The Clearing by Thomas Rydder

I received this book as part of the LybraryThing Early Review and here is my review.

What's the book about?

Beth Lowe is an entomology professor in Hemingway, Pennsylvania. She has recently adopted her niece Lizzie since her sister died. Lizzie is having a bit of a trouble adapting and in order to smooth things out Beth gets her a dog, Flapjack. However after a couple of weeks the dog is attacked and viciously hurt. After this attack Flapjack's behaviour and appearance changes gradually but surely. At the same time weird cattle attacks take place in the little town of Hemingway.

What was different of this book?

This was a fast fun read. What I would say was very different for me was the fact that while reading this book I had the clear feeling of watching a TV movie. Kind off what I think a horror movie made by Hallmark would look like. The imagery was very vivid but the development of the story as well as the dialogs seemed somehow straight out of a script.

What about the main character?

I'm not sure if Beth was the main character but let's take her as the main thread that unifies the story. I liked her at first, she is a scientist, so I felt easy empathy for her. She is doing her best to be Lizzie's mom. Is not that I stopped liking her but the whole relationship that develops in less than a month was so rushed that I started wondering what happened to the character I thought existed at first. I think this is the reason I had the Hallmark feeling all along.

The 10% moment

By this time Flapjack was bitten and Beth is starting to get the feeling he is not completely fine. There has been hints to the fact that behind the pack of wolves there is more than just your typical "werewolf" story.

Final thoughts

It was a fun read and a fast one for that matter. Once again I have the feeling that I was reading a movie. I enjoyed the fact that the story was well researched; some of the legends involve were new to me and the scientific in me couldn't help but to double check: everything added up. However, I don't think it was that different to a regular werewolf story. 

 

Destined by P.C. Cast and Kristin Cast

What's the book about?

Do you guys now the House of Night series? If not I would suggest you skip this review, since this is the 9th book of the series. Quick recap, Zoey recovered her soul, Neferet's is fooling the High Council and acting as the High Priestess although she is still dealing with Darkness. The Twins separate and there is a new fledgling in town. 

What was different of this book?

I will be honest with you. I didn't read this book because I was looking for something different. I know what this books are like and how they end (or not). I keep reading this series because is the series I started when I moved to this country and incidentally is gave me a subject to share with my first real friend here. So there. 

What about the main character?

...oh Zoey...Stevie Rae...any of the character. Does anyone really talk like that?

I suppose the main character is still Zoey, but there are so many satellites characters that is hard to tell by now. Zoey is someone who in theory has a lot of power, yet she is quite helpless.

The 10% moment

Rephaim is struggling with the whole turning into a boy and hoping his dad will accept him and eventually turn back to the Goddess. Also, Thanatos, the vampire with affinity with Death, has been sent to Tulsa to keep an eye on Neferet.  

Final thoughts

I got what I was expecting out of this and that's why it's getting 3 out of 5. That and the fact that I can read passages out loud for Alex and he just cracks about them. 

This is book makes part of my Sequel Challenge :)

An Infidel in Paradise by S.J. Laidlaw

I received this book as part of the LybraryThing Early Review and here is my review

 

 What's the book about?

Emma is a sixteen year old girl who happens to be in a diplomatic family with her mom making part of the diplomatic body of the Canadian embassy. After her parents have separated, her mother gets transferred to Islamabad, Pakistan.  Here Emma will have to "re start" her life and will meet other diplomat kids at the international school, as well as some local kids. 

          Set in Pakistan, this is the story of a teen girl living with her mother and siblings in a diplomatic compound. As if getting used to another new country and set of customs and friends isn't enough, she must cope with an increasingly tense political situation that becomes dangerous with alarming speed. Her life and those of her sister and brother depend on her resourcefulness and the unexpected help of an enigmatic Muslim classmate

I added the summary from Goodreads since it was that description that made me want to read the book.

What was different of this book?

I have to say not a lot. I was expecting a very different book. Instead I got a very self centered teen that claims to be all over the world and yet is super demeaning when talking about the culture of the place she is at. I was expecting off course the cultural shock, and I assumed that we would learn from both points of view. This was not the case either. 

What about the main character?

Emma is hurt, I get that. She is mad at her parents, at having to change schools...but from day one she is presented as this spoiled child, a bit racist and quite bland as a character. There is no much going on with her, except that she falls for a local boy who is engaged already. Instead of trying to learn about the culture, make friends and maybe get over her parents separation she coins nicknames for every girl around her. She is in Pakistan and is surprised she cannot go out alone...again, I was expecting her to talk about this, to disagree, to debate maybe. No, all she was is annoyed like it never occurred to her that this would happen in this country.

The 10% moment

Although the book was well written and hence it was easy to read and follow the story there was not a lot of it that intrigued me. I finished, like going with the motions, but not at the 10%, nor at the end did I have a moment of "Oh wow, I really want to know what happens next"

Final thoughts

I was very disappointed at the end of this book, and here is why:

          1. The increasingly tense political situation...was there as a faint background of her boy trouble. For most of the book, Emma acts like the biggest problem around her is the fact that she can't get a "decent cappuccino".

          2. Her life and those of her sister and brother depend on her resourcefulness...eh...no, she was not resourcefulness, their lives do not depend on her, and the only reason she feels this way is because she acted out, like a teenager. Is a big deal, sure, but the statement is over exaggerated.

          3. An enigmatic Muslim classmate...Mustapha is not enigmatic at all. She doesn't understand him, maybe. But if instead of complaining about how his girlfriend doesn't like her, she would've taken the time to get to know the culture surrounding her she would've been able to understand all the tradition behind it.

Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl

What's the book about?

Ethan Wate leaves in Gatlin, South Carolina. He thinks he doesn't belong in this small town, where everything has happened before to the point that he can tell who is going to be sitting with whom on the first day of school. That is, until Lena Duchanes arrives to town. He has seen her before, except that he hasn't, not really. He is instantly drawn to her, even when everyone in town seems against it. Learning she is a caster won't make people to like her any better and having a curse upon herself won't make her relationship with Ethan any easier either.

What was different of this book?

I know what you guys are thinking. Oh, this is just Twilight with witches instead of vampires. I know you are thinking it because that's why I didn't read the book before. I started wondering about it when I saw the movie coming, but you know what made me read it? My boyfriend, whom we will start calling Alex, since that's his name, comes to me and says: "io9 has an article about that book, apparently is good". So I go, I read this article and realized...well, it might not be like Twilight after all. 

And it wasn't. It remain a YA book, people, but (so far) none of the characters is useless without the other. I mean, yes they want to be together, they are 16 (about) but there is no "I will die if you are not to my side" part...again, so far, lets hope I will be not disappointed. Other than that, I feel the characters were better constructed and adding the little bit of Civil War was nice too.

What about the main character?

Ethan...Ethan has the feeling that he doesn't belong. Partially because his mom was an outsider and partially because he is a secret book worm. Sadly in this town, that's not a good thing, so he keeps he jock façade until Lena comes in the picture. He is battling some hard situations of his own. I think the teenage male voice has to be a little bit worked on, but it was nice to see a male main character for a while.

As for Lena...she wants to fit in. She want to do what every teenage girl wants to do, knowing that she might have limited time to do it. 

The 10% moment

At this point I wanted to know a bit more about the side characters. I mean, I knew how this was going to end, but the side characters (Amma for example) where very interesting and had a good back story. 

Final thoughts

Look, let's all be honest here. This is not the Pulitzer in the making, not the greatest American novella. But is a well written book. Was there a bit of cliché in the depiction of the town and its characters? Sure, but the point of this book was not to be an accurate picture of the south. The book was born as a dare. And the authors delivered EXACTLY what they were asked for. Unlike Zoey from the House of Night Series who in theory has as much power as Lena, the latest is not helpless. Sure, she "fell in love"...and yes they use the L word a bit fast...but I did the same thing when I was 16...minus the magic part.

This book delivers what was asked from it. Is a love story between teenagers. One of them happens to be supernatural. They have a lot of things against them being together. The girl does something else than falling in love, no vampires...

There is one thing that is bothering me A LOT, and that is the bunch of people hating this book. Is not the fact that they hate it, is ok by me, is the fact that they all say the same thing that everyone criticized about Twilight. I feel like a lot of critics, feeling the upcoming explosion of fans of this book decided to take cover early and say oh the book is just awful!. The book is not awful. The book is not great. The book could have more depth...but that would make it into another book, not the one that the writers wanted to give to their teenage kids (their words, not mine)

And while we are in the subject, all this "who falls in love in a second" speech I've also been hearing. Well, a teenager does. Think of the relationships you had when you were 15-17, full of hormones. Every time you felt like you couldn't wait a single second before talking to someone in particular, doing something, and the feeling that no one understood your feelings. I think a lot of people who read this book as an "adult" are either forgetting or in denial about what teenage love is. I'm just saying.

I'm not trying to convince you to like the book. Is just that to me, when everyone says the exact same thing about something (either good or bad) it stops feeling like a personal opinion and more like a collective stigma.

TSS: Self Publishing

I read this article by Anna Baddeley the other day about how more than ever self publishing is having its own place. And as you may assume by this post, it got me thinking on exactly what is in for readers with this?

With music I have to tell you I tend to go to self labeled indie bands...I mean they gave themselves the indie title, not that they have they own label necessarily. And this is not because there is a hipster in me trying to break free. It just happens. A lot of bands that I hear for the first time at Grooveshark or Last FM, have not made it big yet. When they do, I do not ditch them because they are "main stream" now, but I've noticed that the bands that really touch me inside are this ones.

This is not so with books. Until I joined LybraryThing a couple of years ago, I was not in great contact with self-published authors. Besides the Early Reviewers program, LT also has the Member Giveaway program, which has a lot more of self-published work. I sometimes browse there, but I have to admit I am a bit more reluctant to request a book from that batch, even though you are not required to review the book necessarily. 

Why is this? I guess that is because I've had not so great experiences with books that were self-published or published by someone in the family. I'm a big believer in editing in books. Not censorship, but editing. Beginning with typos and correct punctuation and including the final phrasing of an idea. It took a couple of months for my article to be finished, with back and forth work between my P.I and me and the wonderful help of a couple of friends. And even then, when we sent it for publishing, the editor still found typos and a couple of sentences that made no sense for anyone that wasn't us.

Editing does not ensure the quality of the book, off course. But it gives me the feeling that it will be easier to read, whether I like the book or not. I've read several books that I did not like the story. But they were beautifully written. Is easier to see the idea the author was trying to give if you are not distracted by misspelling, lack of connectors, etc. 

 

As much as I would love to be able to write an article and just put it out there, I am very grateful for the publishing journal team that is behind it. They made my article better and I think the same principle applies to books. I think that platforms like Wattpad are great to begin with, to get noticed and to get your story out there. But I'm still not fan of publishing anything without any external input.