ARC Review: Rooms by Lauren Oliver

Title: Rooms Author: Lauren Oliver Published: September 23, 2014 by Ecco Books (Harper Collins) (Amazon / Goodreads) Synopsis: The New York Times bestselling author of Before I Fall and the Delirium trilogy makes her brilliant adult debut with this mesmerizing story in the tradition of The Lovely Bones, Her Fearful Symmetry, and The Ocean at the End of the Lane—a tale of family, ghosts, secrets, and mystery, in which the lives of the living and the dead intersect in shocking, surprising, and moving ways.  Wealthy Richard Walker has just died, leaving behind his country house full of rooms packed with the detritus of a lifetime. His estranged family—bitter ex-wife Caroline, troubled teenage son Trenton, and unforgiving daughter Minna—have arrived for their inheritance. But the Walkers are not alone. Prim Alice and the cynical Sandra, long dead former residents bound to the house, linger within its claustrophobic walls. Jostling for space, memory, and supremacy, they observe the family, trading barbs and reminiscences about their past lives. Though their voices cannot be heard, Alice and Sandra speak through the house itself—in the hiss of the radiator, a creak in the stairs, the dimming of a light bulb. The living and dead are each haunted by painful truths that will soon surface with explosive force. When a new ghost appears, and Trenton begins to communicate with her, the spirit and human worlds collide—with cataclysmic results. Elegantly constructed and brilliantly paced, Rooms is an enticing and imaginative ghost story and a searing family drama that is as haunting as it is resonant.

*** I received an advance copy of this book free from the publisher at BEA for an honest view in return. This fact has not changed my opinion ***

I'm so glad I waited to read Rooms until the very end of October. This was the perfect book to read this time of year. The writing, the complex and mysterious characters, the intricate and exciting plot all screamed fall to me.

This is the first book I have read by Lauren Oliver and I was extremely impressed by her writing style. It flowed with grace and beauty. Sometimes when I'm reading I'll find quotes that strike me as interesting or deep and I'll want to write them down on a post-it note to remember later. It has been awhile since I've done that, but Rooms had me writing down more than a few quotes. I wouldn't have predicted that a book about ghosts would have had such a deep commentary about life, but it did. The book will keep you awake at night but not in the traditional scary story sense. It will keep you awake thinking and reflecting in a way that you didn't quite anticipate. But more than that, Lauren's prose perfectly established the mood of this story. It was atmospheric and mysterious. It was spooky but not scary. Throughout the book, I felt this sense of uncertainty and wonder, all established by Lauren's style of writing.

But in addition to her prose, when I say Lauren's writing I also mean her expert handling of the intricate plot of the story. This book is extremely layered. The pacing is a little slow at times, but it is also the kind of book that you can read 50 pages without even realizing it. I wasn't sure I was enjoying it until I got about three-quarters of the way in when I didn't want to put it down. That is the point where Lauren starts to peel back the layers and reveal truths she had been keeping under wraps. From there it's like a downward (upward?) spiral. It's big reveal after shocking twist, and the last 50 pages had me gasping audibly and holding back tears on a crowded bus. If you can be patient with this book, there is a big payoff at the end.

However, it may be a little too intricate. The book is told from a lot of different perspectives and from characters both living and dead. And while I understand it was a big part of the story, it was a little confusing. At the beginning of the book I would have said that this is more character-driven than plot-driven. It was more about learning the characters to establish the basis for the story. We need to be able to slowly learn from them their story and history, to see what they are holding back and what they don't want us to know. At least a few of them were unreliable narrators and I wasn't sure who to believe and that wasn't necessarily a good thing at times. I would also forget who was talking, I would mix characters and back stories up, and I would wonder why we were hearing from that character at that time. But then when the plot started to kick into high gear then it started to all make more sense. In the end it all ended up tying together and making sense. 

Exploring old houses is something that I have always been extremely interested in. I always wonder what the house was like when it was first built, what certain rooms were used for, and what had happened there throughout it's history. I have wanted to read a book like that for some time and I found that in Rooms. It's not your typical haunted house story nor is it your typical mystery. It effortlessly combines elements of the two to make something unique and interesting. It's a book more about the secrets of a house and the people who have inhabited it. If you are looking for a "scare your pants off" Halloween story then keep moving. But for me it was perfect. It was an interesting combination of supernatural and mysterious. It was the perfect kind of mystery where the whole thing was so expertly planned that in the end little things made a huge difference. The end built to a thrilling climax that shocked me more than once. It was the essence of fall for me. It was a cold wind blowing by a dark and mysterious house full of secrets.

