The Book Junkie

I just finished reading Allie Condie’s Matched and I have to say I was sorry to see it end. Set in dystopian America where the “Society” directs everything from the food you eat and the amount of exercise that is right for you to the job you’re perfect for and of course, your perfect partner in life….the match. No one gets to make decisions … the choices are made for you. While the story is similar to Lauren Oliver’s Delirium which I just recently read, I found this one a better read. The connection between all the characters is there, which is the one criticism I had of Oliver’s work.

Rather than being just a story about lovers rebelling, we have an unfolding story of the slow decline of an allegedly perfect world. The Society tries to hide their problems through lies and drug induced amnesia but it’s not working, at least not for our primary characters. War in the outer provinces, glitches in the systems and odd behavior by the officials has everyone on edge, particularly Cassia and her parents.

Condie has created a love triangle that is heart-wrenching, not because of the story itself, but because you can’t help but love all three of the characters involved.  Cassia has to chose (even though she technically doesn’t have a choice) between her best friend Xander, her chosen match, and another childhood friend, Ky, her other perfect match, allegedly put in the matching pool by mistake. Both boys are kind, caring and completely in love with Cassia.  Normally I have no problem choosing sides but in this case I can’t, I want them all to be happy.

This is definitely a book I would recommend for YA fans. The narrative is clean, without too much unnecessary description, the characters are well-rounded and while the plot isn’t particularly original, it is well written. I will be waiting impatiently for the sequel.

I just completed the last book in Melissa Marr’s Wicked Lovely series.  I actually got a late start on this series and actually started reading them out of order.  This series for me had its up and down moments.  Some of the books I loved, others (book 4 in particular) I felt spent too much time focusing on what would really be back-story in the end but it wasn’t so bad that it stopped me from reading the rest.

I have never really been into fey stories though I do admit I like this particular series.  Marr has done an excellent job developing these characters, making a few easy to fall in love with and others easy to hate.  The plot nicely wraps everyone in conflict to point that  I couldn’t put the books down on occasion until I found out what happened.

Darkest Mercy, the last book in the series was not a disappointment.   The twist on the events surrounding Irial and Niall was surprising, although I could have done without Leslie’s return.  She is one of the few characters that actually annoyed me.  I can't really explain why, she just did.  Even though the resolution to the Aislinn/Keenan/Donia mess was an obvious one, I was pleased with the overall with the ending.  However it wouldn’t have hurt my feeling if Keenan had been left in his mortal state for a few more years as punishment for his manipulations.  In the end however, Donia was simply more compassionate than I would have been. 

I would recommend this series for the 16 and up crowd.  There is sex and quite a bit of violence, maybe a little much (especially the sex) for middle-schoolers and younger.

Ari goes looking for answers to her past and finds herself in New 2, the post catastrophe version of New Orleans. The city, now owned by nine prominent families, is a haven for misfits, people of unusual powers and the strange darkness that New Orleans has always been known for. What she finds is definitely not what she expected.

What first attracted me to this book was the setting. I am admittedly a fan of a good southern setting, especially when you add a little goth to the mix. Of course what better place to find paranormal than New Orleans or as it is now called, New 2. New Orleans is a place with a soul as old as time itself, a warmth that draws you in and a strangeness that propels you away at the same time.   Keaton makes you feel as if you are walking through the balmy streets of the city and does so in a way that doesn’t require pages and pages of descriptive narrative.   This is perhaps my favorite part of this book.

As for the characters and plot, that is sort of a mixed bag. Ari, the protagonist is one minute passive and indecisive and the next minute going off and cursing at her antagonists. Ari could have been a little better developed so her sudden mood swings feel less contrived. As for Sebastian, I do like him but of course I’m always drawn to the dark, rebellious ones. As for their relationship, like Ari’s mood swings, is just a little too drastic. Too much happens too early on and was a let-down in the end.

I do love the ragtag assortment of misfit children Keaton is developing. While they are secondary characters in this book, they have the potential to develop into much more important roles of the next installments. 

As for plot, I liked where this story was headed until Ari ran into a god, actually a goddess. For some reason mythological gods in New Orleans in the 21^st century mixing with vampires, witches and the like, just didn’t sit well with me. I felt as if she were trying to combine Percy Jackson and Interview with a Vampire. While Keaton tries to make this goddess dark and scary, but it just didn’t work.

I think part of the problem with this book is that it’s too short. While I don’t like a lot of unnecessary narrative, I do think a few more pages could have made this a little more cohesive.  There is a lot of action packed into a small book which is not something I normally complain about but in this case development seemed to be sacrificed in order to speed things along. There just needs to be a better balance.

