Review: Level 2 by Lenore Appelhans

In this gripping exploration of a futuristic afterlife, a teen discovers that death is just the beginning.

Since her untimely death the day before her eighteenth birthday, Felicia Ward has been trapped in Level 2, a stark white afterlife located between our world and the next. Along with her fellow drones, Felicia passes the endless hours reliving memories of her time on Earth and mourning what she’s lost-family, friends, and Neil, the boy she loved.

Then a girl in a neighboring chamber is found dead, and nobody but Felicia recalls that she existed in the first place. When Julian-a dangerously charming guy Felicia knew in life-comes to offer Felicia a way out, Felicia learns the truth: If she joins the rebellion to overthrow the Morati, the angel guardians of Level 2, she can be with Neil again.

Suspended between Heaven and Earth, Felicia finds herself at the center of an age-old struggle between good and evil. As memories from her life come back to haunt her, and as the Morati hunt her down, Felicia will discover it’s not just her own redemption at stake… but the salvation of all mankind.

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My feelings about Lenore Appelhans’ Level 2 are divided… although I felt like this first book in The Memory Chronicles was interesting (enough so that I’ll be reading the second book), I also felt that the pace was sometimes too slow or that nothing much was actually happening.

Level 2 focuses on Felicia, who is, as far as she knows, dead and resides in hive-like structure populated by countless more drones (as these dead call themselves) who rarely interact, instead spending their days reliving their memories and the memories of the other drones. The memories are accessed via a pod and are categorized with tags, comparable to the shelf tagging system on GoodReads. In the hives, memories are both the currency and the product. Felicia and her fellow drones have no idea how they’ve come to be in this place after their deaths, nor do they know what their purpose is… and no one seems all that driven to find any answers.

All this changes, however, when Julian, a boy from Felicia’s life, shows up in her hive. It’s clear to the reader that Felicia and Julian’s past is complicated – and perhaps not all that positive – but Felicia leaves with him after he promises to reunite her with her boyfriend, Neil, who she misses terribly and thinks of constantly. While the readers know very little about Julian, they are well aware of how Felicia feels for Neil, as her favorite and most accessed memories all feature Neil.

I really liked how Appelhans used the memories and tagging system to give the reader more information about Felicia. I felt this was a really creative execution of “show not tell” and allowed the author to give character history and detail while simultaneously explaining the world of Level 2. 

One of the only reasons that I didn’t love, love Level 2 was the pacing. As I read, I sometimes felt like there was detail where it wasn’t necessary. I could be remembering incorrectly, but I really felt that there were too many scenes of Julian and Felicia running and fleeing and describing the many hives they passed. There were times when I thought to myself: when is something going to happen?? 

Other than the pacing, I found Level 2 really interesting. I’m especially curious about Julian, who Felicia appears to think so little of, but I can’t help but wonder about. Appelhans did a great job of giving just enough information about characters and events that the reader is left curious and hungry for more detail, so I’m hoping the second book answers some of my questions!

Simon & Schuster BFYR, January 2013, Hardcover, ISBN:9781442441859, 281 pgs.

Review: The Dead and Buried by Kim Harrington

A haunted house, a buried mystery, and a very angry ghost make this one unforgettable thriller.

Jade loves the house she’s just moved into with her family. She doesn’t even mind being the new girl at the high school: It’s a fresh start, and there’s that one guy with the dreamy blue eyes. . . . But then things begin happening. Strange, otherworldly things. Jade’s little brother claims to see a glimmering girl in his room. Jade’s jewelry gets moved around, as if by an invisible hand. Kids at school whisper behind her back like they know something she doesn’t.

Soon, Jade must face an impossible fact: that her perfect house is haunted. Haunted by a ghost who’s seeking not just vengeance, but the truth. The ghost of a girl who ruled Jade’s school — until her untimely death last year. It’s up to Jade to put the pieces together before her own life is at stake. As Jade investigates the mystery, she discovers that her new friends in town have more than a few deep, dark secrets. But is one of them a murderer?

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Kim Harrington’s The Dead and Buried, like her previous novels, is a quick, satisfying read that thoroughly engages the reader and leaves them wanting more. Even though I should know better by now, I’m always surprised by how quickly I become invested in Harrington’s characters and how sad I am to see their stories end, even when the mystery is solved and the novel is neatly wrapped up.

This newest offering from Harrington features Jade, the new girl in town who has, unknowingly, moved into the house of the girl who was once the queen bee at her new high school… before she died a mysterious death at the top of Jade’s stairs. Soon, odd things are happening in the house and Jade’s little brother tells her he keeps seeing a girl in his room. Just as in real life, queen be Kayla Sloan isn’t so nice. She threatens Jade that she’ll hurt her little brother if Jade doesn’t figure out who killed her.

