Book Rant (Sort of ... Plus Other Stuff): The Blood of Olympus

I. Blood of Olympus and All the Spoilers

So almost 20 days after release, I finally finished Blood of Olympus. I kept putting it down, because I was honestly bored with the plot and couldn't quite follow what was going on because there were A MILLION story lines going on at once.

I'm sorry, RR. I love you, but this could have been better. This whole series could have been better. There were a lot of highlights, especially with Nico, who was such a great character in the original PJO series. And Reyna, who probably had some of the best moments in BoO. And I could tell RR was making a huge effort with the diversity and you know, imparting good life lessons for the childrens, etc. But the plot was weak and the cast was way too big to do anything effective. Also, nobody will ever be as good a character as Percy. Seriously, no one.

But I don't necessarily regret reading the new series. I will always enjoy what the original PJO series brought to me, and of course, all the characters hold a special place in my heart. Now that it's finally over (yeah, I'm going to ignore all the continuing offshoots that RR is certainly going to aggressively profit off of in the future), I can say, it was a pleasure growing up with Percy. I started reading in '09 (when this blog started!) and finished in '14. It's been a very good five years.

II. Life

Life is, as far as I can tell, really, really good right now. I'm on my third year of law school. I'm almost done. I cannot wait to be done. I have to say--law school has not been the most emotionally healthy time of my life, to which I'm sure a lot of people who've gone through it can attest. But sometimes you have to go through some unpleasant stuff to get to the good parts, and that's what I keep telling myself. And I have been better at not letting the little things get to me.

I have a lovely job lined up in DC, and I will be moving to DC in January. Early, because I'm doing a my final semester there. I love DC more than I love any city ever, and I can't wait to live there. I am so tangibly happier in DC. I'm crazy excited. My next novel is set there, and let's be real, it's mainly because I want to write a lengthy love letter to the city of my heart.

III. NaNoWriMo

And finally, speaking of my next novel, I am forcing myself to do NaNoWriMo this year. I have an abundant amount of free time, and currently, I'm spending it watching reality TV. This time should be spent at least toward something that will yield some actual work product. So I'm going to write. I haven't been successful in writing for a long time, and I'm afraid if I don't get to it, I will lose this habit. Writing is something that brings me a lot of joy if I persist, but sometimes, I really HAVE to persist.

But I did NaNo in '09, and if I could finish while being a full time student and working 20+ hours weekly at the paper, I don't see why I can't do it when I have virtually no work until December. So let the adventure begin, I suppose.

Probably mentioned it in an earlier post, but the premise of my novel is a boy, Sawyer Thomas, who has hyperthymesia--an affliction that gives him a virtually perfect autobiographical memory. This means he can remember everything that has happened to him with extreme detail. He can recall exactly what happened on any given specific day. This presents a problem when his girlfriend, Annie Rose, passes away in a car accident. It leaves him with a crippling inability to return to the places they frequented, because the memories there are too strong. Eventually, he decides that in order to take his life back, he's going to go back to all of those places, the places that belong to her, and do something extreme there that he will have new memories to crowd out the old ones.

Book Rant: The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry

On the faded Island Books sign hanging over the porch of the Victorian cottage is the motto "No Man Is an Island; Every Book Is a World." A. J. Fikry, the irascible owner, is about to discover just what that truly means.

A. J. Fikry's life is not at all what he expected it to be. His wife has died, his bookstore is experiencing the worst sales in its history, and now his prized possession, a rare collection of Poe poems, has been stolen. Slowly but surely, he is isolating himself from all the people of Alice Island-from Lambiase, the well-intentioned police officer who's always felt kindly toward Fikry; from Ismay, his sister-in-law who is hell-bent on saving him from his dreary self; from Amelia, the lovely and idealistic (if eccentric) Knightley Press sales rep who keeps on taking the ferry over to Alice Island, refusing to be deterred by A.J.'s bad attitude. Even the books in his store have stopped holding pleasure for him. These days, A.J. can only see them as a sign of a world that is changing too rapidly.

And then a mysterious package appears at the bookstore. It's a small package, but large in weight. It's that unexpected arrival that gives A. J. Fikry the opportunity to make his life over, the ability to see everything anew. It doesn't take long for the locals to notice the change overcoming A.J.; or for that determined sales rep, Amelia, to see her curmudgeonly client in a new light; or for the wisdom of all those books to become again the lifeblood of A.J.'s world; or for everything to twist again into a version of his life that he didn't see coming. As surprising as it is moving, The Storied Life of A. J. Fikry is an unforgettable tale of transformation and second chances, an irresistible affirmation of why we read, and why we love.

"You can only live your one tiny life, but with books, you can live thousands more." A quote from Reddit. 

This is a magical book. As I mentioned before I read it, I said if it came anywhere close to Margarettown, it would be high up on my Life Favorites list. It's not as good as Margarettown, but man, does it come damn close. 

I love this kind of book. From the cover, the blurb, and the actual story, the book trumpets itself as one of those heartwarming, literary reads that puts a smile on your face and a tear in your eye. That's what it presents itself as, and sometimes, isn't it refreshing when that's exactly what a book ends up being? In the whimsical journey through the life of an eccentric bookseller and his marvelous, multidimensional friends and family, you really feel what it means to be a reader, a writer, and a lover of books. This is, as many reviewers have noted, is a love letter to book people. It is littered with references to classics and modern bestsellers that any person loiters around bookstores and libraries, hoping to meet the love of their life at these haunts instead of at a sporting event, and getting proposed to with a favorite novel, will not fail to delight in. 

This book is rare. It's hard to put my finger on it, but there are some books that are just written in a way that captures you, that transforms you. Not just enjoying a book or getting caught up in a book. I read a lot of books, and there are many that I deem good and got lost in while reading. But this is a special kind of experience. For the time you are reading, you feel as though you are exploring some magical land--you feel as though you have entered your own Narnia. I can't describe it as well as I would like to. I love those books, and they do not come around nearly often enough. I spend my life looking for them. When I find them, I rarely forget the feeling the book inspires in me. I was enchanted. I was engrossed. It is the feeling of falling in love. For those of us in the know, books and love--they are much of the same thing.

It occurred to me as I was reading, that this was really a book about nothing, a book with a plot that did not matter much, and surprises that did not surprise. You knew where it was going, you could feel it coming to an end. And when it did, it ended as quietly as it began, with little fanfare. A nothing book. But I've rarely read a book with so much heart. It sweeps you away. And at one point, A.J. Fikry asks, perhaps for a brief moment revealing the voice of the ever-lovely and wise Gabrielle Zevin, "Is a twist less satisfying if you know it's coming?"

No, dear readers. It is every bit as satisfying as it promises to be.

Books of 2014 (Part I)

LONG TIME NO UPDATE, SO SORRY. AM STILL ALIVE. Working on law school. You know the drill. Getting stuff nailed down for the summer and spending time with friends. Probably a better use of my time than hanging out on the blogosphere ranting to nobody. Although somehow I gained a new follower in the time that I've been away, so maybe there are still creepers out there?! I mean creepers in the most loving of ways. It's probably an Internet robot that is following me, but I'm going to pretend like it's a real person.

I'm still something like 7k from the end of my novel. Womp womp. I'm going to finish it this year, I swear. In the meantime, I wrote a substantial academic paper for the first time since undergrad, so that happened (things of extreme disinterest to everyone who might be reading). THINGS THAT ARE OF INTEREST THOUGH: Isla and the Happily Ever After FINALLY has a release date--August 14, 2014. My faith is blind. I know this delay will have been WORTH IT.

These are the books I've read so far in 2014. Sadly, the first eight I basically read in January, and then I severely dropped off until a couple of weeks ago. That's how I roll. I'm all about teh books for a short burst, and then I don't read for basically two months. C'est la vie. But you know what? People in law school continued to be shocked and super impressed that I read for fun still. This is good, because I am neither shocking nor impressing in any other aspect of my law school life.

I think I'm going to do a new thing where I rate the books Goodsreads-style here, because I'm obviously way too fucking lazy to write reviews. I'll have ratings in parentheses. I'm a harsh reader and things fail to impress me often, so 3 is what I consider not a waste of a read, but solid-ish and average. Anything that drops under 3 means I pretty much wish I hadn't read it. I'm not one of those people who gives 4's and 5's out like candy, guise. This all hinges on whether you believe in my memory skills and stuff, because it has likely been a while since I've read the book I'm about to arbitrarily rate.

*Will now preface every book rant with reminder that I have utter, absolute respect for authors and just because I didn't like something--and I may virulently dislike something--doesn't mean I think the book is objectively bad for everyone. Everyone should remember that I also passionately love things like One Direction yet cannot tell what is a good wine to save my life, so a preponderance of the evidence definitely indicates that I just have REALLY BAD TASTE.

1) Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell (3.5)
2) A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness (5)
3) More Than This by Patrick Ness (3.5)
4) Bright Young Things by Anna Godbersen (2)
5) The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky (3)
6) The Silmarillion by J.R.R. Tolkien (4)
7) Hollow City by Ransom Riggs (4.5)
8) When You Were Here by Daisy Whitney (4)
9) Fingerprints of You by Kristen-Paige Madonia (4)
10) Pages For You by Sylvia Brownrigg (1.5)
11) Nothing But Ghosts by Beth Kephart (3)

Plus, if we're going to cheat and count things I read "for fun" but weren't fiction:

12) Captive Audience: The Telecom Industry and Monopoly Power in the New Gilded Age by Susan Crawford (4.5)

I realize this rating system makes my comments on "best/worst of the bunch" kind of redundant. So instead, general comments:

This collection of books should really be called All Those Things I Have Been Told To Read For Years But Never Did Until Now.

A Monster Calls was obviously freaking awesome, just like everyone has said. It is the only book I rated 5 for a reason (although Hollow City was really close! I'd give it a 4.75 if I was splitting hairs!). Holy shit, it was extremely powerful and moving, and I was reduced to tears multiple times through the book. It was surprising and illuminating and one of those things you think about for long after the book is over. Unfortunately, I think Ness tried to do the thought-provoking!concept thing with More Than This, and it read like a crappy version of the Matrix.

Eleanor & Park, I already reviewed and don't need to rehash. Wow, now going back and reading my review, I seemed to have liked it much better immediately after reading than I do now. Curious.

Bright Young Things had literally nothing interesting happen in the entire book, only people whose motivations I gave less than zero fucks about, doing things that seemed entirely irrational unless you were a 12 year old with no real concept of the world. But come on people, you live in goddamn New York City. Please grow a brain before you go out and make bad decisions, even if this is the 1920s. Maybe especially because this is the 1920s. Only a sheer stubbornness to finish (since I'd bought it on my Kindle instead of just checking it out at the library) prevented me from dropping it about a third of the way through. Also, the description is way too over the top.

The Perks of Being A Wallflower, I think was perhaps not as impactful on me because I watched the movie first, and I'm no longer 15. I do think if I had read it as a teenager, I would have identified with Charlie more, but I'm just not at a moment in my life where the character or his writing resonated with me. I kept thinking, okay, this must be a trope, so as the book goes on, Charlie's writing is going to get better, right? Right? Is it not? Oh. Okay, then.

The Silmarillion was amazing, of course, but I'm a LOTR girl, so ... duh. Fun fact, though. I've never made it through The Hobbit or the LOTR series (stopped somewhere into ROTK), so I may be the only person whose never finished those books but managed to plow through The Silmarillion. I dunno, I liked The Silmarillion more; it was like a mythological bedtime story for adults.

Ransom Riggs FREAKING DELIVERS on Hollow City. I never got bored. The book runs at such a consistent level of quality and excitement throughout, it's almost astonishing. This is how all reading experiences should be. He's a veritable treasure to the YA community. Cannot wait to see how he wraps this series up. He ends on a cliffhanger, but I CAN'T EVEN BE MAD ABOUT IT, BECAUSE IT'S SO GOOD. The only reason I don't give this book a 5 is not even a real reason, which is that sometimes the book relies on rote formula of metaphorically dropping a gun every other scene to artificially generate excitement. What do I mean by this. Whenever things are getting vaguely calm, he inserts some zany problem, and the book becomes what the Percy Jackson series runs on: dispatchable monster after monster, to the point where it seems like the author is kind of just biding time until the Big Reveal for the actual plot arc at the end of the book. But as you know, I love Percy Jackson probably more than any person should love any thing, so ... I mean, I'm not really complaining. This is a crutch I'm okay with authors relying on.

Pages For You started out super promising and then turned into purpley lesbian smut for the rest of the book, with very little plot development. And I am okay with smut of any kind as long as there's development ANYWHERE, and the author doesn't find super flowery, bizarre ways to describe nipples and sex on Murphy beds. Biggest disappointment, for sure.

Up next, which I am SUPER EXCITED ABOUT:

1) The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin Bought it, preparing for my mind to be blown; if it is anywhere close to Margarettown, her other adult novel, this is going to be high up on my Life Favorites list.
2) Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea by April Genevieve Tucholke. The cover is gorgeous. I'm ready for some good horror, so bring it on, Tucholke.
3) Storm by Donna Jo Napoli. She's been my favorite author since I was eleven. I almost peed myself when I found out she published a new book recently. About the biblical story of Noah. I'm honestly pretty skeptical as to whether this will measure up to the other Noah retelling I've read: Not The End of the World by Geraldine McCaughrean. That book was pretty great. Check it out if you have the chance. Just searched it on my blog. Apparently I read it in the tail end of 2010. Damn, this blog has been going forever.

Okay, that's all for now. Will check back in soon (hopefully?). There's no telling when I post, but at least I'll say that I'll probably never abandon this blog; it's a great way to keep up with what I've read.

Book Rant: A Monster Calls

The monster showed up after midnight. As they do.

But it isn't the monster Conor's been expecting. He's been expecting the one from his nightmare, the one he's had nearly every night since his mother started her treatments, the one with the darkness and the wind and the screaming...

This monster is something different, though. Something ancient, something wild. And it wants the most dangerous thing of all from Conor.

It wants the truth.

OH MY GOD THIS WAS AMAZING. I'm on a roll with my reading, which is probably a result of the fact that I am in a really difficult spot for writing right now. I think I've spent four hours working on maybe eight hundred words today. #strugglebus

I keep reading books intermittently between reading The Silmarillion and Bright Young Things. The Silmarillion I'm taking slow, because it's glorious, and I want to savor it slowly and only when I'm sitting in bed before I go to sleep, as a kind of grown-up, awesome bed time story. Bright Young Things is slow because ... well, I just don't really like it that much, but I'm already halfway through so I have to finish it.

Anyway, A Monster Calls has won a million well-deserved awards, and it came out two years ago, so again, I'm not sure I have much to add. Other than I wholeheartedly agree with all the hype. The book starts out a little simplistic for my tastes, but quickly blooms into an incredible, modern parable about grief and childhood and being honest with yourself. It is a "kids book" in the way that Coraline is a kids book -- which is to say, it is better the older you are when you read it. Coraline, for example, was creepy when I was little, and now it is full-blown terrifying.

This book will have you feeling all the feels. It is PERFECTLY crafted. Just an amazing work of art. Everything ties together like a miracle. And when I finished, I immediately downloaded another Patrick Ness book onto my Kindle.

Okay, back to writing now. Urgggggh.

Book Rant: Eleanor & Park

Set over the course of one school year in 1986, this is the story of two star-crossed misfits—smart enough to know that first love almost never lasts, but brave and desperate enough to try. When Eleanor meets Park, you’ll remember your own first love—and just how hard it pulled you under. 

This book doesn't really need a review, as it's not new and many more credible people have done it before me.

"Eleanor & Park reminded me not just what it's like to be young and in love with a girl, but also what it's like to be young and in love with a book." --John Green

"This sexy, smart, tender romance thrums with punk rock and true love." --Gayle Forman

"A breathless, achingly good read about love and outsiders." --Stephanie Perkins.

The greats of YA Lit have spoken. But it being my first completed book of 2014, I had to comment.

The book is lovely, and for once, I actually do like the dual POV. Rainbow Rowell uses it to great effect. But all sorts of wonderful things have already been said about the book. I can only add that while I would recommend it, I would not rate it as highly as everyone else has. I think, honestly and this might be weird, but the romance is the biggest weakness of the book. It just came at me as too in-your-face and devastating. And probably that is what young love is like, but it kind of got weirdly Twilight-esque at times with Park and Eleanor's descriptions of each other.

The best part of the book for me was the characterizations of the two characters' families. The domestic violence in Eleanor's family seemed so real and heart wrenching. Incredibly well done. And Park's family was frankly, just one of my favorite things I've read. Much, much thanks to Rowell for depicting parents that are in love and mostly normal but with flaws and INTERRACIAL. Amazing. Read quite a few interracial pairings in books now, but as parents? Not very often. I was obsessed with Park's parents. Maybe this is a sign that I am getting real old, as one of my favorite parts of the Percy Jackson books is Percy's relationship with his mother Sally.

It's these things that kept me going through the pages of romance that just didn't quite ring true for me through most of the book; though, I won't deny Rowell's a great writer, and that's part of the reason I finished. And the ending was pretty goddamn perfect. All in all, really liked the book. A modern teenage romance that's solid and puts together two real characters and not skinny, pretty white people at all times.

I'm really into Rainbow Rowell, though, because she wrote Fangirl (which is on my to-read list; will probably check it out from the Cambridge Public Library when I go back to school but won't spend money on it), which means she is obviously Of Fandom -- awesome. Love authors who appreciate and embrace fan fiction, because it's a transformative thing for a lot of young writers and should be seen as such by the law and by published authors. Good for her!

