NaBloPoMo # 19: The Ask and the Answer by Patrick Ness

SPOILER ALERT. Do not read this review if you haven't read The Knife of Never Letting Go - the first book in the Chaos Walking Trilogy - since there will be spoilers.

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I simply loved The Knife of Never Letting Go which left me rather breathless and which was a truly unputdownable book. I loved the speed with which it moved and I was looking much forward to read the sequel. The difficult Book Two. And sadly I was rather disappointed.

We begin the story exactly where Book One ended. Viola has been shot and is carried away by Mayor Prentiss' men, and Todd is brought to an office of the Mayor where he is interrogated and beaten up. Only thing on Todd's mind is where is Viola, is she dead or alive? He does not receive any answers and is instead being locked up in the cathedral tower. Mayor Prentiss of Todd's old town which he ran from in Book One, has taken over all of New World and has proclaimed himself President. Peaceful times are over, and while it all looks good on the surface, not all are happy with the new self-proclaimed President and his new rules and regulations. Anxiety and anger is brewing beneath the surface.

Todd is kept a prisoner, but is also being sent to work on different projects with the President's son Davy, while Viola is being hospitalized in a so called healing house, where only women work. This particular house is being run by the strict Mistress Coyle, who takes a special interest in Viola. Viola's only thought is where is Todd, is he dead or alive.

Side by side the story unfolds told in part by Todd, part by Viola. Days become weeks, weeks become months, and Todd and Viola move in very different directions, both not really knowing what the other is doing. One thing they know though is, that they somehow need each other. But as the days, weeks and months go, it becomes harder and harder for them to re-connect.

I didn't feel the fast pace of the first book in this book at all and Todd and Viola's stories simply did not grab me. I found the dialogues to be very long and long parts of the book bored me. The character development of all characters is well done though, and the friendships developing between unlike parties were also very well thought out. There is discussion material enough in this book for any YA reader (and adult reader as well) to last many hours (father/son relationships, friendship, love, war, segregation because of sex or color of skin and much more) and in the back of my mind it might have been laid on too thick in places. But then again, I am an adult reader and this book is aimed at a younger targetgroup. I am happy I read this book. It wasn't THAT bad. And the end holds promise of a great Book Three, which I am certain I will read.

The Ask and the Answer cannot really be read as a stand alone book. You need to read The Knife of Never Letting Go first. Otherwise this book will not make much sense.

This book is read as a part of the YA Dystopian Reading Challenge hosted by Bart's Bookshelf.

This is the 19th post in the NaBloPoMo-challenge. See my page here.

NaBloPoMo post # 1: Living Dead in Dallas by Charlaine Harris

Its November 1., and that means that it is time for another round of (at least) one blog post a day during all of November. Read more about this fun challenge on the official NaBloPoMo-page here. Actually, you can choose any month as the month where you post one blog post a day, but November is the one month with most participants. I also joined last year, and while it was hard, it was also worth it when it was over. I did enjoy it a lot, and it made me get into the swing of blogging in English again after a hiatus of about a year! So I am on again this year.

My first post this year is a review of Living Dead in Dallas, which is book 2 in the Sookie Stackhouse series by Charlaine Harris. It is also the first book I have finished in BethF's Sookie-reading challenge. Read more about that on BethF's page.

Sookie is still dating the vampire Bill, whom we met in the first book, Dead Until Dark, which I read a long time ago. Except that he can only be up at night and except that the society has not really gotten used to the idea of vampires "mainstreaming" yet, Bill and Sookie's relationship is much like any old girlfriend/boyfriend relationship. They fight and make up and travel together. Sookie is still working waitressing at Melotte's Bar in Bon Temps, a small, Southern town and Bill has his own business to take care of. Sookie, who never really were like the others (she is a telepath) has finally found something worth living for, and generally her life is good. Until she is attacked in the forests around Bon Temps after a fight with Bill, where she has stomped off in a huff. Her attacker turns out to be a mighty special creature, but before we can go back to that and to the murder of Sookie's colleague Lafayette, the cook of Merlotte's Bar, we need to make a long de-tour to Dallas, where the head-vampire Stan has some serious problems. He has asked Eric, head-vampire in the Bon Temps area for help, and Eric has decided to send Bill and Sookie, mainly Sookie, who he thinks will be able to help Stan and his nest of vamps in Dallas.

While this does not turn out to be a mistake, Sookie goes through an awful lot of things in Dallas, and since a lot of it takes place during the day, none of the vamps are really able to help her. So she is on her own, although she recieved help from some unexpected sides.

