A Cold Legacy

Author: Megan Shepard
Series: The Madman's Daughter, #2
Publisher: Balzer + Bray
Release Date: January 27, 2015

After killing the men who tried to steal her father's research, Juliet—along with Montgomery, Lucy, Balthazar, and a deathly ill Edward—has escaped to a remote estate on the Scottish moors. Owned by the enigmatic Elizabeth von Stein, the mansion is full of mysteries and unexplained oddities: dead bodies in the basement, secret passages, and fortune-tellers who seem to know Juliet's secrets. Though it appears to be a safe haven, Juliet fears new dangers may be present within the manor's own walls.

Then Juliet uncovers the truth about the manor's long history of scientific experimentation—and her own intended role in it—forcing her to determine where the line falls between right and wrong, life and death, magic and science, and promises and secrets. And she must decide if she'll follow her father's dark footsteps or her mother's tragic ones, or whether she'll make her own.

With inspiration from Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, this breathless conclusion to the Madman's Daughter trilogy is about the things we'll sacrifice to save those we love—even our own humanity.

I can't remember how long I've put off finishing the Madman's Daughter trilogy, but I've finally done it. And what, might you ask, is the final verdict?

Eh, it's alright.

I feel like this book is sort of an attempt to right the wrongs in the previous books—and I can appreciate that—but it's not pulled off very well. There's a lot of noticeable repetition when it comes to themes, characterization, and writing in a way that doesn't feel unique. Juliet continues to whine about herself, Lucy keeps obsessing over Edward, and the list goes on.

At the very least, it's toned down much more than it was previously, and these issues are addressed in a more satisfying matter. If I had to give an example that wasn't spoiler-y, I'd say Lucy was a nicer character. I could understand her thinking better with her transition from a socialite to an fugitive. I still didn't root for her relationship with Edward, but I was more tolerant towards it.

Most of Juliet's problems seem to stem from her passing off her own suspicions, which was very annoying. It was hard for me to suspend my disbelief when it seemed like their conflicts could be solved much easier. Everything felt so long and drawn out that I found myself eager to hurry towards the end.

I could give the author points for a few things: Baltazar is still a lovable cinnamon roll. Jack Serra was the highlight out of the whole cast, although the female side characters, such as Moira, McKinna, and Elizabeth, were pretty great. I loved the observatory and Ballentyne being a place for disabled girls. There was a powerful message about identity and coming-of-age, which I thought was fit in splendidly. Keeping my personal taste aside and the story in mind, A Cold Legacy is an almost perfect conclusion.

The Forbidden Wish

Author: Jessica Khoury
Series: The Forbidden Wish, #1
Publisher: Razorbill
Release Date: January 24, 2017

She is the most powerful Jinni of all.

He is a boy from the streets.

Their love will shake the world.

When Aladdin discovers Zahra's jinni lamp, Zahra is thrust back into a world she hasn't seen in hundreds of years—a world where magic is forbidden and Zahra's very existence is illegal. She must disguise herself to stay alive, using ancient shape-shifting magic, until her new master has selected his three wishes.

But when the King of the Jinn offers Zahra a chance to be free of her lamp forever, she seizes the opportunity—only to discover she is falling in love with Aladdin. When saving herself means betraying him, Zahra must decide once and for all: is winning her freedom worth losing her heart?

As time unravels and her enemies close in, Zahra finds herself suspended between danger and desire in this dazzling retelling of the Aladdin story from acclaimed author Jessica Khoury.

I was not all impressed by the synopsis, but the writing style had me hooked. Khoury takes you on an extraordinary adventure through the city of Parthenia, where the people are restless, the jinni are hunted, and a rebellion brews in the horizon. In the midst of it all is Zahra, who only seeks her freedong.

[O]nce I am free to run, not even the shadows of the past will be able to catch me.

I love cunning age-old characters deft in the ways of magic. I love transformations into smoke, shadows, and cats. Zahra was a compelling character, whose only fault was her constant self-loathing.

"All I want is to avenge my parents, not start a war we can't win."

For a handsome thief, a character who's usually up right my alley, her love interest Aladdin was annoying. There were instances where I just wanted to take him by the shoulders and say, "Aladdin, my dude. Stop." Although he and Zahra had some cute scenes together, until the end, I could not see them as being anything more than friends. Their attraction to each other was almost convenient.

I loved you, Habiba, and in doing so, I betrayed you.

Instead, my ship lies with the Queen and the Jinni. I desperately hoped that Aladdin was the former's reincarnation, but alas. I was quickly taken with their relationship, which shares a tragic history, even though the author may not have intended for it to be romantic.

There was a lot of diversity and a lot of character in the rest of the cast as well. Princess Caspida and her handmaidens were truly badass. There were no love triangles involving her, only positive female relationships. I honestly wish the author would consider a sequel with Caspida. The weakest characters, on the other hand, were the villains. They were unremarkable, two-dimensional even.

I will grant the thief this: My time with him has been anything but dull.

Unfortunately, the story did not survive my tendency to become bored at the halfway point. I felt that something was lacking, although the writing was solid. I'd like to give heaps of praise for the characters' strong ideals. Overall, The Forbidden Wish was a memorable read.

Her Dark Curiousity

Author: Megan Shepard
Series: The Madman's Daughter, #2
Publisher: Balzer + Bray
Release Date: January 28, 2014

Months have passed since Juliet Moreau returned to civilization after escaping her father's island—and the secrets she left behind. Now, back in London once more, she is rebuilding the life she once knew and trying to forget Dr. Moreau's horrific legacy—though someone, or something, hasn’t forgotten her.

As people close to Juliet fall victim one by one to a murderer who leaves a macabre calling card of three clawlike slashes, Juliet fears one of her father's creations may have also escaped the island. She is determined to find the killer, though it means awakening sides of herself she had thought long banished, and facing loves from her past she never expected to see again. As Juliet strives to stop a killer while searching for a serum to cure her own worsening illness, she finds herself once more in the midst of a world of scandal and danger.

With inspiration from Robert Louis Stevenson's The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, this is a tantalizing mystery about the hidden natures of those we love and how far we’ll go to save them from themselves.

The only way I can see Her Dark Curiosity in a positive light is to make a drinking game out of it. Take a shot whenever someone says "relatively simple". Or when Juliet bemoans her heritage. Or when she makes a comparison between herself and Edward. Oh, how different they are from the sheeple of London. Trapped in the struggle of man and beast. You're both monsters, caught between worlds. My heart weeps. The struggle is real.

Frankly, I don't care for Juliet's issues anymore. Her father's so-called madness runs through her veins. Can she please move on and accept it already? Because this drama has been drawn out for far too long. While the idea may have been intriguing in The Madman's Daughter, Juliet has to bring it up in every chapter, sounding more like a broken record every time.

"What you hate is what you are. An animal, just like me."

Of course, her inner demons play a huge part in muddling with her affections. As Juliet's desire to sin grows, so does her attraction to Edward. If he had been raised in captivity longer or as a boy that was turned into a beast, I would have fewer qualms with their relationship. But appearances aside, he's only a year old. And he's an amalgamation of heron, monkey, and jackal, apparently. Whenever they shared a sensual moment between the pages, I could feel nothing but disgust.

Edward and I were connected in a deep way—a primal way—that Montgomery would never understand.

My annoyance with this love triangle was furthered when Juliet made Montgomery out to be the bad guy, even though he's better than the lot of them. I couldn't help but laugh sometimes when Montgomery claimed he was the monster in this story. Like, dude. Maybe you're better off not knowing what the others have been doing.

The hopeful look in [Lucy's] eye told me her feelings for Edward hadn't dimmed despite the terrible truths I'd told her.

