Me on Let's Revisit a Book (1)

Hi there! So, this spring and summer I've come across a lot of books that I've read and afterwards thought, "Well, it was okay," and that's not exciting for you. Review after review of me saying it was okay or fine is boring. I don't know if it's me or the books I've been reading or both, but it feels like fewer books have stood out for me so far this year.

So I thought I'd do something fun and revisit a book I read years ago to see if it still holds up, if I still enjoyed it, if I think you should go check it out at the library or if you happen to find it at a new or used bookstore (because it's possible it's hard to find or out of print now), of if it's horribly dated or insulting.

And I'm going to start with one of the first books I reviewed: Dia Reeves' Bleeding Violet. (Note: don't go back and read my old review. It's so bad. Long story short, when I read this in 2010 I loved it.)

Title: Bleeding Violet
Author: Dia Reeves
Release Date: January 5, 2010
Publisher: Simon Pulse (Simon & Schuster imprint)

From Goodreads:

Love can be a dangerous thing...

Hanna simply wants to be loved. With a head plagued by hallucinations, a medicine cabinet full of pills, and a closet stuffed with frilly, violet dresses, Hanna’s tired of being the outcast, the weird girl, the freak. So she runs away to Portero, Texas in search of a new home.

But Portero is a stranger town than Hanna expects. As she tries to make a place for herself, she discovers dark secrets that would terrify any normal soul. Good thing for Hanna, she’s far from normal. As this crazy girl meets an even crazier town, only two things are certain: Anything can happen and no one is safe.

My revisit conclusion: For the most part, this book is still really good. It's dangerous and silly and serious. It really fits in with what's coming out these days, what's coming out in the next year or so. It's got Hanna talking openly about being biracial and how hard it is to fit in when people keep asking where she's from, Hanna talking openly about her mental health and mental illnesses, her bipolar disorder and her depression and her hallucinations, and Hanna talking rather openly and practically about sex. It's about a town where really weird things happen and the townsfolk don't hide it. It's about secrets and family dynamics and wanting and enacting plans and plots. It's about making the impossible possible. It's about Hanna being Hanna, that the weird things she says and does doesn't mean she's broken.

Hanna's relationship with Wyatt is interesting in that she very clearly states that, in a town as weird and dangerous as Portero, she doesn't need him to protect her or keep her safe (which confuses the heck out of his ex-girlfriend). Hers is a practical no nonsense kind of confidence. She's attracted to him, sure, and he's attracted to her, but does she need him to save her? No. She needs him in other ways. It can look cold, the ways Hanna uses and needs Wyatt, but when you step back and look at everything that's going on, the conclusion that Hanna reaches, it's all very practical. And Hanna's not a cold, unfeeling girl. Look at how much she craves affection from her mother, who's unwilling to give it at the start because she believes that love only leads to pain and sorrow.

Everyone in Portero is a little broken, a little messed up. To be honest, Hanna's the most normal out of everyone in town. The only thing is it's a little gory at times, a little bloody and gruesome, and I'd certainly give it a trigger warning for self-harm and suicide. During my re-read, it felt a little like some of the discussions about mental illness and suicide were too light and flippant.

So, after all that, if you're still interested, then check out your local library or bookstore or e-book provider or choice and give it a read. I think it still holds up, but I'm wondering what someone else who's read it thinks, if there was anything they didn't agree with or thought was poorly discussed.

I'll probably do another one of these posts on Friday, so see you then!

Me on Contagion

Title: Contagion
Author: Erin Bowman
Release Date: July 24, 2018
Publisher: HarperTeen (HarperCollins imprint)

After receiving an urgent SOS from a work detail on a distant planet, a skeleton crew is dispatched to perform a standard search-and-rescue mission. But when the crew arrives, they find an abandoned site, littered with rotten food, discarded weapons… and dead bodies. As they try to piece together who—or what—could have decimated an entire operation, they discover that some things are best left buried—and some monsters are only too ready to awaken.

Contagion is eerie and mysterious, a story that takes place in the darkness of space on an isolated planet, where help is nowhere to be found and the shadows twitch. A place where secrets thrive. A place where something lurks down in the dark, waiting to get out.

Thea Sadik is an intern with promise, her whole future ahead of her. She's just looking for the right opportunity that will get her noticed by a big company. University, a career. A future away from her foster home. Nova Singh is a pilot looking to get her wings back, looking to prove herself in order to get a job travelling through the stars. For now, she's sort of stuck, but she's still piloting. Maybe after this evacuation and rescue mission, the company will hire her on permanently. Since the armed forces won't go anywhere near her. Unfortunately for Thea and Nova, the rescue isn't what they expected, and the site they arrive at isn't what they thought they'd find. Frozen-over samples, powered-down computers. Dead bodies. And a secret that's haunted for decades.

It's a rather intriguing story. It reads like an atmospheric sci-fi horror movie, something like Resident Evil or Pandorum or Alien. There's the story here, the rescue and all the death and the fight to survive, but I get the feeling there's a bigger story coming in the next book. One that will involve the company, the Union, and the future of humanity. It certainly kept me reading, certain events that unfolded and the idea of what will happen next. If you're a fan of quick reads, of sci-fi and creepy stories, of shadows and monsters and secrets, then you might want to give this a read.

(I downloaded an e-galley of this title from HarperCollins through Edelweiss.)

Me on Our Dark Duet

Title: Our Dark Duet
Author: Victoria Schwab
Release Date: June 13, 2017
Publisher: Greenwillow Books (HarperCollins imprint)

Kate Harker is a girl who isn't afraid of the dark. She's a girl who hunts monsters. And she's good at it. August Flynn is a monster who can never be human, no matter how much he once yearned for it. He's a monster with a part to play. And he will play it, no matter the cost. Nearly six months after Kate and August were first thrown together, the war between the monsters and the humans is terrifying reality. In Verity, August has become the leader he never wished to be, and in Prosperity, Kate has become the ruthless hunter she knew she could be. When a new monster emerges from the shadows—one who feeds on chaos and brings out its victim's inner demons—it lures Kate home, where she finds more than she bargained for. She'll face a monster she thought she killed, a boy she thought she knew, and a demon all her own.

