During the summer of 1687, Katherine “Kit” Tyler, granddaughter of the now deceased Sir Francis Tyler of Barbados, finds herself buried under the debt her grandfather owed. In order to pay off the creditors, Kit is forced to sale everything that was home or loved by her. From her grandfather’s plantation, the home, even her very own slave girl. With naught but her wardrobe left, Kit sets out to find her only relative still living. Her aunt who has long since married Mathew Wood, a puritan, and made her home in the American colonies.

The lengthy and dreary voyage by ship on the Dolphin is but one of many trials that Kit must face on her journey of self-discovery and foray into adulthood. Before Kit has even step foot in the town that she plans to make her new home; Kit finds herself at odds with the locals and their way of life. As the granddaughter of a wealthy King’s man in Barbados, Kit was well-educated, given plenty of freedom, and taught to voice her opinions because they were of value. On the Dolphin Kit begins noticing that she is not only different from the folks who will soon be her townsfolk, but she’s not entirely welcome either. She’s not a Puritan, she hails from an “island of savages” where she was allowed to “run wild” and never put forth an honest day’s work. She’s a loyalist during a time where the vast majority of the country folk put more stock in the land they work with their bare hands then in a man who sits upon a throne across the ocean.

As mentioned previously, the story opens in 1687, a scant few years before the infamous Salem Witch Trials of 1692. While witch trials were not nearly as prolific in the colonies as they were in Europe, accusations of witchcraft were still taken seriously. It is during this volatile time period that Kit, an exotic and foreign creature settles amongst their midst. Kit is so utterly different from the people whom she wishes to settle down with that it’s almost painful to watch. At the same time however, the reader can’t help but to be proud of Kit and the progress she makes in establishing bonds with her family, community, and friends.

Speare’s The Witch of Blackbird Pond is an, almost unbearably, short but wonderfully executed tale that allows readers to take a step back in time to a world long past but not forgotten. While the book is undeniably written with a young adult audience in mind, readers of all ages will nevertheless find enjoyment and adventure in this tale. The light touch of romance is enough to add spice to the story without detracting from the overall development of characters. Kit is a lovable, bratty, and very real protagonist that will force her way into your heart. The secondary and minor characters are well thought out, although a few do remain rather flat and two-dimensional. This caused me to have a very hard picturing these characters in my mind and took a bit of the enjoyment out of certain scenes since it was difficult to feel much more than mild amusement at their follies or mild indignation for their trespasses. This was a bit of a disappointment considering the fact that some of those flat characters play pivotal roles in moving major events along.

Overall though, I found The Witch of Blackbird Pond to be a highly enjoyable and engaging read that I strongly recommend to anyone looking to pick up a well written and quick-paced read. Especially if you’re a fan of historical fiction or young adult reads.

Joana’s Rating: (4 out of 5 stars)

In the year 2025, the event that teenagers are eagerly awaiting for is their seventeenth birthday, but it’s not for the reasons you might think. Their seventeenth birthday marks the day that they can get their own bar code tattoo. The tattoo is the epitome of efficiency and convenience. Each bar code is unique to the individual who wears it and it is tattooed, via laser, onto the right arm of the individual. The tattoo has all of your personal information just a scan away.

No need to worry about not having your identification on you in the case of an accident, all the police or doctors need to do is scan your bar code and they’ll know who you are, medical history, status of funds, place of residence – the whole shebang. Even shopping is made easier, as the cashier can scan your bar code at the checkout and computers will automatically withdraw the correct amount from your account; completely making the e-card (the replacement of credit and check cards) look obsolete.

Naturally you have your alarmists, who see conspiracy theories at every turn, speaking out against the tattoo and demanding that folks maintain the right to choose between the tattoo or other means. The tattoo violates the constitutional freedoms guaranteed to all citizens of the United States, argues those against the tattoo, a movement known as Decode. It [the tattoo] allows the government to literally track a person’s every movement and delve into their personal lives. But hey, if you’ve got nothing to hide then there’s no reason not to get the tattoo and conform. Right?

Meet Kayla Marie Reed, a sixteen year old high school student whose only concern is how to get into the art school of her choice when her computer grades, grades she was never informed would be an important deciding factor for art schools, are less than stellar. She’s a talented artist, but in this day and age, all that matters is what you can get a computer to do. Artists like her, who can actually draw, paint, and sculpt are being replaced. Money is tight in her family, ever since her father got tattooed things had been going downhill for them. Her only chance to go to college now is on a scholarship, one she’s told she’ll never get. Kayla firmly believes her life is over and it couldn’t possibly get any worse.

She’s completely wrong of course, over the course of a few months Kayla Reed goes from being an average high school student, to being a member of Decode, and eventually to being a fugitive on the run.

Over the course of the book, it is revealed that there is much more to the bar code tattoo than what the government is willing to disclose. Included in each person’s file is information that could mark one upstanding citizen as desirable and another as undesirable. It’s not some dark and hidden secret of the individual either, it’s something that can’t be helped – their genes. In a time where the world itself is being monopolized by a single company, known as Global, (whose CEO is even the current President of the United States) it’s ultimately up to this corporate power to dictate the future of the world.

Now I seem to recall that, a few years back, the movement that many insurance companies and businesses were taking to better their chances of not having to shell out thousands of dollars each year in medical benefits to employees. It kicked up a lot of fuss as well since, basically, it all boiled down to being denied benefits or job positions due to a choice in lifestyle: smoking. Some businesses and occupations began to deny jobs to those who smoked and began giving current employees the choice to either quit smoking or quit their jobs. Some health care polices refused to cover those who smoked. It was a right mess and raised the issue of infringing on the rights of individuals in order to save a buck.

In The Bar Code Tattoo Weyn takes the idea of a world where everyone citizen is nothing more than a number, where the undesirables are culled from the populace through ostracism, and runs with it. Perfectly good families fall on hard times after having been tattooed for seemingly no reason at all. The Thorn family is a prime example of this. The family was upper middle class, upstanding citizens, and fairly well off. They were in the process of moving into a new house and had sold their own home when something went wrong. The bank handling the purchase of their new home suddenly denied them, when previously all had been well, and no matter where they went, when the Thorn’s bar codes were scanned they were denied again. Soon they were without a home and then finally both parents had lost their jobs. There was something wrong with their bar codes, but what it was, they didn’t know. In the end Kayla’s best friend, Amber Thorn, and her parents were forced to move away to live with a relative in Nevada.

