Throwback Review: Cleopatra's Moon

Throwback Review from 2012!

Cleopatra's Moon is a YA historical fiction by Vicky Alvear Shecter.

Cleopatra Selene is a princess. She is the only daughter of the revered, intelligent Cleopatra and the Roman General Marcus Antonius. Her people love her and her twin brother Alexandros, as well as their adorable little brother Ptolly. They are the picture of a happy, beautiful family for a people to look up to.

And Cleopatra Selene has every intention of being just as powerful and brilliant a queen as her mother.

But before that day even comes close the Roman ruler, Octavianus, sets out to destroy Cleopatra. At least that is how he is spinning it. Calling her a witch, a whore, and worse. He's determined to turn the people against her as he slowly gains approval for dismantling all that Cleopatra Selene's ever known and loved.

Events turn horrifying, and after experiencing immense loss of life Cleopatra Selene and her brothers are taken to Octavianus's palace in Rome - a place of enemies.

Yet as Cleopatra Selene grows older she has but one goal in sight: regain Egypt's rule and become a queen that would have made her mother proud.

Cleopatra's Moon stunned me. I've always been interested in Cleopatra - as many people have. But I've never heard much about her daughter, or anyone else she left behind after dying. Vicky Alvear Shecter fixes that here. Sure, this is historical fiction - so some characters only exist in our author's mind, and certain events are having to be imagined from a personal perspective we have no real knowledge of - but the basis of the story is truth, and Vicky Alvear Shecter clearly knows her facts!

Thing is though, Cleopatra's Moon is no historical text. This is not a lesson in ancient history. This is a raw, riveting, fascinating, alive telling of Cleopatra Selene and the turbulent time she grew up in. The crackling detail and the characters are riveting and three-dimensional. I was absolutely hooked from start to finish, and every painful moment in the middle.

That's another point to make on Cleopatra's Moon - it's often horrifying. Shecter doesn't shy away from the anguishing, stark representation of the bloody deaths of family members. The brutal overtaking of the kingdom is enough to make you sick to your stomach, but also sit back in awe at Shecter's undeniable skill at effecting our emotions. Because with such realism and honesty in the face of terrors, what can we do but identify with Cleopatra Selene? Especially as she is heartbreakingly young as she witnesses all of this.

Cleopatra's Moon is a disturbing, suspenseful, powerful journey. Reading it puts you right there in the midst of the unimaginable. The mourning, the brutality, the betrayal, the hurt and the fear are all both difficult to read - yet gripping.

I applaud Vicky Alvear Shecter for reminding me of what I love about well-done, respectful historical fiction! This novel is alluring, captivating, romantic, shocking and overwhelming. In the end, I had tears in my eyes! What a beautiful, wonderful book!!!

BONUS REVIEW:
I want to acknowledge that today is Halloween by mentioning another drawing book! Many of us bibliophiles have a creative streak, or know someone who does, and can find good use in do-it-yourself fun. And this one is in keeping with today's holiday. What's it called? Why, it is How to Draw Chiller Monsters, Werewolves, Vampires, and Zombies!

J. David Spurlock is the author and it features the artwork of numerous artists, as well as a foreword by Rob Zombie. This instructional book focuses on many different styles and breaks the steps down into specifics: structure, lighting, perspective, etc. They are pretty creepy, detailed illustrations done by very talented people.

So, if you are interested in nurturing your own talent and learning new tricks, pick up a copy of How to Draw Chiller Monsters, Werewolves, Vampires, and Zombies!

See you guys on Wednesday and have a Happy Halloween!!!

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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: The Wild Queen

Throwback Review from 2012!

The Wild Queen: The Days and Nights of Mary, Queen of Scots is a YA historical fiction novel by the great Carolyn Meyer.

When she was only six days old, Mary of Scotland was crowned Queen after the death of her father. Her mother was concerned for her future and set up a match for little Mary – a match that would one day make her the Queen of France as well by marrying the little dauphin. So, at only five years old Mary is sent to France to be raised alongside her future husband and the rest of the royal family.

It was unorthodox upbringing for a queen, but Mary grew close as siblings to her future husband and became a French girl through and through. Yet everything fell apart when her young husband dies and Mary, now a young woman of eighteen, sees her life fall apart.

All the years in France, away from her mother and her homeland, have come to nothing. She is childless, stripped of her title of Queen of France, and unwanted by her deceased husband’s grieving mother.

Trying to pull her future together once more, Mary is determined to return to Scotland and reign over what is rightfully hers.

But does Mary have what it takes to be queen?

The story of Mary, Queen of Scots might be familiar with many of you. If not, though, I didn’t want to go beyond the information I provided. In fact, I would’ve liked to have left even some of the information out – but I supposed you might want a general idea of what the novel’s about! Understandably so.

