Review: Wildefire by Karsten Knight

Wildefire by Karsten Knight

Pages: 400
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Published: July 26th, 2011
IBSN: 9781442421172

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.

I couldn't find myself connecting with, or even liking, any of the characters in Wildefire. I blame this somewhat on the writing style: third person, flowery and decorated excessively. While that kind of writing could appeal to some people, to me, it only took away from the story by describing things in excess that weren't relevant to the plot.

The paranormal aspect of the book was played down. It took around half the book to reach it, and then, the news that they were gods/goddesses was just dropped on them without much explanation. And then they just accepted that, and took next to no time to get accustomed to the fact.

The pacing also provided a problem for me. The beginning 75 pages gave an in-depth backstory to Ash that wasn't proportionate to how important it was to the plot. And then, while the main drama was foreshadowed, it didn't occur until the very ending.

I sketched you a graph of drama against time. Note major complication tacked onto the end. Also note the hook on the end. Cliffhanger. 

Another thing that annoyed me about this book was how things would happen that should prove a big problem to the protagonist didn't even develop into subplots, or even get mentioned again. I guess they're introduced to be expanded upon in further books, but it felt like those events were just ignored.

While I liked the premise, and the fact that Knight incorporated mythology from so many different cultures, I couldn't like the execution.

I give Wildefire a 2 out of 5.

P.S. I think I might make Drama vs. Time graphs for everything I review now.

Review: Slice Of Cherry by Dia Reeves

Slice Of Cherry by Dia Reeves

Series: Portero (#2)
Pages: 512
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Published: January 4th, 2011
IBSN: 9781416986201

Kit and Fancy Cordelle are sisters of the best kind: best friends, best confidantes, and best accomplices. The daughters of the infamous Bonesaw Killer, Kit and Fancy are used to feeling like outsiders, and that’s just the way they like it. But in Portero, where the weird and wild run rampant, the Cordelle sisters are hardly the oddest or most dangerous creatures around.

It’s no surprise when Kit and Fancy start to give in to their deepest desire—the desire to kill. What starts as a fascination with slicing open and stitching up quickly spirals into a gratifying murder spree. Of course, the sisters aren’t killing just anyone, only the people who truly deserve it. But the girls have learned from the mistakes of their father, and know that a shred of evidence could get them caught. So when Fancy stumbles upon a mysterious and invisible doorway to another world, she opens a door to endless possibilities…

[Synopsis by Goodreads]

I really liked Dia Reeves' first book, Bleeding Violet. While it was gory and violent, it felt almost justified in the world it was set in, and was counteracted by the romance and character development.


Slice Of Cherry was violent, too, but not justified like it was in Bleeding Violent. Our main characters, sisters Kit and Fancy, were obsessed with killing people, usually in creative and sickening ways. They didn't even need a reason to abduct and torture people, and those aren't the kind of characters I'm going to connect with, let alone like. Especially Fancy, who felt like an overgrown and clingy child.

Plus, I didn't buy into the notion that psychopathic tendencies could be inherited. I don't think that the children of The Bonesaw Killer have to be or will be killers as well.

The romance between either sisters and their boyfriends felt incredibly unrealistic. The dialogue between the couples just felt awkward in some instances to me. For instance, I think telling your significant other that you want to cut them open and kiss them all over their insides as well is crossing the line.

I was really disappointed by Slice Of Cherry. I thought this companion novel to Bleeding Violet could flesh out the world better and give a insider perspective to Portero, but I heard almost nothing about how the town worked and the characters were annoying as well as messed up.

I give Slice Of Cherry a 2 out of 5.

Waiting On Wednesday (28)

Waiting On Wednesday is a weekly meme, hosted by Jill at Breaking The Spine, in which we highlight an upcoming book release we're eagerly awaiting.

This week I'm waiting on Froi Of The Exiles by Melina Marchetta. Because the first book, Finnikin Of The Rock, was epic. And because Melina Marchetta is epic.

Three years after the curse on Lumatere was lifted, Froi has found his home... Or so he believes...

But when Queen Isaboe and her consort Finnikin send him on a secretive mission to the kingdom of Charyn, he encounters a damaged people who are not who they seem, a surreal royal court, and soon he must unravel both the dark bonds of kinship and the mysteries of a half-mad princess.

In this barren and mysterious place he will discover there is a song sleeping in his blood, and though Froi would rather not, the time has come to listen. 

[Synopsis by Goodreads]

Froi Of The Exiles will hit Australian shelves on the 3rd of October. It should release in America at the same time, or just a few months later.

