Tabula Rasa

Tabula Rasa by Kristen Lippert-Martin
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Wow. Just, wow. What a rush.

This book starts off with a bang and never lets up. It is a roller coaster ride that twists and turns and finally deposits you in a place you didn't expect.

Tabula Rasa means "a mind not yet affected by experiences." It is a fitting title. In this story, we meet Sarah as she's undergoing brain surgery. It is creepy and difficult not to feel the terrifying loss of control right along with her. She is a patient in a hospital, undergoing treatment which will enable her to rejoin society. The goal of the treatment is to erase memories, to give her a new start, a blank slate.

Turns out Sarah is also known as Angel, a nickname her mother gave her after finding her atop a tall building. Angel likes to climb, to be up high. And yet she has no memory of being up high, only the feelings that it evokes. This is true for several things she encounters through the course of the story - emotions associated with the thing, but no memory of the thing itself. At her foundation, Sarah doesn't even really know who she is.

Things start going awry when Angel gets back to her room. When she starts to hear things like explosions and gunfire, she finds that someone has provided a means for her escape. She takes it, and the action doesn't stop from then on. In fact, the plot is non-stop action, taking only a moment here and there for one character to sleep or recover from injury while another character works.

The characters here are believable and diverse. Angel as a protagonist is nicely balanced. She isn't drop-dead gorgeous, she's a bald hospital patient with metal clips in her head. She's compassionate but not to the point of stupidity or senseless martyrdom. She is resourceful without being a genius. And as things unfold, she gets angrier and angrier with good reason.

Pierce, whose name turns out to be Thomas, is a worthy companion. He is a no-nonsense hacker. Whether or not he's a genius is never really clear, but what is clear is that he's really smart. He errs on the side of caution but doesn't hold Angel back. Rather, he just steers her in the right direction. The two make a formidable team.

The secondary characters are interesting enough. Hodges makes a passable villain. But the real villain is the mystery and who's behind all the soldiers and guns. Other hospital patients are introduced with varying side effects of their treatments. It makes for a pretty crazy cast.

All this is set against a backdrop of intrigue, lots of things blowing up and being crushed and falling from great heights and being washed away. In a blizzard. It was hard not to shiver as I read this.

The plot is intricate but not difficult to follow. It unfolds amid all the action and things make sense in a timely fashion. There is the slightest hint of a romance, just a dash to make things interesting. And the witty dialogue between Angel and Thomas lightens things up and made me smile.

All in all, this was a page turner. I really couldn't put it down. It would make a terrific action movie. I'm rounding this one up from 4.5 stars.

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Plus One

Plus One by Elizabeth Fama
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This was not what I expected, both in good and in bad ways.

First off, that cover! The cover of this book lends itself to an epic romance full of sweetness and depth, even hints at tragedy. I think a lot of people will purchase the book based on the cover alone. It is gorgeous.

The basic premise of this book rests on the idea that in an effort to cure the Spanish Flu Epidemic of 1918, the US government divided the population into two groups: people who live and work during the day and people who live and work during the night. This set up a dystopian society where people who work at night, "Smudges," tend to get the blue collar jobs. The white collar jobs - and better living conditions all around - went to the "Days."

While I'm not sure how this was the answer to a flu epidemic, it did set the stage for an interesting society. Basically, half the population is on third shift. They handle circadian rhythms with drugs and the Smudges have an appreciation for the world after dark. It is a fascinating setup. Throw in Hour Guard police who have more power than they should and another societal subset called Nomas and there you have the makings of a solid dystopia. This is a backdrop that, despite its flaws, works. And although the actual world building was sparse, it was just a tiny bit over the brink of enough.

The characters here were not what I expected. Soleil is a girl who tosses authority over her shoulder carelessly. A Smudge, her family is slowly falling apart, leaving her alone. Her response is simply not to care what happens to her. We watch her change over the course of the book to a person who might consider that she does deserve a better life. She is never so jaded that she isn't willing to dig deep past her pride for tender feelings. Although full of false bravado, she really is a brave girl with a tender heart. There is no sweetness here.

D'Arcy is solid as a love interest, but I found him predictable. Ciel, Sol's brother, is unexpected, but more because we have only seen him through Sol's eyes. Gigi the Noma was tragic, but really just a more vivid version of Sol. I wish Jean, D'Arcy's father, had been more involved; he was a bit of reason and softness in a world full of edges. The whole cast worked relatively well against the backdrop. I never understood the point of Minister Paulsen, the supposed villain..

