Incarnation by Emma Cornwall

Title: Incarnation
Author: Emma Cornwall
Publisher: Gallery Books
Release Date: September 18, 2012
Pages: 352 pages (paperback)
How I Got the Book: ARC from the publisher via Edelweiss
Purchase/Pre-order: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository

Lucy Weston tracks down the novelist Bram Stroker in her search to reveal the dark force who made her a vampire—and regain her humanity in the process.

In the steampunk world of Victorian London, Lucy Weston, a character in Dracula, seeks out Bram Stoker to discover why he deliberately lied about her in his popular novel. With Stoker’s reluctant help, she tracks the creature who transformed her from the sensual underworld where humans vie to become vampires to a hidden cell beneath a temple to madness and finally into the glittering Crystal Palace where death reigns supreme.

Haunted by fragmentary memories of her lost life and love, Lucy battles her thirst for blood as she struggles to stop a catastrophic war that will doom vampires and humans alike. Ultimately, she makes a choice that illuminates for her—and for us—the true nature of what it means to be human. 

Review:

Though I primarily read young adult novels, I'm no stranger to adult novels and enjoy them just as much. It's nice to have an occasional break from the teenage dramatics inherent to many YA novels, you know? As big a Dracula/vampire fan as I am (but I was not a fan of the cover the edition of Dracula I had as a child possessed; I wish I had a picture of it to show off, but I don't), I expected Incarnation and its highly original idea to draw me in and never let go, but there was something off about everything.

Cornwall's idea is fantastic and I love everything about it. The idea of Dracula being a piece of propaganda twisting and concealing the truth of vampires and the fate of Lucy Westenra (her real name being Lucy Weston) was what grabbed my attention in the first place and the way the author expanded on it kept me reading. The expansions made throughout the novel to include the Protectors, who safeguard humans from vampires, Slayers born every thousand years to cull the vampire population, and the precarious balance humans and vampires have in Victorian England aren't necessarily new, but the way in which Cornwall employs and describes them makes them feel like something of their own. Moderately fine pacing kept the story moving and unraveled the plots each side was planning in order to defeat the other.

What feels so off about the novel is that I didn't have any emotional investment and there doesn't seem to be much passion in the novel. I respond to a passionately written novel by diving headfirst into it and caring about what happens to each and every character like they're my family, but there was no such connection to Incarnation. Lucy is sympathetic as she struggles with her nature and the differences that set her apart from other vampires, but she didn't truly earn sympathy from me; I just knew that was how I was supposed to feel. The steampunk element seems like more of an afterthought than anything--which I didn't mind, as someone who doesn't care much for it, but readers coming in expecting more steampunk will be disappointed.

The way the novel leaves off, there is easily room for a sequel, though I don't know if there will be one. My Googling skills haven't turned up anything yet, and if there were a sequel, I'm not sure whether I'd read it or not. Fellow Dracula and vampire fans looking for a new twist on a familiar story will enjoy Incarnation and perhaps they will respond to it better than I did.

3 stars!

What am I reading next?: Fall for Anything by Courtney Summers

Obernewtyn by Isobelle Carmody

200 followers! Thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouthankyou! All of you are awesome and perfect and-- -devolves into screaming/jumping up and down- It's taken me almost two years to get to this point, but I don't care because I'm just glad you're here and care what I have to say. Thank you!

Title: Obernewtyn
Author: Isobelle Carmody
Publisher: Random House Children's Book
Release Date: December 9, 2008
Pages: 244 pages (paperback)
How I Got the Book: Bought it.
Purchase/Pre-order: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository
Promotional Materials and More: book trailer | author website

In a world struggling back from the brink of apocalypse, life is harsh. And for Elspeth Gordie, it is also dangerous. That's because Elspeth has a secret: she is a Misfit, born with mysterious mental abilities that she must keep hidden under threat of death. And her worries only multiply when she is exiled to the mountain compound known as Obernewtyn, where—for all her talents—Elspeth may finally and truly be out of her depth. Then she learns she’s not the only one concealing secrets at Obernewtyn.

Review:

Isobelle Carmody's standalone novel Alyzon Whitestarr was one of the first books I reviewed when I started this blog nearly two years ago (almost two years now!) and since then, I've been interested in the series that made her so famous in Australia: the Obernewtyn Chronicles. This post-apocalyptic fantasy novel is a serious departure from what I'm used to and I enjoyed it, though the novel has its share of problems. It's difficult to put my problems into words for this one, but I'll try.

The novel's vivid worldbuilding kept me reading when I needed to pack and do other things, though I admittedly started skimming at the boring points. Elspeth came across as a relatable character to me and what she went through in various orphanages a a child believably shaped who she is in this novel. I got quite a bit of heart from the supporting characters as well, but I did expect a little more from them. It's understandable we didn't get to know them better, in a way; the iron fist of Obernewtyn's Master(s) kept them from being more open and letting both Elspeth and readers in. They're likely to get more characterization in future books.

Carmody began the novel when she was fourteen and it was first published in 1987, when she was in her late twenties, but there are places where stilted writing/dialogue and rough pacing give away how young she was when she began. As I said previously, I started skimming when things got boring and during some of the descriptions. Obernewtyn is short and that's exactly why I read this next over something else, but that also gives it two choices: cram a lot into a little book or allow a proportionately small amount of material into said little book. It went with the latter.

I have a feeling Carmody's Obernewtyn Chronicles is a series that is better when considered as a whole rather than as individual books, much like LJ Smith's books. I think I'll continue on with this series to see how the author improves and how the more subtle elements and forgotten plot threads of Obernewtyn will come back later (research on this series has taught me that everything is important and can come back books later to save the day), but I can't do it right now. Maybe one day.

3 stars!

What am I reading next?: Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins

Dark Companion by Marta Acosta

Title: Dark Companion
Author: Marta Acosta
Publisher: Tor Teen
Release Date: July 3, 2012
Pages: 368 pages (hardcover)
How I Got the Book: ARC received through Amazon Vine.
Purchase/Pre-order: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository
Promotional Materials and More: author website

Orphaned at the age of six, Jane Williams has grown up in a series of foster homes, learning to survive in the shadows of life. Through hard work and determination, she manages to win a scholarship to the exclusive Birch Grove Academy. There, for the first time, Jane finds herself accepted by a group of friends. She even starts tutoring the headmistress’s gorgeous son, Lucien. Things seem too good to be true. 

They are.

The more she learns about Birch Grove’s recent past, the more Jane comes to suspect that there is something sinister going on. Why did the wife of a popular teacher kill herself? What happened to the former scholarship student, whose place Jane took? Why does Lucien’s brother, Jack, seem to dislike her so much?

As Jane begins to piece together the answers to the puzzle, she must find out why she was brought to Birch Grove—and what she would risk to stay there…

Review:

The first time I tried to get a copy of this novel after I saw someone give it a lot of praise, I was told no. I was sad and meant to ask for it again, but I got a copy through another avenue and all was well. Why do I keep forgetting that publishers usually tell me no for books I'm not going to like very much? Sometimes, it's like they're psychic and I'm the skeptic who refuses to listen to them. The praise for Dark Companion is well-earned, but I just wasn't into it.

