Mistwood: In A Nutshell

The Shifter is a being of legend. Wild, powerful, and able to take on any shape it chooses... and its purpose is to protect Samornian royalty. But for years now the Shifter has been gone, vanished into the wilds of Mistwood, and some have begun to believe it was indeed only a creature of myth.


That is, until the Samornian prince Rokan brings her back with him to the castle. Isabel has few memories of anything before the here and now, but she knows that as the Shifter it is her duty to guard Rokan from attack. But he's hiding something from her, and the more Isabel unravels of the truth, the more she begins to wonder if she should be protecting him at all...

Mistwood by Leah Cypess

One sentence sum-up: a tale of magic, past wrongs, revenge, and what it means to be human.
 

My reaction: I'd heard about this book for a while before I actually ordered it from the library, mostly because I thought it looked like a fairly standard traditional YA fantasy read, nothing too out of the ordinary. But then I kept seeing really positive reviews so I put it on hold.

And I'm so glad I did! Yes, Mistwood is in the style of traditional fantasy, but it reminded me of exactly why I love this genre so much. A strong but complex female protagonist? Check. A castle full of secrets? Check. A prince trying to hide the past? Check. Assassination attempts? Check. All combining to make one extremely impressive debut novel.

It did take me a few chapters to connect with both the main character Isabel and the story. The beginning is confusing, as Isabel's memories are clouded and so too is the reader's understanding. This, coupled with Isabel's tendency to lie (sometimes without the reader being informed she is doing so) results in something similar to the 'unreliable narrator' effect, though it is written in third-person. However, soon enough I was swept up in all of the drama and I began to care about Isabel and Rokan; indeed, I gobbled this book up in a single evening, staying up late at night to finish! The plot had me flipping the pages eagerly, and I appreciated the obvious attention to detail, as everything ties up very nicely with few (if any) loose ends.

Best aspect: The mystery surrounding Isabel's history. Cypess keeps the reader guessing as Isabel gains piece after piece of a complicated puzzle. There are several revelations along the way, many of which I did not see coming (including the climactic one, at which point I went, 'Duh! How could I not have guessed that?' in my head). Much as I loved the gripping intrigue and action-filled scenes (and this book is chock-full of that, since no one trusts anyone else), perhaps even more enjoyable was seeing the more personal side of the story, as Isabel learns about who she truly is and what life she desires to lead. She starts out being cool, distancing, and clinical in a way, and then as the novel progresses she begins to experience human emotions she doesn't understand. Isabel is not the most sympathetic heroine from the get-go, but she won me over as she struggled with self-doubt and came to better understand her abilities and limitations.
 
If I could change something... I would have liked to see a bit more of the romance that develops, and also a clearer portrayal of Isabel's need to protect Samornian royalty. Spoiler, highlight to read: Because of Isabel's Shifter nature, she does not show or share emotions often. Her relationship with Rokan is subtle and develops very gradually, and while I was certainly cheering them on to get together, a bit more chemistry between them would have been welcome. I must say I didn't ever feel the bond between Isabel and Kaer, despite the fact we get told about their connection and her duty to protect him. This may have been deliberate, however, both as a means of showing that Isabel herself wasn't convinced and also to encourage the reader to dislike Kaer.

The out-and-out villains were not terribly complex, unfortunately, and I would have enjoyed seeing some more layers to their personalities and motives. However, there was one character (not saying who!) that was very tricky and continually surprised me, which added to the unpredictability of the storyline.


In five words or less: captivating, mystical and thoroughly enchanting.

Quote:




She had learned to pay attention to the variations in Rokan's smiles. There was the sideways half-smile when he found something amusing; the slow, contented smile that appeared only rarely these days; and the wide, dazzling, unrestrained smile she had so far seen only twice, when he first came for her in the Mistwood and when they watched the hawk soar against the sky. And then there was this one, the reason for her watchfulness: the impish grin that meant he wanted to do something he knew was stupid and was going to do it anyhow.


Read if you liked: Brightly Woven by Alexandra Bracken, Summers at Castle Auburn by Sharon Shinn, The Seer and the Sword by Victoria Hanley

Final verdict: 4.5 shooting stars. 

Author's website: http://www.leahcypess.com/

In My Mailbox (16)

In this meme, hosted by Kristi at The Story Siren, we share the books we've received, bought or taken out from the library.

Won:

Sea Change by Aimee Friedman, Breathless by Jessica Warman and lots of cool swag from I Swim For Oceans! (Thanks, Melissa!)


