I won a thing!

Recently, I participated in The 100 Blog Tour, hosted by Hannah at The Irish Banana Review. It was delightful to read the various interviews, reviews, and other fandom goodies. The blog tour was working in concert with Alloy Entertainment, giving away box sets of The 100 books and...

I WON!!!!!

This is so great! I'm a recent convert to The 100 tv series and I'm so excited to start reading the books that started it all. 

My Soul to Save by Rachel Vincent

Title: My Soul to Save (Soul Screamers #2)
Author: Rachel Vincent
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Pages: 279
Rating 4/5 Stars

My Soul to Save picks up shortly after the action in My Soul to Take - Kaylee is living with her newly returned father, comfortably ensconced in her relationship with Nash and learning more and more about her abilities as a bean sidhe courtesy of lesson’s from Nash’s mom.

Kaylee’s quest to save the soul of Tod’s ex-girlfriend Addison takes her deeper into the Underworld – literally. Using her bean sidhe wail, Kaylee can cross the line between worlds and bring others with her, so she, Tod and a reluctant Nash do just that.

My Soul to Save raises the stakes from the first book which is what I always look for in a sequel. Addison’s plight forces Kaylee to look at things from a less black and white perspective that I found immensely appealing. One of the biggest turn offs for me is a hero or heroine who only deals in goodness and while Kaylee is definitely still the poster child for Good, she’s being forced to accept that the real world comes in shades of grey.

There are two really clever aspects to My Soul to Save, one of which is Vincent’s further exploration of the Underworld. The way she describes it reminds me of the movie Constantine in that the demons exist in our spaces, just on a different plane of existence. I’ve read books where the world building is clunky and forced, where it’s obvious that the writer is just trying to be different without putting much thought into the ramifications of what they’re doing. Vincent’s Underworld is not like that. It’s well thought out – especially in the way it connects to our world via places of high human activity/energy.

The second aspect that I found absolutely brilliant is Vincent’s not-so-subtle allusion to the Disney Machine that produces packaged pop stars. From Britney Spears to Lindsay Lohan to the Jonas Brothers and Zac Efron, it’s not hard to believe that there are some deals-with-the-devil going on behind the scenes. I love the idea that these kids like Eden and Addison literally trade their souls for fame and fortune and that to break their contract and get them back comes with incredibly high consequences.

Much like in My  Soul to Take, Kaylee ‘wins’ in the end, but not without cost or consequence. Some are saved and some are lost and she’s left to deal with the fallout. Again, I appreciate that. Tying everything up with a neat little bow is the best way to take the wind out of my sails and turn me off from a series.

Now, last but not least, the brothers Nash and Tod. I figured we’d hit something resembling a triangle at some point and while Tod has taken great pleasure in driving Kaylee nuts from the moment they met, it wasn’t until the end of My Soul to Save that I thought ‘aha! Let the triangle begin.’ I’m all for it. I’ve enjoyed Nash and Kaylee, although I’ve continued to be suspicious in regards to his seemingly sudden and unwavering affection for her when all signs and his reputation indicate he’s something of a player, but I’m ready to see what Tod has to offer her.

Plus, I’m always, always a sucker for the ‘bad’ boy.

I’m very much looking forward to reading the next book in the series - My Soul to Keep - and I have faith that Ms. Vincent will continue to weave a compelling tale.

Poison Princess by Kresley Cole

Title: Poison Princess (The Arcana Chronicles #1)

Author: Kresley Cole

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books

Pages: 384

Rating: 4/5 Stars

One of my very good friends was super excited to read this book and did NOT like it, so I approached it with trepidation. I’m pleased to report that despite a few minor annoyances, Poison Princess did not disappoint.

I haven’t read any of Kresley Cole’s other novels, but I went into this book well aware of her status as a published and popular author and her experience and skill as a writer was evident from the first page. Cole created a very vivid and lush world – both before and after the Flash – for her hero and heroine. Her characters are fully realized and real, with strengths and weaknesses that help and hinder them along the way.

