Mini Reviews: The Caged Graves and Hammer of Witches

As I said in my last discussion post, my TBR list is currently OF THE CHARTS long, and since BEA is right around the corner, it will only grow. So that means it's time for Mini Reviews, aka bite-sized nuggets of review-y goodness that go down quick and easy.

Review: The Caged Graves by Dianne Salerni
Goodreads
Release date: May 14th, 2013
Publisher: Clarion Books
Rating: A lush historical setting, gorgeous prose, and complicated romance. On the negative side, slowwwwwwww pacing and an obnoxious heroine.

 

17-year-old Verity Boone expects a warm homecoming when she returns to Catawissa, Pennsylvania, in 1867, pledged to marry a man she has never met. Instead, she finds a father she barely knows and a future husband with whom she apparently has nothing in common. One truly horrifying surprise awaits her: the graves of her mother and aunt are enclosed in iron cages outside the local cemetery. Nobody in town will explain why, but Verity hears rumors of buried treasure and witchcraft. Perhaps the cages were built to keep grave robbers out . . . or to keep the women in. Determined to understand, Verity finds  herself in a life-and-death struggle with people she trusted.

Inspired by a pair of real caged graves in present-day Catawissa, this historical YA novel weaves mystery, romance, and action into a suspenseful drama with human greed and passion at its core.

Perhaps, because I've been in a reading funk lately, I had less patience with this book then it warranted. I love historical, and I loved the setting and the writing and a lot of the characters, but it was pretty slow going for me. The true historical fact, and the story behind the titular caged graves, is fascinating. The love triangle (yes, there is a love triangle) is actually very well-executed, in my mind. Verity's relationship with her father is actually extremely moving. Sometimes I liked Verity, but mostly I found her to be a bit of a brat. And I though the plot could have been drastically tightened. I like the mood Salerni was setting, but it turns out I'm the type of reader who needs a bit more action than this.

When I say action, I don't mean I  need a battle scene every ten pages (though the opening scene is pretty cool and action-packed). But the first hundred or so pages really lags. I felt like we could have gotten to the goods a lot more quickly, and then I probably would have liked Verity better as well. But there. Ultimately, I can recommend this book to historical lovers in need of a highly atmospheric mystery with a surprising conclusion, vivid characters, and very nice romance. Those (like me) with shorter attention spans may not be as thrilled. But that cover really is GORGEOUS.

Review: Hammer of Witches
Goodreads
Release date: April 1st, 2013
Publisher: Tu Books
Rating: Captivating, magical and informative. More middle grade than YA.

 

 Baltasar Infante can weasel out of any problem with a good story.

But when he encounters a monster straight out of stories one night, Baltasar faces trouble even he can’t talk his way out of. Captured by the Malleus Maleficarum, a mysterious witch-hunting arm of the Spanish Inquisition, Baltasar is put to the question. The Inquisitor demands he reveal the whereabouts of Amir al-Katib, a legendary Moorish sorcerer who can bring myths and the creatures within them to life.

Now Baltasar must escape, find al-Katib, and defeat a dreadful power that may destroy the world.

As Baltasar’s journey takes him into uncharted lands on Columbus’s voyage westward, he learns that stories are more powerful than he once believed them to be—and much more dangerous.

Shana Mlawski’s magical debut novel takes a fresh look at one of the pivotal moments in human history.

This book is more fantasy-historical, which is something that greatly appeals to me. I think it tends more towards middle grade than YA (especially with that very middle grade cover), but it's charming, fun, and chock full of monsters. The setting is dynamite and so is the concept. I wasn't bowled over by the book, but I had a lot of fun reading it and probably would have gone nuts for it as a younger kid. There's a wide cast of colorful characters, an inquisitive narrator, and even Christopher Columbus. Where the magic of stories isn't just figurative, but actually magic. As in, they can actually come to life. Balthazar is a pretty plucky hero.

This is definitely a book that won't appeal to everyone, but I enjoyed it, and learned a lot of historical things I didn't know before and in a very entertaining way. However, there is quite a lot of history. Which makes it feel all the more middle grade to me, but it's never not fun to read about unicorns and golems and Moorish sorcerers and the Inquisition and Columbus all in one book.

Now here's a sloth giving you a flower to brighten your day.

A flower for you, my lady

To Finish or Not to Finish

 

Lately I've been struggling with To Be Read pile. Actually that is a massive understatement. "Grappling" or "wrestling" or "being crushed beneath like the pea under all those mattresses" would be more accurate, but let's go with "struggling". Basically, I have bitten off more than I can chew, TBR-wise. Factor in a particularly busy week with very little reading time, and panic has set in.

This is when I start getting trigger-happy with my books. I need to read fast, because I've got so little time. So I'm hoping all my books grab me early and suck me right in, so I can finish quickly and move on to the next book. But sometimes... well, most of the time... it doesn't happen. The book isn't grabbing me. Or the book is just plain bad. I'm on a reading deadline, or I've got a ton of backlogged books, or I just bought a brand new shiny hardback I've been dying to get to. So what do you do?

Do you finish? Or do you give up?



I'm really, really bad at giving up books. I usually force myself through them. Sometimes I stop reading the book that's not grabbing me, go for something else, and come back to the first book some time later. I've got like twenty books on my Kindle that I'm only partially through. Every now and then I come across a book that I absolutely cannot finish, but it's very hard for me to make that decision. Especially if it's a book I've been given to review. Then I'm obligated. They've spun me gold and now I have to give them my first born child. Or something.

