Throwback Review: Anna Dressed in Blood

Throwback Review from 2011!

Anna Dressed in Blood is a YA paranormal ghost story by author Kendare Blake.

Cas is a teenage ghost killer. He has inherited his father's powerful athame, the knife he uses to send deadly ghosts out of this dimension, after he died. And with each kill he is training himself to hunt down the one that brought down his Dad...

His Mom is a kitchen witch, selling mystical stuff on the go, and helping to keep the two of them safe. She's along for the ride somewhat reluctantly, but she knows that just like with her husband - this is Cas's choice, and he's good at it. They move from place to place following legends and leads - and the latest brings them to a town harboring a ghost that is more dangerous than ever - Anna Dressed in Blood.

She's unlike any other ghost he's encountered before. She's fascinating, extraordinary and wears the same dress she was wearing in 1958 when she was brutally murdered. And it drips, neverendingly, with blood. Cas witnesses what she's able to do - how she kills mercilessly with rage.

No one who sees her ever lives to speak about it.

But yet... she lets Cas live.

And there begins Cas's toughest mission yet.

Anna Dressed in Blood has a fantastic, creepy, sad, yet fun opener that gives you a hint at how awesome the book is going to be. The best part? The book follows through!

Cas is an excellent protagonist - he's witty, intelligent, and savvy - fun and interesting to follow. He's like a mix of the hot guys from Supernatural and something entirely new.

Twisty, freaky, and legitimately scary - if Anna Dressed in Blood were a movie, the gore would make it R-rated. Yet Cas's sarcasm and unflappability keep it from becoming too much. The writing maintains a fun and entertaining tone, but allows a deliciously dark edge.

Anna, our title character, is a ghost unlike any other and she astounds both me AND Cas. We are presented with our hero's dilemma and mystery - all of which is very, very intriguing. There's an addictive, but intensely spooky, feel as Cas's obsession with Anna washes over to the reader. It's hard to say too much without giving anything away...

Anna Dressed in Blood is obstinately original, wonderfully bizarre, refreshing, and extremely well-done. It's deeper than you'd initially expect, but does provide you with depth and gravitas to make it even more enjoyable. The end was a little rushed for such an amazing buildup, but it was still great.

This is the kind of story that YA paranormal lovers will fall for - and adult fans as well! Everybody else? Well, you should still give it a shot because there's always a chance you'll be surprised and find that a genre that you didn't think you were a fan of convinces you otherwise!

And me? Well, I am just hoping there's going to be a sequel!!!

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Throwback Review: Love and Other Perishable Items

A contemporary YA Throwback Review for you ravenous bibliophiles, this time. Originally posted back in February 2013!

Love and Other Perishable Items is a YA contemporary fiction novel by Australian author Laura Buzo.

Tomorrow is Valentine’s Day – and to celebrate I bring to you a story about first love. Not the mushy romance novel kind (not that there’s anything wrong with that) or the paranormal kind (not that there’s anything wrong with that either) but the regular, difficult, real-life kind.

It didn’t take long for Amelia to fall for Chris, her trainer at the supermarket in which she works. His easy way of talking, his friendliness, humor, and charisma has done her in.

This is a problem because Chris is twenty-one, a university student hungry to become an independent man. And Amelia? Fifteen.

Having always had a good head on her shoulders, Amelia knows it won’t go anywhere. Sure, it’s like a knife to the heart every time she sees him flirting with a girl his age – but she’ll take the moments of conversation, sharing opinions and personal moments with him at the checkout as they work.

But it’s those long conversations that buzz with wit and candor that start Amelia to wonder, eventually, if her crush really is one-sided… or if there is a chance that despite her age, Chris might like her back.

And even if he does… then what?

Love and Other Perishable Items is superb. I read the whole book in one sitting. I couldn’t stop. I was riveted, glued, and dumbfounded by the tender authenticity and genuineness.

From the get-go, Chris is immediately engaging, likable, fun, and cheery – the kind of guy you’d want to be around. He is able to talk – something that can be difficult to find in guys, and it’s one of the main reasons Amelia falls for him.

The tingly, nervous, excited, slightly obsessive feeling of a crush is evident and honest here. Any one of us who has felt it will recognize it easily. Laura Buzo writes extremely well – extremely.

Amelia is believable, feels like a legitimate fifteen-year-old with a brain. She’s not a bundle of gushy girl romantic fantasies, but can carry of intelligent exchanges, has views, and holds her own among the anguish of unrequited love.

Love and Other Perishable Items switches to Chris’ viewpoint occasionally, through his journal, and it is enlightening and cool. It’s a chance to see his darkness, the underground of his personality that is revealing, disheartening, but realistic. I loved that we got to see her perception of him, his personal hidden side, and then the two combined eventually as a whole human nature. Incredible.

This book isn’t sunshine and rainbows – it’s painful, heartbreaking and sad at times. It’s truly raw and presents unaffected, flawed people and the ache that is sometimes life. But – wow! I was stunned, as you can tell. There’s joy here too – and hope.

