Author: Shililoquy

Treasure, Darkly

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by Jordan Elizabeth

Review by KM

It’s not often that I see a Steampunk novel, especially one that interests me. The first line of the summary won me over in a second. I’m excited to see more from this story, but I will admit that the ending does have me pouting over the wait.

Summary

Seventeen-year-old Clark Treasure assumes the drink he stole off the captain is absinthe… until the chemicals in the liquid give him the ability to awaken the dead.

A great invention for creating perfect soldiers, yes, but Clark wants to live as a miner, not a slave to the army—or the deceased. On the run, Clark turns to his estranged, mining tycoon father for help. The Treasures welcome Clark with open arms, so he jumps at the chance to help them protect their ranch against Senator Horan, a man who hates anyone more powerful than he.

Sixteen-year-old Amethyst Treasure loathes the idea of spending the summer away from her bustling city life to rot on her father’s ranch, but when a handsome young man shows up claiming to be her secret half-brother, her curiosity is piqued. He’s clever, street smart, and has no qualms jumping into the brawl between the Treasures and Horans. Caught in the middle, Horan kidnaps Amethyst, and all she gets is this lousy bullet through her heart.

When Clark brings her back to life, however, the real action starts, and Amethyst joins him in his fight against the Horan clan—whatever the cost. Defeating the Horans may seem easy at first, but going up against men with the same fighting vengeance as Clark, and a Senator with power he’s obtained by brainwashing the masses?

Well, Amethyst’s boring summer at home has turned into an adventure on the run, chock full of intrigue, danger, love, and a mysterious boy named Clark.

Musings

I’m nearly certain that this summary wasn’t the one given to me when I received this book, but I love the changes that I see in it. Amethyst’s role is just as important as Clark’s and it’s nice to see a summary that gives her a bigger role.

I loved Clark from the moment we were introduced. He was a survivor — someone with a bit of bent ethics, but willing to defend those he cared about and painfully conscious of the burden / gift he’d gotten by drinking the potion.

Amethyst’s role in the beginning really irked me. She was that typical celebrity girl role that gets painted in the tabloids — selfish, immature, and pampered. While I’d love to say there was tremendous character growth, I still think she’s still pampered and selfish. I really want to see her character be confronted with more dangerous situations to see how she morphs into the woman I want her character to be.

Overall, I enjoyed the pacing, but I found the ending rushed. Most of my favorite series leave off the novels in a place where there are most strings tied together, with the potential for continuation. This didn’t. I felt like I was smack middle, like I was waiting for a serial fiction to update. However, that’s a good way to guarantee sales for the second book, so I can’t wait until that releases.

Hold Me Like a Breath

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by Tiffany Schmidt 

Review by KM

Two years ago, I was graduating college with my degree in English Literature. My program wasn’t one that required a thesis, but I had this entire fifty-page paper planned out on illegal organ transplants, or repossession, as seen in literature and what it meant as a reflection on our society. It’s a surprisingly small niche for fiction; I’m always delighted to find more books that broach the topic. It is my reading happy-place. I sincerely squealed when I came across the summary of Hold Me Like a Breath. I needed it and I needed it now. Heck, I’ve already read it and I still feel like I need it. Someone speed up time so I can go grab a physical copy from BN.

Summary

In Penelope Landlow’s world, almost anything can be bought or sold. She’s the daughter of one of the three crime families controlling the black market for organ transplants. Because of an autoimmune disorder that causes her to bruise easily, Penny is considered too “delicate” to handle the family business, or even to step foot outside their estate.

All Penelope has ever wanted is independence-until she’s suddenly thrust into the dangerous world all alone, forced to stay one step ahead of her family’s enemies. As she struggles to survive the power plays of rival crime families, she learns dreams come with casualties, betrayal hurts worse than bruises, and there’s nothing she won’t risk for the people she loves.*

Musings

I chowed through this book. I couldn’t put it down. It was so frustrating having to go into work being two thirds of the way through, giving me a six hour interruption and letting me daydream about the possibilities and characters for just as long. The eARC I received was around 400 pages: not overly long, but long enough to really get hooked.

Half way through, I groaned. I paused and took a breath, contemplated putting the entire book down for an hour or two. The reason? It looked like there was going to be a love triangle. I’m not sure if anyone shares this opinion, but I am so done with love triangles in YA. I’m not going to give away any spoilers, but I ended up satisfied.

More than anything, I loved Penelope. I loved her demands for autonomy, for her refusal to be seen as weak. She didn’t let her disease define her, especially as everyone around her tried to force her into that position. There were times she even used their warped perceptions against them. It was awesome. The only person I loved more was Magnolia Vickers.

