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.