Rebel Angels

The title of the book Rebel Angels (by Libba Bray) was inspired by John Milton's Paradise Lost, a poem about the angel Lucifer trying to overthrow heaven.

In this second book of the Gemma Doyle Trilogy, the girls are back and dreaming about Christmas; all except for Ann who, due to a lack of family, will be staying behind at Spence. Felicity comes up with the genius idea of reinventing Ann as the long-lost niece of some Duke who can trace their ancestry back to Russian royalty so she can enjoy the wonders of the London elite as well.

There is a mysterious new teacher at Spence, Miss McCleethy, who seems to have an immediate dislike for Gemma. Her very presence also causes Gemma to slip into horrifying visions of three girls in white dresses, who are obviously ghosts. Gemma, Felicity and Ann discover that they can still enter the realms and that Pippa is there! However, Kartik warns Gemma that by smashing the runes she loosed the magic in the realms for anyone to use; therefore she must find the Temple and bind the magic to the Eastern Star, which, unbeknownst to Gemma, would allow the Rakshana to control the magic. Kartik is also told that once she has done this, he is to kill her.

Upon their return to London, Gemma meets a young man, Simon Middleton, who is the son of a Viscount and who takes an immediate liking to her. Ann is met with smashing success and treated kindly. Felicity discovers that her father is home again and that her young distant cousin, Polly, has been orphaned and will be staying at her house.

However, Gemma's visions turn more horrifying as they also show Pippa as a creature of the realms. The ghosts plague her even more and she discovers Nell Hawkins, a member of the Order, in Bedlam. After meeting her, Gemma learns that Nell has deliberately driven herself mad to prevent Circe from discovering where the Temple is. Miss McCleethy is also in London and following her leads the girls to a bookstore where she purchases a book on secret societies. Reading the book they discover that many member of the Order use anagrams of their names when in hiding. They also learn that Claire McCleethy spells out: They Call Me Circe.

Each trip into the realm shows the garden growing more wild and dangerous as they discover that other creatures also live in the realms: the water nymphs who lure you into the water for your skin; the gorgon head that has been spelled onto a boat who may not cause harm or lie to a member of the Order but who also lies by omission; the horrible skeleton warriors; and even ghosts who have yet to pass that have been tempted into staying and are heading into the Winterlands.

However, the mad ramblings of Nell offer light as to where the Temple may be found:

"Where shall we go, maidens? Where shall we go? You must leave the garden. Leave it behind with a sad farewell. Down the river on the gorgon's grace, past the clutches of the slippery, nippery nymphs. Through the golden mist of magic. Meet the folk of the fair Forest of Lights. The arrows, the arrows, you must use wisely and well. But save one. Save one for me. For I shall have need of it. ...

"Offer hope to the Untouchables, for they must have hope. Travel on, far beyond the lotus blossoms. Follow the path. Yes, stick to the path, maidens. For they can lead you stray, away, with false promises. Beware the Poppy Warriors. The Poppy Warriors steal your strength. they will gobble you up. Gobble, gobble! ...

"Do not leave the path, for it is hard to find again once lost. And they will take song to the rock. Do not let the song die. You must be careful with beauty. Beauty must pass. There are dark shadows of spirits. Just beyond the Borderlands, where the lone tree stands and the sky turns to blood...in the Winterlands they plot and plan with Circe. They will not rest till the army is raised and the realms are theirs to rule.

"Go where no one will, where it is forbidden, offer hope....go where the dark hides a mirror of water. Face your fear and bind the magic fast to you!" (pgs 360-361)

Like I said after reading A Great and Terrible Beauty, I was terrified to read this story for fear that my expectations would be set so high that this book couldn't possibly live up to them.

In essence, I was right.

However, this book did not try to do what the last one did. I believe that the last book was of choices and living with the consequences of them. In this book, the underlying theme was secrets and lies: Gemma's family is falling apart because her father is addicted to laudanum; however, they are not to speak of it. Ann's experiences in London is because of a huge secret. Felicity's behaviour toward Polly and her parents is due to yet more secrets. Kartik has a secret mission from the Rakshana that was divulged in the beginning of the book.

This book explored more of the realms and the horrible burden of trying to live a lie; to pretend that a girl is what she seems to be: a girl but one who doesn't have a terrible secret that could ruin them in society's eyes. You learn that there is more to each person than what you'd expect. Like Felicity and the secret to why she is the way she is. Gemma's dysfunctional family and irritation brother, Tom, are more of a focal point and how they rally together to hide their father's laudanum addiction. Even beautiful Pippa, the independent Miss Moore, priggish Miss McCleethy and mad Nell are not what you expect.

