Marvelous Middle Grade Monday: The Dragon's Tooth by N.D. Wilson

Happy Monday, Blogger Buds!
I'm posting a review today to take part in Shannon Messenger's marvelous meme. If you don't follow her already, get your butt over to her blog. She's hysterical.

This week, I'm reviewing The Dragon's Tooth by N.D. Wilson. I had to write about it for school, so that's doubling as my review. I was gifted a copy by the author, but these thoughts are completely my own.
Also: The entire time, I imagined Wes Bentley/Seneca Crane as Rupert Greeves. (When I looked it over again, I realized that he's black, a detail I missed the first time. It doesn't change the epicosity level, though.)

Blurby: (Goodreads)
For two years, Cyrus and Antigone Smith have run a sagging roadside motel with their older brother, Daniel. Nothing ever seems to happen. Then a strange old man with bone tattoos arrives, demanding a specific room.
Less than 24 hours later, the old man is dead. The motel has burned, and Daniel is missing. And Cyrus and Antigone are kneeling in a crowded hall, swearing an oath to an order of explorers who have long served as caretakers of the world's secrets, keepers of powerful relics from lost civilizations, and jailers to unkillable criminals who have terrorized the world for millennia.
N. D. Wilson, author of Leepike Ridge and 100 Cupboards, returns with an imagination-capturing adventure that inventively combines the contemporary and the legendary.

Review:
I don't read children's books very often, but when I happened to find myself with a copy of The Dragon's Tooth, I decided to give it a try. And I don't regret it. It was filled with a wide array of characters, all completely unique and different. My only complaint, character-wise, is that the main characters, Cyrus and Antigone Smith, seemed older than their respective 11 and 13 years.
My second problem was the perspective changes. Mostly, the book followed "Cy" and "Tigs," but there are the occasional switches; you get glimpses into the minds of minor characters once in a while, and it often slows the pace.
The best idea, though, was probably the man who launched the siblings’ adventure: an old friend of their deceased father, William Skelton, alias Billy Bones. He's intelligent, fearless, and a tragic character. You glean all this from the few pages he remains alive in.
I really loved the plot. It starts out bizarre, but when things settle down, they're mind-blowing. You have lightning bugs, which electrocute the entire area when their glass cases are smashed. There's Patricia the patrik, a snake that disappears whenever she swallows her tail. Most brilliant of all, though, was the antagonist: Dr. Phoenix, also known as Mr. Ashes, depending on his mood and the presence of a dirty and mysterious lab coat.
As a bonus, The Dragon's Tooth employs one of my favorite plot ideas of all time; I love when authors inundate history into their books. There are famous people mentioned in The Dragon's Tooth. Amelia Earhart has "explorer" status in the exclusive club the book centers around. A minor antagonist is an immortal named Maxi--short for Maximilian Robespierre.
Overall, The Dragon's Tooth was brilliant. I enjoyed it a lot and I'm sure that if I had read it five years ago, it would have easily topped my list of favorites.

Rating: 4 stars. Very good


Peace,
Riv

Current Music: Forever on the Dance Floor--covered by Mike Tompkins (originally by Chris Brown)

Hiatus

Hey Blogger Buds,
Taking a few days off to focus on some other things. I'm going to be back next Monday with a review (yup, a day early, I know).
Thanks for putting up with me.

By the way, the blogoversary is coming up. Trying to put something special together for the (hopefully not so) Terrible Twos.

Peace,
Riv

Current Music: Glad You Came by the Warblers (Originally by The Wanted)

Character Dolls: Elijah

Hey Blogger Buds,
I've got another of my own creations this week, in part because I'm not in middle of any books (suggestions?) and in part because...well, you'll find out soon enough. ;)
It's a short Character Doll this week, with only a few little lines of description.

"Character Dolls" is a weekly meme here at Riv Reads every Thursday. Doll-making websites, like elouai, are my guilty pleasure, and I figured that while I'm on them, I might as well fan-girl a bit! And while I'm doing that, why not share some of my creations on the blog?
Please don't use this meme without express permission from myself first.
Unless otherwise stated, all dolls are made with elouai.
And, of course, I ask that you don't alter my dolls, or claim them as your own. If you like one of the dolls, and want to spread the love, please don't post the picture on your own blog, but instead link back here! And you're welcome to give it a go, of course, and create your own dolls. If you do, let me know so I can check it out!

Today, I've got Elijah Son-of-None from my book, Eberheardt. Elijah is one of the antagonists, and he's really...antagonizing (says the girl trying to write a book). He's young, with prematurely white hair and eyes as green as emeralds. And as cold.

