Jacqueline Carey: Santa Olivia

• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: Grand Central Publishing (May 29, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 044619817X 

There is no pity in Santa Olivia. And no escape. In this isolated military buffer zone between Mexico and the U.S., the citizens of Santa Olivia are virtually powerless. Then an unlikely heroine is born. She is the daughter of a man genetically manipulated by the government to be a weapon. A "Wolf-Man," he was engineered to have superhuman strength, speed, stamina, and senses, as well as a total lack of fear. Named for her vanished father, Loup Garron has inherited his gifts. 
  Frustrated by the injustices visited upon her friends and neighbors by the military occupiers, Loup is determined to avenge her community. Aided by a handful of her fellow orphans, Loup takes on the guise of their patron saint, Santa Olivia, and sets out to deliver vigilante justice - aware that if she is caught, she could lose her freedom...and possibly her life


  When I first picked up Carey's Santa Olivia, I knew it was going to be different from her Terre D'Ange series, both from the obviously different universes in which the characters lived and the language styles. I was also expecting superhero-type fantasy novel, almost a Frank Miller graphic novel in book form. However, I was sorely mistaken. The novel starts instead by introducing the main character's parents and brother, and how she came into the world.
  Loup suffers tragedy after tragedy, but she has a number of friends around her that help her cope. No matter how many friends she has, however, there's always something a little...off about Loup. Her father was a sort of super-soldier bred in Haiti and she has inherited his strange genes. She is ridiculously strong and fast, can't cry, and doesn't feel fear. And her body feels odd to other human beings, except those chosen few who can accept the genetically enhanced for what they are.
  Loup, her friends, and the rest of her fellow townspeople, are trapped in Santa Olivia, a town which the world has forgotten exists. There's a little mystery there, probably to be solved in future novels, about what really happened on the border with Mexico and why these people are effectively imprisoned in their own home. There is one chance to escape and Loup is going to take that chance, even if it means exposing herself - and that chance is boxing. That was another element that I didn't see coming, either. The importance of boxing in this novel is intense. The novel is really a novel about boxing, and the vigilante superhero only shows up in some childhood pranks. The way she comes to boxing is beautifully tragic, and actually made me tear up a little.
  The writing wasn't stupendous, but it was definitely not bad. As I said, this book was almost unrecognizable as a novel of Jacqueline Carey if you had read her Terre D'Ange work. It was a lot more blunt, but it suited the tone of the story. While unexpected, Santa Olivia was a pretty good read and made you want to continue reading, although it certainly wasn't up to par with her other, more involved works.
  Overall: A-

Anne Rice: The Witching Hour

• Mass Market Paperback: 1056 pages
• Publisher: Ballantine Books; later printing edition (March 22, 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0345384466

"We watch and we are always here" is the motto of the Talamasca, a saintly group with extrasensory powers which has for centuries chronicled the lives of the Mayfairs--a dynasty of witches that brought down a shower of flames in 17th-century Scotland, fled to the plantations of Haiti and on to the New World, where they settled in the haunted city of New Orleans. Rice ( The Queen of the Damned ) plumbs a rich vein of witchcraft lore, conjuring in her overheated, florid prose the decayed antebellum mansion where incest rules, dolls are made of human bone and hair, and violent storms sweep the skies each time a witch dies and the power passes on. Newly annointed is Rowan Mayfair, a brilliant California neurosurgeon kept in ignorance of her heritage by her adoptive parents. She returns to the fold after bringing back Michael Curry from the dead; he, too, has unwanted extrasensory gifts and, like Rowan and the 12 Mayfairs before her, has beheld Lasher: devil, seducer, spirit. Now Lasher wants to come through to this world forever and Rowan is the Mayfair who can open the door. This massive tome repeatedly slows, then speeds when Rice casts off the Talamasca's pretentious, scholarly tones and goes for the jugular with morbid delights, sexually charged passages and wicked, wild tragedy.  

