Heidi R. Kling

Have you ever read a book that really made you think while you were reading it? And then it stuck with you for days afterword? That’s exactly what I experienced with Sea. While I was reading Sea, I was struck by the fact that not many books are set in Indonesia or Asia for that matter. I’ve only read one other book set in that region of the world this year, Bamboo People by Mitali Perkins. Once I was done, I couldn’t get the story and characters out of my head for days. I kept going show more back and reading chapters over and over.

Sienna used to be fearless and full of life until three years ago her mother died in an airplane accident. Still grieving over the death of her mother, Sienna is hesitant when, as a birthday gift, her father asks her to accompany him and his team to Indonesia. It is six months after the 2004 tsunami and Team Hope is traveling to Yogyakarta, Indonesia to help at an orphanage. After taking time to think about it, Sienna ends up going with her father and finds more than she thought possible, including bravery, romance and the truth about her mother’s death.

It’s hard to believe that Sea is Heidi Kling’s debut novel because it is so well written, with rich details and an engaging story. The characters are well written and fully realized, even characters that are only part of the story for a page or two are individuals and completely recognizable. Part of the reason the details are so vivid is because the reader sees everything through Sienna’s eyes and everything about being in Indonesia is new to her. The different aspects of the story - the romance, the relationships Sienna develops with the orphans, dealing with her mom's death, overcoming her fears - don’t compete for the readers attention, instead they overlap and fit together perfectly to create a powerful story.

I really like Sienna as the main character. She is instantly relatable. Her fears are understandable and so is the courage it takes for her to get on the plane and travel across the ocean. Sienna changes and grows a lot from the beginning of the book to the end. At the beginning she was a bit withdrawn and wary of trying anything related to the ocean. As she travels and gets to know the children at the orphanage, Sienna begins to come out of her shell and starts the process of finally dealing with her mother’s death and some of her other fears.

Sea was a book that was hard to put down. I read it in one sitting. It made me cry and laugh and feel such a range of emotions that it felt like I was a part of the story too. I love books that pull you in like that, make you want to stay up all night reading and thinking about what just happened or what a character said or did. Sea should be on everyone’s to be read list. It is definitely one of my favorite reads of 2010.
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You can find more of this review on my blog, Carlene Inspired.

Paige has agreed to spend the summer after high school at her dad's ranch in Wyoming, not so much because she wants to, but because she needs to get away. A string of suicides at her school have left her raw and disconnected. The smartest, most athletic, and popular kids are gone and her mom doesn't want her to be next. After years away from the ranch, Paige is surprised to see it bad condition, not realizing that her dad is show more incredibly ill. She also meets Jake, a handsome cowboy, who opens her eyes to a world she thought she'd left behind. As summer goes by, Paige finds herself again and processes the events from the school year prior.

I can't explain what this book did to me completely, but I can say this, it will leave you reeling. Heidi R. Kling writes about a very sensitive subject with tact, bravery (it's based on true events), and obvious experience. With a lot of grace, Kling writes about the suicides, the friends in pain, the worried family members, and Paige's processing of it all. Told in a past and present format, Paige's life in Wyoming continues moving forward, helping her grow mentally, and allowing herself to go back and write about what happened, the events, her feelings, what she wished she had done and how much it affected her. Without speaking about it anyone else, she processes it all alone.

The writing is beautiful, the "then" parts were raw and filled with heavy emotion, while the "now" Paige was slowly loosening up and finding her way. I liked Paige, a lot. While she may seem like the stuck up girl, as you get to know her, you find she's as lost as everyone else. You can feel her pain, as well as feel the worries the other characters have for her. As she deals with loss of classmates, she has to find a way to accept what her method of coping used to be. How she can forgive her parents, her stepbrother, and even herself. On top of that, her father's illness is a hard one, one that brings a whole new story line to the book. Heidi R. Kling not only wrote about suicide sensitively, but also long-term diseases and how that affects those in their life. There is also romance, something Kling wove into this story so smoothly you might not see it coming. It's the kind of romance that's a slow burn, that doesn't take over the story, and allows the reader to join the character in the journey. I saw strength in Paige and I really appreciated that the minor characters in this book, including her dad, his caretaker, and the cowboy, Jake, saw it in her too. The Wyoming Paige is like a different person, a different book, and yet it all comes together so well.

