Review: Poison Princess

Book One of the Arcana Chronicles
By Kresley Cole
Available now from Simon & Schuster
Review copy

I love Kresley Cole's Immortals After Dark paranormal romance series.  I think I've reviewed every single one.  Thus I was super excited to find out that Cole was going to write a young adult series.  The Arcana Chronicles combines urban fantasy and post-apocalyptic fiction in a compelling, menacing blend.

The book begins when Evie Greene meets Arthur, a man with bad intentions, nearly a year after the Flash.  He pretends to be kind, asking for her story of survival.  Thus POISON PRINCESS flashes back, and Evie tells what happened to her from the last week before the Flash to when she showed up on Arthur's doorstep.

Evie always knew that the Flash was going to happen, but she didn't know that she knew.  She returned to school after spending the summer in a mental institution due to her apocalyptic hallucinations.  She pretended to be her normal rich girl self despite her attraction to one of the new Cajun students.  Then the Flash happened, slowly forcing Evie to understand her powers.

Now, Evie is hard to like at the beginning of POISON PRINCESS.  Her actions are understandable, but she's a mean girl.  But as she puts the pieces of her life together, she becomes more likeable.  She also joins up with Jack Deveaux, the aforementioned Cajun and a fellow survivor.  Together they travel toward Evie's grandmother, who should have some answers about what happened.  The only way Evie can get Jack to escort her is by promising to tell him her secrets.  But her secrets put Jack in grave danger.

There's a lot of set-up in POISON PRINCESS.  There are action and romance scenes to keep things moving, but the vast majority of the book is a way to explain what the Arcana are and what rules they have to follow.  It's important exposition, but I'll be happy when Evie and her cohorts can really let loose in the second book.  (At least, I hope they let loose in the second book.)

Cole doesn't underestimate teen readers.  This isn't her adult work sanitized for a younger audience.  POISON PRINCESS is plenty gory and sexy.  (Okay, it doesn't have the steamy and frequent sex scenes of her romance novels, but it does have sexual tension.)  But the genre blending she uses in the Arcana Chronicles works very well in the young adult format.  POISON PRINCESS is a book that will appeal to teens as well as her existing adult fanbase.

So saddle up for a road trip through a devastated United States populated by bloodsucking fiends and people willing to do anything to survive.  It's gonna be a magical, violent ride.

Katherine Marsh on Strange History

Today Katherine Marsh, author of the upcoming JEPP, WHO DEFIED THE STARS, is guesting on the blog.  She even provided a few interesting facts about herself that serve as a terrific introduction.

"A few interesting tidbits about me: I used to write for Rolling Stone magazine, I’m a Scorpio, and I’m really claustrophobic so if you meet me in an elevator, for god sakes, give me space!"

Now here's Katherine!

--

Greetings!

One of the cool things about my new book, Jepp, Who Defied the Stars, is that both the title character and many other characters in the book are based on real historical figures. In Bed With Books has asked me to share some of the weird bits I uncovered doing the research for the book so the logical place to start is with one of these characters—a Danish nobleman named Tycho Brahe. Brahe was a 16^th century astronomer. Before you start to yawn, consider this weird historical tidbit: Brahe had no nose. And that’s just the beginning of his very strange story.

But first, a little about my story: My book is not called Tycho Brahe, Who Defied the Stars. It’s called Jepp, Who Defied the Stars. So who the heck is Jepp? Jepp was also a real person. He served in Brahe’s court as his dwarf jester. Beyond that, not much is known about him. He’s a footnote of history—he literally sat at his famous master’s feet—which is why I set out to tell his story. Who was he and he did he end up with Tycho? What happened to him there? Jepp became my vehicle for an adventure story/ mystery about fate and free will, parents and destiny.

Central to Jepp’s own story is the eccentric figure of Tycho Brahe. The more I learned about Brahe through biographies and histories, the more intrigued I became. Back to the nose: Brahe lost it in a drunken duel when he was a student (Mother’s Against Drunk Swordplay was apparently not yet incorporated) and afterwards he wore a prosthetic nose—made of copper though some say he also had a gold one he broke out for special occasions. He attached it to his face with paste. In my book, Jepp is forced to do a particularly strange job—pick up Tycho’s nose when the paste loosens and the nose falls off.

