Review - WILDWOOD DANCING

Wildwood Dancing - Juliet Marillier
Genre: YA Historical Fantasy (and nobody does it better than JM!)
# of pages: 400 (pb)
Publisher: Knopf, Random House
Recommended for: ALL AGES.

High in the Transylvanian woods, at the castle Piscul Draculi, live five daughters and their doting father. It's an idyllic life for Jena, the second eldest, who spends her time exploring the mysterious forest with her constant companion, a most unusual frog. But best by far is the castle's hidden portal, known only to the sisters. Every Full Moon, they alone can pass through it into the enchanted world of the Other Kingdom. There they dance through the night with the fey creatures of this magical realm.
But their peace is shattered when Father falls ill and must go to the southern parts to recover, for that is when cousin Cezar arrives. Though he's there to help the girls survive the brutal winter, Jena suspects he has darker motives in store. Meanwhile, Jena's sister has fallen in love with a dangerous creature of the Other Kingdom--an impossible union it's up to Jena to stop.
When Cezar's grip of power begins to tighten, at stake is everything Jena loves: her home, her family, and the Other Kingdom she has come to cherish. To save her world, Jena will be tested in ways she can't imagine--tests of trust, strength, and true love.

My Thoughts: Juliet Marillier has done it again! Over the Christmas break, I read her historical fantasy series The Bridei Chronicles and her historical novel Wolfskin (both of which are geared more toward adults) and was captivated by her writing style. Reading Wildwood brought back fond memories of her other stories, and I found delightful character and story similarities between this book and the others. Folks, I cannot gush enough about Marillier's obvious skills as a storyteller: her stories are always thoroughly researched, her characters are so exquisitely real (not real as in excessively flawed, but real as in someone you can care about and trust), and her fantasy elements are creative without being extreme.

Including elements from the fairytales of "The Twelve Dancing Princesses" and "The Frog Prince," Marillier also gives readers a clear and descriptive look into historic, cultural Transylvania. It is so obvious that careful study and research went into the making of Wildwood, way more than a few mere "google searches," and for that Marillier deserves much recognition. Historical fantasy is not easy - it is a careful blend of two genres, really. It just felt nice to read a book with substance.

And now on to the characters. I've read Marillier's work before, and I kind of see a little pattern: her heroines are usually very practical, if just a wee bit on the self-sacrificing side. I loved Jena for many reasons, but chiefly because I felt like I could relate to her. She's not perfect, by any means, but she has heart, and she learns from her mistakes. So often it seems that there's this message in Young Adult fiction (as in culture) that says, "You can't make a mistake, there's no such thing as 'mistakes,' because everything is a learning process!" Well, if you don't realize you've made a mistake, how can you learn anything at all?! I'm getting off-topic, but hopefully you see the point I'm trying to make. Marillier's characters are incredibly substantial because, like us, they have the capacity to learn and grow. There's one character that I didn't really connect with, and that's Jena's older, do-anything-for-love sister, Tatiana. If you've read Wildwood, did you feel the same way? However, though I didn't understand Tatiana or her deep connection to her love interest, Sorrow (who may or may not be on of the nefarious Night People), I really liked how Marillier did justice to their story and their struggles - absolute, true love is not only possible, the story seems to say, but it's noble and wonderful. I liked that message, because it's true. Sometimes things happen and even though they seem to contradict reason, that doesn't always make them wrong. Jena, as the embodiment of reason, discovers this (among other things) throughout the course of the story. I also liked that when Jena makes a "stupid" mistake (after the climax of the book), she gets thoroughly chewed out by a powerful-but-lovable witch. Thank you, helpful adult characters! What a rare, lovely breed you are!

Marillier spends so much time efficiently building and establishing her characters, she doesn't leave anybody out, even the villains. I really vacillated over Wildwood's "villain," Cezar. It's weird, because sometimes I actually found myself seeing things from his point of view. She's so good about creating well-rounded characters, that even the villain of her story had a touch of humanity. Nevertheless, there is a difference between a man being chivalric and gentlemanly (which I love!) and being downright chauvinistic (which more closely describes Cezar). And the special FROG of the story---I loved him! He was by far my favorite character. And that's also a great thing about Wildwood, too: I thought I had the "twist" all figured out - "everybody knows the story of the Frog Prince,' but I was so wrong! That twist caught me completely off-guard, and I loved it!

Final Rating: 5/5. If you read ANY of my reviews (and I'm glad everybody liked Eyes Like Stars - that's a good one, too!) PLEASE, PLEASE check out this book! You won't regret it.
:D

Recap, IMM & Reading Itinerary!

Another successful reading week!

