{Mini Reviews} Witches, Vengeance, Truths, Music & Sinking Towns

The Near Witch is only an old story told to frighten children.

If the wind calls at night, you must not listen. The wind is lonely, and always looking for company.

And there are no strangers in the town of Near.

These are the truths that Lexi has heard all her life.

But when an actual stranger-a boy who seems to fade like smoke-appears outside her home on the moor at night, she knows that at least one of these sayings is no longer true.

The next night, the children of Near start disappearing from their beds, and the mysterious boy falls under suspicion. Still, he insists on helping Lexi search for them. Something tells her she can trust him.

As the hunt for the children intensifies, so does Lexi's need to know-about the witch that just might be more than a bedtime story, about the wind that seems to speak through the walls at night, and about the history of this nameless boy.

Part fairy tale, part love story, Victoria Schwab's debut novel is entirely original yet achingly familiar: a song you heard long ago, a whisper carried by the wind, and a dream you won't soon forget.

Well, that was just creepy enough to give me nightmares every night while I was reading it. It's not the jump out and scare the bejeezus out of you, though...it's the kind of eerie story that sneaks up on you, digs down into your subconscious and makes you start seeing and hearing things when left to your own devices. Or it did me, anyway.

I've had this book on my shelf for ages. I'm a huge fan of Victoria Schwab's work, so I don't know why I resisted picking this novel up until now, except that I do tend to focus more on newer releases these days rather than backlist titles. Luckily, I have a great friend who just got a copy of the book and did her very best to make me jealous that she was starting this book, and I caved to peer pressure. But peer pressure from bookish friends is rarely a bad thing.

This entire story just had this ethereal quality to it, most especially Cole, the love interest. I sometimes forget how great Schwab is at creating romance because her stories are so full of, well, everything else that it doesn't matter if there's a romance at the heart of the story or not. But I so very much appreciated the relationship between Lexi and Cole, especially because Cole was an outsider, ostracized simply because he was not from Near and also because their entanglement develops in spite of the fact that another boy in town thinks he's already laid claim to Lexi and her future. What a horse's ass.

But this story takes place in a time when the men did the hunting and the women tended to the meals and the children. Lexi may not have many options in a village so small, but she knows what she doesn't want. And that's to be trapped. Her father made sure to teach her hunting and tracking and the stories of Near, and so she's pretty well-prepared to take care of herself. But she's the only one who thinks so.

I really enjoyed this book of witchcraft and windy moors and nights that sing you out of your bed. It was enchanting and utterly captivating but also haunting and eerie, to the point that I had to make myself stop reading right up until bedtime if I didn't want to dream of witches made of loamy earth or see things skulking in my peripheral vision when I got up in the middle of the night to get a drink. Even so, it was a lovely fairy tale, done in the vein of the Brothers Grimm or Hans Christian Anderson and I'll be recommending it from here on out.

Revenge is worth its weight in gold.

When her father is murdered for a journal revealing the location of a hidden gold mine, eighteen-year-old Kate Thompson disguises herself as a boy and takes to the gritty plains looking for answers—and justice. What she finds are untrustworthy strangers, endless dust and heat, and a surprising band of allies, among them a young Apache girl and a pair of stubborn brothers who refuse to quit riding in her shadow. But as Kate gets closer to the secrets about her family, a startling truth becomes clear: some men will stop at nothing to get their hands on gold, and Kate’s quest for revenge may prove fatal.

I never intended to read Vengeance Road. I couldn't even make it through Bowman's Taken. And I'd already ready Walk on Earth a Stranger and Under a Painted Sky, both of which were YA westerns centered around the Gold Rush, so I felt I had little use for another, especially coming from an author I'd already had a bad experience with. But people kept raving about this book, and it was always checked out from the library, and I assumed there must be a reason for it.

There are definitely some similarities between the three books: murdered parents, vengeance, girls dressing as boys. But I think this book was the most violent of the three, and on one hand, I want to applaud it for some great shoot-out scenes, but on the other...it did nothing to make the story better than the other two. I try not to compare books, instead allowing each book to stand on its own, but I also feel like the release of all three of these books in the same year was purposeful, and so maybe it's a little fair to make comparisons.

