REVIEW: Ordinary Magic by Caitlen Rubino-Bradway

 Posted by Anastasia on May 17, 2012  2 Responses »
May 172012
 
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043. Ordinary Magic by Caitlen Rubino-Bradway
Publication: , ebook, 256pp / ISBN
Genre: MG Fantasy

Read: March 2-3, 2012
Source: NetGalley (thank you!)

Summary from Amazon:

In Abby’s world, magic isn’t anything special: it’s a part of everyday life. So when Abby learns that she has zero magical abilities, she’s branded an “Ord”—ordinary, bad luck, and quite possibly a danger to society. The outlook for kids like Abby isn’t bright. Many are cast out by their families, while others are sold to treasure hunters (ordinary kids are impervious to spells and enchantments). Luckily for Abby, her family enrolls her in a school that teaches ordinary kids how to get around in a magical world. But with treasure-hunting kidnappers and carnivorous goblins lurking around every corner, Abby’s biggest problem may not be learning how to be ordinary—it’s whether or not she’s going to survive the school year!

Review

This is one of those books that, immediately after finishing it, makes me think it’s the best book ever. While it’s pretty darned good, and while I enjoyed reading it (and liked it enough to rate it 3.5 birds), I can’t actually remember all that much about it. Usually, with books I adore, I have a few things I particularly like and those things stick in my mind until the next time I read it. Right now, several months after reading Ordinary Magic, all I can remember is that the family relationship(s) are adorable. Continue reading »

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 3.5/5, Age Group, Children's, Fantasy, Fiction, MG, New (Birds), Note, Rating, Reviews

REVIEW: A Greyhound of a Girl by Roddy Doyle

 Posted by Anastasia on May 1, 2012  3 Responses »
May 012012
 
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005. A Greyhound of a Girl by Roddy Doyle
Publication: Amulet Books (May 1, 2012), originally published 2011, eARC, 208pp / ISBN 1419701681
Genre: Children’s Magical Realism (could be MG, too)

Read: January 10, 1012
Source: Publisher via NetGalley (thank you!)

Summary from Amazon:

Mary O’Hara is a sharp and cheeky 12-year-old Dublin schoolgirl who is bravely facing the fact that her beloved Granny is dying. But Granny can’t let go of life, and when a mysterious young woman turns up in Mary’s street with a message for her Granny, Mary gets pulled into an unlikely adventure. The woman is the ghost of Granny’s own mother, who has come to help her daughter say good-bye to her loved ones and guide her safely out of this world. She needs the help of Mary and her mother, Scarlett, who embark on a road trip to the past. Four generations of women travel on a midnight car journey. One of them is dead, one of them is dying, one of them is driving, and one of them is just starting out.

Review

I’ve read a few other Roddy Doyle books before, all meant for adults and all of the literary fiction type. A Greyhound of a Girl is almost completely different: it’s meant for children, and it’s more magical realism than anything else. Like all of Roddy Doyle’s books, however, Greyhound is about family, and about navigating the rough waters that come with family. And that’s great! What’s not so great is basically everything else. Continue reading »

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 2.5/5, Age Group, Children's, Fantasy, Fiction, Magical Realism, MG, New (Birds), Note, Rating, Reviews

MINI-REVIEWS: Haint Misbehavin’, The Tail of Emily Windsnap, Pizzicato

 Posted by Anastasia on March 26, 2012  No Responses »
Mar 262012
 
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041. Haint Misbehavin’ by Maureen Hardegree
Publication: Bell Bridge Books (June 6, 2010), ebook, 206pp / ISBN 1935661930
Genre: MG (maybe young YA?) Urban Fantasy

Read: February 28, 2012
Source: Freebie

Mini-Review

I liked this one a LOT more than I thought I would, based on that horrible cover. It reminds me a lot of a Judy Blume book for some reason (maybe the fighting siblings/bullying aspect?) only there are ghosts and hauntings and it’s set in the South. Heather is a tough character to like– she’s sympathetic because her sister is so horrible to her and because of the whole “this ghost kid is ruining my life” thing, but she’s also really whiny and awkward in a way that makes you want to cringe. She spends a lot of the book running around denying who she is, hiding from the bullies, and being basically completely clueless. So I can understand why some people didn’t like her! Continue reading »

