Angel Burn - L. A. Weatherly

If I learned one thing at BEA this year, it's that getting in lines with few to no people can be a damn good thing. Going in, I had no idea this book was going to be there, no idea I was going to get it, and probably no idea it even existed. To be perfectly honest, I was bribed by pretty cover art. I have never been so happy to have taken a random chance.

Angel Burn, by L. A. Weatherly is about Willow, a young girl obsessed with cars who just happens to also be psychic. After giving a girl in her school a reading, Willow is torn away from everything she knows when a church dedicated to worshipping angels decides that she is a threat. They believe that she can destroy the angels they follow, and they will stop at nothing to catch her. What they don't know is that Willow IS an angel. Or half of one. At least, that's what the angel killer tells her.

Let me start by saying I adore the premise behind this book. A world in which angels are twisted evil parasites? Yes please. And, to be honest, the fact that Willow is a half breed appeals to that preteen in me who used to read fanfictions where the main character was an all powerful half-elfhumandemoncactus. I was hooked in the first few chapters, and the story didn't disappoint.

Angel Burn is an action romance sort of story, and while the romance was a little cheesy at times, it was still pretty cute. I loved the idea behind angel burn itself--the affliction in the story, not the title--and reading about Willow coming to terms with the fact that she's half divine was my favorite part of the book. The only real flaw I can think of is how easily Alex accepted Willow, considering his reasons for hating angels to begin with, which would probably be why I think the romance is cheesy. I've never been a fan of stories where two characters seem to start disliking or hating each other, and then suddenly are in love without any serious development. Not to say there isn't character development in Angel Burn, but I don't think there was enough for Alex to just suddenly decide he doesn't hate Willow's angel.

With that said, however, I'll still be keeping an eye out for the next book in the trilogy that Angel Burn starts, and I'll still recommend it. People who like stories that twist religion will probably like Angel Burn a lot, and if you're one of those people I'd suggest you consider adding it to your 'to be read' list, if nothing else. Of course, on the other end of the spectrum, hardcore biblethumpers probably need not apply.

Wall Street Journal Response (Or how to write an attention getting article)

(This post is in response to: Darkness Too Visible, a WSJ post at http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303657404576357622592697038.html?mod=WSJ_Books_LS_Books_6 )

It seems like every few months, someone in the media takes the good old fashioned formula for attention grabbing and recycles it. Have you figured out what that formula is, over the past few years? Let me help you with that:
Pick a popular past time of kids--usually videogames, TV, or movies
Pick something to bitch about--usually profanity, violence, or sexuality
Bitch about how dangerous and inappropriate these things are for children and blame it all on the publishers, producers, or creators
Does that sound familiar to you? Because it sounds familiar to me, although I might give points for originality to the writer of the newest YA fiction review on the Wall Street Journal. Most media corporations try to push reading, but I guess everything has to be done once, yeah?

So this new article can be summed up in the above formula. The fill in the blanks, in this case, are young adult fiction and violence, profanity, AND sexuality. And, big surprise, the article targets writers and publishers at being at fault for YA fiction with "Darkness too visible" to the readers.

See, these sort of formula articles tend to make me laugh, because every time someone in the industry is being blamed for providing material that isn't inappropriate for children, which is complete and utter bullshit.

You won't find anything in a YA book that is so inappropriate you won't find it in music, movies, TV, or, hell, the hallways of your precious children's school. Anyone who tells you that your child is going to be corrupted or harmed by reading YA books is looking for a new controversy. That's it.

I've been reading since I was 8. I read Sherrilyn Kenyon's Acheron, a very not YA book about the sexual and physical abuse of a man from childhood until adulthood, including prostitution, incest, rape, and any number of other gruesome and dark topics, when I was fifteen. Before that I read the rest of her Dark-Hunter series since I was ten. I've thrived on dark fiction of all age groups for years. And you know what? It hasn't done a damn thing to me. I'm a reader, a writer, a straight A student. I'm going to college, I had a job, I graduate in less than 2 weeks from high school, I'm not pregnant. I don't cut myself. I haven't attempted suicide. I'm not violent. I'm open minded, something the writer of the article apparently can't say, and I'm responsible. I have my own book blog. And I'm certainly not the only perfectly normal person who broke their teeth on this so called overly dark YA fiction.

