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Archivist Wasp. Nicole Kornher-Stace. 2015. Big Mouth House. 268 pages. [Source: Library]

Two words describe Archivist Wasp, in my opinion, confusing and compelling. It's not often a book is equal parts confusing and compelling. Even though I found myself with more questions than answers and lingering confusion, I couldn't stop reading Archivist Wasp. Two more words to describe the book? How about post-apocalyptic and ghosts?

Our heroine is an archivist calling herself "Wasp." I'll be honest, Wasp doesn't have the best of lives, even, when she's not fighting for her life, fighting to stay the Archivist. (She's challenged every year by three Upstarts. That's how she got the job as well, by killing the previous Archivist.) Archivists have a marginally better life than Upstarts. But essentially, no one in this post-apocalyptic world has a happy, easy life. The villagers, well, they have their problems too. But at least they aren't tortured/tormented by the Catchkeep's Priest and brainwashed into a life of hate and violence.

So what does an Archivist do? She hunts ghosts, recording what she learns from each ghost, disposes of ghosts after studying, except, for when a villager wants to buy a ghost for whatever reason. It's a bleak, lonely life. And Wasp does spend a good bit of the book recovering from various injuries.

So the book is about what happens when Wasp meets an out-of-the-ordinary ghost, one that is actually able to communicate with her, one that has a tragic tale to tell and a huge request for her. This nameless ghost (he can't remember his identity, I believe) wants her help in finding another ghost, Catherine Foster. He wants them both to travel to the underworld and search the spirit-world. She agrees, and, in the process learns that life below isn't any more bleak than life above. In fact, in some ways it might even be slightly better. But the search won't be easy. And it will have its own dangers.

The book is about what she learns through this search, it will change her certainly....

Do I understand everything that happened in Archivist Wasp? Not really. The quest was really confusing in places, and, she is thrown in and out of other people's memories. She sees the past on her quest, in bits and pieces, and probably not sequential flashbacks either. She has to piece it all together. And she does a much better job than I did with that!

© 2015 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

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Wild Boy. Rob Lloyd-Jones. 2013. Candlewick Press. 295 pages. [Source: Review copy]

Prologue
Southwark, London, May 1838
That night, the night the showman came, the moon was the color of mud.

Do you love historical mysteries? compelling historical mysteries set in Victorian London?! Wild Boy is definitely one I'd recommend.

This murder-mystery stars two unlikely friends: the Wild Boy, a sideshow "freak," and Clarissa, a young acrobat and the daughter of the circus ringmaster. These two enemies--Wild Boy doesn't really have many friends--are pushed together under some strange circumstances. Wild Boy agrees, for better or worse, to help Clarissa find a rich person to pickpocket. What they pocket isn't money, but, a mysterious note warning someone--but WHO--that his (or her) life is in great danger. Wild Boy, who knows it is oh-so-risky to leave his sideshow "home," decides to brave it. He'll go in search of the would-be recipient. Surely he can figure out who the note was meant for before it's too late...

He does manage to find out WHO, and just in time to witness the crime--the murder. But the murderer was wearing a mask, and, I believe a cape as well. There are a handful of clues for him to work with, however. If he gets the chance. For Wild Boy, within minutes of the crime, becomes the prime suspect. He's an animal, after all, right?!

For Wild Boy to live long enough to solve the mystery, he'll need a little help from others...

I really LOVED Wild Boy. I loved Wild Boy himself. I loved the narrative. He had me hooked from the start. I also loved Clarissa. I thought the way these two were brought together was great. The atmosphere of this one--the setting, the description, the detail--it all worked quite well.

 Have you read Wild Boy? What did you think of it?

© 2015 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

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Palace of Spies. Sarah Zettel. 2013. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. 368 pages. [Source: Library]

Peggy Fitzroy lives with her aunt, uncle, and cousin. She knows she's not wanted, her aunt and uncle have made that clear. But she gets along quite well with her cousin, Olivia. The novel opens with Peggy in a difficult position. Her uncle has arranged a marriage for her. She's not thrilled instead more than a little hesitant. Her hesitation only increases AFTER she meets him at a ball. Her intended isn't the only person she meets there, however. One other mystery man makes her acquaintance. He offers her a way out. He tells her that he knew her mother. He wants to make a deal with her, of sorts. He wants her to spy for him, to impersonate one of the Queen's maids. (Ladies-in-waiting?) He leaves her with his card. She's curious but just as hesitant about that option as well. If only she could have some control over her own future...

With a title like Palace of Spies, it's obvious what her choice was. She will become Lady Francesca Wallingham. Can she learn enough from Mr. Tinderflint and Mr. Peele? Do they know enough about her to tell her everything she needs to know to pass as this lady? Is either man trustworthy? What are their intentions? What will they do with the information she provides? Who can she trust at court? Did Lady Francesca have enemies? How will she be able to discern who her friends were and who her enemies were? Will she fool anyone? Will she fool everyone? Will she ever get a minute to call her own? How long will this deception last?

