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Category: Series

Review: Elphame’s Choice by P.C. Cast

[ 4 ] January 14, 2012
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Reviewed by Jennifer Jensen

Elphame, daughter of the goddess Epona’s Beloved, has always been treated differently by the citizens of Partholon. Born a combination of human, goddess, and centaur, Elphame’s uniquely beautiful figure is met with awe and shock by all she meets. Having never been comfortable with being an object of worship among her mother Etain’s people, Elphame is led by her prophetic dreams to set out on her own and rebuild the castle of her ancestors. Damaged in the war against the Fomorians centuries earlier, the MacCallan Castle requires all the assistance it can get to be restored to its former glory.

With the assistance of her centaur brother Cuchulainn and a small group of followers, Elphame makes the MacCallan Castle her new home. Instead of looking at her through worshipful eyes, the new tenants of MacCallan Castle become the friends that Elphame has always longed for. It is in the surrounding forest that Elphame will meet her destined lifemate, a man damned by the sins of his ancestors, the Fomorians. Like Elphame, Lochlan is of two worlds. Will he fulfill the prophecy that calls for the blood of a dying goddess and end the madness that plagues his people? Or will Lochlan forsake those like him for true love?

First published in 2004 by Luna, P.C. Cast’s coming-of-age story Elphame’s Choice has been beautifully repackaged and marketed toward teens under the Harlequin Teen publishing house. Fans of the House of Night series will undoubtedly be drawn to Elphame’s Choice, which promises “a different world…where the blood-suckers are truly dangerous”.

Elphame’s Choice takes place in the same world as Divine by Mistake (originally published as Goddess by Mistake) and Divine by Choice. Though each book could be enjoyed as a stand alone story, I highly recommend reading the Partholon books in the following order as suggested by goodreads.com: Divine by Mistake, Elphame’s Choice, Brighid’s Quest, Divine by Choice, and Divine by Blood.

Like Cast’s previous works, there are dark themes and adult sexual situations presented throughout the novel that may not be suitable for less mature teen readers. Adults shouldn’t shy away from this book, as I believe it was originally intended for that audience. Cast’s writing style is definitely appealing to younger readers; I especially found her use of foreshadowing in this novel to be too “telling.” When the events foreshadowed finally occurred, there was no element of surprise. For teen readers especially, Elphame’s Choice will be the perfect bridge to Cast’s adult-oriented novels.

Rating: ★★★½☆ 

Jennifer graduated from the University of Utah with a BA in English. She occasionally dabbles with her own fiction writing, particularly with the Young Adult and Paranormal genres. She currently resides in Utah with her husband and daughter.

Review copy was provided free of any obligation by Harlequin. No monetary or any other form of compensation was received.

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Review: Airel by Aaron Patterson & Chris White

[ 5 ] December 14, 2011
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Reviewed by Jennifer Jensen

Airel is instantly drawn to Michael Alexander, the new boy in school. She is excited beyond belief when they begin to start dating, but things take a turn for the worst when Airel witnesses a murder in the movie theatre on one of their dates. Airel cannot get the image of the blonde man out of her head. She begins to fear for her own safety when she finds a message in her mailbox that says, “I know what you are”.

When Airel and Michael are both taken captive, the mysterious Kale–the man from the movie theatre–begins to educate Airel on her heritage. He also begins to train her for battle against the Brotherhood, a group intent on taking down those who are also like Airel.

When I first started to read Airel by authors Aaron Patterson and Chris White, I immediately wanted to stop reading it. Both of the authors are male, and their attempt to write from a teenage girl’s perspective was offensive and intolerable to me. Airel comes across as thinking really highly of herself, and has no substance. She’s portrayed as boy crazy (she instantly falls in love with Michael) and materialistic, though the authors try to add some depth to her with mentioning that she loves to read. Airel was simply not an enjoyable character in the first few sections of the book. Michael, on the other hand, has a lot of layers to him, but they aren’t made known until close to the end of the book.

I had to keep stepping away from Airel because my mind would start to wander and I couldn’t focus on the story. Overall, the story idea for Airel is a good one; it’s different enough from the other fallen angel/Nephilim type books that are currently published. The characters and the writing, however, needed some more fine tuning.

Airel seemed like a different character by the second half of the book, and Michael suddenly became very fascinating. The writing was very irritating to me; while they definitely captured the teenage essence to some degree, I got very tired of seeing almost every sentence in the first section of the book begin with “I”.