The Thorn family wasn’t the only one seeing things like this. All over the country, folks were rising up in their workplace’s hierarchy while others were finding themselves in hard times, all for seemingly no reason. The truth of the matter is revealed, midway, when Kayla at last views her father’s FBI file and gets her mother to speak out about what she knew from her time as a nurse. In every person’s file a “barcode” of their DNA is taken and analyzed. Those who are not found to be “superior” or have the potential for future health problems are being culled from society. At the same time, steps are being taken to ensure that babies who might have illnesses or problems in their lives never make it home; experiments are being conducted to better individual’s genes during and after birth; and those over eighty, who have the misfortune of being hospitalized, never leave the hospital. It’s all part of a plan to build a superior race of humans, and it’s being hidden from the public’s eyes. Those who speak out are painted as criminals and hunted down.

The Bar Code Tattoo touches upon key arguments that have been raised across the country since ease of access and availability became priorities. Where do the lines of privacy and security blur? Do we have the right to choose how we live or is conformity the only option anymore? While the story takes place in the not-so-distant future, readers will be easily able to draw parallels between the story’s fictional setting and our own very real one. Despite the futuristic slang, changing governmental structure, and advanced technology, Kayla’s world remains very similar to ours and the possibility of a future like Kayla’s is both eerily possible and frightening.

There were several glaring inconsistencies and miscellaneous errors that the author used to move the story along in the direction she intended rather than allowing it to arrive at it’s destination at it’s own pace. For example: rather than taking the time to have Kayla interact with the resistance members and also build on the characters in this group, the author sums up the events and happenings during Kayla’s time with the resistance through a lengthy email that Kayla sends to her friend Amber in chapter twenty-six. Never mind the fact that in chapter eighteen, Kayla had a startling realization that police could track her through her emails, especially if the parents of one of the recipients of her email were to report her. Why then, knowing this, would Kayla compromise the security of the resistance’s hideout to send a message to a friend who has not sent her any return correspondence in months?

Then there is the fact that the resistance’s location was compromised long before that email was even sent, yet Kayla never said a word to anyone about it. On her way to the resistance’s base she is discovered by two former schoolmates, Nedra and Zekeal, who are also members of Tattoo Generation a radical movement to enforce and support the bar code tattoo. Zekeal reveals that he knew to come look for her in this area because he recalled, during his time as a spy in Decode, that Kayla had mentioned meeting Eutonah, the leader of the resistance, and that Eutonah had instructed her to “remember the white face”. Zekeal states that later he realized that the ambiguous statement was a reference to Whiteface Mountain. Although she manages to elude them, it’s fairly obvious that both Nedra and Zekeal know the general location and direction of the base. Kayla never mentions this to Eutonah and everyone continues on as if life is just peachy. I find it very hard to believe that upon barely escaping your pursuers, a person would not mention to their saviors that the reason they were hiding was because the enemy is close and knows the location of their base.

Another detracting factor in this story lies in the flatness of its characters and the complete unbelievability of the romantic relationship between Kayla and Zekeal, and later, Kayla and Mfumbe. Initially Zekeal and Mfumbe were much alike in personality, demeanor, and speech. There were actually points where I was confused as to which was speaking. Likewise, the other members of Decode, Allyson and August, came across more as just flat one dimensional characters meant to fill up background space. With the start of Zekeal and Kayla’s relationship, more defining characteristics became apparent. This development was, however, overshadowed by the fact that Zekeal and Kayla’s budding relationship was flat and about as exciting as a slug crawling on the ground. The interactions between the two lacked any sort of romantic feeling which made instances where the two expressed their feelings for one another laughable. The same trend followed when Kayla and Mfumbe’s relationship began.

Ultimately, The Bar Code Tattoo is a fun and enjoyable read for young adults. More mature audiences will likely cringe at the obvious manipulations of the author to make everything fall perfectly into place for our heroine. Throughout Kayla’s journey the reader never truly fears for her safety. After all, whenever things get tough, she will come across people who also mistrust the tattoo and who are more than willing to save her. They’ll even make sudden appearances out of thin air and save the day just when she needs them. In short, while the premise is definitely intriguing, and the machinations of this story’s antagonists will keep readers biting their nails, the weaknesses of the story are enough to keep this book from ever being more than just “interesting” and “okay”.

Joana’s Rating: (3 out of 5 stars)

This is the third set in the newly reprinted collection of the Night World series by L.J. Smith that was first published in 1996. The series is being reprinted now in three volumes, each containing three Night World stories that were originally published on their own separately. Included in this set are the seventh, eighth, and ninth novels of the series: Huntress, Black Dawn, and Witchlight respectively.

These three tales also mark the beginning of a new saga in the Night World series. As the millennium draws nearer the signs of an impending battle between the forces of good and evil becomes evident. The new abilities that Night Worlders have been developing, mentioned in previous books, are becoming more common. Chaos and violence is breaking out all over the world in seemingly unrelated events, creatures long thought gone have returned, and to top it all off prophecies speak of four people who will have the power to decide the fate of the world – Wild Powers.

In Blue fire, the final darkness is banished.
In blood, the final price is paid.
Four to stand between the light and the shadow,
Four of blue fire, power in their blood.
Born in the year of the blind Maiden’s vision;
Four less one and darkness triumphs.

In short, the Old Powers, forces of nature that have been lying dormant since humans took control of the world are waking up. Something is coming and both sides are scrambling to secure the four Wild Powers for their side.

Huntress is the story of Jez Redfern, a powerful, dangerous, and beautiful vampire. She’s descended from the most powerful, not to mention first, vampire – Hunter Redfern. She’s the leader of her own gang, which consists of other vampires, and she loves the thrill of a hunt. Humans are vermin, they’re just food and nothing more. Naturally, when long suppressed memories force themselves to the forefront of her mind, she’s confused and lost. After all, these memories tell her that her life is a lie. Everything she’s been lead to believe and everything she’s ever said and done to those so called “vermin” comes back to haunt her in an instant. Because, as it turns out, while Jez is indeed a Redfern, she’s also something that shouldn’t be. She’s half-human and half-vampire.

Naturally this revelation rocks Jez’s world, and in a moment of clarity, she realizes she can’t continue the farce of a life she’s been living. With her uncle’s help she makes contact with Circle Daybreak and starts a new life, living as a human. Being a human-vampire hybrid has it’s advantages; so long as she doesn’t call upon her vampiric abilities or drink blood she can live as a normal human. And that’s something that appeals greatly to Jez, because she fears returning to the heartless person she once was before.

Naturally her plan to leave it all behind blows up in her face when the possible location of the first Wild Power is discovered and Circle Daybreak sends Jez in to rescue and protect the Wild Power. You see, it wasn’t Circle Daybreak that found her first, it was Morgead her old second-in-command and the current leader of Jez’s old gang.

