Review: The Amaranth Enchantment by Julie Berry

genre: middle grade/ya

Part Cinderella story, part "Little Princess," half fairy tale and half fantasy, Amaranth Enchantment is the delightful story of 15 year old Lucinda, orphaned and oppressed. When a mysterious woman comes into her uncle's jewelery shop, Lucinda's life is changed forever as the woman's jewel of unknown origin moves from owner to owner. There are charming street-rat thieves and generous princes, plots and secrets. Will Lucinda regain her birthright? Who IS that mysterious woman, anyway?

OH this was fun!! I love when a book surprises me and while I had vague inklings about some things, others were a lovely surprise. I loved the mix of historical-reality and fantasy and fairy tale. I loved the romantic overtones and the riches to rags element. Even that crazy goat found a place in my heart by the end. A great middle-grade/YA read.

book 21 of 25 for the 2010 YA Challenge

Review: The Tricking of Freya by Christina Sunley

genre: fiction

Iceland. Land of ice, volcanic rock and a people in love with their history and their poets. Freya's family immigrated to Canada from Iceland long before she was born, but Iceland's influence still permeated her early life. Freya's Icelandic grandmother and aunt, as well as her Canadaian town full of Icelandic natives and their descendants, are permanent fixtures in Freya's childhood. When, as an adult, Freya overhears words that she believes reveal a family secret, Freya beings a search to make sense of Her People's past.

I am having the hardest time writing this review, maybe it's just hard to sum up a family saga set across two continents. I really did enjoy this one, with one caveat. I loved the language and the sense I got of Iceland and its people. I personally have only spent a mere 36 hours in Iceland, but for me, she absolutely invoked the essence of that amazing place. She has woven history and folklore, genealogy and sociology, culture and geology into the story, with an incredible flow and pace. Freya is a sympathetic character forced to grow up early and make her way through some pretty tragic experiences, and I really liked her as a narrator: very familiar and detailed without often bogging down in those details.

My only complaint? I guessed the end about 1/4 of the way through. And while that just may not bother some people, I spent much of the book hoping that I was wrong and that there would be some wilder, less obvious, twist. To be honest, it didn't actually spoil the book for me, but it did color it a bit. As an immigrant story, a family story and wild and ancient place story, it worked. And while I did know the end, it was an interesting road on the way there.

Review: The Dark is Rising by Susan Cooper

genre: middle grade

Though he doesn't know it, Will Stanton is not an ordinary boy. On his eleventh birthday, he will come into his powers as an Old One and will begin to fulfill his destiny as a leader of the Light. He will have ancient secrets to learn, a quest to fulfill and evil minions to defeat. It reminds me of another 11 year British boy that I know and love.

I can see why this book is a classic. It resonates with Tolkien's love of description and that eternal struggle between good and evil. Will is tender and courageous and I loved every scene where he was surrouded by people ready to do whatever it took to help him fulfill his quest. Sometimes it was a bit wordy for me and I wanted things to move along a bit faster, but I think in the end I just feel glad that I now know where so many of our modern day fantasy stories have stemmed from. I feel satisifed.

The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery

genre: adult fiction

I tried to read this book. I really did. I love the idea of it - a French apartment building, its philosophical concierge and a brilliant 12 year old resident. Their musings on life, philosophy and - I'm assuming - their eventual interaction with each other. I just couldn't get into it. Day after day for a week I tried - and while I found phrases that struck me with their beauty and an occasional truth that I wanted to remember, I couldn't feel anything for the characters. The concierge felt so self-absorbed and the 12 year old's thoughts didn't do anything for me. Between that and all the French names that I couldn't keep straight, and the deep philosophical monologues, I just wasn't enjoying myself enough to keep trying.

I'm sure there are people who love this book. It's possible that I'll try reading it again someday when I'm not in summertime mode.

Review: Incarceron by Catherine Fisher

genre: ya

Incarceron. The brainchild of wise men: put all criminals, dead beats and lowlifes into a perfect world - and then lock them up there. Never to escape. Claudia knows Incarceron exists because her father is the Warden, the keeper of the solution. Not that he tells her its secrets - Claudia also knows she's a pawn in the game that's being played: her engagement to the heir to the throne has meant that she's been bred to think and to act.