Carolyn Meyer has been feeding my captivation of young royals and historical tragedy with the Young Royals series for years. I have read all of them – except for Duchessina, which I need to remedy. One of the best things about the way she writes – she’s completely non-judgmental. For example, there are books focusing on Elizabeth I, Mary Tudor, and here Mary, Queen of Scots individually, all of whom were certainly not friendly with one another – yet each is given their own story and chance to see the difficulty of each life without an obvious preference from the author.

With The Wild Queen, I am once more floored by the pressure and expectation on young children – it’s both fascinating and deeply sad. Carolyn Meyer yet again creates a riveting drama with flesh-and-blood characters out of the pages of history.

An air that is ominous and soaked in heartbreak yet to come permeates the story, yet I was glued from start to finish by its expertly written, never-ceasing intrigue. The desire for power instead of mere title is an ambition of headstrong Mary’s that plagues her life. It makes her a cautionary tale, but also an admirable one of a sort.

Here we have gripping historical detail with excellent pacing. The Wild Queen is a sad story of bad decisions shaping a dismal future – definitely one of the most melancholy downfalls of a strong female ruler that I know of.

Among the disappointments and shattered aspirations, though, there is an amazingly strong bond of friendship among Mary and her three close friends since childhood – possibly some of the only relationships that could truly be trusted in her lifetime.

The Wild Queen may be an utterly despairing tale, and one that leaves behind many questions about its mysterious subject, but it is also an unforgettable one.

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Throwback Review: Green Heart

Another Throwback Review - this time from back in 2012! Enjoy!

Green Heart is the combination of two YA novels Green Angel and Green Witch by Alice Hoffman.

The day it happened, fifteen-year-old Green was angry and refused to speak to her family as they left. She had wanted to go with them to the city, but they needed her to stay home.

Her father, mother, and sister all died in the terrible disaster – leaving Green all alone, and plagued by the memory of her last moments with them.

She struggles to survive in a world turned topsy-turvy, a place where nothing wants to grow among the ashes. Green becomes one with the thorny, lifeless realm of her garden – but finds she must allow herself to open back up to life, to possibility… to magic.

Even though all she can see is pain.

Green Heart was a majestic read!

I read The Foretelling by Alice Hoffman years ago and was dumbfounded by it – so I had high expectations, and, my, were they reached!

The haunting, mournful, poetic sentences create an almost ethereal, atmospheric tone – a poem that goes on and on with grace and elegance.

As I read the Green Heart, or I should probably say absorbed, I hoped for a happy end, for healing, but I knew that anything Alice Hoffman created would be more complicated than that, more real.

Green Heart is a novel of lovely, wistful, staggering simplicity of words that brings a quiet power to this otherworldly tale. This is especially true when it comes to the allure and hypnotic pull of nature and animals (Animal lover, here!). There’s a sense of magic, of wonder, of hurt and hope intertwined.

Both Green Angel and Green Witch are beautiful, the sequel taking us deeper into a surprisingly revealing and exquisite story that is tonally the same.

If you’re a bit sick of reading about the apocalypse, various dystopias, that really just kind of depress you (I know that I have started to be), Green Heart is a refreshing read.

Here we have a book that is touching, transcends genres, and brings lightness to the dark.

If you haven’t already, you should definitely read Green Heart!

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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: The Game of Triumphs

Another Throwback Review, this time from February 2012. Take a looksie:

The Game of Triumphs is a YA urban fantasy by Laura Powell.

Fifteen-year-old Cat is on her way home, doing her best to avoid human contact as always, when she can’t help but notice a man being chased – a man that asks for her help. But Cat sees the gleam of excitement in his eyes, along with the fear, and figures he’s just a weirdo.

Yet something about it all sparks her curiosity, and Cat can’t seem to help pursuing the situation. Doing so brings her to an extravagant party that introduces her to the Game of Triumphs. It’s a centuries-old game played between modern-day London and an alternate, unexplainable reality called the Arcanum where game players embark on challenges having to do with the tarot cards they are dealt, or the card they are trying to win. It’s all a bit confusing to Cat at first, but the intrigue is undeniable.

Not long after becoming involved in this enigmatic game, though, Cat finds out just how dangerous and potent the information you can learn in Arcanum can be. Despite others’ single-focus goal to win and gain the power and glory of their Triumph, Cat begins to uncover secrets from her own past that alarm her – including a possible link to the Game of Triumphs from when she was very young.

Determined to learn more, Cat is drawn into the addictive gameplay – and it’s not something you can just walk away from…

My synopsis may be a little befuddling, and I apologize for that. The specifics of the actual game are a little confusing and would take a while to explain – so I’m not. The author does it far better than I could!