Currently reading: Bright Young Things by Anna Godbersen and The Silmarillion by J.R.R. Tolkien.

Books of 2013 (The Final Edition)

{Here a string of new posts: Books of 2013, then Goals for Next Year, and My Top Picks of 2013.}

These are the final books I read in 2013. Total for the year? 35. Which I think is better than last year, and I'm excited about surpassing that in 2014. I don't want to make too ambitious of goals for myself. I know I am capable of doing a lot; there was one week where I read 7 novels and wrote 10k, so I can do that, but I'm not consistent with my productivity. But I'm happy with where I ended up this year! Without further ado: these are the final five.

31. Rose Under Fire by Elizabeth Wein
32. Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta
33. The Midnight Dress by Karen Foxlee
34. Just One Year by Gayle Forman
35. The Book of Broken Hearts by Sarah Ockler

Best of the Bunch: Hard pick, because I liked a lot of these. Probably has to go to Rose Under Fire, though. This woman never ceases to amaze with her gorgeously written historicals. I would love to see her branch out next and write something outside of WWII, but if she turns out another WWII pilot book, I won't be opposed. I can't decide if I like this one better than Code Name Verity: probably not, but there are passages where I feel Rose Under Fire surpasses its predecessor. It ends better, for instance. And I continue to love the fact that Wein writes friendship books. Although I write mostly love stories in my books too, I do like that there can be successful YA without romance.

Surprise Favorite: Again, a hard pick. I'll go with Just One Year by Gayle Forman. To be honest, I wasn't a huge fan of Just One Day. The main character was blah, and the premise was cutesy, but kind of ridiculous to me. I also just didn't buy that the MC would spend so much of her year obsessing over a guy she met for a day. Willem's story made more sense to me, because although he was really into "Lulu," he did other things and the decisions he made to look for her were not the backbone of the story. I think Forman is actually better at writing guys than girls; I also liked Where I Went better than If I Stay. Anyway, Just One Year was brilliant and surprisingly lovely to read. By the end, Forman had won me over again, and her ending, while some people didn't like, I thought was just perfect.

Biggest Disappointment: Jellicoe Road. The book is not by any means bad, but I had higher expectations so maybe that was why when I read it, I didn't find it as engaging or mind-blowing as people thought. The parallel story in Hannah's manuscript that ends up coming together with the main plot only serves for a large part of the book to be annoyingly confusing to me and at the same time super obvious. Anyone could have probably figured out the significance of the manuscript very early on.

Up next: Unsure, but possibly Bright Young Things. I will resume reading The Diviners when I get back to school, for a 2014 that kicks off with a distinctly 1920s flair.

Books of 2013 (Part III)

I hit 30 books! This is pretty big for me. I think I might get to 40 by the end of the year, which might be the most I've read for several years. I also feel like I have a decent genre spread here, so go me.

22. Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein
23. Amelia Anne is Dead and Gone by Kat Rosenfield
24. Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher
25. Rats Saw God by Rob Thomas
26. House of Hades by Rick Riordan
27. Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Sáenz
28. Breadcrumbs by Anne Ursu
29. Gone, Gone, Gone by Hannah Moskowitz
30. The Obsidian Mirror by Catherine Fisher

Best of the bunch: CODE NAME VERITY, omg, omg, omg. I eat all of the crow, you guys. Ok, but actually, I did expect this book to be good, but as usual, I have this complex where when a book has a ton of hype, I avoid it for a long time. And man, did this book have a lot of hype. I swear, it felt like CNV was every editor, author, and agent's favorite book of 2012. So I finally read it in September (meant to do a review, but failed), and wow. It was just as good as everyone said it would be. Yes, I think there are some structural problems and the pacing gets a bit wonky at times. But for sheer enjoyability, CNV was freaking awesome. And that ending had me crying very publicly in a coffee shop. So that was cute. I love friendship books; there should be more of them.

Surprise favorite: House of Hades? Confusing choice? Maybe. But my bar of expectations for books in the Heroes of Olympus series is set real low. The books are not and will not ever be as good as the original Percy Jackson series. I've gone on about this ad nauseum, but basically, I think Percy and his extraordinary voice carried the entire last series, and the concept was still fresh with all of the major Greek myths still available for satire. Rick is inevitably running out of mythological material (not his fault, just a fact that I am pointing out), and while the new characters are growing on me, the 7-POV style is really not my thing. Also, editing. The new books could definitely be shorter. But anyway, HoH was surprisingly awesome! Packed full of character development and fun plots. I am impressed that Rick is managing to milk older characters for as much as he is; it's cool that we still have so much to discover about them. He's made them more flawed and unsure, and I like it! And finally, without spoiling anything, the big bombshell reveal about a fan favorite character was extremely brave on Rick's part (well-written and only surprising in that the author was willing to go there; I think it was predictable based on the character's past development). I have major respect for him.

Biggest disappointment: Breadcrumbs. This is probably one of those situations, like Imaginary Girls, where everyone likes the book but me, so my opinion should be disregarded. But I had problems with the fact that the conflict is both miraculously resolved with zero climax and also nothing is resolved. Does that even make sense? I don't even know how it's possible for a book to close up so tidily and so untidily at the same time. It was like the author really just wanted to explore the emotional element, which is fine, but you can't then go write an external, quest-type plot and toss it to the winds when you don't know how to wrap it up. Didn't get it. The writing was pretty, so there's that. (Although I also agree with the criticism that the writing was absolutely incongruous with the main character. Like, using the word "accoutrements," I mean, really? I actually put the book down at that point and just laughed, because no elementary school kid would know what that word means. This is not a matter of the audience understanding it, because clearly, adults know that word. This is a matter of the book being from the POV of a young girl who would never use the words Ursu uses.)

Up next: Rose Under Fire by Elizabeth Wein and Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta.

Happy reading!

Books of 2013 (Part II)

Brief update about my life: finished summer internship, back in Cambridge for year 2 of law school, and secured job in DC for next summer at a big law firm (which hopefully ends in a permanent offer). Looks like I'll be starting my Real Adult Life in DC. I'm excited about this. DC is a beautiful, vibrant city, and yeah, ok, I really enjoy living in our nation's capital.

Still working on the novel. I hadn't written for a long time, but in the past week, I made a resolution to stop spending an unreasonable time on Facebook and Netflix. I have nothing to show for it when I waste time that way, but if I'm writing, I'll at least have a novel at the end of the day to feel good about myself, right?

Anyway, continued books.

11. Miss Peregrine's Home For Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs
12. A World Away by Nancy Grossman
13. Without Tess by Marcella Pixley
14. The Kingmaker's Daughter by Philippa Gregory
15. Unaccustomed Earth by Jhumpa Lahiri
16. Memoirs of a Teenage Amnesiac by Gabrielle Zevin
17. Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri
18. The White Princess by Philippa Gregory
19. Hold Still by Nina LaCour
20. If He Had Been With Me by Laura Nowlin
21. See You At Harry's by Jo Knowles

Best of the bunch: Without Tess. Blew me away. This is a book about childhood mental illness. Pixley is, without a doubt, an author who has confidence and control with language, and the book is interspersed with Tess' poems, which of course, demonstrate what an amazing poet Pixley is. (Indeed, she is, because I'm pretty sure she's won awards for her poems). The book reminds me of Life is But A Dream which deals with schizophrenia and how reality/fantasy blur in a terrifying way for those afflicted. But I think Without Tess is a stronger book, and not for those with a weak stomach. The way Tess both cements and ruins her relationship with her sister as it becomes increasingly apparent that Tess is mentally ill hurts to read. Affecting prose, though. A mix between literary and horror.

Surprise favorite: Miss Peregrine's Home For Peculiar Children. I put off reading this for a long time, and as frequently happens with books I put off, it ended up being amazing, of course. Ransom Riggs pulls off a creepy, delightful, rollicking adventure in the best sense. It's a rare book that opens the door to Narnia for an afternoon and you go through the last page being wistful that the fantasy must end. I can't wait to see what Riggs comes up with next.

Biggest disappointment: For the first time, it's actually hard for me to say, because this was a pretty strong batch of books. If I had to pick, I'd go with The White Princess. The Kingmaker's Daughter was kind of surprisingly good, but The White Princess was lazy Gregory. Although I got through The White Princess pretty much in one sitting--it was entertaining enough--I finished it with a strong feeling of meh. Just not distinctive enough out of Gregory's long line of historical fictions to be anything too special.

Currently reading: Code Name Verity. I KNOW I'M FINALLY READING THE BOOK NO ONE COULD SHUT UP ABOUT FOR THE LAST YEAR. But like I said, books I put off, I almost always regret waiting when I actually read them. I'm sure this will be the same. It's already pretty freaking fantastic.

Will I make it by the end of the year to 35 books? Only time will tell.

Book Rant: Miss Peregrine's Home For Peculiar Children

A mysterious island. An abandoned orphanage. And a strange collection of very curious photographs. It all waits to be discovered in Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children, an unforgettable novel that mixes fiction and photography in a thrilling reading experience.

