Waiting on Wednesday (13)

"Waiting on Wednesday" is a weekly meme hosted by Breaking the Spine which asks what book we're most looking forward to.

A Corner of White by Jaclyn Moriarty

Publication date: April 2013

Publisher: Arthur A. Levine Books

This is a tale of missing persons. Madeleine and her mother have run away from their former life, under mysterious circumstances, and settled in a rainy corner of Cambridge (in our world). Elliot, on the other hand, is in search of his father, who disappeared on the night his uncle was found dead. The talk in the town of Bonfire (in the Kingdom of Cello) is that Elliot's dad may have killed his brother and run away with the Physics teacher. But Elliot refuses to believe it. And he is determined to find both his dad and the truth. As Madeleine and Elliot move closer to unraveling their mysteries, they begin to exchange messages across worlds -- through an accidental gap that hasn't appeared in centuries. But even greater mysteries are unfolding on both sides of the gap: dangerous weather phenomena called "color storms;" a strange fascination with Isaac Newton; the myth of the "Butterfly Child," whose appearance could end the droughts of Cello; and some unexpected kisses...

I love her Ashbury High books, so I'm really looking forward to this one!

What are you waiting for?

Review: The Brides of Rollrock Island

The Brides of Rollrock Island by Margo Lanagan

Publication date: September 11, 2012
Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers
This book was provided to me by Knopf/Random House for review.

On remote Rollrock Island, men go to sea to make their livings—and to catch their wives. The witch Misskaella knows the way of drawing a girl from the heart of a seal, of luring the beauty out of the beast. And for a price a man may buy himself a lovely sea-wife. He may have and hold and keep her. And he will tell himself that he is her master. But from his first look into those wide, questioning, liquid eyes, he will be just as transformed as she. He will be equally ensnared. And the witch will have her true payment.

This. Book. Is. Gorgeous. Seriously, guys. I don't want to insult other YA books because it's not my intention, but The Brides of Rollrock Island is purely literary and extremely thematic. It can be a difficult read; I admit to struggling at times with the language and prose and having to reread passages again just to make sure I understood it. This isn't a book one speeds through because you'll want to take your time and experience everything.

Lanagan takes folklore of the selkies and writes a new legend with this book. I have never read anything like it. The story is told through the voices of a chosen few who live on Rollrock Island. Each and every one of the characters is so distinct and they all have faults; you'll find no Mary Sue inside. I love that sometimes while reading, I'd feel sympathetic for a character and then on the next page I'd do a one-eighty and think "nevermind, you're a jerk and I hate you and I don't feel sorry for you and you make horrible choices and did I mention you're a jerk?" And then later I'd do another one-eighty and think "I am so sorry I called you a jerk and I guess I can forgive you for what you did as long as you don't do it again and I hope you learned your lesson." There are some non-sympathetic characters in this, yo.

The difficulty of the language and the themes of the story could be a hindrance and go over some heads. I say could be, because it really all depends on the reader.

And a warning for those who care, there are quite a few sexual situations, but it's not the gratuitous kind and I, personally, feel it fits with the storytelling.

Review: Brightly Woven

Brightly Woven by Alexandra Bracken
Publication date: March 23, 2010
Publisher: Egmont

The day the rains came was like any other, blistering air coating the canyon in a heavy stillness....Just as the rains come after ten long, dry years, a young wizard, Wayland North, appears, to whisk Sydelle Mirabil away from her desert village. North needs an assistant, and Sydelle is eager to see the country - and to join him on his quest to stop the war that surely will destroy her home. But North has secrets - about himself, about why he chose Sydelle, about his real reasons for the journey. What does he want from her? And why does North's sworn enemy seem fascinated by Sydelle himself? Through a journey that spans a country, magic and hard-won romance are woven together with precision and brilliant design by a first-time novelist.

How cute is Brightly Woven by Alexandra Bracken? MEGA-cute. And so much fun! I picked it up after reading an ARC of The Darkest Minds, also by Bracken. I loved The Darkest Minds (review to come closer to release date) and had to pick up her previous work. I'm so glad I did!

I found the author's writing to be quite...convincing. Does that make sense? Hmm, let me explain: Bracken succeeded at poking my heart, making me grow feelings for the main characters, and having me become obsessed with Sydelle's and North's romantic developments. Sometimes it felt like I was reading a gossip magazine following Sydelle and North. Those two have so many ups and downs, yo. I NEEDED to know what was going to happen with them and when. Good job, Bracken. You got me invested (obsessed).

This is a romance. Or at least that's how it came across to me. Brightly Woven may be a fantasy book, but I wouldn't recommend it to all fantasy fans. If you love your fantasy with world building, this is not the book for you. I will admit, I found the lack of location description to be disappointing and I felt the book location hopped a lot. Sometimes I felt like I missed precious time between North and Sydelle while they were travelling:

North: "We need to get to "Blah blah" in two weeks. We're losing precious time!"
END OF CHAPTER
START OF NEXT CHAPTER
Sydelle: "Yay, we're here!"

Please excuse my poor, horribly made-up example. My point: what happened during those two weeks? I kind of want to know! I guess what I'm trying to say is that I feel like the transitions could have been a bit smoother. But other than that, I really enjoyed the book. This is a fantastic recommend for fans of Shannon Hale. I also loved that the book is pretty clean and is a great option for those 10-11 year olds who want to read YA, but aren't quite ready yet. 

I'm coming back!

The blog title says it all! I shall be returning on Thursday, September 6th so watch out! It's going to be some more of the amazing-ness I had before I took a break. I believe I have figured out the balance of blogging and keeping a personal life. I will no longer be putting pressure on myself to post as many reviews a week as I was before and will stop trying to keep up with how often other blogs post. My blog is my blog and I should run it the way I feel comfortable. I love blogging and want to continue doing so. So I am! Oh, how I have missed it!

