Evernight

In my quest for a good vampire novel after the Twilight series ruined my opinion of all other vamp. books, I picked up "Evernight" off the shelf of Barns and Nobel, thinking that it would be a dud like all of the others. To my pleasant surprise, it is turning out fairly well (still not up to Twilight, but no one has it perfect).

So far, the main character, Bianca (weird name, I know) is dragged by her parents to a Gothic castle, converted into an exclusive private school, exclusive meaning... vampires (A little HP cliche, right? Big boarding school castle, kids with weird habits, meaning instead of magic and twirling wands, they've got blood sucking weirdos). Except that this year, they let in a handful of humans... why? Well, the book hasn't told me yet, but I think it's just a little obvious.

I hope "Evernight" will jump out of it's cliche shell soon, 'cause my opinion does not increase with repeated plots.

The Second Mrs. Darcy

In an inovated style of Jane Auston, writer Elizabeth Aston wrote the novel "The Second Mrs. Darcy" which follows the story of the (how do you say it?) the recently widowed second wife of the late Mr. Darcy (Jane Austen fans, do not be alarmed... Mr. Darcy was the P&P Mr. Darcy's cousin, an officer in the navy). Mrs. Darcy is left "virtually penniless" in her step-sibblings' minds, because her late husband's fortune, according to law, is handed to the closest male relative.

However, in an unsuspected turn of events, the second Mrs. Darcy aquires a fortune in her own right, which she, to the astonishment of all, takes charge of. But, of course, Mr. Darcy's cousin is really rather greedy, so he attempts to take hold of her new fortune. Mrs. Darcy wants only to be an independant woman in the man's world of the 1800's, and it is proving to be a very great challenge.

I really enjoyed this book, and I think that anyone who loves Jane Austen stories, but find the origional works a little dragging, would relish it just as I have.

Ghost Girl

When I recently joined book club, they handed me of a new release; Ghost Girl. The story was about a girl, Charlotte, who feels "invisible" to the world, but is always trying to fit in. One day, however, she chokes on a gummy bear (of all things) and finds herself a ghost with unknown and unfinished business to attend to (how cliche).

I liked the book, except for how nasty some of the scenes were- I really didn't need to know every thought and feeling that went through Charlotte as she choked! (morbid!) The style was also different from what I am used to. It felt like a childish novel in some ways, and a little sinister in others.

The Adoration of Jenna Fox

This novel, by Mary E. Pearson, reveals to us in a futuristic world, the effects, maybe even consequences of a parent's affection toward their child. The main character is Jenna Fox, actually, only ten percent of her is Jenna Fox. The original was "killed" in a car crash, but her father saved the "most important part," ten percent of her brain called the "butterfly." With the butterfly, he was able to re-create his daughter out of synthetic organs and his invention, Bio Gel, which keeps the organs alive. The book begins as Jenna just begins to re-learn the world, remembering nothing of her former life, and knowing nothing about what her parents have done.

The re-creation of Jenna was actually illegal, because rules had been made dictating the amount of synthetic flesh for each person. As she was totally reconstructed, she was clearly an issue.

I really liked this book as a quick read, and I would definitely recommend it to anyone.