Review of "I Hunt Killers"

"Don't ever let me call her an it again."

     So demands the protagonist of Barry Lyga's I Hunt Killers. Seventeen-year-old Jasper Francis Dent had a disturbing childhood, to say the least. As far as Billy Dent was concerned, Bring Your Kid to Work Day was a daily observance--which would have been fine if Dear Old Dad hadn't been a serial killer. Four years after Billy's arrest, Jazz still can't get over the lessons that were drilled into him since he was old enough to lift a knife. Even Howie and Connie, his best friend and girlfriend respectively, can't fix the brokenness that haunts him day and night. It isn't until a copycat begins leaving bodies outside of town that Jazz realizes he can make up for letting Billy do so many horrible things. If he catches this killer, it'll prove he isn't destined to grow up like Dad. But when his inner darkness rears its head it won't be the world he has to convince. He'll have to prove it to himself.

     It's impossible to properly categorize Jazz Dent. He's equal part clinical reserve, pragmatism, scared teenager, and terrifying potential. He cons people. He investigates crime scenes without permission and comes to conclusions that only officers close to the case and the criminal himself would ever put together. Howie keeps him human, and Connie keeps him happy; without them, he would be in a much darker place. Their love for him brings out the best aspects of his personality, and is the primary thing that makes Jazz's story worth reading.

     One of the great things about this mystery is the incredible work this small-town sheriff's office is able to do. Too often are sheriffs, chiefs, and ordinary police officers portrayed as incompetent, dim-witted, or otherwise useless. Not so in this tale. G. William may have a round belly and a big nose, but he's got a lifetime of experience under his belt and knows exactly how to use it. He doesn't get in Jazz's way so much as he tries to protect him. When he needs help and has nowhere else to turn, the young Dent is right there on the sidelines, yearning to join the big boys even as he conducts his own investigation. This feels much more realistic than if Sheriff William had let him help out immediately or been a bumbling idiot, and thus cements the premise and its stakes firmly in the reader's mind.

     In fact, realism is the name of the game from start to end. Lyga paints each scene so vividly that one could easily imagine this story playing out in the world we know. Side effects of such an immersive setting and plot include foul language, violence, graphic memories and crime scenes, and other assaults less suitable for public discussion. Thankfully, swearing is kept to a minimum. Both Billy and his copycat preyed upon women, the reasons for which are occasionally discussed, resulting in some crude comments. Jazz must constantly resist the urge to let his inner Billy take over, which leads to some rather chilling inner commentary. Crime scenes are described graphically enough to churn the stomach, stopping right at the brink of "too much". Jazz notes detachedly when his body reacts to Connie's touch. Trigger-sensitive readers should try this one with caution.

     I would recommend this book to older teens and adults looking for a serial killer story with kick. Jazz is a strong protagonist with a war raging wildly within him, one which could decide the fate of his entire town if he lets it. As his friend and girlfriend struggle to help him figure out who and what he is, all three are swept up in a murder mystery with high stakes and a truly frightening villain. Don't read this at night, because I Hunt Killers is as terrifying as it is intriguing. However, even the graphic details can't change the fact that Barry Lyga has written a great story worth four stars.

Review of "Death Sworn"

"The Renegai have never sent a woman to serve as our tutor before."

     In Death Sworn by Leah Cypess, the only way to survive in a society of assassins is to lie to their faces. When she was a child, Ileni tested positive for permanent magical abilities and was accepted into the Renegai, a peaceful society of sorcerers beyond the Empire's grip. She was lauded as the most powerful sorceress in a very long time, and declared their best hope for finally defeating their unjust neighbor. Then, out of nowhere, her magic began to fade. Simple spells became a struggle. To give her a task suited to her now-ordinary nature, Ileni has been sent to the Assassins' Caves, a network of tunnels that houses the training grounds for the most terrifying killers in the realm. Their last two magic tutors are dead, and it's Ileni's job to figure out why--without admitting she's no longer a Renegai. And without teaching her new students anything useful or incurring their master's wrath. Suffice to say that Ileni's life is about to get very interesting.

     Ileni's situation is easy to sympathize with. Once considered a prodigy with unimaginable potential, she has been cast out of her order for something she could not prevent. She's been abandoned by everyone she holds dear and exiled to almost certain death. It's no surprise that she has low self-esteem and identity issues, but what is amazing is her strength. From page one it's obvious that she'll do whatever it takes to uncover the truth behind the previous tutors' disappearances, and does her best to embody Renegai ideologies even when it's hard. When she meets Sorin, an assassin assigned to protect her from his fellows, he becomes an anchor and a friend whose loyalty can only be overridden by the Master Assassin's command. Each character is rounded, flawed, and distinctly human, with lives that extend beyond the plot yet are intricately intertwined.

