Stealing Heaven - Elizabeth Scott

Dani has been trained as a thief by the best - her mother. Together, they move from town to town, targeting wealthy homes and making a living by stealing antique silver. They never stay in one place long enough to make real connections, real friends - a real life. In the beach town of Heaven, though, everything changes. For the first time, Dani starts to feel at home. She's making friends and has even met a guy. But these people can never know the real Dani - because of who she is. When it turns out that her new friend lives in the house they've targeted for their next job and the cute guy is a cop, Dani must question where her loyalties lie: with the life she's always known - or the one she's always wanted.

I'd been reading good things about Elizabeth Scott for a while, but Stealing Heaven is the first Scott book I've read, and I've definitely been missing out. I wasn't initially too excited about reading about about thievery, but then I remembered how much I loved (and still love) The Thief Lord by Cornelia Funke, and reminded myself not to have preconceptions about books on a certain topic.

In Stealing Heaven, Scott does a masterful job of making the reader empathize with not only the main characters, but the secondary ones as well - even those who are not necessarily bundles of love, joy and morality. I often felt pity for Danielle's mother, who is seemingly incapable of happily leading any life but one of lies and crime, and who distances herself from anyone she might come close to truly caring for. Danielle, on the other hand, wants nothing more than to lead the "normal" life her mother abhors - to get a chance to have friends, or even to really know someone besides her mother. In my opinion, the best books are populated by people one could meet on the street, and this is definitely the case with Stealing Heaven. While the plot in the book is also interesting, well thought-out, and occasionally suspenseful, the characters are definitely the most important element.

There is also a romantic interest in Stealing Heaven, as one could guess from the above synopsis, and I suppose some might classify the book as a romance novel. However, I don't see it that way - there are strong romantic elements in the book, but they weren't what dominated my reading of the story. Rather, the struggles and hopes of the characters, not to mention the characters themselves, drove the novel forward and kept me reading attentively to the end. I would wholeheartedly recommend Stealing Heaven.

Witch Hill - Marcus Sedgwick

The fire in his house was a family tragedy that Jamie can't forget. Fire dominates his waking thoughts and his dreams. When his family sends him away to Crownhill to recover, they don't realize they are sending him to a village with its own dark history of witchcraft - and with ancient buried powers that are unleashed by Jamie's presence. A present-day boy, a seventeenth-century girl, and an ancient crone: for a single moment, their lives are fused by fire.

This was one of those books that I picked up randomly at the library. I had heard of Marcus Sedgwick, but hadn't read any of his work, so I figured that the 147 pages of Witch Hill would be a good place to start. After re-reading Ethan Frome this afternoon in preparation for an AP English test, I thought Witch Hill would be a refreshing read.

This book is definitely a quick read - it took me about an hour to read it straight through. Sedgwick's prose is fast-paced, but not rushed, and Jamie's first-person narration kept me interested throughout the book. One thing that bothered me, though, is how long it took me to figure out how old Jamie was. At first, I thought he was around twelve or thirteen, but it became clear later on that he was around sixteen. To me, it seems like it should be more obvious how old a character is unless there is some purpose for obfuscating their age, and in this case, there was no such purpose as far as I could tell. On the whole, though, I greatly enjoyed Witch Hill, and I will look forward to reading The Restless Dead, the only other Sedgwick book my library owns.

The Passion - L.J. Smith

Back at the lab, captured like animals, Kaitlyn and her friends must face the true meaning of what the link means, and what their lineage is.  They also have the fight of their lives on their hands, as Dr. Xetes does his best to do them in.  But the real question for Kaitlyn is: Rob or Gabriel?  Sunlight or darkness?  Kait has to search her heart for the answer.

When I sat down to write this review, I realized how little I have to say about the book that I didn't already say in my reviews of The Strange Power and The Possessed. The plot is exciting but not particularly original, the characters are interesting and do develop to a reasonable extent, and the romance is rather (in my opinion, of course) trite. Just reading the above blurb, which I got from the author's website, kind of wants to make me throw up in my mouth. Fortunately, the actual book does not focus as much on romance as the blurb indicates - if it did, I don't think I would enjoy these books at all. As it is, I enjoyed the books, but I seriously doubt that I will ever re-read them, and while I'd recommend them to fans of paranormal romance or Twilight, I wouldn't strongly recommend them to anyone else. If they sound like you'd enjoy them, you probably would; otherwise, stay away.

The Possessed - L.J. Smith

Kaitlyn and her buddies are on the run. Having learned the dark secrets of the psychic institute they head north, looking for shelter, not daring to even contact their parents or old friends. They're on their own in a race for time, when Kaitlyn discovers Gabriel's dark secret: he's a psychic vampire. He needs to drain other people's life-force to live, and he hasn't been doing it. What to do? Kait volunteers - and finds the experience not entirely unenjoyable.


