Jessi Reviews "Beautiful Darkness"

Title/Author: Beautiful Darkness by Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl
Publisher/Year: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, 2010
How I Got This: Interlibrary loan
Why I Read It: I've been dying to read it since I read Beautiful Creatures and with the upcoming release of Beautiful Chaos
Rating: 4 Stars 

Synopsis (from Goodreads): 

Ethan Wate used to think of Gatlin, the small Southern town he had always called home, as a place where nothing ever changed. Then he met mysterious newcomer Lena Duchannes, who revealed a secret world that had been hidden in plain sight all along. A Gatlin that harbored ancient secrets beneath its moss-covered oaks and cracked sidewalks. A Gatlin where a curse has marked Lena's family of powerful Supernaturals for generations. A Gatlin where impossible, magical, life-altering events happen.

Sometimes life-ending.

Together they can face anything Gatlin throws at them, but after suffering a tragic loss, Lena starts to pull away, keeping secrets that test their relationship. And now that Ethan's eyes have been opened to the darker side of Gatlin, there's no going back. Haunted by strange visions only he can see, Ethan is pulled deeper into his town's tangled history and finds himself caught up in the dangerous network of underground passageways endlessly crisscrossing the South, where nothing is as it seems.

Review: 


Wow. Again, Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl have blown me away, and now I'm really counting down the days until Beautiful Chaos.

I had been waiting to read this since I finished Beautiful Creatures and I'm glad I finally got around to it. This time around, we get a deeper look into our favorite characters making this a more emotional read all around. Ethan and Lena have hit a bump in the road, so much of the time spent in this installment involves examining their relationship and what each of them are willing to do for each other. As someone who adores character development, I loved reading this one, and now I especially feel like I've known these characters forever.

I also really enjoyed how Kami and Margaret don't leave their readers hanging. It has been quite a while since I read Beautiful Creatures, so I was a little worried that this book would just jump into things and leave me behind in the dust. Never fear though--I never had that problem. At the same time, they did this so skillfully that I don't think it would be annoying to read this right after the first book. Sometimes, the beginnings of sequels are so mundane and repetitive that it takes like 50 pages to get into the actual story. Not in this case.

Above all, though, the writing is what takes the cake for me with this series. A lot of times, YA can come across as fluffy because of the writing style. Here we have a complex plot and stunning writing. Honestly, it reminds me of how everyone suggests the Harry Potter series for a well-written YA series. I adore the Gothic style. It's beautiful. Really, there's no other word for it.

And that ending?! Uh, hello, I need Beautiful Chaos like NOW!

Do You Love Top Ten Tuesday?

We've been nominated for Best Meme for Book Blogger Appreciation Week! If you have enjoyed Top Ten Tuesday by either participating in it or just think it is fantastical bookish meme, please consider voting for us! We've had such a good time tackling a multitude of bookish top tens for the past year and are so honored to be nominated!

You can vote here. You'll need either a Google or Twitter account to do so and we'd really appreciate it if you took the time to do so should you think that Top Ten Tuesday deserves it! To see the rest of the nominees, you can go here to the BBAW site. There are a lot of memes nominated so good luck to everyone. Y'all pretty much rock!


Also, while I have you here. I've had the list for future TTT on my computer since Julyyyy and haven't put the whole thing up but I will be doing so this week!

And, if you remember, try to put either YA, Adult, Classics or Eclectic after your name on Mr. Linky. We have SUCH a variety of blogs who participate that I know some people have asked if we could do this. If you don't remember, no biggie, but some have asked for it! :)

As always, if you have any TTT suggestions...please email us at brokeandbookish (at) gmail (dot) com

Natanya Reviews A Visit From the Goon Squad

Title/Author: A Visit From the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan
Publisher/Date: Alfred A. Knopf, 2010
Where I got it: Library
Why I read it: I kept hearing about it everywhere, and then Goodreads started a summer challenge for this book, so I put it on my summer reading list.

From Amazon:
We begin in contemporaryish New York with kleptomaniac Sasha and her boss, rising music producer Bennie Salazar, before flashing back, with Bennie, to the glory days of Bay Area punk rock, and eventually forward, with Sasha, to a settled life. By then, Egan has accrued tertiary characters, like Scotty Hausmann, Bennie's one-time bandmate who all but dropped out of society, and Alex, who goes on a date with Sasha and later witnesses the future of the music industry. Egan's overarching concerns are about how rebellion ages, influence corrupts, habits turn to addictions, and lifelong friendships fluctuate and turn. Or as one character asks, “How did I go from being a rock star to being a fat fuck no one cares about?” Egan answers the question elegantly, though not straight on, as this powerful novel chronicles how and why we change, even as the song stays the same.


