Belladonna

Belladonna
by Adalyn Grace
Rating: ★★★
isbn: 9781529367225
Publication Date: August 30, 2022
Pages: 408
Genre: Fiction, Young Adult
Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton

Orphaned as a baby, nineteen-year-old Signa has been raised by a string of guardians, each more interested in her wealth than her wellbeing – and each has met an untimely end. Her remaining relatives are the elusive Hawthornes, an eccentric family living at Thorn Grove, an estate both glittering and gloomy.

Its patriarch mourns his late wife through wild parties, while his son grapples for control of the family’s waning reputation and his daughter suffers from a mysterious illness. But when their mother’s restless spirit appears claiming she was poisoned, Signa realizes that the family she depends on could be in grave danger, and enlists the help of a surly stable boy to hunt down the killer.

Signa’s best chance of uncovering the murderer, though, is an alliance with Death himself, a fascinating, dangerous shadow who has never been far from her side. Though he’s made her life a living hell, Death shows Signa that their growing connection may be more powerful – and more irresistible – than she ever dared imagine.

A reluctant 3 stars. I bought this because I got sucked in by a pretty cover, and all the elements were there to make an interesting story: murders, poison, Death as a character, ghosts, and while it was technically written well enough to merit three stars, I didn’t find much to like about it. Some YA is written so well that it’s ageless, but this isn’t one of those YA’s. There’s a complete lack of sophistication to the writing, and the story should have been edited into a much tighter structure. The mystery was good though – the author totally plotted murder and attempted murder without me having a clue.

The reason I wouldn’t recommend this book though, is I personally found the MC ridiculous. Yes, she had a very difficult life, being shuffled from one guardian to another, all of whom were only interested in her money and treated her terribly. Yes, she’s lonely. Neither is an excuse for her childish behaviour or her lack of self. 75% of the book is all about her wanting to look pretty and act pretty and attract a husband so that she can join society – because then they’ll have to like her. She’s 19, she has the powers of Death himself, and she’s an idiot. She has her great awakening in the last 25% of the book, where she suddenly decides to hell with conventions and to just be herself, which was both entirely too late coming, and entirely too unbelievable.

A very average book with a weak MC. All in all, a waste of a gorgeous cover.

Havenfall (Havenfall, #1)

Havenfall
by Sara Holland
Rating: ★★★½
isbn: 9781526621962
Series: Havenfall #1
Publication Date: March 3, 2020
Pages: 304
Genre: Fantasy, Young Adult
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

Proof that I can’t resist a free book?

One of the schools I work at is near a small independent bookstore they try to do business with whenever possible. Last week I went into the staffroom – something I try to generally avoid at all costs – and there were boxes of books on all the tables that said “free”. Seems the local bookshop was cleaning house and these were all the advanced reader copies that had been accumulating in their back room. I grabbed one on Elizabeth von Arnim, and because it’s been sooo long since I’ve gotten any new books, I lingered and pawed through them all and finally thought ‘what the hell?’ and grabbed this one. YA Fantasy is usually more miss than hit with me, but did I mention how long it’s been since I’ve had a new book?

I have to say, it wasn’t bad. It wasn’t amazing but it held my attention nicely after a rather weak and tedious start. The second half of the book really morphed into something worth reading and I give points to Holland for sneakily weaving an Important Societal Lesson into the story about the power of perceptions and propaganda to alter history.

It wasn’t so good that I’m curious about what comes next, but it was good enough that should I stumble across the second book I’d probably pick it up.

Roommates

Roommates
by Emily Chase
Rating: ★★★★
isbn: 0590328433
Series: The Girls of Canby Hall #1
Publication Date: March 28, 1983
Pages: 220
Genre: Young Adult
Publisher: Scholastic Books

I saw a mention of this title somewhere on the ‘net last year, and it was like a lightbulb going off in my memory. This was the book that inspired by adolescent desire to go to boarding school (unfulfilled, which is probably just as well, as I doubt the reality would have equalled the fantasy). I immediately tracked down a copy for nostalgia’s sake, and the forgot about it until it showed up in my mail several months later.

I really expected it not to hold up to time, but I have to say, I’m impressed and how well it did. There were some incredibly frivolous moments, but there were some weightier ones as well, including racial stereotypes and running away. Not up to today’s standards, but respectable for the early 80’s, I suppose. Either way, I enjoyed it for the quick, easy read it was and still is. I still want to go to boarding school. And summer camp.

