Bad Taste in Boys

by Carrie Harris

Again, I lied again!  My review was a long time coming - and it's not going to be much of a review.

I was all excited to love Bad Taste in Boys after reading the author's hilarious blog, however, I didn't find this book nearly has amusing.  It was humorous in a campy sort of way - like it was meant to be a silly 80s movie, or even an episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer (which, admittedly, I love).  It's about a zombie infection that sweeps through a high school and it's up to science-girl protagonist to save the day. It's ok, but I feel like it needed either need more humor, or more seriousness.  I wasn't sure sometimes if I was supposed to be laughing or be horrified.  This book is short - less than 100 pages, which seemed too short to me - I want there to be more to the story!

The Reckoning

by Kelley Armstrong

I've really enjoyed the unique story of this trilogy, but I have to say, the last book was a bit of a disappointment.

Chloe, Tori, Derek and Simon have just escaped the Edison Group again and are hiding out with the group fighting against the Edison Group. Once again, a large part of the beginning of this book is spend doing very little. The action comes all at once, at the end, and involves a lot of twists, turns, and constantly flipping allegiances (Are these people really on our side? No! Let's run away! Wait, maybe they are. Let's stick around. Wait! We have to run away!)

Mostly, this book did not feel like it should be the end. The ending is pretty ambiguous as far as endings go, and many, many aspects of the plot were left unexplained. Some things were brought up in the storyline of this book only to be dropped casually a few chapters later. If this series was slated to continue in additional books, I would assume these things would come up in the next book, but as this is the final book, it seemed like the plot wasn't as well thought-out as it should have been.

On the positive side, Armstrong does a pretty good job of subtly reminding the reader what has happened previously. I didn't remember many details from the previous books, but whenever I'd start to be confused, there were some helpful hints placed into the narrative that reminded me of what I was supposed to know. Still, this is the 3rd book, and doesn't stand alone. If you're gonna read the series, start with The Summoning.

Keys to the Demon Prison

by Brandon Mull

One word to describe this book (and series): Amazing!

In the fifth (and final) book of the Fablehaven series, the battle to keep the demon prison Zzyzx closed comes to a conclusion. The Knights of the Dawn are fighting to find and protect the remaining artifacts, while the Society of the Evening Star continues to seek them out. Kendra and Seth are once again thrown into the middle of the conflict, and must use their unique gifts and abilities to save the world from destruction.

Once again, Mull does not disappoint! This book is filled with action, suspense, and humor. Despite the 500+ page count, there is not a dull moment. The book is evenly paced, and the action builds and declines multiple times throughout the novel.

If I had to pick something to criticize it would be Mull's tendency to create "throw away" characters. Often (in most of the books of the series), the Knights are about to head off on a mission and we are introduced to (sometimes multiple) new characters. Usually, one or all of them end up dying shortly after. Once you get used to this pattern it become pretty easy to predict that the character whose name you just learned is going to die in about 15 pages. However, since he doesn't always kill them off, and occasionally the more established characters have been the victims it doesn't bother me that much. I'd rather the characters I'm not attached to die than my favorites anyway!

Oh, and one other small complaint (*spoiler*) - I wish Bracken's speech to Kendra at the end had been Kendra's speech to him! It would have been good for her character to finally be assertive and strong by telling Bracken that she likes him, but that she needs some time to herself; and that he can wait for her if he wants, because after all the years he's lived he can certainly wait a few more, if he really cares about her. And she also should have kissed him before the big battle that they all thought they were gonna die in. Because that would have been funny. Just plant one on him and say, "Alright, I'm gonna go slay that demon for ya!" (*end spoilers*)

All things considered this is one of my favorite series. It's right up there with Harry Potter and Twilight (yes, it's that good!). It could appeal to both boys and girls, and really, readers of any age. I only wish it was more well-known that it is! Maybe if a movie does get made (last I've heard is sometimes in 2011), the series might start getting the recognition it deserves!

The Forest of Hands and Teeth

by Carrie Ryan

Sigh. This book had such potential, and I was so primed to love it after the first 3 chapters and then it was just sort of a victim of itself.

The biggest problem was that it seemed the author couldn't quite decide what kind of book she was writing. Is it horror? Romance? Mystery? Suspense? It tried to be all of these things and then failed to be any of them well.

