The Progeny by Tosca Lee

Release Date: May 24, 2016
Publisher: Howard Books
Age Group: Adult
Source: Publisher
Series: Descendants of the House of Bathory #1
Pages: 336
Buy: Amazon | Barnes & Noble |
IndieBound | Book Depository
Description: Goodreads
Emily Jacobs is the descendant of a serial killer. Now, she’s become the hunted.

She’s on a quest that will take her to the secret underground of Europe and the inner circles of three ancient orders—one determined to kill her, one devoted to keeping her alive, and one she must ultimately save.

Filled with adrenaline, romance, and reversals, The Progeny is the present-day saga of a 400-year-old war between the uncanny descendants of “Blood Countess” Elizabeth Bathory, the most prolific female serial killer of all time, and a secret society dedicated to erasing every one of her descendants. A story about the search for self filled with centuries-old intrigues against the backdrop of atrocity and hope. 

Imagine waking up with no memory of your life before, knowing that this is a choice you made, even though the reason why has been erased. That’s the choice that Emily Jacobs made. For some reason. But now, a past that she can’t remember is catching up with her and she has no idea who she can trust.

As part of an ancient bloodline that has been hunted for centuries, Emily must navigate underground societies while running from an order determined to exterminate them. By following bread crumbs she left for herself, she starts to unravel some secrets that have been hidden for centuries and others she gave up everything to keep hidden.

The Secret Diary of Lizzie Bennet by Bernie Su & Kate Rorick

Release Date: June 24, 2014
Publisher: Touchstone
Age Group: Young Adult
Format: ARC
Source: Publisher
Pages: 400
Buy: Amazon / Barnes & Noble / IndieBound
Description: Goodreads
Based on the Emmy Award-winning YouTube series The Lizzie Bennet Diaries.

Twenty-four-year-old grad student Lizzie Bennet is saddled with student loan debt and still living at home along with her two sisters-beautiful Jane and reckless Lydia. When she records her reflections on life for her thesis project and posts them on YouTube, she has no idea The Lizzie Bennet Diaries will soon take on a life of their own, turning the Bennet sisters into internet celebrities seemingly overnight.

When rich and handsome Bing Lee comes to town, along with his stuck-up friend William Darcy, things really start to get interesting for the Bennets--and for Lizzie;s viewers. But not everything happens on-screen. Lucky for us, Lizzie has a secret diary.

The Secret Diary of Lizzie Bennet takes readers deep inside Lizzie's world and well beyond the confines of her camera--from the wedding where she first meets William Darcy to the local hangout of Carter's bar, and much more. Lizzie's private musings are filled with revealing details about the Bennet household, including her growing suspicions about her parents'; unstable financial situation, her sister's budding relationship with Bing Lee, the perils of her unexpected fame, and her uncertainty over her future--and whom she wants to share it with.

Featuring plenty of fresh twists to delight fans and new readers alike, The Secret Diary of Lizzie Bennet expands on the web series phenomenon that captivated a generation and reimagines the Pride and Prejudice story like never before.

So here’s the thing about my review of The Secret Diary of Lizzie Bennet aka the book version of the internet series The Lizzie Bennet Diaries: you already know what I’m going to say.  I adored LBD in an intense and real way—for example, when the very last Q&A video appeared, I wasn’t home, and I watched the video on my phone on a street corner in northwest DC because I literally couldn’t take another step until I saw what happened next.  I’ve been looking forward to the book “adaptation” for a while now, just to get some more information on my beloved characters and delve even deeper into the world of the Bennet sisters.  While I flew through this book like Darcy flew to Lydia’s rescue (hee) and while I would recommend this book to any fan of the LBD such as me, I have one glaring issue with it.

This is not a diary.

There are portions of this secret “diary” that read as though it is what the title proclaims.  Lizzie shares some secrets that she wouldn’t say aloud on her videos, and we do get a respectable amount of backstory and, shall we say, closure.  However, far too often, the narrative switches from epistolary (which it should be) to a first person narrative.  

It starts in the very first entry, when Lizzie mentions her bestie Charlotte and writes this: “‘Hostile laundry takeover?’ she asked knowingly.”  I actually looked up from the book and said aloud, “Who writes like that in their own diary?”  It took me right out of the story, because it didn’t feel authentic.  I was able to ignore this quirk after a few entries (though some instances of format flip-flopping were more blatant than others) by making the mental decision to read this as Lizzie’s story in book form rather than Lizzie’s personal diary.  I made a good choice.

Once I could overlook the narration issue, I enjoyed this a lot more.  The book answers basically every lingering question I still had about the webseries while enhancing moments that I never gave much thought to before.  (I’ll never watch that Netherfield arc in the same way.)  My personal favorite was the actual story of the Lizzie and the Darcys’ “epic tour” of San Francisco.  Followers of the award-winning transmedia event of the SF tour remember the photos well, but having the words makes it sweeter than a sundae at Ghirardelli Square.

Even with my narrative hang-up, I would still recommend The Secret Diary of Lizzie Bennet to any fan of the webseries from which it spawned.  If you haven’t seen the series yet, I would doubly recommend getting your own copy of the book—specifically, the enhanced e-book, which includes links to all of Lizzie’s videos (though, none of the spin-offs like THE Lydia Bennet or the Domino launch).  Now, it’s back to the fanfiction until we get more bonus videos.

Winger by Andrew Smith

Release Date: May 14, 2013
Publisher: Simon & Schuster BFYR
Age Group: Young Adult
Format: E-book
Source: Purchased
Pages: 439
Buy: Amazon / Barnes & Noble / IndieBound
Description: Goodreads
Ryan Dean West is a fourteen-year-old junior at a boarding school for rich kids. He’s living in Opportunity Hall, the dorm for troublemakers, and rooming with the biggest bully on the rugby team. And he’s madly in love with his best friend Annie, who thinks of him as a little boy.

With the help of his sense of humor, rugby buddies, and his penchant for doodling comics, Ryan Dean manages to survive life’s complications and even find some happiness along the way. But when the unthinkable happens, he has to figure out how to hold on to what’s important, even when it feels like everything has fallen apart.

