Review: Wards of Faerie by Terry Brooks

Title: Wards of Faerie
Author: Terry Brooks
Genre: fantasy
Series: The Dark Legacy of Shannara
Pages: 384 (Nook ARC edition)
Published: August 2012
Source: publishers via NetGalley
Rating: 2/5

When the world was young, and its name was Faerie, the power of magic ruled—and the Elfstones warded the race of Elves and their lands, keeping evil at bay. But when an Elven girl fell hopelessly in love with a Darkling boy of the Void, he carried away more than her heart.

Thousands of years later, tumultuous times are upon the world now known as the Four Lands. Users of magic are in conflict with proponents of science. Elves have distanced their society from the other races. The dwindling Druid order and its teachings are threatened with extinction. A sinister politician has used treachery and murder to rise as prime minister of the mighty Federation. Meanwhile, poring through a long-forgotten diary, the young Druid Aphenglow Elessedil has stumbled upon the secret account of an Elven girl’s heartbreak and the shocking truth about the vanished Elfstones. But never has a little knowledge been so very dangerous—as Aphenglow quickly learns when she’s set upon by assassins.

Yet there can be no turning back from the road to which fate has steered her. For whoever captures the Elfstones and their untold powers will surely hold the advantage in the devastating clash to come. But Aphenglow and her allies—Druids, Elves, and humans alike—remember the monstrous history of the Demon War, and they know that the Four Lands will never survive another reign of darkness. But whether they themselves can survive the attempt to stem that tide is another question entirely.

This was a struggle for me, from beginning to end. Of the twenty+ Shannara serues novels Brooks has published to date, I've read fourteen and never have I had as hard a time finishing as I did here with Wards of Faerie. A novel nearly four hundred pages in length should feel and read more than as filler and introductory information. While there is a conflict and climax, both are minimal, predictable, and reminiscent of many other Shannara novels. A disappointment from a well-known author, Terry Brooks can and has done better than this latest effort.  Almost uniformly flat and uninvolving, fans of this long-running (and soon to be adapted to tv series) will do better to stick to Brooks' earlier, and much better executed, Shannara novels.

While my enthusiasm for Shannara books has waned with each new novel and my exposure to more creative examples of fantasy, Brooks usually at least manages to entertain with his incredibly fleshed-out world and usually interesting and well-rounded characters. Not so is the case with Wards of Faerie. Once again, an Elessedil heir is searching for a set of Elfstones (as seen in Elfstones of Shannara), while wrestling with foes from the Federation (as seen in nearly every Shannara novel written.) Once again an Ohmsford descendant is required to save the world (again, as seen in _every_Shannah_novel_ever), no matter that the popular family tree has whittled down to two heirs (sound familiar?). Brooks clearly has a pattern for these books, and a little invention or deviation from the known path would have done much to save this anticlimactic and formulaic fantasy novel.

This novel is a lot of time invested for very little payoff. It's not rewarding to read those three hundred eighty four pages because the entire novel reeks of set-up and introduction. New characters (even if set on predictable paths) fail to engage, the plot feels extremely recycled and old-hat. There's so little to recommend about this novel - it's really a shame that 35 years after this world was created, it has so little to offer new and old readers. Brooks is comfortable in his ironclad paths of writing, but a little more imagination in Wards of Faerie would have made for a much better, more original novel. It might be written passably well - Brooks definitely has a vibrant setting to work with - but the lack of action, the lack of advancement is a major player in why this novel is such a miss. 

Sadly for a sometimes/used to be major fan, I found this to be a vastly unsatisfying latest effort from a fantasy juggernaut. In the plainest terms, Brooks' latest effort is a typical, very predictable, slowly paced, usually frustrating 2/5. Some credit is due for the richly imagined world (though that owes more to the multitude of novels before this that helped to fashion it). Far from the best to offer out of the series, Wards of Faerie could use some work - tightening, plotting, and pacing.

