Distant Waves by Suzanne Weyn

Published April 15, 2009.

Author website.

Four sisters and their mother make their way from a spiritualist town in New York to London, becoming acquainted with journalist W. T. Stead, scientist Nikola Tesla, and industrialist John Jacob Astor. When they all find themselves on the Titanic, one of Tesla's inventions dooms them...and one could save them.  (goodreads.com)

For the first half of DISTANT WAVES I was wondering what the hell this book had to do with the Titanic.  It was mentioned once or twice in off-hand remarks, and not by name, and a couple of the people that were on board made appearances within the story but other than that it was a story that centered around Spiritualism, a mother defrauding people with her mystic "skills" and her daughters' lives as a result of this woman's charade.  The story in and of itself wasn't bad.  I actually found it pretty interesting and I liked Jane but don't give me 'A Novel of the Titanic' and not have the ship make an appearance until halfway through the book.  That's going to make me cranky.  I don't like to be cranky when I read.

Once the Titanic did show up it played its role like it does in any other story about it; you're reading the melodrama occurring on it all the while just holding your breath to see how the main event is going to destroy everything nice that's seemingly going on.  I didn't like how the sisters got onto the boat.  It was just far too contrived for my tastes and I really don't think the people letting on passengers would have let stowaways slip by.  Considering the ship and all the hype it should have been something the White Star Line was prepared for.

The ending pretty much murdered what was otherwise and interesting story.  I'm okay with authors taking liberties with history but to take major events and alter their causes for the sake of the story is really bothersome.  To the point where I was audibly going 'what???"

All sense of immediacy was gone as the iceberg was approaching.  No one seemed to be all that worried about it from those watching it head right towards the ship.  Then Tesla tests his magical mystery machine and supposedly breaks the ship.  It didn't REALLY hit the iceberg.  Excuse me?  And as the ship sank?  Poof, gone.  The major cataclysmic event was literally blinked out of the plot.  Gone.  Ground zero happens, people start running around a little confused, poof Jane is being rescued by the Carpathia.  I'm not even talking about a sentence to say it sank.  An element happened that actually eliminated the sinking from the story and skipped right to the rescue.  Infuriated would be a good word to describe me.  How do you have 'a novel of the Titanic' and just skip the sinking?

The individual elements of DISTANT WAVES were good; I liked the Spiritualism aspect, how historical people were factored into the plot, all of the characters were likable on some level and it even got a hint steampunky.  But I think the Titanic itself ruins this story of the Titanic for me simply because it was so bastardized.  The author actually altered history to serve her plot.  No.  Me no likey.  If that kind of thing doesn't bother you then you might just like DISTANT WAVES.  Like I said it's a pretty good story.  But the Titanic is killer.  No pun intended.  Too much was changed in a story that was only supposed to be historical fiction, not alt history or the like.  It's unfortunate but that's the way it is, I guess.  Titanic in one book and the rest of the plot in another, yes.  Both would have been good.  But they just didn't mix well, like a recipe whose ingredients didn't quite mesh.

Ban Factor: Low - An historical fiction centered around the Titanic.  One can hardly pick a more prudish time in our history.  The Spiritualism might offend but that's assuming they know what the word means.  One mustn't overestimate the banners.

Dreaming Anastasia by Joy Preble

Published September 1, 2009.

Author website.

Anastasia Romanov thought she would never feel more alone than when the gunfire started and her family began to fall around her. Surely the bullets would come for her next. But they didn't. Instead, two gnarled old hands reached for her. When she wakes up she discovers that she is in the ancient hut of the witch Baba Yaga, and that some things are worse than being dead. 

In modern-day Chicago, Anne doesn't know much about Russian history. She is more concerned about getting into a good college--until the dreams start. She is somewhere else. She is someone else. And she is sharing a small room with a very old woman. The vivid dreams startle her, but not until a handsome stranger offers to explain them does she realize her life is going to change forever. She is the only one who can save Anastasia. But, Anastasia is having her own dreams...  (goodreads.com)

I got to just about under halfway before I put DREAMING ANASTASIA down.  I couldn't invest myself in it.  It's not that the writing was bad or it wasn't interesting.  I just felt it was a bit . . . ridiculous.

As if I haven't read absolutely ridiculous books in my day.  Or currently.  The majority of what I read is inherently ridiculous.  But I just wasn't feeling DREAMING ANASTASIA.  I don't think it's anything I can specifically put my finger on.  I don't believe my move had an influence because I was reading other books just fine.  So can't chalk it up to not being able to invest myself in the story.  I just felt all of the little pieces that knit the story together were one contrivance after another.  From Anne being a descendant of this brotherhood explaining her dreams and weird powers that randomly manifest when the shit hits the fan to the shit itself embedding itself in the fan blades I wasn't buying it from the beginning.  It felt more like a finely fit cluster of puzzle pieces than something organic that grew into its own story.  That every piece of the DREAMING ANASTASIA story was meticulously crafted and set in place, as if strategizing a chess game where the mover of the piece is the one in control as opposed to the piece itself.  I felt led along and each element in the story was displayed to me as if I were at a museum exhibit.

It's not inherently a bad thing.  Like I said, there was nothing wrong with the writing.  I liked the dialogue between all of the characters.  That in and of itself felt genuine.  It was absolutely action-packed right from the beginning and the Romanov history was definitely an interesting aspect of it all.  I just wasn't connecting with it.

Ban Factor: High - Fairy tales come to life and chicks with magic powers.  Someone's got some devil in 'em.

Jane and the Damned by Janet Mullany

Published September 28, 2010.

Author website.

Jane Austen 

Novelist . . . gentlewoman . . . Damned, Fanged, and Dangerous to know. 

Aspiring writer Jane Austen knows that respectable young ladies like herself are supposed to shun the Damned--the beautiful, fashionable, exquisitely seductive vampires who are all the rage in Georgian England in 1797. So when an innocent (she believes) flirtation results in her being turned--by an absolute cad of a bloodsucker--she acquiesces to her family's wishes and departs for Bath to take the waters, the only known cure. 

But what she encounters there is completely unexpected: perilous jealousies and further betrayals, a new friendship and a possible love. Yet all that must be put aside when the warring French invade unsuspecting Bath--and the streets run red with good English blood. Suddenly only the staunchly British Damned can defend the nation they love . . . with Jane Austen leading the charge at the battle's forefront.  (goodreads.com)

I was a little apprehensive to read JANE AND THE DAMNED after my failed attempt at EMMA AND THE VAMPIRES.  One, I hadn't read the blurb in a while so I was under the impression that it was a JANE EYRE remake and two, I haven't been thrilled with the writing style of books set in this era so it was setting itself up to fail for me.  It ultimately didn't and I enjoyed the plot but it had its faults and a lot of that hinged on the writing itself.

I didn't know why this story was about Jane Austen.  You'd think there'd be some kind of relevance to it but it rightly could have been some made-up character created strictly for the book and it wouldn't have made a bit of different.  So I was haunted by the question, "Why the hell is this Jane Austen?" throughout, making it a touch distracting.

That's not to say I didn't like Jane.  I did.  She was a very strong woman that, although reluctantly, embraced her vampirism and used it to fight the French when they invaded (a point to be dealt with in a moment).  She stood her own as a fighter and even as her fellow Damned looked down upon her as not only a fledgling but an orphaned one (her maker having abandoned her and she was adopted by another) she stood tall, pulling off feats that eventually made them proud.

