Book Review: Burn Bright

Author: Marianne de Pierres
Series: The Night Creatures #1
Publisher: Random House Australia
Release Date: March 1, 2011
Pages: 316
Source: Burn Bright Book Tour, hosted by Dani of Refracted Light Reviews

Tag Line: "Listen well, baby bats. Burn bright, but do not stray from the paths. Remember, when you live in a place of darkness you also live with the creatures of the dark."

Summary: In Ixion music and party are our only beliefs. Darkness is our comfort. We have few rules but they are absolute . . .

Retra doesn’t want to go to Ixion, the island of ever-night, ever-youth and never-sleep. Retra is a Seal – sealed minds, sealed community. She doesn’t crave parties and pleasure, experience and freedom.

But her brother Joel left for Ixion two years ago, and Retra is determined to find him. Braving the intense pain of her obedience strip to escape the only home she’s ever known, Retra stows away on the barge that will take her to her brother. When she can’t find Joel, Retra finds herself drawn deeper into the intoxicating world of Ixion. Come to me, whispers a voice in her head. Who are the Ripers, the mysterious guardians of Ixion? What are the Night Creatures Retra can see in the shadows? And what happens to those who grow too old for Ixion?

Retra will find that Ixion has its pleasures, but its secrets are deadly. Will friendship, and the creation of an eternal bond with a Riper, be enough to save her from the darkness?

LC's Take:

Holy. Crap. This was seriously one of the trippiest books I have ever read! I'm not even sure what genre to classify this book in-- Paranormal, yes. Dystopian, kind of? And the story itself was... unreal. It was as though you are walking through some dark and really weird dream from beginning to end, where you aren't really sure what end is up or what could possibly happen next. The writing flowed together creating the oddity that is Ixion-- a world of nighttime pleasures and hedonistic revels. It was strange, it was bizarre, and it was thoroughly addicting.

So I received Burn Bright as an incredibly lucky participant in the Burn Bright book tour, being hosted by the lovely Dani from Refracted Light Reviews. Since this book is only published in Australia, I'm not sure I would have had much of a chance to get my hands on it otherwise, so I was super excited when it arrived for me in the mail!

Retra is the main character- a girl who comes from a very conservative society called the Seals. The Seals pride themselves on discipline and being quiet and reserved, but after Retra's older brother Joel does the unthinkable by running away to Ixion, world of pleasure and desire, Retra's father brings punishment down on Retra for her brother's disobedience. A warden comes to sew an obedience strip into Retra's leg, and her family is constantly watched. By some miracle, Retra finds a way to escape, and the story takes off just as Retra climbs onto the barge that will take her and other reckless youth to Ixion-- where Retra is determined to find Joel once again.

Ixion-- how to even explain this place? It was super creepy but also really... alluring. It had the strangest juxtaposition of churches and night clubs, and everything is weirdly perverted and turned upside down. You can only stay in Ixion if you're young, and no one really knows what happens to you when you pass a certain age. In this world, Retra has to somehow find her brother but also learn to fit into a new society governed by pleasure and pain. And then, of course, there are the Night Creatures that will carry you away if you step of the well-lit paths into the dark...

So this book... yeah. I'm going to be perfectly honest and say that I did have some issues with it. In fact, based on the points I usually use to rate a book, I'm surprised I liked this one as much as I did-- the main character wasn't terribly memorable, the other character development wasn't all there, the story line got to be rather wishy-washy and confusing for me, and the writing wasn't always as descriptive as I thought it could have been. BUT for whatever reason, I was so thoroughly wrapped up in this book that its less-than-perfect aspects just didn't really bother me. And by the end, I just couldn't help but love it, flaws and all.

Also-- was it just me, or was this book like, border-line kinky? (Yes, kinky lol-- pretty sure that's the first time I've used that word in a book review!) I mean it was pretty subtle since it's YA, but there were points in the book (Umm... Retra's "Enlightenment" anyone?!) where I was just like-- are they talking about what I think they're talking about? Hmm... maybe I just have a dirty mind haha ;) Not to mention, some of the descriptions, even when they weren't overtly sexual-- well, they were still pretty damn sexual. I think that this fit in with the whole hedonistic, crazy world of Ixion which exists solely for the pleasures of its citizens, but it definitely pushed the boundaries of what I'm used to reading in YA books...

