Garden Spells

After a need for a good, happy book,  I was recommended Garden Spells and wasn't disappointed.

Claire and Sydney never got along as kids. After high school Sydney left and Claire found solace in the old family home with her Grandmother and the somewhat magical garden with an annoying apple tree.  Ten years later, new neighbor moves in next door who won't leave Claire alone and suddenly Sydney is back with a bag full of mysteries and a sweet little girl named Bay.

Old towns have legends and the people in small towns have ways about them, also known as stereotypes.  Nearly everyone in town has a family stereotype and the Waverley's, Claire and Sydney, carry the weird gene. Claire has this uncanny way with food that can make people feel a certain way. Have an awkward conversation? Have some Lemon Verbena in your muffin. Want to see better? Have some Honeysuckle. Etc. Rather smart move for a caterer. But for Sydney, going back to a small town with old faces you'd rather forget is hard, but far safer than where she had been.

I thought it was a good book. Not something I'd recommend to a teenager whereas there are parts toward the end where there is slight descriptive nudity. All sexy times are curtain closed but there are some moments that lead up to it and lots of talk about sex, but nothing descriptive or erotic--thank goodness.   It's slightly beyond the PG-17 range. I most definitely would be blushing if I was reading this at 17, like I did with the Notebook by Nicholas Sparks.

The characters were good, engaging all around and surprisingly the apple tree was one of my favorite characters. Claire and Sydney were fun and well developed as well as the other side characters. All the other characters got their moments and segments of chapters which helped bring the whole story and town community to life. Which makes the story more fun all around.

I enjoyed the book and if I chose to read it again would probably skim past some parts about 3/4 of the way though, but the rest of it was well done and I enjoyed the storyline.

Saint Anything

Saint Anything is a good book and this audiobook has a good reader.

Sydney has always lived in her brother's shadow. When he started doing drugs and getting drunk, her parents had eyes only on Payton and the drama he was dragging their family through. When he ended up hitting a kid with his car after being out drinking, everything changed. And nothing changed. Payton went to jail and everything stayed Payton oriented. Sydney was, as she had been for years, invisible. The good kid. The kid with good grades and always kept her nose clean. Nothing to worry about, so easy to forget.

She then makes the decision to change high schools. She was known as "Payton's sister" never actually Sydney and desperately wanted to not have that stigma. There she finds friends that dissipate the monotony and feels seen for once. Sydney finds that she likes it.

I really liked Sydney and the individuality of all the other characters. It's actually pretty hard to find a good young adult novel with parents being prominent characters that aren't just "my parents" or "the evil bad guys who never want me to have fun" let alone parents who have personalities are individuals with their problems and equal strengths. It's even rarer to find parents in YA novels who actually get along and have each others back. This was nice to see that change where everyone, not just the teens, are real people who have wants and ambitions that go beyond the scope of the plot line of the novel.

The setting that they are in are the same for Sarah Dessen's other novels and characters make appearances from other stories. Seaside Pizzeria makes its appearance in Sarah Dessen novels as well. They are fun little easter eggs that she lays around.

I think one of my favorite things is when the cover and title finally make sense. Those little light bulbs that go one were very pleasing even if one of them took to the end for me to finally get. That was probably my fault. I also very much like it how her books, like this one, come full circle. Practically every loose end is tied and the metaphors she uses work well for the story she is creating. Finding the carousel and the sinkhole and even the thrift stores and valuable things that some people have either lost, given away, or forgotten runs powerfully through the story.

The predictability of the book was kind of sad. I knew what was going to happen long before it did, but it was still satisfying nonetheless.

I love Sarah Dessen's books for the characters and metaphors she uses. They are both always strong. The hopeless romantic in me loves the romance that takes place too. It makes it a fun, enjoyable read, that are often different and give voice to someone who is searching for their own.

Please enjoy.

School Rumble

School Rumble is a part slice of life, part romantic comedy with an engaging story. At the beginning of the series, there are lots of small incidents that happen and as the story goes long the plots of the different characters interweave more and more. It isn't some high flying adventure or much of a gut wrenching romance, but it is a story that is light hearted and funny. I feel it very much resembles what high school romances end up being: twitterpated hearts, communication problems, secret crushes, group get togethers, and more.

