ARC Book Review: Nihal of the Land of the Wind by Licia Troisi

Nihal of the Land of the Wind (Chronicles of the Overworld #1)

Licia Troisi

ARC Disclaimer: I was not paid in any way by the publishers to review this book favourably. The review is my own honest opinion (Whether or not it is agreed with).

English Ver. Publication Date: May 27th 2014

English Ver. Publisher: Mondadori

Pages: 230

Genre: Fantasy, Middle-Grade?

An international bestseller from an extraordinary storyteller—get ready for Nihal and her world

Nihal lives in one of the many towers of the Land of the Wind. There is nobody like her in the Overworld: big violet eyes, pointed ears, and blue hair. She is an expert in swordplay and the leader of a handful of friends that includes Sennar the wizard. She has no parents; brought up by an armorer and a sorceress, Nihal seems to be from nowhere.

Things suddenly change when the Tyrant takes charge. Nihal finds herself forced to take action when she is faced with the most difficult mission a girl her age could imagine.

Fierce, strong, and armed with her black crystal sword, Nihal sets out to become a real warrior. Readers will be riveted as she forges her powerful path of resistance.

Thanks to Netgalley and Open Road Intergrated Media for allowing me to read this.

Nihal of the Land of the Wind was originally written in Italian and published and Italy (as Nihal della terra del vento). This makes for a very interesting problem while reviewing, especially when it comes to critiques since it's not just the original author's writing, but also how well the translator was able to mimic the style of the author in another language. Sometimes the prose ends up becoming stilted and unnatural in the new language and it's no fault of the original story.

On the other hand, the style of writing may be different in the original country as well, it might just not translate well at all and there's nothing anyone can do about that.

I thought, when I started this book, that that was the main issue I was facing. The prose was indeed stilted and dialogue often felt unnatural, but I soon realized that I had many issues with the actual story itself.

Now, before I say anything else, I did finish this book. I almost shut it many times, but I felt obligated to finish it and give my review.

My main problems all revolve around the main character, Nihal. Pretty much for the entire book Nihal acted like a spoiled seven year old. Of course it didn't feel like the other characters handled her very well either (seriously that first fight with Senner? That was totally unfair to her, he used magic in a fight and everyone knew that was implicitedly not the point, but everyone told her it was her own fault, including her father, what?).

The biggest example of this is the... romance? of the story. Basically she decides at a young age that she's in love with the love of her aunt's life and after discovering that he and her aunt are in love, decides to WAIT FOR HIM TO FALL OUT OF LOVE WITH THE AUNT WHO HAS TAKEN CARE OF HER SO HE CAN FALL IN LOVE WITH NIHAL INSTEAD. Seriously? Who acts like that?

Her behavior becomes more and more abhorrent as the book continues. I have never had such a hard time trying to connect with a character as I did with Nihal. By the second half of the book, she was being utterly cruel to everyone who took an interest in her.

On top of her attitude is the fact that she is written as a "God-Character". I guess I could say she's a Mary Sue instead, but her traits aren't quite "Mary-Sue" enough in my opinion and instead she fits into that mold for role play characters where the character can do absolutely anything and always wins.

Somehow Nihal is the strongest fighter ever, despite not having any official training for the longest time and then when she does it's like once a month for a couple of years. She defeats ten warriors in a row who have all had serious weapons training. She's oh so talented and can overcome anything that's her way.

There is also an issue with the writing being contradictory with itself. Within one page Fen is described as being very predictable with his moves and then it goes on to say how enjoyable the fight was because Fen was unpredictable. Another time Nihal wakes up sees it's raining and the day is ruined and terrible, then a few pages later Nihal is looking at the rain outside and waxing about how much she loves it because it cleans the world.

Okay. I do have some praise now.

I really like the world that has been created here for the most part. I like the idea of the Tyrant and the different kingdoms, and I like their names. I like that there is an Overworld and an Underworld, I want to learn more about this.

