Review: Grave Dance by Kaylana Price

Title: Grave Dance

Author: Kaylana Price

Publication Date: July 5th, 2011

Format: Paperback, 400 pages

THIS REVIEW MAY CONTAIN MINOR SPOILERS FOR THE FIRST NOVEL IN THE SERIES, Grave Witch (Check out my review here).

Grave Dance is the second book in The Alex Craft series written by Kaylana Price. Again we meet up with Alex Craft, owner and detective with Tongues of the Dead. Alex also happens to be a grave witch, someone who has a particular talent to raise shades of dead people from their bodies in order to speak with them.

The story starts up with the main mystery of the book. A bunch of left feet from several bodies are uncovered at the beginning minus their owners. Alex is called to investigate and see if she can raise a shade using only the feet to get to the bottom of where they came from. Ultimately she can't raise a shade using just the feet by herself, however, she ends up uncovering something she isn't supposed to, putting herself and her friends in danger. Soon she is being pursued by constructs/glamours, that actually seem to be able to do real damage and everytime they attack her they rip a hole open to the aetheric. In the midst of all this, Alex is also being pursued by a group of witches who want her ability to access the aetheric, so that they can become more powerful.

I have to say that I enjoyed Grave Dance. Not quite as much as I did the first book in the series, Grave Witch, but Grave Dance had its own charm. This book served to show us more of Faerie and also expanded on what we learned about Alex's heritage at the end of the first book. In regard to this, it did a great job in making me want to learn more, because as much as it added to what we learned it also created even greater mystery. I have a feeling that Alex is much more than she seems (of course), especially since her powers seem to be morphing into something different and she seems to be getting stronger, which is usually typical in this type of book, but because I enjoy reading the character so much I don't really mind.

The main mystery of the book was interesting, but felt a bit lacking. It seemed a bit rushed, as if the story existed to build on the world rather than the world being a fluid part of the story. But, it helped to keep the action flowing throughout the book and if there is one thing we know about Alex Craft it is that she is a girl that never has to look for trouble, it just finds her and this kept the book exciting.

The love triangle didn't really advance as much as I thought it would in this book either, however, I do enjoy the fact that I really don't know which love interest I would choose for Alex if given a choice, which is rare for me. I like them both. I also like the fact that both options would provide for a bit of a forbidden love story. Falin is the lover of the Winter Queen of Faerie, so that presents problems in and of itself, and Death, well, he is Death and if you read the book you will understand a bit more of why his love would be a forbidden love aside for just the fact that he is a reaper.

I especially enjoyed the fact that we get a little more of a peek into who Alex might actually be, not too mention what may have happened to both her mother and her brother. I don't want to go into it too much because then we are hitting spoiler territory, but I have my own theories and it makes me want to read the next book in the series that much more.

All and all I would recommend this book. I like the world Kaylana Price has built. I enjoy her characters and I like her magic system. The fact that everything has a price and there are rules that need to be followed makes it all the more appealing.

The third book in the Alex Craft series, Grave Memory, was released recently. Review for that one to come soon.

Rating: 4 out of 5

Reviewed for:

Back in Action!!!!

Remember that life stuff I was talking about that was eating up most of my time? Yeah, that sort of exploded in a big way and completely took over my life, but now things are finally starting to slow back down and getting back to normal. Hoping to have a few reviews up in the next week for your viewing pleasure and some interesting news and tidbits. Stay tuned. I promise....good things are coming!!!!

I'm good enough. I'm smart enough. And doggone it, people like me. HA!

There is somebody in the world that finds me interesting, which always kind of amazes me because I am actually a relatively shy person. When soon to be published and wildly talented author C.K. Garner (pictured) asked me if she could interview me for her own blog I was hesitant at first. I like to hear myself talk, but I was pretty sure that most of the world wasn't waiting with bated breath for what I had to say. But, it turned out to be a fun little interview. Ms. Garner asks the most interesting questions.

If you would like to read the interview please go here: The Book Geektress gets interviewed!

