Book Review: The Architect of Song (The Haunted Hearts Saga #1)

Release Date: August 15, 2016
Author: A.G. Howard
Publisher: Golden Orb Press
Length: 425 pages
Source: Review Copy from Author

A lady imprisoned by deafness, an architect imprisoned by his past, and a ghost imprisoned within the petals of a flower - intertwine in this love story that transcends life and death.

For most of her life, nineteen-year-old Juliet Emerline has subsisted – isolated by deafness – making hats in the solitude of her home. Now, she’s at risk to lose her sanctuary to Lord Nicolas Thornton, a twenty-seven-year-old mysterious and eccentric architect with designs on her humble estate. When she secretly witnesses him raging beside a grave, Juliet investigates, finding the name “Hawk” on the headstone and an unusual flower at the base. The moment Juliet touches the petals, a young English nobleman appears in ghostly form, singing a song only her deaf ears can hear. The ghost remembers nothing of his identity or death, other than the one name that haunts his afterlife: Thornton.

To avenge her ghostly companion and save her estate, Juliet pushes aside her fear of society and travels to Lord Thornton’s secluded holiday resort, posing as a hat maker in one of his boutiques. There, she finds herself questioning who to trust: the architect of flesh and bones who can relate to her through romantic gestures, heartfelt notes, and sensual touches … or the specter who serenades her with beautiful songs and ardent words, touching her mind and soul like no other man ever can. As sinister truths behind Lord Thornton’s interest in her estate and his tie to Hawk come to light, Juliet is lured into a web of secrets. But it’s too late for escape, and the tragic love taking seed in her heart will alter her silent world forever.

International and NYT bestselling author, A.G. Howard, brings her darkly magical and visual/visceral storytelling to Victorian England. The Architect of Song is the first installment in her lush and romantic Haunted Hearts Legacy series, a four book gothic saga following the generations of one family as - haunted by both literal and figurative ghosts - they search for self-acceptance, love, and happiness.

  

Review:

Protagonist: Juliet, who at a young age grew deaf after a terrible illness, now feels the fresh grief of losing her mother, and to make matters worse some viscount has his eyes set on her family home without any clear reason. Soon after her mother's funeral Juliet, overcome with grief and something unexplainable steals a flower from a grave simply marked "Hawk" upon returning home she finds that but touching the flowers petals she can see and, miraculously, hear the ghost of the man who's headstone is labeled "Hawk." Hawk remembers nothing of his life, only that he is in some way connected to Lord Nicholas Thornton, the man who seeks to by Juliet's home. In search of the truth of what happened to Hawk, Juliet grows closer to Lord Thornton and learns more about him and his connection with Hawk, her world, and her heart, will never be the same. I really, really liked Juliet as our narrator. She's a strong and intelligent girl and while she's a bit shy and reclusive at first as the story develops she comes out of her shell and grows into someone who's not afraid to show who she is to the world.

Romance: I am very split on this romance. It doesn't start as a love triangle at first, though there are clear markers in the story that practically scream at you that one is on the way, and while Juliet and Hawk stay more or less sequestered from the world their romance is incredibly compelling. Their chemistry is very well written and described and because they aren't tied down by societal expectations, Hawk being a ghost and whatnot, their romance blooms quickly yet, gratefully, still believably. Then Juliet follows Lord Thornton to his holiday resort to gain more information about hawks past and things really start to blur. Lord Thornton, a man, who in Juliet's eyes, only wants her estate, is shown to be kind and caring, while her spectral lover grows more and more jealous and possessive. I won't say who Juliet ends up with, but I will say that, despite all of my aggravation over this love triangle, by the end, I actually came around to why certain things had to be the way they were.

