Reaction to... Of Beast And Beauty by Stacey Jay

"Beauty is wherever you find it, and Beast is there when you need to defend it."

My God, man. What an incredible story. I deliver that to you first, daring to hope that it'll carry to you the simple awe I feel packed in that one statement. Within the many genres this story fits, Jay has done daring, beautiful things with it that make it one of those unparalleled stories you have a hard time expressing your gratitude for. What this woman has done with a story that never really spoils in the retelling of it surpasses all that come to mind; I absolutely love every infinitesimal piece of this unexpected tale.

Stacey Jay writes like a lavish storyteller, every sumptuous word and beautiful phrase not added for flourish but to better paint the picture she wishes you to see more than read. Her writing broke this world open and let me into every stone, every rose, every scale until I was as wrapped around it as the dome which wraps around the city of Yuan, where live the ancient gods and cursed men who come into play.

"In the beginning was the darkness and in the darkness was a girl, and in the girl was a secret. The secret was as old as the cracked cobblestone streets of Yuan, as peculiar as the roses that bloom eternally within the domed city's walls, as poisonous as forgotten history and the stories told in it's place."

A world's spirit rendered into two, a curse caging cities in their corruption. Of Beast and Beauty is about acceptance, hard realities, a falling city, greed, and a love that can save all things. If a boy and a girl from both ways of life can look beyond themselves and where they came from and love each other truly, the curse that demands sacrifice in the domed city of Yuan, that starves the clawed Desert People, and has them turning on each other, will be lifted. And unbeknownst to the change they could bring, a queen whose power has been stifled and a warrior desperate to bring hope to his people are set on a path to restore balance to the planet their ancestors disturbed and damaged.

Full of hate, fear, and suspicion, Isra and Gem are the perfect candidates for a bout of forbidden, torturous, nonsensical love. Their struggles, their reluctance, their mutual shock over the lack of disgust that should be there is lived through so perfectly by them so that you're caught in this emotional torrent of hope, uncertainty, nerves, and unbeatable determination. The glorious transition from friends onward isn't painfully slow, but just slow enough to be right. I could bathe, burrow, and drown in their touches and looks, love and despair all day. All night for that matter, because I haven't had a bleeding ounce of sleep since I awoke at ten this morning (note: it's 4:30am now).

"For the first time, she doesn't smell like roses. She smells like cactus milk--clean and salty and of the desert, like my people--and I suddenly wonder if she would taste like all the girls I've kissed in my life. There were other girls before... I always assumed there would be more, but I never thought...
Even a moment ago when I...
I didn't think... imagine... that she might...
A part of me still refuses to believe it, but another part knows what a girl wants when her fingers linger too long on a boy's mouth, and it knows better than to hesitate. So I don't. I pull her hand away, and risk a kiss."

The miracle of them combined with their world and the way in which its written, as well as reminding me a touch of Under the Never Sky, proves Of Beast and Beauty by Stacey Jay has no faults with me. It is undoubtedly one of my favorites of this year.

Hardcover / 400 pgs / July 23rd 2013 / Delacorte Press / Goodreads / $17.99

I received an e-galley of this from Random House via Edelweiss.

Reaction to... The Bitter Kingdom by Rae Carson

TO UNCOVER OR BE COVERED:
I know some people don’t dig the bejeweled covers with the model at their center, but I think they’re all really stunning. It could be for reasons as shallow as they’re sparkly or it could be more obscure than that even to me.

SUMMARY: The epic and deeply satisfying conclusion to Rae Carson's Fire and Thorns trilogy. The seventeen-year-old sorcerer-queen will travel into the unknown realm of the enemy to win back her true love, save her country, and uncover the final secrets of her destiny.

Elisa is a fugitive in her own country. Her enemies have stolen the man she loves in order to lure her to the gate of darkness. As she and her daring companions take one last quest into unknown enemy territory to save Hector, Elisa will face hardships she's never imagined. And she will discover secrets about herself and her world that could change the course of history. She must rise up as champion-a champion to those who have hated her most. Riveting, surprising, and achingly romantic, Rae Carson has spun a bold and powerful conclusion to her extraordinary trilogy.

