Dorothy Must Die

Dorothy Must Die by Danielle Page
(Dorothy Must Die Series, #1)
HarperCollins Publishers, 2014
464 pages
2 out of 5

I didn't ask for any of this. I didn't ask to be some kind of hero.
But when your whole life gets swept up by a tornado—taking you with it—you have no choice but to go along, you know?
Sure, I've read the books. I've seen the movies. I know the song about the rainbow and the happy little blue birds. But I never expected Oz to look like this. To be a place where Good Witches can't be trusted, Wicked Witches may just be the good guys, and winged monkeys can be executed for acts of rebellion. There's still the yellow brick road, though—but even that's crumbling.
What happened?
Dorothy. They say she found a way to come back to Oz. They say she seized power and the power went to her head. And now no one is safe.
My name is Amy Gumm—and I'm the other girl from Kansas.
I've been recruited by the Revolutionary Order of the Wicked.
I've been trained to fight.
And I have a mission:
Remove the Tin Woodman's heart.
Steal the Scarecrow's brain.
Take the Lion's courage.
Then and only then—Dorothy must die!

Somehow I managed to finish this novel, but honestly if it had expired before I finished, I was in no mood to borrow it again. After finishing it I realized part of the problem is that it's from Full Fathom Five. If you aren’t aware, Full Fathom Five is the company James Frey (Million Little Pieces) created as a cash cow post his disgrace. The company hires “authors” but retains the copyright to the works. Had I realized it beforehand, I probably wouldn't have read it at all.

It also seems Mr. Frey is not at all interested in the editing process. That was the worst thing about this book, in my opinion. There was information dump, repetitive bits, and other eye-rolling moments that should have been removed or condensed. It was all tell and hardly any show. Furthermore, story lines are completely forgotten during certain parts, and characters disappear only to reappear when it’s convenient. Granted this is a fantasy building on Baum’s Oz series, but it didn’t feel like Oz.

I’m not one who cares about profanity in novels if it fits the situation and characters. The profanity in Dorothy Must Die feels thrown in for the simple reason of making it seem like an edgier teen novel. I find it hard to believe that Munchkins, even disenchanted, tattooed ones, run around saying “f*ck.” Anger and frustration can be shown in other ways.

Overall, I think it’s an interesting premise to show a power-hungry, magic-addicted Dorothy, but the execution was awful. This book is almost 500 pages, but it definitely does not need to be.

There is a sequel and a prequel (cha-ching) available, but I have no desire to read anything else in this new Land of Oz.


Full disclosure: I borrowed this eBook from my local library.
More on Full Fathom Five.

Daughter of Smoke & Bone

Daughter of Smoke & Bone by Laini Taylor

New York, NY: Little Brown, 2011

418 pages

5 out of 5

Around the world, black handprints are appearing on doorways, scorched there by winged strangers who have crept through a slit in the sky.

In the dark and dusty shop, a devil's supply of human teeth grows dangerously low.

And in the tangled lanes of Prague, a young art student is about to be caught up in a brutal otherworldly war.

Meet Karou. She fills her sketchbooks with monsters that may or may not be real; she's prone to disappearing on mysterious "errands"; she speaks many languages--not all of them human; and her bright blue hair actually grows out of her head that color. Who is she? That is the question that haunts her, and she's about to find out.

When one of the strangers--beautiful, haunted Akiva--fixes his fire-colored eyes on her an alley in Marrakesh, the result is blood and starlight, secrets unveiled, and a star-crossed love whose roots drink deep of a violent past. But will Karou live to regret the truth about herself.

Under normal circumstances, I probably would not have picked up this book. Party, the cover didn't really appeal to me, but also because it's just not my genre. Thanks to the glowing recommendations from my coworkers, I gave it a try. It took about 100 pages for me to get really invested but now it's one of my favorites of 2012.

From the very beginning, Karou is an interesting character; she's covered in tattoos, collects languages, and naturally has blue hair. How awesome is that? Then she meets Akiva, the dark, brooding, but totally hot man toy. And life as she know it is changed forever. Paranormal titles require that the protagonist discover she has a secret power, identity past, etc. and this is no different, but there's something about the writing, and the way the characters interact, and the fact that it's not one-hundred percent focused on the secret Karou discovers that makes it hard to put down.

