Love Potions, Librarians, and a Tiny Hispanic Boy: Review of Witches of East End by Melissa de la Cruz

Witches of East End

#1, The Beauchamp Family

Melissa de la Cruz

Adult, 272 pages

I like the cover, but I'm not too sure
why there are pretty red leaves.

This is Melissa de la Cruz's first adult novel, and I LOVED it.  It was fun, but not ridiculous (some of the Blue Bloods kind of weirded me out), it read smoothly, and basically, it was like the perfect truffle- rich but not too big of a serving.  I also liked that although there will be more books about the Beauchamps, this book could be a stand-alone novel.  As in, it's a complete story in one book!  Imagine that!

North Hampton is an old-fashioned coastal town in New York, and three witches live there.  Joanna Beauchamp lives there with her two adult daughters, Ingrid and Freya, and their familiars: a griffin, a raven, and a cat.  Joanna's gift is wisdom, Ingrid's is Hearth, and Freya's gift is love.  Unfortunately, back in the 1600's, the three were told that they could no longer practice magic- they had to live as humans...  So Joanna is a lonely woman, Ingrid works at the local library as an architectural archivist, and Freya is a bartender, engaged to be married to wealthy Bran Gardiner.  Things are going well for the family until Freya's eye is caught by Bran's younger brother at their engagement party.  When Ingrid decides to secretly practice a little magic to help a fellow librarian conceive, things really start to spin out of control, and the events that follow start to look pretty bad for the family.

As I said, this was an excellent novel.  It's advertised as a summer read, and it's really perfect for reading right now, with the end of summer mentality going around.  For me, it's cooler nights, stormy weather, and an air of nostalgia.  Some Blue Bloods characters show up, which is fun, and there is a heavy infusion of Norse mythology, particularly at the end.  It's also refreshing to read the first book in a paranormal series where the paranormal beings already know about their powers!  All three main characters are engaging and likeable.  Joanna is a very motherly figure, and her affection for her housekeeper's young son is endearing.  Ingrid, who might have an unrequited crush, has a sincere desire to help others, and Freya's passion for love and life is energizing and sexy.  My favorite part is when Freya starts to mix up love potions at her bar- I love fancy drinks, and magical ones sound even better!

I'd recommend this to older fans of Blue Bloods- I like this book better, and it's got a positive energy flowing through it. I'm looking forward to the next book!

Music, Love, and a Fateful Porn Shop Meeting: Review of Will Grayson, Will Grayson

Will Grayson, Will Grayson

John Green and David Levithan

YA Contemp Romance

2010

I'm guessing the cover, which is beautiful,
is showing city lights on the night the two Wills meet.

Will Grayson, Will Grayson is the story of two boys, both named Will Grayson, and their struggle to learn to love others and themselves.  John Green and David Levithan each created a character and then had them meet- incidentally at porn shop that neither one was supposed to be at.  This chance encounter brings out different aspects of their personalities as their friends interact and as they compare themselves to each other.

The "first" Will Grayson is a quiet boy with a very loud, very openly gay, very huge best friend named Tiny.  Tiny is a giant football player who falls in and out of love several times each week, and he's working on a musical about his life called Tiny Dancer.  Tiny is the GSA president, and another member, Jane (who at first may be part of the gay or the straight side of the alliance, Will isn't sure), turns out to have awesome taste in music, be very smart, and totally cute to Will.  Can Will discover his place in this group of friends?  Will needs Tiny, but does Tiny need Will?

The "second" Will Grayson is a guy struggling to live with major depression.  Will lives with his mom, who loves him dearly, but clearly has her own problems as well.  He has few friends, none close, except for an online friend named Isaac.  Isaac and Will talk online every night, and they hope to one day meet.  Finally, Will plans to travel to meet Isaac...

I had a hard time getting into this book, but once I got past the first 50 pages, I loved it.  This is an excellent LGBT book about teens, but it's really just a book about LOVE.  Love between parents and kids, love between friends, love between boys and girls, and love between boys and boys.  What is love?  How do you know you are in love?  What will you do for someone who loves you?  Can you make someone love you?