Our Dark Duet is a book of music and sorrow, of shadows and monsters. Of the monsters we fight and the monsters that live inside ourselves. Of the parts of ourselves that we can't turn away from, no matter how hard we try. Of the cost of living and the desire to keep from dying.

After leaving Verity, Kate's on the hunt in Prosperity, taking down the monsters that have popped up there. Stalking the shadows, attempting to keep a clueless city safe. Until something new makes its way out of the shadows. Something far more dangerous than the Malachai, the Corsai, or the Sunai. A new kind of monster that feeds and infects, over and over. When it heads to Verity, Kate knows she has to return to what she left behind, the monsters and the dead. August.

August has become what he hated, what he never wanted to be. A soldier in the FTF. A leader. A monster, using his music night after night. He's at war with himself, the part that's always been Sunai, always been a monster, warring against the years he spent watching humans, imitating humans. Wanting to be human. When something new arrives in Verity, with Kate Harker on its heels, August is worried, furious, and afraid. Afraid of what's coming, afraid of who he may lose in order to save the city.

This book is fast-paced and poetic, highlighting the struggles between the monsters that lurk in Verity's shadows and the human task force struggling to stay alive. The struggles inside both Kate and August, their humanity clashing with their fate. This book is heart-breaking and dangerous, coated in blood and tears, in fragile hearts filled with indestructible emotions. It's so much a Victoria Schwab book and I was pleased to feel emotionally drained as I read this.

(I purchased a copy of this title.)

Me on House of Furies

Title: House of Furies
Author: Madeleine Roux
Release Date: May 30, 2017
Publisher: HarperTeen (HarperCollins imprint)

After escaping a harsh school where punishment was the lesson of the day, seventeen-year-old Louisa Ditton is thrilled to find employment as a maid at a boarding house. But soon after her arrival at Coldthistle House, Louisa begins to realize that the house's mysterious owner, Mr. Morningside, is providing much more than lodging for his guests. Far from a place of rest, the house is a place of judgment, and Mr. Morningside and his unusual staff are meant to execute their own justice on those who are past being saved. Louisa begins to fear for a young man named Lee who is not like the other guests. He is charismatic and kind, and Louisa knows that it may be up to her to save him from an untimely judgment. But in this house of distortions and lies, how can Louisa be sure whom to trust?

House of Furies is haunting, eerie, and mysterious. It's a tale of fate and judgement, of good and evil and the unknown that lurks in the shadows.

Louisa is alone, homeless and poor. Relying on the kindness of strangers for pennies in order to keep on living. Huddling in the rain telling fortunes. A chance encounter with a strange old woman brings her to Coldthistle House, a boarding house in need of a maid, but soon Louisa learns that the house is no normal boarding house. That the owner is no normal owner, that he is no normal man. Know that she knows the truth, know that it is near impossible for her to leave, Louisa struggles with her new lot in life. She's torn between running from the house and staying in order to keep a new friend safe from the house's clutches. But how can she trust anyone when everyone has something to hide? How can she trust anyone when there's something just as dark and secretive in her own past?

Stories like this rely on atmosphere, on the setting to be suitably off-putting, on the tone to be mysterious and suggestive of the paranormal and the unnatural, and I do think it works here. The house and its nearby spring are haunting, those working at Coldthistle House aren't exactly human, and the shadows that drift the halls are more than meets the eye. It has the same sort of historical and eerie tone of the movie The Others and other haunting period dramas. I imagine fans of the author's previous books will enjoy this, as will fans of gothic-esque historical horror and tales of the paranormal.

(I downloaded an e-galley of this title from HarperCollins through Edelweiss.)

Me on Dreamfall

Title: Dreamfall
Author: Amy Plum
Release Date: May 2, 2017
Publisher: HarperTeen (HarperCollins imprint)

Cata Cordova suffers from such debilitating insomnia that she agreed to take part in an experimental new procedure. She thought things couldn't get any worse... but she was terribly wrong. Soon after the experiment begins, there's a malfunction with the lab equipment, and Cata and six other teen patients are plunged into a shared dreamworld with no memory of how they got there. Even worse, they come to the chilling realization that they are trapped in a place where their worst nightmares have come to life. Hunted by creatures from their darkest imaginations and tormented by secrets they'd rather keep buried, Cata and the others will be forced to band together to face their biggest fears. And if they can't find a way to defeat their dreams, they will never wake up.

Dreamfall is tense, dangerous, as chilling and atmospheric as a horror movie.

Cata is hopeful that this procedure will help with her insomnia and night terrors, that she'll be able to sleep without seeing the monsters that haunt her, the ones that come creeping in from her past. Fergus is hoping the treatment will help his narcolepsy, that he'll finally be able to live a life away from his parents, without the risk of falling asleep and hurting himself or others. After the malfunction in the lab, the patients are somehow thrown together, sharing the same dreamscape, and have to rely on each other as they're thrown from one nightmare to another. Fortunately for them, they have Jaime, a premed student observing the experiment, reviewing their files and making notes as the experiment goes awry. But with Cata, Fergus, and the other patients seemingly in comas, how is Jaime supposed to help them?

It's been a little while since I've read a book like this, dripping with horror, with fears and nightmares that could literally kill you. It's not that the overall idea is anything new, it's what the author has added that makes it different. The fact that all of them suffer from insomnia, that they cannot sleep and are suddenly trapped in a dreamlike state. For those who've been looking for YA horror in the vein of Simon Holt's The Devouring, eerie and overwhelming, you might want to give this a read.