Even if you don't want to read the interview, you should definitely check out C.K. Garner's blog, Pile on the Protagonist. She has some interesting things to say and I have a feeling they are only going to get more interesting once her story goes live in August.

Enjoy!

I have been remiss....

So, you know that feeling when you know you should be doing something and life just keeps getting in the way. Yeah, been having that feeling a lot lately. I haven't done a review in a couple weeks, not that I get a whole lot of traffic here, but I like to be at least semi-consistent. I have been reading like crazy. Unfortunately one of those books was Fifty Shades of Grey, which (and please don't throw rotten fruit at me for this)I am not a fan of. I don't intend to review it, but I may do a quick blurb to let you all know why I didn't like it.

But, for now, I leave you with a book I am looking forward to coming out Tuesday, June 12.

Here is the synopsis:

Griffin Shaw used to be a PI, but that was back when gumshoes hoofed the streets . . . and he was still alive. Fifty years later, he's an angel, but that doesn't make him a saint. One small mistake has altered fate, and now he's been dumped back onto the mortal mudflat to collect another soul—Katherine "Kit" Craig, a journalist whose latest investigation is about to get her clipped.

Bucking heavenly orders, Grif refuses to let the sable-haired siren come to harm. Besides, protecting her offers a chance to solve the mystery of his own unsolved murder—and dole out some overdue payback for the death of his beloved wife, Evie.

Joining forces, Kit and Grif's search for answers leads beyond the blinding lights of the Strip into the dark heart of an evil conspiracy. But a ruthless killer determined to destroy them isn't Grif's biggest threat. His growing attraction to Kit could cost them both their lives, along with the answer to the haunting question of his long afterlife . . .

I had the pleasure of meeting and having lunch with Vicki Pettersson several years ago when her first book in her first series, The Sign of the Zodiac, had just released. Meeting her made me decide to give her books a try and I loved them. Now her new series is about to launch and I am anxiously waiting to purchase my copy!

If you haven't read Vicki Pettersson I urge you to give her books a try.

When Will You Rise?? Mira Grant's Blackout Out Now!

I am so excited!!!! There are a handful of authors who I will run out the day a book comes out for and Mira Grant (aka Seanan McGuire) happens to be one of them. The third and final novel in her Newsflesh series, Blackout, is out today! And if you haven't guessed by the title of the series.....there are zombies in it!!! Oh, and not to mention government conspiracies, traitors, insane people who like to poke zombies before they run, blogs....and did I mention the zombies?!!!

If you have not read the first two books in the series, Feed and Deadline, I urge you to run, not walk, to your nearest bookstore, online library, physical library, whatever your medium of choice and obtain these books. Mira Grant has crafted an amazing, sometimes heartbreaking story. Her imagination knows no bounds (and the fact that she happens to love reading about viruses to a near obsessive level helps). I am only sad because this is the final book in the series.

Oh, and this happened today......!

I have book in hand, but unfortunately not enough time to tear through the book today, but soon, very, very soon.

Review: Battle Royale by Koushun Takami

Title: Battle Royale

Author: Koushun Takami

Format: Paperback, 576 pages

Publication Date: February 26, 2003 (English version)

Koushun Takami's notorious high-octane thriller is based on an irresistible premise: a class of junior high school students is taken to a deserted island where, as part of a ruthless authoritarian program, they are provided arms and forced to kill one another until only one survivor is left standing. Criticized as violent exploitation when first published in Japan - where it then proceeded to become a runaway bestseller - Battle Royale is a Lord of the Flies for the 21st century, a potent allegory of what it means to be young and (barely) alive in a dog-eat-dog world. Made into a controversial hit movie of the same name, Battle Royale is already a contemporary Japanese pulp classic, now available for the first time in the English language. (via Goodreads)

"Someone else will finish you off if you get too hung up on every person you kill." - Shogo

Battle Royale by Koushun Takami was first published in 1999 (that is the Japanese version was, the American version was published in 2003) and a movie based on the book followed in 2000, as well as a manga series. It has since had a resurgence in popularity due to the book, and now movie phenomena, of The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, since both books seems to have some similar themes and ideas. There has been some debate as to whether Suzanne Collins borrowed some of her ideas from Battle Royale, but I am not going to go into that. I am, however going to direct you to a fantastic post about this very thing on the website io9.com. It is an excellent article on the comparisons and how, while Battle Royale and The Hunger Games definitely have similarities, they also have many differences that make both stories unique.

