The Clockwork Three by Matthew Kirby

THE DETAILS

Title: The Clockwork Three

Author: Matthew Kirby

Publisher: Scholastic Press (October 1, 2010)

Reading Level: Ages 9+

Hardcover: 400 pages

ISBN: 0545203376

Buy: Amazon.com

THE SUMMARY

I don’t normally copy the description of a book from its jacket, but the first part of The Clockwork Three’s description is so perfect I can’t help but steal it:

“Giuseppe is an orphaned street musician from Italy, who was sold by his uncle to work as a slave for an evil padrone in the U.S. But when a mysterious green violin enters his life he begins to imagine a life of freedom.

Hannah is a soft-hearted, strong-willed girl from the tenements, who supports her family as a hotel maid when tragedy strikes and her father can no longer work. She learns about a hidden treasure, which she knows will save her family -- if she can find it.

And Frederick, the talented and intense clockmaker's apprentice, seeks to learn the truth about his mother while trying to forget the nightmares of the orphanage where she left him. He is determined to build an automaton and enter the clockmakers' guild -- if only he can create a working head” (taken from Amazon's product description).

Ok, end of steal. Set sometime in the in the early 1900s on in an active American city on the coast, mysterious circumstances bring these three kids together. Together, they decide to help each other achieve their goals. But this decision leads them down the dangerous and twisting alleys of their city where thieves, gangsters, and mysterious agents lurk. United, they must learn to trust each other and find the strength to overcome those who wish to stop them from achieving their dreams.

THE REVIEW

Though the book does a fantastic job of blending steampunk, history, mystery, and a bit of fantasy, the strength of this book definitely lies in its characters. Giuseppe, Hannah, and Frederick are each in their own way deserving of your love and sympathy. Young readers will have no problem finding a friend within the pages to identify with and relate to, especially since each of these three young heroes play an equally important role towards the movement of the plot. In addition, beautiful and smooth writing make this story engaging from page one. Break-out author Matthew Kirby has a knack for describing everything thoroughly, with enough detail so that there is no difficulty in picturing the scene—even the more fantastical and steampunky elements of the story.

However, if you’re like me and have the attention span of a small rodent, you might find the book a bit long and slow. Though the characters run into each other numerous times throughout the story, the three stories don’t actually merge and move towards a common goal until three fourths of the way through the book. As a result, I felt like the adventure advertised on the jacket was put on the backburner, scarified so that Kirby had time to set up each of his characters’ background, personality, and direction. I guess it’s hard to blame him for this; I mean, it’s hard enough to set up context for one main character, let alone three—and he does it so well. But it was tiring after a while to jump around waiting for each character to run into another. I’m not trying to say it was a bad read—no, I loved the details put into each of the characters’ lives, especially Hannah’s. But by the end, I lost interest in what was really going on. However, for those you that like well grounded characters, a bit of adventure, a bit of mystery, and don’t mind taking the time to reach the actual plot, then you’ll love this book.

THE RATING

5/8 Tentacles

Ship Breaker by Paolo Bacigalupi

THE DETAILS

Ship Breaker is fantasy author Paolo Bacigalupi’s first YA novel, published this year (May 1^st, 2010) by Little Brown books. Its 323 pages long.

THE SUMMARY

Nailer works light crew; his job is to crawl deep into the wrecks of the ancient oil tankers that line the beach on the Atlantic Gulf Coast, scavenging copper wire and turning it over to his crew boss. But after a brutal hurricane passes over, Nailer and his friend Pima stumble upon the wreck of a wealthy clipper ship. It’s filled with valuable goods that, if stripped, could make them rich for life. There’s only one thing that stands in their way: Amid the wreckage, a girl named Nita barely lings to life. Nailer makes a split decision to save her with the hopes that she can reward them for rescuing her. But can they trust her? And on top of that, can they keep the girl safe from Nailer’s drug-addicted father? In a world where you have to not only be lucky, but smart, Nailer learns just how lucky—and smart—he really is.