I hardly have a scientific process when it comes to DNFing a book. I should, probably. Weigh the merits of x and y and z and how statistically likely it is to improve and whatnot. I'm more DNF-y when I'm particularly cranky or stressed or hungry. It's hard to say what things in books prompt me to commit strongly to a DNF as opposed to my usual just-read-really-really-fast-and-suffer-bravely mode. I can handle shitty writing, characters or plotting (to an extent), but I'm quick to put the book down if I come across something truly offensive. I guess that's my usual to finish or not to finish criteria.

Some days, though, nothing can please me.

But sometimes I feel like I'm betraying the book if I give up on it. Or the author, or the publishing gods, for my own conscience. But mostly, there's a shamefully strong part of me that CANNOT LOOK AWAY from the really bad books. I'm kind of a book masochist. It's almost like they're car crashes and my eyes are glued and the rage is building inside and oh my God so many snarky comments rushing into my head if I don't get them out I might die. And before I know it I've read the whole book. I end up reading the crappy things, and then I get to post angry gifs and ranty reviews, but my head is just a little bit dumber, and I'm no longer sure I made the right call in not DNFing. So. It's always hard to decide whether I should stick with it or not.

And then there are the days where I'm particularly cross and I read the first sentence and just go, "Ugh. The opening sentence referenced weather. The whole book is a catastrophe." But that's rare and mostly just means I haven't had my coffee yet. Sometimes, I really can tell right away that the book and I are not going to jive, or it's an unmitigated piece of crap, or is racist or sexist or something, and I deserve a gold star for making it even five pages in.

 

 So how you feel about giving up on books? Do you always stick through? Are you DNF-happy, meaning do you tend to give up on books a lot or easily? What's the final straw for you when deciding whether or not to stick with a book?

Review: This Is What Happy Looks Like by Jennifer E. Smith

Review: This Is What Happy Looks Like by Jennifer E. Smith
Goodreads
Release date: April 2nd, 2013
Publisher: Poppy
Rating: Totally adorable and squee-worthy, with a few issues like flat characters and strange plot points. But I definitely recommend it if you need a cute summer romance with great prose.

 

 If fate sent you an email, would you answer?

When teenage movie star Graham Larkin accidentally sends small town girl Ellie O'Neill an email about his pet pig, the two seventeen-year-olds strike up a witty and unforgettable correspondence, discussing everything under the sun, except for their names or backgrounds.

Then Graham finds out that Ellie's Maine hometown is the perfect location for his latest film, and he decides to take their relationship from online to in-person. But can a star as famous as Graham really start a relationship with an ordinary girl like Ellie? And why does Ellie want to avoid the media's spotlight at all costs?


The cover: I love this cover. That sunny, happy yellow,  the silhouettes on the boat, and the font style all appeal to me. I think I like it even better than the cover for The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight.

The story: Notting Hill is one of my favorite movies. I've seen it an incalculable number of times (mostly for Spike, the daft Welsh roommate, but also for the uber cute love story and the Hugh Grant factor). I'm a sucker for the famous-person-falls-in-love-with-a-regular-person trope, because it has the potential to be oh so cute and cliche and fairy tale-esque. That aspect is really well captured.

Graham, lonely teen Hollywood superstar, falls in love with Ellie, the everyday girl from Henley, Maine with scandalous parentage, through a lengthy email exchange. It all started when Graham mistyped an email and accidentally sent it to Ellie. Neither knows who the other is, yet they strike up an online relationship, divulging all sorts of details about their lives, except for who they actually are. Graham and Ellie are just plain cute together. In a way that would make the more cynical among us gag, probably, and those with their insta!love feelings acutely tuned will most certainly grumble, but for some reason I didn't. I say it's not insta!love, since they have been talking for months and months before they actually meet.

So they meet, and sparks fly, and all the things you want and expect begin to happen. There are paparazzi, and movie schedules, and Ellie's mom is totally terrified of the press, and Graham and Ellie go on super cute dates. The best part of the book is the Graham-Ellie connection, which has nothing to do with fame, but everything to do with the connection they forged through their emails. And the cute things they say to each other. Being all cute and falling in love.




This book is a quick, breezy, squee-worthy read, all of which are major pluses. After the emotional trauma that was Siege and Storm, I just wanted to go on a brain-cation in Maine and fall in love with a movie star. And I did. But I guess this book didn't capture my feels the way Smith's other book, The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight, did. Maybe it was because I didn't get a lot of depth out of the characters? I'm not sure why. Graham and Ellie were reasonably fleshed out, but the drama with her best friend, Quinn, never sank in for me. I wish we'd gotten a sense of their relationship before their fight. Also, I think Quinn was rather cruel to Ellie and greatly overreacted, so the drama between them just sort of made me grumpy.

But it was the plot point with Ellie's father that really bothered me. The reason Ellie's mother is so wary of photographers is because Ellie is the illegitimate daughter of a senator (it's not a spoiler). I wasn't really a fan of how this played out. It felt unresolved, and it also felt a bit... meh. I'm not sure. It just didn't seem like a big enough deal to me. I felt like more should have come out of it.

That being said, I love the way Smith writes. I think she uses really beautiful language and lovely metaphors. I love the way she creates Graham and Ellie's bond. Again, it's all just so CUTE. Together, they do find what happy looks like. Even though there's no violin-playing goat, which is weird.



