So Much Pretty by Cara Hoffman

So Much Pretty by Cara Hoffman
Publisher:  Simon & Schuster
Publish Date:  March 15, 2011
ISBN:  978-1451616750
Pages:  304


I received this book from the publisher in return for an honest review.



SO MUCH PRETTY is a mystery and a thriller.  But it's not the kind where the events could never happen.  It's the kind where you hope they never happen to YOUR family, but we read about them all too frequently.  This novel is not YA, but still something I can see YA readers picking up to read as they get older.  I would recommend this one only for the oldest of the group.  There's swearing, sex, violence and general human atrocities.

A small town girl disappears, only to reappear months later...dead...less than a mile from her apartment.  She's a nice girl, just got her own apartment, waitresses, graduated a couple years ago, just began dating the well-to-do son of the local dairy farmer.  When she disappears, the townspeople insist it had to be a drifter, it couldn't possibly be one of them. 

There's three main voices in this book:
Wendy - the missing girl.  The chapters from Wendy are few and far between, but are hard hitting.

Stacy Flynn - Reporter/Editor of the local paper.  She came from the big city as she's sure she's going to find her big story out here in the boonies. 

Alice Piper - 15 yo genius daughter of hippie parents who were doctors in NYC and moved her to live off the land and be part of the community.  However, the community still considers them outsiders and weirdos after all these years.  But people like Alice, she's smart, athletic, friendly.

The characters are interesting, as is the story.  However, I had to concentrate while reading it.  There's a lot going on  - jumping viewpoints, lots of undercurrents politically and within the community.  I felt like the only character I really got to know was Stacy Flynn, and then still only on the surface.  Alice, although apparently filled with moral outrage, seemed entirely to calculating and aloof.  Wendy - there wasn't enough for me to feel anything more than sorrow for a wasted life.  I wanted to connect with her, to care about her, but she seemed to be more of a vehicle of the story than someone that really mattered. 

I really felt like too much time and detail was spent on Alice's parents - what they did in the past, what they're doing now, their political thoughts and ideals.  Also the dairy farm issues about contaminating the water supply - which was brought up and never mentioned again.  It seemed like not that much mattered.  I know that her parents influenced Alice, but it seemed that they influenced her in a way that they didn't mean to...as it may be with a lot of parents.  I felt like some of that space could have been used to make me see Wendy more clearly.

I'm not really sure how I feel about this book.  Have you read it?  What do you think?

The Book of Blood and Shadow by Robin Wasserman

Publisher:  Random House
Date:  April 10, 2012
ISBN: 978-0375968761
Pages:  352


Nora's best friend, Adriane is catatonic, Adriane's boyfriend Chris is dead and Nora's boyfriend Max is missing.  Oh yeah, Nora came to with blood everywhere.  Is Max a murderer?  Nora sets out to find out the truth.  Her search takes her all the way to Prague.

Nora comes off as a real person.  She doesn't just accept the way things are, she questions and challenges them.  When she's hurt, you know it, but she keeps going.  Cuz that's what strong women do.

There's letters from the past, an ancient religious sect, cute boys, helpful boys, mysterious boys, deceit, love, science, history, mystery and treasure hunting.  All put together with beautiful writing and great characterization.

You really need to read this one yourself!  Great job, Ms. Wasserman!

The Screaming Stone by J.P. Osterman

The Screaming Stone by J.P. Osterman
Publisher: Infinity Publishing
Pages:  316

Sent to me by the author.

As always: SPOILERS!!!!!

Summary:  Meet mischievous Marcie, part of a family with large secrets.  Trying to make sense of her mother's crazed actions, Marcie looks to her strange cousin Robbie and the adults around her for direction.  After dead Uncle Charlie's funeral, they embark on a quest to find answers to questions that have puzzled their family since the Civil War.  Sifting through lies, secrets and Irish folk tales, Marcie believes "The Screaming Stone" contains the magic to uncover the truth and lead them to the hidden treasure.

