Review: The Forbidden Wish

By Jessica Khoury
Available now from Razorbill (Penguin Random House)
Review copy

The latest novel in the young adult genie microtrend is THE FORBIDDEN WISH by Jessica Khoury.  This retelling of Aladdin casts the genie as a woman who once wreaked destruction on an entire city due to her love of a human.  She's wary of interacting with them ever again, and just wants her freedom.

However, Aladdin has found her lamp and now has three wishes.  He's a thief, the orphan son of revolutionaries, and his country is on the verge of revolt.  A new revolutionary is on the rise, and the king is dying.  Everyone fears the foul vizier taking even more control of the throne.  The genie has a simple solution to get Aladdin to use all of his wishes and get his vengeance: become a prince.

While the story of Aladdin is familiar to many due to the Disney version, Khoury takes her story in a different direction.  At the same time, it's not an entirely unpredictable direction.  The romance between Aladdin and the genie is sweet, but I often felt I was being told more about their love for each other than feeling it myself.  I wanted more of a sense of passion.

I did enjoy the variety of female characters that Khoury populated her retelling with.  The princess may no longer be the love interest, but she still occupies an integral role to the story.  Her friends have their own personalities in addition to help move the story along.  There's also some historical queens who inspire their actions.  I liked that Zahra, the genie, wasn't the only woman Khoury added to the story.

I thought THE FORBIDDEN WISH was a fun retelling that combined jinn lore with a satisfying battle for freedom.  The romance was a little flat for me, but the struggle for personal, political, and other freedoms rang quite true.  I admired how Zahra overcame her fears to keep doing what was right, even if it had gone wrong for her many times before.  She's the kind of main character I can get behind in any story.

Review: The Eternity Key

Book two of Into the Dark
By Bree Despain
Available now from Egmont USA
Review copy
Read my review of The Shadow Prince and my interview with Bree

I enjoyed THE SHADOW PRINCE, so it's no surprise that I would pick up THE ETERNITY KEY.  I appreciated that there was some recapping of events since it had been awhile since I read the first book.  I think that will also be a boon to readers who leap ahead and skip book one for whatever reason.

THE ETERNITY KEY continues to switch between Daphne and Haden's POVs, and adds Tobin's POV to the mix.  I'm not entirely sure Tobin's POV added that much to the story, aside from reminders that they do need to find Abbie/CeCe.  (Okay, his romance with Lexie is cute.)  The main plot of the story is trying to figure out where the Compass and Key are so that Haden and friends can get into the Underworld and kill the Keres, while not letting anyone else get the Key and prompting more undesirable outcomes.  (If that sentence was gibberish, read book one.)

I liked the way the romance between Daphne and Haden developed at first in THE ETERNITY KEY.  Haden is working up the courage to say the words, and Daphne is working to prove to Haden that they can be equals (instead of her being the damsel in distress).  And then Daphne rebuffs Haden for a reason that barely made sense.  I sure hope the third book has a better explanation, like magical interference.

THE ETERNITY KEY ends with all three narrators in peril.  Bree Despain is a cruel author, torturing her readers like that.  I hope Lerner acquiring titles from Egmont USA means that book three won't be delayed, because I need the conclusion to this trilogy.

Review: Liesmith

First book of the Wyrd
By Alis Franklin
Available now from Hydra (Penguin Random House)
Review copy

I was first drawn to LIESMITH by the cover.  You don't see many black guys on the cover of urban fantasy novels.  Then there was the blurb, which promised Norse mythology meets IT.  That made me think of the SpellCrash series by Kelly McCullough, which I love.

Alis Franklin's debut novel is about Sigmund Sussman, a low-level IT nerd who just humiliated himself by not recognizing his boss when he meets Lain Laufeyjarson, the new guy in the department.  The two hit it off, leading Sigmund to question himself - and Lain's attraction to him.  But soon he has even more to question than his new relationship, because strange things are happening.  Strange, dangerous things.