While I didn’t love this book, I will likely read the next installment simply because it has so much potential.   Keaton has already done a beautiful job with the setting and with a little better character development; the next books in this series could be fabulous.

mood: good

For 17 years Lena has lived in fear of a disease, the deadly Amor Deliria Nervosa. She can’t wait until she turns 18 and can have the procedure to cure her and she can live peacefully content with whatever plan the evaluators make for her. She is convinced that the cure is the only way she will ever truly be safe. Then she meets Alex and everything changes. 

“It’s been sixty-four years since the president and the Consortium identified love as a disease and forty-three since scientists perfected a cure.”

Lauren Oliver has put a most unusual twist on dystopian America with her tale of the cure for the root-cause of the problems humans face…Love. A few simple slicing into the brain, a zap of a laser and emotion is a thing of the past.   No love, no emotion, no pain, no drama. The closest thing to emotion these people know is fear and are in fact, ruled by it.

Oliver has done a fabulous job developing these characters. They are different from many of the current crop of YA characters. The male love interest, Alex, is not some dark and brooding bad boy but rather ordinary guy who is dedicated to Lena and his cause. Lena’s inner-battle between what she’s been taught and what she feels is beautifully done. From her first person POV, you empathize with her pain but at the same time want to scream at her and make her see the “cure” for what it really is.

Strangely enough, I didn’t really care as much about the relationship between Alex and Lena as I did Alex rescuing Lena from the clutches of the government. This was odd for me since I’m usually all about the love story.   I have to credit this to Oliver because she did such a fabulous job with Lena that you immediately want her rescued from her oppressors.

The one thing this book lacks though is background on what drove the government to decide that love was a disease and subsequently mandate the cure for everyone. Since the story takes place in what seems to be the near-future, the missing catalyst leaves a gaping hole in the believability element. We have a “where” and an approximate “when” the cure came about.   We also know “who” developed it and “how” it’s administered but what we don’t know is “why” it’s needed. The “why” is a necessary, but missing element of this book. 

Even though the story is beautifully written I must confess that I didn’t really get hooked until I was about a third of the way through the book.   After that I was completely engrossed. Most YA’ers will love it and no doubt after reading that heart-wrenching cliffhanger of an ending will be pre-ordering the next installment in droves. 

Beautiful Darkness is second book in Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohls’ Caster Chronicles. The two introduce us to several new characters in this book, including a Keeper in training, several new incubi (both good and bad) including the original blood incubus, Abraham Ravenwood and force some pretty significant changes on some of the original characters.

I have to admit that loved Beautiful Creatures. I loved it so much in fact, I didn’t want to put it down until I finished. While I liked Beautiful Darkness, it wasn’t nearly as captivating as BC. I found myself having a difficult time pushing much of the description and the flashback scenes. Too much time was spent on what seemed like unnecessary adventures that lead to nothing of great importance. Things could have been wrapped up in a neater, less wordy package and accomplished the same thing.

As for characters this time around, by the middle of the book, I was so sick of Lena I was ready for Ethan to give up on her and move on with his life and Liv.  Lena comes across as weak minded, selfish and thoroughly irritating.  She makes it very hard to have any empathy for her.  Even in the end, I’m still not particularly happy with her.   Thankfully, the secondary characters become much more prominent in this book. Amma, Link, Liv and Ridley are all favorites that add much to the story and really help make it a story worth reading, especially towards the end.  

I know this all sounds very critical and that I didn’t actually like BD, but I did. I just didn’t find it as good as read as BC. It felt a little too forced and just didn’t flow as nicely as BC. Even though the love story is just a backwards version of what we usually see (the brooding guy and the girl who makes all things right) the story is redeemed through the unusual assortment of mortals as well as the casters and other characters from the otherworld. I, being southern myself, also have grown to love Gatlin and all of its southern flaws. I know some of the places mentioned in the book and at no time did I want to scream at them for getting the setting wrong. This is a very good thing as far as I’m concerned.

Would I read this again? Yes. Will I be waiting very impatiently for part three? Yes. This time around I am really hoping that I learn to like Lena again. Being irritated with the main character of this saga for another 500 pages will make for a very long read.

“That mundane is going to get Jace killed.  He just ran off with her to who knows where to rescue a stupid rat.”  Alec had been pacing and insulting Clary since we returned from Magnus’ party.  His voice was angry but his blue eyes betrayed his emotions. Alec was hurt and jealous.

“Did you really expect him to do otherwise?  Jace does what he wants and if he wants to go after Simon, that’s his choice.   You know you couldn’t have stopped him.” I reminded him.

“No Izzy, I couldn’t have stopped him but I should have gone with him. I could have helped. I could have kept him safe.”

“There is no keeping Jace safe. He walks straight into danger and doesn’t even think about the consequences later. It’s just the way he is.”

He stopped pacing and looked up at me, the anger ebbing, his eyes softened as fear and panic began to set in. “What if something happens to him Izzy?”

