Book Review: Sabriel by Garth Nix

The Old Kingdom #1

Published by: Allen & Unwin
Pages: 311
Rating: 5/5

For many years Sabriel has lived outside the walls of the Old Kingdom, away from the random power of Free Magic, and away from the Dead who won't stay dead. But now her father, the Charter-Mage Abhorsen, is missing, and to find him Sabriel must cross back into that world.

Though her journey begins alone, she soon finds companions: Mogget, whose seemingly harmless feline form hides a powerful—and perhaps malevolent—spirit, and Touchstone, a Charter-Mage long imprisoned by magic, now free in body but still trapped by painful memories.

With threats on all sides and only each other to trust, the three of them must travel deep into the Old Kingdom, toward a battle that will pit them against the true forces of life and death—and bring Sabriel face-to-face with her own hidden destiny.

I've lost track of how many times I have read this book. I loved it the first time I read it and I loved it this time. There is just something about the world Nix created that keeps drawing me back into it.

Sabriel is a wonderful piece of world building. From the technolgy using, magic-free Ancelstierre to the magic-wielding mages of the Old Kingdom, Nix thought through every part of his creation. What I did really enjoy is his take on magic. The charter system is quite interesting and is not something I have seen before. In particular, the distiction between the Abhorsen and other necromancers, and charcter magic and free magic was well done, as was the idea that magic could become corrupted.

Nix did a great job with the characters, allowing them to develop throughout their journey. Sabriel in particular starts off very young and naive but as the plot contuniues she grows into someone that is determined and brave. Yeah, she makes some silly mistakes that make you wonder what she was thinking but in the end she knows what she has to do and is willing to do what it takes to do it.

Touchstone is the love interest. He's kinda boring to begin with, although it is not without reason but he like Sabriel is willing to do what it takes to fix things. What I like about him is that he isn't the typical love interst that is saturating the YA world. He's not drop dead gorgeous, he's more ashamed of his past rather than tortured by it, he doesn't try to hide it and best of all there's no insta-love. In fact he barley talks to Sabriel when they first meet. He develops gradually and by the end of the book you can see the person he used to be and the person he's going to be in the future. And it's this growth in character that slowly makes Sabriel fall for him.

The two main characters aside, the secondary characters are well fleshed out and feel real. Mogget would have to be my favourite character out of all of them, he's just plain awesome.

Sabriel is a well written, entertaining read and I highly recommend it.

Now to re-read Lirael and Abhorsen  to get ready for the release of Clariel next year.

I'll leave you with one of the most poignant quotes from this book, it has stuck with me ever since I first read it.

"Does the walker choose the path, or the path the walker?" p41

ARC Book Review: Fall of Night by Rachel Caine

Morganville Vampires #14

Published by: Razorbill
Pages: 350
Rating: 4/5

Thanks to its unique combination of human and vampire residents, Morganville, Texas, is a small college town with big-time problems. When student Claire Danvers gets the chance to experience life on the outside, she takes it. But Morganville isn’t the only town with vampire trouble...

Claire never thought she’d leave Morganville, but when she gets accepted into the graduate program at MIT, she can’t pass up the opportunity. Saying good-bye to her friends is bittersweet, especially since things are still raw and unsettled between Claire and her boyfriend, Shane.

Her new life at MIT is scary and exciting, but Morganville is never really far from Claire’s mind. Enrolled in a special advanced study program with Professor Irene Anderson, a former Morganville native, Claire is able to work on her machine, which is designed to cancel the mental abilities of vampires.

But when she begins testing her machine on live subjects, things quickly spiral out of control, and Claire starts to wonder whether leaving Morganville was the last mistake she’ll ever make...

*ARC provided by Penguin Australia via NetGalley

I must say I have the greatest respect for Caine, for her to be writing the amount of books a year she has been doing recently while still maintaining the quality of writing that she has is inspiring. Not only that but here we are at book 14 of this series and she is still able to surprise me.

This book pretty much takes place entirely outside of Morganville without most of the usual cast of characters fans of this series have grown to love. I admit I was a bit dubious about this, after all the characters are such a large part in what makes this series a great read. But I am glad to say that it didn't suffer for it. Yes, Liz was really annoying and stupid but Jesse and Pete were awesome additions to the cast. I did miss Eve, Michael and Myrnin for a bit but I devoured the book so quickly that before I knew it they were back in the story with a newly exiled Oliver.

If  you thought it all went to hell in Black Dawn then prepare for it to get worse. Once more it appears Caine has written herself into a corner because I can't see a way that the story will end well in Daylighters after the events of this book. That being said, I'm not worried. Caine has never let me down and always seems to surprise me. And boy, did that happen in this book. I was so unprepared for that ending and Claire's choices totally put me off balance. There is very little in this book that is predictable.

