Two Minute Review: Forever by Maggie Stiefvater

Title: Forever
Author: Maggie Stiefvater
Genre: young adult, supernatural
Series: Wolves of Mercy Falls #3
Pages: 388
Published: 2011
Source: purchased
Rating: 4/5

then.
When Sam met Grace, he was a wolf and she was a girl. Eventually he found a way to become a boy, and their loved moved from curious distance to the intense closeness of shared lives.

now.
That should have been the end of their story. But Grace was not meant to stay human. Now she is the wolf. And the wolves of Mercy Falls are about to be killed in one final, spectacular hunt.

forever.
Sam would do anything for Grace. But can one boy and one love really change a hostile, predatory world? The past, the present, and the future are about to collide in one pure moment--a moment of death or life, farewell or forever. 

So, I have thoughts on these three books. They're not perfect. They're not even Stiefvater's best work (that would be Sinner, everyone) but they're still good. Because they're Stiefvater. Because they're thoughtful (if occasionally overwrought.) Still, every successive novel in this young adult werewolf series has improved on the one before and Forever is no exception to the rule.

I loved this, where I liked and really liked Shiver and then Linger earlier this year. It's crafted better and the length doesn't work against it like before.

Quick Thoughts:

ships set sail
plots are twisted
things are ended
except when they're not

So, if you're a fan of oddly introspective and crafty love stories, boy does Maggie fit that bill. Her books are always original and full of weirdly lovely writing. This was no exception.

Review: Trade Me by Courtney Milan

Title: Trade Me
Author: Courtney Milan
Genre: Romance
Series: Cyclone #1
Pages: 279
Published: January 19, 2015
Source: Publisher via Netgalley
Rating: 5 out of 5

Tina Chen just wants a degree and a job, so her parents never have to worry about making rent again. She has no time for Blake Reynolds, the sexy billionaire who stands to inherit Cyclone Technology. But when he makes an off-hand comment about what it means to be poor, she loses her cool and tells him he couldn’t last a month living her life.

To her shock, Blake offers her a trade: She’ll get his income, his house, his car. In exchange, he’ll work her hours and send money home to her family. No expectations; no future obligations.

But before long, they’re trading not just lives, but secrets, kisses, and heated nights together. No expectations might break Tina’s heart...but Blake’s secrets could ruin her life.

Courtney Milan writes the best historical romances in the game, filled with Victorian feminists, subversions of tropes, and enthusiastically consensual sex scenes, so despite hating the blurb that conjures “FSoG knock-off” in my mind, I knew she’d earned the benefit of the doubt. This is good, because I have never read anything like Trade Me.

Tina and Blake’s story straddles the line between traditional romance and New Adult contemporary. There’s a romance through-line: meet cute, forced to spend time together, big mis, HEA, but there are large parts of the story that aren’t focused on the romance. Both characters have massive amounts of character development for a romance novel.

Tina is a Chinese immigrant whose mother spends every last dime she has fighting for other persecuted refugees. She’s no lawyer, though. She’s a grocery store cake decorator who delights in ending up on NotCakeWrecks. This has given Tina a more than healthy respect for money, as she struggles to keep their lights on, her sister medicated, and food in her own mouth. She’s pre-med on a full scholarship, but every day is a struggle as she works multiple jobs and studies into the early hours of the morning. There’s no rest or her whole family will fall.

Blake initially seems like the cocky billionaire stereotype, but we quickly learn that not only is he an insanely hard worker, he’s a complex young man dealing with a lot of stress and grief. He never throws money at a problem, (well, once,) but instead works and learns and tries to improve all the time. He didn’t earn his money sitting on his butt, he’s an inventor and designer and takes pride in his job, which requires a lot of time and attention. (Did Christian ever go to work?)

The trade is amazingly fun to read, as I think everyone likes to see the hero humbled a little bit, but it’s also made very clear that you can never really switch lives. Blake can wash dishes and eat rice and apples, but he’ll never really know desperation. Tina’s idea of an impossible luxury is buying a mango. She can’t relax even with Blake’s allowance, lest the other shoe drop.

The love interests have great chemistry. They talk a lot about their feelings and fears and never belittle the other. My only complaint is despite Blake showing over and over again that he cared, Tina kept coming back to, “this, this is the time he’ll say something awful/ be embarrassed by my life/ get bored and I’ll be able to let him go”. It just felt a little repetitive. The sex scenes are hot, but the best scene is a simple picnic with fruit and sunshine.

