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Book Review: The Eternity Cure (Blood of Eden #2) by Julie Kagawa
Summary: Allison Sekemoto has vowed to rescue her creator, Kanin, who is being held hostage and tortured by the psychotic vampire Sarren. The call of blood leads her back to the beginning—New Covington and the Fringe, and a vampire prince who wants her dead yet may become her wary ally.
Even as Allie faces shocking revelations and heartbreak like she’s never known, a new strain of the Red Lung virus that decimated humanity is rising to threaten human and vampire alike.
Release Date: April 30, 2013
Age Group: YA
Source: NetGalley
Review:
Let me start this review by saying that I am a huge fan of Julie Kagawa. I have read and really enjoyed all of her work, and was thrilled to be able to read The Eternity Cure early. I adored The Immortal Rules (read my review here), and was enthralled at the terrifying world Kagawa created in the Blood of Eden series.
The Eternity Cure fell a little flat for me. Maybe my expectations were too high, having waited so long for more of Allison's story, but after reading the outstanding The Immortal Rules, I was ready for more of the same and found myself disappointed in The Eternity Cure. I felt like the plot moved slowly and was predictable. I was intrigued by the twist at the end of the book, and will definitely keep reading the series. I am probably not being fair to Kagawa, having such high expectations from her, and compared to other YA dystopian novels, The Eternity Cure was a great read, just not as outstanding as her previous work.
What I liked about The Eternity Cure were the characters, the character growth, and the plot twists. Kagawa's stories never fail to entertain and I'm looking forward to seeing where she takes this series.
Let me start this review by saying that I am a huge fan of Julie Kagawa. I have read and really enjoyed all of her work, and was thrilled to be able to read The Eternity Cure early. I adored The Immortal Rules (read my review here), and was enthralled at the terrifying world Kagawa created in the Blood of Eden series.
The Eternity Cure fell a little flat for me. Maybe my expectations were too high, having waited so long for more of Allison's story, but after reading the outstanding The Immortal Rules, I was ready for more of the same and found myself disappointed in The Eternity Cure. I felt like the plot moved slowly and was predictable. I was intrigued by the twist at the end of the book, and will definitely keep reading the series. I am probably not being fair to Kagawa, having such high expectations from her, and compared to other YA dystopian novels, The Eternity Cure was a great read, just not as outstanding as her previous work.
What I liked about The Eternity Cure were the characters, the character growth, and the plot twists. Kagawa's stories never fail to entertain and I'm looking forward to seeing where she takes this series.
Weekly Wrap-Up 4.28.12
Have you entered our Showers of Books Giveaway yet? Anyone can enter to win a $15 Amazon gift card! Click here to enter.
Back to my week in books: I am on a contemporary kick in the best kind of way! I'm just loving the new-adult genre and find myself tearing through books in one to two sittings. I've stayed up late twice this week (a huge feat when you are sick and have a two-year-old), just to finish a book because I had to know how it ended.
Books I Read This Week:
Amity and Sorrow by Peggy Riley. Interesting, melancholy read. Review to come. 3/5 stars
The Truth About You and Me by Amanda Grace. Loved it but would have preferred a different ending. 4/5 stars
A Shade of Blood (A Shade of Vampire #2) by Bella Forrest. A solid installment in the Shade of Vampire series. 3.5/5 stars
But I Love Him by Amanda Grace. I enjoyed The Truth About You and Me more but this was still a great read. 3.5/5 stars
Ten Tiny Breaths (Ten Tiny Breaths #1) by K.A. Tucker. I enjoyed this book, but found it somewhat predictable. Still a good read, though. 3/5 stars
The Indigo Spell (Bloodlines #3) by Richelle Mead. Loved it! Review to come. 5/5 stars
How was your week?
The Rules Blog Tour
Today we're honored to have YA author Stacey Kade posting about her playlist for her new book, The Rules. Welcome to I'd So Rather Be Reading, Stacey!
Behind the Music for Project Paper Doll: The RulesAs you may have heard me say before, I love making playlists! There's nothing like the shiver of delight I get when I hear a song that has a phrase or just a sound that perfectly matches a scene I'm working on or an emotion I'm trying to convey.
Below are more songs from my playlist for writing The Rules.
As with my previous list, some of them spoke to me because of the
lyrics; others were added because of the general idea or emotion they
evoked.
Often they make me think
of a specific chapter or scene in the book. So, I'm going to try to
share that with you, spoiler free! If you haven't read The Rules yet, you'll probably be a little like, "Huh?" But then when you read it, it'll all make sense! :D
Truth or Dare by Marianas Trench"1, 2, 3, do you see what I doTruth or dare, yes I double dare you
You, you, me, now I think you got it
One last breath and just spin the bottle now
You know you don’t need to be so worried
Even though below I'm still thinking 'bout it
1, 2, 3, and I double dare me as well
Truth, dare
(dirty little secret, dirty little secret)
This will be our little
(dirty little secret, dirty little secret)"
Chapter: Chapter 10
Explanation: Ariane and Zane come to an agreement. :)
*Hologram by Katie Herzig
"I'm in a love affair without a love song
I'm in the habit of having what I don't want
I'm just a hologram
You can see but don't touch me, baby."
I'm in the habit of having what I don't want
I'm just a hologram
You can see but don't touch me, baby."
Chapter: Chapters 12 and 13
Explanation: Ariane has to navigate the very narrow space between the Rules she's followed her life and the plan she's now involved in.
Explanation: Ariane has to navigate the very narrow space between the Rules she's followed her life and the plan she's now involved in.
*Was not originally on my playlist, but once I heard it, I had to add it!
Take Me Out by Atomic Tom
Take Me Out by Atomic Tom
"If I was bold enough, I would follow you forever. But darling please, rescue me, take me out."
AND
"I don't want to live half my life and disappear
So if you want to chances, take a chance on me.
