There’s something comforting about picking up a book that is a ‘retelling’ of an old, tried and true tale.  In essence, you know what you’re going to get.  When that retold tale takes a creative turn with the established storyline making it new and inventive and catches me off guard, so I sit back and think, “Now that, that was well done,” well, that makes me a happy reader.

But I’ll be honest.  For me, Sway was not one of those stories – but it is a good story and one I’d be happy to recommend with an asterisk.  And here’s the asterisk – If a modern-day take on Cyrano de Bergerac is your kind of thing,  then this might be up your alley.  If you don’t want to read about teenagers doing drugs/sex/drinking or have a problem with the fictional manipulation of other teens/adults and using physically and mentally challenged kids for sympathy purposes, I’d skip this one.

What I liked about this story:

• Sway tells the tale of Jesse, a high school student, who recently lost his mom, lives with his absentee father, and makes a living by being the “go-to” guy of his school. Jesse is an enabler, a dealer, a kid who can get you what you want for a price.  He deals in secrets and blackmail without much of a conscience.
• He’s got a great voice and is easy to read.
• I would not consider Jesse a completely reliable narrator.  He describes the girl of his dreams in positively glowing terms and I’m not sure she does a wrong thing the entire story (in his eyes).
• I think my favorite line was, “Can I borrow an old person for 10 minutes?”  🙂
• Mr. D was a predictable character and I saw where it was going, but I admit, I liked this relationship and how it helped redeem Jesse.
• As Jesse begins to change, he starts using his “favors” for the good of others.  That’s fun to see.
• I like how when everything falls apart on Jesse and he’s faced with the disaster he’s created – the gig is up! – it is written so well, I truly felt bad for Jesse.  He hit rock bottom and there’s nothing left for him in this life.

What bothered me about this story:

• The drug use, the sex, the alcohol consumption wore on me, as well as Jesse’s multiple explanations of, “I have to take a hit otherwise (my supplier) will think something’s up,” or “Users are losers so I only do what I have to in order to make the deal.”  Once would have been enough.
• When Jesse takes his ex on a date in order to set her up with a fellow student, he describes his outfit as “summer weight wool slacks.”  What teenage boy knows what ‘summer weight wool’ is or would call his pants ‘slacks’?
• The commentary on the cheerleaders sounded too female to be coming from a high school boy’s mouth.

What I would consider before giving this to my kid:

• Drugs, sex and alcohol abound among multiple characters.  Jesse smokes pot, drinks, deals drugs at college parties, justifying his use because it’s part of the business.  He arranges hookups between guys and girls, including the love interest’s brother who has cerebral palsy.  He manipulates and blackmails people to get what he wants, and has his friends beat up a potential abuser to protect a friend.   Jesse’s dad is practically absent.  His mentally disturbed mother committed suicide.  Jesse brings his drug dealing replacement in for an interview.  9th Grade on Up, maybe higher depending on the kid.

Final Thoughts:

• I realized about half way through the book I stopped taking notes because I honestly got caught up in the story.  The characters are good, the voice is good, the dialogue is snappy and real, the story captivating all the while being soaked in drugs and sex and manipulation.  This is a tale where the main character takes a believable journey of change from start to finish and one I’d recommend.  With an Asterisk.  🙂

There’s a scene, about two thirds of the way through The Story of Owen,  Dragon Slayer of Trondheim that is making it onto my list of favorite scenes of all times.  It’s simple, it’s wonderful, it’s symbolic, and it’s what every parent would like his or her child to know.

Now, I’m not a symbolic person.  I don’t read books and sit back and try to find the deeper meaning in the broken egg shell or the dying flower on the nightstand.  I read books to be entertained.  But every once in a while, I get it.  A couple of years ago, I had the opportunity to see the Cirque Du Soleil Beatles show in Vegas.  Most of it went over my head, but when the woman wrapped in red silk dropped two stories onto a VW Beetle and the Beetle exploded into many parts, I sat up and exclaimed, “YOKO ONO!  I get it!  I get it!”  In other words, subtlety in symbolism is wasted on me.