Harima, the glasses-guy on this cover, was a deliquitent, the big, scary man on campus. But then upon seeing/helping Tenma, our pig-tails girl here, he found himself in love with her and got himself back to school. But the big, aloof manly-man can't be seen in love with a ditz like Tenma. But he must confess and let his choice be heard! Right? Only everything always seems to go wrong. And Tenma is in love with another, more somber boy in class named Karasima. Yes, it's a love triangle, but not an annoying one.

I think the thing that I like most about this series is that it's light and charming. Harima is such a fun character who is very determined and willing to push through anything "for the woman I love." He gets himself into entertaining situations which often made me laugh. And although Tenma can be obnoxious at times you can shake your head at her misunderstandings and move forward. Hanai, Yakamo, Makoto, Akira, Lara (Lala), Karin, and most of the other characters that are Harima/Tenma/Karasima's classmates and friends are all funny. They each get ample amount of time "on screen" and are developed fully as characters. School is not just a "whirling romantic comedy" about our main two characters, but it's about the entire class. Everyone is important. Everyone has their own backgrounds. I was able to find something I like about (most) everyone. There were one or two characters that I didn't care for in that they were overly perverted, which I do dislike, but they were only a small part and I could quickly skim/skip over them. Everyone else was fantastic.

My favorite set of chapters was a war that they had over deciding what they would do for their school festival. They sneak into the school at night, armed with bebe guns and fight it out. I get with the school shootings and things, that some people night not care for it such situations, but it was very comical. Not in funny, "haha" way, but in the intense atmosphere that they all created. I found it entertaining both in the manga and anime. But that's my own opinion. Most of the rest of the series wasn't nearly as intense, again it was light.

The only thing that I disliked really was the ending. I wanted firm confessions of love and solid relationships, and while we got some there were some relationships that I felt didn't get the ending that I wanted to have. There was a build up to it, but then the characters let themselves fall a bit flat in proving that relationship and solidifying it. At parts it was kind of a let down.

Still, read it. Enjoy it. And down get bogged down by the shortness of the chapters.

Blackmoore

Blackmoore is the second book Julianne Donaldson wrote and it was very well presented.

Kate comes from a very scandle-infused family where all she wants is to be free. Blackmoore is supposed to be her way to escape all of the ever past and move toward India with her aunt Charlotte, who--like Kate herself--has promised she'll never marry. But after making a deal with her mother so then she can actually get to her friend's estate, she finds herself still caged with sour memories filling her mind. Henry, is there. Blackmoore is his home. He has always been and will always be there to help her get out of the sticky situations she gets herself into, and her time at Blackmoore seems to breed these.

This story was far more lively than her previous book Edenbrooke and there seems more at stake here. There are many more thematic elements as well, which carry the book along and wrap it up neatly. Black birds and cages and the freedom of flight... they were well put together.

I tried to read this book with a book in my hand and found Kate at the beginning to be very annoying. More snobbish than I was wanting to spend my time with for the moment. But when I got the audio CD with Cassandra Campbell reading, I found I enjoyed it a lot more. It just took time to get there. Development of the character, depth to Kate grew the farther we went into the book. Cassandra Campbell did a great job with the many voices and tones throughout the story, which livened it up very much.

I do wish there was more character description. There was little to none in the book of the actual characters. There wasn't as much scenery either, which saddens me a little. We get the basics of the place and people, but nothing that paints a full picture as the story goes on. For the life of me I can't remember what Kate or Henry look like aside from Henry's "granite colored eyes." I would want more of them and the settings around them to give depth the story.

The characters themselves were well done. They all had their own personalities and traits which set them apart from each other and made it so none of them were mistaken for another. Even many of the party guests had their own distinct tones, voices, and personalities which set them apart as different. Which was fantastic! Way to go Julianne!

I would recommend this to anyone really who loves the regency era in British history who is looking for a sweet romance. My biggest  pro here is that it's clean which is often hard to find in the romance section of any library or bookstore.

Enjoy!

Dengeki Daisy

A great series of amazing characters. 

Dengeki Daisy is about a high school girl named Teru who lives on her own since her brother passed away from cancer. However she is not alone. She has Daisy. Her brother gave her a phone before he died and said that when she needed someone to talk to, talk to Daisy. At first she didn't want to, but as the mental need arose she began emailing him. Daisy has been her biggest support through her hardest times and she's never seen him in person. 

