Blog Tour: Hysteria by Megan Miranda

Hello everyone and welcome to the Triple Threat Blog Tour hosted by Bloomsbury! This stop is my review for the newly released sophomore album, Hysteria by Megan Miranda.

Published February 5th by Walker Childrens
egalley provided by for review from netgalley
2 Stars

Goodreads Review
Mallory killed her boyfriend, Brian. She can't remember the details of that night but everyone knows it was self-defense, so she isn't charged. But Mallory still feels Brian's presence in her life. Is it all in her head? Or is it something more? In desperate need of a fresh start, Mallory is sent to Monroe, a fancy prep school where no one knows her . . . or anything about her past.But the feeling follows her, as do her secrets. Then, one of her new classmates turns up dead. As suspicion falls on Mallory, she must find a way to remember the details of both deadly nights so she can prove her innocence-to herself and others. In another riveting tale of life and death, Megan Miranda's masterful storytelling brings readers along for a ride to the edge of sanity and back again.

Review:  I really enjoyed Megan Miranda's debut novel, Fracture, and I was really looking forward to her sophomore novel Hysteria.  I thought the premise of this book was really great, but the execution was really lacking and sometimes just confusing.

While I liked the mystery surrounding the murder of Mallory's boyfriend, I found the reaction of her parents to be completely unbelievable.  I just can't believe that only a few months after being attacked and forced to kill her boyfriend in self defense that Mallory's parents would send her to boarding school alone.  Girl needs therapy, not being sent away from everyone who loves her.  No I'm sorry, but that is ignorant at best and in my opinion down right negligent.  I have a really hard time believing that her parents would just ship her off, regardless of the social stigma in their home town.

And let's talk for a minute about the whole boarding school plot.  (Without spoilers)  It just did not work for me.  All of the girl characters felt basically the same and I had a really hard time telling them apart.  I felt like their motivations for their actions were really unsupported, especially later in the book where things got so melodramatic it almost turned to comedy.  I thought it was a useless plot device that would have work just as well (or better) if we could have just stayed in her home town.

Then there's the actual murder "mystery".  There's really no mystery at all.  We find out at the very beginning that Mallory murdered her boyfriend.  Without spoiling the story let me just say that there really isn't anything more to this story and there is no twist at the end.  I was really disappointed with the lack of actual mystery. 

I really didn't understand Reid's character either.  Why did he even like Mallory?  Maybe he liked her when they were 14, but that was years ago and a lot has changed.  Also, did he know about her murdering her ex?  I feel like that would be something you would hear about and if I were Reid I would not be in a hurry to start a relationship with someone with such a bad track record. 

Really the only good thing about Hysteria and the only reason this didn't get a one star was Mallory and Colleen's friendship.  They were there for each other, willing to literally carry them when the other was too weak to walk.  I love reading about girls who are friends with other girls who support and are loyal to each other.  Those types of relationships are really important to YA literature and I thought Colleen and Mallory were great friends.

Overall Hysteria was a great premise that was not presented well.  It was like a collection of great ideas with no connecting plot to tie it all together.  There was so much potential for something great, but sadly Hysteria just did not deliver.

Blog Tour: Dance of Shadows by Yelena Black

 

Hello everyone and welcome to the Triple Threat Blog Tour hosted by Bloomsbury!  This stop is my review for the newly released debut, Dance of Shadows by Yelena Black. 

 

 

Published February 12, 2013 by Bloomsbury USA Children's Book

#1 in the Dance of Shadows series
egalley provided for review by netgalley
3 Stars


Goodreads Review
Dancing with someone is an act of trust. Elegant and intimate; you're close enough to kiss, close enough to feel your partner's heartbeat. But for Vanessa, dance is deadly – and she must be very careful who she trusts . . .

Vanessa Adler attends an elite ballet school – the same one her older sister, Margaret, attended before she disappeared. Vanessa feels she can never live up to her sister's shining reputation. But Vanessa, with her glorious red hair and fair skin, has a kind of power when she dances – she loses herself in the music, breathes different air, and the world around her turns to flames . . .

Soon she attracts the attention of three men: gorgeous Zep, mysterious Justin, and the great, enigmatic choreographer Josef Zhalkovsky. When Josef asks Vanessa to dance the lead in the Firebird, she has little idea of the danger that lies ahead – and the burning forces about to be unleashed . . .

Review:  I was really excited when I first found out about Dance of Shadows last summer.  I really love ballet stuff (Center Stage, Dance Academy, So You Think You Can Dance, even Dance Moms!) and I was really excited to see how the paranormal aspects would be woven into the ballet story.  While I think there were some really interested ideas in Dance of Shadows, I though they were presented in obvious and uninteresting ways.

Let me start of by thanking Bloomsbury and netgalley for the chance to read Dance of Shadows early and to participate in the blog tour, but unfortunately I don't have a lot of positive things to say.  The best part of Dance of Shadows is the cover, so be prepared.

I didn't think any of the characters were that memorable.  Vanessa, the main character is pretty oblivious throughout. She had this blind faith in certain characters but her relationships with them were never really all that developed so I didn't understand her devotion to them.  She also, and I hate to say this, was a bit of a mary sue (ugh that's so bad but it's true).  She doesn't want to be good at dance, she doesn't love it, but she's instantly the most special snowflake dancer.  Ballet is HARD AS BALLS.  Even the most naturally gifted dancers have to work their asses off, and frankly this book makes all of their dedication to the craft a bit of a joke.  She also instantly makes a ton of friends (who serve no other purpose other than being Vanessa's friends, they have no back story or anything else interesting going on) and instantly draws the attention of the hottest dancer in school (who is really a big jerk face but for some reason Vanessa is just in love with him for....reasons).  It's all just a little too easy for her in my opinion.

The other big issue I had was the pacing of the book.  The mystery was just dragged out at a snails pace for 70% of the book and then it was like all of a sudden they realized they were 300 pages in and nothing had really happened yet so the ending was a huge flux of information and crazy events that took place a ludicrous speed (almost went to plaid!).

 

Now, with all of that said, I still really liked this book.  I liked the premise and I really liked all the crazy stuff that happened at the end, I just wish the pacing was better and the characters were smarter.  I mean, how did NO ONE notice that so many ballet dancers were missing?  How did Elly or Chloe's parents not notice?  Whose parents don't call their teenaged daughter in months?  If it were my kid I'd be freaking the eff out.  While I was intrigued by the people and events that were hinted at for coming books in the series, I do think it could have all been completed in one book and not dragged out. 

Overall I thought Dance of Shadows had an interesting premise but poor delivery which may be the most disappointing type of novel.  I think with a lot more editing Dance of Shadows could have been really good.  Even though I had major issues with the book I was intrigued enough to want to read the sequel if one is published.