World Building: Going into this story I was fairly blind to the plot. I knew that it had some paranormal aspect to it and that is was a New Adult story by A.G. Howard so, having enjoyed her Splintered series as much as I did, I was all in. First off I love the historical aspect of this story. A gothic Victorian love story filled with ghost, secrets, and vengeance is more than enough to entice most readers. I love how vividly Howard can bring a world to life and on top of that it's a world virtually without any sound. One thing I kind of have to bring up is that I kept forgetting that Juliet is deaf since she is so adept at reading lips and can hear her spectral visitor it doesn't come up as often as I expected so during the times it does I usually found myself forgetting her deafness. Finally, if I have one large complaint about this book it would be it's pacing. It's not that the book is boring or anything, it's more that there are stretches where things could have gone smoother or faster. Things that could have easily been condensed. I found it hard to read the book as quickly as I normally do spending nearly five days just getting through the first half and after that, it did pick up though if I wasn't trying to get this review up by today I may have taken longer breaks every six chapters or so.

Predictability: There are surprisingly so many mysteries in this story. First is the most obvious which is what happened to Hawk that led to his premature death and what is his connection with Lord Thornton? The latter question we actually get answered within the first third or so of the book, though there are unseen mysteries attached to various parts of the stories. It's funny though early on in the story I had a theory of sorts, one completely and overly complicated, that explained something that wasn't even a mystery, more a general wondering, and funnily enough I was right, though the answer was much more simplistic than my convoluted theory. There were things though that I never quite caught onto and that gave me a great and wonderful shock to discover.

Ending: While this is the first in a series, it's not a traditional series. This is a series of companion novels tied together with a similar thread. That means that this book, for the most part, wraps everything up by the end of the book. Whenever I come across a book that wraps the story up I often consider the idealism in the ending, or lack thereof. While this book doesn't exactly have the most idealistic ending, I'd say that there were a few things that I felt were just a little too idealistic for my tastes, though I will say since this is a paranormal novel nothing's really impossible.

Rating:

So, because of the slow pacing and slightly too idealistic ending I cannot in good faith give this book five stars, but that doesn't mean this story isn't awesome. If you're a fan of dark mysteries and with a Victorian setting I'd say this is the book for you!

Book Review: Ghostly Echoes (Jackaby #3)

Release Date: August 23, 2016
Author: William Ritter
Publisher: Algonquin Young Readers
Length: 352 pages
Source: Review Copy from the Publisher

Jenny Cavanaugh, the ghostly lady of 926 Augur Lane, has enlisted the investigative services of her fellow residents to solve a decade-old murder—her own. Abigail Rook and her eccentric employer, Detective R. F. Jackaby, dive into the cold case, starting with a search for Jenny’s fiancé, who went missing the night she died. But when a new, gruesome murder closely mirrors the events of ten years prior, Abigail and Jackaby realize that Jenny’s case isn’t so cold after all, and her killer may be far more dangerous than they suspected.

Fantasy and folklore mix with mad science as Abigail’s race to unravel the mystery leads her across the cold cobblestones of nineteenth-century New England, down to the mythical underworld, and deep into her colleagues’ grim histories to battle the most deadly foe she has ever faced.

    

Review:

Protagonist: Abigail Rook has assisted her employer, R. F. Jackaby, on two cases now and when they returned home from their most recent escapade involving a dragon, they find their friend and the ghostly resident of their home, Jenny Cavanaugh, has a new case for them, to solve her murder. Now, as new evidence appears that connects to Jenny's murder, Jackaby and Abigail must uncover new clues and discover not only who killed their friend, but what compelled this person to commit such a violent and gruesome act. Can I just say that I love all of these characters? I mean seriously, I know that Abigail is our narrator and primary character, but even so, it's just as easy to see who all of the major players are underneath and to see their development as this story goes on. None of these characters are perfect, but it's their flaws, no matter how big or small, that make them such realistic and three-dimensional characters

World-Building: Before I get too far into the world building I wanted to address the lack of a romance section. There is romance in this book, Charlie once again makes an appearance and there's a bit of romance between him and Abigail, and since a lot of this book delves into Jenny's past there's a bit of romance that involves her to, but there's not enough of it for me to feel as though it merits its own section. The main hook of this story is the fact that we finally learn more about Jenny and how she ended up dying. This mystery has been teased in previous installments, but I was overjoyed when in the previous book we see it ending with Jenny finally wanting to know what happened to her. as I said before we learn a lot more about Jenny and her life leading up to her death, but interestingly enough we also learn a lot about Jackaby's past and what led up to him becoming the Seer that he is. this book expands this world in immeasurable ways, there's something sinister going on in New Fiddleham and Jenny's murder and the other cases are just pieces of a much larger plot.

