Review: Glass Houses by Rachel Cain

Glass Houses
(The Morganville Vampires, Book One)
Rachel Cain

My Rating:

Description:

College should be an exciting time, but for brainy 16-year-old Claire Danvers that's too mild a word. Due to advanced placement, Claire can start college early, but her parents refuse to allow her to go to the distant Ivy League school of her dreams. She goes to Texas Prairie University where she is tormented by the popular girls—but that's the least of her worries. Morganville, home of the university, is also home to vampires and vampire hunters. Claire finds protection from the horrors of the town in the Glass House with three fellow outcasts, Goth girl Eve, rebellious Shane, and Michael, who disappears during the day. Claire falls for Shane and would do anything to protect her friends, including facing down bloodthirsty vampires and dangerous bikers. (from bn.com)

My Review:

Glass Houses was one of those books that, for the first third of it, I didn't think I was going to like it. I was lining up flaws and issues that I could foresee coming in the story and character plot lines. However, I ended up surprised by how everything eventually just started clicking together and how it all worked.

The cliff's note of the version of the story is sixteen year old Claire is attending university in the small, Texas town of Morganville. She's a genius with dreams of Ivy league but her parents wanted her to stay close to home. However, their plan to protect their daughter doesn't really work out all that well because the popular girls have taken to harassing her. This ends up escalating to a point where they push her down the stairs in their dorm and threaten her life. Fearing for safety, Claire seeks out other living arrangements which is ultimately how she ends up being roommates with 18 and 19 year old's Eve, Shane and Michael in the glass house. Eve's a goth girl who works at Common Grounds, the local coffee joint. Shane's a slacker with a pretty face. And Michael? He's a musician that never leaves the house and sleeps all day. The three hometown teens introduced Claire to the real side of Morganville, where not only are vampires real but they rule the town. And Claire finds herself on the vampires' bad side very quickly and it's going to take the four of them to get her out of this alive.

I kinda sorta really love this book because, with the flooding of the YA genre with vampire books that take huge liberties with the mythology, the Morganville vamps are extremely traditional. They need to drink blood to stay alive, they can't come out in the daylight, you need to invite them in for them to gain access to your house, garlic is a big no-no, etc. You don't understand how utterly happy this made me.

Also Cain does a great job explaining how it is the vampires can exist, known to the general public in the town, without making it feel forced. There is a logic behind it, how it's just part of life there.

Like I said earlier, I was unsure of this book at the start. One of my biggest issues going into it was the discovery that Claire was sixteen, despite being in college (not something I was aware of, due to the college element I was expecting the female lead to be of age). I figured this would either highly limit the character or force it to become extremely unrealistic. With the rest of the cast 18 or 19 year olds I figured we wouldn't get a real romantic interest for her along with the nagging realization that her parents are nowhere to be seen.

And I actually ended up loving the fact that Claire was younger. In a lot of ways it shows in her character, she may be a genius when it comes to school stuff but she is a bit naive in the workings of the world. It also explains, to an extent, why the other three are so protective of her opposed to her simply being a victim (and their is some lovely character growth on Claire's part throughout the book). Not to mention, upon moving into the glass house Michael brings up the fact that having a minor living with them could get him and Shane into a lot of trouble. And when her parents show up, they act like parents. It's refreshing the age thing wasn't just forgotten within a few pages and it was reflective in the storyline.

And ultimately, yes, it does add a nice element to the relationship between Shane and her. Which, by the way, I absolutely adore. It was played out absolutely lovely. There is a lot of subtly to the interaction between the two and the foundation has been built before you even realize it's happening.

Warning: the book does end with a cliffhanger so make sure you have the second on hand. But this is so worth the read. The only reason this baby didn't earn five stars is because the first third of the book did start off rather slow, in my opinion. Here's hoping the second book can keep this up.

