Tuesday, July 19, 2011

Sirensong by Jenna Black

Hello All,

Sirensong is the book that's taking me back into reviewing young adult novels. Jenna Black's Sirensong is the third in her Faeriewalker series, and I was very brave and started with this volume; I prefer to start at the beginning of a series. I'm glad I didn't wait.

Dana Hathaway is a Faeriewalker; she is part human, part Faerie. She lives in Avalon, a sort of no-man's land between those two worlds. Dana's father is a politician of sorts, and when Dana is invited to be presented at the Seelie Court in Faerie, he insists on the trip. The trip is a hazardous one, with lots of warring magic and other troubles. Dana is not supposed to have any magical powers, but she does, and she keeps it hidden until it becomes absolutely necessary.

There is a lot of magic, characters, creatures, species, adventure, danger and heroism in this book. The first two books must be interesting also, to build this world.

Slight problems I had with this book were popular culture references; they jolted me out of the story several times, and weren't necessary to the plot.

Definitely recommended for fantasy readers.

Happy Reading!
Patti

Sirensong by Jenna Black, Griffin Original, 2011, ISBN 9780312575953

This book was sent to me for review by Griffin Original/Macmillan Publishers; no other compensation was offered or accepted for this review.

Monday, July 4, 2011

Long Gone by Alafair Burke

Hello All,

Thanks to HarperCollins, I now have another author to read. They very kindly sent a review copy to me of Alafair Burke's Long Gone. And I'm hooked.

Long Gone is the story of Alice Humphrey, the 30-something unemployed daughter of a famous (and philandering) Hollywood director. At an art gallery one evening, she is offered a dream job of opening a gallery and running it herself. The hitch is that an undisclosed owner has taken an artist under his wing, and Alice must open the gallery with that artist's exhibit. She agrees to these conditions, then discovers that the art could be considered to be pornographic. The opening goes forward, but is picketed by a religious group. Two days after the gallery's opening, Alice is to meet the owner's go-between at the gallery; she shows up, only to find the gallery completely cleaned out, no sign of any occupancy, except for the dead body on the floor.

This is only the beginning of Alice's nightmare. She wants to trust the police, but she's their prime suspect. Eventually the nightmare evolves to encompass her family, her friends, a missing girl and the FBI. What I appreciated about this suspenseful story is that despite all that happens to her, Alice usually takes a split moment to think through her actions, and her safety; this is not always the way in suspense novels.

Highly recommended.
Happy Reading!
Patti

Long Gone by Alafair Burke published in 2011 by Harper ISBN 978006199918

This book was sent to me for review by HarperCollins Publishers; no other compensation was offered or accepted for this review.