Hush by Donna Jo Napoli

Title: Hush
Author: Donna Jo Napoli
Age Group: Older Teens
# of Pages: 340
My Rating: 3/5

The lovely young Irish princess, Melkorka, always lived a life of luxury. She looks down upon slaves, thinking they are worthless beings.

But unfortunately, she and her younger sister, Brigid, are kidnapped onto a slave ship one day. There she learns the cruelty and harsh life that she is never exposed to before. She lives through the dire weather and punishments from her captors. Throughout, she keeps silent. Using her power not to speak, she awe those around her.

This novel was a little difficult for me to get into for a very long time. I was reading this for nearly a month, I believe. Going through the life with Melkorka, the entire novel was quite slow. The plot is realistic during this time period, therefore there was not a lot of things to look forward to. It was around the last one hundred pages where I was finally able to zip through it.

I disliked Melkorka a lot in the beginning. I understood that she is a princess and she is always above the rest, but her feelings toward slaves made me want to slap her across the face. I was glad that she eventually grew up, learning that slaves were just like her: human. Her younger sister, Brigid, is quite a bright one. I took a liking to her but she wasn't there halfway through the last bit of the novel.

In Hush, you journey with Melkorka from her kingdom as a princess to Iceland as a concubine. The majority of the time, the setting took place on the slave ship. Therefore, there was minimal things that could occur. Once she finally got on land, there you would see a bit of progress in Melkorka's life.

Overall, Hush is a read that would entertain those who are into historical fiction. It is based off the real Melkorka and the author worked around what could have possibly happened to her. But if you if dislike stories that are slow-paced, then it is not for you.

Black Bird by Kanoko Sakurakoji

Title: Black Bird
Mangaka: Kanoko Sakurakoji
Age Group: Older Teens
Series is: Ongoing with 8 volumes
Volume(s) Reviewing: 1
My Rating: 4.5/5

Ever since she was young, Misao Harada could see supernatural spirits. They caused nothing but trouble. Because of her "sight", she was bullied as a child by her classmates. The only other person who understood her was an older boy. He could see the spirits too. But then he moved far away and Misao never heard from him again. He was her first love.

Now in high school, Misao hopes for a better life. She hides the fact that she can see yokai (demons) so she can blend in. One day she comes home to meet a new and beautiful neighbour, Kyo, who just moved in next door. She realizes out that he is her first love!

She unexpectedly gets attacked by a demon and Kyo comes to rescue her! And to find out that he is a demon too!? He is there...to make her his bride?

Every one hundred years, there is a special human who is born. Demons who drink her blood will live longer; if they eat her flesh, they will have eternal youth; and if she is made into their bride, their clan will then prosper.

With her old crush wanting to sleep with her, demons chasing after her, and nowhere to run, what will Misao do??

When I first saw the cover of this manga, I was already judging. After reading so many mangas in one's life time, you can pretty much figure out if you are going to like the series or not just by looking at the art. This one, I was not so sure on. I was thinking I would give it a 3/5 or 4/5 rating. But I just love it when any novel or manga takes me by surprise.

Using a simple plot like this, the mangaka can always make it more interesting or more boring. Sakurakoji made it quite interesting.

I have to say, her characters' designs do not stand out at first. I'm staring at Kyo, wondering which other character he looks like. I know one that has the same appearance but with so many series read, I can't my place my finger on it. And Misao is quite plain and cute, like every other female manga protagonist out there. But Sakurakoji knows how to give her characters their own defining personalities and background, making them much more memorable. Misao seems like a weak character if you first glance at her. But throughout the manga I always found her to be strong, even though her actions does not show it. Kyo is quite a perv and he makes things, ah, much more interesting. Their relationship is like an on-and-off switch.

I really look forward to the second volume of Black Bird. I want to know if Misao ever becomes Kyo's bride or any other demon's for that matter. The first volume left off leaving the reader with so many questions. Not questions of confusion, but questions of curiosity. Hopefully it will not go downhill from the first volume.

Black Bird is a delightful read and I think shojo fans will take a great liking to it like I did.

Review copy provided by Viz.

Watching on Wednesday: The Proposal

Title: The Proposal
Type: Movie
Age Group: Teens +
Release Year: 2009
My Rating: 4/5

Uptight and bossy executive editor-in-chief, Margaret Tate (Sandra Bullock), has her visa rejected. She is soon to be deported back to Canada and that is something she does not want to happen. So she decides to blackmail her assistant, Andrew Paxton (Ryan Reynolds), into marrying her so she can stay in America. He reluctantly agrees because he can get promoted. So it is a win-win situation. All they have to do is fake lovers. Easy...right?

But Margaret did not expect that they are to fly all the way to Alaska to meet Andrew's family! There they tumble into funny situations and learn more about each other. But their relationship is strictly business. What will happen to the two when their plan changes?

