Book Review: Neanderthal Opens the Door to the Universe

Pages: 400
Released: May 22, 2018
Publisher: Disney
Received: ARC from publisher
Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
Goodreads

Ok, this may be dating myself, but when Dawson's Creek first came out there was all this buzz about how the characters all talked using this ridiculous vocabulary and convoluted, overly-pretentious sentences and sounded like pretty much no teenager ever. And it wasn't just the teenage characters, it was all the characters. They all spoke with one voice, and that voice was absurdly unrealistic.

And it was also kind of cool and part of Dawson's Creek's charm.

The same thing happens here. Every single character is an incredibly witty wordsmith and they all speak in exactly the same way. It's so far from realistic, but it's also a big part of why I started and continued reading. If the book hadn't been written in this style, I probably wouldn't have bothered reading it.

The second reason I enjoyed the book is the equally ridiculous 1990s teenage movie vibe where the characters have a mission and the whole school kumbayas in the end. There's even something called a Sermon Showdown. And the whole school gets in on it and it is drop-the-mic epic like when Kat reads her poem about the 10 reasons she hates Heath Ledger or when Laney Boggs walks down the stairs. Yeah. I'm simultaneously appalled and enthralled.

There were some pretty heavy topics like suicide and abusive relationships and drug use and, wow, yeah, now that I think about it this book is stuffed with a whole host of Very Special Episode topics. And it works about as well as it did when TGIF tried to smush together levity and Serious Issues. It works, and it also doesn't work at all. What did work for me were the very contrived but very aw-inducing friendships that were formed between the jock and the nerd and the jock, nerd, and curmudgeonly old man. See what I mean? Sooo predictable, trite, and ridiculous, but also, well, it works. 

I don't really know who this book is written for. It's filled with references and elements to totally resonate with someone who grew up in the 1990s (they even go to a video store), but does that work for actual teens now? I don't know.

Bottom line

If you're looking to fill that 90s teen rom-com void, then Neanderthal Opens the Door to the Universe is a good pick. It's super long, but short chapters, punchy writing, and the everything-but-the-kitchen-sink jammed in makes for a fast read. I enjoyed reading it, but I don't know that I'd reread it.

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Book Review: Rosemarked by Livia Blackburne

#1 in the Rosemarked series
Pages: 400
Released: November 11, 2017
Publisher: Disney
Received: ARC from publisher
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Goodreads

I really wasn't planning on reading this book either, but this is twice now that Disney has sent me a book I didn't plan on reading and I ended up enjoying it a whole lot. So, points to you, Disney.

The thing is, while the plot sounds right up my alley (fantasy, conspiracy, hate-turned-love romance, war, spies, etc.), Livia Blackburne's books and I have a love-hate relationship. I adored her short story Poison Dance, and I was so excited to read the series it was setting up, but when it came to the actual novel I couldn't even finish it. It felt like it was written by a completely different author. I figured the short story was a fluke and I pretty much wrote off anything else she wrote. Which is why I hadn't even bothered considering Rosemarked.

And, to be honest, it was all smooth sailing. There was this distance with the characters that made their narrative voices feel muffled and monotone. Sure, there was emotion, but it felt dull and muted like it was underwater. Had the book not been so long, giving me enough time to really get to know them better and become invested in their stories, I probably wouldn't have enjoyed it as much.

But, the book is long, and so we got to spend a lot of time together. The chapters alternate between Zivah and Dineas's narrative focus and that switching combined with fairly short chapters and a slow-burn plot kept me engaged. Their voices were distinct enough, though I appreciated the chapter headings indicating who was speaking. By about halfway through I solidly cared about them and that feeling only grew as I read more.

As the plot progresses the emotions run deeper and deeper and I found myself invested not just in the characters and the story, but also in the idea. I know that doesn't make much sense, but there's an almost philosophical conundrum the characters experience that made me wish I was reading this with a book club so we could discuss all the angles and ramifications. 