Books Read
Brightly Woven (Alexandra Bracken)
Wildwood Dancing (Juliet Marillier)

Books Reviewed
Eyes Like Stars (Lisa Mantchev)
Brightly Woven

Currently Reading
The Shadow Hunt (Katherine Langrish) - FOR REVIEW!

Arriving this Week

The Spook's Nightmare (Wardstone, #7)

Perchance to Dream (Theatre Iluminata, #2)

• It's a RACE! I've always been curious who ships faster - Amazon or the Book Depository. This week I've got 2 books - 1 coming from Amazon and 1 coming from the Book Depository - both of which are scheduled to be released on the 25th. Who will be faster?!?

This is also a very EXCITING WEEK, because I received my first ARC! *Milestone for Imagination in Focus!*
There they are! Watch for a REVIEW, INTERVIEW with author KATHERINE LANGRISH, and a GIVEAWAY!

The Recommendation list for DYSTOPIAN!

To start us off, here's a little cartoon my professor sent us! It's on my Dystopian WIP's storyboard, and so I wanted to share it with all of you! (Extra credit if you know the context of the cartoon!)


This post made possible in part by contributions from book bloggers like you!

My last Suggestion Box was for (YA) dystopian/post-apocalyptic literature, and you sure provided a lot of good recommendations!


Here's the list:
The Hunger Games, Suzanne Collins (most popular answer!)
Declaration, Gemma Malley
Unwind, Neal Shusterman
The Uglies series, Scott Westerfeld
The Gone series, Michael Grant
The Maze Runner, James Dashner
The Chaos Walking trilogy, Patrick Ness
Life as We Knew It, Susan Beth Pfeffer
The Forest of Hands and Teeth & The Dead Tossed Waves, Carrie Ryan
Birthmarked, Caragh O'Brien
Girl in the Arena, Lise Haines
Lockdown, Alexander Gordon Smith
The House of the Scorpion

and of course, our "classic" favorite - The Giver, Lois Lowry

Thanks to all the awesome contributors! Now...

• Have you read any of these books? Any favorites that you see? Can you think of any books to add (that are YA/MG)?
  
• Do you like dystopian/post-apocalyptic fiction?

Ohhh ohh ohhhhhhhh! In other exciting news: MAZE RUNNER #3 now has a name! It's called The Death Cure! :D

Through a Lens III: Aly

This week I've got Aly from Fantasy4Eva stopping by for a few quick questions. So let's get this feature going!

Do you have character crushes?
Well I do have a few: Jace from the Mortal Instruments series, Alex from Perfect Chemistry, and Damon from the Vampire Diaries.

If you could be any book character, who would you be?
Hmm, well I would say Hermione from Harry Potter... didn't see that one coming, did you? She's kind, intelligent, and just an overall lovely girl.

Is there a book/series that everyone seems to have read but you?
Rules of Attraction! Why, everyone, must you read the one book that I am in love with?!

Which book[s] make you cry?
Lol, I don't like confessing such things, but for you I'll make an exception! P.S. I Love You was the first book that brought me to tears, after I read that I really got into my tearjerkers. The next book, I believe, was Thirteen Reasons Why. I don't think any other book has made me want to physically make a difference like this book did...

Which book[s] make you laugh?
You know, I don't think I can remember any books that have made me laugh...

Have you ever been unable to finish a book?
Yes a few times actually, but best if I keep my mouth shut. If anyone wants to know, just email me and I'll tell you.

What books did you like when you were a kid?
I don't recall books from being young, but I remember these, they were called Biff and Chip and I loved them.

When is your favorite time to read? Favorite place?
I love to read at night. I don't know why, maybe because everybody is asleep, meaning I can read in peace. I'll normally have some tea and cookies beside me at the ready. My favorite place has always been my room, my little sanctuary but to be honest I haven't really experimented with a lot of places either. I would love to read at a beach, just somewhere peaceful with a lovely view.

If you could hang out with any author for a day, who would it be?
It would have to be Cassandra Clare, simply because I shall always be a fan of hers for introducing Jace and Clary to me. So yes she would make the author who would make my day.

If you could adapt a book/series into a movie, it would be...
I was going to say City of Bones, but since that's already in the works, I would say Thirteen Reasons Why. I know there are a lot of books out there that talk about suicide, but not a lot of them have people like Clay and Hannah. I know that a movie is hardly ever better than a book, but through a movie such as Thirteen Reasons Why I believe it can make a difference for the better.

What is your favorite word?
Can I pick two?! Hahaha "dopey" and "bonzo"! I say these words when I'm normally in a happy or hyper mood, or sometimes in an affectionate way.

