Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs
Paranormal, 352 pages
June 7th 2011 from Quirk Publishing

A mysterious island.

An abandoned orphanage.

A strange collection of very curious photographs.

It all waits to be discovered in Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, an unforgettable novel that mixes fiction and photography in a thrilling reading experience. As our story opens, a horrific family tragedy sets sixteen-year-old Jacob journeying to a remote island off the coast of Wales, where he discovers the crumbling ruins of Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children. As Jacob explores its abandoned bedrooms and hallways, it becomes clear that the children were more than just peculiar. They may have been dangerous. They may have been quarantined on a deserted island for good reason. And somehow—impossible though it seems—they may still be alive.

A spine-tingling fantasy illustrated with haunting vintage photography, Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children will delight adults, teens, and anyone who relishes an adventure in the shadows.

In some ways, I'm surprised I liked this as much as I did.  I'm not sure why, maybe it's because I love the title/cover combo, or because I love the idea behind it, or because quirky can sometimes go horribly, horribly wrong; whatever the reason, I was kind of bracing to be let down in this one.  And since it reads a little dispassionately in the beginning, I had a hard time staying engaged and thought my doom-and-gloom expectations were going to be - well, satisfied doens't seem like the right word...
But I thought I was going to be disappointed, and I wasn't. (yay!)

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children is intensely creative and unique, consistently giving me things I wasn't expecting.  This is not to say I didn't have issues with the book, because I did.  Though I love the idea of using quirky, odd photos to help narrate the story, there were certainly times when those photos seemed more forced on the story than supplemental to it.  There were times, too, where it just felt so damned over-written. I just wanted to say, 'Pull back a little, buddy.  One metaphor is fine.'  And as I said, it sometimes felt a little dispassionate.  But neither of these was a consistent problem, and the times when the book or the tone was nailed far outweighed the times when they were not.

I think this is one of those books that you should know going in whether you are going to like it.  If you know that you like things a little quirky, a little dark, a little macabre and a whole lot strange, then yes, you are going to enjoy this.  (If you don't, you probably won't.)  The characters the reader is introduced to certainly live up to their moniker of peculiar.  Some are just mildly shocking ala a circus freak show, and some are downright unsettling...  There's a creepy "off" tone to a lot of what goes on, and the threat of violence and being, you know, hunted down and eaten, so yeah, it's a good Halloween read for sure. ;P

What I loved, though, was getting things I didn't expect.  It's rare for a book to surprise me, and this one did so pretty consistently.  There were some great lines and bits of unexpected description that just tickled me and had me pulling out my post-its tabs*.  And there were characters and relationships among them that I did not see coming, and aspects of the villains that I didn't see coming (and I am rarely surprised or pleased by a villain).  Most of all, though, I was surprised by the whole plot and who it all works together. Beyond the expected elements of horror and mystery, there is romance and history and - something I can't get into it without being very spoilery - there was a crucial element to the plot, hinging on an ability of the titular Miss Peregrine, that I just did not see coming.  And I loved it.

And I sort of feel like that's all I can say without starting to give some major things away.  As most people know now, there will be a second book (which, though it could be read and work as a stand-alone, I think a 2nd book was a bit of a given), and there will be a movie. <---- And this I am very eager for, as I kept picturing scenes while I was reading.  It's very visual and some elements of the setting I just cannot wait to see onscreen.  There is a sense of wonder that I hope they can catch and even expand on.

Oh, and I love the design of the book.  I know it's silly, but it gets points.  Almost everything about the design is just a little tiny bit different than other books, showing that thought went in to nearly every aspect of it, from the very squared-off binding to the end papers and chapter-pages, etc.  It's nice, that level of thought and attention to detail. I approve.


*"But beyond all that, above the houses and fields and sheep doddering around like puffs of cotton candy, I could see tongues of dense fog licking over the ridge in the distance, where this world ended and the next one began, cold, damp, and sunless."
Though a bit overwritten, I just adored the image of the 'sheep doddering around like puffs of cotton candy.'  ;)


Don't forget, you can enter to win 1 of 3 copies of this during Helluva Halloween!!

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DNF Review: The Mephisto Covenant by Trinity Faegen

The Mephisto Covenant by Trinity Faegen
Fantasy/Paranormal, 439 pages
September 27th 2011 from EgmontUSA

Sasha is desperate to find out who murdered her father. When getting the answer means pledging her soul to Eryx, she unlocks a secret that puts her in grave danger—Sasha is Anabo, a daughter of Eve, and Eryx’s biggest threat.

A son of Hell, immortal, and bound to Earth forever, Jax looks for redemption in the Mephisto Covenant—God’s promise he will find peace in the love of an Anabo. After a thousand years, he’s finally found the girl he’s been searching for: Sasha.

With the threat of Eryx looming, Jax has to keep Sasha safe and win her over. But can he? Will Sasha love him and give up her mortal life?

PLEASE NOTE: This is a DNF (did not finish) review.  For those of you concerned, I quit at the 100-page mark.  Also, this is all spoilery, so you have been warned.

