[REVIEW] My Soul to Keep – Rachel Vincent

Rachel Vincent
My Soul to Keep (Soul Screamers, Book 3)
Harlequin Teen (US & AU: 1st June 2010)
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There’s a new drug in Eastlake, Texas. Its street name may be frost, but those with Netherworld connections know it better as Demon’s Breath. One student is well on his way to a psych ward, and if bean sidhe Kaylee Cavanaugh can’t track and stop the source of the drug, the whole student body is doomed to become food/torture subjects for the big-wigs in the Netherworld.

The subject matter raises the tension for a plot with continuous twists and higher stakes. At the end of the book, Kaylee has more problems to solve in the next instalment than she does at the start of this one. Tod is still the most awesome character here, providing refreshing – and, thankfully, not twee – comic relief. Kaylee’s uncle Brendon seems to have a good head on his shoulders, and proves that not all adults are incompetent in YA novels. There’s even a new type of Netherworld creature introduced.

I didn’t connect with My Soul to Keep as much as earlier parts of this series. Turns out I love reading about the Netherworld when it doesn’t have so much involvement, and the teens at school seem rather flat and stereotypical. My Soul to Take affected me with Kaylee’s panic attacks and mental illness issues, whereas Keep focuses more on how she reacts to other people’s psychological problems. Until the very end of the novel, where she has to cope with serious betrayals, making January 2011′s My Soul to Steal a must for any reading wish list.

[COVER ART] Michele Lang’s LADY LAZARUS (Revised)

The cover for Michele Lang’s Lady Lazarus has been revised. Looks more mainstream thriller.

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[REVIEW] The Clearing – Heather Davis

Heather Davis
The Clearing
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Graphia (US: 12th April 2010)
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Amy has moved to rural Rockville to stay with her great-aunt. There’s a mist separating their property from the next, and in the clearing Amy meets a guy her age. Henry Briggs doesn’t talk or dress like anyone contemporary – because where he lives, it’s 1944. And whilst Amy is more comfortable with Henry in his time, she knows their relationship can’t last but tries to enjoy it while she can.

There’s difficult subject matter here, namely domestic abuse. Amy moved from Seattle to get distance from reminders of an abusive relationship. She knows she shouldn’t have stayed with the guy for as long as she did, and she still kicks herself for it. But she also takes it out on her mother, who should’ve “protected” Amy, though I get the feeling she didn’t confide in her mother early on about the abuse. I think Amy, in hindsight, wanted to be rescued so she wouldn’t have to save herself, and that’s…sad, but understandable.

This is such a beautiful book. Normally romance in fiction doesn’t work for me because I don’t like the characters, or I don’t like their relationship, but Heather Davis has created an extraordinarily heartfelt story with two lead characters I adore together. It’s a special, memorable novel, and though impossible it’s ultimately charming. Minus the epilogue, which really didn’t work for me. And the students, who just aren’t appealing.

[COVER ART] Merrie Destefano’s AFTERLIFE; Caitlin Kittredge’s BONE GODS & THE IRON THORN

Covers for Merrie Destefano’s Afterlife, and Caitlin Kittredge’s Bone Gods and The Iron Thorn. Clicking the photos should take you to the original sources.

Merrie Destefano: Afterlife Buy (US) Buy (UK) Buy (CA) Buy (Worldwide)
Caitlin Kittredge: Bone Gods Buy (US) Buy (UK) Buy (CA) Buy (Worldwide)
Caitlin Kittredge: The Iron Thorn Buy (US) Buy (CA)

[COVER ART] Trisha Telep’s KISS ME DEADLY (AU)

Australian cover for Trisha Telep’s Kiss Me Deadly.

Kiss Me Deadly Buy (US) Buy (UK) Buy (CA) Buy (Worldwide)

[REVIEW] Wildthorn – Jane Eagland

Jane Eagland
Wildthorn
Pan Macmillan (UK: 6th March 2009; AU: 1st May 2009); Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (US: 6th September 2010)
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Seventeen-year-old Louisa Cosgrove thinks she’s been sent to be a companion. Instead, she’s in an asylum, but who’s to blame for signing her in? And why does the staff insist her name is Lucy Childs?

Usually I’m not one for historical fiction, but I’m easily swayed by promises of asylums and/or opium. Thus Wildthorn is my kind of historical, with mysterious fellow inmates, medical treatments, and social commentary. ‘Twould be more interesting if Louisa really was insane, and if breaking out wasn’t so easy. But still, a wonderful escapist romp of a read.

