fantasy

Review: Children of the Knight by Michael J. Bowler

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20140330-090851.jpgPretend, if you will, that the legendary King Arthur has magically and mysteriously arrived in present-day Los Angeles. Gangs, poverty, despair, crime, children abandoned to the streets…these are all very real current problems in any major city, and Los Angeles has more than its fair share.

The story centers around fourteen-year-old Lance. A classic street child, he’s experienced every form of abuse and neglect at his young age. With the exception of his English teacher, when he does go to school, nobody sees his potential. But isn’t that true of so many of these throwaway kids? When he meets Arthur, his world changes and he becomes part of a mission. A mission to save the kids that nobody seems to care about, even their parents. A mission to clean up parts of the city that have been allowed to fall into neglect thus perpetuating an attitude of crime. A mission to change the way society treats children who, at first glance, don’t appear to have much to offer. Along the way Lance and Arthur recruit a ragtag group of youngsters who truly are representative of today’s youth.

Part Arthurian legend and part urban fantasy, this very ambitious novel by Michael Bowler addresses a very real and shameful problem. Why are so many children, and some very young ones at that, left neglected, abused, and abandoned? And even more importantly, whose responsibility is it to save these children? All too often it’s seen as “not our problem” but Mr. Bowler and I seem to be in agreement on this issue. It truly is society’s responsibility, for the children are the future.

This story resonated with me on so many levels. As a mother, I can’t imagine a parent treating their child in such a harmful manner although I’m completely aware that it happens far too often. As a teacher, it touched me deeply and reinforced my deeply seated belief that we cannot overlook any child, no matter how insignificant their contribution may seem. And as a human being, which we should all be able to relate to, it shames me that so often children are thrown away like this. Not every child is fortunate enough to be born into a loving, caring family. But does that means they’re not deserving of every opportunity to make something of themselves? It takes just one person to make a difference in the life of a child.

~Thalia

Buy it Now: Children of the Knight

Review: Grasshopper Jungle by Andrew Smith

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20140302-150145.jpgGiant mutant praying mantises that just want to eat humans and have sex. Mad scientists. Horny teenage boys. Horny teenage boys confused about their sexual orientation. By this point you’re either really interested in this book or completely turned off. Luckily for me, and for you if you’re still reading this review, I am not easily deterred by less-than-traditional story lines.

It’s the end of the world as we know it. Small town Iowa will never be the same after an army of genetically modified mutant bugs is unleashed on unsuspecting citizens. These bugs are big. They’re strong. And they’re either eating or reproducing, often at the same time. Sixteen-year-old Austin Szerba, his girlfriend Shanna, and best friend Robby are right in the thick of things. It’s up to them to save Ealing, Iowa along with the rest of the world. If only it were that simple. Along with saving mankind from the ravages of the mantises, Austin is coming to terms with his relationship with Shanna while at the same struggling with his feelings for Robby, who also happens to be homosexual. Throw into the mix a cast of characters including a hot cheating mom, a masturbating sales clerk, a timid and oblivious stepfather, and you’ve got the ingredients for a true gem of a story.

Besides the fact that Andrew Smith writes one heck of a story, the narrative style blew me away. Austin goes back and forth between telling his story but at the same time providing history and background info on how everything is connected in some way. Six degrees of separation with a witty, rambling sense of humor.The conversations between the teenagers read true to life, and the other characters are weird but not so strange as to be completely unbelievable. A word of warning: This is a very strange book full of sexual innuendo along with the real thing as well as lots of foul language, drinking, and drug use. Not for the the faint of heart or easily offended. But, for those of you who are adventuresome enough to give it a try, you won’t be sorry. This is one book that you won’t soon forget.

~Thalia

Buy it Now: Grasshopper Jungle

Review: The Happy Endings Book Club by Jane Tara

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20131222-104759.jpg This book is weird. That’s my opinion, and it’s not to say the book is bad, because it’s not. The book is well written and clever; it’s just the quirkiest, oddest book I’ve ever read. I was slogging through it, not enjoying it at all, when all of a sudden at 75% of the way through, I got it. I understood. And I burst into tears as all the problems of all the characters met inside my mind and exploded there. I’m not sure if that made me ENJOY the book any more than before, but I sure do appreciate it now.

The Happy Endings Book Club is a group of women who need a little encouragement and uplifting. They’re fading into the background of life and need some verve. Some of the women find “life” in reality, and some find it in fantasy: fairly lands and magic.

