Announcing Blog Move

Hi everyone! I have an announcement to make.

I'm closing this blog and moving it over to Wordpress. However, this isn't goodbye! The move would be a new experience for me, and I'm excited to invite you to my new blog. Here's my Wordpress blog address:

gleefulgrace.wordpress.com

Come check it out!

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A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E.Schwab—Four Londons & Tortured Darlings

A Darker Shade of Magic
by V.E. SchwabKell is one of the last Antari, a rare magician who can travel between parallel worlds: hopping from Grey London — dirty, boring, lacking magic, and ruled by mad King George — to Red London — where life and magic are revered, and the Maresh Dynasty presides over a flourishing empire — to White London — ruled by whoever has murdered their way to the throne, where people fight to control magic, and the magic fights back — and back, but never Black London, because traveling to Black London is forbidden and no one speaks of it now.
Officially, Kell is the personal ambassador and adopted Prince of Red London, carrying the monthly correspondences between the royals of each London. Unofficially, Kell smuggles for those willing to pay for even a glimpse of a world they’ll never see, and it is this dangerous hobby that sets him up for accidental treason. Fleeing into Grey London, Kell runs afoul of Delilah Bard, a cut-purse with lofty aspirations. She robs him, saves him from a dangerous enemy, then forces him to take her with him for her proper adventure.
But perilous magic is afoot, and treachery lurks at every turn. To save both his London and the others, Kell and Lila will first need to stay alive — a feat trickier than they hoped.

I procrastinated for so long before I jumped onto the super-hyped A Darker Shade of Magic bandwagon, (I've talked about my instinctual avoidance of hyped reads) and now I’ll never get off! They are telling the truth, the bookworms and reviewers, because this book is so worth the hype.

As soon as I set my eyes upon the words, I was sucked into the world of the Londons.

The premise of parallel worlds intrigued me; so many worlds have the same location: London. There are Red London, Grey London, White London and Black London, each color signifying how much magic remains in the world.

1. Red London=Magic still going strong

2. Grey London=Magic in decline

3. White London=Only the rulers and an elite few still have control over magic, but it’s slowly dying away, and the people suffer because of it.

4. Black London=Magic destroyed the world, leaving it a vast unknown after the other three Londons sealed it off.

Our protagonist is one of the only two people who can travel through these realms. And he came into possession of something from Black London. What would he do?

I am hooked.

Characters

I adore Kell, the precious magician-freak-adopted-prince of Red London. He acts as the king’s ambassador and messenger to other worlds. As an Antari, his magical powers elicit fear and respect from almost everyone, marking him as an outsider in any world. His sense of not belonging anywhere, not even in his adopted royal family, wounds him and fills him with a longing for escape. But even though he can travel through worlds, he is more bound and caged than someone without his powers. He masks his loneliness with sarcasm and nonchalance but is tired of pretending all the time. I love his internal struggles, yearning for freedom, and conflicted feelings towards his family. So many of his mistakes stem from that sense of loneliness, and this makes Kell the perfect protagonist: lovable but flawed.

On a side note: He has a magical coat with goodness knows how many sides with all sorts of styles and colors; that alone is enough magic for me! (I want one of those, please).

Lila is the sassy, flinty heroine who grew up on the streets of Grey London. She dresses as a young man and steals from the rich, and she is constantly looking for adventures and trouble. Even though she is always running into scrapes, her intelligence is adequate for any trouble she finds. Lila is a satisfyingly independent character, and I love all her exchanges with Kell. Like him, Lila is secretly hurting from all the hardships and hungers she experienced after her family abandoned her, and she tries not to depend on anyone from then on, owing no one and taking no favors. Also, she wants to be a pirate. I love how all the characters are one bad choice away from being the villain, and we have to nervously stare at their moral compasses all the time.

Rhys is the crown prince of Red London, also the adopted brother of Kell. He is slightly the Golden Boy (meh), but I loved to see how he and Kell verbally poke at each other and act like real brothers. We see so few of close families in YA novels, and this is a refreshing change.

Holland is the other Antari who is the messenger/slave of the rulers of White London. The king and queen of White London control all his actions through a spell (like a puppet), and there’s nothing Holland can do about it. He does evil things under their command and has hardened after years of service. Holland is a tragic mirror-image of what Kell could have become if his fate was altered, and vice versa.

Apart from these characters, there are many side characters who’re also adequate and vibrant. The twin rulers of White London, for example, really are brilliantly portrayed and just chilly.

Setting

Victoria Schwab is so skilled at worldbuilding! From reading The Archived series, I’ve loved her imaginative worldbuilding even more than the plot. She is masterful at setting up magical worlds and filling them with enchanting characters and special qualities (like archives of souls or worlds-travelers). These worlds aren’t pompously described and mapped out for readers but sketched out in several strokes to put all the needed elements in place.

The magic system in this book is also pretty easy to understand at a glance. There are magicians who can control one or two of the elements: water, earth, air, and fire. The Antari can control all of the elements and blood in addition, but blood magic could be evil (?) So Kell can use blood to travel through worlds among other things.

Pacing & Plot

The pacing is perfect and doesn’t drag at all. The characters jump from mistakes to mistakes and never seem to stop the actions and stabbing and magic combats. The whole plot seems predictable and easy, and the climax could have been a little more dramatic. However, I’m entirely willing to overlook this for the characters and the setting. #sorrynotsorry.

Final Thoughts

So basically I love this book to pieces. The glorious characters, the multi-worlds, the often bloody scenes, and the intense chemistry but not-full-on-romance between Kell and Lila (I hope it stays that way). If I have a physical copy of A Darker Shade of Magic, I would stuff it into your hand and stand over you till you read it! :) 

So, have you read ADSOM? What do you think of it? Do you know it's going to be a TV series?

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Artificial Light by Nathan Wall—Angels and High-Tech!

