Froi of the Exiles by Melina Marchetta

Blood sings to blood, Froi . . .
Those born last will make the first . . .
For Charyn will be barren no more.

Three years after the curse on Lumatere was lifted, Froi has found his home... Or so he believes...

Fiercely loyal to the Queen and Finnikin, Froi has been trained roughly and lovingly by the Guard sworn to protect the royal family, and has learned to control his quick temper. But when he is sent on a secretive mission to the kingdom of Charyn, nothing could have prepared him for what he finds. Here he encounters a damaged people who are not who they seem, and must unravel both the dark bonds of kinship and the mysteries of a half-mad Princess.

And in this barren and mysterious place, he will discover that there is a song sleeping in his blood, and though Froi would rather not, the time has come to listen.

Gripping and intense, complex and richly imagined, Froi of the Exiles is a dazzling sequel to Finnikin of the Rock, from the internationally best-selling and multi-award-winning author of Looking for Alibrandi, Saving Francesca, On the Jellicoe Road and The Piper's Son.

Sometimes I feel like Marchetta books should come with a public health warning.

"Marchetta Fever," it would say.

"Symptoms include: pain, aching or burning in the chest region indicating a broken heart.

Uncontrollable weeping, both happy and sad, may occur frequently.  More serious cases run the risk of having their mind blown.

This condition has no known cure."

That's me.  That's me with every single one of these books.

I went into my local bookstore to order me some Marchetta this year.  Let me explain the community I live in.  The largest shopping center has, I kid you not, FIVE lingerie stores.  Stores entirely devoted to selling ladies underwear and such accessories.  It has one tiny bookstore.  A bookstore that is going out of business.  A bookstore that had no fewer than ten copies of  A Shore Thing and Confessions of a Guidette.  Did they have any Marchetta or Laini Taylor?  No.  One paperback copy of Froi of the Exiles was tucked away somewhere. This is a travesty.  This should be considered a Federal Crime.  The Unicorn Squad needs to get on that shit and put someone away in the Candy Cane House of Pain for violating awesomeness.

Marchetta's books are more than just readable, well-written, well-characterized novels of great spirit and imagination.  There is a beauty to them, a magic to them which wafts through every sentence of every page.  It's not just finely crafted writing, though it is that too.  It's a living, beating heart and beautiful but broken soul.

Does it matter that this book was 600 pages long?  Not to me.  Not when every page was breath-takingly spectacular. The themes are almost always the same.  Loss, pain, healing, family, loyalty.  I love the complication and depth of her characterization.

Whatever it is that Marchetta does, it speaks to me.  It touches me in parts of my heart that I had locked away and worked hard to forget.  Sometimes it hurts but she always, always remembers to patch me up again when she's finished.

So, if you're feeling a little lacklustre about your reading selection, why don't you try getting yourself a case of Marchetta fever?  It just might be what cures you.

Book Review for Ashfall by Mike Mullin

*This ARC was provided to me by the publishers.  No money or gifts were exchanged for this review.

I seem to be one of the very few that found this book a little on the average side.  It really probably wasn’t the book’s fault.  In fact, if you’re looking for some good reviews of this book, try out Phoebe North's review.  

There are several different reasons why people enjoy apocalypse stories.  Some people enjoy watching the break down of society and making commentary on that.  Some people enjoy the struggle for survival.  Me?  I like to read them to compare them to what *I* would do.  The more applicable the situation to me is, the better.  Like zombies, right?  Everyone can associate with a good zombie apocalypse. You’re getting your elbow chewed on, I’m getting my elbow chewed on, we’re all being eaten!  Look!  Something to share!

The problem with more specific disaster scenarios is the risk that part of your audience may not be able to relate to the situation.  That was me.  Don’t get me wrong.  Just because I live in Australia, doesn’t mean I think that we’re going to cruise through a planet-killer like Yellowstone Volcano like we did through the Global Financial Crisis.  Of course everything but the most meagre dregs of humanity are going to be killed when that thing goes off.  But we’re going to have a different kind of struggle to the one the main character has.

