Silver Shadows by Richelle Mead

Trapped, by her own people, struggling to survive and keep her own sanity: this is what Sydney's life has become. Re-education isn't really as bad as everyone said it would be. It's worse. The only thing she can do is keep fighting and repeat to herself that the center will hold and that Adrian will come for her. But even here, in a place fraught with danger and enemies, Sydney can't help but push the lines in a quest to do what's right.

Outside, Adrian is doing everything he can think of to find and save Sydney, but with no results. How can the center hold when he is helpless? Spirit is rising within him and it feels good, but Aunt Tatiana is growing louder. Not even partying himself senseless can get rid of her, or fill the hole Sydney left behind.

As Adrian teeters closer to the edge than ever before, it's clear that both of them are reaching their darkest hour. Their love is strong, but can it bring them back together and into the light?

This novel is the fifth installment of the action packed Bloodlines series, add on to the already established world created for Mead's Vampire Academy. For those who haven't read these series, go do now! If you want to hear what I had to say about the previous two books in the series, click the titles to find my reviews of The Indigo Spell and The Fiery Heart. Yes, yes I can already hear you Pleeeeeeeaase not another teenage vampire book. However, I can assure this one is worth your time. Witty and fast paced, Mead's writing has the reader holding on from page one, on point from beginning to end.

To say I am a fan of Richelle Mead's writing is, at best, an understatement. I don't think there is a thing I've read by her that I haven't loved. There is just something about her style that just gets me as a reader. She develops characters that are beautifully mutli-faceted and real. Her plot is a roller-coaster half part mystery and full part intense. Best of all, the cadence of her narration, no matter who it is, is unique and interesting. Silver Shadows is no exception. In fact I'd say Mead's writing and story telling only get better with each new book. Sydney has become one of my all-time favorite fictional characters. Strong, intelligent, and kick ass and that's only scraping the surface. I've become so invested in her character that reading each new book in this series is a heart-in-the-mouth experience as I fly through the pages praying everything turns out alright.

I don't want to give too much away about the plot, so I'm just going to say that I was very VERY pleased with how things turned out. I suppose some might not be as enraptured by it all, but that opinion is not mine. I will definitely warn it is emotionally trying. There were tears of pain and joy shed throughout. Yeah, that's a thing I forgot to mention. Read her books, get attached, then prepare to cry. Mead is a great writer. She's also great at torturing her own creations and the readers as a result. It's still worth it, because as Ron Weasley once said, "You're gonna suffer, but you're gonna be happy about it.'

Prepare to go from this:

to this:

and back again.

A note on the end [don't proceed if you don't want to know]

The fact that they made it through what they did could be accused of being convenient at the very least. However, I maintain, IT WAS BEAUTIFUL. ANJSKABFDJASHJ. That is all.

Finding Me: A Decade of Darkness, a Life Reclaimed by Michelle Knight with Michelle Buford

On May 6, 2013, it was all over the news: the recovery of three kidnapped women, held in captivity by an Ohio man for over ten years. Michelle Knight, the first of the kidnapped victims, has come forward with the help of writer Michelle Buford to tell her side of the hellish experience she was forced to endure. A tale of darkness, Michelle relates her struggles that started from long before she was kidnapped. 

As so often happens for me when I read memoirs, I always can't help but wonder how much is really true, how much shifts in the telling, what is lost and gained. From what I've come to understand of life and storytelling, even the purest intentions can lead astray because no one view is ever truly objective. Sometimes with a good memoir, I forget these questions, the story well written enough to keep me going, real or not real. This was not one of those stories. 

Though I was pulled through the story in an overall engrossing 'can't turn away from something grossly disturbing' sort of way, there were parts of it that were hard for me to swallow. Not to do with anything factually present or not, but more in relation to the writing of the prose and delivery of the story. The story is written as if it is happening in real time, though thankfully in past tense. Still, throughout much of the writing there is a lot of direct quoting as well as pinpoint detail on things already described earlier on as memories that had all 'blurred together'. For me, this sort of attempt at narration pulls me more out of the story than into it, because I often get caught up arguing in my head about whether or not one could actually remember something in so minute a detail. However, I do believe that what Michelle Knight, Gina DeJesus, and Amanda Berry went through was horrific enough to be imprinted on their minds forever. I'm not in any way trying to silence or disregard the story or this woman's words. My bone to pick is simply with the narrative style. 

Another thing to do with the writing that I still don't know how I feel about is the amateur style of the narrative. It is obvious that this story might not have become a best seller were it not for the nature of the memoir and the news blast that came from it. It at once bugged me, and yet also made me feel like the story was more authentic. After all, Knight states over and over that she barely got through a few years of high school. It would stand to reason that she would still be incredibly behind on grammar and other writing techniques once she began to try and write down her experience.

All in all the book is poignant and hard to read. Given the nature of her descriptions, coupled with the style, I don't think I'd recommend it, but I will say that it has continued to stick with me long after I finished.

Obernewtyn by Isobelle Carmody

Elspeth Gordie wishes nothing more than to fit in. But that is hard to do when she harbors a secret that would surely mean her death. She is a Misfit, born with special mental abilities. To be found so is to be hated and feared by the Herders and Councilmen who rule. She has already lived through the burning of her parents, the only thing she can do is hide the best she can. But in one careless moment all of her carefulness is dashed to nothing. She is spotted for what she is and exiled to the dreaded Obernewtyn, a mountain manor where Misfits are brought to and never seen again. Even with her abilities Elspeth finds herself out of her depth. All is not as it seems on Obernewtyn. Someone is keeping secrets and it suddenly seems like it may be her destiny to find out what they are.

Taking place in a post-apocalyptic world, Obernewtyn illustrates humanity on the edge of survival after the unspeakable has happened. It is the first book in The Obernewtyn Chronicles. Carmody does a pretty decent job of world-building for this novel, and I have to say it was honestly what kept me reading and interested. I am not a fan overall of her style. It is way too much telling and not enough showing. This made places of action seem more boring. I found the history at the beginning interesting, but I feel like it would have been better suited sprinkled about throughout the story rather than info dumped on us in the beginning. By the time I finished, I look back and feel confident that as a reader, I could have figured everything out just by reading the story. I didn't need to have it spoon fed to me in the beginning to make sure I kept up. 

