Archive for Book Reviews

People of the Book – A Historical Account of a 15th Century Hebrew Text

{ October 13, 2010 @ 8:04 pm } · { Book Reviews }
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People of the Book: A Novel

Geraldine Brooks
Paperback, 400 pages
Penguin Group (USA) Incorporated
December 30, 2008

 

The Sarajevo Haggadah, a Hebrew prayer-book that miraculously survived centuries of warfare and uprisings, has surfaced once again and ancient text conservator Hanna Heath has been tasked with the job of restoring it before it goes on display at the National Museum.  Hanna is surprised and delighted when the honor could have gone to any number of experts in text conservation, namely her mentor Werner Heinrich who is considered to be the authority on Hebrew manuscripts.  But given the delicate political state of the area in the mid 1990’s, the Bosnian government had reservations about hiring a German, and Hanna  being a native Australian, fit perfectly.

 As soon as she steps onto the tarmac she’s whisked to the museum by a UN escort and gets to work on the haggadah.  This particular haggadah was made famous because of the beautiful illuminations that are unique to a text of this type because it was made at a time when traditional Jewish beliefs prohibited illustrations.  During her conservation work, Hanna discovers tiny clues amidst the pages and binding that could shed light not only of the history of the book itself but of the people who made and cared for it through the generations.

 What follows are the stories that explain these small treasures – an insect wing, a wine stain, salt, and a white hair – told by people of various religions, nationalities, and time periods that all played a part in the haggadah’s history.  These tales are interwoven with chapters of Hanna as she solicits the help of friends and colleagues to delve deeper into the mysteries of the book.  Along the way she’s distracted by a brief affair with Ozren Karaman, chief librarian of the museum – who risked his life to save the book – and his dying son, drama with her disapproving neurosurgeon mother (who dubs Hanna’s chosen profession as “Kindergarten work”), and the identity of the father she never knew.

 After wrapping up her research and concluding her report, Hanna returns to Sarajevo for the opening of the haggadah’s brand new exhibit only to discover to her horror that the vellum used for the book’s pages doesn’t match that of the one she studied.  She tries to convince Ozren that the book is a forgery and all her confidence is shattered when he doesn’t believe her.  Consumed with self-doubt about her life’s work, she swears off ancient texts and returns to Australia to study Aborigine cave paintings.  But was she really wrong about the haggadah or had it been found only to be lost again?

 People of the Book was an excellent read.  The artifacts that Hanna found brought the people involved with the book to life for me and illuminated the tragedies and struggles of so many years of religious persecution and conflict between Jews, Christians, and Muslims.  The historical aspect alone was wonderful, but I also enjoyed the 20th century chapters with Hanna, who is a great character.  I loved her personality, use of Aussie idioms, and how she bickered with her impossible mother. 

 The whole book was gripping and there weren’t any parts that I felt were slow or boring, even though I was introduced to a new character quite often.  Some of the scenes were so intense my heart was pounding as I read them (the torture scene in the salt chapter quickly comes to mind).  This was my first try at a Geraldine Brooks novel and I was definitely impressed enough to check out her other books.  If you’re interested in history you should give it a try!

Revolution: A YA Historical Fiction Novel

{ October 12, 2010 @ 12:10 pm } · { Book Reviews }
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 Revolution

Jennifer Donnelly
Hardcover, 496 pages
Random House Children’s Books
October 12, 2010
*Thanks to Random House for the ARC!

Andi and Alexandrine live worlds apart, but the miles and centuries that separate them do nothing to lessen the connection that Andi feels when she discovers Alex’s secret journal written in the final days of the French Revolution.  As the daughter of a Nobel prize-winning geneticist, Andi is used to a life of privilege, attending a highly prestigious prep school where her classmates are the children of the rich and powerful. 

But ever since the tragic death of her little brother, Truman, Andi has all but given up on life.  She’s tormented by guilt and plagued with suicidal thoughts that the high dosage of antidepressants she pops like candy can’t dispel.  Her only remaining passion is music, but even that doesn’t seem to help anymore.  When her quasi-estranged father gets a call from her school informing him that she’s dangerously close to failing out, he insists that Andi accompany him on a business trip to her mother’s native Paris during Christmas break so he can make sure she finishes the outline for her senior thesis. 