[REVIEW] The Dark Divine – Bree Despain

Bree Despain
The Dark Divine (The Dark Divine, Book 1)
Random House Egmont (US & CA: 22nd December 2009)
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Jude Divine came home covered in his own blood, and since then his sister Grace hasn’t seen Daniel Kalbi – until now, a few years later. She’s not sure what happened that night, but she’s forgiven Daniel, even if the rest of her family hasn’t. But when Daniel finds and rescues Grace’s toddler brother, Pastor Divine takes Daniel under his wing. Jude, however, still hates him; still believes he was responsible for that bloody night. And now the Markham Street Monster seems to have resurfaced, too…

The less you know about this novel before reading, the better. The narrator’s name and religion did put me off at first, as I’m against organised religion (but your own personal spirituality is fine). And I’d prefer the family’s surname to be Divinovich, as it was for their ancestors, but it was changed to Divine at Ellis Island. Damn those xenophobic people of the past…

But not even the Pastor is perfect, getting frustrated with a particular parishioner – this makes him more real. Meanwhile, Grace and Jude have “violet” eyes, but this is never explained. Doesn’t sound believable to me, but I don’t usually look people in the eye. (I look over their shoulder; I’m shifty that way.)

Fans of Becca Fitzpatrick and Jessica Verday should enjoy this first tome in a trilogy. Bree Despain combines family, forgiveness, religion and paranormal romance to produce an oddly endearing story with an ancient, intriguing backstory. The teens at school may seem like cardboard cut-outs, but other characters are much more vivid.

June 2010 Releases

Done with May 2010 Releases? Here are June 2010 Releases. To look further into the future, check Reading Wishlist.

The Things We Learn from South Park: Business

“Butters’ Bottom Bitch” Wikipedia South Park Studios

When Butters “becomes a man”, he starts thinking about a career, and makes a business plan. He recruits new employees, networks with other CEOs in his industry, and treats his employees well enough that word-of-mouth spreads to other people in the business who want to work for him. He organises low-income housing benefits, mortgage loans and checks the tax-status of his business. He quits while he’s ahead, leaving his employees to self-manage the company and keep whatever they earn for themselves.

There’s a lesson in this, and something rather heart-warming. The episodes wherein Butters is a primary character do tend to be particularly awesome (especially the can’t-be-beat “The Ungroundable”)

[REVIEW] Tales of the Otherworld – Kelley Armstrong

Kelley Armstrong
Tales of the Otherworld [published in Australia as Tales from the Otherworld] (Anthology)
Random House (US & CA: 13th April 2010); Hachette Orbit (UK & AU: 13th April 2010)
Buy (US) Buy (UK) Buy (CA) Buy (Worldwide)

Like Men of the Otherworld, Tales of the Otherworld is also an anthology of Kelley Armstrong’s Otherworld-based short stories and novellas, which were previously free digitally on the author’s website, but are now available from her regular publishers, with proceeds donated to World Literacy Canada. Since I’d read all but one of the stories before, they weren’t fresh, and thus my enthusiasm for this tome is lower than perhaps it otherwise may have been.

Rebirth is a great look at how Cassandra DuCharme and Aaron Darnell met. Bewitched is an appealing romance between Eve Levine and Kristof Nast. Birthright still leaves a lot of questions about Logan Jonsen’s paternal family. Expectations sees Lucas Cortez and Eve have a run-in. And Ghosts is more of a Jeremy Danvers vignette than a short story.

But Beginnings is disturbing. Actually, more to the point, Clayton Danvers is disturbing: he treats Elena Michaels like a dog, he stalks her, and he turns her into a werewolf without her permission. As far as romances go, this is pretty effed-up. I’m not a big fan of romance fiction, because generally the characters don’t work for me – as a couple, or individually. I really like Elena, but I’ve never liked Clay, so I don’t respect Elena for hooking up with him. And staying together. And marrying, and having puppies human children. But perhaps the worst thing of all is that Elena knows this relationship isn’t right. She’s not stupid enough not to realise it, but she is stupid enough to continue the relationship.

First, Clay was possessive…Such behaviour was one of the four danger signs of an unhealthy relationship…Another sign was not wanting you to spend time with your friends…Or maybe I was rationalising away something I didn’t want to see. Equally troubling was that Clay kept our relationship a secret from his family and friends…my gut was twisting, my brain feeding me all those little warnings I tried so hard not to hear, telling me something was wrong, wrong with us and wrong with him, and why the hell wasn’t I taking the hint?

And later:

How many times had I seen women in destructive relationships?…I’d seen women battered by abuse – physical, sexual, and psychological – and when asked why they stayed, so often their only defence was “I know he loves me.” Until now, I’d never understood how you could cling to those words, that belief, and use it to wash away every misgiving. I had other talismans, too…He’s never hit me. Never threatened to…except for last weekend, when he’d turned on me, hand raised, eyes blind with rage, knuckles brushing my cheek. But that had been a mistake. A mistake…So many excuses.

Really, Elena should’ve hooked up with Logan or Nick.

As for The Case of El Chupacabra…Lucas could really do with a sense of humour. I just don’t like him. I like Sean Nast, and Cassandra, and I do like Savannah Levine in this story, but I suspect I may not like her point of view when she narrates the next two full-length Otherworld novels.

Wait for the paperback of this collection.