Me on The Unbound

Title: The Unbound
Author: Victoria Schwab
Release Date: January 28, 2014
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion

Last summer, Mackenzie Bishop, a Keeper tasked with stopping violent Histories from escaping the Archive, almost lost her life to one. Now, as she starts her junior year at Hyde School, she's struggling to get her life back. But moving on isn't easy -- not when her dreams are haunted by what happened. She knows the past is past, knows it cannot hurt her, but it feels so real, and when her nightmares begin to creep into her waking hours, she starts to wonder if she's really safe. Meanwhile, people are vanishing without a trace, and the only thing they seem to have in common is Mackenzie. She's sure the Archive knows more than they are letting on, but before she can prove it, she becomes the prime suspect. And unless Mac can track down the real culprit, she'll lose everything, not only her role as Keeper, but her memories, and even her life. Can Mackenzie untangle the mystery before she herself unravels?

The Unbound is dark and dangerous, even more so than its predecessor. All the consequences and changes that came out of the first book are here, inescapable and unavoidable. Mac has so much more to deal with, and if she's not careful, it'll overwhelm her.

This time around, everything about and around Mac is amplified. The fears, the post-traumatic stress disorder stemming from her previous encounter with Owen, the nightmares she tries to hide. The lies she tries to tell. The monsters that come after her. They're harder to keep control of now, harder to hide, and it isn't long until they're slipping through her fingers, creeping out into the world for everyone to see. Like her parents. But she still deflects, pushing everything off the table, out of sight, so she can deal with it on her own later. Because she doesn't need help. Because she can do it on her own. Because it's, in her eyes, her fault, and only she can fix it. If she doesn't crumble under the weight of the world first.

Death, after death, life after death. What happens to us after we die? Where do we go? Are we still there, hovering, watching? Do we start our lives over because of the mistakes we made? Are we reborn? Or is it nothing at all? Are we just filed away in a box, in memories, until we're forgotten? Is this why we fear death? In life, we can guess at what will happen next, be right a good amount of the time. But in death, no one knows what happens next. And not knowing what might happen next? Terrifying.

The Archive isn't what Mac thought it was anymore. Not after Owen. Not after Agatha. Her world has flipped on itself, but then what comes next? Rebellion or rolling with the punches? Mac has a very strong sense of right and wrong, the strongest I've come across. She won't back down from doing what she thinks is right, from searching for the answers she's looking for. It does make her a little reckless, though.

This book is a rollercoaster of mystery and pain, of survival and fear and nightmares. Of tension and trust and truths. I'm satisfied with the ending, but if there ever is a third book I'll be sure to read it.

(I purchased a copy of this book.)

Me on This Week's Book Week (141)

This Week's Book Week is rather similar to Stacking the Shelves hosted by Tynga's Reviews only with far more rambling and a less witty title. ;)

So rainy. *floats away in tiny rowboat* We are proof that winter in Canada doesn't always mean pounded with snow. It barely snowed this winter. There was one day in December when I went out without a coat, it was that warm.

I see that Marvel's coming out with a new comic series featuring an all-female Avengers team called the A-Force. With a number of people in my Twitter feed rather excited about this (comic fans and book fans), I checked it out. It sounds interesting, so I'm thinking I'll give the first few issues a read when it starts up.

Reviews going up next week will feature The Unbound by Victoria Schwab (Tuesday) and All Fall Down by Ally Carter (Friday). :)

Bought/borrowed/received:
The Sin Eater's Daughter by Melinda Salisbury (ARC from Nafiza at The Book Wars)
None of the Above by I.W. Gregorio (ARC from HarperCollins Canada)
Fragile Bones: Harrison & Anna by Lorna Schultz Nicholson (e-galley from Clockwise Press through NetGalley) (I rather like the sound of this book.)

Me on Monstrous

Title: Monstrous
Author: MarcyKate Connolly
Release Date: February 10, 2015
Publisher: HarperCollins Children's Books

The city of Bryre suffers under the magic of an evil wizard. Because of his curse, girls sicken and disappear without a trace, and Bryre's inhabitants live in fear. No one is allowed outside after dark. Yet night is the only time that Kymera can enter this dangerous city, for she must not be seen by humans. Her father says they would not understand her wings, the bolts in her neck, or her spiky tail—they would kill her. They would not understand that she was created for a purpose: to rescue the girls of Bryre. Despite her caution, a boy named Ren sees Kym and begins to leave a perfect red rose for her every evening. As they become friends, Kym learns that Ren knows about the missing girls, the wizard, and the evil magic that haunts Bryre. And what he knows will change Kym's life.

Monstrous is a sweet and fun, and as time goes on, rather sinister, story of magic and science. A tale of monsters and young girls, of good and evil and how they are told apart. A tale about finding our place in the world, whether we exist with a purpose in mind or we discover it along the way.

Kymera is unique. Clever and strong, inquisitive about the world around her because she only knows, only remembers, so much beyond what her father has told her. Because of that, she's filled with a sweet child-like innocence. What reason would she have to question her father? He's been nothing but kind, love. He brought her back to life so the two of them could save the young girls of Bryre. They just want to help. As the book goes on, her honest curiosity battles against her father's control over her. He tells her that no one would understand her, that people would be afraid of her. But she's not sure if that's true, so she's caught between the worlds that push her down and her thoughts of meeting new people. Perhaps making a friend.

