Book Review: Prophecy of the Sisters

Title: Prophecy of the Sisters
Author: Michelle Zink
Publisher: Little, Brown and Company
Genre: Paranormal/Fantasy
Page Count: 343
Rating: 4.1 out of 5
Cover Rating: 3 out of 5. The statues are okay, but not terrific. But I do like the way vines are creeping over one girl and not the other--very symbolic, and it fits in with the plot.


Inside flap:

And ancient prophecy

Divides two sisters--

Once good . . .

Once evil . . .

Who will prevail?

Twin sisters Lia and Alice Milthorpe have just become orphans. They have also become enemies. As they discover their roles in a prophecy that has turned generations of sisters against each other, the girls find themselves entangles in a mystery that involves a tattoo-like mark, their parents' deaths, a boy, a book, and a lifetime of secrets.

Lia and Alice don't know whom they can trust.

They just know they can't trust each other.

My expectations: I'd heard a lot about this book, and now that the sequel is out, even more. Most of what I saw was positive, although I was never really certain I'd like it and thought it might just be another book with the same plot and bad characters as every other YA book seems to have. Which is why I turned down the opportunity to own it and recently took it out of a library.

It exceeded what I'd expected.


About the book: Lia and Alice Milthorpe are orphans. Their father recently passed away, and they live with their Aunt Virginia in their estate. Their mother passed away years ago, after having seemingly fallen accidentally off a cliff into the water below. (Ahem. Why is everyone throwing themselves off cliffs these days?) But after her father dies, Lia--the firstborn daughter--finds a strange mark forming on the inside of her wrist. A mark that grows darker and clearer as time passes, eventually forming a Jorgamund--a snake eating its tail.

Alice also begins to turn away from here, even more than usual. Lia discovers disturbing things about her sister, and when James hands her a book found in her father's library with a prophecy written in Latin, she realizes that the words have to do with her.

Well, all right, this is a a fairly good piece of Paranormal and/or Fantasy. (Depends on what sort of parameters you have.) I was a irritated at the cliff aspect (Please. These days, it's not very likely that it was an accident) but I have to say that the plot and the characters were overall satisfactory.

I read somewhere that it has parallels to The Gemma Doyle Trilogy by Libba Bray, and while I was reading Prophecy of the Sisters, I was a little surprised by how many similarities there are. A group of girls, a magical, dangerous realm-like place, a wise, older woman who helps them, the fretting adults, the backstabbers at school, the sneaking off, etc. It's not a direct copy, but I can definitely see why that statement would be true. (I like The Gemma Doyle Trilogy, by the way.)

One thing that bothered me though, was the fact that Lia seemed to accept the prophecy all too easily. She was like "A Jorgamund! A strange piece of writing! My sister's reclusivity! I must be part of a huge prophecy where everyone wants to kill each other!"

Well, okay, not exactly like that. But she came across as gullible and naive in that way, and it irked me. That's one thing I've noticed about a lot of YA literature--they seem to have characters who accept things without a lot of proof. It's like suddenly, after years of nothing happening, "THINGS ARE HAPPENING!" instead of a procession of odd events throughout their lifetime which might lead up to something more momentous. Harry Potter does the latter, and I appreciate that a lot since many other books do not. (Have you ever noticed this? Really? Have you?)

• Plot:

Good. It kept me wanting to know what happens, and I thought the ending was satisfactory. I (again) thought the cliff-falling incident irritating, but the whole thing with her father, Aunt Virginia, her sister, Henry, and her friends was intriguing and kept my interest. Another thing I found a good aspect of the plot is that Lia is actually the bad person. You know, it's usually the MC is the "keeping the good as it is" sort of person, but this time, it's the MC who has the power to do the most evil. I love this deviation from the norm. The ending is rather cliff-hanger-y, but I think it ended appropriately.

• Characters:

Lia was a nice protagonist. I expected someone ridiculous, but instead she showed a surprising amount of pragmatism. She wasn't afraid of going against her sister when she got nasty--I was glad she wasn't weak in that way.

Alice, the other twin, is an interesting antagonist. I appreciated the way she sort of descended deeper into the prophecy.

Sonia. I loved Sonia. I don't know why, but I really like this girl. She's strong and realistic, and knows what she's doing.

