All posts by Kasey

About Kasey

Reads things. Writes things. Fluent in sarcasm. Willful optimist. Cat companion, chocolate connoisseur, coffee drinker. There are some who call me Mom.

The Hopper-Hill Family by Erika Castiglioni

Review: The Hopper-Hill Family by Erika Castiglione

Book Review and Content, Clean Fiction, Contemporary, Middle Grade 8-12, , , ,

The Hopper-Hill Family by Erika CastiglioniThe Hopper-Hill Family
Erika Castiglione

Amazon | Goodreads

Twelve year-old Piper has always dreamed of having a sibling. She never imagined gaining three siblings in one weekend. But that’s exactly what happens when a tragic car accident brings her three orphaned cousins to live under her roof. Between their grief and the shock of the cross-country move, the cousins’ first days are rough. Piper tries to be her best self, to comfort them, but it’s hard to know what to say and do. She and her parents wrestle with the desire to welcome the three into their family without making them feel they have to forget their parents.

I think telling this story from Piper’s perspective was an interesting choice. She functions primarily as an observer, watching her parents wrestle with this unexpected change and watching her cousins work through grief in different ways. It’s not that Piper doesn’t have her own adjustments to make. She’s pretty mellow and even, kind of just goes with the flow of things, but she does have to face her own trials in the course of the story.

The conversations between Piper’s parents felt real and true to life for people experiencing not only grief and regret over lost loved ones but also feeling torn about bringing three children they feel they barely know into their home. While I loved the relatability of those moments, I felt like I didn’t get to hear enough from Piper. I wanted more dialogue between her and other characters.

As a divorced and remarried parent, I’m always looking for books that address issues of grief and blended families. Though The Hopper-Hill Family doesn’t merge families due to divorce, I felt like it presented some of the same questions, fears, and grief that children in a newly blended family might feel, as well as creating a sense of hope. Piper doesn’t experience the loss of her own parents, but her close observation of her household and her care for and patience with her cousins shows empathy and kindness in the face of the kind of grief that often leaves us not knowing how to respond to survivors.

All this might make the story sound really heavy – it’s not. I read through the whole tale in an afternoon. Despite the sad topic, it’s got a lot of hope and a lot of emphasis on what it means to become a family.

Language Content
None.

Sexual Content
None.

Spiritual Content
Sam, Cora, and Seth’s family all attended church in their Colorado town. Sam requests prayer at bed time after he moves in with Piper’s family. Cora continues to pray and keep in touch with a spiritual mentor. Piper’s parents worry that their non-religious home will be uncomfortable for the kids, but don’t make any changes regarding their own practices.

Violence
References to a car accident which killed two people. A child and dog are injured in a car accident as well.

Drug Content
Seth smokes cigarettes. Piper’s family eventually confronts him about this and he agrees to try to quit. Piper’s Uncle Carlos comes home drunk and vomits on the floor. He briefly tells Piper that he’s addicted to alcohol but moves out rather than getting any help. Later he sends a note to the family explaining he’s been clean for a few weeks.

Note: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

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Review: As White as Snow by Salla Simukka

Book Review and Content, Mystery/Suspense/Thriller, New Adult 18up, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , , ,

As White as Snow by Salla Simukka
Translated from Finnish by Owen F. Witesman
Skyscape/Amazon

After risking her life to bring down a crime ring in Finland, seventeen year-old Lumikki retreats to the anonymous streets of Prague, hoping to find a little peace. Instead she finds a young woman claiming to be her long-lost sister whose life may be in danger. Even though she finds the girl’s story suspicious, Lumikki can’t turn her back on the girl and the mystery surrounding her.

Some elements – an investigative reporter working to uncover a far-reaching scandal aided by a brilliant but odd girl – may remind readers of Larsson’s The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. Yet despite the drama and suspense, the story’s pace chokes on pointless flashbacks featuring a failed romance between Lumikki and her transgender partner. Perhaps Lumikki is too smart, for she often foils the plans of her enemies with seemingly little effort. To digest the ending requires a firm willing suspension of disbelief as Lumikki resolves one mystery only to abandon pressing charges or consequences on some guilty parties.

As White as Snow is the second book detailing Lumikki’s crime-fighting exploits. Perhaps reading the first book, As Red as Blood would have given me a better reference point for understanding how the relationship flashbacks related to the current story. Without having read that first book, it’s hard for me to say. As a fan of Larsson’s Dragon Tattoo books, I felt this story, which is advertised as a comparable tale, really couldn’t compare to the complexity and machine-tight plot found in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. But perhaps that comparison set the bar too high?

