Book Review: The Calling by Kelley Armstrong

The Calling (Darkness Rising #2)

Kelley Armstrong

Review of The Gathering (Darkness Rising #1)

Publication Date: April 10th 2012

Publisher: HarperCollins

Pages: 326

Genre: Urban Fantasy, Young Adult

Maya and her friends--all of whom have supernatural powers--have been kidnapped after fleeing from a forest fire they suspect was deliberately set, and after a terrifying helicopter crash they find themselves pursued by evildoers in the Vancouver Island wilderness.

Compared to all the other Kelley Armstrong books I read, The Calling feels incredibly unique in the way they are finding themselves in the wilderness having to survive on top of the normal secret organization trying to find them trope. We are stuck with a small cast of characters this time around and we are surrounded by so many mysteries: What is going on? Who can they trust? What are they? Unlike the other half of this supernatural creature equation, these kids do not know what they are at all. Maya knows what she is, and Daniel soon comes to terms with what he is, and it's starting to become apparent that the others are something as well, but the other two terms they come across xana and sileni are foreign to them and they have no idea, other than one must be good at singing and swimming.

Rafe is lost pretty early in the book, which made me wonder about Daniel in this second book, but I really liked how Armstrong didn't do the obvious ploy of having Daniel move on in, trying to get Maya's heart, thus creating the obvious YA Supernatural Love Triangle. It's obvious to us as the readers and the others with them that Daniel likes Maya more than just friends, but Maya is oblivious and Daniel is content right now for her to stay that way, especially since it's quite obvious her heart is Rafe's. Of course she will have the opportunity for things to come out next book.

One other thing I really liked about this plot is the slight horror element to it (anyone who keeps up with my reviews knows I love YA horror) with the kids being picked off one by one, leading up the the major "attack" at the end. As the cast of characters gets smaller and smaller, we can only wonder how this will play out, and if maybe things can truly be brought down.

I also have realized that I should really go read that final book in Kelley's necromancer books, as now it's very obvious these books take place in the exact same world and there may be some crossover coming up.

I admit it, I held out hope that Rafe was still alive for the whole book, so I was just filled with happy when he appears out of pretty much no where to rejoin Maya, and I really liked how you can tell Maya's feelings for him have not changed (Sorry Daniel, but I like Rafe x Maya).

I also loved how Maya came into her shapeshifting, and the fact that just because some man is her bio-dad doesn't mean anything to her, because he isn't the one who raised her. I also really wonder how her adoptive parents are going to come into play, because I am also of the mind that they don't know anything about the organizations and were just sucked into all of this as well.

I really do think Armstrong is steadily improving as a writer, things were definitely less dramatic this time around in a good way, and more interesting as well. The world building is grabbing me even more as well, especially since she isn't using the normal everyday known paranormal types in this half of the series. If you enjoyed the first book, I highly recommend taking this one a whirl, and if you enjoyed her Necromancer series, I recommend picking up this as well as it is a continuation in the world.

4 Bookmarks

Stacking The Shelves [2]

Stacking The Shelves is a hosted by Tynga Reviews

Books From Netgalley

Circle of Silence by Carol M. Tanzman [goodreads | amazon]

Books I've Taken Out From Library

Slow Week So None

Books I've Bought

The Thirteenth Chime by Emma Michaels [goodreads | amazon]

The Thirteenth Child by Patricia C. Wrede [goodreads | amazon]

Poison Study by Maria V. Snyder [goodreads | amazon]

Books I've Won

Lies Beneath by Anne Greenwood Brown [goodreads | amazon]

Reviews That are Most Likely to be Posted This Week

The Calling by Kelley Armstrong [goodreads | amazon]

Cinder by Marissa Meyer [goodreads | amazon]

Blue is for Nightmares by Laurie Faria Stolarz [goodreads | amazon]

Scarlet by A.C. Gaughen [goodreads | amazon]

Plague by Michael Grant [goodreads | amazon]

Magic Under Glass by Jaclyn Dolamore [goodreads | amazon]

Update: A Study of YA Fairytales

Hello everyone! I just want to make a quick announcement since plans I've been making have just fallen into place.