Luisa sort of got on my nerves. She's unwilling to face the truth and wants to run a lot of the time, but she was a good foil.

James is a good friend to Lia. I thought there might be some love-triangle drama or something with her sister, but there was not, and I am glad of that. James is a good person, willing to help Lia and I love the fact his father's a bookkeeper.

• Setting/Other Factors:

The Gothic element is strong, and while this isn't usually my cup of tea, it was presented in a good fashion. It wasn't boring or dull, and Zink wrote about this world well, I think.


Other: Nothing much. There's some kissing, but that's it. Not much violence, although there are the ghosts and Gothic elements.


Do I recommend this book? Yes! While there are similarities between The Gemma Doyle Trilogy and this series, I think it is original enough to be a worthwhile read, and I want to read Guardian of the Gate now!

-----The Golden Eagle

Book Review: The Rise of Renegade X

Title: The Rise of Renegade X

Author: Chelsea M. Campbell

Publisher: Egmont USA

Genre: Fantasy/Adventure

Page Count: 340

Rating: 4 out of 5

Cover Rating: 4 out of 5. I'm torn between liking it and hating it. It's very . . . comic-ish, which I'm not sure what to make of, although I think it really fits the book. The font/lettering is great--I'm glad they didn't mess that up, as they sometimes do--and I like the boy on the cover. Something's just not right with it though. It half-repels me, half-attracts me and I'm just not sure I like it or if I don't. (What do you think of it?) However, despite all that, one sure thing is that this cover is a bit spoiler-y. It immediately revealed something to me that I wish hadn't been revealed . . . but it wasn't the worst spoiler ever.

Inside flap:

Damien Locke knows his destiny--attending the university for supervillains and becoming Golden City's next professional evil genius. But when Damien discovers he's the product of his supervillain mother's one-night stand with--of all people--a superhero, his best-laid plans are ruined. 

   Now forced to live with his superhero family, Damien must prove that he's truly evil. Only he wasn't counting on a villainous plot that threatens his new relatives' safety and will make Damien choose who he really wants to be.

My expectations: Usually whenever I see the word "evil genius" "villain" and "villainous plot" I'm there. Consequently, I had to take out this book even despite the slightly odd "superhero" and "supervillain" stuff, which is not what you typically see in YA. I thought that might be a nice change.

It certainly was . . . different.

About the book: This is not an Artemis Fowl-style story about dastardly genius and cunning wits with amazing technology and lots of scientific talk. 

This is a book about superheroes battling the supervillains in what seems to be an eternal fight between the two forces. Damien Locke (I love that name, BTW) is the son of a supervillain and a superhero, and of course that brings up issues; especially ones like "Is he a freaking supervillain or isn't he?!"

You see, it starts out on Damien Locke's 16th birthday. On their 16th, all superheroes and supervillains get either an "H" or a "V" on their thumb. But on his birthday, Damien gets an "X" instead. That means that he's a cross between a villian and a hero, and which symbol he gets is determined by his action--whether he falls to the dark side or decides to become a superhero. But one thing he can't control is what superpower he gets--they're all inherited traits from the family, and if you don't know who your dad is, then you don't have any idea what that power might be.

You're probably thinking something like "this book sounds so CHEESY!" with the superheroes and supervillains running around and rescuing and/or destroying things and generally acting like stereotypes. And you'd be right, it is rather cheesy in parts. Corny. Eye-rolling, particularly when it comes to the different sides and how they try to go to the extremes of evil and of good. Like, one of the goals (for villains) is mind control. Who hasn't heard of mind control before on the part of villains?

But most of the cheesy-ness comes from the superhero side of things, to be honest. It's not the supervillains that are the sappy and ridiculous sort. For example: "The Crimson Flash is here, and everything's okay; trust his word and not the nerd and have a neato day!" is the theme song on one of the superheroes' TV shows. The Crimson Flash also wears a cape, and I do NOT want to know what the rest of his tight suit is like appearance-wise. Because I know he's wearing one.

Mr. Rogers is better than that! But it's sort of sadistically funny, isn't it? "Have a neato day!" as the emblem of the superhero. The Crimson Flash. Which brings up the point that all of the supervillains/heroes have totally ridiculous names. Like "Mistress of Mayhem"--that's Damien's mom's name. "Midnight Marvel" is the name Damien chooses for himself. "Forensic Avenger" and "Gallant Gentleman" are other superhero names. And "Renegade X" is what Damien settles on in the end.