The Game of Triumphs has a brilliant, truly enthralling start with a creepy tarot card. It has a plot that feels fresh and new from the get-go, which is fantastic for us bibliophiles that read so much that sometimes plots tend to blur. Not here!

Laura Powell is not shy about throwing us into the story. We’re right in the thick of it from the beginning, though she kindly offers up a tad of exposition to let us a learn a bit more about Cat and her eccentric relationship with her Aunt Bel, who has been her guardian since her parents’ death when she was a child. Its’ sparse but illuminating initial detail provides us some background and explains Cat’s different, likable, maybe slightly standoffish personality.

As she gets more involved in the Game of Triumphs I was just as confused as Cat was about how the game is played. I hoped it would eventually make sense – I was captivated by it. And, happily, Laura Powell expertly lets us learn by little explanation and lots of observation without bombarding us with rules and details in one fell swoop.

The Game of Triumphs is kind of psychedelic, in a good, intoxicating, stimulating way! Mysteries and questions abound and my curiosity always mirrored Cat’s. Startling revelations, done in a hypnotic, dream-like way bring about a new level of meaning and history to the game.

Let me put it this way, since I’m not so sure I’ve made it clear yet: The Game of Triumphs is very cool, very original, and very alluring.

And I will be waiting to read the sequel the day it comes out!

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Interview with the Vampire

Interview with the Vampire is the first book in Anne Rice’s adult horror fantasy Vampire Chronicles series.

When a young reporter gets a chance to interview with the enigmatic, pale man that claims to be a vampire, he takes it. Such begins the long, harrowing tale of Louis, his maker Lestat and his “child” Claudia.

Sweeping from pre-civil war Louisiana to the mists of Europe, Louis weaves his life story for the reporter from the tragic, defining moments before his transition and those bloody, unsettling moments immediately following his meeting with the vampire Lestat – and beyond.

Anyone who has seen the film starring Brad Pitt, Tom Cruise and a young Kirsten Dunst may know many details of the turns the novel will take – as it is a fairly strong adaptation, likely due to the fact that Anne Rice herself penned it. However, here we have the original book form where Rice lends that miserable, contemplative, gloomy voice of Louis who is a reluctant vampire, to put it lightly.

Desperately trying to hang on to his humanity, Louis is a conflicted character who is torn between caring for, and being dependent on, his relationships with Lestat and Claudia, while also being horrified by their easy killing and lack of conscience. He is, quite simply, not built to be a vampire but doomed to its fate.

Without providing further plot details, I will say that Interview with the Vampire had gorgeous descriptions and an eloquent, poetic language that was both very enveloping and also, at times, probably more than necessary. I won’t deny occasionally skimming some of the more longwinded narration describing the countryside or what have you.

However, the prose was affective in creating an absorbing atmosphere, a distinct first-person voice and some occasionally powerful emotional punches – from strangely, almost involuntarily, erotic to heartbreaking, tormenting sorrow.

Though Louis’s journey through vampirism was hypnotic, and its eventual conclusion titillated me on a pure character development level, I have been assured by a friend that the next books in the Vampire Chronicles series are far more satisfying. It sounds as though Lestat becomes much more in the spotlight and creates a vibe a little less depressive and a little more fun.

Either way, though, Interview with the Vampire was definitely worth the read and was a great experience. I would strongly recommend bibliophiles with an enjoyment of gothic stories to check it out! I look forward to diving into more novels in the series as soon as I am able.

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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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Throwback Review: Eyes Like Stars

Another throwback review this week! This one was posted originally in July 2009 and is still one of my favorites! Here ya go:

Eyes Like Stars in the first book by Lisa Mantchev in the Theatre Illuminata trilogy.

Bertie lives on a stage. Her friends are fairies from A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Her crush is Nate, a pirate from The Little Mermaid. And her childhood friend and now frenemie is Ariel, a hunky spirit from The Tempest.

That’s right. On the stage Bertie lives on, all those characters from all those plays? They’re alive and bursting with drama. And not just the characters from Shakespeare. Every single play that has ever been written is represented in The Book. The Book that makes all of this possible. The Book that creates the magic.

But Bertie isn’t one of these characters; the theatre has taken her in, with a rather murky explanation as to why. It is her home. The only place she knows.

However, Bertie isn’t the most gracious of guests. She can’t seem to help making messes and getting into mischief. And when she is threatened with banishment – she has to find a way to make herself invaluable to the Theatre in order to stay. But while she works hard at doing just that, things start to fall apart. The very existence she is trying to maintain for herself is disappearing in front of her eyes.

