Into the Vampire City by Phil Tucker ★★★☆☆

Kept me guessing!

Fiction – YA – Dystopian/Urban Fantasy

224 pages

Publication Date:  2012

Other Name: Vampire Miami

The Human Revolt #1

Selah Brown chooses to go to the only family she has left in the vampire controlled city of Miami when her father disappears.  Originally on the hunt for her father Selah’s course changes when she unexpectedly gets tangled up with the vampires and a unique gift she possesses reveals itself, putting her family and new friends in danger and even possibly starting a new Vampire War.

Right from the beginning the well-designed book-world and finely crafted characters shine through.  Selah is very dynamic and I found the examination of how people react in survival mode, either holding onto the humanity harder or going no holds bar, fascinating.  Also, having the story take place after things had settled in an uncomfortable holding pattern after the vampire wars was an interesting time to choose and gave the story a unique perspective.  The writing was not to my taste - I found it rough, raw and a bit crowded – but my love for the premise and plot overcame the writing and led to another late night trying fight off my obsessive need to continue the story.  Not only does this plot drip with potential for growth, but I never knew what to expect next during the whole story.  There was one very gross part that bothered me, but luckily it was short and the only one of its kind.  Thanks to www.bookbub.com I was introduced to another book I probably wouldn’t have found otherwise.

The Shambling Guide to New York City by Mur Lafferty ★★★★☆

A Joyful reading experience.

Fiction – Adult - Urban Fantasy

361 pages

Publication Date:  2013

The Shambling Guides #1

Zoe is sure she can find the right job in New York City as a travel book editor, but when she thinks she may have found it one thing holds her back.  The fact that she is human.  Tenacious with a hardy helping of desperate Zoe finally convinces them she is the right girl for the job, now all she has to do is convince herself. 

This was a fun and quirky story from page one, with a clever and snarky writing style that made me laugh out loud.  Lafferty creates an interesting world with a well-constructed back story and subcultures.  The lovely eccentric characters added texture and various view points, from John the incubus who is slightly obsessed with Zoe to Arthur the human who can understand Zoe, but is still way more of an outsider than Zoe. 

Zoe is smart, observant and tenacious.  She is affected by the monster world, but doesn’t let it completely overwhelm her, she is also just a vulnerable human, but not impotent in a world of super powers and monsters which is a very nice balance.  I loved the excerpt sections in between the chapters and the foreshadowing in them.  One thing wasn’t my favorite.  There is one very racy scene and I have to say if the whole book was like that I would have been really unhappy, but fortunately it was only a brief part sandwiched in between deliciously scrumptious other ones.

This book is a jewel; yep I have been reduced to a gushing fangirl over this book.  I have been thinking of giving my fangirl side a name since she seems to have her own personality.  Maybe something like Mildred, a sassy girl with a black Daria bob, thick glasses and enough curves to warrant a drive carefully sign.  I’ll have to think on it.  But I digress back to review.  I felt in the very core of my being that this book could be delightful and it was.  Of course I tend to be a sucker for quirky.  The closet feeling I can relate my excitement to while reading this story is bubbly.  This book made me feel bubbly - not a great descriptor, I know - but that is how it made me feel, bubbly with joy at the writing, the characters and the story possibilities.

The Reformed Vampire Support Group by Catherine Jinks ★★★★☆

Offbeat and Lovely

Fiction- YA –Urban Fantasy/Mystery

Grade 7 and Up

384 pages

Publication Date:  2009

Literary Awards:  ALA's Top Ten Best Books for Young Adults (2010)

Nina Harrison, wishes being a vampire was glamorous like in the movies instead of the reality of monotonous boredom and support group meetings.  So when a chance to investigate a killing of one of their own presents itself Nina is hot on the case.

After a rather surprising start the story rolls on quickly, breaking down preconceived notions.  This story is not your stereotypical paranormal. I love the typical sexy vampire (Buffy forever), but I have to say the lack of glamorization of vampires in this story was such a breath of fresh air.  The premise was great and well thought out with an engaging plot that kept my guessing – which doesn’t happen very often.  The characters were well crafted with elaborate back stories and eccentricies.  Ms. Jinks has a real talent for turning a phrase and deliciously layers in dramatic details and word pictures into her writing.  It is also incredibly funny, but not belly laugh kind of funny, more of a quirky funny that really appeals to me (see every book Jasper Fforde ever wrote). 

Written as a first person story, Nina tells it as something that already happened.  Nina is a surprising take on vampires compared to either the lone wolf suppressing their evil or the ones who embrace it.  Nina has never really accepted herself as a vampire, somewhat because it doesn’t live up to her ideas of what it should be and because she has never really felt like a vampire.  She desperately wishes she were stronger like the character she created, Zadia Bloodstone, instead of weak and pathetic.  I love how weak and human she is, but still striving to do the right thing even with all of the things against her.  Eventually Nina decides to redefine herself, and her ideas of what a hero is.  Which is the main point of the story, taking control of your circumstances and empowering yourself. 

