Book review! Actually I bring you two.
Resenting the Hero by Moira J. Moore
(I have already read this book, once a long time ago but fantasy is my love so there was no way I wasn't going to read this again when Sister brought it home)
In a realm beset by natural disasters, only the bonded Pairs--Source and Shield--make the land habitable and keep the citizenry safe. But can Dunleavy Mallorough and Lord Shintaro Karish put aside their differences to defeat something even more unnatural than their reluctant affections for each other?
First thing that I have to say is that the cover doesn't appeal to me at all. It never did and it probably never will. Neither Lee or Taro actually act like that (even though at the beginning Lee technically believes that she will have to - but for the sake of my argument that is NOT the point).
Yesterday I devoured the Resenting the Hero by Moira J. Moore again. I do judge books by thier cover and I thought that this would be another predictable, but enjoyable fantasy, comic romance (you know the books I mean - where the plot is duh but lovely). How wrong was I. Initially when I read the book for the first time I enjoyed it, but this time when Sister brought it home from the library for herself to read, I think I appreciated it a whole load more. (I think as I have become older I have become a whole load more critical.)
Lee, the Shield and Taro, the Source find themselves Paired together at the beginning of the book. Natural disasters are everywhere and a Source can channel the energies to calm down or deflect the natural event, but while they do that thier blood pressure rises and thier heart could basically go splat, not something that they want since splat = death. To prevent death, you have Shields. They can control and regulate the heart rate and blood pressure and all vital signs of the Source while there is a natural event taking place. Working individually is not advised and in order to make them far more effective and safe Sources and Shields are Bonded together.
Lee and Taro bonded the way all others before them have bonded - looking into each others eyes. The whole book is narrated from Lee's point of view and we know from the beginning that she DOES NOT (definitely with capital letters) want to be bonded with Taro. She slightly reminded me of Elizabeth Bennet. Lee had heard the stories of Taro's social life and believed them. (Taro's nickname is the Stallion, something which made me snigger like a 12 year old). Lord Taro is heroic, brave, talented, charming, breathtakingly handsome and a rake. In complete contrast we have Lee, a merchant's daughter with a practicle head on her shoulders, someone who is calm, reliable and dependable.
I want to convey to all of you just how much I like Lee. SHE IS NOT A SAP. Neither is she a WHINEY, ANGST ridden pathetic female. Do you know how lovely it is to read about a female character written about a female author, that doesn't make me wonder why the norm seems to be that vagina = pathetic? Lee's goal in life is not to fall in love and become a baby making machine. She wants to work and do what she has been trained to do as efficiently and effectively as possible. She sees Taro as an obstacle in her path. Lee is not the doormat that the cover suggests and I love her for that. The two of them do have an equal partnership, not only because Lee would not have tolerated anything else, but also because Taro wanted it to be that way. Throughout the book we meet other character's who share Lee's initial assessment of her Pairing. She is seen as being the slave to Taro's master.
But no matter what Lee thinks of Taro's personal life, she knows that he is a brilliant Source, someone who I think matches her brilliance as a Shield. The two of them are sent to High Scape, the largest city in the Northern continent, where natural disasters are very, very common and happen multiple times a day. Moore's description of High Scape, through Lee's narration was engrossing. The politics and the residents of the place made me want to know more, but not in a bad incomplete way. They made me want to read the book further. I wasn't introduced to this new world or any part of new situation with an INFODUMP (thank you, world and Moore). Slowly, throughout the book more and more information was given and the world that is High Scape started to be filled out and completed.
In High Scape we also meet Aiden, someone who Lee finds herself attracted to. As a side note, this is another reason I love Lee - she fancies people like I do. Men are handsome and attractive and then she thinks nothing more of them (unless Aiden or Taro). This was also a nice change from previous fantasy books that I have read. Lee had had lovers and the fact that she wasn't a virgin was not harped on and on and on about. Anyway, back to Aiden. He is one of the characters who saw Lee as a slave. By now she had become to understand more of Taro and his character and it was clear in her mind that she wasn't a slave.