You guys. This is absolutely… …

…

Well, I was going to say absolutely my most anticipated sequel release of the year but then I started thinking about Thankless In Death, Storming the Castle, The Fiery Heart, Daylighters, and I could go on and I started to think that when I get all rambunctious and excited my memory short-circuits and I start spouting untruths akin to blasphemy.

Even my cat, Sam, is giving me a look that says



Anyway, I can barely remember what I wrote in the message to Harper Collins to convince them to let me read this book (probably that excitement-makes-my-brain-go-kaput thing I mentioned) but I know it probably alluded to willing enslavement among other unsavory behaviors if only I COULD HAVE THIS BOOK.

They sure know how to read beneath all that flowery language and abundance of compliments and found the desperation I was doing little to hide AND I THANK THEM.

WHAT HAD HAPPENED WAS:
I read THE BITTER KINGDOM in April, read THE CROWN OF EMBERS in October of 2012 and I can still tell you what this series is about. That’s skillz, my brethren, so believe it, fear it. What? I meant Rae Carson. Surely you know I have more modesty.

THE GIRL OF FIRE AND THORNS introduces an insecure, unhappy, god-chosen Elisa who’s not comfortable in the shoes of “the chosen one” let alone in her own skin. She’s malleable and is pushed, pulled, toyed with and has no clue as to how much untapped potential and power she truly possesses, which, by far, makes the brightest spot of the series—her growth and transition into one of the most formidable, powerful heroines I’ve ever loved. Her journey to that inner strength begins in GoFaT (funny isn’t it!), climbs in THE CROWN OF EMBERS, and makes the distance at a profound height in THE BITTER KINGDOM. Her opponents range from terrifying pale-skinned magic users to sly dark-skinned country and noblemen, and within that are political disarray and a mysterious prophecy to take on as well. Why wouldn’t you want to read a series in which a girl, through personal struggles and vast accumulation of loyalties, triumphs against them all?

WHERE WE GO:
I’m a character girl all the way down to my underwear (my feet are a little undecided) but even I can appreciate the depth and complications of the story line. Carson takes her beautiful eruption of a fantasy world—so vivid, startling, and well-excavated—and wields it in EVERY INCH of the plot that has spanned the trilogy, filling all the holes at the right moments with the secrets of her world she’s left buried in the desert of Joya d’Arena and under the cold stones of the bitter kingdom of Invierno and calls them to rise. Like a darn pro and I’ve found her machinations of torture against us readers brutal and delightful.



Yeah, probably.

WHO WE ARE WITH:
Storm chuckles. "Queen, chosen one, horse thief. Let it never be said that you are not accomplished."

Oh, God, this review wasn’t supposed to be so long, but I can’t not divulge on each amazing fictional specimen on every page of THE BITTER KINGDOM! Elisa is undoubtedly one of my favorite heroines of all time, and even to my surprise her growth STILL CONTINUES. And it’s marvelous and beautiful and, gosh darn, I’m so freaking proud. Her acceptance of everything she’s become, all that she was, and what she still is is disarmingly FEELS-RIDDEN. But, man, her supporting cast is exactly that, determinedly supportive and fiercely loyal, and deserves as much mention as my keyboard and your attention will allow.

I think what draws these people to Elisa is her willingness to forgive and a power that leaves them awe-stricken. Belen, once traitor always a friend, is on my FAVORITE ASSASINS LIST, and deserves nothing less than the whole heart of Mara, Elisa’s BAMF lady-in-waiting. Then, there’s forever room, OBVS, for Hector, a deep-in-the-bones good, honorable man, friend, and so much more than I could EVER have hoped for my chick. Storm, an unexpected, grudgingly loyal ally, is surprisingly my favorite person for comic relief. Surprising because of his usual stoic nature, but everything that comes out of his mouth is caresses to my very receptive ears. And the newest addition of Mula/Red just caps the awesomeness on these guys. Another lovable child added to the cast, with so much courage and strength and lovable qualities, it makes me glow better than the biggest baddest glowworm that Elisa, essentially, has found a son in Rosario and perhaps a daughter in this fantastic little girl.

