Review: The Body Finder by Kimberly Derting

Dear Blog,
I know it's been ages since I've done a review,  I've been in something of a reading slump and have been totally incapable of reading books that aren't silly slice-of-life shojo manga.

Summary (from Amazon, because the Goodreads summary was too long): Violet Ambrose is grappling with two major issues: Jay Heaton and her morbid secret ability. While the sixteen-year-old is confused by her new feelings for her best friend, she is more disturbed by her "power" to sense dead bodies – or at least those that have been murdered. Since she was a little girl, she has felt the echoes the dead leave behind in the world...and the imprints that attach to their killers.
Violet has never considered her strange talent to be a gift, but now that a serial killer is terrorizing her small town Violet realizes she might be the only person who can stop him.
Despite his fierce protectiveness over her, Jay reluctantly agrees to help Violet find the murderer – and Violet is unnerved by her hope that Jay's intentions are much more than friendly. But even as she's falling in love, Violet is getting closer to discovering a killer...and becoming his prey herself.

Review: So. The Body Finder is one of those books that I obtained in December to try and complete the 2010 Debut Author Challenge (epic fail). I didn't actually get round to reading it until recently.
The Body Finder is one of the multitude of books that falls into either a) supernatural b) paranormal or c) urban fantasy novels that are slightly drowning the rest of YA at the moment. However, I loved the idea- a girl who could sense the spirits of those who've been killed. Intriguing, and a lot more refreshing than anything else. There was no love triangle (!) to boot- though I'll get to the romance in a bit.

Violet, the heroine, seemed a nice enough character. She had a backbone of her own, though aforementioned backbone did have a tendency to lean on Jay a lot of the time, especially later on the book.  Still, she was one of those characters I would mind getting to know if she wasn't fictional (the downfall of most of the people I'd like to be friends with...they don't exist), and I tried to overlook that as much as I could.
Now then; the romance. *rubs hands evilly*
For a lot of readers, this seems to be the thing that drives the book. And it was nice enough, well written, that is- but it just seemed so easy and predictable.
Perhaps I just wasn't expecting so much of it, and by the end I was getting slightly irritated by the amount of intense kissing scenes. They were well-written, admittedly, but they weren't why I bought it. Kind of like the irritating salad that gets put on the side of your plate when you order food at a restaurant (I also compared the flashbacks in If I Stay to salad. However, that was some of the most delicious salad I've ever eaten)- it's a nice idea, but that's not really what you're there for. Anyway, various scenes of "Violet, I don't think we're friends anymore" and "take me right now" and various other elements of sexual tension were just getting in the way of the core plot by the end.

The plot. Hmmm. This is another area that was kind of, well, lacking. It's a brilliant idea for a book; but the plot didn't really live up to its full potential. I suppose my main (and I guess only) problem with it was how easy it was. It didn't take them very long to find the antagonist at all, and it seemed certain from the start that there was only really one suspect- all they had to do was just track him down. So there was little detective work to do, especially seeing as Violent could sense his ghostly villainous whispers of self. And there was no huge climax, either- but I can't go into too much detail on that front lest I give something away.
It just seemed to my mind slightly irritating that she had so much help, either from her various companions or her own natural abilities, which seemed sort of like cheating to my mind. 

That said, the occasional interludes which appeared at random points throughout the story to provide insight into both the mind and the comings and goings of the murderer of all the young girls, were pretty interesting, especially seeing as a lot of the time they seemed to parallel Violet and Jay's encounters with the murderer and the frequently disappearing girls.

So, in conclusion, I'm kind of glad I read it, despite those few flaws which played a big part in the book.  Still, when it comes out I'll definitely read Desires of the Dead, because The Body Finder and Kimberly Derting respectively have potential to be truly awesome.  I'll be interested to see what Kimberly Derting does next.

In three words: anti climatic, romantic, hmmm.
Recommended for: fans of supernatural-type novels with pretty covers and lots of romance.
Rating: 2.75. (Should I really give things .25 and .75 ratings, dear blog? Not quite sure.)

Review: Dirty Little Secrets

Dear Blog,
Because I refuse to give up the 2010 Debut Author Challenge, however much I'm failing.

