A Need So Beautiful: A Panoramic Review

"We all want to be remembered. Charlotte's destiny is to be Forgotten...

Charlotte’s best friend thinks Charlotte might be psychic. Her boyfriend thinks she’s cheating on him. But Charlotte knows what’s really wrong: She is one of the Forgotten, a kind of angel on earth, who feels the Need—a powerful, uncontrollable draw to help someone, usually a stranger.

But Charlotte never wanted this responsibility. What she wants is to help her best friend, whose life is spiraling out of control. She wants to lie in her boyfriend's arms forever. But as the Need grows stronger, it begins to take a dangerous toll on Charlotte. And who she was, is, and will become--her mark on this earth, her very existence--is in jeopardy of disappearing completely.

Charlotte will be forced to choose: Should she embrace her fate as a Forgotten, a fate that promises to rip her from the lives of those she loves forever? Or is she willing to fight against her destiny--no matter how dark the consequences." (from Goodreads)  

A Need So Beautiful by Suzanne Young

My reaction: 

A Need So Beautiful was shorter than I expected, and frankly, not that much actually happens in it. Charlotte is part of this epic battle between good and evil, but this first book is just her story of discovering what she is (one of the Forgotten) and then making a critical decision about her future. There are these Needs that she gets, which come more frequently as the book goes on, which unfortunately I didn't find that interesting. I liked that the Needs showcased different types of problems, but we don't get to know personally any of the characters she helps, so they felt somewhat generic.

I enjoyed reading about Charlotte's struggle to make her ultimate decision, as she has to choose between two unenviable options (spoilers, highlight to read: go into the light, burst, and have everyone forget her, or give into the darkness and become an evil Shadow), but after a while her deliberation got tiresome. In other words, Angst Alert!

Harlin was a nice combination of sexy and sweet at the same time, and I liked that his relationship with Charlotte was already established when the book began. All things considered, it doesn't undergo that much drama, despite the fact that she lies to him for almost the whole book. Which bugged me, by the way — I mean, I get that she'd sound kind of crazy discussing her mystical nature, but all her lying just became repetitive.

I also thought Charlotte's friend Sarah was pretty awesome, providing an upbeat personality and attitude that would probably get annoying in a protagonist but was refreshing in a side character.

Best aspect: I can't really talk about this without spoiling things. For me, the best aspect was what I found to be the saddest part of the book. Spoilers commence: the part where people started to forget Charlotte. The torture of having people forget you was very well-conveyed; at first it's just little things, and then it got more and more serious as her friends began to not know who she was. 

I also really appreciated that some "issues" were included but not made a big deal of. Charlotte has an adoptive family, but it's not the focal point of the story; her adoptive brother is gay, but it's just mentioned in passing a few times that he has a boyfriend.
 

If I could change something... I'd give the story more plot points (besides just the Needs) so the reader can focus on something other than Charlotte's Big Decision. The plot ends up feeling too simplistic, padded out with Charlotte's worries and dilemma-izing instead of actual events.

I'd also explain the magical side of things better. The mythology surrounding the Light and the Shadows was all quite vague — we don't really know anything about how the Light works, who's in charge here, etc. — and yet it's used to conveniently explain away things, which I found kind of annoying. And then there's Charlotte's power, which gives rise to questions like: how does she convince people so quickly? Why do they bother to listen to her?

And I found the climactic scene a little unbelievable. Spoilers: Harlin accepts that Charlotte is an angel way too easily, and the fact that he turns out to be a Seer is rather convenient (and could have been hinted at a little more, since it basically comes out of nowhere...)

If you haven't read it: and you like angst and angels, and you don't ask too many questions when you read a book, then this might be a winner for you. Otherwise, there's probably something better you could be reading.

If you have read it: how did you feel about the plot (or lack thereof)?
 
Just one more thing I want to mention: I thought the very end (spoiler: where she wakes up and doesn't know who she is) was a neat jumping-off point for the second book. 

Final verdict: 3 shooting stars. I liked the concept, but I feel like there could have been more done with it. I found myself feeling kind of melancholic afterwards, though, so I guess on some level it affected me. 

Daughter of Smoke & Bone: A Close-Up Review

"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 grows 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?" (from Goodreads) 

Daughter of Smoke & Bone by Laini Taylor

I tried so many times to read this book. I kept picking it up, reading the first few chapters, going, "This is SO WEIRD," and putting it down. However, finally I just started reading it in very short sittings — we're talking, a chapter or so at a time, maybe less — and eventually I got into it!

