Darkest Mercy

Last month I was given the chance to read Melissa Marr's latest masterpiece and final book of the Wicked Lovely young adult series, Darkest Mercy. As with all good things, I knew the series was coming to an end. But rather than fill me with sadness and a feeling of loss like so many other conclusions have, this final installment filled me with sweet contentment (which I imagine would be similar to Summer Wine!)

I was utterly elated upon finishing Darkest Mercy. I couldn't think of a more perfect way to end the series. (If you've read the book than you know exactly what I mean!) I went in with exactly zero expectations of what would happen and I was pleased at each turn of every page. Marr doesn't simply wrap up all the loose ends in a nice, neat bow. Rather she takes the beginnings and weaves them into the endings, so that the entire series forms a perfect imperfect circle of beginnings, middles, ends... and new beginnings. Because the story never really ends, does it?

It's always just starting.

It's that line of hope, that light in the distance that keeps many of us going and its that touch of personal insight that makes me love her books so much. She puts so much of herself into her work that its like reading someones diary. Or reading your own diary. She has a gift of being able to connect with her readers through her words and characters that is just baffling to me. Because who hasn't been faced with a tough decision and thought, "Well... what the hell am I supposed to do now?" Marr answers that question again and again in her series.

Do what you can.

Do what you have to do.

Make the choice yours.

Darkest Mercy is right back to where the first book left off. Making choices. The choices are, in some ways, more important than they were in the first book. Though in Darkest Mercy they affect more than just one person. As the characters have all grown, the things they have to deal with must also change. Marr has taken a rather large group of characters and brought all their stories together for a stunning and lift altering conclusion. In Darkest Mercy every character has to make a choice, take a stand and protect what is theirs. Maybe its something larger than yourself or maybe its just one person...

While the other Wicked Lovely books have seemed more centered on choices I feel that Darkest Mercy also centers itself on hope. Not empty hope or false hope, but true hope and the belief that there are better things. That good can conquer evil and love will prevail. Of course it's not all a fairy tale, is it? A lot of things will happen along the way that we don't want to happen. Things that we'll pray were just a dream or a joke or reversible. But its not a joke or a dream. These things are going to happen whether you want them to or not.

This book draws parallels from the world around us as well. Darkest Mercy reminds us that there is real darkness in the world.

But there is also great light in the world, within yourself and others.

If you're not familiar with the series it is something I always recommend to anyone looking for a good read-- especially to young women. Marr has created not one but several strong female heroines in her books that I, even as a grown woman, am proud to call my role models.

And if you're familiar with the series I encourage you to re-read the first book again. You will be shocked at how beautifully Marr weaves in and out of the beginning and end of this series. It's also a special treat to read your favorite characters again as they were in the first book knowing where they end up. ;)

Disclaimer: I was not paid for this or any other reviews on this blog. I was sent an advanced reading copy of the book which I then sent out to another lucky reader for review. (Thanks again to Melissa for giving me the opportunity to read the book!)

Fallen by Lauren Kate

Lauren Kate has joined two of my favorite themes, soul mates and fallen angels, in her new series kick-off Fallen. (I've mentioned before that I have a weak spot for fallen angels and I could not be happier that it's an ever-expanding sub genre of fantasy YA novels.) The book starts off with plenty of intrigue and mystery which just keeps leading to more and more mystery as the story progresses. For every question answered a new one appears, but not in an annoying way. Kate manages to keep you interested even though there are tons of new loose ends to tie up in the second book Torment, out in late September.

The main characters are vague enough that you can jump into the scene, as opposed to jumping off the page themselves. I think both styles have merit but I think its personal preference to which is better. ;) Kate also did a great job of making me care about the characters by showing their vulnerabilities and short comings. No one is perfect... not even angels.

The subject matter also manages to stay on topic (ya know, about angels) without becoming grossly over-religious. The mythology can exist without the over-tones that put off many audiences and Kate did a wonderful job with that.

