Book Review: Goliath

Author: Scott Westerfeld
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Series: Leviathan #3
Release Date: September 20, 2011
Pages: 543
Read it in: 3 days
Source: The library

Summary: Alek and Deryn are on the last leg of their round-the-world quest to end World War I, reclaim Alek’s throne as prince of Austria, and finally fall in love. The first two objectives are complicated by the fact that their ship, the Leviathan, continues to detour farther away from the heart of the war (and crown). And the love thing would be a lot easier if Alek knew Deryn was a girl. (She has to pose as a boy in order to serve in the British Air Service.) And if they weren’t technically enemies.

The tension thickens as the Leviathan steams toward New York City with a homicidal lunatic on board: secrets suddenly unravel, characters reappear, and nothing is at it seems in this thunderous conclusion to Scott Westerfeld’s brilliant trilogy.

LC's Take:

What else can I really say about this series that I haven't said already? It is absolutely-- incredible. It's one of those series that you just can't put into words how good it is, so all you can really say to your fellow readers is: "PLEASE!! Go out and get these books, you will love them!!

In this last installment, Deryn and Alek are sailing on the Leviathan towards Siberia, where they meet the famous inventor, Nicola Tesla. In this alternate history, Tesla turns out to be a maniacal genius who has created a weapon of mass destruction called "Goliath," which he plans on using-- hopefully only as a scare tactic-- to stop the war. But in the meantime, the Leviathan has to bring Mr. Tesla back to New York City in order to end once and for all the Great War, begun by Alec's own noble family. And so the last piece of the Leviathan's whirlwind adventure begins...

Deryn is probably one of the most endearing characters I have ever read about. You just can't help but love her. Disguised as a boy so that she can join the Air Service and go off to fight in the war, Deryn is all spirit, strength and heart, with a quick-witted tongue and dare-devilish attitude. A girl who was born to be an airman and a soldier, Deryn has overcome all odds to save lives and stop revolutions, while secretly falling in love with her comrade on Leviathan, Alek, heir to the Astro-Hungarian throne.

The world -building of Goliath, like the other two books before it, is both flawless and effortless. I mean it is just so well-done that you start thinking the world must be real, because there is nothing fake or forced about it. Everything is wonderfully imaginative and complete, down to the last detail.

Another thing I love about this series, and that I noticed especially in this book, is that the airship itself has become a character-- this is truly a testament to what an amazing author Scott Westerfeld is, that he can take inanimate objects and create them into characters, that you actually know you are going to miss when you leave them behind. Think about how J.K. Rowling created Hogwarts to be like a character, and you'll get the idea.

This is one of those series that I fell in love with in the first few chapters, and never wanted it to end. I know that I will look forward to reading them again one day, and am positive that I will love them just as much!

~Cover Talk~

I absolutely LOVE the cover for Goliath. I mean, I've liked pretty much all the covers in this series, but I really love being able to see Alek and Deryn's characters in real-life-- and when I look at this cover, I think to myself, yeah that probably is how they look! The artwork in this series is incredible, and I can't say enough good things about Kent Thomas and his illustrations. This cover, like the one for Leviathan and Behemoth before it, really do the story justice in my opinion!

LC's Rating:

I could only give this final book in an amazing series 5 stars, and it totally deserves it! I would absolutely recommend these books to pretty much anyone who loves to read-- they will take you away to another world and not let you go until the very last page, only to leave you wanting more!

Follow Me Friday (21)

Follow Me Friday is a fun book meme hosted by the fabulous Parajunkee over at Parajunkee's View AND Allison over at Allison Can Read. Have a book blog? You can play with us too! Just visit Parajunkee's site by clicking on LC's Follow Friday icon-- be sure you are a follower of her blog and the blog she is featuring for the week, put your name in the Linky, create your own FF post on your blog, and then start commenting and following whomever you wish!

This week's Follow Friday question:

We want to see what you look like! Take a pic with you and your current read! Too shy? Boo! Just post a fun pic you want to share.

Alright, I SWEAR I will post a new pic of me and my latest lovely book tomorrow morning, but it ain't happening tonight because I'm all ready for bed haha... In the meantime, here is an old one from an In My Mailbox post I did like a month ago!

