Contagion by Erin Bowman

Hevetz Industries drills for corrarium all across the galaxy and high school intern Thea happens to be helping an esteemed microbiologist with measuring its ecological impact. Just as the team completes their project, a distress signal comes through from a remote planet, forcing them to take a two month detour to investigate. Once there, the entire planet's crew seems to be dead or missing except for one suspicious boy. What happened here and is he trying to hide something?

Contagion is a sci-for horror book that feels very familiar. Bowman manages to smash the plots of Alien and Aliens together. An ill suited crew has to answer a distress call on a planet infested with parasites like the first. And lone survivor (badass microbiologist Dr. Tarlow) has to return to the planet with an ignorant crew to face the parasitic enemy (like the second). Even though it’s not particularly original, I enjoyed the setup. The world building is interesting with interplanetary travel, advanced technology, and many present day social problems. Thea and Nova are the best characters (besides Tarlow). Thea is an orphan working as hard as she can to move up in the world and be a microbiologist. Nova was banned from piloting because of a degenerative eye disease (even though it’s been mostly corrected) and flies a transport ship. It’s all she can do to keep flying. They plus Tarlow are the most sympathetic characters. 

My problems with the book stem from forgettable or infuriating characters. Dylan is the inexperienced captain who was only placed there due to nepotism. I don’t know why she makes such horrible decisions. Maybe to prove herself as competent, but every one of her choices hurts her crew more. This one dimensional character never got a redemption or reason for acting like that. I forgot most of the other crew members because nothing stood out about them and they honestly didn’t affect the narrative much. I kept having to flip back to remember who they were. 

Overall, there was just something missing with Contagion. It felt like a rather shallow story and I’m not sure why. It has all the trappings of stuff I love like zombies, parasites, and horror, but it wasn’t my favorite. Maybe the developments were too predictable or convenient. I would check out the sequel from the library just to see what happened. 

My rating: 3/5 fishmuffins

Women in Horror: Shutter

Micheline Helsing is a tetrochromat, who has the ability to see different types of ghostlight thanks to an extra color receptor in her eyes. She's famous due to her lineage, her very recognizable name, and her stellar reputation for destroying corporeal and noncorporeal undead. One day, she and her crew (made up of Oliver the technogeek, Jude the psychic, and Ryder the fighter) are called to an emergency situation at a hospital where the original team was overwhelmed by a ghost. They charge in despite being still students (and technically shouldn't be there at all) and predictably are also overwhelmed by a creature unlike anything they've seen. Now, all are bound by ghostly chains that grow tighter and colder every day until they are eventually the ghost's puppets. Micheline and her friends only have a few days to exorcise the creature and free themselves before they are as good as dead.

Young adult horror is typically pretty boring, predictable, and super toned down for the audience. I keep reading them to try to find those gems that capture horror and don't let the age group of the target audience water down the story. Shutter is one of those gems and I loved it. The world is incredible. I was expecting a Buffy the Vampire Slayer style world where there are supernatural creatures, but they are hidden from the public because the creatures of worlds beyond our own would shatter their fragile little minds. I was wrong. The story has a very cool alternate reality where the first instance paranecrotic creatures were discovered in the 15th century during the Black Death pandemic. Later, in the late 19th century, the Helsing, Stoker, Seward, Harker, and McCoy families joined forces and created an organization to fight the various types of undead, resulting in Dracula's death and the in depth study of these harmful creatures. Fast forward over a hundred years and the Helsing Corps is alive and thriving, keeping the public safe from the undead menace. This story feels like peering through a keyhole into the world with so many other possibilities and stories within it. It's the mark of a fleshed out world and a feeling look forward to. The mechanics of the world are supported with logical and scientific explanations for a supernatural phenomena.  Modern technology and scientific advances will logically dispel the mystery around such creatures and provide scientific solutions through experimentation and study. I especially enjoyed Micheline's method of capturing ghost energy in her SLR camera and imprisoning it in film as opposed to using bulky mirrors.

The characters are vivid and enjoyable to read. Micheline is tough, accomplished, and smart, but also emotionally crippled by grief and prone to reckless behavior. She feels crushing guilt because she assumes responsibility for her mother's and little brothers' deaths, aided by her accusing and equally grief stricken father. Before this event, she was the first woman to successfully lead the Helsing Corps against the undead. She takes her calling and the family business very seriously and even discovered the effectiveness of an SLR camera as a weapon against incorporeal foes. Because of the tragedy that tore her family apart, Micheline is the last of the Helsing line. Therefore, her father expects her to marry an appropriate man from an approved bloodline and produce heirs like a broodmare. Micheline has her own ideas on the subject. Her heart lies with Ryder, the boy she grew up with who came from nothing but has become a very accomplished member of the Corps. Micheline's father wants to control all aspects of her life, including her reproductive choices. The chains that wrap so tightly around the young heroes is representative at least partially of the expectations of authority figures and the inability to choose freely. While the forbidden love angle is typical in young adult fiction, I enjoyed it and it had its place in the story without overpowering the more important conflicts. My favorite minor character is Oliver because of his contrast with Micheline. His life is the opposite of hers with supportive parents who challenge him instead of crush his spirit. He also views everything through a scientific and logical lens.  