And this brings me to the plot. The idea that Sol wants to steal a baby is ok. But her reasoning is questionable and her methods are pretty much ridiculous, even unbelievable. This felt like simply a device to bring Sol and D'Arcy together. It just didn't make any sense. We move from that into various conspiracies and more kidnappings and endless questions about who was on whose side and who the bad guys really were. It was further complicated by the familiar element of having Sol do things we don't know about but that she does. Gigi's behaviour came out of nowhere. It all seemed like a convoluted way to paint the romance as doomed. Having said that, these are all elements that would make a good story. They just didn't gel for me.

I have to mention that while some would say that this was insta-love, I didn't find that to be the case. The flashbacks (and premise) of the romance were inventive and happened slowly. When Sol and D'Arcy do come together it seemed to happen naturally and in a timely fashion. And while they were attractive people, they were not drop-dead gorgeous. I appreciated the realism there.

Fama's writing is beautiful. The imagery she uses was vivid and easy to see in my mind's eye. The flashbacks and views of the national park were done so well that I felt I was there. I could feel the sun and see the moon. I could easily picture Gigi and the Nomas. The French gave the story a nice romantic flair.

Overall, this is a good story with great elements. The writing is beautiful, the characters are varied and the setting is interesting. If only the plot were less complicated and more believable, it would be a stunning book. I've rated it 3.5 stars rounded up to 4. And the best thing about it? I want to read more of this author's work. If that writing is combined with a good plot in her other works, they will be exceptional.



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The Forever Song

The Forever Song by Julie Kagawa
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is one fantastic end to a fantastic series.

The Blood of Eden series began with The Immortal Rules, wherein the main protagonist Allison Sekemoto becomes a vampire. This is a life she freely chooses, which is important: Immortal Rules explores Allison's journey to accept herself for what she has become. Several other characters are introduced as well; most notably they are Kanin, the master vampire who "turned" Allie, Zeke, the love interest, and Jackal, the comic relief and resident bad guy. These characters shine against a backdrop of a plague that has swept the former United States, enabling vampires to take charge and make all the rules. The basic plot follows a group of humans making their way to a haven called Eden, a protected island free from threats.

The second book, The Eternity Cure, introduces a very bad villain named Sarren. In this sequel Allie finds a new family of sorts in her vampire community. She continues to question her identity as Sarren raises a new threat - he intends to wipe out not just the humans, but everyone on the planet. New alliances are made between old enemies. The story ends on a horrific cliffhanger, and the thing about cliffhangers is simply this: that last book had better be amazing or readers are going to be disappointed, tainting their opinions of the entire series.

Kagawa has outdone herself with this conclusion. It is suspenseful, horrific, gory and unpredictable. It is at times endearing and romantic. The action really doesn't stop at all as the family of vampires hunt down Sarren, the psychopathic villain. And this guy is one bad dude, leaving an unrelenting trail of senseless, bloody massacre. Although the journey is clearly laid out, the scenes are full of unexpected action and traps set by the antagonist. The tension in the buildup to the story's climax never slackens; it builds like the foam on a glass of soda, overflowing just a bit before settling down. And along the way we are continually glimpsing into Allie's psyche and her observations of those around her.

There are no new characters introduced here; instead, we are able to watch the cast from the previous book as they change according to the events that happen. There is a lively banter between Allie and Jackal, which provides a lot of the comic relief. There are laughable moments as Kanin, the "blood father" of Allie and James, endures their childish bickering with dwindling patience. Jackal's character was never quite clear in terms of his motives, but his dry humour provided some much-needed comic relief.

All in all, things concluded perfectly. There were no loose ends, no wondering about what might happen beyond the scope of the story. This is the way a trilogy should end: hopeful, conclusive, and satisfying. Thank you Julie Kagawa - well done!



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Dream Girl

Dream Girl by S.J. Lomas


I received this from NetGalley for review. And in good conscience, I cannot recommend it. I gave up at 25%.

Where do I begin? There were problems everywhere. The premise was good, but from the outset it was just a disaster.

Christine, the main protagonist, is a young girl whose parents are moving to another state. This is going to require Christine to leave her friends, her school and her job. Granted, this is a difficult thing to ask of a girl who will be starting her senior year of high school in a completely new place. Christine's parents allow her to stay in her hometown for the summer, alone, continuing her job at a library until the fall when school starts. Christine's plan is to find a way to stay indefinitely.

Christine is only seventeen. And while many seventeen year old seniors are mature enough to live on their own, most are not. The first chapter begins with a tearful goodbye between Christine and her mother at an airport. This does not lend credibility to the idea that Christine's parents would be affable to the idea of her living on her own for her last year of high school.

