De Drácula a Madero: Viaje todo incluido a la Decena Trágica by M.B. Brozon

My rating:

Una noche de 2010, tres amigos se reúnen para invocar al espíritu del célebre creador de Drácula. Con velas encendidas y cierto escepticismo, aquello que parecía un ridículo ritual pronto se convierte en una experiencia insólita: dos de ellos son arrojados del presente para aterrizar en el año 1913, en el preámbulo de uno de los episodios más tristes y sanguinarios de la historia de México: la Decena Trágica. En medio de una ciudad en guerra, los protagonistas buscarán la forma de volver a su tiempo mientras se cruzan con los personajes que definieron el futuro del país. ¿Qué los llevó allá y qué los podrá regresar?, ¿hasta dónde sus acciones pueden alterar el curso de la historia? Estas sin algunas preguntas a las que se enfrentarán Juan Pablo y Marisol en esta sorprendente novela donde se conjugan el humor, la intriga, la historia y la ciencia ficción. (Goodreads).

Leí esta novela en muy poco tiempo, pero me impresionó mucho. Brozon mezcla la historia mexicana con la ciencia ficción y, yo diría, la fantasía también. Aunque el libro se trata de un viaje en el tiempo, Brozon no pasa demasiado tiempo con la explicación técnica de este fenómeno. En la ciencia ficción dura sí quiero todos los detalles científicos pero en este caso creo que lo interesante son los personajes y los hechos históricos.

Cuando Juan Pablo y Marisol se encuentran en el año 1913, tienen la ventaja de poder comunicarse con su amigo Gonzálo, quien todavía está en 2010. A través de la máquina de escribir que los tres usaron en la sesión espiritista, Gonzálo les envía información sobre los sucesos de la Decena Trágica para ayudarlos a sobrevivir mientras buscan una manera de regresar a su tiempo. Además Juan Pablo y Marisol enfrentan el problema de tener toda esta información del futuro sin poder compartirla incluso para salvar vidas. Brozon trata la historia y la moralidad sin escribir algo demasiado pesado para los adolescentes. De Drácula a Madero es una novela divertida que recomiendo mucho. 

The Shadow Queen - by C.J. Redwine

My rating: 

Lorelai Diederich, crown princess and fugitive at large, has one mission: kill the wicked queen who took both the Ravenspire throne and the life of her father. To do that, Lorelai needs to use the one weapon she and Queen Irina have in common—magic. She’ll have to be stronger, faster, and more powerful than Irina, the most dangerous sorceress Ravenspire has ever seen.
In the neighboring kingdom of Eldr, when Prince Kol’s father and older brother are killed by an invading army of magic-wielding ogres, the second-born prince is suddenly given the responsibility of saving his kingdom. To do that, Kol needs magic—and the only way to get it is to make a deal with the queen of Ravenspire, promise to become her personal huntsman…and bring her Lorelai’s heart. (Goodreads).

I was so excited to get an eARC of this book because I absolutely love fairy tale retellings, but The Shadow Queen just didn't live up to my expectations. This was actually kind of surprising because on the surface this novel has a lot of things going for it. There's a strong, female protagonist, betrayal, romance, magic, dragons, and nonstop action. I'll admit that I did enjoy the dragons and it gave a unique twist to the original Snow White story. In The Shadow Queen, the huntsman isn't just a dangerous hunter, he is the prince of a kingdom where everyone has two hearts - a human heart and a dragon heart. When they give control over to their dragon nature, they actually shapeshift into dragons. For the most part, though, I think Redwine tried to pack too much into one book.

Even though the dragons are awesome and the magic seemed interesting, we just don't get enough worldbuilding. There's not much information about the different races or the kingdoms so all these fantastical elements end up seeming like cheap additions to make this telling of Snow White seem special. If this book were several hundred pages longer I might have liked it better. As it is, I just couldn't get interested in an underdeveloped fantasy world.

