Release Date: February 5, 2013
Title: Unravel Me
Author: Tahereh Mafi
Pages: 480
Publisher: HarperCollins
Available: Barnes and Noble
From the Publisher: tick
tick
tick
tick
tick
it’s almost
time for war.
Juliette has escaped to Omega Point. It is a place for people like her—people with gifts—and it is also the headquarters of the rebel resistance.
She’s finally free from The Reestablishment, free from their plan to use her as a weapon, and free to love Adam. But Juliette will never be free from her lethal touch.
Or from Warner, who wants Juliette more than she ever thought possible.
In this exhilarating sequel to Shatter Me, Juliette has to make life-changing decisions between what she wants and what she thinks is right. Decisions that might involve choosing between her heart—and Adam’s life.
I knew this was going to happen.
Tahereh – why have you done this to me? Why did you have to go and make Warner human?
I purposefully chose not to read Destroy Me yet because I didn’t want to understand Warner. I didn’t want to feel warm fuzzies towards him. I didn’t want to believe that he could change and be a good person.
Now… now I don’t know what to believe. Like Juliette, I want to hate him – but I’ve seen too many glimpses inside his head and just can’t anymore.
Which makes me dread reading Destroy Me that much more.
The interactions between Juliette and Warner are truly what made this book.
I also really enjoyed the scenes between Kenji and Juliette. Finally there’s someone who isn’t afraid of her and will tell her the truth about the world and her place in it. For awhile, I was right there with her and angry at Castle and the position he was putting her in – but Kenji set us both in our place. I appreciate that he would be that honest with her. I wish Castle was that open and honest, considering he’s the leader of the compound. But I do think he should be more understanding of what Juliette has been through in her life.
I devoured this book in a single sitting. It’s not perfect; some world building aspects are under developed for the sake of the character development. But I’m okay with that when I think about it because the character development is so brilliantly done.
There is one significant plot twist, and I can’t help but wonder how it will effect the outcome of the third novel. I can’t wait to find out!
And let me tell you – Ms. Mafi knows how to write a steamy-as-hell love scene. That’s all I have to say about that.
Other Reviews:
Release Date: January 22, 2013
Title: Ever After
Author: Kim Harrison
Pages: 435
Publisher: HarperCollins/HarperVoyager
Available: Barnes and Noble
From the Publisher: The ever-after, the demonic realm that parallels our own, is shrinking, and if it disappears, so does all magic. It’s up to witch-turned-daywalking-demon Rachel Morgan to fix the ever-after before the fragile balance between magic users and humans falls apart.
Of course, there’s also the small fact that Rachel is the one who caused the ley line to rip in the first place, and her life is forfeit unless she can fix it. Not to mention the most powerful demon in the ever-after—the soul-eater Ku’Sox Sha-Ku’ru—has vowed to destroy her, and has kidnapped her friend and her goddaughter as leverage. If Rachel doesn’t give herself up, they will die.
First things first. I’M BACK! Yes, yes – it’s been ages. It’s FEBRUARY already and this is my first review of 2013! I don’t really know what happened – I just fell into this massive slump. Hopefully that’s all over now and we can get back to our regularly scheduled programming.
Now, to business. The Hollows. Rachel Morgan. Al. Trent. Jenks. It was all here and wonderful in this next-to-last book in Kim Harrison’s amazing series. The pacing of the writing is changing, now that the series is almost over. Time has passed, characters have grown and matured. Trent and Quen are fathers now. Rachel and Ivy’s relationship has changed, yet remained doggedly the same.
We all know that Rachel’s middle name is Trouble. It finds her the way a dog finds bacon. And now that Rachel has finally gotten herself settled in the city and the world is content to let her live as she is – the demons threaten her existence. She definitely can’t win for losing. But Rachel is loyal to her friends – regardless of race. And she will do whatever it takes to save the Ever After and her friends.
I found myself wishing I had read Into the Woods before I read this. The time Trent and Jenks spent together taking Lucy from Ellasbeth (the story of which is told in that collection) was referenced several times, and I felt a little bit out of the loop – even though I wasn’t actually missing any information relevant to the events of the current story.
And Kim? You’ve got one book left to get Trent and Rachel together. Do it. You’ve been skirting this issue since Kisten – and he died in Book 5!
Overall, this was my favorite book of the series so far. Each one just gets better. Kim Harrison is one of the few authors who can truly do character growth and development well – without retelling the same story over and over.