     One of the major upsides to this tale is the writing. The words flow easily from one to the next, shaping each scene with love and respect for the setting and characters it contains. Every emotion is as close to the surface as ink on the page, though the levels of emotional clarity vary as time wears on. Is Ileni really resigned to her fate? How much of what she feels is she blocking out to make things easier? And although her point of view is only abandoned a couple of times, and never for Sorin, her bodyguard and companion is just as understandable. The backdrops are vivid with color, immersive in their subtly detailed structure. Tension and pacing are well-maintained, and the romance fits into that mold well.

     All things considered, the violence between these pages is rather clean. There are plenty of fights, from an insult contest that peaks in the only crude comment to an adrenaline-flooded struggle with shocking results. However, gore is kept to a minimum and, while conversations often turn morbid, graphic content is toned down and spread out to match the pacing. The romance pairs together two strong, capable individuals with their own flaws and desires. While this doesn't guarantee a happily-ever-after in this novel or its sequel, it makes the relationship refreshing and enjoyable. If the romantic interests go beyond kissing, it happens behind the scenes and is only vaguely hinted at. Ileni is slightly depressed, and the assassins repeatedly state their willingness to sacrifice themselves for their master.

     I would recommend this book to anyone looking for an absorbing read about a strong girl making the best of an awful situation and the assassin who helps her along. The structure is believable, the characters complex, the plot absorbing. Together, these elements bring Leah Cypess's world of assassins and sorcerers to life. The mystery surrounding the Renegai tutors' deaths is truly puzzling, just as the trainees in the Assassins' Caves live up to their fearsome reputation. Ileni is a fantastic protagonist whose point of view grounds the plot, and her love interest is no different. For a convincing mystery, a formidable cast, and sound worldbuilding, Death Sworn deserves five magical stars.

Review of "Story Thieves"

"Alien invasions and rocking-horse-flies are fine, but this you faint at?"

     For the heroes of James Riley's Story Thieves, fiction is nothing to mess around with. When Owen sees his classmate, Bethany, climb out of a library book, his once-boring world is turned upside-down. No longer is he confined to reading his favorite stories; now he can live them. Everything changes, though, when he saves the wise mentor in the most popular fantasy tale the world has ever seen. Before he knows it, the Magister has escaped the confines of the story, Bethany is off having adventures with Kiel Gnomenfoot--only the coolest teen wizard in the history of awesome--and Owen...well, Owen is in the yet-to-be-released final installment, pretending to be Kiel until the real Kiel can take his place. The problem? The Magister isn't the hero everyone thinks he is, and if Owen and Bethany don't act quickly, their world is about to have a very unhappy ending.

    Travelling through stories is every reader's dream. Owen certainly thinks so, anyway. In fact, his greatest dream is to go on an adventure far from the oh-so-boring world that is real life. His impulsiveness and unapologetic fanboy attitude belie his intelligence, making him do things he knows are stupid even before he begins. While it's a little annoying, it makes him human, speaking to that part of the reader which knows, deep down, they would do the same thing. Bethany, on the other hand, is a thoughtful girl who makes rational choices. After a lifetime of jumping from page to page, she knows better than to interfere with a story. She's spent years looking for her father, a fictional character, in every tale she can find. It's a lonely business, and the development of her heart and personality as a result of Owen's friendship makes all his mistakes worthwhile.

     For all our wild imaginings of meeting our favorite heroes and villains, we rarely stop to think about their reactions to finding out that they aren't real. When the Magister breaks into our world, he is horrified to learn that his entire existence has been controlled by an author's imagination. Immediately abandoning the war he's waged for years against the evil Dr. Verity, he sets forth to change the laws which govern our world. He has powerful resources at hand, and wields them well--everything from dragons to tooth-goblins and a big, scary giant stand between Bethany, Kiel, and the world's safety. Some of it is silly, some intimidating; all of it ushers the plot along at a fast clip, keeping the stakes, personal and general alike, at just the right height.