I enjoyed this one. I think I enjoyed it even more having read Lucy Worsley's The Courtiers: Splendor and Intrigue in the Georgian Court at Kensington Palace earlier this year. I was familiar with several of the characters. It was quite entertaining with a nice balance of danger and romance.

© 2014 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

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Free to Fall. Lauren Miller. 2014. HarperCollins. 480 pages. [Source: Library]

I loved Lauren Miller's Free to Fall. I enjoyed the mystery and conspiracy. I enjoyed the romance. I enjoyed the premise most of all. Is the book absolutely perfect? I wouldn't go that far. I'm not sure enough characters are fully developed to be near perfect. But in my opinion, the premise worked from start to finish. (I'd definitely say this is a plot-driven read.) I also enjoyed the themes and symbols of this one. (Hint: Paradise Lost)

Free to Fall is set circa 2030. Rory Vaughn, our heroine, is super excited to learn that she has been accepted to the oh-so-exclusive Theden Academy. It is only after she's been accepted that her father tells her that her mother also attended Theden Academy. (Theden Academy is a highschool, not a college). Before her mom died, she left something for her daughter. A note and a necklace. (It was conditional upon her going to Theden Academy.) Another girl from Rory's former school has been accepted as well. They will room together for better or worse. Her name is Hershey Clements.

Perhaps the less you know, the better. Since this one is plot-and-premise driven. Since this one is so focused on uncovering a BIG, BIG mystery. But. There is romance. And not the kind of "romance" that involves a love triangle! The hero's name is North, and, I definitely liked him! 

I would definitely recommend this one!

© 2014 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

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The Glass Casket. McCormick Templeman. 2014. Random House. 352 pages. [Source: Review copy]

The Glass Casket has a great opening line,

"One bleak morning in the eye of winter, five horses and five riders thundered into the remote mountain village of Nag's End." 

It caught my interest and kept me reading until the very, very end, without a single break. For the record, I do NOT like horror novels. I do NOT like thrillers. Witches. Monsters. Vampires. Not my thing AT ALL. Yet, for some reason, I found myself unable to walk away from this fantasy novel. In other words, I found myself LOVING it.

After these strange riders fail to return, several men go up into the woods and investigate. What they found shocks them to say the least. One man is bloodied and his eyes and tongue are missing. The remaining four were found NAKED and frozen. One could reason that wolves might have killed one of the five men. BUT what would lead four men to strip off their clothes, fold them up, and allow themselves to freeze to death?! And what was up with the last journal entry found in their belongings that reads: It's starting. Tom Parstle is, I believe, the one who finds that journal entry. And he also removes something else from the scene, something that any fan of Pirates of the Caribbean could warn him against, a coin or medallion. "It was a circle enclosing a smaller circle. They were linked by seven spokes, empty spaces between them. He was leaning in to examine it more closely when he found himself suddenly queasy, as if beset by a noxious force" (19). The men return with some answers but more questions.

Rowan Rose is our heroine. She is Tom's best friend. She's super smart. She doesn't only know how to read and write, she knows how to read and write in several languages. She assists her father in his translating work. In fact, she is BETTER at translating than her father is. She does not want to marry. She wants to be a scholar. She thinks her father is supportive of her plans for the future.

Jude Parstle is Tom's brother. Jude has long been thought to be the lesser of the brothers. No one expects much of him, Tom, well Tom is "the good brother." Jude, well, Jude is allowed to do whatever. Rowan and Jude have a tense relationship: they are ALWAYS bickering. Everyone thinks that Jude hates Rowan, that he perhaps hates her because she's so brainy, though that is more Tom's theory. (Tom thinks his brother is only interested in one thing from a woman.)

Those five riders weren't the ONLY strangers to come to town. There were three other strangers: a glassblower, his wife, and a young woman that is OH-SO-EXTRAORDINARILY-BEAUTIFUL. Her name is Fiona Eira. Not everyone is pleased with these strangers. Rowan's father, Henry, is the most opposed. He insists that Rowan have NOTHING AT ALL to do with Fiona.

So what is Rowan to do when her best friend, Tom, falls madly, deeply in instant-love with Fiona? He HAS to meet her. He just HAS to. He begs and pleads with her to be the go-between, to seek her out, to introduce herself, to speak well of Tom, to arrange a meeting for them the next day. Rowan is creeped out by Tom's obsession in all honesty. But. She dares to disobey her father. She'll do it for her friend. At the very least, her helping Tom may help him calm down a bit.

But this wouldn't be much of a horror novel if Tom and Fiona live happily ever after...

The Glass Casket is definitely packed with action and suspense. There is a big mystery to solve. It is intensely violent. The scenes depicting violence--murder--are very graphic. It is also graphic when it comes to passion. Yet despite the fact that this one is in many ways plot-driven, I feel Templeman did a good job with characterization. I definitely had favorite characters.