After reading The Strange Power, the first book in the Dark Visions series, I was left with expectations that The Possessed be just as exciting as the first - and it was. Unfortunately, the romance is more played up in this book than in the first, which I decidedly do not prefer. However, the paranormal adventure part of the book was still more important and well done, so I'm sticking with the series. Again, this is definitely a light read, but it held my attention for the short time it took me to finish. Sorry for the short review, but I really don't have anything else to say about this one!

The Strange Power - L.J. Smith

Kaitlyn is an artist, but not an ordinary one. She draws pictures of things that are going to happen in the future. Everything she draws comes true - but sometimes she can't figure out what she's drawn until it's too late. Kait is only too happy when Dr. Zetes, a scientist who is studying psychic abilities, invites her to come to California and join his school of similarly talented individuals. There Kaitlyn meets golden boy Rob, a healer, and the dark lone wolf Gabriel who apparently wants nothing to do with her. But with so much supernatural energy going around, it's hardly surprising that the psychics develop a telepathic link that can't be broken.

 I was given the Dark Visions series - The Strange Power, The Possessed, and The Passion - last year, but I hadn't read them yet. In part, this was because the cover of my collective edition looked like it was meant to appeal to Twilight fans, and I'm definitely not a Twilight fan. I've been trying to go through some books that have been sitting around for a while, though, so I picked it up.

Though The Strange Power was written in 1994, I would never have guessed had I not checked the front of the book. After all, it shares the traits of the most widely marketed teen fiction today. Paranormal? Check. Romance? Check. Not only that, the romance side of the story is very similarly constructed to that of Twilight. Dark, brooding, mysterious boy? Check. Warm, kind, (sort of) innocent boy? Check. Fortunately, Kaitlyn is not nearly as sappy and weak-willed as I found Bella to be. Also fortunately, romance is not - at least, not so far - the main element of the book. For the moment, the paranormal fantasy element is stronger than the romance, and I'm really (really) hoping it stays that way throughout the trilogy.

All that said, The Strange Power kept me reading. I wanted to know what happened next, and I wanted to find out more about the characters. The premise was interesting, and the plot developed in an interesting, though not always unexpected, way. Without this, I doubt the book would have held my attention. As it is, though, I would recommend The Strange Power particularly to fans of the paranormal romance genre, and I am eager to see what the next two books have in store.

The Adoration of Jenna Fox - Mary E. Pearson

Jenna Fox has just woken up from a year-long coma. She does not remember anything about her personal life - her parents (assuming that they are her parents, because she can't remember them) tell her what her name is, tell her that she was in a terrible accident, and they give her videos of her life to watch, but she doesn't remember being the little girl on the screen. Slowly, bits and pieces of Jenna's memory begin to come back. But along with those memories, Jenna has questions about what really happened to her, and no one wants to give her answers. 

I found the beginning of The Adoration of Jenna Fox somewhat confusing, but that was because Jenna is also very confused about what's going on and, for that matter, who she really is. And, aside from anything else, the book is very gripping. I read it in two hours straight, and had no desire to pause at any point during the book. The Adoration of Jenna Fox was almost like a suspense novel in that it had twist after turn throughout most of the book, but it didn't feel rushed or too fast-paced to me.

I was very pleasantly surprised with The Adoration of Jenna Fox - it was one of those books that I chose in the library because it had a pretty cover and looked halfway interesting, but I'm extremely glad I picked it up, and I look forward to reading more of Pearson's writing.

Mockingjay - Suzanne Collins

Mockingjay is the final book in the Hunger Games trilogy, the first two books of which were The Hunger Games and Catching Fire. Unlike most of my reviews, this one is going to have spoilers, because I just don't know how to write about Mockingjay without writing about important plot events. However, I will only write spoilers for The Hunger Games and Catching Fire. So if you've read the first two but not Mockingjay, you'll be fine. If not, you've been warned.

At the end of Catching Fire, Katniss has managed to make it out of two successive Hunger Games alive. Despite this, she's still not safe, as the Capitol wants revenge - and full control of the districts, most of which have truly begun to revolt. President Snow blames this on Katniss, and she is driven along a path not entirely of her own making as she tries to protect not just herself, but everyone she loves.

