Review: The Assassin's Curse by Cassandra Rose Clarke

Ananna of the Tanarau abandons ship when her parents try to marry her off to an allying pirate clan: she wants to captain her own boat, not serve as second-in-command to her handsome yet clueless fiance. But her escape has dire consequences when she learns the scorned clan has sent an assassin after her. 

And when the assassin, Naji, finally catches up with her, things get even worse. Ananna inadvertently triggers a nasty curse — with a life-altering result. Now Ananna and Naji are forced to become uneasy allies as they work together to break the curse and return their lives back to normal. Or at least as normal as the lives of a pirate and an assassin can be.

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I'll start by saying that I love this novel's cover... Right off the bat, it was clear this novel would deal with both assassins and pirates, which for me, means a definite read. For me, this is one of those situations where it is more than okay to judge a book by its cover!

I really, really enjoyed the premise of The Assassin's Curse. Ananna, a young pirate, is on the run, avoiding an arranged marriage that would, more or less, make her her husband's property and effectively dash all her hopes and dreams of captaining her own ship and exploring the world on her own terms. Her husband-to-be's family doesn't take kindly to her escape and sends an assassin after her. Things take an unexpected turn, however, when Ananna saves Naji, the assassin, waking an impossible curse that ties the two together, making them unlikely, and unhappy, allies.

The novel follows the two characters as they traverse deserts, oceans, and islands in search of people that might be able to help them break the impossible curse. Along the way, the characters discover that neither is quite what they appear at first glance.

One of the most unique aspects of The Assassin's Curse was Ananna's speech. At first, her use of ain't and other obviously improper grammar and words stuck out like a sore thumb, but eventually my mind no longer stumbled and her speech patterns simply became a part of her character. I don't feel like I've seen this tactic used very often in YA fantasy lately and I appreciated the smaller details, like Ananna's language differences, that Cassandra Rose Clarke incorporated into the novel. 

I also loved the epic feel to this rather short novel. Ananna and Naji travel great distances (across a desert and an ocean) in search of experts who can shed some light on breaking an impossible curse, which, as the name implies, is no small feat. I liked both characters had time to shine throughout the novel - Ananna knows the sea and Naji is of the desert, so both showed both strength and weakness during the journey. This definitely allowed me to appreciate both characters for their own strengths as well as illustrated their individual weaknesses.

The one aspect of the novel that I didn't completely enjoy was the romance. I really liked the idea of Ananna and Naji growing to respect and, eventually, develop feelings for one another, but I never felt that Naji was very deserving of Ananna's feelings. He seemed very shallow at times and I couldn't help but feel that Ananna deserved someone who respected and appreciated her more. After all, all this began because she was trying to escape an unfair marriage, why would she settle now?

I can't wait to read the second book in this trilogy, The Pirate's Wish. I'm really hoping Naji matures in this second book and am excited to see where their quest takes these two characters next!

Strange Chemistry, October 2012, Paperback, ISBN: 9781908844019, 320 pgs.

Review: Hollow Earth by John Barrowman & Carole E. Barrowman

Imagination matters most in a world where art can keep monsters trapped—or set them free. Lots of twins have a special connection, but twelve-year-old Matt and Emily Calder can do way more than finish each other’s sentences. Together, they are able to bring art to life and enter paintings at will. Their extraordinary abilities are highly sought after, particularly by a secret group who want to access the terrors called Hollow Earth. All the demons, devils, and evil creatures ever imagined are trapped for eternity in the world of Hollow Earth—trapped unless special powers release them.

The twins flee from London to a remote island off the west coast of Scotland in hopes of escaping their pursuers and gaining the protection of their grandfather, who has powers of his own. But the villains will stop at nothing to find Hollow Earth and harness the powers within. With so much at stake, nowhere is safe—and survival might be a fantasy.

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I picked up Hollow Earth because I loved the cover. Upon closer inspection, I was pleasantly surprised to discover that it features twins... to be more exact, magic wielding twins who can manipulate artwork. I wasn't aware until after I'd read the novel (and absolutely adored it) that the half of the brother-sister author duo, John Barrowman, is well-known among Dr. Who and Torchwood fans from his role as Captain Jack Harkness. The remaining half of this writing team, Carole E. Barrowman, may also be familiar, as she has authored five other book with John before Hollow Earth. 

