Category Archives: Paranormal

Review: Cease & Desist by Stephen David Hurley

Book Review and Content, Mystery/Suspense/Thriller, New Adult 18up, Paranormal, ,

cease-and-desistCease & Desist
Stephen David Hurley
Published by Stephen David Hurley
Available October 10, 2016

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

Cease de Menich joins the cast of a cutting-edge TV reality-drama as Jeanne d’Arc. Her acting gift isn’t just talent. It’s a kind of genetic gift passed down through her family line. But as Cease wrestles with how to remain true to her saint character in the face of overwhelming pressure to have sex with cast members as part of the show, she realizes her brother desperately wanted to tell her something before he died. As Cease searches for clues in the notes he left, she realizes that his message may be the only way she can win the contest within the TV show and finish the season with her soul intact.

I have some really mixed feelings about this story. First, I have to say that there were moments in which the writing really stood out to me as excellent. Cease had a unique voice and a really powerful way of communicating. I loved that. Sometimes, though, there would be these vague references to things that either were still a mystery or I was supposed to already know about or were maybe supposed to be clearer on their own? I don’t know. Several times I got lost trying to figure out what was going on while the story moved on and left me confused.

Another thing that was weird to me was the way that so many of the scenes felt sexualized. No mistake, there’s some sexual content in the story, and Cease thinks about sex in several scenes besides that. But those aren’t what I mean. I felt like even in scenes without any overt sexual tension or purpose, there was often at least a sensual undertone. I found it a bit odd in a story with a virgin central character.

The reality TV drama definitely hooked me as a concept, though. It reminded me of Hunger Games meets The Bachelor or something. I think it the storytelling had been smoother, I think I would have enjoyed this part more. There were times I just had a hard time following what was happening. See below for additional content information.

Recommended Age: 18+

Cultural Elements
Characters appear to be white except for Craig, one of the boys in the reality TV show with Cease, who is Hispanic.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Extreme profanity used frequently. Crude speech about sex also occurs pretty regularly.

Romance/Sexual Content
Cease plays a virgin in a TV show in which characters ratings seem to go sky high if they have sex with other show characters. Cease wonders if she’ll have to give up her virginity in order to stand as part of the final couple and win the series. Her attitude about this widely varies. Sometimes she seems almost eager to “become a woman” by having sex with one of the male characters. At other times she seems to resent being put in a position where she has to make this choice. Because she’s cast as Jeanne d’Arc, she feels a certain responsibility to preserve the authenticity of her character, who was martyred as a virgin. That said, she does nearly have sex with a man in his apartment, and she’s not shy about kissing the boys on the show set.

Cease struggles with the knowledge that her mother and brother had a sexual relationship. Both have died before the story begins, but she revisits that issue a couple of times, once in a brief flashback to when she discovered them together. Cease and her brother had an odd relationship, too. She often refers to him as her Romeo, and talks about how they played roles together and hated returning to reality. They also shared a bed together, much to their guardian’s dismay.

Before her brother died, some friends staged a “coming out party” for him, but then tricked him into making out with another boy on film.

Many of the scenes in the book, even some which don’t have an overt sexual context, feel sexualized. Often a conversation morphs into a brief make-out session with Cease wondering if she’s willing to have sex with the boy she’s kissing. At one point Cease’s aunt helps her bathe, and even that had a bit of a sensual vibe to it.

Spiritual Content
Cease doesn’t believe in God, but she prays to the real Joan of Arc in her dark moments. When someone begins responding to her prayers via email, identifying herself as none other than the saint herself, Cease isn’t sure what to believe. She questions Joan about how she kept her faith through trials and torture. The answers seem to encourage her to have some kind of hope, though they don’t appear to alter her spiritual beliefs.

Violent Content
Characters in the show battle with swords, axes, daggers and other weapons for the right to one on one scenes with the boys. Some deaths occur in the filming of the show.

Drug Content
None.

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

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Review: The Raven King by Maggie Stiefvater

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

The Raven King
Maggie Stiefvater
Scholastic, Inc

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

The Raven King has been on the To Read list of practically every blogger that I follow. I’ve been a pretty big fan of the series so far, so I was really eager to get into this last chapter of the tale.