ONE WORD ANSWERS FOR
Bestsellers - Awesome
Book Blog - Togetherness
Vampires - Smexy
Science fiction - Hmmm
Classics - Nope
Harry Potter - Dreams

If you could recommend one book to everyone, it would be...
I would recommend Frozen Fire by Tim Bowler. I don't think enough people are aware of it, it's magical, saddening and beautiful all wrapped up in one little box.


Thank you, Aly! I enjoyed having you :)

If you would like to be featured on Through a Lens, email me or leave your email address and I'll send you the questions!

Review - BRIGHTLY WOVEN

Brightly Woven - Alexandra Bracken
Genre: YA Fantasy
# of pages: 368 (hb)
Publisher: Egmont
Amelia's Age-Level Recommendation: targeted @ teenagers, but good for the 12+ group too
Brightly Woven @ Parental Book Reviews
My Thoughts
This review is going to be very atypical, mainly because of the weird combination of 1) not liking it, and 2) recommending it to others

Simply put, Brightly Woven was a disappointment. There's definitely a dichotomy between this book and my previous read, Eyes Like Stars, and so that probably has a lot to do with why I didn't like this book. For me at least, there is a middle ground between "good" and "bad" when it comes to taste, and while I didn't find this book bad, it wasn't good, either.

My reasons? the characters. North was fascinating, I will admit. He is hands down my favorite character in the book, and I loved his scenes. He was great. However, he wasn't believable in his role. A wizard who is completely direction impaired and who relies on the map-skills of a girl who's never left her own village? Yeah right. Sydelle - the story's feisty MC - rotated between being occasionally entertaining and heartfelt and being for the most part an annoying, whiny and incredibly stupid narrator. Now I'm not usually the "yeah, girls are macho, too!" type, but it's one thing to scream independence, and it's another to just be an idiot. She whines about North being unfair and not trusting her and so forth, yet when she goes off and tries to do something on her own, she shows serious lack of hindsight, judgment or rationality. That's "realistic" to a certain extent, but I deal with enough frustrating people in real life---I don't want to have to read about a stupid character, either. I know, I'm sounding harsh--I'm sorry! And another quick thing: North is all of 18 years old, and yet he says things like "when I was a boy" or "in my youth" or whatever and talks like he's so old. Yeah, you're a real full moon away from your AARP card, dude.
What I liked: I liked the gradual relationship development between Sydnelle and North. They had some very poignant, well-written scenes and I do credit Bracken for making Brightly Woven enjoyable (in parts).

With regards to the plot, I am seriously not sure what to think. Parts of it were exciting and parts of it dragged. Bracken's writing really aggravated me, and that's more the reason I didn't like this than anything else. Her writing just seemed off. If Brightly Woven was an amusement park ride, I'd say it would be a wooden roller coaster: it's fun and exciting at times, but the ride is very bumpy, rickety, and you wonder how in the world the coaster got a license to operate in the first place.
Her magic, too, is somewhat interesting, but severely underdeveloped. I think that BW could/should have been optioned as a series, because there is so much information that is touched on but never truly explained, I felt like I was wading through really shallow waters. Like "oohh, good idea, but not quite there yet."

To speak frankly, I was expecting way more. A college senior publishing a debut novel is pretty uncommon, and so I was expecting brilliancy on a Christopher Paolini level, and to be frank some more, I didn't get it. But it did have likable moments, and I have a sneaking suspicion that (thanks to the loads of other 4-and-5-star reviews out there) my review might just be the "odd one out." And so would I recommend it to others? Yeah, probably. There are no content restrictions or anything, I do need to salute Alexandra Bracken for presenting a clean read that could be read and enjoyed by multiple age levels (you might even find yourself thinking of a certain wizard named Howl---I sure did!).

Final Rating:This is a pretty good book - don't expect much out of it, like I did, and you'll probably enjoy it more, and don't put it at the tippy-top of your TBR list. Read Eyes Like Stars or something first!

Book Blogger Hop!

Time for another Book Blogger Hop!!!! Head on over to Crazy for Books to link up!!! If you're visiting Imagination in Focus, welcome! Thank you for stopping by, and feel free to check out my posts and reviews. Leave a link so I can check out your site, too!

On the equality or inequality of MG & YA Fiction

This is in response to a particular post that I read today...

The $1,000,000 question for the day is What is the difference between MG & YA literature?

This gets a little tricky, because when I took Literature for Children last year, my textbook said that "Middle Grade or Intermediate Fiction" was a branch of Young Adult fiction, which encompasses roughly the ages of 10-21. YA nowadays, I'd say, is more synonymous with "teen fiction" and when I say YA, that's what I mean. Those are the definitions that I was taught, and they're the ones I use, just for clarification's sake.

