After the Snow, by S.D. Crockett

Title: After the Snow

Author: S.D. Crockett

Target Audience: Young Adult

Pages: 308

Rating: 5/10

Genre: Adventure / Sci-fi fantasy

Person: First

Tense: Present

Blurb (quoted):

“Fifteen-year-old Willo was out hunting when the trucks came and took his family away. Left alone in the snow, Willo becomes determined to find and rescue his family, and he knows just who to talk with to learn where they are. He plans to head across the mountains and make Farmer Geraint tell him where his family has gone.

But on the way across the mountain, he finds Mary, a refugee from the city, whose father is lost and who is starving to death. The smart thing to do would be to leave her alone -- he doesn't have enough supplies for two or the time to take care of a girl -- but Willo just can't do it. However, with the world trapped in an ice age, the odds of them surviving on their own are not good. And even if he does manage to keep Mary safe, what about finding his family?”

Judgement:

I’ve got to be honest, although it was readable (if your tried hard enough), I felt like I was going to drop a few levels in English just reading this. It wasn’t bad writing, in fact it’s actually structured well… But the writing style, which I assume was due to the theme/setting of the actual book, was (what first comes to mind) caveman-style; it was illiterate and improper. At first it made me think of a Texas accent (I’m not dissing on them at all, by they tend to skip the beginning or end of words and such) but it’s just beyond that, and it really got on my nerves, though it fits the storyline perfectly because Willo (main character) has been raised in the wild, without school, and it just makes sense – but it’s irritating.

Other than that, the storyline is easy as pie to follow, and it’s good in that it has multiple settings, and you aren’t stuck in the same place throughout the whole story. It takes you on a journey.

I’d suggest this book to guys – I don’t mean to be sexist or anything, but it is certainly not the type of thing I usually read though I’m sure my brother would enjoy it (if he wasn’t so stubborn he refuses to read anything I suggest).

I found the setting, a sort of post ice-age / apocalypse world, interesting to say the least. It’s quite original in my opinion and written well enough to allow the reader to turn it into a movie in their mind (if that is how they read, like me). And I can’t honestly say there was a dull moment – there really wasn’t.

The characters are definitely individuals, there aren’t a bunch of clones filling these pages, and each have distinctive personalities and skills which help propel the story through the different settings.

Personally, not my piece of cake, but overall an acceptable read.

The Body Finder, by Kimberly Derting

Title: The Body Finder

Author: Kimberly Derting

Target Audience: Young Adult

Pages: 327

Chapters: 28

Genre: Drama / Thriller

Series: 1-The Body Finder, 2-Desires of the Dead, 3-The Last Echo, (book 4 coming in 2013)

Person: Second

Tense: Past

Opinion: 7½/10

Blurb (quoted):

“A girl with a morbid ability
When a murder is committed it leaves a unique echo… on both the victim and the killer. Most people are unaware of these echoes but Violet Ambrose has always been able to sense them.

A serial killer on the loose

Now that Violet’s town is in the thralls of a serial killer the echoes of the local girls he has murdered are haunting her.

And the boy who would never let anything happen to her

The only shining light is Violet’s best friend Jay. She’s started falling for him and his fierce protectiveness gives her hope that he may feel the same…

With the police at a loss, can Violet use her ability to stop the killer or is she in danger of becoming his next victim?

Quotes from the cover:

“The romance and the mystery in The Body Finder were so intense that I didn’t know whether to hold my breath or scream. I did know I wouldn’t be getting anything done until I read whole book” – Melissa Mar, New York Times bestselling author of Wicked Lovely.

“You’ll be drawn in by the love story – and kept up all night by the suspense” – Claudia Gray, New York Times bestselling author of Stargazer.

Summary:

Violet has never been your normal girl; she can sense bodies. Everything that’s killed has an echo, which matches the one on their killer.

So when girls start disappearing only to turn up dead, Violet enlists herself to help find the killer – in the process endangering her own life.

But then again, that could work in her favour when it comes to her best friend Jay, who she and every other girl in the school now has the hot’s for. While she’s falling hopelessly for him, all she can do is pretend to be normal and hope he feels the same.

Judgement:

The Body finder took a little bit to get interested in; like a lot of good books, the beginning is slow-going, but believe me: once you reach the drama, your eyes will be glue until the very last page.

I really liked how the author created echoes; it’s an interesting idea. However, there was a little confusion at times, but it just adds more to the story and enhances your need to read more.

I would like to apologize for the briefness of this post. It took me a while to get round to reviewing it and I've read 3 books since!

Nightligh: A Parody

Title: Nightlight A Parody

Author: The Harvard Lampoon

Target Audience: young adult

Pages: 154

Chapters: 11

Genre: comedy / parody

Person: first

Tense: past

Opinion: 7/10

Blurb (quoted): “About three things I was absolutely certain.

First, Edwart was most likely my soul mate, maybe.

Second, there was a vampire part of him – which I assumed was wildly out of his control – that wanted me dead.

And third, I unconditionally, irrevocably, impenetrably, heterogeneously, gynecologically, and disreputably wished that he had kissed me.

And thus Belle Goose falls in love with the mysterious and sparkly Edwart Mullen in the Harvard Lampoon’s hilarious send-up.

Pale and klutzy, Belle arrives in Switchblade, Oregon, looking for adventure, or at least an undead classmate. She soon discovers Edwart, a super-hot computer nerd with zero interest in girls. After witnessing a number of strange events – Edwart leaves his chips untouched at lunch! Edwart saves her from a flying snowball! – Belle has a dramatic revelation: Edwart is a vampire. But how can she convince Edwart to bite her and transform her into his eternal bride, especially when he seems to find girls so repulsive?

Complete with romance, danger, insufficient parental guardianship, creepy stalkerlike behaviour, and a vampire prom, Nightlight is the uproarious tale of a vampire-obsessed girl, looking for love in all the wrong places.”

Summary: Belle Goose is a highly-popular though extremely quirky teenager obsessed with vampires. Edwart Mullen is a super-nerd and the butt of every joke at school that’s never kissed a girl. A perfect match! After moving to Switchblade, Oregon, Belle witnesses a range of odd activity performed by Edwart, and soon comes to the conclusion that Edwart Mullen is a vampire. Edwart Mullen is anxious to please Belle, her being his first girlfriend and all, and goes along with all her delusions.

Then they meet true vampires, Joshua and Vicky, which is when the truth comes out and Belle ends up attending a vampire prom with Josh.

But in an explosion of revelations, Belle realises that even though he isn’t a vampire, she’s in love with Edwart.

Judgement: this was a fun, though short, read and I enjoyed every moment of it. Admittedly, it wasn’t quite as funny as I’d expected and there were limited occasions that actually made me laugh out loud, but it was definitely a highly amusing book – great for boosting your mood! It’ll at least keep you in giggles.

There isn’t really much else to say about this book… It was easy to read, except a little confusing in a few places, but still understandable. It’s right up my alley, considering (I regret to say I may lose a few readers here) I am not a fan of Twilight, and this book, though ridiculous, fleshes out and over exaggerates Twilight’s flaws.

Definitely an entertaining – however short – read.

Quotes from the book:

“I walked towards the seat, circling my hips and raising my eyebrows rhythmically like an attractive person.”

“First, I told Tom and Lucy that Edwart saved me from a snowball. They weren’t impressed. So I started saying Edwart saved me from a rock with snow around it, and, later, I started saying he saved me from an avalanche. One day, I said that Edwart ran with superhuman speed, stopping a car that was about to hit me with his superhuman strength.”