The Woman in Black

The Woman in Black
Susan Hill
164 pages
Publisher: Vintage
Source: Paperbackswap.com
★★★★☆

You can read the Goodreads summary here.

Arthur Kipps is a young lawyer who is sent by his firm to Crythin Giffrod, a faraway town where he must attend the funeral of Alice Drablow and then attend to her paperwork at her home, Eel Marsh House.  Having not been from the area, Arthur has no idea the horror that await him in the town, something the residents know but are hesitant to share.

Now I know a lot of horror fanatics who have and will say that this book is not scary.  And, having read it, I can say that it's not scary like a horror movie that startles you out of your seat with gore.  It's a little more cerebral than that.  The author, Susan Hill, has the great ability to build suspense with her words.  I felt the stress of impending doom in my heart the further I read on in this book.  That's a talent!

Susan Hill created two horrors with this novel.  First, there is your obvious horror - that of some tortured paranormal being haunting creepy places.  But second, there is a more subtle horror - the kind of personal horror that happens every day in real life, the kind of horror that will change your life for the worst.  It's that kind of horror that had me saying at the end of the novel, "That's horrible," and I don't mean the novel was horrible.  It's just a horrible tragedy.

Four stars.  A must read, before you see the movie, but even if you are not.

Anna Dressed in Blood

Anna Dressed in Blood
Kendare Blake
316 pages
Publisher: Tor Teen
Source: library
★★★★★

You can read the Goodreads summary here.

Cas Lowood moves around a lot with his mother, on account of the fact that he took over the family business when his father was murdered.  That is, he kills ghosts.  Now he's on his way north for the ghost the locals call "Anna Dressed in Blood."  Not too much is known about how she died, except that it was brutal and now she's killing anything and anyone that comes into her abandoned home.

I loved Anna's story.  When we first meet Anna she gives off such a vicious vibe that I was afraid we wouldn't really get to know her, but what's great was that we got to know her and her true story, which is so much worse than what the reader assumes at the beginning of the novel.  I love that the author was able to make me feel sympathy for a cold-blooded killer.

This book was scary.  It was just like a horror movie in book form.   There was your typical cabinets opening and slamming by themselves and  some blood dripping from the walls kind of stuff, but there was also much more... gore.  The kind of thing that's scary in a good way to read in a novel, but maybe you don't want to see that disembowelment on the big screen, you know?  It was fantastic!

The characters themselves were great.  They were all fleshed out and had flaws, which I mean in a good way.  Even our main man, Cas, while being a fantastic ghost killer (not ghost buster!) had personal problems.   He was out to avenge his father's murder almost to a fault.  The hint of a romance in this book left me intrigued and wondering if that's going to flesh out in future novels.

The writing in this novel was beautiful while being horrifying.  Kendare Blake is obviously great at crafting the written word.  Even the descriptions of how terrifying Anna looked sounded beautiful.  Like if it were real life, you would want to look away because it was ugly, but underneath was a kind of beauty that you couldn't look away from.

If you don't like horror movies, please do not let that stop you from reading this book.  I won't come within a mile of a horror movie in theaters or on television.  The Woman in Black commercials have me hiding under the blanket (and yet I'm about to read that, too).  But this book is so good, you must give it a try.  I'm really looking forward to the sequel, though I should note that you could totally read Anna Dressed in Blood as a standalone if you wish.  I highly, highly recommend it!

First Date

First Date
Krista McGee
336 pages
Publisher: Thomas Nelson
Source: NetGalley
★★★★☆

You can read the Goodreads summary here.

I just have to say this - this book was stinkin' cute.  If it had cheeks, I'd be pinching them.

When Addy Davidson is selected to go on the reality television show, The Book of Love, to get a chance to go to prom with the President's son, she's not thrilled.  Her principal convinces her it's the right thing to do so she goes, albeit begrudgingly.  She wanted to spend her last couple years in high school focusing on studies, not boys!  Once at the competition though, America falls in love with Addy and she finds herself falling in love with the First Son...

Okay, totally cheesy plot summary, right?  But it worked!  It was a great little novel.  I thought Addy was a great lead character with a good head on her shoulders.  She wasn't just some teenage girl who cheerleads and dates the captain of the football team and assumes she can just win a date with the First Son with her charms.  Instead of trying to act like an attractive girl, like the others were doing in the competition, she was just herself - which was perfect.

I really liked how Jonathan's character was portrayed.  He easily could have been self-centered and egotistical, but instead he was sweet and shy.  It was very endearing and his morals were in the right place. While other girls were vying for his attention by crossing their legs and thrusting their chests out, he knew that the girl he wanted was not just pretty, but also smart and had goals for herself.  I kept waiting for Jonathan to just kiss Addy!

Four stars!  Loved the book and the Christian aspect did not get in the way of a great plot.  First Date loses a star, though, because I think the ending with Hank, the host of the TV show, was a little too easy.