I enjoyed Franklin's writing style quite a bit, although I expect it might not be for everyone.  It can tend a bit toward the labyrinthine, like the plot.  There are lots of characters trying to pull of long-term master plans, which means their is a bit of a pileup of complicated events at the end.  At the same time, I appreciate that ambition and that Franklin managed to pull off a few brilliant twists grounded in mythology.

Obviously, no one even slightly familiar with Norse mythology (and who isn't, in the age of Marvel?) will fail to ascertain Lain's real identity even before it is revealed to the reader.  (Thankfully, not too long.  Both Lain and Sigmund narrate.)  But it might be more complicated than it first seems.  I also liked that the cast wasn't entirely male.  Sigmund's two best friends are both women, and both play an active role in the climax.

There are lots of rough edges to LIESMITH.  The romance is a touch cliche and sometimes it is hard to follow what is happening.  But LIESMITH shows a lot of promise.  It's sweet, but tough, much like many of its characters.  I look forward to the next book of the Wyrd.

Review: Cruel Beauty

By Rosamund Hodge
Available now from Balzer + Bray (HarperCollins)
Review copy

CRUEL BEAUTY blends fairytales and Greek mythology together to create a unique romance featuring an unconventional heroine and hero.  Nyx Triskelion has been raised to murder her future husband, Ignifex, known as the Gentle Lord.  She has been raised knowing that she will die killing him.  Oh how she resents her younger sister, who has been left ignorant and innocent of the darker parts of Nyx.

Nyx does not save the beast through her virtuousness.  She's is angry, vicious, and can be as cruel as her husband.  You see, Ignifex grants wishes, but they always go wrong.  But isn't part of the fault the wisher who knows that his wish is doomed?  Ignifex is no angel, but as Nyx comes to know him, she understands that there's more to him than cruelty.  But then there's Shade, Ignifex's shadow servant, who is human by night.  He could be Nyx's ally in destroying Ignifex.

CRUEL BEAUTY is a thrilling read in which love is complicated, and communication even more so.  There's a wonderful sense of lurking danger, something even more sinister than Ignifex and Shade waiting in the shadows.  The story's mythology is complicated, and goes far beyond the classical sources that spawned it.  The setting sells the romance.  There's something Gothic about it all, the manor, the secrets, the isolation.  Nyx and Ignifex would not work in any sort of contemporary setting.

That is not to say that CRUEL BEAUTY is perfect.  For one, it could use far more of Nyx's sister.  Some of the book's most important action hangs on their relationship, but it doesn't have much force since the sister appears briefly in the beginning, then disappears until the climax.  The reader has to take it on faith that the sisters love each other even as they hate and resent it each other.  It could be a complicated relationship to rival that of Ignifex and Nyx, but it's just not there on the page.

I think CRUEL BEAUTY is a stunning, romantic debut.  I enjoyed it, and I thoroughly enjoyed the nastiness of Nyx and Ignifex.  Rarely do protagonists get to revel in being bad people.  (But for all that, they aren't that bad.)   I look forward to whatever Rosamund Hodge writes next.

Review: The Feral Child

By Che Golden
Available now from Quercus
Review copy

THE FERAL CHILD is a story of imagination, loyalty, and bravery inspired by Irish folklore.  Orphan Maddy lives with her grandparents, and has been acting out some (understandably).  When she first encounters a strange boy in the woods, she doesn't know what's happening.  But when he kidnaps Stephen, the toddler next door, she sees him for what he is: a faery.

Maddy sets out to save Stephen accompanied only by her dog and her Grandpa's stories, but her cousins join her.  (They're a bit over their heads, as they meant to keep her from getting into trouble, not getting involved with actual, existing faeries.)  The adults won't do anything, because they think Stephen has been found due to a changeling left in his place.

There is nothing particularly new done with the mythology, but Maddy's journey is still captivating.  She has a lot of inner turmoil that needs to heal.  The adventures are fun in and of themselves, too.  Watching the children try to outwit the clever and devious faeries is a treat - especially because Maddy isn't always the one who has the good ideas.  Her cousin Roisin, in particular, becomes integral to the quest's success.

