Review - ENTWINED

Entwined - Heather Dixon
Genre: YA Fantasy/Fairytale Retelling
Publisher: Greenwillow
Recommended for: MS & Beyond

Azalea is trapped. Just when she should feel that everything is before her . . . beautiful gowns, dashing suitors, balls filled with dancing . . . it's taken away. All of it.

The Keeper understands. He's trapped, too, held for centuries within the walls of the palace. And so he extends an invitation.

Every night, Azalea and her eleven sisters may step through the enchanted passage in their room to dance in his silver forest.

But there is a cost.

The Keeper likes to keep things.

Azalea may not realize how tangled she is in his web until it is too late.

Entwined is an adaptation of the "Twelve Dancing Princess" fairytale, and as such it really reminded me of both Wildwood Dancing, and especially Princess of the Midnight Ball, two other books that are adapted from the same story. In fact, if you've read Jessica Day George's Princess of the Midnight Ball, you will almost certainly enjoy this novel as well. They're both incredibly similar in format and in the execution of the story.
For me at least, it's essential for a book to have a likable main character in order for there to be a good reading experience. I think that Azalea was a fleshed-out, well-written character. She's certainly easy to like - incredibly responsible, for one thing. Like in the original tale, there are 12 sisters in all, and I have to commend Heather Dixon for creating so many distinct personalities. This was one aspect that I thought Entwined handled better than POTMB.

First and foremost, though, this novel is about family. I actually got way more of a Sound of Music vibe than anything else. The way the girls relate to their cold, distant father is like a spot-on rendition of the von Trapps. In all honesty, I wasn't expecting the novel to focus so heavily on Azalea's family dynamics. There's nothing wrong with it, except that I was expecting more of a paranormal read, just because of the nature of the original tale.
I will say that the "supernatural elements" (for lack of a better phrase) were a bit lackluster. Contrary to what Aprilynne Pike blurbed, this book hardly has any magical elements at all, and I do feel just the tiniest bit misled about this story's premise because of it. The above synopsis, in my opinion, sounds way more sinister than the book actually is.
Also, this book is just so long, clocking in at over 400 pages, and I'd say that less than 100 pages dealt with any magic, mayhem, or mischief. Compare this with Wildwood Dancing, where the supernatural elements were rather pronounced.

In terms of the romance...it was practically nonexistent. For some of you, that's going to sound pretty promising. For others, not so much. Hey, I actually prefer it when romance isn't the main factor in a novel, BUT I do want something! There is a love interest, but even I (with my tendency to love 'nice guy' characters) will admit that he was pretty lukewarm.
The other movie that Entwined eventually reminded me of was Labyrinth, mainly due to the interactions between Azalea and the Keeper. 'Kay, here's where I ended up being really surprised by the direction the story took. I guess the synopsis had me anticipating the Keeper to be some dark, tortured soul who's ultimately the victim of circumstances...but no, he's just a downright creepy dude. His revelation was also lackluster, in addition to disappointing. When I realized the full extent of his characterization, I was bummed, to say the least. Is that a spoiler? Well, I don't particularly think so. I'm not giving away any specifics or anything.

Entwined is a decent, clean read that I think is certainly worth your time, if you like fairytale adaptations, period settings, or if you're looking for a light summer read. I do want to say that the author's extensive details about various world dances is what made the book for me. I had youtube popped up the whole time I was reading, and any time she'd mention a dance, I'd type it in to see what it looked like. I was definitely fascinated by that.

Final Grade

interested in Book Tours?

I've been seeing a lot of blogs putting up tours for ARCs they have without having to start a totally different site. This seems like a really cool idea, because instead of 1 person reviewing 1 book, it enables, say, 10+ people to review the same book.

I'm getting ready to start a new job in the fall and I may not be able to review every book in a timely manner, so I wanted to give these books the chance to get read and publicized by other lit lovers out there!

But first I need to know if this will be a worth-it venture. Would you guys be interested in participating in a tour from this site? I know that there are other sites out there with way more books to choose from... Why go with this tour? Because it'll almost certainly be smaller, and you won't have to wait as long to read the book you want! :D

