Shadows by Robin McKinley

In Shadows Margaret/Maggie is scared whenever her stepfather is around. She's not scare of HIM but of his shadows, mostly because he has too many and they seem to move on their own. Ever since Val migrated from Old World to New World her life has gotten progressively worse. Her Mom hates that she doesn't get along with Val and it doesn't help her case that her younger brother and everyone else in the universe is blithely unaware of the terrible shadows that seem to follow Val's every steps.

Maggie lives an alternate reality, a future Earth, the future of the Earth featured in Sunshine, you can't quite tell and that's what makes this book fantastic.  The New world has done away with magic and relies only Science, with a capital S. Anyone caught trying to perform magic will end up regretting the transgression greatly. Maggie's world will be turned upside down when she discovers that there is a lot more magic left in the New World than anyone would like to admit and most of it has been right under her nose the whole time . . .

McKinley is great at taking a world whether it our own or the world of Beauty from the fairy tale, and twisting it every so slightly so that it becomes a whole new world. This story seemed a little disjointed to me but I can easily attribute that to the time jumps of the story line or even that I read an early reviewer copy and will be fixed with final edits. I think the world itself and the story of the characters is enough to suggest to anyone who likes fantasy or sci-fi.

Review of The Dream Thieves by Maggie Stiefvater

I meant to get this one up before the book was released but stuff got crazy on my end. Day of is not too bad I think, anyhow . . .

The Dream Thieves opens by discussing the three types of secrets there are in the world;  the kind where someone knows the secret and someone has the knowledge kept from them, the secret tha
t you keep even from yourself, and the secret that no one (alive) remembers or knows. Ronan Lynch has a secret, he actually lives with all three. This book focuses more on the story of Ronan and of his brothers.  We get to see what makes him, proverbially, tick.

The search for Glendower is still afoot but has become more complicated with the awakening of the ley line at the end of The Raven Boys. Adam has been slowly becoming stranger and stranger, Gansey is still obsessed with finding the final resting place of the king, and we learn about Ronan's very very big secret.  All three of these storylines are brought together by a man dressed all in gray at 300 Fox Way.

This sequel in no way disappoints. The shift in focus of main character is very refreshing and helps the reader to become sympathetic to Ronan, an otherwise mysterious and marginally unlikable character. If you liked any of Maggie Stiefvater's other works you need to read this book (prefereably after reading The Raven Boys).

Review of Never Fade by Alexandra Bracken

I was lucky enough to be able to get my hands on an early reviewer's copy of Alexandra Bracken's Never Fade.  This title is the second in her dystopian teen series, The Darkest Minds.

When we meet up with Ruby again she is deeply entrenched in the Children's League and has found herself again the position of a care-taker.  She was made "Leader" of her small group within the League from the moment she arrived.

All of Ruby's fears from The Darkest Minds have come true, she is an outcast of her own kind. As one of the only Orange's known of left alive everyone is frightened of her and her power.  As she is biding her time and trying to petition the League to help the others still trapped in the camps Ruby gets dragged into a secret mission that the failure of could leave everyone she knows and loves dead, including herself.

This sequel is the farthest from a disappointment you can possibly get, and I've read plenty of disappointing sequels.  The pace of the story is great, there is never really a dull moment even when the action is low impact. Great new characters are introduced, we meet up with some old friends, and the story-line progresses nicely throughout.  I especially enjoyed a foray into Wilmington, NC, my own hometown.

If you're a fan of the Hunger Games or Divergent go and pick up the first book so you can be ready for the release of Never Fade on October 15th.  I personally think this series is the superior of the three and I consider myself quite the dystopian connoisseur.

My rating: A+