Tag: middle grade

Mini-Reviews: School, Remember, Secret

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Soman Chainani, The School for Good and Evil

Every year, two children are kidnapped from the village of Gavaldon. One, beautiful and kind-hearted, is sent to the School for Good, and the other, ugly and malicious, goes to the School for Evil. This year, Sophie is determined to be the one selected for the School for Good, where she’ll become the heroine of her very own fairy tale, complete with Prince Charming. But when she and her friend, the plain and all-black-wearing Agatha, are chosen, she’s shocked to end up in Evil, while Agatha is sent to Good. Can the two girls figure out how to fix this mistake – and what happens if they want to go home? I loved the first sentence of this book (“Sophie had waited all her life to be kidnapped”), but unfortunately it was mostly downhill from there. The plot lurches along unsteadily and is surprisingly hard to follow, and I found Sophie so awful that I wondered why Agatha (or anyone) would want to be friends with her! There are some interesting ideas in the book, but they never quite gel into anything substantial. Not recommended, and I won’t be continuing with the series.

Mary Balogh, Remember That Day

Winifred Cunningham is close friends with Owen Ware and has been invited, with her family, to his family’s estate of Ravenswood for a few weeks. Winifred wonders whether Owen will propose to her; they share a passion for helping others and might do a lot of good together. But she’s not in love with him, and as the visit proceeds, she finds herself unexpectedly attracted to his brother, Colonel Nicholas Ware. Meanwhile, Nicholas is about to make a pragmatic proposal to his commanding officer’s daughter, but meeting Winifred throws a wrench in his plans. This is another mildly pleasant installment of the Ravenswood series. I liked the central love story but felt it lacked depth; too much time was spent on the myriad supporting characters in both Nicholas’s and Winifred’s families, and I just don’t find them interesting! I really hope the next book is Stephanie’s story, which still intrigues me, but after that I’ll probably stick with Balogh’s earlier titles.

Tana French, The Secret Place

This fifth book in the Dublin Murder Squad series is set at St. Kilda’s, a posh girls’ boarding school where a student from the neighboring boys’ school was found dead a year ago. The case was never solved, but now Detective Stephen Moran has received an anonymous note saying, “I know who killed him.” Hoping for a permanent spot on the Murder Squad, Moran teams up with Antoinette Conway, the abrasive detective who worked the case the first time around. As they delve deeper into St. Kilda’s mysteries, they’re shocked to discover just how much these teenage girls are hiding. I liked this book a lot more than Broken Harbor, though a few things still bugged me: The narrative switches between the present-day investigation and the months leading up to the boy’s murder, and I found the present-day story much more interesting. The teen speak felt inauthentic, and I didn’t like the supernatural element. But I did really love the insights into teen friendship and psychology, as well as the development of Moran and Conway’s partnership. I’m interested to see how that dynamic continues and changes in the next (and final) book.

Mini-Reviews: First, Lady, Lease

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Robin Stevens, First Class Murder

In this installment of the Wells and Wong mystery series, Hazel’s father has decided to take her and Daisy on a holiday aboard the Orient Express. They’ve been strictly admonished not to do any detecting, but neither Hazel nor Daisy intends to obey, especially when they encounter espionage, theft, and murder on the train. Obviously the setup is an homage to Agatha Christie’s famous novel (which Daisy is actually reading in this book), but Stevens puts her own spin on the plot. One thing I really like about this series is that, despite the unrealistic premise of two 13-year-old girls solving murders, the books deal with the consequences of that premise in realistic ways. The fallout from Hazel and Daisy’s previous case (chronicled in Poison Is Not Polite) continues to matter in this book. There’s also some nice character development for Hazel as her relationship with her father begins to change. I’m definitely planning to continue with the series!