Here are some of the ones I have

If you guys are interested, I can write an "information" post later!
:D

bookish notes from an ACTUAL teen reader

The other day I had a conversation (through email, mind you, but no less authentic) with a teen reader (16, to be exact) and since she and I have very similar tastes, I often consult with her about books, trends, hits and misses, and so forth.
But she said something that really surprised me.
She'd just finished a book (Unearthly, in the spirit of full-disclosure), and the book she'd read just before that was Sapphique (the sequel to Incarceron). And what she said was probably just hyperbole, but no less intriguing.
She told me, "I am so done with girl-lead books."
I asked her to clarify, and she said, "From now on, if the girl is the main character, I'm not going to read it. I'm only going to read books where the guy is the narrator or main character."
It was all I could do not to point out that Incarceron & Sapphique's "main character" was a dude, but...
While I'm not going to copy and paste what she said, her reasoning in pretty interesting. She felt like YA girl protagonists hit two ends of the spectrum: uber-bitchy and self-centered (read: Claudia from Sapphique, Katniss, Katsa, etc.) or guy-crazy brainless wonders (read: Unearthly). And while I liked Unearthly slightly more than she did, I see where she's coming from.
It does seem like many girl characters are very...heavy. Heavy on the personality. And for one teenager, that heaviness is kinda hard to stomach. She said that it didn't really echo the complexity of being a young-adult female. She also raised a good point concerning romance.
It's like characters want to have it both ways, was her point. They want a guy they can hang on and kiss and stuff, but don't want them getting too close, because at the end of the day, it's all about the girl and what she wants (forecast reads: Hunger Games rant).

My favorite comment of hers? This is a quote: "It's like modern authors are afraid to let their characters really fall in love, because they think that having a girl care about a guy, and putting his feelings before hers, makes her some trapped 50s housewife. And a guy protecting a girl is some sort of crime, when really, I think it's sweet! It shows that he cares. That's selfless."

I told her that she may not be reading that many books in the future, as most YA authors seem to be women, and their main characters seem to be girls. But I just thought that was an interesting thing for a 16-year-old girl to say. Just an hour ago she emailed me with a "petition" in which her entire reading group vowed to take a 6-month hiatus from girl-narrated books... her book group has 87 young people, ranging from 14-23.
While part of me thinks that this decision is a little on the drastic side, the other part thinks that it's really cool that she and her friends decided to do something about their dissatisfaction. They're not abandoning the genre. They're not giving up reading. They're trying to make decisions that will better fit their needs. And really, I'm impressed that "normal American girls" are conscientious of things that I also happen to notice. There are a great many characters who are either limp noodles or she-wolves.
Where's the happy medium?
And my hot-shot-"I read ___ books a year!"-self attempts to answer that question by actually listing the "happy medium of girls" books**: Nevermore, The Looking Glass Wars series, The Books of Bayern, for the most part, the Wondrous Strange series, Wildwood Dancing, Chaos Walking (sans the last book), Percy Jackson series, eventually Divergent, Shiver, and lawd-o-mercy the classic authors do it best - The Chronicles of Prydain... but that's only a handful. And truly, when I think about it, most of the time when I compliment books in reviews, it's in regards to the creativity of the storyworld, or the action/excitement, or the pacing, or whatever. Usually it isn't in the characters, because I realize that my friend has a point. There's so much forcefulness in the average YA girl's personality. Forcefulness, snark, it starts off as fun, upbeat, but eventually...it just turns into mean bitchiness. As my friend said, "Like Katherine from The Taming of the Shrew, only without Petruchio to spank her."
Hmm...not sure about the spanking part, but she has a point.

But what do you all think? Does she have a point, or is it bring on more snarky/googley-eyed gals?
And what about the resolution?

I will say that I absolutely LOVE having conversations with teen readers because as much as I (22yearold) enjoy YA, it's really written for them. So it's cool to get their perspective and see what exactly they think of certain things.
& when you've got reader-cousins, it's like free consulting work! :D



**and because of the subjectivity involved, my opinion-based-list may be different from others'.

Help me STUDY, please!

For awhile now I've had my eye on Maria V. Snyder's Study series:
- Poison Study
- Magic Study
- Fire Study

What I've heard...- Poison Study is very good. Like, I have seen SO MANY 4-and-5 star reviews for this one, and from people who I know really make books work for 5 star reviews.
- However, I have seen that several reviewers think the series kind of slackens as it goes along. With the last book, Fire Study, I've seen less 4-and-5 star reviews.

So for those who have read Poison Study...
- did you read the sequel books also?
If so,
- did you like them?
- would you recommend reading ALL 3, or can I just read the first one?

Many thanks!

Where is everybody...

...from?In the spirit of last minute, random question-posts... I want to know where everybody blogs from.
Why? I was at my grammy's house today, attempting to explain what it is that I do on the computer all the time (heehee) and I was telling her about all of my bloggy friends. She asked where all my "friends" were from, and I realized I couldn't really give her much of an answer, other than "well, er, California, and New Jersey, and Ohio, and Florida..."
I'm also curious if more book bloggers live in a certain area, like East Coasters, West Coasters, suburbanites, etc. I think it would be cool to know where everybody blogs from, and if there are more from a certain area.
So...where's everybody from?:D

- PS -
Is anybody specifically from Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Arkansas, or New Mexico?
Just curious!

