Palace Beautiful by Sarah DeFord Williams: Review

Palace Beautiful

By: Sarah DeFord Williams

Synopsis (From Goodreads): When sisters Sadie and Zuzu Brooks move to Salt Lake City, they discover a secret room in the attic of their new house, with a sign that reads “Palace Beautiful” and containing an old journal. Along with their neighbor, dramatic Belladonna Desolation (real name: Kristin Smith), they take turns reading the story of a girl named Helen living during the flu epidemic of 1918. The journal ends with a tragedy that has a scary parallel to Sadie and Zuzu’s lives, and the girls become obsessed with finding out what happened to Helen after the journal ends. Did she survive the flu? Is she still alive somewhere? Or could her ghost be lurking in the nearby graveyard?
Sarah DeFord Williams has created a gripping read that covers two time periods, many fantastic characters, and a can’t-put-it-down ending, all with delightful, extraordinary prose.

My Review: I'd like to say first off that this is a middle-grade book, not young adult. So, I'm going to be writing this review based on how I feel this book connects with its target audience.


This was such a beautiful story. There were so many things I liked about this book, but one of the things that struck me was how many lessons it taught without being "preachy."  The girls in this story deal with death, moving, step-parents/mixed families, and feelings of neglect and loneliness.

I'm not usually one to enjoy stories about the early years in Utah. Because I've grown up here, sometimes I feel like those stories are crammed down my throat and they get a little old. But, this story was fresh and something I knew very little about: the flu epidemic of 1918. What a scary and horrific experience for those people. I felt like the story accurately portrayed how a young girl would handle that crisis.

The writing was also very well done. I loved the way she described colors so vividly. It made the story come to life, and made it much more real. The relationship between Sadie and Zuzu was one I could relate to as the oldest child of five. There were times I loved my siblings and other times when I just wanted them to disappear. Especially when I was playing with my friends.

One thing that was a little weird about this book was the fact that it was supposed to be set in the 1980's. I really didn't get that until about halfway through the book when they mentioned the year. There were almost no references to the cultural "quirks" of the 1980's to make me believe it really was the 1980's. But, most kids reading this story today would have no clue what life was like before computers and cell phones. So, no biggie.

And, I must confess, this story made me cry my eyes out. I think I have some lingering hormonal issues from having a baby, because any story that involves a mother/child relationship will make me lose it. In fact, I started reading this book pretty late in the evening and had to continue late into the night because I HAD to know how it ended. It's a rare thing to have a middle-grade novel hold my attention like that. I would highly recommend this book to kids ages 7-11ish. Very well done.
My Rating:
I gave this book 5 stars

Profanity: None
Drugs and Alcohol: None
Sexuality: None
Violence: None

Teaser Tuesday: The Mermaid's Mirror

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

 The Mermaid's Mirror 

by: LK Madigan

Pub. Date: October 4, 2010

Lena made her way down to the edge of the water, where the sand was rippled from having been underwater a few hours ago.  The tide was out, but she could feel the urgency of the sea... Soon the tide would sweep back in and cover the sand where she stood.  The waves pounded as if hungry for shore.

 Wow, the imagery in that short snippet is awesome! I can't wait to read more!

Guest Blog at The Book Zone!

A good few weeks ago, just before I moved, the excellent Darren over at The Book Zone asked me if I would like to o review Inside My Head by Jim Carrington as a guest blog. I jumped at the chance, and after finally getting settled in I had time to read it and boy what a read it is! You can check out my review here.

Once again, thanks Darren!

The Dead and Gone by Susan Beth Pfeffer: Review

The Dead and Gone

By: Susan Beth Pfeffer

This book is a companion/sequel to Life as We Knew It. Check out my review.

 

Synopsis (From Goodreads): Susan Beth Pfeffer’s Life as We Knew It enthralled and devastated readers with its brutal but hopeful look at an apocalyptic event--an asteroid hitting the moon, setting off a tailspin of horrific climate changes. Now this harrowing companion novel examines the same events as they unfold in New York City, revealed through the eyes of seventeen-year-old Puerto Rican Alex Morales. When Alex's parents disappear in the aftermath of tidal waves, he must care for his two younger sisters, even as Manhattan becomes a deadly wasteland, and food and aid dwindle.

 

With haunting themes of family, faith, personal change, and courage, this powerful new novel explores how a young man takes on unimaginable responsibilities. 

My Review: Hats off to Susan Beth Pfeffer. I thought no book could freak me out as much as Life as We Knew It. I was totally wrong.  When I started reading this book I braced myself for what I knew was coming. Lots of death, destruction and despair. But, even though I was prepared for it, I still felt incredibly emotionally involved in this novel. 
 
Alex was a great main character. I was just commenting on a post the other day about cliche's and things missing from YA novels. One of the things I mentioned that I'd like to see more of is a main character with a religion. But, not in a religious book. Alex definitely had that. His religion was a huge part of the book, but it wasn't in a way that was overbearing or annoying. Very well done. His religion was important to the story as he had to challenge some of the beliefs that he had his whole life. (Looting bodies, cremation, etc.)

