Loss by Jackie Morse Kessler

Fifteen-year-old Billy Ballard is the kid that everyone picks on, from the school bullies to the teachers. But things change drastically when Death tells Billy he must stand in as Pestilence, the White Rider of the Apocalypse. Now armed with a Bow that allows him to strike with disease from a distance, Billy lashes out at his tormentors...and accidentally causes an outbreak of meningitis. Horrified by his actions, Billy begs Death to take back the Bow. For that to happen, says Death, Billy must track down the real White Rider—who is lost in his memories.

In his search, Billy travels through White Rider’s life: from ancient Phrygia, where the man called King Mita agrees to wear the White Rider’s Crown, to Sherwood Forest, where Pestilence figures out how to cheat Death; from the docks of Alexandria, where cartons of infested grain are being packed onto a ship that will carry the plague, to the Children’s Crusade in France—all the way to what may be the end of the world. When Billy finally finds the White Rider, the teen convinces the man to return to the real world.

But now the insane White Rider plans to unleash something awful on humanity—something that could make the Black Death look like a summer cold. Billy has a choice: he can live his life and pretend he doesn’t know what’s coming, or he can challenge the White Rider for his Crown. Does one bullied teenager have the strength to stand his ground—and the courage to save the world?

Loss is another great Horsemen book. This one concentrates on bullying, and has another layer of dealing with Alzheimer’s disease. At the very beginning I was a bit confused as to which problem the book was dealing with just because the other books had only one issue to deal with, but I quickly resolved that and got thoroughly absorbed into the book. Billy is a very well developed character, and has a very realistic way of dealing with all the issues that are piled on him. Later on the book changes a bit and veers away from the prior two books by becoming even more fantasy with psychological time travel, which is not something I enjoyed as much as the rest of the book. I would rather that Billy dealt with his problems in the way that the prior books did, with introspection and demonstration of his problems and how other people deal with them and reassurance that the sufferer is not alone. I thought this led to a resolution that wasn’t as punchy as the other books. I did, however, enjoy the fantasy aspects and the more thorough explanations of how the horsemen worked to not only cause their designated problems but also to moderate them, doing good as well as evil. In all, this was a more complicated but worthy successor to the series that I read in a day and I will be anxiously awaiting the final book.

Sirenz: Back in Fashion by Charlotte Bennardo & Natalie Zaman

It's Hell on heels--again

When Shar tries on a ring from Hades, it activates an obscure contractual clause that puts Shar and former-frenemy-now-friend Meg in Hades' service once more. Shar is whisked away to the Underworld to prepare a ball for Persephone, while Meg is sent to retrieve the errant soul of spoiled rich girl Paulina Swanson and send her to the abyss. Just when it appears the girls will be doomed to serve Hades for eternity, Shar meets two possibly helpful demi-gods who also happen to be gorgeous. Can the girls finally ditch the Lord of the Dead once and for all?

Another great book in the Sirenz series! Back in Fashion is a quick read full of sarcasm and banter. I didn’t feel that there was as much character development as the first book, but Shar and Meg are faced with much more plot than they had before. They’re also given choices and realizing that maybe Hades isn’t the only one who can have selective dealings. I liked seeing the girls work things out in a logical and plausible way and trying to help themselves and follow their consciences rather than just doing as Hades says to get the contract over with. Although the major plot does hinge on something very . . . odd and rather implausible, and the setup for book 3 is a bit heavy handed, if you can just go with the story and ignore them the book is very satisfying. In all Back in Fashion is a quick summer read that I recommend you forget the world with!


I received a copy of this book free through NetGalley in exchange for an unbiased review.

Dark Frost by Jennifer Estep

I’ve seen so many freaky things since I started attending Mythos Academy last fall. I know I’m supposed to be a fearless warrior, but most of the time, I feel like I’m just waiting for the next Bad, Bad Thing to happen. Like someone trying to kill me—again.

