Conjured

Lost memories. Magical abilities. Nightmare visions of a terrifying carnival, a Magician, and a Storyteller whose tales turn dark with blood and misery.  These elements combine to make a supernatural story full of mystery in Sarah Beth Durst's Conjured .  Teenage, Eve, cannot remember her past or her family. She has gone into WitSec, a witness protection program of sorts and she spends her time with the agents who pretend to be her family. But where family should be--or any memories--is a void.  Eve's body isn't even her own but has been surgically altered to the teenage girl she appears to be. But Eve has the ability to change her eye color by magic, to make birds fly off of wallpaper and become animate too. Unfortunately, every time she uses her magic she loses consciousness. That's when the visions--or are they memories?--of a dark carnival come to her. Eve can't remember how she came to be in this world, and every time she has a vision, she loses more memory in real time. Weeks pass without her remembering a thing. When she begins working at a local library, she meets Zach, and when she kisses him, she's able to keep her mind in check. But so much is missing. . . how do all the pieces come together and how can she use them to bear witness against a supernatural murderer, one who is surely stalking Eve?

It took a little while for me to get with the flow of this book. I found myself impatient for some answers, but when those answers eventually came, they were so satisfying they were worth the wait.  One weakness is that it's hard to connect fully to a girl who cannot connect to herself. Luckily, Eve grows steadily through the book. Unaware of her past she creates who she will be, even as powers work to control her, and some, to try to kill her. I loved the human agents in this book, Aunt Nicki and Malcolm, who seems to be Eve's protectors but whom Eve can't trust completely. I loved the uncertainty of Eve's being able to trust anyone in WitSec and the gradual revelation of what they do and what they want from Eve.  One thing the reader must be willing to overlook--the fact that these super cool secret agents can apparently guard the front door of a house but don't seem to spend any time making sure the back door is covered. It's a little plot device necessary for some scenes, but kind of a cringer. Ah, well. There's too much other good stuff here to quibble over it too much. Characters like Nicki and Malcolm, and three other,also supernaturally enabled,
(but disturbing) WitSec teenagers, make this an intriguing read. Anyone who goes for supernatural romance and has a thing for spooky carnivals is bound to enjoy this one.

Have we seen the last of the characters in this book? Perhaps there will be more to come. . .

Middle School Book Club: Romantic Reads

Last week I met with my Middle School Book Club to talk about this month's theme: Romantic Reads (cue high-pitched "OOOOooooooooOOOOOh").

We had a blast sharing the books we'd read, and found that they were an interesting mix of realistic and fantasy/supernatural. We read "girl meets boy" stories, "girl with 'powers' meets boy" stories, "boy best friend falls for girl best friend" stories, funny love stories, stories about angles falling for humans, and even a couple of science fiction love stories. (Check out the list below)

What love stories have you read lately?

Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl

Fallen by Lauren Kate

The Host by Stephenie Meyer

Matched by Ally Condie

Meant to Be by Lauren Morrill

Mixed Messages by Jahnna N. Malcolm

Private by Kate Brian

Take Me There by Susane Colasanti

Unearthly by Cynthia Hand

When It Happens by Susane Colasanti

Monstrous Beauty

Monstrous Beauty by Elizabeth Fama is a beautifully told mermaid tale. It opens up in 1522 with Syrenka, the immortal mermaid, lusting after the human Pukanokick. And then she accidentally drowns him by forgetting that us silly, weak humans need air.

The novel alternates chapters between Syrenka and her love story and the current day Hester and her own love issues. Syrenka and her love from the 19th century--a man who studies marine life and falls madly in love with her. Hester and her decision to never fall in love. Every generation the women of Hester's family die in childbirth. Every generation. Is it genetics, a family curse? When Hester meets Ezra in a beach cove, everything changes for her. Everything.

This darkly gothic paranormal romance is not the typical YA paranormal romance novel. Which is probably why I enjoyed it so much. I read this a few months ago and reviewed for a book journal. Typically, that means that I will not blog about it here or on my goodreads page. But this title struck me still as one that needs to be highlighted. It has a little bit of everything in it. Mystery, ghosts, romance, horrific mermaids, murders, violence, history, and rich characters. Without the characters' depth that story would have faltered.

My only complaint about this novel is the cover art! The image on the left is the hardback version. The image on the right is the cover image from the ARC (Advanced reading copy) that I reviewed. I love that cover art. Who decided to change it to the boring one on the left?

Anyway, if you're looking for something a bit more than the typical paranormal story. Something with a bit more grit, depth, literary quality, et cetera. Look no further than Monstrous Beauty. You won't be disappointed.

Anna Dressed in Blood

In the mood for a spooky read? Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendare Blake tells a story in the spirit of legends and ghost stories like Bloody Mary and the ghostly hitchhiker.

The ghost of sixteen-year-old Anna Korlov, who was violently murdered in 1958, is said to haunt the now abandoned house where she once lived in the town of Thunder Bay, Ontario. Local legend claims that anyone who dares venture into the house risks being torn limb from limb by Anna’s vengeful spirit.

