You + YA = YES

If you're an author or a book blogger or any one following a book lover on Twitter, I'm sure you saw the EXPLOSION of tweets last night concerning the Wall Street Journal's article on darkness in YA literature. If you were living in a cave in a remote part of Neverland, you may not have seen it and you should check it out here.

On to my thoughts.

Originally, I wasn't going to do a blog post. I went to bed last night shaking my head, too annoyed to do much more than fire off a few tweets and retweet about a hundred others. But now, after reading even more tweets, I feel the need to blog. Honestly, my reasons for reading YA cannot be summed up in 140 characters. Here's why.

I didn't have a terrible childhood, not really. It was tough, it was confusing, it was a whirlwind of thoughts and emotions and feeling like a freak. Pretty normal. (now here's where we get to the nitty gritty, and where I sincerely hope my family never finds my blog) My mother is a hoarder. She doesn't clean. Maybe this means nothing to you. But for me, it seriously impacted my emotional life. I couldn't bring friends over to my house. I was ashamed of the filth, of the stacks and stacks of things that had been sitting there, untouched, my entire life. I said she didn't clean, and I'm 100% sure you cannot imagine exactly what that meant. I hated being at home. Everyone hated being at home. I used to use a washcloth and try to scrub the shower while I was taking a shower so that the stains wouldn't be so bad.

It made me feel... dirty. And what's more? Everyone knew. And they all talked. Now, I love my mom. She's my mom. But our kitchen should have been looked at by the health department. People didn't eat the food we'd bring to pot-lucks or parties. I felt shunned. Sure, people were nice enough. But there was always that look people gave each other. "Don't eat that pie... Shannon's mom brought it."

My siblings and I would try to clean, but we weren't allowed to throw anything out. So we'd try in vain, mostly just moving things around and stirring up dust and mold and then we'd get sick. We wanted a livable house. It wasn't something that we could do though. So we all found escapes. Mine was reading.

I could go to my room, open a book, and temporarily leave my house and be in a whole other world. It was bliss.

Recently I read White Cat by Holly Black. Dark YA? You BET. Good YA? GREAT YA. HECK YES. It was the first book I'd ever read that had anything close to what I grew up with. My house was chaotic and messy. (not in a good way) Cassel's house was chaotic and messy. My heart flew from my chest when I read about him moving stacks of things to sit down. He may not be real, but I felt so connected to him. I had an ally.

Now see, you may be thinking, "But she wasn't suicidal, or a drinker or a smoker, she has no right to say YA changed her life." And to that I say, dude. You don't have to have a touching story for YA to change your life. My story is one I don't tell. I'm still ashamed. My parents' house has only gotten worse since the kids have left.

I have many other reasons why YA changed my life. I was sick, I was a scapegoat, I was the forgotten fourth child. I was publicly humiliated by my mother. Called fat, called stupid. I was (am) dyslexic. I was shunned (for lack of a better term) by the church I thought had accepted me. (I committed a crime in having guys as close friends. Clearly, that meant I was a slut and not good enough to date one of their favorite guys in the youth group.) (Too bad for them, I ended up marrying him and multiple families left the church because of it.) I was a cutter. I was depressed. My self-esteem was beyond dismal. When I hit puberty, no one was there for me. No one explained anything at all. I was just... forgotten. I survived it because I read books about girls going through puberty. I used dictionaries, non-fiction and fiction to educate myself about myself. Books saved me in SO many ways.

The point is- My life wasn't great. It wasn't the worst, I know that. There are people with much more touching, much more traumatic tales than I. But if not for YA, I know for a fact that my life would not be as it is now. It would be so much worse.

I often thank authors for their honesty in my reviews. Nobody was honest with me when I was growing up, so I appreciate authors telling it how it is. Dark, it may be. But I'd rather know about the darkness than to walk blindly into it and stumble.

I think by now I'm rambling, so I'll bring this to an end. YA books are exactly what teens and young adults NEED. They need truth. They need honesty. They need to know that they are not alone, and that whatever they are going through, they can survive it and be stronger for it. They need to have a place to escape to when their life is getting to be too much for them. They need understanding and love.