Review: Doomed by Tracy Deebs

Title: Doomed
Author: Tracy Deebs/Tracy Wolffe
Genre: young-adult, sci fi, postapocalytpic
Series: N/A
Pages: 484 (Nook ARC edition)
Published: expected January 8 2013
Source: publishers via NetGalley
Rating: 3.75/5

 Beat the game. Save the world.

Pandora’s just your average teen, glued to her cell phone and laptop, surfing Facebook and e-mailing with her friends, until the day her long-lost father sends her a link to a mysterious site featuring twelve photos of her as a child. Unable to contain her curiosity, Pandora enters the site, where she is prompted to play her favorite virtual-reality game, Zero Day. This unleashes a global computer virus that plunges the whole world into panic: suddenly, there is no Internet. No cell phones. No utilities, traffic lights, hospitals, law enforcement. Pandora teams up with handsome stepbrothers Eli and Theo to enter the virtual world of Zero Day. Simultaneously, she continues to follow the photographs from her childhood in an attempt to beat the game and track down her father, her one key to saving the world as we know it. Part The Matrix, part retelling of the Pandora myth, Doomed has something for gaming fans, dystopian fans, and romance fans alike.

Doomed is a lot of fun, that can't be denied. More gory and horrific than I had assumed before starting, I was immediately caught up in the story that Deebs spins so easily. I had a great time reading this when I reminded myself not to think too much or to analyze everything that was said and done by its main characters. I was nearly always entertained for nearly five hundred pages; I was deeply invested in the lives of the characters and the odd mix of the plot......but, there were numerous issues with Doomed that keep it from a higher rating. Nevertheless, I am glad I read this, for all that it could use some tightening and editing. At it's best, this is a fun, creative and light read.

With the first person POV used, it's easy to get into main character and narrator Pandora Walker's jumbled, hormone-filled head. With Doomed being an unlikely mix of modern Pandora myth retelling with scifi/virtual elements added on (don't worry - it really works!), it's fairly easy to predict her actions before they occur - at least in the opening few chapters. Once the ball gets rolling and Pandora is on the run - with two sexy, though angsty stepbrothers - she really comes into her own. That isn't to say I didn't wish Pandora would grow up often through the novel, but I readily admit that she is a more than serviceable narrator. My main issue with her lies in the unthinking things she repeatedly does when her life and Eli and Theo's lives are in danger. For instance? Blatantly and purposefully leaving behind a gun that LITERALLY just saved the three of them from a raping, pillaging biker gang. In that situation, prudence trumps overwrought moralizing over the use of guns, dear.  Especially in a world about to end due to nuclear holocaust, but you know, whatevs.

Small quibbles aside, this novel has a lot to offer. Yes, there is a love-triangle which made me grit my teeth and roll my eyes, but it is used minimally.  It isn't the most subtle - I could see it coming from the moment the brothers are introduced - but then again, it's not the worse one I've ever read either. More important to the story, and thankfully to Pandora herself, are the attempts to save the world and figure out how a popular video game with a hidden agenda can either save the world or end it. On the run from the FBI, the NSA, and anyone else with a far-reaching grasp, the action is high, and often and executed well. Pandora isn't an unbelievable martial artist, but a girl who uses her wits, as well as her friends, to save her skin. Theo are Eli are good foils to one another. Neither love interest is entirely black or white in their presentation, and while I definitely had a favorite between the two, it wasn't a game of total opposites over who could win a damsel in distress.

This is a really fast read, with quick pacing - especially for how many pages it is. Deeb's skilled hand at fight/actions scenes has a lot to do with that. (Though going from having a character shot, bleeding and nearly unconscious to carrying a 6' tall girl while running is more than a bit of a stretch of imagination.) Both darker and more gruesome than I had anticipated before starting, this novel can be bleak but it's broken up by Pandora's charm and humor (and Supernatural references!), which more than help to keep it from being a taxing read. Deebs paints a vivid, if dark, picture. The end might've lacked the oomph I was hoping for, and provide answers that are just a hair too simplistic, but overall, Doomed is a rewarding, and very involving, read.