Evie is an interesting heroine in that she embodies a lot of qualities – ultra feminine, shallow, materialistic and prejudice – that I wouldn’t normally gravitate toward, but Cole doesn’t turn her into a caricature. I understand her prejudices against Jackson and the other Cajuns when they suddenly transfer to her ultra-posh high school – she’s not looking to hate them, but they come with violent and scary reputations that they promptly proceed to live up to.

Evie is aware of how shallow and vain she can be, not to mention the fact that she thoroughly enjoys the creature comforts of her life at Haven House, but she’s constantly at war with a feeling that she should be striving for more. What I might normally find grating or annoying becomes understandable in light of the fact that she’s just returned from 2-3 months in an insane asylum, questioning her sanity. At the beginning of the story, Evie is craving normalcy and I applaud Cole for not making her apologize for that.

After the Flash, as Evie’s psychic/supernatural abilities continue to flourish, she balks against what she feels is her destiny. This is another thing that I would normally be annoyed with, but again, the way Cole handles Evie’s character, everything makes sense. While she’s not interested in joining in on the battle of the Major Arcana, she’s also driven by a need to know who and what she is and willingly runs toward the battle in the name of the people she loves.

Jackson Deveaux is a pretty typical bad boy, although I loved the added details of the scars on his knuckles from the fights that he’s been in and the fact that he has earned his reputation. He’s not some misunderstood hero with a heart of gold who gained his reputation by fighting for the underdog. He’s got a temper, he’s violent, he’s rude and crass, and as much as he’s drawn to Evie – and vice versa – he really doesn’t like her much. That mutual antagonism provided the perfect breeding ground for a slow-building, passionate romance.

After the Flash, Jackson rises to the occasion and the survival instincts that got him into trouble in civilized Louisiana society serve him and Evie well. Poison Princess is about so much more than the romance between this good girl/bad boy duo, but it progresses steadily throughout the novel so that by the end I could tell that while they still drive each other – and me – a little crazy, they’re no longer denying the connection they share.

The one problem that I have with Jackson Deveaux – other than his love of Ducati’s – is that Cole writes his dialogue almost phonetically. It’s really annoying and pulled me out of the story a lot. I finally just stopped paying attention to the bad grammar, ‘doan’s’ instead of don’t, and the oddly placed ‘me’s’ and you’s’. I assume Cole chose to write him this way to add color to her narrative and while I enjoyed the French Cajun that got thrown in from time to time, I could have done without the phonetically written speech patterns. It’s just not necessary and comes across as pretentious. I get that Jackson is ‘other’, but Cole could have made the same point strictly by utilizing the French Cajun. Aside from a California surfer boy – who’s biggest offense is uttering ‘dude’ too many times – who shows up toward the end of the book, Jackson was the only character who didn’t speak perfect English. This served to set him exaggerate how unlike the other characters he is – and not in a good way. Evie’s reluctance to share who and what she’s starting to think she is already puts Jackson squarely in the ‘outsider’ column. Cole’s choice to have him speak the way he does just made it worse.

Poison Princess begins nine months after the Flash and puts Evie in an immediately dangerous position. Whenever the story lagged – and as much as I enjoyed it overall, the post-Flash/pre-Jackson period dragged on too long – the promise of finding out how Evie ends up in danger kept me turning pages.

Cole doles out her information about Evie’s destiny judiciously and hits that sweet spot where just when the questions were about to drive me crazy, she put a few puzzle pieces in to keep my curiosity sated.

Poison Princess is very definitely the first in a series. While Cole gives us answers, the book does not end in a place of peace and calm – everyone’s fate is in question as well as Evie and Jackson’s relationship. Overall, the story had a rich plot, fully fleshed out characters, a marvelous and horrifying dystopic world and enough intrigue to reel me in and leave me excited for the next installment. 

