Cruel, but Not Quite Beautiful

The tale of Beauty and the Beast is one we all recognize. It has been told, retold, reworked, and completely reimagined. Rosamund Hodge decided to reimagine a classic in a way that makes a world-known story completely unique in Cruel Beauty. 

Nyx was told her purpose at the age of nine. She was to marry the Gentle Lord and then kill him. Killing him would avenge her mother's death and release the curse upon Arcadia. The demons that drive people to madness would retreat, and they could live again. They could be whole again. She should have accepted her sacrifice gracefully, but she always resented her sister for being the protected twin. Meanwhile, Nyx watched her father and aunt grow closer, watched her optimistic sister swear Nyx would be successful and then return to them, and watched her 17th birthday grow closer. 

When she is finally wed to the lord, who never leaves his castle, she enters the building ready to follow through with her purpose. Unfortunately, the lord is two steps ahead of her and disarms her. Then he promptly warns her not to start roaming around the castle at will. Certain rooms are permitted, but the remainder of the castle is off-limits. Never one to listen to what people tell her to do, Nyx starts her search to find the four Hermetic Hearts that will help her control the magic. In her journeys, she realizes the lord's servant, Shade, is more than mere shadows and demon, he is trapped in the castle just as she is, and she vows to release him as well when she kills the Gentle Lord. Nyx was raised for this purpose, but there is much she doesn't know about the world she lives in. 

Well, this was certainly a different twist on the old Beauty and the Beast story, that's for sure. Unfortunately, I am not sure I really liked it. The connection to the fairy tale is minimal at best, which would have been fine, but the story was incredibly confusing. I just didn't know what was really happening a lot of the time. And the ending totally confused me, on top of the fact it was really rushed. The whole story was just so complex and confusing, I really struggled with it. I don't think I would give this story to many of my students- maybe only those incredibly strong readers who love Lord of the Rings and other complex story lines. 

One thing I did love was Nyx. All too often we read those stories about a girl forced into these situations who just accepts her fate, no matter how miserable and outrageous it might be. Not Nyx! She rages against her aunt, her father, even her sister, who she can't seem to reconcile her love for with her jealousy over. I liked the fact that Nyx knew this was bogus and wasn't afraid to play with the emotions of those she felt were responsible for her horribly unjust future. I liked that she was a girl who wasn't afraid to fight back and wanted to find the answer at all costs. I think Nyx is the redeeming factor of this story. Still, it was so incredibly confusing at times (not all the time!) that I just lost interest and had to force myself to keep going. Even my love for Nyx couldn't pull me back in. That made it a tough story for me to finish, let alone like!

The Series Everyone Must Read

The sordid, complex story of Quintana and Froi continues in Quintana of Charyn by Melina Marchetta. While one kingdom has begun rebuilding, another is struggling to overcome the curse that left them without the ability to have children. However, the very breakers of the curse are the least likely to create hope amongst the broken people of Charyn... unless those people truly knew them, of course.

Froi was just a criminal from Sarnak and Quintana was a savage, mad princess from Charyn, but together they came together and created the first innocent, beautiful creation that had ever come from two tortured and disturbed souls: the baby Quintana is carrying. That baby is the first baby to be born to Charyn since the curse of the weeping began and Charyn's babies were taken from their mother's wombs. Now, knowing a little prince grows inside his mad mother, every person in all of the land hunts for his mother: some to protect her, some to kill her and claim the babe for their own, but only one because he loves her, even if Froi can barely admit it to himself. 

However, the hunt is in the middle of trying times where Finnikin and Isaboe are trying desperately to rebuild Lumatere after the Charyn invasion and curse split their kingdom. Charyn is in the middle of a bloody, desperate power struggle. Even Froi himself is split between the Lumaterians he loves and the Charynites he belongs to. But one thing is for sure, and that is that Quintana is the least "queenly" person to be at the center of it all. Even the women protecting her think she is a cruel, savage girl... at first. The more Quintana's life and decisions come to light, the more people see a woman of true sacrifice before them. It might be shrouded in a rat's nest of hair, wolfish teeth, and a savage grimace, but Quintana and Froi have created a true little king, and as the world's most unlikely couple, they will do anything to protect him. With very bad men out to take the little king, this is a feat like no other, but unlikely allies crop up everywhere. Even where you least expect them. And together, they have the opportunity to rebuild all kingdoms, regardless of how destroyed and demoralized they have become at the hands of those with too much powerful and too much corruption.

I want to weep. I actually want to cry, pound my fists on the floor, and scream knowing this is the final Lumatere story. I can't believe it is over. There is some kind of magic that Marchetta weaves with each of these stories that just takes over your life and makes you unable to imagine a life without them. I am devastated to think that I will not have more of Froi, Isaboe, Finn, Phaedra, Lucian, and even Quintana in my life. They truly transformed a simple reading experience into something so special and magical that I find it hard to locate the words that will actually do it justice. 

There was something so beautiful and bittersweet about Froi and Quintana, that by describing them, I cannot do them justice. I am sure, if you haven't read these books yourself, you think they are the most unlikely "heroes" to ever grace the pages, but you would be wrong. It is their flaws, either the wrongs they have survived and prevented for others, their very savage nature, or even the fierceness with which they react to those threatening their interests, that make them so beautiful. These two have lived through such horrors, and neither should ever be able to trust after the way they both separately grew up. But these characters are so deep and dynamic, that they become REAL with each page, and, in all their flawed glory, you will find yourself loving them as much as I did. 

