Savannah Grey

Savannah Grey by Cliff McNish

It’s incredibly rare that a book manages to vault itself onto my “favorite books ever” list within the first two paragraphs. Only one book comes to mind, at least within recent memory: The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman captivated me by the first line. Now I’ve found a second: Cliff McNish’s Savannah Grey, and it did so with incredible force.

What did it? Paragraph number 2: “Reaching number thirty-three, Savannah Grey’s house, the Horror dropped its star-shaped head on one side, knotted its murderous claws behind its back, and tried to work out the most entertaining way to reach Savannah’s bedroom. There were many ways available, but the Horror was young and like all young things, it liked to use its teeth.”

How, I ask, can a book be dull with an opening like that? I was immediately captivated. Not even the change in narrative styles to first person once Savannah awoke diminished the storytelling. I was delighted when I saw that the original voice returned every few chapters to detail more of the Horror and the ancient Ocrassa that controlled it. Neither voice suffered, instead offering a depth to the already compelling story.

While the human characters were well crafted, the monsters came to life with a vibrancy that made me want to see the child-like Horror prance about in a stolen leotard and chasse and leap about while terrorizing humans. The way McNish tells of the Ocrassa’s history is as though he is telling of the Earth itself, incredibly powerful and moving. While explicitly evil, the Ocrassa is rendered in such a way that its actions seemed logical given what it was. I’ve never seen a writer make monsters feel so natural in our world. It’s incredible and not something I can accurately express in a brief review.

In addition to all this, the book ends exactly where and as it should. While there are some flaws (which I’d daresay are minor in comparison to its incredible strengths), I’ve read so few books that seemed nearly perfect in so many ways. This is one you have to read for yourself. Although many of you may disagree with my thoughts, you can’t read this and not wonder at the incredibly rich and original universe McNish created here. It’s astounding.

Thanks to Carolrhoda and NetGalley for the review copy.

Angelfire

Angelfire by Courtney Allison Moulton

Average.

Or maybe “ordinary” is a better descriptor for this book. I wanted to like it, but there just wasn’t enough that was different or special or extraordinary enough to keep my interest. Honestly, it’s a fine paranormal romance and I’m sure there are legions of teen girls/women who will really enjoy it, but for me, the spark wasn’t there.

I’m realizing that I don’t connect with Angelfire, as well as the reason I don’t feel like finishing it, is that I’m more excited to get back to watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer, which I’m only now watching. If Moulton is not a diehard Joss Whedon fan, I’ll be very surprised because the influence and mirrored tone are obvious.

Sadly, the story never developed its own distinct and distinctive style. It’s too much a watered down Buffy—without the great dialogue and fun but keeping all the teenage romance and angst intact—for me to be interested in the substitute while I’m still discovering the real thing.

So I’m going to finish this review quickly so I can get back to Season 3 Episode 15: Consequences.

Edit: I ended up skimming to see what happened at the end. And still I say, average.

Thanks to HarperCollins and NetGalley for the review copy.

The Search

The Search by Nora Roberts

I wish I could rate this book higher than 3 stars, but as other reviewers have mentioned, Nora Roberts spends way too much time detailing how to train dogs and the step-by-step process of using search-and-rescue dogs. If you cut 90% of that description out, the book would surely drop 100 pages and be much better for it. It's a nice read, and I really like the characterization of Simon. He is a straight-talking, no-nonsense guy who says exactly what he thinks, with most of it unflattering to the heroine. For some reason, it strikes me as honest and authentic, and I adore it.

Unfortunately, Fiona comes off very controlling and boring with the insane tendency to treat the whole world—family and friends included—as dogs to be trained. Normally I wouldn't mind, but the overanalyzing thoughts bog down the narrative and make the character flat, though not quite unlikable.

Otherwise, an enjoyable story. So to be fair, it's more of a 3 1/2-star book, though it still misses out on its full potential.

