Review: Chasing Power by Sarah Beth Durst

Sixteen-year-old Kayla was born with the ability to move things with her mind—things like credit cards and buttons on cash registers—and she has become a master shoplifter. She steals to build up enough money for her and her mom to be able to flee if her dad finds them again . . . which would mean grave danger for them both. 

When she’s caught stealing by a boy named Daniel—a boy with the ability to teleport—he needs her help and is willing to blackmail her to get it. Together, they embark on a quest to find and steal an ancient incantation, written on three indestructible stones and hidden millennia ago, all to rescue Daniel’s kidnapped mother. But Kayla has no idea that this rescue mission will lead back to her own family—and to betrayals that she may not be able to forgive . . . or survive.

          Unfortunately, I have to say this book was a disappointment. Perhaps I would have enjoyed it more if the bar hadn't been set so high with her previous works. But this book just didn't feel like one of Sarah Beth Durst's.

          We meet Kayla as a punk, almost goth, girl blessed with Telekinesis who uses her power to steal things (definitely a non-mainstream character, but one that adds a unique twist to the story).  She lives with her new-age hippie Mom (who she affectionately refers to as Moonbeam). And they throw themselves into their strange life, because it's all an act. And if they drop the act, Kayla's murderer of a father will find them. Kayla's frustration is very understandable, and I appreciated that instead of taking out her frustrations on Moonbeam, she sees it as her duty to protect her. Their relationship is very sweet and refreshing in a YA world wrought with parent-teen conflict. However, Kayla never thinks of her stealing as wrong. I understand this isn't the point of the story and not everything can be tied up neatly in a bow, but nobody tells her to stop. Even at the end of the book when she is stealing for both her best-friend and her boyfriend it is held up as completely normal that she should use her powers to take whatever she wants. The book justifies this by showing she steals from a rich area, but Kayla causes a lot of trouble for the employees of the locations she hits and never spends a thought on it. I also had issue with her eventual boyfriend, Daniel, who's loquacious declarations of love consist of, "You're amazing.", 'You are Amazing', 'You are an amazing girl', 'I think you're the most amazing girl I've ever met', etc. But I did like Selena (the smart, sassy, rich best-friend with parent issues). She went through a smooth evolution from beginning to end, and it was nice to see her growth.

Characters: 2.7 Stars

          On a more positive note, the teleporting (Daniel's power) providing a constantly shifting setting rife with possibility. We get to see everywhere from the rain forest to lava lakes to the pyramids of Egypt: the changing scenery added a new urgency to the plot. I felt like each plot point was followed by an exhaustive amount of exposition that somewhat deflated the excitement. But it was a straightforward story and the characters kept their focus. It was fairly melodramatic at times, but, other than the exposition, there wasn't a lot of waiting around. The plot got to the point.

Plot: 3 Stars

          I feel like a lot of Chasing Power told instead of showed. To be completely honest, at some points I considered putting down the book entirely. However, that's not to say there were no saving graces. Sarah Beth Durst is very good at cohesion. Though, for me, this book was just okay, I loved and have always loved the purpose Sarah Beth Durst puts into her writing. there was no goofing off. Each scene had it's reason for existence and stuck to it till the end. If a sequel for Chasing Power appears, I won't pick it up. But I will absolutely be picking up the rest of Sarah Beth Durst's books, and you should too.

Style: 3 Stars

Rating: 2.9 Stars

Source: ARC for Review

Genre: Urban Fantasy

YA Fiction

Check out Sarah Beth Durst's other books @ sarahbethdurst.com!

Interview: Sarah Beth Durst

         Sarah was born in Northboro, Massachusetts, a small town that later became the setting for her debut novel. At the age of ten, she decided she wanted to be a writer. (Before that, she wanted to be Wonder Woman, except with real flying ability instead of an invisible jet. She also would have accepted a career as a unicorn princess.) And she began writing fantasy stories. She attended Princeton University, where she spent four years studying English, writing about dragons, and wondering what the campus gargoyles would say if they could talk. Sarah lives in Stony Brook, New York, with her husband, her two children, and her ill-mannered cat.