I think going with more showing rather than telling could have helped my feelings on the budding romance in the story. I didn't feel like the characters involved had interacted enough to really begin feeling anything for each other. I did enjoy the added intrigue, but it could have been set up a bit more. 

This being said I genuinely liked the story line and the characters. The world is a very interesting one and I continue to want to follow the story and know more about it. I don't know that I would recommend it to other readers, but I am going to keep reading the series myself.

Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell

Park likes to blend in. He's weird enough without anything else adding to it. So of course it couldn't get any worse when the weird new girl sits next to him on the bus. She's loud, in appearance if not in words. Between her bright red impossibly curly hair, her eclectic clothing, and abundant curves, it's hard not to notice her. Park doesn't want any of this. Not the notice he gets from her sitting next to him, or the feelings he gets when he can't stop thinking about her.

Eleanor only wants to lay low, to make it through the hell they call high school and the even worse hell she calls home. She didn't think that the weird angry Asian kid she sat next to on the bus would become the one thing that would get her through each day.

Can something hold together that seemed impossible from the start? Neither of them know, but they have to try.

Eleanor & Park is the third novel I have read by Rowell, the independent stories of Fangirl and Attachments preceding it. As with my other experiences reading Rowell, I was blown away by this novel. I almost feel like the experience was even more profound because for whatever reason I didn't want to give this novel credit. From the outside it looked like just your typical love story, but of course it was so much more than that. It only took the first few pages to know that there was no way I could put this novel down. If it weren't for “responsibilities” (I mean who really needs to work right?), I would have read it in one sitting. There is something about Rowell's storytelling that speaks volumes about humanity, life, and the human heart. She takes stories and characters that could be utterly mundane and makes them so real and interesting that the reader can't help but be swept away. As I've so poetically put it before, she could write about dirt and I'd be hanging onto every word while proclaiming it art.

This novel firmly falls under the genre of Literary YA and it lives up to the name. It is the beauty of first love mixed with the gritty heartbreaking circumstances surrounding a life of neglect and abuse. Of all the books Rowell has done, this so far has been the darkest in theme and content. It really makes the reader think. The story is rife with stereotypes that Rowell then turns on their head. The characters are not all good or all bad. The main protagonists are clearly flawed, many faceted. It makes all of it so much more real and beautiful. It makes it all that much more sad. It very much brought to mind the style of John Hughes films such as The Breakfast Club, especially considering that this story is set in the 80s.

Along the same lines, Park and Eleanore are perfectly imperfect as main characters. They are young and flawed. They do stupid things and make bad decisions. They are also beautifully kind and wonderfully loving. This exists in both of them, not at odds, but harmoniously. They are as atypical as characters get, right down to their physical descriptions. Everyone in the book, including Park, considers Eleanor at least chubby, if not downright fat. Yet from his eyes she is beautiful, the only girl ever to make him feel anything. Eleanor can't begin to see herself they way he sees her. And it goes the same for him. Too effeminate, too Korean, Park never feels like he is enough. But he is more than enough for Eleanor, even if she is afraid to say it out loud. I cannot say how refreshing it was to read a book where the main characters are in turn overweight and of ethnicity. This is so important in giving voice to a minority, for making guys who are slight and sensitive get the girl of their dreams, for showing girls who aren't a size 0-2 that they are capable of being the main protagonist of a story. In today's society this message is one that can't be said enough. The fact that when you look for fan art for this book most of it downplays if not completely negates Eleanor's weight is direct proof of how bad it actually is. We need more characters like Eleanor and Park.

Another part of this book that was done brilliantly was the fashion of narration. Rowell has the point of view bounce back and forth between Park and Eleanor, sometimes every other paragraph or line. In doing so it is almost like reading two stories at once. Every scene is doubled. The reader gets to see and feel every side. Narration like that would have to be very delicately put together, but Rowell does it beautifully, each part flowing effortlessly back and forth but still remaining distinctive to the individual characterization.

*SPOILERS*

One of the only things from this book I wasn't wholly impressed with was the ending. It was too open ended for my tastes. I know some people like that, but not me. I'm a lazy reader and mostly I like having the ending given to me. I'm too much of a cynic to let myself wholly imagine that it all worked out, even if that is the insinuation. This however wasn't enough for me to change my mind about how awesome this book was so only .1 off for the dreaded “open end”. I recommend it to any and all, as well as anything else Rowell writes. I myself am particularly looking forward to reading her newest novel Landline that was published earlier this month.

City of Heavenly Fire by Cassandra Clare

If there is one thing the Shadowhunters have always depended on, it was knowing who was the enemy. But as Sebastian Morgenstern wields the infernal cup, swelling his ranks with Endarkened warriors, the Nephilim must face their own in a war that is threatening to drag them under. Darkness is falling and Clary and her friends might have to go to hell and back to make things right. 

City of Heavenly Fire is the sixth and final book in the Mortal Instruments series and the ninth book that takes place in the Shadow world. 

This book was something of a roller-coaster, wrapped in evil, twirled in darkness. I don't think it can be said of any of these books that they were exceptionally light in theme and tone, but I would venture that this is the darkest and possibly the most mature of the books Clare has produced thus far. It can also be agreed that Clare has never been afraid to push the boundaries of the socially acceptable, especially concerning that wonderfully controversial topic of incest. This book takes that idea to a whole new level of creepy. 

I will say that there was still the trademark wit and humor that is usual and expected in Clare's writing. However, there really wasn't a lot to laugh about in this novel. This is a story of a people at war. Not about to go to war, not on the cusp of war, or at the beginning of it. At war. I wouldn't say this is Game of Thrones, with every character in the book being slaughtered left and right, but it was realistic to war. It is a Shadowhunter's life, and if we've gone this far in the series without seeing THAT much death, it's made up for in this last book. 

I gave it as high a rating as I did because I love Clare's writing and I love this series. I read it fast despite it being a honking big book and I liked the way it ended. I really did like this book a lot.

I did not give it a 5/5 because there were a few things that bothered me. 