In the book blurb there were hints toward romance so I kind of expected it to rear its ugly head around every corner.  But in the end it was really an appropriately small part.  Also, how great is it to have a priest not vilified?  Thank you Ms. Jinks.  And one of my favorite things of all was having a satisfying conclusion to the story.

Frankly, I heart it!

Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare ★★★☆☆

Good Enough

Fiction – YA - Steampunk

Reading level: Ages 14 and up

479 pages

Publication Date: October 4, 2011

Infernal Devices Book 1

Literary awards:  RITA® Award by Romance Writers of America Nominee for Best Young Adult Romance (2011), Romantic Times Reviewers' Choice Award (RT Award) Nominee for Best Young Adult Paranormal/Fantasy Novel (2010), Voya Perfect Ten (2010), The Inky Awards for Silver Inky longlist (2011), Abraham Lincoln Award Nominee (2013)  Goodreads Choice Nominee for Favorite Book, Favorite Heroine, Young Adult Fantasy, Goodreads Author (2010)

American Tessa Gray goes to England at the behest of her brother, Nate, after the death of their Aunt Harriet.  Tessa expects to meet Nate when she steps off the boat, but she is instead intercepted by the “Dark Sisters”.  Believing they are sent by Nate she allows them to escort home.  Instead of finding herself delivered into the loving arms of her brother, Tessa is kept prisoner by the Dark Sisters, because they believe she can shape shift.  Driven by fear and torture, as the days turn into weeks, Tessa somehow manages to shape shift into various people.  The delighted Dark Sisters believe she is now prepared to be turned over to a mysterious figure only known as “The Magistrate”.  After a failed escape attempt Tessa almost loses all hope until Will appears out of nowhere and rescues her from the Dark Sister’s clutches.  Will then takes her to a place called the Institute, home of the London Shadowhunters, beings who police the Underworld.  With their help Tessa hopes they can discover what happened to Nate and possibly figure out what she is.

In the beginning I found the writing a bit bumpy and felt as bewildered as Tessa as I tried to grasp what was occurring.  After a few chapters, however, I finally quite groping blindly for understanding and the writing flowed a bit better, but the writing never really did feel organic.  Though, supposedly set in Victorian London, things pertaining to the era seemed more as an afterthought than a real plot point and I never got the sense the story really felt at home in the era.  As for the characters living at the institute, they definitely came together to make a very dysfunction unit I would loosely call a family.  As the main character I never found Tessa incredibly likable.  She always seemed very aloof and I never got particularly attached to her.  The only remotely likable characters I found was Jem and possibly Sophie.  I also kind of thought it funny how dramatic the blurbs about the book sounded in comparison to what actually took place in the book.

For all of my little complaints I really did like this book overall.  I found the mythology fascinating and appreciated the new world I was introduced into.  The story was captivating, even if I didn’t find Tessa all that lovable.  The characters all came together to play their parts and as a whole they made the story work well enough that I didn’t mind my lack of empathy for most of them.  I also liked the playful interplay during the dialogue and the understatedness of the love triangle.  

Clockwork Angel has been my first real introduction into the Steampunk genre and I find myself wanting more.  With a slight lowering of my expectations, I look forward to reading Clockwork Prince, book two in the Infernal Devices series.

ISBN  1416975861 (ISBN13: 9781416975861)

Witch and Wizard by James Patterson and Gabrielle Charbonnet ★★☆☆☆

Awkward as a 6ft3 14-year-old

Fiction –YA - Fantasy

Age Level: 10 and up | Grade Level: 5 and up 317 pages

Publication Date: December 1, 2009

Witch &Wizard #1

            As my first James Patterson book I went into this book with hopes high and great expectations of the story he had to share with me, but unfortunately things did not go as smoothly as I expected.

I found myself struggling to get past the constant weird breaks and put on teenager speak – I felt like they were trying really hard to be young and hip.  Don’t get me wrong I can really enjoy different viewpoints in a story, and the idea of Whit and Whitsy being ripped from their normal world into a hellish new reality was kind of exciting, but the choppiness of these breaks never allowed me to really get the rhythm of the story.  But still I soldiered on.  I would ignore the awkwardness, because I just knew Patterson had more to offer than I was seeing.  The book could still be redeemed

How wrong I was, it never got better! 

The characters never gained any depth, the writing didn’t improve –nothing about it felt organic -  and I never really could imagine the places they visited - the descriptions had no texture.  Worst by the end I didn’t even really care what happened to Whit and Whitsy.  I just wanted to finish the book.  I hate feeling that way.

The biggest problem by for me was I never could buy into it.  Don’t get me wrong Sci-Fi/Fantasy is my bread and butter and I can suspend my disbelief for the most amazing and on occasion ridiculous things.  I mean I really wanted to believe and immerse myself in another book world, but I couldn’t. 

I put a lot of effort into trying to like this book and I came to ask myself why.  A book like this shouldn’t take that much effort and with some introspection I realized I was only doing it because of James Patterson.  I wanted to like him, but in this case Mr. Patterson did not deserve my efforts.

Overall I give this book two stars.  I didn’t hate it, but nor did I really like it and the rare moments of wit and interesting premise – though in this case ill applied - did nothing to save it. 

Don’t bother to read it!