Musings 'n' Murmurs

Flipped

2012-02-15T12:47:00.003+05:30

I want to hire and float a conspicuous Blimp that declares in giant letters:

*WENDELIN VAN DRAANEN IS MY NEW FAVOURITE AUTHOR*

I don’t need a body of her work to make this declaration. One book is enough. One sweet, solitary book called Flipped is enough.
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Just before Second Grade was about to start, little Juli Baker fell instantly in love with her new next-door neighbour, Bryce Loski. She fell hard for his beautiful blue eyes and followed him around like an eager l’il pup. Sadly, little Bryce Loski didn’t return the sentiment. Juli Baker terrified him, with her heart-on-her-sleeve approach, her forthrightness, her intelligence and her niggling habit of sniffing his hair in class. Young life is a rigmarole of Juli being oblivious to Bryce’s dislike and Bryce making every possible polite/panicky attempt to ward off the little ball of spirited fire.

But perceptions change when Juli’s beloved Sycamore tree is cut down. Juli had loved the ancient tree with it’s moulting bark, sprawling branches and vertiginous height. Atop it’s highest arms, she had viewed the world in a whole new light. Even the breeze up there smelled different. As she imaginatively put it

“It smelled like ....sunshine. Like sunshine and wild grass and pomegranates and rain!”.

When the owner decides to get the tree lopped off, Juli puts up an isolated, valiant fight...but to no avail. As her little slice of heaven vanishes, Juli’s understanding of the world around her and Bryce in particular start shifting.

Dear ol’Bryce has been undergoing a mental growth too. Bludgeoned by some quick lessons in maturity, he slowly but steadily is experiencing a change in his *run-here-comes-madmonkey-Juli* viewpoint. Suddenly he wants to be caught by Juli...but Juli no longer wants to do the running.
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So yes, there’s nothing new in the plotline. Unrequited love which slowly changes seats is a plot that has been tried and tested in the annals of Ya-Lit for a lo-oong time.

But Flipped takes it to a whole new level.

First up, Juli Baker. How can anyone NOT love this brave, intelligent, massive-soul girl? Bryce’s astute grandfather wisely sums it up as

"Some of us get dipped in flat, some in satin, some in gloss. But every once in a while you find someone who’s iridescent, and when you do, nothing will ever compare."

Juli Baker is a brightly shining star and all her emotions annihilate you with their honesty.

Secondly, Bryce Loski. How could a girl like Juli fall for a seemingly shallow lad like Bryce? But that’s the beauty of it. The beauty of love that has been rammed down our collective sensibilities through that trite little phrase “Love is Blind”. Yes, Juli falls for the dark hair and brilliant blue eyes. It’s only when she sees him, as her dad would say, “In the proper light” that her long-standing infatuation falters. The sweet bit is that Bryce isn’t all that bad. But that’s for you to find out.

Thirdly, the author’s voice. With the *He Said-She Said* format, Wendelin Van Draanen strikes a massive gong in your heart. You remember your first crush, the clammy hands, the hammering heart, the need to have a tongue that spills something deeper than ‘erm...er...aah’. You recall the pain of unrequited love and cringe at embarrassing follies. You reminisce over that inner glow that came from having your affection returned. Flipped makes you proud that in the first flush of youth, you were a *Juli Baker*. If you got your emotions sullied by a cluck-faced Bryce Polski who didn’t know better, you lived and learned and stuck your nose up and got on with life.

And ultimately, Flipped makes you want to be a person like Bryce’s grandmother. I want, with all my heart and soul to be the kind of woman, that if a brave little girl is sitting up on a favourite tree to save it from being timbered off....I would sit right up there with her, by her side....all night.

If you haven’t read this book yet, PLEASE DO! It won't change your life. It won't make you suddenly see the light at the end of the tunnel. Hell, it would probably make a few of you scratch your heads and wonder what all the fuss is about. But...if you want to come away utterly enchanted with a fledgling love story that is innocent, carefully layered within sheets of startling maturity and soft sentimentalism, then Flipped is the book for you.

Little Women

2011-12-09T19:54:00.002+05:30

"Dear little bird! See Jo, how tame it is. I like peeps better than the gulls: they are not so wild and handsome, but they seem happy, confiding little things. I used to call them my birds last summer, and Mother said they reminded her of me – busy, quaker-coloured creatures, always near the shore, and always chirping that contented little song of theirs. You are the gull, Jo, strong and wild, fond of the storm and the wind, flying far out to sea, and happy all alone. Meg is the turtledove, and Amy is like the lark she writes about, trying to get up among the clouds, but always dropping down into it’s nest again".

With these whimsical comparisons, the shy Beth captured the individual essences of each and every March sister.

Little Women, set at the turn of the Civil War; explored the lives, loves, quirks, joys, disappointments, shadows and triumphs of the March family. Uncomplicated fare that continues to enchant it’s readers even today.

For me, this classic tale has always been about Josephine (Jo) March.

Right from Page 1 onwards till the ambiguous end, I remain a member of the *Jo Fan Club*. She was blunt, honest and a no-frills-raggedy-cat to boot. At a time when social graces were the order of the day, Jo clomped through her genteel surroundings with all the grace of the proverbial bull in a china shop. She loved her family fiercely and no sacrifice was too great or too small where it was concerned. She pursued her writing career with all the highs-and-lows that plague fledgling authors.

When I was younger, I had read only the first section. So when I heard that Jo had turned down the loyal and cheeky Laurie, I was a tad disappointed. Now, as the years have passed and I have read both sections in their entirety, I am content with this decision. Laurie's lovable, carefree boy of Part 1 dissolved into a sulky, wilful young man in Part 2. And Prof.Bhaer (for all his poverty, seniority, shabbiness of appearance and at times, regressive outlook) was a true hero. As Jo aptly puts it, “ Mother would admire him for his warm heart, Father his wise head. I admire both, and feel rich in my new friend, Friedrich Bhaer.” Once more, our mighty heroine makes the right choice and gives us further cause to bolster her position on her pedestal.

Every female mind with literary leanings and a tomboyish demeanour will associate with Jo. We see our failings mirrored in her. We see a glimpse of our backbones in her strident ravings. We wish to write the next Great Novel. We claim to not fall prey to the failings of romance and yet, are pleasantly surprised and befuddled when that ‘one great love’ breaks all our misconceptions. Loving the home-nest, aching to fly from it and fiercely protecting it’s thistlelike comforts from condescending outsiders....we all, at some time, totally and absolutely “GET JO”.

At the end of the day, the tale of the March sisters is a cozy read with a hint of defiance. The holiday season is the perfect time to dig out this little gem, sink into a cushy sofa and lose yourself in a world that was simplistic and yet light-years ahead with it’s stab at realism.

DESTINED (House of Night, #9)

2011-12-03T19:16:00.005+05:30

AWAKENED ended on an “yet-another-circle-of-hell-breaks-loose” note when nasty Neferet won the allegiance of the dreaded White Bull. The White Bull gifted her with a vessel (an instrument of destruction that would obey her every command). To earn this questionable gift, Neferet offered up Zoey’s unsuspecting mother as a sacrifice to the White Bull.

Unbeknownst to our arch villainess, the Goddess Nyx has returned Heath to the living world as the hidden soul inside the above mentioned killing-machine. Heath however, has no recollection of his past-life.

In DESTINED, Neferet under the guise of reformation, returns to the Tulsa House of Night with her 'gift'. The gift takes the form of a young, good-looking bodyguard by the name Aurox.

Besides battling constant evil, Zoey Redbird has a lot of necessary angst to deal with. She wants to support the newly transformed Rephaim’s wish to study in the school. This makes it tedious considering Rephaim’s past as a Raven Mocker and the constant resistance he faces from Sword Master Dragon Lankford who lost his beloved mate at the hands of Rephaim (back when he was a mucho-nasty bird-man). Zoey also has to make sense of her conflicting emotions around Aurox. Why does she feel a sense of attachment to a boy who slowly but surely transforms into a massive violent bull in the midst of a fight?

And then there is the driving need to find out who murdered her mother.
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The House of Night series has always been a hit-and-miss affair. Sometimes you want to gnaw your arm off at the mind-numbing plotlines and juvenile portrayals of supposed world-savers. At other times, it exhibits flashes of charm and reels you right in.

DESTINED falls under the latter category.

The things I liked about this instalment:

~ Admirable Female Role-Models : I love strong female influences. Three characters appealed to my sensibilities in this book:
a) Zoey’s Grandmother : Grandma Redbird has always been a warm, wise, completely sorted Cherokee elder. In DESTINED, she deals with the death of her (albeit estranged) daughter and has a spine of steel as she is willing to do all that is necessary to discover the murderer. Her loyalty and love towards Zoey and the nerd-herd is as always a cup of hot cocoa before a roaring fire.
b) Prof. Lenobia : Horse-Mistress par excellence, Lenobia always came across as a dignified teacher who could be completely relied on by the students and faculty alike. Her emotions were put on the back-burner and only surfaced when she was around her beloved horses. But now, with the arrival of human help and fellow horse-lover, Travis Foster...Lenobia as a woman in denial emerges.
c) Thanatos : As the new sociology teacher for a select group, Vampyre Thanatos is a cool customer. Zoey very aptly compares her to The Lord of The Rings’s Elf Queen, Galadriel. Before you can say Frodo, she can transform from an astute professor to an eye-flashing, hair-flying pillar of rumbling anger. She plays a pivotal and supportive role in Destined.

~ The Rephaim and Kalona track : Kalona is a multi-faceted character. When he’s bad, he’s gruesome. You hate him with a fearful vengeance. When he’s atoning for his sins, or atleast being heartsick over losing the son that he loved, he makes you want to give him the now-famous Voldemort-Draco hug. He has matured into a delightfully grey individual who keeps you perpetually on your toes. Rephaim, now human-by day/ raven-by-night, has always been one of the more endearing male leads in the House of Night series. His attempts to fit in, his futile efforts to atone for his sins where Dragon Lankford is concerned and his need to justify his big, bad, daddy-with-wings makes him a poor-little-powerful guy.

~ Growth of certain characters : Keep your eyes peeled for Shaunee and Erik. Their plot-lines are fleshed out with the scope for future greatness and that makes these two characters much more likeable and readable. Dragon Lankford has always been a respectful figure looming in the background and finally, the man receives the print-space he deserves.

~ Rituals : As always, the casting of the circles has been one of my favourite bits. It is elemental and earthy and appeals to my nature-loving soul. Here, it is coupled with palpable drama which winds up the story with a tantalising *KA-BOOM* feeling.

My one small grouse:

The banter amongst the nerd-herd has grown weary. The wannabe teen-lingo and the over use of pop culture references grows old real fast. As always, Aphrodite is the saving grace with her saucy tongue and blunt observations.

At the end of the day, the House of Night series plods along on it’s Good v/s Evil journey. Promise of ensuing chaos and an appealing cliff-hanger makes DESTINED one of the better offerings of the mother-daughter duo.

See also : Marked (House of Night, #1)
See also : Betrayed (House of Night, #2)
See also : Chosen (House of Night, #3)
See also : Untamed (House of Night, #4)
See also : Hunted (House of Night, #5)
See also : Tempted (House of Night, #6)
See also : Burned (House of Night, #7)

Moon Called (The Mercedes Thompson Series, #1)

2011-12-01T18:46:00.000+05:30

I start 2012 with a book that does absolute justice to all the genres/ GoodReads shelves that I stacked it in.

a) Urban Fantasy – CHECK
b) Action – (*wiping blood off cut lip*) CHECK
c) Mystery – (*calming the goosebumps*) CHECK
d) Adventure – (*recovering from adrenaline rush*) CHECK
e) Interesting romantic interests – (*will-they, won’t they quandary*) CHECK
f) Strong female heroine worth emulating – (*pressing pen into the paper till a tear appears*) CHECK

Moon Called is the first in a truly triumphant series centered around a spunky heroine called Mercedes (Mercy)Thompson. Mercy is a mechanic in the Tri-Cities area of Washington state. She restores VWs and spends her spare time sharpening her karate skills. But more importantly, Mercy is a WALKER (a Native-American shapeshifter not influenced by the moon) who can turn into a coyote at will. Our heroine resides in a world teeming with Gray Lords, fae, vampires and the most fascinating of them all, werewolves. Raised by the Marrok (the alpha werewolf of all the North American werewolves), Mercy has seen, experienced and lived through a series of improbable events. Nothing really surprises her anymore. Not the fact that her next door neighbour is Adam Hauptman, the alpha of the Tri-Cities Werewolf pack, nor the fact that the current VW bus she is working on belongs to a friendly vampire and definitely not the added surprise that her newest recruit in the garage is a runaway teenage werewolf.

But when a rogue werewolf meets a grizzly end at Mercy’s hands (or her coyote paws, to be precise), Mercy soon learns that there is a dangerous conspiracy lurking in the dark. All the people who Mercy holds dear are in danger of an unseen enemy. And it’s up to our .444 Marlin toting heroine to deal with things that go bump in the night.

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First up, Buffy Summers would be bursting with pride. If anyone can tote the mantle of awesomeness around with the ease that Buffy did.....it’s Mercedes Thompson. Kudos to the author, Patricia Briggs for creating a heroine who is dignified mess of an unresolved past, a fraught-with-danger present and an uncertain future. Mercy is mouthy and sensible in equal measures. She fights like a fiend and deliberates like an army veteran. In short, she unashamedly kicks b***.

I also enjoyed the fact that the author actually gave us a well-researched, whole-hearted fantasy tale. Moon Called isn’t a romantic tryst thinly disguised as a supernatural read. It’s a full-fledged paranormal fiesta with romance as just one of the many poles holding it upright.

2011 ended with a firm resolution on my part to fill the New Year with erudite verse. I wanted to re-explore the classics, soak in some eloquent language and generally don the smarty-pants party-hat.
But I have to say true to my nature too. While I love me some Elizabeth Bennet, I equally adore an action-heroine. And when said action figure comes equipped with a cookie-dough heart, a wise disposition and the ability to keep a cool head when the world goes mad.....you bet your last fancy britches, that I will devour the book with glee.

The Son of Neptune (Heroes of Olympus, #2)

2011-11-23T12:45:00.002+05:30

“When Rome fell, a lot of the legions just disappeared. We went underground, acting on secret orders from Jupiter himself: stay alive, recruit demigods and their children, keep Rome going. We’ve been doing that ever since, moving around to wherever Roman influence was the strongest. The last few centuries we have been in America.”

Sounds familiar? It does to Percy Jackson too. Perseus (Percy) Jackson (superstar demigod /self-effacing hero /North America’s confident answer to Harry Potter) has lost his mind. No, not the *I-see-conspiracy-theories-in-my-peripheral-vision-lost-his-mind*. Percy has been hit by a bout of amnesia, courtesy a certain manipulative Goddess. He doesn’t remember that he was a Greek demigod ,a son of Poseidon and a resourceful hero in the epic battle that saved the world from the wrath of Kronos. The only fact that he does recall is that he had a girlfriend called Annabeth (kudos to teenage boys for remembering the best bits).

Guided by the legendary Roman she-wolf Lupa, battling a pair of Gorgons who refuse to disintegrate/die, lugging a Goddess in road-kill disguise; Percy Jackson soon finds himself in Camp Jupiter, the roman equivalent of Camp Half-Blood.

Soon our favourite hero finds himself slap-bang in the middle of yet another doomed-to-despair Quest. Accompanying him are his two new friends and Camp Jupiter underdogs : Hazel Levesque and Frank Zhang.
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Things that enchanted my reader’s palate like Ambrosia:

# 1: THE RETURN OF OL’SEAWEED BRAIN : When the battle for Olympus ended with Annabeth and Percy sharing an underwater kiss, I was ready to bid adieu to the likeable boy wonder. Any attempt to stretch the taffy by Rick Riordan would pale in comparison to the immensely popular 7-Book series. Atleast that’s what I, with my limited vision assumed. But Riordan is not a brilliant storyteller for nothing. He plunges Percy Jackson into a whole new can of worms (or basilisks, which seems more appropriate) and has you whooping like a herd of Party-Ponies. Percy’s trademark wit, droll acceptance of dastardly situations, unerring loyalty to friends (old and new) and the ability to fight like a fiend is displayed to full effect. The author has also done the wise job of adding a ring of maturity to Percy’s character. His new-found confidence adds a much-needed foil to the fledgling charms of Hazel and Frank.

# 2: HAZEL LEVESQUE : Such a brave and endearing heroine. She joins Hermione Granger and Annabeth Chase in the ranks of noteworthy YA Lit. role-models for young girls. Burdened by a dark past, unsure of a long future, adorably embarrassed around the boy she likes and a bad-a** warrior to round it up nicely, Hazel is a treat to read.

# 3: FRANK ZHANG. AND MORE IMPORTANTLY, FRANK ZHANG’S GRANDMOTHER: I cannot rave enough about the massive appeal of Frank Zhang without veering into *SPOILER* territory. Suffice to say, that the baby-faced, muscle-bound demigod keeps you hooked through his emotional trauma and growth. As for Granny Zhang....I was loving and hating her in equal measures. All that aristocratic arrogance duelling with a caring heart makes for one intimidating matriarch.

# 4: RICK RIORDAN’S SIGNATURE QUIRKS :
a) Mars (the Roman name for Ares) declaring the Quest was one of my favourite bits. When the God of War whips out a scroll and a ballpoint pen and scribbles a brusque, “Go to Alaska. Find Thanatos and free him. Come back by Sundown on June Twenty-fourth or die” with nary a hint of drama and the absolute absence of riddled prophecies....you got to love the big guy.
b) I had the biggest smile on my face when I read that Amazon.com is being run by.....you guessed it.....the condescending female warriors, *THE AMAZONS*. Their Queen sits on a throne made from a thousand copies of a book called “The Five Habits of Highly Aggressive Women”.(Seriously how can anyone not cackle over that?!?). It was borderline cheesy but vintage Riordan.
c) Thanatos (the God of Death) has a pure black iPad. As he whips it out, Frank Zhang hopes fervently, “ Please don’t let there be an App for reaping souls”. Again, adorable.

# 5: MOTHER EARTH UNPLUGGED : For nature lovers like me, who imagined Mother Earth to be a bosomy, *brimming-with-the-warmth-of-home -and-hearth* kind of genial lady....Gaia was an unexpected villain. A Goddess who invokes Giants, resurrects dead monsters, murmurs nasty thoughts into vulnerable minds, makes snarky promises to kill our favourite demigods and rears unearthly armies to overtake the world is NOT someone who would inspire the *Hug-A-Tree* emotion in you. And the best bit is that all these tender acts are being committed while the lady is still trapped underground. What will happen when she’s unleashed in all her grimy glory?--->*Delicious Shiver-Down-The-Spine Time*

# 6 : ACTION SEQUENCES : Here’s where you bring in all your cherished Die-Hard inspired adrenaline. The book is loaded with rip-roaring battle sequences. It gets the blood flowing and the inner warrior roars with whole-hearted approval.

# 7: SUPPORTING CHARACTERS :
a) Slimy, power-hungry Octavian who sees prophecies in the innards of stuffed toys.
b) Royal *you-lie-and-my-dogs-will-dismember-you* Reyna.
c) Ella, the twitchy red-feathered harpy with the quirk of spouting random bursts of dead-useful (and pointless) information.
d) Nico Di Angelo in a short (but hopefully epic) reappearance.
e) Iris, the Goddess of The Rainbow (and now the proprietor of R.O.F.L. –Rainbow Organic Foods and Lifestyle). Don't ask.
f) Terminus, the rule abiding God of Boundaries. Never has a pillar of stone been so pedantic. And so useful.

I cannot elaborate on any without spilling out the plot. All I can do is assure you that it’s a stellar casting.

# 8: ARION: Okay, which girl/woman does not want a celestial Horse that can break the sound barrier, run on water and up slippery slopes, cuss like a seasoned sailor and mutter grumpily “I will trample you to bits, silly baby man!”. I love this horse. I want this horse. Case closed.

