Stealing Magic by Marianne Malone

Stealing Magic was definitely magical. This is the sequel to The Sixty-Eight Rooms (and you can read my review for book 1 here). These books are definitely more a part of the younger spectrum of young adult literature. Technically, it’s more middle grade than young adult, but I’ve seen teens reading it too.

I was particularly drawn to these books, a) because they take place in Chicago, b) because much of them take place in my favorite Chicago museum: The Art Institute, and c) because the story is all about kids who can literally shrink in size and go into the miniature Thorne Rooms. The Thorne Rooms are miniature rooms, designed to represent different countries, styles, and time periods. It’s every kid’s (or in my case, adult’s) dream to be able to go inside them once you see them. Malone takes it a step further with her books because Ruthie and Jack can actually time travel to the times the rooms are from as well.

If you have not read book 1, you might want to stop reading because I will spoil a bit of it in my review of book 2.

Book 1 was all about figuring out how to do things: how to shrink Ruthie and Jack, how to get from one corridor in one size to another corridor in another size, how to go back in time, how to not ruin history, how to get into certain doors, how to save lives, etc. They already know so much in the start of this second book.

Everything really begins with the two best friends having mixed feelings about leaving Jack’s bento box and letter behind in one of the rooms. When the kids go to get it back, there’s a response to their letter. Who wrote the response? Is it connected to the person who’s been leaving behind modern objects? Is it connected to an art thief? Is it a stranger, or is it someone they know and trust already?

The duo go into more rooms and do more time traveling. This time, they venture into the south, before the civil war and befriend a child slave. They also visit Paris just before World War II and meet a girl, escaping Germany with her Jewish family. There’s plenty of history. And now there’s the bonus of the mystery of the disappearing artifacts. Ruthie and Jack are more open about their secret than ever before, and this could be a good or a bad thing.

Before they know it, Ruthie and Jack are in a time crunch to get back to the rooms and save their new friends’ lives before they are prevented from going back into certain time periods ever again. Something they’ve learned about the rooms is that they are all very connected to certain objects; the objects allow for the time travel, so when objects go missing, so do their ability to walk out into different times and countries.

Almost all of the questions I had left over from book 1 have been answered. Certain characters that were only briefly mentioned in the first book, have a large role to play in this one. Also, this one had a lot more plot on Ruthie and Jack’s side of the rooms.  The things going on outside the Thorne rooms was actually more interesting than the history inside them for me this time. Things like the purse at the end of book 1 are addressed. And it was really so nice to learn so much more in a sequel and not to be left hanging quite as much.

The only thing I’m still aching to know more about is the magic involved in the creation of the rooms. And I’m seriously hoping that a book 3 is in the works!

Overall, this book was nothing but fun! Between the art heists, the surveillance cameras, the art, the history, the mystery, and the adventures, there never really was a moment I felt capable of putting the book down. This gets a 10/10 from me.

The Essence by Kimberly Derting

So, I actually made my friends wait in my heated car, while I ran into Barnes and Noble, the night this came out. As I was parking, one of my friends said, “I thought she was kidding about a late night bookstore run.” My friends who have known me longer were like, “We knew she wasn’t kidding.” I seriously don’t understand my need to buy books the day they come out, particularly when I cannot even get to them for a while…This one I made time for immediately. I absolutely loved book 1, The Pledge (read that review here).

And as soon as my friends had gone home, I started this book…It hasn’t gotten as good of reviews as book 1 has, but I actually think I enjoyed it more than book 1. [I am about to spoil some of book 1, so don’t read this review if you haven’t finished the first book yet.] It begins shortly after the first book finishes. Charlie is now queen, after “defeating” the last queen at the end of book 1. No one knows, except possibly her younger sister, that the evil essence of the old queen is still in Charlie. Yet, ever since Charlie made the much-feared oath in book 1, she has had a glow, literally. She glows like a beacon, and whenever a certain revolutionary guy kisses her, she glows even more.

I know that sounds corny, but it actually didn’t bother me. It felt more like an X-Men thing and less like a Twilight sparkle thing, somehow. Any way, the world outside the castle is rather mixed up. Not everyone is okay with the changes Charlie has made. While people seem to be pretty down with getting rid of public execution, laws for executions, and law prohibiting free speech, not everyone is cool with attending schools with people who were once known to be of a lower class.

The people who used to be the higher class are still prejudiced of the lower classes. And the lower classes are still afraid to look everyone in the eye (because the punishment for this used to be death). There are many assassination attempts on Charlie. And the person heading the assassination attempts and rounding up other new policy haters is Charlie’s best friend’s father. Brook is now actually in charge of Charlie’s army and security. And it’s hard for Brook sometimes to always have to work one step ahead of her father.

