"Waiting on" Wednesday: Beastkeeper - Cat Hellisen!

Meme hosted by Breaking the Spine 

Publication date: 3rd February 2015

Publisher: Henry Holt and Co

Synopsis from Goodreads:

Sarah has always been on the move. Her mother hates the cold, so every few months her parents pack their bags and drag her off after the sun. She’s grown up lonely and longing for magic. She doesn’t know that it’s magic her parents are running from. 

When Sarah’s mother walks out on their family, all the strange old magic they have tried to hide from comes rising into their mundane world. Her father begins to change into something wild and beastly, but before his transformation is complete, he takes Sarah to her grandparents—people she has never met, didn’t even know were still alive. 

Deep in the forest, in a crumbling ruin of a castle, Sarah begins to untangle the layers of curses affecting her family bloodlines, until she discovers that the curse has carried over to her, too. The day she falls in love for the first time, Sarah will transform into a beast . . . unless she can figure out a way to break the curse forever. 

It's definitely the cover that's attracted me to this one, but the story sounds creepy and fairytale-esque (which I love, love, love). Got a feeling this'll be one to wait for. :)

Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll!

I love second-hand books, especially pretty second-hand, hardback books. This one was just what I needed to beat me out of my mid-term blues. 

So I thought I'd show you this one, because it's b-e-a-utiful. I got it from Oxfam for only £1.99, which is awesome, savvy spending. 

I think it was fate, because recently everything is Alice in Wonderland, and by everything I mean the Fenwick's shop window and Chatsworth House. Unfortunately couldn't get a picture of the shop window, it was swarming with people that are probably more appropriately aged for Alice in Wonderland than me. 

Ah well, though, it's an enchanting book that came with some lovely pictures, and I have a young heart. 

Invisibility - Andrea Cremer & David Levithan

Title: Invisibility 
Author: Andrea Cremer and David Levithan
Published: May 2013
Publisher: Philomel
Pages: 358
Rating three and a half stars
Bought from Waterstones for £7.99

Stephen has been invisible for practically his whole life — because of a curse his grandfather, a powerful cursecaster, bestowed on Stephen’s mother before Stephen was born. So when Elizabeth moves to Stephen’s NYC apartment building from Minnesota, no one is more surprised than he is that she can see him. A budding romance ensues, and when Stephen confides in Elizabeth about his predicament, the two of them decide to dive headfirst into the secret world of cursecasters and spellseekers to figure out a way to break the curse. But things don’t go as planned, especially when Stephen’s grandfather arrives in town, taking his anger out on everyone he sees. In the end, Elizabeth and Stephen must decide how big of a sacrifice they’re willing to make for Stephen to become visible — because the answer could mean the difference between life and death. At least for Elizabeth. 
*Synopsis from Goodreads*

So it's been a while since I read a book for the sake of a bit of romance, but I was in love with the synopsis. I mean someone born invisible? - Yes please. 

I got off to a definite good start with this book, the characters were gorgeously written. Stephen was such a good character, I could tell how much the strain of his curse and the loss of his mum was eating at him, but how resilient, if not at a bit of a stand still, he was. The fact he hadn't changed anything in apartment since his mum really got to me. 

Elizabeth was a great character, and the meeting between Stephen and her was so good. She was insecure yet capable. She was understandably defensive and I liked her strength, of character and will. I felt like I really knew her backstory, which you sometimes don't get in books. Plus her brother Laurie was a top class character, who's own story touched upon something very real in today's society: homophobia and bullying. Forget curses and spells. 

The writing style was well up my street, with minor differences between the characters, obviously. It still all blended together. It was simple, easy to read, but down right inspiring in its imagery and meaning. Of course at points it's funny. 

And the romance, the whole reason I picked up the novel, was good. It wasn't THE most amazing romantic piece of work I've ever read but, but, BUT there was a something about it that I did like a lot. There wasn't any sort of, dare I say it, bullshit about this relationship. They both accepted that they liked each other after spending a lot of time together, they weren't meaninglessly oblivious to that very obvious fact. They worked together well, they acted like a real life couple, if not a little quick to the 'hopelessly in love' stage - but I guess new found witch powers and an invisible boyfriend will do that for you. 

