Mini Reviews: Afterwards by Rosamund Lupton and The Cutting Season by Attica Locke

I don't read a ton of it, but every once in awhile there's nothing like a good mystery novel to get keep my attention, and Afterwards by Rosamund Lupton was exactly that. The story begins with a school on fire, and Grace, a mother, knows that her daughter Jenny is inside. She races in and finds her in time, but that is only the beginning of their trouble, as the arsonist is still on the loose and whoever it is still wants to destroy her family. There is an unexpected slightly supernatural element to the book, but even if I didn't totally buy it, it worked in context.

Like the successful mystery novel it is, Afterwards was full of twists and turns that kept me guessing. It's a pretty long book at 400 pages, and I admit I might have (digitally) flipped towards the end to get some details just so I could go to sleep without finishing it. It was intense and exciting and wonderful. Ultimately, I picked this book up looking for a good mystery novel, and I went away completely satisfied. Afterwards is an unexpected, sometimes strange and unusual novel, but it was a great read for me and left me eager to read Lupton's much-loved debut novel, Sister, in the future.

Obviously Afterwards left me in a mystery-craving mood because the next book I finished was The Cutting Season by Attica Locke. The novel centers around a historic plantation house in Louisiana, Belle Vie, and Caren, the woman who has managed it for the last four years but has long had ties to the place. When a dead body turns up, Caren is drawn into the investigation, uncovering many secrets along the way.

The Cutting Season initially caught my attention as a mystery, but as soon as I started reading I realized it was more than that. If anything, it falls into the category of 'literary mystery' because of Locke's detailed writing and eloquent prose, but with an unexplained murder underpinning the entire novel. Unlike Lupton's novel, there is definitely nothing supernatural about it, but that doesn't it stop it from having some pretty creepy moments.

My major issue with the novel was that it was too slow-paced at times, in particular because I was looking for a mystery, and that meant that as beautiful as Locke's writing is, it often had difficulty keeping my attention. I didn't have an incredibly strong connection to Caren either, which made me less invested in the outcome and also probably contributed the fact that the book took me an entire month to read– in comparison to the two days that Afterwards took. That said, for readers looking for a complicated and original story, an incredibly setting, and beautifully written prose, The Cutting Season is still worth checking out.

Release Date: April 24th 2012 / September 18th 2012   Pages: 400 / 384   
Format: E-galley /ARC   Source: NetGalley / Publisher 

Mini Reviews: Birthmarked and Unearthly Tie-In Short Stories

Two of my favourite recent trilogies; Birthmarked by Caragh M. O'Brien and Unearthly by Cynthia Hand, both had connected online-only content released right around the time the third and final novels were. I was really excited to read both, and thought I'd give my opinion on whether or not they are worthwhile.

First is "Ruled", a short story by Caragh M. O'Brien that takes place between Prized and Promised in her Birthmarked Trilogy. Like O'Brien's other short story, "Tortured"– reviewed here– which takes place between Birthmarked and Prized, it's also told from Leon's point of view.

It's a sweet story, that shows Leon visiting Gaia, wanting to give her a bracelet but instead ending up participating in a birth. It really helps to show Leon's outsider status, how he doesn't really belong. It also really shows how Leon feels about Gaia's distance. Reading the other books from Gaia's perspective, it's a lot easier to see where she's coming from when she has a hard time committing to Leon, whereas reading from his perspective is heart-breaking.

I did have a problem with vocabulary though, because at  one point, Leon calls Peter a "tool" and I definitely don't remember that vocabulary from the other Birthmarked books, though it's possible it was used, but in this context at least it took me out of the world O'Brien had created. It might have especially been a problem because with a short story there is so little time to bring that world alive again, every word counts.

Even though "Ruled" didn't blow me away like the full novels in the Birthmarked Trilogy have, it was definitely an enjoyable quick little read with some further insight into the characters, and after finishing Promised it was nice to return to the series, even for a moment.

"Radiant" is actually a novella-length story by Cynthia Hand that takes place between books 2 and 3 in the Unearthly Trilogy. Interestingly, unlike the full novels that are told strictly from Clara's perspective, "Radiant" alternates between Clara and Angela's viewpoints.

