Book Review and Giveaway of The Year of Shadows by Claire Legrand

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books For Young Readers
Release Date: August 27th, 2013
Genre: Middle Grade - Fantasy
Pages: 416
Source: ARC provided by Edelweiss

Description from Goodreads: Her mother left, her neglectful father -- the maestro of a failing orchestra -- has moved her and her grandmother into his dark, broken-down concert hall to save money, and her only friend is Igor, an ornery stray cat.

Just when she thinks life couldn’t get any weirder, she meets four ghosts who haunt the hall. They need Olivia’s help -- if the hall is torn down, they’ll be stuck as ghosts forever, never able to move on.

Olivia has to do the impossible for her shadowy new friends: Save the concert hall. But helping the dead has powerful consequences for the living . . . and soon it’s not just the concert hall that needs saving.

Review: I suppose I am going to become the middle grade guru at this point.  This genre tends to receive such little love.  A majority of middle grade books seem, no pun intended, by-the-book, formula writing with a lack of layers and courage.  I have some middle grade books that I love, but I never found one that jumped out at me and confronted real life tough subjects.  

So I am proud to present one of the edgiest books I have ever read.  A Year of Shadows targets a young audience, and actually has the courage to confront some very painful and taboo subjects for young readers.  Legrand brings up emotional abuse, the failing economy and death all in one novel.  Not only does she set out to write about some tough subjects, but she handles it with care and grace, and ended up writing a very sweet and compelling story.

The novel centers around Olivia, who is attempting to cope with a missing mother, a distant father, the loss of her home, bullying at school, loneliness and a sudden realization that ghosts exist.  For Olivia, the ghosts allowed her to become focused on an issue that she could handle.  The other things in her life, such as homelessness and her missing parent, are matters that are out of her control.  Legrand gave the main character a dilemma that she could control, and her reader a wonderful tool for symbolism.  The story basically boils down to accepting loss, and finding the good during a terrible time.  Olivia, in the end, grows and strengthens her own sense of self without sacrificing who she is.  Olivia is sarcastic, slightly bitter and abrasive, but she is able to incorporate a better outlook on a gloomy situation.

I also love the element of music in the book.  Olivia is an artist at heart with an estranged composer as her father.  The list of music is wonderful, and some lovely classics are listed in the book.  I would highly recommend snagging some classical music before reading - no ghost story is complete without the classics!

The last thing I want to cover is the bittersweet relationships in the book.  Reading about Olivia's struggles with her father was very painful, but I was happy that someone actually wrote about a parent that was a neglecting caregiver.  A parent who is not emotionally responsible for raising children can harm a youth, but it is a hard crime to pinpoint.  Quite often, children have no idea about the harmful side effects of this type of parenting until later in life.  I have my own backstory of an emotional neglecting parent, and I never knew that there was a real issue in my house until I was well into college.  I don't want to weigh down this post with my own sob story, but I will say that it was appreciated that the author brought attention to this dilemma.  Moving off of the depressing points, Henry was one of the best elements of this book.  I know I often complain about romance in middle grade books, but A Year of Shadows dodges this point and instead approaches the subject with something more along the lines of a crush or something that could bloom later down the road.  The other cast, such as the Happy Place owners and the main ghosts, added a certain level of endearment to the book.  

I will take a moment and add that this book, at certain times, was flat out depressing and very emotional.  One of the backstories for a main character absolutely shattered my heart.  It is rough, but I believe that an upper level elementary student  or a middle grade child can appreciate the honest emotions of the book.

Overall, I loved this book. I believe it was a perfect blend of entertainment, morality and honesty.  It might touch on some subjects that are difficult for some parents and teachers, but it is a wonderful story for a reader, young or old, who wants to tackle something with a little more meat to the plot.

5/5 Dragons

Purchase A Year of Shadows from Amazon

Giveaway:

Like what you see? Do you want to win this book? Fill out the Rafflecopter form below!

This giveaway starts on May 24th, 2013, and will end on June 7th, 2013 at midnight.