Brahe was one part Steve Jobs, one part Michael Jackson, and one part Willy Wonka. He built his own futuristic castle and observatory on the island of Hven (a gift to Brahe from his patron, the King of Denmark). The castle even had running water, which no one else did at the time, and an indoor fountain. Brahe personally designed many of his own astronomical instruments and employed scholars from across Europe, creating one of the first modern-day international research facilities. He was paranoid about other astronomers stealing his ideas though and so, centuries before this became common practice, made his employees sign written contracts. Despite being a noble, he wasn’t a snob: he married a non-noble woman even though such a marriage was technically against the laws of the time and employed and nurtured scholars from more humble backgrounds.

Brahe was a serious astronomer—the data he compiled was so comprehensive and accurate that the astronomer Johannes Kepler would later use it to prove his groundbreaking laws of planetary motion--but he also knew how to have a good time. He kept a collection of automata, or mechanized statues, with which he liked to frighten guests. And, my favorite detail of all, he had a beer-drinking moose as a pet.

The moose ultimately didn’t fare much better than Brahe’s nose but you’ll have to read Jepp, Who Defied the Stars to find out exactly what happened to it--as well as more strange but true historical tales.

For more, check out katherinemarsh.com or follow me on twitter @MarshKatherine or on facebook/katherinemarshauthor.

Bio: I’m the author of the upcoming historical YA novel Jepp, Who Defied the Stars (out October 9^th!), the Edgar-award winning The Night Tourist, and a sequel, The Twilight Prisoner (read if you like ghosts, urban exploration and Greek myths).

Review: Jepp, Who Defied the Stars

By Katherine Marsh
Available October 9 from Disney Hyperion
Review copy
Come back later today for a guest blog by Katherine!

I think I would read more historical fiction if more of it was like JEPP, WHO DEFIED THE STARS.  But part of JEPP, WHO DEFIED THE STARS charm is that it is an unusual story, charming in its lack of concern with the commercial.  Katherine Marsh has written an appealing bildungsroman that will stand out.

Jepp is a dwarf living happily in his mother's inn, when a nobleman comes through and entices him to go and become a court dwarf for the Infanta.  (Yes, I did have The Decemberists' "The Infanta" stuck in my head for the entire first half of the book.)  At first I had trouble getting into the court scenes - they seemed like something from a bawdy farce without any bawdiness.  Then I realized there was plenty of sex going on but it wasn't outright stated because the book is in young and sheltered Jepp's point of view.  The second half of the book brings in the astrology (and astronomy) mentioned in the title as Jepp moves on to the court of Tycho Brahe.  In this half of the novel Jepp is more worldly, but still not the best at reading people.

The historical detail of JEPP, WHO DEFIED THE STARS is fascinating.  The novel moves from late-sixteenth century Holland to Spain to Denmark and features a wide range of real people.  As the historical note at the end reveals, even Jepp was a real person.  (Although very little is known about the real Jepp and Marsh's novel is obviously entirely fictional.)  It's definitely a setting less explored than Elizabethan England or the Wild West.

The novel rests on Jepp's shoulders and they are able to handle the burden.  He suffers various indignities - less than many dwarves of the time - but he always knows that he deserves to be treated as an equal.  He longs to understand his past and control his future, unwilling to let his fate be a decided by the stars rather than himself.  Jepp is not one to be content.

I'm having real trouble writing this review.  It's not an easy novel for me to deconstruct.  But I'm glad I pushed myself out of my reading comfort zone and gave JEPP, WHO DEFIED THE STARS a chance.  I liked spending time in the world Marsh developed and thrilled when Jepp finally got his happy ending.  It's a strange book, but I think it will find an audience.

Movie Monday: 21 Jump Street

I'm too young to have seen the original 21 Jump Street on television, but I saw the first season on DVD way back in high school.  (What can I say?  I've been a Johnny Depp fan since Edward Scissorhands.)  I was excited for the new movie, and even went to see it in theaters as a birthday present to myself.  I saw it again this Sunday, with my sister, renting it from the local Redbox.