I tried with The Mephisto Covenant, honestly, I did.  But it was clear to me really early on that this was not the book for me, and unlike Carrier of the Mark (which I also realized early on was not the book for me), I didn't find anything in it that compelled me to keep reading.
Here's why:

* The characters.  I can put up with a fair amount of pet peevishness in a book if I connect to at least one of the characters, but unfortunately, I did not.  I think there were a lot of reasons, first among them that the characters felt more like caricatures.  None of them, not one of them, felt real to me in any way.  They were very overblown and exaggerated, and somewhat muddled, and almost always flat.  Some were fanatical lunatics that did more to make me roll my eyes than feel any fear of them.  Some were just dull as dishwater.  But the two that the book hinges on, Sasha and Jax, just didn't do it for me, plain and simple. Sasha is described (by Jax) as someone who is pure good, is never tempted, is made of bright shining light, etc., etc. just because of her lineage.  Well, I could really give a fig about perfect characters who are never tempted, ya know?  But I don't think Jax's description of Sasha is entirely accurate: she does seem to be a little tempted to me, and probably not quite so angelic. But what really held me back from liking her at all is this: she's forever a victim.  That's all I ever saw of her, and what actually caused me to put the book down.

It's because of this: If you have just been taken to an abandoned warehouse and been beaten by a group of people who call you an "Anabo" and threaten to do much worse things to you, AND THEN some guy shows up and freezes all the people who were stoning you, yes, you would be grateful for a minute. And probably freaked the fuck out. And maybe you'd be in shock, too, so I'll give you some leeway. When this strange person - who is beautiful, but also really scary looking - also calls you an "Anabo" I think your sensors would probably go up. So when he starts hitting on you and an entire group of scary looking men pop in, all eyes fixed on you, and the first guy claims you as his, well, do you trust him and look smittenly at him?  HELLS NO. 

You certainly do not calmly listen as he tells you the history of a convoluted mythology you've never heard, hits on you, claims you as his, etc., etc. with nary more than a doe-eyed huh.  If you don't either show some real fear there, or, you know, RUN LIKE HELL, I'm pretty much done with you at that point.  I don't need another Nora Grey in my life, one was enough. 

And then your memory is erased. Fine. And you move to a new town and go skiing with your psycho cousin, who abandons you on the slopes. 

And a strange, beautiful-but-scary guy shows up, and though you've met him, you don't remember that. (But you do remember being almost stoned to death, so you should be a little leery, yeah?) And this guy helps you down the mountain, which is nice. Then he offers you a drink from his flask, which, no. You don't know this guy, stop right there. But it's okay, he tells you, it's just spiced cider, and you drink it and feel a little funny, and say "Are you sure this is just cider?" to which he replies that it's maybe a little magic, and that you should "Drink up, and we'll have some fun on the way down."
O_O
You don't know this guy. He's offering you "magic" cider and saying you'll "have some fun" on the lonely mountain.
STRANGER DANGER, SASHA.
 [And yes, he actually is being honest, and doesn't intend to hurt you, but you don't know that.]  If you have no self-preservation instincts or common sense, I don't want to read about you anymore.  (This was the point at which I stopped, btw.)

* The other thing that got me was the mythology.  I don't want to get into all of it, and I'm not even sure I could, but the thing it all hinges on is something called the Mephisto Covenant.  You see, Jax is something called Mephisto, an order of all male brothers and relations who take people to the gates of Hell. They're essentially fallen angels or descendants of such.  Sasha is (apparently) an Anabo, descended from Eve's daughter and an angel (I guess). She's got a one-way ticket to Heaven.  The only way for a Mephisto to find peace is to find an Anabo, which is really really rare, and then mark her (yeah), and convince her to stay with him and breed more Mephisto, and sort of redeem him, I guess?  This is the Covenant.  Basically.  But Anabo are so rare, in fact, that it's pretty much finders-keepers.  If you're Mephisto and you  smell an Anabo, you find her, mark her as your territory and then stalk her convince her to love you, which she must eventually do, because you know, she's yours now.  Oh, but be careful not to have sex with her too soon, because then she's completely marked, and your evil brother Eryx may kidnap her and murder her in front of you.
It's a great life, being an Anabo, right?

So yeah.  This pretty much sums up the first 100 pages (plus some pledging your soul stuff, a deported mom and some stuff about a painting and OHMYGOD amounts of info-dumping. Oh, and religion. Lots of God, sort of.), and it just wasn't doing it for me.  I just couldn't.

Now, I'm sure some people could, and I'm sure some of you out there will absolutely love this.  I'm not even being facetious.  But it is not in me to like anything about this, and there are too many books out there, waiting to be read.
So DNF.

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Excerpt: Putting Makeup on Dead People

I've got a super quick excerpt for you today, the final day of Helluva Halloween. It's from (yet another) book that I really wanted to read this month, but had to cut: Jen Violi's Putting Makeup on Dead People.  The concept of the book intrigues me; an odd little contemporary number where a girl finds comfort after her father's death by going to work for a mortuary.
Anyway, though I couldn't read it this month, I definitely want to read it soon, and this short but compelling excerpt makes me want to read it even sooner...

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 

Lila Cordoza is dead and wearing my earrings. Not mine, exactly, but the same ones B's girlfriend, Gwen, got for me three months ago at Christmas. Silver zigzags with littler silver balls at the tips. I realize I was never this close to Lila when she was alive. We didn't have any classes together, and the only interaction I can remember is handing her toilet paper under the stall in the third-floor girls' bathroom, but even then we weren't face-to-face.