Ah, watching The Proposal reminds me why I love romantic comedies. This story is totally cute with enough funny moments and emotional parts to balance it out.

The last movie I enjoyed Bullock in was Ms. Congeniality, back in the 2000s. But the last movie I watched her in was Premonition, which was a little sad and one I wasn't so eager for. I love her in this role as Margaret who she plays a boss that takes everything seriously. She evolves from the beginning to the end because she learns some valuable lessons as she spends time with Andrew.

Reynolds is such a cutie! I adored him in Definitely, Maybe and was thrilled to see him in another great chick flick! You also get to see him butt-naked in The Proposal and oh my, love the body much? I think I drooled a little when I saw him with nothing on! (Private part covered, no worries!) As Andrew, his father has a lot of expectations from him to take over the family's businesses. But Andrew lives for his dreams, not his parents'. I am a little envious of him because I'm the total opposite.

The Proposal is a great movie for a girls night out. You can watch two contrasting characters come together, making you wish you were in that situation too. And now I just discover a potential career I might want to go into! Woot for book publishing!

Trailer Tuesday: Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater

Title: Shiver
Author: Maggie Stiefvater
Description: For years, Grace has watched the wolves in the woods behind her house. One yellow-eyed wolf--her wolf--is a chilling presence she can't seem to live without. Meanwhile, Sam has lived two lives: In winter, the frozen woods, the protection of the pack, and the silent company of a fearless girl. In summer, a few precious months of being human . . . until the cold makes him shift back again.

Now, Grace meets a yellow-eyed boy whose familiarity takes her breath away. It's her wolf. It has to be. But as winter nears, Sam must fight to stay human--or risk losing himself, and Grace, forever.

I'm not a werewolf fan but I would like to look into this.

Author Interview: C.K. Kelly Martin

As a recent Canadian YA novelist, she has made an impact in the YA book blogging world. You may have seen her popular work, I Know It's Over, or her latest release, One Lonely Degree, around. I present to you, C.K. Kelly Martin! I have asked her a few questions regarding I Know It's Over and her personal opinions on teen sex.

If you would like to learn more about C.K. and her books, please visit her at www.ckkellymartin.blogspot.com.

Firstly, what inspired you to write I Know It's Over?

I’d just finished a trilogy with a female character and really wanted to work on something with a male central character. But what specifically inspired the storyline was the Third Eye Blind song Ten Days Late. Stories about pregnancy are usually from the female point of view but to imagine one from the flipside seemed intriguing. In the song the news is a complete surprise to the guy, the way it is to Nick, and I really wanted to know how things would progress from there.

In I Know It's Over, you wrote from a male's perspective. What was it like to write in a teenage boy's voice? Did you have to ask any male friends on their opinions if they were in Nick's position?

Every voice you write in is different and I think the important thing, whoever you’re writing about (whatever age, gender, race they are) is to get the details correct. You’re not thinking about how a generic guy would think about things or react to events in his life but how specifically, Nick, being who he is, would think and react. There are definitely different social expectations weighing on guys and girls. Generally society is okay with guys being somewhat aggressive but not so much with showing more vulnerable emotions while girls are broadly encouraged to display more vulnerability and be nurturing but when they act aggressively are often called ‘bitchy’. At the core we have similar emotions though. So no, I didn’t seek out any opinions, I just let myself be guided by Nick’s personality in combo with the societal expectations being exerted on him.

What is your take on teen pregnancy and sex?

I think unwanted pregnancy is a difficult thing for people of any age to deal with, but usually even harder when you’re a teenager because you have fewer resources and less experience. I’m glad there’s less abstinence based sex ed going on in the U.S. now (studies show that really doesn’t work). But there’s still a lot of work to be done in this area in the States and Canada. There was a survey from Planned Parenthood Toronto recently that showed 83% per cent of the teens surveyed had never accessed sexual heath care, although most of them had already engaged in some kind of sex.

Obviously pressure to have sex (and there’s a hell of a lot of that in our society) is wrong but equating sex with shame is also wrong. I think it’s terrible if teenagers don’t get the health care they need because of some kind of fear of being judged. I think that if Sasha and Nick in I Know It’s Over could’ve walked into a drugstore and bought Plan B morning after pills like they were buying a bag of chips the whole ordeal she and Nick went through never would’ve happened. We currently have a weird situation here in Canada where Plan B pills no longer have behind the counter status yet all the pharmacists I spoke to still keep them there.

In general for you, what is the hardest part in writing any story? And the easiest?

It’s weird because I love writing but I think the very hardest part is actually getting down to it. I procrastinate like crazy and I don’t know why. Sometimes, once I get dug into writing for the day I don’t want to stop, even if I have concert tickets or something like that. I force myself to shut down the computer and go because once I’m there I have a good time, of course, but when I’m in the zone I never want to stop. So why is it so hard to get started? I’m really not sure.