But hey, if you are a parent or adult who thinks that children need to be kept away from dark young adult fiction, then fine. Good for you. You're entitled to your own opinions, and to raise your children the way you want. You want your child in a plastic bubble, sheltered from the real world, then do it. But don't blame the publishers because your child is reading something that's a little too dark for your tastes. Instead, why not take some damn responsibility and monitor what your child reads yourself, instead of pushing the blame on someone else?

A Long Long Sleep - Anna Sheehan

I love new takes on fairy tales. I absolutely adore them. The moment I saw the trailer for Beastly, I knew I wanted to see it. Disney was my childhood fodder. I devour twisted fairy tales, books like Enchantment by Orson Scott Card or Sister's Red by Jackson Pearce. Needless to say, when I saw the cover of A Long Long Sleep, I absolutely couldn't resist getting my hands on a copy of the ARC.

As the cover suggests, A Long Long Sleep is a Sleeping Beauty retelling, this time in a futuristic society where hover cars are prevalent, stasis tubes are used to keep the diseased alive until a cure can be found, and your entire life is kept on a computer tablet.

After over 60 years in a stasis tube, Rosalinda Fitzroy is kissed awake by a boy who was rummaging in the basement of the massive company that seems to monopolize almost everything in his world. Rose just happens to be the daughter of the man who started the company so long ago, and now that she is awake, she is the heir to the company as soon as she turns of age. Her parents, her life, and her love are all dead. Rose is all that's left.

A Long Long Sleep is, in my opinion, a pretty good book. The story is played out in two simultaneous parts, telling Rose's stories of before and after the 60 years she spends in stasis, something that worked very well. The reader gets the information she needs, often before she realizes she needs it. I loved how, the farther you get in the story, the better the two stories came together, trivial pieces of information suddenly becoming massively important as the reader is shocked into remembering them.

I thought the plot is pretty epic, even ignoring my own love of fairytale stories. It's full of twists that I wasn't expecting, has a good blend of action and drama, and has some damn good character development, in my opinion. Rose goes from the sweet little child she was for her parents into a strong willed woman, progressively changing the further the story developed. Another interesting thing I found about the story was the lack of overwhelming cliches that modern fiction seems to swim in. There is no instantaneous romance, Rose doesn't wake up, fall in love, and fall into bed with a guy who just happens to adorelovelust after her from the first time he sees her. Her former lover doesn't pop out of thin air, suddenly alive and gorgeous and ready for their happy ending. It's a nice, refreshing change from the twilight-esque romance drivel that seems to populate the YA section more and more recently.

I'd recommend A Long Long Sleep to anyone who, like me, is a fan of retold fairy tales. I'd also recommend it to anybody who wants to read a YA book that doesn't seem like the author took Twilight as a measuring stick for their story.

Janitors - Tyler Whitesides

One of the first things I saw at BEA this year was a group of people scattered around the building handing out flyers for a book with a big, burly magical seeming janitor. Needless to say, getting a hold of this arc was one of my priorities for the day, out of sheer curiosity.

Janitors is a book about Spencer, a sixth grader who one day washes his face with a magical soap that allows him to see the magical beings infesting his school when nobody else seems to be able to--besides the Janitor, that is. Spencer is told that the creatures feed on brain waves of children and in return give off waves that make it impossible for those same children to learn. But when Spencer tries to find out more about the creatures and the janitors, he gets thrust in a war between two different forces, and he isn't sure which one he should trust.

