Review: Tamsin

Title: Tamsin


Author: Peter S Beagle

Why I read it: There was a cat on the cover ^_^

Summary (from Goodreads) Arriving in the English countryside to live with her mother and new stepfather, Jenny has no interest in her surroundings, until she meets Tamsin. Since her death over 300 years ago, Tamsin has haunted the lonely estate without rest, trapped by a hidden trauma she can't remember, and a powerful evil even the spirits of night cannot name. To help her, Jenny must delve deeper into the dark world than any human has in hundreds of years, and face danger that will change her life forever.

Opinion: This was one of my favorite books as a teenager. I first read it when I was about fifteen and I've read it twice since. It's a story of friendship, adventure, danger, ghosts, and the lovely English countryside. Perfect for October!

Ratings
Girl Power: 5 (Jenny is a strong, realistic, narrator who makes for a charming protagonist who stirs up trouble as much as she gets out of it)
Writing Style: 4 (First person is difficult to pull of, but it worked here. Peter S. Beagle managed to balance a believable voice by having an (slightly) older Jenny looking back on the strange events of her adolescents.)
Plot: 5 (It's not just a ghost story. It's mysterious. Funny. Heart-wrenching. Jenny's struggle of self-discovery and adventure in a new country is nicely interwoven with the tragic and romantic storyline of the ghosts.  It sucked me in at fifteen and it still sucks me in today.)

Overall: 5

Overall: This is one of my favorite books. I think Peter S. Beagle is one of the most under-appreciated authors I've ever read. 

Review: The Girl Who Chased the Moon

Title: The Girl Who Chased the Moon


Author: Sarah Addison Allen

Why I read it: The title caught my attention. Then I saw it took place in NC, my home state, so I thought I'd give it a try.

Summary (from Goodreads) Emily Benedict came to Mullaby, North Carolina, hoping to solve at least some of the riddles surrounding her mother’s life. Such as, why did Dulcie Shelby leave her hometown so suddenly? And why did she vow never to return? But the moment Emily enters the house where her mother grew up and meets the grandfather she never knew—a reclusive, real-life gentle giant—she realizes that mysteries aren’t solved in Mullaby, they’re a way of life: Here are rooms where the wallpaper changes to suit your mood. Unexplained lights skip across the yard at midnight. And a neighbor bakes hope in the form of cakes.

Opinion: It kept me hooked. The characters were interesting, realistic, treatable, likable. I read half of the book in one sitting. However, it seemed like there were two stories here and they were very disconnected. One was a very realistic story of a middle-aged woman facing down her past, while the other was a girl discovering a vaguely-supernatural secret about a mysterious family.

Ratings
Girl Power: 4 (Both Emily and Julia are well-rounded, realistic women full of determination. They aren't heroes, but they certainly aren't damsels in distress)
Writing Style: 4
Plot: 3 (One storyline is entirely plausible, taking place in a world identical to our own. The other starts out in this world, then delves into the supernatural in a way that felt forced. Both plots were good, on their own, but together they seemed disjointed. There was also a little too much emphasis on the love stories for my taste (both heroines seem to end up pursued by genuine attractive guys despite their callousness towards them).
Overall:3.5

Baseline For Book Reviews

In order to help you understand this blog's review system better, I'm going to share with you my thought process in reviewing books. Here is what I'm looking for:

Girl Power: Is the main character (or significant supporting character) female? Is she strong? She doesn't have to be Lara Croft, but she has be able to stand her ground (be it through strength, intelligence, compassion, etc). Basically, this is about how much girls drive the story (not just the off screen princess waiting to be rescued).

Writing style: Did it read seamlessly? Did it leave me thinking "wow, that was an amazing quote" or "that scene was so vivid, I can visualize it months after setting down the book?"  

Plot: This where my personal preference comes in. Was it engaging? Did it keep me turning the pages to find out what happened next? How much did I enjoy reading this book?

