Review: The Iron King (Iron Fey #1) by Julie Kagawa

The Iron King by Julie Kagawa

Summary
Meghan suddenly becomes a daughter of a Fae King, and her best friend turns out to be one of them too. Suddenly she is caught up with a Prince of the Winter court, and needs to stop an evil faery that every other faery is scared of.

Commentary
I heard many good things about this, and I thought this might be the book that turned around my dislike of Fae focused books. Unfortunately, it really didn't so my search for a good Fae book will have to continue with another book that is hopefully highly recommended.

I think my problem is that Fae are never very varied. Yes, there are different types of faeries, but the attitudes of faeries are always cookie cutter, and this book was no exception. Meghan is a forgettable main character, and the attraction with no real reason is prominent in this story. Granted, that seems to be very Harlequin so I shouldn't be surprised.

I imagine this would appeal to the crowd that liked the Wicked Lovely series. I do not belong to that crowd though so it is what it is.

Star Rating: 2.0/5.0

For an explanation of the Star Rating go here.

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Review: The Atlantis Complex (Artemis Fowl #7) by Eoin Colfer

The Atlantis Complex by Eoin Colfer

Summary
Artemis Fowl wants to save the world, but he develops the Atlantis Complex and is losing his mind. An old enemy has also come back to wreak havoc.

Commentary
So, for a lot of this book, Artemis is basically not himself and what makes a lot of these books interesting is Artemis' personality, which since Artemis is under the grips of the Atlantis Complex, is absent. At one point we get a simpering fool of an alternate personality, who everyone including the reader will want to slap silly upside the head.

I'm not sure that this story really adds anything to the whole arc of Artemis Fowl as there really isn't character development for anyone involved. It instead reads more like a side story, and that, for me at least, was disappointing although it was nice to revisit the old characters again.

Star Rating: 2.0/5.0

For an explanation of the Star Rating go here.

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Review: Fingersmith by Sarah Waters

Fingersmith by Sarah Waters

Summary
Sue Trinder accepts a position as a key player in a job to swindle an heiress out of her fortune. While she is hesitant, she wishes to repay her foster family for the care they have given her. On the job though, Sue gets very close to Maud Lily, the target, and this could ruin all the careful planning.

Commentary
Ok, so maybe there are thief books for which I have no love. Namely, when they meander through the characters' minds and actions. Reading this book was like trying to wade through mental mud; the story progressed very slowly.

I liked how the heist had multiple levels to it (yes, I'm being purposefully vague here), but it really wasn't enough to redeem the book for me. The characters start out weird, progress to incomprehensible, and I just couldn't relate to them. I feel like the setting/tone is almost Gothic (I haven't met a Gothic book I've liked), and that could be why I didn't like it.

Essentially the progression of the book for me was 'Ooh a heist!', followed by 'Ok then, I see...', and finishing with 'Uh... wtf mates?' So lesson learned, not all thief books are good >.> especially not Gothic ones.

Star Rating: 2.0/5.0

For an explanation of the Star Rating go here.

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Review: Across the Universe (Across the Universe #1)

Across the Universe by Beth Revis

Summary
Amy is frozen for transport to a new colony 300 years away with her parents. While in transit, she is woken up 50 years too early far away from everyone and everything she has known. She gets to know Elder, the next leader of the ship. She also realizes that her awakening is no accident; someone tried to kill her, and that someone is killing other people who were frozen.

Commentary
This book is very much sci-fi light, and while I expected that, I am still frustrated with the lack of accuracy for the major plot point of the story (I'm not going to go into detail here because it would spoil the story, but you can click the link below to get the rant).

Click for spoiler

Engineers would have supplied backup cores for a journey 300 years long, and it's stupid to assume that they only had one set of cores. Also, because they are in space, there is no friction so the ship doesn't even need the cores to keep travelling in the same direction. They are only needed for course correction. Finally, having a ship fluctuate rapidly between speeds of .4 light speed and .9 light speed is ludicrous again because of the LAWS OF PHYSICS and because everyone in the ship would have been pulverized to nothing with that great of a fluctuation in speed because of the force of acceleration and deceleration.

We find out almost nothing about Amy because her story begins when she enters the cooling process. Basically, the only people from her past that she cared about were her parents and this one boy she was dating because that's all she ever thinks about. Granted, she's woken up in a strange environment, but I really didn't care what happened to Amy because there was nothing to get to know.

The romance between Elder and Amy (because of course there has to be a romance) was tepid, and besides the fact that Amy was exotic, there really wasn't much else fueling Elder's desires. All in all, despite the hype, this story isn't worth your time to read.

Star Rating: 2.0/5.0

For an explanation of the Star Rating go here.

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Review: Tyger Tyger (Goblin Wars #1)

Tyger Tyger by Kersten Hamilton

Summary
Teagan's life gets turned completely upside down when Finn, her cousin who is really cute, arrives and brings with him creatures out of a Celtic nightmare. A shadow kills her mom, and this event pulls Teagan into a confrontation with the dreaded goblins from Irish lore.

