Book Review: Bright Burns the Night by Sara B. Larson

Pages: 307
Publisher: Scholastic
Released: May 29, 2018
Received: ARC from publisher
Rating: 2.5 out of 5 stars
Goodreads

So, technically this is book 2 in a duology and I have not read book 1. I don't think that really matters, and it's not the reason why I ended up dropping so many stars.

Up until about two thirds of the way through this was a solid 3.5 star read. Nothing amazing, but it had that something special with the characters that made me care about seeing what happened to them. The romance had all the right sparks (hate turned love) and there was enough treachery and menace to the world to keep my heart pounding.

Until it didn't. The final third of the book saw the characters leaving the slow-build safety of their castle and venturing out on a quest. Should be awesome, right? Except, no. It felt like the first two thirds were fully fleshed out and, if not well-written, at least written in a way that was engaging and fun. I felt nostalgic for the good old days of YA paranormal/fantasy romance.

That final third, though. It felt like the author ran up against a deadline and needed to wrap things up STAT. Everything went off the rails ridiculous, which I could have even tolerated, but it was all so thin. I felt like I was reading a framework of a story instead of the actual published book.

Bottom line

I would have enjoyed this so much more had the ending not rushed everything and fallen apart in the process. What a shame.

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Book Reviews: Tudor Round Up

 
Tudor by Leanda de Lisle
Pages: 539
Received: Library
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Goodreads

Leanda de Lisle has written what I consider to be a worthwhile (non-fiction) addition to the massive Tudor library. I picked this out as part of my "moving TBR" (that is, all the books that my old library has that my new library doesn't have) and, yeah, picking up such a doorstop while getting ready to move all during a two week window of time was a little intimidating. 

But, I did it. And I actually really enjoyed it. There was something almost cozy about reading through such a familiar story and I really appreciated how Leanda de Lisle added her own touches so it felt familiar but not boring. Her perspective and focus on Margaret Beaufort, Margaret Tudor, and Margaret Douglas was especially interesting. The way she presented their stories helped tie all the events from the Wars of the Roses, Henry VII, Henry III and the rest of the Tudors all together, helped fill in some narrative gaps, and gave more depth to the stories of the more major players. I gained a lot of new insight through this approach.

I love that the author was more sympathetic toward Mary I, and I definitely got the feeling she was far more on the side of Catherine than Anne. And not overly fond of Elizabeth or Edward. She's also not a fan of Richard III, but not wholly in favor of Henry VII either and really not a fan of Henry VIII. So, biases definitely came through, but I wasn't turned off by them.

Tudor starts with Catherine of Valois' death and paces through the Wars of the Roses and then continues through to the death of Elizabeth I. It's detailed and follows the narrative timeline, but it doesn't delve into minute details. Very much recommended.

The Tudor Tutor by Barb Alexander
Pages: 160
Received: Library
Rating: 2.5 out of 5 stars
Goodreads

I mean, it was fine. I guess.

There's way too much effort focused on trying to be witty and write in a comedic bloggy kind of way and not enough effort focused on actually being funny or writing about history. The writing style wasn't bad enough to induce an eye-roll sprain, but it was close. It's reminiscent of bathroom books and has this smarmy blend of mocking superiority with a slangly attempt to appear casual and hip, while also being totally smart and stuff because this is, like, a history book.

So, yeah, I wasn't in love with it. 

The Tudor Tutor also suffers from the "technically correct, but..." syndrome where the author writes something that's technically true, but they provide so little context, leave out vital information, and jump onto the next snippet so quickly that it leads the reader to draw an inaccurate understanding of what actually happened.

While the reader with more Tudor knowledge won't fall into that pitfall, there isn't much to this book for them. It's a bare-bones rundown of events that won't add much to the knowledge base of a reader whose sole familiarity with the family is through Jonathan Rhys Meyers' interpretation on Showtime's series. For the reader who hasn't even seen the show, well, this wouldn't be a terrible place to start, but there are far, far better out there.  

Catherine of Aragon by Alison Prince
(also known as My Tudor Queen)
Pages: 160
Received: Library
Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
Goodreads

Ok, this wasn't nearly as bad as this author's book about the princes in the Tower. I get the feeling the author likes Catherine (she gave her strange focus in the other book, which really has nothing to do with Catherine). This is another book where the story is told through the eyes of a servant, but in this case it worked about as well as that device can work for me.

The chapters were short, the story basic, but this was a solid addition and should be enjoyed by readers who like the Scholastic My Royal Diaries series and books like them. Recommended.



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Book Review: The Woodvilles by Susan Higginbotham

Goodreads
Library book
Rating: 2.5 out of 5

I've been dipping my toes into historical non-fiction lately, and I'm quickly learning to group these books into two personal categories: Narrative (more or less straight historical recounting) and Academic (themes and lots of quotes from other people). I very much like the first group, but I'm rapidly learning I could do without the latter.

Unfortunately for me, The Woodvilles is more the latter. There was a whole lot of "According to so and so...[insert long quote]" and I found myself skipping over the quotes almost entirely the more I read.

I'd rather do the comparisons between historians myself, at least at this point, and I'd rather the author quietly do their research and then present to me a straight narrative of their findings. I don't really like the whole, "Well, this historian thought this, but it's countered by this other historian with this diary entry we've since found..." And The Woodvilles had a whole lot of that.

There was also a lot of themed chapters that touched on highlights of the Woodvilles' lives, but skipped over a lot of the general historical timeline. This wasn't awful, since the chapters were laid out more or less chronologically, but it did remove some of the oomph of certain moments (like Jacquetta's witchcraft trial).

I also got the impression that there just was not enough known historical fact to really flesh out an entire book, so there was a lot of "probably, maybe, possibly" and a few scenes were repeated far too often (yesh, I get it, the Woodville men were "judged" by the Yorks!)

On the positive side, I did learn some things (though not nearly enough—possible limitation of the subject matter?), and that just further supports my already positive feelings toward Susan Higginbotham. Also, when she's not quoting other people, I really do like her writing style.

Points too for providing a more sympathetic approach to the Woodvilles (though it seemed at times perhaps a little too sympathetic? Especially when there really didn't seem to be enough historical data in some situations to back up either a sympathetic or hostile approach). This last was especially nice to see and makes me even more of a Susan Higginbotham fan given she has also written sympathetically from the Lancastrian side. Yay for balance!

So, will I read more of Susan Higginbotham's fiction? Absolutely! Will I read more of her non-fiction (if she writes more)? Eh, likely not. Or, I'd at least flip through it first to see how many block quotes there are and go from there.

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Mini Review: The Reign of Henry VIII by David Starkey

Goodreads

Library
Rating: 2.5 out of 5

This is another one of my experimental forays into historical non-fiction, and unfortunately this is another book that takes more of the "academic" approach.

Instead of quotes and historian comparisons, David Starkey's narrative does flow nicely and he does offer his own opinion on what is The Truth (more on that soon). So, that's good.

The reason I'd classify this in the more academic group is because of the structure of the book. Each chapter deals with a different faction or major influence on Henry, but there is only the loosest of timelines followed and huge amounts of information are left out.

That's not a criticism on the book itself, because this is not a 101 level book and so it's assumed the reader already has knowledge of all the major chronological high points. And, for the most part, I did.