He was a reasonable character who started off a little weak and boring for me.  It was approximately page 250 when I had very nearly given up on this book, that he really picked up and I began to enjoy his personal story.  Darla’s character is enjoyable from the get-go and I think it is her inclusion in this book that truly pushes it up onto a well-deserved pedestal.  

The writing is, for the most part, very serviceable.  It is smooth when it needs to be, gritty when it needs to be and achingly painful for other parts. I certainly have no qualms about that!

I suppose, for this book, it was the little things that got to me.  Themes that didn’t translate as well across the Pacific Ocean.  This book deals with themes of government oppression and corporate greed that vaguely felt silly to me.  Though, to be fair, I get why this is an unsettling premise to Americans.  My government has never tried to transmit thoughts into our brain!  Our military still runs on Windows 03!  

Then surprisingly, was the transparent fear-mongering against socialism and how horrible it is to be stripped down and become part of the masses under an oppressive regime.  Socialism, government fear, issues with authority and autonomy aren’t as big a deal here and I think gave a triteness to this novel, for me, that a different audience would find powerful and unsettling.  

Over all it was a fun read, and for a different audience, I think it would serve its purpose very strongly.

Review for Immortal Rider

I still remember the first time I rode a horse which is synonymous as saying I still remember the time I almost died.  That hellbeast ran riot across a large desert area surrounding a partially active volcano and laughed at my feeble attempts to summon help or stop his rampage.

What this earned for me was a year or two of riding lessons because where I grew up, riding lessons were the thing to do for proper young ladies.  As there is nothing proper about me, you can be sure that I never progressed much past being able to keep my seat and to pick a good horse that would stop when I politely asked it to.  A surprising amount of horse riding comes down to just picking the right horse.  Some horses are always bad because they hate you and secretly long to tear into your entrails despite masquerading as a herbivore.  Other horses are flighty and will have their good or bad moments.  So for the most part, you pick a good horse and stick with it.

Authors tend to be like a horse.  You find a good one and stick with it and they usually won’t fail you. This analogy is especially true for the Paranormal Romance genre where books tend to be serialized.  I’ve tried to ride a series that was flighty with books wavering between good and bad like a toddler on too much sugar.  It’s a frustrating experience.

If I had to pick my favourite horse though, Larrisa Ione would be it.  I don’t know how she would feel to being referred to as a horse, but there it is.  I’ve generally found her work to be consistently readable.

Immortal Rider is the story of a Horseman of the Apocalypse and a human man falling in love and dealing with her lying and evil brothers and the fact that she had him dragged into hell for kissing her.  Completely normal stuff that I’m sure we can all relate to.

I have some issues with female representation in her novels and particularly this one. However, over all, I do enjoy her storytelling and her characters.

Her novels also tend to have the appropriate amount of cheesy goodness in them without overdoing it or crossing into the realm of dumbassery.  Something that’s surprisingly easy to do in this genre.
I think, if I’d read the first novel, I would have enjoyed this more as opposed to playing catch up and trying to familiarize myself with a world that seems to take it for granted that you already know most of the characters.

Ione’s novels are, at least in my opinion, better than the usual fare and they have a great deal of imagination and interesting world building in them.  So if you’ve lost your seat in this genre and are looking for a good horse, maybe give Ione a chance.

Seraphina by Rachel Hartman

What does it take to inspire someone to read a book?

Is it enough to give a heartfelt plea to the book's worthiness?

Maybe a meme? Or jazzhands? Will jazzhands convince you?





I know, a meme about jazzhands! Admit it! This is pretty damn irresistible!

Okay, well, if you're one of those strange people who would choose a convincing, well-informed review over a meme of a tiny turtle doing jazzhands then...










Are you sure I can't convince you with jazzhands? Maybe throw in a shuffle for you?

Seraphina is half dragon, and not because her father struggles with the basic nuances of the English language.


Well, maybe a little bit...

In this epic fantasy by debut author, Rachel Hartman, Seraphina is an abomination who must hide her true self from everyone lest she and her father are killed for heresy. Dragons have the ability to fold themselves into human bodies and have maintained a strenuous peace with the human kingdoms. Seraphina's life is put into jeopardy when court intrigue and mystery implicates that the treaty between dragons and humans is in danger.

