Review: Ink by Amanda Sun

Title: Ink
Author: Amanda Sun
Genre: young adult, supernatural
Series: The Paper Gods #1
Pages: 377 (ARC edition)
Published: expected June 25 2013
Source: publishers via NetGalley
Rating: 2.5/5

I looked down at the paper, still touching the tip of my shoe. I reached for it, flipping the page over to look.

Scrawls of ink outlined a drawing of a girl lying on a bench.

A sick feeling started to twist in my stomach, like motion sickness.

And then the girl in the drawing turned her head, and her inky eyes glared straight into mine.

On the heels of a family tragedy, the last thing Katie Greene wants to do is move halfway across the world. Stuck with her aunt in Shizuoka, Japan, Katie feels lost. Alone. She doesn’t know the language, she can barely hold a pair of chopsticks, and she can’t seem to get the hang of taking her shoes off whenever she enters a building.

Then there’s gorgeous but aloof Tomohiro, star of the school’s kendo team. How did he really get the scar on his arm? Katie isn’t prepared for the answer. But when she sees the things he draws start moving, there’s no denying the truth: Tomo has a connection to the ancient gods of Japan, and being near Katie is causing his abilities to spiral out of control. If the wrong people notice, they'll both be targets.

Katie never wanted to move to Japan—now she may not make it out of the country alive.

First off, I have to get the following off my chest. Hooray for multicultural YA -- ones that feature a POC as a love interest, even! I want to explain those 2.5 stars - I did like Ink. Marginally. But there are a lot of things that could've been done a whole lot better. The characters need some serious work. The writing needs quite a bit of polish. The storyline was decent, but not as good as it could have been. It all could've been tighter, more involving, and with fewer diversions from the intriguing aspects. This is clearly a debut novel, and Sun has some steps to take in order to get this series back on the right track.

All in all, Ink wasn't as bad as I feared, but nowhere near as good as I hoped.

There's so much going on, superficially,  for Ink. I must say that the marketing department hit it out of the park with this one. Many kudos to Harlequin for advertising something seemingly-original so strongly.  From the cover to the hype to the synopsis, Ink has been steadily garnering attention for several months now. It's another paranormal teen love story, but the things that set it apart - the setting, the magic, the POC as important characters even if they don't make the cover - made it really seem like there was a possiblity this could be a truly special novel.

And the series could still get to that special place. But as it is, the first entry in the Paper Gods series is a bit weak, slightly generic, and all-too-focused on the romance angle at the detriment of the plot. The characters aren't cardboard, but they're not as developed or as complex as they could've been. Main character Katie is a struggle to invest in, or even to like. She's brave, sure, but she's really not all that dynamic of a protagonist. Her narration suffices to tell the story, but her utter passivity, creepy tendencies, and unhealthy obsession with a mysterious boy do her already-suffering presentation no favors. 

Her love interest and victim of her stalkerish ways, Yuu Tomohiro, kendo star and artist extraordinaire, is... kind of wooden. Katie is very into him from the start, and the audience is just supposed to buy into his desirability. For me, it just didn't work. His ability with pen and paper are what really set him apart, but his actions throughout the novel are very problematic. He has his reasons for being standoffish, but they never really ring true, and nor does his all-too-fast relationship with Katie. Tomo is sadly reminiscent of a lot of young adult love interest - potentially dangerous, has a difficult/hidden past, and is full of secrets he keeps from his girlfriends for far too long. There were some genuinely fun or funny moments between him and Katie within the novel, but they were too few and too far between for me to root for them as a couple.

Authenticity is a problem with all the characters of the novel, honestly. Katie, her aunt. Ishikawa Sato, Takahashi Jun, Yuki (of course!) -- none really felt as dimensional as they should be. Katie receives the bulk of the attention and growth as the main character, and as a result, too many of her friends and secondary cast felt like set pieces to reinforce the Japanese setting. Tanaka and Yuki especially seem to pop up to reassure readers that yes, Katie does have friends and is not just completely obsessed with Tomo. Also, subtlety is not known in Ink. From character motivations, to plot developments, a lot of the content in Ink can be predicted ahead of time with relative ease. The originality of the magic of the novel is what stands apart, and yet isn't explained enough to come across as entirely believable.

