Review of Tattoo, by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

Just got this cranked out this morning with enough time to get ready for work this afternoon. Enjoy! 

Review of Tattoo by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

This book was technically my first foray into the world of teen, or Young Adult (YA) books. It was also the first ARC (Advanced Reader’s Copy) that I ever picked up from the break room at work. I was intrigued by it because, frankly, the cool cover featuring a “tramp stamp” tattoo of the title on a girl’s back. And since I have a tattoo, it doubly intrigued me.

Tattoo is about a Bailey and her three friends, Delia, Annabelle, and Zo, who get temporary tattoos from a kiosk in the mail as they are trying on dresses for their school’s dance. The four friends each have their own personalities that you’d think would keep them from being friends, but they somehow keep their friendship: Delia is the beautiful, popular one; Annabelle is the quiet, bookish one; Zo is the rough, tomboy; and Bailey seems to be the “average” girl who’s only distinguishing feature is her naturally multi-colored hair. Now, back to the tattoos. After much arguing, Delia convinces the girls to wear the temporary tattoos by really just placing them on the other three without truly asking, signally the discussion was over.

After the tattoos are on, the girls start to exhibit strange powers. Bailey has strange dreams that seem to be signaling something bad is coming soon. On top of strange dreams, she can start fires; Zo can see the future; Annabelle can control people; and Delia can turn objects into other things. The girls are naturally confused and scared as to why they have these powers, but the answers may lie in Bailey’s dreams. It seems there are other supernatural forces converging that will put the world in danger, and they are converging fast. It turns out that ancient supernatural beings, known as Sidhe, are in the middle of a power struggle, and taking it out on the humans; one of the Sidhe is stealing souls from innocent humans. It’s up to Bailey and her friends to stop the Sidhe from hurting humans and restoring balance.

This book is a quick read, and a fun one. It has your WB… or I guess it's CW now... vibe of One Tree Hill or other such teen-geared shows, where the seemingly mismatched group of friends have to overcome their own personality differences to work together to save the day. Through the level-headed narration of Bailey, the story flows well with a mixture of teens off to save the world action and scenes of teen girls just trying to make it to the dance on time to dance with the boys of their dreams. Thankfully, the four girls learn from their supernatural adventure, their tangle with the Sidhe affecting them and how they see the world as the book wraps up. The girls have grown and the way it’s set up, you know that a sequel is in the works. And the sequel, Fate, indeed was written to help bring some closure to the world of Bailey and friends. The sequel follows Bailey and her friends as their lives continue to change and evolve during high school, as well as the after effects of their encounters with the Sidhe. I'm certainly going to seek out the sequel, since I don't like to leave series half-read and loose ends untied. 

I recommend this book because it shows how strong girls can be. Unlike another popular teen girl series *cough*Twilight*cough* where the lead girl, when you boil away all the “romance” and “we’re fated to be together” crap, the girl just goes along for the ride while the man makes all the decisions and controls her. But here, Bailey and her friends take matters into their own hands and work on saving the world. It’s also a good book for those teens/kids who are reluctant readers. Having worked at Barnes & Noble, I met many parents and their kids who were struggling to find something to read. This is a good book to get them started with. It’s not too long, so the thickness of the book won’t scare the kids away; and it’s a fun supernatural book that’s a fun departure from the vampires, werewolves, and witches that seem to be plaguing the bookshelves nowadays.

So I recommend this book, for adults and teens alike, as a fun, fast read for the summer days ahead. On my scale of 1 (literary hari kari) to 10 (literary orgasmic bliss), I rate Tattoo a solid 7. Go pick it up for summer vacation today!


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So here's the updated list of my books to review, so far:

• Dead of Night
• Crooked Little Vein (4-11-12)
• Homer's Odyssey (3-26-12)
• Crimson City Series
• Circle of Heck series (thus far) (4-8-12)
• Joe Ledger series (thus far)  (3-27-12)
• Mutant Island series 
• Double Booked for Death (3-15-12)
• Family Affair
• Sacre Bleu
• How I Paid for College
• Attack of the Theater People!
• Liberty
• Tattoo (Jennifer Barnes) (4-30-12)

I'm having a bookgasm!

Remember this review of Heck: Where the Bad Kids Go? 


