Odin's Ravens

Odin's Ravens

 (image from blackwellpages.com)

K.L. Armstrong and M.A. Marr

Trigger warnings for death and violence

If you want an original summary, I'm afraid you're out of luck. Sorry about that. Here's the one off goodreads:

When thirteen-year-old Matt Thorsen, a modern day descendant of the Norse god Thor, was chosen to represent Thor in an epic battle to prevent the apocalypse he thought he knew how things would play out. Gather the descendants standing in for gods like Loki and Odin, defeat a giant serpent, and save the world. No problem, right?

But the descendants' journey grinds to a halt when their friend and descendant Baldwin is poisoned and killed and Matt, Fen, and Laurie must travel to the Underworld in the hopes of saving him. But that's only their first stop on their journey to reunite the challengers, find Thor's hammer, and stop the apocalypse--a journey filled with enough tooth-and-nail battles and larger-than-life monsters to make Matt a legend in his own right.

A bit of backstory. This is the second book in the Blackwell Pages series. You may feel duped of the review of the first book, but more backstory- I never read the first book. I was so excited to see a book on Norse mythology (and I had heard of the series before) I bought it right then and there in a little airport bookstore. It took about fifteen minutes for me to notice the little yellow banner on the spine that read "Book 2". So thank you, authors, for having this book make sense for all of us that never read the first. That is a talent. A flower crown for the two of you.

I'm sure my readers are getting just a little tired of Norse mythology. I can see you scowling and pointing to the book I just reviewed that was also the second book of a Norse series, raising one unamused eyebrow. To that I'm sorry. Norse mythology is my special interest, and most people in my life probably feel the same way you do. I'll try and keep it short.

Ahhhhh, characters, characters. Loved the characters, and it was multiple POV so we got to read from 4/5 of the important POVs. No Baldwin sections that I remember. Disappointing, I know. Baldwin was the only person who was mildly HAPPY. Not to say that the others were bad, just not Baldwin. Can you guess my favorite character?

There were pictures. That's all you need to know. There were PICTURES.

A few things left me wondering if they were added in for plot convenience. For instance, the bags that Helen gave the kids. Those were just really... Convenient. It took out an element of urgency. Though, this could be swept under the rug by the fact it's MG. I suppose I'm a bit older and than the target audience.

Also, names. I need to decide if I hate or love the names. I mean, I like meaning names, but Helen. As Hela. And Ray and Reyna being Freyr and Freyja. Reyna and Freyja even have the same name meanings. But Ray means 'counsel protection' so, ya'know, we're not completely following a pattern here. I'm so confused. I love and hate the names.

The ending. THE END. HOLY CRAP. Now I need book three, which isn't out yet. It joins the ranks of the three other books that are coming out in 2015, but I want now. Let me tell you, if you feel at all bored (why would you?) while reading, give it until the last few pages. Holy goats.

If there was one problem I had, it was just how white the cast was. No diversity whatsoever. I know, I know, they're the descendants of Norse gods, and most people in Scandinavia are white. However, it's not like they're descendants on both sides (unless they were, in which a case, sorry, missed that), so they could have mixed race. Or something. And it so straight. No, I don't care that it's middle grade, if there can be straight romance, there can be gay romance. One is not more taboo than the other. Copy this over for disability, class, and anything else you can think of that I can't.

And the romance seemed a little unnecessary, too. Or, I think it's unnecessary because I'm worried Laurie will end up in a love triangle. Or, I think it's unnecessary because the chemistry between [Spoilers we have heard on high] Owen and Laurie [sweetly spoilering o'er the plains] is next to nil. Or, I think their chemistry is next to nil because I didn't want romance. It's cause and effect, but I'm not sure which is which.

(This review is a MESS)

~Corinne 

The Strange Maid

The Strange Maid

(image from its randomhouse.com page)

Tessa Gratton

(Trigger Warnings for the book: Death, alcohol)

(Gif warning for the review)

Signy Valborn climbed the New World Tree when she was seven, looking for Asgard at its top branches. It wasn't there, but the Allfather was. He promised her that if she could solve a riddle, she could join the ranks of the Valkyries. For ten years, Signy has trained to become a Valkyrie, trying to solve her riddle all the while. After running from home to live in the streets of Chicagland, she's not eager to trust Ned Unferth, who claims to know the answer. A Greater Mountain Troll, he claims, will hold the solution. Signy knows she's running out of time. She'll have to trust him.

You know, I was so proud of my summary for The Last Mango (If you're confused, read the review for the predecessor book- then you'll know why I refuse to call it by its real title.). Not sure what went wrong this time.