More depressed than ever after her mother is checked into a psychiatric hospital back home, Andi throws herself into her thesis research on 18th century French composer Amadé Malherbeau and makes a deal with her dad that if she finishes her outline to his satisfaction she can hop on the first flight back to the U.S. 

Her dad is just as engrossed in his work as she is in her research and though she sees little of him during the day, he fills her in on what he’s working on.  G, a historian and old friend of his, has enlisted him to do DNA tests on a human heart believed to belong to Louis-Charles, the child of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette who was walled up alive during the Revolution.   While staying at G’s house Andi stumbles upon a journal hidden in a secret compartment of an old guitar case, along with a small portrait of the very same doomed prince her father and G spoke of.

Andi is filled with a sense of dread the instant she opens the weathered pages, but something compels her to discover their secrets.  She soon finds herself drawn into a world where the guillotine never rests, the streets of Paris are awash with blood, and its citizens live in constant fear.  The author of the diary is Alexandrine, a street performer employed by the king and queen to keep their morose son happy and entertained.  Alex can’t believe her luck when she catches the queen’s eye by making Louis-Charles laugh and she soon finds herself living at Versailles, surrounded by wealth and luxury.  Planning to use the boy as a means to rise to fame and fortune on the stage, she devotes all her skills to making him adore her. 

But now the king and queen are dead and Louis-Charles is locked away in the tower, being held captive in horrible conditions and left to die, alone and afraid.  Alex grew to love the young prince while he was in her care and refuses to stand aside and do nothing while he suffers.  Knowing his love for fireworks, she risks life and limb on the rooftops of Paris, shooting off rockets that light up the sky so Louis-Charles knows that he’s not forgotten. 

Andi feels an overwhelming connection with Alex and naturally equates the young prince’s death with her brother’s.  As she delves deeper into Alex’s story, the line between reality and fantasy begins to blur and she soon learns that the past is a lot closer than she thought.

I love reading books with parallel stories and Revolution was no exception.  It was exciting and mysterious while highlighting this tragic period in human history, when so many lives were lost in the name of liberty, equality, and fraternity.  The historical aspect was fascinating and it really made me want to learn more about the French Revolution. 

I would have preferred more chapters devoted to Alex’s story in general.  As a character I found her much more engaging than Andi, who really irritated me at times.  I think she might appeal to a younger audience, since that’s who the book is directed toward in the first place.  It wasn’t just the teenage angst that got on my nerves (and I had to give her a break on that since she was mourning her brother after blaming herself for his death), but her personality and attitude as a whole.  She had a huge chip on her shoulder and there was an arrogance about her that rubbed me the wrong way.

But that was a minor blip in the grand scheme of things.  I loved all the connections and coincidences throughout the book, like how fate seemed to lead Andi to the diary (which was entwined in her father’s DNA case) or how she got to meet the subject of her thesis face to face and teach him the musical genius of Jimmy Page.  So many questions were left unanswered (Did Andi really see the dead like Alex?  Was her journey back in time real or a hallucination brought on by a drug overdose?), but in the end it didn’t really matter because ultimately the story was about learning to let go of grief and, despite all the cruelty and brutality in the world, finding a way to heal and get on with life.

Have you read Revolution?  What did you think?  I would love to get other French Revolution historical fiction recommendations!

Maybe This Time

{ September 15, 2010 @ 7:52 pm } · { Book Reviews }
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Maybe This Time

Jennifer Crusie
Hardcover, 352 pages
St. Martin’s Press
August 31, 2010

I won an ARC of Maybe This Time from St. Martin’s Press and I’m so glad because it’s not something that I would usually read and I loved it! 

Andie Miller is about to get married again.  But before she does there’s one thing she has to take care of first – return the ten years of alimony checks that she never cashed to her ex husband, North Archer.  But when she finds herself sitting across from him at his office at the family law firm, they’re both in for a big surprise when he makes an unusual proposal and she accepts. 

North recently became the legal guardian of two orphans who live in a monstrous, dilapidated 200 year old home brought over from England (complete with moat).  They’re all alone in the house except for the housekeeper, Mrs. Crumb, who’s been with the house for sixty years, and they refuse to come live with North in Columbus.  After going through a string of nannies, North asks Andie to take one month to care for the children, Alice and Carter.  Get their education up to speed so they can enroll in school, make sure they’re healthy physically and emotionally, and convince them to come to Columbus. 