Like many romance novels, there aren’t a ton of side characters. Tina’s parents factor in pretty frequently and she has a sassy roommate, Maria, who will be the star of the second book. (Quick aside, Maria is trans. Not hinted at. No queer-baiting. This is canonically stated in the text. And she’s going to be the star of the second book. Can you all grasp how massive this is? Four for you, Courtney Milan. You go Courtney Milan!) On Blake’s side, the only character who matters is his dad, Adam Reynolds.

I could write a whole novel about how Adam is the most amazing side character of all time. He’s funny and crude as hell and unlike other billionaire daddys, loves his kid beyond all logic and reason. His secret was intense and not something I saw coming. Keep an eye out for his bonus article at the end of the book, which probably shouldn’t be so insightful with so many naughty words.

Read this book. Support authors with diverse characters, fully fleshed out backstories, and a plot beyond fucking. (And great fucking, too.) It’s funny and sexy and smart and features flirting over legal briefs. Someone goes to the hospital, someone else goes to jail. There’s no fake BDSM. And the white boy’s Mandarin is appalling, which I appreciate because Mandarin is hard as fuck. IT’S PERFECT, OK?

Review: The Boy Next Door by Katie Van Ark

Title: The Boy Next Door
Author: Katie Van Ark
Genre: young adult, contemporary
Series: N/A
Pages: 368
Published: January 6 2015
Source: received from publisher for review
Rating: 2/5

Maddy Spier has been in love with the boy next door forever. As his figure skating partner she spends time in his arms every day. But she’s also seen his arms around other girls—lots of other girls.

Gabe can't imagine skating with anyone but Maddy, and together they have a real chance at winning some serious gold medals. So, he’s determined to keep thinking of her like a sister. After all, he’s never had a romantic relationship that lasted for more than two weeks.

But when their coach assigns a new romantic skating program, everything changes. Will this be the big break that Maddy’s been hoping for or the big breakup that Gabe has always feared?

The problem with The Boy Next Door lies with its length and the sheer amount of dramamongering for a contemporary novel. Sure, I expect a fair amount of tension and angst, but Katie Van Ark really.. exceeded.. my expectations with her debut from Swoon Reads. The book would be a whole star rating better if it was about 75 pages shorter and if half the narrative duo wasn't completely a waste of characterization. As it is with 368 pages, the plot especially feels thin trapped amongst the neverending drama -- like butter over too much bread, to take a quote from Bilbo Baggins. 
 
To be entirely fair, The Boy Next Door has good bones in its premise but the drama suffocates the plot and characters in waaaangst. In a teen novel, I don't expect everyone to be level-headed or to make the best decisions possible, but Mady and especially Gabe make terrible decisions with no other authorial aim than creating more tension and drama and delaying the inevitable. It's frustrating and moreover, it's pointless. For 368 pages We all know why we read a book like this -- for the swoons, for the makeups, but they have no meaning if too much time is spent illustrating just how ill-suited these characters are for one another. Give me something to ship if you're going to drag out the narrative for 370 pages.

At least I liked Mady moderately well as a character and a narrator, but I can't say the same for her counterpart and partner Gabe. He's an ass -- and not one of the fun redeemable ones. I mean -- having your best friend break up with girls for you? By pretending she is your girlfriend? Sending said best friend -- that you know is in love with you -- mixed signals for many, many pages? And acting like a complete ass when she tries to figure out what the two of you are? By doing the whole "secret boyfriend!" trope? That is no way to endear yourself to an audience.

Honestly, I don't know why Mady cared so much about this guy (go for Jonah, I say.) There's being an antihero or an unlikeable character (both of which I love) and then there's Gabe... who's just a jerk. I do wish that Mady had not been quiiiite so...centered around Gabe and what Gabe wants and what Gabe says and that the overall OMG GABE!ness had been tuned down.

I really wanted to love this -- swoony romance plus ice skating! Friendship to love trope! And while some of it was good -- Mady for the most part, the families surrounding Gabe and Mady, the storytelling was strong -- it just wasn't enough to make me love the novel.

DNF Round Up

Title: Soulprint
Author: Megan Miranda
Genre: science fiction, young adult
Series: N/A
Pages: 368
Published: February 3 2015
Source: publishes via NetGalley
Rating: 2/5

A new literary, sci-fi thriller from acclaimed author Megan Miranda.