This book, like the first one, has it all: politics, languages, super powers, pissed off society, revolutions, assassination attempts, kidnappings, rescues, adventures and journeys, royalty, balls, mystery, explosions, school shootings, and plenty of death. At the opening of the first school to accept students of all classes/languages, Charlie goes to make her first public/glowing speech. And while monitoring the school’s first day, she is simultaneously betrayed by someone close to her and also partially to blame for the deaths of many innocent children. Brook’s father brought in guns and bombs to the school, killing anyone protecting Charlie and any kids who got in the way.

Around the time of that school day, Charlie is invited to a summit of sorts for all of the queens of the realm, and because she cares about her people (probably more than they do for her), she wants to build good relations with other queens to form trades and better communication. Unfortunately for Charlie, trouble follows her everywhere. There’s not a ton of romance in this one because Charlie and Max are separated for a lot of this book, and I was totally okay with this. The romance was sort of the one thing that bothered me about book 1. It all just happened too quickly for me. And this one was all about Charlie telling Max she wasn’t ready for marriage yet. She wanted to get used to being a queen first and learning things for herself before going there, and I loved her so much more for this decision!

On top of the constant action, suspense, and danger, there’s also the whole thing about Charlie battling with the essence of the old queen. There are some serious Joker-from Batman-type crazy moments where Charlie wakes up in the hallways shaking and screaming. The old queen is definitely still there, and she most certainly makes her presence known at the summit, when a certain immortal man from her past shows up. Poor Charlie finds herself so drawn to another man because its who the old queen loves. And the inklings of a light triangle start to form.

There’s a little history about the queen/essence that I found fascinating too! I seriously love everything about that storyline. I also loved getting some other characters’ point of views, like Brook’s. I loved how strong and loyal a friend Brook was. I seriously would want her to lead my army too.

I loved seeing other realms than the one realm we saw in book 1! I loved meeting the other queens, and guessing at what their supernatural abilities were. There’s secret passages, murders, and assassination attempts throughout the whole book, including the parts at the summit. And I was never bored, ever. The ending was pretty epic, and I have no idea how I will wait for book 3.

There was one little thing that did get to me though. Did no one really expect anything that whole time? I mean the girl would wake up screaming at someone to get out (to herself…) And she glowed…Did no one really put two and two together and think that the glow was because of the old queen? I mean they all saw her take the oath…I feel like that wasn’t believable and there were just two many smart friends/allies to be that dumb. At least one person should have suspected something.

Overall though, this didn’t annoy me that much. I loved this book. The characters, story, suspense, and world-building were just so wonderful! The bad parts of the romance in book one weren’t in here and I was so grateful. And I’m dying for a third installment already! I give this a 10/10. Kimberly Derting needs to just always keep writing YA books. Seriously, I love all of her things!

A Good Week in Books (39)

I had a very light book week this week. That is totally fine with me though because my TBR piles are just slightly ridiculous. And I plan on doing a January new book splurge soon because a million titles release this month, and I like need all of them...I won one book from the wonderful Christina at A Reader of Fictions! And I received one new title on Net Galley.

Won:

Just One Day by Gayle Forman (Thank you, Christina!)

From Net Galley:

Cinders and Sapphires by Leila Rasheed (1/22/13 –Thank you, Disney Book Group!)

How was your week in books?

Team Human by Justine Larbalestier and Sarah Rees Brennan

So, I was kind of expecting to be blown away with this one. Sarah Rees Brennan’s other book, Unspoken, was my favorite book of 2012. Justine Larbalestier wrote a series (Magic or Madness) that I was slightly obsessed with as a teen, not to mention her involvement in my favorite YA short story collection, Zombies Vs. Unicorns. And then I read that this was supposed to be a YA vampire parody, and well I’d been anticipating its release for a while.

Maybe my expectations were a little too high going in, especially considering the mixed reviews I’ve already read for this one. I had fun reading this one, for sure; it just was nowhere near as funny or as wonderful as I expected it to be.

It’s about Mel, a girl who lives in a city that’s rather segregated. Part of the city, made up of shades, is where the vampires roam, and the other part is where the scared humans live. While a lot of humans are scared or prejudiced against vampires, like Mel is (though she denies it), there is a general law and understanding between the two. For starters, vampires cannot feed off of any unwilling humans. Also, no one under the age of 18 can be turned into a vampire.

