wordslikesilver

Release Date: January 1, 2012

Publisher: Blackstone Audiobooks

Source: Audiobook Jukebox (Publisher)

Format: MP3-CD

Narrator: Rosalyn Landor

Princess Margrethe has been hidden away while her kingdom is at war. One gloomy, windswept morning, as she stands in a convent garden overlooking the icy sea, she witnesses a miracle: a glittering mermaid emerging from the waves, a nearly drowned man in her arms. By the time Margrethe reaches the shore, the mermaid has disappeared into the sea. As Margrethe nurses the handsome stranger back to health, she learns that not only is he a prince, he is also the son of her father’s greatest rival. Sure that the mermaid brought this man to her for a reason, Margrethe devises a plan to bring peace to her kingdom.

Meanwhile, the mermaid princess Lenia longs to return to the human man she carried to safety. She is willing to trade her home, her voice, and even her health for legs and the chance to win his heart…

A surprising take on the classic tale, Mermaid is the story of two women with everything to lose. It will make you think twice about the fairy tale you heard as a child, keeping you in suspense until the very last page.

The soft and clear voice of the narrator was perfect for the tone of the book. The lush description and rich setting that Carolyn Turgeon drew upon lulled me. It does take a bit to get used to the writing style, but once you’re immersed in the book, it is relaxing and beautiful. It is rather formal, but that helps with the book because the characters and setting are very much like the writing style.

Just to clarify, this book is not young adult. There were some inappropriate moments, a more mature tone, and it is much darker than most young adult books focused on The Little Mermaid.

Unlike other fairy tales, a big element of the story is love but there isn’t actually love between the princess and the prince. It’s more like she’s using him, and somehow it worked with the story. Even though it sounds awful, it made sense when you knew the characters, especially how awful the prince could be.

The mermaid – Lenia – was a fascinating character. She’s definitely an unreliable narrator and her love for the prince stems mostly from her desire to have a soul. It’s not a love story because both characters are using the prince for their own uses. He’s not even that big of a character in the novel. Lenia and Margrethe both have such contrasting and interesting characters that the story was largely driven by their motivations. Lenia seemed to be less developed than Margrethe was but I would have liked to have seen more in Lenia’s personality.

I’ll admit that I quite enjoy darker tales revolving around mermaids because there’s so much that can be done and so much originality can be infused into the story. I listened to this on the way to the beach and back several times over the past few weeks. The ocean can be so tempestuous and this book definitely reflects that nature. You always can’t help but wonder what lurks beneath the surface of it all and the wildly elaborate stories about mermaids  always indulge my curiosity.

The narrator was good but she did have a bit of a monotone. She was very even, which I normally don’t like but actually really enjoyed.

It was a bit startling for me to actually read such a dark retelling of The Little Mermaid although I really liked it. I went through a lot of love/hate with it though because there were some parts I just couldn’t stand. There were a few unfinished plot lines that were never followed through and some weird concepts. There were some ideas about religion that may rebuff people who think differently (it was different than what I thought, anyways) and some characters were just plain unlikable.

The prince was obnoxious. He was very self-centered and arrogant and I just couldn’t stand him and didn’t understand the fuss being made over him. If the story was supposed to be like The Little Mermaid, you’d think that the characters would be somewhat similar in nature. I didn’t like him, and by the end, I only liked him a little more than what I began with.

Margrethe was a bit more of a sympathetic character than Lenia so I found myself liking her more.

There were a few sex scenes which I didn’t feel were necessary. They were pretty mild but there was only one that was actually necessary to the plot and even then, it made me slightly uncomfortable. Normally it doesn’t bother me, but if it’s an unnecessary element in the book then it irritates me. There wasn’t much else in the book though, so that was good. It made me really happy that Carolyn Turgeon didn’t throw much else in there. No profanity or anything.

It’s not your typical fairy tale. For one, it’s not happy, it’s not romantic, and it will challenge you to keep believing in it. But towards the end, the gorgeous writing and twisted nature of the characters and it all makes it a book like no other. With all its frustrations and shortcomings, and with all the incredible characters and hateful characters, the end result is a book that I just thought about. It’s one of those books that has a distinct feel to it that means that it remains completely unique no matter what I read. The author has somehow managed to capture the feel of being near the ocean and all the thoughts and lore surrounding it.

