Book Review: Wayfarer by Alexandra Bracken @themawkwardpotatoes

Today, Claire discussed Wayfarer, the final book in Alexandra Bracken's 'Passenger' duology!

Unpopular Opinions: Claire Reviews Harry Potter Series

Today, Claire reviews and discusses the Harry Potter series by JK Rowling - unpopular opinions and all!

Review: A Court of Mist and Fury

Today Claire does an extra long review of A Court of Mist and Fury, the sequel to Sarah J Maas' A Court of Thorns and Roses new adult series.

Tales From the Shadowhunter Academy Review

Today Claire and Miranda review and discuss Tales From the Shadowhunter Academy - a book of novellas from Cassandra Clare's Shadowhunter Chronicles.

Review: An Absence of Light by Meradeth Houston

Meradeth Houston is a master of drawing a reader in. From sentence one, she establishes urgency and interest, immersing the reader in the sheer horror that has become Leah's life. Leah, who goes by Lee throughout the story, a 19 year old girl who is brighter than average, but troubled by having "seen things" since childhood, tells the tale of her flight from the horror that killed her family, and the war she personally wages against them when banding together with the first group of people she's ever met who also can see them.

This book has some good things going for it. Got a nearly but not quite disincarnate new menace that hasn't been done into the ground with it's own new set of complex rules and motivations? Cool beans. In An Absence of Light, the creepy new foes are the Shadows, and yes, they're a tiny touch
reminiscent of the Shadows from Babylon 5 (wow I just admitted a lot about my age), but they're definitely their own creatures. I like that. Foes that are nearly believable and prey on the fears at the back of every kid's mind when mom and dad turn out the lights? Double cool beans. That's why I like Doctor Who, after all. Characters who aren't an immediate tight fit because of their own diverse issues? Triple cool beans.

Of course, there are a couple issues. For those who don't love first person, this is that, and it spends a lot of time focusing on what Leah is thinking rather than just doing. Also, the intermittent switching between deep detail and sudden change of scene action occasionally left me flipping back. I was also really confused for a moment when the third day of the story happened, because after referring to the events of the first night as "last night" rather than "the last night," I got it in my head that the rest of the story would take place in a tightly action filled single day. Yeah, it's not 24. I get that, but I had a moment of confusion.

So, if you're in for a first person struggle against darkness wherein the balance between hunter and hunted is constantly shifting, with occasional sudden pacing shifts, this will be a great way to keep yourself sleeping with the lights on. After all, isn't that what we all want: a reason to sleep with the lights on?

Synopsis:
Leah’s always seen the shadow creatures. She thought she was immune to their evil—until now.

She’s walked into a massacre, stolen a BMW, and is running from the law for a crime she didn’t commit. Nineteen-year-old Leah’s life just went from mildly abnormal to totally crazy at lightning speed. But no one will believe that the shadow creatures are framing her for the murder, because she’s the only one that can see them. At least that’s what she thought.

When Leah stumbled across a group who share her ability, she discovers they have something she doesn’t: a way to fight back. When the group offers to teach her how to kill the shadow creatures, Leah jumps at the chance. But something is brewing with the creatures. They’re tracking down the hunters like there’s no tomorrow. Leah suspects that maybe there won’t be, and it’s up to her to make sure tomorrow comes. Because she’ll do anything to stop the shadows, including risking her life—and the life of the one she loves—to keep the world from being lost to darkness forever.

     

AUTHOR BIO:
Meradeth’s never been a big fan of talking about herself, but if you really want to know, here are some random tidbits about her:

>She’s a Northern California girl. And now is braving the cold winters in Montana.
>When she’s not writing, she’s sequencing dead people’s DNA. For fun!
>She’s also an anthropology professor and loves getting people interested in studying humans.
>If she could have a super-power, it would totally be flying. Which is a little strange, because she’s terrified of heights.

   

Review: Unstoppable by SR Johannes

UNSTOPPABLE
by SR Johannes

After everything that has happened, Grace moves to the Everglades to live with her grandmother, Birdee, and hang out with old man Rex, Birdee's "friend with benefits". Grace quickly befriends Dylan, Rex's nephew, and Dylan's girlfriend, Sadie, who is a die-hard teen activist. Sadie spends her time leading protests against the roadside zoos that run rampant in Florida with a total disregard for animals or the flimsy law.