Artificial Light
by Nathan Wall
Sometimes you risk becoming a villain in order to be the hero.

Since recovering memories and incredible abilities nearly two years ago, an insatiable lust to grow more powerful has consumed Jarrod. Now that urge puts the friends he has left in mortal danger. The only way to protect them is to accept isolation. However, Jarrod has made promises and intends on staying with those he cares for until his pledge is upheld.
The Light of Souls has been disrupted and replaced with a fake. The Assassins, three angels from the fallen Corners living out their penance, are charged with eliminating the perpetrator. When their sights turn to Jarrod, he and all those around him are marked for death.
With the most dangerous killers in creation hunting him down, Jarrod must learn to evolve his powers without losing control. When new alliances are formed, and old ones turn sour, Jarrod must decide once and for all if he's a hero, or a villain waiting to be unleashed.

I received a copy of this book from Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.

Wow, that was super-confusing! This was my first thought after I read the book. Artificial Light is the 3rd book of a series, but after the author reassured me I could jump in with minimal confusion, I skeptically began my journey into the realm of angels.

Yes, it’s a book about angels! I went through a phase of loving the concept of Nephilim and tried to read as many books with this topic as I could. Artificial Light’s premise of Angels battling against one another sounds quite appealing.

Characters

The character-building of this book sadly, doesn’t reach the potential I was hoping for. First of all, I wanted explanations: who are these people and what do they want? Most of the time I don’t know the characters or their agendas, and the author rarely explains. As a book with a huge cast, each character is somewhat limited from expressing their full personality. Still, there are several that stood out among all the others.

What I liked:
1. Sassy characters—I loved all the witty dialogues and quippy comebacks and wanted more dialogues.

2. Mythological references—the author included allusions to myths from many cultures like Egyptian, Hindu, Greek, Hebrew, and many others.

3. Complicated history—as immortal beings, angels have a long time to make shifting alliances.


Jarrod
(As the protagonist, he gets more time in the spotlight). Jarrod is a product of cloning with superhuman abilities. He is powerful, dangerous, and not in full control of himself; there’s a voice (Later revealed as Ryan, the real personality of his person, in which Jarrod is the second or alternate personality) in his head that takes over during crises, leaving a slew of bodies in his wake. As the story progresses, Jarrod learns more about himself and the voice in his head.

Lain
Lain’s special gift is telepathy, giving her access to everyone’s thoughts and even allowing her to control people at will. She is separated from her brother as a child and has been searching for him for years.

Madame Patricia
I love this character! She is overtly fragile but actually extremely powerful. As an Architect (a superior form of being even to Angels), she can control the earth and all that grows on it, like Gaia in Greek myths.

Isis
She is the wife of Osiris and mother of Horus, and she and Horus fled to Horus’s uncle’s realm when Osiris was killed and their Corner was obliterated. Isis is willing to do all she could to help Horus grow into a ruler. She really has my sympathy.

Anubis
He is a giant with the simple mind of a child because of a traumatic event in his childhood. He grew up unappreciated and mocked for his gray complexion and stupidity. Another sympathy-arousing character.



What I didn’t like:
1. Too many characters—Not many authors can handle a Game-of-Throne-sized cast, and the story would have been better if some of the redundant characters had been cut completely from the plot.

2. Bland characters—as I’ve mentioned above, very few characters in the book caught my eye or made me care. I understand this is the 3rd book in the series, and readers would likely already have a fuller picture of the personality of characters, but I would have liked more character development even in the third book.

3. Character interactions—now this is slightly weird. The characters seem way too one-dimensional and immature for people who’ve supposedly lived for so long. Sometimes they start to scream or weep or get into fights without a justifiable cause. For instance, Hathor, the daughter of Amun, is given a girl to take care of, and she jumps scratching and screaming to defend this little girl, going to an extent of accusing her aunt Isis and defying her father. I mean, why? A lot of the characters’ actions are unexplained and abrupt, with little foreshadowing. This is why I find them too undeveloped for their years.

Style

Nathan Wall's writing style is very graphic. Although I love some of the colorful, intense descriptions (I've never pictured someone's arm being sliced into bilateral pieces, so thank you), some fall into the overly-show-not-tell category. I feel like the author can condense some of the action scenes by NOT giving us a blow-by-blow description of every action of the characters.
But, Wall is awesome at dialogue, and I loved the banters and snarky dialogues!

Setting

The setting for Artificial Light is an extremely vast and complicate multi-realm universe. Angels guard the Corners and other realms they occupy. They left their marks on human history as gods in mythologies. Some of them (the most powerful ones?) have a piece of celestial crystal that powers their realm and give them access to other realms. At least that’s what I think they do.

Apparently some angels hunt down demons. I’m assuming demons run the Double-Helix operation (using angel DNA to enhance humans), making the whole affair evil and unnatural. However, some angels are associates of demons, commissioning enhanced humans as soldiers.

What I loved most in the whole book is the aurascale: an extremely advanced full-body armor that allows angels to perform astonishing acts. All those gadgets and screens and hidden weapons in the armors! I want one, please.

Pacing

The pacing of this book is agonizingly strange. On one hand it’s fast and exciting, but on the other hand it drags and includes many unnecessary (in my opinion) events. It jumps from realm to realm and timelines to timelines, and I’m having a hard time tracking characters and remembering names because of these jumps. I simply feel disconnected from the story because of its structure. Only 70% into story did I feel invested in the characters’ fates.

Final Thoughts

I’m slightly put off by the treatment of angels and celestial matters, because it seems the world is run by volatile, warlike, and faithless angels without the guidance of God. That is, however, my personal values and beliefs, and others may not feel this discomfort at all. The plot may also put some off, because it’s too encompassing and meandering. However, a complex world will do that to the plot! Also, the ending is stunning. I didn’t see it coming, and I loved the grand exit! On the whole, the book offers supernatural characters, a confusingly complicated plot, and a messy, chaotic universe. As someone who jumped in late into the series, I highly recommend anyone to read the 1st & 2nd book of the series before coming to the 3rd, just so the timeline makes sense and the characters are more familiar. If you enjoy sci-fi or mythology, try Artificial Light.