While the plot is certainly interesting (and I think the above synopsis sums it up well), what really makes A Visit From the Goon Squad stand out is its structure, which I loved, in part for its uniqueness. The novel is a series of linked vignettes, where each story tells about a period in the life of someone, generally a person who was a minor character in the previous story. While this structure has the potential to end up choppy, I think Egan did a great job at telling us just enough and then smoothly moving onto the next person, though I did sometimes get the people mixed up. She also often switched to a completely different time—one chapter may take place when these people (many of whom are about the same age) were teenagers, and the next may take place when they’re middle-aged—so the fact that the book read pretty smoothly was all the more surprising.

On top of that, within each chapter Egan often suddenly explains what will happen to a certain character later in life. It made me really see these people from a different perspective, knowing what they would do and feel like in the future. I thought this was a really interesting stylistic move, and I think it allowed Egan to say a lot more about each person than she could just say within the story she was telling. However, I did find it a little odd how bluntly she threw out these details of people’s futures. The story would be going along, and then suddenly she’d say something like, “and then 20 years later so and so got addicted to crack.” It’s a very “these are the facts and that’s just how it is” kind of description, which I both liked and disliked. It was interesting because, without any emotions connected to them, I could work through how they got to that point myself, which was kind of fun. But it was annoying because it made the narration fall flat a bit…it just seemed odd to have such an emotionless narration.

The final interesting structural element—and one which I think, at least according to a poll on Goodreads, a lot of people love the best, including myself—is the “slide diary,” which is a chapter consisting entirely of powerpoint slides with diagrams, making up a piece of the diary of a 12-year-old girl. I thought it was an awesome idea, and it actually got a lot of the emotions and themes of the book through better than the prose did at times. I also think Egan made a good decision in only making these slides a single chapter of the novel because I think a lot of their appeal is in their suddenness and uniqueness. The only problem is that the transition back from these slides into the final chapter of the book doesn’t work very well. Though really, in my opinion the final chapter of the book just didn’t work very well as a whole. This chapter tells us what happens to a lot of these people, but—except for the very, very end (which is good)—it doesn’t seem like an ending, just another story.

Overall, A Visit From the Goon Squad was a quick, worthwhile read. It’s kind of all over the place thematically, and as you can tell I found the cool structure more remarkable than the actual plot, but I enjoyed it. Some characters were more annoying than others, but they all were fascinating and unique, and Egan’s style of storytelling is quirky and fun. And if you’re interested in reading a somewhat non-standardly structured novel, I would definitely recommend this one.

4 stars

Top Ten Books Daisy Has On Her TBR List This Fall

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created here at The Broke and the Bookish. This feature was created because we are particularly fond of lists here at The Broke and the Bookish. We'd love to share our lists with other bookish folks and would LOVE to see your top ten lists!

Each week we will post a new Top Ten list that one of our bloggers here at The Broke and the Bookish will answer. Everyone is welcome to join. All we ask is that you link back to The Broke and the Bookish on your own Top Ten Tuesday post AND add your name to the Linky widget so that everyone can check out other bloggers lists! If you don't have a blog, just post your answers as a comment. Have fun with it! It's a fun way to get to know your fellow bloggers.

This could also have been called: Books on Daisy's Birthday Wishlist, since the beginning of fall and my birthday kinda coincide :) (seriously, it's true, Wikipedia says so!)

Since I spend a pretty sizeable amount of time lusting after up and coming releases, this should be a breeze! Well actually, it would be, if there weren't too many of them... These will all be released between September 23rd and December 23rd 2011 :)

1. A Beautiful Dark by Jocelyn Davies: I've been pining for this book for ages and I have some serious cover love for this one. I'm a girl-in-gorgeous-dress-cover-slut, can't help it :)

2. Touch of Power by Maria V. Snyder: I have read and loved every single one of the author's books and am dying to read this one, I'm sure I'll love it as well. It's the first in her new series. I love her series.

