Booknotized

A place to think, reflect, and talk (mostly to myself) about books I love…and a few that I don't.

Book Review: Cinder by Marissa Meyer January 9, 2012

Filed under: Action-Adventure,Books,Mystery,Otherworldly (Fantasy/Paranormal),Post-Apocalyptic,Romance,Sci-fi,Suspense,Top Choices,Young Adult (13+) — Booknotized @ 3:00 pm
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Publisher: Macmillan
Series: Lunar Chronicles (Book 1)
Age Group: YA (totally clean)
Release Date: January 3, 2012
Pages: 400
Source: NetGalley and Giveaway from Amanda at Diary of a Book Addict
Genre: Scifi + Post-Apocalyptic
Rating Breakdown: Idea 5+★; Execution 3+★
 

★★★★

Cinder is a cyborg—which in her society means barely human. Somewhere in a past she can’t remember, there was an accident that left her parentless and a surgery that gave her a foot and a hand she doesn’t want, but can’t live without. Her one glimmer of hope came in the form of a scientist from the Eastern commonwealth—a conglomerate of countries united by the emperor sometime after the devastating WW4—but was dashed before she even know about him, when he died of the Letumosis epidemic.
 
Now, stuck with a stepmother who hates her, working as a mechanic to pay bills that aren’t her own, in a country swept by plague and threatened by war from the psychotic Lunar queen, Cinder only dreams of escape.
 
And, then the Prince walks in.
 
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
 
First off, you must read this book. It’s great. You’ll enjoy it, I guarantee. It’s overall tightly written, fast paced, and unique. I was drawn to the cover at first sight and couldn’t put it down!
 
But, as a connoisseur (hah!) I am truly on the fence about it. As a reviewer, I feel compelled to tell the whole truth and nothing but. So, while on the one hand it was a thrilling read, it has its flaws.
 
I love the concept—very original. Instead of a technologically backwards future of the sort we’re used to seeing in today’s post-apocalyptic or dystopian novels, this one is very techno-savvy. Reminded me of Westerfeld’s The Uglies in its tenor. Hover cars are all the rage, and human beings survive historically fatal or utterly disfiguring injuries because of extreme advances in surgical prosthetics.
 
Fairly logically-advanced versions of the internet, computers, and televisions are the main form of communication and entertainment, which helps tie nicely into the present-day world.
 
The commonwealth, and its emperor are situated in Asia, in a city called New Beijing, making this the second book to allude to fears of China’s rise to world power. However, unlike some, this book doesn’t see that as a bad thing. The Emperor and his family are just, fair rulers, and peacefully cohabitate with other ruling bodies—except those on the moon (yup!).
 
Instead of climate change, and/or oil shortage being the cause of the apocalypse (both of which have been almost overdone these days…), it’s international conflict that spawned both destruction and peace between Earthen countries. Unchecked greed and power hunger is the reason for the latest threat from the mutated inhabitants of the moon—and their mind-controlling queen.
 
Up until that point, everything was great. But, the mind control was where the book started to get under my skin. I found it to be too convenient, cheesy, inconsistently implemented, and ineffective.
 
Similarly, though I appreciated the attempt to align this with the original Cinderella story, a few of the plot elements at the end were too forced. This is a problem I have with a lot of fairytale re-imaginings: they don’t seem to realize you can pick and choose which elements to include—and even then, you can bend them a little to fit your setting. This book tried too hard to get them all in…and didn’t bend or wield them skillfully enough to fit. For one, the “carriage” (an old rusted out automobile) was a potentially really intriguing twist that just didn’t deliver and faded out as abruptly as it appeared. More importantly, however, the ball was just totally out of place, in my mind. Not only was it a virtual impossibility (all the citizens of one major city invited at once?), but then, why such an outdated ritual in full 17th century style was the one tradition that held over from the old to such a futuristic world wasn’t explained. It wasn’t the right scene for the confrontation, and as a result, the final scenes were just not cathartic enough.
 
As for characters, the evil queen wasn’t very believable—her dialogue made me chuckle at some points. And, last but not least, Cinder just wasn’t a decisive or confident enough character for my taste. Why she waited so long to work on the Prince’s robot—meanwhile the dropped hints and reminders of its import were abundant—I just couldn’t figure out. And her two obsessions—her own imperfection and escape—were overdone to the point of threatening the story not only plot-wise, but overall by making her slightly annoying.
 
