Jessica's Guide to Dating on the Dark Side, by Beth Fantaskey- Review

From Goodreads:
The undead can really screw up your senior year ...
Marrying a vampire definitely doesn’t fit into Jessica Packwood’s senior year “get-a-life” plan. But then a bizarre (and incredibly hot) new exchange student named Lucius Vladescu shows up, claiming that Jessica is a Romanian vampire princess by birth—and he’s her long-lost fiancé. \
 
Armed with newfound confidence and a copy of Growing Up Undead: A Teen Vampire’s Guide to Dating, Health, and Emotions, Jessica makes a dramatic transition from average American teenager to glam European vampire princess. But when a devious cheerleader sets her sights on Lucius, Jess finds herself fighting to win back her wayward prince, stop a global vampire war—and save Lucius’s soul from eternal destruction.
 
This was one of those super lucky find books.  I had gotten an ARC of  Jessica Rules the Dark Side ages ago in a mixed box, it had looked interesting but when I realised it was part two of a series it got abandoned to my pile of "if I run into book the first".  Lets face it, is there anything worse then reading book the second without the ground work of book the first?  I was a bit disappointed because book the first, Jessica's Guide to Dating on the Dark Side sounded really fun.  Alas, the number of books I would like to buy often insanely outstrips how much I can afford so it got sorted to the sub-folder of my wish list and I more or less forgot about it.  UNTIL, in Chapters the other day I ran into a discount bin copy!! For the low low price of 4.99$, book the first was mine, and after last weeks long list of teary eyed reads I needed something light and fun.

This was a 100% fun read, the silliness of a high school senior finding out she was betrothed at birth to a prince, and that she herself is a princess- of vampires, was a super fun plot ploy.  I liked Jessica, a mathlete with a shortage of self confidence, and a penchant for silly t-shirts.  I loved how her reaction to the "big news", and  her disdain of the gorgeous and rude Lucius.  And I enjoyed her slow metamorphosis into a confident young woman/vampire.

Lucius was also enjoyable in an arrogant and egotistical way.  His complete disdain for Jessica's vegan parents and the "lentils and kittens" was fun, but I was more amused by how he goes along with it then anything else.  As he softens I did loose interest in him somewhat, I was rather fond of his arrogant pish poshiness it turns out.

Obviously there are some trite moments to the love story, because of course Jessica and Lucius eventually fall madly in love, and there's all sorts of self sacrificing and desperate measures;  but the story was so much fun overall that I was completely able to overlook them and just enjoy the ride.

A quick fun read with some truly quirky characters, Jessica's Guide to Dating on the Dark Side cured me (formerly) of my crying while reading.  The hubby was very thankful.

Jessica's Guide to Dating on the Dark Side, by Beth Fantaskey
Published by Harcourt, January 2009
Buy Jessica's Guide to Dating on the Dark Side on Amazon for 8.99$!

The Taming, by Teresa Toten and Eric Walters- Review

From Goodreads:
Katie likes to believe she's invisible. It seems much safer than being exposed as she is--shy, poor, awkward. So getting up on stage in the school production of The Taming of the Shrew should be complete torture. But as Katie tells it, something totally unexpected happened when she stepped on stage: "My head exploded. I loved it. Acting hit me like a sucker punch and I loved, loved, loved it! . . . Invisible Katie became visible Katharina."


Evan Cooper is, as they say, another story. He knows just what it takes to get noticed, and he uses every one of the skills he's honed after years of being the new kid. Like tossing the keys to his father's high-end Audi to a kid he's never met, first day of school. "I have insurance for car theft," he explains to a shocked Danny. "And there's a full tank." An abuse of the power that comes with privilege and money? Sure.


But more dangerously, is his romance with Katie another version of the same thing? Or is it the real thing?

I wasn't totally sold on the sound of The Taming going in, but it was highly recommended by a good source so I thought it might be one of those guilty pleasure reads.  Maybe it is for some, but not for me. 

Teresa and Eric used the frame work of The Taming of the Shrew to tell an alternate story of "taming" by abuse.  Unlike the Bards original there is no humor in this telling, instead they dive into the dark waters of verbal, sexual and physical abuse from both Katie and Evans alternating view points.  They very carefully craft the slow entrapment of an abusive relationship, showing the slippery slide from one uncomfortable moment to the point of being constantly on guard.  I especially liked how they illustrated the cycle, how Katie and Evan's past experiences came to bear on their own messed up relationship, and how hard it was for either of them to fight against those experiences.

That being said, I didn't like either Katie or Evan.  Katie went from quiet and cautious to vapid and flip in a way I didn't understand.  Although she's supposedly high on her relationship with Evan and the attention he lavishes on her, many of her comments and actions just seem ridiculous to me.  Especially when she gets all doe eyed around Evan and makes comments like,

"Evan ordered for me and then showed me how to layer and properly fold a sizzling fajita.  I felt so sophisticated...And it wasn't just about fajitas.  Evan seemed to know everything about everything"

Honestly? Fajitas are sophisticated?

Evan is made somewhat unlikeable from the beginning, which didn't seem fair to me.  As a victim of abuse himself, I felt like The Taming would have been more interesting if it showed his struggle more clearly too.  Its touched upon off and on, but for the most part he's painted the villain, until the end when suddenly I'm supposed to have sympathy for him.  But by that point I was just so sick of both of them I didn't care what happened, as long as I didn't have to be subjected to it anymore.

An interesting subject matter, told in a grating way I didn't enjoy at all, The Taming missed the mark for me.

The Taming, by Teresa Toten, and Eric Walters
Published by Doubleday, January 2012
My copy kindly provided by Random House.

Fast Fresh, Simple- Donna Hay- Review

Growing up I was surrounded by good cooks.   My Grandma was amazing at traditional home cooked meals and any kind of baking, and when my mom put her mind to it she could cook the most fantastic specialty food ever.  So needless to say, I grew up cooking.  But somewhere along the way, probably in University, I got way too busy to deal with making food, forgot most of what I knew and crabbed that all I was looking for in "the perfect" guy was a great cook.  I hated the effort and the mess involved.

 Then I graduated.  I was hopelessly unemployed, and broke.  I was bored, hungry and had oodles of time on my hands to figure out cooking again.  And I was really sick of spaghetti, toast and popcorn.  So the future hubby and I went questing for the quintessential cookbook.  We wanted something with simple, basic recipes (we cooked minute rice because we had no idea how to cook the real stuff), and we wanted a picture for everything.  Sounds easy right?  Well now a days it is, but ten years ago there was almost no such thing.  Except for Donna Hay.