Hartman's novel is almost flawlessly executed. The novel, whilst long, is easily readable. Hartman doesn't rush her narrative, but neither does it seem to drag or falter.

Aside from a few brief flashback sessions, the story is carried entirely by Seraphina who may be half human and half dragon, but she is all brilliant. She is the equivalent of some kind of bear/dragon hybrid. Like, a bear/dragon hybrid that can breath fire. Yeah, that level of coolness.









Well, what do you know? They have a meme for that!

Often in novels, the female MC will profess to be extremely smart but, much to my chagrin, behave agonizingly stupidly and prove to have the mental faculties of a gnat. Seraphina is the total opposite of TSTL. She is brilliant, charming, ballsy and brave. All the while, she is also tactile, honest and fully-developed. Actually, I can not think of a single character in this book that I could argue as being two-dimensional or aggravating.

In fact, I absolutely loved the portrayal of strong female characters in this book. It was done with such grace and humanity that I found myself respecting most of the women in this book. Glisselda and the Queen were fantastic characters whom I absolutely adored.

Kiggs, as the love interest, was believable, endearing and wonderful. His character, so eccentric, so insightful and honourable, completely won me over. His relationship with Seraphina was genuine, subtle and romantic. The best thing? He wasn't any over-developed Romanticized Alpha Male! Thank goodness! He rocked it without needing to bully, oppress or corner Seraphina in any way!

The pacing is excellent for a lengthy novel. I gobbled it up and only at the very end did I feel any desire to speed things up. It is also beautifully well-written. The imagery alone was breath-takingly beautiful. The prose were polished and elegant. It was a pleasure to read. This novel was so full of emotion, beauty and poetry that I was honestly startled because I expected none of it.

I must confess that I am an acquaintance of Hartman here on GoodReads. I had grown a healthy respect for her opinions and expression, so I entered into reading Seraphina with a certain amount of skepticism and trepidation. I wonder if Hartman felt a similar trepidation when she saw that I had applied for her ARC and decided to read it! Because, let's face it, I'm not exactly known to be the most generous of reviewers. That's probably actually an understatement.

If you think that my opinion of this book has been swayed by my association with the author, then feel free to make your own mind up about it. I'm sure more reviews will be popping up soon.

But, to be honest, I didn't know what to expect when starting this novel. I've read work by friends before and had to put them aside, with embarrassment. This time is different. When Seraphina is released, I will buy this novel and treasure it. I will probably read it again and again when I need a laugh, or a romantic story or something to relax to. In fact, I loved this novel so much that I want to recommend it to everyone. I want to go get everyone I know and make them read it. This is the kind of novel that deserves to be published, that deserves to be successful. We need more of this out there. Not another trashy teen YA. This is the good shit. Right here.

So, my question is, what will it take to inspire you to read this book?




This ARC was provided to me by Random House publishers. No money or favours were exchanged.*

Wildwood Dancing by Juilet Marillier

The problem with this book is that it's not real.

Juliet Marillier is my arch-nemesis and main rival. We've been competing against each other for the coveted title of #1 most followed Australian for awhile now. The battle has been vicious. The competition fierce.


Okay, maybe she's not as "aware" of this competition as I am... so what if it appears that she's almost never even ON Goodreads and by all accounts may actually have forgotten that she has a GoodReads? It still counts as a competition, right?

But since I've beaten her three weeks in a row, I feel confident that I can once again read her books.

This was a mistake. My jealousy only makes me hate her more. Because this book was fantastic, fantabulous, fantasmagorical.

Recipe for a Juliet Marillier book:

3 parts brilliant written prose
2 parts whimsical fancy
1 awesome female protagonist
1 can of whoop-arse


Available from all major grocery chains and retail outlets

I doubt anybody does magical faery realms and myth retellings with the style, flair and gothic majesty of Juliet Marillier.

I strongly recommend this book to anybody with an inner child and a desire to have their mind blown.

Let The Right One in by John Ajvide Lindqvist

Imagine for a moment that you were at an event, like the 1995 Rugby World cup where South Africa both hosted and won. Imagine being there in the heat of that moment - the cheer and ebulation. That light, almost unreal sense that the world has faded away and there is only that moment. Nothing else is important and you want to quietly capture the complete bliss you are experiencing and put it in a bottle somewhere. Hopefully at some future date you can take it out and rekindle those emotions and bask in that one, perfect moment again.