In the midst of everything she already knows about the demon world and what she discovers, she remains herself and true to the people around her. I've noticed in the limited number of novels I've read in similar genres that the girls just kind of face into their lives, almost forgetting about what they had before. Karou wants to be involved and wants to be a good friend, until she finds she other, more serious matters to attend to.

I loved this book and if you haven't picked it up, I cannot recommend it enough.

The sequel Days of Blood and Starlight comes out Nov. 6.

Also check out The Real Fauxtographer's photo inspired by the novel.

April Reads

I've decided to do a monthly listing of all that I've read and maybe highlight titles I really enjoyed. I've seen monthly wrap-ups on a few blogs, some I follow and others I don't. So this idea is definitely borrowed but not copied exactly. As least as far as I know.

I changed the numbering to keep track of the overall number of titles I've read so far.

April Books:

24. There's a Rat in My Soup: Could you Survive Medieval Food? by Chana Stiefel
25. Are You There God, It's Me Margaret? by Judy Blume
26. Amelia Anne is Dead and Gone by Kat Rosenfield*!
27. Boys of Steel: The Creators of Superman by Marc Tyler Nobelman & Ross MacDonald (illustrator)
28. Something About America by Maria Testa"
29. Au Revoir, Crazy European Chick by Joe Schreiber (audio)
30. The Influencing Machine by Brooke Gladstone and Josh Neufeld (illustrator)^
31. Whoogles by Kendall Almerico and Tess Hottenroth^
32. Chime by Franny Billingsly (audio)^
33. Fever Crumb by Phillip Reeve (audio)^
34. Robopocalypse by Daniel H. Wilson^
35. Beauty Queens by Libba Bray (audio)^
36. Sugar Changed the World by Marc Aronson & Marina Budhos^
37. My Boyfriend is a Monster 1: I Love Him to Pieces by Evonne Tsang^
38. Axe Cop Volume 1 by Malachai Nicolle and Ethan Nicolle^
39. Bootleg: Murder, Moonshine, and the Lawless Years of Prohibition by Karen Blumenthal^
40. Wandering Son Vol. 1 by Shimura Takako^
41. Dead on Town Line by Leslie Connor"
42. Okay for Now by Gary D. Schmidt (audio)^
43. A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin
44. Paper Covers Rock by Jenny Hubbard^**

I'm a little ashamed to admit that I've read my first Judy Blume book this month. Even my non-reading friend was amazed that I hadn't read any of her books. A wrong has been righted and I've added titles to all but one of my challenges:

*Debut Challenge (1)
^Best of the Best Challenge (13)
" Off the Shelf Challenge (2)
! New Adult Challenge (1) (Updated 6/30)

Great video about the pervasiveness & dare I saw awesomeness of Judy Blume.





**Update 5/3/12: I originally listed Jasper Jones by Craig Silvey by mistake. Though the covers are different, they have a similar feel and my mistake on Shelfari migrated here. All's fixed!

Songs for a Teenage Nomad

Songs for a Teenage Nomad by Kim Culbertson 

Naperville, IL: Sourcebooks Fire

256 pages

4 out of 5

After living in twelve places in eight years, Calle Smith finds herself in Andreas Bay, California, at the start of ninth grade. Another new home, another new school...Calle knows better than to put down roots. Her song journal keeps her moving to her own soundtrack, bouncing through a world best kept at a distance.

Yet before she knows it, friends creep in--as does an unlikely boy with a secret. Calle is torn over what may be her first chance at love. With all that she's hiding and all that she wants, can she find something lasting beyond music? And will she ever discover why she and her mother have been running in the first place?

The hook with this novel is the "soundtrack" of Calle's life. It's a completely relatable hook, too. How many tines have you heard a song that thought, that's just what I needed to hear? Exactly.

