Flight into Fantasy

It seemed only fitting to review this book on Halloween. After all, Halloween is the one day where we try very hard to scare each other silly. And this book is definitely scary, although perhaps not in any conventional sense. Also, you have been warned. There are some pretty heavy spoilers throughout this post, so if for some ungodly reason you want to read this for yourself, you should probably skip the rest of this post.

Title: Flowers in the Attic: The Dolanganger Saga book 1
Author: V C Andrews
Genre: Wikipedia says it is Gothic horror, but I just call it an awful, awful trainwreck from which I could not look away.
Source: Bookshare
Reason for Reading: I think the conversation went something like this:

Primavera: “OMG, you’ve never read Flowers in the Attic?”
Me: “No. I do know it’s got incest in it and one of the kids dies from eating sugar doughnuts.”
Prima: “OMG you should read it. I’ll read it, too, so we can *headdesk* together.”

Thus it was that I started reading the book. And then got so horrified I had to tweet about it. A lot. I do not know whether Prima managed to get through a reread, or if she just got a vicarious thrill from watching me suffer.

Synopsis: OK, so there’s this family, the Dolangangers, and their lives are peaceful and idyllic until the fateful day when Mr. Dolanganger dies in an awful car accident. Mrs. Dolanganger, being basically a useless waste of space, decides the best thing to do is take her kids back to her family home. She’s going to charm her father into forgiving her for a terrible thing she’s done, namely run off with her half-uncle (that would be Mr. Dolanganger) and then get herself written back into his will, so she can inherit a fortune. The plan is to spring the kids on the grandfather as a surprise, and the only way to do that is to shut them away in an attic. The few days Mrs. D. promises turn into four years, and in the meantime, Cathy, our uber-special, pretty pretty princess heroine, and her brother Chris (who is brilliant! And he’s going to be a doctor! And he’s brilliant! And he’s a great artist! And did I mention he’s brilliant? Because I don’t think I did) get close in a way that two siblings never should.

My Thoughts: You know how there are some books that you enjoy even though they are bad, because they’re fun stories, and it’s obvious that the author isn’t taking herself all that seriously, and even though they may have all the substance of cotton candy, they are a lot of fun? Well, this isn’t one of those books. This book I kept reading with wide-eyed incredulity, wondering how V. C. Andrews could possibly top herself. I didn’t like it, but I had to keep going because it was a trainwreck and I could not! look! away! This book was like reading the horrible tempestuous fantasies of an emo teenage girl which should never have left her hard drive. It’s so very overwrought, with everyone being over the top in their cruelty or their kindness or their passion.

I don’t even know where to start with this book. Should I tell you about Cathy, who is immature, self-centered, and a brat, in addition to being the prettiest girl ever? And that’s our *narrator*. She’s the embodiment of a Mary Sue, because everyone either loves her unreservedly or hates her fiercely. She’s even got typical Mary Sue flaws: she’s stubborn, she sees the dark side to every situation (so, basically, she’s right all the time), and she’s a complete nitwit. She talks a good game, about not needing approval from anyone, but she seems to be incapable of doing anything on her own initiative. And let’s not forget that she writes in an over-the-top style, with lots of exclamation marks and phrases like “golly-lolly” or “Good golly day!” inserted every once in a while. I don’t know who in the world ever talked like this, but I am fairly certain I would want to commit horrible violence on them if I did meet someone who did.

Chris is one of those YA boyfriends I don’t like. He’s utterly devoted to Cathy, who doesn’t appear to notice any flaws. He’s also Edward Cullen-tastic in his creepy obsession with the women in his life, first his mother and then his sister. Also, as mentioned earlier, he is brilliant. And knows everything about everything. And is such a pompous windbag that I want to slug him. Frequently.

The younger Dolanganger children, Cory and Carrie, sadly only rate a paragraph. I loved Cory, who was sweet and frail and absolutely adorable. Needless to say, he is the one who bites it with the sugar doughnuts at the end. Poor Carrie, by contrast, is just unloved by everyone. Cathy doesn’t think much of her, Chris ignores her, and their grandmother is outright abusive.