Then imagine that you are standing outside of a train station. A train has just crashed in front of you. Pleople are screaming, and the stench of smoking meat is tickling your nose as your eyes sting and water. There's that same feeling. That feeling of, "Is this really happening?" Light. Dizzy. Disbelief. Overwhelming to the point of nausea. You can't forget that moment. It will haunt you. Every time you catch a wiff of smoke those memories will come flooding back, whether you want them to or not.

Same feelings, at their most basic level, but entirely different in their mode. In the first situation you jump and holler. You'll hug those around you, even if you don't know them, and celebrate together. Knitted into temporary friendship because you're experiencing the same, awesome event. For weeks later you'll tell anybody who listens that you were there. You'll tell them about how incredible it was and try to impart on them some semblance of what you felt.

Cut back to the second scenario where you'll stand quietly in solidarity with those around you. Once again, knitted together. Brothers and sisters formed from tragedy. You may hold each other and gather around silently. When other people ask you about it, you'll get that look in your eyes that tells them you've seen things.

You're just as altered as the first scene, but where there was ebulation then, there is horror now.

This is what happens when I read certain books. Books like Stolen fit in the first category. They touch me and move me, so I run around telling everyone that I read it. It was amazing. Share in this experience with me. I want to help you feel what I felt.

Then there are books like this. Now I quietly tell you that I read it. That it touched me. Changed me. I look you in the eye and I don't want to elaborate. I quitely turn away and think a little bit more on what I've seen and read, and how it made me feel.

And maybe if you've read this book too, you might be able to understand why there's really nothing more for me to say.

Daughter of Smoke and Bone

Do you remember that Taylor Swift song about Romeo and Juliet, Love Story?

It's lyrics go something like this:

I'm a pretty little girl who knows nothing about literature
So I sing a song about starcrossed lovers
Whose only problem is that Daddy doesn't approve
But it's all good because we get married anyway.
Just like that cliffnote's story about Romeo and Juliet!

Yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeyyyyy!











We have a tendency with YA literature today, to have stories with the super duper happiest of happy endings where everything works out and true love's only real complications are external difficulties, and self-esteem issues for the girl.

I'm trying to think of the perfect example here and because this review is full of cheap shots at easy targets I'm going to go with...








TWILIGHT!

Come on down, Bella and Edward!




Now, don't get me wrong. There's nothing wrong with happy endings and butterflies and rainbows and kittens. They're lovely, lovely things and in the hands of an accomplished author, they do well. There's also nothing wrong with having a relationship that's troubled by only external forces. Once again, in the right hands it's fine. I'm not being a miserly old Grinch here. Okay, maybe a little bit, but moving on!

The problem is that in real life, relationships are usually impacted by internal factors. So when you base your story on perfection that can only be tainted by evil people trying to destroy your true love, and twist the story to finally reach that happily ever after, then what you sacrifice is often the very real, almost-tangible, relatable emotions that a more realistic, thoughtful storyline could bring.

And also, Romeo and Juliet is a TRAGEDY, Taylor Swift. A fucking tragedy. You know, like your singing? And that surprised face you make every time someone compliments you? You do it. You totally do it. You know you do.




Thank you, Kieran Culkan. You're a fresh breeze amongst the stagnant world of apathetic performers.

Now what I love about Laini Taylor, other than everything, is that this woman is made of fairytales. I swear she's like woven together by sweet kisses and dewdrops. She's been sung into being by blind minstrels bathed in moonlight. She's wrapped in gossamer and shrived in pure white swan feathers. You know, all that magical shit. She's that. The woman is magic and she writes magic. If anyone could take Romeo and Juliet, mate it with a YA paranormal romance and produce a love child that people don't want to drown at birth - then it would be Laini Taylor.

This book is powerful, emotive, heart breaking, anguishing!

What I'm saying...the point I'm trying to make here...the truth is... Laini Taylor kicked my heart in the ass.

And I LIKED it!

Review for Hallowed

*This galley was provided to me by the publishers via netgalley.




