The Iron King by Julie Kagawa

The Iron King by Julie Kagawa
First published by Harlequin Teen in 2010 (this edition by Mira Ink in 2011)



Book #1 in The Iron Fey series





Description (from Goodreads):
Meghan Chase has a secret destiny; one she could never have imagined. 
Something has always felt slightly off in Meghan's life, ever since her father disappeared before her eyes when she was six. She has never quite fit in at school or at home. 
When a dark stranger begins watching her from afar, and her prankster best friend becomes strangely protective of her, Meghan senses that everything she's known is about to change. 
But she could never have guessed the truth - that she is the daughter of a mythical faery king and is a pawn in a deadly war. Now Meghan will learn just how far she'll go to save someone she cares about, to stop a mysterious evil no faery creature dare face; and to find love with a young prince who might rather see her dead than let her touch his icy heart.


My thoughts
How much greater could this book have been? Well, not much really! The Iron King is quite honestly the best fairy/faerie book I've read so far. It is also completely different to the ones I've read; in Aprilynne Pike's Wings, faeries are actually plants and in Melissa Marr's Wicked Lovely, they're more urban and street-wise characters.


The Iron King, on the other hand, is a completely different kind of story. Julie Kagawa utilises characters from Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream as well as their supernatural realm to create a story of her own. The main character in this book is Meghan, a 16 year old girl, who lives with her mother, stepfather and stepbrother, as her father disappeared when she was very young. Her best friend is Robbie Goodfell, who lives a couple of miles away (though she has never actually been to his house - or met his parents). At some point, weird things start happening, which result in her young brother being kidnapped. As if that wasn't enough, she finds out she is the daughter of a faery king and that not everything is as it seems to be.


I haven't actually read A Midsummer Night's Dream, but I had heard of King Oberon and Queen Titania before, and I am pretty sure I'd heard of Queen Mab being mentioned somewhere. I think that the idea to use an already existent universe (the one created by Shakespeare) and make changes to it to create a completely different story was absolutely brilliant. Especially as those changes weren't just minor ones. Hence, The Iron King is not a retelling of A Midsummer Night's Dream, but a story of its own, with unique characters and a wonderful plot that kept me wanting to read it all night long!


The best part of the whole novel (for me) was where the existence of the Iron Fey was explained. If you think about it, it really is a very simple notion and makes complete sense in the context of the novel and the fey legends. I am really looking forward to seeing where Julie Kagawa will take the story.


Meghan is a lovely character; she is brave, honest, loving and determined. She enters the faerie realms for a reason and stops at nothing to achieve her final goal, which is to save her brother. As for the male characters, they are equally loveable, each for their own reasons: Puck is funny, a little reckless and always tries to make light of any situation. Ash is dark and brooding, but you can tell there is something going on inside his head that's making him unsure.


I really did love the book. Lovely writing, lovely story, lovely characters. I will definitely be picking up the next books in the series! As soon as possible!!


Rating: 9/10


Author:
Julie Kagawa was born in Sacramento, California, but, essentially, grew up in Hawaii, where her family moved to when she was 9. Over the years, she worked in many bookshops as well as as (???) a professional dog trainer. She currently lives in Louisville, Kentucky, from where she writes full-time.
Her other books in The Iron Fey series are:

The Iron Daugter (Iron Fey #2)  |  The Iron Queen (Iron Fey #3)

The Iron Knight (Iron Fey #4)

As well as two novellas

Winter's Passage (Iron Fey #1.5)  |  Summer's Crossing (Iron Fey #3.5)

(I have these two last ones and from the titles alone I am guessing that Winter's Passage has something to do with Ash, whereas Summer's Crossing has something to do with Puck.)

Read for the: 100 Books In A Year Challenge 2011, 1st in a Series Challenge

Forbidden by Tabitha Suzuma

Forbidden by Tabitha Suzuma
First published by Definitions in 2010 (this edition is an e-Galley, courtesy of the S&S Galley Grab programme)

Expected date of publication from Simon Pulse: 28th June 2011

Description (from Goodreads):
Seventeen-year-old Lochan and sixteen-year-old Maya have always felt more like friends than siblings. Together they have stepped in for their alcoholic, wayward mother to take care of their three younger siblings. As defacto parents to the little ones, Lochan and Maya have had to grow up fast. And the stress of their lives—and the way they understand each other so completely—has also also brought them closer than two siblings would ordinarily be. So close, in fact, that they have fallen in love. Their clandestine romance quickly blooms into deep, desperate love. They know their relationship is wrong and cannot possibly continue. And yet, they cannot stop what feels so incredibly right. As the novel careens toward an explosive and shocking finale, only one thing is certain: a love this devastating has no happy ending.