From the library:

The Red Umbrella by Christina Diaz Gonzalez
Secondhand Charm by Julie Berry
Wildwing by Emily Whitman
Starcrossed by Elizabeth C. Bunce
Dangerous to Know by Tasha Alexander (adult)


Bought from library discards:

Party Princess by Meg Cabot
Forever Princess by Meg Cabot

I have the first 6 in the Princess Diaries series, so I couldn't pass up getting a bit closer to completing my series collection with the great deals I got these two for.

Book Blogger Hop (25)

 

Yes, that's right...time again for the Book Blogger Hop! This awesome meme is hosted by Crazy-For-Books and this week's question is, "What are you reading now and why are you reading it?"

Well, I'm partway through Mindi Scott's Freefall which I have been reading on and off for several days now, although I keep getting distracted by other books out from the library (*cough*Nightshade*cough*). I'm reading it as part of my Read Outside Your Comfort Zone Challenge, since it is narrated by a guy and I tend to prefer novels featuring female protagonists. Would still love some more people to join me in this challenge (these don't have to be books you actively dislike, just ones that aren't your typical read!) — there will be a giveaway at the end... :D

In other news...

I am less than 20 responses away from 100 for my Is Personality Related to Genre? survey, and once I reach 100 I think I'll have enough people to start analyzing the trends and posting the results! If you are a YA reader who has not yet filled out this survey and can spare a minute of your time to answer a few multiple choice questions, that would be awesome. Just click on the link above to get to the survey.

Recent posts:


Amy & Roger's Epic Detour: Review
Waiting on Wednesday: The Goddess Test and Sirenz

Find the Gap: Setting - this is a series I'm running this month, looking at the gaps in different aspects of YA lit. This week was settings - drop by and join in the discussion!

Sunday Confessions: Bookshelves
In My Mailbox (15)
Rapunzel's Revenge: Review

Amy & Roger's Epic Detour: Review

Ever since the accident, Amy's shut the world out. She can't share anything with her drug-using brother, and her mom doesn't seem to understand. The one person Amy wants is her dad, but he's not there anymore — and she knows that's her own fault.


So when her mom announces they're moving across the country and Amy will be getting a ride with a friend's son, she is less than thrilled. But Roger turns out to be different than she expected, and when Amy decides to chuck her mom's itinerary and blaze her own trail across America, what might have been a routine trip turns into a personal journey for both of them.

 

Amy & Roger's Epic Detour by Morgan Matson

Characters:

I liked Amy's voice right from the beginning. She has a subtle, tongue-in-cheek, occasionally self-deprecating sense of humour that helped me to connect with her right away. I also identified with her desire for privacy and her anxiety about opening up to other people and sharing personal information. We soon see that psychologically she's still reeling from her dad's death and the blame she places on herself for it, and it will take a while before withdrawn Amy starts to break out of her shell. The slow, hesitant but hopeful steps Amy takes to start really living again are a treat to see.

We don't get to know Roger quite as well as Amy, but what I saw of him I liked. He's mature, and fun in a quiet kind of way. True, he's not perfect — he's got a huge hang-up about his ex-girlfriend that he just can't seem to let go of. Still, you can really only feel sorry for him when you hear about what a nasty piece of work she is. And he's gentle and cautious with Amy, pushing her a little to try new things without being forceful. He gives her the space she feels she needs, but he also gives her a reason for wanting that space to dissolve entirely.

While Amy and Roger are the two main characters (obviously, given the title) numerous others pop up along the way, some only briefly and others for a more lasting connection with Amy and the reader. In particular, I enjoyed the chapters with Lucien, as he is a fun-loving guy with a strong, well-defined personality (loved his hobby of sculpting topiary statues) and he was very instrumental in helping Amy get over some of her fears. I was glad we were introduced to Charlie towards the end as well, as Amy's brother is mentioned here and there throughout and it's clear there are issues between them that need to be discussed.


Plot:

This is where I would say I was somewhat let down. The plot is extremely slow-moving, and while the detour may be "epic" in terms of character growth, there isn't a whole lot of action on the road trip. On the contrary, I think the message here is more that even the smallest decision or interaction can make a difference, and I appreciated that we were shown Amy didn't have to do anything *really* wild or crazy to start enjoying life again. Even small interactions with perfect strangers changed Amy, and I found this idea — almost 'roadtrip therapy,' in a sense — interesting. Still, I did feel like it dragged (particularly as some sections involve Amy's flashbacks), although it picks up a bit towards the end.