Shutter is thematically similar to The Babadook. The tragedy of the possession of her mother and the resulting deaths of her mother and her little brothers shattered Micheline's world. None of her other accomplishments really mean anything to her because she failed her family when they needed her most. Her relationship with her father is completely obliterated because of unprocessed and ignored grief. For so long, she thought that simply locking away any feelings, including love and affection, towards her family would lessen her pain. Their old house is a time capsule, frozen at the moment of these traumatic deaths. They even opted to leave most of their things there instead of bearing even happy memories those things conjure of their deceased loved ones. Both she and her father are too busy ignoring their feelings and each other to heal and go on with their lives. He smothers her with rules, expectations, and commands while she rebels in quiet ways until their conflict explodes with physical violence from her father. The chains that grow and constrict her throughout the novel are also symbolic of this grief and how she can't truly move on from it. The ghost turns out to be her mother, so the central conflict of the story becomes actually about confronting her feelings, acknowledging this very formative event, accepting the deaths of her mother and brothers, and moving on.

My only problem with the novel is fairly minor. The choice of the Catholic faith as the one to protect its followers from evil was odd because of the focus on the scientific method of studying and destroying these monsters. It simply felt out of place. Religion didn't have a lot to do with novel, but Oliver and others of Micheline's crew were considered vulnerable to this evil because of their lack of faith. I suspect this is a nod to Bram Stoker's Dracula and its methods of dealing with vampires rather than endorsing religion, but it still bothered me. Shutter is an excellent young adult horror novel that not only tackles realistic issues like grief and familial expectations, but creates an impressive alternate history with vampires, ghosts, and zombies. The story is fast paced and exciting with relatable characters, action, and a large dollop of blood and gore. I hope it's the first in a series that will continue and I look forward to more from Courtney Alameda.

My rating: 4.5/5 fishmuffins

I Won't Be Shamed for Reading YA

An article came out a few days ago detailing why adults should feel ashamed for reading YA. First, Ruth Graham asserts that YA fiction of the 90's is just as good as it is now, which I vehemently disagree with. I devoured books by R.L. Stine and Christopher Pike when I was much younger, but many of those books aren't as well written or varied as what's available now. I've tried to reread some of them and find that I've outgrown them. I appreciate that they shaped me as a reader, but they just don't hold my attention anymore. Sure there are some great books, but overall, the quality has gotten much better over the years as the genre has expanded.

Graham also asserts that love of YA stems from instant gratification, nostalgia, and escapism. Escapism is a reason to read anything. Nostalgia may play into it, but I think it has more to do with the fact that movement from teen to adult is one of the most powerful experiences of our lives and it makes for powerful storytelling. In an age where there is no defined experience that introduces us into adulthood, it isn't surprising that people turn to literature to get that experience in some capacity over and over again. So Graham, maybe you didn't like The Fault in Our Stars because you just didn't like it. Saying you don't like because you're an adult is ridiculous and you're basically calling everyone who likes it a child.

I find no evidence in the assumption that we have to abandon the adult perspective to like YA books. I like some books because I completely give in to the emotional aspects and forgive the maybe not great writing, like Twilight. I find these to be brain candy, but books like this are not exclusive to YA. I like a great many other teen books for a variety of reasons: writing, world building, characters, themes, etc. She also asserts that the endings of YA books are too simplistic. The problem with much of this article is that she seems to be writing about one type of books rather than encompassing all of YA. I think she read The Fault in Our Stars and decided that since it's revered, it must be the same as every other YA novel. You wouldn't do that for any adult book, so don't do it for YA.

The fact that she has to define a book she read as "literary" is ridiculous. Every book is literary. To say that a particular genre is not is a lazy way of dismissing it as low quality without actually looking critically at the individual books. Science fiction and fantasy are looked down upon as "unliterary" genres, but the numerous great books in those genres disproves that. Instead of being an elitist, why not just enjoy reading what you like to read instead of building yourself up by shaming others.

The assertion that more new adults would not move on to adult books is also not proven. With around a third of people not reading any books at all, the passion and excitement that YA books have given both teens and adults for reading is amazing. Why begrudge those people because of what they choose to read? C.S. Lewis said, "Critics who treat 'adult' as a term of approval, instead of as a merely descriptive term, cannot be adults themselves. To be concerned about being grown up, to admire the grown up because it is grown up, to blush at the suspicion of being childish; these things are the marks of childhood and adolescence. And in childhood and adolescence they are, in moderation, healthy symptoms. Young things ought to want to grow. But to carry on in middle life or even into early manhood this concern about being adult is a mark of being really arrested development. When I was ten, I read fairy tales in secret and would have been ashamed if I had been found doing so. Now that I am fifty I read them openly. When I became a man I put away childish things, including the fear of childishness and the desire to be very grown up." I think he brings up excellent points. This critical view of literature written for youth isn't new, but it's nice that public opinion has been swayed more towards acceptance.

So, for some other compelling reasons to keep reading what you like without shame, read this wonderful list and this hilarious rebuttal. Ignore the haters and keep reading.

The Winner's Curse

Kestrel is a privileged Valorian general's daughter and lives in a large estate with Herrani slaves to wait on her. Her life may seem charmed, but she only has two choices in her life: to join the military or get married. Her real passion is music, but it's considered a lowly occupation reserved for slaves. The only marketable skill she has is strategizing and planning. Then her life completely changes after she impulsively overpays for a slave named Arin in the marketplace. Arin is a blacksmith with a fiery temper and a defiant streak, but a kind heart underneath it all. Kestrel and Arin grow closer and closer over time, giving rise to ugly rumors. Will Arin let his feelings for Kestrel interfere with his plans? Will Kestrel defy society and its constructs to be with Arin?