*SPOILERS AHEAD* *DO NOT PROCEED IF YOU HAVE NOT READ COHF*

The first, and lesser, of these issues was plain and simple "the love scene". I'm sorry, but when I'm quite literally in hell and about to die a probably horribly death at the hands of a psychopathic incest loving demon boy, sex is not the first thing on my mind. However, I can understand the approach. After all it is the age old cry of "we must experience this before we die!". I also get that Jace and Clary couldn't touch for most of this novel because of the heavenly fire, and that when this obstacle was removed there was obviously going to be some hanky panky between the unsupervised teenagers who are on a suicide mission. What I couldn't get over was that damn condom.

There are a few reasons why a detail as harmless and insignificant as a condom has got my panties in a twist, reasons I will probably elaborate far too much on, but here they are nonetheless.

1.     I don't believe that Shadowhunters would be in the know about them enough to have one on them during such a dire circumstance. As has been elaborated throughout this series, Shadowhunters are a rather old race with many archaic politics and practices. They don't have computers, they don't use modern electricity (using witchlight instead), none of them know anything about popular culture, and when we visit Alicante we "go back in time". If Jace doesn't know what facebook is, I have my doubts that he would be totally on board with safe sex practices. However, if it were the case that the Shadowhunters had caught up with the times in this one department, then I bring forward my next point.

2.     How was it that a condom made it onto the list of necessary items to go to the demon realm? I mean how did that go? Gear? Check. Stele? Check. Witchlight? Check. Food? Check. Weapons? Check. Condoms? Check??? NO. Just No. When traveling to dimensions of hell, condoms just aren't going to make the list.(Where would he even put it? Does the gear have pockets? Was it in the packs next to the food?) My fiancé has informed me it's an unwritten guy code to always have some on you. However, other than referring to #1, this brings me to my final point.

3.     When they entered the demon realm, Jace was under the impression he might never be able to fully touch Clary again. Sure, they had the occasional holding of hands or gentle kiss. But much more than that and they would be facing some holy incineration. Jace says straight out that Clary had changed him for the better. She is the girl for him. He isn't looking elsewhere. So reason stands, that if he couldn't have it with Clary, he wouldn't really be preparing for it in any way. It would be a pretty callous thought process anyway, "Hmm, so we're going to hell to save my girlfriend's parents and my parabatai's  love, who have all been kidnapped and might be dead. And in the meantime our world is facing Armageddon. Sounds like a great time to make some moves and do the do with my girl!'......Again, may I say....no...

Now, don't get me wrong. I very much was interested in seeing Jace and Clary complete their love. At this point I had become almost annoyed at Cassy Clare for cockblocking one too many times. I could get where she was coming from. She didn't want to promote teenage sex. But let's be real. Teenagers have sex. Especially if they are head over heels in love. So the fact that the plot literally barred this from happening over and over seemed very much by design. However, it was the setting and timing that just rubbed me the wrong way. I don't know if I just dislike Clare's approach to romantic scenes in general, or if it was just in the few books where she has one that bother me. I didn't like how it happened in Clockwork Princess, and I didn't like how it happened in this one. They always seem awkward and ill set, rushed in during times of high danger.

I don't know why something so menial as one sentence mentioning a condom has my panties in a twist, but there it is. 

The one other part of the book that made me subtract another .1 from my rating was the end of Sebastian. It was just so...happily ever after everyone is good after all!.....I really appreciated the villainy of Sebastian. He was a mentally and emotionally unstable young man who killed without thought or remorse and harbored incestuous fantasies about his sister. He was one sick puppy and he needed to be stopped. To go and make him good, after all that....it didn't make much sense to me and I felt like it cheated his character. I know in real life you have to acknowledge that nothing is black and white. No one is all good or all bad. This is very much addressed in the comments made of Shadowhunter politics. However Sebastian is not fully human. He is demon spawn, literally. I think some things in this world are supposed to represent pure evil and he was one of them. I always admired Cassy Clare with his characterization. She made him unstable, creepy, and downright scary without becoming unrealistic. Possibly I could understand seeing a flash of humanness in his eyes near the end, similar to what we saw from Amatis. But for that whole drawn out episode with him becoming “Jonathan” and apologizing and etc....it just felt empty and weird after everything. I didn’t buy it It really didn't even make sense after everything that was gone over about what demon blood and demonizing does to a person. He was literally infused with demon blood before birth. How could there be any remnant of what should have been, left inside him? If that was the case, why was it that there was no helping the Endarkened? I mean, I guess it could be explained away as another miracle of the heavenly fire, but it didn't really seem right to me. 

And that about sums that up for me. Overall I really liked how the series ended and I would recommend the series to any and everyone. I also very much look forward to reading more about the Shadowhunter world in future books. 

Never Trust a Pirate by Anne Stuart

Madeleine Rose Russell has never been one to sit back and let fate do it's work. If her sister Bryony can go undercover as the hired help in order to reveal the person responsible for the fall of House Russel and the murder of their father, then so can Maddie. And anyway, all the help Bryony had been absconding off with one of the suspects on an illicit elopement and leaving behind only a cryptic note not much more informative than their father's own last few words. Maddie can definitely do better than that. So what if her new employer happens to be a devilishly handsome half-gypsy pirate who she can't seem to keep herself away from. It's nothing she can't handle. Or at least that's what she keeps telling herself. 

*WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD* *DO NOT proceed if you have not read Never Kiss a Rake* 

*Minor spoilers for Never Trust a Pirate* *TRIGGER WARNING: contains discussion of physical abuse, assault, rape, and other sexual themes* 

Never Trust a Pirate is the second book in the Scandal at the House Russell series and sequel to Never Kiss a Rake, a book I enjoyed so thoroughly that my enthusiasm for the next book in the series was very high. However I have to say that overall I was sadly disappointed. This novel, though not necessarily a bad read (I read it very quickly), rubbed me the wrong way.

Firstly, I had a pretty big problem with the repetition of this story. The entire plot was basically a recycled from first book, down to the masquerade as a servant in the house of a domineering, rich, and amazingly beautiful man who is already attached to another woman by rules of society but not by the heart. Of course there were differences in setting, characterization, and plot variations to at least keep some things fresh, but overall it was still a cooky-cutter version of the same story. Another repeat issue was in the dailouge and inner thoughts of the characters. Their thoughts were rehashed over and over, sometime word for word until I was frankly tired of reading the same montage again and again. A little rehash of something is pretty normal throughout a story. It shows characterization and how the mind holds on to certain thoughts, especially when a character is in denial. But when it become noticeably cumbersome, and I as a reader feel like I'm being told something I clearly already know, then there is a problem.