Filled with hand-drawn info-graphics and illustrations and told in a pitch-perfect voice, this realistic depiction of a teen’s experience strikes an exceptional balance of hilarious and heartbreaking.

Winger reminds me of The Duff in that I really appreciated a rather minor aspect of the novel. In The Duff, I enjoyed the abundance of cursing. There’s also a plentiful amount of cursing in Winger, but I was more elated about rugby being a central part of the story. As someone who doesn’t understand the American obsession with football, it’s always good to see its manlier and more interesting cousin get its due.

Also much like The Duff, Winger has characters and interactions that I almost always totally believe. The playful insults, where even the most foul-mouth or egregious things act as strange bonding moments, perfectly capture the the way that dudes bond. The novel also captures the way that one guy can absolutely hate another guy personally, but both can still have a strange respect, and almost admiration for, each other. All of the interactions we actually see in the novel are completely believable. My only issues are with a few we don’t see that also end up being the crux of the novel’s final section.

As much as I had to admit it, the internal monologue in Winger is a frighteningly accurate  portrait of a 14-year-old boy. Constant thoughts of sex? Check. Being pretty sure you, and only you, are the only loser at school? Check. Inability not to think that every vaguely attractive female is a 5-out-of-5 Habaneros on the At Least Ryan Dean West Created Better Names Scale? I’m sad to admit it, but yes.

I have zero complaints about the novel’s first three parts. The style and voice are perfect. The characters are all likable, even when they’re jerks, and the interactions are believable. The pacing is brisk: there are zero wasted pages. The plot is always moving and I was always chuckling. The first three chapters are just fun. If the novel reached its climax at the school dance and ended up being a funny story about realizing that being a jerk doesn’t mean you’re growing up or that you’re standing up for yourself, I would have had zero complaints.

I’m still not even sure that I have complaints; I just don’t know how I feel about the final section. In terms of style and execution, I thought the section was fantastic. There are back-to-back three-sentence chapters that perfectly capture West’s reaction and making the reader feel just as surprised and heartbroken as West. Some of the passages are exceedingly well done. One that’s stuck in my brain is the bluntness of the following, which captures how arbitrary the whole thing is: “They got drunk. They were mad. They beat him until he stopped being Joey.” Even the chapter headings change from numerics to topics.

While I’m not going to disparage how the plot shift was handled stylistically, I still don’t know how I feel about the final section. The whole shift in tone and subject material felt like it came from out of left field, even though, looking back, some of the seeds were there. Maybe that was the point: the suddenness with which things can change.

Ryan Dean thinks his lit teacher is stupid for thinking everything boils down to sex. Winger thinks everything boils down to this one thing that people can’t see past when they look at you. I don’t think it’s as simple as either of them makes it out to be. What happened to Joey was about sex, but also about Casey not being able to give up the one thing everyone saw when they looked at him.

I can see the reason for the inclusion of the final section. It allows the author to show both a positive and negative end to the same essential story. While I’m still not totally sure it needed to be included, it did little to affect my overall fondness for the novel. At worst, it gave me something to keep pondering after its final page, much like An Abundance of Katherines and The Duff, which it has no question joined among the favorite novels I’ve read for Wastepaper Prose.

Fire with Fire by Jenny Han & Siobhan Vivian

Release Date: Aug. 13, 2013
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
Age Group: Young Adult
Format: E-galley
Source: Publisher
Pages: 528
Buy: Amazon / Barnes & Noble / IndieBound
Description: Goodreads
Lillia, Kat, and Mary had the perfect plan. Work together in secret to take down the people who wronged them. But things didn’t exactly go the way they’d hoped at the Homecoming Dance.

Not even close.

For now, it looks like they got away with it. All they have to do is move on and pick up the pieces, forget there ever was a pact. But it’s not easy, not when Reeve is still a total jerk and Rennie’s meaner than she ever was before.

And then there’s sweet little Mary…she knows there’s something seriously wrong with her. If she can’t control her anger, she’s sure that someone will get hurt even worse than Reeve was. Mary understands now that it’s not just that Reeve bullied her—it’s that he made her love him.

Eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth, burn for a burn. A broken heart for a broken heart. The girls are up to the task. They’ll make Reeve fall in love with Lillia and then they will crush him. It’s the only way he’ll learn.

It seems once a fire is lit, the only thing you can do is let it burn...

Last year’s Burn For Burn was one of my favorites-- a story of three girls from Jar Island and their plot to exact revenge on those who’ve wronged them in the past. It also served as my introduction to Jenny Han and Siobhan Vivian, and for that I am forever grateful. My expectations were very high going into its sequel Fire With Fire. These YA besties had given me multi-layered characters and a thrilling story, and I hoped they could deliver that to me once again. Turns out, this sequel totally met my expectations, and then some. Fire With Fire delivers, driving Kat, Lillia, and Mary deeper into their web of revenge while still keeping us readers flipping those pages. Let’s go through these narrators one by one, shall we?

Kat is still a bad-ass girl with a tough exterior, but this time around, she starts to let a little of that inner heart show, especially to Lillia and Mary. She sees kindred spirits in those girls, and she works to continue the friendship, trying her best to bring shy Mary out of her shell. Outside of the newfound friendship, we follow Kat as she applies to Oberlin College, her dream school and her mother’s alma mater. I enjoyed delving into Kat’s background, and I especially enjoyed her interactions with Alex. Though it’s clear that Alex has feelings for Lillia, I like the Kat/Alex chemistry. I think they are a far more interesting match than Lillia/Alex, and I’m very curious to see where that leads.

And speaking of Lillia, Jar Island’s resident fashionista grabs the meatiest plotline this time around.  While the events of Homecoming left Reeve with real injuries, he didn’t quite feel the humiliation they were hoping to cause. The new plan—get Reeve to fall for Lillia, and then break his beefy heart. Lillia and Reeve grow closer and closer through this plan, which causes confusing and conflicting feelings for everyone involved, plus giant angry flames on the side of Rennie’s face. This is where Fire With Fire really heats up (puns puns everybody loves puns). Lillia knows she shouldn’t fall for Reeve, but it’s clear that she is.  You’d think I’d tire of that trope, but it seems I don’t—as long as it’s as well-written and compelling as it is here. There’s just something about those two.

