Review: The Twin's Daughter

Twin's Daughter

Author: Lauren Baratz-Logsted

Summary:



Lucy Sexton is stunned when a disheveled woman appears at the door one day… a woman who bears an uncanny resemblance to Lucy's own beautiful mother. It turns out the two women are identical twins, separated at birth, and raised in dramatically different circumstances. Lucy's mother quickly resolves to give her less fortunate sister the kind of life she has never known. And the transformation in Aunt Helen is indeed remarkable. But when Helen begins to imitate her sister in every way, even Lucy isn't sure at times which twin is which. Can Helen really be trusted, or does her sweet face mask a chilling agenda?

Filled with shocking twists and turns, THE TWIN'S DAUGHTER is an engrossing gothic novel of betrayal, jealousy, and treacherous secrets that will keep you guessing to the very end.

*

I so totally did not want to read this at first ><

Simply spying for a read to idle my time away, I saw this lying there in all of its pink glory. Though it sounded like a thrilling package, I had been aiming for a light summer romance... But, with nothing on my hands, I read it anyway.

And thank god. Thank god I read it! When I first touched the coarse thin paper, I stupidly thought that I was in for just another YA Gothic novel with zero romance. Man, was I wrong!

Needless to say, I actually signed up for so much more. Few pages into this fascinating Victorian world and I couldn't put the book down. A budding romance, a nagging suspicion, careful clues dropped your way-- The Twin's Daughter slowly built up its momentum with a promising cast and then... BAM!

That intense, bone-chilling, domino-effect surprise. It plants a seed of doubt in you as you struggle to find the truth as the story fluctuates like the tide. 

But, before I actually try to skilfully unveil that without spoilers, the stage needs to be set up. 

When Aunt Helen first arrives on their doorstep, the Sexton family is warm and welcoming. Everyone rushes to give her the best that they can to make up for the years lost. As Lucy takes a great liking to Aunt Helen, the frame is picture perfect. Lucy's mother showers her with lavish gifts and beautiful gowns, she introduces Aunt Helen into her circle of friends, she does everything she could to make Helen a part of her life-- and she succeeds. Seeing Aunt Helen as radiant as her sister in the waltzing pairs, seeing Aunt Helen befriending other ladies with charm, seeing Aunt Helen laugh gaily with Lucy and her father, any reader will feel a motherly sense of relief. After all, Aunt Helen deserves a life of smiles and splendour after the hardships in her youth.  

Yet, that was when the cold feeling started creeping up on me. As I looked at the world through the eyes of carefree but careful Lucy, Aunt Helen gradually turns into a perplexing danger, when even Lucy finds it difficult to differentiate between Aunt Helen and her own mother. How far does sisterly love and kindness reach before the fear of having someone taking over your life sets in?

But, there is an oasis in the stretch of never-ending spikes of fear. Even as I tried to juggle all the shocking clues and disturbing acts, there was a sweet romance budding behind the dark curtain of foreboding secret agendas. Just like a fragile but strong flower growing amidst grinning skulls, the love between Lucy and Kit gave me faith in the face of impending doom. From poking fun at each other to eventually shyly accepting their love, their romance blooms slowly with no haste in the fast-paced storyline, like the only constant in their ever-changing world. 

I adore Lauren Baratz-Logsted for slipping in so many layers of the story. This wasn't a one-dimensional story, but one girl's life story-- one that I could see, hear and fear with my heart.     

Now, with all the events leading up to the moment, the story finally reaches its first climax and begins to take on an even darker undertone. A murder happens in the Sexton household, and Aunt Helen perishes. However, as Lucy matures into a young lady, she can't help but doubt the change in her beloved mother. Is she who she says she is? Who really died in that bloodbath years ago? 

As Lucy faced alarming truths and deals with ill-fated events, I was leaning on the edge of my seat while making smart-aleck conclusions about the resolution. Yet, with the timely plot twists and not so timely surprises, I began to doubt my conclusions over and over again.

In the end, stunned speechless by the whole whirlwind of events that charts the love and loss of a girl from child to lady, I can only tell you this: The Twin's Daughter deserves a zealous round of applause-- for having Arthur Conan Doyle's sense of mystery, Jane Austen's grasp of wit and Edgar Allan Poe's mastery of thrill!   