The Winner's Curse caught my interest with the gorgeous cover with the beautiful color scheme, design, font, and the model actually interacting with the title. The interior definitely matches the cover with its fully realized fantasy world, lush descriptions, varied characters, and unpredictable plot. The first half of the story sets up the world and Kestrel and Arin's relationship development. I found the world fascinating. The Valorians have conquered and enslaved the Herrani and consider them inferior in every way. The Herrani were not only enslaved but forced to work in the city they used to live in. Day in and out, they see the homes that were theirs inhabited by the enemy while they are abused and used by them. Marie Rutotski makes both groups sympathetic, which makes later events complicated to process. In too many YA books, one side is simply not written well to garner all the sympathy to the intended target and it's nice to see authors breaking out of that trend.

Kestrel and Arin are both not what they seem. Kestrel is privileged and rich. The stereotype would be for her to be vapid and dumb, but she's quite clever. She isn't suited for hand to hand combat at all and excels at strategizing and out-thinking her opponent. I love that she recognizes her shortcomings and uses her strengths to compensate. Her love for music isn't valued by her society, but doesn't let that stop her from using it as an emotional outlet and playing the piano as often as she dares. To truly fit into her society, Kestrel must turn her back and all the things she values: her music, her independence, her sense of self. Her only choices for the future are to get married or join the military. Marriage would force her into a relationship with a random person who would have a lot of power over her, possibly forcing her to abandon the things she loves. In the military, she would have to focus on her physical abilities, an are of weakness for her, and she would also have to give up the things she values. Either way, she has to compromise herself and force herself into an ill fitting mold.

Arin is a surly, defiant slave who could be easily stereotyped as an impulsive brute. However, he bides his time, watches, and waits for the right moment to act. He's the only person in the novel who challenges Kestrel in many ways, including wit, strategy, music, among others. His tragedy is in his enslavement and the loss of his family. Unlike Kestrel, he has lost everything and is striving to prove himself and gain back all he has lost. I like that their relationship starts as an awkward. tenuous friendship and then grows into feelings of romance over time. The pace of the novel is fairly slow and sets up everything beautifully. Not all books need to be super fast paced keep interest. The relationship along with the individual characters were believably established before all hell breaks loose in the second half of the story.

I was sad to finish The Winner's Curse because I didn't want to leave that world. I savored the book as I read it instead of devouring it and I can't wait to dive into the second book when it comes out. The writing is fluid and beautiful and I just can't get enough of it. The plot twists and turns and had me guessing what would happen. The story has a great mix of fantasy, romance, political intrigue, You need to go out and get this novel and read it. Period.

My rating: 5/5 fishmuffins

The Waking Dark

The city of Oleander, Kansas is just a sleepy, rural town with god-fearing Christians and high morals. Then the killing day happens. Five people murdered twelve people and then killed themselves, except one attempted suicide but survived. The survivor has no memory of having killed anyone and why she did it. About a year goes by and then a huge tornado hits the town after a lot of healing and grief. The government comes and sets up a perimeter, allowing none to pass due to a toxic leak nearby. There is no word on when they will be allowed to leave and no one comes in except to ship in food and supplies. The town slowly descends into madness, where the laws mean nothing and only their raw impulses matter. Five teens who are survivors of the killing day are the only force fighting for sanity in the town. The only alternative is death at this point, so they have to put aside their differences and work together.

The Waking Dark is an amazing horror novel. Robin Wasserman takes a concept that's been used before, one where a city is enclosed and all hell breaks loose, and makes it new with a vivid voice and a large cast of characters. There are 5 main characters: West (real name Jeremiah) the jock who is in denial about being gay, Jule whose family makes meth but she wants more out of life, Cass who killed a baby during the killing day and is in hiding from the town that wants to lynch her, Daniel whose father is the town drunk and wants more for his little brother, and Ellie who became devoutly Christian after the storm. These disparate characters are each followed throughout the text and the point of view changes many times within one chapter. It's easy to follow because each character is memorable and detailed. Before they encounter one another, their issues, their trauma (surviving the killing day), and their innermost thoughts are laid bare. Their names didn't even really need to be mentioned because Wasserman painted such vivid characters. I also liked that although their alignment is generally good, they still had the urge to do the opposite and weren't boring, perfect characters. The writing was descriptive and rich, kind of like eating chocolate cake. I wanted to read the book quickly to know what happens, but I also wanted to savor each sentence. The writing style is so vastly different than most YA novels and it worked in the novel's favor.

The novel tackles a lot of heavy issues: murder, rape, misogyny, homophobia, religious zealotry, drug use, abuse, and the list goes on. Wasserman doesn't gloss over anything and shows human darkness in all its horrific glory. Teens are already exposed to a lot of these things already and I appreciate having a teen book that delves into these subjects as I haven't seen before. One issue is do people act amorally because it's true human nature or because of some outside force? It isn't really answered because it's a personal philosophical question about whether humans are inherently good or evil. The acts in the novel are frightening and all too realistic. Order falls away quickly to reveal the majority that will impose their own rule on everyone else under the threat of death. I found the religious zealotry to be particularly horrifying because it has many disturbing and bigoted tenets whose effect we see in our society every day. If those issues are taken to the extreme, using a twisted interpretation of the scriptures, it would resemble Oleander.

