Beautifully written, terrifying and enchanting
346627
This is a beautiful book, rich with historical detail, dark with fantastic forces, compelling with its characters and its plot.  One of the best reads of the year.
3407256
Neil Gaiman has given us a beautifully written and deeply meaningful reflection on the source and power of fear within us that has its roots in childhood. Told from the vantage point of middle age, the narrator's story raises memories of a childhood experience that was both frightening and empowering. Throughout his remembrance, the reader is drawn into the frightening reality, but wonders also how true the memory is. Was the frightening experience a product of imagination or from real events - or both. I found it touching and revealing of my own sense of both fear and memory. At the end, the narrator says that different people remember the same event in different ways. Implied in his reflection is the truth that as we move on, our own memory of earlier events can become different as well. A beautiful parable about fear and a poignant meditation on memory. This little book has become a personal favorite.
4666577
Haunting. Beautifully written. Disturbing but enjoyable read.  Wonderful descriptions of relationships.  Rites of passage, mental illness, child abuse, love and fear, geography and adventure; a delightful read.
3709297
This is one of the best books I've read in a long time and very unusual. The writing was lyrical, magical and seductive. The characters were very sympathetic and well formed. I loved the way the three main stories all evolved together. The interactions between people and the natural, wild world were astonishing. I wish I could know what they are doing now!
2103288
I received an ARC for an honest review.

Honestly I have to say WOW! This was masterfully written. It had shades of Shelly and Matheson in the way Hancock plays with the reader's fears. I love the way the story builds slowly, just tickling the edges of uncomfortable and frightening concepts. Ruffling the edge of one dread before turning and prodding another, until BOOM! The story explodes. Hancock's style in this book is much different from his norm. It has an almost Victorian feel to the language that reminded me of some of the classics of horror. I can't rave enough about this one. It's not for the faint of heart, but it's not gratuitously gory either. A great Halloween read, or something to read at home. Alone. When the power is out.
3485441
An adorable, elaborate, beautifully written, almost unpredictable novel. It begs to be filmed and is written with such vivid colors and language of the period that it would make even the dullest of minds imagine and almost watch as opposed to merely reading it. With many boring vampire cliches cast aside, the story is also beautifully multi-layered - given that each fairytale is but a composition of psychological symbols. This one is overflowing with images of a powerful triangle that psychoanalysts call the tyrant-victim-protector triangle. It is an ornate tale of someone painfully ridding himself of his inner demons and tormentors in order to recreate himself so he is able to meet his true love of life and transform him into a better being in the process as well. There is no crueler torturer than our inner hangman and our inner unresolved, suppressed traumas. This story makes you believe that the right purpose can drag you through the most horrible odds to clean yourself off of it. Given just the right portion of romance, romantic atmosphere and the "happy ever after" moment, this thriller will keep you glued to it until the very last line. A truly unordinary gem of a book. Thank you, T. Baggins!!!
1222897
Of Beast and Beauty is a retelling of the fairy tale of similar name with a sci-fi twist, but it was something much more than a simple retelling. I was completely unprepared for how strongly I was going to react to this book. From the very beginning, the beautiful writing grabbed me and transported me to this vivid planet and it's sentient magic on the brink of dramatic change. I had so many exquisitely written passages highlighted that I don't know which one to share, so I'll just share how it begins.

"In the beginning was the darkness and in the darkness was a girl, and in the girl was a secret. The secret was as old as the cracked cobblestone streets of Yuan, as peculiar as the roses that bloom eternally within the domed city's walls, as poisonous as forgotten history and the stories told in it's place"

The planet's pain as it was shaped and altered by human's fear and unwillingness to try to understand and embrace change even if it would benefit them was beautifully expressed in lyrical prose. The humans of this planet would rather risk destroying their world, live in isolation, and sacrifice their people than to consider the possibility that they could be wrong in their narrow minded discrimination.