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Things that tasted like Iris’ gluten-free, sugar-free cupcake simulations (translation: things that left a bitter taste in my mouth)
*..........BLANK.........*

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So, in conclusion, did I like HEROES OF OLYMPUS : THE SON OF NEPTUNE?
You bet your imperial gold/ celestial bronze/ stygian iron I DID!

I LOVED IT! (And I’m not one to use CAPSLOCK carelessly)

The book is an absolute treat. The return of old favourites stitched with the chutzpah of new arrivals worked like a charm. Yet again, Mythology and it's Gods left the hallowed portals and became cheekily shod with feet-of-clay. With a “it-could-go-anyway” cliffhanger, Rick Riordan has laid the groundwork for a delightful sequel.

ATHENA, make your MARK already!

The Lost Hero (Heroes of Olympus, #1)

2011-11-22T20:11:00.000+05:30

"Seven Half-Bloods shall answer the call.
To storm or fire, the world must fall.
An oath to keep with a final breath.
And foes bear arms to the doors of death."

Percy Jackson’s nerve-racking adventures ended with this cheery prophecy. The resourceful demigod had just fought The Second Olympian War and emerged victorious. When his friend and now, new oracle, Rachel Dare made the aforementioned divination, Percy hoped that it wasn’t something that he would have to deal with in this lifetime. His best bet was that this phenomenon would occur a few centuries down the road.

But doom-and-despair laden prophecies have the uncanny ability of hitting below the belt.

The Lost Hero (Heroes of Olympus, Book #1) is the story of Jason Grace, a teenager who is suffering from memory-loss. Jason has no clue as to why he is on a school bus for delinquent kids. He apparently also has a girlfriend, Piper McLean and a cheeky best friend, Leo Valdez.

When the school bully suddenly transforms into an ‘Anemoi Thuellai’ (sincerely scary Storm Spirit) and the school coach transforms into a ‘Satyr’ (we all know what that is), Jason has an inkling that amnesia is just the tip of a deeply embedded iceberg.

Dodging...well, dodgy incidents...Jason, Piper and Leo soon find themselves at Camp Half-Good. And Lo! And obviously... Behold! It’s QUEST TIME! Hera, the Queen of The Gods is missing. Olympus has been closed down by Zeus and none of the Gods are making contact with the outside world. A deeper, darker and more sinister force than the Titans is at work. And if the world has a fighting chance against these new evil, Jason will have to set out and save Hera before the Winter Solstice. In the true tradition of panic-inducing deadlines, the Winter Solstice is just four days away.

And so, Jason (the hero-with-no-clue), Piper (the heroine doomed to betray her friends) and Leo (the smart-talking sidekick with a troubled past) set out on a suicidal mission. Along the way, they will deal with malfunctioning mechanical dragons, power-crazed Wind Gods, cannibalistic Cyclopes, disturbing dreams and the ever-present possibility of meeting an extremely sticky end.

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The first book in the new Heroes of Olympus Series lives up to the Rick Riordan hype. The tongue-in-cheek author is definitely NOT a flash-in-the-pan. Just when you thought that he couldn’t recreate the adrenaline of Percy Jackson’s adventures, he promptly churns up a new and endearing hero. Besides Jason, you actively root for Piper and Leo and get drawn into their respective mental conflicts.

At the end of the day, it’s the Gods and Riordan’s treatment of celestial souls that keeps you hooked. Without being blasphemous, the author perfectly captures their powers, their mood-swings, their quirks and their vulnerabilities.

In all, it’s a magnificent door-stopper of a book. Packed with memorable characters, delightful witticisms and non-stop action, this is yet another winner from the talented author,

The Vampire Stalker

2011-10-30T19:50:00.002+05:30

Never again shall I be disheartened by a lack-lustre cover or the done-to-death cliché on the blurb that goes, “Sometimes Truth is Stranger than Fiction”. Had I done so, I would have missed out on a zippy and engaging vamp read.

The author had me hooked at her dedication page. She offers her story to “those of you who have ever fallen in love with a character in a book”. I immediately meandered into a happy daydream starring Mr.Darcy/ Sirius Black/ Aragorn/ Michael Moscovitz. Every once in a while, literature (lofty/ fluffy as the case may be) throws up a character that sucks you right in. You become emotionally invested in their achievements and despairs. You cheer raucously as they deliver crackling dialogue or a well-aimed left hook. You blush dreamily or snort indelicately over their “affaires de coeur”. And today, in the tradition of the best net fiends, you plague the innumerable fan sites and whip up alternate endings and gratifying fan fiction.

The Vampire Stalker is the story of one such fan, Amy. Amy, like a gazillion others, is an ardent follower of The Otherworld Series. The Otherworld Series is a popular bit of vamp-lit based in an alternate, slightly quainter Chicago. It’s a Chicago that is plagued by vampires and the most feared amongst them is Vigo. The only person who can keep Vigo’s murderous exploits in check is Alexander Banks (and Amy’s favourite character). Alexander Banks is an extraordinarily talented vampire hunter and the main character which has kept Amy hooked to the books. Calling herself 'MrsAlexanderBanks8021' on a fansite pretty much sums up Amy’s adulation.

But what happens when Amy is suddenly attacked in present-day Chicago by a blonde haired miscreant who is eerily familiar to a ruthless fictional vampire and just as quickly rescued by a vigilante who bears a striking resemblance to a certain fictional vampire hunter? How does Amy face the chilling fact that baby-faced, vile villain Vigo has crossed over to her Chicago, determined to wreck untold damage in her oblivious neighbourhood? More interestingly, how does shy Amy deal with the fact that her biggest literary crush is now a living breathing handsome young boy catching a quick nap in her spare room??

The book had potential for greatness. According to me, it could have easily joined the ranks of addictive, million-tween and teen-fans-ripping-their-hair-out-in-feverish-enchantment vamp-lit. Amy was a sharp cookie with a soft centre. The main hero is NOT a vampire (thank the Gods!). He comes with enough baggage and just the right amount of oomph. The vampire in the story is not out for redemption, riddled with shades of grey. He is a dark character who is staying true to his evil side.

My biggest grouse was that there was a blink-and-you-miss-it explanation as to how the literary characters wandered out of the pages of a book. It was an interesting premise which could have been fledged out to greater effect. Moreover, all problems appear to be resolved with nary a struggle. There wasn’t much conflict....soul-searching......undead b**-kicking.....pangs of unrequited love....nothing. The absence of all these tried-and-tested ploys makes you feel that The Vampire Stalker was a cake that was pulled out of the oven much before it’s allotted time.

As a stand-alone book, it’s readable. As a continuing series, it has LOADS of potential. It could be *the.next.big.thing*. I hope the author comes out with a sequel. I sincerely do. I would read it.With unbridled Glee.

In Dreams

2011-10-19T08:29:00.002+05:30

Bright and likeable teenager, Katherine has been dreaming. Dreaming about a...dare I say it...perfectly dreamy young man. Said dreamy young man seems to be as enamored with Katherine as she is with him. What a perfectly splendid way to spend quality time in the Land of Z-zzzs!

And when Katherine is wide-awake, things are even better. Ice Hockey God and all around nice-guy, Cooper Donovan seems to be falling shyly in love with Katherine. And lucky ol’Kath isn’t exactly immune to the charms of Mr.Most-Sought-After-Campus-Hottie.

But what happens when Katherine discovers that her dream boy isn’t merely a figment of her imagination? What happens when our shell-shocked heroine is faced with the shocking fact that the boy who passionately haunts her dreams is in fact her best friend’s deceased brother?!?

In Dreams is a likeable book with a tasty premise.

Have you ever woken up from a dream, so heart-wrenchingly solid that you wanted to disconnect from reality and float on the cloud of your sub-conscious? I have had such moments and so instantly connected with that little bit at the start of the story.

One of my favourite characters was Taylor (Katherine’s best friend and dream boy’s sister). She was that rare blend of cheeky room-mate, compassionate voice-of-reason and supportive best friend. We definitely need more Taylors in our daily lives. Katherine was a comme ci, comme ça heroine for me. She appealed at the start of the book as a grounded teenager with the right attitude. But midway, I lost a bit of affection for her. I find it hard to sympathize with a girl who has this perfectly lovely boyfriend mooning over her in reality while she’s also enjoying being mooned over by another perfectly adorable (albeit dead) boyfriend in the land of her dreams. Cooper Donovan, I loved. *Sprinkles annoying mental glitter all over him*. The guy screams Hero material. I liked his lumbering charm. I admired his flashes of painful honesty when he wore his heart on his sleeve. I loved him for being just a tad insecure.

The story is a quick read based on a quirky idea. The author, I suspect, is a happy (in her own words :”bathed in sunshine”) soul and her optimism shines through in the thought processes of some of the characters. I like that in a book.

In the end, I’m not one for drama and gloopy mascara running down my face.Give me a book with smidgens of positivity and I’m set for a while.

Bloodlines (Bloodlines, #1)

2011-09-26T21:08:00.003+05:30

Move over, fiery Dhampir : Rose Hathaway.

Say hello to Miss. Super-Sensible : Alchemist Sydney Sage.

The hugely popular Vampire Academy Series ended with Princess Vasilisa (Lissa) elevated to the position of Moroi Queen. This bitter-sweet event was brought about, to no little extent, due to the sudden discovery of Lissa’s half-sister : Jill Dragomir. While the vamp populace in general, are happy with their new and just ruler, there are a few violent factions who will do anything to usurp Queen Vasilisa. Ergo, Jill is in mortal danger. In a well-planned out move to keep her safe, Jill has been carted off to a private school at Palm Springs, California. Accompanying her are the controversial Guardian, Eddie Castile and the “puts-the-C-in-Controversy” Moroi Bad Boy, Adrian Ivashkov. AND, playing reluctant nanny/sister/advisor/ diplomat is our heroine, Sydney Sage.

I have a strong suspicion that this book and the forthcoming instalments in this series have been executed purely to appease all Adrian Ivashkov fans. Not that I’m complaining. I’m a full-on Ivashkov fangirl. After the raw deal meted out to him, courtesy the Rose-Dimitri love saga, Adrian fully deserves a series devoted to his romantic escapades (with a cheery ending).

But what happens when you pitch a vampire guy who nobody relies on against a human girl who everybody relies on?

*Sparks Fly*

Sydney Sage is a charismatic protagonist. Fans of Rose Hathaway’s fire-and-brimstone style may take a little while to appreciate Sydney’s meticulous and scientific approach to problems. But she’s just what the fanged-doctor prescribed. Dealing with a nasty colleague, holding her own in the school-politics, playing big sister to a troubled Jill, handling the onslaught of a social life, helping Eddie do his job or matching wits and quips with Adrian....Sydney comes across as a well-rounded heroine.

Add to that the simmering secrets, confusing mysteries and the subtle undertones that shift and vanish between the plot lines and you have a fairly readable spin-off.

Ivashkov fans will devour the book with glee. Fans of the author’s
writing won’t be disappointed either.

In conclusion, ignore the slightly go-nowhere pace of the first-half and enjoy the drama of the second and infinitely more exciting second-half.

(p.s. Is it my imagination or does the person portrayed as Sydney on the cover bear a startling resemblance to E!News' Guiuliana Rancic ?)

The Single Girl's To-Do List

2011-09-23T10:10:00.002+05:30

Last week I read a book that sounded promising but turned out to be a damp squib which never seemed to end.

This week, I (with one eyebrow cocked disdainfully) picked up the dodgy sounding, loaded with smarmy self-help undertones The Single Girls To-Do List and.....ate a large slice of humble-pie as I breezed through this totally addictive, feel-good read.

It’s the story of make-up artist Rachel Lulu Summers. 28-year old Rachel has just been brutally ditched by her supposedly stable boyfriend of five years, Simon. While she can easily wallow in a pit of dire despair, her best friends Emelie and Matthew have a better (and slightly bizarre) plan.

Rachel has always been an obsessive list-maker. Her life revolves around them. So keeping this little obsession in mind, the high-on friendly and drunken fervour trio make *The Single Girls To-Do List*. Including some doable and mostly questionable tasks; the list is Rachel, Emilie and Matthew’s road trip on the highway of rip-roaring fun, bawdy humour and the thing that makes the world go nauseous : *LOVE*.

Seriously, this book was such a pleasant surprise. It was Four Weddings and a Funeral coupled with all those lovely, inappropriate , brimming with raucous laughter and drunken splurges Brit rom-coms that you wished would step out of the silver screen and just happen in real-life already!

The strength of these frivolous rom-coms lies in the support system that surrounds the heroine. I absolutely loved the gorgeous (and comfortable with it) Emelie and the great big splendidly gay Matthew. Call me optimistic, but I like it when a friend doesn’t disintegrate into a frenemy. Em and Matthew came across as supportive individuals who while burdened with bad decisions of their own, never once, not ever, ditched Rachel to her own devices.

You absolutely, most definitely need friends who, when you cut off your waist-length ponytail in a blind moment of panic and screech,

'I look like a boy. Oh God, I look like Justin Beiber.'

go, ever so supportively,

'He looks like a girl anyway' I loved that bit. I don’t know why. It just made me want to litter a bunch of mental smileys all over the page.

The love-interests are predictable and yet again, that’s a plus. The book is not a big suspenseful “who-WILL-she end up-with” drama. It’s a tale that’s been told a million times....a tale of a girl (clichéd as it is) who’s trying to find herself. And if along the way, you have a nice looking bloke thrown in to tie things up nicely, then, I , for one, have no complaints, whatsoever.

The language or the tone is not for those with delicate dispositions. It’s loud, littered with profanities and blotched up by many a drunken binge. And it works.

So pick up this book if you want a cute, quick, utterly girly, partly unladylike, marginally funny romantic read.

Saving Juliet

2011-09-23T09:52:00.002+05:30

Saving Juliet is a book that is loaded with platitudes and wise homilies and never, not once...do you want to tell the author that she should mind her sanctimonious beeswax and get on with the plot already!

So kudos to Suzanne Selfors for getting it right yet again.

Seventeen year old Mimi Wallingford is last in the line of the legendary Wallingford actors. Thrust onto the stage from the age of three, Mimi’s life has been a whirl of grease paint, deadweight costumes, mouthy dialogues, unpalatable health food, pushy relatives and vindictive understudies. And now, when it’s time to play the role of the anguished Juliet from William Shakespeare’s celebrated tragic-romance, she just can’t take it anymore. Debilitating stage-fright, the hopeless wish to pursue a career as a doctor, constant pressure from a pushy mother and an unrequited attraction to the new Romeo (played by the flamboyant pop-sensation, Troy Summer) makes Mimi wish that she were anywhere but at the Wallingford theatre, Manhattan. Hell, even Verona would be a better bet.

But wishes spouted in despair have a sadistic habit of actually coming true; especially when you have an antique Shakespearean Charm handy. Suddenly Mimi is transported to the fictional land of Verona...the land of the feuding Montague and Capulet families...the land of Romeo and Juliet. Mimi is now smack-dab in the midst of a vile, hairline-plucked Lady Capulet; a codpiece thrusting Tybalt, a delectable, espresso-eyed Benvolio, a deeply depressed Romeo, a rebellious Juliet and the most shocking addition yet, a seriously pissed-off Troy Summer who’s convinced that he has been kidnapped by a group of kinky creeps.

Mimi can sense that the only way to return to present-day Manhattan would be to allow the Shakespearean saga to reach it’s inevitable end. But having actually met the spunky Juliet and the soft-hearted Romeo, Mimi can’t imagine leaving them to the suicidal ending written by our benevolent Bard. It’s time for Mimi to take the quill into her own hands.

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Reasons why this tale will find a place on my “Books-I-Love-Gollum-Style” shelf:

a) Cheeky cover. How can you NOT love the cover art? Bubblegum and Snazzy glares adorning a seemingly genteel olde worlde maiden. Me.Like.

b) Female Lead. A supposedly self-absorbed Society princess plonked head first into a land infested with giants rodents but not a single Starbucks. You would expect her to whinge, cringe and generally be an insufferable snob. But no, Mimi is an immensely grounded heroine. Whether she’s playing big-sister to Juliet or commiserating with Romeo or avoiding a red-faced Tybalt or falling for the slick charms of Benvolio or fighting her confusing feelings for Troy; she endears herself to the reader.

c) Characters. The author breathed realistic life and tongue-in-cheek humour into the characterisations.

I especially liked the way she described Juliet :“She wasn’t at all like Fernando’s Juliet – full-lipped and perfect. Nor was she like Hollywood’s Juliet – graceful and angelic. She looked real, the way a girl is supposed to look. A real girl, cute and full of energy, like she’d be more comfortable in soccer gear than in her long nightgown that dripped with lace and bows.”

Scarlet-haired Mercutio was a twee funny bloke. I snorted a bit over his two love songs:

‘Girl, come hither and We Shall Dither’

‘Girl, Come and Handle My Candle’

Ah, Mercutio....Mercutio....you slay me, man.

d) The author’s writing prowess : Everytime you experience a twinge of disappointment over glaring errors in the flow of the story, the author gives you a polite prod in the right direction and justifies her decisions.

e) Book to Movie : If ever a book should be made into an assured crowd-pulling Summer Blockbuster, it’s Saving Juliet. The book has it all: humour, parody, romance, intrigue, adventure and magic. I would go and watch it on the Big Screen. AND I would most definitely drag my cynical mates along too.

In conclusion, I (to be a tad juvenile) unashamedly *HEART* this cute book.

Coffeehouse Angel

2011-09-22T11:49:00.003+05:30

Every once in a while, along comes a book that is (thankfully) deceptive. You read the blurb and do a mental rethink. The blurb sounds entertaining and yet, the book could go downhill, too soon, too fast. I ventured into Coffeehouse Angel with these misgivings. But, I’m pleased to report that I’m a happy customer.

And now it’s time to blather on for a bit and tell you why exactly I would recommend this book to all:

a) Engrossing Plotline: Katrina Svensen is an orphaned teenager who helps out in her grandmother’s Olde Worlde Scandinavian Coffeehouse. Soft of heart and clueless on life-goals, she basks in the shadows of her super-achieving best friends. And one day, when she sees a (supposedly) homeless young vagrant in the coffeehouse alley, she does a selfless good deed. She leaves him a cup of coffee, some day old pastries and a bag of chocolate covered coffee beans and hopes that the poor bloke gets a lucky break.

But here’s the nice bit. The vagrant isn’t a homeless destitute afterall. He’s an angel...an honest-to-goodness teenage messenger angel. In between missions and delivering messages, he wants to reward Katrina for her good deed by granting her the deepest desire of her heart. With three chocolate coffee beans left to work the magic, Katrina has three Godsend chances to make things right...for herself, her aspirations, her gran’s dwindling business and an uncertain future.

Will she botch it up or will she have a happy ending?

b) Believable Main Lead: I like a grounded teen heroine whose every waking thought isn’t plagued by her D.O.A. love-life. Katrina is just that. Sure she hasn’t met the boy of her dreams yet, but the mature lass has more pressing matters on hand. For a girl who has a cupboard full of failed activities, it’s empowering to see her whip herself into an entrepreneurial frenzy.

c) An ensemble cast with meaty roles : The strength of a good book lies in the little details. Besides Katrina, Coffeehouse Angel is littered with interesting characters. Notable mention: Katrina’s grandmother who is trying to keep the old traditions alive while fiercely competing with the slushie-pushing, espresso-churning charms of her biggest competitor. The beautiful, hardworking coffeehouse help, Irmgaard who has taken a vow of silence; a vow that hides a tragic secret. Katrina’s best friends: Vincent and Elizabeth. Extremely realistic portrayals as they come across as self-absorbed and supportive in equal measures.

d) Paranormal twist: Much as I love all things supernatural, I was a tad sceptical about yet another glowing boy (I haven’t stopped gritting my teeth over the insufferable Edward Cullen). But Malcolm, the golden haired messenger angel was a breath of (literally) fresh spring air. He’s not perfect, he’s weighed down by the need to get things right, he doesn’t spend the majority of the book mooning over a “forbidden love” and to round it up nicely, he’s a genuinely decent bloke.