I give Rooms by Lauren Oliver a 9 out of 10

Buy/Borrow/Bypass: Buy! If you are looking for an atmospheric novel that takes you on the mysterious exploration of an old house then I definitely suggest this book. It will appeal to fans of mysteries and thrillers more than fans of horror despite the supernatural elements. And while this is an adult book with sexual content and swearing it does have some crossover appeal. If Rooms isn't already on your list, add it!

Book Review: The Turn of the Screw by Henry James

Title: The Turn of the Screw Author: Henry James Published: October 1898 by Macmillain (Amazon / Goodreads) Synopsis: A young governess arrives at a secluded country estate, hired by the manor’s often-absent master to look after his orphaned niece and nephew. The young woman, a parson’s daughter, is immediately charmed by eight-year-old Flora—and Miles, two years older, seems like a perfect little gentleman when he is unexpectedly sent home from his boarding school. But Miles’s steadfast refusal to reveal the cause of his expulsion is troubling, as are the staff’s whispered stories about the previous governess, Miss Jessel, and her lover, the mysterious valet, Peter Quint, both of whom are now dead. Most disturbing of all are the spectral figures wandering the grounds of Bly that only the new governess can see: a woman and a dark man who seem to take a special interest in Miles and Flora. No longer sure of what is real and whom she can trust, the governess desperately tries to hold on to her sanity and protect the innocent children from forces too sinister to name. A literary masterpiece whose mysteries are open to endless interpretation, The Turn of the Screw has been haunting readers for more than a century.

It's been awhile since I have read a classic. Legit read a classic, a book published in the 19th century or earlier. That would probably be The Wizard of Oz which I read in June. It's been even longer since I can say that I enjoyed a classic written in the 19th century. That distinction lies with a Henry James novel I read in February, The Portrait of a Lady. Therefore I was excited to read another Henry James novel this month and enjoyed his work just as much as I had in February. He's quickly becoming a favorite author for me.

And while The Portrait of a Lady was James' response to Regency Romances ala Jane Austen, The Turn of the Screw is his response to the Gothic Horror of the time (there are even some direct references to some of the more popular books within the genre). It plays on certain tropes from those kind of novels including the main character being a governess, the creepy old house full of secrets, and even the idea of ghost, and haunted houses. As a fan of those types of stories and also someone who has been a little critical of them it was great to see not only the similarities but what was taken as a good part of the genre and what was changed to act as a sort of criticism. It's one of the things I love about Henry James. It's like he sees what is popular and thinks "I can make that better" or better yet "I can make that more realistic." Henry James is a writer for readers (an absurd thing to say but I hope you get what I mean).

But what he does really well with these ideas is create a real atmospheric sense of mystery and unease. I have been a little disappointed by some of the ghost stories that I have been reading this month. They just didn't create the spooky sense of unease that I look for in these types of stories. But Henry James did create that. His ghosts weren't the kind that went around "haunting" people and scaring them around corners of the house (although that did happen). These are the kind of ghosts that were even more sinister. they were influencing people to do what they want. The point definitely cam across and despite the slow start by the conclusion of the book I was on the edge of my seat curious about what was going to happen and slightly overwhelmed by the conclusion.

And after reading two of his novels, I noticed that another thing that Henry James does really is create interesting and complex characters that you can't help but like, even when you hate them. In this case we have the unnamed main character, the governess. While she is not the most complex and interesting of characters it is still pretty easy to connect with her and her story. Perhaps it is Henry James' narrative style. It's like you are sitting in front of a campfire listening her tell you a ghost story. And the secondary characters are definitely well-rounded and interesting. Both the two children and the two ghosts are interesting and keep you guessing throughout the entire story.

The Turn of the Screw is a novella or short story so it's definitely a quick read. If you are looking for a quick and interesting classic ghost story to read around this time of year then I definitely suggest The Turn of the Screw by Henry James.

I give The Turn of the Screw by Henry James an 8.5 out of 10 

Have you read The Turn of the Screw? What did you think? What are some of your favorite ghost stories and what do you look for to make them spooky? Leave me a comment with your thoughts and of course HAPPY READING!

