Sunday, May 12, 2013

starstruck

by Rachel Shukert — published March 12, 2013 — Delacorte Books for Young Readers

Every week they arrive in Los Angeles — beautiful and talented young hopefuls who dream of becoming stars. It's all Margaret Frobisher has ever wanted — and when she's discovered by a powerful agent, she can hardly believe her luck. She's more than ready to escape her snobby private school and conservative Pasadena family for a chance to light up the silver screen.
The competition is fierce at Olympus Studios and Margaret — now Margo — is chasing her Hollywood dreams alongside girls like Gabby Preston, who at 16 is already a grizzled show-bix veteran caught between the studio and the ravenous ambition of her ruthless mother, and sultry Amanda Farraday, who seems to have it all — ambition, glamour... and dirty secrets. Missing from the pack is Diana Chesterfield, the beautiful actress who mysteriously disappeared, and there are whispers that Diana's boyfriend — Margo's new co-star — may have had something to do with it. Margo quickly learns that fame comes with a price, and that nothing is what it seems.
Set in Old Hollywood, Starstruck follows the lives of three girls as they live, love, and claw their way to the top in a world where being a star is all that matters.

I was immediately pulled in to this book. I felt like I was in Margaret's world in the beginning, sitting in a soda shop yearning to know anything and everything she could about the world of Hollywood and who all the people were. The writing style was descriptive, but not so cumbersome that made it irritating to read. It was the perfect amount of imagery to get me a set up of the world, and then I still got to picture some of it the way I wanted.
The story also jumped every once in a while between narrators, switching between Margo, Amanda, and Gabby. Margo was definitely the main character, and there were only a few chapters headed up by the other two, but it wasn't abrupt the way the transitions happened. Again, Shukert did an excellent job of weaving everything together so the reader doesn't really notice those things.

But at the same time, I actually wanted there to be a little bit more from the side two girls. Their story lines seemed pretty important throughout the course of the book, but as Margo's started to wrap up, theirs just kind of dropped off and stopped. My questions weren't really answered, and I was frustrated because the plot was so interesting thus far, and I really began to like them as characters. I just wanted to know what would become of them since we didn't really get much of an ending. I also had questions about Margo's story (in particular that whole thing with Olive and why she was so interested and how Margo's pin got to her), but for the most part, I felt pretty satisfied with how everything wrapped up.

I really enjoyed this book. It was a quick read, but a good one at the same time. I was pleasantly surprised with how it turned out.

to be maria

to be maria by deanna proach — july 29, 2012 — pulse

Seventeen-year-old Anya Preschnikov wants to become a famous actress, but she's faced with two problems. Her father ignores her and doesn't have any money to support her. At school, she's bullied on a daily basis, yet she believes that she will gain her stepping stone to stardom if she's accepted by her peers. 
All of this changes when Maria Hernandez — an immigrant from Spain — comes to Peach Valley Senior High. Maria knows what it takes to fit in. She's assertive, confident, and she dresses suggestively — characteristics that all of the popular kids admire. Yet, she sees in Anya what no one else sees: beauty and talent. 
When Maria extends her hand of friendship, Anya is elated. Her rise to popularity is about to become a reality, but it ends at a house party when a boy's rude comment sends her into a rage.
Desperate to belong somewhere, Anya and Maria seek new friends outside of school. They meet Alex and Marissa, a young couple who eagerly welcomes them into their world of parties and drugs. Anya and Maria soon find out that Alex is a drug dealer, but they are so lured by his wealth, good looks, and aggressive confidence that they can't resist his friendship. They don't know that Alex's gang is at war with a rival gang — one that's run by Anya's older brother, Adrik — until one incident puts their lives in danger's path. To make matters worse, Alex won't let Anya and Maria out of his sight. The two teens are forced to make a decision that's a matter of life or death.

This book did not turn out how I expected. I was left feeling extremely disappointed and frustrated with pretty much everything about the story. As far as the general plot/storyline goes, I think it was trying to be too many things for one novel, especially the way in which the book was written. It kind of went back and forth from Maria's perspective to Anya's, but sometimes we saw inside their heads, which was weird. The narration switched a lot, and made the writing very inconsistent and hard to read. I just felt like I was reading an extremely rough first draft rather than a novel getting ready to be published. But back to the plot. The first half is a girl trying to fit in and be popular and get an acting scholarship, while semi-making friends with the cool kids in about a millisecond. She gets her books ripped up, and turns around and wants to be this girl's best friend all in about 10 pages. In the same day. It makes no sense.

