Splendors and Glooms

Splendors and Glooms
by Laura Amy Schlitz

The master puppeteer, Gaspare Grisini, is so expert at manipulating his stringed puppets that they appear alive. Clara Wintermute, the only child of a wealthy doctor, is spellbound by Grisini’s act and invites him to entertain at her birthday party. Seeing his chance to make a fortune, Grisini accepts and makes a splendidly gaudy entrance with caravan, puppets, and his two orphaned assistants. 

Lizzie Rose and Parsefall are dazzled by the Wintermute home. Clara seems to have everything they lack — adoring parents, warmth, and plenty to eat. In fact, Clara’s life is shadowed by grief, guilt, and secrets. When Clara vanishes that night, suspicion of kidnapping falls upon the puppeteer and, by association, Lizzie Rose and Parsefall. 

As they seek to puzzle out Clara’s whereabouts, Lizzie and Parse uncover Grisini’s criminal past and wake up to his evil intentions. Fleeing London, they find themselves caught in a trap set by Grisini’s ancient rival, a witch with a deadly inheritance to shed before it’s too late. (Description from Amazon.com) 

This book is very gothically atmospheric.  The characters are intriguing.  The sorcery that gets blended into the story is done very well and I found myself drawn in by both the storylines and the horrific things that the children and even the adult characters were facing.  And yet... I found this story read very slowly.  Don't get me wrong. It was beautifully written, I enjoyed the story and I was satisfied when it was done, but it also took me about five days to read and for me, that is a *really* long time.  I'm not sure exactly why it was so slow, but I have a feeling readers who are only halfheartedly interested may not make it through this one... 

Full disclosure: Borrowed from my library 

Kill Me Softly

Kill Me Softly
by Sarah Cross

Mirabelle's past is shrouded in secrecy, from her parents' tragic deaths to her guardians' half-truths about why she can't return to her birthplace, Beau Rivage. Desperate to see the town, Mira runs away a week before her sixteenth birthday—and discovers a world she never could have imagined.


In Beau Rivage, nothing is what it seems—the strangely pale girl with a morbid interest in apples, the obnoxious playboy who's a beast to everyone he meets, and the chivalrous guy who has a thing for damsels in distress. Here, fairy tales come to life, curses are awakened, and ancient stories are played out again and again.

But fairy tales aren't pretty things, and they don't always end in happily ever after. Mira has a role to play, a fairy tale destiny to embrace or resist. As she struggles to take control of her fate, Mira is drawn into the lives of two brothers with fairy tale curses of their own . . . brothers who share a dark secret. And she'll find that love, just like fairy tales, can have sharp edges and hidden thorns. (description from Amazon.com)
 
I loved the idea of this book. I loved it a lot...and while the world-building was wonderful, and the secondary characters were great, I was somewhat disappointed in the main character, Mira. 
 
Beau Rivage was a decadent, dark, and dangerous place. Full of everything I love in a dark fairy tale. The inhabitants of Beau Rivage were also fascinatingly dark. I loved the "evil" fairy who ran the seedy nightclub, the girl cursed to spit up jewels and flowers who sang as the headliner in a band, and I really loved the blue haired boy who fought so hard to keep from killing even one more girl with his kisses...
 
...and then there was Mira. The sad little girl who seemed so spunky and headstrong, but fell like the weakest  little doe straight into the arms of the big bad wolf.  It was a horrific case of "Bella-itis"  and I wanted to strangle her right through my car stereo. I even  found myself rolling my eyes so badly I was afraid they would roll right into the back of my head and never come out again at some points during her pining...
 
I loved the way the book ended. The right people found each other and curses, though not necessarily lifted, were lifted just enough for a potentially happy, yet realistically tough, ending. I would happily read another book set in the world of Beau Rivage. In fact, I would LOVE to delve back into this world to explore the remaining stories of some of the other characters. 

Anxiously Awaiting... Ironskin!

Ironskin
by Tina Connolly

Publication date: Oct. 2, 2012

Jane Eliot wears an iron mask.

It’s the only way to contain the fey curse that scars her cheek. The Great War is five years gone, but its scattered victims remain—the ironskin.

When a carefully worded listing appears for a governess to assist with a "delicate situation"—a child born during the Great War—Jane is certain the child is fey-cursed, and that she can help.