The Waking Dark is an amazing novel that I read as fast as I possibly could. The book is rather long and takes a bit to really take off, but I appreciate a well done, slow build-up. Once it gets going, I was on the edge of my seat, desperate to see what happens. I will now go out and read everything Robin Wasserman has ever written because I was so impressed with this novel. I would recommend this to readers not afraid of disturbing subject matter or imperfect characters.

My rating: 5/5 fishmuffins

The Space Between

Daphne lives in Pandemonium, a city in Hell, and is the youngest daughter of Lucifer and Lilith. She longs for the vibrancy and excitement of Earth, but Pandemonium is largely static and dull. Daphne's half brother Obie has gone to Earth to live with his wife and help people, which is forbidden by Heaven. He has disappeared and Lilith asks Daphne to go to Earth in the face of grave danger to find out what happened to Obie. During her journey, Daphne will meet Truman, a broken soul whose actions bring him closer and closer to Pandemonium, who will act as her guide on Earth. Through their journey together, they will change and help each other in ways they never thought possible.

Brenna Yovanoff's The Replacement is one of my favorite teen horror reads, so I had to read The Space Between. Her prose in conjunction with her unique take on folk tales and mythology make her books hard to put down. Her take on Christian mythology is comparable to Laini Taylor's in the Daughter of Smoke and Bone. This world is not black and white. Demons are not all necessarily evil and angels are not all necessarily good. Daphne has to choose if she will be a soulless monster like her sisters or follow in her half brother Obie's footsteps helping people on Earth. Azrael and the Dark Dreadful are shown to really the villains here, singlemindedly slaughtering any demon they catch on Earth no matter who they are, what they have done, or any other factor. I like a world where demons and angels can choose their own fate and decide how they will influence the world.

Daphne is an odd but likable character. She appears human except for her metal teeth, but she knows nothing of the human world. Her mix of naivete, awkwardness, and honesty made her different than other YA protagonists. She felt a bit strange, which made sense since she's half demon and half angel. Despite being raised to be cold and detached and encouraged to use humans for her own personal gains, she refused to internalize that mode of thinking. I admired her determination that led her to help Truman, who many dismissed as a suicidal hopeless cause, and Obie, for whom she faced unimaginable danger for. Truman is also an interesting character with a heartbreaking backstory and a penchant for being close to death. Daphne actually meets him in Hell when he died, but her intervention allowed him to return to Earth. I don't normally like characters like this, but his self loathing and depression are so raw and understandable that I couldn't help but sympathize with him. I loved seeing the world through their eyes and getting their unique perspective.

The Space Between is a slow burning read. The first half is fairly slow moving, but there's nothing wrong with that. The writing is so wonderful and lush that I just wanted to stay in the story as long as possible like a warm bath. I appreciate that Yovanoff isn't afraid to delve into dark, mature, and realistic themes. I consider her one of the best YA authors because she never talks down to her audience and produces some of the darkest and most interesting stories in the genre.

My rating: 4.5/5 fishmuffins

Cover Reveal: Heaven Sent by E. Van Lowe

Here is the beautiful and awesome cover for the latest book in E. Van Lowe's Boyfriend from Hell series, Heaven Sent!

Synopsis:

What Does It All Mean?

Readers who devoured Boyfriend From Hell and Earth Angel will be captivated by the third book in the Falling Angels Saga.

As summer break for Glendale Union high begins, heartsick Megan awaits Guy's return while struggling to control her emerging abilities.  Love is in the air, but can the new loves in Megan, Maudrina, Suze and Aunt' Jaz's life be trusted? Nothing is what it seems.  Meanwhile, the Satanists are set to hatch their most diabolical scheme ever, and if it comes to pass, Satan may finally win out.

Megan has precious little time to unravel the cryptic message hidden in the riddle she received at the end of Earth Angel. If she doesn’t, the life of someone most dear to her will be lost forever, and Megan may yet find herself living in HELL.

“The third book in E. Van Lowe’s Falling Angels Saga is his most thrilling yet.”

The color scheme is great and it fits in nicely with the other beautiful covers. Keep an eye out for it in 2013 and in the meantime, get the first two in the series!

Wake

Gemma is a star swimmer at her school on the fast track to the Olympics in a few years. She works hard and  devotes herself to her sport during the day and goes leisure swimming at night in the bay despite her sister Harper's warning that it's dangerous. The boy next door Alex is seen through new eyes and she falls for him as he falls for her. Everything is just about perfect until three very beautiful and creepy girls come into Gemma's life. Penn, Lexie, and Thea are eerily beautiful and rumors surround them everywhere they go. They take an interest in Gemma, but their dark nature and demanding attitudes put Gemma off until they force her to drink from a flask and throw her into the ocean wrapped in a golden shawl. Afterwards, Gemma feels weird and becomes faster, stronger, and more beautiful over night. She needs to find out what those girls did to her and how she has changed.

I was not a fan of Amanda Hocking's Trylle series, so I was a little hesitant to start this series. The writing improved. Even when I saw the flaws in the book, the writing kept me interested and focused on the story. Some of the characters are pretty well developed. Gemma is a great character for the most part. She's driven and smart, but her relationship with Alex seems a little too perfect. I love Harper, Gemma's older sister. She became a mother to Gemma at a young age because their mom suffered brain damage after an accident. I related more to her and liked her more because of her selflessness and ability to put her father and Gemma's needs before her own, even at the expense of her own childhood. The siren aspect is interesting and not entirely expected. They proved to be more violent and gory then expected. There are also many flaws with them.