Well, it got some attention from Dale E. Basye over on the Twitter. And after a few Tweets back and forth between the author and I, he offered to autograph my copies of Heck, Rapacia, and Limbo if I'd mail them to him (with return postage). Really!? Awesome. I did so, and waited for about a week in giddy anticipation for a box full of books to show up on my doorstep. 


Today, my patience was rewarded. I got a box from Mr. Basye today! I scrambled inside to open the box, and once I did...

I found a fourth book added to my original three! Dale E. Basye sent along a signed hardback copy of Fibble!! *le squeeee!* I proceeded to scream like a loon---scaring my cats in the process---and dig through the book to see the scrawl of an author's hand.

The message inside Fibble

And look... here's another drawing inside Book Four:

Not a great picture, it says: "Me draw reel gude!"

Well, if that was in one book... what's in the others...?

What's that drawn into the O? A cat's butt! HA!

Is that me... entering the Third Circle of Blimpo!? Not sure how I feel about that...

Written in the front of Book Two

Look! It's me! I'm in Book One! I'm a Heck demon.

Yeah... I'm extremely happy. These are going to go on my bookshelf and stay there, untouched, so that they stay all nice and pristine. When I get a book signed, I revere them with a higher esteem than my other books. I have a few other signed books scattered around my bookshelves, and I'm not ashamed to say that those are the jewels of my shelves. But these four? Such attention to quirky and personalized signing bumps them way up in the "special" realm of my bookshelf. 

A big thank you to Dale E. Basye for offering to sign my books and being way awesome in giving me a hardcover Fibble book! So awesome. I can't wait to read it and get a review up here for the world to read. 

So yeah... just had to share my giddy bookgasm and geek out over my presents today.

Passion for the Written Word

I had two of my close friends out to the farm to hang out and catch up tonight, and as we got ready to say goodnight we get into a bit of a book discussion. This discussion was brought on by my one friend, Krista, mentioning that she wants to see Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter when it comes out in theaters in June. Then that led me to exclaim that she needed to read it before she sees it, so then I quickly jump up to grab it off my book shelf. That leads me to then go on about other books that I read that had been real game changers for me, such as Lamb and why AL:VH is far superior to Grahame-Smith's best book and why Lamb is Christopher Moore's... and it went on and on for quite a long time; with me getting very animated over the books, my friend Katy says that she enjoys watching me talk about books...


And then I realized something...


I'm really going to miss working at Barnes & Noble. I'm going to have to find something to fill in that hole of being around books and talking about them. Krista recommended that I start a book club, and I love that idea. I did try to start a book club a few years ago, but it fell apart before it even got off the ground. So hopefully, if I try it again, I'd get it a better outcome than before. 


So yeah... I miss books.




UPDATE: 4-23-12 628pm
I realized that when I wrote this last night, I was a little tired, so I forgot the truly main part of my post. 


I really first realized I was going to miss Barnes & Noble and being around all those books was one of the last times I recommended a favorite book of mine to a customer. It was Rot & Ruin and I really sold it to this guy... maybe a bit too much. I got really into it and was explaining why it was so awesome and why he had to read it and I started describing this one scene that just really creeped me out but also was very heart-breaking at the same time---and the guy cut me off, telling me I was revealing too much of the book. *le gasp* I was being a spoiler! Noo! 


But that episode really made me do a gut-check when the guy walked away... that was going to be one of the last time I would be able to share my overwhelming intrusive strange love of books with people. So I think because I'm going to miss that awesome experience of sharing books, I'm going to start a book club. Yeah. 


And if might even be broadcast on Skype! ;) 

Paycheck Friday!

It's Friday! The end of the work week and a time to unwind... but also that magical time of the week when you get an extra cha-ching in your bank account. So what will you spend those green backs burning a hole in your wallet on? Or are you one of those people who likes to save up money for some big splurge? 

I have an every growing list of books to purchase, as many of you bibliophiles have as well. But now that I don't work at a bookstore anymore, my list has stalled out a little. I'm actually going to have to start whittling down my stack of books that I have accumulated before I buy any more. Although there is one at the end of the month that I want to purchase, and paperback version of Fibble: The Fourth Circle of Heck. I need to go through my list of book release dates, but I think I'm good until about June for any other must-have purchases coming out. 


