Review: The Immortal Rules by Julie Kagawa

Allison lives in the outermost circle of a walled-in city. Inside, humans are herded like cattle for vampires. Outside the walls live another blood-thirsty terror -- rabids. “Registered” humans give blood annually to vampires in exchange for food and clothing. Unregistered, like Allison, do not give their blood willing and are forced to scavenge. An unfortunate run-in on a scavenging raid forces Allison to become what she hates most.

The premise of The Immortal Rules caught my attention quickly and I enjoyed the overall storyline. Kagawa complicates the the zombie theme by introducing vampires into their origins. I enjoyed how the story unfolded, learning as Allison discovers how the vampire hierarchy has created a ruling elite across the country.

Allison is a survivor. She does what she must to live another day. She takes risks which lead to steep consequences. She also struggles to keep her new bloodlust in check so that she might protect herself and others. There is a seemingly doomed romance and plenty of action to keep teen readers turning pages.

Those who can’t get enough vampires stories will want to put The Immortal Rules on the their list. It is the first in a trilogy so get ready for an open ending. 

I'm really mixed on this book; I liked it but didn't love it. The action scenes were good, the vampire history and relationships interesting, the rabids fierce, the human nomads strangely rustic. But for me, the first person narration and obligatory-but-nothing-special romance detracted from an intriguing  premise. I’ve added the second book, The Eternity Cure, to my reading list but it may wait for some time.

Publisher: Harlequin Teens, 2012     Pages: 485

Rating: 3 Stars     Source: Public Library

Review: Deadlocked by Charlaine Harris

I discovered the Sookie Stackhouse series (Southern Vampire Mysteries) last fall and whizzed through 11 of the novels. They were pure fun to read and not my usual fare. I recall I was in "the curve" of the semester, where the newness had worn off, and I needed a mental snack break. The Sookie Stackhouse series was just the pick-me-up I needed.

Heretofore, the mystery in each story has held my attention. But in Deadlocked the mystery lagged a bit. The who-done-it was obvious and the suspense of watching the culprit outed wasn't as suspenseful as I'd liked. Sookie's relationship status didn't help much either. She's waiting for him to commit. He's waiting for her to commit. Lots of distrust. The novel is aptly named -- Deadlocked. Everyone is waiting for someone else to make the first move.

Several story lines fizzle out in this novel which makes for a downer read. Many of my favorite characters do put in appearances so that was nice. And Harris' writing style is fluid and makes for an easy, fun reading experience. There were answers in this novel but few conclusions...I guess that's why it's a series!

If you like Southern Vampire stories I recommend the series. Neither romance nor mystery are my usual reading choices but I have enjoyed Harris' characters and sense of humor and have picked up a few books  from her other mystery series (non-vampire related) to read.

Publisher: Ace, 2012     Pages: 336
Rating: 3 Stars     Source: public library

Review: A Great and Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray

I fear I'm about to commit Book Blogging suicide. This book gets a lot of attention and praise so I hope that if you loved this book you'll go easy on me here... But I'm getting ahead of myself. A summary:

In 1895, 16-year-old Gemma Doyle leaves India after her mother’s untimely death to attend Spence, a finishing school in England. While mourning her mother, Gemma must also deal with snotty classmates, unnerving visions that come true and the young man who has followed her to England to “watch” her. Things spiral out of control as Gemma experiments with friendships and her new magical ability.

The story is told in first person from Gemma’s point of view and I felt she had a very authentic 16-year-old voice. She quarrels with her mother, pouts about things that are “not fair” and has a spunky sense of sarcasm that helps her get through difficult times.

The characterizations of the main girls were strong in that I felt they had distinct personalities which added to the story-line. However, I didn’t care for Gemma or her friends. They all seemed spoiled, even Ann the “charity case,” constantly whining about their situations. The uppity girls deride their classmates, including each other, and Gemma caves to their peer pressure. She doesn’t always like what her friends say/do but she doesn’t try hard to stop them either. Considering Gemma’s the one with the powers I thought it was rather weak and selfish of her to stand by friends who were so petty. Now, none of these girls’ lives are as great as they seem on the surface – no one’s is – but that’s not an excuse to treat others like dirt. Not connecting well with the main characters was a real drawback to my total experience with the book.