Speaking of which, let's talk about Lucy. The possibility of romance between her and Edward disturbs me. Her affections were too underdeveloped, as well as her character. I didn't care for her as much as I should. I know she's sheltered and all, especially considering her background, but she acts like a child. I never looked forward to any of her appearances.

In short, I had a lot of laughs. I raged harder than I should have. Some descriptions were very repetitive, and revelations too sudden. The international edition was riddled with typos. My final say is that it should have been polished more, and it could have been better. Her Dark Curiosity has left me hesitant to read A Cold Legacy.

The Madman's Daughter

Author: Megan Shepard
Series: The Madman's Daughter, #1
Publisher: Balzer + Bray
Release Date: December 23, 2013

Sixteen-year-old Juliet Moreau has built a life for herself in London—working as a maid, attending church on Sundays, and trying not to think about the scandal that ruined her life. After all, no one ever proved the rumors about her father’s gruesome experiments. But when she learns he is alive and continuing his work on a remote tropical island, she is determined to find out if the accusations are true.

Accompanied by her father's handsome young assistant, Montgomery, and an enigmatic castaway, Edward—both of whom she is deeply drawn to—Juliet travels to the island, only to discover the depths of her father’s madness: He has experimented on animals so that they resemble, speak, and behave as humans. And worse, one of the creatures has turned violent and is killing the island’s inhabitants. Torn between horror and scientific curiosity, Juliet knows she must end her father's dangerous experiments and escape her jungle prison before it's too late. Yet as the island falls into chaos, she discovers the extent of her father's genius—and madness—in her own blood.

When The Madman's Daughter was released all those years ago, I was completely uninterested. Love triangles are the bane of my existence, and horror is a genre I'm not too fond of. It was only until I had to research examples of the latter that I actually decided to pick it up. Inspired by classic Gothic literature—in this case, H. G. Wells's The Island of Dr. Moreau—The Madman's Daughter had left quite the impression.

I feel obligated to mention that I've already read Her Dark Curiosity, although I do plan to make a separate review for that. As much as possible, I'll try to constrain myself from muddling the two together. This review has been a long time coming, and I'm a little rusty. What I remember most of all were the surprises this story brought to the table, and even an ending that drew a tear to my eye.

Dead flesh and sharpened scalpels didn't bother me. I was my father's daughter, after all. My nightmares were made of darker things.

What had lessened my experience was Juliet, an unsympathetic heroine who tested my patience at the end of every chapter. I feel as if I'm getting tired of women who want to tear off their corsets. I get it. I get the symbolism. But it's starting to come off as, I don't know, edgy? Cliché? While I enjoy stories in which ladies break off the shackles of society, the analogy was very cringe-worthy to read, although it certainly does follow through with her personality.

Juliet is presented as being highly analytical. Her passions are constrained, yet they yearn to break free. I will concede that her character has been well fleshed-out. Her dynamic with her father adds an interesting dimension to her narrative. Even when he isn't in her presence, he keeps her toiling on a string. As his daughter, Juliet desperately wants to see past the monster the public has made him out to be, which prompts her to test the boundaries of her moral compass.

I had thought I was alone in the world. But here he was, the only person who knew me, the only one left who shared my dark secrets.

I want to make one thing abundantly clear: Fuck love triangles. Montgomery all the way. It was obvious who was the third wheel from the get-go, but then the said third wheel would keep popping up like an annoying mole. Juliet would be ripped out of an integral moment in the plot, simply because she was too enthralled in her strange romance with Edward, and there would be plenty of moments where I would shout, "Montgomery is still in danger, you assholes." Pulling out of my rant for a moment, am I the only one who thought Edward was a blonde and Montgomery was a brunette?

The first chapters kept me invested and the middle worried me when its ability to keep me sympathetic, but the second half had been a game-changer.

I was spooked when they went to the village, when it was revealed that the creations had cut the Caesar's tongue. Scary. Shit. And that ending! I did not expect that at all. But I do prefer Juliet going back home alone than Balthazar and the horse

The prose was simply haunting, capturing the essence of Gothic horror. Despite my disdain for its protagonist, The Madman's Daughter is a horrific yet delightful read.

The Star-Touched Queen

Author: Roshani Chokshi
Series: The Star-Touched Queen, #1
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
Release Date: April 26, 2016

Fate and fortune. Power and passion. What does it take to be the queen of a kingdom when you’re only seventeen?

Maya is cursed. With a horoscope that promises a marriage of death and destruction, she has earned only the scorn and fear of her father’s kingdom. Content to follow more scholarly pursuits, her whole world is torn apart when her father, the Raja, arranges a wedding of political convenience to quell outside rebellions. Soon Maya becomes the queen of Akaran and wife of Amar. Neither roles are what she expected: As Akaran's queen, she finds her voice and power. As Amar's wife, she finds something else entirely: Compassion. Protection. Desire…

But Akaran has its own secrets—thousands of locked doors, gardens of glass, and a tree that bears memories instead of fruit. Soon, Maya suspects her life is in danger. Yet who, besides her husband, can she trust? With the fate of the human and Otherworldly realms hanging in the balance, Maya must unravel an ancient mystery that spans reincarnated lives to save those she loves the most... including herself.

Stars, soulmates, and supernatural cities hit hard on my aesthetic. Just add the promise of diversity, and you're practically guaranteed to have me on-board for the ride. The Star-Touched Queen is a fantastical retelling of Hades and Persephone—although I believe the more accurate comparison would be Cupid and Psyche—set in a world that has additional roots in Indian folklore.

"You do not trust me, do you?"

"No," I said. "I had no reason to lie. "I told you [...] that trust is won in actions and time. Not words."

"I wish you trusted me."

"I don't place my faith in wishes."

Maya is the princess of Bharata, but she is only one of the many daughters sired by the Raja. Her father's walls hold a strict hierarchy, and she lies at the bottom rung. Bharata, you see, places its faith in the stars. Entire lives have been designed by horoscopes, and Maya has been given the worst one, promising her a marriage of death and destruction.

"Come with me and you shall be an empress with the moon for your throne and constellations to wear in your hair. Come with me and I promise you that we will always be equals."

In order to pacify Bharata's enemies, the Raja arranges a match between her and a neighboring prince. Enter Amar of Akaran, who vows to lay the world at her feet. However, her handsome prince might not be entirely what he seems.

Straight off the bat, I thought the prose was beautiful. The author has woven a beautiful setting that drips with culture and magic on every page. There were times, though, when her descriptions were nonsensical. Shatter Me easily comes to mind as a comparison.

The romance was swoon-worthy, at first. I loved the emphasis on Amar's desire for them to be equals. As he says time and time again, he treasures her opinion and perspective. My only complaint would be that they fall in love with each other much too easily, even as I consider the conflict that presents itself later on.

The middle surprised me. Even if a story manages to suck me in, I usually get bored by the halfway point, but the author had snuck in an intriguing surprise. 

I was conflicted about Maya's choice to stab the heart of Akaran. The villain could have easily been seen from a mile away, and stupidity can make me drop a book in a flash. I do appreciate the bold move on the author's part, and the growth Maya received as a result.

Another relationship I would like to touch on is Maya's interactions with other women. She may have her half-sister Gauri and a flesh-eating horse, but The Star-Touched Queen suffers from a lack of positive female relationships. At the same time, the allegations of slut-shaming aren't really well-founded. Gauri's relationship with the harem women is evident of that, and the novella Death and Night explores Maya's bond with two of her best friends.

There was one line, I admit, that toed the line, but I believe it had stemmed more so in the heat of the moment and Maya's history with how she's been treated by those in the palace.