In all, I was happy to lay my hands on a work of Ya-Lit that was readable, mature, riddled with interesting plot twists and redolent with the charm of a (yes, I’m going to say it) cup of freshly brewed coffee.

Last Sacrifice (Vampire Academy, #6)

2011-09-22T10:05:00.002+05:30

Guardian par excellence, Rose Hathaway has been accused of royal treason : murdering Moroi Queen Tatiana. Imprisoned for a crime she didn’t commit, facing possible execution and gobsmacked by a cryptic note from the late Queen; Rose’s future is coloured with varying shades of bleak and despair.

But a daring prison break, a road trip with ex-boyfriend Dimitri Belikov and a path strewn with danger, deceit, unexpected allies, missing siblings and the ever-present spirit-induced darkness has Rose racing towards an action packed climax.

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The concluding instalment of the Vampire Academy series was a fat, easy read. It wasn’t earth-shatteringly amazing. At the same time, it wasn’t prop-your-eyelids-open-with-toothpicks boring. Last Sacrifice was a neat(a little too neat) tying up of the saga surrounding best friends Rose and Lissa.

I’m always game for a happy ending, but tend to get a little disgruntled when my favourite characters (read : Adrian Ivashkov) get a raw deal. And yes, I’m aware of the fact that there’s a spin-off to the series. But sometimes, as in life, all I want to say is that, “It’s just not fair”.

For a change, the Rose-Dimitri love saga paled. And no, I have no complaints. Instead the author concentrated on the bonds of friendship and unstinted (yet practical) support which was displayed in admirable degrees by Rose’s near, dear and demented ones.

A readable conclusion to a dramatic series.

Spirit Bound (Vampire Academy, #5)

2011-09-21T10:12:00.000+05:30

Rose Hathaway’s Quest in Book #5 :

~Bring back the man that I love and killed in Book # 4 whose murder I botched up (conveniently) despite being one of the most bada** Strigoi killers in recent times~

Blood Promise ended with the tantalising cliffhanger of Strigoi Dimitri being still alive despite the killer stake being driven into him by Rose. Rose also (I would like to reiterate: very very conveniently) discovered that there was a way to restore a Strigoi back to his original state. What follows is a return to St.Vladmir’s less-than-hallowed grounds, a prison breakout, the maiming and murdering of innocents and some romantic angst.

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I had mixed feelings for this book. I loathed Rose’s portrayal in the first half. Rose is a novice Dhampir training to be a Guardian...a Guardian who places the protection of the Moroi above all things personal. And Rose always knew that keeping Lissa safe and sound was the main objective. While it led to a battle of wills within her, she never wilfully put Lissa in danger. So how come, now that there’s a chance to resurrect Dimitri, she not only involves Lissa in the bad plan but drags her out on a seriously dangerous mission, endangering the last surviving member of the Dragomir clan? It didn't ring true. That’s not what Rose mental makeup is made of. And the fact that innocent humans and Guardians meet a sticky end just because they were caught in the middle of the Rose-Dimitri angsty saga also stuck in my throat. Rose displayed a pang (a miniscule pang) for the innocent lives lost but continued on her quest to bring back her undead lover. Selfish much???

And then......the second half kind of redeems itself to some extent. I can’t say how because that would lead to flingin-flangin’ spoilers galore.

So yes, Spirit Bound was a little blimp in a successful series.

Blood Promise (Vampire Academy, #4)

2011-09-05T12:49:00.002+05:30

“I am off to kill the man that I love.”

Okay, that’s a dramatic enough premise to tempt you into devouring Blood Promise.

Shadow Kiss ended with Supernova Guardian/ All-Around Nice Guy/ The Cream in Rose Hathaway’s Coffee : Dimitri Belikov getting forcibly turned into a Strigoi. He is now out there somewhere, being a creature of the night, draining innocents of blood and generally living up to all the vile Strigoi stereotypes.

Remembering an unsaid promise made to Dimitri back when they were in a student-mentor relationship, the anguished Rose has now made it her life’s mission to seek out and (hopefully) kill *Dimitri with the chalk-white skin and red-ringed eyes*.

And to do so, she drops out of the Academy, parts ways with her best friend (and bond mate) Lissa Dragomir and heads off on a wild-vampire chase to Siberia. Why Siberia, you ask? Siberia is Dimitri’s homeland and he is more than likely to return to his roots. So, on Rose’s suicidal quest…we take the scenic route through Russia, run into a host of interesting (and most likely to play a crucial role in the future) characters and root for the troubled Dhampir girl as she finds herself in a Catch-22 situation.

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Blood Promise was good….not as good as the previous two instalments….but engrossing, nevertheless. It has a slightly meandering pace and at times, you actually want the touristic spiel to end and have Rose meet the undead Dimitri already!!!

I had a bit of trouble empathizing with a high-on-Vampire-Bite-Endorphins Rose, but that’s a minor grouse. Dimitri as a newly turned big, bad Vampire could have been well on his way to filling up the illustrious shoes of Angel. I still remember tearing up during the Buffy episode when the likeable Vampire Angel, who after experiencing a “moment of pure happiness (erm….intimacy with Buffy)”, morphs into the cruel, soulless Angelus. Potent stuff, that. I was expecting the same sucker-punching of emotions when Rose ran into the now evil Dimitri. Sadly, Angel/Angelus still remains the Poster-Boy of undead perfection.

In conclusion, the book was fair. It had a juicy dose of undead action scenes, the introduction of a new nemesis at St.Vladimir’s and Rose rising like the proverbial phoenix.

Shadow Kiss (Vampire Academy, #3)

2011-08-25T20:26:00.003+05:30

“They come first”

The Moroi come first. This is the edict that has always been drilled into Dhampirs as they train to become Guardians for the Moroi. No hemming….no hawing….no dithering. When it comes to keeping the Strigoi at bay, the Moroi will always come first.

Rose Hathaway has loyally followed this rule all her rebellious life. But, for the first time she is questioning her belief system.

Frostbite ended with the violent death of her close friend and admirer Mason at the hands of the Strigoi. And while Rose herself killed the murdering Strigoi, she can’t let the guilt over Mason’s death wane. Mason intensifies this feeling by appearing as a silent ghostly apparition…an apparition who is visible only to Rose. Rose is worried sick that she’s going crazy. No one seems to believe her. And most believe that the ghostly sightings can be attributed to Rose suffering from *Post Traumatic Stress Disorder*.

Add to that the fact that Rose appears to be harbouring dark and violent shades of anger within her. While Rose has never exactly been a shrinking violet, she wonders whether the anger is the fallout of her mental bond with Lissa.

Bond with Lissa +

Lissa actively using her powerful element ‘Spirit’ +

The depression and darkness that is the side-effect of using ‘Spirit’ +

The fact that Rose is ‘shadow-kissed’+

The legend of St.Vladimir and his shadow-kissed Anna =

One very troubled, tortured and severely tried teenage dhampir.

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This series absolutely justifies it’s popularity. Yet again, Richelle Mead dishes out supremely cool Vamp-action. Rosemarie (Rose) Hathaway joins the ranks of my all-time favourite fictional heroines. She leaves all the {sappy-self-absorbed-my-hero-glows-like-a-firework-and-the-rest-of-the-world-can-go-hang} pathetic excuses for female leads in the dust. She is : A warrior who is finally questioning his loyalty - A teenager who has to choose between her best friend and her soulmate - A girl who is fighting for her sanity and her life.

*GO HATHAWAY!*

I also like the Rose-Dimitri love story. It is never gag-inducing and almost always, heart-wrenchingly readable. Adrian Ivashkov as the third (hardly-there) part of the love triangle is someone you can root for. For all his snarky comments and booze-induced hazes, he projects himself as the trustworthy chap that you would want for a friend.

And finally….the Strigoi. I loved the air of menace that the author built up. When I read the line, “They’re …coming…” , it conveyed such a rigid block of dread, anxiety and blind-panic that I actually felt a shiver run down my spine. The ensuing battle and it’s disastrous outcome couldn’t have produced a better cliff hanger.

Brilliant pace…..ever-evolving characters……the scent of revolution in the air….Buffy-worthy action….and a storyline that keeps you hooked, lined and sinkered all the way.

Frostbite (Vampire Academy, #2)

2011-08-21T20:47:00.003+05:30

“My name’s Rose Hathaway.
I’m seventeen years old, training to protect and kill vampires, in love with a completely unsuitable guy, and have a best friend whose weird magic drives her crazy.
Hey, no one said high school would be easy.”

That wry passage, in the tradition of the best opening sequences of summer supernatural blockbusters, pretty much sums up what the first book in the series was all about and at the same time lays the groundwork for Book #2.

For a better understanding of the jargon used in this book, please check out my review on Vampire Academy (Vampire Academy, #1). No, am not making a sneaky, underhanded attempt to grab eyeballs, but if I go through another long-winded spiel on Moroi, Strigoi and Dhampir, I’m liable to fling myself on the closest, easily available silver stake.

Frostbite ups the ante on the vamp-drama. A group of rogue Strigoi have been attacking and murdering Moroi and their seasoned Guardians. In an attempt to keep the students of St.Vladimir’s Academy safe , it has been decided that this year’s Winter Break will be spent in a heavily guarded Ski Lodge owned by an affluent Moroi family.

Rose meanwhile has to deal with the icky fact that her mental bond with Lissa is becoming uncomfortable. Vasilisa (Lissa) Dragomir is on prescribed meds in an attempt to control the depression that is brought about by wielding the element ‘Spirit’. On the happier side, Lissa has entered into a full-bodied (in every sense of the word) relationship with fellow royal and social outcast, Christian Ozera. While this is a healthy arrangement for the love-struck pair, it proves to be a bit *eepy-cray* for Rose. She finds herself in a voyeuristic position as she is pulled into Lissa’s mind during the latter’s hot-and-heavy make out sessions with Christian.

The ticked off Dhampir also has to deal with

a) Her strong feelings for her mentor : Dimitri Belikov (who doesn’t appear to be reciprocating her love)

b) Her reluctance to enter into a relationship with her close friend, fellow Dhampir and all-around nice guy : Mason (who doesn’t exactly rouse the flame of roaring passion in her)

c) The not-sure-it’s-exactly-unwelcome attention of the booze guzzling, clove-cigarette smoking bad boy Moroi royal : Adrian Ivashkov (who appears to be interested in Rose in ‘that’ way and also interested in Lissa in, well... not ‘that’ way).

Adding spice to the proceedings is the appearance of the legendary Guardian (and coincidentally Rose’s mother), Janine Hathaway. Rose shares a hate-hate relationship with her seemingly unfeeling mother and is not exactly thrilled to have her around, witnessing her daughter’s flaws at such close quarters.

Juggling three guys, dealing with parental issues, trying to keep Lissa safe and go through Guardian training....all while trying to attain a level of maturity and resisting the ever-present urge to kick snarky students into oblivion......Rose has her work cut out. But all this will pale in significance when she finally comes face to face with their deadliest enemies : the Strigoi.

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VERDICT : LOVED IT!

This is an engrossing, take-shade-from-the-sun, kick-a** Vamp-Lit offering. Rose as a character has settled into your subconscious. You are familiar with her strengths and her flaws. You can now have a firm opinion of whether you want to follow her story or turn away in boredom. For me, it was the former option.

Rose walks the thin line between being a rebellious teenager and a warrior-in-training with ease. It’s a credit to the author that she makes you empathize with a stunningly beautiful girl who could easily (and derogatorily) have been labelled as a ‘skank’. You never feel the urge to snort inelegantly and make sarcastic asides in your brain as she goes through the motions of affection, lust and love with three vastly different (but all, supremely handsome and likeable) heroes.

I especially like the last half of the story when Rose truly becomes a heroine who would make Ellen Ripley weep with pride. No longer is she a juvenile delinquent who gets pulled up for brewing trouble. She evolves into a young woman who watches a loved one die before her eyes and in turn, summons death and battles evil with a brutal elegance.

Frostbite was a worthy sequel and outranked it’s predecessor by leaps and bounds.

Vampire Academy (Vampire Academy, #1)

2011-08-19T20:24:00.002+05:30

Before I waded into the book, I did a quick wiki-tutorial on Moroi, Strigoi and Dhampirs.

As per the crib-notes,
MOROI = Good (and goodlooking) mortal vampires.
STRIGOI = Bad (also goodlooking but with a red ring of evil in their eyes that dampens down the hormones) immortal vampires.
DAMPHIRS = offspring of Moroi fathers and human mothers (quite a sight for sore-eyes too). They serve as Guardians for the Moroi who are under constant threat from the seemingly infallible Strigoi.

Book One in the Vampire Academy Series introduces us to two teenage girls:Vasilisa (Lissa) Dragomir, a royal Moroi and her best friend, Rosemarie (Rose) Hathaway who is a dhampir and a soon-to-be-Guardian. Certain bizarre and unexplainable incidents had forced the two girls to flee St. Vladimir's Academy. But now, after two years of running free, the two girls have been forcibly escorted back to the Academy. It’s time to get back their lost social standing....break a few more hearts....indulge in a tad more dangerous activities and generally try to keep themselves sane and alive as they go about their daily supernatural classes. Amidst the doses of bitchiness and downright nastiness that the duo face at regular intervals, they also have to deal with certain darker secrets. Secrets that should best remain hidden....secrets, that if revealed, would at the very least make Lissa a social pariah and at the most, be the cause of her untimely death.
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Vampire Academy adopts the middle ground between being:
a) Light Years ahead of *Twilight*
b) Miles to reach the supreme sheer unadulterated awesomeness of the wholly perfect offering that was *Buffy The Vampire Slayer*.

I liked the fact that the story was told from Rose’s POV. A smart-talking, forever-flirting, talking-with-her-fists-first kind of narrator is preferable to the waif-like, milksop voice of Lissa. Rose is the quintessential lean, mean, fighting-machine. She’s all tough-girl clichés rolled into a promising package. The fact that she’s blessed with a curvy body and a healthy helping of rampant hormones never makes her retract from her main aim in life : To protect Lissa and eventual become her official Guardian. Tall, long-haired and super-ripped Guardian Dimitri Belikov makes a believable love-interest for Rose. Despite the fact that the author made the sappy error of calling him “Death in a Cowboy Duster”, he still came across as your everyday, likeable, superamped bodyguard with-a-past. He did mouth a couple of syrupy lines that made me do an *eye-roll* but also, I’m ashamed to admit, made me go 'aww' inside my head.

Another aspect that I enjoyed was the effortless incorporation of vampire myths into the ever-churning teen drama. The tale of St.Vladimir and his shadow-kissed Anna was worked in nicely into the chaos that surrounds Rose and Lissa.

My only grouse is that the fighting-fit Rose should have been given more Buffy-style-punch-and-stake action time. But then again, with five more books in the series, I guess there will be enough opportunities to put ye oldesilver stake to noble use.

Vampire Academy wasn’t a book that I loved but neither was it a book that made me cringe. The story flows at an even pace. The fledgling romances are interesting enough to light a flicker of interest. And the promise of impending action is sufficient to make me head out and grab the sequel.

My Fairy Fair Godmother

2011-08-16T11:59:00.001+05:30

“Aren’t fairy godmothers supposed to be nice and make you feel better about yourself?”
“No, you’re confusing fairy godmothers with sales clerks.”

And that’s ~~Fairy~~ Fair Godmother Chrysanthemum (Chrissy) Everstarfor you. A self-absorbed, mall-scouring, gum-chewing teen Godmother who doesn’t believe in sugar coating the pill. It would have helped if Chrissy had the intelligence and the maturity to back the tough-love. Sadly, it isn't so. There’s a reason why she’s called a “fair” godmother. It has nothing to do with her undoubtedly alabaster complexion and everything to do with the fact that she’s an average student at Fairy Godmother School who botches up her assignments on a regular basis.

So what happens when a slightly ditzy godmother gets assigned an equally ditzy charge?

Say hello to said ditzy charge: Savannah Delano. Despite being one of the prettiest, most popular and obviously not-so-smartest girls in high school, Savannah has to go through the unexpected heartbreak of having her buff boyfriend ditch her in favour of her elder, plainer and quite-a-good-deal sharper sister, Jane. In a fit of despair and in the aftermath of snarfing down too many complex-carbs, she wonders whether she will meet a “Prince of a Guy” who will escort her to the upcoming prom. (Un)luckily enough for Savannah, she is Chrissy’s next assignment. The “I’m –getting-late-to-plunder- the-mall-and-bat-my-lashes-at-hunky-elves” godmother grants the broken-hearted girl three wishes. Whether it’s an inability on Savannah’s part to articulate her deepest desires or it’s sheer negligence on Chrissy’s part, but the three precious wishes go awry. Big Time.

Soon, Savannah finds herself zapped into the middle-ages as she searches for her Prince Charming. She does a bit of unwilling time-travel as she finds herself first as Cinderella, second as Snow White and third, in a dangerous situation of having to rescue a fellow student, Tristan who got transported to medieval times, courtesy Chrissy’s godmotherly shenanigans.
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*Reasons why I loved this book*

1)The protagonist : Kudos to the author for making readers root for the much-loathed cliché of high-school literature – *The Popular Girl*. The perfectly coiffed, super-hot girl who leaves her rather uptight sister in the shadows more often than not gets her comeuppance as the plot proceeds. That’s the way the world rights it’s axis. After years of ardently supporting the wise-cracking underdog, I never thought that I would appreciate a supposedly vacuous bimbo so much. Savannah is a refreshing YA-lit heroine who is the perfect example of superficiality shielding a kind heart.

2)The (is he/isn't he) love-interest : Tristan is the stuff of teen dreams. He is the kind of hero that makes Tumblr. loyalists go into a creative frenzy as they whip up gooey animated gifs devoted to his awesomeness. Shaggy blonde hair, light blue eyes,wicked sense of humour and a willingness to slay the odd ogre/dragon/unwelcome suitor. What more could a relatively heart-whole teenager ask for?

3)Dialogue : My ~~Fairy~~ Fair Godmother has some of the freshest lines to be churned out by a YA-Lit author in a long time . The repartee is crisp, funny and flows with an ease borne of familiarity with teen banter. The author, blessed with five children has used all the dinner-table quips and retorts to effective use.

4)Putting the GRIMm back in Fairy Tales : Rallison’s analyses of the medieval lasses and their seemingly perfect love stories is hilarious. Why didn’t the storytellers of yore ever mention that a Prince had to be more than just handsome, sinewy-armed and broad-shouldered? Why didn’t the old tales ever remember that the middle-ages came unequipped with basic hygiene and creature comforts? The author knocks off the rose-colored glasses with a sassy twitch of her wand and has you chuckling at the real-truth behind doe-eyed (and sadly, dim-witted) maids from the Middle-Ages.

To reiterate, I was truly enchanted by this fairy tale. It tackled stereotypes, employed witticisms effectively, had a sweet love-story waiting to happen and had all the trappings of a first-class adventure.

Read the book and come away with a huge smile etched across your face.

Epic Fail

2011-08-09T19:09:00.003+05:30

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Elise Benton = Elizabeth Bennet
Derek Edwards = Fitzwilliam Darcy
Juliana Benton = Jane Bennet
Chase Baldwin = Charles Bingley
Webster Grant = George Wickham
EPIC FAIL = The Ya-Lit version of PRIDE AND PREJUDICE
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And that’s what the book is all about in a nutshell.

But being a die-hard Pride and Prejudice fan means that I would like to ramble on for a bit.

Elise Benton and her three sisters are the newest students at Coral Tree Prep, LA. The effluent school is littered with the rich, poutingly-perfect, privileged offspring of some of the country’s biggest and smallest celebrities. Coupled with the fact that Elise’s mother is the school’s new (highly unpopular, slightly bizarre and extremely regimented) principal, this means that the Benton sisters have a steep social-path to climb. Elise finds herself as a reluctant member of one of the most hallowed cliques in the school when Juliana catches the eye and admiration of Derek Edwards’ affable best friend, Chase Baldwin.

And who, pray tell, is Derek Edwards?