Characters:

Karou: I didn't connect that well with Karou, especially in the beginning. She marches to the beat of her own drummer, and can be ruthless and brusque. Despite the fact that she doesn't like to let too many people in, though, she has a strong sense of loyalty to friends and "family". However, as the story progresses and we find out more about Karou I got a little more on board with her character. But I'm still not sure I'd want to be friends with her (and I suspect she probably wouldn't want to be friends with me!). She's quite independent and likes it that way, which is why this bond with Akiva, which takes her quite by surprise, is so important to her character development as she opens up to someone and lets her emotions take hold of her.

Akiva: Things get more interesting once Akiva becomes involved. He's a broody "Rochester" type — although that's about the only comparison to Jane Eyre one can really make with this book — with all these dark regrets about the past. I liked his haunted character, despite the fact that I think he occasionally plays it up a little much, as though he enjoys wallowing in what he thinks is his own undeservingness.

Karou & Akiva: Their relationship is somewhat "insta-love", but at the same time, it's believable — they have a shared past so there's an immediate bond they sense that they don't understand at first. Karou and Akiva are good foils for each other; they're very different in some ways, she being bubbly and full of life, and — despite how she might wish to see herself — still quite youthful and naive in comparison to Akiva. She doesn't have memories of war, suffering and loss the way he does, and her personality balances well with Akiva's darker, more somber temperament. And I have to admit, I've got a soft spot for the forbidden-love-across-battlelines kind of romance.

Everyone else: I don't actually have that much to say about the rest of the characters. I wasn't a big fan of Zuzana. It seemed at the outset that Kaz was going to have a large role, and then he barely featured in it at all (though I think he is instrumental in shaping Karou's attitude). I discuss the chimaera more below, but apart from being a little fond of Kishmish — he was cute, and it's a shame what happened to him — I wasn't particularly attached to any of them. Razgut was creepy, vile in a pitiful kind of way; he's an interesting character in that he's not a villain or an enemy, but at the same time he's not someone you'd voluntarily wish to hang out with.

World-building/setting:

We're given a straightforward but thought-provoking magic system in Daughter of Smoke & Bone. I am always so pleased to see when a fantasy novel actually has rules for magic, and Laini Taylor delivers: the magic doesn't POOF out of nowhere here, but instead has a (very interesting) source. I don't tend to like reincarnation stories, but I thought that aspect of this book (I'm not going to give away specifics) actually made sense: there's a rhyme and reason to the methodology. I would like to know more of the details of the process, but perhaps we will see that in the sequels.

The world of "Elsewhere" is very richly realized, complete with detailed description and history. It hasn't just been cobbled together piecemeal, but rather, the whole world feels like it's actually there. I thought Karou's world could have used more description, but the exotic locales chosen — Prague, Morocco — serve well as a backdrop for the magical goings-on. Somehow, I just don't see it working in a city like New York or Vancouver, that screams "modern." Prague is steeped in history, so it seems more plausible to set it there — a wise choice on the author's part.

The portrayals of angels and "devils" are fresh and different; this is not your average paranormal YA angel story. The chimaera creatures themselves I found kind of weird and creepy, and very odd to visualize with all their preposterous and bizarre animal body-part combinations. I had some trouble keeping the various chimaera straight; some, like Issa, Kishmish, and Brimstone, were easier to remember than ones like Twiga and Yasri. Some more repetition of their descriptions would have helped here. Plus, as I have mentioned before, I'm not one for talking animals. Suffice it to say the chimaera weren't my favourite part of this book. 

Plot/pacing:

After I got into the story, it went by pretty quickly until part 3, where all of a sudden we're flooded with a whole lot more backstory, including new characters, expanded world-building, and plenty of history. This section felt denser and the pacing slowed, and while I liked the legend-like quality of the story (complete with whirlwind romance and betrayal), this meant part 3 was not my favourite. I preferred the preceding interactions between Karou and Akiva, when they're learning about each other.

There actually isn't that much action in Karou's story — it's more about her finding out information. When significant action does occur in part 3, it fails to bring tension with it, since the reader knows everything's going to turn out more or less okay (can't explain this too much without spoiling it, but you'll understand if you read it). It's almost as though, with part 3, the book veers off in a different direction than it had originally pointed, and the climax — if you can call it that — is all about Karou and the reader becoming aware of important events in the past. That said, I did like the ending — a wedge is driven between Karou and Akiva, but it's understandable. Many series follow this kind of pattern of creating conflict in the romantic relationship, but some only use a frivolous means — like making one of the characters jealous, for instance. Thankfully the way it's handled here actually provides a decent reason for contention between Karou and Akiva.