I also enjoy Senner. Except for a bit in the very beginning where he pretty much makes a fool out of Nihal for selfish reasons, I liked him as a character and as a point of view. If the writing improves I'd be able to keep reading the series if he was the main character instead of Nihal.

"I saw my father die. And then Fen. I loved him, Ido. He was my only tie to this world. He was my reason for living." What does this make YOUR BEST FRIEND!? And uh... YOUR AUNT? ALL YOU CARE ABOUT IT A MAN WHO YOU WERE ONLY SORTA CLOSE TO WHO YOU DECIDED YOU WERE IN LOVE WITH AT LIKE WHAT THIRTEEN? Senner saved your goddamn life!

This is one of many quotes that made me want to murder Nihal.

Here's another one:

"Nihal looked the sorceress in the eyes. "You've always been a guide for me, Soana, but the ties we had are broken and I don't think we can repair them. But know that I still love you.""

...All Soana did to deserve that rather childish declaration of never trusting her ever again, was not being able to save Nihal's adopted father (not Soana's fault, she wasn't even there) and revealing that she had saved Nihal as a baby after Nihal's entire people were slaughtered. Maybe I'm missing something here, but this doesn't seem enough to hold a grudge FOREVER with someone who helped raise you and was a teacher for so long!

Just... why? So dramatic...

When Ido came along, I started to have hope that he could knock sense into Nihal and that maybe she'd have some kind of character growth making the story actually a worthwhile thing, but her respect for him lasted about two weeks before she started being a spoiled brat, ignoring everything he said, crying about it afterwards (when she got in trouble) saying she'll never do it again, before well... doing it again. Was Troisi trying to make Nihal a character that we would want to root for at all? I'm usually really flexible with characters, I don't dislike them easily, but with every chapter I grew to dislike Nihal more and more.

I.. can't say that do recommend this book to many people. I understand that it was pretty popular in Italy? Maybe it's much better written in the Italian version. Maybe for younger crowds who haven't read hundreds of Young Adult books like I have won't notice the faults that I did? The problem is that as it is now I wouldn't have even made it past the first few chapters reading it for free on fictionpress or some other online site. 

1.5 Bookmarks

Book Review: Enchanted by Alethea Kontis

Enchanted (Woodcutter Sisters #1)

Alethea Kontis

Publication Date: May 8th 2012

Publisher: Harcourt Children's Books

Pages: 308

Genre: Fairytale, Fantasy, Young Adult

It isn't easy being the rather overlooked and unhappy youngest sibling to sisters named for the other six days of the week. Sunday’s only comfort is writing stories, although what she writes has a terrible tendency to come true.

When Sunday meets an enchanted frog who asks about her stories, the two become friends. Soon that friendship deepens into something magical. One night Sunday kisses her frog goodbye and leaves, not realizing that her love has transformed him back into Rumbold, the crown prince of Arilland—and a man Sunday’s family despises.

The prince returns to his castle, intent on making Sunday fall in love with him as the man he is, not the frog he was. But Sunday is not so easy to woo. How can she feel such a strange, strong attraction for this prince she barely knows? And what twisted secrets lie hidden in his past - and hers?

I have a hard time resisting a fairytale adaptation, this is a well known fact.

It's even harder for me to resist when more than one fairytale is woven into a story, as is the case with Enchanted. This book sets up as a retelling of the "Frog Prince" with the mention of a rhyme (the sisters' names) and the adventurous eldest brother, Jack, who is the hero of so many tales, but as since disappeared (assumed dead).

But, where the "Frog Prince" ends is where the real story begins.

What I really enjoyed about this tale the most is how simple and one-dimensional things started, only to watch the characters and plot develop and become something deeper, something more. Everything happened in this story for a reason, every scene, every character trait. I am impressed by how non-wasteful the writing is.

The characters are all unique, enjoyable and memorable. I had no trouble telling them apart while reading despite the amount of them (7 Sisters, 2 Brothers, Parents, Godmothers, Royalty...).

