All Our Yesterdays

Author: Cristin Terrill
Pages: 368
Publisher: Disney Hyperion
Publication Date: September 3, 2013
Read: August 5-10, 2013
Source: ARC via NetGalley
Recommended by: Lili of Lili's Reflections

Description from Goodreads:
"You have to kill him." Imprisoned in the heart of a secret military base, Em has nothing except the voice of the boy in the cell next door and the list of instructions she finds taped inside the drain.

Only Em can complete the final instruction. She’s tried everything to prevent the creation of a time machine that will tear the world apart. She holds the proof: a list she has never seen before, written in her own hand. Each failed attempt in the past has led her to the same terrible present—imprisoned and tortured by a sadistic man called the doctor while war rages outside.

Marina has loved her best friend James since the day he moved next door when they were children. A gorgeous, introverted science prodigy from one of America’s most famous families, James finally seems to be seeing Marina in a new way, too. But on one disastrous night, James’s life crumbles apart, and with it, Marina’s hopes for their future. Now someone is trying to kill him. Marina will protect James, no matter what. Even if it means opening her eyes to a truth so terrible that she may not survive it. At least not as the girl she once was.

All Our Yesterdays is a wrenching, brilliantly plotted story of fierce love, unthinkable sacrifice, and the infinite implications of our every choice.

First Sentence: "I stare at the drain in the center of the concrete floor."

Review:
Oh, time travel, you and I have a complicated relationship. I always want every book about you; your appeal is irresistible. Each time, I'm sure that this book and I will fall in love and run away together into many different sunsets in a variety of eras. So often, though, the book in I, we don't see eye to eye. The book says the universe works one way, and I cannot suspend disbelief. All Our Yesterdays is one of those instances. That said, All Our Yesterdays is also a really impressive debut with solid writing, intriguing characters, and a deliciously dark plot.

Terrill tells this complex time-bending story through two first person perspectives, Em and Marina. The two girls could not be more disparate. Em is hard and desperate to save the world. Locked in a prison with only Finn, her friend in the neighboring cell to talk to, she schemes her escape so that she can travel back in time and save the world from an evil dictator. Marina meanwhile has more average teenage concerns: friends, appearances, and a boy. Marina is selfish and vain. These perspectives are brilliantly done, even Marina's though I was not a fan of her.

My favorite aspect of the novel is the relationship dynamics. Marina and Finn have a connection forged over years, specifically the same set of years over and over. They've had to watch one another be tortured and been separated by the wall of a prison. Though technically still fairly young, they're aged and matured by their experiences, ones such as no person should ever have to go through. Hardened and prepared to kill, they have this intense and touching love. Even more delightful is that, though their love feels real, they do not put that first, and are ready to say goodbye to one another to save the world. They both put survival first and love second.

Marina, on the other hand, has romance foremost in her mind. She's been in love with her best friend for ages now, still amazed that he turned into such a hottie and grateful that, in so doing, he raised her social status at school. Unfortunately, he treats her like a kid, both because he's slightly older and a genius who graduated early and is off at college being brilliant. When he comes home to visit, she can't make much progress because James' other friend is always there like one big, obnoxious cockblock. Of course, the friend has an obvious crush on her, well, obvious to me but not to Marina. Both guys are fantastic, and, frankly, Marina does not deserve them, though she is young and may learn.

Terrill really does some surprising and daring things with her plotting, and I loved that too. Where a lot of YA novels really wimp out on the villains, this one is epic and terrifying. At several points, I was surprised by what happened, even in ways not surrounding the resolution, with which I took some issue. The plot is dark and intricate, and kept me constantly curious to know where the story would go.

However, the time travel elements all depend on whether you can accept her time travel theory which suggests that time will take care of a paradox. Personally, I don't. It's all just too convenient, and really doesn't make sense to me. In the end, I'm left feeling like that convenience took what should have been a devastatingly heartbreaking ending of amazing into a sad but hopeful ending. That will work for some readers, but for me was frustrating. Now, I've always been completely awful at science, so it may be that Terrill's explanations make perfect sense, but they don't to me and that's all there is to it for my personal reading experience.