This one particular scene is all of a page and half long.  It takes place as the town is gearing up for a battle against dragons.  Siobhan is at home with her parents who know they must let her go fight the good fight, but, being parents, are doing their best to tell her they love her with all their might.  Siobhan is in the garden with her father.  They are tilling the frozen soil, preparing it for a spring planting.  Siobhan’s dad, in his very dad like way, starts talking about Siobhan as a child, how from the very beginning, she was musical, drawn to notes like some children are drawn to Hot Wheels or books.  Her parents, an accountant and a doctor, aren’t particularly musical, but they recognized how from and early age Siobhan had a calling.  While they would like to see her pursue something a little more concrete, their deepest desire is simply to see their daughter well prepared, loved, and supported in whatever path she choses.  To be a parent is much like turning over the cold, hard frozen earth to uncover what is hidden underneath, to plant a seed and nurture it until it grows to maturity.

Eh?  See?  I got it.  And I read it again and again, because it touched me.  In a page and half, E.K. Johnston wrote exactly what I want for my children.  I want them to go out into the world, to do what they love, and do it secure in the knowledge they are loved, supported, and accepted.  And this lovely relationship between Siobhan and her parents is one of the reasons I highly recommend this one!

What I liked about it:

• Modern day dragons who feed off of carbon emissions in Canada is only made better knowing their hatching ground is in Michigan (where my family lives)!
• Owen, the dragon slayer in training , gets detention within the first 2 minutes of the first day of school.  Awesome.
• You know it’s a good book when you have no idea what the hero and heroine look like and it doesn’t matter.
• Love that the dragons are just layered in there with all the modern stuff – driving, parking spaces, dragons.  Because they’ve been there forever, it’s taken for granted.
• The dragons are not nice.  They are destructive.  They are dangerous.  Nobody is trying to make friends with them.  I liked that.
• I wish I’d played Offense/Defense Fridays!
• A lot of main characters love books because the authors who  write them love books, but Siobhan loves music  and not radio music but band music, orchestra music, writing music, making music, playing instruments.  How cool!
• The matter of fact tone is fantastic.  Every thing that has ever happened was because of a dragon and it all makes sense – everything from why Northern Africa is desert to what the logo of the Detroit Red Wings means is dragon based.  Who knew?!
• The black flies of MI – oh, how I know those.
• Siobhan may not be a dragon slayer, but her job as a modern day bard makes her a valuable part of the team.
• The writing  style bursts forward then backwards in time then it catches up to present day again.  It’s so well done, it’s fun.
• Siobhan describes a flute player as being able to handle whatever life throws at her or “tuba to the core.”
• Lottie’s wife Hannah – at first, you don’t think much of her.  She’s not a dragon slayer so she isn’t one to get all the attention.  But she’s crafty and smart and not afraid to play dirty.  Love it!
• I like how the “realizations” happen in this story.  It’s a slow build then wham!  But they aren’t dwelled on overly much which makes it nice.
• All the family relationships are wonderful.  There’s love, there’s respect, and there are a lot of different family types so you get a little bit of everything.

 What I didn’t like about it:

• Okay, I admit, I am teenage girl enough to wish this was a love story.  But it’s not.  And it was so good, I got over it because I had to admit, the love story would have been cliché.

What I would consider before giving this to a kid:

• This one is good for 6th grade on up content wise.  Not every 6th grader is going to get the whole impact on the environment part of the tale or some of the humor, but there’s no sex, no drugs, and a strong message of bonding together and fighting for your community.

Final Thoughts

• For a book about dragons, this one sure had a fantastic message about love and support and family.  The whole concept of modern day dragons tickled me pink.  When I was done, I sincerely wished there was a sequel or three.  Read this one.

Firebug by Lish McBride tells the tale of Ava, a teenager with the natural ability to light things on fire. Known as a “firebug,” she works with her best friends to defy the head of a mob-like organization who “owns” her in order to bring down the organization and save her guardian.

Would I recommend it? Maaaaaybe? I can totally see why a YA would like this book. Snappy dialogue, self-deprecating humor, and cute guys are a winning formula for a teenager. As an adult, I’d point my peers in the direction of Lish McBride’s first two books, Hold Me Closer, Necromancer and its sequel, Necromancing the Stone instead.

Why?

It’s hard for me to separate my thoughts into what I liked and what made my mind wander on this one. This is a “hit the ground running” kind of book. There are a lot of characters immediately and it took me a while to get them all straight. I admit, I’m a read from the beginning of the series to the end in order kind of gal and the beginning of this book made me think I’d jumped right into the middle of an on-going story.

