The Time-Traveling Fashionista, Book 2 - At the Palace of Marie Antoinette

Bianca Turetsky's second book in this series about 12-year old Louise Lambert's unique trips in time holds up just about as well as the first one.  I picked up the three books in this series because it was a unique twist on the time-travel story - - in this series, Louise gets sent back in time when she dons vintage clothes being sold by two mysterious women, Glenda and Marla, at their traveling vintage clothing store.  In the first book, Louise travels back in time and takes over the body of a woman on board the Titanic (a woman who turns out to be her very own ancestor!).  This book picks up a few weeks after that first fateful trip, as Louise is preparing herself for her best friend's big 13th birthday celebration.  This time, Louise tries on a dress from the 18th century and finds herself transported back in time to France and the palace of Marie Antionette.

What I find interesting is that the books are being sold in the young adult section, along with other teen series, such as the Maze Runner and Twilight and the like; yet, the books are written at a much younger reading level.  In fact, I would venture to say the reading level is pretty much on par with early Nancy Drew books.  I can't imagine too many teens enjoying a series about a 12-year old girl (although, I'm an adult reading the books, so who am I to say?).

While the first book focused more on Louise's trip to the Titanic, this second book spends less time in the past and gives the readers more of the angst in Louise's life.  Will she get to go on the school trip to Paris, now that her father lost his job?  Will the boy she has taking a liking to at school return her feelings?  Will she and her best friend drift apart now that one is a teenager and the other is not?  Can she figure out a way to keep her time-traveling fashionista status a secret from her best friend?  Who are Glenda and Marla?  Did she really travel in time, or was it all in her head?

Watching Louise deal with her problems certain opens the door for character growth, it greatly took away from the time she spend in the past.  The author seemed to rush through Louise's time in 18th century France, which had a world of possibilities to explore, especially when she meets another Time-Traveling Fashionista in the very same place and time!  The author had hinted in the first book there were more TTFs out there, now that Louise has met one, it confirms it.  That, if nothing else, truly opens the door for some interesting trips and events in future books (if any new ones come out after the third).

And yes, before I forget, there was a bit of a cliffhanger ending, when Louise stumbles upon something that gives her a clue as to why she has this "ability" to travel through time via vintage clothes.

Would I recommend this series?  Probably not.  They are okay reading, and if you are really into time-traveling and pre-teen angst, then yes, you might enjoy them.  Otherwise, they are just quick and easy reads.  Oh, and yes, they do have color internal illustrations that pretty much focus on the fashions, both of the clothes the girls wear, as well as the decor in the various places Louise visits.

RATING:  5 out of 10 vintage dresses for providing a new take on the time-travel tale and creating some likable, realistic characters.

Fables - TPB Vol 22 (a/k/a Issue 150) - Farewell

Sadly, the amazingly well-written, beautifully-drawn, captivating and always entertaining series, Fables, has come to an end.  DC Comics began this series under its Vertigo imprint some years ago, and during the course of its 150-issue run, it has spawned two spin-off series (Jack of Fables and Fairest), a couple of Cinderella mini-series, a few graphic novel specials, a video game, and legions of fans. This series was a pre-cursor to the Once Upon a Time show on ABC right now, as Fables is the tale of fairy tale characters who have come over to the real world to live.  That, however, is where the similarities end.

I have followed the series all these years, and I have pretty much enjoyed each and every story.  Bill Willingham, the author and creator of the series, has managed to weave an intricate, on-going tale about these characters, in a lot of ways, creating a fairy tale soap opera.  I have grown to like the characters (even the mean, nasty ones), so knowing this would be the final issue has been bitter sweet.

I am definitely of the philosophy that a series should end while it is still good and not continue under the helm of a different creative team simply for the sake of generating more sales from the book.  Sandman, by Neil Gaiman, is a perfect example of this.  He wrote the series, and when he was done telling stories, the series ended.  So, it is only natural that Fables would finally reach the end of its stories.

