Book Thoughts - Seraphina by Rachel Hartman

Seraphina by Rachel Hartman
published 7/10/12
464 pages

Synopsis from publisher -

Four decades of peace have done little to ease the mistrust between humans and dragons in the kingdom of Goredd. Folding themselves into human shape, dragons attend court as ambassadors, and lend their rational, mathematical minds to universities as scholars and teachers. As the treaty's anniversary draws near, however, tensions are high.

Seraphina Dombegh has reason to fear both sides. An unusually gifted musician, she joins the court just as a member of the royal family is murdered — in suspiciously draconian fashion. Seraphina is drawn into the investigation, partnering with the captain of the Queen's Guard, the dangerously perceptive Prince Lucian Kiggs. While they begin to uncover hints of a sinister plot to destroy the peace, Seraphina struggles to protect her own secret, the secret behind her musical gift, one so terrible that its discovery could mean her very life.

My thoughts -

I've seen this novel on several "Best Of" lists, so when I saw it on my library shelf I had to grab it. Turns out Seraphina deserves all the accolades it has received - this is one fantastic book.

Hartman creates a world for Seraphina that is complex and satisfying, with dragons and humans that clearly have years and years of history behind their tumultuous relationships. I appreciate that while Hartman gives her dragons plenty of personality, they are NOT just humans with scales. They are very, very different beings, and this creates tension on a bunch of different levels.

While Seraphina does find a love interest, this is not a "young girl falls in love" story - this is a story about a girl learning how to accept herself, and figuring out her place in the world, and solving a complicated mystery - oh, and also, she meets this guy. I found it incredibly refreshing to read a YA novel with a female protagonist that did NOT have the love story as the central theme of the book.

The aspect of the novel I appreciate the most is how well it works on multiple levels. Seraphina can easily be read as a fun, intriguing mystery with dragons - as a piece of entertainment, it's fantastic. But Hartman infuses the novel with so many layers - interesting discussions can be had about race, about people with differing abilities, about body image and self-acceptance. Additionally, Hartman is a great writer - she made me laugh, she wrote some incredibly beautiful passages, she kept me riveted from start to finish.

I absolutely loved this novel, and I can't wait to read more in this world. I highly recommend this, both for young adult readers and for those who just love a good fantasy novel. I think this will be a favorite for many years to come.

Finished - 12/12/13
Source - South side library
MPAA rating - PG-13 for violence
My rating - 9/10

Book Thoughts - Ten Girls to Watch by Charity Shumway

Ten Girls to Watch by Charity Shumway
published July, 2012
353 pages

Synopsis from publisher:

Dawn West is trying to make her way in New York City. She’s got an ex-boyfriend she can’t quite stop seeing, a writing career that’s gotten about as far as penning an online lawn care advice column, and a small hometown in Oregon that’s her last recourse if she can’t make next month’s rent.


So when Dawn lands a job tracking down the past winners of Charm magazine’s “Ten Girls to Watch” contest, she’s thrilled. Not only is she being paid to interview hundreds of fascinating women, but she’s also sharing office space with “Secret Agent Romance,” Charm’s resident dating columnist, and he just happens to be giving her butterflies.

As Dawn gets to know the life stories of these former winners, she’ll discover that success, love, and friendship can be found in the most unexpected of places. And even more importantly, she’ll find that though those who have gone before us can be role models, ultimately, we each have to carve our own way.


My thoughts:

I found this book to be quite delightful. Honestly, that was the word that kept popping into my head as I read - "This book is just delightful." Novels in this chick-lit-y vein can be very hit or miss for me - sometimes they are fun, and sometimes they just annoy me. Ten Girls to Watch seemed like a cut above the rest. Shumway's writing certainly helped - she clearly knows her craft, and she had me alternately giggling and getting emotional several times throughout the novel.

I think what really sold me, though, was how REAL this novel felt. Perhaps because much of it was based on the author's own personal experience (read an interesting interview with Shumway on HuffPost here), perhaps because the author is just a really good storyteller, but Ten Girls to Watch rang true for me in nearly every aspect.

