"Torn" by Amanda Hocking

Book Details:
Title: Torn (Trylle Trilogy #2)
Author: Amanda Hocking
Published: 2012 - St. Martin's Press
ISBN: 978-1-250-00632-5
Genre: Young Adult- Fantasy
Pages: 324 pages
Rating: 3 of 5
Read In: 5 days

My Review:
In Hocking's first Trylle novel Switched, I fell in love with Finn right along with Wendy (and just about every other female reader!). In this sequel, I became upset at Wendy, Finn, the author, everyone involved, for the events that transpired as I tore through the novel, waiting for the ultimate moment when Finn throws himself at the princess and finally demands they be together forever, no matter the cost! Sadly, I was greatly disappointed. As Finn repeatedly chooses duty over love and slowly fades into the background of Wendy's mind, he is replaced so quickly by the Vittra Markis Loki, and his request to marry her and run away together, completely freeing themselves of troll-kind. Actually, I noticed while reading that Wendy has an awkward relationship with every male character in her age range... She has orders to keep a distance between herself and Rhys after being caught asleep in his bedroom, she is frowned upon by many for her insistence in keeping Matt at the palace, she loves Finn but has to hide it and never be with him while he still works in the Palace, she's been caught kissing Loki, the mortal enemy, who later begs for her love and all the while still finds time to help Elora and Aurora plan her upcoming marriage to the homosexual Tove. I find it hard to sympathize with Wendy with all the romance drama and broken hearts she seems to create. Thankfully, other romances are uncovered and will shock every reader!

The plot follows Wendy on the road to becoming Queen of the Trylle and sheds some light on why the Vittra are so desperate to get their hands on her. I was not as impressed by this novel as I was with Switched and felt constantly conflicted about which male character she would gravitate to next. There is some much-needed development in Wendy's relationships with Elora, Willa, and Tove, as she accepts her responsibilities as the Princess and begins to grow into the role.

While the story line does progress a necessary amount for a trilogy, it lacked the rushes of excitement every reader craves and the passion one expects from a young adult novel. With one book left in the trilogy, Hocking can definitely still redeem herself in my eyes. I still look forward to Ascend, with high hopes and expectations. I gave it three out of five stars because while it was just okay in my eyes, I still absolutely love the series and characters, I just wish they'd make up their minds already!!!

"Grendel" by John Gardner

Book Details:
Title: Grendel
Author: John Gardner
Published: 1989 by Random House, Inc.
ISBN: 0-679-72311-0
Pages: 174 pages
Genre: Fiction- Contemporary
Rating: 3 of 5
Read In: 4 days

My Review:
In the English epic Beowulf, the Danes are plagued by the terrible man-eating beast known as Grendel. He appears to have no weaknesses and toys with the villagers relentlessly. Beowulf tells the story of how these great people were liberated by a stranger, who kills the monster single-handed and becomes a great hero. But what causes such a creature to pick on this particular village for so many years? What is it that makes hi, resistant to man's sword? John Gardner's tale, told from Grendel's own voice and perspective, answers these questions and more, while proving this horrible beast is just as much victim as predator.

Grendel's story begins when he is first old and brave enough to venture out of the cave he shares with his mother, into the forest by which Hrothgar and his men decide to camp and eventually erect a great city. Grendel's first run-in with humans reveals they share similar languages, piquing Grendel's interest in the race. He becomes fascinated, watching from afar as tribes of settlers band together and attack others, creating larger villages, until Hrothgar, the most successful leader, finally unites them all and takes his place as king of the Danes. These beings, so similar to himself and so different from any other animal he knows, gives Grendel hope that they may accept him into their tribe, ending his escalating loneliness. He finally tries to make contact, but his threatening appearance and garbled language evokes an attack. Puzzled and angry, he seeks out the dragon living nearby, for companionship and advice. The dragon shares his wisdom and foresight with Grendel, removing any doubt or guilt Grendel housed for scaring and killing the human, and also charms him so that no sword could hurt him while he terrorized them. The rejection of the humans fuels his rage and he begins to systematically terrorize the Danes' meadhall for pleasure, entertainment, and revenge. While Hrothgar expands his empire, Grendel shows he is one enemy that can not be defeated. Then one day, a ship of Geats arrives, people from another land who claim to be able to cure the Danes of Grendel. Though they remain skeptical, the Danes welcome the Geats to feast and drink with them. Grendel sees this as an opportunity to show his grit the the overconfident visitors. Sneaking into the hall, determined to devour them in their sleep, Grendel fails to notice one of the Geats awake and aware of his presence in the hall. While distracted by his own showboating, Grendel attempts to kick the vigilant Geat, unaware of a blood puddle on the floor, and the monster slips and falls, giving the man the opportunity to tear Grendel's arm from his body. Horrified by his injury, Grendel retreats and escapes back into the forest, bleeding profusely. The book ends here, when he realizes that he has been bested and will soon die of blood loss. The Geats had fulfilled their promise to dispatch of the beast.

