EPIC by Conor Kostick

 
Rating: ***1/2
Genre: Sci fi, fantasy, adventure, dystopian
Series: Two sequels
Pages: 396
     Erik's life isn't too different from many of ours': eat, sleep, work, video games. But in Erik's world, your success in life depends on your success in Epic, a virtual reality game slightly similar to World of Warcraft. If you play well, you can live in a nice house and go to college. If you don't, you live in a tiny farm house with no future, like Erik.
     But when Erik's character dies and takes his hard earned money with it, he doesn't feel like playing by the rules anymore. When he creates his new character, he spends all his points on beauty instead of strength or weapons. That would be a pretty stupid decision if it didn't cause somebody to walk up to his character and hand over a priceless jewel. Instead of fighting easy monsters for meager money, Erik convinces his friends to help him with an impossible quest that surprises them by paying off. Big time. But when Erik makes a shocking discovery, he begins to wonder if the world might be better off without Epic.
     I like the idea of the book, but the characters bugged me, particularly Erik. He not a very interesting character and I thought the story could have been told just as well from any of his friends' point of view. At least they have one or two distinguishing characteristics. I recommend Epic to readers of sci fi and dystopian fiction, as well as people who wonder why books can't be as interesting as video games.
     

Savvy by Ingrid Law

  
Rating: ***1/2
Genre: Fantasy
Series: One companion book
Pages: 352
     Mibs's family is not what you would call normal. On their thirteenth birthday, they wake up with a magical talent called a savvy. Mibs can't wait for her savvy-until an accident leaves her dad in a coma. Luckily, her savvy seems to hold the key to making him better, and it's a simple matter of sneaking aboard a bus headed toward the hospital. But everything goes wrong. The bus heads in the wrong direction, there are other stowaways who suspect something is up with Mibs, one of them is a cute boy, and she may even be wrong about her savvy.
     I didn't have high expectations when I picked up this book. The cover and idea were interesting enough, but I thought writing a 352 page book about a bus ride would be a stretch. 
     I was surprised. The characters are unique, the pace is steady, and, best of all, everything goes wrong, but the characters keep on going.

Princess Ben by Catherine Gilbert Murdock

Rating: 4 1/2 stars
Genre: Fantasy, action, some romance
Pages: 344
     Shut up in a tower by her wicked aunt, Ben (short for Benevolence) discovers an enchanted room and begins her secret trainging in the magical arts. But while Ben is busy cloning herself and walking through walls, a neighboring kingdom is trying to conquer  her beloved home. What's worse, it's looking more and more like their only hope is a pudgy, imperfect princess who can't even do needlework correctly.
     Princess Ben is a page turner. That's all I can say about it. The only thing I didn't like about this book was the word choice. She doesn't just see a castle, she espies a castle. But aside from that, it's a pretty decent book. Not only is there magic, but lots of the fiery tounged court dialouge I love in princess novels.

Princess for Hire by Lindsey Leavitt

                                             
Rating: 3 1/2 stars
Genre: Fantasy
Series: This is the first of a series. The second book came out a while ago, but it is unknown how many books there will eventually be.
Pages: 240
     Desi has always wished her life was more glamorous. She is thrilled to find out that she has the rare magical ability to take on the appearance Of any princess in the world when she applies the magical 'royal rouge'. A secret agency called Facade employs her to stand in for princesses who need a day off. But Desi soon discovers that being a princess isn't all fancy parties and tiaras. For example, what is she supposed to do when Princess Elsa's old boyfriend, Prince Karl, tries to break up with her? Fortunately, Desi that she is able to not only pose as a princess, but help them fix the problems in their lives, too. Unfortunately, Desi's own life is working out to well, especially when she breaks some of Facade's most important rules...
 