Writing:

The quality of the writing is high, although the style itself is not really my typical cup of tea. Laini Taylor excels at a poetic style of writing exhibited in her lush descriptions of "Elsewhere" and the lyrical storytelling that accompanies them. In the sections set in the modern world, however, she relies more on slang and sense of humour (which unfortunately was not my kind of humour, by and large). The author manages to create meaning through interesting, sometimes unexpected use of words and metaphors, rather than relying on cliches.

Final verdict: 4 shooting stars. This isn't a favourite or comfort read for me, or even my usual style, but it's well-written, different and creative. There's some depth in themes and plotting that standard YA paranormal novels don't have, reflecting that the author's put some thought into it. The dark tinge to the story, along with the fantastical imaginings and the notions of sacrifice and prices to be paid, makes me think that fans of Neil Gaiman, particularly fans of his book Neverwhere, would appreciate Daughter of Smoke & Bone. I have the feeling this story is meant to be discomfiting and disquieting — and that it accomplishes quite well.

Disclaimer: I received this book for review from the publisher.

Embrace: A Snapshot

 

Embrace by Jessica Shirvington

"It starts with a whisper: "It’s time for you to know who you are…"

Violet Eden dreads her seventeenth birthday. After all, it’s hard to get too excited about the day that marks the anniversary of your mother’s death. As if that wasn’t enough, disturbing dreams haunt her sleep and leave her with very real injuries. There’s a dark tattoo weaving its way up her arms that wasn’t there before.

Violet is determined to get some answers, but nothing could have prepared her for the truth. The guy she thought she could fall in love with has been keeping his identity a secret: he’s only half-human—oh, and same goes for her.

A centuries-old battle between fallen angels and the protectors of humanity has chosen its new warrior. It’s a fight Violet doesn’t want, but she lives her life by two rules: don’t run and don’t quit. When angels seek vengeance and humans are the warriors, you could do a lot worse than betting on Violet Eden…" (from Goodreads)

The subject: a girl coming into her own as a paranormal being.

The setting: present-day, generic urban location. I'm not sure if we're actually told the specific city, but probably somewhere in the US. 

Shutter speed: fairly steady. It's not all action, all the time — there's a fair bit of information-sharing, flirtation, and teenage angsting — but there are significant events sprinkled throughout. All the same, though, I wasn't on the edge of my seat, tearing through the pages or anything.

What's in the background? An interesting take on religion. Embrace ends up getting into some pretty detailed angel mythology, based on texts outside of the Bible. For those who are traditionally Christian and take their faith quite seriously, Shirvington's portrayal of the angelic might cause some friction.

Zoom in on: the paranormal system. I was confused at times about the roles of each level of supernatural creatures and how the hierarchy in heaven worked. While the history was explained pretty clearly, the language defining angels of "dark" and "light" was vague. I did think the activation of certain Grigori senses in the presence of exiles was neat, and I liked the concept of the test Violet has to undergo (though I think it should have challenged her more), but a lot of the rest of it seemed similar to other angel books. More specifics about the angel powers and "magic" side of things might have made it stand out.

Anything out of focus? I didn't like Violet all that much, which I think put a damper on my reaction to this book. She bugged me because she would be swept away by her emotions (and sometimes her hormones) and would make decisions without considering all the facts. She was overly trusting, swayed too easily by others, and sometimes slow on cluing into things.

Ready? Say... "Mediocre."

Click! 3 shooting stars. This is one of those books where I find it hard to pinpoint exactly what didn't work for me. Suffice it to say that, probably for several reasons, it just didn't hit the right note. Decent, but nothing exceptional.

Note: there is some mature content and language in this book.

Disclaimer: I received this as an ARC for review from Raincoast Books.

This book counts towards my goal for the 2012 Debut Author Challenge.

Cross My Palm: Paranormal YA

This is a series of posts I'm doing discussing current trends in YA genres and what might be in store for the future. This is just based on my own observations of books and what I've seen publishers/authors/other bloggers talking about.

This week, it's paranormal YA. (For the previous posts on contemporary, sci-fi/dystopian, and historical YA, go here.) I was originally considering combining this with YA fantasy, since there is a lot of overlap and paranormal is arguably a sub-genre of fantasy. But this post would be absolutely mega-huge if that happened, so I'm doing the more paranormal side of things in this post, and the next post will be for other aspects of fantasy.

