Magic Study

Yelena has moved South, left her job as food taster, and her love, Valek.  She meets her familly and learns about her magical abilities. 

A definite drop in score for Magic Study. Even though I took issue with Poison Study for its simplistic writing style I still had a pretty serious book crush on it. I was leery of book #2 as I usually am.....and I was right.


I personally don't take change easily in my own life or when I come to know a character in a book. I was not excited that Yelena had to leave behind Ixia and travel South. The story ended up not being half bad. I just had to get used to it. But I did miss Valek with a heated passion.

Later things began getting sketchy. I appreciated that even though there was a rape in Poison, it was written with some dignity. But please......Snyder, don't make this a running theme. I don't want to hear about anymore brutality. STOP with the raping. Yelena went from a sharp awesome character to a nut job that forged ahead without thought. When Valek finally shows up later in the book.....after the magic and the characters have taken a nose dive...he is unrecognizeable. I don't know who he is any more. I am glad he loves Yelena...but he is a simpering sissy that says 'my love' all of the time. Once made my heart beat rather quickly....the successive times made vomit come up in my mouth a little bit.

I still think the writing style is very simple...like grade 5. Then Snyder throws in some sex and rape. Choose an audience!

After all of the complaints, I still liked the book and will continue the series to see if Valek ever mans up or Yelena gets control of her teen rebellion.
 
Rating 3 Not enough manly Valek and I don't like that Yelena doesn't think before acting.  The friendships are endearing, including the horse.
Rating PG 13 More rape and brutality, sex.

Poison Study

Up front I have to say that this isn't a clear 4 stars and I have a hard time pinpointing why. I loved the characters. I felt like the author had a great grip on who they were. Exploring the physical and psychological issues was accomplished very well. The fantasy was just enough but not so much that I lost interest (I can only delve so deep into fantasy lit.........shudder). The main character Yelena was extremely smart and strong. I loved her. The whole idea of the book was just smashing.

Here's the problem. Lots of times I felt like I would love to have my 10 year old daughter read this and then there would be a little swearing, eventually a rape (which was written not overly graphically). I believe the reason I kept thinking that it would be a great book for my girl was because it was written in such a rudimentary way. Maybe that sounds harsh. The writing was very simple but involved some adult themes. I questioned whether I was reading a book for 5th graders or young adults. It bothered me.

Still, I was charmed by the main idea (Yelena being saved from the gallows to become a food taster for the Commander and having to learn to identify poison.) This also included how not just the poison in the food but how we can be poisoned by lies, secrets, and abuse.

So there. I leave it at a 4 and hope that the writing for the next books becomes more intricate and developed.

 

Rating 4

Rating PG 13  language, rape, alluding to sex

Impossible

Impossible by Nancy Werlin

The song 'Scarborough Fair' takes the starring role as a curse.  Lucy is a regular girl living with her foster parents.  Her life takes a dramatic change;  her crazy birthmother shows up just as Lucy is heading off to her first prom, a strange and enchanting man shows up for dinner at her parent's house, her long time neighbor/best friend Zach, moves into her house, and her prom date becomes posessed and rapes her.
Lucy realizes that the song 'Scarborough Fair' isn't just a song her looney mother sang because she was nuts.  It is a curse, a riddle, and a warning.  Lucy has to find a way to accomplish all of the tasks in the riddle, in order to break the curse put on all of the women in her family by an Elfin Knight.  She only has a short amount of time to break the curse before she becomes crazy......as all of the women before her have.

Lucy was easily likeable.  She is quiet and determined and makes the strange plot easy to believe.  Lucy and Zach quickly fall in love despite their ages.  Zach, along with Lucy's very supportive parents, help her unwind the riddle that will soon take her mind.  I didn't really end up liking Soledad (Lucy's foster mother) very much.  I think somehow I took her to be a liberal, granola......and she never sat well with me most of the time.

Rating 4  Loved Lucy and Zach together.  I loved the magical quality and unique way that the song was turned into a curse.  The characters where a great group that I became attached to.

Rating PG 13   Rape, teen pregnancy, information about abortion, evil magic used to cause a mental disorder and to coerce someone into being a sex slave.

To Kill A Mockingbird

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

It has been ages since I read this book. It was definitely time to pick it up again. I remember liking it but I loved it so much more this time.

Scout and Jem live in Maycomb (a small southern town) in the early 1930's. They are being raised by their father Atticus and their black help Calpurnia. Atticus is a lawyer.
Scout and Jem meet Dill. A boy that moves to Maycomb every summer. They quickly become friends. They spend much of their time fixated on Boo Radley, the mysterious neighbor that never leaves his house and has become legend in their minds. The children make up skits about him, dare each other to enter his yard or peek through his windows. Once in awhile they find small gifts in a hollow tree, which they think are from Boo Radley.
As the years slip away, Scout and Jem are faced with the wrath of the small town as Atticus defends a black man accused of raping a white girl. Jem is turning into a young man and he always looks to Atticus as an example. Atticus tells Jem that defending this man is something he must do in order to live with himself.
As the trial approaches the children are accosted by one time friends and neighbors. Atticus is always wise and forgiving. He makes sure that Jem and Scout do not fight to defend him and do not speak unkindly to their accusers.
The trial plays out with Jem and Scout hiding in the balcony of the courtroom. Jem has a mind for law just like Atticus. He is convinced that the evidence proves Tom (the defendant) innocent of his charges. The jury returns a guilty verdict anyway.......despite everyone seeming to know that Tom is not guilty. Jem is bewildered and crushed. He cannot understand why the people of the town would let the accusation stand.
The father of the alleged rape victim is livid with Atticus for shaming him in court. He threatens to take revenge. Atticus however does not believe his threats will ever come to fruition once the anger ebbs away.
But Mr. Ewell bides his time and attacks Atticus' children on their way home from the Halloween pageant. In a wild turn of events their lives are saved by their legendary neighbor Boo Radley. Making their wildest dreams come true.

I cannot describe the emotions evoked by this book. I can see why it is so popular. As I read, I couldn't make myself understand how anyone could ever believe the things people used to believe about race. This book is so applicable even today, whether it is about race, religion or gender.

Rating 5
Rating PG Despite the accusation of rape it was never graphically described. I would probably read this to my nine year old or let her read it herself. Hard lessons must be learned. Well worth the read.