IMM!

I actually got books this week - wahoo!
I've put myself on a book buying ban after BEA, but I temporarily lifted it to order Once Every Never. ;)

Bought
Once Every Never - Lesley Livingston
* ordered from Amazon Canada. I used Amazon UK a lot in the past, but I'd never used CA's website till now. I was EXTREMELY surprised at 1) how cheap it was to buy/ship from there, and 2) how **quickly** the book arrived! It came in only 5 days, even though I used the regular standard shipping. And the whole thing only cost around $20.
I'm just impatient and didn't want to wait around for regular old Amazon to put the title up, heehee.

Received for Review
A Monster Calls - Patrick Ness
Special thanks to Candlewick!
*Patrick Ness is one of my new favorite authors, and I just finished Monsters of Men, so I can't wait to check this one out as well!

What did everybody else get this week? Anyone else on a strict buying ban?

Best of dystopian Review - UNWIND

Unwind - Neal Shusterman
Genre: YA Dystopian
# of pages: 335 (hb)
Unwind @ Parental Book Reviews

The Second Civil War was fought over reproductive rights. The chilling resolution: Life is inviolable from the moment of conception until age thirteen. Between the ages of thirteen and eighteen, however, parents can have their child "unwound," whereby all of the child's organs are transplanted into different donors, so life doesn't technically end. Connor is too difficult for his parents to control. Risa, a ward of the state is not enough to be kept alive. And Lev is a tithe, a child conceived and raised to be unwound. Together, they may have a chance to escape and to survive.

This is looking to be the Summer of Dystopian... I finished Divergent, got a lot of books at BEA that forecast more dystopians for the fall, and somewhere in between, I bought a copy of Unwind, a book that I'd heard about repeatedly as being one of the best dystopians in the YA genre.
You all know I try to ignore hype (as an example, I was genuinely surprised to find Divergent as enjoyable as the hype made it out to be). However, this is one book that is completely deserving of praise, and not only that, it is one of the best dystopians I've ever read.
Why, you ask? I'll refer you to the publication date. Unwind was published in 2007, before dystopians truly took off as the 'next big thayng.' Even before The Hunger Games (2008).
In other words, Unwind is truly innovative and original because there really wasn't anything around at the time for it to copy. In a literary atmosphere where more and more dystopians are all about romance, love triangles and "OMG big bossy governments are so mean!", this novel stands out.
For one thing, the premise is both clever and chillingly realistic. In the near future, an event known as the Second Civil War takes place. The issue this time is reproductive rights, with pro-lifers pitted against pro-choicers. The fighting results in a disturbing compromise called the Bill of Life, which implements the practice of Unwinding. Guys, you want a dystopian with a creepy/original premise that really makes you think, 'Gah, could this really happen?' Here it is, right here. I can't imagine love ever being a disease, or matching people up based on...well, I still don't get the reason for wanting to do that. But unwinding troubled and unwanted kids, thereby easing juvenile delinquency and solving organ donor shortages ? Eerily contemplative.
Neal Shusterman is up there with Scott Westerfeld as extremely gifted, KISS-style dystopian writers (yes, yes, Westerfeld has written a host of other stuff. I'm talking about his dystopian skills). Shusterman gives readers 3 characters to follow: Connor, a good kid with some bad habits; Risa, a highly gifted musical prodigy, and Lev, a young boy raised by his fundamentalist family to be a "tithe." Each of these characters had their own identity and were strong characters throughout. I especially appreciated that Connor was never really that bad in the first place, only a little immature, and that he was able to grow into this sensitive, capable leader. It was a really cool transformation to watch. Lev's transformation, from a sweet but naive kid to a hardened, streetwise punk, was no less powerful but somehow slightly less enjoyable.
But as much as I liked the characters and how they were portrayed, it's the story world and plot execution of Unwind that really makes it a unique read. I was very, very impressed with Shusterman's ability to equally show both sides of an issue. At the heart of good dystopians are commentaries about our current society, and yes, these commentaries usually manifest in political forms. What really makes Unwind special is Shusterman's ability to pick an issue - say, reproductive rights/right to life - and take it straight down the middle (in contrast, much as I love Scott Westerfeld, he did get a bit preachy with those Rusties in Uglies). I just wanted to say that I was really, really impressed with Shusterman, and really respect him for not just picking whichever agenda suited him best, and molding a story from it. It makes Unwind all the more worthy of attention.
The only 'complaint' I have is that the writing style was a little weird. It's written in third-person present-tense, which I've never encountered before. For example, "Amelia pauses in between sentences, thinking of what she will say next." It just took some getting used to. Also, the perspectives switched a lot between characters, sometimes randomly, which got a little confusing. Other than some writing-style issues, this book was an amazing read.
I do think the ending could have been better - some things happened at the end that I wish hadn't happened! Oh well, though. I will caution you that the scariest part (yes, I said "SCARY") is close to the end. I'll just say that Neal Shusterman isn't the type to totally keep readers in the dark - you'll get to see exactly *what* happens in the sinister Unwinding process, and
it.
is.
freaky.
*Nightmares!*
The ending was satisfying, though, and sets the stage nicely for the sequel, Unwholly, which will be released in 2012.
My humble suggestion? If you consider yourself a fan of dystopian fiction (and especially if you're growing tired of the - *ahem* - tendency for repetition in YA dystopians), check out this book, 'cause it's one of the ones that started it all!