• Books with a multitude of different kinds of paranormal beings are gaining steam. The Hex Hall and Paranormalcy series, both of which have done very well, are prime examples. There's also the Shadow Falls series by C. C. Hunter and the Winterhaven series by Kristi Cook. (Boarding schools definitely seem to be a fad here too — a convenient way to get a bunch of different paranormal beings all in the same place at the same time!)

• Vampires and werewolves are still holding steady. Unfortunately. The genre is saturated with poor Twilight knock-offs (and Twilight is not exactly the highest quality literature...) This is not to say there aren't some well-written vampire/werewolf stories to be found, but rather, that there are enough, period. But they seem to keep on coming. 2012 releases include The Savage Grace by Bree Despain, Taken by Storm by Jennifer Lynn Barnes, The Immortal Rules by Julie Kagawa, The Golden Lily by Richelle Mead, Stolen Nights by Rebecca Maizel, and Rivals and Retribution by Shannon Delany.

• Angels and demons are battling...for the most shelf space. Be it pure angels, "dark" or "fallen" angels, demons, or a mixture, books featuring these messengers of good and evil are obviously being snatched up by readers. Angels are really "hot" right now, more so than vampires or werewolves, I'd say. We've got these 2012 releases to anticipate: Hallowed by Cynthia Hand, Finale by Becca Fitzpatrick, A Want So Wicked by Suzanne Young, Wings of the Wicked by Courtney Allison Moulton, Angel Fever by L. A. Weatherley, The Space Between by Brenna Yovanoff, and Last Rite by Lisa Desrochers. Plus, Australian author Jessica Shirvington's Embrace is being released this year in North America.

• Ghosts are kind of like jeans: tried and true. While they're not "trending" most of the time, there always seem to be a few ghostly stories you can pick up if that's what you're looking for. Upcoming releases include Arise by Tara Hudson, Girl of Nightmares by Kendare Blake, Glimmer by Phoebe Kitanidis, and The Vanishing Game by Kate Kae Myers.

• Mermaids and sirens are doing just swimmingly (sorry, couldn't resist!) I think these have a similar draw for readers that angels do, but instead of floating around in the celestial heavens, they're submerged in deep waters. We're talking books like Of Poseidon by Anna Banks, Just For Fins by Tera Lynn Childs, The Vicious Deep by Zoraida Córdova, Lies Beneath by Anne Greenwood Brown, Dark Water by Tricia Rayburn, Waking Storms by Sarah Porter, and Tempest Unleashed by Tracy Deebs. 

• Quoth the raven, "There'll be more." All right, so I'm paraphrasing a little. Nevertheless, Edgar Allen Poe seems to be the next literary great whose poems authors are retelling or incorporating into their YA paranormal stories. The second of Kelly Creagh's Nevermore series, Enshadowed, is releasing this year, as is Masque of the Red Death by Bethany Griffin. Annabel by Mary Lindsey is scheduled to be published in 2013. Obviously we're still just at the beginning of a potential trend, but I think given the penchant for dark, creepy paranormal elements many YA readers currently have, that Poe will fit in very nicely here.

• Series are super popular for this genre at the moment. Just look at all the titles mentioned above. How many of those are second or third books in a series? ...That's right, practically all of them. Is it impossible to write a stand-alone paranormal? I don't know, but I'd like to see a few more authors give it a try.

Just generally, paranormal YA is thriving. I'd say it's probably equal to dystopian YA in popularity, and certainly more so than the other categories — historical and contemporary YA — that I discussed in previous posts. It was difficult to pick out trends in this genre simply because there is so much of everything being offered right now.

What are your thoughts on trends in paranormal YA? Do you think the demise of vampire/werewolf stories will happen anytime soon? Will mermaids take over for angels? Are these Poe books just a fluke, or do you think they are the start of something big?

Something Deadly This Way Comes: In A Nutshell

Goodreads' description:

I'm Madison Avery, in charge of heaven's hit squad . . . and fighting it all the way.

When Madison died the night of her prom, she knew her life would never be the same. Now she has a powerful amulet, a team of rogue angels by her side, and the ability to flash forward into the future to see the shape of destiny. And of course, now she's finally with Josh—a perfect boyfriend who doesn't even mind that she's dead.

But being dead has its disadvantages, too. Madison feels caught between the light and the dark, and between her real life and her timekeeper status. When Madison has the opportunity to get her body back—to be alive again—she faces her most difficult decision yet. If she claims it, she could return to being a normal girl—and have a chance at a real relationship with Josh. But would having the one thing she wants most in the world also mean giving up everything she's worked so hard for?