Review: Dirty Laundry by Daniel Ehrenhaft

Dirty Laundry
Daniel Ehrenhaft

My Rating:

Description:

The School: The Winchester School of the Arts, nick-named "The Laundromat" because it's where better schools send their "dirty laundry." Get kicked out of Exeter, Hotch-kiss, or Choate? End up at Winchester.

The Girl: Carli, a gorgeous pigtailed Hollywood actress going undercover at Winchester to research her role.

The Boy: Fun (short for Fellini Udall Newport), an embittered senior and graffiti artist who was almost expelled - until his dad (and a lot of money) convinced the headmaster to let him work off his crime as Carli's assistant.

The Problem: Beautiful, talented senior Darcy Novak, one of the least screwed-up people at Winchester, has disappeared.

As Carli and Fun discover each other's hidden talents, there's a villain setting them up. Can they save Darcy - and themselves - or will they wash out?

My Review:

Dirty Laundry was one of those books I picked up on a whim. I was at the library, with a stack of suggested books and it caught my eye. After passing it for the third time I finally picked it up because it had a cute cover, the plot sounded interesting and I thought why not. If it sucks, I'll have one bad review for my blog to give it street cred.

I'm extremely happy I did because Dirty Laundry ended surprising me. The book revolves around two main characters, Carli and Fun. Carli is a C-list actress who has been cast as the lead in a new show about private school. She's sent off to Winchester School of the Arts in order to "get into character", using her characters names and observing the behavior of other students. That is where Fun comes in, he's the son of Carli's boss and has agreed to work as Carli's personal assistant in order to not be expelled for all the graffiti he's done on campus.

As for the school, Winchester is the place where all the bad apples end up after being expelled from other boarding schools. So it's an interesting array of characters and staff that Carli interacts with upon arriving at the school. Most of whom are focused on Darcy, one of the more stable students who had mysteriously disappeared at the start of the book and the surrounding investigation.

The narration in the book switches back and forth between Carli and Fun, along with the occasional police transcript, IM conversation or blog entry by Nails. It can be a bit jarring at first but after the first part of the book it gets into a good flow and works well.

The book also gets points because, despite a cast of unbalanced boarding school students, it stays mostly within the realm of reality and the ending is quirky but not over the top.

It's not a perfect book, Carli's shame spirals are overdone in the first part of the book and Fun's a bit to stand offish to really get into. That and the interaction between the two isn't explored to the extent that I hoped it would be. The few scenes they have together are awesome, but most of the book is spent with them in a group or separately.

Dirty Laundry isn't going to be everyone's cup of tea but it was one I strongly enjoyed.

Review: Dead is the New Black by Marlene Perez

Dead is the New Black
Marlene Perez

My Rating:

Description:

Welcome to Nightshade, California; a small town full of secrets. It's home to the pyschic Giordano sisters, who have a way of getting mixed up in mysteries. During their investigations, they run across everything from pom-pom-shaking vampires to shape-shifting boyfriends to a clue-spewing jukebox. With their psychic powers and some sisterly support, they can crack any case.

Teenage girls are being mysteriously attacked all over town, including at Nightshade High School, where Daisy Giordano is a junior. When Daisy discovers that a vampire may be the culprit, she can't help but suspect head cheerleader Samantha Devereaux, who returned from summer break with a new look; Samantha appears a little . . . well, dead, and all the most popular kids at school are copying her style.

Is looking dead just another fashion trend for Samantha, or is there something more sinister going on? To find out, Daisy joins the cheerleading squad.

My Review:

Let me start out by saying that I really wanted to like this book. I had heard some great things about it, the series this kicks off was highly recommended plus the backcover had this nifty review:

"Dead is the New Black equals Veronica Mars plus Buffy the Vampire Slayer..."

Now, I own every season of Buffy on DVD, along with season one of Veronica Mars. They are among, what I believe to be, some of the best television ever created. They were smart, funny and worked. So yeah, my expectations going into this book were really high.

And I think that this may have been a bad thing because by the time I finished it I was left disappointed and let down.

