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Young Adult

{Book Review}

The Great Library Series

By Rachel Caine

Books
Book 1: Ink and Bone
Book 2: Paper and Fire
Book 3: Ash and Quill (To be published in July 2017)

Associated Short Stories:
Tigers in the Cage (Book 0.1) – Available for free online here
Stormcrow (Book 0.5) – Available for free online here

This series takes place around the year 2045. It’s a world that is unrecognizable to the reader, as this version of the future starts with a very different version of our history. The Great Library of Alexandria not only survives but rises to a position of power and protects knowledge from being lost from war and disaster that plague Earth’s history. While there are some technological advancements, the Library banishes all ideas that would challenge it’s existence to The Black Archives, essentially rewriting history.

In this version of history, electricity is non-existent, trains and vehicles run on steam. But more important to the plot, Johannes Gutenberg never invented the printing press, or rather, he did but his research was banished to The Black Archives. Instead of reading physical books, stories and books are read on “blanks,” or codices, preloaded with stories from the Library via alchemy. In this way, the Library can not just censor what is read but it can track what the user is interested in. It’s illegal to own handwritten books, with the exception of your own personal journal.

It is in this version of the future that Jess Brightwell lives. Son of a black market book trader, Jess grew up smuggling books and running from the Library. However, at his core, he loves knowledge and books. As he approaches adulthood, his father buys him the opportunity to test into Library service, with the intention that his son would serve the family business from within its enemy.

Ink and Bone starts off with a scene from Jess’ childhood, but is centered around his introduction to the Library, surviving the training and the elimination process, and building a relationship with a small group of fellow trainees. And in the middle of all of that? Jess and his friends are caught in a Library plot against their teacher, putting them into dangerous situations and testing their loyalty, not just to the Library but to each other.

Paper and Fire picks up where the first book left off. Jess and his friends finished training, but are caught up in some pretty dangerous Library plots. This second book is even more fast paced than the first, as the friends embark on a mission to save a friend and constantly run from threats from the Library.

Review/Recommendation: Although it took me a little while to get into the first book, I very much enjoyed the first two books in this series. I particularly enjoyed the historical references throughout the novels – to well-known authors, inventors, and scholars… even if the references in the books didn’t match up with our history. Although it’s supposed to be a young adult series, the historical contexts and general writing style made it feel like more of an adult novel, allowing it to appeal to a wider variety of audiences.

I did read the two short stories associated with this series. They were very short and quick. While interesting, they were so short that they didn’t add much to the general story line, even as background notes on the characters. You can read them or not. If you skip them, you won’t miss anything.

I’ll probably skip any additional short stories that come out, but I look forward to the third book (and any others that come out) coming out this summer.

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{Book Review}

The Chronos Files

By Rysa Walker

Comment on the Review: This is a multi-part series, composed of 3 main books, 3 novellas, as well as a handful of short stories.  The main books were readily available at my local library, but I did not see any bound versions of the novellas or short stories when I looked there and online. I did read all of the novellas and almost all of the short stories through Amazon Kindle Unlimted (a month-free trial version available for Prime members). This review is an overview and a review of the entire series.

The Chronos Files: Novels & Novellas
1 – Timebound
1.5 – Time’s Echo
2 – Time’s Edge
2.5 – Time’s Mirror
3 – Time’s Divide
3.5 – Simon Says: Tips for the Intrepid Time Traveler

The Chronos Files: Short Stories
Splinter
Whack Job
The Gambit
2092: A CHRONOS Files Story*
Kate Down Under**

What if you had the ability to travel through time? What if you had to time travel, to save the future and most of the world’s population?

One day, Kate Keller-Pierce discovers that was her destiny. Her dying grandmother appears one day, and with a glimpse at an old medallion, Kate’s world unravels. The medallion, emitting a bright blue light for Kate, is the key to traveling through time. The medallion is called a CHRONOS key and it only works for those with the CHRONOS gene, passed on ancestors came from the future and got stranded in the past. Kate inherited the gene is able to do something her grandmother hadn’t been able to do for years, travel through time.