Acosta's novel is well-written for the most part, if a teensy bit overwritten in the sense that there were too many unnecessary scenes. The lush descriptions of Birch Grove Academy, the birch groves surrounding the school that give it its name, and the air of mystery around everything really brings the Gothic atmosphere to life. Jane is fairly well-written and though I didn't always like her, I very rarely tired of reading about her.

Mary Violet, one of Jane's new friends, is absolutely adorable. She's an undeniable stock character (specifically, she's the plump best friend who drops the one-liners and acts as comic relief), but she was so cute that I will temporarily stop caring that Dark Companion had to fall back on such a trope. Jack is another high point among the cast and he's less of a stock character, thank goodness. I could reread the scenes where Jack and Jane verbally spar over and over again! It was kind of cute, the way he always insisted she had to be a Halfling or a magical woodland creature, though that made him easy to see through. Why Jane didn't get it is beyond me.

Then around the halfpoint of the novel, gears shift completely. Anyone looking for a paranormal twist will be sadly disappointed because there is nothing paranormal about the novel. A scientific explanation for what is going on is offered in a way that befits the novel, but the shift in tone, plot, and Jane's mindset after this point is where Dark Companion starts losing me. The way Jane justified everything with Lucky... It's horrible. Absolutely horrible.

What really got me was how Jane's actions didn't seem to mesh with her characterization half the time. She strongly disapproves of her friend Wilde's situation, where her boyfriend/pimp provides everything for her and stays with her as long as she keeps up her appointments. The latter makes me wonder why Jane spent most of the book consenting to a situation that parallels Wilde's significantly. A provider gives her everything she could want in exchange for her performing a not-so-little service for them whenever they ask her to--hm...

Jane's rough upbringing must also be taken into account and it's understandable that it leaves her with a desire to be loved. The way I saw it, she's been looking after herself her entire life and that comes with being able to pick what might pose a threat to her. It struck me as wrong that after all the crap she dealt with growing up, she was willing to take all the crap Lucian threw at her. Most of the creepy things he says? Right over her head. The way he treats her like dirt? Same thing. The severe co-dependency they had going on made me sick and I wanted to put down the book over it. The resolution on that front made me very happy, but other readers may not be able to swim through all the fuckery to the ending they beg for.

The ending was a neat wrap-up of the novel--almost too neat. Resolution with Lucky comes out of nowhere (or maybe I wasn't paying attention, but I swear I saw no hint of it anywhere) and little details made me unsure of whether or not there would be a sequel. Everything seems resolved and happily-ever-afterish, but then it's said the antagonist was never found. We all know what it means when the antagonist isn't found after the climactic battle.

I can see Acosta's novel finding many fans, but I don't feel I'm one of them. If you're not into blood play (and I most definitely am not, so those scenes grossed me out), you might not want to read this. I'm still not completely sure how I feel about this very strange novel, but I have put my feelings into words as well as I could manage.

3 stars!

What am I reading next?: Cracked Up to Be by Courtney Summers

Team Human by Justine Larbalestier and Sarah Rees Brennan

Title: Team Human
Author: Justina Larbalestier and Sarah Rees Brennan
Publisher: HarperTeen
Release Date: July 3, 2012
Pages: 344 pages (hardcover)
How I Got the Book: ARC received through a swap with a friend.
Purchase/Pre-order: Amazon; Barnes & Noble; Book Depository

Just because Mel lives in New Whitby, a city founded by vampires, doesn't mean she knows any of the blood-drinking undead personally. They stay in their part of town; she says in hers. Until the day a vampire shows up at her high school. Worse yet, her best friend, Cathy, seems to be falling in love with him. It's up to Mel to save Cathy from a mistake she might regret for all eternity!

On top of trying to help Cathy (whether she wants it or not), Mel is investigating a mysterious disappearance for another friend and discovering the attractions of a certain vampire wannabe. Combine all this with a cranky vampire cop, a number of unlikely romantic entanglements, and the occasional zombie, and soon Mel is hip-deep in an adventure that is equal parts hilarious and touching.

Acclaimed authors Justine Larbalestier and Sarah Rees Brennan team up to create a witty and poignant story of cool vampires, warm friendships, and the changes that test the bonds of love.

Review:

You know how you sometimes think, when reading a vampire book "Man, this girl has no brains/has a terrible best friend. She needs someone to talk some sense into her/be a better friend!"? Mel wants to be that sensible best friend advising her lovestruck friend to take it slow with the vampire. How successful she is at being the sensible best friend and main character in Team Human is up in the air. For multiple reasons, this is one of the toughest reviews I've ever had to write.

As you might expect, the characters sometimes feel like improved versions of more famous characters in vampire lit. Cathy is our typical mature, bookish girl who rushes into a relationship with a vampire, but she knows exactly what she is getting into. She weighs the pros and cons of becoming a vampire, buries herself in books about transitioning, and isn't letting anyone, including her vampire boyfriend or her best friend, tell her what to think or do. Mel is the best friend we've been begging girls like Cathy to get, though she gets pushy and prejudiced sometimes. (But I love her name--Mellifluous. Heehee!)

I've read novels from both Larbalestier and Brennan before this and while they blended their individual styles well, there were a few moments where I felt like I knew who had written that specific line or scene. A line about Francis having a stake where the sun don't shine is one I'm almost certain is Brennan's. While it was a funny novel and a solid parody of the "girl meets vampire" trope, it didn't quite make the leap to hilarious. I would call it more of a dramedy than a parody, though. Book gets seriously serious toward the end.

One of my problems with the novel is that things from it tended to resemble a few things in real life that I'm unsettled by. Some of Mel's statements about human-vampire relations and how the two groups should be kept apart strongly reminded me of how segregationists in the U.S. during the '50s and '60s spoke. How thorough the process of informing a human about the risks and consequences of transitioning (showing them zombies, three required sessions with a counselor, parental permission required if underage) very slightly reminded me of the million hurdles women have to go through to get an abortion in certain places. But--I can't stress this strongly enough--the resemblance to abortion hurdles is very slight because aborting a fetus and changing species are two entirely different things.

I see bits and pieces of why I love both authors in this book. Humor I can see Brennan coming up with, Larbalestier's own brand of quips, and the gifts they both have in writing relationships between characters are all there. All the central characters are well-rounded too, so why, for some reason I can't figure out, couldn't I get fully immersed with the novel? Maybe it was the mystery element that took over the story halfway through. The only thing that impressed me about it was the aftermath of it. I tried so hard to love it, but you can't force bookish love.

After having so much trouble investing myself in the novel and finding things to love about it, I'm not sure I'll be back for its sequel. Vampire fans will almost certainly love it, and others who want to see the "girl meets vampire" scenario poked fun at by two talented YA authors will want to check Team Human out. I'm sad to say this is a bit of a disappointment for me.

3 stars!