I also found it strange that Smith never talked about any of the kids Ellie goes to high school with. It feels like only three teenagers exist in all of Henley: Ellie, her best friend, Quinn, and this boy Devon. It's summer, and there's a movie shooting in town. I feel like you'd see your classmates everywhere, right? And you'd talk to them? Because you know more than three people in your life? You have friends beside Quinn and your own mother, right?

Basically, I loved all the cute, romantical parts of this book but had issues with all the dramas. Not that I wanted the book to be drama free, or anything (even though a small part of me just wanted to read about Graham and Ellie going on happy dates in the sunshine forever and ever like really bad fanfiction because they're SO CUTE). But I didn't really like the way the drama was introduced. Like, when Graham and Ellie hit this rough patch. It kind of... comes out of nowhere. Ellie freaks out about the fame thing, which is understandable, but sudden and dramatic and weird. And then Graham was all sad, and I was all sad.



I get it. I live in LA. I've seen the paparazzi literally Apparate out of nowhere and crowd the sidewalk and flash all these scary blinding lights in a celebrity's face before. That is understandably a roadblock to true love. But still.

Though this one's a mixed bag, ultimately I think the book falls onto the positive side. I actually liked the insta!love aspects here, even though I really wish we could have seen more of their email exchange, and more of what life was like before the summer they met while they were emailing. But hey. I was in the mood for something saccharine. I was in the mood for cliches and total suspension of belief. I wanted a little less blandness, a little more real drama, and a little less niceness, but I got a very cute love story, I thought, so in the end, I was satisfied.

Just because.

Review: Siege and Storm by Leigh Bardugo

Review: Siege and Storm by Leigh Bardugo
Goodreads
Release date: June 4th, 2013
Publisher: Henry Holt and Co.
Rating: !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! MY BRAIN IS BROKEN. I CAN'T TURN THE CAPS-LOCK OFF. DEFINITELY NOT A CASE OF "SECOND BOOK SYNDROME".



Darkness never dies.

Hunted across the True Sea, haunted by the lives she took on the Fold, Alina must try to make a life with Mal in an unfamiliar land, all while keeping her identity as the Sun Summoner a secret. But she can’t outrun her past or her destiny for long.

The Darkling has emerged from the Shadow Fold with a terrifying new power and a dangerous plan that will test the very boundaries of the natural world. With the help of a notorious privateer, Alina returns to the country she abandoned, determined to fight the forces gathering against Ravka. But as her power grows, Alina slips deeper into the Darkling’s game of forbidden magic, and farther away from Mal. Somehow, she will have to choose between her country, her power, and the love she always thought would guide her–or risk losing everything to the oncoming storm.


I would like to thank the amazing and most wonderful Christina for sending me this ARC. She deserves all the good things ever in the world. I might even share Sturmhond with her (might, big might).

My review of Shadow and Bone, book one in the Grisha Trilogy.
As always with sequels, there be spoilers for Book One in these waters. Ye be warned. 

The cover: So obviously this cover is beyond gorgeous and few covers can ever compare to the beauteous-ness that is Siege and Storm so all the other covers should just go home. Hello. This one has a dragon on it. You can't beat a dragon. 

The story: Okay. So. My brain is little more than scrambled eggs right now. This may be a very discombobulated review, but the main gist of it is: I LOVED this book, especially at the beginning and ESPECIALLY at the end. That end blew my socks off. But I'm getting ahead of myself.

At the end of Shadow and Bone, we left Alina and Mal just after they'd escaped from the Darkling on the Fold, aka that pesky swath of impenetrable darkness bisecting their war-torn homeland of Ravka. They're on the run across the True Sea, trying to evade him. Lucky for me, the Darkling's number one fan girl, they don't evade him for very long. I clapped with glee when my dark and evil prince returned to my life. He's a little badder know. A little eviller, a little more dangerous, and a lot more sexy. Yes, I realize that any truly romantic scenario between Alina and the Darkling would be disturbing, since at the end of the last book he destroyed a whole village and murdered everyone inside it, but he's just so fascinating. I love him. I love his dynamic with Alina. Like calls to like, after all. These two Grisha powerhouses play off each other so interestingly. They're light and dark, power and power, opposites and the same. They're both reaching for too much. I just love the Darkling, okay? My one complaint about Siege and Storm was probably that there wasn't enough Darkling. Because Darkling. My baby.



Mal and Alina's relationship suffers a bit in this book, and it's so realistic and natural and painful. Their differences make them drift apart, and you spend the whole book aching for them to remember their shared past and find each other again. DO THEY? I WON'T TELL. But because Leigh Bardugo knows the things I like (magic, fictional pain, and hot fictional boys), she chose to do something totally crazy and add a THIRD potential suitor for my Alina's heart.

Sturmhond. Hello, Sturmhond.

Zac here's gonna do most of the talking from here on out.

Sexy, silver-tongued privateer Sturmhond is, hands down, my new favorite character. He's changeable and slippery and oh so very witty. One of my favorite things about Siege and Storm is that, despite the very serious matters afoot, the characters retain a sense of humor, and none moreso than the delightful Sturmhond. I found myself laughing aloud almost every time he was on the page. I just want to sit down and share a bottle of kvas with him and have him flirt with me shamelessly. He and Alina have an excellent and awesome rapport. Their connection is so different from the one she shares with Mal. Alina herself has a really interesting internal journey in this one. She's grappling with a lot of power, the hopes of a divided nation, and the person she seems to be changing into. Also, she might be losing her mind (in the best/worst way possible). I don't dare say another word about it, but I have to say I love the complex person she's becoming. Dark parts and all.

