Review: The Demon's Lexicon by Sarah Rees Brennan

Title: The Demon's Lexicon

Author: Sarah Rees Brennan

Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Awards: British Fantasy Award for Top Ten (2010), Cybils Award Nominee for Young Adult Fantasy & Science Fiction (2009), TAYSHAS High School Reading List (2010), ALA's Top Ten Best Books for Young Adults (2010)
Adult Content: mild
Keywords: demons, adventure, magic, brothers
Series: The Demon's Lexicon #1
Goodreads Synopsis: 

Nick and his brother, Alan, have spent their lives on the run from magic. Their father was murdered, and their mother was driven mad by magicians and the demons who give them power. The magicians are hunting the Ryves family for a charm that Nick's mother stole -- a charm that keeps her alive -- and they want it badly enough to kill again. 


Danger draws even closer when a brother and sister come to the Ryves family for help. The boy wears a demon's mark, a sign of death that almost nothing can erase...and when Alan also gets marked by a demon, Nick is desperate to save him. The only way to do that is to kill one of the magicians they have been hiding from for so long.

Ensnared in a deadly game of cat and mouse, Nick starts to suspect that his brother is telling him lie after lie about their past. As the magicians' Circle closes in on their family, Nick uncovers the secret that could destroy them all.

This is the Demon's Lexicon. Turn the page.

My Thoughts:

Subject/Originality: This book immediately brings you into a world of dark, evil magic, demons, really very nasty magicians, and, at the heart of it all, a mystery and adventure that brings it all together. The Demon's Lexicon is extremely refreshing. The evil is real, people. Proper evil. And Sarah Rees Brennan's well thought-out and wonderfully detailed magical world makes this book a great and original read.

Subject/Originality: * * * *

Storyline: Not only is this a great world, but the story is well structured and full of twists and turns to keep you interested. It's not Sherlock Holmes, but it's complex and exciting and just generally good. I suppose that's the best way to describe this book: good.

Storyline: * * * *


Characters: I love all the characters in this book, especially Nick. They're all interesting and clever (as in their characteristics, not that they're all Einsteins!) and well rounded. And I love Nick. He's perfect and strange and probably one of the best characters I've ever had the fortune to find in a book. I love him to pieces. He's dark, violent and uncaring, and when he's trying to be nice, it never quite goes right. He's really very sweet and endearing, despite his love of violence. A triumph of characterisation!

Characters: * * * * *


Writing Style: I love Sarah Rees Brennan's mixture of quirky sarcasm ('They thougth I was a baby bat' 'Oh yes, of course - most people think I'm a blueberry scone' !!), dark humour, chilling descriptions, and emotional realism. Seriously, this book is hilarious, but it's got a depth to it that a lot of funny books don't. Sarah Rees Brennan is a hit with me. Absolutely.

Writing Style: * * * * *


Enjoyability: This was one of my favourite books from the moment I read it. The copy I have now is stained, with dog-eared pages, pages that were soaked by my leaking boiler and dried out weirdly, a broken spine -  and just generally loved. A lot. I've probably re-read this book more than any other on my shelves, and I'm going to keep re-reading it till the cows come home. Does that say something for its enjoyability levels?!

Enjoyability: * * * * *


Overall: A fantastic read, on all counts. If you haven't got a copy already, get one. And then read it! And then tell me what you think =]

Word Rating: a good-good book

Star Rating:

Don't forget... !

Author Interview: Josephine Angelini, author of Starcrossed

Josephine Angelini is the author of the hottest new YA romance, Starcrossed, which was released today, May 31 2011. 


Lauren Kate, author of the bestselling paranormal romance Fallen, said that Starcrossed is 'a gorgeous, haunting saga'. So what does the author herself think about all this? Well, now she's come to Ramblings of a Teenage Novelist to give us an exclusive interview!


Ramblings: Starcrossed is a mixture of paranormal romance and Greek mythology. Where did you get the inspiration to use the Greek gods and the Trojan war as a springboard?

Josie: I saw a copy of The Iliad sitting right next to a copy of Romeo and Juliet on my bookshelf and asked my husband if he’d ever heard of anyone trying to mash up those two stories and tell it from a teen point of view. When his eyes lit up and he got all quiet, I knew I’d hit


Ramblings: Helen is a down-to-earth, shy and fun character - one that lots of teenage girls can relate to. Did any of your own personality leak into hers?

Josie: There is a little bit of me in all of my characters. But no, I’m not really a shy person! I am tall, though, and I did leak that into Helen.


Ramblings: Lots of writers talk about their 'inner editor'. Do you have one? How vocal is it? And how do you balance the editor and author in you?