On a somewhat related note, I was disappointed that there was no redemption arc for Nritti. She had done some terrible things and yet, I still felt sorry for her.

Despite how well The Star-Touched Queen handled itself, the ending fell flat. Ultimately, it had been the deciding factor in whether to put it on my list of favorites or not. There were a number of unanswered questions. 

​What was that about Maya's stories coming true? Is it because she was a goddess? Because she was tapping on some hidden knowledge she once kept? What exactly curtails a goddess in this world?

At the very least, I liked The Star-Touched Queen enough to read the novella and give its sequel a chance.

Elixir

Author: Hilary Duff
Series: Elixir, #1
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Children's
Release Date: July 1, 2011

Clea Raymond is a talented photojournalist and the daughter of high-profile parents. Usually she's in total control of her camera, but after Clea's father disappears while on a humanitarian mission, eerie, shadowy images of a strange and handsome young man begin to appear in Clea's photos—a man she has never seen in her life. When Clea suddenly encounters this man in person she is stunned—and feels an immediate and powerful connection. As they grow closer, they are drawn deep into the mystery behind her father's disappearance and discover the centuries-old truth behind their intense bond. Torn by a dangerous love triangle and haunted by a powerful secret that holds their fate, together they race against time to unravel their past in order to save their future—and their lives.

Hate spoilers or rant-y reviews? Feel free to stop reading!

Never ever, ever, ever, ever will I read a book written by a celebrity again. Ever. Not even if it has a cheesy but cute cover. Not even if I feel sympathy for the celebrity writers that have been getting bad reception. Not even if it's written by a childhood favorite actress. I learned my lesson, dammit!

So Ever Lucy Lily I'm sorry, Clea is an outsider who is "different" from the usual teenage crowd. All that money and wealth, plus having uber-popular, rich, influential, and loving parents and friends who support her dreams isn't enough to keep her happy. Her assessment is reassured when something dastardly happens and leads her to meet a mysterious man. It's love at first sight, people, and she can't take her mind off the man who sparked warm feelings she never felt before. Turns out that he's actually much more than he seems, and their encounter starts a chain of events that change their lives forever.

Gasp! Shock! I'll spoil the surprise right here: Clea is actually a reincarnated soul and, lucky her, mysterious dude is her soulmate! He really, really wants to finally be with her forever this time. Unfortunately their last encounters have always ended on a bad note—Clea lying dead. Totally original, amirite?

Although they have very similar plots, Clea from Elixer beats Ever from Evermore. While Ever has only made idiotic decisions in every single book of the Immortals series, Clea has no sense of self-preservation, can barely put together a puzzle with only two pieces, and has the memory of a goldfish (the three second memory has been disproved but that's beside the point). She is suffering from a serious condition of being Too Stupid To Live. Not to mention that she has some messed up priorities that need to be straightened out! What happened to her missing-and-possibly-dead dad? The all-important Elixir?

All attempts that Hilary Duff tried to make the only love interest (there is no love triangle, as the summary claims) Sage romantic failed. Instead, I am very much afraid and creeped out by him. Really, he brought a condom and expected to give Clea her first time when they only met a few days ago. Clea actually agrees to do this in her best friend's car, right after seeing his various paintings of her dead body and suspecting that he is a serial killer.

Who would name their son Sage during the time of the Ancient Greeks? Who would think about their entire life so far while pushing through a crowd inside a bar? Why would Clea's soul have an entirely new talent that always gets her into stardom in every lifetime? How did Clea understand her visions of her past lives when they spoke in different languages? We will never know.

Bully

Author: Penelope Douglas
Series: Fall Away, #1
Publisher: Intermix
Release Date: February 18, 2014

My name is Tate. He doesn't call me that, though. He would never refer to me so informally, if he referred to me at all.

We're neighbors, and once, we were best friends. But then, one summer, he turned on me and has made it his mission to screw up my life at every opportunity. I've been humiliated, shut out, and gossiped about all through high school. His pranks and rumors got more sadistic as time wore on, and I made myself sick trying to hide from him. I worried about what was around every corner and behind every door.

So I left.

I spent a year studying abroad and bathed in the freedom of life without Jared. Now I'm back to finish up high school and get the hell out of here forever. I'm hoping that after a year of breathing room, he's moved on and forgotten all about me.

But even if he hasn't changed, I have. I'm not interested in avoiding him or turning the other cheek anymore. We're going to go head to head, because neither of us wants to back down.

Anyone who knows me well enough knows I don't like contemporary romance. Before I read this book, which was years ago, I had only liked one self-published novel, and although I'm open to reading new adult, I had never actually read one. I know fully well about the bad rep on the last two, and a part of me kind of agrees with it. Taking in the fact that I mostly believe that contemporary romance plus new adult plus self-published equals garbage—which, now that I think about it, practically exempts me from reading ninety-nine percent of new adult novels—because I'd never heard of a good example or even a decent summary of this combination before, never had I actually expected to read this... and love it.

No, that was not a typo. I loved it.

Because of this book, Bully, I'm going to give that combination a chance now, and you have to read this, too. I don't care if you're a sci-fi fan, a purely YA lover, or a person who doesn't read books at all. You must read this, and here's why.

"I'll have you in tears in no time."

Understand this: Jared was a complete and utter asshole, along with his dipshit friend Madoc over there. The minute they opened their mouths, I wanted to bury them alive, straight after putting them through years and years of slow, intense, and painful torture. Bullies are awful, awful people, and in real life, don't try to put up with their crap or expect them to miraculously change.

Penelope Douglas makes no attempts to hide Jared's douchebaggery, and to make hundreds of readers sympathize with a jackass like him and even Madoc is an impressive feat. I would not have forgiven Jared for the things he did to Tate, ex-best friend since childhood or not.

But I can understand why though. I felt sorry for what had happened to him and made him the way he was. I know people who have been through similar things and have seen how much bitter they've become after. I couldn't untangle the mess of emotions I felt for him in the end and although I still couldn't forgive him for his action, I thought he deserved a second chance. I liked that he didn't make the unbelievable but common complete change into sappy Mr. Nice Guy in the end and still retained parts of his personality.

"You've already made me cry countless times." I raised my middle finger to [Jared] slowly, and asked, "Do you know what this is?" I took my middle finger and patted the corner of my eye with it. "It's me, wiping away the last tear you'll ever get."

I can't believe that I'm actually supporting this relationship between Tate and Jared, but I am. The author managed their power balance just splendidly. If you ever need another relationship like theirs to read about, and I can only think of one at the moment, check out an adult historical romance novel called Lord of Scoundrels, by Loretta Chase.

Even though I've never been in a situation like Tate, I found some aspects of her so relatable and most so likeable. She's strong, brave, funny, quick-witted, and smart. The damage that was done to her, heck, if I were in her shoes, I would have broke under the pressure. You would literally would have to drag my cold, dead body back to that town. There's so much I admire about Tate, and I'm proud of the way she fought back.

The only problem I had with her was her attraction to Jared when he still acted like a douche. I get that it was physical, and left over from her old friendship-crush thing, and that she was fighting it, but it still felt wrong in a way. Some of Tate's comments about a certain girl named Piper also ventured a little too much into s%#t-shaming for me. If this was young adult and not new, I would have taken down a whole point from my rating.

The side characters are equally great and very well-written. Just overall, amazing characterization and development on Penelope Douglas's part. Besides that this is self-published, as I mentioned earlier, I was even more surprised to have discovered that Bully was really the author's debut novel. I've heard about it before but after I finally read this, I really couldn't quite believe it.