Airel redeemed itself in the end with a few interesting twists, but even those could not persuade me to want to read the next book in the series, called Michael.

Rating: 1.5/5

Jennifer graduated from the University of Utah with a BA in English. She occasionally dabbles with her own fiction writing, particularly with the Young Adult and Paranormal genres. She currently resides in Utah with her husband and daughter.

Review copy was provided free of any obligation by Stonehouse Ink. No monetary or any other form of compensation was received.

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Review: Laddertop, Volume 1 by Orson Scott Card & Emily Janice Card

[ 2 ] December 4, 2011
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Reviewed by Caleb Shadis

Laddertop, Volume 1 is, as the title suggests, the first book in the Laddertop series and I certainly hope not the last. This is a young adult graphic novel. I was a little leery at first partly because I was afraid the graphics would be focused on young girls. After all, the main characters are, in fact, young girls. I’m happy to say that while Laddertop is about these kids, it’s not a just a story about being a young girl.

While reading Laddertop, I felt echoes of Ender’s Game; there was the brush with a mostly unknown extra-terrestial culture; military personnel training children for a job; most people unaware of what is really going on. There was also the feel of Gunnerkrigg Court, another graphic novel about a girl going away to school where mysteries abound.

Twenty five years ago, the ‘givers’ came and shared their technology, including instructions for towers or elevators that extend 36,000 miles into space. These towers provide power to Earth, make it easier to put things into orbit and bring materials back from asteroids. The ladders were designed in such a way that using children for the repair work was found to be most efficient. Therefore, children have grown up competing to be chosen for the job.

Laddertop, Volume 1 is primarily about Robbi and her trials on her way to Laddertop; it stops shortly after. This book is really just to prime the pump, if you will. It is all setup and much explaining is left for future volumes.

I enjoyed the book more than I thought I would and look forward to the next installment. I need a couple more books before I can tell if the series are going to be great, but it certainly shows promise.

Rating: 4/5

Caleb is a software engineer and amature woodworker living in southern Minnesota. He has more hobbies than he has time or money for, and enjoys his quiet time reading.

The review copy of this book was provided free of any obligation by Tor/Seven Seas. No monetary or any other form of compensation was received.

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Review: Hades by Alexandra Adornetto

[ 4 ] October 30, 2011
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Reviewed by Grace Soledad

Hades picks off where Halo left off. Bethany and Xavier are still very much in love. They’ve banished Jake, proven their love, and all they have to do now is finish the school year without anything going wrong. Bethany is in heaven. But, when one Halloween seance goes terribly wrong, Bethany ends up in Hell, the formal name being “Hades”.

Jake is convinced that Bethany will fall in love with him, Xavier, Ivy, and Gabriel are desperately trying to find her, and bringing an angel into Hell symbols the start of the end of the world, the battle between Heaven and Hell. Everything is going wrong and Bethany needs to find a way out in order to make it right. Surviving amongst demons and hellhounds is even harder than it looks when every good deed is punished and Bethany keeps finding good people who didn’t deserve this fate. Bethany and Xavier keep struggling to find each other, but will everything slip away?

Hades was a delight. The writing as usual was impeccable, the pacing perfect, and the lines between right and wrong explored. Alexandra Adornetto’s writing is impressively mature and clean for her age – she’s 19. The description and characters are amazingly crafted. Bethany is portrayed as naive and believing that everybody has good in them. Adornetto manages to bring the reader into Bethany’s mind and show us exactly how she thinks, while still providing a clear understanding of her surroundings.

While my favorite is still probably Halo, I loved Hades. It really showed another side of Adornetto’s writing. Hades was a darker and more diverse look into the Halo world. Adornetto’s writing has grown and explored many of the details debuted in Halo, allowing for a satisfying must-read. I can’t wait for the sequel!

Rating: 5/5

Grace Soledad is a teenage bibliophile who runs the blog Words Like Silver. She is described as “antisocial” because she constantly has her nose buried in a book or a notebook. When not reading, she can be found dancing, writing, or at the beach. 

Review copy was provided free of any obligation by Feiwel & Friends. No monetary or any other form of compensation was received.

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Review: Nocturne by Christine Johnson

[ 7 ] October 27, 2011
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Reviewed by Grace Soledad

Nocturne, the sequel to Claire de Lune, is the story of a girl named Claire. She’s nervous about her boyfriend asking her to the Autumn Ball, tangled friendships, and most importantly, the fact that she’s a werewolf.