Along with the underlying theme of a cursed people struggling to survive on a dying planet, a seemingly impossible bond was forming between the princess of one of the domed cities and one of the "monstrous" outsiders captured breaking in to steal food for his starving people. This romance was compelling and poignant and bittersweet and SO flawlessly written that by the time they got to the first kiss, MY toes were curling. I have to say that I'm usually pretty immune to most romance in YA novels, but I felt this one, this romance touched my heart in a way that few ever do.

Isra and Gem had to overcome so many obstacles to save their people, their planet, themselves, and each other. Their relationship, as they discovered the truths about one another, was slow building and believable. Stacey Jay was not gentle with these characters, neither physically or emotionally, and each was brought to the point of breaking several times as they uncovered the harsh reality about their world, their people, and the magic that sustains their planet.

By the end, I was curled up in a corner sobbing onto my Nook, I'm not even exaggerating. I was so connected to this story and these characters that I felt emotionally drained when it was over. The HEA for me was that there was no cliffhanger ending. I was completely satisfied with the way the story was resolved.

I could go on further about the background characters, the dialog, the world building, pacing, and other aspects of this layered and detailed story, but I'll just say that all of those factors contributed to how very much I fell in love with this book. Nothing at all stood out to me that could have been improved upon, I thought the story was absolutely flawless.

Of Beast and Beauty is absolutely one of the best, if not the best, book of 2013 and will have a permanent place on my favorites shelf. I highly recommend that you read this at some point this summer. I recommend it for every and anyone, whether you like romance, sci-fi, fairy tales, or are just a fan of outstanding writing and brilliant storytelling.
4651749
Like many people, I picked up Lament after reading Maggie Stiefvater's incredible book Shiver. Lament is not Shiver, but it is excellent in its own right. My favorite part about Shiver was Maggie's writing; it was so stark, fresh, and beautiful. Her sentences felt like winter - ice cold air, untouched snow, icicle-laden trees. The writing in Lament is very different but still wonderful. It's lush - bright green, springtime, clover fields. The settings of both books exactly correspond to the feeling I got from Maggie's writing. I'd like to know whether it was intentional.

Lament was my first faery book. It is heavily influenced by Celtic mythology and folktales. Deidre Monaghan is an incredibly talented harpist and singer. She seems to specialize in Celtic music. At a music competition, she meets a flautist named Luke Dillon, a boy she'd seen in a very strange dream, and feels an unexplainable attraction to him. On a whim, they enter the competition with a duet; together their music is simply otherworldly. They bond between them becomes incredibly strong, incredibly fast. Deidre soon discovers that she is a Cloverhand, a human able to see faeries. She is also telepathic and telekinetic. Luke has secrets of his own - he is a gallowglass, a 1000-year old assassin for the Faerie Queen. Deidre was to be his next target, but he falls in love.

Apart from Luke, Deidre has a decent support system. The Cloverhand trait runs in families. Granna has much to teach Deidre. She also has a steadfast best friend, James, who is never without a joke. Her life is made more difficult though, by her overbearing mother and hostile aunt Delia. Deidre relies on James, Granna, and Luke to help her through this new world of faeries.

The fey themselves are fascinating creatures. I particularly like Brendan and Una, two Irish music-loving faeries who are nicer than most but still not entirely trustworthy. We also see humans who have interacted with faeries for so long that they are more a part of the fey world than human. Many fey are evil, using humans and animals as play-things for their sadistic whims. The faerie queen is the biggest force to be reckoned with. She destroys anything that threatens her power and Deidre is the biggest threat to her ever...

Lament only gets four stars from me. I did have some problems with it. I think most of the problems are common first novel issues. For example, Deidre's best friend was flat. He was funny all the time - everything was a joke. Even when he showed a little more depth and ability, it was still all a joke. I wish we saw more of him. Also, Deidre's father just popped in and out of the story. For the first half I didn't even realize Dad was in the picture. Everything revolves around her mother. Then suddenly she starts referring to both "mom and dad." But Dad is still just kind of there. The plot would have flowed better if he'd just been gone altogether.