Minorly, I would also like to point out that there was a lot of inconsistency in Luca's character. I thought that Maddie, and her denial, were pulled off very well. I understood the pathways of her back and forth feelings and didn't find them farfetched. With Luca's character however it gave me something like whiplash and didn't seem realistic. One moment he was admitting so much, being so tender, the next he was acting like Maddie was some dockside whore he needed to drop off. It seemed as if Stuart was trying too hard to demonstrate his denial.

Putting aside the writing issues however, I think one of the biggest problems I had with the story was the nature of the romance within it. I am not going to even pretend that there weren't parts of Never Kiss a Rake that weren't problematic in the consensual romance area. In both books there was a lot of the 'domineering male' bending the will of the woman to meet his needs. I let it go in the first book because 1) It wasn't that pervasive, in that Kilmartyn was a little less pushy and callous, and 2) Bryony was a lot more receptive of it all. Also, neither of them were physically harmful to each other. I really enjoyed the shenanigans of that book, enough to not be bothered by morality quibbles. 

In Never Trust a Pirate though, I kept getting so bombarded with the abusive undertones of the relationship that I could hardly enjoy the romance. Not only does Luca never remotely understand the word "no" and pushes the boundaries of consent constantly, but he takes it a step further in being physically violent for supposedly "good reasons"... Like, in what way is knocking someone out, kidnapping them, and tying them up for hours something protective and romantic? It isn't!! It is creepy and rapey and stalkerish!!!! Also, news flash, if a girl tries to hit, kick, slap, or knee you in the groin, chances are you shouldn't be pushing sex on her because she actually doesn't want it! I know from the narration that Maddie did very much want it. However it was in that exact set up that lies the detrimental message: the girl is saying no, but what she really means is yes. This is exactly the kind of thing that not only encourages young men to think they are entitled to a woman sexually and that the woman should like it, but it shows women that assault is romantic. 

I know the whole point was the idea that the woman is having her sexual awakening and she is afraid of the feelings that are opening up inside her. But I just can't agree with how Luca reacted. In that situation a lover should be patient and caring and give the person time to want what their getting, not forced into sex. 

With Bryony and Kilmartyn, the situation felt so different because she actually wanted to be with him. She didn't care about being "ruined" because she never thought she would get married anyway. And at one point Kilmartyn actually walks away from her because he is unwilling to have sex because she is inebriated (granted they get pretty far before he does stop, but he still does stop). For all the times Luca insists, aloud and in his own mind, that he doesn't rape and that forcing "isn't fun", the novel was fraught with dubious consent and situations bordering on non-con. Though Maddie is portrayed as a fiery spirit and a woman who takes charge of her own life, the fighting that goes on between her and Luca only seems to undermine her agency rather than enforce it. 

In fear of ranting still more, I'm going to stop myself here and end with saying that between the constant bouts of dubious consent and the abusive overtones, I couldn't properly enjoy this story and it even gave me pause in my pleasant memories of the first novel. I would not recommend this book. 

Never Kiss a Rake by Anne Stuart

Bryony Russel's life has come crashing down around her ears. Her family is disgraced and her father is dead. She and her three sisters have no money and everything looks bleak. That is until Bryony comes across a secret note, written by her father just before he died. Suddenly his accidental death doesn't seem like so much an accident. In light of this new knowledge Byrony is convinced her father was not guilty of the crimes he was accused of and that the man who was, would be behind her father's death. Armed with only her own wits and intelligence Byrony decides to go undercover as a housekeeper in order to infiltrate the house of the man who called himself her father's business partner, Lord Kilmartyn, a devilish Irish-born rake who has been left suspiciously unscathed in her father's financial downfall. She is determined to prove the guilt of Kilmartyn, though whether for her father's murder and her family downfall, or another dark secret entirely, she isn't sure. But something is going on in the Kilmartyn house, and Bryony is determined to find it all out, and soon before the strange emotions that she feels whenever she sees Lord Kilmartyn overwhelm her. 

This novel can be considered a historical romance as well as wickedly fun and entertaining. When I first read the title I was definitely intrigued. There's nothing I like better than a good romp with the old-school bad-boy trope of the rake. And let me just say, I was not disappointed. This story had all the makings of what pluck a romance out of the myriad of typical, overdone, and cliched bad writing and sets it apart as something truly worth reading. 

Romance so often has a bad rap for not being quality writing; the indulgence of desperate housewives and sexually frustrated virgins. And it's true, there are many a romance that live up to that expectation with bad plot and even worse writing style. I think so much of the problem comes with the idea that a good story can't have some good sex and romance thrown in without the quality dropping. Good stories, like life, absolutely can and will contain some sexy bits which add rather than detract, in my opinion. My cardinal rule of good romantical (yes, this is a word...I just made it up) story telling is: if you can remove the sex and some of the romance and still have a working plot and story then you are doing something right. If I'm searching for the plot while wading through badly written sex scenes and dubiously corny romantic love then chances are I'm going to say a romance isn't up to snuff as a good story. Perhaps my expectations are high, but it is what it is. The story, first and foremost, is what is important to me.

That being said, Never Kiss a Rake was a good story AND it contained a good romance. 

Don't get me wrong. I still caught a few mistakes here and there and some of the romance parts were played up a little bit more than I think the character's initial feelings would have warranted. However it was something I could overlook, especially considering my interest in the suspenseful mystery plot that kept me going as well as the delicious encounters between the main character and the rake himself. Another part of the story that totally made up for any misgivings I might have had was the narration hopping to Kilmartyn occasionally and a few other characters. It made things really interesting and I very much enjoyed seeing and hearing the different point's of view. 

All in all, if you're looking to have a little fun and relax with a book that doesn't take a lot of effort but still delivers the goods, this is the story for you. I thoroughly enjoyed myself from start to finish and despite all stereotypes reading romance comes with, still give it a high recommend. 