Sun is an author who clearly wants to pay homage to several genres with Ink, and from my limited experience with those genres, she succeeds. The author clearly knows her audience, her subject, and her themes well. The time she spent in Japan is obvious in how enveloping the Japanese culture is presented throughout the novel. There is a strong sense of place from the first chapter to the last. Peppered with Japanese sayings, culture and mythology, Ink doesn't read as a whitewashed version of the real thing. I could have done with more detail about some aspects of what she is trying to create with Tomo and the Kami, but there are two more books in the works to do just that.

2.5 may seem like a harsh rating, or like I didn't enjoy Ink. I can't say that I wholly did - there were times I struggled to get through the plot or Katie's unfortunate choices, but it's not all bad here. This is clearly a debut novel, and there's room for Sun to grow. There are kernels of greatness within Ink's pages. A bit of practice, time, and a little finesse will help Amanda Sun to strengthen her talent and create a better book for the next outing of the Paper Gods trilogy. I will keep reading to see what happens, and I will hope for a better experience with book two. 

DNF Review: Godiva by Nicole Galland

Title: Godiva
Author: Nicole Galland
Genre: historical fiction, retellings
Series: N/A
Pages: 336
Published: expected July 2 2013
Source: publishers via edelweiss
Rating: N/A

Everyone knows the legend of Lady Godiva-the woman who (in)famously rode naked on horseback through Coventry to relieve her people from unfair taxation. But why would a lady of the court take it all off and risk everything, including husband, home, and well-being?

In this richly imagined retelling of an oft-told ancient tale, Nicole Galland gives us Lady Godiva in all her, um, glory, as she and her best friend (the Abbess Egdiva) and husband (Leofric, Earl of Mercia) embark on an adventure filled with courtly intrigue, deceit, back-stabbing, and romance.

I chose to DNF at 23% after the following infuriating quotes pushed me over the "to finish or not to finish" edge:

"It is every man's nature to take advantage of a woman's frailty. But most of us are able to resist the impulse when required."

and

"Barren women have no [sexual] appetites."

To those I say:


I utterly reject that all women are inherently frail and up for ravishment, as well as that "all men are just animals who have no brains aside from SEX. How flattering." (That quote is from the lovely Renae because I am too frustrated to formulate real thoughts.) Am I supposed to like these characters? Root for them? Because any chance that Sweyn would remain anything but a source of aggravating ended as soon as those quotes came into the story.

Also: the idea that women unable to bear children are free from sexual urges? NO. Sexuality has nothing to do with the ability to bear children. None. Whatsoever.

A valid point may be made that the author may be trying to convey typical thoughts from the first millennium (the novel is set in 1040's England), but to my mind there are better ways to do such a thing without being anachronistic. Godiva herself could have made more of an effort to refute both claims, but abandons the effort to focus instead on a pseudo-seduction of the man who uttered both.

Godiva does focus on some very fascinating and forgotten characters in English history (King Edward the Confessor, Godwin, Earl of Wessex), but they alone are not enough to convince me to go on. I have Google for that. I've read Galland before, but this particular story was a wash for me. I wasn't a huge fan of The Fool's Tale, but it didn't irritate me to the point of not finishing as this one did.

Besides the quotes, I had a few issues that rapidly became more and more problematic as the novel went on. Godiva herself tried to be an empowered woman who uses her sexuality to further her husband's and friend's goals, but it came off as uncomfortable and far too obvious a ploy. There is no subtlety to be found in her machinations around the court's noblemen.  Her friend from childhood with royal ties and a bleeding heart for the poor managed to be too sanctimonious, even for an Abbess. Godiva's husband's approval of Godiva's use of flirtation and manipulation didn't ring true for the attitude of a powerful English nobleman.

No rating because I didn't make to 50% (where I usually feel a rating is warranted even for a DNF). This was just not for me. 

Top Ten Tuesday #11: Books At The Top Of My Summer TBR List

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created here at The Broke and the Bookish.

List by Danielle

You should really see my full TBR list, guys. It's carefully arranged into three separate columns: ARCs, ebooks, and physical copies, and then ranked again by how long I've had the book. I try to read one from each list at a time while sticking pretty close to the order, but sometimes I can't resist a new and shiny acquisition. My summer TBR list is a mix of things I've neglected, fun beach reads, and amazing things set to come out.

 1. Dance of the Red Death by Bethany Griffin

Bethany Griffin continues the journey of Araby Worth in Dance of the Red Death—the sequel to her teen novel Masque of the Red Death. In Dance of the Red Death, Araby’s world is in shambles—betrayal, death, disease, and evil forces surround her. She has no one to trust. But she finds herself and discovers that she will fight for the people she loves, and for her city. Her revenge will take place at the menacing masked ball, though it could destroy her and everyone she loves…or it could turn her into a hero. With a nod to Edgar Allan Poe, Bethany Griffin concludes her tragic and mysterious Red Death series with a heroine that young adult readers will never forget.