PS! If you haven't read The Sharp Time by Mary O'Connell yet, or it's not on your TBR list, be sure to check it out because it was SUCH an awesome book!

OK, so now THIS MORNING (I am so not a morning person. And yeah, it's like 11:30 lol) I havea picture of my latest book which I checked out from the library, and it is AWESOME!! So far, I am loving this book!

Sweet Venom by Tera Lynn Childs! -->

Book Review: Dearly, Departed

Author: Lia Habel
Publisher: Del Rey Books
Series: Dearly #1
Release Date: October 18, 2011
Pages: 470
Read it in: 2 weeks
Source: ARC provided by the publisher via NetGalley

Summary: Love conquers all, so they say. But can Cupid’s arrow pierce the hearts of the living and the dead—or rather, the undead? Can a proper young Victorian lady find true love in the arms of a dashing zombie?

The year is 2195. The place is New Victoria—a high-tech nation modeled on the manners, mores, and fashions of an antique era. A teenager in high society, Nora Dearly is far more interested in military history and her country’s political unrest than in tea parties and debutante balls. But after her beloved parents die, Nora is left at the mercy of her domineering aunt, a social-climbing spendthrift who has squandered the family fortune, and now plans to marry her niece off for money. For Nora, no fate could be more horrible—until she’s nearly kidnapped by an army of walking corpses.

But fate is just getting started with Nora. Catapulted from her world of drawing-room civility, she’s suddenly gunning down ravenous zombies alongside mysterious black-clad commandos and confronting “The Laz,” a fatal virus that raises the dead—and hell along with them. Hardly ideal circumstances. Then Nora meets Bram Griswold, a young soldier who is brave, handsome, noble . . . and dead. But as is the case with the rest of his special undead unit, luck and modern science have enabled Bram to hold on to his mind, his manners, and his body parts. And when his bond of trust with Nora turns to tenderness, there’s no turning back. Eventually, they know, the disease will win, separating the star-crossed lovers forever. But until then, beating or not, their hearts will have what they desire.

In Dearly, Departed, steampunk meets romance meets walking-dead thriller, spawning a madly imaginative novel of rip-roaring adventure, spine-tingling suspense, and macabre comedy that forever redefines the concept of undying love.

LC's Take:

Want to know why this book was awesome? Two words: Victorian zombies. Oh yes, you heard me right.

Victorian.

Zombies.

I think that we can all agree that that alone makes this book a must-read, but there's plenty more to love about Dearly, Departed-- starting with the amazing, multi-dimensional characters. Nora Dearly is the heroine of the story, a proper New-Victorian girl living in the year 2194. The perfect mix of spirited stubbornness and genuine loyalty to her friends, Nora's character was definitely able to stand on its own without leaning on the love-interest. (Although Bram was also amazing, and we'll get to him in just a minute!) I loved that Nora wasn't afraid to speak her mind or fight for those she cares about-- and she had a sense of humor too, which made it a lot of fun to read from her perspective!

Bram was Nora's zombie love interest, and seriously the cutest thing ever. For being a dead guy, he totally beats a lot of other living guys I've read about lately in YA, no joke. His sweet, innocent attachment to Nora and his thoughts about how he can impress her were so freaking adorable, and I also loved his loyalty and bravery as he fights to save his friends, who are dead but still human. And speaking of, Bram's friends and the rest of the Z-Camp zombie crew were all fun, quirky, and a little creepy-- definitely a great mix of characters to read about!

I've heard some other people say this too, but I'm going to repeat it because it was a refreshing change of pace: the romance was not overdone. I feel like in a lot of YA books, the romance overwhelms the rest of the story and even the characters get lost because the only thing you know about them is that they are so head-over-heels in love. But Dearly, Departed had much more of a story behind it-- with politics, war, rebellions, social upheaval-- all of which created plot conflict without depending solely on an unbelievable or angsty teen love story. Oh! And also-- there are NO love triangles!! Woohoo, that alone earns this book big ratings in my book!

