2-in-1: The Anatomy of Ghosts by Andrew Taylor & Matched by Ally Condie

1. The Anatomy of Ghosts by Andrew Taylor

The book's synopsis from the author's website:

1786, Jerusalem College, Cambridge

They say Jerusalem is haunted by Mrs Whichcote's ghost. Frank Oldershaw claims he saw her in the garden, where she drowned. Now he's under the care of a physician.
Desperate to salvage her son's reputation and restore him to health, Lady Anne Oldershaw employs her own agent - John Holdsworth, author of The Anatomy of Ghosts, a controversial attack on the existence of ghostly phenomena. But his arrival in Cambridge disrupts the uneasy status quo. He glimpses a world of privilege and abuse, where the sinister Holy Ghost Club governs life at Jerusalem more effectively than the Master, Dr Carbury, ever could.


But Holdsworth's powers of reason and his knowledge of natural philosophy have other challenges. He dreams of his dead wife, Maria, who roams the borders of death. Now there's Elinor, the very-much-alive Master's wife, to haunt him in life. And at the heart of it all is the mystery of what really happened to Sylvia Whichcote in the claustrophobic confines of Jerusalem.


Why was Sylvia found lying dead in the Long Pond just before a February dawn? And how did she die? Indeed, why was she at Jerusalem, living or dead, in the first place?

It was an okay book for me. It took too long to get into the whole murder mystery and despite there being more than one secret to reveal, I just couldn't get myself very interested. The Anatomy of Ghosts is considered a literary thriller and maybe I'm just not that big of a fan of this particular genre. There is definitely a lot more to the story than simply solving the murder case. The whole little society of scholars living on the grounds of Jerusalem College (a fictitious part of Cambridge University) seems to be almost drowning in secrets. The characterization is not bad really. No one's character seems to be really spotless and the ones that do, turn out quite the opposite at some point in the story.

I actually liked the ending quite a lot and this is what redeemed the whole novel for me. The action picked up as the mysteries started to get revealed, one by one and I didn't see the outcome of the murder coming at all. Fans of literary thrillers will probably like The Anatomy of Ghosts a lot, as well as history fans since it was interesting to read about the life in Cambridge in the 18th century. But if you're just looking for the swift plot and quick action, it's probably not a book for you.

2. Matched by Ally Condie

The book's synopsis from the book's website:

In the Society, Officials decide. Who you love. Where you work. When you die.

Cassia has always trusted their choices. It’s hardly any price to pay for a long life, the perfect job, the ideal mate. So when her best friend appears on the Matching screen, Cassia knows with complete certainty that he is the one… until she sees another face flash for an instant before the screen fades to black. Now Cassia is faced with impossible choices: between Xander and Ky, between the only life she’s known and a path no one else has ever dared follow — between perfection and passion.

It was a nice read, very quick, it can be easily read in one day, if the time allows. The concept of the dystopian society where everything is controlled, including the nutritional content of the food one eats, and no one stands out is interesting and scary. I hope it will never come to that in real life (I think that teenagers, if no one else, would rebel sooner or later, unless there's something in the food that makes them docile and not interested in asking questions and seeking answers). Ms. Condie did create a convincing, if frightening, reality.

What I didn't like was the love triangle. I think this part of the plot is what usually keeps me away from the YA books. Call me a bitter cynic or something, but the sappiness of it all just put me off and was the barrier keeping me from fully enjoying the story. And Cassie was another problem. Her cowardice throughout most of the book was annoying and I'm just glad she showed some guts in the end. All and all, it was an all right book and young readers will definitely enjoy it.

The Book of Tomorrow by Cecelia Ahern

The book's synopsis from the publisher's website:

Born into the lap of luxury and comfortable in the here and now, spoiled, tempestuous Tamara Goodwin has never had to look to the future—until the abrupt death of her father leaves her and her mother a mountain of debt and forces them to move in with Tamara's peculiar aunt and uncle in a tiny countryside village.
Tamara is lonely and bored, with a traveling library as her only diversion. There she finds a large leather-bound book with a gold clasp and padlock, but no author name or title. Intrigued, she pries open the lock, and what she finds inside takes her breath away.
Tamara sees entries written in her own handwriting, and dated for the following day. When the next day unfolds exactly as recorded, Tamara realizes she may have found a solution to her problems. But in her quest to find answers, Tamara soon learns that some pages are better left unturned and that, try as she may, she mustn't interfere with fate.