The ending felt a touch rushed to me.  The opening of THE FERAL CHILD takes its time setting up Maddy's life in Ireland, the woods, the strange encounter that becomes stranger.  There is no time at the end, however, for wrapping up the plot about Maddy's overbearing aunt who wants to take custody.  There is lots of sequel bait, so perhaps that is saved as an ongoing plot.

THE FERAL CHILD will appeal to young fans of fairytales and folklore.

Review: The Shadow Prince

Book one of Into the Dark
By Bree Despain
Available now from EgmontUSA
Review copy
Read my review of The Dark Divine and my interview with Bree

I liked The Dark Divine trilogy, so I was eager to read Bree Despain's next series, Into the Dark.  This series puts a modern spin on Greek mythology.  THE SHADOW PRINCE concentrates on the stories of Persephone and Hades and Orpheus and Eurydice.  If that doesn't give it away, yes this book does deal quite a bit with the Underworld.  In fact, protagonist and co-narrator Haden Lord is a prince of the Underworld.  A disgraced prince, but that doesn't stop the Oracle from picking him as a Champion.  His quest: to go to Earth and convince Daphne Raines to join him in the Underworld in six months, when the gate opens again.

Haden starts the book incredibly arrogant and rather unthinking of others.  Luckily for him, both of his companions are excellent at pointing out his selfishness.  (They're a bit less awesome about making him do anything about it.)  He also manages to drive Daphne away the first time they meet, by trying to get what he wants immediately and not bothering to think things through, which is basically his flaws in a nutshell.

Daphne has lived with her mom her whole life, but moves in with her dad when he gets her into one of the finest music programs in the country.  She's talented and plans to use her voice to go places.  (And no, places is not code for the Underworld.)  She's understandably put off by Haden, and avoids him like a sensible person until she gets an explanation that recontextualizes his actions into something nonthreatening.  But Haden and Daphne might have bigger problems than the Underworld, starting with the fact that something is killing people and no one else seems to care.

I thought Into the Dark was a great start to the series.  There's some interesting worldbuilding, and Haden's people are neither entirely right nor entirely wrong.  There's a fairly large cast, but all of the characters are appealing and at least somewhat defined.  The romance is not instant, but developed through interaction.  There's another important guy in Daphne's life, but he's just a friend.  Love triangle: avoided.  If there's one misstep, it's that Despain begins to set up the plot of the second book a bit too far in advance.  I spent much of THE SHADOW PRINCE wondering when that plot thread was going to come into play.  I must admit, I did not see it slotting into place when it did, which did provide some redemption.

I know Persephone and Hades are super trendy right now.  I think THE SHADOW PRINCE succeeds in putting its own spin on the story.  Despain's fans won't be disappointed.

Review: The City of Death

Book Two of the Ash Mistry series
By Sarwat Chadda
Available now from Arthur A. Levine Books (Scholastic)
Review copy

I was super excited when I heard about Sarwat Chadda's debut novel; unfortunately, I found it disappointing.  However, I heard so many good things about his Ash Mistry series that I had to give it a try.  The first book got me hooked, with a fun take on Indian mythology and a central sibling relationship.

(I'm going to try to be vague about the events of the first book in this review.)

The second book, THE CITY OF DEATH, starts out with Ash having returned home to England and going back to school.  His adventures have left him fitter (due to a great excess of energy) and more confident, but that's not enough to solve his bullying problem.  In fact, it's worse in some ways, because if Ash fought back he could kill another kid - and he doesn't want that on his conscience.  Ash thinks he has his new abilities under control, but he really doesn't.

Soon enough he's caught up in another adventure, and once more headed to England.  There's been another tragedy in his life, which leaves Ash feeling guilty and determined to right things.  But some things cannot be changed, as Ash must learn.  The Ash Mistry books are middle grade, but I think they're aimed more at the ten and up crowd.  They deal quite a bit with the realities of death, including grief, culpability, and empathy.  Ash's adventures are changing him, and if he's not careful, they could turn him into a monster like Lord Savage.