The easiest bit is creating the characters themselves. They just seem to evolve in my head with their own voice, personality and issues without me doing much work but writing all that stuff out in detail is more difficult – transcribing what you know of the character and their situation.

Both of your novels are realistic contemporary stories. What kind of things inspire you to write?

So many different things – songs, plays, newspaper articles, conversations you have with people or sometimes conversations you happen to overhear. Potential titles themselves are a big inspiration – mostly I get a phrase or word stuck in my head and the book grows from there.

Do you plan on possibly writing in a different genre, like fantasy for example?

The book I’m currently working on is still YA but has some different elements to it but for the moment I really do mostly prefer working on contemporary teen fiction. When I’m reading YA myself (and adult books too) that’s the stuff I like the best, stories where it seems like events could truly be happening almost exactly as described to real-life people very much like the characters you’re reading about.

Are there any writing projects you are working on at the moment?

The novel I mentioned above is way back in the queue as far as books of mine being released goes so I don’t want to give away too many details but before that’s another book which is written in alternate points of view (second cousins, one who is a seventeen year old girl and the other who is a sixteen year old guy). Also, I just finished up copy-edits on my third book, The Lighter Side of Life and Death. It’s about sixteen-year-old Mason Rice, who is on a high after starring in the school play and falling into bed with his best girl friend who he’s had a crush on for years. Unfortunately, she feels the incident was a big mistake and their friendship begins to crumble. His other best friend, who had a thing for the same girl, is also angry with him. Mason, wanting a distraction from these negative aspects of his life, begins pursuing this twenty-four year old woman he’s met recently but thinks nothing will come of it. Turns out, he’s wrong!

Lastly, give us an interesting fact about yourself that not a lot of people know of!

My brother and I were extras in the Police Academy 4 movie when we were kids. I’m not sure if anybody even remembers those movies but basically they were comedies about people who made terrible recruits trying to become cops. The film was shot in Caledon and mostly I just remember being in the catering tent, hanging out until the extras were needed. I think we got paid for it too but I can’t remember how much.

In My Mailbox - XXXI

To do your own In My Mailbox, please check out how to at The Story Siren!

The Borrowed


Wild Ones vol. 4 by Kiyo Fujiwara

The Bought

None

The Received




Never Slow Dance with a Zombie T-shirt
Amefurashi: The Rain Goddess vol. 1 by Atsushi Suzumi
Black Bird vol. 1 by Kanoko Sakurakoji
Kimi no Tokode: From Me to You vol. 1 by Karuho Shiina
Eyes Like Stars by Lisa Mantchev
Hollywood is like High School with Money by Zoey Dean
Radiant Darkness by Emily Whitman
Bite Me! by Melissa Francis
Gorgeous by Rachel Vail
Viola in Reel Life by Adriana Trigiani
The Amanda Project: invisible i by Stella Lennon
Hancock Park by Isabel Kaplan

Yep, I got a pretty good week. An amazing book week! I am most eager to start on some of the new YA ARCs I received! Likely I won't be borrowing anything new from the library until I done this batch!

I want to thank Diane from The Book Resort for the Kreativ Blogger Award!


The Kreativ Blogger award meme works like this: If you accept it, you are supposed to list seven of your favorite things and nominate seven blogs that deserve this award.

1. My blog
2. Manga
3. Books
4. Food
5. Do hot guys count?
6. My friends
7. Anything Asian related! Well, most...

Hm, I usually don't nominate but I guess I will this time. I choose:

1. Book-Luver Carol's Reviews
2. The Shady Glade
3. The Chick Manifesto
4. Library Lounge Lizard
5. Reverie Book Reviews
6. Frenetic Reader
7. Shooting Stars Mag

Announcement: I am changing my manga review template. In the past, I always reviewed a series up to whatever volume I've read. Sometimes it is a little confusing because I don't really state which volumes I have reviewed up to. Some assume it is the first volume while others assume it is the whole series. Then for the past couple of months, I decided to only review series that are either single volume or if I finished reading the entire series. (Along with review copies I received from publishers). It can get a little "?" sometimes.

Therefore, I'm just going to adjust my template a bit so you know which volume(s) I am referring to in my review. But my manga reviews are going to be more infrequent now because I cater for a majority of a young adult reading audience. There is absolutely no way I can review every single manga I've read because it will really take a toll on me. (Plus, you see all of those mangas I keep bringing home for my In My Mailboxes). I do give ratings on manga volumes (not really reviews, sorry) over at Goodreads (click here) that I have completed.

