Draw the Dark

Draw the Dark by Ilsa J. Bick
Carolrhoda Lab, 2010
337 pages
YA; Fantasy
4.5/5 stars

Source: Received a free e-ARC via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

At first I found this book really hard to get into. Christian lives with his uncle in Winter, Wisconsin as both of his parents have disappeared into a sideways world and he feels that it is his responsibility to figure out how to join them. This is derailed when he wakes up, having defaced a prominent wealthy businessman's barn while sleepwalking.  He is sentenced to community service and therapy, having always been considered a weird kid.  See, he can draw the worst fears of a person such as his teacher who killed herself after one of his drawings.  Additionally he is having out-of-body flashbacks to post-World War II Winter where he is learning history the town would prefer forgotten.

Although it took me a while to get engaged, once I did, I sped through. Christian is baffled by these mysterious happenings but being of a curious nature, does not shy away from exploring more.  Even as the situations in which he finds himself become more and more bizarre, he attempts to confront them and act.  He tries to be brave and figure out why he seems so different and in the process solves a decades-old case, finally bringing justice to so many people hurt in long-ago Winter.

I don't want to spoil anything about the plot because I want you to enjoy how it unfolds but there are a few things I feel comfortable revealing. One of those is the plot point that German POWs came over to America, providing cheap labor and eventually becoming enmeshed into those communities. I did not know anything about these but according to Bick's author's note, they really happened.  Another is that there are some very intense scenes so I would recommend this for older YA although I leave it up to your discretion, of course. A third is that I feel like this is not your stereotypical YA book, with little focus on romance, its focus on flashbacks to the past as well as Christian's mysterious abilities, and it's pretty dark.

For me, this all made for an unforgettable, exciting read that I highly recommend!

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The Sergeant's Lady

The Sergeant's Lady by Susanne Fraser
Carina Press, 2010
266 pages
Romance; Historical
4/5 stars

Source: Received a free copy via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

First, I liked the setting during the Peninsular campaigns against Napoleon although fortunately the fighting was not the primary concern. Instead the book looked more at the developing relationship between the hero and heroine.  Will is a good man and soldier but is considered far beneath the likes of Anna, married to a cruel officer.  After his death, they end up as prisoners of a crazed French officer.  When his overtures to Anna turn violent, the two flee, falling in love in the process.

I really liked Will and Anna. They are good, principled, compassionate people with similar interests who spend quite a bit of time together before consummating their relationship. They recognize the difficulties posed by a disapproving society (especially their families) but they cannot deny the deep love they feel for each other.  However they are torn apart, each returning to their families missing their love and hoping to be reunited and married.

Besides the main lovers, the supporting characters were also good as were the historical details.  This isn't a common time period for me to read about but I felt comfortable that most of what I read was consistent with the times if not entirely true.

SPOILER-something I didn't like:
I really disliked that Anna became pregnant and gave birth out of wedlock; it was pretty inevitable due to the lack of birth control during the time and Anna and Will's passion but I would have preferred marriage before baby.

SPOILER-something I really liked:
At the end, Will is set to travel to India to make his fortune and thereby prove himself worthy of Anna. She supports his desire to embark on this new career but makes the very valid point that if they wait to marry until he is rich, then they will have missed out on valuable years together with their children around them. This is such a great point about something that seems to reoccur in historical romances.  I loved its inclusion here!

Overall: A nice historical romance between two deserving characters.

After the Golden Age

After the Golden Age by Carrie Vaughn
Tor, 2011
304 pages
Fantasy
3.5/5 stars

Source: Library

Genre is a little tricky for me to define here as in many ways main character Celia still acts like a petulant teenager yet she is supposed to be in her mid-twenties.  Of course, her life has been difficult in that she's the only child of two of the greatest superheroes yet is completely without superpowers and is the favorite hostage of villains.