But that doesn't mean my shopping list is on hold until then, you have another thing coming. Sadly, I am also a big movie/TV nut, and there are a few DVD box sets that have come up on my radar as must-haves as well. I found out that a favorite show of mine, Eureka, is starting it's last season this Monday. *le sob* Of course, I'm not all caught up on the recent season. I need to go out and get season 4.0 and 4.5 to catch up on all the awesomeness that I missed out on not having cable for over 2 years. Grrr. Thankfully there have been three book-tie-ins that have helped fill in my Eureka withdrawal. I have each of these books, read #1 & #2, except for the 3rd one, so I have something to read before Season 5 of Eureka to come out on DVD, since knowing me and my luck, I won't be able to watch all of the last season on TV. Now I will have 3 if not 4 DVD box sets to purchase, since Eureka likes to do the .0 and .5 versions of things. 

So much to purchase. So few paydays.


What are you going to blow your paycheck on? Sound off in the comments!

Crooked Little Vein Review

There are not enough words in the English language to describe how epic this book is. But I will do my best. Being a fan of Ellis' other works, I was as excited as a kid in a candy store about reading it, and on the day I bought it, I thought I'd get home after closing at work and sit down and read a few chapters and then go to bed. I started reading it at 1130pm... and finished reading it at 345am. I could simply not put it down.

Vol 1 of Transmet

Crooked Little Vein is the first novel from Warren Ellis, the same great mind who brought us the Transmetropolitan, The Authority, Fell, and Planetary graphic novel series, as well as numerous stand-alone issues of X-Men, Scarlet Avengers, Storm Watch and Batman comics. And probably many more that I don't know about. If you don't know about Mr. Ellis, if you head out to left field and then dig a 50 ft hole in the ground, you'll find him. He has a definite voice that is all his own, and may not be for everyone. If you're easily offended or disturbed, Crooked Little Vein may not be for you. If you find a copy of it on a bookstore shelf (it's in the mystery section), and read the author blurbs on the back of the book, you'll get an small idea of what type of literary ride you're going to be taken on. But if you want to read something that is deliciously deviant, perverse and makes you think while it takes aim at the "Old Boys' Club" of American politics, then this book is for you. 


Crooked Little Vein is a great story about Michael McGill, a down-and-out private investigator who gets head-hunted by some mysterious government men and send him on a cross country trip in search for the second real Constitution that the U.S. government has kept hidden from the public since the inception of the country. The state of the country has steadily gone downhill and the Powers That Be in the capitol have decided to dig it up and use it to get the country back on track. However... the Powers That Be have lost their special Constitution. And that's where Michael comes in. For reasons that even Michael doesn't even fully understand, the government wants him to go find it. Suddenly Michael is sent on a twisted trip into the deepest, darkest, most perverse levels of the American underground. He teams up with an unconventional partner who helps him navigate the skanky underbelly of the American Dream. I wish I could explain more about what exactly Michael saw and experienced... but that would take all the fun out of the book. The only thing I'll say is: saline-injected scrotum. 

READ. IT. NOW.

Yeah. You read that right. 


The perversity of the book, the unnerving topics and insinuations that Ellis makes in the book have been proven to be a little more relevant in today's government and cultural climate than even when the book was published (original publication 2007). The things that he puts in his book about crooked politicians and uber secret government conspiracies, and the government having free reign (or seemingly having free reign), can be seen in today's governmental theater and how the American people are turning on the current government leaders. Leave it to an outsider, a Englishman, to  point out the flaws, out-side-looking-in perceptions, and realities of the American political landscape. Much like how Ellis has many politicians in the book who have secret lives that go contrary to their political platforms (how many sanctity of marriage Republicans have been found to have secret mistresses and love children?), this is an amazing fictionalized look at how not everything is all peaches and cream in our Capitol building. As entertaining and compelling as this book is, it makes you take a step back and think about what's going on around you. Ellis has seems to put a political undertone, or in some cases, overtone in most of his works; using the novel or comic medium to entertain as well as make the reader be aware and think about the world beyond their little sphere. 


I cannot recommend this book highly enough. It is certainly not for everyone, but if you think you're brave enough for Warren Ellis, he will do you right. If you know and are a fan of Ellis and haven't tried his novels yet (yes, I said novels, he has a new one Gun Machine coming out in August of this year), then you will be fine moving into his new medium. 