The voice of Grendel throughout the book is exactly as one would imagine the thoughts of a "lesser being", with an underdeveloped language. He creates his own child-like names for objects in nature and among the human city that he does not know the proper name of. He also whines and cries for his mother when he is injured. Although he is a despicable being, knowing the thoughts and feelings that drive him to his actions make the reader empathize with him and even feel sorry for his loneliness and desperation for companionship, belonging, and proof that there really is more to life than merely surviving.

Though this novel is a creative perspective of a classic novel, it was a quick read and relatively unexciting. I did not regret the time spent reading it and am glad for the author's take on this particular literary character. I give Grendel three out of five stars.

"Just Kid Me Old Highway Old Wildway O Pecos Bill" by William Linehan

Book Details:

Title: Just Kid Me Old Highway Old Wildway O Pecos Bill

Author: William Linehan

Published: 2011- Sagebrush Press

ISBN: 978-0-930704-35-3

Pages: 590 pages

Genre: Fiction

Rating: 1 of 5

Read In: 7 days

My Review:

The title says it all- this book makes absolutely no sense. The majority of the time I found myself staring dumbfounded at the pages, hoping Mr. Linehan had been on some kind of mind-altering drug while writing. Then again, I don’t know what would possess Sagebrush Press to publish this novel either. It was painful to finish and I may have lost a few brain cells along the way.

Words elude me when I try to think of something good to point out about Just Kid Me Old Highway Old Wildway O Pecos Bill. I spent so much time convincing myself to read just one more chapter and maybe the protagonist will wake up and it turns out it was all a really messed up dream. Unfortunately, that never happened.  The best I can guess is that the main protagonist, known as the Kid, had a very overactive imagination as a boy and now nearing middle-age, he’s reverting back to the fantasies he had in childhood- playing baseball with Pecos Bill, running around with Johnny Appleseed, a turtle camouflaged as a hubcap, the weirdness goes on and on. But that doesn’t make up for the fact that 80% of the novel is complete nonsense and the other 20% is not a very exciting story line. When Pecos Bill shows up in his yard in the middle of the night, the Kid tries to convince him he's not the Kid anymore and can't just leave to go on a roadtrip, as Bill suggests he needs to do. Alas, he changes his mind and off they go.

One thing that stood out in Linehan's writing is his overly extensive use of color when describing things. At some points, color even comes right out of the characters' mouths. Which is just plain weird and there's really no point for it. But he includes color somewhere on just about every page in the book, something that began to bother me fairly early in as there is more to description than colors... 

Overall, I don't recommend anyone waste their time reading this novel and I sincerely hope Linehan looks for another creative outlet because novels just aren't his forte. One out of five stars for Just Kid Me Old Highway Old Wildway O Pecos Bill.

"Switched" by Amanda Hocking

Book Details:
Title: Switched (Trylle Trilogy #1)
Author: Amanda Hocking
Published: January 2012- St Martin's Press
ISBN: 978-1-250-00631-8
Pages: 293 pages
Genre: Young Adult/Fantasy
Rating: 5 of 5
Read In: 2 days

My Review:
Most young adult novels follow a similar pattern- girl meets boy, girl falls hopelessly in love with boy, something tears girl and boy apart, girl gets into trouble, boy runs to her rescue, the end. Many very popular series follow this model successfully and become huge hits, like the Twilight Saga and House of Night series. Others miserably miss the mark and land with their face in the mud. Thankfully, Amanda Hocking's Trylle trilogy is off to an amazing start in Switched.

Female readers everywhere will fall in love with girl's main squeeze, the mysterious and hard-to-get Finn. "Girl" is Wendy- she's clumsy and scatterbrained and you can't help but feel for her, especially in her fight for finn and her struggle to remain herself while everyone around her demands she be someone else.

This particular story has one quality I feel really sets it apart from the rest- there are no vampires. I was a little disappointed myself at first, but Trylle are something better than vampires, they're trolls. But not in the living under bridges eating goats sense, but in the magical abilities, lots of money and glam fashion. Now what makes these creatures better than vampires? They don't have to drink blood to maintain their abilities and composure, so aside from the overall waning of abilities among their species, they really have no weaknesses.

I really enjoyed this book, aside from the infuriating ending. I seriously recommend waiting the extra month after publication to buy the second at the same time, because the need for the next book is far too strong! I could not put Switched down for two whole days and it leaves me sad it's over.