Third Year Class B, Shiroiwa Junior High School students are on a bus to what they think is a school retreat, but half way through the ride they are all mysteriously falling asleep at the same time and one student, Shuya Nanahara, realizes that the bus driver is wearing a mask right before he passes out. When he wakens he is in a unfamiliar class room with a metal ring around his neck and we are introduced to Kimpatusu Sakamochi, the "game master" if you will. The students are told that their class has been chosen to participate in this years Program, a time honored tradition the Republic of Greater East Asia has instituted for "security reasons". Every year 50 junior high third year classes are selected to participate and classmates are forced to fight friends and peers they have known for years until only one is left standing. These students are on an island and their only chance of escape is to win the game. And the metal ring is to keep track of the students whereabouts on the island and used as a way to keep the students in line when they are told it will explode if they try to escape or if they are caught in a forbidden zone, areas of the island that become off limits during the course of the Program, in order to keep the students constantly moving towards each other and to a conclusion.

Battle Royale is pulse pounding from the word go. You are thrown into the action almost immediately and the author has a way of getting across the terrifying fear these kids are feeling once they realize what they have been thrown into. For lack of a better description this book becomes a psychological mind-fuck, which was definitely one of the things I liked about the book. It is hardcore brutal. It keeps you on edge throughout the entire story. It is interesting to see the different ways the teenagers react when they are thrown into pretty much a kill or be killed scenario. Some, of course, want to resist and rebel and believe they can. Some throw themselves whole-heartedly into the game, killing in chillingly unique ways. And others try their best just to avoid any sort of contact whatsoever mistakenly believing they can hide out until the game is over. But, of course the Program is designed so that this is not possible.

There was a death countdown at the end of each chapter which I thought added to the intensity of the book. You always knew how many students were left alive and it kept you on your toes wondering who would die next and who would be the ultimate victor. Although occasionally this would also provide spoilers as to how many kids would die in a specific chapter if you happened to look ahead, which I personally couldn't resist doing.

I also like the fact that interspersed between all the killing and dying you get to know some of the characters by their point of view and a bit about some of their history. Now this doesn't happen with every single character, it would simply make the book too long, but the stories of the characters that are included were interesting. Not only do I think the author meant it as a device for the reader to sympathize with the students, but I think he also intended to show that it didn't matter what kind of background the person came from, what gender they were, or what type of student they were, they all had an equal chance of being chosen for the Program, just as they all had an equal chance of dying in the duration.

Some of the deaths were a bit predictable. On occasion I had that horror movie feel you get when you know the person on screen is walking right into a death trap and you keep screaming at them to run the other way, but they keep going in the direction of the danger. That is basically how this book makes you feel a good portion of the way through. Then there was the fact that I would have liked to see more of what was going on in the "control room". Once the teenagers leave the classroom we really only see Sakamochi appear once throughout the book besides when his voice comes over the island to tell the students which ones of their classmates are dead and which parts of the island are going to turn into forbidden zones, but you don't physically see him again until the end. I thought maybe there could have been more done with that, but again the book was already pretty long without including this.

This book makes you think what you would do if you were thrust into a situation such as this. Would you be able to kill your friends or people you may have not been friends with but have known since you were little? Would you feel remorse or would you feel, since you had no other choice, it was justifiable? Would you try to fight the system? Would you lay down your life for another person? These are certainly questions that you may not know the answers to unless you were living it, but are extremely interesting to contemplate. It is fascinating the way the author puts these questions to his characters and lets the drama play out in high fashion. It also highlights what some people may be capable of doing in high stress situations, especially life or death ones.