As always, I adored Hand's writing and I definitely think picking up "Radiant" is worthwhile. Unlike most ebook tie-ins, like "Ruled", that might provide a bit more character insight, "Radiant" actually provides more story insight. I haven't read the final Unearthly novel, Boundless, yet so I'm not sure how much will be revealed in it, but there is definitely new material and things I didn't know about the story just from reading Unearthly and Hallowed. "Radiant" also ends on a pretty intense note.

It was also really interesting to experience the Italian setting of "Radiant" as it takes place during the summer after Clara's final year of high school, following her mom's death and breakup with Tucker. So of course there wasn't any Tucker, just a few thoughts of him, and that was definitely something I missed. Angela's boy does play an important role though, and there is quite a bit of intrigue there that definitely left me worried about where things are going next. Ultimately, even though "Radiant" might not technically be necessary, I think it was a hundred percent worthwhile to read before picking up Boundless and I'm so glad I did.

Overall, two well-written tie-stories that I would definitely recommend picking up. "Ruled" is more of a quick bit of insight into Leon's thoughts, as well as seeing Gaia participate in a birth which was also pretty cool. In contrast, the much longer "Radiant" has time to develop new aspects of the story, which means I think picking it up is not only necessary, but a thrilling and enjoyable experience. I'm sad to see both the Unearthly and Birthmarked trilogies come to an end, but glad to have this extra time with them thanks to O'Brien and Hand's online stories. These are definitely two series I'll be recommending for years to come.

Mini Reviews: Seraphina and Struck Tie-in Short Stories

Lately, so many awesome young adult novels have equally impressive free short stories to accompany them, and the two I read most recently tie into Seraphina by Rachel Hartman (review here) and Struck by Jennifer Bosworth (review here). In both cases, the stories take place before the events of the novels, but in the first case it is immediately before, while in the latter it is many years earlier. However, neither story has any spoilers to the novel it accompanies and both can definitely be read before, or after, those books.

"The Audition" takes place right before Seraphina when the title character has gone to audition for the role of royal assistant music composer as well as the Princess' music tutor. It's a cute little story that corresponds well with what the reader later learns about the characters. I thought it especially was a good introduction to the Princess, showing her sense of humour. Seraphina came across as honest and nervous, and the way that she invited Orma, her music tutor, to come with her but not her father was really telling.

Even though it ties into a high fantasy novel "The Audition" honestly isn't. It's not about dragons or magic or anything like that. It's really just about one girl and her feelings. And despite that, Hartman captures the struggle in a pure and well-written way. After reading Seraphina I didn't feel like I was missing any of the story, but it was still great to have this added little insight into the character's experiences and what brought her to the royal palace in the first place. For that reason, I think "The Audition" would be great to read before Seraphina.

"Prophet" gives further background to the villain of Bosworth's Struck in a way the novel attempts, but doesn't fully reveal because it is told from the perspective of a different character. Instead of Mia, this is Prophet's story, only told back when he was simply Rance Ridley, the son of a cult leader. Before everything changed, and he became the person Mia meets. It's a soft introduction to him, and gives him a more human side that isn't really portrayed in Struck and for that reason I thought it was a nice little addition to the series.

Unlike "The Audition", I feel like "Prophet" is more interesting after having read the novel it accompanies. That's because reading Struck, I loved to hate Prophet, and I thought there was enough background for him as a character. Sure, it was a bit mysterious, but most bad guys are. Still, picking up this short story afterwards I definitely enjoyed being let into the character's mind and finding out the truth about the events that made him who he is. The story itself is strongly written and dramatic, and even though I knew how things were going to turn out in the end, I still really enjoyed reading it.

Great, basically spoiler-free little short stories that can be picked up for free– The Audition here, and Prophet here– these are definitely worthwhile reads if you're interested in the novels they accompany. Thought I found both to be quite a bit different than the books themselves, Hartman's story lacks the real fantasy element and Bosworth's is told from a completely different character's perspective, they fill in some of the gaps in the stories in a way fans of the novels, including me, can definitely appreciate.

