Review: Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver

Title: Before I Fall
Author(s): Lauren Oliver
Genre: YA Contemporary
Page Count: 480
Publisher: HarperCollins

The Summary (in my own words): It was supposed to be a regular school day like any other. Chilling out with her friends, partying it out after school. But then Samantha Kingston died -- and wakes up the next morning of the exact same day of her death. Seven repeats of the day you die. Seven chances -- is it enough for a person to change their lives?

The Review: This was honestly one of the most beautifully written novels I’ve ever read. In fact, I’d say it’s probably the most well-written debut YA novel of 2010. When I heard about the hype and how this novel made its way to the bestseller list, I was afraid of overhype, of being disappointed. But I was wrong. It was everything people said it’d be. And more, so much more.

From the summary, I had no intention of reading this novel. I mean, reliving one day over and over, how interesting can it be? But then, when I was hearing all the excitement bubbling over this book around the time HarperTeens was putting up a 100+ page preview for this novel, I decided to give it a shot. I sank right in. Everyone who lauded praise upon praise over Oliver’s writing was absolutely, irrevocably right. I cannot describe just how beautiful Oliver’s prose is, because I am not talented by half enough to explain it. It’s just – so incredibly beautiful, lush, tangible, delicious prose. Like, we get the exact same day described to us, and every time Oliver described the weather, the scenery that has not changed, she still manages to evoke different and varied sentiments, seven different ways of describing the exact same scenery that works and never, ever gets old. I flew through the pages, completely absorbed in Sam’s world.

I, like a lot of people who’ve read this novel, really enjoyed watching Sam’s transformation. I liked how her Mean Teen Girl persona was so very believable, and how she desperately tries to change her fate makes her grow as a person. All the changes in Sam felt believable, and it’s to Oliver’s credit that she develops this transition and character growth in ways that don’t stretch believability and even invoking sympathy, while always remembering that Sam is far from being a Nice Person. Also I liked Oliver’s convincing portrayal of high school life in general. It felt right and honest. And the high school scene isn’t completely whitewashed. While none of the prominent characters were POC, there were hints at the minor background characters being of Asian descent, which I’m pretty down with, personally.

I have seen many people citing the romance as one of their favourite aspects of this novel. I do enjoy the sweet romance unfolding between Kent and Sam (Who can NOT love Kent? Seriously adorable and sweet, that one. Totally boyfriend material.), but I’ll admit that it’s the portrayal of female friendships/interactions fostered and broken was that truly won my heart. (Why didn’t anyone tell me this book passes the bedchel test?! Sheesh, I’ve very disappointed in all of you. Jks) Yes, they’re Mean Girls, but the friendship that the four girls have is so genuine and true. They can be awful to others and sometimes even to each other, but we know that they truly liked each other, that they’re friendship wasn’t a sham. And Sam doesn’t just interact with her clique. We see her interact with the school’s residential “slut” (who was given a personality and breath, and it should be noted that there is absolutely no slut-shaming messages in this novel, which I totally appreciate), the sophomores, etc. In all of Sam’s interactions between different people during that seven repeats of the same day, we see this theme of hope permeating and blooming, that potential for making a difference, and the interactions Sam has with the girls around her were my favourite messages of hope. I especially enjoyed the Juliet Sykes interactions, the unveiling of secrets, and how even when things weren’t going so well, people have hope for change. SPOILERS AHOY: [I really liked the transformation of how Sam began to connect her salvation through saving Juliet, which started off very self-centric, but then transformed into a genuine wish for Juliet’s well being, and her sincere but awkward attempts at being “nice” was wonderful to see. That’s another thing I really appreciate about Sam’s transformation. It wasn’t that she suddenly became a “nice” good girl or anything - but that she starts to make this effort to be kind that won me over.]


I thought Oliver used the idea of the time loop most effectively to showcase Sam’s character transformation. The possibilities of the littlest changes in your actions to bring about change in your day fascinated me as well. The story unravels steady and slow, picking up speed towards the climax with that emotional ompf that will grab at the reader’s hearts. I never once felt that the story went too slowly, or got repetitive. The climax and the ending stayed with me for a long time, and left me hungering for more. This is the kind of novel that will convert new readings into instant fans of the author. With her writing being so polished, I can’t wait to see what she does with her next book.

The Verdict: Believe the hype, people, and grab yourself a copy of this amazing novel. The writing will blow you away, and the characters will enchant you. Definitely one of my favourite debut novels this year.

Rating: 5/5
Enjoyment: 100%

Title and Cover Discussion: I LOVE THE TITLE. It’s simple and memorable, and fits very well with the story. As for the cover, I’m a bit lukewarm on it. It feels so… normal, somehow? But I kind of like the unnatural stillness of the cover model, a curtained deadened quality to her next to the warm yellow colours in the cover. The font was very nice as well.

Title: A
Cover: B

The Faces of Covers: On Whitewashing and Fantasy

Piming out some manga. Because I can.

Bloomsbury has decided to change the cover of Magic Under Glass. Here’s the link to their statement. I suppose I should be ~*happy*~ that they apologized, as vague their statement on what offense exactly are they apologizing for (it feels more like one of those apologies where the person goes “I didn’t know what I did to offend anyone and I’m sorry”, as oppose to, you know, an “I’m sorry for whitewashing covers, I know now that this practice is wrong, and I will take steps to ensure that this won’t happen again”, kind of apology). But whatever, I’m not really interested in giving out cookies. For now, I’m cautiously optimistic as I wait for the new re-jacketed cover. In the meantime, however, I’d like to discuss a few things.

