Title: Warped
Author: Maurissa Guibord
Available At: Amazon * Borders * Random House * Kobo
If you like: Mythology, time travel, the Medieval period

Tessa doesn't believe in magic. Or Fate. But there's something weird about the dusty unicorn tapestry she discovers in a box of old books. She finds the creature woven within it compelling and frightening. After the tapestry comes into her possession Tessa experiences dreams of the past and scenes from a brutal hunt that she herself participated in. When she accidentally pulls a thread from the tapestry Tessa releases a terrible centuries old secret. She also meets William de Chaucy an irresistible 16th-century nobleman. His fate is as inextricably tied to the tapestry as Tessa's own. Together they must correct the wrongs of the past. But then the Fates step in making a tangled mess of Tessa's life. Now everyone she loves will be destroyed unless Tessa does their bidding and defeats a cruel and crafty ancient enemy.

I did not expect to like this book as much as I did. I did not expect, when I opened it up to read a chapter before going to bed, that I would be angry because I couldn't keep my eyes open to read more, or that I would actually take a lunch break at work to read it (and surreptitiously continue to read it while working). I nearly missed my bus stop on the way home because I was so engrossed.

Maurissa Guibord consistently subverted my expectations. Every time I thought I knew what road we were going down, she'd make an abrupt turn and take me by surprise. The good kind of surprise, and not the "WHAT ARE YOU DOING THIS IS A ONE WAY STREET!" surprise.

I really enjoyed Tessa as a character, and I especially enjoyed that she actually turned to her best friend Opal for help. I feel like so much literature with strong female characters has these characters tackling problems alone. I love stories where women and girls have female friends and they help each other.

Will was a wonderfully troubled character. I enjoyed seeing how he interacted with the modern world and the psychological ramifications of what happened to him in the past. He and Tessa had a turbulent relationship. Believable issues drive them apart, and remarkably, fate manages to bring them back together believably as well. The resolution of their relationship's many issues did not occur the way I expected it to occur (true to form), and I'm not entirely certain how I feel about how it ended, but I don't resent it.

Lila, the villainess, was kind of a mixed bag for me. There were times when she seemed like a very stereotypical female fantasy villain ("I want to be young and beautiful FOREVER!!!!!") but the revelation of her initial motivation, the real dark force that drove her down this path, was so fucking cool. It made her a very complex, human villain, and I wish that I could have read more of that. I'm kind of done with female villains who just want to be young and beautiful forever.

But perhaps my favorite characters were the Norn, also known as the Fates. They were creepy and wonderful and so believably inhuman. They could be incredibly cruel and twisted, yet without emotion or resentment. They do only what is necessary to get their jobs done.

I could go into the nitty gritty specifics of things I loved, but why read it in my words? Go get a copy for yourself!

Title: XVI
Author: Julia Karr
Released: January 6, 2011
Available At: Amazon * Borders * Penguin Group
If you liked: The Handmaid's Tale (Margaret Atwood)

Nina Oberon's life is pretty normal: she hangs out with her best friend, Sandy, and their crew, goes to school, plays with her little sister, Dee. But Nina is 15. And like all girls she'll receive a Governing Council-ordered tattoo on her 16th birthday. XVI. Those three letters will be branded on her wrist, announcing to all the world - even the most predatory of men - that she is ready for sex. Considered easy prey by some, portrayed by the Media as sluts who ask for attacks, becoming a "sex-teen" is Nina's worst fear. That is, until right before her birthday, when Nina's mom is brutally attacked. With her dying breaths, she reveals to Nina a shocking truth about her past - one that destroys everything Nina thought she knew. Now, alone but for her sister, Nina must try to discover who she really is, all the while staying one step ahead of her mother's killer.

Have you ever read a book and realized you'd need to reread it to know if you liked it or not? That's pretty much how I feel about XVI. I went into it ready to love it, found myself resenting most of it, and then the last thirty, forty pages made me reconsider my previous reactions.

The novel is in first person, which can be a turn-off for some people. I am not inherently against first person novels, but I am a lot less forgiving of mistakes, because the line between the character and the author is much more blurred. Reading the first chapter, I felt like world and character-building info was being dumped on me, and subsequent chapters were beating me with political views -- views which I share, but/and I don't need to be beaten with. With a third person novel, it's easier to go: "Not a great way to go about world-building" but still get invested in the character. But with Nina playing the role of museum tourguide, my resentment of the infodump rubbed onto her. (Full disclosure: I am not a very nice reader.)

I had a very hard time getting invested in the characters, especially Sal, who falls into a character trope I personally don't like. Instead of getting swept up into the story, I found myself nit-picking the world and asking questions that took me out of the story. It wasn't until the end of the story, where the drama was at its highest, that I started caring less about perceived plotholes and more about what was going to happen next.

That said, Karr's writing style is strong, and there were several times when I thought I've felt exactly that way before. Nina has complex issues with sex and identity that I think many people, especially women, can identify with. And many aspects of the book reminded me of The Handmaid's Tale, a classic of dystopian feminist literature. I can definitely recommend this book to readers less curmudgeonly than myself; if you're a curmudgeon like me, I still recommend it, but prepare to get out your cane and shake it furiously.

As for me, I plan on reading it again someday to see if I enjoy it more the second time through. Assuming my TBR pile doesn't eat me alive first.

Want to know the nitty gritty?

( Here Thar Be Spoilers )

Disclaimer: I do not get any money for the links above; providing them simply for convenience. And it makes the entry look nicer.

Normally I just use this journal to share my own writing with friends, but when I saw The Story Siren's 2011 Debut Author Challenge, I thought it sounded like too much fun to pass up! So for the entire year of 2011, I'll be reading and reviewing books by new authors.

Because I like reading and new authors are awesome. Haven't gone through the list of books I want to read yet because NaNo is kicking me in the patuey (is that how you spell that? Is that even a real word?), but consider this my throwing my hat into the ring.

I can't wait!