The world building was fascinatingly dark and beautiful, if a bit overwhelming at times. Lia Habel created a completely new type of setting that was both futuristic and old-fashioned at the same time. I loved reading about New Victoria and the camp where the undead lived, and all the politics surrounding the New Victorians and the Punks really made things seem complete. I felt like there was so much detail that I could really picture the world that the story took place in.

The only major problem that I had with this book was that the narrative was somewhat choppy, due to the fact that it's told through 5 different perspectives:  Nora, Bram, Nora's friend Pamela, Nora's father Victor, and evil Captain Wolfe. I liked reading from Nora, Pamela and Bram's perspectives, but I didn't care enough about Victor and Wolfe to even remember what was going on with them, so that made following the entire story kind of tricky. My recommendation, if you do decide to read this book, is to not read it on and off like I did-- there's just too much to keep track of, and if you stop and try picking it up again a bunch of times, you might have to backtrack a lot to figure out where you were. I found that when I was able to sit down for longer periods of time, I was able to get much more out of the story.

Dearly, Departed was a really fun and unique book that crossed over into several different genres. The story itself was dark and creepy, but had light-hearted humor and a cute love story to balance what would otherwise had been a bit of a grim and depressing read. The action and adventure added to the memorable characters and intricate world building. Even though this book took me forever to read, I thought it was worth it, and I know that many YA readers out there are going to really love this one!

~Cover Talk~

This is such a gorgeous cover! I love the monochrome colors, and the graveyard in the background gives the whole book a creepy, eerie feel. Also, how much do you love the outfit Nora's character is wearing?? **I want!** Finally, I think the font type for the title fits in perfectly with the Victorian theme. Altogether, this cover definitely captures the dark, Gothic mood of the book.

LC's Rating:

An awesome Neo-Victorian, Steampunk adventure with lots of action and zombies and proper young ladies kicking undead butt! While a bit of a lengthy read, Dearly Departed was totally worth it thanks to the awesome characters and amazing world-building.

Spooktacular 2011 Giveaway Winner!!

So for my Spooktacular Giveaway, which wasa Hop hosted by Kathy from I'm a Reader, Not a Writer, I ended up having 247 people enter to win their choice of 3 awesome YA books! This added up to being 823 entries altogether, and the "Magic Number" from random.org was 612. So... the winner is...

Martina Koleva from A Little Bit of Everything!!

Martina chose to win Wake Unto Me by Lisa Cash

Also be sure to check out Martina's blog at the link above! Thank you to everyone who participated in my Spooktacular Giveaway this year, and there will be OTHER Giveaways coming up soon so keep an eye out for them!!

Happy Reading :)

Book Review: Crossed

Author: Ally Condie
Publisher: Dutton Juvenile
Series: Matched #2
Release date: November 1, 2011
Pages: 384
Read it in: 2 days
Source: The Library

Summary: In search of a future that may not exist and faced with the decision of who to share it with, Cassia journeys to the Outer Provinces in pursuit of Ky - taken by the Society to his certain death - only to find that he has escaped, leaving a series of clues in his wake.

Cassia's quest leads her to question much of what she holds dear, even as she finds glimmers of a different life across the border. But as Cassia nears resolve and certainty about her future with Ky, an invitation for rebellion, an unexpected betrayal, and a surprise visit from Xander - who may hold the key to the uprising and, still, to Cassia's heart - change the game once again. Nothing is as expected on the edge of Society, where crosses and double crosses make the path more twisted than ever.

LC's Take:

Sigh... where to begin with this one? You know that I **try** to be nice with my reviews and at least say something that I liked about a book before I go all crazy-rant-girl on it, so I guess we'll do a run-down of what I liked about this second book in Ally Condie's Matched trilogy first...

Crossed did a good job of continuing the romance between Cassia and Ky, and honestly, I do like the romance between them. Not too hot-n-heavy, not to whiny-piney, it's sweet and simple. I also liked the conflict that was created between all the relationships going on, even though we all know just how beaten to death love triangles are. Cassia still doesn't know whether she should chose Xander, the guy she was originally matched with, or go with Ky who has shown her a whole new way of life. Oh yeah, and what was going on between Ky and Indie?! Was anybody else wondering that? Were they attracted to each other? I couldn't tell, but this definitely peaked my curiosity and I wonder what will be going on between them in the future...