Derek, with his sullen superstar good looks, is a God among the twittering demigods of Coral Tree Prep. He is the offspring of Hollywood’s most famous celebrity couple and is pretty much the uncrowned prince of the school. While Elise is not exactly immune to Derek’s rare smiles and flashes of warmth, neither is she floored by his snootiness and odd tendency to sometimes act like a Grad A Jerk. Instead, she prefers the sunnier charms of social outcast, Webster Grant.

And lo and behold! The saga of Lizzy and Darcy comes alive in a new and revamped setting.
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Elizabeth Bennet is one of my all-time favourite fictional heroines. She was someone I aspired to be. In a time when other damsels were simpering and clucking and having fainting frenzies, Lizzie was the exception. Strong-willed, a tad opinionated, not prone to frills and fancies and yet... a simpatico young lady who was doused with wit and wisdom. Fitzwilliam Darcy is my eternal fictional crush. I never tire of the seemingly snobbish gentleman who yearned for the love of Lizzie despite his better and questionable judgement.

Epic Fail did a brilliant job of modernising my favourite duo. Elise Benton was an intelligent heroine who never acted like a lovelorn loon. Derek Edwards was brooding Darcy brought to preppy life. The dialogue was quirky and smart and a throwback to the banter from ’10 Things I Hate About You’. The Benton family was the embarrassing coterie that we cringed over in the original story. And then ofcourse, we have the plot twists and the character follies that symbolize misplaced pride and unfounded prejudices.

I judge the power of an engaging read by it’s ability to compel me to finish it at a fiendish pace. I was done with this book in half-a-day. It’s not a classic. It’s not perfect. It has a few pitfalls. And no, don’t go by it’s lack-lustre cover.
It’s a bendy, light-hearted summer read that does justice to the mother of all chick-lit books.

In short (and I know it’s hackneyed), the book is an EPIC WIN.

Fairest

2011-08-02T11:25:00.002+05:30

Fairest is a fairly engaging Fairy-tale.

It has the commoner heroine with low self-esteem, the prince with golden looks (and endearing pet/sidekick), the beautiful (and vile and obnoxious and double-dealing) queen, the helpless king, the assortment of good, bad and bl-ehh characters and enough adventure to keep you hooked till the end. There’s a beautiful message ensconced in the tale and it’s something that I heartily approve with.

A passage I especially liked (written by the protagonist’s father) went :

Daughter, we didn’t need your note – or a prince’s visit – to tell us you’d done nothing wrong. We know the daughter we raised. We fear for your future, but never for your character. You take our love and our trust wherever you wander.
Father

In all, the story is another charming medieval tale from the reliable Gail Carson Levine. ‘Elle Enchanted’ will always hold a special place in my heart, but Fairest comes pretty close.

The Tales Of Beedle The Bard

2011-08-01T20:42:00.002+05:30

I have to admit…this book was bought purely for sentimental reasons. I was at the tail-end of July’ 11 (unofficially termed as *Harry Potter Month*) and had exhausted all my available resources of Potter memorabilia. I had desisted for long and now, I ordered it with the sole intention of treating it as a cherished keepsake.

I still get a smile on my face when I remember Hermione being handed over the book as per Dumbledore’s will and Ron piping in excitedly “Babbity Rabbity And Her Cackling Stump!”, only to be greeted by vacant stares from both Harry and (surprisingly enough) Hermione. The book was basically popular bedtime reading for young witches and wizards, which explains why the usually gormless Ron was so familiar with it.

The Tales of Beedle The Bard is a fairly thin volume that contains five fairy tales from the Wizarding World. Accompanying them are the tongue-in-cheek notes of Prof.Dumbledore. Having a slightly more morbid edge when compared to normal (read:muggle) fairy tales, the stories still weave in wise homilies. My favourite tale has always been “The Tale of The Three Brothers” (especially after watching the brilliant bit of goose-bump inducing animation in the movie) and I’m embarrassed to say that I read it out loud for the sheer pleasure of doing so.

This is purely an indulgence for Potter fans and must be read in the same spirit.

City of Fallen Angels(The Mortal Instruments, Book #4)

2011-08-01T20:20:00.001+05:30

I read the reviews after buying the book (never a smart move at the best of times). The ratings were dismal and the opinions ranged from scornful to downright scathing. Another impulsive purchase (I often get blindslided by eye-catching artwork) gone astray and I was geared for the sad fact that my reading of this book would be peppered with the occasional teeth gnashing/ eye-rolling.

But….

But… I liked the book. I really did. So.Shoot.Me.

First up, a little summary:

CITY OF FALLEN ANGELS begins a few months after the epic battle that ended in the CITY OF GLASS. Fellow Shadowhunters, Clary Fairchild and Jace Wayland are in love…an all-encompassing, seemingly secure love that is oddly threatened by a dark secret harboured by Jace. Clary’s best friendSimon is adjusting to his new life as a vampire…a Daylighter, to be precise. Overnight he has turned from a skinny nerd into an unexpected “playa” dating two girls (Isabelle and Maia) simultaneously. This could be the least of his problems because he suddenly finds himself to be the most sought after pawn in the warring Vampire community. Another pressing issue is that murdered Shadowhunters seem to be popping up all over New York City. It doesn’t help that the victims (who were members of Valentine’s Circle) have been killed in a manner that is meant to provoke hostility between Downworlders and Shadowhunters.
………………………………………………………….

Why I didn’t go *ack!, erlack!, Sacre Bleu!?!!!* while reading the book:

a) I didn’t expect to like the Jace-Clary love story. I agree with the readers who were pretty content with the fact that a trilogy was sufficient to tie up all the loose ends and have the *newly-united-through-wrath-of-hell-and-brimstone* couple saunter off into the horizon.

Happily.Ever.After.

The End.

BUT, I read the aftermath of their love story without feeling the need to rip my arm off and club myself on the head with it repeatedly (a feeling I am well-acquainted with after wading through reams of Twilight Trauma). Jace and Clary may be a self-absorbed pair but it’s not a patch on the mind-numbing selfishness of Bella and Edward. I wasn’t subjected to continuous monologues on how painfully-beautiful Jace was or how perfectly-precious Clary was or how the whole wide world could go take a flying leap so long as Jace and Clary could snog each other senseless.

Sure they did have the odd emo moment. Sure they whined and cribbed and check their silent phones incessantly. But it’s okay. They are teenagers, (super-amped, night-creature fighting teenagers, no doubt); but teenagers nevertheless. How could the author make them sound like a fledgling couple going through some seriously warped issues without throwing in the obligatory teen rant? It’s understandable. It IS tedious, but NOT terrible. Jace endeared himself to me when he went

“If you died, I wouldn’t want to live. But I wouldn’t kill myself, because whatever happens after we die, I want to be with you there. And if I killed myself, I know you’d never talk to me again. In any life. So I’d live, and I’d try to make something out of my life, until I could be with you again.”

I liked the fact that it displayed a spunky quality in Clary and a grounded side to Jace. It’s not Shakespeare. But it is oddly sensible.

b) I liked Simon Lewis all through the trilogy. I liked him as the geeky best friend pining over an unrequited love. And I like him now; a seemingly cool, smart-mouthed vampire with an oddly endearing vulnerability. The Mark of Cain which is his cursed blessing was a crucial tool in the story and it was employed effectively. Clare has fledged out his character and loaded him with enough moments to make him a crucial player in the story. Notwithstanding the reluctant warrior role that he portrays, he is the kind of trusty friend every supernatural a**-kicking heroine needs.

c) Isabelle and Magnus Bane were two of my favourite characters and they don’t disappoint. Kyle, the newest entrant to the series has a promising story-arc. There are a host of other characters that lay the groundwork for future chaos and annihilation

d) The plot was well-paced. The tale jumped between the characters without jarring my understanding and was pretty engrossing. The action sequences crackled and the villains were sufficiently vile to send a shiver down my spine.
………………………………………………………….

In all, I didn’t hate the book. I was hooked from start to finish. I never felt the need to make my unflappable butler (if I had a butler) jump out of his skin as I yelled “WHY GOD, WHY??? Why subject me to this awful abomination, this piteous attempt at milking a reluctant cash-cow, this travesty of a supposed love-story??? WHY?!?”.

No. I liked the book.

The Ogre of Oglefort

2011-07-23T09:22:00.002+05:30

What do you do when you have:
a) A fine and upstanding troll with a good heart.
b) A hag is who is kind and cheery in the tradition of the best old-fashioned grandmothers.
c) A mother-pecked wizard who brews nothing more that odious smells with dastardly results.
d) An orphan who prefers a madcap adventure with the aforementioned trio rather than facing one more monotonous day at the dreary orphanage.

You sit tight as they get sent on the much loved and severely clichéd quest of them all: *RESCUE A PRINCESS* ---- *FROM AN EVIL OGRE*

But.....

Continuing in the above rhetorical vein;
What DO you do when:
a) Said princess yells at her startled rescuers as she doesn’t want to be rescued.
b) Said Ogre just wants to die peacefully in his satin pyjamas and lie down beside his beloved late wife, the Ogress.

In true and tried Eva Ibbotson fashion, The Ogre of Oglefort humanizes the vilest of the after-life. The author has the endearing ability of banishing misgivings of *things-that-go-thump-in-the-dark*. In fact more often than not, her books are likely to make little sleepyheads peek under their beds, hoping that a kind-hearted (albeit severely misunderstood) ‘creature of the dark’ is hanging around, just waiting to banish their more prosaic troubles.

I have the greatest respect for the late Ibbotson. Her books for young readers are funny, quirky, unpredictable and choc-a-bloc with odd twists and turns. This book is no different. Steeped in fantasy, it has an odd anchor in reality. Yet again, the author displays how the biggest monsters we face are basic everyday issues.

Loved the quirky characters. Loved the bizarre plotline. Loved it.

The Carrie Diaries (The Carrie Diaries, Book #1)

2011-07-22T19:58:00.003+05:30

‘Who am I supposed to be again?
Just be yourself.
But who am I?’

Much before Carrie Bradshaw was blazing a fashionable trail through Manhattan, she was just an ordinary, small-town, high-school teenager in Connecticut.

She has her own “unclique” consisting of the prone-to-dramatics Maggie, the sarcastic guy-with-a-secret Walt, the super-smart Roberta better known as The Mouse and the frenemy - Lali. Soon, Carrie finds herself drawn into a tumultuous relationship with the most-sought after bad-boy in school - Sebastian Kydd. She also has to deal with the family dynamics of a widowed father bringing up three fairly-troubled teenage daughters.

But Carrie has another all-encompassing dream…a dream to become a *Writer*. After receiving a rejection letter from an NY writing seminar, her confidence is shaken and she begins contemplating the uncertainties of the future. Does she have the potential to make it as writer? Or is she destined to end up at a nearby university, resigned to becoming a scientist like her dad?

And then the betrayal of a friend speeds things up drastically. Decisions have to be made…relationships are to be mended/ severed…and the future puts it’s insistent foot in the door.

On the face of it, The Carrie Diaries can be just another coming-of-age story fraught with the usual issues of growing up. But what makes it an interesting read is that IT IS the coming-of-age story of the iconic *Carrie Bradshaw*, immortalized in the critically acclaimed ‘Sex and the City’. A younger Carrie has been portrayed as a fun, intelligent and whacky teenager. She has the smarts to stand up for herself but is enough of a teen to be pummelled by doubts and insecurities. She has all the makings of a make-you-proud feminist and then again, shows an equally humbling tendency to succumb to peer-pressures.

We get glimpses into the fashionista-in-the-making. From the first day of the new school year when she arrives in white patent leather Go-Go boots to the time when she goes nuts with a bottle of bright pink nail-polish and emblazons her name on a classic bag handed down by her mum, Carrie is quite the style-guru. This is the fledgling stage of her love-affair with vintage clothes and it’s a treat for all Carrie and SATC fans to see their favourite character’s formative years.

The cast of supporting characters is pretty clichéd, complete with the nasty queen-bee cheerleader, the entourage of empty headed Jocks and Jens and a love interest that leaves much to be desired. But the sole shining beacon of this book is Carrie Bradshaw. Her tale is that of every small-town girl trying to break the shackles of a go-nowhere suburban existence. What makes this story special is that at the end of the day, we know Carrie succeeded and got a well-shod Jimmy Choo foothold into her bright and exciting dream of making it in New York city.

Summer And The City (The Carrie Diaries, Book #2)

2011-07-22T19:52:00.002+05:30

I sincerely, truly adored the first book in this series : The Carrie Diaries

And so, I was compelled to grab the second book. It helped that it had three of my favourite ingredients:
a) New York City
b) The tale of a fledgling writer
c) The coming-of-age journey of the delightfully quirky and iconic Carrie Bradshaw

Sadly, at the end of this fairly chunky read….I had to go…‘eh’.

The plot and characters are predictable. You can immediately tell who is the last-page love-interest, who is going through the throes of a just-divorced rebound, who is the sex-fiend (NOT Samantha!), who is the egomaniac and who is the confused feminist.

Obligatory references to Carrie’s love for vintage and bizarre fashion (that works!) are thrown in as an afterthought. The author oscillates between her love for The Big Apple and the need to keep things starkly real.

I really wanted to love this book. But…

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2

2011-07-19T11:22:00.008+05:30

At two hours and ten minutes, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 is the shortest film in the franchise. And within these two hours and ten minutes, Potter fans are treated to a masterpiece of epic proportions.

Harry Potter is now closer to discovering and destroying Voldemort’s remaining horcruxes. Along this journey, he has to deal with devious goblins, fire-breathing dragons, new and untried hexes, guilty ghosts, cursed fiendfyre, old enemies and the promise of a new, hitherto undiscovered, truly terrifying Horcrux. And the poor lad’s work is never done. At the end of these gruesome tasks, he must face his nemesis : The Dark Lord...The most powerful evil magician of all times...the monster who has killed Harry’s parents, his godfather, his mentor and many more who have played a poignant role in Harry’s life. Fighting and vanquishing Voldemort means accepting death gladly. It means stepping into unchartered territory with sheer guts bolstered by hope and a prayer.

Part 2 is the tale of the ultimate battle...the battle between Good and Evil...the battle between ‘The Boy-Who-Lived’ and ‘The Vile-Noseless-Villain-Who-Refused-To-Die’. It is a setting that gathers up the slow threads of Part 1 and flings it headlong into a chaotic battlescene that is awe-inspiring and heart-wrenching in equal measures.

The movie, to put it mildly is *BRILLIANT*

The movie, to put it in the words of a true-blue Potter fan is *MIND-BOGGLINGLY-FANTASTIC*

Concentrating on the ‘Battle of Hogwarts’ meant that the entire movie could have disintegrated into a never-ending round of wand-duelling, muggle-worthy punching and the dire destruction of a set that holds a special place in our hearts. Thankfully, the director (David Yates) has played a beautiful game of explosive action combined with deliciously slow and intense moments.

SPECIAL CHARACTER MENTION:

~ ‘Snape’s Memory’; one of the best chapters in the book was converted into a perfect ten-minute montage that made my vision blurry with unshed tears. Alan Rickman is always a joy to behold and his rendition of the magnificent Snape leaves you satisfied that the movie did credit to the written word.

~ Prof. McGonagall has always been one of my favourite characters. Maggie Smith as the unbending teacher with a heart of molten gold has a few (but just enough) moments that make you whoop with glee (yes, I did indeed whoop with glee)

~ Neville Longbottom (Matthew Lewis) has come such a long way from being a scared student who quivered under the scathing disapproval of a long-suffering teacher. Tall, weary and covered with battle-scars....Neville is an unlikely hero who plays a crucial role. It helps that he has some wicked-cool lines to boot.

~ Oddly enough, I don’t have much to say on Harry, Hermione and Ron. Harry (Daniel Radcliffe) plunges forth with a quiet intensity. Hermione (Emma Watson) is a tad muted but her usual spunky self. Ron (Rupert Grint) has his endearing gormless act in place. Their combination works like a well-oiled spring; courtesy the long-standing familiarity and suffice to say, the trio keep you hooked.

At the end of it all, it was so much more than just that. It was a magical battle to end all the mini-squabbles. It was a shining symbol of the power of friendship, love and loyalty. It was the befitting end of a glorious era.The director, cast and crew tied up one of the greatest and most successful stories of our time into a fitting conclusion.

Glaring dissimilarities aside, fans will be hard-pressed to nitpick.

I want to write so much more. I want to write eloquent prose that conveys my affection for these fictional characters. I want to write a glowing statement of adulation for the author who can tell a tale like no one else.

Thank you, J.K.Rowling.

Thank you for your imagination that is so rooted in reality.

Thank you for reaffirming my belief that love, friendship and faith can brighten up the darkest corners of our minds.

Thank you for the magic...

The Sea of Monsters (Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Book #2)

2011-07-13T10:26:00.002+05:30

The defenses of Camp Half-Blood have been breached, Thalia’s tree has been poisoned and ‘goat-boy’ Grover is in danger of becoming a reluctant bride to the Cyclops Polyphemus!!!

All in a day’s work for demi-god, Percy Jackson as he sets off on an unofficial quest to recover the magical and healing “Golden Fleece”. Accompanied by Annabeth and a new friend cum half-brother, Tyson the Cyclops…….Percy ventures into the treacherous Sea of Monsters.

Old enemies, new monsters and untold prophecies come to the forefront. Once more, we get a delightful insight into the world of Greek Mythology. Glimpses of Homer’s Odyssey are dropped in at regular intervals and there is a whole new jamboree of fantastic creatures and menacing villains!

Percy once again proves to be an endearing hero. With so many odds stacked against him, he rarely whines or cribs. More often than not, he resorts to a droll sense of humour and foolhardy courage to rescue himself and his friends in this magnificent tale. Definitely worth a read!

Harry Potter and the Order of The Phoenix (Harry Potter, #5)

2011-07-07T09:01:00.003+05:30

I am not exactly an unbiased soul when it comes to reviewing a Harry Potter book. My Potter reviews wax lyrical, are full of praise and admiration and rarely do negative words get typed in.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix however was a little roadbock to my motherhen express. Too many pages, too much information and too, too rambling in it’s narrative. Do a vanishing hex on a handful of chapters and it would have been another perfect gem from Rowling’s desk.

The basic premise of the fifth book was that the magical world is now divided into two warring factions :

a) Those who believe that Voldemort is back and are taking the necessary steps to face the possibility of a second war and

b) Those who don’t believe that Voldemort is back and are taking every unnecessary and abysmally foolish step to thwart Team a)

Harry Potter has returned to his fifth year in a troubled state. The wizarding world at large (except for his loyal friends) believe that Dumbledore has gone senile and Harry is nothing more than an attention seeking git. Harry has to deal with people thinking and voicing out loud that the Potter lad has finally gone...to put it a tad inelegantly...potty. He has to face the simpering wrath of Prof.Umbridge, the newest Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher who has been planted by the Ministry to keep her noxious nose in the affairs of Hogwarts. He has to bear the mixed romantic blessing of an interested Cho Chang; who snogs him and weeps all over his cloak at regular intervals.

But all this pales in comparison to Harry’s newest problem. In his dreams, Harry appears to be travelling into the mind of Voldemort. He seems to share an undesired mental link with The Dark Lord. Whether Voldy is ecstatic with joy or bloodthirsty with rage, Harry senses it. While this situation might prove to be useful to Dumbledore and other members of ‘The Order of The Phoenix’, it has a nasty sting at it’s tail. The mental link is reciprocal, which means that Voldemort can also make roadways into Harry’s mind....delve into his darkest secrets and worst of all....actually possess him.

If Rowling would have stuck to this basic plotline, it would have been an engaging read. No meandering, just straightforward story-telling. Sadly, it unravelled into a heavy lo-oong winded read.

On the plus side, new characters like Tonks and Luna Lovegood make an interesting addition. Bellatrix Lestrange is deliciously deranged. Sirius Black, my favourite bad boy, got enough pages devoted to him to exhibit varied nuances of his character. The roles of Ginny and Neville Longbottom are smartly fleshed out, laying the groundwork for future full-fledged appearances.