Other character standouts include my old favorite David, kick-ass Tamar, and the awful Vasily. I can't really say anything about him, but MAN. Talk about disastrous characters flaws. So wonderful. So awful. Bardugo's writing continues to be lush and evocative, and her dialogue is witty, sharp, and always manages to stab me right in the heart. Her world-building is off the charts. Seriously, I would be willing to read a whole book on Ravkan folklore, or one about the saints. The Russophile in me adores all the call-backs to real  Russian culture, but I also love the original twists she puts on it (a proto-Faberge egg even pops up at some point, which for nerdy, personal reasons delights me greatly).

So. The plot.

 
 
 


The Darkling catches up to Mal and Alina in the first chapter, so that's not a spoiler, and they head right back across the seas as his captives on one of Sturmhond's ships. They're off to catch an ice dragon. As one does. Now, I thought that would be the bulk of the plot, them on this ice dragon quest, but NOPE. THINGS HAPPEN SO QUICKLY. It's like one second we were here, and then this whole new wrench came out of nowhere and my mind was spinning. Somebody must have handed Bardugo a typical Book Two plot outline, and she must have laughed in its typical Book Two face, torn it to pieces, and simply said, "No." Things might have slowed down a little there in the middle, but in retrospect I was glad for the breather and for a chance to get some excellent political information. I'm usually pretty good at predicting the plots of books, but I literally had not one clue as to what was going to happen next. Eventually I just gave up trying to figure it out.

Which is why when the ending happened, my eyes nearly popped out of their sockets.

 

God knows what Ruin and Rising is even going to be about. The ending of Siege and Storm was my favorite part of the whole book because it was just this cavalcade of dread and action and misery and awesome. The whole last portion of the story was building up to this final point of conflict, slowly making me tenser and tenser, because I knew it was coming. But then SURPRISES WE'VE PUSHED THE ENDING UP AT BIT. IT SPRINGS OUT AT YOU BEFORE YOU'RE READY HOLY CRAP SOMEONE HOLD ME STURMHOND ZAC WHERE ARE YOU

 With the way things ended, I literally don't have the faintest notion of anything that's going to happen in the next book. All the events in Siege and Storm are so radical that they change the entire landscape of Ravka. AND MY SOUL, I think. Reading this book was not a passive experience. Reading the final thirty pages consisted of me whispering, "Oh no, oh no, oh no, OH MY GOD, YES! No? No. NOOOOOOOO!" and flailing on my couch so dramatically that I scared my dog. I think I loved this book more than I loved Shadow and Bone, if that can be believed.

So. Ruin and Rising. It needs to be in my hands, and it needs to be there now. Because I CANNOT WAIT to see who rises and who's ruined. Here's to hoping it's our Sun Summoner Alina that rises, and not the Darkling (so many dirty jokes I had to pass up just now. It hurts).

BOOK!

Review: Chantress by Amy Butler Greenfield

Review: Chantress by Amy Butler Greenfield
Goodreads
Release date: May 7th, 2013
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Rating: An original, entertaining concept with a few too many info-dumps and a sagging middle. But I liked it, particularly the ending.



Lucy’s Chantress magic will make her the most powerful—and most hunted—girl in England.

“Sing, and the darkness will find you.” This warning has haunted fifteen-year-old Lucy ever since she was eight and shipwrecked on a lonely island. Lucy’s guardian, Norrie, has lots of rules, but the most important is that Lucy must never sing. Not ever. Now it is 1667, Lucy is fifteen, and on All Hallows’ Eve, Lucy hears a tantalizing melody on the wind. She can’t help but sing—and she is swept into darkness.

When she awakes in England, Lucy hears powerful men discussing Chantresses—women who can sing magic into the world. They are hunting her, but she escapes and finds sanctuary with the Invisible College, an organization plotting to overthrow the nefarious Lord Protector. The only person powerful enough to bring about his downfall is a Chantress. And Lucy is the last one in England.

Lucy struggles to master the song-spells and harness her power, but the Lord Protector is moving quickly. And her feelings for Nat, an Invisible College apprentice and scientist who deeply distrusts her magic, only add to her confusion...

Time is running out, and the fate of England hangs in the balance in this entrancing novel that is atmospheric and lyrical, dangerous and romantic.


The cover: I LOVE THIS COVER. It is so pretty and dramatic, with the bright hot pink against the black and her awesome hood and branch-y, swirly bits. Mildly disappointed to realize she's holding a pendant in her hand, instead of a heart and a dagger, like I'd originally thought, but it ties into the novel, so I'll get over it.

The story: With a synopsis like that (HISTORICAL MAGICAL ENGLAND. Those are three of my favorite words), I expecting to love this book. And while it wasn't quite a love, it was definitely a like. I had a tough time getting into it, and the middle was very slow, but there's a lot of good happening here.

The good:

 

Chantress magic: I love the concept of magic conjured through singing, and the dichotomy of Wild Magic vs. Proven magic, and all the magical training Lucy has to go through once she's magically transported off her barren island straight into London. Lucy's journey with her magic, grappling with her power and struggling with her destiny, was very interesting and well-executed and had a satisfying ending.