My thoughts:
Before deciding to grab this eGalley from the S&S Galley Grab programme, I had seen it on various blogs and had read a few things about it. As is obvious from the blurb, this book is the story of a brother and sister who don't really feel like a brother and sister to each other, due to the fact that they had had to act like the adults of the household since they were very young. They grew up relying heavily on each other, while together they had to weather all the problems that came their way, as regards the running of their household.


So, to put it in plain words, this book is about incest. And, as I have read in numerous other reviews, consensual incest in particular (as in 'involving mutual consent'). As it is a rather controversial subject on which to base a book, I decided to give it a try and see how the author handled this very touchy subject.


This book was easily one of the loveliest written books I have read this year. Never during the whole book did I feel as if what Maya and Lochan, the two main characters, were doing was wrong. Which I suppose is rather weird... Still, I didn't. Despite the fact that they were brother and sister, their love for each other felt right. 


It is obvious that in a book such as this, dealing with such a controversial subject, you can't really expect a happy ending. You know from the word 'go' that something is going to have to happen to break them apart. Having said that, I did not expect the ending I got. It was so much worse than I thought it would be, but at the same time, just perfect for this kind of book. It truly was a lovely story presented in a very lovely way.


However, there are a couple of teeny-tiny things that I noticed... First of all, whereas the pace of the book was rather normal for the most part, as I was nearing the end, I felt as if things were presented in a rather rushed manner. It didn't ruin the story or anything, but I still noticed it. And secondly, the book is set in England, so why did she keep saying 'math'?? As far as I know, in England they say 'maths'... Might have been the editing or something...


I know a lot of people have read it and loved it too, while others have just stopped reading it because of the subject it deals with, so I can't really make a general recommendation. If you think you won't be bothered by the rather 'touchy' theme, then this is a book you must read sometime.


Rating: 9/10


Author:
Tabitha Suzuma was born in England to a Japanese father and an English mother. She holds a degree in French from King's College London. After university, she held various jobs, including being a school teacher. That was when she wrote her first book, A Note of Madness. In 2004, she left classroom teaching and started writing in earnest. Up to date, she has written 5 novels, including Forbidden, and is currently working on her sixth book, which is about euthanasia. (Another really tough and controversial subject!)

A Note of Madness  |  From Where I Stand

A Voice In The Distance  |  Without Looking Back

Read for the: 100 Books In A Year Challenge 2011

Room

Room by Emma Donoghue
First published by Picador in 2010 (this edition by Picador in 2010)








Description: (from Goodreads)
To five-year-old Jack, Room is the entire world. It is where he was born and grew up; it's where he lives with his Ma as they learn and read and eat and sleep and play. At night, his Ma shuts him safely in the wardrobe, where he is meant to be asleep when Old Nick visits.

Room is home to Jack, but to Ma, it is the prison where Old Nick has held her captive for seven years. Through determination, ingenuity, and fierce motherly love, Ma has created a life for Jack. But she knows it's not enough...not for her or for him. She devises a bold escape plan, one that relies on her young son's bravery and a lot of luck. What she does not realize is just how unprepared she is for the plan to actually work.

Told entirely in the language of the energetic, pragmatic five-year-old Jack, ROOM is a celebration of resilience and the limitless bond between parent and child, a brilliantly executed novel about what it means to journey from one world to another.


My thoughts:
I remember seeing this book in a book magazine in August while I was on holiday in England. It had only just been published, so it was in hardback and I didn't buy it. (I'm not much of a hardback person. I like them, but I don't prefer them because they're so much more expensive). I managed to find it in Greece just before Christmas in one of those tall paperback editions (which still cost quite a bit, but not as much as a hardback), but only just got round to reading the book.


This was honestly one of the nicest books I have read all year. It tells the story of Jack, a five-year-old boy who has spent his entire life in Room, a space measuring 11x11. He lives there with ''Ma'' and they are sometimes visited by ''Old Nick'', even though Jack doesn't usually get to see him. The narrative is split into 4 parts: the first two are about their life in Room and the second two about their life Outside.