The book starts out with potential and up until the scene in the morgue with Daisy and Ryan I was feeling it. The mystery of Daisy's father disappearing, the former friendship alluded to between her and the queen bee bitch / possible vampire of the school Samantha, a psychic family and her friendship with hotty Ryan possibly turning into something more? There was so much to work with here.

But after the morgue, everything went down really fast. Daisy never really took off as a character and she, in my opinion, is far from the independent outsider we're lead to believe she is. Most of her actions are the result of other people telling her to do them. Such as wearing the bracelet that Samantha gave her, cause she was told to (despite believing it could harm or even kill her). And her reasons for joining the cheerleading squad? Are definitely not to 'solve the case' like suggested. The coach and Samantha said to, so she did. It even states in the book she isn't looking into the case because of cheerleading practice.

The same can be said for most of the characters. Ryan lacks a personality, Daisy's two sisters are interchangable and we don't see enough of her mother to really feel like their is a character there. Sean, Samantha's boyfriend, is reference numerously but he might as well be a cardboard cutout.

On top of that, the ending and resolution to the "who is the vampire attacking the cheerleaders?!?!" feels ridiculously rushed and is a huge let down.

I know that this is a fairly unpopular opinion and I'd suggest checking out other reviews of the book. Like I said earlier, I may have enjoyed it more if I hadn't gone in with such high hopes for the series. And the book does have it's moments, the morgue scene at the beginning is fairly awesome.

Overall, I just wasn't really feeling it.

Review: Perfect (A Pretty Little Liars Novel) by Sara Shepard

Perfect
(A Pretty Little Liars Novel)
Sara Shepard

Rating:

Description:

In a town where gossip thrives like the ivy that clings to its mansions, where mysteries lie behind manicured hedges and skeletons hide in every walk-in closet, four perfect-looking girls aren't nearly as perfect as they seem.

Three years ago, Spencer, Aria, Emily, Hanna, and their best friend Alison were the girls at Rosewood Day School. They clicked through the halls in their Miu Miu flats, tanned in their matching Pucci bikinis, and laughed behind their freshly manicured fingernails. They were the girls everyone loved but secretly hated—especially Alison.

So when Alison mysteriously vanished one night, Spencer, Aria, Emily, and Hanna's grief was tinged with . . . relief. And when Alison's body was later discovered in her own backyard, the girls were forced to unearth some ugly memories of their old friend, too. Could there be more to Alison's death than anyone realizes?

Now someone named A, someone who seems to know everything, is pointing the finger at one of them for Ali's murder. As their secrets get darker and their scandals turn deadly, A is poised to ruin their perfect little lives forever. (from bn.com)

My Review:

Perfect, the third Pretty Little Liars novel, picks up roughly a month after Toby's suicide at the end of the previous book, Flawless. The cryptic messages from "A" have stopped and the girl's are moving on with their lives.

Aria is trying to find a sense of normalcy by dating Sean, Spencer has thrown herself back into school despite her mom putting her into therapy, Hanna and Mona are back on normal bff terms and Emily has been dating Maya in secret. However "A" isn't done with them and starts outing the girls deep, dark secrets.

I finished this book several days ago but have been sitting on this review because for, the longest time, I wasn't sure how I was going to rate it. From my previous two reviews of the series, it's obvious that I am a huge fan of the Pretty Little Liars novels. That said, this book was...lacking in several ways.

Which is understandable because, in the notes at the end of the novel, Shepard comments that this was the hardest of the original arc (contained in the first four novels) to write due to so many clues and events having to fit together perfectly in it.

And it does show in the book, certain parts of it feel ridiculously rushed. On top of that, I found Aria (a character I have been more or less neutral about) annoying and hypocritical in this book. I ended up rushing through most of her chapters, which unfortunately make up a good percentage of the book.

However, whatever faults the novel has it made up for in the other three girls. Not much happens with Hanna except her friendship with Mona falling apart and a drastic loss of popularity. Despite this, it's a humanizing effect and I ended up having fond feelings for her at the end of the book. Her character development has been a nice surprise.