So why the problem? Chalk it up to my personal preference. I'm a reader who likes things repeated. I don't like this approach of delving into the details and foregoing the greater context, even if I know the greater context. Yes, the trees are nice, but I want to focus on the details of the trees without losing the context of the forest. I think that makes the details hit harder and the momentum and tension build to greater heights. But, hey, I also prefer novels.

Points for teaching me about the various factions influencing Henry and really driving home the point that the manipulations going on in Henry's court were downright scary! While none of the factions explored were new or surprising, I really liked the deeper look into them and this gave so much more background to the long string of wives (and why they were toppled). I also really liked his treatment of Wolsey.

Still, despite all that, I couldn't help wanting more out of everything. But, that's as much a compliment to David Starkey as it is a complaint.

I've heard David Starkey can be pompous, and I definitely saw why people have lodged that complaint. He injected his own commentary and bias here and there, and while I think it was supposed to come across as smugly funny (oooh look how offensive I can be!) it came across to me as more forced and flat. So, I'm not offended like some other readers, but I'm not impressed by these witticisms either.

Will I read more David Starkey? Well, I own a copy of his biography on Elizabeth I, so I'll at least be giving that a try. Overall, he definitely knows his subject matter very well and while I don't love the way he chose to present it, this approach may in part be due to the nature of this book. He also wrote a mammoth book on Henry's wives, so that may be more what I'm looking for. Tweet

Tiny Reviews: Victoria Rebels and Cleopatra VII

Victoria Rebels by Carolyn Meyer

I don't like Queen Victoria. I try, I really do, but I can't stand her. At least, fictional portrayals of her. I only read this book because Carolyn Meyer wrote it.

Victoria certainly had a rough childhood and I totally sympathize for her with that monster of a mother. Given all that, I do understand why she developed the way she did and why she did the things she did. Carolyn Meyer does a great job drawing these connections, too.

And yet, I still don't like her.

Bratty, haughty, bossy, foolish, impulsive, naive, ugh, I can't muster up an ounce of liking for Victoria. I get that evil John was scheming for power when he tried to convince her she wasn't mature or aware enough to be queen. I get it, and I don't like him at all for it.

But, seriously, the guy had a point.

Four stars for Carolyn Meyer (and boy did this book make me appreciate her even more!) because the book is well written and should appeal to Victoria fans or those looking for an introduction, but 2 stars for my actual level of enjoyment because, gah, I really don't like Victoria. 

Library book
Rating: 2.5 out of 5

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Cleopatra VII by Kristiana Gregory

I've liked Kristiana Gregory's other books in the Royal Diaries series, and while this one is good, I don't know, I just didn't love it as much. Maybe it's because I'm more familiar with Cleopatra?

A large part of my disappointment comes from the loose approach Kristiana Gregory took with history here. Cleopatra meets people and minor events happen here that fall into the "possible but not backed up by history" category.

I'm not hugely bothered because I guess it could have happened, but I really wish she would have stuck with the known events instead. What she did write was nice and engaging and made for a good but not particularly memorable story. I prefer Carolyn Meyer's take on Cleopatra's childhood.

Library
Rating: 3 out of 5


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Tiny Reviews: The Summoning and Magic Bites

The Summoning by Kelley Armstrong

Oh boy, I'm in the minority on this one. I hated it. Absolutely hated this book. The main character was astoundingly stupid and insufferably mean and judgmental (just because he has pimples doesn't mean he isn't a nice guy, Chloe). It didn't take long for me to start wishing her dead.

The plot didn't help things either because absolutely nothing happens (Chloe takes a good part of the book just to come to terms with the fact that she's supernatural not crazy *yawn*). The Summoning is book 1 of a series, but it could have easily been edited down to a few chapters.

And the writing. Yikes. I'm a fantasy fan, so by default I have a pretty high tolerance threshold for info dumps, but my god, Kelley Armstrong had Chloe Google "necromancer" and then read off the results. Remember when Bella Googled "vampire" and how cringe-worthy that scene was? Yeah, this was worse. At least Bella knew what the word "vampire" meant.

Own (but not for long)
Rating: 1 out of 5

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Magic Bites by Ilona Andrews

I'm not really a big fan of adult paranormal romances, and while I can't quite put my finger on why, Magic Bites definitely hit my Do Not Want buttons. Maybe it's the grit? These books always make me think of dirt and darkness.

It's weird because a lot of the staples of the genre are definitely features I like: tough but wary main character, alpha male love interest, magic, quirky side characters. I can get on board with all of that (just so long as you add a dash of Southern charm, maybe?).

But there's just something about the way those things are handled in a lot of adult paranormal romance books that just doesn't work for me and didn't work for me here.

I never warmed up to Kate, her love interest was somewhat repellant, the side characters grated instead of endeared, and the magic did not interest me. Add in a plot that just never seemed to grab me and a vague off-putting vibe and I'm kind of surprised I finished this one. Call it peer pressure. I know Kate Daniels is beloved in the genre, but I don't think I'll be continuing on with her.

Library
Rating: 2.5 out of 5

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Book Review: Becoming Josephine by Heather Webb

Release Date: December 31, 2013
Publisher: Plume 
Pages: 320
Received: ARC from publisher, via NetGalley
Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
Goodreads

Summary

From Goodreads:

A sweeping historical debut about the Creole socialite who transformed herself into an empress

Readers are fascinated with the wives of famous men. In Becoming Josephine, debut novelist Heather Webb follows Rose Tascher as she sails from her Martinique plantation to Paris, eager to enjoy an elegant life at the royal court. Once there, however, Rose’s aristocratic soldier-husband dashes her dreams by abandoning her amid the tumult of the French Revolution. After narrowly escaping death, Rose reinvents herself as Josephine, a beautiful socialite wooed by an awkward suitor—Napoleon Bonaparte.

Review

She may be getting sleepover party invites, but not from me!

Well, that was disappointing.

Becoming Josephine was my first attempt at getting to know Josephine on her own terms and not through a general history of the time, Napoleonic readings, and stories from the British perspective (which, granted, have always been understandably biased against old Boney and co.).

My gosh, I don't know if it was me, Heather Webb's portrayal, or Josephine herself, but it was a trial reading through 320 pages of that vapid harpy's drivel (and by "vapid harpy" I mean Josephine, NOT Heather Webb).

Josephine spent much of the book whoring her way through France's wealthiest men. And I mean that pretty much literally. She took men as her lovers with the mutual understanding that they did not love one another but he would provide her with the wealthy lifestyle she wanted because, hey, she was a looker.

But that's ok! I mean, I understand woman had different options back then. Plus, it's not like Josephine didn't have other totally redeemable qualities to make me like her, right? Right?

Well, no, not really.

She was a nag. And a limp dish rag. Her thoughts on the bloody life-changing revolution were to comment on how the revolutionary fashions were SO drab. She was flighty and dull.

She constantly talked about how she was a total saint of a lady, always pitying the poor and those wrongly accused by revolutionaries (why were the revolutionaries in the wrong? Well, because their prisoners were her friends! Not because she actually had political opinions). Instead of making me like her, all this do-gooder talk just made her sound like she was Mary-Suing herself.

THAT's the story you're going with?

