April Book Review - Red Rising by Pierce Brown

Book stats (from Amazon):

• Paperback: 416 pages

• Publisher: Del Rey; Reprint edition (July 15 2014)

• Language: English

• ISBN-10: 034553980X

• ISBN-13: 978-0345539809

Amazon rating: 4.3/5 stars
Goodreads rating: 4.2/5 stars


Summary (from Amazon):
“I live for the dream that my children will be born free,” she says. “That they will be what they like. That they will own the land their father gave them.”

“I live for you,” I say sadly.

Eo kisses my cheek. “Then you must live for more.”
 
Darrow is a Red, a member of the lowest caste in the color-coded society of the future. Like his fellow Reds, he works all day, believing that he and his people are making the surface of Mars livable for future generations. Yet he spends his life willingly, knowing that his blood and sweat will one day result in a better world for his children.
 
But Darrow and his kind have been betrayed. Soon he discovers that humanity reached the surface generations ago. Vast cities and lush wilds spread across the planet. Darrow—and Reds like him—are nothing more than slaves to a decadent ruling class.
 
Inspired by a longing for justice, and driven by the memory of lost love, Darrow sacrifices everything to infiltrate the legendary Institute, a proving ground for the dominant Gold caste, where the next generation of humanity’s overlords struggle for power.  He will be forced to compete for his life and the very future of civilization against the best and most brutal of Society’s ruling class. There, he will stop at nothing to bring down his enemies . . . even if it means he has to become one of them to do so.



    I have to be honest. I did not expect to like this book. I love sci-fi and dystopian, but the back of the book just made it seem dull.

    I wouldn't say this book is Young Adult, per say, but it is often called that because Darrow, the main character, is 16 years old. Despite his young age, I would say the book tends more toward an adult market. It's certainly suitable for an older teenager, but as a lot of readers start moving into Young Adult in their preteens or perhaps younger, I feel the need to caution people against giving this book to younger teens, although ultimately it is up to them and their parents/guardians if they are mature enough to handle it. That being said, this book doesn't have any graphic sex scenes in it, but it does have some fairly graphic violence. I didn't find it stomach-turning or even particularly gruesome or disturbing beyond a few instances of "okay, that sounds really painful", but again it's up to you what you can handle. It does, however, cover some topics which may be sensitive subjects for some people, such as rape and prostitution. I found that these topics were covered very carefully and inoffensively, but if you are disturbed or offended by those issues, you may want to steer away from this novel or skim over some parts.

    Warning: This review will contain no major spoilers, but due to the nature of the plot and the twists that occur, it would not be possible to detail everything I loved about this book without some minor spoilers occurring. You have been warned.

 

    This book is written in first-person from the perspective of 16-year-old Darrow, later Darrow au Augustus. He is a Red (specifically a lowRed), a member of one of the many colonies of oppressed miners living below the surface of Mars under the pretense of making the planet habitable for the rest of humanity. Obviously, Darrow figures out that he has been tricked, and, with the help of a rebel group called the Sons of Ares (I have to admit, I loved the story behind the name, but I love Greek and Roman mythology so maybe I'm biased), he infiltrates Gold society.

    I have to say, the worldbuilding in the book is incredible. The universe Pierce Brown creates is amazingly real, and what few large blocks of worldbuilding-information there were were fascinating and didn't pull me out of the story at all. The majority of the information, however, was woven beautifully into the plot, and the slang the characters used is self-explanatory after a few uses and isn't overpowering.

    The plot itself was, in my opinion, masterfully executed. It is reminiscent of The Hunger Games and other popular dystopian novels, but despite the similarities, at no point in the story did I feel as if I was rereading something I had already read. I think this novel's plot was one of the freshest dystopian takes I've read in a while. It clearly draws inspiration from other popular dystopian novels, without being a rip-off. Another thing I absolutely loved in this novel was that, near the end, something happens that presents a supposed roadblock for Darrow - perhaps a fatal roadblock. But Brown doesn't use this to present an actual conflict - instead, the character who was accused of being a traitor turns out to be completely loyal. Some readers may find this a deus ex machina way of making Darrow the hero who defeated his enemy without any real effort, but I found it very well done. After all, Brown could have chosen not to have occur this at all, and stretched out the plot more by having Darrow hunt down the enemy, which quickly would have gotten dry and blended in with all the other searching/marching/battling that occurs, rather than feeling like a "final showdown" of sorts. I also admire what I think is foreshadowing on Brown's part - I can't say too much without spoiling, but I think Brown is setting Darrow up for a bit of a conflict of interest, especially where loyalty is concerned.