“Jace can protect himself Alec, you know that and he will be fine.”  I said softly, willing myself to believe it. 

“He can’t protect himself if he’s protecting her and a rat.” He snapped.

I had been trying to trying comfort Alec but his infatuation with Jace was beginning to wear on me. I had been trying so hard to avoid this issue, hoping it would just fade over time but it wasn’t getting any better. In fact, Clary being around had only made Alec cling that much tighter to Jace.  “You can’t expect Jace to take you everywhere he goes you know. He has his own life and you have to let him live it.”  I told him. “You can’t freak out every time he goes missing for a couple of hours.”

Alec stared at me a moment and then turned and ran towards to elevator. I followed, which wasn’t easy since I was still in my spiky heeled party boots.  I stepped inside the elevator just as the door was about to close.

“Where are you going?” I asked but didn’t really need to.  I already knew the answer.

“I’m going to find him Izzy.  He needs my help.”

“Don’t be ridiculous Alec; you don’t even know where he is.”  I grabbed his wrist as he pressed the down button “Going after him is a completely stupid idea and for all you know he could be on his way back right now.”

“What if he’s not?  What if that idiot girl has gotten him hurt or worse yet…?” His voice trembled.  Panic was replaced by desperation.  “Izzy, I have to go.”

The elevator stopped and we stepped into the empty hallway. “You aren’t going anywhere Alec.  I will get Hodge to stop you.”  I glared at him, trying to keep my own fears from bubbling to the surface. I knew I would never betray him to Hodge but Alec didn’t know that.  “Jace can take care of himself and I will not have you going off and getting yourself killed trying to find him.”

“I shouldn’t have let him leave without me. I should have insisted on going with him and made that mundane stay with you.  It’s my fault if something happens to him.”

“No, it won’t be your fault.  It will be mine.” I retorted angrily “I’m the one that was supposed to watch Simon but I was too busy having fun.  It’s my fault he’s a rat, not yours.  If anyone’s to blame, it’s me.

“No!  Clary is the one that caused all of this and when they get back, I’m going to insist she leaves.” 

“Why does she need to leave Alec?  This isn’t all her fault and you know it.”  My patience had now vanished and my voice grew louder.   “How is it her fault that any of this happened. She is a victim here Alec.   Besides, this isn’t about Clary causing problems. This is about you being jealous of her.  You can’t stand the fact that Jace cares about her and its killing you.”

“Jealous!” He huffed indignantly. “Are you serious?” 

“I am very serious Alec.”  I took a deep breath and tried to calm myself.  “You know Jace thinks of you like a brother.  You need to find someone else.  You keep pining over Jace and you are going to be miserable. You aren’t doing anything but hurting yourself and if you aren’t careful, you’ll do nothing but push him away.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about Izzy.”  He was angry and embarrassed  but I didn’t care.  It was a subject that had been avoided way too long. “Jace needs my protection, that’s my job as his partner.”

“He needs your protection when he’s trying to kill a demon.  He needs your protection from the occasional rogue vampire and maybe even from Hodge when he does something completely idiotic. He does not need your protection from girls Alec. He likes girls and girls like him.  You need to get that through your head.”  I knew what I said hurt him but it was the truth and he needed to hear it for a change.

Alec glared at me and my stomach tightened when I realized how much pain I had actually caused him.  He jerked his arm away, turned and stormed down the hallway towards his room without another word.

I hated arguing with Alec but I’d been pretending it wasn’t a problem and protecting him for way too long.  Even if he couldn’t talk to our parents, or tell anyone else, he needed to admit it to himself and he needed to move on from Jace.  Alec was a sweet, attractive guy.  He would have no trouble finding someone nice but he couldn’t seem to separate himself from Jace.

I leaned against the elevator door and slid onto the cold, marble floor.  “Jace!   Please come home safe.” I whispered as my own fears enveloped me.  I wrapped my arms around my knees and leaned my head back against the elevator door.  I started to sob and the tears fell.

So much was so wrong that I wasn’t even sure what I was crying about.  Simon was literally a rat.  My brother was love with the wrong person.  Someone I adored may be lying dead in the street.  As much as Clary annoyed me, I was worrying about her too. Alec was right about one thing, Clary should have never been allowed to go with Jace. Jace would never forgive himself if something happened to her.  On top of that, I had no clue where my parents were.  Add one evil, narcissist as the cherry topping off one hell of a few days and I felt like the world was crumbling around me.

Just as I was getting control of myself, Church arrived. He rubbed his face into my hand and purred. “Hey Church.”  I ran my hand along his back; he arched and purred louder for a moment.  Then, without warning, he turned and bit me.  He stared at me, judging me that haughty way that only cats can manage. Then he turned and started down the hallway.  “Crazy cat!”  I stood and followed, whipping my tears away “Fine, let’s find Alec and see if he’s ok.”