Review of The Waking Dreamer by J.E. Alexander

The Waking Dreamer by J.E. Alexander

★★

Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy, Paranormal

Synopsis: 

Emmett’s dream is always the same. Tingling with half-forgotten memories, he stands in an unknown room surrounded by mirrors, curio cabinets, and nesting dolls. A painting, Belshazzar’s Feast, hangs on the wall, its disembodied hand numbering the King’s final days. Then comes the stranger, the serpent-wielding young woman with the glittering amber eyes. Her words are always the same. Emmett will soon save her. Then the supposed hero awakens to his unremarkable life, awaiting the next night and the same maddeningly familiar dream.

Seventeen-year-old orphan Emmett Brennan remembers nothing of his past—not the boiler room in which his needle-ravaged mother gave birth to him, nor the Druids who tenderly delivered him. He can’t remember the cabal-summoned Revenant that clawed itself from shadow to hunt him, or why his mystical midwives hid him from the necromantic creature. Approaching adulthood, he is unaware of the dark forces that still search for him or the mysterious sentinels who secretly protect him, but on the eve of his eighteenth birthday that will change. The Revenants will find him. Only the young woman from his dreams can help him confront all he was once made to forget. Together, they will brave the nightmarish landscape Emmett’s waking world will soon become.

Review: 

Reading this book was a bit of a roller coaster ride in terms of how I felt about it. 

It's not every day you come across a story that has Druids and Bards in it, and develop it beyond the stereotypical pagan tree-worshippers. I can say that the characters in The Waking Dreamer are developped the limited stereotype, but it was still a huge dissapointment.

It started out with a bang and hooked me right in. Then it sort of fizzles out. It continues like this throughout the novel.

There was something about Emmett after the first couple chapters that bothered me, though I couldn't quite place my finger on what it was. I realized what it was about half way through. Emmett never asks any questions, even when he should. He doesn't seem to accept the burdern of people dying for him, takes no responsibility for it. It is not a well written, strong lead character. He is a character who I find it impossible to relate to.

On the subject of deaths, there is so much death. I feel like the author is trying to make a point of how scary and badass he is but it is just excessive and pointless. 

One of the very few redeeming qualities of this book is Amalah, who is a strong female character who takes no crap from anyone. She is a badass fighter and very intelligent. However she is not present for most of the book, which is dissapointing. 

I never found the explaination of what exactly the Waking Dreamer is very satisfying. The ending was cliche. Blah.

Purchase: Amazon | Goodreads

Other Books By This Author:  The Waking Dreamer is currently J.E. Alexander's only book, but is the first in a series of 5 novels. The second one is planned to be released in Summer 2014.

Review of Point Pleasant by Jen Archer Wood

Point Pleasant by Jen Archer Wood

★★★★★

Genre: Horror, LGBT, Romance, Mystery

Synopsis: 

Ben Wisehart grew up in the idyllic town of Point Pleasant, West Virginia. An early encounter with the supernatural shaped his worldview and served as the catalyst for his career as a bestselling horror writer. 

Ben left Point Pleasant at the age of twenty. Thirteen years after abandoning his home, he returns to the town to investigate the apparent reemergence of the terrifying creature responsible for his childhood nightmares. 

In Point Pleasant, Ben is confronted not only by the town’s resident monster, the Mothman, but also by Nicholas Nolan, Ben’s former best friend. Together, with Bill Tucker—the old recluse who lives on the edge of town—Ben and Nicholas uncover the mystery of the monster in the woods and discover that the ghosts that haunt us are sometimes made of flesh and blood. And sometimes, they lead us home.

Review: 

I read this a year ago before it was edited and published, and thought it was the bee's knees. When I heard that it was going to be published as a novel, I was incredibly excited. The author of this novel is a lovely lady who is originally only an hour and a half away from where I live, and is currently living in the city of my dreams. But now onto the actual book.

It opens on a flashback to Ben and Nicholas as 12 year old boys, and they are in the middle of the action, right off the top. It hooks you in immediately, and before you know it, you can't put the book down anymore.

