Quirk Review: Ditched: A Love Story by Robin Mellom

From Goodreads:

High school senior Justina Griffith was never the girl who dreamed of going to prom. Designer dresses and strappy heels? Not her thing. 

So she never expected her best friend, Ian Clark, to ask her. Ian, who promised her the most amazing night at prom. 

And then ditched her.

PREFACE:

I'd seen people online mention a funny book called Ditched, the debut YA novel by author Robin Mellom. It being contemporary (you know me) I didn't wonder about it much. At some point I began following Mellom on Twitter and clicked a link that took me to an excerpt of the book (read the Prologue and Chapter 1 for yourself HERE). So what did I think?

The title of the book may be Ditched, but after reading the preview, I was hooked.

WRITING:

The first thing that grabs you about Ditched is the humor. I loved how Mellom wrote this. Justina, the protagonist, has such a clear voice and quirky personality and that made things feel both honest and enjoyable. Everything about the writing from the word choice to the tone to the structure was pitch perfect. I giggled and chuckled all over the place. Even the chapter titles were humorous.

A unique thing about this book is that it switched back and forth from the present - Justina at a 7-Eleven - to flashbacks of her prom night the evening before. Usually flashbacks are not that great, but the back and forth was fun. Justina recalling her disastrous evening had its own humor while her flashbacks felt like you were getting the clues to a (funny) mystery. Coupled with the great writing, this made the book not only easy to read, but also fun. I was caught up in Justina's tale of a prom gone so-very wrong and loving every minute of it.

SETTING:

While this story does have a traditional setting, it didn't really play so much a part of the story other than as acting as the backdrop to the crazy events of Justina's prom. But the feeling the setting exudes overall is a familiar one. Ever see the movie Pretty in Pink? What about Sixteen Candles? This book has the atmosphere that those movies did, and its a good thing. It makes the book comfortable but not cheesy.

The town and the locations the visited or mentioned are somewhat referential to the characters. For instance, Justina's prom takes place a fancy hotel, then later, she goes to two different parties at two much-less-fancy hotels. The neighborhoods go from the rich kind to the not-so-rich kind. There is a fast food joint, a novelty shop, and a convenience store. There is also the rival high school, which is noted for being less classy than the one Justina attends. The settings are varied and multiple, like the characters, and offer up the right stages for the hijinks occurring in the story.

CHARACTERS:

Justina is both your typical high school girl and not your typical protagonist. She has a lot of quirks, some from nature, some nurtured, but she also cares about things that other girls care about, even if she herself doesn't realize it. Her voice is very distinct and has the kind of pacing and humor I see in real life. I loved that she had an "assumption addiction" and how she came to understand that she was part of her own problem and got in her own way.

Ian, Justina's friend and prom date, was a pretty good character. We see him mostly in flashbacks but I liked what I saw. He appreciated Justina's quirks and was not judgmental of her. To be honest, he was almost too nice. I think that was his one flaw, being too good. It actually plays a part in the story, so that was interesting.

The rest of the characters include a wide variety of people, and they felt like the people you would know in high school. They also fit that John Hughes theme, but many of them also had growth and progression in the story, so it was cool to see that from side characters.

DOWNSIDE:

This was a book I had so much fun reading and I really had no qualms with it until the very end. I felt like the resolution was so quick and a little too easy for Justina. Yes, she did apologize, but all was forgiven too readily and I felt like it would have been a little more satisfying if there had been just a tad bit of doubt about that outcome. There was doubt for Justina, but not for the reader.

COOL STUFF:

Not only is this a fun and crazy story, but the presentation is pretty cool too. We don't just figure out what happened randomly, we follow Justina's night by running down the list of her stains and injuries, which I thought was a neat way to go about things. There were also pictures to illustrate throughout the chapters, which was an interesting touch.

I also enjoyed the two main adult characters in the story, Gilda and Donna. They were awesome. I loved their perspectives on Justina's situation and their insight. They added that voice of reason and them being adults gave their advice credibility.

Lastly, I liked that the romance in this story is subtle. It's a story about two friends falling for each other in the small moments, the unexpected moments. I loved how that's where you saw it happen instead of the whole book being about their relationship. I mean, it kind of all was about their relationship, but in a roundabout way through Justina's wild night.