With the date of her confirmation as a complete werewolf looming, she’s worried that she won’t be able to do her part. What if she’s incomplete? Something that should come naturally is causing her to struggle.

Her best friend may be drifting away from her, her boyfriend may be uncomfortable about his role in the pack, but these are the least of Claire’s problems. When somebody discovers Claire’s secret, she could lose everything.

Christine Johnson manages to convey a sense of culture and ceremony when talking about the werewolves. I felt like I was right there when she described the full moons and hunts that Claire participated in. The naming ceremony was another scene that she hit perfectly. She is a talented writer and knew exactly when to put in tension or emphasis on parts of the hunt.

I also loved how in both Claire de Lune and Nocturne Christine makes the condition of being a werewolf a well-known position. Like in the House of Night series, people know that these paranormal creatures exists, and it give the setting that little oomph. Not to mention that it makes everything a constant game of Guess Who?

For me, a lot of second books are kind of blah and read like fillers, like bridges from the first book to the third book. For me, one of the major reasons why I liked Nocturne was that everything that occurred in the book was plausible, filled with action, and actually important to the overall story.

The pacing in Nocturne was perfect. It wasn’t all action or paranormal; some problems were simply social or came with the territory of being a teenager. The romance was fantastic, the friendships were tangled, and there was a delightful little twist at the end. Nocturne is utterly delicious.

Rating: 4.5/5

Check out our review of Claire de Lune

Grace Soledad is a teenage bibliophile who runs the blog Words Like Silver. She is described as “antisocial” because she constantly has her nose buried in a book or a notebook. When not reading, she can be found dancing, writing, or at the beach. 

Review and giveaway copies were provided free of any obligation by Simon Pulse. No monetary or any other form of compensation was received.

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Review & Giveaway: Beautiful Chaos by Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl

[ 151 ] October 24, 2011
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Reviewed by Grace Soledad

Beautiful Chaos is the third book in the Caster Chronicles series. Since Lena claimed herself as both Light and Dark, the balance of the universe has been upset. There are earthquakes, lakes in Gaitlin drying up, a heat wave, lubbers. Mrs. Lincoln tells everybody that the apocalypse is starting, but Lena and Ethan know the truth: Lena is the case of the anomalies. Meanwhile, Link and Ridley are in a love/hate relationship, they don’t know where John Breed is, and all the Casters’ powers are inconsistent and strange.

As a new song filters in about the “Eighteenth Moon”, Lena and Ethan find themselves on a race to find the meaning of the song and pray that they can save everybody. Ethan is losing his memory, though, and strange things are happening to him. Tastes that he’s loved since the second grade now seem awful to him, he can’t remember his own phone number, and Amma is going dark again. As the Eighteenth Moon draws nearer, one thing becomes painfully clear to everyone. Someone will have to die.

Third books are typically devastating for me. I was heartbroken while I read Beautiful Chaos because I wanted it to last forever, but the pages just kept turning. I felt like the book was a magnet for me. I was up until four in the morning just telling myself, “Okay, I’ll stop at the next chapter,” but I couldn’t ever actually stop. I was also really really nervous to read this installment because the synopsis promised that, “This time, there won’t be a happy ending”.

Ethan is the perfect boy. I may just be in love with him. He and Lena are perfect together and they both just know each other down to their souls. He was struggling with his memory throughout this book, and the hints about that were so subtle that I didn’t put it together until later in the book, which I loved. The writing style in Beautiful Chaos was superb. Not only do Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl have a keen knack for dialogue, but they know when to draw things out and when to heat things up.

The ending for this book killed me. As more and more people read Beautiful Chaos, you will probably hear about how the ending played with people’s hearts. I sobbed like a baby after finishing this book because while the ending for the story was appropriate, I was too attached to let them go. The good news is that there will be a fourth book, so I look forward to a different, and hopefully happier, ending.

Rating: 5/5

Grace Soledad is a teenage bibliophile who runs the blog Words Like Silver. She is described as “antisocial” because she constantly has her nose buried in a book or a notebook. When not reading, she can be found dancing, writing, or at the beach. 

Giveaway:
I have 2 copies of Beautiful Chaos to give away!

Mandatory entry: Please comment here and include your e-mail address.

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This giveaway is open to US and Canada residents only. Deadline to enter is midnight on November 10, 2011.

Review and giveaway copies were provided free of any obligation by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers. No monetary or any other form of compensation was received.