I liked the relationship between Ava and Cade, her guardian.  It’s warm, loving and respectful, but her other relationships were too predictable to hold me. It’s obvious from the get go Ava is supposed to be with Lock. Plus, the way he’s written, you know Ryan, the current boyfriend, is up to something – doomed to be as slimy as you think he is. Ava is as volatile as her fiery ability, but Lock is too steadfast, too much a rock, just too perfect – or just the kind of guy a teenager would love, but the kind of character that caused this middle-aged mom to roll her eyes. That being said, I loved Lock’s family situation and the idea of Ezra, the shape-shifter, running around the forest “doing what a fox does.”  And the were-hares made me smile.

The final battle sucked me in. It was just the right mix of strategy and trash talk and the focus was spot on.

I really liked Alastair and this caused me to realize how little I liked Venus, and I don’t mean in a bad gal kind of dislike. What I knew about Venus’ character was based on where she liked to sit in the club and what her henchman Owen was like more than anything else. I never connected with her which made her seem a little flat to me.

Did Ava grow and change from beginning to end? Much like the flames she created, Ava was angry and impulsive and driven by her emotions. Perhaps, as a firebug, this is who she is, but I still kept hoping to see more growth. She does break down when she comes to understand her mom and Cade, courtesy of Lock’s mom, but did this truly change her? I get the impression that change is yet to come.

 What I would consider before giving this to a kid:

It’s another female assassin story – who knew?!  Ava’s job is to hunt down and kill supernatural monsters. Shapeshifting naked men wrestle. Main characters visit a nightclub where underaged kids work with fake IDs. Underage drinking occurs. Ava is drugged in the club. Ezra is let loose in the forest with the dryads. After Venus feeds on her, Ava strangles Venus with chains then burns her.

Final Thoughts

There are some highlights in this book which are really well done, but in the end, I would tell a friend this is a story best left to the YA crowd.

Mr. Penumbra’s 24 Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan is a tale of immortality, but not in the fantastical way, rather in the literary way, and it’s one worth checking out. Snappy writing and pop culture references are fun, but it’s the mystery (not the most gripping tale of suspense) that keeps you reading because solving it means success for characters you’ve come to love.

Would I recommend it? Yes, I would. It’s a perfect beach or sit by the fire on a drizzly Sunday afternoon type read. You’ll walk away happy to have spent some time in this world.

What I liked about it:

• The voice! It’s smart, modern, funny.
• There’s great respect here between the characters and I really liked that. Clay, the main character, while he thinks some of the customers are odd, he treats them with respect and growing affection.
• Clay is appreciative of having a job, and likes his mysterious boss. More than that, Mr. Penumbra likes Clay and encourages him.
• The search for knowledge in books juxtaposed with the power of Google and the Big Box is bittersweet. Clay’s computer program does in a merely days what a dedicated group of bookstore patrons work years to accomplish. It leaves these patrons stunned and at a loss, like the rug has been pulled out from under them. Knowing what he’s done even though he doesn’t understand it, Clay handles these people with kindness.
• I fell in love with Mr. Penumbra and this crazy bookstore and it was hard not to look at Kat and all her computer power as the big bad wolf. Clay’s creation doesn’t seem so bad since he struggled with it and learned in the process. Kat just hits a button and has all these Estonians working for her – where’s the success or satisfaction in that?
• There’s an interesting point where Clay observes Kat’s amazement at the size and complexity of New York City. He deduces that for a girl obsessed with the outer limits of human potential and the idea of immortality, she hasn’t ventured far from home. She dreams big but charges into the unknown with little true world experience, an interesting commentary on our obsession of looking down at a screen and not up at the world?
• Making the mystery a quest to solve, invoking the middle school RPG personas, leading to the whole, “I’ve waiting my entire life to walk down a secret passageway behind a bookshelf,” was brilliant!
• The Reading Room – totally cool!

 What distracted me:

• While I enjoyed the pop culture references, there were a lot of them and sometimes they came right on top of another.

What I would consider before giving this to my kid:

• First, this is not a YA novel and quite frankly, I’m not sure a younger YA would like it. One character makes his living off of programming breasts for video games and films. The main character has sex with his girlfriend but it’s off camera so to speak. The bookstore is next door to a strip club which you never enter, however, the Clay uses their wiFi. To get the pop culture references and because the story is about careers/quests of post-college age/grad school age 20 somethingers, I’d say older 9th/10th grade on up.

