The Lantern's Ember: A Book Review

*I received an ARC from Delacorte Press (via NetGalley) in exchange for an honest review.*

As a big fan of Colleen Houck’s Tiger’s Curse series, I was excited to start this Halloween spin-off tale. I was surprised at the difference in style between the two (having not read the Reawakened series, I can only compare to Tiger’s Curse).  For a quick summary of what this book is about, click here.

First, Houck chose to write in third person omniscient (looking into the point of view of all main characters). While it was interesting to get inside the heads of so many distinct characters like witches, lanterns, vampires, and humans, I felt I was missing the character depth I felt familiar with in Tiger’s Curse. Because of this, my connection to the main characters felt dry. Often, I asked myself, “This is interesting and all, but why should I care?” Additionally, so many characters were introduced at different parts of the novel that the omniscient view became disorienting. BUT, I thought the different “Halloween” characters were entertaining. Houck’s imagination created interesting characters based on folklore we all know: the boogeyman, jack o’ lanterns, witches, vampires, and Frankenstein’s monster. So I will give her that.

Another thing I struggled with was the worlds in which The Lantern’s Ember takes place: the mortal world and the Otherworld. I never felt like I could fully settle into the setting. Although it was consistent, it felt too strange and unbelievable to me. This is probably because it combined folklore, a world of corsets and bustles, science, and technology. It was a bit overwhelming.

As for the plot, Houck did well with making it feel like a fairytale retelling. However, I did lose interest before I reached the midpoint and didn’t regain it until 70% through the book. The middle section was, frankly, boring and missing some tension and character growth. Not to mention having random, long sections of exposition.

This all being said, I’m giving it three stars despite of its faults because of creativity and a satisfying ending. Here’s a further breakdown:

Writing Aesthetic/Style: 3
Plot/Movement: 2
Character Development: 2
Overall: 3

Would I recommend? Sure. I would especially recommend to those who love fantasy, Halloween, and folklore.

This book will be released September 11th, 2018.

For more ratings and reviews and to see what I'm currently reading, visit my Goodreads page here!

Save the Cat: A Book Review

I first heard about this book when I met my first real writer. She hadn’t been published (yet), but I remember my admiration at her immovable schedule of writing every day.

“How do you write a book?” I asked.

“I write every day,” she told me, “and read Save the Cat.”

Since that day, Save the Cat has sat on my to-read shelf on Goodreads for years and has been added and removed from my Amazon cart many times.

At a recent young adult noveling conference I attended, speakers and writers praised Save the Cat and I added it to my Amazon cart again. I finally purchased it in desperation, looking for some much-needed plot advice for my current novel. I read it over a span of a week.

Did it live up to the hype? Maybe.

The reason for hesitation is this: I didn’t feel like it changed the way I look at writing and story. But I think the reason for this is that Save the Cat is an application book. I don’t think it’s meant to be read cover to cover, but rather referenced when applying his plotting principles. I have yet to try his plot formula. But I think this book will be helpful when I do.

Even though Save the Cat is a screenwriting book, it’s still valuable for novelists. Why? Blake Snyder’s ability to recognize plot points in successful movies connects to plot points needed in novels. A story is a story, no matter the form, and Blake Snyder conveys his secrets of writing an interesting, character-driven story.

While it’s not the greatest writing book I’ve ever read (my favorites are Bird by Bird and Spilling Ink), I will turn back to it for developing plot. Perhaps after application of his book, my appreciation for it will grow and it will make my favorites list. We’ll see.

Writing Aesthetic/Style: 3.5
Content: 4
Readability: 5
Overall: 4

Would I recommend? Sure.

For more ratings and reviews and to see what I'm currently reading, visit my Goodreads page here!

All the Bright Places: A Book Review

I finished this book last week, but I still don’t know if I’m emotionally ready to write about this book. I don’t think I can form cohesive, meaningful sentences the way I want to. So I’m going to sum it up and say that All the Bright Places reminded me of a mix between the romance and parental relationships in The Fault in our Stars and the grittiness in Bone Gap. It was a book that I didn’t want to like, but ended up loving because of deep characters and Jennifer Niven’s way of weaving mental health and suicide into a loving, purposeful story. It was a rollercoaster of emotions. I love books with emotion.

Writing Aesthetic/Style: 4.5
Plot/Movement: 4
Character Development: 3.5
Overall: 4

For more ratings and reviews and to see what I'm currently reading, visit my Goodreads page here!

The Road: A Book Review

This is another book I don’t want to part with. Although I do feel somewhat relieved to be free from its grittiness and stress. Still, Cormac McCarthy’s breathless, chilling, and masterful writing is of the most beautiful and real I’ve encountered. I want to live within his writer’s voice and hope I can see the world and its people the same way he writes about them.

Throughout this book, here are some recurring thoughts that I had:

How the heck is this going to end?
The dialogue. *fulfilling sigh* The dialogue.
This is stressful.
But beautiful and real.
I can’t put this down.

