First off, I'd just like to say that although I haven't read a lot of verse novels, I do enjoy them. And this one was no exception.
You Are Not Here beFirst off, I'd just like to say that although I haven't read a lot of verse novels, I do enjoy them. And this one was no exception.
You Are Not Here begins with Annaleah going to visit her boyfriend, Brian, whom she's been seeing for the past few months. Except this time, she's going to visit his grave. Brian's passing has left a hole in Annaleah's heart, and she's not sure how to move on without him.
This novel alternates between the past and the present: It tells how Annaleah met Brian, and how she's living now that he's gone. I felt Annaleah's grief while reading this. As with any novel that deals with loss and death, You Are Not Here shows all of the emotions and irrational thoughts that one has when they've lost someone there're close to.
Later on in the novel you find out that maybe Annaleah's relationship with Brian wasn't all she believed it to be. This and some kind words offered by Brian's grandmother are what I believe ultimately helped Annaleah to start to cope with her loss and begin the healing process that eventually comes after someone's passing. There's also a new love interest that Annaleah meets towards the end of the novel that I feel really helped me like this story better.
And as with all verse novels you don't get the deep connection or nearly enough time to get used to the characters, but even though this isn't a character driven novel, I still feel that it was beautifully written and I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys verse novels.
Below are some of my favorite quotes from You Are Not Here:
There is a pain under my left rib. I wonder if it's because my belly is empty. Or maybe it's because all of me is empty. My tear ducts are empty. I can't imagine that I will ever have any more tears to cry. My heart is empty. But my brain --- my brain is full. It races with thoughts of what could have been.
Firefiles blink Morse code messages from Brian. Crickets chirp notes that when read on a scale surely have meaning. Unfortunately, I don't speak their language.
Often times, when an author is highly talented in their genre, they don't do as well when trying their hand at another. Especially when the two genresOften times, when an author is highly talented in their genre, they don't do as well when trying their hand at another. Especially when the two genres in question are as dissimilar as realism and fantasy. Naturally, this sort of thing isn't a problem for an author like Melina Marchetta. As if being the fan proclaimed Queen of YA realistic fiction wasn't enough, she had to go and write Finnikin of the Rock and prove to her fans and critics alike that labels and genres mean nothing to her, that she's in the top tier no matter what the task calls for. Bravo, Marchetta. Bravo.
In the land of Skuldenore, there is a kingdom called Lumatere. Like all kingdoms, there is a King and Queen who rule over its people. These people and their rulers were happy until the day when a neighboring kingdom's rulers decided to use Lumatere as the means to eventually take over another kingdom, Belegonia. This leads to the slaughter of the King and Queen and their heirs, and soon after they are replaced by an imposter king and the majority of Lumatere's people become exiles. This is the ground work for what promises to be an epic fantasy saga.
I can't say that I expected anything less than a remarkable male lead from Marchetta (especially after recently meeting Jonah Griggs in another one of Marchetta's masterpieces, Jellicoe Road), but Finnikin still took me by surprise. I imagine it is very different and probably much more difficult to write a character in a fantasy world than in the real world, and for this reason I was curious to see how Finnikin would compare to Marchetta's other male characters. It turns out that he is just as brilliantly crafted as his competition. He feels envy, lust, and rage, just as any human does. But those emotions are equally matched by his level of compassion, endurance, and love for his father, his homeland, and one lucky lady. And what a lady Evanjalin is! She stirs the blood of the hopeless exiles and gets them on their feet and fighting. She carries a heavy burden, of which is unbeknownst to the reader for most of the novel, but she is resolute in her quest to restore the kingdom of Lumatere. I always appreciate characters who make you want to stand up and right the wrongs in the world, and Evanjalin's fierce determination did just that for me.
Because of her fabulous and utterly realistic portrayals of human life, Marchetta has garnered a legion of the most devoted fans an author could ask for. And I am proud to say that I'm among them. I'll be perilously balanced on the edge of my seat until the release of Froi of the Exiles.