  This book was long, but not excruciatingly so as some have said. It was technically split into four parts, but I would actually split it into three. The first involves setting up the players and giving a very Anne Rice-ian introduction to the story that is set to unfold. The second part is history - the history of the Mayfair Witches, as recorded by the Talamasca, an entity familiar to readers of Rice's Vampire Chronicles series. The third and final part (if we go by my scheme of divisions) is the story in the present time, that of Rowan after the history has been told.
  I have heard others say that they felt the book was rushed at the end and slow through the rest. I disagree, for the most part. The first part was intriguing and told through the viewpoints of various characters, describing the most recent events in the timeline and leading the reader deeper into the mystery. I particularly liked the second part, the history. My little OCD heart had a field day making a family tree. Of course, by the time Rice got to the modern history, there were too many cousins and not enough paper, and she didn't even bother to say who were their parents anyway. Either way, the history was not the boring part.
  The boring part came very nearly at the end. Before Lasher's final appearances the story seemed to slow down almost painfully. It was as if Rice wasn't sure how to begin her endgame. Which, when it came, was suitably horrifying. I have rarely run into real horror in the horror sections of  bookstore, but Rice really knows how to lay it on. She is creepy and disturbing in a way few authors dare approach. The most irritating part, to return to the cons of the story, was Rowan, to be honest. Rice justified her actions, for the most part, but there were times when Rowan fought against events and when they came to pass, she was suddenly all on board with the very things she had previously been against. Her anger at Michael is often irrational as well, even though he seems like the sweetest guy imaginable.
  The ending was dark and suitably soothing as well. The next books will most likely prove to be much more action packed and probably equally traumatizing. Anne Rice has written a mostly self-contained novel that is complex and riveting, that draws you into a world of the macabre and twisted, and makes you enjoy the ride.
  Overall: A
  All of that being said, Rice writes beautifully and often the boring parts don't even seem that boring. She maintains a high level of mystery and leaves the reader wondering if what they think happened is what really happened, even at the end. Her world is captivating and draws the reader in better than almost any writer I can think of off the top of my head. That is why, while there are some boring parts and her characters were at times irritatingly irrationally motivated, she still gets a high score for wonderfully accomplished work.

F. Scott Fitzgerald: The Beautiful and Damned

• ISBN-13: 9781593082451
• Publisher: Barnes & Noble
• Publication date: 1/15/2006
• Pages: 416

In 1921 F. Scott Fitzgerald was twenty-five and heralded as the most promising writer of his generation, owing to the success of his first novel This Side of Paradise. Recently married to the girl of his dreams, the former Zelda Sayre, Fitzgerald built upon his sudden prosperity with The Beautiful and the Damned, a cautionary tale of reckless ambition and squandered talent set amid the glitter of Jazz Age New York. 

The novel chronicles the relationship of Anthony Patch, a Harvard-educated, aspiring writer, and his beautiful young wife, Gloria. While they wait for Anthony’s grandfather to die and pass his millions on to them, the young couple enjoys an endless string of parties, traveling, and extravagance. Beginning with the pop and fizz of life itself, The Beautiful and the Damned quickly evolves into a scathing chronicle of a dying marriage and a hedonistic society in which beauty is all too fleeting.

A fierce parable about the illusory quality of dreams, the intractable nature of reality, and the ruin wrought by time, The Beautiful and the Damned eerily anticipates the dissipation and decline that would come to the Fitzgeralds themselves before the decade had run its course.

