Review: Blood and Flowers by Penny Blubaugh

Blood and Flowers

Author: Penny Blubaugh

Publisher: HarperTeen

Series: N/A

Pages: 352

Genre: Fantasy

Release Date: March 1, 2011

How Received: Star Book Tours

Summary: Three years ago, Persia ran away from her drug-addict parents and found a home with the Outlaws, an underground theater troupe. With time, this motley band of mortals and fey, puppeteers and actors, becomes the loving family Persia never had, and soon Persia not only discovers a passion for theater but also falls in love with one of the other Outlaws. Life could not be more perfect.

Until an enemy makes an unfair accusation against the group and forces them to flee their world and hide in the neighboring realm of Faerie. But in Faerie, all is not flowers and rainbows. With bloodythirsty trolls, a hostile monarchy, and a dangerous code of magic, the fey world is far from the safe haven the Outlaws had hoped for. 

My Thoughts:

There was a connection lacking with this book. I just couldn’t get connected – to the characters, to Faerie, to the plot, to anything. Perhaps it was because there were too many characters to even develop a connection with one, or that this book, like the Outlaws, was similar to organized chaos. But in any case, that was the books downfall: lack of connection and description.

The characters were mostly inconsistent half of the time. A character would do or say something that would totally ruin my initial impression of them; they went out of character a lot. I think the only consistent character was Lucia, and only because she “looked as if she wanted to cry” all the time. The thing that bothered me, though, was that I couldn’t get connected to Persia as a character. I didn’t feel for her, and I didn’t even care about her romance to Nicholas. Her narrative just seemed like she was in the audience (or reader’s perspective), watching a play unfold before her. She threw in a couple of lines every so often, but she never really did anything substantial.

Going back to the romance, it was so lackluster. I felt like the romance was just tacked into the storyline just so Persia could have a romance. There was no build-up to it. Persia just states that she loves Nicholas, and Nicholas, despite showing no prior signs whatsoever to liking Persia, coincidentally starts loving her, too.

The plot was so stale. I had no idea what the plot even was for half of the book. At times, it seemed like they were running away from Major and the big baddies, and other times, it just seemed like a book focused on theater production. The idea of having Outlaws as a theater troupe was cool, and it would have been better if it had been executed better – we weren’t even given insight to the shows, or the emotions running through the characters while they put it on. I just saw a lazy plot, with nothing but shows and the eventual “show-down” to drive it forward.

I saw no point in the Outlaws going to Faerie, other than to progress the plot. The summary says that they were fleeing for their lives, but it didn’t feel that way at all. They weren’t in mortal danger – it didn’t even happen until about 150 pages in. It felt like their reason for going to Faerie was just not thought out at all, and that the author was groping for any reason to get them into Faerie. There are so many other options that the group of Outlaws could have utilized, or at least tried, before going to Faerie (which they claimed was a “last resort”).

Faerie bothered me. When I think of faeries, I think of magic. The Faerie depicted in this novel didn’t give me a magical vibe, at all. Also, there was a repetition of how dangerous Faerie was, but I didn’t feel the danger at all. I wasn’t scared for anyone, or their lives, and Penny Blubaugh gave us no reason to feel endangered in her world of Faerie. I just felt like everyone was holding hands and everything was sunshine and flowers. The scariest part of Faerie? A big troll who is supposed to be bloodthirsty, but really doesn’t do anything, and blood on the grass. Very dangerous. Also, I have never heard of faeries who would willingly have a democracy, but there it was. If I didn’t know about faeries beforehand, I would have been lost.

Nothing is truly explained in this book. Faeries are never explained, nor are their pink and red drinks (other than the darker the color, the more dangerous it is). There were barely any character descriptions. The only description I had for Lucia was her scarred hand. Floss has dandelion fluff yellow hair. Max is black. And that was it. The author kept using the word “dax” in conversation, which made me think it was a word specialized for the world she created, but it’s never explained. The use of “dax” in context kept changing, too, so I could never guess what it meant. Does someone know what “dax” means? I’d really love to know.

Lastly, the ending. Ugh. I could break down the ending into at least 4 more paragraphs, but I’ll just summarize it with this: I hated the ending; it was so choppy and... well, lazy. Not only was it abrupt, but we were also supposed to assume that these crazy dangerous forces, Feron and Major, would give up just like that. Yes, those dangerous forces that forced (truly, there was no force) the Outlaws to go into Faerie. Ugh.

Cover Musings: The cover on the arc I received bothered me. Mostly, the pollen on the model’s face bothered me. It looks so out of place and splotched into the cover. But other than that, it’s... Interesting. I kept getting weirded out every time I walked in my room and had that pale face staring at me, haha.