That brings me to the adults. The ones we meet are caricatures, all. The kids’ mother is a vapid bimbo who gradually loses herself to pretty clothes and attentions from men. The grandmother is an imposing witch of a woman who is so over the top in her abuse of the kids.

There isn’t much of a plot. The kids never think to try and escape until years into their captivity, and then only after Cory finally dies. As one reviewer put it, they’d never survive a real kids’ book.

“But Shannon,” you may well be asking yourself, “What about the incest?” Well, let me tell you. It’s as creepy as you might imagine, given that our hero and heroine are basically prototypes of a certain sparkly vampire and his ladylove, only, you know, related. And not sparkly. In addition to the creepiness, though, the incest scene underscores something I noticed throughout the series: a horrible misogynist streak I can’t believe I’m reading in a book written by another woman. You see, Cathy *made* Chris rape her. If she hadn’t snuck into her mother’s bedroom and kissed her mother’s new husband, Chris wouldn’t have gotten jealous. And if Cathy hadn’t been wearing a short nightie, Chris wouldn’t have been tempted. So, basically, Cathy asked for it. And Cathy’s not the only one who has to deal with implicit slut shaming. Her mother is described in frighteningly sensual tones, and Cathy begins to truly despise her when she figures out that her mother isn’t nearly as pure as she once thought she was. I kind of get the impression that in the world of Cathy, it’s totally OK if *she* sluts around, but other women who do the same? Total h0rs. Which is weird, considering the bizarrely sensual terms she uses to describe her mother.

Final Thoughts: I really have no idea how to grade this book. It’s awful, tawdry, and has no redeeming factors. But I do want to read at least the sequel, because the trainwreck syndrome is bad. I think the awfulness of the story and the writing win out over my TWS, though, so this one gets a failing grade.

Final Grade: F

Other Opinions:

Bookshelves of Doom: I was going to seek out other links, but really, just go read this. It’s all you need.

Title: Wasteland
Author: Francesca Lia Block
Genre: Contemporary YA fiction
Source: Bookshare
Reason for Reading: This book was on my readathon pile, but I read it after the fun was over.

Synopsis: Lex and Marina have always been close. Closer, perhaps, than any siblings ought to be. But one day they act on that closeness, and afterwords, Lex kills himself. Marina, with the help of a mutual friend, must pick up the shattered pieces of her life.

My Thoughts: I actually was drawn to this book because of my love-hate relationship with a completely different type of book, Flowers in the Attic, which I will be reviewing soon. I thought I should explore the subject in a way that I knew would be less tawdry, and I do have a soft spot for Ms. Block’s writing.

Sadly, I didn’t like it. The writing is lovely and poetic and absolutely amazing, but I found that to be more of a distraction than a positive. I mean, if there are no characters I want to root for, then no matter how lovely the prose, I’m going to be left cold. And I didn’t root for Marina. I felt sorry for her, and I acknowledged that she’d had a devastating loss, but I wasn’t engaged. As for Lex, he was the kind of teenage boy that pops up in YA more often than I like: utterly devoted to the object of his admiration, with a facade of cool grittiness without much substance, and no personality to speak of. I felt similarly about West, the third character. He was just way too good to be true.

As for the plot, this is a quiet novel, so not a whole lot actually happens until the end. That’s when the author chooses to have a complete and utter cop-out. I’m sure the end was meant to be ironic, but the result was that I was left wondering WTF the point of this book I’d just read actually was.

Final Thoughts: Moments of lovely writing were not enough to save this book for me, and I couldn’t get past the horrible cop-out ending. Give this one a pass.

Final Grade: D

Other Opinions:

I couldn’t find any. If you’ve read this book and want to link me to a review, leave a comment!

I suck very hard at challenges so far. I need to make a system that will work for me at keeping challenge stuff organized. But that said, I am going to join another one.

The Women Unbound reading challenge focuses on the broad area of women’s studies. As that is something I’d like to minor in, this seemed like an appropriate challenge to join.

