Top Ten Tuesdays!

Every week over at The Broke and the Bookish, they host a meme called Top Ten Tuesday! This week the topic is Top Ten Genre Books of our choice. I chose to do Top Ten YA Series! Check out my selections:

1. The Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins

2. Divergent trilogy by Veronica Roth

3. The Infernal Devices trilogy by Cassandra Clare

4. The Lumatere Chronicles by Melina Marchetta

5. The Fever series by Karen Marie Moning (yes, I know this is WAY mature and the protagonist is 22, but I read it as a teen!)

6. The Mortal Instruments series by Cassandra Clare

7. The Caster Chronicles by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl

8. Uglies series by Scott Westerfeld

9. The Seven Kingdoms trilogy by Kristin Cashore

10. The Gemma Doyle trilogy by Libba Bray

I realize that some of these series haven’t been completed yet, but based on my love of those that have been released I have decided to include them here.

What are some of your Top YA Series?

Book Review: Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi

Juliette hasn’t touched anyone in exactly 264 days.

The last time she did, it was an accident, but The Reestablishment locked her up for murder. No one knows why Juliette’s touch is fatal. As long as she doesn’t hurt anyone else, no one really cares. The world is too busy crumbling to pieces to pay attention to a 17-year-old girl. Diseases are destroying the population, food is hard to find, birds don’t fly anymore, and the clouds are the wrong color.

The Reestablishment said their way was the only way to fix things, so they threw Juliette in a cell. Now so many people are dead that the survivors are whispering war– and The Reestablishment has changed its mind. Maybe Juliette is more than a tortured soul stuffed into a poisonous body. Maybe she’s exactly what they need right now.

Juliette has to make a choice: Be a weapon. Or be a warrior.

I’ve seen two extremes when it comes to rating this book, and it seems that people either really like it or they really hate it. Some reviewers that I really respect are at odds on this book, so I thought I may as well contribute my opinion.

First and foremost, I want to say that I really enjoyed the whole idea of Juliette being painful to the touch. I think there is so much more that can be done with this (much more than was mentioned toward the end), and I think that it is a great way to bring two characters together–that one is impossible to touch by 99% of people, and the other is the only one who can. It has such great potential to create an incredible story rife with resentment and inexplicable longing. However, the story didn’t really pan out that way.

In fact, Juliette and Adam’s relationship seemed entirely too easy for me to readily believe. Of course she was the beautiful outcast that was intriguing enough to capture his attention when they were just kids. Of course he ended up doing everything he did just so he could possibly save her and be with her. I can appreciate a great love story, I can, but I think that maybe it was a little too easy. All of the circumstances that threaten to tear them apart were all external, and I really think that there needs to be more internal conflict for me to believe them as a realistic couple.

Now, at this point, I want to address the fact that this is not a true Dystopian story.  Most Dystopias are defined by the fact that they are truly a repressed and unhappy society that is set in a seemingly happy and well-adjusted world.  See The Hunger Games.  In fact, most Dystopias have a political or social commentary portion to their narrative.  Shatter Me does not. As Juliette exposes the rest of her world to us, the reader gets no sense that there is a happy or powerful bourgeois, and that the rest of the nation is unhappy.  Everyone seems to be pretty poorly adjusted to the Reestablishment. I’m more inclined to say that this story has more of a paranormal element that is being passed off as Dystopian because of it’s immense popularity.

As for the writing style, I think that Mafi is extremely talented as a writer.  I am honestly completely in awe of her being 24 and having published a complete and relatively cohesive novel.  That said, I wasn’t bothered by the strike outs.  They dissipated as the narrative continued, and I think that it was an interesting tool to use for Juliette as a narrator.

I think that the pacing could have been better, but I do understand that there was a lot of information that Mafi needed to include in order to make her story feel complete.  I think that the end of the novel was extremely fast paced and that it was too rushed.  I almost wish that we hadn’t seen anything of the compound where Adam, Juliette, and Kenji are taken…because I think that would have been a sufficient cliff-hanger to keep readers interested.