Attachments by Rainbow Rowell

Lincoln hates his job. Working nights at the newspaper as "internet security" isn't a hard job, and it pays very well. But the principle of the thing doesn't change. Lincoln is paid to snoop. He is the one that must read flagged intra-office emails to find the offenders who email things not appropriate and not pertaining to work. Some people might like going through other people's things, but it leaves Lincoln feeling off. He should quit this job, find a job in the sunlight, working with other people, instead of reading their emails. But then Beth and Jennifer get flagged, again, and again. Lincoln has never met them, never seen them, or heard them actually speak, but he can't help but feel like he knows them through their tell all narrations. They either can't take the policy seriously or don't care, and Lincoln should really send them a warning, get them to stop. But how could he give up Beth's wit or Jennifer's quips and stories? By the time he understands how deep in he is it's got to be too late to do anything about it. How can you become friends with someone when you've already read all of their very private emails?

In this funny and heartwarming story the reader follows around Lincoln O'Neill as he desperately toes the line between curiosity and the socially unacceptable. I absolutely loved this book. It was fun and interesting, and though it isn't a book filled with action it still manages to keep the reader sucked in page to page until it's done. 

I very much admired the way Rowell went about telling this story. All things accounted for, it was a delicate endeavor to tell a story about someone reading other people's emails and not make it creepy. But I have to say I didn't find Lincoln creepy at all. I actually kind of identified with him. He's just trying his best, and he doesn't mean to get as far as he goes. But do any of us really? I found it very realistic at how easily it is for him to get caught up in the web he finds himself. One thing leads to another until your standing at a chasm you didn't know you were toeing. But that's life. 

Another thing about Lincoln and his story that just really appealed to me was his age group and the place that he was stuck. He is firmly wedged in that area of time that no one wants to talk about: the "graduated but not left the house" person, who doesn't really have the job they want and just doesn't know how to get unstuck from the life they are now leading. I've heard the high school stories, the college stories, the midlife stories and beyond. But no one likes to talk about that transition period in between college and finding the life you want. I know not everyone finds themselves in it, but it is a very real and growing phenomena today and it was refreshing to find a story that addresses it without become slow and boring. 

I have found in reading Rowell (my first experiencing of her writing being with the YA novel Fangirl) is that she excels in writing about what no one wants to talk about. She takes these topics that everyone marks off either because they want to ignore them or everyone deems them too boring to support an actual novel, and she turns them into very real and wonderful stories. her books are all rather long, but they read like they short. you start them and before you know it you're done.

I was left with the best feeling of contentment when I finished this book, and the first words that left my mouth as I closed it at the end was, "That was beautiful". If you like something fun and quirky with just a little bit of divine intervention thrown in, you will love this novel. 

Control by Lydia Kang

All her life Zel has let her father make decisions for her. It's been easy that way and anyway, he's always known her better than she knew herself. But when a horrible accident rips her life apart and throws her into a world she doesn't know or understand, Zel comes to see how much her father wasn't telling and that she must either take the reigns on her own life or lose what she most holds dear. Suddenly she is living in a world where her sister is illegal, Zel herself is stuck in a house/ freak-show, and there's absolutely no one she can trust. Zel must choose between love and sacrifice, all the while hoping that it's worth it in the end.  

Taking place in the intense futuristic world of 2150, Control is the first book in what looks to be a YA series by Kang, the second book due out winter 2015. This is a fast paced thrilling science fiction adventure that will keep the reader on their toes. It also doesn't hurt that it's got just enough romantic intrigue to flavor the story without over sweetening. I was completely taken with this novel. The characters were interesting and many faceted, the setting was richly described and almost entrancing without becoming over-complicated, and the plot has a way of taking hold of your eyes and dragging them along for the ride. In a word, the book was a great balance of all things that make a great story and I loved it.

Another part of the story that I got the biggest kick out of was the numerous nods to Pride and Prejudice (as well as a few other Austen and other classic novels, in my opinion). It was lovely and refreshing to wade through the story picking out the little references. And the best part about it was that Control was running it's own show completely separate from the classic novel. Don't get me wrong, I love a good P&P reinterpretation or re-vamp story. They are great fun and have their own place in Austen's world. Control however wasn't really that. It was it's own animal with a little bit of a P&P treasure hunt tossed in. I'm not going to give away any more clues about what the references were, but for any P&P or Austen fan, it should be obvious right away. 

All in all this was a really great story and I recommend this to any and all readers. I don't think someone has to just like sci-fi to read this book. 

*WARNING* *SPOILERS AHEAD* *PROCEED WITH CAUTION*

A note on the ending

I was very tempted to give the book a 4/5 because of the ending. I love love loved the book, but I wasn't a huge fan of how it came to a finish. Initially I wanted to be annoyed that our love birds were torn apart. However, from a storytelling point of view, there would have to be a remaining conflict if the series was to progress, otherwise there wouldn't be any more story. Happily ever after is nice, but it is also synonymous with 'the end'. So yeah, I get that they had to be torn asunder to feed the flames for more story to come. However, I didn't like how easy it was for Zel to come to peace with Cy's sacrifice. I really loved Zel's character. She was a lot of fun to read and even though she was super into science (a subject I have little interest in unless I'm dealing with fictional stories), Kang did an amazing job making her identifiable. As readers we get to watch Zel grow into a new person. I love watching character development in stories because it makes the characters so much more real. In life people change. When crazy/ amazing/ horrific/ heartbreaking things happen to people, they can't stay the same as they were before it happened. So Zel forming into the badass rebellion lover that she becomes is really fun to watch. This new self she finds to be lying dormant inside her all along is forced out when she must save her sister. This is what builds the story, Zel's commitment and love for her sister Dyl. The whole book she agonizes about all the horrible things that are happening to her sister, unsure of the exact truth of the matter but terrified all the more because of this. I know that the bond between siblings can be a strong one, but romantic love can be just as strong if not more at times, especially in it's first bloom. I guess for me it was hard to understand how Zel could just let him go with so little fight. I know it was his choice to make the sacrifice, and that he is a strong man who can take care of himself in comparison to the delicate Dyl. But Zel cuts her losses so easily and just let's him go. I think it had to end the way it did, but I think she could have at least tried a little harder near the end. It all made things feel a bit rushed. Also, in the epilogue, everyone seems to forget about Cy too and just bask in general happiness. Eventually it's hinted at through her conversation with Marka that things are bothering both of them. This is followed by Zel professing that she will never give up and she will find Cy. However it is all done with this general air of calm. I guess I just expected a lot more feeling to be running through her, a lot more angst. It was still a good book, and still a good ending, but I wish there had been more pain to the separation. Otherwise it just makes it seem like she doesn't really care as much, slightly cheapening the effect of their love presented earlier in the story. It isn't a big bone, but I guess in the face of how good everything else was it just bothered me a bit.

