Category Archives: Young-Adult

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Review: Sisters Red by Jackson Pearce

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Title: Sisters Red

Author: Jackson Pearce

Publishing Information: June 7, 2010 by Little Brown Books for Young Readers

Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy, Werewolves, Retellings, Romance

Series information: Book 1 in the Fairytale Retellings series

Format: Hardcover, 328 pages

Source: Borrowed from my local library

Recommended For: Readers looking for a different view on the story of Little Red Riding Hood filled with strong heroines and viscous villains.

Scarlett March lives to hunt the Fenris–the werewolves that took her eye when she was defending her sister Rosie from a brutal attack. Armed with a razor-sharp hatchet and blood-red cloak, Scarlett is an expert at luring and slaying the wolves. She’s determined to protect other young girls from a grisly death, and her raging heart will not rest until every single wolf is dead.

Rosie March once felt her bond with her sister was unbreakable. Owing Scarlett her life, Rosie hunts ferociously alongside her. But even as more girls’ bodies pile up in the city and the Fenris seem to be gaining power, Rosie dreams of a life beyond the wolves. She finds herself drawn to Silas, a young woodsman who is deadly with an ax and Scarlett’s only friend–but does loving him mean betraying her sister and all that they’ve worked for?

I love fairy tale rewrites and I love that this was loosely based on Little Red Riding Hood. However, I did not love this book. I wanted to, really! Looking back, I think that the reason I didn’t love it was because I had a hard time loving the characters. I found Scarlett to be obsessive and resentful for saving her sisters life, I found Rosie to be so naïve and annoying in the way that she couldn’t follow her own desires because they conflicted with her sisters. I found Silas to be a coward and honestly kind of a jerk in the way that he falls head over heels for his best friend’s sister and then manages to not tell her, even though they are living in the same house. The love triangle bothered me the most, Silas pushed Rosie to follow her heart while trying to tell Scarlett her heart’s desire was wrong. I can’t even get into what bothered me the most about this love triangle because it would ruin a shocking and rather infuriating climax that made me want to throw the book against a wall. ::end rant:: That being said, I can give the book credit in relation to its general plot line. It is interesting to turn the Red Riding Hood character into a fighter as she is a weak character in the original story. However, I do think it could have been interesting had the wolf character not been so bad. Perhaps I am a romantic but I like to daydream that the typical bad guy isn’t always bad just as the damsel in distress is sometimes fully capable of saving herself. I also have to say that the ending shocked me, I really didn’t see it coming and that was something that really redeemed the story for me. I realize that my opinion is quite biased and I can really see why some would love this book. I am currently reading Jackson Pearce’s companion novel Sweetly and I have high hopes that I will enjoy it more than I enjoyed Sister’s Red.

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Review: Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater

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Title: Shiver

Author: Maggie Stiefvater

Publishing Information: August 1, 2009 by Scholastic Press

Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy, Romance, Paranormal

Series information: Book 1 in The Wolves of Mercy Falls series

Format: Hardcover, 392 pages

Source: Borrowed from my local library

Recommended For: Readers looking for a book reminscent of Twilight, minus the vampires.

For years, Grace has watched the wolves in the woods behind her house. One yellow-eyed wolf–her wolf–is a chilling presence she can’t seem to live without. Meanwhile, Sam has lived two lives: In winter, the frozen woods, the protection of the pack, and the silent company of a fearless girl. In summer, a few precious months of being human . . . until the cold makes him shift back again. Now, Grace meets a yellow-eyed boy whose familiarity takes her breath away. It’s her wolf. It has to be. But as winter nears, Sam must fight to stay human–or risk losing himself, and Grace, forever.

When Grace was younger, she was attacked by wolves in the woods surrounding her home. As she lay dying, a wolf with bright yellow eyes fended off the other wolves and saved her life. As the years went on, Grace continued to find the wolf staring at her, keeping her safe. Grace begins to think of this wolf as “her” wolf and when a hunting party ventures into the woods she becomes terrified. Once at her house, Grace finds a naked, shivering boy on her porch who has been shot in the shoulder. Grace soon learns that this boy, named Sam, is indeed “her” wolf and has been watching and protecting her for years. The catch of his “disease” is that every summer, when it is warm, Sam turns into a human and once the temperature drops he becomes a wolf again. As the years go on however, Sam’s summers become shorter and shorter and he fears he will soon lose the ability to turn into a human all together. The story progresses and Sam and Grace work together to keep him warm, and human.

