Seeds of Rebellion

This is book 2 in Brandon Mull's Beyonder's trilogy (Brandon Mull of Fablehaven fame). I think it's so strange... I loved all five Fablehaven books. LOVED them. But for several reasons, the first book in this trilogy (A World Without Heroes) - and now this book - fell short of my expectations.

First off, the characters just didn't quite click with me. Jason is supposed to be a young teenage boy, but he acts, reacts, thinks, and in general behaves like a young adult. I feel the same way about Rachel. If Brandon wants to write a YA novel, that's fine with me, but he's not going to convince me that these two are typical 14 year-olds. And on the subject of characters, the whole book is so fast-paced and plot-driven that there's very little character development. That goes for both the main characters and the side characters. There are so many characters that I had a hard time keeping track of half of them because Brandon doesn't spend any time letting me get to know them. He frequently kills off characters and every time it happened I went, what? who was that again? I sometimes wonder if he purposely fills his book with less-important characters so people won't be sad about all the deaths. I don't know, but in my opinion, a death is only moving and plot-enhancing if a) I care about the character or b) it enhances a theme in the story, like injustice. Here the deaths just felt random and unimportant. Which bothers me because then we're just desensitizing kids to violence. This is a children's book, after all.

Beef #2: The writing is unnecessarily verbose (because I just used that word does that make me unnecessarily verbose?). Here's a sample sentence: "His Herculean torso bulged gratuitously." Occasionally I enjoyed Brandon's wordy concoctions, but it just started feeling bulky. And the other thing is that his characters talk like that too. All of them. What this did is made it even harder for me to tell characters apart and constantly confused me. There's no individual voice for individual characters.

And I have more complaints. I feel like Brandon overuses a particular literary device called "deus ex machina". Sudden solutions to impossible problems just swoop in out of nowhere and save the day. If you've read the book, here are a couple examples: (SO DON'T READ THIS NEXT SENTENCE IF YOU HAVEN'T READ THE BOOK YET!) think of how Jason gets back in Lyrian (really? He's all sad and then he just goes straight back to the same hippo, hops on in, and problem solved?), how they all escape from the zombies (seriously??? zombies???) the Amar Kabal rescuing them from Maldor's troops, Rachel's miraculous use of Edomite magic on several occasions, Galloran showing up exactly when needed with more sword-prowess than is possibly believable. And really, why is everyone so very good at their specific talents? Nobody seems to have to work to learn or grow or become better which makes everything all that more unrelatable and difficult to get into.

I've complained enough. I still enjoyed reading this book, despite my issues. Brandon Mull's world is detailed and imaginative. I like the various races of people. I thought the plot was much more interesting than the story from the first book - far less formulaic and more surprising and clever. I thought it ended rather spectacularly, actually, with promises for the future that I'm looking forward to seeing fulfilled in the third book, Chasing the Prophecy. Which I will definitely be reading. I'll keep reading Brandon Mull, waiting for the magic to happen again.

Touch of Power

From Goodreads:
Laying hands upon the injured and dying, Avry of Kazan absorbs their wounds and diseases into herself. But rather than being honored for her skills, she is hunted. Healers like Avry are accused of spreading the plague that has decimated the Fifteen Realms, leaving the survivors in a state of chaos.

Stressed and tired from hiding, Avry is abducted by a band of rogues who, shockingly, value her gift above the golden bounty offered for her capture. Their leader, an enigmatic captor-protector with powers of his own, is unequivocal in his demands: Avry must heal a plague-stricken prince—leader of a campaign against her people. As they traverse the daunting Nine Mountains, beset by mercenaries and magical dangers, Avry must decide who is worth healing and what is worth dying for. Because the price of peace may well be her life...

You know, I almost bought this right out. I own 6, no make that 7 books by Maria V. Snyder and she's one of my favorite authors. I figured I'd wait and get it from the library first, just to make sure. I should have trusted my instinct and just bought it. :D I really loved this.

I don't know if I can say exactly why, but Maria's writing (I own a lot of her books - that puts us on first name terms right?) clicks with me. It's the mix of fantasy, adventure, magic, romance, strong female heroines, and just good old-fashioned gorgeous writing that gets me.

