Waiting on Wednesday: Carniepunk!

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Jill at Breaking The Spine to spotlight upcoming book releases that we're excited for.


This week's pick:

Release date: July 23, 2013
Publisher: Gallery Books
Format: Paperback, 448 pages

Goodreads description:
A star-studded urban fantasy anthology featuring bestselling authors Rachel Caine, Rob Thurman, Seanan McGuire, Jennifer Estep, and Kevin Hearne, whose stories explore the creepy, mysterious, and, yes, sometimes magical world of traveling carnivals.

The traveling carnival is a leftover of a bygone era, a curiosity lurking on the outskirts of town. It is a place of contradictions—the bright lights mask the peeling paint; a carnie in greasy overalls slinks away from the direction of the Barker’s seductive call. It is a place of illusion—is that woman’s beard real? How can she live locked in that watery box?

And while many are tricked by sleight of hand, there are hints of something truly magical going on. One must remain alert and learn quickly the unwritten rules of this dark show. To beat the carnival, one had better have either a whole lot of luck or a whole lot of guns—or maybe some magic of one’s own.

Featuring stories grotesque and comical, outrageous and action-packed, Carniepunk is the first anthology to channel the energy and attitude of urban fantasy into the bizarre world of creaking machinery, twisted myths, and vivid new magic. 

I love anthologies, and I really can't wait for this one! Great authors, some I know and some whose stories I've wanted to read for a while but haven't had the chance. The carnival setting is just awesome, there is so much story potential in it and it can go so many different ways!
Have you heard of Carniepunk before? What are you waiting for this Wednesday?

Non-YA review: Thistle & Thorne ('Til The World Ends), by Ann Aguirre

Release date: January 29, 2013
Publisher: Harlequin Luna
Format: Paperback, 368 pages

Goodreads description:
Thistle & Thorne by Ann Aguirre

After a catastrophic spill turns the country into a vast chemical wasteland, those who could afford it retreated to fortresses, self-contained communities run by powerful corporations. But for Mari Thistle, life on the outside-in the Red Zone-is a constant struggle. To protect her family, Mari teams up with the mysterious Thorne Goodman. Together, they'll face an evil plot in both the underworld of the Red Zone and the society inside the fortresses that could destroy those on the outside...for good. 


The following review is based on an eARC provided to me by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for my honest opinion.

Review:
Thistle & Thorne is the second story in the ‘Til The World Ends anthology. I am reviewing all three novellas separately and you can read my review of Julie Kagawa’s Dawn of Eden here.

I haven’t read anything by the author before, but I really enjoyed this short novella and I think I’ll look into her Razorland series after all, even though I wasn’t all that intrigued with it before! From what I’ve heard, Thistle & Thorne precedes the events in Enclave but features different characters. 
EDIT: Ann Aguirre contacted me and cleared up that the world in this story is not related to the Razorland series. I'm sorry about the confusion - I read in someone else's review that it was a prequel and simply believed that because I didn't know any better at the time.

Thistle & Thorne is set in a post-apocalyptic world where a sharp division is made between rich and poor. Those who are either rich enough to buy their way in (or born privileged) live in gated communities called fortresses. Their lives are full of luxury and they have enough food, clean air, actual trees etc. The less lucky ones have to try and survive in the Red Zone among crumbling buildings, backstabbing, and crime. It took me moment to get a hang of the world building but I soon found myself at home and figuring out the rules of the place. The world our heroine Mari lives in is harsh and gritty and I felt the way it was developed in the story very realistic.

Mari herself is a strong woman trying to survive in a world that is primarily shaped by powerful men. She has two younger siblings whom she is taking care of as best she can, working as a thief-for-hire to pay her way through life and to protect her brother and sister from the dangers of their surroundings. For them, she would do anything and despite her grim prospects she never gives up.

When a theft she was contracted to commit goes badly, Mari has to team up with Thorne Goodman to escape the wrath of Stavros, a crime boss threatening her block with annihilation. Together, they form a plot to overthrow Stavros’ reign. Thorne himself and his motivations are shady at first, but I really enjoyed seeing his character gain depth and grew to like him a lot. He and Mari made a killer team! Each of them could stand on their own but working together they were so much better. There was a bit of romance, too, but it never hijacked the story. There is also a cast of side-characters that rounded the story off well and showed more sides of the world Mari moves in. I loved her neighbor, Nat! That woman can make you soup and take care of your siblings just as well as craft you a knife.

The writing flowed very well and the pace built up more and more towards the resolution and final showdown. I would have read the whole story in one setting if real life had not interfered. Even though the setting is bleak, there were also descriptive passages I found very beautiful and that showed Mari’s ability to find hope among the darkness and imagine a different, better future. The ending wasn’t a huge surprise but it also wasn’t guaranteed from the beginning and there were a few twists.

