News - Book Releases for Week 20 (May 19th - May25th)

   

Graphic Novel Review - Visitor in the Field (Rust, Volume 1) by Royden Lepp (5/5 stars)

Reading Level: All ages
Genre: Graphic Novel/Science Fiction
Size: 192 pages
Publisher: Archaia Entertainment
Release Date: December 13, 2011
ISBN: 978-1936393275
Stand Alone or Series: 1st volume in the Rust series
Source: Bought
Rating: 5/5 stars


This is the first book in the Rust graphic novel science fiction series. The second book is, Secrets of the Cell, and is already out. I found this to be a surprisingly engaging book with an interesting story, and very well done sepia toned illustrations.

Roman is having a hard enough time supporting his family farm when a young boy with a rocket pack, Jet Jones, crashes in his field while being chased by a giant robot. Most of Roman’s family thinks Jet is trouble waiting to happen, but Roman thinks Jet might hold the key to fixing the farm and saving his family.

Roman is a young man just trying to make ends meet on the family farm. He is practical and also willing to do whatever he has to to help out his family.

Jet Jones is a mysterious young boy who at times comes off as much older than the young age he appears to be. He has awesome mechanical skills and is a great helper around the farm. Only problem is that he seems to draw trouble in the form of giant robots.

The whole setting is an interesting one. The world is obviously recovering from some sort of giant world war. As part of this war robots were trained to fight in place of mankind. The cause of this war and who was on what side is still a mystery at this point in the book. The fact that the story is set on a farm gives the story a nostalgic feel, but then you have all of the robots that Roman is trying to rebuild in his barn and that adds a sci-fi twist to the whole thing.

The illustration is wonderful. All of the illustrations are done in sepia tones, again this gives a nostalgic feel to the story. The drawings are detailed, realistic, and portray emotion very well. They were easy to follow and told a lot of the story all on their own.

This volume ends with some huge questions unanswered. Who exactly is Jet? What happened to this world?

Overall I really really enjoyed this graphic novel. It was an entertaining read with excellent world-building, engaging characters, an interesting story, and wonderfully done illustrations. Highly recommended to those who enjoy graphic novels especially novels in the fantasy/sci-fi genre. I will definitely be picking up Secrets of the Cell.

This book goes towards the following reading challenges:
- Graphic Novel Reading Challenge
- 150+ Reading Challenge

Review - Slither (The Last Apprentice, Book 11) by Joseph Delaney (4.5/5 stars)

Reading Level: Young Adult
Genre: Fantasy/Horror
Size: 416 pages
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Release Date: January 22, 2013
ISBN: 978-0062192349
Stand Alone or Series: 11th book in the Last Apprentice series
Source: Gift
Rating: 4.5/5 stars

This is the eleventh book in The Last Apprentice series. The twelfth book will be titled, I am Alice, and is scheduled for a September 2013 release. This book was a good read and engaging, but did not feature the normal characters in the series.

This book diverts from our normal group of characters, to a different part of the world far from Tom Ward’s country. The story is told from Sliter’s point of view. Slither is a dark mage that makes a deal with a farmer in his region. When the farmer dies he promises Slither his eldest daughter, Nessa, as a slave if only Slither will see Nessa’s two younger sisters to their aunt and uncle. When Slither gets on the bad side of another dark mage all of their lives are in danger. Although things take turn for the better when the strange witch named Grimalkin pops into the story.

This book is written in the same dank and dark tone as all of the previous books. Slither is not really a good character at all, but he is an honorable one. Sure he eats human blood to survive, but when he makes a promise to Nessa’s dad he is bound to keep it. He is not kind, he is not caring, but he honors his bargains.

Parts of the book are also told from Nessa’s point of view. Nessa is a surprisingly resilient character; I loved her bravery in the face of things more horrible than she has ever before faced. I loved how she did her best to shelter her younger sisters as well. She is one tough cookie and an excellent heroine to add to the series.

Slither’s world is a dangerous and interesting one. It’s bound by rules that are followed strictly but it is a vicious world. I enjoyed reading and learning about the world outside of the one we normally read about.