That said, however, I really enjoyed the concept and the world, and will definitely be looking out for book 2—which I hope will benefit from its freedom from the original story and license to do fantastic things with a fantastic concept.

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Series Review: Wolves of Mercy Falls (Shiver, Linger, Forever) by Maggie Steifvater November 10, 2011

Filed under: Books,Otherworldly (Fantasy/Paranormal),Romance,Uncategorized — Booknotized @ 12:30 pm
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Publisher: Scholastic Press
Release Date: August 1, 2009; July 13, 2010; July 12, 2011
Series: Wolves of Mercy Falls
Age Group: solid YA (implied/described sexual content; graphic violence)
Pages: 400; 368; 400
Rating: Idea 4★; Execution 4★; Style 4.5★
Genre: romantic fantasy

★★★★

Shiver / Linger

Grace is relatively happy living in her rural home with parents who are rarely ever there…it’s lonely, but she creates her own structure: good grades, no late nights…

Only when she begins to feel drawn away from the warmth and light into the quick chill of the Boundary Wood that fringes her house—toward the pack of wolves that roams there—does she realize that something is missing, and perhaps always has been.

Then the boy appears—and he is one of them, she is sure. His yellow eyes belong to the wolf, the stormy gray wolf who saved her all those years ago.

And then, he is Sam. And she cannot imagine life without him. So she doesn’t…

…but the cold, and his earthy, shaggy, winter body remembers. It will claim him.

It might be calling her, too.
 
Forever

Sam is stable…as much as he can be without Grace.
Where she is…what she is, he can’t be sure. He only knows he needs to find her, fast.
Now that a second death has been blamed on his pack, they only have so much time before the hunters begin closing in. It may already be too late.
 
____________________________________________________________
 
This series is sort of in a class by itself. It is a dark, brooding romantic fantasy of a similar brand as that of Twilight, but the style (and LACK of love triangle) is superior enough to make that comparison invalid. And, I think the quality of the writing has only improved with age. Out now, the third book has all of the same qualities as Shiver and Linger, only more crystallized and focused.
 
For one, the world is built with integrity. Fitting to the plot, it is tight and limited, but the text makes it visceral. Metaphor is a key descriptive player and it is used in fresh and surprising ways. Sam’s favorite poet Maria Rainer Rilke is quoted often, and I daresay the text benefits immensely from that—in style as much as in content.
 
The characters are multi-dimensional, but focused and consistent. They grown and learn—about themselves and others—over the course of the trilogy. (You would think that would be a given, but I’ve learned the hard way that this is an unusual characteristic in YA lit these days! So, when I see it, I like to point it out.) The side characters are intriguing (bad-boy Cole is there for those of us who like a scruffy egomaniac) and take on a life of their own as they become more central to the storyline in Forever. This is in part due to the multiple-point-of-view format of the book, which I found refreshing (each chapter is written in a different character’s voice). Overall, they (Sam, Grace, Cole, Isabel, etc) aren’t extremely deep, and sometimes their realizations are slightly obvious, but it’s not to the point of annoying. The crux of the book really is the plight of the werewolf, and, of course, the two soul mates caught in the crossfire between an errant biology and an ignorant humanity.
 
Yes, it’s a tender, emo love story. However, even though soft, skinny, sensitive Sam is not really my type, he is such a well-drawn character, you can’t help but like him. The poetry—Rilke’s, not necessarily Sam’s—often would step in to redeem him for me, giving him a deeper facet than most other series’ boy toys have. He so clearly needs Grace that you can’t help but root for them. Grace herself is all but perfect, but not in an unlikable way. She’s beautiful, but strong (kind of like Bella Swan should have been).
 
Really, for all of the wolf in them, they are both very human.
 
The plot is fairly strong: catching and medium-paced. I got slightly impatient at times, so it wouldn’t have worked for me to read all 3 books in a row. I read them as they came out, and I was actually happy with that. The world is compelling enough to make revisiting a pleasure. Some reviewers did not like the ending of the trilogy, but I did. True, it’s ambivalent, but not in a cheap, incongruent, copout, “no questions answered” way like the Incarceron series. There’s the hint of what could happen, but not the confirmation. Frankly, it totally fits with the style, and I was ok with that.
 