Source: My beloved old library

xoxo,

Sel

Review: Falling Under (Falling Under #1)

Falling Under (Falling Under #1)

Author: Gwen Hayes

Summary:

Theia Alderson has always led a sheltered life in the small California town of Serendipity Falls. But when a devastatingly handsome boy appears in the halls of her school, Theia knows she's seen Haden before- not around town, but in her dreams.

As the Haden of both the night and the day beckons her closer one moment and pushes her away the next, the only thing Theia knows for sure is that the incredible pull she feels towards him is stronger than her fear. And when she discovers what Haden truly is, Theia's not sure if she wants to resist him, even if the cost is her soul.

Published 1 March 2011

*

Before you say anything about how clichéd it sounds, hear me out in six words: this is one good book, darling!

I know that there's a huge mountain pile of books that have been circulating around the YA book pool-- the forbidden romance (Twilight) kind of books. But they are currently on the wane, thank God.

I know you might be rolling your eyes over the crazy similarity Falling Under's synopsis seems to have to this specific pile of books. But, be prepared to be surprised!

I know you might be growling with exasperation at the stereotypical YA heroine who is naive, innocent and oblivious to her charms, and the bad boy demon prince who is both a curmudgeon as well as a jerk. Nah, nah, you are more than mistaken.

The story completely won me over with its clever twist in the plot. That, and that only. The boldness and generosity of Gwen Hayes fully shone through her amazing control of the storyline.  

Yes, the characters are more than typical.

But guess what, the story takes on a complete turn in the second half, with the two of them suddenly switching roles. And, guess what, our male lead, Haden, is actually brutally honest with the fact that he is a jerk and acknowledges it straight to Theia's face. Let's take a look at his frank confession with Theia:

“This isn't a crush, it's obsession. You are never not in my thoughts.

Your scent carries across a room and paralyzes me with longing.

I don't want to hold your hand.

Part of me wants to set you on fire and hold you while the flame consumes us both, to eat your heart so I know that only I possess it entirely.” 

Like whoa. He totally got me there, what a 5-star character!

However, I had a slight problem with our Little Miss whom he was talking to. At this point of time in the story, she was still strutting around as a one-dimensional character. Honestly, I do understand that it's hard for authors to portray innocent girls in YA books as they all unavoidably fall into a stereotype. 

But, thank you Gwen Hayes, for showing me another side of the story and making Theia a stronger heroine with your brilliant twist. 

Yes, the TWIST. 

Let me go into that. 

In case you haven't noticed yet, many YA novels are either cut off at the climax or hand you only one climax in the entire tale, telling you to buy the sequel to find out what happens next. However, Gwen Hayes hands us a really rich tale, with several climaxes. There were a few times when I thought that the story was drawing to an end, but the twists came one after another, weaving together to form a fully-developed story worth my time. 

And, thankfully, I can't help but say this with vigor: no love triangles! 

The romance was pretty okay since it's the norm now that the YA female would always be irrevocably in love with the ridiculously handsome dare-devil. Oh, but to give the author due credit, the two other romances (her best friends and x and y) being illustrated in the novel was pretty satisfying too!

One other fantastic point about Falling Under is the dark tone of the book. The creepy horrors of Hell are fascinating-- sewn-together ladies, butlers with no empty faces, the nightmare realm of love and death...

Dangerously alluring and deliciously dark, Falling Under is a book that had me skeptical then delighted. How wicked, how lovely.

Source: PDF

xoxo,
Sel

Review: The Name of the Star (Shades of London #1)

The Name of the Star

Author:  Maureen Johnson

Summary:

The day Louisiana teenager Rory Deveaux arrives in London marks a memorable occasion. For Rory, it's the start of a new life at a London boarding school. But for many, this will be remembered as the day a series of brutal murders broke out across the city, gruesome crimes mimicking the horrific Jack the Ripper events of more than a century ago.

  

Soon "Rippermania" takes hold of modern-day London, and the police are left with few leads and no witnesses. Except one. Rory spotted the man police believe to be the prime suspect. But she is the only one who saw him. Even her roommate, who was walking with her at the time, didn't notice the mysterious man. So why can only Rory see him? And more urgently, why has Rory become his next target?