VERDICT:

This book is a romantic puzzle with the pieces scattered throughout the snarky-fun heroine's disastrous prom night. Figuring it out is a fun ride that also has a lot of heart. While it will remind readers of some of John Hughes' best, Ditched: A Love Story is a unique contemporary that will keep you reading, imagining the scenes as easily as if they were on film, and anticipating that feel-good happy ending.

Quirk Review: Carrier of the Mark (Carrier Trilogy #1) by Leigh Fallon

From Goodreads:

From the moment she sets foot at her new school in Ireland, Megan is inexplicably drawn to the darkly handsome Adam DeRis. But Megan soon discovers that her feelings for Adam are tied to a supernatural fate that was sealed long ago—and that the passion and power that unites them could be their ultimate destruction.

 

PREFACE:

I had heard of this book, but didn't know much about it. As I was reading up on it, I saw that there were several reviews that were polar opposites of each other, giving the book some giant support and some giant detraction. Curious, I went and got myself a copy from the local bookstore with reasonable expectations of an interesting story. It is a paranormal set in Ireland, after all, not to mention the Twilight comparisons I had seen. I had to find out for myself. So what did I find?

Nothing I can sum up in a pithy sentence.

WRITING:

From the beginning of the novel, the writing bothered me. I didn't like the prologue as it just seemed to say, "There's excitement later, but you'll have to wait!" while the first chapter was rather ho-hum, gently leading us into the world of the main character, Megan.

To me, everything about the writing felt thin. The descriptions were descriptions, but they were thin descriptions. Megan's thoughts were teenage thoughts, but they were thin. The tension was thinnest of all. That probably is where a lot of the problem lies because the writing itself, the words chosen, their placement, can add tension to a story, but that didn't happen nearly at all here.

One thing I'd heard about this book was that it contained info-dumps, and while this is true, they didn't necessarily bother me on a presentation level. It was more I didn't fancy the amount of information I was getting at once because it got confusing real quick. I also felt that some of the things could have been shown rather than told, but I also realized that showing some things, like the bad guys interacting with the characters, would have affected the plot (which had it's own problems), so on a level I understood why it happened the way it did.

But my least favorite thing was the dialogue. It was stiff and mostly cheesy, especially between Megan and her dad and Megan and Adam. Much that was spoken was unnecessary, and this trend carried over a bit into the rest of the writing as well. I was reminded over and over again of Hitchcock's saying, "Drama is life with the boring parts left out." The writing could have definitely been tighter and it would have made it less awkward to read. I will say that toward the end the writing flowed better and I stopped noticing any awkwardness, so this shows potential and, hopefully, progression.

SETTING:

I love Ireland. I have works-in-progress set there, and it is one of my dreams to visit the Emerald Isle someday. So this being set in Ireland was a plus for me until I really got into the book. Unfortunately, there are very few times where Ireland is actually used to give the book atmosphere. Most of the time, the story could be set anywhere with a coastline. I did like that the mythology of the place was pulled into the story, so that was nice, but I felt like so much more could have been done with it.

CHARACTERS:

Megan was not my favorite. Ho-hum is what I felt toward her. I don't really know anything about her personality that doesn't have to do with what happened in the book. I can tell you she missed her mom, was glad to stay in one place for a while, and wore those red Converse into the ground and that's basically what I know about Megan. (Note: It was only because of the copious mentions of the red Converse that I noticed they were not mentioned at all toward the end of the book. So maybe she doesn't like them as much as I thought.)

As for the DeRis clan, I wasn't much impressed with them either. While none of them were horrible, none of them felt that fleshed out. Again, there is that word, thin, permeating this book. I felt like if their personalities had been somehow tied to their abilities it would have made them more interesting, but really they were just teenagers that had an unusual history and life, and that didn't make them, as individuals, all that interesting. There needed to be some kind of emotion, some tension, that was just lacking. At least one of them had some anger over their situation, but it was tamped down and resolved too quickly, making it seem shallow.

The DeRis' guardian, Fionn, had potential but also fell flat. He had quite the interesting back story that tied in to his involvement with the DeRis' parents, but again, little to no personality. He was stern where he was expected to be stern, and then felt a little too acquiescent the rest of the time. I understood his motives, but still, it all lacked tension.

The character I most liked was Megan's friend Catilyn. I thought she was warm and sweet, even if the dialogue made her feel a little like a character in Leave It To Beaver. The other friends were good as well, mostly because they felt like they could be real people. They had the variances in personality and temperament that normal people have and unfortunately, that made the more important characters feel that much flatter.