• Plot: 

The plot was . . . well, sort of predictable, but I still found it interesting enough. (I don't read comic books, so maybe those of you who have would find this boring.) Damien was a good protagonist, and while it's certainly been done before I liked the whole choose-between-good-and-evil thing. There were a few twists I didn't quite see coming, and that kept my interest.

The supervillain/hero issue is rather stereotyped with the good and the bad and the fairly straight line between the two (except for the fact Damien is the "product" of one from each) but hey, it works. That's why it's copied so much.

• Characters:

Damien is a good character. I love that boy! He's got spunk, sarcasm, humor, brains, and (this is where the spoiler-y cover comes in, since it's pretty obvious he's standing at the top of the building and looking down) he can fly. I found his treatment of the dilemma an interesting one--while I don't prefer evil in Real Life I found myself hoping he'd become a supervillain. Really, I did. I wanted him to get the V onto his finger and rule!

Kat is a supervillain. She's already got a V and all that jazz, and she's a shapeshifter. Yup, shapeshifter. Which can lead to some pretty, uh, uncomfortable situations--like when Damien finds her in his bedroom making out with someone else despite the fact she's supposed to be his girlfriend. But despite that, it isn't really a major part of her nature. I really couldn't decide what kind of supervillain she'd make because there really wasn't much in the way of describing just how far she'd go in that direction to get what she wants.

Sarah was odd. She did things that aren't quite right, said things that are a little strange, and acted weirdly. I enjoyed the fact she could be fairly strong, but other than that she irked me. I thought a few things could have been fleshed out a little more than they were.

Gordon (Damien's dad) is . . . good. Really good. Good in the "oh my gosh I can't believe that, since it's so goody-two-shoes!" Another demonstration on how ridiculous the superheroes can be. (Granted, so can the supervillains on occasion.) I didn't particularly like him, mainly because he didn't really like Damien despite the fact he was his son. Sheesh.

Damien's mom. I found her a mix of laser-eyes, attitude, irritatingly prejudiced ideas, and supervillain-ness. A good character.

• Setting/Other Factors:

The superhero supervillain thing is not something you see in YA literature. (At least not something that isn't illustrated.) Frankly, I am happy that the author took this opportunity to write something different and out of the usual spectrum since with all the vampires and werewolves and . . . whatever, this change was a relief.

There is a lot of sarcastic humor in this book. Like the inward comments Damien makes about the fact his mom calls her fiance "honeybuns" {*gags*} and some other things he says about the fact he exists. Out of wedlock and all. Other things, too, that will either make you snicker or laugh or cringe or snort or roll your eyes.

Other: There are, uh, things people might have issues with. There are several references, some comments, a bad word here and there, indicative things, cheating on the person's boy/girlfriend, the aforementioned relationship between Damien's parents, and a lot of kissing. 

No, I don't mean that it was graphic or vividly described to point where I just had to slam the book shut because I was afraid of permanently scarring my mind, but more like they just kissed a LOT and CONTINUOUSLY. Like for minutes at a time. In fact, Damien actually has these kissing sessions with ***** (didn't want to spoil it for you) and they do it for much too long. They start timing their kissing, too, which I thought was a little strange . . .

Do I recommend this book? Yes. I would recommend this book because it presents a whole different setting  than a lot of YA does, and that change is great since a lot of YA is the same.

-----The Golden Eagle

Book Review: Wondrous Strange

Title: Wondrous Strange

Author: Lesley Livingston

Publisher: HarperTeen

Genre: Paranormal

Page Count: 327

Rating: 2.2 out of 5

Cover Rating: 3 out of 5. Pretty, in a dark-and-mysterious sort of way, although I think that the girl on the front is a little . . . too much girl and not enough other. (I would have preferred something with more of a background based on the Faerie kingdom i.e. trees, pavilion, Faeries themselves, etc.) 

Back Cover:

Seventeen-year-old actress Kelley Winslow always thought faeries were just something from childhood stories. Then she meets Sonny Flannery. He's a changeling--a mortal taken as an infant and raised among Faerie--and within short order he's turned Kelley's heart inside out and her world upside down.

