Luna

3/5 stars

“Like a butterfly emerging from a chrysalis, I thought. An exquisite and delicate creature, unfolding her wings and flying away. Except in Luna’s case, the butterfly is forced to rein in her wings and reinsert herself into the cocoon every day. Every single day, she has to become a shell of a person.”

The Skinny:
This is the story of a young man, Liam; a boy on the outside, yet a girl on the inside. By night, Liam is Luna, a girl who loves make-up and fashion. By day, Liam is an introverted boy who is only a shell of a person. Told in the voice of his younger sister Regan, we are privy to not only the trials and tribulations Liam must face in order to become Luna, but also the confusion Regan feels as she tries to simultaneously protect her brother and accept all of his changes.

The Review:
As I was reading many of the other reviews for this book, a huge source of contention for other readers was Regan’s ‘selfishness.’ Apparently Regan was an unlikable narrator due to her self-centered nature, which impacted peoples’ enjoyment of the novel. I have to say that while Regan was selfish at times, I did not dislike her as a narrator because of this. In fact, I felt that Regan was a more reliable narrator because of this character trait; what young high school student is not egotistical? As a high school teacher, I can say virtually none (I say so lovingly, because I too was like this :D). Also, I feel that some of Regan’s decisions and feelings were warranted. For as long as she can remember, Regan has been protecting her brother’s secret – I think that this would take a toll on anyone.

What impacted my enjoyment of the novel, far more than Regan’s selfishness, is the cardboard quality of some of the characters and situations. In particular, I felt that the relationship between Regan and her parents was pretty cliché. Regan’s mom plays the aloof parent, while her dad plays the mans-man father. Sorry, but I’ve seen these types of parents far too often in books and movies. I also felt that the relationship and dialogue between Regan and Chris was cringe-worthy at times. Regan is the ‘clumsy girl’ always falling and breaking things (hello, Bella!), and Chris is the hot guy that goes for the misunderstood girl. Their dialogue is frequently cheesy and awkward (yes, high-schoolers can be awkward, but this was a bit TOO much). I feel that Regan and Chris could have been very sweet, but instead I just felt that they were…blegh.

Despite the manufactured quality of some of the characters and happenings, I did like reading about Liam. I don’t know if ‘like’ is the right word. I felt for Liam, and I felt for his struggles. I found Liam’s story to be painful, but also interesting; this is the first book I’ve read about this subject matter. It saddened me to know that Liam felt like he had to keep his true self hidden. While this story was fictional, I know that there are people out there who have had to hide as well. I can’t imagine how painful of a thing that must be, and I wouldn’t wish it upon anyone.

Overall:
I liked the subject matter of this novel because I haven’t really read anything else like it. I wasn’t totally sold on the story because of the cardboard quality of some of the characters and events. This being said, I loved Liam’s character. I felt that he was really eye-opening and made me think and consider things I hadn’t before.

Magic Bites, Ilona Andrews

4/5 Don’t-take-no-shit stars

The Skinny:

Kate, a mercenary that deals in all things paranormal, is shocked to learn that Greg, her guardian, has been killed. With memories of him in her mind, Kate sets off to find Greg’s killer. What she hasn’t bet on, is just how dangerous and tangled finding his killer will be.

The Review:

Just recently I finished reading The Edge series, also by Ilona Andrews. I really enjoyed those books because they were hella fun to read, but also well written; the magical system was unique, and the worlds of The Edge and The Broken were a cool element. These books were my first introduction to Ilona Andrews, and I was pleasantly surprised. I figured that the rest of their books would be pretty similar, so I was looking forward to reading more, particularly when I found out there was a superbly-amazing-awesome buddy read of Kate Daniels that was about to take place. Jumping on the band wagon, as I so often do, I began reading with a smidge of excitement.

My ‘smidge of excitement’ quickly blossomed into a fucking sparkly, flower of excitement.

Guys…what I’m about to say might shock and stun some of you…I liked this book MORE than any in The Edge series.

I can’t quite put my finger on why I liked this so much.

Could it be that I loved Kate’s snarky sense of humor?
I lost my patience forty-five minutes into our conversation and pretended to fall asleep.

Or maybe the total hottie that is Curran?
“She is here,” Curran said. “With me. Tonight, while you’re waiting for your corpse to get soft, think of me and her. Think of her begging me for it.”

No, wait. Possibly the awesome magic??
Magic could not be measured and explained in scientific terms, for magic grew through destroying the very natural principles that made science as people knew it possible.

Or maybe it was just everything together?
I loved how Kate didn’t really give a rat’s ass about most things, especially being unladylike. I liked how there was the tiniest hint of romance, but that it wasn’t all encompassing. I was engaged by many of the secondary characters, and I didn’t want their presence erased from the book (this is surprising because I sometimes find secondary characters to be a nuisance and want them to be gone).

Overall:

I’m happy I was able to start this series with some awesome buddy-readers. I felt that this book was one of the better paranormal books I have read. Really looking forward to book #2 (especially if it’s as awesome as book #1). Don’t disappoint me book #2!!!