The Diviners

Bray, L. (COMING SEPTEMBER 2012). The Diviners. NY: Little, Brown & Company. (ARC)

YA Lit / paranormal / fantasy
Thank you, TLA Conference and Little, Brown & Company for this free Advance Reading Copy!

UPDATE!!!!  This is an absolutely amazing fan-made (DayIn3 on YouTube) book trailer, and it makes me want to read the book again. Was I too harsh?? Was I just in a mood?  Check this out:


 

When I started reading this, I was immediately bugged by the main character, Evie, but I stuck with it and I definitely got caught up in the story. The story is a mix of Ghostbusters (The Bennington, where everyone lives, is a conduit for the spirits) and Seven (ehh. . .not going to elaborate there) and The Stand (creepy man with the tall black hat) and I'm feeling slightly disturbed that I picked-up and read two books, back-to-back, without any prior knowledge, and they both included digging up the dead. (other book Rotters, which still weighs heavily on me.) 

I was disappointed in the ending -- way too many loose ends and very little closure -- and though the 20s lingo was fun (sorry, it was the bees knees), I would feel compelled to smother any teenager who spoke in nothing but street lingo. Evie didn't need to do that to be hip; it just made her slightly annoying.  Clearly this is designed to be part of a series, but it would have made a nice stand alone by removing a whole bunch of "new" information at the end and just reconciling some stories.

And the stories are many -- there are a ton of characters and many have "gifts" that indicate we haven't heard the last from them.  Not sure how the author can weave all of them in to the next book without it becoming jumbled. We'll just have to see how good she is!

This is a pretty fun video (posted by YouTube user MrRoccoA) that has the author acting out (with action figures) and singing some of the book.

Ruby Red

Gier, K. (2011). Ruby Red.  NY: Henry Holt & Company.

YA Lit / fantasy

First, I will admit that I was completely put-off by this book because of the cover. Ick. I am definitely not into any Victorian Era stories and the cover on this one would not in any way entice me to read the story.  It has a very Somewhere In Time /Jane Seymour feel to it (which, as a side note, is one of the best movies ever made and similarly about time travel).  At the end of this blog are a couple of other covers, (different countries, different formats, different titles) but I'm not sure any of these is right for this book, either. . . thoughts?

That it was on the Texas Library Association’s 2012 Texas Lone Star Reading List did pique my interest, but what got me reading it was that my daughter brought it home as her next book club read.  Since she was conveniently finishing another book, I snagged it. 

The main character, Gwenyth, is very believable, as is her best friend Lesley and the BFF relationship they share.  That Gwenyth shares all the most secretest of family secrets with Lesley makes it even more realistic (‘cause this is what real teen BFFs do), and Leslie provides a convenient and plausible source of historical information for Gwenyth.   

Though Gwenyth is supposed to be a sixteen-year-old, she initially seems a bit younger.  This could be intentional by the author to show that she may have been babied some at home and to show the contrast at how she steps-up and acts maturely when thrown into time travel and the family drama surrounding it. I dunno. 

As expected, there's a drop-dead gorgeous nineteen-year-old boy who also carries the time travel gene, and as expected, sparks fly.  This was one gripe about the story -- clearly we have a trilogy (at least) coming out of this, so I think I would have preferred some tension and mixed signals to prevail throughout this story and a hint of potential romance to come.  Not the case. 

I was most appreciative of the several illustrations and explanations of family trees and connections between the time travelers.  LOTS of characters roll across the pages, but the charts kept it manageable.  There are numerous candidates for bad guy of the book, but there's definitely one REALLY bad guy who makes me think of Rasputin in the Anastasia movie out some years ago.  He's a creeper, and his presence really adds to the story.

sassy girl and sassy title

sophisticated girl. . .favorite

Mysterious girl in spookyland

I found this delightful trailer (narrated by a young lady with a delightful accent).  It's very lighthearted but readers, there are SINISTER AND DARK forces in this book. . .Enjoy!


 

UPDATE: See my review of Sapphire Blue, the next installment in the Ruby Red Trilogy.

Divergent

Roth, V. (2011). Divergent. NY: Katherine Tegen Books.
YA Fiction / Dystopian
Click here to see the official Book Trailer, which doesn't do it justice!

WOW!  This is an awesome story!  Even after a week of barely any sleep, I had to stay up and finish this book last night.  Roth does a wonderful job of building-up: building-up tension, anxiety, curiosity - you name it.  The premise of the story is an interesting one, and though it's been done before, it's done differently and believably.

The future has us divided into factions, based on which of five virtues is predominant. You are born into the faction of your parents, but at sixteen, you are given an aptitude test that tells you to which faction you should belong. The results aren't always clear. . .and that's dangerous.

As is typical with society and books of this genre, forcing people into neat little boxes generally leads to unrest, which generally leads to rebellion and war.  Beatrice, the main character, is spunky and smart and admirable,  and stronger in her tiny frame than most anyone else in the book.  The supporting characters are well-developed (OOOH, I hate Peter) and Beatrice's relationships with them are equally well-defined (OOH, Beatrice hates Peter).

Guess we have a movie to look forward to, but I'm just happy we have another book in the series to look forward to coming out soon.
 

Can't get enough? Check out the excerpt from Roth's sequel, Insurgent. (below)

Insurgent Excerpt