Chronicles of a Book Evangelist

Review: Sapphire Blue by Kerstin Gier

Original Title: Saphirblau. Liebe geht durch alle Zeiten

Translator: Anthea Bell  

Publisher: Henry Holt and Co. 

Publication Date: October 30th 2012

Goodreads Description:

Gwen’s life has been a rollercoaster since she discovered she was the Ruby, the final member of the secret time-traveling Circle of Twelve. In between searching through history for the other time-travelers and asking for a bit of their blood (gross!), she’s been trying to figure out what all the mysteries and prophecies surrounding the Circle really mean.
 
At least Gwen has plenty of help. Her best friend Lesley follows every lead diligently on the Internet. James the ghost teaches Gwen how to fit in at an eighteenth century party. And Xemerius, the gargoyle demon who has been following Gwen since he caught her kissing Gideon in a church, offers advice on everything. Oh, yes. And of course there is Gideon, the Diamond. One minute he’s very warm indeed; the next he’s freezing cold. Gwen’s not sure what’s going on there, but she’s pretty much destined to find out.

Review:

First, impressions about translation then on to the review: I think I can easily say that I disliked the translation of Saphirblau much more than Rubinrot.  Again, Gwen just reads younger than she really is, and this time it affected my enjoyment of the book much more than with Rubinrot.  It seemed to diminish some of Gwen's character growth.  Gwen also comes off as a much more angsty character in English than she did in German.  And, again, can we just enjoy that German cover?  

However, one thing both translations have in common is that Sapphire Blue reads more like slump chapters that follow Ruby Red than an independent book.  It jumps right in where Ruby Red left off with little to no background information and ends just as abruptly.  Even in a trilogy I like a little bit of a reminder at the beginning of each book about where we have been, and some sort of resolution at the end -- even if it is temporary or only for part of the plot.  

I also found the main characters are disappointingly less realistic and well rounded in Sapphire Blue than in Ruby Red.  Gideon is just a mess -- fluctuating between kind friend and jerk at the drop of a hat; Charlotte -- who was annoying but redeemable in Ruby Red -- becomes insufferable; and Gwen is so wrapped up in Gideon's personality swings that she misses a lot of really important things going on all around her.  Lesley and the other members of the supporting cast (oh, how I love you Xemerius -- and I would buy you a dog!) save this installment of the trilogy.  Their humorous antics carry the book between the action.

All this aside, a lot more happens in this installment than what one assumes at first glance.  There are tons of little hints and bits of information that will be important for Emerald Green; the foreshadowing just got a little lost in the angst. Sapphire Blue was also still a fast and frothy read -- fun despite the flaws -- and I'm excited to get my hands on Emerald Green next fall. 

***Read an excerpt of Sapphire Blue from TOR here.***

Rating: 3 of 5 stars

Previously:

Ruby Red by Kerstin Gier

Review also appears on Goodreads; I purchased my copy for Nook from Barnes and Noble.

Review: Ruby Red by Kerstin Gier

Original Title: Rubinrot. Liebe geht durch alle Zeiten

Translator: Anthea Bell  

Publisher: Henry Holt and Co. 

Publication Date: May 10th 2011

Goodreads Description:

Gwyneth Shepherd's sophisticated, beautiful cousin Charlotte has been prepared her entire life for traveling through time. But unexpectedly, it is Gwyneth, who in the middle of class takes a sudden spin to a different era!

Gwyneth must now unearth the mystery of why her mother would lie about her birth date to ward off suspicion about her ability, brush up on her history, and work with Gideon--the time traveler from a similarly gifted family that passes the gene through its male line, and whose presence becomes, in time, less insufferable and more essential. Together, Gwyneth and Gideon journey through time to discover who, in the 18th century and in contemporary London, they can trust.

Review:

First some thoughts on the translation, then the rest of the review and rating will focus exclusively on my opinion of the English version. German was one of my majors, and I do enjoy reading books in German and listening to German music.  I don't, however, really consider myself to be truly proficient -- I'm willing to muddle through the hard parts with only partial understanding.  Therefore, I am completely willing to assume many of the differences between the English and German editions are entirely due to my faulty comprehension of the original German and not a testament to Anthea Bell's translating abilities. Bell did an excellent job of maintaining the overall feeling of the book(s).  It is still light, fun, and fast-paced.  However, I felt like Gwen read a little younger in the English version than the German, making the English version appeal to a slightly younger audience.  Additionally, the chauvinism (which was an important though unappealing aspect to many of the male characters' personalities) felt like it was somehow both more pervasive and considered more acceptable in the English version than the original.  It made Gideon, especially, a less interesting character to me.  I also felt the foreshadowing was slightly more heavy handed, making some of the mysterious aspects a bit more predictable. (Of course, that could also be a result of already knowing what was coming as a reader.)  Finally, what, precisely, is so wholly German about the name Gwendolyn that requires it be changed to Gwyneth for English readers to understand? (Oh, yeah, and the German covers are MUCH better!)