Harry makes a departure from his perfect-hero portrayal. Gone is the unsure, slightly shy, self-deprecating, wee Potter lad. What we now have is an impatient teenager who exhibits bouts of rage tempered with confused silences. Hermione and Ron provide able support to their grumpy best friend. Sadly, their fledgling romance has been put on the back-burner. Dumbledore is magnificent in his stellar role as “The Only One He Ever Feared”.

The one good thing about this book is that Harry may finally learn why the darkest, wizard ‘moste-eville’ has been hounding him since his childhood.

In all, Harry Potter and The Order of The Phoenix could have been shorter and less of a stomach-crusher. It’s a long tale with flashes of brilliance and one distinctly heart-wrenching moment.

Harry Potter and The Goblet of Fire (Harry Potter, #4)

2011-06-28T19:33:00.003+05:30

Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows – Part 2 releases on July 15’ 2011. And with it, ends one of the grandest obsessions of our times.

No, I’m not mocking it. Far from it. I am an unabashed member of the PotterBrigade. I have read the entire series more times than I can count. I have caught the movies when they hit the theatres (and cribbed about the disparities in plot). I have scoured through exquisite FanArt and imaginative FanFiction. I have followed the wise homilies of the great Dumbledore and treated him as my Spiritual Guru. I have rooted for Hermione and Ron’s almost-there-but-not-quite-yet love story. I have lusted after Sirius and loathed Umbridge, both in equal measures. I have attempted to make ButterBeer (and succeeded). I have done a spot of wishful thinking and hoped that Hogwarts has misplaced my letter (well, not really...but yes). And yes.............I have stuck with Harry till the very end.

So obviously, with the end in sight, I HAD to reread the series. And when I reached ‘Harry Potter and The Goblet of Fire’, I realized that alas....alackk....and also, ERK!....I hadn’t written a review on it! *shock* *horror* *convincing Victorian swoon*. Soon I recovered from the fiendish blow and penned down a wholly biased review. Here goes:

The Quidditch World Cup followed by The Triwizard Tournament form the backdrop for the fourth instalment. As The Quidditch Finals culminate in the sudden appearance of THE DARK MARK, a wave of panic spreads through the wizarding world. The Mark is the sign of ‘He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named’; a mark that heralds the return of pure, undiluted evil. Our wee Potter isn’t feeling too uppity either. The scar on his forehead has been ailing him; another indication that ol’Voldy is either very near or he is feeling particularly murderous. Sirius (in hiding) is worried and sends comforting owl mail at regular intervals. Hermione is worried and races to the library at regular intervals. Ron is worried and turns an unbecoming shade of red at regular intervals.

So when Harry is chosen by the magical ‘Goblet of Fire’ as one of the contenders for The Triwizard Tournament, it’s only natural that everyone starts having kittens; left, right and center. The tournament which claims to be an attempt to improve relationships in the Wizarding Community is no game of pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey. Past history reveals that the tasks are dangerous and injurious to health in every sense of the word.

Soon, Harry is battling dragons, merpeople, unexpected jinxes, hexes and the odd Blast-Ended Skrewt. But it’s the end that decides it all. In a startling twist, Harry will soon face a task that will make The Hungarian Horntail Dragon look like a mild-mannered lapdog.

Harry Potter and The Goblet of Fire can adequately be summed up in one word : DRAMATIC.

Whether it’s the sporting fervour whipped up at The Quidditch World Cup or the wave of excitement and danger that holds together The Triwizard Tournament, J.K.Rowling is the Mother Monster of Event-Managers. A host of enticing new characters make their entry : Cedric Diggory, Mad-Eye Moody, Barty Crouch (Sr. & Jr.), Ludo Bagman, Madame Maxime, Viktor Krum, Karkaroff, Rita Skeeter and.....The Dark Lord himself.

Despite being a fairly heavy book, the pace never wanes. One endearing quality of Rowling’s writing is that no fact or seemingly odd bit of trivia is ever merely that. Somewhere, somehow, she will dip into her Pensieve, extract the miniscule detail and entwine it with the plot. So while reading her books, remember to be in a state of (as Mad-Eye Moody would term it) “CONSTANT VIGILANCE”.

Endearing sub plots are the fledgling romances: Harry and Cho, Ron and Hermione and Krum and ofcourse, Hagrid and Madame Maxime. Snape continues his reign of unabated nastiness. Malfoy is his usual charming self. Cedric (the future Mr.Edward Cullen) is a wholly likeable character who stays with you till the end. Dumbledore is pitching his perfect performance as usual : whether it’s turning a blind eye to the never ending pranks, or giving a fair listening to an improbable tale or doling out wisdom in his unique way or standing tall, eyes ablaze in the face of dark times.

Tight storyline, shocking twists and throat-clogging moments. In all, a magnificent read.

Igraine The Brave

2011-06-22T20:24:00.001+05:30

Let me just start by saying that I loved every page of this medieval tale. So if I seem effusive in my praise, you.have.been.warned.

Igraine is the twelve year old daughter of the great Magicians : The Fair Melisande and Sir Lamorak, The Wily. She has a magically inclined, know-it-all brother : Albert. The family of four live in a magical albeit small castle which houses the legendary ‘Singing Books of Magic’. The castle is magically protected by ferocious stone lions, cannonball swallowing gargoyles and a moat swarming with endearing water snakes. Despite the above mentioned overdose of magic all around her, young Igraine has no wish to follow in the enchanting ways of her kin. Magic for her is an unnecessary but undeniable facet of her life. Magic is something that she just has to grit her teeth and bare with.

Her aspirations lie in a totally different arena.

Igraine wants to be a Knight; a full-on, armour-clanking, lance-hurling, dragon-fighting Knight. She wants to emulate her great-grandfather Pelleas and have her day of glory in a battlefield. And sooner than she ever imagined, her dreams come true, in a rather uncomfortable way.

For the castle is soon in danger of an attack by the vile Osmund also called Osmund The Greedy. Osmund is a practitioner of Dark Magic and wants to lay his hands on ‘Singing Books of Magic’. He believes that their possession will soon make him the greatest magician and the master of all he surveys.

Handling Osmund would have been embarrassingly easy for Igraine’s parents, but unfortunately the powerful magicians had a spell go awry which converted them into talking but wholly non-magical pigs!

It is now up to Igraine to save the day. She must return her parents to their natural form, assist her brother in protecting the castle and generally have her much longed for (but now truly terrifying) wish to be a brave knight come true.

The tale is tight, packed with sharp plotlines and endearing characters. Magic is used in enchanting and unpredictable ways. I liked the unexpected twists that occurred at regular intervals. It’s heartening to not be blasé about where the story is heading. Igraine is a wonderful heroine, a charming mix of kind-heartedness and spunky fervour. The illustrations by Funke enhance her narration and make the book a joy to possess. The best bit for me was that while I loved The Inkheart series, my main grouse was the unnecessary rambling that swallowed up so many pages. This defect was heartily absent in Igraine The Brave. Cornelia Funke was precise and engrossing in ever line.

An enchanting tale of a girl-knight embroidered with magic, cleverness and sheer gutsiness.

Battle for Bittora

2011-06-20T18:58:00.005+05:30

Anuja Chauhan follows the success of ' The Zoya Factor' with yet another desi firecracker. Battle for Bittora is all good, tried-and-tested Bollywood clichés parcelled into one enticing masala-read.

Jinni Pandey is a happy-go-lucky animator drawing award-winning ‘kitaanus’ (germs/bacteria) for Harpic and other noteworthy brands. She’s young, spunky and has a carelessly-on purpose dishevelled half-rosebud haircut that she's mighty proud of.

But Jinni is also, infact Sarojini Pande, granddaughter of the fearsome political matriarch Pushpa Pande. The Pande clan is an illustrious (albeit with a dubious background) political dynasty. For a long time, they have contested the Lok Sabha elections through their hometown Bittora. Sometimes they have had resounding victories and at other times, embarrassing losses but it’s always been a full-on tamasha.

And now in true-blue unbendable grandmother/ conniving politician mode, the great Pushpa Pande has manoeuvered the clueless Jinni into contesting the upcoming elections from Bittora. Soon Jinni finds herself togged up in starched sarees and matronly blouses. She’s thrown headlong into a world of kleptomaniac Election agents; Crack teams who will “do anything” to help ‘didi’; hormonal pet dogs; frenemies; stalwart ladies who don’t visit parlours but bite off their underarm hair with their teeth (a very disturbing exaggeration, that); manipulators; back-stabbers; gropers and the entire rigmarole that is our grand Indian Politics.

Standing on the tip of this fast dissolving Gola, is Jinni's opponent : The idealistic (also, chiselled), intellectual (yes, his tan is honey colored) and universally loved (well, with that build-up....he obviously has to be lustworthy!) Zain Altaf Khan. Maruti Zain (as Jinni had mockingly nicknamed him) and Jinni share a rich past. They were childhood friends who were almost lovers before the great Pushpaji brought their raging "haarmoans" under control.

As the two youngest ever Lok Sabha candidates battle out the elections in grimy Bittora; kid gloves are shed, dirty politics lunge forth in full force and the trusty ol’ “haarmoans” make a predictable reappearance.

Anuja Chauhan strikes gold yet again. I am thoroughly chuffed to say that I have a favourite Indian author who doesn’t play the displaced NRI/ skanky urban cougar/ Indian travelogue card. Her dialogue is a delightful blend of propah English with a spicy tadka of local dialects. She captures the dusty contours of rural India, jazzes it up with a host of laugh-out-loud caricatures and gives you a stellar lead pair who make you root for them.

Kudos to Chauhan for plumbing her political lineage (her mother-in-law is Margaret Alva) and employing it with insouciance. I loved the book and would strongly recommend it for all who are still searching for that elusive "must-read Indian Author".

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (Chronicles of Narnia, #2)

2011-06-20T07:59:00.004+05:30

Whenever I visit my lovely (albeit a tad lonely) ancestral home, I instantly associate with Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy. I have the mysterious house with a few empty rooms...the boredom of being stuck-in that makes me rattle around like a disgruntled pea-in-a-pod......and......I even have an unused wardrobe. Sadly, to my abject disappointment, the wardrobe doesn’t open into Narnia or even a respectable secret passageway. (I checked). But since reading The Narnia Chronicles and having to make regular visits to my hometown; I more often than not always carry along my copy of ‘The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe’.

There’s something truly delightful of hiding in a fur coat laden wardrobe and coming out into a parallel world replete with a winter wonderland, a nasty Snow-Queen, troubled mythical creatures, and the truly splendid character of ASLAN.

ASLAN

C.S.Lewis gave a very apt description in his introduction of Aslan. It goes thus:

The Beaver said, “They say Aslan is on the move – perhaps has already landed”

And now a very curious thing happened. None of the children knew who Aslan was any more than you do; but the moment the Beaver had spoken these words everyone felt quite different. Perhaps it has sometimes happened to you in a dream that someone says something that you don’t understand but in the dream it feels as if it has some enormous meaning ¬– either a terrifying one that turns the whole dream into a nightmare or else a lovely meaning too lovely to put into words, which makes the dream so beautiful that you remember it all your life and are always wishing you could get into that dream again. It was like that now. At the name of Aslan each child felt something jump in it’s inside. Edmund felt a sense of mysterious horror. Peter felt suddenly brave and adventurous. Susan felt as if some delicious smell or some delicious strain of music had just floated by her. And Lucy got the feeling you have when you wake up in the morning and realize that it is the beginning of the holidays or the beginning of summer.

This has always been my favourite passage. It’s sheer simplicity and accuracy pens the exact emotions which we have all experienced at the onset of something life-changing (nice/nasty, depending upon our perspectives and personal demons) .Aslan is a memorable character and the tale, according to me, the best of the Narnia Chronicles. It’s believable, doesn’t drag or preach unnecessarily and is a delightful treat for fantasy-lovers like me.

I usually tend to read the book first and follow it up with the movie viewing. I love both versions and ‘The Battle Tune of Narnia’ is on my perpetual Playlist. It’s almost my own personal ‘defeat-your-demons’ tune.

The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe is the Grand Poobah of fantasy reads (Lord of The Rings, notwithstanding) and I would strongly recommend it for all wide-eyed children with a longing for magic to drive away the monotony of everyday life. If I could, I would also insist on scornful adults to capture a bit of their young wonderment and escape into The Land of Narnia.

C.S.Lewis in his dedication to his goddaughter, aptly summed it up:

“Some day you will be old enough to start reading fairy-tales again”

KANE CHRONICLES : The Throne of Fire (Book #2)

2011-06-07T11:40:00.001+05:30

*TEAM A*

~ The Egyptian deification of Darkness and Chaos, Apophis (who also takes the form of a sincerely scary humungous snake)

~ The third most powerful (and evil) magician in the world; Menshikov also fondly termed as ‘Vlad, The Inhaler’. He dresses like an ice-cream salesman but pretty much wants the world to end in chaos, in like four days time.

~ Host of minor Gods ranging from Nekhbet (Goddess of Vultures) to Babi (God of Baboons). I.kid.you.not

*TEAM B*

~ Brother-Sister teen Magician team of Carter and Sadie Kane

~ A griffin with a personality disorder that goes ‘FRE-EEEK’ in response to most calamities.

~ A team of fledgling magicians still undergoing training.

~ BES, the God of Dwarves who scares people by appearing in nothing more than a Speedo.

Yep, a fairly unequal battle there.

The Kane siblings had just won a gruesome round with Set in The Red Pyramid.....only to discover that more evil lurks around the corner. Evil, that makes Set look like a wilful kid who doesn’t want to eat his broccoli. Apophis is soon going to break free from his centuries-old prison. If he succeeds, he will swallow the sun and plunge the world into Chaos. Ergo, *Doomsday*.

Sadie and Carter have a fighting chance only if they can find Ra, the ancient and powerful Pharoah of The Gods. Legend has it that only Ra, The Sun God who battled Apophis on a nightly basis has the ability to vanquish the latter. To recall Ra from his retirement, Sadie and Carter need to lay their hands on The Book of Ra( three separate scrolls, hidden in three different, unknown and obviously dangerous locations ).

And so begins the....yes....I’m going to say it.....rollercoaster ride! (Thank God for tried and traumatised clichés)

The tale is splendid. Choc-a-bloc with action, adventure, mythology and devious and dastardly plots. All the above elements are welded together with Riordan’s trademark wit. As usual, he makes the ancient Gods approachable and infuses them with foibles and flaws. Obscure myths are woven into an urban fantasy that keeps you turning the pages with growing anxiety. Sadie and Carter are a delightful, snarky brother-sister duo. They are extremely likeable and foolhardy enough to carry the story forward.

As usual, I do what I always do after reading a Riordan book. I go into full-on Wiki-Mode and read up on the ancient Gods. I cannot stress enough as to how the author deserves credit for dusting off forgotten stories and repackaging them in a way that retains the essence while giving them a contemporary edge.

Kudos, Mr.Riordan.

Ella Enchanted

2011-05-31T19:47:00.003+05:30

*Beware of delusional fairies bearing gifts*

This is the main premise of Ella Enchanted.

Ella, as a child was given the dubious gift of “OBEDIENCE” by the smarmy fairy, Lucinda. Since then, Ella.Must.Obey. She is forced to obey every single command directed at her. And commands range from the perfectly innocuous ‘Ella, stand up’ to the highly dangerous ‘Ella, chop off your head’. So Ella, her mother and their devoted cook, Mandy had decided that this gift (read : curse) should be kept a secret. If the knowledge fell into the wrong hands, Ella would be in grave danger.

But the big, bad world awaits and Ella cannot be cushioned from the nastiness of conniving minds. As she loses her mother, she gains a host of problems. She now has to deal with her scheming father, gold-digging stepmother, obnoxious pair of stepsisters and the new friend she makes: Prince Charmont (or Char, as he likes to be called by friends ). In order to right-the-wrongs in her life, Ella knows that she must seek out the elusive Lucinda and request her to take back the gift.The book follows Ella’s adventures, her fledgling romance and her struggle to obtain a free will.

Ella Enchanted is one of the best fairy tales that I have read and I loved Ella’s character. She is spunky, loaded with the right attitude and is utterly humane in her faults and choices. She’s a far cry from the doe-eyed, self-sacrificing, snivelling-near-the-fireplace, worried-about-their-spun-sugar-hair heroines. You root for her, gnash your teeth at the injustices meted out to her and earnestly hope for her *happily-ever-after*.

Gail Carson Levine is the fairy tale-smith who weaves an ancient tale with alacrity. She also displays an endearing fondness for Tolkien by introducing alternate languages like Elven and Ogreish and a handful of other enchanting gobbledygook.

In all, a perfect fairytale.

The Dragonfly Pool

2011-05-27T21:16:00.004+05:30

Eva Ibbotson’s books do two things for you:
a) They transport you to a place, time and ambience that is redolent with olde-worlde charm and mystique.
b) They make your cynical soul believe that there are people (and especially children) who want to make this world a nicer place to live in.

Ibbotson’s books have always been comfort-food for my soul. She’s another author who finds a place in my travel-bag. You may be in a paradise (or personal purgatory, as the case may be), but dip into her stories and you are immediately hooked.

‘The Dragonfly Pool’ is no different.

It tells the tale of a much-loved and surprisingly unspoilt little girl called Tally. Tally lives in London with her widowed father, Dr.Hamilton and a pair of maiden aunts. Despite her idyllic existence, the shadow of impending war looms heavily over their heads. Hitler is at his despotic worst and The Second World War is imminent.

Around this time, Dr.Hamilton receives an unexpected scholarship for Tally at a boarding school called Delderton. Delderton is located in South Devon countryside and safely ensconced from the dangers of war. After many protestations and misgivings, Tally is parcelled off to Delderton and there she discovers a whole new world…
For Delderton is a progressive school. There are no rules, the students look like a bunch of happy savages, the principal judges people by their reactions to the ancient Cedar tree that stands tall in the school garden, the school cook is a beautiful ex-model and biology lessons could start at four in the morning without any prior warning whatsoever.
And then there is the enigmatic Matteo von Tarlenheim; biology teacher by profession but bandit in appearance. Much loved by the students for cutting a dashing figure and respected for his infinite understanding of the fauna and flora that surrounds them, Matteo is the most popular teacher in school. But Matteo has mysterious foreign roots and his past is soon entwined with Tally and her adventures.
In course of time, Tally and her quickly formed friends are off to Bergania to take part in a folk-dance festival. Bergania is a tiny country in Europe ruled by just king, Johannes who has stoutly refused to assist Hitler. And Johannes has a young son, Karil, who lives the life of a poor little rich boy.In Bergania, adventure raises it’s tantalising head and soon the fates of Tally and Karil and irrevocably entwined.
The story is a splendid blend of nature ramblings, wry humour, touches of darkness and the quintessential overriding message of *being true to oneself*. Ibbotson’s characters are well-etched, be it the Aragorn-like Matteo or the stubbornly optimistic Tally. The palette of supporting characters keep you engaged with their quirks and individual strengths of character. The surroundings vary from a naturalist’s utopia to the despondency of a war-weary landscape. Ibbotson holds the reigns of both worlds deftly and keeps you enchanted till the very end.

Pirates of the Caribbean : On Stranger Tides

2011-05-21T11:24:00.000+05:30

A handful of gibbering Anthropoids and the odd cachinnating Cockatoo are of the opinion that the fourth instalment in the Pirates of The Caribbean (POC) franchise is not a patch on the first. Well, d-oh...there’s a reason it’s called an "original"!

As for me, I will always be a fan of the scraggly, irreverent, semi-sozzled, kohl-eyed Captain Jack Sparrow. You don’t need to be a prepubescent tween or a snarky, think-I’ve-seen-it-all teenager or even a high-on-testosterone adult male to enjoy the mad trip. For an armchair traveller like me, Captain Sparrow is the best tour guide. EVER.

So what do we have in this offering?