He's rich.

He's handsome.

He's powerful.

And despite the evil, sadistic bit, the girls continue to line up.

(Drumroll, please.)

*drumroll*

The doll can't come close to matching the malice, the freakishly frustrating flippancy (and fun alliteration!)

He was pretty basic to make. White hair. Nice clothes. A small nose. An eye that glows. An angry pose. And a rose.

I think the frown is the most distinctive part of him.

Well, that's all for now, folks. Let me know what you think of Elijah!

Peace and sadists,

Riv

A Flyaway Mini-Review; Oh, and POTTER FREAKIN' MORE

(Brownies if you get the "freakin'" reference)
*waves dorkily*

#1:

Flyaway by Helen Landalf

Blurby at Goodreads
Characters: I liked Stevie at first. She has spirit, a personality. But when she refuses to wear clothes that her mom wouldn't like, all I can think is "Ugh! She's such a poseur!"
I hated Stevie's Mom from the get-go. She's self-absorbed, and cares about her "cigs" much more than about her daughter.
The Professor (real name is Van) is sweet...until he falls victim to the "let's turn Boyfriend #1 from a sweetheart into a jerk so our main character will dump him!" trope. (À la Lola)
Alan. Oh, Alan. Let's weigh your actions and excuses. Action: You're rude. Excuse: It's okay, because you're gentle with the injured birds. Action: You're a bully. Excuse: You've had it rough. Action: You publicly outed a Christian. Excuse: (Spoiler. Valid reason, though.) Action: You tripped and bullied a special ed kid until she had to switch schools. Excuse: ... What was that, Alan? Can't hear you over your conscience's cries of pain. It's like killing puppies, Alan. The eighth deadly sin.
Everything Else: The plot is pretty much the only redeeming quality. It kept me up, gripped by Stevie's story. Why? I don't know. There was zero emotion; there was just Stevie telling us what's happening. ("I woke up. I saw Aunt Mindy. She gave me news. I screamed in anger. I slammed the door in her face and went back to sleep.")
What I didn't like about the plot? No grit. A freaking love triangle that served very little purpose besides being a love triangle.
The ending was the best part. It was very fitting.
[/End rant]
Rating: 3* Okay

#2:
You might have heard of this thing. It's called Pottermore.
Yeah. Pottermore.
As in, ya know...

That Pottermore. And they're open.

The Philosopher's Stone part is out already.

I'm in Slytherin which is, apparently, Merlin's house. (And you know about me and Merlin.)

My wand is acacia wood with a dragon heartstring core, 13 inches, brittle.

This one's a bit longer than mine. Source.

So what are you waiting for? Hop on the Express and head over!

Peace and dragons,

Riv

My Life in Youtube Searches

Hey Blogger Buds,
I've seen a couple of those "My Life in Google searches" blog posts, and I decided to do my own. But, being strange, I had to go the hipster way and stand out.

You heard me. Hipster.

Hipster Flynn is hipster.

ANYWAY, these are some of my Youtube searches from the past week. There are plenty more, as I spend an obscene amount of time on Youtube, in part because I have better things to do.

• Viva la Vida lyrics Coldplay (part of a tragedy-themed playlist that also involves way too much Avril Lavigne)
• Your Guardian Angel (Love. This. Song. So hard.)
• Unsheathing a Longsword (the second search after "drawing" told me how to doodle one)
• Flynn Rider Smolder (I can't resist)
• Cato Hunger Games (multiple times)
• Sesame Street Letter G (I was looking for this)
• Singing Tree Frogs (it's Lauren Oliver's fault)
• Looking for Alaska Songs (I was hunting for Hank Green's)
• One Direction (I've finally given in to the hype. What Makes You Beautiful is...surprisingly good.)

Then it gets interesting, and a little strange:

• Hanging Scene
• V for Vendetta Hangard
• Legend of the Seeker Hanging Scene (I couldn't find the one I was looking for, though :( )
• Celtic Metal (Best. Niche Genre. EVER.)
• Cato Death Scene
• Throw a Pitchfork (Research! Research, I tell you!)

And then, of course, the inevitable happens after a few days:

• Mysterious Ticking Noise
• Potter Puppet Pals angst

There's also a lot of P!atD searches, Brendon Urie (cuz he's awesomesauce), some Taylor Swift, and more than enough Hunger Games.

Hope that was entertaining. :)

Vs and Smolders,

Riv

Lucky 7 Tag! Also: Rock the Drop!!