The plot of All Our Yesterdays is full of drama, action and will make you scratch your head more than once. I loved how dark and thrilling the story was. Assassinations, chases, fights, kissing all combine to make All Our Yesterdays an edge of your seat read. For readers who are less particular about time travel mechanics, All Our Yesterdays is a must read.

Rating: 3.5/5

Favorite Quote:

"'Why don't you go by Marina anymore? I've always loved your name.'
     'It's a silly name. It's the name of a fairy-tale princess who gets back everything she ever lost.'"

---

Up Next:
The next Sadie Hawkins Sunday book will be Quintana of Charyn by Melina Marchetta, and then I'll be done with that series and moving on to finish the Mistborn trilogy in my SHS sequels. WOO!

Want to tell me what to read? Fill out the following form with a suggestion! For more details, check this post.

Labels: 3.5 star, Book Reviews, romance, science fiction, time travel, young adult

The Wells Bequest
The Grimm Legacy, Book 2

Author: Polly Shulman
Pages: 272
Publisher: Nancy Paulsen Books
Read: June 13-15, 2013
Source: ARC from publisher for review

Description from Goodreads:
Leo never imagined that time travel might really be possible, or that the objects in H. G. Wells’ science fiction novels might actually exist. And when a miniature time machine appears in Leo’s bedroom, he has no idea who the tiny, beautiful girl is riding it. But in the few moments before it vanishes, returning to wherever—and whenever—it came from, he recognizes the other tiny rider: himself!

His search for the time machine, the girl, and his fate leads him to the New-York Circulating Material Repository, a magical library that lends out objects instead of books. Hidden away in the Repository basement is the Wells Bequest, a secret collection of powerful objects straight out of classic science fiction novels: robots, rockets, submarines, a shrink ray—and one very famous time machine. And when Leo’s adventure of a lifetime suddenly turns deadly, he must attempt a journey to 1895 to warn real-life scientist Nikola Tesla about a dangerous invention. A race for time is on!

In this grand time-travel adventure full of paradoxes and humor, Polly Shulman gives readers a taste of how fascinating science can be, deftly blending classic science fiction elements with the contemporary fantasy world readers fell in love with in The Grimm Legacy.

Previous Book in Series:
1: The Grimm Legacy

First Sentence: "The Wednesday when the whole time-travel adventure began, I was fiddling with my game controller, trying to make the shoot button more sensitive."

Review:
When a surprise package with The Wells Bequest showed up on my doorstep, I was actually super excited. For once, a sequel to a book I'd actually read and enjoyed; the gods were obviously smiling on me. The Wells Bequest turned out to be just as much fun as The Grimm Legacy, full of nerdy references and jokes, surprise historical figures, and adventure.

Let me explain this series a little bit for those who are unfamiliar. The Wells Bequest is more of a companion novel than a direct sequel. Jaya, Leo's love interest, had a role in the first book, but otherwise they're fairly unconnected. The series centers on a library: The New-York Circulating Material Repository. This repository loans items, rather than books, ranging from an ordinary toaster to automatons built centuries ago. Even more special, the repository contains items from fiction, made real through some sort of complex paradox. Believe me, you don't want to get the librarians started on whether fiction is fictional. Obviously, I love this premise. Where The Grimm Legacy focused on objects from the Grimm fairytales, The Wells Bequest deals primarily with items from H.G. Wells' science fiction stories.

Everything kicks off when Leo, sitting and playing video games in his room, gets some surprise visitors: himself and a very pretty girl. Also, they're six inches tall and riding on a little box. They inform him that they're from the future, and Leo's future self commands him to read The Time Machine. He does so, which interests him in the idea of time travel. Since he has a science project to do for school, he considers doing it on time travel, but decides to do robots instead and his teacher sends him to the repository to research.

Leo had some self-esteem issues at the beginning of the book. The son of genius parents with genius siblings, he didn't get admitted to the good school he'd applied to. He doesn't test well, and feels inferior to his family. Leo himself is a genius too in his own way, brilliant at building and fixing mechanical gadgets. His adventure and his work at the repository helps him to appreciate his own skills.