It's quite obvious from the beginning of the book why Jack and Ma are in Room. It's not easy to miss. All the signs are there. The story is told from Jack's point-of-view, so we get to experience everything the way Jack does. I have to admit here that it annoyed me a little in the beginning. I didn't particularly like the style of writing, as it seemed very dummed down regarding expressions, whereas Jack actually knew quite a lot of things. He wasn't slow or dim-witted or anything like that, but that was the feel I got from the first few pages. Then I got used to it and though of it like a child's incessant chatter, so it stopped bothering me and I could get into the story. (And, in the end, enjoy it, too!)


I read quite a few reviews on Goodreads saying that Donoghue came up with the idea for the book because of everything that was happening at the time concerning Elisabeth Fritzl  and a few others in the same predicament. I don't really see the problem with that. Sure, those things did happen and they were awful, but why shouldn't they inspire someone to write a book about it?


All in all, a very nice book, told in a unique way. It might have taken some time for me to get used to the type of narration used, but I do think that one of the novel's strongest points was the fact that everything was told from the eyes of an innocent little boy, whose whole world is a single room. There were certain things that happened in the book that I expected to happen, but I liked the way the whole ''problem'' and ''rehabilitation issue'' were dealt with. Definitely, definitely recommended!


Rating: 9/10 (I would have probably given it an 8/10, but my brother said that I was not allowed to give it a rating less than 9/10, so I haven't!)


Author:
Emma Donoghue was born in 1969 in Dublin, Ireland. She is the youngest of eight children. She holds a BA in English and French from the University of Dublin, as well as a PhD from the University of Cambridge. She has worked as a full-time writer since she was 23. She currently lives in London, Ontario, Canada.
Some of her other books include:

You can find out more about Emma Donoghue and her books here:
Emma Donoghue Official Website
Emma Donoghue on Goodreads

Counts as Book #35 in the 100 Books In A Year Challenge.

Poison Study

This is a book I picked up randomly at my local bookshop. I just liked what it said on the back cover and bought it. And then put off reading it for no reason whatsoever... I got round to it eventually, so here is the review.

Poison Study by Maria V. Snyder
First published by Mira Books in 2005 (this edition by Mira Books in 2007)

Book #1 in the Study series





Description: (from back cover)

CHOOSE:

A QUICK DEATH OR SLOW POISON . . .

Yelena has a choice - be executed for murder, or become food taster to the Commander of Ixia. She leaps at the chance for survival, but her relief may be short-lived.
Life in the palace is full of hazards and secrets. Wily and smart, Yelena must learn to identify poisons before they kill her, recognise whom she can trust and how to spy on those she can't. And who is the mysterious Southern sorceress who can reach into her head?
When Yelena realises she has extraordinary magical powers of her own, she faces a whole new problem, for using magic is punishable by death...


Opinions:
This book tells the story of Yelena, a young woman who was a prisoner because she killed a man. After several months in prison, she is given a choice: either die in a quick way or become the Commander's food taster, which means checking his food and drink for poison (which can obviously lead to death). Yelena, who wants to live, leaps at the chance and become the new food taster, learning carefully whatever there is to be known about poisons and the ways of testing for each and every one of them.

Obviously, there wouldn't be much of a story to tell if that were the only thing that happened. I'm not going to say anything else, though, just in case I throw in a spoiler for anyone who has not read this book.

Suffice to say, I loved this book!!! Sooooo much! I started reading it on a Saturday night and finished it on Sunday, something which is very rare for me to do. I can finish a book in 3-4 days (or sometimes a week), but it's not very often that I finish it all in 1-2 days. The last time this happened was with the last Harry Potter book. Anyway, I'm going off topic here.

I found the book was very well written. It just made me not want to put it down! I woke up in the morning (having read about 50 pages the night before), sat on the settee and just read and read and read... I loved the main character, Yelena, as well as Valek and the Commander, and I think that the author did a great job of describing them.

Another thing I liked about this book was that the ruling was not done by a king or queen, but by a military commander. In novels which include magic, I am accustomed to seeing the story set somewhere where there is a reigning monarch. I think the fact that she chose a military 'government' was a good way to set it apart from other novels with similar themes.

I have to say one more thing. When I finished the book, I immediately looked up Maria V. Snyder's website and saw that Poison Study was her debut novel! I honestly don't think I would have guessed! She writes very well! I look forward to reading the next two novels in the series, as well as her other books! (I just ordered them yesterday! Hope they come soon!!!