Penn, Lexie, and Thea are mythological creatures who foolishly pissed off gods and have to suffer the consequences for eternity. Unfortunately, they are flat villain characters with no redeeming qualities. They have no facets and are simply evil, selfish, manipulative beings. I grew bored with them through the course of the book. They also have an extra stage of transformation beyond their finned form and I found it to be quite ridiculous. I get that both forms are present in mythology, but choose one or the other. Gemma is super annoying and selfish at times. She acted as one much younger than 16. Most of the plot points are pretty predicatable. The dialog is often stiff and unnatural. There are some huge passages of introspective inner dialog that could be shortened a lot and it just serves to spoon feed the reader motivations of the characters. Some of the writing is ham handed, but the main characters are much improved.

I had some major problems with this book, but it proved to be more enjoyable than her previous series. I will be continuing the series.

My rating: 3/5 fishmuffins

Sweet Shadows

Gretchen, Grace, and Greer could not be more different. Gretchen has known for years that she is a descendant of the gorgon Medusa and that she must fight the monster and return them to their own realm. Grace is a environmental activist and a computer geek who doesn't know if she is strong enough to fight against monsters. Greer is a rich, spoiled girl who takes charge in every situation, but isn't sure if she's willing to give it all up to save humanity. While they are still getting to know each other (and bickering), warring factions on Olympus are trying to either kill the sisters or wait until they break the seal between worlds (as it is said they will in prophecy) and then kill them. Only one faction seems to care about their survival. As more and more creatures make their way into the human realm, these sisters must find out which faction to trust and where their fate will ultimately take them.

Sweet Shadows starts with a bang right where Sweet Venom leaves off. Again, it's narrated by the three sisters who have clear and distinct voices. It's easy to figure out who is narrating any given chapter. In the last book, the sisters were basically strangers. Now, their relationship is growing and they are becoming close both because of their efforts to save the world and just getting to know each other. I really like these characters and their different backgrounds. Even though much of the novel involves the supernatural, they bring real life issues and problems to the story. Greer deals with her distant parents and the constant pressure to be perfect in every aspect of her life. Gretchen still feels the effects of having abusive parents as a child and not having many people close to her all her life. All of them have different reactions to being put up for adoption. These experiences make the girls easy for readers to relate to and make the story grounded in realism.

Everything is a little more intense than in the first book. The action is exciting and more consistent. The problems facing the sisters are practically impossible to overcome. The world beyond ours is explored and reveals some shocking revelations. There are mythological creatures that are on their side and will greatly suffer if the door between worlds is closed. They challenge the girls' views and complicate matters, plus they are pretty awesome. What was previously a fairly clear decision is now murkier than ever. I'm very glad this series didn't fall into the second book pitfall that simply sets up for the final book in the trilogy.

Sweet Shadows is an impressive teen read that melds mythology and modernity beautifully. The fast pace and realistic characters make this a quick, fun read. I can't wait to see what the future holds for these heroines. I would recommend this to fans of mythology and YA fantasy.

My rating: 4.5/5 fishmuffins

Possess

Bridget Liu isn't just a moody, combative teenager that just wants everyone (including her parents, her mom, and the cute son of the police sergeant) to leave her alone. She can communicate with demons and send them back to where they came from. Fearing her loved ones reaction to her power (or her belief in her power), she confides in Monsignor Renault, who then guides her and asks for help on increasingly more dangerous exorcisms. On one of these, Bridget hears a demon say something frightening that turns her whole world upside down. She has to figure out a demon's plan before it's executed and find out who around her is working for it.

I usually don't really like exorcist stories, but the awesome metallic blue cover and the good things I've heard about Gretchen McNeil's writing made me ignore my misgivings towards the genre. I was pleasantly surprised by most of the story. Bridget is a smart, capable heroine that has special powers over demons. Even though she can be too whiny and annoying, her good qualities outweigh those annoyances. I liked seeing the story through her eyes because she adds her own sarcasm and unique point of view. Her character develops throughout the novel and she gets much less annoying and much more mature by the end of it. My favorite scene is the one where a doll shop is infested with demons. There are some pretty creepy moments, but nothing mindblowingly scary. Possessed dolls are just disturbing by themselves. Gretchen McNeil's writing is what made the book enjoyable. Despite my problems with it, I read it pretty fast because she built up momentum really well and grabbed my interest. The plot moves swiftly after the exposition with the demonic activity increasing as it goes along.

I did have some problems with this book. The minor characters are paper thin with little to no character development. A boy is in love with Bridget and literally stalks her around school and sends her frightening and obsessive text messages. This situation gets way out of control and totally could have been prevented if she had just told an authority figure about it and gotten him help. It just makes her look horrible and like she doesn't really care about her friend and the other people he could hurt because of his obviously unstable mental state. I really had to suspend disbelief with the religious aspects because I grew up Catholic and went to Catholic schools. It did pull me out of the story a couple times at the beginning, but I was so interested in the story by the end that it no longer mattered. There were some twists and turns in the plot, but I could see most of them coming a mile away.

Possess was kind of uneven for me. The character development was great for Bridget, but most of the other characters were basically cardboard. I do wish it were a little more scary. Most teen horror is kind of underwhelming. Despite the problems I had, Gretchen McNeil's writing kept me interested throughout the book and I will definitely be reading her new release, Ten.