The plot and world building are intriguing and I enjoyed reading about them in their own right. The crows, snake, and disease were interesting and well thought-out. I could wish for a little more depth to the empire/conquered peoples, but maybe that will unfold more in the sequel.

I was disappointed when the book ended because even though it was long, I wanted to keep reading. I'm definitely looking forward to reading the next one.

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Book Review: Royal Bastards by Andrew Shvarts

#1 in the Royal Bastards series
Pages: 352
Released: May 30, 2017
Publisher: Disney
Received: ARC from publisher
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Goodreads

Well, this was a pleasant surprise. I was expecting a court story with a bunch of anachronistic and hard to like royal bastards. I was fully expecting to DNF after a few chapters of drunken lazying about with big chips on our shoulders. I even thought this was historical fiction with a ton of liberties.

Apparently I didn't pay much attention to the blurb? This is pure fantasy. There's about one chapter of the above before very quickly diving into murder, magic, mayhem and perilous flight. The entire book is spent on the road trying to get to a royal city while being pursued by murderous bad guys and running across creepy, deadly wildlife. Basically, it was non-stop action and the pages flew by.

The bratty bastards were also not what I was expecting. They were actually likable. Sure, they're very tropey (tough girl with a soft heart, geeky smart guy, good looking quiet warrior, guy-next-door, and kind princess who is more than she seems), but they were likable tropes. I enjoyed reading about all of them and I cared what happened to them. Plus, there's romance and it hit at all the right spots.  There were a few surprisingly emotional moments that added a level of depth.

The world building is pretty standard fare for medieval-ish fantasy. There aren't orcs and elves, but there are taverns, magic-users, and battles. There's a conquering history that has laid the groundwork for the current rebellion and while it's fairly thin on substance, it gets the job done. The magic is interesting enough and the Narnia-ish turn-people-to-stone magic is suitably horrifying. I liked the inclusion of the gross fantasy creature and I don't think you can go wrong with giant magic explosions (of which there were several). 

I'm wavering between a 3.5 and a 4 and I suspect that in a few months I'll have forgotten most of what happened, but I'm bumping it to a 4 because it was just plain fun. I'm looking forward to finding out what happens next.

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Book Review: The Dreadful Tale of Prosper Redding by Alexandra Bracken

#1 in the series
Pages: 362
Publisher: Disney Hyperion
Released: September 5, 2017
Received: ARC from publisher
Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
Goodreads

Alexandra Bracken and I have a rocky relationship. It started out with flailing love, fizzled with lukewarm disappointment, and sunk to the bottom of the ocean with a vow never to pick up another one of her books again.  

So why in the world was I reading The Dreadful Tale of Prosper Redding then? Well, because I'm  a sucker for pretty things and when the publisher sent me an ARC in a pretty box with fall leaves, throwback Halloween candy, apple cider mix, and other goodies? Um, yeah, like I said, I'm a sucker.

I'm glad my will is so weak and Disney decided to send me an ARC because, overall, I had a nice time with Prosper Redding. It's not a perfect book. It's actually pretty rough. The pacing is off, the plot is tenuous, the characters are underdeveloped and pretty stock, and the main character felt like he couldn't decide if he was 12 or 17 years old (for the record, I would have preferred 17. It rang truer.). If I didn't know any better I'd think this was a debut.

But all that said, I still just liked the book. It felt good, if that makes sense. It felt like a Disney Channel Original Movie. Kind of goofy, far from perfect, but light, airy, and fun. The atmosphere of the story evoked all the right fall feelings: crisp air, the silliness and creepiness of Halloween, sweater weather, and childhood bliss.

Not much happened overall, and while there are a lot of pages in the book, this is very much just an introduction to the story. I suspect that when all is said and done, all the books in the series probably could be edited down into one book. So, will I read the sequel? Maybe. I'm not rushing out to get it, but if I came across it in the library or was sent a copy, I'd read it. If not? I don't know that I'd go out of my way to get it.

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Mini Review: Dream Magic by Joshua Khan

Review of Book 1: Shadow Magic
Goodreads

This is maybe a weird way to think about a book, but I feel such relief with this series. The books are just consistently good and I feel like I can trust Joshua Khan to give me exactly the story I want.

