Mini Reviews: Spellbinding & The Dead and Buried

Spellbinding

by Maya Gold

Release Date: April 1, 2013
Publisher: Scholastic
Pages: 272
Received: ARC from publisher
Stars: 3
Goodreads Page

I'm pretty neutral on this book. I didn't love it and I didn't hate it. The main character didn't make much of an impression one way or the other and the romantic lead was inoffensively bland. The plot was fairly predictable and there wasn't a whole lot to it.

But, I liked it. I wanted to find time to read it and I ended up pushing aside other things in order to spend time reading. The main character didn't make much of an impression on me, but the writing style was languidly engaging and a lot more mature than I would have expected with that cover. I was expecting light and fluffy, which was pretty off base. 

The whole thing felt almost like an adult narrating. Not in the cringe-inducing adult-author-trying-and-failing-to-sound-hip way. But more like an adult looking back on her teenage years and telling her story. It had that vibe, and I tend to like that approach. Going along with that, the story focused more on Abby discovering what kind of person she wants to be than on the blurb's love spells and action.

Recommended if you're looking for a pleasant way to kill an afternoon or two.

The Dead and Buried

by Kim Harrington

Release Date: January 1, 2013
Publisher: Scholastic Point
Pages: 295
Received: ARC from publisher
Stars: 3.5
Goodreads Page

I'm always up for a good ghost story, and The Dead and Buried hit the mark of being sufficiently chilling without being *too* scary for a wimp like me.

It probably could have even been a little scarier. The scariness lost some steam as the book progressed. Actually, it lost a lot of steam overall.

Mostly that's because I figured out whodunnit way too early and then spent about half the book somewhat impatiently waiting for main character Jade to catch up. This is always a big let down.

That's ok though, because even though I figured out the big mystery, there was still a lot to like and hold my interest. Jade herself is just straight up likable. I enjoyed spending time with her. She's not a push over and she doesn't lose her perspective (or dignity) the second a cute guy shows interest. She pretty much made the book for me.

She also had her own hobbies and interests that she engaged in with little care to what other people thought about them (and what I thought about them was that they were super cool! I love gemstones).

All in all, a nice standalone mystery that I liked more than Kim Harrington's first book Clarity (mostly because I liked Jade a whole lot and I didn't like Clarity that much. The romance was better than Clarity's romance, too. The mystery was about the same though, which is a solid good for both books).

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WoW (43): Three books I'm dying to read

The "My gosh can 2013 hurry up and get here NOW?!" edition

Strands of Bronze and Gold

by Jane Nickerson

Release Date: March 12, 2013
Publisher: Knopf
Pages: 352
Goodreads Page

Did you already see this mentioned on Ruby's Reads? Well, I'm a book pusher, so I'm mentioning it again. But, really, with a plot like this, can you blame me?


A retelling of Bluebeard (don't know it? Think the creepier side of fairy tales...murder, rooms filled with dismembered wives, that sort of happy thing), Strands of Bronze and Gold is a Gothic (!) set in 1855 and follows 17-year old Sophia as she goes to live with her mysterious guardian in his haunted mansion, Wyndriven Abbey (it's named! Named houses = awesome times ahead).

Inhuman

by Kat Falls

Release Date: March 2013
Publisher: Scholastic

Goodreads Page

In a post-apocalyptic United States, the entire eastern part of the country is a ravaged wasteland filled with mutated creepies that could kill you...unless you begin mutating yourself! Suffice it to say, no one goes there.

Oh, wait, except a few daring people like our protagonist's father who ventures in to steal artifacts (gotta say, the little thief in me loves the idea of scavenging all those abandoned goodies. Sounds like Chernobyl.)

All is well until daddy gets himself into a pickle and his daughter Lane needs to bail him out. Which means she needs to team up with a hottie rogue of unknown loyalties from the wrong side of the tracks and venture into the mutated scaryland to go quest after some lost artifacts. YAY! I hope that giant machete in her hands is a sign of things to come, because questing + rogues + mutated beasties = SIGN ME UP!

Spellbinding

by Maya Gold

Release Date: April 2013
Publisher: Scholastic
Pages: 272
Goodreads Page

Witches! I have a weakness for witches. I even faithfully watched every single episode of The Secret Circle, and if you're at all familiar with that show, then you'll know that means my weakness for witches is pretty extreme to put up with that. 

But, moving on, I'm hoping the witches in Spellbinding are a little better and actually use their powers. Judging by the blurb, it sounds like I'll be able to get my fill of hijinks and spells gone awry through ill-advised love potions, hexes, and ancient spellbooks.

I also love the new-witch-learning-her-powers thing going on here. Maybe it's that, maybe it's the Salem connection, or maybe it's just the blond cover model and my own nostalgia kicking in, but I'm sorta getting a little Sabrina the Teenage Witch vibe, and I'm just dorky enough to cross my fingers and hope it's true!
 

What are you waiting for in 2013? 
Are you interested in reading any of these books?

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