Short Story Review No. 1 - Giovanni's Farewell

Giovanni's Farewell
Enthralled:  Paranormal Diversions

By:  Claudia Gray
Publisher:  HarperCollins - Sept. 2011
Pages:  464 Softcover (ARC)
Read:  Sept. 2011
Genre:  Fantasy Fiction, Young Adult, Paranormal Romance, Urban Fantasy, Anthologies, Supernatural

Morbid Romantica Challenge 2011

By the Mad Scientist

First Line:  Before I was awake or aware, before my heart began to beat, Cairo was there.

Black Disaster Fairy's Take:

Anthologies do make me a bit weary.  Some short stories are amazing and then lets face it... some are just so lacking after enjoying a pile of books with huge long plot twists and handfuls of characters.  Let me just say that this story was a shocking start to this anthology.  


Ravenna and Cairo are twins who just happen to be extremely close.  They are on a class trip to the wondrous European city of Rome.  Instead of enjoying a bowl of pasta or a Italian soda Cairo has a rather unusual freak out & flips over the hotel mattress.


Huh... 


Being overseas is not the reason for Cairo's unsettling behavior.  This duo is well traveled and they have a unique background that makes me extremely jealous of them.  No worries it also made me love them even more!


The class is being entertained by a tour through one of the famous must see tourist spots, Catacombs of Saint Cecilia, when Ravenna meets a Italian boy, Giovanni. 


Now Italy is romantic but the obvious location of them being in a ancient cemetery I was waiting for something to happen.  I wasn't expecting for Ravenna to figure out she had a unique power. 


I do kind of enjoy it when characters think themselves CRAZY!

I looked up into the dark chambers above us and felt a shiver that had nothing to do with the cold.
 --- Page 15

This is the first time I have read anything by Claudia Gray.  I enjoyed her small side note tidbits that gave the story something extra.


Overall, Giovanni's Farewell was short and cute.  A small inky package that wrapped up nicely.  However, I would love for her to turn this into a series.  The well traveled background of these twins is just the sort of thing I would enjoy!

*Received from BEA 2011.  This in no way has hindered my weird but honest review.*

Book Review No. 6 - Twenty Boy Summer

Twenty Boy Summer

By:  Sarah Ockler
Series:  N/A
Publisher:  Little Brown & Co - June 2009
Pages:  290 eBook  
Rating:  4
Book Cover Rating:  4.5 Simple & fun but it makes you wonder
Read:  July 2010
Genre:  Young Adult, Realistic Fiction, Coming of Age

First Line:  Frankie Perino and I were lucky that day.  Lucky to be alive - that's what everyone said.

Has Been Challenged Multiple Times!!
Recommend by :  Wesley Scroggins



Black Disaster Fairy's Take:

I am notorious for not reading the synopsis before I open a book, or ebook.  However, I must admit I'm extremely happy that I did not know a thing about this book.  I mean how much can that heart on the cover reveal?  The shock, happiness, and sadness that wrapped around me was purely from the words on the paper in front of me.  Ockler also had me recommending this book to others by page 11.  It really did!  


 ~~ Warning, if you are expecting this book to be a fluffy fun beach read you need to stop! Red the synopsis or take my advice.  This book mainly deals with grief.  Don't get me wrong... There are a few wonderful romance scenes that made me crave the smell of salt water and the feel of hot sand under my toes while some summer romance blooms.


The story of secrets starts off with a cute adorable cake fight between Anna and her neighbor Matt.  When they are washing Anna's 15th birthday cake frosting off themselves, Matt kissed Anna.  Let us toss in a twist, Matt happens to be the brother of Frankie, Anna's best friend.  The three of them have been neighbors for years, they formed a tight bond.


BAM!  Now things are different.  Cute perfection does not last long.  This book is surrounded by the loss of Matt.  He died because he had a broken heart, literally a broken heart.  He had a hole in his heart that no one knew about until it was too late.  Frankie and her family are dealing with the loss.  Anna is dealing with her grief on her own, she promised Matt that she would not tell his sister.  however, Matt never had the chance to tell his sister before he past away.

"He's probably wondering why the women in this family are so certifiably nuts."

It is a year later and the loss is still heavy around everyone.  Due to the fact that they are all trying to move on, Frankie's parents decided to invite Anna on their yearly vacation to Cali.  Frankie comes up with a brilliant plan.  After all, Anna needs to loose her virginity, AKA the albatross.  Twenty boys in one summer and she is bound to find the right guy on the Cali beach!  Is there a better place to find a summer romance?  This will be the BEST summer ever!

Book Love <3
Tree Love <3

"As I lick a runaway line of melting cherry chocolate ripple from my hand, I become hyperaware of our surroundings.  The back-and-forth ancient lull of the tide.  The cray of seagulls passing over head.  The smell of salt and fish carried on the warm breeze.  With each step along the old wooden planks of the pier, tiny grains of sand that hitchhiked from the beach below are pulverized under our heels.  Sand that traveled a millions of miles over billions of years across shifting continents and churning oceans, surviving plate tectonics, erosion, and sedimentary deposition is crushed by our new sandals.  The cosmos can be so cruel."

Throughout the summer in Cali the girls film their vacation, sneak out of the beach house, and of course, one of them gets a huge sun burn!  Naturally, there were boys.  Boys, Boys, and more Boys.  Their friendship is tested along with the anxiety of being at the beach house for the first time with out Matt.  Anna is afraid of erasing all of her memories of Matt.  Will she let go of her loss and enjoy the Twenty Boy Summer?

"We could make chocolate chip pancakes."  It's not psychotherapy, but chocolate chip pancakes work for a lot of things.

The book is deep and tender as Ockler touches a deeply taboo subject; death and loss.  I loved thsi debut novel and I cannot wait to read more from her!


BDF highly recommends this book!!  Thanks to Scroggins!