Hey Blogger Buds,
This original plan was just to post about Teen Lit Day, and Rock the Drop, but then something more exciting popped up!

Before I get to that:

Rock the Drop! is hosted by Figment and readergirlz. The idea is that you leave a random YA book in a public place for someone to find. If you want, you can tweet it with the #rockthedrop hashtag.
I really wanted to drop some old ARCs, but I didn't have time today. :( But let me know what you guys have done! I'd love to hear!



In other news, the fabulous Cambria Dillon tagged me with the Lucky Seven Tag! I've seen this around a lot, and I'm always SO JEALOUS of everyone who gets tagged, and I guess Cambria heard my plea. You should all TOTALLY check out her seven lines, because they're super intriguing, and I love the last line!

Here are the rules:

• Go to page 7 or 77 in your current manuscript
• Go to line 7
• Copy down the next 7 lines/sentences AS THEY ARE. No cheating!
• Tag 7 other authors (make sure to let them know they've been tagged!)

So, I would have done page 77 (or 777?) if I still worked on Microsoft Word, but alas, we parted ways when my computer imploded multiple times and I was set permanently in Google Docs, less a hundred thousand(ish) words. (They're somewhere out there, with the aliens.)

So, here are my seven sentences. (Lines were too complicated.) (I was so nervous about what page 7 would end up being! But I'm pretty happy with it.) (I should really stop babbling.) (So excited!) (I'll shut up now.)

Sentences 7-13:

The figure scrambled away, jumping up, and the moonlight fell on Art’s features, a bruise already forming on his cheek.
Furiously wiping at her soaking wet cheeks, Becca rolled onto her side, pulling her legs up close to her chest, hugging her knees.
Art cautiously knelt beside her, leaving space between them. “Becca?” he said again, softer. “What happened?”
She shook her head, trying to furtively dry her face again. “Nothing,” she said, after a minute.

I hope you like it! Let me know what you think! realize that my lines are kind of short, because there are some speaking bits that don't have dialogue tags to make them longer.

But speaking of tags, here are the seven authors whose lines I want to see as well:

1) Laura of Pens and a Camera Lens

2) Cristin Terrill of, um, Cristin Terrill

3) Lindsey Sablowski of Fictional Writer

4) Laura of A Work of Fiction

5) Lissa of The Real Book Critique

6) Kristia S. of KristTeeAuh

7) YOU! Yes, I want YOU for Dumbledore's Army!

(Yes, I cheated on the last one)

Sorry, got to run now.

Happy 7s,

Riv

Mini Reviews: Wings of the Wicked; Hold Me Closer, Necromancer; Looking for Alaska

Hey Blogger Buds,
I have these books piling up that I really want to review....I just never get around to it. And time passes, my memory gets foggy with old age, and I lose interest in writing reviews.
So here we go, quickfire.
I've listed a few things here: A goodreads link, a short blurb of my own creation, and a song that connects to the book.

Wings of the Wicked by Courtney Allison Moulton

Linkage: Angelfire Review ~ Will Doll ~ Cadan Doll

Blurby: In the sequel to Angelfire, Ellie has to deal with growing into her powers, her feelings for her guardian, Will, and deceit, while she's struck with tragedy after tragedy and is presented with life-changing secrets.

(Why can't I be this good at blurbing my OWN books?)

Review: WotW was absolutely phenomenal. I was blown away. You've gotten so much more familiar with the characters at this point, and they're all just adorable and amazing. Really strong, and kick-butt. I'm a total "Wellie" shipper. They're there for each other through thick and thin, balancing the other out perfectly. When tragedy strikes, they present a united front, Will holding Ellie while she screams and cries, even when she's so mad she tries to hurt him. No pun intended, their love is undying.

Of course, this book also featured my favorite character a great deal--Cadan. He's just...awesome. In so many ways. (In my dream world, I'm Team Rivdan.)

The only critique I can make is that when Ellie suffered, I didn't feel her pain. Some really bad...stuff...hits the fan, and it destroys (not literally, don't worry) destroys Ellie, but I didn't really feel it as much as I wish I had.

I NEED book 3.

(Plus, the fight scenes were epic.)
Song: Guardian Angel by The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus
Rating: 8 stars AMAZING

Looking for Alaska by John Green

Blurby: Miles Halter, unpopular dork obsessed with last words, goes to Culver Creekboarding school, where he finds new friends in the Colonel, Takumi, and the hurricane which is Alaska Young, who turns his life upside-down, shakes it up, and opens up, leaving it to explode like a soda bottle.