Kate spent a lot of time building a world for her characters and it seems like they wont be living in that world anymore in the second book. I'm not sure how this will play out or if it will even matter, but it seems like a shame to have taken so much time creating something to abandon it in the end. However, the series seems very well planned out. Sometimes it seems like one book was written and then the publisher asked for a series. I don't get that feeling with Fallen and I definitely look forward to reading the next book soon!

Hush, Hush

I recently had the pleasure of finishing Becca Fitzpatrick's first book, 'Hush, Hush'. Along with hitting one of my major weak spots (fallen angels) my favorite part of the book was Fitzpatrick's use of language. When authors get caught up in proper

syntax, correct grammar or current slang they often neglecting what the characters are actuallysaying. But never once while reading 'Hush, Hush'did I think to myself, "People don't talk like that," such is the case with so many other young adult books. Fitzpatrick knows how to write and it shows in her debut young adult novel.

My apparent obsession about her use of words aside, the story is pretty good too. While it mirrors the "I want to kill/eat/otherwise maim you" romance of some other young adult novels out there, it at least uses the refreshing twist of angels instead of vampires/werewolves/ghosts. The story never seems trite, overdone or predictable. Even though it starts off with a new biology partner, the heroine's life is constantly in danger and the romance never seems to get off the ground, 'Hush, Hush' still feels like a completely original novel. I think its Fitzpatrick's talent for language that keeps it from falling into the black hole of YA Fantasy Look-A-Likes.

When I finished reading 'Hush, Hush' I wondered if it would become a series and in keeping with the new young adult trend, it is. I'm not sure how I feel about this, because it seems like most of the Book 1's I've read could have stood alone, but a lot of authors decide to drag the world out into a diluted Xerox of itself until we eventually get bored and stop reading.Its hard to tell if an author is going to keep on churning out best sellers like Melissa Marr or if they're going to eventually spiral into self disillusion and then disappear, like Stephenie Meyer. However, I have high hopes for Becca Fitzpatrick, her ability to produce such an interesting and realistic world along with her talent for words are good indicators that she'll join the ranks of other great long time selling authors.

Gamer Girl

I guess 94/\/\3R 91RL was probably too convoluted for a publisher to run with, so the title of the book is actually Gamer Girl. I get that. Really. I do. Onto the review! I thought people might start rioting if I didn't start reviewing again.

Gamer Girl by Mari Mancusi should have actually been titled A Girl Who Games. As any internet nerd will tell you, a "Gamer Girl" only plays games to win the affections of video game nerds. A "Girl Who Games" is a girl who likes to play video games. That's what I am, so I know the difference, the author knows the difference and now you do too. bBut, again, for the purposes of the publishing world the title is Gamer Girl and is about a girl who games. I just wanted to be clear on that. Its also possible that I'm stalling.

I really adored this book and not because its secretly about World of Warcraft (Mancusi calls it Fields of Fantasy... she might as well have called it Planet of Battles, but "FoF" looks better and more like "WoW") I loved it because Mari Mancusi managed to capture the essence of teenage drama, first loves and online gaming and she's made it accessible to anyone. (And she adds in some internet safety too, kudos!)

If you know anyone who plays an MMO you can attest that listening to them speak about it is like listening to Portuguese. I know not only because I speak this weird language, but I wrote a linguistic anthropology paper on it in college. Yea, I'm that much of a nerd. Mancusi did a geart job of not using these gaming terms. At first it was a little obnoxious (omg, call it a MOB!) but after a chapter or two you start to understand that not every reader knows what DOTs or DPS means. Spells and "beating it up" sound just fine and they mean the same thing. ;)

On top of toning down the innate language she does a really fantastic job of making the story seem totally real. Its an age old story, a girl and guy fall for each other in secret, neither knows who the other is and when they do find out, its awful, they're in different cliques, it'll never work, it gets worse and then they suddenly end up together and live happily ever after. Having gone to a weird awesome high school where social hierarchy was limited to who was a student and who was a teacher (and let me tell you, even that line got blurry sometimes) reading or watching things where the popular kids "own the school" and the sub defectives try to keep to themselves for risk of being hazed is like watching National Geographic for me. I just don't get it. But I know about it and I know that this story does a good job of going there. The difference between this and all the other "Cinderella" stories is the way Mancusi weaves in plots and points from the video game into the real world. The main character is also writing a manga that mirrors the books main plot as well.

