Tag Archives: rating: 2 stars

Book Review: Fang Girl by Helen Keeble

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fang girlInfo:
Title: Fang Girl
Author: Helen Keeble
Release Date: September 11, 2012
Publisher: HarperTeen
Source: Library
Series? No
Genre: YA, Humor, Paranormal
Page Count: 342
Rating: [2/5 stars]

Summary:

Things That Are Destroying Jane Greene’s Undead Social Life Before It Can Even Begin:

1) A twelve-year-old brother who’s convinced she’s a zombie.
2) Parents who are begging her to turn them into vampires.
3) The pet goldfish she accidentally turns instead.
4) Weird superpowers that let her rip the heads off of every other vampire she meets.(Sounds cool, but it doesn’t win you many friends.)
5) A psychotic vampire creator who’s using her to carry out a plan for world domination.

And finally:
6) A seriously ripped vampire hunter who either wants to stake her or make out with her. Not sure which.

Being an undead, eternally pasty fifteen-year-old isn’t quite the sexy, brooding, angst-fest Jane always imagined…. (summary from goodreads)

My Thoughts:
I wanted to like FANG GIRL. It’s supposed to be a parody and mishmash of vampire books and trends, but an overly complicated story bogs down the humor. Although the book is a fast read, I kept having to flip back to try and figure out what was going on.

Some of the pluses:
♥ Jane’s family is actually in the book and plays an important role. A nice change from the trend of neglectful/absent parents that’s common in YA.
♥ Jane’s mom makes a vampire goldfish, which was good for a few laughs.
♥ The author gave her vampires OCD traits. Need to get a vampire off your butt in a fight? Throw a handful of paper clips at them. The vampire won’t fight until they’ve picked up every single paper clip. The OCDness gets worse the older the vampire is.

Some of the minuses:
– Lily. I never figured out what was up with her, and I wanted to. As Jane’s sire, she was one of the most interesting characters to me.
– Ebon. This boy lied so many times that I have no idea what the truth is.
– The story was just too fast, with too much packed into it. A few days after finishing FANG GIRL, I vaguely remember it.

Socialize with the author:
Helen Keeble:
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– leeanna

Book Review: Dance of Shadows by Yelena Black

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dance of shadowsInfo:
Title: Dance of Shadows
Author: Yelena Black
Release Date: February 12, 2013
Publisher: Bloomsbury USA Children’s Books
Source: Bloomsbury/NetGalley
Series? Dance of Shadows #1
Genre: YA, Paranormal
Page Count: 447
Rating: [2/5 stars]

Summary:

Dancing with someone is an act of trust. Elegant and intimate; you’re close enough to kiss, close enough to feel your partner’s heartbeat. But for Vanessa, dance is deadly – and she must be very careful who she trusts . . .

Vanessa Adler attends an elite ballet school – the same one her older sister, Margaret, attended before she disappeared. Vanessa feels she can never live up to her sister’s shining reputation. But Vanessa, with her glorious red hair and fair skin, has a kind of power when she dances – she loses herself in the music, breathes different air, and the world around her turns to flames . . .

Soon she attracts the attention of three men: gorgeous Zep, mysterious Justin, and the great, enigmatic choreographer Josef Zhalkovsky. When Josef asks Vanessa to dance the lead in the Firebird, she has little idea of the danger that lies ahead – and the burning forces about to be unleashed . . . (summary from goodreads)

My Review:
I had high hopes for DANCE OF SHADOWS. First, let’s talk about the cover. It’s eye-catching. It’s amazing. I could stare at it for minutes. And I thought the story sounded cool: ballet with paranormal elements? Count me in!

Unfortunately, DANCE OF SHADOWS wasn’t as good as I hoped it would be. I hoped it would take everything that was good about the movies Black Swan and Center Stage, and the book BUNHEADS by Sophie Flack, and make new magic. But even if I had gone into the book with ZERO expectations, I still would have been disappointed.

I had a difficult time writing this review. It’s taken me a few weeks, and even though I jotted down notes while reading, I’m still struggling to figure out what to say about DANCE OF SHADOWS.