A couple of less than perfect things: Rumbold, our male protagonist, does seem to be quite a bit more developed than Sunday. I wish she had a bit more to her, but then again she's rather young and he's been through quite a bit more. The other thing is the romance. The fact that they fell in love over more than just one fairytale helped, but sometimes I felt like the two of them were a bit awkward about their reactions, especially Sunday.

Saturday is the main character of the next book right? Right? I really enjoyed Saturday and I think I read somewhere that the sequel starred her, and the ending certainly alluded to it. I kind of love the idea that those with a fate they have to accomplish can't get hurt (like Rumbold and now Saturday). It makes for an interesting plot device.

I also hope sometime that a prequel for Thursday will be written, because I've very curious about her character.

The sheer amount of fairytales and rhymes featured in this book is amazing. We have Frog Prince and Cinderella as the main plot pieces. What I think is a take on Bluebeard for our antagonist. The weekday song, the number child song and all the Jack tales for characterization. Jack and the Beanstalk for our climax. Rapunzel features twice (the orphan girl naming herself Rampion and the tower that eventually became the little old lady that lives in a show) and I'm sure I've missed a couple other ones. It's amazing how seamlessly these were woven together.

I highly recommend this to lovers of fairytale adaptations. I also recommend it to lovers of good world building and layered storytelling. A warning I have is not to stop if things are too fluffy and simplistic at first, it gets complex, I swear.

4 Bookmarks

Feature and Follow Fridays: Book Persuasion

It's been a long, long time since my last meme (laughs). But as this was always one of my favourites and it's still around, I thought I'd get back in on it.

Question of the Week: Have you ever convinced someone to read a book, a series, or a whole genre? What book(s) and who was it? Did they like it?

Most of the people I talk with don't read as much as me, including my family, so I really don't get chances to recommend books very often. (This is why I started reviewing books in the first place, in fact!).

There have been a few cases. I believe I recommended the Black Jewels series by Anne Bishop to a friend who got so obsessed with it, she was getting the newer books before I was. I also influenced a few friends to read A Song of Ice and Fire (right before the first season started and it exploded in popularity).

What I'm most proud of however is that I influenced my adopted younger sister to start reading in the first place.

My younger sister didn't live with my family until she was about ten years old. I'd known her since she was in diapers and a series of events landed my mom having guardianship over her and her moving in. Before she had moved in, she never read really at all, and even proclaimed to not like it very much, unlike myself who was always reading.

We wanted to spend more time together, however. I worked closing at my part-time job and she had school, so we didn't get to see each other very much, despite being close. I decided one day to start reading to her a chapter or two at night before she went to bed.

We started with The Goose Girl by Shannon Hale, and by the end of it, she was stealing the book to read on her own when I couldn't. Since then she's read dozens of books all on her own, without any pushing or help from me.

Nothing can top that for me.

Book Review: First Test by Tamora Pierce

First Test (Protector of the Small #1)

Tamora Pierce

Publication Date: June 7th 1999

Publisher: Random House Children's Books

Pages: 272

Genre:  Fantasy, Middle Grade

In the medieval and fantastic realm of Tortall, Keladry of Mindelan is the first girl to take advantage of the decree that permits females to train for knighthood. Up against the traditional hazing of pages and a grueling schedule, Kel faces only one real roadblock: Lord Wyldon, the training master of pages and squires. He is absolutely against girls becoming knights. So while he is forced to train her, Wyldon puts her on probation for one year. It is a trial period that no male page has ever had to endure and one that separates the good natured Kel even more from her fellow trainees during the tough first year. But Kel Is not a girl to underestimate, as everyone is about to find out...

(Review Originally Written in 2012)

So a couple of weeks ago, I had the privilege to meet Tamora Pierce at a convention in Minnesota by the name of Convergence. Because one of my close friends is a really big fan of hers, I knew that I would end up going to a lot of her panels if nothing else, so I knew that I had a responsibility to read at least one of her books, because somehow I have gone through my life without reading one (a tragedy, I know).