I had mixed feelings about Mermaid. I wouldn’t recommend buying it, but if your local library has a copy or anything, I would give it a try. It just wasn’t for me, but it was pretty good if you could get past some of the problems in it.

Recommended for anybody who loves: Lost Voices; Daughters of the Sea series; dark fantasy; Ingo; etc,.

Possible book club questions:

How does the “love” talked about in Mermaid compare and contrast to the romance in The Little Mermaid?
How does the prince’s personality in Mermaid compare to The Little Mermaid?

etc,.

Hey y’all!
It’s Grace and I have a few awesome books to talk about this week and some great pieces of news.

Book Expo

I am attending Book Expo America in NYC this year, so I’ll be in New York for Book Blogger Con (renamed BEA Bloggers Conference, I believe) on the 4th, and at the expo on the 5th and 6th. I am planning to go to Teen Author Carnival, but other than that, I don’t think I have any bookish things to go to. If y’all are going, let me know! Drop me a line in the comments!

Tome Quester

As most of you probably already know, my “brother blog”, the boy-geared counterpart to Words Like Silver, is Tome Quester (link and logo is in the sidebar!) and Jacob recently got a Twitter! Follow him @TomeQuester!

Lack of Posting

Sorry I didn’t post more than once this week! I feel really bad but I had these really important tryouts for a dance team and was swamped all week. I’ll be posting my review of the audiobook of Mermaid on Monday though, so look forward to a week filled with posts!

The Books:

Bought (Kindle):

Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan (yes, I do realize that this is the movie cover but I couldn’t find the book cover)

Something Like Fate by Susane Colasanti

Thank y’all for reading! Check out Jacob’s blog and I hope that I see some of y’all at Book Expo!

Hey y’all!
I’ve had an eventful few weeks. So, first of all, as I have mentioned before, Immortal Ink Publishing (the publishing company for which I intern) has opened for submissions. I also posted my first review for them on their blog this week (I’ll put links below since my handy tool that lets me link to text seems to not be cooperating) and I have dance tryouts next week. I graduate from the school I’ve been at for ten years next week and I also have decided which writing projects that I am going to work on this summer. I read my first John Green book (three, actually) and cried. I found out that amazing authors who I have been dying to meet will be at Teen Author Carnival while I am at Book Expo America! So much has been happening and will be happening over the summer and I am incredibly excited for it all!

In My Mailbox is a meme hosted by Kristi at The Story Siren. It’s essentially where bloggers talk about the books that they got this week. These are my books from the past two weeks. I’m really excited about them.

Review:

The Gathering Storm by Robin Bridges

B&N:

Insurgent by Veronica Roth

So Much Closer by Susane Colasanti

Belles by Jen Calonita

Paper Towns by John Green

Kindle:

Waiting for You by Susane Colasanti

When It Happens by Susane Colasanti

That’s it for me this week, and I’m hoping to devour the ones that I haven’t read already today. What did y’all get in your mailboxes?

Release Date: April 24, 2012

Publisher: Harlequin Teen

Format: ARC

Source: Inkwood

In a future world, Vampires reign. Humans are blood cattle. And one girl will search for the key to save humanity.

Allison Sekemoto survives in the Fringe, the outermost circle of a vampire city. By day, she and her crew scavenge for food. By night, any one of them could be eaten.

Some days, all that drives Allie is her hatred of them. The vampires who keep humans as blood cattle. Until the night Allie herself is attacked—and given the ultimate choice. Die… or become one of the monsters.

Faced with her own mortality, Allie becomes what she despises most. To survive, she must learn the rules of being immortal, including the most important: go long enough without human blood, and you will go mad.

Then Allie is forced to flee into the unknown, outside her city walls. There she joins a ragged band of humans who are seeking a legend—a possible cure to the disease that killed off most of humankind and created the rabids, the mindless creatures who threaten humans and vampires alike.

But it isn’t easy to pass for human. Especially not around Zeke, who might see past the monster inside her. And Allie soon must decide what—and who—is worth dying for.

Just when we thought that the vampire trend was over, Julie Kagawa announced her new novel, The Immortal Rules. It was funny because so many people were full of vampire-fatigue and so sick of the entire thing. Seeing the same story regurgitated over and over again and seeing every book compared to Twilight can get pretty tiring pretty fast.