Kate’s grandmother enlists her to help travel through history to stop her grandfather, Saul, from rewriting history and wiping out most of world’s population. During her quest, she must be careful of two things – not to change history herself and not to tip of the Cyrists, her grandfather’s followers in the new religion he created, to her task at hand. She has very few people she can rely on for help – only her grandmother, her grandmother’s friend, her boyfriend Trey, her friend (sometimes more) Kiernan Dunne, and on occasion, her parents. Kate relies on this small, trusted group to help work through the details of time travel, as a sounding board for her plan to save the future, and for physical help accomplishing her mission.

Review/Recommendation: I picked up this series after reading a review online, and I was immediately sucked in. I couldn’t put it down, reading through the novels, novellas, and most of the short stories in roughly 6 weeks – a reading binge I haven’t had the desire or time to indulge in for years.

I enjoyed the main story line quite a bit. It wasn’t predictable, had intricacies related to time travel that kept me thinking, and in general, was well-crafted. Kate’s struggle to deal with the new path in her life was well done. It wasn’t just about the idea of suddenly having this huge responsibility on her hands, but also seeing her struggle with sorting out her past, present, and future; her conflicting feelings between Trey and Kiernan; and her relationship with her parents and grandmother.

I was particularly impressed with the way Walker wove in the novellas (which I read in their appropriate spot in the story) and the short stories (which I read after completing the novels and novellas). While I chose to read the novellas in line with the novels, this certainly isn’t required. Both the novellas and the short stories filled in gaps in the novels, places that I certainly didn’t miss but enjoyed getting to read for further detail and perspective. For instance, several of the novellas and short stories were told from the point of view of secondary characters (most notably, Kiernan, but also Saul and his henchman Simon), giving the reader a glimpse into their lives separate from Kate.

If you enjoy young adult books and a little bit of fantasy and sci-fi, then I would definitely recommend this series to you. It is a well-crafted, well-written series that appeals to both young adults and adults alike.

Notes on The Chronos Files

* At the time this post was published, I had just started this short story, and it’s unclear exactly how it’s connected to the rest of the series.

** I was unable to figure out where to acquire this short story, at the time of writing this post. It was not available on Amazon, as far as I could tell. It does look like it’s possible to download short story for free on Walker’s website, when subscribing to her newsletter. You can select one story, including this one.

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harry-potter-and-the-cursed-childDisclaimer: This review (as does the book) assumes that the reader is familiar with the 7-book Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling.

Book Review:

Happy Potter and the Cursed Child
Parts 1 and 2

By J.K. Rowling, John Tiffany & Jack Thorne

The eighth Harry Potter book – a four act play – takes place 19 years after the famous series ended. The book focuses on the tumultuous relationship between Harry, now Head of Magical Law Enforcement at the Ministry of Magic, and his youngest son Albus, who enters Hogwarts and is sorted into Slytherian. Brief scenes show glimpses of Albus’s first few years at school and his relationship with his father during that period, but those scenes only lead up to the real story, which takes place during Albus’s fifth year at Hogwarts.

At that time, Albus and his friend Scorpius Malfoy (son of Drayco Malfoy) attempt to rectify one of the injustices of Harry Potter’s childhood – the death of Cedric Diggory. The pair go back in time – several times – with a stolen time turner and attempt to prevent Diggory’s death. The two realize that the actions they take and the alternate realities that they create are not always for the better. But can they undo the changes they made and return life to normal? Or are they destined to live in a new world that they inadvertently created?

Review/Recommendation: (But first, another disclaimer.) I feel like I’ve been living under a rock recently. I’d seen this book on displays everywhere, and my friends had started to read it, but I had not read or heard any reviews about it. I can barely keep up with reading everything coming in via my RSS feed and rarely have the time to sit down and read a real book lately. And the tv? Well that’s tuned into Paw Patrol the vast majority of the time I’m home.