The hotly anticipated sequel to an extremely fun, gothic story based on the Edgar Allen Poe story? This is like more fun mandatory summer reading, though you probably won't pass American Lit just by reading Dance of the Red Death. When we left Araby Worth, we were just about to get the famous masquerade. Here's hoping the end of this duo is just as action packed as the end of Masque.
2. A Corner of White by Jaclyn Moriarty 

Madeleine Tully lives in Cambridge, England, the World – a city of spires, Isaac Newton and Auntie’s Tea Shop.
Elliot Baranski lives in Bonfire, the Farms, the Kingdom of Cello – where seasons roam, the Butterfly Child sleeps in a glass jar, and bells warn of attacks from dangerous Colours.
They are worlds apart – until a crack opens up between them; a corner of white – the slim seam of a letter.
A mesmerising story of two worlds; the cracks between them, the science that binds them and the colours that infuse them.

This blurb reminds me of the His Dark Materials trilogy, which I liked but didn't love. Still, I'm always looking forward to a new and different fantasy series and if it reminds me of simpler times, so much the better.

 3. Tumble & Fall by Alexandra Coutts

A novel about the end of days full of surprising beginnings
The world is living in the shadow of oncoming disaster. An asteroid is set to strike the earth in just one week’s time; catastrophe is unavoidable. The question isn’t how to save the world—the question is, what to do with the time that's left? Against this stark backdrop, three island teens wrestle with intertwining stories of love, friendship and family—all with the ultimate stakes at hand.
Alexandra Coutts's TUMBLE & FALL is a powerful story of courage, love, and hope at the end of the world.

OK, this doesn't come out until fall, but I have an ARC and it's high on my list. Because guys, oh my gosh, look at that gorgeous cover. This looks new and fresh in the sea of dystopian/post-apocalyptic novels. It looks romantic and dramatic and probably like a good cry.

4. This Song Will Save Your Life by Leila Sales 

Making friends has never been Elise Dembowski’s strong suit. All throughout her life, she’s been the butt of every joke and the outsider in every conversation. When a final attempt at popularity fails, Elise nearly gives up. Then she stumbles upon a warehouse party where she meets Vicky, a girl in a band who accepts her; Char, a cute, yet mysterious disc jockey; Pippa, a carefree spirit from England; and most importantly, a love for DJing.
Told in a refreshingly genuine and laugh-out-loud funny voice, THIS SONG WILL SAVE YOUR LIFE is an exuberant novel about identity, friendship, and the power of music to bring people together.

Another fall release that I have on advance galley. I'm not always a fan of contemporaries, but sometimes you need something "genuine" and "laugh-out-loud funny" for those long, hot summer days. And another great cover.

 5. Seraphina by Rachel Hartman

Four decades of peace have done little to ease the mistrust between humans and dragons in the kingdom of Goredd. Folding themselves into human shape, dragons attend court as ambassadors, and lend their rational, mathematical minds to universities as scholars and teachers. As the treaty's anniversary draws near, however, tensions are high.
Seraphina Dombegh has reason to fear both sides. An unusually gifted musician, she joins the court just as a member of the royal family is murdered—in suspiciously draconian fashion. Seraphina is drawn into the investigation, partnering with the captain of the Queen's Guard, the dangerously perceptive Prince Lucian Kiggs. While they begin to uncover hints of a sinister plot to destroy the peace, Seraphina struggles to protect her own secret, the secret behind her musical gift, one so terrible that its discovery could mean her very life.


In her exquisitely written fantasy debut, Rachel Hartman creates a rich, complex, and utterly original world. Seraphina's tortuous journey to self-acceptance is one readers will remember long after they've turned the final page.

This is a book that Jessie gave great a score and I actually went out and bought for CHRISTMAS and I still haven't read. It sits on my unread bookcase, (yes I have a whole bookcase of unread books,) big and bright, glaring at me from the top row. Making me feel bad about myself. But not after this summer. No Seraphina, I'll soon be immersed in your dragons and mathematics.

