Review: Seraphina

Seraphina
By Rachel Hartman
Expected publication: July 10, 2012

4.5 out of 5 stars


Seraphina is a wonderful book that a great many people will start and not finish.

They will start it because the premise is interesting and unique: Ms. Hartman has created a medieval world where dragons can transform into human shape and co-exist, albeit precariously, with humans. The dragons find the humans interesting. The humans find the dragons, even in human-form, repulsive. At times, the interspecies struggles closely resemble mutual racial discrimination, allowing for some interesting parallels to be drawn to different periods in our own existence. But don't try to follow those parallels too closely because this is a book about dragons after all.

Despite the beautiful writing and the impressive world-building, people won't finish the book because it's hard to get into. The writing is lovely, but it's advanced, especially if this is being marketed as young adult. There are a lot of unfamiliar words and a lot of made-up words describing the various cultures and people who live in this world. There is a lot of information that is not immediately relevant. You my think, "This is interesting, but what's the point? Why do I need to know this?" People who love rich, intricate writing and descriptive world-building will be sufficiently satiated to continue reading. People who want some action or perceivable plot will struggle in the beginning. I was in the latter category, and almost did not finish the book. At about 150 pages I decided that it was too slow and not enough was happening. I tried to read something else. Tried. I could not focus on other books because, darn it, I was thinking about Seraphina. That's when I realized that while this was not a action-filled page turner, it was intriguing and captivating. I was rewarded because not too many pages later, the pace did pick up substantially, there was a lot more action, AND all of that information from the beginning WAS relevant and important.

I loved all of the characters in this book. Seraphina, our half-human, half-dragon is a reluctant heroine. She is humble, smart, witty, and a ballsy. The ballsy mainly stemmed from desperation rather than inherent bravery, which only made her some more likeable. The dragons and other secondary characters were also well-developed. There is romance, there is mystery, there is politics, there is humor; it had everything and was very enthralling.

Bottom-line: if you are not afraid of fantasy then this is definitely a book you should read.

Review: Insignia

Insignia
By S.J. Kincaid
Published July 10, 2012
4 out of 5 stars

Insignia initially reminded me a lot of Ender's Game. Highly skilled children with incredible talent are training to fight in virtual battles using VR simulations. The main difference is that in Insignia the war being fought is World War III,which is not between countries but global corporations that control all the wealth and resources. Also, the main character is older - 14 instead of 6 - when the story begins.

The fact that I read Ender's Game recently did a disservice to this book. It just reminded me so much of it, and that was such a great book that mostly what I thought while reading was, "This is not as good as Ender's Game." But, it certainly wasn't bad.

The story was very well thought out. Almost every time that I would have a thought such as "Why do they that?" It would be immediately answered. The only set back to that is that some people may find aspects of the book boring as some of this information was literally presented as "lessons" that a teacher was giving during school. It may not be the most glamorous way to present backstory, but I thought it was interesting enough that it did not really slow me down or irk me.

I thought the character development was excellent. First of all, the characters actually acted like smart children, which means they had both brilliant moments of clarity and ridiculous moments of typical, dumb teenager antics. The main character is not your typical perfect hero. He has some flaws. He's not 100% inspiring, but that really works for the story. The secondary characters were also fun and interesting.

For the young readers, I think this will appeal slightly more to boys than to girls, but a good read for anyone.

Review: Partials

Partials

By Dan Wells

Published: February 28, 2012

4 out of 5 stars

Partials is a post-apocalyptic, dystopian type of book, and you know what? It was pretty good. I must confess that I started Partials, put it down, and didn't pick it up again for weeks. That's usually not a good sign, but somehow when I picked it up again, I was really able to get into it.

It's not that the book has a slow start, it's that it almost has too fast of a start. Partials has a lot going on. Let me get you caught up, so that you'll be able to delve right into the story:

Humans created Partials-- cybornetic organisms designed to look and act (almost) identical to humans (think Battlestar Galactica, not Terminator). These Partials decided to rebel against the human race, taking over control (okay, now you can think Terminator). During the war, the Partials released a weaponized virus that killed off 99.99% of the human race, but the virus did not affect the Partials.

The few humans who survived the Partials, the virus, and the collapse of humanity banded together on Long Island and are pretty much ignored by the Partials as insignificant. But, the Partials are the survivors' biggest worry any more. It's been eleven years since the war with the Partials, and a baby is yet to born without succumbing to the virus within days. The politicians want to lower the age for mandatory conception to 16. They think it's a matter of statistics and that with enough babies, some will be bound to survive. However, not everyone agrees with this decision and a group of rebels called the Voice are lashing out.

If you thought there was no hope for humanity, would you just want to live out the rest of your days in peace or would you want to spend the rest of your days looking for a solution - even it meant that half the population would be perpetually pregnant? Kira, a sixteen year old medical intern, is not willing get pregnant year after year and just hope for change. When she learns that her best friend is pregnant, she is determined that the baby will survive. Kira has an idea about how to cure the virus, but to test it she has to put herself and the entire human race--all 40,000 of them--at risk. Is it worth it?

This book is not brilliant or amazing, but it was solidly good, fun and entertaining. This is definitely a plot-based book with a lot of action, but it delves into some socio-political themes as well.   

Review: Penelope - A novel of New Amsterdam

Penelope: A novel of New Amsterdam

By Jim McFarlane

March 13, 2012

5 out of 5 stars

This next review might be a little biased and that's because Penelope was written by my father! Those of you who know me will find the image of the woman on the cover to be a little familiar - yes that's me! The book is historical fiction, which is a little different that the type of book I usually review, but it's still a great read I promise!

