Top Ten Tuesday: Books Guaranteed to Make Kimberly Swoon

Top Ten Tuesday is the weekly meme hosted by the excellent blog The Broke and the Bookish. This week’s topic of choice? Books that made me swoon. (Fitting for Valentine’s Day, which I will be celebrating with cookies and the movie Winter’s Tale, which is sure to make me weep.) I’m a romantic at heart, so that happens probably more than it should. Here are a few of the books that made my heart happy.

1)  Persuasion by Jane Austen – When I was a teenager and first reading Austen, it was all about Pride & Prejudice for me. Now that I’m older, Persuasion has become my favorite Austen novel. If you don’t swoon at Captain Wentworth’s letter to Anne, you might be heartless.

2) North & South by Elizabeth Gaskell – Similarly, I thought I loved Mr. Darcy until I saw Richard Armitage as Mr. Thornton in the BBC version of this book. And then I read the book and Mr. Thornton was even more dreamy, if that’s even possible. The proposal scene, his feelings towards Margaret, his passionate defense of everything and everyone he loves… I just can’t handle his loveliness or his gut wrenching, beautiful interactions with Margaret.

3) Cotillion by Georgette Heyer – I’ve read many of Heyer’s novels and this is my absolute favorite. By turns clueless and astonishingly astute, Freddy is one of Heyer’s most endearing characters. I confess I have a bit of a crush on him! The ending scenes are, in my opinion, some of the best Heyer wrote.

4) He Shall Thunder in the Sky by Elizabeth Peters – Amelia Peabody and Emerson are my absolute favorite literary couple, and all their interactions make me grin happily. But in this book, it was the romance between Ramses and Nefret that really got to me. It was heartbreaking at times, but so emotionally fulfilling.

5) The Dark Enquiry by Deanna Raybourn – Lady Julia and Brisbane are my second favorite literary couple, and this book is my absolute favorite in the series. Their relationship is perfection in its believability and I can’t read this book without swooning.

6) The Thorn Birds by Colleen McCullough – Perhaps an odd choice, since the love story is doomed and tragic, but I can’t help it. The book and the mini series are beautiful and swoon worthy. With both a landscape and a love story that are by turns sweeping and heartbreaking, it’s hard not to be swept up in the romance.

7) Anne of the Island by L.M. Montgomery – In last week’s list of books that made me cry, I mentioned the last book in the Anne of Green Gables series. If that book made me cry, the rest of the series made me swoon. Anne and Gilbert’s love story was one of my favorites, and this book, where Anne finally realizes she loves Gilbert is the swooniest of all. (I used to re-imagine that scene in my head as a teenager. My first intro to fanfiction?)

8) Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins – I mention this book a lot on this blog, I’m well aware. But it’s because it’s probably the most perfect YA romance, and it just gets better each time I read it. It’s the ultimate feel good novel with a truly swoon-worthy love interest.

9) For Darkness Shows the Stars by Diana Peterfreund – This book is amazing. Peterfreund somehow managed to make Persuasion (see #1 on this list) fit seamlessly into a post-apocalyptic world. The plot is full of intrigue and danger, yet loses none of the heart-melting scenes from the original.

10) Easy by Tammara Webber – This is a recent read (as in, I finished it yesterday) that I picked up purely to give New Adult a try. I wasn’t expecting much, but by the time I finished I was completely blown away by the novel. It has so much to say about a serious subject, yet manages to do so while also giving readers a completely swoony hero and some sizzling scenes.

<3<3<3<3

Review: 'Flirting in Italian' by Lauren Henderson

I’m mesmerized by the views... like a whole series of postcards brought to life.

Violet Routledge is shocked when she stumbles upon an 18th century painting of an Italian girl who looks exactly like her. Determined to discover the possible family connection, Violet convinces her mother to send her to a summer study course in Tuscany, close to the area where the portrait was painted. Violet, along with three other girls, quickly falls under the spell of the Tuscan countryside and, more importantly, the handsome and charming Italian boys. But when one particular boy with ties to the painting – the gorgeous, yet confusing, Luca - takes an interest in Violet and strange things start happening to her, she begins to wonder if the mystery is worth solving.