The characters are well-developed and I like them. I like spending time with them, I like what they say, I like what they do, I like their hopes, dreams, worries, and fears.

The world is interesting, multi-layered, and feels real. I guess maybe that's a good way of describing these books: they feel real. Genuine. Nothing feels half-thought-out or inconsistent or false. Joshua Khan paints such a vivid picture of everything that I feel like I'm completely immersed in this world.

The pacing is pretty swift, but it doesn't feel like it's intentionally trying to keep the pace up to retain interest.

I don't have much to say about the plot without giving spoilers. I will say that this is an underappreciated series that I wish more people were reading. I love it.  


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Book Review: Poor Unfortunate Soul by Serena Valentino

Pages: 208
Publisher: Disney
Released: July 26, 2016
Received: Finished copy from publisher
Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
Goodreads

This is a really tiny book with a whole lot of plot packed into it. There's really four stories here: Ursula's past, Ursula's present (the movie), the strange sisters, and the princess. This was good since all the stories were mostly interesting, but also bad because all the stories suffered from "not enough."

Ursula's past was acceptable. I'll buy what the author is selling here, even if it did seem a little far fetched. But, fairy tale, so, yeah, I can accept far fetched in this context.

Ursula's present was entirely underwhelming. Mostly it's just word for word taken from the movie, it's barely there, and when it does go off script it's not very good. Triton is made into a super evil man whose complete cruelty led entirely to Ursula's villainous ways. Even taking into account that this is from Ursula's perspective, this still didn't feel right. This didn't ring true to any of the characters and it lacked the psychological depth and character development needed in a reverse perspective story.

But those other two storylines? To me, those made the book worth reading. There were a lot of references to the first two books in the series, but I didn't get them because 1) I read the first book years and years ago so I don't remember much of anything, and 2) I never read the second book. It was a little annoying not knowing exactly what was being referred to, but it didn't affect my ability to follow the story.

Even still, these side characters were more interesting and I cared more about them than I did about Ursula. The three sisters were annoying, but I didn't get the sense you were supposed to think they weren't annoying. The cat, the princess, the prince, and the nanny were all likable and I wish the book spent more time on them.

Also, there's a big cliffhanger at the end. 

Bottom line

The books in this series seem to be pretty consistent. They're kind of all over the place and written poorly, but despite that, they're also engaging and, overall, I enjoy them. I would definitely check these books out of the library and will continue to follow the series.

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Book Review: Disney Villains

Pages: 129
Released: July 12, 2016
Publisher: Disney Editions
Received: Finished copy from publisher
Rating: a very generous 3 out of 5 stars
Goodreads

Oh, villains. What is it about villains, and Disney villains in particular, that is just so fascinating? I'm not sure the reason, but I can't deny that I do love all things Disney villain, and this book is no exception.

The book is arranged by category of villain, which automatically gets points and interest from me because I'm a categorizing kind of person and so I liked to see which categories Disney chose to create and then which categories they chose to sort their villains into. So, right off the bat I was hooked.

Peppered throughout the book were sub-categories, focusing on everything from villain sidekicks, villain pets, and villain cars. This was an unexpected and wholly delightful addition that added an extra layer of engagement. More points. 

Then they added pictures. Bright, big, bold pictures that further grabbed my attention in a very positive way. This is a coffee table book, so the pages are big, glossy, and thick. Points for visuals!

And yet, only three stars, so the points must come off somewhere, right? Sadly, it's because of the content. Each featured villain gets a blurb, and I was so hoping these blurbs would provide thoughtful commentary about the development, personality, and "type" of villain. And, to be fair, some did.

But most didn't.

Most came with very shallow, blandly written blurbs that offered nothing beyond a very, very surface-level, very minimal description of the villain. I could have written a more in-depth description! I could have provided more thoughtful commentary or personality analysis or description of the villain's unique importance in their story. Surely Disney, the keeper of the character secrets and origin stories and knowledge of all the "whys" behind the characters' creation and development would be able to provide more?