To start off, the prologue confused me. Who the heck is Chloe, when the main character is Vanessa? And it practically gave away the story. Between the prologue and the last few chapters, the paranormal element was barely touched on. I wish that some of the unnecessary parts of the book had been edited down, so that the occult plotline could have been expanded upon.

The book started out okay. I think I read the first hundred or so pages without any huge issues, but then it started going downhill. Vanessa originally went to the New York Ballet Academy to find her sister, Margaret, who disappeared from the school three years ago. Yet, once she’s there, Vanessa barely thinks about finding Margaret. Instead, she falls head-over-heels in love with Zeppelin.

The relationship between Vanessa and Zep had me rolling my eyes a lot. It was insta-love of the worst variety, with barely any substance for their relationship. Vanessa thinks there’s no chance for them, because she’s a freshman and Zep is a senior, but all it takes is some staring at each other, and wham, Zep dumps his girlfriend for Vanessa. Sort of. They go on a date or two, and Vanessa cuts him so much slack it’s ridiculous. As a reader, you’re hit over the head with the SOMETHING IS WRONG HERE stick so many times, but Vanessa can’t see a damn thing.

There were so many glaring holes in this book. I can’t see how any school wouldn’t investigate dozens of disappearances. Or how the media wouldn’t make a big deal out of it, because the New York Ballet Academy is such a famous school. Or, when one of Vanessa’s new friends disappears, she doesn’t think to do one very simple thing to find her.

The premise of DANCE OF SHADOWS was fantastic. It’s what had me so excited to read and review the book. But the execution was just horrible. I almost hoped I could excuse the flaws, because the book would turn out to be a fun read, but it became tedious. The pacing in the middle was so slow and repetitive. I didn’t need to know what every character was wearing, or to read descriptions of Vanessa and Zep practicing over and over again. All of the repetition kept there from being enough book time to expand the paranormal element, as I said above. Vanessa’s mysterious ability of having the world fall away when she dances perfectly was one of the more interesting parts of the book, and that was the sort of thing I wanted to see more of, not Vanessa obsessing over a boy she barely knows.

There were some good elements in DANCE OF SHADOWS, but overall, this book was a miss.

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Yelena Black:
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– leeanna

Book Review: Magisterium by Jeff Hirsch

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magisterium-rInfo:
Title: Magisterium
Author: Jeff Hirsch
Release Date: October 1, 2012
Publisher: Scholastic Press
Source: Library
Series? Not that I can tell
Genre: YA, Science Fiction, Fantasy
Page Count: 310
Rating:

Summary:

On one side of the Rift is a technological paradise without famine or want. On the other side is a mystery.

Sixteen-year-old Glenn Morgan has lived next to the Rift her entire life and has no idea of what might be on the other side of it. Glenn’s only friend, Kevin, insists the fence holds back a world of monsters and witchcraft, but magic isn’t for Glenn. She has enough problems with reality: Glenn’s mother disappeared when she was six, and soon after, she lost her scientist father to his all-consuming work on the mysterious Project. Glenn buries herself in her studies and dreams about the day she can escape. But when her father’s work leads to his arrest, he gives Glenn a simple metal bracelet that will send Glenn and Kevin on the run—with only one place to go. (summary from goodreads)

My Review:
Magisterium is an intriguing combination of science fiction, fantasy, and dystopian/post-apocalyptic that while big on ideas, unfortunately fell short of the mark for me.

At first, I liked the main character, Glenn. I thought she would be a good inspiration for teen girls interested in science and math, and I loved that she didn’t want to be derailed by a romantic relationship. I could also relate to Glenn wanting to escape her father’s obsession, yet feeling sick about leaving him alone.

Magisterium has one of the best descriptions for science that I can remember reading:

“Ever since she was a little girl, Glenn loved science because it taught her to take new things and incorporate them seamlessly into what she already knew about the world. It was like adding a new room onto an ornate but ever more perfectly constructed house. In science, she learned, everything is connected and everything is explained (p. 73).”

But once the story got going, I was confused, sorta bored, and really tempted to start skimming. Glenn’s friend Kevin, the romantic interest, gets dragged into Magisterium with her. The bulk of the action happens to him, which makes me wonder why he wasn’t the main character instead of Glenn.