Sylvia Izzo Hunter, Lady of Magick

Two years after the events of The Midnight Queen, Sophie and Gray travel to the University of Dun Edin in the kingdom of Alba, a fantasy version of Scotland. While there, they observe economic hardship and political unrest, which is exacerbated by news of the Alban princess’s betrothal to an English prince. Eventually, Sophie and Gray find themselves at the center of a sinister magical plot that could upset both the Alban and English thrones. Since I loved the first book of this trilogy, I was excited to continue with this installment, but I found it very disappointing. The pace is glacial; basically nothing relevant to the plot happens till beyond the halfway point. The first book was slow-paced too, but because the character development and world-building were so interesting, I didn’t mind. In this book, though, none of the main characters grow or change in a significant way, so it all just felt a bit pointless. I’m still cautiously optimistic about the third and final book, but my expectations are definitely more moderate now.

Falon Ballard, Lease on Love

Sadie is a financial analyst who thinks she’s finally about to get a well-deserved promotion. When her boss gives it to his future son-in-law instead, she reacts poorly and ends up getting fired. Now she can’t afford her pricey Manhattan apartment, so she looks for a new living situation and meets Jack, who’s renting out a room in his Brooklyn brownstone. The rent is ridiculously low, so she jumps at the opportunity, despite the fact that nerdy, introverted Jack is her total opposite. But as they get to know each other better, they find that opposites attract. This is a fun, breezy contemporary romance that’s oddly low-stakes given the main characters’ tragic backstories. I never quite understood why they didn’t act on their feelings much sooner! Also, Jack seems entirely too perfect, and since we only see him through Sadie’s eyes, we never learn what makes him tick. That said, the book is a quick and enjoyable read, but not a necessary one in my opinion.

Mini-Reviews: Smallbone, Komarr, Feather

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Delia Sherman, The Evil Wizard Smallbone

Twelve-year-old Nick Reynaud runs away from an abusive home and is taken in by the Evil Wizard Smallbone. He’s unable to leave the property, and Smallbone has an irritating tendency to transform him into various animals, but Nick begins to thrive in his new life despite these drawbacks — and even learns some magic himself. When a competing evil wizard threatens Smallbone and his people, Nick decides to take action. I enjoyed this quirky middle-grade fantasy novel. It’s clever and fun but also doesn’t shy away from some darker realities. I didn’t fall in love with the book, but I definitely think it would be a great read for its target age group.

Lois McMaster Bujold, Komarr

Miles officially begins his career as Imperial Auditor by investigating the possible sabotage of Komarr’s solar mirror; without the mirror, Komarr’s terraforming project will experience severe setbacks, which will be politically difficult for Barrayar as well as disastrous for Komarr itself. As Miles uncovers a fraudulent scheme and a sinister Komarran plot, he also falls for Ekaterin Vorsoisson, the unhappily married wife of the bureaucrat with whom he’s staying. So, in other words, typical Miles! I feel like this series has really hit its stride now, and I loved this installment. It was great to get some chapters from Ekaterin’s point of view, though her relationship with Tien makes for difficult reading at times. I am SUPER excited for A Civil Campaign now!

Joyce Harmon, A Feather to Fly With

Arthur Ramsey, the Duke of Winton, is far more interested in his scientific pursuits than in high society. But he knows he must eventually marry, so he asks his gregarious best friend for help in navigating the intricacies of flirting and courtship. Meanwhile, unconventional (and highly unsuitable) Cleo Cooper has her own reasons for embarking on a London Season, and they don’t include matrimony. But when Arthur and Cleo meet, their mutual attraction threatens to upend their future plans. The front cover of this book calls it “a sparkling romantic romp in the classic Regency tradition,” and I’d say that’s spot on. I especially liked the adorably nerdy Arthur and his struggles to learn society’s unspoken rules. It’s not a particularly deep book, but it is a fun read if you like this kind of thing!

