Uninvited by Amanda Marrone

Uninvited by Amanda Marrone (2007) isn't your typical teen vampire romance. I wouldn't even say there's much romance at all in this book.

Instead, heroine Jordan is a teenager with a lot of issues, including alcohol and drug problems, very low self-esteem, and being seemingly unable to say no to random sex. Those issues might be a little too neatly tied to having an uninvolved father living in another state and a mother more interested in her new husband than parenting.

And she's being haunted by her ex-boyfriend, Michael, who turned into a vampire after she dumped him. He comes to her house every night, asking to be invited into her room, promising eternal love. She abandons her attendance at parties to sit at home, drinking alone every night, waiting for him to arrive.

And, yes, Jordan's intelligent enough to find something a bit "off" about Michael's interest in her. And, frankly, why Michael decides to pursue Jordan so aggressively isn't ever made clear.

Jordan's struggle to keep herself and those around her safe from Michael leads her to an epiphany of sorts about her self-destructive behavior while reconnecting her with a friend and a boy she cares about.

Again, the ending is a little neat for my taste. If you like a story about a young woman coming into her own and making positive changes in her life, though, this might be the story for you.

You can learn more at the author site here.

My overall personal rating of Uninvited is a C+.

The Time of the Uprooted by Elie Wiesel, translated by David Hapgood

I often feel like I'm not intelligent to understand what's happening with an Elie Wiesel novel, and The Time of the Uprooted (2005) is no exception. I spent most of the novel feeling lost and wondering where the story was headed, and then I realized that's probably one of the goals, considering the main character is a Holocaust survivor and refugee who hasn't ever found a place for himself.

There are various stories happening at once, interspersed in the book, with enough slips back-and-forth to keep the reader busy trying to keep everything straight. We have (1) Gamaliel's current life in the United States as an older man coming to the end of his days, (2) Gamaliel's Holocaust experience, when he was a young Czech boy left with a Christian cabaret singer, Ilonka, in Hungary, (3) Gamaliel's work as a ghostwriter, (4) the important women in his past, and (5) excerpts from the Book of Secrets that Gamaliel's writing for himself. There are also, in the present time/story one, Gamaliel's good friends, all refugees themselves, and a dying Hungarian woman who may or may not be Ilonka, and the lovely physician taking care of her.

This is a dark, depressing book--right up until the end, which provides such a hopeful, bright departure from the rest of the book that I kept thinking the true end of the book must be missing. No, just another surprise to keep me wondering, I guess, and hoping that maybe, after a long life of loss and displacement, Gamaliel might have found his path--though I worry that he can't escape his past/himself and start over in a way that the ending seems to be hinting at happening.

Since Wiesel's style of writing is just as important as the stories he tells, here's an excerpt from p.100-101:

Right now, it is Ilonka, of all the women who have been part of his life, whom he recalls with the greatest emotion. He recalls her warmth, her voice: Ilonka the devout Christian, faithful friend to his parents, protector of their son. Sometimes in the unfathomable depths of memory, her features dissolve into those of the most tender and sweetest woman in the world, his mother. But what about Colette? And Esther, whose name means "secret"? And Eve, whose voice both concealed and revealed her volcanic temper? Esther, whom he loved forever. Eve, his first true love, who brought together a man and a woman who needed each other to complete their lives. Why had he not urgently proposed marriage to the first? Why had he waited till it was too late with the second? They live on, in a sense, strangely joined in his thoughts. They are always there--sometimes very near, at other times far away--in the mists of nostalgia. How to explain their hold on him? His sense of guilt? But where does love come in? Is love for him anywhere but in the past? "I refuse," said Eve, shaking her head. "I refuse to bottle love up in the past when by its very nature it must transcend the past. My little family was happy because we loved one another. Time did not affect our love, and if you don't understand that, I'm sorry for you. If you don't understand that we--my husband, our daughter, and I--went on loving one another after death, it's because you've never truly loved."

Was she right? Gamaliel answers his own question: No, she wasn't. He did love Eve, yes, with a love that was total; and he loves her still, to the point that it feels like an open wound. But then why did they part?

My overall personal rating of The Time of the Uprooted is a B+. (I still say to go with The Fifth Son if you want to read something by Wiesel.)

Passion Unleashed by Larissa Ione

Passion Unleashed (2009) is the third book in Larissa Ione's The Demonica Series. If you like paranormal romance, Alpha males, some mystery/intrigue along with your romance, and hot sex scenes, give Ione's series a try if you haven't already. And, fortunately, although there is definitely a connection between all of the books (the heroes are brothers--same father, different mothers), you can read each entry as a stand-alone without being lost.

In Passion Unleashed, Wraith, who is part-demon and part-vampire (yum!), needs to obtain a charm from Serena Kelley, archaeologist and immortal as long as she maintains her virginity and, consequently, the charm in question. He needs to get the charm in order to defeat a poison given to him by an assassin sent by his dead brother (though I personally don't think he's actually dead and would love a future book featuring his redemption).

Not too surprisingly, what starts as a scheme to impersonate a bodyguard for Serena in order to seduce her, get the charm, and, essentially, cause her death, turns into so much more when Wraith realizes he actually likes this woman. Add the complication that not getting the charm means death for his brothers, featured in the two earlier books/great guys/men with families/saved Wraith from himself, in addition to himself, and what will Wraith decide to do? And what will happen to Serena?