The book I decided on wasn't her first book, wasn't even the first book in the specific world I chose to enter, but as soon as I read the blurb about it, I knew that it was the one I wanted to read, First Test. This is a book in her Tortall world and I was so impressed by the characters and writing I have plans to plow through the rest of her Tortall books before moving on to her others. (Update from 2014: I have now read every single book she's come out with.)

In this book we have a character by the name of Kel, who is very original for a female protagonist. She is not the fiery, beautiful rebel, or the dark, secretive angster, she is also not the "normal" girl. Her personality is like a stone. She grew up in a culture where people do not share their emotions and this has transferred to the way she carries herself. On top of this she has a determination that everyone should strive to have.

She is a tomboy, but she doesn't mind wearing dresses, especially when she knows there is a point to prove with them.

As for the culture she grew up with, it is a very obvious adaption of Japanese culture, but what I really enjoyed is how accurate many of the things were and which pieces Pierce focused on and which to change were well done in my opinion.

Honestly the only real fault of this book for me is that it is too short! Of course I'm so used to reading the many YA books that are a million pages long. The characters are varied and interesting, the world intriguing and the situation very well dealt with.

I'd recommend this book to anyone who enjoys strong female characters and controversy involving them in their world. It also makes a really great book to read out to a younger sibling, as in this book Kel is quite young (though as she gets older, the experiences she has starts to get a bit too mature for a young audience I hear).

4.5 Bookmarks

Book Review: The Devil's Metal by Karina Halle

The Devil's Metal

Karina Halle

Publication Date: September 20th 2012

Publisher: CreateSpace

Pages: 329

Genre:  Horror, Paranormal

It’s the summer of 1974 and 21-year old Dawn Emerson has only three things she wants to do: compete one last time in the Ellensburg Rodeo, win back her ex-boyfriend Ryan, and become the best damn music journalist at Central Washington University. But all her plans are left in the dust when she’s contacted by Creem magazine to go on the road with one of her favorite groups, the up-and-coming metal band, Hybrid. 

At first the assignment reads like a dream come true. Not only will Dawn land some much-needed credibility as a female music journalist, but she’ll finally get to experience life from the other side of the stage, and maybe crack the drunken, enigmatic code that is guitarist Sage Knightly. Instead, Dawn finds herself on an aging tour bus filled with ego-maniacs, band politics and a whole lot of sex, drugs and rock n’ roll. When monsters start showing up in dressing rooms and some of Sage’s groupies become increasingly strange and dangerous, Dawn discovers the band is not only going places – they’re going straight to Hell. 

And Dawn has a backstage pass

Now, I'm a huge Karina Halle fan from her Experiments in Terror series. She has a knack for horror mixed with romance and characterization that I don't see often. The Devil's Metal is her first foray into something different. Halle calls up from her own experiences as a music journalist, mixed with a historical point of view and all of those bits and pieces she does best.

The Devil's Metal starts a little weak, mostly due to the fact that we're trying to put ourselves into this 1970s world of the characters and so many issues that they're dealing with are still not really all that different from today. It's not until we are shoved into the backstage music scene that the era really becomes one-hundred percent cemented in our minds. The other weakness is trying to get a hold of where Dawn (or Rusty as she is lovingly called) as a character is in her life and what goes on in her head. In the end, for me, Dawn was a character who really was naïve about a lot about life, but tried so hard to put on that cool façade. She's a character who doesn't even know who she is right now (which at her age is perfectly normal I think).

Once everything in the book got settled in, however, I was hooked hard. The supernatural elements were introduced slowly at first, almost like going up a rollercoaster and then everything starting hitting terrifyingly hard and fast. For me, it was the perfect transition from historical novel about a music journalist following a rock band, to demons and devils and insane groupies.

