Book Review: Dream Weaver, Jane Yolen

Dream Weaver by Jane Yolen
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This book changed me. Huddled low in a library, trying to avoid the helpful gaze of a librarian and bored beyond all hope of salvation while my dad was busy talking to someone else, I plucked this slim volume off the shelf and decided to go ahead and read it. Don't misconstrue me and suppose that I didn't enjoy reading, I did. However, reading hadn't yet blossomed into a full-fledged hobby for me. I was pretty young and still reading mid-grade chapter books, at best, and teachers were still telling us that a lack of pictures and book length were some of the most important characteristics of any given text. This felt naughty. Some ten full page illustrations ornamented it's meager eighty pages of transporting storytelling.
I remember the first time I looked at the copyright page and saw that Dream Weaver was published in 1979. It was like Jane Yolen had written it just for me because she knew I'd been born. I know she didn't, but it felt that way, nonetheless.
The Tree's Wife particularly resonated with me at the time, and since then dryads have come to hold the foremost place in my heart with regards to mythic creatures. I keep a copy of this book near my bed, beside Faery Flag, just in case I need a good short bedtime story for one of my kids.
I love this book.

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Book Review: Hopeless Maine: Inheritance by Tom and Nimue Brown

Inheritance by Tom Brown
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

The Inheritance episode in the Hopeless Maine series swells with creepy but gorgeous artwork that feels like the story is reading the reader right back. The Island of Hopeless Maine, isolated and crawling with secrets is certainly one I'd hope to escape.
Torn between her friend, the wasting illness and rapid decline of the woman who took her in, and the discovery of an eccentric family member, Sal begins to push out on her own, but at what cost?
I love the mood of the piece and the beautiful artwork, but the story was a little disjointed for me, and at times, the voices of the characters seem at odds with the attitudes in which they're drawn. I liked it and will read it again, because the creepy art deserves a revisit.

Book Review: Endless by Amanda Gray

Endless by Amanda Gray
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Juxtaposing recurring fire and ice, warmth and cold throughout her accessible prose, Amanda Gray mesmerizes the reader in her tale of reincarnation, dreams, friendship, loss, and yet another round at the Ouija board gone queer. From her gloves that hide a secret to the photo of her long dead mother, Jenny is a parfait of mystery. When a deeper mystery paints itself into her picture, she and her friends pull together to unravel it before it unravels everything that matters to her.

Endless was a pleasant bedtime read, with solid characters and a plot that keeps going right through the last page. With just enough closure for a stand alone, but even more to recommend future visits into Jenny's future, I'd be shocked if a second book isn't on it's way soon, and I look forward to finding out how the story continues.

Although the cast is a pretty homogeneous group of white folk, they all come alive as independent strings on the same violin- each resonating with a different tension. I would have liked to have a little more insight into Jenny's dad and her best friend Tiffany's characters, but the story isn't over just yet.

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Timepiece, by Myra McEntire: a Review

Timepiece by Myra McEntire

My rating: 2 of 5 stars


I feel like Ms McEntire underestimates her readers. I don't believe that reducing 90% of her main character's interactions to hormones and sexuality helps keep the reader's attention, but rather paints the main character as disturbingly immature.
I'm sure this is just personal, but I liked each and every one of the characters better when viewed from Emerson's perspective in Hourglass, and I don't think the choice to write Hourglass from Kaleb's was a good one. While it opened the door for a whole new budding romance without having to go the overdone route of girl meets boy and falls in love in book one, and in book two gets drawn away by someone else, only to reunite with Mr. Right in book three, I don't think picking the budding alcoholic and outward chauvinist to be the center of the tale was a great idea.
Sorry, it just didn't do it for me.

Hopefully the third installment in the series will redeem it. Yes, you read that correctly, I do intend to finish what I started and see the whole series through to the end. If nothing else, the premise is just too interesting to not keep giving it another try.
Fingers crossed and allons-y.

Hourglass, by Myra McEntire: a Review

Hourglass by Myra McEntire

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


An interesting and fun time travel novel, but I do have to say, what's with the cryptic overprotective men?  I'm getting so tired of reading about them.

It's hard to properly review a novel that raises a lot of questions but resolves next to nothing. While the premise is both strong and intriguing, and the characters seem to have a lot of fertile soil in which McEntire has planted the seeds of interest and and deep backstory, I'm concerned that they haven't been properly watered. Here's to hoping.

Ingo, by Helen Dunmore: a Review

Ingo by Helen Dunmore
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is one of my favorite stories.
Athough the pace of the writing is somewhat slow, the tale itself wove together like a net ready to catch the reader and hold the reader transfixed.
Dunmore's elegant and eloquent use of vivid description throughout the tale creates an atmosphere which encourages the reader to forget that ze is breathing air while reading about swimming in the deep.
Told with remarkable emotional acuity and dealing with deep yet pervasive issues like abandonment and split families, Dunmore does an excellent job of rendering lifelike and deeply believable characters, the believability of whom is magnified, rather than reduced, through juxtaposition with the otherwordly undersea folk.
I highly recommend this book to anyone over the age of 8, and particularly to anyone staring wistfully or woefully out to sea.

