Review: My Super Sweet Sixteenth Century by Rachel Harris

Release Date: 18 September 2012
Publisher: Entangled Teen
Format: Paperback
Source: Purchased

Get a copy! Amazon

Goodreads description:

On the precipice of her sixteenth birthday, the last thing lone wolf Cat Crawford wants is an extravagant gala thrown by her bubbly stepmother and well-meaning father. So even though Cat knows the family’s trip to Florence, Italy, is a peace offering, she embraces the magical city and all it offers. But when her curiosity leads her to an unusual gypsy tent, she exits . . . right into Renaissance Firenze.

Thrust into the sixteenth century armed with only a backpack full of contraband future items, Cat joins up with her ancestors, the sweet Alessandra and protective Cipriano, and soon falls for the gorgeous aspiring artist Lorenzo. But when the much-older Niccolo starts sniffing around, Cat realizes that an unwanted birthday party is nothing compared to an unwanted suitor full of creeptastic amore. Can she find her way back to modern times before her Italian adventure turns into an Italian forever?

My Thoughts...

YA Book Review: The Gathering Storm by Robin Bridges

Release Date: 10 January 2012

Publisher: Delacorte BFYR
Format: eARC
Source: Publisher via NetGalley

Get a copy! B&N | Amazon

Goodreads description:

St. Petersburg, Russia, 1888. As she attends a whirl of glittering balls, royal debutante Katerina Alexandrovna, Duchess of Oldenburg, tries to hide a dark secret: she can raise the dead. No one knows. Not her family. Not the girls at her finishing school. Not the tsar or anyone in her aristocratic circle. Katerina considers her talent a curse, not a gift. But when she uses her special skill to protect a member of the Imperial Family, she finds herself caught in a web of intrigue.

An evil presence is growing within Europe's royal bloodlines—and those aligned with the darkness threaten to topple the tsar. Suddenly Katerina's strength as a necromancer attracts attention from unwelcome sources . . . including two young men—George Alexandrovich, the tsar's standoffish middle son, who needs Katerina's help to safeguard Russia, even if he's repelled by her secret, and the dashing Prince Danilo, heir to the throne of Montenegro, to whom Katerina feels inexplicably drawn.

The time has come for Katerina to embrace her power, but which side will she choose—and to whom will she give her heart?

My Thoughts...

Tween Tuesday: May B. by Caroline Starr Rose

Release Date: 10 January 2012

Publisher: Random House
Format: eARC
Source: Publisher via NetGalley

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Goodreads description:

I've known it since last night:
It's been too long to expect them to return.
Something's happened.

May is helping out on a neighbor's Kansas prairie homestead—just until Christmas, says Pa. She wants to contribute, but it's hard to be separated from her family by 15 long, unfamiliar miles. Then the unthinkable happens: May is abandoned. Trapped in a tiny snow-covered sod house, isolated from family and neighbors, May must prepare for the oncoming winter. While fighting to survive, May's memories of her struggles with reading at school come back to haunt her. But she's determined to find her way home again. Caroline Starr Rose's fast-paced novel, written in beautiful and riveting verse, gives readers a strong new heroine to love

My Thoughts...

In her debut novel, Caroline Starr Rose bring to life the struggles of living on the early American prairie--the isolation, the poverty, and the unknown.  Life for May B. and her family has never been particularly easy, so when the opportunity for May to earn a little on a neighboring farm is presented, her parents would be crazy to pass it up. So May is sent to live with the Oblingers until Christmas to help the new missus get on her feet.  However, things go all wrong when Mrs. Oblinger up and leaves and Mr. Oblinger goes after her...leaving May B. to fend for herself as winter rapidly approaches.

Before Ma ties my ribbon,
I push outside and run.
My feet pound out
I won't go
I won't go
I won't go.

-p6, eARC

May B. is a fierce and resourceful young woman. I really enjoyed watching her develop as a character.  She refuses to be ruled by her learning disability--continuing to dream of someday being a teacher despite her struggles with reading.  Her determination to learn to read was also just one example of how strong she was.  When she's left alone by the Oblingers, she proves incredibly resourceful when it comes to survival, despite her initial elation at not having to answer to anyone else's demands.  When she finally leave the cottage in an attempt to get home, the reader senses that she truly feels that she has no choice.

Miss Sanders told us that lines never end,
and numbers go on forever.
Here,
in short-grass country,
I understand infinity.

-p18, eARC

As someone who has always been a bit leery of novels in verse, I have to say that Ms. Rose was immensely successful in telling her story with this method.  The novel lends itself to quick reading and an easy-to-imagine story.  What really caught my attention is that this would be a fantastic novel to give a young person who struggles with reading.  The words create vivid imagery and tell a compelling story without an overabundance of words.  The simplicity should appeal to struggling readers without making them feel like they're being given an easy book because they can't read well.

If stories were true,
I'd follow a bread-crumb path
all the way home.

But I have no heart for fairy tales
anymore.