The world is partially borrowed from Experiments in Terror, but explores a whole other part and issue with it, and scarily enough believable among all the sex, drugs and rock'n'roll.

I also would like to tip my hat to Halle for the epilogue/ending, due to the cyclical nature of it. For me that is one-hundred percent classic horror, I honestly wouldn't care either way if there was a sequel. It is of course open to the possibility, but at the same time I love just wondering and wondering.

Overall this book is highly enjoyable. I wish there were more books that catered specifically to my age range (19-27) which still had the lightness of the young adult novels of today, (just a little more mature). This book will make you make faces in horror (and not because of the horror), remember the days where rockers died young and hard, scream in frustration and yes even cry. I enjoyed it tremendously. 

4.5 Bookmarks

Book Review: Marking Time by April White

Marking Time (The Immortal Descendants #1)

April White

Request Disclaimer: I was not paid in any way by the publishers or author to review this book favourably. The review is my own honest opinion (Whether or not it is agreed with). 

Publication Date: October 30th 2012

Publisher: Corazon Entertainment

Pages: 445

Genre:  Time Travel, Paranormal, Historical, Young Adult

Seventeen-year-old tagger Saira Elian can handle anything... a mother who mysteriously disappears, a stranger who stalks her around London, and even the noble English Grandmother who kicked Saira and her mother out of the family. But when an old graffiti tag in a tube station transports Saira to the 19th Century and she comes face-to-face with Jack the Ripper, she realizes she needs help after all.

Saira meets Archer, a charming student who helps her blend in as much as a tall, modern American teen can in Victorian England. He reveals the existence of the Immortals: Time, Nature, Fate, War and Death, and explains to Saira that it is possible to move between 
centuries – if you are a Descendant of Time. 

Saira finds unexpected friendships at a boarding school for Immortal Descendants and a complicated love with a young man from the past. But time is running out for her mother, and Saira must embrace her new identity as she hides from Archer a devastating secret about his future that may cost him his life.

Marking Time marks my first book read and reviewed after a long hiatus. I had started reading it, per request of the author, right before I went through a mood where no books could catch my attention, and having just finished getting through it, I can't believe I was able to put it down!

Marking Time is an entirely unique take on supernatural elements. I'm a sucker for interesting world building, so it's not surprising that I was impressed with what White has created.

This book starts out seeming like it's simple. We are set up with this character who freeruns, graffities and has to take care of herself. We have this character whose interesting enough, right, and the stereotypical plot where suddenly she learns she is from of a family of supernatural beings and she has special powers. This plot could have stopped there, it could have just done what so many other books do and take that plot, add in a romance and call it a day, but White does not do that. Instead she goes up and above to give us this great read.

There are layers of mystery (including a certain famous London serial killer) keeping the reader's nose stuck firmly against their e-reader. Some are rather transparent (I figured out a major one almost immediately) and others were a bit sneakier, taking me by surprise.

There are a few cases where the prose felt clunky, such as the way Saira's nicknames for people were carried out, or other times where things felt over-explained. There are also a couple of places where I went back and read, wondering if I missed something (which I might have), but also might have been small plot-holes. As far of issues with the book however, that was it. The characters, plotting, pacing, and the rest were great.

The two things that I feel were done best by White, however, were the tIme travel elements and the romance. Time travel is a tricky, tricky thing to write about, but I felt like the rules put into work here are brilliantly done. It doesn't feel like it would be easy to create a time paradox and I really liked that about the whole idea of it (also allows for less worry while writing, I bet!).

As for the romance, that is hands down my favourite part of the book. It was not an easy romance to write, I'm betting, there's a complexity to it that I adore. I will more than likely read it again just to watch those two characters interact and fall in love. 

To continue waxing about the romance in Spoilers, The fact that Saira had to deal with two instances of the man she was falling in love with at the same time was fascinating to read. Until the end, whenever Archer and her are together they are always at different points of falling in love, with one or the other being a bit farther in love depending on which Archer it was.

