The Wysard by Deborah J. Lightfoot

Buy the book: Amazon US

I wasn’t actually intending on reading this second book of the trilogy so soon after having finished the first, The Warlock. I found, however, the tantalising pull of Carin’s unsure fate to be too strong to resist and I put off my reading schedule for two days to allow myself to get caught up again in the world of Ladrahdin (I hope I spelt that right).

Information:

Title: The Wysard

Author: Deborah J. Lightfoot

Series: Waterspell #2

Publisher: Seven Rivers Publishing

Target Audience: YA?

Genre: Fantasy

Length: 444 pages

Story: After blundering into the last stronghold of magic, Carin discovers that she is right to fear the wizard Verek. He is using her to seal the ruptures in the void, and she may be nothing more to him than an expendable weapon. What will he do with her—or to her—when his world is again secure? Or has he erred in believing that the last bridge has been broken? The quest may not, in fact, be over … and Lord Verek may find himself not quite as willing to dispose of his fiery water-sylph, Carin, as he once believed himself to be.

Thoughts and impressions: In the prologue things pick up exactly where they left off at the end of the first book and the reader is afforded some answers to their questions. As of the first chapter, though, events jump forward a few weeks and the reader is fed any necessary information to paint a clear picture of what happened in that lost time mostly through dialogue.

In contrast to the first book, which was almost entirely in the stationary setting of the manor house, this second book sees the four characters (Verek, Lanse – his stable boy, Carin and the woodsprite) on a long journey through the dead of winter.  I enjoyed this new setting and the different dimensions that it gave t the characters. Myra, one of my favourite characters from the first book, was of course absent, but if I’m honest I think that this book probably profited as much from her absence as there was no temptation to allow things to get caught up in her endless inane prattlings. Besides, the woodsprite prattles as well and I’m not sure that more than one such character is really a good thing.

The Wysard felt more concise than The Warlock. The author certainly grew and it seemed to me that she had better control over what is necessary to weave a really intriguing fantasy tale in this one. I found myself more interested in events, though Carin’s inability to see past the end of her own nose when it came to the riddles she was trying to unravel was just infuriating. She latched onto all the wrong verses and completely ignored those that really drew parallels between the texts she was trying to understand.

The characters all grew in this book, each becoming more aware of certain shortcomings and repenting them. Both main characters had difficult choices to make that are like as not to come back to haunt them in the final book of the trilogy.

The promised romance does come to a head in this book but in such a way that the exploration of it has been left for the last book. I have to admit that I’m not entirely comfortable with the age difference between the two characters: Carin is in her mid-teens while Verek is in his mid-forties. It explained away by the fact that Verek is a wizard, wizards are long-lived and so it’s like Verek is only in his twenties… but he’s still lived for forty-odd years and Carin is still only little more than a child. Having Carin just a few years older at, say, 20 would have dispelled this discomfort, but at just 15 I couldn’t get over the feeling that she was just too young. Beyond this, I didn’t actually feel her feelings growing for Verek. She was still afraid of him fairly close to the end of the book, but then when she goes to save him she’s accepting of him kissing her without even questioning his actions. Verek I could sense, though, and I liked the slow evolution of him coming to terms with his feelings.

I’m not entirely sure where things are going to go in the next book, but I’m definitely interested in finding out!

Style: There are not as many lengthy, unnatural spiels of dialogue in this book, which I felt improved the style vastly. However, the author picked up a habit of opening sentences with the indirect object, though, which is something that I dislike in English.

Final verdict: A very interesting sequel that I felt improved on the first book. 4.5 stars

Extra notes: Some invented bad language. No sex.

The Glimpse by Claire Merle

Buy the book: Amazon US ; Amazon UK ; Book Depository

I received a copy of this book courtesy of the publisher from NetGalley.

I first came across this book quite some time ago. I admit that I found myself on the fence about it because of the concept of mental disabilities being genetically passed on from generation to generation.

Information:

Title: The Glimpse

Author: Claire Merle

Publisher: Faber & Faber

Target Audience: YA

Genre: Dystopia

Length: 432

Story: In a near future, society is segregated according to whether people are genetically disposed to mental illness. 17-year-old Ana has been living the privileged life of a Pure due to an error in her DNA test. When the authorities find out, she faces banishment from her safe Community, a fate only thwarted by the fact that she has already been promised to Pure-boy Jasper Taurell. 