Differences in translation aside, I think much of what made Gier's story so successful still shine through in the English version.  It has action, adventure, romance, and mystery.  The plot moves quickly along, and even if the destination is occasionally predictable, the journey is enjoyable.  I like Gwen for many of the same reasons I like Percy Jackson -- Gwen is an average girl.  She is smart without being exceptional.  She is attractive without causing every male in the vicinity to fall madly in love with her.  She has a healthy self image, has friends, and knows how to have fun.  She has a loving, supportive and present family.  She is wonderfully normal and, therefore, infinitely more relatable to the average reader than many paranormal leads.  Gwen has her moments of failing to see things right in front of her (they all do, really), and she makes a few really stupid choices.  However, she never crosses the line into the too-stupid-to-live category. (And there is always another character there to call her on it.)

I don't think that Ruby Red is an exceptional or revolutionary book, but I do think it is one of a type of book that is essential.  It is accessible, relatable, fun, quick and interesting.  It is just the book to bring in reluctant readers, and a fast bit of fluff for heavy readers.  It doesn't ask anything of you, but leaves you entertained.  My one major complaint is that this is not a trilogy where each part has a nicely tied-up story arc.  Each book leaves you dangling from a great precipice, waiting for the next!

Rating: 3.5 of 5 stars

Other Opinions:

Emma gave it 5 stars

The Smugglers give it 6 out of 10

Review also appears on Goodreads; I purchased my copy for Nook from Barnes and Noble.

Review: A Kiss in Time by Alex Flinn

Publisher: Harper Teen

Publication Date: April 28, 2009

Review:

Princess Talia of Euphrasia pricks her finger on a spindle, causing the entire kingdom to fall asleep for 300 years. They awaken when Talia is kissed by Jack, a teenager sent by his parents to tour Europe for the summer. A Kiss In Time is obviously a modern retelling of Sleeping Beauty. 

I try really hard to write balanced reviews. I try to point out the good with the bad. I'm having a hard time finding the good here. I should start by saying that I really enjoyed Flinn's Beastly, and I love fairytale retellings, so I went into A Kiss in Time with pretty high expectations. I came out really disappointed. 

First, Flinn does an excellent job in Beastly of bringing the classic elements of the fairytale as well as the magic into the modern world in a plausible way. That just didn't happen for A Kiss in Time. There are so many contradictions in the world building that it just feels lazy. How is it that the Eurphrasia is completely forgotten by all of Europe, but the insulted concierge is able to send Jack directly to it? And how are the spires of a Castle in a supposedly forgotten Kingdom visible from a plane? What teenage boy could know a girl (who is wearing a full-on ball gown) for a few hours then walk into a Gap and buy her clothes that fit? How many manufactures of fake IDs are hanging out in Gap and willing to do business with a teenager? For that matter, how many Gaps are there in rural Belgium? I don't believe Flinn's contemporary world, much less the magical elements. (ETA: It also doesn't help that I was continually thinking about how much better OSC handled all of this in Enchantment.) 

The characters are even worse. Talia is a spoiled brat, thoroughly nasty in her own time. I understand that she felt stifled, but her behavior was more that of a 6 year old than a 16 year old. The modern day Talia is irreconcilable as the same character - she has a completely different personality. Jack is shallow, selfish and self centered. He is lazy and ungrateful, completely unaware of anyone around him. Each of their parents are studies in extremes - either overbearing in their care or completely hands off. The only character for whom I felt ANY compassion was Malvolia, but that was more picking the best out of a bad lot. They were all cardboard. The HEA was forced and contrived. 

It feels like Flinn was just going through the motions with this one, and I feel frustrated that I wasted my time with it. I know this is not the best she can do, so I will continue to read her work. However, I will do it more cautiously in the future. 

I Borrowed a Copy from my Local Library

Review: A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness

Publisher: Viking Books

Publication Date: February 8, 2011

Book Description:

A richly inventive novel about a centuries-old vampire, a spellbound witch, and the mysterious manuscript that draws them together. 

Deep in the stacks of Oxford's Bodleian Library, young scholar Diana Bishop unwittingly calls up a bewitched alchemical manuscript in the course of her research. Descended from an old and distinguished line of witches, Diana wants nothing to do with sorcery; so after a furtive glance and a few notes, she banishes the book to the stacks. But her discovery sets a fantastical underworld stirring, and a horde of daemons, witches, and vampires soon descends upon the library. Diana has stumbled upon a coveted treasure lost for centuries-and she is the only creature who can break its spell. 

