Book Review #32: The Luthier's Apprentice by Mayra Calvani

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I was so excited about The Luthier's Apprentice by Mayra Calvani. The blurb for the book and the cover really caught my eye. I know about Beethoven and Mozart because I played piano when I was younger. So I ventured over to Wikipedia to learn a little about Niccolò Paganini on Wikipedia. And this bit of information caught my eye.

...his widely rumored association with the devil, the Church denied his body a Catholic burial in Genoa.

Ooo, this is gonna be a good one, I thought. Unfortunately, I'm sad to report that The Luthier's Apprentice is not a good one. I don't want to go into too much detail as I don't want to spoil the book for anyone who may want to read it.



Here's a short list of the reasons I did not like The Luthier's Apprentice.

1. The chapter breaks come at the most awkward moments. I think the author wanted to create tension a la Dan Brown, but failed to do anything except make me ask, Why is the chapter ending here?
2. The villain's motivations are not clearly explained and neither is the family curse.
• The characters all seemed to get it, but as a reader, I felt left out in the cold because the reveals happened in such a haphazard fashion, and I had to go hunting for the crumbs.
3. Too many complicated backstories.
• Every character had a complicated backstory which lead to awkward conversations and awkward situations. Every action and reaction needed an explanation and as a result, the true motivations of the characters got muddied and muddled leading to confusion and a lack of strength in the plot. Heck, maybe there were just too many characters when all is said and done.
• In turn, because every thing about every character had been shared, the characters did exactly what you expected them to do. There is no mystery to their actions. You could see it happen before they acted/reacted.

Unfortunately, The Luthier's Apprentice by Mayra Calvani receives a thumbs down despite my initial excitement about the cover and its blurb. The idea had a lot of potential, but, for me, the author was unable to follow through. The result was a clunky mystery novel that left me feeling flat and disappointed.

Rewind Review #03: Paper Valentine by Brenna Yavanoff

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Original Review posted to GoodReads.
Read from June 15 to June 18, 2013.

I'm a bit torn about this novel. The writing is the superb and the main plot about a young girl trying to find herself after the death of her best friend is engaging. It's the secondary plot about the child murdered that leaves a bit to be desired. As Brenna Yovanoff allows Hannah to learn the true personalities of her friends and create a new definition of who she is as person, the serial killer plot fades into the distance. When it comes time to end the book, the resolution of the who-done-it plot leaves a bit to be desired and the revelation of the murder seems forced as not enough is known about that person and their involvement in the rest of the story.

Yovanoff is solid writer. There is just too much going on with the main character that left me with disappointed with the reveal.

Book Review #29: Dorothy Must Die by Danielle Paige

I'll admit I had pretty high expectations for Dorothy Must Die by Danielle Paige. You see, I'm a HUGE fan of The Wizard of Oz. It's one of those movies I've been obsessed with since I was a kid. And when I worked at The Warner Brothers Studio Store back in the summer of 1997 in the Twin Cities, my obsession was heightened because at the time it was a Warner Brothers property. There were key chains and watches and fancy pens! OH MY! Somewhere in a box, I have the 2-disc soundtrack stashed away with the liner notes I poured over to know that Shirley Temple was considered for the role of Dorothy and at one point Judy's hair was blonde. Needless to say I'm a bit of an Ozian nut.

I really struggled with Dorothy Must Die and perhaps I should have abandoned the novel. But, I kept reading hoping to connect with Amy or Dorothy or anyone really and by the time I reached the end of the book, I came up empty handed and confused. Amy Gumm, the main character, was the whiniest character I've ever encountered in quite a while. It seemed like every time something went wrong or she didn't know the answer it was all "WOE IS ME!" Perhaps after a couple years of encountering characters like Katniss and Tris, I am starting to expect more from my heroines and expect them to be more resourceful in the face of adversity.

It appears there are a lot of political factions at play in Oz. Each faction thinks they have the right solution to the problem. However, no one takes the time to fill Amy in on why they are fighting, what they have at stake and why their solution is the best solution. No wonder poor Amy doesn't know who to trust or who to side with! And the biggest question for me, as a reader, how did Dorothy get so powerful in the first place? Did she just waltz into the Emerald City one day and say, "Hey! I'm in charge."? What triggered her obsession with magic? Why is she addicted? Amy tries to match the magic addiction back to her mother's drug addiction. However, since the cause of Amy's mother's addiction is never fully explained, the connection fails.

There was one laugh out loud moment for me in the novel towards the end when Amy confronts Dorothy.

"There must be some mistake," I said as I rushed toward her, my shoulder lowered. "You're the bitch. I'm the witch."

I would like this quote on a t-shirt, please.

For me, I didn't learn enough about the characters and their reasons for fighting to care if Dorothy really must be killed to save Oz. Certainly the devastation in Oz was atrocious, but it was my imaginary Oz that was destroyed, not Paige's. There was little description of Oz, either the Hollywood version or the Baum version or Paige's own Oz. That coupled with no explanation of the players who have a stake in the revolution and the lack of character development left the book flat for me. Sadly, Dorothy Must Die by Danielle Paige gets a thumbs down.