A big reason I read historical fiction is because I want to take the lazy way out and get non-fiction info in an exciting fiction package. So, even though I know I'm reading fiction, I want the historical details to be accurate.

Yeah, that wasn't happening here.

Most of my Napoleon education comes from the British perspective, and they were not exactly his biggest fan. Despite that, you could still get the impression he was viewed as a worthy foe. He would have to be! He was NAPOLEON for crying out loud! Flawed to be sure, and I'm by no means fist-pumping his actions, but the man had skills.

He rose from a relative nobody to the leader of a nation who had just overthrown their monarchs, and then went on to build an empire across Europe. All in a relatively short period of time. And, with all sorts of scary secret dealings going on behind the scenes to bring about his rapid rise of which we still don't know the details!

Until now! Now, Heather Webb has answered that mystery with, ready for it? JOSEPHINE!

Yes, it was all Josephine.

Napoleon was a whiny, sulky, greasy, socially incompetent ninny and it was only thanks to Josephine's sweet diplomatic skills (you can add air quotes around that if you'd like) that he was able to gain allies, secure power, build an empire of awesome, and conduct himself appropriately in public. 

SERIOUSLY? Apparently so.

Add in a slave revolt with embarrassingly anachronistic motivations and I seriously doubt the veracity of anything more than the broad strokes of the confirmed-by-history events.

Not that I was treated to an abundance of details anyway. We were too busy wooing cardboard cutout men to delve too deeply into politics (ugh SUCH a waste! Josephine had front row seats to some of the most interesting political actions of the time!)

Bottom line

Well, that was disappointing. 

I've tossed in an extra half star on the chance that part of my dislike may stem from Josephine just not being a great person and not something Heather Webb can be held accountable for. I'll have to read Sandra Gulland's much praised Josephine trilogy to compare.

This is a standalone.

Explanation of rating system: Star Rating Key 

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

Looking for another book like this?

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 Click on the pictures to go to my reviews.

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Book Review: Sorrow's Knot by Erin Bow

Release Date: October 29, 2013
Publisher: Arthur A. Levine Books 
Pages: 368
Received: ARC from publisher, via NetGalley
Rating: 2.5 out of 5 stars
Goodreads

Summary

From Goodreads:

From the acclaimed author of PLAIN KATE, a new novel about what lurks in the shadows, and how to put it to rest...

In the world of SORROW'S KNOT, the dead do not rest easy. Every patch of shadow might be home to something hungry, something deadly. Most of the people of this world live on the sunlit, treeless prairies. But a few carve out an uneasy living in the forest towns, keeping the dead at bay with wards made from magically knotted cords. The women who tie these knots are called binders. And Otter's mother, Willow, is one of the greatest binders her people have ever known.

But Willow does not wish for her daughter to lead the lonely, heavy life of a binder, so she chooses another as her apprentice. Otter is devastated by this choice, and what's more, it leaves her untrained when the village falls under attack. In a moment of desperation, Otter casts her first ward, and the results are disastrous. But now Otter may be her people's only hope against the shadows that threaten them. Will the challenge be too great for her? Or will she find a way to put the dead to rest once and for all?

Review

I adored Plain Kate, mostly because Erin Bow created a rich world with depth, culture, history, and texture, filled it with people (and one very important animal) who completely claimed my love, and then she spent the entire book ripping my heart out with the beautiful heart-smashing loveliness of her harsh, cruel world.

Plain Kate was the best kind of fairy tale. It was gorgeously written, but those pretty words breathed life into her characters, vitality into her world, and substance into her plot.

So, of course I set my bar for Sorrow's Knot pretty high, and, in some ways, it almost rose to the challenge. In others...well, Sorrow's Knot is no Plain Kate. 

The Yays

Sorrow's Knot has really, really pretty writing. I was totally drawn into the book in that life-sucking way that makes you neglect the things around you because "MY BOOK" *hand flap everything away*

The evocative, storytelling writing smothered me in that book fuzz that blocks out the world, but what kept me there was the mystery that I felt supernaturally compelled to unravel (sorry, I had to get at least one pun out of my system).

I love books with story mythology, and Sorrow's Knot is definitely a book that relies heavily on story mythology. The White Hand creatures were both creepy and tragic, and the final reveal surrounding them was devastating. I only wish this aspect had been delivered with fewer holes and loose strings.

And, the sobbing disappointment

I'm a concrete kind of person. I like artwork that painstakingly recreates reality. I'm not a fan of poetry unless it's the epic kind of poems where they're basically novels with weird line spacing. If a blurb says something like "profound metaphorical journey," I run the other way. I actually like long and clunky info-dumps.  

Sorrow's Knot makes sense in that dreamy profoundly half-logical way episodes like Buffy's dreamscape Restless or Frank Herbert's Dune series make sense. Everyone walks around sagely spouting off nonsense and half-sentences. Most things don't have a fully reasoned explanation and we're just supposed to accept them, because. But the characters say it all with a miasma of authoritative wisdom! So, it's all deep and stuff!

And, oh lord, Sorrow's Knot is pretty much one giant convoluted mess of double speak, vague metaphors, and fuzzy half-explanations. It's also set in a fictional Native American tribe of She-Ra Men Haters Club inductees, so with that double dose of cliche you know it's super extra profound.

And, I don't know, maybe I'm extra bleh about the whole thing because the Magical Indian and the Wise Woman tropes are particular Do Not Want points for me (I'd rather have female and Native American characters who are wise because they're actually wise and not because it's somehow an implicit character trait brought on by their race and sex), but after Plain Kate, I expected something more original from Erin Bow.

And, yes, I know a significant point of the story is actually going against the established and promoting growth to a less insular, rigid society, but that falls flat when the rigid world is the better developed, more memorable part of the story and the push for change is wrapped in convoluted, thin explanations.

The fact that the whole "We do what we do, because." traditional approach is challenged by "We shouldn't do what we do anymore. Just because it's bad and stuff. Yeah!" kinda undermines the whole story. It comes across more like teenage rebellion, ignorant of the whys behind the way things have developed (explanations never given, but unlikely not to exist), instead of a story of logical growth and development.

Also, spoiler if the problem was that they were binding too tightly, then why did they stop binding completely? Was there something inherently wrong with binding in general? If so, then why does the tightness matter? If not, then, again, why stop binding at all? Was there ever then a purpose to binding? And, if so, then why is that reason suddenly gone?

Plain Kate had me crying from the opening chapter (and don't even get me started on the double whammy scenes with Taggle), but Sorrow's Knot never once made me feel. The difference is that Plain Kate made me care about the characters because they had depth and personality. They were nuanced and alive.

Sorrow's Knot's characters were stereotypes. Really worn out stereotypes. Even worse, their characterizations relied almost completely on the stereotypes and never developed beyond them. One character is even switched out for another partway through the story, and it makes no difference because they're almost exactly the same.

They're also constantly dropping dead. Sorrow's Knot has a near-Shakespearean tragedy body count, and yet I couldn't muster up a single care.

Add in a dash of "inexplicable" and a heaping of "bleary sagacity" and not only were the characters thinly developed, but their actions and motivations didn't make a whole lot of sense.

Which brings me to the plot, which also didn't make a whole lot of sense. Now, when I was in the story, this didn't bother me as much. I was wrapped up in the mystery of the White Hand creatures and the lore and mythology of the world and trying to figure out how they all connected.

