Bloodhound

Beka Cooper, the heroine of Terrier, is no longer a Puppy.

She's a Dog now—a full-fledged member of the Provost's Guard, dedicated to keeping peace in Tortall. But there's unrest throughout land. Counterfeit coins are turning up in shops all over the capital city of Corus, and the nation's economy is on the brink of collapse.

The Dogs discover that the counterfeit money seems to originate in Port Caynn. So Beka heads upriver to investigate, traveling with her mentor, Goodwin; Achoo, a hound whose nose is as sharp as her claws; and the pigeon Slapper, who carries the voices of the dead.

In Port Caynn, Beka delves deep into the gambling world, where she meets a charming banking clerk named Dale Rowan. Beka thinks she may be falling for Rowan, but she won't let anything—or anyone—jeopardize her mission. From the Silversmith's Guild to the Provost's House to the city sewers, it won't be enough for Beka to be her usual Terrier self. She'll have to learn from Achoo how to sniff out the criminals—to be a Bloodhound. . . .


*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

I still hold firm to the belief that Tamora Pierce is flawless.

This, like Terrier, was a reread.  However, unlike Terrier, I have only read Bloodhound once before, and that was perhaps two years ago.  So now, picking it up again? I knew nothing but the basic plot.  There were many twists and turns that had completely escaped my memory.  This is why I enjoy letting books sit for a while before picking them up again; the story seems a little new when you can't quite remember it.

Honestly, there isn't much to add that I haven't already said in my review of Terrier.  The world-building, the writing, and most of all, the characters, are all completely fantastic.  In the sequel to Terrier, we get to leave the Lower City and travel to the coast city of Port Caynn.  I loved the change of scenery, for several reasons.  For one, it was refreshing, exploring an entirely new place.  I love Corus and the Lower City, but a little switch of scenery is always appreciated.   For another, I loved seeing Goodwin and Beka in a different environment.  They weren't the same rough, assured Dogs covering their home turf.  In Bloodhound, you see so many different sides of these two fabulous characters, and I love it.

Which brings me to the third reason I love this little change: the characters.  There are so many new characters in this installation, and I love every last one of them.  I love Hanse, large and rowdy and completely crooked.  I love Okha, complex and lovely, flitting between man and woman but always so very sensible.  I love Nestor, sweet and stubborn and badass.  I love Dale Rowan, the charming flirt, the gambler, the man who is not perfect in any way but it is good enough for Beka.  I even love Pearl, the murdering Rogue with a sweet spot for animals.

But most of all . . . I love Achoo.  Achoo is undeniably my favorite character in this series, and one of my favorite characters, period.  And yes, she is a scent hound.  No, she doesn't speak.  Yes, she is the sweetest, loveliest, most loyal, bubbly, and fantastic hound one will ever read about, and if you don't love her you do not have a soul.

I did miss Pounce and his dry comments, though Achoo certainly made up for him.  I wish the conflict he'd settled amongst the stars had been elaborated upon; while I realize that Pounce is rather tight-lipped on that subject, as it is, it seems as though that was simply a plot device to get him out of the way.  So we could see how Beka fared without her constellation cat.

Pounce-ness aside, the plot was incredible.  Most books with such a formidable length have a tendency to drag, and I often think that significant portion could've been cut without harming the story.  I've never gotten that feeling from one of Tamora Pierce's books.  In her novels, every page counts.  There is not a single thing that doesn't happen for a reason.  This plot is huge and complex and perfect, and I really can't say much more without spoiling the book.

Honestly, even if this book weren't wonderful in its every aspect, I would recommend reading it just for Achoo.  Her magnificence leaks through the pages.

5 stars.

Legend

What was once the western United States is now home to the Republic, a nation perpetually at war with its neighbors. Born into an elite family in one of the Republic's wealthiest districts, fifteen-year-old June is a prodigy being groomed for success in the Republic's highest military circles. Born into the slums, fifteen-year-old Day is the country's most wanted criminal. But his motives may not be as malicious as they seem.