This book reminded me, in a very good way, of Lisa McMann's The Unwanteds. Both books focus on creativity and art as a means to combat dark forces and feature twins. Though the two books do have these themes in common, the execution and characters in Hollow Earth are unique... I never felt myself confusing details or characters and I wasn't left with the impression that I'd read the story before.

Hollow Earth is nearly 400 pages long, but is an extremely quick read. The action was non-stop and the details and explanations about the magical gift the twins share never bogged down the pace of the novel. 

The title of the novel refers to the place where the dark, evil creatures of the world are banished, a place that few can access. Among those that have the ability to open Hollow Earth are, of course, the twins, making them a target for those who would use their power for their own nefarious gain. The stakes are high for Matt and Emily Calder: they must learn how to control and use their powers for good before they're forced to use them for evil.

I highly recommend Hollow Earth to both MG and YA readers. It's a quick, satisfying read that left me anxious for book two, Bone Quill.

Aladdin, October 2012, Hardcover, ISBN: 9780385741293, 381 pgs.

Review: The Keeper of the Lost Cities by Shannon Messenger

Twelve-year-old Sophie Foster has a secret. She’s a Telepath—someone who hears the thoughts of everyone around her. It’s a talent she’s never known how to explain.

Everything changes the day she meets Fitz, a mysterious boy who appears out of nowhere and also reads minds. She discovers there’s a place she does belong, and that staying with her family will place her in grave danger. In the blink of an eye, Sophie is forced to leave behind everything and start a new life in a place that is vastly different from anything she has ever known.

Sophie has new rules to learn and new skills to master, and not everyone is thrilled that she has come “home.” There are secrets buried deep in Sophie’s memory—secrets about who she really is and why she was hidden among humans—that other people desperately want. Would even kill for.

In this page-turning debut, Shannon Messenger creates a riveting story where one girl must figure out why she is the key to her brand-new world, before the wrong person finds the answer first.

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I picked up Shannon Messenger's Keeper of the Lost Cities with high expectations. Not only had a heard very positive things about this specific novel, reviewers and readers seemed to extremely excited about her YA offering, Let the Sky Fall. I still haven't read Let the Sky Fall, but I really enjoyed this first installment of the Lost Cities books.

My favorite aspect of Keeper of the Lost Cities is the treatment of the characters. For the most part, the reader only knows as much about the characters as the main character, Sophie, who is naive due to both age and because much of her memory has been blocked by an unknown source. Sophie and, therefore, the reader, are never quite sure who can be trusted or what motivates the other characters in the novel. This novel is full of secrets, some harmless and some dangerous, but it's hard to determine which are which.

I also adored the entire concept of the "lost" cities, like Atlantis. In Keeper of the Lost Cities the places and beings that are considered fantastical myths by humans are actually real and kept hidden from prying humans. In this first book readers only get fleeting glimpses at these places, but I'm hopeful more in-depth exploration will occur in future installments. 

Though, for the most part, I liked Keeper of the Lost Cities, I did take issue with a few elements, especially those that seemed a bit too similar to the world of Harry Potter. I'm not saying that I have a huge problem with Messenger drawing inspiration from another fictional world - there weren't any exact parallels or anything like that, it was more the feel or spirit of the ideas - but I just didn't feel like some of things were executed well. For example, Sophie describes the food and medicine in these lost cities as candy-like and sweet. While these details were probably meant to be fun, I didn't feel that they were all that genuine or necessary. In fact, I found them quite distracting! Sometimes it just felt like the novel was trying too hard to be something else, when it would have been wonderful as itself!

I'm looking forward to the next book in this series, Exile, which is due out October 2013!

Aladdin, October 2012, Hardcover, ISBN:  9781442445932, 496 pages.

 

   

     
   

 
 
 

Review: Blind Spot by Laura Ellen

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There’s none so blind as they that won’t see. 