King George II (Potter fans will recognize a Mr.Dursley under the additional layers of quivering blubber) has forced Capt.Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp) to guide an expedition to ‘The Fountain of Youth’. Good ol’Barbossa (Geoffrey Rush) has (allegedly) cleaned up his act and is now a well-shod privateer who will head aforementioned expedition. Barbossa has lost his leg and Jack's beloved ship, The Black Pearl. Angered by the loss of the latter, Jack escapes...only to fall into the clutches of the vile and villainous Blackbeard (Ian McShane): scourge of the high-seas, dabbler in dark-arts and father to the luscious Angelica (Penelope Cruz, being delightfully Spanish and shrewish). What ensues is a riotous trip loaded with fang-bearing mermaids, missionaries with six-packs, painfully pierced and tattooed zombies and ol’reliably-unreliable : Captain Jack Sparrow.

The plot may drag in places. The characters may have stilted moments. Old favourite may be absent. New entrants may lack the chutzpah of the veterans. But the Good Pirate holds the movie together with his eccentricities. He cuts a swash buckling, albeit grimy figure as he battles over tumbling barrels....leads doomed mutinies......romances the conniving Angelica....matches wits with the ever reliable Barbossa....and deals with the cool menace of BlackBeard.

In all, not a great flick but a watchable summer one, nevertheless.

The Children at Green Meadows

2011-05-18T20:13:00.004+05:30

In and around my building, we now have a golden Labrador with a heart-of-gold, a snappy l’il Poodle, a goose that honks like a Disney villain, an assortment of cats, a Doberman with a mother-fixation, an overweight Pug that manages to project an air of abject hunger, a blink-and-you-miss-it bunch of fat sparrows, hungry crows who always know when it’s lunchtime and an ever graceful soaring eagle. And this is not even counting the regular menagerie I run into when I head off for an evening walk.

I love animals. The above scenario makes me happy. Noah–recruiting-for-his-ark happy. And it reminded me of a childhood book that I used to love and want to live in: The Children at Green Meadows.

I dug it out. The front cover had vanished (which made me a little mad since I really loved the artwork), the pages were dog-eared and it brought back memories of summer holidays and pepper chips.

I could never critique this book. I love it.

A family living in a sprawling house called Green Meadows. A family that has a handicapped ex-army man for a father, a granny that jingles along angrily, a mother whose work never seems to end and a trio of children trying to be patient and wiser beyond their years. A family that loves animals but can’t afford to keep any.

So what happens when the children: Francis, Clare and Sam find themselves looking after the pets of people who can’t look after them for a variety of reasons?

The transformation of moods, surroundings and fate is a beautiful tale for children who love animals. It’s a simplistic story with heart. It doesn’t claim to change your life but it does leave you with a knot in your throat.

I repeat. I love it.

Diary of a Wimpy Kid : The Last Straw

2011-05-12T12:08:00.000+05:30

Every once in a while you need a break from wizard boys, sparkling vampires, conspiracy theories, go-nowhere love stories, end-of-the-world page turners and the never ending stream of parallel worlds.

Every once in a while you need to forget that you are a full-blown adult whose literary tastes are mature and discerning and who, to put it mildly is a bit up-yourself.

Every once in a while, you need to escape into the world of a Wimpy middle-school Kid who is high on smarts and low on luck.

It’s time to hold your breath over the unwashed clothes and dodge the well-meaning parents and stumble over the boogers as you venture into the world of Greg Heffley.

Greg Heffley’s astounding schemes and equally mind-boggling failures continue. His chief bête noire in this book is his long-suffering dad. Greg’s father wants to make a man out of his dandelion-blowing son. To achieve this admirable goal, he is intent on sending Greg off to a military academy. This doesn’t sit well with Mr.Wimpy, who was looking forward to a summer of playing video-games and sleeping....snarfing down junk-food and sleeping....hooking up with the pretty Holly Hills and yep, catching up on some more sleep.

The Wimpy Kid series may be considered juvenile and trite. But it’s entertaining and you read it with a constant smile playing on your lips. Sometimes you even snort with glee (well, I did). I say, regardless of your age....pick it up for some instant laughs, dry humour and a cast of characters that is so unbelievably well put together that you can’t help but stay hooked.

Five Flavors of DUMB

2011-05-09T19:25:00.003+05:30

An obscure school-band wins the local *Battle-of-the-Bands* and struts about like it’s the next great thing since sliced bread. An equally obscure but diligent student disses the band’s shenanigans in front of it’s groupies and finds herself at the receiving end of an unexpected challenge : Get the band a paying gig within a month and she’ll be it’s official manager with a sizeable share in the band’s future profits.

How does a complete musical-heathen manage a band that’s a worrying mix of:

1) A manipulative, self-absorbed lead singer.

2) A completely gorgeous but utterly talentless piece of eye-candy.

3) An angry girl-rocker with spiky green hair and a barbed wire attitude.

4) A silent guitarist who hides from the world and possibly the other band members too, behind the curtains of his overlong hair.

5) A nerd-boy drummer who plays like a dream but doesn’t fit the hard rock image.

More importantly, how does the aforementioned musical-heathen manage a musical group when she’s DEAF?

THAT single, sole premise had me ordering the book in a flash. Tons of repetitive YA Lit with the same tired, clichéd plot lines later....this book resonated with originality.

Piper Vaughn makes an endearing main lead. She’s deaf but never down. Through a blend of sign-language and efficient lip-reading she gets by just fine. But managing a rock band seems like an improbable challenge. How does an eighteen year old (burdened with enough baggage of her own) pull together a bursting-at-the-seams band and make it work?

The book could have gone wrong in so many ways. It could have been preachy or self-deprecating. It could have started off on a promising note and then ended up in the YA Lit pit of teen angst, unrequited love and peer pressure.

Thankfully, the author stuck to his guns. Sure there’s angst. There’s love. And betrayal. And parents who don’t understand. But the author never veers from the main subject. It’s about a girl. A girl with a condition that she doesn’t consider as a disability. And said girl has to manage a band. CASE CLOSED.

Five Flavours of Dumb holds equal appeal for the ones who know their discerning genres of rock as well as for those who wouldn’t blink an eyelid if Cobain materialized before their eyes.

A minty fresh idea handled with humour, sparkling dialogue and the ability to give you food for thought.

Skunk Girl

2011-04-20T12:05:00.003+05:30

Skunk Girl is the emotional journey of a teenager called Nina.

Nina Khan

Nina lives in small-town Deer Hook, population 11,250. In her school, with it’s expected coterie of snobbish cheerleaders, handsome jocks and loving (but sometimes clueless) friends, brown-skinned Nina feels like the odd-one out.

The fact that she is a Pakistani-Muslim and comes from a conservative household means that she’s often envious of the freedom that her friends take for granted. While being a fairly intelligent student herself, she has to constantly face comparisons with her super nerd, Harvard attending sister : Sonia. Nina suffers the secret pangs of being a fairly-hairy teenager and the added shock of discovering a thick strip of soft hair running down the center of her back (ergo, the title). She isn’t allowed out on weekends and is constantly under her parents’ radar, lest she becomes ‘Americanized’ or as her aunt would scathingly put it,”umreecanized”.

So what happens when you throw in an handsome Italian boy called Asher Richelli who despite being wooed by the most popular girl (and Nina’s nemesis), appears to be interested in the go-nowhere Nina?

I liked the book. I really did. Far more than I had anticipated. Coming from a fairly conservative South-Indian family myself, I associated with Nina’s teenage frustrations. And maybe I enjoyed it more for the trips down memory-lane that it took me. I read out snarky sections to my mum and she gave me the cheeky smile cum weary resignation, as we remembered similar incidents.

Many might complain that Nina whined. A Lot. Let me just tell you that it’s NOT an exaggeration. I whined and whinged. An embarrassing LOT! Maybe now, as an adult, I understand where my parents were coming from. Evolved thought-processes have taken their time to settle in. But yep, teendom was an angry canvas of red-faced me, bawling out at the unfairness of it all.

Nina Khan’s story is believable and entertaining. It has a nice vein of self-deprecating humour running through it. The ending could either be termed as realistic or a bit surprising, consider your outlook. Either which way, it’s a story by an author who has immersed herself into her plot and used it to maximum effect.

Girl, 15, Charming But Insane

2011-04-16T22:59:00.001+05:30

You can read a multitude of truly bad books and wonder whether your ability to pick a decent read has become non-existent

You can delve deep into your cupboard and unearth an old and reliable favourite and make up for reams of bad plot/prose/characters.

Girl 15, Charming but Insane belongs to the latter category.

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways:

~ The title: It immediately grabs eyeballs. It is quirky, hints at a teen who will rant but in a way that promises to be hilarious and engaging.

~ Main character : Jess. Jess is a dark-haired, slightly (ever-so slightly) overweight Brit teen . She displays typical teen behaviour and rants and rave as one, who is young and mad at the world and it’s uncle, would. But she is also supremely talented and hopes to become a stand-up comedian someday. She’s clumsy, goofy, up for a well-executed prank and has a good heart (outlined by a thin layer of the sarcastic-devil). She hankers after the school’s boy-wonder (Ben Jones); is jealous and proud in equal parts of her beautiful best friend (Flora) and to top it all, comes from a broken family.

~ Aforementioned Broken Family: Jess’s mum is a throwback to the seventies. She is a hare-brained , fighting-for-a-cause librarian. Despite her “men-are-ruthless-manipulative-degenerate-scum-of the-earth” rants, she has a fairly decent relationship with her ex-husband (Jess’ dad). Jess’ dad is an artist living in St.Ives. Although he is wary of expressing sappy-love for his estranged daughter, he shoots a daily horrorscope sms to her. (For e.g. “You will open your wardrobe and find Marilyn Manson roosting there”). It’s an oddly healthy arrangement which seems to work for the trio.

~ Jess’ maternal grandmother: Granny is a blend of old-world fuzziness and homicide-happy bloodthirst. Pulp Fiction is one of her favourite flicks and she routinely scours the papers for grisly murders. She carries her dear departed husband’s ashes around in an urn and it wouldn’t be an odd sight to see said-urn accompanying the rest of the family members at the breakfast table.

~Love Interest: The apple of Jess’s forbidden lust is Ben Jones --- Blonde, blue-eyed and beautiful in a Beckham look-alike way. Luckily, the author has not typecast Ben as a love ‘em and chuck’ em type. He displays a refreshing sensitivity for a high school jock and is a likeable character.

~Best mate (and potential love interest): You have to love Fred Parsons. He is tall, gangly and smart-mouthed. Bearing a resemblance to the humble owl, Fred is Jess’ partner in comedic-crime. He’s witty, prone to mouthing exaggerated dialogue and is Jess’ true port in a storm.

There are several other factors that work together to make this a truly enjoyable read. The droll British humour combined with Jess’ fantastical imagination and over-the-top musings make you smile.

This is a book that makes it to my list of *must-haves* + *must-travel-with* + *must-store-with-ardent-adoration-in-silk-lined-trunk* + *must-possess-in-new-land-after-surviving-the-apocalypse*.

City of Glass (The Mortal Instruments, Book #3)

2011-03-31T09:17:00.002+05:30

Okay, first of all...I am a certified wuss. I can’t read a book that has paranormal over (and under)tones in the latter half of the day. All vamp/werewolf/faerie/demon lit. is reserved for daylight hours.

CITY OF GLASS however, was the happy exception. I was ensnared so deeply into the politics of the ShadowWorld, that I could ignore the big yellow streak that runs down my back and devoured the book well into the wee hours of the night.

I believe that when a series progresses from *ho-hum* in the first instalment to *HELL’S BELLS-I-NEVER-ANTICIPATED-THAT!!!* in the last instalment; it’s a winner. When you actually begin to care about the characters and their emotional health; when you hope and pray that there’s a happy ending; when you already start plotting fan-fiction in your head; when you think that it would be kinda cool to run into a particular character in everyday life....then.....then you know that the author has done a slap-up job of creating a parallel world that is utterly believable.

The third instalment of The Mortal Instruments series was all that and much more. The city here, refers to Alicante; the home city of The Nephilim. Jace, Clary and Simon are placed in the eye of the approaching storm and battle out their individual demons as hell LITERALLY breaks loose. There is panic, chaos, unveiling of dark secrets, the breaking of hope and it’s resurrection and some cool (and a tad graphic) action. The worlds of The ShadowHunters and The DownWorlders collide in an explosion that keeps you hooked till the very end.

Clary blossoms into a likeable get-it-sorted heroine. Her amazing rune-etching abilities reach their hilt and she plays her role with aplomb. The author remembers to maintain Clary’s inherent vulnerability. As the battle between good and evil boils over, Clary still frets over her forbidden love for Jace in a manner that never makes you snort with disgust.

Jace is the ultimate emo pinup warrior. The sarcastic, loaded-with-quips-galore hero reveals a more humane and weary side. For all those delusional fans who slaver over the pathetic Mr.Cullen; here’s a hero who is actually worth drooling over. He’s readable and not stuck in a *I-Me-Bella-Me-Bella* bubble that Edward Cullen was floating inside.

Simon remains my favourite character. I am extremely glad about the fact that he wasn’t sidelined and given an unbelievable (and extremely bile-inducing) ending a la Jacob Black.

In conclusion, CITY OF GLASS justifies all the 5-star ratings that peppered it’s GoodReads page. It was sublime, emotional, filled with grisly bits and had an ending which was extremely satisfying and yet paved the way for a sequel/prequel if the author so desires.

City of Ashes (The Mortal Instruments, Book #2)

2011-03-28T08:23:00.004+05:30

CITY OF BONES ended with arch-villain, Valentine vanishing with *The Mortal Cup* (The first of the Mortal Instruments) in his clutches. In his destructive wake, he left behind:

a) His son, Jace. Jace Wayland has to deal with whether he wants to follow in his father’s bigoted footsteps or stay behind with his supportive foster family. He also has to control his less-thn-brotherly feelings towards his supposed sister, Clary.

b) His daughter, Clary. While Clary Fray has no qualms about hating her rotten dad, she’s a tad confused over her feelings for Jace and best-friend Simon. She has brotherly feelings for someone who is NOT her brother and amorous feelings for someone who IS her brother. (It’s confusing, but true). She also has to deal with the fact that her mother Jocelyn (Valentine’s estranged wife and also a ShadowHunter) is deep in the throes of a coma.

Patriarch Valentine however, is hardly concerned about his seriously dysfunctional family. He has more pressing issues. After The Mortal Cup, he now wants to lay his hands on the second Mortal Instrument : *The sword Maellartach*. Once he has his grubby paws around it, Valentine will be able to summon the vilest of demons and use them as an essential tool in his dastardly plans.

CITY OF ASHES was a vast improvement on the first instalment. Jace Wayland, the fearless ShadowHunter, displays a vulnerability which makes you empathize which his troubled teenage mind. Clary is more certain in her role as a vigilant warrior who is slowly discovering her special abilities. Simon, the quintessential best friend and closet lover is given a new, slightly bizarre and yet readable twist. Together, the trio play a cool game of thrust and parry as they battle with their changing worlds and burgeoning emotions.

New characters (Maia, The Inquisitor) lay promising groundwork for the next instalment. Old favourites like Magnus Bane, Luke and Alec show depth and add multiple layers to their fixed roles.

In all, engrossing and page-turnable (I don’t even know if that is a word!!!). Definitely worth the decision of buying books 2 and 3 together.

City of Bones (The Mortal Instruments, Book #1)

2011-03-24T11:50:00.002+05:30

15-year-old Clary Fray is a resident of New York City. The people who matter to her are: her single artist mum, Jocelyn; her mum’s friend and father-figure, Luke Garroway and her best friend, Simon. Life is happy trip of pursuing her own art and visiting the nightspots of Manhattan with Simon.

But everything changes one night at Club Pandemonium. She witnesses a murder. A murder committed by three teenagers who have weird symbols on their bodies and who apparently cannot be seen by anyone except her. Oddly enough, the victim isn’t visible to anyone besides her either. Suddenly matters take a grave turn when her mother goes missing without a clue.

Clary’s world is suddenly no longer a simplistic routine existence. She learns that her mother’s disappearance is no ordinary kidnapping. It is intricately linked with the presence of a group of supernatural warriors called “The ShadowHunters”. The ShadowHunters hunt demons and do their best to maintain peace amongst humans. And there is a possibility that Clary Fray could very well be one such warrior.

Fighting her growing attraction to fellow ShadowHunter, Jace Wayland....searching for her missing mother.....being thrown headlong into an ongoing battle with a resurrected villain, Valentine.....dealing with the fantastical new world flowering up before her eyes....and trying to make sense of her mixed feeling about Simon; Clary has her work cut out.

Okay first up, Harry Potter still RULES! The world of Clary Fray, while intriguing is a bit crowded. The author displays her love for all things paranormal by stuffing the pages with vampires, werewolves, elves, faeries, angels, ancient demons, new evils and what-have-you. After some time...you just want to sift through the carnival of slitted-eyes and bared-fangs and unkempt-fur and concentrate on the main issues.

Secondly, Valentine is a poor villain. Besides channelling ol’Voldy’s rant of keeping things “pure-blood” he lacks the sheer presence which Voldemort created especially in his absence. All Valentine does is come across as a dysfunctional father who should be pouring out his woes to Dr.Phil as soon as possible.

The only concept I truly liked was that of The Runes. The crucial part that they play in the world of The ShadowHunters is enchanting. They were cleverly woven in to provide a fresh twist to an otherwise standard fantasy-read.

I think I’ll most probably be following this series to find out where the *Clary-Jace-Simon* triangle is heading. Lots of drama there to keep me hooked for a couple of lack-lustre summer afternoons.

In all, an okay read. Clary is a competent heroine who promises to rev things up in the forthcoming instalments. Jace, despite his sarcastic quips and Golden-Boy act has enough issues to make him a tragic main-lead. And Simon has the necessary mix of stability and simmering resentment to provide adequate angst to keep turning the pages.

AWAKENED (House of Night, #8)

2011-03-06T10:21:00.005+05:30

The House of Night series is a guilty pleasure. It is not exactly evolved literature which leaves you with a sense of wonderment. Then again, unlike The Twilight Saga (which makes me cringe and wince and want to hurl myself at the closest wooden stake), this series is strangely addictive and in certain places, even redeemable.

AWAKENED is the eighth book in the series. Zoey Redbird and her Warrior/Guardian/Conveniently super-hot boyfriend; Stark have returned from the Otherworld. Heart-almost-whole, the sappy duo have defeated the mighty Kalona yet again. They now plan to spend some quality time recuperating on the magical island of Skye, under the benevolent eye of the mystical, supremely powerful and infinitely cool Queen Sgiach. In the midst of all this relaxation, they finally do the “deed” and are as happy as a pair of proverbial lovebirds.

But the real world (or as real as a world populated by vampyres, monsters and immortal Gods can be) beckons.

Kalona’s failure to swipe out Zoey means that the poor immortal now owes an oath-sworn debt to Ms.Nefariously Noxious Neferet. She doesn’t much care for the fact that Zoey is sitting pretty on the impenetrable island of Skye. She wants her back....back in Tulsa, where she can annihiliate the young Priestess. And if killing an innocent will achieve this end, then so be it.

And then there’s good ol’Stevie Rae. The powerful Red One is stuck in a Catch-22 situation over her love for the Raven Mocker, Rephaim. She can’t tell anybody about falling for the enemy and she can’t keep it hidden much longer. Teen-angst at it’s volatile best.
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Like most followers of the House of Night series, I am really hooked on the *Stevie Rae-Rephaim* connection. Zoey may be the main character, but apart from whining and whingeing and sucking face with Stark she makes for a dodgy main-lead. I frankly don’t have much patience for her. Stevie Rae on the other hand, is facing all the trials and tribulations that a protagonist gets bludgeoned with. In the absence of Zoey for a sizeable portion of the action; she has to deal with Neferet’s manic plots, the loss of a close friend, the need to be a responsible High Priestess AND the secrecy of her relationship with Rephaim. I liked AWAKENED for giving the vampyre-monster relationship it’s due.

See also : Marked (House of Night, #1)
See also : Betrayed (House of Night, #2)
See also : Chosen (House of Night, #3)
See also : Untamed (House of Night, #4)
See also : Hunted (House of Night, #5)
See also : Tempted (House of Night, #6)
See also : Burned (House of Night, #7)

The Illustrated Mum

2011-02-28T20:13:00.002+05:30

First up, I loved the title. I was tickled pink by this fresh badge for a heavily-tattooed individual. It immediately flooded my mind with images of a lean young woman whose pale skin was totally blanketed by inked crosses, cryptic motifs and a host of Celtic symbols.