As our story opens, a horrific family tragedy sets sixteen-year-old Jacob journeying to a remote island off the coast of Wales, where he discovers the crumbling ruins of Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children. As Jacob explores its abandoned bedrooms and hallways, it becomes clear that the children who once lived here - one of whom was his own grandfather - were more than just peculiar. They may have been dangerous. They may have been quarantined on a desolate island for good reason.

And somehow - impossible though it seems - they may still be alive.

I know I'm a kajillion months late on the bandwagon, but. This is good, guys. Real good. I read the whole thing yesterday. This continues, I think, a trend of general excellence in the creepy, horror that I've read. First with Long Lankin and then The Name of the Star (we don't speak of its sequel).

First, this book is gorgeous. Visually, I mean. Just look at it! The cover is incredible, and I love the idea of making a story out of the photos. Yes, there are photos that accompany the story, and yes, they're all real. They're super creepy and delightful and add so much texture to the plot. The book would be missing a real spark without them.

Second, this book is astonishingly well written. It's like the difference between good beer and cheap, I'm-a-poor-college-student beer. It glides down smooth, and you never feel like the writing is getting in the way. Very beautiful writing. And it's a debut novel. So impressive.

Third, this book reminds me, in all the best ways, of Coraline by Neil Gaiman. Same eerie feel, a little bit older, perhaps. Absurdly interesting the entire time. Neither book wastes page space. If you like weird, fantastical, creepy, then both of these books would be good for you. This one might sit better, because it's got more heft and feels more substantial (plot-wise). One of the best parts of the book is figuring out what is going on; Ransom Riggs (also, what a baller name) does an amazing job at dropping clues that all tie together at the end, but that you almost certainly won't figure out before the climax happens. It's pretty awesome. You feel like this book is at your intelligence. It is neither too smart for you nor too stupid. I highly recommend it.

Also, as a random sidenote, apparently Ransom Riggs is friends with John Green and both went to Kenyon College. Kenyon College is doing great on its authorial alums front, damn.

Books of 2013 (Part I)

I said I would do a post when I read 10 books, so here I am.

Yes. It has taken me this long to read 10 books. But in my defense, blah blah, law school, etc., blah. You've heard it all before. Same excuse. I'm now three weeks deep into my internship at the FCC and enjoying living in DC. I love the kind of law I do and am unbelievably fortunate to have found a career that I like (and will also subsidize my income-less writing habit), essentially as a result of dumb luck. I made it out of 1L alive and did it without being in danger of failing out. I am one-third of the way to being a bonafide lawyer, guys! If anyone is ever curious about law school because you're thinking of attending, I would be happy to talk to you. Many people in my real life have been asking, so I thought I'd extend the offer here.

I'm cutting back my goal of 50 books or something I had at New Years to a more manageable 30 books for the year. I know that does not sound like a whole lot, but being realistic and acknowledging that I self-imposed a schedule that will basically erase all free time next semester, I anticipate reading for pleasure is going to come to a screeching halt once fall semester begins.

So without further ado, these are the books I've read so far in 2013. (Linked the ones I did reviews for.)

1. Every Day by David Levithan
2. Me Before You by Jojo Moyes
3. Son by Lois Lowry
4. Everybody Sees the Ants by A.S. King
5. Please Ignore Vera Dietz by A.S. King
6. Ask the Passengers by A.S. King
7. Everything You Need to Survive the Apocalypse by Lucas Klauss
8. Commencement by J. Courtney Sullivan
9. Just One Day by Gayle Forman
10. The Madness Underneath by Maureen Johnson

Best of the bunch: Please Ignore Vera Dietz. If you couldn't tell, I read a lot of A.S. King. People say she is the female John Green, to which I agree in the sense that they have similar writing styles and do soulful, quirky contemporary. John Green's books are funnier. A.S. King's might be more serious. But whatever the comparisons, King writes great books, and Vera Dietz is best in show for her. It's no wonder that the book won a Printz Award (I don't always like Printz winners, but I can get behind this one). Although the other two are excellent and you should read them too if you like YA contemporary, Vera Dietz is solidly good without tipping toward being too self-aware of its own quirkiness, which is a danger with King sometimes. My pet peeve with YA contemporary is that sometimes it gets too into its own tongue-and-cheek, hipster, cutesy whackiness, and I have little patience for try-hards. Regardless, I think you would be hard pressed to find a YA author today who does magic realism better in contemporary. It is my dream that she and John Green will co-author a book a la Will Grayson, Will Grayson.

Surprise favorite: Me Before You. I can't really pick a favorite between this one and Vera Dietz, so I'm going to cheat and call this my surprise favorite. Because I had never read anything by Jojo Moyes before, but honestly, British authors who make it across the pond don't tend to disappoint (Before I Die by Jenny Downham? One of my favorites forever, and just picked it off the shelf randomly by sheer luck). I've read some gimmicky books this year that have tried to be tearjerkers, but this one doesn't have a whiff of manipulation. It is unflinchingly honest. It is about the best kind of love, but it isn't romantic. I hate both covers and whoever did them should leave the business. I've rarely seen covers that are so misaligned with the tone of the book. Seriously terrible, and I am sorry for the author. But anyway. Please read. Just a heads up, it has to do with assisted suicide, so if you are truly uncomfortable with that, then you might want to look elsewhere. But if you are curious and want to take a chance, you won't regret it.

Biggest disappointment, runner up: Son. I don't expect everything to live up to The Giver or Gathering Blue, and Lowry usually is not a hit-or-miss for me, but Son was just incoherent. It did not need to exist, and the plot was all over the place. There was no real climax, and it suddenly descended into serious allegory territory with no explanation. If you a diehard Lowry fan, which most people are, I won't discourage you from reading it, but it won't give you closure (which I didn't even need) and it won't give you satisfaction. But Lowry is a good writer, so whatever. I give her a pass, after a storied career of writing brilliant literature.

Biggest disappointment, actual: The Madness Underneath. WHY, MAUREEN? JUST, WHY? I loved The Name of the Star, and I so rarely like thrillers or mysteries. You'll remember, I ranted and raved about it. The plot was tight, the characters were finely drawn, and it was a rollicking good time for all. What happened? The Madness Underneath had no character development, absolutely no plot to speak of, and the pacing was about as wonky as you can get. Nothing happens in the first half of the book, but the worst is when the climax overcompensates for the nothingness of that first half by being super overly dramatic, and here is where I'm talking about total, blatant gimmicks to manipulate the reader's emotions. Except I had no emotions, because I literally could not have given two flying fucks about anyone in this book. This makes me tragically sad. I still believe Maureen is wonderful, and The 13 Little Blue Envelopes duo is so high on my list of charming travel books (and totally outdo Just One Day, which tries to be fun and travelly, but hits nowhere near the excellence of Envelopes and Amy & Roger's Epic Detour). I think she does quirky charm best, but The Madness Underneath needed coherence, structure, and a firm, black line from one event to another--the book could not deliver on that. I truly think this is the end for me and this series. Another is coming down the pipes, but I won't be there for it. The Name of the Star will have to be enough.

I am at 10,000 words on my WIP and trucking along. Hope to get a nice big chunk of it out of the way by the end of the summer.

A few books next on my list. I just bought the paperback of Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children. Super, super excited about this; have been waiting for it to come out on paperback for the LONGEST TIME. Intend to buy The Obsidian Mirror by Catherine Fisher (author of Incarceron). She is one of the few authors--maybe the only one--who writes completely anticlimactic endings, in my opinion, but I will find the book worthwhile x100000 because the rest of the book is so mind-blowingly good. I mean, she can legit end in the middle of a sentence, and I won't care, because she is a genius at plotting. Both Incarceron and Sapphique forced me to read most of the book in one sitting, as I couldn't bear to put it down, not even for a second. Also thinking about reading Railsea by China Mieville (author of Un Lun Dun). I enjoyed Un Lun Dun a great deal, and he writes those fun, fantasy children books that you just want to stay in forever, but I do remember that sometimes he gets a little too crazy. With him, I feel like the plot is constantly teetering between being the right amount of infectious adventure and being utterly batshit insane. Sometimes, he straight up flies off the rail into batshit insane territory. So we'll see.

Finally, I saw the MG fantasy The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making, and I'm not gonna lie, it looks kind of adorable and fun. It has a book-loving dragon. That alone probably seals the deal for me.

Book Rant: Everybody Sees The Ants

Lucky Linderman didn't ask for his life. He didn't ask his grandfather not to come home from the Vietnam War. He didn't ask for a father who never got over it. He didn't ask for a mother who keeps pretending their dysfunctional family is fine. And he didn't ask to be the target of Nader McMillan's relentless bullying, which has finally gone too far.

But Lucky has a secret--one that helps him wade through the mundane torture of his life. In his dreams, Lucky escapes to the war-ridden jungles of Laos--the prison his grandfather couldn't escape--where Lucky can be a real man, an adventurer, and a hero. It's dangerous and wild, and it's a place where his life just might be worth living. But how long can Lucky keep hiding in his dreams before reality forces its way inside?