Excellent plot, character development, magic system, action sequences, setting... All in all, my kind of book. I'd even recommend this over the Poison Study series (since Touch of Power doesn't have the graphic torture scenes that occasionally popped up in the Poison Study books), so if you haven't read anything by Maria V. Snyder, I say this this is a great place to start.

Incarnate and The Alchemy of Forever

I unintentionally read Incarnate by Jodi Meadows and The Alchemy of Forever back to back (just so happened that they both became available from my library the same week) and after I read them I realized they were so similar that I'd better just review them back to back. :D Both involve people who have the ability to reincarnate and have been alive for hundreds of years. There are several other similarities, and both even have a masquerade ball scene where the heroine wears a butterfly costume. So, to start off:

Incarnate

From Goodreads:
New soul

Ana is new. For thousands of years in Range, a million souls have been reincarnated over and over, keeping their memories and experiences from previous lifetimes. When Ana was born, another soul vanished, and no one knows why.

No soul

Even Ana's own mother thinks she's a nosoul, an omen of worse things to come, and has kept her away from society. To escape her seclusion and learn whether she'll be reincarnated, Ana travels to the city of Heart, but its citizens are afraid of what her presence means. When dragons and sylph attack the city, is Ana to blame?

Heart

Sam believes Ana's new soul is good and worthwhile. When he stands up for her, their relationship blooms. But can he love someone who may live only once, and will Ana's enemies--human and creature alike--let them be together? Ana needs to uncover the mistake that gave her someone else's life, but will her quest threaten the peace of Heart and destroy the promise of reincarnation for all?
Jodi Meadows expertly weaves soul-deep romance, fantasy, and danger into an extraordinary tale of new life.

Incarnate has been on my to-read list for a while, partially because it received a lot of hype, and partially because I was convinced that the hype was merited when reviews started rolling in about how great it was. I think because of all that hype I was a bit disappointed. I wanted to be WOWED. I enjoyed it and I have very few complaints with it, but it didn't deliver on the WOW.

I liked how original and different this felt. I haven't read many reincarnation books, but this one took a completely new twist on it. I liked seeing the contrast between Ana (who is living her first lifetime) and everyone else around her (who have all been alive for thousands of years), and how she coped with that without whining about it. She was determined to find her place in this world.

I also like the slow build of her relationship with Sam. Trust comes slowly and realistically. Then friendship (with a lot of help from music, which makes my inner musician very happy). Then - and it didn't take a rocket scientist to know it was coming - love. But I liked that even though I knew Sam and Ana would end up together I still enjoyed watching how it unfolded. With the minor beef that I couldn't quite get rid of the icky feeling their age difference gave me. 50,000 year old man falls in love with 16 year-old girl? Just try not to think about it.

And my only real complaint is that some things felt hurried and unexplained, especially at the end. I wanted Ana to spend a little more time discovering the mystery behind her existence. I wanted more of the dragons and sylph and strange religion. The focus ended up being on the love story, which was nice, but I wanted more. Will definitely be checking out the sequel, though.

The Alchemy of Forever

From Goodreads:
Seraphina has been alive since the 1300's, made immortal when the boy she was beginning to love back then, Cyrus, saved her from death with a strange liquid - a method of alchemy that lets them swap bodies with any human being. But now, in modern day America, Sera has decided that she can no longer bear the weight of stealing people's lives so she can keep living on. So she decides to run away from Cyrus and end her stolen existence once and for all. Her plan goes awry when she accidentally takes the body of a dying teenager and feels forced to take over her life. When the lines between Sera and Kailey's identity begin to blur, Sera finds a reason to desire to live once more. But she can't shake the guilt of having taken Kailey's life, even if she was dying. And what if Cyrus finds her?

Seraphina, like everyone in Incarnate except Ana, has been alive for generations. The difference is, that when she needs a new body she doesn't die but instead has to kill someone else and take that body through an alchemical process invented by Cyrus (who is, by the way, one of the most terrifying villains I have found in YA literature). I can't blame her for trying to escape, or for waiting so long to do so (as Cyrus creats a coven of other incarnates and Ana's best friend is one of them - a best friend she is terrified of abandoning to Cyrus's rage and retaliation).