Oh, and throw into the mix someone out to get Serena that she doesn't even know about, a Seriously Evil Creature hoping to take over the world, and the fact that Wraith has to turn to vampires for assistance when, although half-vampire, he's actually a vampire assassin, and you get the idea of how much Ione packs into each book in this series.

Learn more at the author's site here.

My overall personal rating of Passion Unleashed is a B+.

Saving Zoe by Alyson Noel

Saving Zoe by Alyson Noel (2007) is the story of Echo, a teenager living through the normal teenage changes--adjusting to high school, moving somewhat away from her two long-term best friends, having a first boyfriend--while also dealing with the fact that her older sister is dead.

Then Marc, Zoe's boyfriend and once the primary suspect in her murder, gives Echo the best kind of present, the diary that Zoe left, meant to be temporarily, with him the day she died.

As Echo reads Zoe's diary in short snippets (oh, the restraint I wouldn't ever have!), she learns not only about Zoe--and about herself, but also information that she can use to become a stronger person, one able to help stop other girls from going through at least one of Zoe's worst experiences.

I liked the fact that Echo and Zoe, as shown through her diary entries, aren't nearly as different as Echo imagines, either.

My one concern was the relationship that develops between Echo and Marc, yet Noel manages to handle that in a way that actually enhances the story and makes sense in the long-term.

I think the saving of Zoe from the title refers to Echo having the chance to get to know Zoe and what her life was really like, thanks to Marc sharing Zoe's diary. And what better memorial than to have your younger sister keep the true picture of you, flaws and all, in her heart always?

My overall personal rating of Saving Zoe is a B+.

Handcuffs by Bethany Griffin

[Full disclosure: I won a copy of Handcuffs by Bethany Griffin (2009) from Free Book Friday Teens! Along with the main site, Free Book Friday, a lot of great books have gotten into the hands of readers at no charge, thanks to founder Jessica Brody and the generosity of authors. Check out the sites, and know that my review is in no way influenced by having won an autographed copy of the book.]

Parker Prescott is the quiet middle child with a "perfect" older sister and a younger brother with ADHD. There's a lot happening in Parker's world, as we learn in this first-person story, including the unfolding details of her not-so-perfect sister's problems, serious family financial issues related to Dad's earlier job loss, a girl from school who is blogging very unkind things about Parker, a little blackmail, and a new relationship with a boy--a very complicated boy who brings her to the attention of everyone in school just by his own coolness.

A lot is not as it seems, and we learn more about reality and the complexity of real life right along with Parker.

One touch that I absolutely loved is that the boy in question always remains nameless throughout the book, even as the story of their relationship unfolds in flashbacks, slowly and with the perfect details revealed at the perfect times. Every other character has a name that we know, but not him. I think that sets him apart in a special, almost mythical way.

Just as Parker seems slightly unsure, right through until the end of the book, about her relationship with this boy--is he a jerk, a dream come true, her boyfriend, not her boyfriend--I felt the same way as a reader. Talk about flashbacks to being young and dating! [I think a conversation with her friend near the end of the book indicates that Parker actually does have a grasp of who he is in relation to her by that point, but I don't want to give anything specific away.]

And, regardless of what happens with him, we know Parker will be fine because she's strong, smart, loyal, and her own person. I loved this character!!

I'm definitely adding Handcuffs to my list of favorite books read in 2009.

And, yes, there's a scene involving handcuffs, Parker's father's den, and the unexpectedly early return of Parker's parents. . . .

Check out the author site here.

My overall personal rating of Handcuffs is an A-.

Day after Night: A Novel by Anita Diamant

I absolutely, positively 100% hated The Red Tent by Anita Diamant. Good thing I downloaded Day after Night: A Novel (2009) to my Kindle before registering that Diamant is the author because I would have missed a very interesting read.

Always interested in well-told stories, fiction and nonfiction, about the Holocaust/Shoah, I see a gap now in my personal reading and learning. Although I knew survivors made their way to then-Palestine after World War II, I never really gave much thought to the actual experience.

Along comes this gem from Diamant about four very different women, explored in detail in alternating chapters, who made their way to Palestine, only to find themselves in a "refugee holding camp," Atlit, the British have established.

Trust me when I say that the Americans would hardly have done better if in charge at the time, but I was still horrified to read that the camp was separated from the rest of the world by barbed wire and armed guards. Talk about surviving hell only to wonder if you've returned there once again in what you thought was the Promised Land. And, yes, Atlit was a real place.

Everything involving refugees and legal immigration is always so political, though, and certainly never fair, including down to the present day in the United States. If you're from the "right" country, getting into the United States legally isn't so very difficult; if you're from, say, Mexico, your chances of entering this country legally are almost zero.

To read about the politics related to the Holocaust survivors, while sad, fits that pattern perfectly.

After three months in Atlit, October 1945 brings a rescue attempt, also a true historical event. And then what happens to these women the reader has come to know and appreciate?

If you have an interest in the Holocaust or stories about completely starting your life over again, I think the women in Day after Night will stay with you.

Learn more at Diamant's site here.

My overall personal rating of Day after Night is a B+.

More on Blog Changes

Thanks to everyone who commented on the previous post requesting your input about blog changes. I'm so glad I asked!

My plan is to limit putting excerpts of books in my blog reviews. If I think the writing style is especially pertinent, or if I particularly like/appreciate a passage, then I'll share. Otherwise, I'll stick to more on my opinions, thoughts, and feelings.