When Jasper disappears, Ana sets off on his trail, determined to solve the mystery of his abduction. In doing so she journeys into the darkest corners of society, and uncovers some devastating truths that destroy everything she’s ever believed. 

Thoughts and impressions: First of all, a quick disclaimer: I read this book while I was ill with something that had me throwing up on a fairly frequent basis so I had to come and go from this book a lot. I suspect that this will have tampered with my overall understanding of events. Evidence of this is that even after having finished the book I have no clear idea of just what exactly a “glimpse” is or where it comes from!

When you start the book you soon discover that this future society classifies mental disabilities and that three in particular are called “the big three”, deemed to be worse than the others: schizophrenia, anxiety, and depression. Now, while schizophrenia is undeniably a mental disorder, the other two are just part of everyday life. Who among us has never been depressed or anxious about something? I’d imagine no one. This in turn led me to believe that the whole mental health classification was just another way for the few to control the many, something that was soon backed up by revelations within the story.

This said, I find it hard to believe that just ten years or so from now, the population as a whole will swallow the information that they’re fed by those in charge about such a classification. Had it been fed to people a hundred years ago, then it would have been easier to accept, but nowadays I’d like to think that we’re too knowledgeable about such things for this to ever happen.

The story itself was a fairly good dystopian and the society presented was believable even if the way it came to power was on the far-fetched side. It was interesting to see this set in the UK as well as most of the dystopias that I read seem to be set in the US. Even though it was easy enough to unravel many of the mysteries – such as who took Jasper and why – well before the characters got that far, it was still interesting to watch them coming to the same conclusions as me.

I particularly enjoyed the stint in the loony bin. The insane were hospitalising and treating the supposedly insane in conditions that don’t even bear thinking about. Those were some powerful scenes that showed just how far society had really fallen and tested the characters the most. I personally considered them to be the highlight of the book. I would have actually been quite happy to read a whole book with such a setting!

The romance, though, did leave something to be desired. It got off to a good start but then the characters were split up and things evolved to such a point in absence that I wanted to have seen more interactions between them to support such strong feelings. I know they say that absence makes the heart grow stronger, but when I’m reading, I want to be able to observe the growing romance so that I can become invested in it myself as well. In this case, I wasn’t invested and didn’t particularly care which of the two romantic interests she ended up with.

The way that the book ends sets up the possibility of a second book, but I don’t know whether or not this will be continued. It would be interesting to see where things would go from here, though!

Style: I have nothing in particular to say about this style other than that it was nice to read it in my language! It was lovely to see things spelt as I would spell them.

Final verdict: This book was the reason why I introduced the half star system to my blog. I strongly feel that it is better than a 3 star read but not as good as a 4 star read. 3.5 stars

Extra notes: Some bad language. No sex.

Get A Taste: First Grave on the Right

Tara of Basically Books and I often read very different books but sometimes find interesting new books to potentially add to the ever-growing monsters that our TBR piles have morphed into. However, we know that we do not have 100% the same taste and we wanted another way of getting a look at these books...

Do you ever feel like getting a bit of a taster for a book you’ve been thinking of reading but aren’t fully sold on yet? Do you feel like sharing a taster for your current read with the world? Well, here’s your chance.

Each week the random number generator will pick a number between 1 and 100 for books with pages or 1 and 25% for ebooks. We figured that these numbers would keep us out of spoiler territory. Open your book to the specified place and pick a paragraph. Share it with the world!

The numbers for this week are:

Page 59 for books

2% for ebooks

My book:

My stepmother was never big on the whole nuturing thing. I think she used up all the good stuff on my older sister, and by the time she got to me, she was fresh out of nurture. She did, however, give me one pertinent bit of 411. She was the one who informed me that I had the attention span of a gnat; only she said I had the attention span of a gnat with selective listening. At least I think that's what she said. I wasn't listening. Oh, and she told me that men want only one thing.


And on that note I must give praise and thanks to the powers that be. I don't want much else from them either.


 I've actually finished this book already. It was just the closest one at hand. I enjoyed it! It was good fun with plenty of laugh-out-loud moments.

Do you want to join in too? Here’s how:

Step 1: Copy and paste the Get A Taste image.

Step 2: Copy and paste our intro or write your own but it must link back to both of our blogs.

Step 3: Find the designated page for the week.

