Beauty Queens by Libba Bray

I broke my every-Wednesday book schedule this week because I had to get surgery, and unfortunately I can't write and sleep at the same time. I'll work on that. Regular schedule will start again next Wednesday, barring any of my other organs deciding to peace out. Anyway, right now I'm on a little vicodin, so I'm semi-loopy, which is why I thought this week's book discussion should be Beauty Queens. Because if I had to guess what one book in the world would be on drugs, it would be this one.

When I read the opening chapter, I knew this book would be one hell of a ride. And I didn't really expect anything less. Libba Bray's books have gotten crazier and crazier over the years: A Great and Terrible Beauty was a fantastic start to a series, with very gripping scenes and characters that you felt; Going Bovine was endearingly strange, with it's main character suffering from mad cow disease, traipsing through the world with a lawn gnome; and now, Beauty Queens has taken it five steps further and gone into WTF-zone.

This book started out with a pitch from Libba's editor, basically something like this: A plane of beauty queens crashlands on an island. Go. (Libba talked about this during her This is Teen tour stop in NYC, which was a blast - she's one of the most hilarious, interesting authors I've ever met.) And honestly, I thought, if there was anyone who could explore that plot, it would be Bray.

My like of Beauty Queens was on-and-off during the whole book, though. I loved how far Bray took took the subject, made a huge, ridiculous production of how our own society views TV, beauty, and everything else in between. She would stop mid-chapter to present a commercial break or product placement, like you're actually watching her story unfold on reality tv. There were a lot of moments where I laughed a little too loudly and got the whole crazyperson look from anyone around me.

But at times, it felt a little too chaotic for me. And I love chaos. There were a lot of parts I enjoyed, but having moment after moment of over-the-top storyline got to be a little too much for me. So, at times, I'd be hooked into the story, and at other times I'd be pulled out of it because of how manic it was. I enjoyed it, but had some higher expectations because of Libba's previous work.

I think Libba Bray, in general, is an absolute genius, though, and I can't wait to check out her other books. Because I can tell you now, she isn't the kind of author to fall into the same rut of repetitive plots. She's absolutely original about everything she writes, which is what's so refreshing about her stories. They stand out in the minds of whoever reads them, and I think that's the point of a good book.

Tithe by Holly Black

I read White Cat by Holly Black (which I talked about here back in 2010) and adored it. It was dark and smoky, and there's nothing I really love more than books that push the boundaries. Tithe definitely wasn't an exception to Black's gritty writing.

There's something about real faerie lore that I really like. Not the pretty pixies with wings, a la Tinkerbell, but the ones with razor teeth and black eyes that use glamour to deceive you. I've read a few books that feature this well-researched deceptive faerie culture, such as Julie Kagawa's Iron Fey series, as well as Tyger Tyger by Kersten Hamilton, both of which I really enjoyed. But whereas each of these books held fantastic stories, I think Tithe was the darkest. It sneaked into the underground faerie world and peeled back the glamour, showing the gore and grime underneath.

There were some scenes I felt could have used more work, like more character depth during more emotional scenes, but the hard layer of rust and evil shown in Tithe's pages made up for it. If you don't like dark books, this definitely isn't one for you. But if you don't get scared easily, this is something you should pick up to change that. It shows you a world that's like the teenager equivalent of Goosebumps (those were the only books that scared me when I was a youngin', and Tithe is able to tap into that same fear of the unknown.) Very good writing, very good storytelling. Fairy tales at their greatest.

YA needs more books like this one - books that don't hold back. For now, I think Holly Black is the master of dark YA storytelling, and I can't wait to read more from her.

And if you can think of any other dark YA books, let me know in the comments! Would love to read 'em.

Witch Eyes by Scott Tracey

I'm obsessed with books that create a new setting, a world that you can visit and explore. Belle Dam, the town breathing through the pages of Witch Eyes, is one of those places.

Braden would probably rather not head to a town that's divided by two warring witch families. But because of a vision his "witch eyes" see, he's forced to leave home to save his uncle. What he finds in Belle Dam, his eyes never could have prepared him for.

So. Belle Dam. I remember doing English packets in middle school that explained the importance of "setting." Back then, I used to think it didn't really matter where you were, as long as the characters brought it to life. And while the cast of characters were definitely lively (and manipulative and funny and evil) - not an ounce of life needed to be poured into Belle Dam. It was already alive.