All with a nagging feeling that, "NO, THAT MAKES NO SENSE" mixed with "oh please don't let that actually be the explanation." Except it was. The big reveal was that awkward, obvious, and filled-with-holes explanation I was desperately hoping (from very early on in the story) it would not turn out to be.

Add in the rushed ending with its sloppy resolution, loose ends, and 11th hour (and totally unnecessary) romance, and I felt cast adrift without a paddle by the time I turned the final page. 

Bottom line

My initial feeling is that I liked this story a whole lot. There really is a lot of talent and potential in here, even if it never coalesces. And, I wonder, would I have liked it more if I hadn't read Plain Kate first? I'd say maybe yes, but then I remember all the logical inconsistencies and plot holes, so, maybe not.

But, Plain Kate was so much more, whereas Sorrow's Knot is so worn, and my crushing disappointment is near overwhelming. Both contain underlying messages of growing up, grief, and letting go, but one does it with subtle finesse and tenderness, expertly balancing the comfortingly familiar fairy tale frame with stunning originality. The other relies on stereotypes, cliches, and muddy allusions, none of which resonated with me.

This is a standalone, though there are possibilities for more.

Explanation of rating system: Star Rating Key 

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

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Book Review: Scent of Magic by Maria V. Snyder

Scent of Magic by Maria V. Snyder
Series: #2 in the Healer series
Release Date: December 18, 2012
Publisher: Harleqin MIRA
Pages: 414
Received: ARC from publisher, via NetGalley
Rating: 2.5 out of 5 stars
Goodreads Page

WARNING! This is a sequel! 

I always try to avoid spoilers, but if you're afraid you can check out my review of the first book (a book I LOVED)?

Summary

From Goodreads:

As the last Healer in the Fifteen Realms, Avry of Kazan is in a unique position: in the minds of her friends and foes alike, she no longer exists. Despite her need to prevent the megalomanical King Tohon from winning control of the Realms, Avry is also determined to find her sister and repair their estrangement. And she must do it alone, as Kerrick, her partner and sole confident, returns to Alga to summon his country into battle.

Though she should be in hiding, Avry will do whatever she can to support Tohon’s opponents. Including infiltrating a holy army, evading magic sniffers, teaching forest skills to soldiers and figuring out how to stop Tohon’s most horrible creations yet; an army of the walking dead—human and animal alike and nearly impossible to defeat.

War is coming and Avry is alone. Unless she figures out how to do the impossible ... again.

Review

I heart Avry

Sike!

I couldn't stand Avry.

Scent of Magic made a valiant effort in trying to convince me that Avry was ten times more awesome than a rainbow sparkle unicorn and about a million times more lovable than a pile of puppies (which is scientifically impossible because nothing is more lovable than a puppy pile).

And by "valiant" I mean a mix of the sledge hammer approach and a focus on quantity over quality.

But that's ok, right? I mean it's a little unreasonable to expect actual, tangible reasons to account for Avry's magnificence. Scent of Magic works on a much more "take my word for it" level when it comes to character development, and I had an entire cast of characters exclaiming over Avry's awe-inspiring vague perfection to try to convince me.

Plus, I DID read  Touch of Power, so shouldn't the evidence in that book be enough to carry me through the rest of the series?

Except, NO. Because, not only is that totally unacceptable (characters are supposed to be on a continual journey of ever-deepening character growth and development!), it also doesn't even work given the fact that both Avry and Kerrick act completely different in this book.

Which, hey, on one hand it's pretty nice that Kerrick decided to ditch his grumpy and abusive ways ('cause hitting ladies is still unappealing!), but I had a hard time believing that these were the same characters I read about in Touch of Power.

Kerrick is nicer (if blander, and a potential new candidate for the Babysitters' Club), but Avry's changes were weird, and annoying. It felt like she OD'd on Pixie Stix as she gleefully bounced around the camp, her manic, shallow thoughts jumping and rehashing the same (boring) subjects (I miss Kerrick! I am determined to make my sister like me again with oppressive cheerfulness! Look at how quietly I can walk!)  

Yeah, she CAN walk quietly

This quiet forest walking accounts for entire CHAPTERS of the book. Yes, plural! It may even be a quarter of the book. Or half. I don't even know. It was like I was stuck in a dream that kept looping around again and again and I'd never be able to wake up and get free of the loop.

First Avry demonstrates her walking abilities, then she trains some people. Then she trains another group. Then they praise her for walking quietly. Then they train another group. Then they praise her for teaching them this valuable skill. Then they train more.

Now, honestly, walking silently through the forest is a totally neat skill and I want it for sure, but enough is enough. I need a stronger plot than that.

Which brings me to my next complaint.

What happened to the political intrigue?!

 
To recap Touch of Power, this world is a post-apocalyptic fantasy where various factions are all gearing up for major battles with lots of political maneuvering going on as each faction tries whatever means necessary to wrest control for themselves.

And "whatever means necessary" meant reanimated corpses, Mengele-style experiments, biological warfare, magical seduction, and "I can suck the air out of your lungs with a thought" wizard duels. Which is all pretty badass. And that's only what ONE faction is bringing to the table.

So I was expecting book two, when we get a look into the inner circle of another faction, to really up the ante. Because if any other faction is going to have a prayer at winning the kingdom, they need to step up and fight fire with fire. Or, erm, zombie armies with...well, it's gotta be something awesome.

Except they don't. Avry needs to teach them how to walk quietly and THAT is their big ace up the sleeve.

The villain deserves to win.

Help me prince, you're my only hope!

Remember that prince Avry sacrificed her life to save because he's a master strategist and he's totally going to win this thing?

Well, he's kinda cool? He does do a few nifty things that made me unreservedly award points for cleverness (particularly that whole hiding thing), but Avry ultimately steals his thunder (of course, because she's perfection on earth, in case you forgot).

Even if she hadn't, his few cool ideas aside, he still hasn't done anything to convince me he's worth sacrificing one's life for (even if at this point I'd gladly sacrifice Avry's life for a peanut butter sandwich).

What happened to my flowers?!

I know I'm knocking on Avry a lot, but I should point out that the characters of this particular series were always eclipsed by my jaw-dropping love for Maria V. Snyder's ingenious peace and death lilies.

These flowers are the absolute coolest, not only because of their powers, but also because they're a total mystery with ties to both the rampant world-destroying plague AND the creation of healers. My mind practically explodes with win every time I think about them.

Touch of Power set the stage for the flowers and gave a peek into their connections and history, as well as a glimpse of some of their powers. So I was prepared to be swimming in flowery mystery and magic come Scent of Magic.

And I was! And I wasn't. There are definitely major reveals as far as the abilities of the flowers and the implications this has for Avry and pretty much everyone else. I LOVED this! I was disappointed that the history of the flowers' involvement with the plague and healers was largely ignored in Scent of Magic, but the new flower power info mostly made up for it.

What it didn't make up for was the fact that by the time I finally got to this good stuff I had already been slogging through pages upon pages of The Avry Love Fest mixed with Kerrick's Adventures in Irrelevant Babysitting and about 50% of my involvement had already checked out.

Bottom line

So. Where does this leave me? Do I read book three on the hope that it completely avoids the utter disappointment that was book two and brings me back to the amazing stupendousness that was book one?

