Michelle Zink

Oh, guys. THIS BOOK. It was just...ugh, I almost have no words for how much I loved "A Temptation of Angels". Even though I also loved the "Prophecy of the Sisters" trilogy, "Angels" just shows how far Zink has come as an author since her debut in 2009. This story is one tight, fast-paced thrill ride of a book, with angels, demons, romance, awesome technology, and mystery that will keep you reading until the end.

I get the feeling that this book is a standalone (though this hasn't been show more confirmed yet), because it reads like one. That alone is really refreshing. The story feels finished by the last page, and pretty much nothing is lacking throughout the entire story - the characters are entirely developed, there were no characters that were useless or made me question why they were there in the first place, and there was tension on more or less every single page. That's incredibly hard to do (all of that) on individual terms when writing a book, but to manage to get all of that right in one book is pretty awesome. It only shows how far Zink has come as a writer, both in world-building and in technical areas, since her debut.

The only question lingering I had was about the full development of Raum's character, but the backstory given later in the book, though not quite enough to my taste, along with the action on pretty much every single page more than made up for that, as he wasn't really a huge part of the plot until the very end. Even then, he was more woven into the ending than stood out as an individual character. More of a means to an end rather than a separate person. Which totally fine with me -- the approach taken to character building this way, whether conscious or not on Zink's part -- was new and awesome, and I can only hope other authors can be as brave when trying this out.

Otherwise? Loved it. All of it. It's that awesome. If I could give this more than five stars, I would. Definitely on my brand shiny new best of 2012 list. If you're a fan of historical paranormal fiction or just want something new to try, period, go for "A Temptation of Angels". It hits bookshelves in North America in March, 2012 (other places, ask your local bookseller). It'll be worth the wait, guys. I promise.

(posted to goodreads, shelfari, librarything, and witchoftheatregoing.wordpress.com) show less

Review Courtesy of Dark Faerie Tales

Quick & Dirty: The plot of this stand-alone starts out fast on the first page and keeps moving quickly; tensions build around the secret descendants of angels and the stakes are high to the very end. Zink builds a convincing and mysterious world around historical London that will keep you turning the pages!

Opening Sentence: Though it was late, it was not the sound of arguing that woke Helen in the dead of night.

The Review:

Within the first few pages, show more we’re thrust into a whole new world along with Helen Cartwright. Quickly it’s made clear that everything Helen knows, everything her parents taught her, was for a reason. For this moment when she’d be on her own, running from her parent’s murderer. Historical London is painted vividly before us as Helen runs away from the home she can never go back to, clutching a piece of paper from her mother telling her where to go. When Helen learns of the Dictata, a mysterious organization that has controlled the balance of good and evil since the beginning of the world, we find out about the world of Keepers–the descendants of angels and guardians of the world. So what about the Legion–to keep it simple they’re demons, and they have a plot from hell to kill all the Keepers.

The Keepers have always been in danger from the demons of the underworld, so why is it alarming that they’re being hunted now? Because the demons are succeeding. Because of the twenty Keepers the Dictata has appointed Helen, Darius and Griffin are all that’s left. They’re being killed off too fast for the Dictata to risk appointing new ones. This time they’re after a key that will unlock the Keeper’s library with information on the past, present, and future. Whoever gets into the room can change the past and control the future–or in the case of the demons, take over the mortal world.

Helen is a strong, smart heroine who’s thrown head first into a confusing world of magic and murder. Anyone who picks up this book will also find something special about Helen. Unlike so many heroines we read about, Helen has common sense, she is practical. These are ever elusive qualities in young adult heroines. She’s a really great narrator; her perspective on the demons-versus-angels world she’s living in really helps the plot’s momentum.

Now let’s talk about Griffin and Raum. No, not a love triangle per say, though both are set up as love interests (kinda, sorta, not really). Griffin is one of the three remaining Keepers. He and his brother Darius find themselves responsible for Helen when she shows up, scared and filthy, at their front door. He takes her in, he trains her to fight with a sickle, and of course he’s totally gorgeous. Griffin fights to protect her, he worries about her, but more than that he’s incredibly well developed as a male lead. He has his own story, which happened before this story and is independent of Helen’s. Their parents were murdered too. Darius and Griffin live in their parents’ house, waiting for a time when they can get revenge on the Legion. Raum was once Helen’s friend. He suffered nobly through her tea parties when she was little, but she grew up without him as a friend. Her parents stopped being friends with his parents, and eventually she forgot about him. But now Raum is back, and Helen is torn between the Channing brothers and the memory of the boy who played with her in her mother’s garden.