The world-building: The very best part of this whole novel was the background stuff on Scargrave, the big, bad baddy, and his evil flock of Shadowgrim, which... I won't tell you what they are, but they fly, and they are freaky. Chantress is set in an alternate magical England. In this version, King Charles I survived the English Civil War, only to be blown up along with his whole family in a twist on the Gunpowder Plot

 

I am a British history nerd, by the way, so I have OPINIONS on this alterna-history that I will get to in a bit. After the whole royal family dies, a young boy becomes king. And creepy, Cromwell-esque Scargrave becomes Lord Protector. Basically, he's in charge, and he rules with an iron fist.

He's got magical creatures that sow fear throughout England, and Chantresses are to be locked up/executed on sight. Needless to say, suddenly appearing in Scargrave's London manor with her head bursting with Chantress song is not the safest thing poor Lucy's ever done.

Characters: I wanted to get to know Lucy a bit better, but I thought her a worthy, sympathetic heroine, enjoyed her connection to Nat, and adored Nat's scientific mentor, Pennebrygge. They're all members of this very cool thing called the Invisible College, which I also wish we could have gotten more of. But I didn't sense any flat-ness from the characters. They all had personalities, and though they felt a bit modern, I didn't really care. Also, the romance was nice. Not heart-stoppingly swoon-tastic or anything, but nice.

The ending: The ending is appropriately dramatic and tense. Lucy must make a Big Choice and Prove Herself Worthy and Save the World and all that jazz I like to see. The payoff duly pays. I approve.

The not-so-good:



Blah blah blah blah blah: The story starts off a little slow, but there's a good deal of action. Lucy gets ripped right out of her quiet island life, landing somewhere very dangerous, which all makes for entertaining reading. But then she escapes to somewhere safe, and... there is talking. So much talking. So, so, so VERY MUCH talking. I swear the middle 100 pages of this book consisted of nothing but people sitting at a table talking.This was, unfortunately, the way Greenfield chose to deliver all of the very necessary, very relevant world-building stuff, and I was starting to feel antsy. I craved action. Way too much stasis.

Like pouring molasses uphill in winter: So obviously, no action means slow going, right? It felt like it took a while to read this book, even though it's only about 330 pages, and I blame that squarely on the pacing in the middle portion of Chantress. There are only so many revelatory conversations I can read about until I go stark raving mad. Again, I wasn't quite bored, really, since all their conversations were about cool things--what the Shadowgrims are, how Chantress magic works, etc--but it was kind of ridiculous. "Oh, how revolutionary! They're sitting And talking. I am shocked."

A disgusted husky= a disgusky

 The world-building: Yes, I just spent a paragraph up there in the Good section talking about how awesome the world-building is in Chantress, and it is good... except that it's very strange. It takes so much liberty with actual historical fact that I wonder why Greenfield bothered making it a historical at all. Maybe because she liked the images of the Tower and seventeenth century London so much? But if that were true, why not try to make your world adhere more closely to what actually happened? I don't know. I kept forgetting I wasn't reading high fantasy. I felt like this book was too in the middle, unable to decide which genre it was. It should have committed one way or the other, because I would have loved both.

In the end, I liked it. I had problems with it, but it's very well-written and so very unique. It doesn't really remind me of any other book I've read, and I'll definitely be sticking with the series. Plus, the cover is so dang gorgeous. *pets the pretty* *has very good reasons for liking things*

Best Young Adult Mothers

I was very, VERY tempted to make a list of all the worst moms in literature (because let's face it--there are tons), but I decided at the last minute to be more celebratory. Most moms in YA are dead, dysfunctional, or mostly absent, all of which are things I don't mind reading about. But you have to admit, it's both rare and refreshing to find a good motherly example in young adult lit. In honor of Mother's Day, I'd like to celebrate a few of my favorite bookish moms. These are all off the top of my head, so I'm sure I'm forgetting some. Tell me your faves in the comments!

Molly Weasley from the Harry Potter series
This woman is the ultimate SUPER MOM to her seven (!) redheaded children (all of whom were quite a handful, what with their dragons and ponytails and exploding toilets and ultimate betrayals and being best friends with famous boy wizards who are nearly murdered every six months and being kidnapped by basilisks). But she was also the very best surrogate mum little orphan Harry could ever ask for. I mean, she sent him a Weasley family sweater his very first Christmas at Hogwarts, even though they'd only met once for approximately ten seconds. But she knew he was unlikely to get any gifts of his own, and from that moment on, Harry was officially a Weasley. Oh, and if you try to harm a hair on her daughter's head, she will literally end you and call you names.

Lily Potter from Harry Potter
Obviously, it's hard to beat a mom who gave up her life to save her child's. That's pretty much the ultimate maternal sacrifice.

Natalie Prior from Divergent
Ditto.

Claire Glass from Unspoken
Not only does Claire routinely bring home all sorts of baked goods, she's supportive and loving to all three of her kids, even if she does work a lot. And even though she did make that certain mistake way back when. But she did it to protect her daughter and husband, and you can't exactly fault her for loving her family and being scared pants-less of the Lynburns. Because, hello. The Lynburns.

Helen Thermopolis from The Princess Diaries series
Helen had a rough job, being single mother to the histrionic Princess Mia, but with her feminist views, artistic temperament, and erratic-but-loving ways, I say Helen did a pretty good job, even if she did date and marry Mia's Algebra teacher. But hey, Mia's grades did improve afterward. So it was obviously for the best.