Which is how I became a dedicated Donna Hay fan, and eventually, a really great cook.  And *GASP* I now love cooking.  Since I'm such a die hard for the culinary arts, it stands to reason that cookery presents landed under the tree, and Donna Hay's latest (in Canada and the States, it's been out ages in Australia) Fast, Fresh, Simple was one of them.

I've tried three recipes from it so far and I'm pretty happy with both how simple and how fast they all have been.  I started out with the baked risotto with prawns.  Now I have to preface this by saying I was a doubter when it came to baked risottos.  I wasn't sure how it could possibly be the right consistency baked so I'd never tried one before, sticking instead to doing it the hardcore- stove top way.

 

The recipe was super fast, arborio rice, chicken broth, chopped leaks and some lemon rind, thrown in a pot and baked for a brief amount of time, then you throw in the prawns and parsley for the last bit of time.

 All that's needed to finish it off is a bit of salt and pepper to taste.

I had a bunch of spinach in the fridge so I mixed parsley with the spinach and omitted the salt to keep it a bit healthier.

I was really impressed with the results, it was a super simple and fast recipe that tasted every bit as delicious as risotto laboriously done on the stove top.  The main difference being I got to spend 20 minutes reading instead of stirring!

The next recipe I made was a cheats chicken schnitzel.  It was tasty but not quite as successful.  You chopped up thyme, breadcrumbs, salt, pepper and butter in a food processor, topped some flattened boneless chicken breasts with the mixture and broiled it for 7-8 minutes.  It was the broiling that wasn't really ideal for this recipe.  In the future I would pan sear the chicken, then top it with the bread crumbs and broil it a bit higher for a shorter time.  To full on broil was to get some pasty looking chicken, a bit pink anywhere it touched the other chicken breast and with an uneven crisping of the bread crumbs (burnt in places).

Since the cookbook is broken into sections with desserts at the end of each, I thought it pretty imperative I make something sugary too.  You know, in the interest of being thorough.  So yesterday I made the chocolate cherry cakes.

They were uber simple, melt the chocolate and butter together, then stir together all the ingredients and pour into greased muffin tins.  Top each one with a cherry and cook!

 The batter had almond meal, brandy, flour, a small amount of sugar, three eggs and some baking powder, and once you stirred in the chocolate mixture it had a thick almost gummy consistency to it.  Since cherries are wildly out of season I bought a mixed bag of frozen fruit and topped my cakes with blackberries and cherries.





I was leery about the texture of these little guys, but they were delicious.  Heavy, with an almost fudgy texture but not too sweet, and a nice kick from the brandy.  Plus they're a great serving size!  I served mine with vanilla ice cream instead of the whip cream suggested.

  So far I'm really happy with Fast, Fresh and Simple.  It has provided recipes that are every bit as quick and delicious as promised with only one slight hitch.  I'd highly recommend it for those of you looking for some good weekday ideas or for those who think they don't have time to cook during the week.

Fast, Fresh, Simple, By Donna Hay

Published by December 2010 by Harper Collins

Having a Foodie kind of weekend?  Think about stopping by Beth Fish Reads for more foodie posts!  Every weekend she hosts Weekend Cooking (I'm always stalking and never commenting or participating! Bad me), and it's full of lots of yummy reviews.



Saturday Link Salad

I've been a busy bee in the kitchen today, I've been so productive I almost forgot I still needed to post my copious news from the week!  So here it is, dig in and news up.

-It's been the week of cover reveals and title announcements.  First up was Kody Keplinger's newest A Midsummer's Nightmare.  You guessed it, she's playing on A Midsummer's Night Dream this time and it releases in June.  But you want to read it now right? Then head over to Kody's blog for a chance to win an ARC.

-Laini Taylor has finally released a tidbit about book two of her fabulous Daughter of Smoke and Bone trilogy.  It has a title!  Check out her blog for the big reveal, I have to say, I like it.

-Tessa Gratton has a new cover for her wonderful book Blood Magic.   I like it because it's less gender oriented then the original cover, and it was such a great book that I wouldn't want anyone to not read it because it looked to girly.  Sadly we still have to wait until August for the sequel!

-If you find yourself in San Marcos Texas between now and July you'll have to make sure to check out Riordan Exhibit.  Rick Riordan has been donating all his archives to them for years apparently, and now they've put the wide assortment of paraphernalia on display!  Sadly I'll be nowhere near, so if you go make sure to stop in and tell me about it!

-If you're an aspiring writer living in Ontario, Kelly Armstrong is running her Writing Dark Fantasy course again.  It's an intensive week long course aimed at those serious about getting published.  Honestly, every year I see her post about this and I heave a big sigh- I want to take this course!  It sounds like an amazing experience.

-It was announced this week that the BBC (Book Blogger Convention) was bought by Reed Exhibitions the organizers of the BEA.  An impressive achievement for Trish Collins and Michelle Franz, the creators and organizers behind BBC the first two years of its existence.  Also a huge jump in the importance of bloggers to the book industry in general.

-Finally what kind of week would it be if I didn't provide you with Cassie's tidbits for the week?
  -First up is a crazy unidentified snippet involving Jace.
  -And a totally mysterious (Jem maybe?) unidentified snippet

Alrighty, now I'm off to do some baking! Chocolate ho!

Happy Saturday all!

Keeping the kitties warm and dry this winter- Feline Fridays

Alrighty, so it's sort of winter some places, REALLY winter other places and sometimes both everywhere else (um, global warming doubters- are you still non-believers?).  Either way it's the time of year when strays die from the elements.  And outside of trying to outfit them in little parkas and boots, at grave risk to your health and safety, there is something really simple you can do to help them survive.

Now how simple is that?  

In Toronto you can even build one in a workshop at the humane society in an afternoon if you're still unsure or want to help but don't have cats to build for (generally held every second Saturday from 10-3).

However, it's a super easy do it yourself project.  The details on how to, that go with this wonderful step by step picture are over on P.A.C.T Humane Society's site (which I found thanks to Annex Cat Rescue's  Pint Interest post).  

If you opt for the parka and booties route, and survive, I would really like pictures.

I'm just saying.

Also Known as Rowan Pohi, by Ralph Fletcher- Review

From Goodreads:
Bobby Steele and his pals, Marcus and Big Poobs, all public school kids from working class backgrounds, are waiting for tenth grade to start when they come across an application form for Whitestone Academy, a prestigious and posh private school. Just for giggles, they decide that a nonexistent kid should apply—and so Rowan Pohi is born. (Named for their favorite hangout, Pohi is IHOP spelled backwards.) Amazingly enough, the phantom Rowan is accepted at Whitestone. 

