Me on The Friday Society

Title: The Friday Society
Author: Adrienne Kress
Release Date: December 6, 2012
Publisher: Dial (Penguin imprint)

At the turn of the century in London, there are three rather intelligent and talented young women who are assistants to rather powerful men: Cora, a lord's lab assistant, Nellie, a magician's assistant, and Michiko, a Japanese fighting assistant. The girls' lives become inexorably intertwined after a chance meeting at a ball that ends with the discovery of a murdered mystery man. It's up to these three, in their own charming but bold way, to solve the murder, and the crimes they believe are connected to it, without drawing any unwanted attention to themselves. Or they could very well be the next victims.

The Friday Society is adventurous and mysterious, a story of three very unconventional girls who get mixed up in a few spots of danger and decide, being unconventional and all, to solve the mystery all on their own. It's a rather entertaining and exciting historical girls power book, light and humourous but with some very serious consequences if they happen to fail.

All three girls are relatively similar, young female assistants to men with some amount of power or notoriety or authority, but they do have their differences. Cora is rather pragmatic, rather serious, rather head-strong and inventive, an orphan-turned-lord's lab assistant. Nellie is buckets of fun and laughs with hints of intrigue and surprise, an assistant to a rather famous magician. Michiko is possibly the most unconventional of the three, a Japanese girl who dared to defy convention to become a female samurai, but she's trapped as an assistant to a fight master she has no respect for. All three girls had their moments of danger and fun, all three knew the risks and were willing to take them as they dug deeper into the mystery plaguing London. I did wish for some more Japanese terms and phrases from Michiko in addition to her broken English, though. What characters from foreign settings add is a hint of the other world, and words from that world can make it seem magical.

When 'steampunk' is added to the list of genres and sub-genres a book is called, I can be slightly wary. I think it's because my internal view of steampunk is 'hard' steampunk: lots of gears and cogs and clockwork, lots of machines run by steam, lots of goggles made of copper or brass with a wide leather strap, and just a hit of coal dust in the air. This book certainly has the flair of a steampunk book, the wildly creative inventions, the mechanical and the mystery, the classic late 1800's/early 1900's London setting, and the sudden explosion bound to occur in a secret home laboratory.

Being that the girls are rather unconventional, they speak in a rather unconventional way. In a modern way, to be honest. I imagine that there will be some who will take issue with the historical accuracy of the voices, who don't like the modern voice, who feel that anachronisms can impact enjoyment and fictional realism. But there is another side to this coin, and that is the aforementioned unconventionality. Cora is hugely intelligent, Nellie is loud and boisterous, and Michiko is a girl who dared to break into the male world of being a samurai in Japan. Such unconventional heroines would have such unconventional voices. Also, modern voices in a historical setting could make the book sound more approachable to readers, add a dash of familiarity. I'll admit that I found it rather cheeky of the author to write the book that way, it does have a hint here and there of a modern flare that might scare away readers looking for historical accuracy, but it's fiction, and it's steampunk, and the whole book is and adventure into the mysterious.

Fun, exciting, complicated, and rather adventurous. Those looking for an intelligent and gutsy girls adventure book set in turn of the century London would certainly enjoy this. I'm curious if there will be more to come for the girls. Anything could happen, who knows what's lurking in London, hiding in the shadows and the alleyways, waiting for them to discover it. Or to trip over it.

(I received an advance copy to review from Penguin Canada.)

Me on Waiting on Wednesday (105)

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

Title: MILA 2.0
Author: Debra Driza
Release Date: March 12, 2013
Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books (HarperCollins imprint)

From Goodreads:

Mila 2.0 is the first book in an electrifying sci-fi thriller series about a teenage girl who discovers that she is an experiment in artificial intelligence.

Mila was never meant to learn the truth about her identity. She was a girl living with her mother in a small Minnesota town. She was supposed to forget her past —that she was built in a secret computer science lab and programmed to do things real people would never do.

Now she has no choice but to run—from the dangerous operatives who want her terminated because she knows too much and from a mysterious group that wants to capture her alive and unlock her advanced technology. However, what Mila’s becoming is beyond anyone’s imagination, including her own, and it just might save her life.

Mila 2.0 is Debra Driza’s bold debut and the first book in a Bourne Identity–style trilogy that combines heart-pounding action with a riveting exploration of what it really means to be human. Fans of I Am Number Four will love Mila for who she is and what she longs to be—and a cliffhanger ending will leave them breathlessly awaiting the sequel.

I want this. That is all. ;) It sort of reminds me a little of Glitch, but I hope it won't be slightly paranormal-ish. All I want is straight sci-fi thriller. No fuss, no muss, lots of advanced tech and maybe some artificial intelligence and creepy futuristic machine goodness.

