A Thousand Pieces of You (Firebird #1) by Claudia Gray

A Thousand Pieces of You by Claudia Gray
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

A Thousand Pieces of You caught my eye almost a year ago when it popped up on my recommendations even before it was published in November. The synopsis sounded promising, although I still retained some hesitation considering it belonged to the "dystopian" style genre with which I am not as familiar.
However, I have to say that this book was engaging, entertaining and full of adventure.
The protagonist and also the narrator of the story was represented as a multidimensional character, containing depth and human qualities that engaged the reader and increased their curiosity to find out more about this young woman bound on this unlikely journey. Having come across a few badly written stories with female leads that were supposed to show female empowerment and strength, which only ended up in complete disaster, I felt relieved and quite happy that authors nowadays are still capable creating female characters that possess strength, but do not contain the "better-than-thou" attitude, which could ruin any good story. The secondary characters were a great addition and provided a good foil to the protagonist. They aided in the fleshing out of the story, the protagonist and were able to hold up the story without solely depending on the protagonist.
The narration, independently from the character, felt easy and effortless. The reader felt as if this story was meant to be told only to the one reading it. It maintained a steady level of action interspersed with peaks of excitement that felt natural and belonging to the story, instead of acting like desperate attempts to keep the reader from falling sleep. It became quite clear early on in the narration that this story was to belong to a series or multi-part story and at the conclusion of A Thousand Pieces of You I could have jumped right into the next book.
I should dedicate a few lines to the writing style, since I very much appreciated the care the author took in choosing her style and words that made this story a great reading experience. With almost all books belonging to the YA genre, there will always be a component of romance present, ranging from a mere crush to genuine affection to intense love scenes. The romance present in this story was tastefully done, it did not take precedence over the main story and it contained an element of realism that kept the reader from rolling their eyes or even potentially losing their lunch. The love scene was equally tastefully done and it was a great relief to see that YA authors were still able to keep young love clean and elegant.
Overall, I would definitely recommend this book to anyone, who enjoys a great story, great writing and plenty of surprising plot twists.

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The Almost Meeting: And Other Stories by Henry Kreisel

The Almost Meeting: And Other Stories by Henry Kreisel
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This collection of short stories is quickly becoming my primary resource for the structure and organization of short story writing.
It is a wonderful collection of stories that contain depth and characters that are developed enough to establish true interest in the reader.
I appreciated the precise moment the author decided to end each story so as to create just the right amount of suspense and reader satisfaction.
These stories are definitely worth a read.

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At the Full and Change of the Moon by Dionne Brand

At the Full and Change of the Moon by Dionne Brand
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

I feel like opening a bottle of champagne and inviting the neighbours to celebrate making it through this book. It was that bad.
Most of the time I had absolutely no idea what was going on. The story kept jumping back and forth in time, making it almost impossible to keep track of the generational growth that is supposed to occur throughout the story.
On any one page I read the same sentence at least three times, each time something more was added to it, which made this story extremely difficult to read, since I could never get past the senseless repetition that is supposed to add to the poetic nature of narrating the suffering and tragedy the characters had to endure. Unfortunately, in this case it did not work at all. It took away from the opportunity for the reader to connect with the characters and really experience their stories.
The story was narrated from a third person point-of-view with the added distance of using "would" or "should", making it impossible to attain an idea of the characters' true dimensions. In addition, there were more than a few instances where the vivid language of describing quite natural human urges had me almost lose my lunch. I understand that the author's intentions were to be bold and thought provoking, but these statements come across as vulgar and inappropriate. It gave the impression the author attempted to redefine the genre of Black Atlantic literature by making it unnecessarily complex and obscure, losing all the raw and intense nature that made this genre so powerful in the beginning.
That's all I will say about this book. There are so many better stories about the topic of Black Atlantic literature, just don't bother with this one.

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The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I read The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, in which Tom Sawyer makes an appearance, years ago and I disliked the character of Tom Sawyer to such an extent that I refused to read The Adventures of Tom Sawyer until my desire to read good classic literature brought me once again back to the writings of Mark Twain. My enjoyment of reading this story was fueled by my current mood to read writings set in America in the 1800's, the rather difficult and stressful circumstances that surrounded my personal life and the sheer joy of reading good classic literary writing. I was surprised how the story of a rather melodramatic and adventure-seeking boy could distract me this much from that which I called my own reality and have me smiling on many occasions.
The author's writing style is light, comedic, witty and incredibly intelligent. He possesses the skill of perfect comedic timing and the theatrical flair of describing this energetic boy.
The characters are well built, multidimensional and a delight to read about. They do have the flair for the theatrical melodrama that adds to the comedy and lightheartedness that makes this story such a pleasure to read.
The plot was fairly straightforward, telling a concise story with plenty of detail without being too overbearing.
I am glad I had the opportunity to read this story at a time in my life when I could use a little cheering up and it proved to be that and so much more. I always enjoyed Mark Twain's writing, but I am quickly becoming a great fan of his. I would strongly recommend this book to anyone, who enjoys good storytelling and superb writing.

