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Author John Connolly is well known for thrillers such as The Unquiet, but he flows more heavily into fantasy and fairy tales for The Book of Lost Things. Still, these fairy tale characters remind the reader of Grimm creatures and the story itself is dark and chilling.

The main character, David, is a 12-year-old boy whose mother passes away and is left with his father and his books. When Dad marries and has another child, David has a hard time coping, and begins to see his stories leap off his shelves and into his real life. After a series of "attacks", David finds himself in "Elsewhere", a new realm filled with some creatures who befriend him and some who attack him. David must make his way to the King and his Book of Lost Things if he hopes to make it back to his home in 1940's Europe all while dodging The Crooked Man who "will say less than he means and conceal more than he reveals."

The book touches on love, loss, envy, and survival but is largely about the progress of a boy becoming a man. Since the main character is a boy, you cannot help but cheer him through his struggles and at times wince at his reasoning or applaud his brave stands.

One of my favorite things is the importance Connolly gives to books and stories. As an avid reader, I felt drawn to his ideas that books wanted to be read and wanted us to bring them to life. I felt like I could hear the books whispering to me just as they did to David. He has a gift for making you feel what he wants you to feel.

I was not a fan of how slow moving some of the first few chapters were. There was some information given early on that I feel slowed down the reading and actually took away from it instead of adding necessary background information or anything of importance. Also, for the most part the tone of the book is not one that I would generally get in to as I do not prefer sad stories or horror tales and felt this had both. I would not recommend children read this book even though it would seem like it would appeal to them since there are grisly aspects and frankly graphic and twisted content within.

The Book of Lost Things takes you on quite a journey. All readers will come to their own conclusions about certain events and in fact "Elsewhere" itself which I love.

Book review of Initiation - Bonfire Academy #1 (Bonfire Chronicles) By Imogen Rose.

Dark and Chilling - Book review of The Book of Lost Things by John Connolly

Initial Impressions

I was looking for something to read after The Hunger Games that was thought-provoking and inspired discussions among readers because of varying opinions of the subject matter. When I read the synopsis for this book, I knew I wanted to give it a shot.

The Summary

Lena Holoway has had a life filled with pain and is looking forward to the day when it will be taken away for good...the day of her procedure. The procedure will rid her of the amor deliria nervosa and will leave her future safe, happy, and healthy. When her best friend Hana starts behaving strangely, it throws Lena off balance and she answers all the questions that she knows the right answer to in the wrong way during her evaluation. Afterwards, Lena's life takes a turn that is decidedly different than the one she imagined.

The Good

The whole concept for this book is something new and wonderful and had me constantly asking myself how I would act in the same situation. Love as something evil, a disease to be eradicated, seems like it would be hard to make believable, but Lauren Oliver does the job. You truly follow the rational thinking of the characters and how they come to their conclusions. The main character, who often calls herself 'in-between', is an every girl who becomes the book's heroine through choices and actions. Conflict and hope in equal measure make for an excellent reading experience.

The Bad

The only drawback was that the beginning was a little slow, but you know that it's to provide you with necessary information to hook you into the story. Although slow, I found the background information extremely relevant and interesting.

The Romance

This is a YA series, but there are situations implied. Even though this is a story about love being a disease, there are circumstances of love presenting itself. The love of a mother for her child, the love of a cousin for their cousin, the love of best friends, and other examples are found in the book. Every type of love mentioned in these pages is like finding a treasure.

Conclusion

I immensely enjoyed reading this book, and by the end immediately wanted to dive into the next one. I am already hooked and will be reading the 2nd in the series, Pandemonium.

I would recommend this book to YA readers that like Science Fiction and Dystopia.

Initial Impressions
I read and enjoyed Imogen Rose's Portal Series so when I saw this cover, I admit that I was intrigued. Then I investigated more and found that this book is filled with supernaturals and had to give it a shot.

The Summary
Cordelia, a demon princess, returns to the Bonfire Academy for her 3rd year after a fire ravaged it 3 months ago. She is tasked to mentor a new Initiate, a hybrid-demon, Faustine who is half human. After a group of shifters attacks the two of them, there follows a series of trial, punishment, and rule-breaking while Cordelia, Faustine, and friends try to find justice.

The Good
Imogen Rose is great at getting you to really see what her characters are seeing, and I enjoyed the imagery provided. I had no trouble feeling like I could see the world she created for this book. I laughed out loud multiple times while reading, generally surrounding the character of Jagger who is a winter faery. The dialogue, both internal and with other characters, is witty and engaging. The story itself was interesting, and there was constant movement. I don't think Cordelia could sit still for long so I wasn't bored at all while reading.

The Bad
Even though you could see the world clearly, the characters weren't as sharply defined so I had a hard time imagining what they looked like. The way a couple of the characters were introduced had me going back a few pages to see if I missed something because they just appeared and were already important so it seemed like I should know them. I am wondering if it seemed this way to me because I haven't read the Bonfire Chronicles and this is a prequel.

The Romance
This is a YA series, but there are sexual situations implied. The love interests for the characters have a lot of promise and could easily be book crushes. Cordelia tells us that supernaturals do not have the same morals as humans do and you can definitely tell that in the way they handle their romantic relationships. I don't think they really understand love at all but they have lust down pat.

Conclusion
For the most part, I enjoyed reading Initiation and will most likely find the others in the Bonfire Chronicles to read them as well. Cordelia, Faustine, Jagger, and Ryker have already gotten their claws into me and I want to know more about them.

However, I was not happy with the ending which didn't conclude anything in the plot and left me hanging. Not only that, but it has a hook at the end that really makes you want the next one.

I would recommend this book to YA readers that like Fantasy and Paranormal.