In fact, the most striking characteristic of the books for me lies in the style—in the “feeling” the writing gives: of cold.
 
True, the story is purposefully set on the borders of a wilderness in Mercy Falls, Minnesota, where winters are long and harsh: cold is what makes a werewolf shift into a wolf. But it’s one thing to simply state that fact—another to weave it into the fabric of the text. I don’t quite know how to explain what I mean, but for all the warmth of Sam and Grace’s relationship, I always came away from the text with a chill. It was as if there was somehow something delicate lying between me and them, a subtle frosty whisper that fills and parts the air.
 
That, I found totally masterful.

 

Series Review: Incarceron / Sapphique by Catherin Fisher November 4, 2011

Filed under: Action-Adventure,Books,Dystopian,Movies,Otherworldly (Fantasy/Paranormal),Steampunk,Uncategorized — Booknotized @ 12:30 pm
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Publisher: Dial
Release Date: January 26, 2010; December 28, 2010
Age Group: YA (utterly gratuitous mature language; mild graphic violence)
Pages: 448; 480
Rating: Idea 5★; Execution 2★
Genre: dystopia, sci-fi, & (some) fantasy with overtones of steampunk
 

★★1/2

Claudia lives in The Realm—a place where an Era of Victorianesque habit and aesthetic is enforced by a malevolent monarchy. She dreams only of escape from the life that has been planned for her. Her only solace is her tutor, Jared, who has been more of a father to her than her own morose parent, John Arlexa the Warden of Incarceron. At least she is Outside.

Inside, Finn lives, and has lived for the three long years of his life that he is able to remember. He, too, longs to Escape from the miserable existence within the great sentient, malevolent Prison to which he—and all others deemed undesirable or superfluous by the aristocracy—have been sentenced.

All too quickly, as age-old plots and schemes come to fruition, Finn and Claudia’s fates are thrust together. The future of both worlds, it seems, depends on their ability to unlock the secrets that lie deep within.
 

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As I tweeted the other night, I have rarely been as frustrated or disillusioned by a book or series as I was when I closed the cover on this one.

The idea is magnificent—something like The Matrix, something like The Scarlet Pimpernel, and still something like Mad Max and Blade Runner.

However, the idea’s execution in writing was deplorable, cheap, and utterly unsatisfying. You know how it was with Lost? Where the opening was fairly explosive and mysterious, but as the seasons dragged on it slowly became apparent that the writers had no long-term plan for the plot? No real ingenious answer to the mystery?

And everyone remained hopeful, despite being dragged on for eons by endlessly convenient twists, turns, and dramatic fluff, because they thought there surely would be some masterfully big reveal to tie it all together in the end?

★★1/2

Well, that was exactly my experience with these books, except without the hunky actors and special effects to tide a girl over. Full of fluff; unartful writing; and bad, see-through dialogue; impromptu/incongruous twists when the plot looked sure to dead-end; flat characters who neither were fully explained nor grew a millimeter over the course of 928 pages, and were often self-contradictory…

And, then, like the Lost finale, no questions answered. If anything, more were introduced, as if to cover the tracks of an MIA direction—yet again.
 
I am almost angry at myself for reading it. I knew at the end of Incarceron (bk. 1) that the execution was shoddy (I even tweeted my feelings), but was so curious about how the idea would come together that I convinced myself to keep going. I remained hopeful to the very end—past elements that didn’t really work in the world (the “Incarceron” beast; the “chain gang,” children born—as opposed to healed or reconstructed—with metal parts), or with the characters (Keiro’s fickleness; the Queen’s pseudo-evilness; the Warden’s loss of the key vs. the trio’s ability to keep the glove; the Prison’s simultaneous omnipotence and impotence, whichever suited the moment; etc), but were instead just convenient to the goose-chase of a plot.

I even clung on through the last few pages when things got really weird, and it seemed impossible that it could ever be satisfactorily pulled together, all the while thinking, Surely; surely no one would have published an idea this ambitious without a real, clever, mind-blowing ending.

This book has gotten lots of buzz. Taylor Lautner is starring in the movie, for goodness sake. Surely they wouldn’t…

But they did.