Everyone at Mythos Academy knows me as Gwen Frost, the Gypsy girl who uses her psychometry magic to find lost objects—and who just may be dating Logan Quinn, the hottest guy in school. But I’m also the girl the Reapers of Chaos want dead in the worst way. The Reapers are the baddest of the bad, the people who murdered my mom. So why do they have it in for me?

It turns out my mom hid a powerful artifact called the Helheim Dagger before she died. Now, the Reapers will do anything to get it back. They think I know where the dagger is hidden, but this is one thing I can’t use my magic to find. All I do know is that the Reapers are coming for me—and I’m in for the fight of my life.

Yet another great book in the Frost series!  I am really loving where these books are going, both in the meta-plot and in the character development.  Speaking of the meta-plot, I don't know if this book is a little more transparent than the others or I am just getting better at figuring out the twists but I did guess who the villain was far ahead of the book's reveal.  I didn't care as much, though, because the book has some great pacing and I was enjoying the ride as much as the destination.   Gwen really develops as a character during this book.  The unexpected turn her magic takes is a great twist, and I really like how she grew as she dealt with it and its aftermath.  It also led to some interesting developments between her and Logan, and I will say (even though it's a bit spoilery) that I was glad to see the shoe on the other foot for a bit.  The final battle was not too long but still climactic, and the (again, spoilers) new champions were long foreshadowed but still very welcome.  I'll be looking to see more of them in Crimson Frost!


A copy of this book was provided to me free from NetGalley in exchange for an unbiased review.

Goddess Interrupted by Aimee Carter

Kate Winters has won immortality.

But if she wants a life in the Underworld with Henry, she’ll have to fight for it.

Becoming immortal wasn’t supposed to be the easy part. Though Kate is about to be crowned Queen of the Underworld, she’s as isolated as ever. And despite her growing love for Henry, ruler of the Underworld, he’s becoming ever more distant and secretive. Then, in the midst of Kate’s coronation, Henry is abducted by the only being powerful enough to kill him: the King of the Titans.

As the other gods prepare for a war that could end them all, it is up to Kate to save Henry from the depths of Tartarus. But in order to navigate the endless caverns of the Underworld, Kate must enlist the help of the one person who is the greatest threat to her future.

Henry’s first wife, Persephone.

This was a fantastic read and I suggest you go got it right away. I didn’t quite enjoy this book as much as its predecessor, but that’s only a sliver less. Perhaps that’s due to Persephone. I really, really liked her. In fact, I think she developed more as a character than Kate did, which is a bit problematic. She certainly had more interaction with Henry, which is what I really feel was lacking for the romance of the lead character. I really just wanted Ava to smack them both into sense at some points. However I did really like how Kate dealt with the shadow of a love triangle with James. It was nice to know that the book isn’t going there.

The other thing that kind of got to me was the plot. While I understand that the Titans are really the easy enemies when you’re playing with Greek Gods I really wish that authors would look past the obvious sometimes. After all there is more than enough in-fighting between the gods that you don’t really need to bring in outsiders. That was one of the things I really liked about the first book, that they concentrated on internal strife rather than unified under an outside foe. However, after I accepted that the book was taking the cliché’d route I was able to at least enjoy the ride. Carter’s take on Cronus was rather unique, and I like how he used Hera to get what he wanted and how Persephone was almost able to trick him.

Yup, again with Persephone. Her kick-butt character really stole the show in this book. You can see how she was more of a match for James than Henry, but I wish we saw a bit more of why she was with Adonis. You get the idea that it’s for his pretty face, which is so antithetical to her character that I don’t get it. I want Adonis to be someone who deserves Henry’s envy. Past that, though, the girl is clever, nice, but doesn’t pull punches and I like how she’s got an agenda of her own and isn’t afraid to accomplish it. I suggest you read this book just so you can meet her, she’s such a refreshing break from whiny-Kate. Not that she doesn’t have a reason to be whiny, but I seriously had my fill. Hopefully we can get some confident Kate back in the next book and she can take on Persephone’s butt-kicking and stand face-to-face with Cronus.


