Literature Young Adult Fiction » Advance Reader Copy Review

Review: Winter’s Passage by Julie Kagawa

First Mate Keira — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 09:32:10 +0000

by First Mate Keira

Title: Winter’s Passage (Book 1.5 in Iron Fey Series)
Author: Julie Kagawa
Format: Kindle ebook
File Size: 211 KB
Grade Reading Level: Grade 7+

Summary: Winter’s Passage explores the gap of time between Iron King and Iron Daughter. If you remember, Meghan Chase made a deal with Ash, prince of the Winter court, to go with him willingly back with him to the heart of Unseelie territory and into Queen Mab. Winter’s Passage starts when Ash comes to collect on this promise. The journey is not without its challenges. On the way to Tir na nog an ancient rarely seen enemy begins to hunt them…and according to Ash nobody ever wins against it.

Why I started this book:

I just finished reading Iron King and wanted to know what happened next and didn’t want to wait for the release of Iron Daughter. I got a copy from the publisher. It's a free ebook for a limited time online and might still be—you will have to check it out.

Likes:

The ancient scary enemy is the Big Bad Wolf. Kagawa writes deliciously thrilling fight scenes between the Big Bad Wolf, Ash, and Meghan.
That Meghan isn’t a complete dead weight in a fight. Yay girl power!
When Meghan doesn’t abandon Ash during a golden opportunity, it confuses him and yet shows him just how human she is… which frightens him because he knows this loyalty of hers will get her hurt in his home court. Poor faery boy.
The continuance of Meg and Ash’s relationship. He drops his icy demeanor around her and they get very close. You can’t question his love for her even if his loyalties must go to his mother, Queen Mab.
I think fans of the series should read this before starting Iron Daughter because it’s very illuminating, and while portions of it are found in reminisce on Meghan’s part in the second book, they have a stronger punch set within the novella.

Buy: Winter's Passage (Kindle)

Rating: 5 Treasure Chests

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Review: The Iron King by Julie Kagawa

First Mate Keira — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 09:26:28 +0000

by First Mate Keira

Title:The Iron King
Author: Julie Kagawa
Format: Kindle Ebook
Page Count: 368 (Paperback)
Grade Reading Level: Grade 7+

Summary: Meghan Chase is just your ordinary unpopular girl trying to navigate the hierarchy of high school, get her driver’s permit, and possibly a date with the hottest boy. Her best friend, Robin Goodfellow, calls her princess, an endearment she despises. What she doesn’t know is just how apt that nickname is because she is the bastard daughter of Oberon, King of the Seelie fairies and of Summer. When her younger half brother, Ethan, is kidnapped and taken to the Nevernever, Robin sheds his glamour and reveals that he is her protector and Puck, yes that Puck, from Shakespeare’s play A Midsummer Night’s Dream. In very little time Meghan finds her whole world turned upside down and that rescuing her brother will require help, loads of help, in the form of a cat, an Unseelie prince, and her best friend.

Why I started this book:

I requested a reader copy from the publisher because I love romances and was eager to read something from Harlequin’s new teen romance line. I picked this novel also because I had seen the title appear a lot on the YA blogosphere.

Likes:

Julie Kagawa is absolutely brilliant. Her world building is vibrant, full and lively, and it literally leaps off the page. I enjoyed her new type of fairy species—a masterful stroke that really gives the story a new dimension. I would go into more details but it’s so much more fun discovering the answer for yourself.
Ash, the Unseelie prince, is a spectacularly drawn character. He’s that aloof hero whose motives are hard to determine. He hides a soft heart behind a cold hard façade and makes for a truly forbidden love interest. Yum.
Puck, he’s the wayward merrymaker who at times isn’t the best judge of when too far is too far. I have a feeling he’s also in love with Meghan but as of yet hasn’t made his feelings known and Meghan views him as her best friend, not a love interest.
Grimalkin or Grim, the cat. He reminds me of the Cheshire Cat from Alice in Wonderland and is another fantastic well drawn character. He’s sarcastic, condescending, and witty. He trades favors and barters without a plan seemingly in mind in order to extract another promise or favor from someone else. You can find him wherever something interesting is taking place.

Last Minute Thoughts: The worst part of the book is that it ended! The next in novel in the series cannot come too quickly for me. I can’t wait to read The Iron Daughter.