The story of Ben and Nicholas as adults is beautiful and breathtaking. Their evolution as people and characters from the first page to the last is completely believable and human in a setting and plot the farthest thing from ordinary. The people, the town, and the conflicts betweeen characters ground us among the rather terrifying and supernatural occurences enveloping the small town of Point Pleasant. The author tackles issues such as rejection, identity, love, hate, acceptance, loss, the concept of home, and the ability to believe and have faith with such precision and honesty, it causes the reader to look and think about their life.

The mythology and lore used in this story is well researched and fits. It is actually believable, even some of the more outlandish bits. It mixes Native American, urban and religious lore into one story. In fact, the story as a whole does not fall into one specific genre or another. There is horror, there is mystery, there is romance. But life does not fall into one category, either. 

For me personally, this story made me look at my life and the concept of home in a whole new way. I felt at home with Ben and Nick and in their world. This book is my comfort book, one that I have revisited many times in the past, and will continue to do so in the future.

The illustrations for each chapter capture the tone of the novel perfectly.

As a writer, I find this book a masterpiece. I hope to be able to achieve the same things as this author, to be as skilled as her in writing and storytelling.

It's beautiful and made with love. I think we'd all be lucky to read more stories like this.

** Special note: Point Pleasant has one of the highest ratings I've ever seen on Goodreads, currently at 4.76 with 123 ratings.**

"His smile was like a Dylan album and a cup of coffee on a sunny afternoon." - Point Pleasant

I absolutely suggest you read this book. You will not be dissapointed.

Purchase: Amazon | Goodreads

Other Books By This Author: Point Pleasant is Jen Archer Wood's first novel. She is planning on releasing a second independent novel titled Camera Obscura in early 2014.

Review of Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Saenz

Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Saenz

★★★★★

Genre: Young Adult, Realistic Fiction, LGBT, Coming of Age, Contemporary, Romance

Synopsis: 

Aristotle is an angry teen with a brother in prison. Dante is a know-it-all who has an unusual way of looking at the world. When the two meet at the swimming pool, they seem to have nothing in common. But as the loners start spending time together, they discover that they share a special friendship—the kind that changes lives and lasts a lifetime. And it is through this friendship that Ari and Dante will learn the most important truths about themselves and the kind of people they want to be.

Review: 

I borrowed this lovely piece of literature from my girlfriend Samantha. I have heard nothing but great reviews for this book and to be honest, I was skeptical. If you make your way around Goodreads, you know there aren't many books above a 4.00 average rating. Well this is one of them. Surely it is too good to be true, right? Quite the opposite. It lives up to all the good reviews and beyond that. I can understand why some would be hesitant or even opposed to the idea that this novel has no plot.

The important thing to keep in mind is that life, especially when a teenager, has no plot. There is no climb to a climax, and no resolution afterwards. Life is ups and downs and small events and big events and things that don't make sense. This story, the story of Aristotle finding his way to himself as a young man captures that perfectly. And in a way, in a subtle way that you don't even realize is happening, it isn't just Aristotle's journey of growth into a better person. Through Ari's point of view, we watch Ari's dad and mom and Dante and Dante's parents grow as people as well. 

If you don't like a lot of narrative, then maybe this isn't the book for you. Because there is a lot of it, even whole chapters of it. But I would encourage you to give it a try. I don't like large amounts of narrative, but this worked for me. Also the chapters vary in length. Some are a page, others are several pages long. If that is a thing that bothers you, beware. 

There were a couple moments towards the middle where it lags, namely during the part where Dante lives in Chicago. I happened to know what the ending was going so I kept reading. Some people may find it too dull. (Though I encourage you if you feel like stopping, keep going because it is so worth it in the end.)

On a side note, I adore the font that the sections and chapters are headed in. It is the little details like that that make me fall in love with a book in terms of aesthetics. 

