The Vespertine by Saundra Mitchell

I’ve been sitting here for a little while now trying to pull my thoughts together regarding Saundra Mitchell’s “The Vespertine”. I just have some very mixed feelings (mostly good though) and I’m trying to put it all together. Well, okay, that and I am totally distracted by Facebook/Twitter and was futzing around on there for awhile too.

Let’s try something a little new – a review in list format! I know, not terribly creative, but eh. I’m still finding my footing here in regards to long form reviews (come on, my name on Goodreads.com is “shortandsweet” for a REASON. That’s how I was reviewing over there). Give a newbie a break, okay?

Things I liked:

• Time Period – Despite being a big fan of historical literature, I tend to gravitate towards 1820s and earlier. I haven’t read much in the Victorian time period and it was a refreshing new world to explore.
• Romance – You could feel the electricity crackling between our dashing, not-so-gentle leading man and Amelia. Ms. Mitchell did a fantastic job at explaining the naughtiness behind some of their actions that readers might not understand if they aren’t familiar with the time period.
• With that, her explanations had a pretty nice balance in the behavior department. She explained without bogging down the plot with long-winded essays about why things were the way they were. On occasion I got a little lost in the customs of the time period and had to stop to hash over what I had just read. I don’t think that was the fault of Ms. Mitchell though. I think it was a combination of the formatting of the ARC (one of the disadvantages to reading ARCs) and my sleepiness when reading last night.
• Paranormal/mystical aspect – Nice change of pace from vampires, angels, and zombies – OH MY!
• Fast moving plot – despite taking place in a time period where things moved very slowly for women, she kept the pacing moving right along which I appreciated. It could have easily gotten pokey and Ms. Mitchell did a great job preventing that from happening.

Things I didn’t like:

• At times, I got lost with the secondary and outlying characters. There were a lot of names involved and assumed familiarities that had me lost for a moment. Could be my fault, but I thought it was worth mentioning.
• I would have liked the climax and afterwards to have been a little slower. It felt really rushed and didn’t give me enough time to experience what Amelia was going through. I wanted to feel emotionally moved, started to, and then BOOM the book was over.
• The title – okay. I get it, but the book in general could have used an explanation as to what the word “vespers” meant to Amelia. Maybe I lead a sheltered life, but I thought vespers referred to a prayer service in Catholicism, not just the time of day when the sun sets?

I really enjoyed “The Vespertine”, despite my moments of confusion, which again, could be completely my fault and not the fault of the author’s. Sometimes, I get so involved in a book that I start speed reading and when you combine that with sleepiness, things can get a wee bit jumbled. I would recommend this to anyone who likes historical YA fiction. It does have paranormal/mystical elements, but it’s light on the paranormal, heavy on the historical. If you have a problem with historical fiction, then you should probably skip this one. You really have to accept the time period and its customs to fully enjoy Ms. Mitchell’s lovely story.

"The Vespertine" is published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. They provided me with an advance reader's copy. It is scheduled to be released in March of this year.

The Betrayal of Maggie Blair by Elizabeth Laird

“The Betrayal of Maggie Blair” by Elizabeth Laird is set in 17th century Scotland. This is a time of great conflict and difficulty. Poverty was rampant, women were easily accused and burned for being witches, and a religious feud was escalating toward civil war. These were the times that sixteen-year-old Maggie Blair had to live in. Maggie faces adversity time and time again, with trouble always at her heels. Throughout the book she grows to become a strong, yet naïve, young woman who knows what she wants from her life.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I would definitely not recommend it to the younger teen crowd who drools for vampires and steamy romance. Despite the fact that heroine is sixteen years old and quite innocent, I see this appealing to an older audience. The obstacles that Maggie struggles with and the history of the time period make this a bit too heavy for the younger reader. Religion plays a large role in the plot line of “The Betrayal of Maggie Blair”. It can get a tad overwhelming at times, but if you surrender yourself to being a part of this time period, you can get through it.