Overall, I am on the fence about this novel.  I have to say that there are things I really enjoyed, and then other parts that I found somewhat tedious. As she is a debut author, I think I will give her 3 Bards and note that her talent as a story teller and writer has me intrigued for the follow ups.

Now Reading: The Queen’s Lady by Eve Edwards

England, 1584.

When beautiful Lady Jane Rievaulx begins her service to the Queen at Richmond Palace, she is thrilled to see the court’s newest arrival . . . Master James Lacey.

No matter that Jane was previously courted by the eldest Lacey brother—James is the one who has won her heart. For his part, James cannot deny his fascination with Jane; his plans, however, do not allow for love. He is about to set sail on a treacherous journey to the Americas, seeking absolution for what he sees as past sins. But when Jane is forced into a terrible situation by her own family, only one man can save her. Will Master James return to his lady before it’s too late

Now Reading: Possess by Gretchen McNeil

Rule #1: Do not show fear.
Rule #2: Do not show pity.
Rule #3: Do not engage.
Rule #4: Do not let your guard down.
Rule #5: They lie.

Fifteen-year-old Bridget Liu just wants to be left alone: by her mom, by the cute son of a local police sergeant, and by the eerie voices she can suddenly and inexplicably hear. Unfortunately for Bridget, it turns out the voices are demons – and Bridget has the rare ability to banish them back to whatever hell they came from.

Terrified to tell people about her new power, Bridget confides in a local priest who enlists her help in increasingly dangerous cases of demonic possession. But just as she is starting to come to terms with her new power, Bridget receives a startling message from one of the demons. Now Bridget must unlock the secret to the demons’ plan before someone close to her winds up dead – or worse, the human vessel of a demon king.

Book Review: Harbinger by Sara Wilson Etienne

Plagued by waking visions and nightmares, inexplicably drawn to the bones of dead animals, Faye thinks she’s going crazy. Fast. Her parents beleive Holbrook Academy might just be the solution. Dr. Mordoch tells her it’s the only answer. But Faye knows that something’s not quite right about Dr. Mordoch and her creepy, prisonlike school for disturbed teenagers.

What’s wrong with Holbrook goes beyond the Takers, sadistic guards who threaten the student body with Tasers and pepper spray; or Nurse, who doles out pills at bedtime and doses of solitary confinement when kids step out of line; or Rita, the strange girl who delivers ominous messages to Faye that never seem to make any sense. What’s wrong with Holbrook begins and ends with Faye’s red hands; she and her newfound friends–her Holbrook “family”–wake up every morning with their hands stained the terrible brown of dried blood. Faye has no idea what it means but fears she may be the cause.

Because despite the strangeness of Holbrook and the island on which it sits, Faye feels oddly connected to the place; she feels especially linked to the handsome Kel, who helps her unravel the mystery. There’s just one problem: Faye’s certain Kel’s trying to kill her–and maybe the rest of the world, too.

First, I want to start off and congratulate Etienne with creating a story world seemingly set in reality, but with the paranormal influences of Native American myth and tarot cards.  I really liked the world she created. 

Now, I want to preface the rest of my review by beginning with a quote by John Gardner from his The Art of Fiction: Notes on the Craft for Young Writers, “It is this quality of the novel, its built in need to return and repeat, that forms the physical basis of the novel’s chief glory, its resonant close. … What moves us is not just that characters, images, and events get some form of recapitulation or recall: We are moved by the increasing connectedness of things, ultimately a connectedness of values. To achieve such an effect, the writer must rise above his physical plot to an understanding of all his plot’s elements and their relationships, including those that are inexpressible” (Gardner, 192-3).

Like in most creative writing workshops, I think it is imperative to start a review with some of the strengths (especially if it is going to be a somewhat negative review). Strengths include the use of tarot cards and the myth in use surrounding the inhabitants of Maine.  In addition to this, most of Etienne’s character descriptions are captivating (blue hair, etc).  I also really enjoyed Dr. Mordoch as a torturous character.