There is one thing that makes me think. Should Saira have grown in modern times? She would have started growing inside her mother at conception and what not, which was obviously in the past. I assume it might be because she was born almost the moment that they arrived in the present?

Anyway, as for our mysteries, I was actually a bit surprised about the Bishop being the Vampire! I felt like I should have seen that coming, but I had thought of him as a Shifter or a Monger instead. And I was relieved in a bit that it seemed like he'd always planned on getting rid of Archer no matter what, so it doesn't feel so much like it was Saira's fault.

The two things I am most curious are the fact that Saira is having visions (don't think I didn't notice that, even if she hasn't yet) and Doran. Doran is like the greatest mystery, because no one else seems to realize he's a Clocker at all, yet he is so active.

I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys time travel stories, unique takes on urban fantasy or supernatural stories and to anyone who is fond of anything that includes Jack the Ripper. There is a lot of world building, so for some it might be overwhelming at first, but I feel like it's worth it.

4 Bookmarks

Book Review: Born Wicked by Jessica Spotswood

Born Wicked (The Cahill Witch Chronicles #1)

Jessica Spotswood

Publication Date: February 7th 2012

Publisher: Putnam Juvenile

Pages: 330

Genre:  Paranormal, Historical, Young Adult

Everybody knows Cate Cahill and her sisters are eccentric. Too pretty, too reclusive, and far too educated for their own good. But the truth is even worse: they’re witches. And if their secret is discovered by the priests of the Brotherhood, it would mean an asylum, a prison ship—or an early grave.

Before her mother died, Cate promised to protect her sisters. But with only six months left to choose between marriage and the Sisterhood, she might not be able to keep her word... especially after she finds her mother’s diary, uncovering a secret that could spell her family’s destruction. Desperate to find alternatives to their fate, Cate starts scouring banned books and questioning rebellious new friends, all while juggling tea parties, shocking marriage proposals, and a forbidden romance with the completely unsuitable Finn Belastra.

If what her mother wrote is true, the Cahill girls aren’t safe. Not from the Brotherhood, the Sisterhood—not even from each other.

I couldn't help but read this book and realize that it's secretly a dystopic book. Sure it's semi-historical in an alternate-universe America, but the government is slightly crazed and full of religious fervor that they use against their citizens, while other countries (which citizens cannot go to due to closed borders) are full of freedoms. So there is this distinct dystopic feel to the book, despite everything else.

Yet, the book is about witches. In the past witches controlled everything, and now they are being hunted with a passion, often the girls being taken aren't even witches. To add to this, the religious government doing this are highly corrupted. They have all the girls of the town come to a "special" religion class where they tell them that they are evil, that they cannot help being evil and that men are always right and better and should always be obeyed.

This is why some of the people in charge are off having affairs and then only damning the woman involved, taking none of the blame themselves. In all of this the Cahill sisters are not traditional women. First of all they are witches, second of all none of them have "perfect ladylike" personalities. Cate seems to be a bit of a tomboy and enjoys thinking for herself, and of her younger sisters one is much too fiery and passionate and the other too intellectual. They have survived as long as they have by staying under the radar.

The characters are well done, and nothing is as it seems. It is written stylistically like a historical novel in my opinion. It's also a very good opening book as now, readers are wondering exactly what Cate has to do, nothing really makes sense anymore and we don't know who to trust. On the other hand, as of right now it seems like the second book will be different than the first and the third book full of lots and lots of drama.

I will start with my opinions on the romantic relationship, which is YES SHE PICKED THE GARDENER. As soon as her childhood friend came home, I wanted her to notice the gardener and go for him, but, having underestimated the book, I didn't think it was to happen. Instead Spotswood took a more interesting route for the romance, causing it to happen slower and unexpected. Of course because I was rooting for him so much I was incredibly obsessed when she was left with no choice but to go to the sisterhood. Stupid prophecy, stupid sisterhood.