Or do I cut my losses and ignore the existence (or, future existence) of book three while trying to blot out the memory of book two and somehow twist the ending of book one so I can forever think of it as a glorious standalone?

Oh conundrums.

So fellow readers, I am taking the easy way out and laying this one squarely at your feet. If, upon finishing Scent of Magic, you felt compelled to raise your arms and let loose with a Darth Vadar wail of rage and regret like *I* did, please do me the favor of reading book three and letting me know if it's any better.

Explanation of rating system: Star Rating Key 

Do you have any questions about Scent of Magic that I haven't addressed? 
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Book Review: Duchessina by Carolyn Meyer

Duchessina: A Novel of Catherine de' Medici by Carolyn Meyer
#5 in the Young Royals series
Release Date: June 1, 2007
Publisher: Harcourt Children's Books
Pages: 272
Received: Library
Rating: 2.5 out of 5 stars
Goodreads Page

Summary

From Goodreads:

Young Catherine de' Medici is the sole heiress to the entire fortune of the wealthy Medici family. But her life is far from luxurious. After a childhood spent locked away behind the walls of a convent, she joins the household of the pope, where at last she can be united with her true love. But, all too soon, that love is replaced with an engagement to a boy who is cold and aloof. It soon becomes clear that Catherine will need all the cunning she can muster to command the respect she deserves as one of France's most powerful queens.

Review

Catherine's boring

She's nice enough, but not in a good way. She's nice the way where I use "nice" to describe an inoffensive person when I can't think of anything else to say about them. Maybe I could also throw in bland and meek? That isn't helping matters, is it?

There just wasn't much to her. I also get the feeling that I don't have a clue what the real Catherine de' Medici was like. Catherine, the historical figure, is described in lots of very NOT nice ways, but there wasn't anything in Duchessina to even hint at any of that.

The plot is dreary

This isn't really Carolyn Meyer's fault. I mean, if she tried to spice things up by deviating from history I'd start complaining about that, so really, I can't hold this against her. Much.

Catherine's childhood is mostly a bunch of moving around from one convent to another. She's cut off from most of the world and, when she finally gets to France, she isn't given any political power (until after the book ends). So, yeah, kind of dull.

I'm not entirely convinced this couldn't have been made more interesting, though. Lots of political stuff was going on around Catherine, and I don't see why it couldn't have been integrated into the story more. I would have liked more details about the wars, battles, conspiracies, strife, and upheaval. Basically, all of the things that caused Catherine to have to move and go into hiding.

Also, her life is sad. Again, not Carolyn Meyer's fault. Catherine's childhood was full of death, failure, abandonment, starvation, and sadness. This was not a particularly uplifting book.

Maybe if I had cared more about Catherine I could have at least gotten into all that sadness. I mean, I went through a Lurlene McDaniel phase in my tween years and I'm a diehard Beaches fan, so it's not like I'm totally opposed to a good cry-fest. But I shed nary a tear for boring Catherine. I just couldn't muster up a care (and to put this in perspective, Carolyn Meyer had me sobbing at the end of her book about Marie Antoinette).

Everything's all uneven

I like a well-plotted book with a clear purpose and progression of events. I don't like slow paced books, but I also don't like unevenly paced books. Duchessina was both.

The slowness comes from the lack of really anything happening. There weren't even a ton of historical factoids to keep me occupied. Nothing propelled me to keep reading other than the fact that the book didn't have many pages and I didn't dislike it enough to stop. Also, I wasn't sure what I wanted to read next.

The uneven pacing is something I've also complained about with the Cleopatra book in this series. As in Cleopatra Confesses, Duchessina focuses on Catherine's childhood and stops just as things are getting good. I guess it is nice having a chance to get to know Catherine's life before she became the great historical figure, but it was frustrating to have Carolyn Meyer hint at Catherine's reputation and then never back up those hints with anything.

I also didn't appreciate the rush at the end. If we're stopping the story at a point other than Catherine's death, then just stop the story, please. Instead, I got a rushed synopsis of Catherine's life from the events at the end of the book up until her death. It was like watching a movie of her life and then getting bored partway through and watching the rest with the fast forward button pressed.

Bottom line

I love the idea of this series, but the reality isn't measuring up to my expectations. I feel like the Young Royals series is getting the, "Oh it's just YA" treatment, which I equate to sloppy stories with weak character development and little regard for accuracy. Young adults demand better, and it would be nice if authors and publishers took note.

So I'll be passing on ordering this one for my library. I did order and highly recommend The Bad Queen about Marie Antoinette, so I won't give up on the Young Royals series just yet!

Explanation of rating system: Star Rating Key 

Do you have any questions about Duchessina that I haven't addressed? 
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Book Review: The Other Normals by Ned Vizzini

The Other Normals by Ned Vizzini
Release Date: September 25, 2012
Publisher: Balzer + Bray 
Pages: 400
Received: ARC from publisher, via Edelweiss
Rating: 1 out of 5 stars

Summary

From Goodreads:

Given the chance, fifteen-year-old Peregrine “Perry” Eckert would dedicate every waking moment to Creatures & Caverns, an epic role-playing game rich with magical creatures, spell casting, and deadly weapons. The world of C&C is where he feels most comfortable in his own skin, so when his parents ship him off to summer camp Perry is sure he’s in for the worst summer of his life.

Everything changes, however, when Perry gets to camp and stumbles into the World of the Other Normals. Perry’s new otherworldly friends need his help to save their princess and prevent mass violence. As they embark on their quest together, Perry realizes that his nerdy childhood has uniquely prepared him to be a great warrior in this world, and maybe even a hero.

Review

This book is weird

And that's kind of a good thing, but it's also kind of a bad thing. The weirdness made me feel giddy like when I've stayed awake too long and I've gone past tired and into the slightly deranged giggly mode where everything seems funny in a loopy sort of way. Which is fun, if you can let loose enough to just go with it and not over think things.

But it's also sort of annoying.

I wanted character depth and a plot I could sink deep into. I wanted something a little less superficial. I wanted to vicariously fulfill my dreams of getting to dive into my favorite fantasy books.  I wanted maybe even a smidgen of romance. And I didn't get any of that.

(Ok, there WAS a smidge of romance, but it did nothing for me.)

There was also this weird racial sub-plot running through the camp parts of the book that I didn't really get. Perry is the only white kid at a camp made up of mostly black kids who are basically described as gang members and delinquents.

Every time this was brought up, which was often, it felt like when someone makes a really awkward off-color joke in a place like work or church or some other Not Okay venue and you sort of laugh awkwardly while wishing you were anywhere but there.

WHERE is Gandalf?!

What really sold me on the idea of this book was the chance to see a normal real-world kid get to dive into a fantasy book world. It would be like the fantasy equivalent to how time travel puts a fun spin on historical fiction. I totally wanted to follow this kid as he brings his mix of modern knowledge into a world of fantasy he adores while also maybe good-naturedly poking fun at the genre.

Perry is all about his RPG Creatures & Caverns, which, based on the blurb, sounded to me a lot like every typical Lord of the Rings-rip fantasy land. And I wanted that! I didn't want some made up fantasy world! The creatures in Perry's game-turned-reality aren't like anything I've ever read about before.