My one little meh of the book unfortunately had quite a big impact on my rating. I pinpointed the moment I became unenthusiastic about the plot. Firstly, I was enjoying the mystery surrounding Stephen's condition and I was preparing myself for some thing a-maz-ing to be the answer to this problem. I was disappointed, as soon as they met Millie. It just seemed all very cliché  to me. I felt like we'd skipped what I wanted to be the problem and was on the way to a happy ending straight away. 

I wasn't shocked, surprised, or amazed by the 'spellseeker' and 'cursecaster' thing. But that's just my personal opinion. I wasn't overwhelmed by Millie, and Elizabeth got a little annoying at some points. It did pick up towards the end, Maxwell was a very good villain and his curses on New York were pretty interesting to read: a touch of real horror to the novel. I loved the ending, some of it quite unexpected but appreciated. It resolved the novel without resolving everything. 

Favourite quote: "I want one person to see me. Out of these hundreds. Out of these thousands."

Belzhar - Meg Wolitzer

Review 

Title: Belzhar 

Author: Meg Wolitzer 

Published: September 2014

Publisher: Dutton Juvenile 

Pages: 264 

Bought: £7.99 Waterstones
Rating: four stars

A group of emotionally fragile, highly intelligent teenagers gather at a therapeutic boarding school where they are mysteriously picked for 'Special Topics in English'. Here, they are tasked with studying Sylvia Plath's The Bell Jar and keeping a journal.

Each time the students write in their diaries they are transported to a miraculous other world called Belzhar. Here, they are no longer haunted by their trauma and grief - each begin to tell their own story. 

*Synopsis from back of book*

So, I can't lie when I started this book I was a bit mislead by the first line: "I was sent here because of a boy." I thought to myself 'ah hell, this book is going to be appallingly cliché'. (And I did manage to guess the love interest 30 pages in.) It all sounded a bit typical, and at some points it definitely was.

But I was enjoying it, because all the main characters had a little something extra to them. The Special Topics English class was rich with well-rounded characters I could feel for. Sierra especially, I just wanted to fall into the book and talk with her. Jam was vividly put to page, I didn't always like her, with her love-dumbness in the beginning, and that something was concealed from us for so long was almost too much. At the same time she weaned herself into my emotions even before I could understand her. She's so perceptive of other people and I don't think I was perceptive enough of her. 

By the end it all made sense. I'd forgotten that this was a school for the "emotionally fragile", especially because the image of the school itself didn't come across very clearly to me. The fact that she'd created this perfect imaginary scenario out of a very different reality really stood out for me. And in the end, though not fully recovered she's positive about her future, she's positive about life outside of the school - which made me feel good. 

I was left feeling, like the English student I am, that the magic notebooks were all just some huge metaphor for their recovery, for realising what went wrong and how to deal with it. Or as Jam puts it, how to find their voice. 

"Words matter. All semester, we were looking for the words to say what we needed to say. We were all looking for our voice."

I've got to give it to the author, she can say some beautiful things. But the road did seem a little bumpy, because she can also say some cliché and slightly forced in things that didn't make me think that it actually was the mind of a teenager. 

So overall I liked the twistiness of this novel and the romance was sweet without being too overpowering. It was a story of recovery and of finding a voice, and in the end I did enjoy it. 

Top Ten Places Books Have Made Us Want To Visit

Hosted by The Broke and the Bookish

1) The Nevernever
Julie Kagawa made it sound so mysterious and awesome, and yeah I'd probably die in a second flat but still...it looks cool.

2) Middle Earth
This is more based on the film considering I've only just started reading the book, but still I think it'd be beautiful and, as with the Nevernever, pretty deadly.

3) The world Todd lives on in The Knife of Never Letting Go
I don't know why but I think it'd be fascinating!

4) New York
I thought Cassandra Clare was really good at setting up an image of the city in my mind, and I've always wanted to go anyway.

5) Japan
I love Japan, like a lot and I've been studying the culture for a while, but Memoirs of a Geisha was a kicker for me.

6) London
I actually live in England so this one is feasible, and I have been once before, but I'd like to go again. There's been a lot of recent books (and old ones) set in London and they make it seem more charming than I remember is being, so I think I better give it another go, eh?

7) The alternative universe (as I like to think) from Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children
I just seem to be picking places that will kill me...but this sounds so awesome.

8) Can I just say America? I know that's pretty vague but...
All the books seem to be set in America and it might be nice to understand some of the references without googling them,

Because America is such a vague/massive one I might just let it fill in 9 & 10. ;) (i.e. I can't think of any more.)