Commentary
The Celtic mythology was interesting although it quickly became overwhelming. I couldn't keep up with all the names and various myths being thrown around and so parts of the story became incomprehensible to me although the overall story was still understandable.

My second point of contention with this book was how quickly Teagan seems to get over her mom. Her mom passes away, and then there is a scene two weeks into the future where her best friend, Abby, asks her if she's still sad. Teagan says yes, and that's basically the last time Teagan shows any grief. This struck me as very unrealistic since Teagan and her mom seemed relatively close, and I was unable to really focus on the story after that because it felt unnatural.

I know a lot of other people enjoyed this story, but I really couldn't get into it.

Star Rating: 2.0/5.0

For an explanation of the Star Rating go here.

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Review: Passion Play (Erythandra Series, #1)

Passion Play by Beth Bernobich

Copy Courtesy of First Reads and Tor Books
Already Released

Summary
Therez aka Ilse runs away from a marriage set up by her father for material gain. She travels with a band of not very nice men who do not very nice things to her. She is taken in by a pleasure house owner who takes pity on her.

Commentary
This book is clearly aimed at me (or well those like me) because it is written for the target audience of Kushiel's Dart lovers (huge fan) with a strong female heroine in a politically charged epic fantasy about nobility and throw in some sex (yes, I do know that the plots are different) and wandering. But while the target audience is the same, Passion Play lacked all the charming qualities of Kushiel's Dart.

The political intrigue in this book is stilted rather than a fluid moving thing, which must be constantly re-evaluated (yes, I enjoy plots within plots within plots). Given that the political intrigue is what made me the most interested in this book, I was much disappointed by it.

The best part of the book is when Ilse/Therez works in a kitchen. The interactions she has there seem the most well written. There is the making of a good story in this book, but I think it would have required more polish to bring it out.

Side Note: It really irks me that the summary which is on the book has the main character's name as Ilse when she starts out as Therez and then takes on the name Ilse later. Makes reading the book at the start really confusing.

Star Rating: 2.0/5.0

For an explanation of the Star Rating go here.

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Review: Kat, Incorrigible (The Unladylike Adventures of Kat Stephenson #1)

Kat, Incorrigible by Stephanie Burgis

Copy Courtesy of Simon and Schuster via Galley Grab
Release: April 5, 2011

Summary
Kat is always getting into trouble much to the chagrin of her Step Mama. Turns out, Kat also has magical powers, which she inherited from her real Mama. Unfortunately, magic is considered quite a scandal in polite Society. Kat, though, is determined to solve all the problems of her less than rich and magically gifted family.

Commentary
The story really was not what I expected from the cover at least the setting was not what I expected. The proper life of a Society household just doesn't seem to fit in with the silliness and mischievousness of the cover although the story itself was quite silly.

It had its cute moments, and I might have enjoyed it when I was younger. I am not sure though that it would've been a favorite. The characters are not subtle in who is bad, and there really aren't any good people besides Kat's dead mother, who is well, dead so I wasn't fond of any of them. The plot was, well, silly although it could also be that I'm a little sick of the "Woe is me, I can't choose me own mate" theme at the moment.

I believe this book is aimed at a younger audience than some of the other YA books which are being published now perhaps 10-12 is the right age group (the heroine is 12). From that perspective, it would probably be a decent book. It's got a thumb your nose at authority type of feel to it, which may be appealing to some of the more benign mischief makers out there. I, though, did not particularly enjoy it.

Star Rating: 2.0/5.0

For an explanation of the Star Rating go here.

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Review: Atomic Weight of Secrets by Eden Unger Bowditch

Atomic Weight of Secrets by Eden Unger Bowditch

Copy Courtesy of NetGalley and Bancroft Press
Release Date: March 15, 2011

Summary
Five brilliant children are taken by a whole host of men in black and taken to a farm. They are placed in the care of a teacher and nannies. Their parents are missing, and the children debate what they need to do to escape and find them.

Commentary
The kids are an amusing lot, and I seem to have a certain fondness for genius children so I enjoyed that part. I have to admit that I even found some of the more melodramatic characterizations of the kids amusing. There's also quite a bit of teaching about history which I thought was a nice touch.

The big big problem with this book is how it drags. You learn about the kids run-ins with the men in black, but I got so bored. The scenes went on and on... and on. I'm not sure that it would hold a kid's attention span, which is unfortunate because the book has some good teaching points mixed in with some whimsy.

Star Rating: 2.0/5.0

For an explanation of the Star Rating go here.

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Review: Like Clockwork by Bonnie Dee

Like Clockwork by Bonnie Dee

Copy Courtesy of NetGalley and Carina Press
Already Released

Summary
Automatons have taken off in this Victorian world, and are replacing the jobs of not only factory work but servants such as maids, butlers and nannies. The unrest leads one Dash to kidnap Victoria, the lady scientist behind the human-looking shells of the automatons. Little do they know that greater things are happening, and love can be found in the weirdest of circumstances.

Commentary
I liked the premise of the story a lot. I was pretty excited about automatons and civil unrest being part of this story. The story though didn't really live up to its promise.

