Bakers Dozen 2013: 7

Violet & Claire by Francesca Lia Block

So this is the only young adult novel on my list this year.  Now Violet & Claire is kind of hard to explain unless you are familiar with the authors writing style it's kind of hard to describe.  She kind of writes like her stories are a poem or sonnet from the past.  Her words flow together like a song and she's very rich with detail and she uses a lot of symbolism to describe what she's writing.

The story is of two different girls, Violet and Claire.  Both opposite from each other, they both need each other to be whole.  Violet is the dark one, dressed in black and dreams of writing her own silver screen creation.  Claire is light and love, almost like a real-life Tinker Bell, dressed in wings of gauze and glitter, constantly writing poems to keep the dark away.   The story takes you through the journey in L.A. through the ups and downs.

This book not only followed these girls but you also feel their pain and loneliness.  It also touches upon anorexia, rape, drug and alcohol abuse.  But because of Francesca Lia Block's writing style you might now pick up on it right away.  Even though this book is in the young adult section I do feel that a lot of the symbolism might go over a lot of young adults head.  But if you're one to be able to pick up on them than this would be a good book for you to read.

Book Review: Alterant

Alterant by Sherrilyn Kenyon and Dianna Love

Alterant by Sherrilyn Kenyon and Dianna Love is part of the Belador series.  While this series shares some similarities to Kenyon's Dark-Hunter Series it is a lot more different.  If you aren't a big fan of romance, this might be a good series to look into.  Also this series differs because instead of concentrating on just one character and their story line, it follows the story line of four different people who are tied together.

Now Alterant is the second release in the series and I suggest that you start with the first story because there were a lot of references of past problems that these characters came across.  Now you don't have to read the first story, but I do think it would help.

The story starts off when Evalle Kincade, who is an alterant and belador, is called to a tribunal to find missing alterants.  Alterants are these creatures who turn into monsters and are hunted.  Evalle is different because she's also a belador, who is a group of people trying to protect the human race.

The similarities that this series shares with the Dark-Hunter series is the use of mythology.  But in this series the mythology seems to be more specific with Celtic mythology.  While there is use of other deities from other pantheons, a lot of the terms and usage is of Celtic origin.

While in the story there is romantic connections and references, there wasn't a whole lot of hook up.  In fact there was only one, and it was in a dream so I don't think that counts.

From this book I get the feel that this series will be more a long the lines of Science Fiction and Fantasy.  I think because Kenyon wrote this story with another author it had another feeling and vibe that none of Kenyon's other's books have.

I enjoyed reading the series, it was a different switch from other Sherrilyn Kenyon books that I have read.  Because I'm such a geek, I enjoyed reading this book because it had been a while since I've read a book like this.

Rating:
4.5 out of 5

On Deck:
Jennifer Government by Max Barry
Confessions of a Sociopathic Social Climber  by Adele Lang