The writing didn't really lend itself to telling the story well, though.  I felt the progression was jerky and I often found myself shoved out of the story due to a ragged transition from one scene to the next.  The language was trying a bit too hard and while I never found it stilted it lent to the crappy transitions that kept pulling me out of the story.

That's not to mention that as I was reading I had a niggling feeling that Napoleon's army invading Britain just didn't sound right.  Did it make for some good drama?  Of course.  Jane wouldn't have been able to become the fighter she did without someone to fight so steadfastly against.  But it didn't seem right.  Love the interwebs as it verified my unsettled thoughts: Napoleon was never actually able to get past the Royal Navy to fight on British land.  Talk about taking gross liberties with history to serve the plot.  It only puffs up the question as to why it had to be Jane Austen as the lead in this story.  I have a big problem with that.  Adding vampires to Jane Austen's life is one thing.  I was entertained by all of that.  But why bastardize history so much?  I don't get it.  Wait, I do get it: it served the plot.  And yes, this book is a work of fiction.  But holy crap Napoleon's army never invaded Bath nor took London.  It's a contrivance of epic proportions that I still just don't understand.  Too many questions and not enough answers.

I did finish JANE AND THE DAMNED, much to my surprise.  I enjoyed it and I ultimately came to like Jane and Luke together but Jane is a little too bi-polar for me.  She changed her mind about accepting her vampirism as often as she changed dresses and it was rough going trying to keep track of where her brain was in terms of not only her vampirism but her love of Luke.  It wavered too much for my liking.  She turned out to be a really strong heroine in terms of fighting capabilities and standing on her own but she ultimately had too much negative about her that, for the most part, cancelled it out.

I was entertained so the book served its purpose in that regard but it's incredibly historically inaccurate, I still have no idea why Jane Austen was the focusing character and the writing leaves a bit to be desired.  If you're looking for a light, entertaining read reminiscent of Austenian works with a bit more fangs and blood and don't have much else to read JANE AND THE DAMNED will probably whet your appetite.  Just don't expect it to do much else.

Ban Factor: High - Vampires and they're shown as hedonistically as possible to make it all the worse.  But our dear Jane has arguments with conscience that might appease the banners, however slightly.

The Black Isle by Sandi Tan

Pub date: August 7, 2012.

Author website.

Uprooted from Shanghai with her father and twin brother, young Cassandra finds the Black Isle's bustling, immigrant-filled seaport, swampy jungle, and grand rubber plantations a sharp contrast to the city of her childhood. And she soon makes another discovery: the Black Isle is swarming with ghosts.

Haunted and lonely, Cassandra at first tries to ignore her ability to see the restless apparitions that drift down the street and crouch in cold corners at school. Yet despite her struggles with these spirits, Cassandra comes to love her troubled new home. And soon, she attracts the notice of a dangerously charismatic man.

Even as she becomes a fearless young woman, the Isle's dark forces won't let her go. War is looming, and Cassandra wonders if her unique gift might be her beloved island's only chance for salvation . . .  (netgalley.com)

I was floored with THE BLACK ISLE from the second I started reading it.  Written in a voice that's so incredibly engaging that you can't take your eyes from the page, it sucks you into an old world China where women are barely second class citizens and, depending on your status, superstition rules your life.

Cassandra goes through an epic transformation throughout the book.  The story starts with Cassandra as an old woman both running from and to her past.  She relives the world of her island through an out-of-print book at the library.  When she find that "her" book has been desecrated, her world gets rocked.  And infiltrated, by a less-than-welcome guest that wants Cassandra's story.  The plot flips back to the present a few times throughout the book, reminding the reader that Cassandra is narrating the story to someone, that there's a reason for this recounting.

When the greater story begins, Cassandra is Ling, twin of Li, the latter the more favored child because of his male status and the fact that Cassandra hogged the goods in the womb.  So while she came out nice and healthy Li was a bit starved.  To see the dynamic between brother and sister based on the parents' behavior was, at times, horrifying to watch.  They're twins so they share the same birthday except Cassandra didn't get gifts.  Those were reserved for the favored son.  It's a cultural aspect that I had a hard time getting over and it really bothered me to read.

I'll admit, Chinese culture isn't something I'm crazy about but the ghost story aspect of THE BLACK ISLE drew me in and I actually learned quite a few things about the culture.  And it even answered a few of my questions about the people in general.  I'd like to believe that a story so rich in Chinese culture would, in the same breath, be accurate as well.  I believed everything I read without a blink but you'll have to ask someone better versed in Chinese culture just how close it all is.  Right now I have no reason to doubt any of it.

It's not too long into the story that things take a turn for the strange and Cassandra starts being able to see ghosts.  It actually coincides with an incident in the park involving Li and their subsequent distancing.  That incident, though, I don't think is very realized.  It serves as a catalyst to get the twins apart (they were pretty much inseparable until that point) and then it comes back in at the end.  But it doesn't do much for character-building.  I thought it was going to have some greater impact on Li other than just a personality shift but there wasn't much.  He got cranky for a little while but that was about it.

When they up and moved to the Isle you get the full realization of just how incompetent Cassandra's father is and how reliant he is on his children to do his job.  I was flabbergasted by this and how long both of them actually put up with his ineptitude.  And it wasn't he just didn't have the smarts for it.  He just had better things to do with his time and it really angered his kids, especially when it was entirely their doing that got the plantation they moved to up and running and the workers in order.  Of course their job was thankless.

There was a tryst between Cassandra and Li that really bothered me and it's another aspect of the story that I'm not sure how relevant it is to the greater plot.  Like I said I'm unfamiliar with Chinese culture but the ease with which the siblings entered into a sexual relationship really took me aback.  Was this okay because they're twins?  They hid it from their father so there was some level of shame there; just not a lot.  I was bothered by it, by its casual attitude and then it's relevance was gone.  It served its purpose for the plot at the moment but, like the incident in the park, I don't think it served it's purpose to the greater story.

Cassandra is a character trying desperately to be her own person.  She breaks off from her father and brother and gets a job on her own after finishing her schooling.  That job brings her to her fiancee, the son of her school's proprietor, and she's elevated into a social strata that she wouldn't otherwise be in.  Of course the male members of her family resent her for it.  She's supposed to be subservient to her father and brother, not rise above them.  But she was determined to make her own way, albeit on the backs of wealthier others.  It's because of this that she officially changes her name from Ling to Cassandra.

As time progressed in the story itself it does come across, a bit, as Cassandra effectively whoring her way into the best possible scenarios for herself.  She does appear to have feelings for two of the three suitors in the story but their positions in society sway my feelings about her a bit and make her look a bit like a gold digger.  These were opportune matches.  She just happened to have feelings for them as well.  But I don't believe she would have entered into those relationships simply for the status.  I do believe she loved two of the three.  I just think the author wrote it in such a way as to make the reader see, just slightly, what other people might see in Cassandra.  She is not a woman that actually worked her way up from the dredges.  She was well-placed, well-timed and well-suited.  Not her fault but it is convenient.

The second suitor?  Well he's not really a suitor.  He was one of the occupying soldiers when Japan invaded and kept Cassandra locked in her fiance's house and raped her repeatedly and referred to her as his wife.  It was a very weird situation and Taro absolutely took advantage of everything he could about her.  He kept her compliant to his whims by dangling her would-be family and friends in front of her.  It was a horrible situation and throughout, since it's in first person, you know that she's doing it for other people, for Daniel and her brother although I don't doubt some level of self-preservation.  No one wants to die, not really.  So I don't begrudge her that.