Who, I ask, could take that way?

Passionate Prose Please

So here's the deal. I'm a little burnt out on reviewing. *shock horror!* I know. I'm a terrible book blogger. I have no commitment, whatever. Truth is, I'm just plain tired of reviewing every book I read. My priorities are my family, my real life, and admining on WickedLovely.com. This book blogging gig is something I started out doing for fun, and with all the other things going on in my life, I've decided to take a small step back and regroup. Don't get me wrong, I love book blogging. But I'm having a hard time getting up the energy to write out thoughtful, organized, and articulate reviews, especially for books I don't have many strong feelings about.

No, I'm not quitting. I'm simply explaining why my reviews-per-month have become a slow and steady drip instead of a constant flow. And I'm letting you know that it's going to continue as a drip. Things are going to change a bit around here. I'm not going to spend lots of time writing reviews I don't have strong feelings about. I think I might do a monthly list of books I read, enjoyed, and had no huge issues with, but didn't feel the need to write a review about.

In a nutshell, you should expect my reviews to be "HOLY FLYING MONKEY BUTTS, THIS WAS AWESOME!!" or "Don't. Read. It. EVER. Because it was so bad I wanted to CRY."With a few "I like it, but..." reviews thrown in when I feel like it. I generally go with the idea that spreading negativity is bad, so I try not to write negative reviews. But let's face it, they're fun to read. (Don't give me that look, you know you like reading them from time to time, especially if it's a book you strongly disliked too)

In my negative reviews I will not bash. That's not reviewing. That's being mean. So please don't expect me to rip apart a book, demean the author, or blatantly insult it. That's not my style. I will tell you what I did like, and what I didn't like. In the end, these are all just my opinions. You don't have to agree. Sometimes my future self and past self don't even agree, so I understand if you and I don't see eye to eye on a book.

Again, I'm not quitting. So please don't think I'm telling you to go away and stop reading my blog. That would be... stupid of me. Heh. I love books, I love talking about books. But lately I've not loved sitting at the computer, forcing myself to write about books I can't seem to feel passionately about. Thus, I'm cutting out the "meh" and sticking to the passion.

Yes, this will mean reviews will come in slower. But I think quality over quantity is really a good idea. :)

Love you all, my dear readers and friends.

Let the Passionate Blogging begin!

Really Ravishing Review (Mercy)

Review of Mercy, by Rebecca Lim. 

Quickie: Delightful. Mercy managed to be fresh, despite it's recently over-used paranormal element. (That's a compliment, by the way)

Note: I read Mercy without a clue as to what it was about. I didn't read the back cover. I went in cold turkey, and I'm glad I did. Sometimes the back cover can really spoil the first half of the book... Anyhow.

Full: Mercy wakes up in a new body. She's disoriented and desperately trying to untangle the clues to her new life. She's only in this life temporarily, or, that's what she seems to remember about this whole experience anyway. Mercy's self-awareness is vague and incomplete, but she's certain that she's not the person this body belongs to, Carmen. But -plop- here she is, in Carmen's body, on a bus headed to a multi-school singing engagement.

With a single touch Mercy discovers that the people she's to be staying with, her host family, are struggling to cope with an impossible grief. Their daughter Lauren has been missing -possibly dead- for nearly two years. Mercy, Carmen, whoever she is, is going to be staying in this missing girl's bedroom. The anguish this causes the family is painfully obvious and made worse by an outburst from Lauren's brother, Ryan. He doesn't believe Lauren is dead. After all, she is his twin. He would know. But his parents feel that it's time to move on, and thus they've begun hosting singers in their home again.

Mercy can't help but feel like maybe Ryan's right. And she can't help feeling like maybe this time, instead of just biding her time until she wakes up as someone else, she can do something. She can make a difference. She can help.

Her resolve is only strengthened when another girl goes missing. The stakes are getting higher and time is running out.

What did I think about Mercy? I was pleasantly surprised. Here's why.

Mercy: At first you get the impression that she's sort of rolling her eyes. "This again. Great. Another body, let's see what I'll have to put up with this time." She's not all that concerned with the body she's in, she just wants to survive it. But then she becomes invested and you see her turn from the eye roller to a caring being who puts others before herself. That was lovely.

Mercy also keeps her cool. I mean, how freaky would it be to keep winding up in a different body, with only glimpses of the reason why? She's weirded out and a little jumbled at first, but goodness. I should hope so. But in spite of the constant body-jacking, she's still with it. She tries her best to get the body she's using through their life all in one piece, without totally destroying their life for them.

The paranormal element: Okay, sure, if you read the back cover or almost any review, you'll know what this mysterious element is... but I'm of the belief that sometimes it's really just best to read the book. Anyhow, I was happy to see such an interesting take on it. It wasn't the typical story, and it wasn't the more recent "How can I make this typical story into a non-typical story... oh! I'll add something paranormal.. and something else paranormal that doesn't normally go together. Aha!" kind of deal. THANK YOU, Rebecca Lim, thank you.

The mystery: There were a couple different mysteries in Mercy, and I liked them both. There was the obvious one- Where is Lauren, who took her, why? and then the less obvious but very interesting- Who is Mercy really? How did she wind up like this? I was a big fan of both.

The singing: Yes. I'm a choir geek. I admit it. In fact, I'm proud of it. So the environment was comforting and familiar to me. It's just not something that shows up in many books I read.

Should you read it? Yeah. I think so.

4 out of 5 stars.

Only One Opinion (City of Fallen Angels)

Review of City of Fallen Angels, by Cassandra Clare. 

Quickie: A money-maker, but not in a good way.

Full: Honestly, I'm not even going to waste the effort typing out a summary. 1) Because there's not much to say and 2) Because I already spent enough time reading it.

I really enjoyed The Mortal Instruments trilogy. This... I don't really know what this was. I was satisfied and pleased with the conclusion of the trilogy. Sure, there were things that weren't completely settled or resolved, but that was just fine. It meant I could imagine the endings and futures myself. It was a good ending to a fun trilogy. And then there's City of Fallen Angels.

The writing was okay, it wasn't off-putting or anything. Standard Cassandra Clare writing. But the plot... I was disappointed in the plot. It's a lot of the same. Jace and Clary are angsting (again). Other things happen too, but the main story seems to be Jace and Clary's relationship. Maybe it was my expectations of the book, but I just didn't want any more of the Jace/Clary back-and-forth. I was expecting Simon's story. I was expecting a fresh problem. Not a re-hash.

The ending was (for me) the best part. Finally things were happening! The evil was big and interesting and worth reading about. Maybe not worth the couple hundred pages I had to read to get to that part, but still good.

In the end, I'm giving City of Fallen Angels...

2 out of 5 stars.

I hope you enjoy(ed) it more than I did. As always, this is only one person's opinion.

My Magnificent Mailbox #28

In My Mailbox is a weekly meme brought to you by The Story Siren.

This week I got:

From my friend Aine over at Aine's Realm:

The Iron Daughter, by Julie Kagawa

Siren, by Tricia Rayburn

Halo, by Alexandra Adornetto

Grace, by Elizabeth Scott

Tantalize, by Cynthia Leitich Smith

The Curse of the Wendigo, by Rick Yancy

From Amazon:

Enclave, by Ann Aguirre

Won from Mark Del Franco:

Unperfect Souls, by Mark Del Franco

From Nantucket Bookworks:

ARC of Trapped, by Michael Northrop

ARC of Second Grave on the Left, by Darynda Jones

ARC of Lot's Return to Sodom, by Sandra Brennan

ARC of The Hypnotist, by Lars Kepler

Really Ravishing Review (Darkness Becomes Her)

Review of Darkness Becomes Her, by Kelly Keaton. 

Quickie: I enjoyed it, but it was what I was in the mood for. If I had been in a more cynical mood, I don't think I would have liked it as much. Make sense?? No? Maybe you'll have to read the full review...

Full: From the cover flap: Ari can't help feeling lost and alone. With teal eyes and freakish silver hair that can't be changed or destroyed, ARi has always stood out. And after growing up in foster care, she longs for some understanding of where she came from and who she is. 
Her search for answers uncovers just one message from her long-dead mother: Run. Ari can sense that someone, or something, is getting too close. But it's impossible to protect herself when she doesn't know what she's running from or why she is being pursued. 
She knows only one thing: She must return to her birthplace of New 2, the lush, rebuilt city of New Orleans. Upon arriving, she discovers that New 2 is very...different. Here, Ari is seemingly normal. But every creature she encounters, no matter how deadly or horrifying, is afraid of her.
Ari won't stop until she knows why. But some truths are too haunting, too terrifying, to ever be revealed.


Okay, so Ari was a pretty cool chick. I liked her toughness, and her ability to hold her own. She was more than a little stupid when she didn't tell her foster parents where she was going though... And plenty irresponsible. She's lucky that it all worked out okay and she didn't end up dead. Entering a dangerous situation and not telling a soul where you're going is just plain stupid, no matter your skills. But she did make up for it later, with guts and gumption and smarts.

The relationship is probably my least favorite aspect of this book. While I liked Sebastian, the relationship went way, way, way too fast. It was more than rushed, it was a time-warp. One day they are introduced, and the next they're in love. I'm being very literal here. I simply couldn't buy into their relationship and I felt it was untrue to the characters. Sebastian was supposed to be the brooding boy, the one that you had to put in that extra effort to get to open up. So how come he's falling in love with a random stranger the second day he knows her and baring his soul and secrets to her?? I just couldn't dig that.

The paranormal and mythological elements were fun and interesting and I had no problem with them. It was an unexpected mash-up of creatures, but that's what made it fun. I definitely didn't expect the Big Villain to be what the Big Villain ended up being, so that was nice. I loved the culture and feel of New 2, it was like the New Orleans of today, but creepier and stripped of all the "normal" people. Totally chaotic and very vibrant. Honestly, I think the setting was my favorite part of the book.

When I finished reading Darkness Becomes Her, I thought "5 stars!". But then I had time to think about it, and in the end I'm going to give it 4. Why? The relationship. It was just too big of an issue for me. But I will be reading the next book in the series.

(Edit) The more I think about it, the more I think this book is really a 3 star. I'm sticking with my 4 star simply because that's how I felt at the end of the book, but if I were to review it right now, it would most likely be a 3. It was my mood at the time of reading it that resulted in a 4. Just something to keep in mind if/when you read it.

Really Ravishing Review (Enclave)

Review of Enclave, by Anne Aguirre. 

Quickie: I suspect this book (and author) will win many awards because this book is a masterpiece. This, my friends, is why I read.

Full: I'm going to skip the synopsis on this one, because I feel it's best read cold-turkey. No spoilers, no pre-concieved notions. Just a book. A fantastic book by an extraordinarily talented author. I will, however, give my thoughts.

Characters: Loved them all.
-Deuce came off as green and desperate to prove herself in the beginning, almost to the point of irritation for me. That was good though, because it made her personal journey, discovery, and growth all the better. She was a fighter, to be sure, but I was glad to see that she wasn't completely pragmatic and heartless. If she would have been, I doubt I could have identified and "bonded" with her. I loved her though, mistakes and flaws included. Her growth as a character was lovely and fulfilling.
-Fade was pure love. What more could we ask for? A tortured boy (man? I feel like he's more man than boy) who has difficulties connecting to those around him. (For good reason) But once you take the time to get to know him, he's pure gold. Sweet, protective, jealous, understanding, and respectful. He's not intimidated by Deuce's Huntress title, nor does he see her as any less feminine. He respects her for who she is.