Step 4: Type out a paragraph or so from your book.

Step 5: Post it and share it!

We would appreciate it if you'd leave a comment letting us know where we can find your post. We'll be sure to pop on by and leave a comment!

Thanks and have fun!

The Name of the Star by Maureen Johnson

Buy the book: Amazon US ; Amazon UK ; Barnes & Noble ; Book Depository

Information:

Title: The Name of the Star

Author: Maureen Johnson

Series: Shades of London #1

Publisher: Harper Collins

Target Audience: YA

Genre: Paranormal / thriller

Length: 374 pages

Story: The day Louisiana teenager Rory Deveaux arrives in London marks a memorable occasion. For Rory, it's the start of a new life at a London boarding school. But for many, this will be remembered as the day a series of brutal murders broke out across the city, gruesome crimes mimicking the horrific Jack the Ripper events of more than a century ago. 

Soon “Rippermania” takes hold of modern-day London, and the police are left with few leads and no witnesses. Except one. Rory spotted the man police believe to be the prime suspect. But she is the only one who saw him. Even her roommate, who was walking with her at the time, didn't notice the mysterious man. So why can only Rory see him? And more urgently, why has Rory become his next target? In this edge-of-your-seat thriller, full of suspense, humor, and romance, Rory will learn the truth about the secret ghost police of London and discover her own shocking abilities.

Thoughts and impressions: I’m all about things Jack the Ripper. Like many people, I share a sort of morbid fascination for these horrible crimes that were committed but never solved. So when this book came on to my radar as something playing with a present day re-enactment of the Ripper murders, I was intrigued. For some reason, though, I wasn’t sold and it took a long time before I gave in to the temptation to buy the book.

Now, though, I can honestly say that I shouldn’t have avoided it for so long. Or maybe it’s a good thing that I did as I’m now much more at ease with YA fiction than I was back when the book was first released. Nevertheless, this book is good! It’s a fascinating view of London’s dead, a gripping thriller that doesn’t lose itself in a soppy romance subplot or get embroiled in (too many) unnecessary details.

I say unnecessary details, but a lot of what I found unnecessary was probably an introduction to British culture. Here’s quite a lot of this, which I can well imagine as being of interest to readers who are not well acquainted with this culture. Being a Brit myself, of course, this isn’t really necessary for me. The author actually did very well at portraying our culture from an outsider point of view but there were a few general slip ups, such as the news on BBC1 being at 7 when really it’s the news at 6, and some vernacular slips, such as British people saying “have gotten” when we conjugate it as “have got”.

There was a little bit of a romance subplot present between Rory and Jerome, another of the students at the East End boarding school. It was fairly transparent that this was going to be built up as of the very first time that we meet Jerome, but I felt that it was well balanced within the context of the story. However, when Rory almost dies, she’s left with the ability to see ghosts and we’re eventually introduced to a number of other characters who also share this ability – one of whom, Stephen, turned out to be a very complex character and showed promise of becoming a potential romantic interest in the future. I certainly liked him better as a character than I did Jerome!

The ghosts themselves made for really enjoyable lore and I really connected with a couple of the dead characters. They were surpassed though by the characters with the ability to see them. Even though they come across as fairly shallow characters upon initial introduction, they all become very well-rounded, damaged people who were fascinating to read about.

Jazza deserves a mention as well. She was so sweet and supportive of Rory in her first few days at the school – the absolute perfect roommate. I loved her feud with Charlotte, the head girl, and how this would push her outside of her comfort zone, often egged on by Rory. I hope that she’ll be back in the next book!

Rory herself made for an interesting and original narrative voice. She’s spunky when it counts, strong when necessary and ready to make sacrifices in order to secure the safety of those she loves. I really enjoyed some of the anecdotes of her life in the Louisiana swamp that she tends to regale the reader with and how she draws parallels between these experiences and those of her new life in London’s East End.

And the ending? It was jaw-droppingly good! It leaves things in such a position that the author could take things just about anywhere in the second book and I’d read it just to find out what this will all mean for Rory. It’s definitely a series to keep your eye on. I’ll certainly be following it!

Style: I have nothing in particular to mention about the style. It was good and it drew me in. What more could I ask for?

Final verdict: I loved it, really enjoyed the book! Why did I avoid it for so long?! 4.5 stars

Extra notes: Some bad language. No sex.