If you’re new to the Raven Cycle, here’s what you need to know:

Growing up in the company of psychics, means getting used to people knowing your future. Blue has always been told two things about her future: she will fall in love, and, if she kisses her true love, he will die. She meets Gansey and his friends and realizes she’s seen him before. On the Corpse Road, walking among the other souls of those who will die in the coming year.

Gansey died once already. And because of Glendower, he knew life again. Now, Gansey believes his purpose is to find the Welsh king of legend and wake him. He brings three remarkable friends with him on the quest. Adam, who has made a bargain with a magical forest, to serve as its hands and eyes, Ronan, who can bring items back from his dreams, and Noah, a boy who died on the ley line years ago, and joins the friends now as a ghost.

So now it’s the fourth book, and Gansey et al are closing in on Glendower’s location. But a powerful demon has been set loose, and the team needs to find Glendower before the demon destroys Cabeswater and Ronan with it. If they can wake the legendary king, they can use the favor he’s promised to put an end to the demon.

One of the most difficult things about a highly anticipated book like this is it has so many expectations to live up to. We’ve followed this big stories all the way to this point and we’re braced for the big satisfying moments where dreams are realized and plots come full circle and everyone lives gloriously if not happily ever after.

Here comes a little diversity. In the first three books, the central characters are a pretty narrow bunch: four white boys and a white girl. The Raven King introduces Henry, a Korean boy, and reveals two of our boys as having feelings for each other. While I liked that the story broadened in terms of diversity, and I liked Henry a lot, I didn’t really feel like those elements were as well-integrated into the story. I kept waiting for Henry to emerge as having some critical role, and apart from having a really cool artifact and some comic relief, he really doesn’t add much in his own right.

The boy/boy romance. I really couldn’t decide how I felt about it. Totally did not see it coming, which I kind of liked. On the other hand, I felt like after three books, I should have suspected something. Also, one of the boys had a girlfriend earlier in the series, and I wondered why the other hadn’t responded to this girl as more of a rival in a romantic sense? Then again, maybe I’d see some of those queues if I went back and reread the first three books?

The climax really threw me. Pretty much from the point where the cloud of ravens come up through the end of the book kind of went downhill for me. Things happened too easily. Oh, here’s a car. Oh, here’s a cave. Oh, here’s a sacrifice. I kept thinking, that’s it? That’s all we get? ALL this buildup for THIS?!

Also – okay. I spent the whole book anticipating this big boss fight with this waspy demon (perfect villain considering Gansey’s life-threatening allergy to bees.) What we got was the literary equivalent of the boss fight in Halo 4. (Go with me, here. You pretty much fight your way through aliens level after level and finally make it to the big scary bad guy and it’s like, ‘press right-trigger to defeat boss.’ Kind of a letdown.)

So, the wasp-demon fight went down a whole different way, leaving some pretty big loose ends: The Green Man? Henry’s mom? Piper’s dad and his brother?

I was relieved when I discovered there was an epilogue. But honestly, it didn’t answer any of the questions the story left me with. In fact, I really didn’t know what to make of it. Sure, we get to see the characters moving on after completing this quest which has dominated their lives for four whole books, but it was like suddenly they’re ordinary people. (And ordinary people who make weird choices. Really, Adam??) I had a rush of the same feeling I get when watching The Return of the King in the scene where Aragorn is finally crowned king and suddenly he’s soft and sweet and awkward and I’m like where is the warrior who didn’t even blink at taking on nine freaking Nazgûl?! But I digress.

Bottom line: am I glad I read it? Yes. Totally. Even if every review said exactly all these things, I would still have said, yes, but I need to read it. I need to follow Blue and Gansey to the bitter end. So I’m not sorry. The first three-quarters of the book was great. Lots of tension. So many moments where I was biting my nails and holding my breath. I loved the stuff about Blue and her dad. I loved that we got to see Ronan at home and kind of unguarded. All the stuff revealed about Ronan’s dad and his brother Declan? Awesome.

