Trials of A Teenage Werevulture by Emily Martha Sorensen

After my utter love of Stacy Claflin's Lost Wolf, I was (heh, heh) hungry for more. I discovered Emily Martha Sorensen through a giveaway a while back and was excited to hop on board for an ARC of her latest release, Trials of A Teenage Werevulture, which came out yesterday. The title said it all: humor, imagination, and fun. How did it hold up?

First of all, I really like the world that Sorenson's invented. Being a vampire or werewolf is nothing weird or exotic unless you're an exceptionally rare kind of were or vampire... like a vulture. Gulp. There was plenty of humor in a fun atmosphere and a surprisingly thrilling plot that Lisette and company uncover that unwinds beautifully as the story progresses. The scenes range from embarrassing teenage moments to serious danger to family love and heroics, making this a tough one to put down. That being said, the writing style was at times gimmicky and covered with puns, making me think this is a story best meant for tweens who have outgrown Monster High but aren't ready for higher end books.

It was fun--I enjoyed it from the first page on and am looking forward to the sequels!

⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ☆

Alive by Scott Sigler

Alive is a story that begins very much like a nightmare: a girl wakes up on what she believes to be her twelfth birthday--locked in a coffin with bars around her, a needle jabbing into her, and absolutely no memories about her past. And that's page one.

It's hard to go into details about Sigler's masterpiece without spoiling it or giving anything away because Alive is almost more of a book-length riddle than a novel, with details revealed at a tantalizing pace while the heroes fight for survival--and the answers to their questions. Who are they? Where are they? Why were they locked up?

I enjoyed this book from the first page. It was both a gripping story and a puzzle I could actively play with as I read further and came to my own conclusions (about half of which were right, and the other half were even better!). Five stars for a fascinating early summer read!

🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

Lost Wolf by Stacy Claflin

Before I give you the summary, let me tell you a few things. First, as a writer myself, I sign up onto a lot of authors' mailing lists, usually via giveaways. Second, I remove myself from most of those lists early on, usually within the first couple emails. I don't know why Stacy Claflin stood out compared to the others. I clicked on an email out of courtesy. . . and I was hooked. As in, I downloaded the book instantly and read it over the weekend.

Lost Wolf has two main characters. First is Victoria, a college freshman just settling into her new life as a student--until she realizes that she remembers absolutely nothing about her life before arriving on campus. She doesn't know who her parents are, where she's from, anything. Then there's Toby, a werewolf leader who takes a job as a math professor in Victoria's college. The catch? Toby and Victoria were lovers years ago until she died tragically in his arms.

Yeah, it's YA werewolf paranormal romance. There's nothing shockingly new or different. The twists are easy to predict, the elements the same as we've always seen them. As Lost Wolf is the first book of a series, there were plenty of mysteries still unsolved by the last page and questions about the plot and characters that I still had.

But I loved it. Page one to the end. I couldn't stop reading this book. It ranged from fun to playful to heart-wrenching to dangerous, all so fluidly that I honestly didn't care that I already knew where it was going. The fun was in watching it all play out.

Lost Wolf isn't for anyone, but hopefully this review can give you an idea if it's worth taking a look at. And I absolutely say yes!

*****

Andromeda's Fall by Abigail Owen

Set against the dramatic background of the North American wilderness, Andromeda's Fall introduces us to a world of wild shifters, banded together to guard themselves against their enemies. Shadowcat Nation consists of all the cougar shifters from Canada through South America and consists of dares, smaller bands constantly vying for power and freedom. Andie Reynolds is running from the leader of her dare, a greedy man who wishes to force her to marry him. Her only hope to escape his grasp is by mating with and marrying a man from another dare.

This book fits solidly in the entertaining category for me. It's over the top, but only in the best of ways, blending high levels of emotional intrigue with action and a fantastic desperation. There wasn't much depth, but I don't know that there really needed to be, considering that it successfully held my attention and got me to smile in ways that only a good romantic comedy could. Four stars from me!

****0

Willows of Fate by Susanna J. Linton

This cross between high and modern fantasy takes a young woman from rural South Carolina and puts her in the middle of a medieval fantasy conflict--a fascinating premise that I felt could easily bring in some fun reading and a witty but charming new story. Willows of Fate is book one in Linton's Lands of Sun and Stone series about two worlds--ours and a fantasy world that was forcefully split from ours ages ago.