Speaking of the Sisterhood I trust them about as far as I can throw them. They are obviously out for their own benefit, and honestly I don't think they could be so open about being witches unless they have some kind of agreement with the Brotherhood. Even if they don't I can't help but think that witches like them were the reasons the people felt like they had to bring down the Witch Government in the first place.

I recommend this book to people who like the "stuck" feeling of a dystopian novel and the genre of historical fiction and for those who like paranormal elements and would like to see them wrapped all together with a fancy bow.

4 Bookmarks

Long Time no See 久しぶり

As you can probably tell, A Journey Through Pages has been on hiatus for quite a long time.
I have of late, however, decided to reinstate it and start reviewing again.

My current job has a lot of downtime where I'm allowed to read, so I've been plowing through books lately. Thus I might as well make it productive in some way (laughs).

As before I will focus on YA with some peppering of Middle Grade and Adult. Genre-wise, my focus will be fantasy, horror and paranormal.

I can't guarantee that my reviews will be very often (since I can't be writing them on the job unfortunately), but I'll try to get a couple up a month at least.

I'll also look through and see if I had any reviews backlogged.

Thank you all you lovely people that have left comments on my blog during my long hiatus.

Happy Reading!

Update: Books To Read, Reviews To Write, 時間がない

Yes, I threw up some Japanese there, watcha gonna do?

Okay, I'm done (cough). I just wanted to update saying that I'm still reading and I'm still reviewing, but due to work, a test I've been studying for for a while (the Japanese Language Profiency Test is this Sunday, gah),  and trying to set myself up as a graphic design freelancer so I can get more experience and get myself a 9 to 5 job (or ship myself to Japan whichever happens first), I have had no time to really indulge and obsess and post all over this blog, which makes me sad since that was one of my favourite things about having a blog, but the reading and the reviewing will forever continue!

So really this update is about what's to come withing the next couple of months review wise from me:

First of all I am a few chapters away from finishing Alternity by Mari Mancusi so that will most likely be the next review up. After that would be Marking Time by April White, which I am a little more than halfway done with (I need to stop simultaneously reading books). After that I have the two new Karina Halle books (the next in Experiments in Terror and The Devil's Metal which sounded way too interesting to pass up). I also have Florence by Ciye Cho that I was asked to review.

So that's about five books I have on my plate (two almost done with and I'm hoping to have reviews up within the next two weeks). And I think I have about two more reviews saved from before, so even though I'm not posting a lot of fun extra things, the reviews are still coming.

I love you all!

Book Review: Scarlette by Davonna Juroe

Scarlette

Davonna Juroe

Request Disclaimer: I was not paid in any way by the publishers or author to review this book favourably. The review is my own honest opinion (Whether or not it is agreed with). 

Publication Date: October 12th 2012

Publisher: BumbleB Media, Inc

Pages: 325

Genre:  Fairytale, Paranormal, Historical, Young Adult

Find the Beast ~ Find the Cure

Scarlette, an 18-year-old peasant, lives under a dark threat. A nightmarish creature lurks in the surrounding forest, killing the villagers one by one. When Scarlette's grandmother survives an attack, Scarlette learns that her grandmother hasn't suffered the bite of just any normal animal.

Now desperate, Scarlette searches throughout her province to find a cure. But there are those who want to keep their pasts hidden. As she begins to uncover the dark secrets of her village, Scarlette is befriended by a local nobleman and a woodcutter who share a gruesome history with the beast. To save her grandmother, Scarlette must unravel their mystery and solve an age-old crime. But as she pieces together the clues, Scarlette finds herself torn between the two men, both of whom want to be more than friends and hold the key to the cure.

What if Little Red Riding Hood was Real?

Based on both the Grimm and Perrault versions of Little Red Riding Hood and set against the terrifying, historic Beast of Gévaudan attacks, this dark YA retelling blends two epic legends, giving the fabled girl-in-the-red-cloak a new, shockingly real existence.