DOWNSIDE:

Now, if you've read any of the negative reviews of this book, many will mention Twilight, which, to be honest, is a fair comparison. This book starts out very formulaic and almost seems beat by beat like Twilight, right down to the strange siblings, but that changes about a third of the way into the story.

What Carrier doesn't have that Twilight did was atmosphere and angst. Because of Bella Swan's bitterness at the town of Forks, because she hated it so much that she incessantly described it, from the outdoors to the people to the buildings, I could picture it so clearly and could even feel what it was like to be surrounded by that constant gloom and overabundant greenery. There was little of that kind of atmosphere in this book. Like I said above, this story could have been set almost anywhere. There were mentions of gray skies and rain, but because Megan didn't have any particular feelings about it, because Ireland didn't make her feel anything special, good or bad, the atmosphere was missing, making the novel itself feel, again, thin.

Speaking of feelings, Bella Swan, rational or not, had a lot of angst when she moved to Forks. Megan Rosenburg, other than hoping she'll actually get to stay in one place for a while, does not. Her mom died a long time ago, so she's pretty settled with that. She makes friends quickly, but unlike Bella, she actually likes them, so there is no internal angst-thoughts about them. There is no tension. The only tension is from Megan seeing Adam and wondering about him. Now, I could only take so much of Bella's angst, but her story made me feel something while Megan's left me feeling...not a lot.

Another Twilight comparison comes from the insta-love factor. While Edward and Bella may not have known a whole lot about one another before becoming obsessed with each other, they did have a unifying trait - they were both outsiders. Neither of them felt comfortable being themselves. Megan and Adam do not share this trait because while Adam is sort of on the outskirts of high school society, Megan finds acceptance quickly and easily. So when Megan and Adam actually come together, realizing they have feelings for each other, there has been such minimal contact between them that they might as well have never met before. Edward and Bella at least had multiple conversations before declaring their undying love, and if I remember correctly, they were long conversations revealing secrets and details. None of that happened in CotM until after the pivotal "our feelings are too strong to ignore" scene, which took place between Megan and Adam at a bonfire and was one of my least favorite scenes ever. The only good thing about it was that it moved the story along so we could actually learn about the supernatural stuff that was going on.

One last downside was that the plot overall was...can you guess? Yeah. I felt like there was a great (though tension-less) build up to the relationship, then a lot of talk and not a lot of action, and it is difficult to invest in a relationship when you can't invest in the characters. I just felt like I was waiting for something to happen, but mostly is was just a lot of Megan and Adam being sure of themselves and each other. The doubts didn't feel like doubts, more like things they should consider, but really they already had their minds made up.

Some tension did build when Adam got really worried about something spoilery, so that helped. Then when the real action did happen, with less than 100 pages left to go in the book, it was over quickly. To me, those last pages were the best because they had tension, uncertainty, fear, and then something really cool happened. Speaking of cool...

COOL STUFF:

I love lore. If you give me a book with great lore, the more I'm going to like it. I liked that Irish mythology was part of this story. I also liked the way in which the supernatural part fit into the characters' lives and the abilities it gave them.

However, when we learn all of this, it was in that info-dump I mentioned and it felt a little schizophrenic, like they were saying, "Well this happened, but then there was this, and then this thing happened that related back to that, and then this didn't happen but don't worry about that part, but then this other thing occurred..." and again, confusion. It also made it feel a little shallow, like things were just being thrown in there to make it seem complex and interesting, but it didn't really work.

And as I mentioned before, I thought the action near the end was good. I hope there is more of that in the future.

VERDICT:

While I liked things about the Carrier of the Mark, all of the problems kept me from really enjoying the experience of reading it. There is potential for both this author and this story, which is to be continued as a series, but this book fell quite flat for me. Everything needed more depth and the writing took too long to get out of its own way. I am going to remain hopeful that the next, as yet unnamed, book will have a plot full of tension, intrigue, and atmosphere that I had wanted in this installment.

A Picture-a-Day Keeps Me Writing Away

When it comes to being a writer, commitment is key. Without it, you won't finish writing a novel. You won't finish reading a book. You won't keep your house clean or get healthy or you name it. To be committed is to make your dreams tangible, to actually do the thing you think and talk about.