Favorite reads?

         I love books that make you feel like the world is a bit more magical than it was before, that you are a little bit stronger than you were before, and that life is a bit more wonderful. 

My favorites include: Wild Magic by Tamora Pierce, Dreams Underfoot by Charles de Lint, The Blue Sword by Robin McKinley, The Forgotten Beasts of Eld by Patricia McKillip, Deep Wizardry by Diane Duane, and Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones.

Inspirations for the book?

         THE LOST is about a woman who is trapped in a town full of only lost things and lost people. And so my inspiration was everything that can be lost: paper clips, keys, umbrellas, children, memories, minds...

Did you know you wanted to be an author when you were little?

         Yes, it's the only thing I've ever wanted to be. (Except Wonder Woman. Or a unicorn princess.)

Seriously, I think books are magic, and I have always wanted to be a part of that magic.

Any Pet Peeves?

         I can't stand the sound of Styrofoam squeaking.

Chocolate or Peanut Butter?

         Chocolate! I keep a stash of chocolate near my writing desk. It's my muse. (But I also love chocolate with peanut butter. Especially Girl Scout tagalongs. Yum.)

The weirdest thing you've ever done?

         Probably the weirdest thing I've ever done was become a writer. I fall in love with people who don't exist, I chase them on adventures that never happened, and I obsess over worlds that will never be.

Is there a soundtrack to the book/Favorite music?

         Hotel California by the Eagles. That song never failed to put me in the mood to write this book.

Do you need anything to write? 

         Two free hands and my computer. Everything else is optional. I like to listen to music, but it's not essential. I like to have ready access to snacks (especially chocolate), but again not essential.

How long do you write on any average day?

         It depends on the day, but in general, I write for a couple hours in the morning and a couple hours late at night, plus scattered tiny bits of time throughout the afternoon. For me, the important thing is to write every day, even if I can only squeeze out a few sentences. It helps keep the words flowing.

Give us the number one reason to read this book.

          I hope there are lots of reasons! But if you've ever lost a sock or a key or a dream or a memory, then you might want to come along with Lauren to Lost and see what she finds...

Author Info:

Sarahbethdurst.com

          Sarah Beth Durst is the author of seven fantasy novels for teens. Her latest, Conjured, came out in September 2013 from Bloomsbury/Walker. Prior to that, she released Vessel, Drink Slay Love,Enchanted Ivy, and Ice from Simon & Schuster, as well as Into the Wild and its sequel Out of the Wild from Penguin. Her first book for adults,The Lost, comes out in June 2014 from Harlequin/Mira, and her next book for teens, Chasing Power, comes out in October 2014 from Bloomsbury. She was awarded the 2013 Mythopoeic Fantasy Award for Children's Literature and has been a finalist for SFWA's Andre Norton Award three times.

Lost your way?

Your dreams?

Yourself?

Welcome to Lost.

It was supposed to be a small escape. A few hours driving before turning around and heading home. But once you arrive in Lost... well, it's a place you really can't leave. Not until you're Found. Only the Missing Man can send you home. And he took one look at Lauren Chase and disappeared.

So Lauren is now trapped in the town where all lost things go -- luggage, keys, dreams, lives -- where nothing is permanent, where the locals go feral and where the only people who don't want to kill her are a handsome wild man called the Finder and a knife-wielding six-year-old girl. The only road out of town is engulfed by an impassable dust storm, and escape is impossible....

Until Lauren decides nothing -- and no one -- is going to keep her here anymore.

Check out my review of THE LOST! 

Review: The Lost by Sarah Beth Durst

Lost your way? 

Your dreams?  

Yourself? 

Welcome to Lost.

It was supposed to be a small escape. A few hours driving before turning around and heading home. But once you arrive in Lost...well, it's a place you really can't leave. Not until you're Found. Only the Missing Man can send you home. And he took one look at Lauren Chase and disappeared. 