Eager to escape the boredom of public school and his unhappiness at home, Bobby shows up at Whitestone’s new student orientation, reinventing himself as Rowan. He begins a  suspenseful career as an impostor, hoping that the two worlds he’s living in will stay separate forever. For a short, exhilarating time, they do. 

I love a good story about reinventing yourself, because lets face it, most of us would've loved the opportunity, especially in grade school or high school.  And Bobby's Rowan transition is pretty epic.  It was downright Ferris Bueller-esque.

I liked Bobby's character quite a bit.  He's spontaneous and doesn't really think about the consequences of what he's getting into, everything is done by the seat of his pants.  But obviously he's also smart, no dummy could pull off the scam he's setting up.  Which makes his entry into Whitestone less of a joke and more of his rightful place as a smart kid who needs to be challenged more then his sad public school can manage.  And that's the turning point from amusing scam story to actually rooting for Bobby for me.

However I was a bit disappointed that there wasn't a bit more of his friends in the story.  They're there to set things up but then become slightly dispensable which I thought was a loss to the story.  Marcus and Big Poobs had the potential to be amusing side kicks, and as a pretty short book there was room for that aspect of the story to be expanded on.  Instead the focus is more on Bobby, his dad, his brother and two girls at Whitestone.  If you think about Ferris Bueller, Sloane and Cameron really made the story, without them it's just a delinquent teen who's way too smart for his own good.  Bobby could have used a bit more rounding out through his friends, and it could have done a lot for building some of the suspense.

That being said, this was a fun light read, it required little of the reader except to come along for the ride. 

Also Known as Rowan Pohi, by Ralph Fletcher
Published by Clarion, November 2011
My copy kindly provided by the folks at Houghton Mifflin
Buy Also Known as Rowan Pohi on Amazon

The Fault in Our Stars, by John Green- Review

On January 17th my twitter feed erupted into a magnificent John Green/The Fault in Our Stars love-fest.  It was epic.  Every author, blogger, and agent that I admire was rushing out to buy it the moment it went on sale.  And I was all "Um, I've heard of this book right? What am I missing here?", and feeling very very out of the loop.

So I did a quick search and came up with the story of how The Fault in Our Stars came to be (a brief career stint John Green had, directly out of school, where he worked with terminally ill kids), how he decided he felt bad for all the kids who live somewhere he'll never do a signing- so he decided to sign the entire first print run of The Fault in Our Stars (150,000 books!), and how when he announced this it sent the book to the top of the Amazon and Barnes and Noble pre-order sales lists, and finally how all this hoopla advanced the print of the book by 5 months!

These were all decidedly impressive things.  I went out first thing Wednesday and bought myself a copy, signed of course.  Lets face it, when that many book compatriots say jump, I say when, where and how high?

Can I just say?  Where have you been all my life John Green!?  HOW have I not read any of your other books? And good lord I need to rectify that grievous bibliophile mistake. 

Hazel Grace is terminally ill.  She's been terminally ill since she was 12 and she's now 16.  She lives an in between life of not health and not death.  It's less than amusing.  But it will get decidedly better when Augustus Waters shows up at her weekly support group.

This was such an impressive book.  It was equal parts funny and heart wrenching.  Like laugh-out-loud funny and I-cried-quite-often heart wrenching.  This is not a book you read commuting to work, unless you don't mind people staring.  It was completely engrossing just on the merit of the characters, without a melodramatic plot or contrived love triangle.  But the most impressive thing by far is how well John Green seemingly captures the life of a terminally ill teen.  I say seemingly because I have not experienced it so I'm no expert, but it feels real and 100% true.  This isn't a pandering look at how sad terminally ill kids are, this is the sarcastic, charming and sometimes angsty view point of a teen who's been terminally ill for their entire teen experience, with all the requisite video games, American Next Top Model marathons and crushing breakups that normally come with the territory.

Augustus Waters drove horrifically.  Wheter stopping or starting, everything happened with a stupendous JOLT.  I flew against the seat belt of his Toyota SUV each time he braked, and my neck snapped backward each tie he hit the gas.  I might have been nervous- what with sitting in the car of a strange boy on the way to his house, keenly aware that my crap lungs complicate efforts to fend off unwanted advances- but his driving was so astonishingly poor that I could think of nothing else. 

We'd gone perhaps a mile in jagged silence before Augustus said, "I failed the driving test three tines." 

  "You don't say." 

He laughed, nodding.  "Well, I can't feel pressure in old Prosty, and I can't get the hang of driving left-footed.  My doctors say most amputees can drive with no problem, but...yeah.  Not me.  Anyway, I go in for my fourth driving test, and it goes about like this is going."  A half mile in front of us, a light turned red.  Augustus slammed on the brakes, tossing me into the triangular embrace of the seat belt.  "Sorry.  I swear to God I am trying to be gentle.  Right, so anyway, at the end of the test, I totally thought I'd failed again, but the instructor was like, 'Your driving is unpleasant, but it isn't technically unsafe."
  

"I'm not sure I agree," I said.  "I suspect Cancer Perk."

Green has managed to create some of the most enchanting characters I've ever spent time with.  Hazel and Augustus are incredible, I want to have children one day that are every bit as amusing and brilliant.  Even their names are perfect.  But Hazel's parents, and their friend in illness Isaac are equally amazing and wonderfully rounded.   Hazels mom broke my heart as she talks about what she'll do after Hazel's gone, and every time her dad cries I wanted to hug him.  They all stayed with me long after I finished reading and they've made me think a great deal about what stamp you leave on the world, whether it be during a short or a long life.

It was, without a doubt, the most affecting book I've read in a long time, it even surpasses A Monster Calls and that book made me bawl like a baby.  It's amazing how joyous a story he was able to tell with a story that's still so sad.  But I walked away with joy and hope, and very swollen eyes from crying.

Now I need to lay off the death books for awhile, obviously.

The Fault in Our Stars, By John Green
Published by Dutton Juvenile, January 2012
Buy The Fault in Our Stars on Amazon (as long as it's a first edition it should be signed)

Are you like me? Somehow completely ignorant of the John Green phenomena and want a quick run down of his career and where this book came from?  Try this awesome article in the Sydney Morning Herald.

Never Eighteen, by Megan Bostic (debut)- Review

From Goodreads:
Austin Parker is on a journey to bring truth, beauty, and meaning to his life.

Austin Parker is never going to see his eighteenth birthday. At the rate he’s going, he probably won’t even see the end of the year. The doctors say his chances of surviving are slim to none even with treatment, so he’s decided it’s time to let go.