I thought this concept was fantastic and that's why I picked this book up. I continued reading because it was pretty easy reading and there were some cool ideas about the nature of superheroes: born or made?  The information about their powers and how they strove to serve the city was very interesting. I always wanted more about them as well as the villains menacing the city. Additionally there's a bit of a mystery as Celia uses her accountant skills to investigate money and paper trails to uncover secrets, which was pretty cool.

However I didn't much like Celia, who whined A LOT. I had some sympathy for her at the beginning but she grew on my nerves even as she worked out some of her issues and matured.  Her relationship with her parents was incredibly strained as she always felt less important than the city and that she was a huge disappointment.  I also didn't really like her romance; there were some elements that skeeved me out but apparently it works for her.

Overall: Great concept, pretty good writing but altogether it didn't quite cohere for me.

Nine Coaches Waiting

Nine Coaches Waiting by Mary Stewart
William Morrow & Company, 1959
342 pages
Mystery; Romance
2.5/5 stars

Source: Library

I was very excited to start this book as I thought I had heard something about Cinderella and that it was romantic suspense.  There are some mentions of Cinderella as Linda Martin falls in love with her employer's son Raoul, thereby crossing the line demarcating servant and master.  But overall I was very disappointed.

Linda arrives in France to serve as a governess for young Philippe, a lonely orphaned boy living with his intimidating uncle and aunt.  Although Linda seems to settle in, soon suspicious events worry her and soon she grabs Philippe to run for their lives.

Although Linda repeats her unease of Uncle Leon, I never had that much of a fear of him.  I can seem him be terrifying but his presence wasn't strong enough to permeate every page of the book and scare me.  Linda also develops her suspicions but they seemed rather unfounded to me. Yes, they are revealed to be accurate but it felt sprung upon me.  The suspense was much better in the latter part as they are on the run and are constantly worried about being caught.

Then there was the romance, which was not quite instant love as Linda needed about a whole night to fall for Raoul but I don't know why. She doesn't even know why!  I was very disappointed with the romance when I had hoped for much more. The other characters were also pretty lame although I did like the young Philippe or rather I felt pity for him and his situation.

Overall: Attempts at mystery and romance fall short, failing to grab my interest.

The Pigman

The Pigman by Paul Zindel
Bantam Books, 1978
Originally Published 1968
149 pages
YA; Contemporary
4/5 stars

Source: Library

Most of the YA I read has been published very recently, usually within the past year and sometimes a little longer if I'm picking up a series.  But I've been interested in older examples of YA and I saw this on a recommended list of YA Contemporary so I figured "why not?" especially when the library has a copy readily available.

I think my expectations might have been too high because this book, while good, didn't really hit me.  I thought I would be emotional and feel an intense connection to the book but I pretty much felt nothing.  Mostly I compared it to today's YA and how the writing and themes differed or were similar.

I liked that it was told in alternating perspectives between John and Lorraine as they laid out the story of the Pigman, Mr. Pignati.  I cringed at some of the things they did; for example the start of the three's relationship is the two kids conning $10 out of Mr. Pignati as well as getting him to buy them a buttload of stuff.  I liked how their relationship grew and I thought they did some believable things.  But I didn't feel connected to anyone. I wonder if it's because of the alternating perspectives or perhaps that I just didn't like either of the kids. But this book was overall meh for me.

Supernaturally

Supernaturally by Kiersten White
HarperTeen, 2011
336 pages
YA; Paranormal
4/5 stars

Source: Bought

After loving Parnormalcy, I knew I would want to read Supernaturally posthaste. Unfortunately I didn't enjoy this one as much.  Although there is still humor, romance, and twists on paranormal tropes, I felt like Evie's climatic realization took too long. Everything she thought and felt in the last few pages was something I had been thinking and feeling while reading the book. Consequently, I was displeased with Evie and we were most definitely not on the same page.  I also think I liked the first book serving as an introduction instead of this book which felt like it was filled with angst.