Rating: 9/10


Author:
Maria V. Snyder is an American author. She actually studied Meteorology at university, though she never worked as a weather forecaster (I'm not sure that sounds right...). She found work as an air quality scientist and she began writing science fiction short stories. She started working on her first novel in 1995 and it was finally published in 2005. Poison Study has been nominated for many awards, and won quite a few of them too!
Other books by Maria V. Snyder include:

You can find out more about Maria V. Snyder here:
Maria V. Snyder on Wikipedia
Maria V. Snyder Official Website
Maria V. Snyder on Goodreads

Counts as Book #23 in my 100 Books In A Year Challenge!

Also, counts towards the 1st In A Series Challenge!

Burning Bright

This is my second Tracy Chevalier book. I hadn't actually planned on getting it. It just caught my eye in the bookshop and I bought it, just before Christmas! Now, on to the review!

Burning Bright by Tracy Chevalier
First published by HarperCollins in 2007 (this edition by Harper in 2008)






Description: (from back cover)
London, 1972. The Kellaways move from rural Dorset to the tumult of a cramped, unforgiving city. They are leaving behind a terrible loss, a blow that only a completely new life may soften.
Against the backdrop of a city jittery over the increasingly bloody French Revolution, a surprising bond forms between Jem, the youngest Kellaway boy, and streetwise Londoner Maggie Butterfield. Their friendship takes a dramatic turn when they become entangled in the life of their neighbour, the printer, poet and radical, William Blake. He is a guiding spirit as Jem and Maggie navigate the unpredictable, exhilarating passage from innocence to experience. Their journey influences one of Blake's most entrancing works.


Opinions:
This was such an easy book to get into! Even from the very beginning! I didn't have enough time at first, but when I found some on Saturday, I practically devoured the book! I stayed up until very late, because I just had to finish it! (That actually happens far too many times, to be honest). Now, on to the actual review.

The book tells the story of a family, the Kellaways, who leave their home in Dorset and come to live in London, to escape their memories. Upon arriving, they realise that is not so easy to do, but stay there anyway, with the father working for Mr Astley (of Astley's Circus - a famous London circus in the 1790s). Jem, the youngest child, meets Maggie, a Londoner who just happened to be there when the Kellaways were moving into their house. Together they embark on all sorts of adventures, many of them revolving around the well-known radical Mr William Blake.

I had actually only heard of William Blake, prior to reading this novel. I did recognise his name, but I did not know what he was known for. Turns out he was actually a very well known poet, as well as a printer.

The book is very well written and instantly drew me in. The characters are wonderfully constructed. The frightened Kellaways, who have left their home in Dorset and are now living in the big city; Maggie, a girl who wants to show she is tough-as-nails, but is really quite vulnerable; the Astleys, proprietors of the circus that seems to dominate everyone's lives; William Blake, who plays such an important role in the whole story. Everyone mentioned in this book, seems to play some important part in the story, every detail is important. The descriptions of the places and goings-on (going-on's ???) in the book are just wonderful! I think Chevalier has managed to describe the fun and the intrigue (both in front of and behind the scenes) of the circus.

As you have probably gathered by now, I enjoyed this book very much! I think Tracy Chevalier is getting to be one of my favourite authors. She has such a great style of writing. I would definitely recommend reading it!

Rating: 9/10


Author:
You can read more about the author in my post on Remarkable Creatures.
Clarification: Tracy Chevalier was born in America, but as she currently resides in England and her book was first published in the UK, I believe she qualifies for the BBC 2011. If not, please let me know!

Counts as Book #17 in my 100 Books In A Year Challenge and as Book #7 in my British Books Challenge 2011! 

Lament

Ordered this one from Amazon, because I just had to read another Stiefvater book! I think I'm hooked! Here goes:

Lament by Maggie Stiefvater
First published by Flux in 2008 (this edition by Scholastic in 2011)


Book #1 in the Books of Faerie series





Description: (from back cover)
Sixteen-year-old Dee is a cloverhand - someone who can see faeries. When she finds herself irresistibly drawn to beautiful, mysterious Luke, Dee senses that he wants something more dangerous than a summer romance.
But Dee doesn't realise that Luke is an assassin from the faerie world.

And she is the next target.

Opinions:

I remember the reason I ordered this book in the first place (which was only a month or so ago, but even still). I had just finished reading Linger (and loved it - see post here), and discovered (while writing my review) that Stiefvater has also written another book series, about fearies this time! And I just knew I had to read it!

When the book arrived (in the beginning of February), I decided not to read it straight away. I thought I should read a few different books before picking up one of her books again. But FINALLY, the time came!