I didn't always like Deidre. Her lightening-fast, icy temper was just weird - normal people do not fly off the wall that often and that quickly for such minor things. She also used the word "friggin" way too much. I almost would have preferred her to just use the actual "F" word despite my general dislike of swearing. There is some swearing in this book. It was unnecessary but with the exception of "friggin" it didn't really bother me. I also don't like the way she treats James. As soon as she meets Luke, James pales in significance. Even his fairly obvious pining doesn't garner her attention or sympathy. Despite my misgivings about Deidre and some of her choices, she is a caring, kind, and courageous girl. She redeems herself as the book goes on.
3615954
Artistic, scary, totally captivating. Beautiful writing about beautiful (and terrible and heartbreaking and heartbroken and lying and true) girls. Suma's work is always magical and always stays with you, but this is, I think, her most well-crafted novel yet.
4965105
Once you sit down with this book in your hands, prepare to do nothing else until you are finished.  This is a mesmerizing historical fiction, filled with intriguing prose that only an expert storyteller could bring to life.  I found myself startled at times by the gruesomeness of the story, yet the  writing is so absolutely wonderful that it begs for you to continue.  Holman masterfully switches between a variety of narrative styles to paint  the picture of life in this working-class town, and brings these characters  to life with vivid detail.  All of these people are trapped in a sad tale  of haunting, since they are pursued by both the demon of disease and the  demons that haunt their tormented lives. Be prepared to fall under the  spell of this book!
3988453
I can't say enough about Powers' beautifully poetic writing and I hope we will hear much more from him.  Though the scenes and events he so artfully describes are painful to read, I read this book in one sitting, sucked into a world most of us will never experience.  Gifted writers put you right in the narrator's head and, this story, as related by the protagonist, has  the reader feeling the grime, smelling the blood, treading the back alley mazes in fear, and finally weeping at the sheer terror of the whole experience.
3146370
What a wonderfully terrifying this book is!!! I had no idea what to expect as this is the first book Ive ever read by DelSheree Gladden, but I was pleasantly surprised by how great and detail oriented her writing is.

The Ghost Host tells the story of high-school senior  Echo, who has the hidden capacity of talking to ghosts and conveying their written messages to their dear ones, but unbeknownst to her, these messages are not always pleasant ones. After a frightening such as event left her emotionally scared, she enlisted the help of her best friends Holden and Zara, took further precautions when getting in contact with the spirits following her around and started a YouTube series, all in hopes that this way she can eventually be free of her ghostly stalkers. This is how Echo ends up meeting Malachi, a freshman at Georgia State University and their connection is instantaneous. They are both drawn to each other, but its so much more than just physical  attraction; Malachi and Echo are connected in the supernatural sense, the protector and the protegee, and even more than that.

Echo soon enough finds out the theres more to her power than she has originally thought  shes stalked by a rogue ghost, or so she thought, shes interviewed by the FBI and even gets an agent assigned to her case, moves across country because another ghost told her so, where she discovers secrets that will change her life forever. Echo, Holden and Zara, alongside Malachi and his friends, Kyran and Cerise and agent Morton get tangled up in a world full of incomprehensible truths, where theyll need one another to survive and give peace to all the lost souls wondering the world.

What a story this is  it was unpredictable from start to finish, full of grim moments that left me wondering what will happen next and if our heroes will see the next chapter. Not one time during reading  it, did I guess right  the villains of this story are extraordinary ones, and Im excited to read more about them.

Although The Ghost Host reminded me of Karina Halles Experiment in Terror series, these two couldn't be more different  this is truly a PRN book in the real sense of the world. I got chills while reading it and I felt compelled to look around and make sure the noise I heard in the back ground was indeed m dog snoring and not something out of the ordinary .