During the week of Midsummer/Summer Solstice I plan to hold giveaway and talk about the popularity of fairytale adaptations in Young Adult. As you all know very well I love YA Fairytales and read them often (and review them often as well), and I love sharing them with the world, so it's only fitting that my first giveaway relates to that. I mean, my header is an imagined version of Thumbelina for goodness sakes!

It's also fitting to have my first giveaway around then because it will be right before my 3 month anniversary (which seems to be a big milestone in the Book Blog Community as it separates the consistent bloggers from the rest).

Now, the reason why I mention it now, a little more than a week ahead, is because I wanted to open the discussion part of the giveaway up for other blogs to take part in too, I'd love for the "Midsummer Night's Giveaway" to be more than just A Journey Through Pages. You can post up my giveaway (and I'd include following your blog as a requirement) or have your own, but mainly I'd love for you to post your own thoughts on YA Fairytale Adaptations or even just Fairytales in general and your experience with them (or about a specific one you love). My personal focus will be on the different styles and ways authors adapt the books (using the giveaway books as examples).

So if you'd like to contribute and participate, PLEASE contact me at journeythrupagesATymailDOTcom. Posts and Giveaway will be running from Sunday June 17th to Saturday June 23rd, I personally have 5 posts to spread in between then. Also just so you know, if you participate you can still enter the giveaway.

Now as for the giveaway, there will be five prizes:

Goose Girl AND Enna Burning by Shannon Hale
Wrecked ARC by Anna Davies
Toads and Diamonds by Heather Tomlinson
Wildwood Dancing by Juliet Marillier
Ice by Sarah Beth Durst

I tried to pick Fairytale Adaptations with very different writing/adaptation styles to them, and they are also all different fairytales (Goose Girl, Little Mermaid, Toads and Diamonds, Twelve Dancing Princesses/Frog Prince, East of the Sun West of the Moon).

Book Review: The Chaos by Rachel Ward

The Chaos (Numbers #2)

Rachel Ward

Review of Numbers (Numbers #1)

Publication Date: June 7th 2010

Publisher: Chicken House

Pages: 345

Genre: Paranormal, Horror, Young Adult

Adam sees “numbers” – when he looks in peoples’ eyes he can see their death-dates, just like his mum Jem used to. Adam has trouble dealing with his awful gift, and when he realises that everyone around him has the same series of numbers, he becomes deeply afraid of what might happen in 2025.

Desperate to find out what could be about to go wrong, Adam spends hours researching possibilities – war, nuclear accidents, killer viruses. He knows something big is coming, but what? And is there anything he can possibly do about it?

The Chaos returns with Jem's son, Adam, who as we discovered at the end of the last book can see the numbers as well. This time around, however, the stakes are much, much higher. When flooding causes Adam and Nan to move back to London all Adam can see anywhere is the numbers 01012027, and they are all violent deaths, so he knows there is something off. But when you have an ability no one would believe, how do you try and help save them all? And the ultimate question is whether or not one can change the numbers.

On top of Adam we have the character of Sarah who has had the same nightmare over and over again starring Adam of that New Years Day. Both of them know something is going to happen and want to change it.

Of course, who is going to listen to two troubled kids in a futuristic London where people are ID chipped? That feeling of helplessness and trying despite all of it is a major theme of this book, taking what happens in Numbers to the extreme.

What's also really interesting is how there seems to be the beginning of a dystopic government and I like seeing that. Usually with dystopic elements we just see them when they're already fleshed out and in place, so seeing a setting where there are only a few elements but you can tell they are heading that way is super interesting.

Once again Ward has written truly unique and interesting characters. With so many paranormal books having characters who are white, middle class, and have no problems with life other than vampires, werewolves or something to that extent, it is really nice to see that "hey, other people can have issues too". It also gives a lot more layers to the writing.

