Waterfall by Lisa T. Bergren

Rating: **
Genre: Historical fiction, sci fi, romance
Series: First of a trilogy
Pages: 369
For Gabi and Lia, it's shaping up to be yet another boring of summer of uncovering artifacts in ancient Italian burial mounds. Their mother is an archaeologist. They do that every summer. But when they decide to explore the tomb for themselves instead of watching their mom do it from afar, Gabi is swept back seven hundred years to medieval battlefield. Lia is nowhere to be found.
Waterfall avoided some of the more annoying quirks of time travel romances. Gabi is fluent in both Italian and Latin, so there's no need for everybody in Medieval Italy to magically and conveniently start speaking twenty-first century English. She doesn't cower behind knight in shining armor whenever the Bad Guys come out to play. Half the time she's the one wielding the sword.
Waterfall is a very good time travel novel, but a deplorable romance. It's obvious why Marcello (aka Sir Shiny Armor) likes Gabi. How many fourteenth century woman have the spunk to repel down a castle wall with a sword in hand, pretend to be nobility, and back-talk a man, all in effort to find and save her little sister?
But I can't see why Gabi would be willing to spend fifteen seconds of her life fantasizing over this guy. He's described as being hot and treats her with all the courtesy that befits the lady she's pretending to be. But that means nothing to me. I have to see heroic feats of bravery or heartmelting acts of kindness before I bat an eyelash.
The climax happens about a hundred pages before the end of the book. Twenty of those are necessary. The rest is an extended victory party.
Then there's the title. There is no waterfall or even a waterfall metaphor in the entire story.
Waterfall is a good read for anybody who enjoys strong protagonists, action, historical detail, and hot guys on horses (with a disappointing lack of other positive qualities).

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Crimson Thread by Suzanne Weyn

 
Rating: *** 1/2
Genre: Romance, historical fiction
Pages: 207
Series: Crimson Thread is part of a multipe author series of fairytale retellings
     This retelling of the fairytale Rumplestiltskin is set New York, 1880. Bridget O'Malley has just arrived from Ireland with her family. All of them are struggling to find and keep jobs when Bridget lands a position as a seamstress in a rich Wellington household. That's not even the best part-she finds herself falling love with James, heir to the Wellington fortune. When the Wellington family business is in jeopardy, she manages to save it with a lot of help of Ray Stalls, her neighbor. But is it right to love James when Ray has done so much for her?
     This isn't a serious, dramatic, life changing book. It's one of the nice, happy ending paperbacks you read to escape from everyday life. And it fulfilled that purpose perfectly.

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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Distant Waves: A Novel of the Titanic by Suzanne Weyn

                      

Rating: *****
Genre: ghosts, romance, historical fiction, sci fi
Pages: 330
     Jane, an aspiring newspaper writer, lives in a boring small town with her mother and four sisters. Sure, it's a small town populated almost entirely by supposed psychics and mediums, but a small town nonetheless. When her oldest sister, Mimi, decides to take a "short trip" to New York City, Jane is more than happy to join her. There Jane encounters two very interesting people: Tesla, a mad scientist working on a time machine, and Thad, his cute assistant.
    As the title suggests, Jane, her sisters, Tesla, and Thad all end up on the Titanic. Jane is trying to enjoy luxurious ship with Thad and ignore her psychic sister Amelie's prediction that the Titanic won't complete the voyage. But when tragedy strikes, more than one of Jane's loved ones will be out of time.
    This is one of my all time favorite books. I love how the author was able to mix so many genres and make it work. I also like the amount of historical details. Jane's small town is based on a real community and many of the details about Tesla are true. I would recommend this book to almost everybody, as it has something everyone can enjoy.

Like what you read? Check out my other blog, ourvoiceteen.blogspot.com.

The Hourglass Door by Lisa Mangum

 
                               
     Book Rating: *****
     Clean rating: *****
     Genre: romance, sci fi
     Series: First of a trilogy
     Pages: 400
     Sometimes prologues reveal things about the story to come. But this one just draws us deeper into the mystery. It mysteriously describes a young, innocent prisoner who is sentenced to walk through a foreboding black door. Though the door is not attached to anything, the prisoner simply vanishes into midair.
     Abby is having a successful, if somewhat boring, senior year. She has college applications in the mail, two great friends by her side, a cute boyfriend, and a school play to direct. On weekends, she rocks out at concerts by Zero Hour, the hottest new boy band. Then one day, a mysterious, good-looking boy walks into the auditorium during rehearsal. His name is Dante and he claims to be a foreign exchange student from Italy.
     Strange things seem to happen when Dante is around, aside from the entire female population of Abby's high school swooning. Time seems to slow down, speed up, and bend back on itself. Abby starts to get strange glimpses of the future. Who is  Dante, really? Why won't he reveal anything about his past? Why does he disappear so often? And what's up with the strange gloves he always wears?
     The Hourglass  Door is not just a romance. There's plenty of other action and mystery. Dante is an intriguing character who draws you into the story and keeps you guessing.

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MATCHED by Ally Condie

                                                                                    
Book rating: *****
Clean rating: *****
Genre: dystopian, romance
Series: First of a trilogy
Pages: 384
     In Cassia's world, everything is supposed to be perfect. The Society makes all the choices for you: where you live, what you eat, what your job is, who you marry, and even when you die.
     At Cassia's Matching ceremony she'll find out who her perfect mate is. Usually your match lives thousands of miles away, but Cassia's turns out to be none other than her best friend, Xander.
    Then Cassia takes a look at Xander's file and receives a surprise. Xander's picture is replaced by Ky. Cassia has known Ky for years, but never gave much thought to this quiet boy with a mysterious past. But now she's intrigued and the two of them quickly becoming friends. And then something more. She knows this is forbidden, but she can't help the ways she feels about his looks (gorgeous), the secret messages (not exactly within the rules), and the poetry (very, very, forbidden) that he writes. Soon, Cassia begins discovers things the society doesn't want her to know, and she'll have to pay the price.
      Unlike many romance novels, MATCHED doesn't have overly flowery dialouge, though the many metaphors and symbols were starting to annoy me. The obstacle to their love is society, not parents or pride. Another bonus is that Ky is a likable character. With many romance novels, I can't see why the girl bothered to fall in love with the guy in the first place. Lastly, MATCHED is one of those books that keeps you up till two in the morning because you need to know what happens next.

Like what you read? Check out my other blog, ourvoiceteen.blogspot.com.