P.S. If you'd like some snippets of info on Froi's book to tide you over until its release, check out this and this....more
You know how if you eat too many sweets you eventually throw up? Well, I think that's where I'm at with the paranormal romance genre. It just isn't foYou know how if you eat too many sweets you eventually throw up? Well, I think that's where I'm at with the paranormal romance genre. It just isn't for me anymore. Angels' Blood is listed as an "urban fantasy with romance" - well, I'm here to tell you that if this is urban fantasy, I'm Donald Trump needlessly living out my writing fantasies by having a GR account as a girl named Lora. It is ridiculous to call Angels' Blood an urban fantasy. It has all of the classic PR traits: an oversexed, dangerously attractive "hero" whose past issues account for his boorish attitude and make him oh so mysteriously erotic; a cookie-cutter heroine with nothing interesting about her except that every male within a ten mile radius wants to bonk her; a "romance" between said hero and heroine that wouldn't even exist if they both weren't so horny; a paranormal "story" that is seriously overshadowed by myriad scenes of near sex encounters, sexual innuendos and double entendres - and the aforesaid are all just the prelude to The Real Thing. Any chance that Singh might have had at writing a good, entertaining, well thought out UF series went right out the window when she chose to go the paranormal romance route; at least, IMHO. I was ²Ô²¹Ã¯±¹±ð±ô²â hoping that this series would be reminiscent of the Fever series: a flawed heroine with a lot to learn but equal amounts of potential; a hero(?) that is mysterious and, yes, rude, but that has good reason for the way he is (albeit unknown to the reader as of yet); and, most of all, a world that is intriguing and maybe (dare I hope?) semioriginal. IMO, you get none of that with Singh's Angels' Blood.
In Singh's Guild Hunter series, the entire world's population is not only aware of angels, they are also ruled by them. Angels are . All government officials - be they mayors or presidents, ambassadors or prime minesters - are just for show, apparantly. This idea actually sounded appealing to me - except - it is all abandoned for countless scenes of sexual tension and talk of how panties-melting Raphael is. It also bothered me that it is set in our current world; for some reason I've never been able to like something where the author has created a completely different existence for people in the present. I don't know what you would call this besides an alternate universe, but it seriously irritates me. Also, there is no explanation for where the angels come from, their origins, who made them - only that they are "all powerful" and have been in existence for eons.
And if you extracted all of the passages dedicated to Raphael's "menacing gaze" and the sentences about how "lethally attractive" (Yes! He's so attractive you'll DIE if you look at him too long! "Help me! I'm dying and swooning at the same time! It's a horrible juxtaposition!") he is, you'd literally end up with half of Angels' Blood. There is that much page time spent on how he looks and the affect he has on Elena.
The thing is, I sincerely tried; I tried to ignore the endless sexual interludes and references to Raphael's scorching masculinity in order to attempt to find an actual plot somewhere in the mess; I tried to give Angels' Blood the benefit of the doubt because I figure that the urban fantasy genre will only become more sex oriented as people (women) continue to purchase this type of "literature." But, in the end, I have to be honest and say that I'm looking for an actual story with some depth and world building and character development as apposed to just a sh!tload of halfway sex scenes that lead up to The Real Thing.
And, whenever the story does finally start to gain some focus, it's basically just a lot of macabre scenes with people strung up with their entrails taken out. It was like I kept getting slapped in the face with sex sex sex and then gore gore gore. And there's even a reference to necrophilia!
Bottom line, Angels' Blood just wasn't for me....more
Enclave's premise drew my attention more than a lot of the other, more hyped YA dystopias. And I believe that most of it lived up to my expectations.
EEnclave's premise drew my attention more than a lot of the other, more hyped YA dystopias. And I believe that most of it lived up to my expectations.
Enclave starts with Deuce - or rather, at the time, Girl15 - en route to her naming ceremony. In the enclave, your name is merely your gender and an exclusive number. But if you're lucky enough to make it to the age of fifteen, you get a real name. Six cuts, three on each forearm - these are the marks that make you a Hunter or Huntress. It has been Deuce's ambition to become a Huntress for as long as she can remember, but soon after she is inducted into the ranks of the Hunters, she begins to realize that maybe the ways of the enclave and the elders that have raised and trained her aren't what they seem; that maybe their teachings and rules are as misleading and corrupt as they are false. And if that isn't disconcerting enough, the Freaks - the terrible monsters that lurk in the tunnels outside of the enclave, the very ones she has been trained to kill - have begun to show signs of intelligence.
