Review: Graveminder by Melissa Marr

Rebekkah Barrow never forgot the tender attention her grandmother, Maylene, bestowed upon the dead of Claysville, the town where Bek spent her adolescence. There wasn't a funeral that Maylene didn't attend, and at each Rebekkah watched as Maylene performed the same unusual ritual: three sips from a small silver flask followed by the words "Sleep well, and stay where I put you."

Now Maylene is dead and Bek must go back to the place--and the man--she left a decade ago. But what she soon discovers is that Maylene was murdered and that there was good reason for her odd traditions. It turns out that in placid Claysville, the worlds of the living and the dead are dangerously connected. Beneath the town lies a shadowy, lawless land ruled by the enigmatic Charles, aka Mr. D--a place from which the dead will return if their graves are not properly minded. Only the Graveminder, a Barrow woman, and the current Undertaker, Byron, can set things to right once the dead begin to walk.

Graveminder is Melissa Marr’s foray into adult literature after the conclusion of her successful young adult series Wicked Lovely.  Marr has great ideas, and I couldn’t wait to sink my teeth into juicy, complex story lines. 

The story opens with a creepy scene that’s so riveting I couldn’t read it fast enough. Maylene Barrow, Claysville’s graveminder, meets a very disturbing seventeen-year-old girl in town and invites her home. Maylene is later found dead. Her granddaughter Rebekkah returns to Claysville for the funeral with plans to leave as soon as possible, but she finds out she’s the next graveminder. Claysville is suddenly like Hotel California: she can check out any time she likes, but she can never leave. 

I wanted to like this story because conceptually it sounded interesting, but Rebekkah is an annoying character. She’s manipulative and immature, and her long history of using Byron makes her unsympathetic.  She contradicts herself (with internal dialogue) entirely too much, to the point of reader distraction.  Byron appears weak, pining for a woman that continually does him wrong.

Although Marr does a good job of revving up suspense, I kept getting jerked out of the story by deep point of view italics, poor editing and unbelievable behavior. Since I wasn't lost in the story, I began analyzing everything and therefore became much less forgiving of things I’d otherwise overlook. 

Marr overuses the technique of showing her characters thoughts with italics. It’s essential for readers to get this character insight, but Rebekkah questions and contradicts herself so much she appears mental. 

I go all fussy britches with weird names or strange spelling variations. It's fine if they fit the story setting, but doing this just to be creative annoys me. (When Harry Potter first came out, I wouldn’t read it because I didn’t know how to pronounce Hermione. Stupid, I know but I can’t help it). I’ve never seen the name Rebekkah spelled this way, and it's often shortened to Beks in the story.  Don’t love it, but I’ll go with it. Byron is shortened to B, Alicia becomes Lish (shoot me), and Charles is Mr. D. I mustn't forget Daisha and Amity Blue. 

Marr’s narrative can sometimes be messy, and the overuse of fragmented sentences was irritating. Character’s behave like adolescents and the story reads very much like a young adult novel. I was disappointed in the simplicity of it. The ending felt rushed with information awkwardly crammed into the last few chapters. The best part of the story is the initial scene, and Marr's concept of the underworld. 


For the concept of the underworld, and maintaining suspense, I'll be generous with my rating:

Don't let me discourage you from reading this book. Many people liked it, and it's been optioned for a television series. If it comes to fruition, I'll definitely check out the television series because the underworld is intriguing, and much more interesting than what goes on above ground. I'm sure the television series will be popular with fans of AMCs The Walking Dead.  

Review: Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor

Around the world, black handprints are appearing on doorways, scorched there by winged strangers who have crept through a slit in the sky.

In a dark and dusty shop, a devil's supply of human teeth has grown dangerously low.

And in the tangled lanes of Prague, a young art student is about to be caught up in a brutal otherwordly war.

Meet Karou. She fills her sketchbooks with monsters that may or may not be real; she's prone to disappearing on mysterious "errands"; she speaks many languages--not all of them human; and her bright blue hair actually grows out of her head that color. Who is she? That is the question that haunts her, and she's about to find out.

When one of the strangers--beautiful, haunted Akiva--fixes his fire-colored eyes on her in an alley in Marrakesh, the result is blood and starlight, secrets unveiled, and a star-crossed love whose roots drink deep of a violent past. But will Karou live to regret learning the truth about herself?