We don't usually start the school day at Brighton Brothers Funeral Home, and I can see the dazed look on my classmates' faces, some of them crying (Becky) and some fidgeting (Patty), like they'd rather be anywhere else but here. It's not normal for a seveteen-year-old to drop dead on the basketball court, and I'm pretty sure it's even less normal for me to feel so comfortable near her coffin and corpse.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 

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CLOSED Giveaway: Destined by P.C. & Kristin Cast

We've come to the final giveaway of Helluva Halloween, my lovelies.
Good luck!

(Please note, this is a late book in a series - if you haven't read the series, you may not want to enter this one!)

Destined by P. C. Cast & Kristin Cast
Fantasy/Paranormal, 325 pages
October 25th 2011 from St. Martin's Press

Zoey is finally home where she belongs, safe with her Guardian Warrior, Stark, by her side, and preparing to face off against Neferet -- which would be a whole lot easier if the High Council saw the ex-High Priestess for what she really is. Kalona has released his hold on Rephaim, and, through Nyx's gift of a human form, Rephaim and Stevie Rae are finally able to be together -- if he can truly walk the path of the Goddess and stay free of his father's shadow.

But there are new forces at work at the House of Night. An influx of humans, including Lenobia's handsome horse whisperer, threatens their precarious stability. And then there's the mysterious Aurox, a jaw-droppingly gorgeous teen boy who is actually more -- or possibly less -- than human. Only Neferet knows he was created to be her greatest weapon. But Zoey can sense the part of his soul that remains human, the compassion that wars with his Dark calling. And there's something strangely familiar about him . . .

Will Neferet's true nature be revealed before she succeeds at extinguishing Light? And will Zoey be able to touch Aurox's humanity in time to protect them all? Find out what's destined in the next thrilling chapter of the House of Night series.

To enter:
Leave a comment with the name of your favorite character from the HON series.  (No need to leave an email, just make sure you've filled out the HH form!)
US/CAN only
Ends Nov 5th

*As with all of the giveaways this year, your entry is only valid if you have filled out the master giveaway form. If you haven’t entered your information in the giveaway master form, please make sure you do. You only have to do this once, and are then free to enter any of the giveaways!

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Excerpt: Fat Vampire by Adam Rex

Fat Vampire: a Never Coming of Age Story was another book I had high hopes and good intentions of reading this Helluva Halloween.  Which was probably my downfall.  Anyway, I had to cut books, and this is one that got cut.  I'm sure I'll get around to it one of these days, especially now that I've read the following excerpt, chapter 1 of Fat Vampire.  It has a fun, quirky tone that has me intrigued...

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 

1.

The Fall

Doug came to, lying on his back in what felt and smelled like a field.  A gray, milky sky gaped over him. He took it in too quickly and fluttered his eyes.

Why was he on his back in a field?  What was wrong with his chest? This last thought came suddenly as he sensed something pressing down on him. He lifted his head, and for a kaleidoscopic moment glimpsed the wooden stake in his heart before his vision swam black and his head hit the dirt again.

"Oh yeah," he whispered. "Forgot."

"You keep passing out," said a voice. "You wake up, look at the stake, pass out again. But shouldn't you be dead? I thought a stake through the heart was supposed to kill you."

"It seems like a good . . ." wheezed Doug, "guess to me."

High above, a crooked line of birds perforated the lightening sky. It was very cold.

"I think . . . I think sometimes you think you're the hero of the story, and somethings you think you're the victim," said the voice. "But you're not either."

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 

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Guest Post: Origins of Halloween, from Amanda Kidd

The most bewitching and frightful night: Halloween

Different people call it by different names: Samhain, Snap Apple night, Lamswool, Witches Night, All Hallow’s Eve and summer’s End. Considered to be one of the world’s oldest holidays, its roots can be found in ancient Christian and pagan festivals. All over the western world, Halloween is celebrated in various forms. It delights both, children and adults and exists in an exciting array of dichotomies. This festival has evolved over time, with new elements being added to it from the cultures it came in contact with.

The origin
The origin for Halloween arguably lies in ancient Celtic (which included people from Ireland, Scotland, Cornwall, Isle of Man and Brittany) festivals. The elements of Halloween, such as lighting bonfires, trick or treating, costumes, community gatherings and the telling of ghost stories, can be traced back to the 2,000 year old Celtic festival of ‘Samhain’, meaning ‘summer’s end’. It marked the end of summer and beginning of a new year. Because of this transition, it was seen as a night of power and magic. Samhain was considered to be a sacred festival that marked the boundary between life and death.

The story
The Celts believed that the Lord of Death, Saman, would call all the dead souls to travel to the afterlife. Ancestral ghosts emerged from mounds and barrows, and were free to roam across earth, harming crops and causing trouble. Villagers would parade in a masquerade to drive the spirits towards the town. The Celts would also present food to Saman, the Death Lord and their weary ancestors travelling to the other world. Thus, the tradition of Halloween evolved from these rituals.