There are half man half dog/frog/octopus/horse-ish creatures and other totally unique beings. Normally creativity like that would be great and all, but the whole reason I wanted to read The Other Normals was because I was hoping for the traditional. So, BIG disappointment.

And fine, usually I would still give some brownie points for coming up with unique beings despite my disappointment, but I didn't even like these creatures. Some seemed so similar to humans that I didn't see the point to them while others were just so weird they kind of made my skin crawl. None of them had depth. The world building was also too flimsy.

And then there's Perry

I did not like him. At all. He's not that unpopular guy who plays his fantasy RPG and is actually nice and fun to hang around. No, Perry is straight up weird. His characterization is over the top, and while I guess that goes along with the whole over the top tongue in cheek vibe of the book, it also made him come off as poorly developed.

He's a big whiner verging on trantrum-thrower and he's impulsive in a completely non-endearing way. At one point he does something so embarrassingly awful that it was painful to read. He went off the deep end and into "I'm slowly backing away from you now" territory. Maybe MG boys would relate with him more? I don't know. I obviously didn't.

As the book goes on and Perry gains confidence in himself he starts to lose his whiny do-nothing approach and take charge. I think this was supposed to be part of his "journey to manhood," but it seemed to me more like he was going off the rails. He struck me as less confident daredevil and more manic, impulsive, immature, and insane. 

Why didn't I DNF?

Because despite all that it was funny. I have to give it that. It was also very easy to read and I flew through it (was it really 400 pages?! That's a shock). The chapters are super tiny, so it's really easy to say, "Just one more chapter" and realize you've read four more chapters than you originally intended to read.

Also, I was curious to see what would happen and if things got any better. I don't think they did. If anything, I liked the first half where it was mostly set-up in the real world more than the second half where all the ridiculous adventuring sets in.

Who is this book for?

I'm not really sure. I would say it would appeal most strongly to middle grade boys, but I could see some parents getting angry with me if I actually gave it to their MG son. There are more curses than I would have expected and Perry is going through puberty so sex is often on his mind, though neither of these things are probably new to middle grade boys.

There is one scene where two disturbing things happen that I thought were pretty extreme for a middle grade audience. Maybe MG boys would be fine with it, but *I* wasn't even totally fine with it so I'd feel a little uncomfortable giving The Other Normals to them.

One of the juvenile dog creatures lures Perry and his friends into a trap so his pack can kill and eat them. When the pack arrives, the dog-kid wants to keep Perry as a pet and his pack murders and eats the dog-kid in response. They then murder and eat one of Perry's friends as they are running away. It was brutal. 

So I'm not really sure who I'd give it to. YA boys would probably find it too juvenile and I think girls might be turned off by the puberty guy-ishness. Or not. Maybe they'd appreciate the zaniness of it all more than I did. I rarely like zany.  

Bottom line

Erm, yeah, not for me.

Explanation of rating system: Star Rating Key 

Do you have any questions about The Other Normals that I haven't addressed?
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Book Review: Pushing the Limits by Katie McGarry

Pushing the Limits by Katie McGarry
Release Date: July 31, 2012
Publisher: Harlequin Teen 
Pages: 384
Received: ARC from publisher, via NetGalley
Rating: 2.5 out of 5 stars

Summary

From Goodreads:

No one knows what happened the night Echo Emerson went from popular girl with jock boyfriend to gossiped-about outsider with "freaky" scars on her arms. Even Echo can't remember the whole truth of that horrible night. All she knows is that she wants everything to go back to normal.But when Noah Hutchins, the smoking-hot, girl-using loner in the black leather jacket, explodes into her life with his tough attitude and surprising understanding, Echo's world shifts in ways she could never have imagined. They should have nothing in common. And with the secrets they both keep, being together is pretty much impossible.

Yet the crazy attraction between them refuses to go away. And Echo has to ask herself just how far they can push the limits and what she'll risk for the one guy who might teach her how to love again.

Review

There are two people talking!

Pushing the Limits is one of those dual narrator books where the narrators alternate by chapter. Usually, I love that...if done right. I like to do the Who's Talking Test to determine how well an author pulled off this narrative style, and unfortunately Pushing the Limits failed the test.

Outside of plot clues, the only way I could tell who was talking was when Noah would refer to Echo as "baby," "siren," and "nymph," (like, enough times to rival Edward's bronze hair) but since that also made me cringe, I'm not counting it as a positive.

I think I would have liked this a lot more if it has been just Echo narrating. Echo's characterization is strong and her voice came across clearly. She's pretty typical for this type of book and her score on the WWMCD Test is only higher because she's such a stock character (bright, troubled, perfectionist, good girl), but she's a stock character done well. I almost kind of felt for her.

But Noah. Oh Noah, I was supposed to fall for you! What happened?! Noah's storyline always felt like an afterthought to me, and one that made me cringe with embarrassment. Ok, I mean, sure, he gets brownie points for wanting to look after his brothers and all, but a BLIND man could have seen how that storyline was going to play out and yet Noah kept barreling down full steam into stupid and it was painful to watch. Especially since we rehashed it about twenty million times more than we needed to.

The fact that his voice and personality also sounded pretty much like Echo didn't help, AT ALL. Between that and the skin-crawly "babies," "sirens," and "nymphs" my swoon was totally killed. I can't swoon over a guy who sounds like a girl. I just, I can't.

Issue OVERLOAD

Yeah, I'm not an issues book reader, but I can deal with some issues when they're done with a light hand and take a backseat to tension-filled swoon (I'm looking at YOU Going Too Far). But, oh my gosh, Pushing the Limits was like a million parts heavy-handed issue-fest, zero tension, and, ok, a decent bit of swoon (but I couldn't actually get into any of the swooning parts because, ugh, issue overload!) 

Let's see, if I were to make a list of all the issue topics covered in this 400-page tome, you'd have:

• The mentally ill mother
• The angsty fear that the MC will develop mom's mental illness because they're SO alike (and, totally creative!)
• Dead brother
• Dead parents
• Drug use
• Overachiever perfectionism
• Insomnia
• Scars
• Social ostracism
• Repressed memories
• Foster care and requisite rage against the system
• Unfit foster parents
• Angst against parent who just doesn't get it
• Teen parenthood
• Anger against pretty and SO young new step-mom
• Therapist/mentor who is amazing, quirky, and filled with the power of Therapeutic Awesome—they can break through issue barriers that have thwarted all mere mortals thus far

Aaaaand that's only a partial list. For an already iffy-issue-reader like myself, this was all TOO MUCH. I was ready for the book to be over about 200 pages before it actually ended, but it kept going. I think I could have handled 200 pages and been good. But 400? Not a chance.

And, also, way too predictable. I've read this all already!

Two more swoon reducing things

What happened to my romantic tension?! I thought this was supposed to be a story about two people who totally could NOT be together and who maybe wouldn't even like each other much at first. That's not what happened.

THIS is what happened: Noah is a BAD guy because he...because he just is (even though he's really a GOOD guy and he got a bad rep for punching an abusive foster parent. Except, he didn't get a bad rep for that because most people don't know about that. So, yeah).

Really though, Noah is awesome and everyone approves of him and thinks he's good for Echo (except maybe one girl who isn't very nice anyway and we don't care about her opinion). Even Echo's hardass dad loves Noah and lets Echo sleep over in Noah's bed because Noah is Pure Perfection and he's good for her.