Some of the time travel stuff gets a bit convoluted, but overall this was just such a fun read. I love all of the references to various classic stories, which are not limited to H. G. Wells. If you're a fan of nerdy references of the literary or historical variety, then you'll want to check this out. For example, both Mark Twain and Nikola Tesla make appearances in The Wells Bequest. Another big perk of the series is how diverse it is, with characters from various countries and ethnic backgrounds.

The main weakness I found in the book was that some of the dialogue did feel a bit forced. Leo and Jaya know so much and are incredibly well-read. However, occasionally one of them would ask an incredibly simple question. It just felt like sometimes the characters were given an unlikely knowledge gap, so that they needed something explained to them, thus imparting the audience with that information. There are better ways to get that done.

Polly Shulman's The Wells Bequest is a fantastic sequel to The Grimm Legacy. This series will have a lot of appeal to middle graders, since it's full of humor, adventure and a bit of magic. Parents will love the amount of educational information snuck into the book. The series reads a bit like a middle grade version of the Thursday Next series.

Rating: 3.5/5

Favorite Quote: "'Would you really want to live in a world where only the possible is possible?'"

Labels: 3.5 star, Book Reviews, books about books, libraries, middle grade fiction, romance, time travel

Crewel
Crewel World, Book 1

Author: Gennifer Albin
Pages: 357
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux BFYR
Publication Date: October 16, 2012
Source: Macmillan at BEA

Description from Goodreads:
Incapable. Awkward. Artless.

That’s what the other girls whisper behind her back. But sixteen year-old Adelice Lewys has a secret: she wants to fail.

Gifted with the ability to weave time with matter, she’s exactly what the Guild is looking for, and in the world of Arras, being chosen as a Spinster is everything a girl could want. It means privilege, eternal beauty, and being something other than a secretary. It also means the power to embroider the very fabric of life. But if controlling what people eat, where they live and how many children they have is the price of having it all, Adelice isn’t interested.

Not that her feelings matter, because she slipped and wove a moment at testing, and they’re coming for her—tonight.

Now she has one hour to eat her mom’s overcooked pot roast. One hour to listen to her sister’s academy gossip and laugh at her Dad’s stupid jokes. One hour to pretend everything’s okay. And one hour to escape.

Because once you become a Spinster, there’s no turning back.

First Sentence: "They came in the night."

Review:
Oh dear. I seem to be in a bad string of reads, where all the ones I've been looking forward to turn out to be utter disappointments. Crewel has a beautiful cover and a unique plot line, but I did not connect with it emotionally at all. The romance aspects particularly lost me. For other readers, I am sure this will be a great read, particularly those who read for world building over character.

The very best part of Crewel is, without a doubt, the world building. Adelice lives in Arras, a mysterious fantasy land. The Guild runs Arras in conjunction with Spinsters, so named because they are not allowed to wed. At 16, girls are tested to see if they have the skills to become a Spinster, a weaver of the threads that compose Arras, the tapestry of life. Those that are chosen never get to go home again. Those that aren't have two years to wed and begin their adult lives.

The concept of a woven world really kind of blew my mind. Really, it's a lot like the internet in that, on the surface, I get it, but the more I think about it the less I understand. The descriptions of the weaving and the threads are lovely, as is Albin's writing. Towards the end, I had some suspension of disbelief issues, but I still would rate this as one of the most unique worlds I've encountered.

So far as dystopian-ness goes, Crewel certainly qualifies. Arras is one hell of a creepy place. For one thing, there's the whole forcing women to do certain things: become a Spinster, wed, and all sorts of other misogynistic rules. Women always seem to get the short end of the stick in dystopias; I should go read Herland or Nomansland. Even more than the dystopians aspects to the daily life, the government, both the Guild side and the Spinster side is seriously suspect. Both seem far to apt to make people disappear, if you get my drift.

Despite all of that being seriously cool, I just did not care. Adelice (what kind of name is that anyway) really doesn't seem to have that much of a personality. We start with the dramatic removal of her to be a Spinster, no visions of her on a normal day. All I really feel like I know about her is that a) she's a skilled weaver b) she loves her family and c) she likes boys. None of this really let me know anything about who she is. What I do pick up from that last one really doesn't make me think kindly of her either.

