Review: Absent

Author: Katie Williams
Release date: May 21st 2013
Publisher: Chronicle
Hardcover, 184 pages
Source: Publisher for review
Buy: The Book Depository

Forever is a long time to be stuck in high school.

Seventeen-year-old Paige is dead, the victim of a freak fall from the roof during Physics class. Now she’s a ghost, permanently bound to the grounds of her high school. It isn’t all bad, she can find out everyone’s secrets, which can be amusing—for a while.

But then Paige hears something that isn’t amusing at all: the rumor spread by the most popular girl at school that her death wasn’t an accident—that she supposedly jumped on purpose. Paige is desperate to stop the gossip, but what can a ghost do? Then Paige discovers something amazing. She can possess living people when they think of her, and she can make them do almost anything. Maybe, just maybe, she can get inside the girl who’s responsible for the stories. . . and have a little fun turning the tables while she’s at it.

Katie Williams’s second novel is a suspenseful page-turner full of eerie wit and a touch of the otherworldly

For a book that is mere 180 pages long, Absent is surprisingly heart-wrenching. It is a poignant story about coming to terms with death, accepting things and moving on. Although short, Absent has many great qualities, such as Katie Williams’ simple, yet beautiful writing and many subtle messages that delicately, but firmly teach us the truths about life.

Paige is dead. She fell off the roof of her high school during her physics class and ended up tied to the school grounds along with two other ghosts, Brooke and Evan. She spends her days in classes, listening to conversations, hoping to hear that she’s missed by someone other than her best friend Usha. Instead, she hears rumors that she committed suicide and she knows exactly who’s to blame.

Paige soon discovers that she can possess any person, as long as that person is thinking about her. The memorial being painted by the school entrance ensures that people remember her, at least in passing, and she’s free to possess whomever she chooses. She uses this ability to stop unwanted rumors, spread different ones and make sure that everyone gets exactly what they deserve.

Paige isn’t a bad person at all, but she’d been deluding herself in life and death has a way of opening your eyes even when you don’t want it to. Her desire to be mourned by the boy she liked despite herself, the same boy who refused to acknowledge her in public when she was alive, helped me see the lonely girl underneath her masks. All three ghosts had to come to terms with their untimely deaths and the damage they left behind. They had many regrets and things to forgive themselves for, but they all learned that it’s never too late to become a better person.

Even with three ghosts at the center of the story, Absent doesn’t address the matter of life after death. Williams never even tries to offer her version of the afterlife, nor do her characters question their ties to the school. I saw this as an admission that the hows and whys aren’t for us to question, which I really appreciated.

The subtle message of this tiny book is that not all wrongs can be put to right and that sometimes the cards you’ve been dealt don’t matter – all that matters is making peace with the things that went wrong and moving on. Absent wasn’t what I expected it to be, but what I took away from it was more valuable than it first seemed. This is a book you’ll think about long after you finish it, and the more you think about it, the more you’ll like it.

Full of Grace Blog Tour Review

Author: Misty Provencher
Release date: April 18th 2013
Publisher: Cornerstone Publishing
Paperback, 188 pages
Buy: Amazon
         Barnes & Noble

Running about 7 bananas strong on shots from Hale and Oscar Maree's wedding bar, what happened between Landon Grace and Sher Traifere was supposed to be a one time thing. A quickie on a romantic night. Sher wanted a fast evening of fireworks to remember on the dull horizon of her life; Landon wanted to get his mind off his psycho ex by feeling Sher's curves. By the end of the evening, a secret of Sher's complicates Landon's attempt to escape the girl's chainsaw giggle.

Some one-night-stands just can't be finished in one night. 

Even more complicating, this one rises back up with a hard shot of morning sickness and an entire repertoire of questions. The most important being: how much pull does a guy really have in a woman's choice to pursue or terminate a pregnancy?

And in this case, how clever can he be about stealing her pants?