This book is possibly the most refreshing and genius take on the trend that I have come across and restores my faith in it. I’m not even sure whether it can be called a take on the trend because it takes something tiring and made it completely new. This book – instead of being the conclusion to the trend as I expected – may just start it up again.

The Immortal Rules focuses on a girl named Allison. In a world crawling with bloodthirsty and vicious vampires, where nobody stays out after dark, and where starving is considered doing well, she is used to fending for herself. Although she belongs to a gang of other teens, she knows that they would just as easily turn their backs on her if it meant the difference between life and death. The sad part is that she’s used to that. Allison has been told for her entire life just how awful and heartless the vampire race is, and it’s been ingrained in her.

Allie is a part of the Fringe, the poor community outside of the Inner City, where the vampires live in their glitzy buildings. People rarely get invited to the Inner City, and then, it’s only the most talented and valuable of the humans. Allison learns to scavenge for food, eating whatever she can get her hands on even if it’s rotted because it could mean the difference between living and dying.

Going outside the city is forbidden and dangerous, with terrifying rabids stalking the ruins outside. When Allie and her gang are attacked by the rabids and she finds herself dying. It is then that she is offered a choice by a mysterious vampire master: die, or be turned. She chooses immortality.

As if turning into the monster she fears and hates with every fiber of her being isn’t enough, she soon is forced outside of the city, where she meets up with a group searching for the mysterious Eden, a place where vampires and rabids don’t exist. she learns that there is something much larger than her survival brewing on the horizon. Everything is at stake during this tantalizing novel filled with tension and electrifying action.

The first thing that hit me about The Immortal Rules was that it was completely and utterly honest. It didn’t skate around the subject or try to avoid the brutal truth. It was also realistic in the way that it painted the vampires and how human nature worked in that world. Betrayal was actually common because people turned on each other because of self-preservation.

Chances are, most people would choose based on the knowledge that they already had – that vampires were soulless, terrible people who didn’t have any humanity left – instead of taking a chance and putting their lives on the line. It was this reality that tormented Allie throughout the book because of the memories of her old life and having to hide her true nature for fear of being alienated.

A big part of the book was Allison being cut off by her few relationships. Some of them were ones that she had expected to end as soon as a better offer came up but some were ones that she was shocked and hurt about. It was actually a huge part of her character development because she was hurt and everything made her stronger. Her vampire transformation meant that she saw things in a different way and learned just how misunderstood some of the vampires were. Her transformation made her reflect upon her actions and thoughts that she had fostered for years, and some of her walls came down.

Allie was both a much more strong and vulnerable person at the end of the book. She managed to develop relationships and lose relationships and it changed her irrevocably. Her emotional transformation was just as potent as her physical one, and with every experience came a change.

A big issue with the vampires that I’m actually incredibly interested in nature vs. nurture. People were scared of the vampires because they knew about the soulless and heartless vampires that stalked the streets looking for prey and weren’t willing to take a chance on the others. Allie herself had believed in this for years but when she had the chance to survive instead of dying, she chose being a vampire. The people who judged her probably would have done the same.

Anyways, the people on the Fringe had been used to never going out after dark and immediately distrusting all of the vampires. Part of it is pride, and part of it is true, but nobody is willing to take a chance on the vampires that may actually turn out to be good. Also, a lot of the people in the Fringe have never seen a vampire. There are gangs and groups but in reality, everybody is on their own because nobody will risk their life. It was a depressing life to read about but it was also really interesting.

There were plenty of vampires that delighted in killing humans and drinking blood and others who repressed the urge. Allie herself struggled with retaining her humanity and we learned so much about her from that process. While Julie Kagawa excels at making beautiful, plot-driven novels, her character development was really stunning in this book as well.

Is it weird if I say that I was really a fan of Julie Kagawa not being afraid to kill off her characters? I was really attached to them, and I cried like a baby when they died, but it was so realistic and brutally honest that I couldn’t help but love it when she did that. In a book like this, there’s bound to be tragedy and I admire Julie Kagawa’s guts for being able to do that to her characters. It’s really sad killing off a character but it’s really one of the most important moments in a storyline.