I picked up Flirting in Italian during my continued quest to find the perfect Anna and the French Kiss read alike. A YA novel with such a happy, brightly colored cover (it features a purple Vespa!) and a story set in the countryside surrounding Florence seems like the perfect fit. Unfortunately, what started as a charming chick lit novel quickly devolved into a poorly balanced mash-up of contemporary romance and mystery.

In Flirting in Italian, Henderson demonstrates a pleasing, easy to read writing style. She seamlessly moves between sweeping descriptions of the Italian countryside and silly conversations between teenage girls, Italian dialogue and English slang. Even as I was becoming more and more frustrated with the story, I was being pulled further into Henderson’s writing. Unfortunately, even a pleasing writing style wasn’t enough to save the jumbled mess of plot. I have read a few chick lit mysteries and enjoyed them, but this felt more like Henderson was writing two different stories – a mystery and a contemporary romance. The two elements never seemed to blend, resulting in an uneven story.

Flirting in Italian also lacks fully developed characters. Most of the secondary characters were caricatures, either of happy-go-lucky Italians or American teenage girls. I found it especially difficult to sympathize with Violet. She was incredibly self-absorbed and inconsistent, more so than a normal teenage protagonist. In one breath she loves her mother, yet in the next she’s ashamed of her antics. In one thought she is grateful for her friendship with the other girls in the course, yet in the next she is second-guessing their motives. Her relationship with Luca is even more fraught with these roller coaster emotions. And, although Luca is described as physically beautiful, his personality was so sneering and snobby that I couldn’t even understand why any teenage girl would want to be around him.

One thing I was most looking forward to with this novel, was descriptions of Florence and its many attractions. While Henderson does a wonderful job discussing Italian culture and describing the countryside surrounding Florence in vivid detail, the city itself is mostly neglected. These girls are supposed to be in Italy to study, yet they seem to spend all their time flirting and their only visit to Florence is spent clubbing and eating pizza. Florence is one of my favorite cities to visit, and the lack of time spent in the city was disappointing.

This book’s final weak point was the ending. I was not aware that it was the first book in a series until near the end of the story - a huge pet peeve of mine. The ending was abrupt and almost nothing was resolved, leaving questions unanswered and one plotline at a, frankly, uncomfortable and creepy point. The end of the book was so completely unexpected and unsatisfying that it destroyed any good will I might have felt toward the novel.

All told, Flirting in Italian was a disappointing read, riff with problems. It certainly wasn’t the sweet, happy Anna and the French Kiss read alike I had hoped, and I don’t feel particularly compelled to pick up the sequel.

Book Source: Local Library
Reviewer: Kimberly

Recommended Ages: 14+ for intense amounts of boy craziness

Recommended for Readers of:

Review: 'For Darkness Shows the Stars' by Diana Peterfreund

Inside, the darkness rustled around her. She moved through the space from memory.

The floorboards creaked beneath her feet, and slips of paper whispered upon her face

and hands...She lifted the shade and bathed the room in silver...Moonlight skimmed over

the foorboards...It wasn't enough to read by. But who needed to read? She new them

by heart. All around her, strung from the ceiling and wafting softly in the draft,

Kai's paper gliders glowed in the moonight like pale spring shoots

bursting from the soil.

Elliot's life is controlled by the protocols.  Laws put in place after the Lost Wars decimated the human population, leaving two classes of people, the Reduced, those with limited intelligence and speech abilities, and the Luddites, the children of the group who survived the wars unscathed by the biological weapons deployed during the conflict.  In the post-war devastation, the Luddites created a society of landowners and serfs where wealthy plantation owners harness the Reduced's physical strength and in return for providing food and shelter.  Now generations have passed and a new, unrecognized, "class" of human has developed, the Posts (post children of the revolution).  Posts possess the same levels of intelligence and skills as Luddites, but are the children of the Reduced.  As more and more Posts rise to positions of power throughout the Luddite world, rumbles of social revolution are arising, heralding changes that threaten Elliot's very existence.