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Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys

Salt to the Sea
by Ruta Sepetys

Winter, 1945. Four teenagers. Four secrets.
Each one born of a different homeland; each one hunted, and haunted, by tragedy, lies…and war.
As thousands of desperate refugees flock to the coast in the midst of a Soviet advance, four paths converge, vying for passage aboard the Wilhelm Gustloff, a ship that promises safety and freedom.
Yet not all promises can be kept.
Inspired by the single greatest tragedy in maritime history, bestselling and award-winning author Ruta Sepetys (Between Shades of Gray) lifts the veil on a shockingly little-known casualty of World War II. An illuminating and life-affirming tale of heart and hope.

Books with WWII setting always catch my eye, and Salt to the Sea is no exception. Set in Poland, 1945, the book has a cast of ragtag characters thrown together by necessity, all of them trying to board the Wilhelm Gustloff, a ship that promises passage to a better future.

The plot doesn’t lull, even though the characters don’t board the ship until, like 2/3 way into the book. Before they arrived at the docks, the refugee band must travel through some trials and danger-ridden lands. Moreover, many of the members have dangerous identities they must hide.

Characters 

Speaking of which, the characters are one of the best aspects of this book. With 4 main characters each getting a POV, we get to peek inside their perspectives, goals, and dreams. I especially love how Sepetys features Lithuanians and other diverse characters, as we have so few of those in Holocaust books, because it’s significant we realize the sufferings of war victims other than Jews.

• Joanna is a Lithuanian nurse who fled her homeland from Stalin to the realms of Hitler where she would be granted diplomatic immunity (? Or something of the like since her mother was German). She joined the group of refugees and held it together with her medical abilities and compassionate spirit.

“Your daughter, your sister. She is salt to the sea,” 

• Florian is a Prussian art forger artist/soldier who has a revenge agenda. He possess something that will destroy his ex-mentor. His personality is a bit bland, and I was surprised when he and Joanna struck it off. I’m just glad their romance thing didn’t bog down the plot. 

• Emilia is a tragic little figure with a terrible secret; her brokenness and quiet despair rends my heart. 

“Per aspera ad astra, Papa,' I whispered. Through hardship to the stars.”

• Alfred is the brainwashed Hitler youth who’s a seaman on the Wilhelm Gustloff. He’s that one in a multi-POVs story, the one I abhor and tries to skip. On one hand I pity him for his complete devotion and desperate need to prove himself, and on the other hand I detest him and what he stands for. His letters to his sweetheart is filled with pathetic egotism and illusions of grandeur. If the author is trying to get us into the head of an Aryan racist sociopath, congrats, she did it. 

“His smugness was annoying. This was the type of man who looked at a picture on the wall and instead of admiring the photo, looked at his own reflection in the glass.”

Side characters:

The side characters are equally amazing and complements the book so well. There’s a shoe poet who can see stories from your shoes, a little boy who lost his mother, a blind girl, and a giant woman with a cart of relics from a past life.

Setting

Have I talked about how much I loved the setting? I can almost feel the coldness of the snow and the mud splashing around and the salt of the sea. The setting of the latter half of the book also draws me in, because a doomed ship is such a dramatic, claustrophobic setting! The Wilhelm Gustloff was a German military ship that was torpedoed by a Soviet submarine while carrying 10,582 persons: civilians, officers, nurses, wounded soldiers, and about 4000 children (the numbers may not be accurate since some unregistered passengers swam and sneaked on board), with about 9,400 perishing in the freezing Baltic Sea. Knowing this background makes the story much more poignant when you read the passengers’ hopes and plans for the future. The fatalities number is several times higher than that of the Titanic or the Lusitania, but very few mention the Wilhelm Gustloff, so I truly appreciate the author for setting her story in this disastrous time and bringing more light to the subject. 

“Ships capacity: 1,463
Passengers on board: 10,573
Lifeboats: 22
But then I remembered.
Ten of the lifeboats were missing”

Pacing

The pacing is very fast, with short chapters only 2-3 pages long. I appreciate the pacing because it does not feel like the author is trying to show off all the thorough research she did. That’s one huge trap historical fiction authors fall into, and I’m glad Sepetys stepped clear of that. Instead, the author had my heart all clenched up with alarm as the plot unfolds: will the Nazis discover their true identities, will they fall into the river when the ice doesn't hold, will they board the ship in time... The fast pacing also conveyed a sense of doom and dread as the characters obliviously speed towards their ruin. 

“The Wilhelm Gustloff was pregnant with lost souls conceived of war. They would crowd into her belly and she would give birth to their freedom.” 

Final Thoughts

Salt to the Sea is a poetic and moving piece that squeezes my heart when I read it. It combines all my favorite elements: colorful characters, fascinating historical background, and straightforward pacing. The historical significance of portraying diverse characters is another plus. In short, if you enjoy WWII themed books like Code Name Verity or Wolf by Wolf, give Salt to the Sea a try.

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Tiny Pretty Things by Sona Charaipotra—Prima Donna Drama

Tiny Pretty Things
by Sona Charaipotra and Dhonielle Clayton
Black Swan meets Pretty Little Liars in this soapy, drama-packed novel featuring diverse characters who will do anything to be the prima at their elite ballet school.
Gigi, Bette, and June, three top students at an exclusive Manhattan ballet school, have seen their fair share of drama. Free-spirited new girl Gigi just wants to dance—but the very act might kill her. Privileged New Yorker Bette's desire to escape the shadow of her ballet star sister brings out a dangerous edge in her. And perfectionist June needs to land a lead role this year or her controlling mother will put an end to her dancing dreams forever. When every dancer is both friend and foe, the girls will sacrifice, manipulate, and backstab to be the best of the best.