(image from Pintrest)

Yes, kid, this is a kissing book. There is lots of kissing. You're going to have to get used it. But, hey, there's a plot, too, so get over yourself. Here are the characters who may or may not have kissability:

Signy Valborn- KISSING RATE: HIGH- Finally, a strong female character that isn't a) basically a male character that the author decided should be female, or b) a sex object hiding under the strong female character guise. Signy was a genuinely interesting and cool character to read about. She had almost all the traits you want in a female character, without the chaser of "stage seven Other Girls syndrome" and "magically fails to do anything when Love Interest comes along". A+ main character.

Ned Unferth- KISSING RATE: Lower than Signy, but higher than, say, Sharkman- This is ~Love Interest~. You can tell just by those squiggles that I have a bone to pick. However, I actually have no reason to pick that bone other than Ned's brooding and angst. And the brooding and angst was reasonable too. So, while his character wasn't my favorite, there's no reason to actively hate him. Sad, I know.

Soren Bearstar- KISSING RATE: haha your girlfriend got turned into a goddess everybody point and laugh- I actually liked him better in this book than in the last. Is that weird? He was the MC of the last book. Anyway, he felt more sympathetic and real this time around.

Sharkman- KISSING RATE: Lower than Ned, but higher than Soren- Not important, I know, but for a secondary Love Interest, he probably should have shown up more. Or at least had a personality. Or something.

Baldur- KISSING RATE: Probably still higher than Soren- Okay, I'm only putting him down because I thought he was cool. He only showed up once.

The writing style wasn't too compelling. It wasn't really boring, but it didn't demand my attention. I felt like the narrator could have been a little less detached. However, it was good to see some real emotions from this main character, even if they felt a little bit at a distance. Perhaps third person would fit the style a bit better.

Ooh, ooh the twist near the end! I love end twists! That was pretty darn great. And it made sense, but wasn't obviously going to happen from the beginning. If there were more plot twists like that, reviews would be a happier place.

The balance of action and character development was pretty sweet. Not summer blockbustery, but also not romantic tragedy. Realistic, without one subplot beating out another. Or, well, as realistic as a fantasy book can get. You know. Anyway, veddy veddy good, Ms. Gratton, veddy veddy good.

On the romance: Let's face it, even though I have no practical reason to dislike Ned, I disliked Ned. The air of father figure/mentor and also Love Interest was unnerving. If he stuck as mentor and Sharkman became the Love Interest, I think I'd take it better.

I'm torn whether I liked this book or the last book better. The last one I liked the characters and plot better, but this one didn't have the same problems that bothered me last time.

(Let's face it, if my immune system was better, you guys wouldn't get anything.)

~Corinne

Shadows

Shadows

(image from cuts-of-paper.blogspot.com)

Robin McKinley

Maggie lives in a world that has separated itself from magic. Newworld's workings are based on science, and magic was gene-chopped from every family generations ago. But Val, her new stepfather, carries with him a presence that can only be the magic of the Oldworld, where he came from. Shadows seem to center around him, and he refuses technology in his shed/office. But soon Maggie will have to face a reality that forces her to rely on Val's shadows and, possibly, her own heritage.

THERE. Summary DONE. If anyone can figure out what genre this book is, I'd be glad. Dystopian, fantasy, paranormal? I think I'll just file it under "other".

I'm going to have a Jill appreciation moment. Practically first YA BFF that wasn't cast aside for romance. Platonic relationships for the win!

On a less savory note, the plot didn't really come to a boil until nearly the end of the book. There was a lot of set-up, and that set up was cool, but even at the end the conflict seemed a bit hazy. I have a feeling this book is the first in a series and I'm missing the others. 

The characters were so great. I'm giving them individual paragraphs because I don't want a huge text block.

Maggie- Somewhat irritating tendency to use valley girl-esque slang, but that kind of added to character, so it was all okay. Cool with animals and non-animal things that may or may not be sentient, always a plus. Interesting character for a POV. B+ Character, would be A if she wasn't so obsessed with butts.

Jill- The best character by far. She's possibly the only character that, despite her foresight, was any bit NORMAL.If you can't tell from the top note, yeah, I really love how she was in a platonic relationship that wasn't thrown aside for the romance. Even if she acted as wingman occasionally.

Takahiro- Quiet, but not brooding. Interesting to learn about, but not because of some super deep-dark mysterious past. [DEAR GOD THE SPOILERS HAVE RETURNED, HIDE YOUR CHILDREN] He wasn't totally love interest material. However, no love interest is perfect- they can just sucker punch cliches like Taks here. [Hush my darling, don't fear my darling, the spoilers sleep tonight...] It's also really nice not to have another white love interest. Speaking as a white person, I'm okay without another black-hair-green-eyes-tan-skin-but-still-white guy.