When Andie arrives at Archer house, she soon finds out that there’s more going on here than kids with behavioral problems and fed up nannies.  Alice and Carter are terrified of leaving the house and Mrs. Crumb insists that the house is haunted.  Andie has her hands full trying to win the kids’ trust, reassuring her distraught fiancé, and dealing with feelings for North that seeing him again has stirred up.  Things really get interesting when the house is flooded with unexpected guests.  North’s brother Sullivan (who Andie calls Southie) arrives with his semi-girlfriend, TV reporter Kelly O’Keefe, who in turn brings a medium and a parapsychologist so she can investigate the haunting (though she has a hidden agenda).  North’s overbearing mother comes to stop Kelly, and Andie’s tarot-reading mother shows up because she couldn’t get her on the phone, and the pair resume their decade long feud.  To top it off, her fiancé also shows up uninvited to save their shaky relationship. 

A storm prevents Andie from kicking everyone out and chaos ensues as she tries to keep everyone in line amidst séances and tantrums.  The final visitor turns out to be North, and Andie couldn’t be more relieved to see him, thinking he’ll be able to help her restore order and finally get the kids away from the house (plus she hasn’t been able to stop thinking about him since she arrived).  But things are about to get a lot stranger, and the real danger hasn’t even begun.

Maybe This Time was such an engaging and fun book!  It’s all about second chances, learning from the past, and starting fresh –  not starting over.  Andie won me over immediately and North followed shortly after.  I was glued to the page whether for Andie and Alice’s daily Three O’Clock Bake ritual or murder and mayhem.  The cast of characters is kooky and entertaining – a fabulous mish-mash!  I didn’t want it to end but when it did I was left feeling perfectly satisfied and content.  What else can I say?  I loved it!

This was my first Jennifer Cruise book but I’ll definitely be checking out her other ones!

Stonehenge by Bernard Cornwell

{ September 11, 2010 @ 7:44 am } · { Book Reviews }
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Stonehenge: 2000 B.c.

Bernard Cornwell
Paperback, 448 pages
HarperCollins Publishers
December 01, 2004

I just finished Bernard Cornwell’s Stonehenge and I am impressed and amazed at this piece of work that is part epic historical fiction and part fantasy.  I say fantasy because though it takes place four thousand years ago in modern day Britain, there are zero modern geographical or temporal references.  All the deities, characters, settlements, and tribes are fictional and without the book’s title or cover art I could easily have thought the story took place in some other realm.

Stonehenge is about exactly what it sounds like, though it focuses more on the people responsible for the construction of the mammoth standing stones and the reasons they had to build it (as imagined by the author).  It’s a tale of sacrifice, ritual, murder, love, and the power of belief to achieve the impossible.  The story is narrated mostly by Saban and his brother Camaban, though the cast of characters span generations and tribes across the land.  Saban and Camaban are two of the three sons of the chief of Ratharryn.  The third, Lengar, brings an end to his people’s way of life when he happens upon an Outlander carrying gold lozenges from the settlement of Sarmennyn.  The priests declare the gold a gift from the sun god Slaol and refuse to return it to its rightful owners. 

Camaban, who starts out as a crippled outcast who narrowly escapes being sacrificed to the moon goddess Lahanna, comes under the tutelage of the sorceress Sanna in Cathallo, who heals his twisted foot.  The student soon becomes the master and he uses his newfound status as a powerful sorcerer to manipulate the leaders of all three tribes to do his bidding.  He convinces Lengar, now chief of Ratharryn, to return the gold lozenges to Sarmennyn if they give him one of their temples.  Camaban has a plan to banish winter and end all human toil and suffering by reuniting Slaol and Lahanna with the temple.  He enlists Saban to build the seemingly impossible temple of standing stones and arches. 

What follows is an account of the 20 years of backbreaking labor, uneasy truces, raids, and violence that ensues while Sarmennyn’s temple is dismantled and transported back to Ratharryn.  The blood and sweat of the laborers and the careful planning and execution of Camaban and Saban as they struggled to figure out a way to erect the immense stones in their new home that would bring an end to winter was beyond measure.  Camaban’s demands become increasingly unrealistic and as the years go by he begins a slow but steady descent into madness.  He becomes obsessed with the temple and will stop at nothing to see his vision realized. 