Full of Grace is a newly released companion to Hale Maree, Misty Provencher’s touching and original New Adult story that features an arranged marriage. It is, in my opinion, a slightly superior, more mature work, with better character development, better pacing and a far more believable plot. I’m rarely comfortable with female authors writing from a male perspective (or vice versa, really), but Misty Provencher gave such a lovely, genuine voice to Landon, and she was consistent throughout the novel.

Plotwise, Full of Grace is a bit more traditional than its predecessor: girl meets boy, girl gets pregnant, drama ensues. Neither Sher nor Landon wanted to find themselves in that situation, but Landon, being the outstanding guy that he is, is determined to make the most of it. He takes things as they come and he puts his whole heart into it, with no reservations whatsoever. It is admirable and perhaps a bit crazy too.

Full of Grace shows how a single mistake, a single moment of weakness, can cost you dearly and change your life completely. I disliked Sher intensely at first – she is a giggler, and she comes across as self-centered until things start klicking into place. Not all of her choices were wise, but Provencher gave me enough insight, even through Landon’s eyes, to sympathize with her and understand her completely.

Landon Grace is someone you should meet. He is a genuinely nice guy, honest and loyal. I adored him in Hale Maree, but being privy to his thoughts made me love and respect him even more. I couldn’t help but admire how hard he worked to make things right with Sher and how he just took everything she threw at him and tried to make the best of it.

Once again, Provencher did an excellent job and showed that she’s not in the business of creating plastic, meaningless characters. Whatever she writes next, I’ll definitely read.

Author Bio:

Once a high school drop out and runaway, Misty Provencher became a college grad, and is now a full-time novelist with a close knit family. She doesn't do labels well. While she can ride a motorcycle, knows how to Karate chop, and has learned enough French, Spanish, and Sign Language to get herself slapped, Misty's life is the ruse she uses to connect with people. She is totally enchanted with them and spends her days trying to translate the soul bouquet of her muses into words. 

Misty Provencher lives in Michigan. Knock on her internet blog door at: Misty Provencher's Books, http://mistypro.blogspot.com/ or find her on Facebook and Twitter as Misty Provencher.

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Review: Boy Nobody

Author: Allen Zadoff

Release date: May 23rd 2013

Publisher: Orchard

Paperback, 368 pages
Source: Publisher for review

Pre-order: The Book Depository

Boy Nobody is the perennial new kid in school, the one few notice and nobody thinks much about. He shows up in a new high school, in a new town, under a new name, makes few friends and doesn't stay long. Just long enough for someone in his new friend's family to die -- of "natural causes." Mission accomplished, Boy Nobody disappears, and moves on to the next target. 

When his own parents died of not-so-natural causes at the age of eleven, Boy Nobody found himself under the control of The Program, a shadowy government organization that uses brainwashed kids as counter-espionage operatives. But somewhere, deep inside Boy Nobody, is somebody: the boy he once was, the boy who wants normal things (like a real home, his parents back), a boy who wants out. And he just might want those things badly enough to sabotage The Program's next mission.

Here’s a fair warning for you guys: don’t start reading Boy Nobody just before bedtime, especially if you have something important to do the next day. It will not end well, learn from my mistake. I thought I’d just read a few chapters and go to sleep, but somehow I ended up with a can of Red Bull at three in the morning, desperate to keep myself awake long enough to finish that last part. 

Zadoff was very careful not to reveal our protagonist’s name for most of the book, giving him an alias only when the narrative would have suffered otherwise, and always emphasizing the fact that his name, or anything else about him, doesn’t matter. His alias, Benjamin, was also used sparingly in the attempt to make him seem less like a person, and more like a well-oiled machine, completely stripped of personality, a weapon you aim at any given target and wait for it to go off. I'm happy to report that this attempt was very successful.

Our protagonist – I’ll call him Ben to avoid confusion although it’s not his real name - is emotionless, but not cruel; well-trained, but not bloodthirsty; competent, but not overly ambitious. The Program killed his parents and recruited him when he was no more than twelve, and his life has been just one mission after the other ever since. He has no friends, no family, just two bosses (or handlers) he calls Mother and Father. 