As a wrap up, I believe this is the kind of book they should be teaching in schools. This is a book I want to have on my bookshelf forever. This is a book I will think about often. 

“Senior year. And then life. Maybe that's the way it worked. High school was just a prologue to the real novel. Everybody got to write you -- but when you graduated, you got to write yourself. At graduation you got to collect your teacher's pens and your parents' pens and you got your own pen. And you could do all the writing. Yeah. Wouldn't that be sweet?” - Aristotle Mendoza, Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe

I think everyone should read this book. E.V.E.R.Y.O.N.E.

Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

Other Books By This Author:  Benjamin Alire Saenz has written a number of novels, including In Perfect Light and Last Night I Sang to the Monster. 

Review of The Curse Keepers by Denise Grover Swank

The Curse Keepers by Denise Grover Swank

★★★★

Genre: Fantasy, Paranormal, Young Adult, Romance

Synopsis:

The wall between our world and that of vengeful spirits has protected humanity for more than 400 years. It’s about to come crashing down.
Ellie Lancaster has lived her whole life by the site of the mysterious Lost Colony of Roanoke, the Virginia settlement that vanished without a trace around 1590. Only the descendants of the two men who banished the spirits of an enemy tribe from the material realm know what really happened to the colony. Ellie is one of those descendants—a Curse Keeper. Her father took pains to teach her what he knew of the curse and the responsibilities of its guardians. He taught her that if the two Curse Keepers ever meet, the curse will be lifted, the gate will open, and the raging Native American spirits will be unleashed to seek their revenge.

Despite her father’s seriousness, Ellie has always taken the legend for a harmless fairy tale. Until she meets the darkly handsome, but downright infuriating, Collin Dailey and realizes everything she was told is true. For when they meet, it’s like the air is sucked from the room. Collin’s presence is electrifying… and it’s not just attraction Ellie feels, but the inexorable pull toward her destiny. The prophecy is real, and now Ellie and Collin must battle supernatural forces and their loathing—and passion—for each other to set things right.

The Curse Keepers are all that stand between the world and its destruction.

Review: 

I greatly enjoyed the Curse Keepers. It took me a few chapters to hook me in, but once I was, I was glued to my nook. (Which was a good thing because I was on a plane for several hours going to Boston.) Also I was rather suspicious of Collin as a character. The way he was presented in the first chapter made me believe he wouldn't be well develloped. Quite the contrary, in fact. I loved Collin as a character because his many flawes are believable, making him an incredibly real character.

Another thing I loved was the Native American lore (which I am a huge sucker for anyway) and the author's take on the Roanoke Colony. The author put a lot of time and effort into research and it shows in her writing. 

The novel had a good pacing which took place over the course of 7 days, making the build towards the climax steady.

Ellie, the main character, is a girl who is her own person and takes no shit, which was absolutely fantastic in my mind. She was very well develloped, with her background being revealed at the correct moments. I loved her, and found myself cheering her on on more than one occasion.

There were a couple negatives to this novel, but nothing too major. The story is focused towards young adults, especially with the plot and how the story is written, but there is sex. A lot of sex. Descriptive sex. (It certainly isn't for the young or innocent reader.) A couple of times, I became impatient with these scenes, finding them slightly ill timed when there were more urgent things to be doing to save the world, you know, outside the hotel room. 

And of course, this novel ends on a cliff hanger, which was pretty kick ass.  However it still means I'm waiting for the second book!

I would definitely recommend this book.

Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

Other Books By This Author: Denise Grover Swank has written a number of novels, her most popular being the Chosen Series and the Rose Gardner Mysteries.

Review of Color of Home by Rich Marcello

The Color of Home by Rich Marcello

★★★½

Genre: Contemporary, Realistic Fiction, Romance

Synopsis: 

Can two people stay connected for a lifetime and each know the complete truth about the other? When New Yorker Nick Satterborn falls in love with Sassa Vikander, he's convinced the answer is yes. Nick Satterborn. Songwriter. Dabbler on the spiritual path. Survivor.