I went through a phase of really, really loving ballet. Books, movies, photography, anything ballet. I remember reading Bunheads, Dance of Shadows, Dancing for Degas, and several others I didn’t finish. I also watched Black Swan (I think it’s the movie that set everything off), several real or televised classic ballet performances like Swan Lake, the Nutcracker, and Sleeping Beauty, and a TV series that recently came out called Flesh and Bone. Needless to say, when I saw the synopsis of Tiny Pretty Things—Black Swan meets Pretty Little Liars—I was elated.

I’m gonna try making a list of all the things I liked:

The Characters

Gigi is the talented new girl to the New York dance conservatory. She has the laid-back, Californian attitude that makes her stand out from all the uptight, straitlaced New Yorker dancers. Her expat African American background also makes her quite rare and disadvantaged in a traditionally all-white performance art realm. That is, if she isn’t so talented and gets all the lead roles. Even though she is amazing onstage, Gigi's gentle, simple nature gives her a hard time maneuvering around school and her petty, vicious competitors.

Bette is the polar opposite of Gigi: typical WASP, native New Yorker, neurotic, and manipulative. On the outside, she’s epitome of traditional ballet, the porcelain ballerina in a music box, but in reality, she is forever in the shadow of her much-more-talented ballerina sister Adele. Bette also loses both her boyfriend and “her” lead roles as soon as Gigi appears. Naturally, she turns her obsessive energy onto the hapless new girl, and it’s not the first time she’s done this to another classmate. In a word, Bette is one bubbling mess fraying around the edges.

June is a half-white, half-Korean girl who doesn’t seem to fit anywhere. She doesn’t even know who her father is, and her ex-dancer mother wouldn’t tell her either. June starves herself to fit her misguided mold of perfection, and she is pretty liberal about pushing limits to get what she wants.

As a multiple POV book, Tiny Pretty Things is surprisingly engaging, because each character is well-developed. The characters mentioned above are the 3 MCs: Gigi, Bette, and June. Each has a different personality, a secret, and a way of obtaining their goal. I enjoyed how tormented, twisted, (...that sounds bad and sadistic and wrong, but ballet itself is a ruthlessly beautiful affair) and genuine the protagonists are. They’re not teeth-gnashingly pristine little dancers in pink tutus, but flawed real girls with dark sides.

The Diversity

I knowww. Diversity is such an important thing in YA right now, and every author is scrambling to stuff as many diverse characters into their works as possible. BUT, Charaipotra actually allows diversity to unfold in her story; each diverse character is accompanied by a slew of cultural allusions instead of stereotypes. The author doesn’t simply throw in a black dancer and a half-Asian dancer to make her story diversity-friendly, she gives them all these doubts and social bias to overcome. I also love how they don’t obsess over racism all the time but have their own problems to handle, because SURPRISE! ethnic people have lives, too.
(There are also some delicious Korean food mentioned, so kudos! This foodie appreciates it.)

The Atmosphere

This is what I love most about works featuring ballet and ballerinas: the tension. Everything seems to be balanced on a precarious pointe, and any crisis can push someone over the edge. To me, that is what’s beautiful about ballet, the strength and fragility combined. In this book, there are a lot of tension between classmates, friends, and family members. All those pranks, backstabbing, and malicious gossips. Every dancer also has to face the pressure exerted on them by themselves, by teachers, and by the impossible beauty standard imposed on ballerinas.

What I didn’t like:

TOO MUCH TEEN DRAMA

I’m a drama-averse person; I hate confrontations. Don’t get me wrong, conflict is the essence of a good tale, but too much conflict derails into soap opera. A good dramatic story can be absolutely enthralling and just chilling when done right, like Abigail Haas’s Dangerous Girls. Some of the “revenge” and threats in Tiny Pretty Things, however, are unnecessary and left hanging threads when the book ends. This Henri "evil/mysterious" side-character doesn’t seem to actually do much except whispering variations of “I know what you did and I’m here for revenge” in Bette’s ears while taking advantage of her. I mean, what is all that about? WUT? Also, the pranks seem too sloppy, childish, and stupid for those so-called professional backstabbers. Not that I would ever prank someone maliciously, but surely there are better, subtler “messages” than rotting-cookie-dead-roaches combo or signature-lipstick-warning-on-mirror tricks? Though I admit one of the tricks was pretty upsetting even to me. *spoiler* But on the whole, way too much unnecessary drama for me.

The Romance

I also don’t enjoy romance all that much. Call me an unfeeling, ectothermic beast, but I don’t generally like YA romance. A good, squeal-inducing ship is so hard to come by, and I’ve developed an instinctual aversion for any romantic book relationships; meh-until-proven-awesome. Tiny Pretty Things, sadly, has painfully bland and flat romance. I couldn’t care less if Gigi falls in love with Bette’s boyfriend Alec, the GOLDEN BOY. It bogs this story down several notches. Bette is also embroiled with Henri in a disturbing way (?) And June steals her rival/ex-best-friend’s boy friend?? Just NO.

But, on the whole I liked this book! Because ballet and ballerinas. Also, the ending is, again, surprising and shocking and you’ll see what I mean.

So what do you think of Tiny Pretty Things? Does this book intrigue you? Make you wanna buy a pink tutu and pointe shoes and twirl in circles?

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10 Non-Fiction Books I Read & Loved in Spring 2016

1.Better Than Before by Gretchen Rubin

A book on forming good habits and shedding bad ones! 

2. 101 Secrets for Your Twenties by Paul Angone

A motivational guide to surviving my twenties, even though I’m not an adult yet. It's good to be equipped!

3. Madness: A Bipolar Life by Marya Hornbacher

A memoir on living a bipolar life. I love reading books on mental illness, and this 1st-person account teaches me a lot about bipolar disorder and what it's like to live with it.