The legend of Jack O’Lantern
Between 1820 and 1870, the US saw a rush of Irish migrants. With them, came their beliefs and culture, which the Americans adopted willingly. These included house to house visits, masquerades and the famous Halloween symbol: the Jack O’Lantern. According to the Irish legends, Jack was a man who once captured the Devil in a tree. He put up a condition to the Devil before releasing him. He asked the Devil to promise him that he won’t be sent to Hell after he died. The Devil agreed and was set free. However, when Jack died, he was not allowed inside the Heaven’s gate because he was a sinful man. But he was also not sent to the Hell because of his pact with the devil. The devil then gave him a burning ember from the Hell’s fire which Jack placed inside a carrot or a turnip, and used it to navigate the dark places on Earth. The Irish, upon their arrival in America, found pumpkins in plentiful. They used the fruit to craft the Jack O’Lantern.

The contemporary scenario
Halloween today is the second biggest festival after Christmas in the western world. The popularity of the festival has seen many ups and downs in the modern era with commercialization and industrialization being major influences. For example, in the 1920s, candy manufacturers and businessmen cashed in on Halloween by advertising ‘the perfect Halloween party’. In 1939, ‘American Homes’ magazine became the first periodical in the country to use the term ‘Trick or Treat’ as a different property protection tactic. The phrase was coined after mischief in the US and reached an all time high during the festival, when youngsters would damage property.
Halloween has incorporated influences from the Catholic Church, religious and political groups over the time. However, the charm of the festival still remains unchanged. The festival continues to be the most awaited and the most bewitching night of the year.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

About the author: Amanda Kidd is a writer and blogger and who happens to be a fashion buff. Her lifestyle includes healthy ways to improve mental and physical sustainability. She is currently planning to write something different like home décor and design ideas.

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CLOSED Giveaway: The Mephisto Covenant by Trinity Faegen

As promised, I give to you:

The Mephisto Covenant by Trinity Faegen
Fantasy/Paranormal, 439 pages
September 27th 2011 from EgmontUSA

Sasha is desperate to find out who murdered her father. When getting the answer means pledging her soul to Eryx, she unlocks a secret that puts her in grave danger—Sasha is Anabo, a daughter of Eve, and Eryx’s biggest threat.

A son of Hell, immortal, and bound to Earth forever, Jax looks for redemption in the Mephisto Covenant—God’s promise he will find peace in the love of an Anabo. After a thousand years, he’s finally found the girl he’s been searching for: Sasha.

With the threat of Eryx looming, Jax has to keep Sasha safe and win her over. But can he? Will Sasha love him and give up her mortal life?

*** GIVEAWAY ***
One person will win a signed copy of The Mephisto Covenant. To enter:
Spread the word! Tweet or link my interview with Trinity Faegen, and leave the link in the comments to be entered.
US only
Ends Nov 5th

As with all of the giveaways this year, your entry is only valid if you have filled out the master giveaway form. If you haven’t entered your information in the giveaway master form, please make sure you do. You only have to do this once, and are then free to enter any of the giveaways!

Please do not leave your email or any other personal info in the comments!

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Hourglass by Myra McEntire

Hourglass by Myra McEntire
Fantasy, 400 pages
June 14th 2011 from Egmont USA

One hour to rewrite the past . . .

For seventeen-year-old Emerson Cole, life is about seeing what isn’t there: swooning Southern Belles; soldiers long forgotten; a haunting jazz trio that vanishes in an instant. Plagued by phantoms since her parents’ death, she just wants the apparitions to stop so she can be normal. She’s tried everything, but the visions keep coming back.

So when her well-meaning brother brings in a consultant from a secretive organization called the Hourglass, Emerson’s willing to try one last cure. But meeting Michael Weaver may not only change her future, it may change her past.

Who is this dark, mysterious, sympathetic guy, barely older than Emerson herself, who seems to believe every crazy word she says? Why does an electric charge seem to run through the room whenever he’s around? And why is he so insistent that he needs her help to prevent a death that never should have happened?

Full of atmosphere, mystery, and romance, Hourglass merges the very best of the paranormal and science-fiction genres in a seductive, remarkable young adult debut.

I'm not entirely sure what I want to say to you about this one.  It had its high and low points, as all books do, and in the end it left me feeling a little middle of the road.  I think a few years ago, I may have loved this, but now I feel so used to this story (even though I hadn't read it) that it didn't leave much of an impression.

Here's the thing: I find the ideas behind the book really interesting.  I like timeslip novels conceptually because I find the whole thing fascinating.  It's then down to whether or not the concept is carried off well, and in this case, it was.  As a time travel book, it worked for me and was interesting.  Yes, the "time gene" and all that was a little muddled.  I had my questions, assuredly.  But they didn't bother me too much, and I thought the different ways the "time gene" could manifest was very interesting.  So it wasn't the crux of the story that sort of threw me off.

Unfortunately, it was sort of the characters.  And here's where it gets tricky, and why I'm not sure what I want to say about the book.  I liked the characters themselves for the most part.  I liked Emerson, I thought she was fun and spunky.  I liked Michael, though he was maybe a little flat (I don't particularly care for flawless men. Strange, I know.)  I really liked Emerson's best friend, Lily, and am curious to see where her storyline goes.  I liked Emerson's brother and his wife, Michael's friends and colleagues.  I seemed to pretty much like them all. And yet...they didn't quite work for me.  I don't know how to explain it; it was partly that I never really felt too much of a connection with them, and it was partly that they were a little  one-dimensional, save those who turned out to be super-crazy.  (Like, no joke.  Cat-petting, mustache-twirling, hyena-cackling, Bond villain, bald-Brittany cray-cray.)  For whatever reason, I just never found myself completely invested in their stories, for the most part.  There were moments where I would just start to become attached, and then I would lose the thread.  They were never real to me.

