Review: Dash and Lily's Book of Dares

Dash has tricked his divorced parents and is spending Christmas alone in New York City.  When he's browsing through the spectacular second-hand bookstore, the Strand, he comes across a red notebook.  A girl named Lily challenges him to a series of dares.  Of course, Dash accepts - and he writes back.  In the days before Christmas, they swap dreams and dares in the notebook.  They seem to be perfect for each other, but could their real-life selves possibly match up?

Entertainment: ★★★★

At times I felt the story dragged a bit, but at others I was literally laughing out loud, so overall I felt it averaged out to an above-average read.  Also, the cover is lovely.

Plot: ★★★★

The premise was cute, the execution excellent, and the ending not nearly as cliche as you would expect from the summary.

Characters: ★★★★★

Lily was a little obnoxious; I felt she was a little too starry-eyed and childish.  But the others made up for her easily.  Her extended family was hilarious.  Dash was actually pretty appealing, for a long-word-using book nerd that is consistently described as "snarly."  And of course, the militant mommies.  An excellent cast.

Writing: ★★★★

I liked the subtle (and not-so-subtle) differences between the two authors' styles; it made the book fun to read.

End Result: four stars.  A good book, definitely worth your time.

Review: Truancy

Track lived an average life in the City, being brainwashed and oppressed every day in school.  His world changes the day his little sister is accidentally killed in a terrorist attack.

Wanting revenge, Track joins the terrorist kids that are calling themselves the Truancy.  He's determined to kill their leader, Zyid, his sister's killer, but instead finds himself Zyid's second in command.  As he learns to fight and kill, he starts to wonder whose side he's really on...

Entertainment: ★★★

The premise sounded very cool - a school system systematically devoted to turning children into faceless, obedient cattle, and a rebel group with the fabulous name of the Truancy.  And in many ways it was interesting and exciting and fun.  However.  By the end of the book, I was finding it more than a little cheesy.  And it started to turn into this weird martial-arts movie, complete with a wise, pacifistic sage and lots of sword fights.  I was seriously expecting Jackie Chan to do a cameo or something, it was that strong a resemblance.  So I finished the book with mixed feelings - it was exciting, but frankly a little weird.

Plot: ★★

Honestly it took itself a little too seriously.  And it was hard to take the mercy/pacifism message it supposedly had seriously when everybody's slicing and bombing and gunning each other to bits.  And frankly having a teen as the 'wise sage' character was just bizarre.  He's spouting all this philosophical stuff you'd expect to come from the bearded man on the mountain but instead he's, well, a kid.  Oh, and I  still don't understand why everybody was taking the time to learn samurai skills when they all clearly had access to guns and bombs.  So the only way I can describe this plot is as anime meets dystopia, and I didn't think Truancy combined the two well.

Characters: ★★★

As mentioned above, the whole wise sage kid thing was weird.  And Zyid was equally weird.  Both of them talk like adults, not dropout kids.  And I just didn't get a lot of the side characters (most of whom also talked like college-educated world-weary forty-year-olds, not children).  I did like Tack, though, and I thought his growth and change was fairly plausible.  So for him, I'll give the Characters three stars.

Writing: ★★★

Props for good fighting scenes, at least at the beginning of the book.  I do have to take away points, however, for a severe lack of slow scenes and the fact that 429 pages of fight scenes just gets old fast.  Plus towards the end the fight scenes were getting a little deja vu and repetitive.  Overall fairly well written with plausible action.

End Result: three stars.  A decent book, but not amazingly excellent.

Wishlist Wednesday

Skye never questioned the story of her life. Her Aunt Jo adopted her after the death of her parents when she was just a child, and together they flip through memories the way some people flip through photo albums. 

She never questioned if the stories were true. 

Until the night of her 17th birthday, when the arrival of two strangers intrudes on her cozy life. Polar opposites, like fire and ice, Asher is dark and wild, while Devin is fair, cold, and aloof. Skye has no idea what they want—only that their presence coincides with the beginning of some shockingly strange events. Events that Skye, if she dares to think it, might be responsible for causing. 

High up in the mountains of Boulder, Colorado, Skye finds herself caught in the middle of an ancient battle, one that began untold millennia ago. Torn between unpredictable Asher, whom she loves, and the infuriating Devin, who she can’t stay away from, her fate is murky as a starless night. And as the secrets of her true identity are revealed, Skye realizes that her destiny may reside in the Heavens—or somewhere darker.


Although a supernatural love triangle isn't exactly a new idea, it sounds like Davies has put a fresh spin on it.  Also, that cover is gorgeous!  I can't wait until September.  What do you think - will you be reading A Beautiful Dark?

Review: Are We There Yet?

Elijah and Danny are brothers with wildly different lives.  Danny is diligently climbing the corporate ladder, while Elijah spends his days at boarding school drifting, using drugs, and dreaming.  When their parents trick them into taking a trip to Italy together, they are less than thrilled; they haven't gotten along in years.

