The Half Life of Molly Pierce by Katrina Leno and a Fiona Friday photo

The Half Life of Molly Pierce by Katrina Leno
Copyright 2014
Harper Teen - YA
Source: HarperCollins

The people we love get under our skin and crawl through our veins and find their way into our heart.  They choke up our blood flow and mess up our breathing and tangle themselves through our bodies like wire. Like razors, like fire.

~p. 142 of The Half Life of Molly Pierce, Advance Reader Copy (some changes may have been made to the final print version)

As The Half Life of Molly Pierce opens, teenage Molly is just emerging from a blackout while driving her car. She sees a young man on a motorcycle in her rearview mirror, feels like she ought to know who he is, watches as he's hit by a car and holds onto his broken body as he's taken to the hospital. But, who is he and why does she feel a connection to him? And, how does he know her name?

It's not a spoiler to say that Molly suffers from dissociative identity disorder (which used to be known as multiple personality disorder or split personality). But, Molly doesn't know that. All she knows is that she has strange blackouts, has seen a psychiatrist since she made an offhand remark about not always wanting to live, and that she's beginning to have flashes of memories that feel out of place. Nobody is willing to tell her what they know about what's going on. 

Molly's alternate personality is Mabel. Mabel is letting Molly slowly piece together her memories. But, as Molly puts together the puzzle of what's happened during her blackouts, she must also deal with the fact that Mabel was in love and now Molly is left grieving for what she once had and has lost.

I loved The Half Life of Molly Pierce partly because I've never read a work of fiction with a heroine suffering from this particular mental illness. It made for interesting reading, rather like a mystery but one that addresses some serious mental health issues in a digestible manner. I don't read a great deal of Young Adult fiction but when I do I'm reminded that YA novels often do a tremendous job of tackling serious issues and making the reader think without bogging one down in too much superfluous detail. That's definitely the case with The Half Life of Molly Pierce.

The only thing I didn't like about The Half Life of Molly Pierce was the ending. While I didn't love how the story ended, I have a feeling I know why the author made that choice. I would have personally chosen the more dramatic (and, therefore, more entertaining) option, but it still worked for me. I'll hide how the book ends because it's a spoiler.  Highlight if you're curious but convinced you won't read the book right away . . . or if you're not afraid of spoilers . . . or if you're not planning to read the book. Whatever.

Multiple personality disorder is a condition that is generally caused by a serious trauma and I expected the author to reveal the trauma Molly went through to cause her to dissociate. Molly was not a typical patient, though, so what you might expect to be a big reveal is, instead, a big let-down. 

Highly recommended - While the ending was disappointing, I thought The Half Life of Molly Pierce was well-written, compelling and the author did an excellent job of tackling a mental health issue that I haven't read about in quite some time in a palatable way, so I still highly recommend it.

And, in kitty news:

I've been working on cleaning, purging and organizing my library-slash-office for over a week, now and naturally the kitties have spent a great deal of time hanging out with me. There has been much feline cuteness.

©2014 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery  or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

Paranormalcy by Kiersten White

Paranormalcy by Kiersten White

Copyright 2010

Harper Teen - Young Adult/Paranormal (1st of 3 in series)

335 pp.

First sentence paragraph:

Wait--did you--You just yawned!" The vampire's arms, raised over his head in the classic Dracula pose, dropped to his sides.  He pulled his exaggerated white fangs back behind his lips.  "What, imminent death isn't exciting enough for you?"

From the cover:

"Weird as it is working for the International Paranormal Containment Agency, Evie's always thought of herself as normal. Sure, her best friend is a mermaid, her ex-boyfriend is a faerie, she's falling for a shape-shifter, and she's the only person who can see through paranormals' glamours, but still.  Normal.

Only now paranormals are dying, and Evie's dreams are filled with haunting voices and mysterious prophecies.  She soon realizes that there may be a link between her abilities and the sudden rash of deaths.  Not only that, but she may very well be at the center of a dark faerie prophecy promising destruction to all paranormal creatures."

Raquel sighed.  She was a professional sigher--the woman conveyed more emotions with a single exhalation than most people do with their entire faces.  

My thoughts:

I waited several years to get a copy of Paranormalcy from Paperback Swap and it was definitely worth the wait.  Of course, now I want to get my mitts on the remaining books in the trilogy.  I liked Evie and loved the quirkiness and humor of the story, although I did get a little bit tired of teen slang.  

Recommended - A light-hearted, campy read that is clever, fast-paced, adventurous and entertaining. 

Paranormalcy came from my personal library.  

©2013 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery  or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

Reboot by Amy Tintera

Reboot by Amy Tintera

Copyright 2013
Harper Teen - Dystopian
Ages 13 and up
369 pp.

