Lies, Knives, and Girls in Red Dresses (Ron Koertge)

***

         Lies, Knives and Girls in Red Dresses is a collection of fairytale retellings written in free verse.  It includes a modern take on everything from Cinderella to Bluebeard with a dark twist.

         As you probably have figured out, I love a good fairytale retelling.  I sped through this collection, although I'd have to say that it wasn't my favorite.  Some of the stories had a cool or creepy side to them that is vaguely reminiscent of the original tales.  (Have you read any of the Grimm brothers' stories?  They're no Disney movie, I'll tell you that.)  I found that I couldn't really connect to the characters well, though - probably because each story was no more than a few pages long.  This was a good collection, but it didn't particularly stand out to me.

Rating: 3/5
Completed: November 10, 2012

Daughter of Smoke & Bone (Laini Taylor)

*****

         To her classmates, blue-haired art student Karou seems very strange.  She disappears mysteriously without warning and returns days or weeks later as though everything is normal.  Her sketchbook is full of elaborate drawings of monsters who collect teeth, and she claims the creatures are real.  Though nobody quite believes Karou, it's true.  But Karou's world is full of mysteries, and not even she understands who or what she is.  When a strange young man with eyes like fire arrives in Prague, Karou may have her chance to discover who she is - if she can stand to know the truth.

         This was an awesome book!  I couldn't put it down.  It's fast-paced and the concept is really cool.  When an author creates a fantasy world, it's really important that there are enough details that it feels real and the reader believes it.  Laini Taylor did a great job of this; I was sucked into Karou's world.  I loved the characters, as well: Karou's mysterious exterior and childish interior, Zuzana's spunkiness and loyalty, and Akiva's pensive nature.  Though this book has the feel of other books (like Cassandra Clare's Immortal Instruments), its content is unique.  I thought about giving it four stars, but that didn't seem like enough, and I decided that sometimes sheer awesomeness counts for an extra star.  If you like fantasy (and maybe even if you don't) you should read Daughter of Smoke and Bone!

Rating: 5/5
Completed: November 2, 2012

Happy day after Thanksgiving, if you celebrate it!  I found these ecards from fictional characters yesterday on figment.com.  Best holiday cards ever, in my opinion.

The Casual Vacancy (J.K. Rowling)

****

         In the small town of Pagford, the death of a man does not go unnoticed.  Barry Fairbrother's premature death by aneurysm leads to chaos within the village's social circles.  A seat on the parish council is now vacant, and there are unexpected candidates for the upcoming election.  Beneath the obvious political battle lurk many other conflicts that create confusion as the townspeople prepare to vote.  Several teens are battling with their parents and with themselves.  Spouses are facing deep-rooted conflicts that they have been trying to disguise.  The residents of Pagford would like to think that theirs is a perfect town, but as they try to fill the casual vacancy, they are forced to accept that their lives are anything but perfect.

         The Casual Vacancy was an interesting book.  In some ways I feel like it's bad to compare it to Potter, but in other ways it's sort of inevitable.  After all, Harry Potter is a huge part of the reason I picked this book up in the first place.  The two books are very different, though.  Whereas Harry Potter tends to focus on the humanity and vulnerability in people, The Casual Vacancy focuses on the darker side of the residents of Pagford.  It's heavy on the social satire as well.  So it wasn't a light read, and it wasn't very speedy, either.  But it was interesting to get into the heads of each character and see who they really are.  J.K. Rowling did a good job of developing all of the characters and their personal demons.  Although I didn't always love her negative portrayal of humanity in this book, I can at least say that it was well-executed.  The verdict: it was really good, but I liked Harry Potter better.

Rating: 4/5
Completed: October 26, 2012

Did anybody read this book?  What did you think?