There’s sort of this mutual tolerance of each other. The vampires bring in a lot tourism to the humans. And the humans don’t mind being studied and written about by the vampires. The tolerance and the laws most likely have a lot to do with the fact that in this world, 2 out of every 10 people who decide to be turned into a vampire die. Part of this is because of the whole zombie thing. About half of the failed attempts result in zombification. As a result of past mistakes, it has been learned that zombies spread their disease really fast and the only way to prevent mass disease spread and death is to kill a zombie immediately.

Mel is a tough character. She fences for fun, hangs out with her exes like it’s no big deal, helps solve all her friends’ problems, and seriously has no problem hitting a guy when something is out of line. Everything changes for her when Francis, a vampire, begins to attend her school, and her classic novel-reading best friend becomes enamored. The book then becomes all about Mel trying to convince Cathy to stay away from the heartbreaking undead.

Too bad for Mel, it soon becomes clear that Francis returns Cathy’s feelings. Though, Mel believes his feelings are to due more with a book Francis is writing about love than about his actual feelings. One of Mel’s other best friends is going though her own vampire problem. Her father has left her and her mom alone, without even a note (besides a later text message), to run away with a vampire woman client of his. This friend’s mother is the school principal, and Mel decides to investigate things when she sees how poorly her principal reacts to Francis. A principal should never be afraid of a student, should they? Why admit them to begin with?

Before Mel knows it, it’s not about keeping Cathy away from Francis so much, as it is about keeping Cathy human. Cathy wants to become a vampire so she can spend the rest of eternity with Francis, after only knowing him a few weeks. The two friends’ stories connect and Mel has a lot of questions to ask herself about what matters most. All this is happening of course, while she meets a boy (human for the moment) of her own. And while she teaches Kit (who grew up with vampires) about what it means to be human, Kit teaches the stubborn Mel, about the goodness of vampires.

This book has zombies, vampires, fencing, the beach, hidden caves, lot of rats (literally), high school drama, and a lot of charm! I was however, expecting it to be funnier (being a parody). Mel has plenty of good one-liners, and a collection of undead jokes up her sleeve, but there are only so many times one can hear the same jokes over and over. There are only so many times I can read about the importance of smiling and laughing, and how vampires can’t do it. Seriously, I got it. And frankly, I can see why Mel’s bestie would get so pissed. Saying the same thing over and over again doesn’t get someone to change their mind. The repetitiveness just makes someone need violence. Seriously.

Cathy deciding on an eternity with someone after a few weeks was a good parody laugh out loud moment for me. But other than that, I didn’t see a lot of parody, or at least anything that really stood out. All vampires always are written to be like Francis, and his character was actually just too predictable and boring for me (though I guess this was the point). Maybe I was hoping for some more in-your-face/obnoxious parody and less of the subtle, small connections each character/event has had to other characters/events.

I did love Mel and all of her friends. And I loved how they weren’t as wealthy as the teen characters in most other YA books. They spent their allowances on burgers, and most of them couldn’t afford a car. This made them all the more believable. I also loved the phone conversations Mel had with her sister. Family and friends were so important to this main character and this made her more real too. I loved Kit and how sarcastic he was. Everything with him though was a little too predictable too.

I was kind of hoping for less predictability and more hilarity. I’m not saying parodies can’t be serious. I just thought this one was a little too serious. The authors did a fantastic job with the world building and the characters. Maybe the problem was in the marketing of this book because if it were just to be a regular, paranormal book, I’d probably have enjoyed it a lot more. I give it a 7 /10 .

Waiting on Wednesday (28)

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Breaking the Spine that allows bloggers to share which books we are most anticipating.

This week, I am waiting on Dance of the Red Death by Bethany Griffin (4/23/13):

Description on Goodreads:

In Dance of the Red Death, Araby’s world is in shambles—betrayal, death, disease, and evil forces surround her. She has no one to trust. But she finds herself and discovers that she will fight for the people she loves, and for her city.

Her revenge will take place at the menacing masked ball, though it could destroy her and everyone she loves…or it could turn her into a hero.

With a nod to Edgar Allan Poe, Bethany Griffin concludes her tragic and mysterious Red Death series with a heroine that young adult readers will never forget.

So, this sort of seems like the worst description ever….Absolutely nothing is given away about what happens in book 2. I feel like the description was written by someone who hasn’t read it yet. But, it doesn’t matter to me. I just loved the first book. It was so dark and unique, and I absolutely cannot wait to get my hands on this sequel. I also love how well this book cover goes with the first one. It definitely has a Poe feel to its image as well as its story.

What are you waiting on this week?

A Good Week in Books (38)

So, I had a crazy, awesome week with all my best friends in town! And I have one best friend here with me for the next 3 months because she’s interning at the University of Chicago. 2013 has already had one fantastic start! I also have had a rather decent book week too.