The plot and characters felt pretty mediocre, which didn't help my enjoyment of the book. Kol was the only character who showed any growth at all. That is unless you want to count Lorelai going from totally lacking in self-confidence one minute to realizing she can do anything she wants the next. And while the plot has plenty of action, it feels like there's no suspense or point to it. All through the magical battles, earth-shattering magic (literally!), telekinesis, fires, and explosions, I was just kind of reading to get through the book. The romance and ending as a whole were totally predictable, so even when I did manage to finish the book it wasn't that exciting.

The Snow Queen certainly isn't a bad book, but it could have been so much better. I'd say it's still worth a look, though, if you like fairy tales and want a quick and easy read.

Carry On - by Rainbow Rowell

My rating:

Simon Snow is the worst chosen one who’s ever been chosen. That’s what his roommate, Baz, says. And Baz might be evil and a vampire and a complete git, but he’s probably right. Half the time, Simon can’t even make his wand work, and the other half, he sets something on fire. His mentor’s avoiding him, his girlfriend broke up with him, and there’s a magic-eating monster running around wearing Simon’s face. Baz would be having a field day with all this, if he were here—it’s their last year at the Watford School of Magicks, and Simon’s infuriating nemesis didn’t even bother to show up.
Carry On is a ghost story, a love story, a mystery and a melodrama. It has just as much kissing and talking as you’d expect from a Rainbow Rowell story—but far, far more monsters. (Goodreads)

Rainbow Rowell is a fantastic writer, and that's definitely clear in Carry On. Despite her talent, I still had mixed feelings about this book, but I think the writing is what really saved it for me. Carry On really does read as Harry Potter fan fiction, especially through the first half. This isn't necessarily a bad thing but combined with the slow pacing starting out, I struggled to stay interested until later on in the story.

My main complaint about the fan fiction style of this book is that none of the characters felt very original at first. They all had, at least in my mind, clear counterparts from the Harry Potter series. Carry On also jumps in at would be the last book in an initially fictional series and I feel like it draws too much on the reader's knowledge of Harry Potter to make up for the fact that we haven't gotten any back story. The plot of these "missing" books didn't seem so important to me as the character development. Simon has presumably been growing from all his adventures in previous books, but we don't get to see any of that like we do with Harry Potter. The reliance on Harry Potter also means that there's very minimal world building. I can only imagine that if you read Carry On without being familiar with Harry Potter it would be extremely frustrating.

Luckily the second half or so of the book took a turn for the best. The plot picks up and the characters finally begin to take shape as original creations. I felt like one minute I was questioning if I could finish this book and the next it was two in the morning and I was sad there wasn't more to read. I'll admit I still didn't think the plot was great, but Rowell's writing strength really shows in the interactions between characters. And since everyone seems to have something to say about it, I'd like to add that I am 110% on board with the Simon and Baz romance, which is absolutely adorable.

I am hesitant to recommend Carry On to people because of how much I struggled to get into it at first. On the other hand, if you're okay with Harry Potter fanfic or a fan of Rainbow Rowell's writing style, it's definitely worth the read.

Crimson Bound - by Rosamund Hodge

My rating: 

When Rachelle was fifteen she was good—apprenticed to her aunt and in training to protect her village from dark magic. But she was also reckless— straying from the forest path in search of a way to free her world from the threat of eternal darkness. After an illicit meeting goes dreadfully wrong, Rachelle is forced to make a terrible choice that binds her to the very evil she had hoped to defeat.
Three years later, Rachelle has given her life to serving the realm, fighting deadly creatures in an effort to atone. When the king orders her to guard his son Armand—the man she hates most—Rachelle forces Armand to help her find the legendary sword that might save their world. As the two become unexpected allies, they uncover far-reaching conspiracies, hidden magic, and a love that may be their undoing. In a palace built on unbelievable wealth and dangerous secrets, can Rachelle discover the truth and stop the fall of endless night?
Inspired by the classic fairy tale Little Red Riding Hood, Crimson Bound is an exhilarating tale of darkness, love, and redemption. (Goodreads)

I gave this book a chance because I read Hodge's other novel, Cruel Beauty, and thought it was pretty enjoyable. Crimson Bound has a ton of similarities to Cruel Beauty, to the point that it feels like the same overarching plot. The synopsis made the story seem promising, and I normally love a fairy tale retelling, but this book just fell flat.