Summary (from Goodreads):  Everyone has secrets. Some are just bigger and dirtier than others.
For sixteen years, Lucy has kept her mother's hoarding a secret. She's had to -- nobody would understand the stacks of newspapers and mounds of garbage so high they touch the ceiling and the rotting smell that she's always worried would follow her out the house. After years of keeping people at a distance, she finally has a best friend and maybe even a boyfriend if she can play it right. As long as she can make them think she's normal.
When Lucy arrives home from a sleepover to find her mother dead under a stack of National Geographics, she starts to dial 911 in a panic, but pauses before she can connect. She barely notices the filth and trash anymore, but she knows the paramedics will. First the fire trucks, and then news cameras that will surely follow. No longer will they be remembered as the nice oncology nurse with the lovely children -- they'll turn into that garbage-hoarding freak family on Collier Avenue.
With a normal life finally within reach, Lucy has only minutes to make a critical decision. How far will she go to keep the family secrets safe?

Review: Whoah. Hang on a minute.  Let me just collect my thoughts together.
...
...
...
Okay.  Now I can begin.
Wow.  Dirty Little Secrets is the most shocking, disgusting and fast-paced novel I've read in a long time- the sort of book that you long to stop reading yet you can't not read on. 

It reminds me a lot of Gayle Forman's If I Stay.  It's set over 24 hours or so, with lots of flashbacks here and there to add extra dimensions to the story.  And unlike many books with flashbacks, in Dirty Little Secrets these little elements of the past are relevant. They give some more background to Lucy's mother's compulsive hoarding, seeing as she's dead for most of the book that takes place in the present. 

Lucy was one of those characters that you couldn't not dislike.  Not with everything that happened to her.  Her voice was clear and direct, even in descriptions never straying away from what needed to be said.  She seemed kind of tough and cynical, I suppose, slightly bitter and even snarky in a way, but she did have underneath all that an interior which was so real and true, that showed that she really did feel
Her mother.  My reaction towards her is kind mixed; do I pity her, or do I just loathe her for messing Lucy's life in such a way? Both, probably, at different times.  The flashbacks portrayed her in the past; but it's hard to see who she was in the present (yeah, you've probably got some clever answer for that)- perhaps who she was would have been different to who she is.  Was, I mean, seeing as she was dead. Eh...now I'm confused.  Moving swiftly on.
Speaking of family- one of my favourite scenes in the book was actually when Lucy's sister  Sara came to visit while she was frantically trying to clear out the house.  I don't know why, but the glimpse into Sara's car...It gave me chills.  I could just see the whole book playing out again, providing that she had a daughter of her own.  I guess it shows how things can appear to be so natural and how the environment can have such an effect on a childhood.

While I'm on this scene, I'll say that the reason it struck me so much was the way it was written.  The writing style was fantastic, for lack of a better word.  You know how some writing styles can be absolutely perfect for the subject matter (examples: Jinx, Green Angel, The Book of Everything)?  Well, Dirty Little Secrets is exactly like that.  C.J. Omololu seems to follow the rule don't use two words when one will do, or don't use a longer one in place of a shorter, but still the descriptions of the house are excellent.  Though one can't be achieved without the other, I'm not a fan of tidiness so much of minimalism, and standing in empty rooms make me happy.  So some of the scenes described made me feel almost claustrophobic, in a way.  I've never wanted to be sucked into a book so much; how I'd want to get into that house and try and restore things to order.  Even though I am unbelievably squeamish and one of those people who if she encounters a spider runs as far away as possible in the nearest direction.  But the way it was written; the descriptions of the house, of Lucy's despair and resentment, the flashbacks; I didn't need to wish that I could be there to attempt to turn things around.  More often than not, I was there. 

The ending.  Hmm.  It was, I suppose, fitting to the rest of the book; brief, rushed, and totally shocking.  But I can't help but ask: Did it really resolve things?  Not entirely, I don't think.   It's hard to discuss too deeply without giving too many things away, which is something I would not want to do.  I'll leave you to make up your mind about it; and I'm not sure I'm a hundred percent convinced.  It resolved things, sort of...for the time being.  One word: Sequel.
Oh my God yes.