This is what it means to put a POC face on a cover: the reader has the power to imagine that the protagonist isn’t white. It has been discussed that when we read, when there is no significant racial markers there is a big tendency to assume the characters are white. A white face on the cover reinforces this default. I find that, for contemporary or historical set pieces (aka, anything set in the “primary” world), it’s much easier to call out whitewashed covers because it’s harder to ignore the racial markers or justify whitewashing when we have evidence to the contrary. However, fantasy stories, particular secondary world type fantasy wherein the world is clearly not the world as we know it, the voices raised to defend its whitewashed covers get louder. It wouldn’t matter how many times you lift out quotes from the text that cite character so-and-so is dark-skinned, there will be those who insist that they pictured a more olive-complexion than anything, or, my most hated commentary, a protagonist “with a tan”, and defend the cover, saying Why can’t they by white? And follow up with an argument that these are “made-up” races and the rules in our world don’t apply. (This is what I've been seeing, anyhow. In an attempt to be more clear, I’m not saying that whitewashing is less problematic in contemporary or historical fiction, I’m saying that I see more crazed arguments to defend whitewashing in secondary world fantasy.)

Let me say this about the made-up races statements: stories invented aren’t made in a vacuum. This includes fantasy. The stories created in the fantasy genre borrow heavily from our world, through mythology, culture, and whatnot. Therefore, in short, the humans depicted in fantasy are reflective of our world and racial depiction does matter.

As for the whole “why can’t they be white” argument, by choosing to embrace a world wherein everyone can be white despite when faced with contrary evidence within the text itself, you are buying into systematic racism that assumes the default will always be White, down to even in your imagination when visualizing fictional characters.

(On a tangent, I find such remarks irksome because damn, it must be nice to be able to assume that every frickin person looks like you even when up against evidence to the contrary. [/snark])

Giving this cover a POC face will heal our stunted imagination to assume all characters are white by default. We, the audience, nowadays are so used to absorbing visual data (helloooooooooo television. ♥), hence making covers a very powerful tool in marketing and in affecting the impressions on the reader. By giving the cover a POC face, you’ll allow the dark-skinned girl in OUR world to dream of being a heroine in her own imagination. That is something I believe is worth fighting for.

With that said, I hope we as consuming readers can continue fighting the whitewashing of covers. Whitewashing isn’t a one-time mistake, but an ingrained racist business practice in the publishing sector. To name a few off the top of my head: Whale Talk, She’s So Money, Mysterious Benedict Society, and The Dragons and the Stars (Which I’m still trying to talk about, and I’m working on my post. But, I suppose I will confess: when I saw Liar and Magic Under Glass, I was fuelled with rage. But when I saw The Dragon and the Stars cover, it was like a physical blow, and I felt like crying, a sentiment akin to defeat. But it’s been a couple days since I’ve seen that cover, and, I think, I have distanced myself more from the initial pain and can try and talk about it relatively soon.)

And do consider supporting POC books by seeking them out. My biggest and personal favourite resource is Writers of Color 50 Books Challenge, and Susan has an amazing link roundup to POC resources. Check it out.

Review: Bleeding Violet by Dia Reeves

Title: Bleeding Violet
Author(s): Dia Reeves
Genre: YA Rural/Town Fantasy
Page Count: 454
Publisher: Simon Pulse

The Summary: Love can be a dangerous thing....

Hanna simply wants to be loved. With a head plagued by hallucinations, a medicine cabinet full of pills, and a closet stuffed with frilly, violet dresses, Hanna's tired of being the outcast, the weird girl, the freak. So she runs away to Portero, Texas in search of a new home.

But Portero is a stranger town than Hanna expects. As she tries to make a place for herself, she discovers dark secrets that would terrify any normal soul. Good thing for Hanna, she's far from normal. As this crazy girl meets an even crazier town, only two things are certain: Anything can happen and no one is safe.

--Summary from cover flap

The Review: Wow. So much love for this book, I don’t even know where to start! I read the excerpt for the first chapter about a month ago and was really excited about this new novel. (Also the whole bit about this being a novel written for NaNoWriMo. That's pretty cool too.) First of all, I think the reason why I enjoyed this novel so much was because of Hanna. She’s an awesome narrator and definitely my favourite character of the lot. Hanna is i-n-s-a-n-e, not in the oh-she’s-so-quirky-and-interesting but as in she has mental illness. I think Dia Reeves portrayed this aspect of Hanna extremely well, and it spiced up the whole extremely common premise of New Girl Moves to Small Town and Discovers Magical Beings, etc, making this novel stand out. I really liked getting into Hanna’s head, the off-kilter way she would react to things, and just other stuff about her like her purple dresses she sews herself, how the fact that she is biracial (Half-Black, Half-Fin) influences the way she sees herself and her ability to adapt to new situations, her confidence in her looks, and her habit of saying “Unbelievable”. (Er, I could just go on, but I think we all get the fact that I think Hanna is Awesome. =D)

Actually, I just really liked Reeves’ whole approach to this world she created in general, from Hanna’s reactions to seeing stuff (Hanna’s reactions the first few days were like, hmm, I thought I took my pills today, guess they haven’t kicked in yet. *walks past those bloodstained windows like she saw nothing*) to the portrayal of the fantastical in this world. The creatures are batshit scary and feel very real, things that will kill you if you walk down the wrong street. And how the people of the town are deeply influenced by their knowledge of these monsters that lurk their town, how it shapes them from their behavior to what they wear to just, their physical selves and their telltale scars. I bought into the world Reeves’ created completely, and really enjoyed reading about the fantastical side of this novel.