One day while out in the marshes of the Everglades, Grace and her friends rescue an abused—and endangered—Florida panther. She and Birdee spend time rehabilitating the animal. But when the panther runs off, Grace follows it to Uncle Bob's, a large roadside zoo they all have been protesting. One that is illegally filled with a variety of endangered and exotic animals. Before she can rescue the panther, she and her friends are kidnapped by the ruthless owner and dragged deep into the Everglades for a hunting challenge.

Only this time, Grace is the prey.

During a sick game of cat and mouse, Grace and her friends are offered one chance at survival, but only if they reach civilization before being caught. With a small head start and very little supplies, only time and skill stand between the hunter and the hunted. But out in the Everglades, there may be more dangers than Grace realizes.

Against all odds, Grace must make it out alive and win, or everything she holds dear could be lost.

Ligers and gators and snares, oh my!
My review of Unstoppable

SR Johannes knows exactly how to get your blood pumping while reading her books. In this third installment of the Nature of Grace series, I found myself gasping IN PUBLIC at some of her scenes. The book is that thrilling. Johannes has mastered the suspense factor, and all along showing her readers the importance of fighting for animal rights. Readers will root for Grace, bite their nails because of a liger, hold their breaths when faced with aligators, and shed a tear for a little monkey. And let's not forget the humans. All around well-written three-dimensional characters.

I really enjoyed reading this series, and I recommend it to fans of young adult thrillers, and of course to animal lovers everywhere.

Review: Son of a Mermaid by Katie O'Sullivan

Son of a Mermaid
by Katie O'Sullivan
Crescent Moon Press

Shea MacNamara's life just got complicated. After a freak tornado devastates his Oklahoma farm, the fifteen-year-old orphan is whisked away to Cape Cod. Struggling to make sense of his new surroundings, he's trying hard to deal with feelings of abandonment... and the emotions stirred by a girl he meets along the shore.

Kae belongs to an undersea world hidden from drylanders. The daughter of royal servants, she knows the planned marriage of her Princess to the foreign King should put an end to the war between the clans. But two things stand in the way of lasting peace: the ambitions of the foreign King's regent, and rumors of the Princess's bastard child. Sparks fly when she meets Shea, but could the cute drylander really be the Son of a Mermaid?

I don't think I've ever read a mermaid book before. I remember watching the original Little Mermaid movie (long before the Disney movie came out), but as far as books go, mermaids were new territory for me. That said, I really loved this book.

Shea's character is someone the reader can immediately sympathize with. A tornado claims his father, and because his mother "abandoned" him when he was young, Shea needs to move to Cape Cod to live with his grandmother. That's when he meets Kae. Soon things move forward until Shea discovers not only is Kae a mermaid, but he's the son of one. But the plot goes deeper when Shea discovers there's a secret war taking place below the ocean's surface.

O'Sullivan's description of an underwater world was intriguing, and I felt as though I was right there swimming along with Shea and Kae. I love the image the writer's words created in my mind when the two main characters' legs transformed to mermaid tails. There's plenty of drama and tension too, as the main characters attempt to disrupt the betrayal and scheming taking place in the royal underwater kingdoms.

This was a great read, and I can't wait to read the sequel. I recommend it to anyone who's into mermaid tales (pun intended) and those looking for a different spin on a paranormal read.

Review and Giveaway: The Path Unchosen by Kim Cleary

If you're a fan of the very non-YA Herculine series, this story will grab you and hold tight from the very beginning. Written in the gothic style complete with meaningful glances, and heavy on the atmosphere and accessible sensory detail, Cleary builds a post-apocolyptic throwback world where the rules have changed with energy. Something in her world building puts me in mind of The Dearly Departed series.

I admit, ever since my earliest Necromancer books, they've had a special place in my heart, so opening with Judy, a young natural necromancer being raised in a convent orphanage, it nestled right into that place in my heart and I decided from the beginning that Judy and I were going to be good friends. I liked that she was a straightforward girl and that Cleary never pretends that she has the sort of omnipotence of a character, but instead Judy has the attention span of a real person who misses details and daydreams. She reminded me a little of Jane Eyre. Jane Eyre, if she was a post-apocalyptic necromancer in a world overrun by the living dead.