I also thought the climactic scene was resolved a little too quickly and easily. For spoilery details, highlight: Amy finally owns to Roger that she thinks it's her fault her dad is dead, and we find out exactly how the car accident occurred. However, we've been given flashbacks all along as well as Amy's own (intentionally vague and mysterious) thoughts about it, so this isn't too much of a surprise. Then, it just takes Roger repeating several times that it's not her fault before Amy suddenly realizes he's right, decides to stop blaming herself and has a good hearty cry. This just seemed like too much of an abrupt "fix-it" for Amy's problems, since moments before she was still feeling thoroughly guilty about the whole thing.

This was then followed by one particular plot point that I felt was quite out of character for Amy. This is spoilery so highlight to read: the progression of her romantic relationship with Roger was extremely rapid; they are kissing for the first time one minute and then in the same evening they have sex. I was certainly rooting for them to get together, but this just seemed to clash with Amy's personality — not to mention the last time she'd spontaneously decided to sleep with someone it hadn't turned out so well. I'm not sure if the author was trying to make up for lost time (since for a large part of the book these two aren't romantically involved) to give the reader some delayed gratification or if this was supposed to help Amy block out the night with Michael, but it felt kind of like we were being fast-forwarded through the initial stages of their relationship. 

As for the ending, it was pretty much perfect — hopeful and promising without being overly sugary, and the amount of ambiguity drove home the point that we cannot pin down the future.

Setting:

Having never been to any of the places Amy and Roger travel through, I enjoyed learning some new facts about America. For instance, I could totally picture the eerie atmosphere of driving down "the Loneliest Road in America." As the journey continues, the characters and their interactions become a good deal more important than the locations they visit, so unfortunately we don't get to find out as much about the later states they visit (many of which seem to be big and flat, which is the general impression I got of the middle of the U.S.) I must say, though, that including a map of their trip would have been helpful; I had a great amount of difficulty picturing it, seeing as my knowledge of U.S. geography is basically limited to that Washington's just over the border from B.C., New York and Florida are on the east coast, California's on the west, and Texas is way down south. (I'm Canadian, remember!)

Writing style:

Matson's style is detailed and verbose, but this went along well with Amy's character, as she is a thoughtful and introspective narrator. I will say, though, that I thought some descriptive details were unnecessary (for instance, Amy and Roger stop at a lot of fast-food places along the way and we get told what they eat at every single one of them. Maybe it's just that I'm vegetarian but it really didn't do much for me besides slow down the plot.)

Major points for having all of the neat additions to the main chapters, in the form of receipts, photos, playlists and Amy's travel journal. These were fantastic little snippets that really added to the book's charm, and helped to break up the narrative. The haikus they write during the Yosemite hike are cute and hilarious!

Final verdict: 3.5 shooting stars. I enjoyed the characters, their interactions, and Amy's personal growth, but I had a few issues with the pace and the climactic events.

Waiting on Wednesday: The Goddess Test and Sirenz

Waiting on Wednesday is hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine and features books that we just can't wait to get our hands on!

This week's picks have a theme I've been noticing in YA for this year: Hades and the Underworld.

The Goddess Test by Aimee Carter

"It's always been just Kate and her mom--and now her mother is dying. Her last wish? To move back to her childhood home. So Kate's going to start at a new school with no friends, no other family and the fear her mother won't live past the fall.

Then she meets Henry. Dark. Tortured. And mesmerizing. He claims to be Hades, god of the Underworld--and if she accepts his bargain, he'll keep her mother alive while Kate tries to pass seven tests.

Kate is sure he's crazy--until she sees him bring a girl back from the dead. Now saving her mother seems crazily possible. If she succeeds, she'll become Henry's future bride, and a goddess.

If she fails..."

Very pretty cover (sorry, I couldn't find a larger image), and I like the stakes of involving her dying mother and seven tests. Looks pretty dramatic!

Sirenz by Charlotte Bennardo and Natalie Zaman

"Bickering frenemies Meg and Shar are doing some serious damage at a midnight sample sale when they find themselves arguing over a pair of shoes—with fatal consequences. One innocent bystander later, the girls are suddenly at the mercy of Hades—the god of the underworld—himself. To make them atone for what they’ve done, Hades forces the teens to become special-assignment Sirens, luring to the Underworld any individual whose unholy contract is up.

But just because they have an otherworldly part-time job now doesn’t mean Meg and Shar can ignore life’s drudgeries (work) or pleasures (fashion!). Finding that delicate balance between their old and new responsibilities turns out to be harder than they expected, especially when an entire pantheon of Greek deities decides to get involved. Then there’s the matter of the fine print in their contracts . . ."
 
This one has a much lighter, fluffier feel to it, both in cover and in the voice. And I'm wanting to know about that fine print...

What books are you waiting on?