Michael L. Printz Honor recipient A.S. King's smart, funny and boldly original writing shines in this powerful novel about learning to cope with the shrapnel life throws at you--and taking a stand against it.

I cleaned out the Harvard Book Store of A.S. King books. Next on my list is Please Ignore Vera Dietz (Printz Honor book). This is the same author, by the way, that wrote Ask The Passengers, but I haven't gotten to that one yet.

I think one of the major selling points about King's books is that she does modern magic realism. I don't see a whole lot of that in contemporary fiction, and she does it so well. Plus, this is a realistic, tasteful book on bullying with a likable instead of annoying, doormat male main character. The blurb says that everybody can see the ants, and everybody has a little of Lucky inside of them. It's true. Even though the level of bullying Lucky experiences has never happened to me and is utterly horrifying, I can sympathize with his plight in a very personal way. I know what it's like to think nobody wants to be friends with you, that there is nothing interesting about you. I think this is something everybody has experienced, and King brings out the pain of knowing that. She has written a book about the real thoughts of suicide from teenagers, and I would stake a bet that people are lying if they have never at least wondered about suicide. If you haven't, you are a rare breed. I have never been suicidal, but because teenaged emotions are so strong and often seem to be like the Most Profound of all things, I have certainly thought about what it would be like to kill myself (without any intention of actually doing so). It's like wondering what it would be like to attend your own funeral, and what people would say about you.

(I really hope I'm not the only weird one, and that my assumption that people think about this stuff is true.)

I love that this book has supporting characters that are flawed. I love that Granddad and Lucky's parents, Aunt Jodi and Uncle Dave -- even Charlotte Dent, a character that gets almost zero actual page time -- have a level of depth that you know is unbelievably difficult to accomplish if you have ever tried to write a novel. King is thorough and thoughtful, and genuinely an extremely good writer.

Her plot is quiet, but weirdly, very profound -- not in that way that some YA authors are, where they're actively trying to make their books seem profound. She does it effortlessly, almost as an afterthought. It makes you think. It makes you wonder. She is growing on me as one of the really notable YA contemporary writers (obviously, I am behind, as the Printz award committee has already figured that out). I don't know that I had a eureka moment after finishing and felt like it was a life-altering book. But it was solid and pretty flawless as far as I was concerned. That's all you can ask for, and so rarely do you get it.

Book Rant: Me Before You

Lou Clark knows lots of things. She knows how many footsteps there are between the bus stop and home. She knows she likes working in The Buttered Bun tea shop and she knows she might not love her boyfriend Patrick.

What Lou doesn't know is she's about to lose her job or that knowing what's coming is what keeps her sane.

Will Traynor knows his motorcycle accident took away his desire to live. He knows everything feels very small and rather joyless now and he knows exactly how he's going to put a stop to that.

What Will doesn't know is that Lou is about to burst into his world in a riot of colour. And neither of them knows they're going to change the other for all time.

I don't like this cover. Or the blurb. Or really anything about the way this book is marketed, because it's not true to the tone or plot at all. The disconnect is jarring, really. All of the descriptions and the visual of the cover make this book look like a fluffy and quirky YA contemporary romance. Could not be further from the truth. The book features a 26-year-old protagonist, so it's definitely not YA. Also, it's about a quadriplegic who wants to end his life. It's very heavy material, and it's pretty unromantic, in that sense.

What I really like about this book is that it handles a sensitive issue in a realistic way and never at any point feels as if it's pushing an agenda. I am fine with books that deal with controversial political issues, as long as the characters act on their beliefs and the characters don't act on the author's beliefs. I don't want to feel like the author's views are coming through, even if I agree with those views. I am also fascinated with right to die as a concept, and I have to say it is one issue, despite the fact that I generally lean liberal, where I am actually unsettled on what I believe. So I liked exploring the more emotional side to assisted suicide here.

But most importantly, wow. The book is brilliantly written, and truly engrossing. I read it in one afternoon. It is a little bit hard to get into at first because Lou is not the most engaging character at first (and neither is Will), but once the plot picks up, you really get into it. And by the end, the book has you wrapped around its pages, and you won't be able extricate yourself from the tragedy unfolding before you. And you won't want to.

End of the Year Top 5

This was a hard list to make. I read some really great books this year, and I actually read a lot (by my standards). The older I get, the less I read for fun, and especially from here on out since I'm on a career path that involves a lot of dry, dense reading normally which somewhat kills my desire to read MORE on top of what I have to, I'm going to have to make more of an effort to get myself to read fiction.

Note: I realize not every single one of these books was published in 2012. These are the books I actually read in 2012. Some were published earlier.

For the record, I only put down one John Green book, but as his books are all my favorite books and I read them all this year, it would have been a really boring list had I only included him. And you should read all John Green books. But going into the new year, if you haven't read these five books, you have to.

I mean, you actually have to. Go do it now.

1. The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

It is perhaps a cop-out that my number one is also the number one on almost every Best Book list of 2012. But, then again, maybe that's why it makes sense. Yes, everybody will tell you this book is incredibly sad, and of course, I cried the entire last third of the book -- not just tears, but huge, ugly sobs. TFiOS goes first, though, for more reasons than its ability to elicit visceral emotions. John Green is one of the best writers alive, I truly believe this, and this is the best of his work (Looking For Alaska being a close second). He is best at telling us the truth in fiction, the wonderfully evocative art form we love best. He can capture the small, profound moments in our lives like nobody else can. He respects the intelligence of his readers, and he has done a great part in expanding the YA audience to various ages. This book is one of the best I've read in my life, not just this year. I like John Green because he does what every author -- what every human being -- aspires to do before dying: he creates beauty.

2. Tiger Lily by Jodi Lynn Anderson

This was my runaway unexpected favorite of the year. I've read Peaches by the same author, and it was good, but Tiger Lily is a very different kind of book. Told from the perspective of Tinker Bell, it is a retelling of Peter Pan, one of the best retellings of anything I've ever seen. Four of the five books on my top 5 list are love stories, and that's not weird, because I love reading about love, since it's the most consequential human experience. The thing is, I don't like reading the same love story over and over again. I like books that look at love in a new and unique way. I don't know, I think it's easy for prose describing love to get familiar after awhile, but the love between Peter Pan and Tiger Lily is so feral and appropriately awkward between two creatures who don't really know what love is. I haven't seen anything like it. It's broken and strange and glorious. I think if you read it, you will find it a delightful surprise. And I think you will be touched, because I was, and I don't even know why. I guess that's the best kind of book.

3. Long Lankin by Lindsey Barraclough

I hate horror. The fact that Long Lankin makes it into my top five is pretty huge, as it may be the only horror novel I've ever read. Firstly, it's a prerequisite of any book I like to have good prose, and Long Lankin has really excellent writing. It has a perfect, shivery location and atmosphere, and it's a great book for winter while you're alone under the covers. It actually makes me pretty glad that there's some good YA horror, and I've been seeing a lot of ghost stuff on shelves, and that's a nice change. You know. For one day, when I might be brave enough to expand my tastes. So, take it from someone who literally hates anything scary: this book is worth it. But you might want to read it during the daytime. (Look at that stunning cover, too!)

4. Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins

(Published in 2011) This book was just straight-up fun. Perkins makes magic with her stories, and it doesn't matter that they're full of eccentric people who would never exist in real life and that she likes her romances sugar-sweet, everything she writes is like a hot fudge sundae. It's delicious, and she believes in her words, which makes her books enchanting instead of campy. Also, she writes the best characters. Maybe I just like Lola because she's zany, and you kind of want to follow her for any adventure she gets into, but this gets even higher marks than the original (Anna and the French Kiss). And maybe it's just because it's set in San Francisco, and I have an unshakeable fascination/obsession for the city by the bay. Whatever the reason, I can't imagine a more charming story, led by a more lovely heroine with such a marvelous love interest: his name is Cricket, and you know exactly what's going to happen, but you'll never have more fun getting there than you do in this book.

5. Margarettown by Gabrielle Zevin

(Published in 2005) Gabrielle Zevin has a gift. First with Elsewhere, a story of the afterlife where everyone ages backwards until they're reborn, and then here, with Margarettown, about a woman who is actually many different women rolled into one. Zevin comes up with the most thought-provoking premises, and what's best -- she actually does them justice. N., the main character, falls in love with the maddeningly irrational and lively Margaret (alternatively known as May, Mia, Maggie, Marge, and Old Margaret), and he finds that in order to love a woman, you must love all of her. I like this love story because it's more about how love falls apart rather than how it comes together. Margarettown is darkly humorous, tragic, and utterly transformative. It is one of those books that makes you glad to be a reader. You feel like a better person afterward for having read. And it's pretty spectacular for a book to be able to do that.