Grimalkin does enter the book for the last third or so of the story. As normal Grimalkin is my absolute favorite character in this series. Like normal she is neither good nor bad. Here we see some of what she has gone through and continues to go through in an effort to destroy the Fiend’s head. She was awesome and the collaborations between her and Nessa were interesting and made me wonder what the future holds for Nessa.

While I wasn’t totally thrilled to have the resolution to this series delayed by this diversion, I have to admit this book was well done and very entertaining. It is formated like previous books with creepy pictures opening each chapter. The book is creepy and dark and a bit scary, but never terrifying.

Overall I really enjoyed this addition to the Last Apprentice series. It was fun to get a look at a different part of the world this series takes place in. Slither was an interesting evil but honorable type of character. Nessa was a surprisingly engaging heroine as well. The parts with Grimlakin were wonderful and it was interesting to see what else she has done on her travels. The book was well paced and incredibly engaging. I really love this series. I can’t wait to read I Am Alice and then see how things wrap up in the 13th book of this series! This series is highly recommended to fans of middle grade/young adult horror/fantasy.

This book goes towards the following reading challenges:
- YA/MG Fantasy Reading Challenge
- 150+ Reading Challenge
- Young Adult Reading Challenge

Early Review - The Pirate’s Wish (The Assassin's Curse, Book 2) by Cassandra Rose Clarke (5/5 stars)

Reading Level: Young Adult
Genre: Fantasy
Size: 320 pages
Publisher: Strange Chemistry
Date: June 4, 2013
ISBN: 978-1908844286
Stand Alone or Series: 2nd book in the Assassin’s Curse Duology
Source: eGalley from NetGalley.com
Rating: 5/5 stars

This is the second book in the Assassin’s Curse duology. I absolutely adored The Assassin’s Curse and also really loved Clarke’s adult novel, The Mad Scientist’s Daughter. This book was just as wonderful as the first book in this series. It’s full of magic and adventure with some romance. You definitely need to read Assassin’s Curse first (originally this was going to be one book, but was then broken into two books because of length). Clarke is planning on writing two more books that take place in this world but feature different characters.

Ananna and Naji are trapped in a mysterious island of the North. When the resident wizard dies, they meet a strange an unlikely ally. Eventually Marjani comes to their rescue and they are able to continue their quest to break the curse on Naji. Along the way they will have to fight pirates and even journey below the ocean waves.

This was a spectacular read. The world-building is wonderfully done, it’s such a magical world and well detailed. It’s the type of world I would love to go and visit. The plot is well done too. It’s got this whole questing feel to it because of the three things Ananna and Naji have to do to break his curse; it ends up being more complicated than just that. Still I loved the classic fantasy questing feel the story had to it.

Ananna is an incredibly prickly and highly strung heroine; she’s like a firework always on the edge of exploding. She is a ferocious fighter but is incredibly sensitive about pretty much everything. I kept wanting to shake her and tell her to just calm down and let Naji talk. She is still highly entertaining just a bit flawed as well.

Naji isn’t the most expressive male lead, but I still thought his patience with Ananna was admirable considering how touchy she is. He is a strong male lead and a very interesting and mysterious character. We get to learn a lot more about him and his past in this story.

Marjani also plays a huge role in this story; we learn a ton about her past and the reason she has taken up pirating. She was probably the most mature character of the novel and I enjoyed how her level-headedness balanced out Naji and Ananna.

There are wonderful and spectacular things that happen in this story. There are pirate battles, magical creatures, evil wizards, beautiful kingdoms, and underwater worlds that are explored. It is a breathtaking and wondrous adventure. There is some humor throughout as well, which keeps things fun.

The pacing is very good and keeps the reader engaged from the beginning to the end. The story wraps things up in a way that is realistic and very well done.

Overall an absolutely fantastic read. I enjoyed the world, the plot, and the characters a lot. The story is very engaging and the world is absolutely magical. This is an excellent fantasy read. Highly recommended to fans of The Assassin’s Curse and fans of quest based fantasy. I love this book and can’t wait to read Clarke’s future novels.

