Me on Every Heart a Doorway

Title: Every Heart a Doorway
Author: Seanan McGuire
Release Date: April 5, 2016
Publisher: Tor.com (Macmillan imprint)

Children have always disappeared under the right conditions; slipping through the shadows under a bed or at the back of a wardrobe, tumbling down rabbit holes and into old wells, and emerging somewhere... else. But magical lands have little need for used-up miracle children. Nancy tumbled once, but now she's back. The things she's experienced... they change a person. The children under Miss West's care understand all too well. And each of them is seeking a way back to their own fantasy world. But Nancy's arrival marks a change at the Home. There's a darkness just around each corner, and when tragedy strikes, it's up to Nancy and her new-found schoolmates to get to the heart of things. No matter the cost.

Every Heart a Doorway is an intriguing, impossible, improbable, fantastical tale. Like the aftermath of a child in a fairy tale tumbling down a rabbit hole to Wonderland. Because magical trips to fantasy lands must come to an end, even if the child wants to stay there. Dreams never last forever, and the real world is always there, waiting for the child to return.

The setting, the premise, the characters. I found all of it to be wondrously and eerily fantastic. The house itself a a home for those searching for one they may never find again. The vast variety of fantasy worlds unique and strange, full of their own rules and customs and ingrained biases. The characters, Nancy and Kade and Sumi, Jack and Jill, Eleanor. All had found magical places where they were able to be, where they could do what they'd always wanted, and then were sent back to the real world. They all still crave that sense of home, that place that exists outside the rules of what it is to be a non-magical human being who must follow human society's twisted rules.

This story is enchanting and eerie, dark and magical. Full of people who crave returning to a place where they feel like they belong and being unable to do so, their frustration intertwined with their wanting. It's surprising and heartfelt and cruel at times, wanting to keep childhood magic with you as you grow up. I'm rather intrigued to see what tale the next stories will tell.

(I borrowed an e-book copy of this from the library.)

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 Miyuki

Title: Miyuki
Author: Veronica Bane
Release Date: April 1, 2014
Publisher: Black Hill Press

In the town of Jericho, a group of misfit teenagers haunts the underbelly of their society. Armed with the ability to manipulate different parts of nature, these teenagers fight for their right to stay alive. In the months following an attack on their lives, danger still lurks around them. Those behind the original strike have risen from the ashes, and new powers are beginning to reveal themselves. With this mysterious threat imminent, Mara, Miyuki, and the rest of the Unusuals must stand together to fight. However, time is running out for the group because someone, or something, is hunting them, and this time around, not all of them will survive.

Miyuki is a return to dangerous, secretive Jericho, a town where people who are different are feared and quite often hunted down, a town where some rather unusual teenagers are fighting back while also winging it a bit.

The group is back, complete with Mara, Miles, Miyuki, Chris, Alex, and Terry. After meeting The Stranger and knowing what he's up to, they continue training in order to fight back, to push back, to save the others like them and put a stop to the death and slaughter. Mara's continued anger at her brother fuel her need for revenge and she struggles to move on from it, to focus on the task at hand, but it sounds like there's something dark in her past concerning him. Miyuki is focused more on finding others like them and keeping them safe. Like before, the two girls clash, perhaps because they both want to be in charge, both attempt to direct the action and their mission.

Enemies abound in this story both old and new. Danger is always following them, watching them. People are still after the Unusuals, wanting to find them, stop them, kill them. Things get dangerous rather quickly.

It felt like things were happening a lot faster in this book than in the first book. There is some back story at the beginning, some reminding, but then it seems to jump right into the action, right into the suspense and the fighting. Now that they know what they are, that they're not alone, that they're hunted, they're forced to fight for their lives. I hope that the next installment will come soon because, after that ending, I'm desperate to know what happens next. And I'm still shocked about who died. Wow.

(I received a e-book copy of this book to review from the author.)

Me on Mara

Title: Mara
Author: Veronica Bane
Release Date: August 3, 2013
Publisher: Black Hill Press

For years, Mara Tucker has used her power of manipulating flames to punish those who have done her wrong. But things are changing in the town of Jericho. Rampant disappearances have forced Mara to seek out others with special powers. In a story that confronts the violence and turmoil of adolescence, Mara and a group of other "unusuals" like her grapple with new alliances and the villains pressing in all around them.

Mara is fast-paced and dangerous, a thrilling tale of unusual teens and their unusual powers in a small town filled with deadly secrets. If they don't work together, they could end up among the disappeared.

Mara isn't the only character focused on, but she's where the story starts. A lonely girl, a powerful girl. In the beginning she runs from something, someone, and ends up in Jericho. She's used her power over fire and flames to punish those who've tried to hurt her, but is that really all there is? If she's hiding from her past, what kind of future will that lead to? But then she's not alone, then she discovers there are others like her, with powers, and others who want to stop them.

All of the teens used to be separate, usually alone with no friends, but when they discover they're more alike than they thought, they're forced to work together. There are a lot of butting heads, a fair number of arguments and fights, but they'll have to come together or they'll be ripped apart. It was entertaining to see the group come together, different personalities and motives clashing and arguing.

