Category: Z-Old Users (Page 12 of 50)

BOOK REVIEW – P.S. I like you by Kasie West

July 7, 2016 / Anna

P.S. I like you by Kasie West
Purchase on: Amazon, iBooks
Add to: Goodreads

Synopsis:
What if the person you were falling for was a total mystery?

While Lily is spacing out in Chemistry one day, she picks up her pencil and scribbles a line from one of her favorite songs on the desk. The next day, someone else has written back to her on the desk! Soon enough Lily and the mystery student are exchanging notes, and lyrics, and even sharing secrets. When Lily finds out that her anonymous pen pal is a guy, she's flustered -- and kind of feels like she's falling for him. She and her best friend set out to unravel the identity of the letter writer -- but when the truth is revealed, the guy is the LAST person Lily could have ever imagined it to be. Now that Lily knows the truth, can she untangle her feelings and gather the courage to listen to her heart?

From beloved author Kasie West (The Distance Between Us) comes an utterly charming story about mixed messages, missed connections, and the magic of good old-fashioned secret admirer notes.

“If only there was a way to transport letters faster, through some sort of electronic device that codes messages and sends them through the air. But that’s just crazy talk.”

Several times during my read I asked myself, “what would it take for P.S. I Like You to reach a 4.5/5 stars?” and in all honesty, I don’t think it could, no matter how cute some parts were. Now, I’m all for rating a novel according to its genre, but where am I supposed to put Kasie West books? In YA contemporary? Sure! Then they can’t – and will never – compete with the raw honesty and the avalanche of feelings I associate with some of my favorites : Please Ignore Vera Dietz, On the Jellicoe Road, Raw Blue, to name a few.

Truth is, P.S. I Like You put a smile on my face and was well, cute, but I cannot deny how unmemorable it is.

Fact #1 : I’ve read all of Kasie West‘s books and I’ve never come across a female lead like Lily, which is to say, the typical quirky girl with weird self-made clothes and notebooks. The tomboy, the popular girl, absolutely. Not the artist.

Fact #2 : Yet I’ve read my fair share of YA novels, and Lily doesn’t bring anything different in the sea of female leads. She likes music, makes (false) assumptions about people, is convinced that no guy would take an interest in her, fantasizes about this crooked-smiling, earbuds-addict guy with cool hair, has one and only friend because people suck (or something). When it comes to analyze someone else’s actions, she’s blind, but aren’t we all? I mean, TEENAGER 101, anyone? I don’t necessarily complain upfront about stereotypes, because sometimes they can be twisted to add something more to a story. Let’s just say that it wasn’t the case in P.S. I Like You.

Fact #3 : Lily’s family is what I like the most about her, but it may be because it is so relatable to me. A four children family and general messiness? It was my playground. Anyone who grew up in a family of six and who looks blank when confronted with the concept of a one child room will easily understand what she goes through. Her family is weird, crazy, annoying, roll-eyes worthy, yet so lovable, with a special award for Bugs Rabbit XD

As for the love interest, given the fact that it’s supposed to be a “surprise” (come on, I knew who it was on page 6 – more on that later), I won’t say his name but he was pretty great, if completely forgettable. I know, I know, I am harsh, but really : no matter how much he made me smile, mark my words : I will have forgotten his name next week. I just know it.

Look, I’m all for pen pals and stuff, as it’s a plot which usually really work with me. Yet if I accept having doubts, I still ask for the story to keep its mystery, at least a little. Take Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda, for example. I loved that I did not know if I was right until the very end.

P.S. I Like You, though? I knew who her “mysterious” pen pals was almost instantly, and every time a new event would occur, the threads were always so thick that I felt like I was only waiting for what I already knew to happen. Granted, the story mostly revolved around Lily’s romance with ***, and romance novels are always all kinds of predictable. Yet it annoyed me because given that I knew who it was, I couldn’t help but feel the urge to skim through all the useless scenes with other boys. Just, nope. I didn’t care, and it awfully felt like filler for me.