On the one hand, I wanted more of the world building details and backstory, but on the other hand, I don't suppose that they're pertinent to the story if it's Judy's world and she accepts it. A book about my life wouldn't include the entire social history that led to the conditions in which I live with the technology we enjoy and the epidemiology associated  with the diseases we currently face.

All and all, it's an interesting read with some tea and biscuits before bedtime, you know, if zombies, intrigue, and the casual raising of the dead won't give you too many nightmares.


Check out the Path Unchosen Blog Tour's giveaway below if you'd like to enter to win your very own copy.



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Review: Dead Dreams, by Emma Right

When Brie O'Mara decides to strike out on her own at eighteen, rather than stay under the wing of her religious and overprotective family to forge her own path to realizing her dreams,she may have made a mistake that could kill more than just those dreams. Dead Dreams, the first book in Emma Right's New Adult psychological thriller series, raises questions and the hair on the back of your neck.

Throughout, Right keeps readers holding their breath and tense through heavy foreshadowing and Brie's painful naivete. Dead Dreams surprised me in a good way. Although I didn't feel particularly close to Brie, I caught myself reading in full nerves mode, waiting for the inevitable turn. Though at times the story begins to get bogged down in tiny details, we all know that the details are what solves the mystery.

Because the story is told from the prospective of the main character with hindsight, Brie often clues the reader in as to what s/he should be looking for in the upcoming chapter, drawing attention directly to clues and details, which makes it easy to keep up with the story. However, if you're the type of reader who likes to stumble on the important clues without being fed them, that may detract from the story.

What I found the most interesting is the dialogue throughout the text between Brie and her mother's pastor, dealing with the nature of dreams and prophecy in Brie's daily life. The layering of types of dreams and the interpretation of those dreams within the scope of Brie's distance from the faith of her family made for an interesting angle from which to view her choices.

All in all, it was a quick, tense read that left me with a lot of questions. Unfortunately, they will have to wait for the second book in the series.




Dead Dreams is available through Amazon and Barnes and Noble.

Review: Two Brothers:Origin by Sofia Diana Gabel

For some kids, the first day of school is about a change of routine. For Argus and Tai, a pair of formerly homeschooled twins, the first day of school changes everything. In Two Brothers: Origin, Sofia Diana Gabel's science-fantasy novel about what it means to be human, even when you aren't, Argus and Tai face down their first encounters with the public school system, bullying, and classism. While their polite demeanor and naivety probably strike their classmates as disingenuous, and at first brush the reader as implausible, in the end, their unlikely characteristics underscore the otherness that defines their struggle to belong.

Orphaned and raised by a helicopter aunt, Argus and Tai are growing into the powers that make them different, which catches the attention of a government agency set on finding proof of extraterrestrials, and the boys find themselves the subject of investigation by an obsessive agent who is trying to use his hunch about one of the boys to salvage what is left of his broken career.

I like the premise of this story. I like that Gabel tackles the question of whether or not we are alone in this universe with a vehement no, and builds on it in the tradition of one of my favorite rainy day guilty pleasures- Ancient Aliens, suggesting that not only are we not alone in the universe, but that an alien race has been with us since the beginning. I like the way she wove the story of the Dachel brothers into the greater tapestry of human history and myth.

Though some of the powers the boys develop seem, at best, stalkerly, and a few scenes seem to be told in real time, and a lot of problems come from unusually poor decision making skills on the part of both Argus and Tai, the story moves along at a good clip, exposing some of the things that are the most blatantly wrong with schools right now.

Young readers will enjoy reading along as the Dachel twins come into their own and navigate the new world they never dreamed existed, and older readers will feel for the plight of their Aunt and the agent trying to come back from a failed marriage by achieving what no one else with a boss as obnoxious as his could hope to accomplish.

