Daughter of Smoke and Bone

Daughter of Smoke and Bone

By Laini Taylor

Little, Brown, 2011. 418 pgs. Teen fiction

Summary:

Karou is not exactly your average teenager. She goes to an art school in Prague, but her artwork, sketches of monsters that everyone assumes are just from her imagination, is actually a reflection of the only family she has ever known. Brimstone, a chimaera wishmonger who collects teeth, has raised her from the time she was a child, and while she sometimes resents that he won't explain who Karou is or what exactly he does with those teeth. Akivia is an angel soldier whose job pits him against the chimaera, but when his latest mission brings him into contact with Karou, who while seemingly human also has traits of the chimaera, he sets out to find out who she is. Their attraction is almost instantaneous, but their worlds have pitted them against each other.

Review:

This one started out a little slow for me, probably because I'm impatient with world-building and would have liked at least a few answers about what a chimaerae even is a little earlier in the book, but once Karou and Akivia run into each other, things picked up really quickly and the book was completely gripping from that point on. I couldn't wait to see how things would play out, and when the book ended, I definitely wasn't ready for it to be over and now am eagerly awaiting the sequel. One thing that did strike me partway through the novel was that I wasn't sure why the author decided to make this a teen novel. She could just as easily have made Karou a twenty-something college art student...and that might have made it slightly less awkward when she and Akivia are attracted to each other, since he's at least half a century old. (Okay, I know, it's been done in Twilight...and I suppose some people are okay with that, but to me, it's kinda odd.)

4 stars. With a fair amount of sex and sexual tension, some language and violence, and the thematic material (of a war between the seraphs and the chimaera), this isn't one for younger readers.

I listened to the audiobook and though the narrator was very engaging.

Embrace

Embrace
By Jessica Shirvington
Sourcebooks Fire, 2012. 374 pgs. Teen fiction (I read the ARC)

Violet Eden has long loved her friend Lincoln, but he sees her as a training partner for martial arts and running. Just as Violet is about to see if they can take things to the next level, he betrays her. Lincoln has known all along that Violet, on her seventeenth birthday, will find out that she, like him, is a Grigori, a half-angel, half-human charged with protecting humans from fallen angels. Violet just wants to have a normal life and she's not so sure she wants to embrace this new life--and she is sure that she no longer wants nothing to do with Lincoln. She starts spending a lot of time with Phoenix, a fallen angel, who, technically she should want nothing to do with but who draws her in so much that she can't stay away. However, even as romance is developing with Phoenix, she can't forget Lincoln--and she also can't quite walk away from the fact that the Grigori need her help as fallen angels are wreaking havoc on her town.

I think teen readers will love this one--it's got passion, it's got a love triangle, it's got all that paranormal goodness (for those who like that sort of thing). As an adult reader, I struggle a bit with the physical relationship between Violet and Phoenix. To explain why, I've got to give some SPOILERS!
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Okay, aside from the fact that I think there' s too much sex in teen books anyway (yes, I admit my personal bias), Phoenix is a fallen angel who manipulates Violet's emotions, making her like him more and Lincoln less. I would think that when a girl finds out the guy she slept with has manipulated her like that, particularly a girl who was sexually assaulted by a teacher in her past, that she would have some sort of anger/depression/extreme reaction...and she doesn't really. I don't really buy that. I don't know if it's because we as readers are supposed to think of Phoenix as the dreamy bad boy or what, but bad boys who cross into manipulation in order to further a physical relationship are NOT dreamy. And as an adult, I worry that maybe teens won't make that connection and realize how wrong it was for Phoenix to mess with Violet like that.
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End spoilers.

Overall, I can see it being popular with a lot of teens, and they'll be clamoring for the next book in the series.

3 stars. Has a sex scene (not detailed) as well as a brief discussion of how one character had envisioned his romantic seduction of another character. Some language as well.

Supernaturally

Supernaturally
By Kiersten White
HarperTeen, 2011. 342 pgs. Teen fiction

In the second book in the Paranormalcy series, Evie, living out the normal life she has always dreamed of, finds that it's not quite what she imagined. With her dreamy boyfriend Lend away at college, severely limiting their time together, Evie's actually missing her former employer, the International Paranormal Containment society. So when her former boss shows up asking her to be a contract employee, she does it, even though it means lying to Lend. Soon she's busy with mysterious paranormals who keep turning up and trying to control a rather frightening side of herself. She's also busy ruining her relationship with Lend, since she lies to him about numerous things, including intentionally neglecting to tell him that he's actually immortal. With her life spiraling out of control, Evie comes to realize that she's not exactly who she thought she was.

I have to say, I spent a large part of this book being frustrated with Evie--she's got the sweetest boyfriend and she keeps lying to him, which didn't exactly make me like her. I also though the book's resolution came way too quickly and easily. That said, I think fans of the series will really enjoy it. It is a fun book, and the twist on the paranormals still makes it a refreshing contrast to a lot of paranormal literature.

3.5 stars. Clean read.

I Love Him to Pieces

I Love Him to Pieces
By Evonne Tsang
Graphic Universe, 2011. 123 pgs. Graphic Novel

When jock Dicey and nerd Jack get paired up for a science project, mutual attraction flares. However, when they go out on their first date, they find themselves in the middle of a zombie outbreak, and they have to figure out how to survive.

This graphic novel is a quick read, and it's a lot of fun. Dicey is a funny, strong female character, while Jack is sweet and dorky and totally loveable. It was fun to watch their developing romance. This is the first book in a series, and I would definitely read the next installment.

3 stars.

Texas Gothic

Texas Gothic
By Rosemary Clement-Moore
Delacorte Press, 2011. 406 pgs. Teen fiction

Amy Goodnight has always tried to hide the fact that her family has magical abilities, something that isn't easy to do when all the rest of them seem content to tell the whole world exactly what they can do. However, when Amy and her sister Phin are house-sitting for their aunt, things start spiraling out of control, and Amy can't stay away from the magic. First, handsome, irritating, incredibly frustrating next door neighbor Ben McCulloch, whose ranch is being haunted (at least according to rumors) by a mad monk, blames Amy and her family for causing the rumors and all the trouble that comes with it. Then Amy finds that there is indeed a ghost (or maybe more than one), since he starts paying her special visits. Even as she's trying to deny what her talents are, people are getting hurt, and Amy can't help but get involved.

This book was fun from start to finish. Amy is one of those kick-butt spunky narrators that I love, Ben is a cute cowboy, and the other quirky supporting characters are amusing. I sometimes got bogged down in Phin's descriptions of the science behind the paranormal, but that's my only quibble with the book. There's some language and some pretty heavy making out.

4 stars.