REVIEW: "Scary Mary", by S.A. Hunter

Scary Mary, by S.A. Hunter.

Format: Kindle eBook (free)

Pages: 144

Release Date: August 16th 2006

Published by: Lulu.com

Synopsis

Taken from Goodreads

Mary just wants to be left alone, but the cheerleaders, jocks, guidance counselors, and ghosts won't stop harrassing her. When a new boy starts school, he surprises Mary by befriending her. That's a rare thing for the school freak, but her unusual abilities put a rift in their budding friendship when Mary has to tell Cy that his home is haunted and not by Casper, the friendly ghost.

Review

I've been more than a little lackadaisical as far as the blog is concerned recently. What with the new school term, marking, a new puppy and a trip to Butlins, life has been pretty hectic! There's been little time to read anything other than GCSE Controlled Assessments! So it was kind of nice to stumble across Scary Mary. I needed something to read on my iPhone in bed and this was free!

I have to say, I wasn't exactly feeling super encouraged by the blurb. The mention of "jocks" and "cheerleaders" had me grimacing. It made the book sound like what far too many people expect YA to be: formulaic, fake and full of school-yard niches which don't often exist in the real world. 

My worries about the book weren't exactly proven groundless. Many of the characters were typically two dimensional. "Cheerleader" Vicky was about as deep as a puddle. The "BFF" had so much impact on the story that I've completely forgotten her name. Cyrus, the "Hot New Guy" was too nice to evoke any realistic empathy. However, Mary wasn't half bad. She was a gothic-dressing, black-lipstick-wearing, clairaudient "freak". That in itself isn't exactly original, but there were aspects to her character which I got along with. My favourite thing about her was her ghostly pet dog called Chowder!

The story itself was by-the numbers, but not in a really bad way. It was nice to have some bubblegum for my eyes to chew on. There were some nice, unpredictable elements thrown in along the way, too. I liked that Mary could only hear ghosts, but not see them. I loved the idea of haunted items (especially the haunted desk in then  guidance counsellor's office) and the ending wasn't what I'd dreaded. 

Overall, if you're looking for a read that you can swallow whole in an hour after a busy, bookless couple of weeks, then Scary Mary might be for you. It's not great literature by any stretch of the imagination, but it's a nice little story with some nifty little quirks mixed in. 

Lx

REVIEW: "Wildefire", by Karsten Knight

Wildefire, by Karsten Knight

Format: Hardcover

Pages: 400 

Release Date: July 26th 2011 

Published by: Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing

This cost me nothing as I paid for it with an Amazon voucher I won in a competition. Again, husband logic says "that doesn't mean it was free." I prefer my logic. 

Synopsis

Taken from Goodreads

Every flame begins with a spark.

Ashline Wilde is having a rough sophomore year. She’s struggling to find her place as the only Polynesian girl in school, her boyfriend just cheated on her, and now her runaway sister, Eve, has decided to barge back into her life. When Eve’s violent behavior escalates and she does the unthinkable, Ash transfers to a remote private school nestled in California’s redwoods, hoping to put the tragedy behind her. But her fresh start at Blackwood Academy doesn’t go as planned. Just as Ash is beginning to enjoy the perks of her new school—being captain of the tennis team, a steamy romance with a hot, local park ranger—Ash discovers that a group of gods and goddesses have mysteriously enrolled at Blackwood…and she’s one of them. To make matters worse, Eve has resurfaced to haunt Ash, and she’s got some strange abilities of her own. With a war between the gods looming over campus, Ash must master the new fire smoldering within before she clashes with her sister one more time… And when warm and cold fronts collide, there’s guaranteed to be a storm.

Review

I've always been a fan of both superhero movies and mythology. Happily, these two things come together brilliantly in Karsten Knight's Wildefire. 

I was dubious about this one to begin with for a few reasons: I had read a few mixed reviews about the book; I wasn't a fan of the cover; I thought the little short extract on the back cover was a little cheesy.

So why-oh-why would I bother picking it up? Well, I wouldn't have. I actually ordered this from Amazon for the winner of a giveaway I did a little while back. Unfortunately, I sent it to myself by mistake. What can I say? I'm "Scattered Laura" after all! 

So, after the mix-up I had this book in my possession on a bank holiday weekend. What would you have done?! I couldn't help myself!

Being very careful not to bend the spine, dog-ear any pages or even breathe wrongly on my accidental book, I cracked it open a little and began to read. In doing so, I met Ash, one of the most kick-ass female protagonists I've read about in a long while. Maybe ever! She started the book in a fight and kept up her "take no prisoners" attitude for the whole 400 pages. I loved her! She had attitude and witty one-liners and a strong mind. I loved her toughness. 