(Bad metaphor simile, I know)

Review: I was a little bit underwhelmed by Looking for Alaska, but it felt very real. All the characters were well-rounded and charming. The numerous pranks sprinkled throughout make me question John Green's schoolboy days, though...

I just felt like there was something missing, some sort of draw, throughout the first part of the book. I didn't feel the tension.

"After" was amazing, though. I didn't see it coming until about a page before, I just couldn't imagine it...and then BAM. I felt the agony.

Emotional rollercoasters FTW. A billion percent.

There isn't a real answer, in the end, but I think it's fitting that way. There's hope for everyone, all the strange and quirky characters.

Song: Looking for Alaska by Hank Green
Rating: 3 stars Okay

Hold Me Closer, Necromancer by Lish McBride

Blurby: Sam LaCroix was a pretty average joe (or Sam, as the case may be)...until someone tells him he's a necromancer. Yup, "necromancer" as in "you can raise the dead, and that makes you a threat to that power-hungry necromancer down yonder, but to make up for it, here's a werewolf girlfriend." Wait. What? Necromancers and werewolves?

Review: I think what makes this book so fantastic, the key part of it, is the characters. Sam is just so...real. I don't think I will ever find a character as mundane as Sam. He works in fast-food. He plays potato-hockey (you read that right). He has a snarky little sister, and a cool mom. His friends are also super loyal...and really, really quirky. His name is short for Samhain (apparently pronounced Sowin.)

I didn't like the multiple POVs at first, they were distracting and boring enough to make me give up on the book for a while, but once I got into it, I got into it.

I have three complaints. (1) Sam took everything in stride, which irks me in paranormal books. "I'm a necromancer? Weird. But, ya know, I can live with that." DUDE. FREAK OUT. *grabs Sam and shakes him by the shoulders* (2) The writing was a little bit repetitious. (3) The book was mad funny, but most of the brilliantly mad funny was in the beginning, so my high hopes weren't met after those opening pages.

I just found out that there's a sequel. YES.

Song: Hold Me Closer, Tiny Dancer by Elton John (of course)
Rating: 5* Original and well thought out.

Peace and swords,
Riv

Top 5 Sundays: 2012 Books

Hey Blogger Buds,
This will be a ridiculously short post, because my brain has a bit of a fry going on, and it's almost Monday, and although I'm not so familiar with the rules, I think Top 5 Sundays is supposed to go up on, you know, Sunday.
Top 5 Sundays is hosted by Larissa's Bookish Life.
This week's topic: Books You Are Most Excited About to Come Out in 2012!

I decided to join in this week because narrowing it down to only five is tough so, in the words of my brother E:
Challenge Accepted.
*these are only unreleased books of 2012

But then I decided that I post about the same books all the time, so I'm mixing it up a bit:
Less Buzzed-About Books You Are Most Excited About to Come Out in 2012!


I haven't seen these 5 books everywhere in the blogosphere. Only a little bit. You may not have heard of them. I just figured you guys were sick of me fangirling over Bitterblue.

1

In Honor by Jessi Kirby

May 8 (S&S)

Contemp, and S&S but I haven't heard too much.

2

Soulbound by Heather Brewer

July 5 (Dial)

Come on. It's about swords. Gimme.

3

The Loners by Lex Thomas

July 10 (Egmont)

It just sounds so cool!

4

The Land of Stories by Chris Colfer

July 17 (Little, Brown)

Dudes. It's Chris Colfer. (I had to make the cover huge.)

5

The Raft by S. A. Bodeen

August 21 (Feiwel & Friends)

Just sounds really cool

There you go! Top 5!

Happy Monday!

Peace,

Riv

PS: Steph Bowe has an awesome post on YA Paranormal Romances. It'll make you rofl.

April First Wrap-Up

Hey Blogger Buds,
I'm aware that I'm a few days late in posting this, but I wanted to share with you some of the awesome from Sunday. I did this last year, and I had a ton of fun, so I figured I'd share again!
Unfortunately, this year's April Fools wasn't nearly as awesomesauce as last year's, but I've got two book-y ones, and I HAD to share some of my favorites from Google.

Extra! Extra! Read all about it! The first edition of The Daily Tribute is scandalous. Apparently, Taylor Swift has a song not related to ex-boyfriends, and a sketchy leaked video kept one young actress from landing her dream roll.
Get all the deets at YA Highway.

Julie Kagawa just released the first teaser from The Lost Prince, the Iron Fey spin-off trilogy!!!
It was explosive. Check it out!