I'm a sucker for multiple plot paths all pointing in the same direction. I love mirrored allegory and I love video games and the fact that Mancusi gone to Scott Westerfeld-like lengths to wrap her characters gaming experience into her real life and that character's manga makes me really appreciate her ability to tell a story from multiple angles. Aside from being really well written, Mancusi also takes time to set some women empowerment into her story, which I think is a huge plus for any YA novel these days. Girls don't go around sniveling for boys anymore. They stand up for themselves (in the end anyway) and its totally clear that they would be just fine sans the boy. But, you know, they're fun to kiss (and they make great tanks!) I think Mari Mancusi and I would get along real well in real life.

Re-posted to my blog, Shiny Shiny.

The book Acheron, the end of a large story arc in Sherrilyn Kenyon's Dark Hunter series, is split into two parts. The first half of the book catalogs Acheron's life through the eyes of his sister, Ryssa. A lot of people say they skipped the first part, because it's so depressing but its really essential for fully understanding the second part.

Kenyon has intentionally kept Acheron 's past sketchy until this point. We know he was abused some how, that he has a brother who really hates him, he wasn't always a god but we don't know how or why that changed. We know that Artemis has some power over him and we know that he loathes her, but at some point he really loved her. Burn, baby burn.

Keep going if you've read it or don't care about spoilers.

In the first half of Ash's book Kenyon delves into first person for the first time. Ryssa, Acheron's sister, does the talking for the majority of part one and Kenyon does a surprisingly good job at keeping it interesting but still meek, as is the character of Ryssa. She describes his families treatment of him and how he vanished at the ripe old age of 7 to become a sex slave on the island of Atlantis. Kenyon goes to great lengths giving us all the things we've been dying to find out about that part of her mythology. If you skip part one you pretty much miss out on all of that. You also miss out on the why of Acheron's actions and reactions for... well... the entire series, not just this book.

The overall message in the first book: The road to Tartarus is paved with good intentions. (Its a thick road.)

Between Artemis, who we know messed him up, and his sister, Acheron's life becomes a wasteland of good intentions that all play a role in the demise of his self. This is important to know, not just from being told, but from being shown. You could be told that Acheron has little trust for people but its so much more poignant when you're shown why he has such little trust. And Kenyon does a painfully good job of showing that. Just reading it was a kick in the gut, I can't imagine writing it.

In the second half of the book we jump into the present and the typical template for Kenyon's Dark Hunter novels. If you skipped out on part one you will have little appreciation for anything Ash does in the second half of his book. The love interest is Tory who is devoted to Greek mythology and finding Atlantis. In fact, that's how we met her in the first place. She was Geary's young cousin in Dream Hunter, the book which takes place in and around Greece focusing on Atlantis and not going there.

Ash meets Tory at a conference about Atlantis actually. She's discovered the location of Atlantis and Ash has to go stop her, not only because his mom would come out and destroy the world if she were freed, but to protect his own sordid past. Interesting. We always knew Ash had depth, but self preservation was previously not listed amongst his many assets. Yet Kenyon makes sense of all this in part one of the book. See? If you skipped it you might think Ash is just narcissistic and out of character.

The romance end of things is pretty typical and the story sets us up for many, many more Dark Hunter novels (yay!) Kenyon adds in volumes of new mythology points and things of interest to keep the series going. Everything is running smoothly until Ash drinks Sprite. The novel kind of goes from typical DH story to wtf?! in like, a sentence. No, she never really explains why Sprite gets him drunk, but its hilarious enough that I didn't really care for an answer to that.