I read The Great Gatsby in high school, for sophomore or junior year, I don't remember. I hated it. Partially because I was not (and still sort of am not) terribly fond of stories that don't end happily, and partially because it was required of me. Naturally, I chafed under my mandated reading. I love to read, but somehow being told to read something sucks a lot of the enjoyment out of it. The point is, I was not a fan of F. Scott Fitzgerald. However, my commitment to reading the entire BN Classics Collection is going to force me to read several Fitzgerald novels. The first of which was The Beautiful and Damned.
  I'm older now, and I was reading it by choice. I noticed a lot more than I probably would have otherwise. Namely, the language. God, it was beautiful. You just don't find such a wordsmith any more. The English language has long fallen short of its capacity. I'll give you two quotes as examples:
  "Silence! I am about to unburden myself of many memorable remarks reserved for the darkness of such earths and the brilliance of such skies."
  "Immediately and rather spunkily she had borne him a son and, as if completely devitalized by the magnificence of this performance, she had thenceforth effaced herself within the shadowy dimensions of the nursery."
  Isn't that amazing? It's the most beautiful way to say she had a baby and then disappeared from social life that I have ever had the pleasure of reading.
  The plot was interesting and if ever there was a novel that captures the glitter as well as the seedy underbelly of the 1920's, this is it. The depiction of a couple in decline, both financially and emotionally, is hard to connect to, though. There really is no problem in their lives - it's simply a matter of personality issues. They created their own downfall and I don't feel sorry for them. All they had to do was change their mode of living and be less selfish. Ironically, Fitzgerald and his wife Zelda would follow a similar path in later years. It's almost eerie.
 While it dragged in the middle a little, overall the book was one that I recommend everyone should read, if only for the beauty of Fitzgerald's words alone. Also, as a portrait of two people who never worked for anything in their lives and lived in an illusion where everything was ideal instead of reality, I think everyone should read it and think on what they're doing with their lives.
  Overall: A

Julia Quinn: The Duke and I

• Mass Market Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: Avon (January 5, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0380800829

By all accounts, Simon Basset is on the verge of proposing to his best friend's sister, the lovely - and almost-on-the-shelf - Daphne Bridgerton. But the two of them know the truth - it's all an elaborate plan to keep Simon free from marriage-minded society mothers. And as for Daphne, surely she will attract some worthy suitors now that it seems a duke has declared her desirable.
But as Daphne waltzes across ballroom after ballroom with Simon, it's hard to remember that their courtship is a complete sham. Maybe it's his devilish smile, certainly it's the way his eyes seem to burn every time he looks at her...but somehow Daphne is falling for the dashing duke...for real! And now she must do the impossible and convince the handsome rogue that their clever little scheme deserves a slight altercation, and that nothing makes quite as much sense as falling in love...

  I first read this book when I was in my early years of high school and I really loved it. This being the second time I'm reading it, I'm less impressed. I always note editing errors and there were at least four in this book. Four, you say? So what? It's irritating and it cuts down on the professionalism of the publication, and when there are more than a few, I sit up and take notice. But that is not the writer's fault. That just means I should get a different degree and go into editing because obviously there are some incompetents out there.
  The story centers around the Bridgerton family. Aaaaahh, yes. Everybody knows I love books, but put a book in a series and I'm even more enthused. Especially when it's a family of boisterous children with alphabetical names. Yep. Alphabetical names. The Bridgerton family in particular is a loving, loud family with lots of interaction the reader can be amused by. This is Daphne's story. Then we have Simon, who has never had any sort of family as his father chose to ignore his existence for the large majority of it. And thus we have a clash in the making.
  The reason I say that I was less enthralled by this book on the second read is because I was building it up in my head. I had read it before I became jaded by the romance genre, and started expecting way more out of them. It was a time when everything was shiny and new. Now, I notice that there aren't as many words to a page as I was expecting. That there is a lot of superfluous dialogue in lieu of depth of emotion. That there is actually less going on than one originally thinks. Nonetheless, this series is still one of the better ones out there.
  Plot: Interesting and definitely allows for conflict. My favorite moment in particular is when Daphne takes the situation into her own hands (I just love when heroines stand up to the hero and knock him down a peg or two. The heroes are invariably shocked and it's usually awesome.) Simon doesn't know what to do with himself, and when he shows himself in a moment of weakness, it's endearing. Julia Quinn is full of moments like that. I'm relatively certain that quality picks up in the later books. While I wasn't IN LOVE with this book, it was still one of the better romances I've ever read.
  Overall: A-

Jim Butcher: Furies of Calderon

• Paperback: 672 pages
• Publisher: Ace (June 28, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 044101268X

For a thousand years, the people of Alera have united against the aggressive and threatening races that inhabit the world, using their unique bonds with the furies - elementals of earth, air, fire, water, wood, and metal. But in the remote Calderon Valley, the boy Tavi struggles with his lack of furycrafting. At fifteen, he has no wind fury to help him fly, no fire fury to light his lamps. Yet as the Alerans' most savage enemy - the Marat horde - returns to the Valley, Tavi's courage and resourcefulness will be a power greater than any fury, one that could turn the tides of war...
   
