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Audiobook Review - Unholy Ghosts (Downside Ghosts, Book 1) by Stacia Kane (4/5 stars)

Reading Level: Adult
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Size: 352 pages
Publisher: Del ReyRelease
Date: May 25, 2010
ISBN-13: 978-0345515575
Stand Alone or Series: 1st book in the Downside Ghosts series
Source: Audiobook through Audible.com
Rating: 4/5 stars

This is the first book in Kane’s Downside Ghosts series. The fifth book in this series, Chasing Magic, comes out the end of June 2012. This was a gritty urban fantasy and a creative idea featuring some very flawed characters. I enjoyed it for its creativity. I listened to this on audiobook.

The audiobook was decently done. I wasn’t crazy about the narrator; her voice bothered me a little. The narrator did distinguish between characters fairly well; although a few of the male characters sounded very similar and were hard to tell apart. I wouldn’t strongly recommend listening to this on audiobook, but it was okay.

Chess is a Church witch in a world where the Church of Real Truth runs everything. Some time ago the ghosts rose up and murdered two-thirds of humanity. The third that is left is beholden to the Church of Real Truth for keeping the viscous spirits locked up. Chess is a debunker for the Church and checks out hauntings to see whether they are real or not. Chess has a secret though; she is also a drug addict heavily in debt to a dealer named Bump. Bump forces her to check out a haunting at an airport for him in order to clear her debt. Little does Chess know that Bump’s job for her will collide with some other dark happenings that involve the Church.

The concept behind this world is intriguing. It is an urban fantasy with a post-apocalyptic feel to it. Two thirds of the population was murdered by ghosts during Haunted Week. Now the rest of society ekes out what living it can while supporting the Church of Real Truth. The Church of Real Truth keeps ghosts trapped in the City of Eternal Life and grants large rewards to anyone who has a haunting (since it means the Church failed in its duty to contain ghosts).

Pretty interesting world but also very dark. It follows that the characters are incredibly dark as well. The story also has a number of parts that make you think “Yuck!” Kane doesn’t pull her punches on gory descriptions.

Chess is an interesting character. She is a drug addict so a big portion of her life is driven by her need to feed her habit. This gets her into some trouble and sucks her money. Interestingly enough though she functions okay for her job and manages to hide her addiction from her co-workers. What also makes her interesting is her dedication to do what needs to be done. At one point she has to choose between a day of oblivion sucking on the pipes and hunting down some info; she chooses to do her job despite her yearnings. She also occasionally uses drugs to aid her in her work; speed to keep her awake during a curse that makes her want to sleep...stuff like that. So she functions remarkably well considering.

Chess has a very dark background; she bounced through foster homes, many of which she suffered numerous kinds of abuse as a child at. This is occasionally discussed but never in great detail. I just wanted to mention it because it is one more level of darkness added to the story.

The characters surrounding Chess are just as flawed and just as hard to like; but they still have a lot of depth and are well done. Even though these characters are all hard to like, that doesn’t mean they don’t engage the reader well. Of the surrounding characters my favorite was Terrible; he is basically the hitman for Bump and gets assigned to protect Chess on her investigation. Terrible is a wonderful mix of contradictions; he is loyal yet vicious, he is quick to injure and kill yet gentle with Chess. Really he is just a wonderfully interesting character.

The mystery in the book is very well done and the plot never slows down. There are many seemingly separate story arcs that tie in well together. There were a couple times in the story where Chess made logical mental jumps that didn’t make sense to me as the reader; I suppose you could blame the drugs but hopefully in future books the reasoning will be better done.

Overall I enjoyed reading this book. I didn’t like the characters a ton, but they were interesting. I loved the idea behind the world, the mystery, and the magic. I am curious to learn more about this world. Just a warning that this is a pretty dark and gritty urban fantasy; so if you don’t like gross, gory or gritty I wouldn’t recommend reading this book. Recommended to fans of dark and gritty urban fantasy.

This book goes towards the following reading challenges:
- Dystopia Reading Challenge
- Horror and Urban Fantasy Challenge
- 150+ Books Reading Challenge
- TBR Pile Reading Challenge

Early Review - Every Day by David Levithan (5/5 stars)

Reading Level: Young Adult
Genre: Science Fiction
Size: 336 pages
Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers
Release Date: August 28, 2012
ISBN-13: 978-0307931887
Stand Alone or Series: Stand Alone
Source: eGalley through NetGalley.com
Rating: 5/5 stars

I got a copy of this book to review through NetGalley(dot)com. This was one of the most fantastic books I have read this year. It is so creative and tackles some really interesting questions. It does this in a heartfelt and humorous way; I really really loved it and could not put this book down.