     This is a very kid-friendly adventure. Violence is cartoonish, vocabularies are clean, and while a couple of important figures share a spark with another character, any romance that develops will take place in one of the sequels. The Kiel Gnomenfoot series concerns a teenaged wizard who must battle an evil mastermind from a planet where everything is controlled by science, and is filled with zombies, cyborgs, ray guns, and robot "Science Soldiers". Even the system of magic is wacky. The heroes are smart, creative middle-schoolers who are sure to charm readers almost immediately.

     I would recommend this book to kids, adults, and everyone in between who longs to experience the kind of adventure only found in fiction. Owen and Bethany are fun to follow as they embark on their journey to save the world. The threat is unique, the writing imaginative, and the stakes realistic. What flaws it has are minor; James Riley did a wonderful job with this one. For action, magic, and plenty of excitement, Story Thieves deserves five stars.

Review of "Throne of Glass"

"Do I want to know what's killing the Champions?"

     In Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas, being summoned by the Crown Prince of Adarlan is not necessarily a bad thing. After a year of hard work in the Salt Mines of Endovier, eighteen-year-old  assassin Celaena Sardothien has been reduced to a shadow of her former self. She's thin, she's filthy...yet she still has her killer's edge. When Adarlan's Crown Prince orders her removed from the mines, Celaena is convinced her execution date has arrived. Instead, Prince Dorian Havilliard wants to make a deal: win a tournament against the best thieves, assassins, and soldiers in the realm, and after four years of service to the king she'll finally be free. Which wouldn't be a problem if magic hadn't started showing up again, the prince wasn't distractingly cute, and someone--or something--wasn't picking off the competitors one by one. With her future on the line, Adarlan's Assassin is about to discover just how much she's willing to sacrifice for victory.

     Celaena has a whole cast of people on hand to temper her bloodthirsty nature. First there's Dorian Havilliard, Crown Prince of Adarlan and relentless flirt. He has quite the reputation among the women of the court, which doesn't stop them from swooning when he passes and praying nightly that he'll marry them. Next is Chaol Westfall: Captain of the Guard, master of wariness, and king of denying the yearnings of his heart. A maid with a heart of gold is the only person strong-willed enough to stand up to her, while a visiting princess provides much-needed emotional support. Together, these characters form a tangled web of lies, love, and friendship that threatens to shatter if they don't do everything in their power to sustain it. Meanwhile, fierce competitors, wicked courtiers, and scheming nobles plot to destroy our heroes' hopes for the future.

     Adarlan is a kingdom without magic, and not just because it was banned when Celaena was eight. The day the announcement was made, even those who wielded it were cut off from magic by some unknown force. So when competitors start turning up dead, suspecting magic is at play would be insane. On the other hand, what else could those markings around the bodies be? As Adarlan's Assassin digs deeper into the mysteries of the glass castle and its inhabitants, she realizes there are secrets here even the king may not know. Unless she does something to stop them, these secrets may destroy everyone she's grown to care for. While she tears the library apart in search of a solution, the competition rages on around her. However, it is far from the focus of the plot. Celaena has much more important things to worry about, like the threat to the kingdom and the follies of her own heart.

     That's right: though the story centers around two violent, dramatic premises, its beating heart is a romance. Rather than bog things down, this provides some much-needed rest between the action and tension-filled, forbidden explorations and searches. Characters don't go beyond kissing, though a courtier promised her fiancé more if he took her to court and Celaena has to tell her significant other "no" several times. Violence is surprisingly rare but graphic; while Adarlan's Assassin boasts of her prowess often, we don't see it in action often, which makes the few true fight scenes that much more impressive. The crime scenes, when Celaena encounters them, are extremely unpleasant. There's a little mild profanity, plus a few more explicit digs at Celaena from her male opponents and mention of a guard taking advantage of a prisoner.

     I would recommend this book to teenagers looking for an exciting blend of romance and action, magic and combat. Celaena is a strong-willed young woman who is more than willing to back up her claim to fame, the threat she faces daunting enough to chill the blood. Surrounded by a compelling cast of people in their own right, Celaena is quickly swept up in a world of intrigue, forbidden magic, and love as her simple quest for freedom turns into a fight for survival. For adventure, mysterious circumstances, and a gripping plot, Sarah J. Maas's Throne of Glass deserves five stars.

Review of "Alistair Grim's Odditorium"

“The odd was the ordinary at Alistair Grim’s.”