But before he goes, Austin wants to mend the broken fences in his life. So with the help of his best friend, Kaylee, Austin visits every person in his life who touched him in a special way. He journeys to places he’s loved and those he’s never seen. And what starts as a way to say goodbye turns into a personal journey that brings love, acceptance, and meaning to Austin’s life.

This debut has been on my radar for a bit through the Class 2k12 folks (@class2k12, http://classof2k12.com/), and I was looking forward to getting to it.  I picked it up right after Wherever You Go, which might have been a bit of a mistake since I might have needed a slightly more chipper book at that point (the hubby has said of that week of reading, which also included The Fault in Our Stars, "God! Are you crying again?! Read something else already!").

Although the blurb gives away Austin's issue right off the bat, the story actually comes at his issues in a backtrack style.  Megan doesn't reveal he's sick until quite a ways in and although it's hinted at he's not revealed to be terminal until very near to the end.  So I was a bit disappointed that this was spoiled for me going in.  But lets face it, the title would have blown that surprise if the blurb didn't.

I love the premise of this story.  The idea that Austin wants to fix everyone and everything as his mark on peoples lives before he dies.  And the idea that it happens in one epic weekend with his best friend in her ratty old car is very Go/Ferris Buellers Day off.  However, it's carried off a bit heavy handed to my liking.  It needed some lighter moments to balance the seriousness.  For instance he gets trashed at a party, because he never has before, and it's treated like this horrible/sad thing.  The guy is dying, let him have one silly drunk night, honestly!

My main issue was how many seriously screwed up people and situations are in Austin's life.  Estranged parents due to a very soap opera style drama, a friend who was raped and now has a drug problem, a friend who hasn't come out of the closet yet, a friend who's a raging alcoholic, a friends mother who's been devastated by the death of Austin's best friend.  It ended up feeling contrived, everyone was just too extremely screwed up.  And how was Austin ever supposed to fix these issues in a 15 minute visit while Kaylee waited outside in the car?  I feel like this would have been way more effective a story line if it dealt with more average issues, with one extreme one in there, maybe (because lets face it, Austin dying of Cancer is already pretty extreme). 

Also, Kaylee and Austin's big romantic reveal moment was a bit weird.  I'm just saying... school playgrounds with a blanket is not romantic, it's a bit creepy public (and lets face it, the grass stains and dirt in unamable places is never romantic).  At least in Kaylee's car there would have been less a chance of being stumbled upon?

In the end I just felt like this story had a lot of potential that wasn't lived up to.  Also, what a terrible release week for it! Agh, just a few days after The Fault in Our Stars? Poor Megan!  That's some hard competition to live up to, and since it's very similar subject matter it's inevitable they'll be compared. 

Not a terrible book (I cried so obviously I was invested to some degree), just a bit heavy handed.  Now that her debut is behind her, I look forward to seeing if Megan's next book is a little more polished.

Never Eighteen, By Megan Bostic
Published by Houghton Mifflin, January 17th, 2012\
My copy kindly provided by Houghton Mifflin
Buy Never Eighteen on Amazon

Wherever You Go, by Heather Davis- Review

From Goodreads:
Seventeen-year-old Holly Mullen has felt lost and lonely ever since her boyfriend, Rob, died in a tragic accident. But she has no idea that as she goes about her days, Rob’s ghost is watching over her. He isn’t happy when he sees his best friend, Jason, trying to get close to Holly—but as a ghost, he can do nothing to stop it.


As their uncertain new relationship progresses, the past comes back to haunt Holly and Jason. Her Alzheimer’s-stricken grandfather claims to be communicating with the ghost of Rob. Could the messages he has for Holly be real? And if so, how can the loved ones Rob left behind help his tortured soul make it to the other side?

I had no expectations when I picked up Wherever You Go, though I thought it was a good sign that Laini Taylor had such a glowing blurb on the cover.  I was happily surprised by how gripping this quiet read about love, loss and self worth was.

Wherever You Go deals with depression, suicide, and Alzheimer's, weighty subject matters.  But they're told around a story of redemption, and new love, which helps keep the story from being to depressing.  Aldo's story (Holly's grandfather), resonated the most with me and his relationship with Holly was touching and obviously told from a perspective of experience.  I was very impressed with how Davis dealt with the issue of Alzheimer's and what it does at a relationship level but also at a caregiver level to families.

I really liked Holly, Jason and Aldo, but I did feel like Holly's mom was taken a bit too far to salvage her like-ability at times.  Obviously she was supposed to be difficult, but her "like-able" moments weren't redeeming for me since her non-like-able moments were particularly severe.  Essentially she became the villain of the story for me and I'm not sure that was the intention.  I was raised by a single mother on low income, we lived in low-rental housing and eventually my mom did also care for my grandparents who both went through Alzheimer's, and I can tell you because of that my mom was always very keen that I have a normal childhood and teen life.  By taking that away from Holly's mom, Davis takes her to the level of evil step mom a la Cinderella style.  After all the drama, it was hard to believe that Holly would be able to work things out with her mom at the end.

However, Davis does such an amazing job of Aldo and his relationship with Holly that although Holly's mom was a problem for me, I could largely overlook it and enjoy this story.  It defiantly brought tears to my eyes at points, and it's advocacy for forgiveness and kindness were admirable.

A sweeping but quiet read, Wherever You Go is one of those books that's worth hunting down.

Wherever You Go, By Heather Davis
Published by Harcourt, November 2011
My copy provided by Houghton Mifflin
Buy Wherever You Go on Amazon

The Saturday Link Salad

Helllllooooo out there! So I hear Friday has come and gone, and I- in a state of creative output- missed it.  Since Thurman, among others, found the time to lend me a paw yesterday I thought I'd share it as a consolation prize, and promise something better for next week.

You see for a couple of months I've been designing a wedding dress for a good friend of mine from high school.  We spent a fare amount of time widdling down a design (she wants something simple but elegant), and just two weeks ago we landed on the winner and picked the fabric.  So now I'm making what's called the muslin, which is essentially one of several rough drafts of the dress to work out the fit and the lines of the design.  Once that's been worked out to where I'm happy with it, it gets mailed out to England for Karen to try on for fit and to make sure it's shaped how she likes it.  Then it ships back to me and I get to work on the high end beaded lace we're using and make her a wedding dress.  Nothing makes me quite as happy as when I'm in my studio sewing, so it's been great, but distracting!  And thanks to Maggie Stiefvater posting her top 15 music recommendations for 2011, and that lovely ipod upgrade I got for Christmas it has been even more pleasant then usual (I'm so lazy about finding new music, so I just listen to the same stuff over and over until someone says -here, listen to this!).