So Lauren is now trapped in the town where all lost things go-luggage, keys, dreams, lives-where nothing is permanent, where the locals go feral and where the only people who don't want to kill her are a handsome wild man called the Finder and a knife-wielding six-year-old girl. The only road out of town is engulfed by an impassable dust storm, and escape is impossible.... 

Until Lauren decides nothing-and no one-is going to keep her here anymore. 

       As far as heroines go, Lauren Chase is nothing special: no prophecy about her future, no strange powers since birth. And because of this, she is incredibly relatable. I fell in love with her as she struggles to come to terms with her new world and the mother she's losing. Her motivations ring true and she feels real, clever and sturdy, with no moping about but a matter-of-fact view on life. But, however fantastic she may be as the lead, the character that takes the cake for me is Peter (the Finder in Lost who rescues lost people from the death grip of the void). With cat-like grace and a somewhat mischievous streak to him, it's entrancing to read about him. I agree with Lauren completely when she describes him as a grown up Peter-Pan. He pops in and out of scenes perfectly representing what a man of that past would be, but does it so well that he sweeps all the stereotypes away and practically reaches the status of archetype. If he was the only good thing in the book, I would still gobble up the sequels. Thankfully the entire book is quite good.
Characters: 5 Stars

      It is a very rare author that can take a simple idea -- say, a place where all lost things go -- and flesh it out into such a thoroughly satisfying mix of thriller, romance, and self-discovery. Right from the beginning, Durst's delicious prose paints a disturbingly hypnotic view of a town that exists apart from time, where all lost things go. And all lost people. People who have lost their way in life do not make for a very stable citizenry. Feral dogs roam the streets in packs and bands of ragged scavenger children armed with knives comb through frequent junk piles in a world built on the barter system, all surrounded by a dust storm called the Void that sucks the hope from those that enter until they become nothing more than dust themselves. No one and nothing can leave Lost until they find whatever it is they have lost. But even then, the Missing Man is the only one who can send them home. He refuses to help Lauren, and disappears. Struggling to simply survive, Lauren is forced to face her own despair head on to discover what she's lost. And the Void creeps steadily closer. In this well-brewed tale the stakes never stop rising. This book will rip your heart out and stomp on it every which way. Thank goodness it's the start of a series! And you'd better bet I'll be counting down the days until I can get my hands on the next one.
Plot: 5 Stars 

       Sarah Beth Durst is very good at what she does. Her rich descriptions and hearty characters bring the story alive with such oomph it will leave you gasping. I tried, goodness knows how I tried, to read this book slowly, to savor every mesmerizing word, but it ended far too quickly. A strong start to a very promising series. Stunning. Transfixing. Captivating:
Style: 5 Stars

Rating: 5 Stars
Source: ARC for Review
Genre: Thriller, Fantasy
YA/Adult Fiction

Review: Conjured by Sarah Beth Durst

Conjured is the newest stand alone by Sarah Beth Durst

“A twisted circus of a book, completely freaky and delicious at the same time. I could not stop reading!” --Laini Taylor

Synopsis:

Eve has a new home, a new face, and a new name—but no memories of her past. She’s been told that she's in a witness protection program. That she escaped a dangerous magic-wielding serial killer who still hunts her. The only thing she knows for sure is that there is something horrifying in her memories the people hiding her want to access—and there is nothing they won’t say—or do—to her to get her to remember. 

At night she dreams of a tattered carnival tent and buttons being sewn into her skin. But during the day, she shelves books at the local library, trying to not let anyone know that she can do things—things like change the color of her eyes or walk through walls. When she does use her strange powers, she blacks out and is drawn into terrifying visions, returning to find that days or weeks have passed—and she’s lost all short-term memories. Eve must find out who and what she really is before the killer finds her—but the truth may be more dangerous than anyone could have ever imagined.