I get the feeling that the biggest character relationship that readers will get into is the Wyatt/Hanna romance. Now, don’t get me wrong, I love me some Wyatt, and the whole “You’re going to hurt him” stuff people keep going on to Hanna about only added to my enjoyment of this couple and their interactions. (Has that star-crossed taste to it, and I love me some star-crossed lovers.) I liked how they both weren’t quite normal, and how they fit together on more or less equal grounds in this relationship that isn’t exactly the healthiest of relationships. But the biggest character interaction that grabbed me by the heart and had me clenching my teeth with the tension and the heartbreaks was with Hanna and her mom, Rosalee. At the end of the day, I read this book for Hanna’s attempts to connect with her mother, and vice versa. I mean, say what you want about Wyatt/Hanna, but in terms of higher stakes and messed-up factor, Rosalee’s estranged relationship with her daughter’s got Wyatt and Hanna’s relationship beat. I loved watching how they pulled and pushed at each other, with Rosalee’s cold attempts to push her daughter away and Hanna’s fierce, fiery desperation to win a place as a daughter in her mother’s heart. They hurt each other and love each other in all the wrong ways and it’s such a broken, shattered, imperfect family but I desperately wanted them to stay together by the end of it. *

The book was a really fast fluid read, and I couldn’t put it down until I was finished every single last word of it. I was delighted by each and every turn the direction of the story went, and the story always manages to shock and put in twists that didn’t feel jarring or out of place. (I did think the Key stuff was a little overdone, but the Key gave me this really awesome mother-daughter interaction scene, so who am I to complain?) The writing was solid and serviceable. It didn’t stick out to me it jarring ways, but at the same time it didn’t wow or stand out for me either. But, honestly? With a cast like this and the crazy town of monster-infested Portero, who’s going to care? I had a blast reading this as Reeves took me for a roller coaster ride, and I enjoyed every second of it. Read it, read it, read it.

The Verdict: Dude, I travelled all the way downtown just so I could buy this on the release day. I had to walk 5 streetlights outside in the freezing cold because the subway shut down and by the time I got to the bookstore, bought it, and came back home, my legs were frozen solid. But was it worth it? DAMN STRAIGHT IT WAS. The year of 2010 just started but I can definitely tell that this is gonna be one of my Top Favourite Debuts of this year. Awesome premise, awesome characters, with one of the ruinous and moving mother-daughter interactions I’ve read in ages plus a nice dash of epic crazy, readers will be in for an amazing treat.

Rating: 4.5/5
Enjoyment: !!!100%!!!

Title and Cover Discussion: I really love the title! It sounds awesome, and I keep associating ‘Violet’ with ‘Violent’ in my mind and it totally fits with the very vicious battles that raged all throughout this novel, and the violence of the characters in general. The only thing is that, I think the violet is referring to Hanna’s dresses, but she never calls them ‘violet’, but ‘purple’. I kinda wished that Reeves went back and changed all the ‘purple’ words into ‘violet’ to have continuity with the title, but this is just a nitpick, really. Now, the COVER. Omfg so gorgeous. If the Simon & Schuster company ever decided to make a poster out of this cover I’d buy it in a heartbeat. I looooove the violet dresses in the background, the font, the colours, EVERYTHING. ♥ ♥ One of the best covers I’ve ever seen.

Title: A-
Cover: A+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

*I was also amused by all the talk of the “Price fascination” when it came to Rosalee Price and her ability to draw in men to her side. Reminded me of Senjogahara. Those who’ve watched Bakemonogatari will know what I’m talking about.

NEW REVIEW FEATURE I'm gonna have a Mister Linky thing so that those who want to see other people's opinion on this novel can easily click on the links below and find these other links. Now, me and ninefly had a veryyyyyyyyyy brief talk about linking to other people's reviews and how it can be biased because you'll link to the review you like or seek out. So, to avoid this, it's a mister Linky so that other people can add links to reviews I haven't seen, etc etc. Please feel free to help out by adding links yourselves, etc etc.

NOTE: Please link to the review post and NOT the main website/blog. =D



This Book counts for my 2010 challenges

Review: Gullstruck Island by Frances Hardinge (Revised)

(Original Post here)
Okay so normally I wouldn't repost old reviews, but I was feeling awful for only doing 1 review so far this month and besides, this is basically my favourite novel of 2009, I wanted to pimp it as much as possible. Also added content to make myself feel like I'm not just posting the same old thing.



Title: Gullstruck Island aka The Lost Conspiracy (US)
Author(s): Frances Hardinge
Genre: MG Post-Colonial Fantasy
Page Count: 512
Publisher: MacMillan

The Summary: On an island of sandy beaches, dense jungles, and slumbering volcanoes, colonists seek to apply archaic laws to a new land, bounty-hunters stalk the living for the ashes of their funerary pyres, and a smiling tribe is despised by all as traitorous murders. It is here, in the midst of ancient tensions and new calamity, that two sisters are caught in a deadly web of deceits.

Arilou is proclaimed a beautiful prophetess—one of the island’s precious oracles: a Lost. Hathin, her junior, is her nearly invisible attendant. But neither Arilou nor Hathin is exactly what she seems, and they live a lie that is carefully constructed, and jealously guarded.

When the sisters are unknowingly drawn into a sinister, island-wide conspiracy, quiet, unobtrusive Hathin must journey beyond all she has ever known of her world—and of herself—in a desperate attempt to save them both. As the stakes mount and falsehoods unravel, she discovers the only thing more dangerous than the secret she hides is the truth she must uncover.

--From Author's Website.

The Review: First things first: I love Frances Hardinge (and hence cannot talk about her current work without random pimpage of her previous novels). There's always the risk of finding the later works by your favourite author disappointing, but not in the case of Hardinge. From the moment I saw the first page of her debut novel Fly by Night on the bargain shelves, I was a goner. It was love at first sight, pure and true, and with this latest addition to Hardinge's reportoire I feel like my little gold mine I plucked out of the bargain section oh so many years ago struck true. Frances Hardinge really let herself go with this novel. Her amazing wordplay seems to have taken on a new stage in this novel. I remember Fly by Night as the novel with such intoxicating words that you could just drown happily into them, forgetting the very premise of the story and lose yourself in words, words, beautiful words, the laughter and high rollicking fun. And Verdigris Deep showed a more serious side, with the same trademark wordplay still grabbing at you, but in a sticking out, unsettling sort of way, a prickling, itchy crawling at your skin that just fits beautifully with the horror genre that novel reflected. However, with Gullstruck Island, the words do not seek to grab your attention in a showy way, but settle around you, like dust, like our protagonist Hathin, quiet and unremarkable and glowing with inner zeal that can push mountains. Hardinge employed a restraint on her wordplay, letting the story shine through instead. And this more controlled, maturing writing is simply gorgeous and proves Hardinge to be a master of the art in English prose.