On my scale of 1 (literary hari kari) to 10 (literary orgasmic bliss), I give this book a very strong 9.8. 


You need to read it. Plain and simple.

Review of The Circles of Heck series (thus far)

This series caught my attention because I'm of a different breed. I'm a little morbid, a little twisted, and because of that I am drawn to things of like nature; like monsters, vampires, zombies, horror, scary/twisted tales of humanity gone wrong. So when I saw the first book of this series, Heck: Where the Bad Kids Go laying on a table at Barnes & Noble, I gravitated towards it like a moth to the flame. What I got once I started the first book was a crazy mix of humor and satire, horror and play-on-words, and a strange element of religious undertones, all in skewed version of The Divine Comedy disguised as a children's series.

Let me explain. 

Heck: Where the Bad Kids Go introduces us to Milton and Marlo Fauster, a brother and sister who, through strange circumstances involving an exploding marshmallow bear, find themselves dying and ending up in Heck. Heck is the waiting room limbo where young souls go to wait until they "age" to 18. Once they are 18, they either go to Heaven or Hell. Heck is a multi-leveled plane that is very similar to school in the living plane. With a principal named Bea "Elsa" Bubb (Get it? Say it together fast.), Richard Nixon as the ethics teacher, and Lizzie Borden the home economics teacher, each page and chapter is ripe with play-on-words, satire, and strange twists on all things religion. And not just the Christian religion: we have Anubis, the sorter of souls who is really just a big black lab; we have The Big Guy Downstairs who is the Devil, but he's more like a crooked businessman; and the Powers that Be Good and Evil, an all-encompassing term for all entities, deities, and pantheons on either side of the scale. Milton and Marlo try to make sense of the place they have now found themselves in, as well as trying to escape. Milton knows he doesn't belong in Heck because he was caught in the exploding marshmallow fiasco as an innocent bystander. The marshmallow fiasco was all Marlo's fault, and being that she was always getting into trouble back on the living plane so she definitely belongs in the world of Heck. Heck is also known as Limbo, where time and space has no control and where Basye really starts to bring out the amazing level of writing and sophistication that is often overlooked in children's books. Marlo and Milton travel through varies areas of Limbo and see the desperation, loneliness, and helplessness some of the children trapped in Limbo go through, never knowing they will forever be stuck in a constant loop of disappointing events. The emotional and mental depth of these parts of the book hit me to the core and shook me out of the silliness of the beginning of the book. 

The second book in the series, Rapacia: The Second Circle of Heck, finds the Fauster children split up and attempting to navigate the world of Heck on their own. Marlo is sent to the next Circle of Heck, Rapacia, a land of greed ruled by a crazy metal/robotic rabbit known as the Grabbit. Milton is struggling to find his way back to his sister to save her from Heck, all while trying to figure out a hidden plot that Bea "Elsa" Bubb is trying to keep hidden from the other Powers That Be Evil and the Powers That Be Good. At the end of Heck, Milton was able to escape from the world of Limbo (spoiler!) but knew he had to get back. Through strange, honestly creepy, and hilarious methods that involve a creepy death cult and a weird machine to harness the kinetic energy of his pet ferret, Milton transports back to the plane of Heck. While Milton is making his way to Marlo, his sister is struggling to fight her naturally devious nature and not succumb to the glittery temptations of this level. The Grabbit, drawn to her because of her greedy nature, takes Marlo under his metallic paw and grooms her to steal the most precious item in all of Heck. Multiple levels of intrigue and scandal pile on top of what was implied in the first volume, making the reader wonder what is behind all the creepy smoke and mirrors of this spectral boarding school. Again, Basye's trademark play-on-words, satire and twisted humor are present on each page, and only grows with every chapter, as well as the gut-check moments and personal growth of the characters in still there as well, and it only grows with each book.  

