Review: Nightspell by Leah Cypess

Here be ghosts, the maps said, and that was all. In this haunted kingdom, ghosts linger—not just in the deepest forests or the darkest caverns, but alongside the living, as part of a twisted palace court that revels all night and sleeps through the daylight hours. Darri’s sister was trapped in this place of fear and shadows as a child. And now Darri has a chance to save her sister... if she agrees to a betrothal with the prince of the dead. But nothing is simple in this eerie kingdom—not her sister, who has changed beyond recognition; not her plan, which will be thrown off track almost at once; and not the undead prince, who seems more alive than anyone else. In a court seething with the desire for vengeance, Darri holds the key to the balance between life and death. Can her warrior heart withstand the most wrenching choice of all? (Good Reads)

I picked up Nightspell by Leah Cypess 1. Because it had a pretty cover; 2. It was available for immediate download--it was late, I had a free moment, and needed something to read (I am SUCH the intellectual when it comes to book choices). I liked this book, but was surprised that so much of it was about the politicking of the royal court of Ghostland. Since everyone lives forever as ghosts, there are lots of layers of intrigue and relationships that shape the story.  The action parts were the best part, but I was intrigued AND repulsed by the politics of this world, which I think is exactly what Cypess wants.

Originality: 8. A country of ghosts is not something you see everyday. The hint of the smell of decay behind perfume, the attempts to pretend life still exists were creepy and made Ghostland exotic in a way that drew you in.

Absurdity: 2. This was a bit creepy, but I did not find it ridiculous at all.  It is fantasy, you just need to roll with it. I find I more willingly accept fantasy books than the “wake up one day and realize there is a paranormal world out there and you are crucially important to it” story line.

Level of Paranormal Romance: 3. The big story here is not really about Prince Kestin and Darri (although the prince is a rather well-drawn character, he has his flaws but is kind and has definitely learned from past mistakes in love. This is important since that past love literally haunts him. Since it is a country of ghosts. Ouch). The rather small potential for romance is not as important as Darri’s relationship with her sister.

Level of Harry-Potter-ness: 6. The world-building here is detailed and atmospheric. And the ending? Surprisingly bittersweet. 

If you want a book that functions as a stand-alone, check this one out. I would have liked to spend more time in this world.

Waiting on Wednesday: Romeo Redeemed by Stacey Jay

Cursed to live out eternity in his rotted corpse, Romeo, known for his ruthless, cutthroat ways, is given the chance to redeem himself by traveling back in time to save the life of Ariel Dragland. Unbeknownst to her, Ariel is important to both the evil Mercenaries and the love-promoting Ambassadors and holds the fate of the world in her hands. Romeo must win her heart and make her believe in love, turning her away from her darker potential before his work is discovered by the Mercenaries. While his seduction begins as yet another lie, it soon becomes his only truth. Romeo vows to protect Ariel from harm, and do whatever it takes to win her heart and soul. But when Ariel is led to believe his love is a deception, she becomes vulnerable to Mercenary manipulation, and her own inner darkness may ultimately rip them apart. (Good Reads)

THE SHAME

This is a "seriously embarrassing cover" edition of Waiting on Wednesday here at YAF and WS. WoW is a great weekly post hosted by Breaking the Spine, where we share what books are at the top of our to read lists. This week I am waiting on Romeo Redeemed, the sequel to Juliet Immortal by Stacey Jay. In Juliet Immortal we find out that the most tragic love story ever told is a lie--  Juliet Capulet didn't take her own life. She was murdered by the person she trusted most, her new husband, Romeo Montague, a sacrifice made to ensure his own immortality. For the following 700 years, she fought Romeo to save the souls of true lovers. (and I mean FIGHT. Like fisticuffs everywhere. Butt-kicking Juliet, I liked you!).  This sequel follows Romeo and his last efforts to lift the curse he brought upon himself by betraying Juliet all those years ago.

BUT WHY DOES THE COVER HAVE TO LOOK LIKE THIS!?! It is a teeny-bopper version of From Here to Eternity. I will ONLY read this on my Nook.

At least they are in swimsuits. That is a better idea.

Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten Books To Be Made Into Movies

LOOK AT THAT AWESOME OUTFIT

Hello, hello! Happy May! Today's post is a Top Ten Tuesday. Hosted by the Broke and the Bookish, this list-mania meme is dedicated this week to the top ten books we would love to see be made into movies. Here it goes!

1 and 2:  I have been cool with Sci-Fi YA since Zenon (Anybody?) so I would love to see Cinder by Marissa Meyer and The Rowan by Ann McCaffery!  It has been 20 years people, lets get The Rowan on the big screen. ( this and Zenon together made Sci-Fi a big thing for me and Crazy Camper).
 