Source:  Harper Collins

Brief summary without spoilers:

In the future, war and a deadly virus have taken a large portion of the population.  When people die of the virus, some of them "reboot" as slightly stronger but less emotional creatures who can only be killed with a bullet to the brain or a serious head injury.  The longer you're dead before you reboot, the less emotional you are.  Wren is a 178 -- dead 178 minutes, very unusual.  She is a slave to the corporation, HARC, and must go on missions to the slums to bring in people with the virus, those who have rebooted but haven't been turned in by their parents and other lawbreakers.

When she's not on a mission, Wren is busy training new reboots.  Usually, Wren chooses the highest-number reboots because they're easiest to train, less emotional, less likely to die or be eliminated for not measuring up.  But, then along comes a 22 named Callum.  Wren decides it might be interesting to see if she's up to the challenge of training such an emotional and slow reboot.  But, when he defies orders and is about to be eliminated at the same time she is asked to rescue a 39 from certain death, Wren realizes escape is their only option.  But, is escape even possible?

What I loved about Reboot:

Reboot is essentially a new twist on the zombie concept and I loved the uniqueness.  The Reboots have died and lost some degree of emotion and humanity but they've gained different abilities like a stronger sense of smell, strength and speed. They're not brain-eating beings but slightly altered humans.  It took a while to wrap my head around the concept of the Reboot but the farther you get into the book, the more it makes sense.

Wren is a kick-ass female archetype; Callum is funny and charming.  And, while Reboot is Wren's story, it's because of Callum that you see the humanity even Wren doesn't realize is left inside of her.  Besides the excellent characterization, Reboot is tremendously fun, with an exceptional balance between action and interaction.  The ending is satisfying and perfectly wrapped up.  The author could easily carry the story forward (I don't know if Reboot will have a sequel) but there's no annoying cliffhanger ending.

What I disliked about Reboot:

The only criticism I can come up with is that the language in Reboot is a bit too simplistic.  I found myself wanting to upgrade words like "mean" or "dumb" to those with more specific meanings and if I'd been her editor or beta reader, would have nudged the author to ramp up the vocabulary a bit.  The reading level, though, does make Reboot an excellent choice for when you need a bit of a mental break, definitely the kind of book I like to read when traveling -- I have a terrible concentration level on vacation.

Recommendation:

Highly recommended, action-packed reading with a solid dilemma, satisfyingly complex plot and a truly lovely romance that builds slowly and believably.  Light, funny, exciting adventure, a strong heroine and a charming hero.  I absolutely adored Callum.  Also, I don't recall any bad language or graphic sex, although there is talk of Reboot sex being a rather mindless hormone-related thing.  I liked how the author treated sexuality and definitely wouldn't have any problem leaving it out where an adolescent could get hold of the Reboot.

In other news:

Our weather has been so unusually pleasant that we've been going to our local baseball games.  It helps that we've moved 30 miles closer to the ballpark, of course.

A baseball bookmark, just for you:

Sports are 1,000 times more fun when you take a camera.  Humble opinion.

©2013 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery  or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

Forbidden by Syrie and Ryan M. James

Forbidden by Syrie James & Ryan M. James

Copyright 2012

HarperTeen - Young Adult/Paranormal

412 pp.

I wish I was on HarperTeen's mailing list. I managed to win my copy of Forbidden from Alyce of At Home With Books and it was such a pleasant diversion.

16-year-old Claire Brennan has never lived anywhere for long. It has always seemed as if her mother is running from something. But, she's been attending exclusive Emerson Academy for two years and she loves her school. When Claire begins having psychic visions, she's afraid to tell her mother. What is her mother running from? Why are strange things suddenly happening to Claire?

Alec MacKenzie is a Watcher, an angelic being whose job is to eliminate the Fallen when they become too dangerous. But, after over 100 years of doing his job, he's weary and just wants to give human life a try. He's had many years to learn a lot of information, so a school with a reputation for excellence seems like a nice place to hide and play at being normal. But, trouble follows. When Alec's godfather says there's a dangerous Halfblood roaming around Emerson, Alec agrees to help locate the Halfblood only if his godfather will guarantee not to turn Alec in.

Claire has a terrible crush on Alec and the feeling is mutual. But, Alec knows their love is forbidden. Is there a way for Alec to do his job and continue to spend time with Claire? Or must they be separated for eternity? Even worse, could their romance end in death?

What I loved about Forbidden:

I've been in a YA mood, lately, and Forbidden was just what I needed. It's got danger, forbidden romance, a dubious character or two (or four), and enough suspense to make the pages fly. The writing is also light enough for someone who is in the middle of working on preparing to buy a house and move. Haha. Had to throw that in. I do have a little trouble focusing on more intense reading material when I've got a lot going on, so young adult novels are particularly wonderful for such times.

I liked the characters and was swept away by the dilemma, the romance, and the paranormal elements. The lightness of the writing was very pleasant, since I've got a lot on my mind.