And take me out."
And take me out."
Chapter: Chapter 15
Explanation: I love, love, love the lyrics for this song. I think the hardest part for Ariane is wanting something she knows she can't have, something she knows she shouldn't want at all.
What I've Done by Marie Digby
Explanation: I love, love, love the lyrics for this song. I think the hardest part for Ariane is wanting something she knows she can't have, something she knows she shouldn't want at all.
What I've Done by Marie Digby
Chapter: Chapters 24 and 25
Explanation: I love the idea of these tense action scenes being accompanied by this slow, almost mournful version of Linkin Park's song.
Explanation: I love the idea of these tense action scenes being accompanied by this slow, almost mournful version of Linkin Park's song.
About the author:
As
a former award-winning corporate copywriter, Stacey Kade has written
about everything from backhoe loaders to breast pumps. But she prefers
to make things up instead. She lives in the Chicago suburbs with her
husband, Greg, and their two retired racing greyhounds, Tall Walker
(Walker) and SheWearsThePants (Pansy). More information about The Rules
and Stacey can be found online at StaceyKade.com. She is also on Twitter @StaceyKade and on Facebook.
Showers of Books Giveaway Hop
As part of the Showers of Books Giveaway Hop, we're giving away...
A $15 Amazon gift card!
Giveaway Rules:
Anyone can enter this giveaway. You do not have to follow our blog to enter.
This giveaway is open internationally.
The winner will be emailed when the hop ends, and the winner has 72 hours to reply to our email and claim their prize. If there is no reply after 72 hours, another winner will be chosen.
The gift card will be sent electronically to the winner.
Thank you for entering and good luck!
Thank you to Books a la Mode and I Am A Reader, Not A Writer for hosting this hop!
Book Review: Blameless (Parasol Protectorate #3) by Gail Carriger
Summary:
Quitting her husband's house and moving back in with her horrible family, Lady Maccon becomes the scandal of the London season.Queen Victoria dismisses her from the Shadow Council, and the only person who can explain anything, Lord Akeldama, unexpectedly leaves town. To top it all off, Alexia is attacked by homicidal mechanical ladybugs, indicating, as only ladybugs can, the fact that all of London's vampires are now very much interested in seeing Alexia quite thoroughly dead.
While Lord Maccon elects to get progressively more inebriated and Professor Lyall desperately tries to hold the Woolsey werewolf pack together, Alexia flees England for Italy in search of the mysterious Templars. Only they know enough about the preternatural to explain her increasingly inconvenient condition, but they may be worse than the vampires -- and they're armed with pesto.
Release Date: September 1, 2010
Age Group: Adult
Publisher: Orbit
Source: Purchased
Review:
This is such a fun series! It is light-hearted, funny, satirical, and interesting. I love the historical aspect to The Parasol Protectorate. Most of all, I like Alexia. She is so pragmatic, there are no emotional hissy fits from her, no matter what happens.
I did feel like there was something missing in Blameless. It almost felt like half of a story to me. I got to the last page, and thought, "that's it?" I just wanted more. More to the plot, more action, more of Alexia and Conall, and more Lord Akeldama (who is my favorite character).
Blameless was a fun read, but not my favorite in the series. It kind of felt like a middle-of-the-series-slump book to me. I'll definitely keep reading the series, but I expected more out of a book I bought for myself. I hate that I do that--expect more out of books I've purchased--but I do. I want them all to be five-star books, and feel disappointed when they are not. Furthermore, it irks me that my library had the first two Parasol Protectorate books but not any of the others. It doesn't make any sense!
I would recommend Blameless, along with the rest of Carriger's series, but I better be in love with book four, or I'm going to be upset!
I did feel like there was something missing in Blameless. It almost felt like half of a story to me. I got to the last page, and thought, "that's it?" I just wanted more. More to the plot, more action, more of Alexia and Conall, and more Lord Akeldama (who is my favorite character).
Blameless was a fun read, but not my favorite in the series. It kind of felt like a middle-of-the-series-slump book to me. I'll definitely keep reading the series, but I expected more out of a book I bought for myself. I hate that I do that--expect more out of books I've purchased--but I do. I want them all to be five-star books, and feel disappointed when they are not. Furthermore, it irks me that my library had the first two Parasol Protectorate books but not any of the others. It doesn't make any sense!
I would recommend Blameless, along with the rest of Carriger's series, but I better be in love with book four, or I'm going to be upset!
Weekly Wrap-Up 4.21.13
Books I Read This Week:
With All My Soul (Soul Screamers #6) by Rachel Vincent. 4/5 stars.
The Sweet Side of Suffering: Recognizing God's Best when Facing Life's Worst by M. Esther Lovejoy. 5/5 stars.
How was your week?
Guest Post: Mia Hoddell
Today we are happy to host author Mia Hoddell as part of her Deadly to Love blog tour. Welcome to I'd So Rather Be Reading, Mia!
Top Ten Favourite Books
1. Ringmaster – Julia Golding.
It's full of action and even though Darcie is a teen spy it’s realistic as Golding doesn’t use fancy gadgets that will get her out of any situation. I loved the S.A.S soldiers in the book as well, their sense of humour was great.
2. Dragonfly – Julia GoldingI loved Julia Golding’s use of the senses in this book, everything was so vivid when I imagined it and the relationships in the book were great. I’ve lost count on how many times I have re-read this novel.
3. Skulduggery Pleasant Series– Derek LandyI just love Derek Landy’s writing, even his acknowledgements are filled with witty, humourous comments that make me laugh. I love his characters, the storylines are great but my favourite part is definitely his style of writing, I can’t help but laugh while reading it.
4. Blood Bound – Rachel Vincent
I enjoyed the action in this book, I could visualise it clearly and the strong female lead, Liv, was easy to relate to. As well as this I liked the fact that different paranormal skills were used rather than vampires/werewolves.