Casimir- Well, I thought [THE Spoilers from Italy are coming today ] That he was going to be the love interest, and was kind of thrown off by how he wasn't. Really, he was kind of pushed away. Sad. [*creeps away from the spoilers with a sense of loss and confusion*] Anyhow, I think he would have been cool if he'd been given a little more time. Interested in science, knows his mythos... THERE WAS SO MUCH THERE. WHY.

Val- Seems like the bad guy, but I assure you he isn't. Fun to read about, decent for sympathizing. I'm glad he didn't end up as the villain, because that would be way too easy.

The writing style was a bit weird. There was a lot of future slang and a clear attempt at being open to the "younger" audience (read: valley girl talk). There was also virtually no commas. That's not a voice complaint, that's a comma-hoarder feeling bizarre that no one agrees with them. It's not a perfect voice, but you can get into it easily enough.

The fantasy elements were awesome. I loved the shadows, even though they weren't described in detail (lots of legs, snake-like, silver eyes- anything else?). I wish the cobeys were explained a bit more, but, eh, we can't have everything.

I'll admit, it didn't exactly keep you on the edge of your seat. The exciting stuff only really started in the last two thirds of the book. That was disappointing, but at least it happened eventually.

Now, to the romance. If you don't like spoilers just go to the point where I sign off. It'll be easier that way. Takahiro as the love interest gave me mixed feelings. While it's nice to have a love interest that isn't the mysterious bad boy, he didn't seem like a love interest. He doesn't seem to talk to Maggie until they fall in love. The two have one common interest- origami. That's ONE thing. ONE. I require two common goals or interests to be pleased.

~Corinne

The Lost Sun

The Lost Sun

(Image from usatoday)

Tessa Gratton

In a world where the Norse Gods are real, it usually pays to be a beserker. Unless, of course, you're Soren Bearskin, son of a previously acclaimed beserker that went insane and killed thirteen people and had to be shot down by a SWAT team. 

His life seems to be going up when he meets Astrid Glyn, a seethkoma who's famous prophetess mother went missing. But his celebrations end when Baldur, the much-loved god of light, fails to rise. Now Soren and Astrid must find the missing god, and confront their own problems along the way.

I vaguely enjoy the summary I just wrote. Isn't it beautiful? However, beauty can't last, so onto the (extremely unorganized) review.

You know that one person you really want to like, but have these little habits that just bother you so much? This book was that person for me.

First of all, I love the plot. I could roll around in the plot all day while giggling like a maniac. A road trip to save a god? Awesome. Beserkers and prophetesses? Heaven Valhalla. Journey of self discovery? I love you.

And the plot was executed so beautifully. It was well-timed and well-written. The pacing was more beautiful than that summary I'm still fairly proud of. In fact, if that was the only way I judged this book, I would probably be shoving it in your face screaming, "READ IT READ IT READ IT!"

And the world? So fabulous. Oh so fabulous. Perhaps not the best built one (Does everything have to revolve around the gods? I mean, a lot of stuff being dedicated to them make sense, but absolutely everything?), but still amazing and great and fabulous and [adjective with a positive connotation]. This may have something to do with the fact that I'm obsessed with most mythologies and folktales, but ignore that. My bias can be ignored.

Wait, no it can't. Because I've read Prose Edda, and I know all you slip-ups and stare into your soul.

A lot of the stories referenced/mentioned in this book were changed for no apparent reason. A couple are reasonable (Freyja magically becoming the goddess of magic, when that's more of Odin's thing, makes sense because too many people with Odin as their patron would be weird). But for the most part, it wouldn't be significant if they were told correctly. For instance, Baldur is not the sun. You may think he's the sun, but he's not. Trust me. I wouldn't lie to you, I'm not a Lokiskin. Sol is the sun. Baldur is the god of light and innocence and other awesome stuff like that, but not the sun. Since the reason the book is called The Lost Sun is because Baldur is lost, its title must be changed. "Sun" has become a random noun. We may replace it with any other noun.

Okay, while that bothers me, it isn't the only mythological mistake in The Lost Paperclip.  The Fenris wolf was the brother (or sister, maybe) of Jormungand with the same parents. Loki and Angurboda. At no point did they turn into a young girl, but illusion magic does exist in all unreality, so whatever.

Jormungand was cut out of no one's stomach.

It wasn't Baldur's mother that refused to weep for him, it was random giantess lady-who-may-have-been-Loki, Thokk. No one but Baldur and Hodr was murdered in that story.