Calle's been yanked all over the state of California for most of her life. She usually does her best to be aloof and ignored by her fellow students at the newest new school. Unfortunately for Calle, drama kids are pushy, and before she knows it, she's made friends and maybe even has a boyfriend. Almost.

It's a mystery to Calle why she and her mother are constantly on the move. Calle's pretty sure it has to do with her mother's personality, but the secret is finally revealed to her. I'm not much of a spoil sport, so if you want to know what's up you'll have to read the book. (I feel like LeVar Burton all of a sudden).

Anyway, Calle and the other characters feel authentic and I enjoyed discovering new friends, love, and the secret with her. There's only one moment that's a little deus ex machina, but overall the story works.

__________________________________
Disclosure: I bought this title for my own personal enjoyment.

And Then Everything Unraveled

And Then Everything Unraveled by Jennifer Sturman 

New York, NY: Scholastic, 2009

256 pages

3.5 out of 5

First there was a disappearance.

Then there was a clue.

Then there was a kiss.

And then...

When Delia Truesdale's mother, T.K. goes missing, everyone thinks she's dead. Well, everyone except Delia, who knows T.K.'s way too organized to simply disappear.

But Delia is still shipped off to New York City to live with her two aunts--one a downtown bohemia, the other an uptown ice queen. She also has to deal with a snooty new school and trying not to fall for the wrong guy. Oh, and find her mother.

As she delves deeper into a tangle of conspiracies and lies, Delia begins to suspect that the wrong guy may be the right guy...and that some secrets--especially the dangerous ones--were never meant to be unraveled.

Amidst all the usual teenage drama of moving to a new town and getting settled into a new school, Delia's faced with figuring out what happened to her mother, tycoon T.K. Truesdale. The title of this novel is very telling and reminds me a bit of Dude, Where's my Car? at the drive thru, "And then...And then...And then..." to the degree that some plot points are unbelievable. But I'm a sucker for conspiracy theories.

Character-wise I feel this novel is very strong. The Aunts and Delia's love interest, Quinn, are dynamic and interesting. I also love the description of Delia because of her mother and father's diverse personalities and backgrounds. Delia's Indian father taught her to surf and she's much more interested in that than the techie stuff her mother does.

Overall, this is a nice read but doesn't wrap up everything. I'm still wondering what's going on with T.K., so I'll have to get my hands on the sequel, And Then I Found out the Truth, at some point.

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Disclosure: I purchased this ebook for my own reading enjoyment.

This Dark Endeavor

This Dark Endeavor: The Apprenticeship of Victor Frankenstein by Kenneth Oppel

New York, NY: Simon & Schuster

304 pages

4.5 out of 5

The purest intentions can stir up the darkest obsessions.

In this prequel to Mary Shelley's Gothic classic, Frankenstein, fifteen-year-old Victor Frankenstein begins a dark journey that will change his life forever. Victor's twin, Konrad, has fallen ill, and no doctor is able to cure him. Unwilling to give up on his brother, Victor enlists his beautiful cousin Elizabeth and his best friend, Henry, on a treacherous search for the ingredients to create the forbidden Elixir of Life. Impossible odds, dangerous alchemy, and a bitter love triangle threaten their quest at every turn.

Victor knows he must not fail. But his success depends on how far he is willing to push the boundaries of nature, science and love--and how much he is willing to sacrifice.

Not only did this book suck me in from the very beginning, it actually encouraged me to read Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. I tried to red it when I was in high school, but got stuck on the language and never picked it back up. This time, I wanted to see how the story meshed with this prequel. Could this carry over into Frankenstein? As a librarian, these connections come to mind. The answer is yes and no.

This book has to have one of the best beginnings I've read. Within five pages, I thought someone was going to die. That is how you hook your reader. The only reason I haven't posted about this book yet, is that I'm suck as to what to say about it. There's adventure throughout. It's dark and gritty, while not completely off-putting.

The only thing left to say is: When is the next one coming out?