The fantasy world in the novel isn’t isolated like Hogwarts in Harry Potter. Instead, it’s part of the regular world… More like fantastical beings existing with all their powers in the mortal world. And while that allows great freedom in the plot, it also confuses a linear realist like me!

I liked the characters, the plot lines, the endings and new beginnings. I had a tough time with the magic, the fairyland, and the special powers…. but only because those are out of my comfort zone. This clever novel opened my eyes and gave me a lot to think about.

–Calliope

Buy it now The Happy Endings Book Club

Review: Under Different Stars (Kricket#1), by Amy Bartol

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“You cannot thrive under the wrong stars, Kricket.”

I have loved Amy Bartol, since I first read her Premonition series. So when I found out she was writing another series, I was excited to read it. When I saw the cover, I knew it was going to be different. And I was correct. I will admit that for the first 25% I was confused with all the names and titles of things. Since this takes place on another planet, everything is different. I highlighted a ton and kept going back for reviewing. 🙂 Eventually I forgot about the names and just followed the story.

17 yr old Kricket has always wanted a home and family. After growing up in the foster care system, she decides to break out of it and find her own way. She’s been doing that for two years and she just wants to get to her 18th birthday, so she can quite looking over she shoulder.

Trey Allairis is a soldier, sent from her planet, along with his friends, Wayra and Jax, to bring her back. She doesn’t want to go, but she doesn’t have a choice. And as they make their way to her real home, he realizes that she is more than just a mission. He also discovers that she isn’t a timid little flower and can stand up for herself against big strong soldiers. Slowly she wraps them around her little finger.

Kricket learns that she has powers, with the potential for many more, and that makes her a hot commodity. She just wants to go back to Earth, but there is no escaping. She must learn how to conform to her current situation, while holding herself together. When all the five houses of Ethar start vying for her, she must make some difficult decisions and rely on Trey to help her.

Kyon knows about Kricket, and her potential powers, and wants her for himself. And he will do anything to get her. No matter what Kricket does to dissuade him, he will not back down. Either he will have her, or no one will.

Slowly, but surely Trey realizes his feelings for her and decides he would do anything to protect her, even if it means to let her go to an enemy. As long as she’s alive, he can move on.

“If I touch her, she’ll have my soul”

I can’t wait til the next book comes out. I know I have long to wait, but it’ll be worth it. I must know what happens!! Will Kricket be able to be with Trey, without fear?? What happened to Kyon?? I MUST KNOW!!!

~Melpomene

Buy it now Under Different Stars (The Kricket Series)

Review: Not a Drop to Drink by Mindy McGinnis

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20131129-123657.jpgReaders of post-apocalyptic and/or dystopian stories must suspend their disbelief for the duration of most of these stories. Plague-induced flesh-eating zombies, alien or cyborg invasion…these make great stories but are a little too far “out there” for the average reader to truly believe. Scarcity of clean drinking water, however, is something that is far too believable.

Not a Drop to Drink takes us into the lives of Lynn and her mother as they try to survive in a harsh, futuristic world where safe, clean drinking water is a commodity worth killing for. Their primary focus is to protect their pond at all costs. Cut off from the rest of the world, they rely on nobody but themselves. Lynn, in fact, cannot recall ever talking to anyone besides her mother. She’s a tough survivor who knows what has to be done when faced with danger. After all, her mother has raised her that way. But when tragedy strikes, Lynn is forced to let down her guard and allow others into her life. This comes in the form of their long-standing neighbor as well as strangers Eli and young Lucy. Of course Eli becomes the love interest. Isn’t that a requirement for a young adult novel? Still, the romance is more of a sideline and doesn’t distract from the inner toughness and maturity that Lynn exhibits throughout the story. It was also nice to see her transformation from a hard-as-nails, unemotional teenager into someone who truly cares for others and puts their well being before hers.

I enjoyed this book tremendously, and in large part because it felt more plausible to me than most of the other books of this genre that I’ve read. Clean water to drink is something that most of us take for granted. But how long would we be able to survive if our supply was limited? What measures would we take to protect what little we had? And what would we be willing to sacrifice for the benefit of others? While I won’t pretend that this was a particularly deep or thought-provoking story, it did make me think “what if” a bit more than others have recently. This book has great character development and the author provides a well-described environment that helps the reader understand why certain tough decisions had to be made. This one is a well-written, strong story!

