Burn Mark is the first novel in a planned series set in an alternate, present-day London. It’s a world where witches are both feared and revered. They must be registered with the government, tested for the strength of their ‘fae’ and bridled with iron. Unregistered witches are illegal and – sometimes – dangerous. The worst witch crimes (treason, terrorism and first-degree murder) are punished by a government department called The Inquisition by balefires – the burning of a witch at the stake in the centre of London and televised live across the country.

But like any well – or ill – intentioned law, there’s another side to the argument of protecting against witches, and protagonist Gloriana Starling Wilde (Glory for short) was born right into the thick of it. Covens. In Powell’s world, a coven of witches isn’t all pointy black hats and eyes of newt, but families of organised crime who’ll do anything just to survive and keep their fae from the cruel and often corrupt Inquisition. The side-effect is a mafia-type lifestyle of power, deceit and danger set between the upper and lower classes. Glory comes from a long line of powerful witches and can’t wait for her fae to kick in so she can help restore her coven to its rightful place in society.

The second protagonist in Burn Mark is Lucas Stearne, son of Ashton Stearne, Chief Prosecutor of the Inquistional Court. Lucas has his life firmly mapped out in front of him as a Witchfinder for the Inquisition. That is, until the day he unexpectedly turns fae.

Burn Mark skips between both Lucas and Glory’s points of view. Most of the time it’s very clear whose mind the reader is in, but occasionally it can get a little muddled, particularly early in the book. This makes for a couple of confusing paragraphs as we try to figure our way through a fairly large cast of characters. That said, both Glory and Lucas are very different; one from a lower working class family with a history of crime links, the other from a privileged background of private schooling and society parties. The two are great characters – faulty, believable and easy to empathise with. The banter and tension between the two of them is both fun and frustrating as they figure out how to trust each other (and they must) when they were born natural enemies.

The beginning of Burn Mark is a little slow, but well worth persevering. This was mainly due to a heap of information ‘dumping’ on the backstory and world. It was probably the quickest way for the author to get a lot of information to the reader, but it was also a lot to consume. However, once settled in the world and the characters (there’s a lot. Witches and Inquisition, both) Burn Mark becomes a serious slippery slope of conspiracy and betrayal. Powell’s witches and their fae (not magic. Fae) are unique – I’ve not read anything similar before. Their witchwork is inspired by hoodoo and African-American folklore rather than Harry Potter, and actual historical events are worked into the story too… Queen Elizabeth 1 a witch, anyone? I really enjoyed that this was a world where Facebook is still a place to check someone’s relationship status, and refugees and religion divide public opinion just as they do in our world today.

Burn Mark is to be followed by book two in the series: ‘Witch Fire’, due around May this year.

Burn Mark by Laura Powell

Published by Bloomsbury

ISBN – 9 781408 815229

Paperback, 403 pages.

The secrets of the past meet the shock of the present, in a page-turning exploration of human nature and divine intervention—and of the darkest corners of the human soul.

Having heard a great deal of praise from Misty over at The Book Rat regarding this debut novel, I was interested in picking it up, just to see if I found it as original and intriguing as it claimed to be.

Madapple certainly has a unique set-up, structurally. It opens with a flashback that seemingly offers little, but in fact provides many hints as to later plot points (yes, I am proud of myself for recognising them immediately) We then jump straight into the middle of a court proceeding, in which our heroine Aslaug is on trial for a double – possible triple – murder. This court case, relayed via transcripts, features in fragments throughout the narrative proper, and often provides tasty little teasers into the action to come. It’s an incredibly effective device, even if I wonder at how many times a lawyer can possibly object to the ‘relevance’ of an answer!

The central story focuses on 17 year-old Aslaug and her far from typical coming-of-age upon the death of her protective and deeply troubled mother, with whom she spent her childhood living in isolation. As a protagonist, Asluag has an incredibly definitive narrative voice, shaped largely by her unconventional education steeped in botany (each chapter title is a different native plant/flower) religion, mythology and science. The reader immediately empathises with Asluag if for no other reason than her extreme ignorance as to her own past, the wider world and to humankind, and upon her encountering the characters of The Pastor, Sanne and Rune, you know that conflict is sure to arise and revelations are to be made.