Part of this, I think, was because of the insta-love storyline.  I have to hand it to McEntire, she certainly tried to make insta-love believable and gave it some legitimate scientific reasoning, which made me not loathe it the way I generally would.  (She gave it some good lustiness, too, which didn't hurt.)  But it remains one of my biggest pet peeves regardless, so I can't entirely let it slide.  And I think it was part of what made me disconnect from the characters.  As soon as you get into insta-love, can't live without you, saying I love you and meaning it fanatically in a matter of minutes hours days, I stop believing that you are in any way real.  Don't get me wrong, I know there are people out there who completely act like that, but I don't think they're real, either (I think they're crazy).  I am a jaded hardcore bitch cynic, so this whole immediate twoo wuv thing just cancels out a lot of my WSOD.    So, there, I guess.  That's a big part of my disconnect. (Coupled with the caricatures that developed at the end.)

So in the end, I guess it was a bit of a balancing act, trying to decide if the plot and the time-travel and the character-aspects I did like outweighed the things I didn't.  And it ended up a pretty balanced scale.  I don't see it as a book I will be pushing people to go out and read nao, but it won't be one I'll discourage people from reading, either.  It ended with an interesting basis for further books in the series, so I likely will read them, even if I won't rush to buy them.  The idea of time paradoxes and the multi-history lines, coupled with the consequences of changing the timeline provides fascinating potential, and the revelations of Emerson's past, and any revelations that I think may be to come, will likely keep me reading, even if the books don't end up on the top of my stack.


Check out my interview with Myra here.
And don't forget, you can enter to win a copy of this here (ends 11/5/11)

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Interview: Trinity Faegen, author of The Mephisto Covenant

You guys!  Helluva Halloween is almost over already!  Can you believe it?  We may be getting close to the end of the month, but I'm not done bringing the awesome.  On the docket for today: Trinity Faegen, author of The Mephisto Covenant.
Make sure you give her some love in the comments!


Welcome, Trinity!  Tell us a bit about your road to publication; also, what's been the most surprising thing so far, or the most exciting?

I was published in adult fiction in the mid-2000s with a series of comedic mysteries about a forensic accountant who finds the bad guys by following the money. The most exciting moment so far was winning RWA’s RITA award for Best First Book. They have a huge awards show, and I remember when they called my name to come up and accept the award, I had a delayed reaction. The woman sitting behind me tapped my shoulder and said, “Isn’t that you?” My picture and the book cover were up on the Jumbotron, and I sat there in complete la-la land, too blown away to believe it. An extremely close second most exciting moment was selling Mephisto. Writers talk about the book of their heart, and the Mephisto are that for me. I love these books, and the Mephisto brothers.

Where did the idea for the story come from? Do you work from a main character and build out to the story, or start with the world and idea, and then find the character who lives it?

Every project is different, but for Mephisto, I began with the world and the characters grew from there.

What is your favorite scene to have written (so far)?

I wanted the Mephisto brothers to be something of a paradox: Worldly, rough, dark and somewhat hedonistic, but also extremely naïve when it comes to girls. Because they’re unable to be with an ordinary human girl long enough to know much about her, they’re even more clueless about females than ordinary guys. The scene where Jax takes Sasha shopping for new clothes after hers were destroyed was one of my favorites. A rather long portion was cut in edits, but the scene was intense to write, very poignant.

If you could introduce one of your characters to any character from another book, who would it be and why?

I’d introduce Jax to Boo Radley from To Kill A Mockingbird. Boo is a gentle, loving soul who does the right thing, not for glory, but for love. He’s pure and innocent. Granted, it’s because he’s simple-minded, but he’s human, and Jax could see that not all of humanity is dark.

If you could have any super power, what would it be? Do you see any drawbacks to that power?

I’d have the ability to heal, which would be a blessing and a curse, I suppose, because death is necessary to sustain the Earth. How would I decide who to heal and who to let go?

Book-in-a-tweet: Give us your book in 140 characters or less.
A descendant of the daughter of Eve falls in love with a son of a dark angel, then discovers she alone can save him from Hell.

5 Song Playlist (for the book or a particular character, your choice):
I build playlists for every book I write. These are from the one I made for Ajax’s book.

1. Show Me What I’m Looking For – Carolina Liar
2. Bring Me To Life - Evanescence
3. Not Strong Enough - Apocalyptica
4. A Day In The Life - Beatles
5. Out In The Cold – Tom Petty

Thanks so much for stopping by, Trinity!
Have you guys read The Mephisto Covenant yet?  Want to?  Make sure you stop by tomorrow for a chance to win a signed copy!!

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Friday Face Off: Hex Hall series

Hex Hall is another one of the books that I wanted to cover for this year's Helluva Halloween, but just wasn't able.  In fact, I was hoping to cover both Hex Hall and sneak in Demon Glass, if I liked them enough.  Oh well, I'm sure I'll get to them sometime.  In the meantime, I thought we'd have a little face off with the US and UK versions of the first two books in the series.  (I would actually have liked to include the spanish and german versions as well, which each have interesting covers - but that was just a few too many choices...)
So, what do you guys think?  Personally, the UK versions remind me of movie posters for The Craft, and I love the split covers on the US version.  How about you?  Which would you reach for on the shelves?