So there are good things to be had in the story, too. For me, like I said, I’m glad I read it. Now I want to go read Dream Thieves or The Raven Boys and let those earlier, grander parts of the story live on in my mind instead of the true final moments of the series.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Extreme profanity used moderately throughout the book.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing – girl/boy and boy/boy.

Spiritual Content
Blue’s mom and their other housemates are psychics. They perform a tarot card reading early on in the book. Gansey and his friends are looking for a Welsh king who, according to myth, sleeps somewhere along the Ley Line that runs through their town. If Gansey and his entourage can find the king and wake him, legend says he’ll grant them a favor. Along the course of the hunt, one of their rivals woke a demon. The demon will destroy Cabeswater (a magical forest), Ronan’s home and family, and even Ronan himself unless they can kill it first.

Blue learns of a people who can transform into or disappear into trees.

A ghost attacks and physically harms Blue.

Violent Content
The demon kills a woman in a pretty gruesome way. Later, a man shoots his daughter. A ghost attacks Blue, tearing at her face. The demon takes control of a boy and uses him to attack his friends.

Drug Content
Blue and Gansey attend a party where some boys are drinking alcohol.

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Review: Dreadlands by Jaimie Engle

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

Dreadlands: Wolf Moon
Jaimie Engle
JME Books
Available April 22, 2016

Amazon |  Goodreads | Author Web Site

On a hunt, Arud faces one of the ferine, a terrifying wolf with serrated teeth and murderous heart. He escapes home, but the wolf follows, and his mother begs him to go, taking his sister with him, to a village weeks away. Confused and frustrated at the secrets he knows his mother keeps, Arud takes Lykke and together they travel as quickly as possible. They must reach the village before the next moon frees all the ferine from the Dreadlands and allows them to hunt freely. A beautiful girl joins Arud and Lykke on their way. She tells him of a prophecy and a ritual which could alter the course of humanity. If Lykke is captured by the ferine, a powerful sorceress will perform the ritual and the ferine will be free to hunt and kill at will.

Right from the opening pages, this story takes off. I was immediately hooked. Arud’s family practically bursts with secrets, from his grandmother’s strange ways to his sister’s mysterious illness, to his father’s disappearance. Add to that deadly wolves already on the hunt for Arud, and I could not stop reading.

I liked the characters. There are a lot of named characters, but it didn’t feel like a lot to me as I read the story because they’re introduced at a nice pace, and for the most part, each contributes something to the story that makes that person memorable. Scalvia, the girl who accompanies Arud and Lykke, was definitely my favorite. She’s every bit the warrior, but still kind and sweet, especially to Lykke. Sometimes when story features a small child character, they end up unrealistically good. I felt like Lykke’s character had a great balance of being a good kid, but also still acting like a kid and wanting her own way sometimes.

Werewolf stories aren’t my usual go-to, but I really liked the unusual way those elements were worked into the story. The Viking mythology added some interesting elements, definitely something I don’t see often enough. This is sort of How to Train Your Dragon meets Shiver (Wolves of Mercy Falls series).

Fans of teen paranormal should definitely check out this book. I liked the fresh take on the werewolf lore and the complex, suspenseful plot definitely entertained.

Cultural Elements
The story contains a lot of references to Viking culture and lore.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
A few kisses between boy and girl.

Spiritual Content
Some characters pray to Odin and Freya. Arud talks to Scalvia about his own belief that another god, a Creator exists. He often talks about the importance of faith. Some of the lines about faith are paraphrased from the Bible.

A powerful sorceress leads the ferine. She seeks to perform a ritual that will free the ferine from captivity in the Dreadlands and let them roam freely.

Violent Content
Arud hunts and cleans the animals he catches. Some of the descriptions are a bit vivid. The wolf-like animals who hunt Arud and his sister attack animals and humans. Arud and his allies fight back in several battles. Descriptions range from brief to moderately detailed. I’m a bit sensitive to violence, and it was definitely at the upper edges of what I’m comfortable with, but other readers may not have issue with it.

Drug Content
Brief mention of elderberry mead included in table fare.

