Rambling Review: And I Darken

Okay, the next book in this series (Now I Rise) comes out in July, so I was putting off rereading And I Darken until the end of June to get ready for it, but I just noticed it’s currently $1.99 on Kindle so I need to share my love for it RIGHT NOW.

That being said, I’m a little foggy on all the details that make this book great and can’t really remember anything glaring that made it difficult to read.

It’s one of my favorite young adult books out there. I love the opportunity to learn things while reading historical fiction, and Kiersten White gives a great little blurb about her research and the areas she took liberties and tweaked timelines.

I love the imagination behind turning Vlad the Impaler into a woman and exploring what might have been different (and what might have stayed the same). Lada is a beautifully written character, with depth and strength and fierce rejection of her weaknesses. Even though she is rough and hardened, she’s relatable. I could relate to the little girl trying desperately to make her father proud, to the woman afraid of losing herself in love, in the man she loves, to the fighter who refuses to lose sight of her end goals, no matter how hopeless they can seem at times.

It isn’t a light-hearted read. The book explores the dark side of a person’s character. It exposes flaws in heroes and muddies the waters between right and wrong. It’s full of painful sacrifice and selfish choices, hurt and betrayal and love and ambition. It ripped holes in my heart and put the pieces back in ways that weren’t neat and tidy, but satisfying in their “rightness”. For the bright and shiny people, those like my husband, this isn’t the book for you. But if you like books that blur the line between hero and villain, books that spit on your expectations and make you question your own nature, your own response to a hostile world, this book is everything.

Rambling Reviews: These Vicious Masks

Do you like the X-Men series? Do you like Victorian England? If not, this is not the book for you.

If, like me, you are intrigued, then let me tell you about These Vicious Masks by Tarun Shanker and Kelly Zekas.

I became so hooked on the characters and their stories I immediately downloaded the sequel (These Ruthless Deeds) and let me tell you, this series does not disappoint. There are terrifying and clever powers, an explanation for such powers that is plausible yet not overly explained, and interesting characters who wield said powers. You’ve got a heroine who grapples with what it is to be a “hero” (and one might argue she doesn’t quite live up to the title) while stopping at nothing to reunite with her sister. You’ve got a charming suitor and a mysterious, brooding gentleman — Jane Austen would swoon — who trap our heroine in a delicious love triangle. Dangerous escapades and comic misadventures balance well throughout the novel, making for a quick and enjoyable read.

The writing is not flawless, and some things seem to wrap up too neatly, but nothing that sticks out as blaringly awful or even memorable once the story is through.

I adored the ending of the sequel. I won’t say anymore than that because I’ve tried wording my feelings a dozen times and I can’t figure out how to convey my thoughts without somehow spoiling it or creating an expectation that I did not have going into it, so I will leave it at that. It was fascinating.

The first book is $4.22 for paperback, $7.09 on Kindle ($14.89 for both books on Kindle). I highly recommend checking them out!

Rambling Review: Angelfall

Full disclosure right up front: I bought Angelfall by Susan Ee in paperback and it’s been a little while since I’ve read it. However, it’s showing up free on Kindle for Prime members, so I feel justified reviewing it, because even if I might be a little hazy on all the details, I loved this book.

First off, I like the name. Titles are great in that way, aren’t they? This story is about a teenage girl — Penryn — who is trying to keep her family together in post-apocalyptic California. And I mean post-biblical-Apocalypse. Angels have taken over the earth as a battleground with demons, and humans are caught in the middle. Penryn teams up with the [dreamy] angel Raffe to try to save her little sister from the angel’s stronghold. Adventures ensue.

In a literary fantasy world filled with vampires and werewolves and witches, it was refreshing to find a story with similar themes, but with angels instead of the other more typical mythical creatures. The descriptions of the angels and explanations of the world Susan Ee created are well-done and believable. And that Raffe — gotta love a vulnerable, sexy angel with a vendetta and a great backstory. Both he and Penryn grow as characters throughout the book and the series. The other characters, like Penryn’s mom especially, are well-written, too.

The writing is a little choppy, at least in the beginning. Never enough to frustrate me, but I do remember thinking there were parts that weren’t very well-written. That being said, the story is phenomenal and well worth forgiving any awkward phrasing.

If you are not a Prime member, Angelfall is $4.00 on Kindle, $6.69 for paperback (and like $18 for the series). It’s well worth the price for either, in my opinion.

Let me know what you think in the comments if you decide to check it out!

Rambling Reviews

A friend of mine had the great idea that I should include book reviews on my blog. Great as in, I love to read, I love to tell people about great books I’ve read, and I love the excuse to read more. I’m not so sure about the actual “review” part; writing carefully thought-out and constructive feedback has been a struggle for me as far back as my creative writing workshops in college. Either I fall into a story or I don’t. There are plenty of things that can pull me out of a story (not connecting to the characters enough, not interested in the plot enough, poor writing/bad mechanics), but a good story is so seamless all I’m left with at the end is impressions and adoration and all the beautiful, painful feelings art is meant to elicit.

She also asked if I’d read any of the Kindle books that are offered free, and if I thought they were any good. So here’s my plan: I’ve picked a few out that seem interesting, and I’ll write about what I think.

A few things to know about me (because what strikes me as fantastic — or not so much — is not necessarily guaranteed to knock your socks off — or ruin your day –just because it did for me):

I really like young adult fiction. YA is my favorite, because they deal with the struggles of finding your place in the world and growing up and making tough choices to find out who you really are. They’re more relatable (relateable? Why is spell check insisting this isn’t a word?) to me, even as a twenty-something.

Other genres I prefer are historical fiction (because I like learning history while I read) and mysteries/thrillers. I’m not as big on horror or sci fi/fantasy (except it seems a ton of YA fiction these days is somehow fantastical, and I haven’t hated it). I do not like non-fiction. Sorry about it. I prefer my lessons learned through fictional characters.

As a writer myself, I notice the mechanics of writing at the beginning. For some people, the writing itself isn’t as noticeable or important. For me, it can be distracting. If it’s a great story, I won’t notice anything but the characters and plot and setting after the first few pages. If halfway through the book I’m still mentally editing, it’s hard to stick with. I will say, I believe almost every book that’s started deserves the chance to be finished. I’ve only ever given up completely on two books, and only because the writing was so distracting.

OK, so if you’re looking for some reading suggestions and think my recommendations may be worth reading, stay tuned for my thoughts. I doubt I’ll be following any set “review template,” but I’ll try to include in each post why I chose the book, what my overall impression was before and after, and anything that really stuck out to me. I hope you enjoy!