As for the romance, I cannot deny that Lily and *** shared a great chemistry and that I rooted for them to get together from the beginning. They made me smile, especially when they were writing to each other. But I cannot deny either that something was missing, or perhaps I’m finally too old for this kind of cute, kissing book. Maybe. See, it was adorable to see them getting to know each other, but it lacked some tension and character development in my opinion.

Finally, the music part felt flat and contrived, and rather useless. It’s as if YA contemporaries had to incorporate some kind of artistic vibes, without needing them to add something to the story. I’m quite tired of this.

It’s no surprise that Kasie West‘s writing is addictive and smile-inducing. Her books, how flawed they can be, always manage to make me happy, even if my feelings stay superficial. However, if I really appreciated the letters, the dialogues didn’t flow as well. Although they were often funny, they sounded fake and I forced myself to adapt and ignore the stiffness – or rather, the fakeness. Yes that’s a thing.

► All in all a cute but unmemorable novel. I would still recommend it to anyone who needs to smile.

RELEASE DAY + REVIEW + GIVEAWAY – Paper and Fire (The Great Library #2) by Rachel Caine

July 5, 2016 / Anna

Paper and Fire (The Great Library #2)
by Rachel Caine
Purchase on: Amazon
Add to: Goodreads

Synopsis:
In Ink and Bone, New York Times bestselling author Rachel Caine introduced a world where knowledge is power, and power corrupts absolutely. Now, she continues the story of those who dare to defy the Great Library—and rewrite history…

With an iron fist, The Great Library controls the knowledge of the world, ruthlessly stamping out all rebellion, forbidding the personal ownership of books in the name of the greater good.

Jess Brightwell has survived his introduction to the sinister, seductive world of the Library, but serving in its army is nothing like he envisioned. His life and the lives of those he cares for have been altered forever. His best friend is lost, and Morgan, the girl he loves, is locked away in the Iron Tower and doomed to a life apart.

Embarking on a mission to save one of their own, Jess and his band of allies make one wrong move and suddenly find themselves hunted by the Library’s deadly automata and forced to flee Alexandria, all the way to London.

But Jess’s home isn’t safe anymore. The Welsh army is coming, London is burning, and soon, Jess must choose between his friends, his family, or the Library willing to sacrifice anything and anyone in the search for ultimate control…

A year ago, Rachel Caine gave me something I didn’t know I needed : an alternative world where The Great Library of Alexandria has authority over life or death, where lions aren’t only wild animals but also creepy automatons (of course I love them) – A world in which smuggling books is no small feat *cough* it could kill you, okay? *cough*

Today Rachel Caine comes back with the sequel of Jess’ adventures, and if I didn’t like it as much as I loved Ink and Bone, I still think that this premise is absolutely fantastic and have hopes for the last one. Really, though? I cannot wait to see what you will think, so why don’t enter the giveaway and make an opinion for yourself?

My review of Ink and Bone : 4 stars

In my honest opinion the strength of Ink and Bone lies first in the plot, which is entertaining as hell, and in the world-building, which contains several of my main interests : think books, automatons, alchemy, a dystopian world ruled by Librarians who control every knowledge (or aim to) and an academy blended together. Exciting? FUCK YEAH.

► Random facts you might want to know about Ink and Bone (because there’s no way I’m spoiling the story for you)

✔ After reading I went to my bookshelves and HUGGED my paperbacks. Not my Kindle. The thing kind of scared me.

✔ It presents an alternative history that actually MAKES SENSE (most of the time) : think about our history with a twist, the uprising of the Great Library, an organization that controls every book and then, holds a great deal of power. No press. No Gutenberg. I know, *GASP*

✔ Oh, they have lions automatons as guards : HOW AWESOME IS THAT???