New Additions to the TBR!

I went on a spree again this week. Hey, it's almost my [redacted]th birthday - so I refuse to feel bad about buying more books when I have hundreds bought that I have yet to read. They were on sale - so it makes sense, right? RIGHT? Ahem.

Anyway:

Tor Teen was kind enough to send me a physical ARC of Renegade (The Elysium Chronicles #1) by J.A. Souders

Since the age of three, sixteen-year-old Evelyn Winters has been trained to be Daughter of the People in the underwater utopia known as Elysium. Selected from hundreds of children for her ideal genes, all her life she’s thought that everything was perfect; her world. Her people. The Law.

But when Gavin Hunter, a Surface Dweller, accidentally stumbles into their secluded little world, she’s forced to come to a startling realization: everything she knows is a lie. Her memories have been altered. Her mind and body aren’t under her own control. And the person she knows as Mother is a monster.

Together with Gavin she plans her escape, only to learn that her own mind is a ticking time bomb... and Mother has one last secret that will destroy them all.

I bought Blackberry Winter by Sarah Jio - I got the Nookbook because it was the Daily Find for $2.99

Seattle, 1933. Vera Ray kisses her three-year-old son, Daniel, goodnight and reluctantly leaves for work. She hates the night-shift, but it’s the only way she can earn enough to keep destitution at bay. In the morning—even though it’s the second of May—a heavy snow is falling. Vera rushes to wake Daniel, but his bed is empty. His teddy bear lies outside in the snow.

Seattle, present day. On the second of May, Seattle Times reporter, Claire Aldridge, awakens to another late-season snowstorm. Assigned to cover this “blackberry winter” and its predecessor decades earlier, Claire learns of Daniel’s unsolved abduction and vows to unearth the truth—only to discover that she and Vera are linked in unexpected ways.

and Better World Books was having a 50% off if you buy five sale.... so, naturally, I bought 8 books.

Tender Morsels by Margo Lanagan

 
 

Tender Morsels is a dark and vivid story, set in two worlds and worrying at the border between them. Liga lives modestly in her own personal heaven, a world given to her in exchange for her earthly life. Her two daughters grow up in this soft place, protected from the violence that once harmed their mother. But the real world cannot be denied forever—magicked men and wild bears break down the borders of Liga’s refuge. Now, having known Heaven, how will these three women survive in a world where beauty and brutality lie side by side?

The Brightest Star in the Sky by Marian Keyes

 

Welcome to 66 Star Street . . . In the top-floor flat lives music exec Katie. She spends her days fighting off has-been rock stars and wondering how much cheesecake you'd need to eat yourself to death. Below her, a pair of muscular Poles share with a streetwise cabbie named Lydia, who has a sharp tongue, an even sharper brain but some unexpected soft spots. On the first floor is Fionn - a gardener who prefers the company of parsnips to people. But he looks like a fairy-tale prince and when he's offered his own television show, he's suddenly thrust into the limelight. And at the bottom of the house live Matt and Maeve, who are Very Much In Love and who stave off despair by doing random acts of kindness. But a mysterious visitor has just landed at 66 Star Street, bringing love, friendship and heartbreak, and a new-found optimism. Old secrets are working their way to the surface and all their lives are about to change in the most unexpected of ways . . .

The Book of Lost Things by John Connolly

High in his attic bedroom, twelve-year-old David mourns the death of his mother, with only the books on his shelf for company. But those books have begun to whisper to him in the darkness. Angry and alone, he takes refuge in his imagination and soon finds that reality and fantasy have begun to meld. While his family falls apart around him, David is violently propelled into a world that is a strange reflection of his own -- populated by heroes and monsters and ruled by a faded king who keeps his secrets in a mysterious book, The Book of Lost Things.

Taking readers on a vivid journey through the loss of innocence into adulthood and beyond, New York Times bestselling author John Connolly tells a dark and compelling tale that reminds us of the enduring power of stories in our lives.

