February 24, 2005 11:58 am
Better than Running at Night
by Hillary Frank
Romance/"Coming of Age" | 263 pgs.
Ellie Yelinksky leaves for New England College of Art and Design with plans to reinvent herself and her morbid art. Her first day, she goes to a costume party and meets a boy dressed like the devil, and they like eachother. Life however, is more than costume parties, and when Ellie finds out this boy may not be as perfect as she would like, Ellie doesn't know what to do. Choosing between two paths when niether one is really what you want can be oh so difficult, and finding the better one even more so.
The situation is pretty simple, but the author avoids giving any easy answers, which makes it feel that much more like real life. Also, the book is filled with a wide variety of wonderfully developed characters, who really enrich the story. A book that, unlike so many, really feels true.
Once Upon A Marigold
by Jean Ferris
Fairy-tale | 266 pgs.
Having grown up in a cabe with a troll as a foster father, Christian knows about some things. Love, however is not one of them. When he watches the Princess Marigold through a telescope, starts exchanging messages with her, and then leaves home to get a job at the castle, he doesn't know what to think about what he's feeling. And then of course there's the not-so-simple matter of the queen wanting to kill her own daughter so she can rule...
Funny and engaging, Christian's naivety charms, and the story keeps you turning pages and laughing out loud. The reading leval is a little lower than most of the other things I've reviewed, but this is still a book anyone would enjoy.
Have you read either of these books? Or any that I've reviewed, for that matter? If so, please, leave a comment with the appropriate entry telling what you thought.