I received a copy of this book free through NetGalley in exchange for an unbiased review.

Touch of Frost by Jennifer Estep

My name is Gwen Frost, and I go to Mythos Academy — a school of myths, magic and warrior whiz kids, where even the lowliest geek knows how to chop off somebody’s head with a sword and Logan Quinn, the hottest Spartan guy in school, also happens to be the deadliest. But lately, things have been weird, even for Mythos. First, mean girl Jasmine Ashton was murdered in the Library of Antiquities. Then, someone stole the Bowl of Tears, a magical artifact that can be used to bring about the second Chaos War. You know, death, destruction and lots of other bad, bad things. Freaky stuff like this goes on all the time at Mythos, but I’m determined to find out who killed Jasmine and why — especially since I should have been the one who died …

*****Review contains mild spoilers***** I don’t think it’s any surprise that I loved this book. I’m pretty much a sucker for any good Greek or Roman mythology fantasy. This one was a good one, though. It had a nice blend of gods from many heritages in a plot that was realistic but not too enveloping. Gwen is wonderful. She is a poor girl who understands the world around her but she can’t help but rebel in many small ways. She’s a great strong girl who acts of her own agency and fulfils her destiny in her own way. I also like how Estep divides magical powers along culture myths, not along gender lines. They may have different names, but Valkyries and Vikings are both supernaturally strong.Romans and Amazons are supernaturally quick. There’s no insinuation that the Valkyries are less strong than the Vikings. I also really like how Daphne is a Valkyrie and a tech nerd and also totally into pink and traditional “girly” things. The dichotomy of stereotypes makes her seem a lot more human, and the growth of her friendship with Gwen is really natural and sweet and not forced at all. The plot is good but needs a bit of polish. I could see the ending coming from the first cat attack. I also hated how repetitious Estep was. I don’t know how many times she told us about Gwen’s dead mother, but by the middle of the book I was very callous about it and I just couldn’t find the emotional impact that I know Estep meant. I also was a bit confused about some of the worldbuilding. The biggest was in the casting of Loki as the big villain. He’s said to be the villain because he’s the god of Chaos and wants to destroy order on the Earth. There’s not a lot of mention of the other Chaos gods, though. Where’s Set, Eris, Mikaboshi, or Chaos herself? Why is Loki the only chaos god that is vilified? I hope that in future books Estep clears these things up. The high points of the book, however, overpower the low points and I’m happy to give her time to grow into the worldbuilding the series needs.

Cinder by Marissa Meyer

Humans and androids crowd the raucous streets of New Beijing. A deadly plague ravages the population. From space, a ruthless lunar people watch, waiting to make their move. No one knows that Earth’s fate hinges on one girl. . . . Cinder, a gifted mechanic, is a cyborg. She’s a second-class citizen with a mysterious past, reviled by her stepmother and blamed for her stepsister’s illness. But when her life becomes intertwined with the handsome Prince Kai’s, she suddenly finds herself at the center of an intergalactic struggle, and a forbidden attraction. Caught between duty and freedom, loyalty and betrayal, she must uncover secrets about her past in order to protect her world’s future.

There’s really only one thing I can say about this book: WOW! I loved every part of this cyborg retelling of Cinderella. The worldbuilding seemed more extensive than we got in the book, and what’s there is good: there are people on the Moon, they have strange powers due to generations living on the moon, people enslave cyborgs because they’re not really people, and there is a strange, deadly illness much like the boubonic plague going around killing people. In the midst of al l this, plus the threat of a war between the Earth and the Moon, the Prince must throw a coronation ball. Cinder the cyborg gets caught between all this. Cinder is a very intriguing character. Much like The Adoration of Jenna Fox this book forces you to think about where the line is drawn between human and machine. Cinder is a 36.28% cyborg. That means that the augmented leg, arm, and spinal cord she has from an accident as a child are 36.28% of her body. To the future society in Cinder this means she is a slave, purchasable and sell-able just like a full android. However, she has a brain, independent thoughts, and emotions. However, so do the androids around her. Does that mean they are human, even though the only part of them that came from a human is their programming, their personality chip? In a world like this can a prince even fall in love with a girl who is thought of as a machine? Will his country let him, politically? This book doesn’t answer all the questions, ending in a great cliffhanger for book 2, but I didn’t even mind that because I was so enamored with the rest of the book that I gave it a pass. Everyone should go out and get it today!