The Cover Wars: Looking For Alaska

Tara of Basically Books and I decided to get together to do a weekly meme where we would compare covers of the UK editions of books with those of the US editions.

The aim of this is to just have a bit of fun. We put ourselves in the position where we see both of these books side by side in the bookstore. Which would we choose? Why that one and not the other?

This week we will be comparing the covers of Looking for Alaska by John Green.

         

US Cover                                                   UK Cover

Rea says: I think that Looking for Alaska is a case where the US and UK covers are just as appealing. I like the colours on the UK cover, but I’m not really sure what sort of emotion it’s supposed to instil in me. The US cover has the sort of imagery that you can’t mistake. I really like how much comes through from the simple image of a blown out candle. It’s the sort of image that says a thousand words. US for me.

Tara says: The US version looks old fashioned a bit, and a little on the boring side. The UK cover is amazing and just stunning. I love the fact that there’s water with a heart in it. Everything that the UK version has, the US doesn’t. It’s UK for me.

Score:

Week 20:     US: 2     UK: 11     Draw: 6

Do you want to join in too? Here’s how:

Step 1: Copy and paste the Cover Wars image.

Step 2: Copy and paste our intro or write your own but it must link back to both of our blogs.

Step 3: Copy and paste the US and UK cover images.

Step 4: Compare the two.

Step 5: Either use our score or keep your own score.

Step 6: Post it and share it!

Thanks and have fun!

Fallen Grace by Mary Hooper

Buy the book: Amazon US ; Amazon UK ; Barnes & Noble ; Book Depository

This book caught my attention during my most recent visit to the bookstore. I’ve seen the author’s books stocked before but hadn’t paid them much attention before now – there is, after all, always far too many titles to browse to actually take in all of them. The idea behind it – a poor Victorian girl having given birth and lost the baby – caught my interest and I decided to give it a shot.

Information:

Title: Fallen Grace

Author: Mary Hoffman

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

Target Audience: Teen / YA

Genre: Historical

Length: 320

Story: Grace Parkes has just had to do a terrible thing. Having given birth to an illegitimate child, she has travelled to the famed Brookwood Cemetery to place her small infant's body in a rich lady's coffin. Following the advice of a kindly midwife, this is the only way that Grace can think of to give something at least to the little baby who died at birth, and to avoid the ignominy of a pauper's grave. Distraught and weeping, Grace meets two people at the cemetery: Mrs Emmeline Unwin and Mr James Solent. These two characters will have a profound affect upon Grace's life. But Grace doesn't know that yet. For now, she has to suppress her grief and get on with the business of living: scraping together enough pennies selling watercress for rent and food; looking after her older sister, who is incapable of caring for herself; thwarting the manipulative and conscience-free Unwin family, who are as capable of running a lucrative funeral business as they are of defrauding a young woman of her fortune. A stunning evocation of life in Victorian London, with vivid and accurate depictions, ranging from the deprivation that the truly poor suffered to the unthinking luxuries enjoyed by the rich: all bound up with a pacy and thrilling plot, as Grace races to unravel the fraud about to be perpetrated against her and her sister.

Thoughts and impressions: Though this was shelved in the A section, I think it would have been better in the younger readers’ area. It’s true that the book deals with themes of rape, childbirth, death and the evil that swarmed the Victorian London streets, but I don’t feel that any part of it would have been inappropriate for 12+ readers if parents are willing to sit with them and answer any questions they have. In fact, had I read the book when I was 12-16 I think that I would have appreciated it a lot more than I did now.

The author goes to considerable lengths to bring the lives of the poor – and how hardened they are towards anyone that they can swindle, even their fellow poor – to life for the reader in a simple but powerful way and she does a very good job of it. The presentation of the “death trade” is also very intricate and obviously well-researched. I did learn a few new things about death in the Victorian period that I hadn’t been fully aware of.

The story itself follows two sisters – Grace and Lily – and the money-grubbing family who want to claim the sisters’ inherited fortune for themselves. Of course, Grace and Lily are unaware that they stand to gain a fortune if they can prove themselves to be their father’s daughters as they are too poor to be able to afford copies of the newspapers where advertisements asking for news of their whereabouts are placed. For a long time they’ve been living the life of the poor, trying to scrounge a living from what they have at their disposal but coming ever-closer to having to go to one of the workhouses.