Teaching the unruly Dorie to suppress her curse is hard enough; she certainly didn’t expect to fall for the girl’s father, the enigmatic artist Edward Rochart. But her blossoming crush is stifled by her own scars, and by his parade of women. Ugly women, who enter his closed studio...and come out as beautiful as the fey.

Jane knows Rochart cannot love her, just as she knows that she must wear iron for the rest of her life. But what if neither of these things is true? Step by step Jane unlocks the secrets of her new life—and discover just how far she will go to become whole again.

Anyone else loving this Jane Eyre/Fae storyline??? I think this sounds so intriguing. I can't wait til this comes out...

Enchanted

Enchanted

by Alethea Kontis

Publication date: May 8, 2012

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? (description from Amazon.com)

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This is definitely one of the best fairy tale mash-ups I have read in a long time. It outright sparkles. 

The characters are well drawn, fully fledged...with flaws and all.  They have hidden agendas, complicated interactions, and yet also a seemingly infinite hope for a bright and loving future.

Here, fanciful bits of almost every classic fairy tale combine and dance through Sunday's story, creating a vibrant, effervescent new world for readers to play in. The twists and turns of the story include nods to genre classics, and end up highlighting an emotional depth that I had not expected in the story. 

This is truly a book that no fairy tale reader should miss.
Worthy of a sparkly gold star.

Full disclosure: ARC received to review for SLJ

Dead is Not an Option

Dead is Not an Option

by Marlene Perez

Dead Is series, book five 

It’s springtime of senior year, and psychic sleuth Daisy Giordano is preparing to say goodbye to Nightshade High. But no college acceptance letters have arrived yet, and she’s beginning to worry about where she’ll end up come fall—and if it will be anywhere near her boyfriend, Ryan. But that’s not the only uncertainty Daisy’s dealing with. There’s a vamps-versus-shifters war going on in Nightshade, and things are so tense that there is talk of canceling the prom. The conflict is carrying over to the Giordano home, since Rose and Daisy are both dating werewolves and Poppy’s new boyfriend is a vampire.

Can the paranormal community in Nightshade finally find peace? And will Daisy and her friends survive graduation? (description from Amazon.com)

You know that feeling you get when you pick up a book and you have no doubts that you will love it...that you will lose yourself in it?  That feeling when you meet an old friend.  The feeling when you anticipate laughing out loud...

Yup.  For me, this series is exactly THAT.  I love these books.  I love Daisy, the main character, and her friends and family. I love the paranormal elements - psychics, werewolves, vampires, and more! I love the mysteries, danger, excitement...

Okay, okay. I'll stop gushing.  Let me just say, that I sincerely hope this is not the final book in the series. 

Full disclosure: ARC originally received from Netgalley

Darkness Becomes Her

Darkness Becomes Her
by Kelly Keaton
Gods and Monsters, book 1

Ari can’t help feeling lost and alone. With teal eyes and freakish silver hair that can’t be changed or destroyed, Ari has always stood out. And after growing up in foster care, she longs for some understanding of where she came from and who she is.

Her search for answers uncovers just one message from her long dead mother: Run. Ari can sense that someone, or something, is getting closer than they should. But it’s impossible to protect herself when she doesn’t know what she’s running from or why she is being pursued.

She knows only one thing: she must return to her birthplace of New 2, the lush rebuilt city of New Orleans. Upon arriving, she discovers that New 2 is very...different. Here, Ari is seemingly normal. But every creature she encounters, no matter how deadly or horrifying, is afraid of her.

Ari won’t stop until she knows why. But some truths are too haunting, too terrifying, to ever be revealed. (description from Amazon.com)

This book is...lush, dark, creepy, intriguing, entrancing, exciting...all the best things about a dark, urban, dystopian, paranormal fantasy. This is just how I like my books. I was sucked so deep into this story that I literally devoured it in one sitting, unable to put it down...bedtime be damned!

Ari won me over, heart and soul. She is tough, strange, mysterious, and heartachingly vulnerable at times. Unaware of who she really is, she delves into a dangerous, forbidden city and enters a lush, exotic world of people and things she never knew existed. She manages to be clueless and in control at the same time.