    I find that interesting, dynamic, quirky characters are often what brings a novel from great to incredible, and Red Rising definitely delivered on this front for me. The characters all have complex motivations and often they have shifting loyalties, which I found fascinating. None of them fall into the trap of being "good-then-bad-no-good-no-bad-no-I-was-good-all-along-surprise" or flip-flop back and forth. Darrow himself was an interesting character, and I liked how he was written. What I especially enjoyed was his struggle over his loyalty to his late wife, and his affection for another girl. I thought he was a very realistic character - he was loyal to his wife, but was not the completely virtuous, would never look at someone other than their soulmate type of character that many main characters seem to be. He could also be just as ruthless as many of the other characters and made mistakes, but learned from them as well. However, I have to admit, Sevro was my favourite character. He is unabashedly quirky, even bizarre, and an absolutely fascinating character. There are too many characters that I loved for me to ever be able to mention them all, but Roque, Lea, Fitchner, Eo, Narol were definitely some of my top characters in addition to Sevro and Darrow.

    I couldn't help but laugh when I read about Sevro's Howlers - soldiers who charge into battle wearing wolfskins and howling like wolves - because it reminded me of a childhood memory of mine. When I was around the second grade, perhaps a bit older, a friend of mine (I won't name him for the sake of not embarrassing him, but you know who you are if you're reading this) went on a field trip with our class to a sugar bush, where they made maple syrup. Of course, we'd tried quite a bit of maple syrup and had quite a bit of sugar by this point, and - although it is very embarrassing to admit - we were very hyper and for some reason decided it would be a good idea to run through the maple trees howling. Like wolves. *bad poker face* Anyway, the reason I chose to tell this story, was that I noticed Pierce Brown had been asked on Twitter who Sevro was based on, and he replied that he was based on someone he knew as a child, to which someone replied that they hoped Brown and this friend had run around howling like wolves as children, and I thought the opportunity and the connection was too good to pass up.

    Overall, I adored this book, and I can't wait to read the rest of the trilogy, Golden Son and Morning Star. Golden Son is out now, while, according to Goodreads, Morning Star will be out in January. This book is a fantastic choice for older teenagers and adults alike. Science-fiction and dystopian fans will find connections to their favourite novels, but I don't think anyone would find this book cliché or repetitive.

    5/5 stars!

March Book Review: Asylum by Madeleine Roux

    Quick note: I am so, so sorry for being late with these two months in a row. I didn't even realize it was March until a few days ago, and I know it's no excuse, but I hope you can all forgive me. 

 

Book stats (from Amazon):

Hardcover: 320 pages

Publisher: Middle Grade (Aug. 12 2013)

Language: English

ISBN-10: 0062220969

ISBN-13: 978-0062220967

Amazon rating: 3.2/5 stars
Goodreads rating: 3.5/5 stars

Summary (from Amazon):
Asylum is a thrilling and creepy photo-novel perfect for fans of the New York Times bestseller Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children.
For sixteen-year-old Dan Crawford, New Hampshire College Prep is more than a summer program—it's a lifeline. An outcast at his high school, Dan is excited to finally make some friends in his last summer before college. But when he arrives at the program, Dan learns that his dorm for the summer used to be a sanatorium, more commonly known as an asylum. And not just any asylum—a last resort for the criminally insane.
As Dan and his new friends, Abby and Jordan, explore the hidden recesses of their creepy summer home, they soon discover it's no coincidence that the three of them ended up here. Because the asylum holds the key to a terrifying past. And there are some secrets that refuse to stay buried.
Featuring found photos of unsettling history and real abandoned asylums and filled with chilling mystery and page-turning suspense, Madeleine Roux's teen debut, Asylum, is a horror story that treads the line between genius and insanity.


