Review: Feast of Fools

Feast of Fools by Rachel Caine
(The Morganville Vampires, #4)

  Genre: YA, urban fantasy
  Creatures: vampires
  First published: 2008
  Find it: Goodreads, The bookdepository

In the town of Morganville, vampires and humans live in relative peace. Student Claire Danvers has never been convinced, though especially with the arrival of Mr. Bishop, an ancient, old-school vampire who cares nothing about harmony. What he wants from the town's living and its dead is unthinkably sinister. It's only at a formal ball, attended by vampires and their human dates, that Claire realizes the elaborately evil trap he's set for Morganville.

Feast of Fools is the fourth chapter in The Morganville Vampires series.

The story starts exactly where it finished in Midnight Alley: Bishop and his fellows are in Glass House and they aren’t kindly visitors. Fortunately, Amelie and Oliver arrive, trying to solve the problem: Bishop is really powerfull and he belongs to the “old school”, he doesn’t want to live with humans, he prefers eating them and playing with their lives. What can Amelie do?! She arranges a ball to welcome Bishop… or maybe to defeat him?

Feast of Fools, as the previous books in this series, is really action packed and a quick read. I love the writing style of Rachel Caine, simple and clean, because she is able to make you feel as if you were one of Morganville citizens and Claire, Shane, Michael and Eve were your best friends, people you know since you were born.  

I love the characters of Amelie and Michael, but the one I really die for is Myrnin, maybe because I love fools and foolish things! I really hate Monica, she is such a stupid girl, while Oliver acquired some points in this book.

The best part is obviously the one of the ball while I really hated… the end! It’s a terrible cliffhanger and I want to read the nest book!

Review: Lily Renee, Escape Artist

Lily Renee, Escape Artist: From Holocaust Survivor to Comic Book Pioneer by Trina Robbins, illustrated by Anne Timmons and Mo Oh.


Release date: 28 September 2011
Publisher: Lerner Publishing Group
Pages: 96
Source: Netgalley
Genre: graphic novel, biographic
Order Online: Bookdepository

In 1938, Lily Renée Wilheim is a 14-year-old Jewish girl living in Vienna. Her days are filled with art and ballet. Then the Nazis march into Austria, and Lily's life is shattered overnight. Suddenly, her own country is no longer safe for her or her family. To survive, Lily leaves her parents behind and travels alone to England. Escaping the Nazis is only the start of Lily's journey. She must escape many more times—from servitude, hardship, and danger. Will she find a way to have her own sort of revenge on the Nazis? Follow the story of a brave girl who becomes an artist of heroes and a true pioneer in comic books.

Lily Renee is a lucky child: she has a family who loves her and she is very good at painting. But then the Holocaust begins and all changes: in fact, Lily is jewish, her only way to survive is to escape from Austria to England, alone and without money, as a guest in the family of one of her penfriend. But in her new home she is treated as a servant and left without anything to eat. So she has to escape again, but it won’t be the last time: she’ll travel through different cities, meeting many people, until she’ll find her place in the world, becoming a comic book pioneer.

The story is interesting and I think it’s a very good means for children to know and learn something about holocaust and the second world war.

For older readers, it’ really to short! All the events are so fast-paced that you haven’t got the time to really get into the story: I’d have preferred to read more about Lily’s life in America and how she became such an important artist. In addiction to that, all seems too easy compared to the true reality of the holocaust.

The drawings are really beautiful and well made, and I appreciated a lot the insights at the end of the graphic novel.

In conclusion, an educative and interesting story for younger readers.

Review: Angel Burn by L.A.Weatherly

Angel Trilogy, Book 1 

Willow knows she’s different from other girls, and not just because she loves tinkering with cars. Willow has a gift. She can look into the future and know people’s dreams and hopes, their sorrows and regrets, just by touching them. She has no idea where this power comes from. But the assassin, Alex, does. Gorgeous, mysterious Alex knows more about Willow than Willow herself does. He knows that her powers link to dark and dangerous forces, and that he's one of the few humans left who can fight them. When Alex finds himself falling in love with his sworn enemy, he discovers that nothing is as it seems, least of all good and evil. In the first book in an action-packed romantic trilogy, L. A. Weatherly sends readers on a thrill ride of a road trip — and depicts the human race at the brink of a future as catastrophic as it is deceptively beautiful.

Angel Burn is the first book in a fresh new urban fantasy trilogy, firstly published in the U.K. with the title Angel.

Despite the plot, wich remembers us something already read, Angel Burn has some points of originality:
~the angels: in this book, the angels aren’t the good and kind God’s creatures, they’re monsters which suck energy from human bodies!
~the angels killers: obviously,, if there’s a monster, there must be someone who try to kill him. Here we have the angels killers, A.K., a truly organization depending from the C.I.A.
~Willow: she is the main character, but fortunately she isn’t a lucky sexy bomb who everybody loves, she is normal. No Mary Sue here, only a common girl with, well, some strange gifts.

With these elements, the book could have been perfect: unfortunately, it isn’t. While the first part of it and the end are action packed, the middle part is really boring. I’m not a big fan of love stories and I hate when, in urban fantasy, they overcome the main story line. In the middle part of Angel, we read about Alex and Willow, Willow and Alex, and how beautiful her hair are, and how beautiful his eyes are… Stop!!! I’ve understand! I think it isn’t very clever to think about love when you are running away from someone who wants to kill you, do you?

In conclusion, I liked Angel Burn, but I think it could be better. 3,5.