To conclude; despite what may or may not be a slightly disappointing ending, Dirty Little Secrets is an excellent, excellent book that shouldn't be missed among the hordes of awesome debuts- no pun intended- that have been released this year. 

In Three Words: Shocking, disgusting, powerful.
Recommended for: Everyone.  Seriously.
Rating : 5

Review: Three Rivers Rising

Dear Blog,

2010 Debut Author Challenge novel #3.  I had better get reading if I want to complete the challenge, which I do. 
Another short review- Is there such a thing as reviewers block?  If so, I think I might have it. But I'm reviewing Three Rivers Rising because it's a wonderful book, anyway, and I need to say why.
 

Summary (from Goodreads): Sixteen-year-old Celestia is a wealthy member of the South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club, where she meets and falls in love with Peter, a hired hand who lives in the valley below, and by the time of the torrential rains that lead to the disastrous Johnstown flood of 1889, she has been disowned by her family and is staying with him in Johnstown. Includes an author’s note and historical timeline.

Review: Historical fiction, verse novels and dual narratives all make me very happy.  Put them together and you have the work of art that is Three Rivers Rising.  What more could I ask for?!  But for all my interest in American history, I'd never heard anything about the Johnstown Flood.  Maybe I've missed out on what's considered to be a huge tragedy over in the States, and I'm just ignorant.  Either way, now I've read about it, it was pretty fascinating.  And of course the idea for a story based around such a devastating event was fantastic. 

This book alternates between the points of view of Celestia, Peter, Maura, a girl not much older than Celestia but already married with three young children, Kate, a young window-turned-medical student, and, briefly, Celestia's father. At first when Maura and Kate came into the story I was slightly confused about what their place was in both the universe and the novel.  Their place in the universe still remains to me much of a mystery, but their place in the novel is to give it extra dimensions, points of view and adding extra dimensions and meaning.  I think Three Rivers Rising would have been more of a hopelessly romantic yet poetically tragic love story  if it hadn't had those other elements to it. It is a hopelessly romantic yet poetically tragic love story anyway, I suppose, but these extra voices give it more depth.  For instance, the brief glimpse into the mind of Whitcomb, Celestia's dad, makes him seem like much more of a complex character, and more of a person than a rich businessman.  He is, I suppose, the closest thing that the book has to a villain. 

For all these many voices, Jame Richards still manages to make each voice unique,  and give each person a story to tell.  They're all three-dimensional.
It's hard to say that Celestia was a likeable main character, mainly because all the other characters are so well-rounded and have you rooting for them, it's hard to call her a "main character" (even though she is really).  Anyway, she was brave and true to herself, even though admittedly she does suffer a little from Rebellious Princess Syndrome,  it's not in such an obvious sort of way  à la the girls of Spence Academy in the Gemma Doyle trilogy. 

I suppose the one thing I wasn't too keen on was how rushed the opening of the book was.  It's strange- the reader seemed slightly thrown in at the deep end in that Peter and Celestia were already having secret meetings and kissing by page seventeen.  However, on the other hand, the book opens the summer before the flood, allowing Peter and Celestia to get to know each other and such before the flood.

And the flood itself. Especially towards the end of the book, Three Rivers Rising was devastating and utterly heart-wrenching.  I thought it was particularly effective how the day of the flood, as well as stating the location and which character is narrating, the time of day, so the reader can observe the events unfolding from the failure of the dam to the destruction of Johnstown.
For all the novels-in-verse I devour, it's rare that I come across historical fiction written in verse format,  so this made me happy.  And it was particularly wonderful poetry, which seemed to flow, almost, like a river.

In Three Words: poetic, heart-wrenching, fascinating. 

reccomended for: everyone.  Especially those who've never heard of the Johnstown Flood.

Rating: 5. 

Review: Hex Hall by Rachel Hawkins

Dear Blog,
Hex Hall is only the first of all the books on my 2010 debut author challenge list that I've read. Though I've ordered The Sky is Everywhere off the internet and Before I Fall from the library, most of the books on the list on Goodreads were first published in the Land of the Free, and here in the sceptr'd isle most of them either a) haven't been released yet or b) if they have they're in hardcover and expensive. But Hex Hall appeared at the library -someone must have ordered it in- and I grabbed it off the shelf and took it out on one of those automated-computer-system things faster than you can say "Witchcraft". 