(A word on content: there is a moderate amount of violence in this book, aside from the general premise of harvesting teens' organs in a disturbing process known as 'Unwinding.' There's no sexual content apart from kissing and some innuendo. For more information, see the link at the top)

Final Rating


Notable Passages

There was a time, shortly after the Bill of Life was passed, that Dumpsters such as that would be tempting to girls like her. Desperate girls who would leave unwanted newborns in the trash. It had become so common that it wasn't even deemed newsworthy anymore - it had become just a part of life. Funny, but the Bill of Life was supposed to protect the sanctity of life. Instead it just made life cheap. Thank goodness for the Storking Initiative, that wonderful law that allows girls like her a far better alternative...
With the burden now lifted from her, she has sudden strength. She now has a second chance in life, and this time she'll be smarter - she's sure of it. As she hurries down the street, she thinks how wonderful it is that she can get a second chance. How wonderful it is that she can dismiss her responsibility so easily...
- 53-54

"People shouldn't do a lot of things," says Connor. He knows they're both right, but it doesn't make a difference. In a perfect world mothers would all want their babies, and strangers would open up their homes to the unloved. In a perfect world everything would be either black or white, right or wrong, and everyone would know the difference. But this isn't a perfect world. The problem is people who think it is.
- 75

"So the Dunfees found the records. The father, I think worked for the government, so he was able to hack into the parts department."
"The what?"
Hayden sighs. "The National Unwind Database."
"Oh."
"And he gets a printout of every single person who received a piece of Humphrey. Then the Dunfees go traveling around the world to find them...so they can kill them, take back the parts, and bit by bit make Humphrey whole..."
"No way."
"That's why people call him Humphrey," Connor adds. "Cause 'all the king's horses and all the king's men...couldn't put Humphrey together again.'"
- 106

"Sure, I can talk like you, but I choose not to. It's like art, you know? Picasso had to prove to the world he can paint the right way, before he goes putting both eyes on one side of a face, and noses stickin' outta kneecaps and stuff. See, if you paint wrong because the best you can do, you just a chump. But you do it because you want to? Then you're an artist." He smiles at Lev. "That's a bit of CyFi wisdom right there, Fry. You can take that to the grave, and dig it up when you need it!"
- 125

Then Hayden asks the question. Not a question, the question. Asking it is the great taboo among those marked for unwinding. It's what everyone thinks about, but no one ever dares to ask aloud.
"So then," says Hayden, "if every part of you is alive but inside someone else...are you alive or are you dead?"
- 167

"If I'm unwound," says Hayden, "I want my eyes to go to a photographer - one who shoots supermodels. That's what I want these eyes to see."
"My lips'll go to a rock star," says Connor.
"These legs are definitely going to the Olympics."
"My ears to an orchestra conductor."
"My stomach to a food critic."
"My biceps to a body builder."
"...I wouldn't wish my sinuses on anybody."
- 176

On the existence of a soul, whether unwound or unborn, people are likely to debate for hours on end, but no one questions whether an unwinding facility has a soul. It does not.
- 265

In her mind's eye she always pictured harvest camps as human cattle stockades: dead-eyed crowds of malnourished kids in small gray cells - a nightmare of dehumanization. Yet somehow this picturesque nightmare is worse. Just as the airplane graveyard was Heaven disguised as Hell, harvest camp is Hell masqueraded as Heaven.
- 268

Unwind @ Amazon