Title: Candle Man: The Society of Unrelenting Vigilance
Author: Glenn Dakin
Genre: Middle Grade Fiction
Publisher: Egmont USA
Source: Provided by Publicist
Parental Warning: dangerous situations

“Theo ignored the rain and peered around, his heart racing.  He hadn’t been out of the house for a year.  He hadn’t see another person — outside of his household — for three hundred and sixty-five days.  Theo’s predictable routine meant he always saw the same three: Mr. Nicely the butler, Clarice the maid, and Dr. Emmanuel Saint, his guardian.  No one else was allowed to enter his circle of misery.  Just in case.”

Summary:
Theo has lived his entire life shut away from the world that surrounds him.  He’s told it’s for his own good, for his health, but slowly he comes to realize that this may not be entirely true.  Living locked away in Empire Hall by his guardian Dr. Saint the only interaction he has is with Saint’s lackey Mr. Nicely and the chambermaid Clarice.  Convinced by all parties that he wouldn’t survive a day if he were to leave the premises and that learning of the world outside his room would only make him long for it more Theo lives in true and complete isolation.

That is until one day intruders invade his home and the first nefarious goings on start to trickle glimmers of information through formerly impenetrable walls.  Theo is quickly presented with a series of further clues until one day he is set free to live in the wild.  Fearful of his surroundings he latches on to a young girl Chloe and her compatriots as he is pushed to discover and navigate the previously unknown maze his life truly was.

Investigating his past Theo encounters mystical creatures, learns about the notorious Candle Man and ultimately expands his wings in an effort to take his place as the true and rightful leader of The Society of Unrelenting Vigilance.

Opinion:
Candle Man is a great adventure book for young boys and girls alike.  Though there are a bevy of characters to wade through and a few are a bit more cliched (at least for the adult reader) than others it is a fun and thrilling ride from beginning to end.

In speaking of the characters on in particular, the main foe of the story, Dr. Saint reminded me of the cartoon character Dick Dastardly.  I half expected him to twirl the ends of a mustache (which he doesn’t have by the way) and cackle “mwuahahahah!”.  He was, however the right amount of evil for this type of book.  His cohort in crime Mr. Nicely was just the right combination of clueless and frightened in order to be appropriately manipulated by his master.  Clarice, on the other hand was a surprise.  One that I’ll refrain from sharing with you so it doesn’t spoil the story.

The combination of mystical creatures, folklore and Theo’s history as well as the use of advanced technology for the time gave this book a very steampunk vibe.  I think it will certainly open the eyes of any child who reads it to that particular category of books.  There was a definite dark, murky and foggy feeling to the book though it was not depressing.  It certainly lent itself well to the air of mystery.  For that reason, even though it got slightly predictable (again for the adult reader), the twists and turns were enjoyable and certainly well structured for the target audience.  There was definitely plenty of action to be had.

Having a strong boy and equally strong girl as main characters will make this a book that both genders can enjoy.  I do, however, think boys will enjoy it more.  The first in a series, Candle Man was an enjoyable read, one that I think middle-graders will want to read through until the final chapter of the final story.

Title: Beautiful Dead: Book 1 – Jonas
Author: Eden Maguire
Genre: Young Adult
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Source: Provided by Publisher
Parental Warning: violence, sexuality

“It was the last clear thought I had before the pounding of wings grew louder still   and filled my head.  Hunter stared and the wings beat, like a force field battering me back the way I’d come.  A smothering sensation came over me, and then a panic.  The invisible wings were all around, forcing me to fight with my fists at thin air.  I punched but there was no enemy.  Breathless, turning this way and that, I yelled for Jonas to hep me.”

Summary:
PhoenixRohr was the love of Darina’s life.  When he suddenly dies at the hands of violence she is immediately catapulted into a life of devastation.  Lost in her grief, Darina wanders into a most surprising situation.  As it turns out Phoenix isn’t as dead as one might think.  In fact, he’s undead.

Known as the Beautiful Dead, Phoenix and three other recently deceased classmates — Jonas, Summer, and Arizona — must find closure to unspecified events that leave them hanging in a sort of limbo between true death and life.  Sent back from beyond to their small town the foursome are protected by an overlord by the name of Hunter.  When Darina stumbles upon the group performing some sort of ritual Hunter does everything in his power to scare her away. After she continues to return, proving him unsuccessful in that endeavor, he is convinced by the group to allow her to remain aware of their presence and to help each of them seek the truth that holds them back from moving to the after life.

Opinion:
A short quick read this book kept me entertained.  Despite an underlying tone of sadness there was still a general feeling of hope throughout. Particularly in the romantic areas involving both Darina and Jonas.

I have to say that what made this book the most for me was how the undead were portrayed.  These zombies weren’t shuffling, mindless, flesh dripping brain eaters.  They were angelic and human and supernatural in nature.  Not to be feared in the traditional sense they were, however, quite powerful.  Able to exert mind control and invade the personal space of of our thoughts and emotions.

The love story between Phoenix and Darina is as tragic as one would expect but the love they shared in his after life was equally endearing.  At times I could feel the longing between them jump off the page.  The same hold true for Jonas and the young girl he let behind.  Both bursting with love for each other but unable to act on it.  It was heartbreaking yet inspiring at the same time.

I found the story of Darina been the human connection that allowed the Beautiful Dead to properly investigate the circumstances surrounding the reasons for remaining in limbo to be an interesting take on the zombie story.  It made complete sense and it tied her to the group realistically.  Sadly, this made the ending somewhat predictable (mainly because we know there are more books to come).  Thankfully, for me, the story is much more about the journey to get to that end than what the actual ending was.

