Review: Dust Girl

Dust Girl: American Fairy Trilogy 1 by Sarah Zettel is the 3rd book I've been lucky enough to read for the 2012 Debut Author Challenge.  While author Sarah Zettel has adult books (always sounds weird) published, this is her first novel for teenagers.

Here is the summary from Goodreads:
This new trilogy will capture the hearts of readers who adore Libba Bray's Gemma Doyle series. Callie LeRoux lives in Slow Run, Kansas, helping her mother run their small hotel and trying not to think about the father she's never met. Lately all of her energy is spent battling the constant storms plaguing the Dust Bowl and their effects on her health. Callie is left alone, when her mother goes missing in a dust storm. Her only hope comes from a mysterious man offering a few clues about her destiny and the path she must take to find her parents in "the golden hills of the west" (California). Along the way she meets Jack a young hobo boy who is happy to keep her company—there are dangerous, desperate people at every turn. And there's also an otherworldly threat to Callie. Warring fae factions, attached to the creative communities of American society, are very aware of the role this half-mortal, half-fae teenage girl plays in their fate.

I really liked the first two-thirds of this book.  I thought the premise of the story was interesting, I liked how the characters interacted, I liked how the Seelie fae were "bad" and the Unseelie were "good", and in general, kept me guessing.  Something happened though, and I just didn't like the ending and entire last third.  I really can't put my finger on it, it just lost its magic (for me) by the end.

I'm interested in seeing how the second and third books in the trilogy play out, so I guess the story interested me enough to make me want that, I'm not turned off completely.  Sometimes one book in a series just isn't as good as the others.

Publication information:
Date:  June 26, 2012
Pages: 336
ISBN: 9780375869389


I downloaded this book from NetGalley for free in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Review: The Wicked and The Just by J. Anderson Coats

I love historical fiction.  Its probably one of my favorite genres of fiction to read.  I love history, but historical fiction gives more of a "human" twist to the dusty old textbook history.   

For some odd reason, I really like early British history (ok, I'm blaming it jointly on my obsession with the Robin Hood legend and my love of Elizabeth Chadwick's book, The Wild Hunt, which to this day, I highly recommend).  When I saw The Wicked and The Just by J. Anderson Coats on Netgalley, I thought this book would be right up my alley.  I hate to say it, but I was a little let down.

 

Here is the summary from Amazon:

Cecily’s father has ruined her life. He’s moving them to occupied Wales, where the
king needs good strong Englishmen to keep down the vicious Welshmen. At least
Cecily will finally be the lady of the house.
Gwenhwyfar knows all about that house. Once she dreamed of being the lady there
herself, until the English destroyed the lives of everyone she knows. Now she must
wait hand and foot on this bratty English girl.
While Cecily struggles to find her place amongst the snobby English landowners,
Gwenhwyfar struggles just to survive. And outside the city walls, tensions are rising
ever higher—until finally they must reach the breaking point.

While the book was obviously wonderfully researched and historically accurate, I had a really hard time sympathizing with the characters.

Throughout much of the book, Cecily (read to me) as a spoiled little brat.  Her "good" side (helping Gryffud and Gwenhwyfar) didn't really come out until the very, very end.  Instead of being nice and good, she playacted.  Instead of coming across as head-strong/strong willed, I felt it more spoiled.  Even at the end (I'm not going to say what happened), but at the very end, after a tragic event when I, the reader should be filled with sympathy for her, barely felt a twinge because she became whiny and demanding.

Gwenhwyfar, I'm sure, was meant to draw more sympathy and to be a strong woman character.  She didn't read that way to me.  She read as a revenge driven woman who will stop at nothing, and who is blinded by their notion of revenge.

Like I said, I loved the actual history of the book.  I just couldn't form an attachment to the characters, and because of that, really didn't enjoy the book.  You, dear reader, very well may. 

The Wicked and The Just is a Debut Author Challenge novel that I downloaded for free via Netgalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.  

It comes out April 17th.

Review: Slide by Jill Hathaway

Slide by Jill Hathaway is a 2012 debut.  Its a fast paced murder mystery that kept me guessing until the end.

Here is the summary from amazon:

She sees through the eyes of a killer…Vee Bell hates having narcolepsy. But collapsing at school is nowhere near as bad as the truth. When Vee passes out she slides randomly into other’s people’s heads and ends up seeing through their eyes. So when Vee finds herself in the head of a killer, standing over the body of a cheerleader, she’s beyond freaked.Vee knows that this was no suicide. And when another cheerleader turns up dead, everyone is a suspect. Struggling to understand her terrifying and unwanted ‘gift’, Vee is tangled in a web of secrets, lies and danger…

Slide really surprised me.  I got about 60 pages in and declared, "I know who the killer is and I know why he's doing it!"  Boy was I wrong!  I HATE guessing the killer before the big reveal (ok, only sometimes, watching tv and figuring it out before my husband makes me feel smart).  But books are different, you have to do so much more groundwork to make a convincing killer and Ms. Hathaway did that.

