Review - Iron Thorn

Iron Thorn, by Caitlin Kittredge

Aoife lives in a world where science and reason are the only religion. There is no magic, no gods, nothing weird or strange or fantastical. And anyone who says or acts otherwise is either a heretic, or infected with a deadly nanovirus. Aoife's mother is, in fact, infected with the nanovirus; and lives in one of the city's many mental hospitals. Luckily Aoife, whose father is not in the picture, is smart, and she has been allowed to attend the School of Engineering. Unluckily, Aoife is almost 16, the age when her older brother's nanovirus manifested itself and he tried to kill her before disappearing. But Aoife doesn't believe that her brother really tried to harm her, and she's been getting secret correspondence from him since he disappeared. Weeks before her own 16th birthday, Aoife receives a brief letter from him: Help. She finds out he has gone north to find their father, and tells Aoife she must follow him. Withing nothing to lose, Aoife sets out on a dangerous adventure and discovers a lot more about the world she lives in...and some she doesn't.

That may be the worst summary ever! But I didn't want to give too much away. For the most part, I enjoyed Iron Thorn. I liked the world that Kittredge built: it's an alternate United States around 1959/1960, with steampunk touches. That's a time period you don't see a lot of in YA fiction these days, and it allowed the author to add some fun details, such as the 1950s morals (think Sandy in the first part of Grease), and a James Dean-esque bad boy. The first part of this book was really creepy and trippy, which I loved. As the story unfolded and the reader -- along with Aoife -- start figuring out what's really going on, things became more straight forward. Unfortunately, this is about the time I started getting really irritated with Aoife. I felt like she was just so dense and very uneven. I really wanted to smack her a few times. The secondary characters were interesting, but I would have liked to see a little more development. Fortunately, it's a trilogy, so maybe that will come in later books. I will also say that the very end of the book picked up quite a bit, and really left me wanting to read the next installment. My only other complaint with the book, is that I didn't really feel the romance. It seemed a bit forced to me.

Overall, it was a good read, if not one of my favorites.

Link to interview with Lish McBride

I've been looking forward to reading Lish McBride's debut novel Hold Me Closer, Necromancer, how about you? I think my copy at the library is about to come in for me...yay! In the meantime, check out this interview with the author over at The Enchanted Inkpot.

Review - Not That Kind of Girl

Not That Kind of Girl, by Siobhan Vivian

Summary from Goodreads: Natalie Sterling wants to be in control. She wants her friends to be loyal. She wants her classmates to elect her student council president. She wants to find the right guy, not the usual jerk her school has to offer. She wants a good reputation, because she believes that will lead to good things.
But life is messy, and it's very hard to be in control of it. Not when there are freshman girls running around in a pack, trying to get senior guys to sleep with them. Not when your friends have secrets they're no longer comfortable sharing. Not when the boy you once dismissed ends up being the boy you want to sleep with yourself - but only in secret, with nobody ever finding out.
Slut or saint? Winner or loser? Natalie is getting tired of these forced choices - and is now going to find a way to live life in the sometimes messy, sometimes wonderful in-between.

I read this book in one sitting, staying up late to finish it and then staying up even later as my mind thought about it and processed it. I enjoyed Vivan's writing: it was straightforward and descriptive and genuine. The characters rang true -- which is probably why I just wanted to smack Natalie and Spencer throughout the first 3/4 of the book! The story itself felt very genuine, and felt like a story that everyone experiences at some point -- regardless of your age. Life isn't as black and white as many people want it to be; we are all responsible for our own choices in life, and it's important to be true to yourself, without worrying so much about what other people think. That's definitely something even I have a problem remembering! I guess the only real problem I had with the book, is that the ending felt a little rushed. And thematically, I had a big problem with Spencer's speech and the ensuing idea that sex is your weapon to control boys and make them do what you want. Yes, girls and women should be in charge of their own sexuality; however, I think it's mean and disrespectful to use anything to have "power" over another person, male or female. Sexuality as a weapon is one of my big pet peeves. And, of course the street goes both ways. Life isn't a gender competition and power struggle. Maybe the characters were on their way to realizing that and just didn't have time...that's what I like to think anyway.

Bottom line: an enjoyable book that entertained me and made me think...both things that I love!

Review - Red Glove

Red Glove, by Holly Black

Spoiler Warning: if you haven't read White Cat, you should probably stop here, go out to your local library or book store and immediately get a copy, then block off an afternoon and read it. But then you'll want to read Red Glove right away, so just go ahead and get both books while you're at it and block off an entire day.