They don't expect to fall in love with the same girl.  They don't expect to learn to understand each other in ways they never thought possible.  They don't expect this trip to change their lives...

Entertainment: ★★★

This book was just... meh.  Some of Leviathan's books are stunningly amazing, even life changing, and this one was just average. I was a little disappointed.

Plot: ★★

There were no twists, no suprises, no exciting premises.  Nothing to hold my attention; I just got bored.  There is little to no plot, besides the brothers wandering Italy in a vague, uninterested way.  And the romance itself is vague and half-hearted feeling.

Characters: ★★★

So, I did like the characters fairly well, or at least I liked Danny.  Elijah was just too vague for me, if that makes sense, sort of a floating cloud of character traits that never managed to coalesce into a real person.  Julia was lacking, lacking personality and uniqueness and any kind of romantic appeal.  But Danny carried the show, along with a few tastefully done side characters.

Writing: ★★★

I hate to be repetitive, but it was just average.  I tried for several minutes to think of something to write here, and then realized that nothing at all stands out about the writing for me, which I hate.  Even books that I honestly hate I hate for a reason, and here I just felt there was nothing to love, nothing to hate, nothing to connect with at all.

End Result: three stars.  A decent book, but not amazingly excellent.

Review: The Dark Divine

Grace Divine is the pastor's daughter.  The perfect kid with the perfect family and the perfect life.  But then comes Daniel.  Daniel was the childhood friend of Grace and her brother Jude.  Daniel disappeared years ago, and now his hair is dyed black and he's a whole new person - a scary person.  And Grace can't help but be drawn to him...

But Daniel's return is the catalyst for a series of changes.  The buried past is being unearthed.  Grace's "perfect" family is crumbling, her brother seems different and darker, everybody is keeping secrets... and Daniel's secrets are the most dangerous of all.  Or are they?

Entertainment: ★★★★★

I basically loved The Dark Divine.  It's full of drama, secrets, romance, darkness, and all kinds of fun.  There's a wonderful plot twist that really stunned me.  A really good read.  And I absolutely loved the wordplay with the title.

Plot: ★★★★

Some books are so straightforward: there's the good guy and the bad guy.  Not The Dark Divine.  It's twisted, in a mostly good way.  I had no idea how this book was going to end, and when it did I was stunned at what happened.  And happy, but mostly stunned.

Characters: ★★★★

Just about every character is a shade of grey.  Even Grace finds herself questioning the darkness inside her as she tries to save everyone.  The ultimate villain - and of course I can't give away just who that villain turns out to be - was really well-written.  And even the side characters like Grace's mother and friends have their own depth and their own secrets and their own darknesses to deal with.

Writing: ★★★

I don't think I really have bad to say here, except that some of the hints dropped early on were a little obvious, and so the "big reveal" of the supernatural element wasn't really a surprise.  But overall, a well-written book.

End Result: four stars.

Review: The Ruins of Gorlan

Will is small, scrawny, and orphaned.  When he turns fifteen and is chosen as a Ranger's apprentice, he's not sure what to think.  The Rangers are eerie, shadowy, mysterious; there are rumors that they practice dark magic.  Will's new master, Halt, is an abrupt and cynical man who makes Will work hard, but still quickly earns his respect.

Will isn't going to have a peaceful career, however.  The exile, Morgarath, Lord of the Mountains of Rain and Night, has been plotting his revenge for fifteen years now.  With the aid of terrifying supernatural creatures, he's poised to destroy Will's homeland...

Entertainment: ★★★★

I liked this book.  I don't think it's going to be an enduring favorite or anything, but it was certainly enjoyable.

Plot: ★★★

Okay, so, it's a little predictable.  Maybe even a lot predictable.  But it's fast-paced and interesting, enough that it nearly made up for the predictability.  Also, I was a little confused as to why the side story of Horace took up a good third of the book, instead of staying a small side story, but whatever.  It was an interesting side story.

Characters: ★★★★

Halt was quite well done, I thought.  Will and Horace were decent, as were most of the side characters, but Halt really stole the show.

Writing: ★★★★

I liked the description and I loved the "narration voice."

End Result: four stars.

Wishlist Wednesday

Jael Thompson has never really fit in. She’s changed schools too many times to count. The only family she’s ever known is her father, a bitter ex-priest who never lets her date and insists she attend the strictest Catholic school in Seattle. And her mother—well, she was a five thousand year old demon. That doesn’t exactly help.

But on her sixteenth birthday, her father gives her a present that brings about some unexpected changes. Some of the changes, like strange and wonderful powers and the cute skater boy with a knack for science, are awesome. But others, like the homicidal demon seeking revenge on her family? Not so much.

Steeped in mythology, this is an epic tale of a heroine who balances old world with new, science with magic, and the terrifying depths of the underworld with the ordinary halls of high school.

Sounds fun and exciting!  I know I'll be reading Misfit as soon as I can get my hands on it!  What do you think - will you be reading Misfit?