The worst aspect of the book, imo, is the love triangle. Of course, love triangles are dangerous, because, when done wrong, they make the reader want to *headdesk* all over the place. Well, this one did not work for me, probably partially because I really didn't care if the heroine found happiness. Not only that, but I don't have much more interest in either of the guys involved in the triangle. I suspect that I'm supposed to ship her with Jost (these names!), and he is the 'better' guy, but meh. Erik (what did he do to get a normal name?) probably would be my choice if I had to pick one, just because he seems like the underdog. The moment I entirely gave up on this was this: at the end of one chapter, Adelice makes out with one of the guys, then, in the next chapter, she finds out the other guy had a romantic past and got jealous. *throws up hands* And, of course, anytime she seems close to making a decision, based on syrupy protestations of needing to be with one of the guys, she'll suddenly start thinking maybe she's not so sure.

The most interesting characters were not the main ones. Loricel is my personal favorite. She's clever, kooky and has shades of grey to her personality. Maela and Cormac make stellar villains, of different kinds and powers. I definitely want to throw both of them across Arras. Cormac seriously creeps the hell out of me, which is a good sign in a villain.

Crewel was not the book for me, and I don't plan to continue with this series, unless I see reviews that convince me otherwise by other people who felt meh about this one. Will you like it? Maybe. If you read more for world building than for characters, you could potentially love Crewel.

Favorite Quote: "If there's one thing the Coventry has taught me, it's that lying always serves someone's purpose."


Remember: Every comment on a post during Dystopian August is an entry to win one of fourteen dystopian/post-apocalyptic novels IF you've filled out the form from this post.

Labels: 2.5 star, Apocalypsies, Book Reviews, dystopia, dystopian august, time travel, young adult

Yesterday

Author: C. K. Kelly Martin
Pages: 352
Publisher: Random House
Publication Date: September 25, 2012
Source: Random House via NetGalley

Description from Goodreads:
THEN: The formation of the UNA, the high threat of eco-terrorism, the mammoth rates of unemployment and subsequent escape into a world of virtual reality are things any student can read about in their 21st century textbooks and part of the normal background noise to Freya Kallas’s life. Until that world starts to crumble.

NOW: It’s 1985. Freya Kallas has just moved across the world and into a new life. On the outside, she fits in at her new high school, but Freya feels nothing but removed. Her mother blames it on the grief over her father’s death, but how does that explain the headaches and why do her memories feel so foggy?

When Freya lays eyes on Garren Lowe, she can’t get him out of her head. She’s sure that she knows him, despite his insistence that they’ve never met. As Freya follows her instincts and pushes towards hidden truths, the two of them unveil a strange and dangerous world where their days may be numbered.

Unsure who to trust, Freya and Garren go on the run from powerful forces determined to tear them apart and keep them from discovering the truth about their shared pasts (and futures), her visions, and the time and place they really came from.

First Sentence: "When I've wailed for so long and so hard that my throat is in shreds and my fingernails ripped and fingertips bloody from clawing at the door, I collapse in front of it curled up like a dead cat I saw on an otherwise spotless sidewalk as a child once."

Review:
My second C. K. Kelly Martin book has me convinced that I need to write every single thing she writes. Martin has a very distinct style. Her writing is wonderful and her concepts, at least for the two books I've already read, are entirely original. Yesterday didn't remind me of any other dystopia, a very rare experience.

Yesterday is one of those stories where you'll spend most of the book confused, unsure what the heck is going on. However, rest easy with the knowledge that you WILL be given answers; Martin will explain everything. Her vision of the future is dark and complex, taking into account various ways that humans could destroy the world. Not only that, but, of course, the meddlesome government will take charge in a harsh way to try to control everything.

I really cannot say much of anything else about the world building aspect of Yesterday, because spoilers would be unavoidable. The only other things I need to point out in this regard are the reasons I rated it down a little bit. First, there was the clunky info dump when Freya realized what was going on. I'm not sure if there was a better way to do that, but that chapter read like a history text. I also felt like her memories came back too quickly and easily. Second, the time travel aspects were questionable, but, then again, I almost always have big suspension of disbelief issues with time travel.