Mixing drama with whimsical fantasy, humor with magical depth, Eyes Like Stars manages to be extremely hypnotic in it’s telling. Bertie is somehow very relatable, yet completely immersed in this world that is so unlike our own. She’s interesting and talented without being a goody-two-shoes. All of the incredible characters from all the plays are mesmerizing and stunningly entertaining.

And the plot weaves itself into more than it first seems. There are twists I can assure you, you won’t see coming! At least, I didn’t.

It’s not just a book for Shakespeare lovers, though I’m sure they’d enjoy the characters being lively and full of personality. I, myself, only have a read a couple of the plays and have only a basic idea of the others, and it was in no way an impediment to my delight in Eyes Like Stars.

Somehow, by the last page I found myself spellbound in this exceptionally unique, dreamlike YA novel and breathless for the next installment. The character depth and wit manages to grab a hold of your emotions in a way that you wouldn’t expect for such a quirky novel. But there seems to be more under the surface.

And ALL of it is excellent.

I think you all should find it when it comes out this month and decide for yourselves: Do you wish you had your own Peaseblossom, Cobweb, Moth, and Mustardseed (the fairies from A Midsummer Night’s Dream)? My answer is an emphatic: yes.

I’d be shocked if you disagreed.

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Throwback Review: The Forest of Hands and Teeth

Due to time restraints, instead of a new review I am doing a throwback! This review was originally posted back in April 2011 - and is definitely a great read! Here goes:

The Forest of Hands and Teeth is a YA post-apocalyptic, literary zombie novel by Carrie Ryan.

I know what you're thinking - "literary" zombie novel? Yep, never read anything like it!

Well, that's not exactly true. The whole reason I became obsessed with reading The Forest of Hands and Teeth (beyond the amazing title) is the short story Carrie Ryan wrote in Kiss Me Deadly, a compilation of a bunch of stunning stories written by some of today's best YA paranormal authors. It was called Hare Moon and it took place in the same world, the same village as The Forest of Hands and Teeth - and it was flat out spectacular. So I knew that I absolutely had to read The Forest of Hands and Teeth.

So, lets get to the synopsis, shall we?

Mary lives in a village surrounded by a fence. The fence keeps out the Unconsecrated that live in the Forest of Hands and Teeth, those who have Returned after being Infected - and whose hunger and moans never cease. The Guardians protect the fence, make sure it holds, make sure there won't be a breach. There hasn't been a breach in years. The Sisterhood knows best, and directs the village towards the survival of mankind.

The time is coming when Mary will be claimed and her life of commitment with a husband will begin. After all, in order to survive there must be children. And in a village plagued with miscarriages and barrenness, this is prized above almost anything else.

Yet Mary has never been like other villagers. Her mother has told her of the ocean, a place so many believe is nothing but a ridiculous dream - an impossibility. Mary longs to leave the village, to know of more. To see that they are not the last of mankind, as they've always been told. That there is hope. But secrets begin to reveal themselves to Mary, and what she has always known to be true is thrown into questioning and suspicion.

But then the unthinkable happens. The fence is breached. The Unconsecrated get in. And everything and everyone is in chaos. Mary is faced with unthinkable choices - between the brother she yearns for and the brother she's bound to, between the falling village and the uncertain place the fences old and worn path leads to.

And the Unconsecrated just keep coming.

Oh my. Okay, so my expectations were high from the short story. And my expectations were met - and exceeded. But my, oh my... What an unsettling book! The Forest of Hands and Teeth is horror through and through, written superbly and uniquely - causing a gripping, insanely intriguing, and darkly disturbing result.

I was on pins and needles practically the entire time - totally freaked out by its delicately terrifying, lyrically and deceptively simple prose, and the nonstop shocking turn of events that kept leaving me breathless. The Forest of Hands and Teeth is intense (to put it lightly) and heart-poundingly scary - its horror done almost too well!

Carrie Ryan managed to horrify and sicken me with a world that felt too real to be filled with flesh-eating zombies. She brought it to an entirely different level than any shtick with zombies could be. There was absolutely nothing cartoonish about Mary's story, a heroine flawed but lovely, naive but wise beyond her years, strong and perfect as a main character.

The Forest of Hands and Teeth never ceased to stun me, leaving me with an unforgettably nightmarish experience that was sprinkled with enough humanity, love, hope, and beauty to make it as effectual as it was.

I was heartbroken and exhausted by the end. And ready to see what was going to happen next in the sequel The Dead-Tossed Waves. And all the more wowed by the new implications of the short story Hare Moon, which I now realize to be an incredible prequel, and a must-read to any fan of The Forest of Hands and Teeth!

Have you read it, my fellow bibliophiles? Were you as floored as I was? I'd love to hear your thoughts!

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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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