As you can probably tell, I love White Cat and its sequel Red Glove. Black has created a world filled with shades of gray -- there is very little black and white in this book (except for the cat, of course. Sorry, couldn't help myself). But really, what do you expect from a book about magic, crime familes and con artists. I love the slightly noir feel to the books, the creative world-building (modern but with a touch of magic), and most of all the characters. Cassel (the main character) is complex, conflicted, and such a real teenage boy. But Black has also give us a cast of wonderful, fleshed-out characters from Cassel's crazy mother and horrible brothers, to his "normal" friends at school.

Bottom line, these are great books. Read them!

On deck

We've gotten some new books at the library recently, which always makes me a little giddy. And these past couple of orders have some items I've been waiting for. Plus, I have some books I've bought or received as gifts that are calling out to be read. Here's what's piling up on my TBR stack:

The Red Glove, by Holly Black (sequel to the awesome White Cat)
The Grimm Legacy, by Polly Shulman
Trapped, by Michael Northrop
Pegasus, by Robin McKinley
Other Words for Love, by Lorraine Zago Rosenthal
One Amazing Thing, Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni

What I've been reading: mini reviews

I was in the mood for romance and read:

The Next Best Thing, by Kristan Higgins
This is one of my favorite comfort-food-type romances: an engaging story, likable and well-drawn characters, fast-paced but not rushed, and plenty of romantic chemistry. Not over-the-top and not overly cheesy.

The Iron Duke, by Meljean Brooks
Brooks has built an interesting world in this book. It's an alternate history, somewhere between Edwardian and Victorian, but vastly different than the 17th and 18th century that we know about. The Mongol Horde has conquered Europe and England through the use of nanoagents -- tiny, mechanical bugs that can control a person's emotions and actions (although not their mind, which is doubly horrible. You're aware of doing the things you don't want to do). Although England is now free of Mongol rule, they are struggling with finding freedom after hundreds of years of oppressive rule. The story follows Mina Wentworth -- a detective with the Metropolitan Police Force in London as she solves a murder and unravels a conspiracy plot. Her duties force her to work with Rhys Trahearn, the Iron Duke and the man who effectively brought the Horde to destruction in England; and as they work together the two share a very intense romance. I'll admit, a bit too intense for me at times; I ended up skipping a few sections because things got a little too...vivid. And while the story and the setting were very interesting, the book was a bit too dark for my mood at the time.

Wise Man's Fear, Patrick Rothfuss
The second in a fantasy trilogy by a very gifted story-teller. Kvothe is telling us his life story, a story that is at times joyful, fantastical, hilarious, heartbreaking, angry and irreverant. If you like good stories, interesting characters and fantasy (or if you've thought about reading a fantasy novel but weren't sure where to start) do yourself a favor and go get Name of the Wind and Wise Man's Fear. And block off a couple of days in your schedule.

What happened to the last two weeks? and other random thoughts

The last two weeks have been busy and my schedule has been off -- I'm kind of like a toddler in that way. Give me a routine and I am happy. My motivation to do things with no real extrinsic consequences has waned. But you know...that's okay. Sometimes it's okay to push the snooze buttons a few more times and give yourself a break. We can't be "on" all the time.

One of the different things I've done lately is attend a mini-conference for public libraries hosted by our state library association. I really love conferences, even if the workshops are things I've heard before. Sometimes -- particularly when it comes to work -- I think it's good to hear the same or similar things more than once. Makes it stick better, you know? One of my favorite workshops was the one on Reader's Advisory. I love Reader's Advisory! A couple of years ago, I stumbled upon this blog: RA for All. I was first just impressed with the resources and information she made available for other librarians who help their patrons find books. And then I realized -- the author's job at her public library is Reader's Advisory! It's her whole job! Very cool. I'd considered my professional goal to be a reference librarian at a public library, but now...I'm thinking Reader's Advisory. Anyway, one of the pieces of the discussion in our workshop, was on judging a book by its cover. The speaker maintained that in general, you can tell basic characteristics of a book based on its cover -- especially in genre fiction. Is the book going to be dark, strange, edgy, sappy, cheesy, sweet, family-oriented, romantic, hot and steamy, funny...I've been thinking about this a lot since then, and while I have in the past been mislead by the cover of a book, I think in more cases than not this is true. And I think one thing is really true -- the cover is designed to appeal to the readers that the publisher thinks will want to read the book. And sometimes, that is actually the person who wants to read the book.

what do you think?