But then the book shifts, and it's almost like all that other stuff that happened at the beginning is not even a part of the plot anymore, and now it's the whole drug dealer, teenagers in the party world sort of thing. And then there's the creepy adult who won't let them go. It was just entirely too many different stories to focus on at once, told from two different perspectives, and it just made everything more confusing. Either way, I wasn't into any of the story lines. The writing was too jumbled and thought-like that it was hard to distinguish between narration, speaking, and thinking.

There were also just a lot of little things throughout the writing that just made me feel very frustrated and mad. For example, on the first page, there was this whole big thing where Anya tries to pick out a shirt to wear, but she has this big speech in her head like, "I wish my clothes were pretty or cool, but my dad's a bum, and that sucks, but this random girl I've never talked to seems cool, everyone thinks my friend Patrick and I are dating, but we're not, something about my sister." No one has full sentences and conversations and replies in their head. It was very unbelievable and I wasn't pulled into the book like I should have been. Also, Maria is Spanish. So is her family. At one point, her mom uses the masculine noun to her daughter. ...... If there is another language in the book, it at least should be correct. Especially something easy like that.

And her family came all the way over for her dad's electrician job or something? Like there's no electricity in Spain? Please. And they wouldn't speak English at home. Especially if they had to use it all day.

Overall, I was disappointed with everything. It seems like some people like it, and I was excited, but felt sad and angry by the time I finished it.

Thursday, May 9, 2013

charm & strange

Andrew Winston Winters is at war with himself. He's part Win, the lonely teenager exiled to a remote Vermont boarding school in the wake of a family tragedy. The guy who shuts all his classmates out, no matter the cost.
He's part Drew, the angry young boy with violent impulses that control him. The boy who spent a fateful, long-ago summer with his brother and teenage cousins, only to endure a secret so monstrous it led three children to do the unthinkable.
Over the course of one night, while stuck at a party deep in the New England woods, Andrew battles both the pain of his past and the isolation of his present. Before the sun rises, he'll either surrender his sanity to the wild darkness inside his mind or make peace with the most elemental of truths — that choosing to live can mean so much more than not dying. 

This book was strange. And I don't mean that in a bad way. I enjoy when books don't give all the answers away right at the beginning. And this one definitely didn't. It alternated between flashbacks and the present, which was the party in the forest. It took me a while to catch on that Drew was who he was in his childhood, and Win was the version of himself now, at boarding school struggling with his past. I also liked that the main issue with his conflict wasn't really revealed until midway through. I kind of had suspicions, but it was never said outright, which made me involved and invested in this.

That being said, I still wanted more information. I feel like the author brought up some really interesting background story lines, and then just kind of left the reader hanging. I don't feel like conflicts were properly solved by the end, and I definitely had questions about his past, and what happened with the tennis match and his opponent. That was never really finished, and I wanted to know what was going on.

This was a very short book, and I went through it quickly. It was a pretty solid read, aside from the pieces of information I still wanted to be solved up. It's one of those books I wouldn't recommend right off the bat, but if mentioned, I would say you could give it a go.

the sweetest dark

Lora Jones has always known that she's different. On the outside, she appears to be an ordinary sixteen-year-old girl. Yet, Lora's been keeping a heartful of secrets: She hears songs that no one else can hear, dreams vividly of smoke and flight, and lives with a mysterious voice inside her that insists she's far more than what she seems. England, 1915. Raised in an orphanage in a rough corner of London, Lora quickly learns to hide her unique abilities and avoid attention. Then, much to her surprise, she is selected as the new charity student at Iverson, an elite boarding school on England's southern coast. Iverson's eerie, gothic castle is like nothing Lora has ever seen. And the two boys she meets there will open her eyes and forever change her destiny. Jesse is the school's groundskeeper — a beautiful boy who recognizes Lora for who and what she truly is. Armand is a darkly handsome and arrogant aristocrat who harbors a few closely guarded secrets of his own. Both hold the answers to her past. One is the key to her future. And both will aim to win her heart. As danger descends upon Iverson, Lora must harness the powers she's only just begun to understand, or else lose everything she dearly loves. 