Echo likes him too, and she doesn't waste much time about it. Noah loves Echo almost immediately. Mostly this is because they're both ungodly HOTT, but also because they probably have nice personalities and are going through a lot of issues. They're dating by the midpoint of the book.

The second Swoon-Killer was the issue overload. It's hard to watch a character have a traumatic flashback, barf, cry and shake uncontrollably......aaaand then get it on? I need, erm, a different kind of foreplay please.

Bottom line

This was really not the book for me. When I was a teen and I loved issue books, then this totally would have been the book for me though. But not now. Now, I wanted the book to end sooner. Now, I wanted something different than the same old issue book with the same stock characters and same stock plot progression.

But, sometimes predictability is what you're looking for (give me a predictable romantic comedy any day!), and if you're looking for a standard issue book with a predictable storyline then Pushing the Limits is a good pick. Everything might be "been there, done that" but it's SOLID. Be sure to grab a copy if you're a Simone Elkeles fan.

This is a standalone.

Explanation of rating system: Star Rating Key 

Do you have any questions about Pushing the Limits that I haven't addressed?
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Book Review: Breadcrumbs by Anne Ursu

Breadcrumbs by Anne Ursu
Release Date: September 27, 2011
Publisher: Walden Pond Press
Pages: 313
Received: ARC from Heather at Buried in Books
Rating: 2.5 out of 5 stars
Goodreads Page

Summary

From Goodreads:

Once upon a time, Hazel and Jack were best friends. They had been best friends since they were six, spending hot Minneapolis summers and cold Minneapolis winters together, dreaming of Hogwarts and Oz, superheroes and baseball. Now that they were eleven, it was weird for a boy and a girl to be best friends. But they couldn't help it - Hazel and Jack fit, in that way you only read about in books. And they didn't fit anywhere else.

And then, one day, it was over. Jack just stopped talking to Hazel. And while her mom tried to tell her that this sometimes happens to boys and girls at this age, Hazel had read enough stories to know that it's never that simple. And it turns out, she was right. Jack's heart had been frozen, and he was taken into the woods by a woman dressed in white to live in a palace made of ice. Now, it's up to Hazel to venture into the woods after him. Hazel finds, however, that these woods are nothing like what she's read about, and the Jack that Hazel went in to save isn't the same Jack that will emerge. Or even the same Hazel.

Inspired by Hans Christian Andersen's "The Snow Queen," Breadcrumbs is a story of the struggle to hold on, and the things we leave behind.

Review

I'm back in my secret bunker

Why? Because I didn't really like Breadcrumbs. To say my expectations were high is an understatement. I love fairy tale retellings, the cover is beautiful, and a friend even mailed me her copy to read (after she loved it). People are even talking Newbery!

I have a lot to hide from.

I am the wrong reader for this book

Yes, Breadcrumbs is a fairy tale retelling, but it is also a contemporary and deals with issues of depression, friends growing apart, divorce, adoption, and not fitting in. Hazel is so incredibly lost and her sadness is a tangible thing. I didn't expect any of this going in, so I was very shocked when half of the book focused solely on these topics.

Breadcrumbs is broken into two mostly equal-length parts. Part one is almost completely contemporary and only contains one tiny bit of fantasy (which is more metaphorical than fantastical). This section follows Hazel as she struggles with all of those issues I mentioned.

I was totally bored with this part. I'm not really a contemporary reader, and I'm really not a contemporary issues reader. Between Jack's mother's depression, Hazel's absent (through recent divorce and remarriage) father, Jack's falling out with Hazel, and Hazel's difficulties in school, I felt completely bogged down with sadness. And boredom. I just don't like reading about these sorts of things.

I couldn't relate

Breadcrumbs uses the third-person omniscient narration style, with a sometimes focus on Hazel's perspective. I had a really hard time getting into the book because of this narration style and the randomness of its application.

Sometimes it felt like an adult voice, sort of like a "Once upon a time" type of narrator. Other times it felt like the voice of Hazel, which seemed to me like a very young MG or even elementary school voice. I never felt like I could settle into the story due to these changes in narration voice.

Usually I'm ok with MG book, even when they're written on the younger end, but Hazel felt a little too young for my tastes. I also had difficulty connecting with her personality so I never felt invested in her or her story. That isn't to say there is something wrong with the way Hazel is written. We're just very different people.

Hazel is an extremely imaginative girl and I'm...not. At least, not like Hazel. She's so focused on her imaginings that her dreamy tendencies are causing her trouble in school. This is another point I could not relate to at all because I was the most anal rule-following elementary school kid imaginable.

Part 2, or when the fairy tale finally started

I was a lot more engaged with part 2 due to the fantasy aspects. Hazel's wandering through the woods in search of Jack felt almost like Alice's experiences in Wonderland (which I never liked, and didn't love it in this version either).

Hazel encounters many different fairy tale characters, but they're not the ones you might expect. Anne Ursu incorporated a bunch of the more obscure Grimms' tales, but these tended to be the darker stories (think chopped off limbs, torture, and death).

I liked this for its freshness, but I was kind of bummed that part 2 carried over the sad, oppressive feelings that part 1 focused on.

What kind of reader IS a good match?

I couldn't help but wonder who I would give this book to in my library. Hazel's voice is so young, but the fairy tales would probably disturb my younger library kids who might otherwise relate to her (I can't speak for your kids or library kids). There isn't much resolution of Hazel's real life troubles, and there are no happy endings with the fairy tale aspects.

If it weren't for the lack of resolution (and for some kids, the darker elements) I would have recommended Breadcrumbs in a heartbeat. Any kid going through similar problems to the ones Hazel experiences in part 1 would probably find Breadcrumbs extremely easy to relate to. They would also probably find it comforting to see their situations so sensitively mirrored.

The lack of resolution gives me pause though. The Snow Queen story arc is resolved, but in real life kids who experience a break with a childhood friend aren't going to find their solution so easily. While they may related to Hazel's difficulties in school or her situation with her parents' divorce, Breadcrumbs offers very little in terms of a happy ending or way of coping (in fact, pretty much all of those plot points are left as loose ends).

So who WILL like Breadcrumbs? Adults, I think. Anne Ursu does a beautiful job using imagery and fantasy elements as a metaphor for Hazel's issues. There is much to discuss from a literary standpoint and the characters as emotional vignettes are palpably drawn.

I don't feel like the book came together in a cohesive manner (too many different directions, loose ends, inconsistencies in voice) but each individual part was well-written. The very thing I didn't like--the oppressive sadness--is in itself a testament to Anne Ursu's ability to powerfully convey the emotional state of her characters.

Bottom line

Not for me. I wasn't feeling Hazel or the story (or really much of anything beyond this is so depressing) and I didn't like how so much time was spent in the contemporary world (only to abandon pretty much all of those threads in part 2).

There were a few bright spots that caught my attention (Hazel's friend's uncle, the presentation of some of the fairy tales--though NOT The Snow Queen), but I disliked Breadcrumbs more than I liked it.

I'd take my review with a grain of salt though because what this all boils down to is Breadcrumbs and I were just a case of "Wrong book, wrong reader." For a review from a reader who loved Breadcrumbs, head on over to Buried in Books (she's also holding a giveaway with a chance to win a copy of Breadcrumbs!).