The new characters that were introduced in Crossed-- namely Indie, Eli, Vick and Hunter-- were all likable, if somewhat lackluster and underdeveloped. I thought that Indie was strong and brave, which Cassia really needed while she was trying to survive in the wilderness, and I'm glad that Ky decided to take Eli and Vick with him, so there was some interaction going on during his parts of the story. Hunter was sort of a mystery, although we know that he has a sad background.

I also liked the descriptive language used to paint a picture of what The Carving-- AKA the giant canyon that Ky and Cassia escape to-- was like. For the most part, I was able to see the rugged landscape and the different settings that both Cassia and Ky traveled through, which created a stark contrast to the perfect, pristine setting of The Society from the first book.

*****

Alright, so that's what I liked, now moving on to the stuff I wasn't a fan of.

First of all, the plot was so sllllloooowwww... like I'm talking molasses in January slow. I think that the reason for this was that the narrative was extremely reflective. I mean, you're in the moment, and then all of a sudden, one of the characters starts reminiscing about some memory, or starts considering a leaf or a piece of grass and thinking, "Wow, how beautiful. This green leaf reminds me of the color of my Match banquet dress, and my mom and dad, and my childhood, and it's so pretty, what a beautiful blade of grass... I think I will write a poem about it."

No, I am not making this up-- literally, the entire book is like this. And what's more, I don't understand the point of it. None of the memories are ones we haven't already heard about from the first book, and they don't bring us to any mind-blowing revelations about what's going on in the present. They're just pretty and empty and-- I'm sorry-- don't add much to the plot, except that I had to work that much harder to not fall asleep.

My second issue with this series-- and this book in particular-- is that there is pretty much zero context or motivation for anything that is going on. This is a problem not just with the main characters, but with the entire world that they live in. I have so many questions that haven't been answered yet, starting with:

1.) WHO or WHAT is the Society and what is their purpose behind getting rid of all but 100 of everything (example: The Hundred Songs, The Hundred Paintings, The Hundred Poems...), and then controlling everyone in the way that they do? We're told that they want to "increase efficiency" and stop death, but how the heck does getting rid of music and paintings do this??

2.) WHO is "The Enemy" that is mentioned at least a hundred times throughout the story and what is their motivation for rising up against The Society and killing people in the Outer Provinces? NOTHING is said about The Enemy, if you aren't counting the fact that "they" are called "The Enemy." This gives me the reader absolutely nada to go on-- do the main characters even know who on earth "The Enemy" is? Wouldn't this be an important little tidbit of info to let us in on?? JUST SAYING.

3.) WHO are these people in "The Rising" and what the heck is their motivation? To get rid of The Society? The Enemy? I am SO CONFUSED. And also, why does Cassia want to join The Rising's rebellion so badly when she has no idea who they even are or what they actually stand for?

4.) What exactly was everyone's ultimate goal in this book? Why were they wandering around a canyon for almost 400 pages? I'm sorry, but if I get to the end of a book and have little understanding of why anything just happened and I close the thing with a ginormous blank stare on my face-- you missed telling me something. Like, badly.

So basically what I'm trying to say is that, the writing wasn't bad and the characters weren't too bad (although they are pretty boring too), but pretty much everything about Crossed was incredibly vague and confusing. And forget about action because there wasn't any. There was a lot of description, but unfortunately not in the places where I actually needed it.

This is similar to how Matched was written, but I can forgive Matched because it was the first book in the series and there was at least some action going on. I expected that in this second book, there would be more explanation about the Society and the Enemy, but unfortunately I was left even more confused than I was at the end of the first book! Crossed just seemed like a lot of aimless wandering around, without actually getting anywhere. And it is very frustrating when you read something like this for the entire length of a book, but nothing is ever really explained about what everyone is trying to accomplish and why.