This book goes towards the following reading challenges:
- YA/MG Fantasy Reading Challenge
- 150+ Reading Challenge
- Young Adult Reading Challenge

Waiting on Wednesday - 5/15/13

"Waiting On Wednesday" is a weekly meme hosted by Jill at Breaking The Spine.

This week my Waiting on Wednesday book is

Possession: A Greywalker Novel by Kat Richardson.

Possession: A Greywalker Novel by Kat Richardson
Release Date: August 6th,  2013

Publisher: Roc Hardcover
Length: 368 pages
ISBN: 978-0451465122

Synopsis from Amazon.com:

Harper Blaine was your average small-time PI until she died—for two minutes. Now Harper is a Greywalker, treading the thin line between the living world and the paranormal realm. And she’s discovering that her new abilities are landing her all sorts of “strange” cases.

When a comatose woman suddenly wakes up and starts painting scenes she’s never witnessed, with a skill she’s never had, medical science has no explanation. As more bizarre phenomena manifest, including mysterious writing appearing on the patient’s skin and strange voices issuing from her mouth, even her doctors start to wonder whether the woman may be possessed.

Frustrated, frightened, and at the end of her rope, the patient’s sister reluctantly turns to Harper Blaine to discover who—or what—is occupying her sister’s body. As Harper digs into this case of apparent possession, she discovers other patients struck with the same mystifying afflictions and a disturbing connection to one of the most gruesome episodes in Washington’s history....
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Review - Hex Hall (Hex Hall, Book 1) by Rachel Hawkins (4/5 stars)

Reading Level: Young Adult
Genre: Paranormal
Size: 352 pages
Publisher: Hyperion Book CH
Date: February 1, 2011
ISBN:978-1423121398
Stand Alone or Series: 1st book in the Hex Hall trilogy
Source: Audiobook from Audible.com
Rating: 4/5 stars


This is the first book in the Hex Hall trilogy. It was a cute YA paranormal read. There isn’t a lot special here but the book was generally well written and well done. I especially enjoyed Sophie’s quirky sense of humor.

I listened to this on audiobook and the audiobook was very well done. Sophie sounds exactly like I would imagine her to. The narrator did an excellent job of distinguishing between character voices.

Sophie Mercer is a witch and when a love spell she does for a friend goes horribly wrong, her dad decides her punishment will be to transfer her to Hex Hall. Hex Hall is a school of magical deliquents, those students of non-human nature who just can’t seem to control their powers. While there Sophie gets involved in a mystery where other Dark Witches are being attacked. If Sophie can’t figure out what’s going on, and quickly, then she might be the next witch attacked.

This is a cute young adult read about a school full of witches, faeries, vampires and werewolves. It was a fun quick read and the characters were engaging. There was a good mystery to be solved, although it was pretty predictable.

Sophie kind of makes the story. She has an absolutely quirky and cutting sense of humor that gets her into trouble a lot. Her roommate, a vampire addicted to hot pink, adds even more fun to the mix.

This is a pretty typical YA paranormal read. Sophie has to deal with the “mean girl” group, the only twist being that these mean girls want her to join their coven. Sophie also ends up falling for the hottest guy in school, the totally untouchable Archer Cross. Sophie and Archer had pretty good chemistry together and it was cute to watch them get to know each other.

The vamps, weres, and witches are pretty typical...there’s nothing all that special about them in this world. The world-building in general isn’t all that great. This book is driven more by the mystery behind all of the witches being attacked. Much of the book is also dedicated to Sophie getting settled in her new school and learning more about being a witch.

Overall a fun and quick paranormal YA read. While there wasn’t a ton that was super creative here, it was still and cute and fun read. This is just a light book to read quickly. The characters are engaging and well done and there is a good mystery here to be solved. I will probably check out the second book in the series, mainly because Sophie is just so much fun and so quirky. Recommended to fans of YA paranormal books.

This book goes towards the following reading challenges:
- Audio Book Challenge
- 150+ Reading Challenge
- Paranormal Reading Challenge
- TBR Pile Reading Challenge
- Young Adult Reading Challenge