The size and scope of what would come to be known as Stonehenge was impressive in its own right, but learning about the lives and deaths of the ones responsible for its creation was even more satisfying.  My mind wandered during the pages dedicated entirely to the finer details of the mechanics of shaping and erecting the stones (I definitely don’t need to read about levers or sleds again any time soon), but everything else was enthralling. 

I loved Saban and Camaban throughout the book.  I agonized over the uncertain outcome upon the temple’s completion, mourned the loss of loved ones, and gloated over exacted revenge right along with them. 

This book was so different from anything else I’ve read lately and it was exciting, tragic, and captivating – a fascinating account of what might have been.  We’ll never really know who built the engineering marvel that stands today on Salisbury Plain or what its purpose was but I’d like to think that Cornwell’s version comes close to the truth.

The Uncrowned King by Rowena Cory Daniells

{ September 8, 2010 @ 7:22 pm } · { Book Reviews }
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The Uncrowned King

Rowena Cory Daniells
Paperback, 448 pages
Rebellion
July 27, 2010

* Thanks to Rowena Cory Daniells for sending me a review copy!

The Uncrowned King is the second book in the fantasy trilogy, The Chronicles of King Rolen’s Kin (click here for my post about the first book, The King’s Bastard).  There are so many things I want to say about the storyline but to ensure I don’t give too much away I’ll just give you the summary from the back cover:

Thirteen year old Piro watches powerless as her father’s enemies march on his castle.  A traitor whispers poison in the King’s ear, undermining his trust in her brother, Byren.

Determined to prove his loyalty, Byren races across the path of the advancing army, towards the Abbey.  Somehow, he must get there in time to convince the Abbott to send his warriors to defend the castle.

Meanwhile, the youngest of King Rolen’s sons, Fyn, has barely begun his training as an Abbey mystic, but he wakes in a cold sweat, haunted by dreams of betrayal…

After reading the first two books I am loving this trilogy.  Not only is the storytelling engaging, fun, and exciting, but the worldbuilding is spot on.  I love how I’m able to picture Rolencia and get a sense of its people and their beliefs and lifestyles.  The magical powers and abilities of those touched my Affinity continue to fascinate me as well, and one of the highlights for me was when Byren is accepted by an ulfr pack that adopts him as one of their own.  Love it!

The pacing is lightning fast as we follow Byren, Fyn, and Piro on their individual journeys to defy the king’s enemies and save their family.  Orrade isn’t in this book since he’s taken up his late father’s post as Lord Dovecote and is currently leading his people to safety, but Florin and Leif return and we’re introduced to a few new characters, my favorite being Lord Dunstany – the power worker who takes Piro as his slave after the fall of the castle. 

The helpless frustration I felt while reading The King’s Bastard stayed with me during this book (in a spine-tingling, good way).  The constant threat of betrayal, the uncertainty of who to trust, and the slurry of rumors and misinformation hiding the truth kept me on the edge of my seat with suspense and anxiety.  Piro and her brothers are all isolated, not knowing if the others are alive or dead, yet determined to push on. 

I’m so excited to see what happens next and how the power struggle will play out in the end.  I’m especially anticipating Piro’s role as a servant to King Merofyn’s daughter.  Looking forward to more intrigue and adventure in The Usurper!

The Lovely Bones By Alice Sebold

{ August 23, 2010 @ 8:17 pm } · { Book Reviews }
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The Lovely Bones

Alice Sebold
Paperback, 352 pages
Little Brown & Company
April 20, 2004

 

Susie Salmon (“like the fish”) was murdered at age 14 by a man in her neighborhood.  She left behind her parents, her brother and sister and the family dog, Holiday.  Before being lured to her death in an underground hideout hidden in a local cornfield, Susie had been a normal girl with a normal life.  She went to school, pined over her crush Ray Singh, and dreamt of being a wildlife photographer.  But all her hopes and dreams of a future she would never live to see were ripped from her by the man who’d carefully prepared for her rape and murder.  And she hadn’t been his first.

