Steel, Carrie Vaughn

Title: Steel
Author: Carrie Vaughn
Publisher: Harper Teen
Publishing Date: 2011
Length: 287 Pages
Summary: (from book) Sixteen-year old Jill has fought in dozens of fencing tournaments, but has never held a sharpened blade.When she finds a corroded sword piece on a Caribbean beach, she is instantly intrigued and pockets it as her own personal treasure. 
The broken tip holds secrets, though, and it transports Jill through time to the deck of a pirate ship. Stranded in the past and surrounded by strangers, she is forced to sign on as crew. But a pirate's life is bloody and brief , and as Jill learns about the dark magic that brought her there, she forms a desperate scheme to get home-one that risks everything in a duel to the death with a villainous pirate captain.

My Thoughts:  Wow. This book had so much potential  and just tanked. You never get to see inside the heroine's head and the entire book is just one chain after another of everything falling into place. The descriptions were terrible. "They studied each other, eyes only inches apart, so it wasn't as if they could really see each other."  And the romance had no build up whatsoever. She's just stuck with this guy, never hints that she likes him, and then all of a sudden, starts kissing him. I would have liked the book better if there hadn't been any romance at all. It felt thrown in there just for the heck of it.
And the sword, again so much potential. But nothing much happens to it as a story piece until you find out fifty pages from the end that ohmygoodness it's a magical sword made from blood.
What the heck.
So she gets it into her head to fight the bad guy and that will send her home. There's not a clear logical explanation of how exactly she got to that point, but she does it anyway. That fails, she magically decided to try something else and that's what sends her home.
This book as a whole felt very....shallow. Definitely not the adventure I was looking forward to from the cover.

Things To Be Cautious Of:  Swearing. Several uses of some bible swearing, violence: sword fighting, bleeding, nothing descriptive believe me, and mentioning of rough pirate activity of a inappropriate nature.

Montmorency, Eleanor Updale

Title: Montmorency: Thief, Liar, Gentleman?
Author: Eleanor Updale
Publisher: Schoolastic
Publishing Date: 2004
Length: 232 Pages
Summary: (From book) When a petty thief falls through a glass roof in his attempt to escape from the police, what should have been the death of him marks the beginning of a whole new life. After his broken body is reconstructed by an ambitious young doctor, he is released from prison, and -with the help of Victorian London's extensive sewer system-he becomes the most elusive burglar in the city. He adopts a dual existence as a respectable, wealthy gentleman named Montmorency, and his degenerate servant Scarper. But Montmorency must always be on guard. The smallest mistake could reveal his secret and ruin both his lives.


My Thoughts:  Yay! Another book series about Victorian London! I've never read a book that has so little dialogue in it. You get the whole story from the point of Montomrency. It was really neat. Montmorency is a character that isn't a hero, but isn't a villain either. As this book is the first in a series, you can see that there will be lots of development for him along the way. (And maybe more of that young Doctor Farcett? *hopeful*)
The POV looked at London in a kind of grimy, crude sort of way; different than the usual fluff, skimming, over romanticized versions of Victorian London that I've read prior to this book, and I found I kind of liked the change. The idea of him leading double lives is pure genius and I fell in love with it instantly.
I'm hoping the series holds up to expectations.

Things To Be Cautious Of:  Rather a darker look at the crime and happenings of London. The word 'dang' used like twice. Montmorency's habit for stealing.

What I Learned:  Everyone can change.

Reached, Ally Condie

Title:  Reached
Author: Ally Condie
Publisher: Dutton
Publishing Date: 2012
Length: 512 pages
Summary: (from book) Cassia's journey began with an error, a momentary glitch in the otherwise perfect facade of the Society. After crossing canyons to break free, she waits, silk and paper smuggled against her skin, ready for the final chapter.
The wait is over.
One young woman has raged against those who threaten to keep away what matter s most-family, love, choice. Her quiet revolution is about to explode into full-scale rebellion.




My Thoughts:  Aaaaauuuuugggh.  This is the last book the Matched Trilogy. I loved the first book, wasn't much of a fan for the sequel, and the third one....mmm....not so sure what I think. I've met the author, she's fantastic. It was a fun book signing event; we got buttons with the Society logo and book quotes printed on them, and even pill vials to mimic the ones in the book. One thing her reviews always rave about is her poetic, beautiful prose, which to be honest....I find a little irritating after awhile. Cassia always goes on and on about creating and art and stuff, and I was to the point where I wanted to skip her chapters and just read about Xander and Ky.

(I'm on Xander's side, just so ya'll know)

The plot for this book was interesting....I wish there had been more subplots, but I can understand not wanting to create more story lines while trying to wrap up a series. It was a nice conclusion, and I am quite happy that Xander got where he needed to be.

Cassia and Ky? Eh. :)

Things To Be Cautious Of:  The word 'dang' used like five times throughout the book.  Mild dystopian stuff, plague related death. Some patient sabotage.

What I Learned: The power to chose is always worth fighting for.

Between Shades of Gray, Ruta Sepetys

Title: Between Shades of Gray
Author: Ruta Sepetys
Publisher: Philomel
Publishing Date: 2011
Length:  338 Pages
Summary: (From book) In 1941, fifteen-year-old Lina is preparing for art school, first dates and all that summer has to offer. But one night, the Soviet secret police barge violently into her home, deporting her along with her mother and younger brother. They are being sent to Siberia. Lina's father has been separated from the family and sentenced to death in a prison camp.  All is lost.
Lina fights for her life, fearless, vowing that if she survives she will honor her family, and the thousands like hers, by documenting their experience in her art and writing. She risks everything to use her art as messages, hoping they will make their way to her father's prison camp to let him know they are still alive.
It is a long and harrowing journey, and it is only their incredible strength, love and hope that pull Lina and her family through each day. But will love be enough to keep them alive?