Summary (from Goodreads): Three years ago, Sophie Mercer discovered that she was a witch. It's gotten her into a few scrapes. Her non-gifted mother has been as supportive as possible, consulting Sophie's estranged father--an elusive European warlock--only when necessary. But when Sophie attracts too much human attention for a prom-night spell gone horribly wrong, it's her dad who decides her punishment: exile to Hex Hall, an isolated reform school for wayward Prodigium, a.k.a. witches, faeries, and shapeshifters.
By the end of her first day among fellow freak-teens, Sophie has quite a scorecard: three powerful enemies who look like supermodels, a futile crush on a gorgeous warlock, a creepy tagalong ghost, and a new roommate who happens to be the most hated person and only vampire on campus. Worse, Sophie soon learns that a mysterious predator has been attacking students, and her only friend is the number-one suspect.


Review: I'm very, very glad that I came across this copy.  Because it is an awesome book. But first there are two minor things I need to get out of the way before I start praising nearly everything about this book:
 
Though this entry's got the US cover at the top, I actually read The UK edition.  The UK cover is inaccurate in many ways, the main one being;- Elodie, Anna and Chaston look  slightly wrong and, I imagine, so does their uniform (which doesn't look like uniform at all).
The other thing is, it reeeeeeally bugs me when they bother to make a new cover for a book and they don't make the effort to skim through it and change all the spellings. For example, *thinks up random sentence* the phrase defence of his grey-coloured pyjamas ought to be defense of his gray-colored pajamas in the US edition, and vice versa for the UK edition.  This gets on my nerves because I am completely OCD about grammar and spelling. 
Now that's out of the way I can start praising.
 
Sophie was a brilliant protagonist. She was funny, she was smart, she had attitude.    She was all-round an awesome character who said such awesome one-liners as,   "So if you can heal with your touch, why are you working here as like, Hagrid, or whatever?" She is the anti-hero to end all anti-heroes; a kind of Worst Witch for teenagers (and a lot more awesome than Sabrina), but still manages to be truly kick-arse*.  Also, instead of a certain feline  named after a colonial town, Sophie has a vampire as a sidekick.  How cool is that?!  And as I guess a true side-kick ought to be, Jenna is her own character.  She fights with Sophie occasionally, but ultimately they're friends.  Speaking of which, I liked that in this book vampires were seen as slightly evil.  Even though Jenna wasn't an evil bloodsucker, it was a change from vampires being goodies. 

I guess it's kind of hard to be original in this genre, and Hex Hall is certainly a big cauldron (no pun intended) of all sorts of different books.    Some of which I'm not too keen on, i.e Harry Potter, House of Night, etc.  But because Hex Hall took lots of little bits from many, many different novels; a little bit of one book there, a little of another there.  And as far as I can remember, Hex Hall is the only boarding-school books I've read where all the students there are there because they're bad in one way or another (the niceness and force of good in HP gets on my nerves a bit). Which was a cool change.

Conclusion: If anybody else is reading this for the 2010 debut author challenge, move this to the top of your list and read it now.  If you're doing the challenge but aren't fussed on reading Hex Hall, add it to your list and read it now.  If you're not doing the challenge, just get a copy and read it now.  The bottom line is, guess what, READ THIS BOOK NOW.  Rating: 5/5.

*I don't know why but saying that with the British/Australian spelling doesn't seem quite as cool as with the North American spelling.  Maybe I just can't pull off sounding cool.  I certainly can't do an American accent.

In My Mailbox 11

Dear Blog,

IMM returns as ever, hosted by Kristi of The Story Siren.

I didn't get much this week, mainly because even though he really isn't that old, my father nearly had a heart attack when he was looking over my shoulder while I was sorting out my Goodreads page.  He must have seen my To-read shelf because he said, "SEVENTY FOUR?"  And he didn't really believe me when I said, "no! no!  Most of those I don't actually own.  Only about 20 of them are on my bookcase."  That's because it's a lie.  About 45 of them are on my shelf. This made me realise I have serious issues and really ought to get through lots of them before I buy/borrow any more.

BOUGHT

The Sky is Everywhere by Jandy Nelson. 