This issue, which ended up being a trade paperback all on its own, did not disappoint.  We finally get to see the conclusion to the battle between Snow White and Rose Red that has been building for so many months now, as Fables choose sides and get ready for the last battle (hmmmm, C.S. Lewis anyone?).  I won't spoil it by revealing the outcome, but I will say that I was very pleased with how it ended, and quite frankly, it was the only logical way to do it.

This issue also contained a slew of "The Last Story of ...." which reveal what happened to all of the Fable characters after the end.  Particularly loved the seven "Summer Prophecy" pages, which let us know what happened to Snow and Bigby's seven children.

While I have become very disenchanted with a lot of comics being published today, Fables has been the one constant that I've always enjoyed, and I'm sad to see it come to an end.  Thanks to Bill, Mark, Steve, and the countless other artists involved in the series over the years for producing such a magnificent book!

RATING:  10 out of 10 happily-ever-afters for ending the series in a way that should satisfy every reader (especially me!).

The Rise and Fall of a Theater Geek

Anyone who knows me, knows that I enjoy the theater.  So, naturally, when I find a book that combines both my love for the theater with my love for a good mystery, I'm going to have to give it a shot.

This book tells the story of Justin Goldblatt, a normal (i.e. not thin, still fighting through puberty) teenager who gets the chance of a lifetime to intern on Broadway with an actor for whom he has had a crush for the longest time.  So he lies to the firm where he was going to intern and takes off for New York...

Only to discover that everything is not what he expected with the internship.  This little comedy/drama/mystery raises some interesting questions - such as who is leaving Justin notes saying "He's a fake"?  Why is the actor's assistant giving Justin every task in the world to do that purposefully keeps him away from the theater?  Who is the person Justin sees walking the streets with the actor's assistant?  There's a mystery afoot, and Justin is determined to solve it and save his favorite actor's Broadway career!

While Seth Rudetsky (the same one who wrote Broadway Nights and The Q Guide the Broadway) does capture some of the drama that teens go through with low self-esteem, petty arguments and jealousies, and the uncertainty of making the right choices, he goes a bit overboard with Justin's incessant whining, whoa-is-me, why is everyone blaming me attitude throughout the entire book.  Yes, the character has a few redeeming qualities (his determination to save Chase Hudson's career on stage) and he does manage to make some positive changes towards the end (such as apologizing to his friends and coming clean with the lies he told to get the internship), but by that time, I was so fed up with the constant whining that I still didn't like the character.  I found his best friend, Becky, and his new-found friend in NYC, Devon, to be much more well-rounded characters and more likable than Justin.

That being said, the underlying mystery was well-done, indeed. You pretty much know who the culprit is the entire time, but what you don't know is exactly what that person is up to and the reasons behind it.  The final reveal at the end is very much like a Nancy Drew or Hardy Boys book, with Justin finding out that last crucial bit of information that makes everything fall into place, then, with the help of his friends, setting up an elaborate plan to catch the crook and trick that person into revealing him/herself.

Overall, not a bad read, but not one of the best I've read.  Paul Ruditis' DRAMA series of books, or Marc Acito's How I Paid for College and its sequel were definitely much better tales of actors and the stage.

RATING:  6 out of 10 standing ovations for being able to tell a good mystery with a very unlikable protagonist.

The Walking Dead - TPB Vol 24 - Life and Death

Okay, I'll be honest.  I've become bored with The Walking Dead.  Sure, the television show has changed up the status quo to keep it fresh and on a divergent line from the comic - but the comic itself, after 23 trade paperbacks (which of which collects 6 issues), has begun to grow stale.  It seems to be the same story rehashed with different villains and different settings.  Rick and his group find a new place to stay, running into new people.  There is a fight for dominance, Rick's group always wins, and then there is a short time of peace.  Then a villainous group appears and threatens the peace, there is more fight, people are killed, and Rick and his group move on to the next place.  Then repeat.  Repeat.  Repeat.