This review can also be found on my GoodReads!

3.5 Stars

Hallowed is a difficult book to rate because it's not going to appeal to everyone.  If you're the kind of person who needs fast paced adventure then you're better off picking up something else.  Hallowed is very much focused on relationships, self-growth and destiny.

It continues its themes with purpose, faith and trust - these themes are extended here and well constructed. 

Clara is awaiting the return of the Black Wing and dealing with her newfound relationship with Tucker whilst Christian is in the background being all sexy and mysterious.

Struggling with how her purpose ended up last book, she is losing faith in herself and distrusting her family.

I felt like the strong characters and great writing by Hand really carried this novel because otherwise it might struggle very strongly from middle book syndrome.  The plot is not progressed a whole deal but there are a number of big revelations. 

But what Hand does bring to it is a great amount of Self-awareness and just enough awkward reality and relationships to pull it through.  I liked this book better than the first one and I felt like the writing was just a little tighter and stronger in this one.

Over all, a good, solid second installment from Hand and I look forward to the next.

Everneath Review

*This ARC was provided to me by HarperCollins. No money or favours were exchanged for this review - much to my chagrin!

This review is also available on my Goodreads .

November Madness is what I nicknamed this month. With a variety of very interesting looking titles becoming available for galley grab, to many readers, it appeared to be a smorgasbord of literary delights.

Everneath is one such of these delights and, in my opinion, completely deserves the hype.

Becks, a seventeen year old girl, wakes up from a hundred year-long hibernation with bad-boy supernatural, Cole. He’s been feeding from her to replenish himself, above the surface only six months have passed. Becks returns to her life a husk of her former self.

Emaciated, numb to emotion and damaged. She has six months to live before being dragged back into hell but she wants to see her exboyfriend, Jack, one more time before she goes.

If I were to find a movie to compare this book to, I suppose it would be a mix between The Labyrinth and Drugstore Cowboy (or The Man With A Golden Arm if you’re going to be persnickety). In fact, the whole book is a rather excellent drug metaphor. This hit home for me in a big way and was perhaps why I was especially moved and addicted (sorry!) by this novel.

The book is agonizingly beautiful in that Becks honestly struggles as a drug addict would and one could argue that all the fantastical elements in this book are Beck’s psychosis trying to deal with her recovery and past experiences. Jack was her love before The Feeding and Ashton breaks up the novel with several flashbacks to give us insight into Beck’s fall from grace. Cole, on the otherhand, is the perfect counterbalance. He is dark, seductive, effortlessly tempting. He is like a devil on Beck’s shoulder. He follows her everywhere trying to tempt her back. He has a weird relationship with Beck’s that is part dependency, part companionship that sufficiently muddies the usual moralities shuffled through in other such novels. It’s very clear, often, that Beck’s struggle to resist Cole is painful, sometimes a little nonsensical and takes an extraordinary strength of will and character.

Ashton weaves Cole’s character as being both despicable and yet sympathetic. It’s hard to entirely dismiss Cole as evil and yet you can hardly claim he’s good. He’s almost the culmination of almost every paranormal badboy douche who gets romanticized in these kinds of novels. Ashton takes that kind of character to his final conclusion and releases him upon her novel like a tornado. Yes, readership, there are boys out there who are gorgeous, dangerous, sexy-beyond-all-reason and effortlessly charming. But they will also suck you down into hell, suck you dry and in the end they just plain suck.

Jack is the excellent counter-balance in this novel. Damaged, yet loving and courageous he battles to keep Becks from being dragged back into the Everneath. Their relationship isn’t always strong. There’s so much honest emotion and history with these two characters that their relationship arc is solid and real.

I found the pacing of Everneath was smooth but fans of action and adventure books will probably find themselves itching for more. This is a book about people. People healing, people trusting, people trying to tear that all down again. There’s a plot and there’s a rushing timeline looming in the background but there’s not a lot of fists and falcon punches. Ashton’s writing is strong and serves well for this novel. Her use of imagery is great and she manages to create a rather unique and coherent mythology in this book.

But be warned, this is a trilogy and Ashton leaves her novel on a heartbreaking cliff-hanger of sorts. I am eagerly awaiting the sequel and this book goes on my to-buy list when released!