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Book Review #16: Summary of Queen Victoria's Book of Spells-An Anthology of Gaslamp Fantasy

Over the last several weeks I've been reviewing all the short stories presented in Queen Victoria's Book of Spells: An Anthology of Gaslamp Fantasy edited by Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling. Here's a list of all the stories grouped by Thumbs Up or Thumbs Down the title of the story links back to the original review and the name of the author will take you over their GoodReads profile. Enjoy!

• Thumbs Up!
1. The Preface and the Introduction
2. "Queen Victoria's Book of Spells" by Delia Sherman
3. "The Memory Book" by Maureen McHugh
4. "The Governess" by Elizabeth Bear
5. "Smithfield" by James P. Blaylock
6. "Charged" by Leanna Renee Hieber
7. "Mr. Splitfoot" by Dale Bailey
8. "The Vital Importance of the Superficial" by Ellen Kushner and Caroline Stevermer/
9. "Estella Saves the Village" by Theodora Goss
• Thumbs Down!
1. "The Fairy Enterprise" by Jeffery Ford
2. "From the Catalogue of the Pavilion of the Uncanny and Marvellous, Scheduled for Premiere at the Great Exhibition (Before the Fire)" by Genevieve Valentine
3. "La Reine D'Enfer" by Kathe Koja
4. "For the Briar Rose" by Elizabeth Wein
5. "The Unwanted Women of Surrey" by Kaaron Warren
6. "Phosphorus" by Veronica Schanoes
7. "We Without Us Were Shadows" by Catherynne M. Valente
8. "The Jewel in the Toad Queen's Crown" by Jane Yolen
9. "The Twigs He Left Behind" by Gregory Maguire
10. "Their Monstrous Minds" by Tanith Lee

Review #1 | Review #2 | Review #3 | Review #4 | Summary Review

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Book Review #13: Allegiant by Veronica Roth

I'm going to cut right to the chase. I am torn about Allegiant by Veronica Roth. I was a late adopter to the Divergent series. I read Divergent and Insurgent back-to-back around the Christmas holidays back in 2012. I eagerly awaited the release of Allegiant and so much wanted to know what was outside the City. Now that I know, I'm think I want to go back and forget I ever read Allegiant and just keep imagining what is on the other side of the chain link fence. Unfortunately, I don't own a Delorian or a T.A.R.D.I.S. so here's my assessment of the final book in the series.

Allegiant frustrated me. Several times in the first 100 to 200 pages, I wanted to throw the book across the room and scream. That's how frustrated I was. Why was I frustrated?

1. The switching narrators. I couldn't tell the difference between Tris and Tobias. There was very little difference in the style of writing when Tris was telling the story vs. Tobias. This led to a lot of rereading or flipping back to start of the chapter to figure out who was talking.

2. The passage of time. Nowhere in the first two books was there a frame of reference for when these novels take place. Somehow I got it stuck in my mind that this was happening sometime in our near future. It wasn't until one of the characters mentions that the destruction in the fringe took place over a century ago (along with how the serums were used) that one of my other frustrations was put to rest^*.

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My third frustration may be a spoiler. You will want to stop reading NOW if you don't want to be spoiled. And just so you know, without having to scroll further, I'm giving this book both a Thumbs Up and a Thumbs Down.

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3. Everyone believes that genetic cleansing and prejudice is new. I can understand how the characters like Tris and Tobias don't know that genetic cleansing is old news, but those individuals working in the government should know it's not old news. That's why the government developed the program to alter the genetic code in the first place, right? It was an attempt to correct all that was bad with humans.

How much more powerful would the revelation have been if Nita or Matthew had pointed out, this wasn't the first time measures to "cut the wheat from the chaff" of the human race had happened? What about World War II? How about Bosnia? Or Rwanda? Or the segregation issues that lead to the civil rights movement? Or the battle for sexual equality that is happening right now? I highly doubt 100 years from now people will have forgotten any of these events. They have led to great bloodshed and amazing (and frustrating) legislative actions as well as great victories.

While actual genetic manipulation may be taking prejudice to a whole new level^*, by ignoring history and not showing more of the inequality between the two groups^*, the fight being waged fell flat and as a result, the event that should have moved me to tears made me shrug my shoulders.

And that leads me to the thing that I admire the most about Allegiant...the end. (Well, at least the part before Chapter 52.) Not that I didn't see the ending coming from a mile away, I was still impressed Roth ended the novel the way she did. I'm sure there are people that hated it. But you know what, life isn't all rainbows and unicorns and that's why I'm okay with it because it mirrors real life.

After all my frustrations with the switching narrators, the lack of timeframe and ignoring history, the ending redeemed the book. And that's why Allegiant gets both a thumbs down and a thumbs up.

Buy Allegiant from Amazon.com
Buy Insurgent from Amazon.com
Buy Divergent from Amazon.com
Buy the boxed set from Amazon.com

* Up until these two things were revealed, I couldn't figure out why all the characters from the City were SO stupid. How could they not know what an airport or an airplane were?