I loved that there were some really creepy scenes in The Dead and Buried. There are a couple times that Kayla possesses Jade’s little brother and, I won’t lie, I wasn’t entirely upset that I had been reading during the day rather than on a dark and stormy night. This definitely isn’t a horror novel, but I really appreciated that Harrington tried to make the scariness of Jade’s situation come through for the reader. I have to say, Jade stayed a lot calmer than I would have if my little brother was creeping around with the spirit of the local mean girl controlling his body. 

The mystery elements of this novel were fun as well. It’s entirely possible for the reader to figure out who the murderer is before Jade does if they pay attention to the detail. I much prefer this type of mystery to those in which the narrator or main character controls all the information. I was more invested than I would have been if all the clues were lined up perfectly by Jade.

One of my favorite aspects of Harrington’s novels is her romantic plot lines. They are all just so darn sweet. Though, I have to say, there was a little bit of an edge to the romance in The Dead and Buried, since Jade’s love interest had a rather complicated past with the dead queen bee… a past that made him potentially dangerous.

Lastly, I really, really liked Jade. She was a very level-headed character, which was nice. I think I would have been annoyed by a super emotional main character in this particular novel. Jade did what she had to, didn’t lose her head over her love interest, was devoted to her family (even when they weren’t always so supportive), and saved the day. Loved her!

I highly recommend The Dead and the Buried. It’s fast-paced mystery with great characters, a dash of creepiness, and lots of fun.

Scholastic, January 2013, Hardcover, ISBN: 9780545333023, 295 pgs.

Review: The Ambassador’s Daughter by Pam Jenoff

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Paris, 1919. 

The world’s leaders have gathered to rebuild from the ashes of the Great War. But for one woman, the City of Light harbors dark secrets and dangerous liaisons, for which many could pay dearly. 

Brought to the peace conference by her father, a German diplomat, Margot Rosenthal initially resents being trapped in the congested French capital, where she is still looked upon as the enemy. But as she contemplates returning to Berlin and a life with Stefan, the wounded fiancé she hardly knows anymore, she decides that being in Paris is not so bad after all. 

Bored and torn between duty and the desire to be free, Margot strikes up unlikely alliances: with Krysia, an accomplished musician with radical acquaintances and a secret to protect; and with Georg, the handsome, damaged naval officer who gives Margot a job—and also a reason to question everything she thought she knew about where her true loyalties should lie. 

Against the backdrop of one of the most significant events of the century, a delicate web of lies obscures the line between the casualties of war and of the heart, making trust a luxury that no one can afford. 

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Pam Jenoff’s newest release, The Ambassador’s Daughter, is one of those books that I had a hard time putting down. In fact, I’m a bit divided about this book because, even though I did truly like it, I wasn’t a huge fan of the main character.

For those that have read Jenoff’s The Kommandant’s Girl, this newest book takes place before the events in that particular books, so you may be happy to discover that some of the characters in that novel make appearances in The Ambassador’s Daughter. As someone who hasn’t read the Kommandant books, I found the descriptions of those books to be a bit spoilery, since they, in effect, reveal some things about the future of the characters in The Ambassador’s Daughter. So, if you’re first experience reading Jenoff is The Ambassador’s Daughter, DO NOT read any reviews or descriptions of the Kommandant books until you’ve finished and are ready to move on!

I’d categorize this novel as historical fiction with strong romance elements, as, for me, I felt like the focus was more on the history and politics. Even though I know very little about the time period, I didn’t find myself getting too confused by events. I think it helped immensely that the reader sees everything through the eyes of a naive 20-year old, meaning that everything is slowed down and simplified as she reflects upon the events and situations she finds herself thrown into. I can’t say for sure that everything in the novel is historically accurate, but it felt realistic and, for me, that was enough.

As noted earlier, I didn’t find much to like about Margot Rosenthal. She felt quite silly to me… she was terribly naive and almost seemed to let herself fall into unfortunate situations, which she then complained about and fretted over to no end. I like my characters to take responsibility for their actions and fight for what they believe in, and I did not see Margot as this type of character at all. In the end, she finally does what I felt she should do all along, but it wasn’t something she actually made the choice to do. Instead, things just worked out. Dislike! Take some initiative, Margot! I had to keep reminding myself that she is only supposed to be twenty, which is quite young, but, in my opinion, she could have used a bit more fire.

I think, because Margot felt so young and silly to me most of the time, I found her relationship with Georg Richwalder, an older man, improbable at times. In retrospect, I even found it a bit uncomfortable. It’d be one thing if I felt Margot was mature with a sensibilities that made her feel older than her twenty years, but this was not the case. I’m a bit unsure as to why Richwalder would be interested in someone who, to me, was a child. Margot’s father spent much of the book trying to both support Margot while warning against the match and I can’t say I disagreed with him. I felt that Margot had a lot of growing to do and that a relationship with a broken, potential alcoholic like Georg was not in her best interest.

