Review: Dreams and Shadows by Robert C. Cargill

Title: Dreams and Shadows

Author: Robert C. Cargill

Series: N/A

Genre: Fantasy

Summary (from Goodreads)

There is another world than our own—one no closer than a kiss and one no further than our nightmares—where all the stuff of which dreams are made is real and magic is just a step away. But once you see that world, you will never be the same.

Dreams and Shadows takes us beyond this veil. Once bold explorers and youthful denizens of this magical realm, Ewan is now an Austin musician who just met his dream girl, and Colby, meanwhile, cannot escape the consequences of an innocent wish. But while Ewan and Colby left the Limestone Kingdom as children, it has never forgotten them. And in a world where angels relax on rooftops, whiskey-swilling genies argue metaphysics with foul-mouthed wizards, and monsters in the shadows feed on fear, you can never outrun your fate.

Review

I love fairies. Not the pretty, Disney-fied version. The ugly, creepy, twisted versions of myth and legend – as multitudinous as the stars at night, each one even more horrible and fascinating than the rest.

Dreams and Shadows brings many of them out to play in a story that is at once an epic tale of war and an intimate story of friendship between two young boys as they grow into two young men, their lives entwined with the magic and treachery of the fairy world.

The story is told from a number of different perspectives, including a series of extracts from a book on the Fairy world which ought to have been dull, but actually added to the colour of the world. Knowing more about the habits and the horrors of each of the species encountered just added to the sense of building foreboding as the story built towards its climax.

It’s difficult to say much more than that without spoiling the reading experience. It’s a strange book, but in the best sort of way – a rich and fascinating experience that will leave a lasting impression. And make you careful to close your windows at night.

Rating: 5/5

 

Review: Mila 2.0 by Debra Driza

Title: Mila 2.0

Author: Debra Driza

Series: Mila 2.0 #1

Genre: YA Science Fiction

Received for Review from NetGalley

Summary (from Goodreads)

Mila was never meant to learn the truth about her identity. She was a girl living with her mother in a small Minnesota town. She was supposed to forget her past—that she was built in a secret computer science lab and programmed to do things real people would never do.

Now she has no choice but to run—from the dangerous operatives who want her terminated because she knows too much and from a mysterious group that wants to capture her alive and unlock her advanced technology. However, what Mila’s becoming is beyond anyone’s imagination, including her own, and it just might save her life.

Review

I love science fiction, but more than anything I love clever science fiction with great emotional punch. And that’s exactly what Mila 2.0 is.

I didn’t read the blurb for this one – just dove straight in on the strength of the cover. Consequently, I discovered the plot twist very organically. Hints and clues were very cleverly dripped in throughout the opening few chapters of Mila’s life at school. I was starting to wonder if she’d been almost killed in the fire that killed her father and was brought back from the brink by some mad scientists testing out some cutting edge biotechnology. I wasn’t far off, which just goes to show the strength of the writing.

The characters are great too – particularly Mila. You would think it’s a given that the main character is the most interesting, emotionally engaging character, but frequently in YA books, I’m finding that’s not the case. Mila is a wonderful blend of strong and vulnerable, human and not, driven by a powerful need to protect a mother she’s not even sure she knows. The internal and external conflicts keep the tension high and the pages turning, building to an emotional climax that, while satisfying enough to round off the story in a manner that’s not a frustrating cliffhanger, is enough to make me desperate to read the next instalment.

There are a couple of minor annoyances – the token boy love interest relationship developed a little too quickly, and I didn’t miss him at all when all hell broke loose and he was forgotten about for a while – but overall, this was a superb story. A real thrill ride, complemented by engaging characters and emotional punch. I can’t wait to read the next one.

Rating: 5/5

Review: Dear Cassie by Lisa Burstein

Title: Dear Cassie

Author: Lisa Burstein

Series: Companion novel to Pretty Amy

Genre: YA Contemporary

Received for review from NetGalley

Summary (from Goodreads)

What if the last place you should fall in love is the first place that you do?