I am committed to my dream of becoming an author. But sometimes when life is difficult, making a daily investment to that commitment feels beyond possible. Most days my mind is so muddled from work, stress, depression, and any number of other things that I am mentally incapable of thinking about my story and where it needs to go next. Add in other things that require my time (housework, reading, working out, Captain Italian) and I am lacking both time and mind, two things necessary to reach my dream.

Part of overcoming depression (for me, at least) is knowing that I can't let bad days spiral out of control and become bad weeks, because before I know it, it will be many bad months past before I realize I've not taken any more steps toward my dream. When I have a bad day, I try to do something to counteract it. Working out, sleeping, watching TV, or just relaxing in some way as to force my mind to shift away from the bad to the good. However, these things, like I said above, take up time, sometimes too much and then even if I feel better, I can't write because it is time to do something else.

I have heard, and feel that it is true from my own experience, that working with your hands helps aid in relaxation of the mind. Finger painting is my favorite way of doing this, but even just writing by hand or coloring works the same way.

So to help me save both time and mind, I decided that every day before I write, I will draw a picture. I bought a sketch book and a set of colorful permanent markers for the job. Now, I am not an artist. Not by any stretch of the imagination. The best thing I ever drew was a dinosaur in the first grade and I never got any better at it.

But I wanted to share this new commitment here on the blog to help keep me accountable. I'm hoping that by the end of January, I will be drawing a picture and writing for at least 30 minutes every single day, and I hope to continue this for the rest of the year. The thought is that when I draw the picture (I start with an open box, like this |__|), I will go to writing directly after completing it, thus using one commitment to spur another.

I'm still shaky on this, not quite into the routine I want, but I'm getting better at it. I plan to do update posts which will help keep me accountable as well as allow you to see the colorful fruit of my labors.

I apologize in advance for the train wreck of artistry you will witness this year at my hand. What I draw is solely based on what I'm thinking about at that time, and more than likely, it will not make any sense. I will try to explain them the best I can, if they are, in fact, explainable.

Here are the first two weeks of my Picture-a-Day commitment. You will probably laugh. You're welcome.

01/01/12 - Happy New Year and fireworks!

01/02/12 -I slept a lot that day.

01/03/12 - Sunny with no chance of snow.

01/04/12 - It rained a lot but rain does not equal snow.

01/05/12 - Come to think of it, pluses don't equal minuses.

01/06/12 - Crazy eyes and eyebrows as seen on TVD.

01/07/12 - The real actors on TVD, the eyebrows.

01/08/12 - I call this Zuglorse. Zebra/Ugly Horse.

01/09/12 - Happy does not equal sad.

01/10/12 - Happy birthday to me!

01/11/12 - Stick figures Just Dancing and one is winning.

01/12/12 - It snowed! Hooray!

01/13/12 - I blame you, Templars, for giving 13 a bad rap.

01/14/12 - How I often feel during workouts.

Quirk Review: Bloodhound (Beka Cooper #2) by Tamora Pierce

From Goodreads:

Beka Cooper is finally a Dog—a full-fledged member of the Provost’s Guard, dedicated to keeping peace in Corus’s streets. But there’s unrest in Tortall’s capital. Counterfeit coins are turning up in shops all over the city, and merchants are raising prices to cover their losses. The Dogs discover that gamblers are bringing the counterfeit money from Port Caynn. In Port Caynn, Beka delves deep into the gambling world, where she meets a charming banking clerk named Dale Rowan. Beka thinks she may be falling for Rowan, but she won’t let anything—or anyone—jeopardize her mission. As she heads north to an abandoned silver mine, it won’t be enough for Beka be her usual “terrier” self. She’ll have to learn from Achoo to sniff out the criminals—to be a Bloodhound. . . .

PREFACE:

I loved the first book in the Beka Cooper series, Terrier, but I had heard mixed things about the rest of the trilogy. So what did I think of this second installment?

WRITING:

The writing in this series has been some of Pierce's best, in my opinion. She works her descriptions in effortlessly and makes the world and the characters vivid. Everything from the tone to the words used puts me in that fantasy place and I love it. However, there was one particular spot that just had me wide-eyed because she used the same word what seemed like 10 or more times in the space of two paragraphs. It stood out because it was so uncharacteristic, but overall I like the writing in this series.

