampunk trilogy.

I was hooked from the first few pages of the first volume, Leviathan. I just finished the final volume and enjoyed it as much as the first. Westerfeld does an amazing job weaving an alternate history around the latter part of WWI, and proves his versatility as an author: from Uglies to Midnighters to Leviathan.

The thing about writing steampunk (or, at least, writing it well) is that you need to know and research a lot of history. And history wasn't my strongest subject in school. Most of my interest is related to prehistory, with the evolution and dispersal of humans being a big part of it; it's hard to write steampunk in that era. Straight science fiction would probably work, though.

At the moment, I can barely find time to write, so intensive research has had to take a back seat. If I were writing 8 hours a day, on the other hand, maybe...

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On serendipity

One evening, I was browsing the library bookshelves in search of a novel by my favorite YA author, Scott Westerfeld. I didn't find the one I wanted, but happened to notice a book called Double Helix, just before the string of Westerfeld novels. It was by an author I'd never heard of before, Nancy Werlin. The synopsis intrigued me with its references to biotechnology, and it was set in Boston--two good reasons to pick it up. I did, and I subsequently enjoyed reading it.

Since then, I've read The Killer's Cousin, a much darker YA novel that I also enjoyed. After that, I discovered that Werlin had written an intriguing blend of urban fantasy, romance, and mystery called Impossible. The plot was based on the English folk song, Scarborough Fair. I had some issues with head-hopping and a few elements of the plot, but overall, Impossible was a four-star read for me.

Sometimes, when we don't find what we're looking for, it can be a good thing.

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