You’d think getting sent to Turning Pines Wilderness Camp for a month-long rehabilitation “retreat” and being forced to re-live it in this journal would be the worst thing that’s ever happened to me.

You’d be wrong.

There’s the reason I was sent to Turning Pines in the first place: I got arrested. On prom night. With my two best friends, who I haven’t talked to since and probably never will again. And then there’s the real reason I was sent here. The thing I can’t talk about with the guy I can’t even think about.

What if the moment you’ve closed yourself off is the moment you start to break open?

But there’s this guy here. Ben. And the more I swear he won’t—he can’t—the deeper under my skin he’s getting. After the thing that happened, I promised I’d never fall for another boy’s lies.

And yet I can’t help but wonder…what if?

Review

I wasn’t really paying much attention to the blurb of Dear Cassie when I picked it on NetGalley. I just went through one day and picked all the Contemporary YA books I could spot. (You may have noticed the phases I go through with my reading…) So, I didn’t really have any expectation when I came to read this one, which is why I think it hit me so hard and gripped me so utterly.

Cassie’s voice comes across loud and clear in the first few sentences, Burstein painting a picture of this bitter, angry and ultimately vulnerable teen girl who’s desperately trying to avoid her issues, living in fear of having to face them.

What follows is a story about self discovery, forgiveness and redemption through friendship and young love, which you’d be forgiven for thinking sounds terribly cheesy. It does, and in a lot of ways it is, but it’s so well written, it doesn’t really matter.

The gradual revelation of Cassie’s past read like a rollercoaster murder mystery, rather than the secret lives of teenage girls, and because Cassie came across as so real, so relatable (despite the tough girl act and the constant smokescreen swearing) it was just all the more gripping. The secondary characters are great too – a compulsive liar, a girl who won’t talk, and the guidance councillor/wilderness guide who you sense has issues of her own. So much is suggested, rather than told, which is really clever, letting you into characters who are rich and three dimensional, even if they feature only briefly.

I discovered after I read this that it’s a companion novel to Pretty Amy, which I haven’t read, but it wasn’t a hindrance. Past events are glossed over a little, but much of the story is not about the past but about how Cassie deals with it in the present anyway, so it didn’t really matter. I would be interested to read Pretty Amy now, though, to learn more about the characters that don’t feature strongly in Dear Cassie.

This was an excellent book, and I thoroughly enjoyed spending an afternoon devouring it.

Rating: 5/5

Review: Witch Fire by Laura Powell

Title: Witch Fire

Author: Laura Powell

Series: Burn Mark #2

Genre: YA Urban Fantasy

Received for review from NetGalley

Summary (from Goodreads)

Lucas and Glory are hard at work in WICA (Witchkind Intelligence and Covert Affairs). As part of their training, they learn more about the witch-terrorist organization Endor. It is believed that Endor has infiltrated a boarding school for young witches in Switzerland, so WICA sends their two youngest agents—Lucas and Glory—to the school undercover. There, they learn more about an experimental brain implant that blocks the power of the fae. It’s a dangerous procedure . . . more so than they could ever have imagined.

Review

Well, this one screwed my reading plans for the week.

I got the first in this series (100 word review to follow in monthly round up) when I saw this one on NetGalley, and finally got round to reading it the other day. I immediately had to pick up the next instalment, which tells you something about the quality of the series. Out of the window went my carefully constructed book review spreadsheet. Witch Fire was immediately bumped to the top.

The world Powell creates is both fascinating and unlike any other in the YA Urban Fantasy genre that I’ve read. And I’ve read a lot. The idea of an alternate universe where witchcraft is a real thing is a fascinating one, and it’s cleverly brought to life – with the criminally minded Covens, the do-gooder witches of WICA trying to fight the bad image their kind has, and the terrifying Inquisition each representing a different aspect of the world and the attitudes of its people.