Book Review: The Raven Boys by Maggie Steifvater

Title: The Raven Boys Series: The Raven Cycle #1 Author: Maggie Stiefvater Published: 2013 by Scholastic Add the book: (Amazon / Goodreads) Synopsis: Every year, Blue Sargent stands next to her clairvoyant mother as the soon-to-be dead walk past. Blue never sees them--until this year, when a boy emerges from the dark and speaks to her. His name is Gansey, a rich student at Aglionby, the local private school. Blue has a policy of staying away from Aglionby boys. Known as Raven Boys, they can only mean trouble. But Blue is drawn to Gansey, in a way she can't entirely explain. He is on a quest that has encompassed three other Raven Boys: Adam, the scholarship student who resents the privilege around him; Ronan, the fierce soul whose emotions range from anger to despair; and Noah, the taciturn watcher who notices many things but says very little. For as long as she can remember, Blue has been warned that she will cause her true love to die. She doesn't believe in true love, and never thought this would be a problem. But as her life becomes caught up in the strange and sinister world of the Raven Boys, she's not so sure anymore.

You know those authors that you see on social media or may meet at events where you think, that person is fantastic and I love their personality so I bet I would love their books! For me that person was Maggie Steifvater. I have never read any of her books but I attended an event here in Pittsburgh because almost no one ever comes here and I found her delightful. So at the event I picked up copies of the first two books in the Raven Cycle series with plans to read them in October in anticipation of Blue Lily, Lily Blue coming out.

I thought I was the last person in the blogosphere to read them but then I was glad to find some fellow bloggers who hadn't read the books (Marly at Flyleaf Review, Danielle at Love at First Page, and Fry at Romancing the Laser Pistol) and we decided to do a readalong. Thanks ladies, I'm so glad I got to share the reading of this book with you because it blew my mind and I definitely needed someone to chat with while reading! The the characters and world Maggie created, the mood and atmosphere of the book, and the plot were all brilliant and engaging.

What first struck me about this book was the characters. Upon first inspection you may think that this is a book about Blue and her interaction with the titular Raven Boys but it is not. It is a book about Blue and the Raven Boys. It's hard to say who I would call the main character in this book. Throughout most of the book I would say one or two possibilities but when it finished, that opinion changed as well. Each character really got even attention both in terms of the plot and in terms of my heart! I very quickly liked Blue, she is quirky and independent. She thinks for herself and is easy to root for. But then I met The Raven Boys. Gansey who is determined and kind. He is sort of the ringleader of his group of friends that he cares so much for that he would do anything for them. Adam who is hard-working, sweet, and independent, wanting to do everything on his terms. Noah who is quiet and supportive. And Ronan who is aggressive and tough but with a great sense of humor and is surprisingly generous and helpful when it comes to the people (and birds) he cares about. Together the Raven Boys make up this amazing group of friends that Blue quickly and easily blend in with. They are all a group of misfits who shouldn't really be friends but they are. Their interactions and relationships are so realistic, it reminded me so much of my group of friends. They were also all well-rounded characters with interesting back-stories and secrets that this book only barely toughed on.

And these interesting and secretive characters were perfectly placed in the world of mystery and mythology that Maggie created. Seriously guys, the synopsis is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to this world. As we find out at the very beginning, Blue's mother is a psychic who has predicted that if she kisses her true love her will die, but that isn't all that she predicts throughout the story. We are immersed in the world of the psychics. We attend a few readings and other rituals, and even get to see Blue's mother and some of the other characters predict the future. The supernatural elements of the book, like psychics and ghosts among other things, are perfectly combined with elements and history to create a complex and compelling world for this series. Even the town of Henrietta, Virginia, where all this takes place, has just as many secrets as the characters. Throughout the book we get to explore more about what has happened there in the past and why it is the perfect place for psychics. We get to explore a lot of the town with the Raven Boys who are searching for its secrets. And let me tell you, there are some crazy and mysterious things happening in Henrietta!

And these mysterious happenings led to an engaging and compelling plot despite some pacing issues. It took me a little while to get into it, but once I got to about the halfway point, I couldn't put the book down. I was expecting the book to be a bit of the cliche supernatural romance but this was much more of a mysterious thriller than anything else. I usually pride myself on being able to predict the twists in these kinds of books but many of what happened in this book caught me completely off guard and left me desperately wanting to keep reading. But on the whole this was a typical exposition kind of book that set everything up for the series to continue. It didn't quite have a specific and individual plot despite reaching a resolution in the story. But that isn't necessarily a bad thing. It definitely did its job of getting me engaged for this series.