Review: Hunted: Cycle Thirteen Book 1, by Jill Kaelin

Way way back, many centuries ago, possibly as early as the 1980s, but I'm not sure I want to admit to my venerable age, I used to watch The Last Unicorn. I loved the notion of this fabled species and the unicorn who looked like a woman, and her battle to save her species from extinction. It augmented an already solid love for unicorns. Yes, I had the full unicorns bedding ensamble, including the canopy. I don't know how many times I've watched Legend, just for the unicorns. I grew up loving stories that contained them, but as a rule, they were high fantasy or written for children. Unicorns in YA are not exactly the most common thing. Angels? Yep. Vampires? Sure thing. Witches? You betcha. Dystopian futurism with technological wonderment? Whole shelves at the library. Unicorns? Not so much, well, except maybe Harry Potter. So, when I had the opportunity to read Jill Kaelin's take on one of my beloved mythical creatures (right up there with mermaids, I kid you not), I was excited, but cautiously so. I mean, really, how are you going to do YA about unicorns that doesn't involve a stable and possibly gallivanting through a high-fantasy background?

Well, Kaelin did it. Chronicling the thirteenth life of a modern day teenage girl, Skye, Jill Kaelin's novel Hunted: Cycle Thirteen Book 1 reintroduces the anthropomorphic unicorn and their unusual mystical powers in a story which creates urgency and an appreciation for the finer points of the unicorn mythos, such as the strong link between unicorns and virginity with a nod to Skye's purity ring and the notion that most unicorns are created, not born.

If you love tales of unicorns, shapeshifters, classic myths reimagined for today, and a good old fashioned girl meets boy meets insurmountable odds and no small amount of danger, it's a good book for you.

Review: The Girl with the Iron Touch, by Kady Cross

Kady Cross' much awaited sequel to The Girl in the Clockwork Collar, The Girl with the Iron Touch brings the unapologeticly steampunk feel to a London adventure that spans from Mayfair to Whitechapel, and unearths new secrets in the London Underground. As a woman with a soft spot for the London Underground (have you seen the National Geographic article?), this book certainly touched on some of my favorite themes: Aether, SCOUSes, that's Sea Creatures of Unusual Size, in case you were wondering, Automotons, and philosophy.

The Girl with the Iron Touch revisits all of the story's past dealings in one way or another, Finley even remarks on parallels between the dilemma they are faced with and one she overcame on her own in The Strange Case of Finley Jane, which remains my favorite of the tales from Cross' The Steampunk Chronicles. That said, with the character of Endeavor 312, The Gril with the Iron Touch examines one of my favorite questions in speculative fiction: what does it mean to be human?

Enjoyable, as expected by any novel coming from the pen of Kady Cross, my one reservation is that Finley, Griff, Emily and Sam seem to be spending a little too much time letting their hormones get in the way of their better judgment, and the plot. Yes, the fact that this is a Harlequin TEEN novel means that I shouldn't be surprised, but I missed the slow build of the awkward tension which typified The Girl in the Steel Corset and The Girl in the Clockwork Collar.

Now, I'm going to go find a copy of The Dark Discovery of Jack Dandy, because somehow I didn't know this existed until a moment ago, and my logic engine tells me it is imperative that I read it.

Review: The Puppet Spell by Emma L. Adams

The Puppet Spell, a through the looking glass styled otherworldly adventure by Emma L. Adams, begins in the all too familiar everyday nomadic world all too familiar to so many of today's youth: uncertainty, guardianship, eviction, strained family relationships, and high school. Of course, when your uncle has an enchanted secret laboratory and a pet cat with an uncanny understanding of what is going on around him, those mundane details can't stay humdrum for long. Told from the point of view of Lexa, a dependable, geeky, and imaginative girl whose twin sister, Lucinda, is anything but, The Puppet Spell is told with awe and excitement for adventure.

When Lucinda steals an invisibility potion from her uncle's secret cache of otherworldly items, Lexa, with the help of her trusty guy-friend Marlon, sets off on the adventure of her life to try to find her sister, accompanied by the house cat who is more than he seems. In the other world they'll discover deception, illusion, political intrigue, magic, and that their frumpy uncle was never really a computer tech, all of which will bring Lexa's family closer together, and leave them sundered in ways she never could have forseen when they first moved into the flat with the secret room.

I enjoyed Adams' world building, and that the tone, pace, and movement of the story reminded me so much of role playing. The Fae's reliance on illusion to sculpt the world around them reminded me of the meticulous nature of a Game Master's world building, and that set this book apart from other stories in which a group of adventurers goes on an adventure that no one back home would ever believe.  If you decide to go along with Adams, be forewarned, you may never look at long walks through the woods quite the same way.