This book covers the adventures of Desdemona, a recovering alcoholic who has had visions of fantasy creatures since her childhood but who is now trying to move on with her life as a lawyer. After her mother, brother and aunt all die in quick succession, Desdemona discovers a dark family secret that leads her "through the willows" to a fantasy land where she literally holds the key to a growing conflict.

Willows of Fate did have a fun story, with mostly believable characters and a quick draw to it. I read through it pretty quickly and enjoyed a lot of the creative atmosphere, but I'm not sure if I'll go on to the other books in the series. I very much respect and appreciate the cast of personalities, but I didn't really feel drawn to any of them. I also wanted to know more of what was going on with the South Carolina life Desdemona left behind (with a handsome young man and ongoing mystery that was, to be honest, at least as interesting as the fantasy world). There was also a share of mystery that was never fully revealed, like a hooded stranger in the beginning or a centaur who appeared at her mother's funeral.

Rating this book is difficult because I enjoyed it but there was a lot that I felt it didn't fully cover. But I'll go on the high side and say that it's definitely worth the read for anyone looking for a fun, new fantasy world. Four stars!

****0

Poison Study by Maria V. Snyder

It's been a while since my last review. I've been reading a lot but fell so far behind on reviews that I decided not to bother until I was ready. Now I am. So for a first new review of a new book: Poison Study, the debut novel of Maria V. Snyder.

Poison Study is a fantasy novel with a unique focus: the main character, a young woman named Yelena, is freed from death row on the condition that she become the poison taster for the commander of her military-ruled nation. The premise alone was enough to draw me in. Poison tasting? A fantasy kingdom ruled by the military? This could be good. And it could have been.

Now we have to get to the nitty gritty. I stopped reading this book when I was about 1/3 of the way into it. I just couldn't continue. Most of the problems are common for first-time and amateur writers, but they were so severe that I couldn't keep up. Yelena had no personality and was a complete Mary Sue. She had a tragic past, a dark side, a strong sense of justice, unerring beauty and grace, quick wit and intelligence, and everything you would expect of a cliche super-woman. The world the story took place in was detailed and different from anything I had read before, but the detail largely came in page-long info dumps that had little, if anything, to do with the story or with Yelena at all.

Then we get to the story itself. I couldn't tell if it was supposed to be a serious fantasy epic, with its emphasis on politics and manipulation among characters, or a colorful, light-hearted yarn in which the cook invents cinnamon rolls and the idea of putting pudding in the cake mix. It took itself too seriously in places, and not seriously enough in others, so I never really knew how I should feel as reading it.

Don't get me wrong. Ms. Snyder has great ideas and could shape them up to be a bold and beautiful fantasy world, but it just needs more work. Two stars.

**000

Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy

No, I didn't forget about my review blog. I just read something longer than usual: Tolstoy's Anna Karenina. A friend suggested it several years ago after learning how much I enjoyed War and Peace, and I finally worked my way to reading it. Now for the review!

I enjoyed the book all the way through. From the start it was much simpler than War and Peace in terms of plot and the number of characters to keep track of. WaP took about 350 pages before I was finally able to comfortably track and relate to the characters. The Napoleonic conquest of Russia mingled with their personal lives lead the story in an elaborate spiral that at times felt overwhelming. Anna Karenina was gentle and deliberate. The plot points were easy to point out so long as I remembered that the main story arc can be reduced to the fact that a married woman has an affair. There are other characters and other stories, but the structure carefully revolves around Anna and her various torments and temptations. Should she leave her husband and son to start a life of scandal with the only man she had ever truly loved? What should she do regarding their mutual friends? Should she justify the looming divorce or admit that she was a horrible person and a sinner? Sometimes the writing gets relentlessly haunting and takes a bold moral view of the scenarios.

That's enough about the story. Now for the payoff. When I finished War and Peace, I couldn't believe that it wasn't a more popular book. It was amazing (well, except for the epilogue section that was too far removed from the rest of the book for me to do anything but hate) and I felt that the read was so worth the read that it's been hard not to commit myself to another six months of digging into it. With Anna Karenina, I didn't feel that. I'm glad I read it, and I did find it a fun read, but it was more fluff than War and Peace and less a piece of art. I felt a bit like I'd stepped into a vaudeville show instead of the classical ballet I had expected. Still entertaining, and easy for masses to pick up on, but not jaw-dropping.

Do I recommend it? I give it 4 stars. And if you're thinking about attempting WaP anytime and don't know if you can last, you might want to start with this so you can get a feel for Tolstoy's writing and upper class nineteenth-century Russian family politics.

****º