My rating: 3.5/5 fishmuffins

Something Strange and Deadly

In Victorian era Philadephia, Eleanor Fitt is part of a historically important and successful family, but her father went crazy after his business failed. Her mother insists on keeping their previous standard of living to keep up appearances that they are rich, but they are close to being destitute. Their only real hope is for Eleanor's brother, Elijah, to come home and support them, but he has been mysteriously detained. This also happens to coincide with the arrival of zombies in Philadelphia controlled by a mysterious and dangerous necromancer. Eleanor thinks her brother is somehow mixed up in this whole mess and goes to the Spirit Hunters, who are helping to fight off the animated corpses, for help. Can they save Philadelphia from the undead menace and figure out how this is all tied to Eleanor's brother?

Based on the synopsis, I was expecting something like Lia Habel's Nora Dearly series. The two works have commonalities, including time period, fashions, zombies, and kickass heroines, but Something Strange and Deadly stands by itself as a compelling and exciting novel. I loved this book and its magical version of Victorian Philadelphia that includes zombies and ghosts. These zombies aren't contagious or diseased in any way like those in most zombie books. They are simply dead people raised from a graveyard and controlled by a necromancer. They will attack any threat in order to protect their master to the bitter end, even if they are in pieces, but will stay still if they aren't needed. It's kind of like having undead bodyguards. The extra danger for everyone comes in if the necromancer somehow loses control of these zombies. Then the zombies become wild, hungry for any flesh available. Don't be put off by the Victorian setting; there is plenty of zombie action to enjoy. The ghost is just as fearsome and dangerous as the zombies at times. Its motives and identity are very murky up until the end and kept me guessing, unlike the identity of the necromancer. The mixture of the two supernatural beings is an interesting dynamic not seen in recent fantasy novels.

The characters are flawed and realistic and the outcomes of the situations aren't sanitized and neat. Eleanor is a kickass girl, but she isn't the strongest or the fastest. She accomplishes things with a steely resolve and the knowledge that if she won't do it, no one will. I liked seeing Victorian society through her eyes. Her future is basically planned out for her: marry very well, be a good wife, and have children. Even Victorian fashions are extremely restrictive and uncomfortable, which reflects the restrictive nature of the society. Her romance blooms naturally, no instalove needed, and her love interest is just as dynamic and compelling. The Spirit Hunters are a rag tag group of outcasts that work to protect people from the zombie menace despite the misleading and slanderous press surrounding them. I really liked that characters get injured and the ending isn't all tied up in a nice bow. It's messy and gives a sense of realism in a fantastical world of zombies, ghosts, and steampunk gadgets.

Something Strange and Deadly is one of my favorite reads of the summer. It combines so many things I like so very well. I am only sad that I read it so early because I will probably have to wait a year or more for the next book to come out. Highly recommended for fans of steampunk, zombies, or fantasy.

My rating: 5/5 fishmuffins

Dark Parties

Neva Adams lives under the Protectosphere. The government tells the inhabitants that there is nothing outside of it, that they are lucky to live there, and that they need protection from the outside world. Throughout Neva's life, people have suddenly gone missing and people around her adapt to the change, not acknowledging that a person is really gone. She and her friends decide to protest and show people that the Protectosphere is harmful with the shortages of just about everything from clothes to technology that hasn't been updated since the sphere was created. Their anti-sphere graffiti makes a huge splash and puts them under the scrutiny of the government. It just makes Neva more determined to find proof of all the lies and find out what really happened to the missing people. Will she and her friends escape the authorities and find the information they are after?

Dark Parties has been on my reading radar for a while and I finally picked it up on impulse at the library. It's a quick read and I liked the world for the most part. The Protectosphere, which is the most obvious and lame name ever, supposedly protects the people within from the dangers of the outside world. The government erases parts of their history and people from their society. They choose everyone's careers and allocates them to the most useful sectors, cutting out the arts entirely. To manipulate its citizens, the government purposely makes certain items scarce, such as birth control to encourage pregnancy to expand their numbers. There are all the trappings for a great dystopia are here. What confused me was the lack of new technology and inability to sustain the old technologies. It would improve the inhabitants quality of life and lure them into a false sense of security in addition to allowing the state to successfully spy on the people. Most of their cameras didn't even work and they relied on the presence of them to be intimidating. The lack of basic things like clothes just makes it seem that goods can't be produced almost at all to sustain the people under the dome. Maybe if people were happier and their needs better met, the state wouldn't have to make so many people disappear.

The characters frustrated me for the most part. Neva wasn't the best heroine. She had guts and nerve, but would do the dumbest things. She criticized her best friend for falling for a guy she barely knows and then does exactly the same thing with the same guy! She also seemed to take a lot of things at face value for someone trying to sift out the truth and lies from the world around her. The most annoying thing about her was that she was more concerned about the drama with a boy and her best friend than with the bigger picture where she could possibly die for her rebellion. Her best friend Sanna is a girl that will change herself and her convictions to please a boy. The boy in question, Braydon, is basically a cardboard cut out of a person with red cowboy boots like Ted Mosby from How I Met Your Mother: no character development, no real personality, and no development of any relationship with him. I would have loved this book at least 80% more without this useless, annoying romance and half-assed love triangle/square.

Dark Parties wasn't horrible, but I wouldn't call it good either. The dystopia kept my interest and was my favorite part, even if some if it seemed counterintuitive. The characters were mostly annoying and the romance distracted from the overall plot. I'm not sure if this is a series, but there has to be something exceptionally compelling in the blurb for the sequel to get me to read it.