Also loved and rounding out the top ten:

Seraphina by Rachel Hartman
All These Lives by Sarah Wylie
The Name of the Star by Maureen Johnson
The Mark of Athena by Rick Riordan
Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver (published in 2010)

Happy reading, everybody. I hope 2013 brings us many more great books!

Book Rant: Mister Death's Blue-eyed Girls

Based on an actual crime in 1955, this YA novel is at once a mystery and a coming-of-age story. The brutal murder of two teenage girls on the last day of Nora Cunningham’s junior year in high school throws Nora into turmoil. Her certainties—friendships, religion, her prudence, her resolve to find a boyfriend taller than she is—are shaken or cast off altogether. 

Most people in Elmgrove, Maryland, share the comforting conviction that Buddy Novak, who had every reason to want his ex-girlfriend dead, is responsible for the killings. Nora agrees at first, then begins to doubt Buddy’s guilt, and finally comes to believe him innocent—the lone dissenting voice in Elmgrove. Told from several different perspectives, including that of the murderer, Mister Death’s Blue-Eyed Girls is a suspenseful page-turner with a powerful human drama at its core.

This was the last book I read this summer before going to law school, and I haven't read any fiction since. Because I'm a cheapskate, I started reading it at B&N, but it was so captivated that I ended up buying it about halfway through. So there. I'm doing my duty to the book industry.

I really enjoyed this book for reasons that other people apparently didn't enjoy the book. I always read Goodreads reviews before writing my own to see what others thought. People tended to complain about the book because they didn't get what they were expecting. The way the inside jacket is written (don't have it on hand) makes it seem like the book is either a thriller or a mystery. It's neither. It's solidly a coming-of-age story; very traditionally YA contemporary. Basically, it's a YA contemporary that happens to include a murder. The murder itself is important, but it's really a vehicle in which to explore Nora's religious crisis and loss of childhood innocence. This was great for me, because if this book actually turned out to be a mystery or thriller, I probably would've disliked it. Those (with notable exceptions) are really not my genres of interest.

If you read this book as a YA (literary) contemporary, I think it is hugely enjoyable. This is the work of a master. I am quite curious now to read Hahn's other books, because I think she's very good at writing beautifully while making complex themes read simply. To me, beauty of language is always a reason to read a book, no matter how crappy the plot is, so you can take my recommendation with a grain of salt if that's not you. To be fair, though, the plot here is interesting, if slow-moving.

People also didn't seem to like the fact that the book was set in the 1950s. I did, but I rarely read YA "contemporary" in a different time period. So that was a nice twist.

Certain reviewers noted it was odd that this is based on a true story, and it is essentially the author trying to come to terms with something pretty much identical that happened to her when she was young (growing up in the '50s). If you read it as simple fiction, it's fine. I don't know why people are so wound up with how much of a story is "true" and how much is not. Stop trying to psychoanalyze the author. I mean, LOOKING FOR ALASKA by John Green is blatantly based on his high school experience, but so what? Everybody should go read the author's note in THE FAULT IN OUR STARS. It sums up nicely what I'm trying to say. Fiction is fiction. Don't read too much into it.

As a final note, just to warn without ruining anything, there is little resolution and the ending is potentially unsatisfying for people who dislike open endings.

(I am writing this post in Torts. Longest. Friday. Afternoon. Ever. Incidentally, we are doing our homicide unit in Criminal Law, and it made me think of this book.)

Book Rant: Seraphina

Four decades of peace have done little to ease the mistrust between humans and dragons in the kingdom of Goredd. Folding themselves into human shape, dragons attend court as ambassadors, and lend their rational, mathematical minds to universities as scholars and teachers. As the treaty's anniversary draws near, however, tensions are high.

Seraphina Dombegh has reason to fear both sides. An unusually gifted musician, she joins the court just as a member of the royal family is murdered—in suspiciously draconian fashion. Seraphina is drawn into the investigation, partnering with the captain of the Queen's Guard, the dangerously perceptive Prince Lucian Kiggs. While they begin to uncover hints of a sinister plot to destroy the peace, Seraphina struggles to protect her own secret, the secret behind her musical gift, one so terrible that its discovery could mean her very life.

Firstly, thanks to Krispy and Alz for the rec. Secondly, hell yeah, epic fantasy! If we have to have a trending creature of the year, let it be dragons and not vampires or werewolves or any of that tripe. Dragons are awesome. And the dragons in SERAPHINA are extra awesome, because they're shape shifters.

Obviously, I loved this book. I felt such a sense of fulfillment at the end, which I have not felt for many books this summer, even the ones I liked. But this one was rich and delicious and like a big, indulgent slice of chocolate cake.

I've really backed off on fantasy lately, and I think that's sometimes because I feel as if the characters are not always so developed and tend to be cardboard cutouts of what you'd expect in a Quest Type Book. This book, luckily, did not fall under that category. The characters are wonderfully multi-dimensional, and I found myself enjoying getting to know them and being around them. This may be an odd comparison to some, but to me, the book had the style of Ella Enchanted. And not only because Kiggs reminded me of Prince Char. It was because the characters were so delightful and well-rounded and temperamental, and like actual people. Seraphina, of course, was a spectacular main character, no two ways about it. Princess Glisselda surprised me with how she grew throughout the novel. And all the side characters impressed as well.

The book is a cool hybrid of fantasy and mystery, as in the heart of the book lies a murder plot. Just to be clear, though, this is not one of those fantasy books that's like YAH, EPIC BATTLE AFTER EPIC BATTLE. The truly action-packed scenes are far and few in between. I get the impression the author does not particularly enjoy writing them. It's not anything to the detriment of the book, but it might be, if you're expecting a traditional world-war style epic fantasy.

SERAPHINA is not without its flaws. The pacing is not ideal. By which I mean, I don't think anything in the book plot-wise interested me until after page 300. Yeah. I read 300 pages in which Nothing of Serious Import happened. (To be fair, things happened, they just weren't things that were terribly Urgent or Gripping.) By around page 180, I felt sort of gypped. I was like, central conflict??? I need it! Your world is good and cool Rachel Hartman, but I'm done with this back story shit.

It's not like the 300 pages were lousy to read. Rachel Hartman world-builds (and writes!) like a boss. But. There's a ton of info-dump. And I can't praise the book to high heavens for a good 100 pages of info-dump and 300 pages of slow-moving plot.

Nevertheless, I highly recommend the book, because I don't regret getting through those 300 pages. It was worth it. It was so, so worth it.

So in conclusion, huzzah for SERAPHINA!

OKAY, STARTING NOW, SPOILERY REACTIONS. DO NOT CONTINUE READING UNLESS YOU'VE READ THE BOOK. GO READ THE BOOK, AND THEN COME BACK. But seriously, go read the book.

All right. This book weirdly reminded me of Inuyasha (in a good way), except replace demons with dragons. Halfsies trying to find their place in the world? People hating all demons/dragons and saying they don't have souls? Main character who cannot come to terms with his/her identity? Full dragon/demon who seems pretty emotionless but actually is a softie on the inside (Sesshoumaru/Orma)?

And speaking of which, I really just needed to out my love for Orma. Because I love him. I love that he's prickly and unintentionally hilarious and also badass as all get out. I WISH he wasn't Phina's uncle. Because that would've been a fun pairing. Kiggs is just too vanilla. He's like Prince Char except less charming and with more angst. Not that there's anything wrong with him, I just am obsessed with men who are emotionally unavailable. Like Sesshoumaru. Yes. And Orma. And Narl from SPINNER'S END by Robin McKinley, because who doesn't love an emotionally unavailable fairy smith?!?! Best love interest ever. This probably explains so many things about me, but I'm over it.

I have to admit, I'm not fond of love triangles, and I'm not fond of this one in particular. Although I like that Kiggs and Seraphina were friends to begin with, it was still sort of weird how she fell for him. Also, Kiggs irritates me sometimes with his bastard angst. It's getting to Jon Snow levels of moping. Man up, dude. (And this is from someone who loves Jon Snow like a crazy loving thing, but that's probably because of Kit Harington. Hey, Kit. Call me.) Furthermore, doesn't seem like much of a competition unless Princess Glisselda has secretly been hiding how she burns with passion for her cousin-fiance, which I didn't get anywhere in the book.

But anyway. Sequel? Let's get that rolling out soon. Because I needs it.

Book Rant: Small Damages

It's senior year, and while Kenzie should be looking forward to prom and starting college in the fall, she discovers she's pregnant. Her determination to keep her baby is something her boyfriend and mother do not understand. So she is sent to Spain, where she will live out her pregnancy, and her baby will be adopted by a Spanish couple. No one will ever know.

Alone and resentful in a foreign country, Kenzie is at first sullen and difficult. But as she gets to know Estela, the stubborn old cook, and Esteban, the mysterious young man who cares for the horses, she begins to open her eyes, and her heart, to the beauty that is all around her, and inside her. Kenzie realizes she has some serious choices to make--choices about life, love, and home.