Last Thoughts

I would visit Mr. Penumbra’s 24 Hour Bookstore in a heartbeat – perhaps you should, too.

Good news!  I can confirm that if you’ve read one tale of a female teenage assassin, you have not read them all!

Robin LaFever’s Grave Mercy tells the tale of young Ismae.  Believing she was unwanted by her mother, Ismae lives life at the mercy of her emotionally abusive father.  Scarred by a poison her mother took to end her pregnancy, Ismae should not have survived.  Instead, she was born, marked as a disciple of Mortain, the god of Death.  She is swept away to a convent and taught to use her skills to serve her god and protect those she must.
Would I recommend it?  Yes, I would recommend this one.  It’s a good origin story with a fantasy twist and a nice love story.

What I liked about the story:

• From the get go, Ismae is a sympathetic character.  She’s scarred, scared and obedient.  Forced into marriage by her father, she obeys because she believes she has to, but she doesn’t come across as weak.
• Once at the convent, Ismae slips into life with the nuns easily, as if she’s born to be there, but she’s nervous, too.
• She doesn’t like the idea of being a “mistress” and is a little unsure she can pull it off which makes her young and human.
• When contemplating the actions of Duval, her escort, she muses, “His kindness to me is nothing.  He is kind to his horse as well.”  Just sort of puts a girl in her place, doesn’t it?!
• Ismae discovers she can speak with the souls of the dead.  This ability opens her eyes to the pain of her victims’ lives as well as the impact she has when she kills.
• Death does not leave her untouched or without guilt, even if she was ordered to commit the act and Mortain approved.
• Love interest Duval’s concern when he thinks Ismae has been poisoned is so sweet, and we get a glimpse into her changing feelings toward him in a soul warming sort of way.
• The moment Ismae is hurt and Duval insists on treating her wound I knew what would happen next (not that!) but it was done so well, I didn’t mind the predictability.
• The best way to undress a man ever?  Poison!  No joke.  Totally original and ingenious!
• Ismae’s confidence in herself grows throughout the tale to the point she’s able to stand up for what she believes in and do what she thinks is right, even when she knows it will be met with disapproval from her superiors.  Girl Power!

What distracted me:

• Some of the storylines (who Ismae was going to have to kill) were a little predictable.  This could be chalked up to me having watched too many who-dun-it crime shows, though.
• Due to the point of view of the story, the information felt a  little spoon fed by the time I got a ways in.  That being said, it didn’t stop me from reading it or from checking out the next one from the library.

What I would consider before giving this to my kid:

It is a tale of death; Ismae is ordered by nuns to kill people.  Ismae is schooled in the “feminine arts”  (by nuns!).  It is not graphic or spelled out, but the implication is there that should it be required, she is to seduce her target. Ismae cures her love interest by undressing and slipping into bed with him.  There is some talk about what a man and woman do together in bed.  7th grade (depending on your kid) on up.

Last Thoughts

For a story about a rather violent, morbid subject (killing/death), I found this story to have quite the positive message about believing in oneself and doing what’s right.  Ismae meets death head on, in person, and learns that death is not merely senseless killing, it has a price, and redemption is possible for those who truly seek it.  Death is merciful, and when Ismae embraces this, she learns to be true to herself.

The Scandalous Sisterhood of Prickwillow Place by Julie Berry is a tale set close to the turn of the century in a small English town. A group of young women attending St. Etheldreda’s School for Young Ladies find themselves at a very interesting crossroads when their headmistress and her ne’er do well brother keel over at Sunday dinner after eating poisoned veal. Do they stick together, friends forever, embracing their newfound freedom, or return home to the oppressive rules young women were forced to live by?

Would I recommend it? Absolutely! It wasn’t a book that kept me up past my bedtime (that’s 9:30pm on a good night), but it was one of those fantastic books that surprised me and entertained me every time I picked it up. It’s a tale of empowerment, one that speaks to girls embracing their talents and succeeding because they do.

What I Liked About It

• It’s hard to do justice to the way Julie Berry puts words together. She’s got a gift for phrasing things in a way that makes you appreciate the words. It’s not flowery, it’s just right. The whole discussion on compost in the garden and why digging up potatoes will be an issue is fantastic!
• The turn of the century voice works and it works because the story moves along. The mystery isn’t too deep or drawn out too long so it keeps things interesting.
• The girls each has her own talent and the other girls acknowledge, appreciate and respect these talents – “with powers like these, Mary will die a duchess” and how Stout Alice refers to her size but more to her character and acting ability.
• The extraneous characters are fleshed out well. No flat ones here!
• The older girls, as different as they are, each has a suitor.

