Review: Vivian Divine is Dead

VIVIAN DIVINE IS DEAD
Lauren Sabel
Young Adult/Mystery
288 pages
Katherine Tegen Books
Available Now
Source: ARC from publisher for review

THE STORY (from Goodreads)
When a death threat arrives with teen celebrity Vivian Divine's fan mail, Vivian has no choice but to go on the run to Mexico. She soon discovers, though, that her Oscar-nominated performance killing villains on-screen did nothing to prepare her for escaping a madman in real life. Some people say he's a hero, others tremble in his presence, but one thing is clear: he won't stop until Vivian is in his grasp. Why didn't she pay more attention during those judo lessons for her role in Zombie Killer?

Vivian finds an ally in the mysterious and charming Nick. He is everything Hollywood boys are not-genuine, kind, and determined to see Vivian for who she really is. But even he seems like he can't be trusted-what could he be hiding?

Beat up, hungry, and more confused than ever about who she's running from, Vivian is living in a real-life blockbuster horror flick. But there's no option to yell "cut" like there is on set....

MY THOUGHTS
The synopsis of Vivian Divine is Dead gives the impression that the story spilled across the pages will be a sort of entertaining romp (despite the seriousness of Vivian’s recent family tragedies) full of romance, action, and a little mystery thrown in for good measure. What we find when we crack the spine though is a tale that desperately wants to live up to that impression but unfortunately never quite manages to do so. Vivian’s adventure south of the border as she goes into hiding exists in a strange type of literary limbo – not pushed far enough to venture into the territory of satire, allowing us to smirk our way through the story as we completely suspend disbelief, but just serious enough that we can’t even bring ourselves to laugh at the more ridiculous moments.

Vivian is a young starlet who at first glance doesn’t seem to be someone who buys into her own press, but once she gets to Mexico she lets her famous flag fly a bit and has us rolling our eyes as she sticks up her nose at certain people and things. To be fair, her attitude doesn’t last too long, but she remains a character lacking in substance, with no pieces of herself made available to us as readers so we can feel fully involved in her story. She falls for Nick appallingly quickly despite just having her heart broken by someone else, and she then proceeds to question him at every turn before forgiving him only to repeat the process all over again.

The romance doesn’t play a large role however, so the up and down of their relationship is fairly easy to tuck away in the back of our minds as we attempt to give the remainder of the story a chance to impress. Much to our disappointment though, the intentional craziness of her journey to Mexico and the over the top twists and turns remain as far from our emotional grasp as Vivian herself does, entertaining us on a more superficial level without giving us that bit of something extra to leave us with a much-craved pleasant satisfaction after reading.

Overall, Vivian Divine is Dead, while certainly well-written, is a story full to bursting with unfulfilled promise, and though we’re left with the feeling that Vivian’s story isn’t over just yet, it’s difficult to work up a great deal of enthusiasm to revisit her character in the future. Having said that however, Ms. Sabel has an easy, fluid writing style that makes Vivian Divine easily devourable in a single sitting, and though my experience with this particular story was a rocky one, I look forward to seeing what she brings to life moving forward.

Rating: 2/5

Find Lauren:

Website • Facebook • Twitter • Goodreads • Amazon

This book was sent to me by the publisher free of charge for the purpose of a review. 

I received no other compensation and the above is my honest opinion.

Review: Halflings

HALFLINGS (Halflings #1)
Heather Burch
Paranormal Young Adult
288 pages
Zondervan Publishing
Available Now
Received from publisher for review

THE STORY (from Goodreads)
After being inexplicably targeted by an evil intent on harming her at any cost, seventeen-year-old Nikki finds herself under the watchful guardianship of three mysterious young men who call themselves halflings. Sworn to defend her, misfits Mace, Raven, and Vine battle to keep Nikki safe while hiding their deepest secret—and the wings that come with.

A growing attraction between Nikki and two of her protectors presents a whole other danger. While she risks a broken heart, Mace and Raven could lose everything, including their souls. As the mysteries behind the boys’ powers, as well as her role in a scientist’s dark plan, unfold, Nikki is faced with choices that will affect the future of an entire race of heavenly beings, as well as the precarious equilibrium of the earthly world.

MY THOUGHTS
With Halflings we literally hit the ground running, dropped into the story as our heroine is fleeing a quartet of hellhounds intent on torturing and maiming her for reasons we can only guess. The story continues to progress at a fairly quick clip with Nikki constantly running afoul of trouble of the supernatural variety, and while events happen swiftly one after the other, the mythology of the halflings sent to protect her as well as the mystery of why Nikki even requires protection unfolds a bit slowly and not altogether clearly. Despite our confusion and the fact that fallen angels are certainly nothing new to young adult literature, Ms. Burch’s halflings are an intriguing addition to the already existing mix, their half-fallen angel, half-human status making them outcasts of both Heaven and earth, destined to constantly battle for those who refuse to accept them as one of their own.

When the first chapter has Nikki bravely facing down the nightmarish hounds without so much as a whimper of fear, we can’t help but smile to ourselves and prepare to fully support a girl with an iron will and a strong survival instinct. Unfortunately, though we are told repeatedly that Nikki has been thoroughly trained in martial arts and can more than handle herself, we almost never see her put those skills to use, instead one of the halfling boys always seems to swoop in and pluck her from danger’s desperate grasp. This fact does get acknowledged about halfway through, with Raven offering to teach her to defend herself, but even after their one brief session it’s still difficult to fully believe in Nikki’s ability to do any harm as we really never see her try.