The Dark Unwinding, by Sharon Cameron: a Review

The Dark Unwinding by Sharon Cameron

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


The Dark Unwinding by Sharon Cameron, ultimately, confused me. Not the plot, it was all set up well and easy enough to follow, with just enough foreshadowing to make the story gel, but not overly insult the reader by leading them by the hand. Well, maybe there was a little bit of hand holding, and really, only one of the twists was remotely surprising, but that's okay. Really, I like a book that doesn't side swipe me, because I feel that's usually the result of lazy writing.
However, I do have a word-choice bone to pick with Cameron. It makes my skin crawl to hear phrases like "tea things" thrown about when there are perfectly good descriptive and common terms. Maybe I'm wrong and tea service was called "tea things" during the 1870s, and I just don't know about it. I admit, this may be the first book I've read that was set in such a time period, to the best of my knowing. However, I doubt it.
I know it's a silly thing for me to complain about, but when reading a period piece, word choice can make or break a book in terms of suspension of disbelief, and for me, that one broke it every time.
Would I read a sequel? Yes. Would I recommend it to my teenage daughter? Probably. Would I herald it as a steampunk triumph? No.Why not? It has all of the elements, mechanized wonders as a plot point, utopian experiments, manners; it really should be. However, those elements truly played a setting role, and were specific only to the immediate locale, while the rest of the world went on completely as history recalls it. That isn't a bad thing, I just don't recommend it if you are looking for a deeply alternate timeline.
I don't believe it was intended as a steampunk novel, to be clear, but any book with a lot of gears on the cover will likely be expected to be so.

I feel like I should be reviewing this book based on feminist and mental health grounds, but alas, I haven't had enough time to fully dissect it all. I do, however, think that a certain amount of sizeism in the first chapter was unnecessary and unfavorably colored my view of the book, all the while recognizing that in a period piece, it is difficult to assign the same gravity to such things as in a modern piece. Was a character repeatedly mocked on account of weight? Yes. Was weight used as a metaphor for stupidity? Yes. Is that ever okay? No. Is it plausible that it may have been the prevailing notion at the time? Yes. Nevertheless, there are other ways to paint a character as impulsive and unintelligent other than calling them fat.

In terms of women's roles, well, the swooning is a little thick.

The Floating Islands, by Rachel Neumeir: A Review

The Floating Islands by Rachel Neumeier

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Familiar but resonant themes coupled with a detailed and fantastic world filled with magery, adventure, war, and characters who are, at their core, all too human, make for an enjoyable read.
Neumeier's treatment of issues like loyalty, duty, orphanhood, the challenges of trying to fit in when one is of two places yet fully of neither, racial and gender roles, and the struggle for individuality make for a well rounded tale that though unearthly, rings true.
At times the plot seemed too neatly contrived, and at others the action seemed sudden and weight of detail awkward, but overall it was a smooth read and the characters were nearly all quite likeable.  I enoyed the fact that even adversaries are, for the most part, written as people with different interests and different values, rather than as entirely evil.
Far too often the good guys are too good, and the bad guys too bad, leaving tales bereft of nuance.  Neumeier manages to create characters who behave predominantly as individuals without taking on the weighty cowl of classic archetypes.  This isn't to say that the archetypes don't make their appearances, but rather, that the characters are not defined solely by them.
More than the complexity of the story, for truly, the story was at times quite predictable, I enjoyed reading it knowing it was the sort of book I could comfortably set in front of a child who enjoyed fantasy stories of adventure and magic, without any concern for exposing ze to foul language or anything sordid.
If you're looking for a good wholesome adventure, it's definitely worth putting on your "Want to Read" list.

C

In the Shadow of Blackbirds, by Cat Winters: a Review

In the Shadow of Blackbirds by Cat Winters
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

When Cat Winters was a young girl, she watched an episode of Ripley's Believe it or Not which featured the fairy photographs taken by cousins Elsie Wright and Frances Griffiths. As a reader, I am grateful that she did because the interest in the WWI era, spiritualism, photography, and the horrors of the Spanish Influenza came together in a marvelous story of young love, tragedy, and the value of tenacity.

Immediately, Winters' impresses with her use of voice and back story. The motion of Mary Shelley's journey and the rhythm of the prose meld seamlessly. In the Shadow of Blackirds reflects deep research without flaunting it. The cast was uncluttered, the memories pertinent, the characters well formed, and to give credit where it's due- they physical book is beautiful.

Tip of the hat to the genius who decided to write the story in black on white and the author's note, acknowledgements, dedication and copyright page in white on black. The typeface is elegant, chapter headers interesting, and although the cover art frustrated me in that it only nearly recreates an image featured in the story, it's pretty fantastic as well.

Loved this story.