Sweetly by Jackson Pearce

SWEETLY is a modernization of Hansel and Gretel and a companion book to SISTERS RED.

Twelve years ago, Gretchen, her twin sister, and her brother went looking for a witch in the forest. They found something. Maybe it was a witch, maybe a monster, they aren’t sure—they were running too fast to tell. Either way, Gretchen’s twin sister was never seen again.

Years later, after being thrown out of their house, Gretchen and Ansel find themselves in Live Oak, South Carolina, a place on the verge of becoming a ghost town. They move in with Sophia Kelly, a young and beautiful chocolatier owner who opens not only her home, but her heart to Gretchen and Ansel.

Yet the witch isn’t gone—it’s here, lurking in the forests of Live Oak, preying on Live Oak girls every year after Sophia Kelly’s infamous chocolate festival. But Gretchen is determined to stop running from witches in the forest, and start fighting back. Alongside Samuel Reynolds, a boy as quick with a gun as he is a sarcastic remark, Gretchen digs deeper into the mystery of not only what the witch is, but how it chooses its victims. Yet the further she investigates, the more she finds herself wondering who the real monster is, and if love can be as deadly as it is beautiful.

Sweetly is a twisty retelling of Hansel and Gretel. Ansel and Gretchen, though, make much more sense than the children in the original story. Sweetly’s characters all jump off the page with life. In fact, a lot of the time I was torn because I knew that two characters were in conflict but I wanted them both to win so badly. I found it really great that each character had such clear and sympathetic motivations. I also really liked the idea of magic candy, and the descriptions of sweets were so vivid I wanted to go buy tons of chocolate every time I picked up this book! The plot was well paced; although I knew where the book was generally going it developed well along the way and provided so many good twists that by the end I was completely satisfied even though I had predicted some of the ending. The romances in the book are good, acting as sub-plots and yet moving along in realistic patterns. The few action scenes are great, however, I think that this really set this book apart from Sisters Red because the plot concentrated more on plot and character than action and battle. It was really great to see some variety from Pearce and know that although she can write an amazing ‘war’ book she can also do justice to slower-paced stories.

Mermaid: A Twist on the Classic Tale by Carolyn Turgeon

The story of two very different women, one mortal, one mermaid, and the clash between worlds best kept apart... It is a cold day at the end of the world when a young woman, a princess in hiding, looks out across a Northern sea and sees something she could not have seen. It looks...it can't be. It looks like a mermaid's tail. And, as she looks more closely, she sees that the mermaid is dragging a drowning sailor in her arms. Because, only hours before, another princess, the daughter of the sea queen, has decided to risk everything and take a look at the world above the sea: the world of mortals. And there she finds a storm, a shipwreck, a sailor, and sets in train events which will change both women's worlds forever.

This book was an excellent retelling of the original Little Mermaid legend. It made both the princesses even more realistic and choosing between them even more heartbreaking. The plot follows the original story very closely event-wise, but it freshens up the tale by totally throwing the character motivations out the window and giving them new backstories, lives, and reasons for action. Margrethe is a wonderful role-model as a girl, a leader who loves her country and her people and strives to bring better to them, especially when she realizes the truth about the wars, her father, and her chosen prince. Lenia is more of the mermaid stereotype, falling fast in love and having fewer motivations, but watching her grow and flesh out into a real person as she learns the advantages and pitfalls of human society is a real joy. As a reader I couldn’t put the book down, yet I was dreading the ending because, knowing the story, I knew that both girls couldn’t end up with the prince. My heart was breaking right up until the end (I won’t tell you what happened after that, you’ll have to read the book to find out!).