While Ben’s story is undoubtedly sad and one can understand why he made some of his choices, make no mistake – he is a killer. He is no would-be assassin; he is an agent with six successful missions behind him. He is the new boy in school who will use his training and expertise to worm his way into your life, kill your parents at first available opportunity and then disappear forever. 

Zadoff’s story seems to be Young Adult by accident, not by design, by which I mean that his protagonist’s age seems to be determined by the effect it has the story, and not the publishers or the market. This means that he didn’t pull any punches: the violence in Boy Nobody is not graphic, but it's constantly present. In many ways, this is a story better suited for older, more mature readers, although there's nothing to prevent me for recommending it to younger audience as well.. 

I loved that the author never tried to redeem his character. He never made excuses for him, never tried to turn him into something he’s not. In that, Boy Nobody is unlike any other YA book before it. Yes, Ben asks himself questions about morality, right and wrong, love and duty, but those questions aren’t the center of this story, nor is there some life-altering lesson hidden between the lines. 

Let me put it this way: try to imagine Jason Bourne in his formative years. If you like what you come up with, it means you’ll probably like Boy Nobody as well. Just make sure to start reading when you know you have time to finish it in one sitting.

Review: Quicksilver (Ultraviolet, #2)

Author: R.J. Anderson
Series: Ultraviolet, #2
Published: May 2nd 2013
Publisher: Orchard
Paperback, 384 pages
Source: Publisher for review
Buy: The Book Depository

Back in her hometown, Tori Beaugrand had everything a teenaged girl could want—popularity, money, beauty. But she also had a secret. A secret that could change her life in an instant, or destroy it.

Now she’s left everything from her old life behind, including her real name and Alison, the one friend who truly understood her. She can’t escape who and what she is. But if she wants to have anything like a normal life, she has to blend in and hide her unusual... talents.

Plans change when the enigmatic Sebastian Faraday reappears and gives Tori some bad news: she hasn’t escaped her past. In fact, she’s attracted new interest in the form of an obsessed ex-cop turned investigator for a genetics lab.

She has one last shot at getting her enemies off her trail and winning the security and independence she’s always longed for. But saving herself will take every ounce of Tori’s incredible electronics and engineering skills—and even then, she may need to sacrifice more than she could possibly imagine if she wants to be free.

When Quicksilver was first announced, it was said to be a companion novel to Ultraviolet, R.J. Anderson’s unforgettably original novel about a girl with synesthesia. Knowing that, I didn’t expect the two to be so closely connected, but imagine my joy when I realized how wrong I was. Quicksilver is more of a sequel – a continuation of the same story told from a different perspective. I struggled a bit at first because Anderson doesn’t waste precious time on recaps, but I caught up fairly quickly and my emotional attachments were soon reestablished.

Tori’s voice is radically different from Alison’s. For one, she doesn’t have synesthesia so her narration is less colorful and far more composed. She is a very down-to-earth kind of person, which is perhaps an odd thing to say about an alien. Tori is a very competent mechanic and her personality reflects this – she is calm, collected and precise in every situation she gets thrown into.

Now that the chip has been removed from her arm and she can leave town without getting seazures, Tori and her parents are on the run: from detective Deckard, from GeneSystem Laboratories and from the crazy alien scientist Mathis. Desperate to keep Tori safe, they change their names and move to a small Canadian town. But Tori’s past isn’t far behind, and when Sebastian Faraday comes to her with an unlikely solution, she knows she has no choice but to help him.

Despite her loving parents and several other people who care deeply about her, Tori’s loneliness is overwhelming. Hers is a self-imposed isolation, born out of fear of rejections and a strong sense of not belonging, and it was almost unbearable at times. Walls after walls after walls appear, and in many ways, Tori’s existence is even sadder and more solitary than Alison’s.