The majority of Smith’s Night World stories fall into two categories; humans stumbling upon the Night World and coming to terms with the Night World’s laws and the conflict it creates with their soulmate. Or, members of the Night Worlder finding human soulmates and coming to terms with the fact that the Night World’s laws and the beliefs they held were wrong and biased. Granted, not all of the stories can be easily squished into these two categories, but that is the pattern that the majority followed for the most part with a deviation beginning with Soulmate. With Huntress Smith takes a different route and instead focuses more on the inner struggle that occurs when deciding right from wrong.

Jez is a half human and half vampire. In order to protect from Night Worlders, her uncle Bracken raised her as vampire and along the way Jez adopted the popular view of humans as vermin. With the revelation of her heritage, to continue living in that manner would be hypocrisy. And yet, despite that, the temptation to be what she is, a vampire, remains and it’s one she has to ignore. In this sense, Jez is like an alcoholic. There is no “just one drink” for her. To return to drinking blood will lead back down the dark path she was on. With her soulmate being a vampire as well the temptation is double and tripled. The battle in her mind and heart is deep and moving one that takes nothing away from the story’s advancement.

Black Dawn introduces us to Maggie Neely, a strong-willed and compassionate heroine and Delos Redfern, a vampire prince and the second Wild Power to be found. The story opens up with Maggie being awoken late one night by her mother’s screams. She hurries downstairs and finds her brother’s girlfriend Sylvia Weald standing at the door with park rangers and police. Sylvia is beside herself over the fact that Miles had a climbing accident and is now dead. Maggie, however, smells a big fat blond-haired and violet-eyed rat by the name of Sylvia. Following her gut instincts Maggie tails Sylvia back to her apartment on campus in an attempt to get the truth from her; instead Maggie is rendered unconscious and bereft of answers. When Maggie comes too, she’s in the back of a cart, along with three other girls, and has been sold into slavery to a forgotten Night World kingdom. Now Maggie must search for her missing brother Miles in this dangerous kingdom while presenting herself as a positive representative of humankind to her soulmate and the second Wild Power Delos. All the while skirting Hunter Redfern and Sylvia and keeping Aradia, the blind Maiden of all Witches safe!

One of the other girls in the cart with her, Jeanne, is a slave who has twice now attempted to run away and been captured. She brings Maggie up to speed on their current location and the future that they have to look forward to. Before waking up in the slave cart however, Maggie has a mystical dream shrouded in mist where a boy she’s never met, but who knows her, tells her to get away. Unfortunately for this story, Maggie’s dream doesn’t make a lot of sense and badly interrupts the flow of the story to boot.

To be frank, I had a very hard time accepting the existence of a secret kingdom ruled by people of the Night World that was, subsquently, forgotten by the rest of the Night World. The kingdom remained unchanged and the only glimpses of the modern world came from the human slaves that were captured and brought in. This particular tale has a lot of great potential, there’s deep, strong, and well-developed characters scattered throughout this tale. Yet the premise that it’s based upon seems absurd, even in an urban fantasy setting such as this.

L.J. Smith wraps up the set and the series to date with Witchlight. Now, while Witchlight is not meant to be the last book in the series, it has remained so for some time now – seeing as how the series is still incomplete. The story, for the most part, revolves around Raksha Keller, a shapeshifter able to take the form of a black panther and one of Circle Daybreak’s top operatives. Her mission is simple, locate, protect, and bring Iliana Harman – the third Wild Power – to Circle Daybreak. Problem is, Iliana, despite being a Harman, is a lost witch, just as Gillian (Dark Angel) and Poppy (Secret Vampire) were. This means that she has been raised as a human and has no clue about her heritage or her responsibility. The fact that she’s a boy-crazy ditz obsessed with clothes, graduating, and parties only compounds this problem.

In Keller’s no-nonsense mind it’s very simple. This brainless twit is a Wild Power and it’s her job to make her see that she has a destiny to fulfill. Because, ironically enough, Iliana is more than just a Wild Power and a Harman, she’s also the key to forming an alliance between the Shapeshifters and the Witches. She’s the Witch Child and it is her duty to marry Galen Drache of the First House of Shapeshifters. With their marriage the Shapeshifters will firmly be on the side of Circle Daybreak. And therein lies the problem, because you see, the heart doesn’t understand things like obligation and duty. All that Keller and Galen’s hearts know is that they’re soulmates.

This story remains one of my favorites in the series for a very good reason. This story marks the first book where we get the lore and history of the shapeshifters, not to mention, we get to see the world from the point of view of two different shapeshifters – Keller and Galen. Let’s face it, the series is heavily biased towards the Witches and Vampires and the only mentions we get of the other species (ghouls, werewolves, and shapeshifters) is usually negative. This installment provided a nice change of perspective.

Additionally, the conflict that Keller undergoes as she struggles to comes to term with her duty and what her heart wants is a gripping one. Keller is torn between her duty to the first house of shapeshifters and her love for Gallen. On top of that, there is also the moral struggle of doing what’s right no matter the cost. Do the ends justify the means? That’s a question Keller has to ask herself continuously when she’s faced with Iliana’s refusal to do her duty and her desire to remain “normal”.

Now the question remains, will we ever see the completion of this series? It’s been over a decade since the last book was published and still the readers have been left hanging. The fact that the series is being reprinted in these sets gives me hope that this series will, someday soon, be finished. Some closure would be much appreciated and is long overdue.

Joana’s Rating: (4 out of 5 stars)

This is the second set in the newly reprinted collection of the Night World series by L.J. Smith that was first published in 1996. The series is being reprinted now in three volumes, each containing three Night World stories that were originally published on their own separately. Included in this set are the fourth, fifth, and sixth novels of the series: Dark Angel, The Chosen, and Soulmate respectively.

The next three tales in this series continue on where the previous left off. While each is a separate story that revolves around new individuals and the adventure behind finding their soulmate, L.J. Smith continues to masterfully tie in aspects from the previous tales. In doing so, not only does she establish a loose time line, she also manages to give the readers a glimpse of the changes being wrought throughout the Night World while delving even deeper into it.

The following three stories contained in the second volume of the set are progressively darker then their predecessors. In some instances the lines between good and evil are all but obliterated and in others it’s as though the differences couldn’t have been more stark.

In Dark Angel, Smith’s protagonist is once again a human who has unwittingly stumbled into the Night World. Gillian Lennox, a shy and timid young girl in high school has a near-death experiance one day. As she is walking home from school, Gillian hears what sounds like a child sobbing in the woods. Bravely she treks through the snow covered woods only to end up in a freezing river and desperately clinging to life. As she dies she is greeted by what would appear to be an angel, the angel informs her that it wasn’t her time yet and that she can still live. With the angel’s assistance, Gillian returns to her body, without suffering from severe hypothermia and frostbite, and manages to stumble into a nearby road to flag down a car.