With the science of soul-fingerprinting a reality, Alina Chase has spent her entire life imprisoned for the crimes her past-self committed. In an attempt to clear her name, Alina unintentionally trades one prison for another when she escapes, aided by a group of teens whose intentions and motivations are a mystery to her. As she gets to know one of the boys, sparks fly, and Alina believes she may finally be able to trust someone. But when she uncovers clues left behind from her past life that only she can decipher, secrets begin to unravel. Alina must figure out whether she’s more than the soul she inherited, or if she’s fated to repeat the past.

This compelling story will leave readers wondering if this fictional world could become a reality.

Pages read: 200

I tried with this. I tried twice and never made it past 200 pages. I love the premise and I know from Miranda's earleir books that she can write a good thriller. I was just.. not thrilled. In fact, I was the opposite of thrilled. I was...bored. It's not a long book, but it felt unending. It was more about the romance than I'd like, and Alina just never really materialized into a character that I could care about/invest in/empathize with. 

I could deal with the cast of characters not connecting if the plot was more substantial or lived up to the premise. But.... it wasn't and it didn't. So I was mentally checking out and waiting for something interesting to happen....for 200 pages. The worldbuilding had some creative potential but wasn't developed or explored enough in a meaningful way to create more than a passing interest for me as a reader.


Title: The Ghosts of Heaven
Author: Marcus Sedgwick
Genre: historical fiction? fantasy? I don't know
Series: N/A
Pages: 368
Published: January 6th 2015
Source: publishers via NetGalley
Rating: N/A

A bold, genre-bending epic that chronicles madness, obsession, and creation, from the Paleolithic era through the Witch Hunts and into the space-bound future.

Four linked stories boldly chronicle madness, obsession, and creation through the ages. Beginning with the cave-drawings of a young girl on the brink of creating the earliest form of writing, Sedgwick traverses history, plunging into the seventeenth century witch hunts and a 1920s insane asylum where a mad poet's obsession with spirals seems to be about to unhinge the world of the doctor trying to save him. Sedgwick moves beyond the boundaries of historical fiction and into the future in the book's final section, set upon a spaceship voyaging to settle another world for the first time. Merging Sedgwick's gift for suspense with science- and historical-fiction, Ghosts of Heaven is a tale is worthy of intense obsession.

Pages read: 100?/368

This is such a weird, mind-trippy original book. I wanted to love this, I really really did. For the right kind of reader, it's a great fit. Despite my efforts, I am not that reader, sadly. Sedgwick is a creative dude and while I enjoyed my first reading experience with him, The Ghosts of Heaven was a bridge or seven too far for me. I can deal with weird and different but these stories just never worked for me. 

It doesn't help that some of the stories are in verse. I am not a verse reader -- it lacks emotion for me. Also depth -- and while Sedgwick might prove the exception, I couldn't stick around long enough to find out. It's said you can try to read this in a myriad of ways and I tried jumping around but... it was a luckless endeavor for me.  

Title: The Diabolical Miss Hyde
Author: Viola Carr
Genre: historical fiction, steampunk, mystery
Series: Electric Empire #1
Pages: 464
Published: February 10 2015
Source: publishers via edelweiss
Rating: N/A

Magic, mystery, and romance mix in this edgy retelling of the classic The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde-in which Dr. Eliza Jekyll is the daughter of the infamous Henry

In an electric-powered Victorian London, Dr. Eliza Jekyll is a crime scene investigator, hunting killers with inventive new technological gadgets. Now, a new killer is splattering London with blood, drugging beautiful women and slicing off their limbs. Catching "the Chopper" could make Eliza's career--or get her burned. Because Eliza has a dark secret. A seductive second self, set free by her father's forbidden magical elixir: wild, impulsive Lizzie Hyde.

When the Royal Society sends their enforcer, the mercurial Captain Lafayette, to prove she's a sorceress, Eliza must resist the elixir with all her power. But as the Chopper case draws her into London's luminous, magical underworld, Eliza will need all the help she can get. Even if it means getting close to Lafayette, who harbors an evil curse of his own.

Even if it means risking everything and setting vengeful Lizzie free . . .

