The Serpent King ~ Jeff Zentner (earc) review [@randomhousekids @jeffzentner]

The Serpent King
Crown Books for Young Readers
March 8, 2016
384 pages
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Dill has had to wrestle with vipers his whole life—at home, as the only son of a Pentecostal minister who urges him to handle poisonous rattlesnakes, and at school, where he faces down bullies who target him for his father’s extreme faith and very public fall from grace.

He and his fellow outcast friends must try to make it through their senior year of high school without letting the small-town culture destroy their creative spirits and sense of self. Graduation will lead to new beginnings for Lydia, whose edgy fashion blog is her ticket out of their rural Tennessee town. And Travis is content where he is thanks to his obsession with an epic book series and the fangirl turning his reality into real-life fantasy.

Their diverging paths could mean the end of their friendship. But not before Dill confronts his dark legacy to attempt to find a way into the light of a future worth living.

This book. No, really, guys: This. Book.  This is a review where I can only hope i can convey at least a fraction of how brilliant, fantastic, amazing, unforgettable the book is.

I wanted to read The Serpent King from the first time I read its description. It is so, so, so much better than I had even wanted or expected, though.

I love not only the basis for Dill's character - the only child of the now imprisoned, snake-handling, poison drinking Pentecostal preacher and his young wife - but what that means for him personally and socially; as Dillard Early, Jr. his name alone brings judgement. Still, one of the things I truly loved and appreciated about Dill's character was that he wasn't rebelling or disavowing everything his father, his parents stood for.  Maybe he didn't think every aspect of his life (friends, views, books read, music listened to etc) needed to be Evangelical Christian-centric, but he was still religious, still prayed. Next to the way he struggles to do what his mother wants, to support her and keep her happy, it made Dill a really fantastic character for me.

I really enjoyed how the author treated the characters religion  but also their small town life: "People live quiet lives and that's okay. There's dignity in that, no matter what you may think." (pg 118) Not everyone in this book needed to be destined for giant, grand things, necessarily.

It works that each of the three friends doesn't fit in but is still quite different. Lydia wants out of their town as fast as possible, she's going to college and becoming something; Travis escapes his less than perfect reality with the Bloodfall fantasy books, content to work at the lumberyard to afford them; Dill can't go anywhere in town without being associated with his father but does his best to support his mother (including financial contributions).

The characters are so different but the author writes them flawlessly. Somehow it seems one person shouldn't be able to give us a character who gets tights as, "a gift from the Rodarte sisters," (pg 60) and one who wears a dragon necklace and carries a staff and not only make them friends but characters you love. (This author, of course, does.)

It was not only the characters, friendship the three had, their own, individual struggles, difficulties and secrets along with what they provided for the others, but the writing itself that made me love The Serpent King so much. Numerous times I had to remind myself that this was Jeff Zentner's debut novel. Maybe it's because he's a songwriter, as well, maybe he's just that good. Either way, I really can't wait to see what he writes next. (One of my favorite parts is the way Chapter 35 ends but it's too spoilery to quote.)

I cold probably make this even longer with reasons why I loved this book, but I won't. I will say that The Serpent King is well written, smart, understand, and emotional. The characters are superb and not people you see that often in fiction, especially not together. The Serpent King is definitely one of my favorite books.




Some Quotes:


"The rest of her wasn't ungraceful but her fingers were affirmatively ad aggressively graceful." (pg 7)

"'It kind of carries negative cachet,' Dill said.
'What he said. Not much high school cachet to be hd in being a female who has, you know, vocal opinions about anything." (pg 17)

"Her voice was soft, but not like a pillow. Like a pile of fine metal shavings or powdered glass." (pg 326)

"'Maybe we can help him sell firewood,' Lydia said. 'I can show some leg.'
'Yeah, but then people would stop to buy firewood and get a lecture about objectifying women.'

'So?'" (pg 351)

received for review, thanks to publisher, via NetGalley

The Heir & The Spare ~ Emily Albright Tour (earc) Review + Cast + Fav Quote + Giveaway [@_EmilyAlbright_ @The_FFBC]

The Heir and the Spare
Merit Press
January 18, 2016
288 pages
Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary, Romance, Chick Lit, British Literature, New Adult
add to Goodreads/buy from Book Depository/B&N/or Amazon

Family can be complicated. Especially when skeletons from the past pop up unexpectedly. For American Evie Gray, finding out her deceased mother had a secret identity, and not one of the caped crusader variety, was quite the surprise. Evie’s mom had a secret life before she was even born, one that involved tiaras.