I adored that the author didn't focus mainly on getting Echo and Malachi together right away, but worked on developing them and giving them both separate stories before they became a couple. I also loved that the book stayed focused on Echos powers and what could come out of it, than making it a book full of contemporary romance cliches.

All in all, Id recommend The Ghost Host to everyone who loves a scary story, with a bit of romance and great friendships. Echos story has just began and Im more than ready for the next episode in this incredible sci-fi show.

***ARC provided by the author in exchange for an honest review

4.5 ghostly stalker stars
1505133
I am not sure how I happened to come across The Night Circus, by Erin Morgenstern, but it is a book that kept me reading all weekend. I was looking for a little steampunk or maybe an urban fantasy, and instead I found this morsel of exquisite beauty.

This is an unusual book. It is most certainly not written in the dumbed-down 60-second sound-bites current wisdom tells us we must write all fantasy in. The beautiful, dreamlike prose is written with an Edwardian flair and care for the crafting of the words, yet it is written in modern English.

The magic is completely unexplainable, and is meant to be that way. No believable explanations are given for how each of the protagonists create their magic. It is a performance, solely for the amazement of the reader and is completely in keeping with the mood and ambiance of the tale. I know I am a stickler for realistic magic systems but in this case I am letting that criteria slide, because the magic is not the point of the plot.

The contest, the minor characters who are unaware they are caught up in the contest, and how Celia and Marco counter each other's moves is the central facet of the tale.

The characters are not fully fleshed when they are set before you. Instead they are revealed slowly, with each revelation enticing you to stay riveted to the book.

What IS fully fleshed is the dreamlike environment of Le Cirque des Rves, the amazing, mysterious Circus of Dreams.

This is a beautiful, dark and moody book. The characters and the Cirque des Rves stay with you, long into your own dreams.
2642425
As other readers have stated, I am a huge fan of Andrew Van Wey.  He is a relatively new writer, and specializes in horror/fantasy, so I suppose he hasn't garnered many followers yet.  He should.  He is a tremendous talent.  With every sentence I read I marvel at his writing skills.  So immersive and so flowing.  He brings you into worlds horrific, strange, surprising and complex.  I first read his novel, Forsaken.  With that I was hooked.  I consider it one of the best horror novels I have ever read (and that includes Stephen King's work).  As with King, he delves deeply into the minds and emotions of his main characters.  They become real to you ( in this case, that is Aiden - a twelve year-old boy) and you really care about them.  Though it is written in the third person, you feel like the book is being seen through Aiden's eyes.  HIs secondary characters are also well-developed, but not quite as in-depth as his main characters.

This is Book Two in the Hollow Dream series,  The first one was a 124 page novella, titled A Hollow Dream of Summer's End.  It was fantastically horrifying.  A pure horror novel, with Aiden as the main protagonist, and his two buddies, Brian and Freddie.  It is a terrific (and terrifying) fast read.  Though you can read this book without reading the first, I think that the first book gives you insight into the characters and how Aiden got where he is and I recommend reading Book One first.  Let me say that I am more a fan of horror than fantasy, and this second book, though horrifying in its own way, strays more into fantasy, as it takes Aiden into a different world.  Although I knew this before I began reading, I prepared myself not to be as taken with this book.  In fact, as it started I found myself thinking this is straying away from the Van Wey I love so much.  It takes Aiden into a different world, like some kind of different and scary afterlife.  When horror is put in a fantasy setting, I usually find it less horrifying, because I find it less relatable.  But as the story unfolded, I found myself totally enthralled by the characters and the plot and at the end I was riveted to every word.  The first book had an ending that said you could stop here, or go on to see what would develop.  Indeed, you can do that.  This book has an ending that begs for more exposition and I must read the next book when it comes out.  I gather there will be two more books in the series.  I generally don't go for series books, but will make an exception with Mr. Van Wey.  As to spelling errors (I didn't notice grammatical errors), I have gotten so used to them in Kindle books that I take them in stride and don't hold them against the author, unless they become unbearable.  If you are a fan of horror, and enjoy exceptional writing, you can't go wrong with this book or any book by Andrew Van Wey.  If you don't want to get into a series and are a horror fan, read Forsaken, by all means, if you haven't read it yet.
3319424
The writing in this book is beautiful, the description and imagery in the book captivated me from the beginning. I just couldn't believe what I was reading, the character surprised me so much and left me yearning to know more about them, full of complexities. For fan of Avatar the Last Airbender or Legend of Korra, Snow Like ashes, Graceling, and Throne of Glass.
1358681
Review courtesy of Dark Faerie Tales