So I don't know. For me, this is just one those series that meets my most basic standards of being "good," but never leads up to anything that really makes it stand out as being incredible or even really memorable. I thought that the writing was "good" if somewhat bland in places, the narrative flowed well between Cassia and Ky's points of view, and there was nothing outwardly annoying in this book, besides the fact that I can't find a motivation for anything in this plot for the life of me. The thing with second books in series is-- you need to give your readers something to go on. You can't just talk all vague and wishy-washy and totally leave them in the dark, because you're going to lose their interest. My final comment would be "meh." And I hate having that reaction to a book.

~Cover Talk~

I think we can all agree that these covers are just beautiful. I liked the cover for Matched even better than this one, but I think that they both go together perfectly. And the cool thing is that the colors actually are incorporated into the books-- in Matched, the main color theme is green, and in Crossed it was blue. My guess is that the last book in the trilogy is going to be red! And maybe the glass sphere will be totally smashed? I'm definitely looking forward to seeing it.

LC's Rating:

I was not impressed with the sequel to Matched. There was very little action, and hardly any explanation behind what the characters were doing or thinking. The plot was also extremely slow and difficult to maintain interest in, due to the fact that there was so much internal reflection going on. Unfortunately, boredom and confusion were the end results.

ARC Book Review: Darker Still

Author: Leanna Renee Haber
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Release Date: November 1, 2011
Pages: 320
Read it in: 3 days
Source: ARC provided by the publisher via NetGalley

Summary: The Picture of Dorian Gray meets Pride and Prejudice, with a dash of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.

New York City, 1882. Seventeen-year-old Natalie Stewart's latest obsession is a painting of the handsome British Lord Denbury. Something in his striking blue eyes calls to her. As his incredibly life-like gaze seems to follow her, Natalie gets the uneasy feeling that details of the painting keep changing...

Jonathan Denbury's soul is trapped in the gilded painting by dark magic while his possessed body commits unspeakable crimes in the city slums. He must lure Natalie into the painting, for only together can they reverse the curse and free his damaged soul.

LC's Take:

Alright, so I had mixed feelings about this book. There were definitely things I liked, and things I was a little bit disappointed with. We'll start with the likes!

First, the characters were great. Natalie was a strong, smart, unique, and independent heroine whose intelligent thoughts and eloquent account of events had me mesmerized from start to finish. While her rationality compels her to disbelieve what is happening between herself and Lord Denbury, she is still inexplicably drawn to his portrait. Her inquisitive nature and vulnerability were the perfect mix to create a very likable main character. I also liked no-nonsense, slightly kooky Mrs. Northe-- she was the epitome of Victorian etiquette and proper manners, but she had a subtle sense of humor that had me smiling to myself every time she entered the story. Her quirky notions and habits made her both endearing and memorable. And then of course there was Lord Denbury-- talk about melt-your-heart irresistible! Dark, brooding, but with a vulnerable, sweet side that longs to do good in the world, Lord Denbury was the perfect gentleman. He sort of reminded me of Mr. Rochester from Jane Eyre, and I think you will fall in love with him too!

The writing was also incredibly well-done. Leanna can take the simplest of movements or gestures and with words, turn them into something stunningly beautiful and real. When Natalie reaches to touch the painting of Lord Denbury for the first time, I could actually see and experience the scene. Furthermore, the narrative of Natalie Stewart was witty, intelligent, descriptive and flowing-- it definitely kept me reading!

The story itself was downright creepy and sent shivers down my spine-- it was eerie and Gothic and the plot built up suspense in all the right places. I loved all of the Victorian literature tie-ins too! Leanna vividly captures a proper and superstitious Victorian society with all of the dark undertones and rigid social rules that characterized the time. Reading like a ghost story of old, Darker Still had plenty of shivers, thrills and creepiness!

However, there were some things about this book that rubbed me the wrong way. I'm not trying to turn anyone off from reading this book, but I wanted to point out where I personally had some issues-- probably most people won't even be bothered by these things.

OK, so the first issue had to do with approaching religion and faith in books. I was going to go off on a big tangent about this, but I decided not to. Why? Because it's a personal issue that has nothing to do with the literary merit of the book, and I don't think it's fair to base a review on what I personally believe. Furthermore, I totally understand that much of the story drew its inspiration from Gothic-Victorian elements, which were heavily influenced by religion, spiritualism, superstition, etc. So, while the whole religion thing bothered me somewhat (I won't go into specifics), please disregard this entire paragraph if it's not something that would affect your own enjoyment of the book.