5. Hush Hush – Becca Fitzpatrick
This was the first angel book I ever read and now I am hooked on them.
6. Blood Ransom – Sophie McKenzie
This book was filled with action and tugs on your emotions. The characters were easy to relate to and I liked that McKenzie kept the science to a minimum so the book was easy to understand.
7. Diamond of Dury Lane (Cat Royal series) – Julia Golding
This was the first book I ever read without being forced to. I loved it and because it is what got me hooked on books I have to put it on the list. The main character is quick witted and humourous and the storylines are original and interesting.
8. The Host – Stephanie Meyer
I read this after Twilight and loved it much more. I prefer the characters and the storyline in my opinion is considerably better.
9. Girl Missing – Sophie McKenzie
This book kept me hooked all the way through as it was action packed and unpredictable.
10. Kissed by an Angel – Elizabeth Chandler
I liked the mystery in this novel, it keeps you guessing all the way to the end. Likewise, all of Elizabeth Chandler’s books do the same and her murder mysteries kept me awake at night.
Thanks to Kelli for hosting me on her amazing blog and remember to check out Deadly to Love and the rest of the tour stops here!
About Deadly to Love:There is a love that is so dangerous, so powerful, so intoxicating that it embraces your heart and smothers your mind until it leaves you defenseless.
Serena knew that but still, it didn't stop her. His name was Kai. He was the most beautiful, irresistible man she had ever encountered. Their attraction was too compelling to fight and she knew she would go to the end of the world beside him. That is love.
However behind the allure was hidden a deadly secret – a secret that threatened her fragile life... But secrets best left unsaid never remain hidden forever. When Kai reveals his true identity, she is exposed to a frightening world she had no idea existed. Controlled by powerful Elemental forces her life is placed in mortal danger.
Unbeknown to them, their lives have been entwined from the beginning and it leads her to discover an even greater secret about who she really is. As the pieces begin to unravel and death becomes a reality, Serena is forced to decide what is more important...her love or life.
Buy Links: Amazon.com
Amazon.co.uk
Paperback (Lulu) and will be available on Amazon soon
About the AuthorMia Hoddell lives in the UK with her family and two cats. She spends most of her time writing or reading and her preferred genre is Young Adult, Paranormal Romance. Before 2009, Mia wouldn't even pick up a book and was more interested in sports. However she finally found some novels that captured her interest and developed a love of both reading and writing. Mia began with poems and after getting two published in separate anthologies she moved on to short stories. Although she enjoyed this, Mia found she had too much to tell with too little space, so later on she created her first series The Wanderer Trilogy and from there other ideas have emerged which she hopes to turn into novels as well. Elemental Killers is her second series and book two will be out soon.
Book Review: Emilie and the Hollow World (Emilie #1) by Martha Wells
Summary:
While running away from
home for reasons that are eminently defensible, Emilie’s plans to stow
away on the steamship Merry Bell and reach her cousin in the big city go
awry, landing her on the wrong ship and at the beginning of a fantastic
adventure.Taken under the protection of Lady Marlende, Emilie learns that the crew hopes to use the aether currents and an experimental engine, and with the assistance of Lord Engal, journey to the interior of the planet in search of Marlende’s missing father.
With the ship damaged on arrival, they attempt to traverse the strange lands on their quest. But when evidence points to sabotage and they encounter the treacherous Lord Ivers, along with the strange race of the sea-lands, Emilie has to make some challenging decisions and take daring action if they are ever to reach the surface world again.
Release Date: April 2, 2013
Age Group: YA
Source: Review copy from publisher
Review:
What a neat book! Emilie and the Hollow World was a fun, unique read. It felt like a mix of steampunk and fantasy to me. After reading the summary, I thought it sounded interesting, but I didn't expect to like it nearly as much as I did.
I loved the action---boy, the action was non-stop, which made the book really exciting---and the world Wells created. Everything from the characters to the setting was so well-described. I felt like I was right there along with Emilie.
My favorite thing about this book was Emilie's voice. She was smart, sassy and full of spunk. I love that in a lead character! Wells' sharp writing style was the perfect embodiment of Emilie's character. The minor characters were so interesting and added a lot of depth to the story as well.
I really enjoyed Emilie and the Hollow World. I'm looking forward to the next book in the series!
What a neat book! Emilie and the Hollow World was a fun, unique read. It felt like a mix of steampunk and fantasy to me. After reading the summary, I thought it sounded interesting, but I didn't expect to like it nearly as much as I did.
I loved the action---boy, the action was non-stop, which made the book really exciting---and the world Wells created. Everything from the characters to the setting was so well-described. I felt like I was right there along with Emilie.
My favorite thing about this book was Emilie's voice. She was smart, sassy and full of spunk. I love that in a lead character! Wells' sharp writing style was the perfect embodiment of Emilie's character. The minor characters were so interesting and added a lot of depth to the story as well.
I really enjoyed Emilie and the Hollow World. I'm looking forward to the next book in the series!
Book Review: Daughter of Jerusalem by Joan Wolf
Summary:
In Daughter of Jerusalem, readers will quickly identify with Mary Magdalene – a woman of deep faith who used her wealth and influence to serve Jesus.This fictionalized story of Mary Magdalene is, in the truest sense of the word, an inspirational novel for modern people who are looking to renew in themselves the message of Christ. It’s the greatest story ever lived, told by one of the most famous women who ever lived, and it’s a page-turner. Joan Wolf’s years of success as a novelist enable her to combine storytelling and a faith plot in this beautifully written biblical fiction.
Release Date: April 16, 2013
Age Group: Adult
Source: NetGalley
Review:
I loved Joan Wolf's historical Christian fiction novel about Rahab, This Scarlet Cord (read my review here), so I was thrilled to see Daughter of Jerusalem on NetGalley. I have always wanted to know more about Mary Magdalene, and while I do understand that this is a fiction novel, I loved getting a glimpse of Mary's life.