If you love The Hollows and Rachel Morgan, you’ll love this one – trust me!
Other Reviews:
Release Date: August 28, 2012
Title: Speechless
Author: Hannah Harrington
Pages: 288
Publisher: HarlequinTeen
Available: Barnes and Noble
From the Publisher: Everyone knows that Chelsea Knot can’t keep a secret
Until now. Because the last secret she shared turned her into a social outcast—and nearly got someone killed.
Now Chelsea has taken a vow of silence—to learn to keep her mouth shut, and to stop hurting anyone else. And if she thinks keeping secrets is hard, not speaking up when she’s ignored, ridiculed and even attacked is worse.
But there’s strength in silence, and in the new friends who are, shockingly, coming her way—people she never noticed before; a boy she might even fall for. If only her new friends can forgive what she’s done. If only she can forgive herself.
This is Hannah Harrington’s second YA novel. Her first, Saving June, was one of my favorites last year. But this one – this one far exceeded my expectations.
Chelsea Knot is the kind of girl I am. She has a need to be wanted and liked. And when she’s taken under the popular girl’s wing – she does whatever she has to fit right in. When she knows a secret, she tells it. It’s not meant to be malicious; it’s for the sheer entertainment value of it. And when one secret revealed changes the lives of everyone she knew – Chelsea realizes that she’s not the person she wants to be. In an effort to figure herself out, she decides to take a vow of silence. Through this vow, she discovers that words have power and should be used wisely.
I read this one in a single sitting. I was so completely drawn into Chelsea’s world – into her head – that I didn’t want to move once I was there. The writing was flawless. I wasn’t sure how it was going to work – a whole novel, with supporting characters when the main character doesn’t speak? But it was perfect. I honestly didn’t even notice that she wasn’t actually speaking most of the time. The supporting characters – Sam, Asha, and yes even Andy – picked it up and carried it so that the missing dialogue was never missing.
Chelsea’s character development over the course of the book made me adore her. While I do think it should have taken more than a month for her to go from who she was to who she became, it was the right path and I didn’t question it. I loved her. I hated watching her go through the bullying that she dealt with – but I cheered for her for maintaining her silence in the face of adversity.
I was unprepared for the moment she finally decided to speak again. I had expected it to be predictable. I was certain I knew when it would happen. And I was so completely wrong. And that makes me love Hannah Harrington even more.
Other Reviews:
Release Date: October 30, 2012
Title: Iced
Author: Karen Marie Moning
Pages: 495
Publisher: Random House/Delacorte Press
Available: Barnes and Noble
From the Publisher: The year is 1 AWC—After the Wall Crash. The Fae are free and hunting us. It’s a war zone out there, and no two days are alike. I’m Dani O’Malley, the chaos-filled streets of Dublin are my home, and there’s no place I’d rather be.
Dani “Mega” O’Malley plays by her own set of rules—and in a world overrun by Dark Fae, her biggest rule is: Do what it takes to survive. Possessing rare talents and the all-powerful Sword of Light, Dani is more than equipped for the task. In fact, she’s one of the rare humans who can defend themselves against the Unseelie. But now, amid the pandemonium, her greatest gifts have turned into serious liabilities.
Dani’s ex–best friend, MacKayla Lane, wants her dead, the terrifying Unseelie princes have put a price on her head, and Inspector Jayne, the head of the police force, is after her sword and will stop at nothing to get it. What’s more, people are being mysteriously frozen to death all over the city, encased on the spot in sub-zero, icy tableaux.
When Dublin’s most seductive nightclub gets blanketed in hoarfrost, Dani finds herself at the mercy of Ryodan, the club’s ruthless, immortal owner. He needs her quick wit and exceptional skill to figure out what’s freezing Fae and humans dead in their tracks—and Ryodan will do anything to ensure her compliance.
Dodging bullets, fangs, and fists, Dani must strike treacherous bargains and make desperate alliances to save her beloved Dublin—before everything and everyone in it gets iced.
Oh how I’ve missed this world.
I did not miss hearing Dani talk – and a whole book of her narrating was quite grating on my nerves. But the book as a whole? Oh my.
Ryodan. He is no Jericho Barrons, but he still makes me swoon.
Christian. The man/fae hybrid he is becoming intrigues me. And he makes me swoon.
Dancer. There is something about him. He has secrets. He is no mere human – and I can’t wait to find out who he really is!
It was the men who made this book – not Dani. Dani needs to hurry and grow the hell up. How she has these three men fawning over her when she’s only 14 is beyond me.
