Fairest

From Goodreads:

“In this stunning bridge book between Cress and Winter in the bestselling Lunar Chronicles, Queen Levana’s story is finally told.

Mirror, mirror on the wall, Who is the fairest of them all?

Fans of the Lunar Chronicles know Queen Levana as a ruler who uses her “glamour” to gain power. But long before she crossed paths with Cinder, Scarlet, and Cress, Levana lived a very different story – a story that has never been told . . . until now.

Marissa Meyer spins yet another unforgettable tale about love and war, deceit and death. This extraordinary book includes full-color art and an excerpt from Winter, the next book in the Lunar Chronicles series.”


~~~~~ Marissa Meyer has a knack for writing compelling stories, and Fairest is definitely compelling, in the way that watching a trainwreck is compelling. The story itself is fantastically written and fits well into the universe that Ms. Meyer has created, but Levana is so very broken. And she deals with her brokenness in unhappy ways, leading to the dominating and fearful empress wannabe that Meyer's readers know and loathe. I wanted to feel sorry for her, but I just couldn't. On the other hand, I am really, REALLY looking forward to Winter!


Gentle Reader Alert: I found nothing of concern.

Henchgirl

(Copy provided by NetGalley)



From Goodreads:

“The children of dragons and humans, the dracons, control eighty percent of the world’s governments. Humans worldwide are either subservient or prey. On the small vacation island of Mabi, humans call for war.

Sixteen year old Dakota Kekoa lives a double life. By day, she pretends to be a human to infiltrate Mabi Academy, a 'human's only' high-school. At night, she works as a henchman for her draconic mafia family, utilizing her ability to steal and manipulate emotions.

Dakota’s life is not ideal but it is manageable, until the rich and famous half-dragon, Wyvern Manderson, shows up and starts sabotaging Dakota’s missions. And for some bewildering reason, he is always angry at her.

Within days of Wyvern’s arrival, Dakota is suspended from future missions and in desperate need of money. When Wyvern offers to hire Dakota to find his kidnapped human half-sister, she accepts despite knowing she’ll have to spend all day, every day, with Wyvern and his gigantic ego. This is not just any mission though; she is diving head first into the escalating conflict between humans and dracons. As more girls disappear and some are discovered dead, Dakota realizes her first honorable mission may also be her last.”


~~~~~ I have to admit, when I picked Henchgirl up, I was hoping that it might be nearly as good as Nice Dragons Finish Last. And it was! Henchgirl is wicked fun, full of a slow-burning romance, a main character who is working HARD to keep her family and everything else together, and a well-developed alternative society. The author, Rita Stradling, admits that part of the plot is a nod to Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice, which works well to enhance her story.

The book itself could have used the attention of a good editor--there were a few too many run-on sentences and other grammatical errors for my liking--but the story was so compelling that it was easy for me to forgive the errors and get lost in the story. The plot tension is pitch-perfect. I absolutely loved Dakota and Wyvern and the struggle for balance in their relationship. Loved Dakota's uncles too--Bobby and Glacier were well-developed and well-used as foils and levity--and I was completely surprised at who the real villain was. This really was a great book and I DEFINITELY want to read the sequel!


Gentle Reader Alert: There was definitely quite a bit of PG-13 language in here.

Killer Transaction

(Copy provided to The Kindle Book Review.)



From Goodreads:

“Real estate deals can be murder.

All struggling real estate agent Cindy York wants is the home listing that was promised to her. But her deceitful co-worker, Tiffany Roberts, has other ideas, and she always manages to get what she wants. Tired of being manipulated, Cindy tells her to back off—or else! But when Cindy stumbles upon Tiffany’s lifeless body, she suddenly finds herself front and center in a deadly investigation. Now everyone from her kids' classmates to her monstrous mother-in-law is sold on the idea that Cindy's guilty. Determined to find out who's trying to frame her, Cindy enlists the help of her best buddy, Jacques, to negotiate a slew of suspects, a host of clues, and an office full of cutthroat agents...before the next contract is out on her!”


~~~~~ With most cozy mysteries, I expect to enjoy the book, but not get pulled in quite the way I was with Killer Transaction. The mystery itself was generic--who killed the hateful person?--but the whodunit portion was twistier than I expected, making this a pleasure to read. Ms. Bruns is an excellent writer--her style was definitely to get out of the way and let this reader enjoy the experience. And, bless her heart, when Cindy got herself into a spot of trouble, it was completely explainable, instead of feeling contrived or springing from an inexplicable act of complete stupidity. I'd love to have a little more depth to the main character--a lot of the time it felt like she was reacting to events instead of acting upon them--but I did like that she had a little PTSD to deal with herself. It lent a lot of reality to Cindy's character. I'd recommend Killer Transaction as one of those books to take to the beach or curl up with by the fire for an afternoon of easy reading.


Gentle Reader Alert: A few PG-level swears, but nothing my grandmother didn't say when she was upset with the grandkids....

The White Mountains

(Copy provided to The Kindle Book Review.)



From Goodreads:

“Why is it that nobody talks about the mysterious lands beyond the mountains? Young William is drawn to find the answer. After meeting Anita, they discover an amazing psychic bond that will lead them far from their homes, as together they explore the vision they share of a magnificent Golden Dragon.”