Here is my list, so far:

• Woman of the Iron People by Eleanor Arnason

• Gate to Women’s Country by Sherry S. Tepper
• The Female Man by Joanna Russ
• Cunt: A Declaration of Independence by Inga Muscio
• Gender Outlaw: On Men, Women and the Rest of Us by Kate Bornstein

I think that’s a good list. If there’s anything else I should add, let me know in comments!

ETA: Ha! Using my mad spreadsheet skillz, I made myself a spreadsheet for challenges I’m participating in. Go me!

Title: The Goose Girl
Author: Shannon Hale
Genre: YA fantasy
Source: Bookshare
Reason for Reading: I’d heard many good things about Ms. Hale’s books, and I really enjoy fairy tale retellings, so I thought this one would be up my alley.

Synopsis:

She was born with her eyes closed and a word on her tongue, a word she could not taste. Her name was Anidori-Kiladra Talianna Isilee, Crown Princess of Kildenree, and she spent the first years of her life listening to her aunt’s stories and learning the language of the birds, especially the swans. And when she was older, she watched as a colt was born, and she heard the first word on his tongue, his name, Falada.

From the Grimm’s fairy tale of the princess who became a goose girl before she could become queen, Shannon Hale has woven an incredible, original, and magical tale of a girl who must find her own unusual talents before she can lead the people she has made her own.

My Thoughts: Oh, yes. This is a lovely, lovely book, and I cannot wait to read the rest of the series. It contains many things that I love to see done well–a strong heroine, a lush fantasy landscape, supporting characters, and a lovely romance.

Ani starts out a relatively passive character. She is living in the shadow of her mother, more at home around the swan pond and always feeling as if she never quite belonged. When she’s promised in marriage to the prince of Bayer, she’s devastated, but she knows she’ll go because she always does what she’s told. Then her lady-in-waiting, Celia, betrays her, and Ani finds that assuming her rightful place isn’t as easy as in the tales.

This book features some great characters. There’s Ani herself, who grows from a relatively weak and passive heroine to someone who knows her own mind and isn’t afraid to stand up for herself and for her people. She eventually becomes the leader that she never thought she could be, and, best of all, she does not require rescuing. She’s smarter and more competent than she gives herself credit for, and I just loved her spirit and watching her grow.

There are also some lovely secondary characters. I particularly loved the rest of the forest born, from Enna with her affinity with fire to Finn and Conrad. They all had distinct personalities, and I never got the sense that their presence was just there to prop up the story. In fact, the burgeoning friendship between Ani and Enna was one of the best female friendships I’ve read about in a long time. And the romance was just perfect. Ani’s love interest is easy to spot from a mile off, and his big secret is easy to figure out, but he was such an endearingly klutzy guy, and I loved that he and Ani developed a friendship from which the romance grew.

The plot follows a rather predictable pattern, but like wrapping yourself in a warm fleece blanket, it’s comforting rather than simply boring, and because I loved Ani so much and because, after all, this is a fairy tale retelling, it didn’t bother me at all. I also enjoyed this fantasy world. It’s not horribly different from our own, but still seems like it could be a recognizable place.

Final Thoughts: If Ms. Hale has more stories in her like this, I will be a fan for life. It’s a great comfort read, leaving me with a smile on my face and lots of warm fuzzies.

Final Grade: B+

Other Opinions:

• Teen Book Review

• Book Nut
• Stephanie’s Written Word
• Stainless Steel Droppings
• Tip of the Iceberg
• Rhinoa’s Ramblings

Title: Lessons from a Dead Girl
Author: Jo Knowles
Genre: Contemporary romance
Source: Bookshare, which is providing lots of wonderful YA books lately.
Reason for Reading: I know this book was brought to my attention by a blogger. Can I remember which blogger it was? Of course not.

Synopsis:

FF=Friends Forever. That’s what Leah tells Laine when she writes the letters on her hand in the fifth grade. But theirs is a complex and abusive friendship, and it’s only after Leah is killed in an accident that Laine begins to make sense of their complicated past.