 6. The Heiress Effect by Courtney Milan 

Miss Jane Fairfield can’t do anything right. When she’s in company, she always says the wrong thing—and rather too much of it. No matter how costly they are, her gowns fall on the unfortunate side of fashion. Even her immense dowry can’t save her from being an object of derision.
And that’s precisely what she wants. She’ll do anything, even risk humiliation, if it means she can stay unmarried and keep her sister safe.
Mr. Oliver Marshall has to do everything right. He’s the bastard son of a duke, raised in humble circumstances—and he intends to give voice and power to the common people. If he makes one false step, he’ll never get the chance to accomplish anything. He doesn’t need to come to the rescue of the wrong woman. He certainly doesn’t need to fall in love with her. But there’s something about the lovely, courageous Jane that he can’t resist…even though it could mean the ruin of them both.

I don't know about you, but a smart, sexy romance is exactly what I want on the beach, and Courtney Milan delivers every time. I could list any of Courtney's back-catalog, and I'll probably get to them all over the next few months, but it's the next in her Brother's Sinister series, due out in July, that's really got me pumped.

 7. Towers of Midnight by Brandon Sanderson & Robert Jordan

The Last Battle has started. The seals on the Dark One’s prison are crumbling. The Pattern itself is unraveling, and the armies of the Shadow have begun to boil out of the Blight.
The sun has begun to set upon the Third Age.
Perrin Aybara is now hunted by specters from his past: Whitecloaks, a slayer of wolves, and the responsibilities of leadership. All the while, an unseen foe is slowly pulling a noose tight around his neck. To prevail, he must seek answers in Tel’aran’rhiod and find a way--at long last--to master the wolf within him or lose himself to it forever
Meanwhile, Matrim Cauthon prepares for the most difficult challenge of his life. The creatures beyond the stone gateways--the Aelfinn and the Eelfinn--have confused him, taunted him, and left him hanged, his memory stuffed with bits and pieces of other men’s lives. He had hoped that his last confrontation with them would be the end of it, but the Wheel weaves as the Wheel wills. The time is coming when he will again have to dance with the Snakes and the Foxes, playing a game that cannot be won. The Tower of Ghenjei awaits, and its secrets will reveal the fate of a friend long lost.
This penultimate novel of Robert Jordan’s #1 New York Timesbestselling series--the second of three based on materials he left behind when he died in 2007--brings dramatic and compelling developments to many threads in the Pattern. The end draws near.
Dovie’andi se tovya sagain. It’s time to toss the dice.

 Brandon Sanderson is the best fantasy author writing today and his Gathering Storm completely reinvigorated a franchise I'd given up on. I'm still a bit behind, the final book came out in January, but as I work my way though the summer, this is definitely the kind of dense fantasy I'll want for long trips.

 8. The Rithmatist by Brandon Sanderson

More than anything, Joel wants to be a Rithmatist. Chosen by the Master in a mysterious inception ceremony, Rithmatists have the power to infuse life into two-dimensional figures known as Chalklings. Rithmatists are humanity’s only defense against the Wild Chalklings — merciless creatures that leave mangled corpses in their wake. Having nearly overrun the territory of Nebrask, the Wild Chalklings now threaten all of the American Isles.
As the son of a lowly chalkmaker at Armedius Academy, Joel can only watch as Rithmatist students study the magical art that he would do anything to practice. Then students start disappearing — kidnapped from their rooms at night, leaving trails of blood. Assigned to help the professor who is investigating the crimes, Joel and his friend Melody find themselves on the trail of an unexpected discovery — one that will change Rithmatics — and their world — forever.
Bestselling author Brandon Sanderson brings his unique brand of epic storytelling to the teen audience with an engrossing tale of danger and suspense—the first of a series. With his trademark skills in world-building, Sanderson has created a magic system that is so inventive and detailed that that readers who appreciate games of strategy and tactics just may want to bring Rithmatics to life in our world.

See point seven. This time, Sanderson decided to try his hand at young-adult fantasy, obviously a genre near and dear to our hearts here. I really enjoyed the first in his MG series and I have full confidence in the man who brought us magic systems based around eating metal shavings and breathing colors to do something stupendous and unique with pictographs.

 9. The Immortal Quartet by Tamora Pierce

Young Daine's knack with horses gets her a job helping the royal horsemistress drive a herd of ponies to Tortall. Soon it becomes clear that Daine's talent, as much as she struggles to hide it, is downright magical Horses and other animals not only obey, but listen to her words. Daine, though, will have to learn to trust humans before she can come to terms with her powers, her past, and herself.