There is a lot going on in Peterfreund's dystopian world; revolution, social justice, noblesse oblige, religion, science, exploration and more.  The reader is thrust into this world with little in the way of explanation which means that the first several chapters require the reader to both follow the plot and develop the world.  A prologue or brief history of Peterfreund's world would have allowed the reader to pay more attention to the initial relationship between Elliot and Kai; a relationship that informs the rest of the novel's events.  However, this initial confusion is quickly resolved and does not detract overmuch from the story.

According to Peterfreund, 'For Darkness Shows the Stars' is based on Austen's 'Persuasion'.  Having never read that particular Austen novel (I'm somewhat shamed to admit that), I have no real comment on the relationship between this story and its inspiration.  However, I do not believe that readers need to have read 'Persuasion' to enjoy 'For Darkness Shows the Stars', or that the novel needs the support of Austen's novel to stand on its own.

Elliot's emotions are at the forefront of the story and readers experience her fears, triumphs, joys and pains as though they were experiencing the events themselves. Kai is, in my opinion, not quite as likable as Elliot, but still authentic for an angry teenage boy who has been taken advantage of by multiple people.  Several secondary characters have histories that I would have loved to learn more about but, as the novel is already over 400 pages, I understand why further development of secondary characters was avoided.

This novel's strength is in the emotion behind the action, which Peterfreund conveys with poignant and sometimes unsettling efficiency.  Overall, this is a good read and has the potential to generate quite a bit of discussion in a classroom setting or book club.

Read Diana's response to questions about 'For Darkness Shows the Stars' cover art.

Book Source: Local Library
Reviewer: Rebecca

Recommended Ages: 14+ Adult themes alluded

Recommended for Readers of:

Review: 'Beautiful Creatures' by Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl

There were no surprises in Gatlin County. We were pretty much the epicenter

 of the middle of nowhere... Turns out,  I couldn't have been more wrong. 

There was a curse. There was a girl.

And in the end, there was a grave.

I never even saw it coming.

'Beautiful Creatures' begins with an unoriginal premise, strange new teen moves into small town and the rumor mill begins to churn.  However, as soon as the reader meets Ethan and Lena, it is clear that this is a fresh conjuring of familiar themes.  The events are relayed to the reader primarily from Ethan's point of view, which is a nice change of pace from the majority of YA paranormal novels.

Ethan is a likable main character with enough emotional baggage to make him interested, but a personality that holds typical "emo teenage boyhood" at bay.  I quite enjoyed being in Ethan's head and watching the events of the novel unfold from behind his eyes.  Lena is a character with plenty of flaws, some controlled by her and others controlled by the secrets kept by her family.  Mrs. Lincoln makes a fabulous villain, convinced of her moral superiority and determined to "protect" the town of Gatlin from the "evil" of Lena Duchannes.  (On a side note, I'm very much looking forward to Emma Thompson's portrayal of Mrs. Lincoln.)

This novel falls more into the line of magical realism than full-blown paranormal/urban fantasy.  The supernatural elements are integral to the story but somehow don't seem beyond belief.  This easy suspension of disbelief may be due to the novel's setting.  'Beautiful Creatures' is set in a small Southern town where history runs deep, where the Civil War is still called the War of Northern Agression, and where Southern superstition thrives.  In such a setting, it is no stretch to believe that the town eccentric is actually a supernatural being from a family of the magically gifted.  Garcia and Stohl do a fabulous job of integrating aspects of small town life with elements of the paranormal to create a setting steeped in history, magic and tradition.

Themes of bigotry, judgement, fate, and redemption abound in 'Beautiful Creatures' which makes for a quite involved plot involving multiple storylines.  Past and present events collide to form a gripping climax that will leave readers with more questions than answers.  Since this is the first of a quartet, readers can expect more drama, action and mystery based in Gatlin.

Movie adaptation is due out in February 2013.