Not even talking about the characters yet, the plot and the world as a whole were extremely under-developed. The introduction to the world started to build what seemed like an interesting mythology of sorts. The forestborn mark humans who are then forced to kill or die. Rachelle becomes a bloodbound this way and knows that, like all bloodbound, she is destined to eventually change into a forestborn herself. She's determined, though, that this won't stop her trying to defeat the Devourer - a dark creature determined to plunge the world into everlasting night. Unfortunately, this great set up leads to the middle of the novel where not much happens. The world, either of the humans or of the forestborn, is never explained any better. Worst of all, in my opinion, is that the end of the book turns into a ridiculously obvious Christian metaphor. I promise I'm not just biased or reading too much into this. For proof there's this quote about the name of one the mythical swords:

“Endurance. It is the sword that hopes all things, bears all things, believes all things, endures all things.”

At this point, the book literally transitioned from a YA fantasy novel to a bible quote... I don't know about you, but I don't read YA fantasy for its religious merits. I'll admit there were a few plot twists that caught me off guard, these were primarily characters revealed to be someone other than they seemed. Hodge never does anything with this information, though. There's the reveal, and then everyone goes back to their usual business.

Which brings me to the characters...They are pretty mediocre overall. The protagonist, Rachelle, spends the whole book feeling unworthy and her self-esteem never improves. The lack of character growth is pretty much a theme across the board. Our two main male characters are, more or less, opposites who only exist to create a predictable, and unrealistic, love triangle with Rachelle. On one side we have Erec d'Anjou, the typical pretty boy who spends the whole book showing off and also happens to be the ruthless captain of the bloodbound. On the other side, there's Armand, the boy who lost his hands to avoid killing and is literally worshipped as a saint by the general populace. Rachelle's interest in both characters alternates between hate and undeniable love / lust multiple times throughout the novel.

Crimson Bound certainly wasn't so terrible as to be unreadable, and if you just want something to take up time it can actually be enjoyable. In comparison with Cruel Beauty, though, this was a definite disappointment.

His Majesty's Dragon - by Naomi Novik

My rating: 

Aerial combat brings a thrilling new dimension to the Napoleonic Wars as valiant warriors ride mighty fighting dragons, bred for size or speed. When HMS Reliant captures a French frigate and seizes the precious cargo, an unhatched dragon egg, fate sweeps Captain Will Laurence from his seafaring life into an uncertain future – and an unexpected kinship with a most extraordinary creature. Thrust into the rarified world of the Aerial Corps as master of the dragon Temeraire, he will face a crash course in the daring tactics of airborne battle. For as France’s own dragon-borne forces rally to breach British soil in Bonaparte’s boldest gambit, Laurence and Temeraire must soar into their own baptism of fire. (Goodreads)

I am a huge fan of both fantasy and historical fiction and I think His Majesty's Dragon is the perfect combination of both. When I first heard about this book, mainly from library patrons wanting to find it, I was really excited about the idea of the Napoleonic Wars with dragons. Even with my high expectations, I can say that this book was so much better than I could have imagined. When I first starting reading His Majesty's Dragon, it reminded me a bit of the Leviathan series by Scott Westerfeld, which I read at the beginning of this year. What really made me love Novik's novels even more than Westerfeld's, though, is the representation of the dragons and their relationship with the humans.