Fall of Night is a fun ride and one I recommend to read. While I will be disappointed to come to the end of the last book I cannot wait to get my hands on Daylighters towards the end of the year!

Book Review: Clockwork Princess by Cassandra Clare



The Infernal Devices #3

Published by: Walker Books Ltd
Pages: 568
Rating: 5/5

Tessa Gray should be happy - aren't all brides happy?
Yet as she prepares for her wedding, a net of shadows begins to tighten around the Shadowhunters of the London Institute.
A new demon appears, one linked by blood and secrecy to Mortmain, the man who plans to use his army of pitiless automatons, the Infernal Devices, to destroy the Shadowhunters. Mortmain needs only one last item to complete his plan. He needs Tessa. And Jem and Will, the boys who lay equal claim to Tessa's heart, will do anything to save her.
This book was a stunningly beautiful end to the trilogy. From the beginning it was an emotional roller coaster and all the characters were put to the test, placed in positions where they had to make decisions for better or for worse.

Much of the plot was centred around the relationships of the characters. For me this was not to the books' detriment as from the first page of Clockwork Angel it was clear that it was these relationships that made up the heart and soul of the story, and gave it reason to exist rather than Mortmain and his army of automatons. To see how these relationships have developed was truly a wonderful experience and one that lovers of Cassandra Clare's work will immensely enjoy.

The plot arcs were finished well and in many cases I was surprised with how things turned out. The ending of the first part of the book was a wonderful surprise and I loved the character dimension this brought throughout the rest of the tale. The end of the Mortmain arc I didn't see coming but loved how Clare brought everything together and showed us what had been in front of our eyes the whole time. There was one part of the book that set off my suspicion radar and I'm glad that I was right, enough said about that.

I know a lot of people will say the ending was a bit of a cop-out and it was, but by the end of the book I didn't care. I had felt so much for these characters that I couldn't help but be overjoyed and sad all at once for the characters in the epilogue. Those last few pages had such an impact that I'm still reeling from it and extremely curious about what will happen in City of Heavenly Fire to allow this ending to occur.

Book Review: Firelight by Sophie Jordan

Firelight #1

Published By: HarperTeen
Pages: 323
Rating: 1.5/5

A hidden truth. Mortal enemies. Doomed love.

With her rare ability to breathe fire, Jacinda is special even among the draki--the descendants of dragons who can shift between human and dragon forms. But when Jacinda's rebelliousness forces her family to flee into the human world, she struggles to adapt, even as her draki spirit fades. The one thing that revives it is the gorgeous, elusive Will, whose family hunts her kind. Jacinda can't resist getting closer to him, even though she knows she's risking not only her life but the draki's most closely guarded secret.

Mythical powers and breathtaking romance ignite in this story of a girl who defies all expectations and whose love crosses an ancient divide.

Looking at the premise this book it comes across as being a potentially good read. I mean it contains dragons and who doesn't love dragons! But more than that the draki (dragonesque people) take centre stange, a mythology that I haven't yet read in a book. So it should've a breath of fresh air among the vampires, angels and mermainds. Unfortunately, rather than play to this point I felt that the mythology was a bit of tack-on. Don't get me wrong the mythology is actually very well thought out and detailed, you could really believe that there are communities of draki hidden among us but what got to me was it wasn't the focus of the book. For the most part it was a bad rewrite of a Romeo & Juliet story.

The main girl, Jacinda, is a draki but not just any draki she is the first fire-breather in hundreds of years and is slated to marry the pride (draki community) prince, Cassian, and make lots of fire breathing babies. One day she decides to go flying during the day, a big no-no in the pride as you know humans might see her. And of course she is seen but by the worst type of human in a draki's eye, hunters, people who find, trap and kill her kind for money. But just when she thinks she's a goner, the hunter who finds her decides to let her live and leads the others away. Can you see where this is going? Now in big toruble with the pride her mother decides to pack her and her sister up and leave the pride for good, taking her to a small dessert town near Las Vegas in the hope that the dry, hot conditions will kill her draki. Enrolled in the high school in the town who does she come across, the hunter that saved her, Will. Boy meets girl insta-love occurs, boredom kicks in and bye bye much of the draki storyline.