It says something about her bravery with this. The Immortal Rules was a very risky book to pull off and only Julie Kagawa could have attempted something like this and manage to rank it among my favorites. Chilling developments shattered misconceptions that I had built throughout the book and made me question everything that I thought I knew.

The destruction and devastation of the world that Julie Kagawa created was breathtaking. Her descriptive language wasn’t flowery but I could see the jagged edges of the building and the gaunt figures of the rabids. Wow! Just wow! It wasn’t superfluous, but easily painted a picture of the surroundings and the emotion in the environment that Allie was in.

It reminded me of the Hunger Games world, although instead of the control, it was complete chaos. By what I mean when I say that, I mean that there was that same sense of despair and there was a rule of conduct that was understood but not said. It had the same dark feel but there was still hope. And like Suzanne Collins did with Mockingjay, it wouldn’t have been real enough if things turned out well, or if it was happy, but for some reason, it still left me feeling satisfied. Like I said earlier, Julie Kagawa is honest, and I love that in a book even when I don’t agree with what has to happen.

The world building! Oh, the world building! Everything about this book made me want to completely fangirl out! Julie Kagawa builds a terrifying world of deceit and survival and it was incredible. A large part of the book was world building, and although that was rather slow towards the beginning, there was a need for it. The next book should be much more fast-paced because of the fantastic world building done in the first book. At first, I was confused by the customs and unspoken rules of the world, but as I read more and more, I understood. It just was really well done and written.

This book also did a lot of genre-blending. One of my favorite books is filled with genre-blending (Revolution by Jennifer Donnelly) and the dystopian/post-apocalyptic genre goes hand and hand with the paranormal. It was really excellently done. Most post-apocalyptic books like this were with zombies instead of vampires and it was a very refreshing change. Everything about this book blew me away!

Another element that I found interesting in the book was that there was a lot of…philosophy. Instead of simply being a rough-and-tumble book that had gore and excitement, it explored what it means to have humanity and so many themes were interwoven. Whether they were intentional or just snuck into the story, I don’t know, but I loved stopping to think about deeper things throughout the book as they were bought up. There were so many questions about human nature and nature vs. nurture and power struggles. While I do love a rollicking read, I also love it when a book addresses other matters or subtly hints at a theme. It may be my own little quirk but Julie Kagawa did so in an extremely enthralling way.

My thoughts at the beginning of the book were completely different by the end. I saw all of the characters in new ways because of the experiences that they had been through, saw the world in an entirely new light, and was left feeling completely alive. My mind was racing; my heart was beating at double time. I was at the edge of my seat, unable to put the book down, and the ending tapered off perfectly but left me aching for more. In a way, the book itself reminded me of Eve by Anna Carey but we didn’t experience any of the weakness nor frustration that I felt with that book with The Immortal Rules. Everything was strong and powerful. The impact that I felt when it ended was enormous.

To summarize, Julie Kagawa has created an addictive read full of twists and shattering developments that change everything as you read. Her exuberant risk-taking pays off and her bravery and bold writing takes the book to an entirely new level. We see a new side of Julie Kagawa and it was fantastic. The exciting plot line hints at a deeper meaning and  the new take on vampires is extremely refreshing in a market saturated with one type of vampire book. Parts of the book were a bit rough, but I expect that this series will go far and I will be eagerly awaiting the next installment. The characters were extremely well developed and realistic, the pacing was brilliant, and I was left satisfied by the end of the book.

Recommended for anybody who loves: Eve; Released by Megan Duncan; Crusade; The Morganville Vampires; Julie Kagawa; brutal honesty; straightforward writing; post-apocalyptic fiction; horror; etc,.

Possible book club questions:

How did Alison’s perception of vampires change when she became one. Was this hypocrisy?
Alison made the decision to become a vampire in a life-or-death situation. A person’s true character is shown when he or she is in a life-or-death situation. What did this choice show about Alison?
Alison was very aggressive towards other people towards the end of the book. How much of this came from her vampire nature and how much came from her personality?
Compare and contrast the vision of vampires seen in many recent YA books with the vision that Julie Kagawa paints in this book. 

etc,.