But reading about the men in this world is more than enough to keep me coming back until she’s older. KMM is amazing.
Just one nitpick: Karen? Please please label your chapters and sections with who the narrator is. Switching back and forth the way you do with no warning is confusing and often takes several sentences to figure out who is speaking. It’s easy to tell instantly that it isn’t Dani – but it takes a few moments to determine if it’s Kat or Christian until there is some sort of identifying marker. Frustrating – and often requires rereading a section with the understanding of who is actually speaking.
Other Reviews:
Release Date: January 1, 2009
Title: Homer’s Odyssey
Author: Gwen Cooper
Pages: 299
Publisher: Random House/Delacorte Press
Available: Barnes and Noble
From the Publisher: Once in nine lives, something extraordinary happens…
The last thing Gwen Cooper wanted was another cat. She already had two, not to mention a phenomenally underpaying job and a recently broken heart. Then Gwen’s veterinarian called with a story about a three-week-old eyeless kitten who’d been abandoned. It was love at first sight.
Everyone warned that Homer would always be an “underachiever,” never as playful or independent as other cats. But the kitten nobody believed in quickly grew into a three-pound dynamo, a tiny daredevil with a giant heart who eagerly made friends with every human who crossed his path. Homer scaled seven-foot bookcases with ease and leapt five feet into the air to catch flies in mid-buzz. He survived being trapped alone for days after 9/11 in an apartment near the World Trade Center, and even saved Gwen’s life when he chased off an intruder who broke into their home in the middle of the night.
But it was Homer’s unswerving loyalty, his infinite capacity for love, and his joy in the face of all obstacles that inspired Gwen daily and transformed her life. And by the time she met the man she would marry, she realized Homer had taught her the most important lesson of all: Love isn’t something you see with your eyes.
Homer’s Odyssey is the once-in-a-lifetime story of an extraordinary cat and his human companion. It celebrates the refusal to accept limits—on love, ability, or hope against overwhelming odds. By turns jubilant and moving, it’s a memoir for anybody who’s ever fallen completely and helplessly in love with a pet.
Pet memoirs are tricky. But Gwen Cooper handled it masterfully.
I was hesitant to pick this one up. It’s definitely not the sort of book I usually read. It didn’t take me long to fall in love with Homer. I wanted to protect him from the world as badly as I wanted to show him everything in it.
It made my heart ache for my own cats – the ones I had recently chosen to give to better homes.
Homer is the most amazing cat I have ever known. And make no mistake – after reading this book, you will also feel as if you know him. He will be your cat as much as he is Gwen’s.
If you’re not a cat person, you will be once you read this. Especially once you read about how Homer was left alone with his kitty-mates for several days post 9/11 in NYC very close to ground zero. Those pages will forever be with me.
And while this is traditionally a spoiler-free review site, I will make one exception: at the end of the book, Homer is alive and well. This is not the sort of pet memoir that most expect.
Other Reviews:
Release Date: June 12, 2012
Title: The Golden Lily
Author: Richelle Mead
Pages: 418
Publisher: Penguin/Razorbill
Available: Barnes and Noble
From the Publisher: Sydney Sage is an Alchemist, one of a group of humans who dabble in magic and serve to bridge the worlds of humans and vampires. They protect vampire secrets—and human lives.
Sydney would love to go to college, but instead, she’s been sent into hiding at a posh boarding school in Palm Springs, California–tasked with protecting Moroi princess Jill Dragomir from assassins who want to throw the Moroi court into civil war. Formerly in disgrace, Sydney is now praised for her loyalty and obedience, and held up as the model of an exemplary Alchemist.
But the closer she grows to Jill, Eddie, and especially Adrian, the more she finds herself questioning her age–old Alchemist beliefs, her idea of family, and the sense of what it means to truly belong. Her world becomes even more complicated when magical experiments show Sydney may hold the key to prevent becoming Strigoi—the fiercest vampires, the ones who don’t die. But it’s her fear of being just that—special, magical, powerful—that scares her more than anything. Equally daunting is her new romance with Brayden, a cute, brainy guy who seems to be her match in every way. Yet, as perfect as he seems, Sydney finds herself being drawn to someone else—someone forbidden to her.
When a shocking secret threatens to tear the vampire world apart, Sydney’s loyalties are suddenly tested more than ever before. She wonders how she’s supposed to strike a balance between the principles and dogmas she’s been taught, and what her instincts are now telling her.