Every morning A wakes as a different person. A never knows if he/she will be a boy or a girl, fat or thin, rich or poor. All A knows is that he/she will wake up in a body that is the same age as A and also within a certain distance of the last body that A possesses. Up to this point it hasn’t been a problem. A lives from day to day and tries not to screw up people’s lives too bad while he is in control of their body. Then one day he wakes up as Justin, Rhiannon’s boyfriend. This time things are different, A falls in love with Rhiannon. How can you be in love when you never know from day to day which person you will be?

Can you have a relationship when you never know what body you will be in from one day to the next? This book is funny, touching, and thoughtful. It brings to light questions about society's perceptions of the physical body and explores how we take permanence of our lives for granted.

I am going to refer to A as a he throughout the review because A starts out as a he in the story...just keep in mind A is more of a he/she. A thinks he has a great overview of human life and is very wise about it all. After all he’s lived through many, many things. He’s been a drug addict, gay, straight, fat and thin. He’s been in loving homes and abusive homes. The one thing he has never been is in one family for more than day.

Can you imagine trying to hold onto the perception of who you are when you have a different physical body every day? A can access the memories of the people he inhabits, but needs to know when to do so. Can you imagine growing up like this and then finally realizing one day that this is not normal?

The concept is mindblowing. Levithan confronts the difficulty and questions that come with this type of existance head on and in a very thoughful and engaging way.

The book really makes you think. Especially as Rhiannon and A try to carry out a relationship. It makes you wonder would you be strong enough to love someone for soley who they are and not the physical package? Could you love your significant other if one day they were male, another day female, one day a drug addict and the next a 300 pound chronically depressed person?

Then there is the whole question of how A should treat the bodies he inhabits. He tries to leave them in the condition he finds them, but what happens if A is in someone who is suicidal? Does he get them help? Or should he not mess with their decision?

Just a ton of wonderful thoughtful issues wrapped in an utterly engrossing story. I could not put this book down. You never know what situation A is going to find when he wakes up and this makes the story absolutely unpredictable. You also are dying to know if A and Rhiannon can actually make this thing work.

I loved the ending, it too was absolutely creative and interesting. I would love to read more stories featuring A...I really would.

Overall an absolutely stunning and fantastic book. Everyone needs to read this. It will make you think and make you look at the perceptions we have as a society in a totally new way. It does all this in a story that is completely engaging, has wonderful characters, is incredibly creative, and even has a sweet love story woven throughout. Highly, highly recommended to everyone.

This book goes towards the following reading challenges:
- 150+ Books Reading Challenge

Early Graphic Novel Review - Hunchback of Notre Dame (1/5 stars)

Reading Level: Adult
Genre: Graphic Novel/Classics
Size: 48 pages
Publisher: Dark Horse
Release Date: July 31, 2012
ISBN-13: 978-1595829528
Stand Alone or Series: Stand Alone
Source: eGalley through NetGalley.com
Rating: 1/5 stars


I got a copy of this for review through Netgalley(dot)com. I am going to be extremely blunt here and say this is one of the worst graphic novels I have ever read. There is nothing about this novel I can recommend.

This is a retelling of the Hunchback of Notre Dame. The retelling is very straight forward and one of the blandest interpretations of the story I have ever read. I am not sure what age group this graphic novel is intended for; but I would definitely not recommend for children or young adult. There is torture, sexual abuse (although not graphic), an implied sex scene, and more torture.

The drawing is...well...really bad. It is done in an impressionistic style. At times you can’t tell what is going on. You can’t even see facial expression of the characters and faces are lumpy and misshapen (and we aren’t talking about the Hunchback’s face here). The characters look completely different from frame to frame...it is very odd. The whole thing look hastily put together and poorly drawn. I really did not enjoy it.

Next let’s talk about characterization...or the lack of. I was incredibly disappointed in Esmeralda, who after being rescued by a guard from the Hunchback’s gropings in an alley, immediately sleeps with the guard and then begs him to say he loves her. It was pathetic, demeaning, and definitely backwards thinking. The priest is your typical, I want to have sex with a beautiful woman but shouldn’t so I will try and blackmail her in secret, kind of guy. Again not someone I want to read about.

All of the characters were cardboard cut-outs, 2D, and did nothing for the poorly rendered drawings. The dialogue was stilted and awkward sounding throughout.

Overall I am really not sure why this got published. The drawing is horrible, the characters are horrible, and the dialogue is awkward and difficult to read. Definitely not recommended. Also only for adults.

This book goes towards the following reading challenges:
- Graphic Novel Challenge
- 150+ Books Reading Challenge

Waiting on Wednesday - 6/20/12

"Waiting On Wednesday" is a weekly meme hosted by Jill at Breaking The Spine.