But Sera does escape and takes over Kailey's life with what I thought was incredibly unbelievable ease. Nobody questions it! Everyone is just pleasantly surprised at how nice and thoughtful Kailey suddenly is. Sera fools Kailey's friends, teachers, parents, brother, and the very friendly boy next door. This kind of disappointed me. So improbable. It would have made the story more interesting and created some great tension if even one person questioned Sera/Kailey. Noah (boy next door) and Sera have a sweet little romance, but like with the whole Ana/Sam thing it bothered me that Sera was ancient and Noah was just a teenage boy. But Sera is an interesting character and I think she deserved to enjoy family and friendship since she'd spent so many years suffering with Cyrus.

Who is completely diabolical.

The lengths he goes to to find Sera are scary and ruthless. He's manipulative and creepy and really, just plain evil. There are a lot of very scary surprises from him in the second half of the book.

I'm getting long-winded (my main blogging flaw, I know), so I'll just wrap up and say Alchemy of Forever is fast-paced and good. I could hardly put it down until I was finished, but it left me feeling unsatisfied. I had a lot of questions unanswered, which is sometimes a good thing but in this case NOT. I think there were places that needed to be fleshed out more and I think the whole Sera/Kailey was too easy and made it harder for me to suspend my disbelief. Will still be checking out the sequel, because holy cow what a cliff-hanger. You've been warned. :D

The Hero of Ages

This is the final book in Brandon Sanderson's Mistborn trilogy and it was a fitting and intense end. Sometimes I think I overuse the word epic, but in this case, Hero of Ages really deserves it. This was truly EPIC fiction. I love endings like this where pieces from all the books come together. Brandon Sanderson used just the right touch of foreshadowing here so that I wasn't wholly surprised by the ending, but also wasn't able to predict it. Really brilliant writing.

I'd say more, but at this point in a series almost anything else I could add would include a spoiler! Let's just say that this is a perfect ending to a spectacular fantasy trilogy.

Dragonswood

From the book jacket:
Wilde Island is in an uproar after the recent death of its king. The uneasy pact between dragons, fairies, and humans is fraying, and a bloodthirsty witch hunter with a hidden agenda whips villages into frenzies with wild accusations. Tess, a blacksmith’s daughter from a tiny hamlet near the mysterious Dragonswood, finds herself caught in the crosshairs of fate when she is accused of witchery and has to flee for her life along with her two best friends.

Not even Tess’s power to see the future can help the girls as they set off on their desperate journey, but she keeps having visions of a man wielding a sword. And when she finally meets him, Tess has no idea how to handle the magnetic attraction she feels for him, or the elusive call she hears from the heart of the Dragonswood.

In this epic romance, an ancient prophecy comes true in a way neither dragon, fairy, nor human would have predicted.

Hello beautiful stand-alone fantasy novel. Are you as sick of trilogies as I am? It was so nice for a change to read a book and have that be the whole story, knowing that I won't be waiting years for closure. What a fascinating concept! There are witch-hunting elements, medieval England elements, and lots of great fantasy elements: dragons, fairies, and magic. And none of these are done in a tired-out, we've-heard-it-all-before way.

Granted, there are a couple things that were a little too predictable, but overall, this felt refreshing. And engrossing. I loved Tess. YA lit these days is highly populated with strong female characters, ones who stand up and fight back when the world is crushing them down. I wish some of these books had been out when I was in high school. I think this novel is great and when I finished reading it felt ready to take on the world. Beautiful setting, fantastic characters, overall a sure winner. And the cover is eye-catching, no? 

The Girl of Fire and Thorns

From the book jacket:
Once a century, one person is chosen for greatness.

Elisa is the chosen one.

But she is also the younger of two princesses, the one who has never done anything remarkable. She can't see how she ever will.

Now, on her sixteenth birthday, she has become the secret wife of a handsome and worldly king—a king whose country is in turmoil. A king who needs the chosen one, not a failure of a princess.