The cover of this book was what initially drew me in, and the fact that it was a book with a werewolf as a focus, a change from the typical vampire love story. I also really appreciated that the “change” for the werewolf isn’t brought on by the full moon but by the change in temperature. Unfortunately that was not enough to make me enjoy the story, I had a very hard time reading this book and found myself fighting against the storyline. I can definitely see why most readers would LOVE this book. For me, it was like the Twilight series, minus the vampires. The two main characters were head over heels, nothing can stop us, will do ANYTHING for the other in love. I had a hard time buying this, the characters were not very developed and their love was just supposed to be understood, with little evidence as to why they had fallen in “love” in the first place. Overall, I was a bit bored with the story and couldn’t really get into it; however I would definitely recommend it to readers who like teen romance and books like Twilight.

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Review: Fables by Bill Willingham

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Fables

By Bill Willingham

Once upon a time, all of your fairy tales turned out to be true…

Fables is a graphic novel series created by writer Bill Willingham. The series focuses around various characters from fairy tales and folklore that have been forced out of their Homelands by The Adversary. The Fables have created their own secret community in New York City known as Fabletown. Certain Fables who are unable to blend in with human society (The Three Little Pigs, Bageera, etc.) live at “The Farm” in upstate New York.

Bill Willingham has completely re-created the characters from popular fairy tales. Snow White is Deputy Mayor of Fabletown and her prince of old is not so charming. The story arcs are diverse, ranging from murder mysteries to a political war with a surplus amount of back-story on your favorite fairy tale characters!

Let me start off by saying I am not a “graphic novel” reader. Not that there is anything wrong with reading and enjoying them, I just never had the desire to pick up a comic book and take a gander. So it was no secret that I wasn’t too excited when we were assigned to read graphic novels for my young adult literature course last semester. I struggled with my choice, finally settling for a standard Batman/Superman theme. Soon after I begrudgingly read through my comic I noticed one of my classmates (and Goodreads friend) was reading the Fables series for our assignment. Suddenly I was taken aback, fairy tales as comic books? Umm yes, please!! I immediately harassed her for all of the information she had on the Fables series and Mr. Bill Willingham and that, my friends, is the beginning of a beautiful love affair between myself and the characters of Fabletown (primarily Mr. Bigby Wolf, I won’t lie).

So, in a nutshell, drop what you are doing and go to your local library, find these graphic novels and start reading!! Seriously, go now.

Oh and for those of you reading this thinking how daft I am for finally jumping on this bandwagon that you have been riding on for years, did you know Bill Willingham has other graphic novels? How about a novel called Down the Mysterly River? Bet you didn’t…

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Review: Graveminder by Melissa Marr

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Title: Graveminder

Author: Melissa Marr

Publishing Information: May 9, 2011 by HarperCollins

Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy, Paranormal, Horror, Supernatural, Romance

Series information: Standalone

Format: Hardcover, 324 pages

Source: Borrowed from my local library

Recommended For: Fans of paranormal mysteries with endearing bits of romance

 

Three sips to mind the dead . . .

Rebekkah Barrow never forgot the attention her grandmother Maylene bestowed upon the dead of Claysville, the small town where Bek spent her adolescence. There wasn’t a funeral that Maylene didn’t attend, and at each one Rebekkah watched as Maylene performed the same unusual ritual: She took three sips from a silver flask and spoke the words “Sleep well, and stay where I put you.”

Now Maylene is dead, and Bek must go back to the place she left a decade earlier. She soon discovers that Claysville is not just the sleepy town she remembers, and that Maylene had good reason for her odd traditions. It turns out that in Claysville the worlds of the living and the dead are dangerously connected; beneath the town lies a shadowy, lawless land ruled by the enigmatic Charles, aka Mr. D. If the dead are not properly cared for, they will come back to satiate themselves with food, drink, and stories from the land of the living. Only the Graveminder, by tradition a Barrow woman, and her Undertaker—in this case Byron Montgomery, with whom Bek shares a complicated past—can set things right once the dead begin to walk.

Although she is still grieving for Maylene, Rebekkah will soon find that she has more than a funeral to attend to in Claysville, and that what awaits her may be far worse: dark secrets, a centuries-old bargain, a romance that still haunts her, and a frightening new responsibility—to stop a monster and put the dead to rest where they belong.

Graveminder is best selling young adult author Melissa Marr’s first novel for adults, though it has been said to be “a young adult book for adults” as the genres can overlap at times and the storyline is relatable to both young adult and adult readers. The atmosphere of this story was very interesting, the way in which Melissa Marr describes the alternate world ruled by Mr. D was extremely detailed and really heightened the intensity of the story. I really felt for Bek as she struggled with her choices in this story and I appreciated how conflicted she was as she worked to find her proper place in the world. This story is filled with love, through many different types of relationships, but it is also a horror story filled with murder mysteries and the residents of Claysville rising from the dead. A good mix, I must say!