I highly recommend this book, especially if you area fan of The Hunger Games or any of the multitude of stories over the years that have similar themes. I should mention there is some gore. This book is not for the faint of heart. I would reach a point and think, "oh, this isn't as gory as some said it would be" and then turn the page and a particularly stomach churning scene would pop up. But, if you can get through that and the idea of kids being forced to kill kids, it is a fascinating examination of how a scenario like this could possibly play out if it were real. The fun part is getting to the end and finding out who survives, how they survive, and what may be in store afterwards.

Rating:4.5 out of 5

Review: Miss Peregrine's Home For Peculiar Children

Title: Miss Peregrine's Home For Peculiar Children

Author: Ransom Riggs

Series: Miss Peregrine #1

Format: Hardback, 348 pages

Publication Date: June 7, 2011

A mysterious island.

An abandoned orphanage.

A strange collection of very curious photographs.

It all waits to be discovered in Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, an unforgettable novel that mixes fiction and photography in a thrilling reading experience. As our story opens, a horrific family tragedy sets sixteen-year-old Jacob journeying to a remote island off the coast of Wales, where he discovers the crumbling ruins of Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children. As Jacob explores its abandoned bedrooms and hallways, it becomes clear that the children were more than just peculiar. They may have been dangerous. They may have been quarantined on a deserted island for good reason. And somehow—impossible though it seems—they may still be alive.

A spine-tingling fantasy illustrated with haunting vintage photography, Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children will delight adults, teens, and anyone who relishes an adventure in the shadows.(via Goodreads)

The synopsis above calls the book a "spine-tingling fantasy" and while I wouldn't exactly term it as "spine-tingling" or even an overly creepy book, I would definitely call it a fun, interesting book. It begins with the main character, Jacob, listening to his grandfather Abe's stories about where he grew up in a far off land among the peculiar children, who all had their own special talents. As a youngster, Jake is more than happy to believe these fantastical stories, but as he starts to grow up and begins to encounter opposition to the stories from his peers, he decides he doesn't want to believe them anymore, so it is at this point when Jake tells his grandfather this and Abe quits telling him the stories. But, we are soon to find out that maybe Jake should have put more faith in the stories. The family tragedy the synopsis talks about happens when Jake turns 16 and he has an encounter that makes him finally believe in the monsters and the Peculiars thus leading him on the journey of a lifetime.

The book is fun mainly because it has a wonderful cast of characters. When Jake convinces his parents to let him travel to the island his grandfather told him about he is almost positive he is going to find all these kids either very elderly or dead. But, what he finds is way more than he bargained for. And I would like to tell you more about the Peculiar Children, but I think that might spoil one of the things that makes the book so interesting.

Jake's journey also leads him to learn about himself, as well as his family and what his grandfather was really all about. At the part of the book where we first meet teenage Jake he is your pretty ordinary, typical 16 year old, although he comes from a privileged background. He is bored with his life. His path has pretty much been laid out for him. He will join in with the family business of running drug stores. But, you get the sense that he definitely wants more, but even he doesn't quite know what exactly that is and he has given in to the path of least resistance. But, when he witnesses tragedy first hand and sees the monster that did it, his life is thrown into an uncontrollable spiral that can only end in him seeking the answers to who his grandfather really was and what secrets the mysterious island Abe grew up on holds.

This book definitely felt like a first book in a series. The reason for this being that it seemed the author was paying particular attention to building the world and setting up future conflict than anything else. It definitely has a story to go with it, but when you reach the end you get the feeling that it is the second book that is really going to contain a lot of the excitement and adventure you are looking for. That is not to say this book didn't have adventure. It did. But, again, all of the adventure sort of centered around setting up for something more to come.

The one unique thing this book did have to offer is the pictures of the Peculiar Children. They depicted the children engaged in their various talents. They are delightfully strange and really have a very classic feel to them. There are even end credits as to who the pics are of and to who took them, or at least whose collection they came out of.

Bottom line...I would definitely urge you to give this book a go. It is definitely geared for the more Young Adult crowd, but, I have a feeling that the second book is going to really going to take the story to the next level. At least that is what I am hoping for. The set-up at the end of the book leaves it ripe for continuing on an extremely strong note.

Happy Reading!

Rating: 3.5 stars out of 5