  Having only read the first of Butcher's Dresden Files Series, I didn't have any expectations for this series. Not good, not bad. I knew it was going to be different, as it was more in the epic genre, and I wasn't sure how he was going to deal with that. As it turns out, he handled it quite well. Some have said that the story took a few chapters to pick up pace, but I would disagree. We're thrown right into the action in the first chapter, and the mystery starts right up from there. Who? And why?
  He doesn't leave us hanging, however. Through many twists and turns and multiple characters' points of view, Jim Butcher weaves a story of betrayal, murder, and strange friendship. The thing that first jumps to my mind about this book is the relationships. My favorites were Bernard and Amara - I hope we get to see more of them in the future. Second was the unexpected Doroga. I really loved Doroga. He was noble and courageous and his offspring, Kitai, is probably going to turn out to be a close friend of main character Tavi. The three of them had some of the best interactions in the book. All of the characters, in fact, had some standout trait about them.
  The plot: was great. It's not Tolkien level quality, nobody's that good, but it was still really well done. He left plenty of mystery for coming books, including, but not limited to: Tavi's heritage, Fade's history, and the future of the kingdom in general. In the first chapter, we learn of a rebel force that is being secretly assisted by Amara's mentor, Fidelias. Ironic, considering his name is a form of fidelity. Tavi is a Fury-less boy who just wants to go to the Academy. And Amara has the weight of the world on her shoulders.
  I really have no complaints about this novel. It was extremely well done and leaves you to anticipate the next. However, I have no idea how long that will be for me. Because the publisher started releasing Jim Butcher's books in their so-called "Premium Tall Editions," and I'm OCD so all the books must be the same size and format, and I have the regular format, I won't be able to read the next book until I find an older printing that is not ridiculously tall for two extra dollars.
  Overall: A+

Kim Harrison: Once Dead, Twice Shy

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: HarperCollins; 1 Reprint edition (April 27, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0061441686

Madison's prom was killer - literally. Now, thanks to a mysterious amulet, she's stuck on Earth: dead but not gone. She has no idea why the dark reaper who did her in was after her, but she's not about to just sit around and let fate take its course. With a little skilled light-bending, the help of a light reaper (one of the good guys...maybe), her cute crush, and oh yeah, her guardian angel, Madison's ready to take control of her own destiny once and for all, before it takes control of her.
Well, if she believed in that stuff.

 Pacing, pacing, pacing. However, my complaint is less about the pacing of this book in particular and more about the pacing of YA novels in general. HOWEVER (one more time), it is to be expected and there is nothing wrong with the pacing being different for a younger audience. I only point it out because sometimes it surprises me. That being said, Harrison does pretty well with it in her first foray in to the Young Adult Fiction genre. We find out a lot of information very quickly and are left quite confused by the end. That is to be expected, though as we are dealing with a completely new world, for both ourselves and our main character. Harrison is notoriously good at world-building though, so I'm not worried about the second novel.
  The plot itself is interesting and addresses pretty big issues for a teen novel. Like free will and the consequences of the choices we make. Heavy stuff, but handled with aplomb. Harrison writes well no matter the genre, and she didn't dumb the language down so far as to be ridiculous in comparison with her Hollows series.
  The characters - Madison herself is a strong female role model, if a little skittish for my tastes at times. She has recently awoken dead and must hide the fact that she no longer needs food or sleep from her father. While he's not terribly observant, it's a bit of a feat, no matter how you approach the matter. Josh's characterization was a little shallow, but he at least had the guts to stick with her even when he thought she was crazy. Hopefully we'll see more character development in future books. The best part of the book, in my opinion, is the relationship between Barnabas and Nikita, although we only get a glimpse at the end. Nikita is going to be wonderful as she struggles with her future.
  In summary, a promising beginning but leaves plenty of room for character and plot development. The next book should be even better as the author immerses the reader further in the world she has envisioned.
  Overall: B+