SETTING:

One thing I enjoyed about Terrier was that Corus was the setting for the whole book. Bloodhound is set in two cities, Corus and Port Caynn, but even with the change, I liked how the settings were portrayed.  We only got to see Corus though the eyes of someone who had lived there her entire life, so it was refreshing that Beka was new to Port Caynn because that made her reactions and descriptions of the place that much more vivid. The kinds of establishments she had to go for her work in Port Caynn were types of places she hadn't visited in Corus, so that was something new as well.  Also, the differences between the two cities were really evident in how the Dogs, the Governor, and the residents of Port Caynn acted, creating an even greater contrast from Corus.

CHARACTERS:

All the characters I loved from the first book are back in this one, though many to a much lesser degree due to the change in setting. I did enjoy seeing different sides to some of them, such as Tunstall and Goodwin. How things wound up for those two at the end of the book really fit and I'm glad to see what will come of it in the final story. I also love the big part animals play in this series, and Achoo was fun, as well as the pigeons. Pounce had his two-cents to add as always, though he wasn't as involved in this one.

There were some new characters that kept things interesting, not only for the reader but for Beka herself,  and honestly I hated some of them (as I'm sure I was supposed to). There was a little romance in this one as well between Beka and a character from Port Caynn, but dang it if Rosto the Piper isn't my pick for Beka. Still nothing between them yet, but I'm hopeful it will happen.

DOWNSIDE:

Unfortunately, there were a couple things about Bloodhound that made it lower in my esteem than Terrier. First, the pacing was much slower for the first chunk of the book. There is a hint that something is going on, but it was not as intriguing a mystery as the one from the first book. When the action finally gets going, half the book has passed.

Second, and this is related to the first, was the lack of tension. There was a lot of tension during Beka's puppy year, and while it was nice seeing her as an accomplished Dog now in the groove of things, having Beka not needing to prove herself or noticing something amiss seemed to make her just a little...boring. I still love her, no doubt, and I liked that she was having partner troubles because that was honest strife, but all that moved pretty quickly along and there wasn't anything to fill in those gaps. That's not to say nothing happened in the beginning of the book, but it wasn't as catching as what went on in the first book.

COOL STUFF:

I think the neatest thing about this series is getting to hear names attached to places and people that I recognize from other Tortall series. We get to meet one of Alanna's ancestors, gifted with the same purple magic as she. We also learn something about Barony Olau, where Sir Myles from the Song of the Lioness comes from. The coolest thing is that The Dancing Dove is built by Rosto the Piper, who has a thing for Beka, and two hundred years from their time Beka's descendant, George Cooper, will be the King of the Rogues and holding court in that very same place.

VERDICT:

While not quite as good as its predecessor, Bloodhound is still a fun book following one Pierce's best heroines through her tribulations and victories as a Provost's Guard. I will definitely be reading the third and final book and look forward to joining Beka on one last adventure.

Write Stuff [17]

Write Stuff  is a weekly meme based on the Wannabe Writer meme hosted by Sarah at Confessions of the Un-Published. This meme is what prompted me to start Writer Quirk, so I am thankful to Sarah for creating it and allowing ANYONE (even a quirkster like me) to join up. So go visit her site and the others who participate. Do it.



Where I am in the writing process:  I finished NaNoWriMo and have been snailing along at writing the draft to completion.

My problem(s) today:  My brain hurts. I haven't felt well the last week or so, thus I haven't felt like writing.

What made me happy today: It snowed! I like winter and snow. I do not, however, like ice. To quote that singer named after a food dish...know what? Never mind. Yay snow!

Goal for tomorrow: Write for just 30 minutes. In other words, just make the freaking bed.

Do you have writing resolutions or goals for the new year?

Giveaway Highlight: Rafflecopter

Win an Apple iPad 2 or an Amazon Kindle Fire from Rafflecopter! Also, if you enter because of my post, pleas tell them Shalena @ Writer Quirk referred you!
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Writer Quirk Birthday Giveaway!

THIS GIVEAWAY IS CLOSED.

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Today is my birthday and I want to celebrate by giving away a bunch of books!  

Four lucky quirks will win one of four YA prize packs!

