Fables&Wren

The Diviners #01: The Diviners

/ 05 STARS, FEATURED POST, YA LB THE DIVINERS

The Diviners Book Cover The Diviners
The Diviners
Libba Bray
Juvenile Fiction
Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
September 18, 2012
Audiobook/Hardcover
592

Evie O'Neill has been exiled from her boring old hometown and shipped off to the bustling streets of New York City--and she is pos-i-toot-ly thrilled. New York is the city of speakeasies, shopping, and movie palaces! Soon enough, Evie is running with glamorous Ziegfield girls and rakish pickpockets. The only catch is Evie has to live with her Uncle Will, curator of The Museum of American Folklore, Superstition, and the Occult--also known as "The Museum of the Creepy Crawlies." When a rash of occult-based murders comes to light, Evie and her uncle are right in the thick of the investigation. And through it all, Evie has a secret: a mysterious power that could help catch the killer--if he doesn't catch her first.

WrensReads Review:

New favorite obsession! It’s dark but classy…

…beautiful but swallowed in the feel of a haunting.

There are a lot of characters in this book. So, let’s do this list style:

Evie O’Neill
I positutely love Evie. She is such a unique heroine. Usually, the heroines these days are mysterious, introverted and quiet about how they are different. Evie is none of those things. She is a flapper (setting is in the 1920s), she is as extroverted and confident as they come, and she isn’t shy about what she can do.

If you give her an object, any old thing, she can tell you some things about yourself. Vague things like what you ate for breakfast or where you went that day, or she can learn the desires of your heart if she tries hard enough. She uses this as a party gag and plays it off like it’s a trick. Hiding in plain sight, you see. She’s brilliant.

Mabel Rose
When Evie gets sent to live with her Uncle in New York, she is happy to be reunited with one of her old pals Mabel. Mabel kind of does whatever Evie tells her to do, and she has helicopter parents, but she doesn’t mind the adventure that comes with being friends with Evie. Oh, and she has a major crush on the gentlemen who works with Evie’s uncle, Jericho.

Will Fitzgerald
This is Evie’s Uncle, or “Unc” as she calls him. He runs The Museum of American Folklore, Superstition, and the Occult, or as locals call it, The Museum of the Creepy Crawlies. He teaches classes to gentlemen here and there, but the museum itself is not doing too well. Evie is fixin’ to change that for him though. He has a lot of secrets that aren’t even fully revealed in this book, so I am eager to know more about his past.

Sam Lloyd / Sergei Lubovitch
He gets on Evie’s last nerve (he owes her twenty dollars!). He literally runs into Evie on her way to her Unc’s and pick-pocketed her. So, when she saw him again, she was all about ruining any chances he got to do it again and she just wants her money back. He is a very talented liar, thief and all-around smooth talker. He also has a few tricks up his sleeves…

Jericho Jones
Jericho is a big, strong young man who works with Will Fitzgerald at The Museum of the Creepy Crawlies. He’s quiet but doesn’t let people walk on him. He has a big secret revealed towards the end that makes me feel as if this as some steam-punk sprinkled into the genre.

Memphis Campbell
Memphis used to have a power like Evie’s. He could heal people with the touch of his hands. But after a series of unfortunate event (I love that phrase), he no longer can channel that part of him. His story doesn’t really touch with the five above. In some parts he meets some of them, but he has his own story line going on. He’s African American, so you see a lot of the horrible ways people of the same race were treated back in the day. Memphis little brother, Isaiah Campbell, has a power of his own as well.

Theta Knight
She is a Ziegfeld girl and a friend of Evie’s. She actually becomes the chain between Memphis and the rest of the group. She meets him and they have a little, casual attraction between the two after they realize they are having the same dream. I am loving this checker-board love. I can see there is going to be a lot of problems with this in the future, but I absolutely am sailing this ship into the sunset.

Theta has a dark past. She, as well, has a little magic in her… but it gets her in all kinds of trouble and she has been on the run ever since.