Rowan and Obsessed-Tom talking about LOVE:

"Rowan," he said, "do you think it possible to love someone upon first laying eyes on them?"
"Well, the poets certainly thought it so if they're to be believed, a woman's eyes can know a future lover upon seeing him, and if the man sees the fire in those eyes, sees himself there, then he can fall in love before they've even spoken a word."
"But what do you think? Do you think it's possible?"
"I don't know. I suppose I like the idea of some part of our bodies knowing and recognizing our futures even if our minds cannot. That appeals to me. But no, I don't think it possible."
"You don't? Really? If your future husband came riding into the village one day, you don't think you'd recognize him immediately?"
"I don't think that's how it works."
"How does it work, then?"
"I think in order to love someone, you must know their heart. You need to witness their goodness, and you can't know something like that unless you've known someone for a while. I think familiarity breeds love."
"That's not very romantic of you."
"Isn't it?"
"I'm talking about love, grand love--that thing that makes you feel like your knees are about to give way, that certainty that you've seen the essence of your future in a pair of red lips."
"Tom, beauty isn't the same thing as goodness; it isn't the same thing as love." (52, 53)

Rowan on Jude:

Staring at him, she felt rage burning in her chest. How was it that he could make her so angry? How was it that he always seemed to know how she felt without her saying a word? It was unfair. He had no right to her feelings. Her temper getting the better of her, she strode over to him, her hands clenched into fists, and took a single wretched swing at him. The force she'd put behind the blow was intense, but she never connected, for he caught her forearm gently in his hand, and looking deep into her eyes, he held her gaze. (75)

Sample of atmosphere:

The funeral should have been the next day. It ought to have been. The village ought to have gathered in Fiona Eira's home and the elders ought to have performed the rites. She should have been covered in the funerary shroud, hiding the sight of human flesh so as not to offend the Goddess. Her body laid up on Cairn Hill at the Mouth of the Goddess, stones carefully arranged atop her resting spot. These were the things that ought to have been done. But sometimes things don't go as planned. (117)

It was a coffin. A glass coffin, intricately carved, and set out in the yard for all to see. Inside it was the girl, her black hair splayed out around her, her lips like rotting cherries set against a newly ashen complexion. (129)

© 2014 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

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The Grimm Legacy. Polly Shulman. 2010. Penguin. 325 pages.

 The Grimm Legacy has an intriguing premise. Wouldn't it be fun if fairy tales were true and there were magical artifacts gathered together in a library collection in New York? Wouldn't it be fun to work in such a library, such a collection? To be able to 'try' some of these artifacts yourself. But it isn't all fun as our heroine, Elizabeth Rew, and her fellow pages (Marc Merrit, Anjali Rao, Aaron Rosendom) learn. For someone is attempting to steal the real magical objects and replace them with fakes. And the attempt is succeeding. These four teens (Elizabeth, Marc, Anjali, and Aaron) must learn to work together--despite great personality conflict--to solve the mystery of WHO is stealing from the Grimm Collection. This fantasy novel has mystery and drama for it's a dangerous task before them.

While I liked the book well enough to keep reading, I didn't love it. I just didn't make a good connection with the characters. Some of the characters were interesting; for example, Anjali has a very spirited sister that plays an important role in the novel. But I wasn't satisfied with their development; the characters just didn't feel believable enough.

Read The Grimm Legacy

• If you enjoy YA fantasy
• If you enjoy fantasy 
• If you are interested in the second novel in the series which involves time travel! It's called The Wells Bequest!

© 2013 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

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Hanging By A Thread. Sophie Littlefield. 2012. Random House. 288 pages.

I had low expectations for this one because I don't generally like reading paranormal fiction. The heroine of this one, Clare, has a gift, a legacy. She touches fabric--clothes to be exact--and gets visions of their owners. She's recently moved to her mom's old hometown, and, well, there happens to be an ongoing mystery. Two murders over the past two summers occurring around the fourth of July. She stumbles across the jean jacket of the previous year's victim, and has a strong reaction to it, her strongest vision so far. A vision which prompts her to start investigating the two crimes. (She has a feeling they are connected.) It won't be easy to solve this one, and it may just lead her into danger if the murderer is still around, but, how can she ignore what she knows to be true?

I liked this one so much more than I thought I would. It's a paranormal romance and I still happened to like it.

Read Hanging By A Thread

• If you enjoy mysteries OR paranormal fiction
• If you are interested in fashion design

© 2012 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

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The Book of Blood and Shadow. Robin Wasserman. 2012. Random House. 448 pages.

I thought this one started out with a lot of potential. The opening chapter was great, I thought. I definitely wanted to love this one, but, by the end, I had lost my enthusiasm. (I do think others may enjoy this one more than I did.) This unsolved mystery case, which spans several centuries, begins as a translation project for several college students, Max and Chris, and a high school student, our heroine, Nora. The guys are assigned one part of the project, Nora another. Her project includes translating the private letters of Elizabeth Weston. She's looking for clues as to what she has to say about her father's work, and/or her brother's work on this mystery book. Nora becomes involved in her project and Elizabeth's life starts to fascinate her. (Nora's friends aren't always excited to hear about it.) But Nora's "unimportant" private letters become extremely important, but it takes attempted murder (the professor), theft (of the letters), and murder (of her very very best friend) for it all to become clear to her. With each chapter things become more and more complicated. It has plenty of action and suspense plus secrets, lies, betrayals, etc.

