The Girl Next Door

The Girl Next Door

By Jack Ketchum
Published: 47North, 2005
Pages: 386
Genre: Horror
Amazon, Goodreads

After that day I was like an addict, and my drug was knowing. Knowing what was possible. Knowing how far it could go. Where they'd dare to take it all.

The Girl Next Door is like a gory, terrible car accident that you can't take your eyes off of.

OK, so I downloaded this book without really reading the synopsis and realized while reading that I had watched the crazy, twisted movie based off the novel. As such, the cruelty and violence and the big climax didn't take me unawares.

The major thing you need to know before reading The Girl Next Door is that I definitely would not recommend it to those who don't read horror on a regular basis. It's very gruesome and unhealthy and graphic.

The novel had me hooked from the beginning. The way Ruth is characterized, it's easy to see she's deeply unhinged and severely mentally ill. The way she views women and inappropriately socializes with the pre-teens makes me think she was abused by a major mother figure during childhood. I think Ketchum did a good job in writing the characters and crafting a horrific atmosphere that grabs readers by the chest and doesn't let go until the end.

However, I caught several grammatical and spelling errors. I'm not fussy about one or two - I work in the media industry and I know it's impossible to catch every single mistake. There were several larger errors, though, that I believed could have been corrected with more thorough editing.

It's hard to rate The Girl Next Door because I don't want to say I enjoyed it. Read at your own risk.

RATING (out of five puppies):

Elevation

Elevation
By Stephen King
Published: Scribner, 2018
Pages: 146
Genre: Contemporary
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Not a wind, not even a high, exactly, but an elevation. A sense that you had gone beyond yourself and go farther still.

Elevation is an engaging, surprisingly feel good novella by horror author Stephen King.

Scott Carey is steadily losing weight but doesn't look it. Once he starts losing pounds at an alarming rate, Scott turns toward a retired doctor but the conclusion is the same: whatever is causing Scott's weight loss to happen, it's not of this world and modern medicine will not help him. As Scott's weight gets closer to zero, he forges an unexpected friendship and realizes what he's been turning a blind eye to all along.

Elevation had me hooked from the first paragraph. Anything from Stephen King makes me think of horror and gore and all that good stuff, but I was pleasantly surprised by this novella.

There's a light sense of horror in the story: Scott and his friends realize that there's nothing they can do for him... he's just going to get lighter and lighter until he eventually weighs nothing at all. Yet, Elevation doesn't make you feel scared, Scott's perspective on his condition makes you feel good. He knows he's going to die but he makes best of what time he has left.

I know Elevation has several negative reviews on Goodreads, but I truly enjoyed this novella and would recommend it to anyone looking for a short, feel-good type of story.

RATING (out of five puppies):

Muse of Nightmares

Muse of Nightmares

By Laini Taylor
Published: Little, Brown and Company, 2018
Pages: 522
Genre: Fantasy, Young Adult
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"Wishes don't just come true. They're only the target you paint around what you want. You still have to hit the bull's-eye yourself."

Muse of Nightmares is a solid sequel to Strange the Dreamer.

Picking up right where Strange the Dreamer left off, Muse of Nightmares is an elegantly woven tale of Taylor's world of magic and gods. Burning questions, such as where the other godspawn went and what TF is actually happening, are answered but still leave readers on edge.

New characters are introduced in the novel in a clever way that will leave readers guessing until the very end. The truth of what really happened the night the gods were slaughtered exposes those who in the first book were enemies and reveals them as unexpected allies.

The ending was very fitting. I honestly could not imagine how the book would end. Are they going to move the citadel next to Weep and live happily with humans? Are they going find a home elsewhere? There was no better ending to Muse of Nightmares than what Taylor created.

The only complaint I have is the beginning when Lazlo finds out what he is and is reunited (sorta) with Sarai... I felt like it should have been a more urgent situation. I mean, it was with Minya trying to fight them with her ghosts but I felt like Lazlo and Sarai were more concerned with spending time alone together. I kept wondering about the others in Weep, like they are obviously freaking out that there's still godspawn alive this entire time and what's going to happen to them. But anyway that's just my view of things.

