Me on Nameless

Title: Nameless
Author: Lili St. Crow
Release Date: April 4, 2013
Publisher: Razorbill (Penguin imprint)

When she was six, she was found alone in the snow by Enrico Vultusino, godfather of the Seven, the powerful Families that rule magic-ridden New Haven. Papa Vultusino adopted the mute and scarred child, naming her after his dead wife and raising her in luxury on Haven Hill along with his son, Nico. Now Camille is turning sixteen. No longer mute, she keeps her scars hidden under her school uniform and only opens up to her friends Ruby and Ellie, and to Nico, who has become more than a brother to her. But even though Cami is a pampered heiress, she knows she's not really Family. Unlike them, she's a mortal with a past buried in trauma. It's not until she meets Tor, who has scars of his own, that Cami begins to uncover the secrets of her birth, to find out where she comes from and why her past is threatening her now.

Nameless is an enthralling and captivating tale, dark and dripping with magic and decadence. In an intricate world so powerful, so unique, so dangerous, a girl struggles to discover where she belongs, if she belongs, who she belongs to. What her name is.

Cami is a curious creature, caught between the family that took her in and the unknown mysteries of her past. Where did she come from before they found her, shaking and bleeding in the snow? What is creeping out from the darkness that causes her nightmares? It can be difficult, having the meek quiet girl as the heroine, but sometimes it's the quiet ones you have to watch out for. It's the quiet ones who get inquisitive, who get tired of not knowing, who follow and grab hold when a hidden truth is revealed. It's the quiet ones who have to figure out their place in the world.

For those looking for a romance in this magical world, they'll find it muted, but I didn't seem to miss it. Cami's connections to each of the battered boys is different. Nico's anger and fury hide the pain and scars on the inside and Cami's hands flutter with the urge to soothe and comfort. Tor's scars on the outside that mark him reminds Cami of her own, of a past she can't remember, and she knows that somehow, in some way, they are similar. In different ways, she cares about them both.

The world the author has crafted here is wonderfully complex. New Haven is not part of the normal human world, it doesn't even have the same history as our own. Everything sounds and tastes familiar, but woven in are the magics and the creatures and a different history that crafted this place. Potential, Twists, jacks, fausts, charmers, the Families. Not everything is fully explained which adds a wariness to it all, a hidden danger lurking in the darkness, in the shadows. An exciting world crackling with power at the edges.

It doesn't take long to see who the fairy tale counterparts are in Cami, Ruby, Ellie, or other characters. What makes this retelling work is the unique world, the darker and dangerous magic, the secrets and nightmares. Everything the author brought and added to the story of Snow White, every twist and turn, makes this a refreshing and exciting retelling while still staying faithful to the original.

As with the author's previous series, I found myself devouring it, sinking down as deep as I could into the story, feeling the icy bite of the falling snow, hearing the mad thump of someone's heartbeat. And, as with the author's previous series, I found myself craving more the second it was over.

(I received an advance copy from Penguin Canada.)

Me on This Week's Book Week (45)

This Week's Book Week is like Stacking the Shelves hosted by Tynga's Reviews only I'm terrible with naming things. :)

This was an odd week with a high and a weird low.

The high: the Cassie Clare and Sarah Rees Brennan event. It sort of boiled down to waiting in line before the event or waiting in line during and after, and I was okay with waiting in line before because then I could talk to other book people like Caitlin and Jenny (and later on Mariam). And I got to see the wonderful Chandra who tweets from the Indigo Teen Blog account and her awesome friend Nicole. :) I also met some nice girls in line, they were fun to talk to (readers, not bloggers).

The event. It was what I expected: lots of people, a big line, lots of screaming and cheering from fangirls, Cassie being amusing and Sarah being funny. :) There won't be an event write-up because I'm going to link to the video of the Q&A. The talk proper starts at about 28:45 (just so you know). ;) (And a shiny nickel if you figure out which head is the back of my head, because it's there, I saw it in the video (so, that's what the back of my head looks like).)

The only weird thing was I felt the need to hide and decompress afterwards. Probably stemmed from all the people and the super loud DJ they decided to bring in.