It takes Cassandra a while to come into accepting her abilities.  Issa, a shaman of sorts, tries to teach her but she bails, afraid of what she's getting into.  Years later she realizes that there is a benefit to working with the damned, at a heavy price, of course.  The ghosts of the Isle become tools for everyone to use, from Cassandra to prove a point, to suitor number three to get the island where he wants it to be.  It's not until she's much older that she fully realizes the total repercussions of what she can do, what she can see and how it affects not just her but everyone.

THE BLACK ISLE is a story about growth fueled by ghosts.  Ling/Cassandra denies her true self for a long time but slowly she comes into her own, taking hold of who she really is and embracing it, at times not fully understanding what it is she's undertaking.  The ghosts are a prominent aspect of the story but I wouldn't necessarily call THE BLACK ISLE a ghost story.  It's a coming-of-age and moving past it.  It's accepting your past and knowing when revenge has already been paid.  I can't say enough good things about it.  The voice is PHENOMENAL, balancing an elegant prose with a relatable one resulting in a story that anyone can love and get drawn into.  I'm so glad I opted to read this.  It called out to me from the NetGalley list and for good reason.  There are some books in your life that will leave a lasting impression for any number of reasons.  THE BLACK ISLE is one of mine.

Ban Factor: High - A foreign culture and religion and ghosts.  Oh noes!

The Further Adventures of Sherlock Holmes: Seance for a Vampire by Fred Saberhagen

Published October 2010.

Author website.

A seance held in an aristocratic London home goes horribly awry when one of the undead nosferatu appear. The resulting chaos leaves one of the fraudulent spiritualists dead, Sherlock Holmes missing, and Dr. Watson alone and mystified. With time running out, Watson has no choice but to summon the only one who might be able to help--Holmes' vampire cousin, Prince Dracula.  (goodreads.com)

I've never read any SHERLOCK HOLMES stories before so when SEANCE FOR A VAMPIRE came across my inbox for review I opened up a little bit and took it in.  The topic alone (vampires!) drew me in and it was a style I was willing to try out since I wasn't all that familiar with it.  Why not, right?  It could be something I ended up liking.

While I liked the quirkiness of the plot (kind of hard not to picture Downey Jr. and Law in the Holmes/Watson roles, respectively, since I've seen both movies, weird, I know) and it's particular kitsch and drier sense of humor the voice ultimately was not something I could get involved with.  There wasn't anything inherently bad about it.  I thought everything I read was really well-written, the humor was great, the scenes were painted wonderfully.  But the style of writing, the tone of voice, just isn't for me.

I ended up not finishing SEANCE FOR A VAMPIRE because of that.  Again, it wasn't bad, what I read.  I just couldn't connect with the story's tone.  If you're into stories from that era (I'm looking at you, Austen fans, just without the romance, really, but there are vampires) I can pretty much bet you'll like something like this.  I at least liked the characters and have I mentioned the humor?  All great.

But stories in this mindset I'll be avoiding from now on.  Take this plot and set it in a more modern tongue (but you can keep the humor as is, I like the quirk) and I'd be all over it.

Ban Factor: High - Vampires and Spiritualists.  That's pretty much all you need to know.

family by Micol Ostow

Published April 26, 2011.

Author website.

It is a day like any other when seventeen-year-old Melinda Jensen hits the road for San Francisco, leaving behind her fractured home life and a constant assault on her self-esteem. Henry is the handsome, charismatic man who comes upon her, collapsed on a park bench, and offers love, a bright new consciousness, and—best of all—a family. One that will embrace her and give her love. Because family is what Mel has never really had. And this new family, Henry’s family, shares everything. They share the chores, their bodies, and their beliefs.  And if Mel truly wants to belong, she will share in everything they do. No matter what the family does, or how far they go.  (goodreads.com)

First and foremost, I am NOT sympathetic to the whole hippie subculture.  Not in the slightest.  They need to shower and get jobs, quite frankly.  And develop an opinion that isn't based in LSD highs and commune thought process.  So why did I opt to review a book that is exactly this mentality?  Because it's pretty much a roman a clef of the Manson family and I thought it'd be an interesting fictionalization.  It further solidified my disdain for hippie speak and mentality and it was interesting but I felt the ending was a bit of a cop out.

Told in episodic verse, kind of expanded poetry, it kind of made the whole story a bit hazy to read.  There were times I had trouble figuring out what was going on because the language got a bit purple but I could buy it as the flower child's thought process.  So it wasn't too bad in that regard.  But still it was a bit thick.  Although it did do a good job in its thickness to portray life at the commune/cult.  The flowery-ness flowed in the sexual drug haze that surrounded the MC all the time.  And I really liked the little cracks in the facade, where Mel got bits and pieces of what all of this was really about but after some more magical mystery juice and free love she was sucked right back into it.

You get to see that all of these people in this compound are broken in some way.  They've been wronged by the people they loved in one regard or another and they ultimately come together in that wrongness to try and make it right.  It's really a nice route to recovery.  Too bad their leader was a sociopath that kept them doped so he could manipulate them into doing what he wanted done.  He perverted the message for his own gain.  Not surprising in the slightest but it was interesting to watch the world break down from broken eyes.

The ending . . . I don't believe this to be a spoiler because we all know how the Manson story ended.  If you don't I highly recommend a history textbook.  Well the story culminated with an event much like the Mason family brought to fruition except in FAMILY one of the victims escapes and the MC gets away.  Fail.  Hard.  Yeah, awesome, that she came to a hardcore self-realization at the end there.  Super.  She's also an accessory to murder.  No sympathy from this chick right here.  Sorry.  I don't know what I was supposed to feel or meant to feel but I was wholly expecting her to run into the arms of the cops.  Nope.  She runs off into the night and the story is left hanging.  An exceptionally unsatisfactory ending.  I don't find this artsy or endearing or quintessential to the whole hippie mindset. I needed it to go down like the real event it was modeled after.  I think Mel would have resonated far more as a character if she didn't get to run away from her problems for a second time.

Don't get me wrong; it wasn't a bad book.  I just wasn't thrilled with it.  I liked the character development and the set-up of the story, the cracks in the hippie visage, even though the prose was on the flowery side.  But the ending was a killer for me.  Very anti-climatic and I didn't feel like there was any kind of justice done.  Mel just gets to continue her cycle of running yet again because she's been broken yet again.  It felt empty and the escape unearned.  After a few months of hedonism you get to get away with conspiring to murder a houseful of people because the high wears off and you realize what you're doing.  Um, no.

So yeah.  It was a quick read because of the verse which I'm kinda glad for.  I don't think I could have taken this story if it were denser although I'd tolerate it if the ending were fixed.

Ban Factor: High - Hippies, drugs, free sex and murder.  Enter the banner psychotic episode.

Cate of the Lost Colony by Lisa Klein + Giveaway!

Published October 12, 2010.

Author website.

Lady Catherine is one of Queen Elizabeth's favorite court maidens--until her forbidden romance with Sir Walter Raleigh is discovered. In a bitter twist of irony, the jealous queen banishes Cate to Raleigh's colony of Roanoke.  (goodreads.com)

Every once in a while I'll come across a nice book.  Just something that when you finish reading it you go, "that was nice."  Something that isn't overly thrilling or phenomenal but it definitely wasn't bad either.  It was nice.  CATE OF THE LOST COLONY was a nice, pleasant read that had a good voice I could get hooked into, just interesting enough of a plot line to be engaging and a satisfying ending.  Nice.

