Goodbye!

I'm off to Shanghai in the morning, so expect a decrease in posts and online presence until I get settled in. I'll try to keep you all up to date with book, Shanghai, and job news as much as I can. Bye for now!

Cover Lust (28)

The Princess Curse by Merrie Haskell

(HarperCollins / Sept. 6, 2011)

Ooooooh so gorgeous! I love the vibrancy of the cool blues and reds, and I love that it's illustrated. Very, very, very pretty.

Wanderlove by Kirsten Hubbard

(Delacorte Books / March 13, 2012)

Kirsten Hubbard gets the cream in YA contemporary covers. The cover of Like Mandarin was awesome and this one stays along those lines, making use of white space and one strong color scheme. Wowww.

Born Wicked (The Cahill Witch Chronicles, Book 1) by Jessica Spotswood

(Putnam Juvenile / Feb. 7, 2012)

This makes my blood hum a little, I think. What lusciousness! I like that it combines the fairy/magic/witch cover art element (wilderness, light pretty dresses, flowers in her hair) with something slightly wicked and modern (the girl's stare).

Everneath by Brodi Ashton

(Balzer + Bray / Jan. 3, 2012)

So it's totally not my type of read, being a paranormal romance, but I can't help my eyes widening at the sight of that flowy dress trailing off into wisps of smoke (!!!). And that pinkish red color is to die for.

Review: Luminous by Dawn Metcalf

Tags: YA, POC, magical realism, murder

Summary

Consuela led a normal life up until the point she discovers that she can slip off her skin and enter the Flow, a kind of other dimension. Those who can travel through the Flow exist to help save the lives of those in the real world, but Consuela’s arrival in the Flow coincide with the beginning of a string of frightening murders within the Flow. Someone, it seems, is determined to end the Flow, and everyone is a suspect—but the murderer might hold Consuela’s key to returning home.

Review

LUMINOUS was…interesting. Okay, “interesting” might be a tad generous. LUMINOUS is ambitious, and beautifully written, but at times it was a confusing and emotionally distant read for me.

Dawn Metcalf’s writing is astounding, an awe-inspiring combination between the rhythmic hypnotism of freestyle poetry and deliciousness of rich and unusual prose. This is something I feel like I don’t see much of in current YA, that I wouldn’t mind seeing more of, these creative risks with writing style.

The concept of the Flow is very intriguing, and certainly unlike anything I’ve read. True to the whimsy of the writing style, the Flow is never fully explained, or at least is not explained in a way that solidifies its presence and purpose for me. Thus, my head was spinning for a great portion of the book, because I had never fully grasped the concept.

The same goes for the characters. LUMINOUS shifts between multiple characters’ points of view rather arbitrarily, making it so that the identity of the murderer is not long a secret. I would be alright with this, except that I felt like the murderer’s justification for his cold-blooded actions was only partially explored, and existed mostly in circular monologues declaiming his self-importance or the righteousness of his motives. Consuela did not feel as developed as she could’ve been, either. So she has this astounding new talent, and wants very much to return home to her family, but beyond that she did not seem to have much else to make her really “fill out” as a three-dimensional character. My lack of connection to the characters, along with the book’s uneven pacing—I was intrigued at the beginning, and then felt like things were dragging on and on—left me feeling a little “on the outside” of the story.

Still, LUMINOUS packs some powerful and thought-provoking themes, and may be extremely rewarding for the patient reader who likes the supernatural challenge. Check it out if it seems up your alley or if you want something different.

Cover discussion: I like how it's so colorful and eye-catching!

Dutton Juvenile / June 30, 2011 / Hardcover / 304pp. / $17.99

Sent by publisher for blog tour.

In My Mailbox (66)

In My Mailbox is a weekly meme inspired by Alea and hosted by Kristi. Check out Kristi's post to see what others got for books this week!

My last one for a long, long while, probably. I move to China this Wednesday!

For Review:
Blood Red Road (audiobook) by Moira Young

Want to Go Private? by Sarah Darer Littman
I remember talking to Sarah about this book when she was still working on it. I hope it's a terrifying read.

32 Candles by Ernessa T. Carter
Received for a blog tour! I'm excited. I've been wanting to read this for a long time.

Blood Red Road by Moira Young
Something tells me that the universe wants me to read Blood Red Road...

Fateful by Claudia Gray

The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin

From Bad to Cursed by Katie Alender

The Near Witch by Victoria Schwab

Michael Vey: The Prisoner of Cell 25 by Richard Paul Evans
Oh dear, another bestselling adult author trying to enter the YA market?

And then Random House sent me a giant box o' books...

Bad Taste in Boys by Carrie Harris
The Other Countess by Eve Edwards
Starstruck by Cyn Balog
Texas Gothic by Rosemary Clement-Moore
The Summer I Learned to Fly by Dana Reinhardt
Sass & Serendipity by Jennifer Ziegler
Wildcat Fireflies by Amber Kizer
Amen, L.A. by Cherie Bennett and Jeff Gottesfeld
Sons of Liberty, Book 2: Death and Taxes by Alexander Lagos and Joseph Lagos

Thank you to Simon & Schuster, Trish, HarperCollins, Michelle, Disney-Hyperion, and Random House!

Bought:
Dragon Bound by Thea Harrison
NOOKcolor - I've been able to read GalleyGrab books on it, yay! Although for now I've kind of been using it primarily to play games. I've gotten quite good at Sudoku by now...

Swapped:
Bitten by Kelley Armstrong
Eona: The Last Dragoneye by Alison Goodman
Moonshine by Alaya Johnson

Well, that's all for now, folks. Thank you to all who have supplied me with more books than I could ever possibly read in a lifetime. IMM will be taking a break until I actually, you know, get books over in China. Looking forward to it!