I don’t want to be unnecessarily cruel, because I think Etienne has great potential as a writer and storyteller despite the shortcomings of Harbinger. The plot is unnecessarily hard to follow, and bogged down with flashbacks that I found myself not caring about.  I was too involved with the current plot, to be too interested in reading the flashbacks and Faye’s memories.  I think that if Etienne is going to have such a myth based narrative, the importance of the talismans and their purpose needs to be clear at the beginning.  In fact, the main dramatic question of the narrative changes a number of times.  It starts off as the reader wondering how Faye is going to escape this horrible school that her family forced her to attend. Then it switches to why is there blood colored stuff under Faye and her friends’ fingernails, and how are they sneaking out.  Then it switches again to who Rita is and what is the secret in the Compass Rose. 

I can appreciate a narrative with many questions within the story, but Etienne never really established which question was to be the most important.  I constantly felt like the author would pose a problem to the reader, and then we would hear the solution or concerns about that problem while forgetting all about the rest of the questions in the story. 

Overall, I am giving Harbinger 2 Bards.  I just couldn’t stay focused on the text and all the characters (except Dr. Mordoch) seemed too flat.  I don’t want to discourage you all from giving Harbinger a chance, because you might have a better experience.  But I think there are stronger YA novels out there.

Follow Friday!

Each week, the wonderful and beautiful Parajunkee and Alison Can Read host a meme for book bloggers to help us connect with one another and accrue followers! Both host blogs feature a book blog and has a question for all of us to answer.

This week, the question is:

Q: Have you ever looked at book’s cover and thought, This is going to horrible? But, was instead pleasantly surprised? Show us the cover and tell us about the book.

Stolen, by Lucy Christopher, won the YALSA Best Fiction for Young Adults in 2011, and is an extremely powerful story told in 2nd person (which is exceedingly rare in YA Fiction…no, Fiction in general). To be honest, the cover really was completely bland compared to the narrative.  If you have read Stolen, you know that there are so many beautiful and heartwrenching scenes that could have been used on the cover.  I’m also a sucker for beautiful photography on covers, so I think that it would have really captured my eye had there been more effort into the cover.

What book took you by surprise despite its boring or bland cover?

Book Review: Seraphina by Rachel Hartman

Per the publisher, I will not be posting my full review of Seraphina until this coming June (a few weeks prior to the release).

However, I can go ahead and tell you that it was a wonderfully constructed story and that fantasy and paranormal fans will adore it.

Again, the full review will be posted later, but I am awarding Seraphina with 4.5 Bards.

From The Guardian: 500 New Fairy Tales Discovered

Any Young Adult fan worth their salt knows how imperative Fairy Tales are to the construction of popular contemporary texts and literary criticism (for those Master’s students out there). The Guardian, a United Kingdom based news website, has posted an article concerning the discovery of almost 500 new Fairy Tales. I have copy and pasted the body of the article below. Be sure to check out The Guardian’s website to read one of the first translated stories!

March 5, 2012
Written By: Victoria Sussens-Messerer

A whole new world of magic animals, brave young princes and evil witches has come to light with the discovery of 500 new fairytales, which were locked away in an archive in Regensburg, Germany for over 150 years. The tales are part of a collection of myths, legends and fairytales, gathered by the local historian Franz Xaver von Schönwerth (1810–1886) in the Bavarian region of Oberpfalz at about the same time as the Grimm brothers were collecting the fairytales that have since charmed adults and children around the world.

Last year, the Oberpfalz cultural curator Erika Eichenseer published a selection of fairytales from Von Schönwerth’s collection, calling the book Prinz Roßzwifl. This is local dialect for “scarab beetle”. The scarab, also known as the “dung beetle”, buries its most valuable possession, its eggs, in dung, which it then rolls into a ball using its back legs. Eichenseer sees this as symbolic for fairytales, which she says hold the most valuable treasure known to man: ancient knowledge and wisdom to do with human development, testing our limits and salvation.