~Thalia

Buy it Now: Not a Drop to Drink

Review: The Circle by Dave Eggers

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20131206-185330.jpgIt’s hard to imagine a society with more transparency and less privacy than the one we currently live in. Thanks to Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat, LinkedIn, and countless numbers of professional and personal blogs, there’s very little information that’s truly kept private these days. Sonogram pictures, marital discord, gastrointestinal distress, vacation brags, shopping preferences…you name it and surely it’s been made public by someone. Of course, individuals have some control over what information is shared with their adoring public. Only the neediest, most narcissistic of us over share every part of our lives. But what if the choice was taken away from us? What if complete and total participation in all manners of social networking was not optional but entirely mandatory? What if every facet of your life was filtered through and controlled by one monopolistic Internet company? This frighteningly foreseeable book by Dave Eggers proposes just that.

Mae can’t believe her luck when she lands her dream job at The Circle, a tech company best described as Google on steroids. Its reach is all-encompassing, and Mae quickly finds herself brainwashed by the Utopian atmosphere all around her. The company embeds itself in users’ lives by linking and making public every aspect of their online existence: social networks, medical history, banking and financial history, and social life. Their ultimate goal is total transparency consisting of people always being tracked and monitored and public access cameras placed everywhere. While there are clearly many benefits to this type of tracking, specifically safety issues, Mae is too enamored with her fame and status within the company to see the negative implications. She becomes increasingly distanced from her family and friends outside of the company even as they try to warn her of the dangers of such total dominance proposed by The Circle.

I was very intrigued by the concept of this book. It seems like something that’s not too far off the mark from where some of us are at right now with our reliance on technology, social media in particular. There’s an inherent danger in relying on others to validate your sense of self-worth, especially in an online world. And we’ve all read about and seen the negative effects of too much screen time at the expense of spending time in the real world. Don’t get me wrong, I’m as guilty as the next person of wasting too much time on Facebook on occasion. And I’ve met many wonderful people online who I now consider to be dear friends. But the real danger comes when we look to a non-living entity such as a computer, tablet, or smartphone to make us feel good about ourselves. There’s no piece of technology that can truly do that. This is an excellent book, if for nothing else to act as a warning of the direction we may be headed.

~Thalia

Buy it Now: The Circle

Review: The Humans by Matt Haig

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20131116-183654.jpgIt should come as no surprise if we were to find out that beings from other planets look down on humans with immeasurable disdain. After all, we’ve managed to destroy species of life, make a mess of our planet, are controlled purely by our emotions, and can’t seem to stop fighting amongst ourselves.

This is the exact reason “Alien” from Vonnadoria has been sent to Earth. Otherworldly beings see Earth as a planet characterized by violence and greed. Professor Andrew Martin has made a discovery that may finally cause the downfall of mankind. Alien’s mission is simple: take over the body of Professor Martin, destroy any evidence of his discovery, and eliminate any humans with knowledge of this discovery. An easy enough mission considering that Alien is disgusted by everything about humans-their looks, their need to wear clothing, even what they eat. But as he lives in Martin’s skin, he begins to reconsidered his original views. For what is life without pain as well as joy? He begins to see that a Utopian society leaves much to be desired. He develops a special fondness for Martin’s son, Gulliver. As Alien grows increasingly attached to life on Earth, he finally comes to the realization that it is, indeed, a beautiful planet. Maybe even the most beautiful planet of all. However, there are consequences to his change of heart and the story concludes in dramatic, thrilling fashion.

This was an amazingly well written story that had me eagerly reading it to the end. It’s very different from everything else I’ve read lately, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. It’s filled with humor and all too real descriptions of life on Earth. My favorite part of the book is when Haig describes Gulliver as belonging to a subcategory of humans known as a teenager: characteristics being a weakened resistance to gravity, a vocabulary of grunts, a lack of spatial awareness, copious amounts of masturbation, and an unending appetite for cereal. How much more accurate could that be? I couldn’t decide if I was pulling for Andrew Martin to survive his “bodily takeover” or if I wanted Alien to live happily ever after on Earth. Matt Haig truly has a gift for words and has given us unique, engaging story in The Humans.

~Thalia

Buy it Now: The Humans: A Novel

Review: Elsewhere by Gabrielle Zevin

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20131023-174824.jpgWhat really happens to your soul after you die? Personal beliefs aside, it's impossible for anyone to answer that question with absolute certainty. This novel offers a beautiful possibility to that question.