Cate is a fallen child once of nominally prominent parents who are both dead and have left her with relatives that look at her as nothing more than a burden.  When Queen Elizabeth calls her to court to be a Lady, Cate's life starts looking up, until the love interest comes along.

Cate isn't too much of a character that steps outside of the society's role for a woman.  She's well-educated, as someone of her standing would be, but she's also timid, she falls in line and she's everything a well-meaning Lady should be.  I didn't find any of her actions prior to her exile to be out of character for the setting and actually it was quite nice to NOT read something like that.  Usually you end up with a character that totally bucks the system despite how unnatural it looks and how unlikely it should have been.  Enter Ralegh (spelled without the 'i' in the story) and she gets a little more brazen, gets a little bit more of a mouth but really it was only in a situation where she knew she pretty much had nothing left to lose.  She was smart too.  Really, I liked Cate.  She was real and I believed every ounce of her curious character.

I loved her even more for how she handled the relationship with Ralegh.  It could have gone so many ways, many of which would have had be ripping out my hair and screaming into a pillow.  I still have a full head of hair.  That should be telling.  The relationship culminates, officially, at the end of the story and it ends up being REALISTIC.  Dear god, I loved it.  I do not want to spoil but I was definitely going YES!!! reading it.  I couldn't help myself.  It was another testament to Cate's strength, and her weaknesses, and I loved it.

Klein painted such a vivid picture of the time that I could see every little piece of story going on as it unfolded before me.  From the wrinkles at the corners of the queen's eyes to the conditions in the Indian camp, I saw, felt, breathed it all.  Again, it was real and oh so nice.  Nothing was glamorized or romanticized, although Cate's head was a little bit in the clouds before she got to Roanoke but that balloon was quickly burst once winter came.

The ending also made an intriguing possibility to the mystery behind Roanoke and why or how all those people disappeared.  Not going to spoil but this ending totally made sense.  Men and their pride, let me tell you.  And no, it has nothing to do with a demon virus.

So yeah.  It was just a nice book.  Not too heavy on action or suspense or romance.  But there was enough of all of that to string the plot along in a good, easy read that was intriguing until the end.  I really don't think anyone would be disappointed in CATE OF THE LOST COLONY, especially if you like historical fiction.  A well-built world with heinously realistic characters, the past will pop right off the page the second you start reading.

Ban Factor: Low - No sex, no swearing and there's a virgin queen.  Unless banners have something against Native Americans (which they very well could), this one should be on the safe list.

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Titanic: The Long Night by Diane Hoh

Published March 27, 2012.

Author website.

Elizabeth Farr never wanted to return to America. During her family’s vacation abroad, she has fallen in love with England, and is despondent when her father refuses to let her stay. Returning to New York means having her debut into society, and that means a swiftly arranged marriage. Elizabeth will never go to college, never learn to be a reporter—as she sees it, her life is over as soon as the Titanic reaches port. Of course, if she’s unlucky, her life will be over far sooner than that. 


 As Elizabeth and her family settle into their first-class cabins, Katie Hanrahan, a young Irish girl with dreams of finding fortune in America, makes her way to a steerage berth. Both girls have plans for the future, but love and death are about to intervene.  (netgalley.com)

More kudos to Open Road for continuing to bring back the cheese.  While TITANIC isn't YA horror, the author carries the weight.  But in a good way.  TITANIC: THE LONG NIGHT proved to be a novel that transcended time, most likely because it's already a period piece.  It still read well despite the fact that it is an older title.

The two POVs alternate between Elizabeth, a first class passenger, and Katie, a third class passenger.  Unfortunately for me I just finished watching the Titanic miniseries on ABC and I'm getting plotlines crossed.  Hopefully I can keep them straight.

Elizabeth and Katie never really interact at all during the story except at a distance.  They both notice each other, make flattering comments, and towards the end actually come bodily close when they're trying to get on the boats.  But outside of that, and the grander story arc of the Titanic itself, their stories remain separate.  I had a real worry at the end that Hoh would pull an illogical ending out of it all and make everyone whom we've come across as a reader survive despite the OVERWHELMING odds against that happening.  Thankfully realism won over and while there were a couple of "oh, I'm not too sure that would work out like that" moments, they slipped easily enough into the surrounding story that the didn't seem too fantastical.

Elizabeth was a bit of a brat that wanted to go against all of the wishes of her parents and go to college and not marry the drone they scheduled her to marry and all of that.  And then she ends up meeting a boy on board that really forces her to see the forest for the trees and makes her fight for her right to party live her own life.  No, it wasn't a third class boy but one from first as is a much more plausible storyline.

Katie is going to New York to make a better life for herself and ends up falling in love on the way (also with someone of her own class as, again, classes mixing on the Titanic was, well, pretty nonexistent).  Of course it's to a boy that's more than likely horrible for her because he's a womanizer but I'm sure she'll settle his ways in the brave new world.

Elizabeth wasn't immensely likable within the context of the story but as a modern woman looking back she was only bucking the system, something most teenagers have a tendency of doing, especially when they're not susceptible to brainwashing.  Of course there were suffragettes at the time but I can't help but question just how set in her ways Elizabeth rightly should have been, having been indoctrinated from birth and all of that.  But I'm okay with it.

Katie's much more the free spirit, better able to be so since she doesn't have the confines of money and supposed class pushing down on her.  Or she doesn't have a stick wedged firmly up her bum.  One way or another.  She's basically the embodiment of everything that Elizabeth wants to be.  A nice irony there.  But it works and I found that much more believable than Elizabeth's situation.  Less pressure and all of that.

At the end of the day TITANIC: THE LONG NIGHT was definitely an excellent addition to all things Titanic in this world.  It has far more realistic love stories going on and Hoh did an amazing job of painting a picture of the shattering worlds of these passengers as the ship was sinking.  It was hard not to tear up reading it.  When it comes to the Titanic it's hard to think up something original to keep a well-known story fresh but Hoh's writing kept it all alive.  Love stories galore but the writing was killer.  I couldn't have asked for more.

Ban Factor: Low - No swearing, no sex, nothing really unsavory.  It's set in 1912 after all.  If the banners have something to complain about with this one then they're really running out of ideas.

The Body at the Tower by YS Lee

Published August 10, 2010.

Author website.

At a young age, Mary Quinn is rescued from the gallows and taken to Miss Scrimshaw's Academy for Girls. The school turns out to be a front for a private detective agency. At age 17, Mary takes on her first case (A Spy in the House). In this, the second book of the series, Mary Quinn sets out to uncover the truth behind a suspicious death at St. Stephen's Tower, better known as the clock tower of the Houses of Parliament. The accident occurred after hours in a highly public part of town and despite the presence of night watchmen. Mary, disguised as Mark Quinn, becomes a builder's assistant to find out the truth about the body at the tower. (goodreads.com)

I didn't realize THE BODY AT THE TOWER wasn't the first book in THE AGENCY series until well after I received the book for review. But I'd already said I'd review it and unfortunately I didn't get a chance to read the first so I could have a good segue into the second but really I don't feel I needed to. Sure, Mary's backstory from the first book would have been wonderful to have and would have fleshed out her character so much more but she was pretty stand out in THE BODY AT THE TOWER. I got the information I needed to accurately gain her perspective and the story immediately started. And then enough of her background was drizzled in throughout the book that I didn't feel I was missing anything at all. While there are little subplots that link the books, the greater story arc stands alone and make for a pretty easy read, even for the second book in the series.