Video Review for Fever Series

So another video review is out.  My video editing skills just aren't getting any better but, you know, I'm so amazing and talented in other areas that I'm not going to fuss about these pithy little skills that would only detract from my overall greatness.

The important thing is that we're all together now.

Oh, and holy cheeseballs, batman - 79 followers?  How the hell did that happen!

Welcome to all the new people, settle in, make yourself comfortable, pass the brownies.

Let's all watch My Little Ponies together!

Shadowfever by Karen Marie Moning

Four Stars

Usually when reviewing a book, it's possible to give away a few minor plot points, in order to discuss the theme and intentions of the author, without actually spoiling anything in the book. With Shadowfever, however, pretty much discussing anything is a spoiler.

In fact, admitting the existence of the book is actually a spoiler.

I can't even really discuss what characters feature in this story because that, too, would be a spoiler. This review has absolutely no spoilers in the main part. Down below, if you scroll to the very bottom of the page, you will see some comments and thoughts of mine that contain spoilers but they are well marked and easily avoided.

My best chance for providing a spoiler-free review for you is to just describe my general feel of the book.


This is really the easiest way for me to do that.

Reading this book was like that scene out of Napoleon Dynamite where Pedro promises his class that if they vote for him, all their dreams will come true.

Shadowfever was a little like that. In the first four books, KMM promised that if I just picked this one up, ALL MY DREAMS WOULD COME TRUE.

And you know what? KMM wasn't fucking around.


Pictured: Not Fucking Around

She did everything I believed was absolutely impossible. She did it with class, she did it with style and she actually made me happy that I put my faith in this series.

That's a pretty big order to fill.

As promised, the Shadowfever delivered WITH fireworks.

Part of it was that Mac was such a singularly self-introspective character. Every thought, every action, every word or omission was examined with cruel, objective efficiency. And even when she lied to herself, she always came back later with a big hammer of truth and shattered those illusions until those illusions were SORRY and promised to never illude (made up word alert) again.

She defied a mainstay of western literature in her savagery and need for vengeance. Most (Disclaimer: Not all) literature idealizes woman as the forgiving creature who prefers to get on with her life as opposed to wasting it on vengeance. Probably so that she can get down to the baby making that is so important.

This is a particular problem in the romance genre where KMM first made her big break.

Women do not traditionally want to hold the cooling body of their enemy while blood drips to the floor and their hand twists the weapon that has brought an end to their vengeance. Usually, that's a man thing.

But, you see, Mac takes responsibility for her own vengeance. She takes responsibility for the world - despite how much she doesn't want to. We see repeatedly in the first four books that as much as she wants to shift the burden, she doesn't. That takes a special kind of strength. All the while reading this series, I was only glad it was Mac's story and not mine.

Kat's story would have ended with shagging V'lane ruthlessly because Kat couldn't keep it in her pants when sexy came calling. The end. I just would have trusted my gut and hoped that Barrons, Rowena or V'lane of the MacKeltars knew better. Who was I to decide the fate of the world?

Shadowfever sorely tests that aspect of Mac, that strength to not rely on others to solve her problems. I cannot sing KMM's praises enough for this. Princesses who sit in castles waiting for the noble prince to find them, romance heroine's whose honourable, rich lover turns up to rescue them... Their stories pale in comparison to a lead character who rolls with the punches that life gives her and does everything in her power to punch back.

The single problem that I have with this book is its inability to let go of other western (and other cultures are to blame too) ideals that we place on our female leads.

The concept of action for selfish reasons is briefly addressed in this book and I felt that KMM was handling it so well. I felt that Mac's selfishness and desire to use power for her own means were actually so well justified by the past text that maybe she SHOULD be allowed to use the ultimate power to achieve her means.

This concept was later twisted and garbled though and, without going into detail, was the only small botherance I really had with what was other a fantastic novel and a spectacular end to this amazing series.


SPOILERS BELOW
***************



































**Spoilers Commencing:**
There is actually more of a reason that I didn't give this book more than four stars and why I might decide to bump it down to three.

