I woke up around 3 this morning and thought I’d never get back to sleep. Oh, but I did, and just in time to have a strange dream about a mariachi band made up of vampires, led by a man called Mano. Part of the time it was just a movie I was watching, and then part of the time it was actually happening to me. So. Weird. Then when I woke up all I could think was “30 days of night”, which is a Josh Hartnett movie about vampires, if I’m not mistaken?
Brain, I don’t know what’s up with you, but you’re scaring me.
Today’s 30 days meme topic is “whatever tickles your fancy”, which is perfect since today I also need to do my May Reading List. So here we go:
Blue Bloods by Melissa de la Cruz
Schuyler Van Alen feels out of place at her elite Manhattan school, and even more so when she and a few of her fellow classmates discover they’re actually vampires.
I had to read this for book club and I was not a fan. Think Gossip Girl with vampires: a dozen designer names dropped per page, teenagers drinking and smoking and sleeping around, and the most boring vampire mythology ever. I won’t be reading the sequels.
And Both Were Young by Madeleine L’Engle
Flip feels out of place in her Swiss boarding school until she meets a cute boy in the forest and one of the teachers takes her under her wing.
I enjoyed this but by the end I felt like maybe the characters were just too “young” for me. I’d have loved it in elementary school when I thought Swiss boarding school sounded exciting (I remember a Sweet Valley High book where one of the twins either went to Switzerland or was planning to), but for me now it was a bit too tame and lacked the adventure I was hoping for.
Death in Cyprus by M.M. Kaye
Brought up by her strict Victorian uncle, Amanda is on her own for the first time and touring Egypt when she decides to take a boat to Cyprus just to see what she can see. When a fellow passenger dies in Amanda’s cabin, the police are happy to write it off as suicide, but Amanda finds proof under her pillow that it was murder, and the murderer knows that she knows…
What M.M. Kaye does best is the feeling of terror and tension as the main character gets closer and closer to discovering the murderer’s identity. Some of the suspense is lost on re-reading, like with any mystery novel, since you already know who did it, but it’s fun to pick up clues you missed the first time around. And the settings! I’d love to travel to all the places she set her books.
The Princess Diaries by Meg Cabot
As if Mia Thermopolis doesn’t have enough to worry about — her algebra grade (F), her mother dating her algebra teacher, and her appearance (too tall, big feet, flat chest) — her father shows up out of the blue and announces she’s next in line for the throne of Genovia. Now she has to juggle princess lessons with her horrible grandmother (nothing like Julie Andrews in the movie), after-school algebra tutoring, and time with her best friend Lily, AND keep her new identity a secret. Good thing she has her diary to confide in…
I’ve never liked Meg Cabot’s writing much, but she can tell a good story when she wants to. Be warned, though: if you’re expecting the Disney-fied version from the movie, you’re in for a surprise.
Princess in the Spotlight by Meg Cabot
The truth is out and Princess Mia is no longer incognito. And I’m going to be completely honest and admit that I don’t remember anything about this book. It blurs together with the next one, which I don’t remember much about, either.
Princess in Love by Meg Cabot
Something about Mia dating her chemistry partner, Kenny, but wanting to date Lily’s brother Michael. I don’t remember. I got tired of Mia’s constant overreacting (“Oh my life is over!!! What am I going to dooooo????”) and gave up on my plan to read all the Princess Diaries books this month.
The Summoning by Kelley Armstrong
Chloe used to be able to see dead people, but since she got older they went away. Then in one horrific day she a) finally gets her period, b) is chased through the school by an angry ghost, and c) gets carted off to Lyle House, a home for “troubled teens”.
This didn’t sound at all like something I’d enjoy, but a couple of friends spoke so highly of the writing and the plot that I decided to give it a go. It’s fantastic: fast-paced, scary, and unique. The cliffhanger ending probably would have had me climbing the walls if I hadn’t had book 2 right there as soon as I finished.
The Awakening by Kelley Armstrong
Chloe and her friends escaped from Lyle House but they’re not safe yet. Chloe’s necromancer powers are still out of control, Derek gets closer and closer to his first werewolf transformation, and everywhere they turn someone’s trying to haul them back in for research.
This might be one of the few second-of-three books that doesn’t suffer from middle book syndrome. The action starts right back in where The Summoning left off, and takes off from there. There are a few scenes that aren’t for the fainthearted (I include myself in that; I was jumpy for days afterward and didn’t like to turn the lights off until I absolutely had to), but it’s worth it. If book 3 doesn’t come back to the library soon I’m going to go crazy!
Possessing Rayne by Kate Cann
Rayne feels suffocated in a crowded London flat and longs for a place to get away from it all. She takes a job in a tea shop connected to a big old country house, and despite feeling a bit spooked at night she loves it. When St. John Rivers and his friends accept her into their group she loves it even more, but can’t shake the feeling that something very wrong is happening.