I figured out one of the big plot twists early on, so it didn’t have a lot of impact for me when it was finally revealed. I also stayed confused right to the end, and the ending baffled me. The opening for a sequel is definitely there, but I also don’t know where the author would take the story. Yet I had unanswered questions about basically everything, from the worldbuilding to the characters.

I up-rated because of the ideas in Magisterium. Unfortunately, I wish I’d found out a lot more about the Magisterium and the Colloquium. I had the feeling that the author had a lot more story to tell, but left most of it out.

Socialize with the author:
Jeff Hirsch:
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– leeanna

Book Review: Innocent Traitor: A Novel of Lady Jane Grey by Alison Weir

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innocent traitorInfo:
Title: Innocent Traitor: A Novel of Lady Jane Grey
Author: Alison Weir
Release Date: April 6, 2006
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Source: Purchased
Series? No
Genre: Historical Fiction
Page Count: 416
Rating:

Summary:

Historical expertise marries page-turning fiction in Alison Weir’s enthralling debut novel, breathing new life into one of the most significant and tumultuous periods of the English monarchy. It is the story of Lady Jane Grey–“the Nine Days’ Queen” –a fifteen-year-old girl who unwittingly finds herself at the center of the religious and civil unrest that nearly toppled the fabled House of Tudor during the sixteenth century.

The child of a scheming father and a ruthless mother, for whom she is merely a pawn in a dynastic game with the highest stakes, Jane Grey was born during the harrowingly turbulent period between Anne Boleyn’s beheading and the demise of Jane’s infamous great-uncle, King Henry VIII. With the premature passing of Jane’ s adolescent cousin, and Henry’s successor, King Edward VI, comes a struggle for supremacy fueled by political machinations and lethal religious fervor.

Unabashedly honest and exceptionally intelligent, Jane possesses a sound strength of character beyond her years that equips her to weather the vicious storm. And though she has no ambitions to rule, preferring to immerse herself in books and religious studies, she is forced to accept the crown, and by so doing sets off a firestorm of intrigue, betrayal, and tragedy.

Alison Weir uses her unmatched skills as a historian to enliven the many dynamic characters of this majestic drama. Along with Lady Jane Grey, Weir vividly renders her devious parents; her much-loved nanny; the benevolent Queen Katherine Parr; Jane’s ambitious cousins; the Catholic “Bloody” Mary, who will stop at nothing to seize the throne; and the protestant and future queen Elizabeth. Readers venture inside royal drawing rooms and bedchambers to witness the power-grabbing that swirls around Lady Jane Grey from the day of her birth to her unbearably poignant death. Innocent Traitor paints a complete and compelling portrait of this captivating young woman, a faithful servant of God whose short reign and brief life would make her a legend. (summary from goodreads)

My Review:
Alison Weir is one of my favorite biographers, so I was excited to read a fiction novel by her. In my opinion, her biographies read just as easily as historical fiction, with the added bonus of getting all the facts right.

Innocent Traitor is the story of Lady Jane Grey, the doomed queen who ruled England for nine days. She never wanted to be queen; the machinations of her parents and John Dudley, the Duke of Northumberland, put her there. Dudley, who controlled England while Edward VI was king, didn’t want to give up power.

It is very easy to make Jane out to be a tragic figure, and in reality, she is. Her parents were extremely harsh with her, especially her mother, who would slap and beat her at the slightest perceived misstep. Her parents were disappointed with her from birth, as they had wanted a son. Weir does a good job with showing the trapped position Jane was in — even though she was more educated than many girls of her time, she was still at the mercy of her parents, and had no real control over her own life.

The book is written in the first person point-of-view, with appearances from several characters. Sometimes I found it difficult to keep all the different voices separate, because there was no difference in their styles. There’s Jane; her mother, Frances Brandon; her nurse, Mrs Ellen; John Dudley; Katherine Parr, Henry VIII’s last wife; and several others.

I know that Weir is trying to tell Jane’s story from multiple views, so that the reader can get a better picture of everything, rather than if they just read from Jane’s viewpoint. But I think that sticking with first person for Jane, and maybe third person for the others might have been a better choice.