What am I reading next?: Forgotten by Cat Patrick

Falling Under by Gwen Hayes

Title: Falling Under
Author: Gwen Hayes
Publisher: New American Library
Release Date: March 1, 2011
Pages: 324 pages (paperback)
How I Got the Book: Bought it.
Purchase/Pre-order: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository
Promotional Materials and More: audiobook clip | book trailer | author website

Theia Alderson has always led a sheltered life, not allowed the same freedoms as the rest of the teenagers in the small California town of Serendipity Falls. But when a devastatingly handsome boy appears in the halls of her school, she feels every urge she's ever denied burning thorugh her at the slightest glance from Haden Black. Theia knows she's seen Haden before--not around town, but in her dreams.

Theia doesn't understand how she dreamed of Haden before they ever met, but every night has them joined in a haunting world of eerie fantasy. And as the Haden of both the night and the day beckons her forward one moment and pushes her away the next, the only thing Theia knows for sure is that the incredible pull she feels toward him is stronger than her fear. And as she slowly discovers what Haden truly is, Theia's not sure whether she wants to resist him--even if the cost is her soul.

Review:

What a surprise! Though I've had Falling Under on my shelf for months, I didn't expect to like it very much. I wanted to see how someone else wrote about demons (because I have an idea or five about demons stuck in my head), but reviews from friends told me all I felt I needed to know about it. Then I actually got to reading and discovered I liked it. It was this close to being one of my five-star reads, but the romance sunk this ship.

Hayes's descriptions are often so lush I want to do nothing but bask in them; Under and its inhabitants are like a mixture of Alice in Wonderland and Tim Burton films (but not the Tim Burton version of Alice in Wonderland; more like Corpse Bride). That sort of twisted, nonsensical beauty wowed me. There are multiple scenes I'll be going back to not just because they're great for reference, but because they're well-written and overall fantastic. The tarot-reading at Madame Varnie's, the chaos when the hell noise goes off at Theia's school, and the early dreams Theia has, for instance.

The romance. Oh, the romance. This is my sole problem with the novel and it was bad enough to bring it down quite a few notches. Theia was a well-rounded character for the life her father has forced her to live and I often felt for her, but she got stupid if it had to do with Haden. She's ready to confess that she's in love with Haden by page fifty-three, for Pete's sake! They fell in insta-love and though I can see why Hayes forced them into it, the weakness of their relationship weakens the novel overall because so much depends on their feelings for one another.

You know what the sad thing is? Both Theia and Haden had somewhat legitimate reasons to develop feelings for one another so quickly. Haden has lived in hell all his life and found something that made him happy when he first saw Theia. Meanwhile, Theia has been restrained all her life and when a boy comes along to show interest in her, all the freedom she's never been able to enjoy comes out and she falls head-first in "love". Even when these reasons, they still fall into the insta-love trap and make me want to scream (not the good kind of scream), mostly because Theia never really questions how quickly she falls and doesn't get put of the way she should by Haden's behavior.

I'm not sure I want to read its sequel Dreaming Awake, but I'll keep it in mind because Falling Under was such a pleasant surprise. I originally thought I'd be giving away this novel for credit at the used bookstore, but I'll be holding onto it instead. A girl needs references when she gets writing, after all. I just wish the romance had been restructured and made much stronger. That would have made this a five-star read in my eyes.

3 stars! (But more like 3.5 stars.)

What am I reading next?: Keep Holding On by Susane Colasanti

The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han

Title: The Summer I Turned Pretty 
Author: Jenny Han
Publisher: Simon and Schuster BFYR
Release Date: May 5, 2009
Pages: 276 pages (paperback)
How I Got the Book: Bought it.
Purchase/Pre-order: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository
Promotional Materials and More: book trailer | author website

When each summer begins, Belly leaves her school life behind and escapes to Cousins Beach, the place she had spent every summer of her life. Not only does the beach house mean home away from home, bu her favorite people are there: Susannah, her mother's best friend, and her sons, Conrad and Jeremiah. Belly has been chasing Conrad for as long as she can remember, and more than anything, she hopes this summer will be different. Despite distractions from a new guy named Cam and lingering looks from Conrad's brother, Belly's heart belongs to Conrad. Will he offer his to her? Will this be the summer that changes everything?

Review:

The first time I came across this series was when one of the bloggers I follow reviewed the final book of the trilogy, We'll Always Have Summer. Gazing at the three covers of the series, my immediate reaction was "Oh God my heart, wait those are the heartstrings not heartburn, but either way Oh God my heart." With summer rapidly approaching and me being in a terrible mood because of various things, it seemed like the perfect time to indulge in some fluff. I just wished the content could have pulled at my heartstrings the way the covers can.

I've got to hand it to Han: she wrote Belly's nostalgia for summers past and present well. She's able to tap into our own memories of summers long gone and wrap us up in Belly's world. Neither the characters nor plot were strong enough to carry the novel and give it pacing, but relaxed prose and a series of events you can't help but smile at as you follow them keep you reading. In fact, Han is so good at what she does that it took me three-fourths of the novel to realize that Belly is an immature brat who doesn't get nearly as much character development as she needs. She lost me as soon as she called her best friend a slut.

Though Conrad has his nice moments, I have no idea what Belly sees in him. He's a jerk, plain and simple. A jerk of a boy I went to school with until ninth grade had his nice moments too, but he was still a jerk to me overall and I still wanted to kick him in the shins. Conrad isn't any different in my eyes. His brother Jeremiah and Belly's "boyfriend" Cam were more likable as love interests and they deserved better treatment than they got.

The teenage characters could have used some more work, but the bond between the kids' mothers was pitch perfect on every note. The way they interacted with one another when their scenes played out and even when they were off-screen doing various things we only learn about close to the end of the novel, the friendship they have and the loyalty they show one another is more interesting than any of Belly's adventures in Boyland. I hope I can have a Susannah to my Laurel when I'm that old (only without any cancer or divorce involved).

The next two books sound more interesting, so who knows? I may read them, I may not. It depends on my mood and how much I need a dose of nostalgic memories of summer. For that much, The Summer I Turned Pretty is a great choice for a beginning-of-summer read.

3 stars!

What am I reading next?: Like Mandarin by Kirsten Hubbard

The Space Between by Brenna Yovanoff

Title: The Space Between
Author: Brenna Yovanoff
Publisher: Razorbill
Release Date: November 14, 2011
Pages: 365 pages (hardcover)
How I Got the Book: Bought it.
Purchase/Pre-order: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository
Promotional Materials and More: book trailer | author website

Everything burns in Pandemonium...

...a city in Hell made of chrome and steel, where there is no future and life is an expense of frozen time. That's where Daphne lives.

The daughter of a demon and a fallen angel, she wonders what lies in store for her. Will she become a soulless demon like her sisters? Or follow in the footsteps of her brother Obie, whose life is devoted to saving lost souls on Earth? All she wants is to find a place where she belongs.

When Obie saves a bleeding, broken boy named Truman from the brink of death and then suddenly goes missing, Daphne runs away to Earth to find him. But on Earth, everything is colder and more terrifying, and Daphne struggles between her demon instincts and her growing--yet achingly unfamiliar--feelings for Truman. As Daphne and Truman search for Obie, they must navigate the jealousies and alliances of the violent archangels who stand in their way. But Daphne also discovers, unexpectedly, what it means to love and be human in a world where human is the hardest thing to be.