Debut novelist Deborah Harkness has crafted a mesmerizing and addictive read, equal parts history and magic, romance and suspense. Diana is a bold heroine who meets her equal in vampire geneticist Matthew Clairmont, and gradually warms up to him as their alliance deepens into an intimacy that violates age-old taboos. This smart, sophisticated story harks back to the novels of Anne Rice, but it is as contemporary and sensual as the Twilight series-with an extra serving of historical realism.

Review:

(Highlight for spoilers.)

In trying to review A Discovery of Witches, I am having trouble deciding where the problem lies: in the book or in me.  I obviously like paranormal fantasy, and I like books with romantic elements.  For something to fit within a genre, well, it must fit within a genre!  Constantly calling books out for being 'predictable' simply because they fit conventions of a genre feels like a cheep shot.  But I can't help it - I want my genre fiction to surprise me even as it conforms to my expectations.  Also, one word: SCIENCE.  Okay, maybe I should elaborate.  I really like science, and, in 'real life,' I am pretty skeptical.  I like fantasy in stories for a plethora of reasons, but have little use for it outside of entertainment purposes.  Sometimes, it is okay when an author brings science into their fantasy world.  I like the way it stretches ideas of what is possible by providing plausibility; but the plausibility factor is key.  I like Star Trek because, even though much of what they did on that show wasn't possible at the time, it was plausible that, one day, it would be.  However, I absolutely HATE when authors take scientific terminology, some basic scientific ideas or principles, and then run mad with them.  I would much prefer to believe in an author's fictional world for the duration of their book(s) than to have them muck up the lay-reader's understanding of actual science!  If you are going to use science in your world building, you should follow all the ideas you introduce to their logical conclusions, and make sure that they are logical conclusions.  So, how do these issues apply to A Discovery of Witches?

Once again, we have a heroine who is magically the most sparkly-special of all the special people ever.  She has previously un-encountered raw talent of such epic proportions that it blows everyone away, but she is completely unaware of it herself.  She is the chosen one who does not want to be chosen.  Naturally, she is also exceptionally beautiful and smart, but 'unaware' of it (despite the fact that she is the one who tells us so.)  Her (naturally, forbidden) love interest is a mysterious, gorgeous, wealthy, cultured, tortured vampire who is saved from himself and healed by her insta-love. (Spoiler)  I can understand instant attraction, but truly epic love has to grow, 'like a banana'.  Tim Minchin references aside, true love doesn't happen in a matter of days or weeks.  (End Spoiler) I was tired of the romance plot, and in large part the main characters, before I even finished the book.  

As to the science - for the sake of my blood pressure I must keep this brief.  Our understanding of DNA and genetics just doesn't work that way.  Okay?  This is just...wrong.  It's wrong.  Harkness took a wikepedia-depthed understanding of genetics and piled on so much drivel as to make it unrecognizable, and it DRIVES ME INSANE.  Especially because it sounds right enough.  Also, even award winning scientists at top research institutions don't get the level of autonomy experienced by Matthew from an institution when the institution is a University!!!  Seriously?  Installing his own fingerprint scanners, doing primarily personal research that will in no way be shared with the institution, a lab full of the latest and greatest of all technology, not being held accountable to anyone else, not even a token grad-student?  I bet scientists the world over would be chopping off limbs for a set up like that. 

Here is where I must ask myself if it is me or the book.  I think the best answer is that it is a little bit of both.  I should have known better than to read something that was touted as Twilight for adults.  I don't like Twilight, and making the characters adults isn't really going to change that.  The comparison isn't completely fair, though, because Matthew (despite starting as a creepy stalker) actually improves as the book progresses.  Conversely, even though Diana starts off as a smart, independent if somewhat headstrong and snobbish character - she turns into a simpering idiot completely defined by her love for Matthew by the end. (Spoiler)  Seriously, she MELTS, literally MELTS, into a liquid puddle because he leaves her for two days.  And we aren't talking 'leaving' as in 'dumping' here, we are talking they are just in different locations for a few days!  Nevermind that she must think about him, or not think at all, to get her magic to work.  It's all okay because they are 'meant to be'.  Did I mention the entire book takes place over a few months?  (End Spoiler)

Harkness had a little problem with info-dumping and telling instead of showing, especially at the beginning.  And her pacing sometimes felt bizarre. She would spend pages talking about the wine characters were drinking with dinner, then rush major events - like battles to the death - in a couple of paragraphs.  However, she also built a pretty interesting world, and introduced some really interesting characters.  (In fact, most of the secondary characters were much more interesting that Diana or Matthew!) Snickering at things like Vampire Yoga aside, she genuinely captured my attention at parts.  I can see why so many people are giving this such rave reviews, I just don't think it is right for me right now.  She piqued my curiosity enough that I might give her the next two books in the series a shot at some point, but I would have to have some pretty solid reviews from readers I trust first.

Purchased for my Nook at Barnes & Noble.