This book was fantastic and I'm happy to say that I'm looking forward to the third and final book in this trilogy: The Sweet Far Thing, which, I'm sure, will be as well written and enjoyable as the first two. However, I am curious to discover the underlying theme in that book as well.

A Great and Terrible Beauty

' "Shall I tell you a story? A new and terrible one? A ghost story? ... Are you ready? Shall I begin? Once upon a time there were four girls. One was pretty. One was clever. One charming, and one...one was mysterious. But they were all damaged, you see. Something not right about the lot of them. Bad blood. Big dreams. Oh, I left that part out. Sorry, that should have come before. They were all dreamers, these girls."

"One by one, night after night, the girls came together. And they sinned. Do you know what that sin was? No one? ... Their sin was that they believed. Believed they could be different. Special. They believed they could change what they were - damaged, unloved. Cast-off things. They would be alive, adored, needed. Necessary. But it wasn't true. This is a ghost story, remember? A tragedy. ... They were misled. Betrayed by their own stupid hopes. Things couldn't be different for them, because they weren't special after all. So life took them, led them, and they went along, you see? They faded before their own eyes, till they were nothing more than living ghosts, haunting each other with what could be. What can't be. ... There, now. Isn't that the scariest story you've ever heard?" ' (pgs 314-316).

The above quote came from A Great and Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray, a book about a Victorian era girl who is sent to a finishing school in London after her mother dies tragically. Gemma Doyle, the heroine, is a 16 year old outcast who sees terrible things happen in visions - and then it comes true. Her roommate, Ann, is a scholarship student (read: poor) who wants nothing more than to be seen - and to be beautiful. Her unlikely ally, Felicity, is the school leader and bully until Gemma saves her from expulsion by shoving her in a lake - thus allowing her gypsy admirer to escape unnoticed. And Pippa, beautiful Pippa, wishes only for true love - which her parents can't allow to happen in case her seizures become public notice (and thus expose her genetic defect which would prevent any future offers of marriage).

However, they live in a time when "a man wants a woman who will make life easy for him. She should be attractive, well groomed, knowledgeable in music, painting, and running a house, but above all, she should keep his name above scandal and never call attention to herself" (pg 27). This stifling attitude prevents the four girls (or, really, any at all) from doing what they wish. As evidenced by one of the characters, "Well, it's not as if we can do what we want, is it?" (pg 163), when Felicity comments on how Pippa doesn't wish to marry the first man that comes along with a sizeable fortune.

In a drunken pity-fest, the girls re-create The Order after reading the diary of Mary Dowd, which describes a magical garden of power. They take a blood oath and "swear loyalty to each other, to keep secret the rites of [their] Order, to taste freedom and let no one betray [them]. No one. ... This is [their] sanctuary. And as long as [they're] here, [they] will speak only truth" (pg 153).

And so begins their true journey into self-discovery. Their characters deepen as you learn more about them: Pippa is being used by her parents simply to alleviate her father's gambling debts; Ann self-mutilates so she knows that she can still feel; and Felicity has been abandoned by her parents and for power in a powerless situation. It is at this point that the ghost story is told. The girls are at their lowest points and feel absolute failure coming upon them.

Weaving itself into the story is the poem, The Lady of Shallott by Alfred, Lord Tennyson. In the poem the Lady of Shallott is cursed to view the world outside her window through a mirror. One day she decides that she is "half sick of shadows" and looks out the window. When her mirror cracks, she leaves her tower, climbs into a boat and floats down to Camelot, where she dies.

Setting the pace for the rest of the book, the school teacher Miss Moore finally reaches the heart of the story when she talks about the poem and that "the lady dies not because she leaves the tower for the outside world, but because she lets herself float through the world, pulled by the current after a dream" (pg 102).

In essence, I believe that this book is about the characters striving to live life to the fullest and to attempt to break the bonds of society's demands to do what they want to do: which is to make their own choices.

I was captivated by this book right from the start and despite owning the rest of the books in this trilogy, I'm terrified that the rest of the books won't be as good. Having peaked my interest for what is going on in this book and the lives of these girls, I'm worried that the author will have opted for an easy way out. Or that in the end, they fail miserably.

Gemma and her friends, despite living in an age long past, still face issues that are relevant for today: peer pressure, the urge to fit in, sexual curiosity, the need to please and the desire to be free. While Gemma may not know her own mind, she does refuse to give in to society's pressures and I do believe that she does a good job as a strong female lead character. Even Pippa, who takes the easy road out in the end, still makes a choice that she believes is right for her.

