YA – The Spine View

Stalking Jack the Ripper by Kerri Maniscalco

As suggested from the title, Stalking Jack the Ripper, is a YA horror/murder mystery book (very) loosely based on the real murders of young women in London during the 1880s. The author, Kerri Maniscalco, has presented the reader with a young protagonist who will capture your heart with her courage, defiance and tenacity as she works to solve the murders.

Audrey Rose Wadsworth is an educated young woman and daughter of a Lord. Ladies of her standing are expected to be prime and proper. Yet, she finds the society demands upon her restricting and she rebels against them. Even though her father has expressly forbidden it, she has been learning forensic science through her Uncle who is an expert in the field. So naturally she is thrilled to help her Uncle examine the first victim of Jack he Ripper.

Then when her Uncle of all people is arrested for the murders, she vows to find out the truth. For Audrey Rose this is the being of a very dangerous path. One that could lead even to her death.

I appreciated the fast pace of the book and it had plenty of twists to keep you guessing. The prose was also good and I liked the attention to detail given to the scenes. Pace will only take the reader so far and this book had a good mix of both.

I liked the characters in this book, especially Audrey Rose. In truth, I felt her character was a little bit of a stretch for the times but it worked so well in the story I can’t really find fault. Sometimes a little creative license is necessary for a good story. After all it is fiction meant to entertain. At the end the author does give you the facts of what happened in London during this time and shows how those facts were used to create the story.

This book has been on my TBR list for almost a year. I wish I had read it sooner because if was entertaining and just what I needed as a distraction amid this virus lockdown. The book definitely has a Holmes and Watson vibe to it, albeit a younger male/female version. I highly recommend for those readers that like this type of book. Being a historical book with a light touch of romance I think there will be a wider audience that will enjoy it and recommend you give it a read.

I received a free copy from the publisher, at BookExpo 2019, in exchange for my honest review.

A Curse So Dark and Lonely by Brigid Kemmerer

A Curse So Dark and Lonely by Brigid Kemmerer is a coming-of-age story that I can only be described as a cross between Ground Hogs Day and Beauty and the Beast. It is hands down one of the best fairy tales I have read in a while. Meant as a retelling, it goes above and beyond the original.

Prince Rhen of Emberfall has been cursed to relive the same autumn season of his eighteenth year over and over again by a powerful enchantress. To break the curse, all he has to do is make a girl fall in love with him. Of course, the enchantress throws a further twist into her game by having Rhen turn into a terrible monster at the close of each season. Despite this, Rhen has been arrogant enough to believe it would be easy. Born of privilege he is used to everything being easy. As season after season goes by with no true love, he is losing hope and now he is running out of time because the enchantress has said this will be the last season.

Grey, Rhen’s Caption of the Guard and protector, is given the ability to cross over to our world. At the beginning of each season he brings back a girl for Rhen in the hopes that it will be the one this time. With the stakes even higher this season, he must get the right girl. However, fate is against him when a girl with a limp prevents him from returning to Emberfall with the intended girl. Instead Grey is forced to abduct Harper.

Harper has not had an easy life. She was born with cerebral palsy and limps profoundly. Her father has deserted the family and left enormous debts with a loan shark. And to top it off, her mother is dying of cancer. Her brother is the only thing good thing right now in her life. He is actually working for the loan shark to pay off the debt. So, when Grey abducts her, her main concern is not in helping Rhen but returning home before her mother dies. Therefore, Rhen is going to have to pull off a miracle to break the curse.

I am totally in love with this book. I liked everything about the book, the prose, plot, characters and world building were so, so good. I can’t think of anything that I didn’t like about the book, which is unusual for me. Even with books I love, there is normally some little nitpicky thing I don’t care for, not the case here.

Of course, the characters were my favorite part. The author did a wonderful job of making me love them all. It is such a fabulous thing when I totally get the characters. The plot is also worthy of a comment since it worked so well with the characters and there was enough intrigue and twists to keep me reading and engaged. I just had to know how Harper was going to handle things once she found out about the true nature of the curse. Totally looking forward to reading book two.