Initially, this book reminded me of The Village - a group of people live in a pioneer style village surrounded by an intimidating forest filled with disturbing creatures. In The Forest of Hands and Teeth those creatures are basically zombies: a horde of the undead - mindless and hungry for flesh. They are called "The Unconsecrated". Young Mary has recently lost her father to the forest (we never actually find out how he got into the forest in the first place). Then, at the very beginning of the book, she loses her mother as well. Mary is orphaned, and her older brother kicks her out of the house. Mary is then forced to join the Sisterhood - a type of nunnery.

At this point the story becomes a mix of romance and mystery. Mary tends to the sick Travis and begins to develop feelings for him. At the same time, she uncovers mysterious happenings at the church that begin to suggest that there is life outside the Forest and that the Sisters are trying to hide it. Honestly, this is the kind of story I was hoping for. Soon though, our genre shifts.

The Unconsecrated breach the village and Mary manages to escape with her friends Travis, Harry and Cass, as well as her brother Jed, his wife Beth, and a small boy named Jacob. The group has no choice but to set off down the narrow fenced-in path through the forest in hopes of finding civilization on the other side. Now our book becomes more of a horror/suspense novel and mostly stays that way til the end. I'm disappointed.

But more than just the author switching genres partway through - she also drops multiple story lines! At the Cathedral, Mary finds mysterious rooms, overhears whispered conversations, finds a girl from outside the village, and NONE of that gets explained. Ever. Mary doesn't even seem to speculate or wonder about it again.

Also, the romance falls flat because you're not ever quite sure who you should wish she ends up with. She loves Travis, but then she likes Harry after all and is mad at Travis, then she loves Travis again. Then Travis makes her mad, and she misses Harry. I think we were ultimately supposed to like Travis the best, but I liked Harry!

(*SPOILERS*) And then, the end! The end of this book was just terrible! I refuse to call it and end. It felt as if surely the last 10 chapters of the book had been misplaced! We find out the outcome for 3 of the 7 characters (2 because they die). The rest are either just assumed dead or left sitting helplessly in the forest with virtually no food, water or hope for making it out. What is up with that?!

This is how it should have ended - Travis doesn't get bitten. Jed sacrifices himself to the Unconsecrated to help them escape instead of Travis. Travis, Mary, Harry, Cass and Jacob find the path out of the forest and to the ocean. (And the path actually goes all the way to the coast - none of this lame running through the forest and down the cliffs aimlessly in the dark to escape the Unconsecrated). The village has better defences against the Unconsecrated, or perhaps they find that the Unconsecrated are confined to the forest by some ancient spell, or maybe the village has found a cure for the Unconsecrated. Any of those would be better than the non-ending the author came up with. (*END SPOILERS*)

Disappointing. It could have been great. As is, it's just mediocre.

Stange Angels

by Lili St. Crow

Zombies and Djamphirs and Werwolfen, oh my!

Dru Anderson is alone and scared. The book jacket, however, proclaims her to be a "Night Hunter. Knife Thrower. Heart Breaker." as well as "not afraid of the dark." But she never goes hunting at night, she never throws a knife (although she does wield one at times as well as an assortment of guns), she doesn't break anyone's heart, and she is very scared of the dark! She should be - her dad leaves her behind most evenings while he's out hunting the things that "go bump in the night". One evening he doesn't return home. The next night, he does - as a zombie. Dru must muster up all of her courage to dodge the zombie that used to be her father, and kill him before he can kill her. She's left traumatized and utterly, completely alone.

Thankfully, Dru soon makes a loyal friend in Graves. He helps her the best he can, not knowing the true danger that Dru is in, because someone - something - wants Dru dead, and he's still searching for her.

I liked Dru despite her not being as tough as the book packaging portrayed her to be. She could handle a weapon, and she knew how to defend herself to an extent, but she was still scared out of her wits and desperate for someone to help her. She gets that help through Graves as well as the mysterious djamphir Christophe.

One aspect of the book that started to bug me near the end was how the smell of EVERYTHING had to be described. I learned that Graves smelled like deodorant and smoke. Christophe smells like apple pie (that's weird). Dru's mom used to smell like "perfume and goodness." Zombies smell like a whole host of nasty rotting things. Christophe smells like apple pie. When something bad is about to happen, Dru can smells (and taste) oranges. When something REALLY bad is about to happen, it smells(/tastes) of WAX oranges. Christophe smells like apple pie. Did I mention that Christophe smells like apple pie? Yeah, the author did too - a lot! I wish I'd counted.

My biggest complaint of this book however, was the language. The story was interesting and different from other books of the genre but it was just littered with profanity! I tried to just read over it, but that would certainly stop me from recommending this book to most people I know - despite the interesting story.