Pages read: 175/464

I wanted to like this so badly and honestly just think it wasn't the right time for me to read it. My ARC expired before I could go back and continue so this is a DNF for now with a strong possibility I will try it again in the future.

What I liked:

• retelling aspect 
• the writing
• the steampunkery

I wasn't as thrilled with the overdone romance angles, or the mystery that seemed bogged down between all the other things the novel tries to do. It also feels veeery long, especially with the internal struggle between Eliza/Lizzie so bluntly handled.

Review: The Last Time We Say Goodbye by Cynthia Hand

Title: The Last Time We Say Goodbye
Author: Cynthia Hand
Genre: contemporary, young adult
Series: N/A
Pages: 400
Source: publishers via edelweiss
Rating: 4/5

There's death all around us.
We just don't pay attention.
Until we do.

The last time Lex was happy, it was before. When she had a family that was whole. A boyfriend she loved. Friends who didn't look at her like she might break down at any moment.

Now she's just the girl whose brother killed himself. And it feels like that's all she'll ever be.

As Lex starts to put her life back together, she tries to block out what happened the night Tyler died. But there's a secret she hasn't told anyone-a text Tyler sent, that could have changed everything.

Lex's brother is gone. But Lex is about to discover that a ghost doesn't have to be real to keep you from moving on.

From New York Times bestselling author Cynthia Hand, The Last Time We Say Goodbye is a gorgeous and heart-wrenching story of love, loss, and letting go.

Books that deal directly with grief are hard to review in general -- because mileage varies so wildly depending on the reader, it's hard to accurately predict how others will react. I didn't expect to react so strongly to Hand's contemporary novel about main character Lexie dealing with her brother's suicide. But at about 80%, I was openly sobbing - so hard I had to put it down for more than a minute. If you've lost someone you love, if you had unanswered questions, or lingering guilt, The Last Time We Say Goodbye will likely be painful, but also cathartic. It's a quiet book, full of emotion and heart, but the author doesn't shy away from the dark stuff, or even answer every question.

I lost someone very dear to me suddenly in 2008. It was hard not to feel Ben's presence when reading this because Hand knows grief and she knows it well. Lexie's struggles to reconcile the boy she knew with the boy who killed himself, with the role she played in his life were intimately familiar to me as I watched her struggle and fight and grieve in her imperfect ways. The careful way Hand illustrates how grief affects someone/everyone is first-hand... and accurate. Though no two people will be the same or feel the exact same, I saw shades of myself both in Lexie and in her mom. The key here, is how Cynthia Hand allows her characters to grow and change --- especially Lexie. 

Lexie is a great character, especially for such a tough book. I loved all the messy parts of her -- from her ambition, her drive, her love for numbers, to even her anger at her father. She's not always the best person, but she's trying so damn hard to keep it together I defy you not to feel something for her. Empathy, sympathy... it's all felt so real for me while reading The Last Time We Say Goodbye. And, most notably, the Lexie we end the book with is a far cry from the lost girl verbally wrestling with her therapist. Hand develops her so well over the course of these 400 pages that Lexie is far more than a name on a page.

The romance was understated and, thus,  perfect for this particular book. Though it has a few, this is not a book made for the swoons. Steven makes for a good complement for Lexie, but he's a friend, a part of a support system for more of the novel than he is a boyfriend figure. It would have been jarring had the romance played a larger part because this book is about Lexie and her brother far more than it is a teen love story. He feels slightly underdeveloped compared to Lexie, but then so did Lexie's other friends though I liked that Hand surrounded Lexie with more than just a love interest.

The Last Time We Say Goodbye presents a complicated, imperfect view of life. It doesn't try to idealize the dead, but help the living come to terms with guilt and anger and even forgiveness. It's an emotional ride but Hand makes it more than worth it. It will make you cry but it will also make you laugh and want to text everyone you love to make sure they know it. 