Zink explains Griffin’s love for his brother, as well as his behavior around Helen and exactly what kind of man he is. Though charming and sweet, Zink doesn’t try to make him perfect–and flawed characters are so much better. Darius is not like his brother. He’s surly and hard to please. But he puts family first, and you can tell he takes the responsibilities his parents left him seriously. One of my favorite things about this book is that it doesn’t lay everything out in front of you. It’s not like “Hey, here’s the mystery and here are some clues!” but takes the reader on a journey with the characters to find out what’s going on. Despite the fantasy elements of the story; that makes it seem so much more realistic.

I found this book incredibly engaging. I sat down and read it in a few hours–it’s not short but the story is a quick read because Helen’s narrative voice is so easy to follow. Right now the story functions as a stand-alone, though ideally Zink will turn it into a series! There are a few questions left open by the end, but nothing that prevents A Temptation of Angels from being on its own. This mystery is engaging because the stakes are set so high and the characters are so deep and unique you wonder how it’ll all end happily.

Notable Scene:

“I…It…What is this?” She did not even have the presence of mind to worry about sounding like an idiot in front of Darius.

Griffin led her gently by the arm. “Galizur will explain.”

She stumbled forward, even as she wanted to shrink in fear. In the end, her hesitation had no hope against the part of her that was drawn to the object as clearly as if it were calling her name.

It was beautiful, the azure oceans seeping into the green and gold landmasses that morphed slowly into ridged mountains. As the globe turned, the water seemed to undulate, the sand of the Sahara sifting from one side to the other. She caught the scent of salt water, wet earth, wind, and rain. “It’s the Terrenious Orb.” Galizur’s voice broke through the trance brought on by the object in front of her. “It’s a measure of our world and how secure we are in it.” He gestured at it with one hand. “And as you can see, things aren’t going very well at the moment.”

FTC Advisory: Penguin/Dial provided me with a copy of A Temptation of Angels. No goody bags, sponsorships, “material connections,” or bribes were exchanged for my review. show less

This book took me way longer than I thought it would. Most of the stories are intense and going from world to world was a struggle. We don't know it when we are young but later on we realize how grim fairy tales and nursery rhymes really are. Despite the long time it took me to read this book I enjoyed most of the stories. There were a couple where it was like eh but there was an even greater amount that impressed me. When I went back to look at some stories I wanted to show off and review show more individually I realized that there was a lot more stories I really enjoyed that I wanted to review. Overall most of the stories were tragic/tragically beautiful but some were sad but more than that they were hopeful. I don't know any of these authors and that needs to change. These stories were so well crafted that in some I was left in awe and in one in particular I was left happily crying. Here are five out of many great Mother Goose nursery rhymes turned into short stories:

Sing a Song of Six-Pence by Sarwat Chadda

"Sing a song of sixpence, A pocket full of rye; Four and twenty blackbirds Bakes in a pie.
When the pie was opened, They all began to sing.
Now, wasn't that a dainty dish To set before the King?
The King was in his counting house, Counting out his money; The Queen was in the parlor Eating bread and honey. The maid was in the garden, Hanging out the clothes.
Along there came a big black bird And snipped off her nose!"

Here a big black bird sits waiting for it's next victim. A maid enters and asks for a trade. The bird is used to souls as a trade but the maid isn't dumb. She wants something worth living to see. She must steal a dish filled with the brethren of the big black bird and in return he must take her over the wall where nothing but misery will befall her. She doesn't care. In the end they both get what they want but of course it ends in pain but it's such a great ending. This was the first short story I was truly impressed with. I knew after reading this one that this book was going to be great.

Life in a Shoe by Heidi R. Kling

"There was an old woman who lived in a shoe, Who had so many children she didn't know what to do. So she gave them some broth without any bread And whipped them all soundly and put them to bed."

I've never read the end of that poem. I guess most authors retelling nursery rhymes thought it too messed up to add it into a book for little kids. I actually thought this rhyme was very whimsical and fun...before. In this short story the setting seems very post-apocalyptic. Men are away at war but they come back fairly regularly and to get their women pregnant. So here's this woman, angry and uncaring that she has so many kids she can't feed in this tiny apartment. The kids are the ones that suffer the most. The kids make a decision. It's a very hopeful sort of ending. It's a story I won't soon forget.

The Well by K.M. Walton

"Jack and Jill Went up the hill. To fetch a pail of water. Jack feel down And broke his crown and Jill came tumbling after. Up Jack got And home did trot As fast as he could caper. Went to bed And plastered his head With vinegar and brown paper."