Reading up to this book several fans, including myself, picked apart the other four looking for clues. We were so sure that Barron's identity, Mac's mysterious past, the Unseelie King, the purpose of the book... we were so sure that the answers were staring us right in the face and that we just needed to find the right set of evidence to figure it out.

But now I know that for the lie it was. Some things were cleverly concealed, like the identity of Dani's killer and the holder of her journal. However, all of the rest, I feel, were kept from us. You can't deduce what Barrons is from the pitiful amount of information provided in the first four books and nothing will prepare you for the rather annoying truth. He's something never before seen. Never before heard of. There's no myth, no legend. It was never something we COULD guess.

Same with Mac's origins. How could you actually know that the book was capable of absorbing itself into a fetus? You can't. You never have enough information that you could have deduced that.

So whilst I really enjoyed Shadowfever, I felt a bit cheated that KMM wasn't the brilliant creator, cleverly concealing the truth so that the truly observant amongst her readership could arrive at the right conclusions. She just didn't give us enough information. Maybe that sounds like whining. Maybe it sounds like a petulant child, stamping its foot and saying, "It's not fair!"

Well, truthfully, if a mystery writer finished a novel and the hero came out and said, "It was the Maid in the poolroom with the candlestick but you wouldn't have been able to guess that because I'm only now presenting the information necessary to come to that conclusion!" Well, in that case you'd think the mystery writer was cracked. Half the fun is in trying to be smarter than the protagonist. In this case, none of us really had a chance.

Also, Mac's a big whimpy coward who should have told Barrons right from the getgo that she loved him.

My other problem with this entire series is the nature of women and men portrayed. Mac and Dani are the only good, powerful women portrayed and Dani is just a child.

The Fae are supposed to be matriarchal yet they are effectively led by V'lane. The women don't really have any power. The so-called queen is weak, ineffectual and needs to be protected by a Prince who also does all the work for her. In the confrontation between Seelie and Unseelie we see that the female fae have no voice or authority over the men and their opinions are easily discarded.

All the big players in this book are men with the sole exception of Rowena, who is not only a total bitch but also weak and obviously a very poor leader with bad judgement. Women who gain power in this series, with the sole exception of Mac, become bad. The Seelie Queen is depicted as cruel, jealous and ultimately defeated by her more powerful husband.

Might makes right for Barrons and his men whose views on women make cavemen look fair and reasonable. The MacKeltars are just as bad and reading this book gives the distinct impression that Mac's vagina (and who gets it) is just as important as Mac's abilities.

Barrons becomes furious with Mac in Dreamfever for withholding information about the Book because apparently this is the one thing he's after. YET, he knows that Mac's search for her sister's killer is the one thing she's after and he is all too happy to keep information about that to himself.

Fiona gains some power by eating unseelie flesh in these novels yet she is ultimately a doormat to her petty emotions for Barrons. Not a single one of the major book players (McCabe, Malluce, O'Bannion) are female. Women simply don't have power in the Fever world. Even if they're supposed to.

The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan

Five Stars

See this family?



Or this family?



Take a good long hard look at all of their faces.

See how happy, how healthy, how loving they are. Imagine you've known them your entire life and that you love each one more than life itself.

Now imagine if you were one of the people in that photograph with them.

Now imagine that I told you and all those other people standing and smiling with you that I was going to kill you all so that I could go for a trip to the beach...

Okay, now you know the basic plot of The Forest of Hands and Teeth.

I've mentioned before that I have a love/hate relationship with zombies. On one hand, I love reading zombie books and watching zombie movies. On the other I will then spend two weeks wide awake clutching a baseball bat while waiting for the shuffle of feet and the moans of the undead outside my bedroom door.


I actually have something like this in my house...

I love the chase as things fall a part and slowly people are picked off one by one.

That's the thing that's almost a constant in the Zombie genre - is the psychological breakdown of the group. Usually in a zombie group, you'll find the differing personalities and human flaws are what slowly kills the group - not so much the zombies.

The difference between most of the zombie media, and this book, is that usually you watch things unfold from the sole sane person who is trying to keep all the crazies from turning themselves into meat patties and throwing themselves to the horde.

In this story you get to watch the gradual mental breakdown of a woman until she's willing to sacrifice anything and anyone just to live out a damn fantasy.