THE REVIEW

I really enjoyed the first half of this book. Like any good PA or fantasy novel, the backbone of the story lies in the strength of the world in which the story is taking place, and Bacigalupi delivers. You can actually taste the rust and smell the salt in the air. The way he references modern cities and countries (for example, New Orleans, which has been destroyed but rebuilt in a different place, now known as Orleans II) made this world easy to envision, and frighteningly current. I think this quote pretty much sums it up: "No one expected Category Six hurricanes. They didn't have city killers then. The climate changed. The weather shifted. They did not anticipate well."

Anyway, my biggest problem with this book was with Nailer. Not because he wasn’t a good character, but because it was a little unsettling how he seemed to flip between personalities when interacting with Nita, the female protagonist he rescues. It’s insisted that he, above all else, values loyalty, which is scarce in this world. But throughout the second half of the novel he’s continuously snapping at her, and threatening to leave her swank (the slang word for “rich”) behind, well, behind. This attitude never made sense to me, as he was the one who originally vouched for her life and insisted on forging a blood pact with her, promising to watch her back if she watches his. Even though this promise is fulfilled, it's done with lots of complaining and second guessing. Eventually, Nailer decides that he really cares about Nita, and then everything is okay, but it takes a while for him to get to that point.

Besides that, the characters were unique with lively slang, and the bad guy, Nailer’s father, is positively frightening. There’s a bit of romance, but it never quite steps into the spotlight making it the focus of this grimy adventure. I thought this was for the best, because in between the exciting boat-chase scenes and boiler room fights there wasn’t much room for it. All-in-all, readers will be in for a fast-paced, well developed read. Was it the best PA novel I’ve read? No, not story wise. But it was a pretty darn good one with probably the best setting I’ve read to date.

THE RATING

6/8 Tentacles

Fire by Kristin Cashore

THE DETAILS

Published in 2009 by Dial Books, Fire is the second book in Kristin Cashore’s “The Seven Kingdoms” series. Though it is the second book that she has written, it acts as a prologue to her first book, Graceling, taking place years before Leck becomes king of Monsea. It is 480 pages long (hardcover). A good sized book, if you ask me. :D

THE SUMMARY

Fire takes place east of the setting of Graceling, in a warring land called the Dells. As if war wasn’t bad enough, brightly colored animal-like monsters reside there, and have the ability to influence the minds of humans. With hair the color of flame, 17-year-old Fire is the last human monster. Equally hated and adored, she is mistrusted by the people around her, despite her human morals and appreciation of right and wrong. But when she is called to investigate the appearance of spies in the king’s land, she helps to discover a deeper plot; war is coming, and coming much sooner than anyone had anticipated. Can she use her power to save the kingdom without becoming the monster her father was?

THE REVIEW

At first, I was a little turned off by the idea of monsters, since they were never mentioned in Graceling (or, at least, as far as I can recall). But Cashore’s writing is so solid that I quickly warmed up to the idea and sunk into this imaginary world where the characters are plagued by these oh-so-colorful creatures running about. With that being said, Fire was completely different than Graceling was, and with the exception of one character (Leck) who shows up in both books, the two stories had little to do with each other. Where Graceling was charged with action and personal survival, Fire was charged with emotional drama, which was actually nice for a change of pace. Cashore was smart to create a character completely different than Katsa: Fire’s personality is a mixture of sensitivity, vulnerability, and independence, which blended together nicely, given the situations she faced throughout the book. Blessed, or in Fire’s opinion, cursed, with exquisite beauty, she is constantly bringing out the worst desires and feelings in people, including—more often than not—rape. Sex is big deal and a major theme of this book, one that I think Cashore handled well for the most part, given the difficult nature of that theme in young adult fiction.

Like a good chunk of teen novels out there, this was really a coming of age story. Fire eventually learns that her power isn’t necessarily bad or something to fear, and if wielded in the right way, can be used to help people, especially when they are in pain. At the beginning of the book she is an outcast, hiding beneath headscarves, plagued by daddy-guilt issues. But at the end, she evolves into the fantasy version of Florence Nightingale. Her transformation took a little while to achieve, but came naturally in a way that I found believable. And, better yet, she didn't do it alone. Like Katsa in Graceling, Fire has a support group of friends who are loveable and love her. Cashore’s ability to handle minor characters was very impressive; the King’s family manages to be both endearing and despicable, and even the members of her guard, are unique and memorable. In the end, I wanted the supporting cast to have just as much happiness in their lives as I did Fire.

