Uncreated Conscience

So. Reviews. I did say I would write them. I seriously haven’t had time to eat, let alone blog in the past few weeks. But if you’re curious about what I’m reading outside of work, you should probably check me out on Goodreads.

The hardcover of TENDER MORSELS by Margo Lanagan

There’s not much I can really say about TENDER MORSELS that’s coherent. This novel slayed me. I closed the pages feeling absolutely gutted and wrung out, wondering if the world would ever be okay again and knowing it will.

TENDER MORSELS is a retelling of the fairytale Snow White and Rose Red (Schneeweißchen und Rosenrot), which is about two sisters, roses, a bear prince, an ungrateful dwarf, and stolen treasure.

I’m rather fond of fairytale retellings, as is evidenced by my love of Robin McKinley’s BEAUTY, Elizabeth C. Bunce’s A CURSE AS DARK AS GOLD, Malinda Lo’s ASH, and countless others. I love them as literal or as figurative as they come. I think I love fairytale retellings because the story mechanics are already in place so the author is free to take the characters and world in any which direction s/he pleases. Similarly, fairytales being so sketchy and vague themselves allow for wonderful interpretations of the source material.

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Ack, BEA is fast approaching and I still have two more books to review. Right, no excuses, JJ, just jump on it.

Review of WHITE CAT by Holly Black

WHITE CAT by Holly Black

Because I suck at writing cover copy, I’m just going to swipe the one on Holly Black‘s website.

Cassel comes from a family of curse workers — people who have the power to change your emotions, your memories, your luck, by the slightest touch of their hands. And since curse work is illegal, they’re all mobsters, or con artists. Except for Cassel. He hasn’t got the magic touch, so he’s an outsider, the straight kid in a crooked family. You just have to ignore one small detail — he killed his best friend, Lila, three years ago.

Ever since, Cassel has carefully built up a façade of normalcy, blending into the crowd. But his façade starts crumbling when he starts sleepwalking, propelled into the night by terrifying dreams about a white cat that wants to tell him something. He’s noticing other disturbing things, too, including the strange behavior of his two brothers. They are keeping secrets from him, caught up in a mysterious plot. As Cassel begins to suspect he’s part of a huge con game, he also wonders what really happened to Lila. Could she still be alive? To find that out, Cassel will have to out-con the conmen.

Spoilers after the cut.

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Right, so I promised to have more reviews up for you this week and I swear it shall be done. I swear it shall be done before BEA because heaven knows I’ll probably have a gazillion more books to review after having read all the ARCs I’ve stolen from my coworkers. (Muahahaha. Oh the perks of working in publishing.)

BEAUTIFUL CREATURES by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl

A while back on one of the various social media platforms I have (really, I’m starting to reach saturation point with social media) I said I wanted to be haunted by a book. Until I read BEAUTIFUL CREATURES, I hadn’t been.

Ethan Wate wants nothing more than to get out of his small town, to leave Gatlin, the South, and what he perceives as his tiny way of life. He wants nothing more than to be able to experience the outside world. One day, the outside world intrudes on Gatlin in a spectacular way in the form of Lena Duchannes, the dark haired and green eyed niece of the town shut-in, Old Man Ravenwood.

(Can you see how deliciously gothic the book is already?)

Lena is certainly different, but little does Ethan know just how different she (and her family) really is…

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Right, so last week I needed a break from my submissions pile and blasted through a pile of published books instead of muddling my way through manuscripts. I debated whether or not to review each book individually or together in one enormous post, but I decided separately would probably help the tl;dr.

Review of WILL GRAYSON, WILL GRAYSON by John Green & David Levithan

Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green & David Levithan

For some reason, I keep wanting to type David “Leviathan” instead of Levithan. Anyway, WILL GRAYSON, WILL GRAYSON was the first book I purchased initially for my ereader. So this review has the privilege of being two-for-one: review of content and review of form.

First off, review of content. WILL GRAYSON, WILL GRAYSON is the story of two high school boys who both happen to be named Will Grayson, whose paths happen to cross accidentally one night and how it affects them. Except for me, the novel should have been titled TINY COOPER IS BESTEST CHARACTER EVER.

Because he totally is.

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It’s been a long time since White-Harp’s reviewed any books for you via vlog. So here’s a video review for you! A twofer, as she touches a bit on THE DEMON’S COVENANT as well as THE DEMON’S LEXICON.

The truth is we meant to get this online for you in time for the ARC contest Sarah Rees Brennan ran, but White-Harp thought sleeping in bed was preferable to shooting while I thought reading my brains out for work was probably wiser than editing/animating. Nevertheless! We are finished! Enjoy!

My newest movie obsession

For the first weekend in ages, I did nothing but watch movies and it was GLORIOUS. I rewatched Dangerous Beauty and Much Ado About Nothing and then watched Amadeus no less than three times. On the same day. (I know, I know, I tend to obsession.)