Nonetheless, Muse of Nightmares is a delightful addition to those who loved Strange the Dreamer.

RATING (out of five puppies):

Strange the Dreamer

Strange the Dreamer

By Laini Taylor
Published: Little, Brown and Company, 2017
Pages: 536
Genre: Fantasy, Young Adult
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On the second Sabbat of Twelfthmoon, in the city of Weep, a girl fell from the sky.
Her skin was blue, her blood was red.

Strange the Dreamer is A-freaking-MAZING! 

Lazlo Strange is an orphan who dreams of a long-forgotten city who name magically disappears but others call Weep - or Unseen City to Lazlo. Lazlo spends seven years obsessively researching and collecting information on Weep until one day warriors from Weep come seeking delegates to help resolve a "problem" they won't reveal until they reach the city. Lazlo becomes tangled in the mystery surrounding Weep's present and past.

Strange the Dreamer is an alluring fantasy set in an awesome world of magic and gods. Taylor's writing is fantastic in this novel. I previously read her Daughter of Smoke and Bone novel and disliked it; I thought the writing dull and uninspired. Strange the Dreamer, however, is the opposite of her previous work. I just could not put it down!

The characters are well-written and very palpable. I could feel Sarai's yearning to be normal like I was actually experiencing those feelings. Minya also proves to be the opposite of what one imagines a villain to look like: she appears to be a six-year-old child with a sweet voice capable of binding ghosts of newly dead to herself so she can torment them for pleasure. Lazlo is equally enjoyable as a sweet, innocent young man drawn to a far away city where he will discover love and who he truly is.

The atmosphere and world that Taylor creates an imaginative world in which the reader wishes he or she could simply walk into. The gods' capabilities and history are very creative. I felt like I could imagine everything clearly while reading.

I recommend Strange the Dreamer to anyone who likes young adult fantasy!

RATING (out of five puppies): 

Salt to the Sea

Salt to the Sea

By Ruta Sepetys
Published: Philomel Books, 2016
Pages: 391
Genre: Historical Fiction, Young Adult
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Guilt is a hunter.
Fate is a hunter.
Shame is a hunter.
Fear is a hunter.

During World War II, four young people of different homelands and backgrounds are in Nazi Germany fighting for their lives while struggling to hold on to their secrets. Salt to the Sea starts out promising then fails to deliver.

OK, so plot is really interesting to me, and I thought it clever how Sepetys divided the narration among the four main characters. However, I found the writing dull and uninspired. I feel like the novel could have been a really good book if the writing were more mature and engaging.

The characters were a hit and miss. My favorite character is Emilia; she's only 15 but has an old soul and displays act of courage that the average person would never even think of doing. I especially enjoyed the flash backs to her childhood, I could really picture her clearly. Alfred is a well-written villain. Reading the mental letters he writes to his childhood crush about his days and then reading what actually happens helps place him as a sociopath, including the actions witnessed by others, such as kicking the dog. Yet, I didn't care for Joana or Florian because I didn't feel like they were flushed out; I couldn't get a feel for them.

Overall, Salt to the Sea is the kind of book you'd read while super bored and you had nothing better to do. I enjoyed the historical context and thought the plot and story structure were interesting but it just didn't live up to my expectations.

RATING (out of five puppies):

Beneath a Scarlet Sky

Beneath a Scarlet Sky

By Mark Sullivan
Published: Lake Union, 2017
Pages: 513
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"We can't stop loving our fellow man, Pino, because we're frightened. If we lose love, all is lost."

Based on the true events, Beneath a Scarlet Sky follows the life of Italian man Pino Lello who fights against the Nazi regime by being a spy for one of Hilter's right hand men. I encourage everyone to read this novel.

