Switch

Claire is special. Lightning causes her to sometimes switch bodies with other girls whose birthdays are close to hers. She was lucky to learn about this from her grandmother, a ghost/spirit who’s been around all Claire’s life- since her own death before Claire’s birth. Her grandmother’s story is intriguing- revealed later in the story to Claire for the first time. But her role in the story is to inhabit Claire’s body when Claire leaves it so that Claire will be able to return to herself safely. She can only do that when asleep. So it is extremely odd  (and a little hard to believe, even when you are suspending disbelief) when a mere shock of static electricity puts her in another girl’s body. And she can’t leave because she actually likes being the attractive girl that all the boys stare at, especially her swim teammate Nate, the Golden Boy. Eventually, she learns to appreciate her own body and life more than the one she’s been inhabiting for several days, as she learns the bad things about the other girl’s body and life.  Nice tidy story with a happy ending.  And a pretty good read in the meantime- light and definitely beach worthy as the setting is a coastal town.

Latest book in fantasy series

The Icemark Chronicles didn't make a very big splash, although I'm not sure why. I do believe that fantasy either appeals to a reader or it doesn't. And the fans of fantasy are a minority of the readers out there. But they are die hard fans. And this series will feed them, because they always want series and they love big books! I read the first two in the series and this is the third one. I have enjoyed all three, although this one probably the least of the three. Thirrin, the heroine of both books one and two, spends less time in the spotlight in favor of two of her daughters, one the heiress to the throne, and the other a sorceress condemned to the strange underworld of this fantasy land. All three tell the story at different times during the novel, but so do some of the male or seemingly minor characters. The continual switches might actually be confusing to some readers. However, what readers may enjoy more in this installment is the deliberation and philosophizing about the nature of good and evil. What readers will enjoy about this series as a whole, is the combination of strong characters, strange creatures, war, magic, and love. It makes for a great read for girls and boys.

Fantasy Watch

Since fantasy is my favorite genre, I frequently have new fantasy books that I want to talk about, so here's a few I've read recently. As a side note, I think some of these fall into a new cross-genre: horror/fantasy. Or is that gothic? I'm sure there is nothing new under the sun...

Immortal by Gillian Shields
On her way to a new boarding school, Evie meets a mysterious boy who she later begins to have nighttime outings with. But there are dozens of things going on that she can't explain-like the girl whose place in the school she took, recently drowned in the nearby lake, a girl she can sometimes see that looks exactly like her but old-fashioned,the inexplicable aloofness of the one other scholarship girl at school, why the boy she's falling in love with refuses to see her in the daytime or introduce her to his parents. She's almost driven to insanity when other girls help her realize that she has latent powers that are the key to all the mysteries she's encountered.

Fragile Eternity by Melissa Marr
If you enjoyed Wicked Lovely, put this book on hold! Wicked Lovely is a story of twisted love when the Summer King of the fairies chooses mortal Asilinn to be his Queen. In between these two is the story of one of Aislinn's friends who is victimized by an nefarious fairy- Ink Exchange. But it digresses. Fragile Eternity picks up the story of the Summer King and Queen again. Their tenuous agreement to let Aislinn keep her mortal boyfriend is put to the test as the summer draws near and their powers rule them. Is she destined to be her king's true consort, or can her mortal find his own way to intervene? This was a book I just couldn't put down.

Prophecy of the Sisters by Michelle Zink
This title is on the Lone Star list for next year. A tale of two sisters, one evil and one good. But after their father's death, Lia finds a book with a prophecy that she can't ignore. Partly that's because of the snake mark etching itself to life on her wrist and a matching medallion given to her by a strange girl. The mystery of the prophecy is something she must work to discover while keeping it secret from her twin. But beware reader, all is not as it seems.