It was a journey that I enjoyed.  It was emotional and loving while still somewhat thrilling and in some cases surprising.  It’s certainly a journey I’m interested enough in taking again in book two.

[This review is part of a blog tour arranged by Sourcebooks Fire where you can view a list of the participating blogs]

Good morning road trippers!!

The sun is shining, the temperatures are slowly climbing and it looks to be the perfect day to get on the road and enjoy the sites.  This week we’re going to visit some wonderful stops

Georgia

A Novel Source showcases author Judson Mitchum’s Sabbath Creek

Pennsylvania

Beth Fish Reads spotlights author Judith Moffett

Washington

Books and Movies interviews author Kirby Larson

Books and Movies reviews author Chris Crutcher’s King of the Mild Frontier

Wisconsin

Dollycas’s Thoughts spotlights author A. Manette Ansay

Dollycas’s Thoughts reviews The Quilter’s Kitchen by Jenniver Chiaverini

England

Book Gazing reviews The Women of Nell Gwynne’s by Kage Baker

This past couple of weeks has had us globe trotting through some excellent reads hasn’t it?  Here’s to another in a couple weeks!

If you are interested in participating in the Literary Road Trip please be sure to head over to the main page (a link is in the top navigation) and sign up. I’d love to have you! Until next time, safe travels.

I encountered a situation this past weekend that I wanted to share and explore with you dear readers. One that I have to admit made me none-to-pleased with a certain publisher.

So it goes something like this:

1. Michelle purchases e-book.
2. Michelle begins to read e-book and notices it is fraught with grammatical, spelling and formatting errors.
3. Michelle gets bitter because she realizes she likely just paid money for an e-GALLEY as compared to an e-BOOK.

Am I sure that this is the case?  No, I can’t be 100% sure that this was an e-galley but if it’s not then shame on this publisher for letting an e-book of such horrendous (and this is me being generous because there wasn’t a single paragraph that didn’t have an error of some sort) quality.  If it was the e-galley again shame on them for trying to deceive their readers.  I know a good portion of the e-reading community isn’t likely aware of e-galleys and the like but seriously guys, this was just W-R-O-N-G!

I mean, I know there is a certain push to have e-books available at the time of release along with other formats, but a publisher shouldn’t sacrifice quality for speed.  You know what I’m sayin’?  Or maybe it’s all a big game to get the reader to pay top dollar for the print version.  I have a hard time believing that a publisher would be so subversive and sneaky for what likely amounts to only a couple of dollars, but it all adds up right?

So my question to you, fine readers, is have you encountered this same scenario?  Have you purchased an e-book only to feel like you’d been had into purchasing an e-galley instead?  If so did you decide not to purchase e-books from the publisher again?  Because that’s pretty much where I’m at right now.

Happy Singles Awareness Day everyone!

Today I’ll be professing my love not to a significant other, but to my most favoritest inanimate object of all times. Read Forth….

Hearts & Flowers

Big New on the Interwebs y’all.  The biggest of the big (at least for this fangirl!):

Scholastic announced the name and gave us a sneaky peeky of the last (SOBS!) book in The Hunger Games trilogy.

*drum roll*

May I introduce to you….

Mockingjay

**pets**

Isn’t it pretty?

There’s been some Twitter-sation about how well it fits in with the other two books but I really like it. In particular the lighter tone gives a feeling of optimism.  I also like that the Mockingjay is ascending kinda like a hint that The Districts will rise up from the oppression of The Capitol.  Of course this could all be a false sense of security.  Suzanne Collins is a masterful author with some serious balls so I won’t be surprised to see everyone get killed in the end!

Of course, then my fangirl dreams could kinda sorta live on with the thought that maybe, just maybe, she’d leave Prim alone and we’d get another set of books out of her plot to avenge.

**sigh** happy place.

Anywhoooo, now all I need to do is find out who I need to bribe to get me a copy of an ARC (which I know they aren’t doing but I’m still gonna hope somewhere somehow it’s gonna happen for a few people in the world).

Cybil’s Award Challenge

The first guest post on The Cybils Award Challenge blog was posted this week.  It’s an awesomely entertaining and humorous behind the scenes look by Elissa Brent Weissman on how her book Standing For Socks was crafted.  Please go over and show Elissa’s post some love!

You’ll also notice on my blog (if you click through from your reader) that I’ve now added a link to the challenge blog’s posts in my right sidebar.  I’d really love it if you all subscribed too because it’s gonna continue to have excellent content throughout the year.

Lastly, if you’re a Cybils nominated author who’d like to guest post feel free to contact me I’d love to host you.

Book Blogger Convention

Today is the last day you can register for the Book Blogger Convention and take advantage of the $90 early bird pricing.  Remember you must also pay your fee by today so if you want to get in on the discount run thee to the registration form.

We’re accepting registration through at least April 30th so you don’t have to worry about not being able to attend.  Just keep in mind that after today the registration fee will increase to $115.

Nerds Heart YA

There’s only one day left to put your hat in the ring to be a judge for the second annual Nerds Heart YA tournament.  As of February 15th we’ll close down the Call for Judges and start picking who will be participating.  If you’re interested please head on over and sign up for consideration.

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Alrighty folks, that’s about all I’ve got for this Sunday.  I’m slowly working through my feed reader this weekend so you’ll see me poking around the blogosphere I imagine.

Have a great week ahead!