Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia & Margaret StohlLittle, Brown & Company 2009
563 pages
YA Horror/Romance
This is another book I bought for the pretty cover, and was ultimately disappointed by. I try not to think of star ratings while I'm reading a book, but with this one I would oscillate between being 2-stars-annoyed and 4-stars-entertained, all within the space of a couple of pages. It took me a long time to read - there was a gap in the middle where I put it down for a week or so and then struggled to pick it back up again (and not just because it's heavy!). If we have to compare, though, this is a better written book than the other recently released paranormal YA with a gorgeous cover and a similar setting, Fallen.
Ethan Wate lives in a small town in Gatlin county, in South Carolina. It's one of those small American-south towns where everyone knows everything about everyone, no one ever leaves, and they religiously reenact battles from the Civil War. Ethan's mother, an historian, died in a car accident and his father lives in his study, writing gothic horror novels. Cared for by Amma, who practices voodoo, Ethan has never felt like he really belongs here and yearns for the day when he can leave for university.
Over the summer before he starts grade eleven (or it could be grade ten, I'm not sure), he dreams every night about a girl he can't see, about holding on to her hand while something tries to tear them apart. Even though he never saw what she looked like, when he first sees Lana Duchannes, the new girl, on the first day of school, he knows it's her. She's the niece of Old Man Ravenwood, a recluse who lives in Ravenwood, the oldest house in Gatlin - because of this, she's immediately ostracised by the other kids. But Ethan is drawn to her, and pursues a friendship despite her initial animosity.
That they share a connection is undeniable. Ethan can hear Lana in his head, and it's not long before they are communicating telepathically. After that, it's not such a big step to take in her true nature: she's a Caster, and on her sixteenth birthday she'll be Claimed - she'll either become a Dark Caster or a Light one, and because of a family curse, she has no choice in the matter.
As the days count down, Ethan only becomes more determined to help Lana and unlock the secrets of her family.
I have, not issues, just problems, with this book. Let me first mention the things that worked, for me. I loved that it was told by a male character. These stories are usually about a mysterious, attractive boy and the female narrator's experience falling in love with said problematic boy. Here it's flipped over: Lana is the withdrawn, beautiful, ultimately dangerous love interest that honest Ethan falls for. He's a smart boy, better educated than his peers and doesn't share their "southern" mentality. To be honest, the people of Gatlin County do not come off well. All the stereotyped small-minded ignorance, religious superstition and conservative views of the American south are portrayed in all their cringe-inducing glory. It did actually make it harder to read, because such blatant small-minded ignorance is painful (no matter where it occurs).
There's great atmosphere in the book - set in a similar location to Fallen, it had much greater success at building a visual representation but still struggled to capture the other senses - smell, especially. Hot and humid and stormy places tend to have remarkable smells. There are some nice gothic touches but nothing terribly original. I liked the changing nature of Ravenwood.
The prose is solid but there's something unsatisfying about it. It lacks something that I can't quite put my finger on. At times the story is engrossing, but at others it's slow and dull - through it all, the prose holds steady, but ultimately has nowhere to go. One of the problems with it is that it couldn't capture the chemistry between Ethan and Lana. Their feelings for each other were lacklustre. Ethan tried, but Lana was so obsessed with her impending doom - or possibility of - that she often came off cold, aloof and uncaring. The authors included some nice quiet moments meant to solidify their relationship, but such scenes - scenes that I would normally love and that tend to be make-or-break for me - failed to hold my interest.
It took me a while to figure out what the numbers heading each chapter meant - they're dates, but because Americans write them backwards it wasn't immediately apparent. The dates do add some structure but it's not really necessary - Ethan, who narrates in first-person, keeps track of time well enough on his own, and since I stopped noticing the numbers it didn't do anything for building tension.