Adding to this implausibility, Gabriel enters the scene. He is the great-looking guy who walks in as the new library employee. Within a few pages of meeting Christine, he hands her a copy of a short story he has written. He doesn't know her, has just met her, is acting kind of creepy and then asks her to comment on his creative work?

Gabriel's odd behavior is explained soon after, outlaying the premise of the story. He lives in dreams and now he's seen Christine in them. Are they awake? Are they dreaming? Why should I care?

Had this story began with more solid characters it might have worked. As it is, we are given contradictory ideas about who these people are. There are few indications that Christine is a capable, focused girl. Instead, she seems like a silly love-smitten airhead who is making a wild stab at a dream of independence. Gabriel is an angsty artist-type who apparently instantly loves Christine. Honestly, if this guy were real I'd be worried. And I'd stay far, far away from him.

Gabriel's stories don't make sense and neither do the dreams. Perhaps these are explained as the book progresses. Sadly, I didn't care enough to know if they were explained or not. This was not a plot that made sense. This was not even a plot.

This is a book that seems like a first draft. The premise is good; the idea that it is difficult to tell the difference between dreams and waking is interesting. But the storytelling is just non-existent. The characters are flat and unlikable. The initial setup doesn't make any sense. The dream sequences are boring. This book needs a complete reworking in order to make it successful. Sadly, I can't recommend it.



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The Best Kind of Broken

Best Kind of Broken by Chelsea Fine
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I received this from NetGalley for review. Overall, I found it to be one of those New Adult stories that while entertaining, tries a little too hard to be something it is not.

The story follows Pixie and Levi. As cutesy as the name "Pixie" implies, it works here. It is a nickname for the protagonist Sarah and is oddly appropriate. Pixie and Levi have a history of being best friends, although apparently something caused them to be estranged.

The story begins with them both working summer jobs at an inn owned by Pixie's aunt. They also live at the inn, in a wing where they are the only two boarders. They share a bathroom and that is where the fun begins. The book opens with an hilarious exchange between the two, an ongoing fight that establishes several things: their open disdain for the other, the obvious sexual tension between them, their badly disguised love for each other, and the longing they both have to get past their problems and move on.

The story alternates between Pixie and Levi's point of view. This works nicely; it gives us a glance into their personal demons and thought processes. There is an event that has caused both of them extreme pain and left them despairing, each for their own reasons. The plot is basically their journey to get beyond the event.

There are the usual plot devices - the sassy best friend, the perfect boyfriend that somehow isn't perfect, the knowing/winking aunt and cook who work to put the main characters together. It is predictable. It is true to the New Adult genre in its descriptions and foregone conclusions.

The dialogue is really what makes the book so entertaining. While it doesn't really set the story apart from others in this genre, it does make it fun to read. What makes this book mediocre is the way it attempts to chart a journey from self-blame and grief to acceptance. There is a bit of a twist on it, but it is not really enough to justify the effort to turn this into a story with a real message.

So while this book makes a valiant attempt to comment on grief, it mostly just entertains with the comedic banter between the characters. It isn't overbearing or preachy. It is light and fun and mildly pensive. All in all, I liked it very much. I would place it above the average books of its type and recommend it for a light, romantic read. It was a nice way to spend an evening - and it made me laugh out loud.

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The Here and Now

The Here and Now by Ann Brashares
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I received this as an ARC from NetGalley. And what a pleasure it was.

Time travel is difficult to get right. It is often chock full of plot holes and fabrications, making the whole story seem completely implausible. But in this case, it's done very well. The science isn't the focus and that's what makes it work.

Prenna James, the main protagonist, is an interesting character with depth and dimension. Her inner conflict paints a girl who desperately wants to follow the rules and avoid trouble, and yet she longs to be free of the constraints of her community. The beautiful thing about this character is that she remains consistent as she grows. She never struck me as timid, even though she didn't want to upset the balance of things within her community of immigrants. She was smart but never underhanded. She was courageous but never reckless. She behaved as a cautious teenager would; taking some risks but never stupidly. What she did made sense.

Ethan, the primary side character, was likable, sweet, endearing. I loved the way he behaved like a typical teenaged boy. Even so, he was intelligent but not beyond his years. Sometimes the young adults in time-travel fiction are drawn as unrealistic geniuses. Not so in this case. Although he spoke of "forever" in terms of Prenna and their future, it was clear that forever is a relative, even hopeful term rather than a solid commitment.

