Micah is the girl who cries wolf in Justine Larbalestier's LIAR

So, I'll admit it.  I only heard about Liar because of its cover controversy and I decided to throw some of my money at the corrected cover.  So if Bloomsbury just pulled some devious publicity stunt, it worked on me.

But it doesn't matter, because this book is awesome and I'd buy it again in a heart beat.

Micah is a modern unreliable narrator and its hard not to fall inlove with her, even while questioning everything she tells us.  Micah's boyfriend is found murdered and the suspense builds as Micah jumps around, decribing events both before, and after his death.

Justine Larbalestier has created a psychological thriller that had me turning pages in search of the next piece of the puzzle.  I kept fitting the pieces together, trying to make sense of it all, only to find out that some of the pieces weren't there at all.

Micah tells us straight off the bat.  She's a liar.  But this time, she's going to come clean, honestly.  For a while she had her whole school convinced that she was a boy.  So we know she's a liar, and that she's good at it.  We know we should be skeptical about everything she tells us, and yet...

Through all her lies, it's so transparent that Micah just wants to be loved.  Her yearning makes her so likable, so realistic, that I wanted to believe everything she told me.  Even when she recants, admits she slipped up and told us a lie, I wasn't angry, I just wanted to hear more.  The beauty of this story is that the more bizarre Micah's stories become, the more I believe them.

Larbalestier brilliantly plays off her readers.  I mean, I'm reading fiction, I'm prepared to suspend disbelief.  When this book sits on the same shelf as books about vampires, magical adventures with mad-cow disease, and faeries, why wouldn't I believe everything Micah tells me?

OK, I got to stop myself here.  I might have already said too much.  I'm going to read this book a second time, in search of the truth.  It's a great book, you should definitely read it, honestly.

A taste of middle-child-syndrome with CATCHING FIRE by Suzanne Collins

OK Junkies, confession time: my first couple of years teaching were so awful that I had to break up the school year with little things to look forward to.  I'd count the weeks/days/hours until each holiday.  Oh what, you think that sounds normal?  I'm not finished.  In addition to counting down to holidays, I'd also count down the days and weeks until other moments of joy.  I would know at any given day, how many months until the next Harry Potter book came out, or how many weeks until the next Lemony Snicket installment, or even how many weeks until the next Harry Potter movie was released (in theaters and on DVD).   I told you, I'm an addict.

Well, in an attempt to ease some of my bitterness at having to work on Presidents' Day, I've decided to reinstate the countdown.

As of today, there are exactly:

• 4 weeks until Spring Break
• 16 weeks until summer vacation
• 27 weeks until the release of Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins!

But Junkies, let's back up a second.  Before we can get all giddy about the third installment in the Hunger Games trilogy, we need to talk about Catching Fire, the sequel to The Hunger Games.

SPOLIER ALERT

You know that family member who yells at the TV during a sports game, or worse, the news?  Yeah, that was me while reading this book.

"No!  We can't go back into the arena.  Come on, Katniss, escape, revolt, go light stuff on fire with Gale. No!"  and "The watch!  Katniss, you saw the watch-with the bird, hello? Doh!" 

Suzanne Collins has created a great character with Katniss Everdeen.  Katniss is passionate and courageous.  She acts on instinct, but she can also be a little naiive.  None of these are great qualities for planning a secret revolution.  So Catching Fire is full of behind the scenes planning that Katniss is not aware of.  Unfortunately, because she's the first-person narrator, this means that the reader is also unaware of it. 

We get a few clues that Katniss doesn't understand the significance of, which can be a tad frustrating.  But, the thing is, Junkies, even though I shouted at the book and rolled my eyes a few times at Katniss's obliviousness, Collins knows what she's doing.

While The Hunger Games was full of physical suspense--is she going to die?  who is she going to kill?  Can she save Peeta?
Catching Fire is all about emotional suspense--what will she do?  When will she figure it out?  Who does she love?  Why won't Haymitch throw her a bone?

The middle book in any trilogy is tricky.  It struggles to compete with the excitement and originality of the first book, yet it has to continually build up to the climactic events to come in the third book.  It's like the middle-child-syndrome.  Or, I like to think of it as The Empire Strikes Back syndrome.  And like The Empire Strikes Back, in Catching Fire we spend a little too much time in the snow waiting for something to happen.

But in some ways, Catching Fire did surpass The Hunger Games.  Suzanne Collins is a genius at crafting characters and Haymitch and Cinna come alive in the sequel.  And we thought we knew Katniss and Peeta in the first book, but the second book really lets us see who they are, what they live for, and what they're willing to die for.

I do wish we got to know Gale a little more in this second book, though.  Because really, if we're going to have a love triangle, I need to know WHY Katniss loves Gale.  So as of right now, I'm in camp Peeta all the way, baby.

