Rampant (Killer Unicorns #1)

Forget beautiful, innocent pure unicorns.  In Astrid's world, unicorns are deadly beasts who like hunting humans.  Good thing they are extinct.  Except they're not.  One attacks her boyfriend and suddenly Astrid is shipped off to hunter's training camp in order to learn how to kill the reemergence of the unicorns.  But Astrid is not happy with this turn of events and neither are the unicorns.

To Marten, to my mother, to all of them I was just a girl with a bow.  An assassin, good only for what she could kill.
And I wasn't even particularly good at that. p.194

I liked the concept.  It was clever and certainly turned an preconceived notion on its head.  Unicorns are bloodthirsty murderous creatures! Say what?  But that's what it is and it is a very good idea.  Astrid as the main character could be characterized Buffy the Unicorn Slayer light since her powers don't work all the time.  But there is the same amount of whining and badassness that Buffy exhibits through most of the series.  I can't say I blame either of them, what with all the kill kill death stuff going on, but it gets tiresome.  Buffy had the same effect so I can't say anything really since that is my favorite show.  But the girls, the hunters, in this story, are varied and that's nice.

I liked the ending with some resolution for this book and a nice setup for the next.  Not a cliffhanger, which I hate, but it leaves you looking for more.  I need more of what is going to happen with the unicorns and more back story and more of the awesomeness of Bucephalus (minor spoiler or maybe major?) and Bonegrinder.  I *think* I know where this is going and I'm hoping I'm wrong.  I want to be surprised.  There are several little mysteries set up for which I'd like the answers.  The ending was good, but at the same time it was a little blah.  The resolution for the "bad guy" was too quick but maybe it was like killing the Anointed One when it's the Master that really needs to be killed.  So I'm hoping for more in that direction.  I guess you could say that I'm hoping for more in general.

Alice I Have Been

Alice Liddell Hargreaves lived an interesting life.  Immortalized as Alice in Wonderland, she also had to live with the rumors of her relationship with Charles Dodgson (Lewis Carroll).  What really happened between the two of them that caused such a break in their relationship?  They were great friends until one day they suddenly stopped speaking and Dodgson no longer visited the Liddell girls.  But beyond was the life that Alice lived beyond her immortal childhood and that fateful story.  In this fictional biography, Alice tells of her life, that friendship and the loves and hardships beyond Alice in Wonderland.

So yes, I do get tired; tired of pretending to be Alice in Wonderland still always. Although it has been no easier being Alice Pleasance Hargreaves.  p.8

 I enjoyed this book.  It was well written and told an interesting story.  But I was bothered by the friendship between Alice and Dodgson.  The author seemed to want to censure it and make it okay at the same time.  The fact that they loved it other was fine.  It was crossing the boundary into romantic love that she couldn't seem to decide on.  It was written like a pure love tainted by the rumors of others, but real life is rarely that cut and dry.  I know it's hard to write a fictional biography and to have to decide where to stray from the path into speculation.  And, of course, much of the relationship between the two remains a secret after the destruction of each of their letters and papers from that time.

Beyond that it was interesting to learn more about Alice's life as an adult and her marriage and children.  She goes through a lot through her lifetime and is also haunted by the little girl she used to be.  Not many people represent the epitome of innocence and childhood and yet Alice must bear that burden even as her life makes her more and more adult.

And Another Thing

Jacket:
An Englishman's continuing search through space and time for a decent cup of tea . . .
Arthur Dent's accidental association with that wholly remarkable book, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, has not been entirely without incident.
Arthur has traveled the length, breadth, and depth of known, and unknown, space. He has stumbled forward and backward through time. He has been blown up, reassembled, cruelly imprisoned, horribly released, and colorfully insulted more than is strictly necessary. And of course Arthur Dent has comprehensively failed to grasp the meaning of life, the universe, and everything.
Arthur has finally made it home to Earth, but that does not mean he has escaped his fate.
Arthur's chances of getting his hands on a decent cuppa have evaporated rapidly, along with all the world's oceans. For no sooner has he touched down on the planet Earth than he finds out that it is about to be blown up . . . again.
And Another Thing . . . is the rather unexpected, but very welcome, sixth installment of the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series. It features a pantheon of unemployed gods, everyone's favorite renegade Galactic President, a lovestruck green alien, an irritating computer, and at least one very large slab of cheese.

Ah, yes, thought the old man.  Tea.  At the center of an uncertain and possibly illusory universe there would always be tea. p.6

The sixth installment in the Hitchhiker's trilogy comes from Eoin Colfer, best know for his Artemis Fowl books.  Before his death, Douglas Adams had expressed an interest in continuing the story of Arthur Dent, Ford Prefect, and the rest of the characters since the last book, Mostly Harmless, ended on a rather bad note with everyone dying and so on.  So Colfer was commissioned to write the sixth book.  I was a bit apprehensive starting since I'm a big fan of the series and Adams in general, but I was extremely impressed.  It was such a Hitchhiker's book with the tone and notes and irreverence that is expected in this books.   I was happy with the characterization of Arthur, Ford, Zaphod, Trillion, and some other familiar faces.  It was nice to have a better wrap-up for all the characters even if Arthur still has no luck.  I wonder what the book would have been like had Adams been able to write it, but Colfer did an great job of continuting the story  in a way that I think Adams would have approved of and with his sense of humor and style.

Does My Head Look Big in This?

Goodreads:
Sixteen-year-old Amal makes the decision to start wearing the hijab full- time and everyone has a reaction. Her parents, her teachers, her friends, people on the street. But she stands by her decision to embrace her faith and all that it is, even if it does make her a little different from everyone else.