    I'm going to acknowledge this now: I feel this book has a bit of a bad reputation. A lot of people online didn't like it. I don't understand why. Sure, it may be somewhat similar to other horror/suspense novels/movies/what have you, but it's extremely difficult to write anything in that genre - or really, any genre - without there being something, somewhere, that is similar.

    To be frank, I loved this book. I had trouble putting it down. I sped through the majority of it in one day, and I'm planning to buy the sequel, Sanctum, as soon as I can. In all honesty, this book had my heart pounding. I was almost panicking at some points, and legitimately frustrated by the setbacks the characters faced at other points. This book blended creepy pictures and creepy description with a few instances of dry humour, which anyone who knows my book preferences will know I love, especially when it's balanced nicely with the content. I love dry humour in almost anything, although I am a fan of creepiness too.

    This book is classified as Young Adult. It's written in third person, from the perspective of 16-year-old Daniel "Dan" Crawford. Dan is a history-loving outcast excited to make friends before he heads off to college for real. His best friends are Jordan, the math genius, and Abby, an artsy girl Dan finds himself falling for. Dan and Abby do end up dating later in the novel, which creates a bit of tension between the trio, but the romance isn't overdone, nor does it take over the plot.

    The best part of this book, for me, were the plot twists. The ending itself (or rather, who the villain turns out to be), was completely unexpected. I fell for what I'm sure the author was trying to lead the reader toward (I won't spoil it, but if you've read it, you probably came to the same conclusion). The best part of it, however, was that when you reread the book knowing the real villain, it makes perfect sense. Which I find somewhat infuriating because WHY DIDN'T I REALIZE IT BEFORE?

    I have to say, I'm not sure I can pick a favourite part of this book. I love the characters, especially Dan's (creepy) roommate, Felix, and Jordan's roommate Yi was a favourite too. I love the main three as well, but in my opinion, good secondary characters can really bring a novel from good to amazing. 

    As I mentioned before, this book is part of a series. I believe there will be three books: the second, Sanctum, is out now, and according to Goodreads, the third will be called Catacomb. Also according to Goodreads, there are two in-between books called The Scarlets and The Bone Artists (Asylum 1.5 and 2.5, respectively). I haven't read either of these or Sanctum, but (as stated previously) I am looking forward to Sanctum and I think I'll have to read the other two as well, if I can get a copy. 

    Overall, this book is not for everyone, but I would recommend it to anyone who likes a creepy, fast-paced, hard-to-put-down adventure! 4/5 stars!

Throwback Thursday: Tuck Everlasting Stories from Middle School

   The other day, I was going through old work from when I was in school, when I stumbled across a Tuck Everlasting story that I had written back in the eighth grade. I still remember reading that novel and loving it (although, I will admit, my mom had been trying to get me to read it for years and I hadn't, but I regretted not reading it earlier once I had). After we finished it, the teacher gave us an assignment. There were a few options, ranging from drawing what we pictured the town looking like to the one I chose: What did we think would have happened if Winnie had drunk the water Jesse gave her?
    I remember very distinctly my terror when my teacher, Mrs. Hanson, told me I had to read my story out loud. To the whole class. My school was very small, so there were only about seven people in the class plus Mrs. Hanson, and I was friends with all of them. But still, I was terrified. To this day I get nervous reading my writing to other people or seeing them reading it.
    But the reaction I got to this story was one of the most encouraging things for me as a young writer - they loved it. It even made Mrs. Hanson cry, which I was apologetic but also somewhat pleased about, because I thought it meant the story was good. I hope she was crying because of the ending, and not because it was just THAT bad. I like to think my writing has improved between eighth grade and now, but I'm still proud of this story, and seeing as this year is Tuck Everlasting's 40th publishing anniversary (or book birthday, as I believe it's called now), I decided to share it with you. Enjoy!

    “Are we almost there?”

    Jesse Tuck laughed. “Almost, Charlie,” he said, ruffling his son’s hair.

    “Jesse, don’t do that! He’ll have his hair a mess again soon enough, without your help!” Winnie laughed, pulling her son toward her and smoothing his hair down again. Charlie Tuck had thick, curly brown hair like his father’s, and it stood up every which way.

    “Mom, I look fine!” Charlie complained, trying to squirm away from his mother.

    “Hold still, little Toad,” Winnie said patiently.

