The Red Deaths by Casey Eanes with Seth Ervin | Book Review

You might not believe this, but I read all 400-some pages of The Red Deaths in one day.  I got sucked into the world of Candor on a Snow Day and didn't re-emerge until nearly dinnertime.  Isn't that just the best way to read fantasy?  Let the world be built around you and enjoy the story while you're there without having to reacclimate yourself?  I thoroughly enjoyed my time in Candor and am looking forward to potential sequels!

(Note to the authors:  there really better be sequels.  That ending left me wanting more!)

The Red Deaths follows three young people:  Kull, Willyn, and Seam.  All three are on the brink of adulthood as their world heads toward war.  Rulers of the various Realms of Candor are dying.  Blame is being tossed around, and Realms are preparing to go to war over their rulers' deaths.  Panic, confusion, anger... all leading to war. Some things don't change whether you're a resident of Candor or a resident of Earth.

The strengths of The Red Deaths lie in character development and attention to detail.  By the end of the book, I really felt like I knew Kull, Willyn, and Seam, along with many secondary characters.  The reader gets to know all their strengths and weaknesses; their hopes and fears.  And you might just be surprised at who you end up rooting for!

The attention to detail from the authors also pleasantly surprised me.  Knowing one of the authors, I really shouldn't have been surprised, but I still was.  This is a self-published book, but you might not know it at first glance.  The writing never fell flat; there were nearly no typographical or grammatical errors; and the writing style is smooth and consistent without.  I don't know if Casey & Seth each took turns writing chapters, or if they worked together on the entirety.  You never encounter too-abrupt shifts in writing style that would indicated a change in author.  I was definitely impressed.  

The only thing is that I wanted just a little bit more world-building.  But then, I suppose, I wouldn't necessary want a 700-page book!  I'm ok with sacrificing a bit of scenic description in favor of such well-rounded characters.  And the way The Red Deaths ended leaves me hopeful for future installments, in which we may get to "see" more of the world of Candor.

I could definitely see myself recommending The Red Deaths to others.

**SPECIAL**

TOMORROW I will be hosting Seth & Casey for a When I'm Not Writing post!  Check back then to find out what the guys are up to when they're not "in" Candor!

*I borrowed a copy of The Red Deaths from Seth.  Thank you!  But I highly recommend buying.  For now at least, if you buy a physical copy you get an ecopy for free!

Pop Sugar Reading Challenge Update!

Here are the titles I've added in the past week (look for reviews soon!):

Dorothy Must Die by Danielle Paige is a book that a friend recommended.

The Red Deaths by Casey Eanes with Seth Ervin is a book that I can finish in a day.  (Because it was a Snow Day!)

Previously:

Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand is a book that became a movie.

How (Not) to Fall in Love by Lisa Brown Roberts is a book published this year.

Perfect Puppy in 7 Days: How to Start Your Puppy Off Right by Sophia Yin is a book with a number in the title.

The Complete Peanuts, Vol. 22: 1993-1994 by Charles M. Schulz is a book with nonhuman characters.

CraftFail: When Homemade Goes Horribly Wrong by Heather Mann is a funny book.

Where She Went by Gayle Forman is a book with a female author.

Ink by Amanda Sun is a book with a one-word title.

Mint Juleps With Teddy Roosevelt by Mark Will-Weber is a nonfiction book.

Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas is a popular author's first book.

Don't Give Up, Don't Give In: Lessons From an Extraordinary Life by Louis Zamperini is a memoir.

Loop by Karen Akins is a book set in the future.

Vanishing Girls by Lauren Oliver is a book set in high school.

The Naturals by Jennifer Lynn Barnes is a book by an author I've never read before.

The Maker Movement Manifesto: Rules for Innovation in the New World of Crafters, Hackers, and Tinkerers by Mark Hatch is a book written by an author with my same initials.

And I'm currently reading The Haunting of Maddy Clare, which is going to be either a mystery/thriller or a book that scares me (it's got a ghost in it; but I'm not scared yet) and Inheritance (yes, STILL; it's loooong, and I've got it on CD for my commute), which is a book written by someone under 30.

I hope everyone has a fantastic weekend!

CraftFail: When Homemade Goes Horribly Wrong by Heather Mann | Book Review

I'm giving CraftFail three of five stars.  Yes, I literally laughed out loud at parts of it.  And yes, I recommended it to a few people.  But I think I've gotten spoiled by the Pintester blog.  I just wanted a little more "meat" to this book.

And Heather does have a great blog by the same name that gives that meat.  I checked CraftFail out of my public library, and enjoyed it alright, but I couldn't imagine spending money on it.  The whole book is a series of pairs of photographs: first, the picture from the internet, then the picture of the real-world results.  And oh, how I sympathized with the poor creators of the failed crafts & baked goods!  I myself have been the victim of a craft that turns out nothing like the picture from Pinterest.

So, not a bad book at all.  Made me laugh out loud.  But left me wanting just a little more.

*I checked out my copy of CraftFail from my local library.

Deviate by Tracy Clark | Book Review

(I like this cover better than the cover of Scintillate.  I'm not even going to gripe that they don't "match.")

Today I'm over at Tynga's Reviews, talking about why I liked Deviate- especially how this book doesn't seem to suffer from middle-book-of-a-trilogy syndrome.  In fact, I may even go so far as to say I liked Deviate more than Scintillate!