I'll start with the things I liked. I loved the historical setting this story took place in. It was set during World War I, and it was clear the author did her research. Everything was accurate and detailed, adding to the believability of the story as a whole. Though this doesn't happen very often, I actually wanted there to be more of the historical stand point. As in, while all the students are hanging up at Iverson, Lora seems to be the only one actually concerned that their country is in the middle of a war. And all these kids' parents are the rich generals and guys that would actually be involved. I wanted more of the history stuff in there.

I also thought the premise was interesting. It's not one that pops up a lot, with all the supernatural business, this was my first encounter with the dragon thing. However, I did want more of an explanation of why things were the way they were. Lora heard this song when she was nearby Jesse and other things, but I wanted to know why that was, and where it came from, and what it meant. It wasn't bad the way it was explained, I just wanted more.

I also wanted more from some of the characters. Armand and her friend Sophia in particular. I suppose with the way the first one ended, Armand will be featured quite a bit in the second one, but I still wanted more of his backstory and more of his personality in it. It just felt like he was constantly brushed aside. Sophia was also a minor character, but she helped Lora get around and discover some secrets of Iverson, making her a semi-crucial character. I just wanted more of her because her character was so appealing to me.

I probably won't read the second one in this series. I'm fine with the way the first one ended. It was a good book, but I wasn't super emotionally invested in it or any of the characters, but still interesting and fun to read.

Wednesday, April 17, 2013

interview with Shana Abé: author of the sweetest dark

Happy hump day, readers!
Wednesdays are a struggle for everyone, so today, I had the chance to interview Shana Abé, author of The Sweetest Dark, and I'm sharing the conversation with you. Her answers are lovely, and I'm so thankful I had this opportunity to chat with her.

I just finished The Sweetest Dark a few days ago, and my favorite part was being able to relate everything I learned in my British Studies class (I took this when I studied abroad in England last spring) to this, and I absolutely loved the historical setting. (But more on that later in my review) I also had no idea she wrote another series, which I soon plan to check out somewhere, and I'm getting ready to start the second of this one. 


Onward!




1. What inspired you to write The Sweetest Dark, or where did your idea come from?

I had been writing about the drákon, my shapeshifters who can Turn from human to smoke to dragon, for a few years, and I’ve loved every moment of it. But I realized that even though I wasn’t ready to give up the drákon, my next heroine was going to be very different from any of the others. For starters, she sixteen. She’s sassy, clever, and alone in the world—or so she thinks.

Her name is Lora Jones, and she’s one of those characters who spoke to me so strongly and so beautifully that I knew I had to write down her tale.


2. The Sweetest Dark is not only a paranormal fiction, but it is also a historical fiction. What interests you about the time period, and why did you want to set your book in it?

I had this very clear vision of a scene: a young dragon battling an airship. I wanted it to be as historically accurate as possible, and airships as weapons were only deployed during World War I. (As the Hindenburg later demonstrated, flying around in giant balloons filled with flammable gas wasn’t the best idea, even in times of peace.)

I was already drawn to the Edwardian era, the fashion, the technology, the way the world was changing so rapidly. So having Lora be an Edwardian girl made perfect sense. She’s a natural part of all the elegance and wonder of that time, plus she has to deal with German airships!


3. What was your research process like?

I’m one of those people who actually enjoy doing research, so it was a lot of fun. I learned a great deal about the way people lived then...it really helped me to appreciate how good we have things now! There was a huge shift from the years right before the war to the war years themselves in terms of civilian lifestyle. Edwardians swung from this period of golden prosperity and leisurely refinement (for the upper class, at least) to one where food became strictly rationed, and brothers and boyfriends were sent off to die in trenches far away, and everyone worried about where to flee in case your town got bombed.

Yet people on both sides of the conflict thought the entire matter would be resolved in a matter of months—both the Germans and the English were certain they would win that quickly. Obviously things didn’t turn out like that at all.

Lora also endures a dramatic shift in her life, but in her case, the war was the catalyst to get her out of London (where she lived as an impoverished orphan) to the southern coast of England, where suddenly she’s a charity student at a very, very elite boarding school. And for the first time in her memory, she has enough food to eat, and clothes without holes, and a room of her own.

It’s a tremendously different world for her. But it all still had to be realistic for 1915, so she lives in a gothic castle that isn’t wired for electricity, and she wears long skirts and corsets every day. She’s never talked on a telephone or ridden in an automobile or even taken a train before. It was very interesting to put myself in her shoes and figure out all those things for her.


4. Which character did you most like to explore while working on the book? Who is your favorite, or who was your most interesting to write about?