How long does a childhood promise written on the palm of a hand last? Is there really such a thing as friends forever? Only Laine can answer. To do so, she must explore a troubled friendship, find its core, and decide whether she can forgive Leah—and ultimately, forgive herself.

My Thoughts: One of the things I love about YA fiction is that it really does a great job dealing with female friendships. That’s something I don’t find nearly enough of in the adult novels I read, so it’s refreshing to see it in YA. Even though Leah and Laine’s friendship is not idealized, to put it mildly, Knowles doesn’t sugar coat any of the issues. And I don’t think I’ve ever read a book where kids abuse other kids in quite so vivid a way. I mean, I know children do sexually abuse each other. But it’s not something that gets acknowledged very often, particularly all the messy parts involving the shame and guilt and the wondering by the abused if they didn’t deserve it. Again, that’s one of the things about YA that I love. It tackles topics like that which I’m not sure I could handle in an adult novel, and when done well, that can be an eye-opening experience. All that said, I did not love this book. I really wish I had, and I feel like an awful person for saying that, considering that Laine, our main character, goes through things that no girl should ever have to. But I didn’t.

I found myself comparing this book to the wonderful Just Listen by Sarah Dessen. Both books feature quiet, passive protagonists and their destructive relationships with best friends. But Dessen’s book is quite a bit lighter than Knowles’, which in this case I think is a positive.

As a character, I found Laine hard to relate to, but paradoxically, hard to dismiss. I wished she weren’t so passive, and it took her a long time before she finally got up the courage to move away from Leah’s self-destruction. I liked that Laine struggles with Leah’s abuse, being both drawn to and repelled by her. But I couldn’t quite like her, because I never felt that she stopped being passive. Annabel in Just Listen finds her voice, and the reader gets to see it. I never felt that Laine did, and I would have liked to, because Laine dealt with things Annabel never had to worry about. In particular, there’s a mention at the end of the book where Laine tells us she had a conversation with her friends about what Leah did to her, but we don’t get to read that conversation. I wish we had, because I think it would have been a more meaningful and cathartic experience than hearing about it secondhand.

Leah, who is as much a main character as Laine herself, was far more interesting. I couldn’t stand her at all, which of course was the author’s intent. I did get where she was coming from, though, and her story was absolutely tragic. While of course her behavior isn’t to be condoned, it made a horrible kind of sense and my heart broke for her.

This isn’t a very plot-intensive book. We know at the beginning–even from the title–that Leah is dead, and Laine must figure out how she feels about that. I sometimes like quiet, introspective books, and I did like this one, but I didn’t quite love it. I wanted more from Laine; I wanted her to do something, to say more things, to be proactive rather than reactive. I also wanted more from the people around her who weren’t Leah. I wanted character development, and at least a hint of motivation, and I didn’t get that.

This book does deal with dark themes, including childhood sexual abuse. It isn’t explicit, but that is something to be aware of if you find that kind of thing makes you squeamish.

Final Thoughts: Ultimately, I wish I’d liked this book better. It was dark, and dealt with difficult issues, but ultimately Laine’s passivity really bothered me.

Final Grade: B-

P.S. This is one of those books where I really want to know where the hell the parents were? Not just because of the abuse, but because Laine’s major activity post-Leah seems to involve going to lots of parties and getting drunk. Do these authors actually think that’s what all teens do? Could I have a teen who has other interests besides drunken partying occasionally, please?

Other Thoughts

• Becky: Liked it more than I did.

• The Book Zombie: Ahh, here’s the review that made me want to read this book!
• Maw Books: Very positive.

Title: The Knife of Never Letting Go: Chaos Walking, book 1
Author: Patrick Ness
Genre: YA science fiction/dystopia
Source: Bookshare! Finally!
Reason for Reading: There’s been so much hype about this book, and I knew, from the first time I’d heard of it, that I wanted to read it. But it wasn’t being made into an ebook, and it wasn’t being made into an ebook, and no matter how much whining I did, there was never an accessible version of the book. Then it showed up a couple of weeks ago on Bookshare, and as soon as I possibly could, I put aside everything I’d been reading and dove into it.