Grace, the younger of the two, has to look after her older sister as Lily is on the simple side. She means well with her actions but her mental state makes her an easy target for anyone who does not have her best interests at heart and she often makes their situation worse rather than better. I enjoyed observing Grace’s interactions with her sister and how she’d get Lily to admit to the truth in degrees whenever she lied, but also how fiercely protective of her she was. There was a very pure and dynamic sisterly bond between the two of them that made them something special to read about.

The Unwins were the archetypical villains and were a tad too much on the stereotypical side for me to really buy their characters. Of course, there are people out there motivated by greed just as much as these characters are. I think I wanted more layering to their characters rather than greed being their sole motivator for every single action.

As for James, I would have liked to have been given the chance to get to know him better. He had the potential to be an interesting character that could have opened the doors to another side of Victorian life but in the end he wasn’t really developed enough.

I would consider this a very good historical read for younger teen readers but it didn’t really have the power to completely captivate me as an adult reader.

Style: On the simpler side, which is part of why I feel this book would appeal to younger readers more.

Final verdict: A very good tale, but a tad too black and white for me as an adult reader. 3.5 stars.

Extra notes: I don’t think there was any bad language present. No sex.

The Warlock by Deborah J. Lightfoot

Buy the book: Amazon US

I’ve mentioned this before, I’ll mention it again: when it comes to genres, fantasy is my true love. I was very young when I first discovered fantasy and my love of it never really left me. This is the only genre I can really say that about as I tend to go through phases with most others. I also love a bit of romance mixed in with my fantasy, so when this book was billed as a fantasy romance, I jumped at the chance to read it!

Information:

Title: The Warlock

Author: Deborah J. Lightfoot

Series: Waterspell #1

Publisher: Seven Rivers Publishing

Target Audience: Not sure, possibly YA+

Genre: Fantasy

Length: 375 pages

Story: Drawn into the schemes of an angry wizard, Carin glimpses the place she once called home. It lies upon a shore that seems unreachable. To learn where she belongs and how to get there, the teenage traveler must decipher the words of an alien book, follow the clues in a bewitched poem, conjure a dragon from a pool of magic -- and tread carefully around a seductive but volatile, emotionally scarred sorcerer who can't seem to decide whether to love her or kill her.

Thoughts and impressions: Well, really this first book in the trilogy is more of a fantasy than a fantasy romance, but the seeds are in place to germinate into something more. The relationship between the characters, Carin and Verek, doesn’t really grow all that much between the start of the story and the end. I would have liked to have seen a bit more evolution between them, but I will accept that that is still to come.

All throughout the book my mind was going mad with comparisons. First of all, I had Beauty and the Beast going through my head as Verek is portrayed as having a beastly personality and there is some emphasis placed on his “ruined hand” where he is missing a finger, and Carin is described as being a very bonny lass. Then we have an isolated mansion that’s fallen into decay, a small number (three) of servants, a huge library and Carin’s love of books – I think we have most of the ingredients there for Beauty and the Beast.

Some way into the book I started coming up with comparisons to Trudi Canvan’s Black Magician trilogy too. In those books Sonea is scarred of Akkarin to begin with but slowly comes to know and accept him and even to love him.

After this, Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll is introduced. The first time the title was given and the opening read out, I didn’t make the connection as it has been probably more than 15 years since I read either Alice book. To be honest, I was very surprised that the author brought our world into the mix, as for me that puts this book precariously on that precipice between what makes a fantasy novel and what’s sci-fi. I was nevertheless interested in finding out where she would take things with the relationships between worlds.

The one thing that I was not particularly keen on was the long spiels of dialogue. I’m an adherent to the saying “less is more” when it comes to dialogue as I find that whenever characters start on what are pretty much monologues, it doesn’t sound natural unless the character is presented in that way, such as Myra, Lord Verek’s housekeeper. I enjoyed her character!

This being the first book in the trilogy, I find that I’m interested in seeing this through to the end and I will be reading the other two books as my reading schedule allows.

Style: At the beginning, I found the style to be pretty rocky. I don’t know whether I just got used to it or whether the author found her writing element, but further into the book this stopped bothering me.

Final verdict: Good! It does have a lot to live up to and it didn’t reach the ranks of those fantasy greats (though to be fair, it’s hard to live up to anything if I’m comparing you with Tolkien). A very enjoyable read. 4 stars