Finn, on the other hand, was born in a cell. That's what he's been told, anyway, he doesn't actually remember. All he knows is that he has visions that might somehow might be the key to escaping - if there really is a place to escape to.

It's been too long since a book grabbed me like this one did. A fantastical prison that has a mind of it's own? Royal intrigue? Intense characters? Tightly written, it kept me GUESSING and I loved the mix of sci-fi and historical. Really really, I loved it. This is one of those books that I just kept wanting to pick up instead of doing things like feeding or bathing my children.

Review, TLC BOOK TOUR: Not That Kind of Girl by Carlene Bauer

genre: memoir

Carlene Bower's early life was filled with Jesus and a fear of his second coming. Her education at religious schools prepared her to choose their interpretation of God's path but didn't arm her with any self-confidence or much of a conviction that life was supposed to be a wonderful thing. The majority of this book is her experiences in college, when she decides that while she's not ready to loose her virginity or try drugs, she IS interested in finding out more of what the world has to offer. So, she moves to New York City and starts trying to make a place for herself in a town overflowing with talented and beautiful people.

Much of this book is Carlene's search for what she really wants. What WILL make her happy? Writing? Partying? A man? New York City? God? Some of her musings really resonated with me as she picked apart her responses and actions - but other times, I felt like she glossed over some really major decisions, which felt out of place with the rest of the narrative. I enjoyed her crisp and descriptive prose - and she's very self-effacing so I wasn't annoyed by her tone and she clearly wants to understand herself and her relationship with God and the universe. She has a beautiful way with words that made her world very real.

In the end, for me, though, I just didn't catch the vision of it. I felt like the crux of this book: her feelings about God and her decision to be a virgin and when to let that go, were discussed and discussed by never resolved in a concrete way. I ended up feeling sometimes a bit bored and sometimes a bit frustrated by the process. I will say, though, that for others who have searched for God (or had him handed to them as a child), found him again and then wondered if that was enough - this book would probably feel very familiar and worth picking up.

Since we're on a book tour, I'd love for you to go check out some other opinions! Please go HERE to learn more about Carlene and read other reviews.

Review: This World We live In by Susan Beth Pfeffer

genre: ya

Another sequel. I loved Life As We Knew It and yay that this was also great! It didn't shake my core with terror in the same way, but still make me think and want to appreciate the beauty of my world a little more.

Last year, Miranda's life - and the entire world - shifted into survival mode as the moon was knocked out of orbit by an asteriod. The weather is still all wrong and only a very sturdy few are left in her town. Food is the most obvious need - and when Miranda's dad arrives with her step-mom and several others, tensions build. How will everyone get fed in a seemingly dead world? Interestingly, one of the strangers that arrived with Miranda's dad is Miranda's age and Alex and his sister Julie add a whole new dynamic to the house.

There is some romance, of course, and while I enjoyed it in end, because of the diary format I had a harder time believing that feelings could get so deep so fast. But, desperate times, you know. And I still enjoyed Miranda as a narrator - she's honest about her desperation and fears of the future, with some of that snarkiness still popping up. She has to really grow up as she realizes that life will just never be "normal" again and to ever feel happy, she just has to find a way to be satisfied with what she's got.

If you liked Life as We Knew it, read this one.

book 20 for the 2010 YA challenge

Review: Zenith by Julie Bertagna

genre: young adult

In this sequel to Exodus, Mara is on a search for land - any land - where their ship of refugees can finally let its passengers free. Along with Mara's story in the cold waters of the north, we still watch the Fox in his struggle to right his city's injustices. We also meet a new group of survivors on a floating boat city that eventually wind their way into the rest of Mara's story.

In a world where, for most, life is still a daily struggle for survival, Zenith is another interesting look at our own past and at a future that could be. I really enjoy survival stories and as a sequel, this one does not disappoint. While it was vaguely predictable in parts, it also has me guessing enough that I wasn't annoyed. I like the life in the characters and the way our story is a fable, a fireside mystery - it makes the brain imagine "what if."

book 19 for the 2010 YA challenge