For shame, Madam Librarian. You of all people, should not have been lured in by slick marketing and a cool cover…but, I must admit that I bought into the hype surrounding The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan. The book was getting rave reviews from bloggers, the Amazon book trailer was cool, the blurbs on the back cover were wildly complimentary kudos from authors I like. I was fully prepared to love this book.

I did not.

In its defense, the book has many virtues. The premise–a young woman fights for love and survival in a dystopian future where the human race has been mostly overrun by a plague of zombies–is thrilling. The world in which the heroine Mary lives, a fenced-off compound where technology and societal values are approximately those of the late Middle Ages, is richly imagined and increasingly suffocating as we the audience develop sympathy for the narrators’ tragic losses (family members turned zombie), lack of choices (marriage and babies are critical for survival), and constant worry about the zombies banging against the fences for her flesh. Early in the book, Mary is forced to go to the sisters, a group of women who live in the cathedral, much like the nunneries of medieval times. Mary’s attempts to penetrate the secrets of this all-powerful society are full of suspense and mystique.

Where the author lost me was about midway through the book when Mary and her betrothed Harry, and her best friend Cass and her betrothed Travis (the man Mary actually loved) are forced to make an awful choice. From this point on, Mary becomes obnoxious and unlikable, in part because the book is written in first-person, present tense. I soon got bored with hearing Mary think, and wonder, and suppose on page after page. Had the book been written in 3rd person, the action and dialogue would have spoken for themselves and eliminated the repetitive descriptions of how the narrator was “feeling.” Additionally, the interesting plot thread about the sisters remained undeveloped and left me unsatisfied with the ending.

The Forest of Hands and Teeth is the first of a trilogy (the second book, The Dead Tossed Waves comes out Spring 2010) which somewhat explains the inconclusive ending, but I’m finding this trilogy trend in fantasy novels is giving authors the excuse to write sloppy endings. So no, I didn’t love this book; I thought it could have used a lot more editing and revising. But a lot of people did love this book (see starred reviews by School Library Journal, Publishers’ Weekly, and MTV), so you may not want to take my word for it. If you give it a shot, let me know what you think…am I missing the boat on this one?

It’s been awhile since I’ve been this enraptured by a book, and truly, I love Graceling. Kristin Cashore has opened a rich world of seven kingdoms with “seven thoroughly unpredictable kings.” In these lands where the kings tend toward tyranny over the people, some individuals are graced with special abilities–some are amazing cooks, others can foretell the future, and some, like Katsa, niece of King Randa of the Midlands, are graced with the ability to kill. Like most of the kings, Randa has claimed Katsa’s abilities for his own uses and she finds herself a tool being used to torture and kill the king’s enemies. Katsa worries she is becoming a monster and longs to escape her uncle’s control. With the help of her mentor and her beloved cousin, she is finding ways to thwart the destructiveness of the kings.

On one such mission to stop an evil plan, Katsa meets Po, a graced fighter and prince of the kingdom of Lienid. Po is a worthy adversary for Katsa and friendship blossoms between them as they practice their fighting. When they join forces to attempt a daring rescue of Po’s cousin Princess Bittersblue, new revelations change their relationship and Katsa must confront her feelings and the truth about her abilities…but only after a desperate race for survival through the mountains.

I can’t do this book justice in a brief summary. The characters are richly developed and interesting, the plot addictive, the conclusion satisfying without being too neatly wrapped up. Two more books are planned in the trilogy, one a prequel (Fire, out October 2009) and the other a sequel/companion novel following Princess Bitterblue (Bitterblue, in the works).