Crewel by Gennifer Albin

Title: Crewel
Author: Gennifer Albin
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Pages: 368
Rating: 5/5

I purposefully made myself wait a little bit to review Crewel because I wanted to write a real review - not just a bunch of semi-coherent fangirl squeeing.

I think I might be ready now.

Crewel's premise immediately caught my eye due to its reference - at least in my mind - to the Fates or Moirai who control destiny in Greek (and subsequently just about every culture ever) mythology. The idea of women being called to weave time and matter in a present day setting fascinated me. I was very eager to see how Gennifer Albin would put that idea to paper. The result is The Matrix meets The Hunger Games with shades of the premise of The Handmaid's Tale (or at least what I think of as the premise as I've never read the book), complete with a relatable heroine, moral dilemmas between one's duty to self vs. society, an incredibly vivid post-apocalyptic dystopia and, oh yes, a rather delightful little love triangle that's more scalene than equilateral.

Although, Crewel is book one in a trilogy, so there's time for that to change.

The story begins with Adelice Lewys being called by The Guild to serve as a Spinster, a double edged sword that gives women in a strict patriarchal society the illusion of freedom and power. Adelice isn't interested in that illusion, however, which is why she was purposefully trying to fail at the testing that weeds out the Eligibles from the regular girls. She fails at failing, however, and the Guild comes, resulting in a mad dash escape attempt by her parents that leaves her father dead, her sister captive and her mother MIA.

The beginning is one of only two minuscule quibbles I have with this amazing book. I think Adelice as a character and Arras as a country would have benefited from a couple of chapters of further exploration before we are thrust into the action of the story. Adelice in particular is somewhat illusive as a character for the first few chapters and as much as I fell in love with her fairly quickly, I really didn’t know who she was as a person before being taken from her family by the Guild.

But truthfully, that concern was barely a blip on my radar while reading.

En route to the Coventry where Adelice will presumably spend the rest of her life, she meets the first player in the love triangle, Erik – although she doesn’t learn his name until later. She’s thrown in a cell for the first few days as punishment for her attempted escape and as she’s finally released she meets the second player in the triangle, Josten. It’s really amusing to watch Adelice interact with boys for the first time because she’s never had experience with them before. I appreciate that Albin doesn’t write Adelice as a tongue-tied idiot around members of the opposite sex. Her awkwardness is quickly outweighed by her curiosity and yet she never comes across as desperate or boy-crazy.

God bless Ms. Albin for this.

I don’t want to go too deep into plot details/spoilers from here on out, but suffice it to say that Adelice’s skill and her sharp tongue/quick wit put her at odds with her fellow Eligibles, the head Spinster and the face of the Guild, Mr. Cormac Patton. Her only allies come on the form of Enora, her mentor, Loricel, the Creweler, Erik and Josten. As the story progresses we follow Adelice as she navigates the world of the Coventry and the Guild, trying to keep one step ahead of the people who want to keep her squarely under her thumb. She learns that she’s not just any Eligible and that the Guild has really big plans for her.

Well, as big as they can ever be for a woman in Arras.

Before I gush about a few specific reasons why I enjoyed Crewel so much, I’m going to explain my one other quibble – the exposition. There are a couple of chapters where Adelice and Loricel are talking and through an extensive game of twenty-questions we learn a lot about how Arras was formed and its relationship to the Earth we know. We learn what the weave is – in a deliberately vague sense – and the purpose of a Creweler in keeping it functioning. These are heavy info dump chapters and as a reader, I was very aware of their purpose. It wasn’t bad so much as noticeable because throughout the rest of the novel Albin doles out the exposition quite artfully as events are unfolding.

Then again, Loricel is a very old, very wise woman who has taken it upon herself to teach Adelice about her future as a Spinster, so in that sense the chapters function exactly as they’re supposed to within the narrative. So, take that as you will.