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 3/5, 4/5, Age Group, Beach Reads, Children's, Contemporary Fiction, Fantasy, Fiction, Humor, Magical Realism, MG, New (Birds), Note, Psychic Abilities, Rating, Reviews, Urban Fantasy

MINI-REVIEWS: Prince of Persia: The Graphic Novel, Boxer, Beetle, The Dollhouse Murders

 Posted by Anastasia on November 18, 2011  5 Responses »
Nov 182011
 
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129. Prince of Persia: The Graphic Novel by A.B. Sina
Publication: First Second (September 2, 2008), Paperback, 208pp / ISBN 1596432071
Genre: Historical Fantasy, Graphic Novel

Read: October 22, 2011
Source: Bought | Buy your own copy at Amazon.

Mini-Review

Things this book has: pretty graphics, lovely coloring, a very confusing story and vaguely interesting historical fantasy/magical realism stuff.

Basically I have no idea re:what the Prince of Persia video games are about, but I do know there’s time travel and princesses who need rescuing. The graphic novel has one princess (I think she’s a princess, anyway), who basically rescues herself, so that’s cool. But there’s no time travel and I have no idea if the story is actually related to the video games or if they just have the same characters. I don’t even know if that’s important– but I do know that I was seriously confused for most of the book and though I loved looking at the pretty pretty peacock I wish I understood wtf was actually going on and how it relates to the whole Prince of Persia franchise.

Rating


Pretty drawings, confusing story.

132. Boxer, Beetle by Ned Beauman
Publication: Bloomsbury USA; Reprint edition (September 13, 2011), Paperback, 256pp / ISBN 1608196801
Genre: Fiction/Historical Fiction

Read: October 25, 2011
Source: LibraryThing Early Reviewers | Buy your own copy at Amazon.

Mini-Review

Things this book has: a gay Jewish boxer, Nazis, people who collect Nazi memorabilia without actually being Nazis themselves, a gay(?) eugenicicist, a deficit of decent female characters, some excellent historical fiction stuff, and an enthralling writing style that ties all the weird stuff together in such a way that it’s somehow both entertaining and not at all confusing.

What I liked best about Boxer, Beetle was how it felt like your standard literary fiction story written by a dude, but it managed to skip all the annoying stuff lit fic mostly does. There’s sex, but it wasn’t disgusting (for all that it was often degrading to whoever was having it). There’s weirdo loser protagonists, but they weren’t SO weirdo loser that I wouldn’t sit next to them on a bus, for instance. The ending is depressing but that actually doesn’t annoy me all that much, and the rest of the story is so entertaining that it almost makes up for only having one female character who gets a shot at the POV train.

Rating


I liked it a lot!

134. The Dollhouse Murders by Betty Ren Wright
Publication: Live Oak Media (September 1998), originally published 1983(?), Paperback, 149pp / ISBN 0874995205
Genre: Children’s Horror

Read: October 27, 2011
Source: Library Book Sale | Buy your own copy at Amazon.

Mini-Review

Things this book has: haunted dollhouses, a murder mystery (sort of), interesting family dynamics, seriously dated and/or cheesy dialogue/writing.

I’ve been meaning to read this book for years, and now that I’ve done it I can’t see what the big deal it. Yes, it’s scary (especially if you’re afraid of ghosts, like I am). Yes, it’s got a nice family relationship thing in it. But other than that it’s really, really, 1980s in both writing style and feel (in a bad way), and I think that most people who adore it are remembering it through a haze of nostalgia.

Rating


Meh.

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 2/5, 4/5, Age Group, Children's, Contemporary Fiction, Fantasy, Fiction, GLBTQ, Historical Fantasy, Historical Fiction, Horror, Magical Realism, New (Birds), Note, Rating, Reviews

MINI-REVIEWS: The 14th Dalai Lama and Gandhi manga biographies

 Posted by Anastasia on October 5, 2011  4 Responses »
Oct 052011
 
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Click on the book cover to go to its Amazon page.