Part of the problem, plot and pacing-wise at least, is that there was no mystery as to when the Claiming would happen - Lana's sixteenth birthday - or what. Ethan's comment in the prologue about the story ending with a grave lends some uncertainty and tension, but the book is so long that the authors failed to keep that anticipation going. The beginning was strong, but once Ethan and Lana got together and her secret was out in the open, it floundered, struggling to be interesting in the build-up to the Grand Finale. It was too easy for me to stop reading, and too hard for me to finish. Too much dead wood, perhaps; too many stock characters; too forced, in the end. Including the parallels, which the authors highlighted, to the novel To Kill a Mockingbird - it would have been fun, if Stephenie Meyer hadn't already done it with "Romeo and Juliet" and Wuthering Heights. (And speaking of the ending, it was confusing. It seemed to have two different endings that didn't gel, that contradicted each other, but by then I simply didn't care if it was meant to be a clever narrative device or not. I just wanted to understand.)
Here's where my jaded, seen-it-too-many-times cynical side comes out. Maybe I just read it too soon after Fallen. Maybe I've read too many of these YA paranormal romances and I need a break. Maybe I'm just tired of reading about American high school kids, whose experiences are all so similar and the school system portrayed so clichéd and awful, that you can't help but start to wonder if that really is what it's like there. Maybe I'm just annoyed that I can't get hold of many books, YA or otherwise, set in my own country. And maybe it's just the end-of-the-year grumps, the winter blues, which I do tend to get, that's making it hard for a book to really grab me - after all, I normally prefer the long novels compared to the short. In which case, it almost seems unfair to read anything. Almost. At the end of the day, there's no such thing as removing yourself and all your baggage from the reading experience, so I really shouldn't apologise for it.
This is a fine debut achievement for the authors, and it has been picked up by Warner Bros for a movie. I don't know if it's the first book in a series, but the ending does allow for a second novel.
Reviewed in December 2009
Rasmus by Jørgen ClevinGyldendal 2008 (1945)
47 pages
Children's picture book
This was a gift from a good friend of mine for my birthday, inspired by a conversation we had about our favourite children's books (from when we were kids). This was one of hers, and I'm thrilled to have a copy. It is in Danish, but she also sent me a translation.
Rasmus is an ostrich, born in Africa, happily spending his days roaming the land when he is captured and sent to a zoo in Denmark. The days and weeks are repetitive and he misses his friends - the giraffe, the elephant, even the Negro [this was written in the 40s]. He and the zookeeper cry together. But look! His friends are here in the zoo - the elephant, the giraffe, the rhino, the lion and the hippo, all his friends from Africa!
The book is lovely - illustrated by the author with lots to see and notice in the details. The story is endearing but I'm not completely sure what the message is - don't worry about zoo animals, they're awfully happy? Maybe it's just an attempt to reassure us? But don't expect a story written in the 40s to have the same sentiments as one written today. I have a few books that are quite old in that way, including a collection of short stories about a "Negro" boy that once belonged to my grandfather or my father, I forget which. I certainly didn't read them, as a child, and think that the attitudes etc. were contemporary, and I wouldn't be worried about my own (hypothetical, at this point) child reading Rasmus - it'd be quite the discussion starter, actually - but I can understand why this book wouldn't get printed in America, for instance. Especially with one of the illustrations being of a happy black family, androgynous, wearing colourful shorts, with wiry black hair and giant, smiling red lips - and cacti in the background! (I remember watching a David Attenborough episode on cactus plants and I don't recall there being any in Africa?) But it's more dangerous to pretend that these depictions never existed.
Reviewed in December 2009
The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Emmuska OrczySignet Classic 1982 (1905)
248 pages
Historical Romance/Fiction
If, like me, you watched the movie more times than you'd care to admit when you were growing up; or if, like me, you've read all of Georgette Heyer's Regency romances and then some, you'll love this book. It doesn't pretend to be anything extraordinary, it doesn't even offer a social commentary on the period in which it's set - written by an aristocrat who is clearly on the side of the aristocrats, it's easy to see where her sympathies lie. But it is a rollicking good ride, a fun adventure story, a very sweet and at times intense love story, and a daring, cunning dash into danger. For sheer entertainment's sake, I loved it.
Set in 1792 during the French Revolution when, if your history is a bit hazy, the French people rose up in revolt and began executing their wealthy aristocracy on "Madame Guillotine" - including the King and Marie Antoinette (their young son was famously unaccounted for, if I remember correctly) - stories of "innocent" aristocrats (especially women and children, who were beheaded alongside the men) being rescued and taken to England are perfect for a romantic adventure story.
