Review: A Part to Play

Title: A Part to Play

Series:  N/A

Author: Jennifer L. Fry

Publisher: Rogue Phoenix Press

Published: August 10, 2012 

Genre: Young Adult

Format: Kindle

Pages: 261

Source: Received from author

Read: February 27-March 3, 2013

In A Few Words: Intriguing at first, but then loses momentum
My Rating: 3 Stars

Goodreads: Add To Your TBR Shelf

Synopsis:

When fifteen-year-old actress Lucy Carter loses her older sister in a car accident, her mother shuts down and her father can’t hold the family together. Their only choice is to ship Lucy off to the Edmond School for Performing Arts. But boarding school is no cure for Lucy’s grief. With failing grades, wooden stage performances, and curfew violations, Lucy is threatened with expulsion. For the once talented Lucy, it feels as though she has nowhere to turn.

One night, Lucy hears mysterious music drifting through the school’s old heating system. The music leads her to a troubled but passionate songwriter whose brilliance gives her the strength to perform like never before. Yet their intense relationship puts Lucy in a precarious position: if she follows her muse, will she lose herself? And if she breaks it off, can she stand on her own again?

Melissa's Musings:

This story started out a bit stiff, though the opening paragraph, comparing a storm to Lucy's mood was enough to draw me in. 

I did feel that the backstory was somewhat lacking. There are only brief snippets of explanation of Kate's accident and then Lucy ends up shuttled off by her parents to a music/drama boaridng school. I felt that there could have been a little more buildup here, maybe in the form of more flashbacks to life before the accident and right after, that would have helped to build the setup for her parents sending her away, that would have helped facilitate the transition. Without it, it just seems harsh and stilted, and the end doesn't seem quite as well rounded in terms of Lucy's relationship with her parents as it could have been.

In the beginning, Lucy's character is almost completely unfeeling. That in itself is fine, given the situation, but I was surprised with the fact that there was no real challenge to her behavior from her teacher's or her friends, until she gets in major trouble for sneaking out. 

While Isa's lack of pressure was concerning to the overall story, her easygoing nature was one of the things I loved about her the most. That and her semi-rebellious nature and her fiesty attitude. Isa's character had an edge to her that's quite likeable.  

I actually felt more connected to the secondary characters in the story than I did to Lucy. The secondary characters felt more fleshed out, and seemed to have more of a consistency to them. After a while Lucy's character just seemed to be inconsistent. She felt like she was running hot and cold. One second she was pissed off about her situation and angry at her parents, and the next she was thrown in to her romance with Chris and everything else became secondary to her including her friends. That bothered me because for someone who feels like they've been abandoned you'd think that she would understand and not put so much of her time into a relationship with a guy. And she does try to balance her friends and Chris, I will give Lucy that.

Chris makes things very difficult for her with his personality. As I was reading I became more and more put off by him. I found myself saying things like "what an asshole". while reading, that's how negative his character is. He has mood swings that to me bordered on being bipolar and a very controlling nature.  He started out all nice and sweet and things get progressively darker from there. I won't give away what happens between them, but lets just say there's a nice bit of growth on the part of one of the characters.

As for the story itself, I have to admit it was a lot more interesting in the beginning when Chris's character was a mystery man, possibly a ghost seranading Lucy with his music at night. I really liked the story up until the point of his introduction, but once Chris's character comes in, the story loses some of its' momentum, and it seems to become more about the trials and tribulations of dating than about Lucy coming to terms with her own demons and making her peace, which is what I felt was really at the heart of the story. The ending feels rushed and too wrapped up, which I feel conflicted about.

The reason I feel conflicted about the ending is because the author gives us a glimpse of Lucy's life after the end of her sophmore year. Most of the time, I love when an author gives us tiny glimpses like this. But in this case, it just doesn't feel right. It feels like it's wrapped up a little too neatly with the perfect happy ending. Especially the situation with Lucy's mom. They go from not talking at all, to one or two phone calls, to her being at Lucy's play, showering her with compliments. It felt like Lucy's mom got off too easily, the resolution wasn't quite as significant as it could have been.

Overall, this is a well thought out story, and the twist of having Lucy be sent away after the death of her sister is certainly a unique one in the subset of books that deal with family tragedy.

Demonglass by Rachel Hawkins

Title: Demonglass (Hex Hall #2)

Author: Rachel Hawkins

Publisher: Hyperion Book CH

Published: March 22 2011

Format: Hardcover

Pages: 359

Source: Library

Read: September 15-16 2012

In A Few Words: 

My Rating: 5 Stars

Goodreads: Add this to your TBR shelf

Goodreads Synopsis:

Sophie Mercer thought she was a witch.

That was the whole reason she was sent to Hex Hall, a reform school for delinquent Prodigium (aka witches, shapeshifters, and fairies). But that was before she discovered the family secret, and that her hot crush, Archer Cross, is an agent for The Eye, a group bent on wiping Prodigium off the face of the earth.

Turns out, Sophie’s a demon, one of only two in the world—the other being her father. What’s worse, she has powers that threaten the lives of everyone she loves. Which is precisely why Sophie decides she must go to London for the Removal, a dangerous procedure that will destroy her powers.

But once Sophie arrives she makes a shocking discovery. Her new friends? They’re demons too. Meaning someone is raising them in secret with creepy plans to use their powers, and probably not for good. Meanwhile, The Eye is set on hunting Sophie down, and they’re using Archer to do it. But it’s not like she has feelings for him anymore. Does she?