Josie: Wow, an inner editor? One that can spell and everything? That would be awesome! See, I’m rotten at grammar and I tend to use run-on sentences and I never know what the heck to do with my commas. I think I need an inner editor, but I don’t think I have one. Unfortunately.


Ramblings: Do you have any quirky writing habits? Do you always write in the same room, or on the same type of paper, or while eating? Do you have a ritual to get you in the writing mood?

Josie: I have a system, for sure.  Writers are creatures of habit and I think that’s because writing is this really weird semi-trance state that needs a ritual to attain.  Now, before you think I’m getting all New Age on you, let me explain.

Creativity of any kind requires a certain level of concentration that is beyond the concentration it takes to, say, wash dishes or do laundry.  I know this because I do laundry and wash dishes every day.  I also write every day, and I’m pretty sure that if you hooked up one of those brain scan thing-ies to my head while I wrote you would see a totally unique pattern.

That kind of concentration takes preparation, and even some kind of ritual. Cats work for me. Cats and coffee. One to pep me up, and the other to calm me down. Plus, there’s something about a cat’s eyes, slitted in laziness, that makes me chill out and concentrate.


Ramblings: There's talk of a film of Starcrossed being made. Who would be your ideal cast? What scene would you be most excited about seeing on the big screen?

Josie: What the…? Okay, I’m not thinking about a movie at all. In fact, I’ve made up my mind to hold on to the film rights for the time being. I’m thinking about the books. I love books and I think they get better when you focus on them and not the movie that someone else wants to make out of them. No movie for me. Not until I’m done writing and I have exactly the story that I want to tell on paper.


Ramblings: So far, there are four different covers to Starcrossed. See them here. Do you have a favourite and why?

Josie: Picking favorites is so dangerous! Trust me, I know this because I’m the youngest of eight kids, and I know for a fact that any time you praise one of your children, you’re pretty much telling all the others that they suck.

So I love all my “children” book covers.


Ramblings: Are any of your characters based on real people?

Josie: Yes, and in some cases I didn’t even bother to change the name. Mr. Hergesheimer was my AP English teacher in high school. He and I fought constantly, usually over the merits of F. Scott Fitzgerald and Hemingway. I was so upset when I heard he had died. “Hergie” was a huge inspiration for me, and that’s why I had to put him in my book.


Ramblings: Some people are inspired by music, personal experience, or stories in the news. What grabs you and makes you want to write?

Josie: Hot boys. They inspire me like crazy.



Ramblings: How much have books like Twilight influenced your writing, do you think? Do you feel that Starcrossed takes the paranormal romance genre in a new direction?

Josie: I think Twilight defined Paranormal Romance, and every book in this genre from now on will be compared to it—until someone comes along and breaks all those rules.

It’s like Die Hard.  In the early 90’s, every action movie was compared to Die Hard, borrowed from Die Hard, tried to break the Die Hard weekend sales record. Heck, most action movies couldn’t even get made unless they had Bruce Willis attached to begin with. Then The Matrix came out and redefined action movies as a genre.

I don’t think I wrote the YA equivalent of The Matrix yet, but I’ll keep trying.


Ramblings: You've described yourself as 'Cinderella' in a 'rags to riches' fairytale. Any advice for we authors still at the 'rags' stage?

Josie: Yes, I do.

My dear friend Matt Mitchell left one bit of wisdom in my yearbook when we graduated. It was a quote from The Doors. Here it is… “The woods are lovely, dark, and deep. And I have miles to go before I sleep. Miles to go before I sleep.” Then he wrote “Never sleep, Josie.”

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve repeated those lines in my head. When you’re in rags, living hand to mouth and just struggling to pay rent, the whole world is a deep dark forest. But you won’t get out of it if you lay down and fall asleep.

Keep going.  You’ll find the path out of the woods—but only if you keep your eyes open and keep your feet moving.



Ramblings: Thank you so much, Josie!

You can reach Josephine Angelini's personal site and related sites here:

Josie's website

Josie's blog

Josie's publisher

What do you think of Starcrossed? Tell us in a comment below!

Next up...

Review: Sweetly by Jackson Pearce

Title: Sweetly
Author: Jackson Pearce
Publisher: Little, Brown
Adult Content: a little gore
Keywords: witch, werewolves, disappearance, fairytale
Star Rating: *
Word Rating: a bad-bad book

Twelve years ago, Gretchen, her twin sister, and her brother went looking for a witch in the forest. They found something. Maybe it was a witch, maybe a monster, they aren’t sure—they were running too fast to tell. Either way, Gretchen’s twin sister was never seen again.