     When it comes to Gregory Funaro’s Alistair Grim’s Odditorium, truer words have yet to be written. Meet Grubb, an orphan whose adopted mother is dead and whose adopted father, a chimney sweep named Mr. Smears, makes him do all the work while he drinks away their wages. Grubb’s life is hard at best, but he makes the most of it. One day, when he’s twelve or thereabouts and working on a particularly difficult series of chimneys, a pair of rascals gets him in big touble. Terrified of Mr. Smears’s reaction, Grubb stows away in a rich man’s trunk. Before he knows it, he’s indentured to Mr. Alistair Grim, an eccentric collector whose specialty is Odditoria—that is, anything living, inanimate, or otherwise that possesses magical properties. When a talking pocket watch accidentally summons Mr. Grim’s arch-nemesis to his Odditorium, it’s up to Grubb to set things right—and earn a permanent place in the Odditorium family.

     Grubb is a fascinatingly complex hero. In some respects, he’s a typical orphan with fears and insecurities about the people he considers family. He loves Mr. Smears even when the man mistreats him, and misses Mrs. Smears terribly. Despite this, he possesses an inner strength that’s unheard of for boys in his age group, yet fits him like a glove. He’s as sharp as a knight’s blade and clever to boot, plus humble enough to own up to his mistakes and try to change for the better. Combine this with his wit and desperate longing for a place in the world, and he becomes incredibly charming and likeable.

     The worldbuilding is just as fantastic as the cast. From the empty little cottage where Mr. Smears lives to the slick black walls of the Odditorium and the bustling London streets, every scene and setting overflow with an abundance of life. By the magical way it’s described, almost anything could be Odditoria, be it menacing castle walls or the simple joy of being part of something big. Adding to the effect is the fact that a great many things that appear ordinary are actually Odditoria themselves, so that the reader is constantly on the lookout for magical people and objects.

     This being a children’s tale, there is little content worth a warning. Although Mr. Smears is a harsh man who mistreats and occasionally beats Grubb when things go south, it’s evident that he truly does care for the boy, at least a little bit. Characters swear in the most fun of fashions, exclaiming, “Great poppycock!” and “Good heavens!” on a somewhat regular basis. While there’s a lot of gasping and sighing, and a tad too much information-dumping, the content is clean and respectable. The villain of the piece is a cruel Odditoria-collector with an army of monsters at his back, so there are battles, duels, and other things of that sort, though nothing graphic. One character recounts the tale of the time his brother was framed for murder and lost contact with his daughter. Grubb notices that a couple of girls are beautiful, but, being twelve or thereabouts, does not pursue them.

     I would recommend this book to kids and kids at heart who yearn for a bit of adventure in their ordinary lives. Grubb is a fascinating boy in a beautifully-written world, and embarks on a marvelous adventure that’s sure to keep readers on the edges of their seats. Even a few instances of info-dumping don’t slow the pacing down for long. This might be a good one to read aloud to one’s child, or it could just as easily be read to oneself; either way, Alistair Grim’s Odditorium is a must-read. Congratulations, Gregory Funaro: this beautiful piece definitely deserves five stars.

Review of "A Thousand Splendid Suns"

"It happened on a Thursday."

     Khaled Hosseini is back with A Thousand Splendid Suns, a novel centered entirely around the lives and trials of two fictional Afghani women. When Mariam was a child, her father would visit her once a week at the little kolba where she and Nana lived. He would sit her on his lap and tell her stories about the city where she'd been born, and for the rest of the day she would glow with the knowledge that he loved her. Now Mariam is fifteen, and for her birthday she wants nothing more than to watch Pinocchio at her father's cinema. When he doesn't show up, she goes to his house, where he lives with his wives and legitimate children. Before she knows it, a sudden tragedy and betrayal lands her a miserable marriage to a cruel man she doesn't love. Years later, a girl named Laila loses the love of her life to shifting Afghani politics. When their lives intertwine, these women discover they can build a better future, but at the steepest price imaginable.

     In true Hosseini fashion, the tale of Mariam and Laila is full of extraordinary details that make it very true-to-life. The settings are rich with vivid descriptions that breathe life into every scene, from the dried-out grasses around Mariam's kolba to the tight-knit community that Laila calls home. Supporting characters are fleshed-out reasonably well, with distinctive voices and strong opinions that make them stand out in any crowd. The cast is small, though, and while this the development of each internal arc is more obvious, few secondary characters hold the spotlight long enough for us to truly get to know them.

     The plot of this piece revolves around the tribulations in the everyday lives of two mistreated young women, so action and agency aren't all that common. Most of the emphasis is placed on what happens to them, how they respond, and the ways in which this changes who they are and how they view the world. This is both intriguing and disappointing, as it provides a deeper insight into the minds and culture of these women, yet also slows the plot almost to a standstill for quite some time. Still, it's nice to have a story that isn't about chasing the bad guy or fixing things before the stakes grow worse.