While this book did have lots of death, injury, and frightening moments (what can you expect from a post-apocalyptic survival story?), I didn’t feel pushed beyond my limit. Cormac McCarthy artfully pairs the ugly with the hopeful. This is one of my favorite parts of the book: the ugly with the hopeful. And I loved how I felt like I traveled the road with the man and the boy and felt everything they did, even though I know I couldn’t really come close to feeling what they experienced. That’s a sign of a great novel.

The Road takes place as one of my favorites of all time, with a whopping five stars.

Writing Aesthetic/Style: 5
Plot/Movement: 5
Character Development: 5
Overall: 5

Would I recommend? YES

For more ratings and reviews and to see what I'm currently reading, visit my Goodreads page here!

Tess of the Road: A Book Review

 

Not knowing Tess of the Road is a companion novel to Seraphina, a New York Times bestseller, I dove right into it, trying to make sense of emotionless dragons, wicked saints, and a main character named Tess who is often drunk and violent at the beginning, but a dreamer.

It took me about a hundred pages to trust Tess and feel invested in her quest of traveling the Road. But when I did, I was struck by Tess’s originality and good qualities: she’s kind, curious, loyal, and witty. Soon, following Tess’s journey on the Road became a pleasure.

I don’t want to go into specifics of what Tess encounters on the Road in case you read it, but I will say Tess is tested in the ways of friendship, honesty, morality, physical strength, and spirituality. She’s an interesting character to follow, mostly because of her secret past, revealed throughout the book. She’s the main reason I write this book review: I want to remember Tess. I’m claiming her as an imaginary friend.

If you don’t read the book for Tess, read it for her world. The setting in Tess of the Road is amazingly dense, though easy to accept. Though the fashion and mannerisms take place back in medieval times, technology is somewhat advanced (picture a chair with moving, metal legs). Additionally, there are all kinds of different creatures: dragons, World Serpents, and Quigutl (lizard-like descendants of dragons). This setting is its own character - something to explore and understand. It’s a setting I wish I could have written.

Expect an entertaining journey when reading Tess of the Road. I did. As Tess travels the Road, she discovers she running towards something, not just running away. The whole book is a grand metaphor. If you like Harry Potter and Goose Girl, this is the book for you.

Here are my ratings out of five stars:

Writing Aesthetic/Style: 4
Plot/Movement: 4
Character Development: 5
Overall: 4

For more ratings and reviews and to see what I'm currently reading, visit my Goodreads page here!

Poetry Under Stars

It’s too cold to be outside, but we take blankets out. We can’t resist the stars. After a moment of looking, guessing constellations, Abigail opens up her poets.org and I my Emily Dickinson. Without explanation, we take turns reading. Abigail reads with her gusto, words shooting from her mouth like they’re trying to escape to the stars. I read hesitantly, not belonging to this world of poetry Abigail loves. But we are friends, and tonight is one night that will be perfect as we huddle on a damp blanket, reading words I can’t understand, but words that light up her soul – I can see it in her eyes. This is our friendship: watching Abigail become enlightened at the touch of anything beautiful while I look on, wishing I could understand and feel and become. Wishing I could produce something as beautiful as her soul.

Words on a Page

There is something about words on a page. Words made up of single letters and pages made of words – all interacting on the physical print of a page and in the minds of readers. These words strung together make emotion, tension, and story. Simple letters combined into words, combined into pages, combined into books, combined into ideas. Ideas and books I love.

March 1st is World Book Day. Kids across the globe dress up like their favorite book characters for school – Dr. Seuss hats, various princess dresses, and Robin Hood garb show up in classrooms, and teachers monitor fake swords, plastic bows and arrows, and Thor’s hammer (though they may wonder if comics count as books). These kids celebrate words made up of single letters that turn into pages, books, and ideas. It is a day of personal connections to our quiet characters.

Books hold a special place in my life. My battery life data on my phone will tell you Goodreads is among my most visited apps and my husband will tell you I spend almost every allowance on a novel or two. Students studying at tables in the BYU library will tell you I visit the young-adult section almost every week, pacing among the tall shelves, often with a load in my arms and my coat swishing against my legs.

My heart will tell you that books hold a perpetual longing for me. A place not of escape, but of blessed inclusion in life. Escape seems too negative a term to be associate with books. They offer solitary inclusion – a way of looking and feeling the world in quiet and discovering your place in it.

In celebration of World Book Day, I reflect on books that have offered me a connection to life and have helped me discover a place. Books that showed me what life was like, how to love, how to understand. In special remembrance, almost as if recalling first elementary crushes, I list some of them here, with the accompanying memories.

Tess of the d’Urbervilles. A story of choice, rape, longing, personal discovery, hope, forgiveness, and love. I discovered my place as a woman and as someone who loves. Someone who accepts hard things.

The Rent Collector. A story of stories, reading, and opportunity. I discovered my place as an influencer because I read.

Spilling Ink. A book of writing. I discovered my place as an imaginer and a creator of worlds and people. A writer of letters, words, books, and ideas.

East. A story of legend, trust, discovery, love, and journeying. I discovered my place as one who journeys for important people, places, and ideas.

Unbroken. A story of suffering, hope, survival, and love. I discovered my place as one who is small, but infinitely important.

These are just a few. You can see more of my favorites on Goodreads. What will you do in celebration of World Book Day? What books do you hold in special remembrance? I’d love to hear!