Google strives to always make your life easier. Always.
So because checking Twitter, Facebook, emails, and blogs, all while trying to write a few lines, is so time-consuming, it's a good thing Google has a solution.
Everyone's favorite Big Brother is really outdoing themselves lately.  They've teamed up with Nascar to bring you new ideas of epic proportions..
Because your phones are so tiny, and qwerty is so yesterday, try this alternative.
Hate getting 1,960,001 results for "cats riding roombas"? Try Google's really advanced search.

YES. Youtube on DVD. The COMPLETE collection.


Peace,
Riv

A Review (Okay, a Rave) About the Warriors Series by Erin Hunter

Hey Blogger Buds,
When you were younger, did you ever have that one series that carried you through your childhood, that you stayed up all hours of the night devouring?
Okay. Maybe that's a lot of books, for a lot of you.
But when you think back, can you think of just one?

I can.

I discovered The Warriors Series when  was about 8. For years, I was captivated. I waited anxiously for the next book to come out (only 3 a year), and screamed when the author came to New York. (My mother let me take off school for it, that's how obsessed I was.) I was always one of the first people to get the books as my library got them.

This series was my childhood.

As I got older, I was less attentive. I fell behind. The books still entertain me, but in a different way. I'm not held prisoner by them anymore, not moving from my seat until I've turned the last year. But I still love them, they still hold a special place in my heart.

Today, the last of 24 books was released. The series has had a 9 year run. (I haven't followed them that long, mind you.)

I'm still two books behind, but I'm going to fix that.

Over the next few weeks (months?) I plan to revisit, and reread, all of these books. How it will take me, I don't know. But I'm bring smexah my childhood back.

For those of you with young siblings, or children, who have a passion for animals, I recommend the Warriors series. The first book, Into the Wild, follows a young housecat, Rusty, and his discovery of an entire world in his backyard as he joins Thunderclan and becomes a Warrior.

Will these sound silly to you? Possibly.
Will they entertain your nine-year-old? Definitely.

 

Add the series on Goodreads. You won't regret it.

Peace and cats,
Riv

(Yes, I do realize I haven't posted a real book review since mid-March. Next week, I hope to have an MG review of Ashtown Burials.)

Life's A Cabaret...When You're a Career: A Parody

Hey Blogger Buds,
In honor of the Hunger Games movie, I've decided to make you all victims of my parroting parodying once again! The first time was a vampire-esque Wicked parody, and the second song was about Taylor Swift and Facebook.

I couldn't think of a good title for this parody, since it was based on just one line in Maybe This Time. I had "all the odds are in my favor" stuck in my head and, well, I'm sure you can guess what happened next.

Since I'm still a little bit obsessing over Cato, and because I wanted to spice things ups a bit, this song is a tribute to the Careers. (Eh? You saw what I did there? A tribute to the Careers? ... I'll shut up now.)

Without too much further ado...

Further Ado: It's a short parody this time. And, for those of you who may not have heard the song before, here's the original on Youtube (I couldn't find a lyrics version, sorry). And here's the Glee version, with lyrics, which I liked better. You know me, I'm a Gleek.

Even Further Ado: I know that there are more repetitions and stuff of some of the lines, but I kept it clean, only put up the lyrics the lyrics the first time they're said. If you're listening to the song while reading the lyrics, you may have to go back and forth, up and down a bit as you follow along. Sorry, but I just wanted to keep it clean, and follow both versions as much as possible.

And now, without further ado...

Life's a Cabaret...When You're a Career.
Maybe this time, I'll be lucky
Maybe this time, I'll slay
Maybe this time
For the first time
I will hurry on stage

I will kill them fast
I'll have fame at last
Not a watcher anymore
Like the last Game
And the Game before

Panem always loves a winner
So everybody’ll love me
'Lady Tribute,' 'Lady Victor,'
That's what I long to be
All the odds may be in my favor
So my name’s bound to be picked
It's got to happen, happen sometime
Maybe this time I'll win.


*Of course, this parody is not meant, in any way, to insult Cabaret, Glee, The Hunger Games, or even the Careers.

And the obligatory closing:

May the odds be ever in your favor,
Riv

Oh, and HAPPY APRIL FOOLS DAY!

PS: Those of you who were here last year may remember my April Fool's Roundup. I have a special post planned for Tuesday, so it will be on THURSDAY. (I know, a bit belated.) If you don't mind, please let me know of any book-related "updates" you discover! I'll be on the hunt, but I don't want to miss any good ones. ;)