I was very disappointed. It felt like the blurbs were phoned in by a low-level intern who couldn't care less about Disney. There was no magic, no love, no care.

Bottom line

Ok, but I expect better from Disney.  

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Book Review: The Hidden Oracle by Rick Riordan

#1 in the Trials of Apollo series
Pages: 379
Released: May 3, 2016
Publisher: Disney Hyperion
Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
Goodreads

Meh. 

That's never a good first association word. But what can I say? It fits. 

Sometimes having a good formula and sticking with it works out. And, sometimes, it doesn't. For me, in the case of Rick Riordan, I think it's time to either find a new shtick or quit while he's, well, we're not even ahead at this point. Maybe just quit beating a dead horse?

My gripes with The Hidden Oracle are the same gripes I had with The Sword of Summer: too much over-writing, too much over-reliance on the formulas of the previous books' plots and characters, shallow side characters, and a plot that chugs along with gasps and wheezes instead of engaging action. It was hard enough getting through the first book (though I liked it more than The Sword of Summer) and I couldn't imagine slogging through an entire five book series. There just isn't enough substance. 

Going back to those side characters, in full disclosure I haven't read the Heroes of Olympus series. Maybe I should have? Maybe I would have cared about them? As it was, I could not care less about any of them. They were hollow nothing characters. They didn't even have enough substance for caricature status. They were just there, and so whatever perilous situations they found themselves in, it was a real chore to even try to muster up an iota of care. 

And did we really need to trot out Percy Jackson again? Even Percy seemed to roll his eyes at his stale cameo.

Oh, and oh my gosh, the villain? No, just...no. Surely we can do better than this?

But what about Apollo himself? Overall, I liked Apollo's voice and he is definitely (finally!) distinct from Percy Jackson. His humor was also so, so bad, but instead of grating like it did in The Sword of Summer,  coming from Apollo the awfulness of the humor just added to his character. I'm not sure if that was the intention, but it worked for me. 

I enjoyed Apollo's bravado and how he grappled with humanity and his past. This added depth and entertainment, though it would have hit even harder had I cared about the other characters. Anyway, I'm in the "pros" part of the review, so...

Fans of Riordan's other series will probably continue to find enjoyment in the plot of this new series. It follows the same pattern of sedate adventuring, and even if it hasn't been pulse-pounding since the original series, it's entertaining enough in a lighthearted way. I mean, I did stick with it and finish the book. 

Bottom line

I think it's time Rick Riordan and I parted ways. It was nice for a while there, but I'm bored now and in search of spark, which doesn't seem to be something I'm going to get from a Riordan book at this point. Apollo is what sets this book above his latest offerings and gave me a little hope, but ultimately the total package just isn't enough for me. 

But, readers still enjoying his books will gobble up The Trials of Apollo with enthusiasm. It's more of the same, and while for me that's yawn-inducing, for many others that will be a selling point. 

 
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Book Review: The Art of Disney's Dragons by Tom Bancroft

Pages: 128
Released: June 28, 2016
Publisher: Disney Editions
Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
Goodreads


Disney fan? Check. Dragon fan? Check? Art fan? Check.

I'm primed to love this book. And I did. Ish. Or, rather, I liked it a lot, but because I can see so easily how a few tweaks could have made me love it, I can't help but feel like I've just eaten a really good, really tiny appetizer and I'm so ready to dive into a full entree, but then I've been told it's time to leave the restaurant. And I'm starving.

Ok, so the good? 

The pictures. Almost every page in the book is a picture, and the pages that have words or copyright information and stuff also have pictures. The pages are also a thick, high gloss paper that really lets the drawings pop. This book is a visual delight.

The variety of pictures. Not only do we get your obvious dragon choices (Maleficent, Mushu, Elliot, Madam Mim, etc.), but there are also pictures of dragons that appear throughout the Disney parks and really emphasize how much care and attention to detail Disney takes, even on its merry-go-round decorations. Also included are character concepts that have not yet been released or were planned for rides, park entertainments, or movies that were later abandoned. This was exciting but also kind of sad to see how much effort went into creating something that never came to fruition.