Predictability: With this being a mystery novel the predictability or lack thereof is very important. Luckily, this author knows what he's doing. I cannot begin to articulate how amazing this book is. There are so many wonderful twists and even when you think you know everything, even if you think you've uncovered what's going on before it's been uncovered in the story, there's always something else that puts a wrinkle in your perfectly logical prediction. Not that there aren't moments in this book that are extremely predictable, but it always feels like it's meant to be that way, it seems like the author purposely foreshadowed something a bit too easily just so that there could be a twist inside his twist.

Ending: If I didn't know going into this book that this was the penultimate installment in this series, by the time this book ends I would have figured it out. There are actually quite a few climactic moments towards the end of this book and they are unbelievably epic. These moments are when a lot of these characters shine their brightest. After all the dust settles, like with previous installments in this series, we get a taste of what's to come next. I don't want to give anything away, but the taste of what's coming up does feel very final, and like I said this is the second to last installment in this series. This book ends with on of these worst cliffhangers I've ever read (in a good way.) At this point, I want the next installment in this series probably more that I want to breathe.

Rating:

This is by far my favorite installment in this series yet. I've been trying to articulate just how and why this is my favorite and I can't, it's so complex and how everything ties together in this book leading to a very explosive cliffhanger just made this book my current favorite of the year so far!

Blog Tour Book Review: Forbidden + GIVEAWAY!

Release Date: December 1, 2015
Author: Eve Bunting
Publisher: Clarion Books
Length: 224 pages
Source: ARC from Publisher

In early-nineteenth century Scotland, sixteen-year-old Josie, an orphan, is sent to live with an aunt and uncle on the rocky, stormy northwest coast. Everything and everyone in her new surroundings, including her relatives, is sinister, threatening, and mysterious.

She's told that Eli, the young man she's attracted to, is forbidden to her, but not why. Spirited, curious, and determined, Josie sets out to learn the village's secrets and discovers evil, fueled by heartless greed, as well as a ghostly presence eager for revenge.

An author's note gives the historical inspiration for this story.

    

Review:

Protagonist: At the beginning of this book Josie, who has just lost both of her parents to Influenza, is on her way to live with her aunt and uncle, who she has never met. Josie was raised to be a proper lady and does the best she can to try and be kind and helpful to her aunt and uncle even though they're both harsh and cold with her. Over the course of this book Josie grows to become a more headstrong character who does whatever she can to uncover the truth about the mysterious goings on of the town. I really liked the character of Josie, she's strong yet flawed and even though her choices aren't the most wise she perseveres through the hard times and doesn't give up on her goals.

Romance: So if I had to have one criticism about this book it would be the romance. Since this book is so short and a great deal of it is dedicated to the main plot rather than the romance, for the romance to move as fast as it did, didn't make sense. I did like the chemistry between Josie and Eli, I just wish we'd seen more of them together in a romantic way, or even bonding because it would make their feelings close to the end of the book make more sense. That being said though I thought that how the romance fit into the story was very well done and added to, rather than distracted from, the plot.

World-Building: This story takes place in 1807 Scotland and that is very apparent in how this book is written and the first-person commentary from Josie. I really enjoyed seeing the small community of Brindle and Brindle Point come to life and the central mystery surrounding the town was really well done. There aren't really any paranormal elements until later in the book, but there's quite a bit of foreshadowing toward that fact, which I'll get to later. Given how short this book is I was surprised at how alive this world becomes, Bunting's writing is both extravagant and concise to offer up a wondrous picture of this world and the characters in it.

Predictability: So I have to say there is quite a bit about this book that I could see coming from quite a ways away, however what I could see was more small details of the story and larger twists within I couldn't have guessed in my wildest dreams. I have to say the central mystery of the town caught me by surprise, the thing is there isn't all too much foreshadowing as to what it is, even in the synopsis, but it's still no more dark than what I had predicted. There is one twist, something that was so blatantly obvious towards the end of the book that I nearly put it together but the part of my brain that likes to think in YA formulas couldn't quite put it together.