My Thoughts:  This book made me cry. Repeatedly. I bawl through every story of the Jews in Germany during WWII, but I had absolutely no idea about the people of Latvia. What they were put through was horrific and should never have happened. Lina's voice tells the story of her people in an unflinching and truthful manner. It was a wonderful coming of age story that balanced well the concerns of a growing teenage girl growing up in a prison camp. Every character was memorable and emotionally poignant.  This book will become a classic.

Things To Be Cautious Of: It's the story of the horrors of prison camps. While none of it is excessively violent or crude, there is mentioning of the reality of what really happened. Some of these stories may be hard for sensitive readers. (Example, me.)

What I learned: Love is important. Stand for what you believe in and never back down. Family is the dearest thing you will ever have in life.

The Musician's Daughter, Susan Dunlap

Title: The Musician's Daughter
Author: Susan Dunlap
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Publishing Date: 2009
Length: 317 Pages
Summary: (From book) Amid the glamor of Prince Nicholas Esterhazy's court in eighteenth century Vienna, murder is afoot. Or so fifteen-year old Theresa is convinced when her musician father is found dead on Christmas Eve, his valuable violin missing and the only clue to his death is a mysterious gold pendant found around his neck. 
Her father's mentor, the acclaimed composer Franz Joseph Haydn, takes pity on Theresa and makes her his copyist, giving her an income so that her family will not go hungry. 
Determined to solve the mystery of her father's death, Theresa is stunned to learn about the secret life he led-along with a trail of blackmail and extortion that extends from the splendor of the imperial halls to the shadowy tents of a Gypsy camp. Yet it's the stirrings of love for a man she only thought she knew that might prove the most astonishing discovery of all.

My Thoughts:  Well, for starters, I bought this hard cover book for four dollars at the used book store. I actually put this one aside to devour the last book I just reviewed. It's not that this book isn't good, it was just....hard to get into.  Maybe it was the fact that everyone's names are so hard to pronounce and half the time they aren't calling Theresa her real name, but some term of endearment (I think) so it's very confusing. I wouldn't really label this a mystery or historical fiction. I didn't understand any of it.
And this romance they hint at isn't much of a romance at all-it's more like she has this hopeless crush on a guy much older on her. I didn't feel much of it returned on his part.
I like the Gypsies though. I've written a bit of a gypsy before and have always found them fascinating, beautiful people.
Things To Be Cautious Of:  Ugh...The Lord's name is taken in vain once, she talks about becoming a woman, she uses her low cut dress to advantage (not willingly), her uncle is a pervert, this old guy thought she was a 'lady of the night' *gag* and light mentioning of prostitution.  Someone is shot, not fatally, and a person is to be executed; mentioning of torture and torture methods...
What I learned: I'd much rather be the rockin' cool gypsy girl.

Review: Cinder, By Marrissa Meyer

Title: Cinder
Author: Marrissa Meyer
Publisher: Feiwel And Friends
Publishing Date: January 3, 2012
Length: 387 pages
Summary: (From book) Sixteen-year old Cinder is considered a technological mistake by most of society and a burden by her stepmother. Being cyborg does have its benefits though: Cinder's brain interface has given her an uncanny ability to fix things (robots, hovers, her own malfunctioning parts), making her the best mechanic in New Beijing. This reputation brings Prince Kai himself to her weekly market booth, needing her to repair a broken android before the annual ball. He jokingly calls it "a matter of national security," but Cinder suspects it's more serious than he's letting on.
Although eager to impress the prince, Cinder's intentions are derailed when her younger step sister, and only human friend, is infected with the fatal plague that's been devastating the Earth for a decade. Blaming Cinder for her daughter's illness, Cinder's stepmother volunteers her body for plague research, an "honor" that no one has survived.
But it doesn't take long for the scientists to discover something unusual about their new guinea pig. Something others would kill for.
My Thoughts: *Squee!* This book was brilliant! I loved it so much. I don't read a lot of YA fiction mainly because I am constantly disappointed by the lack of character depth, the kissing scenes and clichéd male characters...lack of plot, lack of values, blah, blah, blah...But this was amazing. Cinder is a strong willed character with deep, emotional interest and I found myself instantly sucked into her story. Prince Kai was dreamy in a real, believable sort of way and as always, I am a sucker for the chivalrous gentleman.
This book combined a lot of fabulous medical angst which, given my bizarre fascination with the medical field, was just the perfect dose for my obsession. The doctor/scientist guy was even a gruff old man with secrets and a Newsie cap. Can you say love?
The plot of this story was just beautiful. The way the author writes was so poetic without being flowery and I couldn't put the book down. I picked this novel up to read on a long flight across the country and was down to the final pages that I just had to read while walking through the airport. I'm afraid I was a little spacey for awhile being A) confused  on time zones and B) completely lost in Cinder's world.
I find myself endeared to the author as she is after my own heart in the fact that she is a fellow Fanfiction geek and lover of all things nerdy. And of course, I must thank her for writing such a clean, enjoyable novel when so much of the world focuses on the dirty. I seriously cannot wait for the rest of the Lunar books. I can't believe I have to wait until next year for the sequel.