I have to say that all three of the main characters are my favorites, and all for different reasons. Lora is awesome because she’s the most like me, I think. She’s narrating the entire tale, so everything she said and did had a real immediacy for me.

Jesse’s wonderful because he’s the patient, kind boyfriend I always wanted to have. He knows he’s fallen in love with someone who’s extraordinary in every way, and he relishes it.

Armand is great because he’s the dark horse of the story, and I love that. He’s the guy you want to dislike but you just can’t, because deep down he’s decent and caring, even though he tries to disguise it.

5. Do you listen to music while writing? If so, what's the most productive work music?

I usually work in silence, but sometimes I do listen to nature sounds, recordings of rainstorms or birdsong or things like that. I can’t listen to any sort of music with words, because that distracts me from the words I’m trying to write. And I can’t listen to any sort of music that becomes too familiar to me (even without words), because then I find myself anticipating what comes next in it, instead of focusing on my story.

I don’t know how anyone can study or work while listening to music they love. I would never get anything done!


6. What can you not get enough of right now?

Pasta. Seriously. Since Lora was starving as an orphan (that was historically accurate, too; poor children died of malnutrition all the time back then, even in a city as sophisticated as London), she really, really enjoys eating now. I gave her a superfast metabolism so she can handle it and stay skinny, but essentially she’s starving still. So each meal becomes this sort of symphony of hunger and pleasure for her, where she tries to eat as much as she can, as politely as she can, without having any of her teachers notice and make her stop. The food in the story had to sound luscious, and writing those scenes always made me hungry, LOL.


7. A little bit of advice to aspiring writers?

Never, never give up. Never listen to anyone who tells you that you aren’t good enough, or smart enough, or whatever enough, to succeed. Write because it makes you happy. Write because otherwise the stories in your head will drive you insane if you don’t get them out into the world. Write because writing is like breathing for you, like the blood pumping through your heart that keeps you alive. Just keep writing. :-)


Look out for my review of The Sweetest Dark, I'll have it up in the very near future! (i.e. most likely today at some point)

Monday, April 15, 2013

going vintage


by lindsey leavitt — published march 26, 2013 — bloomsbury

When Mallory’s boyfriend, Jeremy, cheats on her with an online girlfriend, Mallory decides the best way to de-Jeremy her life is to de-modernize things too. Inspired by a list of goals her grandmother made in1962, Mallory swears off technology and returns to a simpler time (when boyfriends couldn’t cheat with computer avatars). The List:

1. Run for pep club secretary
2. Host a fancy dinner party/soiree
3. Sew a dress for Homecoming
4. Find a steady
5. Do something dangerous

But simple proves to be crazy-complicated, and the details of the past begin to change Mallory’s present. Add in a too-busy grandmother, a sassy sister, and the cute pep-club president–who just happens to be her ex’s cousin–and soon Mallory begins to wonder if going vintage is going too far.

Everyone loves a book that they can fly through that is also well-written and adorable. This was one of those books. I loved it for several reasons:

The premise — this girl has been “cheated on” by her boyfriend with some internet cyber-whore, according to the main character. While I feel like she (may have) freaked out just a little bit too much without knowing all the details (later on, it’s fine to be mad, but she got mad really quickly without giving him any chance to explain what was going on). Nonetheless, I still loved the premise. Because then Mallory gives up technology altogether, and she decides to “go vintage.” I loved this. As many of my friends know (but you don’t I suppose, so let me tell you), I despise technology for the most part. Sure, I use things. But I VERY frequently do not take my phone with me places, prefer face-to-face conversation, and I very much hate when old things get destroyed to become more “modern.” All huzzahs for the vintage! She starts using a cord phone and bikes everywhere, which I love.

The characters — though I had several problems, I really enjoyed most people Mallory interacted with. Mallory herself was pretty cool — she made corny jokes (which are my favorite), had a good relationship with her family, and seemed relatively level-headed. I loved Oliver (I think that was his name – the pep club president), though I really wish he wasn’t the cousin of her ex. Though I understand this made for more of a conflict, but I still didn’t like it. I also liked how much I didn’t like Jeremy, her ex-boyfriend. He was whiney and complain-y and a perfect character to hate.

Though there were a few things (the whole grandmother plot line – too drastic and kind of random, didn’t really fit with the rest of the book) I didn’t like, I flew through this book and loved it’s adorable, quirky feel. Definitely a fun one, and a good book to start the (almost) summer with.

