The Vespertine by Saundra Mitchell: Review Posted by Tiffany at 11:29 AM

Title: The Vespertine
Author: Saundra Mitchell (site)
Published: March 7th, 2011 by Harcourt
Pages: 304
Buy: Amazon/ Book Depo/ Powell's 
Series: Vespertine #1
Source: NetGalley
Rating: 4/5
Synopsis: It’s the summer of 1889, and Amelia van den Broek is new to Baltimore and eager to take in all the pleasures the city has to offer. But her gaiety is interrupted by disturbing, dreamlike visions she has only at sunset—visions that offer glimpses of the future. Soon, friends and strangers alike call on Amelia to hear her prophecies. However, a forbidden romance with Nathaniel, an artist, threatens the new life Amelia is building in Baltimore. This enigmatic young man is keeping secrets of his own—still, Amelia finds herself irrepressibly drawn to him.
When one of her darkest visions comes to pass, Amelia’s world is thrown into chaos. And those around her begin to wonder if she’s not the seer of dark portents, but the cause.(Goodreads)


Review:  The Vespertine was a great mix of two of my favorite genres; Historical Fiction and Paranormal YA. Amelia is sent to stay with family in Baltimore to "meet the right people" which basically means find a suitable husband. Her cousin Zora was probably my favorite character. She was daring and independent (but not the point of being unbelievable for the time period). She and the somewhat meek Amelia balanced each other out nicely- and egged each other on nicely as well. Their escapades were fun, but nothing too modern for the period. Overall, Mitchell did a great job of setting the scene. Her 19th century Baltimore was believable, if a bit watered down for younger readers. There was enough period detail to flesh out the setting without overwhelming the story (face it, a lot of YA readers have short attention spans). Mitchell's writing style is fantastic- reading her work is a pleasure. Economical but not bare, her words made the novel move quickly (and kept me from taking a break). Amelia's powers emerged suddenly and were never explained, which was a bit annoying, but not a big deal (after all, it is a bit unbelievable that all of these characters manage to run into just the right person or book to explain things all the time). The romantic interest, Nathaniel the Artist, was another great character. The romance was a bit sudden for my tastes, but I suppose couples didn't really get to know each other that well before they were married back then (kissing could get you labelled as loose, after all). I did really like them together. Amelia's downfall, though foreshadowed, was sudden and brutal. The ending was really more of a beginning, so I'm hoping for a sequel (or a spin-off; their children maybe?), but I'm at peace with where the story ended if there isn't one in the works. I would recommend this to fans of Libba Bray's Gemma Doyle series.

Update: A sequel is out in 2012, about Zora in Oklahoma Territory! Check out the page for Springsweet here.

Wildthorn by Jane Eagland: Review Posted by Tiffany at 10:33 AM

Title: Wildthorn
Author: Jane Eagland (site)
Available: September 6th, 2010
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin
Pages: 368 (ebook)
Price: $9.33 Book Depository $11.52 Amazon
Rating: 3.5/5
Synopsis: Seventeen-year-old Louisa Cosgrove longs to break free from her respectable life as a Victorian doctor's daughter. But her dreams become a nightmare when Louisa is sent to Wildthorn Hall: labeled a lunatic, deprived of her liberty and even her real name. As she unravels the betrayals that led to her incarceration, she realizes there are many kinds of prison. She must be honest with herself - and others - in order to be set free. And love may be the key... (Goodreads)


Initial Thoughts: I downloaded this book from Net Galley and read it on my Nook. I was drawn to the cover, hoping that it would be like A Great And Terrible Beauty or The Prophecy of the Sisters. I love the idea of writing about a girl falsely labelled insane. I especially like that she has no idea who committed her or why they gave her a different name.


Review: I loved the atmosphere of this book. They kept you in suspense about why Louisa was in the asylum and whether or not she'd ever get out. There were no quick or easy answers. Whenever the day-to-day asylum life started to get dull, the author would give you a glimpse of her life before, starting when she was a child. The way these flashbacks were woven into the plot, slowly helping you understand what might have led to her imprisonment, was perfectly done. Louisa's despair and horror were very real, I was sucked right into the novel. It was painful to watch her being stripped of her dignity, excruciatingly suspenseful as she begins to spiral down into madness for real. Will she escape in time? Will she find out who put her in there? Or will she finally become what she's been labelled? One thing that I liked about this book: you were never certain that she'd escape. You can usually tell early on whether or not an author is prepared to sacrifice her main character for the good of the story. In Wildthorn, I wanted to believe that she would come out of it alright, but I was always afraid that she wouldn't. My one problem with this book was the romance. After reading the synopsis, I was prepared for a slowly developing love between Louisa and a doctor or attendant at the asylum. After reading a bit of background, I thought that maybe it would be the cousin. About 3/4 of the way through the novel, I didn't care WHO it was, as long as there was going to be a bit of romance. It's not that I need romance in a novel, it's that she really deserved it. This girl needed to catch a break. Once she did fall in love, it was a bit too abrupt. I felt like she suddenly went from "well, she's nice" to "she's the love of my life, I will never leave her." I liked that her love interest turned out the be a woman, but I felt that it was a pretty big coincidence that she would run into another lesbian in that time period who just happened to be in the right place and was interested in her. Coincidences aside, I thought they were perfect for one another. I'm not going to spoil it by saying who, but I suppose I've already given it away by saying it's a 'she.' I would have like to see a more slowly developed relationship, but I supposed that wouldn't have been realistic either. I also thought that the character in the flashbacks and the character in the asylum were very different, but I suppose that could be attributed to shock. Overall, this was a very good read. Suspenseful, interesting, terrifying, and (ultimately) very satisfying.




Quick Review: A harrowing tale of a woman with no way out of a situation she barely understands, with great atmosphere and mystery. Be aware that the romance is not a big part of this novel, but a nice way to tie things up for the main character.