Yesterday made a really nice change from most of my other reads, because of the unique setting. For one thing, the book is set in Canada, taking place largely in Toronto. Very few books I've read have had a Canadian setting, though I'm a bit surprised by that. Even more uncommon, Yesterday is set primarily in the 1980s. I loved all the mentions of music, like The Smiths, and other bits of pop culture from that time period. Also, picturing everyone in the horrific clothes greatly amused me.

Freya won my affections early on. She's gorgeous, in a way that could have made her completely obnoxious; literally, everyone stares at her. However, she is completely uncomfortable with that. She doesn't try to be popular; instead she befriends the goths, and even does a makeover on herself so people will pay less attention to her. I loved that, despite her beauty, she doesn't take advantage of it nor does she deny it.

Freya has premonitions, visions of the near future. These really could have felt out of place, and I am curious about them, but Martin made them work. They did not come off as an unnecessary paranormal addition to the plot, thank goodness. I love Freya for her intelligence, her forthrightness, her courage and her anger. She feels so real. It also entertained me that in this case, it wasn't a heroine falling for a vaguely creepy, gorgeous guy who stalked her; she does the stalking, although she does have her reasons.

Garren definitely was less dear to me, but I liked him because Freya did. I still question him a bit, because he had a girlfriend at the beginning. The switch of his feelings from Janette to Freya seemed rushed and unnatural. However, I can accept it, since, though they get close to one another VERY quickly, they don't instalove all over the place. In such a stressful situation, emotions developing is not a surprise, but I would have punched everything if they were declaring eternal love for one another. Thankfully, they did not. As an added bonus, Martin is a genius at writing steamy scenes, as evidenced here and in My Beating Teenage Heart.

Reading Yesterday was a pleasure from beginning to end, a refreshingly original addition to dystopian fiction. Now I need to go add her other books to my wishlist...


Favorite Quote: "'I can't stop saying it, Garren. It's the truth. I'm not going to pretend for you. The past doesn't disappear just because you don't want to hear it.'"


Remember: Every comment on a post during Dystopian August is an entry to win one of fourteen dystopian/post-apocalyptic novels IF you've filled out the form from this post.

Labels: 4 star, Book Reviews, dystopia, dystopian august, memory, psychic visions, romance, time travel, young adult

Inuyasha

Author: Rumiko Takahashi
Pages: 56
Publisher: VIZ Media

Brief Summary:
Kagome falls into a well and travels through time. There she awakens a foul-mouthed half-youkai, a hanyou, named Inuyasha. She is a reincarnation of Kikyou, the woman who killed him (although obviously that didn't stick). As Kikyou's reincarnation, she is tasked with guarding a jewel, which she immediately breaks into fragments (Oops!). Inuyasha wants the jewel, so that he can become a full youkai and show his brother that he's more awesome. Inuyasha and Kagome team up to travel the world in search of fragments of the jewel, which are wreaking havoc everywhere.

Review:
This took approximately forever to get through. There are so many freaking volumes. At first, I enjoyed it, because it was kind of funny and silly. Unfortunately, it's incredibly formulaic and repetitive, kind of like episodes of The Power Rangers. You know what's going to happen, but it takes all of time to get there.

Basically, for about fifty of the volumes, they keep having skirmishes with the big bad of the series, Naraku. He's a hanyou like Inuyasha, determined to use the Shikon no Tama to become a full youkai and to be the most powerful dude in the world. He creates an evil league of evil to help him in his quest, and is generally a pain. Worst of all, whenever the good guys are winning a battle, he dematerializes, so that he can fight another day. Can anyone explain to me why only the bad guys have this power?

Speaking of power, Inuyasha and his brother have a lot of it, more than anyone else apparently. Apparently being hanyou is to power as being a muggle-born witch has to do with magical ability, which is to say that it has very little to do with it. However, what drove me completely crazy was that Inuyasha has like three attacks for thirty-some volumes of the series. He doesn't learn anything! He continues to fight like an idiot, and finally gets attacks because other people help him out. Inuyasha does not really seem like a hero who would be able to defeat anyone intelligent enough to target his weaknesses.