Von Schönwerth spent decades asking country folk, labourers and servants about local habits, traditions, customs and history, and putting down on paper what had only been passed on by word of mouth. In 1885, Jacob Grimm said this about him: “Nowhere in the whole of Germany is anyone collecting [folklore] so accurately, thoroughly and with such a sensitive ear.” Grimm went so far as to tell King Maximilian II of Bavaria that the only person who could replace him in his and his brother’s work was Von Schönwerth.

Von Schönwerth compiled his research into a book called Aus der Oberpfalz – Sitten und Sagen, which came out in three volumes in 1857, 1858 and 1859. The book never gained prominence and faded into obscurity.

While sifting through Von Schönwerth’s work, Eichenseer found 500 fairytales, many of which do not appear in other European fairytale collections. For example, there is the tale of a maiden who escapes a witch by transforming herself into a pond. The witch then lies on her stomach and drinks all the water, swallowing the young girl, who uses a knife to cut her way out of the witch. However, the collection also includes local versions of the tales children all over the world have grown up with including Cinderella and Rumpelstiltskin, and which appear in many different versions across Europe.

Von Schönwerth was a historian and recorded what he heard faithfully, making no attempt to put a literary gloss on it, which is where he differs from the Grimm brothers. However, says Eichenseer, this factual recording adds to the charm and authenticity of the material. What delights her most about the tales is that they are unpolished. “There is no romanticising or attempt by Schönwerth to interpret or develop his own style,” she says.

Eichenseer says the fairytales are not for children alone. “Their main purpose was to help young adults on their path to adulthood, showing them that dangers and challenges can be overcome through virtue, prudence and courage.”

In 2008, Eichenseer helped to found the Franz Xaver von Schönwerth Society, an interdisciplinary committee devoted to analysing his work and publicising it. She is keen to see the tales available in English, and a Munich-based English translator, Dan Szabo, has already begun work on stories ranging from a miserly farmer and a money-mill to a turnip princess.

“Schönwerth’s legacy counts as the most significant collection in the German-speaking world in the 19th century,” says Daniel Drascek, a member of the society and a professor in the faculty of language, literature and cultural sciences at the University of Regensburg.

Are you looking forward to the translation and publication of these new stories? I am!

Original Article HERE.

Waiting On Wednesday

Every week over at Breaking the Spine hosts a book meme where all of us book bloggers can get together and share the books we are desperately waiting to be released!

This week, I am waiting on Grasping at Eternity by Karen Amanda Hooper.

Release Date: May 2012

Leave it to Maryah Woodsen to break the one rule that will screw up eternity: Never erase your memories.

Before entering this life, Maryah did the unthinkable—she erased. Now, at seventeen years old, she’s clueless that her new adoptive family has known her for centuries, that they are perpetually reincarnated souls, and that they have supernatural abilities. Oh, and she’s supposed to love (not despise) Nathan, the green-eyed daredevil who saved her life.

Nathan is convinced his family’s plan to spark Maryah’s memory is hopeless, but his love for her is undying. After spending (and remembering) so many lifetimes together, being around an empty version of his soulmate is heart shattering. He hates acting like a stalker, but has no choice because the evil outcast who murdered Maryah in their last lifetime is still after her.

While Maryah’s hunter inches closer, she and Nathan make assumptions and hide secrets that rip them further apart. Maryah has to believe in the magic within her, Nathan must have faith in the power of their love, and both need to grasp onto the truth before they lose each other forever—and discover just how lonely eternity can be.

Why am I waiting so desperately for this novel? Well, I ADORED Hooper’s mermaid story, Tangled Tides, (Check out the review HERE and an interview with Hooper HERE) and I completely believe that I will enjoy this novel just as much!

What are you waiting on this Wednesday?

Top Ten Tuesdays!

Every week over at The Broke and the Bookish, they host a meme called Top Ten Tuesday! This week the topic is Top Ten Favorite Covers (thusfar) in 2012! Check out my selections:

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If you notice, all of these covers feature wonderful photography…that is most definitely my weakness!

What are some of your favorite covers from 2012 so far?!