 Pierce is supposed to have a companion book coming out this year that I'm very excited for, and one of my reading goals this year was, (completely separate from Alexa, Gaby, Rachel, and Gillian's Piercefest, but great minds and all that,) to reread the entire Tortall series. The Immortal Quartet has always jostled with the Song of the Lioness Quartet as my favorite set, and some of my favorite books of all time. There is nothing better than a rainy day and Numair and I will never hear otherwise.

10. Tarnish by Katherine Longshore

Anne Boleyn is the odd girl out. Newly arrived to the court of King Henry VIII, everything about her seems wrong, from her clothes to her manners to her witty but sharp tongue. So when the dashing poet Thomas Wyatt offers to coach her on how to shine at court--and to convince the whole court they're lovers--she accepts. Before long, Anne's popularity has soared, and even the charismatic and irresistible king takes notice. More than popularity, Anne wants a voice--but she also wants love. What began as a game becomes high stakes as Anne finds herself forced to make an impossible choice between her heart's desire and the chance to make history.

Young-adult historical about Anne Boelyn? This could be so amazing or absolute drivel. But more than anything, I'm interested in hearing a take on her life that doesn't paint her as sexed up villain. And again, cover!

Book Tour Review: A Beautiful Heist by Kim Foster

Title: A Beautiful Heist
Author: Kim Foster
Genre: mystery, thriller
Series: A B&T Novel #1
Pages: 320
Published: June 6 2013
Source: TLC Book Tours for review
Rating: 3.75/5

Everyone has a talent. Some are just more legal than others. Cat Montgomery steals jewels for AB&T, the premier agency for thieves in Seattle. Career perks: good pay, great disguises, constant adrenaline rush. Drawbacks: the possibility of jail time…or worse. Now she’s taken on a lucrative side job—recovering a priceless Faberge egg for an alleged Romanov descendent.

Though Cat is working solo, there are plenty of interested players. Her FBI ex-boyfriend is nosing around, as is her former mentor-turned-nemesis. Then there’s the sexy art thief helping—or is he hindering?—her mission. If her luck holds out, this could be the case that allows Cat to retire with her conscience and her life intact. If not, it’ll be her last job for all the wrong reasons…

"Everyone breaks the rules eventually.

It's just that some of us make a career out of it."

-A Beautiful Heist, p. 4

Kim Foster's debut novel is an enjoyable, convoluted and action-packed caper. It's a nonstop ride from the first chapter until the very end. Full of schemes and betrayals, human sacrifice and treasure hunts, this new but capable author captures her audience in a tightly-plotted and intricately set up first-in-series. A complicated plot, likeable but imperfect characters, and Foster's clear style of writing lend for an easy, entertaining and fast-paced read. A Beautiful Heist is less than three hundred pages, but the author manages to contain an interesting, complex, and original plot within those few hundred pages.

Catherine "Cat" Montgomery is a character to remember. She's the type of girl who wears a wetsuit under a couture cocktail dress. She's the type of girl you want on your side in a testy situation. Smart, talented and cautious, Cat has lived a double life with aplomb and finesse since a very early age. Chased by her own personal demons and a need for atonement, Cat is caught up in a hidden world of thievery, deception and danger. It helps that Cat is gifted at what she does - while other girls can sing or dance or act, Cat can pick a lock, plan a heist, and sneak around without notice. She chafes against what she does occasionally, and follows a strict credo for how and why she does what she does. All qualms aside, she's a perfect fit for "The Agency" that she works for - AB&T Inc., which she jokingly says stands for Agency of Burglary and Theft, Inc.

Cat's humor is apparent and obvious. From the first page, her voice is distinct and undeniably her own. First person POV works very well for her chapters - the audience is immersed in her head and can see her owrk through her thoughts, issues and problems first-hand. She shares the narration with her ex-lover and FBI agent Jack Barlow. Jack's chapters differ from hers in many ways. Though Foster uses first-person so ably with Cat, she switches to the more distant 3rd person for Jack. I personally am not a fan of switching between the two - either use one or the other completely. As Christina of Reader of Fictions put it so aptly: "The switch does really throw you out. I get that they're intentionally trying to connect you to some and distance from others, but it just highlights the artificiality of fiction." Whenever this would happen (and it does often), I was very aware I was reading a novel. It's jarring when the author changes perspective between chapters.

