What's Up Wednesday

I am so thrilled to join What's Up Wednesday for the first time! WUW is a weekly blog hop developed by Jaime Morrow and Erin Funk to help writers connect with each other. If you'd like to join, too, please drop by Jaime's blog to add your post to the list!

What I'm Reading...

Buy it here

I finished Holly Black's The Coldest Girl in Coldtown a few days ago. It was amazing. It was so crazy good that I had to wait before starting something new, because I just wanted to think about how she pulled it off.

In this market, surely people said No One could sell a vampire book right now. And Holly Black just laughed and said, "Watch me. I'll write the best vampire book you've ever read."

Her characters are believable and flawed. They remind you of people you know. And ultimately this isn't a book about vampires; it's about how people react when they're hurt, and the double-edged swords of revenge and mercy.

After a two day grace period, I started Jonathan Maberry's Fire & Ash, the conclusion to the Rot & Ruin Series. I'm enjoying it so far, and I can't wait to see how he pulls it all together.

What I'm Writing...

The WIP went to beta readers this week. I'm excited and nervous for so many reasons. I can't wait to hear the feedback, and I hope that they agree that it's time to send it out into the world. I know that next step is full of highs and lows, but I'm positive that this book is THE ONE. I also can't wait to get all my research in a row and start drafting my next novel. The drafting is my favorite part, so that might be the most exiting horizon in my immediate future.

What Inspires Me Right Now...

Every morning when I take my kids to school, I pass this abandoned neighborhood. It was slated to start before the recession hit, but no homes were ever built there. This little snapshot reminds me everyday of the next WIP, and I'm loving the thought of building my characters' world. I also felt super creepy stopping to take pictures, but I'm afraid that things might turn around, and they may actually start cleaning things up soon.


What Else I've Been Up To...

Well, my old blogging buddies may have noticed a few changes here on the website. I officially made the switch from my Blogger title Unavoidable Awkwardness to my own domain. (www.ladennison.com) I've also been working on my church's website. I'm learning more about the techie side of things little by little, and I'm hoping I'll be able to put this knowledge to good use here and elsewhere on the Interwebs.


Thanks so much for putting this together, Jaime and Erin! I can't wait to catch up with everyone!

Music for today: Here Comes Your Man by the Pixies

Finally, I can post my review of Black Heart by Holly Black! Black Heart will be released on April 3, 2012. The gals at Southern Book Bloggers send ARCs of amazing YA books on reading tours, and I am so grateful that I found them through the magic of Twitter. Check them out here.

Black Heart is the third book in the Curse Workers Series, so it would be impossible to review without giving spoilers for books one and two, White Cat and Red Glove. If you haven’t read White Cat, I insist that you stop reading my blog and go get it right away. I love it that much. If you’ve been waiting for Black Heart for the better part of a year like me, then please read on. I’ll keep the book three spoilers to a minimum.

The summary, adapted from Goodreads:

Cassel Sharpe grew up in a family of con artists, and cheating comes as easily as breathing to him. But he’s trying to be good, even though the girl he loves is inextricably connected with crime. And he’s trying to convince himself that working for the Feds is smart, even though he’s been raised to believe the government is the enemy. When the Feds ask Cassel to do the one thing he said he would never do again, the line between what’s right and what’s wrong becomes increasingly blurred. In a dangerous game and with his life on the line, Cassel may have to make his biggest gamble yet—this time on love.

Holly Black is a genius. (I’m pretty sure I’ve said that before on this blog.) Her world-building sucks you in, and her characters keep you hooked. I think Cassel may be one of my all-time favorite main characters. He’s the classic bad-boy trying to be good, and he doesn’t disappoint in this third installment. But what I love about all the characters,to varying degrees, is that they’re ALL gray.

Barron is both selfish and loyal to his family. Lila is both a daddy’s girl and a hit-woman. Even Sam is both trusty sidekick and jealous boyfriend. With the recurrent theme of navigating what’s wrong and what is right, there is no black and white. Each character has faults and redeeming qualities, and that's what makes them all real.

Great characters alone would make for a compelling read, but Black is also a master of plot. She weaves each element of the plot into the larger mystery, resulting in a perfectly complicated, satisfying conclusion. Cassel’s love story also reaches a boiling point three books in the making, which becomes icing on an already delectable cake. In case you couldn’t tell, I loved Black Heart.

5 out of 5 stars.

Music for today: Oblivion by Grimes

**I'm updating this post because it perfectly answers YA Highway's Road Trip Wednesday question: What was the best book you read in September? I can't wait eat up all the juicy suggestions from fellow readers!

I mentioned last week that I would save the review for White Cat for another time, and here it is!

As I started to sum up the back story for White Cat, my respect for Holly Black only grew. She brilliantly creates a complex world and trusts the reader to 'get' it without having to explain. Genius that she is, Ms. Black just tells the story. Through the characters, the reader learns to navigate the world in which they live. But I digress...

White Cat opens with Cassel Sharpe standing on the roof of his prep school, with no idea how he ended up there. In Cassel's world, curse workers can manipulate other people physically and emotionally with a touch of their hands. Cassel has every reason to think he's been worked; everyone in his family of con artists and gangsters has the ability to curse. Everyone except for him. But being the black sheep of the family is the least of his worries. Cassel is sure he's responsible for the death of his best friend, Lila, daughter of the local mob boss. Cassel has to find out who is working him and why, and how it's all related to the mysterious white cat who won't get out of his dreams.

From the first chapter, I couldn't put White Cat down. Cassel is one of those characters who you wish you could have over for pizza in real life. This story has the perfect balance of a teenager's struggles with family, school, and friends, the intrigue of life in a crime family, and the complexity of an urban fantasy world. Think The Sopranos meets Harry Potter.

I can't say much about the sequel without spoilers, but I loved Red Glove, too. I'm just glad the fall release season is upon us, and I'll have plenty of other series installments to keep me busy until #3.

Music for today: Trojans by Atlas Genius