Clariel--Garth Nix

Title: Clariel
Author: Garth Nix
Publisher: HarperCollins, 2014
Pages: 400 p.
Source: Library
Compensation: None

If you're one of the few regular readers of this blog and not just a googler, you should remember my obsession admiration for Garth Nix. I particularly loved the Abhorsen Trilogy. Which is why I may have flipped out a wee bit when I saw he had written another one! Clariel is not a sequel to the trilogy, but rather a prequel that takes place hundreds of years before.

Clariel is a loner who just wants a simple life of living in the woods and working as a Borderer. Unfortunately she is part of an important family with ties to the Abhorsen and the King and when her mother is called to live in the city, Clariel must go with her. While there she is drawn into political intrigue and murderous plots, and discovers that she is a Berserker. Her berserk nature makes her very vulnerable to free magic and makes it very hard to resist free magic's tempting power.

Clariel is an interesting character, unlike any of Nix's previous heroines. She is flawed, and while some of her actions are understandable, she is more of an anti-heroine than a truly likable character. I'd rather not give away any spoilers, but when Clariel's identity is revealed at the end of the book, it's clear that this is an "origin story."

I didn't love-love this one as much as I did the others but in retrospect I think it was because I didn't know what I was reading. I kept waiting for Clariel to be the hero, to be the next Abhorsen, to be what I expected. But that wasn't what this story was and I don't think I was supposed to love her like Sabriel. The more time I have away from it, the more I appreciate it.

I am REALLY looking forward to his next Abhorsen book which IS a sequel.
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King Dork Approximately--Frank Portman

Title: King Dork Approximately
Author: Frank Portman
Publisher: Delacorte Press, 2014.
Pages:384 p.
Source: Netgalley
Compensation: None

I read King Dork a LONG time ago when I was still working as a YA librarian. I remember talking about it at librarian meetings. It seems like a lifetime ago (it was) which is why I was so surprised to hear talk of a sequel. I had remembered enjoying King Dork, even if I didn't think it was the best thing ever, so when I had the chance to read an ebook through Netgalley, I jumped.

King Dork Approximately picks up where King Dork left off. Tom Henderson has mostly recovered from his injuries (read the first book) and is still muddling though life trying to figure it all out but things are even more confusing for him. His mom and step dad are having problems, his best friend Sam Kellerman has shocking secrets of his own, and on top of it all he has to attend a new school when his infamous old one is shut down. He finds himself trying to be invisible by completely blending in to the new school's serious School Spirit. It works and he finds himself with a girlfriend and unbelievably a torment-free existence. But nothing lasts forever and pretty soon his true colors shine through. Luckily there's a female robot in class to save the day.

Fans of King Dork will appreciate this sequel. Tom hasn't lost his sarcastic outlook. Once again, music plays a big role in the story. Tom's band has graduated from just coming up with names to actually playing instruments and practicing. If they can rein in their drummer's flair for unnecessary solos they actually sound ok, so Tom and Sam come up with a crazy method to do just that. Tom's band is the most entertaining part of the story.

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Pennyroyal Academy--M.A. Larson

Title: Pennyroyal Academy
Author: M.A. Larson
Publisher: G.P. Putnam, 2014.
Pages: 320 p.
Source: VOYA
Compensation: None

The first novel in a planned series, Pennyroyal Academy, opens with a young girl lost in a dark magical forest who stumbles on a deserted cottage. Hoping for shelter, she enters and quickly realizes she has made a huge mistake. The cottage belongs to a witch who returns with a captured boy. But this is no ordinary boy and girl. The two of them are able to escape the evil witch and begin a journey to Pennyroyal Academy, a school for knights and princesses who learn how to battle evil witches. While at the Academy the girl with no name discovers she is the victim of a curse and slowly discovers her true identity.

The traditional idea of princesses as kind generous girls remains true, but M.A. Larson has given them other qualities as well: strength and witch fighting abilities. Pennyroyal Academy is a boot camp for girls to train to join the Princess Army and help rid the world of the evil dangerous witches.  Readers will love the references to well-known Grimm's fairy tales as well as the idea of princesses who are not damsels in distress and can do their own saving. Younger readers who are closer to the princess-loving age may enjoy the novel more, but older readers will also appreciate the girl-power update to the fairy tale world of their youth.

**

That's my official VOYA review. I just finished reading Pennyroyal Academy to my 7 year old and she decided to do her own review as well:

M.A. Larson, Author
Pennyroyal Academy, Title

I liked Pennyroyal Academy because it is fiction and Evie learns about her family and I liked that it was different because the princesses were fighting witches instead of laying around.

I think that people should read it.

**
Edited 1/6/15 to include this tweet from Larson. How cool is he?

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Bane Chronicles--Cassandra Clare

Title: The Bane Chronicles
Author: Cassandra Clare
Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry, 2014.
Pages: 528 p.
Source: VOYA
Compensation: none

Known to fans of Cassandra Clare's series The Mortal Instruments and The Infernal Devices, Magnus Bane is an immortal warlock straddling the line between good and evil. The son of a powerful demon, Bane often finds himself coming to the aid of helpless mundanes (regular humans) as well as other Downworlders (Werewolves, Vampires, Fairies) and even the haughty protectors of the world, Shadowhunters. A supporting player in Clare's series, Bane gets the center stage in The Bane Chronicles, a collection of short stories about his past and present. As with most short story collections with more than one author, the writing is a little uneven and some of the stories are less interesting than others but Bane's charismatic over-the-top character is enough to keep one reading. While just a companion to the two series and not a prequel or sequel, knowledge of the series definitely enhances the enjoyment of the book. The stories are mostly in chronological order starting with Bane's friendship with fellow warlocks Ragnor Fell and Catarina Loss in 1791 and following his exploits in mundane affairs (the French Revolution and the Stock Market crash in 1929). Fans will be most interested in the stories concerning Bane's connections with the Shadowhunters and his relationship with Alec Lightwood of The Mortal Instruments series.

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