• It's International because we will ship from The Book Depository!
• You must be 13 years or older to enter
• One email address per household. One Twitter account per entrant. Cheating the system will be monitored.
• You will have 48 hours to respond to the winner's email or else someone else will be chosen. 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Book Review of Midwinterblood by Marcus Sedgwick

Publisher: Roaring Book Press
Release Date: February 5th, 2013
Genre: Young Adult, Horror
Pages: 240
Source: I own via Kindle

Description from Goodreads: Seven stories of passion and love separated by centuries but mysteriously intertwined—this is a tale of horror and beauty, tenderness and sacrifice.

An archaeologist who unearths a mysterious artifact, an airman who finds himself far from home, a painter, a ghost, a vampire, and a Viking: the seven stories in this compelling novel all take place on the remote Scandinavian island of Blessed where a curiously powerful plant that resembles a dragon grows. What binds these stories together? What secrets lurk beneath the surface of this idyllic countryside? And what might be powerful enough to break the cycle of midwinterblood? From award-winning author Marcus Sedgwick comes a book about passion and preservation and ultimately an exploration of the bounds of love.

Review: I owe a huge thanks to Wendy Darling over at The Midnight Garden for this recommendation.  I wanted to read it when I read the description (Vikings) and she really pushed hard for this one.  I can see why she was such a strong advocate for this book.

Even though this is categorized as a horror book, I didn't find it too...horrible.  Horror is not a fond category to me personally, and I was flat out shocked when I researched this book and found the novel labeled as such.  It was sad, and it was creepy at times, and tragically romantic, but I didn't ever see the horror elements come through (and I am not complaining about that at all).

Midwinterblood stands out on its own, in fact.  I would say it really defies all casual labels and is a tough book to categorize.  The book has to be one of the saddest yet romantic books I have ever laid my hands upon.  Viking lore is strong in this tale, but it is not a strong presence.  Think of it as a slight lovely flavor for the setting.  

This may sound like I am flaking out, but so many things  that I loved about Midwinterblood are spoilers to any person who has not read the book.  I will say that I love how the author builds up the suspense for the reader as we travel back through time, discovering something about the past which each new section.  The thread that run through this book and ties the entire plot together was a huge gamble and might have come across as a gimmick. But Sedgwick did a fantastic job holding his theme in place.  The main element of eternal love was so strong and slightly painful at times, but it hurt so good.  Fate and destiny seem to twist and turn and drive the plot. Don't get me wrong - this isn't your mother's instalove book.  I would say that Sedgwick transcended the flowery definition of love and wrote about the power of a greater form of admiration. 

The writing, I have to say, impressed me as well.  I really enjoy the author's style.  He tends to say so much with using so little.  He has a strong sense of action, and avoids using overpowering descriptions of his world.  It takes a certain level of maturity and confidence to center a book around action without beating the audience over the head with action verbs.  I usually avoid high action books for this reason.  I tend to lean towards literature that centers on character development.  However, Midwinterblood broke through the stereotype and injected some very raw and very real emotion into the action-heavy storyline.  It was brawny and full of heart.  I am frankly amazed that this blend of plot devices created a harmonic storyline.

I loved this book.  I loved how the author took a chance with the story and the characters. This book must have been a huge risk, and, at the end of the day, both the author and the reader won.  I highly recommend this book to everyone.

5/5 Dragons

Purchase Midwinterblood from Amazon

Book Review of All Woman and Springtime by Brandon W. Jones

Publisher: Algonquin Books
Release Date: March 12th 2013
Genre: Adult-Asian Literature
Pages: 381
Source: I won a copy from the early reviewers' program at LibraryThing.

Description from Goodreads: Before she met Il-sun in an orphanage, Gi was a hollow husk of a girl, broken from growing up in one of North Korea's forced-labour camps. A mathematical genius, she has learned to cope with pain by retreating into a realm of numbers and calculations, an escape from both the past and present. Gi becomes enamored by the brash and radiant Il-sun, a friend she describes as "all woman and springtime." But Il-sun's pursuit of a better life imperils both girls when her suitor spirits them across the Demilitarized Zone and sells them as sex workers, first in South Korea and then in the United States.