In My Mailbox (20)

In My Mailbox is a weekly meme hosted by Kristi at the Story Siren.

A blessedly small week...

FROM THE LIBRARY:
Aftertime by Sophie Littlefield

Classified as Murder by Miranda James (still have to read the first one, then this before it's due back)

PURCHASED:

We Need to Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver ("signed") 

TOTAL TBR: 156

The Probability of Miracles

The Probability of Miracles
Wendy Wunder
357 pages
Publisher: Razorbill
Source: library
★★★★☆

You can read the Goodreads summary here.

I inadvertently read two YA cancer novels in the past two weeks, The Probability of Miracles and The Fault in Our Stars.  They were both great novels, but you'll have to excuse me if I seem a little depressed because cancer is inherently depressing.

The Probability of Miracles follows the story of Campell who has been fighting cancer for seven years.  In a last-ditch attempt to save her, her mother takes her and her sister to Promise, Maine, where miracles have been said to happen.

The first thing I noticed and loved about this book: Cam's family lives near Walt Disney World and they all work at the Polynesian Resort.  At the beginning and towards the end of the novel there are forays into Disney World that made me want to go there.  I thought the whole Disney thing really balanced well with Cam's illness, even if some of the Disney fun seemed way out there.  As far as I know, no one is allowed to stay in that fancy suite in Cinderella's Castle, even for Make-A-Wish.

I also liked the concept of Promise, Maine - where no bad can happen.  It was an interesting concept was threaded throughout the novel without making the novel the least bit paranormal; it was definitely a contemporary novel, but the idea of Promise, there's just something magical about that.  Of course, that's not all sunshine and rainbows when the idea of Promise makes you afraid to leave Promise, a la Asher, Cam's love interest.

Four stars!  Highly recommend, though maybe take a lesson from me and space out your cancer novels a bit.  I know I have another one coming up soon from NetGalley... whoops.  If this is becoming a trend in YA lit, it's an awfully depressing one.

Soulless

Soulless
Gail Carriger
357 pages
Publisher: Orbit
Source: purchased
★★★★☆

You can read the Goodreads summary here.

Alexia is only twenty-six and already a spinster, but she's also soulless.  When a vampire attacks her at a ball (how rude!) and she accidentally kills him in self-defense, Lord Maccon is sent by the Queen herself to investigate.  Meanwhile, vampires and werewolves are going missing and suddenly it's up to Alexia to figure out what's happening to save her own butt.

This book has been on my TBR pile since last summer and it probably would have stayed there even longer if it weren't for the fact that my online book club is discussing this book tomorrow.  So I was finally able to give it a go and boy was I glad I did!

I loved so much about this book: the time period, the aspects of etiquette, the clothing, the paranormals, the idea of a "soulless" person, the technology and new inventions... I could go on and on, folks.  I appreciated that there were both werewolves and vampires in this novel, yet they were not embattled in a full out war against each other.

I also adored Alexia's characters- she was a "spinster" at only twenty-six and she was okay with that.  Fiercely independent and spunky, she could hold her own and I appreciate that in a heroine.  But at the same time, she still found herself in something of a love triangle with some steamier scenes and I was glad she was able to find some romance despite her self-proclaimed flaws and spinster-status.
The only thing I didn't like about this book was the language and author's voice.  Well, that's not entirely true because I did like those thing, I just found that they took some time getting used to and thus I wasn't able to read the book as quickly as I would have liked.

Four stars!  I wish I hadn't waited so long to start these series!  I loved the first book and I can't wait to read the rest of them.  Definitely check this out if you love paranormal romances and/or steampunk novels.  I also loved that this book had a hint of cozy mystery to it.

January Recap!

Can you believe the first month of 2012 is already under our belts?  Here's the list of everything I read this month:

Samantha and the Cowboy by Lorraine Heath
All These Things I've Done by Gabrielle Zevin
Steampunk! An Anthology of Fantastically Rich and Strange Stories edited by Kelly Link
Switched by Amanda Hocking
Everblossom by Larissa Hinton
Happy Birthday to You by Brian Rowe
A Cold Creek Secret by RaeAnna Thayne
Venture Untamed by R.H. Russell
Fateful by Claudia Gray
Why We Broke Up by Daniel Handler
The Beautiful Code by Sadie Hayes
Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi
The Name of the Star by Maureen Johnson
Allegiance by Cayla Kluver
Ugly to Start With by John Michael Cummings
The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
New Girl by Paige Harbison
The Future of Us by Jay Asher
The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight by Jennifer E. Smith
Playground by 50 Cent
The Chosen One by Carol Lynch Williams
Some Girls Are by Courtney Summers
The Book of Lost Fragrances by M.J. Rose

Total books read in 2012: 23
Total pages read in 2012: 6201