Uninvited - Justine Musk

Not long ago I buckled down to read a book that had been in my to-read pile for years. Generally this isn't a very good sign, but regardless Uninvited intrigued me with the plot description on the back and a quote from Holly Black saying she loved it. It seemed like a quick read, so I decided to give it a real try after going through a few failed trial runs.

It was worth it.

Kelly has turned to drugs and other forms of escape since her brother, Jasper, walked away from a car accident where two others died and never returned. She absolutely believes that it wasn't his fault, but can't figure out why he left. Once a star student, Kelly is now following a dangerous path. Her mother is pregnant again, presumably to replace the void that her other son has left in their lives. Her world is turned upside down when Jasper returns, however. He appears to be the same brother who she knew, but appearances can be deceiving. Kelly starts to see things - Jasper's new tattoo appears to be moving, and she keeps running into a man that nobody else can see - and realizes that her brother might still be in trouble, and endangering her family at that. But Jasper won't open up to Kelly... so she decides to take matters into her own hands.

I was pleasantly surprised by this book - after trying it out so many times and failing to read it, I was beginning to wonder if maybe this book just wasn't for me. It's not often that a book will sit on my shelf for years before I read it and still end up being something worthwhile. This is one of those books.

There was the right amount of mystery and paranormal in here to satisfy me. Unlike some other books I've read recently (*coughcough*Betwixt*coughcough*) if Uninvited promises something's going to happen, it does. The book was paced well, and I didn't find it lagged in action or dialogue at any point.

As usual, I liked Nick, the secondary-character-who-may-be-a-love-interest. I don't know why, but I will never get sick of the best friend who happens to be a guy turning into a love interest. I wish Nick had been in the book more, but the truth is that this book is about Kelly's family, specifically Jasper, and I'm glad that the author didn't stray too far away from what was really important.

The one main complaint I have about this book is the same as I had for Above (see the last review) - the characters are too one-dimensional. Aside from Jasper, who himself feels like your typical bad-boy who usually ends up being the love interest, the other characters just didn't feel as developed as I would have liked them to be. While I like action in my books, I'm a very character-driven reader. I would have liked to learn more about Kelly, to figure out what makes her tick. I would have liked to see more of Archie, too, who seemed promising but didn't live up to my expectations by the end.

It was a good book, I'll give it that. I don't regret reading this. But in the grand scheme of things, this didn't blow me away and didn't offer anything new to the genre. I loved the ending; it took me completely off-guard. Read this one if you can get your hands on it, as it's worth a look, but there are many other books out there that deserve your attention more than this one.

SCORE: 6.7/10
IF YOU LIKE: Uninvited (Amanda Marrone), Ruined (Paula Morris)

Betwixt - Tara Bray Smith

It's pretty much a given for me that if a book is about teens and something paranormal, I'll read it, and probably love it. Bonus points to the book if it's already on sale, as this one was. This book was very intriguing even just from the dust jacket: one character seems to have a dark secret, one can make paintings come to life (what even??) and the third can see halos of light around those who will be dying soon. Immediately I started to speculate on what the plot would be about... Casters? Psychics? Something entirely new?

Well, I was partially right. This book is about fey, but the idea of what you know about fairies has been taken and twisted so much that it can hardly be called fey anymore. The book begins very promising, and the characters are introduced in a way that makes the reader want to continue discovering more about them. While some of the characters do posess powers, none of them know how to use them or why they even have them in the first place. The characters begin talking about a summer rave in the woods fairly early on in the book, and anyone can see that this is where their fates will start to be revealed.

And this is where the book began to lose me. For the first two hundred or so pages, we are given tiny teases of what lies ahead, but not much more. In fact, the first third of the book mostly revolves around the two main girls in the book planning throwing a party. This party serves as an introduction for other characters who will become more important later, but feels like a completely different book entirely. There are not many revelations made about the characters in this first part, and it feels somewhat like filler.

About 200 pages or so in, we finally make it to the secret rave in the woods. At almost 300 pages in, the main teenagers have finally left the party. Do you see where I'm going with this? The book definitely had its moments, but it seemed to drag on and on with not much direction until the very end. The climax definitely had me turning the pages to see what would happen next, but led to a very disappointing ending. Will there be a sequel? I'm not sure, and I'm not sure the author knows either. The ending feels like the ending of the first season of a television show: the writers want to make sure that all loose ends and major plot points are tied up, so that it has closure if the show is cancelled, but leave enough questions and "what ifs" so that a second season can be made if need be.