Synopsis:

Todd Hewitt is the only boy in a town of men. Ever since the settlers were infected with the Noise germ, Todd can hear everything the men think, and they hear everything he thinks. Todd is just a month away from becoming a man, but in the midst of the cacophony, he knows that the town is hiding something from him — something so awful Todd is forced to flee with only his dog, whose simple, loyal voice he hears too. With hostile men from the town in pursuit, the two stumble upon a strange and eerily silent creature: a girl. Who is she? Why wasn’t she killed by the germ like all the females on New World? Propelled by Todd’s gritty narration, readers are in for a white-knuckle journey in which a boy on the cusp of manhood must unlearn everything he knows in order to figure out who he truly is.

My Thoughts: The best kind of books are the ones that provide an experience so visceral that you can’t help but feel that you’re a part of it. For me, this was one of those books. Todd came to life for me, and, whereas most of the time I find that I’m reading with a kind of detachment, observing rather than interacting with the text, Todd’s narration hooked me and never let me go. When he suffered, I suffered with him. When, about halfway through the book, he does something really stupid, I had to take a break for a few hours before I could pick it back up again, because I didn’t want Todd to be doing that. At the end, I was left frustrated–though in a good way–by the cliffhanger. How could there just be no more story? How am I going to know if Todd’s going to be all right? And now, of course, I am waiting with barely restrained patience for the second book to be made available.

I can’t talk a whole lot about the plot, because I don’t want to ruin it for you, but I will say that it moves along rapidly. I was never bored, and I was as surprised as Todd was by some of the things that happen.

As I mentioned, I loved Todd. Normally, I don’t really like books written in dialect, but I liked that this one was. Todd’s not a well-educated kid, and I liked that this was reflected in the way he spoke and the way he thought about things. Everything he wrote related to the world, and I never felt like there were infodumps just for the sake of the reader. This world is a chilling place, made even more chilling by how casual Todd is. He brings up the fact that the mayor of the town he’s from insisted all the books be burned, and then he moves on. I think that was the moment at which I decided I was in love.

Also, so much happens to Todd. In some ways, he really does become a man, and watching him on his journey, I felt like I’d made a friend. I hate how much suffering he goes through, and I know there’s more to come, but at the same time, I’m hoping he will emerge victorious.

The rest of the characters were quite vivid. Todd’s dog, Manchee, provided moments of comic relief, and was the most loyal friend anyone could want. The girl Todd meets, Viola, is strong and determined in her own way, though she does occasionally exhibit some damsel-in-distress behaviors that kind of irritated me. The villains are quite terrifying, but I never felt that they were the moustache-twirling, “Bwahaha look how eevil I am” sorts.

Final Thoughts: I know I’ve not said anything original in this review, but I did love this book. It is dark and gritty, with lots of violence and horrible things happening, and the cliffhanger at the end is positively evil. I highly, highly recommend it.

Grade: A

Other Thoughts

Title: Blood Roses
Author: Francesca Lia Block
Genre: YA urban fantasy-ish
Source: Bookshare
Reason for Reading: I really love Block’s famous Weetzie Bat books, and I knew she would be a good choice for the Readathon.
Synopsis:

What shall we do, all of us? All of us passionate girls who fear crushing the boys we love with our mouths like caverns of teeth, our mushrooming brains, our watermelon hearts? What’s real is what’s imagined in nine tales of transformation by Francesca Lia Block.

My Thoughts: I’m torn about this one. Nothing I’ve read by Ms. Block has been as enchanting as Weetzie Bat and its sequels. But there is something magical about her writing. It is urban fantasy in its purest form, set in a glittering, glitzy L.A. with distinctive and memorable characters. So, basically, I really wanted to love this book, and I didn’t.