And I still liked it!  The kids were asleep, we had fresh pumpkin brownies, and it was so nice to watch something that wasn't Spongebob Squarepants.  (Nickelodeon, why do you play the same episodes over and over again?)

21 Jump Street is a pretty straightforward action-comedy.  Janko (Channing Tatum) and Schmitt (Jonah Hill) weren't friends in high school, but they became buds in the police academy.  Janko was good at the physical stuff; Schmitt at the mental.  Now, after a failed drug bust, they're back in high school trying to stop a drug ring from spreading.

Not all of the humor is to my taste, but 21 Jump Street made me laugh a lot.  Tatum and Hill have great timing and chemistry.  In addition to pretty funny - and self-aware - dialogue, there are lots of physical gags.  Keep an eye out for the guys maneuvering around a couch in the climatic shoot-out.  Moving away from drama for comedy in the reboot was a good choice.

I'm not so big on the romantic storyline.  Schmitt ends up having a bit of a thing with Molly (Brie Larson), although it's more flirting on the phone than anything physical.  It's still a grown guy hitting on an underage girl under false pretenses.  It's skeevy.  (Given less screen time is Ellie Kemper as a teacher with a crush on Tatum's character, which fortunately goes nowhere.)

Basically, I'm glad they're making a sequel.  21 Jump Street is a fun movie and I'm ready to see the guys go to college.

Review: Skinny

By Donna Cooner
Available now from Point (Scholastic)
Review copy

I judged SKINNY by it's cover for a long time.  The publicist who gave it to me was very enthusiastic, but I wasn't sold enough on the cover to even crack it open.  I assumed it was similar to Laurie Halse Anderson's WINTERGIRLS, and would be about some girl dealing with anorexia or bulimia.  There's nothing wrong with stories involving anorexia or bulimia, but I've read several - and reviewed several.  It's an important issue but not one that resonates much with me.  But that's not what SKINNY is about.  Ever Davies is fifteen and weighs more than three-hundred pounds.  She is not that slender girl on the cover of her story.

Ever's a tough protagonist to like.  She is a mean girl.  She's very aware of her weight and constantly on the offensive so that she can hurt others before they hurt her.  She believes that she can hear what everyone thinks of her.  She calls that voice in her head that calls her ugly and unlovable and other terrible things "Skinny."  But while it may be hard to like Ever due to her abrasiveness, she's an easy character to understand and you do feel for her.  Plus, her inability to see her the problems of those around her can partially be chalked up to the fact that she's fifteen.

SKINNY mostly focuses on why Ever chooses to have gastric bypass surgery and what her life is like in that first year after the surgery.  Donna Cooner has had gastric bypass surgery herself and does not dismiss it as an easy fix.  Ever often struggles with her new diet and exercise requirements and wonders if she made the right decision.  Losing weight doesn't instantly fix her self esteem either, nor does getting a makeover from a popular girl.  Ever has to learn to accept and love herself, which isn't easy for anyone.

I also liked that SKINNY comments on the Cinderella story.  (The book is very obvious about this fact, from having Ever tell Cinderella to children to Ever trying out for a part in the school's production of Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella.)  The girl who has nothing becomes the girl who has everything, including a prince to dance with her at the ball.  But stepsisters are people too, and few people find their prince in high school, and maybe being comfortable performing in public is more important to you than having a bunch of friends.

Cooner's debut novel is a striking one.  It's slight but heartfelt.  Fat girls and women aren't represented much in media, and when they are they're rarely the protagonist of the story.  Some may have issues with the emphasis SKINNY puts on weight loss, but I think it was well done.  Ever over ate due to emotional issues and was decidedly not healthy at her size.  And, as I previously mentioned, the weight loss is not a quick fix.  She needs more than just a surgery to love her body, but the surgery does help her.  I think it's an interesting story that will hopefully reach its audience despite the obviously not fat girl on the cover.