I wanted to know more about the headmistress, Mrs. Nightwing. Her character could have been bolder for me. I kept waiting for her to jump into the action and she didn’t. Also, the mysterious boy, Kartik – what is he doing in this story? He confuses me. If he’s going to threaten Gemma then get rough with her, don’t just leave notes on her pillow. If they’re going to fall in love then they’ll have to interact more for that to happen. It starts to happen, but more or less we’re left with Gemma’s fantasies about him (which are pretty graphic for the 12-year-old recommendation given by my library – eek!). When the book ended I still didn’t know who Kartik was or how he truly felt about Gemma’s magic abilities or her as a person.

A Great and Terrible Beauty is the first of a series so maybe the next books will address some of the issues I had with the characters. Unfortunately, I’m just not into Gemma Doyle enough to care about what happens to her to bother reading any more. Too many cliches (boarding school kids sneaking out to get drunk... this is so overworked) and obvious endings (selfish people become easy to predict).

This is a well loved novel by many and I think I must be strange for not liking this book. I think Bray’s writing is fine and dandy. She's obviously got talent. There was enough drama that kept me turning pages. But ultimately, this story was not for me.  On an aside, here's a fun interview with the author.
Delacorte, 2003       Pages: 403    Recommended Age: 15 and up
Rating: 2 Stars        Source: U of Iowa Libraries   

Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater

I am sad to say I am putting this book aside. At page 227, over half way through the book, Shiver just isn’t holding my attention. I’ve been trying really hard to get into it (I’ve heard so many good things) but it feels like a chore to read and it’s due back at the library soon.

If you’ve been thinking about reading this I’d say go ahead. Don’t let me stop you because there are some positive aspects to this book. Stiefvater is a great writer. There are some beautiful passages with creative metaphors. I liked how the chapters switched between Sam and Grace’s point of view. The dialog isn’t cheesy although I felt it sounded pretty grown up for teenagers. The story-line is fairly original for the age-old werewolf story. The main thrust of the novel is its romantic relationship and this is where it fell flat for me. The relationship between Sam and Grace didn’t engage me. The romance felt rushed without a gradual build-up. They were just instantly in love and glued together. I guess I like more suspense. And the whole hiding-my-boyfriend-in-my-bedroom was sort of lame to me. Also, there wasn’t enough mystery. At once we know what Sam is (so no suspense there) and the danger lurking within the pack didn’t draw me in either. If you’re a fan of paranormal romance I suspect you will like Shiver. Maybe I’ll pick this back up in the future but for now, I’m moving on.
Publisher: Scholastic, 2009          Pages: 392          Source: IC Public Library
Rating: none since I didn’t finish it

Evermore by Alyson Noel

Let me begin by saying I will not be reading the sequel. Even though I didn’t have high hopes when I began reading, Evermore was a big disappointment. The similarities to Twilight are appalling not just because Noel uses similar ideas (that’s okay in my book. There’s nothing new under the sun, right?) but because she took Stephanie Meyer’s originality and twisted it, making some stupid scenes in the process. For instance, Edward and Bella share Wuthering Heights as do Noel’s romantic couple but they don’t discuss it, it’s just there to make them interact. The story is written in first person from the unassuming and vulnerable girl’s perspective. It was just one knock-off after another. And it bugged me. The romance between Ever and Damen felt completely superficial partly because Ever knows virtually nothing about Damen but that he’s good looking. Supposedly they are destined for each other but I didn’t get that vibe at all. There was nothing intellectually and little emotionally shared between them, just physical attraction. It was, oh my gosh he’s totally hot and I can’t stop thinking about him for 300 pages. Damen is a terrible influence on Ever, getting her to ditch classes on multiple occasions so she will “live the good life” gambling at a race track (illegally since they’re both under aged). The text seems to assume via the characters that everyone will inevitably lose their virginity during high school (even though Ever does wait for now). And when Ever and Damen take a hiatus she decides getting into her Aunt’s vodka stash is a good way to deal, gets suspended for drinking, then continues to get wasted the entire week away from school. Ever sucks. And somehow she’s the protagonist we’re supposed to like.

Paranormal stories can take a myriad of forms, Evermore taking on the psychic mind-reading, ghost seeing realm. I couldn’t really get into the plot. I felt Noel didn’t create a very believable world for the immortals she creates. There were too many questions that were inadequately answered like, why are the immortal beautiful. The concepts were alright but their execution lacking. As to the prose, it was just so-so. Half way through the book swearing, mostly the “f” word, set in and it felt odd since in the first half none of the characters were into using such foul language. In my opinion, there are way too many good books to read to waste your time on this one.
Publisher: St. Martin’s, 2009     Source: IC Public Library
Rating: 1 star                            Pages: 306