From very different worlds, June and Day have no reason to cross paths - until the day June's brother, Metias, is murdered and Day becomes the prime suspect. Caught in the ultimate game of cat and mouse, Day is in a race for his family's survival, while June seeks to avenge Metias' death. But in a shocking turn of events, the two uncover the truth of what has really brought them together, and the sinister lengths their country will go to keep its secrets.

Full of nonstop action, suspense, and romance, this novel is sure to move readers as much as it thrills.

This is one of my new favorite dystopians.

The fact is, this isn't one of those books that struck some deep chord inside of me.  It isn't a book that changed my outlook on life, and it isn't a book that talks about some pressing issue in society today.  What is it, then?  It's an incredibly entertaining book with wonderfully developed characters, smooth writing, and action that never stops.  It's a book that will grab you from the start and you won't realize it's over till you hit the final page.

My favorite part of Legend was probably the characters.  Some side characters were rather one dimensional, like the Commander, or Chian.  But then you had those really wonderful side characters; you had Tess, young and sweet and capable and utterly devoted to Day.  You have Metias, who I can't really say much about without giving away the book.  You have Thomas, who can be so terrible at times, who follows orders without thought, but who still cares about June, who probably thinks he's doing right.

And then there's the main characters, Day and June.  I have a love-hate relationship with dual POV.  When it's done right, it can be excellent. Sometimes it's exactly what a book needs.  But when it's done wrong, it ruins the book for me.  Maybe the author switches POVs at the most awkward and unnecessary of times; maybe the two narrators sound completely identical (this is particularly painful if it is a boy and a girl).  In any case, it's not fun to read through.

Marie Lu did it right.

Day and June were two entirely different people.  They were both intelligent, observant, agile, attractive.  In many ways, they were very similar people.  But their minds, their voices, were entirely different, and I loved that. Also, get this--Day . . . sounds like . . . a boy.  An honest-to-G-d boy.  And June, the supposed genius? Sounds like a genius.  Not in an obnoxious, I-will-shove-your-genius-face-into-these-pages kind of genius, but simply someone far more intelligent and observant than average.

They're both talented to the point that some may label them Mary Sue/Gary Stu.  But to me, they never came off that way.  I think there are three main reasons.  One: they had emotions.  They had emotions, ones that leapt off the page.  When a character we know for only one chapter died, I almost cried.  Whatever June and Day were going through, I felt it, as if I were the one who had lost a loved one.  Two: they had families.  They had family members, existing family members, that they cared about, that they would do anything for, that they placed above everything else.  In the YA world, where most families are dead or completely inconsequential, the huge role their families played in this not only set Legend apart but made the characters far more sympathetic.  And three: Their dynamic.  Quite simply, their dynamic was brilliant.  June and Day had incredible chemistry.  I am not just talking about the romantic element, or even just with each other.  The way they acted and reacted with this whole set of characters was just so realistic and genuine that I wanted to give Marie Lu a big high five. A really, really big high five.

The writing did exactly what it needed to: it let you focus on the characters and the plot.  There wasn't anything exceptional about the writing, but there didn't need to be; it moved the plot along and didn't distract the reader.  In an action-filled dystopian novel like this, simple writing is often the best choice.

And then there's the plot.  It's not one of those insanely unique and complicated plots that you just sit there gaping over and wondering how in the world the author ever concocted it.  But it was gripping and fascinating and extremely entertaining, and that's all I really ask of any plot.

I should be deducting a star, because there is little-to-no world-building.  We get almost no explanation about how the world came to be this way.  We aren't given a very clear idea of what the Republic and Colonies even look like (hoping there'll be a map in the next one).  But honestly? I'm giving this five stars. Some people rarely give five stars because they use that rating to mean something was flawless. I don't.  I have almost never found a book without flaw.  I give a book five stars when it was so fantastic that I can't give it anything lower. That was Legend for me.

Here's hoping the next one comes out soon! There wasn't a cliffhanger, thank G-d, but I still can't wait for the next book in this series.Thank you for being brilliant, Marie Lu.

5 stars.

Anna Dressed in Blood

Just your average boy-meets-girl, girl-kills-people story. . .

Cas Lowood has inherited an unusual vocation: He kills the dead.