The introductions. There aren't many words in this book, but those that are there perfectly capture the magic that is Disney. They frame the book and provide insight into how to interpret the images in order to glean a deeper appreciation and understanding of the way Disney animators use all these archival images to create new characters and stories. Though I did say seeing all the old, unused artwork was sad, the introduction showed how these images never truly die, even if they aren't used as originally intended. Often in a book like this I might skip the intro, but in this case I highly recommend reading it and reading it before flipping through the pictures.

The areas for improvement? 

I won't say "the bad" because they're not bad things. These are more observations that if they had been included they would have enhanced the book greatly.

More words. I know, I know, this isn't that kind of book. But, the pictures, while nice to look at, didn't tell the whole story. I would have really liked more background information describing the thought process behind the artistic choices. Why a shorter neck? Why three fingers instead of four or five? Knowing the rationale behind these choices would have enhanced the experience for me, deepened my analysis of the images both individually and as a whole, and would have given me the chance to consider whether or not I agreed with the choices made.

Label the images in the book. Ok, I'm big on organization, so maybe this is just my hangup, but I would have appreciated knowing who the dragons were and what these images were intended to be for while I was looking at the pictures. The way the book is set up now, you flip through all the pictures, but you don't know what is what (unless you recognize the dragon, of course). Then, after you've seen everything, you turn to an index that matches up information about the picture with the page number the picture appeared on. This creates an awkward flip back and forth thing that I guess ultimately worked, but was kind of annoying.

Organize the images. I know, I know, here I go again with the organization. And, again, this may just be me, but I would have appreciated if the images had been in some kind of order that provided a framework in which to interpret the pictures. If, for example, the pictures had been put in chronological order, we could have seen the evolution of the Disney dragon and really start to pick up on how the features changed (and didn't change) throughout the years. See the turning points when a longer neck was introduced, or when there was a body style shift, or color evolution, etc. Or, group the pictures according to dragon "type" so we could start to see how certain features are used to indicate a mean and intelligent dragon versus a mean but lower-intelligence dragon versus a heroic dragon versus a comical and kind dragon, and so on.

Show the evolution of the characters. We got this a little. There were pictures of various dragons at different stages of development, but I would have really appreciated three things: 1) put these pictures in order so we can see the evolution of the design, and 2) explain the rationale behind the changes, and 3) include the "final" result so we can see what was ultimately created and how the earlier incarnations contributed to the finished product.

Bottom line

Had these changes been made this would have easily been a 5 start book with impact. As it is, it was a very nice book that provided a few takeaways but will likely be forgotten. Still recommended for the Disney collector or artists who will pour over the pages and pull out little details on their own.

But, for the more casual reader, they'll probably flip through once or twice, enjoy what they see, and then move on. Had the changes above been included, that would have deepened my experience and made this a very easy book to recommend. As it is, I still recommend it, but the audience is much smaller. In fact, instead of library shelves, I highly recommend this one as a resource in art classes.

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DNF Explanation: Passenger by Alexandra Bracken

#1 in the Passenger series
Pages: 486
Released: January 5, 2016
Publisher: Disney Hyperion
Received: ARC from publisher
Rating: DNF on page 62
Goodreads

Once upon a time there was a book called Brightly Woven, and this book stole my heart. It had it all: sleepover party main character Sydelle, swoony and sarcastic Wayland North, questing, creative world-building and magic, and did I mention the romance? I read Brightly Woven back in 2010, and I've been pining for more ever since.

So, of course I've done the only logical thing, which is to expect every subsequent book Alexandra Bracken writes to be as amazingly wonderful as Brightly Woven. Or, basically, to be Brightly Woven, just in different settings.