Putting on the hijab isn't the end of the journey.  It's just the beginning of it.  p.333

This was a great exploration of one girl choosing to show her beliefs to the world and the consequences that come with those big decisions.  Amal is cool and cocky and definitely 16.  She has a typical relationship with her parents and has some great friendships at school.  She attends a prep school in Australia so when she first decides to wear the hijab she doesn't know how it will go over there.  But she works through that obstacle and a few others.

The novel is in first person and that sometimes threw the tone off for me.  Some books I don't notice it, but I was always aware of it for this book.  It made some of the conversations stilted for me.  But it was nice to be in Amal's head and see how she viewed others.  Sometimes she was paranoid that strangers were judging her and sometimes she was right and sometimes not.  There were many interesting parallels drawn to her situation and that of her overweight friend and to the Greek next door neighbor and to her Japanese friend and to some of her extended family who pretend not to be Muslim.  There was a great message of tolerance and remaining true to your beliefs and yourself.  And I learned a little about Islam and a lot about what the hijab means.

cross posted with Annie, I think

ETA: corrected

Nothing Pink

Vincent knows he is gay and as hard as he prays he cannot get God to fix him.  He knows his minister father and his mother would not understand so he trys as hard as possible not to be gay.  But when his father moves to a new church Vincent meets Robert and he begins to think maybe he doesn't need to be fix after all.

It won't be hard for them to see how gay I am.  They'll know right off what my sin is. p.8

This is a very short book, only a little over 100 pages, but the message is amazing.  It is set in the 1970's and so the attitudes and language reflect that. Vincent believes that he is a sinner and is going to Hell because he is gay.  He's never even kissed another boy but he just knows.  His parents believe that homosexuality is a sin and one that cannot be forgiven and so Vincent believes it too.  His parents also ignore the signs that Vincent is gay so he tries to ignore them too.  But one day at the new church Vincent meets Robert and develops a crush on him.  And as their relationship grows Vincent begins to understand that there is nothing wrong with him. 

It was interesting to see the subject of faith and homosexuality explored.  Vincent is bought up to think one way and so cannot fanthom any other ideas about what he is.  He is afraid of what his parents will think and what God thinks and tries over and over to repent but cannot understand why God won't take the gay out of him.  Vincent's faith is a huge part of this book.  And I liked the fact that he never loses that faith even when he accepts his homosexuality is not sinful; that he never feels like God has abandoned him, that He is on his side.  In a way, Vincent's relationship with Robert is almost secondary.  But Robert is a good guy and they are so wonderful together.  It is a very sweet.  And I love the story that goes with the very pretty cover.

Envy: A Luxe Novel

The saga of Manhattan's elite at the turn of the 20th century continues.  The Holland sisters are each bereaved in their own ways, each for extremely different reasons.  Penelope Hayes is feeling triumphant as is Carolina Broud.  But each girl will have to deal with a dramatic turn in her life and, as always, society watches their every move.

She was unsteady at first, but she kept on bravely and didn't look back. p.260

*spoilers*
This series is compared a lot to Gossip Girl and for good reason, but it reminds me, in ways, of Dangerous Liasions and the like.  There are a lot of manipulations on the part of Penelope and she is really the one who sets everything in motion.  After having blackmailed Henry into marrying her, she is desperate to keep him so she concots many plots to dispute Diana Holland, the girl Henry really loves, and make herself look better.  Really Penelope would have been better off leaving Henry alone.  Why she felt she had to marry him, I don't know.  I understood why she had to keep him though.  At that time, a divorce would have been such a scandle and Penelope traps herself into her own situation.  I was getting such a Scarlett/Rhett vibe from Penelope and Henry in this book, it was a little weird.

The Hollands were less interesting in this book especially Elizabeth.  I expected such a great showing from her especially at how Rumors ended, but she fell flat.  Although I do hope she marries Teddy somehow.  She should have married him in the first place, because the whole Will plot was stupid in the end.  And Diana was ridiculous trying to somehow keep Henry and never really getting it.  He is trapped and he will never be better than who he is (like Nate in GG).  So I'm hoping for something more interesting in Splendor, the last book.

As an aside, I did find some of the historical trivia thrown in very interesting.  For example, women had to wear stocking with the swimsuits on the beach and couldn't show any flesh.  And I love the description of all the clothes.  It seems so beautiful if stifling.

Read Your Name Challenge 2010 - COMPLETE

I've been wanting to do this challenge for a while, but wanted to wait for the new year. So here it is.  The Read Your Name Challenge is just what it sounds like: Using your first name, or blogger name, or your pets name, or even your favorite literary character's name; whichever you like, choose books with first title letters that spell out your name. (Audio books and eBooks are also okay.)



Come back here every month if you wish, and leave your link in the Mr. Linky that will be up containing the link to your challenge page containing the books you've read or each review you've written for books that count for this challenge. (Crossovers with other challenges are okay.) I will make a new post for this during the first week of every month.


The challenge runs from Jan. 1st 2010, to Dec. 31st 2010. You may join at any time.

I'm going to join using my first name Andrea. So my list will be:

A - And Another Thing - Eoin Colfer
N - Nothing Pink - Mark Hardy +
D - Does This Make My Head Look Big - Randa Abdel-Fattah
R - Rampant - Diana Peterfreund
E - Envy -  Anna Godbersen
A - Alice I Have Been - Melanie Benjamin

*cross over with another challenge
+own