But while Lee was befriending hot boys, the Pairs of High Scape were attacked. And this is when we realise that there is something important and apecial about Lee and Taro - almost all the other Pairs die and the two that don't are in comas. While they try to deal with that, Taro is attacked and almost killed (a side effect of being Paired is that when one dies, so does the other, and Lee does not want to die), and then shortly after he is kidnapped.
It turns out that an un-Paired Source, called Creol was behind the kidnapping. As a villian he was much better than many. He was insane and evil and completely believed in what he was doing. But more than him I really liked Aiden. I don't think he is supposed to be seen as the baddie. But he also believed that what he was doing was completely right and that it was for Lee's best interests. (When he asked her what her best interests were he didn't believe her. Funny that - men who don't listen). He was the misguided character who thought he was the hero. And when he found out that he wasn't, he didn't try to redeem himself too much, which I really liked. So many characters try to make it up to the object of thier interests, and he didn't. It was refreshing and I think more human. How many humans would grovel in real life?
Suffice to say Lee and Taro save the day and themseleves and along the way learn that they don't fit into the defined mould of Source and Shield. They are both much more talented. However my main criticism of the book has to be the climax. It could have been so much longer! And since it was all in first person narration, sometimes I think there could have been more information (but that was the way Moore had written Lee so nothing really changed at the climax - information was not suddenly withheld). It was not a big problem, and I also think it was my fault - I was reading so quickly that I skipped bits.
But the best part of the book has to be the relationship between Lee and Taro. Taro, the ever continuous flirt is always touching Lee and kissing her and playing with her hair. It doesn't bother Lee (not after a while at least) and the two of them settled into this sarcastic banter type relationship with each other. Taro wasn't the whore Lee thought he was and with Taro, Lee started to have a little more fun. (Shields are taught to control thier emotions, the expressions on their faces to a very extreme level). I do think in the end Lee and Taro will get together (mainly because that is the way things usually are) but I don't think that because either of them is pining for the other in an angsty fashion. I don't want them to get together because if they don't there will be pages and pages of torment and bitter rubbish that I will have to plough through. Lee is my kind of girl, she is far too normal for that (at least I see her as this. And I hope she stays this way). I think the Hero series is and will be a love story, but at the same time it is so much more than that.
I recommend this book highly to you all. The fantasy is there with lovely amounts of political intrigue, the hot boys are there as well as an actual strong female protagonist. It isn't a hard read and it isn't a laborious read. It is full of great characters, great settings and a great adventure. This book isn't like 'normal' fantasy book for YA readers - they actually talk about sex and the characters have/have had sex (I know, the horror of it all) and there are sexually transmitted diseases (I know, more shock and horror) that actually kill people (seriously I don't think I can take any more shocks). It is an inventive concept written engagingly and, at points, comically. When I finished the book it left me with a strong desire to read the second book, something I didn't read after I read this book the first time because MY LIBRARY DIDN'T HAVE IT.
I give this book 4**** out of 5.
The Summoning (Darkest Powers 1) by Kelley Armstrong
The first book in the Darkest Powers trilogy - a brand new series by bestselling author Kelley Armstrong. All Chloe Saunders wants is a life like any normal teenager - the chance to get through school, make friends, and maybe meet a boy. But when she starts seeing ghosts, she knows that life will never be normal again. Soon ghosts are everywhere, demanding her attention. When Chloe finally breaks down, she's admitted to a group home for disturbed kids. At first Lyle House seems okay, but as she gets to know the other patients - charming Simon and his ominous, unsmiling brother Derek; obnoxious Tori; and Rae, who has a 'thing' for fire - Chloe begins to realise that something strange and sinister binds them all together, and it isn't your usual 'problem kid' behaviour. And they're about to discover that Lyle House is not your usual group home, either ...
This is another book which surprised me in the best way. Chloe Saunders at one point yells at a boy for thinking that the point of her existence is to get a boyfriend. I think I actually shed a tear at the sheer bravery of Armstrong. How could any female author think such thoughts?