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Masque of the Red Death by Bethany Griffin

Masque of the Red Death by Bethany Griffin
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

I was not able to keep up with writing reviews as I finished reading each book, so for the last 20 books or so I have been rating them with the intent of returning to provide a proper review. Today it is time to explain the poor rating of Masque of the Red Death. Upon returning to this book I was surprised that I actually rated it two stars instead of just one, since whenever I think about it or mention it to someone all I can say about it is that is filled with nothing but hot air, instead of a steampunk, dystopian story of the post-apocalyptic genre.
I must say there was not one character that kept my interest, won my sympathies or possessed a remotely human or likable quality. The protagonist is whiny, spoiled, nonsensical, rude and inconsiderate, completely out of touch with the reality of the story and incapable of sympathizing with the other characters. There were quite a few times when I rolled my eyes in extreme annoyance, hoping she would meet her exit from the story sooner rather than later. Unfortunately, I was not granted such a wish. The other characters only existed to supply some fluff to the plot and provide the protagonist a few more opportunities to mope around.
I have to admit that I never read the original story by Poe, but I can tell by this retelling that he might turn in his grave, knowing what the author decided to turn this tale into. A story without any introduction of the characters or any background information, however small, and a story that wastes about 60% on a useless detail that does nothing in order to move the plot along only have it end at the precise moment the true story should have begun is a sad attempt at fictional writing.
A quick note about the "steampunk" elements. Mentioning sporadically that carriages are now steam powered and that traditional Victorian dresses (the ones with corsets and plunging necklines) are now required to be cut short in order to reveal that one has not been infected with the plague, is not really and true steampunk.
Now that I am at the conclusion of this review, I can say with confidence that my rating of this book will be changed from two stars to one star, because, honestly, do not waste your time on bad plot development and character building. I know that the young adult fiction genre can have its share of teenage angst, but this story was beyond all that a reader could handle. There are better stories containing steampunk, dystopian and post-apocalyptic elements, therefore do not bother with this one.

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Gold Rush Deluge by Suzanne Lilly

Gold Rush Deluge by Suzanne Lilly
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I was very glad that the story continued where it ended in the first book, I wholeheartedly appreciate stories told in series form that do not include great time gaps, flashbacks or require the reader to assume certain outcomes.
The story moved along swiftly, without any unnecessary tangents that distract from the main plot that was good enough to carry the story and characters from the beginning until the end.
The characters were consistent from the first to the second installment of this story; however, I was delighted to observe growth and maturation in the protagonist's character.
I loved the splash of intrigue and mystery that the author decided to include in this installment and was impressed by her creation of a volatile character that seemed so real.
Overall, I felt that the author was more comfortable with the story and characters in this installment, since she already possessed a good feel for the personality traits and nature of character.
This story was a great sequel and I would recommend it to anyone, who enjoyed the first story as well as those, who enjoy mystery, romance and adventure.

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Dark Destiny (Dark Mirror #3) by Mary Jo Putney

Dark Destiny by M.J. Putney
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

The third and last book in this trilogy again contained more depth with respect to the secondary characters than the female protagonist, whom I have given up believing to be capable of developing at all. As I have said it is much more enjoyable to follow the secondary characters as they embark on their adventure, although I found the challenges that they had to face in this installment, and the solutions they found to those challenges, to be rather mediocre, compared to the challenges they had to overcome in the last two books.
I also found the romance between the protagonist and her male counterpart to contain a cheesy element that diminished my interest in their relationship instead of hoping for a happy ending.
All in all, this was still a very decent trilogy, the conclusion to which could have been slightly stronger, but it still worked for the most part. I would recommend this book and the entire trilogy to anyone, who enjoys lighthearted young adult fiction of the regency period with clean romance and a fair amount of magic.

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Dark Passage (Dark Mirror #2) by Mary Jo Putney

Dark Passage by M.J. Putney
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

What I really appreciate is the seamless continuation of the story without any fast forwarding or random flashbacks of years past since the conclusion of the first installment.
Everything continues to grow and develop, from the adventurous plot, the group of friends, the secondary characters to the explanation of the magic used. Everything except the protagonist. It saddened me to some extent that the character of the female lead almost remains completely stagnant as the secondary characters reveal greater depth, which, on the other hand, allows for more interest to be built between the reader and those secondary characters. As with the first installment, the protagonist seems to act only as an anchor to which the most important characters and their development are centered. Generally speaking, the protagonist remains naive and odious, and more than a few times during reading her inner most thoughts and feelings I could not help but roll my eyes in sheer annoyance.
Having said that, the plot is still worth the read, the adventure still makes up for one character's nuisance and I would recommend this book as I have recommended the first installment.