Lenny Petrakas is worried about her skin. Not the way you’re thinking. Not like that at all. While most people spend time concerned about dirt and elasticity, temperature and moisture, Lenny has a more pressing problem. Something is after her. Something evil that won’t stop until it has peeled every last inch of skin from the teen’s body. And then, it may end her misery quickly, or it may dump her body in the woods. Let infection and dehydration run its course.

Lenny is just your normal sixteen-year-old girl. Was. Was just your normal sixteen-year-old girl. Quiet and polite. Petite. Introspective, but not to the point of isolation. Loyal? Fiercely so. Outstanding? Noteworthy? Different? No, no, and no. Or so she thought. What started as an eerie feeling, a certainty that someone had been in her room while she slept, has spiraled into something far worse. Something was in her room. Something that finds her highly different, extremely noteworthy, and intensely outstanding.

Game over? Wrong. Lenny’s a fighter, and she isn’t about to lie down and take what’s coming to her. Enlisting the help of her best friend, a not-so-secret admirer, the hottest guy in school, one odious cheerleader, and a paranormalist teacher, Lenny is facing her fears head on, in a battle she knows can only end in death.

Fury’s Fire by Lisa Papademitriou

At the end of Siren’s Storm, the Sirens were defeated, and now the town of Walfang is once again a peaceful beach community.

Or is it? Gretchen and Will are still haunted by the memories of the night the Sirens were destroyed—Gretchen because she can’t remember what happened and Will because he doesn’t know how to tell Gretchen what he saw. He doesn’t even understand what he saw, but he does know now that Gretchen is more than what she seems, more than a human girl. And at the same time, he is more in love with her than ever.

Gretchen knows there’s something wrong, too. She feels like an alien in her own body, but she doesn’t know why. And she feels a presence stalking her at every turn. Have the Sirens returned to Walfang? Or has some other force come to claim her?

The first book in the series was pretty good, so I wasn’t expecting anything special out of this one. I must say that I was pleasantly surprised because Fury’s Fire exceeded my expectations. The character development was up to par and the plot was even more intense than in Siren’s Storm. I really do enjoy when authors write from the boy’s point of view. Part of it may be my fascination as a teen girl (because we always want to know how guys think!) but the other part is just because that’s how the book works.

In the last book, Will was still dealing with his depression and grief over his brother’s death. At the end of the last book, Will was finally accepting his brother’s death and the role that the strange girl he saw may have had to do with it. What I also thought refreshing about this book was that it wasn’t a paranormal romance. Will was actually falling in love with his best friend of years but it wasn’t focused on that. It was actually focused on the plot and character development like any book should be and I respected the author for that.

I absolutely loved this book! I wasn’t expecting to fall in love with it as much as I did. I really loved how the story got deeper and deeper and twisted into the mythology. The character development – like in the first book – was my favorite part of the book and I highly recommend it to anybody who enjoys stories with a lot of mythology, siren books, and character development.

Of Poseidon by Anna Banks

Galen is the prince of the Syrena, sent to land to find a girl he’s heard can communicate with fish. Emma is on vacation at the beach. When she runs into Galen—literally, ouch!—both teens sense a connection. But it will take several encounters, including a deadly one with a shark, for Galen to be convinced of Emma’s gifts. Now, if he can only convince Emma that she holds the key to his kingdom . . .

Told from both Emma and Galen’s points of view, here is a fish-out-of-water story that sparkles with intrigue, humor, and waves of romance.

Of Poseidon was definitely better than I was expecting as well. I went through spurts with this one: at first, I read a few pages and didn’t enjoy it, but it may have just been my mood at the time because when I picked it up, I devoured it. There were a few things that I didn’t really enjoy but nothing that annoyed me enough to point it out. I really loved the mood to it all and I was not expecting the twists and curveballs that Anna Banks would throw at us!

Emma was a memorable character. She was normal and just like any average girl but there was a spark to her that made her stand out. She had a slightly quirky, loyal personality that I really enjoyed and she was tender. The other characters in the novel were a bit usual – the sister who doesn’t like her, the love interest, the friend, etc,. but Emma made up for them. They were okay, but nothing special.

The dynamic of the mermaid story in this book was very well explained. I didn’t lose my place once or have to stop because I was confused. It was clearly explained throughout the book and provided a clean foundation to build more on and go more in-depth and detailed on everything. I hate being confused, so Of Poseidon was fresh and relaxing in that aspect.