(I downloaded an e-galley of this title from HarperCollins through Edelweiss.)

Me on The Killing Jar

Title: The Killing Jar
Author: Jennifer Bosworth
Release Date: January 12, 2016
Publisher: Farrar, Straus, & Giroux (Macmillan imprint)

Seventeen-year-old Kenna Marsden has a secret. She's haunted by a violent tragedy she can't explain. Kenna's past has kept people—even her own mother—at a distance for years. Just when she finds a friend who loves her and life begins to improve, she's plunged into a new nightmare. Her mom and twin sister are attacked, and the dark powers Kenna has struggled to suppress awaken with a vengeance. On the heels of the assault, Kenna is exiled to a nearby commune, known as Eclipse, to live with a relative she never knew she had. There, she discovers an extraordinary new way of life as she learns who she really is, and the wonders she's capable of. For the first time, she starts to feel like she belongs somewhere. That her terrible secret makes her beautiful and strong, not dangerous. But the longer she stays at Eclipse, the more she senses there is something malignant lurking underneath it all. And she begins to suspect that her new family has sinister plans for her…

The Killing Jar is mysterious and dangerous, a look at life and death, a hiding away from the past and a haunting search for the truth. But as welcome as it makes her feel, does Kenna really want to know everything about her new home?

Kenna is afraid of a number of things, like the past, like repeating it. So she keeps everyone at a distance, isolates herself from everyone including her mother and sister. She would rather be alone, in her own head playing her music, than potentially hurt others. She's a kind, fractured girl that doesn't allow herself to be happy, until something terrible happens again. Until she goes to Eclipse.

The magical realism of the book, Kenna and her ability, the people of Eclipse, has a rather old and haunted feel of it. It's there inside all of them, deep down. It's been there for a long time. It's kept them there and they can't leave it. Won't leave it. As Kenna learns more about it, more about them, she discovers how dark and dangerous it is. How it all felt wonderful at the beginning but discovers the price that needs to be paid. How it's never just about life and death, black and white. How all the shades of grey matter.

I found this book intriguing. I didn't expect it to be as dark as it is, to go into the play between life and death, power and control, as deeply as it did. It's made it a richer story, a heavier story. The mystical magic of Eclipse is explained in some ways and left a mystery in others, which was nice to see. The magic in books like this doesn't always have to be explained. Sometimes, it can just be. It gives it that hint of possibility. I would recommend this book to those looking for a haunting, mysterious stand alone with a heroine who struggles to come to terms with a dark spot in her past.

(I received an advance copy of this title to review from Raincoast Books.)

Me on Waiting on Wednesday (229)

Waiting on Wednesday is a bunch of weekly fun hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine. :)

Title: Slasher Girls & Monster Boys
Edited by: April Genevieve Tucholke
Release Date: August 18, 2015
Publisher: Dial (Penguin imprint)

From Goodreads:

For fans of Stephen King, Neil Gaiman, Lois Duncan, and Daphne Du Maurier comes a powerhouse anthology featuring some of the best writers of YA thrillers and horror.

A host of the smartest young adult authors come together in this collection of scary stories and psychological thrillers curated by Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea’s April Genevieve Tucholke.

Each story draws from a classic tale or two—sometimes of the horror genre, sometimes not—to inspire something new and fresh and terrifying. There are no superficial scares here; these are stories that will make you think even as they keep you on the edge of your seat. From bloody horror to supernatural creatures to unsettling, all-too-possible realism, this collection has something for any reader looking for a thrill.

Fans of TV’s The Walking Dead, True Blood, and American Horror Story will tear through tales by these talented authors:

Stefan Bachmann
Leigh Bardugo
Kendare Blake
A. G. Howard
Jay Kristoff
Marie Lu
Jonathan Maberry
Danielle Paige
Carrie Ryan
Megan Shepherd
Nova Ren Suma
McCormick Templeman
April Genevieve Tucholke
Cat Winters

This sounds creepy and weird and I want to read it. I saw someone on Twitter talking about it over the weekend, it just made me want to read it even more. :)

Me on Please Remain Calm

Title: Please Remain Calm
Author: Courtney Summers
Release Date: January 20, 2015
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin (Macmillan imprint)

Rhys is determined to reunite with Sloane until he discovers people who might need him more--people who offer him the closest he'll get to everything he's lost, if they can just hold on long enough. Rhys thinks he has what it takes to survive and find Sloane, but in a world overrun by the dead, there are no guarantees and the next leg of his journey will test him in unimaginable ways.

Please Remain Calm is a number of things. It's bleak and tense, harsh and brutal. It's an attempt at survival, a constant race against time and zombies. It's an exploration of how far we go and how ruined we become when we're pushed to the brink. It's primal and emotional and frightening.

Rhys wants to survive, it pushes him, it drives him. He has to get away. He doesn't want to die. And he wants Sloane to want to stay alive. But she's already part of the way there, ruined and depressed. Can he keep her alive? Can he make her want to stay alive, stay with him? But the running, the death and destruction, the zombies. It never ends. And in the end, will Rhys still have the strength to continue?

Death follows them, nipping at their heels, breathing down their necks. It is the new constant in their lives, no longer is it clean drinking water or a soft, warm bed to sleep on at night.

I'm okay with how This is Not a Test ended, even though I wasn't at the time. I can see now that it was up to Sloane to make the decision, live or die. Here, it's all up to Rhys.

(I purchased a copy of this e-book.)

