Become Enchanted With; Tithe: A Modern Faerie Tale

I mentioned Holly Black in my last post about the Mortal Instruments. You may have heard of her and her children's book series The Spiderwick Chronicles (my little brother is quite fond of them). She is a phenomenal writer and a very fun person. At the book signing I went to in December we ended up chatting for a good ten minutes, I held up the autograph line and was promptly scolded. Anyways, Holly Black also writes teen novels and does some manga. The book I want to take about is Tithe: A Modern Faerie Tale. The book is about Kaye who is sixteen years old. Kaye is a girl who has grown up in an interesting family. Her mother is a failed rock star and Kaye has spent her most of her life touring New England with her mother who sang in bars with her band. Well one day her mother decides to go back to their old home town, a small "blue collar" town in New Jersey. It is there that Kaye discovers some very interesting things about herself, and a crazy adventure begins. There are faeries involved and we get to discover their world (no they aren't the Tinkerbell kind, they can actually be about 7 feet tall). Kaye meets a very strange faerie knight, Roiben, and saves him. Suddenly Kaye is thrown into an ancient battle between two kingdoms and might be used as a sacrifice for freedom. I really can't say anything more or I will be ruining the story.

The book has won some teen book awards and rightfully so. Black's writing style is gritty and agressive and I love it! I did a book report on this book in grade nine and I remember putting in my report that it wasn't beautiful in a "field full of flowers" way but it was beautiful in a "old abandoned cottage" type of way. Her writing is haunting and melancholic with an ever present sense of humour. Kaye is a very interesting character. She can be funny and is very stubborn. She is a good main character, she isn't very "in your face" about things but she is doesn't let people walk all over her. She has fire. I don't have a problem with any of the other characters. My favourite is Roiben because he has the whole brooding/serious soldier attitude down to a tee. He is also bitter and cynical which I love. The book has very interesting plot twists and there is some fighting, and a bit of mystery. I give it a 5/5. Holly Black is a true poet and she knows how to write a good story. Until next time!

P.S. If you end up liking Tithe read Holly Black's other Modern Faerie Tales; Valiant and Ironside.

Get Your Hands On; Mortal Instruments Series

Cassandra Clare is a newcomer in the world of fantasy literature. Her breakthrough book, City of Bones, was published in 2007 and the sequels City of Ashes and City of Glass, shortly followed. I believe myself to be a devoted fan of the series (I was attacked by a dog on my way to get City of Glass but I continued on). I went to a book signing with Cassandra Clare, Holly Black, and Scott Westerfield in December where I found out that there will be a fourth book in the series (City of Angels) and I cannot wait.

Anyways, the first book starts off with fifteen year old Clary Fray going to a club in Manhattan with her friend Simon. She walks in on these three teenagers threatening what appears to be a young man. These three teens have these weird tattoos and even weirder weapons. Clary sees them stab the young man and quite strangely the young man vanishes. And it gets weirder! Clary's friend Simon doesn't see the three teenagers. She is the only one who can see them. Something is up here. Well, later on we find out that these teens are Shadowhunters. Shadowhunters are basically fallen angels that kill demons. Anyways, Clary ends up getting mixed up in all this crazy stuff and goes on a pretty wild adveture. She soon discovers that there were a lot of things in Manhattan that she had never noticed. Like warlocks, faeries, demons, etc. She also discovers some new things about herself (can't give anything away).

I love this series! First of all it has some comedy (love dry humour), some sick fighting, and of course a little bit of romance sprinkled in there (not a sickening amount though). The endings aren't as annoying as the ones in Vampire Academy (except one of the books) and the characters are very strong. Clary isn't the strongest female character I have come across but she is fierce when she needs to be and that, in my opion, is a strong female character. Also she doesn't let people walk all over her. Simon is the best friend who wants more (I guess you always need one in there) but he's pretty funny. Simon can be annoying at times but it is understandable, he is in pain after all. There are other characters but I feel that I will give away the plot if I say anything more. On the whole I would give it 4/5 stars. I think it's a great read and since we are nearing summer it would be great to pull it out if boredom ever strikes (I always keep a few books around in case). Happy reading!
 
P.S. It has been optioned for a film so read it soon (in case they screw it up) : P

