Review: City of Bones by Cassandra Clare

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City of Bones by Cassandra ClareCity of Bones (The Mortal Instruments #1)
Cassandra Clare
Margaret K. McElderry Books
Published March 27, 2007

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When fifteen-year-old Clary witnesses a murder, she is determined to find out what’s happening. Unfortunately, she’s the only person who can see the perpetrators and the victim literally disappeared post-mortem. As she tries to reconcile herself to the strange happenings, she encounters one of the vicious youths again, only to discover that he belongs to an elite and mysterious group called Shadowhunters who protect ordinary mortals (which they call mundies, or mundanes) from demons. What they still aren’t sure about is why Clary can see them.

Before they can figure it out, however, Clary’s mother is kidnapped, and Clary is wounded by a poisonous demon. Jace, Clary’s newfound demon-hunting friend rescues her and brings her back to the Institute. There Clary learns about the history of Shadowhunters and about the ruthless former Shadowhunter who will torture her mother until she reveals the location of the Mortal Cup. The only way to stop him is to find the Cup first, but the location is buried in memories Clary has been forced to forget. Jace and Clary set out in a race to unlock her memories and find the Cup before it’s too late.

In a series opener that’s tough to put down, Clare introduces a hidden world within the familiar landscape of New York City. The story rockets off to a quick start, leaving readers scrambling to turn pages. Snappy dialogue and imaginative creatures spring from nearly every scene. There were a few moments in which characters’ behavior was a little incongruous with the rest of Clare’s descriptions of them, but overall, this is a high-action story of drama and heart worth the time it takes to cross from cover to cover.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Moderate/infrequent.

Sexual Content
Clary battles a strong attraction to the mysterious Jace, and the two share a couple of intense lip-locked moments, but nothing beyond that physically.

Spiritual Content
Clary and Jace briefly discuss whether Jace believes in God. After all, the existence of Shadowhunters is based on a story involving an angel, and they have been tasked with killing demons. Jace doesn’t think this adds up to the existence of real angels, demons, or God.

Violence
One expects a bit of violence in a book about hunting demons, and Clare doesn’t disappoint. Clary and her newfound allies face no shortage of monsters, and a few are not so pretty, but over-all fairly brief in description of their dispatch.

Drug Content
For her birthday, Clary visits a Goth club known for access to drugs and alcohol. She and her best friend Simon do not participate in these activities. At a party filled with supernatural guests, Simon ingests a strange drink with rather catastrophic results.

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Review: Edna in the Desert by Maddy Lederman

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

Edna in the Desert
Maddy Lederman
eLectio Publishing
Published September 9, 2013

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Thirteen year-old Edna is out of control, and her wealthy, indulged parents are out of ideas for how to handle her. As a last-ditch effort to reform their daughter, Edna’s parents drop her off at an isolated cabin in the desert with only her stoic grandmother and Vietnam veteran grandfather for company. Furious, Edna pulls out all her most manipulative, most challenging behaviors, but this time they have no effect. She is left with no choice but to survive the next two months with her grandparents, zero technology and a never-ending chore list. Her feelings about the desert change when she meets handsome seventeen year-old Johnny Bishop. When Edna stumbles onto the idea to throw a birthday party for grandpa, who hasn’t spoken in years, what begins as a ploy to gain more time with Johnny evolves into a deeper compassion and understanding for her grandparents and their difficult lives.

Lederman creates a memorable cast of characters, each unique and fascinating. As a parent, it’s frightening to witness Edna’s cool confidence and mastery at manipulation. One wants to slap them all the way to parenting classes. Edna’s grandmother is probably the most complex and interesting character of the cast. The narrative is peppered with truly insightful moments, though frequent ricochets from one character’s deep point-of-view to another’s sometimes interrupt the flow of the story. The deepening of Edna’s character and values and the closeness she develops with her grandparents make this a sweet, moving story.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
A couple references but no explicit words used. A crude sexual comment from an inebriated adult to a teenager.

Sexual Content
Thirteen year-old Edna and a much older teenaged boy engage in some pretty frantic kissing, but the exchange stops before clothes come off. Edna references the fascination her friends have with kissing and kissing games. She thinks the games are gross, but she recounts her friends’ participation briefly.

Spiritual Content
Edna and her grandparents attend church listen to a sermon about Jesus refusing bread from the Devil after forty days without food in the desert. Edna thinks about her own life and in what ways she might be experiencing temptation she needs to resist. She spends some time each day practicing something she thinks of as a Tibetan monk way of life, in which she tries not to force time to pass but exists in the present.

Violence
A boy punches a man in the face after he says something crude about a girl.

Drug Content
At a hotel, two couples who’ve been drinking heavily invite Edna and her friend to play volleyball with them. No teenage drinking.

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

 

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Review: Fall by A. K. Morgen

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

Fall
A. K. Morgen
Curiosity Quills Press
Published October 5, 2013

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Arionna wakes in a hospital bed, wisps of memory from a brutal attack still clinging to her mind. Her wolf form lacks the strength to emerge, and Arionna isn’t sure she, her partner Dace and his wolf form will be able to survive when their enemies, Skoll and Hati, next appear. If they should fail, Skoll and Hati will free Fenrir from his chains and send the world spiraling into destruction unto its end. They must not fail, but at every turn, it seems their enemy is one step ahead, and Arionna’s injuries leave Dace nearly paralyzed with fear that he will lose her, a fear that only adds to Skoll and Hati’s advantage.

Dace and Arionna scramble for information, knowing they fight a battle ultimately doomed. One day they will fail and Fenrir will be unleashed. But now they fight to preserve the world they know and the lives they’ve created together. If only Arionna could piece together the memories of her past lives, she might be able to understand how to free the wolf inside her and beat her enemies back for another generation.