Sassa Vikander. Stunning chef. Seeker on the path of most resistance. Survivor.

Contentment percolates for a time, until the two are hurtled into a life of uncertainty, self-evaluation, and growth. Each dreams heroic dreams of overcoming his/her past, rising out of sadness, rediscovering home, finding peace. Their worlds dissolve and reform. People and events threaten to tear them apart.

The Color of Home is a story of love, of loss, of digging deep down to the bottom of things until maybe, just maybe, Nick and Sassa find the strength to become whole. Their journey offers a unique, honest glimpse into the life and love of a palpably rare relationship of our time.

Review: 

Aha! I've finally finished it! God, I know I'm awful. I meant to post this review when the book actually came out on December 3rd. But unfortunately due to exams and impending high school graduation, I had to put it aside. I think that speaks for the novel. It was interesting, as in I picked up and read it after exams and such, but it wasn't so interesting that I couldn't put it down in the first place. (You know that feeling--when a book is so good that you spend every free moment reading, and even put off other things such as school work and feeding your pets to keep reading it.) 

So yes, I did enjoy this novel. It was realistic adult fiction, which was a change for me. I took great interest in the setting, which was New York City, Cambridge, Massachusetts, and Portland, Maine. Also, the descriptions of food (Sassa is a chef) are absolutely mouth watering. I've never been craving a vegeterian dish before, but this book changed that...multiple times.

A little bit of a pet peeve are the names of characters in this book. There are a fair share of normal names, such as Debbie and Jessie and Rachel, but there are also a lot (too many) of freaking bizarre names. Some examples are Ashoka, Adira, Niveille, Myrina, and Halfa. Like come on. I dunno, it is just sort of a pet peeve of mine. 

The people in this novel were real, with flaws and mistakes and imperfections and it was glorious. However I have a problem with the dialogue. We are only witness to the dialogue that is extremely deep and existential. There is no way that the only conversation that these characters can have with each other is always so deep and important and life-revealing. It isn't real. Sometimes people stumble in what they are saying, sometimes they don't quite get the words out right. Sometimes they just have meaningless conversations that aren't always about such heavy topics. That is what makes them real.

This book's plot was so incredibly original for the most part, that I really liked it because it didn't give any indications of having any of the cliches when it comes to "will they, won't they get back together" (in the cliches, they always do end up together.) Instead, this story kept me guessing and I loved that. There was a real possibility that this novel would end in a way I didn't expect. Then the Conan O'Brien incident happened. And it was all predicable from there on out. 

This novel was a good novel, don't get me wrong. But I don't think it was perfect, which appears to be an unpopular opinion. I do very much love the very last line of the book, though. It was wonderful.

I would recommend this book.

Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

Other Books By This Author: This is Rich Marcello's first novel.

2014 TBR Pile Reading Challenge

I’ll be participating in the 2014 TBR Pile Reading Challenge hosted by Bookish!

If you haven’t heard of this challenge, the basic idea is to dig into your TBR pile and, if not clear it completely, get it back under control. The books you read for the challenge can’t be 2014 releases and any book can be included as long as you review it. On the 20th of each month, you gather all your reviews together and link them up in the nice wrap-up post on Bookish, and for each review you get an entry to win a book of your choice from Book Depository!

1-10 - A Firm Handshake
11-20 - A Friendly Hug
21-30 - First Kiss
31-40 - Sweet Summer Fling
41-50 - Could this be love?
50+ - Married With Children

You can always move up a level, but you can't move down. So I'm aiming for First Kiss but hope to move up a level or two- it depends on how college and stuff goes in the second half of the year. It is my first time doing anything like this, so I'm excited (and nervous).

I'll still be doing regular reviews for books that are released in 2014 (I have accumulated quite a number on Netgalley) but I also have a huge stash of books from 2013 and earlier than I need to get through! It is going to be a BUSY year for me.

If you’d like to participate in this challenge just head over to Bookish and sign up by December 15! There’s a mailing list and lots of other fun things for the challenge, so check it out!