So, I had pretty much decided with this volume to end my reading of The Walking Dead.  I figured after 12 years, it has pretty much run its course, and I could end it satisfied.

Until I read the ending to this volume...

Holy toledo!  I did not see that coming at all.  Yes, I knew this new villainous group ("The Whisperers" they call themselves) were depraved, walking around wearing the skin of "dead" walkers, refusing to call each other by name, and basically living solely on animal instinct.  But I didn't think they were any different that any villain that has come before - The Governer, Negan, and so many others.  The end of this issue, though, was pretty violent and actually made me feel for the people Rick works to protect.

And Robert Kirkman did a superb job of inflicting the greatest impact without ever actually showing the violence.  Instead, we see the aftermath and the family and friends who were left behind, at this point not knowing what has happened to their loved ones, friends, partners who are missing.  And let's face it - anything that can make Michonne cry is bound to be some powerful stuff.

So where does that leave me?  Well, even the best-laid plans are bound to change from time to time.  Meaning - yes, I will be buying volume 25, because I have to see how Rick and his team will retaliate against the Whisperers.

RATING:  7 out of 10 decapitated heads on a spike for surprising the heck out of me with the ending of this book!

Dark Shadows Audio Book 26 - The Fall of the House of Trask

So, on my drive up to Atlanta for DragonCon, I listened the next Dark Shadows audio book, "The Fall of the House of Trask."  This book picks up immediately after the end of two prior CDs - "The Carrion Queen" - in which Gregory Trask tricks his way back to the living - and "The Poisoned Soul" - in which Charity Trask is once again possessed by the spirit of Pansy Faye.  Both of those prior CDs ended with the same scene - Charity trying to come to terms with having Pansy in my mind when her father, who she thought was dead, suddenly appears.

Jerry Lacy and Nancy Barrett reprise their roles from the show, and they do a fantastic job of bringing the characters to life.  Nancy is exceptionally talented, in that she is able to portray both Charity and Pansy with their very different personalities and voices.  And the writers not only tie in the prior two Trask CDs to this story, but they also connect this tale with two other DS audio books - "London's Burning," which had Quentin rescuing Pansy's sister from a bombing, and "The Eternal Actress," with the mention of Helvetica Stanhope from that drama.  So kudos definitely go out to everyone involved with this production for not only the great acting, but for tying it all together within the "audio drama" continuity.

And what's even better is that the Dark One's overarching plan is quite complicated and duplicitous, and it kept me guessing all the way to the very end when the newborn baby is born of his blood - a baby boy by the name of Cyrus Longworth!  Finally, this character is brought into the regular Dark Shadows continuity, rather than just being a Parallel Time character from the TV show.

This one definitely held my interest all the way through and left me wanting for more.

RATING:  9 out of 10 twists and turns for keeping me in the dark as to the Dark One's true intentions!

Penelope Tredwell Mystery No. 2 - Shadows of the Silver Screen

Christopher Edge does it again!  I picked up the first and second books in this series from Amazon some time ago, as the concept seemed rather interesting - a young girl who inherits her father's magazine, the Penny Dreadful, and turns it into a raging success by penning horrific tales of terror under the pen name, Montgomery Flinch. In the first novel,Twelve Minutes to Midnight, Penelope has hired an actor to fill the role of "Montgomery Flinch" at a public appearance.  At the same time, however, she becomes involved in a mystery surrounding a psychiatric hospital where, at exactly 12 minutes to midnight every night, the patients all seem to speak nonsense, but which is in actuality visions of future events - events that someone is taking great pains to learn in an effort to take hold of the future!  It was a really good read, so I was happy to finally get a chance to read the second book.

Edge keeps the suspense going and increases the supernatural element in this mystery.  When a filmmaker comes to the office of the Penny Dreadful wanting to make a movie of one of Montgomery Flinch's tales, Penelope reluctantly gives in.  What she does not realize, though, is that the filmmaker has a very unique camera - one that not only captures visual and sound (these stories are set in the early part of the 20th century, so sound in movies was not yet invented), but also manages to break through into the spirit world and capture the spirits of those who have moved on.  In this case, one spirit in particular - a young girl that the filmmaker was in love with as a boy.  He is intent on bringing her back, but Penelope soon finds that there is a high price to return a spirit into the living world, and she and her friends are soon in the thick of it again.