Sample Reviews
I thought I might review a few Popular series for you to use as a baseline:

Hunger Games
Girl Power: 5 (Katniss, our heroine, does the saving. Strong, defiant, conflicted, standing up for the weak: she's the definition of a hero. Only female.)
Writing Quality: 3 (The appeal of this series isn't in the language, but the plot. I've heard some readers complain of the choppy, short, direct sentences, but for me they worked with Katniss' mental state. Also, present tense is difficult to pull off for an entire novel, but again I think it worked fine).
Plot: 4 (I was sucked in from the first chapter and read most of the book in one sitting. While the last book got a little overly fast-paced for my taste, it was a solid consistent plot that kept my interest.)
Overall: 4

Harry Potter
Girl Power: 4 (while HP has some of the strongest female role-models in literary history, they take a back stage to our hero, Harry).
Writing Quality: 4 (this is the difficult in rating a series, for the quality of writing improves significantly from book 1 to book 7)
Plot: 4.5 (ok, it's nothing out of the ordinary--boy is faced with evil villain he must stop in order to save the world and all that's dear to him--but the sub-arcs, side-plots, and creation of the Wizzarding World make it feel unique and engaging)
Overall: 4

The Lord of the Rings
Girl Power: 1 (with the exception of Eowyn, the kick-ass warrior and devoted niece, women are pretty much nonexistent from these otherwise wonderful books)
Writing Quality: 4 (though his writing can be tedious at times, the vivid details and descriptions fully immerse us in another world)
Plot: 5 (purely because this is my favorite story ever told)
Overall: 3

Twilight
Girl Power: 1 (yes, our main character is female, and yes, she does have her moments, but for the most part she is very much a damsel in distress and that's not what I'm looking for)
Writing Quality: 2 (The words are there. They make sense. They tell a story. That's about all I can say).
Plot: 2 (Boy meets girl. They fall in love. Oh and there are vampires).
Overall: 2

Remember, the higher reviews are not necessarily the books I like best, but books I feel are most well-written female-character driven (because, after all, that's what this blog is about!)

What do you think of the ratings for these particular books? Do they seem fair or would you care to argue differently?

Review: The Book Thief

Title: The Book Thief 

Author: Markus Zusak

Why I picked it up: Required reading for a YA literature class in Undergrad at UNCW

Summary (Goodreads): It's just a small story really, about, among other things, a girl, some words, an accordionist, some fanatical Germans, a Jewish fist-fighter, and quite a lot of thievery. Set during World War II in Germany, Markus Zusak's groundbreaking new novel is the story of Liesel Meminger, a foster girl living outside of Munich. Liesel scratches out a meager existence for herself by stealing when she encounters something she can't resist: books. With the help of her accordion-playing foster father, she learns to read and shares her stolen books with her neighbors during bombing raids - as well as with the Jewish man hidden in her basement before he is marched to Dachau. This is an unforgettable story about the ability of books to feed the soul

Opinion: I usually don't like assigned books, but I loved this one. It's not just another WWII novel, it's a new and exciting tale that sucks you into the life of a powerless girl in Nazi Germany. Liesel is an ordinary, relatable protagonist who does the best she can, through small deeds, to keep the world from crumbling around her.

Ratings
Girl Power: 5 (Liesel is no hero, but she finds power in a world that makes her powerless).
Writing Style: 5 (straight to the point, yet beautiful).
Plot: 4 (it's not really plot-driven, but more of a literary 'sit and savor the scene' book).
Overall: 5

This is a must read for anyone who likes literary, funky, or off the beaten path books (though I know it's become quite popular in recent years--deservedly so!) 

I have not seen the film yet on this one. If you have, I'd love to hear your thoughts on it? Did it live up to the book?

Review: Gates of Ivrel

Title: Gates of Ivrel

Author: C.J. Cherryh

Why I picked it up: My mother recommended it as one of her favorites (great taste, Mom!)

Summary (stolen from Goodreads): Scattered about the galaxy were the time-space Gates of a vanished but not forgotten alien race. In their time, long before the rise of the native civilizations, they had terrorized a hundred worlds—not from villainy but from folly, from tampering with the strands that held a universe together. Now the task was to uproot these Gates, destroy their potency for mischief, take horror out of the hands of the few who hungered for power by misuse of the Gates.

Opinion: Alright, so the main protagonist isn't female in this one, but the story revolves around a woman (and not in the usual lovestruck way). Morgaine, taking it upon herself to seal the Gates though it may very-well kill her, is a classic hero. Strong, powerful, persuasive, altruistic. And a woman! What more could you ask for?

Ratings
Girl Power: 5 (Morgaine is kick-ass)
Writing Style: 5 (very Tolkien-esque, if you like that).
Plot: 4.5 (unique, suspenseful, a little confusing at times)
Overall: 5

If you're a fellow Tolkien fan, but want want to see more tough females amongst all those heroes, this is for you.