Explanation of rating system: Star Rating Key 

Do you have any questions about Breadcrumbs that I haven't addressed? 
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Book Review: Wisdom's Kiss by Catherine Gilbert Murdock

Wisdom's Kiss by Catherine Gilbert Murdock
Release Date: September 12, 2011
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Books for Children
Pages: 314
Received: ARC from publisher, via NetGalley
Rating: 2.5 out of 5 stars
Goodreads Page

Summary

From Goodreads:

Princess Wisdom, known as Dizzy, longs for a life of adventure far beyond the staid old kingdom of Montagne.

Tips, a soldier, longs to keep his true life secret from his family.

Fortitude, an orphaned maid, longs only for Tips.

These three passionate souls might just attain their dreams while preserving Montagne from certain destruction, if only they can tolerate each other long enough to come up with a plan. Tough to save the world when you can't even be in the same room together.

Magic, cunning, and one very special cat join forces in this hilarious, extraordinary tale by the author of Dairy Queen and Princess Ben. An incredibly creative tale told with diaries, memoirs, encyclopedia entries, letters, biographies, even a stage play, all woven together into a grand adventure.

Review

What could have been a great book

Fantasy and fairy tale lover that I am, I was really looking forward to Wisdom's Kiss. Unfortunately, I didn't like it nearly as much as I was hoping I would. There was so much potential, but in almost every regard Wisdom's Kiss fell short for me.

I've heard Wisdom's Kiss compared to The Princess Bride and, yeah, I can see the comparison, but I think they are more on the same spectrum than the same level. I mean, it's The Princess Bride for crying out loud. Those are some pretty big shoes to fill. But, alas, I didn't find the wit of Wisdom's Kiss nearly as amusing. It was more in retrospect that I though, "Huh, I guess that was clever" but I wasn't all that impressed while reading. 

WWMCD Test score? ZERO

One of the biggest drawbacks for me were the multiple narrators. You know, I'm a huge fan of books with multiple narrators, but I don't think the device was used successfully in Wisdom's Kiss.

The book is short, and with eight (yes, eight) different points of view all vying for attention, Catherine Gilbert Murdock needed to make every word count to bring her characters to life. Ideally this kind of switching POV style is used to  provide deeper insight into the characters, but it actually did the complete opposite for me.

Traits like making one of her characters a poor speller or another character who frequently uses abbreviations were the only real differentiating characteristics in the various voices. I had very little sense of who these characters were as people beyond their stereotypical and surface-level characteristics. 

And you know what? For the most part, I didn't care. With the exception of the grandmother and her cat (who weren't even that great but, come on, I'm a sucker for a feisty grandmother and a magical cat, no matter how shallow their development), I didn't really like any of them.

They all seemed flighty, silly, spineless, and shallow. I also couldn't get on board with the actions of the characters we're supposed to like. Maybe I would have liked things more if I had known this would be the type of book where I'm not really supposed to love and identify with any one character. Think more like Shakespeare's Hamlet where you're (spoiler for Hamlet) sort of glad they're all dead in the end (or at least *I* was, though I love that play).

Everything but the kitchen sink

I mentioned the eight narrators, but what you also need to know is that these aren't your traditional first-person narratives. Letters, excerpts from memoirs, play transcripts, diary entries, and even encyclopedia articles are used to tell the story. Yeah, I know. Creative, but I don't think it was all that effective. But the chapters are all very short, so you'll probably be able to fly through.

Many of the narratives felt more pointless than not. Every time I slogged through an encyclopedia chapter or one of those excruciating chapters from the pompous but clueless mentor's memoirs (that I think are supposed to be funny, but they annoyed me) I kept thinking that this would be so much better if it was written in a straight up third person narrative. Then I wouldn't have had to sift through a bunch of irrelevant stuff just to get to the one or two lines of relevant information in those sections.

And, ok, I'm a big baby when it comes to "slogging" and "sifting" because these chapters are extremely short so it's not like you'll be bogged down by endless pages of digressions. You'll just be bogged down by a few pages. Still, to me it felt like trying to get a straight answer from one of my elderly friends who likes to turn what could easily be a one sentence response into a rambling story about her life that only loosely ties back to the point of my question. Eventually.

The more relevant sections were better, but they also suffered as a result of the narration choices. Like, ok, take for example the excerpts from what was supposed to be one of the character's future memoirs. You know what a memoir is, right? First person, story of your life kinda deal. So why were they written in the third person?? And why did it sound nothing like the character? These chapters felt like they were born to be written with a third person omniscient narrator, but are warped and stunted by the confines of the "memoir" gimmick.

Spinoff series

I haven't read Princess Ben, but I do know that it is a fantasy story about a girl named Benevolence and there is magic involved. Now, nothing on Wisdom's Kiss says that it's a sequel or even related to Princess Ben, but I'm using my awesome powers of reasoning and guessing they're at the very least companion novels.

The grandmother in Wisdom's Kiss is named Ben and often alludes to adventures in the past in such a way that I get the impression the reader should be familiar with those escapades. Some scenes and lines even felt like their sole purpose was to make the reader think, "Yup, good old Ben, she's even awesome as a grandma!"

Except, she's not. Not really. She's nice I guess, but she doesn't do anything in Wisdom's Kiss that makes her particularly standout. She's even kind of weak at a few points (which totally contradicted the few times when she was awesome) and I had to scold her for being stupid on more than one Major Point.

There were also things like vague references to magic use and events surrounding such use that mean nothing to me and aren't supported in Wisdom's Kiss in any concrete way. The lack of support in Wisdom's Kiss for things that I can only guess are Important Events in Princess Ben made Wisdom's Kiss feel like a pale shadow overly relying upon and trying to capture the magic of the past without offering anything new.

And, really, I didn't find enough in Wisdom's Kiss's plot to justify itself. It's a great idea, but it isn't fleshed out nearly as much as I would have liked it to have been. As it stands, the sparseness of the characters and simplicity of the plot are enough to prop up a fun but forgettable short story. It is only through the narrative gimmick that Wisdom's Kiss can be stretched to novel-length (if not novel depth).

That said, the story had an almost Shakespearean feel that I did like and a resolution that, while I personally found it unsatisfying, is original.

Bottom line

If the gimmicky narrative style had been changed to a more traditional approach, then I think the characters and plot would have been given the focus and expansion necessary to have made me really like this book. Every character had the potential to be incredibly interesting (if not always likable) if they had only been developed further.

Perhaps if you enter into the book with more appropriate expectations of depth then you'll like Wisdom's Kiss more than I did. I also think readers will like this book if they click with the narration style. If you're a fan of Shakespeare or The Princess Bride then you might want to check this out.

I can see that Catherine Gilbert Murdock has the ability to be a great writer reminiscent of Gail Carson Levine or Jessica Day George. I'm disappointed that my first experience with her is through a book that feels like it received the attention of a creative exercise instead of the care of a real novel. Still, even though I was sorely disappointed with Wisdom's Kiss, the first thing I did after finishing it was to place a library hold on Princess Ben, which I am pretty confident I will enjoy.

Explanation of rating system: Star Rating Key 

Do you have any questions about Wisdom's Kiss that I haven't addressed? 
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