Enter, The Darkest Minds in 2012, which I was fulling hoping would be Syd and North Do a Dystopia. And, yeah, it so wasn't that. Everything took a big step down. Instead of an intricate world with a unique magic system I could latch onto, I got an interesting premise but a sloppily thrown together world with a whole lot of gaping holes. Instead of kick-butt Sydelle, I got whiny please-kill-her-now Ruby. Instead of swoony Wayland North, I got a dull and forgettable love interest. I was devastated, and I never bothered reading the rest of the series.

Which is a huge preamble just to get to Passenger, which, yeah, I was still hoping for Sydelle and North Do Time Travel Pirate Adventuring. And, ugh, I so did not get that.

Instead, I got The Darkest Minds, but worse.

TDM at least jumped into the action and kept it going. Passenger was a total snore-fest (at least, the parts I read). SO much time was spent repeating the same things over and over. I think this was supposed to constitute "character development" but, yeah, no, telling me over and over and over again about surface level character traits and interests is not "character development."

Basically, after 62 pages I now know that main character what's-her-name really wants to be a violin prodigy, is really nervous about her big debut performance, likes her violin teacher, and has a flighty, artsy but not particularly warm mom. Oh, and she's also really annoying, wishy washy, and has no life or backbone and isn't happy with her life choices. Yawn.

BUT, I do know I really, really don't like her. 

And the guy? Ugh, he's no Wayland North. He's not even that other boring guy from TDM. He's...erm, he sails on ships? I think I'm supposed to think he's adventuresome and smart and all that. Maybe?

So, yeah, characters 0. How about that plot?!

No, plot 0, too.

I thought TDM was thrown together. Ha. I did not know the meaning of thrown together, but Passenger has shown me the way. Absolutely awful pacing. I mean, terrible. Nothing happened in those 62 pages, (though I do think I caught some heavy handed foreshadowing and "cabal-esque" hint dropping) which made the book feel wandering and unsure of itself.

All the musician stuff was close, but not quite right. The ship stuff was erm, well, some of the things were sort of right-ish but at best were a bunch of jargony stuff that could be sort of right but doesn't really actually say anything to straight up not right.

I could give a pass on that. I mean, this is a light, fluffy, YA action book. It's not supposed to be heavy historical fiction. But, but, she could have just googled! I mean, crack open a Patrick O'Brian book to any random page and get some ship info. It's not that hard to get it right! Or, just don't put it in there at all and say "the ship had bigger and more guns than we did oh noes!" instead of trying to describe it in more detail. Either would work. I'd totally be ok with the vague approach. But this poor attempt at detail and getting it wrong is not ok.

But, this is the same problem as with everything else. It's all so hacked together and surface-level, relying on a mish-mash of "close enough" details and bash my head in repetition instead of depth. It just screams low effort. 

Bottom line

This felt like a hot mess. Is it a lack of editing? Rushed writing? I don't know what's happened, but over the course of three books, Alexandra Bracken has gone from an auto-buy author to a library-first, and now I'm sad to say but she's not even on my "consider reading" list anymore.



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Book Review: Shadow Magic by Joshua Khan

#1 in the Shadow Magic series
Pages: 336
Released: April 12, 2016
Publisher: Disney Hyperion
Received: ARC from publisher
Rated: 4 out of 5 stars
Goodreads

This book is awesome! Unfortunately, that cover is so not awesome, so I'm a little worried Shadow Magic will get overlooked and that would be awful (also, sad because the illustrations inside are SO much better than the cover).

So, quick and dirty list of why Shadow Magic is great and should go on every TBR:

The world building is surprisingly developed. Each kingdom has a different legacy, magic, history, and culture. Mostly we get to focus on Gehenna, which is basically the kingdom of the dead (think zombies, ghosts, and other creepy dark things), but we also get to see glimpses of the kingdoms of Light, Fire, and erm, foresty stuff. I cannot wait to delve deeper into this world in the next book!

The characters are sleepover party material. Except Gabriel (the obnoxious prince of Light, set to wed main character Lily), because Gabriel was terrible. Until the end, when I even started to feel bad for him. But, the other characters? The best.