All-in-all, I loved just about everything in this book, and can officially say I’ve become a Cashore fangirl. I’m really looking forward to when she decides to combine the characters in Graceling and Fire. Maybe in the upcoming book, Bitterblue? One can hope. We’ll have to wait and see.

THE RATING

7/8 Tentacles

And a big ole' warm welcome to my new subscribers HiL and Michelle! You know I love you guys. ;P

Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins

WARNING: For those who haven’t read The Hunger Games or Catching Fire, there are spoilers in this review.

THE DETAILS

Mockingjay is the third and final book in "The Hunger Games" trilogy by Suzanne Collins. It was published in 2010 (last Tuesday, actually) and is 390 pages long, for those who care to keep track.

THE SUMMARY

Katniss Everdeen has survived her second run in the Hunger Games and now her world has exploded. Literally. Her home, District 12, has been destroyed. Her best friend, Gale, and her family have luckily escaped, but Peeta has been captured by the Capitol. District 13 really does exist, and a revolution has been set in motion. Now Katniss must decide whether or not to fulfill the role that she was designed to play in it: The Mockingjay. The symbol of the rebellion, with the power to decide the fate of Panem. Will she rise to the responsibility, at her own personal cost?

THE REVIEW

Mockingjay was one of the books I had been waiting for all year. I picked it up as soon as the store opened (along with a sweet keychain) and after 6 hours of reading, finished it the same day. It was that intense. So intense that I needed to take a few days to mull over what I had just read. No doubt that I’ll be reading it again very soon. However, I apologize in advance if this review feels a little more ambiguous than my other ones. I found it was difficult to talk about the book without spoiling the story for those who haven’t read it. Anywho...

I found myself incredibly satisfied with how this book unfolded and concluded. When I started reading it, I really had no idea what to expect, nor did I have any guess as to how it was going to end. Definitely the darkest of the three, Mockingjay didn’t have the same style that the other two books had. But given the nature of the plot, I don’t think there is any way that it could have fit the same pattern anyway. Not with a country-changing revolution going on. Collins does a good job showing us that in war, nobody wins. She is not nice to her characters, and didn’t believe in softening anything for her readers either. Characters die. Characters change. Nobody is the same as they were in the first book, Katniss most of all. While battling with her inner Peeta/Gale-I-can’t-live-without-either-of-them-but-can-really-only-have-one feelings (which I loved), she manages to demonstrate courage, and an honor for life that she didn’t really exhibit in the first book. No doubt this is the result of everything that has happened to her so far. I mean, having a few people die in your arms is sure to change your outlook on life, right? I wouldn’t say she becomes a white horse hero—far from it, in fact—but it’d be unrealistic to expect that that’s what she would become given the position she’s in and what’s she gone through. Everybody has their own agenda, and Katniss, the focal point of all of this, handed it as well as you could expect any teenager to: with a lot of confusion. But Katniss has always been good at trusting her instincts, and in the end that's what mattered. Though it’s clear by the end of the book that she’s damaged and will never regain the innocence of youth, the series concluded with a happy ending, one which I’m sure a number of fans will be satisfied with.

THE RATING

8/8 TENTACLES

Also, I'd like to give a shout out to my new subscribers, Jenny and Tampa. Thank you so much for your support! <3

Disney After Dark by Ridley Pearson

THE DETAILS

First published in 2005, The Kingdom Keepers: Disney After Dark is the first part of a (as of right now) three-part series written by the co-author of Peter and the Shadow Thieves, Ridley Pearson.

THE SUMMARY

When Finn Witman and four other teens audition for Disney’s Host Interactive program (DHI), they are transformed into hologram projections that guide guests through Disney’s Magic Kingdom. However, the technology yields unexpected results. Soon, Finn finds himself transported in his DHI form into the Magic Kingdom at night. There, he encounters Wayne, an elderly Imagineer who reveals to him that the park is in grave danger. Led by the witch, Maleficent, a mysterious group of characters called the Overtakers is plotting to destroy the world. Armed with this knowledge, it’s up to Finn and his friends to solve riddle of the Stonecutter’s Quill, which hopefully will put the characters back in their place.