Me on A Cold Legacy

Title: A Cold Legacy
Author: Megan Shepherd
Release Date: January 27, 2015
Publisher: Balzer + Bray (HarperCollins imprint)

After killing the men who tried to steal her father's research, Juliet—along with Montgomery, Lucy, Balthazar, and a deathly ill Edward—has escaped to a remote estate on the Scottish moors. Owned by the enigmatic Elizabeth von Stein, the mansion is full of mysteries and unexplained oddities: dead bodies in the basement, secret passages, and fortune-tellers who seem to know Juliet's secrets. Though it appears to be a safe haven, Juliet fears new dangers may be present within the manor's own walls. Then Juliet uncovers the truth about the manor's long history of scientific experimentation—and her own intended role in it—forcing her to determine where the line falls between right and wrong, life and death, magic and science, and promises and secrets. And she must decide if she'll follow her father's dark footsteps or her mother's tragic ones, or whether she'll make her own.

A Cold Legacy is the conclusion to a story dark and dangerous, mysterious and frightening. It explores the impossible and the macabre, what lurks in the shadows and what lurks inside ourselves. With enough knowledge, enough skill, enough determination, does that make mankind the most dangerous monster of all?

Juliet is still running from her past, a past filled with unspeakable horrors and death, but is escape even possible when she's pulled in every direction? Towards Montgomery and the idea of a normal life. Towards Elizabeth and the secrets of the mansion. Towards Lucy and an extremely dangerous idea. Towards her father, his actions and experiments that continue to haunt her. She still has her curiosity, her unflinching and unwavering desire to know why. And even thought it might not be the best thing, or the smartest thing, she'll uncover as many truths as she has to in order to know the reason behind everything. But it's not fair when she does something incredibly foolish and keeps a secret of her own, one that could destroy them all.

The role of women in this book is intriguing. Elizabeth desires to teach Juliet what she knows, to one day see her as the new mistress of the mansion. Here, women are in charge. they are the holders of secrets, the gatekeepers of knowledge. They keep it locked away from those who would use such power for their own gains, for their own desires instead of for the greater good. They keep it locked away from men, preventing monsters like Juliet's father from experimenting with life and death and playing God.

But who is to say that such knowledge would benefit the greater good? Who is to say that what Elizabeth knows should be shared at all? It is the most dangerous and impossible science, bringing the dead back to life. How can such a thing ever be used for good? Where does morality belong in such a world? Where do we draw the line between monster and genius? If we are meant to live forever, to be brought back to life, why are we so fragile?

With the addition of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein as inspiration, the exploration into how far science could go at the turn of the 19th century continues. Altering animals into people, dual personalities, and now reanimating the dead. This trilogy digs down into the deepest and darkest of places, where all rules are broken and logic and reason are cast aside. This is science fiction as it once was, not looking out at the stars but at ourselves. At the secret parts that we keep hidden, the parts that question how far we can take medical science. The parts that dream of immortality.

This series is dark and mysterious, it explores human nature and curiosity, but there were times when Juliet made what I thought was the wrong decision. She can be indecisive, afraid of all possible outcomes, fearing that she will turn into her father the most. There is a moment in this book when I thought she made the worst decision possible, one that would destroy them all. Whether or not it happened how I thought it would, I'm not going to say. Recommended to fans of the previous two books and fans of gothic horror and late Victorian era science fiction.

(I downloaded an e-galley of this title from Edelweiss through HarperCollins.)

Me on Fiendish

Title: Fiendish
Author: Brenna Yovanoff
Release Date: August 14, 2014
Publisher: Razorbill (Penguin imprint)

Clementine DeVore spent ten years trapped in a cellar, pinned down by willow roots, silenced and forgotten. Now she's out and determined to uncover who put her in that cellar and why. When Clementine was a child, dangerous and inexplicable things started happening in New South Bend. The townsfolk blamed the fiendish people out in the Willows and burned their homes to the ground. But magic kept Clementine alive, walled up in the cellar for ten years, until a boy named Fisher sets her free. Back in the world, Clementine sets out to discover what happened all those years ago. But the truth gets muddled in her dangerous attraction to Fisher, the politics of New South Bend, and the Hollow, a fickle and terrifying place that seems increasingly temperamental ever since Clementine reemerged.

Fiendish is a darkly magical tale of a girl hidden away and the changes she finds in her small town when she wakes up. The townsfolk know about those who live off in the woods, they know about their magic. And they fear it. But now that Clementine is free, something's coming, and it's not just that it's coming. It's that it's coming back.

Clementine's voice sounds a bit young, but it fits. The innocence in her voice makes sense. Locked away in a cellar for ten years, her body aging as her personality sort of stays the same. Her way of being rather blunt and matter of fact at times. It all makes sense. And perhaps that's why she's the only one who really wants to investigate what's happening. Because she doesn't know what's been going on, she's slightly set apart from the divide between the normal townsfolk and those like her and her cousin. Those with magic in them. She just has to know why she was locked away. And she just wants to do the right thing. She wants to help everyone. Especially Fisher.

Like Brenna Yovanoff's past books, the mood and setting are quite chilling, similar to The Replacement. The Hollow especially, filled as it is with magic and dark and dangerous things. With the magic everywhere, creeping out, reaching out, I was never sure what would pop up next, but I knew it would be frightening.

This is a definite must-read for fans of Brenna's past books, for fans of magical realism with hints of horror and monsters. Yes, it's set in a creepy place with creepy people and creepy monsters, but it's still about this one girl brave enough to search for the truth. A girl brave enough to stand up and protect those she cares about.

(I purchased a copy of this book.)

Me on Through the Woods

Title: Through the Woods
Author: Emily Carroll
Release Date: July 15, 2014
Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry Books (Simon & Schuster imprint)

Five mysterious, spine-tingling stories follow journeys into (and out of?) the eerie abyss. Come take a walk in the woods and see what awaits you there...

