Born Wicked by Jessica Spotswood

Born Wicked  by Jessica Spotswood

Cate Cahill's mother warned her not to do magic outside of the garden. She warned her to keep her sisters safe or there would be dire consequences. But now Cate's mother is dead and those words of advice are weighing heavily on Cate's shoulders.

In Cate's world, there had been a time when women with magic were in charge. The witches ruled and were not to be messed with. Those days are long gone now though and the Brothers run New England and will not hesitate to persecute anyone they suspect is still practicing witchcraft.

So now Cate's stuck in a seriously precarious position. If she keeps her sisters under lock and key to keep their magic under wraps they look stranger and stranger to society. Being over educated and antisocial might bring the attention of the Brothers anyway. But, if they go out to parties and teas as the other ladies do, what will happen if one Tess or Maura or even Cate slips up and lets her magic loose? Which option is less dangerous? Cate isn't sure and there's no one for her to ask. The wrong decision could mean disaster for the Cahill sisters.

This is a really romantic book. It's lush, vivid and dreamy (though the dreamy quality feels like it could turn night-marish at any moment). This is the beginning of a series and though the plot wraps up at the end, you'll be looking forward to finding out what happens after. I know I am. It's a really interesting alternate take on New England and the Brothers' control gives the book a very tense atmosphere that makes every move Cate makes feel weighty and dangerous.

Also this book has a seriously pretty trailer:

Up and Coming: I Hunt Killers by Barry Lyga

Librarian M is once again visiting us with an extremely creepy recommendation to be on the look out for:

I Hunt Killers by Barry Lyga

Jazz Dent is a charming guy. He has a girlfriend and a best friend and a part in the school play. Oh, and his father is a notorious serial killer who involved Jazz in his murders until he was caught and locked away four years ago. That’s gotta have an effect on a guy, right?

Lobo’s Nod, Jazz’s home town, is still very wary of Jazz- and Jazz worries that they may be right to be concerned. His dad taught him the tricks of the serial killer trade so well that Jazz finds himself having inappropriate thoughts about killing people and he doesn’t know if he will ever feel compelled to act upon these thoughts. When a new killer shows up in Lobo’s Nod, Jazz thinks that if he can help the police solve the case this will help make up for his horrifying past and his potentially horrifying future.

This book is not for the faint of heart (or weak of stomach), but I recommend it for anyone who likes their characters’ inner demons to be truly demonic.


If you like this one, other titles to take a closer look at:

I Am Not a Serial Killer (for another potential serial killer)
Rotters (for another twisted father/son relationship)
The Babysitter Murders (for another look at troubling thoughts)

Scarlet by A.C. Gaughen

Katie tells us about a brand new version of Robin Hood...
 
Scarlet by A.C. Gaughen

Retellings of classic tales are very in vogue right now--Pride & Prejudice, Sense & Sensibility, Jane Eyre. Classic romances have been revived, but Scarlet  by A.C. Gaughen is cause for celebration as it marks the revival of the classic adventure story and the return of Robin Hood.

Meet Will Scarlet--member of Robin Hood’s merry band of men, skilled thief, knife fighter, and complete mystery to most. Only Robin’s inner circle know that Scarlet is actually a girl. And only Scarlet knows what her life was like before Robin found her thieving in London. As Scarlet works with Robin, John Little, Much, and Tuck to protect the poor, nothing more seems to matter than her abilities to steal and fight. That is, until the past catches up with her present in the form of thief-taker Lord Gisbourne. Suddenly, Scarlet is thrust into a battle for her life and the life of those she loves.

Scarlet has the level of action and suspense that is usually reserved for dystopian novels these days. Gaughen doesn’t spend a lot of time dwelling on the setting of England under King Richard. Instead she cuts right to the good stuff that we all love about Robin Hood--the high adventure, the noble causes brought to fruition by underhanded and clever means, and the romance. Scarlet’s name reflects the scars she carries both inside and out, but her strength to still fight for what is right against the odds is what makes her such an appealing heroine, both to the reader and to Robin Hood and John Little.

An amazing stand alone book (that leaves just enough of an open door to welcome a possible sequel someday), it’s perfect for anyone who loves a good fight scene or ever had a crush on Robin Hood.
 

What Do You Mean You Never Read: The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton

It's been a while since we've done one of these, but Katie had a hankering to revisit one of her old favorites.

The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton

The 150th anniversary of Edith Wharton’s birth was this month, which puts her firmly in the “Old, Dead Writers Club.” You may have even been assigned The Age of Innocence or Ethan Frome in your English classes. Which is all well and good, but it’s The House of Mirth that you really, really need to read. I picked it up in high school looking for an American answer to Jane Austen and instead found something entirely new and remarkable.

Lily Bart is young, witty, beautiful, and loves a good party. She’s also single at the turn of the century (the 20th century that is) and looking for love AND money. Lily wants to create her own destiny, or to put it more simply, she wants to have it all. As we follow Lily down a path of parties, men, social climbing, and struggle in privileged New York City, it’s hard to not fall a little bit in love with her, because despite it all--missteps, living beyond her means, desperation, depression--it’s easy to see ourselves in her even 100 years later and hopefully learn something from her mistakes in the process.