I really really liked this book. I can say now (with three books of hers read) that I love Maggie Stiefvater's style of writing. I can't real;y say why, but she gets a pace going in her books, that just make you not want to put the book down and read it all in one sitting. (Unfortunately I couldn't do that...)

Deirdre (Dee) is a girl who is quite shy, but has a wonderful musical talent. We first meet Dee when she is going to perform in a competition, where she has to play the harp and sing. She also has this thing, where she ends up puking up her guts when she is nervous! I could completely sympathise with that... That is how she meets Luke Dillon, who helps her and then, ends up performing with her, accompanying her with his flute. The strange thing is that Luke is the person Dee dreamt about the night before. A focal character in this story is Dee's best friend, James, who, (surprise, surprise!) is in love with Dee, and everyone but her seem to know it!

Now, I can't wait to read Ballad, the sequel to Lament!! I will have to order it first, though!

source

Rating: 9/10


Author:
You can find information about the author in my post on Maggie Stiefvater's book ''Linger'', which you can find here!

Counts as Book #15 in my 100 Books In A Year!

The Unbearable Lightness of Being

I hadn't planned on buying this book. It just happened. I was in the bookshop one day, looking through all the titles and suddenly noticed the book in question. I had heard of it, but did not know exactly what it was about. I took it from the shelf and was pleasantly surprised by the cover! So, after reading the description on the back cover, decided to buy it. Here I am now, reviewing it.

The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera
First published: by Harper & Row in 1984 (This edition by Faber & Faber in 2000)


Description: (from Amazon.co.uk)
In this novel - a story of irreconcilable loves and infidelities - Milan Kundera addresses himself to the nature of twentieth-century 'Being' In a world in which lives are shaped by irrevocable choices and by fortuitous events, a world in which everything occurs but once, existence seems to lose its substance, its weight. We feel, says the novelist, 'the unbearable lightness of being' - not only as the consequence of our private acts but also in the public sphere, and the two inevitably intertwine. Juxtaposing Prague, Geneva, Thailand and the United States, this masterly novel encompasses the extremes of comedy and tragedy, and embraces, it seems, all aspects of human existence. It offers a wide range of brilliant and amusing philosophical speculations and it descants on a variety of styles.


Opinions: 
I found The Unbearable Lightness of Being to be one of the most 'different' books I have ever read. And that's actually saying a lot. I have read books ranging from chick-lit to children's books and from maths to philosophy, finding them all enjoyable in a very different way. This book was as enjoyable as it was sad. Throughout the book, you come to see all the different decisions that each character has to take and the reasons they had for making that decision. You actually get to experience their 'Beings' through their own eyes.

The book is split up into 7 parts and each part consists of quite a few short chapters. The whole book is only 300 pages long, but it took me ages to finish. I found that it was one of those books that you have to read slowly in order not to miss anything. Even though it took me ages to read, it wasn't at all tiring. I just wanted to keep on reading and reading until I reached the end, something I - of course - could not do, due to my other responsibilities. But if I could've, I would've.

It tells the stories of three people (or maybe four) and a dog, all interconnected, including the decisions each one of them makes and which influence both other characters (in some cases). It is set in the time when the Czech Republic was under Russian occupation, as well as the years preceding the occupation, but not necessarily having Prague as a backdrop for each part of the story.

All in all I enjoyed the book immensely and think that it is classified as ''one of those books that you have to read at some point in your life''. Highly recommended. Even though I found the main character to be a bit of an ''idiot'', for reasons you will understand when you read it yourself. And for all those reasons:

Rating: 9/10 (I don't know if I will ever give a book a perfect 10... Well, you never know! But probably not... I'm not too comfortable giving out absolutely perfect scores on books...)


Author: Milan Kundera is a Czech author who has lived in exile in France since 1975, thus leading to him having written books in both languages. He was a reformist, committed to reforming Czech Communism, which led initially to a complete ban on the circulation of his works in Czechoslovakia and then, a stripping of his Czechoslovak citizenship in 1979. His most notable works include ''The Joke'' and ''The Book of Laughter and Forgetting'', both of which were published before ''The Unbearable Lightness of Being'' and are quite political (compared to his later works). 

Some of his other books include:

''Life is Elsewhere''

''Immortality''

''Slowness'' and

''Ignorance'' (his latest novel, published in 2000).

He has also written a series of short stories, which are included in the collection ''Laughable Loves''.

Here are some extra pages, for those who want to find out more!

Milan Kundera on Amazon.co.uk

Milan Kundera on Wikipedia

Counts as Book #7 in my 100 Books In A Year Challenge!