There were times where I felt I had read this before, that it reminded me of another YA series.  But, it was different enough, there was enough of a unique spin, that I wanted to keep reading. 

All in all a very enjoyable read. 

Please note:  I downloaded this book for free via NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Review: Me and Earl and the Dying Girl

Me and Earl and the Dying Girl by Jesse Andrews is a look at how cancer affects everyone else.

From Amazon:

Up until senior year, Greg has maintained total social invisibility. He only has one friend, Earl, and together they spend their time—when not playing video games and avoiding Earl’s terrifying brothers— making movies, their own versions of Coppola and Herzog cult classics. Greg would be the first one to tell you his movies are f*@$ing terrible, but he and Earl don’t make them for other people. Until Rachel.
Rachel has leukemia, and Greg’s mom gets the genius idea that Greg should befriend her. Against his better judgment and despite his extreme awkwardness, he does. When Rachel decides to stop treatment, Greg and Earl make her a movie, and Greg must abandon invisibility and make a stand. It’s a hilarious, outrageous, and truthful look at death and high school by a prodigiously talented debut author.

I picked up this book from NetGalley (in exchange for a fair and honest review) for two reasons:  1) its a debut author book and, 2) I had heard good buzz on twitter.

I'm having a hard time writing this review as I really can't say if I liked the book or not.  I liked parts of it.  But I don't think I liked it as a whole. 

I found parts of it funny.  I liked how it took an increasingly occuring situtation (friend with cancer) and told it from the perspective of someone on the outside---watching what was happening and the emotions that went with it. 

On the flip side, I found it hard to follow---moving from past to present, real life to screen play---was kind of confusing.  As for the characters, I feel like Greg ment well, but at times, he came across as uncaring and selfish.  I'm glad he had his big character transformation / realization at the end, but it was almost a little too late. 

I guess what I'm trying to say is, while I didn't like it, I'm sure there are others out there who do / would.  I would never discourage anyone from reading it, but I'm not going to read it again.



Review: Above World by Jenn Reese

 I read Above World by Jenn Reese as part of the 2012 Debut Author Challenge.  I was part of an ARC (advanced reader's copy) tour (more information about the DAC or DAC ARC tours).

The ARC tour works like this:  first, you must be participating in the DAC.  Then you go to the ARC tour blog, take a look at the ARCS available, sign up for those that you think sound interesting, wait for an email saying you were accepted as part of the tour, be sent the book, read it within a week time frame, and send it to the next person on the tour with delivery confirmation.

So anyway, all that being said---I got Above World last Friday in the mail.  I was so excited to read this as the blurb just sounded so interesting.  I was not disappointed!

Here is the summary from Goodreads:
A suspenseful sci-fi escapade plucks two children out of the ocean for a thrilling adventure.
Thirteen-year-old Aluna has lived her entire life under the ocean with the Coral Kampii in the City of Shifting Tides. But after centuries spent hidden from the Above World, her colony's survival is at risk. The Kampii's breathing necklaces are failing, but the elders are unwilling to venture above water to seek answers. Only headstrong Aluna and her friend Hoku are stubborn and bold enough to face the terrors of land to search for way to save their people. But can Aluna's fierce determination and fighting skills and Hoku's tech-savvy keep them safe? Set in a world where overcrowding has led humans to adapt - growing tails to live under the ocean or wings to live on mountains - here is a ride through a future where greed and cruelty have gone unchecked, but the loyalty of friends remains true.

So, after my head stopped spinning over people living under the ocean (DON"T CALL THEM MERMAIDS!!!!!!!!), bird people, horse people and people that were part machine part human (cyborgs?) all fighting in a post-apocolyptic world (humans were becoming increasingly rare), I really got in to this book!  


For me, all the fighting and adventure boils down to just a few simple things:  survive, family is important, even though we're all different we're all the same inside, and don't become so caught up in whatever that you lose your humanity.   For Aluna, keeping her humanity---her sense of right and wrong / just and unjust was the easy part.  It was remembering that while our family has the capacity to hurt us the most, it also has the capacity to give us the most love that was hard.  In the end, she traded her freedom for the life of her sister and the ultimate good of her people.  

In looking back at a lot of my reviews, I talk about how strong a character is and that's why I liked them so much.  Today, I'm not going to do that.  Oh sure, I could go on and on about the warrior Aluna, how she went from a headstrong girl to a thoughful and charismatic young woman, but I would like to talk more about Hoku and Callie.  Both are described, or thought of, as weak --- because they like books and learning, and not fighting.  But, they play two of the most pivotal rolls in the story.  Without Hoku or Callie, the battle would have been lost.  So yay geeks!  Just because you aren't out there kicking butt and taking names every day doesn't mean you aren't important, or are just the side-kick.  Sometimes, as in Above World, without you, all would be lost.    


There were battles, and the fights were talked about, but it didn't go in to the gory detail.


I don't know where the book took place, but I imagined it off the coast of California.  I guess I figured the water was warmer there, there were mountains for the aviars and deserts for the horse and snake people.