This book is smart, funny, and oh so heartbreaking. Edith Wharton is Jane Austen with an edge and Lily Bart is her 19th century Carrie Bradshaw. Although for once I can’t promise you a happy ending, this book is definitely worth a trip away from the New Books display and back in time. Maybe while eating a cupcake in honor of Ms. Wharton’s birthday.

The Miseducation of Cameron Post by Emily M. Danforth

The Miseduation of Cameron Post by Emily M. Danforth

Here’s the main thing about this book:  Cameron Post is an awesome character.  I dare you not to like her. She's so real and strong and down to earth and like someone you’d just want to hang out with. She’s trying hard to be true to herself in a world that wants her to be something or someone else.  

So here’s how it begins:   Not only was Cameron Post out shoplifting with Irene Klauson the day her parents died--just hours earlier she’d been kissing Irene Klauson.  Weird as it sounds, Cameron’s first shocked thought when she learned about the car crash was relief that her parents wouldn’t find out that she’d been kissing a girl.  Because that’s not the way things are supposed to work in Miles City, Montana in the late 80s. 

After the accident, Cameron has to live with her super religious Aunt Ruth and her grandma.  Cam tries to deal with the death of her parents and tries to fit in to her small town pretty much in the middle of nowhere with people she’s known all her life.  But there’s always been this other thing she’s known, the thing about kissing girls. And then Coley Taylor, a beautiful cowgirl, moves to town during high school. 

Well, it’s not too long after that when Aunt Ruth decides to send Cam away to a special school that’s supposed to “fix” kids like her.  And kids like Adam and Jane who turn out to be exactly the kind of friends you really need in a place where every single activity is geared to turning you into something you aren’t.  

I've been thinking about Cameron Post and some of the other characters ever since I turned the last page of this enormously satisfying book. The setting is majestic, the writing is brilliant, the story is riveting.  And Cameron just rocked my world.

Check out the author's book trailer if you need more tempting to read this amazing book.

Version 2: Miseducation of Cameron Post Book Trailer from emily danforth on Vimeo.

Fracture by Megan Miranda

Breaking tradition here and starting with a trailer because it really gives you the chills that you're going to feel if you read this book.




Fracture by Megan Miranda

Delaney fell through the ice.

She was under for eleven minutes.

But she's fine.

She's fine despite the fact that the MRI scans show all kinds of damage to her brain. And she's fine despite the fact that she ought to have hypothermia and permanent damage to her body. A miracle some might say. Delaney just feels like she's suddenly very separate from everyone else.

Including her best friend Decker who is the one who pulled her from the ice. The one who would have jumped in to save her without rope, if the other teens they were with didn't hold him back.

The only person who might not be separate from her is the strange Troy who keeps showing up since the accident. He knows what Delaney's been through because he also survived a coma and came out pretty unscathed. But he could pull Delaney farther from the people she used to belong with, if that's what she wants. Is it?

This book is COLD. You read it and you are going to feel the goose bumps of a Maine winter. Not only that, but it's creepy and that means that the goose bumps don't go away. Where did Troy come from? How come Delaney's okay? This one had me turning pages to try and find out the answers. What's particularly unsettling about this book is how tense and real everything feels and yet, the reader can feel that all is not right.

If you're looking for an icy cold thriller, this one will do the trick nicely.

Pink Smog by Francesca Lia Block

Pink Smog by Francesca Lia Block

The first thing to know is that Pink Smog is a prequel to Ms. Block's  Dangerous Angels series. You can read more about this series in this post, and also you can see a valentine to the author here.

Junior high is a battle field. Weetzie Bat (whose real name is Louise, but her father gave her the nick name and she likes it more) has bigger problems at home than the gum chewing queen bees who torment her at school, but that doesn't make them any more fun to be around. Back at the apartment she's trying to keep life running normally- her mom won't leave the couch since her movie-director dad left for NYC. Her dad's sending money but not telephone calls and that's really not the same.

Weetzie lives in an L.A. that is always a mixture of dangerous and magical. There's a girl in her building who seems to be practicing voodoo (and maybe targeting Weetzie herself) and a boy who might be her guardian angel or maybe just a guy who happens to be in the right place more times than not? There are silver envelopes that keep arriving from mysterious sources, sending Weetzie on a very strange treasure hunt. The air is pink and Marilyn Monroe's ghost seems to haunt the whole city. It's a place

But Weetzie is strong of spirit and heart. She finds two other outsiders at her school and when they are together, the trio creates their own safe spaces. The mean ones might still think they are freaks, but when you've got friends, who cares what they have to say?

If only the family your born with was as easy to deal with as the family you meet along the way...


Pink Smog will give you a taste of the Dangerous Angels world. Things are beautiful and scary there. When you come around the corner you might come across a man who looks a bit more like a genie than he ought to or a pair of boots that turn your feet into hooves. But, you'll also come around other corners and just find the normal every day wonders of LA- like a great hot dog stand or the Hollywood walk of fame. Get ready to leave the boring world behind and enter the star-dusted world of Weetzie Bat, it's one you won't soon forget.