The Lovely Bones is a compilation of memories throughout Susie’s short life and the events that followed her death, centering around her family, Name, and an acquaintance from school named Ruth Connors, who sensed Susie’s terrified soul as it fled the earthly realm the night of her death.  Susie narrates the story from her heaven, a ever-changing place she calls the In Between, where she spends time with fellow departed souls whose heavens overlap with hers and watches the loved ones she left behind on Earth. 

She suffers as her family slowly falls apart in the aftermath of her disappearance, and when her case switches from missing person to homicide her mother eventually leaves for California to try to forget her dead daughter.  Susie watches as Ray and Ruth grow closer in their grief for her, and as her neighbors hold vigil in the cornfield on the anniversary of her death.  She sees her family struggle to pick up the pieces and carry on with life as the years go by and her siblings grow up.  She sees all this, and we see it with her, all while she is constantly reminded by others in her heaven that she must forget Earth.  But she doesn’t forget the ones she left behind, just as they never forget her.    

When I saw Peter Jackson’s film version of The Lovely Bones a few months ago I was absolutely blown away.  The cinematography was stunning and the emotion was so raw and tangible, by the end I was so overwhelmed I was speechless and in tears.  Beautiful, beautiful movie. 

So naturally I was really excited to read the book and I expected it to be even better than the movie (because books usually are).  Unfortunately, this turned out not to be the case.  I still loved the premise of the story, but I couldn’t connect with Susie and her family as much as I did with their movie counterparts.  And Susie’s memories in the book weren’t woven in as seamlessly.  They felt choppy and disjointed, interrupting the flow of the narrative.  Somehow the book just felt flat and dull when compared to the movie.  The emotional scenes weren’t as intense and even during the suspenseful parts my heart was calm and even, as opposed to when it felt like it was going to beat out of my chest during the movie (when Susie’s sister breaks into George Harvey’s house and finds his journal).

Overall it was a good read, and one that I don’t regret, but my experience while watching the film clearly influenced my perception of the book.  Maybe if I had read the book before seeing the movie I’d be writing just the opposite. 

What do you think?  Did you prefer the book or the movie?

Book Review: The King’s Bastard

{ July 25, 2010 @ 11:37 am } · { Book Reviews }
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The King’s Bastard

Mass Market Paperback, 448 pages
Rebellion
June 29, 2010

*Many thanks to Rowena Cory Daniells for sending me a review copy!

The King’s Bastard is the first book in the new fantasy series The Chronicles of King Rolen’s Kin, which focuses on the lives of several members of the royal house of Rolencia.  Byren Rolen Kingson and his twin brother Lence, the eldest sons of King Rolen and Queen Myrella, have always been close despite their good-natured sibling rivalry.  Being the younger twin, seven minutes stand between Byren and the throne, but he’s never had any interest in ruling the kingdom, preferring to leave the burden to Lence.  But after a strange run-in with a renegade seer, who prophesies that Byren will turn on his twin and claim the crown, and the sudden arrival of their cousin Illien of Cobalt – the bastard son of King Rolen’s brother – Byren senses a growing distance between them.  Illien manipulates, fabricates false evidence, and spins a web of lies, all designed to discredit Byren and gain the confidence of Lence and the king.

The story is also told by the younger royal children, Fyn and Piro, who are both god-touched with Affinity.  Fyn’s Affinity was discovered when he was six years old and, in accordance with his father’s law, he was sent away to Halcyon Abbey to learn to control it so he wouldn’t be susceptible to evil influence.  Piro’s lay dormant until she reached puberty and, sick at the thought of being sent away to serve the cold god Sylion, she swore to keep her Untamed Affinity a secret so she could stay with her family at Rolenhold.

It’s a crucial time in Rolencia, when the spar warlords renew their oaths of allegiance to the king and a new alliance will be forged with the neighboring kingdom of Merofynia with the betrothal of Lence and Isolt Merofyn Kingsdaughter.  But alliances are fragile and some would stop at nothing to gain control and rise to the top.  Byren is surrounded by treachery and deceit and the constant fear that the prophecy of the renegade seer will come to pass.

I absolutely loved reading this book.  It was thrilling and suspenseful with enough humor and emotion to draw me even more into the story and invest in the characters.  The world-building was fantastic and I appreciated that I wasn’t bombarded right off the bat by dozens of confusing place-names and ancient history, just enough to give me a sense of my surroundings and then get on with the story.  I was fascinated by the concept of Affinity, how it seeps up from the ground, attracting creatures like leogryfs and manticores, and dwells inside people granting them magical abilities and a glimpse of the Unseen world. 