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Dark Mirror (Dark Mirror #1) by Mary Jo Putney

Dark Mirror by M.J. Putney
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Based on the description of the book I was quite surprised when the plot developed in an entire differently direction, leaving me surprised and even confused as to whether I was actually reading the correct book. After I got over my initial surprise and confusion, I began to enjoy the story tremendously, although at times I would still have my brows knitted in befuddled intrigue by the decisions the author chose to flesh out the plot as well as the characters.
The story was told through the point of view of the female protagonist, who in my opinion did not possess enough of a multidimensional character in order to move the story along, especially for the remainder of this trilogy. I found her more to be an anchor onto which the emerging and more interesting secondary characters began to grow and develop. She was a nice enough girl as she is supposed to represent all that was typical of female behaviour at the beginning of the 1800's; however, at times the insights into thoughts and emotions seemed rather odious and naive.
As I mentioned above, the plot of this story and the entire story from beginning until the end was very intriguing and rich. It was easy to follow and barely contained any miscellaneous details that would have distracted from the main premise of this story.
The writing was straightforward and contained a nice flow that kept the mood of the story throughout.
I finished the entire trilogy before starting my reviews of any of the books, primarily because I really wanted to know how this adventure filled, regency romance story would conclude.
This book is geared towards the younger audience of the young adult fiction genre. It reminded me in parts, the adventurous parts, of the series by Enid Blyton The Five Friends with a splash of clean romance. I would recommend this book to anyone in the mood for adventure, the building of friendships and the good old concept of first love.

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The Caged Graves by Dianne K. Salerni

The Caged Graves by Dianne K. Salerni
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The Caged Graves really is a very good story. Looking at the physical book the first thought that came to my mind was that it looked to be a rather short novel, the font of the writing was larger than I expected it to be as well as the spacing of the lines. As a whole, it felt and read like a short story with the added bonus of being longer, hence giving the reader more to enjoy.
It was a well-paced narration that followed the main plot without the -sometimes and so often seen unnecessary- sub-plots that take away from the quality and suspense of the main plot.
I thoroughly enjoyed reading about the main character's experiences as the story was written from her point of view. It felt sincere, authentic and honest, which made the reading experience exceptionally pleasant.
All of the characters were intriguing, multidimensional and mysterious. I had my suspicions about them, but I still enjoyed going along the journey of this story with them.
The paranormal and eerie elements gave the story a certain flair of gothic ambiance without being too overwhelming.
This story was a great mixture of mystery, suspense, paranormal and young adult romance. I would certainly recommend this book to anyone, who is in the mood for a light, but quality read featuring the aforementioned genres.

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The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I must admit, I am perhaps more than just a little biased when reading fictional stories of the World War 2 era as written from the point of view of the German people, regardless of how well researched the subject may be. As a German myself I cannot look past every little detail that is supposed to describe the German culture by an author of a different nationality. Such was the case with this story as well. There are a few descriptions, details, customs or "typical German" character traits that I thought were less true and less flattering than maybe intended to be.
Having said that and aside from these personal peeves I always hold, I have to say that the structure of the narration was unflattering and disappointing. As a reader I cannot appreciate an author's choice to give away the ending of the story half way through it. The reader as well as the writer deserve the gratification of being taken along the journey of the story from beginning until the end without having the anticipation taken out of it prematurely, only to have to suffer through another 250 pages of elaborate descriptions of something, to which the outcome has already been revealed.
This brings me to my next point, the narration itself or rather the writing contains too many metaphors, similes and overly described details that sometimes take up a few pages at a time. By the time the author has finished writing about the state of the sky I have forgotten the actual point of the section/chapter. It is unfortunate for a reader to be able to identify quite clearly that the author's main intention of his writing style is aimed to win poetic admiration.
With that in mind, one can easily see why the characters, main and secondary, went lost in the over-descriptive writing. The main character does not possess any depth or dimension, because the author could not see past the details of the setting.
The plot or overall point of the story can be identified after considerable meditation and even then all I can comment on is the fact that this story could have been at least 100 pages shorter and even more powerful.
Thinking about this book and even just looking at its cover results in nothing more than a shrug of my shoulders. It contains a few good parts here and there and the general despair and sadness of war away from the front line tugs at the heart strings. But I cannot wholeheartedly recommend this book, although I would suggest it if this genre was specifically requested.