3. Inheritance by Christopher Paolini: a little bit before the release of Brisingr it was announced that there would be a fourth book in this series and the wait for this one has nearly killed me, cause I NEED to know how it ends! I've been waiting for 3 freaking years already! (checked it: Brisingr came out in 2008)

4. Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi: another gorgeous cover! And a girl with a fatal touch! COUNT ME IN! I've heard nothing but good things from those who were lucky enough to get and ARC of this book, so I'm kinda excited about it being released soonish!

5. Eve by Anna Carey: this sounds like another wonderful dystopian and I'm kinda still in love with the genre.

6. Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins: I'm kinda expecting this to turn up on a LOT of the lists, but I'm gonna add it anyway. I haven't read Anna and the French Kiss yet and I'll probably be the last one to do it if I start now, but I'm still excited for this one to come out. I've heard such amazing this about these 2 books that I can't help but jump on the wagon and get excited as well. I really should start reading Anna...

7. The Mephisto Covenant by Trinity Faegen: another girl-in-a-dress on the cover and I'm loving it :) It sounds like it should be an amazing story and I hope it will be!

8. Don't Expect Magic by Kathy McCullough: a MALE fairy godmother! Fairy godmotherness being genetic! WOOHOO! Seriously, this sounds like it's right up my alley! And I LOVE the cover!

9. Sweet Venom by Tera Lynn Childs: I'm a greek mythology geek, it's true. I'm loving this trend in YA and this one has three teenage descendants of MEDUSA! How cool is that? I NEED this book!

10. Crave by Melissa Darnell: a girl half vampire, half powerful magic use, could be EPIC WIN! Excited to read this one soonish :)

So, that's my list, it was harder than I thought, so many books, only 10 spots on the list...
What let me know what's on your lists! Any should add to my already too-huge TBR list? (seriously, any bigger and it will start demanding the right to vote in the next elections as well..)

Jen Talks Bookish Airport Observations

Earlier this month I had some traveling to do and the airport is my favorite place for people watching.  You encounter people from all over the world and everyone is headed to a different destination.  It doesn't matter the time of day or how big the airport is, observing people is best done at the airport.  I always root for the people who are running late, you know the ones you see them sprinting by with their carry-on bags that are practically bursting at the seams.

Other than in bookstores and libraries the airport is the one place I've seen an abundance of people reading.  This time around I noticed a lot more people using e-readers.  But for those travelers who were reading physical books there were two books in particular that kept popping up:  The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo and The Help.  Overall, Larsson's book was by far the book I saw most people engrossed in.

My traveling book was The Help, purchased at the airport because I accidentally packed my book in my checked luggage instead of my carry-on.  The girl who was sitting next to me on one of my flights was also reading The Help.  We talked about the book and reading for a little bit before we each put our nose in our books.

Other books I saw people reading:

• One Day
• Sarah's Key
• The Girl Who Chased the Moon
• A Visit From the Goon Squad
• Imaginary Girls
• Treachery in Death
• A couple different Jodi Picoult and Jennifer Weiner books

I really wanted to ask the people with e-readers what they were reading but I'm kind of shy and didn't want to approach people by myself.

If you've traveled this summer what book (or books) did you bring with you on your travels?

I had my nook with me as well but prefer reading a physical book while flying.  Mainly because of that portion of time when you can't have any electronic devices on.

Also, in the U.S., some of the airport shops have a special promotion called Read and Return.  You purchase a book in their store, read it and if you return the book within six months (with the original receipt) you get half of your money back.  The program isn't in all airports but it is in a quite a few and of course I've misplaced the bookmark that had the airports listed.

Tahleen reviews: "Anya's Ghost" by Vera Brosgol

Title: Anya's Ghost
Author: Vera Brosgol
Publisher: First Second, 2011

Rating: 5 stars

Anya, daughter of a Russian immigrant, insecure in her body, and just trying to fit in at her private school, ends up finding a friend in the most unlikely of places. After falling down a well, Anya discovers a skeleton... and its ghost that's been hanging out down there for about 90 years.

At first, Anya is obviously freaked. But she escapes from the well, with help from Emily (the ghost). Who ends up following her out. Emily turns out to be a great friend, helping her with school and boys, but Anya soon figures out that Emily is here to stay... whether she likes it or not.

This graphic novel is beyond awesome. The illustrations are outstanding, all in black, white, gray and muted purple. The pacing of the story is excellent too—we jump into the story right away with Anya's fall, discovery of the skeleton, and subsequent befriending of Emily Reilly, who died 90 years ago after she fell down the well herself.

