What I've Been Reading this Week

You'd think with the glowing review below this, I would finally have gotten around to reading The Forrest of Hands and Teeth. But, well...no.

I did read Devilish by Maureen Johnson, which was fantastic. I believe it's the only paranormal book she has written and I wasn't sure if it was actually going to be paranormal until it was absolutely proven that it was. Each character is written with such personality and realism, as I find true in all of her books, that I couldn't believe it was in a fantasy setting.

Jane, the main character, goes to a catholic private school and is a genius. Her best friend Allison is quiet and shy but always eager to fit in. So, when a new student comes along and offers her everything she's ever wished for, she sells her soul in a moment.

Literally, Allison sells her soul to a demon. And now has beautiful clothes, and beautiful new hair cut, and is fitting in with everyone she always wanted to fit in with. Oh, and almost killing herself.

Jane who has always taken care of Allison, always sacrificed for her, steps up to rescue Allison from the demon and what ensues is a battle of wills with one clear goal. Sacrifice everything, but save your soul.

Maureen Johnson crafts a tale about friendship in high school that is funny, and charming, and suspenseful and, despite the paranormal aspects, so very real feeling. She is definitely one of my favourite authors and this book did not disappoint at all. It was almost as if she sat down to write a book that explained why Twilight would become as popular as it is before it was popular.

I also read the first eight chapters of Bran Hambric: The Farfield Curse by Kaleb Nation.

This book has good characters, and an original idea which I enjoy but it is so slow. The pacing feels as if it is moving along at the speed of a snail, and despite funny and engaging characters, and a well set-up mystery, I find myself not caring.

There are some very good things about this book, don't get me wrong. The family that Bran lives with is hilarious. And the circumstances of the town that he is in is very interesting. And the mystery of who Bran is and where he came from and why he had to be hidden is intriguing. It just feels like this book would have benefited from more editing. It makes it difficult to concentrate on the good things in the book when the pacing is so very slow.

Bran is an orphen living with an odd family in a town named Dunce, where nothing magic is allowed. The town lives on modern technology, and resembles the real world. Except that everyone knows magic exists outside of the town, and will stop at nothing to keep it from getting inside.

Which begs the question, why was Bran hidden there by a mother who was obviously a mage? And who are these people that are after him? And, most importantly, why does everyone hate gnomes so much?

I'm looking forward to finishing the book and, hopefully, getting answers to these questions. All of the ideas in this story are excellent, I just feel the writing could have used some honing. But the author is quite young and I am very happy for him, for getting published so young. I'm looking forward to seeing how his writing grows.

My one other complaint was Bran's situation with the family he lives with. It felt way to much like Harry and the Dursleys. In fact, it's almost exactly the same except in this instance, the family doesn't know he is capable of magic.

And, lastly, I read the first book in The Good Neighbors series by Holly Black, illustrated by Ted Naifeh.

Yes, it's a graphic novel. Yes, my copy is signed by the author.

I love Holly Black! She writes modern teenagers so well and isn't afraid to write them realistically. Drugs, and sex, and violence, confusion, and fantasy all mix together so well in her books.

I'm not that big a fan of graphic novels, so there are some things about it that I didn't enjoy. The minimalist features, the sentences that always feel as if they come out of nowhere, that sort of thing. But mostly I think that is just personal preference.

Rue's mother has been missing for three weeks, her father has been accused of murdering one of his students, and, to top it all off, she's been seeing...things. Creatures lurking around town. Beautiful, terrible creatures.

Which, if you know Holly Black's writing at all, you will know right away are faeries.

I'm enjoying the story in this one, the characters are a little generic. At least, they are compared to other characters of Holly's that I have loved. I am definitely looking forward to more though.

The artist is really really good at drawing the faeries. At making them beautiful and terrifying at the same time. I find his regular looking human characters to be weird looking though. But it is possible that he did this on purpose.