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Gold Rush Girl by Suzanne Lilly

Gold Rush Girl by Suzanne Lilly
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Around this time of year I am always in the mood for stories about the pioneering adventures of the settlers in 19th century America and this story was just perfect to gratify that craving. It was light, with a bit of romance and adventure.
I kept changing the rating of this story from three to four stars and then back again to three stars until I was finally able to settle on four stars. The reason for my indecisiveness were some of the annoying personality traits of the protagonist. At times she came across as very naive, wavering in her determination, too dependent and intimidated by male characters. But it was pointed out to me that these were the desirable traits of a woman over 100 years ago. With that in mind, it became clear that this story does deserve a four-star rating. She was still hard working, clever and relatively optimistic, making for an interesting and multidimensional character worth reading about.
The plot moved along well in a steady pace and provided enough substance to maintain the reader's attention and interest.
The writing was generally well done with only a few slightly confusing parts throughout the story; however, generally speaking the narration had a nice and easy flow.
Overall, it was a lighthearted story perfect for reading before going to bed and I would recommend it to anyone looking for a story that has equal parts romance, adventure and historical fiction.

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In the Shadow of Blackbirds by Cat Winters

In the Shadow of Blackbirds by Cat Winters
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I was so impressed with the author's writing after reading The Cure for Dreaming that I could not wait until I got my hands on her first book, In the Shadow of Blackbirds and I was not disappointed.
The mood created was perfect. It was grey and full of gloom and hopelessness, yet the reader could not help cheering on the protagonist as the plot unfolded.
The introduction of the protagonist in the first few pages was one of the best introductions I have ever read. It established the foundation of growing interest that is based on a character that was well thought out and created without any inconsistencies in order to suit the plot. It can be quite difficult to create the character of a teenager/young woman that shows strength and a steady personality, without coming across as too unrealistic and even annoying.
The plot, or rather the growing mystery that kept unfolding and twisting with every chapter had me reading over 200 pages straight without looking up once. Every time I thought the mystery was about to be solved another piece of the puzzle fell into place that changed the greater picture of the story.
The writing was superbly executed. It flowed effortlessly and paints a clear picture of the story that is being told. I appreciated the details, historical facts and customs about the time period included, which brought this story so much more to life.
I truly wish I could discuss any part of the story, but I fear I might give one detail away that could spoil the true experience of it. I can only say that one does not only read this book, but live through it. The reader cannot help but feel with and for the protagonist and I would have read it in one sitting, if I had had the time. I recommend this book to anyone, who loves quality YA fiction, historical fiction, mystery and suspense.

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A Share in Death (Kincaid & James #1) by Deborah Crombie

A Share in Death by Deborah Crombie
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I was in a murder mystery mood and had a difficult time finding anything that really caught my interest. After much searching I found this book, hoping it would satisfy my craving for a good detective story.
Generally speaking, the story was entertaining enough. It was evident that this book was to act as an introduction to a long lasting series containing the same main characters, hence interest and intrigue of those characters was set up, without much resolution to the personal conflicts they experience.
The plot was straight forward and easy to follow; however, the writing proved to cause a bit of confusion when it came to descriptions of places and scenes that seemed important to the overall development of the plot and solving of the murder.
As already mentioned, the main characters were introduced and interest was established, but not much was given to really build up a connection with those characters as a reader. I also had to stop and check the publication year, since I kept wondering about the subtle and underlying comments about male and female social roles and their status within said society. It felt a bit old-fashioned and chauvinistic.
Overall, it was a good story, but not great. I am still undecided, if I will continue this series.


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Anne Perry's Christmas Crimes (Christmas Stories #9-10)

Anne Perry's Christmas Crimes: A Christmas Homecoming / A Christmas Garland by Anne Perry
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

In need to find Christmas stories that would actually get me into the Christmas mood I borrowed this book from my mother, hoping that it would be better than The Chimes by Charles Dickens (this would be the first time I admit that a classic is not as good as a contemporary story), which made me feel strangely odd. I began to read with mixed feelings.
I really wasn't quite sure what to expect. This book as a whole was over 400 pages long, containing two stories that could not be completely called "short" stories, yet while reading the first story, A Christmas Homecoming I couldn't shake the impression that the author wanted to make the story longer, include more depth for the characters, include more details and make the plot in general much more intriguing. Instead the reader was left with a good overall story and an intense desire to read more. Sometimes that is a good thing, but for this story it did not do it justice at all. Having said that, the story and the murder mystery part was compelling and intriguing enough to make for an entertaining reading experience.
The second story in this book was sadly too lost in the jargon of military politics to hold my interest for very long at a time. The element of the traditional Christmas story seemed forced. It did not hold my interest and I have to confess that I cannot even remember the outcome of this story. But again, the murder mystery part of the story was well enough executed to keep me reading. I found that the author's talent to write murder mysteries well exceeds her skill to write Christmas stories, which is not necessarily a bad thing.
Overall, it this collection of two rather longer "short stories" was entertaining enough and triggered my interest in the author's other works. I will definitely return this book to my mother for her to read during this year's Christmas season.

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