And he's not the only one who seeks her. Savage enemies seething with dark magic are hunting her. A daring, determined revolutionary thinks she could be his people's savior. And he looks at her in a way that no man has ever looked at her before. Soon it is not just her life, but her very heart that is at stake.

Elisa could be everything to those who need her most. If the prophecy is fulfilled. If she finds the power deep within herself. If she doesn’t die young.

Most of the chosen do.

It's taken me a couple of days to figure out how I feel about this book. It is fantastic fantasy, but I didn't love, love it like I wanted to. The story was completely engrossing. The mythology was a strange mix of Catholicism and, I don't know, maybe what you'd find in a Kristen Cashore novel (Graceling or Fire). The religion isn't overwhelming or preachy, though. It's just the source of magic. I loved Elisa's character. She is so strong and real. She has weaknesses and like any real person, she makes mistakes sometimes. She works through them and pushes past them. She's bold and confident and courageous. A fabulous heroine. 


I gave this 4 stars on goodreads, but I wish I could have given it 4 and a half. The reason that this isn't a 5 star book for me is because of one plot element I struggled with. Elisa begins the book being very obese. It's not the obesity that bothered me (heaven knows it's not like I'm in great shape), it's the fact that Elisa wasn't considered beautiful or worthwhile by men until she loses weight later in the book. Elisa's personality is always vibrant and powerful, but it's not until she's skinny that any of the boys look at her. This bothered me. That, and sometimes at the beginning of the book the descriptions of her gorging herself grossed me out a bit.


Despite that, I definitely recommend this book. You will be completely swept up by the plot and mythology. The story is both empowering and heartbreaking. There are unforgettable characters. This is one of the best fantasy books I've read in a long time.

Chime

From Goodreads:
Before Briony's stepmother died, she made sure Briony blamed herself for all the family's hardships. Now Briony has worn her guilt for so long it's become a second skin. She often escapes to the swamp, where she tells stories to the Old Ones, the spirits who haunt the marshes. But only witches can see the Old Ones, and in her village, witches are sentenced to death. Briony lives in fear her secret will be found out, even as she believes she deserves the worst kind of punishment.

Then Eldric comes along with his golden lion eyes and mane of tawny hair. He's as natural as the sun, and treats her as if she's extraordinary. And everything starts to change. As many secrets as Briony has been holding, there are secrets even she doesn't know.

Chime is gorgeous and haunting. It is very dark. Much more of a Grimm fairy tale than a Disney fairy tale. But I've always loved witch stories. This one has some serious depth to it and is extremely engrossing. Everything is very vividly and realistically described. I didn't have any trouble suspending disbelief, even for the magic.

I had a little trouble at first with the writing voice. It is very first-person, stream-of-consciousness. We read what Briony is thinking as she's thinking it, and, like any real person, her thoughts are often disjointed. She jumps around, she has random memories, she thinks completely unrelated things. Also, the language in this book is very artsy. Franny Billingsley uses some very bizarre metaphors and her descriptions are a little wacky. But, once I got used to it and dove in a bit more, it sucked me in. I loved the weirdness and the little bit of creepiness.

One of the reasons this book is so dark is that Briony suffers from a lot of guilt and depression. But it's not that she's feeling sorry for herself. There are some very real things that she has done wrong. Or so she thinks. Also, Briony has suffered from some heavy emotional and verbal abuse, and once a message has been ingrained in a person's brain like that, it can be very hard to silence those inner voice. Oooh, this book is so psychological. Since we get the story through the filter of her brain, the answers and the whole picture aren't immediately noticeable. There are some surprises and I loved the journey we go through with her to unravel the tangled mess in her soul.

And speaking of journey, my favorite part of this book is the absolutely beautiful love story. I'm talking real love, based on months of friendship, laughter, and mutual support. I get so sick of the insta-lust in so many YA books these days.

Anyway, I don't think this is a book I can recommend without reservation, because it is very dark and Briony's brain is a bit of a depressing place to live in, but I just know that I loved this. Kudos to Franny Billingsley and I'll be looking for more from her.