Back in Bon Temps it is now time to find out exactly what happened to the murdered Lafayette, and in order to do this, Sookie has to ask for favors from the vamps, specially Eric, who is now openly flirting with Sookie, much to Bill's dismay. It is going to be fun to read more about this.

Living Dead in Dallas is a light and easy and funny vampire-read containing both blood, death, mayhem, humor and sex. The sex is definitely steamier than in the first book, but nothing that would make any hardened vampire-novel-reader blush that much.

This is the first post in the NaBloPoMo-challenge. See my page here. Its also the first review in the Sookie Stackhouse reading-challenge.

The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan

The Forest of Hands and Teeth is Carrie Ryan's debut novel, its new and I've seen it mentioned quite a lot around various book blogs. Being caught up in reading dystopic and/or post apocalyptic YA, I decided to give this one a try. It is a very fitting book for the upcoming Halloween, since it is full of The Unconsecrated, which are basically zombies.

The story takes place in a village many, many, many years after The Return (= The Apocalypse) where The Unconsecrated took over the world. The human survivors of The Return settled in a village, surrounded by a metal fence, which The Unconcecrated are constantly trying to breach. A bite from an Unconcecrated means almost immediate infection, and the bitten one turns either Unconcecrated or dead - if the family have the heart to kill the bitten one, that is.

Mary, our young heroine, has been born into the village and knows nothing of the world outside the village. Only that the village is surrounded by The Forest of Hands and Teeth, where The Unconcecrated roam in large numbers. But Mary has been told tales by her mother - tales about The Ocean and a world outside the village.

Just before Mary is going to be engaged, things begin to happen and she ends up living with The Sisterhood, a sort of an order of Nuns, who run the village and who lives in the village Cathedral. Here she finds out that maybe, just maybe, there is another world outside the fenced in village, another world where The Unconcecrated cannot live, where the humans cannot hear the constant moaning from The Unconcecrated. Mary is not going to sit still and be forced into an arranged marriage, and pretty soon she is on edge with The Sisterhood and the head nun, Sister Tabitha.

What happens then, I will not disclose here, you'll have to read the book yourself. This book came hot on the heels of the Twilight craze (one reviewer actually say that "Zombies may be the new vampires"), and it is not too far fetched to think, that the author has wanted to ride that wave. Understandably so. I haven't read The Twilight Series, so I cannot compare, but there is a lot (sigh) of "young love" and the problems connected with that in this book, and frankly, I am way too old to find that interesting at all. The whole Zombie-thing and the world, which has been thought up by the author for this book is brilliant and brilliantly described. Mary as the protagonist develops during the course of the book, although again, all the he-loves-me/he-loves-me-not wore me down and I wanted to shout: Get it over with, darn it and decide what you wanna do! But I guess that is one of the premises of some YA. I am going to read the next one about Mary (set to be published in 2010), and can also recommend The Forest of Hands and Teeth. A younger audience will probably like the lovestory which runs along the main story a lot.

Chaos Walking: The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness

Wow. I read this book in a few days, not wanting to put it away at any time. Left me breathless and a bit speechless as well. The language is so fast paced that it sometimes become too much, but all in all: WOW!

Todd and his dog Manchee lives in Prentisstown in New World. New World looks in many ways like Old World (which, I guess, is our world), there are trees, forests, mountains, valleys and animals (although some of them are rather different from the animals you know). But in Prentisstown in New World men can hear each other's thoughts - called Noise - and animals also talk! Sounds stupid? It isn't. There are no women in Prentisstown, and something is brewing underneath all the Noise.

Todd is only a month away from being 13, and when he is 13, he is a man. He lives with Ben and Cillian on a farm, and he is grudgingly going about his usual business when he stumbles upon a spot in the nearby swamp, where Noise can't be heard. Where there is Quiet. Realizing this, Todd also realizes that something has been kept from him - somthing he will not learn about until he is a man - in only a month. He agonizes over the constant Noise ("Men are just chaos walking" Todd notes at one point), he agonizes over his dog, who just chatter about pooping, and he doesn't really want to do farmwork.

Soon enough he has reason to wish that he was just doing farmwork and minding his own business. Because after finding the spot of Quiet in the swamp, he is being sent onto a quest that he constantly doubts he will be able to fulfill. But with the aid of his trusted dog Manchee he is sent on his way, and the surprises keep flying off the pages of this book, making it one of the most interesting and suspenseful reads I've had during my recent YA-dystopian reading bing. Its been a very long while since I was a YA myself, but I was so scared and horrfied at times that I had to put the book down! An awesome read! Its definitely dystopian, although it is neither End-of-the-world nor Post Apocalyptic. I highly recommend it.