Insurgent by Veronica Roth

Tris and Tobias stopped the simulation. But in the aftermath of it's destruction it becomes very clear that it was only the tip of the iceberg. Dauntless is split down the middle, Abnegation is almost gone, the Euridite are far from finished with their experiments, and it's only getting worse. In a society tearing at the seams Tris struggles to find the truth when she can hardly face the facts herself. She doesn't know who to trust, and now Tobias isn't trusting her instincts either. Will they be able to save themselves before it's too late, or will the truth behind everything destroy them all?

Insurgent is book two in the Divergent trilogy by Roth that revolves around a futuristic society set in Chicago. 

I'm just going to jump right in today and say that there was a lot I didn't like about this book. I can say I got a better grasp of the characters in this one than the previous book (I almost had a semi emotional moment at one point, almost). However I still never quite understood what it was that kept Tris and Tobias together. The love they talk about having between them in the first book doesn't seem strong enough to fit the descriptions in this novel, and to make matters worse both of them travel through the story in a permanent state of non-communication. There is a lot of emphasis on Tris and Tobias not really knowing each other. To which I'm thinking, 'No you don't! There was no real mental development in your relationship to begin with!". I'm not going to say that having flawed characters is bad. Quite the contrary, it's good for the characters to be many faceted and realistic. Though I'm not going to say that it is a horrible flaw to have two of the main characters be annoying as heck, I wouldn't say it is the greatest asset either. I had a hard time getting into the book and getting through it because of this.

I would say the same thing I said about the first one. I really liked the setting, the tone, the world that was created. That was all done very well. Plot was interesting and kept me pulled in once it got going, however I feel like the big reveal at the end was puffed up more than was actually warranted. From a storytelling point of view, it might have been wiser to spend less time building it up and rather just take us by surprise at the end. Leaving clues is good. It's never wise to trick a reader. But it isn't good to get expectations high only to disappoint. 

Perhaps I'm being too harsh on it because there has been so much hype about the stories that I just expected more from it. I do intend to finish the series, but I feel I will remain one of the few with the unpopular opinion that the series wasn't the most amazing thing I've ever read, though neither was it the worst.

The Book of the Maidservant by Rebecca Barnhouse

Johanna is just a maidservant living in the house of Dame Margery Kemp, a woman who loudly proclaims her faith and pious nature to any and all. Beside her Johanna is nothing save someone to order around. But her life get's turned upside down when Dame Margery decides she wants to go on a pilgrimage to Rome, and that Johanna must accompany her. Suddenly Johanna is faced with foreign lands, a man with a devil inside him for a traveling companion, and a mistress who might not be as good as she likes to think. Johanna starts to wonder if she will survive this journey, and if she does, how in the world will she ever get home?

Based on The Book of Margrey Kemp,the first autobiographical English text written in the 15th century, Barnhouse takes what was once just the story of a very high and mighty pilgrim and turns it into the story of her maidservant that is often mentioned throughout the journey. Barnhouse gives Johanna life, taking historical fact and filling in the blanks.

I have to say I quite liked this little book. It was interesting, and though it was a novel, it still had quite a bit of reality to the description of the life and times of someone traveling by foot all that way. Johanna as a character was a little bit mousy and timid, but she finds her own in the end and I liked the development of her character. 

Barnhouse states in the back of the book that there is no real way to ever know exactly what happened to Johanna, but I think this story is a nice way to give that maidservant more than she probably ever imagined. True this Johanna is a fictional character, but sometime, somewhere a girl like her was traveling over mountains and trying to survive and I find that very interesting.

I recommend this book as a good read for any interested in historical fiction or medieval times.

Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell

Cath is a fan. More importantly she is a Simon Snow fan. But who isn't in love with that magical world? However Cath is more than just the passing fanatic. Simon Snow is her life. She reads and re-reads the books. She has loads of internet friends met at Simon Snow forums and chat sites. She herself is a fanfiction writer of Simon and Baz fics, and her writing is so good she is known the world over among fic readers. However things are changing. She and her twin sister Wren are off to college and unlike Cath, Wren is no longer interested in the enclosed fan life she used to lead or the sister she once was so close to. Wren wants space. So while Cath struggles to adjust, dealing with a scary roommate and said roommates always there, always happy boyfriend, Wren is out getting drunk. Worst yet, the Simon Snow series is coming to an end, the last book due out at the end of the year. Can Cath survive college until then? And if she does, what about life after Simon Snow?

In this poignant and wittily told novel, Rowell builds the perfect modern day coming of age story. Because though there has been every type of reclusive geek meets world version of this scenario since it became a popular story trope, the online world and it's prevalence in today's culture is one that is largely ignored. After all, what could be interesting about the reclusive and anxiety ridden night blogger/ fanfiction writer. What's more, fanfiction is such a touchy subject in the writing world. In most cases many literaries have problems accepting genre fiction, let alone unpublished fan work posted on the internet. The fact that fanfiction also has a bad rap because of numerous badly written renditions of stories overly loaded with sex doesn't help the case either. And that's where this novel comes in and creates a beautiful thing. Rowell writes a story in which you get to see that world, the online one, how enticing and magical it can be, as well as how easy it is to lose touch with reality when given the chance to chose. Another wonderful thing this story does is highlight how amazing fanfiction can be. It is not a useless past time or a place to vent out horribly written smut. It is story telling. It is, yes taking, an already established idea or world or set of characters, and building it into something new and unique. It is not a waste or wrong. It is creative expression and that is how Rowell shows it through Cath.

Now as I think you can surmise, I already have a lot of opinions on this subject and I have written about it before. So if you want to hear more about what I have to say on this subject, you can find those writings here and here.