Lily is the new ruler of Gehenna since her parents and brother were just assassinated and the killer is still on the loose. She's understandably nervous about ruling, especially since she's a kid and her kingdom is falling apart around her, she's not allowed to do magic, and her uncle is trying to set up an arranged marriage with the kingdom of Light, their arch nemesis. Lily faces it all with spunk and determination.

It also helps that she has a trio of support and every one of these guys is awesome in his own right. Thorn especially. He's the guy riding the giant bat on the cover. Yeah. He's also the sarcastic down-on-his-luck type I can't help but liking. The other two? Well, you'll have to read the book, but one is a prince from the fire kingdom and the other is an executioner. And how could I forget Mary and Rose? They're the other side of Lily's support team, and they're equally awesome.

Twisty mystery. Ok, so Lily is new to her kingdom and learning the ropes. Thorn is looking for his missing father. The prince from the fire kingdom is a hostage of the prince from the kingdom of light. There's that arranged marriage thing that Lily is trying to get out of without ruining her kingdom or starting a war. There's a rogue necromancer raising the dead. Forbidden magic lessons. A murdered royal family and the assassin on the run. Multiple attempts on Lily's life. A few murders. And a giant bat.

There's a lot going on here and it was so much fun to read and unravel the mysteries.

Bottom line

I can't rave about this book enough! The end wraps up pretty well and there isn't a horrible cliffhanger or anything like that. You just know that there are more adventures in store for these characters, and I can't wait to follow them in Dream Magic. 

Recommended for both boys and girls, middle grade and above.

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Book Reviews: Middle Grade Round Up

The Door by the Staircase by Katherine Marsh
Received: ARC from publisher
Rating: DNF

Chalk this up to a case of good book, wrong reader. The story seems great and definitely my kind of book, but the characters just weren't doing it for me. Mary was too "typical spunky orphan" but without anything to make her stand out from the crowd for me and we never clicked.

Goodreads reviewers have spoiled the plot pretty well (thanks!), so any tension or mystery that might have otherwise been there wasn't there for me. I felt bored and couldn't get into the story, mostly because of those spoilers. So, if you're at all interested in The Door by the Staircase, don't read Goodreads reviews!

It's hard to describe, but the book has a similar vibe as The Wolf Princess, which was another book that didn't work for me but should have. I kept wanting to enjoy myself, and kept trying to convince myself that I was enjoying myself, but, really, I wasn't having a good time. I couldn't even say why, exactly, except that the book just wasn't a good fit for me.

Still, it might be a good fit for middle grade readers and fans of Serafina and the Black Cloak. 

A Question of Magic by E. D. Baker
Received: Library
Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

E.D. Baker and I have a hit and miss relationship. I love her Wide-Aware Princess, but couldn't get into the Frog Princess series. A Question of Magic falls somewhere between the two for me, settle on a solid "like."

I don't think the characters and plot would sustain me through a series, but as a standalone book, which this is, everything kept me happily entertained. I liked how the author interpreted the Baba Yaga story (especially the "you only get one question" thing—LOVE that! Makes me wonder what I would ask...), and you can't ever go wrong with a talking cat. The main character was nice but forgettable (see, I can't even remember her name now), but that didn't take anything away from my enjoyment.   

Definitely not a bad way to spend an afternoon if you're a fan of fairy tale retellings. Recommended.  


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Book Review: Shadowlands by Kate Brian

Shadowlands by Kate Brian
Release Date: January 8, 2013
Publisher: Disney Hyperion
Pages: 336
Received: ARC from publisher
Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
Goodreads Page

Summary

From Goodreads:

Rory Miller had one chance to fight back and she took it. Rory survived… and the serial killer who attacked her escaped. Now that the infamous Steven Nell is on the loose, Rory must enter the witness protection with her father and sister, Darcy, leaving their friends and family without so much as a goodbye.