See? Pointless things that could easily be changed. The only reason I even bother mention is to a) say that The Lost Skeleton is by no means a mythology textbook, and b) to point out one of the habits of the person-book mentioned in paragraph one of the actual review.

The characters, even, no, especially Baldur-who-is-not-the-sun, were interesting and unique little ducklings. They had their own drives and personalities and while Soren was basically a steel wall of seriousness, were still extremely cool and fun to read. It makes sense that Soren is the wall he is, I guess- after all, he could potentially kill someone, and that, kiddies, is something to be serious about. Oh, fun fact: the word "beserker" comes from the words "bear skin". I SEE WHAT YOU DID THERE, AUTHOR LADY.

And yes, I enjoyed Baldur's character veddy much. I have no idea why. He was just cool.

Names came to be another of the irritating-habits-no-one-but-me-cares-about. Why did all of the names of things have to be changed? Canadia (although that explains why they're Canadians, not Canadans), Montania? Anglish and New Spain? Why do these names have to be different? Does it matter? Do you like the idea that it takes me a second or two to understand certain things? These are questions that must be answered.

In more, better news that once again only I care about, I could find a lot of queer subtext in this book. Not actual text, but I have my dreams (JUST YOU WAIT UNTIL THE NEXT REVIEW). Of course, this is me just throwing out things that I noticed, so this entire paragraph may be ignored. 

While the style was usually pretty great, the wording could get a little odd. 

Also, I've noticed that out of the 22 books I've reviewed (counting this one), 17 have been in first-person narrative. That comes up to 77%. What could this mean? More unimportant sentences when I should be reviewing. That's what it means.

The romance was decent. Maybe not the best, but definitely not gag-worthy.

More useless text (maybe I should just, like, change the text color of useless stuff to green so you know to ignore it): I've noticed that in novels with a male protagonist, the romance is a lot more touchy-touchy. They want to hug and cradle and otherwise hold their love interest. With female protagonists, it's more emotional stuff that they're concerned about. Just pointing that out.

And since romance is almost always the thing I end with, you all know it's good-bye time. The book was decent with its habits. I might read the next book if I saw it in the library or something, but wouldn't purposefully seek it out.

~Corinne

Cinderella is Evil

Cinderella is Evil

(Image from the author's website)

Jamie Campbell

This is, sadly, only a short story. We can't have everything.

Cinderella is Evil is the classic story of Cinderella told through the eyes of one of the ugly step-sisters, Anna. 

Since that was a horrible description, here's a link to its goodreads page- https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17701814-cinderella-is-evil

 Okay. On we go.

I'm getting really tired of all the Cinderella stories in YA. Cinder was good, but the sheer amount of Cinderella stories is staggering. And kind of sad. And really unoriginal.

This story is not a Cinderella story.

Well, it is, but it's a Cinderella story that isn't based on a 'boo-hoo, life's so sad' heroine who doesn't do anything but fall in love. This story was original and entertaining, with the voice of Anna living up to all of my literary expectations.

The story shows how Cinderella is shallow and unfriendly without making them her only characteristics or without reason. It kind of balanced everything out, like, 'yeah, Cinderella is a jerk and all, but hey, why shouldn't she be?'

A large portion of the story focused around the ball and preparations for it instead of whether Anna would help Cinderella with the whole shoe thing. The description promised a little more of that, and I felt disappointed there wasn't just a little more of after the ball kind of stuff. However, it was still good. It's not like everything that happened was shoved into one page, which it could have, considering the length of the story (it's not extraordinarily long for a novella).

The formatting was a bit strange. I didn't think it really needed chapters, just...

Uh...

What are those called-

***

That kind of thing. Page breaks? No... Whatever. The point is that it didn't really need to be defined by chapters. 

The descriptions were well thought out. Mind the tangent, but the descriptions in fairy tale retellings always seem to be so flowery. I mean, a bit of description is great, but 'the curtains were blue' is just as good (better, even) as 'the curtains, an azure blue like the sky of a crisp autumn day, tiny bone-white Fleur-de-lis lining the edges of the satin fabric, hung in front of the window'.

Back on topic. The descriptions were simple when they needed to be and more complex at appropriate times. Who cares about those blue curtains? The dress is where it's at. The dress deserves way more than those dumb curtains.

The romance in it seemed kind of misplaced. Well, it was important, in a way, but at the same time, I don't feel like it was totally necessary. I can see it as a 'looks are superficial, people can still love you' moral, but you know. Just my opinion.

Also not the point. The point is that this story explains the life of the ugly stepsisters and cushions and betters the backstory of Cinderella. It deserves a read.

Though I agree with the person on goodreads who put it in the 'bad covers' list. Sorry.

~Corinne