Review of Clarity by Kim Harrington

Released: March 1, 2011

242 pages, hardcover

Interest: Debut author challenge, psychics

Summary

When you can see things others can't, where do you look for the truth?

This paranormal murder mystery will have teens reading on the edge of their seats.

Clarity "Clare" Fern sees things. Things no one else can see. Things like stolen kisses and long-buried secrets. All she has to do is touch a certain object, and the visions come to her. It's a gift.

And a curse.

When a teenage girl is found murdered, Clare's ex-boyfriend wants her to help solve the case--but Clare is still furious at the cheating jerk. Then Clare's brother--who has supernatural gifts of his own--becomes the prime suspect, and Clare can no longer look away. Teaming up with Gabriel, the smoldering son of the new detective, Clare must venture into the depths of fear, revenge, and lust in order to track the killer. But will her sight fail her just when she needs it most?

Summary from Goodreads.com

Review

One part mystery, one part paranormal, with the tiniest dash of romance.

If I had to chose one word to describe this book it would be refreshing.

• There was a romance.  There was kissing.  The characters were still getting to know each other though.  There was no rush to use the L word.  They simply liked each other.  A novel concept.
• There is a love triangle, which normally bother me, but I did like both guys in this case, and Clare is not “in love” yet, so there’s still time to decide.
• Clarity can “see”, yet she’s not alone in her gift.  Her mother and brother have different psychic abilities too.  They don’t hid their abilities either, they run a business catered to tourists in Cape Cod. 
• Since Clare’s abilities aren’t a secret, she gets a bit of crap about them from her peers.  For someone so generally ostracized, she does seem to have all the guys in town crushing on her.
• Clare uses her abilities to solve a mystery, but they don’t solve it all, there’s still plenty of normal detective work and common sense employed.
• Clarity was a short book, at 242 pages, yet it didn’t feel like anything was left out, or incomplete.  There will be more though, and I look forward to seeing Clarity again.

Rating

Cover: 10/10 Love it, well matched, my only complaint is that she looks more blonde than red-headed there.

Plot: 9/10

Characters: 10/10

Ending: 9/10

Overall enjoyment: 9/10

Grade: 94% A

Parental guide: Clare’s brother is a bit of a man-slut, we’re told not shown about it (Thank you!).  There’s also some swearing.

Top Ten Authors that Deserve More Recognition

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish.  They are very fond of lists.  Each week they post a new top ten list relating to all things bookish.  Check it out and be sure to link your own list there.

This week’s topic is:

Top ten authors that deserve more recognition

1. Janette Rallison-she’s personally one of my favorite authors, yet hasn’t had any bestsellers yet.  She writes YA romantic comedies.  My favorites being: My Unfair Godmother, My Double Life, and Revenge of the Cheerleaders.

2.Georgette Heyer-I hadn’t heard of her because she died before I was born.  She wrote regency romances, which if you’re a fan of Jane Austen, I highly recommend.  They’re clever, and not Austen spin-offs.

3. Juliet Marillier-Can I just say, Wildwood Dancing?  One of the best fairytale renditions.

4. Ally Carter-Okay, she is already recognized for her Gallagher Girls series, but she also has a really great chick-lit novel, Cheating at Solitaire.

5. Carrie Jones-Her Need series first felt an awful lot like Twilight, but the more it has progressed, the more I have enjoyed her wit, style, and plots.

6. Gail Carson Levine-She wrote my favorite children’s book of all time, Ella Enchanted.

7. Patricia Wrede-for Dealing with Dragons which was the first book I got my husband to read with me.  It’s a story of dragons and a princess without being girly.

8. Andrew Clements-I realized I didn’t have any male authors on my list.  For middle grade realistic fiction he’s an author I would always recommend.

I think I’m stuck at 8 this week, but I look forward to seeing your lists. 

Next week we’ll be coving the top ten covers you’d like to change (not necessarily because they’re bad).

Top Ten Bookish Pet Peeves

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish.  They are very fond of lists.  Each week they post a new top ten list relating to all things bookish.  Check it out and be sure to link your own list there.

This week’s topic is:

Top Ten Bookish Pet Peeves

1. Love triangles.  I’m sorry, I know other people love them.  I don’t as a general rule.  They make me feel like my main character is fickle.

2. Inexplicable attraction equaling love.  I see this a lot in paranormal romances.  They meet, they yearn for one another, they make-out, and now, they’re in love.  Sometimes without any meaningful conversation. 

3. Cliffhangers.  I love a good series, but sometimes I feel like a book is cut off at the end just because they could get a deal for more than one book, when the one book would have sufficed.

4. Long descriptions.  When the descriptions of the flora and fauna are too long my eyes glaze over, and I skip paragraphs.

5. Books or authors with social agendas.  I read for fun, not to expand my horizons.

6. Sex and/or excessive swearing in YA books.

7. The way that Amazon.com groups books together for shipping.  Sometimes I have one book shipping next month, one in six months, and two available now, and they group the two available books with the last shipment instead of the first available.  Grr…

8. People who get really offended about reviews.  We’re all just sharing our opinions.  You don’t have to agree, but we can all be nice about it.