What Distracted Me

• The turn of the century voice was what kept me putting it down simply because I’m not a huge fan, but this was minor. The story, the wording, so good I told myself to get over myself.

What I Would Consider Before Giving It to My Kid

• If you’re giving this to your daughter, I would consider reading it yourself either before her or with her. This is one of those stories that will lead to great conversations about growing up, embracing your talents, and why burying people in your backyard isn’t a good idea. Seriously. Ages 6^th grade on up.

Conclusion

Join this sisterhood. You’ll be glad you did!

The Young Elites by Marie Lu is the fantasy tale of Adelina Amouteru. Scarred, one-eyed, and silver-haired as a result of a plague like fever that swept the land, Adelina is labeled a malfetto (a marked survivor) and shunned by society. Her abusive father tries to sell her as a mistress to pay his debts. In her escape attempt, Adelina kills her father when her supernatural abilities surface. Rescued from her execution by a group of similarly gifted young adults called the Elites, Adelina is trained to use her abilities to support their cause.

Would I recommend it? Yeah, if fantasy adventure is your thing. It took a bit to hook me, and there was a moment, I almost said forget it, but I’m glad I didn’t. It’s a good start, and I have the feeling it will become a fantastic start if the sequels live up to my expectations.

What I liked about it:

• The storyline is ultimately your basic “new found power/learn how to control power/use it to overthrow the bad guys” kind of storyline so I was looking for the part that made it different. What kept me reading until I hit that point was the language. The word choice was fantastic. I could see the dungeon. I could feel the creepiness of the illusions Adelina created. I could sense her fear.
• Normally I admit I pass right over the blurbs authors put at the top of the first page of chapters, but don’t here. They are insightful and even prophetic in some cases.
• Adelina’s training involves discovering what fuels her abilities, and what fuels them is what fills this story with so much dark, delicious, could go either way Darth Vader kind of potential. It’s good. Really good.
• Violetta, the perfect little sister, whom I thought I would find annoying, turned out to have a really interesting role in her sister’s past and might have a really interesting future.
• The epilogue. It’s the perfect glimpse and hooked me. I’ll be reading the next one.

 What I didn’t like about it:

• The Young Elites’ headquaters is in a brothel or, as Adelina calls it, a “pleasure palace.” Adelina meets Raffaele, the second in command of the Elites and a consort, in his suite where a client is in his bed. It is Raffaele’s ability to manipulate influential patrons that keep the Elites in business, so okay, he might belong there, but in order to fit in, Adelina has to dress like an underage consort. At the risk of being called momish, I have to say, “Really?”
• The blackmail storyline felt a little predictable.

Things I’d consider before handing this to my kid:

• The headquarters are in a brothel, second in command is a consort, and consorts court clients. Adelina and Eroz make out but she stops him, saying she can’t give herself to anyone before she’s 17. Adelina’s father is physically and emotionally abusive dead or alive.  I’d say 7^th grade on up.

Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein tells the story of two young women, Maddie, a British pilot and Julie, a Scottish interrogator, during WWII. These two young women meet while stationed in England and become best friends. Maddie volunteers to fly Julie to France to complete a mission, but the plane is hit by anti-aircraft fire. Julie parachutes out and is captured by the Nazis. Maddie manages to crash-land the plane and is hidden by the French resistance. Told over the course of approximately six weeks, each girl tells her story through writing.

Would I recommend it?  How could I not? Code Name Verity is one of those books that is good until it becomes great. It will stick with you and haunt you. You will celebrate and you will cry. And the minute you’re done, you’ll want to read it all over again.