I loved Parvati's role in THE CITY OF DEATH.  She's a half-rakshasa (demon), half-human warrior that helped protect Ash during the first book, THE SAVAGE FORTRESS.  She and Ash are becoming closer, but he keeps putting his foot in his mouth when it comes to her heritage.  And I loved the way THE CITY OF DEATH made the rakshasa more complicated.  They aren't human and they don't feel emotions like humans, but it's still not meaningless when they die.  They are living, thinking beings capable of forming connections.  They don't always agree with each other and can take opposite sides in a fight.  At the same time, they are very dangerous to humans.  Ash has to make difficult decisions when he fights the rakshasa, even if it doesn't seem that way at first.

I really enjoyed THE CITY OF DEATH.  There's lots of adventure and action, the kind filled with magic and crazy puzzles and sudden betrayals and secret plans.  Underneath the fun is an exploration of morality and mortality.  I think the Ash Mistry series will especially appeal to readers looking for something similar to Percy Jackson, with a modern take on mythology.  THE SAVAGE FORTRESS and THE CITY OF DEATH have much of the same appeal, but their different source material keeps them from feeling like any sort of imitation.

For those participating in Diversiverse this year (November 15-17), this book and its predecessor would be excellent reading choices.

Review: Antigoddess

First in The Goddess War series
By Kendare Blake
Available now from Tor Teen (Macmillan)
Review copy

When ANTIGODDESS began, I recognized the Kendare Blake who wrote ANNA DRESSED IN BLOOD and GIRL OF NIGHTMARES.  Athena, hiking across a desert with Hermes, is slowly dying of feathers growing in her body.   She recounts, in detail, what will happen when one finishes coming through her mouth.  It is quite the image, full of blood and tissue and canker sores.

At other times, I had trouble recognizing Blake's style.  Where were the sharply drawn characters like Anna and Cas?  I love Greek mythology, and felt I was often leaning on my knowledge of The Iliad and The Odyssey to shade in the characterization of ANTIGODDESS.  Hermes, Athena's ally in companion, was perhaps the most inscrutable.  Now, Athena doesn't understand him, but surely the narrative could've dropped hints to help pull the very different parts of his personality together.

The two main characters are Athena, the goddess trying to find a way to survive, and Cassandra, the prophetess reincarnated and unaware of her past with the gods.  I felt like Cassandra's story was the stronger one.  She had a clearer motive, protecting her friends and boyfriend, and her romance with Aidan was quite sweet.  (Those who have read the book might not believe me, but it turned out better than I expected!)  With Athena, I felt more was being told than said.  Many characters emphasize that she's the goddess of strategy, but her strategy never goes much beyond, "Let's go to this place next."  Blake does do interesting things with Athena's status as a virgin goddess, however.

But I did get into ANTIGODDESS once the plot really kicked into gear - enemy gods show up, Athena and Hermes get a lead, Cassandra clues in.  I wish the book hadn't taken so long to get to the good stuff, but it does give me high hopes for the next book in The Goddess War series.  However, I felt like Athena and Hermes showed a shocking lack of curiosity in the second half.  They don't even question why another god they meet isn't dying like all the others.

ANTIGODDESS is full of great ideas and has an interesting approach to mythology, but the characters are thin and the book is slow to start.  I think Blake is a terrific author, but this highly anticipated release disappointed me.  The ending is strong enough to make me want to read the second book, which I hope fulfills the promise of the series instead of briefly touching it.

Review and Giveaway: Solstice

By P.J. Hoover
Available now from Tor Teen
Review copy

I am part of the Mod Podge Blog Tour for SOLSTICE and I'm repping Team Myth today.  You can stop by Girls in the Stacks to read the Team Dystopia post.  Stop by here later today for a guest blog by P.J. Hoover on Solstice: Myth Depicted.  I'm excited to be taking part in this tour as well as reviewing SOLSTICE, because I used to live in Austin and Hoover is pretty well known around those parts.

Some of you might have already read SOLSTICE, since Hoover self published it first.  I haven't read that version, so I don't know if there have been changes or not.  But SOLSTICE doesn't read like it's behind on trends.  It's not so much a true dystopia as it is the tale of a society on the edge of apocalypse.  For the past eighteen years, it's been summer all the time, and even the the summer-hardened denizens of Austin can barely handle it.  And most of the countermeasures put in place by the government just further harm the environment.