Why do you care? Well, I thought it important to let you know that I really picked up this book with no expectations (but full of high hopes since I loved the Harry Potter series) and completely unaware of what the book would be about. It didn’t occur to me at all, that the latest Harry Potter book was actually a play. So with that said, it took me a little while to get into the book. It wasn’t until I was about a third of the way through it that I got hooked on the story and really began to enjoy it.

I do have mixed feelings about the book in general. For one, I don’t feel the format did the story or the reputation of the Harry Potter books justice. It felt very… lacking in depth and detail. There were no real descriptions of the characters or the scenery, especially how Hogwarts changed in the 19 years that Harry, Ron, and Hermione were there. There were glimpses into some of the prominent characters from previous books but no sense of changes in character or relationships.  A lot was left to the imagination, with just hints of what Rowling and her coauthors wanted us to think. There was sooo much more that I wanted from this book.

I also have mixed feelings on the story itself. It starts off really depressing, with the very tumultuous relationship between Harry and his son Albus. I felt horrible for Albus because of how unhappy he clearly was but struggled because I had no context for how Harry and Albus’s relationship got to that point. Once I got past the format of the book and what I wanted the book to be, I started to enjoy the story a bit more. Albus developed a strong friendship with Malfoy’s son and that positive relationship in his life helped lighten the mood of the book. From that point on, the story itself was pretty good, but again, lacking detail due to the format.

I think knowing that the book was a play and missing a lot of context, I might have enjoyed the book a lot more. But billing a play as the “eighth” Harry Potter book (it says so on the book jacket) is misleading and left this particular reader feeling a bit disappointed. I know I would have regretted it if I had no read the book but I might have been more satisfied if this book had been a bit more… divorced from the series that I loved so much.

Grade: B-/B

 

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Night of Cake & Puppets{Book Review}

Night of Cake & Puppets

Daughter of Smoke & Bone 2.5

By Laini Taylor

This novella falls between the second and third books in the Daughter of Smoke & Bone trilogy. It is the story of how Zuzana (Karou’s best friend) and Mik officially meet and get together. You see, both had had a crush on each other for quite some time, but both were too timid to make a move. That is, until Zuzana decided it was all or nothing. She sends Mik on a scavenger hunt full of riddles and puppets (and just a little bit of magic, compliments of Karou). Zuzana waits for Mike at the end, where the two talk for the first time and share their first kiss.

Review/Recommendation: While the story was cute, I ended up being disappointed by the novella. It just didn’t measure up to the high bar set by the trilogy. There was some of Zuzana’s quirky trademark personality, but overall, the characters did not feel like the same characters in the books. Zuzana was overly dramatic – which was her personality – but here it felt off, maybe because it was kind of an over-the-top-obsessed-and-in-love sort of drama that just irritated me. Mik – who narrated about have of the novella – also came off as a wimpy sap. I liked him a lot more in the trilogy than in the novella.

That being said, it was a quick read (or in my case, a few hours listening while I was working out) and I wanted to know how the two got together, so I don’t regret reading it. It did complete the story for me, despite falling short of what I had expected and hoped for.

Note: I had a hard time finding this book in print. I ended up listening to the audio book, available at Audible.

Grade: C+/B-

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Four{Book Review}

Four: A Divergent Story Collection

By Veronica Roth

Four begins two years before The Divergent Trilogy starts, and is told from the perspective of Tobias Eaton, or Four. It’s a series of short stories:

  1. The Transfer
  2. The Initiate
  3. The Son
  4. The Traitor

The first story was about Tobias’s last days with his father and his transfer from Abnegation to to Dauntless. The second story detailed Tobias’s initiation and the story behind his new name, and the only name the Dauntless will know him as, Four. From there, I’m not quite sure how the stories paired with the titles. (I listened to the book, rather than read it, and the breaks from one story to the next were not clear at all.) Between the last two stories, Four uncovered a plot that was the beginning of the end for the Dauntless and struggled with how to deal with it, to include involving his Abnegation and Factionless parents.