* My WWII/Jewish history is a bit fuzzy, but I seem to vaguely recall the Nazis tracing genetic lines and physical appearances to determine who was pure. Of course, science has advanced beyond such rudimentary observations and now we could actually splice genes in and out of the DNA to "correct" things so I'm not sure how revolutionary this actually is.

* Stories were told about the inequality or observations were made, but there were very few plot points that hinged on an action being taken against someone who was thought less of than another person. How much more powerful would the message of been if we'd actually witnessed Nita being treated unfairly? Or if someone had made a comment to Amar and George about them being so friendly?

Book Review #05: The Pilgrim Glass by Julie K. Rose

The Pilgrim Glass by Julie K. Rose was featured in The Fussy Librarian recently. I was drawn to the book because of its cover and its connection to church history, France and stained glass. A mysterious stained glass window is discovered in a church in Vezelay, France and three individuals are brought together by its discovery.

I really struggled with this novel. It held so much potential and in the end, I was disappointed. Throughout the novel, I felt not enough information was given about the stained glass, its creator and the three main characters. I thought, by the time the novel wrapped up, the creator of the stained glass would be revealed and she would have some connection to two of the three characters, Dubay and Meredith, as their family roots were in the area. This connection would explain their link to the Church and the reason Meredith was "possessed" by the glass's creator. Each of the main characters, Jonas, Meredith and Dubay, had pasts that were haunting them and those pasts had led them to the Church and the piece of glass. Once again, not enough information was given about their psychological hang ups. When their pasts were revealed it was too late in the story to really drive the plot forward and really make me care about how it all turned out.

The other part of the novel that lead to my disappointment was the constant need for the characters to speak in French with no explanation, either a straight up translation, or contextual framing to lead me to understand, at least in part, what was being said. I don't believe I missed any key plot points, but this was an endless frustration for me especially when Jonas went on a bender (Chapter 19) and sits down to have a bottle of wine with a local gentleman who speaks no English. I can't help but wonder if the gentleman shared some key piece of wisdom with Jonas that was completely missed, both by me and Jonas, because neither of us comprehend much French. The same things happens with Latin and the technical terms used when talking about the actual stained glass.

Overall, there were just too many plot issues, too much was not revealed/connected in the end, and a language barrier drove me to distraction. I had hoped that everything would be tied together, but was left disappointed. This paired with eBook formatting issues, The Pilgrim Glass by Julie K. Rose gets a thumbs down.

Book Blogger New Year's Challenge Day 5: The Worst Book of 2013

The Worst Book of 2013

I saw this book on a lot of people's lists on Friday. And I'm probably going to get some flack for saying this, but The 5th Wave is probably one of the worst books I read in 2013.

I fell for the hype and by the end of the book, I was mad. The book was big right around my birthday in August and I picked up a sampler and had to read more. So I got a copy of the book...from the local library thankfully. I was so disappointed. It was a totally predicable plot with revolving narrators that were barely distinguishable from each other. The 5th Wave took all the latest YA crazes and mashed them together unsuccessfully.

I've read The Passage (which I didn't like) and by the end of last year, I had finally read Ender's Game (which I did like). I can see how this book is like The Passage for teens, but I have no clue how the book is ANYTHING on the level of Ender's Game. I mean yes, there are some similarities (kids fighting aliens), but Orson Scott Card does a better job of showing the psychological games and its affects on young people than Yancey does.

Other books that didn't rank high on my list:

• Enchanted by Alethea Kontis
• Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea by April Genevieve Tucholke
• Free Four: Tobias Tells a Story by Veronica Roth
• Chick Unravel Time: Women Journey Through Every Season of Doctor Who Multiple Editors
• The Minute by Aaron Dietz (review posted last month).

What's the worst book you read in 2013?

Book Review #04: The Minute by Aaron Dietz

I just happened upon this short story from a Facebook link posted by one of my long time Internet friends. Books and movies about time travel pique my interest and as seems to be the theme for me this winter season, everything I've been reading involves time travel. Plus the short story, The Minute by Aaron Dietz, was just 99 cents on Amazon.com.

I was drawn into the story within the first few pages. The idea that physically time travel is impossible, but that science had discovered a way to send our consciousness back to a specific point in time was intriguing. And to have a limit of one minute on your time travel experience, which one minute would you choose to relive? And honestly, what could go wrong in the that one minute?

The story went by quickly. The one minute time travel experience placed a restriction on the development of the characters and their ingenuity to break the cycle of an experiment gone wrong. Now I know this is just a short story (75 pages or so), but in the last month or so, I did read another short story that had great character development and a driving plot.

Overall, The Minute didn't live up to my expectations. I didn't feel a connection to the characters. Once the obstacle was presented, the solution was obvious and because the interactions between the characters and their surroundings was limited, everything just felt rote. The Minute, unfortunately, gets a thumbs down.

Dress Rehearsal! I Either Like It or I Don't

In the years that I have been on Good Reads, I have often struggled with stared reviews. I either like a book or I don't. So I've decided to keep my ratings simple. It will either be a thumbs up or a thumbs down. Hopefully, if I'm a decent enough writer, you'll be able to determine from my review whether the book (or movie) is a good match for you.

So is that a... or a ?