Mini Reviews: Divergent and The Gathering Tie-in Short Stories

Note: These reviews contain spoilers of the novels that the short stories tie into, Divergent and The Gathering.

I like to review every book I read, even the tiny ones, and so last time I read a couple short stories that tied into novels I'd loved I did some mini reviews on them (see here). Now I have stories from two other awesome authors, Veronica Roth with a tie-in for Divergent and Kelley Armstrong with two tie-ins for The Gathering. Although both novels have sequels I've read recently, and loved, it's been about a year since I picked up the originals and these stories were a great opportunity to revisit some crucial scenes from those novels.

Roth's Free Four and Armstrong's The Invitation retell scenes from the original novels from the perspective of the male love interest, which seems to be common in these free tie-in short stories, as that's what happened in both Miranda's Eleven Minutes and O'Brien's Tortured. But if that's a new thing for authors to do, I'm not complaining, as I loved the insight into what those moments would have been like for the guys, and it was great to get a chance to find out exactly what the character's voice was like.

In Free Four by Roth, she retells the Divergent scene that involves Four throwing knives at Tris, his future girlfriend. As a reader we get to see how Four feels about her, before any of the romance has had a chance to happen. Tris is such a strong narrator in the Divergent Trilogy that it was really cool to see what she is like from an outside perspective. Unsurprisingly, this is a really intense read– even though you know that Tris isn't going to get a knife into her face, I found myself anxious as things unfolded, because that's how Four feels. Overall, it was really cool to see the other side of the story, and I hope that Roth decides to do this again with an Insurgent scene in the future.

The New Guy and The Invitation are two bonus short stories available in a special e-book of  Kelley Armstrong's The Gathering, but she's also posted them on her website which is awesome. Like Free Four they really compliment the original novel and provide plenty of spoilers if you haven't already read it. If you have picked up The Gathering then these are both a great way to get a little more insight into the characters and the events that unfolded.

In The New Guy, Maya has to deal with her first day back at school, a day that used to be her best friend Serena's favourite day, and it includes some flashbacks into what life was like two years ago when Serena was still alive and gives the reader an even better idea of her personality. It also contains the first meeting between Rafe and Maya, which I thought was really interesting to read especially since I knew how things ended up between them.

The second bonus short story from The Gathering is The Invitation, which is written from Rafe's perspective and shares the scene when he goes to Maya's birthday party. It also showed some interaction between Annie and Rafe, which I found especially neat to read about because I got to see how Rafe felt about his sister, and how much he wanted the "real" Annie back. As a result, it was even more clear why Rafe was willing to use Maya to make that happen. Armstrong also did a great job of showing the complex dilemma going through Rafe's mind, even as he was happy that Maya might be the one he was looking for, he was already dreading having to tell her the truth about what he was doing there, already realizing that it would probably be impossible for her to trust him once she found out the truth.

Overall, I really enjoyed all three of these short stories. Free Four, The New Guy and The Invitation all give added insight and development to two amazing novels. It is especially neat to read scenes you already know from the perspective of another character, and I feel like Roth and Armstrong both did an awesome job with the new point-of-view and male voice. I don't think any of these short stories work on their own, but if you've read and loved Divergent and The Gathering like I have, you'll definitely want pick up these stories as well.

Mini Reviews: Hallowed by Cynthia Hand and Prized by Caragh M. O'Brien

Two of my favourite novels I read in 2011 were definitely Unearthly by Cynthia Hand and Birthmarked by Caragh M. O’Brien, and I was so excited to dive into their follow-ups. Luckily, neither author disappoints and I've decided to do mini reviews for these two intense novels. Plus, I’ve somehow managed to discuss them without spoiling the first novels in the series, incase you somehow managed to miss out when they were first released (and you can now fix that by getting them in paperback!)

Hallowed is the sequel to Cynthia Hand’s debut novel, Unearthly, in which part angel Clara Gardner is torn between her quest, and reason for existing, and the boy that’s not a part of it. The complicated love triangle continues in Hallowed, in which Clara deals with love, lost, and trying to figure out who she is. Hallowed was even more intense than its predecessor, in particular due to a tragic event I did not see coming. What Hand does so well in her novels, besides for a charming love interest with a Southern accent, is make Clara, despite her powers, relatable.