Henry DuBois
We don’t know much about him other than he likes men, may have a trick up his sleeve, and a huge heart for his now-roommate Theta Knight. Without him, Theta would be in a whole other type of situation. I hear we get a lot more of him in the next book though, so I am anxious to read it.

Naughty John
This is our antagonist. Like I’m going to tell you anything about him besides he is messed up in the head and he needs the actual Lord and not the Lord he thinks he knows.

There are other characters that play a big part even though they aren’t mentioned as often, like Blind Bill Johnson who has a power of his own, The Proctor Sisters who seem to know a lot about magic and what is to come, a gentleman named Arthur who seems to be too interested in Mabel, a crow that keeps bothering Memphis, and a girl with green eyes.

SO WHAT IS THIS STORY ACTUALLY ABOUT?
Young adults finding out why they have some supernatural power and murders… lots and lots of murders… and ghost… and murders… murders…

This book is so well rounded and the setting is absolutely to die for. I love the twenties (cliché, I know); but, what I love more is creep. I love the creepiness of this book. Any book that makes my skin crawl is a book I am going to hold onto for the rest of my life.

Warning that there is an actual love-triangle forming and I have the ships that I am sailing and I will riot if I don’t get my way.

And sweetie, please listen to this book. I don’t care if you read along with the narrator or if you just listen to it while you drive. January LaVoy is one of the best narrators I have ever listened to. I will forever be on the lookout for books she narrates.

This is really where my review ends. Below is a rant, so proceed at your own risk.

I do have… one problem with this book. Literally one. The rest of this book is golden and it will be in the lead of my favorite books for the rest of my life.

Representation. Libra Bray has always been phenomenal at making sure everyone can relate to someone. I look to her when someone talks about representation. With that being said, I don’t know how to go about this without getting my ear chewed off by some angry commenter or without offending the author who lead the way for me to become a reader. So, please know this is something I feel strongly towards because it is a big part of my life. Know that I am not meaning to offend anyone and that I just want to be heard. You don’t have to understand where I am coming from, but you do need to respect my words, just like I would respect your words. This means do not attack me, please. We can have a friendly conversation about it, but I will not be responding to attacks.

Where is the representation of sane Christians? They are either crazy and shoving a Bible in your face, controlling and twisting the words in the Bible, or they are literally mentally insane and using the religion as an excuse for what they are doing. There are literally at least one of each of these types of characters in this book, but none with a level, easy-going head. And I know, you can’t represent every-kind of person in the world in one book. I completely understand that, as to how I am writing a book of my own, but I feel if you are going to shove one type of person in such a bad light with three characters, shouldn’t you have at least one character who is in a better light?

I am a strong Christian. I pride myself on that. I know it isn’t the popular thing in our day and age and people may pre-judge me or unfriend me because I call myself a Christian. But please hear me: I am an accepting Christian. I don’t care what other people do to themselves or to their lives (as long as no one is hurt, everyone is of age and everyone involved is consensual) because that is how they want to live. If they ask me about my faith, sure we can talk about it, but I am not going to shove my beliefs at someone because when on earth did that actually work?

There are a lot of Christians like this. The ones in the media (books, TV shows, movies) are literally the minority. So I am not just picking on the lovely Libba Bray who I admire so much as a writer, story teller and just as a person in general. Christians are always portrayed as crazy and controlling in the media, when I’m over here watching Game of Thrones and planning next week’s devotional. I’m reading risky books and listening to praise and worship music. I have an obsession, which is probably a super unhealthy obsession but let’s not get into that, with Harry Potter and an equally-unhealth obsession with any Francine Rivers’ books.

I’m just ranting at this point, but hear this: I am a strong, accepting, level-headed Christian with friends of all religions and faiths and I love them for who they are and who they want to be just as they love me for who I am and who I am trying to be.

Where’s my representation?

I loved this book. I’m going to love the series. I love the Gemma Doyle series. I love this author. Libba Bray is who I aspire to be like. I need more people to read this so I can fan-girl with them.