So did his father before him, until his gruesome murder by a ghost he sought to kill. Now, armed with his father's mysterious and deadly athame, Cas travels the country with his kitchen-witch mother and their spirit-sniffing cat. Together they follow legends and local lore, trying to keep up with the murderous dead—keeping pesky things like the future and friends at bay.

When they arrive in a new town in search of a ghost the locals call Anna Dressed in Blood, Cas doesn't expect anything outside of the ordinary: move, hunt, kill. What he finds instead is a girl entangled in curses and rage, a ghost like he's never faced before. She still wears the dress she wore on the day of her brutal murder in 1958: once white, but now stained red and dripping blood. Since her death, Anna has killed any and every person who has dared to step into the deserted Victorian she used to call home.

And she, for whatever reason, spares his life.

I didn't know how I would feel about this one.  On the one hand, it had been receiving a lot of really positive reviews.  And the cover is absolutely and completely stunning (also a perfect depiction of Anna and her house).  But this is definitely not my usual genre, and I tend to be slightly mistrustful of the really gorgeous covers because they often conceal shoddy books.

I loved this.

I wasn't sure at first.  I think it's because I was so surprised.  The book seemed almost . . . chatty.  That was definitely not what I had been expecting.  I'd been expecting dark, gritty, haunting. I was thrown off.

But this is one of those books that just gets progressively better and better and when you finally finish the book you just sort of clutch it to your chest and ignore all the pointed stares aimed in your direction.

Like I said, this genre is outside my norm, but in the best of ways.  Despite the lighter atmosphere, this was still gory and creepy and awesome as hell.  It's an incredibly original idea, and the pacing was perfect--not too fast, not too slow, just enough foreshadowing and just enough of a shock factor when you figure everything out at the end.  Kudos to Blake for coming up with such a kickass plot in a market where romance has a tendency to take the reins.

I will say one thing: This book did not terrify me.  However, I think that's partially due to the inappropriate mood.  I read this primarily in school, during the day, surrounded by people, or at home, during the day, surrounded by people.  It's hard to believe in monsters when the sun's still out.  It's when you can no longer see them that they become real.

Blake's writing was very smooth.  Most of the time it was very informal; we were in Cas's head the entire time, with him as he wondered and agonized and, uh, slayed ghosts.  While the writing was usually fairly simple, it really shone when describing the ghosts, Anna in particular.  I could picture them perfectly, every frightening detail.

My favorite part of the book, though, would have to be the characters.  I really liked Cas.  He was much more . . . real than I thought he would be.  He wasn't some badass male version of Buffy the Vampire Slayer (This comparison is actually made in the book--high five, Blake, high five); he was, quite simply, a real boy with real thoughts and real limitations who only became a macho killer with the athame in his hand.  Sometimes he seemed quite a bit younger than seventeen, but that didn't really bug me.  I liked all the side characters--Thomas, so awkward and eager; Cas's mother; Morfrand.  I loved Carmel and how well she defied the popular girl stereotype.

But I'm going to tell you what nearly all the other reviews have said: Anna stole the spotlight.

She was just . . . perfect.  Not perfect as in she herself was flawless; perfect as in her characterization was flawless.  As I read through the book, I just thought, If a girl was killed and turned into a murderous ghost for half a century, this is exactly what she would be like.  She was on the quiet side, but she had fight.  She was wracked with guilt, but she didn't let it stop her.  She was powerful and deadly and unsure, scared and curious and stubborn.  And I loved her to pieces.

That ending may or may not have made me bury my face in the book and shun people for a solid five minutes.  I cannot wait for Girl of Nightmares. 

5 stars.

Happy Thanksgiving, Guys.

As cheesy as it sounds, I have so much to be grateful for this year.  I'm grateful that not only am I alive but I'm doing pretty well after all my health problems.  I'm grateful for my wonderful friends, offline and on.  I'm grateful for all those little things I don't really realize I'm grateful for until it's Thanksgiving.  I'm grateful for books, because without them, I wouldn't be me, and I'm grateful for writing, because without it, I'd never put my thoughts on paper.  I'm grateful for the whole great book blogging world, even though I've just recently joined it, because it is full of awesome people that constantly make my day better.  I'm grateful for all the little people and places and things that make this world an awesome, awesome place.

Happy Thanksgiving.