___________________________
Disclosure: Picked off the ARC shelf at work for my own reading enjoyment.

Fall for Anything

Fall for Anything by Courtney Summers 

St. Martin's Griffin, 2010

224 pages

3.5 out of 5

When Eddie Reeves's father commits suicide her life is consumed by the nagging question of why? Why when was a legendary photographer and a brilliant teacher? Why when he seemed to find inspiration in everything he saw? And, most important why when he had a daughter who loved him more than anyone else in the world? When she meets Culler Evans, a former student of her father's and a photographer himself, an instant and dangerous attraction begins.  Culler seems to know more about her father than she does and could possibly hold the key to the mystery surrounding his death. But Eddie's vulnerability has weakened her and Culler Evans is getting too close.  Her need for the truth keeps her hanging on...but are some questions better left unanswered?

Meaning. We all search for it or believe it is tangled up in our day to day. But we look for, beg for meaning most when the unthinkable happens. Eddie's search for meaning takes her on a journey with her father's former assistant, Culler Evans.

The search for meaning is primarily what this book is about. Death changes the people left behind. Some become bolder, while others turn inward.Watching Eddie and her mother cope (or not) with the sudden loss of her father is heartbreaking, but impossible to look away from.

The turn of events in the novel is surprising. Without giving away some necessary details, I can't comment further. So I'll skip ahead and say that some of the best endings are in the form of beginnings. 

________________________________
Disclosure: I borrowed this title from my local library.

In My Mailbox 25

IMM is hosted by Kristi @ The Story Siren.  The idea is to share books bought, borrowed, scavenged, traded and won.  For more information click here.

Lots of Best of the Best Challenge Materials! And a few other fun things.

Borrowed:

More Show Me How: Everything We Couldn't Fit in the First Book (not pictured)
The Hunger Games: Tribute Guide by Emily Seife
Under the Mesquite by Guadalupe Garcia McCall
The Influencing Machine by Brooke Gladstone
Whoogles: Can a Dog Make a Woman Pregnant? And Hundreds of Other Searches That Make You Ask "Who Would Google that?
 

Robopocalypse by Daniel H. Wilson (ebook)

Chime by Fanny Billingsly (eaudio)

Fever Crumb by Phillip Reeve (eaudio)

Book Love: Hemlock

Kathleen Peacock held a contest for librarians to win a copy of her novel and some swag and I was selected! The swag arrived and it is gorgeous. My coworkers are trying to get the bookmarks from me! As a thank you, I wanted to show some love to her upcoming novel Hemlock, which debuts May 8th.

Mackenzie and Amy were best friends. Until Amy was brutally murdered.

Since then, Mac's life has been turned upside down. She is being haunted by Amy in her dreams, and an extremist group called the Trackers has come to Mac's hometown of Hemlock to hunt down Amy's killer: A white werewolf.

Lupine syndrome--also known as the werewolf virus--is on the rise across the country. Many of the infected try to hide their symptoms, but bloodlust is not easy to control.

Wanting desperately to put an end to her nightmares, Mac decides to investigate Amy's murder herself. She discovers secrets lurking in the shadows of Hemlock, secrets about Amy's boyfriend, Jason, her good pal Kyle, and especially her late best friend. Mac is thrown into a maelstrom of violence and betrayal that puts her life at risk.

Check out Kathleen's Blog Tour and website.

Best of the Best Challenge!

Yalsa's HUB has thrown the gauntlet with the Best of the Best Challenge and I've decided to participate. The goal is to read/listen to 25 of the 80 titles on Yalsa's Best of the Best lists for 2012. Or if you're a super reader, read/listen to all 80 titles! Visit The Hub for further details and to sign up. Anyone can participate!

A goodreads fairy made a quick list of the 2012 Titles.

The challenge started April 1 and runs through June 30. I better get reading!

March Reads

I've decided to do a monthly listing of all that I've read and maybe highlight titles I really enjoyed. I've seen monthly wrap-ups on a few blogs, some I follow and others I don't. So this idea is definitely borrowed but not copied exactly. As least as far as I know.

March Books:

1. Coraline: The Graphic Novel by Neil Gaiman
2. The World of Downton Abbey by Jessica Fellowes
3. Legend by Marie Lu 
4. The Throne of Fire by Rick Riordin (audio)
5. Bossypants by Tina Fey (audio)

So once again, I didn't fulfill any challenge other than reading more books to add up to 100. And it's been a slow month reading-wise. That's the result of a busy month at work. It's tough being a Tin Girl. Anyway, I feel like I should've done a graphic novel challenge. If I had, then I'd be doing really well.