    Her husband smiled. He still didn’t understand why Winnie called their son Toad. They had been married for 25 years, but she had never told him about the toad.

    They stopped outside the Tuck’s old cottage. Charlie was off like a shot, running toward the house. Jesse’s brother, Miles, stepped out of the house. Charlie practically knocked him off his feet, hugging him happily. “Uncle Miles!” He exclaimed, laughing.

    Miles stumbled backwards a few steps, then bent down and picked his nephew up. “You’re growing up,” he commented, smiling slightly.

    “I’m eleven, Uncle Miles! I’m not supposed to be a little kid anymore!”

    “I suppose not,” Miles said. “Well, at least you’re growing.” He wondered what it would be like when his little nephew was his age, if he ever got that old. He supposed Jesse and Winnie would give their son an opportunity to drink the water, but as much as he loved Charlie, he secretly hoped the boy would decline and live a mortal life, the way life was meant to be.

    “Where are Grandma and Grandpa?” Charlie asked.

    “They’re right inside, getting supper ready,” Miles replied. “I’ll take you to see them.” He carried Charlie inside.

    “Don’t bother talking to your brother or anything!” Jesse yelled jokingly after Miles. “Just ignore me, no big deal at all!”

    Winnie laughed and kissed her husband’s cheek. “Let’s go in,” she said.

    They walked into the cottage hand-in-hand, smiling.

    “There you are!” Mae Tuck ran up to them and hugged them tightly.

    “Hey, Mom,” Jesse said, kissing his mother.

    “I can’t believe it’s been ten years already,” Mae said. “Charlie’s grown so much. He was just a tiny little thing last time I saw him.”

    “I can’t believe it either,” Winnie said. “He’s becoming more and more like his father every day.”

    “You must have your hands awfully full, then,” Mae laughed.

    Winnie smiled. She saw Tuck approaching behind Mae and waved to him. He reached out and hugged her silently. “Hi,” she said to him.

    “It’s good to see you,” Tuck replied softly. He loved Winnie, and he was happy for Jesse and her, but he had always wished that she hadn’t drunk the water. But she had, and there was nothing he could do now.

    Jesse came over with Miles and Charlie. “Isn’t this great?” He asked. “The whole family, together again!”

    “I wish it could be like this forever,” Charlie said happily, hugging Mae.     

 

80 years later

    The Tuck family stood near the grave. Winnie was crying into Jesse’s shoulder. Tuck knelt down by the gravestone. He had been both waiting for and dreading this day.

 

In Loving Memory of

Charles Jesse Tuck

1913-2004

 

    “Good boy,” Tuck whispered. “The wheel’s still turning."

February Book Review: Ashes Ashes by Jo Treggiari

 

Book stats (from Amazon):

 

Paperback: 352 pages

Publisher: Scholastic Press (Jan. 1 2013)

Language: English

ISBN-10: 0545255643

ISBN-13: 978-0545255646

Amazon rating: 3.0/5 stars
Goodreads rating: 3.5/5

Summary (from Amazon):
An unbelievable tale of adventure and romance, in the face of the darkest of nightmares.
Smallpox epidemics, floods, droughts — for sixteen-year-old Lucy, the end of the world came and went, taking 99% of the population with it. As the weather continues to rage out of control, and Sweepers clean the streets of plague victims, Lucy survives alone in the wilds of Central Park, hunting and foraging for food. But when she is rescued from a vicious pack of hunting dogs by a mysterious boy named Aidan, she reluctantly realizes she cannot continue on her own. She joins Aidan's band of survivors, yet a new danger awaits her: The Sweepers are looking for her, and they've laid a trap. There's something special about Lucy, and the Sweepers will stop at nothing to have her in their clutches.