Book cover of the 14th Dalai Lama: a manga biography 116. The 14th Dalai Lama: A Manga Biography by Tetsu Saiwai
Publication: Penguin (Non-Classics); Reprint edition (September 28, 2010), Paperback, 208pp / ISBN 0143118153
Genre: Children’s/MG Graphic Novel, Biography

Read: September 29, 2011
Source: Publisher (thank you!)

Review

It’s always difficult to compress a person’s life story into a book that’s less than 200 pages, but The 14th Dalai Lama: A Manga Biography made a decent effort. It highlights the important parts of the Dalai Lama’s life, from childhood to adulthood, and it gives a good overview of the situation with Tibet and China. The art was nice, if not overly detailed, and the writing was pretty compelling. Maybe some scenes were a little melodramatic, but they kept the story from getting boring.

I do have some issues with other aspects of the book, though. There’s no info on who translated the book, there are no page numbers, and the pages have been flipped. I’m guessing the flipping happened because it’s easier for people who aren’t familiar with manga to read, but why the exclusion of the page numbers? Why no translator info? It’s just weird.

Rating


Not the best manga ever, but it’s pretty good.

Book cover of Gandhi: A Manga Biography 117. Gandhi: A Manga Biography by Kazuki Ebine
Publication: Penguin (Non-Classics) (September 27, 2011), Paperback, 192pp / ISBN 0143120247
Genre: Children’s/MG Graphic Novel, Biography

Read: September 29, 2011
Source: Publisher (thank you!)

Review

Since I enjoyed The 14th Dalai Lama I was hoping for something similar with this one, but unfortunately it’s not that good. There’s still the same issue with compressing 70 or so years into less than 200 pages, but I think The 14th Dalai Lama‘s author did a better job at doing it. Gandhi‘s author put emphasis on the world-changing parts of Gandhi’s life, sure, but he skipped over a lot of the personally important parts. The 14th Dalai Lama has bits with the Dalai Lama’s family, and his friends, etc., and it makes for a more compelling story. With Gandhi, almost all that personal stuff is either skipped over or visualized with maybe one page, and it made his story feel very cold. I don’t think the stilted dialogue helped, either.

Like The 14th Dalai Lama, there are no page numbers or info about the translator, and the pages are flipped. Even worse, however, are the multiple errors in the text, including a misspelling of “perhaps.” There also isn’t any punctuation except for exclamation and question marks, which makes reading it pretty terrible. The art is also less interesting than in The 14th Dalai Lama, which, considering how light on the details that one was, is saying something.

Rating


Good for the very basics of Gandhi’s life, but it’s got mediocre art and questionable copy-editing.

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 1/5, 2/5, Age Group, Biography, Children's, Graphic Novel, MG, New (Birds), Non-fiction, Note, Rating, Reviews

REVIEW: Down the Mysterly River by Bill Willingham

 Posted by Anastasia on September 23, 2011  7 Responses »
Sep 232011
 
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108. Down the Mysterly River by Bill Willingham
Publication: Starscape (September 13, 2011), ARC Paperback, ?pp / ISBN 0765327929
Genre: MG Fantasy

Read: September 3-4, 2011
Source: BEA 2011

Summary from Amazon:

Max “the Wolf” is a top notch Boy Scout, an expert at orienteering and a master of being prepared. So it is a little odd that he suddenly finds himself, with no recollection of his immediate past, lost in an unfamiliar wood. Even odder still, he encounters a badger named Banderbrock, a black bear named Walden, and McTavish the Monster (who might also be an old barn cat)—all of whom talk—and who are as clueless as Max.

Before long, Max and his friends are on the run from a relentless group of hunters and their deadly hounds. Armed with powerful blue swords and known as the Blue Cutters, these hunters capture and change the very essence of their prey. For what purpose, Max can’t guess. But unless he can solve the mystery of the strange forested world he’s landed in, Max may find himself and his friends changed beyond recognition, lost in a lost world…

Review

At this point, three-and-a-bit-more months after BEA, I’d pretty much forgotten what Down the Mysterly River was about. I knew it was an MG fantasy, and I knew what sort of fantasy things BW does with his Fables series1. For all that I’m familiar with the genre and with BW’s stuff, it’s a little bit silly how thrown I was by the first couple of chapters.