Pino's story is incredible. I hate to admit this but I've never given a thought to World War II's impact on Italy. There's hundreds, probably thousands of books both fiction and nonfiction written on WWII, and it would seem there's next to none relating to Italy. It boggles my mind that I've never heard of Pino Lella. For its historical context, I recommend that everyone read Beneath a Scarlet Sky and I'd love to see it read in classrooms, though it's technically fiction.

Beneath a Scarlet Sky is full of love, courage, death and heartbreak. Though a great story, the novel is just not well-written. I almost put the book down at first because it read like a middle school creative writing project. After the first hundred pages, I did get quickly addicted and couldn't stop reading until the end. I just feel like so much more could have been done with it... like it's a good book but it had the potential to be a GREAT book with the perfect writing.

Nonetheless, I still feel like Beneath the Scarlet Sky is worth the read. Pino's story deserves to be shared. He is a hero, and my heart breaks for all the terrible atrocities he had to witness. I give this novel four puppies instead of three because of that simple fact.

RATING (out of five puppies):

Foundryside

Foundryside

By Robert Jackson Bennett
Published: Crown, 2018
Pages: 503
Genre: Fantasy
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Reality doesn't matter. If you can change something's mind enough, it'll believe whatever reality you choose.

Foundryside is the first book of an addicting epic fantasy series that left me craving for more.

Sancia is a thief who has a special gift: she can hear scrived devices, scriving being a magical technology that allows scrivers to change the reality of an object, such as giving a door an unbreakable lock. She is hired to steal a seemingly ordinary wooden box that actually holds an artifact of breathtaking power.

Foundryside was hard for me to get into at first but then had me hooked. I loved the protagonist. Sancia is the badass, I-don't-need-no-man! kind of character I love reading and getting to know. The other characters were cleverly-written as well. The place/setting was interesting as well - Foundryside is kind of a glimpse into a world without a government... which was a little unsettling.

The novel's magic system was the most difficult part for me. This may be because I don't read much fantasy, but I had trouble wrapping my head around it. So basically these symbols can be etched onto objects to modify that object's reality. Because it can take an outstanding amount of symbols to perform simple tasks, one symbol can stand for several others by use of a lexicon in which definitions are physically stored. The lexicon part was especially confusing to me. Eventually I compared it to how some cultures believe that all objects have a soul - the trees, the ground, etc. For some reason, that made it easier for me to comprehend.

Regardless of my beginning struggles with the magic system, I really enjoyed Foundryside, and I'm looking forward to reading the second novel and more by Bennett.

RATING (out of five puppies):

Circe

Circe

By Madeline Miller
Published: Little, Brown and Company, 2018
Pages: 393
Genre: Fantasy, Historical
Amazon, Goodreads

I could taste the venom in my mouth. It was a pleasure to see him frighten at last. "You think that will stop me? You have never understood how strong I am."
His look I will remember all my life. A man who has seen the veil lifted and beholds the true face of the world.

Set in the cruel world of Greek mythology, Circe is an enchanting novel.

Growing up in the home of of Helios, Circe is an outcast: she lacks the striking beauty and vocal melody of typical gods and has a conscious towards mortals. Though Circe is not blessed with the same powers as her ancestors, she soon discovers she has other talents that are feared among gods and mortals alike. So begins the story of Circe, the witch of Aiaia.

Circe is spell-bounding. Miller creates an captivating ambience that makes the novel too good to put down. Spanning across centuries, the book definitely seems more character-driven to me. Readers see Circe living in exile and finding her powers, but we also see Circe figuring out her place as a goddess. Of course, Circe is wise and powerful, but there is a part of her that has always been mortal. The ending is perfect. I don't post spoilers but just know that you won't be disappointed.

There's something about Circe that speaks to me as a human; mortals may live only a fraction of what the gods do, but perhaps they live more fully and make life more worth living. The gods may be immortal, all powerful and can have basically whatever they want, but they are also cruel and can kill another god or mortal without batting an eye... the only emotion they seem to feel is rage. Would you rather be a human able to fully love and feel all range of emotions or would you rather be a wrath-filled god/goddess?

Circe is a fantastic novel that I'd recommend to anyone!