Sirenz by Charlotte Bennardo and Natalie Zaman

Bickering frenemies Meg and Shar are doing some serious damage at a midnight sample sale when they find themselves arguing over a pair of shoes—with fatal consequences. One innocent bystander later, the girls are suddenly at the mercy of Hades—the god of the underworld—himself. To make them atone for what they’ve done, Hades forces the teens to become special-assignment Sirens, luring to the Underworld any individual whose unholy contract is up.

But just because they have an otherworldly part-time job now doesn’t mean Meg and Shar can ignore life’s drudgeries (work) or pleasures (fashion!). Finding that delicate balance between their old and new responsibilities turns out to be harder than they expected, especially when an entire pantheon of Greek deities decides to get involved. Then there’s the matter of the fine print in their contracts . . .

A lot of people rage at stereotypes and their use in books. And it’s true, stereotypes can be very one-sided and flat, leading to characters that seem dull and predictable. This can make you forget, though, that stereotypes can be used by a skillful writer to make wonderful characters. This book is an excellent example of that. Meg and Shar start out as very stereotypical high school girls. Meg is a goth, angry at the world and rejecting the mainstream. Shar is a princess, always chasing the trendy clothes and the gorgeous boys. Along their journey, though, their stereotypes are only starting points, and they react and grow along very realistic but unpredictable lines that make their characters shine.

Beastly by Alex Flinn

I am a beast. A beast. Not quite wolf or bear, gorilla or dog, but a horrible new creature who walks upright – a creature with fangs and claws and hair springing from every pore. I am a monster.

You think I’m talking fairy tales? No way. The place is New York City. The time is now. It’s no deformity, no disease. And I’ll stay this way forever – ruined – unless I can break the spell.

Yes, the spell, the one the witch in my English class cast on me. Why did she turn me into a beast who hides by day and prowls by night? I’ll tell you. I’ll tell you how I used to be Kyle Kingsbury, the guy you wished you were, with money, perfect looks, and a perfect life. And then, I’ll tell you how I became perfectly beastly.

To be honest I didn’t really like this book. Although I love the turn-a-fairytale-modern subgenre this one just didn’t seem believable. Lindy is all talk, doing some token raging about her situation but never actually attempting to remedy any of the problems her father creates or make a better situation for herself. I get the feeling that her falling in love with Kyle is just because it’s the default, how the story should end, and not through any great motivation of her own. That’s not to punish her too much, though, because Kyle doesn’t really give her much to work with. In the end I couldn’t believe their relationship because there wasn’t enough character behind either of them for me to believe it. Plus I really couldn’t get over the fact that if Lindy had as much spunk as Kyle puts on her then she would have just called the police on him and her father.

The Throne of Fire by Rick Riordan

Ever since the gods of Ancient Egypt were unleashed in the modern world, Carter Kane and his sister Sadie have been in trouble. As descendants of the House of Life, the Kanes have some powers at their command, but the devious gods haven't given them much time to master their skills at Brooklyn House, which has become a training ground for young magicians.

And now their most threatening enemy yet - the chaos snake Apophis - is rising. If they don't prevent him from breaking free in a few days' time, the world will come to an end. In other words, it's a typical week for the Kane family.

To have any chance of battling the Forces of Chaos, the Kanes must revive the sun god Ra. But that would be a feat more powerful than any magician has ever accomplished.

First they have to search the world for the three sections of the Book of Ra, then they have to learn how to chant its spells. Oh, and did we mention that no one knows where Ra is exactly?

Narrated in two different wisecracking voices, featuring a large cast of new and unforgettable characters, and with adventures spanning the globe, this second installment in the Kane Chronicles is nothing short of a thrill ride.