Disclaimer: I do read books with protagonists named things other than Lucy.
   I read this book a few months after it came out. I can't really remember how I found it exactly, but it was probably a recommendation either from my mom or from my local bookstore. I do remember that I bought it on Kindle, and read it in a few weeks. And then I read it a few more times, and convinced (read: harassed) several of my friends to read it. I recall an approximately four-hour-long bus trip with a friend of mine who had recently read this book that was spent almost entirely discussing this book and the characters.
    This book is classified as Young Adult. It's written in third person. The main character is a teenage girl named Lucy. Without getting too spoiler-y, Lucy's family was killed by the plague that wiped out most of the human race, and now she lives in Central Park in New York City, surviving on her own. Lucy is somewhat similar to other female protagonists in dystopian/post-apocalyptic YA, but she is an interesting character on her own.
    However, it's the other characters that really made this book stand out to me. From Grammalie Rose (who is probably one of the best characters I've read in any book) to Sammy (I liked him more than the love interest, Aidan, actually), the supporting characters are very unique. Their interactions with each other, Lucy, and the world around them make them some of the best-developed, and least-predictable, characters I've read about recently.
    The plot itself is very well done. There are some minor inconsistencies I've heard tell of (although these are mostly in the statistics of how many people died and small things like that), and the ending of the novel is somewhat open, but I still enjoyed it. The romance doesn't overwhelm the plot, which was nice to see. As for the story itself, it revolves around Lucy and the others and their attempts to avoid the Sweepers, who seek to capture them - especially Lucy, for reasons I won't disclose so as not to spoil it.
    This book was, I think, intended to be the beginning of a series, but I haven't found any details on a sequel. There is a companion novel/prequel that the author started to write and never finished (as far as I know), titled A Pocket Full of Posies, the first three chapters of which are available on the author's website.
    Overall, an interesting take on dystopian/post-apocalyptic fiction. 4/5 stars!

Drawer Manuscripts - Why I Don't Believe in Them (and How to Fix Them)

Be free, drawer manuscript! BE FREE!
image from pixshark.com

 

    Almost any author you talk to, whether they've published 1 book or 10, or even none at all, will tell you - perhaps some more willingly than others - about their drawer manuscript, sometimes affectionately referred to as something like 'the book that never was' or 'that monstrosity that languishes in the bottom of my sock drawer and snarls threateningly whenever I open it'.
    Basically, drawer manuscripts are books that were written - or at least started - and put away. Maybe they didn't get much farther past the first draft before the author realized they weren't working, or maybe they grew up more before they got to the 'nopenopenope not happening' point. Maybe they even spread their wings, leapt into the great unknown of the querying stage, and then epically faceplanted. Or perhaps they survived the query stage and flew off into the great big world to find a publisher... and smacked straight into a window. Either way, a novel that never really took off and got finished is usually classified as a drawer manuscript.
    I don't believe in them.
    Maybe it's naïve. There are probably people reading this and shaking their heads slowly, smiling wistfully as they remember the days when they thought that, too. But I honestly do not believe in drawer manuscripts. I believe there may be novels that need to be set aside for a time in favour of another project, so the writer is not being bogged down with a fledgling idea and they have time to allow inspiration to come on its own while another, currently-better-developed idea takes the most part of the writer's efforts and attention. But there's never an idea that's so bad it has to be stuffed away, never to see the light of day. It might not be all that similar to the original idea by the time it's all done, but it's still fixable.
    In my opinion, there is no novel that can't be fixed. Even the first manuscript, which some people think should never, under any circumstances, be released into the world (some people say this is the Golden Rule of Writing), can be fixed. It may take years, and it may not be the first novel you publish, but - unless it's fanfiction, although you could argue that an alternate universe fanfiction could be adapted into something original with quite a bit of work - chances are it's fixable.

    That's not to say that every idea you ever start writing should be fixed and sent out into the world.  Maybe you bit off more than you can chew with the plot; it's alright, either trim it to something more manageable or set it aside until you've worked out the problems and/or gotten some more experience under your belt and you feel ready for it. 