The House of the Scorpion by Nancy Farmer

At his coming-of-age party, Matteo Alacrán asks El Patrón's bodyguard, "How old am I? ... I know I don't have a birthday like humans, but I was born."

"You were harvested," Tam Lin reminds him. "You were grown in that poor cow for nine months and then you were cut out of her."

To most people around him, Matt is not a boy, but a beast. But for El Patrón, lord of a country called Opium--a strip of poppy field lying between the U.S. and what was once called Mexico--Matt is a guarantee of eternal life. El Patrón loves Matt as he loves himself, for Matt is himself. They share identical DNA.

As Matt struggles to understand his existence, he is threatened by a sinister, grasping cast of characters, including El Patrón's power-hungry family. He is surrounded by a dangerous army of bodyguards and by the mindless slaves of Opium, brain-deadened 'eejits' who toil in the poppy fields.

Escape from the Alacrán Estate is no guarantee of freedom because Matt is marked by his difference in ways he doesn't even suspect. Around every turn in this vivid, futuristic adventure is a new, heart-stopping surprise.

A College of Magics (A College of Magics #1) by Caroline Stevermere

 

Teenager Faris Nallaneen is the heir to the small northern dukedom of Galazon. Too young still to claim her title, her despotic Uncle Brinker has ruled in her place. Now he demands she be sent to Greenlaw College. For her benefit he insists. To keep me out of the way, more like it!

But Greenlaw is not just any school-as Faris and her new best friend Jane discover. At Greenlaw students major in . . . magic.

But it's not all fun and games. When Faris makes an enemy of classmate Menary of Aravill, life could get downright . . . deadly.

 Daughter of the Empire (The Empire Trilogy #1) by Raymond E. Feist and Janny Wurts

Magic and murder engulf the realm of Kelewan. Fierce warlords ignite a bitter blood feud to enslave the empire of Tsuranuanni. While in the opulent Imperial courts, assassins and spymasters plot cunning and devious intrigues against the rightful heir.

Now Mara, a young, untested Ruling Lady, is called upon to lead her people in a heroic struggle for survival. But first she must rally an army of rebel warriors, form a pact with the alien cho-ja, and marry the son of a hated enemy. Only then can Mara face her most dangerous foe of all -- in his own impregnable stronghold.

Curse of the Mistwraith (Wars of Light and Shadow #1) by Janny Wurts

 

The world of Athera lives in eternal fog, its skies obscured by the malevolent Mistwraith. Only the combined powers of two half-brothers can challenge the Mistwraith's stranglehold: Arithon, Master of Shadow, and Lysaer, Lord of Light. Arithon and Lysaer soon find that they are inescapably bound to a series of events dictated by their own deepest convictions. 

Yet as the sorcerers of the Fellowship of Seven know well, there is more at stake than one battle with the Mistwraith: between them the half-brothers hold the balance of the world—its harmony and its future—in their hands.

The Ships of Merior (The Wars of Light and Shadow #2) by Janny Wurts

 

Janny Wurts’s epic tale of two half-brothers cursed to life-long enmity continues in this spectacular second volume, now re-released with a striking new cover. The half-brothers Arithon, Master of Shadow, and Lysaer, Lord of Light, have defeated the Mistwraith and dispersed the fogs that smothered Athera’s skies. 

But their victory comes at a high price: the Mistwraith has set them at odds under a powerful curse of vengeance. The two princes are locked in deadly enmity, with the fates of nations and the balance of the world’s mystical powers entangled in their feud. Arithon, forced out of hiding, finds himself hounded by Lysaer and his mighty army. He must take to his natural element – the seas – in order to evade pursuit and steal the initiative. However, his efforts are impeded by outside magical factions, not to mention a drunken prophet sent to safeguard his life, but who seems determined to wreck his cause by misadventure.

Did you buy any new books this week? I seem to be in a fantasy kind of mood, so a lot of my buys were in that genre. It's been a while since I've dived head first into my favorite genre, so I am looking forward to my reads!