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

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Review: Girl in the Shadows by Gwenda Bond

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

Girl in the Shadows
Gwenda Bond
Skyscape / Amazon

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

Moira longs to prove to her father, a famous magician, that she has what it takes to carry on in the family tradition. The real problem? Moira’s dad doesn’t want her anywhere near magic. An invitation to audition for the Cirque American falls into Moira’s hands, and she leaps at the chance to make her own destiny. During her audition, Moira’s routine goes awry when she accidentally performs real magic. Suddenly Moira finds herself surrounded with questions about her impossible abilities and a secret society of similarly the similarly talented. Her absent mother seems to be the only one who can answer them, but finding her mother opens Moira to more danger than she could ever imagine. Her newfound Cirque family may be filled with as many enemies as allies.

My one regret in reading this book is that I didn’t read Girl on a Wire first, as the stories are pretty closely linked and feature some of the same characters. Also, Girl in the Shadows includes a bit of plot recap which reveals some key moments in Girl on a Wire. Honestly, I’d still read Girl on a Wire anyway, even though some of the surprises are spoiled.

I liked Moira. She’s fun and silly and has a lot of heart. It’s her heart which often makes her vulnerable to others, and I spent many pages biting my nails hoping for the characters in whom she places her trust to turn out deserving of it.

The descriptions of Moira’s performances make for cool elements. Often Moira connects her illusions to great female magicians. It made an interesting way to include some real historical information in an organic, unusual way. Her use of Dez as her assistant was another fun twist – sort of a feminist spin on the typical gender roles of magician and assistant.

Overall, I enjoyed reading this book. If you haven’t read Girl on a Wire, I do recommend you read that one first because Girl in the Shadows has some spoilers. See below for additional content information.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Extreme profanity used infrequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
Moira and Dez become romantically involved, and they engage in quite a bit of kissing. They spend several nights together, but other than a hint from Moira that the two did enough, though not everything, those moments remain private. At one point Moira makes it clear she’d like to have sex with him and it appears they do. Again, no description, but rather suggested that kissing moves to touching and on from there.

Spiritual Content
Moira learns of a missing coin that promises luck and power to its bearer. A secret society of people with magical abilities desperately want the coin for its power. Moira describes her power as a cup filled with magic. As she expends energy to perform magic, the volume in the cup lowers. She’s told that if she empties her cup, she’ll die.

Violent Content
Moira meets a creepy guy hanging around playing poker with some of the circus members. At one point he beats up one of the performers. In another instance, she witnesses him smash a boy’s hand with a hammer as punishment when he fails to complete a task on time.

Drug Content
Eighteen year-old Moira drinks champagne to celebrate her success.

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

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Review: I Woke Up Dead at the Mall by Judy Sheehan

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

I Woke Up Dead at the Mall
Judy Sheehan
Delacorte Press

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

When Sarah wakes up, still wearing the mango-colored monstrosity of a bridesmaid dress, she is surprised by two things: she’s far from her New York home in the Mall of America, and she’s dead. Murdered. Sarah’s mentor encourages her (and the other teen ghosts who’ve taken up residence in the mall) to let go of her past, but Sarah can’t let go, especially when she learns what happened and realizes someone she loves is still in terrible danger. Now she can’t rest in peace until her murderer has been stopped and her family saved.

The concept of this story might be a bit dark, but the playful, frank voice definitely adds some spunk to the tale. As Sarah’s tale unfolds, she relates to the reader as if recounting an adventure to her closest friends. At the mall, she’s surrounded by a colorful group of teens, each with different pasts and baggage. Sarah’s relationship with them is dynamic and challenges her to go beyond her limits. By contrast, Sarah’s relationships with her family feel a bit cliché and underdeveloped. The story centers around Sarah and her friends, kind of a contemporary teen version of the 1990s film Heart and Souls. Readers looking for a warm-and-fuzzy story about unexpected love and second chances will enjoy the humor and romance of this tale.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Strong profanity used with moderate frequency. One character in particular is a bit mouthy.

Romance/Sexual Content
Mouthy girl relates that she loves sex and the others (who all died as virgins) totally missed out. Not much detail about her particular experiences other than that she had a much more pleasurable experience with one boyfriend over another. She humiliates the latter about his lack of ability and he becomes angry.

Sarah shares kisses and sleeps next to a boy. At one point, she removes her clothes in front of him, but they are interrupted before much happens between them.