The Space Between is a breathtaking and transcendent new novel about a demon girl's search for love on Earth, from the New York Times bestselling author of The Replacement.

Review:

Books that give me ideas for my own books are my very best friends. Books that give me an awesome idea like a contemporary YA retelling of Lilith's myth in just thirteen pages? I expected to fall so deeply in love with The Space Between that I would forge us a marriage license. Though Yovanoff's prose entranced me and her characters made my heart ache, I didn't love this book nearly as much as I should have, and that's a crying shame.

Adorable is the last thing one would think to use when describing a demon, but that word fits Daphne perfectly. I wouldn't want to screw around with her if I saw her on the street, but her quiet sort of steel --I hope that isn't a pun--is contrasted with her straightforward, somewhat naive approach to the human world (which is understandable, considering this is the first time she's been out of Pandemonium and what she knows about the human world comes to her through media). Following her on her quest to find her brother was great fun and I never doubted for a moment that she really loved her brother.

Her relationship with her love interest Truman developed slowly and I think this was . The way I saw it, their relationship is what authors guilty of insta-love were going for and failed at achieving. They have a fascination with one another at the beginning, true, yet it makes sense given the circumstances. A little bit of that fascination is still there when they see each other again roughly a year later, but the way they fall is natural. The climactic scene between them is one I can see myself rereading a few times. It was so sweet!

However, my greatest complaint is that the novel is so poorly paced. All the lovely descriptions, perfect book jackets, and well-defined characters in the world can't make up for that. I spent more than half the novel bored out of my mind and waiting for some developing in the Obie-is-missing-and-in-trouble plotline. I wish a little more time could have been spent in Pandemonium with Lilith, whose great characterization made me swoon the few times she came around, and all the other demons in the steel city within Hell. The great Lucifer himself made one appearance. Just one, and it didn't give me the kind of insight into his character I wanted.

Yovanoff's novel impressed me a good deal more in the second half than in the first, and that's part of the reason why I decided to keep it when my original intent was to get rid of it after I read it Besides, if I ever get around to writing that idea the novel gave me, I'll want The Space Between around. Now then, to figure out how to translate all the pieces of Lilith's myth, from God to her ability to look through mirrors to her children and beyond, into a contemporary YA setting. This will be fun (and I say that without an ounce of sarcasm).

3 stars! (More like 3.5 stars.)

What am I reading next?: Dark Companion by Marta Acosta

Glow by Amy Kathleen Ryan

Title: Glow
Author: Amy Kathleen Ryan
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
Release Date: September 13, 2011/July 17, 2012
Pages:  320 pages/336 pages (hardcover/paperback)

How I Got the Book: Bought it. 

Purchase/Pre-order: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository
Promotional Materials and More: audiobook clip | book trailer | author website

What if you were bound for a new world, about to pledge your life to someone you'd been promised to since birth, and one unexpected violent attack made survival—not love—the issue?

Out in the murky nebula lurks an unseen enemy: the New Horizon. On its way to populate a distant planet in the wake of Earth's collapse, the ship's crew has been unable to conceive a generation to continue its mission. They need young girls desperately, or their zealous leader's efforts will fail. Onboard their sister ship, the Empyrean, the unsuspecting families don't know an attack is being mounted that could claim the most important among them...

Fifteen-year-old Waverly is part of the first generation to be successfully conceived in deep space; she was born on the Empyrean, and the large farming vessel is all she knows. Her concerns are those of any teenager—until Kieran Alden proposes to her. The handsome captain-to-be has everything Waverly could ever want in a husband, and with the pressure to start having children, everyone is sure he's the best choice. Except for Waverly, who wants more from life than marriage—and is secretly intrigued by the shy, darkly brilliant Seth.

But when the Empyrean faces sudden attack by their assumed allies, they quickly find out that the enemies aren't all from the outside.

Review:

Another sci-fi book. For some reason, I keep picking them up despite my apathy for the genre. Perhaps I was hoping Glow would be the one to really impress me and make me like sci-fi. (Or maybe I was reading it solely because an ARC of its sequel was coming. Yeah, that sounds right.) The plot grabbed me and didn't let go, but in all honesty, I can't respect a sci-fi novel that grossly violates Newton's first law of motion.

To be fair, Glow started off with a bang: the invasion by the New Horizon people. Ryan can write a mean action scene and keep readers glued to the pages with top-notch pacing. I can respect the slowly evolving psychological mindset and development of the characters throughout the novel. I dreaded reading the novel when Waverly's response to her boyfriend proposing to her was "Why not marry Felicity Wiggam? She's prettier than I am," but my worries were for little. Who each character was at the beginning of the novel barely resembles who they were at the end, and what this promises for future books in the series is tempting.

So what about Newton's first law of motion being violated? Well, said law goes something like this: an object in motion stays in motion until an external force acts upon it. On Earth, that external force is most often gravity. In space, there is no such external force, so an object will continue moving at the exact same rate forever. It's why tools astronauts lose are goners if they float away.

The long explanation I came up with for this was too long and convoluted, so I reduced it to a few bullet points.

• The New Horizon slowed down to let the Empyrean catch up.
• The only way the New Horizon could slow down was to use its reverse thrusters to cancel out their forward momentum.
• It explicitly says in the novel that they did not use their reverse thrusters to slow down.
• Because they are in space, there is no external force to act upon the ship. A spaceship in space whose engine is cut can't slow down like a car on Earth can and would.
• Because of this, the New Horizon should have kept moving at the speed it was going when it stopped using its thrusters. It didn't.
• Therefore, Newton's first law of motion was violated. Bad sci-fi novel! Bad!

(I really hope that made sense. My explanations of science aren't fantastic.)

And the writing. Oh, the writing! Third-person narration didn't feel like the best choice for this novel. The copious telling-not-showing way it told the story and explained everything kept me from getting fully invested in the story. I normally don't have this problem with third-person, but the way it was used in Glow made the characters feel so distanced from me. Ryan can write great characters, pace her story well, and come up with a great plot, but her technical writing skills need improvement.

Glow packed a real punch with its ending. Unfortunate implications of both Christian priest/leader characters being evil cult leaders/dictators are there, but the stage set in Glow and promised for the sequel Spark will have readers coming back for more. I was worried it couldn't pull through for me because of the major science flub, but I'm happy to say it's a solid novel otherwise. Lord of the Flies in space, almost.

3 stars!

What am I reading next?: Body and Soul by Stacey Kade

Social Suicide by Gemma Halliday

Title: Social Suicide
Author: Gemma Halliday
Publisher: HarperTeen
Release Date: April 24, 2012
Pages: 277 pages (paperback)
How I Got the Book: Bought it.
Purchase/Pre-order: Amazon; Barnes & Noble; Book Depository

Twittercide [twit-er-sahyd]: the killing of one human being by another while the victim is in the act of tweeting.

Call me crazy, but I figured writing for the Herbert Hoover High Homepage would be a pretty sweet gig. Pad the resume for college applications, get a first look at the gossip column, spend some time ogling the paper’s brooding bad-boy editor, Chase Erikson. But on my first big story, things went... a little south. What should have been a normal interview with Sydney Sanders turned into me discovering the Homecoming Queen-hopeful dead in her pool. Electrocuted while Tweeting. Now, in addition to developing a reputation as HHH’s resident body finder, I’m stuck trying to prove that Sydney’s death wasn’t suicide.