The book begins Captain Laurence and his crew capturing a French ship that just happens to be carrying a dragon egg. From their initial discussion about dragons (how to harness them, making sure they are harnessed before allowing them to fly, the option of sending the dragon to the breeding grounds if he can't be harnessed) made me think that the dragons in this book would essentially be treated like property. Once Temeraire hatches, everything changes for Laurence and he forms a very real and loving bond with the dragon. I absolutely love the dragons Novik has created for this series. They are extremely intelligent and are characters in their own right, not just a means of transportation or war machines. It's no secret that I'm an animal lover, so Novik's representation and treatment of dragons in this novel played a huge part in winning me over.

As far as human protagonists, I didn't find Laurence to be quite as interesting as his dragon, but they make a good pair. Laurence is a very disciplined, upright gentleman who is overly concerned with doing his duty to the crown. Temeraire isn't very concerned with human laws and is constantly engaging Laurence in discussions that challenge his beliefs. Honestly, Laurence isn't the most compelling character, but I think he nicely represents some of the beliefs of the time period. What does work well, in my opinion, is they way Novik uses this overly traditional character to contrast the more relaxed and progressive life of the Aerial Corp. Not only are the other aviators much less concerned with the formalities and manners that Laurence is used to from his time in the navy, but they also employ women and young girls in the service. I think the addition of free thinking dragons and the Aerial Corp allows Novik to insert some more modern values into this book in a way that wouldn't feel natural if it were simply a historical fiction novel.

Overall, I think Novik's writing is what really makes this book so enjoyable to read. Her representation of the time period and the language used by the characters felt spot on, although I am by no means an expert on the time period. Her details of the navy, aerial corp, and general military actions were enough to set the mood and show that she did her research, but didn't feel overwhelming to me as someone who doesn't have a huge knowledge of or interest in military history. I highly recommend this to anyone who likes fantasy or historical fiction, and I think it is a must read for animal lovers.

Shadow Scale - by Rachel Hartman

My rating:

Shadow Scale is the sequel to Seraphina and I gather that quite a few people didn't enjoy waiting so long for the sequel. Fortunately I didn't discover Seraphina until the second book had already been release, but I still had trouble waiting a few weeks on the library hold list!

Shadow Scale picks up a few months after the events of the first book and we jump right into the conflict arising from the dragon civil war. In Seraphina's home country of Goredd it looks like the humans will soon be involved in the war as well. Along with Queen Glisselda and Prince Lucian Kiggs, Seraphina makes a plan to gather all the ityasaari (half-dragons) that she can. The hope is that together the ityasaari can use the mind powers they are all gifted with in defense of Goredd.

The first half or so of this novel mainly follows Seraphina and Abdo as they travel throughout different countries search for their fellow half-dragons. Shadow Scale is definitely more plot driven than the first book, but this section does become somewhat tedious and predictable. Abdo is able to help lead Seraphina to the ityasaari they are looking for, but they also end up having to face Jannoula. This half-dragon has the ability to invade the minds of other ityasaari and continuously thwarts Seraphina's attempts to gain the loyalty of the others.

In the second half of the book, we see more of the dragons and their actions in the war. Seraphina also begins the search for her uncle Orma who fled Goredd in the previous book, but is interrupted by more of Jannoula's plots. While Jannoula is a formiddable opponent, Seraphina seems to take a lot of time thinking about how helpless she feels and not actually trying to do anything about it. Seraphina seems a little too helpless in this book and I also didn't like that the tension between her and Kiggs isn't a present as it was in first novel.

Overall, though, I still enjoyed this book very much. Even with a much larger cast of characters, namely all of the ityasaari, Hartman still makes you feel like you know them just as well as Seraphina. I also LOVE the diversity in this book! I've read a lot of YA novels that are specifically marketed at LGBTQ populations, but seeing these themes in a fantasy book was even more exciting. While it isn't marketed to these audiences, Shadow Scale (and Seraphina to a lesser extent) manages to include gay, lesbian, and transgender characters in a completely natural way. I'm just disappointed that Seraphina's story won't be continued in a third book.

Shadow Scale will be my fifth book for the summer reading program from summerreadingonline.blogspot.com and I am using it for the fantasy book challenge.