The Scorpio Races

Summary:
It happens at the start of every November: the Scorpio Races. Riders attempt to keep hold of their water horses long enough to make it to the finish line. Some riders live. Others die.

At age nineteen, Sean Kendrick is the returning champion. He is a young man of few words, and if he has any fears, he keeps them buried deep, where no one else can see them.

Puck Connolly is different. She never meant to ride in the Scorpio Races. But fate hasn’t given her much of a chance. So she enters the competition — the first girl ever to do so. She is in no way prepared for what is going to happen.

I've been trying to write one-sentence reviews of the books I read on goodreads, and to illustrate how I felt about this book, this was my one sentence: "Even the man-eating horses weren't able to make this book more exciting."

I was both unsurprised and disappointed to find that I disliked this book. I've read really positive and really negative reviews. One book reviewer I really like recommended this book if the reader liked The Blue Sword and Fire (by Kristen Cashore) - both books I love. So, even though I wanted to be done with Maggie Stiefvater after Forever, I decided to pick this up.

It dragged and dragged and I found myself skipping forward, scanning pages for more interesting bits (something I never do). You would think, wouldn't you? That if there are brutal, flesh-eating horses on nearly every page that there would be some action? Something exciting going on? Nope.

And the thing that I just couldn't figure out (and maybe I missed it because I skipped that part) was why on earth anyone would choose to ride these horses in a race every year, especially because people died constantly. Why??? What was the point? It wasn't like in the Hunger Games where if you're going to be subjected to brutal violence at least it was because you had no choice. The only thing I could figure is that the people in Maggie Stiefvater's world lusted for violence.

And the romance took up such a very small amount of page time (I know because once I got sick of the plot that's what I started scanning pages for). Overall, this book was frustrating and I could barely finish it.  The only reason I still have this two stars on goodreads instead of one is because Maggie Stiefvater has a gorgeous, poetic way with words. I paused several times to reread her descriptions. The setting really came alive and I could imagine and feel exactly what her world looked like, smelled like, tasted like, sounded like. Maybe she'll release another book and I'll try again someday, but I won't be in any hurry.

Prized

Prized is the sequel to Birthmarked (which I recently read) and I was glad to continue the story. This is the benefit of waiting until sequels are out to read first books - no long draw-out suspense on cliffhangers. And thankfully, Prized ends in a much more settled place than Birthmarked. Once again, this series explores some serious questions about life and death and truth and lies. One of Gaia's major motivations is still to protect mothers and babies and she continues her work as a midwife, which I find so fascinating. And I really shouldn't say a single other thing about the plot, but I'll leave you with this: Prized is even better than Birthmarked. It is one of the absolute best dystopians out there and I heartily recommend it.

Mistborn

Blurb from goodreads:

Brandon Sanderson, fantasy's newest master tale spinner, author of the acclaimed debut Elantris, dares to turn a genre on its head by asking a simple question: What if the hero of prophecy fails? What kind of world results when the Dark Lord is in charge? The answer will be found in the Mistborn Trilogy, a saga of surprises and magical martial-arts action that begins in Mistborn.

For a thousand years the ash fell and no flowers bloomed. For a thousand years the Skaa slaved in misery and lived in fear. For a thousand years the Lord Ruler, the "Sliver of Infinity," reigned with absolute power and ultimate terror, divinely invincible. Then, when hope was so long lost that not even its memory remained, a terribly scarred, heart-broken half-Skaa rediscovered it in the depths of the Lord Ruler's most hellish prison. Kelsier "snapped" and found in himself the powers of a Mistborn. A brilliant thief and natural leader, he turned his talents to the ultimate caper, with the Lord Ruler himself as the mark.

 

Kelsier recruited the underworld's elite, the smartest and most trustworthy allomancers, each of whom shares one of his many powers, and all of whom relish a high-stakes challenge. Only then does he reveal his ultimate dream, not just the greatest heist in history, but the downfall of the divine despot.

But even with the best criminal crew ever assembled, Kel's plan looks more like the ultimate long shot, until luck brings a ragged girl named Vin into his life. Like him, she's a half-Skaa orphan, but she's lived a much harsher life. Vin has learned to expect betrayal from everyone she meets, and gotten it. She will have to learn to trust, if Kel is to help her master powers of which she never dreamed.