Years later, after being thrown out of their house, Gretchen and Ansel find themselves in Live Oak, South Carolina, a place on the verge of becoming a ghost town. They move in with Sophia Kelly, a young and beautiful chocolatier owner who opens not only her home, but her heart to Gretchen and Ansel.

Yet the witch isn’t gone—it’s here, lurking in the forests of Live Oak, preying on Live Oak girls every year after Sophia Kelly’s infamous chocolate festival. But Gretchen is determined to stop running from witches in the forest, and start fighting back. Alongside Samuel Reynolds, a boy as quick with a gun as he is a sarcastic remark, Gretchen digs deeper into the mystery of not only what the witch is, but how it chooses its victims. Yet the further she investigates, the more she finds herself wondering who the real monster is, and if love can be as deadly as it is beautiful.

(courtesy of Goodreads)

This book was a disappointment. On the face of it, Sweeetly seems to be an intriguing tale of a young girl getting over the disappearance of her sister, and her determination to stop it from happening again. Okay, fine. Great. But what really ruined it for me was Pearce's decision to turn a perfectly good fairytale (Handsel and Gretel - notice the cheesy similarity in names?) into - wait for it - another paranormal romance. Don't get me wrong, I like a bit of vampires and werewolves and goodness knows what, but you'd think that the world had enough of them already, without everyone writing more.

See what I mean? Or maybe you don't, and I've just lost your good opinion for ever. Well, sorry. But the world's obsession with Edward and Jacob lookalikes and Twilight spin-offs is starting to irritate me. And the thing is: Sweetly could've been pretty good if it hadn't gone off on the 'oh, let's do paranormal romance' thing. It's more than a little disappointing.

Having said that, I'm sure this book is going to be very popular, because I know there are lots of you out there who can't get enough paranormal romances. And that's fine - we all get into reading-moods where all we want to read is a certain type of book. And this is a nice, interesting one, if you're looking for that kind of thing.

So if you want a paranormal romance, read this. If not, there are plenty of other, much better books out there waiting to be read!

Review: Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor (AC)

His eyes were like a lit fuse, scorching the air between them. He was the most beautiful thing Karou had ever seen.

Title: Daughter of Smoke and Bone
Author: Laini Taylor
Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton
Star Rating: **
Word Rating: a bad-good book
Keywords: supernatural, magic, love, angel
Adult Content: brief but explicit mention of sex

Karou is an art student, known for her mysterious drawings telling of monsters and demons. Little do those around her know that these stories are real. For she is not only an art student but a messenger - a messenger for the chimera Brimstone who collects teeth in exchange for wishes. Karou has never had to choose a life, living with one foot in each world, but as the doors to the world of the chimera close, she must make a dangerous decision. And so it is that she sets out on a desperate quest to rescue those she loves... and discover the truth about who she is.

I really enjoyed this book. It rips along at a great pace, and the world it portrays of angels and demons and chimera and artists, all in the setting of Prague, is wonderful and unique. And I completely didn't see the twist at the end! In this respect, it is very different to the paranormal romances that are going around at the moment. However, I feel it is also very similar to them in many ways, which irritated me. I've had enough of girls finding perfect (supernatural) boyfriends who are both incredibly handsome and incredibly virtuous. So, for me, although this book has the potential to be a breath of fresh air, a full five-star read, it is brought down by the fashion of the moment. Which is a real shame, because it started off being so unique and interesting.

Nevertheless, I know that a lot of girls my age can't get enough of paranormal romances, and I would therefore recommend it to girls between 14 and 16.

Excerpt: The Man With the Iron Teeth

I'm going to die.

It hit him like a blade in the stomach, punching air from his lungs and hope from his heart.
Desolation hung on every branch, weighing his legs and slowing his mind. Exhaustion crusted his eyes, freezing the lashes together.

He stumbled, life crumbling beyond his reach, forest spinning out of control.
Boots in the snow.

'I'm going to kill you, Sigfried.' The voice caressed with blazing knives.

Calm.

Quiet.

Evelyn.

She echoed through the trees and watched from the sky. He felt for her strength, and found it among the folds of his heart.

'Yes. I know.'

The man smiled. His teeth were iron, his eyes moltern. Like an inquisitive child, he pulled a knife from the folds of his cloak. Heaven reflected from its blade.

And then Sigfried was falling, clutching his wife's hand with tight fingers. He saw her face, heard her voice; as red and white turned to black.

Then the man with the iron teeth laughed over the corpse of his friend. He had the cunning of the fox, the strength of the bear, and the hunger of the wolf.

But if you cut him open, you'd find no heart at all.