The Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards

When Dr. David Henry's wife gave birth his son was perfect. His daughter had Down syndrome. He tells himself that the best thing for her is to send her with a nurse to a facility for the mentally ill and inform his wife that their daughter died in birth. Caroline, the nurse, can't bear to do it and she disappears, taking the infant with her. Each family attempts to go on with their lives, but they are secretly bound to each other.

This was a gripping story, and difficult to put down once you start reading. However, I didn't find it as inspiring or wondrous as some reviewers apparently did. I was rather appalled by how weak most of these characters were. They seemed all to willing to simply throw their hands up and flush their life down the toilet. I was frustrated by this, and rather angered. I know I am more stubborn than most folks, but I still found it unbelievable that all these people just sat back, got a drink, and watched things fall apart. Then they had the nerve to whine about how hard everything was and how unfair, which mostly all worked out happily in the end. Shouldn't a family try to help one another through these incidents rather than sticking their heads in the sand and saying "It will go away. Just wait a little longer."? How often does that work?

My problem wasn't as much the decision to send away the little girl, I know that was common in the time period this was set in, but with the inability of these characters to do anything for each other rather than themselves. (Even Caroline has some selfish reasons for keeping the little girl, although hers bothered me the least.)

The writing is solid and the characters are varied. I did feel sometimes that the author was trying too hard to write something that could be called "literature" rather than mere "fiction." It felt a little forced and lofty sometimes, while the actual language and sentence structure weren't always strong enough to support all of what the author dumped on it.  Despite it's flaws, I enjoyed this book. I thought it did a good job of showing that things we consider completely unacceptable (giving away a child) isn't necessarily an act of evil.

Emme
3 Stars

Descendants of Darkness. Vol. 1, Yami no matsuei

For the employees of the Summons Department in the Ministry of Hades, dealing with death is an everyday job. When someone who is suppose to die doesn't, it is their job to find out what went wrong and sort it out. Asato Tsuzuki seems like a slacking, careless guy to his new partner, Asuka, but as they start investigating a few odd cases he discovers that there is more to him than meets the eye.


Although certainly entertaining, this manga has nothing that really stood out in the first book. Each chapter felt isolated, there was not even a hinted plot arc, which leaves me wondering what the rest of the series could consist of. Is it all just a "case of the week" approach? That is the feeling I get, and the characters simply aren't strong enough to hold my interest for more of this. I did think the translation was excellent, there was only spot that seemed drastically "off" in terms of grammar and word use.

The art is basic, standard imported manga. The character designs and style decisions are pretty much the same as a hundred other horror/mystery stories. There is no real sense of the author having her own flair, the whole story seemed formulaic. The panel layout is clear and simple, but rather uninteresting.

This is an entertaining read if you have a little time to waste, but don't go in expecting a masterpiece.

3 Stars
Emme

Kitty Goes to Washington

As the first known celebrity werewolf, Kitty's life has been a little nutty. It just gets worse when the US Senate decides to take the recent uncovering of the supernatural seriously and sets up a hearing where they want her to testify. Kitty has always made it a point to stay a radio host and not let her picture go public, but she will be appearing on national TV. When she shows up in D.C. the vampire mistress of the city makes Kitty stay with her. Kitty is initially uncomfortable with the arrangement, but a place protected by vampiric security turns out to be rather handy; as the rest of the time she is dodging crazy tabloid reporters and trying to avoid getting into trouble with the conservatives who want to start a modern witch-hunt aimed at the supernatural community.

I am not usually a fan of modern paranormal fiction, but I am very fond of this series. Kitty is a great character and actually develops throughout the series, which is rare in this genre. The witty, often sarcastic voice the author writes Kitty in makes for a fun read. I also enjoy many of the supporting characters, and those that reoccur experience the same character growth as the main character. I have read and re-read this a lot of times, and it still makes me laugh.

As a side note, I find it impossible to read Alette's character and not picture Olivia Williams as her. Alette's brisk, no-nonsense attitude paired with a serious, elegant air reminds me of Williams very much.

4 Stars

Emme

Serenity: Those Left Behind

In a harshly regulated future universe first pictured in the TV show Firefly, there are always a few rebels. One run-down little transport ship named Serenity has a crew comprised of mercenaries, thieves, fugitives and an elegant prostitute who is the only one who makes her living legally. This is the group readers follow on heists and general trouble-making. This comic helps to explain a few of the loose ends that come with a canceled TV show, while throwing a few more mysteries at its fans.