No, onto some specifics that I loved…

Adelice Lewys. I love her. LOVE HER. I’ve read the two biggest YA series that have come out in recent years and the biggest problems I had with both of them came down to the heroines. I couldn’t fully relate to them because I couldn’t wrap my brain around their attitudes regarding their own self-worth. Adelice was a breath of fresh air for me – much like Katy in Obsidian – because while she didn’t think she was the most beautiful creature on the planet, she wasn’t crippled by constant thoughts of how plain and ordinary she was. Like most girls, Adelice felt that she lacked in certain areas, but when Erik and Jost showed an interest in her, she didn’t doubt that she could be a desirable creature to either of them.

She doubted her sanity in pursuing either of them, but that’s a whole different issue. ;p

Part of Adelice’s journey deals with how her actions affect her family and friends. While she is very concerned as to how the Guild can use her loved ones against her, she works toward goals that spell freedom for everybody – including herself – rather than contemplating grand schemes that leave her dead like some kind of martyr. Adelice doesn’t mask cowardice behind self-sacrificing delusions of grandeur.

Lastly, Adelice acts. She doesn’t wait for things to happen to her, she makes them happen. She doesn’t let her fear make her afraid of trying to create her own destiny.

Now the boys…Josten and Erik. I have to admit, I love them both. I have my preference as to who ends up with Adelice, but both characters are compelling. I was especially impressed with Josten’s past – there’s a twist in it that not something I’ve come across before. Erik is all charm and smoothness, navigating and circumventing the system from a place of prominence, while Josten is rougher around the edges, fighting his battle from the ground up.

Both boys are made of win and again, I appreciate the fact that Erik and Josten don’t fall into the traditional good boy/bad boy roles. They each play both sides of the spectrum and as such are fully rounded characters.

I could go on waxing poetic about this book for pages and pages. I could go on about the fascinating world of Arras and how I would leap at the opportunity to read an actual history book of the region so that I could learn how the society became so sharply divided upon gender lines. Adelice briefly mentions her grandmother telling her about a time when children weren’t segregated by gender and there were no Purity Protocols to follow and I’d love to read about the politics involved in that change. I could go on about the concept of Arras and the idea of certain women being able to alter the very fabric of its existence. I could talk about the evils of the Guild and how their quest to map Spinsters calls into mind the idea of genetic mapping and designer babies. There are just so many fascinating concepts within Crewel that I just can’t say enough good things about it.

Crewel is one that will stick with you for a long time after you’ve finished reading it and if you’re anything like me, you will be counting down the days until the next book is available.

I. Cannot. Wait.  

Breathe by Sarah Crossan

Title: Breathe
Author: Sarah Crossan
Publisher: Greenwillow
Pages: 400 pages
Rating: 4/5 Stars

The concept that fuels Breathe is fascinating - in an attempt to grow food for the Earth's ballooning population, the entire planet is deforested for farmland. The logic is that there will be enough oxygen being produced by the oceans to sustain life.

That logic proves faulty.

Oxygen levels in the atmosphere deplete to 4% and the world descends into anarchy and chaos. Domes - called pods - are erected across the planet to sustain life and oxygen becomes more valuable than gold. An oxygen tax is imposed upon the populace and class lines become even more clearly drawn. Oxygen is pumped directly into people's homes and closely monitored by the government, speed patrols exist on the street to prevent people from walking more than 3 mph and exercise becomes a privelege of the wealthy. Aided by air tanks, holidays are taken outside of the Pod to take in the carnage left behind after The Switch.

A resistance exists among those in the Pod - of course - and the three main characters of Sarah Crossan's novel get caught up in it. One by choice, two by accident. The story follows Alina, Bea and Quinn as they discover dark truths about the lives they have led and are forced to question their beliefs.