4. The Joy of Less by Francine Jay

A how-to guide on being a minimalist. I'm suddenly extremely interested in Minimalism and Zero Waste, so this book has some great advice to offer.

5. Spark Joy by Marie Kondo

The follow-up book of The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo, the tidying guru. #KonMari

6. How to Tell if Your Cat Is Plotting to Kill You by Matthew Inman

A fun graphic novel for cat-lovers. Even though I'm not one myself, I'm still awwing through the portion "how to tell if your cat is plotting to kill you." The rest of the book is...not that humorous or funny? But I guess they're inside jokes for cat owners.

7. The Productivity Project by Chris Bailey

Productivity! How to accomplish more with less time and energy. This book has tons of little experiments you can try for maximizing your productivity. It even rates the "fun level" of each project! I am neither a procrastinator nor a stressed caffeine junkie (No, I'm a very calm person. Very.) I also have a ridiculously light workload. BUT the tips this book provides will be useful in college and later on in adulthood.

8. I’ll Have What She’s Having by Rebecca Harrington

A fluffy, sassy book in which a magazine editor goes on a diet project and tries out celebrity diets. I laughed out loud several times reading this one, (even for me, the unemotional tree stump), so it's an easy, lighthearted read.

9. Almost a Psychopath by Ronald Schouten

For satisfying my obsession for psychopathy/sociopathy...

10. Zero Waste Home by Bea Johnson

By the famous Zero Waste advocate Bea Johnson, whose family of 4 produced only a tiny mason jar of trash in several years. As I've said above, I'm suddenly into Zero Waste, a lifestyle that focuses on reducing trash we produce. I'll hopefully write a full review in the future! 

So these are the 10 non-fiction books I enjoyed so far in 2016! Does any of the books above pique your interest? Do you have any recommendations for non-fiction books you loved?

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The Diabolical Miss Hyde by Viola Carr—Jekyll & Hyde!

The Diabolical Miss Hyde by Viola Carr
Forensic science, magic, mystery, and romance mix in this edgy steampunk fantasy—a retelling of the horror classic, in which Dr. Eliza Jekyll, daughter of the infamous Dr. Henry Jekyll—pursues a dangerous murderer in an alternate Victorian London.
In an electrified Victorian London, Dr. Eliza Jekyll is a crime scene investigator, hunting killers with newfangled technological gadgets. She will need every advantage available to catch a terrifying new psychopath splattering London with blood. Hidden in the grimy shadows, the fiendish murderer preys on beautiful women, drugging them before slicing off their limbs. Finding the “Slicer” can make Eliza’s career . . . or unmask her darkest secret. Like her father, she has a hidden second self that emerges when she drinks his forbidden magical elixir. Just a few sips, and a seductive and impulsive Lizzie Hyde is unleashed.
The members of the Royal Society do not trust Eliza, and they send their enforcer, the mercurial Captain Lafayette, to prove she’s a dangerous sorceress. The careful doctor knows that one wrong step can make her prey to the clever Lafayette, a man who harbors an evil curse of his own. No matter how much she craves the elixir, she must resist.
But as the Slicer case draws her into London’s luminous magical underworld, Eliza will need the potion’s power to help her . . . even if it might attract the attentions of Lafayette. .
Even if it means setting the wild Lizzie free. . . .

This book is a retelling of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, but with a female protagonist. I love the gender swap and the fact that the heroine is actually a doctor. Of course, it’s a steam-punk book in an alternate universe, so feminism=slightly more advanced even in the Victorian era.

Premise

Anyway, Eliza Jekyll is a forensic doctor who examines murder scenes and assists the police in crime solving. Under her prim, austere face lies a brash and daring alter ego, Lizzie Hyde. Gruesome bodies are found. A serial killer is on the loose.

Character

Eliza Jekyll is quiet, professional, and an exemplary citizen. She is a slightly dowdy glasses-wearer who’s fond of gizmos and gadgets. She is constantly afraid of being discovered for who she really is--a person with an alter ego and who relies on an “elixir” to tame said alter ego. Although she’s portrayed as more timid and uptight than Lizzie, Eliza is a female doctor in a man’s world, which deeply gladdens me. Speaking of Lizzie, Lizzie Hyde is the exact opposite of Eliza, saucy, adventurous, and loves a drink. She isn’t near-sighted, and she’s more curvy (?!) than Eliza. I guess she’s the type of person who has “va-va-voom” in her vocabulary. Between the two personalities of Jekyll, I actually like Lizzie more than Eliza. Even though she gets into far more trouble than Eliza, she is fun and outspoken. What’s more, she has adorably assumed the role of the “big sister” and feels it’s her responsibility to look after Eliza. Their relationship also progresses from mutual dislike to reliance on each other, which is another thing I liked about the pair. 

Captain Remy Lafayette is the arrogant, handsome captain of the Royal Society, an organization that abolishes witchcraft and alchemy. I knew the jig is up when Eliza Jekyll disliked Lafayette; some hate-to-love plot waiting to happen right there! *sigh* On some level I hoped the book doesn’t have romance at all, because I don’t think the romance adds anything to either the plot or character development. Lafayette, though a typical Golden Boy (ugh), does have ulterior motives and secret agendas, so he’s ultimately a salvageable character.

Jack, or Mr. Todd, is a vividly crafted character who keeps popping up and helping Eliza. He is a psychopathic serial killer who Eliza helped capture and incarcerate in a mental facility several years ago. The two have a weird relationship going on, with Jack telling Eliza how to solve a crime and enticing her to the dark side, AND Eliza actually liking Jack a bit. It’s all very dark and strange but...shippable? It’s disturbing.