The weird low: the ongoing saga of "the plague finger," or the finger that's had this weird infection since New Year's. It's still not all better. Remember how I went and got an x-ray done? On Monday, the first words out of my doctor's mouth were, "We need to run some additional tests." So something showed up, which is good, I want this fixed, but he still doesn't really know what's wrong. Fun. And so, because it could be something a bit serious like an infection in the bone. I was booked for more tests, one of which was a bone density scan that was done on Thursday. It was one of those "we'll be injecting you with something radioactive, do the scan, then have you come back in a couple of hours to do it again" tests. Based on what my doctor sees with this, I might have to get a white blood cell count done.

This year is a very very odd year. My sister was saying that maybe odd-numbered years will now be my complicated medical years. 2011: broken ankle. 2013: infection. 2015: who knows? (Her guess: virgin birth. Then we both laughed.)

(Also, yay to my sister who said yes to a grad school offer. It's the same school we both did our undergraduate studies at and she really likes the department and the staff, so we're happy for her.)

This week's reviews will be Nameless by Lili St. Crow (Tuesday) and In the Shadow of Blackbirds by Cat Winters (Friday). :)

Received:
Charmed Vengeance by Suzanne Lazear (from Flux through NetGalley)

Also, swag from the Cassie Clare and Sarah Rees Brennan event. Included: temporary rune tattoos (apparently, there were lots of different runes, but I only seemed to get the one), a small poster and card and bookmark for the City of Bones movie, the Untold teaser chapter, and a necklace with a penny on it. Now all my Cassie books are signed, except when next March comes and City of Heavenly Fire comes out. But considering she was here this past week and again 2 years ago (and before that as well, according to I think Caitlin), I imagine she'll come back to BC.

Me on Beautiful Decay

Title: Beautiful Decay
Author: Sylvia Lewis
Release Date: April 2, 2013
Publisher: Running Press Kids (Perseus imprint)

Ellie has always needed her space. Literally. With a touch that rots whatever she encounters, Ellie must keep people at a distance for their own good. Not that her classmates are itching to be friends with the "freak" of the high school. So when newcomer Nate makes it his mission to get close to Ellie, she has her suspicions. But when he identifies her ability, as well as his own, she finds herself trusting him more and more. Unfortunately for the two, family secrets can kill, and they'll need more than their abilities to keep things under control. After years or pushing people away, Ellie's realization of the full extent of her powers and willingness to let people get close may be the only way to save the people she loves.

Beautiful Decay is an intriguing look at a rather intriguing and rather complicated girl. Secrets and truths circle her, circle her encounters with someone new, someone who doesn't see her as something to be feared or hated. Her pain, her suffering, is known by the whole town, and this is a look at how she suffers as well as how she learns to break free of her shell.

There is no place for Ellie in her town. She's shunned because of what she can do, shunned because everything she touches dies. There is nowhere for her to fit in unless she hides, unless she fades into the background, but everyone knows she's there. Because of this, she's become a sad girl, an angry girl, an annoyed and bitter girl. Her defence mechanism is harsh biting sarcasm. But she's not avoiding the truth of her ability like her parents, especially her mother who thinks that bleach and going off to college will fix everything.

Then Nate shows up, willing to get close to her, willing to touch her, and sends everything and everyone into a panic. Nate has his secrets, like any new kid in a new school would, but Nate knows. He knows what Ellie can do. With him, she isn't as alone as she used to be anymore, but Nate's secrets are bigger and badder than she ever imagined.

Her ability makes her feared and avoided, but it's an ability I haven't come across much in other paranormal books. In a way, it's similar to Juliette from Shatter Me, but in a way, it isn't. It's not that Ellie sucks the life out of someone when she touches them, it's more that she causes decay. It's more the description of bacteria, mould, and fungi that sets her apart. It may make the novel slightly more disgusting than expected, but it also has an earthy quality. It's life and death at the point where its connected to nature.

Ellie's ability and her classmates avoiding her are a metaphor for Ellie being bullied and verbally abused by those classmates. She's shunned for being different, she's ridiculed, she's called horrible names, she's abandoned. It's only a matter of time before she breaks and strips her gloves off, but it's up to her and how much inner strength she as if she'll crumble or stand tall.