YA Contemporary Pack

Gossip Girl (Gossip Girl #1) by Cecily von Ziegesar

ARC Catching Jordan by Miranda Kenneally

Wherever Nina Lies by Lynn Weingarten

Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher

YA Vampire Pack

Blue Bloods (Blue Bloods #1) by Melissa de la Cruz

Masquerade (Blue Bloods #2) by Melissa de la Cruz

Revelations (Blue Bloods #3) by Melissa de la Cruz

 
YA Paranormal Pack

White Cat (Curse Workers #1) by Holly Black

Shade (Shade #1) by Jeri Smith-Ready 

Evernight (Evernight #1) by Claudia Gray

 

YA Fey/Fantasy Pack
 
  
Wings (Wings #1) by Aprilynne Pike

Graceling (Seven Kingdoms #1) by Kristin Cashore

Fire (Seven Kingdoms #2) by Kristin Cashore

Just follow the instructions in the Rafflecopter widget to enter.

(1 mandatory entry; 25 extra points available)

This giveaway is US only and all the usual rules apply.

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Giveaway ends 11:59pm EST January 31st!

 

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Quirk Review: Terrier (Beka Cooper #1) by Tamora Pierce

From Goodreads:

Tamora Pierce begins a new Tortall trilogy introducing Beka Cooper, an amazing young woman who lived 200 years before Pierce's popular Alanna character. For the first time, Pierce employs first-person narration in a novel, bringing readers even closer to a character that they will love for her unusual talents and tough personality.

Beka Cooper is a rookie with the law-enforcing Provost's Guard, and she's been assigned to the Lower City. It's a tough beat that's about to get tougher, as Beka's limited ability to communicate with the dead clues her in to an underworld conspiracy. Someone close to Beka is using dark magic to profit from the Lower City's criminal enterprises--and the result is a crime wave the likes of which the Provost's Guard has never seen before.

 

PREFACE:

I've read (and loved) almost all the other books Tamora Pierce has written involving the kingdom of Tortall. After hearing that this trilogy was more recent and about an ancestor of one of my favorite characters from some of her other series, I had to read it. So was it as good as my other forays into Pierce's fantasy world?

Better.

WRITING:

Though I have enjoyed all of Pierce's books, you can definitely tell that her writing has improved over the years and throughout her various series. This book was probably the most well written of hers that I've read. In some of her past (in some cases, way past) novels, extraneous details, wordiness, and sections of description slowed the action and plot, but none of that was an issue in Terrier. The novel has a flow that makes it easy to get caught up in the story, probably because it was written in first person POV, unlike previous novels. What's more, the vernacular that is used specific to the time and characters is amazing and really gives the novel that extra something that makes it feel unique.

SETTING:

With Pierce's other books, the setting was usually varied, going between different areas of Tortall or sometimes outside of Tortall and into other kingdoms. I liked that 99% of this story takes place in the Lower City of Corus. Even if future books have different settings, spending time with the characters in this one location for the whole book really helped me to imagine it better and feel like I know the place. If I can feel some sort of connection or familiarity to the setting of a novel, I generally like it more.

CHARACTERS:

Like all of her Tortall books, Pierce has a strong female main character surrounded by a cast of other characters. The MC in this one is Beka Cooper, and she is now one of my top two favorite Pierce MCs (the other being her descendant Aly). I love that she isn't perfect and her flaws get in her way on occasion. She came from a rough background but got a leg up in the world with the help of the Lord Provost. Unlike some of her siblings, Beka did not take this good fortune for granted or become pompous because of it.

Beka is also tenacious and it is her most prominent trait. When she sees that something needs done, even if she's not the one who is supposed to do it, she works at it and gets it accomplished. She puts her heart into everything she does, and her dedication gets results. She really makes this book for me.

The rest of the characters range from other puppies (rookie guards) and Dogs (full guards) to common folk and rogues. They fill in all the necessary spots in Beka's life. Her Dogs, Tunstall and Goodwin, offer training and support, while Ersken, Kora, Aniki, and Rosto are her friends and helpers in time of need. Beka's cat, Pounce, adds the magical element, as he is a black cat with purple eyes that sometimes talks to Beka and helps her. Overall I like all the characters, even though some have unlikable parts to them, and they all, including the villains, are fleshed out. And despite the fact that Pierce doesn't give extensive descriptions of all of them, I can imagine each of them easily based on their actions and temperaments.

COOL STUFF:

With Pierce's Tortall novels, there is always overlap, usually with characters from other series appearing now and then. This wasn't exactly possible for this trilogy, as it is set 200 years before the Song of the Lioness quartet that was chronologically the earliest series before this one was written. However, Pierce does elaborate on the origins of another character from the Song of the Lioness series, Alanna's cat, Faithful, who was also a black cat with purple eyes. We learn a little bit about Faithful in Alanna's quartet, but in this book the information is more definitive and it was a fun tidbit to have.

