Fallen by Lauren Kate

4 stars - I liked it.

This is what I would consider the perfect YA novel. And it's following the formula made famous in Twilight. Two love interests, eternal love, supernatural creatures.

I picked up Fallen because of its amazing cover. There are times when I can just feel whether a book will be good or not. ... Well, there are times when I hope a book lives up to my feelings. I typically find that when I love a cover and am intrigued by the back-ad and just can't wait for the book come in... then it's usually good. I'm pretty sure it's because when a publisher puts time and effort into a book, it shows, and they usually only do it when a book is good. So in this case, the book lived up to my expectations.

Fallen is about a girl named Luce, a guy named Daniel that she's drawn to, and another guy named Cam who wants Luce. The formulaic love triangle.

Luce is new to a reform school for, apparently, setting her previous boyfriend on fire. She also sees shadows and hears voices, so her track record wasn't spotless before even her boyfriend spontaneously combusted.

Sword & Cross, the school, is pretty drab. Androgynous teachers. Boring classes. Rowdy students.

Readers will figure out the story long before Luce does, but in a way, that was a draw for me. The first few pages tells the reader about Daniel and Luce's history, so we know they're going to end up again. What we don't know is where Cam fits into all of this.

We also figure out that Daniel's an angel long, long, long before Luce does, even though she provides the reader with all the clues. I'm going to go easy on the author here and say that it was part of the mystery. Rather than Luce being stupid, she had to remain naive in order to survive.

I was a bit disappointed with the climax of the story. Luce runs off while Daniel and his good fallen angels fight Cam and his bad fallen angel army. She's stuck in a basement while explosions happen elsewhere. I think staying wtih Daniel and Cam would have been much more interesting, and the same betrayal could have happened closer to the fight scene.

The book ends with a sequel clearly in mind, which is one of my pet peeves... I like books that are stand-alone but end up so fabulous that a sequel would be awesome. But I'll read the sequel, because I still want to know exactly what's going on between the two factions of fallen angels and what exactly Luce's role is in all of this. (Beside obviously being Daniel's eternal love interest, it's implied that her death could lead to the end of the world, and I get the impression that she and Daniel have been around since creation and their love story has to do with the salvation of the world.)

Like I said, this is the perfect YA novel, and it's a pretty good read. It's not deep; it won't move you, but it will keep you entertained for a good couple hours.

The Gates by John Connolly

4.5 stars -- I really liked it!

Another book that my husband grabbed for me, The Gates wasn't a book I was attracted to. Neither its cover nor its back-ad really captured my attention. But from the first page I read, I couldn't get enough of this novel.

John Connolly's writing reminds me of Douglas Adams' Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, but it's not really at all the same. There are footnotes all over the place that really enhance the story, and I love humorous footnotes!

The Gates is a humorous and satirical telling of the story of Samuel Johnson, an 11-year-old boy, who oversees his neighbors opening (very briefly) the gates of Hell (thanks to the Hadron Collider) and then becoming possessed by demons. Knowing he must stop his neighbors, but unable to find anyone that believes him, Samuel is on his own (except for his faithful dachshund, Boswell) for the majority of the story.

The demon Ba'al, however, the main character of our evil cast, saw Samuel and knows that Samuel could really get in the way of his master's plan to take over the world.

Thus ensues a very humorous and completely inept attempt on the demons' part to a.) kill Samuel, and b.) take over the world.

The writing in this book is very clever, and the plot is very well told. In between play-on-word names (O'Dear is the name of the demon that makes thin people see a fat person when they look in the mirror), there is quite a bit of technical science explanation, but even the technical explanations are told in a light-hearted and understandable way.

Overall, this book was a delight to read, and it made me literally laugh out loud in some parts. I really enjoyed it, and if you enjoy funnier sci-fi/fantasy stories, this one might tickle your funny bone as well.

Thirsty by Tracey Bateman

2 stars -- I don't really like it.

A random grab off the library shelf, Thirsty was shelved as a teen book, but as I read it, I came to the conclusion that it's written as an adult Christian book. There is no evidence to the contrary, but because it has vampires, on the teen shelf it went.

NOT that the subject matter is so deep a teen couldn't read it. On the contrary, I found the story flat. While attempting to delve into deep issues like alcoholism and addiction, the typical bad Christian plotting is in the forefront.

Poor Nina is an alcoholic who's lost her career, her apartment, her husband and kids. So she reforms. The real story starts when she comes out of rehab and moves back to her hometown, taking her bitter and resentful teenage daughter with her for a week of bonding (arranged through dad's awesome lying abilities).

Unbeknownst to her, Nina has a secret admirer in the town she grew up in. A vampire who saw her when she was a teenager and was reminded of his first love, an Indian princess that he killed when his bloodlust became too overpowering.

And when she returns home, mysterious and brutal murders of animals and people start taking place. Is it the mysterious Markus, the vampire? Or something worse?

Well, it's something worse. See Eden has just moved back into town as well. She's a vampire too! And she's quite possessive of Markus.

It all ends with a big fire, and everyone doubting whether Nina can stay sober, and Nina getting kidnapped but then saving her daughter, and everyone is happily reunited...

I had a hard time finding anything to enjoy in this book. I've always had a problem with Christian fiction, because it seems like poorer quality after-the-fact storytelling (much like Christian music, Christian movies, Christian blogs). But in this story, there's the main storyline of alcoholism and how one deal's with that, and then there's the other main storyline about vampires. The two just don't meld well.

Additionally, according to an endnote, the author wrote this to glorify God. But the tiny bits in the story that are about God felt like afterthoughts. After Nina saves her daughter, apropos of nothing, she says, "I think God showed up!" The mentions of God felt stilted and out of place, an afterthought to help the story be more than just fiction. They weren't believable nor were they blended into the storyline.

But it wasn't just the Christian aspect that had me thinking this book wasn't very well written. Nina's alcoholism isn't very believable. Granted, I am not an alcoholic, and I have no experience with someone who is, but for someone who just got out of rehab, Nina seems to not think of alcohol very much. Sure, occasionally the thought arises, but Nina never has a problem shaking the thought. She spends an hour crying and shaking in a barn bathroom (?) and then runs out feeling stronger than ever. I believe (but I could be wrong) that if you're having trouble with an addiction, the feelings don't just disappear after an hour of solid crying. It would take additional time, probably some talking, some sorting out in general.

I could say a lot more, but I'm boring myself and probably you. Just don't read it.