The Vespertine

I read The Vespertine by Saundra Mitchell back in December.  Since today is the release date for it, I thought I'd post my review again. 

The Vespertine by Saundra Mitchell

Release Date: March 1, 2011

Source: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt through NetGalley

In the summer of 1889, Amelia van den Broeke was sent to Baltimore to stay with relatives. Her brother facilitated this stay in hopes that Amelia would find a husband. Amelia makes friends, thanks to her welcoming cousin, and finds herself head over heels crazy for a Fourteenth, Nathaniel Witherspoon. Unfortunately, he is below her, making a marriage impossible.

While searching for a husband, Amelia discovers she has a gift. When the sun sets, she sees the future in the vespers. Initially hesitant about revealing this gift, Amelia soon finds herself doing readings for callers.

The summer had been enjoyable, that is until one of Amelia's more tragic predictions came true. Amelia then found herself being blamed and facing a much different end to ther summer than expected.

My Thoughts: I found this book to be a refreshing twist to the paranormal YA books I've read. It's not your typical vampire or werewolf story like many paranormal stories are nowadays. Don't get me wrong! I love vampire and werewolf stories, but I also like to mix it up a bit. I've never heard of anyone seeing the future in the vespers at sunset. In fact, I don't think I've ever heard the words "vespertine" or "vesper." (Clearly, I need to expand my vocabulary.)

One of my favorite things about the story was how Amelia's gift was handled. I'm so used to reading books about paranormal gifts that must be kept secret. If the public knew, that person would be shunned, experimented on, or maybe even worse. Amelia, though, was embraced in a way. The people in Baltimore were eager to meet with her and find out what the vespers held for them. It wasn't until something bad happened that everyone had a much different outlook on Amelia's gift.

Aside from the paranormal aspect of the story, I found it to be a great coming of age story. That summer was a turning point. It was the transition between childhood and womanhood, and Amelia was faced with the huge task of finding a husband. She fell in love, and of course it was a difficult love.

I really liked The Vespertine. I felt it blended historical fiction and paranormal gifts quite nicely.

Overall: 4/5

It's been awhile!

Well, it has definitely been a long time since I've posted anything new to the blog. I have good reasons, though! Lots of things have been happening on the homefront. The most exciting thing is not quite ready to be revealed yet. You'll have to wait a few more weeks for that. ;-) Unfortunately, this secret has been the biggest reason I haven't been blogging lately. In addition to my secret, I've also been sick. I had the flu really bad for awhile, and it has taken me some time to fully recover from it.


Basically, I've done more sleeping than reading in the last month or so. I think I've only read maybe 2 books. This really bums me out, because I love reading. I had also just received a lot of awesome looking books from NetGalley and was super excited to read and review them. Then my little secret came along and sidetracked those plans.

I'm starting to feel better overall, and I recently started reading Angelfire by Courtney Allison Moulton. It has really sucked me in, so I'm hoping it's the kickstart I need to get back on the reading wagon. I also took some time today to look over my NetGalley books. They still look so inviting. I made a list of the ones I need to read soon (in time for release dates). Unfortunately, I've missed some release dates, so I'll be reading those books when I get to them. I do have a few reviews that I need to post, so you can expect those soon.

I've still got half of the workday left and a few chores around the house before my date with Angelfire tonight. I'm hoping to finish it (or at least come really close to finishing).

Challenge Update (2)

What I Read:

Savannah Grey by Cliff McNish

Everything I Was by Corinne Demas

Challenges:
111 in '11 Total: 3/111
DAC 2011 Total: 1
Winter Book Challenge 2011 Total: 30
     Task: Read a book with a City, State, or Country in the Title (Savannah Grey) 5 points
     Task: Read a book by a new-to-you author (Everything I Was) 15 points

Everything I Was

Title: Everything I Was
Author: Corinne Demas
Release: April 2011
Publisher: Carolrhoda Books
Age Group: Young Adult
Pages: 264 (Hardcover)
Overall: 3/5
Source: Publisher (NetGalley)
                         Challenge: 111 in '11, WBC2011

From Goodreads:  "My walls were stripped, and all that was left in the room was a pile of boxes and my mattress propped against the wall."


So begins Irene's journey from an Upper West Side penthouse to—well, she's not entirely sure where. Irene's investment banker father is "downsized" when his company merges with another. When he can't find work, her family's lifestyle—and her socialite mother's spending—quickly catches up with them. Eventually, they're forced to move in with Irene's grandfather in the big family farmhouse upstate. But what begins as the most disastrous summer of her life takes a surprising turn when she meets a most remarkable family.