Check out the trailer for Legend. 

In My Mailbox (24)

IMM is hosted by Kristi @ The Story Siren.  The idea is to share books bought, borrowed, scavenged, traded and won.  For more information click here.

Borrowed:

A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin (Big Read!)

Very Classy: Even More Exceptional Advice for the Extremely Modern Lady 

by Derek Blasberg 

The Watch the Ends the Night: Voices from the Titanic by Allan Wolf

Nook Books:

Angelfall by Susan Ee

Warriors: Into the Wild by Erin Hunter

ARCs: 

Lexapros and Cons by Aaron Karo*

* Debut

The Future of Us

The Future of Us by Jay Asher and Carolyn Mackler 

New York, NY: Razorbill, 2011

368 pages

4 out of 5

It's 1996, and Josh and Emma have been neighbors their whole lives. They've been best friends almost as long -- at least, up until last November, when Josh did something that changed everything. Things have been weird between them ever since, but when Josh's family gets a free AOL CD in the mail, his mom makes him bring it over so that Emma can install it on her new computer. When they sign on, they're automatically logged onto their Facebook pages. But Facebook hasn't been invented yet. And they're look themselves fifteen years in the future.

By refreshing their pages, they learn that making different decisions now will affect the outcome of their lives later. And as they grapple with the ups and downs of what they're doing right -- and wrong -- in the present.

I have to partly blame nostalgia for how I feel about this book. As the description says, this book is set in 1996 when households with the internet were much fewer than they are today. In 1996, my grandparents house was one of those homes and it was with the help of free AOL hours and Yahoo Messenger that I kept in touch with my friends and how I learned to type very quickly. As soon as I finished this book, I couldn't stop gushing about how nostalgic is made me. Though it also shows me how much has really changed. Email was the thing when I was in middle and high school. Now it's text messages because most people have a cell phone.

Fortunately, I like this book for more than the trip down memory lane. It gives an interesting perspective on this thing most people have and feel the need to check frequently--Facebook. Early in the book Emma and Josh are reading whiny posts about life and what they made for dinner. Their response: "Um, why are people posting this one the internet?" This is often a question I wonder, yet am guilty of as well.

Because this book is set in '96, it's very low-tech by today's standards. The whole premise is that Emma getting her first desktop computer and happens upon this wacky site called Facebook that shows her the future. Also, only one person has a cell phone, and she happens to be the most popular girl in school.

Personally, I enjoyed this novel quite a bit. It's well written and covers many of the problems faced in high school.  Intermixed with the technology aspect are elements of romance, friendship, family, and all that other stuff to deal with in high school and life in general.


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Full disclosure: I borrowed this title from my local library.

In My Mailbox (23)

IMM is hosted by Kristi @ The Story Siren.  The idea is to share books bought, borrowed, scavenged, traded and won.  For more information click here.

It's been a while since I've posted IMM and I've decided not to try and catch up too much. The borrowed list are from this past week, while the bought and ARC lists are from the last few months.



Borrowed:

The World of Downton Abbey by Jessica Fellowes

Legend by Marie Lu

The Miseducation of Cameron Post by Emily M. Danforth*

The Woman in Black by Susan Hill

Tina's Mouth: An Existential Comic Diary by Keshni Kashyap*

Bought:

Shine by Lauren Myracle

Five Flavors of Dumb by Antony John

Darker Still by Leanna Renee Hieber

ARCs:

Tempest by Julia Cross*

Cross My Heart by Sasha Gould*

Where it Began by Ann Redisch Stampler*

Amelia Anne is Dead and Gone by Kat Rosenfield*

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

(not pictured)

Titles marked with the asterisk * are 2012 debut novels. 