Which one did it better?

Last Week on FFO: The UK and US versions of Jana Oliver's Hex Hall went head to head, with the US version coming out the clear winner.

Winnah --------->

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The Space Between by Brenna Yovanoff

The Space Between by Brenna Yovanoff
Fantasy/Paranormal, 352 pages
Expected publication: November 15th 2011 from Razorbill

Everything is made of steel, even the flowers. How can you love anything in a place like this?

Daphne is the half-demon, half-fallen angel daughter of Lucifer and Lilith. Life for her is an endless expanse of time, until her brother Obie is kidnapped - and Daphne realizes she may be partially responsible. Determined to find him, Daphne travels from her home in Pandemonium to the vast streets of Earth, where everything is colder and more terrifying. With the help of the human boy she believes was the last person to see her brother alive, Daphne glimpses into his dreams, discovering clues to Obie's whereabouts. As she delves deeper into her demonic powers, she must navigate the jealousies and alliances of the violent archangels who stand in her way. But she also discovers, unexpectedly, what it means to love and be human in a world where human is the hardest thing to be.

This second novel by rising star Brenna Yovanoff is a story of identity, discovery, and a troubled love between two people struggling to find their place both in our world and theirs.

Brenna Yovanoff is quickly becoming one of those authors whose books I will buy without even knowing what they are about.  In just two books (The Replacement and now The Space Between), she's convinced me of her skill and understanding and finesse as a writer and made me trust that, whatever she's writing about, I will want to read it.  I was a little fearful of the dreaded "sophomore slump" with The Space Between, and clearly there was no need for me to worry.

As she did with Mackie in The Replacement, Brenna captured Daphne's "otherness" in a really interesting, authentic way.  It was never over the top, but it was always clear that she was not quite human.  So many people write garbage where the MC is supposed to be Other, but is really only in name.  Daphne feels Other and seems Other, but still remains relatable.  But what's really interesting about her is that she is 'Other' from both sides - she refuses to be like her demon "sisters" but she certainly isn't human, either.  She processes things differently, reacts differently, is always enough of an odd duck to feel authentically demonic in origin, but as the story goes on, she sort of becomes more human.  She thaws out a bit, lets slip her demonic reserve and shows some passion.  More than relatable, she's likable.

Truman has a fair amount of Otherness about him, too, but it is in the very human, relatable way that we all sometimes feel like we don't belong or there's nowhere to turn.  What is most appealing about him is the struggle and the small sparks of hope that begin to come through.  I think what it comes down to is that Brenna understands show don't tell - or show AND tell - and she understands that the emotion and the core desires have to be real, both for the audience and the characters.  Daphne and Truman make such great main characters because the reader can see his/herself in both, and can feel for them and pull for a happy ending, no matter how unlikely it may seem.  For all of the characters, human and non alike, I loved the struggle, the almost-humanness, the sadness and the overall message of love, even from those who have no hope of it, or want it more than anything.  I said in my review of The Replacement that I don't really find the book itself scary, but that "It's more that it can be so unsettlingly real and human in the best and worst ways that it gets under your skin. And that can be scary."  I think this is true of The Space Between as well.

[Note, this is not to say that both books don't have their scary elements and scary moments.  Where The Replacement had The Lady and The Cutter - one of my all-time favorite villains - The Space Between has Azrael and Dark Dreadful.  There is definitely some scariness and twistedness, and it is delicious.]

I think once you've got a solid connection to the characters, everything else in a story can be nearly incidental.  There are plenty of times we read a story and love it purely for the characters, even though there is nothing out of the ordinary in the plot or worldbuilding.  Fortunately, Brenna doesn't slack when it comes to these things either.  Her Hell and its inhabitants were really interesting and visual.   I really liked the transition from Daphne's home in Hell to Truman's here on Earth, and the way the two came together.  The use of religion and history, and the mythology that Yovanoff builds is absolutely perfect for the story, fully realized and interesting.  And where some people do the whole gritty urban thing for shock value, Brenna's reads much more authentic and just a matter of course, in a sad way.  It's an extension of her characters and their minds, and it worked brilliantly from that aspect. There is an icy realness to her writing, and a heartbreaking truth, always.  Like she just reaches into the heart of things and lays them bare.  There's no cloying sentimentality, no pandering for emotion.  Her books are real and raw and lovingly executed, and that's why they always end up on my list of faves.

One thing, too, that was pleasantly surprising was the dual narration.  I am not always a fan of multi-narrators because I think the story can seem disjointed or muddled.  But getting both Daphne's and Truman's perspectives actually really worked and added dimension to the story.  And there's this ominous feeling that comes from the "countdown" on Truman's chapters - each of Truman's chapters is headed with X-amount of days/hours, but the reader never knows what the countdown is counting down to until it happens... It was like having a steadily ticking clock in the background that you know is about to erupt in an alarm, and you don't know what the alarm is for, or when it will go off.  It made it a bit unsettling and provided such wonderful tension.  I actually felt anxious; I was so terrified of what was going to happen and then when it did -- I said at the time that Brenna ripped my heart out, waited a few beats, and then put it back in.  I can't say any more than that, but man!  She had a tight fist on my emotions, I'll give her that.