End of Days (Penryn and the End of Days, #3) – re-read

End of Days
by Susan Ee
Rating: ★★★½
isbn: 1444778552
Series: Penryn End of Days #3
Publication Date: May 26, 2015
Pages: 336
Genre: Fantasy
Publisher: Hodder Paperback

Ok, so book 3 re-read and I still don’t care for dystopian/post-apocolyptic settings.

My second read brings this book down to a 3.5, but I have to say, that on the second read, I was better able to appreciate the parallels to the stories of Lucifer’s original battle and descent/fall. I was also better able to empathise with the tragedy and sacrifice of Baliel. So, while I got more out of it the second time around, I also found the science fiction elements even more grating, and I was totally dissatisfied with the ending. Yes, it’s an HEA, but it’s still lacking, with questions left unanswered, and that annoys me more than it did the first time, obviously.

I remain satisfied with the trilogy; it didn’t wow me, but I feel like I got what I paid for, more or less. Perhaps someday my nieces will enjoy reading it.

World After (Penryn and the End of Days, #2) – re-read

World After
by Susan Ee
Rating: ★★★
isbn: 1477867287
Series: Penryn End of Days #2
Publication Date: January 1, 2013
Pages: 438
Genre: Fantasy, Young Adult
Publisher: Skyscape

I hadn’t planned on re-reading all three of the Penryn books, but I should have known better; I’ve never been able to just re-read one book in a series without wanting to re-read them all.

This one stands up exactly as well as it did the first time around. It’s good, but not awesome, and of course, the whole science fiction angle doesn’t score points with me, as it’s just not my jam. Still, the angel mythology remains compelling.

Angelfall (Penryn and the End of Days, #1) – Re-read

Angelfall
by Susan Ee
Rating: ★★★½
isbn: 0761463275
Series: Penryn End of Days #1
Publication Date: January 1, 2012
Pages: 284
Genre: Fantasy, Young Adult
Publisher: Skyscape

This is a re-read for me; I was going through my archives, trying to update this blog and my presence on the new site, bookhype.com, when I came across is and just felt like I needed to re-read it.

It held up well, though my original rating was 4 stars, and on the re-read it gets 3.5. I’m not sure why, except that on the second read, I found parts tedious. But it remains a compelling read. I still didn’t really connect with Penryn as a character, but Raffe became more compelling.

The same elements of it disturbed me that disturbed me the first time around; I don’t think I’d really like to see the imaginings of Susan Ee too up close and personal, but the story remains, to a degree, haunting.

Anne of Green Gables

Anne of Green Gables
by L.M. Montgomery
Rating: ★★★½
isbn: 99582643
Series: Anne of Green Gables #1
Publication Date: September 1, 2013
Pages: 468
Genre: Children's Fiction

Yes, this is my first time reading it. I was book shopping back in January with my 9 year old niece and she was pressuring me to read Little Women, which isn’t going to happen, and in a panic, I volunteered to read Anne of Green Gables instead.

Keeping in mind that I’m 40 years beyond the target audience for this book, omg, it’s so twee. 468 pages and about 368 of them so twee and precious I almost gave up and dnf’d it. Suffice it to say, I identified most strongly with Marilla. But if I skimmed the gratuitous expository narrative, there was a charming story that kept me going (after a 3 month hiatus). And as Anne grew up, the story got progressively easier to read. That part of the story earned it the extra half star.

The reasons this book is a classic are clear, though I’m confident I wouldn’t have been much more enamoured of this book when I was in its target audience; even as a child I lacked the requisite imagination to feel like Anne was a kindred spirit, and Heidi pretty much killed the orphan sub-genre for me anyway. But I have one niece for whom this book might be a perfect fit, and I’ll be holding in on my shelf for her next visit, assuming that happens before she’s old enough to drive, given current border closures. Or maybe I’ll just send it to her in the post.

End of Days (Penryn and the End of Days, #3)

End of Days
by Susan Ee
Rating: ★★★★
isbn: 1444778552
Series: Penryn End of Days #3
Publication Date: May 26, 2015
Pages: 336
Genre: Fantasy
Publisher: Hodder Paperback

I don’t actually care for dystopian/post-apocolyptic settings and this trilogy reminded me of that and ultimately reinforced my belief that my tastes haven’t changed over time. If my tastes had changed, or if I’d always been a fan, I’d have probably stuck with my original instinct to rate this more of a 3/3.5. As it is, I’m compensating for taste.