And finally, there’s something about Mary (you saw that transition coming a mile away, huh?) that isn’t quite right. We knew this already from book one, but book two shines the spotlight on it. I will admit I became a little frustrated with this, because it seems very obvious what’s going on with Mary, but the reveal is still quite worth it. Of course, the mystery of Mary leads us right to the cliff of the book to let us hang for another year. I have no idea where Ashes To Ashes will go from here, but I sure am excited to find out.

I would recommend this to anyone who read Burn For Burn, and if you haven’t read it, I suggest you do that first, then read this.  Bless these besties for writing the kind of books I love.

Clockwork Princess by Cassandra Clare

Release Date: March 19, 2013
Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry Books
Age Group: Young Adult
Format: E-book
Source: Purchased
Series: Infernal Devices #3
Pages: 568
Buy: Amazon / Barnes & Noble / Google
Description: Goodreads
Tessa Gray should be happy - aren't all brides happy?Yet as she prepares for her wedding, a net of shadows begins to tighten around the Shadowhunters of the London Institute.A new demon appears, one linked by blood and secrecy to Mortmain, the man who plans to use his army of pitiless automatons, the Infernal Devices, to destroy the Shadowhunters. Mortmain needs only one last item to complete his plan. He needs Tessa. And Jem and Will, the boys who lay equal claim to Tessa's heart, will do anything to save her.

I am not going to write a typical review of Clockwork Princess.  In fact, if that’s what you’re looking for, then here you go: Run, do not walk, to your nearest bookstore, buy all three books in The Infernal Devices series, and read them immediately.  Read them as you’ve never read before.  Ignore everything and read with reckless abandon.

Okay, so we got that out of the way.  Now, I know in my Clockwork Prince review, I said that I didn’t want the series to end.  In a manner of speaking, this is still true.  I adore these characters so—not only the core trio of Tessa, Will, and Jem, but the rest as well from Charlotte and dear Henry to the Lightwood brothers to Sophie and Cecily and always Magnus—and I would love to spend years and books and lifetimes with them.  However, I also truly love a satisfying finale, and that is exactly what Cassandra Clare gives her readers with this last installment.  By the Angel, what a thrill ride! 

This entire series overflows with action and adventure, but this book in particular is nonstop.  It’s got training, fighting, torture, revenge, giant metallic monsters, chases, escapes, true love… doesn’t sound too bad, eh?  It’s an incredibly visual book as well.  Many of the scenes explode from the pages, as if they happen right before your eyes.  It’s hard to write this without spoiling it for everyone, but there are many scenes with Will on a solo mission that really stuck with me.  He has a brutal sequence that ends with a fight with a band of werewolves that is described in vivid, exquisite, see-it-all-playing-out-in-your-mind detail.  Gah.  It’s really good, is what I’m saying.

 And for all its action and suspense, this is a story to be savored, not devoured.  I took my sweet time reading this (hence, the review appearing weeks rather than days after its release).  Like Steven Tyler, I didn’t want to miss a thing.  Believe me, I am usually a quick-as-lightning reader, so it was often a struggle to take my time with this, but I’m so glad I did.  Fans of Clare’s other series know that even the smallest detail can find its way back into the story when you least expect it, and I suspect there are many details from this story that we will hear again.

Finally, there’s that love triangle.  I’ll only say that it is resolved in an entirely fitting manner.  However, as invested as I am with these characters, it’s so interesting to me that the relationship I cheer for most is the parabatai relationship between Jem and Will.  Almost every moment that moved me, that affected me, that caused me to shed tears involved these two broken boys.  To use a phrase of Tumblr speak, I can’t even with those two.  They make me lose my ability to even.

Again, I implore you to run to the bookstore and buy these books already.  The Infernal Devices easily earns a spot as one of my all-time favorite book series.  It’s not perfect, but it’s perfect for me.  I wish I could read more of them, but I am so grateful to have this ending, just as it is.

Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick

Release Date: Oct. 13, 2009
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
Age Group: Young Adult
Format: E-book
Source: Purchased
Series: Hush, Hush #1
Pages: 260
Buy: Amazon / Barnes & Noble / Google
Description: Goodreads
For Nora Grey, romance was not part of the plan. She's never been particularly attracted to the boys at her school, no matter how much her best friend, Vee, pushes them at her. Not until Patch came along.

With his easy smile and eyes that seem to see inside her, Nora is drawn to him against her better judgment.

But after a series of terrifying encounters, Nora's not sure who to trust. Patch seems to be everywhere she is, and to know more about her than her closest friends. She can't decide whether she should fall into his arms or run and hide. And when she tries to seek some answers, she finds herself near a truth that is way more unsettling than anything Patch makes her feel.

For Nora is right in the middle of an ancient battle between the immortal and those that have fallen - and, when it comes to choosing sides, the wrong choice will cost her life.

Easily the largest problem with Hush, Hush is the male romantic lead, Patch, who is a creep and a stalker. In his first conversation with Nora, after knowing her for less than five minutes, he asks her if she sleeps naked. This behavior isn’t suave or badass (no matter how much black he wears or how often he half-smiles). It’s creepy! Other charming encounters with Patch include him saying that he wants Nora after they’ve exchanged about thirty sentences, asking if a girl he’s had two whole conversations with would prefer his birthmark being "somewhere private", and telling the whole class that he’d like to mate with Nora. All of these interactions seem to be intended to make Patch come across as a bad boy. Instead, he just seems like a creepy jerk.

The Naked Sleeping Incident is indicative of the unrealistic actions that permeate the novel. Nora is supposedly a few percentage points away from getting scholarships to Impressive Schools, but makes questionable life choices in almost every chapter. The perfect example comes when Nora, knowing up to three people are actively trying to kill her, goes to a strange city alone. Character interactions are similarly unbelievable, such as Nora telling Vee that Elliot had threatened her and Vee completely ignoring her supposed best friend’s concerns because Elliot’s friend is hot. And pretty much everything Patch says.