Review also at Goodreads

Review: 13 Hangmen by Art Corriveau

Publisher: Amulet Books

Expected Publication Date: April 1, 2012

Book Description:

“Some people won’t believe any of this story. You might be one of them. But every single word is true. Tony DiMarco does catch a murderer, solve a mystery, and find a treasure—all in the first few days after he moves, unexpectedly, to 13 Hangmen’s Court in Boston. The fact that he also turns thirteen at the same time is not a coincidence.”

So begins the story of Tony and his friends—five 13-year-old boys, all of whom are living in the same house in the same attic bedroom but at different times in history! None are ghosts, all are flesh and blood, and somehow all have come together in the attic room, visible only to one another. And all are somehow linked to a murder, a mystery, and a treasure.

 Review:

Had I been forced to review 13 Hangmen after the first third of the book, it would have been terrible.  Corriveau tells the reader EVERYTHING.  Nothing is shown, nothing is left up to the reader, the characters, setting, and plot all feel stilted, and it was just boring.  The most exciting thing going on was the continuous (and often unbelievable) fight between Tony and his mom about his weight loss.  However, when it picks up it really picks up.  

Corriveau has a fascinating idea of history, and I love what he has done with it.  Through a chain of thirteen year old boys who know each other - each meeting the one before him when he is thirteen and the one after him when he is an older man - Corriveau manages to tell the ethnically and culturally rich history of the United States.  He does so in snapshots of great events while still showing that, though we mostly remember special dates, history is continuous.  We are not isolated from history but a part of it.  I won't lie, I had some serious problems with the way he mixed fact and fiction (and science and pseudoscience, for that matter) so seamlessly that they were at times indistinguishable.  But, wow, he made history exciting!  Once we got rolling on the mystery, I really couldn't wait to find out who the next boy would be or what he would contribute to the, well, history lesson, for lack of a better word.  And, much to my peace of mind, Corriveau cleans up the fact/fiction melding at the end.  (Not that I wouldn't trust middle grade readers to immediately fact check.  Ahem.)  Also, I just really wish he wouldn't have perpetuated some persistent myths.  Corriveau adds his voice to that of Longfellow in muddying Revere's place in history.  Obviously, the exciting exaggerations are a lot easier to remember - we have adults, who really ought to know better, still thinking Revere rode up and down the street ringing a bell!

There were some moments in 13 Hangmen that were really trite such as a villainous tell-all monologue a la Murder She Wrote.  By the time we got there I was really hoping for better.  Also, Sarah has violet eyes, really?  (Can we just clear this one up now?  Unless your character is albino, it is biologically impossible for her to have violet eyes.  Elizabeth Taylor didn't even have violet eyes - she had deep blue eyes that she played up with cosmetics, lighting, and wardrobe.  Okay, now we've all got this, stop with the violet eyes already!) I also felt that Angey's assistance to and subsequent friendship with Tony later in the book felt very contrived; it just didn't fit with his character, and I was shown no character growth to account for this change.  Plus, a conveniently left behind Ouija board?  Again, a plot device that kept the story moving but required suspension of disbelief on my part.  Also, the mystery itself was a little predictable - but I'm a twenty-eight year old woman who enjoys reading mysteries.  I imagine a middle grade reader new to the genre might not find these things quite as implausible, transparent, or predictable as I do.

Overall, 13 Hangmen was fun, interesting, and made me think about some things I know in a new way.  (As a student of Geography, I have learned about the rotation of ethnic groups within a neighborhood throughout generations, but I have never really thought about the neighborhood itself as a sort of time capsule as Corriveau does.)   I also love the way the boys are linked by objects that they pass on to each other.  (I do feel most connected to my grandmother-the-young-mother when wearing her apron, canning or cooking for my children.  It is a time travel of sorts that connects us - doing the same thing at the same 'time' of live with the same object.)  Corriveau was absolutely at his best when recounting history, or placing the boys within historical settings and events.  His handling of Jack as a boy and "Honey Fitz" Fitzgerald were some of the most convincing bits of writing in the book.  He manages to write about American history in a compellingly patriotic voice without finding the need to white-wash it - in any sense of the word.  He holds no punches when describing the realities that a young African American, Jewish, Italian, Irish, Hispanic, etc., etc., etc. 13 year old boy would face at different points in history; and he acknowledges the very great contributions that each of these communities made to America.  Plus, he pulls all that off without appearing nationalistic or nostalgic - a pretty impressive feat.  (Truthfully, I would really like to see Corriveau turn his hand to some non-fiction histories or biographies for middle graders.)

13 Hangmen didn't wow me, but I enjoyed it - and I think that nine or ten year old me (she who hid under her blanket with a flashlight and Nancy Drew or Alfred Hitchcock and the Three Investigators) would have enjoyed it even more - if she made it past the first third of the book, that is.     

 ARC provided thanks to Amulet Books.

Review also appears on Goodreads