There is a LOT of death in this book. I know some people found this discouraging and hated the book because of it. However, this was not the case with me. While Mockingjay was certainly not a cheery novel, I liked it better for its accurate depiction of war and the consequences of war. The characters in the series are not black or white, good or bad - they are all shades of gray, and that is even more true in Mockingjay. There were times when I absolutely hated Katniss and some of the other characters for the choices they made, but I did not empathize with them any more or less. The characters in the Hunger Games series are portrayed as humans, just like you or I, and the circumstances they are put in are believable in the context of human nature. This is my favorite thing about Collins's writing, and yet it is what made the books so painful at times. Mockingjay is a brilliant book, but it is not escape fiction by any means. Read it, by all means, but don't expect it to cheer you up.

The Cardturner - Louis Sachar

In The Cardturner, Alton Richards is forced by his mother to be his old, sick, blind, and rich Great-Uncle Lester Trapp's cardturner at the local bridge club. Mr. Richards just lost his job, and Mrs. Richards is hoping that Alton can worm his way into the uncle's good graces, securing a spot in the will. Alton very reluctantly agrees, though bridge is the farthest thing from his idea of a good time, and is thus drawn into the world of bridge. He begins to follow the game and enjoy going, eventually meeting and becoming friends with Toni Castaneda, who has been classified as "crazy" by Alton's parents.

Prior to finding The Cardturner on the "new books" shelf at my local library, I had read Sachar's Sideways Stories from Wayside School, Holes, and Small Steps. I loved the first two, but didn't like Small Steps that much, so I wasn't sure what to expect from The Cardturner, especially as I had no experience in reading YA bridge novels (understandably, as I'm pretty sure there's only one). Much to my surprise, I enjoyed The Cardturner very nearly as much as I liked Holes - in other words, a lot. All the characters are great, though the Richards parents are not all that likeable, and Trapp (or "Uncle Lester," as Alton's parents would like him to be called) was my absolute favorite. As Sachar pointed out in a preface, it would be difficult to write a book about bridge without writing about the mechanics of the game, and The Cardturner does contain quite a bit of technical bridge-talk. However, these sections are kindly prefaced with a small picture of a whale, in reference to Moby Dick, and a short summary follows the lengthier description. While I didn't really understand a lot of the technical stuff, I did read and enjoy the sections - I just didn't always quite follow them.

If someone had told me a week ago that I would be reading a book about bridge by Louis Sachar, I would by no means have believed them. However, here I am, writing this review of The Cardturner, a book about bridge which I absolutely loved. If there is one thing I didn't like about the book, it was that I couldn't always understand what was going on bridge-wise, but I still enjoyed reading those sections. Overall, I highly enjoyed The Cardturner, and I would recommend it.

My Name is Memory - Ann Brashares

My Name is Memory is the most recently published of Ann Brashares' books. It is about Lucy Broward, a perfectly normal teenager who is about to graduate high school, and Daniel Grey, a mysterious boy who Lucy has been admiring from afar. On the night of the last school dance, Daniel and Lucy come together by chance, and Daniel tells Lucy that everyone has past lives, and that he is unique in that he remembers his. According to Daniel, he has been falling in love with Lucy (whom he calls Sophia, a name he once knew her by) for hundreds of years. As might be expected, Lucy is alarmed, frightened and disbelieving, and runs away. Daniel does not contact her again, but over the next several years, though, she begins to realize that things are not as they seem and that Daniel was indeed right.

I vaguely remember reading The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants and its successors somewhere around eighth grade; however, I don't remember much except that I enjoyed them and that Bridget was the soccer player (I think). Probably at least partly because of this, I was quite surprised to enjoy My Name is Memory as much as I did. The fact that I read the book in one sitting gives testimony to how captivating and well-paced it is, and I found the relationship Lucy and Daniel is very compellingly written. I love the dynamic between Daniel and Lucy, as well as her previous incarnations, when he knows who she is and she doesn't know who he is - the nearest comparison I can make is seeing a high school sweetheart twenty years later and them not recognizing you, but that really is a pitiful comparison. It almost seems like My Name is Memory could have a few sequels as well, but it's not slated to as far as I know. Maybe that's just my wishful thinking; I would love to see more of Ben, the mysterious, memory-gifted (that's what I'm calling it) person who has lived many, many times and seems to know a lot more than he's telling.

Anyway, I'm getting off the point: I very much enjoyed My Name is Memory, and I will definitely look forward to reading (and perhaps re-reading) more of Ann Brashares' bookes in the future.

13 Little Blue Envelopes - Maureen Johnson

13 Little Blue Envelopes is about a teenage girl, Ginny, who receives a package from her Aunt Peg several months after Peg's death. The package contains thirteen numbered blue envelopes with the instructions that Ginny must open each envelope one by one and in numerical order, and that she cannot open the next envelope until she has completed the "mission" set forth in the envelope before it. The envelopes take Ginny to London, Scotland, Amsterdam, and Greece, among other places, and the things Ginny experiences and the people she meets change her forever.