But what is Kym, with her human brain and cat eyes and wings and a barbed tail? Is she still human or is she a monster? Can monsters with claws and wings be heroes, saving young girls from certain death? Can monsters grow roses? Is it what's on the inside or only what's on the outside? Kym looks dangerous, she looks like a terrible monster, so she must be dangerous, yes? What this book touches on is how we define who/what is a monster and who/what isn't and how problematic it is to judge people based on their appearances. What will help us determine the truth is knowledge, time, and our own instincts.

The world-building here is so much fun. It's a mixture of fairy tales, fables, and Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. Magic and monsters and a girl brought back to life made up of parts that aren't originally hers. Kym navigates the world as the reader does, learning more and more about what evil plagues Bryre and what must be done in order to save it.

I found this to be a magical story, a sweet tale about a girl who isn't like other girls, one made up of good intentions and a strong need to help and protect others. We can't always be afraid of those who look like monsters, with scaly wings and sharp fangs and long tails, because they could be the bravest and most caring of all.

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

Me on Waiting on Wednesday (212)

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

Title: Seriously Wicked
Author: Tina Connolly
Release Date: May 5, 2015
Publisher: Tor Teen

From Goodreads:

The only thing worse than being a witch is living with one.

Camellia's adopted mother wants Cam to grow up to be just like her. Problem is, Mom's a seriously wicked witch.

Cam's used to stopping the witch's crazy schemes for world domination. But when the witch summons a demon, he gets loose—and into Devon, the cute new boy at school.

Now Cam's suddenly got bigger problems than passing Algebra. Her friends are getting zombiefied. Their dragon is tired of hiding in the RV garage. For being a shy boy-band boy, Devon is sure kissing a bunch of girls. And a phoenix hidden in the school is going to explode on the night of the Halloween Dance.

To stop the demon before he destroys Devon's soul, Cam might have to try a spell of her own. But if she's willing to work spells like the witch...will that mean she's wicked too?

This sounds good. The dynamic between Camellia and her mother is going to be interesting, what with her mother being kind of evil and all. I hope this'll be fun to read. :)

Me on Red Queen

Title: Red Queen
Author: Victoria Aveyard
Release Date: February 10, 2015
Publisher: HarperTeen

Mare Barrow's world is divided by blood--those with common, Red blood serve the Silver-blooded elite, who are gifted with superhuman abilities. Mare is a Red, scraping by as a thief in a poor, rural village, until a twist of fate throws her in front of the Silver court. Before the king, princes, and all the nobles, she discovers she has an ability of her own. To cover up this impossibility, the king forces her to play the role of a lost Silver princess and betroths her to one of his own sons. As Mare is drawn further into the Silver world, she risks everything and uses her new position to help the Scarlet Guard--a growing Red rebellion--even as her heart tugs her in an impossible direction. One wrong move can lead to her death, but in the dangerous game she plays, the only certainty is betrayal.

Red Queen is dark, deadly, and extremely deceptive. A world of terror controlled by the powerful elite and the common folk who suffer for their opulence. They are tired of suffering. This is the start of a new trilogy with some rather familiar elements.

Mare is quick and smart, she steals what she can in order for her and her family to survive. Her attitude is a bitter and spiteful one at the beginning. She hates the Silvers, the luxuries they have because of their blood and their abilities. The divide between them and the Reds. She holds no illusions about society. It's a horrible place, dark and crumbling. She's likely to die young, off on a battlefield somewhere. Unless she listens. Unless she capitulates to what the Silvers want from her once they discover something rather surprising about her. But only for as long as they need her.

I like her attitude, she's bitter and hard, there isn't just one chip off her shoulder but hundreds, but I wonder if she also needed to be snide and sarcastic. It's almost common now for a heroine in a dystopian YA series to wield sarcasm like a sword, slashing her enemies with quick one-liners. Perhaps it's because it brings levity to a dark situation, being able to laugh when all you want to do is cry. It shows she's not an unemotional shell of a person. That she's still defiant. But defiant doesn't always equal sarcastic.

The class structure thrives in this world. The elite versus the common man, those with inhuman powers exerting their will over those without. The lower classes are kept complacent with blood sport tournaments, treated like simpletons, while their children are sent off to fight a war that should've ended decades ago. The pale when they blush Silver against the Reds and the flush of blood in their cheeks. It makes me think of the Europeans, when they came to the New World and took over the Native Americans and their land. How such horrible things happened then, happen now, and may very well continue to happen.

This book feels like a cross between The Selection and Shatter Me. Royal pageantry and decadence for some and horrible poverty for others, a horrible ruler, and inhuman abilities. Mare is interesting, different, but everything else felt so familiar. A girl plucked from the slums, a prince with honour who doesn't want to be a pawn, a rising rebellion born from those in the lower classes who will not be slaves any longer. At the beginning I was torn between liking it for its darkness and thrills and not liking it because it was similar to books I've read previously. When I hit the halfway point I started to like it more, it twisted away from where I thought it was going to go, and then the ending rather surprised me. I'll probably read the next two books as I'm curious about what will happen next, but I don't think I'm as eager or impatient as others are.

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