Overall I really enjoyed Thistle & Thorne and actually wished it was a bit longer! I’d love to see what happens next, but as far as I know these exact characters don’t make an appearance in the Razorland series. I think there’s a loophole kept open for another story though. I can hope, can’t I? I’d be up for another team-up between Mari and Thorne anytime.
I’d recommend the story to anyone who enjoys post-apocalyptic books or stories about organized crime featuring a strong heroine and layered hero. Small warning: there is quite a bit of graphic violence, hence why the story falls into the Adult category.


Have you read Thistle & Thorne or any other of Ann Aguirre's books? How did you like it? Does the premise of the story appeal to you? Let me know in the comments :)

Non-YA Review: Dawn of Eden ('Til The World Ends), by Julie Kagawa

Release date: January 29, 2013
Publisher: Harlequin Luna
Format: Paperback, 368 pages

Goodreads description:
Dawn of Eden by Julie Kagawa

Before The Immortal Rules, there was the Red Lung, a relentless virus determined to take out all in its path. For Kylie, the miracle of her survival is also her burden-as a doctor at one of the clinics for the infected, she is forced to witness endless suffering. What's worse, strange things are happening to the remains of the dead, and by the time she befriends Ben Archer, she's beginning to wonder if a global pandemic is the least of her problems...


The following review is based on an eARC provided to me by the pubisher via NetGalley in exchange for my honest opinion.


Review:
Since this is a novella collection rather than one of the short story anthologies I'm used to, I've decided to review each of the three novellas separately.

Julie Kagawa's Dawn of Eden was the novella I was most curious about, since I've never read anything by the other authors. I loved The Immortal Rules (you can read my review here), and this novella takes place a few decades earlier, when the Red Lung virus first broke out. You’ll pick up on a few more things if you’ve read the book (as well as a cameo appearance of one of my favorite characters), but it’s not necessary and anyone can follow along easily even if this is their first encounter with the series.
It's also Julie Kagawa's first ADULT story, and the shift in tone is noticeable. That being said, I think it's one of the best pieces of prose I've read by her so far.

The story follows Kylie, a doctor in training in D.C. fighting a losing battle against the virus. The country is in chaos, electricity, the internet, and any type of broadcast media have broken down. People are looting and killing each other in the streets, hospitals are overflowing with the dead. Kylie is constantly surrounded by death as she and her two interns do their best to ease the pain of the dying. And yet, despite all the bleakness and blood and death surrounding her, Kylie never gives up hope. She does not become immune to her patients' suffering. She believes that some of them might get better, and refuses to leave them and save herself. This inner strength and determination to fight to the last really made me admire her!

Enter Ben Archer and his injured friend. Kylie feels immediately attracted to Ben, but doesn't get distracted from their very desperate situation. When her dead patients eventually start to reawaken around her as rabid beasts, Ben has to own up to what is really happening and what role his friend had in it. He and Kylie set out on an adventurous journey through a country that seems deserted but could be crawling with enemies as soon as the sun goes down, following the hope that Ben's estranged family might still be alive and healthy on their middle-of-nowhere farm.

As I’ve already hinted, the bleak and desperate, apocalyptical atmosphere of the novel was palpable. There were also parts that made my heart hammer because I just knew something horrible was going to happen, but not exactly when or how! Definitely some major creep factor here! But apart from all that, I loved to see Kylie and Ben’s relationship develop. They are thrown together, but their relationship never felt forced and there were also no attempts to make them fall in love faster than was reasonable. The scenes between them were fairly explicit but well done – however, not YA. I was actually surprised by how explicit it was because I think of Julie Kagawa as a YA writer, but I didn’t mind ;)

Overall, I really enjoyed this glimpse at a time before society in a way reestablished itself in The Immortal Rules. The scenario and the way people reacted to the world going crazy around them felt very realistic to me, and I liked the pace – it wasn’t building towards one big peak but had several smaller ones with calmer moments in between. If you love dystopian/postapocalyptic settings with a little romance thrown into the mix, you should definitely give it a try! However, if you have a weak stomach and a problem with graphic violence, you should better sit this one out…

Have you read The Immortal Rules? Are you anxious to get a glimpse into the 'before' of the story? If you've already read it, what did you think of Julie Kagawa's first non-YA story? My curious mind wants to know :)

Review: Two and Twenty Dark Tales, edited by Nina Berry

Released: October 16, 2012
Publisher: Month9Books
Format: Paperback, 340 pages

Goodreads description:
In this anthology, 20 authors explore the dark and hidden meanings behind some of the most beloved Mother Goose nursery rhymes through short story retellings. The dark twists on classic tales range from exploring whether Jack truly fell or if Jill pushed him instead to why Humpty Dumpty, fragile and alone, sat atop so high of a wall. The authors include Nina Berry, Sarwat Chadda, Leigh Fallon, Gretchen McNeil, and Suzanne Young.



The following review is based on an eARC provided to me by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for my honest opinion. It differs from the final version. 


Review (no spoilers):
I love anthologies, but this is my first time reviewing one. As the title says, there are twenty-two stories by twenty different authors in it but I’m not going to talk about every one of them. Instead, I’m going to point out some of those I think were most brilliant as well as a few that didn’t work for me. Overall, the quality of the stories was very high! Anthologies are always a mixed bunch but I really enjoyed the vast majority of the tales in here.