Ending: It isn't until the final climax of this book that things really begin to happen, it isn't that the beginning wasn't fast paced, but more that the real meat of the story hadn't been seen yet. As the book comes to a close I was a bit shocked at what happened, though not all that surprised, and the final climax was definitely one to remember. The final chapter is a bit of an epilogue, tying up any loose ends and bringing this stand alone to a close. I'm pretty happy with how the book ended and while it wasn't quite the idealistic ending I thought it would be, was still a great ending to this story.

Rating:

Like I said, my only complaint about this book was that the romance felt a bit rushed, it wasn't quite insta-love but it was close enough. The thing is that Josie and Eli had such great chemistry that if the author had expanded upon it, it wouldn't have felt so rushed. Overall though this is a fantastic book with a dark mystery and a touch of the paranormal.

About the Author:

Also known as Evelyn Bolton and A.E. Bunting.

Anne Evelyn Bunting, better known as Eve Bunting, is an author with more than 250 books. Her books are diverse in age groups, from picture books to chapter books, and topic, ranging from Thanksgiving to riots in Los Angeles. Eve Bunting has won several awards for her works.

Bunting went to school in Ireland and grew up with storytelling. In Ireland, “There used to be Shanachies… the shanachie was a storyteller who went from house to house telling his tales of ghosts and fairies, of old Irish heroes and battles still to be won. Maybe I’m a bit of a Shanchie myself, telling stories to anyone who will listen.” This storytelling began as an inspiration for Bunting and continues with her work.

In 1958, Bunting moved to the United States with her husband and three children. A few years later, Bunting enrolled in a community college writing course. She felt the desire to write about her heritage. Bunting has taught writing classes at UCLA. She now lives in Pasadena, California.

Website | Goodreads

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Book Review: Carry On

Release Date: October 6, 2015
Author: Rainbow Rowell
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
Length: 522 pages
Source: Library Audio Book

Simon Snow is the worst chosen one who’s ever been chosen.

That’s what his roommate, Baz, says. And Baz might be evil and a vampire and a complete git, but he’s probably right.

Half the time, Simon can’t even make his wand work, and the other half, he sets something on fire. His mentor’s avoiding him, his girlfriend broke up with him, and there’s a magic-eating monster running around wearing Simon’s face. Baz would be having a field day with all this, if he were here—it’s their last year at the Watford School of Magicks, and Simon’s infuriating nemesis didn’t even bother to show up.

Carry On is a ghost story, a love story, a mystery and a melodrama. It has just as much kissing and talking as you’d expect from a Rainbow Rowell story—but far, far more monsters.

    

Review:

Protagonists: This book is told from the first person perspective of a lot of characters, but in actuality there are four main characters. Simon, the worst Chosen One ever, he's flawed and cracked and I mean that in more ways than one. Simon is a mage who cannot control his magic, sometimes he'll just "go off" causing a large quantity of magic to explode from him, she's also a very flawed character, he doesn't always make the right choices, even when they seem the most logical. Then there's Penny, Simon's best friend and sidekick of sorts, Penny is smart, kind, and fiercely loyal to Simon. She's a character that needs everything to make logical sense and is usually the one to put things together. Then there's Baz, Simon's roommate and mortal enemy. Baz isn't evil, not really, he's more influenced by the politics of his family. Finally there's Agatha, Simon's girlfriend at the beginning of the book. Agatha just wants to live her life, she never asked to be put in the middle of a crazy adventure like she is and shies away from the spotlight whenever possible. Over the course of the book these characters grow and evolve, sometimes changing and sometimes becoming more rooted in their personalities.

Romance: There was a lot less romance in this book than I expected there to be. This book starts off with Simon and Agatha dating though it's obvious that both their hearts aren't in it and that they're together more because they feel like they should be rather than they actually want to be. Later in the story there's a romance between Simon and Baz which, in my opinion, was not only handled carefully but very well. It's a bit of a 180 when it happens so everything from that point needed to be handled just so, to prevent it from feeling forced or rushed. Even though the romance doesn't take center stage here like I thought it would it was still a fantastic part of the story.