Okay, so as a shounen, it's not that great, because the action is so mindless and repetitive. How about the romance elements? Those are better at least, right? Not in my opinion. For longer than I deem acceptable, Inuyasha continues to be torn between Kagome and Kikyou. I get that it's a complicated situation, but that is so not cool. Plus, Kagome's like 14 or something at the beginning. Sheesh.

The other romance of the series is Houshi and Sango, which I definitely did not ship either. Houshi really creeps me out because of the way he asks every woman he meets if she'll bear his child. Sango would probably be my favorite character, because she kicks so much ass, but she always becomes so girly and not like herself around Houshi. Ugh!

The art is not great, though it does have a certain charm. However, this charm dissipates over time. In a lot of long manga series, the art gets better along the way, but not so here.

This definitely turned out not to be my thing. The story is weak (seriously, how did Kagome pass middle school?) and so is the characterization. However, this is one of the most popular manga there is, so keep in mind that lots of people probably would not agree with my reactions.

Note: My song choice may seem a bit odd here. These lines reminded me of all of the boasting by Inuyasha, especially early days. The song also captures the melodrama and constant miasma of the later volumes.

Rating: 2/5

Labels: 2 star, action, magic, manga reviews, time travel

A Swiftly Tilting Planet
Time Quintet, Book 3

Author: Madeleine L'Engle
Pages: 278
Publisher: Dell

This series seriously just gets stranger and stranger. In the third book in the series, L'Engle abandons her more scientific approach and goes instead for outright religious references and time travel, but not in a scientific way.

Let me go back. In between A Wind in the Door and A Swiftly Tilting Planet, many years have passed. Meg and Calvin have married; Calvin is eminent in his studies, and Meg, having abandoned her excellent mathematical intelligence is pregnant with her first child.

The crisis of the book is brought forward at the opening when Mr. Murry receives a call from the President, asking for his help because a dictator, Mad Dog Branzillo, is threatening nuclear war. Mom O'Keefe, who came for Thanksgiving dinner, remembers a rune (essentially a prayer or phrase imbued with magic powers), which saves them from nasty weather (an over the top metaphor for impending doom). She gives this rune to Charles Wallace, and tells him he needs to stop Mad Dog.

He goes out to the star-watching rock to think about this, kything with Meg the whole time. There he meets a unicorn, whose mission it is to travel with him through time, which unicorns born from eggs can do by the way. They hop around randomly in time, and, at almost every time, Charles Wallace has to go 'within' a person there, which means that he can see things through there eyes and have a small impact on what they're doing. Basically, he just says the rune in all of the important places, so that he can make everything happy again.

Way to make a unicorn lame, Madeleine L'Engle. Also, what is with this rune business? Deus ex rune. Ugh. It is evident that L'Engle believes not in Christianity precisely, or, at least, not in Christianity as it is commonly worshiped. However, it is all bound up in her writing. This whole book is built around a family, who through generations have been reliving Cain and Abel. Lovely, I know.

Actually, that's not quite right. More like, two families who kept doing this, and the end result of their line was this Mad Dog Branzillo character. Of course, maybe that's because these two families kept intermarrying. I think the message I was supposed to get from this book was something about peace and goodness, but all I really got was that incest makes for badness, which I already fully believed.

When I was younger, I remember having loved the first book. I thought Meg and Calvin had this completely epic romance. They were one of the best couples in fiction, I think I thought at one point. Now, I have no idea why. There was only the slightest hint of romance in the first books. Then in book three they're married and pregnant. What the heck is that? Why would you skip the best freaking parts, L'Engle? And why can't Meg use her smarts that you spent the first two books proving she had?