Book Source: Local Library
Reviewer: Rebecca

Recommended Ages: 14+ underage drinking, fantasy violence, profanity

Recommended for Readers of:

Review: 'Keeping the Castle' by Patrice Kindl

I kept forgetting how ridiculously sensitive and illogical men were.
He assumed that his fortune would buy beauty; I assumed that my beauty
would procure me a rich husband. It seemed much the same thing to me,
but evidently what was permissible in a man was not in a woman.

Seventeen-year-old Althea Crawley lives with her mother, her young brother, and her two stepsisters in a castle perched precariously on a cliff overlooking the North Sea. It would be romantic, but the castle is falling apart around them, her stepsisters’ are close-fisted when it comes to their small inheritance, and the rest of them haven’t a penny to their names. If she wants to save Crawley Castle for her brother, Althea must marry someone with a fortune. She hopes luck might finally be on her side when Lord Boring moves into the neighborhood, but Mr. Fredericks, his frustrating friend always seems to be underfoot…

A delightful blend of Dodie Smith’s I Capture the Castle and Jane Austen, Keeping the Castle is a charming Regency romance for young adults. It has all the hallmarks of a good Regency novel (a ball, a secret scandal, courting, excursions on horseback, to name a few), and is light and fairly fluffy. The plot, while not overly original, is perfect for escapist reading. Although I saw the ending coming well in advance, that didn’t stop me from smiling my way through it!

Where Keeping the Castle really shines, however, is with the characters. Each character has a distinct personality that slots nicely into the Regency plot, with Althea at the center. Althea is strong willed and frequently sharp tongued, but she is also smart, resourceful, and determined to assure her family’s success. Her interactions with her family (including the subtle manipulations she employs to get her stepsisters to help with the castle upkeep), her neighbors, and her suitors are spot-on, and her exasperated conversations with Mr. Fredericks are hilarious. In fact, Mr. Fredericks, for all his lack of polish and charm, is a delight in every scene.

Whether you’re new to the Regency world or old hat, Keeping the Castle is an enchanting novel, perfect for a lazy day on the couch.

Book Source: My local library
Reviewer: Kimberly

Recommended Ages: 12+ No questionable content, but younger readers might not appreciate the Regency setting.

Recommended to Readers of:

Review: 'Touch of Power' by Maria V. Snyder

Enter a world ripped apart by plague where the very people who might offer hope to the populous are hunted.  Avry of Kazan is a Healer, able to fix injury and cure illness with the touch of her hand.  But this gift is not without a price and each injury or sickness she heals in another taked upon herself.  After being caught and waiting for her dawn execution she is "rescued" by a band of rogues intent on using her gift to heal their king, the only man who they believe can stand against the darkness spreading in the wake of the plague.  Avery had met this king and is not convinced he is worth healing.  But as enemies grow in number, dangers abound and friendships are forged, Avry begins to question her conviction and wonder at the truth.  Can peace be achieved?  Is the chance for peace worth her life?

Snyder's ninth book is as alluring and captivating as the Lilies found in her Fifteen Kingdoms.  This novel as an epic fantasy quality to is yet manages to remain grounded in emotion and character interaction.  Her world is a fascinating blend of beauty and danger, magic and politics with a cast of characters that will win the hearts of readers.  This book is marketed as an adult fantasy/romance, but certainly has wide YA appeal for fantasy readers.  Highly recommended.
Book Source: Local Library
Reviewer: Rebecca
Recommended Ages: 14+ Some violence and political manuvering

Recommended for Readers of:

Review: 'La Corda d'Oro, Volume 1' by Yuki Kure

Every few years Seisou Academy holds an in house music contest involving the best of the musically gifted students. Kahoki is an average student in the General Education department with no musical inclination. But when Kahoki spies an elusive fairy on campus it grants her a magic violin. Now Kahoki has been placed in the competition and she has no idea what to do!

A surprisingly enjoyable manga given that it is based on a video game. Kahoki is likeable and comes across as an average girl dealing with extraordinary circumstances. Secondary characters could use a bit more development, but that is likely to happen as the story progresses. I look forward to the continued adventures of Kahoki and her magic violin.