Russell Brand: My Booky Wook

• Paperback: 368 pages
• Publisher: It Books; 1 edition (May 18, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0061857807

Russell Brand learned early on to make a joke of fear and failure. From a troubled childhood in industrial Essex, England, to his descent into addictions to alcohol, drugs, and sex in the seamy underbelly of London, Brand has seen his share of both and miraculously lived to tell the tale. In My Booky Wook he leads readers on a rollicking journey through his disastrous school career, his infamous antics on MTV, and his multifarious sexual adventures. But this irreverent memoir is a story not simply of struggle but also of redemption, a testament to the difficulty of discovering what you want from life and the remarkable power of a bloody-minded determination to get it. My Booky Wook is a giddy trip through the brilliant mind of one of Britain's most valuable exports. 

  People who do not watch Russell Brand's comedy and have only seen his ridiculous antics in movies often base their judgments of his personality and talents based on how he looks. The first thing I always tell these people - looks can be deceiving. Yes, he looks sort of like a cocky crack-head, but he is actually an extremely intelligent, wittily ironic individual. His comedy is not mindless swearing or simply making faces at the audience. He actually uses big words, and it amuses me to wonder how many people actually understand what he's saying.
  This book was very similar to his comedy: life stories that are situationally humorous. I was actually more than a little surprised at the amount of drugs, alcohol, and random sex acts. And he was beautifully frank about it all. Disturbingly so at times, to be honest. The other thing that surprised me was the ending. I thought we were going to at least reach the beginnings of his super-stardom, but he really only broached his initial fame in his hoyden days. Apparently his more well-known antics are to come in the second book.
On a writing scale, I'm going to give the book a B-. It was filled with a lot of British slang, which is perfectly fine, but there are times when a gloss of a certain word really should have been provided. He gave some, but not all. Also, his stories also bounced back and forth along the timelines. While I understand that telling a life story in order is an almost insurmountable challenge, unless you're writing as it happens, events happening around a certain time should largely kept together. Telling me a story about something that happened previous to the time period of which you are writing but telling me when we are talking about is just confusing. Finally, I felt that his problems were mostly his own fault. It wasn't like his life was excessively harder than the average persons, or like he didn't have at least one person who loved him in his life. In fact, he had many. His deterioration is inexplicable and therefore frustrating to me, but I'm not a terribly sympathetic individual. He obviously had some personality disorders and is now getting help. So good for him.
  Overall: B
  Not quite what I expected, but still funny at parts and often thought provoking.

J.R. Ward - Lover Mine

• Paperback: 656 pages
• Publisher: Signet; Reprint edition (November 30, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0451231554

In the darkest corners of the night in Caldwell, New York, a conflict like no other rages. Long divided as a terrifying battleground for the vampires and their enemies, the city is home to a band of brothers born to defend their race: the warrior vampires of the Black Dagger Brotherhood.
John Matthew has come a long way since he was found living among humans, his vampire nature unknown to himself and to those around him. After he was taken in by the Brotherhood, no one could guess what his true history was- or his true identity. Indeed, the fallen Brother Darius has returned, but with a different face and a very different destiny. As a vicious personal vendetta takes John into the heart of the war, he will need to call up on both who he is now and who he once was in order to face off against evil incarnate.
Xhex, a symphath assassin, has long steeled herself against the attraction between her and John Matthew. Having already lost one lover to madness, she will not allow the male of worth to fall prey to the darkness of her twisted life. When fate intervenes, however, the two discover that love, like destiny, is inevitable between soul mates. 