          The main character has amnesia. Yep. This means she had no background to build her up or give us a sense of who she is. And she is brilliant! Sarah Beth Durst did not take the easy way out in forming Eve. Breaking through the now cliché kick-butt, sassy, heroine mold, Eve starts the book as a confused, quiet character. As the story unfolds however, her core of iron is revealed. She is strong and smart, not wasting time on disbelief when something is on the line. She takes help when help is needed, she gives it too. (On a side note, it was refreshing to have a character that was nice, not just to the people she liked, but as a general rule, caring of others. This almost seems frowned upon in YA. Anyone know why?) She's a character to root for even though, at first, the reader has no idea which side she comes from. Or if she's even human. Or even real. However impressed I was by Eve, the villain impressed me more. Introduced and developed only vaguely through Eve's flashbacks and comments, he is terrifying, yet understandable. Though he only appears in person towards the end of the book, his actions and words are so descriptive of who he is that he gained depth with very little face time. Such a disturbingly twisted man does not deserve sympathy, yet its' garnered nonetheless.

Characters: 4.8 Stars

          This was another one of those books that gets the badge of being read straight through. The plot itself unfolded in the form of a knot with just as many seemingly unrelated strands– starting in the middle and slowly being picked apart until the whole tale was clear. As Eve experiences deeply haunting visions, we begin to get a sense that we know nothing at all. And we don't. But the story proceeds with tantalizing hints and gradually zooms out to get the big picture. Eve experiences flashes of amnesia, or memory resets. She comes to herself with no memory of the weeks or months she's lived between. The uncertainty and fear keeps the reader in a very shaky place and then buffets them too and fro with Eve. I had no idea how things would conclude in one book, without selling short. It defied expectations. (Which, come on, this is Sarah Beth Durst so expectations were already pretty high to begin with.) It ended with a satisfactory umph, but left much more to explore.

Plot: 4.8 Stars

          Conjured was darker and more gruesome than I usually read (or would want to read again), bordering on the macabre. But the writing itself was beautiful with glittering descriptions and elegant language. It flowed smoothly, not straining, not presumptuous. It was unlike Sarah Beth Durst's other books in overall feel, and proves just how versatile we can expect her writing to be. She is absolutely getting added to the list of Authors to Watch For.

Style: 4.8 Stars

Rating: 4.8 Stars

Source: Library

Genre: Fantasy (Urban?)

YA Fiction

Saturday Snatch: Drink, Slay, Love by Sarah Beth Durst

   Drink, Slay, Love is the newest book from award-winning author Sarah Beth Durst and not your average vampire book.

   "Having her way with the conventions of the genre, Durst crafts a fresh, modern, and humorous twist on the vampire novel. Lively characters and a sweet romance are icing on the cake." --Publishers Weekly

    I've thoroughly enjoyed each and every one of Sarah Beth Durst's books, and I can't wait to read this one! Unfortunately, I'm still twelfth in line at the library...

Cover Blurb:

   Pearl is a sixteen-year-old vampire, fond of blood, allergic to sunlight, and mostly evil... until the night a sparkly unicorn stabs her through the heart with his horn. Oops.

   Her family thinks she was attacked by a vampire hunter (because, obviously, unicorns don't exist). They're shocked she survived. They're even more shocked when Pearl discovers she can now withstand the sun. But they quickly find a way to make use of her new talent. The Vampire King of New England has chosen Pearl's family to host his feast. If Pearl enrolls in high school, she can make lots of human friends and lure them to the king's feast -- as the entrees.

   The only problem? Pearl's starting to feel the twinges of a conscience. How can she serve up her new friends -- especially the cute guy who makes her fangs ache -- to be slaughtered? Then again, she's definitely dead if she lets down her family. What's a sunlight-loving vamp to do?

Chapter One

Tell me what you think :)

Saturday Snatch: Ice by Sarah Beth Durst

Merry Christmas Eve!
       As of yet we still have no snow, and the forecast shows none for weeks. So I thought it appropriate that today's Saturday Snatch was Ice by Sarah Beth Durst.

     I'm a sucker fairy tale remakes, and this particular fairy tale, East of the Sun and West of the Moon, is one of my favorites. Hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

~*Ice: Prologue-Chapter 2*~

Tell me what you think :)