Book Source: Local Library

Reviewer: Rebecca

Recommended Ages: 12+

Recommended for Readers of:

Hana Kimi by Misaya Nakajo	Fruits Basket by Natsuki Takaya	Take a Bow by Elizabeth Eulberg	Beauty Pop by Kiyoko Arai

Review: 'MeruPuri' by Matsuri Hino

High School freshman Airi Hoshina has her life goals all set - meet a wonderful boy, get married by 20, have a wonderful, ordinary family. However, when she meets a prince from another dimension, her well-ordered life turns to chaos.

While MeruPuri is fun and light-hearted, there is more than fluff to this manga. Airi is an engaging heroine and Aram is both intriguing and amusing as the hero. The plot is fast-paced but easy to follow and even the secondary characters are well developed. The artwork is amazing! I’m just sad this manga is only four volumes long. A wonderful fantasy rom-com.

Book Source: Local Library
Reviewer: Rebecca

Recommended Ages: 14+ Some sensuality, romantic love

Recommended for Readers of:

Shattered Souls by Mary Lindsey	Mars, Volume 1 by Fuyumi Soryo	Hana-Kimi, Volume 1 Misaya Nakajo	Vampire Knight, Volume 1 by Matsuri Hino

Fun and Flirty Summer Reads

Looking for the perfect YA (novel) Summer Fling?

Photo by Made Underground

Check out these titles:
When It Happens by Susane Colasanti
Confessions of a Triple Shot Betty by Jody Elizabeth Gehrman
The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han
Summer of Skinny Dipping by Amanda Howells
The Fine Art of Truth or Dare by Melissa Jensen
Girlfriend Material by Melissa Kantor
Catching Jordan by Miranda Kenneally
The Disenchantments by Nina LaCour
Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins
Something, Maybe by Elizabeth Scott
The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight by Jennifer E. Smith

Review: Kamisama Kiss, Volume 1 by Julietta Suzuki

Nanami Momozono is used to her father's less-than-stellar parenting skills, but is shocked to return home from school one day to find a note indicating he has abandoned her and is running from creditors.  In true manga style, Nanami is immediately kicked out of her apartment and left with the weight of providing her own food and shelter on her slender teen shoulders. 

But opportunity comes at the most unexpected time and she is rewarded with a house sitting offer after rescuing a man from a stray dog.  Unfortunately, Nanami has been tricked into accepting his job as a local deity!  Now she's got all kinds of new responsibilities, two vocal and unhelpful spirits and an ex-familiar who's hotness is only balanced by his rudeness.  What's a newly-made deity to do?

Nanami is a likable heroine who isn't afraid to stand up for herself, while the fox-spirit Tomoe provides a sarcastic, snarky balance to Nanami's sweetness.  The art is beautiful and the characters unique enough to draw in new readers.  Kamisama Kiss, Volume 1 is highly entertaining and well-drawn.

Recommended for Readers of:
Inuyasha, Fruits Basket, Otomen and Hana Kimi

Review: Grave Mercy by Robin LaFevers

Why be the sheep when you can be the wolf?

Ismae is the uneducated, unwanted daughter of a peasant who gives her in marriage to an abusive, superstitious pig farmer.  On her wedding night she is rescued from her new husband and smuggled to the convent of St. Mortain where novitiates are taught the art of death.  For the Sisters of St. Mortain are servants of the God of Death himself and act as His assassins.  Comfortable in her new life as a Daughter of Death, Ismae begins executing targets assigned by the Mother Superior in preparation for taking her vows and rising to the rank of full Sister.  But death is not as black and white as Ismae first believed and she begins to question her role as her newest assignments drags her deeper into Court plots and treasonous plans.

Medieval Brittany is given a dark and thrilling makeover in LaFever's first YA novel which will leave readers howling for more.  Readers will be able to relate to Ismae, for all that she has a rather blood thirsty personality.  Watching her grow from an instrument of vengeance into something more is rewarding and intriguing for the reader on both an intellectual and an emotional level.  Grave Mercy has a wonderful balance of political intrigue, mystery, action and romance and an opening chapter sure to hook any reader looking for a good book.  History, fantasy and medieval politics come together to draw readers into a world unlike any they have entered before.