Setting

The book is set in Victorian London, with a very thick, prevalent steampunk atmosphere which I love! There are electrical weapons, mechanical gadgets, and all sorts of gimmicky things that intensifies the steampunk feel of the world. Eliza even has a mechanical pet who whirs and buzzes and flashes colored lights according to his mood, and awww I can’t resist a cute little sidekick. Supernatural elements are also present, though I won’t go into details *spoiler*. There’s also some mention of “feys” which I’m assuming are fairies? I would like it to be more developed, though, or cut completely from the plot. Overall the worldbuilding in The Diabolical Miss Hyde is quite successful, making me wanting to read more about this grimy, magical place.

Pacing

The pacing is satisfyingly fast, with many plot twists, and I didn’t feel bored even once in the entire time The climax is also packed with action, so there’s no disappointment throughout the book.

Final thoughts

The Diabolical Miss Hyde is a fun read all the way through. It made me care about the story, the characters, and the setting! I liked both of the protagonists, Eliza and Lizzie, and the properly fleshed-out supporting characters. The serial killer is chilling, talented, and so intelligent I didn’t guess his identity till the big reveal. If you’re looking for a steampunk crime thriller, look no further than this brilliant retelling of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.

So, did you love Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde as a kid? enough to read its retelling?

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The Girl from Everywhere by Heidi Heilig—Time-Travel, Pirate Ships, and Maps!

The Girl from Everywhere

by Heidi Heilig
It was the kind of August day that hinted at monsoons, and the year was 1774, though not for very much longer.
Sixteen-year-old Nix Song is a time-traveller. She, her father and their crew of time refugees travel the world aboard The Temptation, a glorious pirate ship stuffed with treasures both typical and mythical. Old maps allow Nix and her father to navigate not just to distant lands, but distant times - although a map will only take you somewhere once. And Nix's father is only interested in one time, and one place: Honolulu 1868. A time before Nix was born, and her mother was alive. Something that puts Nix's existence rather dangerously in question...
Nix has grown used to her father's obsession, but only because she's convinced it can't work. But then a map falls into her father's lap that changes everything. And when Nix refuses to help, her father threatens to maroon Kashmir, her only friend (and perhaps, only love) in a time where Nix will never be able to find him. And if Nix has learned one thing, it's that losing the person you love is a torment that no one can withstand. Nix must work out what she wants, who she is, and where she really belongs before time runs out on her forever.

This book is greatly anticipated on the interweb (Time travel! Maps! Pirate ship! Diversity!!!) and has received many positive reviews, and being the gullible fool I am, I set my expectation mode to ULTRA HIGH. I love time-travel! There are so many places I'd love to visit if I had a time machine! While I’m not saying The Girl from Everywhere is a disappointment, it fell just a little short of my salivating expectations. 

Premise

A crew of time-travelers hopping from time periods through historically accurate maps. An obsessed man whose sole purpose is to get his dead wife back (like Orpheus in Greek myth!). A protagonist whose existence may be wiped out if this man succeeds....The Girl from Everywhere holds such glorious promises.

Character

Nix Song is the protagonist whose whole life is spent time-traveling with her father on their pirate ship, the Temptation. She’s torn between helping her father bring her deceased mother back to life AND risking her own life in the process, because mindbending time paradoxes and whatnot. Throughout the book, I felt very ambivalent about Nix; sometimes I don’t even like her or care what happens to her. At the beginning of the book, I thought to myself, “hey, this Nix girl isn't bad at all! This could be awesome!” While she has the potential of being a complex, sassy, and lovable character, she just somehow doesn’t develop into that ideal female protag state. Instead, she regresses into a bland, annoying character whose presence is all but gone in the book. What happened?! In the end, the protagonist became the dullest character outshone by everyone else save one (we will get to him eventually, yes we will).

Kashmir is Nix’s best friend and probably the only driving force that kept me going through this book. He is vivid, saucy, and has a ton of comebacks at the ready, but he's extremely nice & sweet to Nix. Whenever he is in the scene, I find myself awww-ing and sighhhh-ing. His charming presence provides the perfect comic (?) relief and romantic spark for this book. And yes, he’s a love interest for Nix, so I’m shipping Kashmir and Nix even though there isn't much Nix to ship.

Slate is Nix’s father and the captain of the Temptation. He’s the one who can Navigate through time, but he’s also extremely dependent on Nix to provide practical solutions to their problems like money, maps, and the like. Slate fell in love with Nix’s mother Lin in Honolulu, but after he left to prepare financially for their happily-ever-after, Lin died after giving birth to Nix. After that, Slate’s only wish is to get back to Honolulu, 1868 to save Lin from dying. I love the combination of his obsessive weakness and his fate of ultimately choosing between Lin and Nix, the two most important persons in his life.

Blake is the annoying character forced upon me who makes me question the purpose of his existence at every twist and turn. When he bumps into Nix and we’re slapped in the face with some physical description (pale, tall, handsome, artistic, etc, etc) I knew something’s gone horribly wrong. There’s nothing I could do except internally shriek, “Don’t do it, Heilig, don’t do it!” But yes, it’s a love triangle featuring Nix, Kashmir, and Blake. This weak little judgmental person named Blake jumps up everywhere and shoves his disapproving, overprotective, and patronizing (who gave you the right to be overprotective anyway, Blake?) face into the readers, and I can’t wait for him to disappear. 

But back to the positives! The diversity in this book is exceptional. Nix is half-Chinese, Kashmir is Persian, and there's also an African lady and a Chinese sailor on board. And have I mentioned the book is set in Hawaii?

Setting

Yes! Hawaii! I’m so happy to read about a place I’m not familiar with, and it’s clear the author has done a ton of research for the place. She cleverly incorporates some local politics into the plot, which also makes the world-building more realistic, because what’s a world without some shady old men plotting conspiracies? The setting is also slightly paranormal, with a tiny dragon, an all-healing bird, and some terracotta warriors Nix and crew stole that came alive. This world is so rich and humid and beautiful and awesome...