Monday, March 25, 2013

eleanor & park


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by rainbow rowell — published february 26, 2012 — st. martin's griffin

Two misfits, one extraordinary love. 
It's 1986 and two star-crossed teens are smart enough to know that first love almost never lasts, but brave and desperate enough to try. When Eleanor meets Park, you'll remember your own first love--and just how hard it pulled you under.

 A cross between the iconic '80s movie Sixteen Candles and the classic coming-of-age novel Looking for Alaska, Eleanor & Park is a brilliantly written young adult novel.

Park is a short, Asian, karate-practicing student, while Eleanor is an overweight, wild-red-haired, mens-tie-wearing-and-curtain-tassels-used-as-ponytails older sister of many kids. They meet on the bus one day when Eleanor, the new student, tries to find a place to sit, and Park begrudgingly slides over, not speaking, to let her sit down so she doesn't get yelled at by all the other kids. Their relationship begins with her reading his comic books over his shoulder, and one day, he lets her borrow one. It's about halfway through the book before they actually speak to one another.

Now, while I don't necessarily think they're star-crossed like the description says, I loved that they weren't typical ordinary protagonists. And they also weren't "quirky but still normal enough to be kind of cool." I mean, Eleanor was straight up WEIRD. As in, I found myself wondering why on Earth she would wear curtain tassels as hair ties (I mean, WHAT?). 

But I loved the challenges they were presented with. The fact that it was a struggle for Park to stand up to the people bullying Eleanor was real. It wouldn't just be an obvious thing, and he struggled with it, and I loved that about him. They both just seemed like realistic characters more than "star-crossed lovers."

I also admired Eleanor's character. She was uncomfortable with herself, uncomfortable with her size and struggled with letting Park touch her. She also had a lot of family issues going on, and she handled them realistically, as well as well, for someone of her age. She seemed to take on a mother role to all her siblings, taking care of them when she needed to.

My only super downside to this was that there didn't seem to be a definite plot line anywhere. There was sort of a climax, but I was definitely bored with the stasis of this novel, and the fact that nothing really happened other than the relationship between Park and Eleanor. I felt like the book never really built up to anything. So I would have liked a little bit more action, but it wasn't too bad.

While this definitely was not in the "Looking for Alaska" ranking like the description says, it was still a poignant and lovely book of two teens struggling to grow up as two individuals in a town that didn't really want them to be individual. 

Wednesday, March 20, 2013

gone south



by meg moseley — published may 7, 2013 — multnomah books


Having moved frequently within her native Michigan, Tish McComb is thrilled to move to Noble, Alabama, and buy a house built by her great-great-great-grandparents shortly after the Civil War. She hangs their ancient wedding portrait in the parlor where it once hung and dreams of finding a sense of home. But she soon learns her ancestors were carpetbaggers whose legendary misdeeds make the town hostile toward anyone named McComb. Tish isn't the only one who feels the sting of rejection, though. When an influential citizen disowns his prodigal daughter, Tish offers her the acceptance they've both been denied. But everything goes south when the wayward daughter doesn't straighten up. Tish can't decide if she should challenge her incorrigible houseguest by drawing a line in the sand, or write words in the sand and dare the prodigal's father to throw the first stone.

The thing that most surprised me about this book was how many levels and story lines there were. But they weren't difficult to follow. I really enjoyed learning about all the different characters. First, there's Tish, who moves to Noble. She takes in Mel, a young girl who is disowned from her family. She grew up in Noble, so she knows a lot about the town. Then there's Calv, the man Tish bought the house from, who feeds a dog named Daisy that always shows up on Tish's porch, who belongs to George, a guy who runs an antique shop with Calv. And George eventually hires Mel. Each character has his or her own backstory and plot line, but they also interact with one another superbly. George and Mel have such an interesting relationship, but Mel and Tish have such a different one. I truly feel like I got to know how each of their relationships with one another worked.

On top of the character interaction, the storyline crossovers and weaving worked so well. I was so impressed at how the stories drifted apart and then back together, all at once, and sporadically. Moseley expertly wove together all the layers to create a complex and compelling novel. I was never lost or confused about who was where during a particular scene or what was going on. 