Of all the characters, I connected most with Byren and Piro.  Byren is a born leader, strong and dedicated to his friends and family.  When his best friend Orrade is disinherited by his father for being a lover of men, Byren tries to cover for him even though it could mean losing the love of Orrie’s sister, Elina.  My frustration when he was wrongfully accused of being a Servant of Palos and plotting against his father was so tangible I could practically taste it.  I wanted to slap some sense into the king and throttle Illien.  Piro is a little firecracker.  She’s strong-willed and fiercely protective of her family.  She reminds me a little of Arya Stark from George R. R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire series.  In fact, the whole time I read this book I was reminded of that beloved series and I half-expected Jon Snow to charge around bend followed by his faithful direwolf. 

I’m always game for court intrigue and the battle for thrones so The King’s Bastard was a perfect match for me.  I can’t wait to see what happens in the next book!

ARC Review: Dracula In Love

{ July 16, 2010 @ 11:25 pm } · { Book Reviews }
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Dracula in Love: The Private Diary of Mina Harker

Karen Essex
Hardcover, 384 pages
Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group
August 10, 2010

 * I received a complimentary galley from the publisher.

If you’ve ever read Bram Stoker’s Dracula then you’re already familiar with the story of the Mina Murray, her husband Jonathan Harker, and the infamous Count that comes between them. But if you think you know the whole story, wait until you’ve heard it told through Mina’s lips. In Essex’s version, she sets the record straight and recounts what really happened, starting with her engagement to Jonathan and his subsequent business venture abroad.

As a teacher and former student at Miss Hadley’s School for Young Ladies of Accomplishment, Mina knows just how lucky she is in finding a caring and respectable man like Jonathan Harker.  When Jonathan is called away to Styria on business with a new client, she leaves the school to spend the remainder of her engagement in Whitby with her wealthy friend Lucy Westenra, newly engaged herself.  Though anxious to begin her new life as a married woman, Mina is deeply troubled by spells of sleepwalking and frightening, illicit dreams about a stranger that somehow feels familiar to her.  During one such spell, she wakes to find Lucy in the arms of her fiance’s friend, Morris Quince, and Lucy confesses that they’ve been having an affair and plan to marry. 

Mina tries to talk some sense into her friend and convince her that Quince doesn’t truly love her, but soon receives word that Jonathan is ill and must leave Lucy to travel to Styria and bring him home.  While she’s away Lucy is admitted to the asylum where Dr. John Seward, another friend of her fiance’s, treats the infirm and insane (mostly women who have been diagnosed as nymphomaniacs after exhibiting what we would consider to be normal sexual behavior today).  Too late, Mina finds out that her dear friend has died under the doctor’s care and after reading a pair of smuggled letters detailing the horrific ordeals she was forced to undergo, Mina vows to find out what really happened to her friend by volunteering her time at the asylum while Jonathan is treated by Dr. Seward and his colleague Dr. Von Helingser after contracting brain fever abroad.

But Mina soon finds herself in the same position as Lucy when her sanity is questioned and she becomes a patient in the asylum, subjected to imprisonment, drugs, and torture, all sanctioned by her now husband Jonathan who thinks it’s for her own benefit.  After almost dying from the “water cure” Mina is rescued by the mysterious stranger from her dreams, who brings her into a world of magic, blood, and immortality.

Like all things vampiric, I’ve been fascinated with the story of Dracula since I was little.  Before I even read the famous Stoker tale I was enthralled by Coppola’s film version and it was thrilling to get to hear Mina’s point of view.  It was a fresh and unique take, enchantingly dark and bewitching.  I loved the origin of the Count and the depiction of the vampires that seduced Jonathan as daughters of Lilith and Mina’s relationship with the Sidhe, ancient fairies from Irish folklore.  The references to the red-haired writer who kept nosing into the story made me smile. 