(Ash is drunk and guess what that means? Simi gets drunk too. ;) I think this interaction and exchange would have been enough for me. At this point Kenyon could have built up to a vicious war with a pointless stand off ending and I would have been totally cool with it. )

More details about the past start to resurface at this point and we learn about more things that tie Ash and Tory together. It's a shame that these things weren't mentioned at all back in Dream Hunter, it would have made the foreshadowing more impressive. But Kenyon did a really good job within the book. (I'm a foreshadowing nerd, I can usually pick up on it right away, so when it surprises me I'm extra pleased.)

The book culminates an entire story arc, so finishing it was a bit melancholy, but we see more of Ash and Tory in future books. Like I've said, the first part of the book is the spine of it, if you skip that you miss out on too much. It ends up just being another Dark Hunter novel which is so not the case.

The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho

The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho is one of those books that you read when you are ready to read it. I was lucky enough to receive the book as a gift last year from my friend, Ren.

The story follows a Shepard who is told by a Gypsy to travel to the pyramids in order to find a great treasure. Along the way he meets a King, a Merchant, an Englishman and an Alchemist. He learns things from everyone he meets on his journey and yes, the smybolism is very blatantly intentional. At the center of all this is the message about finding your own personal legend. The question is: after you find it, are you willing to live it? Or simply dream about it.

The Alchemist is a hard review to do because on one hand the book is so blatently an allegory, but on the other that allegory speaks to everyone in a different way. I guess I would sum it up as a life lesson in book form. It could have been accomplished with a few sage words I'm sure, but its important to read the entire book so you can walk away with the full effect.

Another book which accomplishes the same task is Dan Millman's Peaceful Warrior. I feel like the two are brothers in the literary world. One being a little more formal and delicate in its message while the other sort of approaches you with a barrage of tiny stories and bits of advice jammed into one solid book.

All that being said, I really can't give this book a fair review, because in order to understand it you have to read it. And you have to be ready to read it. An excellent book, however, I would recommend it to anyone who is in search of their own personal legend.

Bloodsucking Fiends by Christopher Moore

Christopher Moore has the uncanny ability to make me laugh out loud while reading. And I mean really, really laugh out loud. So much that I have to put my bookmark in, close the book and finish shuddering with glee before I can continue to read. Its even worse if I'm tired... sometimes there's no turning back from a fit of Christopher Moore laughter.

Not many authors can acheive this task, but if they succeed, they are automatically entered into my book of masterful literary geniuses. Terry Pratchett and Stephanie Pearl-McPhee are the only other authors who have put me into fits of giggles while reading.

While Moore has many, many hilarious books, I'm focusing on Bloodsucking Fiends, a vampire novel (surprise, surprise... noticing a weird theme here? What can I say, I got bite by the vampire bug. Ha. Ha.) Moore takes something as dreadfully serious as vampires and turns it into an all out battle for who can be the most shameless. And make me laugh the most.

The story centers around a symbiotic relationship between a human and a vampire. Age old story, right? Not quite... Jodi needs Tommy to run her errands (yes, that's what we will call them...) during the daylight hours and Tommy... well... Tommy just wants to get laid. The antagonist? Another vampire whose stalking the pair. Our supporting characters are a pack of rabid late night Safeway employees known as 'the Animals' who bowl with turkeys, get high, and destroy lots of things on their graveyard shift.

Its hard to say which is more funny, Tommy's 'educational' experiments with Jodi (when the sun rises she's literally dead to the world) or the Animals' wiley Cheech and Chong like behavior. The real fun doesn't even start until the very end of the book when TSHTF for real. While it seems like more and more authors take an entire book to get to the point only to wrap it up within a matter of pages, Christoper Moore at least keeps you entertained all the way there.