Me on Darkwater

Title: Darkwater
Author: Catherine Fisher
Release Date: September 27, 2012
Publisher: Dial Books for Young Readers (Penguin imprint)

Sarah would give anything to regain the power and wealth her family lost, so she makes a deal with Azrael, Lord of Darkwater Hall. He gives her a chance to accomplish her objective, providing the time and the means, all in exchange for her soul. Fast-forward one hundred years to Tom, a young boy who dreams of going to Darkwater Hall School but doesn't believe he has the talent. Until he meets the new professor, Azrael, who offers him a bargain. Will Sarah somehow be able to stop Tom from making the same mistakes she did?

Darkwater is rather dark and mysterious, an exploration into the price of knowledge and the value of the soul. The book is two stories about two characters, two lessons that could lead to the same horrible outcome.

Both Sarah and Tom have their similarities, but they're not the same character. Sarah's on a mission to restore her family's former glory and Tom wants to find a place of his own in his small town and move on from the bullies while figuring out the odd situation his brother is in. Unfortunately for the book, I was far more interested in Sarah's story than Tom's.

Perhaps the biggest question in the book is who is Azrael. No one really knows what he's after. He's looking for someone to help him find something. That something is possibly scientific and almost definitely impossible, but that doesn't stop him. Anything can be discovered, given enough time.

The book takes place in two time periods giving it both a historical feel and a present day feel. Again, since I preferred Sarah over Tom, I preferred the historical setting more, but the present day setting felt more complicated. This is possibly due to every important character being there: Sarah, Tom, Tom's brother, and Azrael.

What is the price of knowledge and power? What must be sacrificed to have one of the other, or both? Would you sacrifice your own soul?

(I received a finished copy from Penguin Canada.)

Me on This Week's Book Week (27)

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

Hooray for recent giveaway winners Kathy and Melissa! :) Aren't giveaways fun? And they're Canadian, which is awesome. They've also gotten back to me, so there won't be any new winner pickings.

I read 3 books this week. I know, I'm surprised, too. Starling, Rage Within, and Live Through This. Urban fantasy with Norse mythology and a prophecy that'll bring about the Ragnarok, the end of the world. Somewhat post-apocalyptic second book in a series taking place in Vancouver after it was ripped apart by an earthquake and overrun by creepy and violent former people. Contemporary sexual abuse issues book. I'm all over the place this week.

There are still some books I have to read before I can start the January releases I have, but there's a war in my head over reading the books that I've had for a while and reading the books I want to read. Cause there's one I really want to read, but it's a 2013 debut and I want to put it towards the Debut Author Challenge. I think I'll be spending today (Saturday) making up my list for the DAC. :) Oh, debut authors, you've got that wonderful new car smell that just won't go away.

And I was able to keep up with NaNo. Still taking Saturdays off, though. I need time to decompress.

Received to review:
Ink by Amanda Sun (from Harlequin) (I flipped out so much when this showed up on Monday. It was like Monday was trying to prove it's not always a jerk. Many hugs to Amanda for asking Harlequin to send me an ARC. I really want to read this. 2013 YA debut, Canadian author, set in Japan, it's got ink drawings and dark magical bits. The second it's January, though, I'm pulling it out of its hiding place.)
Crash by Lisa McMann (from Simon & Schuster Canada) (Yay for more 2013 releases.)

Me on Waiting on Wednesday (104)

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

Title: Icons
Author: Margaret Stohl
Release Date: May 7, 2013
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

From Goodreads:

Your heart beats only with their permission.

Everything changed on The Day. The day the windows shattered. The day the power stopped. The day Dol's family dropped dead. The day Earth lost a war it didn't know it was fighting.

Since then, Dol has lived a simple life in the countryside -- safe from the shadow of the Icon and its terrifying power. Hiding from the one truth she can't avoid.

She's different. She survived. Why?

When Dol and her best friend, Ro, are captured and taken to the Embassy, off the coast of the sprawling metropolis once known as the City of Angels, they find only more questions. While Ro and fellow hostage Tima rage against their captors, Dol finds herself drawn to Lucas, the Ambassador's privileged son. But the four teens are more alike than they might think, and the timing of their meeting isn't a coincidence. It's a conspiracy.

Within the Icon's reach, Dol, Ro, Tima, and Lucas discover that their uncontrollable emotions -- which they've always thought to be their greatest weaknesses -- may actually be their greatest strengths.

Bestselling author Margaret Stohl delivers the first book in a heart-pounding series set in a haunting new world where four teens must piece together the mysteries of their pasts -- in order to save the future.

It'll be interesting to see how this goes with Margie writing solo, but it sounds pretty good. :) what do you guys think?