Spiritual Content
The central characters are all ghosts, teens who were murdered. They are strongly discouraged from trying to craft revenge or haunt their murderers and instead instructed to resolve lingering feelings from their lives and move on to be reincarnated. Or, if the person has died saving someone else, they will have the option to become and angel. Two children rule over the ghostly community, known collectively as the BOY, or Boss of You.

Both Sarah and her mother experienced a kind of premonition during their lifetimes, a warning sense that things were about to happen. Once, Sarah used her gift to save a woman’s life.

One of the boys Sarah meets has died through an assisted suicide. The other teens defends his choice and the actions of the family member who helped him.

Violent Content
One girl recounts her death at the hands of an employer whose advances she refused. It’s brief and not gory, but violent. Another girl is pushed off a bridge and crash lands on top of a car. (That’s about all the detail we get in the story, too.)

Drug Content
References to teen drinking.

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

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Review: Belzhar by Meg Wolitzer

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

Belzhar
Meg Wolitzer
Dutton Books for Young Readers

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

When Jam can’t recover from her boyfriend’s death, her desperate family sends her to The Wooden Barn, a boarding school for distraught teens. There Jam finds herself enrolled in Special Topics in English, an elite, invitation-only course. This year, Jam and her classmates will study the works of Sylvia Plath, and will write about their own experiences in special journals given to them by their fascinating instructor, Mrs. Quenell.

As Jam begins to write in her journal, she’s transported to a place where Reeve still lives, and they can be together. A place she calls Belzhar. As the semester winds down, and the pages of Jam’s journal fill, she knows her visits with Reeve can’t last forever, and the end of them will be like losing him all over again. But she can’t run from the truth forever. And this time, as she faces her beloved Reeve, she has to face truths about him and about herself before she can find healing.

I’m pretty sure I read about this book on a list of a blogger’s favorite books or something of that nature. I think at that point, I had recently read the Bell Jar, and I was even more curious about the story because it references Plath’s work. Since then, it’s been on my to-read list, and at last, I’ve finally read it.

Honestly, I was a little disappointed. There were definitely things I liked about the story – I loved the teacher and the other classmates in the Special Topics class, even if I felt like they deserved a little more airtime. Besides the span in which they told their own stories, I didn’t really feel like I got to know them very well. Which is okay – it really wasn’t the point of the story.

There’s a big twist that I won’t give away, but I had really mixed feelings about it. On the one hand I was really surprised when the truth was revealed. I didn’t suspect it, and yet when I evaluated earlier scenes in the story, it changed how I perceived them, which I think is a mark of a great plot twist. So that was impressive.

On the other hand, I felt like it kind of cheapened the story in a way. I’m not sure I really bought into the real story having the kind of weight I felt like it needed to have. I felt like it kind of took this big conflict and deflated it a little bit.

On the other-other hand, I think the way it played out also felt like a tribute to the way emotional trauma can be devastating and powerful. So I don’t want to downplay it too much.

There was also one moment in which a big thing happens, and Jam isn’t there. I really wanted her to be there for this one critical moment, and instead she hears about it third-hand. So that was a bit disappointing.

On the whole, I’m glad I read it, but it didn’t resonate with me the way some of my other recent reads have. If you’re looking for something that’s a much lighter version of Girl, Interrupted (I’m thinking the movie with Winona Ryder), then this is probably something you want to check out.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Extreme profanity used with moderate frequency. One character in particular has a bit of a foul mouth, but the language is kind of sprinkled throughout the story.

Romance/Sexual Content
There’s some kissing between Jam and a boyfriend. They reach under each other’s shirts and touch each other. At one point they remove shirts and lie next to each other.

Spiritual Content
Through writing in a journal, Jam is transported to a place she calls Belzhar. There, Reeve is alive, and they are together. The place has rules – she can only relive past moments, nothing new, and after a period of time, she’ll be booted back to reality.

Violent Content
Brief mentions of a drunk driving accident which leaves a girl paralyzed, a boy who has been kidnapped, and a devastating fire.

Drug Content
Jam recalls going to a party at which several teens drink alcohol. Several mentions of smoking pot.

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