So, although I don't think it lived up to the awesomenes of The Hunger Games, Catching Fire is still a badass book and I can't wait until Mockingjay is in my hands 27 weeks from now.

Violet and Sunny Baudelaire kick ass and take names in Lemony Snicket's Series of Unfortunate Events

I'm not gonna lie.  I was totally inspired to write this post by this recent interview with Daniel Handler by Le R. I've been a long time fan of these horrible books by a mysterious man in good looking hats.  It was only a matter of time before I subjected you to the horrors that are the lives of Violet and Sunny, the heroines who comprise two-thirds of the Baudelaire orphans.

I'm not going to even attempt to summarize all thirteen books in this dreadul series, and really, what would be the point?  Half of what makes these books so amazing is the idiosyncratic voice of Lemony Snicket.  Narrator, Author, character, detective, and heart-broken lover, Mr. Snicket tells a story the way no one else can.  Sure, you'll find A Series of Unfortunate Events in the children's section of the bookstore, but Mr. Snicket's humor is meant for a mature mind.  At times, I was apalled with myself for how much I laughed while reading such a tragic story.

Violet, Klaus, and Sunny are at the beach one day when an incompetent Mr. Poe arrives to tell them that their home has burned down, killing their parents inside.  The Baudelaire orphans then move in with Count Olaf who does horrible things to them, like make them cook dinner, lock them in cages, and attempt to marry Violet.  For thirteen books these siblings are plagued by incompetent caregivers, evil kidnappers, grammar enthusiasts, circus performers, and several unfortunate events.

The Baudelaire's escape danger and survive tragedy only by their own cunning.  Violet ties her hair up in a ribbon and invents things. Sunny has incredibly strong teeth for biting and eventually learns to cook.

With each villain thwarted, and each unpleasant circumstance escaped, the Baudelaire's grow.  Violet goes from a timid girl to a strong young woman who experiences her first kiss along the side of a treacherous mountain on her way to the hidden headquarters for a secret organization.  Sunny grows from a non-verbal baby with the tendency to bite, into a little girl with culinary aspirations.

I love the secrecy and clues in these books.  I also love how--true to life--the kids are smarter than the adults.  No one is there to save these kids but themselves.  Despite all the horrible things that happen to them and all the opportunities they have to go to the dark side, these kids see the potential for wrong-doing within themselves and decide to keep doing what is right, no matter how difficult it is.

If you have yet to experience A Series of Unfortunate Events, I highly reccomend you put The Bad Beginning on the top of your to-read list.

I'll be waiting for Daniel Handler's pirate book.     

BEAUTIFUL CREATURES by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl is dark, frightening, and wonderful

So Junkies, I'm not sure if I should write this review because a) I'm not sure if Lena is actually a heroine and b) the ending pissed me off.

I was, however, sleep deprived for an entire week because I stayed up WAY past my bedtime reading this book, I just couldn't put it down until I heard grumblings next to me, "You know what time it is, right?" (the circles under my eyes are all part of this addiction, baby)

I loved this paranormal romance, so I figured I might as well take a minute and tell you why.

Beautiful Creatures is narrated by a sixteen-year-old boy, Ethan, who falls for a supernatural  fifteen-year-old girl, Lena.  It was surprisingly refreshing to be inside the head of a teenage boy who hangs out with basketball players who spend their time commenting on the relative hotness of the girls around them.  These teens were very real, which is something I treasure in YA, because I spend all day with teenagers and I can spot a phony a mile away.  This book was realistic in showing that teens' day-to-day stresses are more about where they fit in on the social ladder and less about homework and what their parents are up to.

I loved the layers of conflict in this story.  Lena and Ethan struggle with their feelings for each other, the magic that surrounds them, and the small town with a mob-mentality working hard to make thier lives miserable.  For me, the Civil War worshiping Southerners and DAR women were way creepier than any black magic or voodoo.

That's what makes Beautiful Creatures so dark and frightening and wonderful.  The history of this small town is woven together with old prejudices, which is woven together with magic, which is woven together with secrecy, which results in a complex and compelling story.

I believed the magic, but more importantly, I believed the relationship.  Ethan and Lena share something so rare in YA: intimacy.

Granted, it helps to get to know someone when you share dreams and read each other's thoughts, but still.  Lena and Ethan talk, share secrets, talk about their hopes and fears.  They spend months together, building a relationship, starting off as friends, until it's clear they care so much for each other that as Ethan says, "there's no going back."

And when it's time, they're both terrified of their feelings because they know how vulnerable it makes them, know how much they stand to lose, know how much the other could hurt them.  I bought their love, hook, line, and sinker.

