Review: Imaginary Girls

Imaginary Girls, Nova Ren Suma

Rating: 5 of 5 Stars

Genre: Contemporary/Paranormal, Young Adult

Publication: 6/14/2012, Speak

(First Pub. 6/14/11 Dutton Juvenile)

# of Pages: 304 (Paperback)

Source: Purchased / Owned

Synopsis from Goodreads: A beautiful and chilling story for fans of Lauren Oliver and Lisa McMann

Chloe's older sister, Ruby, is the girl everyone looks to and longs for, who can't be contained or caged. When a night with Ruby's friends goes horribly wrong and Chloe discovers the body of her classmate London Hayes left floating in the reservoir, Chloe is sent away from town and away from Ruby.

But Ruby will do anything to get her sister back, and when Chloe returns to town two years later, deadly surprises await. As Chloe flirts with the truth that Ruby has deeply hidden away, the fragile line between life and death is redrawn by the complex bonds of sisterhood.

My Review: Nova Ren Suma may well be one of the best writers I've ever encountered. She's definitely on my list of favorites. And Imaginary Girls may be one of the most interesting stories I've ever read. It's so quietly powerful. You think you're reading something slow-moving and laidback until you realize you've been holding your breath and maniacally flipping through pages.

Every word Nova Ren Suma writes serves a purpose. It reads like a literary novel, with these strange paranormal elements thrown in. It's so hard to classify because I'm reluctant to call it just one thing. It's many things all at once. It's haunting and compelling and beautiful but never overdone. You can feel the force of the writer's voice, the way she strings everything together, even as Chloe's voice is pulling us along, telling us her tale. I've honestly not read much like it in the YA realm.

Highly recommended. It's like a perfectly executed magic trick--it will intrigue you and surprise you and, ultimately, leave you wondering how the author managed to pull it off. One of my favorite reads of the year. Also, while I loved the first cover--the one with the girl in the water--there is something eerie and provocative about the new paperback cover (above). I'm surprised at myself, but I really like it.

Goodreads / Amazon / Barnes & Noble

Review: Firelight (Darkest London #1)

Firelight (Darkest London #1), Kristen Callihan

Rating: 5 of 5 Stars

Age Group: Adult

Publication: 1/31/2012, Grand Central Publishing

# of Pages: 372 (Paperback)

Source:  I received an Advanced Reader's Copy (ARC) from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Synopsis from Goodreads:  London, 1881

Once the flames are ignited . . .

Miranda Ellis is a woman tormented. Plagued since birth by a strange and powerful gift, she has spent her entire life struggling to control her exceptional abilities. Yet one innocent but irreversible mistake has left her family's fortune decimated and forced her to wed London's most nefarious nobleman.

They will burn for eternity . . .

Lord Benjamin Archer is no ordinary man. Doomed to hide his disfigured face behind masks, Archer knows it's selfish to take Miranda as his bride. Yet he can't help being drawn to the flame-haired beauty whose touch sparks a passion he hasn't felt in a lifetime. When Archer is accused of a series of gruesome murders, he gives in to the beastly nature he has fought so hard to hide from the world. But the curse that haunts him cannot be denied. Now, to save his soul, Miranda will enter a world of dark magic and darker intrigue. For only she can see the man hiding behind the mask.

My Review:  This may be my new favorite genre if I could figure out where the hell it falls. Part Gothic Romance, Part Historical, Part Paranormal, Part Mystery, Part Fairy Tale Retelling. It all adds up to = Pure Awesome.

Seriously, I've never seen elements of so many of my favorite things in one place, except for maybe if you include the breakfast I like at IHOP with the stuffed French toast and the bacon and the hash browns (great, now I'm hungry). Firelight is like that breakfast for me. Only instead of feeding my hunger, it's fed my soul. Ha. So corny. You'd never know I was a writer. This book has turned me into a babbling idiot. I'm practically tripping over myself in the bookstore to shove it into people's hands. And I don't work at the bookstore. I'm assaulting strangers.

Kristen Callihan started with a simple premise, a retelling of the Beauty and the Beast fairy tale. Then she set it at the end of the 1800's in London with an incredibly masculine, enigmatic, and swoon-worthy Beast. Then she gave us a kick-ass Beauty with some sort of fire-controlling superpower. And then to top it off, like the whipped cream tops my French toast, she added a murder mystery. Viola! Just like that, I'm sated and couldn't be happier. I feel like this book (or at least my poorly executed food metaphor) has caused me to gain five pounds.

As with any novel I love, Firelight has a smoldering hero in Lord Archer. He's charming and witty, bruised but not broken, challenging, and amazing and awesome and—see, incoherent babbling. Let me summarize and simply tell you that I adore Archer. Of course, I also adored Beast in the Disney version of Beauty and the Beast. He's my favorite prince. I was rather distressed when he changed back into a human at the end. I liked him better large, hairy, and a bit surly.

Anyway...

Firelight is a spellbinding debut that will light a fire within you, burning you and leaving you begging for more. Callihan is a master of sexual tension. My lip still hurts from biting it the entire time I was reading. It was pure torture. And the funny thing is, I'm not really a big romance reader, but she's made me think I've been missing out all these years. Highly recommended. Not just to romance readers, but to readers like myself who love to mix our genres.

Goodreads / Amazon

Review: The Dead Girls' Dance

The Dead Girls' Dance (Morganville Vampires #2), Rachel Caine

Rating: 5 of 5 Stars

Genre: Paranormal, Young Adult

Source:  I received a copy of this book from the publisher as part of a blog campaign. My review is my honest opinion.

Synopsis from Goodreads:  Claire Danvers has had her share of challenges—like being a genius in a school that favours beauty over brains, dealing with the homicidal girls in her dorm and, above all, finding out that her college town is overrun with blood-sucking fiends.

On the plus side, so far Claire and her friends have managed to survive getting on the wrong side of some Morganville VIPs... Vampire Important Persons. But their temporary peace is in danger of collapsing, thanks to the arrival of her new boyfriend’s scary father and his vampire-fighting supporters.

My Review:  What can I say except that I wish someone had told me sooner how awesome these books were? I read both Glass Houses (Book 1) and The Dead Girls' Dance (Book #2) in a single sitting. They are quick and fun and oh so fantastic. Glass Houses ends with a MAJOR cliffhanger and I think if I hadn't had the second book right there in my hands, I would've died. Waiting must have been unbearable for readers who've been with this series since the beginning.

The Dead Girls' Dance picks up exactly where Glass Houses ends and continues the story. Shane's dad is causing all sorts of trouble and we get to learn a lot more about Shane, who btw, I LOVE. For me, whether or not I am going to adore a book or series comes down to the love interest. And Shane? Well, he's perfect for me.  Protective, loyal, and just the perfect amount of smart ass.

Claire seems to come into her own in book 2 as well. She's fiercer, more determined and I think I like her even more than I did in Glass Houses.

All in all, a wonderful follow up to Glass Houses. The action and suspense is amazing. I couldn't flip the pages fast enough and now that I'm done, I'm really sad that I don't have the other, what? 10 Books? Wow. There's a reason there are so many of these books and a reason they're so popular. They're awesome. And if you're like me, and you haven't read them before, you should pick them up. Like, now.

Goodreads / Amazon