Review: City of Flowers - Mary Hoffman

Synopsis: Everything changes for Sky Meadows when he finds a magical perfume bottle on his doorstep and is whisked away to Giglia, the Talian version of Florence. But in the deceptive City of Flowers, much that seems beautiful may be dangerous indeed, and Sky finds himself caught up in a deadly feud between Giglia's two ruling families: the di Chimici and the Nucci. Politics, intrigue, and espionage unfold as the Stravaganti try to prevent hatred and revenge from leading to tragedy.

Review: This was the hardest Stravaganza book to get through - and not because of its length. There was just something about Sky - perhaps it was mainly in the name - that I just did not like, and out of the three family situations so far presented, I found his to be the least interesting and the most irritating because it is a family situation which authors and day-to-day people seem to beat to a pulp. This, combined with the fact that compared to Lucien and Georgia, Sky was a little on the cardboard side, presented a main character whose traits bogged the story down to a point where I would unconsciously search for a reason not to read it.

It was also extremely difficult to keep all of the di Chimici and Nucci people straight. The Author's rather bouncy manner of switching between various scenes contributed a lot to the confusion. I never really did like the way scenes traded so suddenly and almost without connection, but it never really affected the flow of the story and the various plotlines until now. In this one, the jumping-in-between was aggravatingly noticeable, and I'll admit that all of the scenes were important; I wouldn't edit a single one out. But I would have changed their order into a smoother one, so that things felt more connected. Because the many plotlines the Author has going are intriguing and they are good, but the almost random way in which their order of appearance is assembled leaves the Reader feeling confused and really lost.

Crack through these shortcomings, and the Reader is certainly left with a plot about as good as the last two, but it takes a lot of cracking in order to see the book's potential. City of Flowers was not my favorite; I hope the other two are better.
Overall Rating: KK
 
Others in the Stravaganza Series:
1)City of Masks
2)City of Stars
3)City of Flowers
4)City of Secrets
5)City of Ships
6)City of Swords

Review: Ring of Fire - P. D. Baccalario

Synopsis: A mix-up with their reservations forces Harvey from New York, Mistral from Paris, and Sheng from Shanghai to share a room with the hotel owner's daughter, Elettra from Rome. Soon the four kids discover an amazing coincidence - they all have birthdays on February 29, Leap Day. That night, a strange man gives them a briefcase and asks them to take care of it until he returns. Soon afterward, the man is murdered.

The kids open the briefcase. In it they find a series of clues that takes them all over Rome, through dusty libraries and dark catacombs, in search of the elusive Ring of Fire, an ancient object so powerful that legend says even a Roman emperor couldn't control it.

Review: I'll say it right now: this wasn't as good as the Ulysses Moore books. For one thing, it's written in present-tense, and unless I am just utterly losing my head, Ulysses Moore wasn't in present-tense. Sometimes present-tense can work, but very, very rarely, and in this case, it just made everything so very movie-ish, and anyone who has read my reviews before knows how much I dislike the movie feeling in literature.

On top of that, there just wasn't a single character that I particularly cared about. None of the four kids is especially annoying, but there's nothing to really like about them, either. Harvey's name gave me reason enough to mildly wish him dead; his attitude gave me more of one: whiny and not wanting to pursue anything. I kept wanting to call Elettra "Elektra" - especially since she affected electronics. And absolutely everyone's dialogue almost always trails off with ". . .", even when the character has actually finished a thought and isn't trailing off. The Author just writes it like that.

The storyline itself is interesting, but due to the present-tense and lack of likable characters, I had a very hard time becoming engaged and staying that way. Which is a complete pity, because I love Baccalario's other series. The Century Quartet isn't a good judgment of his books; I would encourage Readers to check out his Ulysses Moore series before condemning all of his writing.

Despite the shortcomings of Ring of Fire, I will read the next three books, if only to discover what happens, and maybe things will improve as the story continues.