The Book of Tomorrow truly is an enjoyable read, even though the heroine is a spoiled rotten teenager. Tamara is, at least to my surprise, very likable and I couldn't help but root for her. I suppose that it might have something to do with the charm with which Cecelia Ahern writes :) Her characters play their roles effortlessly and despite the book being fairly short, in the end you will quite possibly feel that you know them all very well.

I think what I liked the most about the book is its modernized gothic atmosphere. Despite the plot taking place in the 21st century, it feels that the readers are all of a sudden transported to an undiscovered, unknown and shrouded in secrecy place to try and help Tamara solve a mystery of a lifetime. The novel even has its own Mrs. Danvers (Tamara's aunt, Rosaleen) which makes this whole mysterious quest for answers even more delicious. The only two things that I might complain a little bit about is that it did take a little bit of patience to get into the story and that Tamara's language is quite crude at times when it comes to sexual nature, especially considering she is only sixteen.

The Book of Tomorrow is the second book of Ahern's that I had the pleasure to read, and even though it's geared more toward the Young Adult audience than her previous novels, it can easily be enjoyed by both young and adult readers. If anything, this book fills a little bit of a void in the YA market which nowadays is flooded with paranormal romances. I'd even venture as far as saying that The Book of Tomorrow is a breath of fresh air with a heroine that's just a normal girl that has to deal with an awful tragedy and deals with it she does. Pretty remarkably, in my opinion. Tamara is inquisitive, unafraid to face difficult truths about herself and also mature enough to try and do the right thing, even if she stumbles along the way. Cecelia Ahern wrote a really fun and intelligent book and if you're looking for a change of scenery in your YA stories, give The Book of Tomorrow a try.

********

The Book of Tomorrow by Cecelia Ahern will be published by HarperCollins on January 25th, 2011 (next Tuesday).

This book was provided to me by the publisher for review.

One more very important thing and good news for the fans of Cecelia Ahern.  

HarperCollins is currently offering a low price e-book edition of one of her  titles, THANKS FOR THE MEMORIES.  It’s being offered at $1.99 through all major retailers, and it includes an excerpt from the new book. The price goes back up to $9.99 on 1/25, so hurry up!

 

Get it on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Sony

Solitary by Alexander Gordon Smith

The book's synopsis from the publisher's website:

Furnace Prison ...
Where death is the least of your worries.
Escape is just the beginning ...

We thought we’d made it, we thought we were free. But we should have known there was no way out of Furnace.

All we did was slip deeper into the guts of the prison: into solitary confinement, where the real nightmares live - the warden, the Wheezers, and something much, much worse.

The clock’s ticking. Because if we don’t escape soon they will turn us into freaks - like them. For ever.

In the darkness of the hole your worst nightmares come to life.

This book rocked!!! I thought that maybe because it's a sequel, it wouldn't quite live up to the first book, Lockdown, but it definitely did and then some. Solitary has everything a reader may look for in a good, action packed thriller. It's full of nasty characters you just love to hate and want annihilated almost as much as the good guys do, it's very fast paced, almost not allowing a reader to surface for even one intake of breath, and  the protagonist, Alex Sawyer along with his friends (old and new), are such likable boys that you can't help but want them to succeed.

I have seen this series (Solitary is part two of the Escape from Furnace and there are apparently three more coming our way, yay!) being pitched as 'boy and reluctant reader' books and while it's certainly that, Solitary should be really read by all YA fans and even reader of adult thrillers. It asks important questions (How much authority is too much? How much punishment is too harsh?) and definitely makes a reader think. I like that there are some introspective passages in Solitary that were missing in Lockdown and that a little more is revealed about the Warden. It looks like the curtain of secrecy will be lifted every few inches with each book, until the grand finale. Besides the great, roller coaster fun, the secrets will make you want to come back for more.

BENEATH HEAVEN IS HELL

AND BENEATH HELL IS

FURNACE 

*******

Special thanks to Ksenia W. and Macmillan publishers for sending me a copy of this book for review.

Make sure you check out the website for Furnace Penitentiary and the author, Alexander Gordon Smith. They're both awesome, just like the series.

Show Me 5 - Lockdown by Alexander Gordon Smith

Ali from That's a Novel Idea has this cool meme which I decided to peruse when I am too lazy to write an actual review or simply don't think I have enough ideas to share about a book to create a cohesive post. Mind you, this will not have anything to do with the quality of the book.