Love and Other Perishable Items is… special. I think you’ll think so, too.

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Throwback Review: Rotters

One more throwback review, originally posted in August 2011 this book has definitely left an impression in my memories. Enjoy:

Rotters is a YA contemporary novel with a twist of horror written by author Daniel Kraus.

Sixteen-year-old Joey loves his Mom. It's just been the two of them in Chicago since forever, and he doesn't mind. Joey's life is low-key. He gets straight A's, plays the trumpet, and hangs out with the one friend he's had since he was young.

But when Joey's mother dies in a sudden, tragic accident Joey is sent to live with his father in rural Iowa - a father that he has never met - but a father that Joey's Mom specifically willed him to go to should she die. Joey tries to honor her wishes, but when he arrives at his new home he finds a man that is short on words and leaves for long periods of time without warning.

Nothing is going well for Joey. There's no food at home, no guardian to rely on, and he finds himself being the brunt of cruelty by both students and teachers - each day is a struggle.

Yet once he gets his Dad to speak to him, Joey starts to put the strange pieces of the puzzle together - and before long Joey's life takes another turn - this one far more taboo. His father's secretive occupation? It's one that has been around for centuries, but never greeted with admiration.

Grave robbing.

Obviously, I don't want to give away too much of Rotters plot - but that final bit is necessary to let you know the basic premise of the book. It's kinda important that you're prepared!

Rotters starts off with a flat-out amazing prologue - it's stunning, gripping and instantly makes me aware of the author's talent - a talent that only gets spotlighted more as this vibrant, vivid, vicious novel continues! It features one of the most horrifying high school experiences ever and a world that is dank and dark and utterly fascinating.

I was absolutely riveted by it true originality, it's crisp, startling, phenomenal, enveloping prose, and it's touching, heartrending, one-of-a-kind coming of age story. Rotters features some ugly transformations, gruesome turn of events, and both positive and negative growth in Joey. Rotters is a standout - astounding, horrifying, and jarring.

In my opinion, Rotters is an epic - a journey bringing to the forefront an occupation that turns the stomach and magnifies madness and utter insanity - and it plotted and written brilliantly. I have never read a book like Rotters, it is an experience like no other!

Be ready to control your gag reflex. Be ready to gasp. Be ready to be amazed.

Wow.

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Psych: A Mind is a Terrible Thing to Read

Psych: A Mind is a Terrible to Read is a contemporary mystery based on the USA television series and written by William Rabkin.

Brilliantly showing up a detective in court by causing someone other than the defendant to confess to a murder, therefore throwing out the whole case, is not the best way to get in someone’s good graces.

Though Shawn, man-child of excellent deduction skills who has convinced most of Santa Barbara that he is actually psychic, may be convinced that the end justifies the means in this case, the detective in question is not so sure.

In fact, he’s so irritated that he gets Gus, Shawn’s best friend since childhood, and Shawn’s car impounded over something as silly as eighty-seven parking tickets. Petty man!

But when the duo go to pick up the car, they find they’ve stumbled across a criminal conspiracy and nearly get run over by a Mercedes. Not that surprising, really.

Once Gus wakes up in the hospital, not only does he find himself in the midst of another crazy case with his so-called psychic best friend, but they have somehow picked up a tagalong. Her name is Tara Larison and she’s beautiful, helpful and kind.

And completely insane. She’s positive that she is Shawn’s psychic slave and will do anything for him. Which doesn’t seem TOTALLY bad until Shawn’s enemies start showing up dead – and they are no longer sure if it’s the result of criminal conspiracy or Shawn’s new, gorgeous minion making her devotion known….

I love Psych. One of my favorite TV shows. It’s wacky, witty, full of pop culture and 80s references and hilarious - while also solving crimes.

This is my first foray into the novelization of the TV show and I was quite pleased. Is it AS awesome as the show? I don’t think I’d go quite that far – but it was quite good!

Primarily written from Gus’s perspective, though in third person, A Mind is a Terrible Thing to Read is funny and has that same wackadoodle feeling to it as the show. We get appearances by all the beloved characters and a pretty solid mystery. I even managed to be surprised!

It only reminded me how much I love the show, and I have to say that it was definitely good enough to read the next novelization – as I know there are a good few written. More time with Shawn and Gus is never anything but a good thing in my book!

Now, go find a pineapple!

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Feeling Sorry for Celia

Feeling Sorry for Celia is a YA contemporary novel by Jaclyn Moriarty.

Elizabeth’s best friend Celia has gone missing… again. She has a habit of taking off due to her “free spirit.” Which is really quite inconvenient.

Elizabeth’s father has announced that he will be staying in Australia for the next year, rather than Canada – meaning lots of father/daughter time. Again, quite inconvenient.

In the meantime, Elizabeth’s mother is so busy that they tend to correspond with each other entirely through notes on the fridge.