Language Content
Profanity used very infrequently.

Sexual Content
Lumikki has flashbacks to her relationship with Blaze, who is a transgender boy. Blaze ended his relationship with Lumikki due to worries that she couldn’t accept his transition. Lumikki feels she never judged Blaze and loved him regardless of any issues related to his transgender-ness. She remembers some sexual experiences rather vividly – PG-13 kind of stuff. These scenes don’t really connect to the present story at all. Blaze never enters the story in any way other than in the flashbacks, and they never add to the current tale.

Spiritual Content
Lenka is a member of a cult whose practices have some connection with Christianity. The cult members believe they are members of one family, and their practices reference Jesus and God. There are references to other cults in which members have committed suicide en masse.

Violence
An assassin tries to catch and kill Lumikki, but he’s a bit clumsy about it.

Drug Content
A girl takes sleeping pills on orders from her spiritual leader.

Review: The Lost Princess by Dani-Lyn Alexander

Book Review and Content, Fantasy, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , ,

The Lost Princess (The Kingdom of Cymmera #2)
Dani-Lyn Alexander
Lyrical Press
Published: 10/13/15

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

Ryleigh’s boyfriend is from another dimension. Literally. Jackson, the newly crowned king of Cymmera wants her to leave the human world behind and join him in ruling his kingdom. Torn between what could be her destiny and her love for her younger sister still in the human world, Ryleigh isn’t sure what to do. Then an important Cymmeran relic disappears. Ryleigh sets out to find the missing stone and stumbles onto a treasonous plot that could destroy Jackson’s fragile kingdom. She must find a way to warn him before the betrayal can be carried out.

There’s an old writing saying about beginning a story in the middle. Alexander was paying attention. The very first chapter of The Lost Princess is jam-packed with action and conflict. I haven’t read the first book in the Kingdom of Cymmera series, so I was a little nervous about being able to follow the story. For the most part, though, it was easy to figure out what was going on and why it was significant.

Once the story shifts into the Cymmeran realm, the action stays high but the conflict becomes more organized. Jackson’s motivations are clear and powerful. And though Ryleigh gets herself into a bit of trouble, she’s far from a helpless maiden. Most of the story centers around these two characters. I found myself wishing for more information about Dakota, Jackson’s best friend, and Mia, Ryleigh’s little sister.

One thing that did slow the story down for me was the sheer number of adjectives in each sentence. Sometimes the descriptions heightened the emotional impact of a scene, but at other times it almost made moments seem cheesy or melodramatic. I think the story would have been stronger by tightening things up, especially in those intense moments.

Over all, this wasn’t my favorite. The things I liked about it – the strong heroine, worthy hero, fantasy landscape – can be found in other stories where the narrative is better executed. Readers looking for high action and fierce romantic tension may find this story to be a good fit, though, as Alexander delivers on both counts.

Language Content
No profanity.

Sexual Content
Jackson tries his best to keep the smooching to a minimum. Prolonged kissing begins a ritual that will bind Ryleigh to him forever, and he wants to wait until she’s ready to make that choice. However, there’s a lot of sexual tension between the two. A lot of references to their feelings for each other via physical experiences – an aching need to be together, that sort of thing.

At one point, though, the kissing does get a bit carried away, and while the two are still clothed, they are lying down together and the imagery is pretty sexual.

Spiritual Content
Jackson and his people live in an alternate realm to the human world. Some of his people are part of a league called Death Dealers, who venture into the human world to kill certain targets and bring them back to their own kingdom to live. They use portals to travel from one place or dimension to another.

Elijah, a prophet has visions that he reveals to the Cymmeran leadership. They follow his directions. It’s unclear if this is supposed to be a supernatural gift or a religious experience for the prophet. The evil king has a prophet/sorcerer of his own as well. Ryleigh finds a spirit animal who remains at her side as a protector throughout the story.

Violence
Battle imagery. References to torture. A prisoner is pretty severely brutalized. A prince exacts revenge on an old enemy by stabbing him in the temple.

Drug Content
None.

Note: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

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Review: Never Said by Carol Lynch Williams

Book Review and Content, Clean Fiction, Contemporary, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , , ,

Never Said
Carol Lynch Williams
Zondervan

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

In the midst of her devastation over a break-up, Sarah realizes something isn’t right with her twin. Annie has been withdrawing from the family for some time, but her behavior seems to be escalating. She chops off her hair, gains weight, and gives up the beauty pageants she once lived for. Though shy and socially anxious Sarah has always been jealous of the way her parents favor Annie, she begins to worry about her sister. Sarah pushes toward her sister, and finds that in return, Annie reluctantly opens up to her.

