Need (YA Romance 2009 #3 of 6)

If it wasn't for the pixies in this book it would almost be too Twilight for me. A girl moves to a freezing town in the north (Maine in this case) to live with a person she hardly ever sees (her grandmother in this case) and catches the eye of a boy who doesn't give other girls much attention. Zara moves to Maine after her dad's death and becomes so depressed that her mom sends her away for a change of scenery. However, there is serious weirdness happening in Zara's new town. She feels like someone is following her and some of the kids at school detest each other more than normal. Zara also has a few issues, she's obsessed with phobias and also saving the world. That all said, the ending was pretty original and I did like it. Need (by Carrie Jones) isn't on my favorites list in the YA romance/urban fantasy genre though.

Ironside

I am on a sequel roll these days. Ironside is preceded by Holly Black's Tithe which I did like. I admit I get These Modern Faery's Tales confused sometimes with Melissa Marr's Wicked Lovely books because they both have that same dark, two faery court thing happening. I like them both, but Black's novels are darker and a bit creepier.

At the end of Tithe, Robein is set up to be the new king of the Unseelie Court but his former lover and queen of the Seelie Court is not really happy with that whole scenario. Kaye, Robein's new girlfriend (who importantly knows Robein's true name which gives her complete control over him) is also a pixie and wants to be Robein's consort. To become so, she declares herself to him and he gives her an impossible task to complete to show her worthiness to be his consort...this is all according to the faery traditions. So Kaye is sent out to find a faery who can lie. And no faery can lie.

Ink Exchange

Ink Exchange, Melissa Marr's sequel to Wicked Lovely, was just as fun as the first one. Aislinn and Keenan are the queen and king of the Summer Court of the faeries but they play a very small role in this book. It is Leslie who is the next mortal to be drawn into the pretty dark faery world. Leslie has been neglected and abused by her parents and her brother but she is tough. Really tough. She feels like everything she has can be taken away from her. She decides to have one thing that is completely her own, a tattoo. But the tattoo she gets isn't in ordinary ink, it is the blood of the king of the Dark Court, Irial. Irial must bind himself to her in order for his subjects to survive. And they survive by feeding of the emotions of those around them - lust, greed, pain, and fear. Leslie becomes sort of a conduit for mortal feelings but she no longer can feel any of those negative things herself. Aislinn and Keenan tried to protect her but Irial is pretty poweful. Throw a dark faery named Niall into the mix who is in love with Leslie and it's a great story.

The Name of the Wind (Book Awards II Challenge #6 of 10)

I will admit, I was daunted when I checked out Patrick Rothfuss' Alex Award winning first book of the Kingkiller Chronicles. At 665 pages this book seemed like serious business. But then I started reading and was totally sucked in.

Kote is an innkeeper. A quiet man making a living in a way he seems to enjoy. He is new in town but the bargoers like him. Then Chronicler comes. He is traveling to find Kvothe, a near mythical magician. Some say he is an assasin, others say he is a hero, almost everyone believes he is dead. But Kote is Kvothe and the Chronicler convinces him to tell his story. Though very reluctant at first, Kvothe agrees. This book is subtitled Day 1 and is so because the story is from the first day of three in which Kvothe will let the Chronicler write his life. The condition Kvothe sets is "Do not presume to ch ange a word of what I say. If I seem to wander, if I seem to stray, remember that true stories seldom take the straightest way."

This first book covers Kvothe's childhood through his teenage years. His life is sad, dangerous, and unpredictable. But he is a fantastic character. He has amazing talents and obvious flaws. Through his interactions with the Chronicler and his student Bast he is portrayed as a wise but tired man running from his past but through his story he becomes an increasingly complex and fascinating. I have to say I am quite looking forward to the next book in the trilogy.

Impossible

It would be difficult to try to categorize Nancy Werlin's National Book Award Finalist YA novel Impossible. It doesn't feel quite dark enough to be urban fantasy, not enough fantasy elements for standard YA fantasy, but not realistic enough to be realistic fiction. The romance is wonderful but not graphic or overdone. What it am going to call it is just a really good book. It is based on the song "Scarborough Fair" made famous by Simon and Garfunkle.

Lucy Scarborough is one of the women in a long line of women who have been cursed by the Elf Knight - they will go insane at the birth of their first child (always a daughter) unless they can complete three seemingly impossible tasks. Lucy is lucky enough to have fantastic foster parents (since her mom is crazy) and Zach who are willing to try to break the curse.

Wicked Lovely (YA Romance Challenge #4)

Melissa Marr's urban fantasy features Aislinn, the mortal girl who sees faeries, and Keenan, the Summer King of the faeries. Keenan's mother, the Winter Queen, is determined to see her son's power fade. For Keenan to save his Court, he must find the Summer Queen - a mortal who must risk becoming fey to find out if she is the one. Aislinn quite likes being mortal and, with her best friend Seth, must figure out a way to help Keenan and keep her own independence.

Wicked Lovely was a great romance. The faerie story was just dark enough and the ending tied enough loose ends to not be irritating while waiting for the next one, Ink Exchange, which I plan on reading at some point.

Evernight

Evernight is the first in a series of four novels by Claudia Gray about vampires. The fact that it is a four book series about vampires isn't the only thing that reminds me of the Twilight series. Bianca and her parents move to Evernight, a presitious boarding school, for her parents to teach. Bianca feels like she doesn't fit in with the all too beautiful crowd but is immediately attacted to Lucas, a boy who doesn't seem to fit in either. Lucas warns Bianca to be careful...he feels there is something sinister at Evernight but can't exactly figure out what. Well there certainly is out of the ordinary at Evernight - vampires.

Having read Twilight already, the similiaries were abundant and the differences almost threw me at times. I liked this book. I didn't love it but I liked it. There were times when the conversation was just too much. However, Gray throws some amazing twists in her story that I totally didn't see coming and I bet no one else did either.