Jacinda is one of the most annoying female characters I have ever read. Seriously, she is a selfish whiny biatch. All she ever thinks about is herself and how much she hates her mum and sisterr for dragging her there and trying to kill her draki. How dare they?! But lets not forget that she doesn't tell them the town in swaming with a family of hunters, that she's in love with one, and oh Cassian has found their hiding spot and wants her to return to the pride with him. You know, no biggie at all, it's not like there's any chance of you being killed....oh wait. Other than being completely whiny and selfish, she also can't make up her damn mind. I love Will and I want to be with him but I can't because he's a hunter but oh well I'm going to make out with him anyway and secretly meet up with him. I hate the pride, my lack of freedom there and I want to get away from it but I want to be there again becuase that's where I belong. I hate my mum and sister for bringing me here but I can't hate them because they like it and finally fit in. Seriously girl, make up you god damn mind becuase at this point I want to slap you over the head and tell you to get your shit together.

Will is boring and quite frankly a bit stalkerish. I cared nothing for him and didn't think he had any chemistry with Jacinda what-so-ever. Really there's not much else to say. Oh he's kinda dumb becuase he's meant to have a spidey-sense for draki but can't tell Jacinda is one when she's sitting right next to him...must be the "chemistry" between them or it could be bad chicken, my bet is on the chicken though and that's the reason he's instanly fallen in love with her without knowing a damn thing about her. Ditto to you to Jacinda.

Really, the only saving grace was Cassian. He was kinda cool and much more interesting than Will.

Novella Review: Double Crossed by Ally Carter

A Spies and Thieves Story

Published by: Disney Hyperion
Rating: 4/5

Copy provided by NetGalley

Macey McHenry—Glamorous society girl or spy-in-training?

W.W. Hale V—Heir to an American dynasty or master thief?

There are two sides to every coin. Whether these two can work together is a tossup.

Born into privilege, Macey and Hale are experts at mingling with the upper class. But even if they’ve never raised an eyebrow at the glitz, neither teenager has ever felt at home with the glamour.

When Macey and Hale meet at a society gala, the party takes a dangerous turn. Suddenly they’re at the center of a hostage situation, and it’s up to them to stop the thugs from becoming hostile. Will Macey’s spy skills and Hale’s con-man ways be enough to outsmart a ruthless gang? Or will they have to seek out the ultimate inside girl to help?

The worlds of Heist Society and the Gallagher Girls collide in Ally Carter’s fast-paced, high-stakes and tantalizing new story. Get a behind the scenes glimpse as Ally delivers an irresistible thriller that is full of her signature style and savvy twists.

This was fun. This novella is pure fangasm for readers of Carter's Gallagher Girls and Heist Society series. It combines the essence of both series flawlessly and by the end of it there is no doubt that these two series make up parts of one world.

I loved the interaction between Macey and Hale especially as they were trying to work each other out while trying to stop the bad guys. There was also that moment at the start when Macy tried to flirt with Hale, definitely a squee moment for Kat/Hale shippers.

I also liked how we got to see some of the other characters from each series, especially Kat. Her role in the novella really showcased her character without taking it away from the main characters. I also thought how her night ended was a really nice touch. And I definitely have to agree with Macey, Kat and Cammie need to meet at some point, I think it would be epic.

This novella really worked and was a clever move of Carter's part as those who may have read one series but not the other are given enough juicy content to entice them to go straight to the book store and buy the other books.

Book Review: Carnival of Souls by Melissa Marr

Carnival of Souls #1

Published by: HarperCollins
Rating: 3/5

In a city of daimons, rigid class lines separate the powerful from the power-hungry. And at the heart of The City is the Carnival of Souls, where both murder and pleasure are offered up for sale. Once in a generation, the carnival hosts a deadly competition that allows every daimon a chance to join the ruling elite. Without the competition, Aya and Kaleb would both face bleak futures--if for different reasons. For each of them, fighting to the death is the only way to try to live.

All Mallory knows of The City is that her father--and every other witch there--fled it for a life in exile in the human world. Instead of a typical teenage life full of friends and maybe even a little romance, Mallory scans quiet streets for threats, hides herself away, and trains to be lethal. She knows it's only a matter of time until a daimon finds her and her father, so she readies herself for the inevitable. While Mallory possesses little knowledge of The City, every inhabitant of The City knows of her. There are plans for Mallory, and soon she, too, will be drawn into the decadence and danger that is the Carnival of Souls.

This book was like walking into the supermarket and buying your favourite flavour of Pringles - for me, Sour Cream and Onion - only to get home and open it to find that it's half full; it's disappointing but at the same time you still get to experience half the deliciousness. And that's exactly how I felt reading this book, the blurb promised so much awesomeness but once I opened it and start reading I found it just didn't quite hit all the marks.