Ten Things We Did (and Probably Shouldn't Have)

Ten Things We Did (and Probably Shouldn't Have) by Sarah Mlynowski 

New York, NY: HarperTeen, 2011

357 pages (ebook)

4 out 5

2 girls + 3 guys + 1 house - parents = 10 things April and her friends did that they (definitely, maybe, probably) shouldn't have.

If given the opportunity, what sixteen-year-old wouldn't jump at the chance to move in with a friend and live parent-free? Although maybe "opportunity" isn't the right word, since April had to tell her dad a tiny little untruth to make it happen (see #1: "Lied to Our Parents"). But she and her housemate Vi are totally responsible and able to take care of themselves. How they ended up "Skipping School" (#3), "Throwing a Crazy Party" (#8), "Buying a Hot Tub" (#4), and um, "Harboring a Fugitive" (#7) at all is kind of a mystery to them.  -- Description from Amazon.

Every teen's dream is to have freedom while still in high school. I had a taste of this myself and it was way cooler then than it is now, primarily because someone else was paying the bills.

April and Vi work out the perfect plan to be roomies! after April's father and step-mother opt to move to another state. April cannot stand the thought of being torn away from her school, her friends, and most importantly, her boyfriend Noah.

This is definitely an "I learned my lesson--kind of" book. I know I couldn't have pulled something like that off, but April and Vi manage to work it out. And the way to go about it, it's awfully fun to do "bad" things. Well...most bad things.

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Full disclosure: I purchased the ebook of this title for my own reading enjoyment.

The Tiny Book of Tiny Stories

The Tiny Book of Tiny Stories: Volume 1 by HitRecord & Joseph Gordon Levitt 

New York, NY: HarperCollins, 2011

87 pages

5 out of 5

The Universe is not made of atoms; it's made of tiny stories.

To create The Tiny Book of Tiny Stories: Volume 1, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, known within the hitRECord as RegularJOE--directed thousands of collaborators to tell tiny stories through words and art. With the help of the entire creative collective, Gordon-Levitt culled, edited and curated over 8,500 contributions into this finely turned collection of original art from 67 contributors. Reminiscent of the 6-Word Memoir series, The Tiny Book of Tiny Stories: Volume 1 brings together art and voices from around the world to unite and tell stories that defy size.

This is a cool little book that I feel the need to feature. The description mentions the 6-word memoir series, and although these entries are not limited to six words, they can be just as profound, sad, funny, and even a little sexy. These snippets make you think and encourage sharing of the book.

The Hunger Games Trilogy

Yes, it is completely crazy that it took me this long to read this series*. I'm a bit of a snob when it comes to selecting books. I don't want to read something just because everyone else is reading it. I finally picked up the first book thanks to a friend of mine. He's not a book reader, so when he told me that The Hunger Games kind of interested him, I immediately offered my copy...I just had to read it first.

It can take me years sometimes to get around to reading something, but the very next day I picked it up. Two days later, I told him he could take it and was already a third of the way through Catching Fire. Shortly after that, I was on to Mockingjay. Then I put it down...for a while. Part of this could have been that I was just burned out on Panem. But part of it was definitely that I wasn't immediately gripped by the story as I had been with the first two. I'd been in the world long enough to know how it worked and was quite ready to see how it was going to come crashing down.

I didn't read any of the reviews when Mockingjay came out. I knew someday I would get around to reading it and I wanted to come to the series knowing only what the description told me. I'd been told quite a few times that I just had to read it, and my librarian co-workers were shocked that I--one of the teen queens--had not gotten around to it. I knew that there were some people who didn't like as much as the first two, and I can't understand that. It took a little more effort for me to keep reading as well.

One thing I really liked about the final book was that it did not do what I expected at all. People who, in any other series, would have lived, died. I've been mulling the ending over for a couple of weeks now, and I do like it. The truth of things is that even after people who are loved die, life goes on. I feel like this was really captured in the ending. The Epilogue wasn't absolutely necessary, but it does show that there is comfort in memory and shared experience.

Ultimately, I'm glad I finally picked up this series and saw it through. My friends have read it through as well and both were pissed at the ending. Of course we'll all looking forward to the movie!

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*Note: I finished the series in Oct. of 2011.