On a (slightly) less controversial note, I sort of thought that this book was a **bit** condescending and derogatory towards men. Now, I'm not saying this was intentional, but I have my reasons for being a little miffed. First of all, nearly all the men in this book were portrayed as being either devilish villains who victimize women, clueless and bumbling idiots, paid cronies, or helpless victims in need of saving. Meanwhile, all the women seemed to be categorized as either fiercely independent and the only ones with enough sense to deal with serious issues, innocent victims of male brutality, or glorified saints and angels. Added to this, Natalie tends to hint at the superiority of women over men, describes her father as though he's nothing more than a child, and mentions repeatedly how unfairly women are treated-- but then makes some rather unfair stereotyped statements about men. Maybe it sounds like I'm being too uptight, but I think that if we read a book written by a male author where all the women were made out to be clueless bimbos and all the men were awesome, we would be pretty offended, so it's only fair to have it go both ways in my opinion... let's not stereotype please! Yes, it is true that women were mistreated and not given equal rights in the 1800's-- and still aren't completely even today. I get that, so I really don't need to be reminded every dozen pages. This only makes me feel like some kind of hidden agenda is being pushed on me, and I don't like that very much.

I also thought that the plot began to drag somewhat, due to the fact that there was so much description and explanation. And the story just got so convoluted! I mean, we've got Christian dogma, Biblical stories, Spiritualism, Mysticism, magic, spells, witchcraft, Egyptian hieroglyphics, Latin incantations, demons-- it was very difficult to sort out and then process the gigantic mish-mash of plot twists. The ending got to be pretty lengthy due to all these conflicting elements, and it took a long time for all the loose ends to be tied up. (You know how at the end of The Lord of the Rings movie there are like half a dozen points where you THINK the story is about to end, but then it just keeps right on a-going? Yeah, similar story here. Side note: I LOVE LOTR, I just thought it was a funny comparison!)

Altogether this was a tough book for me to review because I had so many conflicting opinions about it. Added to this, some of my hang-ups were personal, and while I wanted to stay true to myself and at least mention them, I didn't want them to bias my review. Still-- personal opinions aside-- the writing was awesome, the narrative and dialogue were wonderfully done, and the Gothic-Victorian elements made for a dark and creepy story that was very unique. It did feel to me a little drawn-out towards the end, and I didn't like some of the main characters' opinions. But overall I'm pretty sure that this book will appeal to most readers, and be thoroughly enjoyable and entertaining!

~Cover Talk~

I do like the cover for Darker Still-- I think that the deep purple background goes really well with the purple dress, and I like the glow coming from behind the model for Natalie. However, after reading the book, I think that the model, the dress and the cover all look too modern for the Gothic, Victorian themes and the old-fashioned narrative that the story was told through. The model is very pretty, but not at all how I would picture Natalie! Still, the whole effect is very eye-catching, and I think it will appeal to a lot of readers.

LC's Rating:

Darker Still is a unique and imaginative story that mixes Gothic-Victorian tones with mystery and suspense. Despite some personal hang-ups that I had, I think this was very well-written and that most readers will really love it.

Follow Me Friday (20)

Follow Me Friday is a fun book meme hosted by the fabulous Parajunkee over at Parajunkee's View AND Allison over at Allison Can Read. Have a book blog? You can play with us too! Just visit Parajunkee's site by clicking on LC's Follow Friday icon-- be sure you are a follower of her blog and the blog she is featuring for the week, put your name in the Linky, create your own FF post on your blog, and then start commenting and following whomever you wish!

This week's Follow Friday question:

If you could have dinner with your favorite book character, who would you eat with and what would you serve?

It's a toss up!

1.) I would have a Mad Hatter tea party with Alice (of course! That is my theme after all! :)

2.) I would have some tasty green eggs and ham with the Cat in the Hat-- my fave childhood books!

And, wouldn't ya know-- there's a recipe on Rachel Ray's website! (And it actually looks really good!) --->

<--- Also... If you haven't yet, enter here for a chance to win YOUR CHOICE of some awesome YA books!