So. If I haven't convinced you that you need to read this by now, I'm not sure what I can say that will convince you.
Oh, other than the fact that I'm giving away a copy... ;P

[If you're reading this after Nov. 5, 2011 - TOO LATE!]

[Thanks to Alexis for letting me borrow this!]


Oh, and um... I made a bookmark for this!  It has metal flowers! =D

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Book Chat: All Hallows Read

This week's Book Chat is the final one for Helluva Halloween.  It takes its inspiration from Neil Gaiman's All Hallows Read, which is a neat little initiative to give people scary books around Halloween (in addition to candy, not in place of; Neil was very clear on that...)
Anywho, this week we're talking about what 1 scary, creepy or supernatural book we would like to give to people on Halloween.

NEXT WEEK: Online booksellers vs. brick-and-mortar booksellers

We'd love to know your thoughts!

Link up your blog or vlog Book Chat below!

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CLOSED Giveaway: Relations That Suck & La Femme Fatale

I hinted in my interview with Marilyn Yu that there would be a chance to win copies of Relations That Suck & La Femme Fatale, and to prove I'm not a liar...

Relations that Suck: The Story of Eva and Dries by Marilyn Yu is a fable about friendship and destiny. Eva is a creative vampire who likes people and Dries is a traveling spider; their story portrays denial and guilt. Told through stunning photos.

and

La Femme Fatale by Marilyn Yu

Enjoy an intimate interaction with the beautiful and profound. Inspired by tarot and illuminated manuscripts, “La Femme Fatale” tells the mythic story of Eva the vampire encapsulated in a deck of cards. Intricate illustrations enliven the personal narrative of a struggle for self-determination. This contemporary heroine inspires compassion while the card format encourages introspection. “La Femme Fatale” is an art tool to catalyze the spirit.

***GIVEAWAY***
2 winners will receive a set of Marilyn Yu's books in the Eva Dries cycle (Relations That Suck & La Femme Fatale).  To enter:
Leave a comment on this post stating why you want to read these books, OR let me know which intrigues you more, the artbook or the tarot deck.
US only
Ends Nov 5th

As with all of the giveaways this year, your entry is only valid if you have filled out the master giveaway form. If you haven’t entered your information in the giveaway master form, please make sure you do. You only have to do this once, and are then free to enter any of the giveaways!

Please do not leave sensitive info in the comments (ie email address)! <--- I'm trying to protect your info, yo!

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Wishlist Wednesday: By These Ten Bones

By These Ten Bones by Clare B. Dunkle
Fantasy/Paranormal, 229 pages
February 15th 2011 by Square Fish

There’s hidden places all over this land-old, old places. Places with a chain for them to chain up the wolf when it’s time.

A mysterious young man has come to a small Highland town. His talent for wood carving soon wins the admiration of the weaver’s daughter, Maddie. Fascinated by the silent carver, she sets out to gain his trust, only to find herself drawn into a terrifying secret that threatens everything she loves.

There is an evil presence in the carver’s life that cannot be controlled, and Maddie watches her town fall under a shadow. One by one, people begin to die. Caught in the middle, Maddie must decide what matters most to her-and what price she is willing to pay to keep it.

Okay, I know it's wrong to judge a book by its cover, but what about the cover AND the title?  Because without even knowing what this was about, I knew it was one I would be picking up some day.  L-O-V-E this cover and the title is just perfect.  Add to that the fact that I like Clare B Dunkle's writing, and dingdingding we have a winner.  Wishlister for sure.
Any of you read this, or adding it to your wishlist?

What's on your wishlist this week?

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CLOSED Giveaway: The Space Between by Brenna Yovanoff

I think of all the many giveaways of this year's Helluva Halloween, this is the one I am most excited to share with you.  I loved this book bunches and bunches, and I can't wait to give someone else the chance to love it bunches and bunches, too.
[BTW, Brenna generously donated one of her copies for this giveaway, so make sure you stop by her interview and leave her some love!]

The Space Between by Brenna Yovanoff
Paranormal, 352 pages
Expected publication: November 15th 2011 from Razorbill

Everything is made of steel, even the flowers. How can you love anything in a place like this?

Daphne is the half-demon, half-fallen angel daughter of Lucifer and Lilith. Life for her is an endless expanse of time, until her brother Obie is kidnapped - and Daphne realizes she may be partially responsible. Determined to find him, Daphne travels from her home in Pandemonium to the vast streets of Earth, where everything is colder and more terrifying. With the help of the human boy she believes was the last person to see her brother alive, Daphne glimpses into his dreams, discovering clues to Obie's whereabouts. As she delves deeper into her demonic powers, she must navigate the jealousies and alliances of the violent archangels who stand in her way. But she also discovers, unexpectedly, what it means to love and be human in a world where human is the hardest thing to be.

This second novel by rising star Brenna Yovanoff is a story of identity, discovery, and a troubled love between two people struggling to find their place both in our world and theirs.

*** GIVEAWAY ***
To enter:
Leave a comment below stating why you want to read this book OR spread the word about the interview or giveaway, and share the link below.
US only
Ends Nov 5th

*As with all of the giveaways this year, your entry is only valid if you have filled out the master giveaway form. If you haven’t entered your information in the giveaway master form, please make sure you do. You only have to do this once, and are then free to enter any of the giveaways!