*I received an advanced copy of Deviate from the publisher in exchange for my fair and honest review.  Thank you!

Dorothy Must Die by Danielle Paige | Book Review

I enjoyed Dorothy Must Die so much that I'm struggling to pull my thoughts together for a coherent review!

Dorothy Must Die is the story of Amy, the other girl from Kansas.  Like Dorothy many years before, Amy is swept up in a tornado and deposited in Oz.  However, she finds a much, much, much different Oz than Dorothy did.  Dorothy is now in charge, and the Munchkins are enslaved.  Glinda is an evil overseer of the Munchkin slave miners; the Tin Man is in charge of the army, and often mutilates Munchkins into half-tin/half-human war machines; the Lion roams the countryside, pillaging villages and spreading chaos; and the wicked witches are now good.  Many people in Oz believe that Amy was brought to them for a reason:  to take down Dorothy once and for all, and return Ozma (the rightful ruler) to the throne, thus granting peace and freedom to all citizens.  Can she do it?

A LOT happens in this book!  I was hooked right from the first chapter, when Amy gets punched in the face by a pregnant teen.  I was cheering for Amy immediately when she still managed to get in a snarky insult to the soon-to-be-teen mom before getting hauled to the principal's office.  She is a FIGHTER.  And I love how her strength continues to shine through in all situations throughout the book.  There's a scene much later on where she gets pushed a bit by a witch and a boy trained in magic... and she fights back.  An Ozian witch!  And a boy who has trained nearly his whole life in magic!  And she's only been training for a few days!  But when pushed, she pushes back.  No doormat here!

Lest you think that Amy is a too-tough unlikeable character, the author also shows us Amy's softer side.  She never, ever lets any of the big, tough guy characters pick on those less strong.  She repeatedly fights on behalf of the underdog, even if it means taking a big risk to her personal safety.  

As the title states, Dorothy must die in order to free Oz, and that's Amy's objective right from the start.  But there are so many twists and turns along the way!  I  was so impressed by the author's attention to detail.  There were no loose ends or unexplained events.  And yet the book never came across as preachy or dry.  Most often, other characters would explain things to Amy, and that's how the reader learns too.  Pretty early on in the story, the author makes a move with a Munchkin that showed that anything goes.  The reader has no reassurances of anything.  This really kept me on my toes!  I was super fortunate to have a Snow Day while reading Dorothy Must Die so that work didn't get in the way of reading it through to the end!

Now, the ending.  If you've read this book, feel free to leave a comment below.  Is anyone else super upset by that ending?!?  And the sequel isn't out yet!  I want to recommend this book to everyone.  A great suspenseful Wizard of Oz reimagining with super characters.  I'm going to have so much trouble waiting for The Wicked Will Rise!

*I checked out my copy of Dorothy Must Die from my local public library.

When I'm Not Writing With Tracy Clark

Today I'm over at Tynga's Reviews, hosting Tracy Clark for a "When I'm Not Writing" post.  Click on over to find out what she's up to when she's not writing.

Tracy is the author of Scintillate and Deviate.  Clicking on the book covers below will take you to my reviews of these unique and interesting books.  (Book review of Deviate will be posted this Thursday, 3/5/15.)

Sheet Pan Suppers: 120 Recipes for Simple, Surprising, Hands-Off Meals Straight From the Oven: *Plus Breakfasts. Desserts. And Snacks, too! by Molly Gilbert | Cookbook Review

I love, love, love one-pot meals, Crock-Pot meals, stews, etc... anything that cooks in the bare minimum amount of pans!  Less dishes=happy Marie.

This cookbook delivers on it's title.  It's chock full of recipes that are all cooked on a single sheet pan.  And they're nearly all photographed!  In color!  Ya'll know how I like that.

While I didn't actually pick out any supper recipes to try, I did read through most of them.  There are no super-long ingredients lists with hard-to-find items.  All of the recipes call for ingredients that you might already have around your house!  And since the name of the game is expediency and minimum dishes, most of the recipes require very little prep before you toss everything on the pan to roast.  As the author explains in the introduction, this cookbook came about because she loves to entertain and feed folks, but she doesn't want to be trapped in the kitchen.  All of these recipes will allow you to hang out with your dinner guests instead of hovering over a hot stove.

My only (little) gripe with the book is a purely personal one:  all of the breakfast and dessert recipes are scaled to feed 10 or more!  I'm going to attempt to half a dessert recipe... and I'll still end up with dessert for 5!  But I think it'll freeze well.

I did attempt the Bacon & Biscuits recipe.  How could I turn down BACON?  In a nutshell, you end up cooking bacon (yes, in the oven) and biscuits on the same pan.  So you get all that bacony goodness on the bottoms of the biscuits.  I'm pleased to report that the biscuits do NOT come out overly greasy at all, and are very, very delicious.  I went ahead and made the full batch of 8 biscuits, but then I assembled nearly all of them into individually wrapped biscuit-bacon sandwiches and froze them.  They reheat very well!

Well illustrated, clear instructions, common sense ingredients lists, and low-fuss meals.  I give this cookbook two thumbs up!

*I checked out my copy of Sheet Pan Suppers from my local library.