Janitors is a children's book, first off. Keeping that in mind, I felt that the book was really good for what it was. The storyline is clear and simple, and more than a little creative. The idea of Janitors fighting for education is a fun one, and one that I've definitely never heard before. That alone makes me give kudos to the author. There's potential for a sequel as well, and I'd love to see this turned into a series. It wouldn't be a series on par with Harry Potter, but let's be honest: nothing really is. This has the potential to be something great, though, and I'll be keeping an eye on the author.

I'd recommend this to any parents looking for books for children who like to read, to begin with, because it's a really cool story and, being as the story is based around and applies to elementary school kids, it might be a big hit. I'd also recommend it to any older kids and adults who are just looking for a cute, light read. And, hey, I'd recommend it to anyone else who, like me, is just really curious about a story consisting of magical janitor wars.

Shatter Me - Tahereh Mafi

Title: Shatter Me
Author: Tahereh Mafi
Publisher: Harper Collins

ISBN: 978-0-06-208548-1

Release Date: November 15, 2011
Page Number: 352

Tentative Price: $17.99

Juliette has always been hated for what she is. Her touch is pain to anybody she comes in contact with, hurting them while she absorbs energy that she pretends doesn't feel good. If she holds on long enough, it kills them. After an accidental murder, she is taken and placed into an isolation room where she rarely, if ever, sees other people. She hasn't been touched in 264 days, hasn't spoken in as long. Her days are a routine of staring out a window, bathing when told, and hoping that maybe, just maybe, she'll get fed.

Then he comes and everything changes. A boy is thrown into her cell, a boy that she doesn't recognize--until she does. Suddenly everything in her simple, routine life is changing as she's taken by a leader in her dystopian world's army. He wants to use her, her gift and her curse, as a weapon on his side. But Juliette doesn't want to hurt anyone, and she might be willing to do anything to escape that fate, including trust the man that, once upon a time, she loved more than anything.

Before I picked up Shatter Me, I knew absolutely nothing about it, besides the fact that the line to get it at BEA was huge. There is no cover design on my ARC to give away a story, and I've never heard of the author. However, from the moment I read the back cover, I've was hooked.

Superpowers and dystopia are two of my dirty little loves, something you'll probably figure out quick if you're reading my reviews, and I couldn't wait to read Shatter Me and get them both. And while I thouroughly enjoyed this novel, something seemed strangely familiar about this story from the start. The publisher's note in the beginning of the book mentions a comparison between Juliette and Rouge, which may have set my mindset before I opened the book, but the entire time I was reading I just couldn't help wondering if I was reading an alternate universe x-men fanfiction.

Don't get me wrong, the story was great. Juliette's world seems to be vaguely postapocolyptic, with a mass organization that seems deadset on stamping out everything that makes humanity great, from art to the very language spoken, in the name of reseting and starting over. The world is gritty and real, with the sense of overall poverty and need being very evident. For instance, when Juliette is brought to a headquarters of The Reestablishment, she is shocked by the utter waste used to provide the luxury of the building. Interestingly enough, there are also hints that the world inside the pages isn't a world that seems so far off from the world of today, despite the changes. Juliette, for instance, knows what a microwave is and knows not to put metal in it, although the child she sees doing so doesn't seem to know what a microwave is at all.

The characters were decent, too. Juliette is a girl with massive powers who just wants to be left alone, Walter is a boy who just wants power, and Adam is a boy who just wants his family and loved ones safe. Side characters, though, are almost nonexistant; the majority of nonmain characters were nothing more than cardboard cutouts meant to be thrown into a setting to give it the right feel.

Although romance is a decent part of the storyline, I was pleased to note that it didn't detract from what I felt was the real story, such as Fracture did, but rather enhanced it.

Shatter Me was a pretty good book, and I'd recommend it to lovers of X-Men for sure, and for anybody who likes the superpower genre in general. Dystopian fans might enjoy this novel as well, although I wouldn't push it quite as hard in that direction. I will personally be keeping a hopeful heads up for a sequel sometime in the near future, because I'd hate to think that the story was actually meant to just end where it did, and I'd really like to find out what happens to all the loose ends.