I highly recommend this book to lovers of fantasy and fairy tales. This is a book that should be at the top of TBR list.

Street Freaks by Terry Brooks

Title: Street Freaks
Author: Terry Brooks
Pub. Date: 2-Oct-2018
Rating: 4 Stars

Street Freaks is not your typical Terry Brooks novel. He is best known for his fantasy novels. I remember reading his Sword of Shannara series when I was younger and loved his story telling, characters and brilliant world building. I have never doubted his writing ability; however, I was surprised to realize this is a YA Sci-Fi book. Regardless, of the genre, Terry Brooks is a great writer and Street Freaks just goes to show how great his skills are.

The story is set in the future where technology has advanced to the point that machine and man can and have been seamlessly integrated to overcome debilitating illnesses and injuries. At the beginning we meet Ashton (Ash) Collins. He is your typical teenager who lives at home with his Dad and 3 robots until one day he gets an urgent call from his Father to run as fast as he can to the Red Zone and go to Street Freaks. Ash has lived a sheltered life thus far and he is not prepared for what he finds in the Red Zone or at Street Freaks.

Fortunately for Ash, the kids (actually young adults) at Street Freaks, a place where street cars are built and raced, take him in and make him part of their community of misunderstood rejects of experiments. That’s right, in this dystopian future, companies have experimented on kids and then disposed of them. They help him to discover what happened to his father. Together this band of unlikely allies sets out to take down the person and company who is responsible for Ash’s father’s disappearance and in the process hopefully expose the terrible things that have happened to kids.

Even though this was not the typical Terry Brooks story I am accustomed to, I liked it. Mr. Brooks has developed characters that you can empathize with and I was routing for them throughout the story. The future he has envisioned in this story was well thought-out and worked nicely with the plot. There is a lot of attention to detail and the story and characters are better for it.

The plot was paced nicely and I appreciated that Mr. Brooks did not just do a data dump to the reader in the beginning. All the facts and information important to the story were doled out only as needed. There were several twists in the story and a couple of real surprises that keep me interested and yet I did not get a feeling of the plot being overworked.

As I said, the story is well told and I think it will appeal to Sci-Fi and Fantasy readers alike. Though a note of caution, it is a YA book but some of the topics are not suited for the younger reader. Therefore, I recommend only for ages 16+.

I received an ARC from the publisher in exchange for my honest review.

Brightly Burning by Alexa Donne

Title: Brightly Burning
Author: Alexa Donne
Pub. Date: 1-May-2018
Rating: 4 Stars

Brightly Burning by Alexa Donne is a futuristic remake of Jane Eyre. At first it was kind of hard to wrap my head around the idea of Jane Eyre in space, but it worked. I am sure it helped that I am a fan of Science Fiction. Though the focus is on the story and not the science.

The setting is in the future when the Earth is covered in ice. This new ice age is a result of an eruption of a super volcano. All people that were able to evacuate did so, and now live in colony ships in Earth’s orbit. Stella is an engineer on one of these ships and stuck in a job she hates, on a ship that is on its last legs, and she wants off. She does have marketable skills and applies to various jobs in the fleet. Continue reading “Brightly Burning by Alexa Donne”

Sky in the Deep by Adrienne Young

Title: Sky in the Deep
Author: Adrienne Young
Pub. Date: 24-Apr-2018
Rating: 5 Stars

The gorgeous cover is what drew me to Sky in the Deep by Adrienne Young. After reading the blurb, I was like; I have to read this one. The story is a Vikingish YA fantasy with a heroine you will fall for within the first few pages. It is a beautifully crafted tale and I dare you not to get hooked by the end of the first chapter.

Eelyn is a warrior for the Aska clan and has been training since a young girl to fight their sworn enemy the Riki. She fights alongside her friend Myra and together they are fierce on the battle field. Until one day Eelyn almost gets killed by a young Riki warrior. Her brother, Iri, saves her. Yet, this cannot be possible, Iri died five years ago in another battle against the Riki. Continue reading “Sky in the Deep by Adrienne Young”

School for Physics by K. C. Archer

Title: School for Physics
Author: K. C. Archer
Pub. Date: 3-Apr-2018
Rating: 5 Stars

School for Physics by K. C. Archer is an explosive new urban fantasy series with a good dash of crime thriller on the side. It reads like a Harry Potter story for adults. I was on the edge of my seat almost the entire time and second guessing myself right to the very end.

