Fathomless (Fairytale Retellings #3) by Jackson Pearce review

Celia Reynolds is the youngest in a set of triplets and the one with the least valuable power. Anne can see the future, and Jane can see the present, but all Celia can see is the past. And the past seems so insignificant -- until Celia meets Lo.

Lo doesn't know who she is. Or who she was. Once a human, she is now almost entirely a creature of the sea -- a nymph, an ocean girl, a mermaid -- all terms too pretty for the soulless monster she knows she's becoming. Lo clings to shreds of her former self, fighting to remember her past, even as she's tempted to embrace her dark immortality.

When a handsome boy named Jude falls off a pier and into the ocean, Celia and Lo work together to rescue him from the waves. The two form a friendship, but soon they find themselves competing for Jude's affection. Lo wants more than that, though. According to the ocean girls, there's only one way for Lo to earn back her humanity. She must persuade a mortal to love her . . . and steal his soul.

From Goodreads

Celia doesn't really know how to be herself. She has always just been one third of the triplet set in the Reynolds family. With a long-dead mother, a father with Alzheimer's & much older brothers, Celia has always felt rather isolated. Add to that the fact that she & her sisters share extra-sensory powers & you've got a recipe for a more-frustrated-than-usual teenager.

Lo is just a sea girl. She has been one for quite some time & doesn't really remember who she was before she became Lo. In a way she doesn't mind, but on the other hand she really can't shake the desire to know her past. The old ones say you can recover your soul & go back to being a land girl if you convince a boy to fall in love with you and then drown him.

In walks Jude, the answer to both girls' desires. He's rebellious enough to encourage Celia to find her own voice & caring enough to become caught in Lo's snare when he falls off the pier. And with his involvement the two girls meet & share in their mutual distress.

Jackson Pearce is one heck of a writer. Written with all the flare, attitude, & reverence as her other two books in the fairytale retellings series (Sisters Red & Sweetly) Fathomless has earned its stripes. I've mentioned before that I am not a fan of mermaid stories & that still holds true; but this book was about so much more than a mermaid that I could suspense my aversion. Lo & Celia contrast just enough to strike a fine balance between their stories. One girl can't seem to shake everyone else's past while the other has the need to chase her own past.

Through in a rather self-assured, yet compassionate young guy (Jude) and you've got a great recipe for conflict. It was amazing to watch the two girls have their own experiences with him that overlapped just enough that neither one caught sight of the other. I enjoyed how their stories flowed from one to the other & was enough more surprised by how much I enjoyed Lo's alternate personality. Now that's something you have to read the book to fully appreciate.

All in all I wouldn't change a thing about this continuation of the series. After having finished the book, I was rather excited to sit back & place the information gathered in this story alongside the information gathered form the other stories. An intricate & complex world is being developed & I sincerely hope that when the series "ends" we get to see all those clues come into play together.

Nostalgic Friday: Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson

Welcome back to Nostalgic Friday! Since I love all things historical (culturally, physically, and personally) I do a post on Fridays honoring some awesome book that is a bit older. Many of them are books I enjoyed in my teens and others are books that I discovered as an adult that I think are relevant to YA readers.

Jess Aarons' greatest ambition is to be the fastest runner in his grade. He's been practicing all summer and can't wait to see his classmates' faces when he beats them all. But on the first day of school, a new girl boldly crosses over to the boys' side and outruns everyone.

That's not a very promising beginning for a friendship, but Jess and Leslie Burke become inseparable. Together they create Terabithia, a magical kingdom in the woods where the two of them reign as king and queen, and their imaginations set the only limits.

From Goodreads 

First published in June of 1977, this book is without a doubt, one of the greatest books of my childhood. A coming-of-age story set in the rural South, Bridge to Terabithia tracks the unlikely friendship & bond between artistic Jess & his new neighbor Leslie. Together these two build a secret fortress in the woods that they call Terabithia. Terabithia is a fantasy land that they rule & defend together, but it's also a place for them to learn more about themselves & how to deal with the realities of their lives. The duo spends as much time together as possible, causing a bit of scandal because of their mixed-gender relationship. As the story progresses & we really see the characters starting to come into their own, tragedy strikes and sends their fantasy land into ruins.