In this modern day fairytale, Evie is on a path to figure out who her mom really was, while discovering for herself what the future will hold. Charged with her late mother’s letters, Evie embarks on a quest into her past. The first item on the list is to attend Oxford, her mom’s alma mater. There, Evie stumbles upon a real life prince charming, Edmund Stuart the second Prince of England, who is all too happy to be the counterpart to her damsel in distress.

Evie can’t resist her growing attraction to Edmund as they spend more time together trying to unravel the clues her mother left behind. But, when doubts arise as to whether or not Edmund could ever be with an untitled American, what really ends up unraveling is Evie’s heart. When Evie uncovers all the facts about her mom’s former life, she realizes her mom’s past can open doors she never dreamed possible, doors that can help her be with Edmund. But, with everything now unveiled, Evie starts to crack under the pressure of new family responsibilities and the realization that her perfect prince may want her for all the wrong reasons.

Review:

The Heir and the Spare is sort of a blend of What A Girl Wants, The Princess Diaries and The Prince and Me. Evie really only knows her mother - who died when Evie was 6 - through the letters she receives each year, on her birthday.

As part of her 'quest' to do what some new, separate letters have planned for her and to, hopefully, learn more about her mother, Evie is attending Oxford. The school where her parents met and fell in love may just hold some romance for Evie, as well. The more Evie delves into her mother's past and the more the relationships she's formed in England develop, the less sure she is about everything.

Here's the thing: I didn't really like Evie. I'm not sure if it was that the inclusion of her thoughts (in italics) in the novel made her significantly more immature than I would expect of a nineteen-year-old who got into Oxford, or if it was that she didn't seem to do things enough for herself. Either way, I did not love her. Even when she is supposed to be doing something for her, I felt that it was too based on someone else, what they thought or did or expected - or even who they were/had been.

But I liked Suzy and Caroline and Edmund and Preston (who I think I may have liked most). It was a bit unbelievable that Evie did not recognize Edmund at first (I thought a made up country or lesser known one would have been more understandable than England here) but his reaction to her not knowing was one of my favorite parts of the novel.

I don't know if I bought Evie as an Oxford student (but maybe that was just because I didn't click with her) but why she was there was a nice element to the story. The trips to London and the bits about those with titles made it feel more like England.

The romance was cute and sweet - though frustrating and stuck in place quite a bit, too. I did not love one of the main characters (Evie) but the others helped to make up for that. I wish there was some sort of prequel or sequel to The Heir and the Spare that focused on Preston and a girlfriend, or some of the other characters; I really would love to see/know more about them and their lives.

Then, this last thing that I am not sure fits a review but I needed to say it: The sexual/relationship ethics of the book bothered me at times. There is an attempted sexual assault that seems to have no repercussions, a character is glad for an interruption because, "If we'd gone much further, I'd never have been able to stop," and there is a student/teacher relationship that no one seems to take issue with. They are, mostly, small things and don't impact the story or who the characters are (much) but they still feel a little squicky.

The Heir and the Spare is a fun twist on that normal-girl-falls-in-love-with-a-prince story and the added element of the mystery around Evie's mother, her past, and what it means for Evie is something new. There were some characters in this book I really would like to see more of, somehow.





Dream Cast:

This Guy as Edmund

Seriously, I have no idea who he is - it's a hairstyle photo - but I still pick him. If it needs to be someone that's an actor/known, then Chris Hemsworth or Alex Pettyfer. . .

or Alex Pettyfer as Edmund

Holland Roden as Evie

Juno Temple as Suzy

Zach Boerig as Preston

Vanessa Morgan as Caroline

Favorite Quote:

"It was Emily Post on crack meets Martha Stewart on acid." -pg 216 (earc)







About the Author:

Emily Albright's debut novel, THE HEIR AND THE SPARE, is releasing January 18, 2016 from Merit Press.