That small caveat aside, Jack's story is just as compelling as his female counterpart's. Child of an infamous thief, Jack cannot reconcile their relationship with Cat's profession. He rebelled against his infamous father by going straight-edge - by hunting down and capturing thieves and burglars. The ill-fated romance between the two principals plays a small but pivotal part of each character's motivations and actions through the novel. Jack is also drawn outside his realm of comfortability into a world where no one is who they say they are, and nothing is as it seems. Jack was harder for me to relate to than Cat was, but he can stand on his own. He's a well-developed character and his struggles to continue an unusual family tradition are seamlessly interwoven into the larger plot of the novel.

Hemmed into an tenuous situation by money issues and the ever-looming IRS as well as facing a mentor-turned-enemy, Cat finds herself out of depth when presented with a chance to steal a Faberge egg coveted by several dangerous groups. Undertaking a daunting job without any backup with Brooke undermining her in various inventive ways, Cat has to navigate some truly dangerous waters, all the while trying to get a read on the new FBI agent in town. Cat's lot isn't easy, but Foster keeps it both humorous  ("I stared at her dumbly for a minute, much in the same way I stared at my bathroom scale after the holidays. Vaguely horrified, vaguely disbelieving.") and suspenseful with interspered but well-written action scenes.  A Beautiful Heist moves at a fast pace, and you'd better pay attention or the small details will get missed that end up being rather important before the end.

This is the first book in an upcoming series and Kim Foster carries it off rather well. The ending 10% suffered the most from the breakneck pace - it felt rushed whereas the first 65% spent so much time setting the action up. With some impressive sleight-of-hand, the twists and turns are far from expected or predictable. I was genuinely entertained and often surprised at how easily the author managed to trick me (and to be fair, Cat, too.). A Beautiful Heist is a great launching point for the rest of the AB&T novels, and I eagerly anticipate where the author will take her series, and Cat, next.

Review: Cinnamon and Gunpowder by Eli Brown

Title: Cinnamon and Gunpowder
Author: Eli Brown
Genre: historical fiction, romance
Series: N/A
Pages: 336 (ARC edition)
Published: June 4, 2013
Source: publishers via NetGalley
Rating: 4.5/5

A gripping adventure, a seaborne romance, and a twist on the tale of Scheherazade—with the best food ever served aboard a pirate’s ship
The year is 1819, and the renowned chef Owen Wedgwood has been kidnapped by the ruthless pirate Mad Hannah Mabbot. He will be spared, she tells him, as long as he puts exquisite food in front of her every Sunday without fail.
To appease the red-haired captain, Wedgwood gets cracking with the meager supplies on board. His first triumph at sea is actual bread, made from a sourdough starter that he leavens in a tin under his shirt throughout a roaring battle, as men are cutlassed all around him. Soon he’s making tea-smoked eel and brewing pineapple-banana cider.
But Mabbot—who exerts a curious draw on the chef—is under siege. Hunted by a deadly privateer and plagued by a saboteur hidden on her ship, she pushes her crew past exhaustion in her search for the notorious Brass Fox. As Wedgwood begins to sense a method to Mabbot’s madness, he must rely on the bizarre crewmembers he once feared: Mr. Apples, the fearsome giant who loves to knit; Feng and Bai, martial arts masters sworn to defend their captain; and Joshua, the deaf cabin boy who becomes the son Wedgwood never had.
Cinnamon and Gunpowder is a swashbuckling epicure’s adventure simmered over a surprisingly touching love story—with a dash of the strangest, most delightful cookbook never written. Eli Brown has crafted a uniquely entertaining novel full of adventure: the Scheherazade story turned on its head, at sea, with food.

Reviewed by Danielle

Cinnamon and Gunpowder is a hard book to review because it’s a hard book to define. Part adventure, part food writing, and part romance, this epistolary novel is as complex as the dinners Wedge creates, as beautiful as the love that grows, and as bittersweet as the ending. Tears weren't expected in a story about a chef creating new meals for a group of pirates every week, but they came all the same.

I was madly, head-over-heels in love with Hannah Mabbot from 2% into the book when she broke into a dinner party, stepped onto the dining table, and then delivered the greatest line in bookdom:

"Tell the devil to keep my tea hot. I’m running late." Then she fired point-blank, without mercy or provocation, into [Ramsey’s] defenseless body.

Done. Eli Brown now owns my heart.

Mabbot loots the house, taking Ramsey’s chef, Wedgwood, in the pillaging. She’s decided a captain should have some perks over the rest of a crew, starting with a gourmet Sunday dinner. This sets up a wonderful take on the traditional Scheherazade story, with Wedge tasked to cook a completely unique meal every week in exchange for his continued breathing. 