I’m starting to long for the days when my biggest worry was whether the cafeteria was serving pizza sticks or Tuesday Tacos...

Review:

Hartley Featherstone is back and finding dead bodies again! Oh, fluff. Unfortunately, I was a little less charmed by her this time around. I still enjoyed myself and was glad for the distraction Hartley's antics provided, but I think she went a little too far.

Characterization isn't this series' strong point--you only need to look at the characterization of girls like Jenni Pritchard ("our school's answer to Snooki") and the cheerleaders to figure that out--but Hartley's narrative voice is charming and makes it easy to forget about the flaws of the novel. She takes us into a mystery full of twists, turns, and egos big enough to fill up a few swimming pools. It's more predictable this time, but figuring out who Twittercided Sydney is no less fun for it.

It can't be left unsaid that this book--no, this series--is over-the-top in the best of ways. Their melodramatic ways give the series some of its comedy and it's why I loved the first book so much. This installment was more often trying to be over the top and failing by ending up spreadeagle on the unfunny side of the fence. Breaking into the school at night to prove it could be done by someone coming in to get test answers? Sneaking into a hospital and interrogating a guy who very nearly got murdered while trying to meet Hartley? That's not so funny. That's blindly stupid for the former and astronomically insensitive for the latter.

(And do people out in California really dress up for homecoming in tuxes and Jessica Rabbit-esque dresses like it's prom? It's either the book being unrealistic again or we Floridians and our dressy-casual homecomings are just different.)

Why would Mr. Tipkins leave all his ungraded papers at school only to come back later at night with the intent to grade the papers then? He had the free time for grading, as evidenced by him coming back in the first place, and it didn't seem like he'd forgotten the papers. Why not save gas and grade the papers in the comfort of his own home? It was such a lazy plot contrivance meant to get Hartley and Chase shoved in a closet together that I couldn't enjoy their scene. And I would have if it hadn't been for that niggling contrivance!

But speaking of Hartley and Chase... They're so adorable! I don't squee over very many couples, but their banter is so cute and their chemistry is so hot that I just can't help it. If I could, I would make little stuffed dolls of these two just so I could clutch them to my chest when I'm in a squeeing mood or I'm remembering something they did.

It may sound like I disliked the novel, but I really didn't. Social Suicide was a worthy sequel and an enjoyable standalone novel in its own right. Just bring a suspension of disbelief and you should be fine.

Is this your first time hearing about the Deadly Cool series and you're a U.S. Kindle owner? Then you're in luck! For who knows how long, the first novel of the series, Deadly Cool, is just $2.99 for Nooks and Amazon Kindles! I recommend it if you're in a bad mood and need something to cheer you up. The deal might not be a deal for long, so get it while you can!

3 stars!

What am I reading next?: Glow by Amy Kathleen Ryan

Underworld by Meg Cabot

Title: Underworld
Author: Meg Cabot
Publisher: Point
Release Date: May 8, 2012
Pages: 336 pages (hardcover)
How I Got the Book: ARC from the publisher
Purchase/Pre-order: Amazon; Barnes & Noble; Book Depository

Seventeen-year-old Pierce Oliviera isn't dead. Not this time.

But she's been taken by John Hayden, lord of the Underworld, to the dim, twilight place between heaven and hell, where the spirits of the deceased wait before embarking upon their final journey.

John claims it's for her own safety, to protect her from the Furies who yearn for vengeance against him. But John may have reasons of his own for wanting to keep Pierce close...

And soon she learns that while she might be safe from the wrath of the Furies in the Underworld, the people she loves back on earth are not. Can Pierce convince John to release her in order to save the life of someone in her family--or will the price he asks her to pay for her freedom be too high?

Review:

Going into Underworld, the second book of Cabot's Abandon trilogy, I had my fingers crossed so tightly that it hurt. Would I like it more than Abandon, which underwhelmed me? Would it be just as disappointing or even worse? I was prepared for the best and the worst and I ended up feeling as similarly satisfied yet slightly disappointed with the second book as I felt with the first.

I did see improvement on some of the points I disliked Abandon for. The repetition of evil tassels and the phrase "check yourself before you wreck yourself" disappeared. Pierce's cousin Alex emerged as a dark horse sort of character I didn't expect to love but did anyway. He was flat-out wrong, but the complexity he demonstrated when Pierce confronted him invested me more in his character with that one scene than two books have invested me in Pierce's struggles. A more present plot gave Underworld a greater direction and purpose than I remember from the first book.

My past experience with Cabot's Mediator series, an enduring favorite of mine, has shown me that she knows how to write a fun heroine with a solid head on her shoulders. That may be why I find Pierce more disappointing as a main character. She is generally more introverted and I like it, but she tends to be a blind dreamer too, acting without thinking and ignoring what is plainly there.

Pierce's personality type kept Cabot's usual humor out of Abandon, but I saw more of it shining through this time. I haven't been able to check it against the final copy of the book, but this quote was so winning that I couldn't resist sharing it:

"Oh, no." My heart filling with dread, I took the paper from Mr. Smith's hands. "Couldn't they have found a better picture of me?"

Mr. Smith looked at me sharply. "Miss Oliviera," he said, his gray eyebrows lowered. "I realize it's all the rage with you young people today to toss off flippant one-liners so you can get your own reality television shows. But I highly doubt MTV will be coming down to Isla Huesos to film you in the Underworld. So that can't be all you have to say about this."

Unfortunately, each one of those great moments in writing seems to be followed by at least two descriptions that come with cringeworthy mental images. As much as Pierce loved it, a man's muscles pumping up to the size of grapefruits as he rips apart chains with his bare hands doesn't seem attractive to me.

Pierce and John's relationship troubles me--no, disturbs me. It's a more powerful and accurate word choice. I see exactly one quality in him she could plausibly like: how he took her suggestions for the Underworld and put a few of them in practice. That is something I thought was fantastic. Otherwise, I don't see why she loves him so much and forgives his behavior (lying, clearly evident violence streak, secret-keeping) so easily. In a step above some more problematic YA novels, John often admits that what he does is wrong and Pierce recognizes it as wrong. Her forgiving almost all of it or pretending an issue is a non-issue takes it back down that step, but I suppose it's progress. Better one forward and one back than two steps back.

My newfound fondness for Alex and genuine curiosity is sure to bring me and other readers back for Awaken, the final book of the trilogy. Readers who fell in love with Abandon will surely love this installment too, but figuring out whether or not critics of the first book will enjoy Underworld is a little more difficult. Of the multiple Hades/Persephone retellings in bookstores at the moment, this is definitely my preferred series.

3 stars!

What am I reading next?: Ditched by Robin Mellom

The Forgetting Curve by Angie Smibert

Title: The Forgetting Curve
Author: Angie Smibert
Publisher: Marshall Cavendish
Release Date: May 1, 2012
Pages: 202 pages (hardcover)
How I Got the Book: Galley from the publisher through NetGalley
Purchase: Amazon; Barnes and Noble; Book Depository

Aiden Nomura likes to open doors—especially using his skills as a hacker—to see what’s hidden inside. He believes everything is part of a greater system: the universe. The universe shows him the doors, and he keeps pulling until one cracks open. Aiden exposes the flaw, and the universe—or someone else—will fix it. It’s like a game.