The juxtaposition of Glory and Lucas’ characters works deliciously as well, especially as they sneak closer to the romantic entanglement that you know is inevitable, even as they do their best to push each other away. Watching it all unfold is just another pleasure.

The plot remains as twisting and engaging as the first book, with plenty of unexpected turns and action to keep the pace roaring along. Definitely no case of second book syndrome here, and I’m actually quite disappointed (though grateful, at least, that I’ll have a chance to catch up on my other reading commitments) that I don’t have a third instalment to fall into. Really great read!

Rating: 5/5

Review: Fade to Black by Francis Knight

Title: Fade to Black

Author: Francis Knight

Series: Rojan Dizon #1

Genre: Dark Fantasy

Summary (from Goodreads)

It’s a city built upwards, not across—where streets are built upon streets, buildings upon buildings. A city that the Ministry rules from the sunlit summit, and where the forsaken lurk in the darkness of Under.

Rojan Dizon doesn’t mind staying in the shadows, because he’s got things to hide. Things like being a pain-mage, with the forbidden power to draw magic from pain. But he can’t hide for ever.

Because when Rojan stumbles upon the secrets lurking in the depths of the Pit, the fate of Mahala will depend on him using his magic. And unlucky for Rojan—this is going to hurt.

Review

So, the Orbit marketing team did a really good job of getting this blasted all over my twitter and Facebook and making me fall in serious cover lust. It’s just such a striking image – I love it – and reading the blurb only made me more interested. I was pleased that the story lived up to the promise.

The great strength of the story is the world. Mahala is an entirely believable place, horrific in its details, and Knight throws you in at the deep end – quite literally – starting the story in the dingy squalor of the lower levels of the city. It’s a world that only ever gets second hand light, bounced off mirrors (if that) and the darkness hides evil deeds done by those from the Heights. The city is like one big metaphor for the rich – again quite literally – sh*tting on the poor. But it manages to be so without being overly preachy.

The characters are great, with Rojan shining as the narrator. He’s a cowardly, chauvinistic opportunist, but you can’t help but like him, even before he starts stepping up to the plate of the challenges he’s facing. Other, more minor, characters are just as good, from warrior Jake to unlikely hero Pasha, and there’s plenty of damage to go round to add interesting layers and motivations.

Because this isn’t just ‘dark’ fantasy in the literal ‘it’s a dark place’ sense. Fade to Black deals with some challenging themes, and doesn’t shy away from gore and violence. Which, personally, I like in a book – because it’s always satisfying to see these empires of evil toppled by a plucky hero in a way that would likely never happen in the real world.

All in all, I thoroughly enjoyed this. It’s one that will lurk with you for a while – for all it reads like a fast paced adventure story with no real depth, there are as many layers to the story as there are to the city of Mahala.

Rating: 5/5

Review: The Holders by Julianna Scott

Title: The Holders

Author: Julianna Scott

Series: The Holders #1

Genre: YA Fantasy

Received for review from NetGalley

Summary (from Goodreads)

17-year-old Becca spent her whole life protecting her brother from, well, everything. The abandonment of their father, the so called ‘experts’ who insist that voices in his head are unnatural and must be dealt with, and the constant threat of being taken away to some hospital and studied like an animal. When two representatives appear claiming to have the answers to Ryland’s perceived problem, Becca doesn’t buy it for one second. That is until they seem to know things about Ryland and about Becca and Ryland’s family, that forces Becca to concede that there may be more to these people than meets the eye. Though still highly skeptical, Becca agrees to do what’s best for Ryland.

What they find at St. Brigid’s is a world beyond their imagination. Little by little they piece together the information of their family’s heritage, their estranged Father, and the legend of the Holder race that decrees Ryland is the one they’ve been waiting for. However, they are all–especially Becca–in for a surprise that will change what they thought they knew about themselves and their kind.