3. The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern. This is an obvious one. This book is dying to become a movie, its so visual.

4. The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater. (review!) The vistas of Ireland alone would be worth it! SWOON.

5. "Goblin Fruit," a short story in Lips Touch: Three Times by Laini Taylor. You would need to flesh the story out more, but Taylor has all kind of cool tricks in  Daughter of Smoke and Bone. I am sure this is possible: In Victorian times, goblin men had only to offer young girls sumptuous fruits to tempt them to sell their souls. But what does it take to tempt today's savvy girls?


6. His Dark Materials trilogy by Phillip Pulman. That movie was mostly AWFUL( I reserve the little bit not awful for Daniel Craig). Lets pretend it never happened and make these into movies again!

7. The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau Banks by E. Lockhart.  I am only halfway through this book, but who doesn't love a good caper flick? And I love that she is always two steps ahead of the boys.

8. Sunshine by Robin McKinley. Vampires that DON'T sparkle (they are creepy and gray-ish) in a post-apocalyptic magical world for the win! Things blow up, too. So this would be a vampire action movie.

And a book I would worry about being made into a movie: 

9.  The Fault in Our Stars by John Green Now, I loooovvve this book. But so much of what makes Hazel awesome is how she is so much more than her illness, but also is who she is because of the awareness being sick has given her. What if that didn't translate!?! Plus I don't know if my emotions could make it. I might cry myself into a puddle.

Flew away in a huff

I worry what my lamp would think of some of my reading...

source: this isn't happiness

1000 + pages of YA

I just picked up two books that I feel like I MUST start reading.... because Froi of the Exiles by Melina Marchetta is 593 pages! Holy reading, Batman! (Froi is the sequel to Finnikin of the Rock, which I recently reviewed). Not to mention Partials by Dan Wells just arrived for my Nook as well. I feel as if I will be hazing myself this week in a race against due dates.  Here goes a week of dystopian and fantasy reading.

  

Good thing today is gorgeous here in NYC- I see some outdoor reading in my future!! What are you reading this week?

Review: Darkness Becomes Her by Kelly Keaton

Darkness Becomes Her by Kelly Keaton:  This started out great, but things got a bit cra-cra.


Ari can’t help feeling lost and alone. With teal eyes and freakish silver hair that can’t be changed or destroyed, Ari has always stood out. And after growing up in foster care, she longs for some understanding of where she came from and who she is. Her search for answers uncovers just one message from her long dead mother: Run. Ari can sense that someone, or something, is getting closer than they should. But it’s impossible to protect herself when she doesn’t know what she’s running from or why she is being pursued.  She knows only one thing: she must return to her birthplace of New 2, the lush rebuilt city of New Orleans. Upon arriving, she discovers that New 2 is very...different. Here, Ari is seemingly normal. But every creature she encounters, no matter how deadly or horrifying, is afraid of her.  Ari won’t stop until she knows why. But some truths are too haunting, too terrifying, to ever be revealed. (GR)

• Originality: 6. The originality of the New 2 was the best part of this book. The creole and southern Gothic works well- swamps and dripping Spanish Moss make a creepy setting for the voodoo magic feel. Decaying New 2 manages to be elegant but also post- apocalyptic. BUT Ari is also an exotically pretty girl who finds out that she has supernatural powers and is the key to saving the world. That part of this story gets a 2--standard for YA paranormal.
• Absurdity:  9. HIGH for the mixing of post-hurricane decayed America, the voodoo-magic-vampires-shapeshifter-Greek mythology. Do too many paranormal flavors spoil the plot-pot? This book teeters on that brink for me.
• Level of Paranormal Romance: Ugh let me tell you how disappointed I was in this. I was intrigued by the setup and Ari as she discovered New 2. She arrives, meets this guy Sebastian, who lives with a bunch of misfit (and probs paranormal) kids in a decaying mansion. He is rude. and plays the drums loudly. Then some unwelcome guests stop by and he is kind of snarky as Ari lays some smack down and beats people up. Soon thereafter Ari sees him hypnotize two women with caresses and then he corners her in a freakin' MORGUE (true, he tells her he wants to help her, but morgues are NOT safe-feeling). He then introduces her to  a voodoo priest. Ari has a terrible headache vision because of said voodoo encounter........and then wakes up in his lap and makes out with Sebastian!! WHAT THE WHAT? Ari, I had higher hopes for you. This was ridiculous, I can't deal. Let's move on.
• Level of Harry-Potter-ness: 4. I dug the creepy atmosphere of ruined New Orleans and the mystery around Ari's mom's death, but things went off the rails as we found out why Ari is being hunted. It's a blender of paranormal, and I cannot take all the aspects seriously the way they are mixed. 