This spellbinding debut, reminiscent of Memoirs of a Geisha, depicts- with chilling accuracy-life behind North Korea's iron curtain. But for Gi and Il-sun, forced into the underworld of human trafficking, their captivity outside North Korea is far crueler than the tight control of their "Dear Leader." Tenderhearted Gi, just on the verge of womanhool, is consigned to a fate that threatens not only her body but her mind. How she and Il-sun endure, how they find a path to healing, is what drives this absorbing and exquisite novel-from an exciting young Algonquin discovery-to its perfectly imagined conclusion.

I'd never read a book based in North Korea before. To be honest, most of what I know comes from the media and the internet, and I think there are actually few pieces of literature out there that focus on the people and what their lives are like. Aside from the funny memes on Tumblr, do we really know what they think? How they feel? I'm not so sure. In my research during this book (because let's be honest, I google like the wind, especially when it's a topic I know little about) I found tons of information on the country itself and its weird policies and traditions, but nothing about the actual residents, and I think that's because we have very little access to them. They are cut off from the world, after all. So this book was refreshing in that sense.

I knew it would be depressing, bleak, and heartbreaking. And it was. But I was surprised by my lack of connection to the characters. I expected to feel a lot for these women and everything they were going through, and I finally did towards the end, but up until that point, I cared very little. I'm not sure why that was because the book was really upsetting and graphic, but I think it had to do with the writing style that seemed to grow increasingly detached as the book went on, and this was not a deliberate style thing as it did not match up with the characters' actions. 

Another thing that frustrated me to no end were the outrageous amount of POVs. Every time a new character was introduced, we got a new POV. No, seriously. I think there were like three characters over the entire span of the book that did not have their own POV. And then the girls would move to a different place, and the characters that did not go along? Well we never heard from them again. So not only were there about ten different perspectives in this book, but some disappeared and never came back. I've never seen anything like this before and I didn't like it. It was very confusing, distracting, and kept me from getting attached to the characters, and to be completely honest, most of the voices sounded the same. Some POVs had only one or two sections, and then no more. I wish we had spent more time with the three main women, and that the author had chosen to focus his narrative on them so I could have gotten to know them better. What makes or breaks a book for me is the connection I feel to the characters. It's okay if I hate a character, but I must care one way or another or else you've lost me.

I cried at the end though, which honestly surprised me after all the complaining I had done in my head. But I think it's because I thought about how that would translate to real life and I connected it to my grandfather, and bam. TEARS. The things these women went through. So atrocious, and not one iota of happiness in their lives. Whoever wrote on the cover that this book was uplifting needs their eyes checked. Completely not true. There is hope at the end, but the book ends so abruptly, and I never got a chance to really process what happened. And one main character disappeared to never be heard from again and I wanted to know what happened to her. I know all questions can't be answered, but I was left feeling unsatisfied.

Despite all my grievances with this book, I really did enjoy it. I hardly put it down and I finished it in a couple of days which is a record for me. But I am not sure if it has to do with the fact that I gobble up anything Asian fiction, or because it was actually good. Because honestly, the technical issues with this one kept me from being able to rate it above 3 stars. I really wanted to, but in the end, it needed some work, and the editor needed to fix the POV situation. Still, I think it is worth reading if you have an interest in North Korea, as there are not very many of these types of books out there. 

3/5 Stars

All Woman and Springtime on Amazon

Waiting on Wednesday #25

Welcome to this week's Waiting on Wednesday. Waiting on Wednesday is a meme hosted by Breaking the Spine where we showcase upcoming releases we are looking forward to.

Err, uhhh, yeah. I had a little trouble making picks this week. Usually, I have future weeks planned, but i actually ran out of books this week so I had to kind of search randomly and just find what I could, but...I think I found a couple of good ones that I just came across. But no real theme this week, just randomness. So I'll keep it short and we can get to the books!

Title: Grave Images

Author: Jenny Goebel

Release Date: October 29th, 2013

Publisher: Scholastic

Description from Goodreads: A stylish debut mystery with the perfect balance of sweetness and scares!

Thirteen-year-old Bernie's summer is looking pretty grim. It's hard to make friends when your family runs a monument company, and your backyard is littered with tombstones. It's even harder when your mother suddenly refuses to leave her room . . .

