A Gaggle of Book Reviews

The fantasy young adult/tween market is growing, as are the number of books with female main characters. I was very happy to see that The Unwritten Girl and Fathom Five have a female main character, and her best friend is a boy, a combination with cross-gender appeal. James Bow has managed to combine real life as a tween/young adult with fantasy in a way that brings both worlds to life. The newly released Fathom Five and its precursor The Unwritten Girl mix life in a small Canadian town with travel through alternate worlds. Fathom Five can stand on its own, but The Unwritten Girl is a novel that deserves some attention, too.

James Bow’s first book, The Unwritten Girl, introduces us to 12 year old Rosemary, who has lived her whole life in Clarksbury, but yet never felt like she fit in. 12 year old Peter is the “new kid” in the small town, and has the added oddity of being an orphan who lives with his uncle. Rosemary and Peter are drawn together at first because of their shared sense of not belonging. However, when Rosemary’s brother Theo comes back from college unresponsive to anything other than a specific book, they join together to return him to himself.

Theo has had mental illness issues in the past, but his doctors can’t figure out what is happening now. It isn’t until Rosemary looks at the book he’s holding that she figures out what she must do. Rosemary and Peter are pulled into a world of the written word, where A Midsummer Night’s Dream’s Puck guides them through challenges and The Land of Fiction, which is surrounded by the Sea of Ink. The idea of traveling through the world of books reminds me a bit of The Phantom Tollbooth, but James Bow takes us on a very different journey. Peter and Rosemary encounter several surprising situations, have their pre-conceptions challenged, and are tested in ways that help them build character traits that will help them back at home as well. The story and the characters kept me turning pages, anxious to see what happened next!

Fathom Five is the second in the The Unwritten Books, but it stands alone while inviting you to read its predecessor. Peter and Rosemary are now 15, and life is less simple than it was 3 years before. James does a fabulous job of showing the change between age 12 and age 15, and what high school is really like in a small town. The secondary characters have mellowed from the middle school grades, and Peter and Rosemary’s academic strengths are valued rather than bullied. Peter becomes very distracted and unable to concentrate all of a sudden, which leads to a lot of gossip conversation among the teachers.

Peter’s babysitter, Fiona, has found him again, 6 years after his parents’ death. She claims he’s a changeling, a siren child left with his parents when they had a stillbirth. These claims are contributing to his distraction, especially because he feels he has no one in whom he can confide – his uncle and sole family member is away on business. Peter is also distracted by his change in feelings about Rosemary from platonic to romantic, and his worries over her response when he kisses her.

Rosemary, meanwhile, reads just like a 15 year old girl should – she’s worried about Peter’s lack of concentration, and she’s over-thinking everything. She is conflicted about moving from friends to boyfriend/girlfriend, and part of her seems to wish for the simpler days a few years before. I’ve rarely seen a man write the character of a teenage girl this well – James has really brought Rosemary to life along with Peter!

Fiona is trying to convince Peter that it’s time to come home to his siren family, and leave the world of Clarksbury behind. Rosemary is trying to convince Peter that Fiona is wrong, but will Peter listen to her or to Fiona? Is there a secret about why Fiona’s words have so much of an effect on Peter, or is it simply because he is wishing for a family like Rosemary’s? Most importantly, is the world of the sirens really where Peter belongs? If not, can Rosemary help him discover the truth?

The worlds in The Unwritten Books are thoughtfully put together. Rosemary and Peter are multi-faceted, and while the secondary characters aren’t seen often, they aren’t stereotypes, either. James has created unique worlds for Rosemary and Peter to visit in each novel, but they learn important things about themselves each time, and those character traits will serve them well back at home. While I really enjoy the incredible depth and detail of the fantasy world, I also appreciate the work James has done to make life in Clarksbury feel real as well. There aren’t many writers who can move characters between the real world and the fantastic with such grace.

I highly recommend James Bow’s The Unwritten Books. Both The Unwritten Girl and Fathom Five are wonderful Young Adult fantasy novels, and would be attractive to both boys and girls. The fantasy inside James Bow’s novels aren’t the type of fantasy that has received a lot of movie attention of late, so teens and tweens who say “I don’t like fantasy” should like these! If you’re an adult, don’t pass these up because they’re labeled Young Adult. You can always buy and read them, then donate them to the Young Adult section of the library!

These books were received from the author for review.

There are a growing number of vampire and paranormal books out there, and so many of them are wonderful. I’ve written reviews of several, read a lot more, and even have a category devoted to the genre. However, most paranormal novels that include romance have a strong male lead and a woman who makes compromises, but ends up changing him as much as he changes her. A lot of people who read of these stories think that the women are weak. I disagree, but yet look for great paranormal novels where the woman is a strong lead without an immediate romance (I’m not knocking romance, though!). Anyone who agrees with me should definitely check out Jennifer Rardin’s Jaz Parks series!

