"The circus arrives without warning. No announcements precede it, no paper notices on downtown posts and billboards, no mentions or advertisements in local newspapers. It is simply there, when yesterday it was not. The towering tents are striped in white and black, no golds and crimsons to be seen. No color at all, save for the neighboring trees and the grass of the surrounding fields. Black-and-white stripes on grey sky; countless tents of varying shapes and sizes, with an elaborate wrought-iron fence encasing them in a colorless world."
These opening lines in Erin Morgenstern's fabulous novel just begin to describe the beauty of Le Cirque des Reves (The Circus of Dreams). Her descriptions of the night circus make you wish that it was a real circus of which you could attend. I do not believe I have read a book so good in quite some time.
While I highly recommend this book, I will say that I have struggled with how to give a brief summary of it. It is not written in chronological order, but each chapter has a date and time stamp. While this is a little confusing in the beginning, it adds quite a bit of suspense and excitement as the story progresses. That being said, I have decided to tell you just a little about a few of the characters and then you can read the book to find out the rest!
Synopsis:
Celia Bowen has been left by her mother to live with her father, Hector Bowen (also known as Prospero). Hector is a magician who is training Celia to follow in his footsteps. Hector and his former teacher, Alexander, have different ideas about how magic should be taught and used. This difference of opinion leads to challenges where both Hector and Alexander choose a student to teach using their methods and then have them dual in an agreed upon venue. For this particular challenge, Hector chooses his daughter and Alexander chooses a boy from an orphanage who comes to be known as Marco.
Bailey, a young boy living on his family's farm, is a lover of Le Cirque des Reves. When the circus comes to his town of Concord, Massachusetts he spends as many nights as he possibly can exploring the many tents within the circus boundaries. While knowing that the circus is off limits during the day, Bailey responds to a dare from his sister to sneak into its gates before nightfall. While there, he meets a beautiful red haired girl known as Poppet who will help him make one of the most important decisions of his life.
Erin Morgenstern intricately weaves the lives of these (along with many more) characters together and the result is a book that is sure to be talked about for years to come.
Note: If you like audiobooks, I highly recommend listening to The Night Circus. The narrator is fabulous.
Image from http://erinmorgenstern.com/the-night-circus/.
Blue, eccentric child of a psychic, has no psychic ability of her own. She lives not only with her mother, but with her cousin Orla and her mother's two best friends who are also gifted with psychic abilities. Over and over Blue has been told by these women that if she kisses her true love, he will die. Unsure of how this would actually happen, Blue does not give it too much consideration until her Aunt Neeve comes into town and foretells that this will be the year Blue will fall in love.
With money, friends, and a car, Gansey appears to have it all. But, what he is really interested in is tales of sleeping kings, specifically one that he thinks is located in Henrietta, Virginia. Being a student at Aglionby Academy provides him the perfect opportunity to explore the ley line where he thinks the sleeping king, Owen Glendower, is located. Legend tells that the first to wake him will be granted a favor.
One of the things I like most about this book is how Maggie begins by developing the characters individually and then has them cross paths. Each of the characters is unique in their own way, but they all fit together so well. Another thing I have really enjoyed about Maggie's books (I just read The Scorpio Races before this book), is that she comes up with great story lines based on some sort of mythology. I had never heard anything about sleeping kings until I read this book and was very interested to find out more about the legend. From what I have read, Maggie does a fantastic job of incorporating elements from the legend into the novel (but, I would expect nothing less!!). This is just the beginning of The Raven Boys (this refers to the boys that go to Aglionby Academy) four book series and I can't wait to find out what happens next.
**This is a review of an ARC that I received at a conference. This book is scheduled to come out September 18, 2012. You can pre-order a copy here.
Image from http://maggiestiefvater.com/the-raven-boys/the-raven-boys/.
In this award winning novel, Maggie Stiefvater takes readers to the fictional island of Thisby where flesh eating water horses, better known as capaill uisce, inhabit the surrounding waters. Thisby is home of the annual Scorpio Races where islanders attempt to train and race the capaill uisce and tourists travel from all around to see the race.