Clockwork Princess, by Cassandra Clare

Clockwork Princess by Cassandra Clare

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I am erring on the generous side with four stars. My better judgment says three stars, or somewhere in between. However, math says that if it's three and a half, you round up because it will result in an even number. Therefore, I went with four.

I stayed up far too late to finish this book. It was fast paced, engaging, somewhat (quite?) predictable, with glimmers of gratification that push you toward the next. The details were substantial and even occasionally included how things smelled. I always like it when a writer remembers that there are more senses than sight and hearing.  However, there were a good many times when it felt like Clare was on a fan-girl binge, lifting text from other novels, rearranging the particulars in a way that reminded me of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, so it would fit the narrative. A sentence here or there of para-quoting makes me smile. Lengthy paragraphs invokes groaning, and also meters my esteem for this work.

Another problem with this particular text is that too often, I feel, characters behave in accordance with the needs of the plot rather than the idiosyncrasies of their characters established in the two previous books. The Clockwork Prince raised my expectations, and these moments didn't meet those expectations. These moments are not horribly glaring, but at times, words and actions and character didn't meld as well as I had expected. Any of my other grouses would be spoilers, but suffice it to say that while I wanted the ending and the fan girl in me was overjoyed, the literary critic in me was disappointed.

Don't mistake my reservations for condemnation. I enjoyed Clockwork Princess, and if you read and liked Clockwork Prince, as I recommended, you'll enjoy this too. Just read it for what it is and have fun with it.

Dearly, Beloved - by Lia Habel: a Review

Dearly, Beloved by Lia Habel
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Yes. Lia Habel's high tech with a Victorian twist world, rife with holographic edifices reminiscent of the world before the second ice age, took on a broader life in Dearly, Beloved that left me smiling for hours. The Characters from Dearly, Departed are here given the freedom to interact in new environments and blossom into themselves. Because the plot in the second book of the Gone with the Respiration series is less immediately catastrophic than the kidnapping plus zombie apocalypse scenario set forth in the first, the reader gets to see the characters in their daily lives and learn more about their world.

Of course, true to form, Habel doesn't leave anyone's world in tact for long. All too soon the fissures in the calm facade begin to show. Pamela's panic attacks prove to be not only merited, but nearly prophetic - Nora's independence leads her back into danger - Dr. Dearly's solution to the Laz proves to be too little to quell tensions between the living and the dead. Characters like Michael, who at first seemed simply callous, grow into full fledged villain-worthy unlikability while the seemingly vapid Vespertine blossoms into a deep woman with intricate motivations. Habel's approach to Bram in Dearly, Beloved is far more entertaining. Gone is the tired "I'm no good for you, I'm too dangerous," droning, replaced instead with a young man who doesn't pretend that he knows what's best for Nora at every turn, but instead allows her to make her own decisions. Sure, he continues to weigh in on her options, and she continues to at least consider the words coming out of his cold lips, but the dynamic morphs into something far more healthy and rather beautiful.

Although my experience with the zombie genre is limited to perhaps a dozen books, Dearly, Beloved has proved to be the most enjoyable. I look forward to the saga's conclusion, which can not come soon enough.

The Clockwork Prince, by Cassandra Clare

Clockwork Prince by Cassandra Clare

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


In the Clockwork Prince by Cassandra Clare, the characters truly blossom, taking on an emotional gravity that the first book in the Infernal Devices series failed to attain. Watching the slow unfolding of Will Herondale's back story alone made this book a worthwhile read. I enjoyed the treatment of the era much more deeply than in the first book.
The Clockwork Prince made me optimistic and impatient for the third in the series, and encouraged me to pick up more of Clare's work.
If you were lukewarm about The Clockwork Angel, give the series a second chance, it definitely improves as it grows.



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Alice in Zombieland - a Review

Alice in Zombieland by Gena Showalter
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

With a one part tragedy to two parts adrenaline ratio, Showalter's novel races forward without forgetting that despite the big events in life, the little mundane things can still hurt and heal. The title character, Alice, "call me Ali," Bell's world gets ripped apart one fateful night on the way home from her sister's dance recital leaving her heart devastated and her world shattered. Suddenly the only survivor of her unorthodox family, Ali must learn to fit in in a new home, a new school, and with a new understanding that the physical world that everyone could see and touch was only the surface.
A quick paced and blood pumping adventure, Alice in Zombieland keeps the energy up and the reader engaged. Although at times the secondary characters read like caricatures of machismo and sexuality, Showalter writes with a depth that turns that caricature into a front for deeper insecurities.
With the propensity for Paranormal YA to glamorize the dark and disturbing (sparkly vampires and friendly werewolves anyone?), Alice in Zombieland gives new life to the genre, keeping the otherworldly threat both dangerous and horrifying.
The anticipated second book in the White Rabbit series, Through the Zombieglass, expected to hit shelves in September of 2013, promises to continue the tragedy and the excitement, and hopefully bring Ali closer to avenging her family.


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