Now a good book is not without its flaws. I think what pushed me away a bit was the writing style. Seriously, read this and try not to groan or roll your eyes: "The stabbing sensation in my throat surrendered to the tears wanting their release", or "I tried to blink away the disturbance to my equilibrium", or mood-breakers like, ""His lips devoured me, hard and fast, like I was being eaten alive." Halfway through though, I don't know what happened but I think the author had gotten the hang of writing a normal teenager's voice, and the try-too-hard language toned down while the humor went up.

I repeat, read Bully. You are missing so much, and I am sure you will not regret it.

The Ghost Bride

Author: Yangsze Choo
Series: None
Publisher: William Morrow Paperbacks
Release Date: August 5, 2014

"One evening, my father asked me if I would like to become a ghost bride..."

Though ruled by British overlords, the Chinese of colonial Malaya still cling to ancient customs. And in the sleepy port town of Malacca, ghosts and superstitions abound.

Li Lan, the daughter of a genteel but bankrupt family, has few prospects. But fate intervenes when she receives an unusual proposal from the wealthy and powerful Lim family. They want her to become a ghost bride for the family's only son, who recently died under mysterious circumstances. Rarely practiced, a traditional ghost marriage is used to placate a restless spirit. Such a union would guarantee Li Lan a home for the rest of her days, but at a terrible price.

After an ominous visit to the opulent Lim mansion, Li Lan finds herself haunted not only by her ghostly would-be suitor, but also by her desire for the Lim's handsome new heir, Tian Bai. Night after night, she is drawn into the shadowy parallel world of the Chinese afterlife, with its ghost cities, paper funeral offerings, vengeful spirits and monstrous bureaucracy—including the mysterious Er Lang, a charming but unpredictable guardian spirit. Li Lan must uncover the Lim family's darkest secrets—and the truth about her own family—before she is trapped in this ghostly world forever.

It's been said before, but "The Ghost Bride" is basically "Spirited Away" if it were a novel and set in colonial Malaysia. Which is not a bad thing. It's been a while since I've done a review, so forgive my rustiness and the major spoilers ahead.

First, the bad. I found myself getting irritated with our main character Li Lan a lot. Whenever it's the right time, she always does the wrong thing, but whenever she does the right thing, it's always at the wrong time. For example, when she has a problem, she generally refrains from telling the people she loves but later on, she readily hands out information to people she knows she shouldn't trust.

When she discovered major revelations about certain characters, they felt very predictable, and I could easily spot them from a mile away. I couldn't help but shake my head at Li Lan for not realizing them any sooner herself. There were so many hints, girl. Should you really be surprised?

I did not appreciate how critical Li Lan was of appearances. If it was Tian Ban that haunted her dreams and not pudgy Liam Tim Ching, I swear Li Lan wouldn't mind. I am not justifying what the latter did—he was entirely spoiled and self-entitled—but really, the way Li Lan saw the whole situation...

Ahh, Er Lang. Er Lang! My darling, my love. The smooth dragon bastard that had me cracking up at every page. I did not expect for there to be a love triangle until Li Lan started ogling him way into the novel. Even then, I thought the romance between them wouldn't actually be serious. As much as I believed her love for Tian Bai was nothing more than a school girl crush, no matter how much she thought otherwise, I really thought Er Lang would amount to nothing more than a side character, forever mooning our heroine from the sidelines.

I loved Old Wong, Chendana, and even the Dutchman, Willem Ganesvoort. I enjoyed the richness of the setting, which has inspired me to do better in my own works. However, I wish we were able to explore more of the spirit world.

The ending, although for the most part, satisfying, was a tad disappointing. It was almost as if the author wanted to breeze through the last chapters and be done with it. I felt the whole plot with corruption in the underworld was wrapped up too neatly, and there were still questions that were left to be answered.

Why was the Second Wife sneaking around? If Li Lan would disappear without notice, wouldn't her father smoke himself into an opium haze while her Amah worried herself to death? I actually wanted Li Lan to spend a lifetime with Tian Bai before moving on to Er Lang, so that her family wouldn't have to experience having a missing daughter.

Orphan Train

Author: Christina Baker Kline
Series: None
Publisher: William Morrow Paperbacks
Release Date: April 2, 2013

Orphan Train is a gripping story of friendship and second chances from Christina Baker Kline, author of Bird in Hand and The Way Life Should Be.

Penobscot Indian Molly Ayer is close to "aging out" out of the foster care system. A community service position helping an elderly woman clean out her home is the only thing keeping Molly out of juvie and worse...

As she helps Vivian sort through her possessions and memories, Molly learns that she and Vivian aren't as different as they seem to be. A young Irish immigrant orphaned in New York City, Vivian was put on a train to the Midwest with hundreds of other children whose destinies would be determined by luck and chance.

Molly discovers that she has the power to help Vivian find answers to mysteries that have haunted her for her entire life–answers that will ultimately free them both.

Rich in detail and epic in scope, Orphan Train by Christina Baker Kline is a powerful novel of upheaval and resilience, of unexpected friendship, and of the secrets we carry that keep us from finding out who we are.

Interesting.

Contemporary has never been my cup of tea but if there was a single word that could sum up my experience reading Orphan Train, it would be... interesting.

The style of writing is superb. Usually, I don't like it when tenses and, heaven forbid, pronouns, are changed between perspectives, but it fits right at home here, making an easy distinction between past and present for the reader. The descriptions just suck you right in, and flow effortlessly from page to page. It distracted from the major problem Orphan Train had, which was the story.

I know it's hard to be original, but the characterization and plotting was just too predictable. There was little the author could add to the misunderstood orphan character. The story relied heavily on tropes, and the formula was all too easy to spot. By the end of the first half, I had to put it down or risk tearing open my lips from yawning so much.

The rage Molly feels is so overwhelming she sees spots before her eyes. For more than four hundred years Indians were deceived, corralled, forced onto small pieces of land and discriminated against, called dirty Indians, injuns, red-skins, savages. They couldn't get jobs or buy homes. Would it compromise her probationary status to strangle this imbecile? 

I'll give points for diversity, especially for showing and taking a stand against discrimination, but I'm not sure about feminism. While both Molly and Vivian are headstrong, they have few positive relationships with the women around them, especially in the first half of the novel. The latter are generally domineering, which is shown in a negative light. The men are portrayed as much nicer, their only faults being scatterbrained and easy to push over.

Three of the kids are in the room with me, huddled like sheep.

Molly and especially Vivian compare people to herds of animals often, such as cows, dogs, and even mice. Honestly, I felt really uncomfortable about the whole thing.

Vivian puts her foot on the first step and stumbles slightly...

"I'm all right!" Vivian says, grasping the rail.

Molly slips an arm around her waist. "Of course you are." she whispers. Her voice is steady, though her heart is so full it aches. "And I'm right here behind you."

Overall, the Orphan Train felt too preachy for me to fully enjoy. There was always one mindless tragedy after another. It ends sort of happily, despite having the characters lose so much throughout the whole thing that they always sound hollow in their narrative. While touching, the conclusion was anti-climactic, and the events leading up to it seemed glossed over, as if the author didn't know how to finish it off. I know it's Vivian's story, but Molly was left high and dry.

Does she break out of her shell? Does Terry, the mother of her boyfriend, ever approve of her? Does she just age out of the foster system, without a family? Does Vivian eventually adopt her?

At least give us some hints to tie up those loose ends!

The School of Good and Evil

Author: Soman Chainani
Series: The School for Good and Evil, #1
Publisher: HarperCollins
Release Date: May 14, 2013

The first kidnappings happened two hundred years before. Some years it was two boys taken, some years two girls, sometimes one of each. But if at first the choices seemed random, soon the pattern became clear. One was always beautiful and good, the child every parent wanted as their own. The other was homely and odd, an outcast from birth. An opposing pair, plucked from youth and spirited away.