Suffice it to say that I will not be reading Many Waters. It's been kind of fun revisiting these, but they're definitely not what I thought they were, which is another kind of entertaining. So sad when books are not nearly so good when read through the eyes of an adult. I really need to do a top ten list for that. :-P

Rating: 1.5/5

Labels: 1.5 star, Book Reviews, incest, religion, time travel, unicorns

Tempest
Tempest, Book 1

Author: Julie Cross
Pages: 352
ARC Acquired from: St. Martin's Griffin via NetGalley

Book Review:
Jackson, a freshman in college, has a secret that only his nerdy friend Adam knows: he is a time traveler. Adam helps him figure out something about how it all works from a scientific point of view. When he jumps, only part of himself goes, meaning that his body will sit there while he's gone only for a much shorter time span. Jackson cannot change the past, and he can't even go very far back; all he can do is learn from what he witnesses and use that in the future. Then, one day, he and his girlfriend, Holly, are awoken by two strange men with guns. They shoot Holly and Jackson jumps through time, only this time he winds up two years in the past (2007), his younger self has disappeared, and he is now, apparently, stuck here.

Review:
What a thrill ride! Time travel is, of course, completely fascinating as a concept, but it's extraordinarily difficult to do well. Actually, I have no complaints with how Cross has done this. Way better than The Lake House any day.

What particularly intrigues me are the variations in time-jumping power and the other abilities Jackson seems to be developing. I hope more is learned about these and where the powers originally came from later on. The ubermensch theme is pretty cool too, especially since people with that mindset make awesome bad guys.

I never really bonded with Jackson as a character. He's okay, but I'm not sure how much I like him. Actually, now that I think about it, I don't have any particular love for any of the characters. However, I do really love the way the characters are together, the way they interact. Cross has attained something resembling actual human interaction, which is pretty fantastic.

Jackson and Holly are definitely put forward as fairy tale level love, and they are seriously drawn to one another from the first time they meet (and from the first time they meet again...haha). However, they did not immediately declare their love for one another or anything like that. Although the degree of their affection is extreme, as are the circumstances, the relationship moves in a believable way. They have hangups and little fights. These important details are left out of too much fiction.

On a somewhat related note, I really hope all teens are not this sexually active nowadays. When Jackson and Holly first have sex, he is surprised to discover she is a virgin, even though she's not even in college yet. He thinks to himself that it had been a long time since he had sex with a virgin, which leaves me wondering exactly how much action this guy has been getting and since when?

If you like action, romance, espionage and time travel, you will not want to miss Tempest. This is the first book in a series, which I have every intention of continuing with.

Rating: 3/5

Labels: 3 star, action, alternate universe, betrayal, debut author challenge, fantasy, spies, time travel, young adult

Always a Witch
Witch, Book 2

Author: Carolyn MacCullough
Pages: 276
ARC Acquired from: Clarion Books via NetGalley

Brief Summary:
Now armed with her Talent that she never knew she had, Tamsin has to venture into the past to sort out the mess she made in Once a Witch. Along the way, she'll have to figure out the quirks in her power and deal with the mistrust of her family, who do not know how to deal with her intimidating Talent. At least, she has a hot time-traveling boyfriend to help her!

Review:
Before reading the review, be warned that this is the second in a series and you shouldn't read on unless you've read the first, don't want to read either but like reading reviews, or love spoilers (for the first book, not this one). I completely adored Once a Witch and the same is true of the sequel, even though it broke my heart a little bit. The resolution of the story made perfect sense and, though I saw it coming and knew it needed to happen, I really did not want it to happen that way.

Tamsin never smoked again, a thing I complained about in my review for the first book, so it really was just that one scene. This pretty much cements my belief that she may have been a sm0ker in an early draft and that one scene missed getting cut. Thank goodness she's not actually a smoker or I would probably have to hate her. Which I don't want to do, because she is so delightfully sarcastic, as all of the best heroines are.

I still really love the Talents. They remind me of people's powers on the Heroes television show. It's so much fun to find out what everyone can do. Tamsin definitely has the coolest power, sort of Peter Petrelli-ish. My one complaint here is that when Tamsin's going back to the past to save the whole family, they don't all line up and throw their power at her three time so that she can be well-armed for the coming battle. It's not like she takes their powers forever, as evidenced by Aunt Beatrice still being able to freeze kids at the end of book one. Stupid family is stupid.

For those who loved Once a Witch, you will not be disappointed in Always a Witch. It has magic, action, suspense, nineteenth century drama and romance. Always a Witch is coming out August 1. Get yourself a copy!