Piper, who just turned eighteen, chafes under the close watch of her overprotective mother.  The only time she gets out is with her best friend, Chloe, her lifeline to normalcy.  Then Piper meets two strange, super hot guys: Shayne and Reese.  Things start getting strange and Piper starts to realize almost everyone in her life is lying to her.  But she knows one things for sure: Chloe is going to die.  All Piper wants is the truth, her best friend's life, and freedom from her mother's oppressive love.

Fans of Greek myth will cotton on to the story being retold as soon as they see the graphic finial at the beginning of each chapter.  But Hoover does not tell it straight.  She references a variety of myths and orchestrates a tour of the Underworld that put me more in a mind of Dante's Inferno than Hamilton's Mythology.  At the same time, Hoover doesn't bog herself down too much in allusions.  SOLSTICE is perfectly readable even if you've never heard any of the myths.

I liked that the stakes in SOLSTICE didn't come down to Piper's romantic inclinations.  She has her own part to play in the balance of the world, and it is up to her to decide where and how she'll live.  Much of the book is about Piper going out and getting answers, even though people don't want her to have them, and then using that information to make her choices.  I loved watching Piper learn that she had the power to make and assert her own decisions.

That being said, the love story ain't half bad.  In does read a little like instalove, although there is more too it than that.  I was turned off by the initial love triangle setup, but it isn't really a love triangle.  Piper isn't torn between two guys.  (And let me tell you, I was very happy when a certain someone got their comeuppance.  Myths are good about that.)

SOLSTICE is an inventive novel that really gets the pages flipping.  While I am Team Myth all the way, I enjoyed the future world Hoover created.  It was easy to image in the heat, killing the plants, causing humanity to retreat to domes, overwhelming and oppressive.  It feels like a realistic possibility, no matter than the explanation is fairly fantastic. I look forward to whatever Hoover writes next.
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Review: The Shark King

By R. Kikuo Johnson
Available now from Toon Books (Candlewick)

Candlewick's Toon Books line is extremely cool.  They're easy-to-read comics made by artists who normally write for adults.  It's a great way to introduce little kids to some great art.  Plus, I think the comic format makes them even easier for beginning readers, because the pictures provide even more context than a standard picture book.

I love R. Kikuo Johnson's art and he does a great job with THE SHARK KING.  The colors are bold but not overwhelming.  The images are simple and clean.  There's a nice mix of definite and indefinite panels, allowing the action to move smoothly.  And I love the way Johnson draws expressions!  Some of protagonist Nanaue's more mischievous looks remind me of my nephew.

THE SHARK KING is an adaptation of a traditional Hawaiian folktale.  Kalei has a child with the Shark King, who has to return to the ocean after their son is born.  Nanaue grows to be a quick, clever boy who steals fish from the fisherman to keep his belly full.  But as much as he loves his mother, he also misses his father.

It's a sweet, simple story.  It's a bit of a bittersweet ending, but nothing that would upset children.  It's probably to simple to hold the attention of older kids although they might enjoy Johnson's art.

Review: Samurai Awakening

By Benjamin Martin
Available now from Tuttle
Review copy
Semi-finalist in 2011 Amazon Breakthrough Novel Awards

I found the synopsis of SAMURAI AWAKENING somewhat troubling.  Exchange student David Matthews gets possessed by a Japanese god, gets powers, and must rescue his host sister.  That's definitely a set up with lots of room for cultural appropriation.  But I wanted to give it a chance since Tuttle Publishing is the largest publisher of books on Asia.  I didn't even know they published young adult novels.  They're mostly a publisher of nonfiction.  But Tuttle's reputation made me want to take a chance.

SAMURAI AWAKENING does avoid some of the worst pitfalls.  When David bonds with a kami, it might allow him to speak and understand Japanese, but he doesn't have the accompanying social and cultural knowledge he needs to be truly fluent.  He's not sure of when to be formal or informal and doesn't know when to bow or make other physical gestures, among other issues.  It does solve several of his problems, but not all of them.  David must also train with Kou, the kami, if he is going to use his abilities effectively.  After several months of training he's still not as good with a sword as the other characters who have been practicing for years.  That's nicely realistic.