And the story itself floods you with a bucket load of emotion.
It’s a tale of Marigold; a free-spirited, auburn-haired, rocker-vibe infused, covered-with-tattoos mother. She has two young daughters Star and Dolphin, both from different fathers. Marigold sounds like a free-thinker’s dream. You expect the story to be about a fiercely independent heroine who fights against a disapproving society so that she can raise her daughters in the way that she wants them to be raised. You expect the pages to be bursting with flower-power and righteous indignation.

Sadly, life is rarely a walk down a garden path.

Marigold suffers from Manic-Depression. She refuses to believe that she has a problem and the possibility of taking treatment is a non-existent option. Star and Dolphin have become accustomed to their mother’s weird spells. But getting used to something does not necessarily mean that you are resigned to it and willing to accept it with a weary roll of your eyes. Marigold parties hard, gets herself inked at regular intervals, pulls all-nighters with random men, drinks indiscriminately and leaves behind a sorry train-wreck for her daughters.

Star, the elder daughter, used to love her mother’s uniqueness but as she grows up, she seeks the safety of conformity. She cannot excuse Marigold’s "episodes" anymore and just wants a normal life. Dolphin, on the other hand, still loves her mother to distraction. She adores her brightly coloured, covered-like-a-comic-strip parent. She cherishes the little gestures Marigold does in her brief moments of sanity. Dolphin loves Star too and though the affection is reciprocated from both corners, she knows that things will soon come to an ugly head. ‘The Illustrated Mum’ is a book that explains Dolphin’s journey of trying to be an adult in a world that is unpredictable and at times downright scary.

Jacqueline Wilson is a children’s author who has always been credited with taking up serious issues in a child’s life and handling it with a winning combination of sensitivity and humour. In ’The Illustrated Mum’, she tackles a grave issue and leaves you with a little knot in your throat. The comical quips were few, but she makes you ache for Dolphin and her earnestness. Wilson’s preteen heroines are usually full-of-beans and ready to take on the world amidst their own private hells. Dolphin is no different. She raises all your dormant maternal instincts and makes you want to crush her in a big, squishy comforting hug. My only grouse was with the abrupt ending. I didn’t particular appreciate the convenient tying up of odd ends. It felt like a cop-out.

And yet, you clamber till the end since you want a happy-ending for Dolphin.

The Beauty Of Pixar

2011-01-04T09:07:00.000+05:30

The Learning Curve

2010-12-04T12:34:00.002+05:30

The Learning Curve is late author Melissa Nathan’s final book. And being maudlin wasn’t her style. The book is vibrant, deals with a contemporary issue, has a teensy-tiny feminist touch, is choc-a-bloc with colourful characters and leaves you with a smile on your face.

Nicky Hobbs is a thirty-year old, much-loved school teacher in a primary school. Her gang of friends include fellow teachers : Rob (who she shares a romantic history with), Ally (the big-build best-friend with quips galore) and Pete (the tiny teacher with an elfish appearance). Nicky is a dedicated member of the staff and when she finds herself being made co-deputy head with Rob, she’s thrilled at the challenge. That’s when she’s not dealing with the hot and cold responses emitted by Rob.

Adding fun to the proceedings is the truly eccentric head of the school : Miss.James. She is most definitely a Quentin Blake illustration to the tee and has enough oddities and strength of character to make her a memorable cast-member.

One of Nicky’s favourite students is Oscar. Oscar is intelligent, moody and comes equipped with an absent widowed father. Mark Samuels (Oscar’s father) is the classic workaholic, earning big bucks and working all hours of the day to provide Oscar with an affluent lifestyle. Sadly, the only thing Oscar needs is his father’s presence and free time.

When the disapproving Nicky and the world-weary Mark finally meet, the proverbial sparks fly. Angry (yet hour-glassed figured) teacher V/s Bitter (yet broad-shouldered) single father...the outcome is inevitable.

And then out of the blue, Nicky gets offered the chance to apply for the position of School Head. And so does Rob. Suddenly the blow-cold Rob is sounding out waves of pure heat to Nicky.....talking marriage, babies and white picket-fences. A confused Nicky is now faced with three alternatives:
a) Whole-heartedly pursue the shining climb up the career ladder and most probably say goodbye to dreams of a family-life.
b) Give in to Rob’s oily paintings of a happily-ever-after and agree to play second-fiddle to his ambitions
c) See if there’s something more to the sizzling chemistry between her and Mark Samuels.

A whole lot of soul-searching, a bit of hearty venting and loads of misunderstandings happily scamper along Nathan’s final work. The story was predictable. I found her earlier books (The Nanny ; Persuading Annie) to be loads better. But I guess I have kind of developed an emotional bond with the author and got a bit teary-eyed when I read the Acknowledgements.

Melissa Nathan was in the poignant position of knowing that her book would most probably be published posthumously. Her consequent messages to her dear ones left me with a a sizeable knot in my throat, especially the one written to her three-year old son Sammy.

The last lines go:

“Go into the world knowing that while you were everything to your mother, you won’t have to deal with an annoying woman who can’t stop kissing you when you’re fifteen. I will be in the sky kissing you from afar”

The Waitress

2010-12-01T11:29:00.004+05:30

Katie Simmonds is an ambitious young lady. This week she wants to be an educational psychologist. The one before that, she wanted to be a teacher. And the week before that, a film director. She’s earned her degree from Oxford and believes that the world is her oyster. Sadly the oyster is yet to be shucked and she’s living out her life as a waitress in a dead-beat cafe. It may not be the best job in the world but it pays the bills and provides a stop-gap while she imagines herself in one glamorous career after the other.

Her love-life isn’t much to write home about. The latest debacle occurs when she runs out on the very endearing, very eligible Dan in the middle of a date.

Dead-End job, Dead-End love-life. Katie’s life is set.

But then things take an ugly turn when the cafe is taken over by new owners. New owners that include the aforementioned Dan. Dan Crichton. The last man she ever wants to run into is now not only running the cafe but playing hoity-toity big bossy to her snarky, sarcastic waitress.

Other interesting characters are
a) Jon: Katie’s waiting-to-be discovered author roommate. Much of his practice writing includes penning down glorified resumes to bolster Katie’s ever changing career options.
b) Sukie : Katie’s waiting-be-discovered actor best-friend. She’s gorgeous and talented and true to her art. Sadly she’s yet to get her big-break and continues to try out for a series of go-nowhere auditions. She also ekes out a living as fellow waitress with Katie
c) Matt : The teenage dishwasher at the cafe. Morose, bludgeoned by pimples and the fear that he will die a virgin makes him a real charmer.

Melissa Nathan’s books are like addictive sitcoms complete with punchy dialogue and unexpected cliffhangers. Her characters try to take the less-travelled path, trip over many pitfalls and emerge victorious.

Another winner from the Nathan stable.

Persuading Annie

2010-11-30T21:35:00.003+05:30

Once upon a time....the beautiful, auburn headed, vivacious teenager Annie Markham had an awful scare. She thought that she was pregnant. And when she shared this bit of news with her teen boyfriend, Jake...he turned an unbecoming shade of puce, yelled out a panicky speech and promptly fainted. Vivacious Annie should have seen this as a prologue for things to come. But when she discovered that she wasn’t really pregnant, she told Jake again. The gallant Jake promptly turned a slimy shade of green, yelled out another heart-ripping speech and promptly disappeared. Annie should have listened to her wise Godmother Susannah’s advice. Men weren’t to be trusted.

The End.

Once upon a more recent time, Annie Markham is a beautiful young lady. She has a heart of gold, works at a local art gallery, moonlights as a phone Samaritan and seems to be the only sensible duckling in an eccentric self-absorbed family of pretentious swans. But the bouncing curls and witty facade hide an embittered soul. Annie has never really got over Jake’s abrupt departure from her life and he continues to colour all her interactions with the opposite sex.

But Annie has more pressing problems. The once-flourishing family business is in danger of folding. Her figure-head (in every sense of the word) of a father is too busy chasing everything in a short-skirt to do anything useful. Her eldest sister, Katherine is single and too busy playing coiffed socialite to contribute anything meaningful. Her middle sister Victoria is too busy being stuck in a dead-end marriage to the lovable yet golf-crazed Charles and lives out the daily drama of playing hapless mother to two energetic tots.

Susannah, who now works for Markhams decides to bring in the best Managment-Consultant team to save the company from bankruptcy. Said Management Company is headed by the dynamic Jake Mead. Yep, the very same: turn into the colours of a rainbow ->faint -> run Jake from Annie’s past. Jake, despite being hugely successful and handsome to boot, has never really recovered from what he believes to be Annie’s duplicity. When he learns that Annie is the youngest member of the Markham family, he sees this as a perfect opportunity to seek some long-overdue revenge (or "closure", as his psychiatrist would like to stress). Annie too, is determined to be stoic/sarcastic/condescending when she encounters the big howling ghost from her past.

But the best-laid plans of management gurus and curly-topped viragoes can always hit a roadblock. Soon the two find themselves thrown into improbable situations that result in unexpected results.

The witty Melissa Nathan strikes yet again. Her writing is cheeky, loaded with quips and generously peppered with realistic insights into the minds of different personalities. The characters may seem like caricatures, but they revel in their predictabilities. Annie is an endearing heroine, Jake has the requisite charm to make you overlook his pigheadedness and the rest of the supporting cast have enough eccentricities to keep you hooked till the last page.

The Nanny (by Melissa Nathan)

2010-11-25T18:56:00.004+05:30

In recent months, I have waded through some fairly mediocre chick-lit. I have left books halfway, groaned at the plot-predictability and mentally castigated the dull-as-ditchwater heroines and their pompous heroes.

So now when I come across an author who took a much-mauled genre and perfectly bound all the essential elements together; I want to genuflect before the Lord and send up a fervent "Thank You!"

The Nanny is another brilliant offering by the late Melissa Nathan. It's a tale of 23 year-old Jo Green. She’s a young lady who’s increasingly feeling the pangs of a life that’s going nowhere. She’s stuck tight in bucolic Niblet-Upon-Avon, lived with her parents, has a boyfriend (Shaun) who she’s known since kindergarten and is trying to eke out a living as an underpaid Nanny.

Taking a leap of faith (and desperation), she decides to take up the job of live-in Nanny in London with an affluent family. The perks are humungous. She will have her own suite with a massive TV, her own car, new friends and the golden opportunity to pull herself out of stagnation.

But every silver cloud has a demented lining.

Her new boss Vanessa Fitzgerald is a hard-wired, smart-talking corporate biggie. Evenings at home take the form of nasty digs and articulate squabbles with her easy-going husband Dick who runs a record store. They are the proud and terribly exhausted parents of bloodthirsty Zak, warrior-pixie Cassandra and the well-mannered little Tallulah. Adding to the family dynamics are Dick’s two sons from his previous marriage : obnoxious (since he has a chip on shoulder) teen Toby and charming but prone-to-bouts of obnoxiousness (since he has enough chips to form a mini-skyscraper on his shoulders) 25-year old Josh.

Just when Jo is getting the hang of things, she suddenly has to deal with the fact that Josh will be her new roommate. Simmering attraction, blow-hot blow-cold responses from Josh and the ever-intrusive presence of boyfriend Shaun do not make for peaceful living. And then there are the constant parallel dramas of the Fitzgerald clan. Everyone seems to be harbouring some deep dark secret....everyone’s ticked off but not always in unison....and everyone needs their lives to be set right.

Jo Green has a lot of growing-up and decision-making to do. All this while finding true-love and keeping her hair attached to their follicles.

The book justifies it’s massive size. Nathan’s style is chatty and witty and loaded with punch and righteous indignation. The characters are not clichéd and even their most confounding personality disorders are beautifully unravelled. I strongly recommend this book to all disillusioned chick-lit lovers who are sniffing out for something fresh, humorous and utterly engaging.

Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows - Part 1

2010-11-24T12:11:00.005+05:30

Writing a Potter movie-review without *spoilers* is next to impossible. True blue fans know exactly what happened to:
a) The Boy who lived
b) The Girl who sniffed disdainfully into her books
and
c) The Other Boy who played second-fiddle to The Boy who lived and didn’t like it one little bit!

If you expect me to dart around the places where the plot thickens and boils over, stop reading. Now. For the rest, here goes...

The penultimate instalment begins with a poignant scene where Hermione obliviates the memories of her parents, thereby burning her human bridges. The movie ends with Voldemort desecrating Dumbledore’s tomb and flicking the Elder Wand. And between these two moments, the plot unravels in an engaging collage of rip-roaring action, stagnant scenarios and eye-moistening moments.

The Half-Blood Prince ended with the brutal demise of Dumbledore and left Harry in the unfortunate position of leader-without-a-mentor. Potter and his magical entourage have their work cut out. They now know that the only decent chance that they have of stopping Voldemort (dark-wizard extraordinaire and all-time big baddie) is to find the Horcruxes. Looking for the much-maligned needle in a haystack would have been easier. No one knows where or what all the Horcruxes are. The trio of Harry, Ron and Hermione (with special mention for Hermione’s trusty little purse of unimaginable depths) are soon off on a long, confusing journey.

They make suicidal trips into The Ministry of Magic.....uncomfortable trips down memory-lane....and ghastly trips down the road of friendship. The individual loyalties and collective skills of the three Griffindorians is put to the test. In the course of their wanderings, they also learn about The Deathly Hallows (An invincible Elder Wand, A Resurrection Stone and An Invisibility Cloak); the possession of which makes the owner: A Master of Death.

The battle between Good and Evil dances along the horizon and before you know it, you are sucked into the fantastical world created by the marvellous Madame Rowling.

The movie stayed loyal to the book, with minor discrepancies. Where the book stumbled, the movie plodded along too. Where you gripped the book in terse anticipation, you clutched the unsuspecting arm of your poor friend too.

Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliffe) was cheerily wan. His endearing combination of simmering anger and clumsy boyishness worked perfectly. Hermione (Emma Watson) was her usual gorgeous and articulate self. Ron (Rupert Grint), the weedy Weasley boy has become a buff, blustering, purple-in-the-face, jealous (almost)boyfriend and plays his role to the hilt. We get tantalising glimpses of a close-mouthed Snape (Alan Rickman) and a happily deranged Bellatrix Lestrange (Helena Bonham Carter). Ol’Voldy (Ralph Fiennes) hammed it up a bit in this addition. Somehow he never quite recaptured the insane vein that he aptly displayed in The Goblet of Fire. The rest of the cast makes you smile with their familiar portrayals. Luna Lovegood (Evanna Lynch), The Weasley Twins (James and Oliver Phelps), Mad-Eye Moody (Brendan Gleeson) and Dobby (voice of Toby Jones) stand out in particular.

One singular scene that deserves special mention was when Hermione reads out the tale of ‘The Three Brothers’ from the book: The Tales of Beedle The Bard. The animation that ensues is spell-binding. It swirls and accompanied by the narration pulls you right in.

The sets are grandiose, right from the home-grown charm of Fleur and Bill’s wedding to the sheer vastness of the Ministry to the various breathtaking pitstops that the trio make at regular intervals.

As for the argument over whether two instalments of the movie are justified....maybe not. I would have gladly pinned my tushie to the seat for a straight four hours and rooted for Potter till the very end. But on the other hand, I am also pretty chuffed to have an ultimate instalment to look forward to.

More Mayhem. More Action......and more importantly......More Magic.

July2011...Get.Here.Already!

Acting Up ( by Melissa Nathan)

2010-11-16T20:31:00.005+05:30

I have just discovered the magic of late author Melissa Nathan. After a rea-ealllly long time, it’s nice to finally sink my teeth into a chick-lit read that incorporates all the key elements, is loaded with peppy dialogue and is refreshing within a mould that rarely gets broken.

What first attracted me to this book was the funky almost art-deco cover-art. Secondly, I read the first line of the blurb which went

“It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a large ego must be in want of a woman to cut him down to size”

and was instantly enchanted. Jane Austen (and especially Pride and Prejudice) adaptations have always been my weakness. While many a time, the Darcy-Elizabeth equation has been mauled and marauded,‘Acting Up’ got it just right.

Jasmin Field (a.k.a. Jazz) is an outspoken journalist who lands the role of Elizabeth Bennet in a fund-raising adaptation of Austen’s most popular work. Directing the venture is Hollywood’s golden-child, Harry Noble. He’s handsome, popular, acerbic and opinionated. In fact, he’s Mr.Darcy come to life! The leading lady and the arrogant director rub each other up the wrong (and sometimes right) way. The proverbial sparks fly and the story flows without a hiccup. Supporting characters bring their own woes and parallel storylines to make the book a page-turner.

You would think that the story would be predictable since we all know how Austen’s classic ended. What makes this retelling worthwhile is that Melissa Nathan’s characters are addictive. They are bright, can mouth crackling dialogue, are proud but equally humble in facing their shortcomings.

Chick-lit at it’s superlative best.

BURNED (House of Night, #7)

2010-11-16T19:48:00.008+05:30

In TEMPTED, Kalona killed Heath. Zoey Redbird witnessed the murder and though she sent out her element ‘Spirit’ to protect Heath, she was unfortunately too late. The shock shattered Zoey’s soul, dissolved all her intricate vampyre tattoos (save the outline of a crescent moon) and left behind the shell of her comatose body.

Her soul and it’s fragmented pieces now whirl incoherently in the Otherworld where Zoey also encounters the soul of Heath. If Zoey’s soul is not returned to her body in seven days, she will die and her fractured soul will roam forever in unrest.

Stark, Zoey’s oath-sworn warrior witnessed Zoey’s mortal fall and despite his mind-numbing grief knows that he will do anything to get Zoey back, even it means dying himself and heading off to the Otherworld to yank Zoey back to the land of The Living.

An intent which is bolstered by Aphrodite’s startling visions and Kramisha (the newest Vampyre Poet Laureate)’s cryptic poems. Everything points to the fact that Stark will have to die, become a Shaman and then enter Nyx’s realm to convince Zoey to return.

Warrior Stark’s work is cut out. Besides the obviously gruesome fact that he has to drop dead, he also has to deal with several road-blocks:
a) No warrior in times past has ever returned from the otherworld; either alone or having rescued his high-priestess.
b) Kalona, weakened by Zoey’s last-ditch attempt to save Heath is in a debilitated state which is fully exploited by Neferet. Wielding the powers of darkness, she orders Kalona’s weakened spirit to head off to the Otherworld and make sure that Zoey never, ever returns.
And the third and most pressing problem
c) Zoey is grieving the loss of Heath. She feels responsible for his death and bogged down by her vanishing spirit, she may never want to return back to her body and the living world.

Stark’s seemingly impossible quest and the painful journey that he undertakes is what BURNED is predominantly all about.
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I enjoyed seeing my favourite character go through the drill of self-evolvement and maturity. The Scottish legends woven in, added the essential touch of mystery and olde worlde lore. Add to that the ancient symbolisms of the Black and White Bulls (depicting Light and Darkness respectively) and you have a tale that binds urban fantasy with mythical elements.

An intriguing parallel story was Stevie-Rae’s relationship with Raven Mocker Rephaim. Full credit to the Cast duo for building up a tale that makes you root for the unlikely pairing of a red vampyre and a supposed monster.

I don’t care what the critics say, I loved BURNED. I adored Stark and his true-blue heroic quest. Heath, the only human in the whole proceedings rises to the occasion even in The Otherworld and has you applauding him for his selflessness and All-American bravado. Zoey, despite being the satellite around which all else orbited, was effectively relegated to the background and that worked perfectly well.

A lovely tale and all I can say is that it is going to be a lo-ong and impatient wait till AWAKENED comes out.

TEMPTED (House of Night, #6)

2010-11-13T10:49:00.009+05:30

I like it when a series progresses from wince-inducing to wholly-engrossing with each successive instalment. It’s a much better scenario than getting hooked on to the first book and then watching the downward spiral with a feeling of dismay. The House of Night series, I am happy to report, just got better with TEMPTED.