Will I read the sequel A Beautiful Evil? Yes. Will I judge myself a bit? Yes. You can, too. But it is ok because I need to find out more about Violet, the creepy/adorable little kid who has a white pet alligator, fangs (seriously) and loves Mardi Gras masks. SHE IS COOL.

Waiting on Wednesday: Meant to Be by Lauren Morrill

Waiting on Wednesday is here! Yaaaaaaay. (Although I seriously wish it was Friday).  WoW is hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine, and every week a huge group of book bloggers share what books they just can't wait to get their hands on. This week my pick reflects my growing acceptance of contemporary YA fiction, something I NEVER would have thought I liked before we started YAF and WS. But I no longer sniff disdainfully at it! How could you not love the sound of Meant to Be by Lauren Morrill!?!?

Meant to be or not meant to be . . . that is the question. 

It's one thing to fall head over heels into a puddle of hazelnut coffee, and quite another to fall for the—gasp—wrong guy. Straight-A junior Julia may be accident prone, but she's queen of following rules and being prepared. That's why she keeps a pencil sharpener in her purse and a pocket Shakespeare in her, well, pocket. And that's also why she's chosen Mark Bixford, her childhood crush, as her MTB ("meant to be").


But this spring break, Julia's rules are about to get defenestrated (SAT word: to be thrown from a window) when she's partnered with her personal nemesis, class-clown Jason, on a school trip to London. After one wild party, Julia starts receiving romantic texts . . . from an unknown number! Jason promises to help discover the identity of her mysterious new suitor if she agrees to break a few rules along the way. And thus begins a wild goose chase through London, leading Julia closer and closer to the biggest surprise of all: true love.

Because sometimes the things you least expect are the most meant to be (Good Reads).


This book sounds quirky and pretty great. Pocket Shakespeares (It seems I have a thing for books playing with Shakespeare plays)! Gasps! I like the tone already. Not to mention it reminds me of a couple Meg Ryan movies, so I am clearly envisioning a London-set, teenage You've Got Mail. YES! Share your WoW!

Top Ten Tuesday: "Top Ten All Time Favorite Characters In Books"

Today's Top Ten Tuesday is entitled "Top Ten All Time Favorite Characters In Books." Hosted by the Broke and the Bookish TTT is a weekly feature dedicated to book-list-mania.  I found this top ten hard to do--recent characters I read and liked, but had not necessarily upgraded to love status, crowded for attention. Sheesh (made-up) people, get in line! Not to mention I tend to love supporting characters best. I didn't realize it until I made this list! Without further ado, characters we love fall into these categories:

Ridiculousness Incarnate 

1. Peasebottom, Cobweb, Moth, and Mustardseed from the Theatre Illuminate series by Lisa Mantchev. I dare you to resist them! For example, this is such a funny play on famous first lines (as the first lines of Perchance to Dream, the second book in the series).  Ridiculous AND smart at once!

 “It is a truth universally acknowledged,” Mustardseed said, flying in lazy loops like an intoxicated bumblebee, “that a fairy in possession of a good appetite must be in want of a pie.” “Yes, indeed,” Cobweb said over the rattle of the caravan, “though I awoke one morning from uneasy dreams, I found myself transformed in my bed into a gigantic pie.” “It was the best of pie, it was the worst of pie,” was Moth’s contribution."

Exuberant characters!! Exclamation point!!

2. Eldric from Chime by Franny Billingsley. McDREAMY with an excellent vocabulary and a vivid imagination. (my review!)

3. Augustus Waters from The Fault In Our Stars by John Green.

“When surprised and excited and innocent Gus emerged from Grand Gesture Metaphorically Inclined Augustus, I literally could not resist.” --ME EITHER. Augustus loves life and I love him. He is my new favorite (made-up) person.

4. Joe Fontaine from The Sky is Everywhere by Jandy Nelson. (my review!)

 “The guy is life drunk, I think, makes Candide look like a sourpuss.”

Spunky Heroines 
5. Alanna of Trebond from the Song of the Lioness books by Tamora Pierce. We talk about these books a lot. Alanna is the original gusty heroine in the reading lives of Crazy Camper and Grad Student. When my roommate ran in (last month) and said “did you ever read those books about the girl with purple eyes?” I KNEW EXACTLY what she meant. We love her still.

6. Hermione Granger from J.K. Rowling's HP. Smart and Sassy. What is not to like? Points to Crazy Camper for adding to the list.

7. Puck from The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater. She loves being terrible! But is really awesome. (my review!)