AND THE WORLDBUILDING. Homg the worldbuilding. (It had to be caps locked, it was just THAT GOOD.) Volcanoes mythology and folklore and intricate details of the geology and society in Gullstruck Island, not a thing missed, from the way language is used and the interaction between the different races and the Lost and the history and the layout of the land, and homg I could just die of happiness. Best post-colonial fantasy I’ve EVER read, even better than (…dare I say it?) Terry Pratchett’s Nation. And, you guys, I love Nation and Terry Pratchett. I didn’t think I’d come across something that’d top that novel in its genre but then Frances Hardinge comes along and I’m blown.

The cast in this novel is amazing in ways I can't even begin to describe. It's large and sprawling and everyone is distinct and unique and larger than life and my heart, be still. *.* The protagonists are lively, the villains are deliciously wicked, and the people who walk in the gray are well-rounded and have their own distinct voice and lives and I fell in love with each and every single one of them.

I love how tightly woven the plot was and the pacing was immaculate. Considering all these factors, I think it's safe to say that Gullstruck Island is easily Hardinge's best work yet, and easily my favourite novel of 2009.

And if my rambling and fangirling didn’t convince anyone, I’ll let the book do the talking and quote one of my favourite descriptions in this novel of volcano activity:

There was a hush-half-second like a gasp, a sense of something tiny but momentous change, of something cracking silently like a heart. The next instant, through that hidden crack beneath the surface, an oozing, millennia-old fire met dark, lucid water. And in that meeting, water and fire loved each other to destruction.

The Verdict: Best post-colonial fantasy novel I've ever read, also my favourite novel of 2009. Why have you not bought this book yet?

Rating: 100000000000000000000++++++++++++/5
Enjoyment Level: 10000000000000000000000000++++++++++++% AKA It is Perfection unto itself.

Title and Cover Discussion: Since I can't be talking about Gullstruck Island without comparing it to the US version, let's go there. First of all I love the title Gullstruck Island. It rings of those good old Island adventure stories like "Treasure Island". And the cover evokes that feel too. And um, when I see the US version, all I can think is, "I'm SO GLAD Canada got the UK copy." Skipping out on ratings 'cause I get the feeling that I'm being distinctly biased in all this comparison between UK and US cover and I don't want to give Gullstruck Island good marks solely because I'm hating on the US version.

Triple Snapshot Saturday - Legend of Tarik, I Wanna Be Your Shoebox, Bound By Your Touch

(Idea inspired by Hyper-Parfait's now defunct Triple Delights)

In which I discuss three novels at the end of the week (Saturday) in quick paragraph snapshots on my general impressions and reactions.

The Legend of Tarik by Walter Dean Myers
You know, I think I just read this book at the wrong time. I can see objectively that it is a very well written book, and for what the story tries to do, it does it well. It’s a whole fantasy quest story to avenge his father, with one little subversion: the hero is black. Now, I do appreciate this subversion, but it doesn’t satisfy me. I mean, yay black hero that actually wins the day in a magical quest story, that’s a storyline that you don’t come across every day. But my tiff with this book is that it didn’t subvert enough for me. Why not go all the way, I thought to myself. Subvert the wise old men who trains the hero prodigy! Subvert the role of women! Subvert the whole object troupe! Hell, challenge the stereotypical villainous characters as well!! But alas, this book didn’t do that. Basically I wanted a bigger challenge to the whole typical magical quest story and it didn’t do it for me. The role of Stria, the hero’s woman companion, particularly disappointed me, not because Myers didn’t attempt at subversion (he did! She had personality! She was his partner to fight the bad guy as oppose to being the weak love interest!) but because I just wanted more. I wanted to see why she couldn’t be the hero of the day, and the best we got was that it’s because she had anger problems, and that plus the whole hysterical aka way-too-emotional woman type characters often found in fiction made me frown.

This frustration wanting more subversion for other aspects of the novel besides the black hero/white villain thing stopped me from appreciating the novel as much as I would have, if I read this back when I was a bit more enamoured with the fantasy quest story line and only needed a little bit of subversion to be happy. But I’m mostly jaded on these quest things and it takes a lot more reversals of the typical quest storyline for me to be invested. Sadly, The Legend of Tarik didn’t do it for me. I do recommend this to people who love the magical quest storyline and want just a slightly different twist on the formula. I can guarantee that the writing is spot-on and will appeal to the lovers of this genre.

I Wanna Be Your Shoebox by Cristina Garcia
Omg soooooo much fun to read!! Our main character, Yumi, is a girl that cannot be easily confined to a checklist of what she should be. I like this aspect a lot, because I think it shows the endless possibilities of Yumi’s bright future. I also liked the intertwined storyline between Yumi and her grandfather, Saul. It isn’t my favourite use of this device, but I thought they worked well together. And the portrayals of Yumi’s relationship with her family and friends and classmates were vivid and a great joy to read about. I think the biggest theme of the whole novel is hope, a bright, endless hope of the future, that there’s always a possibility of great things to come and experience. That’s not to say that there aren’t any “serious” themes to this story, there’s death and divorce featured in this MG novel as well. But this novel is not a problem novel and about dealing with such conflicts. It’s more about facing the future, of the good and bad and making the most of it. And the book convinces you of this hopeful message by being written with such gusto and spirit. It’s the kind of book that makes you smile every time you remember reading it. Highly recommended.

