Steel by Carrie Vaughn

Release Date: March 1, 2011
Publisher: HarperTeen
Pages: 304
Series: n/a
Review Source: Library

Synopsis: (from Goodreads)
Sixteen-year-old Jill has fought in dozens of fencing tournaments, but she has never held a sharpened blade. When she finds a corroded sword piece on a Caribbean beach, she is instantly intrigued and pockets it as her own personal treasure.

The broken tip holds secrets, though, and it transports Jill through time to the deck of a pirate ship. Stranded in the past and surrounded by strangers, she is forced to sign on as crew. But a pirate's life is bloody and brief, and as Jill learns about the dark magic that brought her there, she forms a desperate scheme to get home—one that risks everything in a duel to the death with a villainous pirate captain.

Time travel, swordplay, and romance combine in an original high-seas adventure from New York Times bestseller Carrie Vaughn.

My Thoughts:
The cover of this book promises “a swashbuckling tale of magic, romance, and pirates,” but I’m afraid it failed to deliver (except the pirates: there are definitely tons of those!). ‘Steel’ is a perfectly good adventure story. In fact, for a historical tale about life of a pirate ship it was incredibly enjoyable. There were a few interesting points made about the pirating lifestyle, and some action sequences and swordfights were, indeed, swashbuckling.

Where I thought this book lacked was the magic and the romance. On the magic end of things we have Jill dragged into the past because she brings a broken sword tip into the ocean. She proceeds to take part in a real live pirate adventure until certain things are brought back into balance. The sword has some magical properties and there’s that bit of time travel, but that’s where the magic/fantasy angle ends. As for the romance, there... really wasn’t any. It’s not that every book needs to have romance, and in fact I think this book would have been fine without any romance at all. What irked me is that I was promised romance right on the cover, and the book failed to deliver. Sure, there’s a cute friendship between Jill and Henry, and near the end of the book it attempts to be something more. Having their relationship be anything more than a friendship just didn’t really seem necessary, and if either the author or the publisher wanted romance to be a big draw for the book it should have been a lot bigger of a plot line right from the beginning.

Jill was a likable enough character. I enjoyed her fencing ability and her strength, both physical strength and her strength of character. Henry was sweet, and there were lots of supporting characters who, while only being very tiny bit players, held their own. I definitely didn’t dislike this book, I just think the story would have worked better as a middle grade adventure story, rather than a YA fantasy adventure.

Rating:
[3/5]

Find Steel by Carrie Vaughn on Goodreads, Book Depository, & Amazon.ca

Armchair BEA: Relationships

This post is part of my week-long participation in Armchair BEA 2011.





When I think about blogging relationships the first thing that comes to find is connecting with other bloggers. To me that’s the most exciting part about book blogging. That’s the whole reason why Armchair BEA works. We might not be in the same city (heck, we’re all over the world), but we can still connect and form relationships through our blogs. The whole reason I started my blog was to connect into the book blogging community. I had been following blogs for a long time, and I could see the camaraderie between bloggers. I love reading book reviews and discussion posts, and I wanted to be a bigger part of that. That’s why my favourite part of blogging is the community itself.

Most of us probably have friends or family members who enjoy reading, but no one quite gets the book addiction like a fellow book blogger. No one else would understand how EXCITING it is when your favourite author’s new release comes out or, even better, when you get to attend a certain signing or reading. Authors are like our rock stars, and we can freely admit that, because we know there are other people out there who understand.

I love getting comments on my posts so much, and I love seeing the same people return again and again. I think I’ll talk more about that tomorrow for the ‘Blogging About Blogging’ topic, but even those relationships that consist solely of comments can become special and important. Since I’ve been blogging I’ve been able to find so many new blogs to follow, and one of my favourite aspects of this is discovering fellow Canadian (especially Ontarian) book bloggers. I haven’t been able to meet any of them in person yet, but hopefully that might happen if I can attend some bookish events in Toronto this fall.

So how have I found all these awesome people? Various ways, I suppose. A lot of people I’ve followed after seeing them around Twitter. I also find blogs through participating in the ‘In My Mailbox’ meme, or even just by seeing people’s comments on another blog I follow. Of course giveaways are another way of finding blogs. It’s always awesome when you follow through a link for a giveaway and happen upon this ultra cool blog where the person has similar reading taste as you and posts lots of cool content.