Theodora Cannon, aka Teddy, lives in Las Vegas above the garage of her adopted parents’ house. After a series of very bad decisions she currently owes over a quarter of a million to a Russian loan shark. You are probably wondering how someone ends up in such a situation at so young an age. Simple, you like to gamble. Teddy has even gone so far as to “borrow” money from her parents’ retirement account. Continue reading “School for Physics by K. C. Archer”

Stone Circle by Kate Murdoch

Title: Stone Circle
Author: Kate Murdoch
Pub. Date: 1-Dec-2017
Rating: 4.5 Stars

Stone Circle by Kate Murdoch is a mixture of fantasy, historical fiction and coming-of-age set in Itlay during the 16^th century. It is a fascinating story of a young man’s first steps into adulthood.

Antonius has always known he was special. He can hear others thoughts. So when he finds out that the local seer, Savinus, is having a trial to accept a new apprentice he is eager to go. Once Antonius demonstrates his abilities to the seer, there is no question who will be the next apprentice. However, the Conte’s son, who is a major employer of Savinus, also shows a small amount of talent. Rank is everything in this society and the seer is left with no choice but to accept both as apprentices. Continue reading “Stone Circle by Kate Murdoch”

The Philosopher’s Flight by Tom Miller

Title: The Philosopher’s Flight
Author: Tom Miller
Pub. Date: 13-Feb-2018
Rating: 5 Stars

The Philosopher’s Flight by Tom Miller is an alternate history/fantasy work set in the early 20^th century. It is a stunning debut novel and appears to be the first book in a series.

In this alternative history, Philosophy, or Empirical Philosophy as it is better known as, is a relatively new branch of science. Those people, mainly women, who are born with this innate ability can move or shape energy to transport people hundreds of miles, send messages instantly across thousands of miles, and fly, among other things, by drawing a sigil. Of course, leave it to the government to turn it into a weapon for war. Continue reading “The Philosopher’s Flight by Tom Miller”

The Sun is Also a Star by Nicola Yoon

Title: The Sun is Also a Star
Author: Nicola Yoon
Pub. Date: 1-Nov-2016
Rating: 5 Stars

The Sun is Also a Star by Nicola Yoon is another one of those books that has been on my to-be-read list since it first came out. Why, oh why does it take over a year to get to such a good book? After reading books like this I almost always beat myself up for not getting to it sooner.

In this story, the author is asking the reader to believe in fate and love at first site. Daniel is in the right place at the right time to meet Natasha. Only Natasha is scheduled to be deported back to Jamaica that very evening. Therefore, Daniel has only a few hours to convince Natasha that two people can fall in love in an initial meeting and he has the science to prove it. Natasha is very skeptical, and rightly so, especially since she is Jamaican and he is Korean and she knows her parents would never approve of a relationship with Daniel. Continue reading “The Sun is Also a Star by Nicola Yoon”

The Scholar by J. J. Anders

Title: The Scholar
Author: J. J. Anders
Pub. Date: 21-Nov2017
Rating: 5 Stars

The Scholar by J. J. Anders is the first of two books in The Genoa Chronicles. It is a YA fantasy story about Anna a young girl who has never fit in on Earth. She knows she is different, all she has to do is look in the mirror and see her white hair and translucent skin to confirm this. She also has this unique magical gift where she can acquire all the knowledge in a book just by touching its cover.

Despite searching all her life, Anna has never found another like herself. She has absorbed knowledge from books in libraries all over the world and successfully avoided capture by the military in her quest to learn about herself. It appears her luck has run out, or maybe she has become complacent, because she has been spotted in the library and must flee to avoid capture. Just as the military surrounds her and Anna thinks all is lost, a young man, Leian, comes to her rescue. Continue reading “The Scholar by J. J. Anders”