To make matters worse, her father has just hired a new artist to engrave the headstones--the creepy Mr. Stein. Bernie has a bad feeling about him right from the start, and after snooping around his cottage, she discovers an engraved portrait of their neighbor . . . a woman who promptly dies the next day. And it's not just a weird coincidence. The pattern continues, and Bernie realizes that Mr. Stein has begun engraving headstones before people die, which forces Bernie to ask a horrifying question: Is Mr. Stein predicting the deaths . . . or causing them?

Title: Counting by 7s

Author: Holly Goldberg Sloan

Release Date: August 29th, 2013

Publisher: Dial

Description from Goodreads:  In the tradition of Out of My Mind, Wonder, and Mockingbird, this is an intensely moving middle grade novel about being an outsider, coping with loss, and discovering the true meaning of family.

Willow Chance is a twelve-year-old genius, obsessed with nature and diagnosing medical conditions, who finds it comforting to count by 7s. It has never been easy for her to connect with anyone other than her adoptive parents, but that hasn’t kept her from leading a quietly happy life . . . until now.

Suddenly Willow’s world is tragically changed when her parents both die in a car crash, leaving her alone in a baffling world. The triumph of this book is that it is not a tragedy. This extraordinarily odd, but extraordinarily endearing, girl manages to push through her grief. Her journey to find a fascinatingly diverse and fully believable surrogate family is a joy and a revelation to read.

I hope you like my picks this week. I'm going to keep this short as my migraine is acting up again and I need to head to bed, but leave me a link to your posts and I will try to come visit. Happy reading, everyone. And 10 days until BEA at the time of this writing. It's Sunday night, FYI. Woot! I am so excited!

Top Ten Favorite Book Covers Of Books I've Read

Top Ten Tuesday is a meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. This week’s topic: Top Ten Favorite Book Covers Of Books I've Read.

I feel like it hasn't been that long since I shared my book cover porn.  This week, the topic was to focus on covers of books we have already read.  For the last book cover topic, some of the covers were books I had read and had not read yet.  This week, I decided to toss in something a little extra: these are covers that were not shared in April.  I am introducing ten new covers, since my coverlusting does not stop at ten choices.

Introducing: New victims of my cover lust

The Humming Room by Ellen Potter - Illustrations usually never bode well for a cover, but the artist certainly got it right this time.  The entire look is just so beautiful.

Graceling by Kristin Cashore - I didn't care for the book, but I LOVE the cover.



















Me, and Earl and the Dying Girl by Jesse Andrews - The cut out look is just fantastic.  I love the colors, and it helps set up the entire overall mood of the book.  Love it!



















Stormdancer by Jay Kristoff - How did I forget this one!? I should be smited. I did love the American cover but....this one just screams "I AM A BADASS."  Once again, beautiful illustration, and if you have not yet peeked at the sequel and the cover, then I command for you to go Google it. Now.

















Breadcrumbs by Anne Ursu - The overexposed look never fails to amaze me.  I am easy to entertain, it seems.  The contrasting color is a perfect indicator of the mood for this novel.

Wicked by Gregory Maguire - Not the biggest fan of the storyline, but I LOVE the broadway edition of the cover for this novel.  It just looks fantastic.




















The Rift Walker by Clay and Susan Griffith - It was the covers that drew me into this series. I love it.  I love the steampunk look, I love the couple on the cover, I love the color theme, I love it I love it and I want to have its babies. Forever.


















I am America by Stephen Colbert - Shameless admittance that I love it because it has the picture of Future Mr. Heartless. BRB, licking the cover now.




















The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins - I love this edition of the books.  I will always kick myself for missing out on this cover theme when I saw it 2 years ago in a used bookstore. I am kicking myself now.  I am licking a cover of a book and kicking myself.  I should YouTube myself one day.

The Blue Cat of Castle Town by Catherine Cate Coblentz - A sadly forgotten Newbery winner.  I love the simple and elegant design for this book.  It comes across as calming and beautiful.

What bookcovers are you sharing this week? Let me know below!

Book Review of Chantress by Amy Butler Greenfield

Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry
Release Date: May 7th, 2013
Pages: 336
Genre: Young Adult-Historical fantasy
Series: Chantress Trilogy #1
Source: Edelweiss

Description from Goodreads: Lucy’s Chantress magic will make her the most powerful—and most hunted—girl in England.