~~~~~
It's no secret, since I mention it in my profile, that I really enjoy good Christian fantasy fiction. The White Mountains is no exception, in my book. It's a slow-burning read, taking time over the details of William and Anita's childhoods, building the bond that binds them together. As their lives intertwine and their journey progresses, Regin spares no detail, richly drawing a story filled with an easy-going magic and a sustaining faith. My only quibble is that the climax, in contrast, felt extremely rushed and truncated. Overall, however, I really enjoyed the time I spent with William and Anita.

Gentle Reader Alert: I found nothing of concern.

The Mapkeeper and the Rise of the Wardens

(Copy provided to The Kindle Book Review.)
From Goodreads:

“Lucy Barnes was an ordinary girl.

She lived with her two brothers and her father in future North America under a tyrannical government called the Commune.

Until her world was turned upside down.

Lucy discovered that she was heir to a magical map which transported her to another world called Praxis, where she was expected to learn to use the map’s magic to help save Praxis from the stirrings of a dark, ancient force.

Now an entire realm is relying on her...

Lucy must push herself to her limits and learn to harness her new-found gifts before the Wardens annihilate all the creatures of Praxis. As the Mapkeeper, Lucy’s abilities are the only power strong enough to save them from destruction. But enemies are all around her, sometimes disguised as friends. With time running out, who can she trust?

Will she discover the truth before it’s too late?”


~~~~~ This was an interesting way to mix two genres--the post-apocalyptic feel of the Hunger Games with the medieval situation of Merlin or any other Arthurian saga. Lucy is a relatable as a main character--she's compassionate, she trusts her brothers and has a good relationship with them, and she seems fairly intelligent, figuring out the map's magic on the fly. And the map's magic has a logical consistency--always nice to read a book that has the magic figured out.

On the flip side, this book was prone to the same problems that plague most first-time writers--a lot of the characters were blank slates and lacked a discernible personality, the romance felt shallow and contrived, and there was a lot of telling instead of showing. One detail that really bugged me--Lucy and her siblings seemed to be preternaturally gifted in medieval skills, such as horseback riding and archery, picking them up far too quickly. And the Wardens were a little too easily defeated.

However, both worlds were solidly built, the pacing was good, and the descriptions were excellent. (THERE WAS FOOD. Yup, still salivating. Anyway....) Despite the ending feeling like it was all over the place, I would happily to read the sequel and see how and why the worlds tie together, and who the real evil mastermind is.


Gentle Reader Alert: I found nothing of concern.

The Commons

From Goodreads:

“Paul Reid died in the snow at seventeen. The day of his death, he told a lie—and for the rest of his life, he wondered if that was what killed him.

And so begins the battle for the afterlife, known as The Commons. It's been taken over by a corporate raider who uses the energy of its souls to maintain his brutal control. The result is an imaginary landscape of a broken America—stuck in time and overrun by the heroes, monsters, dreams, and nightmares of the imprisoned dead.

Three people board a bus to nowhere: a New York street kid, an Iraq War veteran, and her five-year-old special-needs son. After a horrific accident, they are the last, best hope for The Commons to free itself. Along for the ride are a shotgun-toting goth girl, a six-foot-six mummy, a mute Shaolin monk with anger-management issues, and the only guide left to lead them.

Three Journeys: separate but joined. One mission: to save forever.

But first they have to save themselves.”

~~~~~
First things first--this book is trippy magical realism wrapped in underworld mythology without any familiar gods. Reading it reminded me a lot of reading Neil Gaiman's American Gods--I just had to go with the flow and hope I liked the ending.