Oh, and can I mention New 2? Umm...I have never in my life wanted more to buy plane tickets to New Orleans than I did immediately after finishing this book. The descriptions are amazing and decadent and haunting. It was like being there...in a post-disaster, creepy way. I loved it! The setting definitely helped to make this book.

Darkness Becomes Her is definitely at the top of my list of books I've enjoyed recently and as such, it earns a GOLD STAR REVIEW!!

I can not wait for the second book in the Gods and Monsters series, which will be coming out in Feb. 2012!

Red Glove

Red Glove
by Holly Black
Curse Workers, book two

Curses and cons. Magic and the mob. In Cassel Sharpe's world, they go together. Cassel always thought he was an ordinary guy, until he realized his memories were being manipulated by his brothers. Now he knows the truth—he’s the most powerful curse worker around. A touch of his hand can transform anything—or anyone—into something else.

That was how Lila, the girl he loved, became a white cat. Cassel was tricked into thinking he killed her, when actually he tried to save her. Now that she's human again, he should be overjoyed. Trouble is, Lila's been cursed to love him, a little gift from his emotion worker mom. And if Lila's love is as phony as Cassel's made-up memories, then he can't believe anything she says or does.

When Cassel's oldest brother is murdered, the Feds recruit Cassel to help make sense of the only clue—crime-scene images of a woman in red gloves. But the mob is after Cassel too—they know how valuable he could be to them. Cassel is going to have to stay one step ahead of both sides just to survive. But where can he turn when he can't trust anyone—least of all, himself?

Love is a curse and the con is the only answer in a game too dangerous to lose. (description from Amazon.com)

I still can only commend Holly Black on how intricately she can build a believable, yet fantastic world! I love how her urban fantasies are wholly rooted in our world, yet have such strong elements that make them spring fully from her imagination. The world of the curse workers is intricate, flawed, and cool as hell.

I'm still not as in love with Cassel as many other readers are, but I definitely grew to enjoy him more fully as a character in this second book. I think as he came to know the whole story of what he'd done and how his actions reflected on his personality and desires, he became more fully rounded and believable in my imagination. I loved some of the choices he made here and can't wait to see how he'll pull things off next!

I am definitely looking forward to Black Heart. So many life altering choices were made or inadvertently forced onto different characters in this book, that it will be really, really interesting to see where they all end up in the next. *Mwa Haa Haa*

Lips Touch: Three Times

Lips Touch: Three Times
by Laini Taylor

Three tales of supernatural love, each pivoting on a kiss that is no mere kiss, but an action with profound consequences for the kissers' souls:

Goblin Fruit: In Victorian times, goblin men had only to offer young girls sumptuous fruits to tempt them to sell their souls. But what does it take to tempt today's savvy girls?

Spicy Little Curses: A demon and the ambassador to Hell tussle over the soul of a beautiful English girl in India. Matters become complicated when she falls in love and decides to test her curse.

Hatchling: Six days before Esme's fourteenth birthday, her left eye turns from brown to blue. She little suspects what the change heralds, but her small safe life begins to unravel at once. What does the beautiful, fanged man want with her, and how is her fate connected to a mysterious race of demons?
(description taken from Amazon.com)

I am sooooo glad that I finally got to this book. I first heard about it at BEA two years ago, immediately put it on my list of Books To Read, and it just lingered there ever since. Honestly, I even checked it out from the Library twice...and never read it. I just kept finding other books that I was dying to read more.

Let me tell you, though, Laini Taylor's writing is mysterious, beautiful, dark, destructive, and yet hopeful and breathtaking. I was listening to this as an audio book in my car and I couldn't wait to get back into the car at the end of the day to drive home from work because I had to know what happened to each girl next. I was totally hooked!

The first story, Goblin Fruit, is lyrical and compelling. It's insidious and tempting. It's short but punches a big impact. I had thought that Taylor wouldn't be able to top that when she blew me away with the concept for Spicy Little Curses. That was heartbreaking and courageous. Then...then I listened to Hatchling. What an amazing world that Taylor has created. I was enraptured as I listened, drawing deeper and deeper into the cold, nightmare world of the Druje. I loved the layering of different generations, love stories, and how each character was fleshed out as the story's complexities unfolded.

All be told, when I was done, I wanted to start over again. *Sigh* These were great short stories. I should have read this years ago...

Full disclosure: Audio book received to review for AudioFile magazine