When fifteen-year-old Liz is struck by a car, she wakes up aboard the
SS Nile. Baffled by the mostly elderly strangers around her, Liz eventually comes to the realization that she did not survive her accident and is in fact dead. She and all the other passengers are on their way to Elsewhere, an alternate reality-type world where humans as well as their pets go after their death. Here they spend their years aging backwards until, as babies, they return to Earth to be born again. Liz has a difficult time coming to grips with her death and mourns the loss of all that she left behind-never turning sixteen, no driver’s license, no prom dates, never going to college…

I loved this book for so many reasons. Gabrielle Zevin has created a beautiful world full of waterfalls, beaches, sunny days, great food, museums, encounters with famous dead people, and reunions with lost loved ones. I was hooked from the first page as the story opens from the perspective of Lucy, Liz’s grieving Pug. I also loved the talking pets and the humans who are able to speak their language. Yes, it sounds far fetched, but it really works with the story. The characters are fun and likeable and a subtle sense of humor runs throughout the book. Conversations flow easily and are believable, fantasy world aside.

Highly recommended for all, but especially for fans of young adult novels and fantasy in particular.

~Thalia

Buy It Now: Elsewhere

Review: Shadow of Night by Deborah Harkness

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11559200This book is an excellent follow up to A Discovery of Witches. I was afraid that the sequel would not live up to my expectations that have been building for a year since I read the first one. Luckily, that fear was incorrect.

Shadow of Night starts immediately where Discovery left off and begins to weave in various historical figures throughout the book right up until the end. In the first book there were many descriptions about the food and wine with great detail, in this one the detail is in the historical aspects. I loved the historical features and characters in this book and felt that just as the descriptive food and wine gave the first book authenticity so did the historical features here.

I loved getting glimpses of various historically famous places and people. Like any good book it made me want to go find out more. I have no doubt I will be reading about Christopher Marlowe and Walter Raleigh due to this book.

The relationship between Matthew and Diana also did not disappoint. There was both romance and intrigue along with more secrets that hadn’t been revealed before. There was enough suspense and action to keep my interest and balance out the romance.

I loved this book, just as much as the first one. I own both audio and Kindle versions because the narrator is so amazing. I will be waiting on pins and needles for the third book. Undoubtedly it will go in my favorites shelf as well. I was able to get a hardcover of this signed by the author, so now I own all of the version of this one just about!

5 Stars

~Clio

But it Now Shadow of Night: A Novel (All Souls Trilogy)

Review: The Dirty Streets of Heaven (Bobby Dollar #1) by Tad Williams

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DirtyI’ve been wanting to try Tad Williams for a while now. I just kept putting it off. I am not opposed to fantasy writers. Some of my favorite books are from this genre. However, for whatever reason, I am always intimidated by them before I start. Perhaps I am afraid the story line will be too foreign for me to follow. Perhaps it is because so many of the great fantasy reads are volumes upon volumes of novels…whatever the cause of my hesitation, once I start I am fine….after all, a great story is a great story no matter the genre….and the fantasy world has some totally amazing storytellers. I have always heard that Tad Williams was one of these amazing storytellers….

Having said all of that…some parts of this book were actually very good….however, other parts were just bad….no, not just bad, but very bad! I might give Tad Williams another go, but I don’t think it will be with this series….I do like how Bobby was loyal in the end…not only to his own self, but also to a friend….So Williams gets full props for the main character. The rest of the story is where it fell short for me. It was not exciting. It was not original. I could pick out dozen of instances where certain characters reminded me of another from some other series, by other writers. I knew who the culprit was almost from the start and I know it was supposed to come as a huge shock…..I also thought the same “action packed monster scenes” were very repetitive and hence, very boring…maybe this was all my own fault as I had very high expectations of Williams. Hearing about the subject of the story excited me. It sounded original. It sounded exciting. It sounded so unique and I was expecting not only to be blown away by it, but refreshed by it as well. I mean seriously, even the title was fantastic to my mind! I was super excited going into this book…..I wanted to finish it a full run, excited to hit my next book…..that didn’t happen….I felt as if I hit a brick wall reading it. I lost all interest about halfway through….I found reasons to either put the book down and find more interesting things to do, or a strong desire to just skim over pages and pages to get to the ending I knew was waiting for me.

The one thing I did learn from reading this novel is that even an original concept can end up being told in a very unoriginal way.

~Urania

Buy it now The Dirty Streets of Heaven (Bobby Dollar)