Daughter of Jerusalem was even better than This Scarlet Cord for me because I absolutely loved reading about Jesus' ministry. I cried several times while reading this book, out of sheer awe and emotion. Daughter of Jerusalem was definitely an inspirational work. I finished the book with a desire to live a better life and be a better Christian. Isn't it wonderful when a fiction novel can do that for you? Inspire you to be a better person? Not many books move me like this one did.
I can't find the words to tell you how good this book was. Reading about Mary's life from childhood on, and her faith, was so powerful. Wolf wrote Mary's character so that she was really easy to identify with. Mary goes through things that all women go through in life (no matter what year it is): falling in love, growing into her own as a woman, finding faith, and finding her life's purpose. The way Mary handles her life's disappointments was so easy for me to empathize with. I felt so badly for Mary, and ached for her to find happiness. She thinks that she will find happiness with a man, but ends up learning to find peace and joy where she can. Mary's greatest joy comes from being a blessing to others. And, in the end, by being forgiven for her sins by the Savior himself.
Parts of Daughter of Jerusalem reminded me of the movie The Passion of the Christ. Those parts of the book were the most emotional for me. I'm glad Wolf included so much of Jesus' life and ministry, as well as his crucifixion, because it showed me Mary's faith and strength. The respect she eventually earns from the disciples, men who hid while Jesus was crucified, was so well-deserved. There is so much more to Mary Magdalene than I ever realized.
Joan Wolf is a new auto-buy author for me, and I'll definitely be giving this book as a gift once it's published. I highly recommend it for all fans of Christian fiction!
Daughter of Jerusalem was even better than This Scarlet Cord for me because I absolutely loved reading about Jesus' ministry. I cried several times while reading this book, out of sheer awe and emotion. Daughter of Jerusalem was definitely an inspirational work. I finished the book with a desire to live a better life and be a better Christian. Isn't it wonderful when a fiction novel can do that for you? Inspire you to be a better person? Not many books move me like this one did.
I can't find the words to tell you how good this book was. Reading about Mary's life from childhood on, and her faith, was so powerful. Wolf wrote Mary's character so that she was really easy to identify with. Mary goes through things that all women go through in life (no matter what year it is): falling in love, growing into her own as a woman, finding faith, and finding her life's purpose. The way Mary handles her life's disappointments was so easy for me to empathize with. I felt so badly for Mary, and ached for her to find happiness. She thinks that she will find happiness with a man, but ends up learning to find peace and joy where she can. Mary's greatest joy comes from being a blessing to others. And, in the end, by being forgiven for her sins by the Savior himself.
Parts of Daughter of Jerusalem reminded me of the movie The Passion of the Christ. Those parts of the book were the most emotional for me. I'm glad Wolf included so much of Jesus' life and ministry, as well as his crucifixion, because it showed me Mary's faith and strength. The respect she eventually earns from the disciples, men who hid while Jesus was crucified, was so well-deserved. There is so much more to Mary Magdalene than I ever realized.
Joan Wolf is a new auto-buy author for me, and I'll definitely be giving this book as a gift once it's published. I highly recommend it for all fans of Christian fiction!
Weekly Wrap-Up 4.14.13
I had a great reading week! Can you tell that I finally broke out of my reading slump/Netflix binge?
Carry On Warrior: Thoughts on Life Unarmed by Glennon Doyle Melton 5 stars.
Dare You To (Pushing the Limits #2) by Katie McGarry 4 stars.
True by Erin McCarthy 3 stars.
Pink is a Four-Letter Word (Toronto Series #11) by Heather Wardell 4.5 stars.
Screwed by Laurie Plissner 3.5 stars.
Mom at Last: How I Never Gave Up on Becoming a Mother by Sharon Simons 4 stars.
How was your week?
Book Review: Love Water Memory by Jennie Shortridge
Summary:
A bittersweet
masterpiece filled with longing and hope, Jennie Shortridge’s emotional
novel explores the raw, tender complexities of relationships and
personal identity. Who is Lucie Walker? Even Lucie herself can’t answer that question after she comes to, confused and up to her knees in the chilly San Francisco Bay. Back home in Seattle, she adjusts to life with amnesia, growing unsettled by the clues she finds to the selfish, carefully guarded person she used to be. Will she ever fall in love with her handsome, kindhearted fiancé, Grady? Can he devote himself to the vulnerable, easygoing Lucie 2.0, who is so unlike her controlling former self? When Lucie learns that Grady has been hiding some very painful secrets that could change the course of their relationship, she musters the courage to search for the shocking, long-repressed childhood memories that will finally set her free.
Release Date: April 2, 2013
Age Group: Adult
Source: NetGalley
Review:
I really liked the premise of Love Water Memory, and even though I don't read much adult fiction I decided to give it a try. And I'm glad I did, as it was a good read.
Love Water Memory was different from other books about amnesia that I've read, in that the main character has no "AH-HA" moment where she fully recovers her memories. Instead, Lucie reconciles her two selves: her past self and her present self. I loved that about this book. I liked that Lucie does the hard work of putting her life back together and things don't magically fall into place just because she falls in love (I really hate it when love is used as a plot device like that).
What really made Love Water Memory stand out for me were the secondary characters. Grady's family was so well-characterized. I loved them! I loved Lucie's new, honest life, and the way she handles her hardships.
I did feel like the book moved slowly at times. It was more of an emotional thriller than an action-packed novel. I would have preferred it to be told from Lucie's perspective, in a first-person narrative. I felt like the third person point of view made it a little impersonal.
Other than those complaints, I did really enjoy this book and would recommend it to fans of contemporary and women's fiction. I would definitely read Jennie Shortridge again.
I really liked the premise of Love Water Memory, and even though I don't read much adult fiction I decided to give it a try. And I'm glad I did, as it was a good read.