 
I think—if someone figures out how to salvage the plot/ending—it will be a truly wicked movie. But, as a book?

There are so many good, strong, dystopian/steampunk novels out there—The Hunger Games (bk 1), Birthmarked, Fever Crumb, etc. I would normally never do this—I am a book champion—but I suggest spending your reading time on the above and waiting to see Incarceron on screen.

 

Guest Review: No Such Thing as Dragons by Philip Reeve October 20, 2011

Filed under: Action-Adventure,Books,Guest Reviews,Otherworldly (Fantasy/Paranormal),Suspense — Booknotized @ 1:00 pm
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I always love getting recommendations for good books, especially when they are as ebullient as this one.

Shortly after finishing this title (part of my growing Philip Reeve collection – he’s pretty awesome, btw), that I had not even cracked yet, my husband Sorin, all but bubbling over with excitement, began to regale me with tempting snippets of the story line. As he recounted and gesticulated, I began to suspect that he was doing so as much to relive the story himself as to talk me into reading it. Since that’s exactly the art of book reviewing (at least for me!), I invited him to contribute a post of his own here on Booknotized.

A native of Romania, Sorin came to the US (where he met me) via Montreal, Quebec. Currently a computer science masters candidate, he recently completed his first novel, I, Pirate, which was a young adult division quarterfinalist in the 2011 Amazon Breakthrough Novel Awards competition. Reading and writing are his passions, though I know I fit somewhere in there as well. I hope you enjoy this, his first (but hopefully not last!) review.

Publisher: Scholastic Press
Release Date: September 1, 2010
Age Group: 9–12+ (some mature intimations; graphic violence)
Pages: 186

★★★★★

Before Johannes Von Brock arrived at the inn and asked for a child to follow him as squire, Ansel wasn’t worth much. So little, in fact, that his father didn’t even consider him a candidate. But the man liked the fact that the boy couldn’t speak, for he had secrets that he’d like kept that way…

For starters, “there are no such things as dragons.” Just spend a couple of days on the mountain, come back, tell the people you killed it, get paid, and go on to the next place. In a time where superstitions rule the mind of man, where mythical creatures roam the earth, in a time when legends are born, people need their savior. They expect it. And our brave knight is there for them.

But as they arrive in a tiny mountain village, plagued by a man-eating, sheep-stealing “worm,” neither master nor squire can imagine the turn that their lives are about to take.

_____________________________________________________________

I must confess, when I started reading this book, I had fairly low expectations. Jaded by same-subject movies, disappointed by the books, I anticipated a story where either dragons are more implied than actual (as the title suggests), or if present, then display human-like traits (sentience, emotion, etc). But, boy was I in for a surprise! A couple of pages in and I found myself caught in the beautiful, poetic, yet straightforward, language. I couldn’t care less for dragons. Or the action. Just give me more of those beautiful descriptions. It made me realize that it had been a long time since I read a well-crafted book. So long, in fact, that I’d gotten used to the mediocre ones.

And when the real action started, I couldn’t put it down. But I had to. It was 3 AM. I dreamt of dragons and brave little boys. No, not in that way, you perv. Because, you see, you think you know who the dragon fighter is, but… That’s all I’ll say.

The characters are wonderfully forged. Even the dragon. (Whoops!) The boy, Ansel, is one of few heroes in the plethora of modern young adult books who doesn’t have any superpowers. Wait, you say, he doesn’t have any superpowers? Not even a magical pinky, or a fairy godmotherslashuncleslashmaybedog? He doesn’t drink blood? Or perhaps a bit of power-enhancing, magic-awakening juice?

No, no magic. He’s mute, and that’s all, which certainly doesn’t help when being chased by a crazy-eyed dragon. Or when you’re hungry. But, in my opinion, he has more going for him than 275 of the other heroes put together. To make the right decision, when facing a killer beast is hard even for a man, but for a malnourished child? A hero is not made or born. One becomes. Will Ansel become a hero? I won’t tell you. Just read the book!

Truly, Philip Reeve accomplishes in 186 pgs what many others haven’t in a full series of 400 pgs each: to write an inspiring yet entertaining book, one that reaches deep inside and tries to change you.

I think No Such Thing as Dragons will make an exhilarating experience for any book-loving, adventure-craving kid. I know it did for me.

