What I've Read Lately - March

This past month I really tried hard to catch up on my backlog of books from that ridiculous library run I did back in January.  I am pleased to announce that I finally managed to finish seventeen of the eighteen books (I wasn't in the mood for a horror novel, so I'll get to that 18th book sooner or later), and I even went back to the library and started in on a new set.  And I am also pleased to announce that I showed some restraint and only checked out eight books this time, so there are plenty of books still on the library shelves for the rest of you.  Here's what I had the pleasure (or not) of reading in March:

You can guess as soon as you see the cover that Scarlet, by A. C. Gaughen, is going to be a Robin Hood story.  And it was.  But it was mostly about Will Scarlet.  There was action and adventure, and lots of sneaking around, and a love triangle that, even though I usually hate love triangles, was actually pretty well done.  The book puts a very interesting twist on the main character, giving us an interpretation of the Robin Hood story that is both completely traditional and yet at the same time fresh and new.  I liked it.  You should read it.  Unless you're a boy who doesn't want to read about girls or romance, because, although it has the action and adventure and violence and intrigue, it also has that love stuff, which is a significant part of the story. For a more detailed review, see my post here. (Reading Level: 4.4/Upper Grades)

So the cover of The Hidden Twin, by Adi Rule, was super cheesy.  And the title didn't do much for me.  Honestly, if I wasn't familiar with the author already (see my post here), I would have NEVER checked it out.  But I wanted to see what Rule would do with her second book (the first was a mix of genres: gothic and science fiction if you can believe it), so I gave it a try.  It wasn't bad.  It was a kind of fantasy steampunk (it should have had a cover that conveyed this, because who would have guessed?!), different than most of what I've read before, and pretty well done.  And this time the backstory fit the main story (see post mentioned above), so it wasn't frustrating.  I wouldn't say it was anything special, but it kept my interest enough to finish it, so hey, if you like fantasy steampunk you might like it.

The more I think about Frost, by Marianna Baer, the more I decide I didn't really like it.  It was supposed to be a ghost story.  Or a gothic novel.  Or something similar.  What it mostly was, was a bunch of drama.  Friends drama, roommate drama, boy/friend drama.  Every once in a while there would be a strange happening in the house that was building up towards something, but instead of ever getting anywhere, it just kept throwing more drama at us.  Like twenty pages of drama before the next suspicious occurrence. Over and over again.  I have enough stress in my life - I don't need to spend eight hours trudging through other people's drama.  On top of that, the heroine wasn't even likeable.  So I couldn't bring myself to care about her problems at all.  If you are looking for a good ghost/gothic/paranormal suspense book, you aren't going to find it here. (Reading Level: 4.2/Upper Grades)

Sunrise, by Mike Mullin, is the final book in the Ashfall trilogy I started back in July (see mini-review of first book here).  It was still plenty cheesy at times, but not nearly as much as the first two books.  It was also slightly less unrealistic.  It was still full of action and adventure and suspense, with the kind of chapter breaks that make it hard to put the book down.  And, even though it was 546 pages, it didn't take all that long to read.  Great book series for boys, reluctant readers, and anyone who wants a not-too-deep post-apocalyptic story told from a boy's perspective.  (Reading Level: 5.5/Upper Grades)

I really, really liked The Brides of Rollrock Island by Margo Lanagan.  I haven't read anything from this genre for a while, so it was a refreshing change.  But that's not why I really liked it.  It was a really good book.  It is about an island where the men take selkies for wives, and the ramifications for everyone involved - the men, their seal-wives, their already human wives, their children, etc.  It is divided into sections told from different perspectives, giving an intimate picture of the motivations and feelings of the different types of people involved, beginning with the girl who will grow up to be the 'witch' who calls the selkies from the sea.  Beautifully written, wonderfully put together, this is a book that can stand up there with the works of writers like Neil Gaiman.  (Reading Level: 5.8/Upper Grades)

So, The Sacred Lies of Minnow Bly, by Stephanie Oakes, was kind of like two stories in one.  It had the present, in which Minnow was being tried and then serving out a sentence in a juvenile girls' prison, and then it had the before, which was her memories of living in the wilderness with a religious cult, and the events leading up to her crime.  I enjoyed it a whole lot more than I thought I would, being a book about a religious cult and all, maybe because it wasn't actually taking place in the cult.  It was a nice mystery and coming of age story with a well developed theme that gave it a bit more depth than some of the books I've read recently.  And even though it is quite thick, it was also quite a page-turner, so it doesn't take too long to finish.  (Reading Level: 5.2/Middle Grades +)

Heart of the Storm, by Michael Buckley, is the final book in the Undertow trilogy.  I guess the books would be classified as urban fantasy, but they kind of had a science-fiction-ish feel to them, too.  Oh, and by the second book, it has all morphed into a post-apocalyptic story as well. The basic premise is that a race of sea peoples comes out of the sea at Coney Island, turning the united States upside down.  There are battles, and powers, and corporate conspiracies and a girl falling for the prince of the sea people, etc. etc.  All three books were really quite ridiculous when I think about it, and I wasn't going to read the second one but it was there, so I did, and I wasn't going to read the third, but guess what?  It was there, so I did.  It wasn't bad and I didn't really ever consider putting it aside without finishing it, but I did quite a bit of eye rolling.  If you don't get a lot of opportunities to read and undersea people living just fine on land seems unrealistic to you and human girls having the hots for a guy from a different species creeps you out, don't bother spending time on this.

I loved the way Rose & Thorn, by Sara Prineas started out.  It was written so beautifully, and was the epitome of what a 'story' should sound like.  Which is appropriate, because the whole concept of the book is that Story (with a capital S) always tries to take hold and control how events will play out.  This book is a companion book to Ash & Bramble, (see mini review here) in which the characters destined to play out the Cinderella fairy tale fight back and defeat Story.  This book takes place fifty years later, and focuses on the Sleeping Beauty fairy tale.  The main part of this book was a bit disappointing after the amazing first start, mostly because it was much less beautiful and much more boring.  It reads more like a juvenile fiction book (where is the depth?!?!) than a young adult novel.  Also, it continually switches point of view mid-chapter, which is annoying and would be confusing for a younger, less experienced reader.  Despite its flaws, though, it was a refreshing twist to a classic fairy tale, making it worth the read if you are looking for something from that genre.

A last minute addition:  I finished The Butterfly Clues, by Kate Ellison, the evening of the last day of the month, after reading it for only two days - it was hard to put down.  The novel was a tense thriller/suspense murder mystery type story, but it was also about a girl with OCD who is grieving the death of her brother and hanging out with homeless teens.  So yeah, it was pretty emotional at times.  There were a few chapters in the middle where I was like, Ugh, I'm just not into this story anymore, but then it got good again and kept me hooked until the end.  There were also a few paragraphs during the climax and when the whole thing was coming to a conclusion that I was like, yawn, this is too predictable/drawn out/wrapped up in that boring summing-it-all-up way, but not so much that it ruined the story.  Which was good. Funny thing - the book was published in 2012, but when I opened the cover it was stiff like I was the first person to read it.  Apparently it hasn't been very popular so far, so give it a try and if you like it, spread the word.  (Reading Level: 5.0/Upper Grades)