Despite my issues with Margot, I really did love the setting and even started to take interest in the political and military scheming of the era. I developed a soft spot for the Polish musician Krysia, displaced from home and without a country. My great-grandparents came from Poland and, though I don’t know near as much as I should about the country and my heritage, I couldn’t help but feel a kinship with her. I was very happy to discover that Krysia is also a character in Jenoff’s other novels. 

I plan to read the rest of Jenoff’s novels because, though I wasn’t a fan of Margot, I really did enjoy Jenoff’s writing, the complexity of the plot, and the secondary characters (which, thankfully can be found in the Kommandant books!). The romance is there if you’re a reader that gravitates toward that in particular, but I appreciated this book much more as a historical drama.

Harlequin MIRA, January 2013, Paperback, ISBN: 9780778315094, 336 pages.

Review: The Madman’s Daughter by Megan Shepherd

In the darkest places, even love is deadly. 

Sixteen-year-old Juliet Moreau has built a life for herself in London—working as a maid, attending church on Sundays, and trying not to think about the scandal that ruined her life. After all, no one ever proved the rumors about her father’s gruesome experiments. But when she learns he is alive and continuing his work on a remote tropical island, she is determined to find out if the accusations are true. 

Accompanied by her father’s handsome young assistant, Montgomery, and an enigmatic castaway, Edward—both of whom she is deeply drawn to—Juliet travels to the island, only to discover the depths of her father’s madness: He has experimented on animals so that they resemble, speak, and behave as humans. And worse, one of the creatures has turned violent and is killing the island’s inhabitants. Torn between horror and scientific curiosity, Juliet knows she must end her father’s dangerous experiments and escape her jungle prison before it’s too late. Yet as the island falls into chaos, she discovers the extent of her father’s genius—and madness—in her own blood. 

Inspired by H. G. Wells’s classic The Island of Dr. Moreau, The Madman’s Daughter is a dark and breathless Gothic thriller about the secrets we’ll do anything to know and the truths we’ll go to any lengths to protect.

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My goodness, where should I even start when talking about Megan Shepherd’s The Madman’s Daughter… I suppose I could start by saying that I picked it up while reading Ann Radcliffe’s The Italian, which was published in 1797 and is considered one of the very first Gothic thrillers. Reading these two novels while simultaneously researching the Gothic novel as a genre gave me an interesting vantage point from which to view The Madman’s Daughter as a Gothic novel and, I think, in the end, it may have deepened my love for Shepherd’s debut (and for The Italian, which was boring me to tears at the time)!

The setting and atmosphere of a Gothic novel is of utmost importance. In fact, the setting is so important it must act as a character itself. For me, the island where Juliet’s father has been secretly living and conducting his “research” more than fulfills this requirement. From the moment Juliet learns of the island (and meets the islander accompanying Montgomery, her father’s assistant), the reader knows this isn’t going to be an island with gorgeous white-sand beaches and hammocks casually strung between trees. While the island’s history isn’t explored in extreme depth, the reader knows that it is no stranger to misfortune and, perhaps, even sinister death. Plus, it’s the home of a mad scientist who was run out of London after performing horrid experiments on living subjects… it’s hard to imagine such a man living in a bright, sunshine-y place.

The Madman’s Daughter might remind readers of Frankenstein as it deals with themes of science versus nature, experimentation for the purpose of creation and life, the meaning of humanity and life, and features a scientist that believes he is doing something good, but whose opinion may be a tad (or a lot) biased. One of the things that I absolutely loved about this novel was how often it made me question: is this wrong? Some of the experimentation itself is wrong, but, after Juliet learns what her father is doing, essentially merging and manipulating different parts of animals to create humanoid creatures, she refers to them as monsters. While I do see how such creatures could be viewed as monstrous, I also grew to care deeply about many of them as the novel progressed. At more than one point, I was actually moved to tears as these creatures suffered. I get a little bit weepy just thinking about it now, weeks after reading. 

As far as Juliet’s father is concerned, I have very strong negative feelings. Though, as a product of the 21st century, I’m not sure that I see his scientific mind and quest for innovation as mad, I definitely still see him as a madman on many other levels. He may have begun as a scientist searching for truth and knowledge, but, by the time the reader meets him, he’s off-his-rocker-crazy. The power has gone to his head and, for someone who is obsessed with the secret of creating life, he cares very little about preserving life. Still, after some secrets from Juliet’s past are revealed, I couldn’t help but take a longer look at Dr. Moreau and consider what he might have been like before.

