Arch Enemy by Frank Beddor

Posted on July 4, 2011 by Michelle

Arch Enemy continues where Seeing Redd left off. Redd is in retreat after losing her imagination, Wondertropolis is dealing with unimaginative factions taking revenge on those that used to have imagination and Arch is finding out that he has more power now that Redd and Alyss are helpless.

What follows is the bittersweet climb from the ashes. Just like previous books in the series, Beddor delivers such poignant prose even while using nonsense words of Wonderland. I have been so happy with this trilogy that I would be happy to read Beddor’s future works as well. He manages to weave a tale of past mistakes catching up to his characters amid a world of whimsy. I cannot tell you how much I loved this book but it is on par with the last two.

We learn more of Redd’s past and her decent into black imagination. We get to go back to the real world and see the effects of lost imagination. Alyss has to contend with the other royal clans for power when she has none. And, as always, there is Dodge by her side his own turmoil forcing him into action.

The twists and turns in this book are not easy to guess but fit with overall story. I read it over the course of a day and was enthralled until the very end.

Seeing Redd by Frank Beddor

Posted on December 20, 2010 by Michelle

Frank Beddor captures the essence of bittersweet in Seeing Redd the sequel to The Looking Glass Wars. Wonderland needs cleaning up but Hatter goes missing only to return and disobey Alice. Arch, king of the Borderlands, is planning something pretends friendship to do it. And finally Redd. She haunts wonderland in every action the Queen takes and in the real world as well.

Alice’s journey is not yet done. She longs for the peacefulness she had in the real world and the friendship with Dodge from her childhood. However, she has neither. For a middle book, it keeps the attention and tension. Old characters revisited and mysteries from the first novel are solved. The new mysteries are presented in puzzle pieces which come together well at the end.

A combination of steampunk, and magic filled fantasy, Seeing Redd is a worthy sequel. Darker than the first where harsh realities seep into the fantastical dream of Wonderland.

The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan

Posted on May 17, 2010 by Michelle

I’m not a huge fan of Chris Columbus. He tends to dumb down his subject matter alot. So I didn’t have high hopes for Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief at all. And as we watched the movie our low expectations dropped even lower as we watched one of the stupidest movies of all time.

This made me pick up the book because every book I’ve read this touched or created from a Chris Columbus movie is 1000x smarter than his movie. I wasn’t disappointed. In Riordan’s book, Percy Jackson is 13 years old, troubled and in trouble. It gets worse when he finds out he’s a half blood, and even worse when he finds out who his father was. He is sent on a quest to clear his name and nearly doesn’t survive it. It was fun, scary and well written. Compare this with the movie:

Percy Jackson has something crazy happen to him at school once. So 18 year old Percy is taken to half blood camp by his mom (who gets herself kidnapped) after she tells him he’s the son of a god. After finding out he’s the perfect fighter, he and his friends run away to save his mom. But one of his not-friends gives him a map to find some pearls to get out of Hades once they get there.

It just kind of went downhill from there. So read book, skip the awful movie.

Princess Academy by Shannon Hale

Posted on October 6, 2009 by Michelle

In accordance with new FTC stupidity I Disclose: I bought this book at King Soopers. Aia threw a fit because it wasn’t a WITCH book. I paid with my debit card and I went through the self check out line cause I hate talking to Cashiers. I got seven paper cuts from the book, one of which bled on the page. I’m keeping this book and it will be filed under H for Hale…because I’m anal retentive about these things. I’d totally review your book if I got it for free but since I’m a normal person I have to pay for books. And because I’m in Debt Consolidation, I have to pay cash. If you buy the book through my Amazon link, I might get, like a penny. Maybe one day I can buy a book with it.

The Cinderella story that’s not. Shannon Hale’s tale about Miri, the clever mountain girl is endearing and just lovely. Miri is rounded up with rest of the village girls of Mount Eskel to attend a Princess Academy. Normally when priests choose the location of the current Prince’s bride they choose an area in the lowlands. The noble daughters are gathered up, a ball is thrown and the prince chooses. There are no nobles in the out-laying territory of Mount Eskel, the nobility must be created.

