Wicked Lovely

Title: Wicked Lovely
Author: Melissa Marr
Genre: YA Urban Fantasy
Rating: 5 stars out of 5

Aislinn sees faeries. She has always been able to see them - and she's always kept this fact a secret, especially from the faeries. But now two of them are stalking her - and one is the Summer King! Suddenly Aislinn's rules for keeping safe from the faeries are failing her, and she wants out. Keenan, the Summer King, is not about to let that happen.

I loved this book! It had me reading until I was too tired to keep my eyes open, then as soon as I woke up again I was back reading the book. It is phenomenal. Goodness. I'm trying to write an actual review here, and not just gush, but it is very hard to do.

Part of what kept me reading was the conflict not only over Aislinn's life - mortal? Summer girl? Winter girl? Summer Queen? - but over her love life as well. I loved Seth, as we as readers are supposed to (after all, we see him through Aislinn's eyes) and wanted to see Aislinn end up with him, but I felt for Keenan as well. The boy (can you really call him a boy if he is hundreds of years old? Yes.) deserved someone to love him and be with him, too. And poor Donia!

I will agree with many of the reviews which peg the Winter Queen as a little too campy. She was over the top, yes. BUT. Faeries are not exactly creatures of half-measures. So, yes, the Winter Queen was your typical "evil" villain, but for a reason. She had a desire - to stay Winter Queen - and her own nature would not let her slide even the slightest bit in pursuit of that goal, even though it meant (figuratively) sacrificing her child, her lover, etc.

One of the things I definitely appreciate is the ending ringing true - no "happily ever after" extreme, but no "things went to hell after that and nothing could bring it back" extreme, either.

Wicked Lovely is a beautiful book, perfect for lovers of YA fantasy, of urban fantasy, or even simply YA lit. It has inspired me not only to write again (not waiting for NaNoWriMo), but to explore the realm of urban fantasy. Can you imagine a shopping mall-sized faerie-owned nightclub? Yeah, me too.

Dragonfly in Amber

Title: Dragonfly in Amber
Author: Diana Gabaldon
Genre: Historical, Historical romance, Time-travel
Rating: 5 stars out of 5

Dragonfly in Amber is the second book in Diana Gabaldon's phenomenal "Outlander" series. At the end of Outlander, we left Claire and Jamie Fraser in an abbey in France, exiled from Scotland. At the opening of Dragonfly in Amber, we find Claire back in the highlands in 1968, investigating the fates of Jamie's men at the battle of Culloden - with her red-haired daughter Brianna: Jamie's daughter.

As the search for Jamie's men, and then Jamie himself, unfolds, Claire finds herself revealing to Brianna and their friend Roger her history with Jamie in the past - and we learn the other half of her and Jamie's adventure as they attempt to prevent the carnage they know is coming in the Jacobite rising and its culmination at Culloden.

As with Outlander, I have nothing but praise for Dragonfly. Although I did not race through Dragonfly as quickly as I did Outlander (this time it took me roughly a month to read Dragonfly's 950 pages as opposed to the week it took me to fly through Outlander's 860 pages), I still loved it. Every time I picked the book up, I could not put it down without having read at least 100 pages, if not more.

Dragonfly in Amber had me in turns gasping, laughing, and (at the end) crying. Sometimes I did all three at once. Even though I knew the battle was an inevitability - and we, as readers know this from Claire's search in Inverness from the beginning of the novel - I found myself hoping ad praying that Claire and Jamie could somehow prevent the disaster. Having been to Culloden battlefield myself, I cried at Gabaldon's description of battles and the uselessness I knew Jamie and Claire's self-appointed mission to be.

In fact, I immediately picked up the third book, Voyager, and am already 450 pages into it. Gabaldon delivers a powerful narrative, drawing the reader fully into her world: you cry with Claire, scream with rage for Jamie, and end on a hopeful note with Claire and Brianna, searching for the man whose love for them endures through the ages.

Outlander

Title: Cross Stitch (UK Title) / Outlander
Author: Diana Gabaldon
Genre: Historical fiction/Historical romance
Rating: Can I give this 6 stars out of 5? No? Well then a very high 5 stars!

When wartime nurse Claire Randall goes on vacation in 1945 with her husband Frank to the Scottish highlands, she never dreams that she might walk through a stone circle and end up in the middle of a skirmish between English Redcoats and Scottish highlanders in 1743. Now, stranded and friendless, Claire must find her way amongst these people, fighting suspicion from both the Scotsmen who give her sanctuary and the English they hate, with but one true ally - a passionate and sincere young Scots outlaw named James Fraser.

What I can say about Outlander? I finished this last night and immediately made a post in my livejournal with lots of fangirlish squeeing going on. I'm trying very hard not to repeat that here, so I can make an intelligent review. To summarize it, though: Diana Gabaldon is amazing at her character building. I completely fell in love with Jamie, who is a very three-dimensional character, not just some generic Scottish highland romance hero. I was with Claire every step of her journey through time and the Highlands - including being PO'd at Jamie when she was. I hated the antagonist with every ounce of feeling I could muster, and loved Jamie's sister Jenny entirely.

Not only is Gabaldon a master at building characters, she presents Claire's fantastical story in such a way as to be entirely believable. I almost believe that if I were to go back to Inverness and Culloden, I would be able to find a circle of stones which could take me back to the Jacobite uprising - not that I would really want to find myself in that mess. I completely believed Claire's encounter with Nessie, and loved all the little historical details Gabaldon added to the book.

I cannot wait to race through the next 5 books in this series, and then on to the Lord John series (which is a companion series to Outlander - it takes place during the same time period, but with entirely different characters). Then I'll probably go back and re-read them again to catch all the details I missed the first time around. The book is some 850 pages long, and having gone through it in a week I know I missed a good deal of detail. I keep having to ask my mother (who introduced me to the series) about some bit or another, and have to refrain from begging her to tell me what happens later in the series!

Into Thin Air

Title: Into Thin Air
Author: Cindy Miles
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Rating: 5 stars out of 5

Gawan of Conwyck is an honest-to-goodness Guardian Angel. As an Earthbound Angel, he lives basically as a mortal, but with some perks: he can read minds, see ghosts, and influence people's actions (kind of like a Jedi). His responsibility: make sure any and all of his Charges are safe. The catch: neither he nor his charges remember each other when the saving is accomplished.

Ellie appear one day, in need of Gawan's help. She's mostly dead - nigh unto becoming a ghost herself, with her body lost and dying - and needs Gawan to find her body and keep her alive - all before his retirement in less than a month, upon which he becomes mortal and is no longer a Guardian Angel. In the course of Gawan helping Ellie, they fall hopelessly and deeply in love - which of course stands to reason, given that they are each others' Beloved Intended: they are Soul Mates.

This book was insanely cute! I was laughing the entire time, and completely rooting for Gawan and Ellie. I didn't know whether I wanted Gawan to save Ellie or not - should he keep his vow as an Angel and a knight, or selfishly stay with his Intended for eternity? In the end though, if all turns out right, as you know it will in a romance novel - that's why we read them, no?

Miles references characters and events from her first book, Spirited Away, in this story, so it helps to have read it first - but it's by no means necessary! On a personal note, one thing I have noticed: although I'm irrationally terrified of ghosts, I seem to love paranormal romances involving them. Interesting, no?

The Wednesday Sisters

Title: The Wednesday Sisters
Author: Meg Waite Clayton
Genre: Literary Fiction
Source: LibraryThing Early Reviewers
Rating: 5 stars out of 5

Five women - Frankie, Kath, Linda, Brett, and Ally - meet in their neighborhood park starting in the late 1960s. Together they write, read each others' writing, and weather all that life has in store for them.

Author Meg Waite Clayton hit the nail on the head with this one! I know I'm not saying much, but that's because I'm trying not to squee, which I know is not conducive to reviews. What can I say about The Wednesday Sisters without squeeing? The Wednesday Sisters really touched something in me - both their experiences writing and their experiences outside of writing. I had never really thought about what life was like for women just older than my mother, who was in junior high at the time of this novel. I knew that women have made strides forward in the last forty years, but I had no idea just how large those strides have been - imagine not being allowed in the New York Marathon simply because of your plumbing!

As an aspiring writer myself, this book is a treasure. It reminds me that writing is not just making one draft, and that even if you get sixty-two rejections, send it out again; number sixty-three could be an acceptance. That I don't have to write a great first draft, or even second draft - that's what revision and editing is for. That even though I'm just me, I can and should write and aspire to be published.

The Wednesday Sisters is a gem. I highly recommend it to all women, to aspiring writers, and to friends, or anyone with friends. So, everyone, basically. In fact, I've already asked my mother to read it, and believe that her book club will love this book.

Looking for God in Harry Potter

Title: Looking for God in Harry Potter
Author: John Granger
Source: Border's
Rating: 5 stars out of 5

This book is one of my favorite pieces of meta. I'm a Christian attending/working at a Christian college, and a huge fan of the Harry Potter series. This book is interesting to read there - it's certainly a conversation starter.

Granger (no relation to the character by the same name) goes in depth looking at the Christian imagery and heritage of the Harry Potter books. The topics he writes on range from the imagery of alchemy to the choices one makes affecting one's life and one's walk with God. Granger's theology is sound, based directly on the Bible, and not necessarily on any one denomination or theologian.

Beka Cooper: Terrier

Title: Beka Cooper: Terrier
Author: Tamora Pierce
Source: Border's
Rating: 5 stars out of 5

Beka Cooper: Terrier marks Tamora Pierce's venture into the history of Tortall, and her first book written from a first-person point of view. Terrier is written as Cooper's diary (though there are entries from the journals of several other characters, Cooper's journal makes up the vast majority of the book).

Cooper is a puppy - a trainee ofthe Provost's guard - in the Lower City at a time when people are disappearing without a trace, the King of the Thieves is lazy and has stopped really doing his duties, and children are disappearing - including the grandchild of the most powerful (and corrupt) landlord ofthe Lower City. Beka, through her ability to hear the ghosts that pigeons carry, becomes involved in the disappearances, and through her friends reports to us the intrigues in the Court of the Rogue.

This is a great start to a new series of Tortall, and I cannot wait to read the next book, to see what happens to this ancestor of the Rogue cum Spymaster, George Cooper.