    Maybe you found a novel exactly like yours already published. It's okay. Everyone does things differently. If your novel and the published one are both about young boys named Harry who learn they're wizards and go to a school for wizards where they have many adventures and eventually defeat dark wizards, well, maybe you might want to do some serious changes. But maybe your novel will evolve into something even better. If your book and the published one are both about, say, teenaged girls growing up in suburban neighbourhoods and learning to deal with the struggles that come with becoming an adult, well, there's a lot of ways to do that. Unless you read the book or a summary of it and find that your character goes through the exact same trials and tribulations, don't give up. Chances are, your end product will be miles away from the published book. Never assume that just because your idea is similar to someone else's that it's no good.
    Or maybe you've written a book that was trendy (let's say a vampire book), and you query it around and maybe you get an agent or maybe you don't, but either way the general consensus is that you missed your chance. The fad is over. No one wants to buy your novel now. So what do you do? There's a few choices: keeping trying, wait, adapt it, or self-publish. If you're trying to jump on a fad, the best thing to do is make the fad new. Breathe new life into it. Make your own interpretation. Make it yours. Hopefully, you already did that. If you did, then you could just keep trying to query. There just might be an agent out there who's still willing to take a look. Or you can wait until the fad dies down and query it around again. It's not a guarantee that you'll be able to find someone for it, but there's a chance. Your third choice is, of course, to adapt it. Change it up a little. Turn vampires into something new, into a creature of your own design, or find another way to change up the plot and make it into a new creation. The last choice is, of course, self-publishing, but I don't really recommend this route. If you've had people say the book is good (and I don't mean your best friends and your family like it, but if agents or editors or reliable beta readers have said it's a solid novel), and you don't mind the risk of losing money (you have to pay for editing, formatting, cover, etc.), then by all means, go for it.
    You might also realize that your novel just isn't working. Maybe you realized it was too much for you to do right now - too many characters or subplots or what have you. You've got a couple choices for this one too. You could set it aside and get some more experience or do some more research until you feel comfortable about writing whatever you were struggling with. Or you could recycle the characters or ideas, which leads me to my next point.
    You might just decide you don't like your current project. You might have a specific reason, or maybe you don't. Maybe you just lost your passion for it. If that's the case, give it a while. Work on something else. If you still have no passion or inspiration, then move on. What I recommend is recycling. By that, I mean taking your favourite characters, ideas, subplots, what have you, and migrating them to a new project. They may go into your 'To-Be-Used' folder (or as I like to call it 'The Shelter for Storyless Characters and Ideas') for a while, but think about them. Then, when you get inspiration, bring those characters or ideas over and see if they fit. Maybe you'll have to split up characters who were originally together into more than one novel. I've done it before (although I also have small groups of characters - never more than two or three, because more gets complicated - that absolutely cannot be split up. So they stay together. In fact, two of the characters in the novel I'm rewriting bounced around about four or five different projects (the plots and other characters of which are tucked safely away for future reference) before they found a home. The novel I recently started always had the same cast, but went through about six plot and genre changes before I settled on what I currently have.
    So what all of this adds up to, basically, is that any manuscript can be fixed, if you're willing to put in a lot of hard work. Of course, maybe you just don't want to fix it. If that's the case, sure, throw it in a drawer. Recycle the ideas or characters or store it away and come back to it when you feel more like it. But the one thing you have to do: even if you're upset about a manuscript that didn't get published or an idea that didn't work out, keep writing. While you're looking for the inspiration to fix your manuscript or idea or character or whatever needs fixing, keep writing. Work on a new project, or write a short story, or anything. Just always keep writing. And never give up.

January Book Review: Lockwood & Co.: The Screaming Staircase by Jonathan Stroud

Note: there are different covers, all of them awesome, but for the sake of space I put the one from my copy of the book here

Book stats (from Amazon:)

Hardcover: 400 pages

Publisher: Disney-Hyperion (Sept. 17 2013)

Language: English

ISBN-10: 1423164911

ISBN-13: 978-1423164913

Amazon rating: 4.7/5 for hardcover, 5/5 for paperback
Goodreads rating: 4.2/5

Summary (from Amazon):
A sinister Problem has occurred in London: all nature of ghosts, haunts, spirits, and specters are appearing throughout the city, and they aren't exactly friendly. Only young people have the psychic abilities required to see-and eradicate-these supernatural foes. Many different Psychic Detection Agencies have cropped up to handle the dangerous work, and they are in fierce competition for business.

In The Screaming Staircase, the plucky and talented Lucy Carlyle teams up with Anthony Lockwood, the charismatic leader of Lockwood & Co, a small agency that runs independent of any adult supervision. After an assignment leads to both a grisly discovery and a disastrous end, Lucy, Anthony, and their sarcastic colleague, George, are forced to take part in the perilous investigation of Combe Carey Hall, one of the most haunted houses in England. Will Lockwood & Co. survive the Hall's legendary Screaming Staircase and Red Room to see another day?

