Sisters Red: Review

Title: Sisters Red
Author: Jackson Pearce
Release Date: June 7th, 2010
Published By: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Goodreads Rating: 3.83 stars

Synopsis: Scarlet March lives to hunt the Fenris--the werewolves that took her eye when she was defending her sister Rosie from a brutal attack. Armed with a razor-sharp hatchet and blood-red cloak, Scarlett is an expert at luring and slaying the wolves. She's determined to protect other young girls from a grisly death, and her raging heart will not rest until every single wolf is dead. 

Rosie March once felt her bond with her sister was unbreakable. Owing Scarlett her life, Rosie hunts ferociously alongside her. But even as more girls' bodies pile up in the city and the Fenris seem to be gaining power, Rosie dreams of a life beyond the wolves. She finds herself drawn to Silas, a young woodsman who is deadly with an ax and Scarlett's only friend--but does loving him mean betraying her sister and all that they've worked for?

Review: I absolutely loved the whole concept behind this book. I've read re-told fairy tales before, sure, but I don't think I've ever come across a retelling quite as good as this one. It seems more like it was inspired by Red Riding Hood than actually retold, and that's what makes it awesome. Rosie and Scarlet are two sisters (Scarlet being the older, and the Rosie the younger) who have devoted their lives to fighting the Fenris (wolves who look like handsome men and prey on young women) and protecting other girls.

That's a huge twist from the sickly sweet little girl skipping through the woods and tricked by the Big Bad Wolf! Jackson Pearce is clearly a master at complexity, too. Rosie and Scarlet felt like real people with real personalities. Scarlet is scarred all over from when she protected Rosie from a Fenris when they were young, and all she cares about is slaughtering wolves. But Rosie - the younger one, the prettier one, the slightly-more-innocent one - really just wants to be a normal girl, a girl who can admit her love with Silas and take classes at the community center and be like her old friends. These two personalities were completely believable and well-developed.

This book manages to have both action and plot development and ample character development, making it a near-perfect read. There were just two small things I didn't like as much. One was the plot twist - I definitely saw it coming, but it didn't really ruin the experience too much. The other was that I had a little trouble relating to Scarlet; her POV just didn't convince me of her obsession with killing the Fenris. Rosie was much easier to relate to.

Overall, this is an excellent read (with an absolutely gorgeous cover) that I recommend to everyone! Well, almost everyone. There is some violence. I'm a generally squeamish person by nature, and I did cringe a little at one or two places, but it's honestly not that bad. I hope everyone who's okay with blood finds a copy of this and reads it!

Grade: B

Thirteen to Life: Review

Synopsis: Something strange is stalking the small town of Junction…

When junior Jess Gillmansen gets called out of class by Guidance, she can only presume it’s for one of two reasons. Either they’ve finally figured out who wrote the scathing anti-jock editorial in the school newspaper or they’re hosting yet another intervention for her about her mom. Although far from expecting it, she’s relieved to discover Guidance just wants her to show a new student around—but he comes with issues of his own including a police escort.

The newest member of Junction High, Pietr Rusakova has secrets to hide--secrets that will bring big trouble to the small town of Junction—secrets including dramatic changes he’s undergoing that will surely end his life early.

Details: Thirteen to Life by Shannon Delaney, 308 pages, 3.96 stars on Goodreads

Why I Picked This Up: This one was another book I hesitated to put on my to-read list. The cover was gorgeous, but the summary sounded boring. And really, werewolves? I honestly haven't read a werewolf book yet that I've really enjoyed - they're just not my cup of tea - but finally I gave in and decided to read it. 


Characters: I'll just come out and say it - I didn't like the characters very much. Jess was okay. While I didn't hate her guts, she wasn't really someone I particularly cared for. I like snarky characters, but it didn't feel like it was done right with her - she was snarky about the same "typical American high school" stuff, complaining about the jocks and the populars and the nerds and the drama geeks and what have you. Hint - as far as I know, not all high schools are neatly divided into perfectly orchestrated social classes. One thing I do have to say, though, is that I'm glad she's a character who likes reading but not classical literature. It's possible to enjoy books without only reading things like Wuthering Heights and Jane Eyre - you know, the YA fiction we all know and love. 


Jess got a little annoying towards to the end, because she kept talking about self-sacrifice and such. I think this book would have fared a lot better without that. It's one thing to have a character who's inclined to be generous, but it was just irritating to read about her martyring herself all over the place. In some cases, it can be successful, like Sorta Like A Rock Star (the most recent addition to my to-review list), but when it falls flat, it really falls flat.


Still, I liked Jess better than Pietr. His "bad boy"-ness felt overdone and didn't really bring anything new to the table. I also didn't like the random da's and nyet's interspersed with his dialogue - there are other ways of making him seem Russian and mysterious than having him say a foreign word or two every now and then. 


Plot: My other issue with this book was the plot. A lot of paranormal romances seem to go this way: (1) New boy comes to school, and every single girl in a fifty mile radius is instantly attracted to him, except one. (2) This one girl is forced, one way or another, to be around him a lot. (3) The girl starts to fall in love with him, even though she doesn't want to. (4) She finds out his terrible secret and loves him anyway. Dialogue such as "I love you." "You shouldn't. I'm dangerous. I could kill you." "I love you anyway." ensues. 


I was hoping this book would go differently, but it didn't. There was very little deviation from this standard plotline, and there wasn't anything really unique going on, either. The romance was unremarkable and didn't stand out. One thing I do have to say is that although I disliked Pietr, he was definitely very, very swoon-worthy. If you're really into paranormal romances, you'll probably love Pietr.