This is a story about a girl that's more than she seems, a story about a war pitting angels against demons, a story about star-crossed lovers.  You may be thinking it's all been done before, and sounds so familiar that perhaps you may want to pass this one by, but I implore you, don't.  Please don't.  This book is so much more than readers can imagine from the jacket copy.

Daughter of Smoke and Bone is the magical story of seventeen-year-old Karou, an orphan with a yearning for love and a  “normal” life.  Raised by Brimstone in his secret shop in Prague, she knows nothing of her origins.  She travels through portals gathering teeth for him for reasons he won't reveal. Often she feels she should be doing something else, be someone else.   While running an errand in Djemma El Fna, the marketplace in Marrakech, the powerful seraph, Akiva, glimpses her, and suddenly her life is in danger.  Who is Akiva, and why does he want to kill her?

                                                                             Karou by Jim DiBartolo

Karou is a sympathetic character; we can relate to her immediately.  Terrible ex-boyfriends have a way of doing that, but she doesn’t lose herself in her heartache.  She’s strong, intelligent, and a little vindictive, but who can blame her?  Zuzana, Karou’s best friend, is the perfect funny sidekick.  It was easy to lose myself in this book because it’s beautifully written, and the characters leap off the page.  It's a riveting page turner. Oh, and Thiago… the most villainous of villains.  Taylor definitely knew how to make us hate him.

The US book trailer:

From the first paragraph of Daughter of Smoke and Bone, I knew I was in good hands.  The story flows gracefully like a lover’s dance between author and reader, as Taylor leads us into Karou’s mysterious, magical world without a single misstep.  Writing good stories isn’t easy, but she makes it seem easy, effortless.  Her love of writing shows in her beautiful prose, explains her crossover appeal, and is why she’s my favorite author.  Every sentence is meaningful, and the rhythm, and evocative language turns the story into a memorable experience.

“Happiness.  It was the place where passion, with all its dazzle and drumbeat, met something softer:  homecoming and safety and pure sunbeam comfort.  It was all those things, intertwined with the heat and the thrill, and it was as bright within her as a swallowed star.”  (I have never read a better definition of happiness.)

“Karou with her wry smile and crazy imagination…creamy and leggy with long azure hair and the eyes of a silent-movie star.  She moved like a poem and smiled like a sphinx.”

“For the way loneliness is worse when you return to it after a reprieve—like the soul’s version of putting on a wet bathing suit, clammy and miserable.”

“Ah, Zuzana.” (Oh, Susanna?  I couldn’t help but smile and wonder.)

The UK book trailer is brilliant!  Love.  Love.  Love.




 Daughter of Smoke and Bone is crazy imaginative, extraordinary and smart, and I loved every delicious word of it.  It's not just a story about love and self-discovery, but also about the tragedy of war, of hope when life is tragic, and the strength to fight for what you believe in.  No one writes like  Laini Taylor.  The only problem with the books is that I devoured it.  My eyes couldn't move fast enough when I really wanted to slow down and savor every exquisite sentence.  I rarely say a book is phenomenal, but Taylor's novels are a combination of everything I look for in a good book: originality, well developed characters and plot, tight writing with beautiful language, believable actions and dialogue.  The only book Daughter can be compared to is the author's own Lips Touch Three Times.  Epic love.  Read it while you're waiting for the release date: September 27th.

Young Adult
432 pages
Advanced Readers Copy

Release date:  September 27, 2011

Publisher:  Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

Review: Blood and Ice by Robert Masello

Blood and Ice by Robert Masello

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

4 Stars Recommended

For most of the book, Blood and Ice, is two incredible stories, beginning 150 years ago with the harrowing events that transpired on the ship, Coventry, once it was blown far off course into the dangerous waters of the South Pole. Sinclair, an affable, idealistic young soldier, and his beloved, Eleanor, are chained together and thrown overboard into the freezing glacial waters. What crime did they commit that the crew thought they deserved such treatment?

Fast forward to present day, to Michael Wilde, journalist, an adrenaline junkie high on life until a terrible accident forces him to withdraw from life because of a freak accident that's left the woman he loves unconscious in a hospitable bed, her prognosis grim. Michael's employer, after months of waiting, pushes him to take an assignment on scientists working in the most extreme climate in the world, the South Pole.