When I was a little girl, my mother's best friend returned from a trip to Russia, where her family was from, with a birthday gift for me - a book printed in Yugoslavia called Girls' Adventure Stories of Long Ago. The very first story, and my favourite, was about a young girl fleeing France who is rescued by a Englishman with a secret identity, going by the name of Red Hawk. Adventure and romance ensued. So between that story and watching my sister's copy of The Scarlet Pimpernel, I was an early fan.
Lady Marguerite Blakeney is a beautiful, clever young French woman, once an actress, now wife to Sir Percy Blakeney, one of the richest and most well-dressed men in England - and also, so everyone thinks, one of the most inane and stupid. When her brother Armand, who is working on the side of the Revolution in France, is found out to be in league with the Scarlet Pimpernel, the man in charge of hunting down the Pimpernel, Chauvelin, uses the damning knowledge to blackmail Marguerite into helping him discover the Scarlet Pimpernel's true identity. When she realises who the Scarlet Pimpernel really is, though, it's too late to save him or her brother - she must to France to warn them, but Chauvelin's trap is closing in fast.
Originally written for the stage in 1902 by Baroness Orczy, it became so popular that she novelised it a few years later. In the 1982 film, Anthony Andrews - while lacking the impressive height and shoulder breadth described of Sir Percy in the book - did a fantastic job of portraying the urbane fop who hides his cunning and resourceful mind behind a mask of stupidity. I can think of a couple of heroes Georgette Heyer wrote who were likely inspired by Sir Percy. He is wonderfully charismatic, and the love he suppresses for his wife ever since he found out her role in the execution of an aristocrat, makes for a truly bittersweet romance. They both must learn to trust one another and work through misunderstandings in order to be happy again.
The pacing might be too slow for some readers, but I found the details engrossing and the build-up of tension and anticipation gut-tightening. While the first half of the book was recreated closely in the movie, the second half is quite different. It was a pleasurable surprise, and made the book less predictable than I was expecting. It might not have the cinematic build-up of the movie, or that final classic sword-fight between Percy and Chauvelin, but I found the original ending to be just as satisfying and far less clichéd. The characters are well-drawn and feel very real; we mostly get Marguerite's perspective (never Percy's), and while she doesn't always make the best decisions, she is at least understandable and even sympathetic. The true hero is, of course, the Scarlet Pimpernel, whose modern equivalent would be Batman - a superhero without superpowers, unless you count enormous wealth and a sharp mind.
Reviewed in December 2009
Hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas! Or, if you don't celebrate Christmas, got some time off work/school and relaxed or had a party or whatever you felt like doing!
Adam gave me two books for Christmas,
and a gorgeous jigsaw puzzle - I'm a bit of a jigsaw puzzle nerd, if you didn't already know ;)
And we had lots of fun making a Gingerbread House! Never made one before, but it was pretty straight forward. I used my regular gingerbread recipe but doubled, and we made templates for the walls and roof and used them to cut out the shapes before baking them, which we did the night before.
On Christmas, yesterday, we took it all out to Adam's parent's place and put it all together using Royal Icing. And lots of lollies. We may have gone a bit overboard, but it was so much fun!
(it was hard to get good photos, so pardon the quality!)
The finished house, before we started eating it:
I was impressed at how well it stuck together, and how quickly - and then it was really easy to take a chunk of roof off, to eat. We'll have to do it next year too - maybe we'll try more artistic decoration? Maybe not.
We also brought my standard - chocolate truffles (coated in chocolate) - and a new addition: chocolate-dipped strawberries. Very yummy. What with all the chocolate and the gingerbread house, we had dessert covered.
I got an elegant new coat for Christmas, and so did Adam. We scored some handy gift cards too, for the cinema and Vistek (a professional photo shop - we need a 1 terabyte drive thingy to plug into the computer to store all our photos on; they're RAW, or NEF files, and take up lots of room, so this card will really help out!) and a few other places.