The worst thing about this book is that you can’t go and grab it from your local bookstore today. You have to wait until May 19th. Ugh, I know. That sounds unbearable. Trust me, I feel similar.

This book is the beginning of Schmidt’s Once Upon a Crime Family Series. I’m totally hoping for a book from Magnolia Vicker’s point of view. I don’t even mind waiting, as long as it comes eventually.

*Summary taken from Amazon

Material Girls

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by Elaine Dimopoulos

Review by KM

One of my biggest guilty pleasures is marathoning Project Runway whenever a new season ends, taking a full weekend to bask in the design process as I lay on my couch in pajamas. I myself suck at fashion; I’d be considered to be a total obsoloser with my geeky graphic tshirts and jeans. That doesn’t mean I don’t enjoy some great fashionable books.

I knew I had to have Material Girls in my collection when it was described as “Project Runway meets Divergent.” Seriously, does anything sound cooler than that?

Summary

In Marla Klein and Ivy Wilde’s world, teens are the gatekeepers of culture. A top fashion label employs sixteen-year-old Marla to dictate hot new clothing trends, while Ivy, a teen pop star, popularizes the garments that Marla approves. Both girls are pawns in a calculated but seductive system of corporate control, and both begin to question their world’s aggressive levels of consumption. Will their new “eco-chic” trend subversively resist and overturn the industry that controls every part of their lives?

Musings

I love this book. It’s exactly the type of book I’d recommend to a high-school girl who was having trouble finding a book that really grasped her while reading, or a girl who loved reading and needed something fresh.

Marla and Ivy come from different, but similar, backgrounds in the beginning. They’re both at the top of their career pyramids; both have the potential to fall to the bottom whether they like it or not. What made this great is how they could be friendly, but had such different reactions to their situations. Their paths diverged based on their decisions, but I would be hard-pressed to say either of them made the wrong choice. They both valued their priorities and understood the sacrifices they’d have to make. Sure, one character seemed to be more fulfilled in her life at the end of the book, but the other woman doesn’t seem unhappy. More than that, the ending left an opening for a sequel if wanted, but closed enough of the plot for it to feel like a satisfying end.

The dystopia that Material Girls shows is so based on corporation control that it isn’t hard to see how our society could transform into that. If it wasn’t so clear, there are hints throughout that show exactly how this came to be. It’s interesting to evaluate our current lives to see how close they are to those in the books, if not to the same severity.

My favorite part of the book though had to be how well Dimopoulos nailed the feeling of being seventeen. There is just something about being almost an adult that makes you feel like you’re capable of anything. You’re at the top of your world, handling all these new ventures with the optimism that comes from never having been disappointed. It is exhilarating and wonderful; it was great to feel that through Marla and Ivy.

Welp. I wrote a longer review than I intended, but if you manage to get to this last sentence, I sincerely hope you look for this book that releases on May 5th.

Naomi Grim

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by Tiffany Nicole Smith
Review by KM

I have to admit, I’ve had a crush on teenager Grim Reaper novels since I read Croak by Gina Damico a few years ago. After reading the summary, there was no chance that I was going to pass by Naomi Grim.

Summary

The assignment:

Collect lifestones from humans after they die.

Rebellious, sixteen-year-old Naomi craves a normal life, but unfortunately, she’s a Grim by birth. That’s right, she sees dead people and hoards their living essence in a stone. Not a fun occupation.

In order to be good at her job, she must live among human teenagers for weeks at a time. But Naomi soon becomes attached to the kids she’s been assigned to watch over. And knowing that these teens are gonna die under less than ideal circumstances, she has the opportunity to prevent their deaths from occurring. Only one big problem, interfering with death is the worst crime a Grim can commit. If she intervenes, she’ll put herself and her family in danger.

Naomi must make the hardest choice of her career, go against the sacred covenant or watch her new friends walk blindly to their deaths.

Musings

The first half of the book wasn’t spectacular; it kept me intrigued, enough that I wanted to read more, but I was so certain that I knew what was going to happen. It seemed predictable. I was wrong.

BAM! The second half of the book was this fast-paced action-packed adventure that made everything worth it. Pieces came together in a way that I never would have expected; some character’s motivations were revealed, while others remain a mystery to discover in the sequel, Keira Grim. 