The style of the novel leaves much to be desired. None of the character have any depth. When describing how she and Vee are complete opposites, Nora mentions only physical traits. It seems like every character’s motivation is just to hook up with someone, except for Nora, who's understandably worried about not dying.  Cliches such as referring to eyes as "orbs" are employed constantly. Character reactions in most conversations are limited to nods or, in Patch’s case, an overly-specific degree of a smile. There are lines like, “Right after my dad was shot to death in Portland while buying my mom’s birthday gift, a strange presence entered my life,” which drop important details without any setup, weight, or depth.

To be fair, the novel does have a few interesting ideas, even if the execution of those ideas is passable at best. At any given point, it’s possible that up to three different people are screwing with Nora’s brain without her realizing it. Had this device been revealed earlier, the author could have played with the idea in fun ways, especially during scenes in which multiple mind-alterers are present. Angels not being able to feel also could have been somewhat interesting on a metaphorical level, but the novel boils it down to Patch feeling bad that he can’t touch Nora. Had the feeling been emotional instead of physical (which makes me wonder things like how Patch is good at pool without sensory feedback), there could have been some cool thematic avenues to explore. Instead, these ideas get only the most basic treatment.

Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld

Release Date: Oct. 6, 2009
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Age Group: Young Adult
Format: E-book
Source: Purchased
Pages: 448
Buy: Amazon / Barnes & Noble / Google
Description: Goodreads
It is the cusp of World War I, and all the European powers are arming up. The Austro-Hungarians and Germans have their Clankers, steam-driven iron machines loaded with guns and ammunition. The British Darwinists employ fabricated animals as their weaponry. Their Leviathan is a whale airship, and the most masterful beast in the British fleet.

Aleksandar Ferdinand, prince of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, is on the run. His own people have turned on him. His title is worthless. All he has is a battle-torn Stormwalker and a loyal crew of men.

Deryn Sharp is a commoner, a girl disguised as a boy in the British Air Service. She's a brilliant airman. But her secret is in constant danger of being discovered.

With the Great War brewing, Alek's and Deryn's paths cross in the most unexpected way...taking them both aboard the Leviathan on a fantastical, around-the-world adventure. One that will change both their lives forever.

Hello, readers! Since a general reading slump and the holidays have combined to put me already almost a month behind in getting this review out, let’s just jump right in to my thoughts on Scott Westerfeld’s Leviathan.

There are a lot of things to like about the novel’s style, not the least of which is the shift in voice depending on which character the chapter is focused on. The dichotomy is most obvious in Deryn’s chapters simply because the entire vocabulary shifts. Alek’s chapters are written in a rather standard style while Deryn’s are littered with Darwinist words and phrases, such as all fabrications being referred to as “beasties.” As a result, her chapters always seem a bit more fun, which works well since everything is an adventure for her, while Alek only has the weight of the whole world on his shoulders. 

The novel is also filled with tiny touches that show just how much thought and detail Westerfeld put into it, such as shifting units of measure between metric and imperial systems depending on the chapter, which also leads to a somewhat funny exchange where both sides are converting into each others’ units and back again as they try to work out an exchange. Westerfeld also employs one of my favorite tricks to let language sound normal without veering off into Parental Advisory territory: simply replacing a curse word with something else. It’s a simple trick, but it’s so much better than having people say, “Oh, shucks,” as things are exploding around them. 

On a few occasions, Westerfeld has characters react to and understand the other side’s technology in terms of their own, such as Alek thinking that the Darwinist’s war birds are swooping like fighter planes. It seems like a simple enough trick, but it’s the kind of believable touch that shows care and really rounds out a world or a character. 

While there quite a few clever stylistic touches, there are a few stylistic niggles as well. Most of these problems exist in a large number of books and movies and it doesn’t seem fair to take Westerfeld to task for them. That said, there is one stylistic thing I couldn’t figure out: Why the point of view changes every other chapter. It would make sense if it switched every chapter, but having two chapters in a row for each character seemed like an odd choice. I couldn’t figure out why they weren’t just combine into one chapter. Maybe there’s not a reason for it, but in that case it seems like an even weirder choice. 

As far as the technology is concerned, I’m going to talk mostly about the Darwinist fabrications both because they’re were most of the creative ideas lie and because giant robots are always cool. Nothing else needs to be said. Each of the fabs seemed quite well thought out and it was fun seeing what combination of form and function Westerfeld was going to throw at me next. The vision of the Leviathan as an entire ecosystem rather than a single creature was particularly inspired. 

Westerfeld seems to know exactly how each piece of his imagined technology works, even if he doesn’t tell us. He also does an excellent job at introducing both side of the tech gradually and without exposition. For instance, fabs are mentioned as Deryn passes a few early in the novel, then she rides in a flying one, and then this massive, flying ecosystem is introduced. There’s no giant info dump, just a slow introduction designed so each new bit of technology seems like a logical extension of what we’ve already seen.

Perhaps surprisingly, I don’t have any huge gripes with the Darwinist technology. One of the few issues I had originally was that using something filled with hydrogen, which could explode as a result of a stray bullet, seemed like a really stupid idea. Then Westerfeld reminded me that the Germans used zepplins during the real First World War. That said, I do have two minor issues with the tech. First, it seems to me that you wouldn’t really want war machines that could decide not to work because they get nervous. If I fire a gun or a missile, it would be nice for it to actually move in the general direction in which I pointed it, rather than it getting scared because there’s a thunderstorm.

Upon further reflection, though, actual real-world Clanker-esque tech wasn’t always the most reliable thing at the time, either, and you could probably convince me that the cheap production and maintenance might be worth the trade. My other complaint is more thematic in nature and is similar to my style complaint: I’m not sure what the point is. I thought originally that the differing technologies were supposed to be some sort of nature vs. science struggle, but the fabs only exist because scientists screwed with nature, so that seems out. Maybe it’s supposed to be something as disappointingly simplistic as our protagonists overcoming their deep philosophical differences. Maybe there isn’t supposed to be a thematic point. Maybe it’s just supposed to be cool, which is a completely fine answer.