Kate "Puck" Connolly lives with her two brothers, Gabe and Finn. Their parents were killed by a capaill uisce and they were left to take care of one another. Gabe, Puck's older brother, decides that he can no longer stand to live on the island of Thisby, and makes plans to move to the mainland. In an attempt to stop him Puck decides that she will race in the Scorpio Races, but cannot bear to ride one of the capaill uisce that killed her parents. She instead decides to ride her land mare, Dove.
Sean Kendrick, four time winner of the Scorpio Races, longs to be free of his current employer and owner of most of the island, Benjamin Malvern. Malvern refuses to sell Sean the capaill uisce, Corr, that once belonged to his father. But this year, Malvern has agreed to sell Corr to him if he wins the race.
Who will win the Scorpio Races? A large cash prize awaits whomever crosses the finish line first. Both Puck and Sean need the money, but someone will come back empty handed.
The first books I read by Maggie Steifvater were The Wolves of Mercy Falls trilogy. I really enjoyed them and even had the opportunity to meet Maggie at a conference I went to in 2011. At this conference she was handing out (and signing) free copies of The Scorpio Races. I have been meaning to pick it up and read it for some time now, but just haven't had the chance. I was further motivated to read it when Maggie won a 2011 Printz Honor Award for the book. It definitely deserved the award. I love how she develops her characters and how she creates the setting of the island of Thisby. As I was reading, I kept thinking that I would really like to visit Thisby only to have to remind myself that it does not exist. While I definitely love Sean and Puck, I think that Puck's younger brother Finn is my favorite character. He is quite humorous and I love his interactions with the other characters in the novel. Lastly, I will say that Maggie's prose in this novel are just beautiful. I loved The Scorpio Races so much that my next read is her new book that I received an advance copy of: The Raven Boys. It is part of a four book series and is due to come out in September 2012.
Image from http://maggiestiefvater.com/the-scorpio-races/
In this first installment of the Grisha Trilogy, Leigh Bardugo introduces readers to a fantasy world based on Russian folklore and culture. The land of Ravka has been at war for many years and is divided by the Shadow Fold, an area of complete darkness and flesh-eating volcra. With enemies at all sides, the King of Ravka trusts the fate of his land to the Darkling and his Grisha (those with unique magical abilities). At a very young age, children in the land of Ravka, are tested for Grisha abilities. Alina and Mal, orphans brought to live at the home of a Duke, are tested but, Alina hides her abilities so that she will not be separated from Mal. Years later, Alina and Mal are in the army; Alina is a mapmaker and Mal a tracker. While traveling through the Shadow Fold, a place where the Darkling has no power, a volcra attacks Mal, and Alina protects him by shielding him with light. Once out of the fold the Darkling whisks Alina away and announces that a long awaited "Sun Summoner," who will help destroy the Shadow Fold, has been discovered. As Alina trains to become a Grisha at the Little Palace, she longs to see Mal again, but is also drawn to the Darkling. The more time Alina spends learning to be a Grisha, she struggles to know what to believe and whom she can trust.
I had just started to hear about Shadow and Bone when I went to the ALA (American Library Association) conference in California. Leigh Bardugo was there signing books and giving away maps of Ravka and very cool grey nail polish. It was great meeting her and hearing a little more about the book, but I still really didn't know exactly what I was getting into. It took me less that two days to read the book and I am thinking that it will be very hard for me to wait for the next book in the trilogy, Siege and Storm, to come out in 2013. Bardugo does a fabulous job of creating the world of Ravka, with its subtle but intriguing magic. There is suspense throughout most of the book and just when you think you've got the plot figured out, you discover that things may not be as you suspected. All of you Harry Potter fans and lovers of fantasy, Shadow and Bone is a must read!
Image from http://www.leighbardugo.com/books/.
Anastasia Steele is an ordinary girl that catches the eye of an extraordinary man. Christian Grey always gets what he wants, and he wants her. Despite an unusual arrangement the two find they are pulled to one another. Their story is full of love, anguish, stubbornness, intrigue, and (shall I say it?) erotica. Fifty Shades of Grey has gripped the imagination and fired up the libidos of millions of readers world-wide.