Sorry. Long blurb.

First off, Mistborn was not what I was expecting. Granted, I didn't even read a blurb before requesting it from the library. All I knew was that I kept seeing it everywhere on people's lists of favorite Fantasy books. Well, this is not your typical fantasy. I don't know why I was expecting elves and dwarves or something like that, but Mistborn is completely original. Brandon Sanderson creates quite the clever mythology here and imagines up a fully-rounded world that is easy to get immersed in. And so you know, I recently took a grammar class and my professor told me it's ok to end a sentence with a preposition, so that last sentence is perfectly fine. ANYWAY, nerdy aside over, let's get back to the book.

Misborn was a fascinating read. It feels more like an Ocean's 11ish heist novel than what anyone would call a fantasy. I loved it, and I'm looking forward to reading the sequel with high expectations. The characters were well-described and felt like real people. I especially liked Vin. The plot was intricate and there was some very interesting foreshadowing. I liked the depth of Brandon Sanderson's world and can't wait to get back into it with The Well of Ascension.

Daughter of Smoke and Bone

Images from Laini Taylor's website

I've been meaning to read a book by Laini Taylor for a long time. I've been reading her blog for ages and have always enjoyed her clever and poetic way with words. I've known for ages that I should read something by her, but never got around to it. I'm glad this was my first introduction to her reading - this book is truly beautiful!

The word "poetic" just doesn't cut it. Laini's writing is so gorgeous, I felt myself slowing my reading pace wayyyy down so I could savor little things - descriptions, settings, clever turns of phrase. It was some of the best writing I've read all year.

The characters are all so vividly colorful. I could easily visualize everyone and everything in this world. There was a nice balance, too, of cleverness, humor, mystery, suspense, romance, and above all, fantasy.

This book is pitched as a modern, paranormal romance, which is, in general, a kitschy genre these days. Daughter of Smoke and Bone is so much more than that. At first I thought it was going to follow typical YA paranormal rules and be boring, but after just a few pages, everything changed. Holy plot. Every chapter dragged me in further and I was so immersed in this story. There were some HUGE shocking revelations and plot twists, along with some very cleverly played subtle tips and hints from the writer. I would call this foreshadowing at its finest, and I would certainly call Laini Taylor a masterful writer.

To sum up, Daughter of Smoke and Bone has nothing less than the best plot I have read all year. I really loved its dark, fantasy feel, which I know may not be for everyone - but I believe that the writing is so good and the plot is so good that anyone would enjoy this.

The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship Of Her Own Making

Summary from goodreads:
Twelve-year-old September lives in Omaha, and used to have an ordinary life, until her father went to war and her mother went to work. One day, September is met at her kitchen window by a Green Wind (taking the form of a gentleman in a green jacket), who invites her on an adventure, implying that her help is needed in Fairyland. The new Marquess is unpredictable and fickle, and also not much older than September. Only September can retrieve a talisman the Marquess wants from the enchanted woods, and if she doesn’t . . . then the Marquess will make life impossible for the inhabitants of Fairyland. September is already making new friends, including a book-loving Wyvern and a mysterious boy named Saturday.  With exquisite illustrations by acclaimed artist Ana Juan, Fairyland lives up to the sensation it created when the author first posted it online. 

I wanted to be swept away by the magic and the whimsy of this novel but I had a hard time getting into it. I started it before my vacation. Gave up and read something else. And then I tried to read it after my vacation. I gave up and read something else. And then I got even farther into the book (about 80 pages) and gave up again. I came back to it and the rest managed to fly by, but it was hard to become comfortable with this writing style for me.


I think you can already tell how the book is going to go, just by reading the title. Every sentence is wordy and complex. All the descriptions are way over the top. It feels very Alice in Wonderland-ish, but it's just so very long.... For me, it was just too much, but I've read tons of reviews that absolutely rave about this book.


And I can see why, because holy cow was the plot good. 