There is one frustration I held with the novel, but it a frustration that is not limited to just this book, but most urban fantasies I’ve been reading lately. When presenting me with an entire new race that is bemused by human traits or lifestyles, it’d be great to see more than a few minor differences in the two races. The culture of the Grims only seemed to differ in lifespan, if they could earn it, and the fact they retained values humans had in the 1950’s, ignoring anything progressive. Some of the younger Grims seem frustrated with this, but seeing the same typical class system and similar prejudices that we have in our society makes me wince. It does make the plot more relatable and could be argued to be a comparison on aspects of our own culture, but it’s hard to see why more Grims can’t relate to humans when they are so similar.

I’ll definitely be reading Keira Grim, though. Naomi’s ending was compelling enough to make me want to know what happens to Nowhere.

Hydraulic Number 5

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By Sarah Latchaw
Review by KM

By now, we all know about the infamous Fifty Shades of Grey movie coming out tomorrow. We all know that it spawned from a book series and most of us are aware that it actually had beginnings as Twilight fanfiction.

While I don’t like Fifty Shades or Twilight, I will admit that I’ve read Twilight fanfiction before and that there were some fanfics that I loved. One of those was Hydraulic Number 5, which was later redone by Sarah into original fiction. Finding it on the Barnes and Noble website was a fantastic discovery. I couldn’t wait to dive in and see what changes had been made, since Sarah had done such a stellar job at adding depth to characters that, in my opinion, lacked it in the original book.

Summary

Hydraulic Level Five (n.): A whitewater rapid classification indicating large waves, continuous rapids, large rocks and hazards, potential large drops, where precise maneuvering is required. Often characterized by “must make” moves, i.e. failure to execute a specific maneuver at a specific point may result in serious injury or death. Kaye is an extreme sports addict with a kind heart and an axe to grind with her childhood sweetheart and ex-husband, renowned writer Samuel Caulfield Cabral. While Samuel enjoys a celebrity life in New York, Kaye remains in their hometown of Lyons, Colorado, running her PR agency and chatting daily with Samuel’s family, the beloved Cabrals-first-generation Mexican-Americans who have embraced Kaye as their own. But when Samuel returns home for his sister’s wedding with a new love interest, stunning editor Caroline Ortega, the gloves are stripped off. Kaye is determined to unearth the reasons behind the death of their marriage and why two people who lived to love each other were driven apart, all leading to startling revelations about Samuel, about life, and about herself. She soon realizes that maneuvering the tumultuous waters of her relationship with Samuel will prove as dangerous as any outdoor adventure she might attempt…at least where her heart is concerned.

Musings

There was a lot of controversy when Sarah announced her plans to rework the fanfic into a book, I remember. People called her on selling out; some others believe that fanfiction is wrong to publish. To those people, I really just want to point out Milton’s Paradise Lost as being Biblical fanfiction, Cassandra Clare’s The Mortal Instruments as being at least partially spawned from her earlier Harry Potter fanfiction, and generally lay myself down on the side of these fantastic authors.

That being said, Sarah’s work barely reminded me of Bella and Edward, even in the fanfic. Kaye and Samuel are vivid, enchanting characters that made me laugh more than once. Their relationship was realistic, with the up and downs and the growing apart that comes with being an adult.

Kaye’s voice made it for an easy read that took less than a day to complete, yet my eagerness may have added to that swiftness.

I do have one complaint, though it may be remedied soon. The original fanfic was of great length and many of the scenes that I adored were to be found in the second half of the novel. The ending of this book is perfect for the story, balancing it, but leaving me wanting more. When finishing the last page, I wanted to shout. I wondered where my favorite parts were; why had they been left out? A quick check on Goodreads reveals there is in fact a sequel. I haven’t opened it, so I can’t promise that they’ve made it in, but I have high hopes that the entire story is just as spectacular as remembered. At least I can promise that the first book gives me hope.

Orphans of Chaos

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By John C Wright

Review by KM

Continuing my Pop Sugar Challenge, I pulled out a book from 2005 for this week. It’s hard to imagine that was a full decade ago now. Orphans of Chaos is the first book of a trilogy. I’m planning on reading its two sequels before the month is out, finishing that task for the challenge. With such an odd mix of science and mythology, I’m eager to finish out the series (without having to wait months for release dates, like normal)!

Summary

200px-Orphans_of_ChaosWhat if your teachers taught you everything-except who you really are?

 
For Amelia and her friends, the strict English boarding school she lives in is all she has ever known.  The sprawling estate, bordered by unknown territory on all four sides, is both orphanage, academy, and prison.  The school has a large staff, but only five students, none of whom know what their real names are, or even how old they are.
 