In which I continue to recommend books that nobody will like except me.

Anyone who has followed along on my blog knows my tastes skew literary.* Not Real Literary, but literary with a commercial slant, as I have rejected books before for being Too Literary for me. I have to say up front, this is one of the more literary books I've read. (HA, can I say "literary" one more time?) Nonetheless, I really dug the hell out of this book. A bit surprising, because I've tried Beth Kephart's stuff before, and ended up putting it aside out of frustration because Nothing Was Happening.

But I believe the tagline of this novel is "Juno meets Under the Tuscan Sun." Which is a pretty accurate representation. I thought the pregnancy thing was well done. The book, in case you are wondering, does not make a political statement about pro-life versus pro-choice. To me, it felt like Kephart was looking at one issue, one person, one situation. And Kenzie makes a perfectly respectable decision here (not spoiling what it is).

To read this book is to enjoy language for language's sake. I guess that's sort of what literary is. Again, this book, I look at it more as a collection of beautiful scenes rather than a coherent plot. One of my favorite lines (someone else on Goodreads quoted this one too, because it's so lovely) comes from the beginning of the second chapter:

"When I open the door, a nun blackbirds by, and I keep walking out into the air, which smells like fruit and sun and the color blue; it smells like blue in Seville."

How gorgeous! If you like that, you will be getting a whole lot of it here.

Overall, just a very pretty, quiet little novel that can be read while you're lying in a hammock on a sunny afternoon.

PS I think the author of CODE NAME VERITY is a ninja? And/or master of the universe, because I swear to you, that book is stalking me. I bought SMALL DAMAGES on my Kindle, and VERITY was a suggested buy. I mean, come on. Those two books can't even pretend to be similar. But I suppose I should take the hint.

*With notable exceptions. I mean, you are looking at the Number One Fan of Percy Jackson, and I think we can all agree nothing about those books are literary. Also love me some Stephanie Perkins, Maureen Johnson, and Libba Bray. But if we're talking debut authors or books I'm picking off the shelf I've never heard of, I usually go for "quieter" books.

Book Rant: Imaginary Girls

Chloe's older sister, Ruby, is the girl everyone looks to and longs for, who can't be captured or caged. When a night with Ruby's friends goes horribly wrong and Chloe discovers the dead body of her classmate London Hayes left floating in the reservoir, Chloe is sent away from town and away from Ruby.

But Ruby will do anything to get her sister back, and when Chloe returns to town two years later, deadly surprises await. As Chloe flirts with the truth that Ruby has hidden deeply away, the fragile line between life and death is redrawn by the complex bonds of sisterhood.

With palpable drama and delicious craft, Nova Ren Suma bursts onto the YA scene with the story that everyone will be talking about.

This book has gotten quite a lot of buzz in the blogosphere, so that last sentence wasn't kidding. But I gotta say up front, this book did not charm me the way it did for a variety of other people, so I'll be talking about that more than anything.

If you want to hear a positive spin on this book, there are plenty of reviews out there for that, and I don't disagree with them. The book's got great writing. Evidenced by the fact that I did, in fact, finish the book in a day and at no point felt like I should put it down, IMAGINARY GIRLS indeed delivers on being a page-turner.

However, there were a few things that just weren't my cup of tea about it. Before I begin though, I'm reiterating that my opinion is by far the minority. Most people are raving about this book. Don't let me deter you from trying it out if you want to. Also, I admit the title and cover are awesome.

Other people who weren't so enamored mentioned this too: I despised all the characters, especially Ruby. You don't need characters to be likable to be compulsively readable. Characters can be interesting and hated. But they need to be interesting. Chloe, the narrator, was just one sad sack of boring. It's neither new nor innovative to write about a pair of sisters, one who is weirdly and pathetically dependent on the other, who is usually bossy and overbearing. This book is about sisterhood, but it didn't give me anything fresh to chew on. Ruby was colorful, but at the same time, one-dimensional, but probably because Chloe is such a plodding narrator, she can't describe other people in a way that makes them seem more like actual humans rather than cardboard cutouts. And even though Chloe is obviously obsessed with her sister, I found nothing remotely redeeming about Ruby throughout the book. She is basically a bitch, and that's pretty much it. Not the interesting kind of bitch you want to watch out of entertainment, just the obnoxious kind you want to punch in the face and then have nothing to do with ever again.

And then, this book literally has no plot. I get that this book is literary. I like literary most of the time. I even get that this book is supposed to be about the sister-relationship, not about anything in particular that happens. But seriously, I felt like the entire time, I was just following annoying people around in their lives doing mundane activities. It was an atmospheric book, but it needed a little more oomph in terms of action. The point, for me, about reading a novel, is it's like real life except heightened and you cut out all the crap that isn't interesting. That's why scenes exist. IMAGINARY GIRLS is like an endless litany of daily routine. Don't like.

It's too repetitive on several fronts. One of them, for example, that Chloe has an unhealthy attachment to Ruby and never thinks about anything else. We get endless description of how cool, how fascinating, how beautiful Ruby is, how everybody loves her, how people would take bullets for her, let her trample all over them, how she is the sun to everybody's candle flame, blah blah blah. Like, every page. I get it. No, really. I get it. 

The genre??? I have no idea. I am really bothered by this in a way that some people might not care. Is this paranormal? Is it contemporary? Is it mystery? Is it magical realism? Is it just batshit crazy? I don't know. And that drives me up a wall. Again, this is something that obviously other readers didn't care about.

Um, the ending, I cannot comprehend at all. There was zero payoff for me. I like open endings for the most part. But this was just so open that I had no sense of satisfaction, no closure whatsoever, and I didn't even feel like there was any character development. Things happened to the characters, they reacted, and they came out at the other end exactly the same as they were in the beginning. Arc? What? No spoilers, but man. If you like open endings, you could give it a try. If you don't, this is absolutely not for you. There are no answers, ever.

Final thoughts: The book is incredibly creepy. As I said before, it lends an excellent sense of atmosphere. It might even be scary if you let yourself think about it. It sure screws with your brain. If you want it to be a ghost story, you could let it be. If you want it to be a mystery/thriller, you could have that too. But for me, I felt like the blood and guts of the book were not enough to justify me reading hundreds of pages just for "a nicely realized atmosphere." If you want a great book that's both creepy and about an unhealthy sister-relationship, go read HER FEARFUL SYMMETRY by Audrey Niffenegger.

Book Rant: Long Lankin

Beware of Long Lankin, that lives in the moss . . . 

When Cora and her little sister Mimi are sent to stay with their elderly aunt in the isolated village of Bryers Guerdon, they receive a less than warm welcome, and are desperate to go back to London. But Auntie Ida's life was devastated the last time two young girls were at Guerdon Hall, and now her nieces' arrival has reawoken an evil that has lain waiting for years.

A haunting voice in an empty room ... A strange, scarred man lurking in the graveyard ... A mysterious warning, scrawled on the walls of the abandoned church . . . Along with Roger and Peter, two young village boys, Cora must uncover the horrifying truth that has held Bryers Guerdon in its dark grip for centuries - before it is too late for Mimi.

So I never read horror novels. Like seriously, never. I never even read the Goosebumps series when I was little. You know how I felt about The Name of the Star. And I dunno if this has always been a thing and I've not noticed, but I wandered through the YA section of the bookstore the other day. It seemed there was a resurgence in YA horror/thriller. I saw this book, and it immediately caught my attention. God, just look at that cover. Isn't it something?* So of course, because I'm a masochist, I had to pick it up and read it.

I was hooked after the first chapter. I had to read it whether I was scared or no. And let me assure you, I was SCARED. After I started the book, I googled some Goodreads reviews, and confirmed my feeling about this book. It is legitimately terrifying. It is not only because I'm an absolute loser and cannot stand any kind of spookiness. This book has HIGH TERROR LEVELS.

I read The Name of the Star at night, and it was not a wise decision. I read Long Lankin in a bookstore in the bright afternoon hours, surrounded by people. Someone dropped a bag of coffee on the ground while I was reading, I shit you not, I jumped out of my chair. I'm so glad I did not read this alone in the dark. I mean, I was scared by Maureen's book, I think I would actually have a mental breakdown if I read Long Lankin at night. Friends, I was scared shitless by this book. I'm scared now writing this review. I don't even want to think how I'm going to be when I go to bed tonight. Probably going to bolt all of my windows shut and cry.

Don't want to ruin the mystery, but Lankin is the stuff of nightmares. When you get a glimpse of the monster, it's like, wow, okay. I think I never want to go anywhere alone ever again. He's grotesque. He's not any less fearsome in the light than he is in the shadows.

Okay, so now that we've established how FUCKING SCARY this book is, let's actually talk about other stuff. It is a great book. I could be whistling a different tune when the sun goes down, but I'm glad I stumbled upon this gem. The writing is lovely. It's clean and perfectly bleak and would be worth reading regardless of genre. The author is just pro at setting the stage for a horror. Story is in the 1950s, and you get this sense of stifling isolation. The descriptions are moody and atmospheric. I felt so drawn into the tale. I love that this is based off an old creepy nursery rhyme. I mean, things that scare me the most: pale, big-eyed children and morbid songs being sung in hallways while you're alone; Long Lankin capitalizes on them like a champ.