Judging by my first impression of the book compared to when I finally read it, this could be one of those books that you either love or don’t enjoy. It’s a used storyline but the twists and backstory make the book a good read.

Struck by Jennifer Bosworth

Mia Price is a lightning addict. She’s survived countless strikes, but her craving to connect to the energy in storms endangers her life and the lives of those around her.

Los Angeles, where lightning rarely strikes, is one of the few places Mia feels safe from her addiction. But when an earthquake devastates the city, her haven is transformed into a minefield of chaos and danger. The beaches become massive tent cities. Downtown is a crumbling wasteland, where a traveling party moves to a different empty building each night, the revelers drawn to the destruction by a force they cannot deny. Two warring cults rise to power, and both see Mia as the key to their opposing doomsday prophecies. They believe she has a connection to the freak electrical storm that caused the quake, and to the far more devastating storm that is yet to come.

Mia wants to trust the enigmatic and alluring Jeremy when he promises to protect her, but she fears he isn’t who he claims to be. In the end, the passion and power that brought them together could be their downfall. When the final disaster strikes, Mia must risk unleashing the full horror of her strength to save the people she loves, or lose everything.

I went through the same reaction that I did with Of Poseidon with Struck. I picked it up one day and quickly got tired with the dystopian world. I picked it up a few days later and forced myself through the rocky beginning and ended up really enjoying it. Mia is an interesting character to read about. She has lightning scars everywhere because she is a living lightning rod. I haven’t ever seen this idea before and the way that the book combined intrigue and mystery based on religion with a dystopian world was phenomenal.

The thing that I find most memorable about this book is the story itself. It almost reminds me of Harbinger and Faye and Mia are extremely alike. Also, both of them remind me of Janelle from Unraveling. They’re strong and fierce, which are two traits that I love to see in a protagonist even if they are kind of crazy.

The worldbuilding was fascinating. Jennifer Bosworth uses frightening imagery and chilling new developments to take her story to the next level and by the end of the book, I could not put it down. I really enjoyed the cult aspects to it all and in a strange way, it reminded me of The Chosen One by Carol Lynch Williams, with a heightened sense of danger because of the paranormal elements.

While it took me a few tries to get into it because the beginning wasn’t my personal style, I can see it appealing to a variety of readers. The intensity and structure were my favorite parts and by the end, I couldn’t tear my eyes away.

Endure by Carrie Jones

It’s all-out war (and no-holds-barred romance) in the climactic conclusion to Carrie Jones’s bestselling series.

Zara is at the center of an impending apocalypse. True, she’s successfully rescued Nick from Valhalla, but it simply isn’t enough. Evil pixies are ravaging Bedford, and they need much more than one great warrior; they need an army. Zara isn’t sure what her role is anymore. She’s not just fighting for her friends; she’s also a pixie queen. And to align her team of pixies with the humans she loves will be one of her greatest battles yet. Especially since she can’t even reconcile her growing feelings for her pixie king . . .

Unexpected turns, surprising revelations, and one utterly satisfying romantic finale make Endure a thrilling end to this series of bestsellers.

The Need series has always been one of the series that I reread over and over. Carrie Jones’s evocative language and amusing one-liners mixed with constant danger and pixies? I couldn’t start reading fast enough. One of the things about Endure that immediately stuck out to me was that you definitely need to reread the series before you can read Endure because if you don’t, you will have forgotten a lot of details that are imperative to the plot. I had to put Endure down to go reread the series and enjoyed catching up with my favorite characters.

Zara has come a long way in this series and I’ll be missing characters like Devyn (who unfortunately was hardly present during this book), Issie, Nick, Astley, and others. The only complaint I had was that the romance never really came to a conclusion. There were several things that I wanted to have been fleshed out a little more. I felt like this book was more focused on Zara and her reaction to the end of the world than as of with all of the characters as a whole. There were a few flaws with the book, but the sweeping tone and climactic ending satisfied me in the end and left me wishing that it had never ended.

It’s always bittersweet to me to read the final book in one of my favorite series and Endure surpassed all of my expectations, which were extremely high. I fell in love all over again with the lush imagery and action that left me on the edge of my seat.

Of course, I was absolutely bawling at the end. A stunning conclusion to an engaging series.