Quick & Dirty: A melodic, lush story overflowing with Irish folklore.

Opening Sentence: Clare was a strange girl, solitary and shy.

The Review:

Clare Macledod is not an ordinary girl. She grew up in a home within an immense yew tree, only one of the generations of girls to be born into the legacy. After the death of her mother, she and her father has traveled the globe, not putting down roots, not staying anywhere too long. But its time for them to return. Clares visions of the Strange, unexplainable fairy magic-makings, cannot be pushed aside any longer, and she must discover her heritage to defeat a dark foe that threatens more than her world.

This novel was written in a way that I almost cant describe. I found the prose to be melodic, musical, absolutely gorgeous. I could compare it to Lainey Taylors style  an odd, haunting diction. I hadnt read any of Catmulls previous works before starting this novel, so I was altogether a blank slate, but I was impressed by how unique her writing style was. It weaves together all the elements of your regular YA fantasy, but somehow makes them more rich and lush than one could expect. The setting, the characters, the symbols, all were eclectic and odd and beautiful.

Clare was the main character of this novel, and I adored her from the ways she differed from the cookie-cutter YA heroine. Despite the magic and the fae that crowded the pages of this novel, Clare and her companions seemed incredibly realistic and altogether relatable. She has doubts, she has flaws, she makes mistakes  some much worse than others. But she picks up, she moves on, she grows. Watching her develop was a lot of fun. After all, she started by trying to reject the Strange, but by the end of the story she has embraced and used it.

To be honest, I thought that Clares development and the characters overshadowed the main plotline at times, which I actually wasn't bothered by. The antagonist, Balor, was introduced pretty much off the bat, and as terrifying as he was written to seem, I often got lost in Clares learning of the fae world and forgot what was really at stake. It was sometimes hard to truly grasp certain concepts of this story  the totem, the making, the beasts  but you learn to just roll with it. If you don't think about it too hard than everything makes perfect sense.

Altogether, I think this novel was breathtaking and a lot of fun to read. Every time I read a book, I will mark pages that I think have particularly meaningful or well-done passages for the notable scene in the review. Usually I end up with one or two at most, but this novel was so crowded with bookmarks that in the end I just chose one at random. I liked how the romance of this book didn't overcome the plot or the development: truth be told, it was a very minor part of the story. My only minor complaint was I thought Balor could have been given couple more sides to his character, or more attention to his backstory. Nevertheless, all the characters were interesting and complex, and the plotline itself was entirely its own, which can be hard to find in novels these days. Lovers of Daughter of Smoke and Bone, I encourage you to give this one a try.

Notable Scene:

As she slept, the rain swirled protectively around this gate, and the stones cradled her close to the earth. She never knew that the portentous wind had said your enemy comes or that the rushing rain had saved her. She never knew how less than a thousand yards away, Balor had stood in a muddy field, rain pouring down the back of his neck, cursing; how he had turned back. Clare was pursued, but the world bent itself to foil her pursuer.

FTC Advisory: Dutton Books for Young Readers/Penguin provided me with a copy of The Radiant Road. No goody bags, sponsorships, material connections, or bribes were exchanged for my review.
1989388
I couldn't put this book down. I was transfixed, horrified, spellbound. I don't know what the bad reviews are about. I thought the translation was masterful, and this truly frightening narrative moves like a reptile slowly up your spine. Disorienting and the writing is beautiful.