The book ends with three scenes from The Divergent Trilogy written from Four’s point of view.

Review/Recommendation:

The Plot: I was far from impressed by this set of short stories. For one thing, the short stories didn’t add all that much to the trilogy. Most of Four’s history was alluded to or told, outright, in the trilogy. Hearing it from Four’s perspective didn’t add a whole lot.

Furthermore, the Four in the short stories seemed so radically different from the Four we knew from the trilogy. In the trilogy, Four is strong, an even-tempered compliment to Tris’s hotheadedness. Here, Four seems weak, very conflicted, and indecisive. For example, he when he learns about the plot that will take down the Dauntless, he agonizes over the best course of action and when he faces resistance to the path he chose, he gave up fairly easily. I was very surprised and disappointed in this version of Four.

Format: My hubby and I listened to this book on a road trip we took this summer. I was not impressed with the audiobook format – the narrator was bland and boring and as I mentioned above, the four different stories and three “bonus” scenes were not clearly distinguished. The result was a slightly disjointed feeling as the narrator shifted between the stories.

Overall, I’d tell you to skip this book, even if you’re a Divergent fan. While entertaining, there’s not enough substance to make it worthwhile.

Grade: C-

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Note: This review has been written to avoid spoilers for the books later in the series. 

Daughter of Smoke & Bones Trilogy

{Book Review}

Daughter of Smoke and Bones Trilogy

By Laini Taylor

This trilogy consists of the following books: Daughter of Smoke & Bones (#1), Days of Blood and Starlight (#2), and Dreams of Gods & Monsters (#3). The trilogy tells the story of a blue-headed girl, Karou, who lives in Prague and was raised by monsters. Karou attends an art school and visits her monster family whenever Brimstone – the head of the family – needs her to collect teeth (or “run errands,” as she tells her human friends). But one day, black handprints start appearing on doors that lead to her monster family. The doors burn and Karou is cut off from the only family she’s ever known.

The burning of the doors throws Karou into a tailspin. She embarks on a search to find her loved ones and in the process, becomes a key player in another world, Eretz, a world of which she knew nothing. Karou is the only human in a world of angels (seraph) and monsters, or “creatures of mixed aspect” (chimera).* It takes an angel (Akiva) to introduce her to the world – to unveil the secrets of her past; shed light on a war in which she’d play a key role; and encourage her to dream of peace.

Review/Recommendation: I started this series because it seemed to be all over the place – I was seeing the trilogy in bookstore displays and it was regularly popping up in my Goodreads feed. I knew little about the trilogy until I picked up the first book and read the back, which actually read more like a mystery than it actually was. Even though it wasn’t what I expected, I was hooked almost immediately.

The Format: I listened to the first book in the trilogy but read the other two. I enjoyed both formats, but am really glad I listened to the first book. It helped immensely in learning the intended pronunciation of foreign and made up names and words that appeared frequently in all three books.

The Writing: For the most part, the writing was simple, clean, and easy to read. However, in Daughter of Smoke & Bones, something about the verbiage used made me think that Taylor was attempting to appeal to an older audience or was still finding her voice. This didn’t happen frequently, but the instances dwindled and eventually disappeared as the story progressed.

The Story & The Characters: I thoroughly enjoyed the storyline that traversed the trilogy. Taylor quickly engaged the reader, or at least me, making it difficult to put the books down. There is something in the series for everyone – a little mystery and intrigue, secrets and deception, betrayal and revenge, love, and a lot of hope.

All of the characters in the trilogy had strong personalities that evoked strong feelings for the reader – love them, hate them, be repulsed by them, whatever… all of the primary and secondary characters evoked a strong feeling for me as I was reading. There was a fairly wide spread of personalities – indisputable villains among both the seraph and chimera, quirky and witty human friends, Akiva’s strong-willed sister and gentle-tempered brother… the diversity kept the books interesting. I appreciated that both these major characters as well as other secondary characters showed the propensity for change, as they got to know other characters and the opposite species.