Many important lessons can be learned from this book for any reader. It can help kids learn to cope with their personalities & place in the world, while still challenging them to reach beyond what is "expected" of them. Even better though, this story is about the importance of love and friendship. As social creatures we must interact with others, but it's who we interact with that I think has the greatest influence on us. 

Growing up, my best friend was a boy. We were born 22 days apart & grew up next door to one another. We were absolutely inseparable. When I read this book as a kid, I gave it to my best friend to read as well. He thought it sounded just like us, except he would never let anything like that happen to me. While we may have grown up & apart (mostly due to my moving away after my parents' divorce) I will never forget just how much impact we had on each others' lives for years.

So here's the basic point you need to get...you should read this book. It's a timeless tale that will have you laughing & crying & reaffirming your faith in friendship. Please, take a moment & thank a friend, every small interaction counts.

Fair Game (Alpha & Omega #3) by Patricia Briggs review

SPOILERS FOR THE FIRST TWO BOOKS IN THE SERIES!

Anna has felt Charles drifting away from her recently. She knows what's causing it, but even confronting the wolf responsible, her own father-in-law & leader of the North American werewolves, hasn't eased his burden. Since revealing their existence to the human population, the werewolves have been extra diligent in their justice system. Charles, as his father's enforcer, is the one doling out the punishments. He has taken on an extra large burden & it is wearing on him.


As a kind of relief from the strain, Charles & Anna are sent to Boston to help the FBI in a local serial killer case. Since Anna's Omega tendencies are to calm & protect those of her kind, this seems like a perfect opportunity to work on Charles. Little did they expect that they would be of irreplaceable value to the FBI because the killer is methodical & exacting. Soon enough Anna & Charles start to piece things together, all the while fighting his personal demons. Too bad they didn't see the real demon aiming right for them.


Fair Game picks up not long after Hunting Ground leaves off. We come back to a world where werewolves are now known to exist by the general population and as a result, Bran (the Marrok) has had to be less lenient in the enforcement of their laws. In doing so, he has put undue strain on his son Charles. As his father's enforcer, Charles has had to be the one to dole out his father's punishments. These sentencings are wearing him down & eating away at him. He's starting to lose himself to his wolf because it's the only way they will survive. Not even his lovely Omega wife Anna can really bring him around. He's distanced himself from her as much as possible so that he does not burden her with his pain.

Briggs has continued her amazing storytelling with the third installment in this series. Every book has allowed us to get to know the werewolf couple better & better while they are still discovering themselves and this one is no different. A lot of times characters will grow & develop in books, but to continue to allow your characters to change throughout a series is what makes it worth reading. Anna & Charles has a complicated, multiple layer situation that requires a delicate but deft hand at crafting.


On top of having to make the characters believable, the author also makes sure you feel the places you are in her books. I sometimes swear I can smell the forests or water where they go & there is not better feeling than to be so totally engrossed in a book. While I did find the book to rehash things a bit frequently (as if the reader might have forgotten something) you still weren't beaten over the head with it.


The best part of the whole book was the ending. I absolutely cannot tell you anything about it, but suffice it to say that I did not see that coming at all. You'll just have to read it to find out what will forever change the Mercy Thompson world as we know it. :)





 

Freshman Year & Other Unnatural Disasters by Meredith Zeitlin review

Kelsey Finkelstein is fourteen and FRUSTRATED. Every time she tries to live up to her awesome potential, her plans are foiled – by her impossible parents, her annoying little sister, and life in general. But with her first day of high school coming up, Kelsey is positive that things are going to change. Enlisting the help of her three best friends — sweet and quiet Em, theatrical Cass, and wild JoJo — Kelsey gets ready to rebrand herself and make the kind of mark she knows is her destiny.

