The Ghost of Graylock by Dan Poblocki

I just finished this book minutes ago, and am now on cool down. This book is exquisite and anybody who likes ghost stories should read it. Never have I read a more satisfying end to a ghost story than I did twenty minutes ago.

 The Ghost of Graylock

Dan Poblocki

Staying with their aunts over the summer, Neil Cady, his sister Bree, and their new friends Wesley and Eric, set out to explore Graylock Hall, an abandoned psychiatric hospital that is supposed to be haunted by the ghost of Nurse Janet.



I ought to find a list of official genres and sub-genres. This book is a Juvenile Fiction Ghost Story, I guess. And it's scary.

Rating:☆☆☆☆☆

This book is absolutely stunning. I loved the characters, even if Bree was inconsistent (apparently I have issues with inconsistencies more than anything else.)  and the settings were amazing. Graylock is so chilling and Hedston is the picture of...Hedston.

My favorite part was definitely the ending, even though all of it was beautiful. And the climax was scary and I read it sitting in a windowsill which was a bad idea and it totally freaked me out and it was awesome. I'm sort of like, Why was this in the kids section, I don't get scared and it scared me. But it was amazing so.

It's small and short and it took me longer to read than it should (I'm a bad person. Shunshunshun.) and it was lovely. I keep saying that.

I have no negative comments about this book.

Go read it.

And now that life is back to being normal, I have to figure out what to read next. I'd ask for suggestions if I'd actually take you people at your word and not read whatever the heck I wanted. But I will read whatever the heck I want, so it's not worth it. (And I doubt that many people are actually reading, so.)

Anyways. Peace out.

Book Review - The House of the Scorpion by Nancy Farmer

Just finished this book like ten minutes ago, and wow. It was really, really good. (I'm not quite on an I LOVE THIS BOOK SO STINKING MUCH level, but it really was great.)

The genre was Sci-Fi, and it's set in a futuristic-type world with a mostly Mexican or New Mexican setting feel. I didn't really pay attention to SPECIFICS and such, because I rarely do and prefer the feel of something rather than THIS IS FUTURISTIC MEXICO, THE UNITED STATES HAS FALLEN, LOOK THERE'S A NEW COUNTRY. (That's actually sorta...what it is. But not really. So never mind.)

To put it simply, it's a story about a Clone and his adventures. Though it's not quite as random as that sounds. It's a story about a Clone and his...life, basically. It was just really cool with a rather uncomplicated (mildly predictable) plot line and lots of enjoyable characters.

Matt, Celia, Maria, Tam Lin. They were all just great and felt really human.

It's sort of hard for me to distinguish pros and cons of it, really. It's YA, so there was some language, but nothing really all that bad, the plot was cool, the writing was actually probably my favorite part, to be honest. I loved the way it was written. I dunno. The prose was really yummy and foamy.

All in all, if you want a book that:

A - Will capture your attention
B - Will not leave you feeling drained or feeling like the world has ended because it's over
C - Has fun characters and good prose

Then this is a book for you and I'd certainly give it a rec. It was really enjoyable.

As for writing news, I am going to be WORLD  BUILDING today and tomorrow. Huzzah. Because I only have until Monday to plan my NaNo. Because Monday I get to start Other Worlds.

In other words: This NaNo, which was supposed to be totally planned out and brilliant, is instead going to be pantsed.

Fun stuff.

That is all,
~Tiffaniey

Book Report: Incarceron by Catherine Fisher

"A prison like no other.
It gives life.
It deals death.
 it watches all." 

What if the prison had a name? What if that prison's name was more than Metro City Prison for the Criminally Gifted, what if that prison's name was Incarceron, and what if it could speak to you?
What if the prison wasn't just a building. What if it was a being, and it controlled everything that went on inside it. This amazing, Fantasy Steampunk book by Catherine Fisher gives us those questions, and so much more.

I will explain. No. Sum up, for there is too much.

Incarceron is a prison like no other. It has been sealed for centuries, the door closed on its forests of metal, its cells, its cities, its mountain ranges, and only one man, as the legend goes, has ever escaped.

Finn is a seventeen year old prisoner who can't remember his childhood. He just woke up, he claims, and believes he came from Outside Incarceron. He's determined to escape, even though most of Incarceron's prisoners don't believe that the Outside...even exists.

And then Finn discovers a crystal key, and through it meets a girl, named Claudia.

Claudia lives Outside. Her father is the Warden of Incarceron and Claudia is doomed to an arranged marriage. If she helps Finn escape, she'll need his help in return.

But there's more to Incarceron than meets the eye; twists, turns, quakes, upheavals that nobody would ever expect.

Because Incarceron is alive.

What an adventure, this book. Just wow. Characters you grow to love. Finn, Claudia, Kiero, Attia, all of them. Gentle Jared, mysterious Warden, snobby Caspar and his mother Queen Sia. What better people to spend four hundred pages with?