I give Switched five out of five stars only because I can't give it six, and I strongly recommend any fan of young adult novels not miss out on this series.

"The Faculty Club" by Danny Tobey

Book Details:

Title: The Faculty Club

Author: Danny Tobey

Published: June 1, 2010 by Atria (imprint of Simon & Schuster)

ISBN: 978-1-4391-5429-8

Genre: Thriller

Pages: 307
Rating: 3 of 5

Read in: 3 days

My Review:
I have to say, I'm torn. This novel could almost be in league with one of Dan Brown's. However, there were a few things about it that really irked me.. I refuse to give this book a negative review- it was very well thought out and the puzzles and history throughout fascinated me! 

One major positive for me was that the author stressed the desperation Jeremy's peers had to get into the V&D. Daphne throwing herself at Jeremy sexually in order to secure his help winning the debate and Nigel's library breakdown were perfect examples of the lengths students would go to to secure a spot in this secret society. Words between characters can only go so far to express such things, but their actions spoke volumes. 

Another thing that really struck me was word selection. In line 25 of page 214, the author writes: "Then his spindly arms unfolded like spider legs and bootstrapped his long body through." This sentence has and incredible amount of imagery for how short and sweet it is! I don't believe I have ever read "bootstrapped" anywhere else, but the action is spot-on for how this lanky man would look crawling out of a small tunnel. I even stopped reading to mark the page for future reference. 

I very much enjoyed the Dan Brown feel of the novel. From the secret society and mind-bending riddles to the underground labyrinth of unknown dangers and crazy religious ceremonies- it's the perfect read for history buffs and conspiracy theorists everywhere. Tobey obviously did his research for this book and the effort shows. Some favorite instances of mine involve the Ship of Theseus, a homunculus, and a replica of the Capuchin Crypt. 

Another point I'd like to bring up is the use of pictures on page 265. To be honest, I'm still not sure how I feel about them. When I first reached the page, I stopped and marked "Why start using pictures now??" in the margin. It makes sense to use them here, to give the reader the full experience of what the characters are looking at, but why not have them throughout the book? I find pictures and illustrations a wonderful change of pace in a novel, but having the only two pictures in the entire book on the same page feels very random to me. 

The main problem I had while reading was the lack of names for the school Jeremy attends and several characters. I understand that the author may not be able to use the name of a real university for publicity reasons, and maybe even for copyright reasons, but there are multiple sentences that just sound awkward for the lack of a proper noun. By page 2, it has simply been referred to as "the greatest law school in the world"... Twice. I disliked the repetition, but soon got over it. Though it did come up a couple more times throughout the novel. When it comes to characters, if you're going to give them lines, they should have a name. Just my feeling on the subject. In the mock trial scene, the author only refers to the judges as "the former U.S. Attorney" and "the retired Supreme Court justice". I know they are very minor characters, but if the narrator recognizes them by their careers, he would understandably know and use their names. My last naming concern pertains to Arthur "Humpty Dumpty" Peabody. Yes- the man has a nickname. Yes- a college student would most certainly refer to him by said nickname at some point in time. But....all the time?! Jeremy doesn't even use his given name except while the man's bleeding out all over his desk. Even after that, you would think the characters would have a little more respect for the dead and stop referring to him as "Humpty Dumpty". I mean, Jeremy watched the man die! I know I'm nitpicking, but these are some things I think about when I'm reading. 

What graduate students plan their lives around that of someone they've only known two weeks? I get the whole "been to hell and back together" thing could probably drive the two people together, but if I was in Sarah's place, I would be furious with Jeremy for much longer than the book even covered. Although he 'unburdened' her by telling her secret in front of all attending the mock trial, it still was not his secret to tell and I will stand by that belief until the end of time. Sarah tried to KILL HERSELF. She wanted to die because of the hell he thrust upon her, but the reader would never know she was ever that upset to the point of suicide. She never expressed any kind of anger towards him besides the command to "get out" of her hospital room. She recovered from his breach of confidence at a pace that makes it seem unreal. 

The end nearly infuriated me. I was left with an immense sense of wonder. What happened to the newly initiated students? We followed the three from the beginning, and suddenly their situation means nothing to the protagonist. He showed so much compassion and caring towards Nigel and Daphne that he allowed them to use him to get to the top. But, once Sarah enters, they're completely forgotten? Even if Jeremy could care less the outcomes of Nigel, John, and Daphne, I'm sure other readers are like me and would've appreciated a little knowledge on that front. 

Overall, I had to give this book three out of five stars. I liked it and would definitely recommend it to friends. However, it was a quick read and could have used a little more...something. The plot line flew by.