It was a brilliant weaving of events, places, objects, characters. It felt Newbery-ish in that way and I've been hearing buzz that it's high in contention for the Newbery. I'd be surprised, though - Newbery hasn't picked many fantasy books recently. 


Anyway, by the end I was completely in love with the characters and even a little misty-eyed at one point. The villain is a fantastic, complex creation. And September is very likable. Nay, lovable. And my favorite character was half dragon (ok, technically half Wyvern) and half library. What's not to love? This book came really close, but I just don't feel like I can give it a completely glowing review because the language and story-telling style were hard for me to get into.


P.S. And I have to mention that part of the reason I picked this up in the first place is because September is from Omaha! Since I lived there for three years I thought it was fun to have it mentioned so often, even if the Green Wind never mentioned Omaha without insulting it. :D

Ranger's Apprentice (book 6)

I won't provide a summary since this is a sequel, so I won't say much either. Just enough to let you know that this series improves with each book. It is so entertaining and original! Plus, as an added bonus for romantics like me, this sixth book has a pinch (a nice hefty pinch) of romance. Very fun and I can't wait to read the final three books in the series!

Ranger's Apprentice (books 4 &5)

I've so been enjoying this series! I can't wait to share them with my kids (especially my boys). Ben especially liked the cover for The Battle for Skandia because he loves vikings (a product of his love for How to Train Your Dragon). :D My problem with these books is that I can never get them from the library fast enough and I always seem to end up stranded on a cliffhanger. I'm eagerly awaiting book six which I plan to pick up tomorrow from the library.

John Flanagan writes fantasy with so much originality and detail that it's incredibly easy to read and enjoy. His plots are interesting and engrossing and his characters keep developing as they age. I feel like now, five books into the series, I'm old friends with Will and Horace and Halt and Evanlyn and Alyss and co. I can't wait to finish up the next five books in this series and I highly recommend them to everyone.

Demonglass

This is the sequel to Hex Hall and though it's rare to feel this way about sequels, I enjoyed Demonglass much more than Hex Hall. There was so much more depth to the story and the characters. I'd post the summary if it didn't contain spoilers for the first book, but if you're interested, check it out here on goodreads. I was completely wrapped up in this book. I can't wait to read the next part of this series! My one complaint is that one character that I mentioned in my review of the first book still gets a lot of face time (along with her significant other making an appearance too). I wish that was not a part of this book! I'd recommend it to all of my friends if it weren't.

The Icebound Land

This is the third book in the Ranger's Apprentice series and while I thought the first two were very action-packed and stand-alone good, I thought this third book was very much a bridge book. Not that it was uninteresting. Actually, I thought Flanagan used some surprising and very effective elements for developing his characters, even if they were more psychological than action-oriented. This book is slower and feels like it's not complete without the next in the series, which is frustrating because I've been having a hard time getting the fourth book from the library! Hopefully soon.

This is going to be a hard series to review because I don't feel like I can give any plot details without spoilers, so I guess I'll be dealing with a lot of vague generalities... :D Sorry!

Starcrossed

From Goodreads:
How do you defy destiny?

Helen Hamilton has spent her entire sixteen years trying to hide how different she is—no easy task on an island as small and sheltered as Nantucket. And it's getting harder. Nightmares of a desperate desert journey have Helen waking parched, only to find her sheets damaged by dirt and dust. At school she's haunted by hallucinations of three women weeping tears of blood . . . and when Helen first crosses paths with Lucas Delos, she has no way of knowing they're destined to play the leading roles in a tragedy the Fates insist on repeating throughout history.

As Helen unlocks the secrets of her ancestry, she realizes that some myths are more than just legend. But even demigod powers might not be enough to defy the forces that are both drawing her and Lucas together—and trying to tear them apart.
 
 Loved this book! It's original (nobody else has done a YA retelling of the Iliad - at least that I've heard of) and so well-written. Josephine Angelini was able to strike a good balance between giving me enough information to stay invested in the mythology and the story and allowing me to figure things out along with Helen. Helen is a fantastic character - I loved her from the start. I connect with shy people because I've always been one. Also, this is no cliche love at first sight story. Helen and Lucas hate each other for a good portion of the book and try to kill each other, actually. This changes gradually, based on friendship and other cool plot elements I can't mention because I'm anti-spoiler and I ended up loving their relationship.