This second book in Morgen’s Ragnarok Prophesies series is laced with Norse mythology and supernatural beings. In the wake of the vampire/werewolf fan-craze, it’s refreshing to experience werewolves explored through a different framework, pushing toward a less common goal – saving the world – rather than struggling to survive and be understood.

Like many series seconds, Fall has moments in which characters wallow in the past or over-analyze the present, wondering what to do over and over. As the story threads weave together in the last fifty or so pages, Morgen regains strength and momentum and pulls out some pretty compelling twists for the story’s climax, making it likely that readers will be eager for the next installment of Arionna and Dace’s story.

Language Content
Extreme word usage but moderate frequency.

Sexual Content
Several heavy make-out scenes and references to sex in the past.

Spiritual Content
Main characters were created by the god Odin to protect earth and its inhabitants. In order to do this, they must fight powerful enemies Hati and Skoll and keep Fenrir from escaping his chains and destroying the world. The heroine reflects briefly on spirituality and the existence of one god or many and wonders what this means to her.

Violence
Wolf attacks and battle scenes appear throughout the story, sometimes told in detail. Descriptions are not overly gory, but the scenes are important to the story, so they are not usually brief.

Drug Content
None.

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

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Review: Attitude by Robin Stevenson

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

Attitude
Robin Stevenson
Orca Book Publishing
Published October 1, 2013

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Fourteen-year-old Cassandra travels from her home in Australia to a highly competitive summer ballet program. At first Cassie tries to befriend girls who’ve been in the program for years, but it soon becomes clear that Melissa and her pals don’t stop at dancing your best in order to win. When Cassie gets blamed for a prank she didn’t commit, it becomes clear the girls mean to get her disqualified from an important audition. Cassie refuses to back down, though, and soon learns bigger lessons than dance technique.

Cassandra battles homesickness and bullying, making her an extremely relatable character. As a talented young ballerina, she faces big choices about her future and discovers that even the hesitation her parents feel about her future as a dancer can be a blessing. This is a short but nicely paced read which can most easily be enjoyed by someone with at least a cursory knowledge of ballet, though this knowledge isn’t necessary in order to follow the development of the story.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Very light.

Sexual Content
None.

Spiritual Content
None.

Violence
None.

Drug Content
A girl is prescribed a pain killer for a dance-related injury.

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

 

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Review: Cut the Lights by Karen Krossing

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

Cut the Lights
Karen Krossing
Orca Book Publishing
Published October 1, 2013

Amazon | Goodreads

Young first-time director Briar can’t wait to put her ideas onto a real stage. When she is chosen for a real chance to direct a student-written one act play, she soars. But working with real live actors proves to be more difficult than Briar imagined, and she’s forced to navigate everything her crew throws at her, from absence to bold-faced narcissism to outright boredom. With the date of the performances just a few days away, Briar is desperate to pull her disaster of a show together. Just as she begins to turn things around, disaster strikes, fragmenting the cast and leaving her without a lead. What now? Faced with the choice to cancel or muster through, Briar learns there’s a lot more to being in charge than telling everyone else what to do.

Each chapter begins with italicized notes setting the scene, adding to the stage-like feel of the story and Briar’s director-focused mentality. While the background conflict between Briar’s practical parents and her whimsical, often unemployed aunt adds to the story’s tension, it’s a little hard to swallow that a couple so concerned that their daughter pursue a “normal” career would send their daughter to a school for fine arts. Beyond that, however, this novel is highly entertaining and fast-paced. It’s a great read for anyone curious about performance art.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Very light.

Sexual Content
None.

Spiritual Content
None.
Violence
A boy attempts a dangerous stunt involving skates and a large ramp and winds up with a broken arm.

Drug Content
None.

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

 

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Review: Merlin’s Blade by Robert Treskillard

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

Merlin’s Blade
Robert Treskillard
Blink YA
Published April 16, 2013

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Scars from a wolf attack leave young Merlin’s eyesight damaged almost to the point of blindness, making it difficult for him to assist his father the blacksmith or find his way around the small village alone and leaves him an easy victim to trickery. When two druid leaders bring a glowing stone into the village, Merlin’s blindness saves him from falling into the stone’s enchantment. As the druids whisper sweet lies to the townsfolk, further bewitching them, Merlin must find his courage and stand up to the powerful men, even if he is forced to stand alone.

The druids’ plans are far more nefarious than to distract a few poor farmers, however. Merlin uncovers a terrible plot meant to murder and betray Arthur, the future king. As Merlin braces for battle, he is faced with a terrible choice: with the lives of his love, family and the king in jeopardy, he must choose whom to save.

The story of Merlin and Arthur is retold as a tale of battle between druid and Christian. Instead of the mighty sorcerer, Merlin emerges as a Christian prophet, one voice shouting against a bewitched and angry crowd. In this first book in The Merlin Spiral, Merlin meets Arthur as a very young child and only begins his journey as a part of Arthur’s life. Treskillard weaves a fascinating tale and leaves the reader piqued for the next installment in the series. The last hundred pages moved especially quickly, pulling the reader through the tale with scarcely time for a breath. Readers who enjoy Christian fantasy will likely enjoy the fresh retelling of this familiar story.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Sexual Content
None.

Spiritual Content
A powerful druid leader uses a magical stone to enchant the people and turn them away from Christianity. Several scenes describe various druid rituals or sacrifices. Merlin passionately opposes the power of the stone and clings to his Christian beliefs in the face of threats and injury from the druids. Angels visit and speak with one character. Another character reveals prophecies.

Violence
Wolf attacks and battle scenes appear throughout the story, sometimes told in detail. Descriptions are not overly gory, but the scenes are important to the story, so they are not usually brief.

Drug Content
A man betrays another by placing poison in his mead.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze.com® book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

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