I love Firefly. I tend to curse in accented Mandarin, spontaneously re-enact or recite scenes with friends and family, and sometimes drawl Broad Browncoat so badly that I have been asked if I come from down south because it is the closest real dialect to the slang featured in the show. I mention these facts because it means I am a very biased reviewer when I say that this is an excellent comic.

I have been very disappointed by most comics that are based on a TV show. The mediums are very different and the "feel" of the show is almost always lost. Not so in this case, this still feels like the 'Verse fans know and (obsessively) love. There are some things lost; readers will find a lack of striking scenery, gritty "wild west" styling seems to mostly be abandoned in favor of a harder sci-fi story and the comic layout feels rushed and crammed, even a touch claustrophobic. The art is some of the highest quality I have seen in American comics, from the expressive, yet technically solid line art to the well-balanced colorization. Characters are instantly recognizable and the dialogue is spot-on.

This is definitely a book no Browncoat should pass up.

5 Stars

Emme

Beloved

Sethe escaped slavery, but it left heavy scars on her body and mind. All the evils that she thought she had put from her mind come back with the arrival of a man from her past and the sudden appearance of a young woman named Beloved. Sethe struggles to figure out what to do with herself and those around her, without succumbing to the madness she has experienced before.

This book felt very fragmented and scattered, perhaps this is an attempt to show Sethe's confused state of mind, but it makes it hard for the reader to follow what is going on. The characters felt inconsistent and I was often confused by what the relationships were between them. The writing is solid, if occasionally sliding t'wards purple prose.

I admire what the author was trying to do, and she wrote something that is very powerful at points, but the scattered feeling of the overall book detracts from her message.

Emme

3 Stars

The Secret Life of Bees

Lily Owens' mother died when she was four and she has been raised by a violent father and their hired help; mostly Rosaleen, a strong-willed black woman who is determined not to let the racists in their town stop her from doing what she has a right to. This attitude leads her to fight back against the town's 3 deepest racists, and she ends up badly beaten and in jail. Lily decides she's had enough, springs Rosaleen, and they set off to a town whose name is written on one of the few belongings Lily has of her mother's. They are taken in by three beekeeping sisters and Lily learns not just about beekeeping, but about what it means to have a family.

I devoured this book in a couple hours. Once I started I just couldn't put it down, the characters had such a hold on me. They seemed so real and fleshed-out, like people who actually might exist. The writing was graceful and unobtrusive, a smooth flow of words that conveyed information clearly without being wordy.

Emme

 

5 Stars

Wizard's Daughter by Catherine Coulter

Since he was young, Nicholas Vail has had strange dreams about a girl he has never met. His family says she is their debt, put upon the family after the life of a sailor was saved by a strange wizard, and that one of them will meet her and have to pay the debt. At a party in London he sees her, even though she is a woman and not a little girl anymore. When they fall in love both are left wondering what the debt is and how he will have to pay it. A mysterious book that her brother found may hold the key to their fate.

This book was highly mediocre. The writing was dull and slow, making it hard to stay focused on the story for a long period of time. The characters were not very fleshed out and there was a feeling that the author assumed you had read basically the same sort of tale often enough that there was no need to explain or describe anything. I was also bothered by the "magic solves any problems (including plot holes)" attitude; I like some method and structure to my magic.

It was a mildly interesting read, and probably a good choice for a day when you aren't in the mood for a serious book.

3 Stars

Emme

The Vampire Lestat by Anne Rice

Lestat is now a famous rock star, but his life started back before the French Revolution. This vampire has lived a wild, rampant life and vampiric death no matter the age. He has never been content with staying in one place and has travelled around the world, collecting riches and connections as he went.

This sequel to Interview With the Vampire far outshines the original. The decade between them gave Rice the ability to actually write something that didn't sound like hyped-up melodrama written by a teenager who has never read classic vampire fiction. She also gained the skills to create an interesting character, who is not clearly "good" or "bad" and is frequently full of contradictions. Lestat is greedy but charming, immature yet knowledgeable, thick as a brick while being clever, but somehow it all rings true.

The writing is still wobbly and simple at times. Rice seems very fond of overusing "exotic" words to try and make her vampires exciting. (A technique which takes away from them instead.)