Anywho,  this has been what's eating up my time off of late, and what will continue to do so for awhile yet.

But you came for PUBLISHING and BOOK news, am I right?  So without further ado:

-Ahh there has been much furor on the interwebs of late.  Bloggers being mean spirited in reviews, agents and authors and friends of said people are getting mean spirited in return and then suddenly world war 750 of Bloggers vs Authors has erupted as arguments ensue about everything under the sun to do with posting reviews about books.  MUCH has been said, but I found CuddleBuggery's post on the whole episode funny, informative (if you missed something) and a really a nice concluding piece to the whole fiasco.  Time to move on to the next argument folks.

-Saundra Mitchell, author of The Vespertine and the forthcoming Springsweet, wrote an intriguing article about writing for Distraction no.99.  I like how she talks about chasing a dream for so long that by the time you catch it, it doesn't suit your life anymore.


-Holly Black posted a great blog about her new covers, why they've changed, how that sucks and an excerpt from Black Heart to help you get over your disappointment that your set won't match.

-Scholastic tweeted this amazing plot sheet from JK Rowling the other day.  I'm not sure where it's come from or how I haven't seen it before but it's a fascinating look at her careful plot planning.

-The cover to Simon Toynes sequel to Sanctus has been revealed.  It's called the Key and releases June 19th!

-Veronica Roth (author of Divergent) has posted a neat blog about the process from start to finish of getting published.  As all things it's fascinating to see behind the scenes how things run.

-Stephen Kings The Wind Through the Keyhole has had a cover redesign.  To celebrate there's a facebook contest to get your face used in a mosaic to make the cover image.  Weird right? Or is that just me?  Anyhow, toddle on over for the chance to win.

- Finally, it's been a week with 7 days, and that means I have some Cassandra Clare tidbits for you.  Shocking right?
   -1st unidentified snippet of the Clockwork variety.
   -2nd unidentified snippet of the unidentified variety.
   - An explanation on the Law about Parabati not falling in love.
   -And some answers and spoilers about Tessa and Jem.

And now folks, I'm off to do some sewing! May your weekend be delightful and full of bookish wonder!  Saturday on.

We Have Winners!!

It's Thursday, and it's snowing here in Toronto, and I know there are all sorts of snowed in, tornado threatened and otherwise apocalypse hinting, weather abused places, across Canada and the US this week.  So it's time to cheer three lucky people up!

Congratulations to:

Gena Robertson- who's won an ecopy of Nightingale!

Paige who's won a signed copy of Fracture!

and Carissa, who's won a copy of The Gathering Storm!!

I'll be sending out emails, books and personal congrats shortly.  As usual I wish I could give something to everyone, you're all such stars for swinging by all the time and reading what I have to say with such regularity.

Happy Thursday, may your weather apocalypse keep you home from work and doing something fun- like sleeping in and reading!

Forever, by Maggie Stiefvater- Review

Forever was quite possibly when I completely and irrevocably fell in love with this series.  Without a doubt it is the book when the style I so loved in The Scorpio Races was defined in all of it's infinite glory.  May Maggie Stiefvater write many wonderful masterpieces for all the days left in me to read them.  Well, I suppose you too.

If any character made this book for me it was without a doubt Cole.  And I can almost truthfully say that the scenes she leaves unsaid are as good as the ones she doesn't.  I say almost because I love the style of it but the fan girl in me wants to know goddamn it!  It's almost magical how she makes me fall for a new character in every book. Of course Isabel continues to also rock, and Sam acquires a new level of depth I appreciated as well, but COLE!!

" You-you're from..." my mother started.  she squinted at him. I waited for her to say NARKOTIKA, though I'd never imagined her a fan.  But she said,  "The boy from the stairs.  From the house.  The naked one.  Isabel, when I said I didn't want you to do this in the house, I didn't mean to take it to the clinic.  Why are you under the counter? Oh I don't want to know.  I just don't."
I didn't really have anything to say.
My mother rubbed one of her eyebrows with a hand that was holding a closely printed form.  "God, where is your car?"
"Across the road," I said.
"Of course it is." She shook her head.  "I am not telling your father I saw you here, Isabel.  Just, please, do not..."  She didn't define what I was supposed to avoid doing.   Instead, she threw my half-drunk bottle of juice in the trash can by the door, and turned the light out again.  Her shoes receded down the hallway and then there was the popping of the outside door opening and closing.  The clunk of the dead bolt.
In the darkness, Cole was invisible, but I could still feel him beside me.  Sometimes you didn't have to see something to know it was there.
I felt a tickle on my skin; it took me a moment to realize that Cole was driving his die-cast Mustang up my arm.  He was laughing to himself, hushed and infectious, as if there was still any reason to be quiet.

Well and obviously Cole and Isabel.

You know when in the final scenes of Harry Potter, while reading you wanted to simultaneously sob, jump up and down and cheer, laugh and then sob some more?  Well Forever was a quieter version of that for me.  Honestly, such a clean lined and perfect tie up to the series. 100% satisfaction, right down to the last word.  I loved how open ended it was in so many ways, all the possibilities stretching out in front of the characters.  But I also loved the drama, the moments of selflessness and the reveals, oh yes, the reveals.

I CANNOT recommend this series highly enough.  I can almost bemoan the fact that I didn't read it sooner (hell I could have talked to Maggie about it and gotten it signed! Sigh); however it was such an amazing thing to sit down with the whole box set in the post Christmas cold, with a fire in the fire place and just get swept away that my regrets are small.  Mostly signature tiny.

Go forth and read this series! Go forth and re-read this series!  Then go forth and read The Scorpio Races!  I'm telling you, if you listen to one recommendation I make this grand year of 2012, listen to that one (Oh and the one for Fracture, Fracture makes an oddly compelling companion to the Shiver series.  And they're all 5 of them cold weather books.  And maybe read them to Snow Patrols new album, I think Maggie would agree).

Forever, By Maggie Stiefvater
Published by Scholastic, July 12th 2011
Buy Forever on Amazon
Buy the even prettier box set on Amazon

Linger, by Maggie Stiefvater- Review

Have I mentioned how pretty these books are?  As mentioned the other day, the hubby bought me the lovely hardcovered box set, and this is one of those series that are well worth the set.  Both in content and because the hardcovers are so so pretty. 