Seventeen-year-old Tricia Farni’s body floated to the surface of Alaska’s Birch River six months after the night she disappeared. The night Roz Hart had a fight with her. The night Roz can’t remember. Roz, who struggles with macular degeneration, is used to assembling fragments to make sense of the world around her. But this time it’s her memory that needs piecing together—to clear her name . . . to find a murderer. 

This unflinchingly emotional novel is written in the powerful first-person voice of a legally blind teen who just wants to be like everyone else.

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I'm just going to come out with it: This book made me angry. Like, throw-the-book-across-the-room-and-glare-at-it angry. But, in an effort to calm myself, I'll start with what I actually liked about Blind Spot.

The main character, Roz, suffers from macular degeneration, leaving her legally blind. She constantly struggles to make up for this deficit as she maneuvers her way through high school, but her eyesight is, unsurprisingly, always on her mind, making her self-conscious and lowering her self-esteem. Constantly frustrated from feeling helpless and out of her element in many situation while still wanting to be able to handle everything herself and without help, Roz has a tendency to jump to conclusions and snap at those around her, even those with the best intentions. This aspect of the novel felt very realistic to me. My younger sister was born with glaucoma and I think she'd identify closely with Roz. I can't say what goes on inside my sister's head, but I do know how she reacted to things when she was in high school and, from my point of view, Roz had similar reactions and thoughts. In the novel, Roz points out that people don't realize how poor her vision is and are constantly asking why she doesn't just get glasses. She can't drive and isn't able to play sports because she's a liability. These are all things my sister struggled with. Also like Roz, my sister could be a bit angry. She didn't like wearing her glasses, which improved her vision but left her feeling dorky and unattractive (which is not fun for anyone, let alone a high school-aged girl), and new situations were extremely stressful because she couldn't see to figure things out. 

This is where the similarities between my sister and Roz end, right along with my positive feelings regarding Blind Spot. My biggest issue? I absolutely loathed all of the characters. Okay, that might be a bit dramatic... there were a few secondary characters that weren't mentioned enough to warrant such strong feelings. Still, when I can't stand any of the main characters, it makes it hard to want to keep reading. I just felt like I couldn't escape the negativity! I feel like I'm uniquely qualified to understand and handle Roz and her moodiness, but her self-centeredness and hurtful ways pushed me over the edge. The teachers, the police, Roz's friends, her mother, her boyfriend: all horrible, mean people motivated by self-interest and unwilling to see things from any point of view other than their own. I know it's a strong word, but I was truly disgusted. Realistically,  I know that there are people like this in real life, people that let power go to their head, etc, etc, but to have an entire novel populated with them was too much for me. I will say that I actually did enjoy the character Tricia, but she's dead from the first page, so it's hard to tell if my positive feelings would have lasted. Tricia, however, was the only character who, though monumentally messed up, actually seemed to do some genuinely nice, even protective, things for Roz without expecting anything in return.

I have to admit though, I don't really know whether my strong negative feelings were necessarily a bad thing. Yes, I said I was disgusted and unhappy and wanted to stop reading, BUT I didn't. And I keep telling everyone about this book and the messed up characters... So maybe the author, Laura Ellen, meant for her characters to be disliked. Or maybe she didn't mean for it to happen, but it still isn't the worst thing that could have happened. I suppose having no opinion of the characters or easily forgetting them would be even worse than hating them. It's hard for me to accept that, at least in this case, hating a book or characters might actually be a good thing rather than a bad thing.

Despite being very unhappy with pretty much all of the characters, I kept reading because I really wanted to know what happened to Tricia. It really bothered me that the one person who wasn't completely horrible ended up dead and I had to know what happened to her. I finished the final pages feeling pretty unsatisfied and upset, but Blind Spot hasn't been far from my mind since and I'm still trying to sort out my feelings.

In conclusion, I want to tell you to read this book. And avoid it. I can't decide. I want to know what you all think, but I also don't want you to feel so ripped apart and frustrated by what you'll find inside. I suppose you'll just have to read at your own risk.

Harcourt Children's Books, October 2012, Hardcover, ISBN: 9780547763446, 336 pages.