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To Kill a Kingdom

/ 05 STARS, 2018 FEBRUARY, ACHRISTO YA NOVEL, FEATURED POST

To Kill a Kingdom Book Cover To Kill a Kingdom
Alexandra Christo
Young Adult Fiction
Feiwel Friends
March 6, 2018
ARC
352

Princess Lira is siren royalty and the most lethal of them all. With the hearts of seventeen princes in her collection, she is revered across the sea. Until a twist of fate forces her to kill one of her own. To punish her daughter, the Sea Queen transforms Lira into the one thing they loathe most—a human. Robbed of her song, Lira has until the winter solstice to deliver Prince Elian’s heart to the Sea Queen or remain a human forever.

The ocean is the only place Prince Elian calls home, even though he is heir to the most powerful kingdom in the world. Hunting sirens is more than an unsavory hobby—it’s his calling. When he rescues a drowning woman in the ocean, she’s more than what she appears. She promises to help him find the key to destroying all of sirenkind for good—But can he trust her? And just how many deals will Elian have to barter to eliminate mankind’s greatest enemy?

“I have a heart for every year I’ve been alive.”

Advanced Reading Copy (ARC) Review. The below opinions are my own. The quotes above were taken from an ARC and are subject to change upon publication.

Release Date: 03/06/2018

Hi, my name is Wren and I am a firm believer in mermaids and sirens. How are we to know that mermaids don’t live deep down in the bottom of the Pacific? We haven’t explored 97% of the ocean, so you can’t tell me that I am wrong.

My sister and I have always had an obsession with mermaids. Whether we are talking about selkies, sirens, water kelpies or mermaids themselves, we have always been team them. When they popped up on the live action Peter Pan (Jeremy Sumpter Sumpter Sumpter) and they were evil, I fell in love with them more. When Pirates of the Caribbean came out with their fourth movie and I heard there were mermaids, you can bet your bottom dollar I was in that theatre.

So it is 102% safe to say, that books with mermaids or sirens or anything involving the creatures of the deep are automatically on my TBR. What is not safe to say is if they are actually going to be good or not. And let me tell you my fellow merlovers, there are some pretty questionable books out there involving our friends of the ocean.

But, To Kill A Kingdom was not one of them. I am half tempted to change my front door to the cover of this book I love it so much. Maybe a banner hanging off my balcony to announce to the world that this book is the bomb dot com would be a better option. Or maybe I will create a fin to the colors of the cover and just have it as an ice breaker with non-book people.

Too much? Or not enough?

Lira is the princess of the sea and goes by the name The Prince’s Bane with those with feet. She is a siren, which is drastically different than a mermaid, and a siren’s job is to take hearts. Lira has a heart for every year she’s been alive, and they are all prince hearts. That’s right folks, this princess has hearts of only princes, and I don’t mean that figuratively.

Lira is such a great, strong and independent protagonist. Or… antagonist depending on how you look at it. It is such a refreshing feeling when you find a… er… main character that is strong besides the abuse that she receives. Her mother, the queen of the sea, is the epitome of an abusive parent, so trigger warning for those of you mermaids who have been through some traumatic and horrible things.

This story touches on family a lot. There is family that wants something different for you, there is family who mistreats you, and then there is family that accepts and supports you. Family does not always have to be blood, and that is important here. Family is filled with the people who love and support you and have your best interest at heart. Sometimes those who are blood-related to you, don’t make the cut.

When Lira gets her prince’s heart too soon (not on her birthday, per usual) the queen is furious with her daughter and means to put her in her place. That situation brings in our next contestant: Elian, the Prince of Midas.

Elian doesn’t want to be landlocked, and takes matters into his own hands. He knows about the terrible creatures called sirens and he knows what they do to people. So, he makes a crew that sole purpose is to sail the ocean and kill sirens. He’s basically Nikolai: a pirate who happens to be a prince (and if you don’t know this reference, go pick up Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo, like, yesterday please). His crew is snarky, crude and right up the alley of wren-obsessed.