The Knife of Never Letting Go is the first in the Chaos Walking Trilogy. The next one, The Ask and the Answer is already out, and yes, I have ordered it. Can't wait to read it.

Jackie of Farm Lane Books Blog reviews The Knife of Never Letting Go here.

Catching Fire - The Hunger Games 2 by Suzanne Collins

If you haven't read The Hunger Games Book One yet and plan to, then skip this review. It contain spoilers about what happens in the first book.

By several recommendations from the Blogosphere, I was drawn into the world of The Hunger Games. I have reviewed Book One here. Since I loved it and couldn't stop thinking about it, I went ahead and ordered number two, Catching Fire, as soon as it was available here in Europe. The first Hunger Games book was a 5 out of 5 read, and Catching Fire is right behind it with 4½ stars. Why not 5? Only because the surprise-element of the whole Hunger Games-concept is now known to the reader. But it was still an amazing read, and now I am eagerly awaiting book three. Wonder when that is coming out.

We are still in the country of Panem, which is the US after some end-of-the-world-scenario, of which we don't know anything. Maybe we will know more about that in book three? I hope so.

Katniss and Peeta, the winners of the 74th Hunger Games, are wealthy now, living in clean, warm houses (part of their winning-prizes), they do not go hungry anymore and life should be good. Only they are still stuck in District 12, one of the poorest Districts in Panem. Katniss haven't really spoken to Peeta since they came back from the Games, even though they are supposed to be in love - their supposed love story was what eventually got them through the Games. Katniss is also wondering about Gale, her  best friend whom she used to hunt with, and how things between them never was the same after the Games.

The Hunger Games are broadcast to all of Panem as a reality show, and it is mandatory to watch, so Katniss and Peeta has also become celebrities in all districts, and as we begin book two, they are headed for the mandatory celebration-tour of the Districts. Before the tour, Katniss receives an unexpected visit from the president of Panem, President Snow, who resides in The Capitol. It seems like something is brewing in Panem, something which the government in The Capitol has been trying to keep under the lid for many years. But since Katniss and Peeta won the Games, it has become harder and harder to keep the lid on, and President Snow is NOT amused.

It is with severe threats hanging over their heads that Katniss and Peeta ventures out on the celebration tour through the Districts of Panem. And now I am not going to say anything else but: READ IT (but read Book One first).

Serena of Savvy Verse & Wit reviewed Cacthing Fire here.

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

The two teenagers, Katniss and Peeta, live in a dark, postapocalyptic future, where their world (USA) has been divided into 12 (originally 13) districts. The first districts are the best ones, with District 1, Capitol, being the best, the richest, the most fancy and the place where the power and the president resides. District 1 is the seat of power, this is where The Hunger Games are planned.

Katniss and Peeta live in District 12, the poorest district where it is not unusual to see people keel over from hunger on a daily basis and just die right there. In the past, District 12 was the Appalachians, whereas District 1 is located in what was known as The Rockies. Katniss lives in the poorest area of the poorest district, and is the sole provider for her family which consists of her, her mother and her little sister Prim. Her family's main income stems from Katniss' abilities to hunt in the forbidden woods outside of District 12.

We meet her on the day of the yearly reaping. The reaping is the day where two kids from each district are being chosen to participate in The Hunger Games, where the only rule is to kill all other contestants and avoid getting killed yourself. The Hunger Games are being broadcastet reality tv-style nationwide in all districts, and it is mandatory to watch it.

When little sister Prim is being selected as a participant, Katniss volunteers to take her place. The other participant from District 12 is the quite son of the the district's baker. His name is Peeta. Peeta and Katniss travel to District 1, where they are being prepared to enter The Hunger Games, together with the 22 other kids from the other districts. Once in the arena of The Hunger Games, it is everybody's fight against everybody. Kill or be killed.

This book is a chilling and amazing 5* read. It is the first YA I have read in years, and the first fantasy I've read in almost as many years. But oh my, it was a great read. And yep, I DID stay up to read it, just had to know what happened on the next page. It is such a bone-chilling and dark read, but it has its moments of rebellion and friendship to make the whole set up bearable.

Earlier this summer I asked for recommendations for YA books. The Hunger Games was recommended to me by Michelle from GalleySmith, Jill from Fizzy Thoughts and Scrapgirl from Serendipity. Thanks!