Love Water Memory was different from other books about amnesia that I've read, in that the main character has no "AH-HA" moment where she fully recovers her memories. Instead, Lucie reconciles her two selves: her past self and her present self. I loved that about this book. I liked that Lucie does the hard work of putting her life back together and things don't magically fall into place just because she falls in love (I really hate it when love is used as a plot device like that).
What really made Love Water Memory stand out for me were the secondary characters. Grady's family was so well-characterized. I loved them! I loved Lucie's new, honest life, and the way she handles her hardships.
I did feel like the book moved slowly at times. It was more of an emotional thriller than an action-packed novel. I would have preferred it to be told from Lucie's perspective, in a first-person narrative. I felt like the third person point of view made it a little impersonal.
Other than those complaints, I did really enjoy this book and would recommend it to fans of contemporary and women's fiction. I would definitely read Jennie Shortridge again.
Blog Tour: Assured Destruction by Michael F. Stewart
Today we're happy to be a part of Tribute Books' blog tour for Assured Destruction by Michael Stewart.
Assured Destruction Book
Summary:
Sixteen-year-old Jan Rose knows that
nothing is ever truly deleted. At least, not from the hard
drives she scours to create the online identities she calls
the Shadownet.
Hobby? Art form? Sad, pathetic plea to garner friendship, even virtually? Sure, Jan is guilty on all counts. Maybe she’s even addicted to it. It’s an exploration. Everyone has something to hide. The Shadownet’s hard drives are Jan’s secrets. They're stolen from her family’s computer recycling business Assured Destruction. If the police found out, Jan’s family would lose their livelihood.
When the real people behind Shadownet’s hard drives endure vicious cyber attacks, Jan realizes she is responsible. She doesn’t know who is targeting these people or why but as her life collapses Jan must use all her tech savvy to bring the perpetrators to justice before she becomes the next victim.
Excerpt from Assured Destruction:
CHAPTER ONE
If you ever have to get a job, don’t do sales. I hate sales. And this woman is an example of why.
“I am Mrs. Roz Shaftsbury and this hard drive will be destroyed,” Mrs. Roz Shaftsbury says.
It’s weird how she announces her name, but it does mean something to me. I sit next to her son in half my classes. I’ve never seen her before, though, and she’s dressed in what looks like twenty foxes sewn together and is wearing red heels—I would’ve remembered—that fox is snarling at me.
I guess because she walked into a dingy warehouse with concrete floors and bare beams and the worst Feng Shui in the world, she assumes we’re after her credit card information rather than to earn enough money to buy pizza. But come on, I’m a sixteen-‐year-‐old girl, not a ... well ... not a crook.
Roz leans in and stares at me so I know she isn’t even asking a question; this is a threat. Erase the hard drive, or else.
I want to salute and say, “Yes, ma’am, your son’s secret, torrent downloading will be deleted forever. His Ivy League future is back on track.” But then she’d realize I actually know her son, Jonny Shaftsbury, and I see no point in tipping her off.
“Oh yes, assured destruction,” I say. It’s what’s written on the sign above her head and it helps me keep snide remarks to myself.
“Some computer recyclers just wipe hard drives,” Roz adds; her fingernails scrape the laptop casing, sending shrill echoes through the warehouse. “I want this shredded.”
With a hint of a European accent, she says it like she researched the subject on Google. If she had, she would also know wiping a hard drive works perfectly well and then it can be reused. But this is a woman wearing foxes, and in retail, the customer is king or ... er ... dark, evil, dead-fox queen.
I point to the shredder, which squats in the corner; it works like a paper shredder but instead of chewing up paper it munches metal. Chop-‐chop is spray painted across its lip.
“Good,” she replies, but her hand lingers.
I slide the computer off the counter with a smile and carry it over to the shredder for show. Shaftsbury forks over cash— this woman really doesn’t want to leave a trace—it all feels ridiculously covert. I narrow my eyes and hunch my shoulders as if I’m doing something shady.
She huffs and stomps out, twirling her foxes and leaving the smell of her sugary perfume behind. I stand nonplussed. I would have thought she’d want to see the shredder do its work. At least take the certificate of destruction.
I hate sales.
If she wasn’t such a bitch, I probably would have popped the hard drive in the shredder, hit the big green button, and assured the destruction of the last few years of Jonny’s life. But since I know Jonny doesn’t have a chance of making it into an Ivy League school, I don’t feel too guilty about checking under the hood to see if it is indeed the Jonny Shaftsbury from my high school.
In every kid’s hard drive are pieces of themselves, which, if someone is prepared to take the time, can be puzzled back together to live again on what I call the Shadownet. That someone happens to be me.
Hobby? Art form? Sad, pathetic plea to garner friendship, even virtually? Sure, I am guilty on all counts. Maybe I’m even addicted to it. I can pick apart the private lives of others and don’t need to worry about what they think about me, or whether the profiles I create for them are going to walk out one day and never come back like my dad did. Shadownet is my permanent family. The only thing I can be sure will stick around.
“Janus, why aren’t you working?” The voice of my mother rings with the sing-‐song tone she uses when she senses I’m about to do something wrong. She’s in the back playing with money.
“I am working. Don’t harass your unpaid labor,” I return in my own sing-‐song. She has a beautiful voice, though, and mine is like that woman’s fingernails on the casing.
“Room and board qualifies as paid, deary,” she continues in a fun, easygoing lilt. I love my mom.
Luckily a doctor came in an hour before Jonny’s mom, so I pop the shells off his computers, pull the hard drives, and run the shredder. It makes a series of clunks until the hard drives catch in the teeth, then it’s like listening to a car crash in slow motion, metal sheering and plastic splintering. I cover my nose at the reek of lubricant and acrid metal. My mom will hear it and never know that one more hard drive didn’t quite make it into Chop‐chop. For now, I tell myself, choking down the guilt.