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Review: Carrier of the Mark by Leigh Fallon

[ 6 ] September 21, 2011
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Reviewed by Elizabeth Talbott

Megan Rosenberg has always moved around a lot. After her mother’s death, her father just can’t stay in one place for too long. This time, they are moving to Ireland because of her father’s new job at a marina. When she goes to her new school for the first time, she immediately notices Adam DeRis and feels a magnetic connection to him. Unfortunately, he seems to avoid her at all costs. Other than this anomaly, Megan makes many friends like Caitlin, who tell her about the rumors that Adam and his family are druids and cast black magic. This doesn’t deter Megan from her crush. As she spends more time with him, she notices strange things happening around him and his family. Is Adam some sort of druid? Is he dangerous? Why does she feel such a strong connection with him?

When I first heard about Carrier of the Mark, I was really excited to read it. I enjoy Ireland and paranormal books, plus the cover is gorgeous. I was also impressed that it was picked up by HarperCollins after being put up on InkPop, a creative writing community.

However, Carrier of the Mark fell short of my expectations. I enjoyed the writing, the characters, and the dialog between Megan and her friends. In fact, the writing was really what kept me interested. It flowed really well and had energy behind it that kept me reading even when parts of the plot didn’t interest me. The dialogue between the characters felt authentic; I wanted to know more about them and wish the book was more focused on character development.

The problems I had with Carrier of the Mark had to do with the romance between the main characters as well as some of the plot points. The romance was love at first sight and Adam and Megan became quickly obsessed with each other. I get that young love is intense, but they seemed too in love too quickly. I felt that their declarations of love and how they would die without each other got old really fast. There were a lot of similarities to Twilight including the forbidden love, girl moving to a new school and falling in love with the hot outcast, Adam’s family, and even some structural problems. The main conflict was introduced very late and then resolved very quickly as well because their meeting and subsequent relationship took up about the first two thirds of the book. The beautiful Irish landscape and culture was also underplayed for the most part.

Overall, I liked Carrier of the Mark for the original paranormal storyline and skilled writing. The romance was overplayed, tiresome, and seemed to similar to others in its genre. I would read the next book in the series to see if the mythology is explored in greater detail.

Rating: 3/5

Elizabeth is a student at Cal State Long Beach. She laughs a lot, loves cats, and lives for music and books. You can read her blog here: http://titania86-fishmuffins.blogspot.com/.

Review copy was provided free of any obligation by HarperTeen. No monetary or any other form of compensation was received.

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Review: Sweet Venom by Tera Lynn Childs

[ 6 ] September 20, 2011
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Reviewed by Jennifer Jensen

Three sisters, separated at birth and unaware of the others’ existence, are about to be reunited for the first time in 16 years. Gretchen has always known it is her destiny to hunt down the mythological monsters that come through the hellmouth in San Francisco. Under the tutelage of Ursula, Gretchen has become a fiercely independent young warrior. When fate throws Grace into her path, she is hesitant at first to share her legacy with someone else. Slowly, the idea grows on her that she has a sister–a twin.

Grace has always known she was adopted, and has often been curious about her birth parents. Finding Gretchen makes her feel like she really belongs, even though she has a terrific adoptive family. What neither Gretchen nor Grace expected was to find a third sister, Greer. Spoiled and one of the elite, Greer has always had a plan for her life–one that did not involve seeing and hunting monsters. Fighting monsters is the easy part; getting along with sisters that couldn’t be more different than her will be a struggle.

Sweet Venom is the first in a new series from Tera Lynn Childs. I have thoroughly enjoyed everything I have read by her so far, and had eagerly been anticipating Tera’s take on Greek mythology. Forget everything you think you know about Medusa, the snake-haired gorgon beheaded by Perseus–Tera takes a well-known Greek myth and puts a totally unique spin on it. I am so in love with her wildly imaginative retelling that I’m disappointed that it isn’t the reality.

Though Sweet Venom is most definitely YA, it will appeal to adult readers, too. I saw quite a few similarities to my beloved Buffy the Vampire Slayer TV show and Karen Marie Moning’s Fever series. Fans of one or both will welcome Sweet Venom and its planned sequels with open arms.

Though I have quite a few questions about where everything is going, I trust Tera’s writing and development and know that she will answer everything all in due time.

Rating: 4.5/5

Jennifer graduated from the University of Utah with a BA in English. She occasionally dabbles with her own fiction writing, particularly with the Young Adult and Paranormal genres. She currently resides in Utah with her husband and daughter.

Review copy was provided free of any obligation by Katherine Tegan Books. No monetary or any other form of compensation was received.

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