I enjoyed parts of this but found other parts eyeroll-worthy. St. John is so obviously the bad guy that he might as well be twirling his mustache and cackling evilly, so Rayne comes across as dumb for trusting him. I liked it because I wanted to like it, but it felt like a first draft that needed editing.
Spirit Bound by Richelle Mead
After her failed trip to Russia to kill Dimitri who’d been turned into a Strigoi (bad/undead vampire), Rose is back at the vampire academy and ready to take her final guardian tests. She’s dating Adrian now and hoping to be assigned to Lissa in the fall, and life is good. Oh, except for the letters Dimitri’s sending, promising to either kill her or turn her into a Strigoi so they can be together again. And her plans to break Viktor Dashkov out of prison so he’ll tell them where to find a man who might know how to restore Strigoi to their former non-evil state.
I’ve been a Rose/Dimitri fan from the beginning, but I really hated Blood Promise. So I was a little soured on the series as a whole going in, but Spirit Bound more than made up for what I didn’t like. Rose is back to normal, we finally get to see what Adrian’s like as a boyfriend, and Lissa and Christian have some cute moments again. And there are several twists and turns I wasn’t expecting, including a cliffhanger ending that I think I can forgive only because the next book will be out in December.
A Rather Curious Engagement by C.A. Belmond
Penny and Jeremy are happily planning their life together now that the drama of Cousin Rollo contesting Aunt Penelope’s will is over, but even with 25 million euros in the bank things never go as smoothly as you hope. When their beautiful antique yacht is stolen a conversation with the previous owner leads them on a wild chase around Italy and France and back to London looking for a piece of art that might or might not actually exist.
I like this series a lot, though I can’t figure out if the author wants Penny to sound British or just isn’t sure how Americans talk. The romance takes a back seat to the mystery, but I like the “us against the world” nature of Penny and Jeremy’s relationship. On the author’s website she mentions being inspired by 30s screwball comedies, and it shows in places — there’s a lot of witty banter between them that could come right out of a movie like It Happened One Night. I’m not sure how many more books there are going to be but this is a series I’d happily keep reading.
Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl
Nothing ever happens in Gatlin, South Carolina, and Ethan Wade is determined to get out of town as soon as he can. Then Lena Duchannes moves in to the local “haunted mansion” with her uncle, the town shut-in, and life gets interesting.
Up to a point I loved this, but around page 500 I was getting tired. It just keeps going and going and going…Having Ethan be the non-supernaturally-gifted one and the narrator is a nice twist on usual YA paranormal romance convention, but a convincing 16-year-old boy he is not. At first I didn’t think about it, but about the fiftieth time he made some catty remark about how girls-who-aren’t-Lena dress, I started noticing. But honestly those are minor complaints. It’s an enjoyable book, if a bit too long.
Cousin Kate by Georgette Heyer
Penniless Kate Malvern is taken in by her father’s half-sister and showered with pretty clothes and all her heart desires. But there’s an ulterior motive to the kindness that Kate doesn’t see until it’s almost too late.
Georgette Heyer tries her hand at gothic romance with some success. I didn’t love it — in fact I found it a bit boring in places, and too drawn-out by the end — but it was fun to see her usual no-nonsense heroine placed in a situation normally reserved for less sensible types.
Death By Bikini by Linda Gerber
Aphra lives on a tropical island resort with her father, the resort owner. Life is dull and predictable until the mysterious Smiths show up and a dead body washes up on the beach.
I keep saying the same thing about books this month: I liked it, but… Death By Bikini was pretty good but it needed more depth. I needed to know more about Aphra and the motives behind her actions to really care about her, but the author kept everything on the surface to keep things moving quickly. On the other hand, there is a chase scene worthy of Mary Stewart, and the story is interesting enough that I want to seek out the other two books about Aphra. So I’ll reserve judgment until I’ve finished the series.
Thornyhold by Mary Stewart
After a lonely childhood and several years caring for her widowed father, Gilly Ramsey isn’t sure what to do with herself when he dies. Just in time she finds out that she’s inherited a house from her mother’s cousin, and enough money to keep her from having to worry about work for a good long while. She falls in love with Thornyhold almost at once, but new neighbor Agnes is a little too friendly to be trusted.
Written in the 80s, Thornyhold is less romantic suspense than Mary Stewart’s earlier books, but it’s one of my favorites nonetheless. Who doesn’t love the idea of inheriting a big old house to explore and fix up just the way you want it? The hint of witchcraft on Agnes’s part spices things up, but the heart of the story is more about coming of age — even though the heroine is 27 — and learning to shake off your past and make a life for yourself on your own terms.