I did not see Nan exchanging numbers with Mia at all. With there being a young child on the cover of Infinity, I did start to wonder if Mia really was going to die or not, but I didn't see her gaining Nan's numbers coming at all and it shook me. I don't know why and of course that is probably going to be a major point of the third book. Was it Nan who did it, or Mia, or something else?

I also really wonder how the heck the government is going to take back the blatant lie about New Years that now everyone knows, somehow I doubt that Prime Minister will be in charge for much longer. I also hated how they kept trying to purge the internet of the information, it's just wrong and I had a lot of respect for everything Adam tried.

The Numbers is just a taste of everything at stake in The Chaos. There are similar themes of troubled kids and how no one listens to them, and how everyone is ready to jump at terrorism. There is an added theme in this book of a government turning Big Brother on us. I recommend this to people who love thriller books and want to read some unique characters

4.5 Bookmarks

Update: I Never Wanna Grow Up

Hello Followers new and old, how are you this fine, fine evening? (well evening here in the U.S.).

I have announcement to make! As of Saturday I will have graduated with a B.A. in Japanese and Interactive Media Studies (Graphic Arts Track). ねー知ってる？あたし日本語を話せる～（じつはこれがちょっとうそだ。。。）

Why am I telling you guys this? Because my I have actually been not at school this term, and my school is five hours away from my home and obviously the commencement is at the school...

This means that I am going to have to travel up to Chicago for a couple of days... without internet. My plan is to get some reviews set up ahead of time and schedule them to post while I'm gone, but it means that I won't be reading all too much this week as well so the pace is going to be the same as it has been all week (planning to bump it back up to two reviews some days when I can pick up the pace again).

This also means that the "new" memes I have been participating in will be posted up a bit late as well (Probably Sunday for Stacking The Shelves and depending on the question I might skip Feature and Follow again).

In other news, my brain apparently remembered that I am an artist (example of art in header) and I've been working on a faux book cover design of some idea of a Beauty and the Beast inspired Scifi novel (I blame all the Scifi books that have been capturing my interest lately and Cinder giving me the realization that FAIRYTALES IN SPACE should really happen.) I'm thinking of posting it up for the enjoyment of all when I'm done.

FINALLY, I have come to the conclusion that I am a lonely, sad soul on Goodreads and I want more friends so I can see what people are reading. If you click on any of my Goodread widgets on the sidebar it will link you to me. On the same strain, I'd love to hook up with some other blogs to do some kind of event/giveaway/challenge/interactive fun thing. My first month I had the Readathon, my second I did the Blog  Tour, and now on my third month I just feel so empty D:

Book Review: Deadly Little Secret by Laurie Faria Stolarz

Deadly Little Secret (Touch #1)

Laurie Faria Stolarz

Publication Date: December 23rd 2008

Publisher: Hyperion

Pages: 232

Genre: Urban Fantasy, Horror, Young Adult

Until three months ago, everything about sixteen-year-old Camelia's life had been fairly ordinary: decent grades; an okay relationship with her parents; and a pretty cool part-time job at an art studio downtown. But when Ben, the mysterious new guy, starts junior year at her high school, Camelia's life becomes far from ordinary.

Rumored to be somehow responsible for his ex-girlfriend's accidental death, Ben is immediately ostracized by everyone on campus. Except for Camelia. She's reluctant to believe he's trouble, even when her friends try to convince her otherwise. Instead she's inexplicably drawn to Ben...and to his touch. But soon, Camelia is receiving eerie phone calls and strange packages with threatening notes. Ben insists she is in danger, and that he can help – but can he be trusted? She knows he's hiding something...but he's not the only one with a secret.

Stalker story! Deadly Little Secret is a Contemporary Horror YA Book with a touch of Paranormal to shake things up a bit. It's also a bit of mystery that comes with the whodunit of a stalker story. What I really like about Deadly Little Secret is how we get to see into the stalker's mind at the same every few chapters, thus amping up the fear and the confusion about which boy in Camelia's life is the one stalking her.