Review: India Black and the Widow of Windsor by Carol K. Carr

Title: India Black and the Widow of Windsor
Author: Carol K. Carr
Genre: historical fiction, mystery
Series: Madam of Espionage #2
Pages: 309 (paperback edition)
Published: October 2011
Source: sent from author for review
Rating: 4.25/5

Black is back! Her Majesty's favorite spy is off to Scotland in this new adventure to ensure the Queen doesn't end up getting killed.

When Queen Victoria attends a séance, the spirit of her departed husband, Prince Albert, insists she spend Christmas at their Scottish home in Balmoral. Prime Minister Disraeli suspects the Scottish nationalists plan to assassinate the Queen-and sends the ever resourceful India and the handsome British spy, French, to the Scottish highlands.

French will take the high road, looking for a traitor among the guests-and India will take the low road, disguised as a servant in case an assassin is hiding among the household staff. India is certain that someone at Balmoral is determined to make this Her Majesty's last Christmas...

India Black returns for a second outing - true to form, and full of the same humor and wit that made her so memorable and damned fun in the first novel. While I found this second in the series to be just slightly below the level of the first, India Black and the Widow of Windsor is still a highly entertaining, genuinely fun, and interesting new historical mystery.  Here in round number two as a madam of espionage, India must once again go under covers (but not under the covers!damn and blast) with the charming but mysterious French as her ally in a fight to save the English Queen from angry, violent Scottish nationals. Full of the same voice, tone, and adventure as the first book in the seriers, fans from the original novel will find more of the same to love in this romp from talented author Carol K. Carr.

A strong followup to a wonderful first escapade, India Black and the Widow of Windsor is more focused on the mystery aspect of the plot, rather than the sheer adventure that took over the latter part of the first novel. While not a detriment to the novel as a whole, as the mystery is strongly constructed, hard to suss out, and full of red herrings to keep readers guessing, I missed the sheer audacity of the turns of events from the first novel. India lost none of her charm in the journey from book one to two, and her attempts to ferret out a spy within the castle of Balmoral are just as fun and witty as I had come to expect from the madam of many talents. My friend Audra compares her to a Victorian Bond Girl, and that is so appropriate it's ridiculous. Just as suave, if not as subtle, India is a joy to read during her travails to save Queen, Country, but herself above all. The plot may edge on the goofy side of things occasionally, but India herself is again the star of the show and with help from her alluring foil French, keeps India Black and the Widow of Windsor from falling victim to uneven sequel syndrome. 

New, laugh-out-loud characters, old familiar faces, new villains and motives help to round out the 300+ novel with ease. I obviously could always do with more French on the page, but the new additions melded well with the frame and plot created for this. Like the first, though this is obviously India's vehicle, the secondary and tertiary characters are more than able to hold their own. I found the antagonists harder to suss out than in the first; I loved the interactions between India and the Marchioness; I loved the mentions of Disreali, the Queen, John Brown, etc. Weaving factual figures with such vivacity is one of Carr's many adept turns as the author of this inimitable series. The characters were and continue to be one of the many standouts of these books, and I love that each new novel has revealed more (if not much!) about the principal players.

India Black and the Widow of Windsor is a fine follow-up to its predecessor, if not quiiiite as much of an off-the-walls madcap adventure. Like before, the characters, the mystery, the adventures are top notch and finely tuned making for a fast, breezy read full of wit and humor. The wait for the e-short and the third book will surely kill me. India Black is not a heroine to forget and her most recent adventure with companions French and Vincent left often much about each character, all the while teasing with ever more hints about the pasts/presents? of the two very compatible adults. Not one to dole out immediate answers, Carol K. Carr sure knows how to dangle a hook and catch readers in her vivid imaginations and nuanced characters. I for one can't wait to see what else we learn about this daring duo in the forthcoming India Black and the Shadows of Anarchy. I can only hope it's as excellent as the first two so wonderfully crafted by this lawyer-turned-author.