The author does an excellent job of alternating between both stories with thrilling suspense until they collide, mixing science and folklore in an exciting way. I'm almost afraid to say the word....shhh, come closer...closer....vampire...because perhaps you might think I'm giving something away. But I'm not, it's on the back of the book (but strangely not in the classification for the Library of Congress) and told in a way not expected.

The magic is the unique story and how it brilliantly unfolds. Robert Masello is a wonderful storyteller. There's nothing cliche about his writing and it's not like any other vampire novel I've read before. His masterful descriptions made me feel like I was there along side each and every character, experiencing it all for myself, and isn't that why we read--to live vicariously through the characters? To feel the excitement and pride of the soldier eager to fight for his country? To feel the bone chilling bite of the arctic wind on our skin, or feel the claustrophobic dive in freezing arctic waters and, seeing with our minds eye, a glacier wall descend and disappear into the dark depths below?

There's a lot that's scary in this book: arctic diving, living in the harshest environment in the world, the Crimean war, and the post war conditions, and for those that love the paranormal, the vampire- still scary, even if you know it's coming.

As always, what makes me love a book, is the way an author makes me love the characters so much that I can't put the book down, the way they can turn a phrase making me shudder with fear or my eyes well up with emotion. (I'm weird that way) It's awesome when that happens! This is a great story blending history, science and horror. I ~almost~ want a sequel. I can't help wondering what the characters are up to now.

Don't think I've told you everything about the story! Experience the book; put on a parka, and travel to the Pole!

Dreamfever by Karen Marie Moning

Dreamfever, the 4th installment in Karen Marie Moning's Fever Series, does not disappoint. It's edgy, unpredictable and keeps you on the edge of your seat. That's very difficult to do, but Moning is such a talented storyteller and skilled author that she's able to sustain mystery, intrigue and tension throughout the entire book and series. She definitely knows her craft and fans love her for it.

In true Moning fashion, she leads the reader down a bread crumb path meting out clues to ponder, while the pathway gets increasingly darker and more terrifying. There are few answers, but non-answers are plentiful, another Moning trait.

Macayla Lane continues to grow as a character. She's no longer the innocent girl from the south, no longer 2.0 but Mac 4.0! And Barrons! (I love the man. I know he's fictional, but still.) In Dreamfever, we get a bit more insight into his character but burning questions still remain.

The Fever puzzle is gradually falling into place; clues abound but the final picture

shimmers behind a magical veil just out of reach. Exactly how it should be! It's a great series, 4.5 stars and highly recommended. If you want to read the series, it's best to read the books in order. Enjoy!

From Amazon:

MacKayla Lane lies naked on the cold stone floor of a church, at the mercy of the erotic Fae master she once swore to kill. Far from home, unable to control her sexual hungers, MacKayla is now fully under the Lord Master’s spell.…In New York Times bestselling author Karen Marie Moning’s stunning new novel, the walls between human and Fae worlds have come crashing down. And as Mac fights for survival on Dublin’s battle-scarred streets, she will embark on the darkest—and most erotically charged—adventure of her life.

He has stolen her past, but MacKayla will never allow her sister’s murderer to take her future. Yet even the uniquely gifted sidhe-seer is no match for the Lord Master, who has unleashed an insatiable sexual craving that consumes Mac’s every thought—and thrusts her into the seductive realm of two very dangerous men, both of whom she desires but dares not trust.

As the enigmatic Jericho Barrons and the sensual Fae prince V’lane vie for her body and soul, as cryptic entries from her sister’s diary mysteriously appear and the power of the Dark Book weaves its annihilating path through the city, Mac’s greatest enemy delivers a final challenge.…

It’s an invitation Mac cannot refuse, one that sends her racing home to Georgia, where an even darker threat awaits. With her parents missing and the lives of her loved ones under siege, Mac is about to come face-to-face with a soul-shattering truth—about herself and her sister, about Jericho Barrons…and about the world she thought she knew.

• Hardcover: 400 pages
• Publisher: Delacorte Press (August 18, 2009)

Mark of the Demon by Diana Rowland, 5 Stars

Mark of the Demon by Diana Rowland, 4 stars, Great Debut Novel

This book easily piqued my interest and kept me turning pages to find out what happened next. To the exclusion of all things, I finished it in one day. If you enjoy urban fantasy, you'll love this urban fantasy suspense thriller. In Mark of the Demon, I got lost in the magic and didn't analyze the writing, dialogue, characters and world building-although all these things are skillfully managed. I loved this book because it took me AWAY from thoughts of writing and just let me enjoy. I had no choice. I was sucked in!