8. Sookie Stackhouse from the Southern Vampire series by Charlaine Harris. Sassy and southern. YES. This was Crazy Camper's second excellent addition. I think it says something that 12 books in we still get a kick out of Sookie.

Review: Hallowed by Cynthia Hand

For months part-angel Clara Gardner trained to face the raging forest fire from her visions and rescue the alluring and mysterious Christian Prescott from the blaze. But nothing could prepare her for the fateful decisions she would be forced to make that day, or the startling revelation that her purpose—the task she was put on earth to accomplish—is not as straightforward as she thought. Now, torn between her increasingly complicated feelings for Christian and her love for her boyfriend, Tucker, Clara struggles to make sense of what she was supposed to do the day of the fire. And, as she is drawn further into the world of part angels and the growing conflict between White Wings and Black Wings, Clara learns of the terrifying new reality that she must face: Someone close to her will die in a matter of months. With her future uncertain, the only thing Clara knows for sure is that the fire was just the beginning (Good Reads)

I was surprised by how much I enjoyed Hallowed by Cynthia Hand, the sequel to Unearthly.  But I was not prepared for how SAD it would be, and what a nice meditation about family and love and letting go it was.  

Originality: 3. Angels and demi-angels and the underworld revolting is everywhere in YA land right now. But points for being in the mountains, I guess.

Absurdity: 8. I mean, they have WINGS and FLY.

Level of Paranormal Romance: 6. Christian, stop angel-stalking my girl Clara. Because you are angsty, angel-y, and boring.  On the other hand, Tucker. Oh Tucker, you are cute and country and adorable. As is your relationship: “Your hair smells like wind, did you know that?"  Yep, me and Tucker, smelling each other.”  I literally snorted out loud when then Tucker’s dad walked in on the wrong situation. HA. Being able to fly to your boyfriend’s bedroom makes a whole lot of trouble.

Level of Harry Potter-ness: 5. This book is not fine literature, but it does have its lyrical moments. Most of what I like about it is how sarcastic the writing is (which is Clara’s point of view). I love how self-conscious and funny Hand is about the tropes of YA lit:

“I sneaked out to his house a couple times in the middle of the night to watch over him while he slept, just in case, I don’t know, his comic book collection decided to spontaneously combust. This was dumb and admittedly creepy in an Edward Cullen kind of way.” 

“Before I moved here, I never got the whole love-triangle thing. You know, in movies or romance novels or whatnot, where there’s one chick that all the guys are drooling over, even though you can’t see anything particularly special about her. But oh, no, they both must have her. And she’s like, oh dear, however will I choose? William is so sensitive, he understands me, he swept me off my feet, oh misery, blubber, blubber, but how can I go on living without Rafe and his devil-may-care ways and his dark and only-a-little-abusive love? Upchuck.” 

And now they will go off to college, which makes me feel a bit more justified in reading these, since I am not THAT far out of college. Success!

Review: Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs

This video teaser created in part by Ransom Riggs sums up Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children better than I ever could:

 

1.     Originality – 9.  This book just kept taking sharp turns, and while set in a relatively normal premise, things quickly unravel into a world of ghosts, time warps and loops and seriously bad bad guys. I was on my own and right spooked at points in this book. And the photos? I couldn’t even look at them at night. I was sleeping with the light on a few times and the next day work productivity suffered immensely.  Sorry Company.

2.     Absurdity – 5. Absurd, but in a pretty normal way if that makes sense.   I found the most absurd to be the Level of Paranormal Romance (see LoPR Section following).  I think the second most absurd thing are the main character's parents and their minor roles in the story- who would really let their child who they think is having a mental breakdown wander around an island alone?  They have obviously never seen any episode of LOST otherwise they would have stayed in groups. At all times. 

3.     Level of Paranormal Romance – 3.  A weird three.  There may be a ghost who falls in love with the main character who was once in love with his grandfather who he resembles… I just think that we could have left the teenage angst out of this one, because the rest of it WAS SO GOOD.  Let us just run amok in time and place and fight scary bad guys and call it a day.

4.     Level of Harry Potter-ness – 2.  No magic in this, and though there is a school for special children, these are not like Hogwarts kids.  Freaky is the theme here and while Harry had his freaky aspects, Miss Peregrine's kids woul destroy Hufflepuff in a Feak-Off.


This book is incredibly unique, had me on the EDGE of my seat/bed, and made me feel like a scared kid at times as I tried to figure out who were the good guys.  And since Grad Student told me the author is buddies with John Green, I can't lie, I would like them both to come over to my apartment for a drink, some olives and cheese,  and perhaps a game of Pictionary.