As a conclusion, there was an important piece to Marchetta's final story: the final 100 pages. Any uninvested author or punchy editor/publisher might not have allowed a story to continue for 100 pages in order to fully explore the story after the final apex, but not Marchetta. She took her time in order to do these characters and their stories justice. And justice you have. There is no way to complete this story and not be more than satisfied. In fact, if you have come this far, you are just as devastated to lose this series as I am. I feel like Marchetta just finished the series that will undoubtedly be the "classic trilogy" we will be reading to our grandchildren the same way they are being read the Lord of the Rings or Harry Potter series now. She is going to be one of those authors who is revered for generations to come, because you cannot write a truly perfect series such as the Lumatere Chronicles and not go down in the history books. And thank you, Ms. Marchetta, for bringing these characters and their stories to our shelves. We promise to cherish their stories for years to come!

A Moment of Silence in the Face of Fantasy Greatness

It is no surprise that Melina Marchetta would write an amazing follow-up to Finnikin of the Rock. It IS surprising to me that I could love a book as much, if not more, than I loved Finnikin. Froi of the Exiles is a continuation of Finnikin and Isaboe's story as their faithful Froi heads into Charyn to do what he does best- eliminate any danger to Lumatere.

Charynites are flooding into the valley under the Lumaterian Monts to escape their tyrannical king. Unfortunately, having just come out of years of terror, curses, and exile at the hands of Charynites, the Lumaterians are uncomfortable having the very people who tortured and raped and exiled them in their backyard. But there is a very big difference between the refugees and the people who held Lumatere captive. These Charynites are just as terrified of their king as Queen Isaboe and Finnikin are. Being the queen she is, Isaboe decides to send Froi, the boy who once tried to rape her and she once saved from slavery, to assassinate the king. When Charyn's curse is revealed, no child has been born since the princess Quintana 15 years ago, Froi is sent in as one of the last born boys. As Quintana claims to be the key to breaking the curse by bearing the first child, a child to be fathered by a last born boy, she is also fear... and ridiculed.

Quintana, daughter of the king's mistress, is forced to be intimate with every last born boy in the hopes of breaking the curse. Froi doesn't know what to expect from a girl of such a history, but when he meets her, he can't believe this is the princess talked about across the lands. She is a mess. Ratty hair, the same ugly, ill-fitting gown every day, odd behavior, and quite frankly, she is one step from total and complete madness. Froi should be disgusted, but there is something about this young woman who refers to herself as the "whore of Charyn". In playing his role as a last born, Froi learns more and more about Quintana as well as deeper and deeper layers into the mysteries of Charyn. The job he thought would be a relatively simple assassination quickly becomes a mystical and twisted tale he is closer to than he ever thought possible. With political instability on the horizon, invaders ready to storm the country, and traitors working from within the very castle they are supposed to protect, what chance does Froi have to remain detached?

This story left me speechless. And quite honestly, very little leaves me speechless! It was phenomenal. 10 stars out of 5. Beyond all expectations. Best book I have read since Finnikin. And I do not hyperbolize here. Marchetta is a genius. I have often thought of writing a book, but I fear after reading this book, the intimidation factor is just too great. How could I ever enter a genre where something like this is written?? But setting my star-struck, jaw-agape fascination, I can't tell you enough how brilliant this author and this series is. It defies all boundaries of greatness and Marchetta will be talked about a century from now. Mark my words- this series will be the new Lord of the Rings. It will be revered and passed on for decades.

The series is very, very mature. It is complex and intricate. It deals with terrifying situations and the evilness that has such a root in the human race. Stories are intertwined and confusing at first, but in the end, you will be left as floored as I was. I think Froi was always an interesting character for me, especially since he tried to rape Isaboe (before he knew she was the queen) and she forgave him. Now he is her most trusted companion besides her husband. How could you love this man? This book will make you not only love him, but respect him as well. His dealings with Quintana are funny and petulant at times, but they are amazing and transformative. And Quintana? This is a girl you think is crazy, brilliant, sad, brave, pitiful, exceptional, and everything in between. You are horrified by how she acts but then you see all she takes on to protect the nameless girls in her kingdom. It is such a tumultuous experience, you will finish this book and never be the same. But you will never forget Quintana and Froi either. Luckily... there is a third book! So here is to Quintana of Charyn! I can't wait.

Persephone Packs a Punch

Everyone knows the story of Hades and Persephone. A girl tricked by the God of the Underworld to spend half the year in his domain, and half the year she can escape. But Brodi Ashton takes the story further in Everneath by exploring the daughters of Persephone and the hell they live... literally.

Nikki disappeared six months ago, but for her it was like 100 years. She barely escaped the underworld and Cole, the Everliving who wants to join with her and take over the Underworld. But the escape wasn't the end of it. Returning to her life isn't as easy as one would think. Everyone moved on from her disappearance... everyone except Jack, Nikki's boyfriend before she left who has never stopped searching for her. Incidentally, Jack is the one wisp of a memory she didn't lose in the Underworld and what allowed her connection to earth to help her return.

While Nikki just wants to stay, she knows there is an end to her time on earth. She can either return with Cole and rule, but that requires her to become an Everliving who feeds off souls to remain immortal, or she can give herself to the Tunnels, where her very essence is drained away. After spending more time with Jack, Nikki isn't sure which choice is best, but she does know one thing- the last thing she wants to do is to hurt Jack again.