RATING (out of five puppies):

Room

Room

By Emma Donoghue
Published: Little, Brown and Company, 2010
Pages: 321
Genre: Contemporary
Amazon, Goodreads

She nods. "And the places are real too, like farms and forests and airplanes and cities..."
"Nah." Why is she tricking me? "Where would they fit?"
"Out there," says Ma. "Outside." She jerks her head back.
"Outside Bed Wall?" I stare at it.
"Outside Room."

Room is genius. I only picked it up because it's been on my tbr list forever and there's a Netflix movie of it now. Boy, I'm so glad I did!

Told from the perspective of five-year-old Jack, Room is about a young woman who gets kidnapped and held against her will in a small shed. She's there for nine long years and ends up having a child by her kidnapper. Jack and Ma live by their routine when things start changing for them and Ma soon realizes that they must escape if they want to live. Will they make it out alive? If so, how will Jack adjust after living in such a small space without socialization for all his life?

What really makes Room memorable is that it's told from a child's perspective. It took several pages for me to adjust to the narrator's way of speaking but then I got hooked. The novel is separated into five sections: presents, unlying, dying, after and living. This helps break up the story and mark the changes in Jack's life. The novel being written from Jack's point of view focuses the story on Jack's development; I feel like if it was written from the mother's perspective then there'd need to be more about Ma's background and Old Nick's arrest. Jack's voice simplifies Room so readers can easily be drawn in.

The characters are so real. Jack's struggle with Outside feels so real to me, like that is probably how a child would actually behave in his situation. All of the struggles - Jack having to understand why Room is bad, Ma trying - and at times failing - to get back into the real world, and other characters attempting to understand and connect with Jack.

The Room is a great piece of work that I'd recommend to anyone.

RATING (out of five puppies)

The Steep and Thorny Way

The Steep and Thorny Way

By Cat Winters
Published: Amulet Books, 2016
Pages: 335
Genre: Young Adult, Historical Fiction
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Do not, as some ungracious pastors do,
Show me the steep and thorny way to heaven,
Whiles, like a puffed and reckless libetine, himself the primerose path of dalliance threads...
- Hamlet

Cat Winters crafts an incomparable historical fiction set in 1920s Oregon where 16-year-old Hanalee Denney is still grieving for her father who tragically died in a car accident a year and a half ago. Joe Adder, drunken driver of the car sent to prison for his crime, is released from prison on good behavior, and Hanalee discovers her father's death was more than an accident.

The Steep and Thorny Way is the kind of novel you pick up on a whim and find it to be a delightful surprise. The plot, the characters, the paranormal vibe are all elegantly crafted into a young adult historical fiction that readers are unlikely to forget long after reading it.

The plot and background of this novel are so unique and interesting... I never knew that Oregon was controlled by the KKK in the 1920s. I don't know much about Oregon's history - I've always lived in Illinois myself - and there being a eugenics program during that time shocked me. At the end of the novel there's a short timeline showing changes to Oregon law in regards to race, eugenics and homosexuality. If you look at history, it wasn't that long ago that these bigot programs were in place.

Though set in the 1920s, The Steep and Thorny Way is still relevant today. Racism and homophobia are still problems in this day and age; the only difference is back then the hatred was overt while these days it's more subdued. Example: A disproportionate number of African-Americans are incarcerated on minor drug charges (ie weed) compared to their white counterparts. Back then African-Americans weren't allowed to sit with whites or use the same facilities but now the racism has shifted so that African-Americans are more likely to be born into poverty and as such must work twice as hard to climb themselves out of it. We as a society must keep history in mind and learn from our mistakes.

As for the characters, I loved Hanalee. Not only does she practically have my name (hehe), but she's very headstrong, ambitious and has a good head on her shoulders. She is betrayed by her childhood friend but she doesn't let the fear control her life in the end. Joe, Mildred, Fleur are all characters that I enjoyed.

I recommend The Steep and Thorny Way to any YA reader.

RATING (out of five puppies)