ARC Review: Jackaby

Title: Jackaby

Author: William Ritter

Genre: YA, Historical Fiction, Mystery, Fantasy, Paranormal

Format: ARC Paperback

Pages: 304

Publisher: Algonquin Young Readers

Published: Releases on Sep. 16 2014

Source: Own

Description: “Miss Rook, I am not an occultist,” Jackaby said. “I have a gift that allows me to see truth where others see the illusion--and there are many illusions. All the world’s a stage, as they say, and I seem to have the only seat in the house with a view behind the curtain.”

Newly arrived in New Fiddleham, New England, 1892, and in need of a job, Abigail Rook meets R. F. Jackaby, an investigator of the unexplained with a keen eye for the extraordinary--including the ability to see supernatural beings. Abigail has a gift for noticing ordinary but important details, which makes her perfect for the position of Jackaby’s assistant. On her first day, Abigail finds herself in the midst of a thrilling case: A serial killer is on the loose. The police are convinced it’s an ordinary villain, but Jackaby is certain it’s a nonhuman creature, whose existence the police--with the exception of a handsome young detective named Charlie Cane--deny.

Doctor Who meets Sherlock in William Ritter’s debut novel, which features a detective of the paranormal as seen through the eyes of his adventurous and intelligent assistant in a tale brimming with cheeky humor and a dose of the macabre.

Review: Jackaby did remind me of Sherlock, to his trench coat, his hat, and weird personality, love him. I really like Abigail Rook, she wants adventure, she wants do to something that isn't boring and then she finds it by becoming the assistant. Now about the plot, I loved it. I wasn't expecting that plot twist. I don't if it was just me but I felt that the color Red was Symbol to the creature who was killing people. Besides Supernatural creatures there is a ghost and a duck with an interesting background. I really want to read more with these characters. More of there Supernatural adventures and more on their backgrounds.

4.5 ouf of 5 Stars

Mini Review: Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe

Title: Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe

Author: Benjamin Alire Saenz

Genre: glbt, romance, contemporary, realistic fiction, historical fiction

Format: Paperback

Pages: 359

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers 

Published: April 1st 2014

Source: Library

Description: Dante can swim. Ari can't. Dante is articulate and self-assured. Ari has a hard time with words and suffers from self-doubt. Dante gets lost in poetry and art. Ari gets lost in thoughts of his older brother who is in prison. Dante is fair skinned. Ari's features are much darker. It seems that a boy like Dante, with his open and unique perspective on life, would be the last person to break down the walls that Ari has built around himself.

But against all odds, when Ari and Dante meet, they develop a special bond that will teach them the most important truths of their lives, and help define the people they want to be. But there are big hurdles in their way, and only by believing in each other―and the power of their friendship―can Ari and Dante emerge stronger on the other side.

Review: I don't know how to review this book without talking about spoilers so here is a short crappy version. I love the characters. They are so real and the problems they had were real to which makes the book amazing but I didn't like how the characters repeated each other. I love the writing. Its very Quotable. I recommend it. If you have any doubts just give it a try.

Quotes: 

• “I wanted to tell them that I'd never had a friend, not ever, not a real one. Until Dante. I wanted to tell them that I never knew that people like Dante existed in the world, people who looked at the stars, and knew the mysteries of water, and knew enough to know that birds belonged to the heavens and weren't meant to be shot down from their graceful flights by mean and stupid boys. I wanted to tell them that he had changed my life and that I would never be the same, not ever. And that somehow it felt like it was Dante who had saved my life and not the other way around. I wanted to tell them that he was the first human being aside from my mother who had ever made me want to talk about the things that scared me. I wanted to tell them so many things and yet I didn't have the words. So I just stupidly repeated myself. "Dante's my friend.” (I wish I had a friend like Dante)
• “I had a feeling there was something wrong with me. I guess I was a mystery even to myself.” 
• “Senior year. And then life. Maybe that's the way it worked. High school was just a prologue to the real novel. Everybody got to write you -- but when you graduated, you got to write yourself. At graduation you got to collect your teacher's pens and your parents' pens and you got your own pen. And you could do all the writing. Yeah. Wouldn't that be sweet?”
• "What ever happened to reading a book because you liked it?"
• "But I'm not good at making friends. I'm okay with that." (I can relate with this)

4 out of 5 Stars

My Historical Fiction Books

Review: Black Ice (Young Sherlock Holmes #3)

Description: A third case for teen Sherlock involves a heinous crime … and a brother with blood on his hands When Sherlock and Amyus Crowe, his American tutor, visit Sherlock’s brother, Mycroft, in London, all they are expecting is lunch and some polite conversation. What they find shocks both of them to the core: a locked room, a dead body, and Mycroft holding a knife. The police are convinced Mycroft is a vicious murderer, but Sherlock is just as convinced he is innocent. Threatened with the gallows, Mycroft needs Sherlock to save him. The search for the truth necessitates an incredible journey, from a railway station for dead bodies in London all the way to the frozen city of Moscow—where Sherlock is afoot in a world of secrets and danger.