Need I say more? I love this story and I think everyone should read it. It reminds me of the magical sisterhood found in the movie The Craft as well as a subdued version of the sexually charged friendship found in Summer Sisters by Judy Blume.

The Looking Glass Wars

The Looking Glass Wars is the first book of a trilogy created by Frank Beddor. This series is a darker take on the children's book Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll.

In The Looking Glass Wars, Princess Alyss Heart's world is turned upside down on her 7th birthday when her crazy Aunt Redd invades the palace. In a final act, her mother, Queen Genevieve sacrifices herself by sending Alyss through the Crystal Continuum with Hatter Madigan to the Pool of Tears. After narrowly escaping The Cat, Redd's favourite assassin, Hatter & Alyss become separated in the Pool, with Alyss emerging from a puddle in London circa 1859.

Trapped in Victorian London, Alyss is adopted by the Liddell's and later is befriended by Charles Dodgson. In a desperate attempt to have someone believe her, Alyss tells him of Wonderland. Later he writes his own version of her story, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland under the name Lewis Carroll. At this point Alyss completely immerses herself into the persona of Alice, a normal English girl.

After her 20th birthday, Alice meets Prince Leopold who falls for her and asks for her hand in marriage. On her wedding date, Cat finds her and she is rescued by Dodge Anders, a childhood love whose father was murdered the same night as Alyss's mother.

After returning to Wonderland, Alyss finds that she is the figurehead of a group of rebels who call themselves the Alyssians. Her albino tutor, Bibwit Harte, informs her that she must see the Caterpillars in their Valley of Mushrooms to find the Looking Glass Maze so she can reach her full potential and power as the future Queen.

Can Alyss live up to everyone's hopes and save Wonderland despite having lost her power of Imagination?

This book was really cool. Already knowing the story of Alice in Wonderland, and seeing what was happening to Alyss made for a neat cross-over of past and future. Coming from Wonderland, Alyss notes that the lamp posts on the streets came from Wonderland, except instead of fire, they can be turned on by a switch.

The characters were also different: Bibwit Harte is the White Rabbit (with rearranged letters), and Hatter Madigan is the Queen's personal guard. His signature top hat is really a weapon in disguise. The caterpillars still smoke hookah's, but the smoke allows them to see the future and act as an oracle. Card soldiers are mechanized and their intelligence increases as the number reaches 10. The other ruling families in Wonderland are the Spades, Clubs & Diamonds.

The writing itself isn't that great, but it is interesting enough to keep me going. There aren't any twists of the story, except to recognize the certain aspects that parallel either Lewis Carroll's book or the Disney movie.

There isn't really any character development, except for Alyss, and even that isn't unexpected. Dodge is a revenge-obsessed character; Bibwit stays scholarly; Hatter remains a faithful guard. Alyss only truly changes in the Maze, but even then she only gains confidence in her abilities. The hardships faced don't shape the characters in any life changing way.

I would recommend this book to anyone looking for an easy read. With all the hype out there from Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland movie, I'm sure there will be tons of people wanting to read this book.

My Soul To Save

My Soul To Save is the second book in Rachel Vincent's Soul Screamers series.

Our heroine is Kaylee Cavanaugh, a 16 year old who discovered in the last book that she's bean-sidhe - or in English, banshee. One of the side effects of being bean-sidhe is that Kaylee has an uncontrollable tendency to scream hysterically when someone nearby is about to die. Her boyfriend Nash is bean-sidhe as well, and his voice can calm her down, not to mention Influence others.

At a concert Kaylee & Nash watch as the star, Eden, drops dead; however, Kaylee doesn't scream. As a Soul Screamer, Kaylee realizes that Eden has no soul to sing for because it has been bartered away to a hellion in exchange for fame and fortune. When they learn that the opening act, Addison Page, is next, they go on a wild hunt to retrieve her soul before her time is up.

I like this series for a variety of reasons. The biggest one is the bean-sidhe concept. I'm always sold on an idea that has a different take. The second reason is that the main character is an outcast. At high school she is labelled a freak by her popular cousin and her cheerleading clique.

Though Kaylee has a big heart and an apparently steel spine that may get her killed one day, I find that strength a little hard to swallow. Risking her life for someone she doesn't know? It is explained away as making up for those she couldn't save in the previous book, but her altruistic abilities, while commendable, aren't very realistic.