The book is a bit dry at times, but I think Weir does a good job of keeping up the suspense. You know the ultimate ending to Jane’s story — her beheading — but it’s still a shock when it comes. The section from Jane’s executioner at the end was one of my favorites.

I liked Innocent Traitor, but I wasn’t wowed by it. The book won’t be a reread for me, and I found that I prefer Weir’s biographies, but it was refreshing to read a historical fiction that was accurate.

I should also note that I did read this book twice, in December 2011 and December 2012. I enjoyed it less the second time.

Socialize with the author:
Alison Weir:
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– leeanna

Book Review: The Second Empress by Michelle Moran

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the second empressInfo:
Title: The Second Empress: A Novel of Napoleon’s Court
Author: Michelle Moran
Release Date: August 14, 2012
Publisher: Crown
Source: NetGalley
Series? No
Genre: Historical Fiction
Page Count: 312

Summary:

After the bloody French Revolution, Emperor Napoleon’s power is absolute. When Marie-Louise, the eighteen year old daughter of the King of Austria, is told that the Emperor has demanded her hand in marriage, her father presents her with a terrible choice: marry the cruel, capricious Napoleon, leaving the man she loves and her home forever, or say no, and plunge her country into war.

Marie-Louise knows what she must do, and she travels to France, determined to be a good wife despite Napoleon’s reputation. But lavish parties greet her in Paris, and at the extravagant French court, she finds many rivals for her husband’s affection, including Napoleon’s first wife, Joséphine, and his sister Pauline, the only woman as ambitious as the emperor himself. Beloved by some and infamous to many, Pauline is fiercely loyal to her brother. She is also convinced that Napoleon is destined to become the modern Pharaoh of Egypt. Indeed, her greatest hope is to rule alongside him as his queen—a brother-sister marriage just as the ancient Egyptian royals practiced. Determined to see this dream come to pass, Pauline embarks on a campaign to undermine the new empress and convince Napoleon to divorce Marie-Louise.

As Pauline’s insightful Haitian servant, Paul, watches these two women clash, he is torn between his love for Pauline and his sympathy for Marie-Louise. But there are greater concerns than Pauline’s jealousy plaguing the court of France. While Napoleon becomes increasingly desperate for an heir, the empire’s peace looks increasingly unstable. When war once again sweeps the continent and bloodshed threatens Marie-Louise’s family in Austria, the second Empress is forced to make choices that will determine her place in history—and change the course of her life.

Based on primary resources from the time, The Second Empress takes readers back to Napoleon’s empire, where royals and servants alike live at the whim of one man, and two women vie to change their destinies. (summary from goodreads)

My Review:
While I had heard of Michelle Moran years ago, The Second Empress is the first book of hers that I’ve read. It’s an easy read, and sort of addicting while you’re reading, but it’s too short and ultimately forgettable.

The Second Empress is the story of Marie-Louise, an archduchess forced to marry Napoleon Bonaparte to prevent war in Austria. The book is told from three viewpoints: Marie-Louise; Pauline, Napoleon’s sister; and Paul, Pauline’s manservant. The alternating viewpoints was both a plus and a minus for me. A plus because each character had a distinct personality, and a minus because I didn’t think Paul’s viewpoint was necessary.

Setting up the marriage between Napoleon and Marie-Louise takes up the bulk of the book, and then before you know it, years of their marriage have flown by with barely any notice. Looking back, I can’t remember much about the second half of the book.

The character I was most interested in was Pauline, not Marie-Louise. Moran’s writing shined in Pauline’s sections, because Pauline had a fascination with ancient Egypt. Compared to her, Marie-Louise was somewhat of a bland character. Add in Paul’s sections, which focused mainly on Pauline, and I think a book about Napoleon’s sister would have been better than one about his second wife.

The Second Empress needed to be longer. With so much time spent on the set up, the ending of the book is too rushed. I felt like things were just getting started, and bam, the book was over.