Review: India Black by Carol K. Carr

Title: India Black
Author: Carol K. Carr
Genre: historical fiction, mystery
Series: A Madam of Espionage #1
Pages: 296 (paperback edition)
Published: Nov 2010

Source: sent from author for review
Rating: 5/5

In the winter of 1876, the beautiful young madam India Black is occupied with her usual tasks - keeping her tarts in line, avoiding the police, and tolerating the clergyman bent on converting her girls. But when Sir Archibald Latham of the War Office dies from a heart attack while visiting her brothel, India is unexpectedly thrust into a deadly game between Russian and British agents who are seeking the military secrets Latham carried.

French, the handsome British spy, discovers India disposing of Latham's body, and blackmails her into recovering the missing documents. Their quest takes them from the Russian embassy to Claridge's Hotel, from London to the English coast, all the while chasing the Russian agents who are intent on spiriting the stolen documents out of England.

But it is their own tempestuous relationship they will have to weather as India and French attempt to resist the mutual attraction between them - an attraction that can prove as deadly as the conspiracy entangling them...

Excuse me if I am extremely a little fangirly right now. I just finished this whirlwind novel of adventure, humor and mystery just minutes ago, and friends, I am impressed. And in dire need of a reread, just for fun. And, now, I am a stalwart fan of both India Black and the author behind this highly creative and immensely fun novel, Carol K. Carr. Reading this was easy, entertaining, and so very fun; this is one of those novels that grabs you from the very first page and never really lets go. Another of my done-in-one-sitting reads, India Black has set a high standard for the rest of the novels that will follow in this promising series from a talented author. I admit that I am not one for historical mysteries all that often - I usually stay more on the straight historical fiction side of the genre - but I will willingly make exceptions for any and all further India Black novels to come.

In such a fast-paced novel, with adventures and turnabouts and surprise revelations and secret pasts every other chapter, it is main character India that really makes the novel something really quite special. I truly enjoyed the fleshed-out secondary characters (French and Vincent are both, quite disparately charming fellows) and antagonists, but India is what makes this one of my best-of-2012 novels easily.  India is a madam, among many, many other attributes (and vices). Skilled in multiple fields (I do enjoy a girl who can shoot a gun/defend herself/use her wits) and India does each and every one of those multiple times. She is the equal of her unofficial government counterpart, and her charm and humor had me laughing out loud on multiple occasions. Smart, cunning and opportunistic, India is a fully-formed, distinct character, and one I related to quite easily - despite our very different backgrounds and attitudes. She bursts forth from the page with her witty comebacks and her handy way around a weapon. She is resourceful and wonderfully three-dimensional with her frank honesty, forthright attitudes - a heroine to remember in a sea of forgettable leads.

India is nicely complemented by her comrades-in-arms, the mysterious and charming French and the street urchin of questionable but useful talents, Vincent. The verbal and occasional real sparring between India and French is another highlight to this well-rounded novel. So often during my experience, I was tempted to update my status on GoodReads with a bon mot or a choice comment from either droll character. Their chemistry is palpable, their interactions full of authenticity, and though this is far from a romance novel, the attraction between the opposites works really well to add an extra layer of tension to a novel already brimming with it. French is a charismatic character, and one that kept me intrigued and very attentive through this all-too-short read of just under 300 pages. Not as open as India about his life, or even his name! - which is to be expected as she narrates the novel, often breaking the fourth wall to address her readers - but is still  one that manages to hold his own against the formidable and crafty madam. Vincent adds a certain charm, if his role as a street smart urchin in a Victorian novel is somewhat formulaic, he does add to the novel another easily likeable and distinct character.

This is a mystery, but midway through the novel, that premise is readily concluded and then it's a madcap race of adventure through England and various hostage situations in a race against the agents of the tsar of Russia. India Black is by turns amusing, exciting, hilarious, and always full of constant surprises and upheavals. It's light and fun read and I can't stress enough how good of a time I had with this novel, from start to end. India Black is well worth a try if a feisty protagonist with a brain is high and a unique way around a retort are on your list of favorites. All the rest is an added bonus to a convoluted plot, populated with such vibrant characters.