While Paint My Body Red is about a topic that's hard to imagine, experience, and talk about, the book itself is so easy to get into. With relatable characters, raw truth, and a lesson in acceptance, this book is one that I am happy to say I read and loved. I think it's a book that should be read, by everyone, and could easily be used to work with youth struggling through similar situations. I think it opens up a valuable discussion on self worth, honesty, and moving forward in life. This book may hurt to read, the sensitive subject may be too much for some, but I am grateful that Heidi R. Kling took the time to write something so meaningful and with such grace.

Many thanks to Netgalley and Entangled Teen for providing an ARC in exchange for my honest review. show less

Witch's Brew is the first book in The Spellspinners of Melas County series and is an "active fiction" read. I have not read this kind of "choose your path" book before so it was a new experience for me. There are two places at which you, as the reader, must make a choice. The beginning and ending is the same, but the choices you make will affect how the characters get from point A to B. I will be reading it again to follow some other paths to the end!

The book is set in a version of our own show more world, the geography recognizable. But the world of magic exists alongside humanity, with most never knowing very much about its existence. Witches and warlocks live separately, forbidden to interact with one another. They live very different lives with very different values and priorities. The story is told from the alternating points of view of Logan and Lily, a warlock and a witch. I love that technique because it allows us to really know both sides of the same story.

Logan and Lily are fantastic characters with great voices. Both have fully embraced the worlds they live in, ready and willing to accept anything and everything that comes along with that. Right up until they meet one another and realize that there is something more going on between them. There is a very clear line drawn between good and evil in this book, with Logan coming from the side of evil, but it is impossible not to love him for reasons that unfold over the course of the book.

The mythology is rich, drawing on some real principles, but with so many new elements of its own. There is a lot of of mystery on both sides, secrets and betrayals and so much more. The story grows more and more intense the farther into it you get and there is a fantastic cliffhanger waiting for you at the end...!

Things to love...

--Daisy. Lily's little sister is spunky, sassy and fun!
--The witch's naming. All of the witches are named after flowers, a nice tie-in to the nature worship aspect of witchcraft.
--The ink. It's a warlock thing, but as a lover of tattoos, I like it!
--The cover! GORGEOUS!

Things I wanted more/less of...

--More Daisy. She's hilarious!
--More Melas County!

Some Quotastic Goodness

--Sucking him in, I took a mental picture of his pale face, the almond shape of his eyes, the sharp outline of his jaw. He was beyond hot. Smoking hot. Tree-caught-on-fire hot (Loc. 207).
--"You have a pink car," I deadpanned into his window. "Correction." He grinned. "The band has a pink BUS. We call it the Pink Twinkie (Loc. 1581)."

My Recommendation: This is a really great read! There is a little of everything... love, mystery, intrigue, humor, magic! I gave it 4.5 mugs. show less

When a book can make me cry, then I can't help but to consider it somewhat of a masterpiece. I can probably count on one hand the number of books that brought real, honest to god, tears to my eyes. This is one of them.

The descriptions used in this books were so realistic and heartbreaking at times. I could visualize the devastation that Kling weaved throughout her debut novel. The emotions from each of the characters were also written so well that I felt, happy, sad, confused, concerned and show more in love as the characters felt these things.

I imagine I would be somewhat the same as Sienna if I lost my mother. I would probably give up on everything I once loved, and I would feel lost. While a large portion of this story is devoted to the love between Sienna & Deni, the overall story, I feel, is about Sienna's growth. How she goes from, in the beginning, a motherless child, to at the end, a young woman who has seen partial horrors that others can't even imagine, and who learns to cope with what she has lost. The progress she makes is astounding. By learning to care for others, she learns to care for herself better.

While the story, characters and everything about this book are quite beautiful, I can't help but feel a little disappointed by the ending. To me, it seems the ending could have been drawn out a bit, it feels like it was just cut short.

PLEASE don't think that because I felt let down by the ending, that this book is anything but wonderful. I enjoyed the whole thing, I just wish the ending didn't feel so abrupt. (The ending is the only reason why I didn't give it 5 stars!)

Overall, this is one of the best debuts I have read all year. Even without magic, this book is extremely magical. I recommend it to anyone and everyone. show less