Overall, Graveminder is a richly imagined story with a relatable and interesting plot filled with likable characters. Melissa Marr sets up the story so it can be turned into a series if she wishes. Personally, I hope the author runs with the story and decides to continue the story of Bek and Byron!

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Review: A Tale Dark and Grimm by Adam Gidwitz

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Title: A Tale Dark and Grimm

Author: Adam Gidwitz

Publishing Information: October 28, 2010 by Dutton

Genre: Young Adult, Humor, Fantasy

Series information: Book 1 in a planned series

Format: Hardcover, 252 pages

Source: Received an ARC from the publisher via Netgalley

Recommended For: Readers wanting humorous retellings of old fables that will lighten the heart.

“Once upon a time, fairy tales were awesome.  I know, I know. You don’t believe me. I don’t blame you. A little while ago, I wouldn’t have believed it myself. Little girls in red caps skipping around the forest? Awesome? I don’t think so. But then I started to read them. The real, Grimm ones. Very few little girls in red caps in those.

The real Grimm stories are not like that. Take Hansel and Gretel, for example. Two greedy little children try to eat a witch’s house, so she decides to cook and eat them instead – which is fair, it seems to me. But before she can follow through on her (perfectly reasonable) plan, they lock her in an oven and bake her to death.

Which is pretty cool, you have to admit. But maybe it’s not awesome.

Except – and here’s the thing – that’s not the real story of Hansel and Gretel.”

This however, is the “real” story of Hansel and Gretel. It is a story about two children who run away after their father cuts off their heads to save his faithful servant, Johannes. These children have adventure after adventure, all the while searching for a parent figure who won’t try to harm (or kill) them. Their adventures start of course with the wicked witch who tries to eat them for supper after fattening them up on her house made of gingerbread. After escaping, the children find solace with a couple who recently traded their seven sons so that they could have the daughter (enter: Gretel) that they always wanted. After saving the seven sons and escaping these wicked parents (who had the best intentions) Hansel and Gretel begin living in a magical wood that unfortunately turns Hansel into a werewolf and leads Gretel to move to a nearby town, fall in love with an evil warlock and eventually sentence him to death by oil and snakes. While Gretel is suffering, being nearly killed by an evil warlock, Hansel is living the life in a kingdom nearby. Unfortunately, his new “father” has a gambling problem and gambles Hansel’s life away over a game of cards with Satan. That’s right, SATAN. Therefore, Hansel must use his wiles to outsmart the devil and escape Hell which turns out to be a hilarious endeavor that ends up with Hansel dressing as the “mother devil” and singing like a dead cat. Eventually, Hansel and Gretel find their way back to their home kingdom and are given the task of ridding the land of an evil dragon. This proves to be a little more than a personal problem and Hansel and Gretel are forced to come to terms with their lack of parenting yet again.

I loved this book. The narration style was hilarious with some aside statements made to both parents and children as well as to the characters in the story…

For a moment she stopped and considered following the rain’s advice. But then shook her head. “You’re being foolish,” Gretel told herself. “Rain can’t talk.”

No, of course it can’t. The moon can eat children, and fingers can open doors, and people’s heads can be put back on. But rain? Talk? Don’t be ridiculous. Good thinking, Gretel dear. Good thinking.

The narrator tells the reader how it is, even if it is not always happy and positive. In fact, the narrator often explains how bloody and terrible the situations coming are going to be and “prepares” them for what is to come. This book also reintroduces some classic fairy tales and some that are not as well known to a new generation, putting a brand new spin on the “Grimm” works.

It is no secret that I love a good fairy tale re-write, and although my first impression was that this story would be too juvenile for young adult (or adult) readers, after reading it I found it to be a refreshing change and relatable to readers of all ages.

 

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Review: Lost Voices by Sarah Porter

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LVTitle: Lost Voices

Author: Sarah Porter

Publishing Information: July 4, 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy, Mermaids, Paranormal

Series information: Book 1 in the Lies Beneath trilogy

Format: Hardcover, 291 pages

Source: Received an ARC from the publisher via Netgalley

Recommended For: Readers looking for a mermaid tale focusing more on friendship than romance.

Fourteen-year-old Luce has had a tough life, but she reaches the depths of despair when she is assaulted and left on the cliffs outside of a grim, gray Alaskan fishing village. She expects to die when she tumbles into the icy waves below, but instead undergoes an astonishing transformation and becomes a mermaid. A tribe of mermaids finds Luce and welcomes her in—all of them, like her, lost girls who surrendered their humanity in the darkest moments of their lives. Luce is thrilled with her new life until she discovers the catch: the mermaids feel an uncontrollable desire to drown seafarers, using their enchanted voices to lure ships into the rocks. Luce possesses an extraordinary singing talent, which makes her important to the tribe—she may even have a shot at becoming their queen. However her struggle to retain her humanity puts her at odds with her new friends. Will Luce be pressured into committing mass murder?