Please do not leave your email or sensitive info in the comments; those entries will be deleted.

Click here to be taken to the Helluva Halloween Main Page!

Interview with Brenna Yovanoff, author of The Space Between

For the last couple of months, I've been telling everyone who will listen about this fantastic book I've read called The Space Between.  For realsies, the love I had for Brenna Yovanoff's writing after reading last year's debut, The Replacement, was just cemented with her follow-up.  The Space Between is exactly what it should be and then some, and I can't wait to share my thoughts on it with you.
But I am going to.  Wait, that is, because first up, I have an interview with Brenna!
Enjoy!


Where did the idea for The Space Between come from, and how much did it change along the way?

I actually had the very first spark of an idea for The Space Between years ago. I was an English major in college and my school had a basic requirements class called Mythical and Biblical Backgrounds. All the reading was divided up by theme, rather than culture or time period, which I'd never seen before. One of the units was called "Journeys to the Underworld," and I started thinking about that—about where you would have to journey to fulfill your story-requirement if you already lived in the underworld, and that was pretty much the first inkling of Daphne.

As far as changes, well. Daphne's name was always Daphne and she was always the daughter of Lilith and the book always started in Hell. Other than that, pretty much everything else has changed a hundred times.

How much research was involved in writing The Space Between?

The short version: a lot. But most of it was stuff I didn't wind up using in the actual book. Looking back, it's kind of surprising how much research I do when I'm drafting, since I usually wind up giving my stories such an extensive overhaul that by the time they hit the shelves I'm only using about a tenth of what I learned. I think I just need to follow that well of information all the way to the bottom—to have that background—before I can safely proceed. Even if I wind up throwing most of it out in the process.

Follow up: During the research process, did you discover any interesting tidbits, religious or otherwise, that didn't make it into the book but that fascinated you?

Oh, about a billion! One of my favorite was a little piece of Lilith apocrypha which says that if pretty girls look at their reflections for too long, especially while combing their hair, that Lilith will appear beside them in the mirror and corrupt them.

Tell us a bit about the creation of the two worlds, Truman's  earthly world and more importantly, Daphne's not-so-earthly one, and how Truman and Daphne are reflections of those worlds.

I knew early on that I wanted the worlds to be in sharp contrast with each other. In The Space Between, Hell is depicted at this very clean, static place. It's glossy and mechanical, but kind of frozen, and all the self-indulgence and the debauchery is on a purely personal level—it doesn't leak out into the world. And then when Daphne goes to Earth, she finds this huge, chaotic mess of violence and dirt and people just doing whatever they feel like doing.

In a lot of ways, Daphne's a very orderly person. She doesn't necessarily have a lot of respect for the rules, but she's fairly logical and likes to weigh her options. In contrast, when we first meet Truman, he's just kind of flailing around trying to get a foothold. His world is a lot bigger than Daphne's and a lot more unpredictable, and when Daphne gets to Earth, she has to start facing some of the things he's been dealing with all his life.

If you could introduce one character from The Space Between to one character from The Replacement, who would you choose and how would they react to each other?

Hmm . . . honestly, I'd enjoy putting Moloch in front of just about anyone—maybe the Lady. I think he'd go out of his way to be entirely rude and naturally, she'd be scandalized.

Any hints of what you're working on now?

Right now, I'm working on a book about ghosts, serial killers, and a heaping dollop of guilt. It's tentatively called Paper Valentine and should be out at the beginning of 2013.

Silly Random Quickfire:

In The Space Between, all demons have a protective mechanism in their blood that reacts in unpredictable ways when spilled on Earth: if you were a demon, what would you want your blood to do?
This is going to sound weird, but I think that if I had demon blood, I would bleed geysers of water—I mean, like a fire hydrant. I don't know why, but I dislike water so much that I just can't see it any other way.


Your personal sin from the Seven Deadlies?
I'd say either Pride or Sloth. I am not only scandalously lazy, but I can also be stubborn to the point of irrationality.

If you could have one supernatural ability, what would it be?
Some kind of prophecy, I think. Maybe reading tea leaves or weather patterns. Or scrying in a bowl of ink?

Any foreseeable drawbacks to that ability?
Prophecy always has drawbacks—pretty much every story about seeing the future ends in some kind of tragedy.

Cupcakes or french fries?
French fries! (I don't have much of a sweet tooth, but I am a salt fanatic.)

The Space Between Playlist:
Daphne's Song: Laughing With by Regina Spektor
Truman's Song: Smile Like You Mean It by The Killers
Moloch's Song: He has one, but I can't tell you what it is here, because it is way, way too rude and we're in polite company and I want people to keep thinking I'm a nice girl. At least a little?
Tease. How about Beelzebub's Song: Dropping Like Flies by Firewater
Azrael's Song: Sweet Dreams, as performed by Marilyn Manson

Thanks for having me, Misty!

Any time, Brenna!  Happy to have you.  =)
For all of you reading this, make sure to keep checking back.  Not only am I going to share my gushing, somewhat fangirly review of The Space Between with you, but Brenna has also offered up a copy for one of you lucky lovelies!  Trust me, you don't want to miss the chance to own this fab book for yourself.

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