Poking about the new laptop, I can see it isn’t old—three or four years—but then I’m not hoping for baby pics. I want secrets. Secrets are power. I first realized how powerful when my mom wouldn’t tell me why my dad walked out on us. I wonder about it every day. And about what he’s doing right now and whether he thinks of me. The hard drives I fail to destroy are my secrets, and no one knows about them, especially not my mom.
I slip the hard drive into the front pocket of my overalls and smile at the next person, who lugs a behemoth of a television he probably paid ten grand for a decade ago. He now has to pay us to take it off his hands.
Finally, it is eight o’clock, and I can quit. My mom’s still in the back office with her head in a spreadsheet. I know we’re not making much money, but Assured Destruction is all that keeps us from the food bank. Still, we manage. I work a lot of hours and have ever since my dad abandoned us.
I pat the hard drive in my pocket and dream about what secrets I will find within its folders. It being the end of the month, I’ve got a couple more hours before my mom rolls away from her computer and comes looking for me. She’s in a wheelchair due to her Multiple Sclerosis, otherwise known as MS.
I lock the doors to the warehouse store and wheel the television and shells of computers to the staging area at the back. Fenwick, our forklift driver and all around handy dude, will skid them and add them to the next shipment out. Fenwick looks like a pro wrestler ten years after retirement—built like a truck but starting to fall apart. I haul some of the lighter items off the cart to make his life easier but balk at the television.
The whole place is filled with racks of old computers, televisions, and electronics. But we don’t actually recycle, not anymore; we do better just collecting a fee for the drop off and letting the larger companies do the hard work. The only business where we still actually do anything is destruction. People don’t like to think you’re shipping their data anywhere and all it takes is a shredder. I know when a doctor, lawyer, or accountant walks through the door, they’re carrying the next pizza I can order.
As I take the stairs to the basement, cool air slides up my thighs. It’s like descending to a lake bottom on a hot summer’s day. Goosebumps bubble over my arms and I slip on the sweater I leave across my chair. To me the hum of the computers and server is a Buddhist’s meditation. Knots at my neck unravel. I sigh and sit in my rolly chair, feeling a little closer to the Internet, which to me is the same as enlightenment. My chair needs to be rolly because I have seven terminals in a ring network. I am like a starship captain: I kick out, the chair rattling over the floor to the first terminal.
From the screen, a cartoon version of me stares back. Black straight hair, overlarge dark brown eyes, pale complexion, and a pointy chin. It looks like me, but without the zits, and in real life my neck isn’t only an inch wide.
As I shift the mouse, it takes me to my home blog: JanusFlyTrap. When I built the site, I was trying to think of a cool name and spotted all the wires tangled at the hub of my network like a web. Six other computers all link to mine and to each other. One dysfunctional family. And like any family, each part has its own personality.
On my right is Gumps. Gumps is my conscience, my grandfather, my confidante, my Magic 8-‐ball, all on the oldest motherboard I’ve ever seen. The computer is pre–Internet and so Gumps isn’t connected to the others, but I still see him as the closest thing I’ve got to flesh and blood, the only person I can really trust. His display is green, and rather than sporting an avatar, he’s just a blinking dash. Don’t let appearances fool you, though. He’s with it.
I type: Gumps, 8‐ball question: should I search around in Jonny’s files?
I programmed it to recognize key terms I enter. The response is immediate.
Answer: Janus, the ball is in your court.
He speaks in idioms, which is nice because it leaves me to interpret his answers however I want. Exactly what I imagine grandparents are for.
I set the hard drive into a casing I have for this purpose and turn on the unit. This could be interesting. A year ago Jonny asked me out and I turned him down, mostly because life was crazy with my mom’s illness and with taking care of the business while scraping by at school. Then, just a few months ago, Fenwick caught Jonny snooping around Assured Destruction— it was a bit too close to stalking for me. Jonny could barely look at me in class afterward. If he ever came around again, I joked that Fenwick should feed him to Chop‐chop.
On the computer screen, a series of folders appear in the file tree.
I was right. It’s Jonny.
Let the fun begin.
CHAPTER ONE
If you ever have to get a job, don’t do sales. I hate sales. And this woman is an example of why.
“I am Mrs. Roz Shaftsbury and this hard drive will be destroyed,” Mrs. Roz Shaftsbury says.
It’s weird how she announces her name, but it does mean something to me. I sit next to her son in half my classes. I’ve never seen her before, though, and she’s dressed in what looks like twenty foxes sewn together and is wearing red heels—I would’ve remembered—that fox is snarling at me.
I guess because she walked into a dingy warehouse with concrete floors and bare beams and the worst Feng Shui in the world, she assumes we’re after her credit card information rather than to earn enough money to buy pizza. But come on, I’m a sixteen-‐year-‐old girl, not a ... well ... not a crook.
Roz leans in and stares at me so I know she isn’t even asking a question; this is a threat. Erase the hard drive, or else.
I want to salute and say, “Yes, ma’am, your son’s secret, torrent downloading will be deleted forever. His Ivy League future is back on track.” But then she’d realize I actually know her son, Jonny Shaftsbury, and I see no point in tipping her off.
“Oh yes, assured destruction,” I say. It’s what’s written on the sign above her head and it helps me keep snide remarks to myself.
“Some computer recyclers just wipe hard drives,” Roz adds; her fingernails scrape the laptop casing, sending shrill echoes through the warehouse. “I want this shredded.”
With a hint of a European accent, she says it like she researched the subject on Google. If she had, she would also know wiping a hard drive works perfectly well and then it can be reused. But this is a woman wearing foxes, and in retail, the customer is king or ... er ... dark, evil, dead-fox queen.
I point to the shredder, which squats in the corner; it works like a paper shredder but instead of chewing up paper it munches metal. Chop-‐chop is spray painted across its lip.
“Good,” she replies, but her hand lingers.