 

Book Review: Enclave by Ann Aguirre August 19, 2011

Filed under: Action-Adventure,Bermuda Love Triangle,Books,Dystopian,Mystery,Otherworldly (Fantasy/Paranormal),Suspense — Booknotized @ 2:55 pm
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Release Date: April 12, 2010
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
272 pgs

★★★1/2

It’s dark, but you can just see the outline of the tunnel walls ahead, curving on in their endless arc. It’s all you have ever known, the Enclave of youths you were born into, the only human contact you have ever had…until now.

Something shuffles to your left—it’s rotting stench is overwhelming. But survival of the fittest doesn’t leave much room for the squeamish. Besides, you are a Huntress. This is your purpose. So, you end him in a warm spurt of blood. His companions will finish him off. They’re hungry. They aren’t squeamish either.

There are stories of others like you up there, but you would never venture topside. Enclave elders say it’s all scorched and toxic. And, despite what your new hunting partner thinks—or the warm shivers his nearness gives you—you believe what they say. Well, most of it anyway. Their laws are harsh, but they keep you fed and safe…

Except. Maybe…no. You shouldn’t even consider it. The Freaks aren’t a threat. They’re just crazed animals in human form…rotting bodies with razor sharp teeth. They don’t think. And they certainly don’t organize. They don’t. Really. They just don’t.

If they did, we wouldn’t survive.

__________________________________________________________

I knew this story was going to be quite unique from page one—which prompted my attempt at an unusual summary above. (Pardons if it’s ghastly!)

The narrator lets on that her world is not the same as the reader’s. There’s been a second holocaust, she says, one that razed human civilization…leaving behind a few ragtag groups to fend for themselves using what vestiges of human culture can be salvaged…underground.

The book really does an excellent job of keeping the reader, too, in the dark—both literally and figuratively. The more you read of the tight, gloomy post-apocalyptic underworld, the less it seems you can remember the feel of the sun on your face. The instinct for survival is visceral, as is the sinking realization that this could be our world, if the right thing goes wrong.

Similarly, until the last 10 pages, it’s never revealed exactly where in relationship to the present day world you have been —or why it’s the way it is—which I appreciated immensely. (I really thought it quite a shame on those bloggers who let the cat out of the bag in the first few lines of their review!) Even the fact that the question goes unspoken (because, absolutely true to her circumstances, the heroine doesn’t even know it can be asked) really adds to the close, musty murkiness of it all: it’s as if the world as we know it has truly ceased to exist. Serious props to the author—it was mightily well pulled off.

I do have to confess that I wasn’t quite as pleased with the 2nd half of the book (into which there was a significant shift) for three reasons. First, I had a lot of questions unanswered about the people/places/things in the 1st half that I thought were rather abruptly (& ergo cheaply) dismissed. However, I have hope they will be revisited/answered in the sequel, so I won’t belabor that just yet. And, relatedly, there was a certain thinness to the latter half: too much happens in too few pages. You don’t really have time to get attached to anyone or anything—despite the passage of book-months. In the rapid-fire beginning, this thinness serves to underscore the transience of life as it has become, but in the end results in a kind of “weak tea” effect. Finally, a half-hearted attempt at a love triangle left a fairly sour taste in my mouth. (They always do…)

However, I won’t reveal any more detail than that—though I’m longing to (maybe a hidden post?)—because this is one book where I strongly feel that the experience of reading blind is a huge draw—and one of the book’s greatest achievements. The concept, the setting, the world, they’re all fresh, as far as books go. We’ve seen the same thing in films before, but reading it is really a different and intriguing experience. I also love that it’s inspired and/or influenced by George MacDonald’s “The Day Boy and the Night Girl” story…but I’ll write more on that later…

Let me know if you agree.

