Book Thoughts: Starcrossed

Title: Starcrossed
Author: Josephine Angelini
Series: Starcrossed #1

I adore Greek mythology, so I really wanted to love this one. For the first couple of chapters, I thought I wasn't going to; aforementioned first couple of chapters were a bit jumpy, way heavy on the exposition, and Helen seemed way too unruffled by the unnaturalness of... well, herself.

I told myself I would give it to page fifty to see if it got better. Well before that, I was hooked. I ended up staying up until 12:30 (despite having to get up for an 8am class this morning) to finish it. And I need the second one.

STARCROSSED is about Helen Hamilton and destiny. Helen is a Scion, a descendent of one of the Greek gods. Yes, those Greek gods -- they're real, and the Fates are not about to make life easy for their children. As Helen learns the truth about who she is and what she can do, she also learns a much more upsetting truth: it may well be her destiny to rekindle the Trojan War.

The first couple chapters, like I said, were a little choppy and hard to get into, but once I was into it, I could NOT put it down. Like I said, I love Greek mythology, so seeing the way those stories were incorporated into Angelini's Nantucket was super cool. And I really appreciate that there is a completely rational explanation for why Helen doesn't know what she is at first. And, okay, I am in love with the entire Delos family. And Claire. And Jerry. I love Helen and Jerry's father-daughter relationship, I love the way the relationship develops between Helen and Lucas, I love Helen and Claire's friendship...

Promise yourself you'll give it the first three chapters. By the time you finish that, you'll be stuck. Fans of mythology and/or romance will definitely love this one.

Book Thoughts: Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children

Title: Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children
Author: Ransom Riggs
Series: Miss Peregrine #1

Ahh, where to start with Miss Peregrine... Was it strange? Yes. Was it spooky? Yes. Did I love it? Most definitely yes.

Jacob grew up on his grandfather's stories of monsters and an orphanage full of peculiar children who could do strange things (like levitate or turn invisible). Eventually, he realizes that the tales have to be make-believe... until the day his grandfather dies and he sees one of the monsters his grandfather has always described.

Naturally, everyone thinks Jacob is crazy: monsters don't exist. So Jacob sets off on a crazy quest to Wales to visit the orphanage and settle his nightmares... and finds so much more than he bargained for.

I just love this book. One of my favorites that I read over the summer and one that I am eagerly awaiting the sequel to. The characters are so much fun, the writing is great and blended seamlessly with a series of strange photographs described in the novel, and the story kept me eagerly turning pages to find out what would happen next.

A bit of a spooky read (perfect for Halloween season!), definitely a strange one, but one that I absolutely and wholeheartedly recommend.

Book Thoughts: Hood

Title: Hood
Author: Stephen R. Lawhead
Series: King Raven #1

I just finished reading this one, and it was not what I expected, nor did I expect to enjoy it as much as I did.

Hood is the first in a trilogy that is a retelling of Robin Hood -- but rather than in Sherwood Forest, it's set in the dark forest of medieval Wales and chock full of British political intrigue. I've always been a fan of the Robin Hood story (come on, who didn't love the singing-animals Disney movie of it?), but I wasn't sure what to make of the Welsh names and mythology.

But any wariness I had was swept away in the story. I enjoyed recognizing the various reincarnations of the traditional Robin Hood characters (Bran as Robin, Iwan as the Welsh form of John, so Little John, and of course Merian), but I also got sucked into this as a story all its own. There are parallels to Robin Hood, definitely, but it isn't a direct retelling. It's more a "reimagining."

There were places where the writing felt a little forced, but the story makes up for it. It's a decidedly dense novel (took me several days to read it), but that's because it is packed with Welsh lore and adventure.

Hood probably isn't for just anyone, but if you're a fan of the Robin Hood story and/or medieval stories and/or adventure, you should give this one a try.

Book Thoughts: Paranormalcy

Title: Paranormalcy
Author: Kiersten White
Series: Paranormalcy #1

So much for normal, indeed. Paranormalcy is about as far from your normal paranormal romance as it gets while still being a YA paranormal romance, and I mean that in a good way.

