Review - The Looking Glass Wars by Frank Beddor

Alyss Heart, Hatter Matigan, Bibwit Harte, The Cat. Do these names ring a bell? Sort of? That's the whole idea behind The Looking Glass Wars, a re-telling of Lewis Carroll's famous children's book, Alice in Wonderland. It's kind of a flip on the old story - instead of Alice falling into Wonderland, she falls through the Pool of Tears into our world, five years before Lewis Carroll wrote his story (and you can guess where he got it from). Alyss can either make her way back to Wonderland and fight her evil Aunt Redd for the Heart throne or she can stay in 19th century England and marry a British Prince. Which do you think she chooses?

Reader's crit: I'm not entirely sure why this book appealed to me, maybe because it was on sale or maybe because I have a soft spot for re-tellings of old fairy tales, but it did, and I don't regret it. I loved the creativity that went into re-inventing my favorite characters. That goofy Mad hatter? Well, he's a martial arts expert who can slice people in half with the blades that he swings from his hat, and The Queen of Hearts? Alyss's evil aunt Redd who kills Alyss's mother and father and spreads Black Imagination throughout Wonderland. Bibwit Harte? Move the letters around and you've got the White Rabbit. (I posted the cover that has some of the card soldiers on it so you could get a feel for this "new" Wonderland). There were some new characters too, a love interest and some devoted friends. I know, I'm giving too much away now. Although it didn't move me to tears, I really enjoyed the way Feddor turned things around. I don't think that I would go so far as to buy the second and third book, but I'll probably look for them next time I'm at the library. And, I do have the original by Lewis Carroll now (got it at Target for a buck!), so I'll read that sometime soon. Hate relying on   Disney for my background. Score = 4

Writer's crit: I suffered from a bit of confusion when I started this book because I wasn't sure why it was categorized as young adult. In the first half of the book Alyss is a child, then her adolescence moves very quickly and before you know it she's 20. That age range is a little uncommon for YA, and I found myself wondering why Feddor chose to make Alyss so old until I got to the end and saw a timeline. Feddor apparently tried to mirror Alyss's "new" adventures to major events in US and European history. And that's cool, but I still think the book would have been better if Alyss had remained a teenager. The characters themselves were a bit two-dimensional, especially Redd and Hatter Mattigan, but Alyss herself was well-developed and her love interest had a bit of a struggle at the end too, making him more realistic. There were a few parts that dragged for me, but just when I thought it was getting a bit tedious, a colorful character would come in to spark things up. And as already mentioned, I loved the imagination that went into re-creating this familiar world. Score = 3.5

My question for the day: Do you have a YA re-telling of an old classic that you really liked? Did it live up to the original?

Also, don't forget to subscribe to my blog. I'll be having a contest soon and you'll get extra points for being an old follower!

The Year of Secret Assignments - by Jaclyn Moriarty

Before getting into the review I want to take a moment to direct your attention to the end of this post, where I'll talk about a fun little "special assignment" related to the book. So even if you get bored halfway through (you won't will you?), remember to go to the end to have your curiosity quenched.


Back cover blurb:
Three Girls. Three boys. Two rival Schools. This could get messy.

The Ashbury-Brookfield pen pal program is designed to bring together the two rival schools in a spirit of harmony and "the Joy of the Envelope." But when Cassie, Lydia, and Emily send their first letters to Matthew, Charlie and Sebastian, things don't go quite as planned. What starts out as a simple letter exchange soon leads to secret missions, false alarms, lock picking, mistaken identities, and an all-out war between the schools -- not to mention some really excellent kissing.

Reader's crit: My first Jaclyn Moriarty book, and let's just say, I'm hooked. It was truly awesome. Cassie, Lydia and Emily are the type of friends you wish you had in high school. They'll do anything for each other - these are the types of friendships were the kind that makes you go ahhhh... The guys, well two of them anyway, were tough but sweet. I wanted to fly over to Australia and take them home with me. The characters were so colorful (even the parents!!), and most of the book is just hilariously funny. The best chuckle I had was Emily's Dad's inquiry into his missing wine. I won't say anything more so I don't spoil it, but I loved, LOVED, the way it was presented. Poor Dad. :) But the book is not all fun and games either though. I shed a few tears at one point in the novel. Yes, I'm a bit of a cb as this was not the type of book where you would expect to get all weepy, and the fact that it did make me feel that way is one reason for it's high score.
It made me laugh and smile and cry, and I wanted to finish it all in one night but I was just too tired to do so. Score = 5.

Writer's crit: As mentioned this was my first Moriarty experience, so I was a little unprepared for the format of the book. It's done mostly in a series of letters and diary entries and jumps among the three female characters and later also with the male characters. It took me a while to get into the style, and I had to go back and remind myself who was who, but once I got into it that confusion went away and I really enjoyed the writing. The characterization, as mentioned, was stellar. The plot was a little on the vague side at first. It takes a while to understand what the book is about, but the voice of each of the characters is so fresh that I didn't mind drifting for a bit. I wanted to learn more about these three friends and what they meant to each other and eventually I did, so it was all well and good. Taking everything into consideration, I understand why the author chose the format she did and why it was told in the manner that it was. So even though I had those little moments of confusion and where is this going?, I can't think of how it could have been improved upon because it all came together in the end. Score = 5.