Through the Woods is a haunting, frightening collection of illustrated short stories. Each story is brought to life (I type as a shudder runs up my spine) with thin, spindly lettering, bold colours, and dark surprises at every turn.

Each of the five stories here are not for the faint of heart. All take dark, twisted turns, trailing deeper and deeper into the shadows. Into the darkness where the monsters lie in wait.

The artwork is also amazing. Shadows made from the darkest blacks, rosy cheeks and lips the brightest reds. Long, thin fingers. Large, round eyes. Everything seems more dangerous brought to life the way is is here. I imagine as prose, these stories wouldn't be nearly as frightening.

When I read the first story during the day, I was fine. But when I went to read it at night, when the shadows creep in around you, with the textured cover sliding and scraping against my fingertips, I'll admit that I wanted to go hide it somewhere where it couldn't get me. Dark and dangerous, filled with creatures and monsters and shadows, this is a perfect book for those interested in atmospheric reads and haunting stories.

(I purchased a copy of this book.)

Me on The Girl from the Well

Title: The Girl from the Well
Author: Rin Chupeco
Release Date: August 5, 2014
Publisher: Sourcebooks

A dead girl walks the streets. She is a lonely soul. She has wandered the world for centuries, freeing the spirits of the murdered-dead. Once a victim herself, she now takes the lives of killers with the vengeance they're due. But releasing innocent ghosts from their ethereal tethers does not bring her peace. Still she drifts on. Such is her existence, until she meets Tark. Evil writhes beneath the moody teen's skin, trapped by a series of intricate tattoos. While his neighbors fear him, she knows the boy is not a monster. Tark needs to be freed from the malevolence that clings to him. There's just one problem: if the demon dies, so does its host.

The Girl from the Well is disturbing and dark, an atmospheric horror story. With its unconventional narrator, its unique story, and the mythology it draws on, this book certain sets itself apart from others inhabited by dangerous ghosts and aging secrets.

The ghost, the spirit, the dead girl. She is a rather interesting and unexpected narrator. She's observant, very observant. Rational without being devoid of emotion. Very intelligent. Rather strong, physically (if ghosts have a physical strength) and mentally. But she is somewhat detatched from the story. She is relating what she sees, only getting involved when she wants to, needs to, desires to. When she finds someone who must be punished, a murderer of the young and innocent. Few things happen directly at or to her. Most happen to Tark or his cousin, but she is drawn to them for inexplicable reasons. And so, simply but so complexly, she becomes part of their lives. (She does reveal her name, but I'm not saying what it is to keep the mystery going a bit longer.)

I imagine hers is somewhat of a traditional Japanese ghost story, or that her story has been greatly inspired by them. In some ways, she is pushed by vengeance. She gets revenge on behalf of the dead, on behalf of those brutally murdered. On purpose, by accident, it doesn't matter to her. She drifts in and out, finding those with the dead leashed to them, unable to escape their captor, and kills them. Ghost stories like this, like hers, highlight the power of emotion and intention. How we can desire something, care for something, hate something so strongly that it transcends death. That our strong emotions could keep us with the living instead of moving on to wherever we go after we die, tragically or not.

I found this book to be descriptive and atmospheric. Narrated by the girl, by the ghost, she's both part of the story and not part of it. She observes the world around her, relating to the reader certain events. At times the line between first person and third person blurs and there were moments when I forgot that she was telling the story. It's such an interesting way of telling the story. She knows and sees so many things that the others don't, but she doesn't know everything. I would certainly recommend this book to readers looking for a different kind of ghost story and to fans of Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendare Blake.

(I received an e-galley of this title to review from Sourcebooks through NetGalley.)

Me on Her Dark Curiosity

Title: Her Dark Curiosity
Author: Megan Shepherd
Release Date: January 28, 2014
Publisher: Balzer + Bray (HarperCollins imprint)

Months have passed since Juliet Moreau returned to civilization after escaping her father's island, and the secrets she left behind. Now, back in London once more, she is rebuilding the life she once knew and trying to forget Dr. Moreau's horrific legacy, though someone, or something, hasn't forgotten her. As people close to Juliet fall victim one by one to a murderer who leaves a macabre calling card of three claw-like slashes, Juliet fears one of her father's creations may have also escaped the island. She is determined to find the killer before Scotland Yard does, though it means awakening sides of herself she had thought long banished, and facing loves from her past she never expected to see again. As Juliet strives to stop a killer while searching for a serum to cure her own worsening illness, she finds herself once more in the midst of a world of scandal and danger. Her heart torn in two, past bubbling to the surface, life threatened by an obsessive killer, Juliet will be lucky to escape alive.

Her Dark Curiosity is haunting, mysterious, and deadly, gothic horror that leaves you suspicious of what could lurk in the darkness. There are mysteries and secrets in London's shadows, and Juliet fears the worst when she discovers her past, a past she thought she'd left behind on an island far away, has appeared in her present.

Juliet is searching for so many things. A new life in London. A cure for her condition. A way to forget what, and who, she abandoned on her father's island. Now she must search for a murderer, a dark monster from her past she never thought she'd see again. Faces from her past appear in her life once again and she must fight against the darkness through all of her struggles, for she fears it will overtake her and turn her into someone dangerous. Someone like her father.

What darkness hides inside our bodies, our minds, our souls? Where does it come from? Has there always a darker part of us hidden, tucked away, waiting for the chance to break free? Are we all capable of becoming monsters? And what of Juliet, human with the organs of a deer inside of her. Human she may be but she knows the darkness is inside of her, put there by a man trying so desperately to keep his child alive he would break the laws of nature. What is her darkness? What is lurking inside of her? How far will she go to hide it from those she cares about?