What is stellar in this novel is the writing style. Brashares has a way with imagery, giving voice to emotions in a way that is both beautiful and relatable:

No one talks about what really binds us together. The gap between what we say and what we fell is so big and dark that sometimes I thnk I'll fall into it and keep falling.

The plot was somewhat typical of time travel; there are always those places where things get circular. Someone has something in their possession, but they find it in another's possession, which is possible because it hasn't happened yet. These sorts of paradoxes are inevitable. Brashares avoids them for the most part in favor of character development. The most interesting thing here is the unknown. She leaves us wondering whether the future really has been changed.

And yet this not knowing isn't unsatisfying. The ending of the book is the best kind of conclusion. It is rare that an author can leave things up to the reader's imagination without leaving loose ends. Brashares does this exceptionally well. It is a fitting ending that reflects the overall writing style, and perhaps this is why it feels so appropriate.

A bit of romance, a bit of mystery, a bit of philosophy and science and rich characters. What's not to love about this book? It was wonderful.



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Independent Study

Independent Study by Joelle Charbonneau
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is the second book in the Testing series, and things have gotten political. The obvious comparisons are to Insurgent (Veronica Roth) and Catching Fire (Suzanne Collins), which are both second books in a series. It doesn't really suffer from middle book syndrome. It just takes a familiar direction, laying framework for the last book.

In Independent Study we find Cia and Tomas, who have survived The Testing, beginning their educations at the University. They are again tested and placed on tracks for the jobs they will hold in the future - and these are not necessarily the vocations they would have chosen for themselves. The administration at the University seems to have it in for Cia. And what is termed "induction" and "orientation" is just more life and death testing.

The country has survived the Seven Stages War and is basically a wasteland with a central city and some outlying colonies. And while there is a government in place, the real people running the country are those in charge of the Testing and University. Politics are a big part of this plot. There is mystery as to what's really going on, why it's going on, and just who's in charge. Lines are drawn. Allegiances are in question. There is a lot of tension created by the mystery within the story, and Charbonneau does a great job of creating a world full of questions.

In that respect, the world building here is stellar. We are given a clear picture of the country and its citizens. It was easy to visualize the capital city and some of the colonies, as well as the areas of testing during the orientation. The reasoning behind the politics is revealed slowly and carefully, and there is a plot twist that sets up the final novel quite nicely. There are unanswered questions, but that's ok. The real entertainment is going to be how it all gets resolved in the final book.

Cia is an interesting character. She's so logical. And while it was great to watch her unravel the puzzles of the testing, it also tended to be overly descriptive to the point of info-dumping. Her thought processes, while fascinating, got tedious at times. I wished at some points that the details could have been revealed bit by bit, using the action to explain. Instead, we got inside Cia's brain.

Having said that, being inside Cia's brain lent definition to her character. While I felt somewhat spoon-fed in terms of information, I also appreciated that this was just the way Cia thought things through. It may have gotten slow at points but this felt justified because Cia grew so much.

Tomas and the other secondary characters were interesting. In this installment we got much less Will and lots more Rafe. Tomas was better defined. There was even some class warfare going on among the students. It got downright cutthroat while calling morals into question, which defined Cia's inner conflict. It never really got quite to angsty and the romance was just enough. The ideal of patriotism was balanced by the corruption of power. And again, this set up the last book for the final showdown.

The audiobook was narrated by Elizabeth Morton. While she gave Cia an interesting voice, the rest of the characters were pretty much terrible. All the guys (Tomas, Enzo, Will, Ian, etc) were given voices that sounded childish and even cartoonish. At times I felt like I was listening to an Anime episode. Reading this in print would have been far better.

The plot had a fair amount of action, although tended to be more cerebral than The Testing. Even so, it was an enjoyable book. If Charbonneau can avoid overly complicating the last book, this will prove to be a great series. As it is, Independent Study is a nice combination of thinking and action. Who's really in charge and who's part of the rebellion? These were great questions raised in an interesting way. A great follow-up and second book.



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Undone

Undone by Shannon Richard
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book was just what I needed - a cute romance with no major issues. Just a boy and a girl who fall in love and live happily ever after.

Paige, the main character, is a smart girl who has fallen on hard times. While she's initially painted as a bohemian-like free spirit, she seems a bit more spunky. She's an artist but does photography and digital design. Painting seems more like a hobby and less of a vocation. And while she struggles to be a take-charge kind of gal, she ends up being more passive and happy to be taken care of. Maybe this is because she's an only child with great parents (especially being a daddy's girl). All in all, she seemed pretty capable. Letting herself be fiercely protected was at least her choice.