That evening it becomes apparent that “Angel” has tagged along and is still with her. A young man who only she can see and hear and he’s determined to help her turn her life around as well. Not to mention upside down. Gillian, like most girls her age, is insecure and longs to be one of the popular crowd and Angel happily whispers the secrets to success. Everything comes with a price however, and it soon becomes apparent that Angel’s price is rather dangerous. Gillian begins dabbling in dark magic spells, under Angel’s guidance, in order to protect the boy she loves, her soulmate David. As time passes however, it becomes clear that Gillian may have to begin using everything she knows to protect herself and David from Angel.

While definately not one of my favorite tales in the series, Dark Angel is definately an enjoyable tale that will resonate with anyone who has ever found themselves wishing to be able to change everything in their lives for the better overnight. Initially, Gillian’s naivety and immaturity might grate on the reader’s nerves, especially as seems so cliche and two-dimensional. However, as the story progresses, Gillian’s character growth will more than make up for it. Now, while both Secret Vampire and Daughters of Darkness were mostly told from the point of view of a human character who had stumbled upon the Night World as well, in Dark Angel Smith manages to take a fresh angle on the same scenario regardless. The downside with this tale, however, is that if you paid attention during the previous stories you can almost immediately connect the dots the moment hints are subtlety dropped.

The Chosen is, by far, my favorite tale in this series. While all of the females characters introduced in previous stories had an inner strength and could not be truly called weak, The Chosen is the first story that the female lead is not only strong mentally, physically, and emotionally, she’s also a fighter and survivor. A warrior in every sense of the word.

On her fifth birthday, Rashel Jordan and her best friend Timmy were taken to a carnival by her mother. While climbing through tubes, Rashel lost sight of her friend Timmy. She immediately climbed out and searched for him, when she found him he was in the arms of a vampire who was feeding on him. At this point her mother located them as well and was quickly killed by the vampire. With nothing else to do Rashel made a run for it with the vampire in hot pursuit. She manages to make it to a heavily populated area and does the only thing a child her age can do – scream her lungs off and point at the vampire chasing her. Immediately the adults gather around to see who is hurting the child and the vampire is forced to flee, but not without sending a telepathic message to young Rashel warning that he would be back for her. That night, as she tries to sleep in her Aunt’s house, the vampire tracks her down again and sets fire to the house. Rashel barely escapes, her aunt is not so lucky.

Fast forward to the present time, Rashel is a seventeen year old young woman who has been bounced around from foster home to foster home and is hell bent on finding the vampire that took her loved ones from her. In the mean time, she’s cutting down every vampire that she comes across in her quest for justice. Rashel is one of the few humans who know about the Night World and are actively fighting against this “evil”. Rashel is a lethal vampire hunter who has been expertly trained in the martial arts, and while the name “Rashel Jordan” is unknown to the vampires of the Night World, her moniker of “The Cat” is not.

Things are never so simple however, not everything can be neatly labeled as “good” or “evil” and the world is not just black and white. With Rashel’s tale, Smith takes the opportunity to take all of the preconceived notions of good and evil and flip them on their head. In previous books, Smith had done a good job of setting up several prejudices in her fictional world, all of which get smashed with this tale. One of the first shocks to the system comes within the first few chapters when a group of vampire hunters that Rashel is working with manage to surprise and capture a vampire – Quinn. Yes, the lethal, cold, and completely anti-human, Quinn that makes his first appearance in Daughters of Darkness. What’s more, Rashel’s honor code will not let her stand by and watch the others torture the vampire for fun and possible information. Instead she moves to give him a swift clean end, only to find herself staring at the face of her soulmate.

The Chosen is perhaps the darkest of tales in this series as the heroine and her comrades move to not only go undercover in order to determine what the vampires are plotting, but attempt to stop what amounts to a giant slave ring and large scale massacre. The political machines of the Night World are in motion and it becomes even more apparent that there is something much larger at hand than just humans and Night Worlders finding soulmates with each other.

Soulmate rounds off the stories in this set with a bang. As the suspense and excitement spills over from the previous tales, Soulmate does a wonderful job of continuing on in the same vein and adding to it as well. Hannah Snow’s life has begun to fall apart. She’s got friends, wonderful grades and a chance at making her dream of studying paleontology a reality. Problem is, she’s going insane, or at least she thinks she is. After all, don’t you have to be insane to be writing yourself letters, that you don’t even remember writing, that all say the same thing – you’ll be dead before seventeen?

As the story progresses, however, it becomes readily apparent that there is more to this story than just a crazy girl writing herself death notes. In reality, Hannah Snow is what Night Worlders refer to as an “old soul”, someone who has been born to many different lives throughout the ages. The letters she is writing to herself are actually warnings of what has happened in every single life she has lived, she is always killed before her seventeenth birthday and by the same man as well. A powerful made-vampire, the first of all made-vampires, by the name of Thierry who just so happens to be her soulmate as well.

Say what?!

If that doesn’t sound promising enough, then try this on for size. At long last the ancient history of the Night World is laid out before us. The readers are given the chance to glimpse Hellewise Hearthwoman, the same Hellewise from who all witches are descended from, and her sister Maya. The origins of the vampires is also laid bare and a great deal of it all revolves Hannah, Thiery, and Maya and the first lives they ever lived. On top of all this, Circle Daybreak is no longer just a group of folks who want to see humans and Night Worlders live in peace that is mentioned in passing, we are given the chance to see, first hand, just how well organized they are and some of the members as well. Members whose faces and tales we have glimpsed in previous tales.

With Soulmate Smith is given the oppurtunity to wrap up any loose ends that the previous tales might have left behind and begin a new chapter in the series, an oppurtunity she makes wonderful use of. The readers are able to see what has become of their favorite characters from the stories past, history is at long last revealed and explained, not to mention the stage is set for the next chapter of the series. All of this on top of an already intriguing love triangle between Hannah, Thierry, and Maya that has spanned decades and been the cause of much strife.

While I’ve never much cared for Dark Angel, the inclusion of The Chosen and Soulmate more than make up for it in this set.
Joana’s Rating: (4 out of 5 stars)

This is the first set in the newly reprinted collection of the Night World series by L.J. Smith that was first published in 1996. The series is being reprinted now in three volumes, each containing three of the Night World novels that were originally published on their own separately. Included in this set are the first three novels of the series: Secret Vampire, Daughters of Darkness, and Spellbinder respectively. Grab something to eat or drink and get comfortable folks, this is going to be a long post.

The Night World, as it were, is not so much a world but a society that runs parallel and, at times, intertwined with the world as we know it. The Night World is comprised of vampires, shapeshifters, and witches, along with a handful of other supernatural things, and is ruled by a governing body that is comprised of representatives of each species. Each species, however, has their monarchy who dictate to them. There are numerous rules that each species adheres to, but the two that are of the utmost importance are:

1. Never tell humans that it [Night World] exists.
2. Never fall in love with a human.

As you can well imagine, the Night World Series is comprised of tales when these two fundamental rules are broken.