Sink Your Fangs Into: Vampire Academy

As cheesy as this sounds, this is a series with a lot of bite. I love strong female main characters and Rosemarie Hathaway (Rose), the main character of this series, definitely has a lot of sarcastic, headstrong humour. The series is written by Richelle Mead, an experienced fantasy and sci-fi writer. There are five books in the series (the fifth one arrived in my mailbox last week yay!); Vampire Academy, Frostbite, Shadow Kiss, Blood Promise, and Spirit Bound. You might be thinking, ugh not another Twilight, but it really isn't. Richelle's take on vampires is very interesting. There are three different creatures that occupy Richelle's books; Dhampirs, Strigoi, and Moroi. You might be saying to yourself, what is she on about, but I will explain. Moroi are vampires with a twist, they are not truly dead. Each Moroi has the powers of one of the four elements, fire, air, earth, and water. They operate just like you and me but they need human blood, but they never kill to get it. Strigoi are truly dead vampires that don't eat and don't get sick (basically traditional vampires) except they really have no souls, and they cannot be good, it just is impossible. There are only two ways that you can become a Strigoi; you kill a human for blood, or you are bitten by a Strigoi. Dhampirs are half Moroi half human, essentially. Dhampirs have all the strong powers of the Moroi (except for the element thing), they don't need blood, and they don't get weak in the sun. Dhampirs cannot produce more Dhampirs with another Dhampir, Morois and Dhampirs produce more Dhampirs though. The setting is normal planet earth, you still have Brangelina on the cover of People, and Justin Beiber infestation is still taking place. The only difference is you have these guys roaming around. The thing is, they have governments, and a monarchy. They have special boarding schools and they have their own Courts located all over the world, but all in secret. The Dhampirs are the realy bad ass people in this story (Rose is Dhampir) because they fight to protect the Moroi from the Strigoi (who want annihilate the race of Moroi and Dhampirs). Dhampirs train from kindergarden till grade twelve on how to fight and kill Strigoi, and how to protect their Moroi charges. As terrible as it is, the Royals or very influential common Moroi usually have dibs on guardians, and they usually have more than one. Also it is very hard to kill Strigoi since they have super strength and there are only three ways to kill them; burning them, decapitation, or piercing them through the heart with metal stakes infused with all four elemental magic. Another shitty rule that make it hard to kill Strigoi is that even though magic could be used to fight, the Moroi don't really believe in using their magic for harm (other than infusing stakes), it's illegal.

Now that you know the basics, let me tell you a bit about the plot. Rose is a Dhampir studying at St. Vladimir's Academy (for Dhampirs and Moroi only) which is a boarding located in the mountains of Montana. Rose has a best friend named Vasilisa Dragomir (Lissa) who is a Royal Moroi, they've been friends since they were four, when they were both enrolled at St. Vladimir's. The series is told from Rose's point of view, with a twist ; ). Rose has some very interesting adventures and her bad ass attitude gets her into a lot of shit (school fights, breaking and enterings, secret international trips, etc.) not to mention that she kicks some serious Strigoi ass. I have finished reading the fifth and I can tell you that there will be sixth. The series, in my opinion, is amazing. I love Mead's writing style and honestly it is laugh out loud at times. She has the ability to twist your emotions any which way she wants and you really create a connection with the characters (whether you hate or love them). The only downside is the books end in HUGE cliff hangers and Lissa is a bit on the weak side, but I guess we need the contrast and she never is Bella weak, when it comes to her friends Lissa would do ANYTHING for them, and it would seem brave not idiotic. I really shouldn't say more or I will ruin the series, all I know is that if you like books that are part mystery, part action, part romance, and always comedic, then you will LOVE this series. I give it 4.5 stars out of 5 (stupid cliffhangers). I really suggest you read this, otherwise you are really missing out. Would I lead you astray? Wait, don't answer that.

Make Way For the Lioness

Song of the Lioness is an award winning quartet by Tamora Pierce. Pierce created a fictional world with fictional countries based off of different cultures in our world today. Most of her stories in this fictional world take place in the country Tortall, a mirror of our North American culture. The stories are set in a Medieval time period. The story is about a young girl named Alanna of Trebond, who is part of the aristocracy. In Tortall, at ten years old, girls are sent to the convent to become ladies and boys are either sent to the capital to become knights, sent to the university to become scholars, or sent to the convent City of Gods to become sorcerers. The Lord of Trebond decides to send his daughter to the convent and her twin brother Thom to the capital to become a knight. The only problem is that Thom and Alanna don't want to go. In fact, Thom wants to be a sorcerer and Alanna dreams of being a knight. Unfortunately, their father would never allow it and at this time in Tortall, girls cannot become knights. Luckily for Thom and Alanna they have an advantage that most people don't, they look almost exactly like. So Alanna chops off her hair and goes to the capital pretending to be Thom's twin brother Alan, and Thom wears a dress so his father is convinced that it is Alanna who is leaving for the convent. The rest of the series follows Alanna and her adventures in the capital, where she fights evil knights and sorcerer, befriends a prince, and is forced to bind her breasts to conceal her gender.

I only own the first book, Alanna: The First Adventure, but I have read the entire series through at least twice a year. It's an amazing series because it really explores social issues in our society today (well it was written in the 80s but you get what I mean) while it still has a magical feel. Did I mention that Alanna is a kick ass character? She has a terrible temper and is hilarious, plus she has magical abilities, just like her brother. This series has it all, humour, romance, war, magic, teenage issues, and good ol' friendship. Pierce really gets into the history of the world she created. It's almost as good as J.K. Rowling's accuracy in her creation of Harry Potter. Plus Tamora Pierce writes a few more series in the world of Tortall and trust me, once you read this one you will want to read the other as well. There were some setbacks, Alanna could be irritating at times, she has a few love affairs in the last two books and makes some stupid decisions, but I guess she's only human right? I rate the series a five out of five.

Destination 1: Personal Bookshelf

We will be starting with all the books in my bookshelf. I did find most of my faves at the library but that didn't stop me from buying them later. I learned that you should always test out the car before you buy it, folks. That ensures that you won't go home with an unpleasant surprise in your shopping bag. I will be reviewing a new series/novel each week and I will rate it on a five star scale. My first review will come around next Wednesday so stay tuned (cue cheesy smile)!