This book is AMAZING!  I could not put it down and cannot wait to get my hands on the next volume.
Order your copy now!

Recommended for Readers of:
Stephen Lawhead, Sharon Kay Penman, Orson Scott Card, Eleanor Updale

Review: Hana Kimi by Hisaya Nakajo (Manga Series)

Mizuki is a Japanese-American track-and-field star who transfers to a high school in Japan too be close to her idol, the high jumper Izumi Sano.  To facilitate this dream, Mizuki disguises herself as a boy and gets accepted to an all-guys boarding school.  As fate would have it, Sano and Mizuki are more than classmates, they're roommates! Now, Mizuki must keep her secret in the classroom, the locker room, and her own bedroom while her classmates and teachers, including the weird school nurse, must figure out how to handle the new transfer student who is too pretty to be a boy.

Hana Kimi is a complete 23 volume series that is one of the more entertaining and well-drawn mangas I’ve read. There is plenty of humorous tension as Mizuki tries to maintain her male facade and lots of awkward situations that will have readers snickering into their manga.  This manga manages to succeed where many fail by staying true to the characters and limiting itself to the realistically ridiculous rather than going completely beyond belief.  Readers may stretch their suspension of disbelief but they won't have to completely disregard it.

Recommended for Readers of:
Fruits Basket, Stephanie Perkins, Meg Cabot, Terry Pratchet

Rating: 4 Stars
Teen Gauge: 15+

Review: Darker Still by Leanna Renee Hieber

This novel has all the elements a reader could want: danger, romance and a "good vs. evil" conflict - all wrapped up in deliciously Gothic trappings.  Seventeen-year-old Natalie Stewart is unable to speak due to a childhood trauma, so has spent the last several years at the Connecticut Asylum where students are blind, mute, deaf or some combination of the three.  She has now graduated and returned home to live with her father who loves her but is at a loss as to what should be done with her due to her "illness".  Natalie has learned that "for unfortunates like me, firstly, a girl and, secondly, a mute girl, life is made up of different types of prisons...".  However, her prison is unlocked when a mysterious painting is brought into her life; a painting that seems almost alive.

This is an AMAZING novel guaranteed to have readers up far past a reasonable bedtime.  Since Natalie does not speak the story is told in a series of journal entries which gives this text an intimate peek into the main character's thoughts and emotions.  Hieber has done an solid job of creating characters of substance, even those that only walk across a few pages.  The reader is drawn into the society and city of New York in the 1880s with all it's texture and grit.  Anyone familiar with New York City will recognize landmarks such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art (just a few years old at the time of this novel) and the Angel of the Waters in Central Park.  While the homage to Wilde's Picture of Dorian Gray is evident, Darker Still is a wholly different novel that will resonate with readers.  Highly Recommended.

Recommended for Readers Of:
Oscar Wilde, Maggie Stiefvater, Kady Cross, Lia Habel

Rating: 5 Stars
Teen Gauge: 14+

Review: Cinder by Marissa Meyer

Futuristic + Cyborg + Fairytale Elements = FANTASTIC DEBUT NOVEL

Cinder is a teenage cyborg whose guardian (aka stepmother) is as self-centered and hateful as any wicked queen of yore.  While working as a mechanic in the weekly market, Cinder is visited by the Prince Kai who is in disguise and needs an android that holds sensitive information repaired.  Thus sparks a series of events that will change Cinder's very existence and rewrite everything she thought she knew about herself and her place in the world.
Marissa Meyer has written an unique, fully imagined debut novel that will have the techs and the romantics out there on pins and needles.  While Meyer's world is fully realized and rich with detail, those elements do not weigh down the tale which is essentially a reboot of the classic Cinderella tale.  As the cover art suggests, this is a novel full of futuristic technology but is balanced by both the action and romantic elements of the story.  Cinder takes off at a brisk pace before sprinting to the end leaving readers anxiously waiting for the next novel in the series Scarlet due out in 2013.  Personally, I can't wait for the next novel!