After that it was hard for me not to like Chloe. Well, almost. She was almost the perfect character. She really did come sooooo close. The problem was that she was constantly wishing that she was taller or looked older or had better hair or a nicer face etc so that she could be 'normal'. The fact that she was all these things, made her stand out (at least in her head) as being something other than a typical teenager. I have never wanted to be normal. I can acknowledge super-power 'inflicted' characters longing for normality and sometimes I even understand it, but considering height as not-normal (I don't think that she saw her height as being abnormal, just something that wasn't desireable) just annoyed me. I am 5"1. I have been this height since I was about 14 years old. Also I, just like Chloe have breasts that stopped growing the day I discovered that I had them and I have never looked my age (even now I have issues getting into 15 rated movies). I have never thought of myself as being not-normal. You want you breasts to stand out - wear a padded bra and stand straight, shoulders back. You reaaaally want to be taller? Surgery can do that for you too. And there is nothing wrong with looking younger than you are - old men feel guilty for lusting after you even if they do know your age.
I would have been OK with this and probably wouldn't have even mentioned this (since in every, single book you have this) but the first part was almost devoted to this and it really irritated me. Again this novel was in the first person narrative so her body image issues were consistent and thorough.
But the great thing is that Chloe does have a good head on her shoulders. She knows what her priorities are. In her world where there is nothing supernatural, her body issues are her biggest worry. And I think, no matter how annoying it was, Kelley used this technique very well. As soon as her life started falling apart, there was almost no mention of her body issues again. They were no longer important.
Seeing ghosts leads her to Lyle House, for other mentally troubled teenagers. And this is the huge reason I love this book, I have never read a urban fantasy based novel which talks about and addresses mental issues. All the kids in the house (and I know what happened in the book, but I still think all of them are Supernaturals) have powers and all of them as a result are seen by the adult world as being deficient. The amount of pills Chloe takes scared me. Is that what it is really like? They even gave her sleeping pills when she (in my opinion) didn't need them. She was diagnosed with schizophrenia so quickly. Is that normal too?
For a while, while I was listening to this book I worried that she was going to beleive them. And even though she did, the story didn't become an attack on mental disability diagnosis even though it did address some important issues. The majority of the plot is based on Chloe, Derek (a warewolf), Sebastian (a sorceror) and Rae (who has a thing for fire) attempting to escape in order to find Seb and Derek's Dad because he might be able to help them.
Now I have a theory here and I do think it will be wrong but it got me a-thinking. Chloe and Rae get seperated from the two boys and because Chloe is badly injured and needs stitches she and Rae decide to visit her Aunt who is a Doctor. It turns out that the Aunt is in on the whole thing and knew from the beginning that Chloe could see ghosts but pretended that Chloe was insane. But Rae suggested that they go see the Aunt. Throughout the whole book there are doubts that she is really a Supernatural. I think she does have some control over fire, but as Derek mentioned at her age she should be able to do a lot more than just scald people. At points it seemed as if Rae was trying really, really hard to get involved in this escape plan. My theory is that she is in on the whole thing. She believes that what Lyle House is doing is right. I mean the rest of them have over developed powers and hers are under-developed. I think there is something in that.
This is another book I recommend to you all. Chloe is only 15 and that might be too young for some of you, but don't let that put you off. She is resourceful, intelligent and quirky. The situation she finds herself in has implications in the real world (at least it made me think) and despite my initial fears and beliefs, Chloe is not obsessed with boys (or any one particualr boy, which would have been even worse) - they are low on her list of priorities, nor is she over sentimental about things. The second book in this series, The Awakening, I am assuming will take place straight after this one and I am looking forward to it. I reallllyyy want to know what happens next.
I give this book 4**** out of 5.
Whew. Enough of this really long book review entry. I am surprised and very happy that I have read/ listened to two really good books. Heres hoping that it lasts!!
xoxo