The writing style was the first thing that captured me in this story. The voice is strong, conveying Sarah’s inner agony and Annie’s mounting frustration with aching clarity. There was one moment at the beginning where I felt like the story was a bit repetitive in describing Sarah’s reaction to her family’s interactions. Other than that, things moved forward at a great pace, and I tore through the story in one sitting of just a few hours.

Annie’s weight gain dramatically changes the way the other students interact with her. While Annie feels that her new look is a shield against unwanted male attention, she also endures some hateful behavior from other kids. The exploration of body image and how weight affects the way others perceive us is important. Williams doesn’t shy away from the sad reality there. Annie eventually decides to return to her old look, and while I get it, I found myself wishing somehow that there had been a bigger pause, a bigger moment to say that it really doesn’t/shouldn’t matter what her weight is. Returning to her slimmer figure doesn’t increase her actual value, though it functioned as an indicator of Annie’s rising sense of her own value – she’d been hiding behind those extra pounds and shedding them would be like facing an enemy head-on. It showed real courage.

The resolution was a bit quick. All the way through the story Annie hints that she has a secret. It smells like sexual abuse, but we don’t find out what it is until the big reveal maybe three-quarters of the way through the story. Once this comes out, Sarah takes some action to protect her sister. Following this, we get kind of a summary of how everyone responded and what happened after that (visit spoiler section if you want to know more.) I felt like some of that was a bit rushed and didn’t allow me a chance to soak in the characters’ emotions in what was a really big moment.

I loved watching the sisters’ relationship develop. As a girl with two sisters, one close enough in age that we were often mistaken for twins, the tug-of-war Annie and Sarah experienced in terms of establishing their own identities and finding ways to connect despite their differences and pressure from parents or friends felt extremely real.

As I read, I found myself looking for the spiritual tie-in. Though this is a Zondervan book, there was not really any link that I could see to pursuing a Christian faith or even searching out questions about whether God is real or anything like that. I found it a bit puzzling, to be honest.

Language Content
None.

Sexual Content
Sarah recalls time spent with her boyfriend snuggling in his bed (clothed), kissing, and sneaking in/out of each other’s rooms. (see below for additional content which includes spoilers.)

Spiritual Content
None.

Shocked? Me too. Despite the fact that Zondervan is a Christian publisher… I can’t remember faith really playing any sort of role whatsoever in the story.

Violence
None.

Drug Content
None.

SPOILER (select the text below to read…)
Sexual content continued… Annie reveals that she’s no longer a virgin and that she’s had sex with a married man, even after she told him no. It’s a quick conversation and there’s not a lot of follow-up information.

While I appreciate that we weren’t dragged through the gory details of Annie’s relationship, I kind of felt like the resolution of this information, which the whole story has been building up to, was too quick and too many things were left unsaid. We have enough infer that it’s a bad relationship from the brief information Annie reveals, and there’s a brief wrap-up letting us know that this guy isn’t going to get off scot-free. I just felt like it needed to be a bigger moment. I wanted to really feel Annie’s parents realize what’s been happening and see them respond to her with all the shock, horror, and protection, rather than just have Sarah tell us that was so.

 

Review: Shades of Doon by Carey Corp and Lorie Langdon

Book Review and Content, Christian World-View, Clean Fiction, Fantasy, Romance, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , ,

Shades of Doon
Carey Corp and Lorie Langdon
Blink YA/Zondervan
Published: September 1, 2015

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

As Vee embraces her role as Doon’s Queen, she looks forward to the day she and Jamie will be able to rule together. Her best friend Kenna still searches for her own place in the kingdom. Just as Kenna begins to feel she’s found her niche, a dark force boots both girls from their beloved land and drops them back in the real world. As if facing the shock of their old, broken lives wasn’t enough, all signs indicate that this is just the beginning of a new threat. Together with the MacCrae boys, they’ll have to face an old enemy once again, one who’s determined to have the rule of Doon for herself.

Vee and Kenna are very different, but their friendship makes them each stronger. I liked the dynamics between them, where Kenna kept Vee from taking herself too seriously and Vee kept Kenna from losing faith in herself. The circle of friends and advisers added interest, too. I definitely wanted to know more about each of them. I haven’t read either of the earlier books in this series, so I may have to do that in the hopes that some of these other characters get a little more stage time.