In Once Bitten, Twice Shy (Jaz Parks, #1), we meet Jaz Parks. Jaz is an assassin who works as a partner/assistant to the government’s chief assassin, a vampire named Vayl who is over 250 years old. In this world, vampires and others are known to exist. Vamps and others are both law-abiding and not – Jaz and Vayl are one of the teams sent to deal with the non-law-abiding set. Jaz is dealing with some major emotional trauma after her boyfriend and previous team were slaughtered, and only she and her brother survived, her best friend and sister-in-law was one of the casualties. As a result of that event, she and her brother aren’t on speaking terms. Her sister is living a decidedly non-CIA life and is happily pregnant, while her dad is retired and bored, pestering anyone around him. Is it any wonder Jaz throws herself into her work?

Vayl and Jaz are assigned to assassinate a top Miami plastic surgeon with ties to terrorist organizations in Once Bitten, Twice Shy. Of course, things are always more complicated than you first expect! Jaz is a “Sensitive”, which means she can smell vampires and identify others. This comes in very handy when the Miami plastic surgeon is discovered to be connected to paranormals in addition to the terrorists. The ensuing story is filled with twists and turns that aren’t expected – the connections between individuals, and the rationale behind them are also surprising. The mystery alone will keep you reading, even if you aren’t a big fan of paranormals!

Jaz is a strong character, and while she develops a crush on her vampire partner, she is first and foremost a CIA employee and assassin. Sure, she gets trapped on the top of a building with her partner’s late wife (can you say awkward?), but she maintains her strength of character throughout. It was heartening to see such a strong character as Jaz break down in tears, or be sidelined for a bit due to an injury – we need strong female role models, but they can’t be infallible! Jaz feels so real, a very multi-faceted character with strong secondary characters to back her up.

Vayl, and Jennifer Rardin’s other vampires require absolutely no sunlight. They also require blood, but do not have to kill or turn their “donors”. They are difficult to kill, but a stake (or other wood) through the heart or beheading will work. Vayl himself is claustrophobic (so he has a tent over his bed rather than a coffin), and a very private man. He has picked Jaz to be his partner to help her develop her Gifts as a Sensitive, as well as for other reasons we will uncover. He is an enigma who manages to make toes curl with just a brush of his hand against Jaz’s cheek. It is a nice change to see a series in which there are both “good” and “bad” vampires, rather than a fully romanticized version of the paranormal world.

I loved Once Bitten, Twice Shy so much that I was thrilled I had Another One Bites the Dust (Jaz Parks #2) on hand to read immediately. I highly recommend ordering both books – once you’ve started reading about Jaz and Vayl, you won’t want to stop! The end of Once Bitten, Twice Shy has an interview with Jaz – I strongly suggest reading that as well, it’s a lot of fun!

Another One Bites the Dust adds some of the secondary characters from Once Bitten, Twice Shy to Jaz and Vayl’s team. These characters had been brought to life in book 1, and are now fleshed out even more – Jennifer Rardin’s writing helps me play out the story in my mind’s eye. I can clearly visualize Jaz, Vayl, Cole, Cassandra, and Bergman in their RV as they set up as a sideshow at the Corpus Christi Winter festival as a cover for rescuing some unique biotechnology stolen by a power-hungry vampire. Picturing Jaz, the CIA assassin and Black Belt as a belly-dancer makes me giggle. Especially when I read her descriptions of all the places she hides weapons in her costume! (We don’t need to mention how much I’d like to be in Corpus Christi in the winter…)

Another One Bites the Dust delves further into each character, and we watch Jaz begin to heal from the earlier events in her life. Jaz’s initiative, strength, and her sense of teamwork make her a character whose story I really enjoy following. The world of Jaz Parks feels so real, as if Jennifer Rardin had been a fly on the wall as these adventures took place. Jaz’s story is told in the first person, by Jaz, so we see into her thoughts and know only what she knows. Thankfully, she’s very clever, and the insights are not made exclusively by her male counterparts. By the end of Another One Bites the Dust, I’m anxiously awaiting a romance, and can feel the sexual tension in the book. It’s so great to read novels by an author who takes things slow and deals with Jaz’s recovery from her trauma as well as her feelings for her partner. Jaz’s father also returns, and is seen in a different light, helping Jaz heal.

Once Bitten, Twice Shy was listed as one of the Top 13 Books of 2007 by SciFi Chick!

I’m really looking forward to the February release of Biting the Bullet (Jaz Parks #3) and the following release of Bitten to Death (Jaz Parks #4)! I’m really curious what will come next for Jaz, Vayl, and their friends – and if romance is in the offing!

Check out my review of book 3 – Biting the Bullet 

These books were received from the publisher for review.