World: Oh man. This is a terrifying place to live. And yet, so very rich. With a lot of dystopians lately, I have felt like I've got a grasp on the world they have created, but with Enclave, I could see it. I could feel it. I could smell it. It was clearly researched and dwelled upon to a great extent. I am absolutely astounded at how much I loved the world. I would call it dynamic. And frighteningly realistic. I can't wait to go back!!

Cover: Well, covers and book design do not count towards my ratings, but I wanted to mention this one. Here's why: I left it on. Usually  when I read a hardcover book, I take the dust jacket off and put it up on top of my bookshelf so that I don't ruin it. But I didn't do that with Enclave. Not because I wanted to ruin it (I didn't!!) but because it creeped me out. No, really. Every time I paused to collect my thoughts I'd close the book and be totally creeped out by those hands and I'd open it right back up again because I had to know what happened next. Maybe that doesn't make sense to you... maybe I'm just crazy, but it mattered to me. I enjoy looking at covers while I'm reading books. With hardbacks I usually make the sacrifice and take it off to make sure I don't rip it or anything else. But this one... I couldn't take it off.

Etc.: Read it. Trust me, the hype about Enclave is well deserved. It started out beautifully and only got better as the page numbers went higher.

5 out of 5 stars.

Really Ravishing Review (Red Glove)

Review of Red Glove (Curse Workers, book 2), by Holly Black. 

Warning: Contains spoilers from White Cat. Please read White Cat before reading this review!! For my review of White Cat, please go here.

Quickie: This series is in my top 5 YA series, no question. A must read.

Full:
From the cover flap: Curses and cons. Magic and the mob. In Cassel Sharpe's world, they go together. Cassel always thought he was an ordinary guy, until he realized his memories were being manipulated by his brothers. Now he knows the truth- he's the most powerful curse worker around. A touch of his hand can transform anything -or anyone- into something else.
That was how Lila, the girl he loved, became a white cat. Cassel was tricked into thinking he killed her, when actually he tried to save her. Now that she's human again, he should be overjoyed. Trouble is, Lila's been cursed to love him, a little gift from his emotion-worker mom. And if Lila's love is as phony as Cassel's made-up memories, the he can't believe anything she says or does. 
When Cassel's oldest brother is murdered, the Feds recruit Cassel to help make sense of the only clue- crime scene images of a woman in red gloves. But the mob is after Cassel too- they know how valuable he could be to them. Cassel is going to have to stay one step ahead of both sides just to survive. But where can  he turn when he can't trust anyone - least of all himself?
Love is a curse and the con is the only answer in a game too dangerous to lose.

Okay seriously. Does that not sound awesome?? I loved every bit of Red Glove. It was exciting and tense and thoughtful.

I love Cassel and I love reading a male POV that's convincing! He's not the normal female-written-male. He actually thinks like a guy, in a good way. Faults and flaws and normal guy-ish things aren't left out or changed, he feels real. Miz Black, I adore you and I thank you so very, very much for really and honestly being true to Cassel's voice.

(More on Cassel) In most books we read, the tortured boy is the love interest that gets away, or the interesting side character, or the love interest that our female protag has for a while, but things don't work out. Sometimes, the tortured boy is the enemy. He's done bad things. Therefore, he must be inherently bad. We can't like him, no matter what he does to try to redeem himself. Not so in Red Glove. Cassel is tortured and broken and a mess, no doubt about it. He's done terrible things. More than a few times. He's by no means perfect. But despite all that, we are rooting for him the whole time. We love him and adore him and sympathize with him. He's done bad things, but he's good. That is quite possibly my favorite thing about this series.

Another thing that I just loved was reading about a world that is nearly identical to the one I live in, but with one major difference. The whole curse worker thing is fascinating and terrifying and it's interesting to see how this one difference impacts everything and everyone. Just one major change and it branches out and becomes important in some of the most unexpected ways.

Seriously guys, I can't pimp this book enough. I can't say enough wonderful things about it. It's just something you have to read and appreciate for yourself. Please, please, please do yourself a favor and read White Cat and Red Glove!! You'll be hooked.

5 out of 5 stars.