The book was confusing, and the plot could have been a lot better. Many portions of the book were very promising, and the powers that the teens had were for the most part very unique. However, the book dragged on, and felt more like a chore to read than I would have liked. Normally a book with a plot like this and of a similar length would take me about a day to read; this book took me over a week.

One last thing I'd like to mention: what's with the character names? Morgan D'Amici is normal, but the other two characters leave something to be desired. Nix Saint-Michael sounded like it was trying too hard to have a 'cool' name... I didn't like how the author shortened "Nick" to "Nix" for no reason. The one that bugged me the most, though, would have to be Ondine Mason. Ondine is a Latin name, I know, but it felt made-up to me. Who would name their daughter Ondine? There are much prettier names out there if you want to go for a mythological name that has some historical meaning to it. Really though, a parent is not going to name their daughter "Ondine" and their son Max. You either name your kids weird things, or you don't. Not to mention - the characters in the book were constantly commenting on how weird the names "Nix" and "Moth" (short for the character's last name, Motherwell) were. REALLY? Those are weird, but ONDINE isn't?

Anyways, /end rant. The book wasn't great, but it was somewhat readable if you really like the teen paranormal genre. Not recommended to the average reader, but if you're of the type who must read every book of the genre like I am, go for it. Just don't expect great things. If you go into it with lower expectations than I did, who knows... you might like it!

SCORE: 4.5/10
IF YOU LIKE: Wicked Lovely (Melissa Marr), Tithe (Holly Black)

Tighter - Adele Griffin

From the first page, we are introduced to Jamie, a girl who is being sent off to work as an au pair on a small, secluded New England island. The island is mostly off the map to everyone except the locals, and a handful of 'lifers' who come every year to vacation in their summer homes. Jamie is put in charge of Isa, an 11 year old girl with a wild imagination and an unconventional family. Isa lives alone with Connie, her housekeeper, while her father is away in Hong Kong.

Soon after Jamie settles in, Milo, Isa's trouble making brother (who, at 14 years old, is gorgeous and totally off-limits) arrives after being kicked out of summer camp. While Isa loves Miles, the town and Connie all seem to be very against him being on the island.

Jamie quickly learns about the previous au pair and her boyfriend, and the tragedy that happened on the island last year. Jessie, Isa's old babysitter, was killed in an accident with her boyfriend, Peter. The town is very reluctant to talk about what happened, making Jamie more curious as to what happened. Jamie becomes more and more consumed by the deaths and the mystery surrounding them as she begins to see the dead couple around the island. This is not new to Jamie - she has been seeing her dead relatives, Hank and Uncle Jim, for a while now. While she is not sure why they are coming to her, or what they want, she has resorted to stealing pills from her family's medicine cabinet to make them go away.

Part ghost story and part psychological thriller, this book was fantastic from beginning to end. The whole thing played out very much like a movie, and reminded me quite a bit (in terms of tone, not story) of the movie The Others. The story kept you guessing right until the very end, and was loaded with twists and turns that caught you off-guard.

I especially liked the character of Jamie. She is not your typical cookie-cutter heroine - she has problems, like everyone else. She struggles with events from her past and the reality of her future throughout the book, and speaks in a very real voice. It is hard to tell what is real and what isn't for Jamie, as the pills she takes skew her vision of the world and the events that are happening. The fact that the main character is unsure of what is actually real throughout the book makes it all the more disturbing and unsettling for the reader. How can we draw conclusions about the outcome of the book if the heroine herself can't fully tell us what is happening? I thought this was a fantastic way to write the book; I was creating theories and making guesses right until the very end.

One thing I particularly liked was the ending. Looking back on the book now, there are so many little hints about what is coming at the end that just went right over my head when I read them. This book definitely merits a reread - I feel like I'll discover more clues and foreshadowing as I go through it. The twist at the end of this is definitely on par with the ending of The Sixth Sense and The Others in my mind, which is great!

This book is not out for the general public yet (it only comes out in May) but I do hope it gets the recognition it deserves. It was a fantastic YA novel, and I will definitely be singing praises about this one for a long time!

One thing to note: this book is partially based on Henry James' The Turn of the Screw, a novella from 1898. While I have not read the original (I certainly will if I can get my hands on it, though!) I've skimmed over the summary. It's not exactly the same - the story is similar at the start, but then Griffin takes the story to a whole new level and makes it her own. Since this is a modern retelling, with a different story at its core, the reader will get the same experience whether they've read the original or not.

SCORE: 8.8/10
IF YOU LIKE: The Turn of the Screw (Henry James), Ruined (Paula Morris)