✔ I loved the concept of Codex and every invention, really. I don’t want to give away too much, but let’s say that the Great Library developed a number of mechanisms, first of all the ability to transfer and erase words on every book sold, because they’re all blanks, sort of ereaders controlled by the Library awhile originals are carefully kept in Alexandria. An example? Look at your book, and imagine that it would be possible for someone else to alter or erase its content in one second without even being at the same place as you. OMG BUT THAT’S POSSIBLE! Frightening, right? I thought so. Especially given that printed books are outlawed.

Concerning the characterization, I have to admit that I’m not completely convinced by it because it lacks of depth. Indeed the characters felt quite blank sometimes – not in a boring way, but they weren’t fleshed-out enough in my opinion, especially the secondary ones like Jess’s fellow students, who were border stereotypical on some aspects. That’s why I’d have wanted them to be less transparent in their intentions and more intricate. However, I did enjoy Wolfe’s character a lot, because he was complex and multi-layered : here’s the kind of characters I can love.

“I suppose you want me to apologize for calling you a bastard.” “No need,” Santi said. “You should hear what his friends call him.” ” I have friends?” Wolfe said. “They don’t care to admit it in public.”

As for Jess, the main character, I’m afraid that my complaints prove to be the same. Indeed although I can’t say that I didn’t care about him because it would be false, at the same time I can’t deny that I kept feeling that something was missing to completely win me. Oh, well. I don’t know. Perhaps I’m not used to that kind of books (which emphasizes on the plot, let’s say) anymore. Indeed almost every one of my favorite authors (Marchetta, Moskowitz, Robin Hobb, even) focus primarily on the characterization and that’s okay with me, because that’s what I seek most of the time. Not here : not that Jess’s character wasn’t interesting, but he never stood out either. Now, perhaps does it serve the story’s purpose, in a way? Concerning his personality, he’s not flawless and I’m glad he isn’t : indeed he makes mistakes, he has at first a restrained vision of the world (yes, he’s sometimes full of ~~shit~~ stereotypes, but now, he’s 16, give him a break) but how in the world could it be different, tell me? From his upbringing spent as a smuggler for his family’s business to his training in the Academy, he has always been used, and genuinely doesn’t know how to deal with real relationships. However something about him rubbed me the wrong way, and that’s the fact that he cares about books more than people. Well, even as a book lover (no shit) it made me a little uncomfortable at times, I must confess. Fortunately it doesn’t stay that way, because despite the fact that books are rare in his world, I wouldn’t have stand a character who happily watches people getting starved and killed because of books. Sorry guys. I’m TEAM HUMANS. (I’m French, after all. Yes, that’s relevant. You’ll see) But then, little by little, he evolves. Day after day, he realizes that the world is not near as simple as he thought he was. Page after page, we get to know him better, to understand him more. Chapter after chapter, the choices he has to face become more and more difficult and the lines between right or wrong blur… For that, I thank you, Rachel Caine.

For that, I’m eager to read the next book because I feel how strong his potential can be. Finally, for most of the book, I got the feeling that the romance was… Well… I’d say “low-cute”. What is it, you’re asking? It means that I’m happy for them, kind of, but I don’t care and to me it was unnecessary since the author openly didn’t focus on it, so much that the story would have been as great without it. Now, (don’t hit me) but that’s what I thought about the romance in Harry Potter too. I just don’t care. That’s not why I loved the books. So, yeah, I wasn’t a big fan of this romance which stayed in no-chemistry territory, until, until, until suddenly I started to feel something, and that was as glorious as unexpected. Now, and that’s something I rarely write, but to me the pacing was perfection : I was never EVER bored and the writing just flowed smoothly, making the read completely addictive, and some parts were so full of tension that my heartbeat increased.

PS : French are rebels, eat lambs and drink red wine : of course they do >.< PS2 : No, Dario, Spanish wine isn’t better than Cahors. DUH. PS3 : I might be (a little) subjective. MAY-BE.