Mythology fans will probably get a kick out of SAMURAI AWAKENING.  David fights Japanese monsters and he needs to learn the lore.  Debut author Benjamin Martin does a good job of marking when he's making up a legend for the novel and when an actual myth is being discussed.  Those less interested in monsters might find the passages relating to them a bit of an infodump.

There are a bunch of characters to keep track of.  Some people who seem important at first just fade out of the narrative.  Natsuki, who seems like a generic mean girl, turns out to be very important.  In fact, she's the secondary hero.  But generally, the characters drifting in and out of the frame is just one of the ways SAMURAI AWAKENING lacks polish.

The whole story told a bit too dryly.  David suffers some major changes to his life, but gets over them almost instantly.  He gets one major bomb dropped on him that he worries about for maybe a day.  The editing could have been better as well.  Chul Moo and Chul Soon's names are often swapped and there are several tense errors.  (Other sentences, there are no tense errors, but they're phrased in a way that's easy to parse incorrectly.)

I still found SAMURAI AWAKENING fun.  It's full of lots of things I like, including lots of sword fights and a girl character who isn't about to change to make a guy happy.  There is some awkwardness in how the Koreans are handled, which is unfortunately very Japanese of Martin.  I think it could be the start of a series, and while there's room for improvement, I'd probably read the next novel.  Manga and anime fans looking for a non-graphic novel will probably devour SAMURAI AWAKENING pretty eagerly.

Review: The Raven Boys

Book One of The Raven Cycle
By Maggie Stiefvater
Available now from Scholastic Press
Review copy courtesy of Krystal of Live to Read
Read my reviews of LAMENT, BALLAD, SHIVER, and LINGER
Read Maggie's guest blog

Guys, I am blown away.

It's not like I don't know that Maggie Stiefvater is a terrific author.  I've been a fan from the very beginning.  And I knew she was excited about THE RAVEN BOYS, from both her blog posts and hearing her speak at TLA.  I still didn't expect this.  All of the books I've previously crowned the best of the year are going to have to step aside for the true king.

Blue Sargent knows that magic exists.  She lives in a family of seers, though she is not a seer herself; she magnifies others' abilities.  Every seer tells her the same thing: the first boy she kisses, her true love, will die.  Then she sees Gansey's spirit on St. Mark's Eve.  The only explanation is that he's her true love or she kills him.  In Blue's case, it might well be both.  But when she meets Gansey, she doesn't fall for him.  She falls for Adam, one of his best friends.  But she is pulled into the magnetic Gansey's search for a lost Welsh king.

The characterization in this story, you guys.  The characterization.  Gansey cannot say the right thing and he buries himself under a perfect, empty surface.  Ronan is a bundle of anger and hugs for his pet raven Chainsaw.  Adam is a scholarship student and both cares deeply for his friends and wants to make his own way through live without their help.  Noah, the smudgy one, hangs quietly around the edges.  Suffice it to say, I want to knit each raven boy a fuzzy, ugly sweater to replace their school raven sweater and cuddle them and show them that they are loved and it will be okay.  And of course, it isn't going to be okay.  There's an aura of dread throughout THE RAVEN BOYS.  There's going to be death.  It's inevitable.  THE RAVEN BOYS is a book where you know things will not end well.  And I may love happy endings, but I adore impossible situations and certain doom even more.

If you didn't like the Wolves of Mercy Falls series, I'd still give THE RAVEN BOYS a chance.  With it's use of Welsh mythology, it's closer in style to her faerie books.  Even then, THE RAVEN BOYS is a new sort of beast.  It's a book where the magic is limited in scope and barely present, yet frightening to encounter.  It's a book about love - not romantic love, particularly - and the lengths people will go to for love.  And the lengths people will go to for power.  It's about being a teenage boy and being a teenage girl and all the craziness that entails even without life and death on the line.