The sexual tension is this book can get pretty thick at times between Kaylee and Nash. While they both want it, it is really only poor timing and a little insecurity that keep them from going all the way (read: Nash is/was a man whore and Kaylee is worried about him losing interest if they do the deed). Granted, it is toned down some from the previous book.

I've had discussions with Vyxen about teen sexuality in the past and we have differing ideas.

Mine: I prefer it to be practically nonexistent; if I want to read about sex, I'll read an adult romance. I think it's cute when they act shy around eachother and when holding their crush's hand is a huge accomplishment. I am also not a teenager.

Hers: it is a huge issue nowadays and should be discussed; they do want it, so why not present it in an elightened way to show teens that they have options when it comes to dealing with sex.

She has a good point and while I personally am not a big fan of teen sex, I'm also not the target audience since I haven't been a teenager for nearly 10 years. (Though neither has Vyxen.)

It will definitely happen for those characters, but I hope it's done in a tasteful and smart (ie, birth control & condoms) manner. I think Kaylee also needs to learn to let up a little on her self-doubt before that ever happens. Otherwise I predict bitter fights.

Another reason I like the book is because the main character doesn't know a thing about being bean-sidhe so she's learning from her boyfriend's mom. The bonus being that the reader learns about it at the same time without it seeming dumbed down for the readers.

I also like the main character is this series way more than the main character in Rachel Vincent's other series, Shifters. She even gets grounded for being out late (saving lives), so at least she doesn't have a free ticket just because she's supernatural.

Note: Vyxen left me this message about what she has to say about teen sex:
"I have to say that I don't advocate it. I, in fact, adore Meyer for having her characters abstain until marriage. I think you have to be hugely responsible as a YA author, these days, and present information. I also think that this information should be presented to a strong female protagonist (actually, though. Not some half wit we see as strong initially, only to find out that she is "nothing without her man." [Cough]BellaSwan[/Cough]) who, wisely, says no to her suitor and isn't judged a prude because of it. I want "no" to be an okay option is all. (But I don't want an author to candy coat life, either. I'm all for kids being kids, but this is a big deal.)

YAs won't read novels that present a fluffy world. It's insulting to their intelligence and generally pisses them off. I figure don't hide the real world and recognize that, for the most part, they're smart enough to make their own decisions, we just have to equip them with whatever knowledge we can."

I stand corrected. :)

Bone Crossed

Bone Crossed is the 4th book in the Mercy Thompson series by Patricia Briggs.

Mercedes (Mercy) is a VW mechanic who can also turn herself into a coyote at will. Unlike werewolves, Mercy's transformation is painless, instantaneous & she is not influenced by the moon. She is the acknowledged mate of the local werewolf pack's Alpha, Adam Hauptman, as well as a good friend of a powerful vampire, Stefan.

This is the first time that I've reviewed a book that is part of a series without doing the previous books first, so I'm not sure how this will go. Since this book is a continuation of the others, it might be difficult to review this book without going into the others.

I really like this series. Despite its similarities to the Anita Blake series from Laurell K. Hamilton (ie, creature of magic dating a werewolf and friends with vampires), Mercy has a more level head and though tough, she is not untouchable to relate to. She also doesn't sleep with every guy she encounters.

In this book in particular, Mercy leaves the Tri-Cities area at the request of a college friend, Amber, to look into Amber's haunted house in Spokane. Mercy's abilities as a skinwalker include an affinity for ghosts, which has been hinted at in previous books. This book explores, and explains, more about the ghosts that she can see. Another reason Mercy leaves town is so that she can escape Marsilia (local vampire queen) for a few days. After killing one of Marsilia's favourite henchmen, Andre (because he was crazy), Mercy gets a traitor's mark on the door of her garage.

While in Spokane, Mercy runs into the master vampire of Spokane at Amber's house. After finding the hauntings at Amber's to be real, she flees back to the Tri-Cities and ends up getting stuck in the middle of vampire politics.

This book really tied up a few loose ends from previous ones, and each book explains more and more of Mercy's abilities. There was also a traumatizing event at the end of the previous book; however, this book didn't dwell too much on it and there was healing and closure for Mercy.

I find Mercy to be a likable character: she's strong, funny and does what she will. She's frustrating to everyone that knows her and wishes her to obey, but I think that's part of the reason why I like her. She has a good heart, and will bleed herself dry for those she loves. Her new - yet not quite so new - relationship with Adam is endearing and her desire to fit in with everyone around her makes her someone that you can relate to.

Another book will be coming out in April 2010 called Silver Borne and I will definitely be buying it!