I slide the computer off the counter with a smile and carry it over to the shredder for show. Shaftsbury forks over cash— this woman really doesn’t want to leave a trace—it all feels ridiculously covert. I narrow my eyes and hunch my shoulders as if I’m doing something shady.
She huffs and stomps out, twirling her foxes and leaving the smell of her sugary perfume behind. I stand nonplussed. I would have thought she’d want to see the shredder do its work. At least take the certificate of destruction.
I hate sales.
If she wasn’t such a bitch, I probably would have popped the hard drive in the shredder, hit the big green button, and assured the destruction of the last few years of Jonny’s life. But since I know Jonny doesn’t have a chance of making it into an Ivy League school, I don’t feel too guilty about checking under the hood to see if it is indeed the Jonny Shaftsbury from my high school.
In every kid’s hard drive are pieces of themselves, which, if someone is prepared to take the time, can be puzzled back together to live again on what I call the Shadownet. That someone happens to be me.
Hobby? Art form? Sad, pathetic plea to garner friendship, even virtually? Sure, I am guilty on all counts. Maybe I’m even addicted to it. I can pick apart the private lives of others and don’t need to worry about what they think about me, or whether the profiles I create for them are going to walk out one day and never come back like my dad did. Shadownet is my permanent family. The only thing I can be sure will stick around.
“Janus, why aren’t you working?” The voice of my mother rings with the sing-‐song tone she uses when she senses I’m about to do something wrong. She’s in the back playing with money.
“I am working. Don’t harass your unpaid labor,” I return in my own sing-‐song. She has a beautiful voice, though, and mine is like that woman’s fingernails on the casing.
“Room and board qualifies as paid, deary,” she continues in a fun, easygoing lilt. I love my mom.
Luckily a doctor came in an hour before Jonny’s mom, so I pop the shells off his computers, pull the hard drives, and run the shredder. It makes a series of clunks until the hard drives catch in the teeth, then it’s like listening to a car crash in slow motion, metal sheering and plastic splintering. I cover my nose at the reek of lubricant and acrid metal. My mom will hear it and never know that one more hard drive didn’t quite make it into Chop‐chop. For now, I tell myself, choking down the guilt.
Poking about the new laptop, I can see it isn’t old—three or four years—but then I’m not hoping for baby pics. I want secrets. Secrets are power. I first realized how powerful when my mom wouldn’t tell me why my dad walked out on us. I wonder about it every day. And about what he’s doing right now and whether he thinks of me. The hard drives I fail to destroy are my secrets, and no one knows about them, especially not my mom.
I slip the hard drive into the front pocket of my overalls and smile at the next person, who lugs a behemoth of a television he probably paid ten grand for a decade ago. He now has to pay us to take it off his hands.
Finally, it is eight o’clock, and I can quit. My mom’s still in the back office with her head in a spreadsheet. I know we’re not making much money, but Assured Destruction is all that keeps us from the food bank. Still, we manage. I work a lot of hours and have ever since my dad abandoned us.
I pat the hard drive in my pocket and dream about what secrets I will find within its folders. It being the end of the month, I’ve got a couple more hours before my mom rolls away from her computer and comes looking for me. She’s in a wheelchair due to her Multiple Sclerosis, otherwise known as MS.
I lock the doors to the warehouse store and wheel the television and shells of computers to the staging area at the back. Fenwick, our forklift driver and all around handy dude, will skid them and add them to the next shipment out. Fenwick looks like a pro wrestler ten years after retirement—built like a truck but starting to fall apart. I haul some of the lighter items off the cart to make his life easier but balk at the television.
The whole place is filled with racks of old computers, televisions, and electronics. But we don’t actually recycle, not anymore; we do better just collecting a fee for the drop off and letting the larger companies do the hard work. The only business where we still actually do anything is destruction. People don’t like to think you’re shipping their data anywhere and all it takes is a shredder. I know when a doctor, lawyer, or accountant walks through the door, they’re carrying the next pizza I can order.
As I take the stairs to the basement, cool air slides up my thighs. It’s like descending to a lake bottom on a hot summer’s day. Goosebumps bubble over my arms and I slip on the sweater I leave across my chair. To me the hum of the computers and server is a Buddhist’s meditation. Knots at my neck unravel. I sigh and sit in my rolly chair, feeling a little closer to the Internet, which to me is the same as enlightenment. My chair needs to be rolly because I have seven terminals in a ring network. I am like a starship captain: I kick out, the chair rattling over the floor to the first terminal.
From the screen, a cartoon version of me stares back. Black straight hair, overlarge dark brown eyes, pale complexion, and a pointy chin. It looks like me, but without the zits, and in real life my neck isn’t only an inch wide.
As I shift the mouse, it takes me to my home blog: JanusFlyTrap. When I built the site, I was trying to think of a cool name and spotted all the wires tangled at the hub of my network like a web. Six other computers all link to mine and to each other. One dysfunctional family. And like any family, each part has its own personality.
On my right is Gumps. Gumps is my conscience, my grandfather, my confidante, my Magic 8-‐ball, all on the oldest motherboard I’ve ever seen. The computer is pre–Internet and so Gumps isn’t connected to the others, but I still see him as the closest thing I’ve got to flesh and blood, the only person I can really trust. His display is green, and rather than sporting an avatar, he’s just a blinking dash. Don’t let appearances fool you, though. He’s with it.
I type: Gumps, 8‐ball question: should I search around in Jonny’s files?
I programmed it to recognize key terms I enter. The response is immediate.
Answer: Janus, the ball is in your court.
He speaks in idioms, which is nice because it leaves me to interpret his answers however I want. Exactly what I imagine grandparents are for.