She meets Alex, a Holder who is fiercely loyal to their race, and for some reason, Becca and Ryland. There’s an attraction between Becca and Alex that can’t be denied, but her true nature seems destined to keep them apart. However, certain destinies may not be as clear cut as everyone has always believed them to be.

Becca is lost, but found at the same time. Can she bring herself to leave Ryland now that he’s settled and can clearly see his future? Will she be able to put the the feelings she has for Alex aside and head back to the US? And can Becca and Ryland ever forgive their father for what he’s done?

Review

Just sometimes, I read a book on my Kindle that I really wished I owned a physical copy of. The Holders was one such book. I know there are bookmark functions etc, but nothing really beats flicking back through a book to sections you loved and rereading them. And there were a lot of sections I would have flicked back to in The Holders.

Interestingly, it took me about three days to get past the first chapter (not entirely the book’s fault – I was very distractible at the time) but once Becca and her brother arrived in Ireland, things really kicked up a gear for me, and I just couldn’t put it down. To the point of trying to snatch a sentence or two while getting dressed. I just had to know what happened.

Well, I sort of knew what was going to happen – a couple of the plot twists were fairly obvious – but I didn’t care in the slightest. The characters were great, the relationships between them even better. Becca and Alex’s romance was so well done – bursting with believable romantic tension enough so that, had I been reading a physical copy, I would have been skipping ahead to try and find the next scenes involving them together. It was just so very romantic, and yet – within the fantastical context – utterly believable and real. With some ‘shout at the book’ moments thrown in, for good measure.

So, while it’s nothing particularly new or even daring, it was just perfect easy, indulgent reading, and I absolutely loved it.

And I might just have to buy that physical copy.

Rating: 5/5

Film Review: Skyfall

Title: Skyfall

Director: Sam Mendes

Writers: Neal Purvis, Robert Wade, John Logan

Starring: Daniel Craig, Judi Dench, Javier Bardem, Naomi Harris, Ralph Fiennes

Rating: 12

Review: After feeling rather indifferent about Daniel Craig’s first two outings as Bond, I wasn’t even bothered enough about his latest to go and see it in the cinema. But where Casino Royal may as well have been titled ‘Let’s play poker for hours and see how long the audience puts up with it’ and Quantum of Solace’s only redeeming feature was the cleverness of the villain’s plot being all about water, Skyfall was a real thrill ride and, more importantly, a return to form for the Bond franchise.

It’s been said by many that Craig’s first films were more Bourne, less Bond. While franchises do have to move with the times and adapt to changing audiences, I do feel that they lost that quintessential ‘Bondness’ that I so love about the older movies. Skyfall brings it all back, but in new, updated ways that leave the series at the start of something fresh and new and modern, while retaining that feeling that you’re watching something that is a part of the series.

New Q, with deliciously tousled hair, is a young, arrogant upstart whose technobabble makes Bond look like a dinosaur. New bad guy, Silva, is campy and flamboyant, but layered and, in his own way, heart breaking. And newcomer, Ralph Fiennes, as pen-pushing bureaucrat turned PM defying badass, packs so much wonderful Britishness into his character I defy anyone not to cheer for him by the end.

The film is also very self-referential, with Q mentioning exploding pens (Goldeneye) and the rather more metaphorical appearance of Connery’s original car. But while the quips and one liners make you laugh, there’s also a sense of great reverence for the film’s predecessors, and in that, their spirit is carried forwards.

There are some clumsy moments – a ‘rush hour’ tube train is fired at Bond, and miraculously doesn’t contain any passengers, nor suffer much damage as it ploughs through several brick columns. Silva’s plan for MI6 was so obvious I’m surprised they didn’t see it coming, and Bond’s plunge into a frozen lake would surely have killed him. But, it’s no more ridiculous than any of Bond’s other death-defying stunts from previous films, and Skyfall has made a conscientious effort to portray Bond as more vulnerable – a physically and mentally damaged man, teetering on the edge of the cliff Silva has already fallen from. As enemies, they are perfect – each a mirror held up to the other, showing what could have been.