Almost immediately after Deuce becomes a Huntress, she is paired up with Fade. Fade is aloof and mysterious, and because of that he is ostracized from the rest of the Hunters, and when Deuce becomes his partner she soon realizes that she will forever be treated in kind simply because of association. Deuce's character is much more practical and level-headed than most heroines in YA lit. She reminds me of Katsa from Graceling. It's amazing how much Aguirre doesn't focus on the romance. I don't know if it's because of the genre, or simply because the author isn't trying to cash-in on the current romance fad, but Deuce doesn't spend the majority of the novel fantasizing about Fade's physique and having fifteen-year-old hot flashes over his mere proximity. I found this fact very refreshing. And there's no love triangle! I was very pleased that there's no love triangle. (view spoiler)[Or at least until the author decided to add one! Why? There are so many love triangles in the YA genre. I think the interlude with Stalker wasn't called for. However, I did like Deuce's reaction to Stalker's impromptu affections. She didn't seem very interested in him - but I do wish that the author would've left that out. (hide spoiler)] Deuce seems to have her head on her shoulders and she has a lot of strength and determination that I think a lot of authors, unfortunately, aren't adding to their heroines. The romance is still there, but it doesn't overwhelm the rest of the story - it's just enough to add a little spice that a lot of readers (including myself) are looking for. Think of it as a perfectly seasoned pumpkin pie (and if that's not your kind of dessert, feel free to use a different analogy).
FAVORITE QUOTES: "I have your back. I didn't mean only when it's easy. All the time."
"He pushed away from the wall, skin gleaming pale in the torchlight. For a moment I wanted to put my hand over his heart so I could feel it beating, and the impluse frightened me. I took a step back."
This quote is kind of spoilery - click at your own risk. (view spoiler)[
"It doesn't burn," I whispered. In fact, it felt amazing. I hadn't bathed recently, and this was the next best thing. I started to smile. I turned slowly, admiring the flashes of light. Rain pounded against the ground until it sounded like a chorus of running feet combined with shushing whispers. I'd never heard anything so lovely."(hide spoiler)]
While Enclave is Aguirre's YA debut, it isn't her first foray into writing. Aguirre has two other adult urban fantasy series - Sirantha Jax and Corine Solomon - and her experience shows.
I must say that I utterly detest zombies. And that is basically what the Freaks are. However, Aguirre doesn't describe them as moaning, relentless, brain eating stragglers - therefore they didn't bother me. So, if you're like me and hate zombies, don't avoid this for that reason.
One of the best things I can say about Enclave - besides the writing and the characters - is the atmosphere: I didn't find it horribly depressing and/or disturbing. I tend to stray away from dystopias because of their often bleak and disquieting themes, but Enclave was anything but the aforesaid.
Sadly, Enclave - thus far - doesn't appear to be garnering the attention that a lot of other dystopias are. Especially when you compare it to the Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ' ratings of Matched (11.000+), Delirium (4.500+), and Wither (1.900+) - compare those to Enclave's 300+ ratings.
And with all of that said, you're probably wondering, why not five stars? Well, Aguirre does a good job of keeping the reader engaged, but there were times when I found myself wondering where exactly the plot (or, perhaps, lack thereof) was headed. Enclave is split into two parts, and the first half is considerably better than the second. And when things finally started to get interesting again in the second half, BAM - it was over. The ending is probably one of the most annoyingly sudden I've ever read. It's what my GR friend, Tina, would call "evil cliffy". And I wanted more of an explanation as to why (view spoiler)[almost (hide spoiler)] all of humanity chose to move underground. Not much detail is given about what exactly happened to change the world so drastically. Deuce doesn't really know, and therefore neither does the reader.
All in all, Enclave is a great start to what will hopefully be a great dystopian series. And I'm very much looking forward to its planned sequels, Outpost (currently set to release in September of next year - which I think is a really long time to wait) and Horde (set to release sometime in 2013).
And I'd like to give a shout out to the librarian who checked this out for me, who was so enthusiastic over this novel. I hope she can read it soon. :)...more
As soon as I saw , I knew I had to read this novel. Between Shades of Gray isn't the type of book I'd normally read,Actual rating: 4.5 stars
As soon as I saw , I knew I had to read this novel. Between Shades of Gray isn't the type of book I'd normally read, but I'm extremely glad that I decided to read it.
Lina is a very strong and courageous character. Despite the situation Lina is placed in at the young age of fifteen, she audaciously chooses to write about the terrible cruelties the Soviets are doing to those around her as well as her family and herself. Lina is an artist, and she uses this talent to depict the ghastly scenes she's forces to witness on a daily basis. She then hides her drawings where the , hopefully, won't find them. In this she hopes that, one day, someone will find the proof of what really occurred, and make sure that it never happens again.