Jericho is a small town filled with dangerous secrets and racism. Both hit hard and both linger. The racism spewed by certain characters is so obvious, so out in the open, that I felt sick. They don't bother to hide it, not caring what anyone things. It's this fear of the other that leads to hatred and fear, and for those considered to be the other, it could lead to retaliation. Because they will fight back to have their voices heard.

A novella is a curious choice, you only have so many words in which to tell so many things. It certainly makes for a more fast-paced story. There's can't be any extra information, it needs to be clear and to the point. No hiding behind back story. But there still has to be character development, and I felt there was. It's not just Mara that has to learn to work as part of a team but all of them. They all have their fears, their wants and needs, their reasons for wanting to run when it gets deadly, but they also have those moments of change that keep them from being one-dimensional.

I found this story to be interesting and exciting. The stakes are high and the tension is high, as they often are in life or death situations. Some questions are answered but others are left open. Hopefully, they will be answered in the next installment.

(I received a e-book copy of this book to review from the author.)

Me on Night of Cake & Puppets

Title: Night of Cake & Puppets
Author: Laini Taylor
Release Date: November 26, 2013
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers (Hachette Book Group imprint)

Petite though she may be, Zuzana is not known for timidity. Her best friend, Karou, calls her “rabid fairy,” her “voodoo eyes” are said to freeze blood, and even her older brother fears her wrath. But when it comes to the simple matter of talking to Mik, or “Violin Boy,” her courage deserts her. Now, enough is enough. Zuzana is determined to meet him, and she has a fistful of magic and a plan. It’s a wonderfully elaborate treasure hunt of a plan that will take Mik all over Prague on a cold winter’s night before finally leading him to the treasure: herself! Violin Boy’s not going to know what hit him.

Night of Cake & Puppets is a short burst of a story, a sweet and magical tumble into love. During Karou's search in Daughter of Smoke & Bone, her best friend in the whole world, the puppet-maker Zuzana, decides to take action and claim the object of her desires, violinist Mik.

Taylor's prose is just as magical, just as lyrical and expressive and moving, as her novels. Reading her words is always a joy, they fill the pieces of my soul that crave fairy tales and monsters. But there's an added sweetness here that I feel is all Zuzana (and Mik as well, not to exclude him), all first love and falling snow and secrets lying in wait in the shadows.

This only serves to whet my appetite for Dreams of Gods & Monsters, for more Karou and Akiva, but also for more stories of Zuzana and Mik. I don't think I'll get the latter, but at least I only have to wait until April 2014 for the former.

(I borrowed a copy of this e-novella from the library.)

Me on Waiting on Wednesday (128)

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

Title: Shadow
Author: Amanda Sun
Release Date: June 1, 2013
Publisher: Harlequin Teen

From Goodreads:

Meet two teens whose worlds are about to change forever in this paranormal Young Adult novella, a prequel to Ink by debut author Amanda Sun…

Katie Greene’s worst nightmare comes true when her mother dies, and she’s devastated to learn that she will have to leave the only home she’s ever known. Desperate to find where she belongs, she must decide if she has what it takes to start a new life across the ocean.

For Yuu Tomohiro, every day is a nightmare. He struggles to control his strange ability, and keeps everyone at a distance so they won’t get hurt—even his girlfriend, Myu. At night, a shadow haunts his dreams, and a mysterious woman torments him with omens of death and destruction. But these haunting premonitions are only the beginning…

Sometimes, I'm intrigued by prequel novellas or between books 1 and 2 novellas. Sometimes you want to know more about what's happening, more about certain characters, and possibly the little bits that led to the start of book 1. I've read Ink multiple times already, but I'm so curious as to what this will reveal about both Katie and Tomo. :)

Me on Destroy Me

Title: Destroy Me
Author: Tahereh Mafi
Release Date: October 2, 2012
Publisher: HarperCollins

Back at the base and recovering from his near-fatal wound, Warner must do everything in his power to keep his soldiers in check and suppress any mention of rebellion in Sector 45. Still as obsessed with Juliette as ever, his first priority is to bring her back to him and eliminate those who helped her escape, Adam and Kenji, traitors to the Reestablishment. But when Warner's father arrives, the Supreme Commander, it's clear he has different plans for Juliette. Plans Warner won't allow.

Destroy Me is an intriguing insight into a character overwhelmed by power, by pressure, and by obsession. The reader is jerked away from Juliette and pushed straight into the complicated mind of Warner, pushed into attempting to understand his twisted and utterly selfish motives when it comes to a girl that can't touch anyone or they'll die. Or so she thought. Or so he thought.

This is the other side of his obsession, this is the side where we see the thought process behind his decisions and not just how Juliette sees him. Where Juliette sees a monster, the reader is presented with a human being with very real flaws and very important goals. It's not every day that, with only a few pages, an author can make a reader sympathize with the villain. And that's what this is, this is Warner at his most vulnerable, just as Juliette was in Shatter Me, and it's an odd pill to swallow. Villains are not meant to garner sympathy, and that's exactly what Tahereh Mafi does here with Warner.

The novella also shows Juliette through a different pair of eyes. Not her own which saw her as a monster, but through a pair that found her amazing and powerful, a pair that gazed at her with reverence and longing.

Unfortunately, this novella only serves to further whet the appetite of those waiting for Unravel Me. Fortunately, it adds another layer to the series as a whole, and I foolishly hope that there will be more.

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