This year, best friends Sophie and Agatha are about to discover where all the lost children go: the fabled School for Good & Evil, where ordinary boys and girls are trained to be fairy tale heroes and villains. As the most beautiful girl in Gavaldon, Sophie has dreamed of being kidnapped into an enchanted world her whole life. With her pink dresses, glass slippers, and devotion to good deeds, she knows she’ll earn top marks at the School for Good and graduate a storybook princess. Meanwhile Agatha, with her shapeless black frocks, wicked pet cat, and dislike of nearly everyone, seems a natural fit for the School for Evil.

But when the two girls are swept into the Endless Woods, they find their fortunes reversed—Sophie’s dumped in the School for Evil to take Uglification, Death Curses, and Henchmen Training, while Agatha finds herself in the School For Good, thrust amongst handsome princes and fair maidens for classes in Princess Etiquette and Animal Communication.. But what if the mistake is actually the first clue to discovering who Sophie and Agatha really are…? The School for Good & Evil is an epic journey into a dazzling new world, where the only way out of a fairy tale is to live through one.

The School of Good and Evil was a rollercoaster, and it has been one helluva ride. One moment, I was hating the characters for their actions and in the next, loving every moment of it. And in some, I was just going, "Whaaaa..."

It had taken her whole life to make a single friend. And here these girls had become best friends in minutes as if making friends was the simplest thing in the world.

Agatha is your average heroine—the practical, kind of dark, just-jeans-for-me kind of gal. You've heard it before: All the girl wants is the ordinary, and she recoils at the thought of being special instead of reveling it. I could relate so strongly to her self-deprecation and loneliness, her struggle to "get with" other people, but I feel the author could have done a better job of bringing me closer to her. I know she's supposed to be the opposite of her best friend Sophie, but I'm at that point where I'm just tired of reading about these characters.

It’s this place, she thought. In Gavaldon, Sophie would forget about classes and castles and boys. In Gavaldon, they could find a happy ending together. Not here. I just need to get us home.

Agatha and Sophie are, as stated by the synopsis, kidnapped and placed in the twisted School of Good and Evil, where all manner of heroes are trained to be good and all manner of villains, evil. Except when it turns out they're... not?

“Sophie, we have the chance to save our village from a two-hundred-year-old curse, to rescue children from beatings and failings, to escape wolves, waves, gargoyles, and everything else in this awful school, and to end a story that will kill you. And you’re thinking about a boy?”

“I wanted my happy ending, Aggie,” Sophie said, tears sparkling.

Sophie is the perfect picture of a princess, with her perfect skin, perfect hair, and perfect manners, but behind lurks the face of a true villain. She has been delusioned by fairy tales, into believing a handsome prince on a white horse will make everything better. For her, the School for Good and Evil is a dream come true. Surprisingly, she ended up being my favorite character, although she did take dives into being the worst. While reading, I always looked forward to her appearances.

"Oh, Agatha, I’m a terrible friend. But I’ll have my whole life to make it up to you."

Tedros is the son of King Arthur. A bland little jock boy, who flaunts his privilege and family power. As you can see, I didn't care for the mysognistic, one track-minded brat. With him, I experienced the first time I ever hated a love-hate relationship, which is normally my favorite kind. Every time he came up, I wanted to skip on to the next scene.

The problem smashed Agatha in the face. The one that had plagued them all along. For as the two girls were pulled to their opposing towers, their opposing desires couldn’t have been clearer. Agatha wanted her only friend back. But a friend wasn’t enough for Sophie. Sophie had always wanted more.

Sophie wanted a prince.

The author seems to have a problem with building up to relationships and keeping them from becoming static, but Agatha and Sophie grew on me. I hated Tedros for being the character between the girls. I wanted them to just forget about princes and ride into the sunset.

Imagine my wonderful surprise when that's what the story ended with after all, with Agatha and Sophie exchanging "I love yous" and a kiss. Okay, so it might have just been a gesture of pure friendship, but that's still leagues further than Tedros has ever gone.

No wonder princesses were so impotent in fairy tales, she thought. If all they could do was smile, stand straight, and speak to squirrels, then what choice did they have but to wait for a boy to rescue them?

I actually finished this months ago, but pure laziness kept me from finishing my review or posting my status updates. I'm probably not going to read the next book, because I thought the ending was perfect. I wouldn't want to ruin the experience.

Some closing points, dipping in social justice area: Simpering, dependent misses are mocked, but not exactly. You can be a girly-girl yet still rock it out. Frowning at the word choice of "Arabian skin" and "exotic", but at least the character is still thought of as beautiful.

And which is it: the School for Good and Evil or the School of Good and Evil?

Switched

Author: Amanda Hocking
Series: Trylle Trilogy, #1
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
Release Date: January 3, 2012

When Wendy Everly was six-years-old, her mother was convinced she was a monster and tried to kill her. Eleven years later, Wendy discovers her mother might have been right. She's not the person she's always believed herself to be, and her whole life begins to unravel—all because of Finn Holmes.

Finn is a mysterious guy who always seems to be watching her. Every encounter leaves her deeply shaken, though it has more to do with her fierce attraction to him than she'd ever admit. But it isn't long before he reveals the truth: Wendy is a changeling who was switched at birth—and he's come to take her home.

Now Wendy's about to journey to a magical world she never knew existed, one that's both beautiful and frightening. And where she must leave her old life behind to discover who she's meant to become...,

Don't be fooled. Behind this beautiful cover is yet another typical young adult, half-baked novel. I should have put this back on the shelf the moment I read "mysterious guy who always seems to be watching her." To be honest, Switched had so much wonderful potential, but that potential comes crashing down after the one-third mark.

A couple things made that day stand out more than any other: it was my sixth birthday, and my mother was wielding a knife.

It starts out the same way almost every magic-themed Disney Channel movie does, with a mysterious event that occurs in the protagonist's childhood leading to them going to a new school in the present day. Wendy sits on the lowest of the popularity chain.

Everywhere I went, kids never seemed to like me. Even before I said or did anything. I felt like I had something wrong with me and everyone knew it. I tried getting along with the other kids, but I'd only take getting pushed for so long before I pushed back. Principals and deans were quick to expel me, probably sensing the same things the kids did.

I just didn't belong.

Her parents are dead. The only reason she cares about graduating at all is because of her loving and overly protective brother Matt and aunt Maggie. To top it off, the other new kid is her own personal stalker, with handsome looks and mysterious airs to go with.

I was about to lose hope, until Wendy actually starts to interact with Finn and doesn't fall for him right off the bat. Had the author intended to subvert the nauseating, unrealistic tropes that run rampant in urban fantasy?

The idea of Finn being a romantic prospect hadn't crossed Matt's mind before, and he suddenly tensed up, looking at me with a new scrutiny. Fortunately for him, that idea hadn't crossed my mind either.

She confronts Finn for acting like a stalker.

"You're always staring at me," I persisted. "It's weird. You're weird."

When he continues with his behavior and begins to spout some silly troll nonsense, she tells him to high-tail it out of here.

"...after what I went through with my mother, I'm not read to let another crazy person into my life. So you have to go."

She feels reasonably scared, refusing to let any attraction between them blind her. Finally!

"You have lost your mind," I trembled in shock and fear, not knowing what to think. I should have thrown him out of my room, but then again, I never should've let him in.

Alright!

"I look at you because I can't look away," Finn answered finally.

"That's kind of creepy," I said at last, but my words came out weak instead of accusatory.

Yes—Wait, what.

I couldn't get a read on the way I felt about Finn. Most of the time he seemed weird and bordering on creepy. But then we had that glorious moment when we danced together, before he completely shattered it.