With nearly 250 pages of story, there is plenty of room for Edge to build up the tension as the story leads to its climax.  And while the story is definitely just as good, if not better, than the first book, I am a little disappointed that the author does not take any time at all to more fully develop the characters.  As with the first book, we know that Penelope's parents are dead, she has a guardian who not only watches over her (although does not do a great job of this, since she seems to run the show and do pretty much anything she pleases - sort of like an original text Nancy Drew) but also helps her with the Penny Dreadful business, and she has a young boy who helps around the office.  We also know that Monty Maples is the down-on-his-luck actor who assumed the role of Montgomery Flinch and does nothing but whine about it the whole time.  Other than that, we learn nothing new of the characters, nor do we see any development or growth within their personalities.  They face danger, they come together to fight the villainy of the day, but in the end, when all is said and done, they are exactly as they were before the whole business started.

I have the third book, The Black Crow Conspiracy, and hopefully the story will give a little bit more insight into the characters - even if there is no growth in their personalities, perhaps we might get a bigger glimpse into their histories.

RATING:  7 out of 10 shadows on the wall for providing a well-rounded, enjoyable read.

A Cainsville Novel, Book 2 - Visions

Simply put, Kelly Armstrong is a magnificent writer. I picked up her first Cainsville novel, Omens, on a lark, because the description on the back read something that was very reminiscent of Dark Shadows - a young woman suddenly finds her past is nothing but a lie, she goes to a strange place where she knows no one and where there are secrets around every corner.  Sound familiar?

Olivia Taylor-Jones, the lead character in the series, finds out she is the daughter of serial killers, and her real name is Eden Larsen.  Here, in Visions, the story picks up immediately after the end of the first novel. Having uncovered the truth behind the final two murders that her parents were supposed to have committed - but didn't! - Olivia and her attorney/boss/semi-sorta-friend, Gabriel Walsh, are once again thrust into a dangerous web of deceit when Olivia discovers a body in her car - one that is made up to look just like her.  Then, it disappears.

At first, Olivia thinks it is just another omen - she has a tendency to see and interpret omens - but soon enough she finds out the body is real, when the decapitated head is left in her bed!  Armstrong provides plenty of suspense and twists-and-turns throughout the story as to who the dead woman is, why she was left for Olivia to find, and what her connection is to the ever-growing-more-mysterious Cainsville.  More truths are unveiled about the townspeople of Cainsville (who have PLENTY of secrets), the truth about Gabriel's father and his missing mother are revealed, and truths are hinted at about Olivia's heritage, her connection to both Gabriel and the biker-turned-boyfriend Ricky, and the game that is being played with all three of them.

The use of Welsh history and folk lore provides an interesting element, and it creates a backstory that is entirely new to me, since I know pretty much zilch about the Welsh history.  But part of the focus of this novel (and from whence the title comes) are the visions that Olivia keeps having of the "Wild Hunt."

This book and the previous one have been unbelievably good.  They read like a serial, and I can easily visualize it in my head as an ongoing television show, either a night-time soap, or, for as much story is packed into each novel, a daytime drama (a la Dark Shadows).  There is some romance in the story (between Olivia and Ricky) that gets steamy without getting overly graphic, and the sexual tension between Gabriel and Olivia is ever-present.  But, thankfully, it's not over done, and it's not always at the forefront (as I am not a huge fan of romance novels).

The third book is Deceptions, and I can't wait to see what it holds in store for the Olivia and her supporting cast (let's face it - I hope she eventually finds out and is able to reveal that her parents did not kill any of the people they are accused of killing!).

RATING:  10 out of 10 suspense-filled visions for keeping me turning page after page and for making me really care about the characters!