There were short stories I adored. “Giant”, which features the quote from the synopsis and describes a girl’s awkwardness with growing up, was lovely. I adored the darkly comic “My Boyfriend is an Alien”, because haven’t all girls at some point thought boys were from another planet? Plus, that short story has a blink and you miss it darker thread that lends it a poignancy that makes it beautiful. The same is true for “My Mother the Vampire”, in which the relationship between the mother and daughter is quite complex for a very short story.

That all being said, I couldn’t help thinking that some of the stories were trying a little too hard to be overtly symbolic. I kept reading some of them and thinking, “OK, this one’s about puberty. This one’s about first love. This one’s about sex.” I just wanted Block to get on with telling the stories and not have themes that were so very obvious.

I don’t know. Maybe I’ve grown out of Block’s dark fairyland L.A. I’ll still keep reading her books, but this one was meh.

Final Thoughts: Some of the stories were lovely, but taken together, the collection didn’t really leave much of an impression.

Grade: C

Other Thoughts:

• Teen Book Review: She wasn’t sure what she thought of it either!

• Estella’s Revenge: Very positive.

I forgot to do a post about the 2eadathon as a whole. I guess now is as good a time as any to do that.

Basically… I’m really glad I participated. I had a lot of fun reading other people’s tweets, and there are several new blogs I’ve added to my feed reader that I hope to visit soon.

I’m definitely going to participate more fully next April. Hopefully I can even do the whole 24 hours without the need for pesky things like sleep and without other plans. I also picked really good books, for the most part, although I think for next time I’m going to try and have more light fare, because most of what I read was seriously depressing.

Today, I’ve been writing papers. (Well, actually, I spent most of today putting off the writing of said papers, but they are written, so that’s good.) I’m going to try to write up reviews for the books I read yesterday so that there will be plenty of content while I am busy with RL this weekend.

I hope the rest of you had a relaxing post-Readathon Sunday!

Well, I’ve done as much as I can. I finished three books today, which I think is a great accomplishment considering the fact that I hung out with friends most of the day. For the record, in addition to The Knife of Never Letting Go I was able to finish Blood Roses by Francesca Lia Block and Lessons from a Dead Girl by Jo Knowles.

I hope those of you participating in the Readathon had as much fun as I did! I, meanwhile, am going to bed, and will catch you all on the flipside!

I finished The Knife of Never Letting Go. I have a bit less than an hour before I have to get ready to leave for the afternoon, so the next thing I picked out was a really short book of short stories called Blood Roses , by Francesca Lia Block, who is a YA author whose books normally work for me.

Incidentally, I loved TKONLG. The things I hated were all because I hated that the characters suffered as much as they did, and, man, do I want the next book, like, right now, please.

How are the rest of you doing? I suck at commenting back, but I’m going to try to do so tonight when I get home!

The Readathon is here! I just started reading about half an hour ago. Currently I’m reading The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness. I’m not sure if I’m going to manage to read anything else today, because I have plans this afternoon, but this is definitely a good readathon book.

Anyway, here is the opening meme that the contest hosts have asked us to fill out!

Where are you reading from today?

My apartment. More specifically my living room, which happens to be where the computer isn’t. The computer is, after all, full of distractions!

3 facts about me …

1. I’m a huge fan of Celtic music.
2. I am doing readathon stuff today rather than study for midterms. It is well worth it!
3. I am a twitter addict.

How many books do you have in your TBR pile for the next 24 hours?

I’ve got three or four. I’m not sure I’m going to manage all of them, but I have a couple of short story collections and some short novels. Specifically, I’ve got Red Spikes by Margo Lanagan, Pretty Monsters by Kelly Link, Echo by Francesca Lia Block, Wasteland also by Francesca Lia Block, and The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins.

Do you have any goals for the read-a-thon (i.e. number of books, number of pages, number of hours, or number of comments on blogs)?

No, not really. I’d like to get a couple of books read, and I plan to do a lot of cheering of people on twitter, but that’s as far as it’s gotten.

If you’re a veteran read-a-thoner, Any advice for people doing this for the first time?

Sadly, this is my first time. I was an observer last time, but I figure that I’m not one to ask for advice until after I’ve completed today!