Something Deadly This Way Comes by Kim Harrison

If you'd like to see my review of the first two in this series, go here. There may be some spoilers here for the previous novels if you have not yet read them.

One sentence sum-up: reapers and black wings and seraphs, oh my!

My reaction: I found this final book in the Madison Avery series to be quite entertaining for most of the way through. The intricate celestial system of seraphs, guardian angels, reapers and the like has really been solidified by this point, and I appreciated the amount of thought that went into creating such a system of roles. We're also able to see Madison having truly grown into her title of dark timekeeper, as compared to the more uncertain Madison we saw in book 1, who was still getting used to being, well, dead. Although it seems remarkably easy for Madison to discover how to wield her dark timekeeper powers (spoiler, highlight to read: she changes someone's resonance, finds her human body, and stops time all in a single day, without any instruction), it was still awfully fun to watch her do it.

However, I was disappointed by the ending of this one – it just seemed really easy for Madison to get everything she wanted, and thus very anti-climactic. There's a lot of build-up: will Madison be forced to give up the amulet and the job of dark timekeeper if she wants to keep her human body? Will she be able to save Tammy, a girl whose soul seems doomed to die? And can Madison convince the seraphs to give her method a chance? But the follow-through just wasn't there in the same tension-building, exciting way. Instead, the obstacles Madison was originally presented with turn out to not really be obstacles at all. There isn't a specific villain in this one, as much as a more general uncertainty of Madison's future, and it gets resolved without much work on her part. I don't mind happy endings, but I like the characters to have to risk more in order to get there.

Also, I had some difficulty understanding how Madison's intervention with Tammy was supposed to work. Spoilery bit: if Madison and Tammy exchange a bit of soul in the future, how does that give Madison a claim on Tammy in the present? That future won't come to pass anyway (or so it seems, because Tammy looks like she's going to change) so...how does that work?

In terms of characters, as always Madison's distinctive voice rang through the writing, and both Barnabas and Nakita were charming. I do wish we had seen a bit more of Grace in this one; her character was such a fun one in the previous novel, but this time she seemed a bit more subdued, her limericks not as humorous and altogether she just wasn't in the storyline as much. I was glad to see Paul make an appearance, as Madison must rely on him at one point and there was a nice balance in bringing the dark timekeeper and the light timekeeper-to-be to work together.

Best aspect: I enjoyed the set-up of dark versus light reapers, and the philosophical implications of each side's perspective. Harrison makes it clear that both of them compromise something important to attain their end goal – the light reapers put the soul in jeopardy to save the body, and the dark reapers sacrifice the body to ensure the life of the soul. Madison wants to go beyond this black-and-white thinking, to see the bigger picture and do her utmost to save both. 

If I could change something... Besides upping the ante on the climactic scenes, her romance with Josh just wasn't there for me. I hadn't felt it in the first two books, and I wasn't feeling the chemistry in this one either. I was actually cheering for her to get together with a different character, but sadly that didn't happen. I think part of the problem wasn't just their relationship, but the fact that Josh comes off as a very flat, boring character (and he really isn't integral to the storyline in this book at all).

Also, we do get a few glimpses of Tammy's story through Madison's abilities, but I wanted more – why she was so determined to run away, and what had caused her apparent depression – to flesh her out and move her from stereotype to full-fledged character.

And this is a nitpicky thing, but I did think the book could have stood being copyedited/proofread one more time, as there were a few errors or inconsistencies that I picked up on. (For instance, Josh is referred to once as "the dark timekeeper's girlfriend" when we know he is of the male persuasion.)

Read if you liked: the Mediator series by Meg Cabot, The Ghost and the Goth by Stacey Kade

Quote:




"She doesn't understand about human choice and the fragility of your dreams and the strength that lies in your hopes and faith. Angels see everything in black and white, and the earth was made to be colorful. Think about what you're asking her to do. She is all about the soul, Madison. Life is secondary to her. Life is transient, and you're asking her to risk someone's soul for an extension of something that to her is a blink of an eye."


"But all we have is that blink," I said miserably.


Final verdict: 3 shooting stars. I was wavering between 3 and 3.5 stars, but I took the half off because it is the last in the series (as far as I know) and I was expecting something a bit more epic.

Author's website: http://www.kimharrison.net/

Disclaimer: I received this for review from the publisher.