All in all, I found Burn Bright to be completely intoxicating. And this was despite the fact that the writing could have been better and there were some major flaws to the story. Heck, a lot of it didn't even completely make sense to me, but gosh darn it, there was **something** about this book that just made it such a guilty pleasure! I guess you'll just have to read it for yourselves to see what it is about Burn Bright that has me DYING to get my hands on the next in this series!

~Cover Talk~

This has got to be one of the most incredible and kick-ass book covers I have ever seen. I want a poster of it, no joke. Where to start? The artwork is insane. The image of the girl's face is stunning, and the details just make me want to stare at this cover for hours on end. Like the story, it has a dark appeal, and I think that the dripping paint and splatters that form the model's dress are totally gorgeous. Argh, I absolutely adore it! And it fits the story so well.

The cover for Burn Bright definitely earns a spot on my Top 10 YA Book Covers. Love, love, LOVE IT!!!

LC's rating:

This book was completely addicting. Strange, bizarre, and not even logical-- but still 100% addicting. I can't even pinpoint what it was about it, but Burn Bright was freaking AWESOME. If you have a way of getting your hands on it, I highly recommend checking it out!

~Find it-- if you can!~

Book Review: Across the Universe

Author: Beth Revis
Series: Across the Universe #1
Publisher: Razorbill
Release Date: January 11, 2011
Pages: 416

Summary: Seventeen-year-old Amy joins her parents as frozen cargo aboard the vast spaceship Godspeed and expects to awaken on a new planet, three hundred years in the future. Never could she have known that her frozen slumber would come to an end fifty years too soon and that she would be thrust into the brave new world of a spaceship that lives by its own rules.

Amy quickly realizes that her awakening was no mere computer malfunction. Someone-one of the few thousand inhabitants of the spaceship-tried to kill her. And if Amy doesn't do something soon, her parents will be next.

Now Amy must race to unlock Godspeed's hidden secrets. But out of her list of murder suspects, there's only one who matters: Elder, the future leader of the ship and the love she could never have seen coming.

~Video Review~

LC's Take:

"Inside the ship, we are always surrounded by one another, so much so that we cherish our tiny private rooms and time alone. Never before have I appreciated how truly alone we are on this ship. There is no one else but us... If we fail, there is no one out there to see. If we die, there is no one out there to mourn us." ~p.335

So let me start out by saying, this book probably had one of the craziest and most ambitious plot premises I've ever read. It was absolutely mind-blowing to think of what it would be like to be cyrogenically FROZEN for a couple HUNDRED years in a space ship zooming through space, only to be woken up early, knowing that you'll never see Earth again, and that you may not even make it off that ship ALIVE. I mean,that's just totally insane right?!

I included the above quote from the book because I wanted to point out just how amazing Beth Revis is at creating a real sense of fear, loneliness, and desperate entrapment aboard Godspeed. In fact, the strange and alien world inside the ship was probably one of the most fascinating aspects of this book. It was sort of like this dystopian microcosm, where everything is in miniature and everyone basically lives in captivity like animals.  It is the job of "Eldest," the leader of the ship, to maintain order and keep out the causes of discord on Godspeed as it courses its way through the Great Unknown towards a planet that is impossibly far away. The setting was just very refreshing and different.

I also really loved the two main characters in this book-- Amy and Elder-- and how the story is told chapter by chapter through their alternating points of view. It was easy to tell which POV I was reading from because they both had totally unique perspectives. I also loved that both of them could think for themselves-- Amy was a spirited, emotional character who refuses to believe that life on Godspeed is natural, and Elder is constantly challenging Eldest and his methods for controlling the ship. Both Amy and Elder were very well-developed, since they both had distinct personalities, memories, and histories. This made it easy to slip into each character's identity and get lost in their story.