4 Stars

Emme

April Shadows by V.C. Andrews

April wishes she was more like her sister: tough, tall and athletic. Instead April is shy, short and overweight despite her attempts to be otherwise. Brenda doesn't seem very affected by their father's cruelty towards the family, but it hurts April and seems to be breaking their mother's heart. April doesn't know what to do, or if there is anything she can do to try and help keep their family from shattering.

This was a mildly entertaining novel and a page-turner, but very forgettable. The writing was not bad, just blah and uninspiring. The characters and scenarios all felt stiff and overused, they became uninteresting after a while. This is probably a good book for some distracted reading when you don't want to have something too fascinating.

3 Stars

Emme

Sips of Blood by Mary Ann Mitchell

Every family has it's issues, and the Sades just a bit more so because they are vampires. Grandma Marie works as a dominatrix, sneaking sips of her client's blood; Liliana works in a morgue and drinks the blood of people already killed by other means; and Louis Sade himself still tries to live like a classic vampire in a mansion, hunting on the streets and seducing his victims.

Not a particularly interesting book, and although the characters have promise, they never quite achieve a high enough level of life (or un-life) and personality to hold the reader's interest. The author also couldn't seem to decide if she was writing a story about classically evil vampires or the now-popular nice vamps, meaning it feels scattered and the reader is left scratching their head, trying to figure out what the author is trying to accomplish. The writing is dull and is hard to follow due to convoluted sentence structure.

1 Star

Emme

MeruPuri: Vol. 1 by Matsuri Hino

Airi is a diligent high school student who is addicted to romance shows and books. All she really wants in life is to marry the perfect guy and have a beautiful house when she grows up. But her life is turned upside-down when she loses a mirror passed down through her family. By the time she locates it, a little boy from a magical kingdom has appeared and claims the mirror is a portal between her land and his. Not sure that she believes him, she takes him home and that is when things get weird!

Although low on plot and high on melodrama, this sweet Shōjo manga was fun to read. The art is solid, for the most part, and some of the costumes look awfully tempting. If I thought I could persuade my little brother to cosplay as Aram (the magical kid) I would totally make his little outfit. The character design is well done, making folks who are related look alike, but not so alike that it is hard to tell who they are.

Fans of Shōjo, and particularly of Hino's newer series, Vampire Knight, will want to give this short series a try.

3 Stars

Emme

Chicken Soup for the Preteen Soul by Various Authors

This book is one of my favorites. It is a collection of 101 stories about changes, choices and growing up that are written by kids from the ages of 9-13. The stories in the book are divided into eleven different categories. A touching story that I liked, called "The Last Runner," is in the "Overcoming Obstacles" category. It's about a crippled man who ran in a marathon. The amazing thing is that he kept running even after all the other runners finished ahead of him. I was inspired by his persistence, because he kept running even though it was hard for him.

5 Stars

Elizabeth

Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling

Harry Potter does not know his true identity, has not a clue how his parents died, and does not know what lies in his future. All he knows is that he is stuck with his awful aunt and uncle, and their fat son Dudley. This book is so good that it’s hard to put it down.

5 Stars

When Harry started his second year at Hogwarts, with his future as a wizard fully realized, what he didn’t realize is how much trouble a supposedly mythical Chamber of Secrets could cause. With his best friends Ron and Hermione at his side, and the dastardly Malfoy biasing the entire school against him, Harry has only two questions: Who opened the Chamber of Secret 50 years ago, and who opened it this year…?

5 Stars

Harry Potter is back at Hogwarts for his third year. He's in danger once again. The criminal, Sirius Black, has escaped from the wizard prison called Azkaban. Rumors have been told that Sirius Black is trying to find Harry and kill him. Except this is not what happens at the end of the book. You will rush through these pages to find out what happens at the surprise ending!

5 Stars

The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan

Percy Jackson isn’t your average 12-year-old boy. He is half-god. In this book, Percy goes on a big quest to find Zeus’ lightning bolt, and realizes that it’s not hard to be tricked by a god. This book is filled with so much action it’s hard not to love it.

5 Stars

Elizabeth

Percy Jackson is an ordinary teenage boy - or so he thinks - until his life is changed by a series of events in which Percy ends up killing one of Hades', the God of the underworld, Furies with a bronze word that sprouts out of a pen. Will he survive the ultimate challenge and save mankind from a war between his father Poseidon, and Zeus? Find out read the book.

5 Stars

Rory