Things start out great - her arch-nemesis has moved across the country, giving Kelsey the perfect opportunity to stand out on the soccer team and finally catch the eye of her long-time crush. But soon enough, an evil junior’s thirst for revenge, a mysterious photographer, and a series of other catastrophes make it clear that just because KELSEY has a plan for greatness… it doesn’t mean the rest of the world is in on it.

From Goodreads

Kelsey is funny & poignant. We meet her & her three best friends in the final glory days of their last summer before high school where Kelsey unveils her big plans for freshman year. Naturally everything she has planned goes awry almost instantly & as her friends begin to bloom in their own niches, Kelsey finds herself odd-girl-out.

I really enjoyed Kelsey's inner monologue throughout her ordeals & we're not just talking run-of-the-mill freshman stuff. She's pretty much an embarrassing disaster waiting to happen simply because she's not patient enough to wait for the right moment. Although in some instances she is too patient & that causes just as much drama. Even through her ups & downs, Kelsey remains true to her plan to make it the best year possible. That kind of resilience is what helped me overlook some personality flaws in characters & their decisions.

The writing was nuanced enough to allow for individuality, but at the same time rhythmic enough that I felt I could almost predict where things were going. While not necessarily a bad thing, I did feel like I spent a fair amount of time trying to puzzle out when the author was going to make "x" happen. Still enjoyable to watch it all unfold, but a tad bit frustrating.

The enthusiasm & melodramatic nature of teen girls though makes up for any frustration I incurred. Seriously if you took several of the sassiest & wittiest women on comedy television you'd have these gals. It was a riot & a bit heartbreaking to watch them triumph & suffer, but you knew in the end they would benefit from the experience.

Overall I'd have to say this was a quick, light read that definitely lends itself to becoming a series. I'm not sure if that's in the works, but I'm hoping so!

Of All the Stupid Things by Alexandra Diaz

Tara, Pinkie, and Whitney Blaire have been friends since they were children and Tara saved Whitney Blaire from where she was stuck in a tree. Thus their bond was created and they all play a vital role.

Pinkie is the mother hen who is always checking up on the well-being of her chicks due to the fact that she lost her own mother at a very young age. Tara is the dependable and independent one who does what she is supposed to and trains hard for her marathon because she is running from the truth. Whitney Blaire is kind of the wild card because she is accustomed to getting what she wants and knows just how to work her assets, until they backfire on her.

Everything was chugging along just fine until Whitney Blaire heard an unsavory story about Tara's beefy jock boyfriend Brent. It turns out he was cheating on Tara with one of the cheerleaders. Correction, one of the guy cheerleaders. This one incident changes the friendship between these three girls in ways they could never imagine. Tara loses herself to her training and in doing so finds herself drawn to the new girl in school Riley. This drives Whitney Blaire insane and causes catfights between her and the new girl. As a result, Tara shies away from her longtime friends. This sends Pinkie into an absolute tizzy and she feels the need to worry needlessly about every little thing.

As the story moves through these hardships, the girls grow up in a sense and their relationships change with everyone in their lives.

I have to say, the premise sounded really good to me. A story about three friends who go through a tumultuous time in their lives and come out on the other side sounds really interesting. Unfortunately the execution could have been better. I felt like the only character who really changed or grew at all as a person was Tara. She realized her own worth and stood up for what made her happy.

Pinkie still gave in to being a momma's girl, even though her mother has long been dead. Whitney Blaire is just as despicable at the end of the novel as she was at the beginning. Brent was no better really, although his storyline faded into the background and we never really found out what really happened to him. The parents of these children were no better either. Most of them seemed over the top dramatic and unrealistic to me. I know that parents like these exist, but they just seemed too "cookie-cutter" for me.

I really wanted to like this book, but it just left a sour taste in my mouth and unresolved issues at the end of the novel. It just fizzled for me.