Kat Hall, Mia's mother from If I Stay
SOB SOB SOB SOB SOB. Kat used to be a punk rocker before Mia was born and while she was young, but once she and her husband had their second child, Teddy, they settled down and got responsible. She's supportive, funny, and breaks my heart into about a thousand tiny pieces, which is why I have to move on from this line of thinking right now before I burst into tears right now.

Marmee from Little Women
True, she's a bit sanctimonious and more than a little old-fashioned, but Marmee made sure her four daughters grew up with a lot of self-respect, wisdom, and kindness. She had a tough time, what with war and poverty and scarlet fever and stuff going on, but Marmee's strength never wavered, and she always remained an anchor for her girls.

Aly's mom Alanna from Trickster's Choice and Trickster's Queen
Duh.

Other good moms: Jordan's mom in Catching Jordan; Jocelyn Fairchild, Clary's mom, from The Mortal Instruments; Lucy, Audrey's mom, from Dark Star; Christina, Carmen's mom, from The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants; Mila's mom from Mila 2.0; Kate Murray from A Wrinkle in Time; Caroline Ingalls from The Little House series; Marilla Cuthbert from Anne of Green Gables; Mrs. Lancaster from The Fault in our Stars; Cassie's mom in The Year of Secret Assignments; Hadley's mom in The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight.

Who are your favorite literary mothers?

PierceFest: In the Hand of the Goddess

In case you need a refresher on what PierceFest, aka the five-month-long celebration of all things related to fantasy writer/goddess Tamora Pierce, is, read all about it here!

The month of May belongs to the series that introduced us to the world of Tortall and Tamora's genius: The Song of the Lioness, starring Alanna, the bravest and best Lady Knight and my childhood hero. If you're a Tamora Pierce newbie, then you should definitely start here, since it was Pierce's first published novel. I've put together some reviews of all the books (as non-spoilery as possible, though there will be mild spoilers) for both the newbies and those who need a refresher. Heck, even for those who read the books a couple weeks ago, like I did.

If you're not a Pierce newbie, and really do want a full plot refresher, the Wikipedia pages have very spoilerrific summaries.



Book Two
In the Hand of the Goddess

  "I don't want to fall in love. I just want to be a warrior maiden."

Still disguised as a boy, Alanna becomes a squire to none other than the prince of the realm. Prince Jonathan is not only Alanna's liege lord, he is also her best friend -- and one of the few who knows the secret of her true identity. But when a mysterious sorcerer threatens the prince's life, it will take all of Alanna's skill, strength, and magical power to protect him -- even at the risk of revealing who she really is...

Filled with swords and sorcery, adventure and intrigue, good and evil, Alanna's second adventure continues the saga of a girl who dares to follow her dreams -- and the magical destiny that awaits her.

Head here to read my review/recap of Alanna: The First Adventure!

Book Two is probably my favorite of all the Song of the Lioness books, and possibly my favorite of all of Tamora Pierce's books (well, second favorite. I LOVE In the Realms of the Gods. Also Emperor Mage. Okay, I can't play this game. I love them all). Why is ItHotG my favorite? Because it has the best acronym! (You: "Why is it so amazing?" Me: "Because It Hot, G.")

No. It's because this is when the sexing and the flirting and the romancing happens. I know what I like, and I like that. I've read this particular book so many times the binding literally fell apart and I had to repair it with clear packing tape. May it last another ten years of Gillian love.

The opening scene of ItHotG comprises of Alanna meeting none other than the Goddess herself, who acknowledges that Alanna is one of her Chosen. What I LOVE about Pierce is that this doesn't mean Alanna's destined to succeed, or that she's been given any godly powers or anything. No, it means Alanna's obstacles will be greater, and she'll have to suffer a lot and work very hard to overcome them. Nothing Alanna achieves is easy. Everything is through hard-work and determination. It's refreshing, honestly, when so much of fantasy is about heroes who the Chosen Ones, naturally bestowed with the gift of saving the world and whatnot. Alanna's a hero because of her own grit and character. She has gifts, yes, but as she learns throughout the books, that's not enough. Power can eat you alive; it's about earning the strength to control it and wield it properly.

 

 So Alanna and the Goddess have a frank discussion about Alanna's three main fears: the Ordeal of Knighthood (aka the SCARIEST RITUAL IN HISTORY, which Alanna must pass upon her eighteenth midwinter should she wish to earn her shield); Duke Roger of Conte, Prince Jonathan's highly supsicious cousin who basically has the word EVIL tattooed on his forehead; and love. The love of her friends, but mostly the love of George, King of Thieves, and Jonathan, heir to the throne, the two men in her life with the potential to be more.

These three fears, and how Alanna addresses them, reacts to them, learns to accept them, or, in some cases, doesn't, inform the whole book. Alanna remains the same snark-tastic, stubborn, strong girl she always was. She hasn't entirely overcome her flaws, but it's so much fun watching her deal with them. Oh, and Alanna also acquires probably the greatest animal sidekick in literature: Faithful the black-haired, purple-eyed cat. (If you've read the Beka books, you may recognize him!)



I don't know about you, but I need a helpful talking cat to advise me, snark at me, and occasionally save my life.

I think one of the things I love best about Tamora Pierce is the way she deals with relationships, particularly females who choose to  have them. At first glance you'd think, oh, how predictable, one girl two guys blah blah, but it's so much more than that. Alanna is so not your the cliche YA "heroine" torn between two guys. She's a real girl, with real problems of her own, fighting to figure out who she is and how she's going to function in this messed up and scary world. And Tamora Pierce never judges Alanna for her romantic choices, or her sexual choices, and neither should the reader. It's all so very wonderful and modern.