The other thing I loved about this book is that there is sooo much more to this story than romance. I was completely into the plot and the mythology and the twists and turns. The secondary characters were all awesome and I felt like I got to know them well, which really added to my enjoyment of this book. I can definitely say I recommend this book. Check it out this summer if you get a chance!

Ranger's Apprentice (books 1&2)

Goodreads: He had always wanted to be a warrior. The Rangers, with their dark cloaks and shadowy ways, made him nervous. The villagers believe the Rangers practice magic that makes them invisible to ordinary people. And now fifteen year-old Will, always small for his age, has been chosen as a Ranger's apprentice. What he doesn't realize yet is that the Rangers are the protectors of the kingdom. Highly trained in the skills of battle and surveillance, they fight the battles before the battles reach the people. And as Will is about to learn, there is a large battle brewing. The exiled Morgarath, Lord of the Mountains of Rain and Night, is gathering his forces for an attack on the kingdom. This time, he will not be denied .

I've been hearing about the Ranger's Apprentice books for a while. I kept getting them recommended to me, but never took the time to add them to my to-read list. While we were in Utah, I borrowed a couple of them from Jon's family and brought them back, deciding it was high time I found out for myself whether or not they really were as good as everyone said. They were. They are. :D VERY GOOD!


There are some similarities to familiar series (Chronicles of Prydain, Lord of the Rings), but somehow despite all the 'been done' elements, these books felt original, fresh, and very entertaining. I'd say these are very good boy books, but not only for boys because they are a series the whole family can enjoy. I've added them to my to-buy list for our home library. I'd pretty much call them essential at this point, actually.


My biggest disappointment was realizing that the second book has a terrible ending point! I immediately put the next few books on hold at the library and I'm hoping to get them read very soon.

The Lightning Thief (Graphic Novel)

I wasn't planning to read this, but walking through the library last week it caught my eye on a shelf, so I picked up and decided to see how one of my favorites turned out in the graphic novel format. I tried it and liked it with Twilight, so I had high hopes. And you know, it was kind of fun. It didn't take long for me to read this and all the important key plot points were there (unlike the horrible, horrible movie which we will not discuss) with some fun illustrations. Rick Riordan's wit didn't quite translate over, which is why this graphic novel didn't totally click with me. Reducing this story to just the major plot moments got rid of Riordan's funny chapter titles, hilarious dialogue, and awesome action scenes - which wasn't a good thing for this book.

Jon took a look at it after I was done and wasn't very impressed either. So far, he's read the Lightning Thief graphic novel and seen the movie and he's just not understanding why I love the original book so much. I tell him he never will until he reads the book... There's really no replacement for Rick Riordan's unique storytelling style in its original format.

Reading this made me sooooo excited, though, because look what's coming out this fall...

I am such a fangirl when it comes to mythology in books!!! And really, I'm just a major fangirl for Rick Riordan. I have loved, loved, loved everything he's written.

The Lost Saint

I've pretty much sworn off all vampire/werewolf/paranormal stories, except for series that I've already started. I'm so sick of them! The Lost Saint is a werewolf book, it's true. So, if that's not your thing I wouldn't recommend it. Now, I really liked the first book. I won't give you a summary of this one because I don't want to give any spoilers from the first. Oh, and just so you know, the cover really has nothing to do with the book. I wish I wasn't so... I don't know... bare-legged-y. This book is 100% clean and written by an LDS author.

My big complaint about this book is that it's been to long since I've read the first. Because of that, I didn't feel very connected to the original story. I couldn't really remember it until about half-way through the book. Also, this being a sequel, the romance is suffering from serious sequel-phase (fighting, things tearing them apart, that kind of rubbish). I hate that because they worked so hard to be together in the first book and then they threw it all away. Stupid. The focus of the book also seemed to be on the romance, and I wanted more of the mythology and the plot in general. Anyway, overall, I didn't enjoy reading this as much as the first book (The Dark Divine).