I really enjoyed Breathe. I read it in one day - partly, I'll admit, because I'm so behind on my reading goal. While certain things are constant in dystopic novels - the governing body that controls the populace with half-truths and an iron fist and the resistance that works against them - I'm always fascinated to explore each author's vision and discover what happened to bring about this dark future. I'll admit, I scoffed at the idea of the entire planet being deforested. I know that it's a problem - a scary, disheartening one - but the notion that an entire planet with a population so vast that it needs all of the land mass available for farming food could subsist on the oxygen put off by the ocean is so far-fetched as to be unbelievable.

But whatever. I'll let it slide.

Alina, Bea and Quinn are great protagonists. Crossan writes each chapter from a different character's POV which isn't anywhere near as confusing as I thought it might be. I think maybe once or twice I had to go back and double check who's perspective I was getting, but that was usually because I was so eager to find out what came next that I didn't pay close enough attention to the chapter title. It was really cool to see each character from a different character's perspective, to explore their strengths and weaknesses from all sides. It made the characters more real and put personality quirks that could have become annoying into perspective.

Breathe is more than just the title of the book, it is also the name of the main governing body within the Pods. Throughout the course of the book, we learn more about Breathe and the unsavory methods they're using to stay in power. What I found interesting, however, is the way Crossan also undermines Alina's - and I'll admit my - assumption that the resistance is perfect. Petra, the leader of Alina's faction of the resistance, is pretty awful, having become as much of an iron fist in her desire to protect the trees as the Pod Minister has in his ruling of the people. (It reminded me of District 13 in Mockingjay.) We see Alina's view of the world falter in the same way that Bea and Quinn's falters.

Crossan creates a very vivid world, both within the Pod and without. She's paid close attention to detail and taken advantage of her premise to highlight the ways we take oxygen for granted. Homes have airlocks to aid in the careful monitoring of oxygen use, plants and pets are forbidden. Couples must apply to have children and any show of affection must be carefully weighed against the oxygen tax that may be levied due to the increased consumption. The barren landscape outside of the Pods is equally vivid and macabre. One of my favorite moments in the book occurs when Bea arrives at The Grove and sees the trees for the first time. I really felt the awe, joy and shock at coming face to face with something that she had considered a fairy tale her entire life.

Some things that didn't work -

While Crossan makes the wise choice of dolling out her exposition throughout the course of the story, there are some questions that are never answered to my satisfaction. One, I already mentioned. How did anyone convince the world that we could get enough oxygen from the ocean to survive?

Another question that is never answered is why time is divided into before The Switch and after The Switch. Now, I do grasp the concept that The Switch is being used to identify the moment when oxygen became the most valuable thing on the planet, but Crossan never explains the use of the phrase 'The Switch.'

Crossan's three main characters read young. Very young. That's not a problem, necessarily, but it's something that stuck out to me. They're supposed to be sixteen or seventeen and I felt like they were thirteen or fourteen.

There is a love triangle, but it's weakly executed and somewhat unnecessary. I can't decide if I think it was thrown in there because all YA novels must have a love triangle/romance or if Crossan really felt that it was a dynamic part of her story. Either way, it's a minor subplot that didn't detract from my enjoyment of the novel any more than my incredulity over the premise.

Breathe is the first in a series and while this book does wrap up the action with an air of finality, it definitely doesn't stand alone. That's not a fault, that's just a fact. I am definitely interested in reading the next book in the series. Crossan is a very capable writer and I very much enjoyed her characters and the world she created.

Obsidian by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Title: Obsidian
Author: Jennifer L. Armentrout
Publisher: Entangled Teen
Pages: 335
Rating: 4/5 Stars

I read this book in nine days! That probably doesn't sound like much of an achievement, but considering it took me six months to read Drood, my nine days with Obsidian feels like the blink of an eye. 

I really enjoyed Obsidian. Jennifer Armentrout spins a delightful little science fiction tinged romance between her two main characters that I'm looking forward to continuing in Onyx. To be honest, I almost bought Onyx before I even finished Obsidian - that's how certain I was that I wanted to continue to explore Katy and Daemon's world. 

I don't like to bog my reviews down with plot details, so I'll get right to what works and what doesn't. 