One thing you show know about this book is that it is a trilogy, but different in that it is basically one long story divided into three books. The first and second book literally leave you hanging and the next book picks up immediately with no back story. In order to get the whole story, you must be willing read all three books. You also can not pick up in the middle of the series and expect to understand what is happening.
The other thing you should know about this book is that it is extremely explicit. I lovingly refer to it as my favorite "smut book". While the storyline is fairly interesting, the author makes no attempt at hiding the fact that she is writing a sex book. In contrast to most books, the action of the story is sprinkled between the numerous sex scenes. A tact that I found highly entertaining and just a little bit embarrassing in the beginning, but as the story moved on I found myself skimming through those parts. By the third book I was glad when the author left the characters at the bedroom door having had my fill of the Red Room. Fifty Shades of Grey is worth reading. Although predictable, it moves quickly and leaves you feeling.....umm fulfilled. It's become common ground for women that have nothing else in common. Everyone loves a little Christian Grey. It's sure to be fueling fires and sparking love lives for quite some time.
Lena Holoway, seventeen, always looked forward to her eighteenth birthday when she would receive the cure. Before scientists found the cure, people thought that love was a good thing, but now they know better. Falling in love, or catching the deliria, is a disease and once it has taken hold there is no escaping its grasp. Lena believed that being cured would allow her to be safe and without pain. The only problem is that with only months left until her appointment to be cured, Lena Holoway falls in love.
Lauren Oliver's Delirium is the first book in yet another dystopian trilogy. From the beginning, Oliver has reader's sitting on the edge of their seats trying to figure out just what Lena's society is all about as they attempt to eradicate love, pain, and feelings in general. At the age of eighteen, an appointment is made for each member of the society to receive their cure. While the exact steps for the procedure are not outlined in the book, it is suggested that the part of the patient's brain that controls feelings is removed. In the novel, Lena transitions from a girl who completely trusts in her government and their way of operating to a girl who questions their ideas and recognizes that love is necessary for living a life that is full and complete.
Oliver leaves readers hanging at the end of the novel, but thankfully book two in the trilogy, Pandemonium, is already out.
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Disclaimer: Since I initially posted this review, I have had a few people tell me that they started the series and were a little disappointed. While this series is dystopian (like The Hunger Games), it is different. The main character is a boy and it is quite a bit more gruesome. Romantic elements are also not as prevalent as some other dystopians that are currently on the market. That being said, I think this is a very good series, but it may be more appealing to the male gender! :)
James Dashner's The Maze Runner is the first in his post-apocalyptic trilogy. The main character, Thomas, wakes
at the beginning of the novel to find that he has been transported to a world
created by a group of scientists. Those transported (all boys and one girl) have had their memories
wiped and their only goals are to survive and escape. Within this world there
are two main areas, the glade and the maze. The glade is where they eat, sleep, and work and is protected by walls that
close each night. The maze is the
test they have been given by the scientists and each day runners go out into the maze to try and figure out a way to escape. They regularly encounter Greivers, creatures that are a "horrific mix of animal and machine" and have instrument tipped appendages including saw blades, shears, and rods. As they attempt to survive and find a means of escape, Thomas and his friends contemplate possible reasons for why they have been sent to the glade in the first place.
Since I read Suzanne Collin's, The Hunger Games, I have become a huge fan of dystopian literature. I am not sure what it is about these types of books that intrigue me so much, but I will say that I love how the authors attempt to paint a picture of what life could be like in the future. The Maze Runner trilogy is a great dystopian series that attempts to show what life might be like post-apocalypse. This first installment is basically a huge science experiment conducted using adolescents. The reasons for this experiment are not fully explained in the first novel, but are expounded upon in the two additional books within the trilogy: The Scorch Trials and The Death Cure. After reading The Maze Runner, it is almost impossible to not pick up the other two. So, if you loved The Hunger Games trilogy and are looking for more good books to read, check out The Maze Runner trilogy.