Readers who enjoyed the action, suspense, and humor in Jonathan Stroud's internationally best-selling Bartimaeus books will be delighted to find the same ingredients, combined with deliciously creepy scares, in his thrilling and chilling Lockwood & Co. series.

    I chanced upon this book one day and picked it up, thinking it looked interesting. It was more than interesting, to tell the truth. Honestly, I fell in love with the world and its characters. From the hilarious humour to the unique ghosts, it was an overall amazing book.
    This book is classified as Young Adult. It is written in first-person, from the perspective of Lucy Carlyle, a 15-year-old girl and former Agent. Without going into too many details and spoiling the book, Lucy didn't have a very good end to her former job as an Agent, and has a bit of trouble learning to trust herself and her instincts again. Lucy is quite unlike many female protagonists in current YA novels. She doesn't concern herself much with romance and the like (although I think I speak for more than a few fans in saying that Lucy and Lockwood would be a perfect couple. Seriously.) There's a few little hints of a potential relationship between the two, but we'll just have to wait and see I suppose.
   Honestly, this was one of the freshest takes on a ghost-hunter novel that I've ever seen. It's a ghost story at its heart, yes, and it has the right amount of spookiness and tension for that. But it's also a mystery - both the mystery of how one of the ghosts that is dealt with in the novel ended up dead, and also a good few other mysteries. What happened in Combe Carey Hall? And what is in that private room next to Lockwood's bedroom? This book comes with a glossary of different types of ghosts (they're organized into three categories: mostly-harmless Type Ones, dangerous Type Twos, and perhaps non-existent Type Threes, rumoured to communicate with those who have a strong Talent for Listening), but within those three they're categorized into smaller types, such as Shades, Lurkers, Phantoms, and more. I could honestly go on and on about the intricacies of the world Stroud created in these books, from the similarities and differences to our modern world, to all the different ghost hunting equipment the agents use, to Lockwood & Co.'s rivalry with the other, larger agencies in London. Of course, if I do that, this review will be about 20 pages long and it's only a matter of time before I slip up and spoil something. So I'll move on.
    My absolute favourite part of this novel, although I do love the ghosts and the tension of the conflicts with both ghosts and outside forces, is the relationships between the three main characters: Lucy Carlyle, Anthony Lockwood, the charismatic teenage owner of the agency, and George Cubbins, the portly, studious, yet sometimes insufferable, researcher. The interactions and dialogue between these three is hilarious at times, but also heartbreakingly sincere at other times. I won't go into too much detail, to avoid spoilers, but you can tell that as much as these characters love to get under each other's skin, they really do care about each other.
    Oh, and the best part? This is going to be a series. No word yet on book three, but book two (Lockwood & Co.: The Whispering Skull) is already out, and it ends on quite a bit of a cliffhanger so I think we can look forward to a third book in this wonderful series!
   Overall, a great book for anyone who likes ghost stories. 5/5 stars!

New Year's Resolutions

    First: Happy New Year to all! (and to all a good night - wait that was last week my bad.)
    I never really was one for New Year resolutions, mainly because I could never think of anything particularly good. But this year, I decided it was time to come up with one. So I did. Actually, I came up with two.
    The first: Finish the rewrite of my current novel by March, and have it edited and ready for querying by mid-summer or fall.
    The second: Commit more time to the blog. So, in order to do that, I have decided on monthly book reviews/recommendations! (read this next line in a dramatic, TV-announcer voice) That's right, folks, every month I'm going to be recommending and reviewing a book! As I am a Young Adult author and it's what I primarily read, I am probably going to stick in that general category, but you never know.
    Now, I'm not going to say what the first book I'm going to be recommending/reviewing will be, to keep the anticipation high, but I can tell you that I loved reading it and I'm looking forward to writing the review!
    I'm hoping to have the reviews posted on a fairly regular basis - that is, around the same time every month. I'm aiming for the first Saturday or Sunday of every month, but that's subject to change a little based on my schedule (although I will write them in advance and schedule them to post on the right date if I know I will be busy).
    Here's hoping 2015 is your best year yet!