Review of Bitterblue

Title: Bitterblue

Author: Kristin Cashore

Genre: Young Adult fantasy

Publisher: Dial Press

Publication date: May 1st, 2012

For those of you who aren't familiar with Kristin Cashore: stop reading. Right now. Well, stop reading this and go buy Graceling. Come back when you've finished it and Fire.

There are some books that I don't want to review because my grasp of language doesn't seem adequate. After reading a book like Bitterblue, in which every sentence is constructed so beautifully, I don't feel like I can do the story justice. But I'll try.

I went into Bitterblue with some anxiety: what if Katsa and Po weren't in it enough? What if they'd broken up, or gotten married, or some other unexpected turn of events? What if Bitterblue turned evil in the eight years since we saw her last? Or, perhaps worse, what if she was an implausibly perfect queen after everything that had happened?

Once I started reading, though, my anxieties didn't matter because I remembered how much I trust Kristin Cashore to deliver exactly the story I want to read. I was transported. I wish I was still in Monsea right now.

I won't post any spoilers, but know that fans of Kristin Cashore won't be disappointed. Her prose is still lyrical, lush, and sad. You will laugh out loud (more so than in the previous volumes) and you will probably also cry. You will shake your head and wonder why you thought that, maybe, this time the heroine would get a normal romance. You will fall in love with a grumpy librarian and his mangy, grouchy cat. You will want to start reading it again as soon as you finish.

My 2012 Wishlist

Hello readers--

First, an apology for my long hiatus. Many of you know that I left bookselling at the end of August to pursue my dreams of living by the beach. I'm volunteering in a library now, but I haven't had access to any galleys. So forgive me if I'm a little behind the times, book-wise. There are no general bookstores in or near where I live. I hope it's not a sign of things to come.

I have been paying attention to what's coming out in the next few months, though, and I want to share the titles I'm excited about. Without further ado, here is the first category in my 2012 wishlist:

Young Adult:

Bittersweet by Sarah Ockler: January 3rd from Simon Pulse

A once-bitten, twice-shy heroine who bakes lots of sweets? A winter romance? Sign me up! I love the way that Sarah Ockler portrays the magnified drama of being a teenager in such a way that you empathize with the characters.

Drowning Instinct by Ilsa J. Bick: January 28th from Lerner Publishing Group

I was sold on Ilsa J. Bick when I read Ashes; Drowning Instinct, while less apocalyptic, promises the same gritty, emotional ride.

The Agency #3: The Traitor and the Tunnel by Y. S. Lee: February 28th from Candlewick Press

If you haven't read this series, check it out. They're Victorian mysteries with an atypical heroine: rescued from the gallows as a child, Mary Quinn grew up in a boarding school for female detectives. Romance, intrigue, Victorian history--all the things I love.

Croak by Gina Damico: March 20th from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Lex Bartleby is a troublemaker. Her family finally sends her to live with her Uncle Mort for the summer--where she ends up learning the family business: reaping. This promises to be a hysterically funny, insightful novel from a debut author. I've read Gina's writing--we went to college together--so I know that this one is not to be missed.

The Book of Blood and Shadow by Robin Wasserman: April 10th from Random House Children's Books

Like her other books, The Book of Blood and Shadow promises to be fast-paced and creatively plotted. Robin Wasserman is the master of the plot twist. Add in Prague, some old manuscripts, and some mysterious conspirators and you've got the makings of a great story.

The Drowned Cities by Paolo Bacigalupi: May 1st from Little, Brown

This companion to Ship Breakers is more dystopian grunge from a writer who is gaining popularity with each book.

Crazy by Amy Reed: June 12th from Simon Pulse

Amy Reed takes controversial topics and makes them real. She doesn't push the "moral of the story," she makes you understand why teenagers sometimes turn to the dark side--and what it's like for them when they're there.

Daughter of Smoke and Bone #2 by Laini Taylor: September from Little, Brown

I probably shouldn't include this one, since she's still writing it--but I really can't wait for this book. Daughter of Smoke and Bone was the most magical, exquisite YA novel I've read this year (okay, so maybe it's tied with Chime) and I'm eagerly awaiting the continuation of the story.

Title: Carter Finally Gets It

Author: Brent Crawford

Genre: Young Adult fiction

Publisher: Hyperion

Publication date: Available now in paperback

So. Freakin. Funny.

Never has a book made me almost-pee-my-pants as frequently as this one. Somehow Brent Crawford has taken the average high school boy's everyday life and made it laugh out loud funny. And I do mean laugh out loud. At one point I was cackling like a madwoman while sitting under the hair dryer at the salon.

Carter is your average freshman boy: ADD, a difficult older sister, awkward around girls, a group of friends with weird nicknames. He thinks that starting high school is a good time to become cool, if only his brain would stop forcing him to make bad decisions. And now, there are girls added into the equation.

At first I was trying to mark passages to illustrate the utter hilarity of this book, but soon I realized that I was marking almost every page. You'll just have to read it for yourself. It's right up there with KING DORK for Funniest Book About Teenage Boys.

Review of Above

Title: Above

Author: Leah Bobet

Genre: Young Adult Urban Fantasy

Publisher: Arthur A. Levine Books

Publication date: April 1st, 2012

This is a beautiful, sad story. Underneath the world is a place called Safe, where anyone Sick or Freak or Beast is given Sanctuary. Matthew, the Teller, was born there. It is his duty to collect the tales of Safe so that they can be recorded for future generations. And then, on Sanctuary Night, the unthinkable happens. Suddenly Matthew finds himself in Above with a ragtag collection of refugees from Safe. He must use all the skills he has--for Telling, for Passing, and for loving Safe--to help reclaim his home.