Secret Vampire starts the series off. In this first story, L.J. Smith introduces a handful of characters who will play fundamental roles in the events to come. She also takes the opportunity in this story, as well as the following two, to lay down the foundations of the world in which these characters live. In doing so her supernatural characters become that much more understandable and the differences between the human and non-human characters, both superficial and non, become readily apparent.

The story revolves around Poppy, a young high school girl just starting the summer vacation of her senior year in high school, and James Rasmussen a living vampire and her long-time best friend. At the beginning of the summer Poppy is diagnosed pancreatic cancer, a terminal form of cancer with a less than 1% chance of survival. For James, sitting back and watching Poppy die is not an option, but the only other option is to turn her into a vampire. The second option opens up a whole new can of worms as it will not only break every rule set into place by the Council, but will also force the both of them to go on the run. To top it off, James’ cousin, Ash Redfern, is in town. Ash seems to care nothing for humans, with the exception of females he can play with. When Ash discovers Poppy’s secret all hell breaks loose.

With the knowledge of Poppy’s inevitable death, no matter what choice she makes, there comes a roller coaster of emotion to ride out. Fear of the unknown, the loss of everything she holds dear, and everything in between, Poppy’s emotions run the full gambit giving a very realistic feel to what it must be like to know that you are dying and your only choice is to die or die, wake up, and leave your life behind. The final showdown between James, Phillip (Poppy’s twin brother) and Ash however felt rushed and a bit anticlimactic. The juicy tidbit of information regarding Poppy’s possible heritage that Ash dangles before Poppy and James however is rather ironic and slightly surprising. I say only slightly surprising as Smith was very careful to drop hints early on in the book, though they can be easily overlooked for the most part.

In Daughters of Darkness the trouble making Ash Redfern makes a return, this time he’s been sent to track down and return his three renegade sisters (Jade, Rowan, and Kestrel) to the safe and isolated Night World alcove from which they ran away from. In the process however, he comes across a human female who has the courage and fortitude that most Night Worlders do not, to go toe to toe with Ash Redfern. Ash, his sisters, Mary-Lynette, and her brother Mark find themselves mixed up in a good old fashioned whodunit. Mrs. Burdock, Ash and his sister’s great-aunt Opal, was found staked in her basement on the day the girls arrived. Initially clues point to the possibility of a vampire hunter and then Ash, but it soon becomes apparent that there’s more to her murder.

On top of all this, the six teens find themselves racing the clock to solve the mystery because by the end of the week an old and ruthless made-vampire whose reputation can give Ash pause will be checking to make sure Ash has taken care of everything. Where as Ash tolerates humans and has found his soulmate in the form of Mary-Lynette, Quinn utterly despises humans and is the sort to take Night World law into his own hands if it’s not enforced properly. This was the first mystery of the series, and L.J. Smith definitely handled it with finesse.

One other thing that stood out to me was the fact that Rowan, Kestrel and Jade supposedly ran away from the alcove they had been living at because of its strict and traditional living. Women in dresses, men rule while women kowtow to males, no music or television from the “outside” and so forth. And yet, aside from instance where Jade becomes alarmed when a boy catches her listening to music, the girls do not appear to have been cutoff from the outside world their entire lives. There is no adjustment period and no learning stage. Not really believable.

In the end, when the killer is revealed, it’s not only an “Ah-hah!” moment, but also a bit heart breaking as well. After all, he was such a nice guy and his reasons were understandable. In short, the reader can’t help but to sympathize with the “villain” and it becomes readily apparent that there is no right or wrong side in the story. It’s also interesting to note that the ending is not quite so happy as it is bittersweet, which makes this tale differ drastically from the other two in the set.

Spellbinder focuses around the two young witches that Ash introduced to Poppy in Secret Vampire. Blaise and Thea Harman are both young witches in their senior year attending a new school after being kicked out of the last one. Blaise enjoys flaunting her abilities to toy with human boys, and as a result, has gotten both her and her cousin kicked out of five schools since their sophomore year. Now, Blaise and Thea are living with their grandmother, the Crone of all witches, with the threat of being sent to a Connecticut alcove (referred to as the “Convent”) hanging over their heads. At the new school however trouble is already brewing on the first day. Thea meets Eric Ross who is an all-around star athlete at the school and a scholastic overachiever looking into becoming a veterinarian and Blaise’s new target.

Initially, spells start flying as these two duke it out over the boy and then again when Blaise realizes that a human is her cousin’s soulmate – something she’d rather stop in order to protect Thea from Night World law. Likewise the effort she goes through to help her cousin who chooses her soulmate over the Night World was heartwarming. From the beginning it was apparent that Thea considered Blaise to be like a sister to her, and although there were times when one would doubt it, it became very apparent that Blaise felt exactly the same. The bond between these two truly stood up against all odds.

With the exception of Eric, who I just didn’t care much for, Smith did an excellent job on characterization. Each character, both major and minor, brought something to the story that would have been lost without them. I found the relationship between Blaise and Thea to be of more interest than that of Thea and Eric though. Eric’s personality was rather bland and easily pushed to the background when more than two characters were present. Despite Blaise’s rather cruel hobby, it’s clear that she’s no “evil witch” and does in fact care a great deal about not only Thea but her fellow Night Worlders as well.

With the conclusion of this story we also get the sense that something fundamental in the Night World underway. Previously, it was only vampires, Redfern descendants and cousins, who were discovering their soulmates amongst the humans. With Thea we learn that the changes underway are affecting multiple species and that there is an underground movement tied to it as well. Night Worlders are finding their soulmates one after another, something that has been hinted at in all three books as being unusual, and amongst humans no less. And then there are the murmurings of the approaching millennium as well. With that tantalizing thought in mind, the following novels promise to be very interesting.

Joana’s Rating: (4 out of 5 stars)

In the Forests of the Night, Atwater-Rhodes’ first novel, which was written while she was only thirteen years old, is an engaging tale told from the heroine’s point of view in first-person. The book’s title is a line taken from a poem written by William Blake, entitled “The Tiger”, and fits both the character and the story remarkably well. Which, I confess, is something I doubted when I first read this book.

The story’s heroine, Risika, a three hundred year old vampire living in modern day Concord, Massachusetts has a very jaded and solemn view of humans and life in general. In fact, for all intents and purposes, it appears as though she has spent the last three hundred years just existing. But of course, nothing can remain unchanged forever. One night, after visiting Tora the Bengal tiger at the city’s zoo, Risika accidentally strays into another vampire’s territory while chasing that evening’s prey. While in the vampire’s territory she is spotted by a human lackey and looses her prey. Rather than back down, Risika chooses to show that she is not “afraid” of Aubrey, the vampire whose territory she is trespassing upon, and feeds off of the lackey who caused her to loose her prey. In doing so, Risika sets into motion a string of confrontations between herself and Aubrey, a vampire who is not only stronger than her, but the one who killed her twin brother and whose mere presence frightens Risika.