As much as I truly enjoyed reading this book, I have to say that I was wholeheartedly disappointed with the ending.  I don’t want to give too much away but I just couldn’t comprehend how Mina could make the choice that she did.  Granted it was a selfless and noble act, but after being manipulated and ill-treated by all the men in her life, especially those that should have cared for her and protected her, she baffled me in the end.  After finishing the book I was angry and upset the rest of the night  I couldn’t stop thinking about it, running the ending through my mind over and over to try to make some sense of it and come to peace with it, and for the life of me I couldn’t do it.  I guess that speaks to the power of the storytelling that I couldn’t get it out of my mind, but I almost felt cheated, robbed. 

Maybe it’s just me, and most people would agree with Mina’s choice.  I would love to know.  Overall, still a wonderfully dark story, and so much fun to revisit such a classic and cherished tale.  I still recommend it but if you’re left feeling unsatisfied at the end, my sincere apologies.

Angel Time, Returning to my Roots

{ July 2, 2010 @ 10:42 pm } · { Book Reviews }
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Angel Time: The Songs of the Seraphim

Anne Rice  
Hardcover, 288 pages
Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group
October 27, 2009

 

I’ve been a devoted Anne Rice fan since I first devoured The Vampire Lestat when I was in middle school.  Through her words I’ve walked the streets of New Orleans and Paris side by side with witches, ghosts, and vampires and loved every bloody minute of it.  Lestat is one of my all-time favorite characters and I practically had a relationship with him throughout my teens and early twenties. 

Since her reconciliation with the Catholic church I haven’t been quite as dedicated to Rice’s books.  After being bitterly disappointed by Christ the Lord, the first in her historical series about the life of Jesus, I wondered if maybe my obsession was a thing of the past.  I decided to give Angel Time a try, hoping that my luke warm feelings for Christ the Lord was just a fluke. 

Angel Time tells the story of Toby O’Dare through the guise of an autobiography, in which he chronicles the extraordinary events that changed his life after being visited by an angel.  If you ran into Toby on the street you probably wouldn’t look twice at him.  You might notice a lisp as he mumbles an apology or see a slight limp when he walks away, but you wouldn’t know you’d just brushed elbows with death.

Toby might appear unremarkable, but he’s actually the notorious contract killer known as Lucky the Fox.  That he’s lethal goes without saying.  But he’s also efficient, meticulous, and absolutely without scruples.  After his alcoholic mother drowned his younger siblings and took her own life when he was a teenager, Toby fled to New York where he  befriended a restaurateur who took him under his wing and gave him a job and a place to stay. 

When it looked like he might lose the only person left in his life that he cared about, Toby took matters into his own hands and went on a carefully planned killing spree, eliminating the entire faction of mobsters that were threatening his business and his life.  For the next ten years he honed his craft, working only for the one he called “The Right Man” who insisted that Toby – now Lucky – was working for the good guys. 

While the body of his latest unfortunate victim is still warm, an angel named Malchiah appears before Toby and claims that God has forgiven all his sins and now has a plan for him.  Toby will travel through “Angel Time”, where Malchiah exists, to different places in “Natural Time” where he will use his talents for the good of mankind. 

Malchiah transports Lucky to 13th century Norwich, England disguised as a Dominican friar where he will be charged with the task of saving a Jewish couple, who have been falsely accused of killing their daughter, from a violent end at the hands of the angry Christian mob.  Armed only with his natural ability to blend in, his quick intellect, and sharp wit, Br. Toby must use every ounce of his inner strength to prevent the impending bloodshed.

It’s a story of sin, forgiveness, and ultimately the struggle for redemption.  Was it one of my favorite Anne Rice novels?  No, definitely not.  Did Toby thrill me as much as Lestat, Marius, or Lasher?  Not even close.  But I did find myself engrossed in the story and despite feeling uncomfortable during certain parts that started to feel preachy, I found myself wanting to go on and keep turning the pages.  The story of Fluria and Meir was engaging and I loved how it turned into a historical novel halfway through. 

One thing I had a problem with was the length.  It felt more like a short story than a novel and in order to really get invested I needed to spend some more time with Toby while he was growing up, working for The Right Man, and questing with Malchiah.  It seemed like I only got the Cliff’s Notes version of each of these three stages in his life.  So the transitions between them happened really fast and I doubted the sincerity of Toby’s reactions.  Would he really have believed so easily that Malchiah was an angel sent down from heaven?  Would his faith return so quickly after all the horrible things he’d witnessed in his life? 