EDIT: The original review was written and posted before the new beautiful cover that now graces Scarlette. I'm quite happy to see that the cover is now worthy of the writing inside.

--

There are a lot of books out there that have gorgeous covers and are professionally published, but when you read them there just isn't much substance and enjoyment to them. Then there comes a book that has a cover that makes you want to pass over it because something seems off and less professional about it or you see an easily spotted photoshop filter.

I'm sorry to say that Scarlette by Davonna Juroe has one of those covers, and I'm sorry to say that because what's inside the cover is so well written.

Scarlette is an adaptation of Red Riding Hood based in the historical events of werewolf paranoia in France. When Juroe sent me an e-mail asking if I would review the book, this is what caught my attention first because I wondered if she could pull it off, because in my opinion if she could it would be amazing. So the verdict? She pulled it off indeed. There is a good balance in this book of historical, character development, intrigue and paranormal. In fact one thing I really enjoyed was the fact that Scarlette just outright rejects any paranormal explanations for most of the book (it's not like the supernatural occurances are smacking her in the face, especially in the beginning).

I also really enjoyed Scarlette's character. She is called naïve by many characters, but honestly as the reader, knowing what she knows, she reacted to everything in a very realistic and level headed way. She does do some dumb things, but compared to the popular characterization of eighteen year old heroines in books with paranormal elements, it's a lot less and it's nice that she's less dramatic about it.

Throughout the book, I found myself making a lot of guessing about who could be behind everything and how everyone connects and then found myself revising the guesses over and over again. The answers are not as obvious as they seem and I found myself surprised a lot by the twists.

The ending was a bit rushed as a warning. There was so much build-up that the final climax ended up being too much too fast and the wrap-up felt short. That was really my only thing in the writing that kept me from giving it a higher rating. Though I will say that I like the way the aftermath connected with the historical fact about the whole situation.

I honest to god almost stopped guessing because I was pretty much wrong most of the time! There was a long time that I had believed that Louis was the wolf, but then I changed my mind when I learned he was the benefactor! I honestly did, and then for a while like, Scarlette, I thought it was her boss, and for a long time in the beginning I thought it was her mother.

As soon as Scarlette found the cross though, I knew she had to be a witch, though Jeanne and Marie's connection to Scarlette's mother and to Francois completely took me by surprise.

Something I found interesting is that another book I was reading parallel to this, and based in a dystopian futuristic world had an almost similar theme going on with the main character trusting a character because they have no reason not to, but as a reader we know that they are bad because of reader's intuition and our habit of trusting the cute, rebellious boys as opposed to the very helpful and understanding ones.

Finally I wanted to touch upon Scarlette's mother/daughter relationship, because I found it very interesting. The mother ended up being such a complex character. At first it just seems like she hates the world, and is an abusive mother, but soon I get an image that she honestly loves her daughter but due to the bitter world she had been in and the trials and troubles she had put herself through trying to create the monster in defense of a friend and ally who had died, she became obsessive about it. I really wonder what kind of woman her mother had been originally, before she had had her rift with Marie, before Scarlette was born and the witch was burned.

Scarlette is a book that combines historical events, paranormal (from a historical point of view) and a classic fairytale. If you like books that keep you guessing with mystery, I recommend this book. It is definitely one of my favourite retellings of the fairytale.

4.5 Bookmarks

Extras

One of the most interesting parts of this book is the fact that Juroe put a lot of research into it involving the historical "werewolf" attacks in France. She's written at least a couple of posts about information she had found:

http://www.davonnajuroe.com/2010/10/what-if-little-red-riding-hood-was-real.html

http://www.davonnajuroe.com/2010/03/fab-facts-werewolves-peasants-and.html

Finally, TODAY SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 4TH the book is being offered for free on Amazon, so if you have the slightest interest due to my review, go go go go here and I hope you enjoy!