Rating: 2 owls

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Michelle Moran:
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– leeanna

Book Review: The Shadow Society by Marie Rutkoski

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the shadow societyInfo:
Title: The Shadow Society
Author: Marie Rutkoski
Release Date: October 16, 2012
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Source: Amazon Vine and Publisher via NetGalley
Series? No
Genre: YA, Paranormal, Romance, Urban Fantasy
Page Count: 416

Summary:

Darcy Jones doesn’t remember anything before the day she was abandoned as a child outside a Chicago firehouse. She has never really belonged anywhere—but she couldn’t have guessed that she comes from an alternate world where the Great Chicago Fire didn’t happen and deadly creatures called Shades terrorize the human population.

Memories begin to haunt Darcy when a new boy arrives at her high school, and he makes her feel both desire and desired in a way she hadn’t thought possible. But Conn’s interest in her is confusing. It doesn’t line up with the way he first looked at her.

As if she were his enemy.

When Conn betrays Darcy, she realizes that she can’t rely on anything—not herself, not the laws of nature, and certainly not him. Darcy decides to infiltrate the Shadow Society and uncover the Shades’ latest terrorist plot. What she finds out will change her world forever . . .

In this smart, compulsively readable novel, master storyteller Marie Rutkoski has crafted an utterly original world, characters you won’t soon forget, and a tale full of intrigue and suspense. (summary from goodreads)

My Review:
The best part about The Shadow Society is the shadows, or Shades, as they call themselves. Shades are beings that can “ghost” — in other words, become invisible and fly around. When in their shade forms, they do not get hungry or age, and they’re invisible except for shadows that few people can see.

Shades live in a different dimension, a version of Chicago that was created after the Great Chicago Fire of 1871. The only problem? The humans of that dimension *hate* Shades, and try to kill them. The feeling is mutual — Shades enjoy killing humans.

So that sounds pretty interesting, right? The Shadow Society has a different premise and beasties than other paranormal books, which is a plus right off the bat. However, it wasn’t a book I enjoyed. Well, scratch that — I liked the middle, but it was bookended by a boring beginning and an anticlimactic ending.

The tagline on the cover is great. “How can you find your place in the world if you don’t know what world you’re from?” It adequately sums up the dilemma of our main character, Darcy Jones, and identifies with the reader. I know I’ve sometimes wished I was from a different world, and I can’t be the only one.

Darcy is an orphan, abandoned outside of a Chicago firehouse as a five-year-old. She’s never felt like she really fits in, and there’s a good reason for that. Darcy is a Shade living in the Alter — the real Chicago. But Darcy doesn’t learn that until about a hundred pages into the book, which makes for a slow beginning. I almost put the book down a few times, because I didn’t feel like it was going anywhere.

In that beginning, Darcy’s foster mother, friends, and the love interest are introduced. The relationship between Darcy and Conn isn’t quite insta-love, and it was nice to see a relationship actually develop, instead of them instantly declaring their undying love for each other. But it was a slog to get through.

After an action-filled middle, which almost redeemed The Shadow Society for me, the ending disappointed me. Although I appreciated the nod to friendship, I found it impossible to believe that Darcy’s friends would have been able to find her in the alternate dimension. The climax is a snooze. It promises to be full of action, with humans and Shades in conflict, but it’s not. I was left wanting a lot more.

I believe The Shadow Society is a standalone book, which is awesome in a sea of trilogies. But I wish that some of the beginning had been edited out, and more attention paid to the last third of the book, to keep from everything wrapping up way too neatly at the end.

In conclusion, I will say that The Shadow Society just wasn’t the book for me. I’d recommend checking out an excerpt if you’re thinking about reading it.

Rating: 2 owls

Socialize with the author:
Marie Rutkoski:
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– leeanna

Review: Safekeeping by Karen Hesse

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safekeepingInfo:
Title: Safekeeping
Author: Karen Hesse
Release Date: September 18, 2012
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Source: Amazon Vine
Series? No
Genre: YA, Contemporary, Dystopia
Page Count: 304

Summary:

Radley just wants to get home to her parents in Vermont. While she was volunteering abroad, the American People’s Party took power; the new president was assassinated; and the government cracked down on citizens. Travel restrictions are worse than ever, and when her plane finally lands in New Hampshire, Radley’s parents aren’t there.