What I disliked about Forbidden:

Apart from answering with the word "Aye" instead of "Yes", Alec's dialogue does not make him sound like a Scot, but he is from Scotland. He pretty much sounds like everyone else in California and is most distinguished by the fact that he's lived a monk-like existence and has only eaten extremely healthy food. So, pizza and other foods are a shocking joy to him and, actually, his new food experiences and special abilities set him apart more than any attempt at a believable accent. I don't think that's a terrible thing, though, as a lot of authors overdo their attempt to make someone sound authentic, which ends up distracting the reader from the storyline. So, Alec's lack of Scottishness is a minor complaint.

Recommendation:

Loved it! Recommended to paranormal fans who like a clean, light read with plenty of romantic tension, solid writing and a nice plot. This is only the second book I've read with angels in it so I can't say how it compares to others but I enjoyed Forbidden. It can be a tiny bit sappy, at times, and there is a smidgen of love triangle -- which, of course, has become a bit of a tired, old thing in YA -- but I liked both of the male characters and very rarely thought, "Oh, come on!" That may be because I haven't read much YA, this year. Forbidden swept me away and entertained me. That's all I care.

And, the latest news:

Things seem to be progressing rather quickly with the house purchase. Those who know me well will understand when I say I'm most excited about the fact that the neighborhood we're planning to move into has sidewalks and the city has leash laws. The absence of both has been really frustrating because we both grew up walking and riding bikes in neighborhoods where dogs were fenced and not a threat to active people (and dogs were not threatened by cars, which I believe is equally important). I cannot wait to ride a bike in my own neighborhood!

The cats are going to probably be peeved, though. I just have a feeling. Cats aren't really thrilled with the concept of change. We shall see.

Happy Monday!

Bookfool, who is trying to stop admiring all the improvements she's made to the house she's planning to sell.

©2012 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery and Babble or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

13 Little Blue Envelopes and The Last Little Blue Envelope by Maureen Johnson

Review #3 for today. Weekly updates will begin next Tuesday.

I bought 13 Little Blue Envelopes as an e-book when Amazon was having a big summer sale, not long ago, because I liked Maureen Johnson's quirky entry in the 3-author Christmas book Let It Snow.

As you probably know if you're a regular reader of my blog, I have a terrible time getting myself to read e-books. I prefer real books that I can hold in my hand. I also adore Post-its and most definitely do not have any affection for the tedious highlighting feature of the Kindle app on my iPad, Petunia.

At any rate, I felt like reading something very light and 13 Little Blue Envelopes fit the bill. Ginny Blackstone has received a parcel containing 13 letters from her deceased aunt, Peg. In the first letter, Peg instructs her to pack a single backpack with everything she needs (not including a cell phone or any other techie equipment) and head to England, where she is to knock on a particular door and ask a man what he sold to the queen. From there, she must follow the oddly cryptic directions to each clue, only opening the next envelope after she's completed whatever tasks are required. The letters lead her on a bit of a wild-goose chase across Europe, finally ending with the theft of her bag, including the last envelope. But, she figures out the goal without that final letter.

In general, I found 13 Little Blue Envelopes a little too fluffy, vague and not entirely meaningful. However, I really liked the characters, the dialogue and Maureen Johnson's quirky turn of phrase, so I enjoyed the reading.

I was about a quarter of the way into 13 Little Blue Envelopes when I took a jaunt to Borders and sought out a copy of the follow-up book, The Last Little Blue Envelope. If you read the author's notes, you'll find that she didn't intend to write a series but apparently was deluged with requests for a continuation of Ginny's story, which is not surprising because 13 Little Blue Envelopes doesn't feel entirely complete.

In The Last Little Blue Envelope, Ginny returns to England after she's contacted by a fellow named Oliver. Oliver purchased her stolen backpack in Greece and found the missing letters. But, he's heard about what happened at the end of the first book (which I think is a bit of a spoiler) and knows what Ginny is supposed to look for, now that her first tasks have been completed. Let's just say there's money involved and he wants a cut, okay? I don't want to give away too much.

After returning to England, Ginny is forced into an agreement and goes off on yet another mission that involves dashing to various countries on the European continent along with a side trip to Ireland.

Much as I love Maureen Johnson's writing quirks, I have to admit that neither of these books did much for me. I thought they read like an excuse to take a European holiday for research. The settings were great, the dialogue tremendously fun, the turn of phrase unique. But, the goals in both seemed totally implausible and Ginny spent so little time in each place she visited that I felt a little short-changed. Midway through The Last Little Blue Envelope, I began to really hate Aunt Peg's ridiculously cryptic letters. I'm a straightforward person. Hints and puzzles rather than directness just irritate me.

Having said all that, I will say that I think both books are great for when you're seeking something extremely light and fluffy. There simply isn't a lot of depth to either, in my humble opinion, although there is the obvious subtext about living life to the fullest and understanding art for its own sake because Peg was dying as she wrote the letters. The Last Little Blue Envelope appears to have been left deliberately open-ended, probably with the idea of writing yet another sequel in mind. If there is a third book, I probably won't read it.

Recommended for a fluff break but not among my favorite YA reads. Don't expect anything too deep.

©2011 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery and Babble or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.