Like The Red Pyramid Throne of Fire is a great book. The plot is fast-paced and full of action, and there is just enough characterization for the reader to invest in the characters without slowing it down. I love to call Riordan’s books “brain candy” because they have a fun, effortless way of making you learn ancient history and mythology. While I’m reading I can’t help but go look things up, which is frustrating only because when I’m reading about Egyptian Gods on google links I’m not finishing the book! I loved Zia’s twist, it’s nice to see a book teach boys that just because they love a girl doesn’t mean the girl has to love them back or she’s a horrible person. I am a little annoyed with how the Kanes are turning into less of a brother-and-sister-team and more of a hero-with-sister-sidekick. Sadie seemed a little more reactionary and in an assistant role than she was in the last book. I hope Riordan doesn’t leave his female readers in the lurch in the future. However, he has plenty of time to redeem himself in the next book, and I will be happy to read it!

Ash by Malinda Lo

In the wake of her father's death, Ash is left at the mercy of her cruel stepmother. Consumed with grief, her only joy comes by the light of the dying hearth fire, rereading the fairy tales her mother once told her. In her dreams, someday the fairies will steal her away, as they are said to do. When she meets the dark and dangerous fairy Sidhean, she believes that her wish may be granted.

The day that Ash meets Kaisa, the King's Huntress, her heart begins to change. Instead of chasing fairies, Ash learns to hunt with Kaisa. Though their friendship is as delicate as a new bloom, it reawakens Ash's capacity for love-and her desire to live. But Sidhean has already claimed Ash for his own, and she must make a choice between fairy tale dreams and true love.

Entrancing, empowering, and romantic, Ash is about the connection between life and love, and solitude and death, where transformation can come from even the deepest grief.

Ash is a great retelling of the Cinderella story. Unlike the traditional story, though, Ash has a lot of plot packed into it. Not only is there the main plot line of Ash's romance with the Prince of the land, but there is the side plot of Ash's wicked stepmother, another on her friendship with Kaisa, and a third on her encounters with Sidhean. Lo weaves all the plots together with great skill, always abandoning one right before you get tired of it and making you really want more. She also has a gift of suprising you with every twist, something that is very fresh in a fairy tale retelling where you think you know where the story is going. All the characters fit well, both in their world and with eachother, and they are well made to be likeable and realistic. Well, all of them except Sidhean, who maintains his aloof exterior and you are never quite sure where he stands and whether he is a good guy or a bad guy. All the parts of this book work very well together, and I was enthralled from the beginning to the end.

**Spoilers Ahead**

Really, though, it's hard to talk about this book without talking about the big spoiler. At the end of the book Ash decides that as admirable as the Prince is, and as bad-boy-hot as Sidhean is, she is really attracted to Kaisa. Honestly, I don't know how I avoided this spoiler before reading the book, but I did, so the "twist" came as a total surprise. I'm very glad it did, too. My experience with LGBT novels is very limited, and the few I've read have seemed very in-your-face and preachy, so I probably would have avoided this book had I known. I'm glad I didn't because I would have missed out on a great read. Lo has a great flow and the relationship evolves very naturally, so instead of preachy it comes off as how things really should be. Since I didn't have a warning it also really challenged my preconceived notions and made me think about romance tropes in YA in a very good way.

The Goddess Test by Aimee Carter

EVERY GIRL who has taken the test has DIED.

Not it's KATE'S TURN.

It’s always been just Kate and her mom—and her mother is dying. Her last wish? To move back to her childhood home. So Kate’s going to start at a new school with no friends, no other family and the fear her mother won’t live past the fall.

Then she meets Henry. Dark. Tortured. And mesmerizing. He claims to be Hades, god of the Underworld—and if she accepts his bargain, he’ll keep her mother alive while Kate tries to pass seven tests.

Kate is sure he’s crazy—until she sees him bring a girl back from the dead. Now saving her mother seems crazily possible. If she succeeds, she’ll become Henry’s future bride, and a goddess.

If she fails...