Should she trust the Alchemists—or her heart?
You know the author is doing it right when you find yourself frustrated as hell with the main character in one chapter and inexplicably going all gooey with her in the next. Yes, folks, there were audible “Aw”s from this reader as I read.
I mean c’mon! Sydney has her first kiss! I’m not telling you who with though.
But… it wasn’t all sunshine and roses.
And when the book ended, I found myself more upset with a book’s ending than I’ve been in a very long time. My heart is broken.
I found myself disappointed in Sydney at the beginning of this book (and again at the end). I had remembered from the first book that she had grown so much, but all I was seeing was how uncomfortable magic made her. She physically backed away from her friends when they manifested magic or were touched by it in any way. All I could do as I read was shake my head. It felt as if my old friend was not who I remembered her to be.
It still bothers me that Sydney constantly complains about how she feels fat as a size four. On one hand, I understand that this is a real issue. There are girls out there who are a size four who think they are fat. But I almost feel like by calling attention to it in this manner Mead is justifying it – even though I know she’s not. It just feels like she is. Especially since there is running commentary through the book of Sydney’s refusal to eat sugar and obsession with healthy eating. But at the end, I feel that all is redeemed because Adrian tells her to knock it off. He reminds her that she is gorgeous – if not too thin – and that she will never be the same size as Jill because she is human and Jill is not. He tells her, “This is the truth, from someone who cares and wants your body to be as healthy and amazing as your mind.” That is a good line.
For all of the story lines about alchemists and murder plots and kidnappings… these books have been – and will always be – about the relationships. Sydney’s journey from “the perfect alchemist” to “the alchemist who is friends with vampires” is one that amazes me. It is a deeply personal journey that is filled with struggles. Struggles that annoy me, for sure (the vascillations between DON’T TOUCH ME and YOU’RE MY FRIEND COME HUG ME annoy the ever lovin’ snot out of me – but I get it), but struggles that are normal and must happen in order for growth to take place.
And in the middle of a paranormal fantasy novel, I have to say that her journey is one of the most realistic ones (mentally) that I’ve ever seen written.
And yes, for those who are curious – Dimitri makes many appearances, making it an automatic favorite.
A few tidbits that I enjoyed:
Sorry, Ms. Terwilliger. I’m flattered that you think I’m such an upstanding person, but I’m already caught up in one epic battle of good versus evil. I don’t need another.
“You used nunchucks on a moose?”
Wolfe got a haunted look in his eyes. “I used all sorts of things on that bastard. But that’s neither here nor now. Because here’s the thing. With a little common sense, you won’t need weapons.”
“You’re not a victim. You’re not a captive to that lily. You can be what you want. You can choose what you want.”
Other Reviews:
Release Date: October 16, 2012
Title: Ashen Winter
Author: Mike Mullin
Pages: 576
Publisher: Tanglewood Press
Available: Barnes and Noble
From the Publisher: It’s been over six months since the eruption of the Yellowstone supervolcano. Alex and Darla have been staying with Alex’s relatives, trying to cope with the new reality of the primitive world so vividly portrayed in Ashfall, the first book in this series. It’s also been six months of waiting for Alex’s parents to return from Iowa. Alex and Darla decide they can wait no longer and must retrace their journey into Iowa to find and bring back Alex’s parents to the tenuous safety of Illinois. But the landscape they cross is even more perilous than before, with life-and-death battles for food and power between the remaining communities. When the unthinkable happens, Alex must find new reserves of strength and determination to survive.
Sophomore slump? Move along, nothing to see here.
If anything, this one was better than the first.
The world Alex and Darla live in is far bleaker than the world we were introduced to in Ashfall. Refugee camps filled with “inmates”, gangs of cannibals, human slaves…
And through it all, love remains the central focus. Love, not to be confused with romance. How does Mullins do it?
One of the things I love about this trilogy is that it seems so plausible. If a situation like this actually happened, I’m pretty sure the world would devolve into cannibal gangs and towns behind walls and government “protected” refugee camps. It’s depressing, but fascinating. The character development and world building captured my attention enough that I was actually sad when it was over because I wanted to stay in that world a little bit longer – even though it was a rather bleak world. Alex and Darla were my friends.
Other Reviews:
Release Date: October 23, 2012
Title: The Lost Prince
Author: Julie Kagawa
Pages: 379
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Available: Barnes and Noble
From the Publisher: Don’t look at Them. Never let Them know you can see Them.