So not only does Alanna have a lot to deal with on the romance front (Jon and George both make excellent options), but as Prince Jonathan's squire, she's got a lot of responsibility. There's war on the border with Tusaine, Duke Roger is practically twirling his mustache in the corner and nobody but her seems to notice, and oh, yeah, SOMEONE IS TRYING TO KILL HER. That scene beneath the ice always makes me shudder. And let's not forget that through it all, Alanna still has to lie about her identity. She's still pretending to be a boy, pitching her voice lower, binding her breasts, the whole nine yards. And being forced to dance with court ladies.

GORGEOUS, GORGEOUS COVER.

Throw in hormones, George making it clear he loves her and only her, Jonathan suddenly acting quite peculiar, Alexander of Tirragen suddenly putting a lot more energy into their sparring matches, Duke Roger's suspicious suspiciousness, and the most epic sword fight of all sword fights, and Alanna's path to knighthood has never looked rockier.

Alanna's snarkiest hits:

"If I killed everyone who was stupid, I wouldn't have time to sleep."

 "Pigs might fly. I should have stabbed you!"
This is how my girl reacts to being spontaneously kissed. Attagirl.

"I'm honored by Your Grace's concern."
#sarcasm

"You are brave, kicking a chained prisoner. They must sing heroic battles about you on winter nights!"

"Perhaps your mother betrayed your father with a warthog. You both certainly have a warthog's manners. Jem there even has a warthog's looks."

 

Another thing I love about Alanna's journey is how her strengths are also weaknesses. Her determination to never crumble, and do everything herself, is a serious boon when it comes to some things, but it's made her fear depending on others and opening up part of her heart to them. But it's certainly fun to watch her come around. And oh, the romaaaaance in this one. You guys. Jon vs. George is a very serious and important question that informed my entire thirteenth year. Please don't spoil her ultimate choice in the comments, though, for the newbies!



Notable quotables:

"What do they know about girls, anyway? Maids at the palace handle snakes and kill spiders without acting silly. Why do boys say someone acts like a girl as if it were an insult?"
--Alanna

"But you, my daughter--learn to love. You have been given a hard road to walk. Love will ease it."
--The Goddess

"Stupid. That was very stupid. And you're lucky I'm a better 'knight' than you are, or you'd be dead."
--Alanna

"Shouldn't you know what love's like before you begin renouncin' it?"
--George, making a serious bid for my heart

"Does that truly stand between us, Alanna? If you loved, would you care about birth or wealth?"
--George

If you're going to fall in love with the Prince, don't show it. Unless you want the whole camp talking about you both.
--Faithful

"Sleep, Thor."
--Alanna

"Thank you for taking care of me, Jon."
--Alanna 

"This is too serious for drink."
--Myles



There must be insanity in my family, too.
--Faithful

"Don't move, and please don't try any sorcery. I'll make you swallow it."
--Jonathan

"I'm beautiful."
--Alanna

"The next move on the board is mine."
--Duke Roger

"If hate is wanting to crush someone because you know they're evil, then yes--I hate the Duke of Conte."
--Alanna

"I don't know what love is. At least, not the kind you're talking about-- the forever kind."
--Alanna

"I'm scared too. At least we can be scared together."
--Jonathan

"Do I believe my ears? Alanna the Heartless, talkin' for love instead of against it?"
--George 

"You're fighting what has to be. And you know it as well as I do."
--Jonathan

"I love you, Alanna. Ignore it if you want, but I do love you."
--SPOILER!

"Oh, I can't wait to see their faces!"
--Gary

"I don't think I've ever been this scared in my life, George."
--Alanna

"When she passes the Ordeal, no one will be able to say she didn't earn her shield, whether she's a girl or not."
--Gary

"It's won't happen, Jon. I promise it won't."
--Alanna

If he catches you, you will be very dead.
--Faithful

"I think Alan's used up his foolishness for the day."
--Thom

"Halt! What is going on here?"
-- King Roald

"Guard."
--Alex of Tirragen

"Let's go find an adventure!"
--Alanna

"It's a lioness rampant, of course."
--Thom

Review: Reboot by Amy Tintera

Review: Reboot by Amy Tintera
Goodreads
Release date: May 7th, 2013
Publisher: HarperTeen
Rating: A super enjoyable, albeit flawed, action-packed dystopian. A page-turner to be sure.



Five years ago, Wren Connolly was shot three times in the chest. After 178 minutes she came back as a Reboot: stronger, faster, able to heal, and less emotional. The longer Reboots are dead, the less human they are when they return. Wren 178 is the deadliest Reboot in the Republic of Texas. Now seventeen years old, she serves as a soldier for HARC (Human Advancement and Repopulation Corporation).

Wren’s favorite part of the job is training new Reboots, but her latest newbie is the worst she’s ever seen. As a 22, Callum Reyes is practically human. His reflexes are too slow, he’s always asking questions, and his ever-present smile is freaking her out. Yet there’s something about him she can’t ignore. When Callum refuses to follow an order, Wren is given one last chance to get him in line—or she’ll have to eliminate him. Wren has never disobeyed before and knows if she does, she’ll be eliminated, too. But she has also never felt as alive as she does around Callum.

The perfect soldier is done taking orders.