Each Saturday You will post the answer to these questions. The number indicates the number of answers you will provide.

1 - Book you read and/or reviewed this week

2 - Words that describe the book

3 - Settings where it took place or characters you met

4 - Things you liked and/or disliked about it

5 - Stars or less for your rating

  

1 - Lockdown by Alexander Gordon Smith

2 - YA, thriller

3 - Alexander, a 14 year-old boy who is set up for the murder of his best friend and sentenced to life in prison

Donovan, Alexander's cell mate who despite the circumstances becomes his friend

Furnace, the worst place on earth to be, or rather worse even than hell itself, it's the prison of young boys where both Alexander and Donovan must survive against the odds and the odds are they are never  getting out of there alive, it's a place where unspeakable terrors lurk at night and you don't want to be caught outside your cell after the lockdown.

4 - There almost isn't anything that I disliked. I liked the setting, I think it was original since there aren't many books for YA, especially boys that are set in futuristic prisons. I liked the action, it was very quick paced, very engaging and got me through the book before I knew it. I liked the characters, both good and evil but especially good with their friendships and loyalty and courage in the face of unspeakable evil and with their spirit of never giving up. I disliked the lack of depth for the most evil of them all, the Warden. In my opinion there could have been more background for him, where he's from, why he was doing what he was doing, etc. There were only glimpses instead and for me it was a little frustrating. Maybe we'll know more in part two which is coming out in late fall 2010.

5 - it's not quite 5 stars, but definitely 4 (hardly ever will there be 5 stars from me, I reserve this rating for best of the best but 4 is pretty much very close).

*******

I received Lockdown from Shelf Awareness.

The Maze Runner by James Dashner

I think I have mentioned already that I am not a particular fan of YA fiction, especially the paranormal/fantasy genre. There it is, I mentioned it again :) I do however read YA novels from time to time and from time to time there is a gem in there. This time the gem is The Maze Runner by James Dashner. And to think that I almost didn't pick it up at BEA (Book Expo America, which, BTW, is coming up soon and if you can, be there) last year! Thank goodness I stopped and waited in line because the wait was more than worth it.

The novel is what I would categorize as science-fiction Young Adult with dystopian elements. The main character, Thomas, wakes up one day in what looks like a lift. He remembers nothing besides his name. He doesn't know where he is, what happened to him other than that whatever it was, it wasn't good. When he is greeted by other boys approximately his age (at least by the look of it, since Thomas doesn't really know his own age) into what they call the Glade, Thomas gets the feeling that things are about to get much worse. None of the boys know why they have no memories of their previous lives and why they are in the Glade. All they know is that the Glade is surrounded by the Maze from which there is no way out and which at nighttime is a very dangerous place to be. They are protected from what's in the Maze by stone walls that shut tight at dusk and keep the boys safe. They also know that the lift has delivered a new boy every thirty days for two years now as well as weekly supplies necessary for survival. However, things start getting complicated with the arrival of Thomas as some boys seem to recognize him from their previous lives and on top of that, one day later the lift has another delivery and this time it's a girl, something that had never happened before. Even more disturbing is the message she brings with her that may have just squished any hope of the boys getting out of the Glade.

Wow! What a ride this book was! I am very, very impressed and completely hooked, since yes, there is going to be part two :) I loved the originality, which is hard to find nowadays in the age of Young Adult books with swooning girls, chasing after boys (and I'm not talking vampires only) and simplified plots that are all pretty much the same (it's as if you read one, you read all of them). The Maze Runner is actually a very intelligent book that makes you think actually, you have to engage your brain cells to follow what's going on and what might happen. The story is full of surprises and secrets, you never know what's waiting for you on the next page and in effect I guarantee you not one moment of boredom. Needless to say (but I'll say it anyway), Mr. Dashner wrote an action-packed "Cadillac" of YA dystopian novels. Personally, I liked better than Hunger Games. That's right, I said it :O! Why? Because even though there is part two coming up and I of course can't wait tot read it, The Maze Runner didn't leave me hanging frustrated like Hunger Games did. I know that there is going to be more to the story but at the same time I was completely satisfied with how the first installment ended and did receive a certain closure as a reader. In other words, I didn't feel tricked into buying part two but instead the plot, the writing and James Dashner's talent convinced me to want to read more.

*******

I received this book during a BEA '09 author signing.