To call Judi Dench a tour de force is cliche – she’s always a tour de force and long may she continue making films – but her turn as M in Skyfall is sublime. She packs in so much emotion in every scene: from hard faced confidence to vulnerability. Superb cinematography only enhances her performance – one particularly well shot scene of six coffins draped with the Union Jack, M dressed in black looking over them, springs immediately to mind.

Overall Verdict

Bond is definitely back, in the best Bond film yet. With things left set up for what promises to be a new, but familiar world, I hope it’s the first of many excellent Bond films to come.

Rating: 5/5

 

Review: The Evolution of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin

Title: The Evolution of Mara Dyer

Author: Michelle Hodkin

Series: Mara Dyer #2

Genre: YA Paranormal

Summary (from Goodreads)

Mara Dyer once believed she could run from her past.

She can’t.

She used to think her problems were all in her head.

They aren’t.

She couldn’t imagine that after everything she’s been through, the boy she loves would still be keeping secrets.

She’s wrong.

In this gripping sequel to The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer, the truth evolves and choices prove deadly. What will become of Mara Dyer next?

Review

It was with a heavy dose of uncertainty that I picked this up. On the one hand, I loved The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer and couldn’t wait to get started with the sequel. On the other, I’ve read a lot of YA second instalments lately that have fallen so far from the mark of the first book that I was almost anticipating disappointment.

I shouldn’t have worried.

Hodkin returns with her heady blend of romance, psychological horror and mystery that enthralled me the first time. Stakes are raised and poor Mara finds herself in the awful position where even her close family don’t believe her. No one does. Except for Noah.

I like the relationship between Mara and Noah. I’ve seen some reviewers criticise them of being ‘dangerously co-dependent’ but wouldn’t you be in that situation? No one believing in the truth except that one person would be enough to make me dangerously co-dependent on them. But Mara doesn’t give up everything to be with Noah – she needs him, sure, but her family is so important to her too, and when left in the impossible position of having none of her family think she’s sane she tries her hardest to persuade them otherwise.

At its heart, this is a story about a teenaged girl fighting to be normal – something I think all teenagers do, to different levels of success. It’s just being teenaged taken through to a horrific, frightening level, and I think that’s why it’s so eerie and chilling to read: it plays right into a bunch of fears we can all remember having. We might not have strange powers, but I doubt there are many people out there who don’t know the isolation and loneliness of being ‘different.’

Evolution delivers just enough answers to leave you satisfied, but waiting for the next one. (October? That’s just mean!) And it’s one of the best books I’ve read so far this year.

Rating: 5/5

Review: Rift by Andrea Cremer

Title: Rift

Author: Andrea Cremer

Series: Nightshade Prequels #1

Genre: Fantasy/historical

Summary (from Goodreads)

Chronicling the rise of the Keepers, this is the stunning prequel to Andrea Cremer’s internationally bestselling Nightshade trilogy!

Sixteen-year-old Ember Morrow is promised to a group called Conatus after one of their healers saves her mother’s life. Once she arrives, Ember finds joy in wielding swords, learning magic, and fighting the encroaching darkness loose in the world. She also finds herself falling in love with her mentor, the dashing, brooding, and powerful Barrow Hess. When the knights realize Eira, one of their leaders, is dabbling in dark magic, Ember and Barrow must choose whether to follow Eira into the nether realm or to pledge their lives to destroying her and her kind.

With action, adventure, magic, and tantalizing sensuality, this book is as fast-paced and breathtaking as the Nightshade novels.

Review

I confess, I only ever read the first book in the Nightshade series. I enjoyed it, so I don’t really know what happened there – missed the publication date, never managed to track it down in the library, forgot all about it. It’s the downside of trilogies. We’re itching for the next book when we just finish reading, but by the time the thing is written and published and available to buy, we’ve moved onto whatever the next thing is.

Or is that just me?