Memorable Quotes:

I was rooted to the floor, stuck right in the middle of the feelings tumbling around me. It was like being caught in an earthquake. No matter which way you turned you’d lose your footing. (pg. 71)

We were a set, the six of us. Lose one and everything would start to tumble. I hadn’t been wrong when I’d said we were a family. For me, at least, the Outlaws were that proverbial place to come back to, that place where they have to take you in. But even better than that, they were my friends, in the truest sense. I couldn’t stand the thought of losing that. (pg. 96)

“Now,” Floss said, “I put them on the back porch, near the steps. Then a flyer picks up the message, delivers it, and brings the answer back.”

“How do you know when the answer’s here?” I was amazed by all of this. Fey air mail. “Does someone show up at the door or what?”

Floss raised her eyes to the ceiling and sighed. “No, Persia. The flowers die. The answer’s in the petals.” (pg. 110-111)

“Now,” he continued, “about fey food. I only meant that it can make you sleep the sleep of the just and righteous. You wake feeling rejuvenated.”

I had to agree with that. But, “I won’t have to stay here forever? Until I die and my bleached bones are buried in the far, far hills?”

He raised both eyebrows. “What have you been reading?” (pg. 164-165)

Overall Thoughts/Final Comments: There was nothing remarkable or memorable about this book whatsoever. It lacked making a connection with the reader, and there were no addictive qualities about it. To be honest, I only kept reading for two reasons: I was hoping it would get better and I had to read it because I signed up for the tour. There were no character descriptions, and no descriptions about Faerie whatsoever. The romance (if you can call it that) was so lackluster, and the characters were inconsistent. I think this book has a great starting point and that it could have been good, but it was just executed poorly.

Rating: 2/5

**I received this ARC from Star Book Tours. Thank you, Katelyn!

Review: Tutored by Allison Whittenberg

Tutored 

Author: Allison Whittenberg

Publisher: Delacorte Books for Young Readers

Series: N/A

Pages: 192

Genre: Fiction

Release Date: December 14, 2010

How Received: ARC tour

Summary: Wendy Anderson and Hakiam Powell are at opposite ends of the spectrum – the social spectrum, the financial spectrum, the opportunity spectrum, you name it. Wendy lives in an all-white suburb of Philadelphia, where she’s always felt like the only chip in the cookie. Her dad, who fought his way out of the ghetto, doesn’t want hermingling with “those people”. In fact, all Wendy’s life, her father has told her how terrible “those people” are. He even objects to Wendy’s plan to attend a historically black college. But Wendy feels that her face is more than just the color of her skin, and she takes a job tutoring at an inner-city community center to get a more diverse perspective on life.

Hakiam has never lived in one place for more than a couple of years. When he aged out of foster care in Ohio, he hopped a bus to Philly to start over, but now he’s broke, struck taking care of his cousin’s premature baby for no pay, and finding it harder than ever to stay out of trouble. When he meets Wendy at the tutoring cener, he thinks she’s an uppity snob—she can’t possibly understand his life. But as he gets to know her better, he sees a softer side. And eventually—much to the chagrin of Wendy’s father and Hakiam’s cousin—they begin a rocky, but ultimately enlightening, romance.

My Thoughts:

For a book that’s called Tutored, not much tutoring was going on at all. That seems just like a random complaint, but for a book that had the word “tutor” in the title, I expect something along the lines of tutoring actually happening and falling in love because of their closeness while tutoring/being tutored.

The romance between Hakiam and Wendy was so flat. To put it simply, I hated it. It starts off good: they hate each other and it seems like romantic relations will start to develop. But it totally skipped the “developed” part. One moment Wendy and Hakiam hated each other, the next, Hakiam shows Wendy his baby cousin and dares kissing her and BAM! They’re in love and they don’t even question their relationship or anything. They’re a solid team. They don’t even try to get to know each other well. It felt forced and I didn’t enjoy reading it at all.

The only thing I saw develop in this book was Hakiam, and it was refreshing to see him go from being a nothing, a no one, who is about to become homeless to someone who wants to make a change in his life. You could see it his change very gradually – first he starts watching some of Wendy’s movies, then he becomes knowledgeable about illnesses prone to pre-mature babies, and it finishes off with him getting a job and trying to get his GED. He went from a thug home-boi to someone who cared about his life. Hakiam was such an amazing character, compared to Wendy, who I hated reading about.

Wendy, to put it simply, is stupid. Sure, she’s a self-proclaimed genius and is going places. But she’s spiteful. She refuses to go to a “white” college just because her black father was against anything second-rate. If the only reason she wants to apply to a black college is to spite her father, then that is the most un-intelligent thing she could ever do. She never even states why she wants to go to one or ever puts up a valid argument – she can’t see exactly what’s in front of her because she’s a spiteful little girl who thinks she knows it all. I hated listening to hear talk and I have to admit I was tempted to skip her passages altogether. 

I was really looking forward to a book that had African-American portrayal, but this just fell flat for me. The only real African-American portrayals were extremes – very opposite ends of the spectrum – with the ghetto and with “white-washed” blacks. There was no in between. I expected this book to celebrate its race, but rather, it just came off as scorned – and not just from Wendy’s father. I did, however, like how much of our current culture was present in the book. One of Wendy’s fathers favorite examples of intelligent black men was President Obama and he’d come up in a lot of his arguments against Wendy going to a black school.