I hated her sister. She was the kind of antagonist who really made you want to tear at the pages of the book in order to get to her... good thing I was being so careful not to leave a single smudge on it, eh? Eve was selfish and spiteful and petty and narrow-minded. She was also a brilliant bad-guy. She wasn't the antagonist because she was a a mean but popular school-yard bitch. She was an honest-to-goodness maniac of mythological proportions! 

Recently, there's been a lot of talk about YA being a bit unfriendly as far as the male audience is concerned. I can imagine Wildefire appealing to plenty of guys out there though. First of all, Karsten Knight is a man (I know! I was surprised too... figured "Karsten" was just one of those odd spellings...). Secondly, although the protagonist is female, she's a kick-ass female reminiscent of Underworld or Tomb Raider. 

While I was reading this book, I remember thinking it was like a mixture of X Men and a whole bunch of ancient myths. I loved this book and can't wait for the second! I was genuinely gutted to have to post this one to the winner!

REVIEW: "Graveminder", by Melissa Marr

Graveminder, by Melissa Marr 

Format: Unabridged Audiobook

Runtime: 10 hours and 26 minutes 

Read by: Emma Galvin

Release date: May 17th 2011 

Published by William Morrow & Company

Synopsis

Taken from Amazon

When Rebekkah returns to her small-town home for her beloved Grandmother's funeral, little does she suspect that she is about to inherit a darkly dangerous family duty on behalf of Claysville's most demanding residents - the dead. Everyone in Claysville knows that the Barrows are no ordinary family, but no one can really explain why. When respected matriarch Maylene Barrow dies suddenly her granddaughter Rebekkah returns to the small town she grew up in, where she must face the demons of her past - the suicide of her half-sister Ella, the person she was closest to in the world, and the subsequent break-up of her parents' marriage.

And she also re-encounters Byron, Ella's old boyfriend, someone to whom she has always felt a deep and mysterious connection. But the demons of the past are nothing compared with what the future has in store for Rebekkah. Her grandmother has left her an inheritance both wonderful and terrible. An onerous responsibility now rests on her shoulders - one for which she is ill-prepared to say the least. For behind Claysville's community-spirited, small-town facade lies a dark secret. One that ties Rebekkah and Byron together in an inextricable bond and that will require them both to sacrifice everything to keep their friends and neighbours from harm.

Review

I was so excited when I found out that Melissa Marr was going to write a book aimed at adults. I really enjoyed her Wicked Lovely series and hoped that her venture into adult territory might leave me reeling as much as Stephenie Meyer's The Host did. When I found out that Emma Galvin (the narrator I raved about in my review of Divergent) was to be the narrator, my expectations grew higher and higher. 

I wish I could be as full of praise as I expected to be. Maybe some people will say that my expectations were too high to ever be met, but I disagree. I don't think expectations can ever be too high. 

I have this little book that I write in while I'm reading books that I'm going to review. The first three comments about Graveminder were: 

"This is taking its time... no idea what's going on..."

"It's chapter 13 and I just don't care about any of them..."

"Chapter 14 - Something interesting. Finally!"

Yup. Fourteen chapters before I engaged with the book on any level. Not so long ago I took part in WriteOnCon. During this week I picked up a pretty decent piece of writing advice from an author I can't remember. She said that no matter how long the book is, the conflict and any necessary (but of course, minimal) exposition should be down within the first thirty pages. There were conflicts from the get go with Graveminder. There was death, insecurity, lost love, enigma, a strange town with secrets... But I just didn't care. I thought Rebekkah, the main character, was a whiny, angst-ridden pain whose head was up her own... well, you get the picture. Byron was (of course) a romantic. But he was also kind of pathetic too. And he had a few proclivities which were decidedly stalker-esque. Okay, so he believes he and Rebekkah are destined to be together, but she's been saying no for years. Marr seems to think it romantic that he just doesn't stop. I found it creepy.

I also disliked the way the characters in the book used sex as some kind of escape-route when any sort of difficult conversation about "feelings" came up. I found this to be the opposite of what I expected from a book aimed at older readers. I found myself silently screaming at the characters to just grow-the-hell-up! (Except I wasn't thinking "hell"... keeping things kiddy-friendly!) 

I did eventually become a bit more engaged in Graveminder. However, for me it was a thin text. The story was under-paced, the characters under-developed and the messages were...well, I don't think there were any. I'm not saying every book should have some grand allegorical agenda, but I do think that whenever you finish a book, you should be subtly changed in some way. All good stories should affect us somehow, otherwise what's the point? 

I'm sad that I feel so negatively about Graveminder. I wanted to love it, but I ended up not even really liking it. 

Two stars. Sigh. I honestly hated doing that. But it's my honest opinion. Ho hum...