Giveaway to win a copy of Ink and Bone (US only)

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My review of Paper and Fire : 3 stars

The novelty wore off. Sadly, if it stayed entertaining, Paper and Fire confirmed the complaints I had with Ink and Bone, and lost a little of its charm along the way.

✔ As it was the case with the first book, we’re on for a ride in a fast-paced and action-packed story which manages to stay out of boredom territory at all times. It is addictive and that’s rare enough to point.

Moreover, alternative history is my jam, so it doesn’t come as a surprise that the world-building kept my interest awake. This said, more we go on in the story, more the similarities with regular YA Fantasy novels – Dystopian? – become hard to hide. That’s why even if I kinda worship the Lion automatons (really, they’re just so much fun!), the bunch of kids trying to overtake a Great Power in a world in war with Resistants… tires me a little. Call me cynical.

Not to mention that looking back… I can’t not see how little happened in this book, and by that, I mean, things that actually matter for the story’s progression. If I compare the ending of Ink and Bone and this one, I’m let with a bad after taste because in all honesty, I expected more. More craziness, more originality, less useless scenes about characters I don’t care about…. and less predictability.

✔ Let’s talk about the characters, okay? They’re great. No, really, they are. The relationships dynamics are interesting, we get at least three romances (without forgetting the LGBT diversity), they have to make harsh choices, and yet…

And yet I don’t feel anything for them. Take Jess, for example. The boy’s sarcastic, a little wild, damn, he’s a reformed smuggler (I do love my thieves) and is in love with a girl who’s locked in a high-security tower. Perfect, right? Too bad his story never, ever, pulled at my heart strings and let me so devoid of any emotion that I wonder if my heart’s working. And don’t get me started about the tedious romances (plural) that never managed to give me butterflies. Please don’t give us romances if we’re not going to feel any of the supposed heartbreak or joy. Don’t, because their uselessness is way too noticeable. Ugh, annnnnd arguments I didn’t even UNDERSTAND. What’s the problem with me, really?!

Unfortunately I can say the same about every one of these characters. On paper they work, I like them enough, but in the end, they lack complexity and I don’t care about any of them, or, rather, I can’t connect with them. For all the hardships they endure, they still feel like visitors in their own story sometimes. Or that’s just me.

✔ As usual, Rachel Caine‘s prose flows smoothly and makes for an enjoyable and easy read.

But.

BUT.

It relies way too-much on narratives choices that annoy me a great deal. I’ll call them “forewarning” but really, I could say, “these things authors do when they think we’re too stupid to figure it out”.

1) The letters : So the story is filled with letters from different important figures from this world, and are meant to inform us about other’s intentions. Their problem? They destroy any kind of tension in the story.

Let’s take an example, shall we? So our MCs are about to be imprisoned (GASP), and wonder if they’re gonna be betrayed by someone. Of course, being sensible readers, we’re scared too, poor kids don’t deserve that.

A page later though, we get a letter.
From this person.
Who says she won’t betray them.
Before we even get to that part of the story.

I mean, why the fuck not? I’ll tell you why : if I know everyone’s intentions, my mind can never wander in fear. Plus they’re so low on authenticity, I can’t even.

2) Useless scenes, as in, involving characters I don’t care about who do things I don’t care about and whose purpose stays very unclear. They’re few, yes, but already too many for me.

► Why 3 stars, then? Because despite its flaws, Paper and Fire is a book which offered me a few hours of fun. Sometimes it’s enough, but that wasn’t what I expected after the rollercoaster that was Ink and Bone. Oh, well. I still hold hopes for the last one 🙂

BLOG TOUR + REVIEW + GIVEAWAY – Change Places with Me by Lois Metzger

June 30, 2016 / Anna

Change Places with Me by Lois Metzger
Purchase on: Amazon, iBooks
Add to: Goodreads

Synopsis:
Rose has changed. She still lives in the same neighborhood with her stepmother and goes to the same high school with the same group of kids, but when she woke up today, something was just a little different than it was before. The dogs who live upstairs are no longer a terror. Her hair and her clothes all feel brand-new. She wants to throw a party—this from a girl who hardly ever spoke to her classmates before. There is no more sadness in her life; she is bursting with happiness.