Until it isn’t.

When a TFC opens in Bern, Switzerland, where Aiden is attending boarding school, he knows things are changing. Shortly after, bombs go off within quiet, safe Bern. Then Aiden learns that his cousin Winter, back in the States, has had a mental breakdown. He returns to the US immediately.

But when he arrives home in Hamilton, Winter’s mental state isn’t the only thing that’s different. The city is becoming even stricter, and an underground movement is growing.

Along with Winter’s friend, Velvet, Aiden slowly cracks open doors in this new world. But behind those doors are things Aiden doesn’t want to see—things about his society, his city, even his own family. And this time Aiden may be the only one who can fix things... before someone else gets hurt.

Review:

Maybe I would like The Forgetting Curve a little more if I could remember more about it and its predecessor Memento Nora.

As soon as I jumped into The Forgetting Curve, I found myself getting lost. What's going on? I can't remember what happened to Micah! Did that happen in the first book? Did it happen between books? Readers are expected to be very familiar with what happened in the first book and for someone like me, who read it almost five months ago and doesn't remember much, it makes for a rough beginning. This is definitely the kind of series one has to follow from the first book onward if they don't want to get lost.

 One thing I desired more of in Memento Nora (and said as much in my review of it) was Winter, who was easily the most compelling of the three narrators. Seeing her come back for The Forgetting Curve and grow further almost sent me over the moon. Winter's new co-narrators, her hacker cousin Aiden and her blue-haired friend Velvet, have their own unique voices--you'll never mistake Aiden for Winter or Velvet for Aiden-- and stories to tell, though Velvet's tale as an aspiring musician is weaker than Aiden's and Winter's stories. Aiden's hacking scenes in particular were a delight to read.

The Forgetting Curve shares numerous problems with Memento Nora. The inability to forge a stronger connection between me and the characters, for one. I had a difficult time connecting with them. Both books were short, absorbing reads, but their just-over/under-two-hundred-pages length also robbed the genuinely interesting stories of deeper development. There was one area of improvement, though; the writing became much clearer. There were fewer moments of "What are they talking about?" than in the previous book.

One undeniable area of improvement was the ability to hook me for the sequel. Memento Nora left me feeling ambivalent about another book (though I ended up reading it anyway, as you can tell). The Forgetting Curve has a much stronger hook and I plan to stick around for the third book in the series. This dystopian novel with its roots in our very memories is scarily addictive. If you can find a copy, try it out!

3 stars!

What am I reading next?: Hanging by a Thread by Sophie Littlefield

Liar by Justine Larbalestier

Title: Liar
Author: Justine Larbalestier
Publisher: Bloomsbury USA Children's Books
Release Date: September 29, 2009
Pages: 376 pages (hardcover)
How I Got the Book: From the school library.
Purchase: Amazon; Barnes & Noble; Book Depository

Micah will freely admit that she’s a compulsive liar, but that may be the one honest thing she’ll ever tell you. Over the years she’s duped her classmates, her teachers, and even her parents, and she’s always managed to stay one step ahead of her lies. That is, until her boyfriend dies under brutal circumstances and her dishonesty begins to catch up with her. But is it possible to tell the truth when lying comes as naturally as breathing? 

Taking readers deep into the psyche of a young woman who will say just about anything to convince them—and herself—that she’s finally come clean, Liar is a bone-chilling thriller that will have readers see-sawing between truths and lies right up to the end. Honestly.

Review:

A good recipe for getting some reading done:

• A sudden desire for unreliable narrators;
• a trip to the school library made on a whim just before a camping trip;
• a rainy weekend;
• and various health problems that keep me from doing much for the moment.

The last one sucks and all, but try to tell me you're not going to get some reading done in those circumstances. That recipe and Liar's sheer readability made the novel a quick read, but it certainly wasn't an easy read.

Micah minces no words in her attempts to tell the reader she is a pathological liar, leaving us treading on thin ice every time she speaks. Because of this, I practically inhaled the first half of Liar. How many lies was she telling? How would they come unraveled? The compelling angle of her disorder and her dynamic personality gave it the kind of drive I wish more books had.

But then...

I'll try to keep the exact details vague, but I can't review the book properly without spoiling a major twist because then I wouldn't be able to discuss my issue with said twist the way I need to. Just short of halfway through, Micah lets her biggest secret out of the bag and Liar morphs into a paranormal novel when I came in thinking it was a YA contemporary novel.

Personally, I regarded everything she said about the paranormal details as a lie. Judging by Micah's inner monologue at the end of the book, that kind of reaction was expected based on the kind of person she was and all the lies she told no matter how many times she claimed to be telling the truth. Combining a pathological liar with paranormal elements left me questioning their veracity for the rest of the book and gave Liar a little too much mindfuck for me to enjoy the second half the way I enjoyed the first half.

The energy I had for the first half tapered off and I had to push myself just to finish the book. If a friend weren't begging me to loan it to him when I finished, I might not have been able to push myself like I did. I never wanted to be someone that liked a novel less just because it pulled a genre-switch on me, but it looks like I am. Liar was much stronger when I considered it a YA contemporary about a pathological liar and grief than when I redrew it in my mind as a YA paranormal about a pathological liar and grief.

I think I'll stick with a few of the books I already own to get my unreliable narrator fix, but it's a strong enough novel that I can recommend it to others. Still, be cautious of that twist. If it's the sort of detail that can ruin a novel for you but you still want an unreliable narrator, go for Imaginary Girls by Nova Ren Suma and Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein.

3 stars!

What am I reading next?: Blackwood by Gwenda Bond

Unraveling by Elizabeth Norris

Title: Unraveling
Author: Elizabeth Norris
Publisher: HarperCollins/Balzer + Bray
Release Date: April 24, 2012
Pages: 445 pages (hardcover)
How I Got the Book: ARC through Amazon Vine
Purchase/Pre-order: Amazon; Barnes & Noble; Book Depository

Two days before the start of her junior year, seventeen-year-old Janelle Tenner is hit by a pickup truck and killed—as in blinding light, scenes of her life flashing before her, and then nothing. Except the next thing she knows, she's opening her eyes to find Ben Michaels, a loner from her high school whom Janelle has never talked to, leaning over her. And even though it isn't possible, she knows—with every fiber of her being—that Ben has somehow brought her back to life.

But her revival, and Ben's possible role in it, is only the first of the puzzles that Janelle must solve. While snooping in her FBI agent father's files for clues about her accident, she uncovers a clock that seems to be counting down to something—but to what? And when someone close to Janelle is killed, she can no longer deny what's right in front of her: Everything that's happened—the accident, the murder, the countdown clock, Ben's sudden appearance in her life—points to the end of life as she knows it. And as the clock ticks down, she realizes that if she wants to put a stop to the end of the world, she's going to need to uncover Ben's secrets—and keep from falling in love with him in the process. 
 