“Sing, and the darkness will find you.” This warning has haunted fifteen-year-old Lucy ever since she was eight and shipwrecked on a lonely island. Lucy’s guardian, Norrie, has lots of rules, but the most important is that Lucy must never sing. Not ever. Now it is 1667, Lucy is fifteen, and on All Hallows’ Eve, Lucy hears a tantalizing melody on the wind. She can’t help but sing—and she is swept into darkness.

When she awakes in England, Lucy hears powerful men discussing Chantresses—women who can sing magic into the world. They are hunting her, but she escapes and finds sanctuary with the Invisible College, an organization plotting to overthrow the nefarious Lord Protector. The only person powerful enough to bring about his downfall is a Chantress. And Lucy is the last one in England.

Lucy struggles to master the song-spells and harness her power, but the Lord Protector is moving quickly. And her feelings for Nat, an Invisible College apprentice and scientist who deeply distrusts her magic, only add to her confusion...

Time is running out, and the fate of England hangs in the balance in this entrancing novel that is atmospheric and lyrical, dangerous and romantic.

It took until nearly the end of this book (80% in actually) for any major plot events to happen. Up until that point, it was a lot of exposition, magic training, character development, and what I felt were a lot of repetitive scenes which actually contributed very little to this book. I think Chantress could have been about a hundred pages shorter. Honestly. It clocks in at 336 pages, and truthfully, I think a little over 200 pages would have been fine. I don't mind books that don't completely focus on plot--heck I read a lot of character-driven novels--but this book was pretty boring. A lot of my blogger friends put it down and moved on to something else due to boredom. I pushed on because I wanted to see if it got better and if all of that zzzzzzz stuff was worth it. And...

It was. Sort of.

I can't talk about much because of spoilers, but the last 20% was pretty exciting. For those who are keeping track, that's about 67 pages. Out of 336. Even though they were exciting and riveting, I don't know if it's worth it for that small amount of the book. 

There are good things though. I think most readers will appreciate the relationship in this novel. There is no love triangle, no insta-love. It takes the entire book for the relationship to build, and not until the very end does something actually happen. But that's kind of the thing with this book. Nothing seems to happen until the end. 

Nat's annoying at the beginning. He really is. It gets better though because he has a decent character arc. I don't mind when characters are annoying and mean if there is justification for the way they feel. It was explained why he was so anti-magic eventually, but I didn't buy the explanation. To me there wasn't enough of a reason. I liked Lucy though. She was the type of protagonist I like in my novels. Strong, determined, but not perfect. The rest of the characters were interesting as well. There is a little bit of everything here but some of them felt like the typical characters you would find in a fantasy novel.

So. The story itself. I liked it. This was truly a compelling premise and as far as fantasy goes, it wasn't something I had seen before. Chantresses are singing magicians. They can create magic through song. And I thought it was very cool. The object on the cover is a giant ruby, by the way. I know some people were wondering. Unfortunately for singing magicians, the magic part of the story itself doesn't make for a very compelling plot. Which is sad because I truly thought it would work. But it's just not explained well. The training scenes are just a bunch of vocal lessons. It was all very meh. 

I should also mention that this IS a historical novel and the author did quite a bit of research. Aside from the fantasy part, that is. But...it didn't feel very historical. It almost felt high fantasy. Depending on the reader, that could be a good thing or a bad thing. For me, I wanted to feel the historical part of it. And it's not really there at all. Other than beling TOLD the book was set in London, I would never have known. It could have easily been set in an alternate universe. 

The one thing that did affect me was the Shadowgrims. And this is why I stated if you have Ornithophobia you should probably not read this book. The birds in this book are the freakiest birds I have ever had the displeasure of reading about. They steal souls and flap their wings and claw at them and UGH. And I LIKE birds. When Chantresses are around Shadowgrims they actually start to feel a burning sensation, and the closer the bird is, the hotter it gets. NO, thank you. Thing is though, I love being creeped out. So that part of the story worked for me. But if you are afraid of birds, I wouldn't do it. This is your warning. It's not particularly graphic, but it did make me shiver.