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Alex and the Ironic Gentleman by Adrienne Kress

                                     
Rating: ****1/2
Genre: Adventure and fantasy, but mostly humor
Series: This book has a companion novel, Timothy and the Dragon's Gate
Pages: 308
Also published as Alex and the Wigpowder Treasure
    Mr. Underwood, is not a normal teacher. In addition to teaching his students fencing in P.E., he's the heir to a long-lost pirate treasure. Unfortunately, Mr. Underwood has been kidnapped by pirates and Alex has to go rescue him herself, since the police aren't being very helpful. Along the way, she meets many interesting people, including the Extremely Ginormous Octopus, a hotel owner obsessed with mind reading, a talking refrigerator, and a few very evil little old ladies.
     The plot is good, but what really makes it interesting is the writing style. While some writers would simply say, "Alex's parents died in a car crash when she was a baby. She lived with her uncle in an apartment above his shop," Kress says:
     "...Alex lived with her uncle. This was because, when she was very young, he had become her legal guardian after Alex's parents had perished while spelunking in Iceland. Together they lived alone above his shop. The shop was very special because it was on the side of a bridge. It was also very special because it was very useful. A useful shop is a shop that sells something like fruit and vegetables, because you need fruit and vegetables to stay healthy and therefore they are necessary. Whereas a nonuseful shop is a shop that sells things like antiques or jewelry, which are both lovely things, but are definitely not something you need to stay healthy, no matter what people tell you.
     Alex's uncle's shop was useul because Alex's uncle sold doorknobs, and what could be more necessary than that? If you didn't have doorknobs you would find yourself trapped and unable to get into your own home, and you'd have to sleep outside on the street. Then your home itself would become useless. Which would be horrible." -pg. 6
     If you're looking for a funny book, read this one. You won't regret it.

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My Fair Godmother by Janette Rallison

                                
Rating: *****
Genre: Fantasy, romance, humor, adventure, and a dash of mystery
Pages: 320
Series: There is currently one sequel, My Unfair Godmother, but more might follow.
Savannah isn't exactly happy after her older sister steals her boyfriend. But never fear, Chrysanthemum Everstar, world's worst fairy godmother, is here to save the day! Well, sort of. Chrissy didn't do so well in fairy godmother school. Hence the 'fair'. Savannah is her extra credit project.
After Chrissy messes up Savannah's first two wishes (what part of sweet, handsome prince do you not understand?) she finds Tristan, a boy from Savannah's school who fits the wish pretty well. He's handsome and sweet, but he's not a prince. Solution? Send him back into medieval times until be becomes a prince! Together, Savannah and Tristan have to defeat a cyclops, dragon, wizard, the mysterious Black Knight, and one very angry goat before they can go home.
What I liked best about this book was how realisticaly intelligent the characters are. Too often in books, we see either complete idiots or brilliant protagonists who solve impossible puzzles in seconds. In My Fair Godmother, Savannah thinks and talks through all of her decisions. She comes up with creative plans, but as with real life, they don't always work seamlessly. Sometimes they fail, sometimes they work out, though not in the way they planned for. For example, when Savannah and Tristan have to fight the dragon, they know right away that they can't use swords and come out alive. Solution? Let's feed it gunpowder! Oh. But gunpowder doesn't exist yes. Let's invent it!
 As failproof as that idea seems, it doesn't turn out exactly...well, I'll let you read it.

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The Billionaire's Curse

   Rating: ***1/2
   Genre: Realistic fiction, fantasy
   Pages: 352
   Series: First of a trilogy. Are all series trilogies nowadays?
  Gerald is a normal Australian boy who enjoys drawing, rock climbing, and staring at a special girl in his history class. But everything changes when his parents get him from school to fly halfway around the world to a great aunt he never met. It turns out that Great Aunt Geraldine (his parents name him Gerald to suck up to her) was very, very, very, rich and left most of her fortune to Gerald. This makes Gerald's parents very happy. They get on Gerald's new yacht to go to Gerald's new island in the Caribbean and leave him in the care of his new creepy butler. Even worse, it seems that Geraldine was murdered, and she left him a mystery to solve. Now Gerald and his new British friends, Sam and Ruby, are racing across England through mansions and secret underground tunnels. They only have a few days to solve a mystery involving the world's largest diamond, Gerald's strange magical powers, and a strange, skinny man with a knife.
     What I love most about this book is how the author was able to mix in a dash of magic without making the story revolve around fantasy. I also enjoyed the action and comedy. Who knew Ruby's gymnastics skills could come in handy while sneaking into a mansion?

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