Feel free to leave a link to your own Waiting On Wednesday post in the comments, and I'll be sure to have a look.

Review: Graffiti Moon by Cath Crowley

Graffiti Moon by Cath Crowley

Pages: 244
Publisher: Pan MacMillan
Published: August 1st, 2010
IBSN: 9780330425780

Let me make it in time. Let me meet Shadow. The guy who paints in the dark. Paints birds trapped on brick walls and people lost in ghost forests. Paints guys with grass growing from their hearts and girls with buzzing lawn mowers.

It’s the end of Year 12. Lucy’s looking for Shadow, the graffiti artist everyone talks about.

His work is all over the city, but he is nowhere.

Ed, the last guy she wants to see at the moment, says he knows where to find him. He takes Lucy on an all-night search to places where Shadow’s thoughts about heartbreak and escape echo around the city walls.

But the one thing Lucy can’t see is the one thing that’s right before her eyes.

[Synopsis by Goodreads]

Graffiti Moon's appeal to me was initially the story's backdrop being where I live. Then it won the Ethel Turner Prize For Young People's Literature, and I knew I had to read it.

The narration of Graffiti Moon switches between Lucy and Ed's perspectives, with poems by 'Poet' intermittent. While having both of them narrating left a lot of mystery out, it helps make the storyline feel more realistic.

Cath's writing style had a flowing, smooth quality to it that made it easy to become engaged by the story. The narrations felt genuine to the characters's ages, something I don't come across often and cherish whenever I find it.

The characters were all funny and quirky, and immediately likeable. I felt attached to them so much so that I was disappointed when I reached the last page and had to part with them all.

I give Graffiti Moon a 4 out of 5.

Recommend it for fans of: Beatle Meets Destiny, Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist.

________________________________________

I read this book for the Aussie YA Reading Challenge.

Review: Flyaway by Lucy Christopher

Flyaway by Lucy Christopher

Pages: 260
Publisher: Chicken House
Published: January 4th, 2010
IBSN: 9781905294763

While visiting her father in hospital, thirteen-year-old Isla meets Harry, the first boy to understand her and her love of the outdoors. But Harry is ill, and as his health fails, Isla is determined to help him in the only way she knows how. Together they watch a lone swan struggling to fly on the lake outside Harry's window. Isla believes that if she can help the damaged swan, somehow she can help Harry. And in doing so, she embarks upon a breathtakingly magical journey of her own.

[Synopsis by Goodreads]

You know those books that you enjoy while you read them, but after you're finished, you put down and never think of again? Flyaway is like that to me.

It was a sweet book. The main character was likeable, the language figurative, and the plot sad.

But it didn't really touch me. I could never find myself genuinely caring about the characters or what happened to them.

But I would still recommend this book to anyone looking for heartfelt contemporaries. I couldn't feel anything much for Stolen either, and I can't name a single person who didn't adore that.

I give Flyaway a 3 out of 5.

________________________________________

I read this book for the Aussie YA Reading Challenge.

Review: Warm Bodies by Isaac Marion

Warm Bodies by Isaac Marion

Pages: 239
Publisher: Vintage Books
Published: October 28th, 2010
IBSN: 9780099549345

A zombie who yearns for a better life ends up falling in love—with a human—in this astonishingly original debut novel.

R is a zombie. He has no memories, no identity, and no pulse, but he has dreams. He doesn’t enjoy killing people; he enjoys riding escalators and listening to Frank Sinatra. He is a little different from his fellow Dead.

Not just another zombie novel, Warm Bodies is funny, scary, and deeply moving.

[Synopsis by Goodreads]

Warm Bodies was definitely not your average book about zombies. Rather than a undead protagonist whose internal monologue was the word "brainss" on repeat, R is an existentially tormented romantic.

Warm Bodies made a habit of taking every expectation I had in a novel of its genre and turning it on it's head.

The prose was beautiful and poetic, and had a literary quality that I was surprised to find in a zombie apocalypse novel. The tone was wry in a way that reminded me of John Green's novels.

The characters were fleshed out and realistic, developing over the course of the novel. Perry might have been my favourite character - his story is second hand but there was so much depth to him and I always found myself skipping forward to the parts where he featured.

The plot wasn't action-packed or uber fast, but it was unpredictable and interesting. So much of what happens in their futuristic world made me stop and think about our own.

Overall, the story was funny, sad, and touching. I give Warm Bodies a 6 out of 5!