Another fun part was learning about one of the lady knights of old mentioned mostly in Alanna's quartet (and I'd wager in the Protector of the Small quartet as well, though I haven't read those books yet). While there were supposedly more during the time of Beka Cooper, the one we meet is Lady Sabine. She is not only an imposing woman, but brave and free-minded as well. There is no doubt as to how Lady Sabine became one of the few, the proud, the female as a knight of Tortall. I think she could kick a man double her size up and down the street with ease (and probably enjoy it). It was interesting to finally meet one of these lady knights that came (way) before Alanna.

My last cool thing about this book was a shift in focus and form from Pierce's other novels. I love mysteries, and Beka has a sort-of double one to deal with in this book. While mystery is not new to the books of Tortall, it is different seeing it as the main plot. In most of the other stories the focus is on the character and her adventures and growth with the mystery plots helping her change and evolve as a person. Most of the time, though, they were really more like problem-solving plots, because the character knew who was bad (or found out early on) or knew what needed to happen and just had to figure out what to do or how to do it. The change to first person aided this shift in focus because instead of being outside of the character and focused on her as a person, we were in Beka's head, focused on whatever she was focused on, which in this book was the double mystery.

As for the change in form, unlike previous heroines who had considerable personal magic or a god guiding her way, Beka Cooper has very little of either. She has a gift that (at least in this book) is only helpful for information gathering, and Pounce, who, despite being decidedly magical, only offers minimal guidance. I liked that Beka had to rely on Beka and it kept the novel flowing in one direction.

VERDICT:

I loved this book. It has everything I look for from Pierce with the refreshing first person point of view taking it up another level. A great mystery, good world-building, and a heroine who's as feisty and good-hearted as they come, Terrier exceeded my already high expectations. Needless to say, I can't wait to read the next book and follow Beka on her next adventure.

Giveaway Highlight: Book Nerd Reviews

Melissa over at Book Nerd Reviews is giving away one of four January 2012 releases to one lucky winner!

Giveaway is international and ends January 31st!

 Enter HERE!

2012 Reading Challenge

 

 

2012 Reading Challenge

Writer Quirk has read 0 books toward her goal of 75 books.

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After seeing this post the other day, I decided it would be good for me to try something new in regards to reading this year. So, I went and officially signed myself up for my first ever reading challenge. Woot!

Last year, I read about 60 books, which was more than I had expected. My goal for this year is 75 books. I also want to be more intentional with it, not only reading a bunch of books, but challenging myself to review more. I also plan to do (at least) a monthly update of my progress to keep myself accountable.

For my challenge, I am counting both physical books and audio books, mostly YA. Beyond this, I am also challenging myself to read more craft books on writing, but I'm not going to count those toward the overall goal.

I'm going to use the Goodreads widget (seen above and on my sidebar) to keep track.  I don't have a set list of books, but here are some that I am hoping to count toward my goal:

Timepiece by Myra McEntire

Ditched by Robin Mellom

Every Other Day by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

Out of Sight, Out of Time by Ally Carter

Insurgent by Veronica Roth

The Immortal Rules by Julie Kagawa

Les Miserables by Victor Hugo

Pandemonium by Lauren Oliver

Incarnate by Jodi Meadows

Blood Magic by Tessa Gratton

Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi

Until I Die by Amy Plum

Spell Bound by Rachel Hawkins

Terrier by Tamora Pierce

Bloodhound by Tamora Pierce

Mastiff by Tamora Pierce

Raised by Wolves by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

Shadow Falls by Cate Tiernan

Beautiful Chaos by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl

The Revenant by Sonia Gensler

Revived by Cat Patrick

Two Truths and a Lie by Sara Shepard

Supernaturally by Kiersten White

Endlessly by Kiersten White

Brightly Woven by Alexandra Bracken

If I even get half of these, it will be a good year for reading!

Are you participating in a challenge this year? Do you have reading goals?

Happy reading!

Quirk Review: The Name of the Star (Shades of London #1) by Maureen Johnson

From Goodreads:

The day Louisiana teenager Rory Deveaux arrives in London marks a memorable occasion. For Rory, it's the start of a new life at a London boarding school. But for many, this will be remembered as the day a series of brutal murders broke out across the city, gruesome crimes mimicking the horrific Jack the Ripper events of more than a century ago.