If I had cared about the characters more, I think this one would have been a better read for me. The mystery with its dozens of clues wasn't enough to hold my interest. I do think it may work for others better.

Read The Book of Blood and Shadows

• If you like mystery/suspense/thriller novels with puzzles, mysteries, riddles, codes to solve, etc.
• If you are looking for a gothic/horror read
• If you have a special fondness for heroines and heroes that love Latin 

© 2012 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

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Origin. Jessica Khoury. 2012. Penguin. 372 pages.

I'm told that the day I was born, Uncle Paolo held me against his white lab coat and whispered, "She is perfect." 

Origin has an interesting premise. Pia has grown up in the Amazon jungle almost completely unaware of the world outside the Little Cam research community. She is the result of five generations of experimentation and genetic engineering. The goal, the quest, immortality. And with Pia, at last, they've done it. But it has required great sacrifice. Pia is blind to just how much sacrifice, especially in the beginning. She is so excited to be PERFECT and so excited to be the first of her kind, so trusting, so loyal that she just can't wait to become a scientist too. To take her place alongside those who have almost manufactured her. But one night Pia becomes curious, and what she discovers in the jungle changes everything...

I liked this one. I found it an interesting, fast-paced read.

Read Origin

• If you like science fiction (genetic engineering; quest for immorality)
• If you like mysteries and thrillers
• If you enjoy YA with a little romance

© 2012 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

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Beautiful Lies. Jessica Warman. 2012. Walker. 422 pages.

It's one of those cool, crisp fall nights that make you feel like the air is ripe with possibility, like anything could happen. From where we stand on the jogging trail, my sister and I can see the whole city stretching out around us.

Rachel and Alice are identical twins. No one--not even their guardians--can tell these two apart, at least not without some help. One twin likes to wear make-up, the other not so much. There are also perhaps slight differences in wardrobe choices--but--for the most part the twins can at any given time switch places with one another and not get caught. Alice is the "bad" twin, the rebel, the artist, the rule-breaker. Rachel is the "good" twin, always trustworthy, honest, and good.

One night both twins go to a carnival in town. Only one twin makes it home...

Beautiful Lies is a dark novel. Think Lovely Bones. Think Living Dead Girl. The narration is by one of the twins--the one who is not missing. It's very personal, messy, frantic. I could say more, of course, but I don't want to spoil this one.

For readers who enjoy mystery and suspense novels, this one may be one to pick up.

Read Beautiful Lies

• If you like dark thrillers, suspense novels
• If you like mysteries (there are plenty of clues to help you solve this one)
• If you like unreliable narrators  

© 2012 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

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Lucid. Adrienne Stoltz and Ron Bass. 2012. Penguin. 288 pages.

Right now, I'm Maggie. 

Maggie enters the same dream world every single night. Every single night she lives a day in Sloane's life. Sloane is a teenager living in Connecticut with her Mom, Dad, and younger brother. (She also has an older brother who has gone away to college.) Is Sloane's life perfect? Not exactly. True, she has some great friends, true, there's a new boy whom she has a love/hate interest in. His name is James. But she's still mourning the loss of her best friend, Bill. In fact, when the reader first meets Sloane she has just been asked to speak at a memorial celebration. Sloane also has a secret--a big secret. Every single night, she dreams a day in Maggie's life. No one would mistake Maggie's life for the perfect life. Her dad is dead, her younger sister, Jade, is having some health problems, and her mom, Nicole, is more of a hindrance than a help. But her Manhattan life is certainly far removed from Connecticut. Maggie is an actress. She is always auditioning for new roles and following her dreams. She's met two men Andrew and Thomas. One tempts her with auditions, the other offers only honest companionship: a willingness to listen, to respond with sincerity and honesty. As Maggie falls for Andrew, Sloane falls for James...will either girl get her happily ever after?

This book is certainly memorable! And it's definitely better than I expected!!! I would definitely recommend it. It was a compelling read--impossible to put down. And I cared about both Sloane and Maggie. While Andrew was my favorite love interest, James was also a good choice...at least for Sloane. I loved how their relationship began with debating literature.

I would have to say that this is one of my favorite YA reads of the year.

Read Lucid

• If you like compelling YA Fiction
• If you like the premise of lucid dreaming and dream worlds
• If you were intrigued by the movie Inception
• If you like fiction that questions the nature of reality

© 2012 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

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Kepler's Dream. Juliet Bell. 2012. Penguin.  256 pages.

It was the middle of the night, and that's not a time when you want to be hearing strange noises. I don't care how brave you are. No one wants to be restless and almost-sleep, then rustled awake by a thudding overhead and the feeling that someone is trying to get into the room.