From the outset, I had already set up some parallels in my mind between this title and The Little Girl Who Was Too Fond of Matches (check it out!!) and indeed, they did prove to have similar tones and a few matching themes and narrative strands. But I think because I had already experienced plenty of ‘shocking revelations’ in the latter, and in my recent readings of fairy tale retellings, then some of the more horrific elements of Madapple failed to have quite as big an impact as perhaps intended. Some reveals I predicted early on, and so when they eventually made their appearance, I was left feeling a little disheartened with how they measured up to my expectations. That said, there are most definitely aspects of this novel that might prove difficult for some to read about, so just note that there is some darker content touched upon.

Character-wise Madapple has a rare distinction in that I found every single character to be – to some extent – mentally, emotionally and morally unstable, and thus I was often questioning the reliability of Asluag’s narration and the testimonies of others. I am not dismissing this, for in having me second-guess almost everybody it certainly made for a more active association with the material! However, I will say that, despite wanting the best for Aslaug on principle, I ultimately struggled to relate to anybody or find them truly sympathetic – and it also meant that the somewhat ‘happy ending’ left me feeling uneasy, dissatisfied and a tad concerned.

Madapple is both a dense and gripping read, and undoubtedly crosses over into some very interesting territory. I would highly recommend it to anybody seeking a change from the more standard YA fare.

Madapple – Christina Meldrum

Knopf Books for Young Readers

ISBN: 0375851763

May 13th 2008

410 pagesmore details…

I’m a late comer to the Pandora English series by Tara Moss, and since I’m a stickler for reading a series in order and getting the back catalogue read before hitting my review copy, it’s taken me a while to get to The Skeleton Key.

As with the other 2 novels, the cover art is striking and evocative. Each element becoming a little more relevant while reading the book. I’m not usually a huge fan of the colour green, however the use of it on The Skeleton Key is quite pleasing to the eye and not just a little bit creepy. Considering the foe Pandora has to thwart this time around it is incredibly apt.

Pandora is an orphaned 19 year old country bumpkin trying to make her way in the big smoke of New York. Now don’t take this young lady as a simple-minded lass, ’cause she keeps company with some very odd folks, and has taken down some pretty horrendous evil beings in previous books.

This time around Pandora is trying to kibosh the efforts of a strong presence in the mansion she calls home, from sending the world into rack and ruin, starting with Lieutenant Luke.

I enjoyed the positive demeanour of the good people in this series. It was a funk breaker and didn’t fail to put a smile on my face. I’m still tossing up who I like more, great-aunt Celia or Morticia.

Tara is a master of suspenseful writing and there was plenty of breath holding going on in the second half of the book. We find out things about Pandora that make perfect sense, but are still surprises and Jay is back on the scene to add to the budding love triangle.

I hope the series continues to grow and challenge the reader. I want Pandora English to hold her own in saving the world from paranormal events.

However it goes in future, I loved the first 3 books. They’re fun and easy to get through. Perfect for the holidays and those weekends when you just want to unwind.

http://taramoss.com/

Paperback, 286 pages

Published December 1st 2012 by Pan Macmillan Australia

ISBN13: 9781742611631

I cannot recall quite how long ago I saw a few of the pencil mock up’s for this LONG awaited book.

I was blown away by the beauty in just those graphite suggestions, and I’m pretty sure I did a happy dag dance right there on the spot next to Kylie, in public, at a signing. ~I apologise to the people of Carindale~ The thought of one of my favourite local authors being immortalised in a graphic novel was truly something that made me smile from ear to ear.

Though I’d never heard of Queenie Chan at the time, I’d fallen instantly in love with her work. Stepping forward (I’m pretty sure it’s been close to 18 months almost 2 years later) and I’ve now seen her work holding it’s own on Yunyu’s Twisted Tales tour in early 2012; making me want this book to become a reality all the more.

There may or may not have been a shimmering light and a choir of angels heralding the moment I finally sat down and opened Small Shen for the first time in the final days of 2012. Can you tell I was excited?

And the verdict is… Oh my goodness if you don’t own this book get yourself one, and buy one for a friend.