As far as the main characters go, I found Deryn to be far more interesting than Alek. Alek feels like little more than a plot device, despite some lip service being given to a few interesting ideas. For instance, there’s a moment where it’s revealed that Alek, despite being able to speak many languages, can’t even read the local paper his would-be subjects read because he doesn’t understand their language. The divide between rulers and their subjects could have come into play in some interesting ways, but instead it’s never mentioned again. 

On the other hand, Deryn is interesting not only because she’s our window into the Darwinist tech, but also because Westerfeld handles her attempts to pass as a boy quite well. He smartly writes out the possibility of her being discovered based simply on physical traits, instead putting the focus on her need to behave like a boy by, for instance, checking her nails by curling her fingers instead of splaying them. He also doesn’t belabor the point by having her get almost-discovered every few chapters. In fact, she doesn’t really even come close to being discovered. Somehow, Westerfeld managed to turn what I thought was going to be the most annoying part of the book into one of its strengths.

As this review is already getting pretty long, I don’t have too much to say about the plot. I enjoyed the book just fine when I was reading it. The action is well written, the pace is good, and at least a few of the characters are fun to spend time with. There are also some really well-written, spy-gamey exchanges among the characters where they’re each trying to pry information out of each other while not giving up any themselves. That said, when I finished the book, I didn’t really feel like anything important happened. The Leviathan still flies. Alek is still on the run, just not in his ice fortress. About all that actually happened was that our characters met and, apparently, will be parting ways. Rather than feeling actually dire or epic, the weight of the actual conflict driving all of the action comes because I know about the actual, real-world World War I, not because of anything the novel itself did. In the end, it felt a lot like a popcorn action flick: Fun while it lasted, but not much more than that.

Rebel Heart Blog Tour Interview & Giveaway

Last week, I had the amazing opportunity to interview Moira Young, author of the Dust Lands series, by phone along with a couple of other bloggers. Chatting with her and getting some very specific insights into the world of the Dust Lands, the characters and particularly the language of the books was, in a word, awesome. I adore this series and cannot wait to see what happens in Book 3.

Below is the transcript from my conversation with Moira. Check out Mundie Moms, Page Turners Blog and Supernatural Snark to see their interviews.

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Moira Young

Moira Young: Blood Red Road tells the story of Saba, an 18 year old girl living in the Dust Lands, a vast, dry, lawless place.  It starts off with her search for her kidnapped brother and goes on from there.

And it's basically a hero's journey. A western set in the future, I think, I would describe it as, amongst other things.

WPP: Ever since I started reading the series, I've been particularly interested in sort of the dialect and speech patterns and how that's reflected on the page. How did you get to that point?  How did you sort of transcribe your characters?

Moira Young: Well, let me think now.  What's the best way to talk about this?

You will have heard me talking about that early draft, which was in the third person.  I didn't realize what I needed to find was her voice.  And that’s why I was dissatisfied with that early version.  It didn't feel authentic to me, it didn't feel like I was saying what I wanted to say, even though I wasn't quite sure what that was.  I was searching for a way to tell this story about a girl whose brother had been kidnapped at some time in the future.  That was the basis for it.

And I really had to, through my very long first draft, the one that took me so long to write, I started off, you know, in the third person.  And by the time that draft ended up, I was inching towards Saba's voice.  I had gone through periods of having her be eight years old, and she just gabbled.  She would gabble in long, long, long sentences without any commas. I was trying to get into her head, I was trying to hear her.

Waiting on Wednesday (26)

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Breaking the Spine 

that highlights eagerly anticipated books.

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The Evolution of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin

Release Date: October 23, 2012

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
Author Website: http://michellehodkin.com/

Pre-order: Amazon / IndieBound / Barnes & Noble

Two days after Mara walks into a police station in Miami at the close of The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer, she is committed for psychiatric treatment for what her parents believe is a mental breakdown. But what seems like a hallucination to everyone else is a chilling reality for Mara. Someone from her past has discovered her strange, disturbing secret and that someone wants her to pay. But she's about to discover that the price is more than she can bear.


Dark and thrilling, suspenseful and passionate, The Evolution of Mara Dyer will have readers breathlessly turning pages to find out what will become of Mara Dyer next.

Why can't I wait? 
Last year's The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer was one of my most recommended books to friends.  I loved the characters and the creepy twisty ride Hodkin created for them.  Now, we finally get to find out what happened after that crazy cliffhanger.  Also, Noah Shaw will be back in our lives, and everyone wins that game.

Burn for Burn by Jenny Han & Siobhan Vivian

Release Date: Sept. 18, 2012
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
Age Group: Young Adult
Format: ARC
Source: Publisher
Pages: 368
Buy: Amazon / Book Depository / IndieBound
Description: Goodreads
BIG GIRLS DON'T CRY...
THEY GET EVEN.

Lillia has never had any problems dealing with boys who like her. Not until this summer, when one went too far. No way will she let the same thing happen to her little sister.

Kat is tired of the rumours, the insults, the cruel jokes. It all goes back to one person– her ex-best friend– and she's ready to make her pay.

Four years ago, Mary left Jar Island because of a boy. But she's not the same girl anymore. And she's ready to prove it to him.

Three very different girls who want the same thing: sweet, sweet revenge. And they won't stop until they each had a taste.

Burn for Burn is the story of three girls- Lillia, Kat, & Mary- who want to get back at three people who burned them- Alex, Rennie, & Reeve.  Just when you think you know what’s going to happen, everything goes completely awry, and it’s an engaging, dark, drama-filled ride you won’t soon forget.

I don’t even know where to start with this review, and I mean that in a great way. Burn for Burn is engrossing and well-written from beginning to end, soup to nuts.  The characters are entirely believable, their stories are compelling, and by the end, you’re not sure whose side you’re on anymore or if winning is even possible.  It’s a testament to the talents of Jenny Han and Siobhan Vivian that two authors with two distinct styles can write three different points of view, and each of the POVs stands out on their own.  It’s an incredibly fast read because it’s so hard to put down.  You just have to know what happens next.  This is serious drama, and I seriously loved it.