She has been with us for such a short time, yet she was willing to risk her life for our cause. "Weren't you scared?" I ask.
"Yes. But it was a good scared."
"There's a good kind?"
"Oh, yes." Her voice drops so low I have to strain to hear. "Orlin made me scared all the time. Scared I would starve. Scared I would get too cold. Scared he would hurt me again or get so mad that he'd throw me to one of the men. That was nasty bad scared." She pauses, scuffing her boots against the floor. "But you never hit me, even though I'm your slave."
"You're not my--"
"And you always feed me. You call me a true name. Now, when I'm scared it's not because of meanness. And today I chose my own scared. It's always a good scared, when you get to pick it for your own self."

THE LITTLE THINGS:

1. Hector’s %(*&^$DGG)^ to Elisa’s &%$@DF@$
2. The Sexy Nervous Bedchamber Scene
3. Mula Becomes Red Sparkling Stone
4. Red Picks Her Own Scared
5. Mara Says No to Belen and Smiles
6. Everything Said By He Who Wafts Gently with the Wind Becomes as Mighty as the Thunderstorm
7. And especially… everything

"You look beautiful," Alodia says.
I startle at the compliment. Then I smile. "I'm beautiful to the one person who matters."
She nods. "*&^^&$FGD's mouth will drop open when he sees you."
"I hope so. But I meant me. I'm beautiful to me."

What more do you need me to say? I’ve told you ALL OF IT. Every ounce of feelings in my overburdened body has been poured into this review. If, after ALL THIS, you don’t read this book I will slay you with whatever is at hand (I don’t know how much damage a keyboard will do, but I’m friggin’ willing to find out).

Hardcover / 400 pgs / Aug 27th 2013 / Greenwillow Books / Goodreads / $17.99

I received a copy that I got in April from Harper Teen via Edelweiss.

Reaction to... Angelfall by Susan Ee

TO UNCOVER OR BE COVERED:
At first, I didn’t think much of the cover of ANGELFALL by Susan Ee but after closer inspection, adjusting the ol’ eyeglasses and such, I realized the cover may not be flashing its stunning qualities, but perpetuates a subtle draw that has something to do with how perfectly fitting to the story it is.

SUMMARY: It's been six weeks since angels of the apocalypse descended to demolish the modern world. Street gangs rule the day while fear and superstition rule the night. When warrior angels fly away with a helpless little girl, her seventeen-year-old sister Penryn will do anything to get her back.

Anything, including making a deal with an enemy angel.

Raffe is a warrior who lies broken and wingless on the street. After eons of fighting his own battles, he finds himself being rescued from a desperate situation by a half-starved teenage girl.

Traveling through a dark and twisted Northern California, they have only each other to rely on for survival. Together, they journey toward the angels' stronghold in San Francisco where she'll risk everything to rescue her sister and he'll put himself at the mercy of his greatest enemies for the chance to be made whole again.

As ya’ll may already know I consider Small Review to be one of the most outrageously mag bloggers out there in the known blogoverse and so any recommendations she’s bestowed onto me, I immediately comply. No, I slide across tiles to my desk chair and reach for the mouse in desperation wherein Amazon becomes my sole focus for the REST OF LIFE that day. Because I have to buy that book, no matter WHAT it may be. In this case, ANGELFALL is her latest personal recommendation and, well, now you know why I’m reviewing this now…

WHAT HAD HAPPENED WAS:
The apocalypse has come, truly beginning when the angel Gabriel was shot down, displaying mankind’s lack of welcome to the say the least! Since that time, humans unknowingly entered a losing bid in the war—if you could call it that—that followed.

The streets are deserted mostly in the day, and then there are those who risk the wrath of the angels to prowl at night. Gangs, people-eaters, demons and angels—neither of whom are good—and nighttime is perhaps more dangerous than being seen in the light. But Penryn must take that risk, alongside her family of two more—a schizo mommy dearest and a paralyzed younger sister. And when her dangerous mission loses her all she loves and protects, she means to do all that she can to restore her family—even if it means touching shoulders with an Angel, one who’s seen few joys himself (which he demos with bountiful sarcasm!).