-p90, eARC

May B. is a novel that has the potential to appeal to a vast group of readers. Whether you're looking for something to give to a struggling reader or that young fan of historical fiction, Caroline Starr Rose has created a gem that you'll love to share.

(ARC) YA Book Review: Darker Still by Leanna Renee Hieber

Release Date: 8 November 2011
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Source: Publisher via NetGalley

Buy It! Amazon | Barnes & Noble

Goodreads description:

New York City, 1882. Seventeen-year-old Natalie Stewart's latest obsession is a painting of the handsome British Lord Denbury. Something in his striking blue eyes calls to her. As his incredibly life-like gaze seems to follow her, Natalie gets the uneasy feeling that details of the painting keep changing...

Jonathan Denbury's soul is trapped in the gilded painting by dark magic while his possessed body commits unspeakable crimes in the city slums. He must lure Natalie into the painting, for only together can they reverse the curse and free his damaged soul..

My Thoughts...

I loved this book.  It's the kind of read that kept me up late reading and sneaking in pages here and there at work (shhh....).  I found the writing and the story incredibly compelling. The characters were unique, the story appropriately creepy, and the setting absolutely perfect.

Let's start with the setting and atmosphere.  Darker Still is set in Victorian New York (1880s).  The gritty, dark parts of the city of contrasted against the opulence of the wealthy, flashier parts of town.  It's a world where social status still reigns and wealth is openly flaunted through architecture and fashion.  What I loved in Darker Still was that we got to see all sides of society--from Maggie and her high-fashion friends to Natalie and her father's modest living to the dark alleys of The Five Points. I felt like I had stepped into a real world, something I must attribute to Ms. Hieber's stellar writing.

Natalie was a really awesome MC to read about.  To start with, she's MUTE. How many MCs have you read about who are mute?  I thought it was really interesting to have a main character who struggled to communicate with the world around her.  It made everything that she learned and did just a little more amazing.  It also makes so much sense when you learn *things* later in the book. It also ensured that she wasn't some flaky chick, but instead, she was a tough, intelligent young woman who wasn't afraid to stand up for herself.

"I am not deaf and most certainly not dumb!"

Lord Denbury was an enigma all unto himself.  He has some of the same characteristics as our favorite typical male love interests (well, primarily that he is extremely gorgeous), but he's (a) not a "bad" boy and (b) trapped in a painting! I adored watching him interact with Natalie because he gave her a sort of confidence in herself and encouraged her to find her voice and be brave.  She was already a strong young woman, but he really seemed to encourage her to...expand her horizons (I'm not really sure that's the turn of phrase I'm looking for, but you get the idea, right?).  Also, I liked Denbury (or Jonathan, as he asks me Natalie to call him) in his own right.  He handles the whole "I'm trapped in a painting" with fairly minimal whining (which would have drove me crazy) and he actively tries to help Natalie find a solution to his predicament.

This story is told (mostly) from the POV of Natalie as she record events in her diary, a perspective that I felt really worked.  It allows you to really get into her head at times.  The perspective may seem a bit improbable at times because the diary entries are a bit more detailed than most of us would ever remember in real life, but for me, it simply added to the notion that Natalie has a good head on her shoulders.  Her quick-thinking, highly observant nature comes to the forefront in her personalized diary entries in a way that may not have been clear written in any other way.

One thing that really caught my eye about this novel was that while it was set in Victorian New York, it had a very contemporary feel--and I'm not entirely sure how I feel about this fact yet.  The customs and manners of the Victorian age are prominently displayed throughout the novel but not in an overbearing sort of way.  Even as I reached the end of the novel, I had the sense that the story was rather timeless.  It could have easily been a contemporary fantasy type of read, as Ms. Hieber tackles many issues relevant to both the past and the present, including disability, class, and gender.  She looks at these issues through a Victorian lens but not in a manner that in any way disconnects the reader from the more present-day meanings.  At times I did find myself wishing that I felt more immersed in the setting...so take that as you will.

While Darker Still isn't a fast-paced novel, the beautiful prose and intriguing storyline kept me turning the pages. I think what it may lack for some readers is a stronger sense of mystery and impending doom since you know who the bad guy is from the beginning and the only mystery is to solve the few clues (which comes together in a rather unexciting way).  However, for the reader looking to dive into a well-written story of Gothic romance and intrigue, I wouldn't hesitate to recommend this one.

YA Book Review: Haunting Violet by Alyxandra Harvey

Release Date: 21 June 2011
Publisher: Walker Children's
Source: Banned Book Tours

Buy It! Amazon | B&N

Goodreads description:

Violet Willoughby doesn't believe in ghosts. But they believe in her. After spending years participating in her mother's elaborate ruse as a fraudulent medium, Violet is about as skeptical as they come in all matters supernatural. Now that she is being visited by a very persistent ghost, one who suffered a violent death, Violet can no longer ignore her unique ability. She must figure out what this ghost is trying to communicate, and quickly because the killer is still on the loose.