Things I liked about the book:

• Julie’s viewpoint takes up the first half of the book. She starts out confessing she is weak and has agreed to give up so many secrets for basic things like her clothes or a blanket to sleep under. Amazingly enough, she made me understand why she’s sold out her country to the Nazis.
• The friendship between the girls is real and believable. In this “white man’s world,” these two girls admire each other, respect each other, and are rather awed by each other’s particular talents despite differences in socioeconomic backgrounds. I can only hope my own daughter grows up to have friendships such as this.
• Loved the things Julie found to write on – hotel stationery, prescription pads, recipe cards, sheet music. I can only imagine what that stack looked like.
• Through Julie’s writing, I felt her slipping away, saw her letting go. So well written, so well done that when she cries out for help on the bridge, it is what has to happen.
• Julie’s family – Jamie, her mother, the boys, the great-aunt – wonderful.
• The Peter Pan references, so British, so perfect.
• Maddie’s part – I don’t want to say too much…Let’s leave it as what Maddie tells you will make you want to flip back and reread and laugh and cry and reread again and squeal, “Oh! Oh! Oh!” because it is simply brilliant. Together with Julie’s part, it is what makes this book great.
• Anna Engel! Loved her! Bit part, true, but she lives up to her translated name, Angel, and gives us some fantastic insight on Julie that made me smile.
• There is closure. It’s bittersweet, it’s teary, and thank goodness, it’s there.

 Things that distracted me:

• This one is all me – it’s similar to why I have issues with 3-D movies. I keep pulling the glasses down my nose to see what the screen looks like without them. In the book about half way through Julie’s part, an American radio personality comes to the hotel and interviews Julie. It’s totally believable and fits in the story but at that moment, I began to think, huh, something is going on and I started (pulling down the glasses) and looking for clues as to how Julie was going to make it out.
• Julie bounces between first and third person. She does explain why she writes in third person about herself at times and I have to admit, I had to consult that part a time or two until I got the hang of things.
• Maddie’s portion of the book isn’t quite as eventful as Julie’s so at times, I found myself wishing she’d get on with it. Of course, she did, quite often in the next paragraph so I felt guilty even thinking that in the first place.

I’d say 8^th grade on up due to the nature of the violence and understanding of the environment and time period.

For things to consider before handing this one to my kid, scroll down, but beware, spoiler alerts ahead.

On the inside cover of the book, is a list of accolades, 16 in all not counting the Michael L. Printz Award for Excellence in Young Adult Literature on the front. This is a book that deserves them all. It also deserves a spot on my bookshelf.

Things I would consider before handing this to my kid (SPOILER ALERT):

• This is set in 1943. Julie is captured by the Nazis and tortured. Prisoners are tortured in other rooms, one is decapitated in front of Julie. Concentration camps are referenced, and Julie is sentenced to a camp where she will be experimented on until she dies. One of the French resistance fighters is very touchy-feely with the women. Nazi soldiers shoot prisoners in the legs, in the elbows, in the head.   Julie asks Maddie to shoot her and Maddie does, killing her.

Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Mass is a fantasy tale about an 18 year old girl trained from early childhood to be an assassin. Sent to a labor camp and not expected to survive, Celaena Sardothien is plucked out of the camp by the crown prince to compete in a competition to become the King’s Assassin. If she beats out the other twenty or so competitors and serves the king for four years, she wins her freedom.

Would I recommend it? No, no I wouldn’t. And believe me, I wanted to like this one. I’m all for strong women characters kicking butt, but this is one of those tales that felt like it was for those with a little less grey hair and fewer laugh lines. First in a series, complete with a prequel set of novellas and currently two sequels, the book obviously has a following but unfortunately, I’m not hopping on this bandwagon.

What I liked about it:

• The cover. Honestly, strong woman, great hair, weapons, leather. What’s not to root for?
• The fantasy story of the spirit queen coming back through Celaena had merit and hopefully will play out to an interesting plot in future books.
• The end. I know, I know, I’m not trying to be a smarty pants and celebrate it being over. No, about two chapters toward the end, a secret is dropped about Celaena’s heritage that made me perk up. Plus, for a moment in the last couple of chapters, Celaena allows us in and lets us feel for her. She finally became human.
• In the final chapter, at long last, I got a sense of Celaena being caught off guard and awed by her romantic feelings toward the guy she’s supposed to end up with. But man, I had to read a lot of pages to see her humanity.