Pacing

The pacing is weird—I'm not gonna lie—and makes the plot very confusing at times. The first 40% of the book is incredible, but after that point I started to not get the plot anymore. It could have been better if the author gave us more explanations on things that truly mattered (like how the time paradox actually works in this book, why do maps have to be made in the specific time period you want to visit, and why can’t Nix’s father find a map that’s dated slightly earlier than 1868 to get Lin to safety instead of "1868 sharp," like does it have to be 1868 instead of 1860?) instead of useless things like what Nix's ballgown looks like. The characters end up racing around doing stuff, and I can only sit there quietly contemplating why. I also didn’t like the climax of the book, which devolved into “let the guys handle all this dangerous stuff. You’re a girl, Nix, so just stay on the ship in safety and let us guys sacrifice ourselves and save the day.” WUT. EVEN. JUST. NO.

Final Thoughts

The Girl from Everywhere has a compelling premise, a diverse cast of characters, and a fascinating setting. While the plot leaves a lot something to be desired, once you’re invested in the characters’ adventures, you’ll want to know how they resolve the problem.

Do you think The Girl from Everywhere deserves the hype? Will you jump on the time-travel bandwagon? 

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Dangerous Boys by Abigail Haas—She Did It Again!

Dangerous Boys
by Abigail Haas
Three teens venture into the abandoned Monroe estate one night; hours later, only two emerge from the burning wreckage. Chloe drags one Reznick brother to safety, unconscious and bleeding; the other is left to burn, dead in the fire. But which brother survives? And is his death a tragic accident? Desperate self-defense? Or murder?
Chloe is the only one with the answers. As the fire rages, and police and parents demand the truth, she struggles to piece together the story of how they got there-a story of jealousy, twisted passion, and the darkness that lurks behind even the most beautiful of faces...

After my slightly traumatic experience with Dangerous Girls, I decided to...yep, read Dangerous Boys! This time, I came prepared, muahahaha! Y'all know what they say, “fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice...” Oh, well. Let’s just say I left nobody out of the suspect list.

Premise

The story begins with a crisis: three teens, Chloe, Ethan, and Oliver, enter a house, the house burns to the ground, only two come out, with one stabbed and unconscious. Chloe and the Reznick brothers Ethan & Oliver have a complicated relationship that eventually led to this catastrophe, but who’s the ultimate culprit?

Character

Chloe is the good, smart girl who’s got her future all mapped out (college, job, etc,...) and can’t wait to escape her tiny, nowhere town. However, her plans quickly fall apart when her father leaves and her mother sinks into mental illness. In her low moments, Chloe encounters the dashing new-comer Ethan Reznick, and the two quickly hit it off. As the story develops, we start to see layers of Chloe being revealed through details: the way she treats her mother, her dark desires, and her impulsiveness.

Ethan is the lovely boyfriend who’s too good to be true. He’s supportive of Chloe, isn't afraid of commitment, and is always there for her. The thing I didn’t like about Ethan is his possessiveness and condescension in some moments. Oddly enough, his sweetness and softness and boyfriendness that would melt fangirl hearts made me snort in suspicion. WHY??? Why are you so good? ARE YOU THE BAD GUY?

Oliver is the apparent BAAD BOOY who’s tall, dark & handsome. He’s instantly portrayed as dangerous and suspicious. He possess a lot of the psychopathic traits: charismatic, reckless, manipulative, and cruel. We can see this when his mother acts all flustered and nervous as soon as Oliver dropped out/came home from college; it’s like she’s trying to pacify an unstable animal. Oliver becomes a strong influence for Chloe, and his presence is a catalyst for most of the events that follow.

I was hoping for more than a mundane love-triangle & brotherly rivalry (with good boy vs. bad boy, no less), but the way Haas treats it, this twisted relationship eventually has a purpose and a consequence, so all’s good.

Setting

Again (like Dangerous Girls), the story is set in a pretty confined area, in a small town with a bumbling, clueless police force. Everyone knows everyone, and Chloe is friends with the sheriff’s daughter, and later becomes an assistant at the police department. Haas perfectly captures the sad, smothering atmosphere of a tiny town. I personally am terrified of living in a small town, because of that claustrophobic atmosphere. Imagine acres of cornfields or woods between you and your closest neighbors, and everyone gossiping about everyone else...It sounds like a grim prospect.

Pacing

Dangerous Boys continues the Past+Present style of Dangerous Girls, making the story very fast-paced and enthralling. I love the suspense of knowing the end and the beginning, but with the middle a complete puzzle that HAS TO BE READ (what is sleep, even). One piece at a time, the whole story falls into place, and not a moment sooner.

Final Thoughts

Dangerous Boys is definitely another dark, mind-bending masterpiece. It gives us these twisted, disturbing characters who can hide in plain sight. They have their own morality that’s just a tiny bit different from that of society’s, but that one bit is enough to wreak havoc on anyone’s life. All it takes is for them to unleash their true nature. In addition to these monsters by nature, we have those others who are simply too apathetic to stop them. In the story, the police essentially acquits a young officer who drove under influence and caused the death of a girl, all because the officer has good lawyers and the girl was a nobody on the wrong side of the tracks. Haas did an awesome job infusing this book with unsettling plot-lines and troubling characters.

Last of all, I really really hope Abigail Haas will write at least one other Dangerous book. Two is far from enough! I’d read anything by Haas that has “Dangerous” in the title. I’d even take Dangerous Pandas or Dangerous Babies, okay? Please?

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In the Shadow of the Gods by Rachel Dunne—What Is It with Twins?

In the Shadow of the Gods (Bound Gods #1) by Rachel Dunne A breathtaking talent makes her debut with this first book in a dark epic fantasy trilogy, in which a mismatched band of mortals, led by violent, secretive man, must stand against a pair of resentful gods to save their world.
Eons ago, a pair of gods known as the “Twins” grew powerful in the world of Fiatera, until the Divine Mother and Almighty Father exiled them, binding them deep in the earth. But the price of keeping the fire-lands safe is steep. To prevent these young gods from rising again, all twins in the land must be killed at birth, a safeguard that has worked, until now.