Lx

In My Mailbox #11

In My Mailbox (IMM) is a weekly feature organised by The Story Siren. IMM is a post where you can show which books entered your house and it also gives you a chance to say thank you to the people that kindly sent them. To find out more about how you can join in, click here.

I've not done one of these for a couple of weeks as I've had to put myself on a book-buying ban. Those of you who saw the TBR piles in this post, will understand why! Luckily, today's IMM features a whole bunch 

of books which cost me nothing! Yay!

On The Jellicoe Road, by Melina Marchetta 

Format: Audiobook 

Runtime: 8 hours and 53 minutes

Narrated by: Rebecca Macauley

Published by: Penguin Australia

Release Date: June 26th 2007 (first published September 1st 2006)

This cost me nothing as it was my free Audible download this month. Now my husband would argue that as I pay £7.99 per month to be a member of audible, it actually cost me £7.99. But that's man-logic. 

Synopsis

Taken from Amazon

Taylor Markham is now a senior at the Jellicoe School, and has been made leader  of the boarders. She is responsible for keeping the upper hand in the territory wars with the townies, and the cadets who camp on the edge of the school's property over summer. She has to keep her students safe and the territories enforced and to deal with Jonah Griggs - the leader of the cadets and someone she'd rather forget. But what she needs to do, more than anything, is unravel the mystery of her past and find her mother - who abandoned her on the Jellicoe Road six years before. The only connection to her past, Hannah, the woman who found her, has now disappeared, too, and he only clue Taylor has about Hannah and her mother's past is a partially written manuscript about a group of five kids from the Jellicoe School, 20 years ago.

Wildefire, by Karsten Knight

Format: Hardcover

Pages: 400 

Release Date: July 26th 2011 

Published by: Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing

This cost me nothing as I paid for it with an Amazon voucher I won in a competition. Again, husband logic says "that doesn't mean it was free." I prefer my logic. 

Synopsis

Taken from Goodreads

Every flame begins with a spark.

Ashline Wilde is having a rough sophomore year. She’s struggling to find her place as the only Polynesian girl in school, her boyfriend just cheated on her, and now her runaway sister, Eve, has decided to barge back into her life. When Eve’s violent behavior escalates and she does the unthinkable, Ash transfers to a remote private school nestled in California’s redwoods, hoping to put the tragedy behind her. But her fresh start at Blackwood Academy doesn’t go as planned. Just as Ash is beginning to enjoy the perks of her new school—being captain of the tennis team, a steamy romance with a hot, local park ranger—Ash discovers that a group of gods and goddesses have mysteriously enrolled at Blackwood…and she’s one of them. To make matters worse, Eve has resurfaced to haunt Ash, and she’s got some strange abilities of her own. With a war between the gods looming over campus, Ash must master the new fire smoldering within before she clashes with her sister one more time… And when warm and cold fronts collide, there’s guaranteed to be a storm.

The next three books were free on the Kindle Store. Even by man-logic that means they were truly free. 

Dust, by Arthur Slade

Format: Kindle eBook

Pages: 192 

Published by Laurel Leaf

Release Date: October 12th 2004 

Synopsis

Taken from Goodreads

SEVEN-YEAR-OLD MATTHEW DISAPPEARS one day on a walk into Horshoe, a dust bowl farm town in Depression-era Saskatchewan. Other children go missing just as a strange man named Abram Harsich appears in town. He dazzles the townspeople with the promises of a rainmaking machine. Only Matthew’s older brother Robert seems to be able to resist Abram’s spell, and to discover what happened to Matthew and the others.

Scary Mary, by S.A. Hunter

Format: Kindle eBook

Pages: 144 

Published by: Lulu.com

Release Date: August 16th 2006 by Lulu.com

Synopsis

Taken from Goodreads

Mary just wants to be left alone, but the cheerleaders, jocks, guidance counselors, and ghosts won't stop harrassing her. When a new boy starts school, he surprises Mary by befriending her. That's a rare thing for the school freak, but her unusual abilities put a rift in their budding friendship when Mary has to tell Cy that his home is haunted and not by Casper, the friendly ghost.

The New World, by Patrick Ness

Format: Kindle Edition

Pages: 24 

Published by: Candlewick Press 

Release Date: September 27th 2010

Synopsis

Taken from Goodreads

In this dramatic prequel to the award-winning Chaos Walking Trilogy, author Patrick Ness gives us a short story of Viola's journey to the New World.

I'm ready for my headshot... Te he he.

The lovely Andrew over at The Pewter Wolf, has been running a feature called "Meet the Blogger" for a little while now. The first featured blogger for the month of September is none other than yours truly! Yay! I feel all famous and important! 

Whether or not you have any inkling to find out a little more about me, you should definitely check out Andrew's blog as it is all sorts of fabulous! Check out the post, HERE. 

That is all. 

Lx