What I found distracting:

• When we meet Celaena, she is near starvation, beaten, scarred and being brought before the playboy Crown Prince Dorian. She is a world-renowned assassin and expects people to respect and fear her which they should. Instead, her swagger comes off as obnoxious and I started thinking what this girl needs is a good talking to! Moms. Oi.
• What’s with all the vomiting? She’s starving, she eats, she vomits. She eats, she runs, she vomits. She gets her period, she has cramps, she vomits. Thankfully, she seemed to be able to keep dinner down by the end of the book.
• It was really hard to not compare this tale to The Hunger Games. The competitors spend time training together in a room doing different activities. The first test is archery. It’s a competition to the last (wo)man standing. But there’s no sense of desperation or horror or loss of control that makes The Hunger Games so impactful.
• I couldn’t figure out how to like Celaena. I’m the kind of reader who wants to root for the main character. I want to feel for the protagonist, cry for her, root for her, plot with her and celebrate with her. Instead, I felt annoyance. Sure, Celaena got hurt, but I didn’t feel her pain. There was no horror or sadness or even numbness or fear when other competitors died during tests or were discovered half eaten and mauled in corridors. She comments to Chaol, the Captain of the Guard, how her first kill feels at the end of the book, but it’s too little, too late for me.
• Dorian the Crown Prince needed more page time to prove himself as more than a spoiled playboy. Yes, he changed from start to finish, but to make the maturity stick, he needed more than just an examination of his feelings toward his father’s actions and Celeana. It was interesting to learn what the King thought of his son at the end, but by then, I didn’t really care.
• The fantasy element is downplayed (magic is outlawed!) to the point where when it came in, it threw me out of the story. It ended up playing a larger role and one that I would assume will get bigger in the next two books, though (which might be a good thing!).

Things I’d consider before handing this to child:

• This is a competition amongst people who are trained to kill other people. The main character is an 18-year-old girl trained to kill and she wants to win so she can kill for the king and earn her freedom. Competitors die in gruesome attacks by a fantasy creature – dismembered, half eaten, brains sucked out. One character smokes Opium multiple times. Some kissing. Not sure I’d hand this to a 6^th grader, but 7^th on up, probably okay.

So, I’m sorry to say it, I won’t be reading more in this series, but don’t let that stop you. As I tell my daughter, if we all liked the same book, think how small the library would be.

I admit, I pulled a Percy Jackson with Eleanor & Park, the story of first love in the mid-1980’s. The librarian at the Jr. High told me last year it was the best book she read all year. She told me I should read it. I went as far as to download it and let it sit on my eReader for six months. Then, this past week, I started reading it. When I finished, I read it again. I ordered a paper copy just so the day it arrived, I could drive over to my neighbor’s and say, “You have to read this.” This is the first book in a long time I’ve stayed up past my bedtime to read. And the lost sleep was totally worth it.

What I liked about it:

• This is the story of young love. Not like teenage movie “Enless Love” type love. More like real high school, first nerd love.
• Sixteen year old Park comes from a middle class family. His dad and Korean mom are still madly in love, and they love their kids. Park’s dad pushes Park, but you get the impression there’s a good reason. Park’s mom stands up for herself and her kids and isn’t afraid to voice her opinions. It is quite the contrast to Eleanor’s dirt poor family, abusive stepfather, co-dependent mom and siblings.
• From the beginning, Park is a good guy, but he’s not perfect, and Eleanor never lets you feel sorry for her.
• They fall in love over comic books. Then music. But mostly comic books.
• Park is a boy. Based on the oodles of women’s magazine articles I’ve read, boys love girls because quite simply, they’re girls. Eleanor is concerned about her stomach, her freckles, her hair.  None of that enters Park’s mind.  He sees the freckles at “sprinkles on a donut” and Eleanor as “a mermaid.”  He falls for Eleanor way before he sees her in a way that opens his eyes to the fact she’s got so much “negative space.” And by the time he realizes she’s a girl and decides shyness will get him nowhere, you want them to be together.
• The dialogue is real and smart. It sounds like kids and adults. There’s a fantastic exchange between Park and Eleanor when Park tells her he loves her and she says, “I know.”
• Having been a 16 year old in 1986, I have to admit I enjoyed the pop culture references.

 What I found Distracting:

• I got nothing. That’s how much I liked this book.

 Things I would consider before handing it to my kid:

• Strong swearing at the beginning, sexual language throughout. The stepfather is abusive mentally and physically to Eleanor’s mom. Eleanor fears her stepfather will abuse her next. There are a couple of make out sessions between Park and Eleanor but they’re more suggested than graphic. I’d say 8/9^th grade on up.

This book is a trip back to high school and will leave you with a happy ache in your middle. Enjoy it!