Precocious and rebellious, all five teenagers are more than just prodigies.  Amelia can see in four dimensions.  Victor can control the molecular arrangement of matter.  Vanity can find secret passageways where none existed before.  Colin is a psychic.  Quentin is a warlock.
 

And, as time goes by, they’re starting to suspect that none of them are entirely human . . . 

Musings

This book is nothing like I expected from reading the summary in the library a few words all. Most of it reads like a YA, but I’m nearly certain that I picked it off of the aunt shelves.

The writing itself is extraordinary, getting so involved in the small details that you make assumptions about the larger ones. I was sincerely shocked about the twist revealed a third of the way through the novel. It through me off-guard and I want sure if I was going to enjoy the plot after that, but Amelia’s voice pulled me back.

I have to admit, the parts that tried to explain the science behind their creation and where they were are far beyond my comprehension. I’d love to hear an opinion on them from my review partner, SA, who is much cleverer when it comes to math and science.

I really don’t want to give away any shoulders for this fabulous book, so I can only advise you check your local libraries for a copy as I try to find the sequel. I promise, in the horrible case that the third book ruins everything, I’ll post an update to warn you.

Middlesex

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by Jeffrey Eugenides

Review by KM

I tend to write book reviews for books that are coming out soon or recent releases, but with doing Pop Sugar’s challenge, I have found myself reading books that have been out for awhile. Since books don’t tend to get a long lifespan on the shelves at bookshops, I definitely want to highlight some books that could help you with the challenge and may already be available at your public library.

This particular book, Middlesex, could count in many categories on the challenge: Pulitzer’s Prize Winner (which is what I chose), A Book By An Author You’ve Never Read, or even a Book By An Author With The Same Initials (if yours are also JE).

Summary

“I was born twice: first, as a baby girl, on a remarkably smogless Detroit day of January 1960; and then again, as a teenage boy, in an emergency room near Petoskey, Michigan, in August of l974. . . My birth certificate lists my name as Calliope Helen Stephanides. My most recent driver’s license…records my first name simply as Cal.”

So begins the breathtaking story of Calliope Stephanides and three generations of the Greek-American Stephanides family who travel from a tiny village overlooking Mount Olympus in Asia Minor to Prohibition-era Detroit, witnessing its glory days as the Motor City, and the race riots of l967, before they move out to the tree-lined streets of suburban Grosse Pointe, Michigan. To understand why Calliope is not like other girls, she has to uncover a guilty family secret and the astonishing genetic history that turns Callie into Cal, one of the most audacious and wondrous narrators in contemporary fiction. Lyrical and thrilling, Middlesex is an exhilarating reinvention of the American epic.

Musings

I truthfully thought this was a memoir when I started reading it. I only realized I was wrong after Wikipedia-ing the book thirty pages into the story. The narrative just had a sender of authenticity to it that many other novels lack. While I knew nothing of Cal, but so much about their family, I was fully engrossed by page thirty, completely invested in their well-being. As someone who had a problem feeling attached to the characters in a memoir, being so connected to these in the pseudo-autobiography was strange, but delightful.

On the same note, I find my mistake to be somewhat alarming. While I, a cisgendered female, finds the writing realistic, I would have preferred to read a similar text written by someone truly intersex, giving a voice to someone with real insight.

(Warning, slight spoiler ahead) One of the larger issues I see is how Cal’s mutation is in conjunction with their grandparent’s inbreeding. While I’m not sure of this is a scientific reason behind intersex babies, it certainly doesn’t paint a good view of the real people out there. More than that, what happens to Cal’s grandfather on the day on their birth could even be said to be punishment for the inbreeding, further relating it to their being intersex. The whole issue left me with a bit of a bad aftertaste.

That being said, this is countered by passages that encourage a lack of shame for being intersex, as well as a shift from viewing it as being a disease that needs to be fixed with surgery during infancy. Cal claims to be working on his own self acceptance even now, during his middle aged years.

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed the examination of gender roles and specific traits related to such. With such great writing and compelling characters, I can surely see why it won the Pulitzer.

Jellicoe Road

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Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta (HarperTeen) 

Why, yes, this is the same book I’m holding in my biography picture.


Review by KM

As Christmas comes closer, many of us are struggling for last minute gifts. If you’re searching for a teenage book-lover, I cannot suggest Jellicoe Road enough. It’s been one of my favorites for half a decade now; I reread it every chance I get. Recently, I’ve heard rumors that it may be made into a movie next year, so best to catch it early since it may be the next big hit.