The pacing of the story can best be described as hurried as the author attempted to cram a lot of plot points into a small book. This led to a feeling of shallowness to the events which occurred.

I enjoyed reading about Dash and Victoria, but their romance and dialogues often left a flat taste in my mouth. Love at first sight kind of deal with some hemming and hawing for class restrictions, but no real depth to be found.

I will grant that this is a romance novel, and plots can be somewhat secondary to the mindless attractions of the main characters, but I can't help feeling disappointed that the ideas of this plot were squandered thusly.

Star Rating: 2.0/5.0

For an explanation of the Star Rating go here.

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Review: Cry Wolf (Alpha & Omega #1) by Patricia Briggs

Cry Wolf by Patricia Briggs

Anna is an Omega an ultra-submissive. She also brings peace to other werewolves, but she didn't consent to being turned into a werewolf. The pack she was a part of abused her, but now she has found a mate in Charles, the Marrok's son. She goes to Montana with him, and then, a witch comes hunting.

I didn't find this book to be as well-written as the primary series about Mercy. There was more focus on the romance which is nice because Mercy's romances are somewhat subsumed by the action, but the rest of the book seemed somewhat extraneous.

Anna's personality is supposed to be strong but because of her trauma, it's pretty toned down which, in the end, makes her somewhat boring especially in comparison with Mercy. Charles, though, is somewhat interesting with his public personality as the Marrok's assassin and his personal personality with Anna.

This book might have been likeable on its own, but because it is in the same universe and set of people as the Mercy Thompson series, which is pretty good, this book seems like it's lacking.

Star Rating: 2.0/5.0

For an explanation of the Star Rating go here.

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Review: Unearthly (Unearthly #1) by Cynthia Hand

Unearthly by Cynthia Hand

Copy courtesy of NetGalley and HarperCollins
Release Date: Jan 4, 2011

Clara has a destiny, a purpose, because she is part angel. Her purpose makes itself known through a series of visions, which conveniently come at inconvenient times. In her vision, she sees a boy (super cute) and gets some location specific info. The whole family picks up, and moves so that she can pursue this destiny. She meets the boy and her visions reveal that she belongs with him. There is of course another boy to complicate matters.

It's unfortunate that Christian (the boy from the vision) is so 'perfect' because he would be more interesting if he had some faults. Clara is somewhat standard for blundering about because she is kept mostly in the dark about what being an angel means. The best part of the book are Clara's "dates" with the other contender for her affection. It feels the most realistic.

Unearthly is not an excellent read, mostly it feels like it's being published on the wave of supernatural teen books because it has a twist about angels. The idea of angels having children is intriguing, but the execution of the idea leaves something to be desired. There are a lot of coincidences that seem contrived and the ending doesn't seem to resolve much (rather unsatisfying cliffhanger), but it's not a bad story if you don't think too hard.

Star Rating: 2.0/5.0

For an explanation of the Star Rating go here.

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Review: The Thief (The Queen's Thief, #1) by Megan Whalen Turner

The Thief by Megan Whalen Turner

Gen is a thief that has been caught boasting about stealing the King's Seal. In exchange for being let out of prison and not killed, he must steal something very important for the King. Gen takes the deal, and an adventure ensues.

The story was pretty slow the first half of the book although it picked up after awhile. Unfortunately Gen was really annoying all throughout the book, and that detracted from the journey a lot. I'm not sure the ending justifies the amount of annoyance there was.

Throughout the book are sprinklings of stories of a creation myth which is based on the Greek creation myths which were interesting. I liked that they were put in there to give more flavor to the world.

I think I will still read the next book to see what happens as the ending leaves some interesting possibilities for the next one even if this one had annoying moments.

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Review: True Season of Love

True Season of Love by Urenna Sander

I didn't like this book much at first, the beginning seemed rather improbable with its whole love at first sight deal and having the main character auctioned off for a one night stand in the 60's. Now, my knowledge of the 60's isn't particularly complete especially in France so perhaps this was at least to some extent normal then.

Now, after the suspension of belief for the first part of the book, the book went along more probably, and was pleasant to read. The characters develop and there's a good amount of conflict and obstacles for the lovers to overcome.

There are a lot of "other people" that pursue Olivia (the female in the pair) which seemed somewhat contrived but excusable.

The middle of the book was quite long, and was filled with a lot of dithering on the part of Olivia. In addition, the temper of Ptolemy (the male half) was somewhat overbearing although it was supposed to reflect the fact that men were domineering. This, however, is in contrast to Olivia's seemingly much more modern desire for career over family and her inability to see that there are plenty of people who seem to think otherwise (again perhaps I didn't quite understand the era, but her attitude towards it didn't seem time consistent).

The ending is somewhat disappointing as the book is quite long, and there seemed to be ample time to tie up loose story ends without rushing all of it in the last 15-20 pages or so. The ending, like the beginning seems to require a bit of suspension of belief, but hey it's supposed to be a love story, romance novel so as is, it's not too bad.

Disclaimer: I won this book for free from First Reads.

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