Amy Rubinate narrated this audiobook, and while I don't dislike her narrative style, it can be over-the-top at times. This is the first time I've heard her speak in the vernacular of the period, and it wasn't terrible.

Vengeance Road definitely has the prettiest cover of the three, but that's not enough to make it my favorite. I'm also not sure how I feel about a sequel in the works, since this book ended on a pretty satisfying note. I don't know if I would have liked this book more or less had I read it before the others, but I do know that as it stands, this was my least favorite.

A long, hot summer...

That's what Macy has to look forward to while her boyfriend, Jason, is away at Brain Camp. Days will be spent at a boring job in the library, evenings will be filled with vocabulary drills for the SATs, and spare time will be passed with her mother, the two of them sharing a silent grief at the traumatic loss of Macy's father.

But sometimes, unexpected things can happen—things such as the catering job at Wish, with its fun-loving, chaotic crew. Or her sister's project of renovating the neglected beach house, awakening long-buried memories. Things such as meeting Wes, a boy with a past, a taste for Truth-telling, and an amazing artistic talent, the kind of boy who could turn any girl's world upside down. As Macy ventures out of her shell, she begins to question her sheltered life.

Is it really always better to be safe than sorry?

It's not summer without a Sarah Dessen...or two.

I'm slowly plodding my way through her backlist -- while throwing a re-read in here and there -- and I'm discovering new favorites along the way.

Her love interests are always terribly sa-woon-y, but Wes is definitely among my favorites. And I loved the catering crew, too. Might be one of my favorite casts of characters from her books, period. :)

Funny story...I heard someone say spinnerbait at a family gathering recently, and my first thought was HATE SPINNERBAIT, even though I'm almost 99% sure they were talking about fishing. ;0)

Last year, Annabel was "the girl who has everything" — at least that's the part she played in the television commercial for Kopf's Department Store.

This year, she's the girl who has nothing: no best friend because mean-but-exciting Sophie dropped her, no peace at home since her older sister became anorexic, and no one to sit with at lunch. Until she meets Owen Armstrong.

Tall, dark, and music-obsessed, Owen is a reformed bad boy with a commitment to truth-telling. With Owen's help, maybe Annabel can face what happened the night she and Sophie stopped being friends.

Thanks to my library, I've really been making it through some Sarah Dessen novels. I think there are only two or three that I haven't read yet. But I've read all of the ones I really wanted to get to. Including this one, which was high on my priority list because so many mention it as a fave of Dessen's novels.

And I understand why. With the focus on music and secrets and sisters and holding it all inside, this novel is entirely relatable. It definitely rivals The Truth About Forever for my fave Sarah Dessen novel. Plus, it's always nice to get glimpses of characters you know from her other stories.

As always, #hatespinnerbait. :D :D :D

What if your town was sliding underwater and everyone was ordered to pack up and leave? How would you and your friends spend your last days together?

While the adults plan for the future, box up their possessions, and find new places to live, Keeley Hewitt and her friends decide to go out with a bang. There are parties in abandoned houses. Canoe races down Main Street. The goal is to make the most of every minute they still have together.

And for Keeley, that means taking one last shot at the boy she’s loved forever.

There’s a weird sort of bravery that comes from knowing there’s nothing left to lose. You might do things you normally wouldn’t. Or say things you shouldn’t. The reward almost always outweighs the risk.

Almost.

It’s the end of Aberdeen, but the beginning of Keeley’s first love story. It just might not turn out the way she thought. Because it’s not always clear what’s worth fighting for and what you should let become a memory.

I live in a small, rural town on the edge of a major river. And I could see the events of this book playing out similarly where I live. The fight against turning the town into a lake would start out strong. Residents would rally and pretend that everything would go on the same as it always had, knowing it would all come to an end eventually, understanding that the battle was already lost before it had begun.

Despite that, this novel was still uplifting when it came down to it. Keeley was one of those unlikable characters that I just couldn't help but like. Because she makes mistakes. Because she's genuine and inevitably remorseful and just trying to do what she thinks is right. Yeah, she's selfish. And she turns a blind eye to everything until it's too late. But that's what makes her real and makes her realize what she really wants and needs.