This book was much sadder than Life as We Knew It. People very close to the main character died. The descriptions of death were much more gruesome. Everything in this book was so horrible that I could not put it down.  I had to keep reading to make sure that everything ended up okay.

I think that Pfeffer has nailed the survival instincts of humans. Everything in the novel is totally plausible to me, and that's what made the book so real.

Anyway, despite what it sounds like in this review, I loved this book. This is about as good as it gets in post-apocalyptic fiction.

My Rating:
I gave this book 5 stars

Book-a-likes:
If you like post-apocalyptic fiction, you'll like this one.

Profanity: None
Drugs and Alcohol: Mild. Brief mentioning of vodka a few times.
Sexuality: Mild. Mentioned once
Violence:Mild. Not so much violence as just a lot of death.

There are two sides to every story...

Updated the blog with a really cool The Short Second Life Of Bree Tanner countdown! It's just made me feel pretty excited!

In My Mailbox 5/1

IMM is a weekly meme hosted and created by Kristie at The Story Siren and was inspired by Alea at Pop Culture Junkie.

I am not doing a vlog today since I only got two books. And who wants to watch a video with only two books in it?.. In fact, I wasn't even going to do a post, because up until Friday, I hadn't received any books in the mail. But, the fedex man came and brought me...

Nightshade

By: Andrea Cremer
Release Date: October 19, 2010

Isn't that cover delicious?! I've seen some pretty positive buzz for this book, so I'm excited to read it. And, I know The Literati will love it. (The teenage reading and writing group I'm an adviser for). It's a pretty hefty ARC at 450 pages.

Also, I might be getting this wrong, but I'm pretty sure that Andrea had to change her main character's name from Calla to Cassia. I thought I read that on her website, and now I can't remember where I found it. So, if I'm wrong, I'm sorry...  Here's the synopsis of the book from Goodreads:

While other teenage girls daydream about boys, Calla Tor imagines ripping out her enemies’ throats. And she wouldn’t have it any other way. Calla was born a warrior and on her eighteenth-birthday she’ll become the alpha female of the next generation of Guardian wolves. But Calla’s predestined path veers off course the moment she saves the life of a wayward hiker, a boy her own age. This human boy’s secret will turn the young pack's world upside down and forever alter the outcome of the centuries-old Witches' War that surrounds them all.

And... the book trailer:



Doesn't that look awesome? Look for it in October.

I stopped by the Wandering Wardrobe also to see if they had any new (used) books in. I think I cleaned them out last time... I did pick up Among the Barons by Margaret Peterson Haddix. Love her stuff! Even though this book is in the middle of the series, it's one I like, and one fewer I have to borrow from the library!

In My Postbox #4

In My Mailbox idea from Kristi @ The Story Siren, and all links take you to Amazon.

All 3 of the bookks I got this week are courtesy of the brilliant Michelle Harrison and Oxford University Press! :D

The Museum's Secret by Henry Chancellor.

"An irresistible adventure in a world full of dust, insects, magic potions, missing jewels and stuffed animals . . . Welcome to the Scatterhorn Museum! But don't get too excited - it's a cold and dingy place, crammed full of tatty stuffed animals and junk. Nobody much wants to visit any more, and its days are surely numbered. But when Tom is sent to live here he soon finds there is more to this museum than meets the eye. The animals may be shabby and moth-eaten - but they possess an incredible secret. And when Tom discovers he can go right back to the time of their making, a hundred years earlier, he embarks on a journey full of unimaginable terrors . . . Join Tom in his breathtaking adventure in and out of time, from an Edwardian ice fair and the wastes of Mongolia, to the jungles of India, and beyond . . ."

This book sounds brilliant and I cannot wait to read it! And the cover is just stunning!

Shark Island by David Miller.

"Treasure Island meets The Beach in the return of the great adventure novel. Hanna, Ned and their parents are on the holiday of a lifetime on the paradise island of Kaitan. But the idyll is shattered when pirates come in the night, burning their house and kidnapping their mother and father. The children are stranded, and don't even know if their parents are alive or dead . . . In this action-packed adventure, there is no one to help. Survival and escape are up to Hanna and Ned."

This sounds really really insanely good. Every boy loves a bit of a action thriller, right? And the cover in the flesh is amazing. I cannot wait to read this one!

Calling A Dead Man by Gillian Cross.

"John Cox is dead, killed in an explosion while at work. His younger sister Hayley can't believe he's gone. Determined to see the place of his death, she flies to Moscow with John's fiancée, Annie-but the site they're shown isn't where John died. Suddenly it seems that there's more to his death than a tragic accident. Using a tracking system to locate John's mobile phone, Hayley and Annie find the real site of the explosion . . . but they are completely at the mercy of John's former Russian boss and his English speaking son, who have taken them there. Upon recovering the phone, it's clear that John is still alive. Meanwhile, in the Siberian forest, John is being nursed back from the brink of death by a village woman. As he slowly recovers he begins to piece together the truth: he's at the heart of a dangerous power struggle between two brothers who are desperate to silence him-for good."

This sounds brililliant. And the cover art is stunning. Probably one of my favourites ever. It's just so brilliant! And the picture doesn't even begin to do it justice! OUP outdid themselves this time with this cover!!!

Excited to start reading now! Hope everyone has a great week!