THIS AUTHOR WILL BE AT TEEN BOOK CON!

Recommended for Readers Of:
Anna Sheehan, Beth Revis, Bill Willingham, Mercedes Lackey

Review: Austenland by Shannon Hale

For all you Austen-lovers out there here's a fun, quick read that is guaranteed to leave you with a smile.  In Austenland, Hale introduces readers to thirty-something Jane who cannot find her very own Mr. Darcy.  Jane knows that Darcy is not a real man, but Jane cannot help waiting for her dream man.  Then she inherits a dream vacation from an elderly great-aunt which sends her to England and straight into the ultimate Austen fantasy.  Can fantasy become reality?  Read to find out!

Fast-paced and witty, Hale has given readers a strong, intelligent heroine who refuses to settle for less than true love.

For readers of:
Jane Austen, Mary Robinette Kowal, Shanna Swendson, P.D. James

Review: Redemption of Ajax

I picked up The Mephisto Covenant: Redemption of Ajax by Trinity Faegen excited about the premise and looking forward to a new "favorite read".  Unfortunately, I had severe theological issues with Faegen's mythos that I couldn't get past enough to truly enjoy the novel.

All the elements are in place for a dark paranormal romance: tormented boy, nice girl, dark curse.  But for some reason it just did not work for me.  Jax is an interesting character if a bit hard to relate to since he lacks have any compassion, while Sasha seems very accepting of a complete change of her world.  But what really got to me what issues with the theology behind the premise.  According to the Mephisto Covenant, Eve had a daughter before she ate the apple {Issue 1} meaning that the daughter was "pure" of spirit a.k.a. without sin.  At some point this daughter leaves the Garden of Eden; the why she would leave when she was without sin is never answered; and ended up falling in love with and having sons by Mephistopheles, the angel who carries condemned souls to Hell.  These sons are apparently "of Hell" so God doesn't know about them {Issue 2} and doesn't hear their prayers.  In order for these sons to be redeemed they must find the female descendants of Eve's first daughter, the Anabo, who are also pure souls {Issue 3} and convince the girl to love them and become immortal.  The Anabo become immortal and redeem Mephistopheles's sons by giving up half of their "sinlessness" and taking on part of the darkness of the "sons of Hell" {Issue 4}.  The Anabo then becomes Mephisto (which is what M's sons are called) but somehow still Anabo and helps the Mephisto track down the followers of Eryx. (Eryx is looking to collect enough souls to overthrow Lucifer and plunge the world into chaos - even more so than it is now.
Basically, I REALLY wanted to like this book, but was unable to suspend my disbelief enough to become engrossed in the story.  However, Faegen is a good writer and I would give another of her books a read (although perhaps not one of the Mephisto Covenant series).
Writing: 4 Stars
Plot Details: 2 Stars

Dystopia Rising

Sorry for the unexpected brake in posting – like many of my friends, I spent the New Year and most of the first week of 2012 at home drinking hot tea and waiting for my throat to stop feeling as though it were filled with crushed glass. [We have apparently been passing plague around.]  Anyhow, I am back among the living-if-not-truly-well so back to sharing my rambles with the world. :D

I know it has been discussed quite often, but I am fascinated by the rise in dystopian literature targeted toward the YA audience.  What, exactly, is the appeal of reading about a world where society, and sometimes the planet, has collapsed?  Does it make readers feel better about the state of the current world?  Personally, I am an escapist reader and I always have certain reservations about reading dystopian lit.  If I’m reading to escape the bad in my own life why would I want to read about a world come apart at the seams?  But the allure is there.  I believe it is something of the “what if” factor; people love to play at knowing how they would react in a certain situation.

My two favorite dystopian novels of 2011 were: 

Wither by Lauren Destefano

& Delirium by Lauren Oliver

Lauren DeStephano's Website

Lauren Oliver's Books

Why do you (or don’t you) read Dystopias?