The world-building: I love it when an author gets world-building right because it makes a book all kinds of awesome. Unfortunately, Marr didn't quite always get it right. The concept was really interesting and well thought out but there were a lot of things I felt I just didn't get. I think the main issue was there was a lot of telling and what was being told was pitted with holes. How does the world of The City connect with our world? What exactly are the daimons? Werewolves? Shifters? Something completely different? What are the Watchers? And what on earth do the blue masks do? Seriously, did I miss that because I understand red and black? Just to name a few. That being said the parts that made sense were amazing, the world of the The City is so rich and colourful and I was left wanting to know more and understand how it works better. There was only one other gripe I had and that was the use of the word breeder. I got that it was part of the world building as daimons are canines, and as such the language that builds their hierarchy and their lives reflects this but I couldn't help but feel offended about how it was used at times. It connotes a patriarchal society where women are viewed as lesser beings then men and are there to look after the house and have babies. Now don't get me wrong I'm not die-hard feminist but breeders is just an awful term especially when there weren't any female characters who were rising above the system (I'm not counting Aya because nowhere does it state that that is one of the issues she wants to change).

The characters: I can't say I became too attached to the main characters. Mallory was almost non-existent, and when she did feature I was unsure who she was. On the one hand I was being told she was a good fighter and on the other I was being shown that she had no clue what was going on or what to do. In one fight scene she bumbled around and had no clue what she was meant to be doing, which is not the mark of someone taught to fight. I also didn't really connect with Kaleb and Aya. The thing is they were well written and fleshed out. Kaleb was far more than a fighter and an assassin, and Aya was, well, she was pretty much just a women seeking power in the naive hope she could change the world by herself. The one character that I loved and I hope will be featured more in the next book is Zevi. He was one of those lovable characters who have so much strength and courage.

So this is my half full pack of Pringles, left with the feeling of being cheated something truly special. I do look forward to reading the next in this series and hope that it leaves me feeling more satisfied than this did.

Book Review: The Casual Vacancy by J.K. Rowling

Published By: Little, Brown a& Co.
Rating: 3.5

A BIG NOVEL ABOUT A SMALL TOWN ...

When Barry Fairbrother dies in his early forties, the town of Pagford is left in shock.

Pagford is, seemingly, an English idyll, with a cobbled market square and an ancient abbey, but what lies behind the pretty façade is a town at war.

Rich at war with poor, teenagers at war with their parents, wives at war with their husbands, teachers at war with their pupils ... Pagford is not what it first seems.

And the empty seat left by Barry on the parish council soon becomes the catalyst for the biggest war the town has yet seen. Who will triumph in an election fraught with passion, duplicity and unexpected revelations?

Social commentary; the act of using  rhetorical means to provide commentary on issues in a society.

I'm going to put it out there that like most others, if not everyone, I read this because it was written by Rowling. For me if I like a book or series an auhtor has written, chances are I am going to pick up their other published work, so despite not being a fan of delving into the genre of social commentary I gave it a go. Therefore, I went in having no disallusions; this was not going to be Harry Potter, I was going to take a while to read it, and I probably wasn't going to like it all that much. Much to my surprise I only got one out of three right - this was no Harry Potter.

This book takes a snapshot of the lives of various people living in a small English town called Pagford. Not everyone is easily placed as good or bad, and life isn't all rainbows and butterflies. This is where I most enjoyed the story and where a lot of people will hate it. It is about "real" people, in a "real" situation, teenagers swear and have sex, people take drugs, relationships falter, people are abused and raped, bullying occurs, there are clear societal divides, death, and politics get nasty. Welcome to the real world people minus witches, wizards, and the good guys coming out on top.

The writing is in the same simplistic style of Harry Potter. It is a style that works for this book making it fairly easy to read, and I feel it would translate well into other genres of adult novel. The only issue I had was at times it felt a bit choppy and didn't flow as well as what it could have.  I also found that it took me the first 100 or so pages to be able to place who was who and where they fit into the story. This made it difficult to really enjoy the story to begin with but is a hazard when alternating chapter perspectives from a wide variety of charcaters. In the end it was worth it as viewing characetrs through different eyes really added depth, and seeing how everything fitted in and came together was a pleasure to read. The characters were well-written ensuring that I loved them, hated them and everything in between.I was to be made to laugh, cry and feel for them, and that is one of Rowling's strong points. She has the ability to write people with depth, no one is perfect, and that is what really comes out in this book.

Not everyone will like this book as it caters to a select readership and can be quite full-on at points. I do not recommend it for younger readers, however, some mature young adult readers may be able to handle it. If you're going in expecting Harry Potter don't even bother because you will be sorely disapponted. But, if this is you're genre or are intrigued to see what else one of the best known authors of our time has to offer, there is a good chance you will enjoy or appreciate this novel.