My rating: 2.5/5 fishmuffins
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Read as part of Dystopian August at Presenting Lenore.

Ashfall

Alex Halprin is a typical sulky teenager who bickers with his sister and fights with his mom constantly. He sulks his way into staying home alone for a weekend while his family visits his uncle in a town about 2 hours away. Celebrating his good luck, Alex settles down to play some video games when his room suddenly collapses. He manages to escape safely, but the danger isn't over. The supervolcano under Yellowstone National Park just erupted and the explosion can be heard all over the US. Ash falls for weeks so heavily that the sun is blotted out. Alex's entire world changes. People he has know forever commit horrific acts to survive. Food and clean water are scarce. The air is hard to breathe. After recovering from the initial shock, Alex decides to find his family and make sure they are safe. The journey leads him to many unexpected places and he will experience death, sorrow, hunger, but also love and friendship. His enduring hope is to find his family at the end of it all.

I hadn't heard a lot about Ashfall before I read it. I was expecting a mediocre, typical disaster novel, but I was so incredibly wrong. Ashfall is one of the best books I've read all year. I loved just about everything about it from the eerily realistic situations to the pacing to the tone to the characters. I couldn't put the book down and read it in every spare moment of my day. The thing I most loved about the novel is the realism. There wasn't anything supernatural in the story at all. Everything that happened in the book is well within the realm of possibility. The science of supervolcanoes was very well researched and plausible, although there is a lot simply not known about them. The rapid breakdown of society after the eruption completely makes sense. The necessities of life are scarce and most people seem to try to hoard these items or forcibly take them from others. Few actually try to help each other, which is depressing but realistic. It shows how things like community, trust, and friendship are precious and rare in truly extreme situations. The pacing could have been terrible since Alex's adventures were chaotic and oftentimes rapidly changing. However, from beginning to end, through his travels and his stints staying with various people, I was always engaged and excited to see where Alex would go and what he would encounter next.

The characters are what makes this book so special. Alex is a typical teenage boy. He isn't superhuman or imbued with powers, but uses everything he has plus logic to make the best decisions. Of course he makes mistakes and blunders about a bit, but he learns and changes from an annoying sulky teen to a strong, resourceful man in a very short time. What makes Alex truly exceptional is that he never loses his humanity, his kindness, or his sense of what is right. In a post-apocalyptic world, it's shockingly easy to justify the most of horrific of acts as survival. Darla is my second favorite character as Alex's companion and friend. Alex may be skilled in Tae Kwon Do, but Darla has way more physical strength and mettle due to working on a farm since childhood. With her practical knowledge and strength, she saved Alex many times. I loved their romance. It grew organically through time spent together and developed through mutual support and care. Ashfall could have been an incredibly depressing, soul sucking book, but their sweet relationship and teasing back and forth provided just enough hope and light to counteract some of the heart rending events. I am usually against a lot of romance in non-romance novels as it tends to overpower the plot, but in this case it is essential to the balance of the novel.

Ashfall is an excellent novel, rivaling many books in the post-apocalyptic genre in general. I like that things aren't sugar coated for a teen audience, including the killing of animals for food and the general violence in this world beyond laws. I can't wait for the next book, due out in October. I would highly recommend this to just about anyone.

My rating: 5/5 fishmuffins


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Read as part of Dystopian August at Presenting Lenore.

Struck

Mia Price and her family moved to Los Angeles because lightning rarely strikes there. Mia is a lightning addict and has been struck countless times. Red lightning scars cover her body, a mark of each strike. A huge earthquake hits LA, leaving devastation in its wake and thousands of people displaced, injured, traumatized, or dead. Mia is trying to pick up the pieces of her family and make them whole again. Her mother is practically catatonic and her brother is distant. She and her brother go back to school to get rations from the government and they are approached by two different cult-like groups: the Followers of the Prophet and the Seekers. Both want to enlist Mia for their cause and are kind of creepy. The Followers and the Prophet paint themselves as God's chosen ones and claim to know the exact date of the end of the world. The Seekers want to stop the Followers. Mia just wants to be left alone to pick up the pieces of her life, but she gets sucked into the two cults' conflict anyway. Which side will she eventually end up on?

I really like a lot of the concepts in Struck, particularly the warring cult groups, the setting, and the supernatural aspects. Religious fanaticism is one of the scariest things in the world to me. Anyone can interpret religious texts to say whatever they want and manipulate a group of people into doing insane things as a result. The Followers and their blank, serene stares and their all white clothes are just creepy. The Seekers are slightly less creepy, but not by much with their brands, masks, and red cloaks. People in this book and in real life do the most horrible things in the name of religion and it makes me sick. This aspect is by far the most disturbing thing in the novel. I love the setting in Los Angeles. It's one of my favorite cities and I have been to most of the places she talks about, so I can easily envision how it would look all ruined and post-apocalyptic. The supernatural aspects like her affinity for lightning and the powers of the different groups are unique and never really explained. I enjoyed that it was simply a part of this universe and a different kind of power than is typical.

I have a few problems with the novel. First of all, Jeremy is plain creepy. A guy trying to kill you in the night with a knife is a not a cue to ask him on a date. News flash: abusive, dangerous guys are not sexy and never will be sexy. Please stop writing them this way. Mia had a lot of decision making problems throughout the novel that were kind of annoying. I also just felt that there was something missing in the book. It was all pretty straight forward and the ending fell a little flat to me.