The story slowed down a bit towards the end (the second half of the third book), as things got a little more… philosophical, as the characters delved into discussions about the existence of space and time barriers. Interesting, but a very difference change of pace from the rest of the trilogy.

All in all, I was surprised at how much I enjoyed this series, since I picked it up pretty randomly. If you haven’t read any of Taylor’s works and enjoy fantasy novels, I definitely recommend this one. For my part, I will most certainly be checking out Taylor’s other work very soon.

Grade: A

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AllegiantSo I have something a little embarrassing to admit. This post is soooo long overdue. Like, so long that I read the book twice in order to do really do my review justice. I just cannot seem to carve out enough time to spend on the blog. I really need to go back to my grad school habit of visiting a coffee shop for a few hours of quiet every weekend.

Anyway, without further ado, I give you my review of Allegiant, the third book in the Divergent series. If  you have not read my review of the first two books in the series, check them out here.

Book Review: Divergent Trilogy

Book 3: Allegiant

By Veronica Roth

Book three in the Divergent series picked up where the previous book left off. The factions ceased to exist. There is only the factionless and the allegiant, those that wanted a return to the factions and the principles upon which their city was founded.

Tris and Four join a handful of the allegiant in a trip beyond the city walls, to see what lies before them. There their world, although already spinning from revelations about the creation of the city, is upended once again as they discover that even that was a lie. The two struggle to figure out not their own future but also that of everyone still within the city.

Review/Recommendation: I enjoyed Allegiant. The story was pretty good, and to be honest, Roth completely shocked me with her ending. It shouldn’t have been unexpected, but so rarely do books end in such a way… but no more on that (no spoilers!). I’ll just say that the ending was very surprising and that she wrapped up the story very nicely. One of the better endings I’ve read, actually.

One of my more frequent criticisms of young adult books is that the characters get a little whiny, ruining an otherwise great story. Insurgent, book two in the series, was no different. However, I’m really happy to report that Allegiant did not follow that tradition. Tris returned as a strong character, more mature than she was in the earlier books of the series.

I think my only complaint about Allegiant was that the chapters alternated points of view between Tris and Four. That would have been fine, but the two characters largely had the same voice, making it sometimes easy to forget whose point of view you were reading from.

Overall, a great end to the trilogy.

Grade: A-

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Divergent

Book Review: Divergent Series

Book 1: Divergent

Book 2: Insurgent

By Veronica Roth

Background: Beatrice Prior lives in a world where society (dystopian Chicago) is divided into 5 factions, each which values a different virtue above all else. During the 16th year, young adults must take an aptitude test and decide whether they want to remain in the faction they were born into or switch to another faction. There is Abnegation, who value selflessness, Amity, who value peace and harmony; Candor, who value truthfulness; Dauntless, who value fearlessness; or Erundite, who value knowledge. All of those who are not part of a faction are factionless; they are impoverished and homeless.

Divergent: Divergent begins at that time in Beatrice’s life where she must choose her faction. Born into Abnegation, Beatrice takes her aptitude test and is told that there is not just one faction that she fits into but three. This is unique and dangerous. This makes her Divergent.

Beatrice decides that she is not selfless enough to remain with family in Abnegation and chooses to switch to Dauntless. This first book follows Beatrice, renamed Tris, during her initiation into Dauntless. She learns to handle weapons, to fight, and to be fearless – she has to in order to be accepted into the faction. If she is not accepted, she will be factionless.

Training is incredibly difficult for Tris. Not only is she is a faction transfer, but she is very small and compared to the Dauntless-born initiates, unprepared for the physical and mental feats demanded of her. If training isn’t enough, Tris must also face her feelings for her older teacher, Four and hide the fact that she is Divergent. And the icing on the cake? In the midst of her training, Tris and Four discover unrest and growing conflict that threaten to unravel their seemingly perfect society.