Cover Musings: Love the heart. <3 It’s not great, but I like it. Although when I see a heart made of paper, I expect love via learning. (random small complaints =p).

Memorable Quotes:

“Yeah, but I can tell. When I see someone roll in coppin’ a ‘tude—“
“Talk that talk, sister,” Erin interrupted.
“You mean ‘sista,’” Wendy corrected.
“Sorry, I flunked Ebonics in middle school,” Erin said. (pg. 26)

“You have a baby. You didn’t tell me that last time.”
“It ain’t mine.”
Wendy took the cap off her highlighter and went back to reading her book. “You ought to get on The Maury Povich Show.” (pg. 33)

“Babies drink formula or breast milk. That’s it,” Leesa said, and turned to Malikia, frowning. “I can’t tell you how much money she could save me if she’d just take it from the tap.”
“Don’t nobody want to hear about your booby-milk sob story, Leesa,” Hakiam said. (pg. 38)

The vendor running [a pretzel stand] had a string of pretzels shoved into his armpit. He broke them off one by one as people ordered them. Hakiam figured the armpit just added to the salty flavor. Pg. 51

“I’m your main squeeze,” she proclaimed, pressing her fingers to her chest, using her stock “soul sister” accent. Then she did a triple snap in the air. It felt freeing to pull it out every now and then. She liked the reaction it got from people. They always looked at her as if to say, You can do that? (pg. 110)

“It’s like I’m dating my dad, Erin.”
“I think that’s illegal in Pennsylvania.” (pg. 131)

Overall Thoughts/Final Comments: I think this book had a lot more potential than how it was executed. Tutored was a quick read, but it didn’t hold my attention nor did it lure me into the story. I never felt the connection between Wendy and Hakiam – the romance fell short on so many levels. The only character development occurred with Hakiam, and I still think Wendy needs a lot of growing up to do.

Rating: 2/5

**I received this ARC from Star Book Tours (Thanks Katelyn ♥)

Review: Aurelie: A Faerie Tale by Heather Tomlinson

Aurelie: A Faerie Tale

Author: Heather Tomlinson                                 

Publisher: Square Fish

Series: N/A

Pages: 184 (Hardback)

Genre: Fantasy

Release Date: September 2, 2008

How Received: Library

Summary: Once upon a time, three children and a little river dragon were the best of friends—until a promise was broken. Now they are almost grown up and barely speaking to one another. With her country in turmoil, Aurelie is sent on a peacekeeping mission. But how can she prevent a war when she can’t even make her friends get along? Heartsick at losing her dearest companions, especially the handsome Garin, Aurelie finds comfort in her secret, late-night trips to fairyland. But a princess can’t hide from her duties forever. Her country needs her, and so do her friends—whether they know it or not.

My Thoughts:

Aurelie is a short fairytale novel about four childhood friends – three children and one dragon (or drac). I think the premise of the novel was pretty good; it was the execution of it that lacked. A lot.

Nothing is really explained in this novel. We know there are Fae, but we aren’t explained what each one is. The only explanation is a very mini one for drac’s. It was difficult distinguishing what each country was. Names of places, people, and faeries are thrown at us without any real meaning. The children are sworn to secrecy about their ability to see Fae, and that it’d be disastrous if anyone knew about it. But what was so disastrous, besides becoming blind?

Descriptions were non-existent – we didn’t know what the Fae looked like, what the main characters looked like, what the countryside (besides Skoe) looked like. It was just a jumbled mess of non-description.

The characters were very one dimensional – they just lacked all around. We know that Netta is shy, Garin is brave, Aurelie is proud, and Loic is mischievous. But that’s it. I hated how everything was forgiven so easily – and that it took place off screen. If these friends didn’t speak for 2 years, why were they all happy and dandy after a few sentences of speaking? And why were they separated? I understand why they refused to see Loic, and why Netta didn’t want to see Aurelie and Garin, but why did the latter two not speak to each other?

Time isn’t distinct in this novel. One moment, we were reading about Aurelie in her room and the next paragraph, she was suddenly somewhere else, with no word whatsoever as to how she got there. One minute she’s in the dining room of the guesthouse, the next she’s at the docks with no explanation that she’s moving.

Cover Musings: I thought the old cover had a certain charm that fairytale’s do, but I can’t say I’m very fond of the new cover. I like how they incorporated the white eagles – the symbol for Jocondagne – but the model and the awkward color scheme is just... eh.

Memorable Quotes:

“No, its not their lies that trouble me; it’s the ingratitude. Show them marvels, they’ll take it for their due. Share your innermost self, and they forget you. Best friends one day, and the next—what’s the quaint expression? They ‘grow up’.” (pg. 82)

Overall Thoughts/Final Comments: This novel had every potential of being good, but it was too choppy and fragmented and lacked too many things. I did like the story though, once I looked past the fact that it was a story only half there.

Rating: 2/5