In this, the third and final book of the Peaches series, author Jodi Lynn Anderson brings Murphy, Leeda, and Birdie back to the Darlington Orchard for one more summer of exploration, adventure, and romance before bringing their stories to a close. Wild Murphy cut all ties with Bridgewater, Georgia when she moved to New York City after high school, including those with boyfriend and all-around great guy Rex. Deciding to return home for the summer means facing him again and facing some truths about her emotional hangups. Beautiful, perfectionist Leeda has found love with a perfect new boyfriend at Columbia University, and his love gives her an instant identity complete with a circle of new friends. When she returns to Bridgewater and receives a most unusual inheritance from her eccentric grandmother, Leeda may finally have to confront who she is and what she wants. Meanwhile Birdie had planned to stay in Mexico where she has been studying abroad and where she and Enrico have grown even closer…perhaps too close since Birdie shows up at the orchard unexpectedly at the start of the peach picking season. Birdie finds that her father has plans for the orchard and the house that may destroy her dreams. Now Birdie must decide whether she really wants what she thought she wants and figure out how to follow her true heart.

The writing is a little uneven on this installment, but the characters are richer and those who’ve read the first two will enjoy seeing where life is heading for the three girls. A sweet story of love and growing up. If you loved the Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants, you’ll want to grab this series too.

Think you know the story of Alice in Wonderland? Not even close, according to Frank Beddor’s new Looking Glass trilogy. First off, Alice is actually Princess Alyss of Wonderland, whose evil Aunt Redd’s invasion has forced Alyss, the heir to the throne, to flee. With the aid of her trusted bodyguard, Hatter Madigan, she escapes through the Pool of Tears and finds herself in another world, namely, Victorian London. Of course, no one believes her fantastical stories about her kingdom and Alyss can find no way to get back. She finally thinks she has found a friend in the Reverend Charles Dodgson (pen name, Lewis Carroll) and tells him her whole story, but he completely changes the details till it is an unrecognizable children’s fairy tale. Alice feels betrayed and begins to believe it was all a dream.

Meanwhile, Wonderland is falling apart under Redd’s rule, with all of Alyss’s mothers laws thrown out and evil and chaos invited in. A small faction of loyal “Alyssians” fight where they can and wait for the day when they can avenge the princess and return Wonderland to peace and glory once more.

The plot moves rapidly and keeps you hooked the way a well-paced movie does (not surprising since one of the author’s previous day jobs was a movie producer). Like many fantasy movies, the characters are more “>archetypes than fully developed individuals, but their emotions–love, grief, revenge, wonder, lonliness, honor, loyalty–ring true and lend the story a universal feel that all great fantasies need. Seeing Redd is the next book in the series (and you can bet I’ll be starting that tonight) and the third book comes out next fall. There is a companion graphic novel called Hatter M that details the bodyguard Hatter Madigan’s adventures during the thirteen years he searched the human world for the missing Princess Alyss. There is also an extensive companion website to the trilogy, complete with book soundtrack, videos, artwork, video games, and other fan freebies (making the series trend on with the new “transmedia storytelling“). To check out the marketing madness go to: http://www.lookingglasswars.com/.

Have you ever had a dream so powerful you found it hard to wake from? Janie has…in fact Janie does, quite frequently, only the dreams are not her own. Since Janie was 8 years old she has been pulled into the dreams of people who sleep in close proximity to her. She simply falls asleep in the midst of what she is doing and watches the dreams–the secret dreams of the girl at the sleepover, the humilitating dreams of the kid in study hall, the distorted dreams of her alcoholic mother. She sees her best friend’s reoccurring nightmare and the frightening, horror-filled dreams of a strange boy she hardly knows. She fights to gain control and fears this affliction will destroy her life–how can she possibly go to college or have a relationship if she can’t be near people who sleep?

The novel is written in short chapters over time and dated like diary entries, giving the story much drive and suspense. A couple plot elements are a little far-fetched, but the struggles of kids with rough home lives is portrayed sensitively and realistically, as is the touching romance in the story. Overall I enjoyed this quick read, realistic with some sci-fi-ish elements, and I’m super excited for the sequel, Fade which arrives February 10. Lisa McMann is an author with a lot of talent, and I’m looking forward to seeing what she comes up with next.

Here’s a book trailer I stumbled upon for Wake–it takes a different angle on the book than I would have, but it’s interesting none the less.