But something still feels wrong to Rose. Because, until very recently, Rose was an entirely different person—a person who is still there inside her, just beneath the thinnest layer of skin.

Alluring and captivating, Change Places with Me wrapped me in an unsettling atmosphere from the very first page. Indeed the questions started piling up at once, breaking through Rose’s apparent happiness, pulling at it, restlessly.

Am I annoying if I say that it’s not the point? Yeah? Okay then, let’s try this : Change Places with Me is an unputdownable scifi/thriller that kept me glued to the pages for hours without allowing me to stop. Given the fact that I have the attention span of a goldfish lately (did you see my DNF shelf? HOPELESS), it’s undoubtedly saying something.

Moreover, Change Places with Me perfectly captures the inherent complexity of the role that memories play in the way we define ourselves, and in that aspect, makes for a thought-provoking read.

Ah, memories. These tricky allies. They help us building ourselves as much as they can pin us down. I’m not going to lie, the way we deal with memories is a sensitive subject for me.

The fact is, having lived through my fair share of grief, I’ve always refused to dwell on the negative. I cannot. Doing that, I realized recently that looking back, my mind separated my life into lives, if that makes sense : imagine a succession of before and after, before and after… Tricky, right?

For years I thought that it wasn’t quite right, because as much as people love urging others to move on, dwelling on is somehow expected. One must not dare be happy too soon after a loss, because really, isn’t it heartless? In my experience, it is not. This does not mean that I never burst into tears for no reasons other than a trigger song or situation, but I don’t let the past define my whole self : parts of me will never forget, my personality is built upon it, but I refuse to live a life full of regrets. If I’m being completely honest, I can be quite horrible about that : as unfair as it may be, we tend to judge people by our own standards, and I know that one of my biggest flaw lies in my lack of patience for sad rambling going on and on and on. Perhaps that’s why this novel fascinated me so much. Thought-provoking, see?

Anyway, now that we have demonstrated than I’m an asshole, let’s go on, shall we?

As I’m having a hard time defining what this story is, let’s take a look at what it’s not :

✘ It is not our typical YA romance – actually, it’s not a romance, period.

✘ It is not our typical YA scifi, either : no aliens, no ships in space, no time travel, no – well, are there other kinds of YA scifi really? (I’m kidding, I think??!) Yet the story takes place in the future and contains scientific advances we have yet to experience.

✘ It is not our typical coming of age story, but it definitely features some of the themes we often find in them : aren’t they all about discovering who we are?

✘ It’s not our typical YA thriller either, and THANKS GOODNESS. I’m not sure I’d survive another TSTL road-trip with no cops in sight and teenagers making stupid decisions. We keep turning the pages in hopes of finding out the truth, though, so that has to count for something.

Now, does a book need to follow a genre guideline to have an impact? I don’t think so. Prior to Goodreads, I never really bothered with genres, actually [insert the sound of my Literature teacher screaming]. Look, I followed a course in my second year of Uni called something like, “Genres in Literature”

– Most. Boring. Course. Ever.

Since my childhood I’ve always been an avid reader, but all this organizing, compiling tropes stuff never failed to tire me. Above that, I genuinely think that sometimes, it hurts Literature as a whole. Honestly, it’s all incredibly pretentious, and many readers around the world just do not care. I may be an hypocrite, because I use genre-related shelves here in Goodreads, but sometimes I miss the time when I didn’t know of this neat organization and opened a book without having any idea of its genre (and of what it’s about, for that matter). That’s marketing for you : now you cannot help but notice it, except in the “French Literature” shelves in bookstores around here, which happily mix every kind of genres (of course I love that).