Mary is an immensely interesting character and it's because of this book that I want to go back to the first and get her full history. The snippets I got throughout THE BODY AT THE TOWER were little teasers, reminders of what those coming from the first missed and just enough for the rest of us to get by. She's a character torn by her race and her station in life but still bucking the trend of society. Love it. To have the balls to gender cross nowadays is awesome but back then? During a time when women had a certain place, usually nestled into a tightly knotted corset, Mary threw the convention away and did her thing regardless of how it made her feel.

This particular case was difficult for her because it forced her to relive a part of her life that she was more than willing to forget. Her reaction to the slums, at times rather violent and physical, was telling of just how horrible she had it. But she survived. She escaped thanks to The Agency and it's a puzzle piece I'd like to fit into it's slot. I know they saved her; I just don't know the particulars and I'd like to.

The Agency's mission is bucking the trend, employing women to solve these kinds of cases and again, love it. And it's written in such a way that I could actually believe that something like this was going on during that time. That there was this whole underground society of feminist movement that was really working in conjunction with the authorities and had far more reach than anyone could dream. It's such a wonderful thought.

The plot itself was interesting. I'm not a big fan of mysteries to begin with. Not that I don't like them; they just generally don't interest me a lot of the time. But I liked THE BODY AT THE TOWER, probably moreso for its historical setting than anything else. I love London and Lee has written an historical scene for the city beautifully. The slums especially were vibrant in their dirt and mire and poverty. At times I could actually taste it. Equal parts amazing and horrifying.

I wasn't blown away by the book but it was good. I had a 'huh' moment at the end with the reveal and it was neat. Again mysteries aren't my normal forte but I was entertained by THE BODY AT THE TOWER. Lee set the story up well and sowed the seeds of intrigued from the beginning. Of course I was trying to figure it out as soon as it appeared on the page but I'm never any good as those things. I guess I wasn't surprised by the ending but there were other elements thrown in that kept it from being completely predictable.

So you historical fiction lovers, this one's definitely for you. I wouldn't count on the romance because I think Mary's love interest is a jerk but that's a part of the story I'm missing from the first book. So there could rightly be information there I just don't know that would offer some kind of explanation. Still, from what I see on the page, jerk. The mystery's well-laid and it'll have you trying to connect the dots just like I tried to. Hopefully you'll be better at it!

Ban Factor: Low - No swears, no sex, nothing supernatural, nothing paranormal, nothing more gratuitous than a slanted fart joke. Unless the banners have something against female empowerment . . . which they might . . .

A Temptation of Angels by Michelle Zink

Pub date: March 20, 2012.

Author website.

When her parents are murdered before her eyes, sixteen-year-old Helen Cartwright finds herself launched into an underground London where a mysterious organization called the Dictata controls the balance of good and evil. Helen learns that she is one of three remaining angelic descendants charged with protecting the world's past, present, and future. Unbeknownst to her, she has been trained her whole life to accept this responsibility. Now, as she finds herself torn between the angelic brothers protecting her and the devastatingly handsome childhood friend who wants to destroy her, she must prepare to be brave, to be hunted, and above all to be strong, because temptation will be hard to resist, even for an angel. (netgalley.com)

I have to say I'm less than impressed. My instant knee-jerk reaction was that I hated the voice. It read just far too stilted and contrived for my tastes and I initially wondered if I'd make it through the book based on that. I did. The roar of the tone leveled out for me and ended up being a dull throb right behind the eyes: not painful but manageable despite it being annoying. That same voice also lent itself to quite a few baited questions that seemed to scream at me from the pages. A lot of "whatever do you mean?"s going on. That type of thing. It stood out to me.

And really, for a story about angels, it's pretty lacking in, well, angels. You have the people that watch the angels who are human, the demon/wraiths that are, at most, glimpsed at and then you have the angels. The only way you can tell they're angels is because they can travel by light and you're told they're angels about eleven and a half million times. Other than that they show no defining characteristics of anything paranormal. Remove the word 'angel' and just leave them as human and it wouldn't have made a difference.

I was actually pretty disappointed by this. I went out of my comfort zone with A TEMPTATION OF ANGELS and while it didn't come close to the lulz category it was definitely flat compared to what I was expecting: in a story about angels, ANGELS. No wings, no ethereal glow, no halos, no crazy supernatural powers (aside from the light thing, which is kind of like Meg growing nails in a super hero family), nothing. I honestly don't know why they were pegged as angels other than to draw on the already dominant angel wave in YA. It just seemed really pointless and every time I finished a chapter without anything even remotely angelic going down I couldn't help but get disappointed.

Helen is a nice strong character that makes it to the end of the book pretty much on her own two feet and sticking it to the likes of Darius. Who is super awesome and with whom I sided from the beginning. We share non-existent patience levels. Darius's brother, whose name escapes me and for which I'm too lazy to look up was a puss (Griffin?). He was the "sensitive" one so it was only natural that Helen gravitated towards him. A TEMPTATION OF ANGELS gets points for its lack of love triangle though. It's insinuated that there is one but that's not really true. So kudos there.

The ending was a bit of flash bang, not too much going on throughout most of the story until the culmination of information and events at the end. FINALLY we get to see some semblance of the paranormal but it's over before it begins and don't expect to see any angels.

The whole alternate world kind of bothered me for its lack of presence. It's set in Victorian London but there's supposed to be this alternate side of wraiths and angels and funky globe things. But aside from that weird globe and some seemingly crazy stories, there isn't much going on in terms of other world. I feel shafted in that regard. I was looking for something more substantial but instead what I got was an historical fiction revised to fit a more popular supernatural angle. Seriously, remove all aspects of the paranormal and the story really wouldn't change.

It's not that I didn't like it. I found it entertaining enough to keep reading but it felt like ice cream without milk: missing something. The historical aspect of A TEMPTATION OF ANGELS is more of a driving force than anything paranormal so that should appeal to a lot of people. Just don't go in expecting a lot of supernatural stuff. You're not going to find it.

Ban Factor: Medium - Because of its actual low level of paranormal influence I can see this skating under the banner radar. At the same time playing with angels like this, even though they're not really angels (unless you count being told they're angels), still has the potential to ruffle banner feathers.

Tyger, Tyger, Burning Bright by Justine Saracen

Pub date: March 13, 2012.

Author website.

Twelve years of terror end with a world in flames. Behind filmmaker Leni Riefenstahl’s stirring footage of a million joyous patriots, the horror of Nazi Germany slowly unfolds. It engulfs Katja Sommer, a “good German” with dangerous desires; Frederica Brandt, a traitor to her homeland; Rudi Lamm, a homosexual camp survivor and forced soldier for Hitler; and Peter Arnhelm, a half-Jewish smuggler on the run. Under the scrutiny of the familiar monsters of the Third Reich, their enablers, and their hangers-on, these four struggle for life and for each other. Love does not conquer all, but it’s far better than going to hell alone. (netgalley.com)

First off, let me say that TYGER, TYGER, BURNING BRIGHT is NOT Nazi propaganda (I'm looking at YOU, Photobucket!). It's a book about German citizens, four in particular who are gay, fighting the regime from the inside. Two end up in camps with one signing up for the SS in order to get out, one goes into hiding in plain sight and the fourth bides her time working for the Ministry of Propaganda in order to smuggle confidential information out of the country to the Allies.