The Sweetness of Salt

The Sweetness of Salt by Cecilia Galante


The Sweetness of Salt is such a beautiful and real story, one without the teenage melodrama common in current YA fiction. Galante captures the essence of the family's struggle, giving it depth and importance without making it into a cliche. I loved the simplicity of this story, and especially how real these characters were. I would love to meet them sometime, stopping by the bakery for a cake and a chat. Simply lovely.

The Girl Who Chased the Moon

The Girl Who Chased the Moon by Sarah Addison Allen

I love this book and found it one of the most lovely works I've read in awhile. (Well, months. I've stumbled upon some excellent books lately.)

Allen's books all have that feeling of coming home. They offer beauty and gentleness, told with gorgeously evocative language. While I fell in love with Garden Spells first, and it probably remains my first love among her stories, this is a neck-in-neck second place winner.

Sarah writes the kind of stories I want to write, so I gladly look up to her as an excellent example of effortless and exemplary writing. While her books won't likely win major awards, they offer something more: heartfelt tales and characters and lives that stay with you long after the book closes.

Now I'm just anxious for her next to come out. Spring seems a long way off . . .

The Search for WondLa

The Search for WondLa by Tony DiTerlizzi

I wish I had better things to say about this book. Of course the illustrations are gorgeous, but writing is not Mr. DiTerlizzi's strength. I imagine Spiderwick worked so well is because someone else wrote the story and he illustrated it.

I wish someone had taken a red pen to about 3/4 of the adjectives he used. The descriptions were so incredibly detailed, with sometimes two or three adjectives, the story takes much too long to tell. Sadly, I think his fame hurt him in this case because it was accepted for publication much too early. If a lot more work had been put into the language of the story, it might have been an incredible book. 

The only thing that (might) entice me to finish is the gorgeousness of the illustrations. If I do keep plugging away, I'll most likely skim the text and enjoy the illustrations. It's very disappointing.

Sisters Red

Sisters Red by Jackson Pearce

I'm really torn on what I think about this book, which is often the hallmark of a good book: it makes you ponder what and how you feel about the characters and plot. The reason I give it 3 stars is because of several weaknesses in the characterization of Scarlett, but many of them could be easily overlooked by someone who really enjoys the story.The sisters' bond actually creeps me out. I read several reviews where it was mentioned that the relationship between the sisters was great and beautiful. I saw it more as an unhealthy possessive and controlling one. Scarlett saved Rosie's life when they were young. Because of that, both of them have come to the conclusion that Rosie should and must devote her life to Scarlett's obsessive need to kill wolves. Throughout, Rosie feels like she's betraying her sister when she even considers having her own life and falling in love.

I actually liked Rosie overall, and Silas was a good guy, so they made an excellent match. That was actually the most enjoyable part of the narrative for me. I loved how two childhood friends went from that to romance, especially with the awkwardness of realizing it and moving from just friends to boyfriend/girlfriend. The author did an excellent job conveying those emotions. I'd actually say that it was the biggest strength of the story and something that the author should explore. The paranormal action wasn't as convincing. I'd love to see Jackson explore writing contemporary YA romance because I suspect she'd be much better at that.

The problem I had through the whole book was with Scarlett. She was so single-minded and driven that she came off as almost one-dimensional, but not completely, if that makes any sense. I didn't enjoy being inside her head and would have much preferred that the story be told exclusively from Rosie's perspective instead of flipping back and forth between the two. Scarlett isn't a very likable character, but watching her and her passions from another person's viewpoint would have softened that tremendously.

I predicted the ending at about 1/3 of the way into the book, even before clues started to be dropped, which is highly disappointing. Other reviews mentioned the twist at the end, but I see it as more of a cop-out. The story would have been more satisfying and realistic had the author taken the hard path. The fact that it all ties up so neatly is something many readers of paranormal romances will love, but it's just not reality.

All of that said, it's definitely an interesting read and one that I would recommend to others. The writing is clean and not wanting for change, but the repetitive nature of several scenes made me wish for they had been trimmed from the manuscript. I did skim the last third of the book because I'd already figured out the big secret and just wanted to see how the book ended.

So long review summed up: a good read but nothing extraordinary.