In this edge-of-your-seat thriller, full of suspense, humor, and romance, Rory will learn the truth about the secret ghost police of London and discover her own shocking abilities.

Published 29 September 2011

*

This book was a disappointment because of it's lack of momentum.

First and foremost, I would say that I started to read The Name of the Star with a completely different storyline in mind. I staunchly declare myself as a lover of historical fiction. Whether it's the Tudor Court or the Victorian Era, everything about debutantes at balls and handsome nobles holds a certain appeal that cannot be denied. But you see, I was fooled by the cover of a girl in a chemise and a man with a bowler hat. I really did assume that it was one of those historical fictions about Jack the Ripper roaming the streets of London 1880s (one of the most feared serial killers in history). Funny, funny, because my eyes didn't see the word on the blurb-- modern-day London. In addition, I also foolishly imagined a romance between Jack the Ripper and this red-haired beauty.

Sigh.

Though it would wonderful story that way.

Needless to say, I was very stumped when I heard all about flip-flops in the first few chapters. 

Still, as a story about a serial killer, this one lacked some thrill. I don't see what's so scary about a bald man in a suit with a bowler hat. I couldn't help but picture him as one of the pair-- Thomson & Thompson-- in The Adventures of Tintin, which was a fabulous film by the way.

Now, do tell me, are they scary? Nah.

But back to Jack the Ripper. This idea was a really new one for me, how someone in the twenty-first century would mimic the actions of a deranged high-profile murderer from two centuries ago. The serial killer would kill people on the same dates as Jack the Ripper, and kill them the same way as well. 

Honestly speaking, though Maureen Johnson had the book at a sluggish pace, her incorporation of JtR facts into the novel was quite stunning. (Some facts about Jack the Ripper at the end of the review)

At the start, the book was like a documentary about boarding school life. But, the novel which started off as a documentary turned into a mystery about a serial killer, and eventually, a paranormal fantasy.

How is it a mystery? Well, the CCTVs around the murder sites captured only the victims dying with no sight of the killer at all. No one seemed to be able to catch him until Rory sees a strange man in a bowler suit near school premises. However, the strange thing is that no one else can see him other than Rory.  

This takes up about two-thirds of the novel, and so far, the whole thing was really slow-paced.

Then the tension builds up as the whole of London gets caught up in "Rippermania". Everyone is scared, but still curious. There are many people predicting the next scene of crime, throwing parties at pubs frequented by victims of Jack the Ripper in 1880s, so on and so forth. Police are increasingly agitated as it draws closer to the final date when Jack the Ripper struck back in the nineteenth century, 9 November.

Now, at this point of time in the story, Rory has discovered that she can actually see ghosts since she had a near brush with death, namely choking on a piece of beef. That's when the novel picked up. It turns out that the serial killer, Alexander Newman, is actually a ghost, and he has set his sight on Rory, who is to be his final victim. He asks her to meet him and threatens her that if she doesn't show up, he will kill a path to her. Rory meets Boo, Callum and Stephan who are members of the Ghost Cop (mainly people who keep ghosts in check) and they accompany her to meet Newman. 

The story starts to turn frightening and we learn by clues that Alexander Newman was a Ghost Cop in his lifetime. The final confrontation was full of edge-of-your-seat thrills, and I was really holding my breathe when Newman slit Rory. Don't worry, she didn't die.

As you can see, the first two-thirds of the novel was spent on boarding school life, and all the fascinating parts were in the remaining one-third of the novel. The story is a fresh read, but I find the plot hollow and forced and only satisfying with the facts about Jack the Ripper.

Before I end this review, there would be one factor that I would like to touch up on. The romance in this novel, unfortunately, came across as weak and awfully neglected, so readers who are expecting the love life of the heroine to make up for the lack of plot are to be sorely dismayed.  

The story ended with a cliffhanger which didn't really arouse my interest. And to be honest, I am not interested to read its sequels at all.

However, to give Maureen Johnson some credit, she has a humorous and witty writing style, so you get a few laughs straight-away!

If you like slow-paced books with really strange plots, give it a try!

Source: Read while sitting on the cold white tiles in The Bookstore

xoxo,

Sel

Facts about Jack the Ripper: