Bookanista Review: The Splendor Falls

Happy Thursday! I finally had some time to read this week, so I picked a book that's been sitting on my shelf for a while. It looked creepy and mysterious and romantic, just what I was in the mood for!

THE SPLENDOR FALLS, by Rosemary Clement-Moore, was just what I hoped it would be. And written by a fellow Bookanista! Even better!

From Goodreads:

Sylvie Davis is a ballerina who can’t dance. A broken leg ended her career, but Sylvie’s pain runs deeper. What broke her heart was her father’s death, and what’s breaking her spirit is her mother’s remarriage—a union that’s only driven an even deeper wedge into their already tenuous relationship. 

Uprooting her from her Manhattan apartment and shipping her to Alabama is her mother’s solution for Sylvie’s unhappiness. Her father’s cousin is restoring a family home in a town rich with her family’s history. And that’s where things start to get shady. As it turns out, her family has a lot more history than Sylvie ever knew. More unnerving, though, are the two guys that she can’t stop thinking about. Shawn Maddox, the resident golden boy, seems to be perfect in every way. But Rhys—a handsome, mysterious foreign guest of her cousin’s—has a hold on her that she doesn’t quite understand. 

Then she starts seeing things. Sylvie’s lost nearly everything—is she starting to lose her mind as well?

My Thoughts

This book was exactly what I hoped it would be. Dark, creepy, and romantic, haunting and funny, with a great main character, whose voice is consistent and engaging throughout. Sylvie begins the story both mentally and physically "broken" - she's suffered a career-ending injury and her mother's convinced she's not handling it well. And, in many ways, she's not. Somehow Rosemary makes Sylvie's "woe is me" attitude at the beginning more compelling than grating, more engaging than off-putting. The best part of this is it sets up a lovely character arc for Sylvie - she actually gets to grow and change over the course of the book!

It's tough letting your characters be broken at the beginning of a story - it can be scary letting them show their bruises and aches and anger and pain, wondering if the reader will care enough to watch them recover, reclaim their power, grow, change....at least...it's hard for ME to do this. :-) From the beginning, I was with Sylvie for the long haul, and I loved watching her journey.

One of my favorite things about this book was the slow build. The slow build of tension, of romance, of mysteries...it took quite a while to get to the explanations and resolutions but I didn't mind, because I enjoyed the piling mysteries, the building sense of dread. The delayed pay-off was INTERESTING, not annoying. And, as I said, creepy! I actually had a hard time reading this book before bed because it was just spooky enough to make me start at strange noises and moving shadows in the night.

I also loved Rosemary's unique take on the love triangle. She didn't try to make the boys "equal" - the suspense is not in WHO DOES SYLVIE LIKE BEST, but in questioning each boy's motives. In the irony of knowing who Sylvie SHOULDN'T choose - but worrying she might choose him anyway.

And, finally, the sense of place, the lush setting served as a wonderful backdrop to the story. I love books where the setting feels as important as the characters, and this is definitely one of those books. 

So, pick up a copy, relax in your favorite chair, and enjoy disappearing into Sylvie's world. Believe me, you'll want to linger there long after you finish reading. :-)

Bookanista Thursday!

Hey y'all! Sorry I've been MIA for a couple of weeks...been working hard on some revisions and therefore no time to read! But hopefully I'll have a book review for you next week. In the meantime, check out these awesome reviews, giveaways, and interviews by other Bookanistas! :-)

LiLa Roecker interviews an Actual Young Adult

Shannon Messenger celebrates SURRENDER – with arc giveaway

Stasia Ward Kehoe unearths “shadowy” YA titles

Jessica Love is all about IN HONOR

Christine Fonseca interviews author Jo Ramsey

Bookanista Review: Sunshine

Happy Vampire Diaries finale day!! This is both SUPER exciting and sad. I'm already wondering how I'm going to survive until the fall. So, in honor of TVD, this week's Bookanista review is for SUNSHINE, my fave vampire book of all time!

SUNSHINE, by Robin McKinley, is not actually a young adult book...but it's one I nonetheless LOVE and think is appropriate for mature YA readers (what puts it in adult territory is the sex, so keep that in mind if recommending to younger readers).

So, yeah. I've read SUNSHINE many times. It's one of my favorites, and my own particular brand of comfort read. I've been reading a lot of awesome new YA lately, but I needed to take a break and go back to something familiar and well-loved this week, as life's been a bit hectic. 

We actually had a little disagreement this morning, over who got to cuddle with the book. Mia won.

From Goodreads:

There hadn't been any trouble out at the lake for years, and Sunshine just needed a spot where she could be alone with her thoughts. Vampires never entered her mind. Until they found her. 

My Thoughts

Alright, that isn't much of a description. But it's okay. How about we just add that Neil Gaiman called this book "Pretty much perfect"...so yeah. What else is there to say, right?

Well, while I'm certain I can't do this story justice in a review, I CAN extoll its virtues and recommend that you read it, if you haven't already.

Robin McKinley's greatest strength, I believe, is in creating worlds so detailed and extensive that they live and breathe and make sense in the ways only a real world can. You believe in Sunshine's New Arcadia. You believe that most of the world's been weakened, in some places destroyed, by the Voodoo Wars. And, most of all, you believe in Charlie's coffeehouse, because you can almost taste Sunshine's Killer Zebras, Bitter Chocolate Death, and cinnamon rolls as big as your head. (In fact, I was SO craving a cinnamon roll reading this book that I made MAJOR HOTSAUCE pick us up some Cinnabuns!) 

That's not to say the characters in SUNSHINE aren't also fully realized. From reading McKinley's blog, I know she's gotten near constant requests from her fans to write a sequel or companion novel to SUNSHINE ever since the novel was published. And it's not JUST because of the awesome world she created. It's because her characters are so INTERESTING...we all want to follow them on more adventures, learn more about them, hang with them a little longer. Sunshine, the titular character, is brave in the truest sense of the word - she plays the hero even while absolutely terrified. Her relationship/connection/affinity with sunlight is one of the most gorgeously rendered elements in the entire book, which is saying something. I love that her relationships with her family and boyfriend feel authentic (she and her mom, in particular, feel very real to me...they fight a lot. ;-)), and that she thinks about stuff. She has hobbies, interests, skills...I don't know if I'd be interesting enough to be her friend, but I'd CERTAINLY eat her baked goods, if I lived in New Arcadia. And that's what I love about her most, I think. She isn't necessarily the kind of character you'd imagine being best friends with - because she's prickly, private, and obviously going through her own life-changing stuff and doesn't have time for you - she is her own person, unapologetically. As a reader, I can't help but love her, not because she's like me, but because she's so HER.

And, in SUNSHINE, vampires are as they should be (apologies to Damon and Stefan - I still love you, hottie vampires!): scary, ugly monsters. I love that Sunshine's "good" vampire, Con, is STILL a vampire and follows the "rules" of the world. He's not attractive, he's not a "vegetarian" (that we know of), he's still scary as shit. But he has his own personality too, his own sense of honor and morality. In some ways, I find him to be an even more complex, intriguing character than Sunshine, because there's so much about him we don't know. He doesn't fully reveal himself or his history, and that makes him especially compelling to me.

At any rate, I could go on and on, but you probably should just pick up a copy of SUNSHINE for yourself. :-) Though, if you're a writer, this is one of those books, like DAUGHTER OF SMOKE AND BONE, that shouldn't be read in a vulnerable state...it's intimidatingly awesome!! But I also think it's inspiring. LOOK what someone has created with nothing but words - see the world, the characters, shimmering into life before you. THIS is what a writer can do. SUNSHINE is the kind of book I read when I want to remind myself of what I'm striving for....and how far I have to go. It's both a comfort and a challenge. 

Aaaanyway....here are some more cute Mia pics!

Look how shiny and pretty!

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And now, check out what the other Bookanistas are up to!

Christine Fonseca  adores IN HONOR

Debra Driza is celebrating HEMLOCK with giveaway

Stasia Ward Kehoe unwraps UNGIFTED

Tracy Banghart basks in SUNSHINE

Bookanista Review: The Disenchantments

Happy Thursday, y'all! And let's not talk about that whole "it being May" thing, alright? My internal clock hasn't quite caught up yet!

Instead, how about a book review!

This week I want to talk about THE DISENCHANTMENTS, by Nina LaCour. I actually heard about this book through another Bookanista, Katy, when she reviewed it a while back (check out her review here). It sounded very intriguing so when it came out in stores, I headed on out and grabbed myself a copy. And YAY! I'm so glad I did!!

(So is kitteh Mia...)

(Mine can't be the only cat that likes to sit on books?)

From Goodreads:

Colby and Bev have a long-standing pact: graduate, hit the road with Bev's band, and then spend the year wandering around Europe. But moments after the tour kicks off, Bev makes a shocking announcement: she's abandoning their plans - and Colby - to start college in the fall.

But the show must go on and The Disenchantments weave through the Pacific Northwest, playing in small towns and dingy venues, while roadie- Colby struggles to deal with Bev's already-growing distance and the most important question of all: what's next?

Morris Award–finalist Nina LaCour draws together the beauty and influences of music and art to brilliantly capture a group of friends on the brink of the rest of their lives.

My Thoughts

First, a note...the cover is GORGEOUS, and the picture above (though cute) doesn't do it full justice. Click on the photo to go to Amazon, where you can see the full cover in all its glory (and buy a copy for yourself! ;-))

This book is so, so beautifully written. As I was reading, I felt like I was in the hands of someone who knew exactly what she was doing...building emotional resonance, creating well-rounded, interesting characters, presenting a world both beautiful and meaningful...all through her inspired, lyrical writing. 

From a writer's perspective, this book did SO MANY things right and made it look easy!

I loved Colby, the main character. He had such a thoughtful, engaging voice, but what really drew me in was how much I related to his situation and emotions...he's just graduated high school and is about to embark on a year abroad in Europe with his best friend. He feels the walls of his home and hometown closing in around him - he's anxious to see new things, explore the world. By the time complications threaten to thwart his plan, I was so solidly in his head and on his side, I couldn't help but read on to discover how or if he regained the peace and excitement of the first pages.

I was intrigued by Bev because Colby was...and loved watching them circle each other and not understand each other and butt heads. Watching them try to come to some kind of understanding, try to regain something of the friendship that was breaking apart under the weight of growing up, was both engaging and heart-breaking. And, above all, real.

Who doesn't remember what it felt like at the end of high school, when you and your friends - your best friends - were about to go your separate ways and you knew, deep down, that things would never be the same again? How hard did you hold onto all the old jokes, all the old haunts, the old memories? I remember feeling very nostalgic senior year of high school - acknowledging each "last" moment with my friends, reliving inside jokes and funny memories, thinking and talking a lot about the past and how perfect everything was. I was excited for the future, desperate for it even, and yet still looking back, knowing on some level that this moment would be when everything, everything changed.

Nina LaCour does a fabulous job of capturing those emotions throughout the road trip Colby takes with The Disenchantments. Each moment felt authentic, emotional, satisfying and agonizing. I loved the details that made this story specific to Colby and his friends, not only a universal coming-of-age story, like how each of them had their own individual artistic lens through which they viewed the world. How the girls are in a band that isn't good but has energy and life. How tattoos play a role in their journey...each specific quirk and lovely detail reinforced the overarching themes of the book.

Honestly, I'm not sure I can do this book justice in a review. Just rereading the end to remind myself where we left Colby had me tearing up and feeling his journey - and my own at his age - all over again. This novel is beautiful, emotional, and I really have nothing more to say except that you won't regret picking it up and living in Colby's world for a while. I highly recommend it!