This was a truly unique spin off the Hades and Persephone myth that didn't deal with them directly, but rather their "offspring" embodied. It was a little difficult to follow in the very beginning, in particular in regards to Jack and Cole. At first, I though Cole might be a guy that, while being a soul sucking rocker, might actually be OK for Nikki since he loved her so much. And at first, Jack was painted as a cheating turd who caused her to seek Cole in the first place. But then more and more of the story was revealed and I wanted to beat Cole with his own guitar and write a cheesy love song for the adorable Jack! It was a great transformation that kept me intrigued throughout the entire book. This might seem like a love triangle, but there isn't much competition both before when you think Cole might be OK and hate Jack and after when you love Jack. I think a love triangle has to have two possible love interests, but there really is only one good guy and one turd each time. 

This is a good story for any kid interested in mythology. despite being based on Greek Gods, there is some Egyptian mythology inserted with the idea of the five pieces of a person. It was a really interesting spin off classic mythology, and I think it would hold the attention of many students. The beginning is a little "wispy" and confusing, but eventually you get enough of the story to understand as the pieces are slowly revealed. I look forward to seeing where the series goes, because the end of this book definitely leaves you wanting more!

Brilliant Short Prequel

When you read a story, sometimes there are characters who are important, but not enough to take center stage. They lack in development in order to keep the pace of the story, but are certainly the focus of intrigue. This is how I felt about Alodia, the crowned princess in Rae Carson's Girl of Fire and Thorns, and what made me so interested in this short prequel story, The Shadow Cats.

Alodia may be the crowned princess, the one who will run her kingdom someday, but her sister, her ineffectual, frumpy sister Elisa is the one everyone talks about because of her Godstone (given to her by God and will lead her to greatness). Alodia resents the undeserved attention Elisa is afforded, but that doesn't make her shirk her duties. When she travels to a distant province within her kingdom, she finds a town suffering a curse that leaves the ground unable to sustain a harvest and people on the verge of starvation. When the conde tells her a mystical jaguar is the carrier of the curse, Alodia has no time for rumors and superstition. She is a princess who isn't afraid to put away her skirts and travel into the thick jungle to save her people. Elisa might be chosen by God for greatness, but Alodia makes her own choices and she chooses greatness.

This was a phenomenal prequel story that really gave us a glimpse into the life of Alodia. I always wondered about this sister of Elisa, since Girl of Fire and Thorns was all about Elisa. Alodia bore the whole responsibility of her people, but Elisa was just handed the glory, she never earned anything. I think Carson did a good job by releasing this story to not only keep us biding our time for the next book in the series, but also to give us another perspective and more insight into the relationship between these two sisters. And although the story is about Alodia, the presence of Elisa makes you understand the girl and her Godstone even better! This is a must for anyone who started reading this series!

Ending in Rapture

A conclusion to a well-loved series is tough. You know how you want things to end, so the ending has the dangerous tendency to be predictable, which is always disappointing. Or the author could do something completely unpredictable, but what if it kills your favorite character or means the girl ends up with the wrong guy? Then you are just ticked off that you bothered to even read the whole bloody series in the first place. But sometimes, just sometimes, an author can do something magical. They can do something unexpected and still make you happy. Difficult to accomplish? Absolutely. Phenomenal experience? You bet your rump it is! Well, Lauren Kate didn't disappoint with Rapture, the final book in the Fallen series... Not by a long shot.

Now that Luce has seen the beauty and the horror of all her many lives of falling in love with Daniel and then her immediate destruction, she knows the consequences and she still loves Daniel. But Lucifer won't let them accomplish their one true desire: to end the curse and finally be together as they have always wanted to be. Lucifer decides to start the Fall again, to erase thousands of years, not only of Luce and Daniel's love for each other, but also of the rest of the world's evolution. By starting the Fall anew, the angels must again choose between the Throne (God) and Lucifer (Hell). But the consequences will be catastrophic.

Daniel knows that there are three relics in the world that might lead them to the path where the Fall is to begin. If they can find these three relics and locate the place where the original Fall took place, they might be able to stop Lucifer before he follows through with his mad plan. But the relics haven't been seen for generations, centuries, and locating them is only half the battle. With only a little over a week to stop Lucifer, all the angels and demons must come together and work as the team they once were. But how do you stop the greatest evil of all when he sets his mind to something?

I never saw this ending coming. I knew what I wanted, but I didn't expect what actually happened, and I have to say, I am not the least bit disappointed. I think Lauren Kate did a beautiful job finishing this series and I am very glad I stuck with it. I struggled with the first book, but I think the story just improved with age and culminated in this final, epic volume. The final section (I won't give it away!) is so beautiful that while you read it, you feel like you are beholden to something magical, supernatural, and just beyond your ability to comprehend. It was amazing and I feel completed by this final novel in this series. I feel like there was no better way to end the years of books I have kept up with, so Brava, Ms. Kate. Brava.

This series can fluctuate in its excitement and confusion levels, so I would start the series with a kid who is strong enough to keep up with it. But I wouldn't give this series to the kind of kid who doesn't like to read all of the books in a series, because this series definitely gets better with time. You would be doing yourself a disservice to read one or two books and put it down. But if you want a really beautiful series that started out a little bit trite and transformed itself into something magical, I give you the Fallen series!

Supernatural Hitmen

Have you ever felt like you were the one unimportant, ordinary person out of the entire group of extraordinary people? In a world where curse workers are feared and "working" (curses) are illegal, imagine being born into a family of curse workers but being the only one not to be a worker. In Holly Black's White Cat, Cassel has the unfortunate life of being born into a family filled with criminals who just happen to be curse workers, but his only talent is being a pretty good con artist.