Review:

Lately, my forecasts for books have been spot-on; books I forecast as one, two, or however many stars by the halfpoint often end up being worth that many stars. My forecast for Unraveling was two stars by the halfpoint of the novel and I'm happy that my forecast was off.

Give me a few seconds so I can recover from the whiplash because wow. One minute I'm reading a book that's speeding along at ninety miles per hour and the next, I'm back to a leisurely stroll down the street. I don't get that feeling very often. -breathe in- -breathe out- Okay, I'm good.

Unraveling is fast-paced and it's not just due to the storyline; the format helps too. Whoever came up with the idea of mixing short chapters (some are just one page) with chapter headings counting down much like the clock mentioned in the summary? They deserve some extra money for that. If the plot itself and the immediacy of what is coming doesn't keep the reader going, the psychological effect of the formatting might help.

Everywhere else is where the book starts falling apart. Ben and Janelle's connection begins with a shot of insta-love, the revelation that Ben has loved Janelle for a very long time (no, that's not spoiling anything, don't worry--you find this out in the first forty pages), and a comparison of how Ben says Janelle's name to how her family members say it. Am I the only person who is put off by those kinds of comparisons? A guy who is in love with a girl and the girl's little brother are going to say her name in very different ways and comparisons make me go eugh. Personal thing.

Moving on! For about half the novel, I disliked Janelle, Ben, and their romance, but I grew apathetic to it and then a little fond of it, though not much more than that. Their love starts to feel genuine toward the end of the novel and how it ended for them made me sad for them, but I'm certain the insta-love start is what kept me from becoming fully invested in their relationship.

Some of the twists and turns of the novel were a little too easily called. Conversations Janelle eavesdropped on were easy to figure out, but the truth isn't revealed for another hundred pages or so, leaving me impatient. I called BS on the right ones, stuck with the right ones, knew exactly how one would be turned around--a little boring, really. It's not a mystery novel and it never tries to be, but I don't want to figure it all out that easily.

What it does try and succeed at being is sci-fi, a genre I can read but do not overly enjoy because science and I are mortal enemies. It's not deep, deep sci-fi, though; it seems like it is once all the talk of Wave Function Collapses came in, but the technical aspects of how everything is done are only lightly discussed. By the end, it becomes more about the necessary science the characters know but the reader doesn't (and doesn't need to). It really depends on what kind of reader you are as to whether or not that is a good thing, but it worked out for me.

One scene in particular made me smile: the discussion in Ben and Janelle's AP English Language class about a prompt. It was a man's marriage proposal from a Charles Dickens novel and the way the two of them argued about how the guy was obsessively in love with the woman, what kind of proposal Janelle would like, etc. really connected with me. Maybe I'm just that nerdy. Maybe it's because it's a scene I can actually see happening because I'm taking the same level English class and that's the same kind of work we do in preparation for the big test. Either way, there's something I love about it.

The novel's close is enough to keep it a standalone, but goodness knows whether or not it will stay a standalone since books that were intended as standalones often have sequels and companion novels coming out the wazoo. Unraveling hits most of the notes it should as a YA debut, the rough beginning being where it falls out of tune, but that is not necessarily a compliment. Either way, I think Elizabeth Norris is an author I want to keep an eye on.

3 stars!

What am I reading next?: Awake at Dawn by C.C. Hunter

Masque of the Red Death by Bethany Griffin

Title: Masque of the Red Death
Author: Bethany Griffin
Publisher: HarperCollins/Greenwillow Books
Release Date: April 24, 2012
Pages: 320 pages (hardcover)
How I Got the Book: ARC provided by Amazon Vine.
Purchase: Amazon; Barnes & Noble; Book Depository

Everything is in ruins.

A devastating plague has decimated the population. And those who are left live in fear of catching it as the city crumbles to pieces around them.

So what does Araby Worth have to live for?

Nights in the Debauchery Club, beautiful dresses, glittery make-up . . . and tantalizing ways to forget it all.

But in the depths of the club—in the depths of her own despair—Araby will find more than oblivion. She will find Will, the terribly handsome proprietor of the club. And Elliott, the wickedly smart aristocrat. Neither boy is what he seems. Both have secrets. Everyone does.

And Araby may find something not just to live for, but to fight for—no matter what it costs her.

Review:

Thanks to the magic of Goodreads, I can say Masque of the Red Death has been on my radar since August 30, 2011 and as more in-depth descriptions were added, it became one of my most anticipated reads of 2012. Seven months of anticipation, especially after seeing it get consistently positive reviews, make my disappointment in the novel that much more bitter.

Masque of the Red Death had all the ingredients for a great novel. A gloomy mood set by the description and Araby's inner thoughts set the stage for a fabulous post-apocalyptic Gothic novel. Poe's classic short story is creatively twisted into something that is both an original work and a loving homage to Poe's genius. Some scenes of the novel are incredibly powerful--like the one with Will, Araby, and the moonlight flower. I had to go back and reread it a few times because I loved it so much.

What is there not to like, then? The story sounds fantastic in theory, but it is more often lacking in practice.

Araby and Elliott are well-developed characters in all the technical aspects. Elliott has a motivation and is incredibly sympathetic; Araby doesn't have much of a motivation herself, but her despair and loneliness drew me to her and could once again earn a lot of fans out of sympathy for her. My problem is that despite their adequate construction, I couldn't connect with them. They didn't feel alive, so to speak. Their connections with other characters left a lot to be desired too. Why was Araby drawn to Will and Elliott the way she was? The hope they offered? That seems the most likely explanation, but nothing about the characters and their relationships clicked the way they should have.

Two-thirds of the way through the novel, very little had happened and there was almost no forward momentum. I procrastinated on a major paper to read this book and I wanted to at least pretend it was a better use of my time, but I couldn't keep up the illusion when I kept putting it down and watching documentaries about Columbine and OJ Simpson's trial on television.The plot did kick in shortly after--oh wow, did it kick in; I couldn't put it down for those last hundred pages--but saving any sign of plot or action for the last one-hundred pages of the book could lose a lot of readers.

But now I'm done and my Count of Monte Cristo paper is calling my name, motioning me to come closer with a knife in one white, crinkling hand and pen and paper in the other. I think it's best I go see it before I get stabbed--or worse, before one of my books gets stabbed.

As a bonus for readers who want a small insight into how the author chose the names for her characters, look no further than right here. If this is what happens when I express my dislike of a name, I may need to do it more often. Masque left me unimpressed and disappointed, but other readers will doubtlessly enjoy it.

3 stars!

What am I reading next?: Enchanted by Alethea Kontis

Take Off Your Shirt and Cry: A Memoir of Near-Fame Experiences by Nancy Balbirer

Title: Take off Your Shirt and Cry: A Memoir of Near-Fame Experiences
Author: Nancy Balbirer
Publisher: Bloomsbury USA
Release Date: April 14, 2009
Pages: 256 pages
How I Got the Book: Bought it
Purchase: Amazon; Barnes & Noble; Book Depository

One woman’s laugh-out-loud account of the oddities, indignities, and outright absurdities of a life in show business.