I've said it before and I'll say it again: I'm a total sucker for World War II era books. I love them. In order for me not to love it it's need to tank pretty badly. And aside from some pretty mechanical writing, TYGER, TYGER was a pretty good story. What I especially liked reading was the war from a perspective other than the Americans or British. Seeing it from behind enemy lines, from traitorous people working against the fascist regime, it gives that whole era yet another dimension that one wouldn't get from just reading it through a single set of eyes.

The story, for the most part, is through Katja's eyes, alternating to Frederica, Rudi and Peter for short amounts of time but you end up feeling for them all. Irrespective of the style of writing, when the camps come into play and two of the characters end up with first hand accounts, nothing is glossed over. To see what the Germans did to their own people is horrifying and TYGER, TYGER didn't cut corners with that. In fact that's when I felt the book was being the most detailed and gritty: when it was describing the horror around the characters. Their lives were a little dry and at times emotionless but when the outside came in, it came with a force that knocked everything else away. It was just so powerful that I was literally taken aback when reading certain parts of the story.

I also liked how this could have really happened. Real people were used, like Goebbels and Riefenstahl and the things that happened in their lives happened in this book. It rooted the more dramatic aspects, like the level to which Frederica gets, into greater reality. While it probably didn't happen, it felt like it could have reading the story.

Because of the mechanical writing it did feel like it was missing something. I think at times it could have been a passion. Yes the events that were recounted hit deeply and I could feel what the characters were going through but at times it felt more like a statement than a story. Good, yes, but a bit too technical. But really that would probably be my only complaint about TYGER, TYGER. Everything else hits home quite well.

If you're a World War II reader like I am, you'll want to add TYGER, TYGER, BURNING BRIGHT to your list of reading material. For it's single fault, it provides a great story through relatively unfamiliar eyes and I think it's because of that that makes the story feel somehow fresher than a lot of other WWII fiction out there. At least to this American.

Ban Factor: High - I think the homosexuality and lesbianism would set the banners in a tizzy as it is.

In Trouble by Ellen Levine

Published September 28, 2011.

Jamie and Elaine have been best friends forever, and now they’re finally juniors in high school. Elaine has a steady boyfriend, and Jamie could have one—if she'd just open her eyes and see Paul. But Jamie has a bigger problem to worry about.

Then Elaine gets "in trouble"—something they thought only happened to "other" girls. Are there any good choices for a girl in trouble? (goodreads.com)

Carolrhoda Lab does it again with another gripping story that I get to gush about. Although I will say this is probably my least favorite out of the CL books I've read. I still think very highly of it but I do feel it was lacking something that the other CL books had, mainly depth.

The situation that Jamie and Elaine go through is terrifying. Hell, it's terrifying now, let alone 60 years ago where you were either biblically virginal or a whore, irrespective of what happened to you to get into that "in trouble" position. Elaine's problem was really front and center and while it pulled me in, it also pushed me away from Jamie a bit, and it was her story. So a bit of a flaw in the story-telling. You could really feel for Elaine through Jamie. You could feel her impossible situation but at the same time you could feel Jamie's helplessness when it came to helping her friend. Elaine was a bit lost when it came to the other half of the problem and I know I got frustrated right along with Jamie when Elaine just couldn't see the forest for the trees.

And then things start opening up about Jamie. The little flashes seen throughout the story come to light and things start to click into place. That horror that was projected onto Elaine comes right back around to Jamie. Her situation's different, though. Jamie had more support and options. But here's where I think the story starts to fizzle, when it really gets into Jamie's problem.

Jamie attempts to terminate her problem on her own which results in some terrible moments in the story and I will say I had some tears but the story reached a point where it just zoomed by and before I knew it it was over. It left me wanting more and I think considering the situation of the plot, it would have rendered that. Instead there's a fade to black moment, some skimming and the end of the story. It's Jamie's story but as a reader I was never privy to Jamie coming to terms with her decisions. She made them, yes, but any repercussions she had were skipped over. I think the story could have been so much more had those issues been drawn out more.

IN TROUBLE really is a good story and a quick read but I think it's quickness does more against it than for it. That depth that I think is required for such a topic is absent and the focus is really on the wrong person. And then the story ends far too abruptly to have any real resolution. But it's still good. I liked what I was reading. I could connect with Jamie and I felt everything she did. But overall IN TROUBLE lingered on story elements that should have been shorter and dashed by moments that should have been more drawn out. I ended up feeling a little robbed at the end. I wanted more, especially for the topic. Yes, it sucked what women had to go through back then when they got "in trouble" and it's because of that that I don't feel it should have been glossed over when it got to be Jamie's turn.

Still, I'd recommend to read IN TROUBLE. Just keep in mind going in that for the topic, the story doesn't go very deep.

Ban Factor: High - Teen pregnancy. That's all you need to know. Context doesn't matter. It's all about premarital sex and teen babies.

Winter in Wartime by Jan Terlouw

Published October 3, 2011.

Michiel feels resentment towards his father, a mayor, seemingly only interested in maintaining the status quo between the town and the German Army. He worships his uncle Ben, an adventurer in contact with the local resistance. During the winter, Michiel's loyalties are tested. When he discovers an injured pilot in the woods, Michiel must find a way to keep the wounded man alive, hidden from the increasingly desperate occupying force.

As Michiel mounts his own small resistance, he becomes aware of the currents of Resistance that are swirling through the town. A German soldier is killed and his death must be revenged so they take six townspeople, threatening to shoot them if the murderer does not surrender. They compromise and shoot only one--Michiel's father. (netgalley.com)

I'm a total sucker for novels set in the European theater of World War II and the fact that this was autobiographical only fueled that fire. I don't know what it is about that war, but I'm drawn to it. It's like I can feel these experiences in my heart and it just keeps pulling me in.

Writing-wise it had a couple of things going against it: it's a translation so some of the beauty of the language was taken away; and, in my opinion, it's written by someone that had a story to tell but wasn't necessarily a writer. And that's okay. The writing as I read it could have been a result of the translation or it could have been the way in which the author told the story. Had it been anyone else, I might have been more critical of the writing but keeping these two factors in mind, coupled with the fact that the story was pretty short, I was able to push the flaws in the writing aside and just read the story. That's not something I'm able to do very often at all. Another testament to how much I love this era of story.

And the story was amazing. Just the notion that the author's real-life experiences fueled WINTER IN WARTIME was such a fantastical feat. That Michiel aided in hiding a British pilot in the woods. How someone so young was working for the underground movement. How he could lose his father simply because the Germans were being retaliatory. It's horrifying that this was real. And it's almost unbelievable. But I believe it. It's probably one of the reasons why I keep reading WWII-era works: writers can't make this stuff up. They really can't. What happened during that time was just so fantastical that creative liberties really need not apply.

It reminds me of THE THINGS THEY CARRIED by Tim O'Brien (who himself never went to war), which is a Vietnam-placed work of metafiction. And it's entirely fictional but it could have happened. And maybe it did. I guess that's true of any war story in general. While the stamp on the spine says fiction, there are things going on in war that one just can't imagine so who's to say it never really happened?