When Elain is told there is a way to rid the world of their most hated fiend (sirens), especially that Prince’s Bane, he does not rest until he has done just that. Elain is like a fox: he is smooth, calculating and able to maneuver his way out of any situation without a single scratch (well, almost).

“’Poison?’ I muse. ‘Were you keeping that around for your future wife?’
‘It’s not lethal..and no… unless you were my wife.’”

And yes, the book is full of snarky and sarcastic and witty things.

Then we have our trusted side characters, Kahlia, Madrid, Kye, Torik, and many others, that just helped bring this story to life. I felt as if I was a part of this collective family. Each of these characters brought something new to the story and I will forever hold them close to me.

This book is so magically put together, I don’t believe it even has seams. There is no world-vomit. The world is built beautifully throughout the book as you need to know it. And believe me, the picture that these words created in my head is an image I am keeping for a rainy day. Christo was made to write and create.

The last battle scene was so vivid and beautifully done that I couldn’t have stopped reading if I tried. There is so much to the last scene that it left my actually sitting up in my bed, reading as fast as I could to make sure that my loves were going to be okay.

“Me, My Ship, an da girl with oceans in her eyes.”

To not make this any longer than it already it, this beautiful standalone novel warmed my siren-heart to tears. I absolutely loved the strong female characters, the swoon-worthy male characters, the diversity and the wit of this book. This is something that I will be raving about for the rest of my short-life.

Stay beautiful, sirens.

Buddy Read with:
Melanie at Meltotheany
Destiny at Howling Libraries
Lilly at Lair of Books
Jules at JA Ironside

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The Female of the Species

/ 04 STARS, 2018 FEBRUARY, MMCGINNIS YA NOVEL

The Female of the Species Book Cover The Female of the Species
Mindy McGinnis
Juvenile Fiction
Katherine Tegen Books
September 20, 2016
Hardcover
352

Alex Craft knows how to kill someone. And she doesn’t feel bad about it. When her older sister, Anna, was murdered three years ago and the killer walked free, Alex uncaged the language she knows best. The language of violence. While her crime goes unpunished, Alex knows she can’t be trusted among other people, even in her small hometown. She relegates herself to the shadows, a girl who goes unseen in plain sight, unremarkable in the high school hallways. But Jack Fisher sees her. He’s the guy all other guys want to be: the star athlete gunning for valedictorian with the prom queen on his arm. Guilt over the role he played the night Anna’s body was discovered hasn’t let him forget Alex over the years, and now her green eyes amid a constellation of freckles have his attention. He doesn’t want to only see Alex Craft; he wants to know her. So does Peekay, the preacher’s kid, a girl whose identity is entangled with her dad’s job, though that does not stop her from knowing the taste of beer or missing the touch of her ex-boyfriend. When Peekay and Alex start working together at the animal shelter, a friendship forms and Alex’s protective nature extends to more than just the dogs and cats they care for. Circumstances bring Alex, Jack, and Peekay together as their senior year unfolds. While partying one night, Alex’s darker nature breaks out, setting the teens on a collision course that will change their lives forever. Acclaimed author Mindy McGinnis artfully crafts three alternating perspectives into a dark and riveting exploration of what it means to be the female of the species.

*featuring the female of my duo, Marcy Louisa and all her fluff*

This was the February Read for The Cheerful Wednesdays, and might I say that this was a heavy book.

This book is full of all kinds of triggers. There is talk of murder, rape, child pornography, animal cruelty, substance abuse and just about anything you can think of. Some of these are actual topics that should be talked about more in order for people to understand them, and for this I thank the author for not shying away from the tougher topics.

“You see it in all animals – the female of the species is more deadly than the male. Except humans.”