It's the first time I've seen a series that has gone for a colour theme.  Shiver is pale blue (for winter) on the jacket, white, with a leaf imprinted into the actual cover with a pale blue binding on the actual book, and with parts of pale blue print inside.  Linger is green, for spring, with again, a white hardcover with green binding and a leaf imprinted on the cover and the entire book is printed in forest green!  I can't tell you how exciting that was when I opened it up and realized it.  Forever is red, with the same themed red binding and white cover with a leaf and entirely printed in blood red!  Those Scholastic folks make some styling books.

Stop rolling your eyes at me, I'm getting to the story, I loved it even more than the green print- I promise. 

Although I was already excited about the green print, imagine how much more excited I was when I opened Linger and realized that like George R.R. Martin, Stiefvater was expanding her viewpoints.  Isabel and new character Cole St. Clair are added to Grace and Sam.  What an awesome way to expand this story, so refreshing from traditional love story trilogies.  And can I just say? Isabelle made Linger for me.  I totally fell in love with her once I got to read her perspective.

As more secrets are revealed about the pack, Beck, Sam and Grace, the mysteries deepen to some extent, as well as the trouble surrounding them all.  But what impressed me the most was how Stiefvater took this star crossed love story and made it about more than just the lovers.  As linger delves into Graces issues with her parents, Sam's relationship with Beck, and Isabel's issues with pretty much everyone, it becomes a story about characters instead of a love story or a werewolf story.  I don't think I've ever read a paranormal story, let alone a love story that didn't use the paranormal or the love story as the primary drive for narrative.  What a refreshing angle to have the paranormal and the love stories just side stories of character driven narrative.

An amazing part two to a solid series, Linger has a killer cliff hanger so make sure you have Forever on hand (and be very thankful you didn't have to wait for it like all the unlucky early readers).

Linger, by Maggie Stiefvater
Published by Scholastic, July 13th 2010
Buy Linger on Amazon
Buy the box set on Amazon
Check out the Wolves of Mercy Falls microsite

Shiver, by Maggie Stiefvater- Review

I was a long time hold out on this series because I wasn't sold on the idea of reading a three part werewolf series. 
Silly me, I thought I wasn't into werewolves.

Two things changed my mind.  First off I saw Maggie at the Scholastic store in New York chatting with Libba Bray and Meg Cabot (at the time of Forever's release).  Both the hubby and I were impressed and amused by her, and goddamn if she didn't make werewolves and wolves in general sound interesting!  Secondly Scholastic sent me The Scorpio Races.  I'm not sure if there is enough rhapsodizing in the world to explain how much I loved The Scorpio Races, but I sure tried.  By the time I put down The Scorpio Races I was ready to dig in to everything else she had written, so I was incredibly excited to get a spiffy box set of the finished Shiver series for Christmas from the hubby.

I was immediately smitten.  Shiver has all the early promise of the style that defines The Scorpio Races for me.  The weather and the town are so intrinsic to the story, and so well portrayed that they have a depth of an actual character.  I mean I was cold while I was reading.  Granted there was a crazy temperature drop the day before I started it, but as the temperature went up outside I stayed in, cuddled in blankets, drinking tea and thinking snowy thoughts, while riveted to the books.

I would be lying though if I didn't say Grace and Sam made the first book for me.  Their entwined past and ever so complicated unfurling present had me fascinated.  I loved how Stiefvater layered their relationship so that although as humans they are relative unknowns to each other they have a lot more to their relationship then the old love at first sight shtick.  These kids go way back folks. Although Grace knows Sam mostly as a wolf, and he knows her mostly as a girl, Grace has an unusual awareness of the pack that make them more similar then you'd expect, and it's these nuances that made them unusual and intriguing.

As in The Scorpio Races, Shiver alternates between Grace and Sam's perspective, which also gives a great depth to the story.  It would be much less revelatory if it was just Grace's perspective.  By seeing it from both of their eyes there is much more to discover about the werewolves.

Romance, mystery and well thought out teens with relationships, dialogue and personalities I not only bought but loved, Shiver is a series that you should be reading.  That is if you're one of the 5 people left out there who hasn't already.

Shiver, by Maggie Stiefvater
Published by Scholastic, August 2009
Buy Shiver on Amazon
Buy the even prettier box set on Amazon
Check out the first two chapters on the Wolves of Mercy Falls microsite

Saturday Link Salad

Well it's the fault of The Fault in our Stars that today is Sunday Link Salad instead of yesterday, but likewise it could be said to be Twitters fault for pointing me to The Fault in our Stars as THE book for me to not miss last Tuesday.  However, I am here with much news for you!  So pull up a comfy chair and dig in.

-Loads of covers revealed this week!  First up was the cover for Rick Riordan's final part to the Kane Chronicles, another awesome John Rocco cover.  Rick also announced the release of a book of short stories based in Percy Jackson's world, including one from his son Haley.  Disney also announced that The Serpent's Shadow would have a 2 million copy first print run.  Can't wait for the May release date?  Then stop by the Kane Chronicles website for a preview of the first chapter.

-Jonathan Maberry's next Rot and Ruin book- Flesh and Bone had it's cover reveal on Facebook this week as well.  I love how those three covers are going to look together!

-Barry Lyga's I Hunt Killers has also had a cover reveal, including glowing blurbs along the back from Holly Black, Cassandra Clare, Joe Hill and Libba Bray.  More importantly I think he's amazing, and you should always trust me about these things- you want this book when it releases in April.

- Blogger turned author Shannon Messenger also revealed her cover for her debut middle school book Keeper of the Lost Cities this week. It reminds me of the covers for the Gideon Trilogy, which were great.

- During Christmas I continued falling in love with Maggie Steifvaters writing through the Shiver trilogy.  Seriously, she's definitely one of my top 5 authors these days.  Anywho, there were two great Maggie interweb things this week.  First up she posted a blog entitled the Dissection of Revisions, showing a chapter from The Scorpio Races and how it looked before and after revisions.  Super interesting.  Also Scholastic announced that she'll be hosting a live chat with her on Facebook on Wednesday!

-Remember awhile back when I was pointing you to the announcement of the Espresso Book machines?  Well this week HarperCollins launched a backlist/POD program available at all the store who have started using the Espresso Book Machine.  There are currently 9 stores in the US who'll have the machine and will now be able to print you you're own fresh copy of their backlist books!  This may be one of the coolest innovations for bookstores in quite some time, I can't wait to see how it'll work out.

-Speaking of bookstores, a small indie in my very own T.O. has made huge waves across the interwebs with its delightful Joy of Books video.  I cringe to think how long it took the owners to do this, but it's obviously well worth the effort.  Plus, Type- the store in question, is a very sweet bookstore, I highly recommend it.