The story also starts exploring Spencer's blackouts and the recovery of a memory that occurred the night of Alison's murder. The way the memory was slowly revealed, piece by piece, was well done and created a nice twist. And, as always, Emily's storyline remained my favorite as we see her relationship with Maya being outed to the entire school and her family. The fall out of it and Emily's feelings over it is a part of the book that ends up a bit rushed, unfortunately. I would have liked to see a bit more time used on this storyline opposed to Aria's. But then again, I do have a bias when it comes to Emily.

We also learn more about the girl's relationship with Alison prior to her death. Continuing in it's normal fashion, the glamor and rose tinted glasses surrounding it are removed a bit more.

As always the rotating point of view works well. The twist and turns of the novel also get back on track. While not up to par with the first book, the foreshadowing is well down and not as obvious as it was in Flawless. I had a gut feeling about one of the major twists but wasn't positive about it till right before the secret was outed.

I ended up giving this book four stars, although it's on the lower end of the spectrum. Fans of the series will obviously enjoy this book and I still highly recommend it. It's just not the strongest in the series.

I sadly don't have the fourth book in my possession yet, but I really need to get on that.

My Reviews for the Other Books in the Series:

Pretty Little Liars
Flawless

Review: Pretty Little Liars by Sara Shepard

Title: Pretty Little Liars

Series: Pretty Little Liars #1

Author: Sara Shepard

Format: Book

My Rating:

Description:

Everyone has something to hide—especially high school juniors spencer, aria, emily, and hanna.

Spencer covets her sister's boyfriend. Aria's fantasizing about her English teacher. Emily's crushing on the new girl at school. Hanna uses some ugly tricks to stay beautiful.

But they've all kept an even bigger secret since their friend Alison vanished.

How do I know? Because I know everything about the bad girls they were, the naughty girls they are, and all the dirty secrets they've kept. And guess what? I'm telling.

My Review:

Pretty Little Liars is one of those books that once you pick it up, it's nearly impossible to put down. I easily lost most of my Sunday afternoon curled up, reading this book.

It's the kick off for the series, which shares it's namesake, and does an extremely excellent job pulling you in. We're introduced in the prologue to the five main characters of the series on the first night of the all important summer vacation between seventh and eighth grade. This is also the night that Alison disappears without a trace, leaving her four best friends to quickly fall apart from each other in the tragedies wake.

I include Alison as a main character because, despite not making another real appearance after the prologue, her character is just as important and fleshed out as Spencer, Aria, Emily and Hanna. Think Lily Kane of Veronica Mars. From there we flash forward to the girl's junior year of High School, when the four girls begin receiving messages from a mysterious '-A' who know secrets that they had only shared with Alison.

The focus of the book shifts between Aria, Spencer, Emily and Hanna. Normally I'm not a huge fan of this style but each girl has such a unique, distinctive quality to her personality that it's easy to tell them apart. This causes the shift in perspective to work in favor of the story, giving you a better overall feel of the events going on.

While each girl is enthralling in their own way, I'm particularly fond of Emily and Maya. It's not extremely common to find lgbt characters in YA literature so stumbling upon ones in this book was a pleasant surprise.

What I especially love about this book is it does an amazing job not giving anything away. It's one of the reasons this book is so difficult to put down, you get pulled into the girl's world and you need to know what happens next. I especially enjoyed the fact that the book did not try to wrap up any of the major mysteries at the end of the book.

Pretty Little Liars is not a stand alone, on any level, but you aren't left with a lack of fulfillment at the end. Instead just a desire to learn what comes in the next.

The book isn't perfect, certain behaviors of the characters are unrealistic but I personally fond those easy to overlook. Seeing how I plan to make my way to the book store on my break tomorrow to pick up the second in this series, I think it more than earns the five star rating. I recommend this book to pretty much anyone.