But overall it was a good read and I did enjoy returning to such a beloved author.  I also loved the way the story ended.  Even though I would have preferred to stay with Toby on his next quest, I thought the last page was perfect.  I’m looking forward to continuing Toby’s story in the sequel, Of Love and Evil, which comes out on November 30.

 Have you read this book?  What did you think of it?

ARC Review: Infinite Days

{ June 28, 2010 @ 9:54 pm } · { Book Reviews }
{ Tags: , , , , , , , } · { Comments (4) }

Infinite Days

Rebecca Maizel  
Paperback, 336 pages
St. Martin’s Press
August 03, 2010

 

I was lucky enough to win an ARC of Rebecca Maizel’s debut novel Infinite Days, the first in her Vampire Queen series, from St. Martin’s Press and once I started reading it was difficult to put down.  It tells the story of Lenah Beaudonte, a 500-year-old vampire with an insatiable appetite for death and destruction.  She’s ruthless, uncontrollably violent, and lacking any sense of compassion or humanity.  She’s the queen of the coven she’s created to provide her with eternal protection and companionship and her rules are followed without question. 

But even though she’s surrounded by opulence and every luxury that money can buy, her only desire is to become human again, to escape the constant pain and misery from which only blood can provide temporary relief.  Her maker, Rhode, learns of a ritual that will give Lenah her wish but only at the cost of his life.  When it’s done, Lenah has awoken to a new life where she can truly live as she’d been meant to in the 15th century before Rhode set his sights on her and turned her into a monster.

Her new life is that of a sixteen year old student attending a prestigious boarding school on the East coast of the United States.  Though at first she has some trouble adjusting to her new, mortal state, she soon gains the friendship of an art student named Tony who helps her adjust to life in the 21st century.  With her soul back, she no longer finds comfort in violent thoughts and begins to at last find peace and happiness in her new home.  Things start to get complicated when Lenah catches the eye of the popular and gorgeous Justin Enos, whose girlfriend Tracy won’t give up without a fight.  Still mourning the loss of Rhode, Lenah is hesitant at first but finds that she is inexplicably drawn to Justin despite the problems their relationship could cause. 

But her social life is the least of her problems and Lenah knows that soon her coven, expecting her to rise from her one hundred year hibernation on Halloween night, will begin to search for her.  The magic that binds them together will ensure that they will stop at nothing to find her and bring her back to their home in England.  But unbeknownst to them, their queen is human again and Lenah fears for her mortal life and the lives of those she’s come to love at her school.  She knows what her beloved coven will do to them once they’re found, because only a short while ago she would have done the same things herself and taken great pleasure in it.

Infinite Days is a thrilling, touching, and enthralling book, and quite unique in its take on vampires (just when you thought the subject had been exhausted, right?).  Maizel’s vampires are animated by the oldest of black magics.  Immortality and great power are small and insignificant benefits compared to the endless suffering and pain they experience night after night.  Bringing death and destruction to others is the only short relief they can find.  And though their senses are heightened, they cannot truly feel anything they touch except for the smallest hint of texture or temperature.  All they can smell is blood, heat, and fear.  They are numb to everything else and can’t even experience the release of weeping.  Small wonder they’re evil by nature. 

Another unique component to the story that I was fascinated by was Lenah’s love of herbs and flowers and their various magical properties and uses.  There’s a scene that I loved that takes place in the greenhouse on campus where she’s explaining some of these properties to Justin.  When she comes to a particular edible flower he leans in and opens his mouth so she can place it on his tongue for him to swallow.  Fabulous.

For someone who’s relatively new to the YA genre (and can’t take too much of it at once), I was relieved to find a welcome respite from all the teenage schoolyard drama during all the chapters from Lenah’s vampire past that are woven into the story.  We get to learn a little about the men that she chose to join her in the ranks of the undead and serve her in the coven, and it leads nicely into her search for redemption after centuries of causing pain and bringing death to countless innocents.  Plus it was nice to have a main character who’s a vampire for a change (are there really no more Lestats out there?  Say it isn’t so…).

I was very excited to read this book and I loved each and every page.  I was very attached to the characters and actually a little torn about how I wanted everything to turn out in the end.  I highly recommend it to fans of vampire fiction (especially of the YA variety) and I’ll be waiting impatiently for the next Vampire Queen book.

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