After reading the summary of this book I expected another close rehashing of the Percy Jackson series. I am SO glad I decided to give it a try, though, because this book was great! If you're like me and worry about another re-do of Gods and Goddesses fighting eachother and causing epic battles among humanity in the process, then rest assured that this book is none of that. These Gods and Godesses actually seem to care somewhat for humanity (I know, this might be a hard stretch for the Greek and Roman pantheon, but it works well). Instead they are all about free will, justice, and caring for people, even if they are not above a little manipulation to get what they personally see as the best outcome to help the greater good. Kate is a great character. She's a mature teenager that pulls off both facets of that title without seeming to be an adult in teenager guise. The people around her are all characterized well and their actions are logical even when they are unpredictable. Kate's mother is wonderful, being a good mother and still portraying her illness well. The connection between Kate and her mother was very touching, heartbreaking, and made me cry a few times. The plot is great, and although I don't want to divulge a lot of it in fear of wrecking some of the great twists I will say that it kept me riveted the entire time I read the book. I will be greatly looking forward to the sequels in this series.

This book was provided to me free through NetGalley in exchange for an unbiased review. I thought it was so great I went out and bought a hard copy for my library after reading.

Rage by Jackie Morse Kessler

Missy didn’t mean to cut so deep. But after the party where she was humiliated in front of practically everyone in school, who could blame her for wanting some comfort? Sure, most people don’t find comfort in the touch of a razor blade, but Missy always was . . . different.

That’s why she was chosen to become one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse: War. Now Missy wields a new kind of blade—a big, brutal sword that can cut down anyone and anything in her path. But it’s with this weapon in her hand that Missy learns something that could help her triumph over her own pain: control.

A unique approach to the topic of self-mutilation, Rage is the story of a young woman who discovers her own power and refuses to be defeated by the world.

As a sequel to Hunger in Kessler's Four Horsemen series, Rage is a perfect counterpoint. Where Hunger was about anorexia, Rage is self-mutilation. This scared me at first, because it would be easy to make a second book by using the first as a template, fleshing out Missy exactly like Lisa, making their issues the same and their coping only slightly different. Instead, though, Kessler chose to craft a new book that was cleverly related to the first and yet still individualized. This master plan works brilliantly. Where Lisa had a loving boyfriend who breaks up with her out of concern for her well-being Missy has a boyfriend who runs from her disease in fear and then sets out to make her life more difficult. And this theme of reflection and distortion between the two books occurs over and over: from Lisa's body image and Missy's cat to the way they take up their offices as horsemen. Best of all, though, is how Missy's disease of self-mutilation is presented. Instead of being "like anorexia, but with knives" like I feared, Rage's story of self-mutilation is unique and really helps you to understand that, while the underlying issue of both self-mutilation and anorexia is control and the lack of it that the victims feel, the symptoms present in a way that is not only unique to self-mutilation but unique to Missy and her issues. And her way of figuring out how to deal with those issues instead of being consumed by the horseman WAR is beautifully unique as well. Missy is not the only good thing about this book, though. DEATH provides a much better counterpoint in this book, serving as less of a source of exposition and more as an obstacle that could help or hinder Missy (although I am somewhat worried about the constant Cobain references with death). FAMINE, too, is fleshed out as a more realistic character, and we see PESTILENCE for the first time. The world of the horsemen makes more sense, and it works as a vehicle to understand more about the pain people feel and how to help them with it.

I was provided with a free copy of this book through netgalley, but I picked up my pre-orderd hard copy this morning!

Tiger's Curse by Colleen Houck

Passion. Fate. Loyalty.

Would you risk it all to change your destiny?

The last thing Kelsey Hayes thought she’d be doing this summer was trying to break a 300-year-old Indian curse. With a mysterious white tiger named Ren. Halfway around the world. But that’s exactly what happened. Face-to-face with dark forces, spellbinding magic, and mystical worlds where nothing is what it seems, Kelsey risks everything to piece together an ancient prophecy that could break the curse forever.

Tiger’s Curse is the exciting first volume in an epic fantasy-romance that will leave you breathless and yearning for more.

It's probably a rather silly thing to mention, but the first thing I noticed about this book is that it's heavy. I think the pages are encrusted with lead or something else incredibly weighty, because the book has a heft to it. It's worth it, though, because it gives the book such a great feel, and the cover under the jacket is simply lovely.