Bound by your Touch by Meredith Duran
The book I would have never read if it weren’t for Sarah Rees Brennan’s recommendation! It was lots of fun, and I love the romance aspect. However, the historical part was not as good as it could have been. I mean, it more or less sticks to how 19th Century England works, but it doesn’t exactly make you feel like you’re there in that past, or challenging the notions of the time period. Then again, this is a novel marketed as romance and if the “historical” side to the romance was not as good as it could have been (not that I remember ever reading historical romances that actually did the historical side justice… I suppose I have to look into straight historical novels for that), it balances out by having a lovely romance that subverts stock romance troupes. The spinster gets the young rake! And other spoilery stuff I shouldn’t reveal about various family members that have interesting subversions. I was rather irked by the whole Egyptology thing being used as the driving plot of the story though. I mean, it has that feel of exotic foreign dead artifacts being used to further along the European story and that always nudges me the wrong way. Perhaps I could have reconciled with this if there was a prominent Egyptian character in the story but they were nowhere to be found. I did enjoy this novel very much though. Not enough to feel like buying my own copy of the novel, but it was a fun read.

Review: Give Up the Ghost by Megan Crewe

Title: Give Up the Ghost
Author(s): Megan Crewe
Genre: YA Paranormal High School Slice-of-Life
Page Count: 241
Publisher: Henry Holt and Company

Summary: Cass McKenna much prefers ghosts over “breathers.” Ghosts are uncomplicated and dependable. They know the dirt on everybody… and Cass loves dirt. She’s on a mission to expose the dirty secrets of the poseurs in her school.
But when the vice president of the student council discovers her secret, Cass’s whole scheme hangs in the balance. Tim wants her to help him contact his recently deceased mother, and Cass reluctantly agrees.
As Cass becomes increasingly entwined in Tim’s life, she’s surprised to realize he’s not so bad—and he needs help more desperately than anyone else suspects. Maybe it’s time to give the living another chance…
-Summary from cover flap.

The Review: I had a really good time reading this novel. My favourite aspect of the novel was definitely the treatment of the supernatural. Rather than going on about the Very Special Powers of Cass and running off on Very Cool Adventures, it’s more about the way in which her abilities seeing ghosts impact, rather than change, her life. It’s got this slice-of-life feel with dark humour that I’m a complete sucker for, and I love it.

The writing is very easy to get into. It’s fluid and quick, and Cass’ wry humour and sarcasm lends itself well to the first person narration Crewe choose to tell this story in. I was pulled into the flow of the story very quickly and finished the novel within the 24 hours after I checked it out of the library. The dialogue is also very snappy, flows well, and fun to read as well. I really love the steady pacing of the whole story. There was never really a moment that was too slow or too fast. I guess if I really must complain than maybe the flashbacks could have been handled a little better, but that is a minor quibble on my part.

Note: This is again, one of those YA fiction that does the list thing. But it's handled in a humourous way, so it wasn't as annoying as it potentially could have been.

The two strongest characters in the novel are definitely Cass and Tim. I suspect that the reader’s enjoyment of the novel is highly dependent on how much they can empathize with Cass, and sometimes Cass and her cynicism makes her a hard person to sympathize with. But once the reader gets her, it makes the story that much more interesting because you really feel for Cass, with all her flaws, and care about what Cass goes through. I really liked what Crewe has done with Tim. He could have so easily just been the perfect angsty boy love interest to swipe Cass off her feet, but he wasn’t. That’s another thing I really enjoyed about this novel: Crewe chooses to not concentrate on romance. This is not another paranormal epic romance about two people falling in love. This is about a girl and a boy with very big problems and flaws, and how they grow by interacting with one another, and learn to care for people. Crewe holds tight reign over the story and refuses to let high romantic drama take over, and in doing so she achieves greater emotional impact with her story. The Cass/Tim dynamic is definitely one of my favourite aspects of this novel.

While these two central characters shine brilliantly throughout the story, the side characters do fall a bit to the wayside. Some of the ghosts felt more like stock characters more than anything, simply there to facilitate Cass’ storyline. Cass’ ex-best friend feels more like a 2D evil villain than a real person, and her parents fair even less, with her Dad almost a non-presence for how much he is even mentioned in the story. This didn’t detract from my enjoyment of the story, but it’s something to point out.

Now, onto the setting. This novel was very much one of those generic high school in upper-class white town types. The reason why I say this is that, really, beyond the description of the school hallways, and perhaps a couple trees and the houses, there really isn’t much other description Crewe bothers to give us readers. It’s all too easy to imagine this novel to be set in any all-white town, and the reason why I came to this conclusion is by how bland the setting: there’s only houses, all Anglo-Saxon names, lacks the city type bustle. Now, add to the fact that this novel is Canadian, and we get, yet again, another Canadian children’s/YA lit that is All-White, All-Canadian fiction land. It wouldn’t bother me so much if it weren’t for the fact that after I finished reading, I was trying to think of the last time I read a Canadian YA paranormal/fantasy novel that featured anyone who wasn’t white in any prominent way and came out empty. (Can anyone name one for me? Anyone...?)

Still, it was a fun read overall. The slice-of-life feel to the supernatural was the biggest selling point for me and I definitely think everyone should give this novel a shot. =D

Raiting: 3/5
Enjoyment: 80%

Title and Cover Discussion: Okay, let's start with the title because I actually have something nice to say about it. I like it. If we look it in a literal way it fits the plot of the story very nicely. Unfortunately I don't quite find the title snappy enough to be memorable, because I find myself referring to this novel as "That really good novel called mumblemumble Ghost!! =D" ^^; Another thing I liked was the font of the title. Very ghost-like if we ignore the random pink Now, for the cover, I'll be upfront: Do. Not. Want. It's one of those covers that's conceptually cool but when it comes out it just doesn't work. I like the idea of a high school girl with the ghost whispering all the secrets into her ear but when it's on the cover it just looks weird. The ghost almost looks like s/he's melding into the main cover girl and ugh. Also, the weird forehead cut off doesn't do it for me. I mean, if you're going to show her full face then why not show ALL of it? Why cut off the forehead and the hair at the top? I don't get it. And the random pink is too random. I like pink but it just didn't work with the blue tones of everything else in the cover. The only reason why I wouldn't fail this cover is that we actually see the girl's face, and in current YA novel land (ESPECIALLY with the paranormal YA stuff), this is rare enough that I'm going to relent on my ratings based on this fact.