Well, tomorrow, it’s finally here. The 24-hour Readathon is tomorrow, and I am stoked.

Unfortunately, I have plans for a large part of the day, and I can’t pull an all-nighter because I have essays to write for school, but I am going to read as much as I can and cheer everyone else on.

Not sure how I’m going to update you all on my progress. I guess we’ll see how I’m feeling about blogging in general. I do know I’ll be tweeting a lot, so feel free to follow my updates if you don’t already. Also, be sure to check out the #readathon hash tag to see what other participants have to say.

It’s going to be an awesome time, and I can’t wait to participate.

The only book I know for sure I’m going to read is The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness, because I’m a little over halfway through and I think I can knock it out. As for other books, I have no idea. It will be a surprise!

Title: Speak No Evil
Author: Allison Brennan
Genre: Romantic Suspense
Source: Bookshare
Reason for Reading: A friend recommended Allison Brennan to me. Romantic suspense is usually a hard sell for me, but it seemed, from the descriptions of the books my friend had read, that Ms. Brennan writes strong heroines, and I really like that.

Synopsis from the author’s site:

Don’t say a word . . . Just scream.

The murder of eighteen-year-old Angie Vance was exceptionally vile–her mouth was sealed with glue, an obscenity was scrawled across her skin and she was suffocated in a garbage bag. The killing seems personal, so police detective Carina Kincaid focuses her efforts on the victim’s much older ex-boyfriend, Steve Thomas. But without physical evidence, Carina can’t make a collar or a case. She also can’t stop Sheriff Nick Thomas, the prime suspect’s brother, from conducting his own unwelcome investigation.

Though Nick is still scarred and unsteady from a recent confrontation with a serial killer, he’s determined to prove his brother’s innocence. But his confidence is shaken when he learns of Steve’s dark side, and when a friend of the murdered girl meets a similarly gruesome fate. With no time to lose, Carina and Nick work together to trap a psychopath, before another unlucky woman faces an unspeakable end.

My Thoughts: Romantic suspense is, I think, incredibly hard to do well. First, the author has to balance both the suspense element with the romance perfectly. If the story leans more toward one side or the other, someone will be dissatisfied. Authors who have done romantic suspense right, in my opinion, include Karen Rose and Bethany Campbell.

Unfortunately, this book doesn’t quite make it. It falls more heavily on the suspense side of the equation, which I don’t have a problem with. My problem comes from the fact that the romance felt a little forced, as if the author suddenly realized, “Oh, wait. I’ve written this whole book and should probably include some chemistry.” There should, by rights, be plenty of sparks between Nick and Carina. But while Carina does at first put up some resistance to Nick’s investigation, she lets him in readily enough after only a short time. Even then, I never really felt that there was a connection between the two. I was told there was, but I didn’t believe it.

Another thing that didn’t work for me was the fact that Ms. Brennan relied a lot on presenting us with the killer’s POV. She wrote the killer well, don’t get me wrong, but rather than add to the suspense, I mostly found him tedious and a little pathetic.

There were things I did like, though. Ms. Brennan is a good storyteller, and while I wasn’t as engaged as I would have liked, when I was actually reading, the book kept my interest. I also enjoyed the fact that there were connections to other books which were, for the most part, subtly introduced.

The book does stand alone, and the good guys, though not particularly memorable in the boudoir, were pleasant enough people. Nick was brooding without getting into uber-emo territory, and Carina was strong and competent, though I did find her to be a bit of a fuddy-duddy, something that is sadly not an uncommon characteristic of romance heroines. The minor characters, particularly Carina’s brothers, were interesting enough that I’d read books about them.

Final Thoughts: Though Ms. Brennan’s obviously a talented storyteller, and though I do want to read more of her books, I don’t think I’ll be doing so in a hurry. Too much time in the killer’s head while he was committing his graphic deeds and a romance that felt pasted on brought my enjoyment down.

Final Grade: C

Other Thoughts

• All About Romance: She liked it less than I did.