Insurgent: The second book in the Divergent series, Insurgent picks up where Divergent leaves off – delving deeper into the unrest and conflict that is discovered at the end of the first book. War breaks out between the factions. Friends and family are pitted against each other. Neutrality is next to impossible. Insurgent is full of secrets and betrayals; sadness, guilty, and hidden agendas.

Yes, the summary of this second book is short but it is a pretty good description of the constant turmoil that takes place throughout the book. You don’t need the play-by-play, you should read the book instead. 🙂

Review & Recommendation: I really enjoyed the first two books in this young adult dystopian series. The strength of Divergent was the introduction and evolution of the characters. There was one main plot line that carried the book, with smaller stories on the sidelines, but that would ultimately be pulled back into the larger story.

In contrast, the constant plot turns was the strength of the second book. It was like watching an action movie – as soon as one story resolved, another one immediately began. That’s the reason why the summary above was so brief – it was a constant chain of events that will keep you hooked. I think I read the book in less than two days. The one downfall to Insurgent is something that I think is fairly common in the later books of young adult series – the main character becomes a bit whiny, a bit too self-centered, a bit too enveloped by her own self-pity.

I’m looking forward to book 3, Allegiant, set to be released on October 22, 2013. Stay tuned for my review of it upon its release.

Edit: Find my review of Allegiant here.

Grade: A-

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Book Review:

The Graceling Realms

By Kristin Cashore

A Graceling is a person who possesses a particular skill, a Grace, far surpassing the capabilities of ordinary people. This skill might be practical – such as cooking, fighting, math – or something paranormal, such as mind-reading. Gracelings are distinguished from an early age by their eyes: each eye a different color.

In the land of seven kingdoms, Gracelings are treated differently. In most kingdoms, Gracelings are offered up to the kings. If the king had a use for a particular Grace, the Graceling lived at the court, trained, and served the kingdom. If their Grace was not useful, they were sent home to lead a normal life, although they were often ostracized by their neighbors.

Graceling (published Oct. 2008): In Cashore’s debut novel, Lady Katsa, niece to the king of Middluns, is graced with an unbelievable ability to fight. Trained by the royal guard, she becomes known as the king’s thug, his enforcer. She is the one he sends to enforce his will or punish those who disobey him.

However, as Katsa grows older, she begins to use her Grace for good. She and a trusted group form the Council, under which they attempt to right the wrongs committed by monarchs across the seven kingdoms. After one of these such quests, she meets and befriends Prince Po of Lienid. Together, they embark on a long journey against Katsa’s toughest adversary yet, an adversary she shouldn’t have a chance against.

Spoiler: During this adventure, Katsa rescues 10-year old Princess Bitterblue of Monsea and falls in love.

Fire (published Oct. 2009): The second book in the Graceling Realm series is sort of a prequel to Graceling. Only one character from the first book appears in Fire. The character does not play a huge role in the story but we do get a glimpse of his past, which is not detailed in Graceling.

The main storyline in Fire revolves around a monster named Fire. The only human monster left in Dells (the other monsters in the story are colorful, hypnotic animals, most with a taste for blood), beautiful Fire struggles to distinguish herself from her father’s awful legacy. Like all monsters, Fire’s presence is alluring. People are drawn to her, sometimes in attraction and other times in hostility. However, Fire’s kindness and morality overcome her father’s legacy of violence, cruelty, and selfishness as she embarks on a journey to help save the monarchy in Dells and limit the damages of civil war.

Bitterblue (written with Ian Schoenherr, published May 2012): Graceling ends. Fast-forward eight years. Bitterblue is queen of Monsea. Under her leadership, the kingdom is working to recover from life under Bitterblue’s crazy, manipulative predecessor.

