A Study in Charlotte by Brittany Cavallaro

When Jamie Watson is offered a rugby scholarship to Sherringford, he isn't all that jazzed. It's not even like he's that great of a rugby player, it's just a way for him to work out his anger and aggression on the field rather than the alternative. Plus, Sherringford is a whole continent away from his mother and sister, and it's just around the figurative corner from the father he barely speaks to. 

But Sherringford does have one highlight: Charlotte Holmes. As the descendants of the historic best friends and investigators, Jamie feels certain that he and Charlotte are supposed to be friends. But just as he imagines kindling that relationship, the two are thrown together by fate.

A fellow hall mate of Jamie's is murdered in his bed, the scene eerily reminiscent of one of the classic Holmes cases. Unfortunately, Jamie was last seen fighting the boy and Charlotte's final words to him were essentially a promise of murder. Now the two teens find themselves forced to work together in order to clear their names. And as their friendship does inevitably blossom, the killer seems more determined than ever to see the two framed for murder!

A Study in Charlotte is cute and, in my opinion as an ho hum fan of Doyle's work (meaning, I can't be relied on to do an in depth examination of how true Brittany Cavallero has been to the source material), I thought it was very much in the spirit of - and honoring - Doyle's creation.

As characters, I loved Jamie. He has anger issues, abandonment issues, and is more than a little obsessed with Charlotte. It runs in the family apparently - his own father has long followed in classic Watson behavior by studying and obsessing over the Holmeses as well.

On the flip side, something about Charlotte felt a little too forced for me. She's quirky, which I definitely appreciated, and harbors quite a bit of understandable animosity towards her family. Plus, we find out that she does indeed have very good reason to want the dead boy gone. Other aspects of her personality, though, didn't quite mesh for me. In particular where it pertains to how the relationship with Jamie builds.

There were times in the narrative where both characters lost it. Really lost it! With one another. And that happens with friends, certainly, but I think the story needed more fleshing out of their relationship. More scaffolding, so to speak, for a relationship that grows out of necessity and inevitability. And the disruptions felt unprompted (barring one case where we find out it actually is). It didn't feel as though the relationship between the characters was growing as organically as it should have for a smooth story.

Then there's the mystery itself. There were some leaps that went maybe a bit too far. And maybe, while still in that spirit of Doyle's work, would have benefitted from just a bit more couching in present reality. Not the actual whodunit part, but some of the dunits as the book progressed.

This last complaint, though, is almost moot. The killer is following Holmes cases. I did absolutely love the fact that the premise here is that Holmes and Watson were very real. Both Jamie and Charlotte grow up being force fed Watson's tales. There's family history, there's an acceptance that these kids - because of who they are - can and will do things other kids won't. It's a fabulous premise, to be honest.

So I'm a bit of two minds about A Study in Charlotte. I want to love these characters enough to follow their continued story (The Last of August is due out in February). And while I do like them and am curious enough to move onto book 2, I'm not entirely committed to them just yet.

Rating: 3.5/5

Shallow Graves by Kali Wallace

Breezy doesn't remember dying. She doesn't remember being buried either. But she knows she was under ground for a year when the first man she killed dug her up. Since then she's made her way haphazardly across the country, hitchhiking when she can and skateboarding when she can't. And it's ok, because Breezy can see the shadows that haunt killers. Oh, and she apparently can't die. Because Breezy is no longer completely human.

Kali Wallace's debut is fun, y'all! And dark.

The world of Shallow Graves is packed with monsters, human and otherwise. And it's the former who are the big problem. The latter live their lives quietly among us, passing as much as they can for "normal." Witches, ghouls, you name it... well, maybe not unicorns.

And then there's Breezy. Breezy is something else. Something no one can quite explain. And while she can't die, doesn't need to eat, and doesn't even need to breathe, Breezy does need answers.

The story is set roughly two weeks after Breezy wakes. As mentioned above, she knows she's been dead for a year but she has no memory of what happened. Nor does she know why she was dug up, why all the birds died that day, or how the man she killed even knew where to find her.

She knows she can't stay in her hometown. So she travels, aimlessly. And while hitchhiking might present problems for a normal person, Breezy is doubly safe. Not only can she not die by any obvious means (she's tried), but she has the ability to see the human monsters around her. The killers who drive and walk the streets she's traveling.

But Breezy isn't actually as safe as she believes. Apparently in her reality there are people who want to rid the world of its monsters and monsters who would help them in their efforts.

Reading along as Breezy tries to find out what she is and what her purpose might be is fabulous. I loved her as a character - she felt authentic and substantial. The kind of character who comes to life on the page in such a way that you think you could almost recognize them if you were to cross paths with them in the real world.

And there was an added layer to that authenticity for me thanks to the setting. Pieces of the story are set in Boulder, Colorado, and I found myself oddly trying to place the vaguely mentioned people and locations as I was reading. It was almost as though I could run into Breezy and Zeke and Jake strolling down Pearl Street one day and I needed to be prepared!