WHERE WE GO:
THIS is exactly what I want a post-apocalyptic place where angels be beasting to look like! It’s surreal to us because, had you not had Walking Dead to refer to, could you really perfectly picture a seemingly deserted world, where humans are barricaded indoors and predators skulk in all the dark corners? Ee creates a vivid darkness in her world that translates beyond just what the scenery looks like but into the very manner of Penryn. It’s survive, flight, or die in this new world, and trust is as broken as the telly. Our world is dilapidated, hungry, and frightening, where the mad run amok and the angels prey from overhead. It’s quite perfect, right upfront. It even has questing… QUESTING.

But that perfection continues as we explore each avenue of this new reality on the journey toward restoration of what Penryn has lost, and what Raffe, the reluctant companion Angel, seeks to gain. Hope is dim, resistance is awakening, and through it all there’s this bone-chilling terror of the unknown, which has gained in numbers since normalcy took the right out of town.

WHO WE ARE WITH:
But, oh, angel boys, all that dark and dismal stuff, as delightful as it really is, isn’t as AMAZING as every hilarious syllable that slips between our two reluctant companions on this unexpected quest. Raffe isn’t a jerkface, not really. He’s impressively sarcastic and lickably corded ALL UP ON his person, yes, but he’s not your typical bad boy blah blah blah. He’s sweet, in his way, and honorable. Blunt, can’t forget blunt. There’s just something so addictive about his character! Hook him up with Penryn—not literally, yet, I’m afraid—and she’s a little less intense, a little more prone to smiling and thinking of things other than the world’s unending doom and her torn family. But one thing I absolutely dig about my girl Penryn here is that she neither loses her tenacity nor her practicality, even if it makes her cruel or unhappy. She has a clear-cut goal, one that won’t be deterred even by a badass angel with a tendency toward crankiness and humor at the same time.

THE LITTLE THINGS:

1. Penryn Kicks Ass All The Time
2. Penryn Can Save Herself And Maybe Somebody Else Too
3. Angel Soothes All The Nightmares
4. Angel Mangles Scorpion Monstrosity
5. Angel Delivers Penryn *MEGA SWOON!*

I’m kind of mad. ANGELFALL by Susan Ee has pretty much ruined all other angel books for me, because—Unearthly aside—I don’t think I’ve ever loved a book like this more. It’s how each character kind of needs a *HUGGLE-GLOMP*, how the world can be so bad and yet Ee beautifully incorporates hope and pride in mankind. So my expectations for books with twisty angel lore have reached the glass ceiling, I’m afraid. Poor angels. But, lucky me, Ee is writing another one. Now, if she could only make the release date, I don’t know, tomor—EFF THAT—right now then we’d be all good under the hood.

Paperback / 284 pgs / Feb 14th 2012 / Feral Dream / Goodreads / $6.99

I bought a copy from Amazon because of Small Review.

Jellicoe Road Is Where It's At

Marchetta doesn't even need to tell you that it's paradise. (More)

Review: The Near Witch

The Near Witch 
by Victoria Schwab

Add it to Goodreads?
Release Date: August 2, 2011
Publisher: Hyperion
Age Group: Young Adult
Source: Library Check-Out
Rating: Special Shelf
Good for 2011 Debut Author Challenge
About the Book:

The Near Witch is only an old story told to frighten children.

If the wind calls at night, you must not listen. The wind is lonely, and always looking for company.

And there are no strangers in the town of Near.

These are the truths that Lexi has heard all her life.

But when an actual stranger—a boy who seems to fade like smoke—appears outside her home on the moor at night, she knows that at least one of these sayings is no longer true.

The next night, the children of Near start disappearing from their beds, and the mysterious boy falls under suspicion. Still, he insists on helping Lexi search for them. Something tells her she can trust him.

As the hunt for the children intensifies, so does Lexi’s need to know—about the witch that just might be more than a bedtime story, about the wind that seems to speak through the walls at night, and about the history of this nameless boy.

Part fairy tale, part love story, Victoria Schwab’s debut novel is entirely original yet achingly familiar: a song you heard long ago, a whisper carried by the wind, and a dream you won’t soon forget.

It starts with a crack, a sputter, and a spark. The match hisses to life...