Enter Kurosaki. The janitor and groundskeeper at Teru's high school. Through some forced persuasion, he gets Teru to help take care of the school grounds. They start becoming friends and their punky relationship is one of the funniest things. The way they act around each other is hysterical. 

This series has computer hackers, gun fights, kidnappings, cute and amazingly funny romances, and secrets from the dead. Each of the characters is unique and has their own stories, which is sometimes hard to get. Teru's brother is such a good guy and I wish he was around for all of them. 

I think my favorite part in the series was when Kurosaki was trying to leave and Teru, in her own mischievous way, gets him to come back. Teru is a much different character than most of the other typical "shoujo mangas" heroines. Instead of being clingy and having little stars or flowers every time something cute happens, she often does something to change the subject or bops him on the head or something obnoxious. And what's awesome is that Kurosaki does the same thing back to her. Their relationships if funny and different. And they still have very cute moments to make your inner-chick-flick watcher squee. 

The premous of the stories and their adventures are different too. They are more high stake and the fact that computer hacking is even a thing makes it engaging and, again, different. Throughout most of the series there was always something that kept me going. If life hadn't gotten crazy, I would have finished it a month ago. I will warn that, for me, volume 14 and bits of 15 were slow in my opinion. There was lots of meetings that didn't seem to really do anything. But if you push through you'll very much enjoy the end. 

I very much enjoyed the series. 

Castle of Wizardry

The fourth instalment of the Belgariad by David Eddings is a longer one. It is not my favorite one, but it is still good.

Garion and the rest of his traveling companions have retrieved the Orb of Alder and venture back to safe territory. Killing Murgos and finding armies along the way. They make stops at remembered placed, but as they enter farms and caves, Garion finds that they are different. More like they are the same and he is different. He has grown in the year he's been gone traveling with Aunt Pol and Belgarath. Suddenly he also finds himself a King to a country he doesn't know and people trying to murder him on a supposedly safe island away from those who'd do him harm. Ce'Nedra isn't being helpful either. But then bigger decisions have to be made and prophecies must be fulfilled.

As I said, it's not my favorite. There seems to be a lot more traveling happening and not as much storytelling going on. Events happen, but they have more of a diplomatic feel to them instead of action adventure. This series is written differently than most, especially nowadays, and goes slower. These events, diplomatic though they may be, needed to happen in order to further the story on. Slow going, but push through it and enjoy the last book.

As always the development of the characters is what holds me on, although I've become more and more intrigued by the final battle with Torak and what will happen in the future.

Chibi Vampire AKA: Karin

Chibi Vampire other wise known as Karin is the story of an un-vampire.

Karin is a strange young girl not only in the human world where she has the occasional nosebleed and is considered sickly at times; but also in the vampire world where she doesn't bite people to suck their blood, instead she bites people and gives blood. She can also walk around in sunlight, doesn't have the heightened senses a normal vampire does, and can't wipe people's memories as needed after biting someone. All in all, she is strange.

Things seem to run smoothly in the Marker household with Karin going to school and the rest of her family staying up all night, until a transfer student enters the class. Karin finds that her blood level increases quickly and nosebleeds happen more often when ever she is around Kenta Usui. In him she's found her bloods affinity, the type of emotion her body yearns to bite. When they bite a person normal vampires suck that emotion out. So if a person is super stressed and a vampire bit that person they would become stress free for a short period of time. This could be considered helpful and kind of a cool take on vampires. It is a 14 volume series so after she finds out how to cope with Usui, her grandma wakes up, and a new girl comes into town looking for the Markers and a specific vampire in their family.

I think it is a very well thought out and well done story. The overarching plot was interesting and cute, engaging and hysterical at times. I love the family dynamic throughout the series and the ending kind of had me angry. I really liked the epilogue episodes. They satisfied me enough to accept the decision that the writers made. The Marker family was full of fun, intersting characters with their own personality that rounded the family.

If you have enjoyed the anime before you read the manga, that's great. But know that the manga and anime are vastly different. The anime derails from the manga after only a few episodes. Sadly Winner St. Clair makes no appearance in the manga. This fact made me very sad. But the manga is really good and I do recommend it. An oldie but a goodie.