Saint Know-All

Title: Companions of the Night
Author: Vivian Vande Velde
Genre: YA fantasy

Companions of the Night is yet another YA fantasy about a teenaged girl who unwittingly becomes involved with vampires. I like most of Velde’s books, though, and was pleased to find out that the story is mainly a thriller with only slight romantic leanings, and its vampires quite devious.

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Title: The Silver Kiss
Author: Annette Curtis Klause
Genre: YA Fantasy/Supernatural

I’ve read one of Klause’s books before and liked it, so I was intrigued going into The Silver Kiss, her first novel. While I find it weaker than Blood and Chocolate, it still contains the same surprising twists to a well-used, even stale, setting.
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You know, I debated about reviewing this book the first time I read it. After all, I’d already reviewed Twilight, and surely my thoughts and criticisms would become redundant if I kept at it for the entire series.

And then I reread it and became interested at what could have been and what is. Because, contrary to common (and polarized) opinion, I thought there were good moments in this book, and a potential for much more that was never realized. Spoilers behind the cut.
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Title: Five Hundred Years After
Author: Steven Brust
Genre: Fantasy

Five Hundred Years After is the second in a series of fantasy novels that pay homage to Alexandre Dumas’ d’Artagnan Romances. With an ornate prose style and entwining plot, it makes for a dense and interesting read.

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Title: Twilight
Author: Stephenie Meyer
Genre: YA supernatural

Twilight is the first book of an explosively popular series centered around supernatural teenaged romance. After reading it, I can understand why it is also such a divisive series, generating ardent fans and disgusted antis. It’s wish fulfillment, and a lot of it.

This is a long review, and I mean long, so for anyone interested only in the gist, here it is: a fast read, but ultimately boring and unintentionally odd.

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Well, the hype finally got to me. Next up in my reading list:

The reactions to this book (and the rest of the series) are interesting. It either generates fervent love or undying hatred. I’ve read about 20 pages so far and found it to be a typical supernatural YA story. Perhaps it just grows worse the further you read, like a literary version of MRSA.

Title: Bloodtide
Author: Melvin Burgess
Genre: Science Fiction

Bloodtide is a dystopian update on the old Icelandic saga Volsunga. Having never read that saga, I don’t know how much liberty Burgess has taken, but I do know that his version is chock full of blood, madness, and incest. And pig people.

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Title: Frankenstein Unbound
Author: Brian Wilson Aldiss
Genre: Science Fiction

Frankenstein Unbound was…interesting. A novel that actually explores the effects time travel and alternate realities can have on a person’s mind, it’s an intriguing read.

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Title: In The Forests Of The Night
Author: Amelia Atwater-Rhodes
Genre: YA Fantasy

In The Forests Of The Night (from here on out referred to as Forests) is one of the many vampire books saturating store shelves these days. The prose is graceful and fluid, giving the story a superficial smoothness, but pretty sentences cannot make up for an overly simple plot coupled with flat, immature characters.

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Title: The Birth House
Author: Ami McKay
Genre: Fiction

The Birth House is an interesting yet ultimately lopsided book about a young midwife in early 20th century Nova Scotia.

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