August 05, 2008
Ink Exchange by Melissa Marr
Rating: 3
Description: Leslie has been dealing with a lot lately, and all she wants is to finally get the tattoo she's been dreaming of for years, to finally feel like she's in control of her own life and body again. She also has her eye on the mysterious Niall, a friend of her best friend Aislinn's, but one with whom Aislinn doesn't want her to become acquainted for reasons she won't reveal. Irial, king of Faery's Dark Court, wants Leslie for himself, and for his court. Faery is at peace, and the dark fae are dying without their required sustenance of chaos. The court needs a mortal of their own, one who can channel mortal chaos to the fae. When Leslie unknowingly chooses Irial's crest for her tattoo, she begins a process that will bind them together despite the watchful eye of Niall, who has been invisibly watching over Leslie and who has his own history with Irial and the Dark Court. If the ink exchange is completed, Leslie will be in danger, for no mortal has yet survived one for long.
Review: One thing I really admire about Ink Exchange is the way Melissa Marr has written her primary antagonist. Irial is the villain of the story, but even Leslie, his victim, can understand and sympathize with his motives. Irial is one of the most sympathetic antagonists I've ever seen, and I applaud Ms. Marr for the way she's constructed the story outside the box of good vs. evil. All of her characters are well-drawn, in fact, but Irial really stands out. That said, I found Ink Exchange to be very unsatisfying overall. The pacing was off, certain parts seeming to drag on and on for no real reason. The ending also left me at loose ends. In this respect, I was hoping for a traditional structure, and I didn't get it. With her ending, the author went too far in her deviation from the norm, alienating readers expecting a neat wrap-up. I really loved the prequel to this book, Wicked Lovely, which featured Leslie's friend Aislinn, and I'd advise readers to start with that one and only move on to Ink Exchange if they really enjoy the first book. Despite this not-very-good review, I think Melissa Marr has a lot of potential, and I'll definitely be picking up the next book in this series to see what she does next.
August 04, 2008
Little Brother by Cory Doctorow
Rating: 4
Description: Tech-savvy teen Marcus and his friends are ditching school to play Harajuku Fun Madness, a real life quest/puzzle game, when San Francisco's Bay Bridge is bombed in the biggest act of terrorism on U.S. soil since 9/11. His best friend, Darryl, is stabbed in the mass panic following the event, and then all four of the teens are picked up by the Department of Homeland Security and taken away to a place where they are stripped of their rights and brutally interrogated for days. When they're finally released, Darryl isn't with them, and it's discovered that all four of them had all been presumed dead in the explosion. This ordeal enrages Marcus and inspires him to resist the rights-violating "security measures" the DHS takes following the bombing, becoming M1k3y, the leader of an anti-government network of hacker teens. As M1k3y's notoreity catapults and he becomes the DHS's most-wanted, Marcus struggles to maintain his secret identity while continuing the fight against the increasingly harsh DHS, dealing with strained friendships and budding romance, and confronting ethical issues he never imagined he'd be facing.
Review: This book could technically be called science fiction, but its "ten minutes in the future" setting makes it scarily close to what's already happening in the U.S. As Cory Doctorow explains in the preface to the book, all the technology in the novel is real--either already available, or close to it. So are the rights violations of U.S. citizens on the part of the government, though thankfully not yet to the extreme portrayed in the book. Little Brother is the most terrifying book I've ever read, because of just how realistic it actually is. If another terrorist attack were carried out on U.S. soil today, I could well believe that this would be the response. And that terrifies me. The characters aren't as vivid as they could be, sacrificed to the almost informational, how-to tone of the book, but they're well-written enough to hold the reader's interest until the end nevertheless. Despite a mediocre score on entertainment value, Little Brother is a must-read for teenagers--they need to be aware of the kind of extremes their government is capable of going to, and be prepared for the worst case scenario portrayed here. Cory Doctorow's bravery in publishing a book containing such blatant criticism of current government policy and encouragement of resistance is to be applauded.
BONUS: Little Brother is available to read free online at Cory Doctorow's website!
The Summoning by Kelley Armstrong
Rating: 3.5
Description: The first book in Kelley Armstrong's new young adult series (set in the same universe as her bestselling Women of the Otherworld series for adults), The Summoning follows Chloe, a would-be film director who suddenly starts seeing ghosts. After an understandable nervous breakdown, she's pronounced mentally ill and sent to Lyle House, a live-in home for mentally ill teens. At first, Chloe is determined to cure herself and get back to normal life, but soon it becomes apparent that Chloe isn't the only teen at Lyle House that strange things happen around, and Chloe is eventually convinced that her ghosts aren't hallucinations after all. As Chloe learns more about her powers and other supernatural talents from her housemates, she becomes convinced that Lyle House isn't what it seems. And if Chloe isn't crazy, then the teens may be in danger, as Chloe has been seeing the ghost of her former roommate, a girl who was supposedly transferred to another facility shortly after Chloe's arrival.
Review: I'm a big fan of Kelley Armstrong's adult series, Women of the Otherworld, so I was excited to pick up her new YA book. However, I ended up being a bit disappointed. I enjoyed most of the book--I found Chloe's reactions to her situation to be very realistic, and she didn't make any of the stereotypical dumb teen mistakes that many YA protagonists make, like not talking to her adult guardians about what's happening to her. Some of the other characters are more well-done than others, but they're all decently written. The reason I didn't much care for this book overall was the ending. As in, there wasn't one. The ending of the book is a fake-out coming off the climax--"It's over, they're safe...Wait, no! They're not! Oh no!" And then the book ends. Sure it's part of a series, but that doesn't mean each book in the series shouldn't have a conclusion. Considering that the books in the author's Women of the Otherworld series are pretty much all extremely strong as stand-alones, I was really disappointed that she didn't go the same route with her new YA series. The Summoning is still a good read for urban fantasy fans, if you don't mind feeling like you've read half a book and have a good, long wait ahead of you for the second half. It might be best to wait until the second book (The Awakening, scheduled for a May 2009 release) is out as well so the giant cliffhanger of The Summoning won't affect you as much.