People are so scared about being worked by a curse worker they all wear gloves and won't touch bare hands. Because curse work is illegal, most workers are criminals and get absorbed by the local crime families to do their dirty work. Since he isn't a worker in a family of thugs and workers, Cassel just wants a normal life away from the business. He sees his normal prep school as salvation from the family business. But when he is found on the roof in the middle of the night after having sleepwalked out of his bedroom window, the school won't let him return. Forced to return home to his crazy hitman grandfather, his two shifty brothers, and with his mother currently doing time in prison, Cassel tries to live life as normally as possible.


That might be possible if he could get it out of his head how he murdered the girl he loved, Lila, daughter and heir to the rival crime family. His memory is spotty on exactly what happened and why he did it, but all he can remember is all that blood and his family helping him hide the crime and the body. As he spends more time with his family, it becomes clear that something strange is happening. His brother Barron seems to be losing his memory and someone has clearly worked his brother Phillip's wife. As Cassel digs a little deeper, he discovers his memory of the night he killed Lila might not be so clear after all. Fearing he has been worked, Cassel takes steps to assure he can't be worked anymore. In doing so, he might discover the truth about his family that he never, ever wanted to know. But you know what they say? The truth will set you free!


The idea of a supernatural mafia is a pretty cool concept! This is like "Sopranos" meets "X-Men"! And the government's move to make curse working illegal has only made them all flee to illegal venues for their craft where mob families collect them like tchotchkes. Cassel's character was a perfect mix of a product of a family full of criminals (he ran book at his prep school) and wanting a normal life (desperate to return to his life away from his worker family). He was clearly torn between his two worlds, a feeling I am sure many teens can relate to (although probably not in the supernatural killer way, of course). I would love to see the parallels our kids could find between their own lives and Cassel's life. 


This was an intriguing start to a series that would appeal to any fan of supernatural/paranormal stories. There isn't much romance, although the hint of its possibility to come is out there. The story ends well, but clearly continues in the remainder of the trilogy, so you can read the one book or continue on if you wish. It is also relatively clean for a variety of ages, although it might appeal to a middle school/junior high group rather than much older students. I am interested to see where the rest of the series goes!

How Near are Your Fears?

You read all these modern witch stories and it makes you miss the old-fashioned, witch hiding in plain sight from the superstitious villagers, type of witch story. There was something magical (pun intended) about those stories and that time that is pure fiction to us just because it is so far away from our current world. But Victoria Schwab brings us back there in The Near Witch, to a place with villagers with pitchforks and witches who can control the elements.


Lexi lives in the town of Near where the stories of the Near Witch, driven from town hundreds of years ago, are enough to give the town kids nightmares and make a good threat for their parents when kids get out of line. But Near is an isolated and superstitious town where strangers are neither frequent nor welcomed. When a strange young man appears in Near, his appearance coincides with the disappearance of a young kid each night from a closed up house with no evidence or signs of where they went.


Lexi finds the stranger, Cole (or at least that's what she names him), and can tell instantly that while there is something clearly mysterious about him, he is not the one who took the children. Unfortunately, the townsfolk don't agree and want to run him out of town. But Cole is the only one who has helped Lexi hunt for the culprit in the dead of night, and she is afraid that without him, she may not find the kidnapper. When the trail towards the kids gets more and more supernatural, Lexi knows she and Cole are the only ones open-minded enough to search for the truth... the real truth.


I really enjoyed the old-fashioned, on-the-moor feel to this book, but sometimes it seemed like the plot was a smidge too thin for my reading tastes. It was a relatively short book, so there needed to be a quick call to action, but things tarried a bit in the middle. The presence of Cole and the "sisters" in the town (basically witches) were a cool addition to the story and I enjoyed their characters. I also liked how Lexi was relentless in her pursuit of the culprit. She wasn't going to stay inside just because the men in town told her to do so, she was going to solve the mystery herself. She was plucky and I enjoyed that!


This is a good book for a middle school through high school student. The writing is quite lyrical, so it might be a little too sophisticated for a younger or weaker reader. Also, the lag time you occasionally encounter in the story might distract or cause them to lose interest. Still, I found it to be a lovely story and the writing felt magical... almost like a song across the moor grass.

Angelini is a Goddess

When we read Starcrossed, we knew Josephine Angelini was a Goddess. Everyone I have convinced to read that first book of this trilogy was a) totally in love with the story and characters and b) totally devastated they needed to wait a whole year for the next book! Now that the second book, Dreamless, is here, you are going to feel the same way. Dreamless will leave you breathless, leave your heart pounding and leave you wanting MORE!


Helen is the Descender. She can go into the Underworld and is the only hope for the Scions to find a way to defeat the Furies. The Furies' curse leaves all Scions with an uncontrollable rage to murder anyone with a blood debt, even if their blood debt was protecting the very family member who is now overcome by the Furies and wants to kill them. It is a never-ending cycle that keeps the houses divided and families torn apart. Helen is the only hope, but every night as she descends, she loses a little bit of herself in the Underworld.


As Helen wanders around aimlessly, she feels her mission is hopeless, but when she encounters Orion, everything changes. Orion is another Scion, one she should be trying to kill, thanks to the Furies, but in the Underworld, all Scion curses and powers are suspended. Orion is undoubtedly an attractive young Scion, but Helen still can't get Lucas out of her mind. After she found out she and Lucas were cousins, she has tried to move on, but she just can't stop the feeling of happiness and joy when she is with him. But with her mission at hand, Helen puts aside her own desires to stop the Furies, with Orion at her side. Night after night, they descend and get a little bit closer to the solution, but their time is running out. Helen is dying as a result of her descending and she is caught between two impossible and beautiful loves: one who is a cousin and is forbidden to her despite her love for him, and one who she can only be with in the Underworld without wanting to kill. Can she stop the Furies AND sort out the terror in her heart?