The logic of the story, such as it was, held together. The characters worked together, whether they realized it or not, and there was an underlying connection tying them all to each other. It all fit. The characters, good and bad, were very well drawn and highly individual. The plot itself wasn't surprising, but it was tight--there was no wasted movement, no events that were there just for a Message or because it was cool. There were some interesting budding relationships that weren't explored nearly enough for my taste--in fact, if you're looking for romance, this is not the place to find it--but this is only book one. The best part was Peck's use of a boy on the autism spectrum who was pivotal in moving the plot forward. I really enjoyed how Zach fit into the scheme of things, and Peck wrote from Zach's dispassionate but focused perspective very believably.

The ending itself wasn't very satisfying, but it fit in with the unreal feel of the story. Since it is a book one, there is hope for closure and understanding in the other novels, but this style was just strange enough and the characters didn't resonate strongly with me, so I won't be going back to the series. Not because it isn't well-written--it really is well-done!--but because this isn't my style. I'd give the story 4 stars out of 5. If you like Neil Gaiman's stuff, you will definitely like The Commons.



Gentle Reader Alert: Maybe some PG language, but nothing I can remember. Definitely much cleaner than Gaiman's books for adults.

Why I Read and Other Explanatory Notes

There's been a little bit of radio silence around the ol' DNook, but it's not been because I quit reading, I promise! Reading is an essential part of my existence and has been my entire life. I think part of it comes from my childhood, where reading let me escape stress and boredom and took me into a world where I could think about someone else's problems instead of my own. But also, I learn so much from reading! I see the world through another person's eyes for a few hours, and it makes me step back and consider my own life and how I see things. George R.R. Martin said it beautifully: "A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies [...]. The man who never reads lives only one.” (Don't ask me about any of his works though--haven't read any of them. I've just seen the quote floating around the Pinterest-verse.)

When I started this blog, I knew I'd need content, and a LOT of it. I've had other blogs before--personal and public--and I have a decent idea of what it takes to hold a subscriber's interest. So I started reviewing EVERYTHING I read. Yep, 26 books in two months. I really do read that fast. Do I retain it all? Eh, only the stuff I like.

Which brings me to my other point: I'm a nice person. Like, a really, REALLY nice person. I hate giving bad reviews. So if I read a book that I can't recommend in the least, I won't review it. Simple as that. But that also means that sometimes there will be radio silence. It's unfortunate, because all books have had some heart and soul and blood and sweat poured into them--I know, because I have a couple of novels of my own sitting on my hard drive that will NEVER see the light of day. I *know* the effort that it takes to bring forth a creation like that. It's often been compared to giving birth, and I agree. So I try to be respectful of other people's "babies" and if I find them to be poorly written and underdeveloped or just NOT to my taste, rather than damn them with faint praise, I won't say anything at all.

So.

I read to relieve stress. The very best books do that for me. But I also read to give voice, to shout out from my own little corner of the interwebs to the rest of the world, "I LOVED THIS. YOU SHOULD READ IT! SHARE THE LOVE!" or "HEY! THIS BOOK AIN'T HALF BAD! DEFINITELY WORTH TAKING ON VACATION!" or "THIS IS THE PERFECT BOOK TO READ IN THE DENTIST'S WAITING ROOM--ENTERTAINING, BUT NOT DISTRACTING ENOUGH FOR YOU TO MISS YOUR APPOINTMENT!"

Also, being of a conservative religious bent, I always appreciate it when people give me the heads-up about potentially offensive things they encounter in books, so I can make an educated decision about reading a book. (For example, I love Tana French's novels. They're beautiful, twisty, ethereal mysteries--but she's Irish and uses the f-bomb like I use "um". SO. There's that. See also: anything by Melina Marchetta, not for f-bombs, but other stuff. ANYway. This is turning into a confessional, and I'm not even Catholic!) Thus my "Gentle Reader Alerts" in every review. I know what I can handle, and I know what could be offensive to some people. Granted, I may miss something and you're not allowed to yell at me about that because HEY! I'm human. To err is human, TO FORGIVE IS DIVINE.

So there you go. Radio silence is just another poorly written book biting the dust of my "finished" pile and me moving on. Stay tuned--I have plenty in my review pile and I'm pretty excited about a couple of them because they have GREAT potential. And I've got some retro reviews too, because sometimes I just have to read something printed on actual paper. And every once in a while, I'll post promotional stuff about books from authors I love, because like I said--I am a REALLY nice person. :D