Melissa's Musings:

A few days ago, I posted my review of Hex Hall. Let me just say that Demonglass is just as good. I was so involved in the story that I didn't quite see all the twists and turns that come up in this book, so I was nicely surprised there.

There is a love triangle, but to be honest I really kind of enjoy this one. I know that I've said in the past that some love triangles are horrible, but this one is really well done. The dynamics that Sophie has with each of the guys are really different, so they're easy to differentiate, and she really has different feelings for each one. It's kind of a forced love triangle in a way since Cal is betrothed to her, but it still works well. I feel for Cal, he's so nice and it's clear that he cares for her a lot, so it's a shame that she doesn't feel the same way. Although judging by some actions toward the end of the book this may change, it'll be interesting to see what happens between them in the next book.

There's a lot of action in this book, and a lot more magic and spells. A lot more dark magic, of course, now that Sophie knows she's a demon. There's cool teleportation, Sophie's bound to a ghost, people are trying to kill her, it really is jam packed. But, the laugh out loud humor is still there, which is awesome. I loved it in the last book and I loved it in this one too.

The progression of the relationship between Sophie and her father is really great to watch too. At first, she's unsure, and doesn't trust him. I wouldn't either, if he'd been gone from my life for 17 years. But then as she starts to trust him a little more, she grows to care for him. It's clear that she wants to make him proud, and that she recognizes that he has a lot that he can teach her. 

The story leaves you wanting so much more. I don't want to put in any spoilers but let me just say that I'm so disappointed that my library doesn't have the third book, I'll have to get it ASAP so that I can find out what happens.

Hex Hall by Rachel Hawkins: One of my new favorites

Title: Hex Hall (Hex Hall #1)

Author: Rachael Hawkins 

Publisher:  Hyperion Book CH

Published: March 2, 2010

Format: Hardcover

Pages: 336

Source: Library

Read: September 1-2 2012

In A Few Words: Laugh Out Loud Funny

My Rating: 5 Stars

Goodreads: Add This to your TBR Shelf

Goodreads Synopsis:

Three years ago, Sophie Mercer discovered that she was a witch. It's gotten her into a few scrapes. Her non-gifted mother has been as supportive as possible, consulting Sophie's estranged father--an elusive European warlock--only when necessary. But when Sophie attracts too much human attention for a prom-night spell gone horribly wrong, it's her dad who decides her punishment: exile to Hex Hall, an isolated reform school for wayward Prodigium, a.k.a. witches, faeries, and shapeshifters.
By the end of her first day among fellow freak-teens, Sophie has quite a scorecard: three powerful enemies who look like supermodels, a futile crush on a gorgeous warlock, a creepy tagalong ghost, and a new roommate who happens to be the most hated person and only vampire student on campus. Worse, Sophie soon learns that a mysterious predator has been attacking students, and her only friend is the number-one suspect.

As a series of blood-curdling mysteries starts to converge, Sophie prepares for the biggest threat of all: an ancient secret society determined to destroy all Prodigium, especially her

Melissa's Musings:

Let me start out by saying I absolutely LOVED this book! I have a soft spot for books about witches as it is,  but I enjoyed Hex Hall for more than the fact that I love books about witches.

The writing is very easygoing, and the dialogue is, lets say true to the characters. It flows easily. Most of the characters in this book are teenagers, and they talk like they're teenagers. In some books this can get annoying, but not here. I think the easiness of the dialogue is one of the reasons I was able to fall in love with Sophie so quickly. She's just easy to relate to, and real.

One of the interesting things about this book is that it starts out with Sophie having already been a witch for three years. A lot of books about witches start out before, or right as the witches come into their powers, so that readers can see them grow into the powers and test them out. It was surprising that this story started out with  Sophie already having been a witch for so long. I have to say I was curious about the background and the past three years of her having her powers. Some of these events are mentioned, but there isn't a whole lot of detail. I'm hoping the first three years of her having powers is explored a little further in the coming books in the series.

Another thing that I love about this book is that it's hilarious! There were moments that had me laughing out loud, to the point where my sister asked me what was so funny. I made sure to note one of my favorite quotes that had me laughing. Of course it'd  be funnier in context if you read this book, but it stands well by itself too.

In this scene, Sophie is trying to create a dress for the upcoming All Hallow's eve ball, and she's not having much success.

I opened my eyes to stare at a bright blue tulle monstrosity with a skirt that would hit me at mid thigh. I'd look like the really slutty bride of Cookie Monster. (pg. 233)

Just the thought of a bride of Cookie Monster has me smiling as I'm typing this, so the thought of a slutty one at that is even more funny.

The names in the story are unique as well. Sophie is a common name, but then there you have characters with names like Chaston and Elodie, and those are a bit more unique. Plus the name of the school is Hecate Hall, which is cool in and of itself, since Hecate was the goddess of magic, witchcraft, the night, moon, ghosts and necromancy. Fitting name for a school of supernatural students.

Since I've read a lot of books with witches in them, I did find it a little strange that when Chaston, Elodie and Anna are trying to convince Sophie to join their coven, they keep saying that they need a 4th to make them stronger. Usually, the symbol of the pentagram is important in books about witchcraft, so I associate 5, not 4, as being a number of strength.

And, one of the best things about this is that there's a Harry Potter reference in this book! I won't spoil it for anyone who wants to read it, but books with HP references always make me smile.

I'd recommend this to anyone looking to start a new series about witches, or anyone looking for a fun read.

This was an awesome book and I can't wait to read the other two in the series! Have you read it? What did  you think?