Summary (from Goodreads): Seventeen-year-old Lennie Walker, bookworm and band geek, plays second clarinet and spends her time tucked safely and happily in the shadow of her fiery older sister, Bailey. But when Bailey

dies abruptly, Lennie is catapulted to center stage of her own life—and, despite her nonexistent history with boys, suddenly finds herself struggling to balance two. Toby was Bailey’s boyfriend; his grief mirrors Lennie’s own. Joe is the new boy in town, a transplant from Paris whose nearly magical grin is matched only by his musical talent. For Lennie, they’re the sun and the moon; one boy takes her out of her sorrow, the other comforts her in it. But just like their celestial counterparts, they can’t collide without the whole wide world exploding.

Forbidden by Tabitha Suzuma
Summary (from Goodreads): Sixteen-year-old Maya and seventeen-year-old Lochan have never had the chance to be 'normal' teenagers. Having pulled together for years to take care of their younger siblings while their wayward, drunken mother leaves them to fend alone, they have become much more than brother and sister. And now, they have fallen in love. But this is a love that can never be allowed, a love that will have devastating consequences ...How can something so wrong feel so right?
 
 
              
 
                                              BORROWED       
 

 
Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick
Summary (from Goodreads): For Nora Grey, romance was not part of the plan. She's never been particularly attracted to the boys at her school, no matter how much her best friend, Vee, pushes them at her. Not until Patch came along. With his easy smile and eyes that seem to see inside her, Nora is drawn to him against her better judgment.

But after a series of terrifying encounters, Nora's not sure who to trust. Patch seems to be everywhere she is, and to know more about her than her closest friends. She can't decide whether she should fall into his arms or run and hide. And when she tries to seek some answers, she finds herself near a truth that is way more unsettling than anything Patch makes her feel.
For Nora is right in the middle of an ancient battle between the immortal and those that have fallen - and, when it comes to choosing sides, the wrong choice will cost her life.

Hex Hall by Rachel Hawkins (review coming soon)

Summary (guess where from?  Yes, Goodreads): Three years ago, Sophie Mercer discovered that she was a witch. It's gotten her into a few scrapes. Her non-gifted mother has been as supportive as possible, consulting Sophie's estranged father--an elusive European warlock--only when necessary. But when Sophie attracts too much human attention for a prom-night spell gone horribly wrong, it's her dad who decides her punishment: exile to Hex Hall, an isolated reform school for wayward Prodigium, a.k.a. witches, faeries, and shapeshifters.

By the end of her first day among fellow freak-teens, Sophie has quite a scorecard: three powerful enemies who look like supermodels, a futile crush on a gorgeous warlock, a creepy tagalong ghost, and a new roommate who happens to be the most hated person and only vampire on campus. Worse, Sophie soon learns that a mysterious predator has been attacking students, and her only friend is the number-one suspect.
As a series of blood-curdling mysteries starts to converge, Sophie prepares for the biggest threat of all: an ancient secret society determined to destroy all Prodigium, especially her.


 
So, yay!  I've wanted them all for ages. I know that review copies for Forbidden went out a few weeks ago but, well, I'm too nervous to contact any publishers as yet.  What exactly do you say?  How many readers do you need?  How long to you need to have been blogging for?  Somebody please tell me it's not as daunting as it looks!
 
So, well, that was my literary week.  What about yours? 

2010 Debut Author Challenge

Dear Blog,
The title says it all I suppose.  I think the 2010  Debut Author Challenge looks like fun and apparently I'm supposed to make a post saying that I want to take part.  I hope it's not too late for me to  participate.
The minimum amount of books you have to read in the challenge is 12.  I don't know how many I will read in total, but here are 12 to get me going:
Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver
The Sky is Everywhere by Jandy Nelson
The Line by Terri Hall
The Iron King by Julie Kagawa
Brightly Woven by Alexandra Bracken
Claire De Lune by Christine Johnson
Faithful by Janet Fox
Three Rivers Rising by Jame Richards
To Come and Go Like Magic by Katie Pickard Fawcett
The Invisible Girl by Mary Hanlon Stone
Crossing the Tracks by Barbara Stuber
The Mark by Jen Nadol

*rushes to library to order copies*