April Wrap-Up
A little slower month (especially compared to March), but with quite a few good reads.
1. Magic Study by Maria V. Snyder, 2/5. A disappointing sequel to her impressive debut (Poison Study). I started disliking Yelena very quickly: she had all these powerful talents no one had seen before, mastered them quickly, etc - all in all, starting to lean over to the Mary-Sue side of characters. Her relationship with Valek wasn't convincing. The other characters were introduced poorly; I kept having to flip back and forth to remind myself who was who. I doubt I'll be reading the final book of the trilogy (Fire Study), though I will be picking up her new novel, Inside Out.
2. The King of Attolia by Megan Whalen Turner, 4.5/5. Full review here.
3. Changeless by Gail Carriger, 2/5. Another disappointing sequel. I really enjoyed the light tone of Soulless, but it didn't work for this book. Soulless was a romance where the humor worked; this attempted to go a little deeper while retaining the humor and failed at both. It sacrificed too much in an attempt to be funny, but ended up feeling rather forced. I ended up disliking Alexia by the end - she seemed too oblivious, a rather bad friend, and occasionally unforgivably rude (though I believe it was supposed to be funny). Alexia and Lord Maccon's relationship seemed to be entirely based on lust - I don't think they ever had a full conversation in the entire book - which sacrificed the witty banter of Soulless. I was definitely rooting for Alexia to abandon Lord Maccon and take it up with Madame Lefoux. I'll still pick up the third book, Blameless, but my hopes aren't high. [As a sidenote, looking through reviews, I saw this compared to Jane Austen. Does this make sense to anyone else? Because, besides both being set in the past (some 50 years apart), they don't seem anything alike to me.]
4
. Succubus Shadows by Richelle Mead, 3.5/5. I accidentally skipped over the fourth book of the series (Succubus Heat), and while I'll be going back to read it, I don't think I missed much. I enjoyed this but felt it had much more potential. I love Georgina's voice and the world Ms. Mead has created. The plot was quite interesting, though I think more could have been done with the angst/dramatic view and given the characters a bit more depth. I got a little tired with the relationships (SPOILERS for the earlier books): honestly, I wish she would get over Seth and go shack up with Roman. But since she seems to have some uber-special "connection" with Seth, I doubt that will happen. (END spoilers). In any case, I enjoyed this and am looking forward to reading the previous and next books. The covers on these books are disappointing, though. They're rather . . . ugly.
5 & 6. Bone Crossed & Silver Borne by Patricia Briggs, 5/5 & 4.5/5. I went back and re-read Bone Crossed to refresh my memory for Silver Borne, and I'm glad I did. It was SO good. This is one of my favorite series, and with good reason. I normally dislike established relationships, but Ms. Briggs does a superb job with it. Adam and Mercy have their issues, but they work them out by talking about them, something few pairings do. Silver Borne didn't have quite the charm Bone Crossed did, but it was still very, very good.
7. ttyl by Lauren Myracle, DNF. I found out there's such thing as a book being too realistic, especially when it's about younger high school students. The characters in this were self-centered, obnoxious, and blind to everything but their own problems; in essence, a pretty typical high school student. The structure and rotating POVs didn't help me sympathize with any of them, so I set it down.
8. Charles and Emma: The Darwins' Leap of Faith by Deborah Heiligman, 2/5. I had expected this to read like fiction, so was unpleasantly surprised when it turned out to be basically a biography. I got annoyed with the portrayal of the Darwins, who seemingly were near-perfect and excelled at everything they did, and the constant mentions of other authors (especially Jane Austen). I recommend it to anyone who likes biographies, but I, unfortunately, am not much of a fan.
9. The Dead Travel Fast by Deanna Raybourn, 4/5. An excellent gothic/mystery/romance novel (I'm not well-versed enough in the genre to properly categorize it) that I enjoyed immensely. I loved the hints at supernatural - and the definite answer the ending provided. The setting gave me the chills; it was excellently written. I liked the romance, but the ending annoyed me a bit (I almost wish they hadn't gotten together, it seemed a bit too neat. I surprised myself, but I really did want a bittersweet ending). I wish the mystery had a few more hints to it; I don't like it when all the information is revealed at the end. It's nice to be surprised, but I don't like feeling the author's making things up to fit the story.
10. Long Live the Queen by Ellen Emerson White, 4.5/5. My favorite book in the series (The President's Daughter, White House Autumn, Long Live the Queen). The plot was intense and the characters responded realistically while staying true to themselves. Despite the darker tone, it's still a young adult book, and that added an interesting (and good) angle to it. Ms. White recently updated it (it was written mid-80s but re-released a couple years ago), and the changes were done fabulously - I could tell what sections had been changed, and it felt like a current book. I don't think it will age particularly well, though. There were a lot of pop culture references that I don't see working nearly as well in 20 years.
11. Voices of Dragons by Carrie Vaughn, 3.5/5. A smooth YA-debut of one of my favorite authors. Ms. Vaughn's writing is so . . . "clean" is the word that comes to mind. The character's voices are realistic and interesting, and the plot is tight without leaving questions. I liked the Cold War parallel and think it really helped the book. Still, I seemed a little shallow, and the side characters a little flat.
12. The Alchemy of Stone by Ekaterina Sedia, 1.5/5. calico_reaction's book club April selection. I read a guest post by the author that initially made me nervous - beginning in paragraph two with her statement that "most traditional heroic fantasy is an endorsement of monarchy coupled with an explicit assumption that goodness and power is the birthright of the genetically-blessed few." I don't like reading books to read about politics. I don't mind if the element's there (see Voices of Dragons), but I don't want the book to be written for the purpose of including the politics. I never warmed up to the world and disliked all the characters. The romance felt horribly forced and the plot a little weak.
13. Anne of the Island by L.M. Montgomery, 2.5/5. Full review here.
14. Going Too Far by Jennifer Echols, 5/5. Review.
15. The Mortal Instruments Trilogy by Cassandra Clare, 3.5/5-4/5. Review here.
Ratings:
DNF - 1
1.5 - 1
2 - 3
2.5 - 1
3.5 - 4
4 - 2
4.5 - 3
5 - 2
Average = 3.5
Genres:
YA - 10
Steampunk - 2
Fantasy - 3
Urban fantasy - 6
Paranormal romance - 1
Non-fiction - 1
Historical - 3
Mystery - 1
Challenges:
1st in a series: 2 (11/20) [+0 from last month] - City of Glass, Voices of Dragons
2nd time: 4 (21/50) [-7] - Mortal Instruments trilogy, Changeless, Magic Study, Bone Crossed
YA: 10 (24/50) [+0] - Anne of the Island, City of Bones, City of Ashes, City of Glass, Going Too Far, Magic Study, The King of Attolia, Charles and Emma, Long Live the Queen, Voices of Dragons
Support Your Library: 14 (62/100) [-9]
New Author Challenge: 3 (24/50) [-3] - Deborah Heiligman, Jennifer Echols, Ekaterina Sedia
100+ Books: 14 (60/100)