Okay, so I know the point of it is that there are dreams and dreams are important like freedom is important and you must always follow your dreams blah de blah blah!

Sorry, I'm a very pragmatic person.

Kill zombies first, fulfill life long dream of of seeing ocean second.

Yet, despite my utter hatred of the main character by the time I finished this novel, I still can't give it less than five stars.

I can't give it less than five stars because I spent most of this book gripping the bed covers in suspense. The characters were all great, realistic and interesting. Mary's decent into madness was COMPLETELY understandable and very well documented and this book was very well written and paced very well.

Then, of course, I had the satisfaction of knowing that if it had been me - I totally could have survived better than them. And that, my friends, is the biggest satisfaction you can get out of the zombie genre.

Oh yeah, baby.

My Zombie Plan totally beats the crap out of their Zombie plan.

So what's YOUR zombie plan?

Paranormalcy by Kiersten White

Four Stars

There’s a scene in Vampire’s Suck (yes, my husband and saw it with a group of friends and exited the cinema a few hours later with a few less braincells). Vampire’s Suck’s version of Mike Newton from Twilight approached the Bella character upon meeting her, threw an arm around her shoulder and said, “Wow, you look pretty frigid and boring! Wanna go to prom?”

Despite the stupidity of this movie they managed to encapsulate, in one brilliant sentence, the biggest problem I’ve had with the YA paranormal novels of late. Particularly Fallen, Hugh Hush, Evermore, Halo, and the countless others like it that I haven’t managed to torture myself with. The female main characters are BORING. What’s more, they’re written in the roles of heroines and tragically couldn’t act less heroic.

Unless those bitches were hiding their sheballs somewhere I couldn’t see. (Yes, most women totally have sheballs.)



Except for Chris Crocker…



See?

Evie is such a refreshing departure. She’s funny and, here’s something new, FUN. From her crazy antics and funny obsessions to even the most simple of phrases that come from her mouth.

Now, I’ll briefly explain about the Mary Sue test. Most authors and people in general are familiar with this term. It basically means the Main Character, if she is a Mary Sue, is basically an author self-insert.

Otherwise known as Luce, Nora, Ever, Bethany, Clary, Tessa and the biggest Mary Sue ever – Anita Blake.

Though imagining yourself doing various and weird sexual acts with Jean “I stole my leather pants from a hooker and now she wants them back” Claude is just a little weird.



Unfortunately Evie ticks quite a few boxes on the Mary Sue test:

Evie is remarkably beautiful.

Evie carries an unusual weapon, wears a strange piece of jewelry, or otherwise displays a unique possession on her person.

Evie is notably witty, always ready with a sharp comeback or clever remark. Alternatively, she is fascinatingly stern and close-mouthed.

She is a natty dresser, always in fashion, or not in fashion but so well as to make the fashionable pale in comparison.

There's an unusual story centering around Evie's birth or infancy.

She was adopted, raised by people other than her parents, or for some reason has no biological parents.

There are prophecies about Evie.

Evie has psychic abilities, exceptional strength, magical powers, can heal with a touch, or has any other skill, talent, or power that we would consider superhuman.

More Than one special power.

Practically no one else in the story has similar powers.

But you know, she never feels like a Mary Sue. I guess her cute yearning for cars, high school, lockers, television and all the other little quirks to her personality give her a rounded character.

I thoroughly enjoyed the relationship between Evie and Lend. Not only did they have some witty and fun banter. There’s also that rare feeling that I have when I read novels, that these two could actually make it. I’m serious in that I could actually see these two getting married and the whole happily ever after too. They really make a lovely couple.
Unlike some people…



Anita and Jean Claude know how to have a good time together… no really!

The plot and pacing move nicely throughout the story and whilst it was easy to guess who the bad guy was and what the eventual outcome would be, it didn’t annoy me like it has in other novels. Can I help it if I’m, like, practically a genius or something?
No, no I can’t!

So over all this novel was a breath of fresh air. I completely enjoyed it and I absolutely can’t wait to read the sequel! I highly recommend it to most people, except for anyone named Bob and I think that out of most of the other YA paranormal lit out there, this one is definitely the best.