World-Building: This is a weird book. By that I mean, and this is going to sound confusing, it's the author's take on a fictional world that she created for another one of her fiction books, where the world that she's using for this book was supposed to mirror the success of the Harry Potter series by JK Rowling. Because of that I'm not going to go into a big thing defending this book and pointing out the ways that it isn't like Harry Potter. This world does feel in many ways like Harry Potter, but there's a bit of a spin on everything. The magic system is very odd though done really well. Instead of Latin spells or English rhymes, spells in this world are based on cliches, nursery rhymes, or any other quotation or saying with meaning to our current society. Then there's the take on the classic Chosen One story, I love how the author twists a classic trope such as a Chosen One and brings in to new and unique heights which still delivering a phenomenal and entertaining read.

Predictability: So in all honesty, there weren't that many things that I couldn't predict about this book. First off most of them were because I'd read Fangirl and apparently Rainbow Rowell didn't want to delve too far out of the world she created for that book, leaving some things that I felt were supposed to be fairly big twists easily predictable thanks to that information. There were a few things that caught me off guard, things that I wasn't sure how they would be solved of if they even needed to be solved. These are the things that surprised me as I was reading this book.

Ending: So there is an epilogue in this book, one that lets the reader know what happened to out four main protagonists after the final confrontation. There was quite a lot more than I expected that went on during the epilogue and even though most everything was wrapped up and the reader had all the answers, there were still things that the characters didn't know things that I felt would have brought just a bit more closure to the story and might not have left me with this ache for more stories from this world.

Rating:

So I had VERY high expectations for this book, one of the reason's I haven't been reading and reviewing all that much lately was because I was waiting to get this book from my library and I had little interest to read anything but this. That being said this book didn't really disappoint and I can't wait to read more from this author and I hope she'll write another fantasy book soon.

Book Review: The Appearance of Annie Van Sinderen

Release Date: September 15, 2015
Author: Katherine Howe
Publisher: G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers
Length: 400 pages
Source: Review Copy from Publisher

A haunting, contemporary love story from the New York Times bestselling author of Conversion

It’s summertime in New York City, and aspiring filmmaker Wes Auckerman has just arrived to start his summer term at NYU. While shooting a séance at a psychic’s in the East Village, he meets a mysterious, intoxicatingly beautiful girl named Annie.

As they start spending time together, Wes finds himself falling for her, drawn to her rose petal lips and her entrancing glow. But there’s something about her that he can’t put his finger on that makes him wonder about this intriguing hipster girl from the Village. Why does she use such strange slang? Why does she always seem so reserved and distant? And, most importantly, why does he only seem to run into her on one block near the Bowery? Annie’s hiding something, a dark secret from her past that may be the answer to all of Wes’s questions...

    

Review:

Protagonists: So this book focuses on two protagonists, Annie and Wes, starting with Wes. Wes is a film student taking  summer course at NYU. He wants to go to school there full time, but unfortunately doesn't know if he's cut out for it, he also isn't quite sure how his family will feel about him being so far away. I liked the character of Wes, he's kind of a generic male protagonist who over the course of the book grows and develops into a much more unique and interesting point-of-view. Annie Van Sinderen is a bit of a rebel. She know she's supposed to be a proper lady, but constantly sneaks out to be with a boy her parents wouldn't approve of given his social standing. After waking up with a strange feeling of de ja vu and thing constantly and quite literally changing around her she doesn't know what's going on and the only person who could help her out is Wes. I liked Annie a lot more than Wes, she was a much more interesting character from the start and she just got better as the book went on.