Works: the characters. Human or alien, the characters in Obsidian are relatable and real, fueled by the same basic desires as the average teenager - love, friendship, to fit in. I think what Armentrout does best is keep these desires from crippling her characters. Everyone feels doubt, love, loss, joy, anger, etc, but very few people allow those feelings to rule every aspect of their lives and Armentrout recognizes that.

I really appreciated that Katy wasn't some paragon of virtue, too perfect and pure to be real. Does she have a problem with drinking? Nope. Does she want to get in a car with her homecoming date who's already two sheets to the wind when he picks her up for the dance? Hell no. Katy gets angry and embarassed, she has a temper. She'll take shit, but she'll also dish it out with zero qualm. She stands up for herself, but she isn't an overbearing, overly sensitive bitch. When it comes time to be a hero, she rises to the occasion to save her friends, but she doesn't have a deathwish. 

Best of all, when she and Daemon start getting their sexual tension on, she doesn't spend chapters doubting the fact that he's attracted to her. 

Speaking of Daemon...he's awesome. He's a dick, he knows it and he doesn't care. And he doesn't change. Sure, he's got layers and goodness hiding beneath that hot, surly exterior, but he is who he is and while he softens around Katy, he's still Daemon. I love this. It makes the handful of scattered moments when he becomes completely vulnerable so much more interesting. I also love how unapologetic he is about protecting his family. Why yes, Katy, he will throw your ass to the wolves if it comes down to you and Dee. 

I like that a lot. 

I enjoyed how Katy and Daemon's relationship progressed. They're good looking people, so their attraction was pretty immediate, but their journey beyond the physical was/is slow. They drive each other crazy and don't spontaneously combust by the end of the novel into a happy, schmoopy couple. 

Thank goodness. 

The war between the Luxen and the Arum was a nice, if somewhat shallow, backdrop for Katy and Daemon's love story. The presence of aliens provides conflict and keeps Katy in Daemon's sphere, but it doesn't go much deeper than that. If you're looking to learn about a race of aliens, get to know their purpose and goals, then Obsidian will disappoint you. The aliens and their fairly typical powers are not the point. 

The plot points that Armentrout explores via Katy and Daemon are your typical high school/teenage expriences. There's no ground being broken here, but that's okay because the characters are engaging. I was perfectly content reading about the same trevails of high school as a hundred other YA books because Katy, Daemon, Dee and the rest kept me entertained. 

Now onto what doesn't work.

Honestly, there's nothing in Obsidian that doesn't work. There are aspects that could be explored more (see above) but there isn't anything that truly fails in terms of story and character development. I have a personal issue with all of the book blogging talk - not the fact that Katy is a blogger, but the fact that Armentrout is so specific about memes and whatnot - but that's just me. 

That said, I really feel that Entangled Teen let Armentrout down in terms of editing support. My copy of Obsidian is not an ARC copy and yet some sections have so many typos that it actually pulled out of the story. The grammar in certain sections leaves a lot to be desired as well. 

I don't fault Armentrout for that.

In my opinion, authors need to have a working knowledge of grammar and punctuation, a command of language and a vivid imagination that they can translate onto the page. They do not, however, need to be perfect and hand in a polished manuscript that's ready for publication on the first try. That's why editor's exist. Editors are supposed to find the typos and find the areas where grammar isn't perfect or word choice is shoddy. They are supposed to look at sections of the book and say "you know, you could use a little more description here and clarify your character's intentions there". They are supposed to help their authors bring the best possible version of their vision to bookstores and ereaders around the world. 

I don't know what happened here, but Entangled totally dropped the ball withObsidian and as you can see I'm kind of pissy on Armentrout's account because of it. 

Frustrations with Entangled aside, I am very excited to not only read more of the Lux series, but also more of Armentrout's work as a whole. I like her characters enough that I really just want to see them play.