As strange as her world is, it's meeting Nate that sends everything Ellie knew up in the air. Her world sort of becomes his once he shares what he knows about her ability, about his, about her not being the freak she always thought she was. But his world is dangerous and the danger is searching for him, stretching out its dark arms towards him, and if it finds her it might suck her in as well. The last third of the book was filled with suspense and intensity, so much tension and excitement. With that ending, I have many hopes for a second book.

(I acquired an advance copy at ALA Midwinter.)

Me on Waiting on Wednesday (121)

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

Title: Half Lives
Author: Sara Grant
Release Date: July 9, 2013
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers (Hachette imprint)

From Goodreads:

I learned that surviving isn't all it's cracked up to be. If you survive, you've got to live with the guilt, and that's more difficult than looking someone in the eye and pulling the trigger. Trust me. I've done both. Killing takes a twitch of the finger. Absolution takes several lifetimes.

Seventeen-year-old Icie's parents have given her $10,000 in cash, a map of a top-secret bunker, and instructions to get there by any means necessary. They have news of an imminent viral attack and know that the bunker is Icie's only hope for survival. Along with three other teens, she lives locked away for months, not knowing what's happening in the outside world or who has survived. And are they safe in the bunker after all?

Generations in the future, a mysterious cult worships the very mountain where Icie's secret bunker was built. They never leave the mountain, they're ruled by a teenager...and they have surprising ties to Icie.

This high-stakes, original, and thought-provoking adventure from Sara Grant follows two unlikely heroes, hundreds of years apart, as they fight to survive.

This sounds strange and weird and interesting and impossible and connected and complicated and I want to read it. It was at ALA Midwinter but by the time I saw it in the bags of other bloggers and librarians I knew it was too late.

Me on This is What Happy Looks Like

Title: This is What Happy Looks Like
Author: Jennifer E. Smith
Release Date: April 2, 2013
Publisher: Poppy (Hachette imprint)

When teenage movie star Graham accidentally sends small-town girl Ellie an e-mail about his pet pig, the two seventeen-year-olds strike up a witty and unforgettable correspondence, discussing everything under the sun except their names or backgrounds. Then Graham finds out that Ellie's Maine hometown is the prefect location for his next film, and he decides to take their relationship from online to in person. But can a star as famous as Graham really start a relationship with an ordinary girl like Ellie? And why does Ellie want to avoid the media's spotlight at all costs?

This is What Happy Looks Like is a sweet, funny, and complicated few weeks in the lives of two teenagers whose first contact with each other is an e-mail send by mistake. This is an entertaining look at secrets and messages, at celebrity and fame, at hiding the truth as it's being exposed, and at what people's different versions of what makes them happy are.

The book starts with an intriguing premise, rather relevant now in the 21st century with so many lives circling around e-mail. If you were accidentally sent and e-mail from someone you didn't know, if the message was an innocuous as an owner's concern over a pet, would you reply back, not knowing where the message was going or who might read it? Would there only be that one exchange, or would it continue? What if that one encounter turned into something more, something bigger than either of you, something amazing and surprising? Would you see it as fate?

I was surprised as the tension in such a fun and light-hearted book. There was something building, something that neither Ellie nor Graham wanted exposed by photographers and reporters. Ellie is sweet, but she has her issues and her skeletons that she doesn't want anyone to see. Graham, by contrast, is constantly in the public eye as a teen actor, but he's not that typical of an actor. He has, to be blunt, human qualities, he hasn't been a famous Hollywood actor for that long, but he can't escape being a target and that puts a damper on his attempts to meet up with Ellie.

These days, as a celebrity constantly in the public eye, you can't escape the risk of being exposed, of being revealed, of having everything you struggle to hide shown to the world. People have public lives and private lives, but quite often with celebrities having a private life is seen as impossible, or even a joke. There are people out there who feel they deserve to know every aspect of celebrities' lives. I imagine it's a very trying and a very hard life to live.

If the e-mail Graham sent by mistake to Ellie was fate, then everything that happened afterwards was meant to be. The ups and downs, the laughter and tears, the scandals and the secrets. If it was fate, then they were meant to come face to face with it all, meant to struggle, and in the end it's up to them to work past it to see if they were meant to discover what happy really looks like to the both of them.

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