WINTER IN WARTIME is another excellent addition to any WWII nut's reading collection. The point of view is switched so you're not getting a war story in the sense that there's actual fighting (think BAND OF BROTHERS). You're getting the point of view of a boy living in a country occupied by the Germans. You see the daily life. The fear. The blackouts. It's a different aspect of such an expansive war. And you feel it. Despite the writing, despite the translation, it's an amazing story and it deserves to be read. If you're at all interested in WWII, you won't want to miss it.

Ban Factor: Low - It's an historical. Clean except for a couple background killings. Overlookable by those that don't read.

Contagion by Joanne Dahme

Published October 5, 2010.

Rose Dugan is a young and beautiful woman living in Philadelphia in the late 19th century passionate about keeping Philadelphia’s water reservoir clean and healthy. But when Rose starts receiving threatening letters, warning her to convince her husband to shut down his plans for a water filtration system or else, things take a turn for the worse. A conspicuous murder and butting heads cause Rose to search for the culprit, the truth, and a way to keep the people of Philadelphia safe from contagion in more ways than one. (goodreads.com)

I almost gave up on this one. Am I glad I stuck it out? Meh. It was okay. What had me wanting to put it down originally was the language. Names were heinously overused in dialogue and for me, that really stands out. People don't say each other's names when talking to each other that often. It just ends up sounding stilted and it was used so much that it grated on me enough to want to walk away. Plus the plot was really lagging at the beginning. It didn't seem to be going anywhere and it was heavily involved in the intricacies of water filtration. Good on the author for knowing her stuff, but I think far too much of that knowledge was transferred to the page unnecessarily. There were points where it really bogged down the plot and I started not wanting to pick up the book again when I put it down.

But once Nellie died, everything picked up and the suspense held me to the page enough that I wanted to keep reading. Just barely. Another pervasive irk was the insistence of people's clothing. Regardless of the POV, both Rose and Sean were exceptionally detailed about what people were wearing. Again, good on the author for being historically accurate, but again I think it was a little too much knowledge transferred to the page for my liking. I got the images the first time around. By the 25th time, I was over it. But the plot, once it picked up with Nellie's death, I was able to push aside these issues that I had and it kept me engaged in the story.

For all of the rather useless information that was dumped throughout, Dahme definitely knows how to write suspense. I absolutely wanted to know if Sean had ulterior motives and if Patrick really was the slime that he appeared to be. I really did want to find out who was behind Nellie's death and whether Patrick's faithful housemaid was just a bit touched or if she was really dangerous.

Really, the best part was how Dahme connected something as innocuous as water filtration to something sinister. It's so subtle yet so horrifying but absolutely believable. In people's bids for power and money, I wouldn't put it past them to make sacrifices out of others. It's been done before and I have no doubt it'll be done again. So while Dahme was heavy-handed with the water works information at the beginning, it did serve a bit of a purpose later on in the story. I think it would have been just as effective without so much but since she's heavy into Philadelphia's water treatment herself, I think it's only natural that it would be front and center in a story like this.

The most infuriating part of the story for me was Rose's insistence at defending her husband despite all of the evidence overwhelming him. Maybe it was a voice of the time, which I do believe. But I'd like to think that even women who were bred to stand by their man would exhibit some kind of independent thought. And since we get to be in Rose's head for half the story, you'd be able to see if something like that cropped up. But how she'd melt at a touch from her husband and forget her worries made me want to scream. I couldn't stand it. It did get very bad towards the end and really colored my vision of Rose but keeping the time in mind, I'm wondering how many options she actually had.

The ending I found both too easy and nominally satisfying. It's a decent juxtaposition. I don't want to spoil it so I'll just say that it wrapped up really abruptly and I think it gave Rose an easy way out. It saved her from actually having to fight and stand up to anyone. That bothered me. But at the same time she did stand up to people, as much as a woman of that time could. So can I really fault her for not being stronger? I don't know. But I was, in some part of me, satisfied with the ending. It rounded out the story nicely and left Rose's life open. It ended in a good spot.

Overall, the suspense was good and if you stick with the plot, it will pick itself up pretty nicely. The story had it's pitfalls but the plot was good enough to just cancel all of that out. Not one of my favorite reads but I'd recommend it just to see how good suspense can be.

Ban Factor: Low - Another historical set in one of the prissiest times in American history. They're really digging if they find something they contest in this one.

Soldier Boys by Dean Hughes

Published May 1, 2003.

At the age of fifteen, Dieter's blind devotion gets him promoted from Hitler Youth into the German army. Dieter's determined to prove his allegiance and bravery at all costs.

Spence, just sixteen, drops out of his Utah high school to begin training as a paratrooper. He's seen how boys who weren't much in high school can come home heroes, and Spence wants to prove to his friends and family that he really can be something.

Their worst fear was that the war would end too soon - that they wouldn't get the chance to prove themselves. But when they finally see the action they were hoping for, it's like nothing they could have ever imagined. (book back blurb)

I have a super soft spot for historical fiction taking place in the European Theater of World War II. It doesn't take much for me to grab a title with even a hint of that topic in the blurb. And since Band of Brothers is one of my all time favorite shows, it really isn't surprising that I picked up a book about a paratrooper.

The only real qualm I had with SOLDIER BOYS was that it ganked a scene from Band of Brothers. See, when you know the show as well as I do, I can pick out nuances like that. So when Spence and his buddy get a spaghetti dinner on their day off only to have the tablecloth yanked out from under them and have to drill on a full stomach, puking all the way, my brain's going to go to episode 1, Currahee, of Band of Brothers. So I was kind of watered down bythat. Yeah, it's a good scene. In Band of Brothers. It just felt cheap seeing it somewhere else.

But other than that, the voices of both Spence and Dieter were immensely engaging. Spence is a bit of a podunk, high school drop out that, at the heart of his being, just wants to impress a girl. He keeps telling himself, even after getting word of her engagement, that what he's done wasn't for her but, well, the very fact that he kept mentioning her kind of speaks volumes. But I wasn't as engaged with Spence as I was with Dieter. Spence was a little cookie cutter for me. Not too much change going on. I liked his realism. His rationalizing basic training, considering quitting. It showed his weakness but he persevered.

Dieter, on the other hand, was static for most of the book, and ingratiatingly so. To the point where I wanted to put my hand into the book and slap the boy around. Hughes really nailed it home just how indoctrinated the HJ (Hitler Jugen/Hitler Youth) were. Dieter was unwavering until that earth shattering moment at the end of the book that completely rocked his world. I didn't get a sense of such a dramatic change in Spence as I did in Dieter, probably because Dieter was so unwavering in his beliefs. Spence rocked his own boat a little bit. He was never as steadfast in what he believed so when his tide turned, it was a little more expected. With Dieter, it was like getting hit by a truck.

I really liked the dual POVs because it's not too often that we get a story told from an Axis point of view. Hughes digs deep into the life of Dieter, makes him pop out on the page. Spence was easy and that kind of showed. His life was nonchalant for me. But Dieter's mindset must have been exceptionally hard to get into. Brainwashing is a mighty thing and the Nazis were phenomenal at it. That and the way they made people fear them. Hughes didn't hide that. The Nazis performed some serious atrocities right in front of Dieter and while it shook him, he never faltered. He still thought the same way. That's hardcore indoctrination right there.