The cover: I LOVE this cover. It's so graphic and arresting. The black and red combo is dangerous and futuristic and awesome. This cover totally grabs me, with the way 1 and 7 and 8 are pulled down like that. And the TAG LINE. Most intriguing.

The story: I'm really quite conflicted about this. When I first read the synopsis for this one, a gleam came into my eyes and I was seized with the kind of fervor that can only possess a rabid book blogger. MUST HAVE, I thought. A cold, unfeeling zombie-esque girl slowly being thawed by a cute boy's smile? A trained, unflinching, obedient soldier finally starting to ask questions and defy orders? SIGN. ME. UP.

The good news is, I enjoyed almost every second if it. The bad news is, I found some issues that disappointed me (surprise!). All in all, though, this book is very entertaining and will appeal to a lot of people eager for a little action and dystopian romance in their lives.

All the good parts of Reboot are really good. We meet Wren in an awesome, action-filled moment where she's kicking ass and being as cool as a cucumber. She's 178, top dog of the Reboots, the prized, emotionless zombie/soldier slave. Because that's what Reboots are-- sexy zombies. Basically, most of the US was wiped out by this virus, KDH. All that managed to survive was the Republic of Texas. If you die with KDH in your system, you get Rebooted. You come back to life, but you're more attractive, faster, stronger, less feeling and still technically dead.



Wren is the least feeling of the lot. She's tiny, she's blonde, she's lethal. She's Veronica Mars without the marshmallow center. She grew up in the slums, died a horrific, violent death, and now trains the newly Rebooted. She whips them into shape, goes out into the field, and kills or imprisons humans, all under HARC's orders. HARC is the corporation responsible for saving what little is left of humanity, and for getting the Reboots in line and using them as manpower. HARC are the ones keeping the virus in check, keeping all the humans safe, fed, and watered.

See all that information I just gave you? I'd recommend going in knowing all that, like I did from reading reviews of Reboot. It made the beginning a lot let confusing, honestly.

What really made me invest in this book and care about the characters' fates was how much I enjoyed Callum. Even if I found myself rolling his eyes at his imcompetence (JUST PUNCH THE HUMAN, CALLUM. JUST PUNCH HIM.), I found him to be totally adorable. He's sweet and has a sense of humor and a very strong moral fiber. As a 22, he's barely a Reboot, and all his emotions are right there in plain sight. It's not hard to see why Wren, supposedly a robot Reboot without a soul, would come to care about him so much that she'd risk his life to save him. I cared about him too. I wanted her to do that.

I loved when Wren was finally like, "Screw this." I love the big decisions she finally made, the action her feelings for Callum inspired her to take, as she realized she didn't have to be a mindless killing machine. She should question the orders. Maybe she doesn't have to do what they say.



My issues with Reboot were mostly in execution, and mostly in three things: Wren, the world-building, and the narrative.

Wren: I actually wanted her to be colder, especially in the beginning. I loved her when she was an ice queen, and besides, that's what she was supposed to be. She's not supposed to have emotions, and I felt Tintera wrote her a little too human, trying to get us to connect with her. I actually connected more with her when she didn't have feelings. Those were the moments I loved her, because I pitied her for not being filled with grief or sorrow or humor or love. She'd know she was supposed to be having emotions right now-- could see that the very human Callum and her under-60 roommate Ever were experiencing all the proper feels-- and she'd experience a sense of incompleteness. Those were the times I found her most interesting, and the times when human-esque jokes flew over her poor Reboot head. But most of the time, she did have emotions, she just didn't express them. So it wasn't as satisfying to see her defrost, because she wasn't frosty enough to begin with. I really liked Wren, though, when all is said and done. I did connect with her. I thought she was an excellent and complicated heroine who struggles with but is not ashamed of what she is.



The world-building: I can't quite put my finger on my what my issue is, but I think it's HARC. They're a bit vague and big-bad-meanie-corporation. I'm confused as to why Texas is the only surviving state (this might end up not being true, and I really hope that's the case). I'm not sure if the whole slums vs. rico (aka rich parts of town ) thing holds up, logistically. Obviously I love, love, LOVE the idea of the Reboots. Everything about them and their training and the way they relate to one another was spot on. I loved the complicated, fearful emotions the humans have about them. All of those aspects were well done.

My third and most pressing issue was some of the narrative choices. Most of the plot is really, really gripping. There's a lot of action, big choices, and a MEGA ticking clock, and I felt my heart racing at times. High stakes is my favorite, and they are certainly elevated. However, some obstacles are overcome with a little bit too much ease. ESPECIALLY the ending. That should have been such a dramatic showdown (and I was almost hoping it would take a tragic turn, because DRAMA! FEELS! Though at the same time, that would have destroyed me). But it kind of just... eh. Happened. Over and done way too fast. I wanted my big, dramatic action scene, guys! Wren was so awesome and kickass that she really deserved one. She did have one awesome moment, but it was over so fast.

Oh, and there was also the small issue of people stopping to kiss when they should have been fleeing for their lives. Molli and Shelver pointed this out to me, and Shelver does some excellent gif work while ranting about it. It's not my favorite thing in the world, really.



Ultimately, I really enjoyed this book. I read it almost straight through, and while I wasn't totally smitten, I was definitely intrigued. I was utterly charmed by Callum, fond of Wren, and eager to find out what happened next. Like I said, it's definitely not perfect, but I think it's a whole lot of fun.