Burn for Burn Giveaway

Burn for Burn

by Jenny Han & Siobhan Vivian

Release Date: September 18, 2012

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers

BIG GIRLS DON'T CRY...
THEY GET EVEN.

Lillia has never had any problems dealing with boys who like her. Not until this summer, when one went too far. No way will she let the same thing happen to her little sister.

Kat is tired of the rumours, the insults, the cruel jokes. It all goes back to one person– her ex-best friend– and she's ready to make her pay.

Four years ago, Mary left Jar Island because of a boy. But she's not the same girl anymore. And she's ready to prove it to him.

Three very different girls who want the same thing: sweet, sweet revenge. And they won't stop until they each had a taste.

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Interview: Sarah Lieberman of Simon & Schuster Audio

Sarah Lieberman, director of marketing for Simon & Schuster Audio, is stopping by to shed some light on some of the decisions made during audiobook production and how the finished product gets marketed. 

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Sarah Lieberman 

What goes into selecting a narrator for a novel being turned into an audiobook?

A lot goes into selecting the narrator for an audiobook . . . the voice makes or breaks the production.  

We get a manuscript very early on in the production process & immediately begin a wish-list for the reader.  Is the narrator male or female?  Young or old?  From a particular geographical region?  Required to read dialogue, or present complex ideas, or be funny?  All the demands are weighed & we then try to cast the right voice for the book and make the best-possible marriage. Often, too, the writer is involved in the casting decision.   No one better knows the tone & personality of a book than its author.  When David McCullough does not record his books himself, he almost always requests Edward Herrmann.  Herrmann, a devoted reader of McCullough, seems to be one with the writing, and perfectly matches his delivery to McCullough’s beautiful storytelling.   

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How do you determine what format an audiobook with be produced on (CD, MP3 CD, Digital, etc.)? 

Everything we publish will be available digitally, and will be available on CD for libraries.  We still publish the majority of our list on CD for the retail market, but as the available retail space shrinks for CD, we are getting more selective.  In some cases, particularly for authors early in their career, it’s better to hold off on a CD publication rather than put out very few copies that are hard to find, which creates a poor perception in the eyes of our accounts.  MP3 CD is a format that holds some promise, and we continue to experiment with it.

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How do you keep up with what readers like and dislike about the audiobook experience?

We are always trying to stay in touch with the listening audience and certainly over the last few years social media has developed into a terrific way to do so. Facebook and Twitter in particular have become a great way to learn more about narrators that people particularly enjoy, where and when people are listening to audiobooks, and of course sales figures give us a sense of what titles stand out at retail. We are always looking to make the best consumer experience and to get new listeners to give audiobooks a try. I have always found that once someone tries one audiobook they’re hooked, but sometimes it’s a hurdle to get readers to try that first listening experience. Encouraging people to do that is really one of the biggest challenges we face and also our biggest opportunity.

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How is promoting an audio title different from promoting a print title? How is the market different from that of a hardcover or paperback?

Most of the titles we publish are based on a book that has a full marketing and publicity plan behind it.   So, the first thing we do is to make sure the audiobook is incorporated into those plans as much as possible.   Then our task is to focus on spreading the word about what’s special about the audio. Online tools like bloggers, reviewers, targeted advertising, and of course social media have become great vehicles for promoting audiobooks.  One thing we’re trying to highlight is the connection between authors and narrators.  We love to do video and audio interviews with the authors and narrators and to post that material online along with excerpts from the actual programs. We also use that content as bonus material on the audio programs themselves. Just recently we had a huge response from fans thrilled to hear Stephen King narrating his Dark Tower audiobook The Wind Through the Keyhole, and as a bonus we included an excerpt of Steve reading from Doctor Sleep, his forthcoming sequel to The Shining. Similarly, we just shot a fantastic video of Brad Thor and his longtime narrator, actor Armand Schultz. We’ll be using excerpts from the video promotionally online and the full audio interview with the pair will be included on the July release, Black List.

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City of Lost Souls by Cassandra Clare

Release Date: May 8, 2012
Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry
Age Group: Young Adult
Format: Kindle
Source: Purchased
Series: The Mortal Instruments #5
Pages: 536
Buy: Amazon / Book Depository / IndieBound
Description: Goodreads
The demon Lilith has been destroyed and Jace has been freed from her captivity. But when the Shadowhunters arrive to rescue him, they find only blood and broken glass. Not only is the boy Clary loves missing–but so is the boy she hates, Sebastian, the son of her father Valentine: a son determined to succeed where their father failed, and bring the Shadowhunters to their knees.

No magic the Clave can summon can locate either boy, but Jace cannot stay away—not from Clary. When they meet again Clary discovers the horror Lilith’s dying magic has wrought—Jace is no longer the boy she loved. He and Sebastian are now bound to each other, and Jace has become what he most feared: a true servant of Valentine’s evil. The Clave is determined to destroy Sebastian, but there is no way to harm one boy without destroying the other. Will the Shadowhunters hesitate to kill one of their own?

Only a small band of Clary and Jace’s friends and family believe that Jace can still be saved — and that the fate of the Shadowhunters’ future may hinge on that salvation. They must defy the Clave and strike out on their own. Alec, Magnus, Simon and Isabelle must work together to save Jace: bargaining with the sinister Faerie Queen, contemplating deals with demons, and turning at last to the Iron Sisters, the reclusive and merciless weapons makers for the Shadowhunters, who tell them that no weapon on this earth can sever the bond between Sebastian and Jace. Their only chance of cutting Jace free is to challenge Heaven and Hell — a risk that could claim any, or all, of their lives.

And they must do it without Clary. For Clary has gone into the heart of darkness, to play a dangerous game utterly alone. The price of losing the game is not just her own life, but Jace’s soul. She’s willing to do anything for Jace, but can she even still trust him? Or is he truly lost? What price is too high to pay, even for love?

Darkness threatens to claim the Shadowhunters in the harrowing fifth book of the Mortal Instruments series.