There is a boy, of course – a loyal, intelligent Korean boy – a friend, pretend boyfriend and quite a few things in between. He is impossible not to like, so Tori decides to do something she’s never done before – be (partially) honest and not give him false hope. She tells him she’s never been attracted to another person in her life, that she’s basically asexual. I loved Anderson’s approach to this. Loved! She never wrote about Tori’s condition as something that needed to be cured or changed, but simply as a fact of life that may or may not be bypassed in the future. Not altered, just worked around. For the millionth time, Anderson did something that’s never been done before, and I applaud her for it.

Alison’s role in Quicksilver is minor, but vital. I’d like to say I missed her the entire time, but the truth is that Tori, Milo and Faraday occupied my every thought and I barely even noticed her absence. When she did join the group, she brought with her the open emotionality Tori sorely lacks, and it was then I realized how different these two books really are.

Enough loose threads were left to make a third book possible, but even if it doesn’t come, I’m happy with where we left things. Once again, Anderson wrote a book that defies all expectations and if we’re lucky, she’ll choose to write another one. If not, we’ll always have Ultraviolet and Quicksilver to remind us that originality isn’t gone, it just hides very well from most authors.

A (belated) birthday giveaway! (INT)

Hi everyone!

As promised in my last Sunday Post, I want to celebrate my 29th birthday with you guys by offering you a chance to win something from my shelves. There will be two winners and maybe even three, depending on the number of entries. The fiirst winner will get first pick, of course.

So here's what you can choose from:

   

        

     

          

I'm sorry it looks a bit messy. I'm not the most patient person around. :)

This giveaway is, of course, international. I'm willing to ship anywhere, so feel free to enter, wherever you are.

Thank you for all your birthday wishes this past Sunday! You guys are amazing.

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While you're here, check out the Apocalypse page and read about the event we have planned for July. We hope you'll join us with a fun post or in the giveaway hop.

Thanks, everyone!

Review: If You Find Me

Author: Emily Murdoch
Release date: March 5th 2013
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
Hardcover, 256 pages
Source: Publisher for review
Buy: Amazon
        The Book Depository

There are some things you can’t leave behind…

A broken-down camper hidden deep in a national forest is the only home fifteen year-old Carey can remember. The trees keep guard over her threadbare existence, with the one bright spot being Carey’s younger sister, Jenessa, who depends on Carey for her very survival. All they have is each other, as their mentally ill mother comes and goes with greater frequency. Until that one fateful day their mother disappears for good, and two strangers arrive. Suddenly, the girls are taken from the woods and thrust into a bright and perplexing new world of high school, clothes and boys.

Now, Carey must face the truth of why her mother abducted her ten years ago, while haunted by a past that won’t let her go… a dark past that hides many a secret, including the reason Jenessa hasn’t spoken a word in over a year. Carey knows she must keep her sister close, and her secrets even closer, or risk watching her new life come crashing down.

I knew it! I knew I should follow my instincts and stay far, far away from this book, but as usual, I let you people convince me with your wonderful reviews and look where it got me! I am heartbroken and depressed. And I ate more ice cream than one person should in a lifetime. I hope you’re happy with yourselves.

If you find me, take me home, I’d written.

The story that poured out of Emily Murdoch and onto these pages is extraordinary in many ways, but above all, in that it defies analysis and predictions of any kind. It both is and isn’t what you’d expect, and comparing it to other books, other stories, seems unfair and unnecessary. This white star stands on its own.

However, some minor comparisons can’t be helped. I’ve read many stories about abused children in the past, but very few of them had voices as strong as Carey’s. Murdoch showed that not all traumatized kids act out. Some of them go to the other extreme – they behave respectfully, responsibly, always polite, always tiptoeing around those who make them feel safe, hoping to be allowed to stay where life doesn’t seem so bad.

The poor grammar served to strengthen the authenticity of Carey’s voice, but she didn’t need it, not really. She was as clear as bell from the very first sentence, her heart and her thoughts clearly on display for all of us to see. Instead of making her seem detached, her matter-of-fact narration only emphasized her hurt tenfold. She had every right to be angry, to rage and scream at the injustice, and I kept expecting her to do so, at least once, but she never did. She is very accepting of her past and her present both, always trying to make the best of things.

