Of dreamcatchers, preternaturals and thieves

I haven't been in the mood to write about my reading lately. The weather puts me in a funk - I'm one of those happy when it's sunny kind of people, so all this rain (and even a little snow) has left me less than enthused about anything. So, I've been working at about half-energy, and I feel like I've just been playing catch-up with my reading, reading books that you all have most likely read already - probably because I get so many of my book recs from the blogosphere. Ah, oh well. Here's what I've read most recently.

Gone by Lisa McMann
published February 2010 by Simon & Schuster
214 pages (hardcover), YA

I admit that I read this one on a wonderfully sunny, almost warm day sitting next to a lake. What a fine way to experience a book! Unfortunately, like so many have already noted, this finale in the Wake trilogy did not impress. What I enjoyed most about the first book in the series was the exploration of what it meant to be a dreamcatcher, which was nearly absent in this book. This book was about family, which is fine but unexpected, I suppose. Janie is on summer vacation with Cabe when she's summoned back home to deal with her drunken mother and a comatose father she's never met. Obviously, she's curious about her father, so she does a little research and finds that they have quite a bit in common. You can guess where that's going. I don't have much else to say really except that for fans of the series, this book will read quickly enough - but if you didn't like the first two books, I don't think there's reason to keep going. Too bad, I think, because I do enjoy McMann's unusual writing style.

Soulless: An Alexia Tarabotti Novel by Gail Carriger
published October 2009 by Orbit/Yen

384 pages (mass market paperback), adult (YA appeal)

Preternatural is a word I despise - I cringe every time I read it. Well, I had to get over that pretty quickly in order to enjoy this book, where our main character Miss Alexia Tarabotti is just that, a preternatural. A what? She has no soul. She neutralizes supernatural powers. Vamps lose the fangs at the touch of her, werewolves turn back to humans. That's just a little glimpse into her world - this is also Victorian England but not like you've learned about it, let's say instead with a steampunk twist. If you can imagine all of this in one book, where our main character, a self-proclaimed spinster (at no more than 25), must live with a stepmother who loathes her and two stepsisters who are only interested in advantageous marriages, gossip, and pretty things, then you will be in for a treat. Alexia is witty, okay hilarious, and I could not stop the little girl giggles from escaping me at her cheekiness. This book is fun but not necessarily light - it's ridiculous but also thoughtful. I was expecting something a lot less substantial from a book originally published as a mass market paperback (oh, how judgmental I am), but I was pleasantly surprised to find the story was more than just a paranormal romance (but those parts were great too, I must say), where the focus is on the budding relationship. So many twists and turns in this one - I shouldn't write any more. If you can stand to read anything more of vamps and weres and wouldn't mind a little romance and are in serious need of a laugh, pick this one up. I'm excited for the next installment, Changeless, due out in April.

Heist Society by Ally Carter
published February 2010 by Disney Hyperion
304 pages (hardcover), YA

What to say about this one? I'd consider it another breed of fantasy - sure, it's contemporary, with human characters who don't have any special powers, but is it realistic? Not in my world. Kat has just left the family business - high profile thieving - and is trying to live a normal teenage life at a boarding school. But she's whisked back into that underground world by Hale, a good friend (who happens to be gorgeous), who needs her help to clear her father's name of a crime he most likely didn't commit. The heist? Re-steal five priceless paintings for a big, bad guy and hopefully save her dad. From a back of the book blurb, E. Lockhart says, "Heist Society is an edge-of-your-seat caper with more twists than Ocean's Eleven and cooler gadgets than Casino Royale." I agree. It's fun, action-packed, with a little bit of romance. A beach read for those of you still spring breaking. :)


What's next? Be sure to check out my Unsung YA Giveaway (as well as the many others linked from YAnnabe), which will end April 12. I'm currently reading a few different books because of attention span issues. Most of the weekend will be spent lesson planning, which I'm almost excited about. I may disappear for awhile depending on how busy I let myself get. I'm ready for March (my least favorite month, in case you hadn't noticed) to be over!

Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger

Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger
published September 2009 by Scribner
406 pages (hardcover), adult fiction

Julia and Valentina Poole are 20 year-old identical twins living in Lake Forest, IL when this novel begins, and their Aunt Elspeth, who has lived her whole life in London, has just died. She bequeathed the girls her flat in London with the specific instructions that they 1) live in it for a year before selling it and 2) not allow their parents to step foot inside of it. Elspeth and their mother Edie were also identical twins, with secrets they had kept hidden for decades, and naturally, Elspeth would have liked to keep it that way. Her request for the girls to live in her apartment, then, does seem a bit odd, but it is also the only way they will ever learn anything about their aunt. Robert, Elspeth's lover, lives in the same apartment building, which borders Highgate Cemetery, and is charged with getting the girls settled in and showing them around - which he avoids for nearly six weeks after their arrival. Martin is the last tenant in this building and a quirky one at that. A sufferer of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, Martin is unable to leave his flat in order to chase after his wife who has recently left him - but not for lack of love on either part.

That's more than I care to write about this story and about what you would get if you were to read the inside flap. But I don't know how to adequately describe my love for this book. I've read mixed reviews - it seems to be a love it/hate it kind of book. And I do love it.