Ella, our heroine, is visiting a grandmother she's never met, her paternal grandmother. Her father, whom she barely knows, does not get along with his mother. But Ella has to spend the summer with someone since her mother will be undergoing treatment for her leukemia. (She'll be receiving a bone marrow transplant, I believe.) And her grandmother is her last option, her only option.
Ella's first impressions of her grandmother, of her grandmother's house, are priceless. But through the course of a summer, the eccentricity and quirks of her grandmother have become familiar and comfortable. And she's made other friends as well.

Kepler's Dream is about a dysfunctional family who has a rather unique opportunity to heal, to mend, to come together. Could Ella  help bring her father and grandmother together again? Perhaps. For Ella who has never really known her grandmother and does not really know her father, it's an unique opportunity, for she'll get a chance to get to know them, to get to love them, to make them a part of her family.

But Kepler's Dream is also a mystery. And Ella's curiosity and determination to solve the mystery, to learn WHO stole her grandmother's precious book, Kepler's Dream, is the beginning of that opportunity. This mystery is the catalyst for a family to come together again.

I liked this one. I definitely liked it. There were places I just loved it. I liked the narrative voice, how Ella's reading influences her as a narrator. I love her grandmother's bookish lifestyle, and how she's always getting book deliveries. I liked how these relationships, friendships, happened naturally--nothing forced, nothing instant, nothing magical. I loved getting to know Ella at a very vulnerable time in her life. The thing I absolutely LOVED about this one were Ella's letters to her mom.

Read Kepler's Dream

• If you like bookish heroines
• If you like children's mysteries
• If you like family books, plenty of drama but heart as well

© 2012 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

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Insurgent. Veronica Roth. 2012. HarperCollins. 525 pages.

 I absolutely LOVED Veronica Roth's Divergent. I just LOVED, LOVED, LOVED it. I recently reread it too just to prepare myself for reading the sequel, Insurgent. So how do the two compare? Well, I'm not sure that's ever a fair question. The better question may be did I love it? And the answer to that one is much, much easier! Yes, I loved Insurgent. Now does loving it translate into just love or love, love, love? Only time will tell.

Insurgent starts right where Divergent left off, which was great for me since I'd just read Divergent. Beatrice (Tris) is on the run with a handful of people including her boyfriend, Four, and her brother, Caleb. But among this group of survivors are a few people Tris doesn't trust or exactly like. They are seeking refuge with Amity unsure of their welcome. Well, unsure of how long-term this welcome will be. Amity is the kind of faction that gets along with everyone no matter how good or bad. But Tris and Four are almost sure that they cannot stay with Amity, they still have unfinished business.

While Insurgent definitely introduces new business--new dangers, new threats, new risks, etc--it does a great job in terms of consequences. Tris and Four (and the others) have a big, big mess to deal with. Many people have lost loved ones, many have lost homes, all have lost security. Tris' losses are monumental. She has lost both parents, parents with secrets that are only now coming to light, and she's dealing with her choices. Specifically her choice that led to a former friend, a close friend, losing his life. She is HAUNTED, beyond haunted almost, by what she has done.

But there is no time for Tris to relax, not really, for every day brings more decisions. Tris is having to make some tough, tough decisions; decisions that will impact not only her life, not only her relationship with her boyfriend, but will impact potentially everyone. And she struggles with the weight of it all. Does she have the right to think for herself? Does she have the right to disagree with the leaders? With the leaders of her own faction? Does she have the right to question people she's been told are trustworthy? How does she know who to trust?

I definitely loved this one! And I loved getting to know the characters. I loved the world-building, getting a chance to learn more about the other factions and the factionless too.

Read Insurgent

• If you loved Divergent, or, even if you just liked Divergent
• If you enjoy science fiction and dystopias
• If you like dystopias with good world-building and a little romance too

© 2012 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

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Out of Sight, Out of Time. Ally Carter. 2012. Hyperion. 304 pages.

"Where am I?" I heard the words, but I wasn't sure I'd said them. The voice was too rough, too coarse to be mine. It was as if there were a stranger in my skin, lying in the dark, saying, "Who's there?"

Out of Sight, Out of Time is the fifth book in the Gallagher Girls Series. Did it disappoint? No!!! It was just as fabulous as I expected, as I hoped. Am I growing tired of this series? No, not yet! I'm not sure I ever will. What do I like best about this series? Well, to be honest I love the balance. How it's plot-driven, premise-driven, to a certain extent, so much does depend on pacing, action, and mystery. But. The main character, the narrator, is such a GREAT character. I mean there's nothing flat about her at all. She's so fascinating. I feel about Cammie Morgan the same way I used to feel about Georgia Nicholson. (These two series are SO VERY DIFFERENT from one another, I don't want you to get the wrong idea about either one.) I suppose what I mean is that I enjoy her character so much that I'm just always glad to spend more time with her. There's also a good balance between action/adventure/mystery and humor/romance.

What can I tell you about this specific adventure? Well. Not much. Not much at all. Because it is the FIFTH book. And you need to read books one through four to meet the characters, to get to know the plot, to know what the big, big mystery is that we're trying to solve. I do think the books are getting even better. (And I loved the first ones!)