-If you're a fan of Lev Grossman's The Magician's and The Magician King, then he has good news for you.  He has the scripts for the T.V. show and he's thrilled.  I saw him speaking at the IFOA in the fall and at the time he was saying he had no idea what they were going to do with it, so it's good to hear it's going in a promising direction.

-Ok, and it would not be a Link Salad if I didn't have a handful of Cassandra Clare tidbits for you!

      -Most exciting was  The Greenhouse scene from Jace's POV!  Yes, the tourney was won and within just a couple of days she had this lovely scene written for her fans.  Obviously she loves us.

      -She talks about the Dark Artifices series, the potential next books.

      -She posted an unidentified snippet.

      -She talks about Jessamine.

      -She talks about the Will/Tessa/Jem thing again.

      -One more lovely little unidentified snippet

Are your fingers and eyes aching yet? Then I've done my job.  Sunday on!

Feline Friday for bedtime

So it's technically not really Friday anymore.  But I just remembered it was Friday, so I thought I'd leave you with some sleepy time kitties.  

This is tandem sleeping, the boys practice it often.  They would lobby to make it an Olympic sport but they're obviously too tired.

Now off to bed so you can practice your Olympic sleeping too.

Legend, by Marie Lu- Review

In the past year I've been on a bit of a dystopian kick. Unfortunately, when you start off with an amazing series as your intro to a genre it becomes hard for the slew of books after to compare. So, what I'm saying is, it probably wasn't the best bet to start with The Hunger Games. I guess I shouldn't have been surprised, but although there was a large showing of dystopian YA and middle school books at the BEA, I was largely disappointed by the ones I took home with me (Eleventh Plague, Crossed, Shatter Me, Eve). Thank god I picked up Legend too.

From Goodreads:
What was once the western United States is now home to the Republic, a nation perpetually at war with its neighbors. Born into an elite family in one of the Republic's wealthiest districts, fifteen-year-old June is a prodigy being groomed for success in the Republic's highest military circles. Born into the slums, fifteen-year-old Day is the country's most wanted criminal. But his motives may not be as malicious as they seem.

From very different worlds, June and Day have no reason to cross paths - until the day June's brother, Metias, is murdered and Day becomes the prime suspect. Caught in the ultimate game of cat and mouse, Day is in a race for his family's survival, while June seeks to avenge Metias' death. But in a shocking turn of events, the two uncover the truth of what has really brought them together, and the sinister lengths their country will go to keep its secrets.

Like Divergent, Legend went back to the world building so lacking in many of the other dystopians out there right now. One of the reasons I think The Hunger Games is so effective is not just because it's brutal, but also because Suzanne Collins built a world that although there is a lot you never learn about it, has a structure and order that dictates how things will roll out. It also gives the reader and the characters things to fear and to fight against that feel monumental. To roam in the middle of nowhere, unencumbered by government, of some kind, or military makes books like Eleventh Plague seem more like quest stories than dystopian.

Wikipedia, that great source of not-reliable or necessarily accurate info says this about dystopia:
A dystopia (from Ancient Greek: δυσ-, "bad, hard",[1] and Ancient Greek: τόπος, "place, landscape";[2] alternatively cacotopia,[3][4] or anti-utopia) is the idea of a society in a repressive and controlled state, often under the guise of being utopian, as characterized in books like Brave New World and Nineteen Eighty-Four. Dystopian societies feature different kinds of repressive social control systems, various forms of active and passive coercion. Ideas and works about dystopian societies often explore the concept of humans abusing technology and humans individually and collectively coping, or not being able to properly cope with technology that has progressed far more rapidly than humanity's spiritual evolution. Dystopian societies are often imagined as police states, with unlimited power over the citizens.

Julie Kagawa recently posted about the difference between post-apocalyptic and dystopian stories and she has some interesting points about the two and how they're often confused. But all put together I think it paints the elements that form a really solid dystopia. A society (no matter the size really), strict rules, and some kind of regime (religious/military/government), throw in one screwed up world (generally somehow post-apocalyptic) and one character who just can't conform, equals potential for some great story telling.

Legend does this all very well, Marie Lu has constructed a strong world with lots of hints at mysteries to still be unveiled, and a handful of characters with staying power. There's a love story (dude, when isn't there?) but it doesn't overwhelm Day or June's development or the development of the story. Much has been said about Marie Lu's writing style and the book in general, and a lot of it has been gushing. I must admit that although I really enjoyed the book and think it's one of the better dystopians I've read in awhile I wasn't fainting away over how spectacular it was. And I was surprised by that since a lot of the hype was coming from sources I can generally rely on. Maybe I was just expecting to much?

I have to say the one thing that bothered me was the whole beauty thing. I know I've said it before, and I can't help but say it again- does every YA character have to be some stupendous beauty??! It's brought up several times how good looking June is,

A cracked thought hits me and I want to laugh.  If she had not led to the death of my mother and my capture, if I did not wish she were dead, I would find her absolutely breathtaking.

I can't tell what she is, which isn't unusual around here- Native, maybe or Caucasian.  Or something.  She's pretty in a way that distracts me just like she did in the Skiz ring.  No pretty's not the right word. Beautiful. 

I just feel like there can be something a bit more ingenious done with the whole looks thing. Like maybe she could be so good looking it's a problem? Like in Kristin Cashore's Fire? Or you know, she could just be average. Weird, I know, but aren't most of us after all? Wasn't Katniss?  Or maybe June could be a super star and not beautiful to boot, as in the fact that she's amazing is more important than her looks. Maybe it just rubbed my personal story trope issues the wrong way.

Altogether Legend was a solid and enjoyable dystopian read. If you're sick of all the lack luster ones out there let Marie Lu transport you out of the dystopian funk.

Legend, Marie Lu
Published by Putnam Juvenile, November 2011
Buy Legend on Amazon

Plugged, by Eoin Colfer- Review

One of the major highlights at the BEA for me was meeting Eoin Colfer.  I LOVE the Artemis Fowl books, and couldn't wait to meet the witty Irish author.  Of course I got totally tongue tied and made a bit of a goob of myself so thankfully the hubby swept in and saved the day.  The good news was despite making a bit of starstruck fool of myself I still came away with a signed copy of his latest book Plugged.

The hubby got around to reading it before me and loved it, but I didn't get manage to start reading it until the end of August when I flew home for the last week of my grandmas life.  Not really ideal circumstances for reading.  Yes it's good in that you need a solid escape, but bad in that it really has to be a certain kind of escape and Plugged was just a bit two down and dirty for distracting me from long days in the hospital and then funeral planning.  So let me just preface the review by saying I greatly enjoyed Plugged, but under regular reading circumstances I think I would have LOVED it, so I'm definitely going to give it a second read later on.