P.S. DON’T watch the book trailer. DO NOT. I’m warning you. It really doesn’t do the book ½ ounce of justice…

 

Book Review: The Mortal Instruments by Cassandra Clare August 3, 2011

Filed under: Action-Adventure,Bermuda Love Triangle,Books,Movies,Otherworldly (Fantasy/Paranormal),Romance,Suspense — Booknotized @ 1:01 pm
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Titles: City of Bones, City of Ashes, and City of Glass
Release Dates: July 2, 2007; March 25, 2008; March 24, 2009
Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry
Series: The Mortal Instruments
Rating: Idea 3★; Execution 2★

★★1/2

Clary lives as normal and uncomplicated a life as anyone can in NYC—bohemian mom, quiet best friend Simon, father-like family friend Luke… There is nothing more to Clary’s world than the everyday—until reality comes crashing through the thin veil of her mind late one night in a sketch downtown club. One glimpse and Clary’s mundane life becomes utterly complex: mother’s missing; Simon’s hopelessly in love with her; angels exist, so do demons, werewolves, and vampires (aka “downworlders”); and the only person who seems to know what’s going on is the single most arrogant, cold, and freakishly HOT guy Clary has ever seen. His name is Jace, and he calls himself a Nephalim—half human, half angel.

Before she can even remember to object, Clary is thrown headlong into a serious interspecies conflict led by a rogue Nephalim—Valentine—whose very name inspires the shivers. As the whole shadow world struggles to decide whether to combine forces and stop Valentine from claiming the 3 powerful Mortal Instruments or to give in and allow him to fulfill his diabolical plans, it slowly becomes apparent that Clary is the unsuspecting lynchpin.

In order to stop him, she must face a host of challenges—physical, psychological, and romantic—before confronting the ultimate choice to sacrifice what matters to her most, or live with the devastating consequences.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________

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**—Spoiler Alert—**

(I won’t give away whole storylines, but will hint at things that aren’t revealed until bk 3.)

I knew that sooner or later it’d have to come along: my first negative review. However, please bear in mind that I’m not saying not to read these books. Though I got frustrated and sometimes put them down (for the reasons outlined below), I wouldn’t have not finished them. Hence the 3 stars (where I was tempted to give 2). I don’t think that I will pick up the new *surprise* book 4, City of Fallen Angels though…and I don’t really think back on the ones I did read…at all.

That’s because this trilogy falls firmly into the group I’d call “cotton candy”: look pretty, smell pretty, melt in your mouth and are gone. They are, seemingly without remorse, a very cheap thrill—a la Twilight & Co.—and for that reason, very hard to put down. I found myself alternatively groaning with gusto and sighing with teen fever.

If you’re interested to know the details of why I wasn’t so keen on them, keep reading. If not, skip to the next set of stars.

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*     *     *    *     *

In particular, these 4 things bothered me:

1) Simon. Love triangles are common enough that I’ve devoted an entire category to them here. But, some are achieved more or less annoyingly than others. This was not in that group. Simon, Clary’s friend-turned-gaggy-crush, doesn’t stand a chance—he’s a clear 2nd best to the cold, heroic heartthrob, Jace. Although, there is one “turn off” about Jace that is supposed to make us doubt his destiny to be with Clary, it was so un-deftly played that I never bit. As a result, Simon ended up looking even dorkier than intended, and, well, just grated on my every last nerve.

2) Incessant Foreshadowing. A literary device full of potential, it became something of a dead horse in these books. I knew the answers to the “burning” questions (and was 100% confident about them) some 500 pages before they were answered. This was, in part, because the narrative was a little too transparent, but also partly because the author spent so much energy trying to keep the questions burning that she smoked the answers out. I like a little more cleverness to my mysteries—otherwise, what motivation do you have to keep reading a not-particularly-well-written 1500-page series?

3) Reckless Manslaughter. Like George in HP, a sibling of a supporting character dies in the final book. However, this series wasn’t brave about it: the character is so minor to the plot as to be useless; its removal more of a hiccup than heartstop—and the motive such an obvious attempt at evoking pathos that I almost laughed…then got angry (see Tweet proof). The poor kid’s role—who, unlike George, we never get to know and love—is reduced to something like a cute puppy who gets bopped on the head to make softhearted girls go “awww!” Truly, this piece of the narrative was ridiculously clumsily pulled off (enough to deserve two –ly adverbs!). If the writing’s good, it will evoke tears through its art—not by stabbing the reader in the hand with a fork.

4) Clamoring Clichés…and a lot of familiar motifs. There is a chunkton of rather unoriginal material in this series. I don’t necessarily mean the demon/angel/etc lore—but in actual motifs of the storyline. (Those spoilers I told you about hit most here.)