     Throughout the story, several questionable things take place of which readers and pre-readers alike should be forewarned. The English vocabulary utilized is generally clean, with perhaps a few curses slipping between the cracks; characters speak Farsi now and then, and call Mariam a cruel name in Farsi in the opening chapters. Islam makes its own appearance, but the perspective is mainly negative, as Mariam and Laila suffer at the hands of men who force harsh religious customs upon them. Perhaps the biggest factor to consider is our heroines' personal relationships. Mariam is young when she marries, and her much older husband is physically demanding and, later, rather unkind. Laila, on the other hand, knows love briefly. While the physical side of these areas is not explicit in the moment, there's enough detail that younger readers might want to put this one off for a while. Despite the slow pacing, there is a bit of somewhat graphic violence.

     I would recommend this book to older readers looking for a glimpse into the life of women in Afghanistan. While the premise obviously does not reflect the background of every Afghani lady, the hardships Laila and Mariam go through are enough to win the sympathy of any reader. The settings are overflowing with beautiful descriptions that truly set the scene, and the few recurring characters support the plot nicely. However, aside from that of our heroines, there is little in the way of internal development, and it doesn't help that the slow plot is the primary method of moving this story along. Add in violence, a broken marriage, and romance with a touch too much detail, and Kholed Hosseini's A Thousand Splendid Suns doesn't quite live up to its initial promise. Still, it's got an interesting premise and strong protagonists, so it deserves three stars.

Review of "Two Moons in August"

"Your mom away somewhere?"

     In Two Moons in August, Martha Brooks explores what it's like to lose someone close to the heart. Ever since her mother passed away almost a year ago, Sidonie's life has been awful. Dad is rarely home anymore, Bobbi has organized the kitchen drawers, and the only person she can talk to is her eight-year-old cat. Any friendship she and her sister once had has vanished, especially now that Bobbi is spending so much time with her strictly-best-friend Phil. When a new boy moves in across the street and wrecks her book, all Sidonie can think of is her mother's signature dripping down the front page. And the fact that this boy, Kieran, is cute. And that she really, really needs to fix her family before things get even worse. But relationships can't be fixed with a hammer and nails, so if she's going to make things right, she has to start with herself--and all the baggage that entails.

     From the first page, it's evident that Sidonie has only just begun to heal after her mother's death. She's still raw over the birthday sweater she refused to try on when asked. It doesn't help that it happened the day she turned fifteen, forever linking the two events in her mind. Bobbi's temper has turned sour now that she's taken over as unofficial housekeeper, and without her dad around to help her grieve, Sidonie's only escape is through books. Her emotions are so prominent in the writing that even readers whose families are intact should have little trouble connecting with her. The others are a little harder to relate to, given their slightly less pleasant personalities, but overall the effect is the same.

     The writing style used throughout this tale is somewhat curious. On the one hand, it's rich with emotion, making clear how Sidonie's world works and exactly what she feels about it. The downside, though, is that this is somehow achieved with a passive narrative voice. Even with a thousand churning waves of turmoil clearly visible in every word, the audience is kept at a distance, able to empathize with the characters yet not quite able to submerge completely within the setting. This has the unfortunate effect of reducing the urgency of the climax and generally reducing the tension, even when things start getting crazy.

     This depiction of Sidonie's summer is a mixed bag of highly clean and slightly questionable content. Overall, the language is relatively clean, with only a few curses dropped here and there. There's no violence to speak of, though at one point two characters find their lives in danger. The biggest factor to consider is the romance. Even in 1959, the year our story takes place, social restrictions on physical contact are few and far between. Kieran and Sidonie's first kiss quickly escalates, but she puts a stop to it before things get out of control. Bobbi, on the other hand, is not so conservative. Thankfully, descriptions of her romantic adventures are thoughtfully skimmed over. They do, however, play a big part in her own private plot line.

     I would recommend this book to readers fifteen and up who want a short read with lots of heart. While the writing style keeps readers at a short distance, Sidonie and her family deal with a tangible sense of grief and enough realistic problems to retain a strong hook. Although there's a bit of romance, the bigger story is about Bobbi, Sidonie, and their father figuring out how to move on after an enormous tragedy. For intriguing characters and a good plot, Martha Brooks' Two Moons in August deserves three stars.