I did get an allergic reaction to something in the house, but I have no idea what. They have a non-allergenic dog, and Adam's mum has severe allergies to animals, plants and flowers, food, so it's weird that I'd get hayfever but she's fine. It gave me a touch of asthma too - I don't get/have asthma, but I described the feeling of my windpipe narrowing and have to draw really deep breaths and still feeling short of breath, and Adam said it was asthma. Scary. But I woke up feeling fine this morning. Strange.
The only other bummer this Christmas was not getting to talk to my family back home. It's a 14-hour time difference, which makes it hard, but I said I'd connect on Skype on their Xmas morning, but they were never online :( and I had to go to bed, I was so knackered. Not sure what happened there. Ah well. I did get to talk to my sister the other day and meet my new little niece, Tamsyn. Skype is very cool!
What did you do for Christmas? Get any cool gifts?
Adam gave me two books for Christmas,
and a gorgeous jigsaw puzzle - I'm a bit of a jigsaw puzzle nerd, if you didn't already know ;)
And we had lots of fun making a Gingerbread House! Never made one before, but it was pretty straight forward. I used my regular gingerbread recipe but doubled, and we made templates for the walls and roof and used them to cut out the shapes before baking them, which we did the night before.
On Christmas, yesterday, we took it all out to Adam's parent's place and put it all together using Royal Icing. And lots of lollies. We may have gone a bit overboard, but it was so much fun!
(it was hard to get good photos, so pardon the quality!)
The finished house, before we started eating it:
I was impressed at how well it stuck together, and how quickly - and then it was really easy to take a chunk of roof off, to eat. We'll have to do it next year too - maybe we'll try more artistic decoration? Maybe not.
We also brought my standard - chocolate truffles (coated in chocolate) - and a new addition: chocolate-dipped strawberries. Very yummy. What with all the chocolate and the gingerbread house, we had dessert covered.
I got an elegant new coat for Christmas, and so did Adam. We scored some handy gift cards too, for the cinema and Vistek (a professional photo shop - we need a 1 terabyte drive thingy to plug into the computer to store all our photos on; they're RAW, or NEF files, and take up lots of room, so this card will really help out!) and a few other places.
I did get an allergic reaction to something in the house, but I have no idea what. They have a non-allergenic dog, and Adam's mum has severe allergies to animals, plants and flowers, food, so it's weird that I'd get hayfever but she's fine. It gave me a touch of asthma too - I don't get/have asthma, but I described the feeling of my windpipe narrowing and have to draw really deep breaths and still feeling short of breath, and Adam said it was asthma. Scary. But I woke up feeling fine this morning. Strange.
The only other bummer this Christmas was not getting to talk to my family back home. It's a 14-hour time difference, which makes it hard, but I said I'd connect on Skype on their Xmas morning, but they were never online :( and I had to go to bed, I was so knackered. Not sure what happened there. Ah well. I did get to talk to my sister the other day and meet my new little niece, Tamsyn. Skype is very cool!
What did you do for Christmas? Get any cool gifts?
Christmas has crept up on me so quickly! Can't believe it's here already! I got the last part of Adam's present yesterday, and my new winter boots! I'm so in love with these boots!
Just look at the traction on those things!!
Sorel is a Canadian company (I believe the shoes are made in Asia these days, a la Doc Martens and Blundstones and everyone else), and they're supposed to last for years. They're waterproof, and have this scrummy lining that you can take out. Makes me actually almost look forward to going out into the cold! I also got mittens - the kind with fingerless gloves inside and the mitten part can fold back - made of 100% marino wool, and a new beanie - plus I'm getting a new coat for Christmas, so I shall be prepared! The only thing missing is thermals (long johns); mine don't fit me anymore :(
Tell you what though, Canadians are crazy. Maybe it's just Torontonians, but you wouldn't believe how many people I saw yesterday, out on the street, with no gloves, no beanie, exposed skin on their feet, rips in their jeans, just a jacket on. Some of them were too fashionably dressed to want to spoil the look with a beanie, and maybe some were just too stupid. All I know was that I felt like I had frostbite, and I was wearing my serious North Face coat (minus the lining, silly me), woolly Explorer socks and a beanie - should have put on my scarf, and I didn't have any gloves which was part of my trip. But I was freezing!