I guess this post is more of a vague love letter to the blogging community than a post about a specific blogging relationship I have, but to me, the whole book blogging community is just amazing. It’s made up of such a huge variety of people from all over, yet we all have this common interest that we love. I don’t want to get all sappy (okay, I think I already have), but I think book bloggers are some pretty amazing people for the most part. It seems so rare to be able to “meet” such friendly and awesome people online, and I’m so glad I’m a part of it all.

Armchair BEA: Blogger Interview

This post is part of my week-long participation in Armchair BEA 2011.




Today I have the pleasure of interviewing Jacinda and Jasmine from The Reading Housewives of Indiana.



What inspired you to start blogging?
I, Jacinda, was reading and following blogs for about a year before I actually started the blog with my sister. I always thought blogging sounded nice, but I was way to nervous to start my own. Many people I talked to on Twitter thought I was already a blogger, but of course I wasn't. In December of 2010, but sister kept telling me I needed to start a book blog. I told her the only way I would start a blog was if she were to do it with me. In January of 2011, The Reading Housewives of Indiana was born.

What is one piece of blogging advice you wish you had known when you started?
BLOG FOR YOU! Blog about what you would want to read. You'll be more comfortable with blogging if you write reviews or anything else if you'd want to read it yourself. Also, try not to let what any other bloggers or authors say upset you. This one is a tough to get past, because we put so much time and effort into blogging and when someone says something hurtful, it can be hard not to let it bother you.

You recently co-hosted Sarah Dessen Week on your blog. If you had to pick one favourite of her books, which would it be?
Jacinda: The Truth About Forever for the story, but my favorite boy in all of her books would have to be Dexter from This Lullaby.
Jasmine: This Lullaby...It's the only one I've read. :)

What is your favourite type of book or genre to read and review?
Jacinda: I read mainly young adult books. I do read an occasional adult paranormal/urban fantasy or a romance novel. I really enjoy contemporary and dysopian.
Jasmine: I only have read YA so far...I can't think of an adult book that I've read. Haha. I usually stick to more paranormal YA, but I do have some favorite contemporary and dystopian as well!

If you could be BFFs with any fictional character, who would you pick?
Jacinda: Sophie from the Hex Hall series. Sophie is hilarious and fun to be around, so I know she'd always be there when I needed a pick me up. I have a feeling Jasmine might want to chose the same character. Sorry Jasmine!
Jasmine: I was thinking about picking Sophie, but I knew Jacinda would pick her! :) I would probably have to say Evie from Paranormalcy...She's so funny and witty. I think we'd get along just great!

What do you do when you’re not blogging? What are some of your hobbies/interests?
Jacinda: When I'm not blogging, I'm dealing with my husband, 2 kids, and 3 pets. Even without blogging, I feel like I have enough to do since my kids are fairly young, 3 & 4. I enjoy baking, but without the clean-up. I do an occasional craft project and I enjoy watching sports whenever I get the chance and going to baseball games. GO WHITE SOX!
Jasmine: That's a good question...I really enjoy spending time with my husband. We like watching movies--when we can decide on one. :) I also love to swim, even though I don't get to do it often! I used to play softball and would really love to get back into it!

What is something that most people would be surprised to learn about you?
Jacinda: I’m afraid of heights to the point where I will not stay in a hotel room above the 7th floor or drive in mountains unless it’s at night and I cannot tell I'm in the mountains. I dislike milk and anything banana or coconut flavored so I’m limited on my cocktail choices.
Jasmine: Even though right now I'm a housewife and don't get out much, I'd LOVE to travel the world. My dream would be to at least visit every continent once...Well, maybe not Antarctica. :)

I know it’s tough, but what are your Top 5 Favourite Books? (They can be all-time faves, recent faves, or a mixture.)
Jacinda: Saving Francesca by Melina Marchetta, The Sky is Everywhere by Jandy Nelson, Going Too Far by Jennifer Echols, Stealing Heaven by Elizabeth Scott, and I Now Pronounce You Someone Else by Erin McCahan
Jasmine: The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, Anna and the French Kiss, Other Words for Love by Lorraine Zago Rosenthal, Divergent by Veronica Roth, Across the Universe by Beth Revis

• Find JACINDA on Twitter & Goodreads.
• Find JASMINE on Twitter & Goodreads.
• Visit both of these lovely sisters at The Reading Housewives of Indiana.

Thanks so much for answering my questions, ladies! It seems that we have very similar taste in books. =)

You can also check out eclectic/eccentric today, where Trisha will be posting an interview featuring moi. I had a lot of fun answering her questions!