Did you also read this? And review it? Let me know so I can put up a link.

National Blog Posting Month # 7: Bloody Bones by Laurell K. Hamilton

The Anita Blake series just keeps getting better and better. This is book # 5 in the series. And Jean-Claude, the Master Vampire of the City (St. Louis) is back in business. Anita has to leave her werewolf-boyfriend Richard and her vampire-boyfriend Jean-Claude (In a previous novel she agreed to date both of them to find out who she wants (to have sex with)) back in St. Louis, when she is asked to travel to another part the country and raise a whole cemetery. A builder wants to use some land, but a local family is agaist him, because they say that the old cemetery beneath the ground is their family-burial ground. Anita has to raise the dead and ask them exactly what their family relations are. All is well, until something starts killing young boys in the woods, and a teenage girl dies from a vampire bite in her room. Anita has to look into a lot of stuff, being helped by her assistant, vampire-hunter-in-spe Larry. She is away from her usual turf, and the police in this part of the country are not too happy about the famous vampire-hunter doing what they think is their job. Anita has to call for help, and the only one who can help her is Jean-Claude, the gorgeous vampire who wants Anita as his lover and human servant. Anita has resisted him for a long time, and she is not so sure what she feels. There is a lot of drama, a lot of bad vampires and the fey are introduced in this book, which make for some new and exciting ways to cheat, do magic and much more. Great vamp-read.

This is my 7th. post in the NaBloPoMo assignment.

National Blog Posting Month # 4: The Lunatic Cafe by Laurell K. Hamilton

I am going to continue today with my mentions of the Anita Blake, vampire hunter series by Laurell K. Hamilton. The Lunatic Cafe is the 4th book in the series - and it wasn't a favorite.

However, Anita Blake is a definite favorite of mine. But Anita! You really disappointed me in this one. The story and the storyline was, as usual, great. Anita has to deal with some horrible murders with a distict supernatural touch, and from the beginning it becomes clear, that this book is not so much about vampires as it is about shapeshifters. There is something wrong about these murders, apart from the supernatural aura about them. Someone or something is on the loose, and pretty soon, Anita is too close on the trail for comfort. And on the same time, she is having major second thoughts about her boyfriend Richard. In the last book, she found out that he was a shapeshifter, and in this book, she is trying to deal with that fact. A reviewer at Amazon wrote some time ago about Richard and the difficulties thjs reader had accepting him as Anita's boyfriend. I agree. I find Richard disgusting, no matter how beautiful he is supposed to be when not being a werewolf. This is why I can 'only' give this Anita Blake book a 3 star-rating. But, apart from this, Lunatic Cafe is a light, funny, scary and good read.

This is my 4th NaBloPoMo-post. See my page here. And don't forget to check out the Literary Escapism blog for a lot more info on Anita Blake and other supernatural literary heroes.

National Blog Posting Month # 3: Circus of the Damned by Laurell K. Hamilton

For my third blog post in NaBloPoMo I want to mention another number 3: The third book in the series about Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter: Circus of the Danmed. The series is written by Laurell K. Hamilton who also write the series about faerie princess Merry Gentry. I am a fan of both, although it admittedly has been a while since I read any Anita Blake. I have two posts on this blog for past Anita Blake-reviews. Click here for review of Guilty Pleasures and here for The Laughing Corpse.

Anyway, I cannot really write a review for Circus of the Damned, as it is a long time since I read it, so this is just a short summary. Anita is still fighting the advances of Master Vampire Jean-Claude. He wants her to become his human servant, but Anita cannot justify to herself being the numero uno vampire hunter in St. Louis and at the same time being the Master Vampire's human servant. But it does show that Anita is tempted, at least by the thought of bedding Jean-Claude! In this book there are more serious things at stake though than musing over how it would be to sleep with Jean-Claude, as it seems there are other powerful vampires wanting a big bite (!) of the cake as well. Anita finds herself drawn into it all and has to fight not only ancient vampires but also some even stranger creatures. The big battle is to take place in that strange establisment called Circus of the Damned. I remember that this book was one of my absolute faves in the whole series (of those I've read so far) and also one of the scariest ones. But still full of the trademark tough humor of Anita Blake and all her monsters and vampires. Oh, and lest I forget it.....this is also the book where Anita meets Richard for the first time. There is plenty more about him to come in the next books.

For more about Anita Blake, Laurell K. Hamilton and tons of other supernatural book-stuff you can visit Jackie's blog Literary Escapism.