I also like how Stolarz gets rid of the parents without actually getting rid of the parents. Often in books like this where the teen has to deal with some major problem on their own to really give us the "helpless" feeling, either a parental is dead or they don't trust their child. In this case all it is is that her mother is dealing with stress caused by her aunt, and it makes me wonder if maybe this aunt is going to be an important plot point in the future (since I see a lot of books in this series so it would not surprise me if this is all foreshadowing). And if it is foreshadowing I think this is an excellent way of intertwining techniques used in YA books.

Character wise, I really enjoyed the characters and thought they were well done. There was a wide variety of character types that looked like they might be a bit more than they seem at first. I felt Kimmie was a very good foil to Camelia and I liked how all the boys were different, but they all would do at least one thing that would make you suspicious about whether or not it was him stalking Camelia.

Ben plays an excellent hot/cold game, and if it wasn't for the fact there are future books where the supernatural becomes more prominent it seems, I'd say that his ability is purely an excuse to let him do that realistically, as the book could have done without his abilities and still been pretty solid as a story.

I was actually surprised it was Matt. Well part of me of course suspected as he was the ex with the attachment, but at the same time I was super suspicious of her boss, though I blame Kimmie for that since she kept going on that he liked Camelia.

This is an enjoyable story as a standalone, but it sounds like Camelia starts developing "Touch" abilities herself so at the same time this is a great book as an introduction to the major players in the series. I recommend this book to people who like YA Contemporary as it definitely has that feel to the prose.

4 Bookmarks

Waiting On Wednesday: Something Strange and Deadly

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event hosted by Breaking the Spine and spotlights upcoming novels we can't wait to read. This week’s choice is:

Something Strange and Deadly
Susan Dennard

Expected Publication Date: July 24th 2012

The year is 1876, and there’s something strange and deadly loose in Philadelphia…

Eleanor Fitt has a lot to worry about. Her brother has gone missing, her family has fallen on hard times, and her mother is determined to marry her off to any rich young man who walks by. But this is nothing compared to what she’s just read in the newspaper—

The Dead are rising in Philadelphia.

And then, in a frightening attack, a zombie delivers a letter to Eleanor…from her brother.

Whoever is controlling the Dead army has taken her brother as well. If Eleanor is going to find him, she’ll have to venture into the lab of the notorious Spirit-Hunters, who protect the city from supernatural forces. But as Eleanor spends more time with the Spirit-Hunters, including their maddeningly stubborn yet handsome inventor, Daniel, the situation becomes dire. And now, not only is her reputation on the line, but her very life may hang in the balance.

Why:
Historical Fiction + Zombies = Awesome. I love the whole idea of it, and I'm so glad I came across this book on goodreads, because I'm super excited for it to come out now. It also seems far from your ordinary Zombie tale, probably bordering more on Necromancer type activity. It also sounds like it might be a set-up for a series of historical, paranormal butt-kicking books.

Book Review: Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor

The Daughter of Smoke and Bone

Laini Taylor

Publication Date: September 27th 2011

Publisher: Little, Brown & Company

Pages: 417

Genre: Urban Fantasy, Young Adult

Around the world, black handprints are appearing on doorways, scorched there by winged strangers who have crept through a slit in the sky.

In a dark and dusty shop, a devil's supply of human teeth grown dangerously low.

And in the tangled lanes of Prague, a young art student is about to be caught up in a brutal otherwordly war. 

Meet Karou. She fills her sketchbooks with monsters that may or may not be real; she's prone to disappearing on mysterious "errands"; she speaks many languages—not all of them human; and her bright blue hair actually grows out of her head that color. Who is she? That is the question that haunts her, and she's about to find out.

When one of the strangers—beautiful, haunted Akiva—fixes his fire-colored eyes on her in an alley in Marrakesh, the result is blood and starlight, secrets unveiled, and a star-crossed love whose roots drink deep of a violent past. But will Karou live to regret learning the truth about herself?

This book has been teasing me for a while, so I finally picked it up and was sucked into this world immediately. Taylor has a style of prose that is hard to resist and Karou is a character who is unique and independent, although lonely. I love how it starts out with her feeling a bit at her lowest, and I love how all the characters are introduced.