This story reminds me a lot of “Pillars of the Earth”. It’s obviously set centuries later and is aimed at a younger audience, but there are some general similarities. Bad things happening to good people, prejudice ruling over reason, finding the good in people no matter what the situation, and being true to yourself are just a few of the similar themes. As with “Pillars of the Earth”, there were times that I could barely stand to read on because I couldn’t bear the thought of seeing something bad happen again. I would find myself saying aloud “When will poor Maggie Blair get a break?” The supporting cast definitely helped to further develop Maggie’s character, but don’t be fooled by my mentioning them. This book is ALL Maggie. The only consistent secondary character is her grandmother’s friend, the rogue Tam. He shows Maggie that good people can come in all forms.

I think this and the denseness of the religious/historical aspect made it a slower read and again, makes me think it would be better for mature YA readers and those adults who enjoy historical fiction. Be warned. This isn’t a historical romance. It’s a tale of self-discovery and strength through great adversity. So, in the end, I’m glad I read it. Though a bit dense and harder to get through than other YA novels, I think the reader is rewarded with a satisfying ending with a heroine that is strong and REAL, a refreshing change of pace in the world of YA fiction inundated with fantastical elements and unrealistic love triangles.

"The Betrayal of Maggie Blair" is published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. They provided me with an advanced reader's copy. It is scheduled to be released in April of this year.

Rebellion – novella #2 in the Day of Sacrifice series by Stacey Wallace Benefiel

"Rebellion" is the second novella in a series by indie paranormal YA author, Stacey Wallace Benefiel. The world in this novella series is full of magic and paranormal archetypes – angels, vampires, witches – OH MY! Of course, they're all pretty hot too, especially the angels. In this world, it is required of the families to sacrifice their oldest child to the Gods to receive favor from them. The oldest children in this world never lead a normal life, as we learned in the first part of this series. Some of the parents feel guilt and try to be the best parents they can as long as they have their child while others are filled with greed, looking forward to their child's sacrificial death and the wealth & favor they will receive from the Gods.

In "Rebellion", we pick up just after the first book with a character we were briefly introduced to last time. Cara is the mother of a sacrifice who was best friend to our heroine from part one and ward to her Guardian angel lover. I loved getting to know Cara better. She is a deep and powerful character in this segment of the series. She had a tough time last book and it was great to see her overcome her grief and difficulties to take a stand against the Gods and the infrastructure of their world. It was also nice to see her finally see some happiness as well.

Novellas are a difficult medium in literature. Long enough to have complex plots, but short enough that you need to keep things moving or well, you won't be writing a novella anymore! The problem with this novella that in order to keep a pretty complex world and characters alive, we lose a lot of the actual plot development. Upon starting this novella, you are abruptly thrust back into the world introduced last time around. Now, again, I understand that this is a novella however even a one or two paragraph recap to help smooth over the transition would have been nice. I've read quite a few books since I read the first novella so my first reaction was “Whaaaa!?!?!?!” It made me a bit dizzy and that feeling was hard to overcome as the plot keep going along its merry way without a lot of explanation. I remember there being a prophecy, but I couldn't remember exactly what it was or how these characters related to it. Luckily, due to reading this on my e-reader (LOVE you, Amazon Kindle!), I was able to go brush up. However, I do not feel that should have been necessary in order to have the audience fully enjoy this book. There should have been some sort of transition between the two novellas. I felt like the first novella ended a bit abruptly and was rushed at times to fit the format. Maybe these would be a better novel with a little more time and development? Just a thought. The one downfall I've found in Ms. Benefiel's writing overall is some choppiness and lack of needed exposition. I think that is partially due to being an independent author. She doesn't have the time and money backing up her writing that mainstream authors have.