But perhaps the best thing about this book was the mood and atmosphere created by Maggie's writing. With the secretive characters, a creative world that effortlessly combined supernatural elements, and a mysterious and compelling plot, it all worked together to create an ominous and interesting book, Being that this is my first Stiefvater novel, I loved the way that her writing walks that line between poetic and creepy but is full of humor and lighthearted moments to balance it all out. But the mood was far from lighthearted. it gives you as a reader a sense of unease. It was all ominous and mysterious, the perfect book for my pseudo-Halloween theme.

I give The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater a 9 out of 10

It is a fantastic start to a series that I'm really excited to keep reading. From the characters, to the world, to the mysterious plot I am so engaged to keep exploring Blue and the Raven Boys and to see where the story leads me. Plus the way that this book ended made me really want to read The Dream Theives!

September Wrap-Up and October TBR

I may have been very irresponsible in September. I really wanted to have a High Fantasy month where I read a couple series that I have been wanting to read forever. So instead of reading my massive stack of September ARCs I read mostly backlist books. My bad! It was also a crazy month for me with work and personal life. But I did manage to get through eight really fabulous books.

Read in September

1.) Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson

Rating: 10 out of 10 Full Review

2.) The Assassin's Blade by Sarah J. Maas

Rating: 9 out of 10 Full Review

3.) Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas

Rating: 9.5 out 10 Full Review

4.) Crown of Midnight by Sarah J. Maas

Rating: 9 out of 10 Full Review

5.) The Well of Ascension by Brandon Sanderson

Rating: 9.5 out of 10 Full Review

6.) Winterspell by Claire Legrand

Rating: 9 out of 10 Full Review

7.) The Hero of Ages by Brandon Sanderson

Rating: 10 out of 10 Full Review

8.) Heir of Fire by Sarah J. Maas

Rating: 9.5 ut of 10 Full Review to Come

Read in Other Month but 

Reviewed in September

9.) Bitter Greens by Kate Forsyth

Rating: 10 out of 10 Full Review


To Be Read in October

This is the month that first started my theme month idea on the blog, the month that I decided to bring back the blog. So last year I decided to read Halloween themed "horror" books. But I don't really like traditional horror books so this year I decided to do a psuedo-Halloween theme by reading Supernatural/Paranormal books and Thrillers. Books that are mysterious and ominous or books that will get the adrenaline flowing.

Paranormal/Supernatural

The Series - The Raven Cycle by Maggie Stiefvater

The Raven Boys (Amazon / Goodreads), The Dream Thieves (Amazon / Goodreads), Blue Lily, Lily Blue (Amazon / Goodreads)

How it Fits the Theme: I have heard nothing but great things about this series that tells the story of a girl with a claivoyant mother who has been told she will cause her true loves death.

The ARCs

A Sudden Light by Garth Stein (Amazon / Goodreads)

How it Fits the Theme: There are ghosts! This is my current read. I'm about 1/3 of the way in and the book is definitely mysterious and ominous with a creepy haunted house and a family secret that I'm pretty interested in exploring.

Rooms by Lauren Oliver (Amazon / Goodreads)

How it Fits the Theme: Another book with ghosts! I'm pretty excited to read Oliver's first adult book. I met her at BEA when I got a copy of this book and we talked about exploring mysterious old houses, and ghosts who have unfinished business like Caspar. 

Messenger of Fear by Michael Grant (Amazon / Goodreads)

How it Fits the Theme: This could probably be in both categories but it's about a girl who is offered a game where if she loses she has to face her worst fear, sounds pretty creepy!

The Classic

The Turn of the Screw by Henry James (Amazon / Goodreads)

How it Fits the Theme: And yet another book about ghosts! It's been awhile since I read a classic, and I really enjoyed my last Henry James book so I am excited to check out this one out. It seems pretty Gothic and ominous.

Thrillers 

The ARCs

Of Monsters and Madness by Jessica Verday (Amazon / Goodreads)

How it Fits the Theme: A creepy retelling of an Edgar Allen Poe story and historical thriller that involves gruesome deaths, mysteious experiments, and potentially nonexistent love interests. Sign me up!