Now, interpretation of the fanfiction world aside, I loved this book. It had great character and plot. I never got bored even when the characters were doing mundane things, which is a lot of the time considering how long the book is. I got very emotionally involved. Here again is yet another example of writing that does it right. You aren't just reading it, you're feeling it. It is a very identifiable story for anyone who has gone away to college and had a hard time fitting in, who has felt what it's like to grow apart from friends and family and not know how to fix it. It is a book that any type of fan can catch onto, especially the generation who grew up loving Harry Potter. I don't think I'd be too far from the truth if I surmised that the Simon Snow books elaborated on in this novel was a mimicry of the Harry Potter sensation that swept the world. Another subject that is addressed is anxiety. The novel is an amazing characterization of Cath and the anxiety that she deals with. It isn't overdone, it's real. I live with anxiety and I also have a best friend who struggles with it even more than I can ever fathom, so I can say that this is a very realistic painting of what it is like to live with it.

There are a lot of  hard subjects tackled in this book and they are all approached with grace and executed fantastically. This is a novel well worth reading. I plan to look into other books the author has written simply because I was so blown away with this one.

So all in all I give it a high recommend. It was a fun read and a touching story that staid fresh from beginning to end. And don't let the length scare you. It is a big hunk of book, but I zoomed through it in a day or two.

The Actor and the Housewife by Shannon Hale

Mormon housewife Becky Jack has been lucky a lot in her life. She has a happy loving family, a husband she can't get enough of even after years and years of marriage, and three beautiful children and another on the way. But when she meets her number one heart throb actor, Felix Callahan, while selling her first screenplay (a fluke event in itself), she has to wonder where the line between coincidence and fate is drawn, and not for the reasons anyone would think.

This isn't a story documenting how good wife  Becky leaves her husband for a debonair actor, this isn't about love at first sight followed by affairs and angst. They meet and the most unexpected thing happens: they become friends, best friends. This friendship sets Becky out on a path she never imagined and defines her life in new ways, both good and not so good. Told in the witty and absolutely hysterical voice of Becky a she tries to find her way in a world that says women and men can't just be friends, it is a story of love and friendship and how it makes us who we are.

I would like to state first of all that I absolutely loved this book. I loved it from a writer's point of view and on a personal level. This story resonated with me particularly because I have very strong and important relationships with people I consider to be my best friends. One of these people is a man. The way I feel about my best friend  is simple: I love him completely and totally platonically (yes this is a word, I made it up just now). I understand exactly what it feels like to be in the position that Becky finds herself in. I think it is absolutely possible to have a significant other who is the light of your life, but also have a friend who is an integral part of your survival as well. Love doesn't see gender, race, age, or the number of other things that make us unique. When you click with someone, you just click. And it doesn't mean you have to sleep with them either, So I guess you could say I brought a lot of my own baggage and opinions to my reflection of how much I liked this story, but there it is.

Besides this, I think the novel was amazingly well written. Dialogue and narration flowed flawlessly, making even the normal and more mundane happenings in the novel funny and arresting, It was not a short book by any means, but I read it in a few days, hardly able to tear my eyes away. If not for work and the day to day responsibilities of being an "adult" I wouldn't have stopped. I didn't want to do anything other than read this book. It is also very poignantly written. I was laughing out loud all the way through and when it mattered most I was crying right along with the character. I think this is one of the most important and greatest gifts of storytelling: not just telling a story, but making the listener or reader feel it. I felt this story all the way to my bones. Also, in reflection oft he story's message, in some way I think it says something very important about out society and out skewed views of what is and is not okay when it comes to the tricky subjects of love and friendship

There wasn't a part of this book I didn't like. From beginning to end I was wowed. I highly recommend it to any and all readers, though I will warn that the main character's Mormon background is present because you are seeing this all from Becky's point of view. It is a big part of her life and therefore can't be ignored completely. If anyone is uncomfortable with the ideas of this religion, or reading a book with any kind of religious reference, they might not want to read this book. However I feel like there is a big difference between a book that describes and observes the goings on and lifestyle of a certain religious type, and a book that has religious overtones that try to persuade the reader to follow that doctrine. It can't be helped that we see what Becky feels, she is the main character! Personally I found the story refreshing in that I actually got to look into that community type of life and for once it wasn't being demonized as it so often is. In this story it is more a look into Becky's life and ways rather than a preaching for the religion. There is nothing I hate worse than an author trying to use their story to shove their own ideologies down my throat. This was not that kind of book. If anything I could admit that there could have been more information about the LDS church and I wouldn't have minded.

So all in all, if you have an open mind and are up for a really great story, this is an amazing book.

Inexcusable by Chris Lynch

Keir Sarafian is a good guy. At least that's what he believes of himself. But as the reader follows his first person narration leading up to a life altering event, it becomes clear that everything is not as he would like it to seem. He describes over and over again the things he finds 'inexcusable', but can never see that what he does is the most inexcusable thing of all.

Reading this YA book was like putting on a pair of drunk goggles and then trying to ride a unicycle in a straight line. Not to say it was badly written or that I couldn't get through the book. Quite the contrary I finished it in a day or two, partly due to shortness. However, reading this story through the delusional and under the influence haze that the main character lives in is exceedingly difficult. I felt like I was trying to get a handle on characters and plot with a layer of thick fog over my eyes and three layers of cotton balls in my ears. I kept getting a headache from reading it simply because of how purposely thick this person was. By the end of this book I felt like I'd glimpsed into the mind of a psychopath. For someone to really not understand that they have done a truly heinous thing was pretty disturbing and sickening. On the other hand it was also kind of eye opening in seeing how warped society can be in excusing people for their wrongdoings and letting them go on believing that what they do is okay.

I think the topic was relevant and carries a good cautionary message. However I didn't really like the book itself. Keir drove me up the wall, the choppy back and forth between flashback and present action was disorienting and distracting, the ending was kind of anti-climatic, and to be honest I have never been a fan of stream of consciousness narration, which this pretty much is. As a novel it has a decent amount of acclaim and authors I really like have recommended it, but I can't really say the same. I was hoping this would be a really great novel that I could get into but I'm left feeling disappointed and unsettled.