HUNTED ended with Zoey Redbird banishing the avenging immortal: Kalona and his vile consort (and former High Priestess of the Goddess Nyx): Neferet. But the respite is temporary. The nasty duo has only faced a minor setback and will definitely return with a vengeance.

As the nerd-herd and the red fledglings take shelter at the Benedictine Abbey, Zoey has to deal with a whole new set of developments.

Stark (Zoey’s oath-sworn warrior) has been badly wounded. Stevie-Rae seems to be lying through her teeth and harbouring dangerous secrets. Heath and Erik continue their oneupmanship battle for Zoey’s affections. Aphrodite's visions spell doom, despair and the end of the civil world unless Zoey takes action.

Kalona and Neferet step up their world-domination plans by scooting off to the island of Capri where the Vampyre High Council holds court. So it’s time for Zoey and her pack to make a trip to the sunny climes and face the dubious charms of Kalona, who still has the ability to make Zoey’s soul hesitate and wonder whether he really is the big, bad winged monster that everybody claims he is.

Life as Zoey has come to accept it, is about to change drastically...again!

The book was good, with minimal annoying teen-references. The plot thickened, the characters fleshed out and Rephaim, the injured Raven-Mocker (and favoured son of Kalona) made a wary appearance on the palette of dubious but memorable characters. Coupled with a fine cliff-hanger of an ending, the story was engaging and readable. It shows that the Cast duo has soaked in the misgivings of their fans, critics and naysayers; shaped up their writing act and delivered a worthy instalment.

See also : Marked (House of Night, #1)
See also : Betrayed (House of Night, #2)
See also : Chosen (House of Night, #3)
See also : Untamed (House of Night, #4)
See also : Hunted (House of Night, #5)
See also : Burned (House of Night, #7)
See also : Awakened (House of Night, #8)

HUNTED (House of Night, #5)

2010-10-10T20:28:00.010+05:30

UNTAMED ended with Stevie Rae getting struck by the unwavering arrow of James Stark, the newest red-fledgling and possible minion of Neferet (High Priestess gone bad with a vengeance). As Stevie-Rae's blood soaked into the earth, Kalona, the suppressed evil/ fallen God was released from his centuries long imprisonment and Neferet’s evil plans finally came to a head.

Zoey Redbird, unable to deal with this fresh and bone-chilling terror, fled 'The House of Night' with her nerd-herd and decided to seek refuge in the underground tunnels which are inhabited by Stevie Rae and her army of red fledglings.

In HUNTED, Zoey needs to find a way to vanquish Kalona, who happens to have the psychic ability to enter her dreams and play hockey-with-her-hormones. When an almost fatal wound forces Zoey to return to 'The House of Night', she is frazzled to see that the entire school (save a discerning few) is under the spell of Kalona and his physical perfection (read: really hot God-like awesomeness complete with massive black wings). She also encounters Stark who appears to be struggling between good and evil. While he isn’t being the stereotypical vamp who sucks blood from a bunch of dizzy females, he still feels the core connection to Zoey.

So, along with the reappearances of ex-boyfriend : Erik and imprinted human : Heath, Zoey is dealing with her reluctant attraction to bad/good boy, Stark.

Teenage angst coupled with the need to vanquish ancient evil, Zoey has her work cut out.

The instalment is readable with some cool kick-a** action and a few poignant moments. The series appears to pick up with each instalment and the emotional growth of Zoey is interesting to watch.

See also : Marked (House of Night, #1)
See also : Betrayed (House of Night, #2)
See also : Chosen (House of Night, #3)
See also : Untamed (House of Night, #4)
See also : Tempted (House of Night, #6)
See also : Burned (House of Night, #7)
See also : Awakened (House of Night, #8)

Navratri - Day #1

2010-10-08T16:56:00.006+05:30

Navratri begins...and as I read the related literature, I'm filled with a sense of rightness. There's something pretty awesome about our Goddesses...they are warrior women, demure consorts and the erudite guides to all things artistic, creative and knowledgable.
I scoured Google for some different artwork on the Goddesses and I came across this supremely cool piece of art done on DeviantArt.com by the artist *Araniel*. Stated below, are her descriptions of each goddess.

~ First is *KALI*, who came of Durga (Mahadevi) when she was in a rage. Kali is the Goddess of time and a fierce warrior who vanquished the demon Raktabija to protect her devotees who regard her as a Mother Goddess.

~Secondly is *MAHADEVI*, the Mother Goddess who became the wife of Shiva, Parvati and finally as the ultimate Warrior Goddess, Durga and Kali.

~ Thirdly, there is *SARASWATI* who is the Goddess of Knowledge and the Arts and it is said to be believed that Artists, writers, musicians and students are part of her family and protected by her.

Each aspect of the divine Goddess appealed to me : Warrior....Writer...Consort.

HAPPY NAVRATRI, beautiful people. :)

UNTAMED (House of Night, #4)

2010-10-07T17:42:00.008+05:30

UNTAMED is a vast improvement on the previous three instalments. Finally there’s some “save-the-world-from-dire-distress” happening.

There’s a new powerful fledgling in The House of Night: James Stark who Zoey Redbird immediately forms a connection with. He reveals the affinity given to him by The Goddess Nyx and the two seem to share an instinctive understanding about the respective crosses that they must bear. Sadly, like all the other crappy things going on in her life, Stark dies before going through the "CHANGE".

With the brutal murders of two important vampyre teachers, The House of Night has upped it’s security. The vigilant warriors called The Sons of Erebus are stationed all over the school and Shekinah, the High Priestess of all vampyres has made an entry into the school.

But dark evil is slowly raising it’s head. Suddenly, Zoey begins to fear the friendly night as things get murkier. Neferet is playing a dangerous game and has decided to raise an ancient demon that will make all the problems that Zoey has faced up till now look like playground politics.

This was a good instalment...much, much better than the Gossip-Girl prattle of the preceding books. One of my favourite characters, Grandma Redbird is finally playing a chunkier and more involved role. The introduction of unbiased nun, Sister Mary Angela promises to be a surprising but convincing choice. Zoey displays a growing maturity and this worked for me because frankly all the “boyfriend-drama” was getting a tad contrived.

The writing was good enough to ignore the tedious repetitions. Truly, an episode that would have made Buffy and her Scooby Gang proud.

See also : Marked (House of Night, #1)
See also : Betrayed (House of Night, #2)
See also : Chosen (House of Night, #3)
See also : Hunted (House of Night, #5)
See also : Tempted (House of Night, #6)
See also : Burned (House of Night, #7)
See also : Awakened (House of Night, #8)

CHOSEN (House of Night, #3)

2010-10-02T19:37:00.012+05:30

CHOSEN was a long-drawn out account of Zoey Redbird dealing with (in her own words) ho-ish existence.

All we read about is Zoey’s hormones getting pulled every which way with:
a) Human imprinted partner, Heath (who she intends breaking up with but instead has a hot ‘n’ heavy make-out session with)
b) Erik, her handsome fledgling boyfriend (who she wants to come clean with about her roaming eye but instead ends up having hot ‘n’ heavy make-out sessions with)
c) Loren Blake, temporary teacher (who she wants to break up with but as he apparently makes her "feel like a woman", she inevitably ends up...yep...you got it...having hot 'n' heavy make-out sessions with)

So in the midst of all this mind-numbing drama, Zoey is also trying to find a way to restore some semblance of normality into the life of her friend Stevie Rae, who died and changed into a snarling, undead creature. Along the way she has to keep secrets from her nerd-herd and rely on the reluctant assistance of foe-turned-friend, Aphrodite.

A Series-filler with minimal truly gripping moments.

BETRAYED (House of Night, #2)

2010-09-30T17:12:00.011+05:30

In Book 2 of the 'House of Night' series, Zoey Redbird, the fledgling vampyre is coming to terms with her ascending powers. Along with her friends Stevie Rae, Damien, Shaunee and Erin; she hopes to bring about better changes as the new leader of The Daughters of the Dark.

She is also juggling her romantic alliances with Erik (fellow fledgling), Heath (her wholly human, not really ex-boyfriend who she has accidentally imprinted with) and Loren Black (a young Vampyre Poet Laureate and teacher who plays out a haiku-inspired flirtation with Zoey).

Matters get murkier when Stevie-Rae dies as she is unable to undergo the "CHANGE". But is Stevie-Rae really dead or has she morphed into one of the gaunt, undead creatures that Zoey had previously witnessed?

New enemies come to the fore and old foes come forward to assist Zoey.

These and many issues pepper the pages of BETRAYED. Reading the series is akin to watching a long-running afternoon soap. The plot is predictable and filled with tiresome repetitions. You know where the characters are heading but you still plonk down to get your daily dosage.

See also : Marked (House of Night, #1)
See also : Chosen (House of Night, #3)
See also : Untamed (House of Night, #4)
See also : Hunted (House of Night, #5)
See also : Tempted (House of Night, #6)
See also : Burned (House of Night, #7
See also : Awakened (House of Night, #8)

MARKED (House of Night, #1)

2010-09-26T10:47:00.019+05:30

INGREDIENTS
~ One troubled (but attractive and quick-witted) teen heroine.

~ A new school/college/university/ random place of learning which plays backdrop to the “fitting-in” saga of aforementioned teen heroine.

~ One super-beautiful, super-snotty, super- all-things-HAGalistic teen queen and her equally stuck-up clique.

~ A handful of likeable waiting-to-bloom sidekicks.

~ An extremely handsome boy-wonder who craves new teen heroine but has also done the nasty with previously mentioned HAG-Queen.

RECIPE
Blend all the ingredients together and you have your run-of-the-mill Ya-Lit.

RECIPE WITH A PARANORMAL TWIST
Throw in the exotic element of Vampires and what you have is Ya-Lit with bloodlust, some cool undead action and the umpteenth attempt to correct the damage done by Edward Cullen and the rest of his sparkling-brigade.

MARKED is one such tale. Zoey Redbird is a 16-year old who gets ‘marked’ by a tracker. Being marked doesn’t mean that someone goes nuts on you with a Sharpie-Pen. It means that Zoey has become a fledgling who will soon CHANGE into a full-blown vampyre. In order to deal with the changes (read: not die), Zoey must leave behind her old school and enrol herself into the "House of Night" (a sort of finishing school for vampyres). What follows are the above-spouted clichés in varying but predictable degrees.

The book could have been loads better without the authors’ gratuitous sermonising and the clear demarcation between what is morally right and what is sluttishly wrong. Popular references were OTT and jarred the smooth flow of the text. Zoey could have been the perfect heroine without the unnecessary attempt to etch her character as the most mentally well-balanced teen possible. The supporting cast of characters are fun in varying degrees.

It’s always interesting to see an author’s representation of the Vampire world. The Cast mother-daughter duo does a good job on it. I especially like the whole concept of a fledgling resisting the “CHANGE”. It adds a degree of vulnerability to the self-assuredness of the immortals and makes for interesting reading. These points and a few other minute details laid down some good groundwork for future plotlines.

Not astounding vamp-lit, but a tad better than the Twilight series. Engaging enough to make me pick up the next two books.

Silver Borne (The Mercedes Thompson Series, # 5)

2010-09-22T09:53:00.005+05:30

Silver Borne is the fifth instalment of The Mercy Thompson series. Sadly, I haven’t read the previous four and so here’s a quick summary.

Mercedes Thompson(Mercy) is a mechanic and more importantly, a Native-American shapeshifter who can morph into a coyote. She can see the spirits of the dead and is resistant to most kinds of magic. She is the mate of her neighbour Adam Hauptman. Adam is the alpha of the Tri-Cities werewolves. Another key character is Samuel Cornick, a dominant yet kind werewolf who has had an on-again, off-again relationship with Mercy. He has now become one of her closest friends (and roommate).

Silver Borne begins when Mercy receives a call regarding the whereabouts of a book-store owner; Phin who had given her a book on the fae. Besides the investigation, Mercy is also working on her tenuous relationship with Adam and providing support to a dejected Samuel who has just made a failed suicide attempt.

In order to curb Samuel, his own “wolf”: Sam takes over. A werewolf has less control when it is in it’s wolf form and the shifting could prove to be a dangerous thing for the people surrounding Sam. Meanwhile, someone in Adam’s Pack who has never been too chuffed about Mercy’s intrusion, uses the pack-bond to enter her mind and cause rifts in the Adam-Mercy relationship.

Adding spice to the proceedings is a Fairy Queen who wants to lay her hands on the book that Mercy possesses. When the queen kidnaps Gabriel, (Mercy’s fully human friend and employee), Mercy is forced to step into the dangerous world of the fae.

Mercy Thompson is a wonderfully empowered female lead. She reminds you of the b**-kicking, smart-talking Buffy Summers. After sinking in the swamp of pathetic fantasy-leads like Bella Swan, Mercy is a breath of fresh air. She ups the cool-factor with her job (a VW mechanic), is fighting-fit and is ultimately a charming blend of common-sense and rash implemention.

Patricia Briggs weaves in the legends of the fae, werewolves, shape-shifters and an assortment of other supernatural creatures without ever losing a grip on reality. The back-stories are enticing and the plot is well-woven.

The series is a must-read for all fantasy fans who don’t want a sappy, dripping, *I-need-Mr.Sparkle* heroine at the helm.

Girl Meets Cake

2010-09-22T09:17:00.004+05:30

Ya-Lit authors are getting sparkier and cheekier.

Girl Meets Cake is a classic example of an author who got it just right. Be it an endearing heroine, a crazy ensemble cast or a free-flowing plot-line...the book has it all.

Heidi Ryder is a plaited teen geek/fangirl. Constantly shuffled around by her parents, she has finally found her stomping ground at the posh Goldfinch Private School. Sadly, she’s not exactly at the top of the food-chain since her mother is school PE instructor and her dad is the caretaker/ handyman.

Not that any of this deters Heidi. She has spent a happy summer in fandom, watching reruns of the time-traveling detective show *Mycroft Christie Investigates* and having a crush on the lead actor, a debonair twenty-third century Posh Brit: Mycroft. She makes a bit of moolah working for the quirky tea-shop called “The Little Leaf” and is firm friends with it’s motherly owner Betsy and her lazily charming son, Teddy. On the friend front, she has her aptly named “Leftover Squad”. There's Fili:the obligatory Goth, Dai:the big hulking gay friend and Ludo:the frothy, cheery, get-on-your-nerves pretty girl.

As the new year begins, Heidi looks forward to spending a lot of time doing a lot of nothing with her mates. But when she suddenly finds Fili, Dai and Ludo all paired up and hand-clutchy with their newly acquired boyfriends, Heidi feels like the proverbial gooseberry. A series of confusing cross-connections (and a niggling sense of self-pity) lead Heidi to create a boyfriend. He’s angsty-hot, wears a leather jacket, drives a motorbike and spouts poetry at the drop of an emotion. Sadly, he’s also non-existent. Heidi’s plot thickens when she fleshes out Ed Hartley's (Mr. Figment of Heidi’s imagination) personality by creating a Social Networking profile for him and thereby opening up a whole new can of worms. Suddenly her friends are connecting with Ed, pouring their hearts out and generally have a happy gossip with him on matters undisclosed to Heidi itself.

Things bubble and boil as new dramas come to the fore. Secrets are being kept, love is being betrayed and actual 3Dimensional mysterious boys are suddenly showing an interest in Heidi.

A classic comedy of errors, Girl Meets Cake hits all the right spots. Heidi is a delightful heroine with her mutterings and imaginary conversations with Mycroft and her ability to weave a boyfriend out of thin air. The book is chatty and littered with e-mails and IMs and sufficient teenese to stay true to it’s genre. Somewhere in the long ramble is a lesson, but you appreciate it without doing an eye-roll.

Many of the reviewers had a grouse about Susie Day’s writing style as it bounces back-and-forth and leaves you a tad winded. This might be so, but I would like to think that it perfectly captures a teen’s mindset. They are legendary ( as was I!) for their low-boredom threshold and this was adequately captured by the author's oscillation between here-now-in-HappyLand ----and----burning-next-in-AngstHell.

Fun read...passing references to Cake ( which is always good!)...and a story that makes you want to finish it in one long, uninterrupted lap!

p.s. The book also goes by the title "My Invisible Boyfriend"

Allie Finkle's Rules For Girls - Moving Day

2010-09-19T10:38:00.003+05:30

Meg Cabot is the undisputed Queen of Ya-Lit. She has churned out feisty teens who have *attitude-to-burn* and steady-heads on their troubled shoulders. Her plot-lines entwine urban culture with witty comebacks and situations which actually make you snort with glee.

I have found that her books make fantastic gifts for preteens, teens and the odd discerning adult female friend. The Allie Finkle series has been out for quite some time now, but I never picked it up because somewhere I clung to the vain belief that pre-teen literature was a tad "childish" for a 30 year old to wade into.

And then, I met my best friend's five-year old daughter. She was articulate, had a keen sense of fashion and a manner of deduction that would put an adult to shame. I had been reading fleeting reviews on Allie Finkle and the líl charmer was a living replica of the sassy protagonist.

I picked up the first book and found it to be quite endearing. The tale of 9-year old Allie Finkle as she goes through the pangs of moving to a new (and possibly haunted) home, starting in a new school and making new friends is something that most on-the-move tweens could associate with.

Cabot's writing is spot-on, never condescending and always peppered with wry humour and unfortunately funny incidents. If any of you guys are wondering as to what to pick up for your surprisingly mature preteen, I would happily recommend this series with nary a doubt.

Nina Jones and The Temple of Gloom

2010-09-15T11:37:00.005+05:30

First of all…Brilliant Title. I love stuff that does a smack-dab job of wordplay. You got to get itchy fingers to pick up a chick-lit titled “Nina Jones and the Temple of Gloom”. Ol’Indy would be right proud.

Nina Jones is a tall, blonde PA to one of the hottest chefs in London: Edmund Jett. Efficient, hardworking and devoted to a lifestyle of making Edmund’s fast-paced life easier, Nina is content. And she’s also in love with her handsome, charismatic boss. But said handsome, charismatic is boss is married…no, make that….HAPPILY MARRIED. And we have…

~ Roadblock #1~
Leading a life of unrequited love is fast growing old for Nina. So, when a handsome (and slightly cheesy) Spaniard chef called Juan starts dishing out a lot of attention, Nina decides to allow herself to be swept away on a wave of cloying romanticism. In an uncharacteristic move; she sells her flat, gathers up her savings, gives up her high-flying job (and a suddenly interested Edmund) and moves to Spain with Juan. She decides to plunge herself into the Spanish way of life while helping Juan renovate a derelict restaurant called El Flor Anaranjado. But true-blue Lothario, Juan does a runner with Nina’s cash, leaving her literally and emotionally bankrupt.

~Roadblock #2~
Ashamed to return as a failure to her old life, Nina decides to take up in residence in her deceased uncle; Arval’s flat. The flat is located in a dark mausoleum which she scornfully refers to as “The Temple of Gloom”. As she battles with her depression, Nina has to deal with sinister gargoyles, inquisitive (and yet kindly neighbours) and a possible (and extremely hot- looking) vampire called Viktor. Is she destined to end up as Hors d’oeuvres for the grim-looking vampire or does she pull through and find her*HAPPILY-EVER AFTER*?

The book was loads of fun. Nina is a typical chick-lit heroine with her obsession for material things like the clichéd Jimmy Choos. She’s also burdened by a family history that is bound to leave her cautious and dissatisfied. However she displays sparks of cheekiness and resilience that makes her wholly likeable.

Viktor the (possible)vampire is…in one word…*scrumptious*. He’s the kind of male-lead that makes you happy that knights-in-shining-armours (or dark capes as the case may be) do exist.

The host of supporting characters are endearing, with Evangeline (Nina’s next door neighbour) deserving special mention. She’s batty, wears crazy wigs, has a latent mother-hen instinct and makes you hope that if you ever end up in a mess (God Forbid!!!) like Nina….you do get the delightful Evangeline as your bolster.

I would highly recommend this book to all chick-lit fans. It’s fun, with tinges of darkness and generous splashings of witty dialogue.