Great Power, Great Responsibility

A Great And Terrible Beauty

Libba Bray

With apologies to Spiderman, I'm starting this review with a paraphrase from him: With great power, comes great responsibility.  And that is also the theme of this book. Libba Bray's title is spot on. Power can be a great and terrible beauty.

I read a fascinating essay by Libba Bray a few weeks ago.  I didn't realize I owned the book but when I stumbled upon it in the bookshelf recently, I picked it up.  I wanted to see what else Libba Bray had to say.

A Great and Terrible Beauty is gothic, set in the Victorian era. After a family tragedy, Gemma Doyle moves from India to England to attend a women's finishing school.

The girls are being groomed to be the perfect society wives.  Their job will be to support their husband, not sully his name, and lie back and think of England. Through a bit of blackmail, Gemma secures a place with the most popular girls in school. Their tenuous friendship deepens, and as they realize their futures are looming, they also look for more freedom.

The discover a way to enter the Realms, the otherworld, and there they unleash a powerful, primordial magic.  Heady with their new power, the girls of The Order begin their adventures, but a powerful brother organization tries to thwart them.  The Order no idea how grave the consequences of their power can be.

While A Great and Terrible Beauty is a fun, mysterious YA read with a kick-ass heroine who seems attainable to any reader, it is also social commentary about coming of age and women's role in society.  You feel the frustration of Felicity, Gemma, and Pippa as they want more from their life than to just be a dutiful society wife. Living at the turn of the century, and with their newfound power, this might just be in their grasp.

A Cool, Classy YA Heroine, Great Action, and Romance

Book 47: Clockwork Angel

Cassandra Clare

Cassie Clare is back, with a fantastic new heroine and a deeper look into the world of the Shadowhunters.  Set in 1878, this first book in the Infernal Devices series brings Tessa Gray into London, searching for her brother. Just sixteen, Tessa finds herself kidnapped by members of the Pandemonium Club, a secret organization  made up of mundanes (humans), and Downworlders (Vampires, Werewolves, Warlocks, and Demons). There, Tessa learns she herself is a Downworlder, with the rare ability to transform into another person. Tessa learns she is to be married to the Magister, the unknown leader of the Pandemonium Club, because her transformation ability will help him further his nefarious plans.

With no sign of her brother, Tessa takes refuge with the Shadowhunters (very cool, skilled warriors who fight to rid the world of demons) at the London Institute.  They agree help Tessa find her brother, in exchange for Tessa using her powers to help them.  Of course, Tessa finds herself drawn to both Will and Jem, two of the Shadowhunters.

Fans of the Mortal Instruments series will find familiar names like Herondale and Lightwood, as well as familiar and favorite characters like Magnus Bane.  This book spoils nothing in Mortal Instruments series.

What I like about Clare is that she creates strong female characters without compromising their femininity. Sure, Tessa was shocked to learn that women in the Shadowhunters fought alongside the men, but when the going got rough, she doesn't wait on Will or Jem to save her. In fact, she relies on the story of Queen Boudica (who I also wrote about earlier in this blog) to help her fight.  She doesn't wrap up her happiness in finding true love.  She considers herself on equal footing with both her suitors.  


I don't know yet if I am Team Will or Team Jem in this series. I'm definitely Team Tessa, as I like this character. But we'll have to learn more about Jem and Will for me to make a decision there. And as any reader of the Mortal Instruments saga knows, Clare has some pretty dynamic plot twists that could have us all changing our minds.


Clare has written another winning book, and I can't wait for the sequel, which comes out in September 2011.


http://cassandraclare.com/cms/home

Book 26: Evermore

A line from Bon Jovi's "Living on a Prayer" is running through my head: "Who-ah, we're halfway there..." That's right. This is book 26.  I'm halfway through my goal of reading 52 books this year.  I'm excited to be at this point. But enough about that... on to the book!


Evermore is another young adult book.  I've been reading a lot of YA books lately, and while I'm certainly not in the targeted age group, I'm not alone in being the only one not in that age group devouring books in the genre.  Some friends and I were discussing why we've been reading so much YA lately. We've come to the conclusion that it's simply because there are some great stories being written for this group. And after all, we once were that age, so we can certainly appreciate the genre. With Evermore, I'm adding Alyson Noel to the ranks of Melissa Maar, Cassandra Clare, Maureen Johnson, and Richelle Mead- all YA authors in my library.


Evermore is the first of the "Immortals" series.  Ever Bloom has relocated to her aunt's home in southern California after a car accident claimed the lives of her parents, sister, and dog. She's mostly recovered from her injuries, save a scar on her forehead and, oh, yes, the ability to read the thoughts of everyone around her and see dead people. She's not sure what to do with this new psychic ability and deals with it by using her iPod to block out as much psychic noise as possible.  Then she meets Damen.  He's the one person whose aura she can't see, whose thoughts she can't read.  And this sets up the rest of the story, so I'm not going to say anything else about what happens. I don't want to be giving out any spoilers.


Evermore fits in well with the paranormal genre.  It doesn't try to be a Twilight, Vampire Academy, or Mortal Instruments.  Noel creates her own niche, so I didn't feel like there was any copycat storytelling going on.  Her characters are well drawn, realistic.  The story is fast paced. I found myself wanting to know the story of Damen- what IS he, and how are he and Ever tied together? What is he playing at with his inconsistent behavior? Why is Ever's dead sister visiting her?  Noel gives out the details of the story in little nuggets and hints that had me turning the page to see what I'd get to learn next. 


A quick read for me, entertaining.  Anyone who likes this genre would like this book. And I'll be checking out more from Alyson Noel.


http://www.amazon.com/Evermore-Immortals-Alyson-Noel/dp/031253275X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1273416555&sr=8-1