Buy: The Iron King (Harlequin Teen)

Rating: 5 Treasure Chests

P.S. The Iron King is the perfect story to read for any Twilight fan looking for a new series to love.

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Review: The Temptation of the Night Jasmine by Lauren Willig

First Mate Keira — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 09:26:01 +0000

by First Mate Keira

Title: The Temptation of the Night Jasmine
Author: Lauren Willig
Format: Trade Paperback
Page Count: 468
Grade Reading Level: Ages 15+

Summary: One heroine is researching for her dissertation on the Pink Carnation. The other heroine is living it. Both heroines are already set on the path of love, but the road is bumpy and not without potholes. Can they successfully navigate their way through to happily ever after?

Likes:

You can read this novel without picking up the others in the Pink Carnation series first. However, I am definitely most eager to check them out. This looks like a very promising book series.
Eloise and Charlotte Lansdowne, the heroines of both the present and past love stories, are a gem. Eloise was amusing and Charlotte sweet. I found a little of myself in both of them.
Robert, Duke of Dovedale and Charlotte’s love interest, is the type of hero who understands that knights in shining armor are important and tries to make himself into one. He doesn’t yet realize he’s already a prince among men and that is his largest appeal.
The vivid imagery and adept storytelling woven by Lauren Willig will suck you in and not let you up for air until the very last punctuation mark. You will find humor, romance, intrigue, kidnapping plots, secret clubs, nefarious doings, and more within these pages.

Dislikes:

Charlotte’s friend Penelope reminds me too much of a character from another novel which is coloring my view of her. I want to shake some sense into that girl. She’s the only fly in the ointment as far as I’m concerned.

Buy: The Temptation of the Night Jasmine

Rating: 5 Treasure Chests

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Review: I Learned a New Word Today… Genocide by Elizabeth Hankins

First Mate Keira — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 09:42:07 +0000

by First Mate Keira, guest reviewer

Title: I Learned a New Word Today… Genocide
Author: Elizabeth Hankins
Format: Paperback
# of Pages: 150 pages
Grade Reading Level: 5^th – 8^thgrade

Summary: Javier Mendoza is a 5^th grade student at Franklin D. Roosevelt Elementary. As part of an assignment for social studies he must keep a journal and tell what he learns about the new unit being taught by Mr. Steinberg, his social studies teacher. The unit is about genocide and specifically six genocides that happened in the last 100 years. It’s a fictional story filled with factual information.

Why I Read This Book:

This book was given to LYAF as an ARC. My sixth grade sister was going to read it but she found the subject too sad to really get into it for pleasure reading. I picked it up after that and read it over a couple of days.

Likes:

Elizabeth Hankins keeps everything age appropriate. There are no gory details. When things are tough she keeps it light by having Javier boil the topic down to its basic components: genocide is sad, evil, terrible, and devastating.
A lot of factual information is condensed into this 150 page book and through Javier’s definitions, reiterations, lists, and commentary one learns a lot. It will be easy for kids from 5^th grade to 8^th grade to understand.
Two of the things gone over in the book are how genocide starts and how it is hidden or glossed over by others.
It is a thinking book. Young and older readers will think about what genocide is and figure out how to spot it even when it’s not being labeled as genocide.

Dislikes:

I have only one dislike. Javier begins to question God’s presence in a world where genocide exists and He doesn’t stop it. Javier also questions whether or not God is good (page 58-59).

I was hoping at the end of the book Javier would come to a conclusion about both, but it was left unresolved and that really bothered me. I couldn’t tell why it was left that way even after Javier came to the conclusion he wanted to be a doer and not a watcher. What was the purpose?

One of the reasons for genocide listed in the book is religion and how people worshipped God. The book does say religion by itself does not cause genocide and Javier thinks if God is good and fair He would hate people fighting over Him. In my opinion genocide doesn’t happen because of God. It happens because there is a lack of Him, even and especially if people are using God as an excuse to do what they do.

In addition, faith groups are mentioned as great sources for good in the fight against genocide.

Still, I really wish once it had been brought up it had been dealt with more thoroughly. It is my only concern about the book because the message is unclear.

Last Minute Thoughts: Genocide is a sad topic and while the book a little heavy it is not overwhelmingly so for young kids. I think it would be a great companion for a unit study or in a literary group. I also think it would be a good book for adults looking to learn more about the subject without getting too wrapped up in the horrors involved. You can fill in the blanks well enough.