Make sure to visit James Dashner's blog, The Dashner Dude as well as the website dedicated to The Maze Runner.

2-in-1: A Flickering Light & Always Watching

For today’s edition of 2-in-1 I am talking about two very different but equally enjoyable books. First one is a historical fiction novel and the second one, a YA mystery novel. The one thing they have in common is that they are both the first books in the new series.

1. A Flickering Light by Jane Kirkpatrick

This is a novel set in early 20^th century Minnesota detailing the life of Jessie Gaebele. As a fifteen-year old Jessie already knows what she loves and wants to do for the rest of her life: photography. From the moment she gets her first camera from her uncle, she is enchanted by the nature and landscape and wants to capture their beauty forever. Things get complicated when Jessie gets a job in a photo studio of F. J. Bauer and there is now a real possibility that her dream may become a reality as she

learns the trade of photography from an expert. But working with Mr. Bauer soon turns into something much deeper than just taking pictures and as Jessie grows up to become a woman, she has to decide which path to take: follow her dream career or her budding love for F.J.?

A Flickering Light was my first book that deals with photography. I have read my share of painters, musicians, poets and writers as main characters, but never a photographer. And I must say that I was pleasantly surprised by what I found in this book. Ms. Kirkpatrick managed to turn this not very interesting to me subject into something I found myself intrigued by. Part of it is probably that this book had a personal meaning to the author, as it is based on the life of her grandmother, who was herself a photographer’s assistant. Another part of the book that maybe was even more important than the photography aspect, was Jessie’s drive and determination to overcome whatever troubles may come only to fulfill what truly mattered to her. The book is set in the early 1900’ but this theme of going after your dreams is as timeless and important as it can get.

As I mentioned, A Flickering Light is book one in the Portrait of a Woman series and I gladly will continue with Jessie on her quest for what matters.

2. Always Watching by Brandilyn Collins & Amberly Collins

Always Watching is a YA murder mystery written by a mother-daughter team. The main character, sixteen years old Shaley lives a life of a rock star, or rather a rock star’s daughter. This entails not really having a real home, spending most of her life on tour with her mom and the band and really looking for friendship wherever she may get it, as it comes rarely enough. Shaley’s world gets even more tragic when one of those rare friends, the make-up artist Tom is murdered and Shaley is the first one to find him dead. To say it was traumatic for her is an understatement and Shaley starts questioning a lot more than just who would kill Tom.

I don’t usually read Young Adult novels. The main reason for it is the flood of paranormal that seems to upstage every other sub-genre in the world of books of teenagers. The worst part of it all is, once you read two or three of them, you can pretty much feel you’ve read them all. Another thing is my own daughter who is entering the world of 12 year-olds and up doesn’t like anything that even remotely deals with ghosts, vampires, fairies and such. I reached out for Always Watching because for a change it’s a good ‘ole mystery and I am looking for anything that might interest Karolina as far as reading goes. And I have to tell you, even I, the person who strays as far away from YA as possible, enjoyed this novel and actually read it pretty fast because I wanted to find out how it ended. And it’s definitely going on the list of books I will be recommending to my daughter. What a pleasurable change it was to actually read something for teenagers that doesn’t involve sex, drugs, psychologically damaged kids and silly girls swooning at the sight of their love interest. This mother-daughter team really did a fine job of creating a very likable and down-to-earth character with which many girls her age can identify and it’s okay if they do (even if she has a life that’s completely different from an average teenager’s, she still is a girl that has the same problems, feelings and emotions).

Always Watching is part one of The Rayne Town series and I am looking forward to more books featuring Shaley.

********

I received a copy of A Flickering Light via the Library Thing Early Reviewer program.

The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan

Okay, I'll just come right out and say that this book was a big disappointment to me. I know that it puts me in the minority, probably somewhere right at the bottom of the list but I just could not make myself care for the story and the characters at all.