Even now, after the way he'd treated me, I couldn't shake how wonderful it had felt being in his arms like that. 

No, stop.

A very small part of me felt excited about the prospect of going to his room with him. That sounded like the start of a fantasy I might have. But the way he was looking at me now, I was afraid he might kill me once we were in private.

*sigh*

In the two meetings between himself and Wendy, Finn had done nothing but insult her. For the rest, he continued to act condescending toward her, showing disapproval over any action she makes, Sometimes he struck me as more of a father than a love interest, just like my feelings for a certain YA character *cough*Dimitri*cough*. When he genuinely returned Wendy's feelings, that was probably one of the biggest shocks of my life. When, where and how did this happen?

There is certainly no appeal in Wendy herself. Like I said, she was awesome in the beginning, but then insta-love happened, and she was taken to the Troll sanctuary. She had morphed soon into a whiny stereotypical princess that needed rescuing. Everyone kept raving all about her great abilities, but we only see a small, weak glimpse of it in the first couple of chapters. I doubted that she was as powerful as everyone thought she was. And to me, while it might be realistic for any teenage girl in her situation, what she did in the end was too cowardly for me to stomach. I lost all respect for Wendy right there and then.

I did love the complexity of the side-characters, such as Tove and both of Wendy's mothers. Loki, a new character featured in the short story The Vitra Attacks, promises to be a lovely addition. Sorry, guys. I have a thing for fictional bad boys with a way with words.

But it wasn't enough. Just as I feared, Switched had ended up to be too clichéd and uneventful for me to enjoy, with nothing to make it stand out from others from its kind. Girl goes to new school, has a hard time making friends, falls in love with mysterious guy, gets stalked by mysterious guy, and discovers that he is more than meets the eye. Even discovers that she is different too. Together, they must fight against lame, non-threatening villains and their love being torn apart by a triangle. Lather, rinse, repeat. Yawn.

Shatter Me

Author: Tahereh Mafi
Series: Shatter Me, #1
Publisher: HarperTeen
Release Date: October 2, 2012

I have a curse.
I have a gift.

I am a monster.
I'm more than human.

My touch is lethal.
My touch is power.

I am their weapon.
I will fight back.

No one knows why Juliette's touch is fatal, but the Reestablishment has plans for her. Plans to use her as a weapon. But Juliette has plans of her own. After a lifetime without freedom, she's finally discovering a strength to fight back for the very first time—and to find a future with the one boy she thought she lost forever.

In this electrifying debut, Tahereh Mafi presents a riveting dystopian world, a thrilling superhero story, and an unforgettable heroine.

I can't believe I'm saying this, but Shatter Me... was a pretty decent book. It's not great by any means, but it's not terrible either. I had read the negative reviews and cringed at the first few pages, but by that time, I had already been given a signed copy of Shatter Me and Unravel Me. Passing them over to someone who might better appreciate them was out of the question, given my name was written in capital letters on each title page, so I decided to give them a shot before I would leave them on the shelf for dust to settle. You can imagine my surprise when I found it was nowhere near as awful as I expected.

I've been locked up for 264 days.

I have nothing but a small notebook and a broken pen and the numbers in my head to keep me company. 1 window. 4 walls. 144 square feet of space 26 letters in an alphabet. I haven't spoken in 264 days of isolation.

6,336 hours since I've touched another human being.

Juliette has spent most of her life imprisoned in an asylum, grasping at the remains of whatever sanity and goodness she still has inside of her. In her little room is a window, one that keeps her wondering how the outside has changed since she left it.

All I ever wanted was to reach out and touch another human being not just with my hands but with my heart.

Excuse me as I throw up in my mouth. Juliette is about as bland as young adult heroines come. Like I haven't read about skinny, white brunettes that don't have many friends and hate themselves for what they are. The only thing that marks her different is the purple prose metaphors and similes that run rampant through her mind, some of which don't even make sense. Sure, she's not all up there, but it gets to a point where it's too much. I'm not even sure if the author meant for the nonsensical metaphors to point to her mental state. As for the crossed-out lines that littered the pages, sometimes they bothered me, but not as much as I thought they would. Juliette's major fault is that she's generic.

Hello.

World.

You will forget me.

Sorry, synopsis. I'll have to agree with her on this one.

After the world was struck with a cataclysmic catastrophe, the people have been governed by The Reestablishment. Like others of its kind in dystopian fiction, the Reestablishment rules with an iron fist, reeking of greed, lies, and corruption. They had ripped Juliette from her family and placed her in the asylum all those years ago, waiting for the right moment to mold her as their weapon.

In other words, new government = bad. Rebels = good.

To avoid this terrible fate, Juliette must escape with a boy she loves and aid a revolution and blah, blah, blah, superpowers, blah, Adam, blah.

Yes, a boy she loves. There's a love triangle, guys. There's a love triangle.

[Adam's] lips soften into a smile that cracks apart my spine.

He repeats my name like the word amuses him. Entertains him. Delights him.

In seventeen years no one has said my name like that.

Adam is just as unremarkable as Juliette. He's a good guy, but there's nothing that really picks him apart from love interests like Quince from Forgive My Fins, Ben from Juliet Immortal, Hasani from Every Last Kiss, and so on. While it's easy to believe that Juliette, having been kept in isolation for weeks, fell in love with Adam in a matter of days, his declaration of love was kind of a shocker since I didn't believe that he spent enough time with her to reach that depth. That includes their past.

Warner, Juliette's other man, is messed up, which made his declaration was more understandable and his side of the corner more intriguing. The stars are mostly for him (and a little bit of Kenji) because, like I said, I am a sick, sick bastard who finds fictional psychopaths, unhealthy obsession, and heart-breaking desperation so interesting. It's always been my guilty reading pleasure, although I would, as I've also said before, be entirely against these kinds of things in a real life setting.

Off-topic, but I realized that my feelings for Juliette, Adam, and Warner are almost the same as my feelings for Juliet, Ben, and Romeo from Juliet Immortal. At least Shatter Me was better written.

Crushed

Author: Eliza Crewe
Series: Soul Eaters, #2
Publisher: Self-Published
Release Date: September 22, 2014

Meda Melange has officially hung up her monstrous mantle and planted her feet firmly on the holy and righteous path of a Crusader-in-training. Or, at least, she’s willing to give it a shot. It helps that the Crusaders are the only thing standing between her and the demon hordes who want her dead.

The problem is, the only people less convinced than Meda of her new-found role as Good Girl are the very Crusaders she's trying to join. So when a devilishly handsome half-demon boy offers escape, how’s a girl supposed to say "no?"

After all, everyone knows a good girl's greatest weakness is a bad boy.

Way to pull on my heartstrings, Ms. Crewe. I hope you're happy, perhaps smirking behind a computer screen out there, while somewhere, one of your readers is—er, was doing everything from shouting profanities to making soundless expressions at an open book in the middle of a lecture hall.

Which is a good thing, I guess.

If the message wasn't clear when I wrote my review of Cracked, you, dear reader, need to pick up the Soul Eater series right now. Almost everything I loved about the first book carried on to Crushed—engaging writing, complex relationships, exceptional character development, characters diverse in race and disability, and fast-paced, action-packed plot. And it's just so nice to indulge in narrative that isn't so serious all the time. How do authors manage to do this so effortlessly?

No, Meda, you can't eat that guy.

Meda is back, bitches. She may have saddled herself with the Crusaders—with good intentions and as a true Beacon, this time—but she's not about to let herself be held on a tight leash. And she'll be damned before she becomes a pet for these goody-two shoes humans, ready to bark and roll over at their beck and call.

I am what I am and I am not ashamed.