With the third book, Basye takes the reader on a crazy ride through the third level of Heck, Blimpo. In this world, the fat children of Heck are sent here to be tormented by all the things that caused them to be overweight and in most cases was the trigger of their demise. Ruled by a king that is a big, greasy pile of cooked hamburger and a queen who is a frosty treat on a cone (if you don't get the reference, then I'm sorry---you can't read my blog anymore), they force the overweight ghost children to run in large hamster wheels, chasing images of food and treats in a strange virtual reality torture chamber. Again, Milton travels to another level of Heck to help out his friends. In Limbo, Milton met an overweight soul and they became fast friends, and now his friend is trapped in a food-filed nightmare. Elsewhere in Heck, Marlo has been put into a fast-track program of interning for The Evil Guy Downstairs. After the events in Rapacia, Marlo garnered the attention of The Devil himself and got her put into her internship program. Now she is navigating the back-stabbing world of office politics, driven women, and a cat-snake supervisor who makes Marlo's life h-e-double hockey sticks. Again, in an attempt to help his friend escape this Circle of Heck, Milton digs deeper into the secrets that Bea "Elsa" Bubb is struggling to keep hidden from those deities who are in a higher pay-level and are more powerful than her. And now the Fauster siblings are caught up in another fisaco (which this time is all Milton's fault) that leaves Marlo being sent to the fourth Circle of Heck, Fibble. 

Fibble: The Fourth Circle of Heck came out in 2011, but since these books now come out in hardcover first, then get published in paperback, I have to wait until the 24th of this month for the paperback version. I don't know why, but I have this weird aversion to hardcover books, and have only read 3 hardcover books voluntarily that weren't text books. The Fifth Circle, Snivel comes out in hardcover May 22, 2012. If my assumptions are right, this series follows the conventional Nine Circles of Hell, so there should be four more after this. I am terribly excited to see what crazy, twisted, and frankly disturbing adventures of the Fauster siblings. I'm known to like things that are pretty "out there" and are deemed disturbing by the standards of others. So for something to disturb me, it must be pretty out there. But I think the reason that this series disturbs me at times is because I'm an adult reading a children's series that is pretty edgy for YA standards. These books delve into some pretty hard-hitting subjects (afterlife, heaven, hell, coming-of-age gut-checks that are reserved for people twice their age, are our destinies really controlled by deities or ourselves?), using historical figures and fictional icons as secondary characters that are way above most reading levels of the intended audience. 

Overall, this series is amazing. If you liked the Lemony Snicket books, then you'll definitely like these books. The twisted, dark humor, clever word play and deep undertones of a more adult variety will certainly keep you entertained, and maybe even make you think a little as you read. 

Of course, on my scale of 1 (literary hari kari) to 10 (literary orgasmic bliss), I give the books and series the following scores:

Heck: Where the Bad Kids Go: 8

Rapacia: The Second Circle of Heck: 7.5

Blimpo: The Third Circle of Heck: 7.5

Circle of Heck series thus far: 7.7
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So here's the updated list of my books to review, so far:

• Dead of Night
• Crooked Little Vein
• Homer's Odyssey (3-26-12)
• Crimson City Series
• Circle of Heck series (thus far) (4-8-12)
• Joe Ledger series (thus far)  (3-27-12)
• Mutant Island series 
• Double Booked for Death (3-15-12)
• Family Affair
• Sacre Bleu
• How I Paid for College
• Attack of the Theater People!
• Liberty
• Tattoo (Jennifer Barnes)

Okay, I've had my fun...

This weekend I had a great time at my annual outing calling Anime Detour. It is a great time to be had if you enjoy all things anime, manga, Japanese, Chinese, or Asian in origin; or even things that are not Asian and slightly more cult cultural in nature... think LOLcats, Charlie the Unicorn, Rage Comics, or other memes. 


I had a great time this weekend, getting my manga geek on and joining my friends of also like minds in said geekiness. However, when I leave for Detour I get nothing done for about two weeks. The first week is the week leading up to the actual weekend, packing, buying supplies, and making sure I'm all ready for my 3 days of madness. Then there's the 3 to 4 days of actual Detourness. And it all ends in the last week of recovering from less sleep than what is needed to function, less-than-nutritious foods (Ramen, sticky rice, etc) and too much caffeine, and general craziness, to get back into the "normal mode" of living. 


But now that I am back from the world of Detour, I will get back into my normal schedule of work, reading, writing, and reviewing. I have decided that I will do one book review a week, in order to keep this blog up-to-date and interesting. 


I hope that the month of April is starting off well for all. Right now, we have thunderstorms (some severe) rolling through the area, so I'm going to go to bed now and fall asleep to the rumbles of sweet, sweet thunder.