SOLDIER BOYS is a good look into the lives of two World War II soldiers on different sides of the line. It's not like about the war but about life, about not just seeing an enemy but seeing another person doing the exact same thing you're doing on the other side of the field. It's about that realization that they're really not that different, not really. Hughes did a great job of diving into the psychology of war a little bit. If you're as interested in World War II history as I am, you'll want to pick up SOLDIER BOYS. Just beware of the Band of Brothers scene. That might throw you off a little bit if you're a fan. Otherwise, you'll sink right back in and get sucked into the story.

Ban Factor: Medium - It's a book about war so that alone to rankle their ass chaps but it's pretty tame when it comes to war books so it could very well fly under their radar. Very minor swearing and some up front horrors of war but nothing major.

Shelter Me by Alex McAulay

Published 2009.

Maggie Leigh just wants to be a normal teenager, but when German bombs tear apart London during World War II, her ultra-religious mother sees the destruction as divine punishment. She sends Maggie to a remote boarding school in coastal Wales, supposedly to keep her safe, but also to keep her in line. The school is creepy, the headmistress is a lunatic, and the students range from spoiled rich girls to speechless trauma victims. But when a tragic accident happens on the beach, Maggie and three friends are forced to flee the school, plunging into the nightmarish world of Europe during wartime. Now every decision Maggie makes is fraught with danger, and living to see another day depends on how quickly she can thing and act . . . and how far she's willing to go. (book back blurb)

This was one of those books that I liked enough to keep reading until the end but when I got to the end, I was less than thrilled. Especially after finding that deus ex machina in the last chapter. But I'll get to that in a second.

I wasn't thrilled with the writing. I didn't connect with any of the characters, especially Maggie, which isn't a good position to be in. Plus I felt like this American author kept constantly trying to assert how much he knew about British culture that little drops like Lucozade and random colloquialisms felt contrived. They didn't blend in with the scenery. Plus there were so many of them that eventually I felt like I was getting slapped in the face by them. I get it, dude. You know about British culture. Congratulations. Let's move on.

I liked the premise. There isn't much that turns me away about the European theater of World War II so that was an automatic hook. But a girl getting sent to live with bat shit crazy nuns because her mother's insane? Yup, I'm interested. But the leaps of faith I kept having to make as I read just got larger and larger to the point where I just couldn't jump that far anymore. There were so many "twists" that Maggie should have been dizzy by the end of the book. The thing is, one twist I could suspend my disbelief for but the second had me going 'are you serious?" It was just so implausible for the relatively same twist to happen twice to the same person that I just couldn't swallow it.

And the ending? Super effing cheated. HERE THEY COME TO SAVE THE DAY! Let's start with the definition of a deus ex machina -

a plot device whereby a seemingly inextricable problem is suddenly and abruptly solved with the contrived and unexpected intervention of some new event, character, ability, or object.

Can also double as a *headdesk*. All of a sudden Maggie's in yet another impossible situation and enter the DEM to kill it all dead. For serious, in the last chapter everything resolved itself all nice-like by an impossibility. I hate DEMs. I invest all this time into the book. Despite the crazy implausible twists, I was sucked into it, especially towards the end because it really did look like Maggie was backed up against a wall. I was reading faster and faster and faster until I was met with massive disappointment as the last chapter was wrapped up in a pretty pink bow. Boo. What the hell's the point?

I wouldn't recommend this book for the DEM ending alone. Even if you like the rest, the ending will be a killer. You just feel so cheated when something like that happens. I did enjoy it up until then. Not for the writing because there was nothing all that great with that. The words got me from one end of the page to the other. That's about it. But the concept and the plot and the WWII aspect all had me hooked in. Just be warned if you do pick up this book. The ending is a MAJOR disappointment. In my opinion to the point where it kills whatever joy I garnered from the rest of the book.

The Midnight Guardian by Sarah Jane Stratford

Published October 2009.

It’s 1938, and the tentacles of Hitler’s terrifying Third Reich have commenced their stranglehold on Europe. The Nazi empire will soon be clean of all bloodlines deemed tainted or undesirable…including vampires.

London’s ancient tribunal of vampires is aghast at the destruction taking place on the Continent. Though vampires try not to interfere with human politics, Hitler’s terrible plans force them into action. They resolve to send five of their most formidable vampires to Berlin— millennials that have lived over 1000 years and whose age and wisdom make them close to invulnerable— to infiltrate, disrupt, and destroy the growing Nazi war machine.

The brilliant and beautiful millennial Brigit is loath to go, but her powers are needed if the mission is to have any chance of success. She must summon all her strength to endure the separation from her lover Eamon, whom she made almost eight centuries ago, but whose lack of millennial status makes him an unacceptable choice for this operation. Though he longs to join her, his duty to Brigit is best served from afar, by nurturing their deep psychic connection and reinforcing her spirit with his fierce devotion and memories of his tender embrace.

But as the millennials attempt to penetrate and sabotage Hitler’s armies, they discover that the Nazis are more capable than any human force they’ve yet encountered and more monstrous than they'd ever imagined. Forced to take bolder, more dangerous steps, they soon attract the attention of specially trained vampire hunters loyal to Hitler and his vision of a vampire-free Europe. Exposed, deep inside enemy territory, with vicious Nazi officers and hunters at her heels, Brigit must attempt a daring escape from the Continent, guarding precious cargo that marks the only hope of salvaging their mission. (goodreads.com)

Good lord that's a long blurb. Blurbal diarrhea. Anyway, DNF. The concept seems interesting enough. Anything about the European theater during World War II will catch my attention. Throw in vampires and I'm there. But the execution left much to be desired. It was just exceptionally slow-moving, a lot of contemplating on a train ride, talking at parties, and not much else. Frankly, I was bored. I don't like being bored reading a vampire book. Vampires aren't supposed to be boring. Yet authors continue proving me wrong on that front. I mean, this book had all the elements of being totally awesome: vampires, Nazis, plot to overthrow the Third Reich, the potential for slaughter. Sounds like a fanged up Quentin Tarantino movie.

But the plot took itself far too seriously and the vampires were insanely TSTL. I'm not sure how one can live past 1,000 years and complain that their species nearly ran out of food during something like The Great War or the Black Death. For serious? Ever hear of a boat? You're effing vampires and you fail to grasp the concept of hunting and gathering? I was really taken aback by that, that the purpose of stopping the Reich from succeeding was to keep their food supply up. Does only Europe exist in this world? Really?

That was a big hurdle for me. The other was the talking heads. All they did was talk, talk, talk, talk, talk. Good mother's ass DO SOMETHING. You're effing vampires and you have to infiltrate the Third Reich like the other dissenting humans do? How about just laying the vampire smack down and ripping Hitler's throat out of his neck? Problem solved. Blame it on a rogue lawn mower to hide your identities, done. But nooooooooo. They have to go all Valkyrie and take it down like humans would. Lame. Why make them vampires to begin with if they're not actually going to act like vampires for something like this?

To their credit, they were vampires when it came to feeding. Merciless, brutal and without a concern for their victims. I applaud that in a land where vampires have all but been neutered. I only wish they applied this side of themselves more to the overall plot instead of just talking their way through things.

I don't know if this is an alternate historical fiction. It would make sense if it were, otherwise I already know the ending and the vampires are going to lose since their mission is to prevent the war from happening. Really, it's kind of like watching Titanic and not knowing the ship sinks at the end. But I don't know if this is the case because I obviously didn't get that far. I don't even think I made it until my token half-way point, I just started begrudging reading it so much. It was just dull. If you want to give me vampires, then give me the shit that goes along with them do. The book had so much potential . . . I want to see what Tarantino would do with it.