It has been a while since I read a book this lyrical. Seeing through Matthew's eyes, thinking his thoughts--I could almost believe that Safe is real. The prose is lovely, round, and vivid; at times it felt like poetry. At other times it felt like a painting come to life.

Matthew's relationship with Ariel, a winged girl whom he rescued some time ago, is perhaps the true heart of the story. She is broken by her past, and Matthew has spent months learning the quiet, slow ways of holding her together. Their exile from Safe is anything but quiet and slow, and both Matthew and Ariel are forced to confront things that they have spent much of their lives hiding from.

Part DAUGHTER OF SMOKE AND BONE, part MS. FRISBY AND THE RATS OF NIMH, and all its own, ABOVE is a book that can't be missed.

Review of Clean

Title: Clean
Author: Amy Reed
Genre: Young adult contemporary fiction
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Publication date: July 19th, 2011

When I was growing up, my family moved a lot. Like, a lot. By the time I was 14 I was living in my third state in five years and attending my fifth school. That's when I discovered the library.

I'm not sure if it was just the tiny library in upstate New York, or the general state of YA literature back then, but there was a lot of British YA about drug addicts and delinquent kids. I read everything I could get my hands on, reading as many as 7 or 8 books a week in the summer. So I know about rehab books. And this is not your average rehab book.

CLEAN revolves around five teenagers, each of whom is in recovery from different things and for different reasons. The main narrators are Kelly and Christopher, although we get transcripts from group therapy and excerpts from the teens' entry essays to fill in the blanks. Their stories are surprisingly accessible. I've never had a drug problem but I found myself almost empathizing with Kelly and Christopher. Their voices are so vivid. Their stories get inside of you and live there for a while.

My favorite thing, though, was the transcripts from Group. As a teacher, I'm very sensitive to realistic dialogue. There's nothing I hate more than a good YA book with dialogue that sounds like an adult's idea of what The Kids say to each other. This is not one of those. Amy Reed somehow packs a world of nuance, back story, and group dynamics into Group sessions characterized by the monosyllabic, evasive responses to questions posed by the Group leader.

I loved this book. I'm going to read BEAUTIFUL next, and then eagerly await whatever Amy Reed is working on now.

Review of Anna Dressed in Blood

Title: Anna Dressed in Blood
Author: Kendare Blake
Genre: Young Adult paranormal fiction
Publisher: Tor Teen
Publication date: August 30th, 2011

I don't read a whole lot of paranormal fiction, and ghosts are not my thing. Something else that's not my thing: buying hardcovers. However, when I heard all the raves about ANNA DRESSED IN BLOOD, I threw all my "usuallys" out the window and bought it.

Holy crap.

So, if you are squeamish about corpses, ghosts dripping blood, ghosts with no eyes, basements full of dead bodies, etc, then this book is going to FREAK YOU OUT. In a kind of awesome way.

If you are a fan of badass male narrators, aloof cats, mean girls who are actually nice, and homicidal spirits, then you should go buy this book.

Cas is a ghost hunter, just like his father was. He spends a few months here and few months there, following the call of the kill. He moves to a small town in Canada for his senior year of high school, because the town is haunted by an especially prolific murderer: Anna Dressed in Blood, a young girl who was killed several decades ago. Everything seems to be going as normal until Cas actually meets Anna--and discovers that, for the first time, he is in over his head.

It's rare that I ever identify with a male narrator in YA. Cas is one of the few that I almost understand. He's angry. He's isolated. He doesn't know how to relate to people his own age after everything he's seen. And like Cassel Sharpe in Holly Black's WHITE CAT, he is still coming of age despite missing out on his childhood.

Although the plot is well-developed and interesting, the character development is what I love most about ANNA DRESSED IN BLOOD. I can't wait for the second book, which is due out at the end of next year.

Review of Drink, Slay, Love

Title: Drink, Slay, Love
Author: Sarah Beth Durst
Genre: Young Adult Fantasy
Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry
Publication date: September 13th, 2011

Synopsis from Goodreads.com:

Pearl is a sixteen-year-old vampire... fond of blood, allergic to sunlight, and mostly evil... until the night a sparkly unicorn stabs her through the heart with his horn. Oops.

Her family thinks she was attacked by a vampire hunter (because, obviously, unicorns don't exist), and they're shocked she survived. They're even more shocked when Pearl discovers she can now withstand the sun. But they quickly find a way to make use of her new talent. The Vampire King of New England has chosen Pearl's family to host his feast. If Pearl enrolls in high school, she can make lots of human friends and lure them to the King's feast -- as the entrees.

The only problem? Pearl's starting to feel the twinges of a conscience. How can she serve up her new friends—especially the cute guy who makes her fangs ache—to be slaughtered? Then again, she's definitely dead if she lets down her family. What's a sunlight-loving vamp to do?

My take:

I am so tired of vampire novels, but this doesn't quite qualify. Durst spends as much time making fun of vampire novels as she does writing one. I mean, the main character gets staked by a UNICORN in the first 20 pages. Hilarious.

Honestly, though? My favorite thing about this book was Zeke and Matt, a.k.a. Tall and Chubby. They're Buffy enthusiasts, amateur slayers, and pretty much nerds personified. Their dialogue had me cracking up. Don't get me wrong, I liked the other zany characters, but Zeke and Matt are my brothers in nerdery.

I think that vampire fans will like this, but so will readers who are tired of vampires. Either way, you should probably read it.