Personal Demons by Lisa Desrochers

Title: Personal Demons
Author: Lisa Derochers
Publisher: Tor Teen
Pages: 365
Rating: 3 Stars

I really wanted to give this 3.5 stars. Personal Demons started out really, really well and I was reading it super fast - always a good sign. I enjoyed Frannie and loved Luc. I'm a sucker for a leather jacket and a pierced eyebrow. ;p The fact that he registered emotions as scents was a little odd and could have been awkward in its obvious attempt to be 'different', but for the most part it worked.

Although, I've never thought of ginger as being particularly lustful.

Lisa Desrochers walked the fine line of being a book about religious themes without becoming a religious book and I appreciated that. The only character that ever preached at me was Frannie's younger sister Grace and she was supposed to be zealous, so it worked.

I kind of felt like the switches between Luc and Frannie's first person POV were cheating a little, but I really liked getting into both of their heads, so I let it slide.

The only problem I had with the book was Gabe. I understand why his character was important. There needed to be a player from Heaven in the mix, not only to give Luc a little competition, but to save Frannie. As much as I like the badboy, this was not a book where Hell was some misunderstood place for castoffs and outsiders. It was Hell in every sense of the word. Frannie did NOT belong there.

The issue comes with the fact that I never got a clear picture of Gabe's feelings for Frannie until I was told - by Luc - that yes, he was in love with her and yes, he'd risk his wings for her. That's all well and good and I was expecting as much, but having to be told something I should have been shown is never good. I think Ms. Derochers made a mistake with Gabe in one of two ways - either he shouldn't have really fallen for Frannie or she should have written from his POV as well.

I was hoping it would come out that while Gabe sincerely cared about Frannie and wanted her safe, the way he made her feel was all a ruse - that Gabe was pushing his power on her to woo her like Luc did to humans. Given the fact that we don't get a Gabe POV, I think this would have been the better way to go. In the sequel, Ms. Desrochers could have delved into Gabe's love for Frannie and surprised everybody with the fact that he really was in love with her.

Ms. Desrochers writing style was very accessible and easy to read. Personal Demons had quite a few references to Top 40 Pop which is fine, but it will date the book in a couple of years - it kind of already did - and I'm not sure that's worth the risk, so to speak.

While I'm not surprised there's a sequel, the book ends in a very satisfying way, so I'm curious where the next installment will take us. I'm assuming we'll learn more about how Frannie is supposed to use her Sway and how Luc deals with being human - a plot point I'm rather 'meh' about, but I'll deal with it as long as he doesn't lose his edge.

Review: I Am Number Four by Pittacus Lore

Title: I Am Number Four
Author: Pittacus Lore
Publisher: HarperCollins
Pages: 480
Rating: 3/5 Stars

First person, present tense. A very challenging writing style that can pay off if done well and Pittacus Lore manages to hit 'well' most of the time. The story of I Am Number Four is good. Not as compelling as The Hunger Games - another YA series set to reach the big screen - but I cared about the characters and what happened to them. I think that, unlike The Hunger Games, even as I get further from I Am Number Four, I will still like the characters. I want to know more about the Lorien Legacies and their destiny. Lore drops clues and doles out information very judiciously and as a result I want to read the next book in the series.

The prose is interesting and reminded me of Hemmingway. Not that it's the same, but there is something very distinct about Lore's use of words and attention to detail. Sometimes too much detail as more than once I caught myself rolling my eyes and mumbling that I don't freaking care if he had to open his bedroom door to enter the room - all I need to know is that he's in there. But that attention to detail results in a distinct voice that is Lore's alone and I feel that's an accomplishment worth noting whether I loved it all the time or not.

At times I enjoyed the dialogue. At times I felt I was being preached at or the fifteen and sixteen year olds were emmulating Dawson's Creek and using verbage that no teenager would use. Just little things. A certain sophistication and proper grammar that I don't think people really grasp until they are older. I didn't feel any character had a truly distinct personality, except maybe Henri. And that might only have been because I could so clearly picture Timothy Olyphant playing the role.