This book made me feel small and innocent again, like before the illusion of Santa was shattered, like Lexi's younger sister Wren, tiny and gullible. Because before school and homework and college applications, and all that other real world crap, this took me back to that time when my mom and dad would sit with me at night and read to me the requisite bedtime story. The writing, gosh, how can I explain it? It's poetic and dreamy and fairy tale-like. It flows beautifully and feels almost as if you're floating in a dream. The way the setting is depicted is just like that - surreal and immersive. The descriptions are lush with fantastical imagery, so that you're sitting there completely in awe of Schwab's writing ability.

The Near Witch truly didn't disappoint me in any way. Not in the heroine, Lexi, another Serious Supergirl with an HoG and such wisdom and open-mindedness. Her courage, her sense of duty, and loyalty and love for her family is just remarkable really. The fact that her well-loved father is dead, her mother's a ghost of a person, and her uncle doesn't believe in her, wishes to hold her back and do the protecting, does not deter her from learning about the enigmatic stranger that suddenly pops up in the town, or from searching for the vanishing children. Despite the consequences, she befriends and allows this stranger to help her hunt for the answers. Her unflinching trust in him - Cole - endeared her to me.

The mystery of the disappearing children, I thought, was NOT going to hold the book throughout. But I was wrong. The plot is eerie and intense, and it keeps you suspended in suspense. As you read on, you grow as hungry for the truths of the town's history and the secrets kept by the town witches as Lexi. It becomes imperative, because Schwab masterfully wraps Lexi's feelings in beautiful packaging so that you get to know everyone in the town, and feel sorry for the children's parents. I felt the sudden loss of the children strongly because of this, because of Lexi's firm connection to everyone there. And it made me worry all the more for Lexi's younger sister, because she could be kidnapped next at any moment. Lexi's love for Wren is palpable, and you don't want anything to happen to her.

I got so FREAKING ANGRY at the townspeople for their unwillingness to believe in and listen to Lexi, for their close-mindedness toward Cole and the Thorne sisters, and for the lies and premature blame placed on innocent people. How and why their children begin disappearing from their beds in the night is connected to this quick-to-blame attitude within the town. And that's another reason why I found this story to be so, well, beautiful. Because, like with all children's fairy tales, there's a lesson to be gleaned from this book. The Near Witch isn't just another book; it has strong themes of acceptance and delivers that age-old, sometimes trite saying, "don't judge a book by it's cover," in a non-preachy and breath-stealing manner. It's timeless, this story.

And the romance is like the cherry on top of a perfect sundae of epic and magical proportions. Cole is sad and in pain and basically introverted. He's not an Agressive Alpha in the least, but he falls under the Sentimental Sweetheart category, which I love nearly as much. And, to me, he fits in perfectly with this mystifying tale. The attraction that sparks between he and Lexi is undeniable and evident, but sweetness can be found in Lexi's prying for details of his life. They swap anecdotes about their lives - well, Lexi does more of the talking - and exchange personal, heartwrenching memories. I wanted to physically reach into this book and give them bone-crushing hugs. They brought each other out of their darkest periods and believed in each other, working together seamlessly to save the children of Near. There's nothing more heartwarming than that, watching them press forward in spite of the towering obstacles.

The Near Witch is like an old bedtime story to be passed down - both original and familiar - or a cherished fairy tale to bring you out of the gloom and believe in happy endings, no matter how bad things get. I want to clutch this story to my chest and hug it, reread it, and then share the magic of it with everyone around me. The Near Witch is memorable and will stay with me for, I imagine, a very long time.

Thought up by the lovely Small Review, Special Shelf books are unforgettable books that make you emote in extraordinary ways, hold beautiful stories inside and characters you will forever be in love with... (My Rating System In-Depth )

"I've always been your friend, Lexi. That will never change. Why can't we be more?"

I take a deep breath. The wild grass rolls away from me toward Near.

"Do you remember," I say over the growing wind, "when we were little, and we used to play those games, the spinning games?"

"Of course I remember. I always won."

"You always let go. You let go when you thought it would be funny, and the circle broke apart, and everyone fell down except you."

"It was just a game."

"But everything's a game to you, ***." I sigh. "All of it. And it's not about skinned knees anymore. You just want to win." (65)