If you are reading this review of the fifth volume in the Mortal Instruments series in order to decide whether to read the series, here is my heartfelt recommendation: 

Step away from the computer, go pick up a copy of City of Bones, open to page 1, and begin.  

Once you’ve flown through all five books in a matter of days and are left bleary-eyed from a mind-bending combination of uncontrollable sobbing and lack of sleep, return here to participate in the commiseration known as Shadowhunter Feels.

City of Lost Souls is full of all the aspects we’ve grown to expect from this wild and unpredictable series: there's sweeping romance, pulse-pounding action, and an exceedingly complex and creep-tastic villain.

WARNING: FROM HERE ON OUT, MILD SPOILERS FOR THE ENTIRE SERIES MAY ABOUND. 

The One That I Want by Jennifer Echols

Release Date: Feb. 7, 2012
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Age Group: Young Adult
Format: Paperback
Source: Purchased
Pages: 288
Buy: Amazon / Book Depository / IndieBound
Description: Goodreads
Gemma can't believe her luck when the star football player starts flirting with her. Max is totally swoon-worthy, and even gets her quirky sense of humor. So when he asks out her so-called best friend Addison, Gemma's heartbroken.

Then Addison pressures Gemma to join the date with one of Max's friends. But the more time they all spend together, the harder Gemma falls for Max. She can't help thinking that Max likes her back--it's just too bad he's already dating Addison. How can Gemma get the guy she wants without going after her best friend's boyfriend?

Jennifer Echols does it again with her new character driven novel The One That I Want, which by the way has nothing whatsoever to do with Grease, the musical.  I have to say that I trust Jennifer one million per cent as a writer and she is my “go to girl” when I want a good romantic story hence the reason I picked this book up last night and READ IT IN ONE SITTING.  Not to mention the fact that she had me googling “hot Asian guys” for inspiration (you’ll see why).

First off the bat, I know nothing about American Football or majorettes (Gemma twirls a baton), I’m not really a sporty person and will often bypass any movie or book that is sports related but it didn’t really matter in this case and I still enjoyed the story.  I learnt this lesson when I watched the movie The Blind Side which I thought was about American Football but it was about much more than that.

Let’s talk characters and I’m going to start with Gemma’s best friend, Addison.   Addison is more of a frenemy than anything else, she is obviously insecure to the core, spoilt and selfish.   I desperately wanted Gemma to tell her to get lost and then I got mad with her when she didn’t but you know what?  Then I remembered a similar situation from my teenage years.  There was a girl who I thought was my friend but whenever we were around any boys, she would constantly put me down.  I think I may have even confronted her about it once.  The thing is, even though I knew what she was doing, we continued to hang around with each other because we were all each other had and so I had to admit that I totally got it.  Thankfully, eventually I got away from her as I’d had enough.  What I’m trying to say is that even though we all know it’s wrong and you shouldn’t have to put up with it, when you’re a teenager, sometimes you do put up with it until you wake up and smell the coffee.

Clockwork Prince by Cassandra Clare

Release Date: December 6, 2011
Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry Books
Age Group: Young Adult
Format: ARC
Source: Publisher
Pages: 528
Buy: Fountain Bookstore / Amazon
Description: Goodreads
In the magical underworld of Victorian London, Tessa Gray has at last found safety with the Shadowhunters. But that safety proves fleeting when rogue forces in the Clave plot to see her protector, Charlotte, replaced as head of the Institute. If Charlotte loses her position, Tessa will be out on the street and easy prey for the mysterious Magister, who wants to use Tessa's powers for his own dark ends.

With the help of the handsome, self-destructive Will and the fiercely devoted Jem, Tessa discovers that the Magister's war on the Shadowhunters is deeply personal. He blames them for a long-ago tragedy that shattered his life. To unravel the secrets of the past, the trio journeys from mist-shrouded Yorkshire to a manor house that holds untold horrors, from the slums of London to an enchanted ballroom where Tessa discovers that the truth of her parentage is more sinister than she had imagined. When they encounter a clockwork demon bearing a warning for Will, they realize that the Magister himself knows their every move and that one of their own has betrayed them.

Tessa finds her heart drawn more and more to Jem, though her longing for Will, despite his dark moods, continues to unsettle her. But something is changing in Will; the wall he has built around himself is crumbling. Could finding the Magister free Will from his secrets and give Tessa the answers about who she is and what she was born to do?

As their dangerous search for the Magister and the truth leads the friends into peril, Tessa learns that when love and lies are mixed, they can corrupt even the purest heart.

I cannot stop thinking about Clockwork Prince. Quite literally. I keep thinking about what an amazing series The Infernal Devices is turning out to be, how much I adore these characters, and what new twists and turns Cassandra Clare has up her sleeve for Clockwork Princess. It will be quite difficult to post a spoiler-free review, but I’ll do my utmost.

This is the first time I have ever cheered for all sides of a love triangle before. I am totally Team Everybody. Will is so freakin’ tormented all by his own volition, Jem is physically falling apart but mentally and emotionally strong and brilliant, and Tessa… well, I am so fond of Tessa. She’s strong-willed and opinionated and romantic and literary and about 400 other awesome things. This love triangle works for me because I feel Tessa is worthy of Jem& Will’s affection, and they are equally worthy of hers. It’s not simply about physical attraction (though that obviously plays a part) or something supernatural that affects them. It’s sincere and beautiful.

What truly makes this love story work for me is that as a reader of The Mortal Instruments series, I have the curse of knowledge so I know certain things to be true for the future of these characters. However, even if you haven’t read TMI, you can still guess what’s coming up ahead. No combination of this triangle can end in blissful skipping into the sunset, so it’s utterly heart-breaking either way. This kind of story is what I personally call sad/happy, and it’s my very favorite. I love anything that makes me smile and breaks me down at the same time. Call me crazy, but it’s true. Both of Clare’s series have aspects of sad/happy in droves, but I think it’s perfectly displayed in the Jem/Will/Tessa relationship.