Recently, it was announced that there will soon be a free, accessible e-reading device designed by Kurzweil Education, which already produces scanning and OCR software for the blind. Many of the blind people I speak to regularly on twitter are excited about the prospect, myself included. After all, I have written before about my feelings about providing accessible ebooks for those of us who want them.

I’m cautiously optimistic about this soon-to-be released ebook reader. I like that I can use it on my computer and on my mobile devices. I like that it will work with pdf and epub files, and mostly I like that it is free.

I do have a few concerns, however. According to the Publishers’ Weekly article I linked to earlier, people will be able to purchase ebooks from the e-reader’s affiliated store. But I hope that, if I want to take advantage of the programs already offered by Fictionwise or Books on Board, I will be able to do this and still have the software working. I also question the need for some of the features the PW article mentioned. Apparently, this ebook reader will read plays with different TTS voices for each of the roles. Aside from students, who is actually going to use this feature? Wouldn’t the coders’ times have been better spent making sure the device could, oh, I don’t know, read as many varieties of formats as possible rather than giving us silly features that we can honestly live without?

Also, the article states that this reader, which doesn’t have a name, will be useful for sighted as well as blind people. I wonder if this is true, and I also wonder who the larger number of downloaders will be.

So, in the end, I’m excited about the November release of this software. I don’t expect it to be the miracle that the blind have been waiting for, but it’s definitely a step in the right direction, and I hope that it will be as awesome as advertised.

I keep saying that I’m going to be better about writing reviews, and then I keep sucking at doing so,so I’m going to just give myself a clean slate and hope this goes better.

Title: Doubleblind
Author: Ann Aguirre
Genre: Science fiction
Source: The author read my tweets whining about how I did not have this book, and so she sent me an ARC.
Reason for Reading: This is an auto-read series for me.

Synopsis: Sirantha Jax was sent, in the last book, Wanderlust to act as an ambassador on the planet of IthissTor, which the relatively weak Conglomerate needs to form an alliance with in order to vanquish some of their mutual enemies. Diplomacy isn’t Jax’s strong suit, but she acquits herself well, until trouble strikes. Complicating things further is March, who was left broken emotionally from the last book. Jax is desperate to find a way to heal him.

My Thoughts: This is an auto-read series for me. It would have been even if I didn’t talk to Ann Aguirre on twitter occasionally. Jax is that rare breed of character who seems to evolve from book to book. She’s still not a perfect character, but in this third book, she was a lot calmer emotionally, and she was the one who needed to be the strong, resourceful leader. I really liked seeing her that way. I also liked that Jax was shown to be competent at diplomacy. She had a lot of help, and probably couldn’t have managed as well as she did without her friends being there, but I was expecting lots of screw-ups.

Jax’s relationship with March also progressed in interesting ways. He really was broken, and I wasn’t sure how Ms. Aguirre was going to salvage him, but I like what she came up with, and I’m glad I don’t find March and Jax to be boring.

I also adore the secondary characters. I like that Jax’s crewmates who are not March are important to her in different ways, and I like that they all had their own lives and roles to play. In particular, Vel, an Ithtorian bounty hunter who became Jax’s friend early in the series, has a lot of screen time, and he’s a fascinating character, which is not something I thought I would ever write in relation to a giant bug.

That all being said, this wasn’t my favorite entry in the series. I felt it had a tendency to drag in places, and I’m not sure I liked those glimpses of the rest of the universe through the transcriptions of news feeds, commercials, etc. They added flavor, and they helped present the larger picture of what was going on, but I kept finding them distracting, and I wanted more Jax.

This entry in the series doesn’t stand alone. Aguirre doesn’t really catch new readers up on past events, and it’d been a while since I’d read the earlier books in the series, so I found myself having to scramble to remember things.

The Verdict: For me, this was the weakest in the series, but I love Ms. Aguirre’s writing, and I love Jax, so I would still recommend it.

Final Grade: B

Other Thoughts:

• Katiebabs and Kmont

• Katiebabs and Kmont, part 2
• Janicu