The first quarter or so mostly revolves around Wedge’s desire to escape. It does a good job of setting the scene and introducing the crew, but I was left desperately longing for more Mabbot. Wedge is mostly alone and apart from the other crew members, though he does find himself teaching Joshua, the deaf cabin boy, to read. However, after an escape attempt leaves him in worse straits than before, and yet simultaneously in the captain’s confidence, he’s able to start, if not accepting, acclimating to a pirate’s life.

This is where the action really sets in and it’s quite exciting. Ship battles featuring solar death rays and horrific storms. Flayings, a saboteur, lost limbs, explosions, women disguised as men, long-lost relatives, prison-breaks... It really swashes the buckle. Mabbot, being chased by the late Ramsey’s hired hand, (hoping to catch and deliver her to England before his crew realizes their money went with the dead,) is on a very personal quest to catch the Brass Fox and destroy quite a lot of opium along the way. The circuitous journey; winding through England,West Africa, India, the South China sea, Macau, and out to the Americas; brings treasure and triumph, even a stove for Wedge, along with bloodshed and loss. The descriptions of the locales and locals, while not always politically correct by 21st century conventions, are not to be missed.

But it’s the love in between the action pieces that really sets Cinnamon and Gunpowder apart. The narrator describes every meal with utter reverence, somewhere between lust and religious devotion. If anything, I could have done with a few more meals just for the breathtaking way each layer of flavor is described, building on the last. The continued ingenuity of Wedge in the kitchen was almost more exciting than any pirate confrontation.

There’s romantic love, too, and familial, that evolves and builds and feels very natural. And like the love inside, the book is very bittersweet coming into the final confrontation. Without spoilers, I’ll say when it ended I was so happy with a great read, but I felt as if my heart was broken, too.

However, I don’t want to leave this review on a sad note, because Cinnamon and Gunpowder is more than a tearjerker. It’s also witty and vibrant and a little crude. Instead, I would like to leave you with Owen Wedgwood: Christian, widower, and overall goodly man’s advice on how to extricate yourself from an uncomfortable situation.

There is, no doubt, a proper and Christian response to such an offer, [to join a massive homosexual orgy,] but I was so shocked that my only thought was to excuse myself as quickly as possible. "Ah yes, right! Do go on without me. I have a sudden case of the shits."

Review: The Caged Graves by Dianne K. Salerni

Title: The Caged Graves
Author: Dianne K. Salerni
Genre: historical fiction, young adult
Series: N/A
Pages: 336
Published: May 2013
Source: publishers via NetGalley
Rating: 3/5

17-year-old Verity Boone expects a warm homecoming when she returns to Catawissa, Pennsylvania, in 1867, pledged to marry a man she has never met. Instead, she finds a father she barely knows and a future husband with whom she apparently has nothing in common. One truly horrifying surprise awaits her: the graves of her mother and aunt are enclosed in iron cages outside the local cemetery. Nobody in town will explain why, but Verity hears rumors of buried treasure and witchcraft. Perhaps the cages were built to keep grave robbers out . . . or to keep the women in. Determined to understand, Verity finds  herself in a life-and-death struggle with people she trusted.

Inspired by a pair of real caged graves in present-day Catawissa, this historical YA novel weaves mystery, romance, and action into a suspenseful drama with human greed and passion at its core.

Inspired by real-life caged-in graves found across the country, Dianne K. Salerni weaves a tale of lust, desperation, and hidden motives set during the 1860's Pennsylvania. The Caged Graves is an evocative and atmospheric young adult historical fiction read, but it's also one that sadly fails to execute the plot with complete satisfaction for the audience. The suspense and mystery that is built up over the course of the novel's three hundred thirty pages is enveloping and interesting, but the reveal and final twist fail to live up to the standard set by the rest of the book.

Verity Boone is the main character for The Caged Graves, and she is a good one. One of the strongest aspects of the novel is this main character. She's likeable, smart, fallible, and complicated. Away from home for the fifteen years since her mother died, Verity comes home to an engagement, an unknown place, and her mother and aunt's caged graves. Unsatisfied with the answers the town offers, kept apart from their secrets and history, Verity begins to dig into what happened to Sarah and Asenath's deaths. Amid whispers of witchcraft and unnatural happenings, Verity begins to understand the horrible truth that lead up to the loss of two young mothers so long ago. 