Additionally, though we are prepared for a love triangle based on the synopsis, the key points of the shape itself never seem to truly form, with Mace being the primary interest (which is perfectly fine, the less of an actual triangle there is, the better in my opinion) and Raven acting as the quintessential bad boy giving the good boy a half-hearted run for his money when it comes to the girl. As with Nikki’s defense skills, we’re simply told she has feelings for both boys, but at no point do we feel the chemistry ourselves, the relationship between the three of them remaining a flat piece of unblemished glass, missing those scrapes, scratches and cracks that make things so much more interesting and beautiful for the imperfections. The dirt, the grit, and the darkness are missing even though we read words that tell us those elements are present, and we’re left with characters who are clean and shiny and a bit less memorable as a result.

The consistently fast pace of this tale has us reaching the last page in record time, yet after reading the last sentences we realize that despite the nearly 300 pages we’ve just devoured, we don’t know that much more about Nikki or the halflings than when we started. Obviously in a series not every little detail can be revealed in the first book or logically the subsequent books would have nowhere to go, however, the final chapters are a bit of a jumble of love, loss, and nagging questions that leave us wishing a little more time had been taken here and there to help guide us through a world that has the potential to be infinitely fascinating.

Rating: 2/5

Review: Red Riding Hood

RED RIDING HOOD
Sarah Blakley-Cartwright
Paranormal Young Adult
329 Pages
Poppy/Little, Brown
Available Now
Received from publisher for review

THE STORY
Violet has always been the quieter sister, the one who keeps to herself and stays comfortably in the shadow of dynamic, older Lucie. She lives in a quiet town, but once a month a selected family has to make a sacrifice to the Wolf so that they may live the remainder of the month in peace.

Violet's quiet, albeit unusual, world is changed entirely with the return of her childhood friend Peter and the gruesome death of her sister. While the town is in an uproar over the death of one of its own, Violet finds herself increasingly attracted to Peter despite both his pauper status and her parents' announcement she is to be engaged to the blacksmith's wealthy son Henry.

When the Wolf continues attacking during the blood moon, the town entreats help of a professional werewolf slayer who informs them the werewolf is surely someone living in the village– someone among them. Violet finds herself in the midst of the chaos when the townspeople learn the Wolf can speak directly to her, her feelings for both Peter and Henry intensifying just as she is offered up as a sacrifice to end the bloodshed.

MY THOUGHTS
Red Riding Hood is yet another retelling of a classic story, one with a lot of intensity and violence that makes for a quick read, but it's one whose reimagining isn't quite as strong as its predecessors. With certain books, the characters are so vivid and vibrant it seems as though when we touch the pages our fingers may come in contact with cloth or skin, the individuals about whom we're reading so real there ceases to be a line dividing our world from theirs, and our lives blend together for the duration of the tale. With this story however, our skin brushes merely paper pages, our emotions skittering across the black ink without ever truly seeping in to create that valued bond, and so this book remains simply an inanimate object to us rather than an anthropomorphic entity promising us a journey we can't wait to undertake again and again.

Valerie is a difficult character to understand at times, the reasons for her preferred solitary existence never truly explained to us other than it's simply the way she is, but this small omission is highlighted by her sudden transformation into a social butterfly with the return of Peter and the sudden interest of Henry. As is so common with young adult romance lately, she finds herself instantly in love with the boy she once knew–so much so she's prepared to run away with him hours after his return and despite his ten year long absence. While instant attraction is certainly believable sometimes, even more so with an old childhood friend, the speed with which she's prepared to uproot herself and leave behind her family is highly questionable and a bit off-putting. While we certainly can see Peter's appeal, their interactions pulse with none of the tension forbidden love usually creates, and we feel only fleeting tingles now and then before they fade and we are left alone even though Valerie and Peter are still with us on the page.

There is certainly enough action and mystery in this story to offset an inexplicable romance, but the lack of concrete answers to any of our questions serves to solidify our somewhat indifferent reaction to the book in general. We close the back cover wondering if we actually care enough to look up the real ending or "bonus chapter"–something that isn't printed in the book itself but can only be found online (and wasn't available until the film's release date). With any mystery, there are going to be questions raised along the way, but with Red Riding Hood our curiosity is a heavy burden to bear, the weight of our questions constant and crushing as the gift of knowledge is never offered to lighten our load. Valerie's sister is slain and found with an unreadable note in her hand, but never do we learn what it might have said or who could have written it. The girls' grandmother clearly knows more about the Wolf than she lets on, but yet never does she reveal her thoughts on the matter. And while we have a suspect for the Wolf, we are denied the certainty of our suspicions, left with an ending where our minds are blank save for the presence of a single question mark–a symbol that adequately sums up our entire reaction to this book.

Red Riding Hood is an entertaining read despite its flaws, though it will perhaps be more successful as a film where our visual senses will no doubt be delighted and may allow us to forget some of the elements that so frustrate us in this written form.

Rating: 2/5