This week my Waiting on Wednesday book is

Splintered A.G. Howard

.  Click on the image to go to Amazon and read more about this book.

Splintered A.G. Howard

Release Date: January 1st, 2013
Publisher: Amulet Books
Length: 400 pages
ISBN: 978-1419704284

Synopsis from Goodreads.com:

For sixteen years, Alyssa Gardner has lived with the stigma of being descended from Alice Liddell -- the real life inspiration for Lewis Carroll's famed novel, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. But cruel jokes about dormice and tea parties can’t compare to the fact that Alyssa hears the whispers of bugs and flowers ... the same quirk which sent her mother to a mental institution years before.

When her mother takes a turn for the worse and the whispers grow too strong for Alyssa to bear, she seeks the origins of their family curse. A set of heirlooms and a moth tied to an unusual website lead Alyssa and her gorgeous best friend / secret crush, Jeb, down the rabbit hole into the real Wonderland, a place more twisted and eerie than Lewis Carroll ever let on.

There, creepy counterparts of the original fairytale crew reveal the purpose for Alyssa’s journey, and unless she fixes the things her great-great-great grandmother Alice put wrong, Wonderland will have her head.

Midsummer's Eve Giveaway Hop

Welcome to the Midsummer's Eve Giveaway Hop!  Hosted by I am a Reader Not a Writer and Uniquely Moi Books.

Please fill out the form below to enter this giveaway.  The winner will receive the following books; all of these are ARCs.  

  

Also please check the linky below and stop by all the other wonderful blogs participating in this hop.

Early Review - Throne of Glass (Throne of Glass, Book 1) by Sarah J. Maas (5/5 stars)

Reading Level: Young Adult
Genre: Fantasy
Size: 416 pages
Publisher:Bloomsbury USA Childrens
Release Date: August 7, 2012
ISBN-13: 978-1599906959
Stand Alone or Series: 1st book in the Throne of Glass series
Source: eGalley through NetGalley.com
Rating: 5/5 stars

I got an eGalley of this book through NetGalley(dot)com. This is the debut novel by Maas and the first book in a planned trilogy; although it is preceded by four novellas (all of which I have purchased but have not yet read). The story itself is very loosely based on Cinderella.

Celaena Sardothie has served a year in Endovier for her crimes as an assassin when suddenly she is called on by the Crown Prince. She is offered an opportunity she can’t resist. She is to be the Prince’s entry into a contest to see who will be the King’s champion. If she accepts she will compete in a number of challenges, if she wins she will have two years of service to the king and then blessed freedom will be hers. Of course, nothing is as straightforward as that.

This was an absolutely excellent novel. It is supposed to be loosely based on Cinderella, but really reads more like an epic fantasy than a fairy tale retelling. Celaena is a fabulous character; she’s tough and has survived some horrible things...but despite all of that she can still laugh and still care about people. It was wonderful to see her go from the starved wretch that was drug out of the mines to something so much more.

All of the supporting characters are incredibly well done; they all have histories, complex personalities, and are so easy to engage with. Prince Dorian is charming and seems to be a bit of a ladies man, but at times he is incredibly sincere. Captain Westfall, who trains Celaena, is gruff and stiff but seems to understand Celaena like no one else does. There is a foreign princess who befriends Celaena who is a warrior in her own right and an endearing character.

Really every character in this book is just so well done. Even Celaena’s competitors are well filled out and interesting.

The world is wonderfully done. Complex and epic, but never too hard to follow. Magic is forbidden in this world by order of the king. But when Celaena stumbles upon Wyrdstones throughout the palace she finds that Magic is still present in secret ways. Watching Celaena try to unravel the mystery behind this magic was fascinating; magic is present in a fairly subtle way but has a huge impact on what happens in the story.

The plot is complex and well done as well. It is not as complex as say Sanderson or other epic fantasy authors, but it is more complex than you typically find in YA fantasy. I really enjoyed it, I loved the world developed here and had so much trouble putting down this book! This book wrapped up very nicely, no horrible cliffhangers or anything like that.

Overall this was just a fantastic YA fantasy read. I highly recommend to fans of fantasy, especially epic fantasy. While this story is a bit lighter than most adult epic fantasy, it still has many of the elements that make epic fantasy so wonderful. There is a complex plot and world, wonderful magic and mystery woven throughout, there is intrigue, mayhem, and murder. This is one of those rare books where even side characters are incredibly well developed and have wonderful depth. I loved this book. I immediately went out and bought the four preceding novellas and am on pins and needles to see what happens in future novels in this series. Highly recommended!

This book goes towards the following reading challenges:
- 150+ Books Reading Challenge
- Debut Author Reading Challenge