I received one book in the mail for my library (I already own it). I bought four really reduced priced books at my favorite Chicago used bookstores! And then I also purchased one brand new book that just came out this week! All of my books this week look super good!

 
Cinder by Marissa Meyer (going to my library! Thanks, Macmillan)
The Lost Girl by Sangu Mandanna (Looks so amazing!)
Black City by Elizabeth Richards (This one has kind of bad reviews, but it just looks so pretty…)
Before I go to Sleep by S.J. Watson (the manager at my old bookstore convinced me to read this one a long time ago, and it helped that I found it for two dollars yesterday. Also, it will be one of my few adult books that I will probably read this year)
The Essence by Kimberly Derting (!!!)
Under my Hat by Jonathan Strahan (This is a collection of stories by some awesome YA authors all writing magic!)

BLOG TOUR: Elder by Raine Thomas

I am so excited to be a part of another blog tour for Raine Thomas! I literally jumped up and down when the wonderful author, herself, contacted me to be a part of it! I have super enjoyed this entire series.

Review of Book 1
Review of Book 2

Review of Elder (book 3):

The first book centered on Tate, and the second book was more about Sophia. This third one is mostly about Clara Kate (CK). I was so excited to learn more about this character, because she always sounded so amazing before. She has a lot of Tate’s bravery, but also a lot of Sophia’s intelligence. Any way, her sad love story was always so interesting to me, so I was more than ready to be able to delve into her story!

When CK was in the human realm, she fell in love with Ini-herit (also known as Harry), but when the two returned home, Ini-herit couldn’t remember being in love. He’s actually known for not having/showing much of any emotion at all. And poor CK can barely be in the same room with him. Unfortunately for her though, it seems she is connected to him all the time, along with the rest of the crew of eight destined to find the scroll pieces.

For another Estilorian to become an Elder, all three scroll pieces need to be found. CK, Ini-herit, Tate, Sophia, Tiege, Quincy, Ariana, and Zacharias are all in a race to find the last scroll piece before the wrong Estilorians do. No one wants the scroll to get into the wrong hands, particularly into the hands of those who have murdered, tortured, and attacked loved characters from previous books.

Unlike the last book that began in safety, this book begins right in the middle of a capture! Poor Tate and Ariana are actually in a cage in the beginning! Between the escapes, rescue scenes, flying, fighting, and mind-reading, there really was never a dull moment here! This book also still has all of the wonderful charm, romance, and world building of the first two books! And add to that a wonderful masquerade scene, a scary fall from an insane height, a surprise pregnancy, more avowals, more ceremonies, and more politics, and frankly what’s not to love?

The characters never have it easy. They seem to only escape one capture to be forced into another one. But just as so much hardship is faced, so is a lot of new, positive discoveries about elders, memories, and love. I won’t say if Ini-herit gets his memories back, but I will say there is a whole ton of romantic tension between him and CK.

All of the characters are again pushed to their limits to do what they need to do to protect their loved ones. I loved watching everyone’s reactions to Zacharias change. I loved the sizzling romance between all the couples too! I loved all the scenes about CK in the human realm. The ending scene with the scroll, the elders, and the final decision, pretty much had me biting my nails in anticipation! Everything tied together so nicely in this final installment. And I really felt like the majority of my questions about Estilorians were answered, particularly my ones about the Mercesti and the Elders.

The ending might have been a little too perfect. The bad people got what was coming to them. The good people got what they deserved. And everyone had to work together to accomplish the ultimate ending. It was a little too fairy-tale ending for me. And don’t get me wrong. I’d probably be mad if things ended poorly for my favorite characters. It’s just that these books are filled with some torment, torture, and death, and I thought the fairy tale ending was a little too happy to be believable enough.

Overall though, I’m so pleased to get so many answers! I love how everything tied together. I loved the romance, the characters, the setting, and the action! I couldn’t get enough of CK and Ini-herit. And the book maintained all of it’s humor and charm from before. The ending might have been a little too good to be believable; however, deep down, I’m glad that everything ended the way it did. I give it a 9/10.

About Raine Thomas:

Raine Thomas is the award-winning author of a series of YA fantasy/romance novels about the Estilorian plane, including the Daughters of Saraqael trilogy and the Firstborn trilogy. She is a proud member of Romance Writers of America and is a contributing blogger to The Writer's Voice. When she isn’t planning weddings, writing or glued to social networking sites, she can usually be found on one of Florida’s beautiful beaches with her husband and daughter or crossing the border to visit with her Canadian friends and relatives.

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Raine Thomas is also hosting a giveaway! She is giving away one crazy, awesome prize pack, and you can enter the rafflecopter below:

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