I haven't decided if I will read the next one or not, but right now I am leaning towards not. It just didn't do enough for me as a book. I liked it enough, but I don't think I was engaged  enough to continue on to the next one. I bet the next book will be much better with so much exposition out of the way, but with so many other books out there that might be spectacular reads for me, I just don't think I will have the time or that much desire to do so. I sort of recommend this. But it depends on what you like in your books. I'm on the fence about everything that has to do with this book.

3/5 Dragons

Find Chantress on Amazon

Stacking the Shelves #43

Welcome to Stacking the Shelves. Stacking the Shelves is a weekly meme hosted by Tynga at Tynga's Reviews. This is where we showcase books we have received or bought during the week.

This week was a pretty good week in physical books. Up until today I had not received any e-books, and then this morning I got approved for a request that I had pretty much assumed was going to go unanswered. I am very excited but man, could you not have approved me sooner? Because now I am even further behind. GAH. Okay, but I'm really excited and I already downloaded it to Kindle so there will be no expiration of THAT galley. 

As far as personal stuff goes, this was another rough week for me. I'd love to chat about it more, but I am really trying to move on from what happened and heal. I am trying to maintain a positive outlook and focus on the happiness and excitement I have coming up. BEA! Book Bash and Disney with Karina and Laura! Christina's visit! Vacation to New Jersey! Dan almost being off for the summer! There is a lot of fun stuff coming up to look forward to. I think my summer is more packed than a summer has ever been. Which, if I may be honest, makes me slightly uncomfortable being the hermit that I am, but fuck it. I am really trying to get out more and be more of an extrovert. I will never completely be that person but I do need to find a happy medium. 

Okay, I think I rambled long enough. It's time for the booooookksssss.

For review from Macmillan Children's Publishing, I received ARCs of Tumble and Fall by Alexandra Coutts and This Song Will Save Your Life by Leila Sales. Thanks to them and I am so excited to read both of these.

From my lovely, Kriston Johnson, I received my editor's copy of Awakened. It's so pretty! Thanks, Kriston, and thanks for the lovely acknowledgement. 

Finally, from my dear friend Jenni at Alluring Reads, I received her ARC of The 5th Wave and I read it already and reviewed it here. It got 4 stars from me, in case you were wondering. 

And in e-books this week, I got approved for a copy of Ghost Bride by Yangsze Choo. This is the one I was whining about up at the top of the page. Still really happy to have it though! And I'm only whining because I am already so behind. I over requested again. FML.

And that's it for me in books this week! Leave me a comment and I will come visit your haul. Until next week...you know the drill.

I didn't think I would have a haul this week, but due to graduation last Saturday, everyone was feeling a little generous, and I was able to pick up some great finds at the used bookstore.  The new release shelf was so tempting, it hurt.  I also have a wonderful ARC to share, and some new Kindle books.  I don't have much to add.  It was a highly emotional week towards the end, and I hope to have a steady job by the end of next week.  I am also moving, and I will be more than happy to share how many boxes of books we have moved out of this apartment. So, without any further, ado, here is my wonderful haul for the week.

Books:

The Flame in the Mist by Kit Grindstaff - Awww, yeah! I wanted this book in the worst way, and I was lucky that I found it last week.  I'm really looking forward to reading this book.

Reboot by Amy Tintera - After seeing a few reviews pop up for this book, I was curious about Reboot.  I found it used, thankfully!

Loki's Wolves by K.L. Armstrong and M.A. Marr - YES! I OWN IT!!  The pictures really add to this story!

The Divide by Elizabeth Kay - An enticing middle grade book.  I have had my eye on this one for a while.

Kindle Books:

I Bring the Fire Part I: Wolves by C. Gockel - I found this by browsing for "Loki" on Amazon's website.  I figured it couldn't hurt to give this book a chance.  It looks so freaking awesome!

Suicide Watch by Kelley York - This was suggested to me by a fellow blogger (I can't remember who it was - please claim credit!).  This book was featured on a TTT, and it sounded like a wonderful addition to my own book collection.

ARCs:

Ink by Amanda Sun - The Holy Terror read this one and loved it, so I thought it would be nice to try to pick it up.  Thank you, NetGalley, for approving me!

What did you get this week? Leave a link!