Read Out of Sight, Out of Time

• If you're a fan of the Gallagher Girls series
• If you're looking to find a boarding school full of girl spies
• If you're looking for action/adventure with plenty of danger and plenty of fun
• If you're a fan of Ally Carter

© 2012 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

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Black Duck. Janet Taylor Lisle. 2006. Penguin. 252 pages.

A rumrunner had lived in town, one of the notorious outlaws who smuggled liquor during the days of Prohibition, that was the rumor. David Peterson heard he might still be around. Where? No one knew exactly. It was all so long ago. Well, who was he? This was equally vague. Someone said to ask at the general store across from the church. It would be a miracle if the man was still alive, David thought. He'd be over eighty. If he were anywhere, he'd probably be in a nursing home by now. But it turned out he wasn't. He still lived in town. Ruben Hart was his name. 

Yesterday, I reviewed Bootleg: Murder, Moonshine, and the Lawless Years by Karen Blumenthal. Reading that fascinating nonfiction book on prohibition led me to indulge in a reread. Black Duck is a historical novel that I just LOVE!!! It is a novel with a framework structure.

Our young hero, David, wants to be a reporter or journalist. (He definitely does not want to limit himself to working for his father's landscaping/yard business.) He needs a good story, a BIG story. So he follows a lead and meets Ruben Hart. He's hoping to find out more about the Black Duck, a ship that was almost legendary--at least locally--during prohibition. It was one of many, many ships that carried bootleg liquor, landing and unloading secretly, of course. Throughout the novel there are newspapers clippings telling the fate of the Black Duck, of the three crew members who died that night it was apprehended by the Coast Guard. There were so many--especially when it first happened--that thought it was murder, that it was a set-up. That someone informed the Coast Guard telling them exactly, exactly where to find the Black Duck. That the Coast Guard shot without any warning, shot at an unarmed ship--or unarmed crew. David definitely feels there is a story to be told, to be uncovered. But will Ruben Hart share it with him?

Most of the novel is set in 1929 in a coastal Rhode Island town. Readers meet Ruben and his best friend Jeddy McKenzie on the day they discover a dead man on the beach. A well-dressed man that had been shot in the neck. They also discover a crate...among other things. They do report the discovery to the police--Jeddy's father is the Chief. But the police seem hesitant to investigate the crime. The boys aren't quite sure if this is the deputy's fault (Charlie Pope) or the Chief's fault. Or perhaps there is someone higher up who doesn't want this death, this murder, to become publicly known. The two are told to be quiet, to keep silent about what they saw. But some things can't be hushed up. The day becomes significant--at least in retrospect--because it was the day that Ruben first started keeping secrets from Jeddy, the day that Ruben first started doubting his friend's loyalty to him--to keeping secrets. Ruben starts to believe that Jeddy will report back to his father, to the police. So he chooses to keep what he's learned, what he's observed, to himself.

This is also a time when Ruben starts questioning everything, starts questioning what is right and what is wrong. If bootlegging is providing much-needed money to families, is it really that evil? These aren't criminals. These are hardworking men, of all ages, who have lived in poverty for so long, who have always struggled just to provide basic necessities for their families, so is it really that wrong for these men to help unload these illegal shipments? Isn't there a difference between murdering mobsters and the simple people caught up in this mess?

So Black Duck is the coming-of-age story of Ruben Hart AND it is the coming-of-age story of David Pe

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Mister Creecher. Chris Priestly. 2011. Bloomsbury. 390 pages.

Billy pulled his clammy coat collar tightly to his throat. It was damp with the fog and felt like the tongue of a dead animal lolling against his neck. His thin body shivered and trembled. He was fifteen but looked eight. A fever sweat glistened on his forehead. His breaths were short; they puffed from his mouth in feeble wisps.

When the novel opens, our hero, Billy, is getting ready to rob a corpse. The corpse in question turns out not to be a corpse at all, but a "Mr. Creecher." A dead-looking man of large proportion. He "saves" Billy just moments later when a mean gang of thieves (Billy's also a thief of course) shows up threatening him. But his "savior" wants Billy to do a little work for him. He wants Billy to follow two men about town. A Mr. Frankenstein and a Mr. Clerval. Billy easily agrees to this. And so it begins...an odd friendship of sorts...partly based on convenience and circumstance.

At first Billy barely knows a thing about Creecher. And he doesn't mind not knowing. What little he has heard, what little mumblings (or grumblings) he's heard, he's been able to ignore. And even when the truth--the Creecher's truth--is revealed, Billy has a hard time REALLY believing that such a thing is so, that something like that is even possible. But as the story progresses, Billy hears more and more of the Creecher's tale. At times Billy thinks he talks WAY TOO MUCH. He accuses him of talking like a girl, a woman. Of being too in-touch with his feelings, of loving novels and reading too much. I didn't agree with every little thing Billy said. (I was later very glad I didn't!!!) But. It provided an interesting perspective of viewing Mary Shelley's creation or creature.