The thing I love probably above most things is it is a combination of well thought out and beautiful graphic novel and genuinely lovely storytelling. How can you not love a great story and pretty pictures of characters you’d only previously seen in your head.

If you haven’t read Kylie’s books it now allows you to make the decision of if you want to start the series where the rest of us did with White Tiger, or getting a jump on us all and starting with Small Shen.

That’s right, it’s a prequel. It leads you from 1720AD up into the opening scenes of White Tiger. We hop backwards and forwards through time and learn delightful details about what makes many of the characters tick.

The flow is a little stilted by the time change, but it works because there is no question of what era you’re in. The characterisation is flawless and is enhanced ten fold by Queenie’s eye for detail.

I had this book done in under a day and it took some serious self control to not take it along with me when hitting the after Christmas sales to read in the queues.

Both Kylie and Queenie are masters of their respective crafts and Harper Voyager must have had a genius day when they allowed the idea to become an actuality.

I’m putting my request in now for a colouring book of Kylie’s characters drawn by Queenie. Even big kids love to grab the crayons every now and again.

So the only question that remains… and Kylie literally gets this at least a hundred times or more at every signing…

When’s the next book coming out?!

http://kyliechan.com/

http://www.queeniechan.com/

Paperback,352 pages

Published December 1st 2012 by HarperCollinsPublishers Australia

ISBN 0732289831 (ISBN13: 9780732289836)

I’ve followed this author over from her adult romance series about a town called Broken Heart, under the pen name Michele Bardsley. She’s gone from making me cackle with her tales of vampirism and parenthood, to blowing me away with her first novel within the Young Adult framework.

Undeadly was on my ‘must have this book or I will raise hell’ list and I was so concerned it wasn’t going to be released in Australia, I made sure I had it on pre order from Book Depository as early as August. Since then I have seen it proudly gracing the shelves in Big W right along side all the other best sellers this year.

So if you haven’t already picked up this magnificent book yet, here’s the down low from good reads.

“ The day I turned 16, my boyfriend-to-be died. I brought him back to life. Then things got a little weird…

Molly Bartolucci wants to blend in, date hottie Rick and keep her zombie-raising abilities on the down-low. Then the god Anubis chooses her to become a reaper—and she accidentally undoes the work of another reaper, Rath. Within days, she’s shipped off to the Nekyia Academy, an elite boarding school that trains the best necromancers in the world. And her personal reaping tutor? Rath.

Life at Nekyia has its plusses. Molly has her own personal ghoul, for one. Rick follows her there out of the blue, for another…except, there’s something a little off about him. When students at the academy start to die and Rath disappears, Molly starts to wonder if anything is as it seems. Only one thing is certain—-Molly’s got an undeadly knack for finding trouble….”

The Reaper Diaries is completely standing on it’s own at the moment in the market as far as I am concerned. We have a few series where the main protagonist is involved with helping souls pass over, however what sets Vail’s book aside is her fresh angle of using Egyptian Mythology. I can’t help but think there are probably a few authors out there smacking their heads right now; after all the Egyptians are one of the earliest civilisations to believe in the afterlife and leave enough evidence to inspire and intrigue us to this day.

If that’s not enough to have to popping out of your chair to bug someone to take to the nearest Big W, let me give you a few of the other elements that have me bouncing for next year’s release of book two, Unchosen.

Language. Molly is what I consider to be a typical (not stereo typical) sixteen year old girl. She speaks like she’s sixteen, as in, she’s okay with her age… not like some of the novels this year where the leading lady has to go to boarding school and tries way too hard to fit in and ultimately ends up sounding like nails down a blackboard in my head. Also the signature draw card of the author, in my opinion, is the humour.

Settings and world building is generously rich, but not so much that you’re wanting the characters to hit the big landmarks. The characters hold the stage and they will not be outshone for anything.

This book really isn’t like anything else I’ve read this year. If you want a fun, summer romp, this is a good one to look out for. It would by far pass the tests of Ma’at. Just sayin’

http://www.michelevail.com/

Paperback, 272 pages

Published November 20th 2012 by Harlequin Teen

ISBN: 0373210469(ISBN13: 9780373210466)