The strength of Change Places with Me definitely lies in its eerie atmosphere : if we know that something’s off from the start, we can’t pinpoint what it is, and the quest of answers – both for Rose’s questions and ours – proves to be at the heart of the story. If I guessed many facts early on – especially because it shares similarities with a novel I read last year (view spoiler) – it didn’t really bother me, as my interest lay in the way Rose would react to these answers more than the answers themselves.

If you know me, you know that I’m forever complaining about my complete inability to enjoy a book when I don’t care about the characters, but this novel makes a liar out of me : far be it from me to suggest that Rose isn’t an interesting and complex character, because she is. However, I didn’t connect with her on a strong level. Yet I was completely okay with it as it was never detrimental to the story, but quite the opposite.

▶ Talk about a good surprise, really.

Follow the Change Places With Me by Lois Metzger Blog Tour and don’t miss anything! Click on the banner to see the tour schedule.

Lois Metzger was born in Queens and has always written for young adults. She is the author of five novels and two nonfiction books about the Holocaust, and she has edited five anthologies. Her short stories have appeared in collections all over the world. Her writing has also appeared in The New Yorker, The Nation, and The Huffington Post. She lives in New York City with her husband and son.

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BOOK REVIEW – And I Darken (The Conquerors Saga #1) by Kiersten White

June 28, 2016 / Anna

And I Darken by Kiersten White
Purchase on: Amazon
Add to: Goodreads

Synopsis:
NO ONE EXPECTS A PRINCESS TO BE BRUTAL. And Lada Dragwlya likes it that way. Ever since she and her gentle younger brother, Radu, were wrenched from their homeland of Wallachia and abandoned by their father to be raised in the Ottoman courts, Lada has known that being ruthless is the key to survival. She and Radu are doomed to act as pawns in a vicious game, an unseen sword hovering over their every move. For the lineage that makes them special also makes them targets.

Lada despises the Ottomans and bides her time, planning her vengeance for the day when she can return to Wallachia and claim her birthright. Radu longs only for a place where he feels safe. And when they meet Mehmed, the defiant and lonely son of the sultan, who’s expected to rule a nation, Radu feels that he’s made a true friend—and Lada wonders if she’s finally found someone worthy of her passion.

But Mehmed is heir to the very empire that Lada has sworn to fight against—and that Radu now considers home. Together, Lada, Radu, and Mehmed form a toxic triangle that strains the bonds of love and loyalty to the breaking point.

From New York Times bestselling author Kiersten White comes the first book in a dark, sweeping new series in which heads will roll, bodies will be impaled . . . and hearts will be broken.

Excuse me while I shake my head, burst into crazy laugher and tear up a little. Bear with me, would you? I need to vent – Apparently being stuck in the head of a psychopath will do that to you.

✔ Unfortunately your right or wrong radar works like shit now, and you find yourself nodding along the way when murdering someone is advised. What? Your safety, you fool! (not all deaths, though – you know what I mean)
✔ Your sense of humor is – oh my GOSH, what have you done to your sense of humor? No more cute giggles because of puppies videos, no! Now you revel in hidden threats and your laugh gets a scary quality.

Well… No. Most of it is – Vicious and unforgiving and ruthless and oh so enthralling. Also, the FEELS. Trust me, I could spend the next hours rambling about how that fucked up book made me feel, about the flawed characters and all these times I CRINGED in their wake. But I COULDN’T STOP READING. Not for any second.

Why, they made me furious, the three of them (YES, the THREE of them, but mostly Lada and Mehmed). Lada… being Lada, and Mehmed with his double standards towards women (I know, I KNOW, his way of thinking is certainly realistic, but I hate – loathe – when men categorize women into little boxes). I shouldn’t care for them but FUCK ME, I DO, WHAT DO I DO NOW TELL ME?