Title: B+
Cover: C-

Triple Snapshots: Eternal, The Haters, Leviathan

(Inspired by Hyper Parfait's Triple Delights feature)

Eternal by Cynthia Leitich Smith - I could not get into Eternal. (Hence the short paragraph—I could say more, give it a fully fleshed out review, but I didn’t care enough about this story to bother.) Which sucks because this whole star-crossed lovers premise is totally my thing, and bi-racial vampire girl! But I couldn’t do it. I didn’t care about any of the characters, least of all Zachary and Miranda, and hence I couldn’t invest myself in the plot or the romance. (Actually the romance was probably my least favourite aspect of this novel, surprisingly enough.) I’ll be honest: if I didn’t buy this and instead borrowed it from the library I probably would have stopped halfway through the novel, max. Sometimes the writing is snappy enough to make things interesting but most of the time the writing felt trite and dragged on for me. But the fandom references were amusing, I’ll give it that. (This was probably the only thing I can say I liked with no reserves about this novel.) Just to put it out there, I didn’t hate this novel. I just found myself really distant and meh towards it. (lol if I truly hate it I’d be really obvious and mean about it.) I guess, to sum things up, this really wasn’t the novel for me. I’ll be passing on the rest of the books in this series.


Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld - When it comes down to it, I just had plain good fun reading this novel. It’s fun and fast and I love the action and the dialogue. Also, the illustrations are beautiful. I’m reserving opinions on how well this alternate version of WWI is done until I get to the third book to see how this divergence will play out. Also, this has been marketed as a kind of Romeo and Juliet romance, so I’m crossing my arms and waiting for it to happen. I hope it delivers on the Tragic Love aspect all the way to the end. ♥ So basically, it’s a book full of potential. Perhaps when the trilogy is over I can make a proper assessment on how well the story pans out.




The Haters by Alisa Valdes-Rodriguez - A YA high school drama novel—this time with the school population being ethnically diverse. I never really became fond of our protagonist. Possibly because the way her powers were handled. (Was the whole animals bowing to her really necessary?! And if you want tips on handling magic in a realistic slice-of-life fashion, watch Natsume Yuujinchou or read Give Up the Ghost or something. Don’t just like, have it sit there and put us readers through her constant whining about her ~*freaky powers*~. It just makes her annoying.) Also, this was one of those many novels where I got attached to the one side character that everyone is supposed to hate aka the evil queen bee Jessica Nguyen. This book, while parading around to be full of Diversity and what not, our author sure doesn’t have any qualms about reinforcing Asian stereotypes. (Valdes-Rodriguez is better with other ethnic groups, btw.) The whole evil robotic Asian person out to get you, all math and no emotions? All there, without any attempts at subversion. I think I should be happy that an Asian girl even gets a prominent role with lines and stuff, but I can’t really find it in myself to be charitable. So instead I ended up rooting for the nemesis and constantly reimagine everything from Jessica’s point-of-view. That was how I managed to finish the whole novel and while I did enjoy the novel, I er, didn’t enjoy it for the “right” reasons.

Review: A Wish After Midnight by Zetta Elliott

Title: A Wish After Midnight
Author(s): Zetta Elliott
Genre: YA Urban Historical Fantasy
Page Count: 230
Publisher: Rosetta Press

Summary: Fifteen-year old Genna Colon believes wishes can come true. Frustrated by the drug dealers of her building, her family's cramped apartment, and her inability to compete with the cute girls at school, Genna finds comfort in her dreams of a better future. Almost every day she visits the garden and tosses coins into the fountain, wishing for a different life, a different home, and a different body. Little does she know that her wish will soon be granted: when Genna flees into the garden late one night, she makes a fateful wish and finds herself instantly transported back in time to Civil War-era Brooklyn.
-Summary from backcover

The Review: To say that I love this novel may perhaps been an understatement. But love it I do, and I will probably end up using the word "love" for basically everything I discuss in this review. Just a heads up to the readers that stumble on this blog review. =D Also, I'm kinda enamored with Judah/Genna couple (OTP FOREVA ♥) and er, while I tried to cut down on the OTP gushing to make this review more readable and less fangirly, I get this feeling I was unsuccessful... *DIES*

Okay, let's begin with the setting of Brooklyn. I absolutely love and adore how strong the sense of setting is in this novel. With Elliott's amazing writing talent, she brings Present Day!Brooklyn and Civil War!Brooklyn to life. The city feels tangible and real, and I wished that all urban fantasy could manage this amount of realism with their respective cities.

I also liked how Elliott spent equal time in the Present as in the Civil War Brooklyn. At first, due to the summary, I kept on waiting for the time-travelling to happen, but then Elliott pulls us into this sweet first love story between Judah and Genna and, for me at least, my investment in this couple is one of the many things that helped make everything that happened in the second half just that much more intense. (It kind of reminds me of The Secret Garden in the sense that it builds up slow, but because of this it just brings everything that much more meaning and punch at the climax. Er, actually I'll just link what Neesha Meminger wrote, for she is so much more eloquent than I. ^^; )

Moving on to my darling GENNA. Oh, sweet, level-headed, practical Genna, I was routing for her dreams and wishes all the way through the whole novel. I love how Elliott took the time to really let us get to know Genna before she gets transported back in time. This way we get the chance to really understand Genna as a whole person, with a life and a family and people she cared for, so that when she does get torn away from home, her sharp homesickness and uncertainty about how she'd return just hits us readers in the heart that much more. I especially appreciate how well-developed Genna's family was and the exploration of family interactions. I love reading stories about siblings and parents and stuff, having more than one sibling myself, and Elliott delivers this factor in spades.