The Madman’s Daughter also incorporates some very pro-feminist vibes as Juliet fights against a very anti-women world, culture, and father. She strong, determined, and courageous despite nearly everything being stacked against her. She rebels against her father who sees her primarily as something to use and manipulate and secondly as a burden to marry off. She doesn’t take no for an answer when Montgomery tries to prevent her from going to the island nor does she accept the simple answers she’s given when she knows there’s much more to be learned. I can’t imagine any reader calling Juliet Moreau weak.

And, to round out an already fantastic plot, there’s more than enough romance to satisfy readers who like their heroine’s distracted by a guy while fighting their mad father and considering philosophical questions about humanity. In fact, there’s a rather intense love triangle featuring two very unique men… but following this tangent would require multiple paragraphs and more than a few spoilers.

I could go on and on about The Madman’s Daughter, but I’d say it’s in your best interest to read this fantastic novel yourself. 

Balzer + Bray (HarperTeen), January 2013, Hardcover, ISBN: 9780062128027, 432 pages.

Don’t forget: You can win a copy of THE MADMAN’S DAUGHTER by joining the 2013 Feminist Reads Challenge here!

Review: The Rogue’s Princess by Eve Edwards

England, 1586 

Mercy Hart, daughter of one of London’s wealthiest and most devout cloth merchants, is expected to marry her equal in rank and piety. Certainly not Kit Turner, a lowly actor and playboy, who also happens to be the late Earl of Dorset’s illegitimate son. But when a chance encounter throws them together, Kit instantly falls for the beautiful Mercy’s charms . . . and Mercy can’t deny the passion that Kit stirs within her. She seems ready to defy her father’s wishes–ready to renounce her family and her family name for true love. 

Then Kit finds himself accused treason. 

Will Mercy have the strength to stand by him? Or will she succumb to pressure and break his heart? 

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I often read adult historical romance, but it wasn’t until I read Eve Edwards’ The Other Countess, the first in the Lacey Chronicles that I really liked YA historical romance. I quickly fell in love with Edwards’ writing, which manages to stay surprisingly true to history while adding a contemporary undertone that seems to alleviate the dryness that can easily dissuade readers (like me) from picking up historically accurate novels.

This particular installment of the Lacey Chronicles focuses on Kit, the illegitimate brother of the three (legitimate) Lacey brothers: Will, Tobias, and James. The three brothers are introduced in the first book, but, not having read the second book, The Queen’s Lady, this was my first real encounter with Kit.

Being illegitimate, Kit has lived a much different life than his brothers. He hasn’t had the easiest life and, when the reader meets him, he’s earning his living as an actor among the troupe that will eventually become the favorite of Queen Elizabeth I, Lord Chamberlain’s Men. Though he does appear a bit flamboyant at the start, Kit definitely is more steadfast and serious than first appearances let on. though his love for the innocent Mercy might seem a bit improbable at first, he never wavers. My only issue with this is that the reader isn’t really given a compelling reason for his devotion. The reader knows there’s more to Mercy than prayers and minding her father, but Kit’s love seems to be based solely on her pretty face and other… endowments.

Still, Kit does make some rather drastic changes to give Mercy what he believes she deserves. In ways, his transformation mirrors that of Orlando in As You Like It. At first, Kit only shows his love through flowery verses and complimentary words, but he eventually learns that real love takes means much more and takes steps to clean up his life and prove he’s serious about Mercy. He doesn’t give up things that are fundamental parts of his life that he loves (like the theater or his flashy fashion choices), but he give up rowdy nights at the tavern and stops squandering his money.

Mercy is an interesting character. Raised in a very strict Puritan household, she spends most of her days punishing herself for impure and rebellious thoughts. And she definitely has impure thoughts about the dashing Kit… She falls for him before she’s aware he’s an actor and, therefore, someone her father would never approve of and she’s been raised to regard as un-Christian. Kit, his lifestyle, and her feelings challenge her upbringing and everything she’s ever known. I was proud of Mercy for standing up to her father and following her heart to Kit, while still staying true to herself and her religion. 

Though religion plays a big part in understanding Mercy and her actions, it isn’t overbearing. Instead it just feels natural and true to the time period. 

The Lacey Chronicles are set directly before Elizabeth I takes the throne and are pre-Shakespeare (though he does make an appearance or two in this book). It’s time period I’ve always been fascinated with, and I find that Edwards does a phenomenal job at portraying this era realistically. The Rogue’s Princess is a historical romance, but it also incorporates political and religious conflict in interesting ways, simultaneously entertaining and teaching.

Delacorte Books for Young Readers, January 2013, Hardcover, ISBN: 9780375989766, 272 pages.