The idea of IPCA, the International Paranormal Containment Agency, is brilliant. Because really...if paranormal creatures existed in large numbers, wouldn't the government know about it and have a department for it? It's such a creative spin on the whole thing. I love it. And the story built around it...wow. It will keep absolutely keep you turning pages wanting to know what happens next.

And the characters! Evie is a wonderful character. Her narration is funny and genuine (although I will admit that her obsessions with pink clothes and boys reeeally got on my nerves at times; that was really my only problem with the book - too much pink!). She is so much fun to read about and her voice is incredibly real. The other characters are great too, although I wish we got to see more of them. I wanted more Lish! I could feel Evie's reactions to Reth, and Lend...well, he's just awesome.

Also, I loved that the romance developed normally. Evie and Lend become friends, based first upon their personalities, and that friendship develops into a romance at a normal (if expected) pace. And there was no sex and no swearing, and Evie sticks to one boyfriend. Hooray for an awesomely written story that actually has some semblance of morals! Not that I have a problem with most paranormal romances (I love the genre), but this one was just such a nice change.

In short, Paranormalcy is a delightfully entertaining, refreshing, and all-around fun read that will leave you wanting the sequel. (*tries very hard to wait calmly for Supernaturally*) Absolutely worth your time.

Book Thoughts: Rage

Title: Hunger
Author: Jackie Morse Kessler
Series: Riders of the Apocalypse #1

This review is a hard one for me to write. I had a lot of problems with this book, but at the same time I thought it had a really interesting premise and I loved Jackie Morse Kessler's writing style. The idea behind the story is simple enough: Lisa is anorexic, depressed, and one of the Horsemen of the Apocalypse. Three pills into her suicide attempt, Death shows up at her front door and hands her the role of Famine. Lisa doesn't know how to handle the new job, especially not with all the pressure from her family and her boyfriend and her ex-best friend, but maybe, just maybe, it will teach her some important lessons.

My main objection to Hunger was at the very beginning. When Death shows up to hand her the Scales that are the symbol of the office of Famine, Lisa is three pills into a suicide attempt. He says a couple of weird sentences, hands her some scales, and leaves. Lisa decides that she is hallucinating (and fat), but says "At least I'm not depressed anymore." Not right-this-second suicidal I can understand. To be so torn up as to be in the middle of a suicide attempt and then decide after a brief interruption that she's not at all depressed anymore? It didn't seem realistic. At all.

My other problem was the characterization of Lisa and her friends. All we really know about Lisa is that she's anorexic. Everything we see about her character is directly related to anorexia. We don't know who she is as a person, we know who she is as an anorexic girl. By the end, we do see a few of her character traits, but it's still mostly about her anorexia. Tammy is just the bulimic friend. I'm still not quite sure how I feel about the way that subject was handled, but all we know about Tammy is that she's bulimic. The relationships with James and Suzanne are more interesting, but we don't know really anything about them, either.

That aside, I loved Jackie Morse Kessler's writing style, and the concept was really cool. Death was my favorite character by far, and it was interesting to see the way Lisa's role as Famine affected her personal life and vice versa. Despite my initial problems with the characters, I did enjoy the book and will most likely read the second one when it comes out. Hunger is not a book that I'm going to press into someone's hands and say "Read this!" but I do think it makes a good read.

Book Thoughts: The Color of Magic/The Light Fantastic

Title: The Color of Magic (book 1), The Light Fantastic (book 2)
Author: Terry Pratchett
Series: Discworld #1 and 2

Rincewind is a failed wizard. Twoflower is the Disc's first tourist. The Disc? It's a flat world carried through space on the back of a giant turtle.

It sounds strange, but bear with me. Brilliant satire. Intelligent, laugh-out-loud humor. Bizarre adventures. Excellent writing.

Not to mention some ridiculous shenanigans involving a Spell that has lodged itself in Rincewind's mind, a magical picture-box, some barbarians, RP-ing gods, and of course, the Luggage that has a mind of its own. The Luggage may be my favorite character. (Unless Death is my favorite character.)

There is some seriously awesome world-development going on here, plus some stories that you will not want to miss. They're very difficult books to describe to anyone, but they are definitely worth reading.