Originally I gave this book four stars. I've now amended that to three. Pittacus Lore has me for the next book, because I'm interested in the mytery of the Lorien Legacies and the first two chapters of The Power of Six included with my copy of the book have me ready for more. If I could, I'd give this three and a half stars.

Review: Nevermore by Keith R.A. Candido

Title: Nevermore (Supernatural #1)
Author: Keith R.A. Candido
Publisher: Harper Entertainment
Pages: 352
Rating: 3/5 Stars

I've had this book - along with two other SPN tie-in novels - sitting on my shelf for years and finally decided to give one a try. I got them more out of a freakish obsession with all things connected to the show than an attraction to the plot, so it's really no surprise I never ventured beyond the pretty, pretty covers. ;p That being said, in the spirit of lightening the burden my bookshelf carries I decided now was the time to read them or just put them up on pbs and be done with it.

I don't think I need to tell you which one I went with.

Nevermore is a mediocre book. No two ways about it. DeCandido's prose is not going to win any literary awards. As such it's no wonder that he writes a lot of tie-in novels for tv shows with a built in audience that will probably give him a try because he's writing about their favorite characters/show. I'm morbidly curious to see if he'd have any luck creating his own completely original material.

DeCandido's main job in Nevermore is having a solid grasp of Sam and Dean Winchester and for the purposes of this novel mostly succeeds. The main problem with this and other tie-in novels - as the other Nerd pointed out to me once upon a time- is that they have to fall within the timeline of the show. That means, there can be little or no real character development. As a result we're given charicatures of Sam and Dean rather than fully fleshed out characters. Dean is the wise-cracking, perpetually on the prowl, classic rock and beer loving badass, while Sam is sincere, focused on the job, the font of all knowledge and haunted/conflicted about his life as a hunter. The one moment in Nevermore where Sam tried to get all deep fell incredibly flat because, like Dean, I didn't have the slightest freaking clue what point he was trying to make. I don't know if DeCandido did either. It was simply an attempt to inject Nevermore with a poignant, emotional 'chick-flick' moment that Dean claims to hate but are a staple of SPN.

Sam and Dean's interactions as brothers are very basic and only scratch the surface. Again, it's not really a surprise because character development has to remain static to still be a tie-in novel and not veer into fan fiction territory - an incredibly fine line. They tease each other mercilessly, work very well together as a team and tend to bicker a lot. At the beginning of the book I was concerned we were going to get a Sam-centric POV that only gave us the most extreme aspects of Dean's character, but I was happily proven wrong. Dean gets his due as well and both brothers are written as the heroes they are.

The case the boys are working is servicable, although I was disappointed that the ritual being used was left as a hoax. It would have been cool to see the boys surprised when the Big Bad pulled off the resurrection of Edgar Allen Poe. I wasn't surprised when the identity of the said Big Bad was revealed as I knew he was the guilty party from the first time he was mentioned, but that didn't hurt my enjoyment of the novel any more than it would on the show. I don't need to be surprised all the time. Often the real fun is in watching Sam and Dean (or any characters) get from point A to point B. The side plot with Manfred Afiri, Scottso and the dead Roxy Carmichael was the true supernatural event and DeCandido does a good job of keeping you guessing as to who Roxy was really begging to love her. I thought it was novel to have the boys actually crash in a house for once.

The way DeCandido incorporated the show's famed classic rock soundtrack was cool, if not incredibly original. Dean's aversion to NYC traffic was amusing and a believable detail. I appreciated Dean and Sam learning more about their reputations as hunters and always love when someone tells them they're better hunters than John - much as I love Big Daddy Winchester.

Nevermore isn't a waste of time for the casual fan who wants an extra helping of the Winchester Bros doing what they do best - saving people and hunting things. For the more, ahem, obsessive fan this book and it's lack of depth will fall flat. I won't be reading any more of the tie-ins but I won't discourage anybody from checking them out.