Midnight in Austenland by Shannon Hale

Charlotte Kinder is a good woman. She is kind. She is dependable and hard working. When her husband leaves her she puts up very little fuss and just let's her emotions turn numb. After all that does make it easier when she thinks about her ex's new wife Justice. But suddenly she fears that she will never feel anything at all. What was the last thing that made her feel anything? Not the blind dates her friends and co-workers keep shoving her into, that's for sure. Now that she thinks about it the last good feeling she can remember comes from reading Jane Austen's books as it happens. So she goes in search of more of this feeling and finds herself on her way to Pembrook Park, England, and a full immersion into the world of Austen. Soon her heart is beating, and thrills are running through her. But is it from the actors paid to faun upon her? Or a dangerous secret lurking somewhere through the park, nesting in secret rooms. Who can Charlotte trust in a world of make-believe? Is she so caught up in things she can't tell fiction from reality, or will she rise up to be the Austen heroine she always wanted to be?

This novel is a somewhat sequel to Hale's previous book Austenland, somewhat being that it had reoccurring characters from the first and continues to take place at Pembrook Park. Other than that it is pretty unique with a brand new main character and a new story of intrigue.

I really liked this novel and sped through it. Again I was enchanted by Hale's writing style and her character's narration. It was really a hoot to read and I found myself giggling throughout. The story was also interesting with much more action than the first and a whole new set of interesting quirks to explore. I really liked this because though Hale is revisiting a world she has already led the reader through, she doesn't try to tell the same story. She is mindful that we as the reader know what's going on here and therefore dips in and changes things up in a way I might not have expected but thoroughly enjoyed. Charlotte as a narrator is fresh and very different from the previous narrator Jane. I found that I really liked Charlotte more and it lent me more interested in the story. Charlotte has spunk, and though she struggles with finding and accepting this part of herself, she gets there eventually.

I wasn't as impressed with the romantic plot in this one. It wasn't uninteresting and I definitely didn't find it a chore to get through. However I was more impressed with the female camaraderie in this story. I felt like I was seeing the friendship that was alluded to in the movie Austenland turning up here rather than in the book the film was based off. Charlotte and Miss Charming really hit it off and there is some definite friendship between them. It was refreshing and fun to learn more about Miss Charming and I liked seeing more of her in the story.

All in all I'd say this is another great Shannon Hale story and highly recommend it to any Austen fans.

Austenland by Shannon Hale

          

VS

                             


Jane Hayes has a secret. To the world she is a moderately successful graphic designer, she has her fair share of dates, and she lives a content if quiet life. But behind closed doors she is a hopeless addict, and her poison is none other than Jane Austen. Nothing in real life can measure up to Mr. Darcy or the idyllic romance born of the shades of Pemberley. So when she suddenly finds herself in possession of a fully paid trip to a real live Austen themed vacation in England, Jane feels this might be just the thing she was looking for. Here is her chance to finally get over her ridiculous infatuation with her fantasy Austen world. So she dives in to the Regency era, ready to get all the nonsense out of her system and move on with her life. But when the lines between the act and real life begin to blur, Jane realizes she might be getting more than she bargained for.

I'm just going to lay it out first of all that this is going to be a book/movie review. I watched the movie and was absolutely enchanted with it. So when I discovered it was also a book I naturally made it my next goal in life to read it as soon as possible.

Of course as it always happens, film and written versions of a story both give a much different story experience. In this case I loved both of them, though for different reasons each way.

Watching the movie was so much fun. It didn't remotely try to take itself seriously and it seamlessly made fun of Austen fanatics while also paying a sort of homage to them. On top of this it had just the right amount of rom com to leave me with warm fuzzies but not an over-sugary taste in my mouth. To say I was enamored of the movie wouldn't be to far from the truth, and I'm not ashamed to admit that my own Austen fanaticism, lying dormant for some time, crept back and has now taken over my life again, at least until the next thing that tickles my fancy.

The book is a short fast read. I read it in about 6 or 7 hours. I really loved Hale's narration and writing style. though I didn't find the book as comedic as the movie, the voice of Jane Hayes was a hoot. It cought be from the very first page and I found that while book!Jane was pretty different from movie!Jane, they both had their merit.

The book and its Jane were much more serious than the movie. I was actually somewhat surprised. by it, though it didn't by any means diminish how good the story was. Book!Jane is ashamed of Her Austen obsession, and the reader eventually gets the feel that she is ashamed of how she has lead her own life up to this point. The added seriousness in the book gives Jane more depth as a character. The arguments that happen within her were pretty on point and identifiable. Each time Jane has that moment of clarity and pulls her head out of the Austen mist the reader gets the same dose of reality. I feel Hale definitely did this on purpose, making the reader step back and see the uncomfortable reality the same way her character was. Just as Jane can't fully immerse herself in Austenland, the reader is not allowed to forget that they are reading some perfect historical fantasy but an 18th century world awkwardly forced into the 21st.

In the movie however, Jane is much more comfortable with her obsession. Her fanaticism is overemphasized to the point of hilarity. She is awkward fangirl with no shame over her love of everything Jane Austen. This is shown in everything from her house decorated from top to bottom complete with full sized Colin Firth cardboard cut-out, the montage showing her obsession fro adolescence to adulthood, and then the fact that she initiates the vacation herself out of interest rather than it being a gift she reluctantly accepts as was the case in the book. The fact that she dresses up in a homemade regency dress and goes through the airport like that speaks for this. Some can call it weird, but that is a fearless fangirl. As an unabashedly obsessed fangirl myself, I actually connected more with movie!Jane than book!Jane. I saw myself in her silly obsessive self, as well in her brave jump into her favorite fantasy. Because I have to say, fan that I am, I would actually love to do something like what she does in this movie and I am not at all ashamed to admit it.

One thing I really missed that was in the movie but not in the books was the friendship of movie!Charming and movie!Jane. In the movie, Miss Charming as not only a form of comedic relief, but a real representative of a female friendship. The viewer got a sense of camaraderie and a 'we're in this together' feeling that really brought the words from the book to life on screen in a way that the written counterpart just didn't achieve. I really liked this friendship between them, because though this is supposed to be a romantic comedy, it doesn't end up being just about men. There was some very real feelings of friendship and connection between these two women who have been thrown together in this strange world.

You do get this very slightly in the book with Amelia and Jane, but this is only at the very end when the facade is over, and therefore doesn't really count as much in my opinion.

Overall, despite having a few repetitive descriptive mechanisms, I really liked the book and highly recommend it to any Jane Austen fan. I also highly HIGHLY recommend the movie, though I will warn that you might not like it as much if you can't sit back and have a little laugh at yourself. If you can it is great to watch and just have a little fun with