Trapped for centuries, the Twins are gathering their latent powers to break free and destroy the Parents for their tyranny—a fight between two generations of gods for control of the world and the mortals who dwell in it. 
When the gods make war, only one side can be victorious. Joros, a mysterious and cunning priest, has devised a dangerous plan to win. Over eight years, he gathers a team of disparate fighters—Scal, a lost and damaged swordsman from the North; Vatri, a scarred priestess who claims to see the future in her fires; Anddyr, a drug-addled mage wandering between sanity and madness; and Rora and Aro, a pair of twins who have secretly survived beyond the reach of the law.

I received a copy of this book from Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.

That's the first time ever I've said those words! My very first review copy!

Premise

Twin gods cast down from heaven and bound by their parent gods. Worshipers of both the Twins and the Parents. Societal twin hate. A plot to free the twin gods.

After the twin gods were subdued by the Parents, twins became an abomination and any newborn twin must die. Although the Parents are worshiped as the main gods, the Twins still have a group of cult-y followers in the mountains with a mission to find the twins and wake them from their sleep.

Character

The cast for this book is quite big! We get to see the broader picture from almost all of the characters’ perspective. The main characters are:

Joros
A priest for the Twins but who defected and made it his mission to prevent them from being freed at all cost. He’s violent but cunning.

Anddyr
Joros’s slave/servant who is bound to him by a highly addictive drug that renders him completely obedient to Joros. He was originally a mage (wizard) and has the ability to find the bound Twins, so his service is especially valuable to Joros.

Rora & Aro (twins)
Twins who escaped detection and had a chance to grow up. Rora, the sister, is the stronger, smarter one of the pair while Aro is the baby brother. I wonder if the saying about twins being complementary is true, that when one is strong, the other is weak. This is definitely the case with Rora and Aro. Rora has a responsibility to take care of Aro and make sure he stays alive and well. Rora & Aro’s storyline is the most interesting for me, and Rora is my favorite character among all the others, because she is strong-willed, keen, and street-smart. She’s never a slobbering fool like her brother (sorry, Aro).

Scal
A northern boy who grew up in a southern prison camp. He is deeply influenced by a priest for the Parents and a childhood friend, and a raid from the northern folks that killed the priest and the friend changed Scal’s life. Even when captured and trained in the Northern tribe, he swore to avenge their death. He’s a strange combination of tough mercenary hulk and proverb-spouting sage.

Vatri
A foul-mouthed priestess for the Parents who’s disfigured by fire during a session of fire divination. She found Scal through her divination, and joined the rest of the crew. She’s an adamant hater of twins and Twin worshipers, and frequently spit at Joros, Rora, and Aro, whom she believes are evil abominations. I think I would have liked her if she were less bent on being so spiteful and prejudiced (and I love Rora).

& Keiro
A priest for the Twins who’s saddened by the annihilation of human twins and who’s on a pilgrimage to find the twin gods. His storyline mainly exposes how the society in Fiatera mistreats twins and isn’t the most...interesting? However, it really picked up at the very end of the book, so it’s all good.

Setting

The fantasy world of Fiatera is not clear-cut like those in most other fantasy stories that come with maps. It is divided into North & South, and only a handful of places stood out to me. One is the mountain Raturo, where Twins worshipers live deep inside the darkness. Another is the Canals, a criminal-infested place Rora and Aro found a home with a gang. I loved the glimpses of mafia rivalry, secret missions, and gritty reality the Canals represents. I think Keiro eventually arrives at a place reminiscent of Africa, with dark-skinned people and deserts. There’s also a magic school where mages go to study, but sadly it’s only mentioned in passing and isn’t developed more fully. On the whole, Fiatera has a lot of Latin-root names/titles, and I think also a tiny hint of Japanese? (Like Raturo, Keiro, but I'm not entirely sure.) 

The world-building is nonetheless quite skillful, with nasty issues like twin genocide and all that bias against Twins worshipers. I’m surprised by how prevalent and believable twin executions are in this book. When a pair of twins are born, the midwives burn them or take them to a nearby river and drown them, while the villagers and family look on impassively. It’s gruesome and terrifying to even think of killing little babies, yet it’s no far-fetched thing; people sacrificed their firstborns to Moloch in the olden days. I’m satisfied by how the book treats these issues so far, and I’d love to see how it’s finally resolved in books to come. In short, I want to see more the world even fuller developed in the next book!

Pacing

The pacing of the book is slow yet manageable. A multiple-POV story has both its advantages and disadvantages; even though the pace of the book is not fast, it encompasses many sides of the story. I feel like the author is setting the scene and putting pawns in place for a huge chess game. Hopefully the next book will have even more action and twists than the first one!

Final Thoughts

Things I’d like to see in the next book:

1. More action from the gods. So far, I’ve only heard whispered and vague instructions and one short exchange by the end of the book. I want to know more!

2. More world-building. As I’ve said before, Fiatera has some intriguing places, but I’d love to read more about its cultures, places, and traditions.

3. Explanations! I know this is a series, and the author would eventually tell us everything, but I wonder why Joros needs the twins Rora & Aro for his mission to destroy the Twins. I don’t think it’s explained (or if it was, it’s not emphasized). Why did he need them?

4. More food??? I know this isn’t all that necessary, but I’m a foodie, and reading about food draws me nearer to the imaginary world and enriches the cultures depicted in the books.  

That’s all I can come up with for now, but I’m waiting for the author to pleasantly surprise me (or whack me on the head with awesomeness. Can’t decide which is better). In the Shadow of the Gods has a compelling premise, a cast of mismatched, refreshing characters, and the potential of becoming a great series!

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