The world and out of the ordinary characters are introduced first as being just sketches, but then we start to realize, that what Karou is drawing is one-hundred percent real to her. We then slip into her two worlds that seem part fairytale and part fantastical and all intriguing. The first third of the book is setting this world and this heroine up, and then the middle is where everything pretty much goes wrong, while sucking me in and not letting me put the book down, the end however is where Taylor's writing abilities truly shine. She fills in all the holes in such a poetic way that it feels like a puzzle coming together. It had been far from what I expected, but truly helps to make things feel a little less insta-love for the main two.

The only complaint I have, is that I wish we had had more of Karou in her everyday life, before things start going to hell, because reading that was possibly the most entertaining part of the book.

As you all probably know by now I am a sucker for amazing world building, and the way the two worlds fit together and the fight between the Seraphim and Chimaera are so perfectly a representation of angels versus devils. Yet everything is not clear cut good vs evil, I tend to agree with Karou that it seems as if the Chimaera are the one who got the short end of the stick in the war, but I can't disagree that Thiago isn't a war war-loving brute.

It really feels like things might be able to change, though, and that will keep me coming back for the next book when it comes out.

I do think, however, that there it was slightly overdramatic at the end and bumpy with the instant feeling of betrayal right after she declared everlasting love for Akiva. I also like the character of Karou much more than the character of Madrigal, who appears very flat in comparison. Seriously Karou is incredibly kickass, while Madrigal is just "meh".

This a unique book I'd recommend to many people, especially if they like out of the ordinary fantasy novels and quirky main characters. The prose is also very excellent, so I recommend because of that as well.

4.5 Bookmarks

Book Review: The Gathering by Kelley Armstrong

The Gathering

Kelley Armstrong

Publication Date: April 5th 2011

Publisher: HarperCollins

Pages: 359

Genre: Urban Fantasy, Young Adult

Sixteen-year-old Maya is just an ordinary teen in an ordinary town. Sure, she doesn't know much about her background - the only thing she really has to cling to is an odd paw-print birthmark on her hip - but she never really put much thought into who her parents were or how she ended up with her adopted parents in this tiny medical-research community onVancouver Island.

Until now.

Strange things have been happening in this claustrophobic town - from the mountain lions that have been approaching Maya to her best friend's hidden talent for "feeling" out people and situations, to the sexy new bad boy who makes Maya feel . . . . different. Combine that with a few unexplained deaths and a mystery involving Maya's biological parents and it's easy to suspect that this town might have more than its share of skeletons in its closet.

Now I have read Armstrong's earlier paranormal series and although I remember liking it a lot I never read past the second book and I couldn't remember why. I remember now, Armstrong is a fantastic writer and creates very unique paranormal romance approaches, but she tends towards the dramatic, and drama like that has just never been my thing. No fault of Armstrong, just a personal preference.

Now with that out of the way (explaining why this book may not be rated as high as it might deserve), I can start saying what Armstrong did to impress me. Although the book follows a very formulatic approach to Paranormal Romance, where man others do it with Vampires, Werewolves, Faeries or Mermaids, she, as she did with her earlier series, when and found something completely unusual and almost never written about. The Gathering deals with the idea of skinwalkers, a Native American belief, and she even puts her own twist on it on top of following the legends that existed already.

On top of that she goes a step even further and placed this supernatural world building inside the world building of a small town that has a pretty unusual creation and reason for being. There are mysteries popping up everywhere, and yet nothing is solved in this opening book, including the one which some might consider to be one of the most important.

The characters are interesting, especially the point of view character, though as of now the main love interest feels flat in comparison to even some minor characters whom I feel are carrying a lot more secrets that I'd love to get into (luckily I have the second book on me). I do think that Armstrong has increased in writing ability, because I feel a lot more drive to read the next book than I had ever in her Necromancer series.

I really like the way that paranormal and scifi seems to intersect in this series. It's part the supernatural/paranormal abilities and legends of the skin-walkers, and part the intervention of medical corporations doing tests and babies and then possibly the kids of the town. And of course Armstrong cannot resist a conspiracy being involved, but I love how this first book ends us wondering which conspiracies are connected and which are not, or even possibly don't exist.