I also really enjoyed the references to musicals and theater that were sprinkled throughout the story. Though I’m far from a theater buff, I picked up on several of them, and it felt like being in on a joke or something. I thought it was a nice touch.

While I found myself captured by the idyllic landscape of the story, I felt like it lost tension in a couple of places. One is after the girls are booted out of Doon, which is resolved in a snap once the boys arrive. The other is following an attack by an unknown enemy. The attack ends and everyone kind of dusts themselves off and moves on. I was like, wait, what?! Is the enemy still out there? What’s going on?? But… no one else really seemed too worried. So that was a little confusing.

There was also quite a bit of kissing in this story. Don’t get me wrong – I’m all for a bit of smooching, especially when I’ve been rooting for the romance to finally blossom for the entire story. This was more like, the couple has already fallen in love and it’s kind of just happily ever after on rinse and repeat. I would have liked to see more tension or conflict between the couples to keep me guessing and hoping. However, if I’d been a reader from the very beginning of the series, I might still be happy-sighing every time a well-earned lip-smack happens. So it could just be me. And the authors take things up a notch toward the end, definitely creating some anticipation for the next book.

Language Content
No profanity.

Sexual Content
Lots of scenes that include kissing. There’s one moment where it gets pretty intense and the characters stop themselves from taking things further, wanting to respect the boundaries they’ve set for their relationship which include waiting to have sex until marriage.

Spiritual Content
The Protector seems to be the name the Doonians use to refer to God. They believe that some have a calling to live out their lives in the kingdom of Doon, and that calling involves being joined with a soul mate.

Violence
A witch threatens the Doonian people. No graphic details beyond an admiring description of Duncan or Jamie’s rippling muscles.

Drug Content
None.

Note: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

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Upcoming Reviews: October 2015 Part 2

Lists, News and Fun, ,

October 2015 Upcoming Reviews: Part 2

I’m not a huge fan of scary stories, but with Halloween coming soon, I figured it would be festive to include some spookier tales. This is about as wild as I get. Here’s a bit about each book and why I’m looking forward to reading it. Enjoy!

Illuminae by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff

About the book: Kady and Ezra, who were until recently girlfriend and boyfriend, must now overcome  awkward post-relationship weirdness and escape invasion, war, and plague.

Why I’m reading it: I read a sample of this story and liked the way it’s told in interview snippets and documents. I really liked those parts of These Broken Stars by Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner.

The Dredge by Jaimie M. Engle

About the book: Sean Marrok’s gift might allow him to stand up to the Regime, but he’ll have to escape them first.

Why I’m reading it: I enjoyed Jaimie Engle’s middle grade story Clifton Chase and the Arrow of Light a couple of years ago. This story sounds super different, and I’m eager to see Engle’s writing style applied to dark sci-fi in this novella which won honorable mention in the L Ron Hubbard 2013 Writers of the Future contest.

As White as Snow by Salla Simukka

About the book: A Prague getaway turns into a desperate attempt to save her sister for renowned sleuth Lumikki Andersson. She’s not actually sure this mystery girl is really her sister, but something about the girl’s desperation drives Lumikki to help her, even if it means risking her own life.

Why I’m reading it: This is one of the books I received from Children’s Literature, for whom I also write reviews. As a fan of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, I’m interested to read this book, which boasts to be a sure win with fans of Stieg Larsson.

The All Powerful by J K Brown

About the book: Dark powers fuel Jason’s incredible military success and make him a target for a a ruthless Shadow mercenary. Jason teams up with powerful Elementals, but will they be ready for battle in time?

Why I’m reading it: I seem to have an interest in stories about space militia. I wouldn’t have guessed that about myself, but I’m definitely keen to find out whether Jason learns to harness his power in a good way and whether his allies are strong enough to stand against the darkness.

These Shallow Graves by Jennifer Donnelly

About the book: After her father’s death in a shooting accident, Jo and a local reporter uncover an ugly truth surrounding her father’s death and what really happened.

Why I’m reading it: I’ve been talking about this book for the longest time, and I’m finally reviewing it! Yay! It looks dark and suspenseful, and it’s got some mystery to it as the heroine explores the truth behind her father’s death. It’s a little different than my usual picks, but all the more reason to bring it on.

What’s on your reading list?

What spooky stories are on your reading list this month? What do you recommend that hasn’t made my list yet? Have you read any of these titles already, and if so, what did you think?