As the story progresses we are able to see Risika finally cast off the fear that has held her stagnate for several centuries and grow into her own. Upon the conclusion of the book, not only does Risika grow into her power, but she finds herself as well. Her need for blood and eternal youth aside, this makes Risika a character that anyone, especially young readers, can identify with. The story also touches upon the ambiguous moral grounds of good versus evil as Risika struggles to understand that not everything in life is black and white.

One thing that truly impressed me about this story was the fact that Atwater-Rhodes did not feel the need to clutter the tale up by throwing in unnecessary romantic entanglements on the sidelines that would ultimately detract from the story. Instead the focus stays where it should be, Risika’s long over due “coming of age” and the events that made her who she is.

Despite being centuries old however, Risika comes off as a teenager herself and never once appears to have aged mentally since the death of her mortal self. Considering how old she is and the fact that she has supposedly lived amongst humans for the majority of the time, she does not carry a sense of age about her. There is nothing in her attitude and persona that links her with the history that defined her. In all honesty, all of the vampires introduced to us have a modern air and utterly lack influence from the eras that created them. Other characters, who are as equally old as Risika, or even older, also sport this same flaw. It’s almost laughable when Risika refers to Ather, the one who made her, as her “dark mother”. It’s very difficult to connect the word “mother” with Ather when the only glimpses of this character we have been given are those of an arrogant and posturing woman who, for all intents and purposes, comes off more as the “Queen of the Campus” rather than “Queen of the Damned”.

There were also a few minor inconsistencies in the book as well. Some of Risika’s thoughts and actions contradicted previous statements, and without explanation, the author plowed on. For example, at the beginning of chapter twelve Risika states that after she became a vampire she never returned to her home again¹. Yet in the very first sentence in the opening paragraph of chapter fifteen, Risika contradicts this by stating that she did in fact return home after a few years². In that same chapter Risika states that when she returned no one saw her and yet a few pages later it is revealed that her father did see her, although he dismissed it, and again in chapter seventeen it is mentioned that he sees her, although he does not recognize her.

It was conflicting statements like these that raised the question of whether or not the author truly understood where her story was headed. Not to mention the fact that it made taking anything that Risika said at face value a tad difficult since the reader begins to expect a contradiction to every “fact” a page or so later. And of course, it just utterly annoys and confuses the reader as well!

Now, since the copy I’ve read and reviewed was first printed back in 1999 and there has been at least one reprint since then, it is possible that those problems were ironed out, although it is doubtful. For the most part, In the Forests of the Night is a quick and easy to read tale that will amuse young adult readers as well as more advanced readers. However, the sheer childishness of Risika and story contradictions will keep it from ever becoming a “great read”.

Joana’s rating: (3 out of 5 stars)

1. First edition, chapter 12, page 80: “After the day when I lost my mortal soul, I never went back to my old home”.
2. First edition, chapter 15, page 100: “I did not return to my home for three years, and when I finally did, no one saw me.”

Breaking Dawn is the much anticipated fourth and [in a sense] final installment in Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight Saga. So many questions had arisen throughout the series, the most pressing of which revolving around the heroine’s love interest, whether or not she too would become a vampire, and the condition the treaty between the Cullens and the werewolves would be left in. Pressing issues that we, the readers, had all been dying to see answered. Please be advised, this review does contain some spoilers despite my attempts to keep them to a minimum.

Our lingering questions were certainly answered. The manner in which they were answered, however, left much to be desired. Throughout the series I had the distinct impression that Bella’s maturity had grown. While she was able to take care of herself, in a fashion, and acted much like an adult in a teenager’s body with regards to most aspects of a young adult’s life, she was an infant in matters of the heart. With this installment however, it was as though Bella did a horrendous backslide in terms of character growth and maturity. Not to mention, her actions did not seem at all inline with her personality.

In previous books, Edward tried to talk Bella out of becoming a vampire by dangling the benefits of mortality that she would loose. One of which being her ability to have children. Bella was supposedly not at all interested in having children and did not consider that a loss in the least. Yet, the moment she realizes she’s pregnant Bella immediately loves the child growing in her and wants to keep it. As someone who never wants children, let me just say that such a drastic turnaround in such a short amount of time really is not believable. This of course brings me to the second thing that confused me and detracted greatly from the reading experiance – keeping the child.

When it was known that Bella was pregnant I could not understand why she not only wanted to go through with it, but that others were supporting it. Especially given the information mentioned in the beginning of the book with regards to child-vampires. Why would Bella and the Cullens take the risk of being hunted and killed by the Volturi? Bella’s actions were completely at odd with her love for the Cullens, who she claimed to consider family, and put everyone at risk. Given that Bella’s character is one of self-sacrifice, the danger of keeping the child and the sheer number of lives the process would have “endangered” made the decision to keep the child completely selfish and just plain stupid.

At the point in time that Bella decided to keep the child she knew only that: child-vampires could not grasp the need for secrecy, thus endangering covens and all vampires alike; could wipe out whole villages due to their thirst; were outlawed by the Volturi and any coven that made or harbored a child-vampire would be executed immediately. Not to mention the fact that, for all accounts and purposes, Bella’s pregnancy should not have even been possible, which left them in unknown territory. Given this knowledge what logic was there for a self-sacrificing young woman who cares deeply for her loved ones and friends to put hundreds of people at risk? Based on the knowledge she had at the time, the Cullens would immediately become a target of the Volturi, the werewolves, or at least Jacob, would be dragged into it, not to mention the humans that might be munched on by her vampire-child. Granted, the book ended on a “happily ever after” note and the worst-case scenario didn’t come true. However, the choice of the heroine was, none the less, illogical and rash.

This of course raised questions and doubts over the level of Bella’s maturity and ability to be a mother. Bella spent her time during the beginning of the book focused only on her honeymoon and becoming a vampire – sex and immortality – with no real consideration to how her single mindedness was hurting Edward. Add in the purely selfish desire to keep the child and her inability to let Jacob be, after hearing from his own mouth how her clinging to him still hurt, and one really has to wonder if she, a child herself, has the right mentality and maturity to raise a child. This book sends out a very mixed messages and I couldn’t help but feel as though the author was trying to say “so long as you have a man everything will go alright” upon the conclusion of the book. Husband, money, baby, immortality, and she’ll never have to work a day in her life – Bella got it all and gave up nothing.