I set the hard drive into a casing I have for this purpose and turn on the unit. This could be interesting. A year ago Jonny asked me out and I turned him down, mostly because life was crazy with my mom’s illness and with taking care of the business while scraping by at school. Then, just a few months ago, Fenwick caught Jonny snooping around Assured Destruction— it was a bit too close to stalking for me. Jonny could barely look at me in class afterward. If he ever came around again, I joked that Fenwick should feed him to Chop‐chop.
On the computer screen, a series of folders appear in the file tree.
I was right. It’s Jonny.
Let the fun begin.
Links:
Buy Assured Destruction:
Book Review: Furious by Jill Wolfson
Summary:
Three high school girls become the avenging Furies of Greek legend.We were only three angry girls, to begin with. Alix, the hot-tempered surfer chick; Stephanie, the tree-hugging activist; and me, Meg, the quiet foster kid, the one who never quite fit in. We hardly knew each other, but each of us nurtured a burning anger: at the jerks in our class, at our disappointing parents, at the whole flawed, unjust world.
We were only three angry girls, simmering uselessly in our ocean-side California town, until one day a mysterious, beautiful classmate named Ambrosia taught us what else we could be: Powerful. Deadly. Furious.
Release Date: April 16, 2013
Age Group: YA
Source: Review copy from publisher
Review:
I was pleasantly surprised by Furious. I thought it was a great read, and loved that it is a stand-alone novel.
What you read in the summary is exactly what you get in the story: three high school girls who becoming the Furies of Greek legend. The girls aren't friends, instead they know of each other but each one is sort of a loner, except for Meg, who has a best friend. They are brought together by Ambrosia, a classmate, who nurtures their power and leads them into their roles.
What starts as a testing of the Furies' power turns into a social experiment gone wrong. Because, when you think about it, where do you draw the line at exacting revenge? Everyone has something they've done wrong at some point in their lives, and the Furies take it upon themselves to punish everyone as they see fit. But all of the justice wrought on others takes it toll on the girls. Like they say, forgiveness is a gift you give to yourself. And once the Furies figure that out, the game changes.
What really stood out for me in Furious was the imagery and emotions. I loved the way Wolfson wrote, and the basis in Greek legend was a neat twist. Ambrosia's personal journal entries at the start of each chapter added a lot of depth and intrigue to the story.
Overall, I really enjoyed Furious and would recommend it to fans of YA. I was very happy with the conclusion of the book and would definitely read Jill Wolfson again.
I was pleasantly surprised by Furious. I thought it was a great read, and loved that it is a stand-alone novel.
What you read in the summary is exactly what you get in the story: three high school girls who becoming the Furies of Greek legend. The girls aren't friends, instead they know of each other but each one is sort of a loner, except for Meg, who has a best friend. They are brought together by Ambrosia, a classmate, who nurtures their power and leads them into their roles.
What starts as a testing of the Furies' power turns into a social experiment gone wrong. Because, when you think about it, where do you draw the line at exacting revenge? Everyone has something they've done wrong at some point in their lives, and the Furies take it upon themselves to punish everyone as they see fit. But all of the justice wrought on others takes it toll on the girls. Like they say, forgiveness is a gift you give to yourself. And once the Furies figure that out, the game changes.
What really stood out for me in Furious was the imagery and emotions. I loved the way Wolfson wrote, and the basis in Greek legend was a neat twist. Ambrosia's personal journal entries at the start of each chapter added a lot of depth and intrigue to the story.
Overall, I really enjoyed Furious and would recommend it to fans of YA. I was very happy with the conclusion of the book and would definitely read Jill Wolfson again.
Guest Post: Jill Wolfson
Today we're honored to have author Jill Wolfson guest posting about how she uses real places as inspiration for the settings in her writing. Welcome to I'd So Rather Be Reading, Jill!When I started the novel, I knew that I wanted the place – a California beach town with echoes to Greece – to be almost as much a character as the humans (and goddesses). You’ll see that the land, the ocean and the weather directly reflect what’s going on inside of the characters’ hearts and mind.
I’m lucky that I just happen to live in a California beach town, so I had a lot to work with within walking distance of my house. Before I even got started with writing, I walked around town taking photos, and continued doing that whenever I needed a writing break. For inspiration, I kept the pictures on my computer and turned to them whenever I was trying to come up with the background for a particularly crucial scene.
Sometimes, I wound up describing the landmarks exactly as they are. But more often, I started with the reality of the place and then let my imagination run wild to suit the needs of the story.
Here are some of the places where important Furious scenes take place – and the words that they inspired.
The Ocean (This photo was taken when the Pacific Coast was getting the aftermath of a tsunami. You can see the surfers on the big waves.)
I bet that just like me, in weather just like this, he stood at this spot, the edge of an entire continent, the point where the land ends and there’s nothing left, nowhere to go that’s solid. I wonder if he, too, imagined how these waves started far away. Something big and dangerous – an earthquake or a hurricane – set them in motion, and they traveled through space and time, gathering strength and shape, and eventually meeting their end here.
A crash on the rocks below my feet.
The Surfer Statue
Ahead of me, I spot the town’s famous surfer statue that stands on a pedestal on a spit of land that protrudes above the water. The statue’s a little corny – a thick-haired stereotypical surfer dude, his chest broad and expansive as he grips his board behind his back, his chiseled profile contemplating the ocean for the next wave to catch…Up close, you see a tension in the surfer’s jaw, and this makes me certain that he’s more than a fantasy stereotype…Who was this Prince of the Waves?
The Boardwalk
A deserted boardwalk on a dreary, gray day like this can be kind of eerie. Most people think it’s too lonely to hang out with games and rides that sit there doing nothing… Overhead, the bright red and blue cars of the gondola sit still in the sky. I pass the motionless Pirate Ship ride and then the mechanical gypsy fortune-teller machine, whose eyes seem to follow me…Is the gypsy looking at me with pity or with a laughing, mocking expression? Does she know something that I don’t?
Thanks so much to Kelli and Natalie for hosting this part of my blog tour. I hope you enjoy Furious!
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