________________________________________
I only bought two books last week, Under the Dome by Stephen King and Succubus Blues by Richelle Mead - even with a 40% discount on the King book, I still spent over $40, so I couldn't justify buying more. Under the Dome is a mammoth book that hurt my shoulders carrying home, but I love the premise. If it hadn't been discounted I wouldn't have bothered with the hardcover - and there's nowhere for it on my shelves, it's just sitting on my desk, slowly being covered by crap.
Actually, I feel a bit booked-out. There's nothing I'm dying to have these days. It could be seasonal blues making me feel a bit apathetic, I don't know. Kind of like how I'm struggling to finish books. I've only read four books this month so far. I haven't even been watching more TV or anything - well I watched Twilight the other night, because I finally bought a copy, but that's it.
BUT, I have joined a challenge on Goodreads, the "2010 TBR Challenge" - to read 12 books that have been languishing on my shelves, unread, for a while, in 12 months. This is my list:
1. Here Be Dragons by Sharon Kay Penman
2. Captain Corelli's Mandolin by Louis de Bernieres
3. Dracula by Bram Stoker
4. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time by Mark Haddon
5. Breakfast at Tiffany's by Truman Capote
6. Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
7. Immortal by Traci L Slatton
8. The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins
9. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
10. The Wild Swans by Peg Kerr
11. The Spellbook of Listen Taylor by Jaclyn Moriarty
12. Cat's Eye by Margaret Atwood
I have until the 31st to change any or add alternates (for those that you absolutely cannot finish) but I'm not going to bother, because I try not to encourage myself to leave books unfinished and I need to read these anyway.
It was hard to pick them, I'll tell you that. I don't do challenges very often because I hate the feeling of being forced to read a book, but I've been thinking I need motivation. And there's even a prize! My competitiveness, such as it is, is making itself felt.
________________________________________
This week I learnt that "oatmeal" means porridge. I did not know that. I did not know what oatmeal was, but I did not realise it meant porridge. Why do they call it oatmeal?
________________________________________
I think I may have mentioned that they tore down the rotting balcony a couple of months ago. Well they came back and ripped off the hideous fake-stone facing too. It already looks so much better! We've gone from being the ugliest house on the street to being just another house that needs work.
BEFORE:
AFTER:
You can see that the neighbour's have already done their balcony. We won't get ours till next year sometime, so it looks unlikely that we'll be able to grow any herbs or lettuce next summer :(
Just look at the traction on those things!!
Sorel is a Canadian company (I believe the shoes are made in Asia these days, a la Doc Martens and Blundstones and everyone else), and they're supposed to last for years. They're waterproof, and have this scrummy lining that you can take out. Makes me actually almost look forward to going out into the cold! I also got mittens - the kind with fingerless gloves inside and the mitten part can fold back - made of 100% marino wool, and a new beanie - plus I'm getting a new coat for Christmas, so I shall be prepared! The only thing missing is thermals (long johns); mine don't fit me anymore :(
Tell you what though, Canadians are crazy. Maybe it's just Torontonians, but you wouldn't believe how many people I saw yesterday, out on the street, with no gloves, no beanie, exposed skin on their feet, rips in their jeans, just a jacket on. Some of them were too fashionably dressed to want to spoil the look with a beanie, and maybe some were just too stupid. All I know was that I felt like I had frostbite, and I was wearing my serious North Face coat (minus the lining, silly me), woolly Explorer socks and a beanie - should have put on my scarf, and I didn't have any gloves which was part of my trip. But I was freezing!
________________________________________
I only bought two books last week, Under the Dome by Stephen King and Succubus Blues by Richelle Mead - even with a 40% discount on the King book, I still spent over $40, so I couldn't justify buying more. Under the Dome is a mammoth book that hurt my shoulders carrying home, but I love the premise. If it hadn't been discounted I wouldn't have bothered with the hardcover - and there's nowhere for it on my shelves, it's just sitting on my desk, slowly being covered by crap.
Actually, I feel a bit booked-out. There's nothing I'm dying to have these days. It could be seasonal blues making me feel a bit apathetic, I don't know. Kind of like how I'm struggling to finish books. I've only read four books this month so far. I haven't even been watching more TV or anything - well I watched Twilight the other night, because I finally bought a copy, but that's it.