Here is were I DISAGREE with the particular post:

1) the idea that MG-Intermediate is "kids fiction." I hate that phrase like I hate soy milk. To me (as someone who reads a bunch of "MG" targeted fiction and fully plans to teach middle school) that really incenses me. Okay, so it's perfectly fine for grownups (high school grads, as I call it---if you've graduated from high school, you're a "grown up" to me) to read YA (which usually refers to "teen fiction") but Middle Grade-Intermediate stuff is "kid" fiction. Really?! So to get this straight, if you write for middle grade, you're writing for kids. First of all, middle grade fiction is indicative of the middle grades: meaning 11-14. That's right - 14 year olds. That's not very "kiddie" to me. Most 8th graders complete their school year as 14-year-olds. Most.

The ages are closer than one might originally think. But to me, it's the audacity of the statement. I don't feel like I'm reading beneath my level when I read The Chronicles of Prydain or the Redwall books or Harry Potter or Percy Jackson or The Lost Years of Merlin/Great Tree of Avalon or The Wardstone Chronicles or Inkheart. I will admit to reading certain YA books and wanting to claw my eyes out. MG books seem to chronicle true rites of passage in a way that many "teen fiction" books do not.

Really, I guess I just want to defend MG-Intermediate fiction. If it's not okay to dismiss YA books because of their target audience, it shouldn't be okay to dismiss MG.

And that's my next point. 2) I do not work for publishers, but I do believe (and other authors have said this too...or at least, they've typed it on their blogs/sites) that the labels "MG" "YA" and so forth are really more for marketing purposes. Target audiences. That does not limit an audience in any way by their age. My mid-40s pastor is totally in love with the Harry Potter books. And he's not a "kid." And he wasn't a "kid" when they came out. My 70-something grandmother loves the Twilight series. My parents love Percy Jackson (I'm serious: at dinner one night, my dad looked at us all and said, "If I was a half-blood, who do you think my godly parent would be?" And an actual discussion ensued). I think it is little more than marketing. In fact, labels such as that remind me a lot of MPAA ratings - they have no basis whatsoever on the quality of the picture: there are really stupid and worthless G-rated movies and there are amazing R-rated movies. The label doesn't say anything about quality. Now I will admit that that's a bit of a stretch, and I don't want to go down the "content" road...

3) The idea (voiced in the post that I'm ranting about) that it's okay to have "morals" in that back of your head when you write "kid fiction" but not when you write for the glorified "young adults." I just want to sidebar and say: MG-aged audiences are just as much "kids" as teen are. Don't balk just yet - why shouldn't it be true? They're all under 18, so legally they're all minors. Yeah, teenagers have things going on that are different and unique to their present experiences, but let's not create a rift here. Middle Grade fiction - as kid fiction - is all butterflies and rainbows, with moral messages and everything, but YA fiction is where serious things occur. Teenagers - because they're TEENAGERS! - do not need moral messages. That's kid stuff for kids. Maybe I'm the only one, but that's a pretty fractured message: moral messages, values, and other "teachable moments" are the stuff of kids' fiction, because kids need that, but once you graduate from Middle Grade to Young Adult (which encompasses high school, and freshmen are all of 14 years old) you no longer need moral mesages, values, or teachable moments. Because you're a TEENAGER and you automatically know everything. And if for some weird reason you don't know everything - that's okay! You'll figure it out all on your own, because you're a TEENAGER.

What am I trying to say? I'm saying that upper-Middle Grade-Intermediate readers and Teen readers are probably less than a year's difference away. I don't think rifts need to be created. I don't think a stark contrast should be seen between Middle Grade-Intermediate fiction and YA-Teen fiction. And I think that both genres/subgenres (honestly still not sure which phrase to use) need respect. Don't dismiss YA literature as immature and childish, but certainly don't dismiss Middle Grade-Intermediate. Some of the greatest authors' works reside in that section of the bookstore, and they do not write kid stuff for kids. They write literature for young people, award-winning and multi-million dollar literature that is enjoyed by adolescents, teenagers, and adults alike. Don't limit their talent by assuming to dismiss their work as "for kids." And don't assume that teenagers aren't in need of guidance as well - both the teen characters and the teen readers.

For an author to make "moral messages, values, teachable moments, etc" purely the stuff of "kid fiction" is to miss the mark entirely and assume too much of teenagers/young adults. Everybody needs values, guidance and teachable moments, and books with messages are often the ones that stand out above the superficiality of the "just for entertainment" stories. I know which type I'd rather read, and I know which type I'd rather write. Bravo, Intermediate and Middle Grade Authors. May the Young Adult authors follow from your examples, and perhaps Young Adult literature will become less superfluous and more inspiring.