Daniel McEvoy is ex-Irish army peacekeeping corps, bouncer in a scuzzy club, and riddled with issues about his receding hairline and recent hair implants; not your usual James Bond type.  Dealing with the clubs less than charming clientele, a crazy neighbor, and fussing over his plugs are keeping him sufficiently busy, until his buddy Zeb disappears leaving a trail of mob issues in his wake.  With friends disappearing or turning up dead all over the place it looks like it’s time for Daniel to dig out the guns he’s hidden in the walls of his apartment and come to the rescue.

With Plugged, Eoin Colfer proved he can be as funny with adult material as he is with his middle-school books.  The byline to this book is “If you loved Artemis Fowl…It’s time to grow up”, which perfectly describes Plugged, a book that could easily be Artemis’s seedy, much older, dark comedy cousin.  It hints at just how wonderfully versatile Eoin Colfer can be, that he can write such opposite books but keep his trade mark intelligent wit.

Besides the excellent noir humor, the book excels in twisting plot lines.  The string of trouble Daniel is either getting into, or getting out of, left me scratching my head right up until the big reveal at the end.  I could easily see this turning into a series of the misadventures of Daniel McEvoy so hopefully there's more down the road.

A read I would definitely categorize with favourites such as a The Gun Seller by Hugh Laurie, and Once A Spy by Keith Thomson, Plugged would make an awesome gift for the manly readers in your household.  I hear Valentines is a good day for bookish gifts.

Plugged, by Eoin Colfer
Published by Overlook Press (Penguin in Canada), September 2011
Buy Plugged on Amazon

The Gathering Storm, by Robin Bridges- Giveaway!

From Goodreads:
St. Petersburg, Russia, 1888. As she attends a whirl of glittering balls, royal debutante Katerina Alexandrovna, Duchess of Oldenburg, tries to hide a dark secret: she can raise the dead. No one knows. Not her family. Not the girls at her finishing school. Not the tsar or anyone in her aristocratic circle. Katerina considers her talent a curse, not a gift. But when she uses her special skill to protect a member of the Imperial Family, she finds herself caught in a web of intrigue.



An evil presence is growing within Europe's royal bloodlines—and those aligned with the darkness threaten to topple the tsar. Suddenly Katerina's strength as a necromancer attracts attention from unwelcome sources . . . including two young men—George Alexandrovich, the tsar's standoffish middle son, who needs Katerina's help to safeguard Russia, even if he's repelled by her secret, and the dashing Prince Danilo, heir to the throne of Montenegro, to whom Katerina feels inexplicably drawn.


The time has come for Katerina to embrace her power, but which side will she choose—and to whom will she give her heart?

One of my many fascinations in history is the Russian Royal families.  Catherine the Great, The Romanov's, Peter the Great, Rasputin, Russia's history is full of intriguing characters.  So it should hardly be surprising that The Gathering Storm piqued my interest when I first heard about it several months ago.  Well in honor of it's release, and ongoing celebration of my Blogoversary I'm giving away one copy to a lucky Canadian winner.  Just fill in the form below by January 18th!

The Eleventh Plague, by Jeff Hirsch- Review

Another BEA find, The Eleventh Plague was interesting to me for two reasons. 1- author Jeff Hirsch was part of the Speed Dating with authors and gave an interesting blurb about the book and, 2- Suzanne Collins has a glowing quote on the cover. Throw in the fact it's a dystopian, and I was super excited about The Eleventh Plague. Sadly the hype raised my expectations to a level the story didn't meet.

From Goodreads:
Stephen Quinn, a quiet and dutiful fifteen-year-old scavenger, travels Post-Collapse America with his Dad and stern ex-Marine Grandfather. They travel light. They keep to themselves. Nothing ever changes. But when his Grandfather passes suddenly and Stephen and his Dad decide to risk it all to save the lives of two strangers, Stephen's life is turned upside down. With his father terribly injured, Stephen is left alone to make his own choices for the first time.

Stephen’s choices lead him to Settler's Landing, a lost slice of the Pre-Collapse world where he encounters a seemingly benign world of barbecues, baseball games and days spent in a one-room schoolhouse. Distrustful of such tranquility, Stephen quickly falls in with Jenny Tan, the beautiful town outcast. As his relationship with Jenny grows it brings him into violent conflict with the leaders of Settler's Landing who are determined to remake the world they grew up in, no matter what the cost.

I had two main problems with The Eleventh Plague. The first was Stephen's grandfather. We never meet him; page one of the story starts with burying him. After that all we get are snapshot memories of him, even though he was such a powerful figure in both Stephen and his fathers lives he is the cause of all their choices; either because they feel they should stick to his rules or because they want to break the rules at long last. So despite the fact Hirsch is constantly emphasizing how influential and essentially borderline abusive he is, you never feel the fear/control/power he has over Stephen's life choices, I just felt I was endlessly being told I should feel it instead of being made to feel it.

Secondly Jenny. I don't know where to start with Jenny's angst and rebellion. Hirsch essentially tells the reader it is because she's Asian (which is very briefly given the explanation that they are the enemy of the USA and the instigators of the collapse) and thus an automatic outsider although she was adopted and raised by Violet and Marcus from infancy. However there's this whole sub-story line about how restless she is and so maybe it's because she just can't stand being in this small town when there's a world full of adventure (???) out there in the wastelands. One way or another I was never clear on why Jenny was so hateful or why Stephen was so smitten with her and felt so similar to her. After all, he isn't Asian, and has no desire to adventure around the god awful mess of a world he's been forced to roam all these years. His first hand knowledge of how shitty it is seems like it would put Jenny off, but he never shares it which makes for further weirdness.

In the end this story just seemed to have breezed over all the important world and character building in order to get to the story of this town and its issues, which seems to skip over the entire point of a dystopian story to me. And although there were the requisite points made about how shitty humanity is, and why can't we just get along already, I feel it could have been fed to me in a much more enjoyable/story like manner. You know, like Hunger Games.

Sigh, it would seem there are more disappointing dystopians out there then enjoyable ones these days, that damn Hunger Games has given me unreasonable expectations of how good they can be! But I will keep searching, perhaps the much lauded Legend will revive things for me.

The Eleventh Plague, by Jeff Hirsch
Published by Scholastic Books, September 2011
Buy The Eleventh Plague on Amazon