I think my taste in movies can be extrapolated and extended to my taste in books. Why do I love Dangerous Beauty? It’s an intelligent historical chick movie. Also, it has courtesans and apparently whenever people think of “courtesans”, they think of me. Why do I love Much Ado About Nothing? Because it is delightful. No other reason. Seriously, it is CHARMING and the cheer is infectious. Also, a little ridiculous, but I like that sort of thing. Also, this is my favourite of Shakespeare’s comedies.

As for Amadeus, well, this is a little harder to articulate. Certainly I love Mozart and his music, but one can’t help but be gratified by a great story well-told. Revenge, passion, the nature of genius, the pain of mediocrity, humor, tragedy–this movie is wonderful in every sense of the word. I could go on and on about its brilliance, but everything I feel about this film can be summed up in its title: Amadeus, Beloved of God. One of Mozart’s names rendered into Latin (he was christened with Gottlieb, but went by Amadé in his professional life), but also a recurring theme throughout the play/movie: divine inspiration. Oh! Oh! How I love this movie so.

Anyway, despite having watched movies all weekend, what I really want to do in this blog post is was review two very lovely books, GUARDIAN OF THE DEAD by Karen Healey and THE DEMON’S COVENANT by Sarah Rees Brennan. More after the cut.

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You know, back in the days before I started working in publishing, you really couldn’t get me to shut up online; I blogged with such frequency it was ridiculous. Now that I have actual substantive things to say, I can’t corral my undergrad expository paper-writing tendencies enough to distill my thoughts into short, byte-sized informative posts, so I often don’t bother. Not to mention I lack the time. So kudos to all the industry professionals like Rachelle Gardner, Nathan Bransford, and Kristin Nelson for blogging every day! (Although I haven’t yet read an editor who blogs everyday…maybe that in itself is quite telling…)

Anyway, I was going to review MAGIC UNDER GLASS, discuss storytelling and craft, dissect the idea of literary fiction with a commercial bent, and write about half a dozen other topics, but didn’t have time. So you know what? I’m going to blog about the first thing that comes to mind today.

Which is The Hunchback of Notre Dame.

And specifically the Disney version. Because I rewatched it last night. And I kind of love the movie and have developed a newfound appreciation for it.

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I have (perhaps stupidly) committed myself to another blog, in which my roommate and I will document our progress as we train for the 2011 marathon. Last night Psychic Roommate and I completed our first run around the Reservoir in Central Park.

New post at Running Roommates!

Read about it here! It’s a good thing we’ve started training. There are 5lbs of post-holiday pudge I need to get rid of, 10lbs altogether I’d like to lose. Tonight I will do a nice, restorative yoga practice to recover. Running is really hard on the body! Doesn’t help I have one flat foot, loose ligaments in my shoulders, and one bum knee. I’m a young and decrepit, how sad.

But you know who isn’t young and decrepit and is instead young and awesome? Astrid Llewellyn from Diana Peterfreund‘s RAMPANT. I read this novel months ago, but never got around to giving it a proper review. Hopefully White-Harp will be chiming in with her thoughts as well via vlog. (We are ambitious, White-Harp and me.) Review follows beneath the cut.

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Last night I went to the 10 year reunion of my High Point Academy classmates and had an amazing time (but then again, we always did). I went to a small private school–36 of us in our graduating class–so in effect, these were kids with whom I grew up. For nostalgia’s sake, Mandi brought our 8th grade yearbook and I immediately turned to our “Remember When” page.

Remember when…Sarah didn’t use big words.

Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose. The more things change, the more they stay the same. Although I went by Sarah in those days; it could because I was the only Sarah in that class and was thus able to avoid sharing the name with another girl.

Looking at my Remember When, I suppose it came as no surprise to anyone that I now work in publishing. :) Speaking of which, I finally got around to reading FIRE by Kristin Cashore, the review for which follows beneath the cut.

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Finally, a review! I’ve got several more in the works, but I need to start with GOING BOVINE, which I read ages ‘n’ ages ago. I love Libba Bray. No really. I love this woman. Biggest crush ever. Not only is she a phenomenal writer, she’s also ridiculously charming and funny and adorable in person. And she has an incredible singing voice with excellent taste in music. AND SHE HAS A GLASS EYE. THIS MEANS SHE IS MADE OF AWESOME.

GOING BOVINE by Libba Bray

Cameron’s just an ordinary 16-year-old boy looking to survive high school. Unfortunately, after being diagnosed with Creutzfeldt–Jakob’s disease (the human form of mad cow disease), it looks as though he may not survive at all. The disease has no cure and is invariably fatal, but that doesn’t mean he’s giving up. One day, while hospitalized for treatment, a punk-rock angel with a bad sugar habit named Dulcie walks into his room and tells him there is a cure–if he’s willing to go on a quest.

What follows is a surreal road trip across the country with a hypochondriac midget named Gonzo and the Norse god Balder enchanted into the form of a lawn gnome as Cameron and his companions try to find Dr. X, a missing international rock phenomenon, and save the world along the way.

Libba Bray has called it, “The feel-good mad cow disease road trip book of the year”. She’s right. Never mind the fact that’s probably the only mad cow disease road trip book ever written. That doesn’t diminish my love one whit.

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