This was the first Siobhan Vivian book I've read, but I have a feeling I'll be checking out her backlist soon.

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Labels: audiobooks, contemporary, erin bowman, historical fiction, Just Listen, mini reviews, reviews, sarah dessen, the near witch, the truth about forever, vengeance road, victoria schwab, wild west

{DNF} Review: Taken by Erin Bowman

Title: Taken
Author: Erin Bowman
Series: Taken, book #1
Publisher: HarperTeen
Publication Date: April 16, 2013
Source: ARC from publisher
Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble

There are no men in Claysoot. There are boys—but every one of them vanishes at midnight on his eighteenth birthday. The ground shakes, the wind howls, a blinding light descends…and he’s gone.

They call it the Heist.

Gray Weathersby’s eighteenth birthday is mere months away, and he’s prepared to meet his fate–until he finds a strange note from his mother and starts to question everything he’s been raised to accept: the Council leaders and their obvious secrets. The Heist itself. And what lies beyond the Wall that surrounds Claysoot–a structure that no one can cross and survive.

Climbing the Wall is suicide, but what comes after the Heist could be worse. Should he sit back and wait to be taken–or risk everything on the hope of the other side?

**Fair warning:  this review will contain spoilers, ranting, and likely some swear words.**

I was excited to get my hands on an ARC of this book.  It had some serious potential, and I couldn't wait to find out what that whole Heist situation was about.  But I quit reading at page 132, so I guess someone's just going to have to tell me.  Nothing major happened on that particular page, and I hadn't yet thrown the book across the room, but I'd had enough.  The throwing fit was coming, and I could've used an outlet for my frustration at that point, but instead, I decided to cut my losses.

I was so pumped to read another novel from the male perspective, but this doesn't read like that at all.  It reads like a male POV written from a grown woman's perspective.  And the dialogue!  It was cringe-inducing at best and left me feeling like I was reading about 12-year-olds instead of kids who were supposedly considered adults in their community:

     "No, that's not what I meant."..."I'm trying to say that I think doing what you feel can't always be easy, but at least you're being true to yourself."
     "It's okay, Emma, you don't have to try to make me seem like a better person.  You don't have to justify why it's all right to spend time with me."

     "I ...I wanted...Well, fine, Gray!  It's nice to see you, too."

And then there's the way sex is [mis]handled in this book.  I get it:  adulthood has to come a lot earlier when all boys are Heisted on their 18th birthdays.  But that does not mean all kids over the age of 15 should have to consent to the Slating.  For those of you not in the know, Slating is a system of matching up boys and girls for a month at a time in hopes of procreation and growing the population so that these people don't dwindle away into nothingness.  Fine.  But there are some kids who don't like this arrangement.  And others who only agree to it because it's what's expected of them.  Blaine's situation, fathering a child knowing that you're going to be Taken from them, is all the more reason to avoid the whole thing.  Gray does just this, possibly the only thing I liked about his character.  Sure, he's completed Slatings, but he assures us he's done everything to avoid becoming a father only to have to leave his child behind when the time comes.  But no one else, save for Emma, seems to have this aversion to the Slatings.

As I said, I didn't even get halfway through the book.  But I've been informed by other readers that the romance gets a little convoluted, as well.  It's not a love triangle but a freaking rectangle.  Why am I not surprised?  Apparently, sometime after Gray and Emma make it over the wall and are picked up by those other guys, Gray goes missing.  While he's gone -- my friend Em tells me he was missing for approximately a month -- Emma reunites with that one guy that she actually completed a Slating with and they have sex.  And I believe Gray meets Bree while he's missing and there's something between them, too.  Just knowing this makes me glad I stopped reading when I did.

Also, all those boys who were Heisted?  They're in a community on the other side of the wall.  Including Blaine.  And also, apparently their father.  How the hell can these guys not go back for their families?  I flipped through the pages and saw something about a resistance.  Is that what they're fighting?  Were there ever any freaking monsters on the other side of the wall?  Do I really care anymore?

I could rant forever on this.  In fact, Em was hoping I would finish so we could rant together for hours.  But I just couldn't put myself through that torture.  Needless to say, I will not be picking up further installments in this series.


Rating:  DNF - But I think Joaquin more adequately expresses my feelings on the matter...