Niffenegger knows how to bring characters and their stories to life. I didn't particularly like or want to know any of the characters, but I wanted to know their stories. The twins' dependency on one another fascinated me and repelled me at the same time. I could understand the difficult choices that were made, especially considering the emotionally-charged circumstances. I don't think I spoil anything in saying that Elspeth may be dead in this story, but her spirit is very much alive and in contact with the girls. This is probably where some people shut down and cast this book aside. Yes, it's rather fantastical and at times ludicrous, but life is filled with impossible situations - I don't mind them finding their way into the books I read. What was most surprising to me was how comfortable I felt with the events that transpired after the twins realized they could communicate with their dead aunt. I didn't feel like I was reading a horror or ghost story at all.

I suppose what I really want to convey is the pleasure I had reading this novel. I read slowly and deliberately, putting it down after a couple chapters so that I wouldn't rush the story and lose anything I had just absorbed. The setting was delicately described, as delicate as London can be, and the chapter vignettes were carefully crafted to portray just enough of the story. At 400+ pages, I can hardly call the story sparse, but I feel like every word I read was necessary and meaningful.

I do caution the potential reader of this book to approach it with no expectations or preconceived notions. This I would caution of all books, but this book particularly because it is easy to love The Time Traveler's Wife and expect Her Fearful Symmetry to evoke the same reaction. It won't. But it is wonderful and beautifully complex in its own right.

Others said:
Fyrefly's Book Blog - "[...] an addictingly good read, atmospheric and subtly creepy without being scary, intricately plotted and themed without being overbearingly Literary, and overall just a fascinating and very enjoyable read"
Presenting Lenore -  "Niffenegger certainly knows how to hold a reader’s attention and I was never bored [...]"
Rhapsody in Books - "[...] in my opinion, the injection of supernatural elements into the plot militates against serious contemplation of these issues."
The Book Lady's Blog -  "[...] if you’re willing to take some leaps of faith and suspend your rationality a bit, you’ll be greatly rewarded."
Tales of a Capricious Reader - "It’s a book to be relished."

On not-so-positive reviews

I've read a few books recently that I didn't love. That, at times, I didn't even like. And I've been debating on whether or not to write about those reading experiences. I hesitate because I don't want to deter someone from reading a book just because I didn't like it. But if I say that this blog is comprised of my bookish reflections, then I should include those of books that I didn't particularly enjoy as well. I mean, I love books, but I am certainly not going to love everything that I read.

I took the plunge yesterday with a graphic novel that I didn't fancy so much. I had never heard of the book, no one else has been talking about it (that I know of) in the blogosphere, and I didn't disparage it that badly, so I felt okay about not giving it a glowing review. I hope that others appreciate my honesty because I'm not in the habit of sugarcoating.

What am I getting at here? Okay, fine. I didn't love these two books:

Need by Carrie Jones
published December 2008 by Bloomsbury
320 pages (hardcover), YA

Zara has witnessed her father's death (by heart attack) and hasn't been her same spunky self since then. Her mom sends her to cold Maine to live with her grandmother for a change of scenery and hopefully a spark of life. Here, Zara notices a man who seems to be stalking her, for she saw him back at home, at the airport, and now at her new school. She makes some unusual friends at school, where the new gang tries to figure out who this creepy stalker guy is and if it has anything to do with a boy who has recently gone missing. Oh yeah, and there are pixies and weres involved.

I do appreciate all things faerie, and I have developed a love for werewolves, but this story just didn't do it for me. I wasn't emotionally invested in any of the characters because I didn't feel like there was more than meets the eye there. And could it be any more predictable? Sure, I got a little thrill when my suspicions were confirmed, but after a couple of these occurrences, I got a bit bored. I want to be surprised. I don't actually want to know what happens in the story. Maybe I've read too much in this genre that nothing seems original anymore, I don't know. I just didn't love it.

Other people said:
The O.W.L.
Reading Rocks
Confessions of a Bibliovore
Fyrefly's Book Blog
J. Kaye's Book Blog
The Book Muncher


Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl
published December 2009 by Little, Brown
563 pages (hardcover), YA

Ethan Wate lives in a small town in South Carolina, where it's easy to get stuck and everyone knows your business. There is no way to be different in this town and certainly not at school, where Ethan is labeled a jock (he's on the basketball team) and is expected to participate in all things jock, including taking a cheerleader to the Winter Formal and showing up for Roll Call in the mornings. Then, Lena moves to town. A girl who has been haunting Ethan's dreams, and a girl who is nothing like the squeaky clean cheerleaders and cheerleader wannabes. Yes, it's a love story. And a ghost story. And a witch story. And it's set in the South. The end.

Truly, the story is interesting. But I just couldn't get into it. I didn't appreciate not knowing anything about Lena. Yes, I understand that she didn't know much about herself or her heritage, but that doesn't mean the reader can't know a little more than the characters themselves. I could never connect with her, which is unfortunate considering she was a co-star of the novel. The setting? I can't relate. I can't relate in any sort of way, and as much as I try, I don't understand the South. My favorite character was Amma - Ethan's adopted grandma, the woman who took care of him most of his life - because that I can relate to. And it really shouldn't be about what I can or cannot relate to because there are plenty of books that I have loved that are very far from my personal experiences - but their stories were so vivid that I was transported to a different time and place and completely immersed in the setting and action. Not so much in this book. It wasn't my cup of tea, but others have raved about it, so there you go.

Other people said:
Laura's Review Bookshelf
YA Books Central
A Chair, A Fireplace, and a Tea Cozy
read what you know
OCD, Vampires, and Rants, oh my!
The Story Siren