The story is told from three POVs: Cora, Roger, and Auntie Ida's. I like that the children actually sound and act like children. Think Coraline, except Coraline is whimsical on top of being vaguely creepy. There's no whimsy here. It's just crap-your-pants petrifying. Auntie Ida to me was the weaker voice, just because she got less screen time, but POVs aside, I found nothing wanting about the writing. Really didn't.

My criticisms are sparse. I wish more questions were answered. Like any good horror, the story unfolds slowly (I did feel like the plot meandered in the middle a bit; it's a 450-page book, and it could've been shortened, I thought) so it can taunt you with the unknown, but some stuff remains unknown even after the conclusion. I like neatly tied up loose ends. On the other hand, the story ends way too abruptly. Also, maybe because I'm used to how horror movies work, I secretly wanted some big twist at the end to scare me one last time. No such luck.

Finally, the resolution was too predictable. I guessed how it was going to happen a hundred pages before the end. Basically, before you have explanations, the story is full of awesome surprises, but once the cards are on the table, the plot moves in a very straightforward way to the end. Heart-pumping, fast-paced end, but in no way unexpected. That was rather disappointing when the book had so much other great stuff going for it.

In any case, I recommend. This is a big deal coming from someone who hates horror. I am not planning on picking up any more YA horror any time soon (giving my poor heart a break), but I certainly hope this genre sees a rebirth. I've been seeing a lot of ghost stories on shelves lately, but Lankin is not a ghost, and that sets the book apart.

*Look at the tree on the left. You can see part of his head and his hand. AHHHHHHHHHH, brb, weeping with terror.

Book Rant: The Name of the Star

The day Louisiana teenager Rory Deveaux arrives in London marks a memorable occasion. For Rory, it's the start of a new life at a London boarding school. But for many, this will be remembered as the day a series of brutal murders broke out across the city, gruesome crimes mimicking the horrific Jack the Ripper events of more than a century ago.

Soon Rippermania" takes hold of modern-day London, and the police are left with few leads and no witnesses. Except one. Rory spotted the man police believe to be the prime suspect. But she is the only one who saw him. Even her roommate, who was walking with her at the time, didn't notice the mysterious man. So why can only Rory see him? And more urgently, why has Rory become his next target? In this edge-of-your-seat thriller, full of suspense, humor, and romance, Rory will learn the truth about the secret ghost police of London and discover her own shocking abilities.

I loved this book.

I will be honest. While I enjoy Maureen's blog/tumblr posts a great deal, her writing sometimes falls flat for me. I finished reading 13 LITTLE BLUE ENVELOPES last week, and halfway through, I got really into the story, but the beginning was such a drag. I didn't care for Ginny or what the hell she was doing. THE NAME OF THE STAR, however, did not suffer from those problems. I was invested from page one. I think first person works out well for Maureen. And, I dunno, guiltily part of the reason I liked it from the get-go might be because it's a boarding-school book, and I tend to like those. It's also a London!book, and I like that very much as well. When it started out, it was reminiscent of ANNA AND THE FRENCH KISS, one of my ultimate surprise favorites.

But then it becomes a Jack the Ripper book, so you know. There goes the lovey-dovey stuff. I guess some people were surprised halfway through when it turned into paranormal, but really, it mentions ghost police in the jacket blurb, so if you were expecting contemporary mystery/thriller, then it's sort of your fault that you can't read.

I loved Rory, the main character. She was funny and believable. I went through every emotion with her. From when she first got butterflies about her love interest to when he started to become sort of boring. I mean, if all that paranormal shit happened to me, I would find my boyfriend at the time to be somewhat underwhelming, probably.

ALSO. Jack the Ripper. YES. I approve of this so much. Modern day Jack the Ripper played out pretty much exactly as I imagined it might if it happened in the middle of London. There are a ton of random Ripper tidbits in the book, which to me indicates much research went into the writing (I'm such a Ripper amateur, though; maybe all the things mentioned are common knowledge?). I rarely read a mystery/thriller, but this one was a good one for me to go with.

Some people have complained about the pacing of the book, in that, it's slow to get started. I suppose for me, that wasn't an issue because I liked all of the normal, boarding school drama/description, but I could see how if you're looking for the paranormal aspect right away, it doesn't pick up until halfway through. Another complaint I disagreed with was that people felt Maureen was being too explicit with explaining Briticisms (prefects, A-levels, etc.) and it implied readers were too dumb/American to figure it out. I thought this was a rather stupid critique, because as the book is written in first person from Rory's POV -- Rory is from Louisiana -- it made sense for her to be confused about British life. At no point did I feel like Maureen wanted to break the fourth wall and give us all a lesson in how to be British, so I have no idea what people are talking about.

One thing I can see eye-to-eye with others was that I didn't ultimately understand the killer's motivations. I (and other reviewers, apparently) imagined MANY other ways for him to get what he wanted without going through all the trouble that he did. I guess I eventually had to chalk it up to the fact that he was psycho, but that wasn't very satisfying.

Finally, this is the first of a series. I appreciated that Maureen didn't do that assholian thing and throw in a cliffhanger without resolving anything. There's plenty of resolution. You won't feel like you went all the way through the book just to get the carrot jerked away at the end, as happens with some other series.

The atmosphere was shivery and lovely. Many reviewers objected that it was not scary enough. I will take their word for it and pass it along to you. But I'm gonna be straight with you, I was scared out of my goddamn mind. Couldn't fall asleep afterward. May or may not have checked all the rooms for creeping murderers. I'm terrified of everything, though. I was scared of The Scarlet Letter when I read it. I get freaked out when I watch trailers of horror movies. In broad daylight. Surrounded by people. I am not a good benchmark for whether things are genuinely scary or not.

Fans of the Gemma Doyle series? Get on this!

Book Rant: Second Chance Summer

Taylor Edwards’ family might not be the closest-knit—everyone is a little too busy and overscheduled—but for the most part, they get along just fine. Then Taylor’s dad gets devastating news, and her parents decide that the family will spend one last summer all together at their old lake house in the Pocono Mountains.

Crammed into a place much smaller and more rustic than they are used to, they begin to get to know each other again. And Taylor discovers that the people she thought she had left behind haven’t actually gone anywhere. Her former best friend is still around, as is her first boyfriend…and he’s much cuter at seventeen than he was at twelve.

As the summer progresses and the Edwards become more of a family, they’re more aware than ever that they’re battling a ticking clock. Sometimes, though, there is just enough time to get a second chance—with family, with friends, and with love.

This is Morgan Matson's second novel (her first being the famous AMY AND ROGER'S EPIC DETOUR) and I'm afraid it suffers a little from second novel syndrome. While overall, I enjoyed the novel, I think it was mainly redeemed by the ending, which was well written. The middle on the other hand, dragged significantly. It took me A LONG time to get through this book. I started it probably several weeks ago and in the meantime, finished quite a few novels.

The thing I liked about the novel is still what I enjoy about Matson's writing in general. She has a very conversationalist, easy-going voice, and it's pleasant to read. Yet she has a much more polished style than a lot of authors I've read who do sugary-sweet summer romance YA contemporary. That much, at least, has not changed from DETOUR.

Unfortunately, SECOND CHANCE SUMMER doesn't have the rest of the charm of the first. I think one major problem is while the first novel was a roadtrip and therefore had a built-in structure to keep the plot tight and move it along, the second novel lacks that. As a result, it sort of meanders through a variety of storylines, some of which are, frankly, not engaging. Like DETOUR, this novel too employs the use of flashbacks to deliver back story, except the story is unnecessarily coy with why Taylor's former best friend/childhood boyfriend hate her, and then when the reason is unveiled, it's pretty dumb.

Henry, the love interest, is not particularly interesting either. He was cookie-cutter and bland, and by the end, appeared to be there when he was needed and conveniently not there when he was pushed away. I don't know, he just seemed like a prop rather than a person. (I shouldn't compare too much, but Roger was way better. I realize Roger was also perfect, tan, super nice, and a history major to boot, but at least he had goals.) I'm getting bored and impatient with the deluge of boys in fiction who have perfect tans/bods and no interests other than being shy and in love with the main character who is not described to be anything other than normal-looking. Like, I know great boys exist, but seriously.

On a positive note, the family interactions were good and a definite redeeming quality. The premise of the book is so tragic but is nonetheless carefully and movingly developed. I wish the book had stayed more with the family-bonding aspect than the summer romance aspect, but whatever. I'm not the writer. When she wants to, Matson can still write the hell out of a gut-wrenching scene. I would still recommend this book despite its flaws as a solid -- but not incredible -- read. Probably won't leave you with any lasting impressions, but it's not terrible.