The Wicked and the Just by J. Anderson Coats

Alright, folks. In the name of the moon... errr, I mean in the name of awesome books everywhere, I declare this week on “Never Gonna Grow Up! Reviews” to be YA HISTORICAL FICTION WEEK. Dun duh duh duuuuuun.

To kick off this week of fabulous locales, dangerous intrigue, and bloody deaths, we have J. Anderson Coats’ debut novel, “The Wicked and the Just”. I absolutely love this book. It’s a book I would definitely recommend any historical fiction addict add to the top of their list. J. Anderson Coats obviously did her research. The story takes place in Wales, shortly after the English taken over and are occupying the land. They have taken everything from the Welsh people and yet are taxing them literally to death. She tells the story from two strong-willed women’s perspectives. (Yay strong willed women!) On one hand, we have Cecily, who was uprooted from her English noble woman’s life and moved to occupied Wales by her father, who will help the English keep the “savage” Welshman in check. On the other hand, we have Gwenhwyfar, her servant, who once dreamed of being a lady herself until the English came in and took everything from her and her people, including the life of her father. Now, she and her brother must do whatever it takes to survive, even if it means waiting on a bratty English girl who makes life a living hell. While they both struggle with surviving in their own ways, tensions continue to mount not only between the girls, but the country as a whole. And let me warn you now, it gets messy.

My horrendous summary does not even begin to do this book justice. It’s subtle and beautifully written. It really feels like a slice of the life from this period in time. You can really feel the tension crackling in the air and it never gets bogged down with too much exposition. Ms. Coats’ explanations of unfamiliar terms are simple and feel naturally placed within the story. While it’s a bit intense to read all in one sitting, I still burned through it at a rapid pace. I just had to find out what happened! Both girls burn with unbridled passion that ends up fueling a very complex relationship between them. If they had a status on Facebook for their platonic relationship, it’d definitely say “It’s complicated.”

Seriously, if you like historical fiction, this book is an absolute MUST READ. And if you don’t? Well give it a try anyways. It’s good to try something new every once in awhile and I have a feeling that this is a book you’re going to hear people talking about for quite some time. :)

Want to hear J. Anderson Coats talk about her book? Well then, head on over to Authors are ROCKSTARS! to check out her podcast interview.

I received a digital ARC of "The Wicked and the Just" via NetGalley.com. It came out this month from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. Go and purchase your own copy now!

Jessica’s Guide to Dating on the Dark Side by Beth Fantaskey

This book was exactly what I needed right now. Something fun, still paranormal, and incredibly addictive. Yes folks, this book is vampire crack and I mean that in the best way possible. I devoured this book like vampires devour human blood (unless they’re lame like Edward Cullen).

Jessica has her whole senior year planned. She’s going to ask out the cute farmer boy she’s been flirting with at the diner all summer, win her horse riding competition, and enjoy the company of her quirky vegan parents. However, on her first day of school, a wrench is thrown into her plans in the form of a sexy foreign exchange student named Lucius Vladescu. Oh, and guess what? He’s a vampire prince and he’s come to claim her, his VAMPIRE PRINCESS, as his bride. He’s dreamy, but can she become the powerful, confident vampire princess he needs her to be? If she can’t, she could cause a worldwide vampire war that will cost thousands of human lives and she might lose the love of her life in the process.

Man, my summary makes it sound cheesy and to be honest, it kind of is, but in a FUN way. It’s silly, a bit campy, but totally fun and romantic. It’s a vampire rom com with dramatic high stakes (wah wah wah, get it? STAKES!). The characters are fun, especially Lucius. He’s incredibly well developed character for your stereotypical handsome, vampire prince. You really get to know him better through the letters he writes home to his uncle. He goes through a lot trying to figure out what to do with this vampire princess who didn’t even know she was a vampire and finds himself along the way. By the end of the book, you’ll be in love with him and routing for Jessica to save him from his dark side.

"Jessica’s Guide to Dating on the Dark Side" by Beth Fantaskey is published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. I purchased my own copy on my Kindle.

Merry Christmas, Ollie! by Olivier Dunrea

What can I say? My kiddo is festive! As I mentioned last week, he is obsessed with Christmas. I love it. I'm a big fan of the holidays myself and I am SO excited to have Santa come visit our house this year. E is going to go nuts. You should hear him in the car when we drive my Christmas lights. He is constantly "oo"ing and "ah"ing. He shouts out "BEE-OO-TEE-FUL" and "AH-MAAAAAZING" at random intervals. It's awesome.

Anyways, I digress. It's no surprise that E's Pick for this week is another Christmas title. This one comes from the series of books by Olivier Dunrea about five little goslings, each with their own little quirks. In this book, the goslings are all waiting for Father Christmas Goose to arrive, but Ollie, the stomper, is getting a bit impatient. It's a quick, adorable holiday read. If you need a last minute gift for a little one, I'd go try and find this one! My sister bought it for E at a department store, but I'm sure you can find it on shelves everywhere.


"Merry Christmas, Ollie!" by Olivier Dunrea is available in hardcover, board book, and Kindle formats from Houghton Mifflin Books for Children.