This one's crazy awesome. I mean of course it's going to be the bloodiest of them all. Jack breaking his crown has always meant him cracking his head open. This is another dystopian. A virus broke out and Jack and Jill are the only ones left in their town. They just happen to mention how their father racked with pain and sorrow after his wife died in childbirth threw himself in a well where his bones remain. Now with that terrifying image in your head aren't you worried what will happen with that well and the two siblings? I already knew. This wasn't going to be a hopeful ending. It's not exactly tragic. It's a horror story and it was unbelievable. Jill was such a pain throughout. She hates her brother for being the cause of her mother's death. Not only that, everyone treats him like he's the greatest person ever. Now boys and girls this is why envy is one of the seven deadly sins. Don't mess with envy because it's going to bite you back... hard. Craziness ensues. Loved it all.

The Wish by Suzanne Young

"Star Light Star bright, The first star I see tonight, I wish I may, I wish I might, Have the wish I wish tonight."

Lauren just had her relationship end not to long agonand she's not taking it well. Not only that but her parents are constantly fighting and don't see her so one day she wishes that she was dead. Pretty pathetic right? Peter, the mysterious boy who shows up by her certainly thinks so. It was a bit dramatic - her reasoning. I couldn't quite feel her pain so that part of the story wasn't very compelling but Peter made up for it all. He has a black bracelet or string to remind him of something. But before he needs to be reminded of anything he whisks her away and makes her feel happy and loved for the first time in a long time but then she reminds him... Loved the ending. I have questions about it too like what happens with them now? Their relationship I mean. It got me excited because that was the perfect ending. It's an ending that will give you goosebumps.

A Ribbon of Blue by Michelle Zink

"A Bunch of Blue Ribbons, Oh, dear, what can the matter be? Johnny's so long at the fair. He promised he'd buy me a bunch of blue ribbons, To tie up my bonny brown hair."

This was the last story. The story that made me cry. The story that I think some people might take offense to but I'm not one of those people. Ruby has cerebral palsy. She has a sort of limp or different way in which she walks that get people annoyed when they are behind her. I honestly didn't understand that. How some people looked at her like she was lower than them. She's not dumb. She just can't move as well. So already she had my heart. There is a fair that comes around every year. Years ago she went to the fortune teller who told her that she would meet a boy that would make her feel happy, free, something like that. He will give her a whistle, a ticket, and a blue ribbon. She finally meets that boy and every day he gives her something new but not just those tangible gifts but the gift of happiness. The end was a bit of a shocker for me. The controversy lies there but I absolutely loved it and it was the very best ending to these short stories possible. show less

Gothics! I miss gothics. Or rather I should say, I miss historical gothics (since modern set ones annoy the hell out of me). I knew going into Prophecy of the Sisters that the book was a mystery and a bit of a thriller and supernatural. In a lot of ways it reminded me of the anime Noir (more on that later) or even of the old time Noir movies with Bogart.

We're introduced to the scene by Lia, at the site of their father's grave. She slowly introduces the family and people there, giving small show more descriptions of the scene itself. The tone is somber, lightly depressed and gloomy. Which, as it happens, matches the house they live in to perfection.

Prophecy of the Sisters is not an action filled book, or a book that is driven the events themselves. Instead its driven by Lia's reaction to the changes in her world, to herself and to her sister and to the family in general. The new tattoo on her wrist, Alice's creepy visits to the 'Dark Room' (their deceased mother's old room), a mysterious book given to her by James (Lia's suitor and friend). The narrative is character centric in other words.

The sister's relationship is what intrigued me the most. Lia freely admits that even as children she and Alice had little in common interest wise and even less in common personality wise. Alice was always the dreamer, the whimsical one who said and did strange things while Lia was the more practical, down to Earth twin. They shared touching moments as children, though less frequently as they grew older and the gap between them widened, but always there was the affection, a certain closeness that nothing could separate out.

And yet they are diametrically opposite in everything. Competitive even, at least on Alice's side. I mentioned I felt this reminded me of the anime Noir, which I doubt many of you know. In the anime there are two characters--Kirika (a young japanese girl with amazing abilities to kill) and Chloe (also a young girl with amazing abilities to kill. On the surface they are very similar--same age, similar fighting styles (though not methods of killing) and there is a sort of bond between them. The differences are however that while Chloe embraces who and what she is, Kirika wants nothing more then to be normal and live a normal life. She has affection for Chloe, but also realizes that Chloe will be the instrument of her death if she doesn't find another way.

This is how I feel Lia feels about Alice. Once things begin to happen, once the prophecy begins to play a stronger influence on their lives, the two of them begin to view the other as an obstacle to what they want. Alice wants the Prophecy and Lia's refusal creates problems for her. Lia wants things to go back to normal, to be a family again, but by the end Alice is the cause of something she can never forgive.

The novel is slow-paced, dwelling on the atmospheric details and ways of life in Victorian America. These points are important though, underscoring the difficulties that both girls face no matter their direction or inclination. There is a lot of pain in this book, but I choose to believe in Lia, that she will find another way hopefully. show less