Oh this was SUCH a good follow up to SUCH a good first novel that Josephine Angelini is my new favorite author. There are a lot of authors I love and follow, but Angelini will now be one of the select few I use to define my favorite reading experiences (and that is a limited crowd!). She has a way of spinning a masterful web of a story and leaving you to crave more and more and more. Her characters are amazing and so real and complicated you will find yourself wanting to know them for real (despite fully acknowledging that they are fictional and that would of course make you a crazy person). Sometimes I think it is easier to write an amazing break out novel than it is to write a follow up novel that lives up to the greatness of the first. But Angelini has accomplished that goal in spades. She will leave you remembering the greatness of Starcrossed while loving Dreamless even more!


The best part of this series is there is one more book to go (but maybe if we beg and plead there will be more than just one more to go!). This is an amazing series for anyone, adult or young adult, who loves Greek mythology or just needs some epic storytelling in their lives. It is one of the best trilogies I have found in a LONG time and I am so glad I found this author and this trilogy. If you need some summer reading to keep you going out on that beach or anywhere, for that matter, pick up this series. You will be thanking me later!

Those Bloody Vampires

Vampires have been done. They have been done over and over again. Yet, we still find ourselves drawn to the vampire stories out there (or at least I do!). Maybe it is the vampire allure that helps them capture their victims... we just can't help ourselves! So even though vampires have already been done, K.J. Wignall had the right idea in giving us what we wanted- more vampires in Blood: Book One of Mercian Trilogy.


Will has "survived" the last 700 years by going through the motions. After he was bitten and succumbed to the "sickness", he awoke many years later in a grave. Fortunately, someone had created chambers for him to crawl out of the grave and into. Those chambers have been his home for centuries, and he assumes they will be for all of eternity. Each time he wakes from hibernation (sometimes 10 years, sometimes 100), he needs to feed. Everything this time is normal, but when he finds his victim, a vagrant who won't be missed, something happens. He puts the vagrant in a trance, but the victim says something- when people are in Will's trance, they never talk. The vagrant tells him Lorcan Labriad is waiting for Will. The problem is Will has no idea who Lorcan Labriad is. 


Nothing about this time is the same. After the strange occurrence with the vagrant, he looks at the man's notebook only to find mentions of himself and pictures of a young woman. When Will heads out into the city, he comes across the woman, Eloise. It seems that something is happening that involves Will and Eloise is a part of it. As they try to piece together what is happening, they realize this Lorcan Labraid and anyone who is involved with him is pure evil. Now Will and Eloise, vampire and orphan, must risk everything to get to the bottom of the mystery. But who can they trust?


As vampire stories go, this wasn't bad, but it certainly wasn't the best either. There were times when the story seemed to have too many clues and not enough answers and I started to lose interest a little bit. Luckily, being such a short book, it was able to collect itself quickly and get back to the story at hand. Some parts are a little hokey as well, and I found myself wishing Lestat would come by and show everyone what's what! I know this is a trilogy, but I will probably wait for the next book to go on clearance and my book pile to dwindle considerably before I continue with this story.


Since the story is a little juvenile at times, it might be best for the middle readers who are just starting to read young adult stories. It is a quick read and although there is some formal language (remember, Will is 700 years old!), the language is generally accessible. It wouldn't be my "go to" book, but I wouldn't stop anyone from reading it either. My only peeve, I have to say, is the title... Blood? Really? You couldn't come up with anything more creative for a vampire story?!

What's With All This Bloody Magic?!

Blood is considered powerful, the life source, embodiment of the human soul... magical even. So when a book emerges with blood as the source of magic, we are intrigued, but not terribly surprised by the connection. Tessa Gratton's novel Blood Magic delves into the world of magic, handed down through the generations, curses and all.

Silla is the girl everyone avoids. Especially now. Her parents are dead, her father was ruled to have killed her mother and then himself, and Silla is the one who found them. Then her brother found her, kneeling in their blood and in shock. Now she and her brother Reece live with their grandmother, but life is far from normal. In school, the more mild mannered kids just assume she has been driven crazy from her parents' deaths, but the more mean spirited kids assume she is just as dangerous and murderous as her father.

Nicholas was dragged to this small town from his life in Chicago by his evil stepmother Lilith (actually her name is Mary but he prefers the nickname of the woman who created all monsters- terribly fitting!). He is dreading his new life, but from the moment he sees Silla, he can't think of anything but being with her. When he finds out Silla and Reece have stumbled upon a family legacy- Magic- he begins to realize magic is entwined into his own life from the mother who tried to commit suicide then abandoned him as a child. When they find out Nicholas' mother and Silla's father knew one another, they know there is some connection, but they aren't sure what it is. What they aren't expecting is a centuries old witch who has cheating death and time and wants something Reece, Silla, and Nicholas have- their magic. Can they protect all they have left from their parents from the witch? Can they get to the bottom of who their parents really were?

With supernatural books in abundance these days, it is hard to find one that stands out from the pack. While I am not saying this is the best supernatural book ever written, it did indeed catch my attention. I really liked the characters and their weird intertwined relationships with one another. The combined story lines had me guessing as to the connection right up until the time Gratton delivered the real story. That guessing game is the root of the suspense we all want in this kind of story. While I had figured out a few things along the way, I wasn't expecting the final verdict. The characters were also very interesting in and of themselves. They had flaws, inner demons, and loss like no one their age should feel. At times I felt the loss of Silla's parents was handled very well, but Nicholas' mother's disappearance was glossed over. This was the one glaring flaw in my mind. At one point, Silla even mentions his mother and he says something along the lines of "forget her, she is gone, its over" even though she is alive and out there in the world. It seemed odd to me to pay such close attention to one family and gloss over the other family, especially since they were connected in the end.