My page at NaBloPoMo.

The badge on top left is made by Mimbles.

A Kiss of Shadows by Laurell K. Hamilton

This is a fun, sexy, erotic and easily read novel about Faerie Princess Merry Gentry. Merry is hald human half fey, and belongs to the Unseelie Court, ruled by her ruthless aunt, the Queen of Air and Darkness. Because Merry has not always lived up to her aunt's standards, she is on the run from her, and hiding in LA, where she works as a PI. But her aunt wants her back, at all costs. Before Merry can be persuaded (or forced) back to the court, and before this series can really begin, we need a lot of background information on the special world being described in vivid detail in this book. We also need background info on the certain ways of feys and goblins and trolls and humans - and we specially needs to be aware of the huge sexual appetite these beings have. Merry is indeed interested in sex, and in the beginning, her boyfriend is a seal! changed into a human by accident. His greatest wish is to be changed back into a seal. But Merry is not only enjoying the wonders of sex with her boyfriend. Pretty soon she is forced to make some tough choices, involving her status as a Princess of the Unseelie Court, her evil aunt, her even more evil cousin and much more. Beautiful faerie-men surround her, and her choices are not easy. This is a fun book, very hot and steamy with a heroine who is definitely living life to the max. I enjoyed it very much, and look forward to read the next one. Am also a huge fan of the other Laurell K. Hamilton-series about vampire hunter Anita Blake.

Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris

Dead Until Dark is the first book in the Southern Vampire Mysteries, and the main character is Sookie Stackhouse, a waitress. She is a pretty young girl, but she is not happy. She has a disability, and people often think she is both naive and a little dumb. But Sookie is neither. She can read people's minds, and in order to keep people's thoughts out of her head, she has to put up a mental guard every day. This takes so much of her concentration that she often seems slow. One night, Sookie serves the vampire Bill a glass of red wine, and she is immediately attracted to him, as she cannot read his thoughts at all. Shortly after Sookie and Bill first meet, a murder happen in their quiet little Louisiana-town Bon Temps, where Bill is trying to mainstream, which is vampire-slang for trying to live among humans again. For reasons not to be revealed here, our heroine and our vampire gets involved in solving this murder, and the story starts to get going. Other vampires start to show up, Bill and Sookie tries to date, and Sookie also, for the first time in her life, has men running around her, finding her pretty and desirable. Halfway through the story, the characters start to do weird things, and the story get confusing. It is like the author wants to tell too much on too few pages, and it becomes a little hard to follow the storyline, there are a lot of why's and why not's. We learn about Sookie's past, and certain things in her past is unsettling, but absolutely un-neccesary for the story. But then the story seems to get onto the right track again, and the rest of the book is a funny and exciting read. It is not the best vampire-mystery ever, but it is definitely a series worth reading, and you will want to see the characters again.

Trisha from Eclectic / Eccentric also read this one.
GalleySmith reviewed the book here.

The Laughing Corpse: Second book about Anita Blake, vampirehunter

Anita is back, she is tough, she works hard, she raises the dead for a living, she is not easily scared...or is she?In this book two about Anita's adventures she is hunting a killer zombie, and this hunt brings her close to a master voodoo-queen, way too close for comfort. At the same time, a mobster with a taste for disabled girls in wheelchairs, wants her to raise a very old zombie. Somthing she has denied doing, as it requires human sacrifice to raise such an old zombie. The mobster is not overly happy by being turned down by Anita, and she also has to fight her growing lust towards Jean-Claude, master vampire of St. Louis. She is, after all, known among vampires as the Executioner, and then she cannot be Jean-Claude's human servant....Anita has a lot going on, there are zombies on the loose, hunky vampires, ghouls, blood, gore and also some humor. A very exciting and funny read, highly entertaining.

Guilty Pleasures: First book about Anita Blake, vampirehunter

Anita Blake is our heroine in this first book in a series by Laurell K. Hamilton. Anita lives in St. Louis in a world where where vampires and an array of otherworldly creatures interact with humans. Vampires and humans has equal rights in this society. Anita is an animator, she can raise the dead. She does not believe that vampires should have equal rights, she believes that they are a menace to society, and she hunts them. In "Guilty Pleasures", the first book in a series of 14 books so far, she is hired, against her will, to find out who is murdering some of the city's prominent vampires.This challenge takes her places she has never been before, and she is going to see things she never dreamed of. It is a very easy read, and very entertaining. The set up of the book; vampires/humans with equal rights, is very clever, and I am looking forward to read the other books in this series.