I could leave it at that, but the truth is, I also need to talk about the genuine sympathy I felt for them, about the messed-up but wonderful portray of a sister/brother relationship, about the ANGER I felt on behalf of Radu (aw, poor thing) and Lada.

The anguish.

What about it indeed. Oh my. The characters dynamics are lost into the threads of power, jealousy, love, tainted by them and so much more complicated because of them. This is all kinds of fucked up but oh so complex : first you have Radu, waiting for the smallest pieces of love his sister – anyone, really – could give him, while Lada… Sigh. Her need to control and own everything and everyone is relentless. Her father is a psychopath, alright? So what does she want? To make him suffer? Oh no. She wants to be better. Stronger. Everything he thought she couldn’t be because she’s a girl.

Radu and Lada both suffered from negligence. Such an horrible and hidden weapon, negligence is.

Honestly? Wandering in her mind is straight-on chilling sometimes, and her rage is soon wrapped around us, suffocating and formidable. Yet where a simplistic characterization would make it easy to root for sweet, kind Radu, and Radu only, this is not what happens. The complexity of Lada’s personality – her layers – make it impossible for us to hate her, even though we perhaps ought to do.

I’m sorry, but I just love Lada, okay? How cruel and cunning she can be, I can’t help but care for her all the same.

As for the romance, it was slow, never overwhelming, and above all, it felt real. Real because it never made Lada or Mehmed act out of character. Of course, then, it’s messy and will make you suffer if you expect some kind of puppy perfect love. Nothing of the sort. They know and respect each others, and their lives don’t revolve around their needs. They entered a fucked-up dance and none of them can possibly know where it will go. I can’t wait.

Do not seek magic here, because there’s none. Indeed there’s no fantasy element but it reads more like alternative history, filled with politics and machinations. What are you ready to sacrifice to get what you want? Your love? Your family? Your country? Your dreams?

Honestly, I didn’t know what to hope because FUCK ME, THERE ARE NO GOOD ANSWERS. Where have all the simplistic plots twists gone? They flee somewhere else for sure. Everything is so complicated that I couldn’t even choose a path but the whole time I was about to yell WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM ME? FUCKING TELL ME.

I should also tell you that the ending was fantastic, and that I will count the days before I can dive into their lives again. That Kiersten White‘s writing may not be magnificent, but that its compelling quality is pretty impressive. If the pacing was a little slow, in my opinion it was perfect to convey the story.

This said, I cannot be the only one who struggled to keep tab on their ages. SERIOUSLY! There are so many jumps in time that even if they didn’t annoy me per se, I found myself confused several times when it comes to the current age of the characters, because if 2 pages could relate 2 years, sometimes 90 pages only covered a few weeks.

Anyway, although the story seemed to run a little out of steam between 60 and 80%, my interest never wavered and trust me, this is rare lately.

Oh, and before I forget, a fair warning : I know little to nothing about the history of this area during this period of time so I cannot judge the book’s accuracy. But what I can say is that it made me want to learn more. So there’s that. I mean, there’s even religion! And I could stand it! How awesome is that?! Given that my tolerance for religious talk is close to none, I’d say it’s pretty amazing.

► Truly a fascinating story. Recommended.

Now available to order wherever books are sold!

darken praise

*arc kindly provided by the publisher through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review*

BOOK REVIEW – Every Heart a Doorway by Seanan McGuire

June 15, 2016 / Anna

Every Heart a Doorway by Seanan McGuire
Purchase on: Amazon, iBooks
Add to: Goodreads

Synopsis:
Eleanor West’s Home for Wayward Children
No Solicitations
No Visitors
No Quests

Children have always disappeared under the right conditions; slipping through the shadows under a bed or at the back of a wardrobe, tumbling down rabbit holes and into old wells, and emerging somewhere... else.

But magical lands have little need for used-up miracle children.