The change of point of view from Bella to Jacob was, initially, jarring. However, it did provide invaluable insight that would have otherwise been lost if the story had been told entirely from Bella and the Cullen’s point of view. I thought that Meyer did an excellent job of showcasing the fears of the pack as well as providing valuable insight into Jacob’s thoughts and feelings. After reading from his perspective it was became clear that there was much more to the angry and irrational Jacob that had been portrayed in Eclipse. I also thought that Meyer did an impeccable job of fleshing out her characters even more and giving us a much better understanding of them. Specifically I was surprised and pleased to see how Seth, Leah, and Rosalie were fleshed out so. I would have liked to seen more attention given to Emmet however, as he remained the only member of the Cullens that I never really got a feel for.

Breaking Dawn definately had a darker feel to it then any of the other books in the series, which was very appropriate given the book’s title, as it is always darkest right before the dawn after all. Now, while I will agree that the content was more mature and darker than the previous books in the series, I would not go so far as to say that it was too much. Rather it had just the right feel to it. Bella had reached a major turning point in her life and was shedding her adolescence as well her humanity in this book. Despite several aspects that detracted greatly from the believability of the characters and their choices, not to mention the mixed single this book sends, it was an enjoyable read. Meyer’s writing style manages to keep readers turning the pages regardless of the disappointments.

Followers of the series will definately want to read this final book to see how it all comes together. There is no question that this is an entertaining and gripping series that you will want to follow from start to finish. However, be prepared for a less than spectacular finale. The magic that first hooked me when I read Twilight remained throughout New Moon and Eclipse. With regards to Breaking Dawn however, I found the magic to be much diluted. It lingered on like the faint aroma of an enchanting fragrance in an empty room; the remnants of an alluring past.

Joana’s rating: (3 out of 5 stars)

As the title might suggest, Francesca Lia Block’s The Rose and the Beast takes some of the most popular of Grimm’s fairy tales and plops them down in modern-day Los Angeles. The tales are reworked to fit a modern day world, but the lessons, both new and old, behind each tale have not been lost in the least.

Now, much like the original Grimm fairy tales, these tales have not been sugar-coated in the least. While the author refrained from outright telling the readers what some of the heroines were going through, the vivid pictures Francesca Lia Block paints with her words leaves no doubt in the reader’s mind as to what they are witnessing. Sexual abuse, rape, molestation, murder – these are just a few of the things that plague the protagonists of these fairy tales.

Unsurprisingly, the more popular and well known fairy tales, such as “Snow White”, “Beauty and the Beast”, “Sleeping Beauty”, “Little Red Riding Hood”, “Thumbling”, and “Cinderella”, make their way into this collection. However, a couple of the lesser known tales can be found as well. I must confess to being rather disappointed with just how many of the more popular and well-known fairy tales made it into this book. While they were well written and enjoyable, they’re tales I’ve seen rewritten and redone numerous times. Just about every author who sets out to rewrite a few fairy tales picks one or two of the popular tales and rewrites them. Seeing not one but six of them in a collection of just nine tales was very disheartening to say the least.

Lia Block’s version of Bluebeard, entitled “Bones” in her book, is one of the few lesser-known fairy tales included in the collection, and also one of my favorites from said collection. A young girl stuck in a dead end job waiting, dreaming, and hungering for something better to come along, receives an invitation to a producer’s party one night. She’s alone in the world and unsure of her place in things – a perfect victim because she won’t be missed. The producer, Derek Blue, takes an interest in her and invites her to stay after the party. Like the original tale, the heroine is presented with a key, however there is no need for her to wander into the forbidden room as the villain is more than happy to tell her about all of the other girls who have suffered the same fate that awaits her.

Now, what I liked most about this tale was the heroines’ ability to fight back and escape all on her. Rather than fall down in a heap of despair and terror, the story’s heroine acknowledges that there will be no brothers running to her rescue and instead fights off her would be murderer with a pocket knife and runs for her life. Unlike trite horror movies, this girl has some common sense, so instead of running up the stairs or into the woods she makes a beeline for her car and escapes. Instead of the stereotypical bimbo we’re treated with a young girl who makes mistakes but has the wits about her to get out fast – I loved this.

The author’s renditions of Thumbling/Thumbelina (“Tiny”) was amusing and interesting to see adapted to a modern day environment, but was an overall unoriginal take on the classic tale. Likewise I found the renditions of Beauty and the Beast (“Beauty”) and Snow White (“Snow”) to also fall short of the mark. I was impressed with the author’s version of Little Red Riding Hood (“Wolf”) however and how she cleverly weaved a tale of child abuse and domestic violence into the classic storyline and adapted it for modern times. The abused runaway daughter as little red riding hood, and the abusive father as the big bad wolf was absolutely perfect.

I would also like to point out that the author seems to have an addiction to hyphens and run on sentences. If you’re the type of reader who cannot stand to see a work published, or deliberately written, with several grammatical mistakes then this novel is going to grate on your last nerve. Frankly, I didn’t find that the run ons, and over hyphenated sentences added anything to the story. One might even say they detracted a bit. And when it comes to grammar and punctuation, I am certainly far from perfect, yet even I was tempted to bust out with the red felt-tip pen.

In short, while the author provides an interesting and unique spin on many of these fairy tales, the appearance of widely known, and thus widely-retold, stories will be a let down for anyone looking for a truly unique retelling of fairy tales. The fact that the bulk of these fairy tales are made up of commonly retold fairy tales also takes away from the enjoyment factor.

Joana’s rating: (3 out of 5 stars)

Eclipse is the third installment to Meyer’s tale of a young girl, Isabella “Bella” Swan, who has come to live with her father in the small town of Forks, Washington. Also living in this town is a family of vampires abstaining from drinking human blood, and on the neighboring reservation reside werewolves. In the previous books Bella had unwittingly attracted the attention of a vampire who likes the ultimate hunt, and after his demise, his lover vowed to hunt Bella down. As if a vindictive vampire lurking in the background wasn’t enough there is also the Volturi, the uncontested rulers and law enforcers of the vampire community, to contend with. They’ve issued an order, turn Bella into a vampire soon or she dies. Considering the fact that the love of Bella’s life, the vampire Edward Cullen, isn’t too keen on her becoming a vampire, you just know it’s not going to be an easy trip.

The stage is set for quite the supernatural showdown as the third book opens, and I must say that Ms. Meyer does not disappoint in that aspect.

The situation between Bella and Jacob Black, a young werewolf who is head over heels in love with Bella, is unresolved in the beginning of the book. I was actually concerned about how this relationship would develop since Jacob had a somewhat bratty attitude towards Bella and Edward’s relationship initially in the first book and parts of the second. As he became a werewolf and underwent changes however his sullen outlook took on a more angry tone that held a hint of danger. It’s hard though to blame Jacob or to look at him as an interloper. Meyer did a fantastic job on writing a character that the readers can be angry with while at the same time sympathizing with him and cheering him on. On one hand you want him to be the victor in the fight to win Bella’s heart, and on the other hand you know Bella and Edward really do belong together. For this reason, the ending that Meyer chose for this love triangle was very poignant and struck this reader hard. The pain that the characters feel is truly heartbreaking, and yet you can’t think of an alternative that would have left all three happy.

