The Gathering by Kelley Armstrong

The Gathering by Kelley Armstrong - 4/5 stars

Strange things are happening in Maya's tiny Vancouver Island town. First, her friend Serena, the captain of the swim team, drowns mysteriously in the middle of a calm lake. Then, one year later, cougars are spotted rather frequently around Maya's home—and her reactions to them are somewhat . . . unexpected. Her best friend, Daniel, has also been experiencing unexplainable premonitions about certain people and situations.


It doesn't help that the new bad boy in town, Rafe, has a dangerous secret, and he's interested in one special part of Maya's anatomy—her paw-print birthmark.

-Goodreads

So I was very pleasantly surprised by this one! The teens at my library love Kelley Armstrong which is awesome because not only is she Canadian, she's from my province. Let me tell you some of the things I loved about The Gathering:

• unapologetically Canadian! Uses terms like 'cougar' instead of 'mountain lion', for instance, and takes place on Vancouver Island. That being said, I still think it will appeal to American readers (the same way American books still appeal to my teens). It was just nice reading a Canadian book that didn't try to be American.
• Really great main female character! Maya felt three-dimensional because she had interests like taking care of animals and was interested in her native heritage. She's smart but not annoyingly so. She's strong but that doesn't mean she doesn't feel things or have a vulnerable side.
• Native heritage! It was cool reading about the various native myths and learning more about Maya's heritage. Hopefully this will be further explored in future books.
• No love triangle! Maya's friend Daniel is just that - a friend. I hope that doesn't change in later books.
• Not the same ol' paranormal -  I won't spoil you with what the paranormal twist is in this book, but suffice to say we haven't really seen it before and I think it's fairly well done.
• Doesn't end on a cliff-hanger! There are definitely loose ends and things to figure out but the first book wraps up nicely and didn't leave me wanting to throw it across the room. 

Overall, loved it! Recommending to paranormal fans and fans of Canadian YA.

(reviewed from an ARC provided by the publisher)

Review: Body at the Tower by Y. S. Lee

Body at the Tower by Y. S. Lee - 4/5 stars


This is another colourful, action-packed Victorian detective novel about the exploits of agent Mary Quinn. At a young age, Mary Quinn is rescued from the gallows and taken to Miss Scrimshaw's Academy for Girls. The school turns out to be a front for a private detective agency. At age 17, Mary takes on her first case (A Spy in the House). In this, the second book of the series, Mary Quinn sets out to uncover the truth behind a suspicious death at St. Stephen's Tower, better known as the clock tower of the Houses of Parliament. The accident occurred after hours in a highly public part of town and despite the presence of night watchmen. Mary, disguised as Mark Quinn, becomes a builder's assistant to find out the truth about the body at the tower.


-Goodreads.com


First off, if you haven't read A Spy in the House, get thee to a library! In her second adventure, Mary is just as complex, clever, and for lack of a better word, kick ass. She has to disguise herself (again!) as a boy to sneak onto a construction site and almost has her cover blown the very first day. What's that? A flawed character who makes mistakes but then learns from them? Yes please! 


I could almost write this entire review about all the things I love about Mary - her fierce independence! her conflict over her racial identity! how adorable she is when she gets accidentally drunk! - but really you should just read the book and fall in love with her yourself. 


Everyone's favourite Victorian engineer is back - James! And of course the romance is just as heated as in the first book. Victorian romance is almost hotter than contemporary romance just because you know every improper move they make is a Big Deal. 


The plot itself seems simple - murder on a tower - but like the first book, nothing is as simple as CSI makes it out to be. Everything unravels with twists and turns, leaving the reader struggling to figure out what is going on just like Mary. While you might guess at the cause of the murder, it's really only revealed in the climatic scene - the way it should be in a mystery. 


Overall, another rockin' Victorian spy mystery. Can't wait for the next one! 


Recommended to fans of historical fiction who want a bit of a twist. 


(reviewed from a library copy)

Review: Dust City by Robert Paul Weston

Dust City by Robert Paul Weston - 4/5 stars

In Dust City, Weston asked the question, 'what if Fairy Tales were real? What if those characters evolved? What would that look like?' The result is a civilisation divided into hominids (humans, elves, goblins and the like) and animalia (everything else from wolves and foxes, to ravens and frogs). The fairies have seemingly left the building and their once powerful, life-changing fairy dust is sold on the street and by huge pharmaceutical companies for everything that ails you. The more expensive, the longer the effects.