The prose was lovely. Absolutely lovely. And the ending tied up just enough and left just enough open for the sequel, Sapphique, to keep you wanting more and yet content that at least this phase of the story is done.

I have no negative comments. I honestly found nothing wrong with this book. One or two confusing POV changes, but I'm putting that down to me reading while tired, because this book is pristine.

Five out of five stars, and high on the recommendations list.

Now for Sapphique.

May your pen stay swift and your sword never drift,
~Tiffaniey

The Book Thief - by Markus Zusak

Well folks. I finished this book a matter of minutes ago.

It's being shelved among my favorites, and I'm adding the style it's written in to my list of inspiring writing styles. (Which now numbers two, by the way. )

I laughed, cried in the dance studio, and read those last twenty five pages utterly shocked. Totally and completely shocked.

Wonderful Things:

The writing, obviously. Zusak's style is dark, haunting, and lilting. He plays up description and inserts tidbits that are out of setting. He makes use of his adverbs, adjectives, and flat verbs in a way that simply makes the prose sparkle.

The characters. I'm naturally averse to female heroes. Don't ask why, 'cause I don't know, but I am. Yet here, I really grew to love Leisel Meminger. I really did. While the story is not "technically" told from her "Point of view" we're attached to her. And very attached.

Rudy. Max. Hans. Ilsa. All of them. They're so deep and human. Amazing.

And then there's Death. Yes, Death. This story is told in Death's words.

Death himself has a character all his own. I proudly label myself a Death fangirl.

There are a lot of positive things about this book. A lot.

Not-So Wonderful Things

Quite a bit of language. It didn't bother me overmuch, but I'm veeery tolerant. The biggest problem with it I think is that it's recurring.  Not rapid fire, but certainly there. So that's kinda unsavory.

I tend to...not overlook, but wave at, language, when it's more prominent than "romantic" things. I'd much rather have the former than the latter, personally. As for the latter, there was next to none, which I was overly grateful for. There is one chapter that I skimmed. One might guess from its title, The Thought of Rudy Naked. XP To my knowledge it didn't hold overmuch important info, so skimming or skipping doesn't ruin it.

And that's it. I was impressed.

It's CERTAINLY not a children's book. Duh. :P It's dark and could be depressing, and there's the aforementioned not-so-wonderful things. But for me, it was amazing. The writing, the characters....The Book Thief glimmers, and it's a book I'm going to be reading again and again.

"I have hated the words and I have loved them, and I hope I have made them right." 
~Leisel Meminger.

So many great quotes. I'll write them down sometime.

The verdict: Amazing and inspiring to me. Don't read if you're squeamish of language or darkness. But it's an amazing read. <3

~Cecilie.

Airborn - Kenneth Oppel

Zdrastvuytye!

So, I just finished this book, and here's the review for it I've been dying to write. =D

I recently finished this book, Airborn, by Kenneth Oppel, and LOVED it. I'm always exceedingly wary of books I pick up just by browsing the teen section at the library, but I was highly, highly impressed by this book.


The story setting is mildly Steampunk, and we go various places within the world, including a - seemingly uninhabited - island, where most of the story takes place. It is about a young man, Matt Cruse, who is a cabin boy on the airship Aurora, and who feels suffocated when not flying, and Kate de Vries, the daughter of two very highly esteemed people who has a passion for adventure.

Matt is a fearless person. He loves being in the sky. So when a hot air balloon is discovered in distress, Matt is the one to help. He swings out from the Aurora to aid the pilot of the balloon, Benjamin Malloy. His fate is sealed. His balloon has been nigh destroyed, and he has obviously been drifting for days. He soon passes. But not long after that, who should appear on board Aurora but Kate de Vries, who brings startling news to Matt.  And from there everything skyrockets into an adventure. Starting with sky pirates and running through shipwrecked, the adventure is a rollercoaster ride.

The ending of the book could be left as is, but there is a sequel, Skybreaker, and after that is Starclimber.



I
Loved
This
Book

On so many levels.

The characters. Matt is an extremely deep and wonderful character. I love how developed and real he feels. And Kate, while independent, is actually SMART, and not annoying in the least, though can be a touch forward at times. I actually didn't mind spending time with her, which was very very nice.

The dialogue. It was so simply smooth and realistic that I was just....@_@ Wow.

The writing. Best part of the book, and I'm not even kidding. While everything else was simply wondrous, Oppel's writing style takes the cake. It's engaging, enchanting, captivating. His writing style is literally my favorite out of anyone's I've read to date. It's amazing. Even if you don't like steampunk, read this book, because it's not too steampunkish to begin with, and the writing is off the charts wonderful.

I loved this book, and now command you all to read it. *queenly look*

=P

~Cecilie