More and more YA books are appearing that call themselves retellings or re-imaginings of works of classic literature. Just about every book, in some way, could be considered a retelling. With The Madman's Daughter, it felt very much like a retelling of Wells' classic novel about a dangerous doctor named Moreau and his island of experimentation. Here, Shepherd's new story continues and goes beyond the source material, drawing this time from Stevenson. This is not a true retelling of The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, but I can see where Shepherd was inspired by it, the moments of Juliet hiding the most dangerous parts of her world from those she cares about. The moments of darkness and fear over what hides inside ourselves.

When I first saw the names Jekyll and Hyde in relation to this book, I was concerned, I worried about how it would come across, but I wasn't surprised. Looking at the first book, the monsters, the experiments, I figured I knew where the author would be going. An exploration into the darker side of Juliet and her experiences. But even with my assumptions I was held captive, turning page after page as quickly as I could, helpless to do nothing but satisfy my curiosity. The ending makes it rather clear which piece of classical literature has inspired the last book, and again I am skeptical, but I'm still very much looking forward to the conclusion of this dark tale.

(I received an advance copy of this title to review from HarperCollins Canada.)

Me on Waiting on Wednesday (153)

Waiting on Wednesday is a bunch of weekly fun hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine. :)

Title: Her Dark Curiosity
Author: Megan Shepherd
Release Date: January 28, 2014
Publisher: Balzer + Bray (HarperCollins imprint)

From Goodreads:

To defeat the darkness, she must first embrace it.

Months have passed since Juliet Moreau returned to civilization after escaping her father's island—and the secrets she left behind. Now, back in London once more, she is rebuilding the life she once knew and trying to forget Dr. Moreau’s horrific legacy—though someone, or something, hasn’t forgotten her.

As people close to Juliet fall victim one by one to a murderer who leaves a macabre calling card of three clawlike slashes, Juliet fears one of her father’s creations may have also escaped the island. She is determined to find the killer before Scotland Yard does, though it means awakening sides of herself she had thought long banished, and facing loves from her past she never expected to see again.

As Juliet strives to stop a killer while searching for a serum to cure her own worsening illness, she finds herself once more in the midst of a world of scandal and danger. Her heart torn in two, past bubbling to the surface, life threatened by an obsessive killer—Juliet will be lucky to escape alive.

With inspiration from Robert Louis Stevenson’s The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, this is a tantalizing mystery about the hidden natures of those we love and how far we’ll go to save them from themselves.

I loved the first book, it was so creepy and kept with the same tone and creepiness of the original. I have to admit I'm not totally sold on the Jekyll and Hyde addition to the series, but we'll see how it goes.

Me on Doll Bones

Title: Doll Bones
Author: Holly Black
Release Date: May 7, 2013
Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry (Simon & Schuster imprint)

Zach, Poppy and Alice have been friends for ever. They love playing with their action figure toys, imagining a magical world of adventure and heroism. But disaster strikes when, without warning, Zach’s father throws out all his toys, declaring he’s too old for them. Zach is furious, confused and embarrassed, deciding that the only way to cope is to stop playing. And stop being friends with Poppy and Alice. But one night the girls pay Zach a visit, and tell him about a series of mysterious occurrences. Poppy swears that she is now being haunted by a china doll, who claims that it is made from the ground-up bones of a murdered girl. They must return the doll to where the girl lived, and bury it. Otherwise the three children will be cursed for eternity.

Doll Bones is a curious, haunting, and moving look at growing up, an inventive and complicated story of a boy at a crossroads with the desire to keep having fun with his friends and the pressure put on him by his father to act his age. This book looks at those tough decisions we faced as children when we were told by adults to stop playing childish games, and whether or not you can grow up and keep having fun with your friends at the same time.

Zach is pushed into a difficult situation, both by his father and by his own feelings of shame. Playing with Poppy and Alice, creating new worlds filled with adventure and intrigue and pirates, those are the best moments of his life. But playing with dolls and action figures is for little kids, in the mind of his father, and it's time Zach grows up and focuses on what twelve-year-old boys should focus on: homework and sports. The dynamic between Zach, Alice, and Poppy was very interesting, they all had their roles to play, their times to speak up. Their dangerous risks to take.

Growing up, moving on. It's not something any kid looks forward to when they realize it's on the horizon. When it comes to playing with toys, dolls, and action figures, how old is too old? Must we follow the recommended age printed on the side of the box? When are you supposed to grow up and leave fun behind?

A big part of this book is imagination, how children can create anything out of nothing, how boundaries don't exist and everything is possible. How the word "no" doesn't have a place of its own anymore. The imagination of a child is a wondrous thing, filled with possibility.

This book highlights so many important and unique things about being a kid that adults either forget or take for granted. When you're a kid, anything is possible. You can do anything, be anyone. You can go anywhere you want while never leaving the side of the road. It's moments like those that should be remembered and encouraged, and books like this that remind us that, as kids, the entire world was our playground.

(I acquired an advance copy of this title at ALA Midwinter.)

Me on The Madman's Daughter

Title: The Madman's Daughter
Author: Megan Shepherd
Release Date: January 29, 2013
Publisher: Balzer + Bray (HarperCollins imprint)

Juliet has built a life for herself in London: working as a maid, attending church, and trying not to think about the scandal that ruined her life. After all, no one proved the rumours about her father's gruesome experiments, but when she learns he's still alive and continuing his work, she's determined to find out if the accusations are true. Accompanied by her father's assistant Montgomery and castaway Edward, both of whom Juliet is drawn to, she travels to the island only to discover the depths of her father's madness. His experiments live on, animals operated on until they resemble, speak, and behave as humans. What's worse is one of the creatures has gone wild, murdering the others. Torn between horror and scientific curiosity, Juliet knows she must end her father's experiments and escape her jungle prison before it's too late. Yet as the island descends into chaos, she discovers the extent of her father's genius, and madness, in her own blood.