I know that's an element that most people won't have in their reading. It happens, though, that books are set in real places and readers can recognize those places. It happens seemingly less often for me than you might think - my hometown and college town are both small enough that they lose out to larger Louisiana cities for the most part when settings there are chosen. Here in Colorado it's less odd but still fun when it happens!

Anywho, I quite enjoyed Shallow Graves, if you couldn't tell. It's a great debut and a satisfyingly dark and quirky read!

Rating: 4/5

(Big thanks to Jennifer at Book Den for making me push this one up my reading list!)

A Madness So Discreet by Mindy McGinnis

Happy book birthday to Mindy McGinnis today! Her latest, A Madness So Discreet, is one just about everyone seems to be talking about, and for good reason. McGinnis completely blew readers away with her debut, Not a Drop to Drink. And its follow up, In a Handful of Dust, was an equally powerful read. With the futuristic/dystopian/survivalist thing down pat, she now turns her eye to a mystery set in and around asylums (yes!!!) in the 1800s.

Grace Mae isn't like the other patients at Wayburne Lunatic Asylum of Boston. Her stay will last exactly nine months and once the embarrassment she's afflicted with has passed, she'll be released back to her upper crust family. But Grace doesn't want to go home. Not to the man who put her in Wayburne to begin with. And when an outburst lands her in the Wayburne basement she meets a man who can offer her an alternative. 

Thornhollow recognizes a cleverness in Grace that he knows can be used to his advantage. With a new post in Ohio and the chance to investigate criminals by the crimes they commit, he wants Grace by his side to help. And so he smuggles her out of Wayburne under the guise of having performed an accidental lobotomy - something both Grace and Thornhollow know the director would never want Grace's powerful father to discover. 

For the first time in her life, Grace experiences a freedom she never could have imagined. She has friends, she has a purpose, but she fears for the safety of her sister back home. What's more, Grace begins to feel a strong connection to the victims she and Thornhollow are investigating. Determined that they should be vindicated, she finds herself immersed in unmasking a criminal who pushes her to the very brink.

I did not actually read what A Madness So Discreet was about before diving in - at least nothing past the point of realizing it was set in an insane asylum. I don't know what it is that draws so many of us to this setting (and boarding schools?!) but it's one that lands pretty much anything based around it in my TBR no matter what. 

Course McGinnis would have been there anyway due to the fact that I thoroughly enjoyed both of her previous books.  

Anyway, my point is that I actually didn't know what to expect and found that it made A Madness So Discreet that much more fabulous. 

Grace and Thornhollow are great leads. Grace isn't afraid to defend herself, not after what's happened to her. That simple act, though, is what lands her in further hot water. Because everyone knows a good girl would be docile and just take whatever's given to her, right? To that end, it's easy to get behind her!

Thornhollow is supposed to be a bit odd - going out of his way to avoid society and marriage. I'm not sure if there's more there or not, he was the only thing I felt wasn't fully developed satisfactorily. And maybe that's because I'm looking at it from today's perspective. After all, what's wrong with a man who lives for work and doesn't want to settle down? My guess is that that was just as bad in the 1800s as a woman who spoke her mind or, as is the case with one of Grace's friends, simply gets in her husband's way. 

Beyond the injustices of mental health care in the nineteenth century (of which there is plenty in A Madness So Discreet), there is also a mystery aspect. One of the cases Thornhollow and Grace are investigating turns out to be much larger than originally suspected. Think a bit CSI Victorian style! But there's even more to the tale. Grace also must face down her personal demons. To say anything more would be to say too much, so I'll leave it at that. 

A Madness So Discreet is, quite frankly, fantastic. It hit all the perfect notes for a great read and I can't wait to see what she has up her sleeve next! (I would love to see Thornhollow and Grace investigate more crimes, too!)

Rating: 5/5

Twisted Fate by Norah Olson

I'm already behind on the 2015 DAC challenge! I missed January - I'll catch up but I wanted to be sure that I didn't fall any further behind for February. So here's my first DAC challenge title for 2015, squeezing in just before February ends :)

Allyson and Sydney couldn't be more different. In fact, the Tate sisters are almost polar opposites. So it makes sense that when Graham Copeland moves to the neighborhood, they're reactions to him would be different. Allyson is immediately drawn to him - he's a bit shy and artsy, and she quickly finds herself becoming very close to the boy. Sydney on the other hand is quickly turned off by Graham's quirkiness. For one, he seems to be on something almost all the time. For another, his habit of filming everything, while somewhat intriguing, is also a bit annoying. Plus, Sydney is sure that Graham is hiding something. She's convinced he's bad news for Allyson, but she can't put her finger on exactly why that might be. And she can't seem to get Allyson to stay away from him. 

Right off the bat I should say that I didn't love Twisted Fate, but I didn't dislike it either. I'm in the middle.