Soon "Rippermania" takes hold of modern-day London, and the police are left with few leads and no witnesses. Except one. Rory spotted the man police believe to be the prime suspect. But she is the only one who saw him. Even her roommate, who was walking with her at the time, didn't notice the mysterious man. So why can only Rory see him? And more urgently, why has Rory become his next target? In this edge-of-your-seat thriller, full of suspense, humor, and romance, Rory will learn the truth about the secret ghost police of London and discover her own shocking abilities.

PREFACE:
I know how this will sound, but before this novel, I had never read anything by Maureen Johnson. I follow her on Twitter, but her other books are contemporary, and we all know how difficult it is for me to make myself read one. But this, this was different. The title and synopsis was intriguing. Boarding school, London, Jack the Ripper? Um, yes please. But was the book as good as I hoped?

Heh. It is Maureen Johnson, after all...

WRITING:

Johnson's writing was fluid, uncomplicated, and mixed perfect amounts of description, feeling, and humor. I also loved the insertion of snippets from points of view other than the main character's. It was very easy to get caught up in the story. I like it best when the writing fits the story. I'm not sure how to explain that other than different types of stories require different tones and language, and I think Johnson was pitch-perfect writing about an American girl in London dealing with some normal and not-so-normal occurrences. And again, the humor. I think I snorted a few times.

SETTING:

Like I said before, there was just the right amount of description. I got the feel of London, the wet streets, the cozy but impressive boarding school, the green spaces and fancy flats and the underground. I felt like I knew exactly where the characters were without getting an overload of details. The atmosphere of London, whether it was night or day, in the city or at the school, was spot-on.

CHARACTERS:

Rory was a great main character. She felt normal and fairly uncomplicated, the right mix of sarcasm, teenager, and newcomer. I loved that she had a quirky family, and I loved her mostly chill attitude. Her feelings didn't seem overblown, she was thoughtful and smart, and at the end, she did what she thought was right, which was also brave. She would be the kind of girl you would want to hang out with at school.

Her roommate and friend, Jazza, was sweet and serious and I loved her. In fact, I thought all the characters were realistic as well as distinct. Charlotte was the meanest of the bunch, but she wasn't the over-the-top queen bee normally seen in YA. I liked that the drama wasn't overblown. She and Rory didn't like each other, but like real life, they had other goals and things to focus on. That was something I appreciated more than anything.

Jerome was another good character because he definitely was a bit awkward as well as had some highly individualized interests, but he wasn't a loner or anti-social. I liked that most all of the characters were like that, not just one single thing, but a mix of things, like people in real life. And the teenagers felt definitely like teenagers.

The characters who were also young but not part of the school scene, Stephen, Callum, and Boo, worked in a different way. They had experienced things that affected them and left them different from others their age. Even with their abnormal life, they still felt real and individual, and they took seriously what had happened to them and what they chose to do because of it. I liked how Rory went back and forth between the two groups and fit into both of them. It felt like a real struggle any person could have, albeit, hers was pretty unusual.

Then there were the other characters, the ones I don't want to say too much about due to the spoileriness. I liked how there was a range of those characters, each with different personalities and motivations and creep-factors. As for the main protagonist, creepy-creepy-creepy. Chills creepy. And that's all I'm going to say.

COOL STUFF:

The paranormal mystery centering around the history of Jack the Ripper was beyond cool. I knew a little about it, but the stuff shared in the novel was like a really fun history lesson. I felt like I had Rippermania right along with the residents of London.

I also loved the mix of science with the paranormal occurrences. The technology used seemed to make sense, under the circumstances, and it was cool to see what those involved with it knew and understood and what they didn't.

And, as if the novel wasn't good enough already, the ending had me gaping and so very, very excited for the next installment. I loved that it was not only completely unexpected, but it showed that there was still more to learn about the world Rory inhabited.

VERDICT:

Being that this novel had a lot that interested me - paranormal happenings, murder mystery, unique locale, historical tie-in - I had high expectations. Not only were my expectations met, but they were exceeded. Written with humor, realistic characters, and a mystery worthy of the infamous Jack the Ripper, The Name of the Star is the kind of book to keep you up at night in the best possible way.