Interview: Robin Bridges (The Unfailing Light Blog Tour)

Today the fabulous Robin Bridges is at The Hiding Spot to promote her new novel, the sequel to The Gathering Storm! Find out more about Robin, The Gathering Storm, and The Unfailing Light below!

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Has the title changed or stayed relatively the same as your novel journeyed towards publication? 

The title for Book Two, The Unfailing Light, never changed. The original title for the first book was “Forestalling the Morning,” named for an Orthodox chant, much like The Unfailing Light. The first book was also titled “Tempest” for a period, before changing again to “The Gathering Storm.” 

What book or author has most influenced you as a writer or in general? 

Before I start a new story, I love to reread Stephen King’s book On Writing. It’s kinda like getting a pep talk before the big game." 

What jobs did you have on your way to becoming a writer/published author? Is there a certain work experience that has shaped your writing? 

I’ve been a grocery store cashier, a concession stand cashier, a secretary, a reading teacher, a nursing assistant, and a nurse. I think I’ve written characters who have held each of these positions at some point or another. Except the concession stand cashier. Hmmm. 

If you had to pick a favorite word, what would it be and why? 

Thaumaturgic. It means “performing miracles.” I also like the word “shigella”. More for the sound of it though, than for its meaning. 

My blog is dedicated to my personal hiding spot, books. Who, what, or where can be credited as your personal escape from reality? 

I love to escape into books too! I have a paperback or my Ipad in my purse at all times. (More than likely both.)

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More about The Unfailing Light:

Having had no choice but to use her power has a necromancer to save Russia from dark forces, Katerina Alexandrovna, Duchess of Oldenburg, now wants to forget that she ever used her special powers. She's about to set off to pursue her lifelong dream of attending medical school when she discovers that Russia's arch nemesis--who she thought she'd destroyed--is still alive. So on imperial orders, Katerina remains at her old finishing school. She'll be safe there, because the empress has cast a potent spell to protect it against the vampires and revenants who are bent on toppling the tsar and using Katerina for their own gains. But to Katerina's horror, the spell unleashes a vengeful ghost within the school, a ghost more dangerous than any creature trying to get in.

If you haven't read Robin's first book, The Gathering Storm, I recommend you check out the fantastic book trailer below:

Be sure to check out the rest of the Blog Tour as well, which goes through Oct. 20th:

October 1^st: Mom Reads My Books

October 2^nd: Magical Urban Fantasy Reads

October 2^nd: The Book Review Club

October 3^rd: The Book Review Club

Waiting on Wednesday: Dark Star

Waiting on Wednesday is hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine!

Dark Star
Bethany Frenette
Hyperion/10.23.2012

Audrey Whitticomb has nothing to fear. Her mother is the superhero Morning Star, the most deadly crime-fighter in the Twin Cities, so it’s hard for Audrey not to feel safe. That is, until she’s lured into the sweet night air by something human and not human—something with talons and teeth, and a wide, scarlet smile. 

Now Audrey knows the truth: her mom doesn’t fight crime at night. She fights Harrowers—livid, merciless beings who were trapped Beneath eons ago. Yet some have managed to escape. And they want Audrey dead, just because of who she is: one of the Kin. 

To survive, Audrey will need to sharpen the powers she has always had. When she gets close to someone, dark corners of the person’s memories become her own, and she sometimes even glimpses the future. If Audrey could only get close to Patrick Tigue, a powerful Harrower masquerading as human, she could use her Knowing to discover the Harrowers’ next move. But Leon, her mother’s bossy, infuriatingly attractive sidekick, has other ideas. Lately, he won’t let Audrey out of his sight. 

When an unthinkable betrayal puts Minneapolis in terrible danger, Audrey discovers a wild, untamed power within herself. It may be the key to saving her herself, her family, and her city. Or it may be the force that destroys everything—and everyone—she loves.

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This description is interesting... 


It has so much going on that I feel like I need to read the book, if only just to figure out what's going on. I mean, what is this world like that it's not odd to have a superhero mother named Morning Star, but it is weird to fight creatures called Harrowers and be something called Kin? 


Very interesting indeed... I'm looking forward to this one!