Mini-Reviews: Conjured by Sarah Beth Durst, Chaos of Stars by Kiersten White, and Thin Space by Jodi Casella

Happy September!  Can you believe it? This month will feature dozens and dozens of great new releases, so in the interest of getting everything covered, I'm doing some mini-reviews today!

Also, don't miss my stop on the September is for Sequels Giveaway Hop!

Conjured by Sarah Beth Durst

to be published by Walker Children's Books

on September 3, 2013

Source: I received an e-ARC from the publisher for review. Please see my full FTC disclosure on right sidebar.

Summary from Goodreads: Eve has a new home, a new face, and a new name—but no memories of her past. She’s been told that she's in a witness protection program. That she escaped a dangerous magic-wielding serial killer who still hunts her. The only thing she knows for sure is that there is something horrifying in her memories the people hiding her want to access—and there is nothing they won’t say—or do—to her to get her to remember. At night she dreams of a tattered carnival tent and buttons being sewn into her skin. But during the day, she shelves books at the local library, trying to not let anyone know that she can do things—things like change the color of her eyes or walk through walls. When she does use her strange powers, she blacks out and is drawn into terrifying visions, returning to find that days or weeks have passed—and she’s lost all short-term memories. Eve must find out who and what she really is before the killer finds her—but the truth may be more dangerous than anyone could have ever imagined.

My (mini) take: I think I read this blurb, saw the phrase "magic-wielding serial killer" and must have glossed over the part that mentions that Conjured is also an amnesia story. In my experience as a reader, characters with amnesia can be problematic. While I felt for Eve, her blankness made it hard to connect with her. Many of the other characters (such as Eve's handlers and Zack, the love interest) had very offbeat senses of humor. Their wackiness set against Eve's blankness did give the book a "Who's on First" vibe that was funny at times, but I wanted scary serial killer action, which didn't really come into play until the last quarter of the book. Eve is constantly being told she's in danger, but I never really felt that.

Finally, by the last few chapters, things got seriously creeptastic! The last of the book was excellent,  but it took a fair amount of patience to get there.  I think that readers who love WTF-is-going-on-here books like As I Wake by Elizabeth Scott or Another Little Piece by Kate Karyus Quinn will really enjoy this.

The Chaos of Stars 

by Kiersten White

To be published by Harper Teen 

on September 10, 2013

Source: I received an e-ARC for review. Please see my FTC disclosure on the right sidebar.

Summary from Goodreads: Isadora’s family is seriously screwed up. Of course, as the human daughter of Egyptian gods, that pretty much comes with the territory. She’s also stuck with parents who barely notice her, and a house full of relatives who can’t be bothered to remember her name. After all, they are going to be around forever—and she’s a mere mortal. Isadora’s sick of living a life where she’s only worthy of a passing glance, and when she has the chance to move to San Diego with her brother, she jumps on it. But Isadora’s quickly finding that a “normal” life comes with plenty of its own epic complications—and that there’s no such thing as a clean break when it comes to family. Much as she wants to leave her past behind, she can’t shake the ominous dreams that foretell destruction for her entire family. When it turns out there may be truth in her nightmares, Isadora has to decide whether she can abandon her divine heritage after all.

My (mini) take:  I am a big fan of both Paranormalcy and Mind Games so had high hopes for this one, but the story and the characters in The Chaos of Stars never really grabbed me. 

I enjoyed that the book switched from the more typical Greco-Roman mythology to Egyptian. But I found Isadora, the heroine, pretty hard to relate to. I love angry characters, but I think it's key to empathize with the "why" of the character's anger. Isadora is angry that her parents -- the Egyptian gods Isis and Osiris -- are expecting a new baby ahead of schedule. And she broods endlessly about the fact that she's mortal. Isadora goes to stay with her brother in San Diego, where her life suddenly gets perfect. Fun new BFF, check. Dreamy boy with blue, blue eyes and the hots for her, check. Amazing volunteer job designing a major museum exhibition, check. But she's still sulking, and that started to wear thin.

There's a tame mystery involving suspicious break-ins, and one of the characters is harboring a secret that was pretty obvious from the outset. In the end, it seemed to me that The Chaos of Stars couldn't decide whether to be a fun and breezy mystery or a more dark story about the inevitability of death and, as a result, just awkwardly straddled the two. To me, it felt a little glib for a story about a character whose central conflict is that she's trying to come to terms with her own mortality. But Kiersten White has a great, easy-to-read writing style, and if you love Egyptian mythology, you may want to give this a try.

Thin Space

by Jody Casella

To be published by Beyond Words/Simon Pulse

on September 10, 2013

Source: I received an e-ARC for review. Please see my FTC disclosure on the right sidebar.

Summary from Goodreads:  Ever since the car accident that killed his twin brother, Marshall Windsor has been consumed with guilt and crippled by secrets of that fateful night. He has only one chance to make amends, to right his wrongs and set things right. He must find a Thin Space—a mythical point where the barrier between this world and the next is thin enough for a person to step through to the other side.  But, when a new girl moves into the house next door, the same house Marsh is sure holds a thin space, she may be the key—or the unraveling of all his secrets. As they get closer to finding a thin space—and closer to each other—Marsh must decide once and for all how far he’s willing to go to right the wrongs of the living…and the dead.

My (mini) take: I went into Thin Space expecting a paranormal grief book and got something more like a cool paranormal suspense story. Marsh, still mourning the death of his twin in a car accident, wanders his New Hampshire town in bare feet, trying to locate a "thin space" where he can cross over into the world of the dead. He becomes convinced that one of these thin spaces is in the house of Maddie, the new girl at school, and he befriends her as a way to get access to it.

I loved the isolated New Hampshire setting and the whole eerie mythology behind the thin spaces. As I read, I began to wonder if a certain plot development would come to pass -- there are plenty of hints and, while it would have probably have been more fun if I'd been caught completely by surprise, it was still pretty fun to find out that I was right.

Because so much of the story is spent setting up a big reveal, Thin Space doesn't pack the same kind of emotional punch as other YA books that deal with the aftermath of a sibling's death, books like The Sky is Everywhere by Jandy Nelson, Saving June by Hannah Harrington,  or Personal Effects by E. M. Kokie. But Thin Space does have the spooky, fun vibe of a creepy story you'd tell at a sleepover, and I definitely enjoyed reading it.