9. Whiplash endings.  You know the book: the build-up of the story took over 200 pages, and now it’s resolved in ten, yet leaving you with many unanswered questions.

10. When release dates get pushed back.  I have no problem when they get moved up :)

Next week-- Top Ten Authors That Deserve More Recognition

Can’t Hardly Wait (7)

This is a weekly meme, inspired by Waiting on Wednesdays, hosted at Breaking the Spine.  It’s dedicated to the books that I am highly anticipating, not so patiently…This week’s choice is:

Entwined by Heather Dixon

Releases March 29, 2011

Azalea is trapped. Just when she should feel that everything is before her . . . beautiful gowns, dashing suitors, balls filled with dancing . . . it's taken away. All of it.

The Keeper understands. He's trapped, too, held for centuries within the walls of the palace. And so he extends an invitation.

Every night, Azalea and her eleven sisters may step through the enchanted passage in their room to dance in his silver forest.

But there is a cost.

The Keeper likes to keep things.

Azalea may not realize how tangled she is in his web until it is too late.

(Summary from Goodreads.com)

I absolutely love the story of the twelve dancing princesses.  I think I pre-ordered this at least six months ago.  I love the cover too.  Where can I get all of the gorgeous dresses they’ve been showing lately? 

What are you excited about?

Top Ten Characters I’d Want as Family Members

Top Ten Tuesday is a meme hosted by The Broke and The Bookish.  Feel free to check it out, and link up your own post there.  This week’s topic is:

Top Ten Characters I’d Want as Family Members

1. Bethany Lange in Straight Stalk by Tera Lynn Childs.  She’s southern, sweet, and has a knack discerning what people look good in.  She would be the perfect sister to help me with my sense of style, which to be honest, is not that discerning.

2. Kate from Sorcery and Cecelia by Patricia Wrede and Caroline Stevemer.  She would have gotten me into trouble, no doubt, but also told great stories to get me out of it. 

3. Quince Fletcher from Forgive my Fins by Tera Lynn Childs (noticing a favorite author here?).  Quince makes most of my lists.  I didn’t have any brothers, but I would have liked to have him.  He sees things about people which I think would have made him great at giving advice.  He would’ve teased me mercilessly too.

4. Jenny Greenly from Teen Idol by Meg Cabot.  Jenny Greenly is “everybody’s best friend”, likes and is liked by everybody, she gives great advice, and she unites people. I’m sure she’d keep my family together.

5. Penny Lane from Lonely Hearts Club by Elizabeth Eulberg.  Penny is a person that you want on your side.  She’d be supportive and kind.

6. Charlie Swan from the Twilight series.  I would pick Charlie as my father.  I just love his sense of humor, and he how loving he is.

7. __________ (insert correct name here) the little brother from The Lost Saint by Bree Despain.  I want him in my family, as my son.  He’s sweet, and I just love him doing “the wild rumpus” and dressing up as Max from Where the Wild Things Are.

8. Skippyjon Jones from Skippyjon Jones by Judy Schachner.  We have a cat.  He’s very lazy.  Skippyjon Jones on the other hand, is not.  If you haven’t read it, it’s one of my favorite read-aloud picture books ever.

9. Bernie Kossar from I Am Number Four by Pitticus Lore.  I’m not a dog person, but if I were ever to become one, he’s my pick.  He’s beyond loyal, and not so slobbery!

10. I leave blank.  I can’t pick out my literary husband for my family, at the risk of alienating my actual husband.  Plus, it wouldn’t really be fair to compare him to a made up character…

How about you?  Who would you want in your literary family?

Tune in next week for Top Ten Bookish Pet Peeves.

Can’t Hardly Wait (6)

This is a weekly meme, inspired by Waiting on Wednesdays, hosted at Breaking the Spine.  It’s dedicated to the books that I am highly anticipating, not so patiently…This week’s choice is:

Wither by Lauren DeStefano

What if you knew exactly when you would die?

Thanks to modern science, every human being has become a ticking genetic time bomb—males only live to age twenty-five, and females only live to age twenty. In this bleak landscape, young girls are kidnapped and forced into polygamous marriages to keep the population from dying out.

When sixteen-year-old Rhine Ellery is taken by the Gatherers to become a bride, she enters a world of wealth and privilege. Despite her husband Linden's genuine love for her, and a tenuous trust among her sister wives, Rhine has one purpose: to escape—to find her twin brother and go home.

But Rhine has more to contend with than losing her freedom. Linden's eccentric father is bent on finding an antidote to the genetic virus that is getting closer to taking his son, even if it means collecting corpses in order to test his experiments. With the help of Gabriel, a servant Rhine is growing dangerously attracted to, Rhine attempts to break free, in the limited time she has left (Summary from Goodreads.com).