An aside: as a Swiss girl, I don’t really know many nursery rhymes. We have some here but they’re not such a big thing. They’re more like figures of speech or else short songs or lullabies, but I have the impression that in the English-speaking world they are more part of culture than here. So I didn’t know most of the rhymes these stories were for, which made the reading more exciting for me because I had no real inkling what to expect most of the time since I didn’t recognize the usual context of the rhyme.

The way the stories were retold varied a lot. Some stayed close to the rhyme while others took a more abstract approach, incorporating the general theme or situation instead. There were medieval-ish fantasy retellings, modern retellings, with or without magic. There were wishes and curses and spells. Witches, vampires, some type of faeries, dystopian tales, Irish as well as Egyptian mythology! I really enjoyed how creative these authors got and how they twisted their ‘raw material’!

I was especially looking forward to Karen Mahoney’s story, One For Sorrow, and it ended up to be one of my top favorites! I really enjoyed the atmosphere she created, the references to Poe, the way she took up different fairytale motives and wove everything into something new and original set in the modern world. And I loved the chemistry between her main characters!

Another story, one that really rattled me, was Life in a Shoe by Heidi R. Kling. It's set in a dystopian society where women no longer have the right not to get pregnant and pretty much ‘produce’ another kid each year even though no one has enough food to keep everyone nourished. The lack of choice and the heroine’s will to persevere and pursue a better future than her mother really stuck with me.

A story that made my university-trained, literary theory savvy self rejoice was Blue, by Sayantani DasGupta. The idea of creation through writing, gaining a voice and a sense of self by literally writing oneself into being and being read by another, came through brilliantly in this one. I loved how the main character went from passive, observant chronicler to being an actor in her own right!

One story that seriously creeped me out in a good way was Wee Willy Winkie by Leigh Fallon. The ending is wickedly ambiguous in my opinion! I also really enjoyed the carnival feeling in A Ribbon of Blue by Michelle Zink, as well as the character dynamics in Suzanne Young’s The Wish.

Unfortunately, as I said above, there are some stories that didn’t quite work for me. One of them was Pieces of Eight by Shannon Delany and Max Scialdone. The basic idea was good but it was too big in scope for a short story and would have needed more space to really develop, in my opinion. As it was, it appeared a bit confusing. I liked the writing and the wolf guard character though.

Another one I was a bit disappointed by was Candlelight by Suzanne Lazear. I’ve been curious about her novel Innocent Darkness for a while and was eager to check out her writing, but I was not convinced (in this story at least). The basic idea was good though not exactly new. I liked the bond between the sisters in her story but it was all very predictable, right down to the ending. What would have been interesting is how the characters deal with things at the exact point the story breaks off, or how society reacts to the disappearance of so many teenagers. However, the story might have appeared weaker to me than it really is because it’s positioned right after Life in a Shoe which, as stated above, packed one hell of an emotional punch for me! The problems of these girls just appeared very petty to me after the very real issues Kling’s heroine had to deal with.

I also felt a bit ‘meh’ about Tick Tock by Gretchen McNeil. The atmosphere-building was brilliant but there wasn’t really a plot or an explanation for what was happening. One story I’m undecided about is Clockwork by Leah Cypress. Her idea was really original and I loved the connection she drew between clocks and magic. Her heroine was strong – apart from the ending where, in my opinion, she succumbed to weakness. How you read that ending is highly subjective though which is why I’m conflicted. To another reader, her decision may well be a display of strength.

There were many other stories I really enjoyed though I can’t give them any space here now. Overall I loved the collection so much that I’ll definitely buy a finished version, especially since the second part of a story by Nancy Holder, as well as a story by C. Lee McKenzie and an Interlude poem by Georgia McBride were not included in my eARC yet.

If that’s not enough, proceeds from the first 5000 books sold will be donated to YAlitchat.org, a literary organization that fosters the advancement of YA literature around the world. So you’re also doing a good deed by buying yourself a set of awesome stories right in time for the Halloween season ;)

Have your read the anthology or any of the authors’ other work? What were your faves?

Teaser Tuesday: Two and Twenty Dark Tales

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!


First off, sorry for being not so active during the past week. I'm having a really busy time at university at the moment. I hope to have more time near the end of the week.

add it on goodreads

So, on to today's teaser! It's from Two and Twenty Dark Tales, an anthology coming out today that I got from NetGalley.  It features retellings of Mother Goose Rhymes from various authors. I'm only about halfway through but I'm enjoying most of the stories.

"She knew the knife in her cousin's hand was covered in her sister's blood. That was all she needed to know. She called upon the power of the clock. It wasn't difficult. The Witch hadn't told Cedric everything, and he was expecting a helpless princess." - Clockwork, by Leah Cypress

I know, more than two sentences. But they're short ;) Can you guess (from the story title) what Mother Goose Rhyme this is from? And what are you teasing us with this Tuesday?