The only character I had a problem with was Eldest because he came across as a weak villain to me-- he just didn't seem all that dangerous or intimidating, and his character was even described multiple times throughout the story as childish and foolish. This made it difficult for me to take him serious, and even though he acted like a dictator at some points, I would've been able to respect his character more if he came across as more villain-ish!

I did have a couple other *minor* issues with the story. First was my big question about whether Godspeed had ANY contact with Earth anymore-- I found it difficult to wrap my head around the idea of putting this big of an effort into sending humans out into space to inhabit a whole new planet and then not have any means of communication between Earth and the ship. Secondly, I didn't really find many of the "shock value" elements of the dystopian world aboard Godspeed to be all that "shocking" or new. The empty drone-like citizens, the mad-scientist doctor who messes with DNA and reproduction, the manipulation of history to conceal the past, and the euthanasia of the elderly-- I've read about all of this before in other books. But at the same time, it did enforce just how desperate Eldest was to maintain total and absolute control over society on the ship, and also just how desperate this society was becoming after being stuck inside metal walls for hundreds of years...

Also-- and I don't want to spoil anything-- but I TOTALLY saw the whole thing with Harley coming.

ALSO-- the part where Amy gets drugged and acts all loopy? Umm, DYING LAUGHING. I KNEW Beth Revis had like the greatest sense of humor! :D (See-met-tree-cul LOL)

The cliff-hangers and plot twists towards the end of the book and the whole crux of the Plague incident had me with my eyes glued to the pages for the last few chapters. What exactly is going on with Godspeed and what is its ultimate mission? I loved how there were plenty of mysteries to be solved-- not just with who the killer was, but basically with the entire ship and its mission. Pieces of the puzzle only came together slowly, which was a *little* frustrating, but it totally kept me on the edge of my seat.

Overall, Across the Universe had me captivated and was a lot of fun to read. I loved the world-building, the unique setting, the mystery and suspense, and the overall mood of the story, along with the main characters Amy and Eldest. My curiosity and fascination with this world out in space has left me looking forward to reading A Million Suns to see what happens next--I'm pretty sure that this will be a series that I follow to the end!

~Cover Talk~

Some of you guys may have heard me tell this *slightly* embarrassing story before, but just for kicks, I'll tell it again. So, I swear that for the longest time, I thought that the image on the cover of Across the Universe was-- an amoeba. I kid you not. It was that whole negative-space trickery going on, and for whatever reason, my brain could only see that light-pink sparkly piece and see some weird blob-thing. It wasn't until I was holding the book IN MY HANDS that I stopped and was like "WHAT THE..?!" Because CLEARLY it is an image of two people in profile, the guy hovering over the girl, about to kiss her. Yeah, I have NO IDEA where the heck I came up with an AMOEBA. But um... long story short, I love this cover, it rocks-- whether you see it as two people kissing or a giant celestial blob, it is one awesome book cover.

LC's Rating:

The incredible world-building and story premise of this book absolutely blew me away-- I just loved the mystery, suspense and the unfolding of secrets throughout the plot. Amy and Elder were great main characters, and I can't wait to see what happens to them next!

Book Review: Harbinger

Author: Sara Wilson Etienne
Publisher: G.P. Putnam's Sons
Release Date: February 2, 2012
Pages: 320
Read it in: 3 days

Summary: When sixteen-year-old Faye arrives at Holbrook Academy, she doesn't expect to find herself exactly where she needs to be. After years of strange waking visions and nightmares, her only comfort the bones of dead animals, Faye is afraid she's going crazy. Fast.

But her first night at Holbrook, she feels strangely connected to the school and the island it sits on, like she's come home. She's even made her first real friends, but odd things keep happening to them. Every morning they wake on the floors of their dorm rooms with their hands stained red.

Faye knows she's the reason, but what does it all mean? The handsome Kel tries to help her unravel the mystery, but Faye is certain she can't trust him; in fact, he may be trying to kill her - and the rest of the world too.