But there are plenty who have really enjoyed this book.  Check out some positive reviews below:

The Book Hookup
Finding Bliss in Books
Step into Fiction

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Labels: book trailers, disappointments, dnf, dystopian, erin bowman, harper-collins, post-apocalyptic, sci-fi, taken

Teaser Tuesday #51: Taken by Erin Bowman & The Eternity Cure by Julie Kagawa

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (Make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!


This week's teaser(s) comes from the following book(s):

Title: Taken
Author: Erin Bowman
Series: Taken, book #1
Publisher: HarperTeen
Publication Date: April 16, 2013
Source: ARC received from publisher
Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble

There are no men in Claysoot. There are boys—but every one of them vanishes at midnight on his eighteenth birthday. The ground shakes, the wind howls, a blinding light descends…and he’s gone.

They call it the Heist.

Gray Weathersby’s eighteenth birthday is mere months away, and he’s prepared to meet his fate–until he finds a strange note from his mother and starts to question everything he’s been raised to accept: the Council leaders and their obvious secrets. The Heist itself. And what lies beyond the Wall that surrounds Claysoot–a structure that no one can cross and survive.

Climbing the Wall is suicide, but what comes after the Heist could be worse. Should he sit back and wait to be taken–or risk everything on the hope of the other side?

My teaser:

He twists around, his face right before mine.  The eye above his scar is disconcertingly foggy.  "If you know what's good for you and your girlfriend, you will shut up and follow us to safety.  But if you want to burn, by all means, stay here."

-- p. 98

Me and this book got off to a bad start, but it's picking up.  It probably doesn't help that I read Arclight right before this, and that book was pretty phenomenal as far as sci-fi goes.

Title: The Eternity Cure
Author: Julie Kagawa
Series: Blood of Eden, book #2
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Publication Date: April 30, 2013
Source: galley received from publisher via Netgalley
Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble

Allison Sekemoto has vowed to rescue her creator, Kanin, who is being held hostage and tortured by the psychotic vampire Sarren. The call of blood leads her back to the beginning—New Covington and the Fringe, and a vampire prince who wants her dead yet may become her wary ally.

Even as Allie faces shocking revelations and heartbreak like she’s never known, a new strain of the Red Lung virus that decimated humanity is rising to threaten human and vampire alike.

My teaser:

Carefully, I grasped my sword and eased it out, being sure the metal didn't scrape against the sheath.  Getting here had been way too easy.  Whoever was on the other side of that door knew I was coming.  If Sarren was expecting me, I'd be ready, too.  If Kanin was in there, I wasn't leaving until I got him out safe.

-- Loc 335, 7%

Eeek!  Kanin!  After that prequel story in 'Til the World Ends, I've been dying for some more Kanin.  And I've heard we get to see more of him in this book, though I can't confirm yet because me and my buddy are taking it easy on this read along...just a few chapters a night to soak it all in.  =)


What are you teasing this week?  Share it in the comments or leave a link so I can visit!

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Labels: blood of eden, dystopian, erin bowman, harlequin-teen, harper-collins, julie kagawa, post-apocalyptic, read-along, sci-fi, taken, teaser tuesday, vampires

Judging a Book By Its Cover #20: A Kid's Perspective on Taken by Erin Bowman

Okay, so I totally stole this idea from Sara at Forever 17 Books, who got the idea from an article on Babble called Judging a Book by Its Cover: A 6-year-old Guesses What Classic Novels Are All About.  I just discovered her lovely segment, and I immediately requested forced my own five-year-old daughter Katie to provide me with some of her own cover art artwork and then asked her what she thought the book was about.



This week, Katie gave me her take on the following book:

"The boy and girl are running away from their house and it was a really cloudy day."

Cover Art

Taken as envisioned by Katiebug

From what I know of this book -- which is actually very little because I haven't read it yet, though it is coming up soon in the review pile -- I think that's a very good guess.  =)

Have you read this book or do you plan to?  What do you think of Katie's guess at the premise?  

Did your little darling create a work of art based on a book this week? If so, be sure to link up with Sara over at Forever 17 Books.

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Labels: cover art, dystopian, erin bowman, harper-collins, judging a book by its cover, katiebug, taken