The Madman's Daughter is a return to gothic horror with a twist on a piece of classic literature. This book is what one would expect, it's dark, dangerous, gruesome, and mysterious. On the island, Juliet is forced to confront with a number of terrifying things, such as her father's research and the fact it borders on insane and monstrous, the secrets surrounding the island and its inhabitants, and the truth that unknowingly lurks in her blood.

This book takes me back to proper gothic horror, horror in the vein of Dracula and Frankenstein. It is a new twist on The Island of Dr. Moreau, Wells' exploration of scientific ethics and gruesome experimentation, the struggle of one man to become God and have it all turn horrifically wrong. It's very faithful to the original, to the wild island setting, to the realization of danger and the wildness that lives in the hearts of those who walk not only on four legs but also on two. Wells is considered to be one of the co-founders of the science fiction genre. Here, Shepherd takes us back, back in time, back to the island, back to the howls and the screams that travel through the jungle's trees.

But retellings are complicated. A new story must be shaped from the existing, both must find a way to live together between the covers. Here, the original is everywhere, coating each and ever page, but so is the new. Juliet brings new life, new connections, and new complications that twist the story into something more. Juliet must be strong enough to stand on her own or else she runs the risk of being swallowed up, both by Wells and his creations and her own fear and dread.

I dreaded the love triangle between Juliet, Montgomery, and Edward, but Shepherd dealt with it well. She's drawn to both of them, yes, but it seems to be in different ways. Montgomery she knew before, Edward she just met. But she fears what might be inside her, in her blood, in the blood she got from her father, and so that complicated things. Until she learns the truth and must make a decision.

The idea that there will be two more books to follow, that this is a series, makes me both curious and intrigued. With this, Shepherd showed she could stay faithful to Wells' original, but the next two books will be a harder battle, I think. I'm sure more than one reader has wondered what would happen next after reading The Island of Dr. Moreau, and it's possible that with Juliet, we could see one interpretation of what could happen.

(I acquired an advance copy at ALA Midwinter.)

Me on Rage Within

Title: Rage Within
Author: Jeyn Roberts
Release Date: September 4, 2012
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers

Aries, Clementine, Mason, and Michael have survived the first wave of the apocalypse that wiped out most of the world's population and turned a fair amount of the rest into murderous Baggers. Now, they're hiding out in an abandoned house in Vancouver with a rag-tag group of teenage survivors, trying to figure out their next move. Aries is trying to lead but it's difficult when there are no easy answers and everything feels wrong. Clementine is still on a desperate search to find her brother. Michael is haunted by the memories of what happened to him on the road out to the west coast. But Mason is struggling with the worst problem: that he's a danger to his friends. As the Baggers begin to create a new world order, the four teens will have to rely and trust each other if they want to keep surviving.

Rage Within is just as powerful as its predecessor, dark, dangerous, and very deceptive. When the apocalypse hits and ruins the world, what happens next? This is the immediate after that will determine who will continue to survive, who will take charge, and who will have all the control. What also arises is the question of change. Is it possible to be the same person you were before the apocalypse hit? Can you change, can you do what you need to in order to survive, and still be the same person? This book highlights mankind's quest for survival, to live on through horror and despair, and to find a new way of life.

Now that all of the four main narrators are in Vancouver, now that they've all met, nothing is any easier. There is a common goal, but they all have their own missions, their own problems, and they need to come together so they can keep surviving. Or else the Baggers will win.

The Baggers are an interesting enemy/non-enemy. People but not people, people where the darkness has taken over, people without morals but with rules and actions and procedures. The idea that they're planning something is frightening, because it could spell the end for those normal people still struggling to survive.

Nothing. The ever-elusive, cryptic, frightening and all-knowing Nothing. Nothing is everywhere and nowhere. Nothing lives. But where? The reveal, while unsurprising, was perfect.

The group has to deal with a lot, the aftermath of the earthquake and the Baggers, but what if the people close to you are the ones you have to be wary of? As Nothing claims on page 202, "we all have a dark side." But we also have an innate desire to live, to survive. In the end, it all depends on which side is stronger.

(I purchased a copy of this book.)

Me on Waiting on Wednesday (103)

Waiting on Wednesday is a bunch of weekly fun hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine. :)

Title: Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea
Author: April Genevieve Tucholke
Release Date: August 15, 2013
Publisher: Dial (Penguin imprint)

From Goodreads:

You stop fearing the devil when you’re holding his hand…

Nothing much exciting rolls through Violet White’s sleepy, seaside town…until River West comes along. River rents the guesthouse behind Violet’s crumbling estate, and as eerie, grim things start to happen, Violet begins to wonder about the boy living in her backyard. Is River just a crooked-smiling liar with pretty eyes and a mysterious past? Or could he be something more? Violet’s grandmother always warned her about the Devil, but she never said he could be a dark-haired boy who takes naps in the sun, who likes coffee, who kisses you in a cemetery...who makes you want to kiss back. Violet’s already so knee-deep in love, she can’t see straight. And that’s just how River likes it.

Blending faded decadence and the thrilling dread of gothic horror, April Genevieve Tucholke weaves a dreamy, twisting contemporary romance, as gorgeously told as it is terrifying—a debut to watch.

I don't know what to say, only that I want it and I want it now. And that I hope it doesn't disappoint. I want awesome gothic horror like it's the 1800's and Mary Shelley just wrote Frankenstein. And that waiting will suck. August?? Really?? Ouch.