The Unearthly Trilogy is a unique spin on coming of age novels, in which teenage concerns are only part of the growing responsibility that Clara faces. The only thing that I didn’t enjoy about reading Hallowed is how the final book won’t be released until 2013. There’s also a decision made at the ending of the book that I didn’t agree with and I’m seriously hoping that Clara redeems herself in book three.

As much as I loved O’Brien’s dystopian debut, Birthmarked, featuring the strong heroine Gaia and perfect for fans of The Hunger Games, I did not expect the follow up to be anything like Prized. In fact, Prized takes place in a totally different world than Birthmarked, in which Gaia has to face a slew of new and incredibly difficult trials when she finds herself in a community where women are the minority, and the rulers. The perverse truth is that although things are extremely different than the marginalization that Gaia is used to, they aren’t any better. In this world, a kiss is a crime, and for Gaia, falling in love may be the most difficult struggle of all.

My only disappointment with Prized was that after being accustomed to such a strong heroine in Birthmarked it was disappointed to see how weak Gaia became, accepting society’s norm without the fierce questioning that characterized her in book one. Though in context, it is slightly more understandable, it was a relief when she got some of her fire back.

Overall, at a time when bookstores are flooded with paranormal and dystopian stories, Hand and O’Brien have managed to write two with compelling and authentic characters, as well as storylines so intense it’s amazing I didn’t get paper cuts while flipping the pages of these books, they were that heart-pounding. If you’re unsure about continuing these series, or if you’ve managed to miss out on them so far, the release of the second books in the Unearthly and Birthmarked Trilogies is a perfect excuse to get started because if anything, the second books get better.

Mini Reviews: Birthmarked and Fracture Tie-In Short Stories

So one of the great things about the internet is that many authors have started to release tie-in short stories to accompany their novels. Of course, nothing too curial can happen in these (they save that for the books!) but it does give the reader the chance to get some added insight, often from a different character perspective. And the best part is when, like the two I'm reviewing today, they're free.

Tortured is set between Caragh O'Brien's debut novel, Birthmarked and its sequel, Prized. I think it works best if you've already read the first two books, just because there were some aspects of Prized that I didn't expect, and if I'd picked up Tortured first that would ruin them. Definitely not to be read until after Birthmarked though!

This short story is written from Leon's perspective, and it gives the reader a chance to experience first hand what a strong character he is. The Birthmarked Trilogy is really driven by the strong, female, lead character Gaia, so it was nice to see that O'Brien gave her a courageous love interest. Tortured is also heart-breaking because Leon, like Gaia, doesn't know if the other has survived. Having read Prized, and knowing what happens next, makes Tortured all the more painful. Overall, a nice short addition to a fantastic trilogy, recommended if you loved the books.

In Fracture, Megan Miranda's debut novel, a lot changes in eleven minutes for Delaney Maxwell. Those are the eleven minutes she spends trapped under the ice, while her best friend Decker tries to save her. In the free tie-in short story, Eleven Minutes, the reader gets the beginning of Fracture from Decker's perspective, including the time Delaney spends in a coma. Because Eleven Minutes is written from Decker's perspective and takes place early on, there is no hint of the paranormal that haunts Fracture. The result was actually a short story I preferred to the full novel.

Unlike Tortured, I actually think Eleven Minutes works on its own as a short story, but if you read it without having picked up Fracture it will likely leave you desperate for answers about what happens next.

I think what surprised me most about Eleven Minutes was what a compelling contemporary story it was– it even left me hopeful that Miranda decides to write a full-length contemporary in the future. There were also some beautiful phrases, like "Is this how it feels to drown? Maybe you didn’t even realize you were cold, dead, until something living touched you." And of course, having a look into the events from Decker's perspective only made me more fond of him.

Ultimately Tortured and Eleven Minutes are very different, but what they have in common is that they are two short stories, two different love interests having their say, and two great, quick reads for fans of the books they accompany.