Inside the book is just as nice as the cover. I'll admit I was prepared to not like the story. Romances nowadays are so iffy, and there is such a fine line between a good plot with a great romance and a romance with a bare plot in YA. This one was actually very realistic, though, and had some good effect. I like that Kelsey is very comfortable with the tiger, but incredibly uncomfortable with the man he turns into, even though her brain tells her they are the same. The relationship with Kadam is great, too, a nice balance between a servant and an ageless employer. Dhiren is more ambiguous, though. It may be because we mostly see him as a tiger, or because we see him through Kelsey's eyes, but he's still rather one-dimensional and there's not a particular lot to see as an attractive man outside his looks and status. Then again, because Kelsey has trepidation about him in man form it does help with making their relationship realistic.

The other thing I really enjoyed about this book was the depth of Indian culture and religion interwoven into the plot. Then again, I'm not Indian and I don't know much about Indian culture to begin with, so I'm not a good judge of accuracy or whether the author is respecting the culture or just co-opting it. This does lead to a few problems, though. I never saw the author discuss race issues at all, which I felt was a little unsettling. There's so much in India's culture right now that glorifies white female beauty as the ideal that I'm a bit unsettled by the prince's true love and savior being a white girl from America. There's also no exploration whatsoever of the deplorable social conditions for women in India, even back in Dhiren's time, and the arranged marriage issue is glossed over as more problematic for the men involved than the woman being traded as property, so it's rather a non-issue. The girl-of-prophecy angle, though, is done in a good way, with Kelsey realizing that she doesn't have to love Dhiren, she just has to help him break the curse, so there aren't a lot of uncomfortable issues about her choice and agency being taken away.

The only other issues this book has are technical. I don't think the author really knew how to start it out because the pre-India section really drags and is rather choppy and uncompelling. The plot is good, but it halts every once in a while for some over-done descriptions that really should have been left out because they mess with the pacing a lot.

However, I don't want you to feel as if I'm completely against this book. I liked it even despite its issues (and, I'll admit, I feel guilty about liking it with the race issues that it brings up), and I will be watching for the sequels so I can continue with the story.

Tuesday Review: The False Princess by Eilis O'Neal

Princess and heir to the throne of Thorvaldor, Nalia has led a privileged life at court. But everything changes when she learns, just after her sixteenth birthday, that she is a false princess, a stand-in for the real Nalia, who has been hidden away for her protection. Cast out with little more than the clothes on her back, the girl now called Sinda must leave behind the city, her best friend, Kiernan, and the only life she’s ever known.

Sent to live with her only surviving relative, a cold, scornful woman with little patience for her newfound niece, Sinda proves inept at even the simplest tasks. Then she discovers that magic runs through her veins – long-suppressed, dangerous magic that she must learn to control – and she realizes that she will never learn to be just a simple village girl.

Sinda returns to the city to seek answers. Instead, she rediscovers the boy who refused to forsake her, and uncovers a secret that could change the course of Thorvaldor’s history, forever.

I've been greatly looking forward to this book! Along with Starcrossed by Elizabeth Bunce and Finnikin of the Rock by Melina Marchetta this is another great high fantasy YA book with a great twist: instead of being about a common girl who finds out she's a princess, it's about the girl who finds out she's not a princess at all, but really just the commoner stand-in. O'Neal does a great job of capturing the mix of emotions that I imagine a teenage girl would have in this situation: abandonment, disappointment, resentment, and a little relief. I especially loved the characterization of Sinda's aunt, because it seemed like a very realistic reaction to the situations she is put in. O'Neal also spins a great plot full of twists and turns that are unpredictable yet not totally out of left field. Romance is present in this book but it's not overpowering to the plot and seems grounded in the age and maturity of the characters involved. The villain is great, explained and reasoned but surprising at the same time (and I'm not gonna spoil it for you!). I highly recommend this book for the fantasy lovers out there.