When Henry, son of the big bad wolf, finds a letter from his dad implying that he was framed for double homicide (Little Red Riding Hood and her gran) by being forced to take bad dust, Henry breaks out of juvi to find out the truth behind his father's crime and whether the fairies have really left.

Naturally he's joined by a cast of characters including a giant, a she-wolf Fiona and a hominid, Jack (yes, that Jack with beans and all). While the premise may sound a bit camp, the actual novel is a gritty urban tale where fairy dust is equivalent to something like cocaine. Henry infiltrates a gang of dust dealers to find out the truth about his father and his various errands around the city make it clear that this is no fairytale.

I really liked Dust City because it reads like a fairy tale mash-up for guys, sort of like Fables (only for a younger audience). The world that Weston has created feels fleshed out and real and while the conclusion of the novel is a bit disappointing (or at least it was for a lover of fairytale happy endings like me), I still really enjoyed getting there.

Recommended for fans of fractured fairy tales and gritty urban fantasy. You can read an excerpt of Dust City on the main website, here!

(reviewed from a library copy)

Review: I Know It's Over by C. K. Kelly Martin

In I Know It's Over, Nick, 16, finds out that his girlfriend is pregnant. They were careful, they used condoms, but accidents do happen. The book is told through entirely Nick's point of view which makes for a really intimate portrait of teen pregnancy.

Oddly enough the only other book I've read about teen pregnancy was Slam by Nick Hornby and that is also told from the father's point of view. In Slam, the protagonist gets sent forward in time to see what it might be like to be a father. In I Know It's Over, Nick finds out that Sasha is pregnant and then we go back in time to when they first met. Both narrative techniques were really effective.

Being in Nick's head for the entirety of the book meant that we really get to know him as a character. C. K. Kelly Martin writes him with depth and humanity. He plays hockey and enjoys art class. He enjoys fooling around with a girl friend but then he's also capable of an all-consuming monogamous relationship. Nick is such a believable character and since this is such a character-driven book, it makes for a really strong novel.

Obviously since this is novel is about teen pregnancy, there's bound to be sex scenes. They're written, like the whole novel really, with a frankness that fits in with Nick's character. No flowery language here which is refreshing.

Overall, I really liked I Know It's Over. I picked it up at the recommendation of a blogger (as if I can remember who it is, now) and I'm glad I did. I would put this one in the hands of older teens, or at least mature teens. Oh, and have a tissue handy - you may need it. I did.

(reviewed from an e-book from the library)

Review: Gravity Brings Me Down by Natale Ghent

When I found out that Natale Ghent was visiting my library, I thought I'd read one of her books so I'd have something to chat with her about. Little did I know that I would love Gravity Brings Me Down so much. 

A smart and thoughtful story about self-discovery, acceptance, and finding friendship — all in the places you’d least expect.

Sioux Smith is sharp, funny, and wry, and is pretty certain that she sees the world of high school differently from everyone else — a belief that is cemented when she makes an uneasy discovery about one of her school’s “popular” teachers. And while she feels alone at her high school and in her unique slant on small-town life, Sioux finds a kindred spirit in the most unlikely of people: an elderly stranger, who has more insight despite her progressing dementia than anyone else in Sioux’s life. What Sioux and “Miss Marple” learn about each other over tea, illicitly secreted wine, and Coronation Street, makes for a novel with heart and grit in equal measure.

-Goodreads.com 

I love books with quirky teens who don't quiiite fit in. They're harder to find than you might think, given that most authors are probably at least a little quirky. Natale succeeds in making Sioux a fully believable, snarky, quirky teen. I enjoyed being in Sioux's head so much that I actually finished this in one sitting. It's packed full of doodles and illustrations that really add to Sioux's already strong personality. 

I think this one is a bit hard to sell to teens, only because there is no 'hook'. There's no short summary like, "teens get thrown into an arena and have to kill each other!" ba-dum ching! That being said, I think if teens pick this one up they'll really be able to relate to it and find themselves in it, so I hope they do. It's been nominated for the 2011 White Pine Award so I hope this will gain it a wider audience. 