BONUS PETS-WITH-BOOK PICTURES!! 

Scrabble enjoys a good book now and then.

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Check out what the rest of the Bookanistas are raving about this week!

Christine Fonseca  revels in TO RIDE A PUCA

Stasia Ward Kehoe gushes over GILT

Katy Upperman adores UNDER THE NEVER SKY

Tracy Banghart delights in THE DISENCHANTMENTS

Gennifer Albin  celebrates SHADOW AND BONE

Jessica Love is wowed by YOU’RE THE ONE THAT I WANT

Shelli Johannes-Wells is crazy for CLOCKWISER

Bookanista Review: A Million Suns

So, I woke up this morning 100% convinced it was Wednesday. Uh...yeah. Not exactly! Happy Bookanista Thursday! 

Not that it's a bad thing to realize we're one day closer to Friday than I thought. :-)

This week I want to sing the praises of A MILLION SUNS by fellow Bookanista Beth Revis. This is the sequel to her NYT Bestselling ACROSS THE UNIVERSE, which I mentioned a while back, here. 

From Goodreads:

Godspeed was once fueled by lies. Now it is ruled by chaos. It’s been three months. In that time, Amy has learned to hide who she is. Elder is trying to be the leader he’s always wanted to be. But as the ship gets more and more out of control, only one thing is certain: They have to get off the ship.

My Thoughts

I've seen a lot of reviews of this book state that the reviewer loved it even more than Across the Universe. I'm not sure I agree with that, just because I absolutely loved Book 1 in this series. I'm still haunted by that incredible first chapter and the sense of claustrophobia that permeates the book. But A MILLION SUNS certainly wasn't a disappointment! Rather, I think it upheld the promise and quality of the first book. Characterizations were deepened, stakes were raised, and while I had a hint in the first book of who the "baddy" was pretty early on, I had no idea in book 2, even though when I found out, I felt like I should have guessed (to me, this is a sign of a GREAT mystery. Hiding a bad guy in plain sight, without making the pay-off feel cheap or unearned takes serious skill!) 

The events of this follow-up felt organic to where we left the characters at the end of the first book, and the building tension from the very first page kept me turning pages long into the night. Beth's world building and treatment of the ship is great - I love that the Godspeed is itself practically a character, and not just a landscape. 

I have to say, I was NOT expecting A MILLION SUNS to end where it did, and now I cannot WAIT to get my hands on the conclusion to the trilogy, SHADES OF EARTH. Like, REALLY can't wait. ::schemes on ways to finagle an ARC::

A Last Observation

One of the most powerful, yet subtle, elements of this book, for me, was how Beth approaches her "absent" characters. Amy's parents, frozen in time, Elder's friends who'd died before the story began. Even though we never meet these characters (at least not most of them), there's a ton of emotional resonance surrounding them. Because they mean/meant so much to Amy and Elder, we feel that. Beth does a great job giving these characters presence and importance, and finds ways to help her readers connect to their stories, even though we never "meet" them in real time. I thought that element of the story was really well done.

In Conclusion

If you haven't read ACROSS THE UNIVERSE, get on it! And then prepare to savor the next chapter of the story, with a fabulous and compelling A MILLION SUNS. And brace yourself for an agonizing wait for SHADES OF EARTH! These books are fantastic and I highly recommend them!

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Check out what the other Bookanistas are reading this week!

Elana Johnson more than “likes” BEING FRIENDS WITH BOYS

Nikki Katz is crazy about CREWEL

Stasia Ward Kehoe  adores BREAKING BEAUTIFUL

Katy Upperman wonders at WANDERLOVE

Tracy Banghart  takes a shine to A MILLION SUNS

Jessica Love is wowed by WELCOME CALLER, THIS IS CHLOE

Debra Driza marvels at MASQUE OF THE RED DEATH – with giveaway