It’s Monday! What are you Reading? is a meme hosted by Sheila at Book Journeys. It is a great way to recap what you read and/or reviewed the previous week and to plan out your reading and reviews for the upcoming week. It’s also a great chance to see what others are reading right now…who knows, you might discover that next “must read” book!

The lovelies at teachmentortexts.com this would be a fun meme to start up with a kidlit focus: anyone reading and reviewing books in children’s literature. It can be picture books, chapter books, middle grade novels, young adult novels – you name it in the world of kidlit and it’s in! I love being a part of this meme and hope you do too!  I encourage everyone participating to go and visit the other kidlit book bloggers that link up and to comment on as many posts as you can. We love talking books and believe in sharing and discussing what we’re reading. We hope you join us!

Read more: http://www.teachmentortexts.com/#ixzz2R9UNmFll

I feel as though I should be reading more but with spring comes outdoor activities for Girl Athlete and The Boy. I’ve been spending ever-growing amounts of time cheering on mini soccer and softball players. I feel that bringing a book to these events might be seen as unsupportive by my kids and insensitive by the other parents. Over the past two weeks I finished The Aviary by Kathleen O’Dell and The Crown of Embers by Rae Carson on audio (the second book in the series). I was also able to finish Half Moon Investigations by Eoin Colfer.

This week I plan to finish Finnikin of the Rock by Melina Marchetta.   Game of Thrones will continue to be on my Kindle and something I go to when I’m feeling violent and debauched-which, let’s face it, in May of the school year, is pretty much every day.

It’s Monday! What are you Reading? is a meme hosted by Sheila at Book Journeys. It is a great way to recap what you read and/or reviewed the previous week and to plan out your reading and reviews for the upcoming week. It’s also a great chance to see what others are reading right now…who knows, you might discover that next “must read” book!

The lovelies at teachmentortexts.com this would be a fun meme to start up with a kidlit focus: anyone reading and reviewing books in children’s literature. It can be picture books, chapter books, middle grade novels, young adult novels – you name it in the world of kidlit and it’s in! I love being a part of this meme and hope you do too!  I encourage everyone participating to go and visit the other kidlit book bloggers that link up and to comment on as many posts as you can. We love talking books and believe in sharing and discussing what we’re reading. We hope you join us!

Read more: http://www.teachmentortexts.com/#ixzz2R9UNmFll

I’ve slowed down a bit but I’m still making good headway through my TBR pile. This week I tackled a review title and finished The Infernal Devices on audio. This series has been amazing. I’ve listened to all of them and have found new audio-loves in Ed Westwick and Daniel Sharman.

 

This week I plan to finish The Aviary by Kathleen O’Dell and start on Half Moon Investigations by Eoin Colfer. (His name is pronounced “Owen”, by the way. I just discovered this myself. I have been calling him “Ian” for years.) I am also continuing Rae Carson’s series with Crown of Embers. Game of Thrones will continue to be on my Kindle and something I go to when I’m feeling violent and debauched-which, let’s face it, in May of the school year, is pretty much every day.

THUMBS DOWN to REQUIEM by Lauren Oliver

TITLE: Requiem

AUTHOR: Lauren Oliver

PUBLISHER: HarperCollins

LENGTH: 432

SUMMARY: This exciting finale to Lauren Oliver’s New York Times bestselling Delirium trilogy is a riveting blend of nonstop action and forbidden romance in a dystopian United States.

Now an active member of the resistance, Lena has transformed. The nascent rebellion that was underway in Pandemonium has ignited into an all-out revolution in Requiem, and Lena is at the center of the fight.

After rescuing Julian from a death sentence, Lena and her friends fled to the Wilds. But the Wilds are no longer a safe haven. Pockets of rebellion have opened throughout the country, and the government cannot deny the existence of Invalids. Regulators infiltrate the borderlands to stamp out the rebels.

As Lena navigates the increasingly dangerous terrain of the Wilds, her best friend, Hana, lives a safe, loveless life in Portland as the fiancée of the young mayor. Requiem is told from both Lena and Hana’s points of view. They live side by side in a world that divides them until, at last, their stories converge.