March 26, 2006
"Looking For Alaska" by John Green
Description: Before. Miles "Pudge" Halter is done with his safe life at home. His whole life has been one big non-event, and his obsession with famous last words has only made him crave "the Great Perhaps" even more (Francois Rabelais, poet). He heads off to the sometimes crazy and anything but boring world of Culver Creek Boarding School, and his life becomes the opposite of safe. Because down the hall is Alaska Young. The gorgeous, clever, funny, sexy, self-destructive, screwed up, and utterly fascinating Alaska Young. She is an event unto herself. She pulls Pudge into her world, launches him into the Great Perhaps, and steals his heart.
After. And nothing is ever the same.
Note: Description taken from bn.com
Review: "Looking For Alaska" is an amazing book from a new author; it's very deserving of all the awards it's won. Pudge is a great character: he's geeky and socially awkward in a way that most teens can relate to, and his collection of last words gives him a unique quirk that solidifies his character. Alaska is also relateable - in some ways she's the stereotypical bad girl, but her underlying vulnerability and her own geeky quirks make her a very real character. All of the other characters are well-defined and distinct as well, from Pudge's side romantic interest, Lara, to the dean of students, more commonly known as the Eagle. Culver Creek is exceedingly well-done - it's obvious throughout the writing that, as is revealed in the bio, the author attended a similar boarding school. The development of Pudge's relationships with Alaska and the others at Culver Creek are the driving force behind the book, and the changes that Pudge undergoes, both Before and After, is what makes "Looking For Alaska" the incredible young adult novel that it is.
March 24, 2006
"The Blue Girl" by Charles de Lint
Description: Redding High School is filled with bullies and fairies and one lonely ghost. Imogene is a new girl in school. She has left her reputation and her switchblade behind and is making an effort to fit into her new setting. She makes friends with Maxine, a self-described smart kid who the popular kids love to hate. The popular kids also love to hate Imogene, so the two new friends work to stay out of the way of the bullies. Although small in stature, Imogene has a mouth and an attitude that allow her to maintain a survival mode, but Maxine is an easy target. The bullies are only half the problem at Redding High School. The other problem is that the school is home to faeries, not the pretty kind but the kind of troublesome creatures found in Irish legends. The faeries are living in the school with Adrian Dumbrell, the ghost of a student who fell to his death outside the building. Adrian was also bullied by students and he hangs out in the hallways, too afraid to move on to the next world. Imogene and her quick wit have attracted the notice of the ghost, the faeries and the anathimim, soul-stealing creatures of the darkness. It takes Maxine and Adrian along with Imogene's family members, boyfriend, and imaginary childhood friend to save Imogene from the supernatural bad guys.
Note: Description taken from bn.com
Review: "The Blue Girl" is an excellent urban fantasy that rather resembles Holly Black's Modern Tales of Faerie, only a bit less gritty. The characters are well-done and distinct. Maxine's quieter character could easily have fallen into the background, paling in comparison to the colorful personality of Imogene, but de Lint does an admirable job at keeping what could have been a boring character interesting and full of development. The only character I could never quite sympathize with is Adrian - he struck me as whiny and rather stupid. On the other hand, I loved the romantic interests of the story, Imogene's brother and her boyfriend, Thomas, and felt that they deserved a bit more stage time than they received. The plot was a bit simplistic - I thought there could have been more twists and turns - but what's there is vividly detailed and unique. "The Blue Girl" is a fantastic book for fantasy fans.
February 28, 2006
"Avalon High" by Meg Cabot
Description: Elaine "Ellie" Harrison is fuming over her parents choice to take a sabbatical from their professor duties at the beginning of the school year, just in time to make Ellie's life take a complete 360. Not only is she forced to move to Washington, DC, but she has to leave behind her closest friends, and create a new identity for herself. Hopefully one that will leave an impression on her new classmates. But Avalon High is an exact replica of every other high school in America. It's students are classified in the same way: jocks, cheerleaders, class president...But suddenly Ellie finds herself mixed up with the cool crowd. Now she's hanging with Lance the jock, Jennifer the cheerleader, and Will, quarterback and senior class president. But the more Ellie spends time with her newfound friends, the more she realizes that their lives are mimicking history. History from centuries ago. Like the time when King Arthur ruled. Now, Ellie must figure out how to stop a chain of events that is destined to leave everyone around her in tears, or worse...dead.
Note: Description from Erika Sorocco on amazon.com
Review: Meg Cabot's teen books never seem to go wrong, and "Avalon High" is no exception. As always, Cabot's characterization is fantastic; Ellie is a great character with the perfect mix of wry smarts, hormonal crushing, and eye-rolling exasperation towards her parents, and Will is yet another drool-worthy hero. The modern-day-King-Arthur thing has been done, but not in quite this way, and the premise is excellent. The plot is good too; my only criticism is that it takes way too long for the magic element to be fully introduced in the story. I would've liked that to come earlier on, or for more plot to come after the realization that yes, they're really the reincarnations of people from the time of Camelot, which is obvious to the reader right from the start. Despite that though, the romance development makes up for the lack of magical development. "Avalon High" is a great read.