I enjoyed Angelfall, although it started to fall apart for me at the end when the science fiction angle started to show itself. In spite of the dystopian/P.A. theme, I could totally get on board with Penryn and Raphael and their search for his wings and her family. But from book 2, things just got too weird for me; the experiments, the creations, the politics. I was committed to continuing though because I cared about the characters.

So while quite a few others I know are disappointed by End of Days it pretty much met my expectations – I continued to be bored by the science fiction/frankensteinian aspects and was really just in it for the HEA it seemed was inevitable; I mean what else was the author going to realistically do that wouldn’t get her lynched by a teen mob? I also enjoyed the scenes in the pit (perhaps ‘enjoyed’ isn’t the right word; I liked meeting the Watchers and seeing Baliel before his corruption was complete).

I’m satisfied with the trilogy; it didn’t wow me, but I feel like I got what I paid for, more or less.

World After (Penryn and the End of Days, #2)

I couldn’t wait for the paperback; I had to see what was going to happen next. iBooks wasn’t selling it and I gave in to weakness and bought it from Amazon. Ultimately, I should have just waited and bought it in paperback.

If you haven’t read Angelfall and you think you might want to, beware there might be spoilers here for you

World After, for much of the first half of the book, was just too Science Fiction for my taste. All those scorpion/locust chimera’s and Angels performing science experiments. Not for me. The whole thing just felt too contrived. While Angelfall didn’t feel like a book written with the YA demographic specifically in mind, World After did. It was still a good read; I just felt like some of the suspension of disbelief needed in this book would be easier for someone closer to that age group.

View Spoiler »

I really liked the way the author used Raffe’s sword to share with Penryn and the reader Raffe’s POV and some of his long backstory. Also, the sword’s way of using those memories as training exercises for Penryn – not that she ever used the lessons as far as I could tell. Once past the halfway-ish mark, the story started pulling me in again. It’s no coincidence that it’s also about the same time Raffe makes his re-appearance in Penryn’s life. The two of them together are a more intriguing story to me than they are apart.

There’s a soupçon of humour in this book that was all but missing in the first one. I’m still shaking my head over “Pooky Bear” but can totally appreciate the naturalness of how the name came about. Put me in the same scene in place of Penryn, and I’d have responded in much the same way to Dee/Dum. Though I’d have probably said “Twinkle Toes” or something equally obnoxious.

Generally, enjoyable.

Angelfall (Penryn and the End of Days, #1)

Angelfall
by Susan Ee
Rating: ★★★★
isbn: 0761463275
Series: Penryn End of Days #1
Publication Date: January 1, 2012
Pages: 284
Genre: Fantasy, Young Adult
Publisher: Skyscape

I think this is a 4 star read. I reserve the right to change my rating after the story has settled in a bit. It’s certainly one that will stay with me for awhile.

I find Angel mythologies fascinating. Paradoxically, I rarely read fiction involving Angels, because I’m rather picky. Most fiction I’ve run across involving angels portray them as pure, pull of love. Automatons, or more kindly, one-dimensional and without free-will. Being raised in a rather old-school but highly academic Catholic environment (firmly team Evolution here) I grew up hearing my mother tell of the battles the Angels raged, and how ultimately, one angel built his army and chose to stand against God. Angelfall indeed.

I hadn’t even heard of Angelfall until I started seeing all the reviews on Booklikes talking about what an excellent story it told. I read the synopsis and thought ‘Oh, this sounds good, but wait – Post-Apacolyptic? No, thanks, not a fan’. But still the reviews came and I got intrigued.

I’ll say this: the story sucked me in well and truly. So many elements of it disturbed me, especially towards the end, obviously. I prefer not to be disturbed, generally speaking. I also felt like the ending veered rather sharply away from UF and stuck it’s toe into Science Fiction, which I’m also not a fan of. But sucked in and firmly hooked I was. To the point of cranky snappishness whenever I was forced to stop reading for mundane things, like, say, eating.

I’ll not cover old, worn out ground by providing a synopsis. I’m not going to gush about the characters either since I feel oddly ambivalent about most all of them except Josiah. And, I guess, Raffe. Ee wrote a tragic character there, but one I found myself invested in.

Again, I think I’ll have to let the story sit with me for awhile. The ending just got a little too weird for me. I’ll definitely be reading the next one though. Well and truly hooked.