Dawn is a delightful heroine (I know, that word again!), mixing a bit of Bridget Jones with a healthy dose of reality. She makes mistakes, but they don't feel contrived to further the plot - they actually seem like the things a girl her age would do, and then feel bad about. To me, she never presented as whiny or tiresome - she had problems, acknowledged them, and moved on. I enjoyed her sense of humor very much, as well as her ability to laugh at herself.

I particularly enjoyed Shumway's emphasis on the importance of releationships between women. Dawn's relationship with her sister, her mother, her mentor, and her friend were the threads that held her life together, and were a reminder of just how important it is for women to truly participate in each other's lives.

This novel was a breath of fresh air, making me smile on nearly every page. I'm so happy I read it, and highly recommend it!

Finished: 9/13/12
Source: review copy from publisher - thank you!
MPAA Rating - PG-13 (I know! It's a chick-lit that doesn't make you blush - and it works!)
My rating: 9/10

Review - Sweeping Up Glass by Carolyn Wall

Sweeping Up Glass by Carolyn Wall
published 8/09
319 pages

Synopsis from publisher:

Olivia Harker Cross owns a strip of mountain in Pope County, Kentucky, a land where whites and blacks eke out a living in separate, tattered kingdoms and where silver-faced wolves howl in the night. But someone is killing the wolves of Big Foley Mountain–and Olivia is beginning to realize how much of her own bitter history she’s never understood: Her mother’s madness, building toward a fiery crescendo. Her daughter’s flight to California, leaving her to raise Will’m, her beloved grandson. And most of all, her town’s fear, for Olivia has real and dangerous enemies.

Now this proud, lonely woman will face her mother and daughter, her neighbors and the wolf hunters of Big Foley Mountain. And when she does, she’ll ignite a conflict that will embroil an entire community–and change her own life in the most astonishing of ways.

My thoughts:

This book was poised to be on my list of favorites for the year. It has great writing, a fantastic protagonist, and a heart-wrenching narrative. And then the last 7 chapters happened.

I've seen a couple of reviews that liken Sweeping Up Glass to the beloved novel To Kill a Mockingbird. I can understand the comparison - the plucky young girl and her beloved father, no maternal figure, the segregated south during the Depression, the fight between justice and evil. But if this is Scout, it is a very grown-up, world weary Scout, who has certainly seen more of life than when we last encountered her. Olivia has spent her life working for her very survival, and she has the strength and wits to prove it. She's haunted by the death of her father, and the craziness of her mother, and she has cobbled together a sort of family that she loves and protects fiercely. She was a completely fascinating character, and her voice was the strength that held the story together.

"With Will'm beside me, I drive the pickup six miles to the graveyard. There'll be a crowd, and Miz Grace Harris will go into the earth knowing she's loved. She knew who she was. I, on the other hand, know who I am when I'm selling vanilla and cardamom, or baking a brown sugar cake with Will'm. When I'm with Love Alice, I'm sure and strong. But something happens when I'm alone. When there are no other eyes to reflect my own, a great doubt blindsides me, and in those moments I wonder if I'm here at all."

Like much contemporary, literary fiction, this novel is often sad, and sometimes brutal. Evilness and death are companions to these characters, and they deal with both the best ways they know how. It wasn't always easy reading, but Wall is able to keep her story filled with just enough hope - just enough laughter - that even when it was somber, it wasn't depressing.

"I sigh and feed the last two with the eyedropper Dooby gave me, and tuck them back into their box. I carry their brother and a big cooking spoon out to the rise, bury him next to his ma'am and say a prayer in Will'm's name. I mark the place with a stick. It's an extravagant funeral for so small a thing. But all living things do not feel about their ma'ams the way I do. In fact, maybe this one missed his so much, he went off to be with her. That's what I'll tell Will'm when he comes home, that it's dying was a loving thing."

The only complaint I had with the novel was that, for some reason, the last 7 chapters suddenly changed from engrossing literary fiction to what felt like a mystery/thriller. There had been hints of the mystery throughout the novel, but suddenly at the very end the author charged into a fast-paced, near-fatal action squence that seemed a bit out character with the rest of the novel. It didn't ruin the book for me, but I didn't feel that the ending fit with the rest of the story.

In general, however, I loved this book. Olivia is a fantastic heroine, and the story was beautifully told. I will definitely be looking for more work by this author!

Finished: 8/21/09
Source: the publisher
Rating: 8/10