Danielle's January Reads and Book Hauls

This has not been a good month for me, personally or professionally. I suffered a pretty serious depressive episode right before Christmas, which is just peachy since that's not the mental illness I've been diagnosed with. (85% of people with GAD also have depression, though, so it's not like this was totally unexpected.) It's taken me more than a month to feel anything approaching normal, which has severely effected my responsibilities to you all. I did get a fair amount of reading finished, but reviews have definitely suffered. I'm feeling better and getting back into my routine, which includes round up posts! As such:

Read:

Legion: Skin Deep by Brandon Sanderson - 4 Stars
The Oathbreaker's Shadow by Amy McCulloch - 3.5 Stars
The Rat Queens, Vol. 1: Sass & Sorcery by Kurtis J. Wiebe - 4.5 Stars (Review)
Saving Francesca by Melina Marchetta - 4.5 Stars
I'll Meet You There by Heather Demetrios - 5 Stars (Review)
Zeus Grants Stupid Wishes by Cory O'Brien - 4 Stars (Review)
A Horrible Experience of Unbearable Length by Roger Ebert - 3 Stars
The Piper's Son by Melina Marchetta - 3.5 Stars
Trade Me by Courtney Milan - 5 Stars (Review)
The Mermaid's Madness by Jim C. Hines - 4 Stars

I never posted my Christmas haul, which was smaller than most years:

I mentioned in my November wrap up that A Little Something Different and The Dream Thieves came from Rashika. I bought myself Rogues and a new copy of Shadow and Bone in a black Friday sale, and Shadows and Masks, The Savages, and a new Harry Potter set came from the husband.

Meg sent me a Kindle copy of Endsinger, obviously because our relationship is built on pain and sorrow. Jess sent me Sirantha Jax and Enclave, along with the coolest tote ever.

And then there was the BookOutlet.com Boxing Day sale. Oh my god, this goddamn sale. I got 14 books, which is actually restrained because I had 23 in my cart at first. 

Five of these I already own in Kindle format, but new to me are:

Wild Awake by Hilary T. Smith
The Winner's Curse by Marie Rutkowski
Plus One by Elizabeth Fama
Team Human by Justine Larbalestier
Breathe by Sarah Crossan
Magnolia by Kristi Cook
Pivot Point by Kasie West
Charm & Strange by Stephanie Kehn
The Natural History of Dragons by Marie Brennan

I'm totally boned, guys. 

Also bought:

Rat Queens Vol. 1: Sass & Sorcery, Shiver, Gracling, Unwind, The Scorpio Races, and Crown of Midnight.

As for ARCs, I got 8 in the last month, which is totally stressful, but three of those were requested back in October. C'est la vie. Part of this mental health stuff is letting go of things I can't control. At least the release dates are spread out.

Seeker by Arwen Elys Dayton
Gabby Duran and the Unsittables by Elise Allen
Trade Me by Courtney Milan
The Summer of Chasing Mermaids by Sarah Ockler
After Hours by Claire Kennedy
Last Year's Mistake by Gina Ciocca
Battlesaurus: Rampage at Waterloo by Brian Falkner

School for Sidekicks by Kelly McCullough

So there we go, I got too many books and I did too few reviews, but I'm determined to have a better February. What about you guys? Did you start the new year off strong?

TBR Planning for February

2015 is going along nicely here at Agless Pages. Dani and I seem to be in a groove -- we're trying Challenges (check it out!) and we're on a roll posting as well. I've been holding myself somewhat accountable on NG and edelweiss and that helps! I think being organized is really going to make 2015 the best year of consistent blogging for me.

That said, this month I have a couple titles I'm eager to read and review here:

Sarah has always been on the move. Her mother hates the cold, so every few months her parents pack their bags and drag her off after the sun. She’s grown up lonely and longing for magic. She doesn’t know that it’s magic her parents are running from.

When Sarah’s mother walks out on their family, all the strange old magic they have tried to hide from comes rising into their mundane world. Her father begins to change into something wild and beastly, but before his transformation is complete, he takes Sarah to her grandparents—people she has never met, didn’t even know were still alive.

Deep in the forest, in a crumbling ruin of a castle, Sarah begins to untangle the layers of curses affecting her family bloodlines, until she discovers that the curse has carried over to her, too. The day she falls in love for the first time, Sarah will transform into a beast . . . unless she can figure out a way to break the curse forever.

Beastkeeper by Cat Hellisen.
I loved Hellisen's different and odd YA fantasy and am very curious about her middle grade fairy tale retelling. I paired up with Lyn from Great Imaginations for a discussion review that should be up here in the next few days!

Those Rosy Hours at Mazandaran by Marion Grace Woolley.
A retelling of Phantom of the Opera set in Iran in the 1850s? It sounds almost too fantastic to be true. I love all the things involved in that description and I cannot wait to be a part of the blog tour for it.