Read It UP!

This story is an based on an interesting concept.  A Fallen Angel named Kiriel gets tired of his hum drum life watching over lost souls in hell so he decided to come to Earth to experience what life has to offer.  At first he hopes no one will notice he is gone, so he can enjoy his time in a body he has confiscated (Shaun’s body.)  He appreciates every little detail of life.  The feel of a hot shower.  Eating ketchup.  Petting a cat.  Before long he wants to make a difference in the world.  He realizes that Shaun’s life is not as good as it could be.  Shaun’s brother, Jason, has shut himself off from the world.  He is always doing something wrong, usually breaking things, often angry.  In reality, he is scared that no one will accept him for how he truly is.  Because Kiriel knows all, he knows Jason’s fears and he tries to use Shaun’s body to be good big brother to Jason.  Since Jason and Shaun had picked on each other since Jason will little, at first Jason doesn’t know whether to trust him or not.  Soon Jason goes along with Shaun to his friend Bailey’s house and their friendship blossoms from there.  Jason starts to look forward to hanging out with Shaun.  They have normal conversations.  They are a family.  Jason also knows that a girl at school has had a crush on Jason for quite some time, but Jason has not even noticed her.  So he decided to start spending time with her at school.  His intentions at first are all wrong.  He only wants to get to know her so he can experience sex.  She sets him straight quite quickly by informing him she’s not having sex with him.  So they settle for hanging out with his friend Bailey and playing video games. Throughout it all, Kiriel wonders where he truly belongs.  He wonders if the Creator knows he is missing.  And if so…does HE care?  Just as he becomes comfortable in Jason’s body…they come to take him back to hell.  Before he goes Hanael, the Unfallen who has come to take him back, tells him that Shaun will regain his life within his body.  But, he will be hit by a car and put in a coma so he will forget what has happened to him.  Shaun will have to fight for his life and start over.  Thus, making him appreciate the life he never appreciated before.

Kiriel, like so many of us, wonders what his place in the universe is.  Is our Creator watching us?  Does he personally know who we are?  As I read this I thought, what a universal theme to write about.  I know I have pondered this question as have many people across the world.  Does He truly hear our prayers?  Is He noticing the good things I am doing in this world?  It is a never ending journey…trying to make the world a better place day by day.  Kiriel, on his way back to hell is already thinking about how to improve the lives of the souls trapped there and hopping perhaps his Creator will notice.

What a fun book! Every child knows going to run errands with mom is BORING!  Everything changes when the boy in the story sees a sign at the bakery that says: “Buy a dozen get a dinosaur.”  His mom is certain it must mean a toy dinosaur.  Much to her horror and his delight, Friday is free dinosaurs with everything day.  He leaves with a triceratops.  Everywhere they go, another dinosaur is given to them.  At the doctor’s office they pick up a stegosaurus.   When they go outside they realize, dinosaurs are EVERYWHERE!  Now, Mom is so stressed out about this that they rush home and she takes a nap.  When she wakes up, suddenly she has a great idea.  Why not put those dinosaurs to work.  She has them clean the gutters, help with the laundry, and cut the grass (or eat it in this case.)  

This is a little boy’s dream come true.  I loved the crazy faces on the characters.  You can just feel the main character’s frustration in the first scene when he has to go run errands.  The pet dog, Dinah, looks like one of those confused dogs we have all seen.  Even the text is creative.  The F on the first page is in the shape of a dinosaur.  These little touches make this book extra special.   

When Stephanie’s uncle suddenly dies, she is transported into a world she never knew existed.  After his funeral she is alone in the her uncle’s house when something comes knocking on the door.  She is scared and doesn’t know what she will do when it breaks the glass and comes intruding in.  But then, Skullduggery is there…getting rid of this intruder for her.  The first time she saw him was at her uncle’s funeral.  He was odd- dressed in a full length trench coat , hat, scarf, sunglasses and gloves despite the hot weather.  In the scuffle, Skullduggery loses his had and immediately Stephanie realizes why he was so covered up.  He is a walking, talking skeleton!  He introduces himself as a detective and friend of her uncles.  Regardless of his strange appearance, Stephanie likes him and decides to trust what he tells her.  There is a war raging between good and evil and Skullduggery tells Stephanie he thinks her uncle’s death was not an accident.  It turns out he was involved in magic and was hiding something very important…the scepter.  Skullduggery tries to talk Stephanie out of accompanying him on this mission, but she is stubborn and adventurous.  As she becomes more involved in this parallel world, she uncovers the fact that magic runs in her family.  In the midst of everything, Skullduggery Pleasant is kidnapped.  Working together with Tanith, Gastly and two Cleavers, Stephanie and the others storm Serpine’s house.  In the end, they must go to the caves to use the secret key to reveal the scepter.  It is a race against time as good versus evil both try to reach the caves first.  She finds herself separated from Skullduggery, but this leads to an advantage.  She is able to approach Serpine from behind and distract him long enough for Skullduggery to grab the scepter and use it on Serpine.  At the end Stephanie is recovering from attack and we see she is also honing her magic skills.  The teaser at the end of the novel, had me ready to race out and get book two: Skullduggery Pleasant: Playing with Fire.

This books was funny and fast paced.  It reminds me of The Alchemyst: The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel.  However this book was more fun.  Both have teenager main characters on adventure that will ultimately save the world.  The dry humor, British accents, hilarious mentor (Skullduggery) set this book at the top of my list for must reads.  I heard from my professor Dr. Lesesne that the audio for this book was outstanding.  While I did not purchase the audio for this book, I did go online and listen to a free sample of the audio from www.skullduggerypleasant.com/us .  I immediately considered buying the audio and listening to it all over again.

What if you knew that Faeries existed? What if you saw them playing tricks on people and they never knew? What if one of them wanted you and there was no way to resist him? Aislinn has known about “sight” since she was a child. Her grandmother taught her all the rules to keep her safe from the faeries and other creatures that coexist with our society. However, when an important faerie named Keenan (which she later finds out is a King in his realm) takes notice of her, she does everything she can to avoid him. She turns to her almost boyfriend Seth with her secret and they work together to try to stop Keenan. The Summer King’s power is too strong and she unknowingly is forced to enter the faerie world when he decides he wants her for his future queen. Once chosen, Aislinn must complete a special ritual. She must take the staff from the winter queen or choose to be a summer girl. If Aislinn is the One when she takes the staff she will be transformed into the Summer Queen. However, if she is not the right person she will succumb to the cold and be turned in a winter girl. Keenan’s mother is the Winter Queen and will lose her throne if her son finds his Summer Queen. The Winter Queen does everything in her power to ruin Keenan’s chances of ruling the faerie realm. But what about Seth? Aislinn wants nothing more than to be with him. How can she rule the faerie world with Keenan and not have Seth? In the end Seth stands by Aislinn’s side. Keenan, Aislinn and the Winter Girl work together to overthrow the Winter Queen. Aislinn takes the staff and is the ONE. Keenan understands that Seth will always have Aislinn’s love and they agree to rule together more like brother and sister. I really enjoyed this book, but I was left wanting more. I was wondering: does it really all work out with Seth and Aislinn? How can Keenan allow her to be with Seth when it seems he loves her himself? This book screams sequel. I have not heard about one in the works. This disappoints me and leaves me wanting more from Melissa Marr.