Me on Necromancing the Stone

Title: Necromancing the Stone
Author: Lish McBride
Release Date: September 18, 2012
Publisher: Henry Holt (Macmillan imprint)

With the defeat of the evil Douglas behind him, Sam LaCroix is finally getting used to his new life. He hadn't exactly planned on being a powerful necromancer with a seat on the local magical council and a capricious werewolf maybe-kinda-sort-of girlfriend, but things are going fine. Well, no, they're not. He's tired of getting beat up by everyone and their mother, for starters, and his new house seems to hate him. His best friend is now a were-bear, someone's threatening his sister, and while Sam knows he's got a lot of power at his fingertips, he's not quite sure how to use it. When everything starts to fall apart, he decides it's time to man-up and take control, but that only raises more questions. The biggest one: is Douglas really dead?

Necromancing the Stone is a well-written mix of teenage male sarcasm and spooky things that go bump in the night. Whether you see it as a funny horror story or a creepy teen humour novel, it doesn't matter. It's a welcome return to Sam the unexpected and reluctant necromancer drop-out who has issues galore dropped on him and is expected to figure them out before everything goes to hell. Or wherever dead people end up. If they're actually dead.

Sam is back as a ragged and rather unlikely hero. He's not so much a slacker anymore now that's faced death and the evil tool that Douglas was, but he's exhausted. He's being run into the ground by Brid's brothers as they teach him self-defence, he's dealing with a not-so-human butler/assistant he's inherited from Douglas, he's living in a house that's screwing with him, and he's still not quite sure how to use his necromancer powers. Things aren't any easier for Sam this time around.

His relationship with Brid is still complicated as well. It just sort of happened in the first book and it's clearly not your average relationship. It's not every day a college dropout new-to-his-powers necromancer hooks up with a half-werewolf half-fae hound heir to her protective father's pack that is filled with overprotective brothers and skeptical werewolves. I like them together, but considering their positions, it's not easy to be together.

There's also the darker side of the book, the side that's trying to kill Sam. Being a necromancer, Sam's power is in his blood. In any book where blood has to be spilled for any kind of magical or paranormal ritual, like Tessa Gratton's Blood Magic, it raises the question on whether or not the author is using it as a metaphor for cutting or self-harm. Here, I don't believe that's the case. Sam's still uneasy about his necromancer abilities, isn't a big fan of the pain it brings when he has to spill blood to raise the dead, and doesn't have anyone to teach him the proper way to do things. He's heading into his new life a little blind, or at the very least rather near-sighted. It has the ability to chance one's perspectives on death, being able to raise the dead. If they can come back, is anyone really dead? Is there really an afterlife?

Sam deals with a lot of stuff, stuff he never thought he'd have to deal with. He's not always happy about it and doesn't always know how to fix it, but he still gets back to his feet to give it the old college try, or the old Sam LaCroix try since he dropped out. I hope that there will be more books about Sam and the dark and dangerous world he lives in.

(I received an advance copy of this title to review from Raincoast Books.)

Me on Velveteen

Title: Velveteen
Author: Daniel Marks
Release Date: October 9, 2012
Publisher: Delacorte Books for Young Readers (Random House imprint)

Velveteen is dead. At 16, she was kidnapped and murdered by a madman named Bonesaw. But that's not the problem. The problem is, she landed in purgatory, and while it's not a raging inferno, it's certainly not heaven. It's grey, crumbling, and everyone has a job to do, which doesn't leave Velvet much time to do anything about what's on her mind. Getting her revenge on Bonesaw. She aches to deliver the punishment he deserves, and she's figured out how to do it. She's going to haunt him. It'll be brutal, and it'll be awesome. But crossing the divide between purgatory and the living has some consequences. Her obsessive haunting has cracked the foundations and jeopardizes her very soul, which is a risk she's willing to take, except fate has thrown her a massive curveball in the form of a new unbearably attractive and completely off-limits co-worker. But she can't help herself when it comes to breaking rules or taking revenge, and she might be angry enough to take everyone else down with her.

Velveteen is dark and complicated, packed with sharp, sarcastic wit and deadly encounters at every turn. Things are headed to, well, somewhere, in a handbasket, and Velvet's the only one who can figure it all out and keep everything from crumbling. If she can actually focus instead of obsessing over getting revenge on the psycho who brutally murdered her.

What I enjoyed about Velvet was her personality and her dialogue. She's bitter, she's angry, she's annoyed at almost everything and everyone in purgatory, but she had awesome dead teen spunk. Her complicated relationship with Nick is very complicated. There are rules to keep them from doing the purgatory version of dating, and she's all about following those rules (instead of the one that says 'no haunting'), but she has no qualms about flirting with him or ogling him. Of course, Nick's pretty weird himself, very self-assured. Theirs is one of those sweet and mushy forbidden romances, and because purgatory is like the real world in some ways, you forget that they, and almost everyone in the book, is dead. Who says the dead can't find love?

It's quite possible that there is life after death, or at least some kind of existence where our consciousness goes and is still conscious, but no one knows for sure. Here, it's called purgatory, where some go after they die. Sure, it's called purgatory, but the book doesn't seem to be a discussion of religion. It's just a place filled with people who don't seem thrilled to be there, it's dirty because of all the ashes, and it sucks. Fortunately, it's the perfect place for Violet to angst about being killed by a sick, sick man.

As I read this, I wondered if something was missing, and it wasn't until I was two-thirds of the way through that I realized I was missing a sense of immediacy. The book started so surprisingly, rushed right into a huge quake, and there was a certain sense of 'something happening and we need to figure it out,' but it's possible that it wasn't enough for me. Or that it got lost in Velvet's cute and squishy dead teenage hormone-fueled kissing moments with Nick. Of course, 50 pages later everything exploded and I got the rush I was looking for.

At times, this reminded me of Bleeding Violet by Dia Reeves and the TV show Dead Like Me with its mix of death and clever, sarcastic humour. No one really knows what happens after death, and this was an interesting examination of a possibility and how it could all go wrong. And it's nice to see that dead teens can still have snark and angst.

(I received an e-galley of this title to review from Random House through NetGalley.)