Ok, so I have come to the conclusion that this is definitely a middle-grade book.  The writing seems, to me, to be like most middle-grade books and I don't think that most older YA readers would enjoy it; but the puzzling thing was the subject matter.  The subject matter seemed to be a bit more adult.  I know that it would have raised questions from my daughter at the middle-grade age.  Some of the topics tackled are teen (we assume) pregnancy, mental illness, child abuse and accidental murder.  That's a whole lot going on in one book!

For some reason it really bothered me that I couldn't figure out what time period this was supposed to be in.  From the cover, I thought 60's or 70's - it seemed a bit retro.  Then at one point the kids use a card catalogue in the library and they also watch "The Red Skeleton Hour" - that made me believe it was in the late 1960's.  The language was older too, at times the conversation didn't flow so much as be 'chunky'.  The slang and everyday phrases were different.  I think that for middle-grade readers, they might be confused.  Especially as the one character uses a tape recorder a lot - they might have to ask what that is!

It felt like there were too many stories all going at once, trying to be tied together by Irish folk lore.  The folk lore was the best part of the book - beautiful stories!  So we have:

         

         The family might lose their farmland, including dead Uncle Charlie's farm because there's not enough money.  So Marcie's mom goes to stay at her Aunt & Uncles empty house; while Marcie, her younger brother, cousin Robbie and the Grandparents stay at Uncle Charlie's house.  I didn't really get why they had to stay there and who was taking care of Grandpa's business while he was gone.  Also, Marcie's mom is married now with stepchildren - the husband and his children don't come out to stay - what's up with that?!

           Then there's the weird tunnel under Uncle Charlie's barn and all the stuff in it.  The kids accidentally find a key while desecrating a tombstone and then go scouting around until they find this door in the barn floor, which leads to a huge series of caverns.  Someone is living down there, but they believe that the Irish spirits are watching over them and go ahead.

         Marcie's mom acts crazy and is abusive, hitting the children.  Later there's a story about a teen (we assume) pregnancy and mental illness to go with this.  Uncle Finn is the black sheep of the family - his sister thinks he killed her boyfriend and won't 'fess up.  He stays away from the family.  It turns out that the mom is schizophrenic and she and her parents refused treatment for years.  She got worse when her boyfriend died and then she had the baby and gave it up.  I knew after a couple of chapters that the baby was Robbie - she was very calm and different with him, it was really obvious.  I spent most of the book trying to decide what Robbie's issue was...I want to say Aspburger's, but I'm not completely sure and it never says.  Uncle Finn never left home, he lives in the series of tunnels under Uncle Charlie's farm.  

For me, the book didn't flow and it was more of a chore to read it than an enjoyment.  I was befuddled by the time period, the language, and all the stories being crammed into one book.  But that's just my opinion.

         

Nightshade by Andrea Cremer

Publisher:  Philomel Books (Penguin)
Publish Date:  October 19, 2010
ISBN:  978-0-399-25482-6
Pages:  452
Cover Design:  Katrina Damkoehler

I'll be honest, I wasn't sure about reading a story about werewolves and romance.  Too many were-mances were passed on to me that were just ridiculous.  But I gave it a chance, mostly because the cover is gorgeous!


Calla Tor and Ren Laroche are Seniors at Mountain School.  They've been chosen to head up the new pack being formed - a combination of the Nightshade and Bane families.  Calla is a Nightshade and Ren is a Bane.

There are several groups involved in the story and it took me a few minutes to sort them out:

Guardians - the werewolves.  They're soldiers and sworn to protect whatever the Keepers tell them to, they can switch into wolves whenever they want to.
Keepers - in charge of the packs, provide everything for the Guardians - homes, food, education, vehicles. They are considered witches or Old Ones, they protect humanity and demand complete obedience and loyalty from the Guardians.
Searchers - they want to take over the sacred sites and use the power (or so we're told) for their own gain.
Humans - They have no idea of what's going on really

Calla knows she has to mate with Ren, but the new boy at school, Shay, is causing her doubts.  The worst part is that while Ren has been able to play the field, she has had to be chaste.  No boyfriends, no kissing, nothing.  Now that the ceremony is close, everyone is on edge.  Add to that the fact that the Keepers have assigned Calla to watch over and protect Shay and it's no wonder she's confused.  As she hangs out with Shay more and more, things begin to come to light that just don't make sense with what she's always believed.