If this review is incoherent, please excuse me.  I've been left bereft of much of my senses.  The only thing clear to me is that I must read the second book of Stiefvater's Raven cycle as soon as possible.

Review: The Flame of Olympus

Book One of the Pegasus Trilogy
By Kate O'Hearn
Available now from Aladdin (Simon & Schuster)
Review copy

Percy Jackson fans will be happy to learn that there's a new set of Olympians in town.  Originally published in the UK, Kate O'Hearn's Pegasus trilogy is coming to the US.  Released just last month was the first book, THE FLAME OF OLYMPUS.

Written in the third point of view, the narration flips back and forth between Paelen, a thief god, and Emily, a young New Yorker.  Paelen attempted to steal Pegasus' bridle during a battle between the Olympians and Nirads and ended up zapped to present time.  Emily found Pegasus injured on her roof and a group of men in black found Paelen with the bridle.  But both Pegasus and the bridle are needed to save Olympus.

No adventure is complete if the ragtag band of heroes isn't likeable.  Emily and her classmate Joel are resourceful children willing to work hard to protect their friends.  Joel may need to learn to control his temper, but Emily is already skilled at doing the right thing even when its hard.  Paelen could take a few lessons from her.  He begins the story a coward, but begins to change as he figures out what truly gets you respect.  On the thief scale of one to Eugenides, he's certainly no Eugenides, but he grows on you.  All considered, it's easy to root for their victory over the Nirads and cruel secret agent goons.

THE FLAME OF OLYMPUS might be inappropriate for some younger readers due to the number of deaths, at least one of which is fairly gruesome, and brief scenes of torture.  It's nothing I didn't read at that age, but I try to note these things for those with sensitive children.

Young mythology fans will enjoy THE FLAME OF OLYMPUS and eagerly wait for the rest of the series to be released stateside.  And it does not fall into my series pet peeve.  THE FLAME OF OLYMPUS tells a complete story, although there are threads left dangling to be addressed in the next book.

Review: Shapeshifter

Note: Today is the last day to suggest an insult for Lauren Mechling and Lauren Moser's online serial novel MY DARKLYNG.

By Holly Bennett
Available now from Orca
Review copy



While I'm not most familiar with Irish mythology, I do enjoy it quite a bit. (After all, I do consider myself Irish.) I loved seeing an author play around with a short episode in The Fenian Cycle, as opposed to the more popular Ulster Cycle. I also liked that the publisher included a translation of the original episode for comparison. (Do be careful about reading it first, if you aren't familiar with the story, since it will spoil things.) Readers will also enjoy the glossary, since Irish names often have tricky pronounciations. Holly Bennett makes the fortunate decision to use the romanization Sive for the protagonist instead of Sadhbh.

Sive was the first wife of Finn mac Cumhaill (whom you may know as Finn McCool), a Sidhe woman trapped in the body of a deer. Bennett explores how Sive first came to the attention of the evil druid Far Doirche and turned into a deer. In Bennett's telling, Sive was not turned into a deer by the druid but turned herself into one to escape his unwanted attentions. Sive's singing could charm anyone, and Far Doirche wants access to her power.

I thought Bennett fleshed the story out well, developing an interesting and original cast to accompany the epic figures. She did have little sections marked off by [Character] Remembers . . . that I thought were fairly useless. The book was in the past tense and slipped into people's heads anyway, so the those sections felt redundant and flabby. (Actually, almost all of Bennett's use of POV tricks could've been tightened up.)

The ending, focusing on Sive and Finn's son Oisin, moved a little too quickly for my taste. SHAPESHIFTER truly is Sive's story, but I would've liked to get to know Oisin as well as Sive. SHAPESHIFTER is fairly short, so it probably wouldn't have tasked readers attention spans.

SHAPESHIFTER contains adventure and romance, but will probably appeal most to people interested in mythology. If you aren't familiar with Irish mythology, SHAPESHIFTER is a good place to start. It doesn't ask you to come in familiar with the stories. SHAPESHIFTER is a little rough, but still good light entertainment. The language is easy enough for preteens, but there are oblique sexual references.