Recent Reads: A Modern Faerie Tale

Wow, it only took until August, but FINALLY I've reached the quarter-way mark! I'm not sure about this whole reading 100 books thing anymore, but dang it, I am TRYING!

Anyway, I’ve heard so much great stuff about the A Modern Faerie Tale series and apparently my new "thing" is Faery and all things related so I picked these up for my recent trips out of town. I'm not sure if this is a trilogy or if these are the first three in a longer series, but here's my take:

Book: Tithe by Holly Black
Book Count: 25


The first book in the series introduces us to Kaye, a girl who is not your average teenager. She's been raised as a roadie for her mother's various bands, grew up with invisible faeries as best friends, and when a strange attack brings Kaye and her mother back to her childhood home, she comes face to face with who and what she really is.

It definitely lived up to the dark and edgy reviews I had read. There were a few slow parts, but I liked the story overall. It wasn't exactly what I expected, but not in a bad way. My biggest complaint: there wasn't enough. When the story was over, I felt like there wasn't enough development, or, I don't know. What was there was good, but I just wanted more.



Book Title: Valiant by Holly Black
Book Count: 26

Which leads us into why I picked this one up! :) But Valiant isn't about Kaye and Ellen and Corny and Roiben. This book introduces us to Val and her gang of misfits, taking us into a whole different realm of Faery-land as mortals and fey alike struggle to survive as faeries are being murdered.

I actual liked this book better than Tithe. The characters felt more developed and real all within the span of a book the same size. And as it were, it isn't an actual sequel to Tithe, but merely the second book in the series (trilogy?), one can read this book without having read the others and still be okay.


Book Title: Ironside by Holly Black
Book Count: 27

This was actually the sequel to Tithe. This story follows more closely Kaye and Roiben's relationship and pulls in characters from Valiant as well. Ironside was definitely a place where Kaye did more growing up, continuing from Tithe. There was more at stake for her here and therefore more for her to consider in her actions. It pushed to the forefront that there isn't always one right answer and not everything can be clearly answered in black or white.

Overall, these books were very remniscent of the Melissa Marr Wicked Lovely series. They switch their focus, the second book in both series focusing on different characters with cameo appearances from characters we've already met.

Although I enjoyed these books enough, if I had to make a recommendation on Faerie stories, I'd go with Wicked Lovely. For me, the character development and and perspective shifts worked better for me and overall, I just enjoyed the stories more.

WiP Wednesday: Seriously, How Many Words?

I haven't exactly had the kind of time I thought I would to work on the wip, but it turned out to be no matter. The time I did have was enough. And the first draft of my wip (4 Letter Word) is done! Yes, that's right. The End. Complete. Done. Finished.

Now comes the hard parts: layers and revisions.

My first draft estimate was around 70,000 words. I was off by a bit there. I'm closer to 62,000. This could be because I'm a bit wordy: I think I talk way too much, so therefore, my characters do too. In case you need a refresher, here's some info dating back to when I started writing (again):

It's Complicated: 135,000 - yes, that's right . . . it gets better

The Lucky One: 156,000 - hahahaha, I laugh at myself when I think about this now, and you're welcome to laugh at me too!

Just Maybe: 85,000 - much more reasonable

4 Letter Word: 61,608 - yeah, I know, right?

All four of these projects are YA contemporary fiction. That's right. Remember? I said I tend to be a bit wordy sometimes. But it's okay. As I kept writing, I figured out that the first 2 (IC and TLO) are actually just backstories to JM and 4LW.

I'm very proud of myself, though, to have been able to come in at such a low word count (for me anyway) and still feel like I've told the story. Again, it is just the first draft, so chances are the word count will shift some, but I don't foresee anything drastic. Unless I decide we need to have gremlins thrown into the mix or something ;)

Now, here's one of my favorite quotes.

"Every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end" Thank you, Semisonic. It's a line from their song Closing Time.

So with the end of 4LW (sort of), comes a new beginning: my first ever attempt into the Fantasy/Paranormal world. YA, of course, because for whatever reason I can't quite leave teenagerdom behind. Thanks to Michelle McLean for sharing the knowledge of Fantasy, Urban Fantasy & Paranormal genre definitions. It helped me figure out what I was writing, genre-wise anyway.

Grace is the working title of this project and yes, I did start it before now. It's one of those things that has been toying around in my head, throwing out ideas every now and then, making every note I've jotted for a few weeks now only about this world, these characters and their story, but not quite giving me enough to go beyond what I already had down. But I've also made it a point not to completely focus on this while I still had 4LW to finish. Yes, I know, I have writer's A-D-D sometimes. If someone has a cure, I'd love to try it out.

So current status for this week:

Just Maybe - Curing while I work on a query letter

4 Letter Word - 1st Draft complete! Setting aside for a few days to clear my head before I dig back into it

Grace - 9,000 words, basic outline complete

What about you? What have you guys been up to this week?

Recent Reads: The Mortal Instruments Trilogy

I did a full Recent Reads on City of Bones and you can check it out here. But a few days later, when I finished the series, I thought I should have waited and done all 3 together.

Book: City of Bones by Cassandra Clare
Count: 10

As I've already said in my in detail posting .... LOVED it! Clary gets pretty kick-A. Toss her in with some memorable, endearing and beautiful killers and you get demon-hunting fighters who know how to throwdown and kick some ass. And so my infatuation with Jace Wayland begins.




Book: City of Ashes by Cassandra Clare
Count: 11

Ahh, the return of Clary, Jace and their band of merry demon-killing Shadowhunter friends. Throw in a few Downworlders (yanno, werewolves, vampires, warlocks and faeries) and you've got yourself a boat full of trouble!

For the 2nd book in a series, this was great. In many cases, I have found the second or middle books in series tend to move a little slow and be my not-so-faves (i.e. New Moon) but this did not fall onto that shelf!

P.S. Yeah, still completely enthralled with Jace, though I do find Simon very lovable in his own goofy way

Book: City of Glass by Cassandra Clare

Count: 12

The oftenmentioned in the previous books land of Idris and the beautiful City of Glass, Alicante. Homeland of Shadowhunters, Idris is beautiful, Alicante is magnificent. And finally the pieces of the life Clary's mother has hidden from her fall into place.

A fantabulous end to an awesome trilogy. Left me wanting more, yet I think I'd rather imagine what comes next then be told and left with disappointment. Again, if I haven't said it enough about all of these books: There is some awesomeness to be experienced here.

Oh, and by the way, did I mention that I've completely fallen for Jace? ; P