Sounds creepy, huh?

Releases on March 22, 2011

What books are you waiting for?

Review of The Vespertine by Saundra Mitchell

Released: March 7, 2011

Pages: 293 (Hardcover)

Interest: Debut Author Challenge,

beautiful dress on the cover

Summary

It’s the summer of 1889, and Amelia van den Broek is new to Baltimore and eager to take in all the pleasures the city has to offer. But her gaiety is interrupted by disturbing, dreamlike visions she has only at sunset—visions that offer glimpses of the future. Soon, friends and strangers alike call on Amelia to hear her prophecies. However, a forbidden romance with Nathaniel, an artist, threatens the new life Amelia is building in Baltimore. This enigmatic young man is keeping secrets of his own—still, Amelia finds herself irrepressibly drawn to him.

When one of her darkest visions comes to pass, Amelia’s world is thrown into chaos. And those around her begin to wonder if she’s not the seer of dark portents, but the cause.

Summary from Goodreads.com

Review

The first thing I had to do after finishing this book was look up the word vespers.  Amelia’s visions occur “in the vespers”, and then there is the title, so for anyone else who was curious, it refers to the time of day (sunset). 

The Vespertine took gothic romance to a new and delicious level.  It’s a time where all young women do is go on walks, make calls, receive calls, and go to parties.  The mystical is en vogue, and when Amelia starts having visions of the future, the invitations come flooding in.  Most of the story is about Amelia and Zara, their friendship, day to day lives, and respective romances.

It’s a delicious setting, where walking with a man unchaperoned is unheard of, and kisses have to be stolen.  It makes the romance even more delicious when just the touch on the hand can send tingles down your spine.

If you’re a fan of the paranormal or historical fiction, I highly recommend The Vespertine.

Rating

Cover: 10/10

Plot: 10/10

Characters: 9/10

Ending: 10/10 Shocking, is all I have to say!

Overall Enjoyment: 9/10

Grade: 96% A

Book Recommendations

The Season by Sarah MacLean-Another great period piece with “stolen” kisses

Top Ten Dynamic Duos

 

Top Ten Tuesday is a meme hosted by The Broke and The Bookish.  Feel free to check it out, and link up your own post there.  This week’s topic is:

Top Ten Dynamic Duos

These are the BFFs, partners in crime, powerful couples, and general groups of awesome people that I just can't get out of my head!  Next week--Top Ten Characters I'd Want As Family Members

1. Kat and Hale in Heist Society by Ally Carter.  They steal art together, they finish each other’s sentences, and feel a fierce protectiveness for one another. 

2. Harry, Ron, and Hermione from the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling.  Okay, so I stole this one off of Kelly’s list at the Broke and the Bookish, but really, she’s right.  Harry wouldn’t have been successful without them by his side.

3. Anne Elliot and Captain Wentworth from Persuasion by Jane Austen.  You have to give them credit, pining for each other for eight years, and eventually having the courage to make it right.

4. Lily and Quince in Forgive my Fins by Tera Lynn Childs.  I think I would use them on any list that I can.  I just love the chemistry, the teasing, and how Quince knows Lily better than she does herself.

5. Bronwen and Whitt in I Now Pronounce You Someone Else by Erin McCahan.  This was a step-father/daughter relationship that made me cry, in a good way.  Sigh…

6. Bella and Edward from the Twilight Saga by Stephenie Meyer.  It’s cliché now, but I love them.  Edward gets away with behavior that coming from anyone else would be creepy, but he’s a still a gentleman.

7. Cecy and Kate in Sorcery and Cecelia by Patricia Wrede and Caroline Stevemer.  Cecy and Kate are cousins, best friends, and seem to get into and out of a lot of scrapes together.

8. Duck and Farmer Brown in the Click Clack Moo, Cows That Type books by Cronin and Lewin.  Duck is just so good at outsmarting Farmer Brown, and it’s funny to see.

That’s about all I’ve got this week.  What are your top ten?

Can’t Hardly Wait (5)

This is my weekly meme, inspired by Waiting on Wednesdays, hosted at Breaking the Spine.  It’s dedicated to the books that I am highly anticipating, not so patiently…This week’s choice is:

A Touch Mortal by Leah Clifford

Eden didn't expect Az.

Not his saunter down the beach toward her. Not his unbelievable pick-up line. Not the instant, undeniable connection. And not his wings.

Yeah.

So long, happily-ever-after.

Now trapped between life and death, cursed to spread chaos with her every touch, Eden could be the key in the eternal struggle between heaven and hell. All because she gave her heart to one of the Fallen, an angel cast out of heaven.

She may lose everything she ever had. She may be betrayed by those she loves most. But Eden will not be a pawn in anyone else's game. Her heart is her own.

And that's only the beginning of the end.

Summary from Goodreads.com

 

Release date: February 22, 2011

Yeah, it’s out already, but technically, I’m still waiting on my copy from Amazon.

 

What are YOU waiting for?