Now for something a little different. This book was given to me by my good friend Nomes, who is a very big J. Moriarty fan, and I know that she would love it if I were to spread the word about all things Moriarty. Soooo I have decided to do a book chain! This means that I have given the book to another good friend who has taken up the "secret assignment"* to read it, take a picture of it outside her favorite Manhattan restaurant, do a mini-review, and then pass it on to someone else. Hopefully the trend will continue. I have even set up a special blog for the book chain so that we can track where it goes and read all the reviews. If this sounds interesting to you, you can sign up to be a part of the book chain. Just click on the link here and it'll take you to the blog for further instructions.

P.S. I'll be having a blog contest soon and I think I'll be going on one of those "extra points" systems, so old followers will get 2 points, new followers 1 etc. So if you find my blog interesting, follow now for that extra entry point. :)

Tuesday Teaser - Bettina post 4

Another Bettina post. To update you, Erik was about to steal out of the cash register at the diner where he frequents, but Jessica came in just at the last minute and now they're trying to look for whatever was jamming the drawer. Erik has a bit of a crush on Jess, but he knows they're not a good match. She's (in his opinion) too innocent for someone like him, and because of what's happened in his past life, he doesn't want to corrupt her - he's a little full of himself. :)



“Tada!” Jessica sings as she pulls the tongs out. There’s a piece of paper wadded up between the metal clamps - a piece of paper that looks very familiar.

I snatch the bill and smooth it out. It’s greasy and has a bit of gum stuck to it, but otherwise it’s in good shape. No, it’s much better than that. It’s beautiful.

“This is a fifty,” I whisper.

“Where on earth did it come from?”

She’s right to be curious. People don’t walk around Granite Falls with bills this large in their pockets. Not to pay for lunch at Mel’s Diner.

Something in my memory stirs, and I snap my fingers. “Senator Humphrey.”

“What about him?”

“Remember, he was here back in September, showing his support for Andersen in the governor’s race. He and his crew ate here. They paid with a fifty-dollar bill. This fifty-dollar bill.”

“You actually went to that campaign rally? You can’t even vote yet.”

I frown. I expect more from Jessica than a glib response like that. “That doesn’t matter, Jess. In a few years you and I will both be able to vote. You can’t stand by and ignore what goes on in this country just because you’re too young to do anything about it. What happens now shapes our future. You can’t be so complacent. Especially you.”

“Why especially me?”

“Because you’re a woman!”

She blushes at my outburst, and for a moment I go blind to everything except the color flaring up her cheeks.

“Jessica, do you like it that every person in this town expects nothing more of you than that you should get married and pump out a few kids?”

“I...I like the idea of having kids, and not everyone expects that. My father doesn’t. He wants me to go to college.”

“To do what?”

“Become a teacher,” she says, so quiet I have to lean forward to hear her.

“A teacher? Not an astronaut, a scientist, a lawyer, or a doctor? A teacher, a fall back trade.”

“That is not true. Teaching is a wonderful profession.”

“A profession that you chose?” She pouts, her bottom lip jutting out so that the pink flesh underneath is exposed. It’s adorable, sweet and sexy, and I have an urge to...conflabbit! A string of more colorful curses sprint through my head, but I don’t say them. Instead I decide to end the whole nasty business once and for all.

“Uh-huh. I see. Not that I expected anything more from the great Reverend Hughes.”

That should do it. If insulting her father doesn’t stop her from looking at me like that, then nothing will.

Well, maybe something.

With the money still in my hand, I grab the drawer and slide it back into place. I don’t walk to the kitchen to show Mel what we’ve found. Rather, I turn in the opposite direction and walk back to my booth, collect my books and newspaper, and throw a quarter on the table. I head towards the door with the fifty-dollar bill wadded in my fist.

“Erik, aren’t you forgetting something?” Jessica asks.

“Nope.” I stuff the bill into my pocket. “See you around, Jess.”

“Erik, you can’t just...but that’s stealing!”

She’s horrified. Innocence shattered, crush gone.

Good riddance.

Meter Monday - no news is good news

Hello Monday!! I didn't have a good title to add, hence the goofiness up top. What was I up to this week?
1. I got all the way through my manuscript adding changes to my villainess and a few other various things, so that's round one of revisions done!!
2. I started round two which I'm calling The Mother Mission - basically it involves bringing my main character's mother more to life and revising the plot arc in the story involving her. This may take me a while as it's a pretty big plot arc, but I have a good feeling that it'll make the story stronger.
3. Read two books - The Lookingglass Wars by Frank Beddor and The Year of Secret Assignments by Jaclyn Moriarty. Look for reviews (and maybe a surprise) soon.

Well, that's about it for this week. May not seem like much but actually I feel like it's progressing along quite well. Also, I'm putting in a little plug for Vee's awesome 100 followers contest, cuz you know I like to get extra entries and all. She's offering up a book and a 50 page critique!! She's a newly agented author so I think both prizes are highly valuable - be sure to take a look at her blog.

Now for my question of the week - I've been reading many many reviews lately, and I feel bombarded with all the great choices out there, so I'd like to hear your opinion. If you were to recommend any one YA book to someone, published within the last two years, which would it be?

Query letter is up!!

Feeling a bit masochistic today, so I posted a new page (see pages on top) with my query letter. It still has to go through QLH - I'm not feeling that masochistic yet. I'm also debating whether to post my first chapter on the blog. I have heard of instances where people get agent hits off of their blogs, and that chapter is definitely my best writing and I would like to showcase it, but I have these weird issues of protectiveness going on in the back of my head. Any thoughts??

Also I will be looking for a couple more beta readers in the near future so if the premise interests you, send me a message (email to the right).

Thanks peeps!