Exhausted; her phone dead; her credit cards worthless: Radley starts walking. (summary from goodreads)

My Review:
When I read the summary for Safekeeping, I thought it would be an action-packed, the world has ended, Radley is gonna kick some butt type of book.

Sadly, it isn’t.

Now, I’ve read a couple of Karen Hesse’s novels before, and one, Letters from Rifka, is a book I read over and over when I was younger. So perhaps I should have expected a more contemplative book, but I assumed Safekeeping would have lots of action, based on the summary. I hate when summaries give the wrong impression!

So what is Safekeeping about? It’s about Radley’s inner growth. There are some heavy handed messages in this book, such as the message that we don’t need stuff (possessions) and that we should take care of others. Even when she’s starving and lonely, Radley can’t help but think about orphans she helped in Haiti before returning to America. I had a hard time believing it.

Safekeeping includes 50 of the author’s own photographs, which I thought would be a neat addition to the text, as they are another way for Hesse to share her vision. But a lot of the time, the photographs didn’t go along with the vignette, and so I would be confused as to why there was a picture of a cow.

There’s just not a lot that happens in this book. Almost all of the action is offstage, and the worldbuilding is very sparse and unbelievable. If America descended into chaos — the prisons filled with malcontents, disease running rampant, the electricity going out, and the Internet shut off — I have a hard time believing that mere months after, the country would be back to normal.

The one thing I did like about Safekeeping is Radley’s realization that she needs to appreciate her parents more. Young adult fiction has a tradition of the absent or neglectful parent, so I was happy to see Radley miss her parents, as well as think of ways she could show them she loved them when she sees them again.

Rating: 2 owls

Socialize with the author:
Karen Hesse:
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– leeanna

Review: Keep Sweet by Michele Dominguez Greene

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keep sweetInfo:
Title: Keep Sweet
Author: Michele Dominguez Greene
Release Date: March 9, 2012
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Source: Library
Series? No
Genre: YA, Contemporary
Page Count: 215

Summary:

Alva Jane has never questioned her parents, never questioned her faith, never questioned her future. She is content with the strict rules that define her life in Pineridge, the walled community where she lives with her father, his seven wives, and her twenty-eight siblings. This is the only world Alva has ever known, and she has never thought to challenge it. But everything changes when Alva is caught giving her long-time crush an innocent first kiss. Beaten, scorned, and now facing a forced marriage to a violent, fifty-year-old man, Alva suddenly realizes how much she has to lose—and how impossible it will be to escape. (summary from amazon)

My Review:
I had a hard time deciding between 2 and 3 owls for Keep Sweet. I’ve read many similar stories, so the plot wasn’t new to me, and while I mostly enjoyed the book while reading, I kept having the feeling that it’s been done before, and done better. So I went with 2 owls.

As I’ve said, I’ve read a lot of similar books. For some reason, I find the FLDS community fascinating. Maybe it’s me wondering how something like it could still exist. I’m not sure. Anyway, I’ve read Escape by Carolyn Jessop, Stolen Innocence by Elissa Wall, and Church of Lies by Flora Jessop. I recommend all of those, all memoirs. On the fiction side, I’ve read The 19th Wife by David Ebershoff and Hidden Wives by Claire Avery. So, I have some experience in this “genre.”

My big problem is with Alva Jane, the main character. For a girl that never went to public school, and whose teacher was a thirteen-year-old school dropout, Alva Jane’s voice is way too mature. I could have believed her knowledge more if she’d had forbidden books or something, but at the start of Keep Sweet, Alva Jane is a perfect member of the community.

I also thought Alva Jane’s questioning her faith and beliefs came a bit too swiftly. Yes, I know she experiences some very violent events during the book, but when contrasted with her mother’s zeal, and Alva Jane wishing she was just like her, it felt off to me for her to change so quickly. Maybe if the book had been longer, and Alva Jane’s character had more room for development, it would have worked for me.

Along with the short length of the book, the ending is way too rushed. Keep Sweet moves very quickly from Point A to Point B to Point C.