Of course the romance is utterly too dramatic with Rafe being hurt and leaving Maya at the end, but I can forgive that since everything else in the story, especially the complicated world building, impressed me a lot.

If you like the Paranormal Romance formula, but tired of the same-old, same-old, this is a book you just must pick up and read. If you want to read some very original world building, and don't mind dramatic romances than I also highly recommend this book.

4 Bookmarks

Book Review: Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones

Howl's Moving Castle

Diana Wynne Jones

Publication Date: 1986

Publisher: HarperTrophy

Pages: 329

Genre: Fantasy

In which a witch bewitched the hatter's daughter--and then some...
Sophie lived in the town of Market Chipping, which was in Ingary, a land in which anything could happen, and often did - especially when the Witch of the Waste got her dander up. Which was often.  As her younger sisters set out to seek their fortunes Sophie stayed in her father's hat shop. Which proved most unadventurous, until the Witch of the Waste came in to buy a bonnet, but was not pleased. Which is why she turned Sophie into an old lady. Which was spiteful witchery. Now Sophie must seek her own fortune. Which means striking a bargain with the lecherous Wizard Howl. Which means entering his ever-moving castle, taming a blue fire-demon, and meeting the Witch of the Waste head-on. Which was more than Sophie bargained for...

I have been a fan of Diana Wynne Jones for such a long time, I cannot even remember when I picked up my first book by her (though I can remember that book was The Year of the Griffin). So when I saw a commercial years ago for Miyazaki's version of Howl's Moving Castle I almost fainted, as I was obsessed with him at the time, the same time I considered Wynne my ultimate favourite author. Of course at the time I hadn't actually gotten to reading Howl's Moving Castle (Wynne has written a lot of books), but because of the movie, the idea of reading it got planted in my head.

When I eventually first read the book I was blown away by just how good it was, just how much better it was than the movie (although I love that as well), to the point where the magic of the movie just doesn't hit me, because the book has it amplified. So when I had a chance to actually purchase a copy of the book, I jumped.

I began to reread this book this time around because none of the books I had on hand were good before bed. To begin with I love Wynne's prose style, it is the epitome of comfort read for me, and a joy to read out loud to others. Sophie as a character is very sensible, in fact she's too sensible, so sensible it gets her into trouble, because she lets herself get trapped into situations that she could easily get out of. She is the eldest sister so all lore tells her she shall make nothing of herself is she tries to make for her fortune, but then she is forced to do just that when the Witch of the West comes around for some reason and curses Sophie with an old woman's body.

As soon as she leaves she ends up with the wicked Howl and that's where things of course get good. Being an old woman gives Sophie a burst of confidence to show her true personality (instead of just being sensible) and she bullies her way into the hearts of the characters who live with Howl. These characters are also a joy. Having read the Chrestomanci books now, Howl reminds me a lot of flamboyant Christopher Chant, and the connection between worlds also seems like an echo of that idea.

The plot is also so layered and complicated, yet is told so simply that it boggles my mind and is a show to Wynne's genius.

One of the things that I love the most is that we are only for the ride of the book with Sophie, who thinks she has to take care of everything herself, so we do as well and as she doesn't expect the rest of the characters to know anything, neither do we, so in the end where it's revealed that Howl has known Sophie was not really an old woman, as a reader I was just as flabbergasted as poor Sophie. I also think that it made the attraction that develops between Sophie and Howl very natural as it has all to do with personalities and very little to do with looks.

We are also just as tricked as Sophie is by Ms. Angorian and the Witch of the Waste.

I do think a lot of the more layered and interesting parts of this book are lost in the movie, such as the Wales layer, and that's what I love most about this book.