The main character, Kara Gillian, is a witty detective by day, a demon summoner by night. She's worked hard to get where she is and she's good at it, but the character is sympathetically written with vulnerabilities. She isn't the perfect, beautiful heroine doing the job with a tough obnoxious attitude, unrealistically killing multiple baddies three times her size. (I don't like those kinds of characters.) Kara is totally believable as a demon summoner detective with Fraggle Rock as her ring tone.

The story opens with her successfully summoning one of the highest level demons. She's finally getting the break she's been waiting for in the police department: heading the task force for the Symbol Man's serial murder case, and she must learn to handle herself among the men assigned with her, and solve the crime as quickly as possible. But something goes strangely awry during a routine summoning, and Rhyzkahl, an intensely powerful angelic creature appears. Oops.

The plot is original, and the suspense had me going all the way to the end. The story was perfectly paced, not long winded. Knowledge of police work is evident, and I loved the interactions between Kara and FBI Agent Ryan Kristoff.

Just an all round sexy, exciting, fun read! Blood of the Demon will be out in Spring, 2010, so I'm sure some pressing questions will be answered. I hope.

Congratulations, Diana!

The Vampire's Kiss by Raven Hart (Book 3)
5 Stars
Ballantine Books (December 26, 2007)
336 pages

This is the third book in The Savannah Vampires Series and it's as exciting and fun to read as the others-also rated 5 stars. It's the continuing saga of the Savannah vampires, the cultured William Cuyler Thorne and the amiable Jack McShane. I will do my best to do some telling without revealing.

Due to the cliffhanger ending of book two, William is forced to go on a journey far from the city he's been protecting for centuries, leaving it under the protection of Jack. Since William is the biggest, baddest otherworldly creature around town there have been few problems in Savannah in the past, but the word is out that Jack's been left in charge. Can he keep the city safe from ne'er-do-well werewolves while his sire is away?


Will William be able to successfully complete his quest as he struggles to reconcile his past with the most vile evil he's ever come across? Will his weakness be his downfall? Is there truth to the prophecy of a slayer?

Who or what exactly is Connie, the beautiful cop that Jack has taken a shining to?

The story has a creative, interesting plot with vampires, werewolves, voodoo, zombies and the story unfolds at a perfect pace. As always, the author does an excellent job with character development, fully expanding on the internal and external.

This is the first time that William and Jack are separated and the conflicts they meet and how they handle them are a true test of their strengths while revealing potential weaknesses. We definitely see a different side of William in this installment. It's a very suspenseful, exciting read that's just the right length and will appeal to anyone that enjoys the paranormal genre. The book has a cliffhanger ending leading to the next book, The Vampire's Betrayal, that was released in April, 2008. The fifth book in the series, The Vampire's Revenge, is due out in January, 2009.

I can't say it enough-these are just great reads. This series is as thrilling as it is funny and it never lets up. You don't necessarily have to read the preceding books in order to enjoy this one, but I highly recommend you do. You'll get such a wealth of information on the characters that will lead to a better understanding of their depth. Highly recommended and one of my favorite series'. Once I start reading Raven Hart's books, I can't put them down!

Coming soon: Stayed tuned for my blogs book giveaway/contest for the first in the series, The Vampire's Seduction.

http://www.ravenhartbooks.com/books.php

From the back of the book:

*Spoiler Alert*Spoiler Alert*Spoiler Alert*Spoiler Alert* (for those that haven't read the first two books)

A dark and brooding creature of the night, William Cuyler Thorne has spent five centuries mourning the deaths of his beloved wife and son. In that time, he has also grown into Savannah's most powerful vampire, attracting rich, beautiful women and commanding fear in all who dare cross his path. Now he seeks revenge. For it appears that his wife and son are not dead, but rather undead, having joined a malicious clan of European bloodsuckers-and that same group has now captured Renee, the young daughter of his dear friend, a voodoo princess. Leaving his suave sidekick, Jack, to hold down the fort in Savannah, William travels across the Atlantic to save Renee and settle the score.

While Jack is left to contend with his seductive ex-girlfriend and a rebellious band of werewolves, William must confront his own defiant temptress and an even more sinister threat. For the evil vampire lords will do much more than retaliate if William rescues Renee and her magical blood: They will wreak havoc across the land.