The romance(s) is where The Caged Graves really began to falter from me. Before the introduction of a second love interest and an obvious (and very unnecessary love triangle), this had been coasting along; an engrossing and dense read based on Revolutionary lore. However, once the two boys Hadley and Nate emerge as rivals for Verity's affections, it became much less fun to read. Far too much time and too many pages are devoted to Verity trying to decide between the two love interests. The book is far more original when concerned with unraveling the caged graves mystery and far too reminiscent of so many other YA novels when it comes to the tepid romances. Uneven courtship and confusion aside, Nate is a more rounded character than his counterpart, but there is still not a lot to recommend either.

A fictional story inspired from minor historical facts, Salerni's debut has some originality, a three-dimensional lead character, and some suspense to recommend it. Unfortunately, I was very disappointed with how the author chose to conclude her story. The mystery that had been so carefully laid out ended up being rather ordinary (and even slightly laughable) when all is said and done. The Caged Graves moves along nicely, and is well plotted and paced but I felt very ambivalent upon finishing it. I wouldn't go so far to not recommend it to a friend, but I would suggest that they would borrow from a library rather than buy it outright.

Review: All Our Pretty Songs by Sarah McCarry

Title: All Our Pretty Songs
Author: Sarah McCarry
Genre: young adult, supernatural, horror
Series: Untitled #1
Pages: 240
Published: expected July 30 2013
Source: publishers via NetGalley
Rating: 2/5

The first book in an exciting YA trilogy, this is the story of two best friends on the verge of a terrifying divide when they begin to encounter a cast of strange and mythical characters.

Set against the lush, magical backdrop of the Pacific Northwest, two inseparable best friends who have grown up like sisters—the charismatic, mercurial, and beautiful Aurora and the devoted, soulful, watchful narrator—find their bond challenged for the first time ever when a mysterious and gifted musician named Jack comes between them. Suddenly, each girl must decide what matters most: friendship, or love. What both girls don’t know is that the stakes are even higher than either of them could have imagined. They’re not the only ones who have noticed Jack’s gift; his music has awakened an ancient evil—and a world both above and below which may not be mythical at all. The real and the mystical; the romantic and the heartbreaking all begin to swirl together, carrying the two on journey that is both enthralling and terrifying.

And it’s up to the narrator to protect the people she loves—if she can.

 "Do you know what it's like to be a girl pieced together by appetite and impulse?"

- All Our Pretty Songs, p.18

This review is probably going to end up quite short -- I don't have a lot to say about All Our Pretty Songs and almost none of what I do have to say is good.  

All Our Pretty Songs has a great premise. It also can boast some truly amazing prose. When the mood strikes/the planets align/etc,. McCarry can create some truly visual and lovely writing. But that's only about 30% of the time. The other 70%? You get overwrought melodramatic teenage angst all over the place. You can't win them all, right? But it doesn't even seem like McCarry is trying half the time. 

The characters are flat. Underdeveloped. One-dimensional. And? They're pretty obnoxious, or boring, or obnoxiously boring. Unfortunately for us, the readers, and for the book itself, the awesome premise isn't enough to make up for the less-than-inspiring way it is carried out. The lack of a plot for a quarter of the novel makes for a lot of aimless stream of consciousness narration from our unnamed narrator - none of it particularly riveting or engaging. 

McCarry wants this novel to be the punk retelling of Orpehus. And she is not too subtle with presenting her theme throughout the short story contained in All Our Pretty Songs. As the characters struggle to decide what they value most, what they will sacrifice, the suspense does build into a somewhat interesting final conflict. But it's not enough to save the rest of the novel from being utterly underwhelming. It's too little too late and the end is too confusing (and open-ended!) to provide any real sense of satisfaction.

Ashleigh Paige's comparions of All Our Pretty Songs with the lyrical and creepy Imaginary Girls could not be more accurate. McCarry wants that magical realism Nova Ren Suma crafts so easily and so well to work here, badly, and it just never solidifies into anything remotely like it. It's a failed Another Little Piece. It's a brave attempt to create something original and suspenseful, but with the weak supports of cardboard characters and a flimsy plot, All Our Pretty Songs just doesn't cut it. The prose can be outstanding, or laughable, and McCarry never finds a happy medium. It's great or it's just bad.

So it boils down to one star for premise, one star for the prose that I was impressed with for All Our Pretty Songs. I really don't see how this could be expanded another two books - the plot is thin already - and I doubt I will be reading to see what happens next. Maybe McCarry will try to tackle a new myth, but high expectations won't be a part of it.

I guess I had more to say than I thought. This was a severe disappointed. An intriguing premise meets underwhelming execution.