While this book deals with the painful topic of major depression, both Wills are humorous which keeps this from being a depressing read.  There is a dark tone to it, but the use of music lightens things up periodically. The "first" Will Grayson and his friends are into punk/indie music, and they go to a couple of shows and talk about their favorite songs.  A sub-plot of the book is Tiny's production of his musical, including some lyrics, that are super funny while expressing issues and questions surrounding his sexuality and his desire for love (example: a baseball scene with the song "What's Second Base for a Gay Man?").

I LOVE the honesty of this book.  The "second" Will Grayson eloquently expresses his feelings and frustrations with his life and depression: "it's not fair, because i didn't ask for dad to leave, and i didn't ask to be depressed, and i didn't ask for us to have no money, and i didn't ask to want to f--k boys, and i didn't ask to be so stupid, and i didn't ask to have no real friends, and i didn't ask to have half the s--t that comes out of my mouth come out of my mouth.  all i wanted was one f--king break, one idiotic good thing, and that was clearly too much to ask for, too much to want (p. 148)."  Will feels a great sense of injustice that his life is so hard.  He knows he's hurting people, but he doesn't want to, he's just trying to survive with the life he has been given.  I think he wants space, too, space to be himself even if it bothers other people.  He wants those around him to realize that he's hurting and may hurt them, and to love him anyways.

There's a scene when the "first" Will is giving Tiny the silent treatment that I really found insightful.  "It's not even that I want to torture him anymore.  I'm just reveling in the glory of not having to hear the neediness and impotence of my own voice (p.158)."  If you've ever argued with someone who is more loud, more demanding, and more assertive that you, you might identify with Will here.  I know that I do.  There comes a point when you feel so helpless that you don't even want to try to get your point across, and there's power in NOT speaking, because the other person needs you to say something in order for him or her to shut you down.  Will is sick of his relationship with Tiny, and he wants to stop feeding his own need for Tiny.

Bottom line: GREAT read.  I'd highly recommend it to all high school students as well as anyone who likes diverse romance books or books about friendship.  I can't wait to read other books by Green and Levithan.

I checked this book out of my local library.

Library Addiction

 I'll never get all of these books read, but oh well!  I am SO EXCITED to have a copy of Incredibly Alice by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor- new this month!

Review- Chains by Laurie Halse Anderson

WOW!  I only got through four books during vacation, but they were amazing!  My reading time was unexpectedly limited by talkative relatives, but I am so happy with the books I chose to spend my time with.

I read Percy Jackson, books 3 and 4, and they were great- I'm getting book 5 from the library, and I will review the series at the end.

I read a Sophie Kinsella book- review to come!

And for a wild card, I picked up this book, Chains, from my library randomly.  I did not really like Speak, although I certainly agree that it's a wonderful book, so I wasn't sure that Chains would be my style either.

However, I immensely enjoyed this book.  It tells the story of an orphaned slave girl in the northeast during the Revolutionary War.  She and her younger sister are unexpectedly sold to some nuts in New York, and the events that unfold around them are astonishing.

I also liked the use of actual quotes from primary sources of the day that precede each chapter- these included letters, newspaper comments, etc.

Anderson's writing in this book is exceptional- the word choice was amazing, the imagery was rich, and the book was full of both pain and hope, with plenty of humor as well.

I would recommend this book to anyone, male or female.  5 stars- and I can't wait to read the next one in the SERIES!

LIBRARY ADDICTION CONFESSION TIME!

So last night, I went back to the library and came out with these books, most of which were on hold for me.  I obviously did not intend for then to arrive at the same time.

Have you read any of these?

LIBRARY ADDICTION CONFESSION TIME!

Like many of you out there, I have way too many TBR books to actually read.  It's becoming embarrassing.  I'm a full time student teacher also taking 6-10 hours of night/Saturday classes depending on the week, and I teach youth at my church and tutor to make ends meet.  Yet somehow I thought it was a great idea to not only BUY a bunch of books, but to check out the following from the library:

Current Library Stack

OH WAIT- but I just checked and two books have come in for me!

Now, I could try to renew most of these, but then other people won't have access to them.  Also, I want to finish Mockingjay as soon as possible both so I can know what happens and so other people can read it!  

Does anyone else have an irrational hoarding behavior with regard to library books?