Cas Lowood kills dead people, a skill and curse that he inherited, along with a ghost-killing sword or athame, from his father who was violently murdered by a powerful spirit. As the story opens, the reader witnesses Cas in action as he uses his athame to slay a ghostly hitchhiker that lures unsuspecting drivers to their deaths. Soon after, Cas and his mother, a practitioner of witchcraft, move to Thunder Bay to track down the ghost of Anna Dressed in Blood. Cas enrolls in the local high school and soon becomes friends with Carmel, the school socialite, in hopes of finding out more about the legend of Anna. As part of a mean-spirited prank, Cas is taken to Anna’s house after a party one night by Carmel’s ex-boyfriend Mike and his cronies. The evening takes a bloody turn for the worst when Anna appears, all decked out in a dress stained red by her eternally dripping blood, and kills Mike by ripping him in half…Yikes!

Together with help from friends Carmel and Thomas, a nerdy and likable teen intuitive, Cas attempts to discover why Anna has become such a powerful entity and how she can be stopped. However, as the secrets surrounding her tragic story begin to unfold, Cas finds that he is unprepared for the feelings that he has for Anna, and equally unprepared for the dark entity that may be stalking him.

Anna Dressed in Blood is a definite stand-out among the multitude of teen paranormal love titles available these days. It features some truly creepy moments, interesting and well-developed characters, a healthy dose of gore, and just enough romance to not repel those non-romance readers like myself.

Fateful

A plucky servant girl.

The Titanic's maiden voyage.

Werewolves.

Awesome.

Is it ridiculous? Of course, it's ridiculous. All paranormal romance is ridiculous, but let's face it, readers don't choose this genre for its stunning realism. Kristin, my librarian cohort, you can roll your eyes all you want, but readers like moi who like the supernatural and have a fascination with the disaster of the Titanic will enjoy this novel. I was especially excited when I learned the author was Claudia Gray. She wrote Evernight, which I always recommend to readers looking for something Twilight-y. The romance angle of this book is the least compelling for me, but many readers will enjoy the budding romance between a third-class servant girl and a handsome, psychologically tortured upper-class gentleman, who happens to be cursed by the bite of a werewolf. Telling you that is really not giving anything away. If readers can't figure out from the first few pages that there are werewolves in this book then there is no helping them.

Some things feel a little derivative of the movie Titanic--a romance between classes, a "rich" family that's actually in dire financial straits, pinning their hopes on a good match for the daughter--but I think it's forgivable. If we can accept werewolves on the Titanic then surely we can give the author a pass on some other issues.

As I finish this book I find myself guessing who is going to survive and who is going to drown. Can a werewolf drown? Can a werewolf drown only if wrapped in silver? Are these werewolves like Twilight ones with super body heat so that if our plucky servant girl goes into the icy Atlantic she can grab onto one and avoid freezing to death? Are her friends going to survive or will the bad werewolves get them first? So many questions! I will soon find the answers.

The Iron Witch

Here's a book that would fit in nicely with Kristin's upcoming paranormal romance book cafe. In The Iron Witch, teenager Donna Underwood lives a life of secrecy. She's part of the Order of the Dragon, a group of alchemists searching for the key to immortality. They also fight to keep the dark fey, evil wood elves, imprisoned in the Ironwood Forest,a magical place on the edges of the city where Donna lives. Long ago, Donna's father was killed saving her life from the dark fey. Her mother went mad. Donna suffered catastrophic injuries to her hands and the alchemists gave her several painful procedures to fix them as best they could. Now Donna's hands are filled with iron tattoos, both on the surface of her skin and beneath. Donna hides them with gloves, but it's not always easy to hide the inhuman strength she has gained from them. As the book opens, she is keeping her secret from her best friend, Navin, and she meets a mysterious and handsome older boy who seems to know more than he should about Donna's secrets.

There were several fascinating elements to this plot. Some of them could have been more fully explored, but I suspect the author held back because she plans a series. This suspicion was confirmed when I reached the end of the book, turned the page expecting more, and realized the novel was over. I literally cried out, "WHAT?!" In addition, the author has written some very clunky explanations of the supernatural world Donna lives in. For example: "Donna was marked by magic. And not just any magic, but an ancient alchemical magic that had lain hidden behind legends for centuries." This on the fifth page of the book. Awkward.

Despite the sometimes clunky passages, the frustration of the abrupt ending, and the author's also awkward descriptions of Donna's attraction to the older guy (always when they're in the midst of some critical moment of supernatural conflict) there were enough intriguing elements to keep me reading. I like the world of the alchemists and the dark elves. The nightmare creature, the skriker, was also exceedingly cool. I'm not sure I'd be driven to pick up the next book in the series the moment it came out, but if I can remember the plot well enough by the time of that release, I will need to know what happens next in the story, especially if Donna can find a way to fix her broken mother.

paranormal romance

Hey all, did you know that Tuesday's Teen Book Cafe is all about Paranormal Romance? As everyone who notices the new bookshelves in the teen area will know, there are a lot of paranormal romances written for teens. Seriously, a lot. I have a bookcart filled with them next to me right now waiting for the program. Here's a sneak peek at some of books I'll talk about:

Ghosts--A Certain Slant of Light by Laura Whitcomb

Helen has been a harmless ghost for 130 years. Her current haunt is an English teacher--she loves reading over his shoulder. One day in class she looks up to see a boy staring at her. The first human to be able to see her since she died.

Vampires--Pretty Dead by Francesca Lia Block

After the death of her human friend, Charlotte finds herself slowly turning back to human. What a great cover!

So there's a sneak at two of the books. I'll post more after the program. And if I'm ambitious there will be a craft activityin the program too.

Have a great weekend!