This is a town that has history misting out of the ground, the sky, and the trees. It has secrets hiding in the dirt, little whispers cupped in the heart of the city. There's something ancient and dark and mystic about the air surrounding Belle Dam. I talk about it like I visited it in person, but that's because it feels like I have. This town sits in a corner of my brain like a memory - like the house I grew up in when I was five. There's a flicker of recognition and nostalgia, but I can't remember exactly what the wallpaper looked like. But I know I was there.

The town itself is worth reading for, but the characters that fill up Belle Dam make Witch Eyes the kind of novel you want to become a part of. They are as secretive and alive and mysterious as the town is. Braden himself is a strong character, one brave enough and scared enough to lead the story. You experience the town and the people for the first time alongside him, and you can't help but be enchanted by what you see. It's a town full of witches, after all. There are people who are funny, people who are sincere, people who are sadistic. But they are all incredibly realistic. The romance between Braden and Trey is full of chemistry and energy and confusion and strength. And the other characters - Jade, whose friendship with Braden is made of the kind of thread that ties tightly, that fast and subtle mix of personalities that blends right. And the Lansings and Thorpes, the feuding families, who manipulate but have their own society and devotion. The characters in this book and town create a history in itself, full of untold answers and loyalty and fears and tangles.

It all blends into a book that you don't read so much as become a part of. So pick a side and pledge your allegiance and step foot into Belle Dam.

Where She Went by Gayle Forman

If I Stay was a book that went into my bloodstream and never really left, so when I heard Gayle Forman was writing a sequel, I was obviously excited. But If I Stay was the kind of book that didn't seem like it needed a sequel, so I was equally nervous. I shouldn't have doubted Forman, though, because this book was brilliant in a completely different way.

If I Stay, if you haven't read it, is about a girl, Mia, who gets into a car crash and has to decide whether to live or die. She's in a coma, but she is out of her body the entire time, watching the aftermath of the accident that killed her family. It's very deserving of a read, reminiscent of Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver, another one of my favorites.

Where She Went didn't pick up where If I Stay left off, at all. It wasn't what I expected it to be, but in a very very good way. It's told from Adam's POV (Adam is Mia's boyfriend in If I Stay), and it takes place a few years after Mia's accident. Adam's band shoots into some kind of hyper-rockstar status after their new album (which is mostly about Adam's feelings with Mia,) is released. He's dating a celebrity and he's the sex god of the generation (which, yeah, seemed a little cliche) but he has to take anti-anxiety pills and try to calm himself down every second of his life. I could really kind of relate with that whole anxiety part, which made me like Adam despite his rockstar characterization.

It almost seemed like a completely different story, but obviously the characters had changed a lot in the phantom years between books. But there was something comforting about visiting them again. It's very much like getting a cup of hot chocolate and sitting down with a friend you haven't seen in a while - you get to find out what happened in the spaces between then and now, that invisible period where anything could have happened.

And Adam was the perfect narrator for that. The book was spaced apart with lyrics from his album, which were absolutely freaking beautifully brilliant. They were the highlight of the book for me - a series of tiny words that hit so so perfectly on the emotion of the book. I'd love to see Gayle Forman write a book in verse - the lyrics were that amazing. Or start a band.

Which, of course, brings me to the whole music part of things. I'm a huge music freak. There's a small part of the book where Adam borrows someone's ipod and there's a list of music. All of it was music I adored. It made me squee like a little music dork, and then I got to thinking about Adam and his own love of music. He's a musician in this huge rock band, but it seemed like he'd lost any interest in playing music. He doesn't even see his band aside from stage time, and it was like he was forcing himself to go on tour and play. Somewhere, from when he started being a musician to when he got famous, he lost the passion and love of it, and that was something that hit me really hard. Because what's fame if it comes at the cost of whatever made you want to wake up? That scene just stuck out to me, like when you remember a movie you watched when you were eight and just one vivid scene is all that comes to your mind. (All I remember from The Never Ending Story is when the boy rides that white dragon thing, but it makes me happy.)

And the setting! I've been to New York a couple times, but it never really felt more alive than it did in these pages, because it was the character's home. You got to see the underbelly of the city, the quiet parts where people earn smiles and bowling balls crash into pins and someone sighs on a boat. It stripped away the lights and the motion and gave it a hushing, calming feel. The last time I was in NY, in May, I rode the Staten Island Ferry just because it was in this book. And it kind of made the water look more pretty. It made me think of all the people who talked about their lives in those seats, and I could perfectly picture these characters sitting there.

It was just so full of life and setting and music. Completely different from If I Stay, but that showed Gayle Forman's talent with storytelling. And I can't wait to read more from her.