Mini-Reviews: Poison, Jeweled, Walk

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Robin Stevens, Poison Is Not Polite

Hazel Wong and her best friend Daisy Wells encounter another mystery while visiting Daisy’s country home over the Easter holiday. Various other houseguests arrive, including Mr. Curtis, an odious “friend” of Daisy’s mother’s. Hazel and Daisy are convinced he’s up to no good, and they decide the Detective Society must investigate. But when he suddenly dies after drinking a cup of tea, the girls realize they may have another murder to solve. I quite enjoyed this novel; Hazel is an endearing narrator and protagonist, and her “outsider” perspective on Daisy’s upper-class English family yields a lot of fun moments. The mystery plot is less successful; it’s not fair play, and the solution is not very satisfying. But it’s also surprisingly morally ambiguous for a middle-grade book, which I found interesting. So I liked this one overall and will probably continue with the series at some point.

Sharon Shinn, Jeweled Fire

This book picks up right where Royal Airs left off: Princess Corene has departed Welce for the neighboring nation of Malinqua, where she hopes to make a marriage alliance with one of the three potential heirs. But as she navigates the treacherous court with the help of her loyal bodyguard, Foley, she discovers a sinister plot against herself and the other potential brides-to-be. This book was a definite improvement over Royal Airs; Corene is a flawed but fascinating heroine, the plot is full of political intrigue, and there’s a brand-new setting and new characters to explore. Because of that, we don’t see many of the characters from previous books, but we still hear a fair amount about them. Overall, I enjoyed this one and look forward to picking up the fourth and final book in the series.

Katherine Center, How to Walk Away

Margaret is about to start living the life she’s always wanted: she’ll shortly be starting a high-powered job, and her boyfriend Chip just proposed. But everything changes when a tragic accident sends her to the hospital with an injured spinal cord, and the doctors aren’t sure if she’ll ever walk again. As Margaret tries to cope with her new reality, her relationships with her family and with Chip also change, for better and for worse. As with Things You Save in a Fire, I found this book very addictive and compelling. Margaret’s experience feels true to life, and the book doesn’t sugarcoat her emotional or physical difficulties. There’s a lovely romance that keeps things from getting too bleak, and the ending is uplifting but not unrealistically so (except for the too-sweet epilogue). I’ll definitely search out more books by this author!

Review: The Enchanted Forest Chronicles

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Enchanted Forest ChroniclesPatricia C. Wrede, The Enchanted Forest Chronicles

These four stories take place in a fractured-fairytale setting and center around Cimorene, a princess who refuses to be proper. In Dealing with Dragons, Cimorene wants to escape marriage to a handsome but dull prince, so she runs away and offers to become the princess of the dragon Kazul. She has many adventures in her new life, most importantly thwarting some meddlesome wizards who hope to steal the dragons’ magic. In Searching for Dragons, Mendanbar, the king of the Enchanted Forest, needs to find out who is stealing magic from the forest, so he teams up with Cimorene to discover that those pesky wizards are at it again. Calling on Dragons follows the witch Morwen, who discovers yet another wizard plot and must alert Cimorene and Mendanbar, with the help of her nine cats and a magician named Telemain. Finally, in Talking to Dragons, Cimorene’s son Daystar has his own adventure and learns about his past as a result.

What a delight these books are! They’re marketed for children, but they contain so much sly humor that they can definitely be enjoyed by adults as well. It’s fun to catch all the references to, and subversions of, fairytale tropes: for example, in the first book, Cimorene is perpetually annoyed by knights and princes who keep trying to “rescue” her.   I also really loved all the main characters in these books, especially the women. Cimorene is a delightful heroine, strong-minded and pragmatic, who can solve any problem that comes her way, including melting a troublesome wizard. And the witch Morwen reminds me a great deal of Professor McGonagall — stern, but with a heart of gold underneath. I unapologetically shipped her and Telemain! Some things didn’t quite work for me, such as the rabbit-turned-donkey in the third book; he’s meant to be comic relief, but I found him a little much. And Shiara, a main character in the fourth book, seems a little bit too much like Cimorene. But all in all, I really enjoyed these books and am frankly annoyed that I don’t know any eight- or nine-year-old children to share them with!