There was also an air of mystery to it regarding the past McCombs. We don't really find out a lot about them until midway through the book, and even then, their history is still a little cloudy. But as the story gets deeper and Tish gets deeper into Noble, we slowly discover more. Secrets and facts were revealed precisely when they needed to be, and it was suspenseful, but not keeping us in the dark so much to be irritating. The perfect amount of intrigue.

I also loved Calv's character, even though he was kind of a side player. I feel like he was so human, quick to judge, changing his mind and perception, and always giving treats to Daisy. These characters were just so real.

I have to say, I had no idea this book would be so complex or interesting on first glance. But by chapter 5, I was hooked, and couldn't put it down.

pretty little liars


pretty-little-liars-girlsokay guys, here’s the deal.
i have an addiction. and it’s bad.

i love pretty little liars. i’m not even ashamed. there is so much about this television show to love that it’s difficult to explain exactly why i love it so much. allie is deliciously evil. spencer has gone off her rocker, but not really, but sort of, and i’m convinced she’s going to lose her mind even more next season. i can’t even explain how mad aria makes me, but i love her so much i don’t care.

so here’s my question:

the books? i’ve never read them, and recently, i’ve been thinking that i might want to. how are they? does the show follow the books? and are the books farther than the show? or has the show gone away from them? and most importantly, are they worth it? will they give me more insight to what’s going on?
let me know!

DON'T FORGET TO ENTER THE CONTEST TO WIN IF YOU FIND ME BY EMILY MURDOCH HERE BY MARCH 26.

Monday, March 4, 2013

the nightmare affair


Sixteen-year-old Dusty Everhart breaks into houses late at night, but not because she’s a criminal. No, she’s a Nightmare.
Literally.
Being the only Nightmare at Arkwell Academy, a boarding school for magickind, and living in the shadow of her mother’s infamy, is hard enough. But when Dusty sneaks into Eli Booker’s house, things get a whole lot more complicated. He’s hot, which means sitting on his chest and invading his dreams couldn’t get much more embarrassing. But it does. Eli is dreaming of a murder.
Then Eli’s dream comes true.
Now Dusty has to follow the clues—both within Eli’s dreams and out of them—to stop the killer before more people turn up dead. And before the killer learns what she’s up to and marks her as the next target.
first up is the cover — AWESOME. i love the silhouette illustration. so this book immediately got cool points with me. and on top of that, i was hooked from the first page - holy crap, so entertaining. i don't know if it was just me, but it was lines like this that i just found hilarious. yes, i know they were cheesy, but they were freaking funny.
"I approached the side of the bed. The occupant was lying on his stomach. Go figure. The subject — I refused to think of him as a victim — was almost always on his stomach. At least this guy didn't sleep in the buff, too. Not that the red boxers hid much. The sight of his naked back stunned me. It was so perfect.... He was by far the sexiest dream-subject I'd encountered and I fought off an urge to run away. Not that I preferred my subjects to be ugly or anything, but something in the middle would've been all right."
this was in first few pages, so i really got into arnett's writing style right away, and it has so much character. it kicked right off and I loved that. there were a few passages throughout the book, here and there, of annoying explaining, saying, "oh! this is how this works in my world." but i was okay with that. easy to move past.
the whole idea of a Nightmare was new to me, and i love the magic spin on something different than all the other things that are the same. and though i was able to guess the ending, the plot still kept me jumping around. i was involved enough that i finished this in about a day and a half. yes, that quickly. the characters developed quickly, but well. I also was very impressed with how the main character handled the deaths of people she knew — it wasn't too heroic or too girly, it seemed realistic to what someone actually might do.
another personal favorite line:
"if sarcasm were butter, you could've spread him over toast."
WHAT? who writes like that? exactly. this book was hilarious. i loved the relationship between Eli and Dusty, even though it seemed a bit cliche and ridiculous at times. i also really liked her feminist siren friend, selene, who wants people to stop objectifying sirens. this was just one of the many quirks that made the whole novel pretty great.
overall, i was pretty impressed with the whole thing. it's been a while since i've been so into a book i just had to finish it immediately, and this one did it. it was a nice little magic, murder mystery sort of thing. i loved the ending, and i'm definitely hoping we'll see more of this, maybe in a few more books, because this one, overall, felt very explainy. i feel like the world was too detailed and we were given too many explanations for just one book. this was something arnett planned out for a while and should continue to use it. because i loved it.

DON'T FORGET TO ENTER THE CONTEST TO WIN IF YOU FIND ME BY EMILY MURDOCH HERE BY MARCH 26.