Recommended to outsiders, oddballs, and those who don't quiiiite fit in.

(reviewed from a purchased copy)

Review: All You Get Is Me by Yvonne Prinz

Things were complicated enough for Roar, even before her father decided to yank her out of the city and go organic. Suddenly, she’s a farm girl, albeit a reluctant one, selling figs at the farmers’ market and developing her photographs in a ramshackle shed. Caught between a troublemaking sidekick named Storm, a brooding, easy-on-the-eyes L.A. boy, and a father on a human rights crusade that challenges the fabric of the farm community, Roar is going to have to tackle it all—even with dirt under her fingernails and her hair pulled back with a rubber band meant for asparagus.

- from Goodreads.com

I sort of hate this blurb because sure, that's vaguely what the book is about but it makes it sound a bit hokey. Roar is definitely not hokey. A talented photographer, she's a city girl at heart but trying to make this whole farm thing work for her dad's sake. Her mom fell into a deep depression and started leaving their house for days at a time until finally she just left. Her dad, heartbroken, bought the farm as a way to start over.

At first Roar is skeptical but without meaning to she sort of falls in love with farm life (and so does the reader). The farm is located in California and a lot of the workers are illegal migrant workers. When a Mexican woman gets hit by a developer in an SUV and is killed, Roar's father convinces her husband, an illegal worker, to sue. This gets all the farm workers and farmers up in arms and tears up their little farm community.

To make matters more complicated, Roar is falling for Forest, the son of the SUV-driving developer. They meet at the hospital and then, in the manner of small towns, keep meeting. Through Forest she learns more about his mother and how there's always more than two stories to everything.

Prinz's attention to detail sort of steals the story. I want to see Roar's photos because I can see them so clearly in my mind that it feels like I should be able to search for them on flickr. I really enjoyed hearing about organic farming and aspects of that life that I had little knowledge of like the migrant worker situation.

Also? Can I just tell you how much I loved Roar and Forest's relationship? From the beginning, it's clear that Roar has a thing for him and I love how unapologetically in love Roar is. She doesn't beat around the bush but doesn't swoon annoyingly either. It's just a fact of her life, she's totally head over heels. For instance:

Forest is carrying a box of beets over to the truck, his pale, lean arms straining. He and Tomas are laughing about something, which is also strange since they don't even speak the same language. I am absolutely lovesick for this boy.

- page 80.

It's that whole, 'it wouldn't be special if it was anyone else but since it's him/her, it's amazing' that teens are so good at. Lately I've been reading books where it takes teens a little while to figure out their feelings so Roar's matter-of-factness was refreshing. Their whole relationship, actually, is refreshing. It's just a boy and a girl and they think each other is amazing. They treat each other with love and respect and honesty and I may be pining a little bit now for them. There is some drama - Forest is leaving for NYU at the end of the summer - but neither ever really doubts that what they have is real. It's fantastic.

So if you can't tell, I really enjoyed All You Get Is Me. I fell in love with Roar and Forest and weirdly, organic farming. And you know what? Yvonne Prinz sent me a packet of seeds as a book promo and I'm ridiculously excited to plant them and have wildflowers on my balcony in the summer.

I wish this one was released in the spring because it really does feel like a good summer read. If you can wait that long and savour it then, I think you'll really like it.

(and since Yvonne is Canadian, this counts towards my Canadian fiction challenge! Yay!)

reviewed from library e-book copy

Canadian fiction challenge

I resolve to read 10 Canadian fiction books. This is my wish list:

1. All You Get Is Me by Yvonne Prinz

2. Gravity Brings Me Down by Natale Ghent
3. I Know It's Over by C. K. Kelly Martin
4.The Gathering by Kelley Armstrong
5. The Body at the Tower by Y. S. Lee (this will also double as a non-white protagonist as well)
6. Wondrous Strange by Lesley Livingston
7. Swim the Fly by Don Calame

8. Some Girls Are by Courtney Summers

9- 12. HELP!

Suggestions are welcome!

ETA: Great minds think alike! Just Deb is running a Canadian MG/YA challenge so I'm going to be reading my Cdn books as part of that challenge. Awesome!