My father got the motivation for this book from one of our great ancestors. Penelope lived to be over 100 years old and had over 500 living descendants by the time she died (so, it's quite possibly you're related to her too!). My father's research identified Penelope as one our first ancestors to come to America. Further research revealed that her story was quite unique, and that she almost never made it to America. She endured religious persecution, hurricanes off the cost of the new colonies, and Indian attacks - and that's before she even makes it to New Amsterdam. Using bits of real information that my father discovered  (birth records, marriage announcements, ship manifests, newspaper articles), and a few he made up, he created an adventure that describes the life Penelope might have had as she made her voyage to the New World.

Here's the blurb from the back of the book:
In 1640s Amsterdam, the richest city in Europe, near-penniless Penelope Kent dreams of voyaging to America to search for her merchant-father who disappeared on a secretive get-rich-quick scheme. To voyage requires a husband or guardian. Matthew, her betrothed, dreams of finding a new home in America for his congregation of English Separatists like the Pilgrims did a generation ago. But the elders of Matthew’s congregation accuse Penelope of immoral behavior that threatens to expel Penelope from the congregation, from Matthew’s life, and from her dream. She can't wait to escape Amsterdam but never imagines the dangers that await her in the New World. 


I urge you all to go out and buy a copy today from your favorite book seller: www.fiction-addiction.com.

Review: Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight

The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight

By Jennifer E. Smith

January 2, 2012

2.5 out of 5 stars

If I had to summarize my thoughts on this book in one word, it would be "meh." However, some people may not find that adequately descriptive enough, so I will elaborate. It's not that the book was bad, exactly...it was just utterly and completely ordinary.

I'll shall summarize the plot for you: A young girl is on her way to London to attend her estranged father's remarriage to a woman she has not met. Along the way, the girl meets a nice boy who she hits it off with. She then gets to London, attends the wedding, has one heart-felt talk with Dad and life is peachy again.

Most of the story takes place on a plane. It was about as interesting as it would be to sit on a plane and actually listen to two people you don't know talk to each other. It rates just above a baby crying and just below doing anything else.

I guess the book should get points for being realistic, and maybe that appeals to some people, but I really struggled to find anything of interest with the story. I did not particularly like the main character. She was self-absorbed and over-emotional, which, again, are realistic characteristics of a teenager, but not really something to aspire to. There is a scene where she cries and I honestly have no idea why she was crying. It was supposedly about "boy drama" but as far as I could tell she liked the boy and the boy liked her back. I failed to see the drama. Perhaps teenagers or parents of teenagers can better relate.

Getting away from the lack of story and delving into the writing: I particularly did not like that the story was written in the third person narrative. This had the effect of making the main character seem like she was talking about her self in third person. The author only delves into Hadley, the main character's, thoughts, so I saw no reason to use the third person narrative. First person would have worked much better.

This book was only 150 pages. Normally, I find this annoying because I'm a fast reader and I don't like paying for books that will take me less than 3 hours to read. Plus, I think it's hard to create engaging characters and an engaging story in so few pages. However, I might not have bothered to finish this one were it not so short.

Final thoughts: There was no "statistical probability" or "love at first sight" in this book. That stat thing is probably a plus for most people, although this stats major was a little disappointed.

Ultraviolet Review

Ultraviolet

R.J. Anderson

4 out of 5 stars

Gotta love the start to this book:

Once upon a time there was a girl who was special. 
This is not her story. Unless you count the part where I killed her. 


This is a really tough one to talk about without giving away any spoilers, but the basic premise is that sixteen year-old Alison, wakes up to find herself in a teen mental hospital. As the story unfolds, you get to decide if Alison really is mentally ill, or if there is a logical (or illogical) explanation for the events that occurred. The whole book has a neat "is it normal or paranormal?" feel to it throughout.


Alison has this condition where she can taste emotions, see numbers as colors, and experience other seemingly unrelated senses together - part of why people think she's crazy. Anderson's writing is very lovely and visual, which made it easy for me to really connect with the characters and their experiences. I definitely got caught up in the story. 

Another fun thing about this book is picking out the Canadianisms. One example, in particular, was an analogy that compared something to "the taste of maple syrup on the tongue." I found little things like that to be amusing and an added bonus.

Review: Grave Mercy

Grave Mercy

R.L. LaFevers
April 3, 2012

3.5 out of 5 stars.

I would categorize Grave Mercy as young adult historical fantasy -- along the lines of Graceling. This was a fun adventure that included some magical fantasy elements, assasins, political intrigue and romance. The book got off to a slow start for me, but then really took off, making it seem a lot shorter than its 500 plus pages.

Young Ismae was brutally abused by her father and sold to a husband who was no better. On her wedding night, she is rescued and secreted a way by a medicine woman and taken to a unique convent where she is trained as an assassin to serve as a "handmaiden of death."

I really enjoyed LaFever's writing. There were a number of clever and thought-provoking lines, great action sequences, and the novel had great pacing. However, there were aspects of the overall story that I found a little too one-dimensional. For example, the heroine falls for the first man she meets who is not horrible and brutally violent to her. There was no mystery or challenge in their relationship. Also, I thought the political plots were a little boring. I would have preferred a little more hands-on assassin action rather than eavesdropping on conversation after conversation.

Overall, it was entertaining and I would recommend it for fans of historical fantasy, kick-ass heroines, or assassins.