Rich, compelling writing will keep the pages turning in this riveting and tautly told psychological thriller.

LC's Take:

Harbinger was a super creepy, darkly mysterious book with amazingly good writing that was also nothing like what I was expecting it to be. It definitely stood out from a lot of other YA fiction out there because it had such a unique and interesting plot twist-- which I'm not going to give away here, because I want you to be just as surprised and taken away as I was if you decide to read it!

Faye has suffered from terrifying visions and nightmares ever since an incident down at the beach when she was a little girl. Her parents think she is going insane. Heck, Faye even thinks she's going crazy. But she never expects her dad to bring her to Holbrook Academy one day, abandoning her to the sadistic tyranny of Dr. Mordoch and the school's "care takers." The craziness only gets worse, as Faye and the members of her new Holbrook "family" start waking up on the floor of their rooms with red stains on their hands and disturbing drawings on the floor...

So let me just start by saying, holy crap was this book creepy! The mystery was done really well and definitely gave me chills-- I mean, people's hands turning red overnight and strange symbols drawn on the floor and a secret diary and talisman hidden in an old library? Add in some screaming statues and an old set of tarot cards with an unnerving poem on the back, and I was seriously on the edge of my seat!

I also really liked Faye's character, mainly because she was smart and completely aware of what was happening to her. She wasn't some clueless, TSTL bimbo who couldn't put two and two together-- she knows something very strange is going on, has been going on for awhile, and she's absolutely determined to figure out what it is. It made the story so much easier to follow because I was reading from the POV of an intelligent character.

The romance in this book was more understated than a lot of other YA books, which I thought was kind of refreshing. There is some romance going on between Faye and Kel, but for the most part it takes a back seat to focus on the mysterious harbinger plot. I think a lot of readers will like Kel's dark, emo-ish vibe but honestly, he didn't really stick with me as a character, and I don't remember all that much about him...

So with that being said, there were some things I didn't like about this book as well. First of all, the questions Faye asks herself are repeated over and over-- and OVER again to the point where I was like, OK give us some freaking answers already! There was a lot of repetition in other places as well that got to be pretty tedious, and about three-quarters of the way through I was starting to wish that the story would just move forward. Now, I'm one of those people who would almost never DNF a book three quarters of the way through unless it was absolutely putting me into a coma-- I'm just OCD like that-- but just to warn the reader: there is a "hump" to get over in this book, that was kind of frustrating.

On top of tedious parts, there were other parts that were (I thought) very overwhelming. Within the last 100 pages or so there was just so much explanation and background info being thrown at me that I started to get a slight headache. Basically, the mystery unravels of who exactly "The Harbinger" is, and what their purpose is, and it all goes back to like, 5,000 years ago! I don't want to give anything away, but the final part of the book was both totally unexpected and a **little** difficult for me to follow. By the end, I had things figured out for the most part, but I was nervous there for a few chapters that I was going to wind up being completely lost!

Harbinger did end on a positive note for me, despite some hang-ups in the middle. And also, the writing was absolutely beautiful, I have to add that! I was really impressed by Sara's writing style. I'm not sure this book is for everyone, but I would go for it if you are looking for something that will give you the creeps for it's darkly disturbing mystery, or if you just want something really different than other YA fiction out there!

~Cover Talk~

What a unique and eye-catching cover to go along with an equally unique and suspenseful book! And not only is it wonderfully different and gets you thinking (um... why is she blind-folded?), it's also a perfect fit for the plot. You know those books where you're like, what the heck does this cover really have to do with the story? Well, as you read this book you'll realize just how much thought went into the design of this cover. Also, I think that the stark paleness of the girl against the deep blue background is really beautiful. Definitely like this one!

LC's Rating:

Harbinger definitely gets points in my book for creativity and creepiness. This book was nothing like what I had been expecting, and I love being surprised! However, some parts got to be either tedious or overwhelming, which led to confusion. Luckily, things ended on a positive note!