On the night of her 'wedding' to Ren, pieces begin to fall into place and nothing will ever be the same again.

For a book I was really skeptical of, this one turned out to be pretty good.  Calla comes across as a typical teenager with real feelings, while Shay seems pretty normal, it's very believable characterization.

Wake Unto Me by Lisa Cach

Publisher: Penguin Group
Publish Date: March 31, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-14-241436-1
Pages: 304


Have you ever felt like you just didn't belong?  That's how Caitlin feels in WAKE UNTO ME. Her parents have three rowdy boys involved in sports and they think Caitlin might be a little...unbalanced.  It's not that her parents don't love her, they just don't know what to do with her. See, she has these dreams - sometimes terrifying nightmares and sometimes wonderful escapes into the history of Oregon (where she lives).  When Caitlin gets a full-ride scholarship to a fancy boarding school in France, she jumps at the chance to leave.

But now she's in France and the nightmares haven't stopped.  In facet, now she's dreaming FRENCH history! Ofcourse, the bonus is the boy in (and of) her dreams - Raphael. She knows in her heart that they are bound together..but he's only a dream...right?

This is a great historical fiction, I'm really glad to see historical fiction making a showing in YA. WAKE UNTO ME is well-written with lots of lovely description - it was like watching a movie - Lisa Cach did a beautiful job!

Incarceron by Catherine Fisher

Publisher:  Dial Books (Penguin Group)
Publish Date:  Feb. 8, 2011 (US)
Original Publish Date:  May 3, 2007 in the UK (lucky ducks!)
ISBN: 978-0-8037-3396-1
Pages: 448

A bit of unexpected steampunk-ish mystery.  Nothing is as it seems here.
I think that Catherine Fisher's website has the best synopsis:  Imagine a living prison so vast that it contains corridors and forests, cities and seas. Imagine a prisoner with no memory, who is sure he came from Outside, even though the prison has been sealed for centuries and only one man, half real, half legend, has ever escaped.
Imagine a girl in a manor house in a society where time has been forbidden, where everyone is held in a seventeenth century world run by computers, doomed to an arranged marriage that appalls her, tangled in an assassination plot she both dreads and desires.

From the beginning you want to believe that Claudia is a damsel-in-distress, but she's too strong.

The Warden of Incarceron seems to be the uncaring father and is "in" with the Queen.  But is he?  The father? Under the Queen's thumb?  What a tangled web we weave!


Finn appears to be a child born of Incarceron.  Is he? Or is he a prisoner lately come?

Lord Evian, the Queen's Chancellor, comes off as a silly dandy.  Is he really a dandy or a steely fox?

Why must everything be 17th Century?!  Is Incarceron a Prison or a Paradise? How does the Warden monitor it when he's always either at Court or at home? Why does it need a Warden if it's a Paradise? What happened to Claudia's first betrothed?  Questions upon questions piled up as I read.

Each chapter is prefaced with a quote from an archive or story which add to the mystery.  I look forward to finding out what happens next!  Has anyone read the second book?  Is it as good as the first?

Rosebush by Michelle Jaffe

Publisher:  Razorbill (Penguin Group)
Publish Date:  December 7, 2010
ISBN: 978-1-59514-353-2
Pages:  336

An honest-to-goodness mystery!  I hate to even say much, I hate to spoil the surprise.  Let's just say that I changed my mind about who-dun-it several times.  Here's my take on it:



Jane thought she had:
2 bff's
1 fantastic, although controlling, boyfriend
1 mother who doesn't care
1 soon-to-be slimy stepdad
1 great friend who might be in love with her

NOW, Jane things she has:
1 bff with a secret...good or bad?
1 bff who's loyal and true
1 boyfriend who might be a cheater
1 mother who doesn't care
1 soon-to-be stepdad who might not be so slimy
1 new great friend
1 killer coming to get her

Does she have it right yet?  Maybe...maybe not...