'Shut up!' Billy snapped. 'Why do you have to be such a...'
He snarled and kicked a moss-covered branch and sent it tumbling into the darkness. Without the coachlights, the moon provided the only illumination to the scene.
'You see how it is for me,' said Creecher. 'I try to help and--'
'It's always about you, isn't it?' said Billy. 'Oh, poor me--I'm ugly and no one likes me. Boo hoo, boo hoo. Well, life ain't a bowl of cherries for the rest of us neither!'
'But you can live among them...'
Billy fumed for a few moments, unable to express his feelings. The truth was he had never felt part of 'them.' He had never belonged.
'Oh yeah. I can get treated like filth,' he replied. 'I can starve or steal. I can hang. If you want someone to feel sorry for you, you've come to the wrong place.' (191)

The novel is set in the middle of Frankenstein. The creature has requested Frankenstein create a mate for him, and Victor has agreed. The novel ends with them on their way to Scotland.

I liked this one. I really, really liked it. I'm not sure that I absolutely loved it. I'm not sure it will make my favorites list. But I am SO GLAD I read it. I found it a great read. Very quick, very enjoyable. The tone of this one was just right. It was just a great, great read. It definitely made me think!

© 2011 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

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Human.4 Mike A. Lancaster. 2011. Egmont USA. 240 pages.

When Danny Birnie told us that he had hypnotized his sister we all though he was mad. Or lying. Or both.

Our narrator, Kyle Straker, is living in a strange, strange world where he and three others have suddenly become irrelevant. It started when he volunteered at a local talent show to be hypnotized. It wasn't that he wanted to volunteer, just that in a moment of weakness he had pity on Danny while he was doing his act. His former girlfriend, Lilly, also happened to volunteer just about the same time he did. Two adults, Mrs. O'Donnell and Mr. Peterson, also volunteered. All were hypnotized. All woke up in this strange, strange new reality.

This book is part science fiction, part horror, and part mystery. It was a quick read! I liked it. I wouldn't say I loved it. But for a quick premise-driven read, it was a good choice.

© 2011 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

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Sharp North. Patrick Cave. 2004/2006. Simon & Schuster. 528 pages.

The girl nearly didn't find out who she was. What she was.

Sharp North is a perplexing YA novel. Part mystery. Part thriller. Part dystopian. It's set in a future world forever altered by global warming. A future world with a corrupt government. (How many fictional future worlds don't have a corrupt government?) A future world threatened by an underground movement, a revolution in the making. Our heroine, Mira, has a role to play in this world--for better or worse. And it's a role that mystifies Mira. For Mira's future is just as uncertain as her past.

Sharp North begins with a murder. Mira witnesses this murder, this hushed up murder, and it forever changes the way she sees the world, the way she sees her community. In part because she finds out that she is connected to the victim. She finds a piece of paper, a mere scrap, with a list of names. Her name is on the list. And so is the name of one of her friends, Gil Moore. He's listed as "her watcher." But why is he watching her? Is he her friend or her enemy? Is he out to see that she survives? Or is he in place to eliminate her? That's what Mira can't forget, can't erase. Are the people who murdered this mysterious woman, this mysterious stranger, out to get her? What led to this crime? For even if the whole world chooses to ignore it, Mira can't. Was it the woman's curiosity? Well, Mira can't help being curious now!

So Mira sets out on a journey to discover the truth, the truth about who she is, what she is. In a way she's running away from danger just as much as she's running straight into it. For Mira hasn't a real clue who her enemies are and who her friends may be. Is there a safe place for Mira? Or is she destined to upset the balance of those around her?

We meet a few interesting characters in Patrick Cave's Sharp North. Including several members of the Saint family, one of the "Great Families" that govern in this new world.

Maybe other readers can piece together this mystery. Maybe other readers can read it without being confused by the ending--as for me, well, I'm puzzled by how it ended. I still don't know what really happened.

So did I like it? Yes and no. I liked the idea of it. But. It felt like two or three stories pieced together. And it didn't always work for me.

© 2011 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

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Wither. Laura DeStefano. 2011. Simon & Schuster. 368 pages.

I wait. They keep us in the dark for so long that we lose sense of our eyelids. We sleep huddled together like rats, staring out, and dream of our bodies swaying. I know when one of the girls reaches a wall. She begins to pound and scream--there's metal in the sound--but none of us help her. We've gone too long without speaking, and all we do is bury ourselves more into the dark. The doors open. The light is frightening. It's the light of the world through the birth canal, and at once the blinding tunnel that comes with death. I recoil into the blankets with the other girls in horror, not wanting to begin or end.

Did I like Wither? Yes! I really LOVED it! One of the best 2011 books that I've read so far. Rhine Ellery knows almost exactly when she'll die--and why she'll die. Mad scientists, so called geniuses, from previous generations have manipulated human genes too much. Having created the "oh-so-perfect" generation of children, they've cursed the human race. Every woman dies from a deadly virus at age 20. Every man dies from that virus at age 25.Will there be a cure found in Rhine's lifetime? Maybe, maybe not. She's just sixteen. But she's not that hopeful. Rhine knows one thing for sure. She does NOT want to spend her remaining years in a forced marriage with two other sister wives. Even if her husband, Linden, is ignorant of how his three wives really came to be his. Even if he doesn't know the truth about his father's schemes and manipulations. No, Rhine wants to be free, needs to be free. She wants to find her twin brother, Rowan, and live the rest of her days free. But will she find a way to escape?