All in all, it was a great book.  I started it Friday afternoon and finished it midday Sunday.  I'd recommend it to middle school and up readers, and probably those who liked The Hunger Games.  That being said---know your reader, what they like and what they can handle. 

Review: The Whole Story of Half a Girl

The Whole Story of Half a Girl by Veera Hiranandani is the second book I read for the 2012 Debut Author Challenge hosted by Kristi, The Story Siren.

Here is the summary from Goodreads:
After her father loses his job, Sonia Nadhamuni, half Indian and half Jewish American, finds herself yanked out of private school and thrown into the unfamiliar world of public education. For the first time, Sonia's mixed heritage makes her classmates ask questions—questions Sonia doesn't always know how to answer—as she navigates between a group of popular girls who want her to try out for the cheerleading squad and other students who aren't part of the "in" crowd.

At the same time that Sonia is trying to make new friends, she's dealing with what it means to have an out-of-work parent—it's hard for her family to adjust to their changed circumstances. And then, one day, Sonia's father goes missing. Now Sonia wonders if she ever really knew him. As she begins to look for answers, she must decide what really matters and who her true friends are—and whether her two halves, no matter how different, can make her a whole.

I don't know where to start with this review.  I thought the book was ok, but I wasn't overly wowed.  However, I can see how Middle Schoolers would connect with Sonia and really understand what she is going through.  There were times when I really liked Sonia, but there were times when I just wished she would snap out of it.  But again, thats middle school (and quite possibly why I don't teach middle school).

It wasn't the worst book I ever read, nor was it the best.  However, I would recommend it to my students.  

Publication date:  January 10, 2012

I was able to download this book for free via Netgalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.  

Review: The Gathering Storm (Katerina Trilogy #1)

This is the first book I read and reviewed for the 2012 Debut Author's Challenge hosted by Kristi, The Story Siren and, can I just say, it was great!  I couldn't put The Gathering Storm (Katerina Trilogy #1) by Robin Bridges down!

Here is the summary from Goodreads:
St. Petersburg, Russia, 1888. As she attends a whirl of glittering balls, royal debutante Katerina Alexandrovna, Duchess of Oldenburg, tries to hide a dark secret: she can raise the dead. No one knows. Not her family. Not the girls at her finishing school. Not the tsar or anyone in her aristocratic circle. Katerina considers her talent a curse, not a gift. But when she uses her special skill to protect a member of the Imperial Family, she finds herself caught in a web of intrigue.

An evil presence is growing within Europe's royal bloodlines—and those aligned with the darkness threaten to topple the tsar. Suddenly Katerina's strength as a necromancer attracts attention from unwelcome sources . . . including two young men—George Alexandrovich, the tsar's standoffish middle son, who needs Katerina's help to safeguard Russia, even if he's repelled by her secret, and the dashing Prince Danilo, heir to the throne of Montenegro, to whom Katerina feels inexplicably drawn.

The time has come for Katerina to embrace her power, but which side will she choose—and to whom will she give her heart?

When my husband asked me what I was reading, I described it by saying, "Well, you know how I like Russian mythology and history?  Ok, it has that, and vampires, but not the stupid sparkly kind and alot of other dark creatures like that.  But its not stupid.  It all makes sense and it tied together well."  After a wonderful description like that, I don't know why he didn't fight me for my iPad right then and there to read it.  Lets see if I can give you a better one....


I loved Katerina.  She was strong, but not hard.  She loved her family and was intelligent and kind.  She wasn't snarky, but she also wasn't perfect.  I loved that she wanted to be a doctor, and that the ending wasn't your typical "love" story ending (oh yeah, there was a little bit of romance, who wouldn't fall for a handsome prince?)


The only thing I didn't like about the book could quite possibly been a formatting or "Amanda just didn't read closely enough" error.  There were a couple things that I didn't think were explained just mentioned, but then a few chapters later, were mentioned again in a different context and you were supposed to make the connection.  I know thats really vague, but I didn't want to give anything away.


I would definitely recommend this to others.  If I had time, this would be one that I would read again.

Publication Date:  January 10, 2012

I downloaded this book for free from NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

2012 Debut Author Challenge

I did it!  After debating all Wednesday morning, I said, "What the hay?!" and signed up for the 2012 Debut Author Challenge hosted by Kristi, The Story Siren.

To participate, first read these guidelines (and then go sign up on The Story Siren page!)

*Our objective: 

To read and review a minimum of 12 2012 middle grades or YA debut books between January 1, 2012 and January 31, 2013.

*Rules

*You must have a blog, or be a goodreads member, in order to post your reviews.

*The blog must be written in English

*Sign up by May 31, 2012

*Book Guidelines

*Must be a middle grade or young adult book

*Must be the authors MG or YA debut in 2012 (if they have adult or picture/early chapter books published, they still qualify, as it must be the MG or YA debut, but if they have published another MG or YA book before it does not)

In this post by Kristi, you can find links to pdf files for US, UK/Ireland and Canadian debut.  You can also find the rules and regs and other info there too.