So though Elizabeth initially finds her English teacher’s homework to start writing actual, real letters (to rekindle the “Joy of the Envelope”) to a stranger at another school quite ridiculous, soon she finds herself telling this stranger more about herself than most know.

Entirely written in the form of letters – either to/from her pen pal at the other school or from silly invented societies like “The Association of Teenagers,” Feeling Sorry for Celia is a unique, excellent read.

As always, Jaclyn Moriarty astounds me in her ability to make a book that is one moment hilarious and preposterous and then suddenly, unexpectedly, make it grounded, relevant and heartbreaking. This is why she is one of my favorite authors.

I’m only now getting a chance to go back and read her earlier works, such as this one. And already her skill is on full display. It was truly a pleasant, entertaining, poignant novel about friendship, family and crushes in the life of this clever and relatable Australian teenager.

Especially in its handling of the unstable Celia, Feeling Sorry for Celia manages to reflect a picture of what too much abandon given to a young person can bring, while not pulling the book into a depressing, unhappy mess. Somehow it remains hopeful and lovely – just the way I like it!

You can bet your bottom dollar I will be reading more from Jaclyn Moriarty!

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Scarlett Undercover

Scarlett Undercover is a YA contemporary mystery by Jennifer Latham.

Independent, shrewd fifteen year old Scarlett finished high school two years early and now spends her time as a private investigator.

When she agrees to investigate the concerns of a little girl after her older brother seems to be “off” following a friend’s suicide – she doesn’t expect it to be a long investigation, more of a feel good case for a kid.

Yet when it becomes clear the suicide may have actually been murder, Scarlett finds herself getting entangled in a world of cults, curses and secrets that may tie into her own family tragedy…

Scarlett Undercover is trying to be a lot of things.

It is trying to be diverse, by bringing a biracial, non-traditional Muslim main character into the limelight. It is trying to be clever and sassy, with a Veronica Mars angle with the teenage detective plot and droll protagonist dealing with a personal, unsolved crime. It’s trying to be slyly supernatural in a magical realism way.

Unfortunately, it didn’t work for me. Perhaps it tried a little too hard.

Okay, I am a big Veronica Mars fan – but there is a difference between a girl with a private detective dad who helps on his cases and therefore has picked up a lot, using her skill for requests like finding a lost dog, etc., and a character such as Scarlett who is living ALONE at the age of fifteen with an actual private detective BUSINESS.

This stretched the realm of my imagination a little too far. I’m all for suspending disbelief and going along with the story, but this premise mixed with the hard boiled noir attempt at stylization and lack of grounding before the action happened – it did not help.

As much as I tried, I could not connect to the characters or the plot. I was unable to finish the book and had to skim it a bit.

However, as always, there are many readers out there that found enjoyment in Scarlett Undercover – and you could very well be one of them! Read it for yourself and see what you think!

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The Girl at Midnight

The Girl at Midnight is a YA urban fantasy by Melissa Grey.

When young Echo is discovered living in the library by a feathered being who calls herself the Ala, her life changes forever.

Becoming an adopted member of an ancient race called the Avicen living beneath the streets of New York City, she grows up among them and her best friend and boyfriend are both Avicen.

Surviving through utilizing her pickpocket skills to sell stolen treasures to the black market, Echo knows that despite the Avicen being the only family she’s ever known – not all of them accept her as one of their own. She is human.

However, an opportunity arises to help the Avicen pursue a legend that may end a centuries-old war between the Avicen and a draconic race – finding the firebird. It’s dangerous and quite possibly nothing but a myth.

But it’s a chance to prove herself…

The Girl at Midnight has a lovely cover. It also presents a vivid race with the feathered, non-human Avicen that are described very well.

Unfortunately, The Girl at Midnight never really took off for me. And I really, really wanted it to.

Far too similar to Daughter of Smoke and Bone - yet less gritty, original and memorable – The Girl at Midnight throws us into a war that is not explained and expects us to be immediately invested. There are only so many times we can be told that “no one remembers why the fighting started” before that gets to be a weak explanation.

Echo as a character is also perplexing. The fact that she continues to steal and pickpocket when she no longer needs to does not make me like her – it’s just wrong. And she didn’t have enough redeeming qualities that came across as genuine for me to forgive her of this vice and accept it as a flaw. She just… came across as flat for me, sadly.

Then once the firebird quest begins, the plot got murkier. Nothing was very clear and I got the impression, possibly wrongly so, that the author may not entirely know where she is going with this plot. That there may be some crater like holes in it.

Whether or not I am right, the romance aspect felt forced and all too familiar – and again just had too many shades of the far superior, in my opinion, Daughter of Smoke and Bone.

Hopefully you will enjoy The Girl at Midnight better than I – as I had to start skimming the novel to get it completed. Unfortunately, there was nothing to keep me hooked when I was over halfway into it. And I won't be seeking the sequels. Sad.

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