This book would be appropriate for most junior to senior high school students. There is a lot of bloody gore throughout the story, but it isn't overdone in comparison to the darkness of the story. An aspect of the book that annoyed me a little was the sexual tension and relationship between Silla and Nicholas. Everything happens so fast, yet they cannot break themselves apart from one another. It seemed too forced, too fabricated. I suppose you could use the magic to explain it, but I felt it directly clashed with the time line of the story. There were also long drawn out make-out scenes that were unnecessary compared to the purpose of the story. They didn't go very far, but it left me thinking, "Enough already! Where is the evil witch so we can kick her butt?!" But overall, this was a pretty good story. It will appeal to those supernatural junkies who need magic and spells and hocus pocus in their lives!

Don't Miss the next Big Trilogy!

Sometimes you read a book and just know it is going to be huge. It happened for me with HarryPotter, Twilight, Hunger Games, and a few others. It doesn't happen often, but when it does, you just know this book is going to be big. When my cousin recommended Starcrossed by Josephine Angelini, I picked it up because she has never led me astray. Then I read it and knew... just knew... it would be huge! You will be seeing more of this trilogy. Mark my words! Once this trilogy picks up steam, it is going to be as big as the others!

Helen's mom left her and Jerry, Helen's dad, when she was young. When she left, she took every picture and keepsake they had from her, but she left behind some memories. Helen tries to be normal, but on a small island like Nantucket with odd strength and speed like she has, that takes some effort. Lucky for Helen, her good friend Claire keeps her straight. But when a new family comes to the island, Helen wants to kill Lucas, one of the sons. She has never met him before, has no idea who he is, but she can't suppress the blind rage and drive for murder she is filled with every time she sees him. After she tries to kill him in the hallway and is sent home, she is sure she has gone crazy, especially when she sees three creepy ladies egging her rage on every time she sees Lucas.

When Lucas saves her from a fall when Helen (in a blind panic, running for her life) learned she could fly and fainted mid-air, something stops the voices of the three ladies. She and Lucas lie on the beach, bones mending, and they realize they don't want to kill each other anymore. He tells her the Furies have gone, and it must be because he saved her life. It is then that Helen learns the true nature of her strengths, which are because she is a demigod. Of the four houses of demigods, there was only supposed to be one left, Thebes, Lucas's family's house, but Helen is from a different house. Lucas's family explains there is an ancient pact the Gods struck after the Trojan War, that said the Four Houses must never join together, nor should there ever be only one house. If so, a war with the Gods would be struck. Some from the House of Thebes want to kill Helen, as the end of the other three houses will allow them to raise Atlantis and become immortal, but Lucas's family wants to keep her safe in order to stop the war. Unfortunately for Helen and Lucas, their lvoe for one another will also start a war, by bringing the two houses together. It seems Lucas and Helen are star-crossed lovers- doomed to live apart, doomed to love one another forever. But are they really?

Oh Good God(dess)es. This book just rocked. It gave me the same feeling I got from my beloved Harry Potter, and Twilight, and Hunger Games. I just loved everything about it. Lucas was simply irresistible. He was beautiful, deeply devoted, and protective. Helen was headstrong, loyal, and funny. The supporting characters, every last one of them, were fantastic. There wasn't a single piece of this story I didn't like... well except for the end... I didn't want it to end! And trust me, neither will you!

The story is about 500 pgs, which might be intimidating for your less skilled readers, but the story is tight enough and exciting enough to hold the attention of most kids. The content is appropriate for a wide range of kids, and the love scenes are very innocent. This is a great book for those kids (and adults) who love those epic trilogies and have been lost without a new one. They might want to kill someone when they realize they have to wait a whole year for the next book, but they will still love you for recommending such a great story! Don't wait- pick up Starcrossed NOW! You need Helen and Lucas in your life!

Made me Passionate for this Series!

This series has really grown on me. From a lackluster first book, to a pretty good second book, this third book delivers everything I wanted: adventure, excitement, Luce's previous lives, and background knowledge. Passion is Lauren Kate's third book in the Fallen series, to be followed by the final book, Rapture.

When we last left Luce and Daniel, they had fought a battle with the evil Outcasts in her parents' backyard. Luce has found herself conflicted by her love and lives with Daniel. Needing proof of why they live the nightmare of her flaming death over and over again, she steps into an Announcer (smoky little portals that can be used to see or go to a person's former lives) to find out what all these former lives are about. She starts off in Russia during WWII where she sees how painful her death is for Daniel each and every time he loses her. She goes to Italy during WWI, England, Egypt, China, and many more. Each time, Luce learns a little more about herself and her love for Daniel.

Along the way, she picks up an odd little helper in the Announcer named Bill. He is a small little gargoyle thing that proves to be helpful in finding both her way and the meaning she has been searching for. He helps her blend in with the time period, guides her into meeting her former selves, and even helps her "cleave" with her former body, becoming that person through the last moments of their life. All of this helps Luce realize everything Daniel has done is because of his undying love for her. What she doesn't know, is he is following her through the Announcers, trying to find her. At her first life, Bill convinces her it would be best to release her soul from the curse, thereby releasing her love of infinite lives from the curse that destroys him with every reincarnation. What she doesn't realize at first is Bill might have his own agenda that might not be as genuine as Luce thinks. Can Daniel find her in time? Can they break the curse after all?