She's a writer, a major bookworm, a lover of romantic movies, a wife, a mother, an owner of one adorable (yet slightly insane) cockapoo, and uses way too many :).

website

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This Monstrous Thing ~ Mackenzi Lee (earc) Tour Review + Quote + Cast [@themackenzilee @the_FFBC @harperteen]

This Monstrous Thing
Katherine Tegen Books
September 22, 2015
384 pages
(links after review - following book trailer)

In 1818 Geneva, men built with clockwork parts live hidden away from society, cared for only by illegal mechanics called Shadow Boys. Two years ago, Shadow Boy Alasdair Finch’s life shattered to bits.

His brother, Oliver—dead.

His sweetheart, Mary—gone.

His chance to break free of Geneva—lost.

Heart-broken and desperate, Alasdair does the unthinkable: He brings Oliver back from the dead.

But putting back together a broken life is more difficult than mending bones and adding clockwork pieces. Oliver returns more monster than man, and Alasdair’s horror further damages the already troubled relationship.

Then comes the publication of Frankenstein and the city intensifies its search for Shadow Boys, aiming to discover the real life doctor and his monster. Alasdair finds refuge with his idol, the brilliant Dr. Geisler, who may offer him a way to escape the dangerous present and his guilt-ridden past, but at a horrible price only Oliver can pay…

After reading A Fatal Likeness a book about the book Frankenstein and the life of its author, I loved reading a book that sort of flipped that and gave us an idea of how something Frankenstein-like could have happened.

I liked Alasdair Finch from the first line of This Monstrous Thing ("My brother's heart was heavy in my hands."). He's the good, younger son: helping his father, minding his mother. But he's also keeping a potentially (very) dangerous secret: his brother Oliver is not as dead as his family believes. Unable to lose his brother, Alasdair brought Oliver back to life. 

Only it doesn't seem to be the same Oliver.

The blending of Oliver's struggles - his guilt, his uncertainty, his ambition - and the anti-Clockwork climate of Geneva work really well together. It makes his keeping Oliver hidden away easier to explain, to rationalize.

I liked the politics of this sort of steampunk nineteenth century Geneva. Why there are all of these people, men especially, in need of clockwork additions/repairs/replacements to different body parts was intelligent and creative. It gives Alasdair and Oliver's story a richer backdrop and creates a much fuller story.

It isn't only Alasdair's trouble deciding what's right in regards to Oliver, his future and Alasdair's future; it is all part of a much bigger picture.

The mix of real, factual history (surrounding Frankenstein) and its inclusion in the imagined history was done incredibly well. Things that didn't actually happen present fantastic, believeable explanations/basis for things that did, actually, happen

I really loved the progression the characters took, in their relationships with each other but also who they were and what we knew of them, how they saw themselves and where the novel left them. He questions the story - and characters - pose about what constitutes a 'monster' and what makes a man good are thought provoking and well illustrated.

Other Books You Might Also Enjoy: A Fatal Likeness by Lynn Shepherd and Ilusionarium by Heather Dixon

digital review copy received, via Edelweiss, from publisher

Robert Sheehan as Alasdair Finch

Aidan Turner as Oliver Finch

David Kelly as Bronson Finch

Ed Begley, Jr as Dr Geisler

 Emily Browning as Clemence

FAVORITE QUOTE

"The fight in him that I had once admired had been transformed from glowing and bright into something you could fall and cut yourself on, and that was what was left of him - a man I didn't know who wore his ill-fitting skin and spoke in his voice. My brother, obliterated by himself." (arc, 10%)

Follow the This Monstrous Thing by Mackenzi Lee Blog Tour and don't miss anything! Click on the banner to see the tour schedule.

Mackenzi Lee holds a BA in history and an MFA from Simmons College in writing for children and young adults. She loves Diet Coke, sweater weather, and Star Wars. On a perfect day, she can be found enjoying all three. She currently lives in Boston, where she works as a bookseller and almost never reanimates corpses. Almost.

Blog Tour Prize Pack (US ONLY):

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A hardcover copy of THIS MONSTROUS THING 

A pair of Frankenstein socks

A copy of the Color Your Own Graphic Novel Frankenstein

THIS MONSTROUS THING postcards, bookmarks, and buttons

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