Nancy tumbled once, but now she’s back. The things she’s experienced... they change a person. The children under Miss West’s care understand all too well. And each of them is seeking a way back to their own fantasy world.

But Nancy’s arrival marks a change at the Home. There’s a darkness just around each corner, and when tragedy strikes, it’s up to Nancy and her new-found schoolmates to get to the heart of the matter.

No matter the cost.

As I hated them as a child, of course I had to write a review this way. That’s my High Logic combating my High Nonsense for you. You’re welcome.

► START HERE : Have you ever wished that you could escape this world and discover another one in which you would really belong?
■ YES : Go to #1
■ NO : Go to #8

#0 “This world is unforgiving and cruel to those it judges as even the slightest bit outside the norm.” Want more? Go to #3

#1 First off, welcome! You’re about to start a fantastic journey, full of adventures, friendships, betrayals, suspicions….. Okaaaay I’m overdoing it. When starting Every Heart a Doorway, you shouldn’t expect an action-packed novel, because it couldn’t be further from what you’ll get.

► Are you still interested in this perfect mix of creepy atmosphere and hilarious dark humor?
■ YES : Go to #2
■ NO : Go to #10

#2 Not to say that this novel was plotless, because an important part of the story revolved around a murder mystery, but in my opinion its strength lay elsewhere : in the issues dealt with, first of these being the way we humans need to satisfy our thirst for acceptance and understanding – for hope.

► Now tell me, how would you describe your relationship with morally ambiguous characters?
■ I’d rather not say : Go to #5
■ Pretty good, actually : Go to #4
■ God, I hate them : Go to #7

#3 Sometimes you find friendship in the most unexpected places, you know? Of course, of course, a boarding school shouldn’t be so surprising a place, but given that 99% of the students want to run away elsewhere and suffer from some kind of PTSD, bonding with each other is often easier said than done. Yet Candy, Kade, Jack, Jill, Sumi and Christopher (Skeleton Boy! I would call dibs, but that would be Neanderthal-ish, wouldn’t it? Sigh) delighted me with their interactions. Fantastic characters’ dynamics, really.

► Need more convincing? How about some quotes, okay?
■ “Because ‘boys will be boys’ is a self-fulfilling prophecy…” Go to #6
■ “This is not an asylum, and you are not mad – and so what if you were?…” Go to #0
■ “If they corner her because they’ve decided I’m guilty, she’s liable to hurt someone just so she can get away…” Go to #9
■ “Time resumed…” Go to #11

#4 Seanan McGuire‘s characters aren’t morally ambiguous, they use different scales of values as reference. And yes, by that I mean that each and every one of them offers a different definition for the old Goods and Evils. Their past in the fantastic world they discovered and the way their life unfolded once they returned “Home” – they matter : These characters are different, intriguing and fascinating. You should know that they’re disturbing too, though.

► Alright – Are you ready to meet the oddest group of friends?
■ YES : Go to #3
■ NO : Go to #10

#5 BAHAHAHAHAHA REALLY, did you think you could get away with this? Go to #4

#6 “Call it irony, if you like, but we spend so much time waiting for our boys to stray that they never have the opportunity. We notice the silence of men. We depend upon the silence of women.” Want more? Go to #3

#7 The funny thing is, this is not relevant. Go to #4

#8 : I don’t know what to tell you, really. I mean, have you watched the news? Please go watch the news.
■ If you changed your mind : Go to #1
■ If you didn’t : Go to #10

#9 “I’d rather not get expelled right after I’ve disposed of a body. Seems like a waste of good acid.” Want more? Go to #3

#10 : Hey, no hard feelings, but GAME OVER. Try again?

#11 : “Time had a way of doing that.” Want more? Go to #3

PS. Tell me, was it supposed to be hilarious? Because somehow I couldn’t stop laughing? Or is it yet another case of, Anna, really, your sense of humor sucks big time? I guess we’ll never know.

Hole : credit
Old Book : credit