That is Ethan Chase’s unbreakable rule. Until the fey he avoids at all costs—including his reputation—begin to disappear, and Ethan is attacked. Now he must change the rules to protect his family. To save a girl he never thought he’s dare to fall for.
Ethan thought he had protected himself from his older sister’s world—the land of Faery. His previous time in the Iron Realm left him with nothing but fear and disgust for the world Meghan Chase has made her home, a land of myths and talking cats, of magic and seductive enemies. But when destiny comes for Ethan, there is no escape from a danger long, long forgotten.
My name is Ethan Chase. And I may not live to see my eighteenth birthday.
Ethan Chase is all grown up.
When we were introduced to him in The Iron King, he was a wee lad of four. Now, he’s 18! One of my favorite things for an author to do is world continuity. I love that we are still in the world of the Iron Fey that we fell in love with – but it’s twelve years later. Meghan, Ash, Puck – and even our favorite cat – all make appearances – but it’s a new generation of characters who are getting into trouble and saving the fey.
And Ethan is in the middle of it all when he swore he would never get involved.
At first, I was a little apprehensive; it was starting to feel a little like a simple re-telling of the original trilogy with a new setting and new characters. I was disappointed. But I pushed through and kept going and realized that wasn’t happening at all. Some things seemed a little similar, sure. YA novels do tend to seem a little formulaic, no matter how you look at them so perhaps that was unavoidable. But there was no love triangle (yay!) and in the end… I have to admit I prefer Ethan to Meghan.
In the early books, there were times I hated Meghan. I thought she was downright stupid at times. I can remember yelling at her through my radio (I listened to the audiobooks). Ethan, while full of too much teenage angst that made me want to shake him, could at least see what was happening in front of him.
Kierran is awesome. I figured out who he was instantly. I think anyone who had read the original trilogy would have figured it out as well, but just in case, I WON’T TELL YOU. He’s a wild card though. I can’t wait to see what Kagawa has in store for him in the future.
I like that Kagawa rounded out the trio with a human. Technically, another human (but Ethan doesn’t count, since he’s a prince). Mackenzie is awesome. I adore her, to be honest. I love her personality. She’s a little overbearing at times, but I understand why she is the way she is. I get her. I have an inkling for where her character is going… and I’m not sure what I think about it. We’ll just have to see.
Bottom line? If you liked the original trilogy, you’ll love this one too. Well, probably.
Other Reviews:
Release Date: September 27, 2011
Title: Ashfall
Author: Mike Mullin
Pages: 466
Publisher: Tanglewood Press
Available: Barnes and Noble
From the Publisher: Under the bubbling hot springs and geysers of Yellowstone National Park is a supervolcano. Most people don’t know it’s there. The caldera is so large that it can only be seen from a plane or satellite. It just could be overdue for an eruption, which would change the landscape and climate of our planet.
Ashfall is the story of Alex, a teenage boy left alone for the weekend while his parents visit relatives. When the Yellowstone supervolcano erupts unexpectedly, Alex is determined to reach his parents. He must travel over a hundred miles in a landscape transformed by a foot of ash and the destruction of every modern convenience that he has ever known, and through a new world in which disaster has brought out both the best and worst in people desperate for food, water, and warmth. With a combination of nonstop action, a little romance, and very real science, this is a story that is difficult to stop reading and even more difficult to forget.
This one had been on my list to read for awhile, and by the time I got to it I was actually a little bit apprehensive to read it for fear that my expectations were way too high.
They weren’t.
I love a great survival story. And at the heart of this book, that’s what it is. I struggled to find a genre for Ashfall- it’s billed as sci-fi, but I don’t see it as science fiction (though technically, I suppose it really is). It’s not dystopian, it’s not post-apocalyptic… I guess it’s present-day apocalyptic? But really, it’s just survivalist fiction.
Alex is a fifteen year old kid who is forced to grow up overnight in a world that has become unrecognizable. He goes through some horrific things that people should never have to go through, especially not at fifteen. There were times my heart was in my throat and I almost had to close my eyes to avoid what was coming next (of course, that doesn’t work very well when you’re reading).
And when you meet Darla, you’ll understand why she and Alex have become one of my favorite duos in fiction. They make a great team. They work together so well. They lean on one another and build quite the solid friendship through the crisis.
All in all, this is one of my favorite books that I’ve read this year. It’s one that I wish I hadn’t read yet – just so I could re-read it.