My Thoughts:  Honestly, this book wasn't what I was expecting.  When reading the synopsis from Goodreads, I expected to be reading about a spoiled rich girl turned average teen.  This wasn't the case at all.  I expected Irene to be upset about not being able to shop and have the best of everything.  Nope.  She was upset about losing her things from her room (which were put into storage), but that seemed to be more because they belonged to her and felt like home.  When it was suggested that she return to her expensive private school on scholarship, she refused.  It wasn't because she thought poorly of those on charity, but because she knew how others would think of her. 

This was a quick read for me.  The writing was simple and easy to understand.  I found the voice fit what I would expect from a 13 year old.  I liked that the author included other teenage struggles in the story, like making friends, crushes, and feeling disconnected from the parents.  Irene was easy to like, and it was hard to not root for her.  Even though the family in this story is wealthy, I could see this story being easy to relate to for any young person whose parent(s) have lost their job.  Making Irene easy to relate to instead of being a spoiled rich kid made this possible.

Stylish Blogger Award

Michelle at Hooked to Books gave me this awesome blog award!  Blog awards are always exciting, because receiving one means someone has noticed your blog.  While my main motive for writing this blog has been to have a place to share my thoughts on what I read, it is nice to have people enjoying my blog. 

Blog awards usually have rules, so here they are.

1. Thank and link back to the person who awarded you this award



2. Share 7 things about yourself


3. Award 10 recently discovered great bloggers


4. Contact these bloggers and tell them about the award!

7 Things About Me

1.  My birthday is 4 days before my husband's.  We were in the nursery together when we were born.

2.  I have an Old English Sheepdog.  He's an adorable poof ball.

3.  I recently graduated with a Master's Degree in Professional Counseling.

4.  I work as a sexual assaul counselor.

5.  One of my New Year's Resolutions is to finally get my house organized.

6.  I could totally be a hermit as long as I have plenty of books to read.

7.  I hate washing dishes. 

Now pick 10 newly discovered bloggers you like!

 

1. Makeshift Bookmark

2. Reading with Tequila

3. Reading Without Restraint

4. Sophistikatied Reviews

5. [Bloggers [[heart]] Books]

6. Chic Fit Geek

7. Life is Short. Read Fast.

8. My, My Book and the Couch

9. A Patchwork of Books

10. Imperfection in the New Pink

Savannah Grey

Title: Savannah Grey
Author: Cliff McNish
Release Date: 4/28/11
Publisher: Carolrhoda Books
Age Group: Young Adult
Pages: 272 (Hardcover)
Overall: 2/5
Source: Publisher (NetGalley)
                         Challenge: 111 in '11, WBC 2011

Synopsis:  At 15, Savannah feels as if she doesn't belong.  After becoming an orphan at a young age, Savannah bounced around between foster homes.  The main reason?  She feels restless and must keep moving.  Savannah keeps her distance from people, except her best friend, Nina.  It's a surprise, then, when Savannah meets Reece and feels an attraction.  Around the same time she meets Reece, she begins noticing strange things about her throat.  It's been sore and making strange noises.  Reece seems to share a lot of qualities with Savannah, including some strange things when it comes to his throat.  Soon, it becomes clear that there's a purpose to these strange throat conditions.  There's a monster lurking around, and Savannah may be the only one who can stop it.

My Thoughts:  Initially, I was really intrigued by the idea of supernatural throat powers.  I was excited to read the book, but my excitement started to falter not too far in.  In general, I felt like the book was rushed.  It seemed as though everything happened too fast, and there wasn't enough time for development.  I felt like the characters could have been developed more deeply. 

The best development was done in the pieces pertaining to the monster.  The author did a great job telling the story of the monster, it's motives, and the steps it had taken to reach its confrontation with Savannah.

I'm the kind of person who always asks, "Why?"  I want to know why people think what they think and do what they do.  Even though Savannah didn't know what made her throat special, she seemed to magically come up with the answers as she went along.  I wish there would have been more of a backstory explaining what Savannah was and how she had become that way.

Overall, I thought this book was okay.  I felt there was a lot lacking, almost as if the author just gave up on developing certain parts of the story.  I still think the concept is great, and while I didn't care for it much, I would still urge others to read it. My own personal preferences shouldn't judge whether or not people should read a book.  Read it for yourself and see what you think.  :-) 

What I'm Reading (1)

Everything I Was by Corinne Demas

"My walls were stripped, and all that was left in the room was a pile of boxes and my mattress propped against the wall."



So begins Irene's journey from an Upper West Side penthouse to—well, she's not entirely sure where. Irene's investment banker father is "downsized" when his company merges with another. When he can't find work, her family's lifestyle—and her socialite mother's spending—quickly catches up with them. Eventually, they're forced to move in with Irene's grandfather in the big family farmhouse upstate. But what begins as the most disastrous summer of her life takes a surprising turn when she meets a most remarkable family.

I'm not very far into the book, but it seems good so far.  I'm eager to see how things will turn out for Irene.