Review: The Italian Woman by Jean Plaidy

Title: The Italian Woman
Author: Jean Plaidy
Genre: historical fiction
Series: Catherine de' Medici #2
Pages: 402 (Nook ARC edition)
Published: first 1952, re-issued January 2013
Source: publishers via edelweiss
Rating: 3/5

The second book in the classic Catherine de’ Medici trilogy from Jean Plaidy, the grande dame of historical fiction When Catherine de’ Medici was forced to marry Henry, Duke of Orleans, her heart was not the only one that was broken. Jeanne of Navarre once dreamed of marrying this same prince, but, like Catherine, she must comply with France’s political needs. And so both Catherine’s and Jeanne’s lives are set on unwanted paths, destined to cross in affairs of state, love, and faith, driving them to become deadly political rivals.

Years later Jeanne is happily married to the dashing but politically inept Antoine de Bourbon. But the widowed Catherine is now the ambitious mother of princes, and she will do anything to see her beloved second son, Henry, rule France. As civil war ravages the country and Jeanne fights for the Huguenot cause, Catherine advances along her unholy road, making enemies at every turn.

Jean Plaidy is certainly a prolific historical fiction author, but more and more I find that her work is hit or miss with me. I seem to fare better with her Tudor-centric novels than I did with this novel set during Catherine's life as regent of France for her sons. I read the first novel in the series, Madame Serpent, and was unimpressed if still engaged enough in the storyline being recreated to continue reading this second novel about one of France's most infamous Queens.  While this is not the author's best novel, The Italian Woman does still manage to capture the time period shown and  the essence of the unscrupulous woman at its heart. Coldly pragmatic and personally avaricious, Catherine was no saint but she was and remains an intriguing player in a game of court intrigue and power. 

I would've enjoyed this more if it had felt less disjointed, especially as it starts. For one, The Italian Woman begins in the middle of Madame Serpent's chronology - Francis the First of France is still alive, Henry is still devout to this mistress Diane de Poiters - and, for another, the first ~80 pages are devoted to a character previously unknown on the scene -- the Catholic-turned-Huguenot Queen Jeanne of Navarre. An important player in the end of the Valois line and the beginning of the royal Bourbon line, her story is directly tied to that of Catherine and her sons, but I felt the way it was introduced slowed up the pacing and the storyline set up in the first novel. Jeanne is drawn into Catherine's web of manipulation and machinations, and provides a nice foil for the amoral Queen with her fortitude and certainty - but the first few chapters of this novel are stiff, and hard to engage the reader. 

I could've done with more 'showing' than 'telling.' As a writer, Plaidy often veers more to the wrong side of storytelling, and it is very present as a problem here. Readers are told who/what/why about characters and events, instead of subtly crafting characters and situations that reveal themselves naturally. It's a bummer, because the cast of varied and often infamous characters (like.. Charles, or Henry, Duke of Guise) should be able to speak for themselves, yet Plaidy hardly ever allows them to. Instead of showing Margot to be passionate and headstrong, it is stated. Explicitly. Repeatedly. The Italian Woman is still very readable, but the characters are remote and more outlines than fleshed out interpretations of real people who lived, breathed, manipulated, vied for power, and usually if in so doing crossed Catherine's desires, died.

A fascinating woman in a turbulent time of civil wars and religious upheaval deserves more than the often lackluster version offered here in the second of Plaidy's trilogy about the "daughter of merchants" raised high - through luck, ill-fortune, or poisoning - whichever version of her ascension you choose to believe. Not the best offering of Jean Plaidy, but I will probably seek out the final leg of the series, Queen Jezebel, sometime in the future. The Italian Woman is a decent look at the issues surrounding the Valois court in the time of the "Reformed Faith", if one that stumbles occasionally. I think fans of Plaidy will enjoy, but those who are new to her brand of historical fiction may want to start elsewhere and work there way to The Italian Woman.