That's what teen love can look like, people.  Not "Hey baby, aren't I dangerous and smoldering?  I love you so much I peep through your window every night.'  'Ooh, I love you too, the world is a scary place, protect me?'  'Of course, I'll kill anyone who looks at you, that's how much I love you' Swoon."

Lena is one bad ass female who does what she can to protect Ethan from the curse that plagues her and, most importantly, from herself.  She's a wonderful mix of powerful and vulnerable.  She's only learning what she's capable of. She can cause a hurricane on a whim, but is terrified of the bitchy cheerleaders.  Lena is dark and dangerous and is balanced by Ethan's optimism.

So, Junkies, here I was, flipping pages, losing sleep, biting my nails.  Terrified for Ethan and Lena because of the magic, the danger, the secrecy, the prophecy, the sacrifices, the choices, the creepy Civil War reenactment.  Will they be able to hold on to their love through it all? 

And then what do I get?  Not an ending, not a resolution, but a postponement.  I'm sorry Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl (side note how DO two people write a book together?  You must share dreams and thoughts like Ethan and Lena), your book is amazing.  It's beautiful and dark, but your ending pissed me off.  I mean, I kind of get it, maybe you wanted to leave us wanting more, priming us for the sequel.  And if that's the case, it worked.  But I read the last page like 10 times, mumbling to myself, "that's it?"

Ok, Junkies, I just did a litle tap-tapping on google and discovered that Beautiful Creatures is only the first in a FIVE book series.  The sequel will be out in December.  Phew!  Ok, my addict anger has slightly abated.  I will, however, be simmering until that sequel is in my shaky, scratchy hands.

RADIANT SHADOWS by Melissa Marr: The Ultimate Fairytale

OK Junkies, so I was fortunate enough to receive an Advanced Reader's Copy of Melissa Marr's 4th book in the Wicked Lovely series, Radiant Shadows, and can I just say: OMG!!!

I'll try to tread carefully here, because as much as I want to tell you how wonderful the book is, I really don't want to spoil anything, especially when you'll have to wait three months to read it (haha, suckers!).  I'm hesitant to even tell you about the existence of one of the characters, because, after all, if the High Queen doesn't know about her, should you?

Part of Melissa Marr's genius is the way she's structured her series.  She takes tiny pieces of information and marginal characters from one book and turns them into the central focus of the next book.

Now, when I met Ani in Ink Exchange, and I met Devlin in Fragile Eternity, I highly disliked both of them.  I just remember picturing Ani licking Irial's blood with a guilty look on her face and thinking, "Who is this chick?"  And how could I not be turned off by the cold calculating assassin in FE?

I still didn't immediately fall in love with them as I started reading Radiant Shadows.  Ani is consumed by need.  She needs touch, she needs emotion, and she's denied both, so what she really needs is a place to belong.  At first, it was hard to stomach a character who acts purely in response to her hungers, with little thought of anything else.

Devlin is calculating as he balances both the order and the chaos he's made of.  He simply shrugs as Bananach stabs a mortal next to him.  He's killed plenty of faeries and mortals and accepts that death is sometimes necessary to keep order.

Ani and Devlin are probably the least human of Marr's characters.  But as Ani discovers her strength and Devlin lets himself be weak, it's really hard not to root for them.  

At times, Radiant Shadows is bloody and violent, but it's by far Marr's most romantic book yet.  And by the end, Ani is definitely Marr's strongest heroine.  In a lot of ways, this read like a classic fairytale.  There's a prince, a horse, a fairy-godmother, a prophecy, an orphan, a wicked witch, revenge, and a to-die-for love.

But of course, Melissa Marr takes the classic fairytale and turns it on its head.  She's great at creating a world with impenetrable boundaries, impossible obstacles, and nonnegotiable rules.  Then Marr creates characters strong enough to knock them all down.

It's a story about finding one's place in the world, about fate, about destiny.  In a world where loyalty is everything, this story is about the characters with split identities. Ani is half-mortal and half-fey, which makes her dangerous to both worlds.  Devlin was created by Order and Chaos, but has nowhere to call home.  Rae is neither mortal nor fey and has secrets she cannot tell.  Seth is sometimes mortal, sometimes fey, and has allegiances everywhere.  The stakes are high as these characters struggle to find where they fit in and decide what they're willing to sacrifice for love.

Seth's small presence in the book is exhilarating.  I gasped out loud while reading when I remembered something from the end of Fragile Eternity that seemed trivial then, but proved pivotal in Radiant Shadows.  Marr has woven threads throughout all four books that have left me hankering for the final installment.

I've been repeating the last line of Radiant Shadows's Epilogue in my head over and over again since I finished reading.  And Ms. Marr, if you're out there, please, PLEASE let him take his advice.