Blackbird by Anna Carey (Amazon / Goodreads)

How it Fits the Theme: A mystery/thriller about a girl with amnesia who has to try and remember who she is while escaping from people trying to killer her. Did I mention it's told in second-person?

The Pierced Heart by Lynn Shepard (Amazon / Goodreads)

How it Fits the Theme: A Historical Mystery involving Dracula. That is the premise for this book and one of my favorite books of all time that I read last October, The Historian

Recent Fiction

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn (Amazon / Goodreads)

How it Fits the Theme: This has been in my TBR for awhile, and with the movie coming out I want to read it soon. It's a traditional murder mystery but I've heard it's a tough book to stomach because the characters are terrible people. The kind of book where you suspect everyone of murder. 

This is an incredibly heavy load for me this month. Last month was very slow but the books were much longer and more involved. This month the books are shorter and I'm hoping that they will be quick reads so that I can just power through a few of them and get off to a good start for the month. \

What are you planning to read this October? Heave you read any of these books? What did you think? Leave me a comment with your thoughts. Thanks for stopping by and HAPPY READING!

Top Ten Tuesday- Best Books for Halloween

 Hosted by Broke and Bookish

I'm not generally a fan of horror. I don't like being scared and experiencing things jumping out at me, ghosts, or stories of serial killers is not my idea of a good time. But I have no problem with gore (that's a whole different conversation though) and I love a good thriller. Especially one that has supernatural elements. Give me a supernatural thriller any day. Something mysterious that makes you ask a bunch of questions like "what's going on here?" and "what is that mysterious thing for?" I also really really love Gothic literature. With all that in mind, these are my top ten Halloween reads broken into three categories...

Gothic Classics

1.) Dracula by Bram Stoker- No explanation required. The original vampire novel and my personal pick for Halloween. 

2.) Frankenstein by Mary Shelley- Another classic monster tale. Very creepy and mysterious but also a bit of a satire and critique on society (I had to read it for a class in college).

3.) Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte- One of my favorite books. Ghosts, murder, intrigue, creepy old houses, failed romance. If this doesn't scream Halloween, I don't know what does!

4.) The Picture of Dorian Grey by Oscar Wilde. A guy sells his soul to the devil to stay beautiful forever but his portrait turns old and ugly with every bad deed. A gothic masterpiece!

Supernatural (and Gory) Take on Classics

5.) Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Seth Graham-Smith (and Jane Austen). What if the Bennett sisters were not only searching for husbands but also zombies. There's lots of monsters, fight scenes, and gore. Plus a twist ending! I also love that they take the original text and modify it to include the supernatural elements.

6.) Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters by Ben H. Winters (and Jane Austen)- The Dashwood sisters are exiled to a mysterious island where sea monsters are killing everyone. Sense and Sensibility is my favorite Austen novel and I wish they had kept more of the original text but it's really creepy and creative (spoiler alert: Colonel Brandon is a sea monster).

7.) Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter by Seth Grahame-Smith- I know it's not a reimagined classic but it feels that way. This is a "true story" of why Lincoln wanted to free the slaves and fight the Civil War. It also totally makes him a badass even though he was arguably kind of a wuss (though a great
president).

And just so everyone knows there are SO MANY of these types of books. Pick your favorite romantic classic and there is probably a supernatural version. Wuthering Bites, Android Karenina, Jane Slayre to name a few. Next on my list is Little Women and Werewolves because I love me some March girls.

Young Adult Supernatural Novels (In case you're looking for something slightly lighter)

8.) Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl: A young adult Southern Gothic novel that has magic, doomed romances, and a creepy town shut-in that's basically a vampire. I was actually pleasantly surprised by how well it is written and really liked the story.

9.) A Great and Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray- Another young adult gothic novel. This one involving girls mixed up with magic they don't understand, a creepy mysterious school, supernatural visions, and a scary villain who always remains on the periphery. Also extremely well-written and fully of surprises.

10.) Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling. Not particularly scary but full of mystery,thrills, and classic supernatural elements like witches, magic, ghosts, and people dying. It had to be on the list!

Many of these books are actually on my list of October "spooky" reads. By Friday I will have a full wrap up post with my thoughts on them. So stay tuned, and of course HAPPY READING!