Reread and Review: Darke Academy - Gabriella Poole

Review:
Book: Secret Lives, Blood Ties, Divided Souls
Series: Darke Academy
Author: Gabriella Poole
Published: August 2009
Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton 

Pages: 288 - 320

Rating: 3/5 stars

 You'll be dying to join the chosen Few... 

The Darke Academy is a school like no other. An élite establishment that moves to an exotic new city every term, its students are impossibly beautiful, sophisticated and rich. And the more new scholarship girl Cassie Bell learns about the Academy, the more curious she becomes. 

What sinister secrets are guarded by the Few — the select group of students who keep outsiders away? Who is the dark stranger prowling the corridors at night? And what really happened a year earlier, when the last scholarship girl died in mysterious circumstances? 

One thing Cassie will discover is that a little knowledge may be a dangerous thing, but knowing too much can be deadly...

*Synopsis from Goodreads*

So I decided to go through my books and find a story that I haven't read in ages to see how my opinion of it has changed. I picked The Darke Academy series, from my Vampire book phase, because I remember really enjoying them but going off vampire books before the fourth was released.  I want to know whether I should continue it now.

The story is really original and I find Cassie a super gutsy and likeable character. The images of the school and cities are really good, and the writing style is simple and easy to read. It helps that these aren't particularly long books.

Poole is really good at building characters and giving them their own identity, even if they weren't front and centre stage . I remember wanting Isabella to be my best friend and having a book-character-crush on Richard and Ranjit. In fact Richard is probably my favourite character out of the whole series because he's a dastardly charming English gent but also two-faced and sneaky (I'm not 100% convinced it's just because of he Few spirit either).

The plot in the first two books really made it for me. I loved the idea of this not-so-secret, yet totally mysterious, clique ruling over a school filled with privileged kids and that it takes scholarship student Cassie to shake things up a bit. The Few spirits were a chilling take of vampires as well, and the way they fed really freaked me out.

I found Cassie's resemblance to Jess a little...strange. Also, that apart from knowing she comes from a care home we never find much out about Cassie's past. But apart from that and Cassie's ability to kill without any apparent remorse, I loved the mystery and scandal that arose with her appearance. The first book ultimately deals with Cassie becoming a member of the few...illegally, and the second book about dealing with some of the fall out of the first book, including one rich, homicidal maniac.

But the third book...meh. It was like the ideas had run a little dry. All of a sudden Ranjit is crazy as hell and there's some chase for some weird-ass relics. It all goes a bit cliché, and the fall out between Cassie and Isabella seems flimsy at best. It disappointed me because I so enjoyed the first two. Once again Cassie demonstrates her ability to have no morality whatsoever by:
a) letting Ranjit escape, when she could have stopped him
b) not caring about Richard's role in Jess's death, no matter how innocent his intentions seemed
c) almost completely disregarding Jake and Isabella in the last chapter in order to have some witty banter with Richard

Originally, I thought her fling with Richard was a blessing, because I thought they'd be a really interesting dynamic. But no, Cassie is all "I'm still so in love with my serial killing, unreliable ex-boyfriend, I have to be with him". This made me sad.

Anyway, I don't know whether I'm going to get the fourth book. I might just to satiate the slight tingle of curiosity that I have but. 3/5 stars for the last book making me sad but the first two being really good.

Currently reading - October

I thought the best way to get back into the swing of things was probably to tell you what I'm reading at the moment!

1# Belzhar by Meg Wolitzer
Published: September 2014
Publisher: Dutton Juvenile
Pages: 266

I was attracted to this because the plot sounded super interesting. When I started reading I didn't know if I was going to get along with it, though. Anything that starts with "I was sent here because of a boy" would strike me as sort of edgy, to be honest. I'm on the second chapter and fortunately it seems to be keeping my attention really well. I do hope I haven't guessed the love interest already though, because if I have that's just too cliché. 

2# Invisibility by Andrea Cremer and David Levithan 

Published: May 2013

Publisher: Philomel 

Pages: 358 

So this one is one that I just saw in the bookstore and was instantly intrigued by. It's not a new book but right now I'm fancying a bit of a romance novel and this looks like it's going to satiate that want! I actually haven't read anything by Andrea Cremer and only Will Grayson, Will Grayson by David Levithan and John Green. So really excited to get into this one!

On a slightly different note, for my course I'm currently reading The Way of All Flesh by Samuel Butler, which I'm surprisingly not hating like I thought I would!