THE REVIEW

Sounds cool, right? What kid doesn’t dream of sneaking into Disney World after dark? That's why I was excited to read this when I first picked it up. But honestly, I don’t think I’ve ever been so disappointed by a book before. So what went wrong? The answer is simple. It was the execution of the entire novel.

Pearson’s writing is just straight up, no foolin’ witchu, bad. To start with, the writing is really jumpy, especially for the first half of the book .Transitions are horrible, causing the characters to jump from place to place without explanation as to how they got there or how they spontaneously acquired the piece of information that they needed to find at the end of the previous chapter. The dialogue is the same way, especially between Wayne, the Disney Imagineer, and Finn: Conversations ping-pong back and forth, often bringing up things that have nothing to do with the questions being asked, leaving the reader to jump to conclusions or openly curse at the ambiguity of how things came about (I partook in the latter). The characters are flat, and have little, if any, distinguishable personality from one another. The adults have the intelligence of a turtle, which is actually an insult to the turtle. And, to top it all off, there is a serious lack of variety in the characters that show up. Out of the 300 characters that Disney owns, less than ten are mentioned in this novel, and only five or six make an appearance.

So why did I bother to finish it? Believe it or not, this book was saved by it's plot. Despite the writing, I did enjoy the scenes where the main characters are forced to walk through the major rides in the Magic Kingdom (Thunder Railroad, Space Mountain, Splash Mountain, etc.) late at night and find clues to solve the Stonecutter’s Quill riddle. And if Pearson did anything right in this book, it was describing every Disney enthusiast’s worst nightmare; going through “It’s a Small World” only to find that the dolls are coming alive to attack you. Creepy little things…I always knew they were plotting something. For that reason alone, I had to finish this book.

THE RATING

3/8 Tentacles

The Monstrumologist by Rick Yancey

I’m not usually a fan of the grotesque or Victorian-style gothic literature, but The Monstrumologist had me hooked right from page one.

The story begins with a brief prologue—the discovery of Will Henry’s three Folios in 2008, which turn out to be an autobiography of his time spent with Dr. Pellinore Warthrop, well-known philosopher and under-the-table monstrumologist who lived in the late 1800s. After which, we dive right into the Folio itself, and begin with the night that Erasmus Gray pulls up his horse and cart to Dr. Warthrop’s house in the middle of the night. He reveals that while grave-stealing, he discovered an Anthropophagi and a dead woman, "one wrapped around the other in an obscene embrace." Dr. Warthrop discovers that inside the woman is the monster’s fetus, and explains to twelve-year-old Will Henry that these monsters require hosts to incubate their young in. This discovery leads them to begin researching the sudden appearance of Anthropophagi in America, as they are usually only native to Africa and Madagascar.

For anybody who is a fan of Nathaniel Hawthorne or Mary Shelly, then this is a must-read. Dr. Warthrop's character seems patterned after Aylmer from Hawthorne’s "The Birthmark,” and for most of the book, is the definition of crazy. He’s completely obsessed with his work, has little regard for human life above scientific appreciation, and treats Will Henry like crap half the time. But he’s an intriguing character regardless and—dare I say it?—almost likable because of his eccentricities. The style of writing was almost sterile in a way—or rather, analytical—but not uninteresting in the least. It was like Will Henry was making a study out of the monstrumologist. Because of this, it was easy to trust him as a reliable narrator, as I felt like he placed enough distance between his feelings and his memories to describe what was happening with calm and level-headed perception. It’s easy to see that Ricky Yancey is well read both in science and classics, as this knowledge comes through in his descriptions. Allusions are used on almost every page to describe the gruesome setting. Yancey also does a great job at building tension. Towards the end, there were scenes where I needed to pause in the middle of reading them because I was actually nervous. Don’t think less of me because I looked around to see if I was being stalked by monsters. This is the stuff nightmares are made out of. Can somebody say future horror classic? If Stephen King read this book, he probably clapped when he finished it.

Final rating: 7/8 Tentacles