Brendan is the quintessential hot guy who steps in as the knight in shining armor. Kind of predictable, but that was ok. It's just that kind of book. He was swoon-worthy and steady and all the things women love. He was a typical guy written by a woman, and women authors are notorious for writing romantic men that aren't at all realistic. They're written as the man most women want, not the man that most men are.

This book didn't need to have a big bad thing happen. It was just a little slice of life, a guy and girl who fall in love pretty quickly, stay in love, go through a couple of regular life tiffs and tragedy and live happily ever after. It was entertaining sweetness. And the nice thing was that it didn't try to be anything else. So many romances these days try to address flawed characters in horrible situations. Not this book. It's not that it didn't have any depth; it's just that it didn't need to be heavy. It floated along with just the right amount of romance, cute characters, ridiculous and catty old bats and a diner with great pastries.

This would be a great beach read. And who doesn't like a hot mechanic? The cover alone is worth the time it takes to read. I highly recommend it when all you want is dessert.

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What I Didn't Say

What I Didn't Say by Keary Taylor
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

YA romance can be hit or miss. In this case, I'd call it a base hit. It's a romance with a few moral messages, bordering on being preachy about some social issues.

Jake, the main protagonist, is the proverbial big fish in a small pond. He's popular, a high school jock, handsome and an all around good guy. He goes to a party one night, gets tipsy, gets in a truck with his two best friends who are also tipsy (one of the friends is driving), and ends up in an accident. His injuries necessitate the total removal of his vocal cords, rendering him mute. This is the story of how the event completely changes not just his life circumstances, but him as a person.

Jake is a likable character. He's a good kid from a good family. He takes responsibility for his actions while still moving through the stages of grief over the loss of his voice. He's also a typical teenage boy, so there is a fair amount of angst and immaturity going on. But this doesn't overpower him as a character; rather, it just rounds him out. He loves deeply and is loyal, even to the friends that carry the actual blame for the accident. I think Taylor was smart to allow Jake to wallow in self-pity for awhile, rather than making him more like a Superman who could rise above the emotional fallout. She could easily have erred with Jake's character by weighting him either heavily on the "able to cope" side or on the "can't cope or function" scale. Instead, she balanced him in the middle quite nicely.

Jake is in love with Sam, a longtime friend who has her own issues. These are revealed slowly and compassionately. Sam is also a well-rounded character that I liked immediately. Again, Taylor balanced the scales with Sam's distrust of people and yet her cautious willingness to love.

The secondary characters were not overly developed and there was even one that I felt was unnecessary. Overall they did add to the story and enhanced the main characters. Again, this story was chock full of teenaged angst. Having said that, it wasn't over the top.

The story is character driven; the plot is really just the framework for the way the characters grow and change. The exploration of muteness as a disability is refreshing. It was nice to see this showcased as it played out in real life. The idea of one's voice being stolen was fascinating as we watched Jake re-learn how to communicate. We are privy to his thoughts, so seeing the contrast between his internal and external dialogue was really interesting.

There is the usual distrust of parents and those in authority. Fortunately in this case Jake's parents are painted as loving, caring heads of a big family. Sam's parents are the stock good mom/deadbeat dad. Her dad may have been a bit exaggerated in terms of motives, but was not completely over the top or unrealistic. The main antagonist is also somewhat of a cardboard character. I didn't like her at all and I wasn't supposed to like her at all. This wasn't a story about a bad girl/slut being misunderstood. She was just mean.

The story does get a little preachy when it comes to drinking and driving. Because it's set on an island where the high school is quite small, the actions they take are relatively believable. At least, they're believable up to a point. Taylor frames it out realistically - people commit to a good idea. But most lose interest and generally revert to the behavior that caused the tragedy, and that's pretty standard for the majority. It plays out like a New Year's resolution that is forgotten over the course of the year.

Amid YA romance, this book falls in the above average category for me. It wasn't outstanding, but it was enjoyable and good. There was a fair amount of good tension created by the stupid decisions of teenagers. But it wasn't outrageous. It felt like just enough of all the good things I expected.

The book on audio is narrated by Matthew Dunehoo. He was ok; he didn't differentiate between the voices, really, but he did give them a lot of expression. I wouldn't call him a voice actor. He was more of a narrator - but a very good one. He grew on me.

All in all, I'd recommend this book. I liked it a lot; it wasn't the best book of its genre, but it was definitely better than most. The premise alone gives it points in its favor. Put that with likable characters and you get a good story with a happy ending. It was good storytelling.

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