Overall, an enjoyable, quick read for those interested in the paranormal (with focus on angels). Stacey Wallace Benefiel's writing has a lot of potential and I think that with more time, she could develop into being an awesome young adult writer. Look for these novellas and her other novels on Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble, etc. The e-published ones are very affordable and worth every penny.

I was provided with a copy of "Rebellion" directly by the author with an expectation that I would review the novella. I did not promise a good review, just an honest one that would be posted online to my blog, Goodreads.com and Amazon.com.

Fun at ALA Midwinter

I just wanted to post a note on here to say "Thanks!" to the publishers, authors, and librarians I met at ALA's Midwinter meeting yesterday. I had a wonderful time getting to know you all and am excited to read & review the ARCs! I am swimming in them now so expect this blog to be busybusybusy for the remainder of 2011. ;)

Please update your URLs!

We've moved. :) You can still find the reviews on Blogspot, but our new home is NeverGonnaGrowUpReviews.com. So excited!

Starting to get packed for ALA this weekend. Will you be there? Let me know. I'll be hitting the Exhibit Hall on Friday and Saturday. :)

Always a Witch by Carolyn MacCullough

Okay, let's face some obvious facts about this two-part series real quick... Carolyn MacCullough wrote it for me. Strong female character, kind of downtrodden then all sorts of powerful and strong. Then she throws in a paranormal twist and a little romance? Yeah, that's got Michelle written ALL over it.

Okay, maybe it wasn't exactly written for me. I'm not completely delusional. That being said, obviously, I enjoyed both "Once a Witch" and the advanced reader's copy of "Always a Witch". It has a very interesting combination of paranormal elements - witches with super hero-esque "Talents" and time traveling. How cool is that, right? The story follows Tamsin Greene, a strong-willed young woman who is the ugly duckling in her family. Oh and her family? A bunch of incredible witches, each blessed with an extraordinary special power they call a "Talent". However, this wasn't the way things were supposed to be. When she was born, her grandmother with a prophetic "Talent" predicted that she would be the most powerful in the family and a beacon of hope. So how is that Tamsin turned out so normal? Or is she? You'll just have to read the series to find out!

I absolutely adored the lead character of Tamsin Greene. Despite the hardships she has faced being the family's resident Ugly Duckling, she has ended up growing into this beautiful and strong young woman. It is her strong will and morals that end up providing her with more protection and grace by the end than any "Talent" her genetics could have provided. As you may have already come to realize reading my blog, I absolutely adore YA fiction with strong female leads. Tamsin has become one of my new favorites.

Even though I enjoyed this series thoroughly, my goodreads.com rating for this is a mere 3 stars (which means "I like it" but don't go as far as "really liking it" for those unfamiliar with the goodreads.com rating system). I found the writing a bit choppy at times and I would have liked to see the male lead, Gabriel, a bit more fleshed out. He just suddenly comes back and is in love with his childhood best friend without getting to know her first? I also would have liked to seen our villain developed a bit more. He was a bit flat and stereotypical.

Overall though, I still enjoyed this book and would recommend it to anyone who enjoys a good young adult paranormal story. Enjoy and happy reading!

"Always a Witch" is published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. They provided me with an advanced reader's copy. It is scheduled to be released in August of this year.

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year everyone! I hope that everyone had a great weekend to start off 2011.

I'm currently reading "Always a Witch" by Carolyn MacCullough. Look for a review sometime in the next few days of this action packed paranormal series. In the mean time though, please go and follow me on Twitter! Never Gonna Grow Up! Reviews is now tweeting. ;)

This weekend, I'll be heading to San Diego for the ALA Midwinter Conference. I'm going to be hittin' the exhibition hall then toolin' around checking out San Diego. I've only been there once before on a quick trip to Comic Con to go to the first "Twilight" movie panel. I'm looking forward to seeing more of the city this time and taking my toddler to the zoo! If you're going to be at Midwinter, let me know and we can try to meet up.

Well, that's all for now! Back to reading. ;)