With lyrical writing, Lauren Oliver seamlessly interweaves the peril that Lena faces with the inner tumult she experiences after the reappearance of her first love, Alex, the boy she thought was dead.

REVIEW: **SPOILER ALERT** Readers may remember that I was less than impressed with Pandemonium even though I enjoyed Delirium. I just felt that the book was a little too much of a bridge between what happened to Lena and Alex and what would happen in Portland between the DFA and the rebels. With this third and final installment, I feel like the tension is just prolonged. The only resolution that is really provided is between Lena, Alex, and Julien while continuing the struggle between the Invalids and Valids. There seems to be a lot of action in this book but ultimately, it’s similar to spinning wheels. Much dust is kicked up in an effort to get somewhere when ultimately only a few feet of progress is gained. Lena’s character does not really develop any more than she did in Pandemonium. She struggles with the guilt of leaving Julien behind but it seems a foregone conclusion that Lena will choose Alex when he made such a dramatic, surprise appearance in the second book.

The inclusion of Hana’s perspective seems more a sideshow trick than a plot element. While weaving the two plot threads together seems a technical feat, it’s all  too convenient. Lena and Hana ending up as the major players in the outcome of the struggle for Portland, while prosaic, is contrived. It takes entirely too long for the conflict to come to a head and while Oliver does kill off some well-known characters, too many of the favorites survive in such a violent, combative environment for it to ring true. Those who do die are characters readers have only recently met or who played secondary parts in the plot.

The saving grace of this series is the writing itself. Oliver manages to create beautifully crafted passages that linger long after the plot has moved on. Oliver manages to make all of the violence and plotting seem as background noise to Lena’s lyrical musings on her physical and emotional condition. If Oliver’s storyline was as complex, courageous, and graceful as the prose itself, the story would have more staying power. The end to this series is a tad too convenient for this reader’s taste. It is an entertaining, interesting read but nothing that one should rush to finish.

THUMBS UP! to Carnival of Souls by Melissa Marr

TITLE: Carnival of Souls

AUTHOR: Melissa Marr

PUBLISHER: HarperCollins

LENGTH: 306 pages

SUMMARY: (via goodreads.com) In a city of daimons, rigid class lines separate the powerful from the power-hungry. And at the heart of The City is the Carnival of Souls, where both murder and pleasure are offered up for sale. Once in a generation, the carnival hosts a deadly competition that allows every daimon a chance to join the ruling elite. Without the competition, Aya and Kaleb would both face bleak futures–if for different reasons. For each of them, fighting to the death is the only way to try to live.

All Mallory knows of The City is that her father–and every other witch there–fled it for a life in exile in the human world. Instead of a typical teenage life full of friends and maybe even a little romance, Mallory scans quiet streets for threats, hides herself away, and trains to be lethal. She knows it’s only a matter of time until a daimon finds her and her father, so she readies herself for the inevitable.While Mallory possesses little knowledge of The City, every inhabitant of The City knows of her. There are plans for Mallory, and soon she, too, will be drawn into the decadence and danger that is the Carnival of Souls.

REVIEW: This is a gritty read. While many book series currently deal with demons/daimons, witches, and the like, Marr’s world is a much seedier version of these overlayed fantasy realms. The City is a world in turmoil where “race relations” and the peace between the daimons and the witches are incredibly tense. The caste system in this society is highly structured and missteps are punishable by death. Readers will feel that even the justice meted out by Marchosias, while technically “fair” by the letter of the law, seems somehow tarnished just by being carried out in such violent ways. The Carnival of Souls does not sound like a place one would visit willingly: hiring assassins, buying illegal substances or flesh, gambling, selling oneself for any number of deeds would seem to only be desperate business.