Let me first go over the plot, which is probably not necessary as most of the readers out there already have heard about it. But the plot summary is always in order. As the story begins, we meet Mary who lives in a tiny village surrounded by the Unconsecrated (another word for zombies) and the only thing that separates the world of zombies from the world of the living is chain link fence (ahem, how tall is that fence or how strong that it kept the zombies at bay for generations?). Mary is a teenager ready to be married and start her own family when her mother goes out too far into the Forest of Hands and Teeth (where zombies reign supreme) and gets bitten by one of the Unconsecrated. At this moment Mary's world as she knew it ceases to exist. Her brother Jeb, who can't forgive Mary for letting their mother live and become one of the zombies, gives her away to the Sisterhood, who have more secrets that the author bothers to share with the readers. Mary is miserable, she loves a person who cannot be with her and his brother is the one who finally speaks for her (proposes to her), but she doesn't love him and she wants to get away from the village and find the ocean her mother had talked about. Mary finally gets her chance when the village is breached, the Unconsecrated turn or kill all the inhabitants, apart from, of course the most important characters: Mary, Harry, Mary's brother Jeb, Mary's love Travis and her former best friend, Cas, plus a little boy Jacob (why he's thrown in there I have no idea, maybe to help preserve the human species in the future). Okay my head hurts already. The rest is history...or future.

To be fair to the author, I think that the story is interesting and her portrayal of Mary's despair and unhappiness engaging. To a point. But when I realized that Mary was going to be the only character described in depth and all others might as well have been zombies for all the insight given the reader, I lost interest completely. I am not sure whether Mary was supposed to come off as a self-absorbed, egocentric young woman or not. If it was intentional, then it has definitely been achieved. Then again, if I have to wonder about it then one way or another something just isn't right.

Another thing going against this book was that I listened to it on audio and the narrator killed the story. The whole book was read in a monotonous tone of reading the telephone book. I actually think that the person reading the introduction about who recorded the book, the title, the author and the narrator put more intonation and emotion into her voice than the narrator. I simply could not tell when Mary was happy, sad or horrified. All and all, the narration was very robotic and the only reason I kept listening to it was because I hoped that it would get better. It didn't.

Lastly, I am not a die-hard fan of Young Adult fiction. I do enjoy some books (The Book Thief, Hunger Games, Inkheart, to name a few) but because I do not love it, it's probably difficult to fully satisfy me and what faults I can justify in genres I love, I cannot overlook in this one. As far as the dystopian theme that is resurfacing in contemporary fiction goes, if it's done well I love it. But, yet again, I am more of a King's The Stand girl than The Forest of Hands and Teeth one.

Book Info:

Author: Carrie Ryan

Title: The Forest of Hands and Teeth

Published By: Random House

In: 2009

Recorded by: Listening Library

Narrator: Vane Millon

'The Day After Tomorrow' by Sandee Sgarlata

Being a mother of a 10-year-old girl I am often tormented by constantly lowered standards teenage girls live by in today’s world. My girl’s puberty approaches fast, faster than I would like to and I find myself concerned about what direction she’ll move towards when the time comes. That’s why I already read YA books as a kind of motherly censorship. I want to know what will be appropriate for her to read and at what age she should read certain books. This is not to say that I will put restraints on her reading choices, merely that I want to be aware of what is out there in a reading world and what attitude she might want to take on while picking up certain books. For this reason I decided to read Sandee Sgarlata’s The Day After Tomorrow.
The Day After Tomorrow is a short book, a novella of sorts, in which a 15-year-old Julia Monroe goes through what might seem normal trials and tribulations of teenagers. She is starting junior high troubled by fear of rejection by her peers, anxious about her relationship with a first boyfriend and conflicted about her feelings towards her parents, especially her mom. All these issues come to a halt when she is involved in an accident. What happens next changes Julia’s outlook on her life, people around her and things that are truly important.
I liked the idea of the book. The author nicely portrays what teenage girls go through nowadays. Julia is a very self-conscious girl who finds fault in everything about her, her self-esteem is starting to falter and she seems to have problems finding her own identity. It pretty much is what I imagine teenagers to experience and it is not something any mother wants her kids to go through. Ms. Sgarlata offers girls a way out, an antidote to their society’s demands. Julia learns that forgiveness is important, especially towards herself, that she does not have to feel misunderstood and that acceptance and appreciation of who she is are the tools designed to help her in the confusing world of adolescence.

There were some slight discrepancies in the story, like Julia's age being 15 for the first half of the book and 14 for the second, while the action takes place entirely in the present. The language is simple, sometimes maybe a little too simple. I understand that it is a book for teenagers but if reading is supposed to teach them anything, I should think that they have a right to a little bit more elaborate writing. Having written that, I think that The Day After Tomorrow is a good and important book for girls to get acquainted with and Ms. Sgarlata should be applauded for giving them the option of reading something other than books perpetuating the unreal image of a perfect Barbie doll.

CHALLENGES: 100+ Reading Challenge