Other Reviews:
Release Date: September 18th, 2012
Title: The Raven Boys
Author: Maggie Stiefvater
Pages: 408
Publisher: Scholastic Press
Available: Barnes and Noble + Amazon
From the Publisher: “There are only two reasons a non-seer would see a spirit on St. Mark’s Eve,” Neeve said. “Either you’re his true love . . . or you killed him.”
It is freezing in the churchyard, even before the dead arrive.
Every year, Blue Sargent stands next to her clairvoyant mother as the soon-to-be dead walk past. Blue herself never sees them—not until this year, when a boy emerges from the dark and speaks directly to her.
His name is Gansey, and Blue soon discovers that he is a rich student at Aglionby, the local private school. Blue has a policy of staying away from Aglionby boys. Known as Raven Boys, they can only mean trouble.
But Blue is drawn to Gansey, in a way she can’t entirely explain. He has it all—family money, good looks, devoted friends—but he’s looking for much more than that. He is on a quest that has encompassed three other Raven Boys: Adam, the scholarship student who resents all the privilege around him; Ronan, the fierce soul who ranges from anger to despair; and Noah, the taciturn watcher of the four, who notices many things but says very little.
For as long as she can remember, Blue has been warned that she will cause her true love to die. She never thought this would be a problem. But now, as her life becomes caught up in the strange and sinister world of the Raven Boys, she’s not so sure anymore.
From Maggie Stiefvater, the bestselling and acclaimed author of the Shiver trilogy and The Scorpio Races, comes a spellbinding new series where the inevitability of death and the nature of love lead us to a place we’ve never been before
The Raven Boys was another one of those BEA Grabs that alot of people were excited for. And if I’m perfectly honest, I wasn’t one of them. Too much of the plot sounded like it would be just another paranormal romantic triangle of a young adult book. I was wrong. This is a book that left me hungry. Not hungry in the sense of The Hunger Games, where the books just described eons of delicious food that I wished I could eat, or hungry in the sense of Darkest Minds, where I was hungry in a painful wanting way, but hungry in a that was an awesome ending and why do I have to wait so long for the next book to come out way, without a horrible cliff hanger ending (yes you read correctly, this book is so good it doesn’t need to trick you into wanting to read the next book in the series).
This is a book that’s a paranormal thriller mixed with mystery, awesome and a tiny almost nonexistent amount of romance. On top of that its superbly written. The writing is one of those things that sucked me right in – like I said, I was skeptical when I picked it up, but after the prologue I decided I liked it, and after the first chapter I knew I wanted to write a review for it.
It opens with Blue and her aunt in the gravyard for St. Marks Eve, when non psychic Blue sees a spirit for the first time. Her aunt tells her the only way she would see a Spirit is if he was either her true love or if she killed him. Which for Blue is one and the same. Shortly after, we meet Gansey – the boy Blue sees in the graveyard – and a few of his friends, all who go to the same prep school: Adam, Ronan and Noah.
Gansey appears to be everything Blue normally trys to avoid. Rich, great family, good lucks. But he is so much more than he appears. Gansey has a gift for finding things, and he is looking for a sleeping king from Wales, one who can grant a favor to anyone who finds him. The sleeping king is said to be on the ley line, a line of power that criss cross across the road. Of course, the Raven Boys aren’t the only ones seeking the ley line.
What the Raven Boys did well. The writing, the writing, the writing, the writing. I’m not sure if I can say this enough. Maggie does an amazing job of setting the tone, maintaining the pace, and mixing in just the right amount of mystery and suspense. There are three mysteries, two obvious ones and one that will probably blow your mind. The plot is original and interesting. The characters are unique and compelling, like you would want them to either be your friends, you would be scared of them, or just want to hang out. Even the “bad” characters, you understand where they are coming from, even if you couldn’t see yourself making the same decisions.
The only complaints I have are sometimes the narrative can be a little hard to follow. There are alot of characters that you get introduced to very quickly, and it can be hard to keep track of who is who, and who is related to who in the very beginning. Also, there are a few details that are casually dropped that are really important but could be easily missed or buried in the amount of information in the book. Although, that is just one small thing in a really good story.
Who I think should read this book: If you enjoy young adult fantasy I think you would like this book. If you like mysteries you would like this book.
Who wouldn’t like this book: If you don’t like mysteries, or don’t like reading books where you really need to read the prose to understand what’s going on. If you’re looking for something light and fun (like your typical first person urban fantasy novel).
Release Date: February 5, 2013