Summary

At age eleven, Taylor Markham was abandoned by her mother. At fourteen, she ran away from boarding school, only to be tracked down and brought back by a mysterious stranger. Now seventeen, Taylor’s the reluctant leader of her school’s underground community, whose annual territory war with the Townies and visiting Cadets has just begun. This year, though, the Cadets are led by Jonah Griggs, and Taylor can’t avoid his intense gaze for long. To make matters worse, Hannah, the one adult Taylor trusts, has disappeared. But if Taylor can piece together the clues Hannah left behind, the truth she uncovers might not just settle her past, but also change her future.*

Musings

As I said before, Jellicoe Road has been one of my absolute favorite books since I was a teenager. I will never be able to pick out just one part to be my favorite; the entire thing is just fantastic.

To start things off, it begins with one of the best hooks I’ve ever read: “My father took one hundred and thirty two minutes to die. I counted.” You can’t help but to read past that line. From there, it’s just getting better and more engaging until you end up with this giant book-hangover (here’s a tip: reading it again always helps a book-hangover. Hair of the dog and all that.)

Taylor, Raffy, Ben, Jonah, and everyone else makes up this giant crew of kids that you want to know and visit. Part of me wants to relate it to Harry Potter, where you have your houses and there’s this mostly-friendly competition between each other, but are all united by sharing this area and history.

My favorite part (okay, I’m saying it, but there are literally no-limits to my favorites in this novel) is Hannah’s book. Every few chapters, a bit of Hannah’s book is written in, showing her story from twenty two years ago. It’s intertwines perfectly with everything Taylor is going through, showing the history of all the characters at once. When it merges, it does so in a way that pulls everything together so satisfyingly.

Overall, if I could afford to buy this book and pass it out to strangers on the street, I would. I’d fill cafes and park benches with it. And then the movie would come out next year and I’d greedily gobble my popcorn as I watched it, only to go on a ten minute rant to my husband about it after it was done (which may have been the exact situation after last night’s Battle of Five Armies).



*Summary borrowed from Amazon.com

Denton Little’s Deathdate

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Denton Little’s Deathdate by Lance Rubin (April 14, 2015, Knopf Books for Young Readers)
Review by KM

I did it again, friends. I started a book for the beginning of a series when the sequels are no where close to be out. I always say I’m not going to do it anymore, that I’m going to wait until all the books are out. It never works.

I don’t know for sure that this is the beginning of a series, but I need more, so I am demanding a sequel. Maybe two or three.

 

Summary

Denton Little’s Deathdate takes place in a world exactly like our own except that everyone knows the day on which they will die. For Denton, that’s in just two days—the day of his senior prom.

Despite his early deathdate, Denton has always wanted to live a normal life, but his final days are filled with dramatic firsts. First hangover. First sex. First love triangle—as the first sex seems to have happened not with his adoring girlfriend, but with his best friend’s hostile sister. (Though he’s not totally sure—see, first hangover.) His anxiety builds when he discovers a strange purple rash making its way up his body. Is this what will kill him? And then a strange man shows up at his funeral, claiming to have known Denton’s long-deceased mother, and warning him to beware of suspicious government characters. . . . Suddenly Denton’s life is filled with mysterious questions and precious little time to find the answers.

Musings

 

I love the premise of this plot. Everyone knowing when they’d die? That’d be really cool! Or really anxiety-inducing, to be honest. I think I’d like to know when I’d die. It definitely forces you to embrace your morality and the alterations in the way death is mourned are intriguing.

 

The writing itself is funny and fast paced. There is so much action happening in each scene. I don’t like to gender books at all (Read what you will and definitely don’t condemn someone for what they’re reading!), but I have noticed that it’s much easier to get one of my guy friends to read a book that’s fast-paced than it is to get them to read a drawn out plot. I totally plan on buying this for my guy cousins in high school.

 

Denton makes douchey mistakes that would typically make me hate a character or avoid them if they were real. I’m not quite sure how, but his perspective made me think of them more as accidents — things he stumbled into without realizing he got there. I definitely wouldn’t call him innocent, but there’s this oddly endearing part of his character that makes me grant him more leeway.


I will warn some parents: there are more sexual references than I would have expected, probably enough to get it banned from some school libraries, but certainly the right amount to make it realistic. I never went a day in high school without a guy talking about their dick at the lunch table. If it was completely dry, I’d probably have connected less than I did.

All in all, I’m really looking forward to a sequel to this. It deserves one. I’ll let starting a new series before it’s finished slide — but only this time.