Overall, Struck is a fun YA dystopia that brings in elements I haven't seen mixed together like creepy cults, lightning and energy powers, and LA in ruins. I would definitely read what Jennifer Bosworth writes next.

My rating: 3.5/5 fishmuffins
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Read as part of Dystopian August at Presenting Lenore.

Glitch

Everyone is plugged into the Community. Their senses are dulled and emotions simply don't exist anymore. Everything is done for the greater good with no thought to selfish desires. Zoe has started to glitch. She is periodically free from the Community ad experiences raw emotions, sensations, and a sense of self. She knows she should turn herself in for the good of all, but ultimately decides to hide it out of curiosity. The risk is great and rapidly escalates as her emotions are hard to hide and she develops telekinesis. If anyone discovers her secret, the authorities will deactivate her. There are others like her and a Resistance exists outside of the community which occasionally infiltrates, but their efforts may be useless if anyone finds out about them.

I love reading about dystopian worlds where even emotion is outlawed, like Glitch or Equilibrium. It's just something so fundamental to humans that it seems an impossibility to ban it. I was definitely drawn into Heather Anastasiu's unique world where technology is used to sedate and dampen the masses into little automatons that don't protest or care about anything. The government is free to do whatever they want with people: kill them, enslave them, or make them do anything. When Zoe glitches, she starts to question her whole society and sees value in these emotions instead of destructive as she has always been taught. The world building was one of my favorite parts because it just fascinates me. The writing was fluid, engaging, and succeeded in sucking me into the world. It made me gloss over some of the flaws while I was reading the book because I was so interested in the world and the conflict.

There are some very glaring flaws. It was interesting to see Zoe dealing with new colors, emotions, and situations, but it was very uneven. For someone who has never experienced a lot, she had names and definitions for many things she shouldn't have. I liked Zoe for the most part and I understood her emotions throughout the novel, although others may find her annoying. The things that really annoyed me were made up curse words and one of the love interests. Come on. If you're going to use curse words, please use the normal ones in our parlance. If you think they will really offend, just don't use any at all. I cringed every time one of them came up. It sounded very juvenile and grated on my nerves. On to my next grievance: Max is another glitcher that she goes to school with. He is very selfish and is fascinated with sexuality to the point where he was pushy and demanding. He truly disgusted me and the fact that Zoe continually forgave his horrible behavior and basically thought to herself how nice he really is underneath it all. No, Zoe. It's not ok and he's not nice. Ugh. I just wanted to shake her and get her to see how much of a jerk he was.

Glitch is a fun new dystopian novel with some unique elements and also some big flaws. I will definitely stick with it for the next installment to see what is in store for these characters and hope that some of these flaws are corrected.

My rating: 4/5 fishmuffins
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Read as part of Dystopian August at Presenting Lenore.

Women in Horror: Every Other Day

Kali D’Angelo is a sixteen year old girl with a unique situation. Every other day, she is a normal human girl who attends high school, does homework, and other normal things. On the other days, she is overcome with bloodlust and the urge to kill supernatural creatures. Along with the bloodlust is an entire change of her constitution, allowing her to heal quickly, go without food or rest, and be faster than any other human. Unfortunately, supernatural creatures are legally protected as endangered animals and what she’s doing is classified as environmental terrorism, despite the fact that they kill humans. Kali has no idea where these urges come from or why she changes to much day to day, but she gives in to her instinct.  Everything changes when she notices a distinctive mark on a popular girl at school that is indicative of a deadly parasite. She has twenty four hours to save her and Kali is still only human. With the help of some newfound friends, can Kali save this annoying popular girl? Will this adventure lead to Kali’s discovery of who and what she really is?

I initially picked this up because of the brief mention of zombies on the back cover and the similarity to the cult TV show Buffy the Vampire Slayer, which I love with a great nerdy passion. Every Other Day is actually quite different. Refreshingly so compared to many other paranormal teen novels. The focus isn’t on romance, like practically every other in the genre, but it’s not completely absent either. Kali’s personal discovery and adventure are in the forefront. At first, she has no idea what she is or why she has the overwhelming urge to hunt every other day. Because there isn’t any other option, Kali keeps her secret and just tries to live day to day. I really like Kali because she doesn’t whine about being alone or succumb to angst or drop everything in her life for a boy. There needs to be more heroines like her in teen fiction to counteract the Bella Swans that prompt people to think that abusive relationships and letting others control you is completely normal or even desirable. Kali isn’t just physically strong, but she experiences and works through emotions and tragedy to become stronger. Kali is believable as a person, aside from her supernatural abilities. Her newfound friendships with Skylar the self-proclaimed school slut and Bethany the popular girl are odd at first because they are all so different. Eventually, it works because they all have their own depth that is revealed throughout the course of the story.

The world building is fantastic. Charles Darwin discovered supernatural creatures in his studies of the Galapagos Islands. The creatures are considered endangered and efforts are made to save them. Kali ignores these laws to protect people against them, making her a terrorist of a sort. These creatures are well known to the public and people even choose to study them in universities for research. Other creatures besides the typical ones are featured such as chupacabras and dragons. Some popular ones show up in very different ways than usual. The world isn’t like anything I’ve read before.

Every Other Day is a fantastic read by any standards. The writing is laced with humor and emotion that really sucked me into the story. The action is fast paced and some plot twists felt like they smacked me right in the face. This is a rare instance where I actually hope a series will continue the story. Highly recommended to fans of Buffy and paranormal fans tired of romance dominating the genre.

My rating: 5/5 fishmuffins