  • Brother-sister a(ttra)ction (Starwars)
  • Sociopathic, racist villain whose name begins with “V”—every mention of which name strikes fear—whom the adults of the book went to school with and knew as a “less than purely evil young man,” and who plans the purification of the world from inferior races by means of 3 magical artifacts…(Need I go on? Of course, I do mean Voldemort.)
  • A triumvirate of mystical objects, which, when combined, achieve world-changing ends. (Harry Potter series; His Dark Materials trilogy)
  • Heroine who has the power to write or read magical runes/glyphs/letters that alter reality. (the Dreamdark series; His Dark Materials trilogy)
  • Protagonist who discovers they have a powerful parent they’ve never known when they go off to a haven for their “like kind.” (Percy Jackson series; His Dark Materials trilogy; Fever Crumb series)
  • Heroine who is small/weak, and needs protecting by the tall, cold, quiet heartthrob. (Twilight series)
  • Tall, cold, quiet heartthrob with burning golden eyes and slightly jealous siblings. (Twilight series)
  • World with a somewhat malevolent group of special-powered rulers, sitting in a remote European corner of the globe, unbeknownst to the rest of society. (Twilight series; Harry Potter Series; Percy Jackson series; Vampire Academy series…)
  • Death of a supporting character’s sibling. (Harry Potter series)
  • Etc.

Now, I’m not saying I believe much (if any) of our contemporary literature can claim full originality—it’s just not possible, nor would it be much fun. The art of storytelling for the entire history of man has coincided with the art of borrowing. (That was, actually, my masters thesis in a nutshell.) And, J. K. Rowling is a primary example—her work is a virtual collage of borrowed mythic and literary artifacts. However, her story is also extraordinarily complex and subtly original in its own right. The Mortal Instruments books, however, don’t have the same complexity by far, and thus their recycling comes across as rather obvious and forced than intriguing, clever, or allusive.

*     *     *    *     *

All in all, if you are looking for an easy, fast, rollercoaster ride through romantic conflict and paranormalcy, I do recommend this trilogy. The love story (and hunka-hunka hero) was enough to pull me through. And, pull me it did, I must admit. I was dying to know what happened to Clary and Jace at the end (…even though I already knew…). But, if you find yourself groaning at the obsessive hint-dropping, see-through emotional triggers, and overall mundaneness of style, don’t say I didn’t warn you.

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.

(P.S. They are making this into a movie…about which I was excited, until I heard that they had cast Jamie Campbell Bower as Jace.

Nothing in particular against him, but he just DOES NOT fit my image of Jace. Not substantial enough. Not symmetrical enough. Overall? Just not HOT enough to be Jace! (Sorry, Bonnie! It’s just true.)

(If you’ve ever seen him in the Camelot series, you know what I mean…)

 

Book Review: Fever Crumb by Philip Reeve June 20, 2011

Filed under: Action-Adventure,Books,Steampunk,Suspense,Top Choices — Booknotized @ 3:21 pm
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Original Release Date: May 4, 2009
Publisher: Scholastic

★★★★

Natural disasters, civilization-searing wars, a tumult of regime changes, and a host of other catastrophes have resulted in the loss of much of mankind’s technical knowledge. With glaciers slowly moving south, what was once Great Britain is now a host of nomadic tribes, subsisting on plunder as they move from place to place in land barges coupled together from recycled machines of the past.

The people of London (perhaps the greatest remnant of what once was), however, have managed to recreate something of the old world. Salvaging, studying, sometimes reinvigorating, but never reproducing the ancient technologies that lie beneath their streets – computers, engines, ‘lectric lamps, scraps of plastics – they are entirely post-pre-industrial. In the midst of it all, lives young Fever, an orphan (or so she’s told). Brought up by the very rational old engineer, Dr. Crumb, beautiful young Fever shaves her head (hair is non-necessary), spurns emotion, and is always, always reasonable – whatever the situation. After all, it is up to her to prove to the stoic Order of Engineers that female minds are capable of rational thought.