I thought the author did an overall decent job of putting together such a clever read but there were parts that I felt were quite underdeveloped. For one, the book is split into multiple viewpoints, offering varying perspectives on the characters and occurrences of the story. But with this formatting I never really got a sense of exactly what was wrong with Graham and I felt like everyone around him was pretty wishy washy where he was concerned. Sydney and Allyson were particularly problematic in this area: the relationship between Allyson and Graham felt very thin and Sydney seemed to spend more time with Graham than not - in direct conflict with her comments about how much she can't stand him.

I also wanted the relationship between Allyson and Sydney to be focused on more than it was. Their interplay was the best part of the story and it could be that in featuring their particular interactions more the author may have been afraid of giving too much away too early. I don't know, I figured it all out fairly quickly so I can't say.

Overall the interactions between all of the characters really could have been beefed up in a way to provide more context and more depth without spilling the beans on Graham's secret or even Allyson and Sydney's story.

I will say this, though, what the author was trying to accomplish is tough and (as I mentioned above) she does do a pretty good job of it overall.

Rating: 3/5

In a Handful of Dust by Mindy McGinnis

Holy crap, Vegas! Soylent Green is people!

If you've read Mindy McGinnis's latest you'll know what I mean (even if you don't get the seventies cultural reference there). This follow up/companion to Not a Drop to Drink was rough! Not bad rough, just hard to read at some points. But what would I expect after Not a Drop to Drink, right?

Lucy is sixteen and she, Lynn, and Stebbs are now part of a small but thriving community. Lucy even has a boyfriend of sorts in her friend's brother, Carter. But when a polio outbreak hits it seems the only traceable connection to the infected is Carter - and Lucy. Lucy's grandmother knows something about the virus but not enough to ensure that either of the teens is or isn't the cause or, if they are carriers, how long the virus will be active. 

Carter is exiled and Lynn decides it's time for her and Lucy to move on as well. They've heard rumors that desalination plants in California have made ocean water drinkable. The lure of limitless water and no more harsh winters sets the two women on a trek that could cost them their lives, but the promise of a future filled with such hope is too much to resist.

Readers, don't make the same mistake I did in reading this one concurrently with Edan Lepucki's California! I've been doing that one on audio so going back and forth between the two stories quickly became unmanageable. Fortunately for me In a Handful of Dust proved to be just as quick of a read as Not a Drop to Drink and I wrapped it up in one Saturday afternoon. 

It is a tough world to be so completely submerged in for that period of time! And I do mean submerged. There were times when I'd come out of the story almost gasping for breath. It was jarring turning the final page and easing back into real life. 

I blame this on the truly treacherous path that McGinnis places her characters on. Some of it is par for the course now in both post-apocalyptic settings and survival stories. Let's face it, two women on the road are going to likely come up against at least some of the same dangers (let's play Adam and Eve, y'all! Ick!). And yet McGinnis does add in some things I've not yet come across (what happens in Vegas...).

In a Handful of Dust is a sequel to Not A Drop to Drink - same world, same characters, further into the future than that story. But you don't have to have read that first installment to dive into this one. I would warn, however, that much of Lynn's character development is left to Not a Drop to Drink. Readers skipping out on that one likely won't feel they know her character very well based on just In a Handful of Dust.

Rating: 5/5

Not a Drop To Drink by Mindy McGinnis

Since the time of the Shortage water has been in scarce supply. Times like these, having your own water source is the difference between life and death. That's why Lynn and her mother will do anything to protect their pond. Lynn's earliest memories have everything to do with protecting their water and land. She was taught to shoot. She was taught to hunt. She was taught to kill. And she was taught that the only other person she could rely on was her mother. But then Lynn's mother dies and the teen is left alone to fend for herself. Winter is coming and there are strangers to the south as well as to the east. This time survival will mean more than just defending what's hers. This time Lynn will have to learn who she can trust.

Mindy McGinnis's debut has been gaining buzz for months but I wasn't able to tackle the book myself until this past weekend. Now I finally see what all the fuss has been about!

McGinnis's debut is part frontier survival and part post-apocalypse dystopian. We only get a bit of Lynn's world through the narrative, mainly because Lynn herself is so closed off and because her mother tells her little to nothing about the Shortage. What we do get, though, is enough to set the scene for a none too pleasant future in which potable water is sold at an extremely high price to those fortunate enough to live within a city's walls and isn't supplied at all to those outside.

Lynn and her mother live in the house her mother grew up in. Their nearest neighbor is seen through binoculars - he keeps to himself and Lynn and her mother keep to themselves. Lynn's mother's tactic for protecting their water is ensuring that no one beyond herself and her daughter comes anywhere close to it. (Lynn's mother is all about efficiency and practicality.) Turns out this is fine until Lynn is on her own.

Not a Drop to Drink is really everything you want in a great book. The characters are rich and real, the story is gripping, and McGinnis's writing is truly excellent. What's more, Not a Drop to Drink falls into the ever growing category of teen reads that's appealing to adults as well. I don't know what's in store next for McGinnis but she's made my must read list for sure!

Rating: 5/5