But if the Crusaders are going to trust her, she'll have to keep her head bowed or lose the only protection she has against the army of pissed-off hell spawns who want her and their revenge. Or she could run away with a hot demon halfling for a weekend of superhero antics. Which sounds pretty good too. If a war's coming, might as well cherish these moments while it lasts, eh?

Meda's been through her share of growth, but that journey of hers is far from over. The demon and human halves of her personality still struggle to fit together. She feels guilty for causing her friends trouble, but she can't quite resist the temptation of being bad, which she doesn't feel sorry for and doesn't need to. If her friends are in a pinch, she'll stay good and true, being loyal to a fault.

No one else will know I snuck out, but [Jo's] stellar bullshit-o-meter always knows when I'm up to no good.

I can't ever get enough of Meda and Jo, one of the best friendships I've ever read about in literature. Their friendship, thankfully, wasn't torn apart over trivial matters. Jo still calls her out for her bullshit and Meda for hers. Honestly, I liked that these characters were so multi-layered. You can't really hate anyone for anything, even the villains.

"Well, if it isn't the delectable Meda Melange." [...] His name isn't nearly as memorable as his face, so I just gasp "You!" Rude, maybe, but I figure "half-demon-boy-from-the-demon-dungeon" would really give my ignorance away.

Smooth-talking Armand makes a comeback! Totally called it. But whenever he came into the picture, though no fault of the author's, I kept on thinking about this motherfucker. Not the same name, but similar enough. It was hard to imagine Armand being seductive and charming when I keep hearing Takahata101's voice from TeamFourStar's Attack on Titan Abridged. Still, the flirtation between Meda and Armand had me struggling to hold back a smile.

He grins at me and I grin at him, two Cheshire smiles brilliant in the dim and dingy living room...

I wish Armand and Meda had been given more scenes together to drive home their feelings for each other. I believed in it, but I felt like something was lacking.

Can we talk about that ending? Armand's betrayal and Meda's resolve hurt so much, but I'm a true masochist that eats these kinds of things up and I wouldn't have liked it more any other way. But I would totally take Armand back as a love interest. In the realm of fiction, of course. Anyone who does what he did in real life should be punished, no question. I may be sick, but I do have standards. Somewhere.

"How exactly do you see this..." I wave between the two of us, unable to come up with a descriptor.

"Beautiful friendship?" he supplies with a devilish grin.

"...going?" I finish, ignoring him. "Us being mortal enemies and all."

"I prefer the term 'star-crossed lovers'."

I snort. "Regardless, it can't end well."

"The best romances don't."

City of a Thousand Dolls

Author: Miriam Forster
Series: Bhinian Empire, #1
Publisher: HarperTeen
Release Date: February 5, 2013

An exotic treat set in an entirely original, fantastical world brimming with deadly mystery, forbidden romance, and heart-stopping adventure.

Nisha was abandoned at the gates of the City of a Thousand Dolls when she was just a child. Now sixteen, she lives on the grounds of the isolated estate, where orphan girls apprentice as musicians, healers, courtesans, and, if the rumors are true, assassins. Nisha makes her way as Matron's assistant, her closest companions the mysterious cats that trail her shadow. Only when she begins a forbidden flirtation with the city's handsome young courier does she let herself imagine a life outside the walls. Until one by one, girls around her start to die.

Before she becomes the next victim, Nisha decides to uncover the secrets that surround the girls' deaths. But by getting involved, Nisha jeopardizes not only her own future in the City of a Thousand Dolls—but her own life.

To think I actually thought about turning away this novel because it had factions. Just another reason to curse the growing number of dystopian novels of late, and to thank the heavens for the book's beautiful cover, charming author, disability and South Asian representation convincing me otherwise. And don't worry, City of a Thousand Dolls comes nowhere near to the awfully-done Stormdancer.

"You have been invaluable to me as an assistant and as a source of information." [Matron] hesitated. "And I'm afraid that your value to me has put you in great danger."

Nisha is the Matron's bitch. She tidies her room, does her errands, and reports to her whenever something peculiar catches her eye, allowing Nisha to move freely between Houses. Shockingly, her recent report doesn't contain the usual out-of-stock hairpin notice or the occasional girl unhappy with her House, but a body found at the very center of the City of a Thousand Dolls. As the Redeeming, the most important event of the city, approaches and the Matron's hands become full with the new Council Head who seeks to take her city for himself, Nisha, with the help of a sarcastic clan of talking cats, is sent to investigate.

"There are more secrets in the City than you can possibly know. Which ones do you really care about?"

While City of a Thousand Dolls may sometimes lack the maturity or complexity of similarly-themed novels, I enjoyed reading it for what it was. Nisha, though a touch bland, had turned out to be a strong-willed protagonist that I've come to adore. She makes mistakes and she learns from them, a simple thing I can't say for most young adult protagonists. She tries so hard to do the right thing, no matter what tries to bring her down. I empathized strongly with her sense of loneliness and feelings of being trapped within the estate, finding parallels with my current situation to hers. I won't get into that, for obvious reasons, but I think you get the picture.

She was just Nisha. And she needed to be free.

Much of the first half of the book is comprised of world-building, and the synopsis was right. For once, the "entirely original, fantastical world brimming with deadly mystery" was not a lie. Miriam Forster's love for her work shone between the lines, a first for me, and I share in that love. The author had clearly done her research and expressed it in a respectful way. People of Color and disabled characters are in abundance, as well as powerful women and women of power. There's no shame in what the House of Pleasure does. I loved how she handled Nisha's romance with the men in her life and how it isn't the only kind of love that's touched upon. And if an author can make you ship a human with a cat, you know they have some serious skill. Although I wish there was something... more, City of a Thousand Dolls was amazing by itself and not a novel any reader should pass up. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm off to go draw some terrible fanart.

Unspoken

Author: Sarah Rees Brennan
Series: The Lynburn Legacy, #1
Publisher: Random House
Release Date: September 11, 2012

Kami Glass loves someone she's never met... a boy she's talked to in her head ever since she was born. She wasn't silent about her imaginary friend during her childhood, and is thus a bit of an outsider in her sleepy English town of Sorry-in-the-Vale. Still, Kami hasn't suffered too much from not fitting in. She has a best friend, runs the school newspaper, and is only occasionally caught talking to herself. Her life is in order, just the way she likes it, despite the voice in her head.

But all that changes when the Lynburns return.

The Lynburn family has owned the spectacular and sinister manor that overlooks Sorry-in-the-Vale for centuries. The mysterious twin sisters who abandoned their ancestral home a generation ago are back, along with their teenage sons, Jared and Ash, one of whom is eerily familiar to Kami. Kami is not one to shy away from the unknown—in fact, she's determined to find answers for all the questions Sorry-in-the-Vale is suddenly posing. Who is responsible for the bloody deeds in the depths of the woods? What is her own mother hiding? And now that her imaginary friend has become a real boy, does she still love him? Does she hate him? Can she trust him?

Sarah Rees Brennan brings Gothic romance kicking and screaming into the twenty-first century with a heroine who can take care of herself, a boy who needs to be saved, and the magical forces that bring them together and tear them apart.

Witty, insightful, and definitely not one to mess with—these words can describe our main characters here perfectly. From Angela, Kami's best friend who hates everyone, to Jared's aunt Lillian, who thinks she's the queen of every blade of grass in Sorry-in-the-Vale, each are entirely likeable characters with kickass attitudes. I just want to applaud Unspoken for its excellent cast, complete with caring, non-absentee family and friends. Bonus points given for having a non-offensive portrayal of Asians and LGBT characters, with main roles to top it off!

"In love. That's how it sounds, doesn't it? His heart is my heart, nobody can ever take him away from me, I keep him in here!" [Kami] thumped her breastbone, so hard it hurt. "People say stuff like that but they don't mean it: they mean they're in love. All except me. I mean it." 

Kami and Jared have no secrets. Their minds have been latched together since the day they were born. For Kami, Jared was her imaginary friend, one she cherished and refused to let go. For Jared, in a household where he was hated and abused, Kami was something more. When he would get sick every fall and be confined to the space of his bed, she was there. When his father would beat him and his mother after drowning himself in bottles of alcohol, she was there. When he ran away from home and was forced to live on the streets because he had nowhere else to go, she was there. When his mother wrongly sent him to jail for killing his father after he decided to come back, she was there. Kami was his steady beacon of light that kept him sane in the darkest of times.

But given their unique and impossible circumstances beyond their control, how can you tell if they are more than friends and actually in love? Despite having learned to "build walls" between each other, it's a constant struggle to keep all their thoughts and emotions from slipping past it. Which ones are hers and which ones are his? What if it's none of theirs at all and just an unfortunate downside to their connection? Without their mental link, would they have been something special? Only time apart can tell.

If they could only bring themselves to sever the connection.

Or more importantly, survive long enough to stop a certain murderous sorcerer in town.

Ms. Brennan deliberately uses almost every trope expected of the young adult genre, and turns each and every one of them on its head. The characters may be shaped from cookie-cutters, but I love it when an author is able to make them grow beyond theirs. Unspoken isn't afraid to show the dark side of Sorry-in-the-Vale, its residents, and the secrets they keep. It isn't afraid to poke fun at the absurdness of some personas and situations as well.

"A leather jacket," Kami said as he shrugged into it. "Aren't you trying a little too hard to play into certain bad boy cliches?"

"Nah," said Jared. "You're thinking about black leather. Black leather's for bad boys. It's all in the color. You wouldn't think I was a bad boy if I was wearing a pink leather jacket."

"That's true," Kami said. "What I would think of you, I do not know. So what does brown leather mean, then?"

"I'm going for manly," Jared said. "Maybe a little rugged."

"It's bits of dead cow; don't ask it to perform miracles."

However, its brand of humor was sometimes a problem for me. My biggest complaint is that I wished the characters were more serious in situations that, well, demanded it. The first part of the novel is filled with many silly, one-liner jokes that are more often out-of-place than humorous. I can't help but feel they even go too well. Take a look at this particular quip from Kami's father. Note that this is the first thing he says while visiting Kami in the hospital after she was attacked and nearly killed by an unknown assailant.

"Kami, I know all the other kids are throwing themselves down wells now, but your mother and I have a firm policy of no danger sports until you're eighteen."

Although I haven't liked Unspoken as much as I'd wanted, being just before the line of love, I've gotta admit Ms. Brennan has a talent for weaving together her mysterious, hilarious, frightening, adorable, and heart-breaking scenes. She also has a talent to keep me not guessing at all. I had absolutely no idea who was causing the murders of Sorry-in-the-Vale. Rare, since I'd like to think I'm an excellent arm-chair detective since I have at least one suspect in mind, which is almost always the culprit. The romance takes a backseat in this murder mystery. All-in-all, I would definitely Unspoken for anyone's shelves.

Team Human

Authors: Justine Larbalestier, Sarah Rees Brennan
Series: None
Publisher: HarperTeen
Release Date: July 3, 2012

Just because Mel lives in New Whitby, a city founded by vampires, doesn't mean she knows any of the blood-drinking undead personally. They stay in their part of town; she says in hers. Until the day a vampire shows up at her high school. Worse yet, her best friend, Cathy, seems to be falling in love with him. It's up to Mel to save Cathy from a mistake she might regret for all eternity!

On top of trying to help Cathy (whether she wants it or not), Mel is investigating a mysterious disappearance for another friend and discovering the attractions of a certain vampire wannabe. Combine all this with a cranky vampire cop, a number of unlikely romantic entanglements, and the occasional zombie, and soon Mel is hip-deep in an adventure that is equal parts hilarious and touching.

Acclaimed authors Justine Larbalestier and Sarah Rees Brennan team up to create a witty and poignant story of cool vampires, warm friendships, and the changes that test the bonds of love.

I never knew I could feel physical pain from giving a low rating to a book, if only a little. Team Human was sold to me as a detective, vampire parody lead by a headstrong, street-smart Chinese teen girl. It isn't often we get Asian protagonists in any novel and being Asian myself, I was more than ready to love this book. What can I say? I'm biased that way. Couple that with Sarah Rees Brennan's dry but witty writing style, I expected a fun, light read that would have me laughing out loud.

I have never been so wrong.

He was also cold. Not ice cold, but cool like water is at room temperature. It was wrong. People should be 98.6 degrees, not 72.

I gave creepy, cold Francis a bright smile, clapped my hands together, and said: "Can you believe summer is over? Hands up, who's going to miss the sunshine?

Mel is the equivalent of a racist. There is no denying that, and no one can convince me otherwise. Whenever she belittled or openly mocked Francis or vampires in general, for that matter, I saw red. Although I enjoy sneering at perfect, romanticized vampires as much as the next girl, it's one thing to make fun of them in fiction; it's entirely different to make fun of one that lives alongside you. If vampires were living, (non-)breathing creatures of our world, I sure as hell wouldn't start cracking jokes at their expense. I don't care if they have ridiculously archaic names. I don't care if they act like they live in the past. I don't care if they become the most disgustingly perfect beings that ever existed. If they led civil lifestyles and didn't hunt humans for food, there is no excuse to be treating them like dirt. Though not exactly people, they are pretty damn close to it and are certainly not animals.

"A true lady would never dream of discussing her health in mixed company," I told him.

"Is everything humorous to you?" Francis inquired with some asperity.
The would be Francis-speak for "snippy."

"Not everything," I said. "But it's really the only way to deal with you."

Francis's lip curled. "I deal with you, as you put it, but remaining courteous despite your ill-judged attempts at humor."

"Everyone else laughs at my jokes," I said. "Oh sorry, I forgot. You can't do that, can you?"

Because of Mel's cruel attitude against vampires, she was extremely hard to sympathise with, and I had to constantly fight the urge to throw the book against the wall for her prejudice. By the end, she does seem to have a change of heart to some extent but as they say, too little, too late.

Aside from the species-ism, I was appalled by a certain snide comment about the stereotypical mean girl, anorexic cheerleaders who threw themselves at Francis, and Mel's harsh judgments about dying patients that would rather live longer as a vampire than accept the embrace of death as a human. At this point, the only thing that potentially made Mel redeemable was her friendship with Cathy.

"Come on, Frankie, she's like a million years younger than you. Where's this going to lead except to breaking her heart?"

After a few days of embarking on her relationship with Francis, Cathy decides to become a vampire as soon as possible. Her friends and even Francis himself are astonished, and each make various attempts to dissuade her from making an incredible life-changing decision so soon. I understand that Cathy is beyond her years and she's given a considerable amount of thought of whether it's worth the risk but like everyone else, I wish she had waited longer. Not just for herself, but for her friends and her family to adjust to the idea. It is her choice, but her choice affects everyone around her.

Another human who looks forward to becoming a vampire is Kit, the boy who was raised by one. He and Mel hold strong attraction towards each other, but she turns him away because of his unwillingness to remain as he is. Their romance, although interesting, invoked little more than a shrug and a "meh" from me, with the exception of the cellphone scene, which I found adorable.

The authors managed to explain their alternate world very well, the humor present in the book was reminiscent of Cassandra Clare, and the detective-sleuthing was pulled off nicely. If not for Mel, Team Human might have been given a solid three.