The story begins with sixteen-year-old Jacob enduring a terrible family tragedy. The tragedy then leads him to an island off the coast of Wales where he begins to explore Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children. He quickly finds out there is more than meets the eye in the old crumbling house. He enters a world of magic and discovers a family legacy that his grandfather had been trying to prepare him for all his life.
How do you summarize this book without giving it all away? That's a tricky thing to do since it seems as though even the author had trouble with not giving it all away too soon. The book begins interestingly enough, but tends to become a little childish by the end. The word "silly" kept coming to mind while I was reading. There were just a few too many magical elements all jumbled together and not enough actual storyline to keep my attention. Then the story peaked about three quarters of the way through and I was ready to be done with it.
With that said, there were a few things that make this book worth taking a look at. The concept of the book itself was enough to sell me on it. Incorporating the creepy vintage photographs into the book was a really novel idea. If I'm not mistaken, I believe the photographs were gathered first and then the story was written around them. Sadly, the story doesn't do them justice. Overall, Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children felt like a good idea that just sort of fizzled out.
Logan Thighbolt was not a big believer in luck, until a photograph seemed to bring him all the luck in the world. While serving in Iraq Logan finds a photo of a beautiful woman. He then narrowly survives various close encounters with death. Convinced that the photo is the reason why, his friend encourages him to find the woman in the picture when he returns home. When he finds her he realizes she may be more than just a lucky charm, she may be his chance at a new life.
I have to admit that I am not a Nicholas Sparks fan. I find all his books to be predictable and his characters often seem to be the same people with different names. However, sometimes that is exactly the type of book that you need. I recently had a baby and found that life with a newborn is unpredictable enough. I needed something in the form of mind candy, something I could put in my head and suck on without really having to sink my teeth into it. The Lucky One seemed to be just what the doctor ordered. I enjoyed that the book was written from several different characters' perspectives. The setting was one of my favorites. I am a sucker for anything that takes place during summer in the south. While the plot was somewhat predictable I did find myself wondering a bit about how it would turn out, and I actually found the ending to be very satisfying. If you're going to read Nicholas Sparks, or you're just looking for a light summer read, I would suggest The Lucky One. It doesn't hurt that they made it into a movie and Zac Efron plays Logan Thighbolt. Mind candy plus eye candy, if there was a wink button I would use it.
Renee is the concierge of a building filled with wealthy apartment owners. She appears to be a typical concierge, but only because she desperately tries to cover up her true self: a woman who has a deep love for philosophy, literature, and the arts. Renee muses throughout the novel about the interesting lives of the tenants within the building and their world of wealth. Paloma is a twelve year old girl who lives in one of the apartments where Renee is a concierge. Based on the lives of the wealthy among her, Paloma has decided that life holds no true meaning, and plans to set the building on fire and then end her own life as well. Paloma creates two journals, "A Journal of Profound Thought" and "A Journal of the Movement of the World" where she intellectualizes the reasons for why life may or may not be worth living. Renee and Paloma eventually realize that they have much in common, despite their age differences, and begin to share life together.
The Elegance of the Hedgehog is one of the most thought provoking books I have read in a long time. Muriel Barbery has set up the book in such a way that each chapter is a journal entry or type of musing from either Renee or Paloma. Because of this, the reader is able to see into the thoughts of each of the two main characters. Renee's discussions throughout the novel are heavily based on philosophical thought as she is a great lover of philosophy, especially Karl Marx. She made many conclusions about life that caused me to stop and think about her ideas. Paloma's journal entries were thought provoking as well, but in a different way. She is an extremely intelligent twelve year old girl who is trying to convince herself that life is worth living. Frustrated with the way that she sees her wealthy parents and neighbors living fake and frivolous lives, she seeks to find meaning in it all.
Paloma finally becomes friends with Renee when she is trying to find a place to hide far away from her family. Paloma and Renee's encounters in the book are refreshing and reminded me of the importance of having honest relationships.