Luce has hard life, she tries her best to fly under the radar and keep away from her abusive uncle as much as she can. Unfortunately, Luce is unable to stay invisible for long and she is abused to a breaking point and she decides to leave her “before” life forever. As she is running Luce falls and plummets off a high cliff into the icy water below. Instead of dying, however, Luce starts to transform. Soon after she is found by a group of mermaids that explain that she is a mermaid as well and has been turned into one because of the horror she experienced in her life as a human.

Luce begins learning the ways of the mermaid life and finds that she has one of the most beautiful voices any of the mermaids have ever heard. This is both a great compliment and a source of anxiety for Luce as a mermaids voice is also her weapon. Part of the mermaid lifestyle is to sing their beautiful song, making ship passengers become enraptured so they crash or fall to their death. Luce doesn’t want to hurt anyone but she fears rejection from her new family so she faces a very hard choice on how to live her new life.

This novel is a new twist on a somewhat warped coming of age story. Luce begins finding herself after a traumatic event spirals her into what she believes is a point of no return. A refreshing difference in this novel is that there is no romantic relationship; it is not a story that centers on a romance. Instead,the relationships are between the girls in the mermaid tribe and many characters are fleshed out enough that you learn to appreciate their individual characteristics. Sarah Porter’s debut novel is the first in a very promising new series; I can’t wait to see how Luce’s choices in Lost Voices affect her new life as a member of the mermaid tribe.

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Review: Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs

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Title: Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children

Author: Ransom Riggs

Publishing Information: June 7, 2011 by Quirk

Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy, Paranormal, Mystery

Series information: Book 1 in a planned series

Format: Hardcover, 352 pages

Source: Received an ARC from the publisher via Netgalley

Recommended For: Fans looking for a mysterious novel revolving around intriguing photographs

I found out about this book through multiple blogs that I follow and I was very intrigued at the idea of a story that focused around real photographs that are very out of the ordinary. When this book came into my library I quickly grabbed it and started reading and from the first page it was AHH-MAZING!! So much happens in this book that it is hard to write a review without spoiling part of the plot but here is the official review from amazon.com:

 

As a kid, Jacob formed a special bond with his grandfather over his bizarre tales and photos of levitating girls and invisible boys. Now at 16, he is reeling from the old man’s unexpected death. Then Jacob is given a mysterious letter that propels him on a journey to the remote Welsh island where his grandfather grew up. There, he finds the children from the photographs–alive and well–despite the islanders’ assertion that all were killed decades ago. As Jacob begins to unravel more about his grandfather’s childhood, he suspects he is being trailed by a monster only he can see. A haunting and out-of-the-ordinary read, debut author Ransom Rigg’s first-person narration is convincing and absorbing, and every detail he draws our eye to is deftly woven into an unforgettable whole. Interspersed with photos throughout, Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children is a truly atmospheric novel with plot twists, turns, and surprises that will delight readers of any age.

 

When you start reading this story you really don’t know what to expect. It starts off like a horror novel, the type where you need to turn the page but at the same time are scared to do so. Once you get half way through the story you realize the true plotline and it is so different from anything written before that the reader hardly knows how to feel.

 

The story ends on a cliff-hanger and one can only hope Ransom Riggs is diligently working on a sequel. Even more exciting, according to the author’s blog 20th Century Fox has purchased the film rights and they are currently working on casting!

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Review: Warm Bodies by Isaac Marion

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Title: Warm Bodies

Author: Isaac Marion

Publishing Information: April 26, 2011 by Atria Books

Genre: Young Adult, Horror, Zombies, Romance

Series information: Book 1 in a planned series

Format: Hardcover, 239 pages

Source: Borrowed from my local library

Recommended For: Readers looking for a novel about zombies, romance and humanity.

I found this book while perusing the shelves at Barnes n Noble a few months back. I was scanning the shelves as I usually do to find barcodes to shamelessly scan into my Goodreads account before borrowing them from the library when BAM! The cover of Warm Bodies hit me like a hammer between the eyes. I was so intrigued, the contrast of dark shades and a red cape flowing from the zombie-esque man to look like gushing blood pulled me right in. Then I read the book jacket: “R is a zombie. He has no name, no memories, and no pulse, but he has dreams. He is a little different from his fellow dead.” That’s it, I had to have this book. There will be no blood sucking vampires or mysterious werewolves, instead there is a main character who eats brains! Brains, because, you know, HE IS A ZOMBIE! As you get further into the story you find that R is a different kind of zombie (are you a good witch, or a bad witch?) and he becomes one of the most lovable characters I have ever met.

Honestly there isn’t much else I can say without giving away the whole novel but check out my book trailer to learn more :]

Warm Bodies