I really loved the supporting cast in this novel. Even though not all of their back stories are revealed, I definitely got a strong sense that every single one of the side characters had their own story to tell, i.e. they don't feel like plot devices. As for Judah, I'll be straight up and confess that I love this guy to bits. Yes, I realize this is probably a minority opinion from the way things look in the internet, and it is probably due to his controlling demeanor in the second half. I understand all this, but I don't care, TEAM JUDAH ALL THE WAY. Judah's got a big heart, is dorkishly sweet (the HAIKU ♥ and his encyclopedia knowledge of everything), and his relationship with Genna makes my heart melt. The accent helps too. *is bricked* He has strong views about what he wants in life, and they do in fact clash with Genna's, but I think that's what makes this couple interesting. I get this sense that they both want things so deeply and passionately, striving relentlessly forward to carve out their future, and combine that with their love that started as a sweet high school crush to the intense longing in the second half and I'm a goner. ♥

(Um, just to put it out there, I do like Paul just fine. He's sweet, flirty and fun though I could have done with less of the Blue! Eyes! descriptions on his attractiveness but I don't really see him ending up with Genna. He is very sweet though and I am fond of him, and I would love to see more of him in the sequel.)

What I also found interesting was Genna's reaction to Civil War!Brooklyn as a 21st century girl. Genna is very much a present day girl with present day views that are extremely different from the commonly accepted and default views found in the U.S. Civil War Era. The issues of race, ethnicity, gender, morality were explored well and isn't treated stereotypically in both Present Day and Civil War Era parts of the novel. I'll try not to be spoilery and just say that I thought her reactions to Mrs. Brant and how they evolved over time was probably one of the most interesting character interactions in the whole novel. In fact, I in general just really appreciated how Elliott shows us readers how Genna grows and changes as she meets more and more people.

lol, all this raving and I haven't even gotten to Elliott's exquisite writing!! Every time I am reminded of the fact that publishers/editors/agents rejected A Wish After Midnight for five years, I just can't wrap my mind around it. It plain boggles me. I can't understand how people can turn down A Wish After Midnight after just trying one paragraph of this novel. You know what? Since I'm basically incoherent and can't talk about this aspect of the novel properly, I shall just quote a passage. (Gratuitously Judah/Genna because I can't help myself):

"You know what a haiku is, Genna?" Judah presses a small piece of paper into my palm and walks on ahead with Tyjuan. I trail behind, wanting to be alone. I stop in front of the purple irises growing next to the pond and open Judah's note. At first I feel disappointed 'cause there are only a few words written inside. But then I read them and my eyes fill up with water and my heart aches with that sweet kind of pain, and I wonder if I'm always going to feel this way whenever someone does something nice for me. Inside the note is a poem. Judah has given me these words:

my love is the sun
and you are a blue lotus
turning towards me
(pg. 55)

Guuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh~~~ ♥ Everyone, go and order a copy now. You won't regret this decision. =D

Rating: 5/5
Enjoyment: 100% ♥

Title and Cover Discussion: You know, I actually don't know how to approach this part of my review? I mean, I don't find our Wish title particularly grabbing, but the more I look at it the more it fits? It might not be a title that makes readers go HOMG MUST READ but it just works so incredibly well with the story. I guess it's like those songs you hear on the radio that you didn't really like at first but the more you hear it the more you like it, lol. Same with the cover. (Though I'm biased since I love pink *is bricked*) It's not like the Shiny YA novel covers I'm used to, but the more I see it the more I like it. Hence, I'm going to wuss out on the rating thing since I'm at loss. Instead I'm going to ask: what do you readers think of the cover and title? I'd like to hear and share opinions/thoughts, etc, along with the novel discussion, of course. =D

Review: Book of a Thousand Days by Shannon Hale

...my schedule is fairly much going down the drain. But hey, this is my first normal review, so yay?! =D




Title: Book of a Thousand Days
Author(s): Shannon Hale
Genre: YA Fantasy Fairy Tale Retelling
Page Count: 306
Publisher: Bloomsbury

Summary: When Lady Saren refuses to marry a man she fears, she and her maid, Dashti, are locked in a tower with just a tiny flap open to the outside world. As food runs low and the weather changes from broiling hot to unbearably cold, it is all Dashti can do to make them comfortable in their dark prison.
Not long after their confinement begins, Saren's suitors arrive-one welcom, the other less so-and she orders Dashti to speak to them. Impersonating Lady Saren is a crime punishable by death, but Dashti will have to play the role many times if she is to save them both from the tower and the dangers outisde. As she takes control of their desperate situation, Dashti begins to understand her own astonishing talents and believe that even a low-born maid can find true love.

The Review: First off, this is the first time I ever came across a YA fairy tale novel retelling that wasn't set in Europe. Can I say LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT?! And the world was very distinctly Mongolian, from the food they ate to the clothes they wore and just, everything. . ♥ I thought Hale did a very through research, personally. Also helping with the setting is an inclusion of the map in the Bloomsbury USA version, and all the little illustrations inserted all throughout the novel. This novel has a very strong sense of place, a well-grounded setting, and I really appreciate this aspect.

I really enjoyed the diary format of the novel. We get a very strong closed 1st person perspective this way and our narrator Dashti is very sweet and strong-willed and fun to read from. The illustrations drawn in are very effective and flow well with the diary format. In short, no complaints, and very enjoyable writing that flows well and is easy to read.