All Aboard the Dinotrain by Deb Lund, Illustrated by Howard Fine

This past weekend I was actually lucky enough to meet the author of E's Pick of the Week. However, I should state that even though she is a LOVELY person, I didn't pick her book because of that. It's actually been making my son's top contendor list for weeks now! E just loves "All Aboard the Dinotrain" by Deb Lund, illustrated by Howard Fine. What can I say? The kid is a DINONUT! Can I brag for a moment? (Of course I can! It's MY blog. Mwhaha!) The kid is 2 years old and already knows "tyranneousaurus rex/t-rex", "pteranedon", "stegg-OH-saurus" and “cera-TOPS”. Insane right? He just loves his dinosaurs. He also really likes trains so when I saw this at my local indie kid book store, A Whale of a Tale, I just had to get it.

Deb obviously had a blast writing it too, playing with words to make them "dino" while having a very fun rhythmic pattern going on. For example, "The dinostoker shovels coal. The flames are under his control." Adorkable, right? To top it off, the book has GORGEOUS illustrations by Howard Fine that your little ones will just love. I want to have a print of these for my son’s room! They’re classy looking, beautiful paintings. I love ‘em and so does E.

“All Aboard the Dinotrain” and her other dinosaur book “Dinosailors” are available in hardcover, paperback and board book form. They are published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

BooBoo by Olivier Dunrea

E’s Pick of the Week comes from the series of books by Olivier Dunrea that are all about quirky goslings. This week’s favorite gosling is BooBoo, a small blue gosling who likes to eat. This book has long been Elliot’s favorite in the series due to the large amount of hummingbirds in it (a favorite animal of his). Though hummingbirds aren’t the only thing on his mind nowadays, he still loves reading about BooBoo’s adventure, as she eats everything that she sees. He especially likes it when we get to the burping part and we make silly noises to represent her burping. The book has a pleasing repetitive nature that children will love. Elliot loves to sign “eat” or say it when we run into the word over and over again. It’s a fun one. Some of the other gosling books have some awkward pacing or odd rhythm, but BooBoo is just as wonderful as the original, another one of E’s favorites, Gossie. :)

BooBoo is published by Houghton Mifflin for Children. It is available in Hardcover, Board Book, and apparently, for your Amazon.com Kindle as well.

The Napping House by Audrey Wood, Illustrated by Don Wood

“There is a house, a napping house, where everyone is sleeping.” is how this lovely story by Audrey & Don Wood starts out. We then meet the sleeping members of this home’s family one by one until we meet... a flea that’s awake?! Gasp! Your little ones will love meeting the family and animals as they all progressively pile up and take a nap in their own special way. E just loves showing me where the kitty is and playing “spot the bugga”. We got a copy in padded board book form which is REALLY nice with a toddler. It’s more durable than the average board book. It’s also a bit larger too which E really loves. He hauls “The Napping House” around with him everywhere and asks to read it a couple times a day. It makes a great addition to a nap or bed time routine too due to its soothing, repetitive narrative.

Well, that’s it for E’s Pick of the Week. Check back next Tuesday for another awesome book chosen by my toddler. ;)

“The Napping House” is published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt and is available in hardcover, paperback, board book and padded board book at your local bookstore.

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.

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.

Lost Voices by Sarah Porter

This book made me miss my mom. I know that seems a little strange, but my mother was a CASA worker and a long time foster mother (over 30 foster children, plus her own 4!). She would have enjoyed this interesting take on what happens to abused children.

Lost Voices is the first book in a series and to be honest, it sometimes feels like pieces are missing, making the plot a bit disjointed. The book follows the story of Luce (short for Lucette) who is a mild mannered, troubled young teen. Her father, who was a “diamond in the rough” type, has presumed dead after being lost at sea and now Luce lives with her alcoholic and bitter uncle. She is treated poorly by almost everyone in she encounters and has become a weak slip of a girl. After the abuse hits a breaking point, she transforms in this dark and mysterious way into a mermaid. In Ms. Porter's world, abused females turn into vengeful mermaids/sirens who take revenge on the human race for having wronged them in their past life.

Ms. Porter's mermaid lore is very interesting to read and I found it a nice twist from the romantic paranormal young adult books I've been reading as of late. While this book definitely falls into the paranormal category, it is a book that deals with real life issues including abuse (physical and sexual), revenge, the moral dilemma of right and wrong, etc. I really enjoyed seeing Luce's character develop from someone who has been beaten down for years to a strong young woman who follows her own moral code, which is different than the society she lives in. In addition to interesting character development, the writing style of Ms. Porter is incredibly exquisite. She definitely has a gift for using words as an artist as well as a storyteller. Lost Voices stimulates the imagination with absolutely gorgeous visual images. I do not think that I have ever saved so many passages from a fiction book to my clipboard on my Kindle. I just wanted to be able to re-read these visual passages again. They were like beautiful sweets to feed my imagination.

While I greatly enjoyed Ms. Porter's novel, it did have its downfalls. The plot seemed a bit disjointed at times and I wasn't sure where it was going. There was no real action. However, I'm eager to see how the second book develops. It might explain some of the questions I now have after completing Lost Voices.

Overall, it's a solid debut novel that takes an interesting real life topic and adds an unusual paranormal twist. Great job, Ms. Porter!

Lost Voices is published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. They provided me with an advanced reader's copy. It is scheduled to be released in July 2011.