Taking Some Vacation Time

Dear readers,

As you may have noticed, this blog has been lacking in posts recently. This is due to two reasons:

1. Burnout. Recently, reviewing and posting have begun to feel like homework. Blogging has lost the fun it used to have for me so I'll be taking a step back from my blog and giving myself a rest. I think this is what's best for me and my readers.

2. I am currently helping a friend who is in charge of many book clubs and this has taken up more of my time. That sounds like a complaint, but it's not. It's fun. And I like being helpful. Anyway, this has led to a drop in the number of YA titles I'm currently able to read.

What does all of this mean? I'm taking a vacation. I'm not stopping, I'm just taking a break. Do I know when I'll be back? No. But I'll still be visiting blogs, interacting on Twitter, and posting here when I feel inspired. So I'll still be around!! I'm not disappearing for forevers! I appreciate your patience and hope I don't lose the support of the followers, readers, and friends that I have made since I began blogging.

I LOVE YOU! <--creepy on purpose

-Angie

Review: ReVamped

ReVamped by Ada Adams
Publication date: February 20, 2012
Publisher: Copy provided by the author

Nineteen-year-old vampire Dawn has led a sheltered life within the confines of her father’s presidential headquarters. Upon being sent on a mission to revamp four goofy misfits into guardians of a peaceful little town of Angel Creek, Dawn believes that all her dreams have finally come true. What starts off as a simple task, turns into something unexpected, changing Dawn’s life forever and leading the action-loving, thrill-seeking vampire teen on a path of mystery, danger and intrigue. When a human girl is kidnapped by a group of rogue vamps, Dawn discovers that there is more going on in Angel Creek than meets the eye. And it all connects to Ethan, the cute newcomer who seems too perfect to be true, Sebastian, the mysterious vampire with a turbulent past, and even Dawn herself. Dawn must not only succeed in revamping the troubled recruits, but must also prevent the vampire race from being overtaken by a malevolent villain who has a strange and obsessive fascination with her. As threat escalates, romance blooms, and ghosts from her past begin to surface, Dawn is sure of only one thing: her life will never be the same.

Tired of emo vampires? Ada Adams takes the vampire genre and turns it on its head. ReVamped is funny, lighter in style, and I found myself laughing out loud at moments. Is Ada the first to change it up? No. I can think of other vampire titles that take on the lighter side, but it's a nice addition to the minority.

For a self-published book, it's one of the best ones that I have read. It was the synopsis that originally drew me to ReVamped. I'll also admit that the cover did too. Gorgeous! I didn't know what to expect and, honestly, was a little worried but it all turned out wonderfully! I really like the world that Ada built: humans know that vampires exist and love them. It also has its own mythology which I enjoyed. The story, itself, I found to be a bit predictable but I couldn't guess the how or why, so I was pleasantly surprised by the twists.

The characters in ReVamped came across as a bit stereotypical to me, minus Hunter who is not a vampire I've read about before. Even for the small part he plays, I found him fascinating. The book has quite a few characters, so putting a lot of back story for EVERYONE into one book would make it pretty long and boring, right? Good thing there's going to be a second one! I want to learn more about these people. Particularly, Sophie. I like her. And of course, it wouldn't be a YA supernatural novel or vampire book without some swoon-worthy gentlemen. Legal-age gentlemen, might I add, that I don't feel so guilty swooning over! Yay!

Read ReVamped for the well-written action scenes, the snarky and kind-hearted kick-butt heroine, the boys (Team Sebastian), the funny, and definitely if you're looking for something different in your vampires.

Llama Llama Hates the Drama

I'm not going to throw in my "two cents" about the drama that has been going on in the book blogging community this week. Others have said all there is to say. What I will say, is that I don't want to belong to a community where I have to choose sides. If I choose to do In My Mailbox, I "support" The Story Siren and people who don't "support" The Story Siren will assume I support plagiarism. If I don't choose to do IMM...well, you get what I'm trying to say.

I started my blog because I wanted to share my opinions on books. I read because it's fun. I post reviews and interact with readers and other bloggers because it's fun. Well, this week, it has turned into something not so fun anymore. For the first time, I've been embarrassed to belong to a community I love to be a part of. I don't want to feel like I have to choose a side in this "war." I just want to blog, dammit, without worrying about who I'll offend.

I'm actually thinking about stopping. I'm thinking about stopping. That kind of freaks me out! I get and understand where the anger is coming from. I'm upset, too. What I don't get, is where the hate and personal attacks belong in all of this. I don't stand for that and refuse to participate in a community that seems to be overrun with it, as shown this week.  I'm almost 28 and I don't want to deal with stuff like this. Bloggers who I used to respect have shown their claws and now I'm frightened of them. I'm a Hufflepuff, guys. ;P Yet there are other bloggers who have treated this whole situation with the maturity it should have been handled with in the first place. I thank and respect these people.

I've had a really difficult week just in my own life, so thinking about quitting is probably overreacting right now. In fact, I know it is. I'm just disappointed that the situation couldn't have been handled better and was reduced to personal attacks and name-calling (I'm referring to both sides, by the way). What happens to those who just want to stay in the middle?

I'm going to go and listen to lots of MIKA to build my spirits. Specifically, We Are Golden and Grace Kelly because they make me want to dance like THIS! Except where the music artist and viewer apparently have an acid trip halfway through...that's just scary. Oh, I may also dance to this one, too.

You caught me. This post was just an excuse to introduce you to MIKA.

P.S. I have closed comments out of fear and due to lack of energy to debate anything.