But, when archaeologist Kit Solent appears, requesting her help (an honor she accepts with what a non-rational mind might call “excitement”), more than petty emotions are dredged up: Fever begins to recall an entire existence that she knows is not her own – one filled with grisly experiments; a strangely beautiful, oddly familiar face; perfumes; genetic anomalies; and scenes from London’s most recent regime change, the bloody Skinner riots. Before she knows it, Fever is herself branded a traitor in a battle of old against new, humans and Skinners vs. genetically anomalous Scriven (self-dubbed “homo superior”), and must work to unlock the secrets lodged inside her head – or risk losing herself entirely to someone else’s design.
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In keeping with the style of his Carnegie Medal-winning Here Lies Arthur, Reeve delivers a strikingly dark and different, yet enveloping and fully realized world in this prequel to his Mortal Engines Quartet. Expertly repurposing current-day pop culture with a sly and satiric humor (“That’s a load of blog,” shouted Ted Swiney…”Cheesers Crice!”), Reeve fuses signature steampunk (technomancers who create Stalker armies of ‘lectric– and wirework-brained corpses, gingerbread man-type armies made of paper, land barges and fuel-guzzling mono-wheeled vehicles), with what author Scott Westerfeld calls “old-fashioned derring-do,” to create a sometimes-light, sometimes-heavy, always fast-paced tale full of as many twists and turns as the Victorianesque London streets through which it runs.

Suitable for a younger audience (9-12), this book will also appeal to older steampunk, action-adventure, and perhaps even historical fiction/historical scifi fans. A fully-realized, strong female protagonist, Fever’s strength and resourcefulness, coupled with the story’s shying away from the usual romantic angle and touch of raucous battles, will make it a satisfying read for boys and girls alike.

Sequel A Web of Air coming October 1, 2011.

 

Book Review: daughter of smoke and bone by laini taylor June 5, 2011

Filed under: Action-Adventure,Books,Otherworldly (Fantasy/Paranormal),Romance,Suspense,Top Choices — Booknotized @ 10:41 pm
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Release Date: Sept 27, 2011
Publisher: Little Brown

“Once upon a time,
an angel and a demon fell in love.

It did not end well.”
–Daughter of Smoke and Bone, part I

Usually, I won’t do this – preface a review this way (or, who knows? maybe I will?) – but Laini Taylor deserves some introduction. She is, hands down, my favorite YA author. And for good reason.

There are many YA books that fall into the category I like to call “cotton candy”: they look pretty, taste pretty, but melt in your mouth and are gone. (Not to mention that a steady diet of them will give you a stomach ache…)

Laini Taylor is not one of those.

If I were to give her work a flavor, I’d call it chocolate, deep and luxuriant, with surprising, biting, hidden flecks of sea salt. She intimately wields the thrill of YA, but weaves it with a visceral poetry that much of YA lacks. It is a style that is clearly her own. It shines through all of her works like a thumb print. And it swallows you up.

Her latest (or should I say, forthcoming) book is no exception.

★★★★★

Daughter of Smoke and Bone

Karou, Karou. Girl with  the lapis blue hair knows very little about herself except that her name means “hope.” Oh, and that her life straddles two worlds: the human, and the elsewhere. She has tattoos of eyes (hamsas) on her palms, may or may not have imagined the creatures that appear in her sketchbooks, and is filled up with a strong sense of emptiness – as if her world were not complete.

When a painfully beautiful seraph is pulled into her life – wings like living fire – however, he brings with him a glimmer of otherness, of wholeness and fullness…of love?, of the path to elsewhere, and the scent of…war.

As the story unfolds, it becomes increasingly clear that Karou is more than what she seems. But when she discovers it for herself, it may be too late, and the road back to the only family she has ever known will cost her dearly.

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Fraught with elegant and bittersweet romance, this action-laced page-turner is a hands-down work of art. It is the YA we all love – thrilling and exhausting, brimming with suspense – but skillfully so, so you almost won’t even realize that the secrets have been spilled until you are already lapping them up. Taylor’s teases and revelations aren’t abrupt; they are elegant, seamless, and utterly satisfying.

And, though it is only Part 1 of a trilogy, never fear: all of your burning questions will be answered by book’s close – just in time to realize you’ve got a whole aching slew of new ones.

This book, much like her previous Dreamdark and National Book Award-Nominated Lips Touch: Three Times, is signature Laini. Just what that unmistakable style is (delicate? steely? sensuous? ephemeral? lithe? dark? iridescent?) you’ll have to discover for yourself.

 

 
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