So the template will be changed from:

Title:
Mangaka:
Age Group:
# of Pages:
# of Volumes:
My Rating:

to

Title:
Mangaka:
Age Group:
Series is: Completed with # of volumes/Ongoing with # of volumes
Volume(s) Reviewing:
My Rating:

And now I'm mentioning if it is ongoing or not, unlike my previous template where you would have no idea if the series is yet completed over in Japan/Korea/whatnot. I decided to remove # of Pages because all mangas generally have the same number of pages anyway, more or less.

Contest Alert: Having a Harry Potter and Deathly Hallows giveaway! Click here to enter! And make sure to read the rules or you get no entries!

ghostgirl: Homecoming by Tonya Hurley

Title: ghostgirl: Homecoming

Author: Tonya Hurley
Age Group: Teens
# of Pages: 285
My Rating: 1.5/5

Now that Charlotte has finally graduated from Dead Ed, she will be going to Heaven, right? Nope.

Instead, she is stuck giving advices to troubled teens through a hotline by being their "conscience". Except, she never gets any calls. Fun. Is this how the Afterlife supposed to be?

Damen is at college now and Scarlet feels that their relationship is slowly deteriorating. Her utmost popular sister, Petula, is getting glammed up for homecoming. But unexpectedly, she falls into a coma after a bad pedicure. Even though she is annoying, Scarlet still loves her sister deep down. She has to get her back before she really does die. She must get Charlotte's help.

I am very disappointed to say but the sequel had let me down even more than the first. Charlotte was less annoying now, that is for sure. But for everyone else, all of their actions seemed very unintelligent. What was happening throughout the story did not make a lot of sense. You could understand what was going on but what the characters did were a little on the "Huh?" side. It was unrealistic, considering that it was already a supernatural genre, and I couldn't connect with the book.

The most ridiculous thing was why in the heck world would Scarlet seek out Charlotte to help her sister? In what way could she possibly aid the situation? She was dead. And Scarlet, idiotically, got herself in coma so she could contact Charlotte. I was, "What the hell??" the whole time. From beginning to end, the plot is just plan ludicrous.

The people in ghostgirl were like cartoon characters, not real at all. Everyone went one way or the other without any dynamics in their personality. For example, the environmentalist guy would always go back to talking about the world's health at one point or another if you were to have a conversation with him. The only part I liked was when Petula finally showed her human side with the child star, Virginia, when they were both on the verge of death.

I do not recommend this novel at all.

Review ARC copy provided by Hachette Book Group.

Author Interview: Jennifer Laurens

This Monday I reviewed a great novel that evolves around autism and cute angel guys called Heavenly. Today I give you an interview with its creator, Jennifer Laurens!

If you would like to learn more about Jennifer and Heavenly, visit: www.heavenlythebook.com.

Firstly, what inspired you to write Heavenly?

I've always been fascinated with the idea of angels and life after death. I think life after death is something mankind ponders at some point in life, especially as we age and experience challenges and trials that test us. We are left to ask: Why? When my third daughter was diagnosed with autism at three years of age, I went through a myriad of emotions namely: anger, hurt and disappointment not to mention the huge list of questions her condition left me with. All you have to do is read any book about autism ( including Heavenly ) to see that autism is extremely challenging and hard to live with. I watched each of my children deal differently with her handicap, hence Zoe and Luke's characters were born.

I recently found out that Heavenly is the first in a trilogy. Did you plan on having it as three volumes from the start?

No. As the story developed and I fell more deeply in love with the characters and their complex lives, I wanted to explore what was already in my head ( by way of background ) on paper.

What can readers expect in the second instalment, Penitence?

Have you watched the trailer? ( some suggested spoilers in there, look it up on my facebook or youtube ) Zoe continues life. She sees both evil and good and her friends and loved ones make life changing choices that affect everyone. And, she has to come to terms with loving TWO guys.

In general, what is the hardest part in a writing a story for you? And the easiest?

The hardest part is having enough time. I could write and do nothing else. Literally! I love it that much. The easiest part is coming up with ideas.

Do you roughly plan your stories from start to finish ahead of time or do you let it come to you naturally as you write?

I let the characters drive the story, that keeps me as well as the characters happy and I steer free of cliches. When you said in your review you 'expected' a bigger climax, I smiled. I purposely avoid cliched expectations.

Do you have any current projects you are working on at the moment?

Book three: Absolution. I really need to go far away from home to write it. Summer, with kids at home, is not conducive to creativity.

What kind of genres/topics do you hope to explore in the near future and use for your stories?

I have a pipeline of stories already filled. I'm adapting one of my adult stories to YA, and releasing one of my other YA stories under the Jennifer Laurens name: A Season of Eden - the story of a teenage girl who falls in love with her music teacher.

Lastly, give us an interesting fact about yourself that not a lot of people know of!

I used to work in the entertainment business. I was on TV shows like Dynasty, Dallas and Love Boat and got to meet lots of celebrities.