So much angst. Angst over her relationship with Lend, angst over her application to Georgetown as the only possible outcome for a long-term relationship with Lend, angst over her abilities to suck out souls and her relationship with Lend.  I wanted Evie to be more kick-butt like in the first book; I mean, she barely used Tasey!

I guess in some ways though the angst really fits the description of a second book. Evie ended Paranormalcy having gotten what she wanted: out of IPCA, into Lend's arms, and set on the path of normal high school life. But in this second book, she finds out that she maybe doesn't want that life. High school is stultifying; IPCA does some good things and she'd like to be a part of that; and maybe Lend won't be with her because he will live forever and she will die a mortal death. So she has reasons for that angst. But she kept lying and keeping things from those she was closest to, preferring instead to find out more about her fairy heritage from the unstable character Jack, who is originally presented as a charming ne'er-do-well who takes a much darker twist later in the book.

Additionally there are some plot threads revolving around missing paranormals and Evie's suspicion over her boss's motives that aren't really addressed. I hope they will play a pivotal role in the third book but I feel discontent with the ending regarding that.  I did appreciate more background on Evie and her powers and there was still quite a bit of humor.

Overall: A bit disappointing to me; there was not enough adventure and too much angst for my satisfaction.

Populazzi

Populazzi by Elise Allen
Harcourt Children's Books, 2011
390 pages
YA; Contemporary
4/5 stars

Source: Received a free e-ARC via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I'll admit that I didn't have the highest hopes for this book given that I had zero interest in being popular in high school (do popular kids get to sit and read at lunch? No; they have to socialize. Do popular kids get to stay at home and laugh hysterically with their family and read on the weekends? No; they have to go shopping at the mall and go to crazy parties. I mean, I had friends (who also loved to read) so I wasn't lonely but I was by no means popular).  According to the vocabulary of this book, I think I would be a "Happy Hopeless," so far below the social ladder and without any aspirations to climb it ever...but I'd be happy as our introduction to that group comes from Robert Schwarner, a Star Wars nerd who I adored. But he only makes brief appearances because our main character is Cara Leonard.

Cara has just transferred to a new school in time for junior year with the intention of climbing the social ladder (as outlined and described by her best friend Claudia) because no one has any preconceptions about her.  She will start dating a boy with a lower status and eventually work her way up through relationships.  That first boy is Archer and the plan almost goes off the rails as Cara falls hard for him. After an embarrassing encounter though, she is back on track and quickly rises before her inevitable fall.

I really liked Cara's friendship with Claudia which is heavily spotlighted in the beginning but falters as Cara draws away in favor of hanging out with the Populazzi. There friendship had real depth and differed from some of the other popularity books I've read because Claudia was involved in Cara's rise to the top.  The other characters were pretty funny including one ex-boyfriend who writes a HILARIOUS song about Cara and the popular girls who did not seem as vapid as in other books.

Besides the popularity plot, there were a lot of issues dealt with in this book: in no particular order, with some receiving more attention, bulimia, sexual pressure, drugs, drinking, irresponsibility, homophobia, and most startlingly for me was Cara's family situation.

Cara lives with her mother and stepfather Karl with her father and his new wife the Bar Wench living about twenty minutes away but estranged.  Karl has very high expectations for Cara; perfect grades leading to acceptance to Northwestern, his alma mater. But he also has a very loose grasp on his temper as demonstrated in several instances. I would classify his behavior as bordering on abusive. He *disowns* Cara and gives her the silent treatment after she messes  up. He says that he washes his hands clean of her and says that it is now all up to her mother. In turn, the mother is afraid to leave because she doesn't work and is afraid she'll never be able to find someone else. The way to get back into Karl's good graces is to do everything he says and cater to his every need when he's home.  I'm not sure I know enough but I was very uneasy about the home situation and I thought it needed more treatment.

Overall: A very well-written amusing take on the themes of popularity and cliques in high school.


Cover: Cara does have wild, curly hair and the yellow fits with her generally sunny disposition; however the cover doesn't really grab me.

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