P.S. I like the cover. However, who on earth is that supposed to be? Jessica? Tamsin has curly hair, like the girl on the cover of book one. Sigh.

Labels: Book Reviews, fantasy, magic, romance, time travel, young adult

Steel

Author: Carrie Vaughn
Pages: 287
Publisher: HarperTeen

Brief Summary:
Jill loves fencing, but she is having trouble dealing with the pressure. She's good, but is she good enough? Her trainer wants her to try for the Olympics, but her confidence is pretty much shot after she lost a bout by just a fraction of a second. That tiny increment of time is seriously bringing her down, even though she's on a vacation to the Bahamas with her family. All she wants to do is mope alone in her room and walk sullenly on the beach, where she finds the tip to a rapier on the beach, but her parents make her go on a boat ride with them. When she falls off the boat in some unexpectedly bad weather, the piece of rapier transports her through time to the days when pirated ruled the seas...

Review:
I discovered Carrie Vaughn in Brave New Worlds, which I read and reviewed a couple months ago. Her story was one of my favorites, so I put her on my list of authors to watch for. Imagine my surprise and delight to see that she had two books coming out, both with beautiful covers: one adult, one teen.

The cover of Steel describes the novel as "a swashbuckling tale of magic, romance, and pirates." I was so there. The swashbuckling and pirates parts are most definitely true. Jill can be quite a strong lady, when she's not panicking herself into a frenzy. She definitely grows from a bit of an obnoxious whiner at the outset to a strong heroine, able to stand up to even the scariest of pirates.

The magic and the romance were a bit less present in the story. Certainly, magic is pervasive, but only in the rapier which brought Jill through time. Magic served that one purpose and no other. And it really didn't work for me. I think I would have preferred the more standard story where she disguises herself as a boy to run off and gets caught up with pirates. The journey through time just felt too contrived. There is romance of a sort, but it's not particularly romantic, nor is it long-lived or monumental. I did not ship her with anyone and think the romance, such as it was, did little to help the story.

Though I didn't love this one, it was a fairly interesting read. My favorite part was actually reading the acknowledgements, where the author acknowledges which parts of history she altered (knowingly). That is a section of historical fiction novels I have come to appreciate in recent years, nerd that I am. I still have high hopes for her adult fiction book, which I will be reading soon.

Labels: Book Reviews, pirates, time travel, young adult

Wishful Thinking
Wish, Book 2

Author: Alexandra Bullen
Pages: 242
Publisher: Point (a Scholastic imprint)

Brief Summary:
Hazel's life kinda sucks. She has grown up in the foster system, passed from one foster parent to another. She never really got the chance to make any real friends at school because she moved so often. On her eighteenth birthday, she is given an envelope that could change everything: it contains the name of her birth mother, Rosanna Scott. She discovers that her mom lives in San Francisco too and decides to attend a fancy event in her honor. For that she needs a dress and she has the perfect one, picked up cheap and needing only a small alteration. The seamstress she takes it to gives her back three dresses and with them: three wishes.

Review:
I was really surprised by Wishful Thinking. It had way more depth than I had expected. Admittedly, I knew very little about it before I began reading, but I did know that Bullen has another book called Wish, so I thought maybe she just wrote the same plot over and over. I still don't know about that, but I am impressed enough by this book that I am not super concerned.

Hazel is a likable heroine. She struggles with selfishness and self-doubt, but who doesn't? Despite all the things she has always wanted, she does not waste her wishes or use them swiftly. In fact, it takes almost half the book until she uses her second wish. Not many people would show such restraint.

Bullen also used the time travel plot (caused by her first wish) well. She acknowledged the awkwardness inherent in falling in love with someone in the past. She also covers issues associated with teen pregnancy without preaching for one side of the debate or another. The best part was the way she conveyed the message that view, both in photography and of one's life, is incredibly important. There may be wonderful things in your life that you're missing, because you cannot see the best in yourself and are not open to others.

This is a sweet, well done YA story. Recommended!

Labels: Book Reviews, family, fantasy, pregnancy, romance, time travel, young adult