However, Bitterblue’s advisers and subordinates are beginning to act strangely. She’s unable to implement the programs she wants to. Her advisers are seen wandering the castle at odd hours. In an attempt to gain some space and freedom, Bitterblue begins sneaking out of the castle into the city. She becomes drawn by glimpses of the past, of unanswered questions. As her advisers act increasing odd and her new friends in the city are threatened, Bitterblue isn’t quite sure what to do. Katsa, Po, and several other characters from Graceling are around to help Bitterblue out.

Review: One of the awesome things about my book club is that every one of us has a different taste in books. Graceling was chosen by an elementary school media specialist-librarian. For the third time, her pick was a success (see: Hunger Games and Life As We Knew It). I really enjoyed Graceling, so much that I couldn’t wait for the second and third book to come from the library. Thank you, Nook.

Overall, this was a great series, a very quick, light read. After the second book, I was wondering if it was necessary to read them in order. I still think that the first two books can be flip-flopped, if really needed, but Bitterblue pulls the stories together beautifully. (Nope, not going to explain how Fire is tied in with Graceling. I don’t want to spoil anything for you.)

Each of the three books has very similar themes: a little romance, fighting tyrants in the kingdoms (both living and after their death), overcoming perceptions… It sounds like the typical formula, but I was sucked in. The characters were fun and a little quirky. I especially enjoyed the strong female roles in the first two books.

I only had one complaint with these books. No, with one book, Bitterblue. There were parts of Bitterblue were the voice was wrong, the dialog a little off. The moments were few and far between, but there were definitely moments when I raised my eyebrows at something out of character (such as a “man,” suck at the end of a sentence, something similar to a “come on, man”). I suspect this comes from the fact that the third book was co-authored, unlike the first two. A minor detail, but I hope that if Cashore continues on with the series, that she either writes new books herself or she/her editor pay closer attention to the changes in voice.

This was a great fantasy-ish young adult series that I’d definitely recommend. Because of the heavy dose of romance, the series had a more chick-lit feel to it, rather than fantasy. It’s a great beach book.

Grade: A-

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Book Review:

A Discovery of Witches

By Deborah Harkness

Diana Bishop was born a witch but after her parents died, she wanted nothing to do with being a witch. She avoided it every way possible – she refused to use her powers and refused to learn about witchcraft from her aunts. Instead, Diana ran, rowed, and did yoga to get out her excess energy caused by the bottled up magic.

One day, everything changed. While doing research in an Oxford library, Diana calls up an ancient alchemy manuscript, Ashmole 782. The manuscript is cursed and releases a long chain of events that forced Diana to return to her roots. She gets thrown into a world of vampires and unknown magic, mystery and conspiracy.

Recommendation: If you enjoy the paranormal, than this is a book for you. Stories of witches, vampires and daemons are intertwined with the present and the past. There was just enough flare of romance, violence, and mystery to keep the reader engaged.

I’ve heard someone compare A Discovery of Witches to Twilight. If that’s what you’re thinking, I would disagree. Sure, A Discovery of Witches has love between a vampire and a non-vampire, but I felt this book was a far cry from the Twilight series. While still classified as a young adult book, it did not feel like one while reading it. The characters were older and much more mature. There were scholarly strands running through the book as the characters consistently referenced alchemy and great authors and works of the past.

I was disappointed when the book ended. I wanted to reads the next part of the story. You know it’s a good book when you keep thinking about it after you’re done, and stalk the author’s website for information about the next book. Unfortunately, book 2 in the trilogy, Shadow of Night, isn’t due to be released until summer 2012. It’s going to be a long way

Grade: A-

Edit: Read my review of Shadow of Night, book two in the series, here and book three, Book of Life. here.

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operator: CommonCrawl Admin
description: Wide crawl of the web for April 2017
publisher: CommonCrawl
format: WARC File Format 1.0
conformsTo: http://bibnum.bnf.fr/WARC/WARC_ISO_28500_version1_latestdraft.pdf