In this strikingly candid memoir, Nancy Balbirer distills two decades of drama school, auditions, bit parts, cameos, and off-Broadway plays into an account by turns hilarious and horrifying . From studying theater in college under the searing purism of David Mamet ("Being a woman in [show] business, you'll be asked to do only two things in every fucking role you ever play: take your shirt off and cry. That's it. Take your shirt off and cry.") to weathering advice from her brazenly insensitive L.A. agent ("I didn’t think it was possible. But you managed to bore Luke Perry") to scoring a Saturday Night Live audition based on a drunken Debra Winger impersonation, Balbirer’s adventures are sometimes bizarre, sometimes painful, and always unforgettable.

Between run-ins with an eccentric cast of all-too-real characters, including an infatuated acting teacher who introduces Nancy to the joys of firearms, a former sex symbol desperately seeking a toilet, and a jazz musician who fancies himself a reincarnated Jack Kerouac, Balbirer wrestles with her own ambitions and disappointments, struggling to determine what she really wants and who she really is. She may not be destined for Hollywood stardom, but as Take Your Shirt Off and Cry makes clear, she is definitely a one-of-a-kind talent.

Review:

Nonfiction? Me? Yep! Even I need a break from YA every once in a while, and my choice of a memoir written by a former actor about her struggles in Hollywood and New York seemed like a good bet. It was fun, I want to say. Emphasis on want to say because I can't quite do so. Balbirer earned some laughter for her funny anecdotes, but her stories were weak, muddled, and could have been much stronger with a little more organization.

The first third is easily the strongest. Balbirer's tales of studying with David Mamet at school, trying to figure out who she is in the New York scene, and are simultaneously touching and funny. Mamet's character really got me; the one and only quote I liked enough to comment had to do with a speech he gave his students: "For our first class, David Mamet delivered a lecture the premise of which was that Bill Cosby was a whore."

It's toward the fourth chapter, detailing how her Debra Winger impression got her close to getting a job on Saturday Night Live, that things start to taper off and it began to lose hold of my attention. Do all memoirs read like a series of anecdotes that can't motivate you to move on to the next chapter? If I was supposed to become invested in Balbirer's struggles and be motivated to keep reading that way, it didn't work. How the narrative bounces back between three main time periods (when she's in school in New York, post-school New York, and post-school Los Angeles) between chapters breaks up the order and makes the novel harder to follow.

Balbirer's despair and personal struggles with her identity at certain points in her life are evident, but they are swept over or a comedic tone is used to talk about them. What could have been a great opportunity to bring in some depth and pull in readers whose attention spans are at their ends is lost. With such a large cast of characters, some of them mentioned only once when they are apparently important figures in the author's life, I found myself forgetting who was who and why they mattered very often, especially between sittings.

Would I read this book again? Maybe, but I would be sticking to the early chapters. For all the praise the younger Nancy Balbirer garnered from Mamet and critics for her work, I still think it could be stronger.

And so there was my nonfiction requirement for 2012. More YA, please!

3 stars!

What am I reading next?: Ditched by Robin Mellom

The Springsweet by Saundra Mitchell

Title: The Springsweet
Author: Saundra Mitchell
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt/Harcourt
Release Date: April 17, 2012
Pages: 288 pages (hardcover)
How I Got the Book: Amazon Vine-provided ARC

It’s a long way from Baltimore to Oklahoma Territory. But Zora Stewart will go any distance to put the tragic events of her sixteenth summer behind her. So this city girl heads to the tiny frontier town of West Glory to help her young widowed aunt keep her homestead going.

When another Baltimorean shows up in West Glory, Zora couldn’t be more surprised. Theo de la Croix made the long trip out west hoping to court Zora, whom he has long admired from afar.
But Zora has developed an attraction to a rather less respectable fellow: Emerson Birch, a rough-mannered young "sooner" whose fertile land is coveted.

As Zora begins to suspect that there may be more than luck behind Emerson’s good land, she discovers an extraordinary, astonishing power of her own: the ability to sense water under the parched earth. When her aunt hires her out as a "springsweet" to advise other settlers where to dig their wells, Zora feels the burden of holding the key to something so essential to survival in this unforgiving land.

Even more, she finds herself longing for love the way the prairie thirsts for water. Maybe, in the wildness of the territories, Zora can finally move beyond simply surviving and start living.

Review:

After the death of her fiance Thomas and her cousin Amelia, Zora Stewart is ready to get away from Baltimore. All it takes is one unexpected kiss at a party and she's off for the Oklahoma Territory to live with her aunt Birdie and younger cousin Louella until she "comes to her senses." While she is there, she discovers she has the power to sense the location of water, a useful power in such dry lands. In addition to her new gift, two men trouble her. Emerson Birch is regarded by West Glory as bad news, but Zora doesn't see what's wrong with him. Meanwhile, Theo de la Croix has made his way out to West Glory to court Zora, but she isn't interested like everyone wants her to be.

I didn't always like the choices Zora made (surely there was another way to convince her mother to let her go elsewhere), but she wasn't bad as far as YA heroines go. At the very least, she didn't make me want to choke her on a regular basis like some other heroines I've encountered did. Zora's easy adaptation to the constant work in the country after growing up in the city of Baltimore was a little strange; she never struck me in this book or its prequel The Vespertine as the type to easily adapt.

The Springsweet is short and sweet at 288 pages (well, it's short for me) and that challenges it to characterize everyone and get the plot moving more quickly than other novels while still making it feel natural. Does this book meet that challenge? It felt a little bit rushed, like it could have used another fifty pages or so to develop everything. Aunt Birdie's quiet characterization was a high point; my inability to understand what Zora sees in Emerson is on the lower end of the spectrum.

Now then, a quick summary of the novel: A girl leaves home, temporarily moving to another city and taking residence with her aunt and cousin. One of her relatives, who isn't much older than herself, causes the heroine to experience some personal growth, but she discovers something: she has a magical power. The people all love her and her gift at first, but they threaten to turn on her when her gift no longer gives them good fortune. Meanwhile, our heroine is trapped in a love triangle. One man is a good, upstanding man proper society is pushing her toward; the other is a bad boy everyone disapproves of, but she can't stay away from him--and he has a power just like she does.

What I just wrote is an adequate summary of both The Vespertine and The Springsweet. It feels like I've read the same book twice with the names and settings changed and I don't like feeling that way. I expected Zora's narrative voice to be unlike Amelia's because they were such different characters, but I can't tell the difference between them.

The writing remains one of my favorite qualities of the novel. There's something about the way it tosses around metaphors and orders its syntax that makes me have an especially nerdy moment. I wish I had more to say there because of how much I like it, but that suffices and I'm not going to drag it out. Two climactic scenes one after another at the end off the novel ended up having two very different effects on me. One of them had me reading like it would have killed me not to. The other garnered this reaction from me: "Oh. Okay then." Considering that second climax involved someone getting murdered, this is not a good reaction for it to bring out of me.

Fans of The Vespertine will enjoy the return of the lyrical prose and the development of Zora's personal story (not to mention where it looks like the next book might take both her and Amelia), but fans of The Vespertine who do not want to read almost the exact same story with new packaging may not love it as much.

3 stars!

What am I reading next?: Beneath My Mother's Feet by Amjed Qamar