Oh this was such an interesting book! Every pair of chapters was a new place. The first chapter would be Luce arriving in the former life, and then the second would be Daniel's arrival. Seeing the lives from two different perspectives really explained the whole story in a way the reader can appreciate. Then their two journeys differ a bit, and you see how their two lives are entwined, but also how much they need each other. The love between Luce and Daniel is epic, and nothing, including a bratty 12-year old French king, a huge class discrepancy, or a Mayan sacrifice, can keep them apart. At different points in the last two books, I became annoyed with either Luce, for being too petulant or Daniel, for being too vague, but this book made me love both of them at the same time. This was the perfect lay-up for the final book, and I simply cannot wait to read it!

Fallen Angels: The New Vampires

I had a tough time getting through Lauren Kate's first story, Fallen. It was a long book that wasted hundreds of pages being vague and didn't get to the point until the last 50 pages. The premise was good, but the execution was too slow. Therefore, I had great hopes that once the secret from Book One was out (Daniel was a fallen angel and Luce is his only love, but they were cursed and every time their love is realized, Luce dies and the cycle begins again), the story could progress a little faster. I was right, and the sequel, Torment, is an even better book than its big sister.

After the story of Daniel and Luce's history comes out, and the curse seems to be broken (usually the first kiss leads to Luce's smiting), they have to figure out what comes next. Unfortunately, there are a lot of creepers out there who don't want them to be together- namely the Outcasts. The Outcasts are fallen angels who never chose a side and found themselves cast out of both Heaven and Hell. For their betrayal, they were all blinded, but that only succeeded in making them creepier and more deadly. Now they are hunting Luce, and Daniel must go to great lengths to protect her. He makes a truce with Cam, the evil fallen angel (demon) who vied for Luce's attention. Together they decide to put her in a special school, Shoreline, to protect and shield her while they hunt the Outcasts.

Shoreline turns out to be educational on many levels for Luce. First, she realizes the school is populated by Nephilim, the children of angels and mortals who are left in a weird state of limbo that leaves them with diluted power and no place in either the angel or the mortal world. The school is disguised as a legitimate school filled with mortal students, but all the Nephilim attend a special "honors" program which is really training for how to brave the world at large. It is run by an angel and a demon who teach them a new curriculum once Luce arrives.

They begin to teach Luce, along with her friends Miles and Shelby and the rest of the class, about the Announcers. The Announcers are the same shadows Luce has seen all her life. They are shadows that allow the viewer to see glimpses of their past, although they don't always show what the viewer wants to see. As soon as Luce realizes what the Announcers can do, she begins investigating her former lives, with and without Daniel. She has been so consumed by Daniel's love that she never realized her love for him not only ended her past lives, it also ruined the lives of her past families. As she explores the people her former selves left behind, she sees the true costs of the curse that ends her life every time she finds her true love: the family who lose her.

With the pain of her families in her heart, and Daniel's refusal to tell her why she was banished to Shoreline and what is after her, Luce sets off on a dangerous and headstrong path. After putting herself in danger, the disappearance of a friend and almost drowning of another friend makes her realize there is more to the threat than she realized. Will the continued secrets and the weight of the curse be too much for Luce? Will she be able to get beyond everything in order to continue to love Daniel? Or will the kindness of another boy lead her from her destiny?

This was a vast improvement over the first book. While this installation still leaves much to the imagination and does not give so much away that you won't buy the third book, it doesn't leave the reader confused the entire time either. If you have read the first book, there is enough background knowledge already established to keep the reader intrigued yet informed. The new characters are really great additions to the story, and the old favorites from Luce and Daniel's previous school make appearances throughout the story. This was definitely a great follow-up to a mediocre first story that left me excited for the next book.

Like Fallen, the language is average, but the story requires a little staying power from a reader. I probably wouldn't recommend this series to a struggling reader, based on the length and will power needed to complete it. Once the story starts to progress, though, there is a lot to talk about and sink your teeth into. Don't give up on this series before you read Torment. You will be missing out if you don't keep with it!

Are you Extraordinary?

Nancy Werlin's Impossible was so good, I had to get Extraordinary. The same vague description, the same steady unveil of vital plot information, and the same supernatural culprits. The story is certainly different from the first book, and not at all a sequel, but you will certainly notice some similarities from the start of the book.

Phoebe Rothschild is a normal girl from an extraordinary family. From the earliest Rothschilds down to her mother, the entire family is quite simply extraordinary, but Phoebe just wants to be normal. She has a hard time dealing with the attention that comes with being a part of one of the wealthiest and most powerful families in the world. When Mallory Tolliver arrives in seventh grade, Phoebe is immediately drawn to her. Mallory is odd, eccentric, and Phoebe instantly becomes her best and only friend.

The reader, however, knows Mallory has an ulterior motive. With little snippits of conversations with the Queen, we know Mallory was planted there to meet Phoebe specifically, but we have no idea why and what the Queen has planned for Phoebe. When years pass and it seems Mallory can't bring herself to do what she there for, her half-brother Ryland arrives. Ryland is enchanting, but rude at the same time. Phoebe can't stop thinking about him, but she somehow feels there is something wrong about the horrible things he says to her, like how she is fat, ordinary, and not particularly important. When Mallory finally confronts Phoebe about dating Ryland (a wicked plan cooked up by Ryland and the Queen), Phoebe runs straight into the arms of Ryland to be consoled. While in their house, though, she opens his bedroom door only to find an enchanted garden behind the door- a garden that can't possibly be there but certainly is.