A boy detective with a cutsie nickname? A talking badger? A mad barn cat with a vaguely Scottish name? It was like a weird mix of Redwall and Encyclopedia Brown, and I wasn’t entirely sure I liked it.

Then the Cutters were introduced, and from then on I was hooked. I also started getting a little smarter re:what was actually being done, here: BW was writing metafiction about children’s fantasy stories! Awesome!

Also, everyone was totally dead, and that was both terrifying and thrilling. Continue reading »

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 4/5, Adventure, Age Group, Children's, Faerie Tales, Fantasy, Fiction, MG, New (Birds), Note, Rating, Reviews

MINI-REVIEWS: Jane-Emily, Mechanique, Hounded

 Posted by Anastasia on September 5, 2011  7 Responses »
Sep 052011
 
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As always, click on a book’s cover to go to its Amazon page.

83. Jane-Emily by Patricia Clapp
Publication: Harper Paperbacks (August 7, 2007), originally published 1969, Paperback, ~130pp / ISBN 0061245011
Genre: Children’s Horror

Read: July 26, 2011
Source: Bought

Review

Things that scare me: evil children, ghosts, haunted houses, evil child ghosts haunting houses, evil child ghosts haunting houses and trying to kill people. Jane-Emily has all that and more! It’s a short book, but I got so freaked out during the course of reading it that I was sure a ghost was hovering right behind me waiting to pounce.

For all that it’s a ghost story, it’s more psychological horror than anything else. If you like that sort of thing then you’d no doubt enjoy Jane-Emily. I think it’d make a great book for RIP VI, too!

Rating


I nearly couldn’t sleep after reading this book. It’s great!

89. Mechanique: A Tale of the Circus Tresaulti by Genevieve Valentine
Publication: Prime Books (April 23, 2011), ebook, 320pp / ISBN 1607012537
Genre: Sci-fi

Read: July 30, 2011
Source: Gift

Review

This was a surprise gift from someone. Thank you, someone! I’ve been wanting to read this book for a while, as I’m familiar with the author’s blog (which I love) and I adore stories set in a circus environment. Mechanique was great because not only did it have a circus, but it’s got steampunk/futuristic/apocalyptic elements as well, all tied together with some rather lovely poetic writing.

I really enjoyed Mechanique. It’s kind of a weird book, but it’s weird in a way I can appreciate. It’s kind of spooky, it’s kind of quirky and cool, and it’s also kind of tragic in a way. It’s not really a fast-paced, exciting plot, but it’s enthralling nevertheless and I think partly that’s because of the setting and the characters. Anyway, if you like circus stories with tragic characters and a bit of a steampunk/dystopia thing going on, you’d like Mechanique.

Rating


Well who wouldn’t enjoy a steampunk circus dystopian tragedy?

91. Hounded by Kevin Hearne
Publication: Del Rey (May 3, 2011), ebook, 320pp / ISBN 0345522478
Genre: Urban Fantasy

Read: July 31, 2011
Source: Bought

Review

I’ve been hearing really good things about Hounded for a while now, and so I finally decided to just go ahead and get it so I so find out if those good things are true. (I think it was on sale a while ago? Anyway–) Those good things are totally true, and I think Hounded is basically my new Dresden Files.

I guess I just have a soft spot for stories about snarky, heroic geeks and their supernatural friends. I also appreciate a bit of action, a bit of drama, some mystery and some romance (sort of). I also liked the emphasis on Celtic mythology, as that’s a bit different from what other urban fantasy books are doing. Unlike the Dresden Files series, there’s no noir-ness to Hounded, and I think there’s less emphasis on the mystery in favor of the characters (which could be either a good or a bad thing, depending on your story preference). It is, however, still a lot of fun, and I’m for sure going to continue reading the series.

Rating


Now that I’ve reviewed this I can finally read the second book. Huzzah!

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 4.5/5, 4/5, Action, Age Group, Beach Reads, Children's, Dystopia, Fantasy, Fiction, Horror, New (Birds), Note, Rating, Reviews, Sci-Fi, Steampunk, Urban Fantasy, Vampires, Werewolves
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