Gabriel Finley & the Raven's Riddle - by George Hagen

My rating:

I really liked the overall idea of this book, but the execution left a lot to be desired. I loved the tie-in to Norse mythology established in the beginning of the novel. We learn about raven history, their connection to humans, and their love of riddles. We also learn about the magical torc and how it tempted the raven Huginn with immortal life if he would eat the flesh of his human amicus, making him the first of the evil valravens.

We then come to the present day where our protagonist, Gabriel, lives with his Aunt Jaz. Gabriel is more or less an orphan, his mother died when he was young and his father has been missing for the past several years. Shortly before his twelfth birthday, Gabriel's aunt gives him journals that belonged to his father and he learns about how his father became the amicus of a raven. Eventually Gabriel's own skill with riddles allows him to become the amicus of the raven Paladin and the two learn to communicate and even join together in one body. These two, together with Gabriel's friends Pamela, Abby, and Somes, search for the lost torc in order to rescue Gabriel's father. To save him the group must journey to Aviopolis, an underground city inhabited by birds and currently ruled by Gabriel's uncle Corax who has become an evil half-human, half-valraven.

I'm sure middle-grade readers will love this book. It's full of magic and riddles and moves along at a great pace. While the plot is interesting and inventive, I think the characters fall a little short. Gabriel doesn't have much personality and his character development is minimal. Pamela is similarly shallow, and although Abby and Somes have are a bit more unique, they are still very one dimensional. The adult characters aren't any better and even though it seems unimportant, I still can't understand why Aunt Jaz just allows Trudy (Pamela's mother) to march in take control of the house. For some reason that detail really bothered me, and we don't learn enough about either character to explain it. This was still a fun novel and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it to younger readers.

The Magicians

The first book I read this summer was The Magicians by Lev Grossman.  I had actually started reading it for a class during the spring, but didn't get around to finishing it and decided to read the whole thing again over the summer.  I've read a lot of reviews from people who did not like this book at all, but I actually enjoyed it.

The Magicians is often described as "Harry Potter for adults," which is somewhat true, at least on the surface.  The protagonist, Quentin, discovers he can use actual magic and gets accepted to a college to study magic.  Aside from that, the book is actually quite different from Harry Potter.  First of all, the characters in this book are very aware of the fantasy genre and even make references to Harry Potter and Tolkien several times.  This was my favorite part of the book, because most fantasy books (even the ones that take place in the real world/modern day) seem to have characters who have lived under a rock their entire lives and don't know the first thing about fantasy.  Quentin and his friends realize what's going on, and while still being excited to get accepted to a school for magic, aren't stupidly amazed that magic even exists.  Although their knowledge of fantasy does lead to a lot of disappointment.

Besides being very aware of the fantasy genre, this book also chooses not to follow the fantasy expectations - the fantastical world(s) in the book aren't the best thing ever and there really isn't a happy ending.  Quentin is an unhappy kid and at first he thinks going to a school for magic will make all his dreams come true.  Then he realizes that it's still school, he has to study all the time, there's a lot of hard work, exams to study for, and way too much alcohol with his friends.  After school Quentin doesn't really do anything other than get drunk all night and sleep all day, until he finds a way into Fillory (aka Narnia), the magical world from a series of children's books.  Quentin once again thinks all his dreams will come true as soon as he gets to Fillory.  Without giving too much of the plot away, Fillory basically sucks and Quentin is still miserable.  So if you're looking for a book to make you feel good, The Magicians is not it.

Despite being somewhat depressing and filled with apathetic characters who are drunk for large portions of the book, I still enjoyed The Magicians.  It's like a fantasy novel, but more believable.  The characters are from the real world and they recognize fantasy and magic when they see it.  The fantasy world might have magic, but it's still just a bunch of average people living average lives (with magic) and magic does not solve all their problems.  While this certainly isn't my favorite book (I do still love Tolkien), it's a very believable book and it was nice to read something with a fresh take on the fantasy genre - even if it is a downer.