Starting over in a new town with only each other is unimaginable for Rory and Darcy. They were inseparable as children, but now they can barely stand each other. As the sisters settle in to Juniper Landing, a picturesque vacation island, it seems like their new home may be just the fresh start they need. They fall in with a group of beautiful, carefree teens and spend their days surfing, partying on the beach, and hiking into endless sunsets. But just as they’re starting to feel safe again, one of their new friends goes missing. Is it a coincidence? Or is the nightmare beginning all over again?

Review

What I thought before I started the book

Shadowlands is a contemporary, so of course I wasn't totally sold on the idea of reading it. I mean, ok, yes, there's a serial killer on the loose, and witness protection, and other tense stuff. But I wondered if that was going to be enough to keep me hooked.

But I had nothing to fear because Shadowlands kept me hooked from page one straight through to the gut-punching end. 

What I thought before I finished the book

Shadowlands starts out with a bang, wasting no time in throwing you in right as Rory is getting attacked. That's my kind of book. Tension is kept decently high in the beginning as Rory's family deals with the police and they discover just how involved the killer was in their life (super creepy).

And then the witness protection part started. I know how much Ruby loves witness protection stories, so it's hard to admit this but I sometimes struggle with them. I know there's usually something that shatters the safety of the program (so, yay action), and I do love mentally playing with the idea of taking on a new identity, but it's the whole "protection" part of it that I don't like. I don't want my characters to be protected, all safe and snug in their new identity. I want them facing constant peril.

So I was worried I'd start to doze off as soon as Rory and her family arrived at their quaint little island refuge. And I totally would have if it hadn't been for this mysterious something that simmered just beneath the surface.

A lot of time is spent on Rory going to the island's parties and wondering which guy is more interested in Rory (because, of course, two of them are). Objectively, I didn't much care about any of this. I didn't get why either guy was interested in Rory, and neither guy was particularly appealing.

But I still couldn't tear myself away. In this case, the fact that I didn't get why the guys were interested in her was actually intriguing. I got the feeling they were interested in her for some other reason. There was something going on in that little town and I couldn't shake the feeling that nothing was what it seemed. I was 100% committed to figuring out what was really going on.

What I thought after I finished the book

I would have loved Shadowlands when I was a tween/early teen. That was during my Lois Duncan phase and this book would have fit right in. Extra points would have been given for the startling ending I never would have predicted.

But I'm not a teen anymore, and I've read enough books to have had a pretty good idea where everything would end. I had two major theories about where this was all heading, and one of them proved right (thankfully, the one I was hoping for. Seriously, I was crossing my fingers and praying they weren't a secret cult of vampires).

That's ok though. Despite my theories, Kate Brian did a good job of dropping clues at just the right points to keep me hooked and guessing until the very end.

Extras to note

The mystery hogged most of my attention, but Kate Brian does also spend a lot of time developing the relationships between Rory, her father, and her sister Darcy. I was interested in seeing how each relationship deepened and changed through the course of the book.

That might not sound like a ringing endorsement, but I'm a very issue-phobic reader (there was the specter of a dead mother here, and NOT the literal ghost kind!), so coming from me that's pretty high praise.

Bottom line

Shadowlands ends pretty neatly (though abruptly), with a few threads left dangling. When I finished the book I was under the impression it was a standalone and I was perfectly happy with how it ended. The ending again reminded me of the books I read as a teen when most books were standalones and not everything was wrapped up with a bow and a twenty page epilogue.

But Shadowlands is not a standalone. It is part one of a trilogy (series?), and I am kinda disappointed. I don't see where the series has to go at this point, but I'm curious to find out (especially in light of the Big Reveal at the end). Not personally, maybe, as I'm not sure I'll be tuning in for the sequel, but I'll at least read reviews to find out what direction it takes.

But that's mostly because character building (these were pretty thin) and fantasies are more my thing. Fans of contemporary thrillers should enjoy Shadowlands (particularly readers who didn't spend their teen years marinating in Lois Duncan thrillers). The attractive cover, short chapters, and fast-paced mystery should make Shadowlands an appealing pick for YA readers.

Explanation of rating system: Star Rating Key 

Do you have any questions about Shadowlands that I haven't addressed? 
Feel free to ask in the comments!

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