Anyway, I digress. Rift has been enough to remind me that I really enjoyed Nightshade, and to give me that feeling of ‘ooo I can’t wait for the next one’ all over again. Here’s hoping I don’t forget all about it in a year’s time.

I actually preferred Ember’s world to that of Calla’s. I’m a big sucker for swords and horses sort of fantasy, especially when said swords and horses are pitted against revenants and wraiths and other such ghoulies. It’s like an explosion in the ‘things that I like in novels’ factory. Rift was pure indulgence.

To go with horses and swords and ghosts, there was also romantic tension and chemistry enough to make you feel a little hot under the collar, artfully dragged out in a way that never felt contrived. In fact, a lot of Ember’s relationship development reminded me a lot of  Kristin Cashore’s Fire and the smouldering relationship between Fire and Brigan. You know it’s meant to be, and every obstacle is a frustration, but not the ‘accidentally caught snogging some other bloke by the lockers’ high school sort of obstacle that is prevalent in teen romance. Obstacles here are war, politics, grief and loss, and while there is a bit of ‘best friend would be lover if he had his way’ sort of drama, it’s not of the variety where you’re cursing the real love interest for being so stupid.

Rift promises to be the first in an excellent trilogy. I only hope a) I don’t forget about it and b) it doesn’t fall foul of second book syndrome. That would be so disappointing.

Rating: 5/5

Paper Valentine by Brenna Yovanoff

Title: Paper Valentine

Author: Brenna Yovanoff

Series: N/A

Genre: Crime/Paranormal

Summary (from Goodreads)

The city of Ludlow is gripped by the hottest July on record. The asphalt is melting, the birds are dying, petty crime is on the rise, and someone in Hannah Wagnor’s peaceful suburban community is killing girls.

For Hannah, the summer is a complicated one. Her best friend Lillian died six months ago, and Hannah just wants her life to go back to normal. But how can things be normal when Lillian’s ghost is haunting her bedroom, pushing her to investigate the mysterious string of murders? Hannah’s just trying to understand why her friend self-destructed, and where she fits now that Lillian isn’t there to save her a place among the social elite. And she must stop thinking about Finny Boone, the big, enigmatic delinquent whose main hobbies seem to include petty larceny and surprising acts of kindness.

With the entire city in a panic, Hannah soon finds herself drawn into a world of ghost girls and horrifying secrets. She realizes that only by confronting the Valentine Killer will she be able move on with her life—and it’s up to her to put together the pieces before he strikes again.

Review

I’ve been looking forwards to reading something of Brenna Yovanoff’s ever since I saw the creeptastic cover of The Replacement ages ago. While I never got round to reading The Replacement, Paper Valentine has only renewed my desires to track it down in the library.

I’m really enjoying all these genre-bending books at the moment. Blending the issues around anorexia with hauntings and a murder mystery was an interesting mix, making for a rich tapestry of character development, interaction, philosophical musings, the paranormal, grisly murder and some truly poetic moments. There wasn’t an ingredient out of place or overpowering the mixture – everything worked together to make what could have been any number of mediocre stories something truly memorable and spectacular.

The exploration of the after effects of Lillian’s death is never schmaltzy. Hannah’s guilt and grief are counterbalanced by her confusion and resentment. For every ‘I wish I had done more’ there’s a ‘Why did you have to be so stupid?’ I loved that things weren’t as easy as just missing her friend, even without the added complication of being haunted by her.

The mystery was fairly easy to solve if you were paying attention, and the twist ending was less of a shock when it was clear there were still too many pages left for a simple ‘happy ever after’ though that didn’t really matter anyway. Also, a big deal was made about the birds which never really amounted to anything, but perhaps it was meant to be a bit of a red herring. But overall, these are very minor quibbles over what was an excellent, creepy book which I devoured in about two hours (alone in a slightly creepy hotel room, which added to the atmosphere!) and thoroughly enjoyed.

Rating: 5/5