   For Kelley's beloved Central Park isn't just a park--it's a gateway between her ordinary city and the Faerie's dangerous, bewitching Otherworld. Now Kelley's eyes are opening not just to the Faerie that surround her, but to the heritage that awaits her . . . a destiny both wondrous and strange.

My expectations: So-so. Paranormal's not my top favorite sort of book . . . but I have to say, I wanted to read more about faeries, since they seem to be big in YA literature right now.

I got a so-so book, which really isn't helping my opinion of paranormal.

About the book: First, I'm going to talk about the back cover, because I have several issues with it. (Just skip down to "The rest of the plot . . . " phrase if you want to read about the book, not something I have issues with.)

So, the back cover/inside flap is always what you read first, isn't it? To see what the plot's about, the characters, the setting, etc. Well, this back cover gives practically everything away. The romance has to be mentioned to hook readers of course, but in this one it's " . . . turned her heart inside out and her world upside down . . . " which is basically: she falls in love with him and what else is he supposed to do but fall in love with her? And from that much it seems like the falling-in-love part happens pretty fast, since that particular line is in the first paragraph.

CODE RED. I REPEAT, CODE RED. Bad plan, folks. Make it interesting! I want to see the challenges! The difficulty! It's better than just BAM! They're in true love. Because seriously? In life that doesn't happen.

Another issue with that back flap is the " . . . heritage that awaits her . . . a destiny . . ." part. Now, you see, fairly in the beginning of the book Sonny Flannery (I'll get to the characters in a moment) talks about the stolen daughter of the king--Auberon--who was taken into the mortal world. And then he runs into Kelly who, surprise surprise, astonishes him with Faerie powers.

CODE RED. I REPEAT, CODE RED. Another problem with that darned back cover! I mean, leave the reader some guessing to do! Don't just tell them everything! What's the point in reading a book if you know what's going to happen--and you can anticipate every move?

*sighs* So my conclusion is: I can tell you that Kelley's the Faerie princess and that she and Sonny fall in love with each other without feeling guilty because you'd probably figure that out for yourselves rather quickly.

The rest of the plot is . . . mixed. There's just too much telling and not enough showing here, since the author tells you about events that are occurring but she doesn't describe and show you that they are occurring. I hate it when that happens. I can't feel Sonny Flannery wielding that weapon because it's just "he fought" instead of "he fought, whipping his deadly blade left and right, slicing through the creatures that bombarded him from all directions".

I already told you about the romance part (or more correctly the back cover did) and I already told you about the Faerie princess part (same deal) but there's another, more ACTION-ish part which I liked the idea of. 

Basically, every nine years for nine nights before and up to Samhain a gate will open connecting the Otherworld to ours, and Otherworld creatures have the opportunity to escape--except for the Janus guards. I liked the part where they fight off the creatures and try to outsmart the creatures that are trying to outsmart them. I like action. However, the author did not emphasize the tension, the moves, the fighting techniques, which would have really piqued my interest in it. I was disappointed by that, because I wanted to read more of it.

Speaking of the characters, Sonny is a Janus guard. He's all right as a person, and all right as a love interest, but I didn't really find anything SPECTACULAR about him. I mean, he's smart, he's a good fighter, and he's relatively nice to Kelley, (I say this because of the stalking/following stuff at the beginning but it's not as bad as it sounds) but there's nothing outstanding.

For that matter, there's really not much outstanding about Kelley, either. She's an okay actress in NYC, she's not, you know, brilliant or anything, and the only reason she's all that interesting is because she's the daughter of the king, Auberon. Other than that . . . not much is really all that great about her.

The characters' reactions to events is another thing I have problems with. You see, they're not described enough, and they don't change enough as things head their way. It's more like single words of shock but no facial description, body language, etc. In fact, I was amazed that the author got away with so little emotion in the book, because if you count emotion alone this book is flat. Really flat. I think was one of my major problems with this book: I just wasn't feeling much for anyone or anything. (Except the kelpie in Kelley's bathroom. :P)

Other: Nothing language-wise that I can remember . . . so it's relatively clean, since the kissing's down and the action, as I mentioned before, is not described much at all.

Do I recommend this book? No. Actually, I'd advise you to pick up something a little more dynamic seeing as this book is not very interesting, and I think there's really nothing great about it. Not worth the time, unless you're pressed against something else--like sparkly, stalking vamps.

-----The Golden Eagle