That’s not to say that I didn’t appreciate Murdoch’s excellent writing. I can only assume that playing with language while telling a story like Carey’s wasn’t easy, but she did it elegantly. She was consistent in language, and it often reflected Carey’s state of mind, which is quite extraordinary, if you think about it. She did it subtly, making Carey’s grammar more polished when she felt secure (or wanted to protect herself by slipping into a different persona, in a way), and more deteriorated when she was, physically or mentally, closer to her camper in the Hundred Acre Woods.

Everything about Carey’s family seemed warm and inviting, so of course she had a hard time believing it to be real. She’s never had anyone taking care of her; she was the caregiver from the day her sister Nessa was born. Even allowing someone else to take care of Jenessa is hard, but Carey always does what’s best for her sister, and having a family and a warm home is exactly that.

Even if somehow If You Find Me doesn’t get all the literary awards it deserves, I’ll always picture this cover covered in medals. But I’m hoping for the William C. Morris award at the very least, and I’ve been right about these things before, you know. So even though I complained about my persuasive fellow bloggers at the beginning of this review, I am really very grateful. Some books you read for entertainment, and some because they make you a better person. If You Find Me is of the latter variety.

Review: Transparent

Author: Natalie Whipple
Release date: May 21st 2013
Publisher: HarperTeen
Paperback, 352 pages
Source: Publisher for review
Buy: The Book Depository

Plenty of teenagers feel invisible. Fiona McClean actually is.

An invisible girl is a priceless weapon. Fiona’s own father has been forcing her to do his dirty work for years—everything from spying on people to stealing cars to breaking into bank vaults.

After sixteen years, Fiona’s had enough. She and her mother flee to a small town, and for the first time in her life, Fiona feels like a normal life is within reach. But Fiona’s father isn’t giving up that easily.

Of course, he should know better than anyone: never underestimate an invisible girl.

Look, Mom, it’s a standalone! I feel like I haven’t read one since the 90’s. Such a rare bird! I totally want to dissect it.

In some ways, Transparent is a wonderful surprise. The worldbuilding is fairly simplistic, but that is far more preferable to a messy, underdeveloped world. During the Cold War, a pill was developed to neutralize the risk of radiation, only it had unforeseen consequences on DNA of those who took it (and of their children). Abilities like super strength, telekinesis, or even flying became a part of everyday life. There are sport teams and competitions especially for the gifted.

Most often, the gifted are somehow connected to the mafia. If someone has an ability the syndicate bosses can use, they always find a way to get that person to cooperate. Fiona’s father is one of those bosses, and to make matters worse, he is a Charmer. He uses his gift of persuasion to keep those who work for him compliant. Fiona and her mother tried to run from him many times, but he always found a way to bring them back.

Again on the run, they find a place for themselves in a small town where Fiona’s father can’t easily reach them. For the first time, Fiona is allowed to go to school and make friends. Naturally, she is mistrustful, careful not to get close to anyone. But two gifted families take her under their wing and Fiona is suddenly surrounded by friends and a boy she likes.

While it was both entertaining and well-paced, Transparent was far from being without problems. A couple of things made very little sense, including Fiona’s lack of knowledge about her own appearance. For example, she didn’t know whether her hair was curly or just wavy, but surely hair dye would have helped her see. Her facial features were a mystery, but wasn’t there some sort of heavy makeup that would have allowed her to see herself, at least for a minute or two? (Supposedly, when her skin absorbs something, it becomes transparent as well.)

One character’s transformation (or should I say redemption?) came completely out of nowhere and made very little sense. Surprising your readers is good, but things need to click together in retrospect. Making a random thing happen with absolutely no foreshadowing isn’t the same as tricking your readers into thinking one thing when you’ve been leaving clues about something else throughout the novel. The ending was awfully abrupt and entirely unbelievable. If there was a sequel planned, I’d understand, but Transparent seems to be a standalone and for a standalone, a rushed, implausible ending simply didn’t work.

Nevertheless, Transparent is enjoyable and fairly original. I recommend it for a slow, lazy day when you want to be entertained and not much else.