I enjoyed Wither! I enjoyed spending time with Rhine and her sister wives, Cecily, the youngest, Jenna, the oldest. I also enjoyed spending time with Gabriel, one of the servants who works at the estate. Their developing friendship adds a great deal of excitement to the novel! I didn't hate Linden. While Rhine may not have fallen for him, may not have found that lifestyle tolerable under any circumstances, I can't help pitying him.

Overall, I found the novel fascinating and compelling. The world Lauren DeStefano created was haunting and horrible and so wonderfully developed. I'd definitely recommend this one.

She wanders down one of the aisles, and I follow her as she runs her finger along the spines of books, taps one of them, eases it out of its place. The book is dusty, the cover eaten away, the pages yellow and brittle as she flips through them. All of these books are from the twenty-first century or earlier, which isn't very strange. The television also airs old movies, and most shows are set in the past. It has become a form of escapism to visit a world in which people live a long time. What was once real and natural has become a fantasy. "There are lots of love stories here," she says. "They either end happily, or everyone dies." She laughs, but it sounds more like a sob. "What else is there, right?" (86)

A few minutes later we're huddled under a blanket on a couch in the sitting room, sharing a gallon of vanilla ice cream she ordered from the kitchen, and we're watching an early-morning rerun of yesterday's soap opera. Along with the romance novels, these are another of her guilty pleasures. The actors are all teenagers made up to look much older. Jenna tells me they're constantly changing the actors, since of course the show has been on for more than a decade and the original actors have died by now. The only consistent actors are first generations. And

4 Comments on Wither (YA), last added: 4/3/2011

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Amanda said, on 4/2/2011 7:31:00 PM

Too funny! I just posted a pile of to-read that included Divergent, Delirium AND Wither. I loved Hunger Games and heard Maze Runner is awesome. Glad to hear this one is as well! Can't wait to read it now!

Liviania said, on 4/2/2011 10:31:00 PM

I pitied Linden too.

The Reading Rōnin said, on 4/3/2011 12:03:00 PM

I loved this one too! Definitely one of the best dytopian ya books I've read since Hunger Games.

http://ivorytowerlibrary.blogspot.com/2011/03/wither-by-lauren-destefano.html

Sorilla said, on 4/3/2011 3:10:00 PM

...last drop...this was...for me to download the book to my iPad! I got "Wither" finally, good its raining outside, gtg ;).
Thanks for your review, as always,
Sorilla

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The Boneshaker. Kate Milford. 2010. May 2010. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. 372 pages.

Strange things can happen at a crossroads. It might look like nothing but a place where two dusty roads meet, but a crossroads can be something more. A crossroads can be something special, a compass with arms reaching to places you might never find the way to again; places that might exist, or might have existed once, or might exist someday, depending on whether or not you decide to look for them.
But whatever else it might be, a crossroads is a place where you choose.

Read this book. Now. Why? Because this book is so very, very good. It's one of those books where the moment you finish it, you want to start it all over again. You don't want it to be over. You want to keep experiencing it.

What did I love about this book? The characters, the story, the storytelling, the setting, the atmosphere, the descriptions. It was such an amazing blend of history, mystery, and fantasy. The Boneshaker is set in 1913, in Arcane, Missouri. This is a town that for whatever reason makes travelers uneasy. It's not a place most would stop and see for fun, for pleasure. Perhaps it's a little too close for comfort to the Old Village, the first settlement of the crossroads that was abandoned several generations before the novel opens. So while Arcane may not seem like much--at least to the outsider--it is home to our heroine, Natalie Minks. She's very smart, very curious. She likes to know how things work. She's fascinated by machines. And she loves spending time with her father who is a mechanic--a bicycle mechanic mostly, though he fixes anything with wheels for the most part.

Arcane doesn't see many strangers. But one day a stranger shows up in town--his wheel broke, you see--and this stranger is none other than Dr. Jake Limberleg. He has a medicine show. The full name is Dr. Jake Limberleg's Nostrum Fair and Technological Medicine Show. And while he's waiting for his wheel to be fixed--so he can go on his way, Arcane was not a planned stop by any means--he decides to go ahead and open up his show, his fair. There are a handful of people in the community who are skeptical about this man and his team of 'doctors' of 'experts.' Among these is Natalie. She may be the cleverest one of them all. She may be the only one able to solve this mystery. But can she do it in time?

The Boneshaker is so compelling. It had me from hello. The characters, the storytelling, the writing, I thought all of it was so well done. Kate Milford made me care about these characters, and she kept me hooked from start to finish.

Other reviews: TheHappyNappyBookseller, A Patchwork of Books, Kids Lit, Book Aunt, Fuse #8.

© Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

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