**There is a minor spoiler mentioned fairly frequently from here on out, proceed with caution!**

Romance: So there is a love triangle in this book, and with it being a standalone I was a bit apprehensive, but it was alright in the end. The thing is though I couldn't take the love triangle seriously. Annie is a ghost, there's no way they could end up together. If Annie and Wes were just friends in this book and Wes focused most of his attentions on Maddie instead the romance would have made a lot more sense. I felt that although the love triangle, under more normal circumstances, would have been one of the better ones I've read, in this situation it just kind of fell flat and the situation just kind of resolved itself without much payoff.

World-Building: So the gimmick of this book is that it's a ghost story that doesn't use the word "ghost." At first I thought this was a great idea, possibly leaving some room for ambiguity and readers to interpret the book in different ways, however, the gimmick fell very, very flat. The word "ghost" never appears in this story, instead the author uses synonyms to make up for it, sometimes using spirit but most often using the term "Rip Van Winkle" that Annie came up with to avoid using said g-word, trust me it makes more sense in context. The thing is, if the author actually used the word "ghost" the story would still be the same and I don't think I would have liked it any less, in fact I may have actually liked it more since the author wouldn't have been tip-toeing around the word that everyone is thinking and driving me a tad crazy.

Predictability: For the most part this book is pretty easy to figure out. The foreshadowing is pretty heavy handed and things just click together very easily. I have to say though that as the story came to a close there were a few things that I didn't expect, and things that I thought would get resolved that were left up in the air, but I'll get to that later. Anyway, I was never annoyed with the blatant foreshadowing and the twists were still fun and easy to enjoy even when things seemed a tad too convenient.

Ending: So the ending leaves much open to interpretation and there were quite a few things left hanging, just not enough for a sequel. It's pretty easy to figure out why things were the way they were more or less, even though I'm still very confused about a few things. Even though I wish there was a more conclusive and wrapped up ending to this story, I did enjoy how everything came together in the end.

Rating:

So I did really like this book. The ghost story is more Casper than 13 Ghosts, but it's still an enjoyable read nonetheless. There were a few things that weren't for me but they didn't hinder the multi-layered and magnificent story that unfolded all that much.

Novella Review: The Ghost Prison

Release Date: October 1, 2013
Author: Joseph Delaney
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Length: 98 pages
Source: eGalley from Netgalley

‘This is the entrance to the Witch Well and behind that door you’d face your worst nightmare. Don’t ever go through there.'

Night falls, the portcullis rises in the moonlight, and young Billy starts his first night as a prison guard. But this is no ordinary prison. There are haunted cells that can’t be used, whispers and cries in the night... and the dreaded Witch Well. Billy is warned to stay away from the prisoner down in the Witch Well. But who could it be? What prisoner could be so frightening? Billy is about to find out...

An unforgettable ghost story from the creator of the Wardstone Chronicles (Last Apprentice) series.

Illustrated throughout by the incredible Scott M Fischer, this beautifully produced book will make the perfect Halloween gift.

    

Review:

Protagonist: Billy is an orphan who has recently taken up a job as a guard for a local prison. Of course once he gets there he discovers far more than he bargained for. Since this story is so short, being able to easily read it in under an hour, there wasn't all that much character development. That being said I could still get a pretty good feeling as to what type of character Billy is, hard working, loyal, and, while not the bravest of the bunch, can persevere in frightening situations.

World-Building: This story takes place in the same world as the Last Apprentice series by the same author. While there isn't that much world-building in this book, with it being more like a short story than a novella, there are some references to the Last Apprentice series, nothing major and nothing truly spoilery, but just a few things to tie the two stories together.

Predictability: So I really didn't expect where this book was going. I think for like, the first four chapters or so I understood how the story was going to unfold, but as the end drew nearer the story took some unexpected twists and turns.

Ending: So as I said before the ending of this story is where things get a bit unpredictable. At first I assumed a few things were going to happen and well, it turns out that I was totally and completely wrong, and secondly I didn't expect the story to end as darkly as it did. I know Joseph Delaney isn't necessarily the king of fairy tales and happy endings but even so this was unexpected.

Rating:

This is a beautifully crafted and highly entertaining short story. I'd say that even though this story lands somewhere in the lower-YA age group that anyone could enjoy it and that it might be scary, but in a good way, for children 7-12. Perfect for a spooky Halloween story.