Grave Mercy by Robin LaFevers

Why be the sheep, when you can be the wolf?

Seventeen-year-old Ismae escapes from the brutality of an arranged marriage into the sanctuary of the convent of St. Mortain, where the sisters still serve the gods of old. Here she learns that the god of Death Himself has blessed her with dangerous gifts—and a violent destiny. If she chooses to stay at the convent, she will be trained as an assassin and serve as a handmaiden to Death. To claim her new life, she must destroy the lives of others.

Ismae’s most important assignment takes her straight into the high court of Brittany—where she finds herself woefully under prepared—not only for the deadly games of intrigue and treason, but for the impossible choices she must make. For how can she deliver Death’s vengeance upon a target who, against her will, has stolen her heart?

Wow. 2012 seems to be the year for strong heroines. Ismae seemed like she would be timid and frightened by things but she claimed her own future and was a character that I rooted for no matter what she did or encountered. One thing that I always enjoy in books like this (like what Lauren Myracle does in her The Winnie Years series, which coincidentally have basically been the guide for me throughout the past three years, but that’s another story) is when it starts out with the character around my age. The book immediately plunged me into the vision of a frail and terrified girl about to be married.

Then we meet another Ismae – a stronger version – who has been shaped based by what the convent tells her. She’s fearsome with weapons and poisons, a skilled assassin and a talented spy. I loved the nature of Ismae and how she was vulnerable and invincible all at once.

Robin LaFevers takes risks throughout this book. She isn’t afraid to make things blunt when she needs to because frankly, her land was the kind of world where many things are simply accepted. It made me respect her and her writing and I commend her because most of those risks paid off in my mind.

What I loved the most was the atmosphere. The entire novel was dripping with history and backstory; I positively loved it. I am a definite fan of lavish description and rich settings and time periods. I am absolutely in love with the physical setting of this book and the emotional highs that it took me through. Romance, betrayal, and loyalty all play a role in this extravagant first installment in an exciting new series.

UPDATE: I also saw a lot of press for Grave Mercy in Girl’s Life magazine! I love the ad…it’s gorgeous! If you are a subscriber, you should definitely check out all the books that Houghton Mifflin Harcourt was promoting!

Enthralled by Various Authors

“Enthralled” is a collection of 14 original teen paranormal short stories from some of today’s bestselling YA talent, united with the common theme of road trips.

Contents:
Introduction: by Melissa Marr & Kelley Armstrong
Giovanni’s Farewell: by Claudia Gray
Scenic Route: by Carrie Ryan
Red Run: by Kami Garcia
Things About Love: by Jackson Pearce
Niederwald: by Rachel Vincent
Merely Mortal: by Melissa Marr
Facing Facts: by Kelley Armstrong
Let’s Get this Undead Show on the Road: by Sarah Rees Brennan
Bridge: by Jeri Smith-Ready
Skin Contact: by Kimberly Derting
Leaving: by Ally Condie
At The Late Night, Double Feature, Picture Show: by Jessica Verday
IV League: by Margaret Stohl
Gargouille: by Mary E. Pearson
The Third Kind: by Jennifer Lynn Barnes
Automatic: by Rachel Caine

What I found nice about Enthralled was that I didn’t have to read it at once. Being a collection of short stories, it was the type of book that I could just take slowly. I ended up reading about a story per night before bed and then reading whichever book I was throwing myself into wholeheartedly after that. Enthralled created many addictive stories and spin-offs from worlds that I was already familiar through. There wasn’t even a story that I didn’t like, although I did have many favorites. The one that immediately comes to mind was Rachel Caine’s “Automatic”, which played off of her Morganville Vampires series.

It’s hard to find a balance between everything in a short story. Having likable, somewhat developed characters and an enticing storyline is tough when you have so few pages. I wasn’t expecting as much from it as I should have because it turned out to be a fun read.

I thought that the writing styles would end up blurring together but they were each very distinctive and it was interesting how authors branched out more with each short story.  I really enjoyed the book even though it took me a while to finish it. The intoxicating blend of writing styles and intriguing stories were wonderful to read and I discovered many authors whose books I will definitely be reading after reading their short stories.

I hope you enjoyed! Have you read any of these? Let me know what you thought in the comments!