Review: Dash and Lily's Book of Dares by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan

Title: Dash and Lily's Book of Dares
Authors: Rachel Cohn & David Levithan
Genre: young adult, contemporary
Series: N/A
Pages: 260 (hardcover version)
Published: October 2012
Source: bought
Rating:  3.5/5

“I’ve left some clues for you.
If you want them, turn the page.
If you don’t, put the book back on the shelf, please.”

So begins the latest whirlwind romance from the bestselling authors of Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist. Lily has left a red notebook full of challenges on a favorite bookstore shelf, waiting for just the right guy to come along and accept its dares. But is Dash that right guy? Or are Dash and Lily only destined to trade dares, dreams, and desires in the notebook they pass back and forth at locations across New York? Could their in-person selves possibly connect as well as their notebook versions? Or will they be a comic mismatch of disastrous proportions?

Rachel Cohn and David Levithan have written a love story that will have readers perusing bookstore shelves, looking and longing for a love (and a red notebook) of their own.

Reviewed by Danielle.

If Cohn and Levithan’s first collaboration, Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist, was a fantasy of teenagers in love, Dash & Lily’s Book of Dares is a full on fairytale, complete with Cinderella’s lost shoe. Whether or not you’ll appreciate this book depends on a number of factors. I’ve provided a small graphic to help you decide: 

As a former high school nerd with a superiority complex, (it’s not that I lacked social skills necessary to make friends, I was just smarter than all of them!) I still have a soft spot for the kinds of books I would have lost my shit for a decade ago. Awkward, emotional Lily with her weird fashion and love of books could have been my queen, and I still found her chapters to resonate. Unfortunately, I can’t think of a single person who would like or relate to Dash’s chapters. The character is like nails on a blackboard for the first ¾ of the story. He talks in a way no human has ever spoken, wishes people a merry wrong holiday to see their reactions, and is described by every character as “snarly”. No one wishes for their own “Snarly”. Except Lily.

Dash is home alone for Christmas. Working his parents’ bitter divorce to his advantage, he’s told both of them he’s with the other. As all 16-year old boys who find themselves alone, he revels in the solitude and goes book shopping. The horror. While at the hipster-than-yours bookshop, he comes across a red notebook next to his favorite author. It’s full of clues that lead him on a merry little chase around the store, until it’s revealed that the book was left by Lily and he should leave his contact info with her cousin at the front desk. Not willing to do anything the easy way, disenfranchised Dash leaves more clues and we’re off.

Lily is an upbeat, quirky nerd who wears her uniform shirt, even on break, under Christmas sweaters with her great-aunt’s majorette boots. Her parents have absconded to Fiji for the season, leaving her supervised only by her older brother and his boyfriend. And her fifty thousand relatives who seem to occupy every square inch of NYC, if only when convenient. Cousin Mark warns that the boy who found the red notebook is a snarly hipster, which frightens Lily, but she decides to break out of her comfort zone and play the game.

From there were employ alternating points of view to visit pizza shops, Macy’s, Madame Tussaud's, FAO Schwarz, and underground Hanukkah raves, trading the notebook and very different points of view on Christmas and humanity. At some point, Lily’s naivete and sweetness catch up to her new free-spirit attitude and she flees without leaving the notebook, but instead losing her shoe.

Eventually the relationship moves into real life. Dash is a prick. Lily is too naive. They don’t have a lot in common. Someone gets arrested. Weirdly implausible plotting, even for a fantasy. Inevitable happy end.

The good: for the most part Dash & Lily is a sweet book with a good heart. Both characters undergo growth that feels natural and genuine. Side characters are flat but diverse. The settings are easily visualized and NYC becomes a third main character. The bad: unrealistic plot lines, unnatural dialog, convenient running into characters, “Shrily” and “Snarly”.

If you’re a teenage girl, or ever were one, who doesn't feel like they fit it. If you dream of an academic guy, even if he may be a little pretentious and condescending, and a modern Cinderella story, go ahead and read Dash & Lily’s Book of Dares. Just keep a dictionary handy.