Enter the characters; each one unique in his/her own way. Marchosias: formerly part of the lower class Curs, now having seized power in the Ruling Class. Mallory: Marchosias’s daughter who has been hidden away from him by the witches – and even hidden away from herself. Kaleb: the Cur with a glimmer of gold in his heart who accomplishes good deeds through evil means. Aya: the Ruling Class damsel with a secret. Zevi: the Cur from the Untamed Lands who keeps Kaleb grounded. Balias: the Ruling Class fighter once betrothed to Aya who must fight to win her heart and save his own life. All of these characters stand out starkly during reading. They have their own cadences in dialogue and their own mental and physical obstacles to overcome in meeting their goals. I was even happy to see that, in the human world, Mallory has a parent who is present and involved in her life. The fact that Adam is keeping her in the dark about her parentage creates a perfect over-protective-parent scenario that many teens may relate to. Marr has done an excellent job crafting believable, relatable characters in a fantastical setting. Through the characters, one believes The City and all its sparkling danger is real.

The plot is complex without being confusing. The emotional conflicts the characters face are real and the lies and truths they tell themselves to navigate through these conflicts will be all too familiar to most teens. Marr also does an excellent job with setting up the next book in the series without prolonging the ending of the first book. Readers won’t recognize the typical “wrap-up” as they near the end of the book. The story simply drops off after Mallory’s decision is made. Anxiosly awaiting the second book, fans may find themselves rereading just to stay in The City.

READERS: This text is perfect for mature readers (9th and up) who enjoy fantasy that melds with “real life”. This will appeal to fans of action and romance as it has threads of each but neither is overwhelming.

OTHER TITLES: Readers who enjoy this book might also like Divergent by Veronica Roth, The Hunger Games books by Suzanne Collins, or The Mortal Instrument series by Cassandra Clare

The Girl of Fire and Thorns by Rae Carson

TITLE: The Girl of Fire and Thorns

AUTHOR: Rae Carson

PUBLISHER: HarperCollins; Greenwillow Books

LENGTH: 432 pages

SUMMARY: (via raecarson.com) Elisa is the chosen one.

But she is also the younger of two princesses, the one who has never done anything remarkable. She can’t see how she ever will.

Now, on her sixteenth birthday, she has become the secret wife of a handsome and worldly king—a king whose country is in turmoil. A king who needs the chosen one, not a failure of a princess.

And he’s not the only one who needs her. Savage enemies seething with dark magic are hunting her. A daring, determined revolutionary thinks she could be his people’s savior. And he looks at her in a way that no man has ever looked at her before. Soon it is not just her life, but her very heart that is at stake.

Elisa could be everything to those who need her most. If the prophecy is fulfilled. If she finds the power deep within herself. If she doesn’t die young.

Most of the chosen do.

REVIEW: Elisa’s story is uniquely familiar. The traditional elements of a hero’s journey are present but are twisted somewhat to make her the agent of her own metamorphosis. Gifted with the heavy burden of the godstone and its history, K has to find a way to come into her power without the help of a mentor. As she finds strength in what once would have defeated her, Elisa comes to realize that making her own way in the world and standing by her decisions is the true path to power and identity.

The writing is complex and at times, it is easy to forget that one is reading a YA work. Carson seamlessly weaves a complex plot, filling it with multi-dimensional characters who are not always what they seem even to seasoned readers. The inclusion of faith is an interesting aspect to the story that many YA authors only vaguely touch upon. Elisa’s faith seems real and the questioning of her destiny in relation to a god who has gifted her with such a heavy burden seems genuine. The prayer in the story is realistic and lacks affect which makes it more believable than ritual prayer.

Carson has created a believable world and brings readers smoothly into Elisa’s reality. The world building here is subtle and based on the background knowledge readers will already have about medieval societies and their functions. The book begins with an arranged marriage for political advantage and then blends Elisa’s search for her true role in that society into the political machinations already at work. As a royal stripped of her power, the character has to find another way to identify herself and reclaim her power and position although not in the way she was born into living. The other characters are alluring and by turns readers will root for each one independently as Elisa tries to find the balance between the world she was born into and the world her decisions have created.