My Review: I’m going to give it 3.5 stars. It was different from the first two books. It was still interesting with all the twists at the end and the little action. I felt the ending was kinda rushed. More new interesting characters to look out for in the future, Kyte’s Theatrical Company or Paradol Chamber members. If the author talks about them again. Looking forward to reading about Mrs. Eglantine in the next book.

3.5 out of 5 stars

Read: July. 31 - August. 5, 2013

Review: Rebel Fire (Young Sherlock Holmes #2)

Desription: Fourteen-year-old Sherlock Holmes knows that Amyus Crowe, his mysterious American tutor, has some dark secrets. But he didn’t expect to find John Wilkes Booth, the notorious assassin, apparently alive and well in England—and Crowe somehow mixed up in it. When no one will tell you the truth, sometimes you have to risk all to discover it for yourself. And so begins an adventure that will take Sherlock across the Atlantic, to the center of a deadly web—where a friend is in peril and a defeated army threatens to rise again.

Andrew Lane’s exciting second case for the teenage Sherlock leads the young detective to America, straight into the heart of a shocking conspiracy.

My Review: I'm giving it 4.5 Stars. A lot of action which I liked and the different Scenery. Great details on whats going on at certain scenes and on different objects like the design of the S.S. Scotia. Like the first book, I love how the evil guy is disfigured or something like that. (SPOILERS) Baron Maupertuis bones was broken and he used these things to be pull like a puppet to move around. Duke Balthassar used leeches to stay alive from an illnes. They both used animals, Bees & Cougars as weapons. They are insteresting characters and I hope there are more like them in the other books. I thought this book was going to be more about John Wilkes Booth, but I liked how it ended up. I would of liked to know if they found balthassar body or if Sherlock told Crowe? But I think Crowe know something happened?

4.5 out of 5 stars

Read: July. 10 - July. 14, 2013 2:45am

Review: Death Cloud (Young Sherlock Holmes #1)

Description - The year is 1868, and Sherlock Holmes is fourteen. His life is that of a perfectly ordinary army officer’s son: boarding school, good manners, a classical education – the backbone of the British Empire. But all that is about to change. With his father suddenly posted to India, and his mother mysteriously ‘unwell’, Sherlock is sent to stay with his eccentric uncle and aunt in their vast house in Hampshire. So begins a summer that leads Sherlock to uncover his first murder, a kidnap, corruption and a brilliantly sinister villain of exquisitely malign intent . . . The Death Cloud is the first in a series of novels in which the iconic detective is reimagined as a brilliant, troubled and engaging teenager – creating unputdownable detective adventures that remain true to the spirit of the original books.

My Review - I really like it, the whole idea of a teenage Sherlock Holmes, to see how he was and what made him become the man he is. I love how the author got approval from the Doyle Estate and Family. That shows that they believe in the author to give Sherlock a good background on his teenage years and not mess it up. 

As for the book, it has good writing, great characters, great plot and a good pace. The ending left me wanting more. And it's a book I would like to own (book from the library) and re-read. 

One thing that got me wondering is the housekeeper, Mrs Eglantine. I thought she was in on these mysterious death and Mycroft said "she is no friend to the Holmes family" then why do she work for them? And what is the next plans for the Baron? What happens to Matty? Well I guess I got to keep reading to find out.

4 out of 5 Stars

Read: June. 27 - May. 7, 2013

Review: The False Prince (The Ascendance Trilogy)

Description: The False Prince is the thrilling first book in a brand-new trilogy filled with danger and deceit and hidden identities that will have readers rushing breathlessly to the end.

In a discontent kingdom, civil war is brewing. To unify the divided people, Conner, a nobleman of the court, devises a cunning plan to find an impersonator of the king’s long-lost son and install him as a puppet prince. Four orphans are recruited to compete for the role, including a defiant boy named Sage. Sage knows that Conner’s motives are more than questionable, yet his life balances on a sword’s point—he must be chosen to play the prince or he will certainly be killed. But Sage’s rivals have their own agendas as well.

As Sage moves from a rundown orphanage to Conner’s sumptuous palace, layer upon layer of treachery and deceit unfold, until finally, a truth is revealed that, in the end, may very well prove more dangerous than all of the lies taken together.

An extraordinary adventure filled with danger and action, lies and deadly truths that will have readers clinging to the edge of their seats.

My Review: Not much to say but that, I LOVED IT!!!! I LOVED EVERYTHING ABOUT IT. THE TWIST AT THE END (LAST TWENTY CHAPTERS). READING THOSE LAST CHAPTERS, I HAD TEARS IN THE CORNER OF MY EYES, NOT BECAUSE I WAS SAD BUT BECAUSE IT WAS REALLY REALLY GOOD. I'M GLAD I PICKED THIS BOOK AT A SCHOOL BOOK FAIR. I CAN'T WAIT TO READ BOOK 2 AND I HOPE BOOK 3 COMES OUT THIS YEAR.

5 out of 5 Stars

Read: April.6 - April.12, 2013