I'm going to warn you, a good deal of this book is very grim and Sepetys doesn't cover up the horrors that were committed against these innocent people with euphemisms. There are quite a few shocking, disturbing, and graphic scenes in this. You'll probably want to read something light and fluffy after finishing it. But much like the title of the book and the fledging plant sprouting up from the ice covered landscape on the book's cover signifies hope, the author does a wonderful job of incorporating snippets of hope even through the most grim of times for her characters.
Interspersed with Lina's time in the slavery camps, there are bittersweet flashbacks to Lina's life before her and her family were taken by the Soviets. I think they helped to break up the scenes of abuse and heartache, making the novel more palatable to the reader. There is also a light romance in this that is both sweet and a welcome addition to a story such as this.
FAVORITE QUOTE: "I shut the bathroom door and caught sight of my face in the mirror. I had no idea how quickly it was to change, to fade. If I had, I would have stared at my reflection, memorizing it. It was the last time I would look into a real mirror for more than a decade."
Ruta Sepetys' writing is erudite, yet simple, and it flows very well. I just hope that this isn't one of those one-hit-wonder cases where the author has one story to tell and never writes anything again. I'd really like to read more from Sepetys, whether it be more stories such as this, or something completely different.
On a side note, the finished, physical copy of this (I say it in this way because some people probably have an ARC or an ebook) is quite gorgeous. The jacket seems to be made of recycled paper, so it has a very natural, rustic look and feel to it. And it has deckled edges, my favorite. :)
I think this is one of those books that will be highly praised by some (like myself), and sadly overlooked by others. It's easy to be distracted by the deluge of YA paranormal novels with the pretty covers and the pomp and heavy promotion, but, I assure you, Between Shades of Gray is more than worth your reading time.
This book reminds me just how fortunate I am to be born in the era and country that I was, and I found it very humbling. I'm glad to have had the opportunity to read it, and I highly recommend it....more
Hmm . . . I think I'm in the minority here when I say that I didn't like this.
I don't know much about the modus operandi of the law (other than what IHmm . . . I think I'm in the minority here when I say that I didn't like this.
I don't know much about the modus operandi of the law (other than what I've seen on Law & Order, naturally), but since when do police detectives and the mayor enlist the residential psychics to help solve a murder case? The police have Clare investigate the scene of the crime and have her mother read the minds of a lineup of suspects! WT . . . ? I mean, would their testimony even hold up in a court of law? I realize this is fiction, but come on—I've never heard of the police taking psychics and their "abilities" that seriously. (You can actually read more about this subject .)
Another thing that I found completely ridiculous: Clare's brother's name is Periwinkle (no shit). But, of course, his friends and family just refer to him as Perry because if the girls in town found this out he wouldn't be able to get into their pants (just to be clear, the book doesn't actually describe it like that—that's just my summarization). You see, Periwinkle, excuse me *coughs*, Perry is sowing his wild oats.
I sincerely tried to find interest in Clare's character. It wasn't a matter of liking her, I just simply didn't connect with her and, quite frankly, I found most of the characters (and the writing) rather flat. Gabriel is the typical love interest:
(What follows is the scene where Clare first sees Gabriel and his father, Detective Toscano)
"The door opened, and a man I'd never seen before came in. Tall and broad-shouldered with tan skin and black hair, he was handsome for an older man. Just as I thought that, his younger clone walked in behind him. The younger guy's walk oozed confidence and his body radiated heat. He wore low-slung jeans and a black T-shirt that clung just so to his muscular frame. As he walked past our booth, he glanced at me with his dark eyes and then cracked a small smile. I nearly melted right there in my seat."
Yep. Gabriel is a human furnace and Clare is ice cream. . . . I'm afraid I've heard that one too many times.
The only two characters I found any interest in were Nate and Justin. Nate is the boy who'll always be there for you, although Clare's too busy choosing between her ex (Justin) and the new human furnace in town to recognize him as anything more than a friend. I thought that Justin was a much more appealing choice than Gabriel. The only problem with Justin is that he cheated on Clare. And get this: Clare's mother encourages her to get back together with him! Justin's affair is described as a drunken one night stand, but, still, what kind of mother wants their daughter to get back with the boy who cheated on her?
Honestly, I'm not the kind of person who normally dislikes the paranormal genre. If you look at my shelves, you'll see that I've liked a lot of the more harshly criticized YA paranormals. This one just didn't do it for me.
To those interested in reading Clarity, I suggest you try this from your library. Who knows, you might like it more than I did....more
Haven't read a lot of romantic suspense, but this one made me want to read more. Really good.Haven't read a lot of romantic suspense, but this one made me want to read more. Really good....more
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