If I must be critical about this book, it’d be the whole Villainous Evil Characters of Irredeemable Evil. Khasar was evil and even animalistic about his villainy. (Yes, they went there.) Vachir the love rival had no redeeming qualities. Also problematic was how the whole classicism thing was dealt with. I don’t think Hale subverted the princess and the maid dynamic as much as she could have. Saren still, for the most part, held too much commanding power all the way to the end over Dashti for me to really think of their relationship as equals. SPOILERS FOR ENDING (thanks to ninefly for helping me with spoiler tag: [I thought they didn’t challenge the class issue enough with Dashti and Tegus either and the ending really didn’t help matters. Don’t get me wrong, I loved the ending and was really happy that Dashti and Tegus ended up together at the end but on retrospect it was still problematic. I mean, the reason why Dashti was able to be Tegus’ bride was by becoming gentry herself. In other words, she must change her status as mucker, a very essential part of her identity, in order to marry him. That does not send out a particularly positive message nor subvert classicism problems, so. =/]

The romance between our heroine and the requisite prince is adorable and sweet as required out of the fairytale. I will not lie, while reading the book, towards the end I was like “I do not CARE what unrealistic deus ex machina move they pull, TEGUS AND DASHTI MUST END UP TOGETHER AND GET MARRIED, DAMNIT.” I don’t think it’s particularly spoilery on my part to admit that this fairy tale retelling gave us our Happily Ever After in spades.

Anyhow, this is a lush, beautiful fairy tale retelling set in a fantastical Ancient Mongolian universe that will deliver on all the troupes that every fairy tale must have yet exploring the vast and fascinating world and the characters in ways only the length of a novel can allow. Highly recommended for those who love their fairy tales that aren't whitewashed ♥

Rating: 3.5/5
Enjoyment 90%

Title and Cover Discussion: I’m not sure how to feel about the title. I mean, on one hand it’s rather eye-catching, but on the other if we calculate the days it wasn’t exactly a thousand days. (It’s 1110 if we want to be exact.) But hey, in history we often aren’t exact about numbers either, so I don’t begrudge that. (The Hundred Year War wasn’t for a hundred years, the 300 spartans wasn’t exactly 300, etc etc) Also, the cover I received was the Bloomsbury USA paperback one so I got a face on my cover! Which made me really happy, since this may be the only YA fairy tale retelling that had a heroine so blatantly Asian on the cover. So much better than the hardcover, which I noticed it simply showed her hands holding a book. x.x I love the font for the title too and thought it looks really pretty with the cover et all. =D

Title: B
Cover: A++++ (for the paperback. The hardcover version can bite me)

Feature Book of the Month! Shadow Magic: A Review

lol look how I'm keeping to my schedule!!! *is shot*

Title: Shadow Magic
Author(s): Jaida Jones and Danielle Bennett
Genre: Fantasy
Page Count: 387
Publisher: Ballantine Books

Summary: Led to victory by its magic-fueled Dragon Corps, Volstov has sent a delegation to its conquered neighbors to work out the long-awaited terms of peace. Among those sent are the decorated war hero General Alcibiades and the formerly exiled magician Caius Greylace. But even this mismatched pair can’t help but notice that their defeated enemies aren’t being very cooperative.
The truth is even worse than they know. For the new emperor is harbouring a secret even more treacherous—one that will take every trick in Alcibiades’ and Caius’ extensive arsenal to unveil. And once it is revealed, they may still be powerless to stop it.
With their only ally, an exiled prince, now fleeing his brother’s assassins, the countryside rife with treachery and terror, and Alcibiades and Caius all but prisoners, it will take the most powerful, most dangerous kind of magic to heal the rift between two strife-worn lands and unite two peoples against a common enemy… shadow magic.
- Summary from the bookflap.

The Skinny: A luscious, incredible fantasy world brought to life through the amazingly talented Jones and Bennett team. Our heroes will make you laugh, cry, and just care as they go through the turbulent times in post-war Ke-Han. Highly recommended, especially to those fantasy fans looking for something slightly different.

Triple Snapshots: Exclusively Chloe, Silver Phoenix, Secondhand World

Ahaha, so I clearly suck at this updating business...

So, introducing my first feature: Triple Snapsnots. Inspired by Hyper-Parfait's Triple Delights, this feature will contain my scattered thoughts on whatever Three Novels I decide to do a snapshot on for this feature. (The only real reason why it isn't called "delights" is because I can't guarantee I'll always be happy about the novels I'm doing a snapshot of)

1. Exclusively Chloe by J. A. Yang - Just when I thought there was nothing more to offer in the whole asian adoptee storyline, out comes J.A. Yang, who combines this with Celebrity life story, and the combination was pure gold. Asian Adoptee story with minimal angst. Wee~ Also, love Luther and the whole undercover at "normal" school to find long lost relative subplot. I thought Chloe-Grace's friends could have been better fleshed out though. For the whole novel, I felt like they never really went beyond the stock type personality... But this didn't deter me from enjoying the novel, at any rate. =D Highly recced for those who are looking for a YA novel that's light-hearted and fun.

2. Silver Phoenix by Cindy Pon - The one major thing that blew me away in this novel: the ABUNDANT chinese mythology reference. I don't think I've seen so many chinese mythical creatures crammed into one novel. Which, in my books, I say is a great thing because one can never have too many chinese mythical creatures. >D It was a really fast paced read, and the setting was amazingly vivid. Unfortunately, I wasn't really a big fan of the characters. They all felt rather... flat. But I suppose the magic stuff makes up for it. =D Oh! And a random nitpick: I'm not a big fan of the people of this world being referred to as "Xi'an". I look at it, and all I can think of is the actual province (the one w/ the terracotta warriors, etc) that exists in China. But it's not a big deal... Recommended to all fantasy fans who like their mythology, but warning: do NOT read this while hungry. =D =D

3. Secondhand World by Katherine Min - Um... I really didn't get this novel? I don't know, it felt like this story was trying to do so much at once, with the whole marital affair and the romance between Isadora and Hero and the death of the kid brother and... I don't know. All this stuff, it just didn't seem terribly cohesive. And I know that the fire was supposed to be the centrepoint that brings all these storylines together, but for me, it didn't work... And Isadora always felt very distant to me. There'd be brief moments where I feel like I can connect, but for a large part of the novel I didn't get her at all... But I think this may just be one of those It's-Not-You-It's-Me moments. =/ I did like the structure of the novel though, for what it's worth.