With a lesson in why education is key, the book brings home thoughts on family, home and life worth living.

Uglies by Scott Westerfeld

Posted on August 14, 2009 by Michelle

A fun book but a bit mixed on the metaphors.

My only dear god not again moment. The Smoke people just drink from the stream! The book keeps mentioning animals, so I assume there’s animals…therefore: STREAMS NOT SAFE.

Apparently you have to get giardia few times to get this.

But otherwise the actual story was kind of fun. Tally, an ugly in a world where everyone gets surgery to become pretty when their 16, is counting down the days till her 16th birthday. She wants to be pretty. It’s all she’s ever wanted.

But things never stay simple. Tally meets Shay, an ugly who wants to stay that way, at all costs.

What follows is a look at utopia vs. dystopia. We’re told how the city they are the bad guys for making everyone the same…but then you find out that they kept humans alive and saved the planet. When when get to the Smoke, they talk about freedom and individualism and how they have to live off the land, cut down trees but replenish. The characters are eventually convinced which side they want to be on (kind of) but it’s never really clear who really is bad. Or why smoke is bad. The themes of control vs freedom clash against humans vs planet in a way the leaves the reader muddled. The humans as free & destructive = true beauty is common in SciFi. But Uglies makes you feel guilty about it.

It’s a good book though. Filled with fun chases, daring tricks, and a little romance.

Through the Ice by Robert Kornwise and Piers Anthony

Posted on July 8, 2009 by Michelle

Written by Robert Kornwise, finished by Piers Anthony and published after Kornwise’s death, this young adult book is a simplified tale of a young man torn from his world to save another.

While well written, the story is simple. The main character, Seth, makes overly informed decisions, is extremely capable. He is pulled from his world to be come a chosen one, a person that must fight evil on his own terms. The appeal in this story is two fold. It was finished after the tragic death of the author, Kornwise, by Anthony (an author known for communicating with his readers) and that Kornwise was just a teenage boy at the time.

It could have been a better novel had Kornwise been given a chance to live. However, as it stands, the tale of Seth and his companions trying to defeat the evil in themselves as well as the evil that threatens all the worlds is fun and entertaining. The best of any book.

The Thief of Always by Clive Barker

Posted on June 8, 2009 by Michelle

The Thief of Always by Clive Barker is an imaginative children’s horror story in which 10 year-old Harvey is whisked away from his boring life by Rictus, the smiling demon. Rictus takes Harvey to the Holiday House, a place were a year equals a day and no one ever ages, really.

Frightening and fun this spooky bedtime story was fun to read both for myself and by daughter. Fully imagined, the world of Holiday House has its delights and it’s nightmares. I love exploring it.

Roomates by Emily Chase

Posted on April 23, 2007 by Michelle

Roommates is part of a girls series of books call Girls of Canby Hall. It’s a feel good, eloquent, positive affirmation for girls in boarding school.

Gag.

All I could think while reading the book is “Girls don’t talk like this”. This was written pre-Dawson’s Creek, so I couldn’t blame that show. Emily Chase is really Julie Garwood, an excellent mystery and romance author, but most of her books don’t feature children as children anyway.

Roommates had some echoes of a pretty romance, action and grace present in other Julie Garwood novels but it was too lacking character-wise, too upbeat and overly pink.

The Reptile Room by Lemony Snicket

Posted on March 16, 2006 by Michelle

The Reptile Room begins where “Book the First” left off. The Baudelaire Children (I have this yen to call them the twins, I don’t know why, since they are not) are on their way with Mr. Poe, the misguided executor of the Baudelair estate, to live with Uncle Montey, a snake scientist.

This is a happy time for the children though right away Snicket claims Montey will die (in case you were wondering Beatrice is still dead, as well as Josephine according to Snicket’s note to the publisher at the end). It is not long before Olaf, in the guise of Stephano the Assistant, finds the children. Again the majority of the book deals with how the children escape from Olaf, though they get some help from a friendly snake. Still it is not all good for the children, the ending is still bad. Be prepared to have a talk about death with your children. Rating: PG-13

Fuzzy Thoughts

Because, sometimes, it all comes out that way

Tag Archives: Young Adult