My biggest issue with this book was the pacing. Everything was trundling along at a nice rate, and then suddenly a whole lot of plot got crammed into the last twenty pages, presumably to act as a cliffhanger for the second book. If it wasn't for that, I probably would want to pick up the next one, but instead things got confusing with lots of characters tossed into the mix, and now I don't plan on reading Secrets and Shadows.

Cover: I love this cover. The colors are wonderful, with the different shades of blue, especially how the really dark ones around the edges ebb into lighter colors. The pattern on the left is cool and adds a nice touch, especially how it twists and snakes around in a chain-ish way. The eye-moon is very cool as well, and I think the abrupt color change with that works quite nicely. Really, the only thing I don't like very much about this cover is how there are two focal points, the girl and the eye-moon. One of the first things you learn when making graphics is that unless you pull it off really well, things work better with a single focal point. Otherwise, your eyes aren't sure where to focus, the girl or the picture of the eye. I think this cover would be a little better without the girl strolling by on the bottom. 

First Line: I closed the door behind me, heading down the hallway and straight to Hell. 


Overall: I feel like this book might have some potential, but I didn't like it very much, with the unoriginal plot, strange pacing, and characters I simply didn't care about. The reviews on Goodreads were mixed, with some people feeling like I did and others raving about it. I would say that if you know you love paranormal romances, you'll probably adore this one, but if you only like some or don't like them all, don't pick this one up.


Plot - 2/5
Characters - 2/5
Writing - 4/5
Impact - 2/5
Inability to put it down - 3/5


Total - 52% = C

The Dark Divine: Review

Synopsis: Grace Divine, daughter of the local pastor, always knew something terrible happened the night Daniel Kalbi disappeared—the night she found her brother Jude collapsed on the porch, covered in blood. But she has no idea what a truly monstrous secret that night really held. And when Daniel returns three years later, Grace can no longer deny her attraction to him, despite promising Jude she’ll stay away.

As Grace gets closer to Daniel, her actions stir the ancient evil Daniel unleashed that horrific night. Grace must discover the truth behind Jude and Daniel's dark secret . . . and the cure that can save the ones she loves. But she may have to lay down the ultimate sacrifice to do it—her soul.

(source)

Details: "The Dark Divine" by Bree Despain, 385 pages, 4.5 stars on Amazon

My Thoughts: I have to admit: when I first saw the cover, I wasn't sure what to think. It was a nice cover - simple and elegant. But now that I've finished the story, I still don't see what the cover has to do with anything. Oh well. It's pretty and that's what counts, right?

The main character, Grace, was interesting, but I never felt like I really got involved in her problems or felt sympathetic for her. I suppose part of the reason was that she treated the guy who liked her, Peter, rather aloofly, even though he seemed like a perfectly nice, sweet, and overall charming guy. He invited her to go bowling multiple times with him along with her brother and his girlfriend, and she turned him down harshly. When she realized that she was falling in love with Daniel, she never felt an urge to let Peter know that she liked someone else, and on the night when she and Daniel officially got together, Peter conveniently - and suddenly - showed his "true colors", which were drastically different than ever hinted at in the story.

On the other hand, the werewolves bit were done quite well. A lot of paranormal romances feel like they read the same but this one was different. "The Dark Divine" had religious undertones, and while I didn't really like them that much, it was original. Daniel being a werewolf was portrayed as something dark and sinister, and there were parts in the book where I just had to keep reading. 

Overall - it could have been done better, but it was still pretty darn good. 3 out of 5 smiley faces.

Vampires and Werewolves and Angels, Oh My!

No. This is not going to be another post about how much I absolutely despise anything sparkly (except dinosaurs and unicorns) and werewolves are going to be the end of the world and angels suck and that they need to become more coordinated because why, why do they keep FALLING? *hyperventilates* But no, I'll resist. I'll even admit something:

I finished a book last night called "The Dark Divine" (review to come). It had werewolves in it. And I didn't like the book that much... but not because of the werewolves. Anyone who knows me is probably laughing at that funny joke I just made, but seriously - the werewolf part was good.

So now I'm rethinking my I-hate-sparklies philosophy. As my friends know, I've spent probably several lifetimes ranting about how unoriginal all vampire-werewolf-zombie-angel-demon stories are and how every one is a carbon copy of Twilight and Oh my God, isn't that the EXACT phrase ("I stood up") used in that other vampire book I was forced to read? THOSE UNORIGINAL JERKS!!!!!!!!! How is it that a hater like me enjoyed the werewolf part in "The Dark Divine"?

I don't think originality is much of an issue when it comes to sparklies (henceforth all commonly used paranormal creatures shall be known as sparklies), like I used to think. I mean, there are a crazy amount of books that are too similar to Twilight, and we all know that Twilight is a spin off from Vampire Diaries so someone call the cops right now, but is that really such a huge issue?

Consider the book "Speak". I like "Speak", and you (most likely) do too. It's a friggin' work of genius. But we've all read five hundred rape stories before "Speak", and we'll read five hundred more after, where the main character is raped and loses her friends and then recovers. So why was "Speak" so good? The story wasn't original, but the way the author chose to write the story was.

And so "The Dark Divine" approached werewolves differently than other books I read. It didn't try to give one of those cringe-worthy "scientific" explanations of lycanthropy (although I wasn't a fan of the religious one it did give), and it somehow made being a werewolf seem darker and sinister than Edward's sparkles. That's why the book was sorta-okay and kinda-good.

But still. I don't recommend you recommending me a sparkly book. Unless the book itself is sparkly. In which case, I WANT TO READ IT NAO K?

What are your thoughts on the sparklies? Have you read "The Dark Divine"? Do you know any paranormal romance that was actually pretty darn good?