The truth quickly comes out that Ryland and Mallory are faeries. A curse was placed on Phoebe's family and the faeries need her as a sacrifice to restore their power and their kingdom. But when she still doesn't want to know about it, Ryland creates an accident that leaves her mother in a coma and Phoebe without much choice. As she enters the Faerie World, she knows this is the end of her ordinary life, as the curse stipulates, but she still can't lose that bit of extraordinary that floats through her veins like the ghosts of all her ancestors. Knowing the faeries are dying because of the curse, will Phoebe be willing to sacrifice herself to the very people who have tricked her for years?

I think the downfall of reading this book directly after Impossible was that they were too similar and Extraordinary just wasn't as good. I think if I had read them a few months apart, I might have liked this book better, but it just didn't stack up to the first book. The slow but well-paced reveal of information was still there, but the information revealed wasn't a surprise anymore- it was essentially the same story as Impossible, just tweaked a little. The book became much more predictable than the first story.

This is a decent story for a junior high to high school student. There are some interesting morals to be discussed with any young woman. I was particularly angered by the things Ryland said to Phoebe about her being so ordinary. I know they were part of him trying to fulfill the curse, but instead they just really ticked me off. If I was reading this book with a student, I would definitely have to use that as a teaching experience. It would be too hard to just let it lie there. Otherwise, this is a decent book. It's an interesting enough read and should keep the reader interested. Maybe next time Werlin can mix it up a bit? Not be so formulaic?

An Impossibly Good Tale

With such a haunting cover and a vague description on the book jacket, the reader who picks up this book has to take a leap of faith. The blurb mentions a song, a curse, something about mental illness, and not much more. You are left wondering if the book is worth unraveling such nonsense... and trust me it is! Impossible by Nancy Werlin is a haunting story full of love, pain, and supernatural mystery that will keep you turning the pages all night long.

Lucy Scarborough has been tormented by her mother's insanity for years. Lucy's foster parents, Soledad and Leo, take wonderful care of Lucy. In a way, they do for Lucy what they couldn't do for Lucy's mother, Miranda, when she came to them 17 and pregnant with no place to go. They took care of Miranda, but as soon as she gave birth to Lucy, she was lost in a world of her own madness. Lucy is so humiliated and saddened by her birth mother that she doesn't tell anyone her story, except Zach. Zach has stayed with her foster parents for years and is finally back on Christmas break from college. While Lucy has always trusted Zach with everything, she is starting to see him as more than just a family member.

When prom comes around, Zach helps convince the overprotective Soledad to let her go. Although he is jealous of the nerdy boy she is going with, he thinks it is important Lucy gets some normal fun in her life. Unfortunately, prom night is anything but normal or fun. After the dance, Lucy follows her date back into the ballroom where he forgot something. In the ballroom, he admits he didn't forget anything, but just wanted some time with her. Then he proceeds to rape her. Lucy tries to stop him, but something happens to his face as he hurts her- it seems to shift as though someone else is inside his body. When Zach finds her, the wheels start turning to help her. She goes to the hospital, the mysterious new employee at Soledad's practice gets Lucy the morning after pill, and they find a therapist for her to talk to.

About two months later, it becomes very clear to Lucy that she is pregnant, despite the prevention she took. When she finally confides in Zach and her parents, they are very supportive of her decision to keep the baby. Then Lucy learns something of her past. She finds her mother's diary from when Miranda was pregnant. While the diary is telling, there are pages ripped out. When Lucy remembers the false bottom of a shelf she found as a kid, she finds the missing diary pages. In them, Miranda tells of a curse placed on the Scarborough girls generations ago by an evil faerie king. When Fenella Scarborough refused to be her queen, he cursed her generations to come with an early pregnancy that creates another girl in the line and drives the mother mad once she is born. Miranda's diary pages also explain the song "Scarborough Fair" tells of the curse and the three impossible tasks Lucy can perform before she gives birth that will end the curse. Lucy must make a shirt with no seems and constructed with no needles. She must find an acre of land between "the salt water and the sea strand" and she must plow that land with a goat's horn and sow it with one grain of corn. While the tasks seem impossible, Zach and Lucy's parents won't give up on her. From genealogical research to prove the curse is real, to searching real estate for the acre of land between the salt water and the sea strand, to work with fabrics and materials to create the seamless shirt, the whole family is determined to save Lucy and her baby girl. But can they beat the clock and beat the faerie king in one fell swoop?

Oh, Nancy Werlin, you wove such an intriguing tale! This story is mysterious and clever, with a plot that continuously reveals little tidbits until you finally have the whole, crazy story. The vague description of the book made me wary- I am not fond of books that stay shrouded in mystery for all but the last 50 pages. It drives me nuts! While this book has a vague beginning, the pace of revelation throughout the book is wonderful. New twists are revealed and unfolded at a pace that keeps the reader from losing interest but still keeps them wanting more.

The material seems heavy and mature, but it is handled with the utmost of grace and dignity. While the rape is certainly traumatizing for Lucy, it isn't the central story. I also liked how her parents dealt with the rape and the pregnancy- very upfront, honest, and supportive. I suspect some people would hesitate in giving this book to students because of the content, but they would be overlooking the incredible messages embedded within the mature scenarios. Yes, Lucy is pregnant, but she trusts her parents enough to openly talk to them about it, not hide it from them. Yes, Lucy is raped, but her family is proactive, seeks a therapist, and support Lucy every step of the way. And while Lucy acknowledges the unfortunate timing of her pregnancy, she loves her unborn daughter and will fight against the impossible in order to protect her. I know there are many adults out there who would shy away from exposing mature situations to young readers. While I understand that urge, I think the right book with mature situations handled well is just as powerful in a positive way. This book is well written and any maturity is handled beautifully. So make it all possible and give this amazing book a chance!