13 Little Blue Envelopes was the first Maureen Johnson book I ever read; I found it at my local library and fell in love. Though I have now read several of Johnson's other books, 13 Little Blue Envelopes remains my favorite. This is probably partly because it prominently features travel - I love traveling, fiction about traveling, nonfiction about traveling, movies about traveling...the list goes on (and on). Aside from that, though, I enjoy 13 Little Blue Envelopes because it is funny, well-paced, has great characters, and I identify with Ginny in several ways. I always enjoy seeing her grow, have fun, get frustrated, get conned, and gain friends throughout the story, and I highly recommend the book.

The Necromancer - Michael Scott

The Necromancer is the fourth book in The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel series, the first three being The Alchemyst, The Magician, and The Sorceress. The series is about twins Josh and Sophie Newman, two ordinary teens whose lives are changed irrevocably when they discover that Sophie's employers are actually immortals Nicholas and Perenelle Flamel, and that Sophie and Josh may be the twins of legend, destined to be extraordinarily powerful for good or evil.

I've greatly enjoyed this series so far, and The Necromancer is no exception. The series is steeped in the mythology of many different cultures, which I absolutely love - characters in the series include the Torc Madra, Prometheus, Isis and Osiris, and Quetzalcoatl, just to name a few. The books are also very fast-paced, and are quick reads despite their length. And while I've found some series to get more tepid as the series progresses, that is not the case with these books - I enjoyed The Necromancer every bit as much as The Alchemyst, if not more.

I have found each of these books very difficult to put down, and I always have difficulty waiting for the next to come out. For fans of fantasy, mythology, and/or young adult literature, this series, including The Necromancer, is a must-read.

Big Mouth and Ugly Girl - Joyce Carol Oates

I first heard of this book when...um, someone (EDIT: Clover of Fluttering Butterflies)...posted a favorable review of it on their blog. I can't remember who it was; if it was you or you know who it was, please comment so I can put a link in this post. Anyway, my mom is also a big Joyce Carol Oates fan, and since my local library had the book, I thought I'd pick it up.

Big Mouth and Ugly Girl is about Matt, a popular class clown, and Ursula, a tall, awkward girl who is the antisocial star of the school's basketball team. They are barely acquaintances, but when Matt is suddenly accused of threatening to blow up the high school, Ursula steps up as the only witness willing to defend Matt and insist that he made no such threat. As the book goes on, Ursula and Matt band together, forming an unlikely pair.

I had never read anything by Joyce Carol Oates prior to this book, but I will definitely be heading back to the library to pick up some more of her books. Big Mouth and Ugly Girl is a character-driven book, which I generally enjoy, but it also has an entertaining plot that never gets stagnant or boring. Ursula and Matt are out-of-the-ordinary characters, but not strange in a way that makes them seem implausible, and I related in some way to them both. I would certainly recommend Big Mouth and Ugly Girl for fans of Joyce Carol Oates and/or young adult literature.

Leviathan - Scott Westerfeld

I waited so long to read this book. I'm a big Scott Westerfeld fan, but I didn't want to pay full price for the hardback and my library didn't have a copy until one day, lo and behold, there it was on the 14-day book shelf! Of course, I took it home and started reading immediately.

Leviathan is a young adult steampunk novel - that is, a book that blends historical fiction and sci-fi/fantasy, often recounting a different, more technologically advanced version of historical events. In Leviathan, World War I is just beginning, and Europe is preparing for war. The Austro-Hungarians and their German allies have Clankers in their arsenal, mechanical war machines equipped with giant guns. On the opposing side, British Darwinists fight using fabricated animals.

The book follows Alek, the Austro-Hungarian prince, and Deryn, a girl disguised as a boy in the British Air Service. When Alek and Deryn cross paths in the mountains of Sweden, they must learn - along with their fellow countrymen - to work with the enemy in order to survive.

While I have greatly enjoyed all Westerfeld's other novels, I wasn't sure what I would think of Leviathan. I'd never read anything from the steampunk genre before (in fact, I didn't actually know what steampunk was until I looked it up), and while the idea appealed to me as a fan of both historical fiction and sci-fi/fantasy, I wasn't sure if my hopes would be fulfilled. After reading this book, I certainly can't speak for steampunk as a whole, but I can and will definitely recommend Leviathan. The story and characters are captivating, Keith Thompson's illustrations are gorgeous, and the suspense was enough to keep me whizzing straight through the book. In fact, I may end up buying a hardback copy of Leviathan just for the endpaper illustrations, which will not be present in the paperback edition. I know that Leviathan is the first in a series, but I'm not certain when Leviathan's sequel is supposed to be released, or even if there is a date set at all. In any case, I will definitely be eagerly anticipating the rest of the series.