Afraid of ruining her chance to escape her mother's scheming through an advantageous marriage, Violet must keep her ability secret. The only person who can help her is Colin, a friend she's known since childhood, and whom she has grown to love. He understands the true Violet, but helping her on this path means they might never be together. Can Violet find a way to help this ghost without ruining her own chance at a future free of lies?

My Thoughts...

Haunting Violet served to remind me just how much I love well-done ghost stories and historical fiction.  If you can combine those two things well, then you'll have won me over and Ms. Harvey definitely did with this story.  This book is the perfect combination of eerie haunting and historical intrigue.

Violet wants nothing more than to escape her mothers scheming--so much so that she goes along with it day after day in hopes of getting by until the time comes that she can escape through marriage. It's when Violet actually begins to see the ghosts that her mother pretends to channel that things start to get crazy.  Violet doesn't believe in ghosts--but clearly that's not going to stop them from making themselves known to her. What ensues is a story of a ghost desperate to expose her killer and save her sister...and of a girl with visions that she does not care to see.

From the very beginning, Violet was an incredibly affable character.  She's a strong, conscientious character, fully aware of her precarious status in society. Her fun, lighthearted relationship with her only real friend, Elizabeth, is a constant reminder of Violet and her mother's precarious situation. Due to her mother's chosen "profession," Violet has very few friends, save Elizabeth and Colin, the boy her mother adopted many years ago to help with her act. Her distaste for what her mother does is overwhelming at times, but she constantly faces the stark reality that she has to keep it up for awhile longer if she hopes to make an advantageous marriage--which seems to be looming just around the corner.

The ghost story really shines alongside Ms. Harvey's historical setting.  I thought that the ghosts were the perfect mixture of intrigue and creepiness.  You can't quite figure out what message she is trying to send to/through Violet. The only ghost scene that didn't add much for me was the scene in the "Willoughby's" parlor where Violet's mother forces her to show society her "gift." (Although, I do understand how it furthered the plot line a bit, but by this point, I believe I was simply so annoyed with Violet's mom that I was quite ready to be rid of her.)

Overall, Haunting Violet was really a fabulous read.  I thoroughly enjoyed watching Violet both discover her sight, fall in love, and break away from her mother all at the same time. This is a thoroughly enjoyable story and I can't wait to get my hands on a copy of my own.

YA Book Review: Legacy by Cayla Kluver

Legacy by Cayla Kluver

© 28 June 2011 by Harlequin Teen

Goodreads description:

I noticed his eyes. They were blue, sharp and intense. Despite the youthful glows of his suntanned face, his eyes were cold and unfriendly, suggesting he had great experience in the world and was now expecting the worst. 

In her seventeenth year, Princess Alera of Hytanica faces one duty: to marry the man who will be king. But her father's choice of suitor fills her with despair.

When the palace guard captures and intruder—a boy her age with steel-blue eyes, hailing from her kingdom's greatest enemy—Alera is alarmed…and intrigued. But she could not have guessed that their clandestine meetings would unveil the dark legacy shadowing both their lands.

My Thoughts...

When I received this eARC, I was VERY excited to read the book.  It sounds like such a captivating read--historical fantasy fiction filled with romance and political intrigue. Sign me up!  My overall thoughts were that this was a worthwhile read but it definitely could use a little polishing.

Cayla presents us with a heroine, Alera, who know her duties as the Crowned Princess of Hytanica--attend parties, learn good manners, and find a suitable husband to become the King.  This last one is proving a bit of a struggle for Alera, for her father has basically chosen the next King despite Alera's disappointment with the match.  Then Narian comes into the story.  An intriguing captive from Hytanica's bitter enemy...who turns out to be so much more.

The character development in Legacy was the best part for me.  Alera really struggles with the decisions that she makes and she develops throughout the story from someone who blindly accepts her destiny to someone who questions authority and, in the end, makes difficult decisions. Narian was a very intriguing character and I thought that Cayla did a fabulous job slowing uncovering bits and pieces of him to the reader while still leaving you guessing about the "real" Narian.  My favorite character really throughout, however, was London, Alera's bodyguard (at the beginning) and friend.  London strikes me as a very complex character that we still have so much more to learn about. That boy definitely has secrets!

The only complaint that I really had about this book was that the pacing was a tad slow for me.  I felt like occasionally the story got bogged down in excessive details regarding the setting of each scene and the sharing of background information that didn't seem to have a purpose in the story.  I felt that the story could have moved along a bit quicker without getting bogged down in such details as each thing that they ate and what they wore and the items in each room.

Overall, I did enjoy the story that Cayla Kluver has started here and I won't hesitate to pick up the second book when it comes out. I must commend her on writing such an imaginative story at such a young age (as this story was first penned when the author was, I believe, 14/15).  There is a lot of promise in the story and I can only hope that books two and three move along a bit more quickly than this one.

**Disclaimer: Book recieved from Harlequin Teen/NetGalley for my honest review.**