Review: Kiss of Fire by Rebecca L. Ethington

Kiss of Fire, the swift moving first book in the Imdalind series by Rebecca Ethington made me smile, a lot. From the begining, Jocyln, the 16 year old protagonist, comes off as a full fledged character full of strengths, quirks, insecurities, and an unusual combination of self assured boldness and a deeply ingrained compulsion to avoid notice. Throughout the Kiss of Fire, I enjoyed watching Jocyln overcome the walls she's built around herself and begin to learn how to let people in and even trust.

Of course, a paranormal/urban fantasy  novel wouldn't be complete without the complicated love interests, social drama, strained family relationships, and magic: Kiss of Fire more than delivers.

Estranged from the father who walked away after her mysterious childhood coma, seemingly because of the bizarre scar that was the only physical reminder of that time, and living with the hardworking mother who still loves her ten years absent husband, Jocyln spends a lot of time home alone or hanging at her mom's workplace, the kitchen of an outrageously wealthy man whose son became her only friend.
Of course, even best friends keep secrets, and Jocyln is hiding more than her fateful scar under her hoodie. She's also hiding the burden of her missing father's apparent madness, her own fears regarding her sanity, and the feelings she knows can come to nothing. Of course, those are small secrets compared to Ryland's.

Ethington's approach to the ubiquitous wealth and privilege endemic to the genre surprised me. As soon as I read that Jocyln's world lies tangent to the extremely wealthy and powerful family for whom her mom works, I worried that the story would devolve into a tag-along tale in which a regular girl from a working family background gets to spend her time with the extremely privileged. Let's face it, we all read Twilight, and as a reader, I can only take so much "I'm not worthy." That's why I was delighted that in Kiss of Fire, while there are times when they come out and say "you're not worthy," Jocyln never took that notion into her personal world view, and neither did her best friend, said wealthy, handsome, smart, funny, able bodied Ryland. I was even more delighted as the plot unfolded and the heavy cost of Ryland's privilege unfolded.

I'm a big fan of leading ladies who make their own decisions, and while just about everyone tried to boss Jocyln around, and though she did, ultimately, tend to comply, she did so with agency. I liked the way that Ethington dealt with Jocyln's emotions, particularly dealing with her transition from living in the world as we know it into one in which magic is not only a very real force, but a part of who she is. I enjoyed this book, and am looking forward to the second in the series.

Review: Owlet by Emma Michaels

Fragility can be it's own strength, and in Owlet, by Emma Michaels, Iris, a seventeen year old girl who has grown up secluded and weakened by debilitating asthma finds herself waking into the adventure of her dreams while beginning to discover her true strengths in a past which has been kept from her. On her own island of Never-Never, Iris begins to face the past she lost and the improbable future ahead of her while under the threat of the Eyrie, which wants her dead. Enchanted by her once-would-be assassin, she faces this new world with an unbridled thirst for the truth, even when the answers may be more dark or peculiar than the tragic past she'd constructed to fill in the gaps in her memory.

Written in lavish prose, Owlet moves between dreams and the present with fluidity and grace. The author uses poetry and song to weave a spellbinding and emotionally charged journey on a far away island that juxtaposes the surreal with the mundane. After all, Never Never is still close enough to get Chinese take-out.

My one reservation is that for much of Owlet , the first book in the Society of Feathers series, the story happens to Iris, with little agency on her own part. Debilitated with each exertion and constantly being watched and micromanaged, even half of her soul bosses her around without her own full understanding or complicity. Iris' amnesia provides a good mechanism for learning about her world as she does, but in keeping the main character in the dark about so many things, while relying on dream revelation and the monologue of others, the story does not move forward so much as it unfolds around Iris. At one point, her inner voice reminds her, "You are not inadequate: you are perfectly Iris," though at that time, she is very much the helpless damsel in distress, having not yet come into her own strength.

I enjoyed the dreamlike prose and Micahels' subtle approach to the paranormal and modern fantasy YA genres. I like that Michaels chose to write a differently abled lead character, reminding readers that fantastical adventures and beautiful new worlds are not reserved for the demigods among us, but even the slightly frail and less than hale. I am looking forward to the continuation of the series, and am optimistic that reading along as Iris grows into her potential will be a satisfying fairytale.