Alex is dealing with a lot. Her sister was brutally killed and raped and left in the woods for someone to find days later after nature took her course on her. Ever since then, she has not been the same. She doesn’t actually know if she changed because of what happened or she is the way she is because her sister was the only thing holding her to the ground; but what she does know is a simple rule: people who hurt other people deserve to die, and ladies and gentlemen, she is true to her word.

See, Alex is 100% a murderer but in a Dexter-type of way. She only takes out the absolute trash of the world. She has a heart and she feels things too, but she lives off of her animal instinct. You kill those who hurt others in order to protect people. Unlike Dexter, she doesn’t actually have to kill, she just is driven when the opportunity arises.

So what happens when Alex volunteers at an animal shelter and meets the pastor’s kid, Peekay? She learns what it is like to have a friend.

Peekay is tired of always being associated with being the pastor’s kid. She doesn’t have a problem with the religion and she loves her parents with all her heart, but she wants to be known for something else for a change. With a recent break up, Peekay finds hope in her new friend and the challenges that come up along the way.

Alex and Peekay are friendship goals. They support each other, they pick each other up, and there is no “frienemies” involved. They just love and support each other, which is something a lot of our culture has lacked. Women pin each other against each other and are jealous of what they can’t have. I think Alex was a refreshing break for Peekay because Alex never expected anything and was always just there to help her. They both found themselves again in their friendship which is what friendship is actually about.

“But boys will be boys, our favorite phrase that excuses so many things, while the only thing we have for the opposite gender is women, said with disdain and punctuated with an eye roll.”

Now I am not going to lie, I got really, really weird vibes from Jack. I’m not sure if it was just because the author actually got into the mind of a man and went with it, or because he is actually creepy… but I will let you figure that one out yourself. His character does have some growth in it, but honestly I just didn’t find him appealing. He was kind of… gross to me. Which leads me to believe that crawling into the mind of a man will literally kill all romantic notions.

One thing that really made me uncomfortable was the brutality with the animals in this book. Jack works with the butcher and is the one that takes the life of the cows, Alex and Peekay pick up dead baby animals that were thrown out of a moving vehicle… I could have lived without all those visuals and I am sorry I just put those in your head when you were 100% not asking for it. Even the emotional sadness with animals in this book almost made me just put the book down.

Little background on me: I’ve been a vegetarian since I was 08 years old. Some days, I am vegan. You can bet your bottom dollar I eat like my namesake: a bird. I have two rescued cats and I love all animals to the absolute fullest. I even take the time to get on Amazon Smile to make sure it donates to my appointed rescue. You can say I am a little bit of a nut job, but I am a full believer of taking care of the creatures I was put on this earth to take care of (and that also includes the earth itself… also a big recycler).

Now don’t get me wrong, I will touch and make meat and I am not going to even give your food a second glance if you are eating a cheeseburger in front of me. But I never want to read about someone actually in the process of making the food that the majority of the world eats ever again. It was too heartbreaking for this tender-heart bird.

Which brings up another dilemma of mine: why did the talk of animals being killed hurt more than the idea of some of the other topics in this book? Am I that filtered? When I have talked to some of the other people who have read this book, they all felt the same way I did. Why is it that the talk of someone killing an animal is more repulsive than the talk of someone killing another human? I can watch Criminal Minds all day, but I will never watch Old Yeller again. I love war movies, but you will see me plug my ears and close my eyes when it is apparent that a horse is about to die.

I’m just bringing all of that up because I don’t want people to think that I am pointing fingers. This is also a topic that I need to learn more about and talk openly with. This book is a good start to ease someone into this kind of topic and also a great one to read with a few people. I read this with my book club The Cheerful Wednesdays, and I can tell you that none of us expected this book to go as deep as it did.

Overall, this book was just a really, really heavy read. I didn’t resonate with the ending too well, and I am not sure if it was because I didn’t like it or because I knew it was the only way for this story to conclude. Even if you took out the romance in this book, the friendship between Alex and Peekay is worth the read. Even if you took out both the romance and the friendship, the topics touched on are worth reading and learning about.

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