For the most part this book passed far too quickly. There was not a moment that I felt the novel dragged, although some parts did feel slow and a bit awkward considering the book’s pace and tone however. For example, although I desperately wanted to know Jasper’s history, the point in the story that Meyer chose to have Jasper reveal it felt horribly out of place. I cannot imagine a person who seemingly enjoys appearing as a mystery, to interrupt a planning session to tell the newcomer their entire history. Jasper’s flashback was rather lengthy, although quite rich with detail, and would have been better told chopped up. When Jasper decides to reveal his past the Cullens and Bella are in the middle of determining who is stalking Bella and what their plans are. It would have fit the story and the pace much better if Jasper had elected to reveal only the portions of his tale immediately relevant to their planning; how he knew what they [the enemy] were planning on doing and how to fight them.

The rest could have been revealed at a later time when Bella inquired about it or when she was alone with Jasper and Alice. Due to the length of the tale of Jasper and its odd placement I was admittedly tempted to start skimming some portions so as to get back on track. Rosalie’s own revelations seemed a bit out of character initially but they were thankfully better placed and more concise since Rosalie, upon finishing her brief tale, immediately got to the point of why she revealed it.

The Cullens are not the only characters for whom we get a back story to either. Also revealed in this book are the legends of the Quileute tribe and how they came to be werewolves as well as some personal information on the members of the tribe and the werewolves of the tribe. Edward, after hearing some of their thoughts, commented that the tribe was like a soap opera and after reading this book I think you’ll agree.

Aside from the poorly timed histories of characters there is one other thing that upset me a little while reading this book, the miraculous well being of the main characters. I don’t want to reveal too much about the actual showdown itself but it seemed rather odd to me that the Cullens, who give the impression of fighting with their kind rarely, were all able to escape the fray with hardly a scratch on them where as the wolves, who greatly outnumbered them and are equipped with the abilities necessary to take down a vampire, took far more injuries. Experience aside, it seems highly unlikely that given the sheer size of the enemy that they would all step away unscathed. I’m not saying that I wanted any of them to die or be maimed for all eternity, but I would have liked that it be depicted more realistically.

Overall I found the third book to be on the same level as the previous two. Despite its length it flew bar far too quickly for this reader’s liking and left me eagerly anticipating the next book. Hopefully there will be a fourth, because I for one, do not want to see it end where it is. There is one question that has existed since the very first book and it has yet to be answered. Will Alice’s vision of Bella becoming a vampire and joining them come to pass?

Joana’s rating:

Leonardo’s Shadow is told from the point of view of Giacomo a servant of the great Leonardo da Vinci. To say that Giacomo came to be Leonardo’s servant under rather unique circumstances would be an understatement. The story opens up with how Giacomo came to be with Leonardo. Giacomo, a young boy now fourteen or fifteen, was suffering from the fever and carrying in his possesion a cloth bag containing a medallion, a ring, and a cross, all of which no doubt are of great value. And herein lay Giacomo’s problem, due to the fever he could not remember how or why they came into his possession, only that he could let go of them.

Dressed as he was and carrying the objects that he did it was inevitable that he would be accused of thievery, and he was. Giacomo was chased through the streets of Milan until at last he came to make a last stand at the top of the cathedral, the very same one where Leonardo da Vinci was working on his painting. For reasons unknown to Giacomo, Leonardo chased off Giacomo’s pursuers and took him into his care, eventually making him his servant upon Giacomo’s recovery.

With such an exciting introduction I was feeling pumped and enthusiastically awaiting the start of the story, however I soon found myself a bit disappointed. Where as the introduction was exhilarating to say the least, the story itself was slow, there just isn’t anyway around that fact. The reader doesn’t get an idea as to the real significance of the items that Giacomo was carrying until chapter four, but the pace itself doesn’t really begin to pick up until near the end of chapter eleven. I feel that at this point most readers might have passed up on the story in favor of something that would draw them in a bit faster.

If the reader does stick it out past the slow beginning I believe they will be richly rewarded however. Normally I don’t mind giving out a few tidbits of the story to elaborate my points but for this particular tale I am loathe to do so. It has been my experiance that fictional tales which feature a well-known historical figure tend to either fall far from the mark or become so absurd as to make the reader wonder what the editor and publishers were thinking when they allowed the tale to be printed. It’s rare that I find one that is not only exceptionally plausible, well thought out, and situationally accurate, but also intriguing and captivating as well.

Over all, despite the initial lag, I found Leonardo’s Shadow to be an engaging read. There was plenty of mystery to keep the reader playing guessing games and the unlikely protagonists of Leonardo and Giacomo gave this tale a unique flavor that will have the reader salivating at the mouth. Indeed the tale takes a rather unexpected twist, I would elaborate right here on some of the surprising and shocking (though considering what I remember from my history courses and many accomplishments of Leonardo da Vinci I guess it shouldn’t be) events but I honestly can’t think of how to do so without giving the entire thing away.

My one and only true complaint is Giacomo’s initially endearing, and later annoying, habit of speaking before thinking. There are times where this flaw has been his saving grace and a positive trait, but there were also numerous times I couldn’t help but to groan at the stupidity of the character and marvel at how many benevolent saints must have been watching out for this boy! There were plenty of instances where he could have handled things so much better if not for this habit of opening his mouth and inserting his foot. Although I suppose he wouldn’t have been Giacomo if not for this trait. I did marvel though at how at the end of this tale, despite everything that happens Giacomo still has a severe tendency to open his mouth without thinking it through.

Now despite this book being listed as a children’s book on Amazon.com I believe it is more along the lines of a Young Adult novel. There is a reasonable amount of violence in this story that most parents won’t feel comfortable reading to their children ten or under, which is typically the set of the Children’s Literature genre. I would propose it safe for preteens and up. Due to the implied possible relationship between Leonardo and Giacomo by Leonardo’s father in chapter twenty I believe this tale will best be appreciated by a more mature reader. I just can’t, or rather don’t want to see, a six year old asking their mommy to explain what the father meant. Talk about uncomfortable!

This might sound seemingly random, but I have to add this. When you purchase this book do yourself a favor and purchase the hardback version. Why? If you remove the jacket you are greeted with Leonardo’s Last Supper on the cover of the book itself. It looks beautiful and I was thrilled to see the book manufactured like this. To me it adds to the atmosphere to hold the completed creation while reading about it while it was in-progress.

Joana’s rating: