12/26/2007

The Sweet Far Thing





The Sweet Far Thing is the third in Libba Bray's trilogy, which, as the back cover informs me, is called the Gemma Doyle Trilogy.*

And it's really, really good. It gave me shivers. And it made me cry. No, really. Libba Bray, you made me cry. I shall never forgive you.**

Now, if you haven't read the first two books (A Great and Terrible Beauty and Rebel Angels) I suggest that instead of reading the rest of this post, which will likely contain spoilers for both of those books, you instead go and read the books themselves. You will like them, I promise.***

Gemma Doyle, at the end of Rebel Angels, bound the magic of the realms to herself, promising to share it with the tribes. Now, she must contend with the creatures of the Winterlands, the plotting of the Order and the Rakshana, the discontent of those who live in the Realms, and her feelings for a certain extremely hot Indian guy.****
Gemma must figure out who to trust and what to do, all while keeping up the pretense of a nomal, stifled, Victorian-schoolgirl life.

She does, of course, have friends to help her along-- sort of. Felicity is as scathing and power-hungry as always, and Ann wilts, if possible, even more than before-- though she does have breif moments of confidence and even triumph. Pippa is... not really Pippa anymore, though you'll have to read the book to find out what happens on that front. Kartik, is a friend, perhaps more than a friend, but again, you'll have to read the book. Libba Bray has said that there is Kartik/Gemma action, and there most definitley is.*****

The Sweet Far Thing is beautifully written, and, though it is over 800 pages long, manages not to drag on in the least. The ending, is, I thing, fitting-- but don't worry, I won't tell you what it is.

I award The Sweet Far Thing with four and one-half daggers.




*A name which, in my opinion, is entirly unfitting for the trilogy. The Gemma Doyle Trilogy? Yawn. Unfortunately, no one consulted me when they made this decision, so what can I do?

**The chances that she will ever read this are, of course, exceedingly slim. Ah, well. Such is life.

***And if you don't, YOU SHALL FEEL THE WRATH OF MY SPORK OF DOOM!!!

****Need I say it? MINE.

*****Insert evil cackle here.

Cackling, shivering, wishing Kartik were real, and yours,


PS This is the best YA cover of 2007, in my opinion. Possibly the best title. What do you think?

12/21/2007

Happiness!


Guess what came in the mail today?


No, none of us won the contest. I entered, though, and Cassandra Clare* emailed me... to ask whether the Evil Cousins wanted an ARC!

After I finished squee-ing** I said that we most certainly did.

And here it sits, right next to me. Jealous?***

She even signed it for us:


I die of happiness.

*Who is definitely my hero. Right now, anyway. Well, her and Buffy.

** And jumping up and down, and fainting.

*** Insert maniacal laughter here.

Fainting, squee-ing, reading City of Ashes, and yours,

PS A review is, of course, forthcoming.

12/18/2007

In the Name of Awesome

The Dark Lord commands thee: go read Maelstrom! It's teenagers... blogging about books... because books are awesome. It gives me some hope that the land of Teenageria shall one day come out of this dark age and embrace the wonderfulosity of reading!

For now, we few shall march bravely on.

Dark-Lord-obeying, on-marching, and yours,

12/10/2007

Harry Potter Fun!!!

Oh, hey, look! A poll!! You should take it!!

Is your answer 'other'? Post it in the comments here! Aislinn wants to know.

12/08/2007

Valiant

Valiant, Holly Black's second book of the "modern faerie tale" variety, tells the story of a girl named Val, who is thrust into a cruel situation that leads to her running away from home. She shaves her head and goes to New York City. It is there that she meets a group of eccentric street kids. All is not as it appears, however, and soon Val finds herself in the midst of a twisted world in which her new friends are strung out on faerie medicine, which allows them to use glamour*. But that's just the beginning. There's also a sword of glass, an awesome troll, some romance, and--of course--a bad guy.

Holly Black weaves the world of the fey and human with a strange and beautiful ferocity that is unique and wonderful. She combines an unflinchingly honest view of today's world with the magic of the faerie courts. When I began reading Black's "modern faerie tales", I had a bit of trouble getting into them. Make no mistake, they're very well written....I was just so unused to seeing the fey in a (modern) world so harsh. If you--like me--tend to enjoy reading romanticised faerie stories (You know what I'm talking about. Those ones. They usually involve many awesome ball gowns...or are set in Ireland...etc.), give the books a chance. They're well worth it.

I award Valiant four and a half out of five daggers.




Child of Faerie, Child of Earth...