If you loved the Miyazaki's movie, you need to read this book. It has the magic of the book multiplied by about a hundred. If you love prose in the style of Diana Wynne Jones or Patricia C. Wrede, you need to pick up this book because it is just in that style while being a masterful fantasy story

5 Bookmarks

Stacking The Shelves [1]

Stacking The Shelves is a hosted by Tynga Reviews

Since I'm always taking out a ton of books from the library and I always post a ton of reviews and read a ton in  general (11,000+ pages this month because I have no life), I have decided to start using this Meme as a bit of a summary post.

Books I've Taken Out From Library

Scarlet by A.C. Gaughen [goodreads | amazon]

Magic Under Glass by Jaclyn Dolamore [goodreads | amazon]

Plague by Michael Grant [goodreads | amazon]

White Cat by Holly Black [goodreads | amazon]

Deadly Little Lies by Laurie Faria Stolarz [goodreads | amazon]

Magic Under Stone by Jaclyn Dolamore [goodreads | amazon]

WWW: Wonder by Robert J. Sawyer [goodreads | amazon]

Reviews That are Most Likely to be Posted This Week

Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones [goodreads | amazon]

The Gathering by Kelley Armstrong [goodreads | amazon]

Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor [goodreads | amazon]

Deadly Little Secret by Laurie Faria Stolarz [goodreads | amazon]

The Chaos by Rachel Ward [goodreads | amazon]

The Calling by Kelley Armstrong [goodreads | amazon]

Cinder by Marissa Meyer [goodreads | amazon]

Book Review: Numbers by Rachel Ward

Numbers (Numbers #1)

Rachel Ward

Publication Date: November 8th 2008

Publisher: Chicken House

Pages: 323

Genre: Paranormal, Young Adult

Ever since she was child, Jem has kept a secret: Whenever she meets someone new, no matter who, as soon as she looks into their eyes, a number pops into her head. That number is a date: the date they will die. Burdened with such awful awareness, Jem avoids relationships. Until she meets Spider, another outsider, and takes a chance. The two plan a trip to the city. But while waiting to ride the Eye ferris wheel, Jem is terrified to see that all the other tourists in line flash the same number. Today's number. Today's date. Terrorists are going to attack London. Jem's world is about to explode!

To say that this book wasn't what I expected would be an understatement. Numbers was a book I had on my to-read list for a very long time, but just hadn't had a chance to pick up. I thought the idea was very interesting, but for some reason I had an expectation that it would be very similar to other paranormal romance books.

I was wrong, so very, very wrong.

First of all, the main character, Jem, is no where close to being your ordinary Paranormal YA heroine. She is a troublemaker stuck in the foster child system, living in the projects of London with absolutely no friends because of her ability. She is not described as beautiful at any time, and in fact is described as being quite ordinary, perhaps less. Jem is so human it almost hurts, yet it is refreshing and a delight to be in her head learning things.

Spider is the boy that she takes a chance on for the first time, because basically he won't leave her alone. He is not really that nice looking at all, has a lot of issues standing still, has a serious body odor issue, and is black in a very white U.K.. People expect these two to get in trouble just because of what they look like and this gives a very interesting spin to a story that is already unique.

Jem is haunted by her ability to know the date of a person's death, and it is why she can't get close to anyone, when she notices that a bunch of people have dates that say the day it is and runs with Spider from the scene, it sets off a chain of events that if they had been any other people wouldn't have happened.

What's great is that this story isn't just about her ability, but it's very much about Jem growing up and learning to open to people.

Something that also really surprised me was the ending. I knew that this book had a sequel and a third book coming out soon, so when the ending was an ending I was confused at first, and then as I read that she had gotten with child with Spider and she no longer had her power, but instead her son did, everything made sense. It also helped to explain why Jem's mother was possibly the way she was.

It really did have a satisfaction to it all, and I loved Ward's writing style so I'm really excited to see how Jem's son will deal with the power in the next book.

Pick up this book if you like unique characters, unique abilities and stories where things are questioned and loners learn to open up. The setting (paranormal everything aside) reminds me of the beginning of Kate Cann's Possessed as that also somewhat takes place in the Projects of London. So if you enjoyed that environment in that book that you will enjoy this book.

4.5 Bookmarks