However, there are some things in Keep Sweet that I liked. One is Brenda, an outsider joining the community, which you don’t often see. The conversations between Alva Jane and Brenda are a good way to see the differences between the Pineridge (fictional FLDS community) and modern life. Another thing is that the author wasn’t scared to hurt her characters. Alva Jane has some very bad things happen to her, which may make the book unsuitable for younger readers.

I’d recommend Keep Sweet only if you haven’t read other books based on the FLDS.

Rating: 2 owls

Socialize with the author:
Michele Dominguez Greene:
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– leeanna

Review: Lies, Knives, and Girls in Red Dresses by Ron Koertge

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lies, knives, and girls in red dressesInfo:
Title: Lies, Knives, and Girls in Red Dresses
Author: by Ron Koertge
Release Date: July 10, 2012
Publisher: Candlewick Press
Source: Library
Series? No
Genre: Young Adult, Fairytale Retelling, Fantasy
Page Count: 87

Summary:

Once upon a time, there was a strung-out match girl who sold CDs to stoners. Twelve impetuous sisters escaped King Daddy’s clutches to jiggle and cavort and wear out their shoes. A fickle Thumbelina searched for a tiny husband, leaving bodies in her wake. And Little Red Riding Hood confessed that she kind of wanted to know what it’s like to be swallowed whole. From bloodied and blinded stepsisters (they were duped) to a chopped-off finger flying into a heroine’s cleavage, this is fairy tale world turned upside down. Ron Koertge knows what really happened to all those wolves and maidens, ogres and orphans, kings and piglets, and he knows about the Ever After. So come closer
— he wants to whisper in your ear. (summary from goodreads)

My Review:
I’m big on fairytale retellings, and as soon as I saw the cover for Lies, Knives, and Girls in Red Dresses, I knew I had to read it.

The retellings are, as you can tell from the title and cover art, quite dark. But my favorite parts were actually the illustrations, not the stories themselves. Almost all of the tales are written in verse, and the book is short. Really short. There are 23 stories in 87 pages. I would have liked for the retellings to be longer, because I think they would have been more memorable and had more of a punch if they weren’t so short.

I’m not sure who the audience is. I don’t think the book will hold the interest of teens or adults, and though I enjoyed it while reading, now I’ve pretty much forgotten most of it. I tried to pick out at least one memorable one to mention, but I can’t remember any. However, the papercut silhouette illustrations are gorgeous, and worth a look. They definitely capture the mood of what the author was going for, more than the verses.

Rating: 2 owls

Socialize with the author:
Ron Koertge:
Website

– leeanna

Review: Poison Tree by Amelia Atwater-Rhodes

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poison treeInfo:
Title: Poison Tree
Author: Amelia Atwater-Rhodes
Release Date: July 10, 2012
Publisher: Random House Children’s Books
Source: Library
Series? Part of author’s overall work
Genre: YA, Paranormal
Page Count: 219

Summary:

The rich stew of the author’s creations—SingleEarth, vampires, shapeshifters, Tristes, the Bruja Guilds—are at full boil here in the story of two 20-ish young women trying to out run their very different pasts, and figure out where they fit in and who they might become. Each has landed in a more “normal” place, and each wonders if, like a tattoo that can’t be covered up, they can ever really fit into “normal.” (summary from goodreads)

My Review:
I’ve read several of Amelia Atwater-Rhodes’s books over the years, and I have the same complaint every time.

Her books are too short. Poison Tree is only 219 pages, but there’s enough story for at least 300 or 350. With such a short length, the book is very rushed. I always feel like I’m thrust into a story where I’m missing half the information. I kept flipping back and forth, trying to figure out if I had missed something, when characters referred to their past.

The author has a vivid imagination, and I know she could easily fill a longer book, and flesh out more of her world and characters. The two main characters in this book, Alysia and Sarik, intrigued me, but I wasn’t able to connect with them as much as I would have liked. There are also two interesting supporting characters, but again, their stories are way too condensed.

I know I’m harping on the length, but I would have gotten so much more out of Poison Tree if it had been longer. I liked the story. I liked the characters. I just wanted more.

Rating: 2 owls

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Amelia Atwater-Rhodes:
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