Overall Rating: KK

Others in the Century Quartet Series:
1)Ring of Fire
2)Star of Stone

3)City of Wind
4)Dragon of Seas

Review: City of Stars - Mary Hoffman

Synopsis: Georgia loves horses and hates Russell, her stepbrother. It seems Russell's goal in life is to make Georgia miserable. All Georgia wants is to go horseback riding whenever she can - and to avoid Russell. When Georgia finally saves up enough money to buy the little model of a winged horse she has admired in the window of an antique shop, she knows she has to keep it out of Russell's way. But what Georgia doesn't know is that the little horse offers her an escape to another world and another time, that of sixteenth-century Remora, a city that is similar to Siena, Italy, but that has evolved quite differently.

Review: The second book in the Stravaganza Series is every bit as fun and exciting as City of Masks, though I admit that I liked Lucien's character a tad bit better than Georgia. City of Stars has a wide variety of wonderful characters, both new and old, and the Author does a tremendous job in making the Reader hate, love, and pity them. I was certainly filled with hatred towards Georgia's stepbrother Russell, and I pitied Falco's father, while I absolutely loved Falco and Cesare. The horse race in the end is thoroughly exciting, even if its result is predictable, and even if the Reader is not a horse-person like myself.

I look forward to the next book!

Overall Rating: JJJ

Others in the Stravaganza Series:
1)City of Masks
2)City of Stars
3)City of Flowers
4)City of Secrets
5)City of Ships
6)City of Swords

Review: Player's Ruse - Hilari Bell

Synopsis: Sir Michael Sevenson and his squire, Fisk, were just beginning to enjoy the quiet life. They really should have known better. When Lady Rosamund runs away from home to marry a traveling player, former knight errant Michael makes a noble promise to help the object of his unrequited love. The quest takes our would-be heroes to the coastal town of Huckerston, where savage sea pirates called wreckers terrorize the coast. With the help of a reluctant Fisk, Michael plans on catching the wreckers and winning back his lady; but when mysterious murders and dangerous accidents threaten the town and its players, love might be the least of his problems.

Review: These stories just grow better and better with each new installment. The humor is ramped up even further than the last two, though some of them are bawdier than Rogue's Home (however, they aren't excessive), and the mystery all the more intriguing. I thought I had it all figured out, but I quickly turned out to be incorrect about a major part of my theory, much to my delight. I always love it when authors can make one solution seem obvious while planting clues to the true answer that are obvious if the Reader looks hard enough. Hilari Bell also manages to keep a good balance of humor and danger. One moment things are pretty light-hearted, then something happens that sends a chill right down the Reader's spine. Few authors can pull that off without making events seem schizophrenic, but she does it.

I dearly hope that Player's Ruse is not the last Knight & Rogue Novel. I absolutely love this series, and I would hate to see it end only after three books.

Overall Rating: |||||

Others in the Knight & Rogue Series:
1)The Last Knight
2)Rogue's Home
3)Player's Ruse

Review: Alchemy and Meggy Swann - Karen Cushman

Synopsis: "Ye toads and vipers!" Thus says Meggy Swann, newly come to London from the country village where she was raised. She's not happy to be there, and why should she be? Her mother was glad to see the back of her. Her father, who sent for her, doesn't want her after all. The city is awash in dirt and muck, teeming with thieves and rogues, and very wearying to walk around in - especially for Meggy. She is the alchemist's daughter, though. Just as her father seeks to transform base metal into gold, Meggy sets out to change her condition for the better. In doing so, she finds herself to be braver and stronger and friendlier than she ever thought possible, and a competent rhymer as well.

Review: I absolutely love Karen Cushman's stories, even though she sometimes likes to go into detail about the lack of hygiene in the Renaissance a bit too much at times. And Alchemy and Meggy Swann has to be one of her best, if not the best. Meggy is a girl who, no matter the situation, lands on her feet and will fight her way to survival. She has a sharp tongue, but that sharp tongue keeps her alive and she is genuinely witty.

The dialogue, too, is wonderfully authentic without being just impossible to read. And the Author writes of the horrors and filth of Elizabethan London streets in such a matter-of-fact manner as to render it humorous, actually rather reminding me of Charles Dickens.

Alchemy and Meggy Swann comes highly recommended for all ages. It's a very quick and enjoyable read that anyone would like.

Overall Rating: |||||