The Mortmain plot is also veryfascinating. The Shadowhunters of the London Institute delve into his background in a way that’s very Voldemortian (is so a word). They receive answers but from those answers only spout more questions. Some of those questions deal with Tessa’s background as well and what she is exactly. Clare has this innate and incredible talent of giving the reader just enough to keep them sated while still withholding important details. It’s a mix that not every author can successfully accomplish, but Clare can, and how. She answers the right amount of questions but creates more in the process without being exasperating. I hope she’s writing fast, because this rabid fanbase will be quite ready for Clockwork Princess just as soon as they read the last page. And OH, what a last page it is!

I basically knew I would love this before I even received it, but I am so pleasantly surprised by how much I loved it. Even though TMI was my gateway into the Shadow World, I really wish Clare would write more of this series. I really don’t want it to end. I have already recommended this series to many of my friends, and I will continue to do so. Clockwork Prince is an excellent second book in an equally excellent series. Team Everybody.

Giveaway: Swoon & Swear

Thanks to the awesome folks at Simon & Schuster I have signed copies of Nina Malkin's novels Swoon and Swear to give away to a lucky reader! Just fill out the form below for your chance to win.

Torn from her native New York City and dumped in the land of cookie-cutter preps, Candice is resigned to accept her posh, dull fate. Nothing ever happens in Swoon, Connecticut...until Dice's perfect, privileged cousin Penelope nearly dies in a fall from an old tree, and her spirit intertwines with that of a ghost. His name? Sinclair Youngblood Powers. His mission? Revenge. And while Pen is oblivious to the possession, Dice is all too aware of Sin. She's intensely drawn to him -- but not at all crazy about the havoc he's wreaking. Determined to exorcise the demon, Dice accidentally sets Sin loose, gives him flesh, makes him formidable. Now she must destroy an even more potent -- and irresistible -- adversary, before the whole town succumbs to Sin's will. Only trouble is, she's in love with him.

What do you do when the boy of your dreams is too bad to be true?

It’s been six months since ghost-turned golem Sinclair Youngblood Powers confessed his love, stole Dice's heart, and disappeared from Swoon, perhaps from existence. Despite the hurt, Dice has been moving steadily toward ordinary. Dreams of Sin still plague and pleasure her sleep, and the mark of Sin's love remains on her skin, still sore. But Dice has been throwing herself into music, finding solace in song and sometimes even in the arms of her band mate, Tosh. Life seems almost…normal. The last thing Dice wants is to mess with anything remotely supernatural. But when her best friend’s boyfriend goes missing, Dice has no choice but to become very much involved. She knows that his disappearance was no accident, and it somehow has everything to do with Sin. Because Dice can feel it: Sin is back. And the promises and deceptions he left in his wake have returned to haunt him.

What do you do when an oath of devotion threatens to destroy the one you love?

Past Perfect by Leila Sales

Release Date: October 4, 2011
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Age Group: Young Adult
Format: E-galley
Source: Publisher
Pages: 320
Buy: Amazon
Description: Goodreads
All Chelsea wants to do this summer is hang out with her best friend, hone her talents as an ice cream connoisseur, and finally get over Ezra, the boy who broke her heart. But when Chelsea shows up for her summer job at Essex Historical Colonial Village (yes, really), it turns out Ezra’s working there too. Which makes moving on and forgetting Ezra a lot more complicated…even when Chelsea starts falling for someone new.


Maybe Chelsea should have known better than to think that a historical reenactment village could help her escape her past. But with Ezra all too present, and her new crush seeming all too off limits, all Chelsea knows is that she’s got a lot to figure out about love. Because those who don’t learn from the past are doomed to repeat it….

I love Past Perfect. It has everything I love- a unique take on a classic story, fun and quirky characters, a sweet and slightly steamy romance, and fantastic writing- in just the right doses.

The classic story is the Romeo and Juliet-esque forbidden romance of narrator Chelsea Glaser and the off-limits boy Dan Malkin. The unique twist? They are on opposite sides of a prank war between two historical reenactment attractions. Chelsea represents the Colonial Essex Village (a fictional version of Colonial Williamsburg), Dan is a member of the Civil War Reenactmentland, and these attractions are located across the street from one another. Seriously. I just love that. I know it’s the VA girl in me, the one that still loves people in period costumes, that completely adores this. It’s a fabulous way to take an age-old story and make it new again.

From there, it only gets better. The cast of characters caught up in these pranks simply enhances the random. They take their role in this long-fought war very seriously, participating in each prank as they escalate uncontrollably to almost the point of no return. Tawny, Essex Village’s war general, is a particular favorite, resorting to an actual fistfight in her plight to emerge the victor. She’s like a colonial Oliver Wood, successfully rallying her team to battle no matter what the task may be, even when it’s to shovel poo throughout the grounds of Reenactmentland. Quirky, ridiculous, and fun.

Chelsea is the perfect mixture of snarky and sweet. She is deep without sounding fake, hilariously sharp yet also sincere, and I loved spending time with her. Specifically, I think her struggle to deal with her break-up from first love (and “the one who sucks”) Ezra is so interesting and real. Even when she makes the not-so-smart decision, I am still on her side.

And Chelsea with Dan? So stinking cute. You’re cheering for them to find a loophole to this historic gang war from the moment the flirting begins. My only complaint would be the decision Chelsea makes at the end to get a leg-up on the Civil Warriors at Dan’s expense. It is a little hard to forgive something that heinous, but the manner of which Sales presents it makes it more believable that I thought possible. Regardless, I loved Chelsea and Dan’s sincere sweetness, especially in that trampoline scene.

Though, as much as I love Dan the Southern Gentleman, my favorite relationship here is Chelsea and her BFF and fellow ice cream judge Fiona. They are the best kind of best friends- they are always there for one another, they cheer each other on, and they hold each other accountable when they screw up. I’m kind of bummed I can’t hang out with these girls for real. I mean, they eat tons of ice cream, and they love having real conversations—that’s my kind of girls.

Simply put, Leila Sales is awesome. Her writing is delightful, expressive, and straightforward and it’s paced exactly the way it should. I literally couldn’t put this down, and I know this will be one of those books that I read over and over again. No matter what I say, it won’t do this book justice. Past Perfect has a very universal quality while still managing to stand out in an original way. Do yourself a favor and pick this up.