BUT, I have joined a challenge on Goodreads, the "2010 TBR Challenge" - to read 12 books that have been languishing on my shelves, unread, for a while, in 12 months. This is my list:
1. Here Be Dragons by Sharon Kay Penman
2. Captain Corelli's Mandolin by Louis de Bernieres
3. Dracula by Bram Stoker
4. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time by Mark Haddon
5. Breakfast at Tiffany's by Truman Capote
6. Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
7. Immortal by Traci L Slatton
8. The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins
9. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
10. The Wild Swans by Peg Kerr
11. The Spellbook of Listen Taylor by Jaclyn Moriarty
12. Cat's Eye by Margaret Atwood
I have until the 31st to change any or add alternates (for those that you absolutely cannot finish) but I'm not going to bother, because I try not to encourage myself to leave books unfinished and I need to read these anyway.
It was hard to pick them, I'll tell you that. I don't do challenges very often because I hate the feeling of being forced to read a book, but I've been thinking I need motivation. And there's even a prize! My competitiveness, such as it is, is making itself felt.
________________________________________
This week I learnt that "oatmeal" means porridge. I did not know that. I did not know what oatmeal was, but I did not realise it meant porridge. Why do they call it oatmeal?
________________________________________
I think I may have mentioned that they tore down the rotting balcony a couple of months ago. Well they came back and ripped off the hideous fake-stone facing too. It already looks so much better! We've gone from being the ugliest house on the street to being just another house that needs work.
AFTER:
You can see that the neighbour's have already done their balcony. We won't get ours till next year sometime, so it looks unlikely that we'll be able to grow any herbs or lettuce next summer :(
I've just eaten a packet of Twisties for dessert, that my sister Fer sent me - God they were good! Maybe it's just as well I can't buy them whenever I want ;)
________________________________________
I'm way behind on wishing people a happy birthday - mostly because I've only been able to manage one post a week. Pathetic I know. So I'll just recap :)
Happy Birthday for tomorrow, Fer!
Happy Birthday for the 9th,![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif)
extongardener , aka Mum!
Happy Birthday for the 3rd,make_meabird !
Happy Birthday for the 4th,windandtherain !
Happy Birthday for tomorrow,literaturevixen !
Happy Birthday for the 20th,bookish_nerd !
Happy Birthday for the 23rd,onetrooluff and reading_is_life !
Happy Birthday for the 29th,eclipse_writer !
I'm sorry I couldn't give you the individual posts you deserve, but I hope you had/have a great birthday!!
________________________________________
I think I have pepper up my nose. It's really driving me crazy.
Okay, am I seriously the only person who thinks Christopher Marsterson, from Malcolm in the Middle, looks just like Neil Patrick Harris (How I Met Your Mother and Dr Horrible)??
(and come on, I know he's gay, but Harris is still really yummy!)
(Perhaps another reason why I've only been writing one post a week lately is because utter shite comes out when I write more! Life it quite dull at the moment.)
________________________________________
I'm way behind on wishing people a happy birthday - mostly because I've only been able to manage one post a week. Pathetic I know. So I'll just recap :)
Happy Birthday for tomorrow, Fer!
Happy Birthday for the 9th,
extongardener , aka Mum!Happy Birthday for the 3rd,
make_meabird !Happy Birthday for the 4th,
windandtherain !Happy Birthday for tomorrow,
literaturevixen !Happy Birthday for the 20th,
bookish_nerd !Happy Birthday for the 23rd,
onetrooluff and reading_is_life !Happy Birthday for the 29th,
eclipse_writer !I'm sorry I couldn't give you the individual posts you deserve, but I hope you had/have a great birthday!!
________________________________________
I think I have pepper up my nose. It's really driving me crazy.
Okay, am I seriously the only person who thinks Christopher Marsterson, from Malcolm in the Middle, looks just like Neil Patrick Harris (How I Met Your Mother and Dr Horrible)??
(and come on, I know he's gay, but Harris is still really yummy!)
(Perhaps another reason why I've only been writing one post a week lately is because utter shite comes out when I write more! Life it quite dull at the moment.)