This is also a mystery. Anya promises to search for Emily's murderer, who she says killed her parents and then chased her through the woods the night of her fall. But Emily seems strangely uninterested and not very eager for Anya to start her search. She's much more interested in finding Anya a way into the heart of her crush, basketball star Sean. Even when Anya isn't interested anymore. Slowly we begin to see Emily's true personality and psychosis, and Anya tries to uncover Emily's history.

I had to keep going back after finishing this to just look at the illustrations and relive parts of the story. There is true terror within the pages, but a more subtle terror than you might expect in a ghost story.

There's also a lot in here about acceptance of yourself and your culture, with Anya's denial of her background and attempts to keep her family out of the line of sight of her schoolmates. She avoids another Russian student at her school because he acts too "fobby," without giving him a chance at any sort of friendship because of his social status. Throughout the plot, she has to come to terms with all of this.

Whether you read graphic novels or not, this is one you should go out and read immediately. The story and illustrations are in perfect harmony to make for one scary and mysterious ride.

Disclosure: I got this from my local library.

Top Ten Books Natanya Loved But Never Wrote A Review For

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created here at The Broke and the Bookish. This feature was created because we are particularly fond of lists here at The Broke and the Bookish. We'd love to share our lists with other bookish folks and would LOVE to see your top ten lists!


Each week we will post a new Top Ten list that one of our bloggers here at The Broke and the Bookish will answer. Everyone is welcome to join. All we ask is that you link back to The Broke and the Bookish on your own Top Ten Tuesday post AND add your name to the Linky widget so that everyone can check out other bloggers lists! If you don't have a blog, just post your answers as a comment. Have fun with it! It's a fun way to get to know your fellow bloggers.


Hey all, it’s Natanya. This week it’s time to give a shout out to all those books you loved but never reviewed, either because you read them before you started blogging, or because you didn’t get a chance to or couldn’t review when you read it. Most of the books on my list are ones that I read before we began this blog. A couple of them I could have easily reviewed at the time, but for the most part I don't know if I could have managed to review these. This is actually almost a list of my all-time favorite books, give or take a couple.

1. The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger: I read this at the end of my senior year of high school, and may have done poorly on my AP chemistry exam because of this book. I literally couldn't put it down. I walked through the halls to class reading it, and spent a decent amount of time in class reading it as well, instead of studying for my AP and IB exams.

2. The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood: The book that started my Atwood obsession, which I read at the end of junior year of high school. It blew me away. I probably wouldn’t have been able to write a review of this even if I’d read it more recently…I couldn’t have put my feelings into words.

3. The History of Love by Nicole Krauss: Sigh. This book is beautiful. I read this freshman year of college and wrote a very short review of it on Goodreads in which I said that I couldn’t explain it. You just have to read it.

4. Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes: I read this the summer after my sophomore year of high school. I read the whole book in one night and cried at the end. Another book I probably couldn’t have written a review for, and one which I’d love to reread.

5. The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch: I read this in a few hours (it’s very short) a couple years ago, and my copy of it is now filled with little post-it tabs because there are so many amazing quotations in here. This is so inspirational.

6. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley: I first read this in 8th grade and barely understood it, but still loved it. I read it again in 10th grade and it became one of my favorite novels. I read it again in 11th grade, and still loved it, but it definitely had a different effect on me each time I read it.

7. Disgrace by J.M. Coetzee: I read this in my first college literature class, and it was amazing. The main character is pretty hateable, but that just makes the novel even better. It has a ton of commentary on South African apartheid, which I found pretty interesting.

8. Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami: This was my first Murakami book, and it was fantastic. Many Murakami fans don't like it because it isn't very similar to his other novels and is a bit more “normal” than the others (so maybe it wasn’t the best one of his novels to read first), but I loved it and loved the other 2 novels of his I've read.

9. In the Skin of a Lion by Michael Ondaatje: I read this in February and loved it, but I wasn't sure how to review it because it’s just so unique. I kept procrastinating on my review until eventually I gave up on ever writing it. (And…a fun tidbit: Ondaatje, like Atwood, is a Canadian author, and is the author of The English Patient!)

Hmm…I don’t have a 10th right now. Obviously there are many more books that I enjoyed but read long before blogging, but these are, I guess, the most significant ones.


Check here for future topics!