J.R. Ward starts off this novel exactly where she left off the last. Xhex is missing, still, kidnapped in the aftermath of the Brotherhood's mad rescue of Rehvenge. Much like every Brother when faced with the loss of his female, John Matthew goes off the deep end. And when the Brothers go off the deep end, it usually means they act like asses toward everyone around them and say "Sorry, bro" later. John Matthew is no different.
  I have had some complaints about John Matthew over the course of his involvement in the Brotherhood stories. First of all, I get he was abused and suffered - but so did pretty much everyone in these stories. They all have backgrounds and that's what makes them so compelling. When Tohr loses his shellan and disappears, rather than be sympathetic or even just take advantage of the family and friends surrounding him, John Matthew chooses to be angry all the time. At Tohr, at the world, at Lash...it doesn't matter. It seems odd to me that he loses a father figure but gains a real sister and many close friends, and still reacts so strongly. Maybe I don't have a great understanding of the human psyche, or I get annoyed easily. The point is I had a problem with John Matthews reaction.
  I did like the development of Xhex, however. I like that she went from hard-ass to understanding and caring shellan.  And oh, Blay and Qhuinn. I desperately await the day when we shall see your HEA (Happily Ever After), as Ward calls it.
  The plot moves along quite well, and Ward always manages to interweave multiple subplots that will come to fruition later. She has great skill in keeping all those plots straight. She also has wonderful world development. All of the details are fully fleshed out and feel natural and unforced. She draws you in and makes you want to live in that version of Caldwell, too. The denouement of the novel is absolutely beautiful, and the final(-ish) scene will make you laugh and cry and rejoice all at the same time. Maybe not cry, but it's definitely a feel-good scene with all the Brotherhood and their families around for John Matthew's mating ceremony.
  Overall: A-

Keri Arthur: Mercy Burns

• Mass Market Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: Dell; Original edition (April 19, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0440245702

Mercy Reynolds is a reporter in the San Francisco Bay area, but she’s also more—and less—than human. Half woman, half air dragon, she’s a “draman”—unable to shift shape but still able to unleash fiery energy. Now something will put her powers to the test.

Mercy’s friend Rainey has enlisted her help to solve her sister’s murder. Then a horrible accident claims Rainey’s life, leaving Mercy only five days to find the killer: If Mercy fails, according to dragon law, Rainey’s soul will be doomed to roam the earth for eternity. But how can Mercy help when she herself is a target? With nowhere else to turn, she must join forces with a sexy stranger—the mysterious man they call “Muerte,” or death itself, who’s as irresistible as he is treacherous. But can even Death keep Mercy alive for long enough to find her answers?

  The problem I have with Keri Arthur's most recent novels is their brevity. Most authors take two or three books to develop the mythos of their worlds. Arthur barely takes one. Her first novel in her Myth and Magic series, Destiny Kills, began to create her world where dragons exist in "cliques," which I can only assume are sort of like eagle eyries. However, I wouldn't know because she doesn't bother to explain very much. For the first book it's understandable, as the main character has amnesia, so she's discovering right along with the reader.
  This book, if anything, should have expanded that universe. Instead, we stayed within the same bounds for the most part, focusing entirely on saving Rainey's draman soul. We get a glimpse into the abuse Mercy suffered as a draman living in a dragon clique, but we already had some vague ideas about that from book one. We learn nothing new, but we get some hints of a mystery awaiting in the Jamieson clique. Is the king involved? Probably. How so? Who knows. I can only hope that the series picks up a little steam and we can finally delve into the universe of the book more fully and understand what is going on.
  Characterization was nice. It wasn't holy-crap spectacular, but it wasn't completely void, either. We got more into Mercy than "Muerte" a.k.a. Damon. All we know is his father died in the service (his grandfather, too, if I remember correctly) - and I don't mean military, I mean assassin - so he has an early death complex. That is the basis for all the romance-drama. Stay tuned for how that turns out. Other than the giant ass of a bad guy, these are the only two characters of any importance, so on characterization I give her a B-.

  Overall: B
  The plot was fast moving for all of its lack of information, and it was action packed. I flew through the book in less than a day, when I probably should have been doing other things. I would give the book a lower score, except Arthur knows how to keep pacing up, so the book always keeps your attention and it's honestly difficult to put down.