Buy: I Learned a New Word Today ... Genocide

Book Rating: 4 Treasure Chests

Keira runs a book review blog for readers by readers on romance novels entitled Love Romance Passion. She’s been reading romance since she was in her teens and began blogging about romance so she could share her passion for her favorite genre. She loves reading paranormal, Regency, historical America, and highlander most of all and completely adores blind and wounded heroes.

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Review: Bran Hambric: The Farfield Curse by Kaleb Nation

First Mate Keira — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 04:41:21 +0000

by First Mate Keira, guest reviewer.

Title: Bran Hambric: The Farfield Curse
Author: Kaleb Nation
Page Count: 464 pages
Format: Hardback
Grade Reading Level: Ages 9-12

Summary: Bran Hambric is different from other boys and doesn’t even know the true extent of it. He was found as impossible as it might sound in a locked bank vault. Sewey Wilomas, the man who found him takes him home as he must under the Finders Keepers law. Eight years have passed and Bran still doesn’t know who his mother is or how he came to be in the city of Dunce’s third bank. All he has for a clue is a scrap of paper with his name on it directing him “To Clarence.”

Why I Started This Book:

I began this book for a number of reasons. The first is that I have been off and on watching Kaleb on youtube and twitter because of his Twilight involvement and he's just plain fun, his novel was sure to be too. Second, he’s approximately my age and wrote a fantasy story with a very interesting concept, how could I not support that by picking up the book? Third – who doesn’t crave a Harry Potter fix? Bran Hambric promised to be one and fulfilled it.

Note: While receiving this book early as a reader copy from the publisher, it is the final consumer version of the book.

Likes:

Bran Hambric is set in the city of Dunce, a place that outlawed mages and gnomes and all things etcetera. Who couldn’t like something as silly sounding as that? Plus it’s the perfect setup to include all three!
Sewey’s cursing: “Great Rot!” and “Great Moby!” Sewey is excellent for humor and spouting off the town’s ideology. He blames everything bad on gnomes.
Polland the gnome. He’s a good character. I hope to see more of him in future Bran Hambric novels.
The five kinds of magic: mental, physical, mortal, illusions, and natural.
Shambles. Guessed his importance right off the bat and then doubted it until I got to the ending of the story.
The bad guy #1 and in particular the Farfield curse. Very spooky.
The cover! It's gorgeous! The illustrator was obviously influenced by Harry Potter but it still reads as it's own universe. Love.

Dislikes:

The first 20-100 pages are really tough. Mainly because of the grammar issues that cropped up repeatedly. Most particularly the improper use of ‘and’ and ‘but’ in several long sentences. The author should have reversed the choice or gone with a smaller two letter transition word instead.
Another issue was the occasional switching mid sentences between characters. For instance – Shambles would do something then the second part would be about Joris' actions however the subjective personal pronouns would still be reflecting back on Shambles.
Mabel’s hypochondria. For some, I see this being humorous and fun, for me not so much. I was over it by the third time it was mentioned and she went crazy trying to ingest her body weight in them. Figuratively of course.
The #1 bad guy didn’t seem to understand how to convince Bran to join the dark side as it were. He had 'compelling' arguments but they weren’t really tailored to what Bran truly desired which the bad guy should have known having been in Bran’s head.

Last minute thoughts: There are quite a few parallels to Harry Potter. I will be listing some in bullet format below, so for those not wishing to be spoiled I expect you to click away immediately.

Harry and Bran are in the care of families who don’t acknowledge them and both take the place as a sort of house elf. Bran however is treated much better by the Wilomas family than Harry by the Dursley’s.
Harry and Bran were vessels for the bad guy’s soul.
Their mothers were instrumental in saving them once from the baddies.
The major bad guys, Voldemort and Baslyn, do what they can to control the magical world and to defy death. Baslyn’s main magical power is concentrated on mortal magics.
Shambles while more similar to Golem than Dobby is of equal importance to Bran Hambric as they were to their stories.

Buy: Bran Hambric: The Farfield Curse (Hardback), Bran Hambric: The Farfield Curse (Audio Book)

Book Rating: 3.5 Treasure Chests

Originally posted 2009-09-15 03:09:21.

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