The Demon's Lexicon...

...Is still haunting me. When I finished it late last night, I didn't think it would. The twists and turns spun throughout the narrative was very compelling, and then there was, of course, the ending.

But why its still haunting me is because I'm left in awe of what an amazing undertaking it is to make a technically unlikeable character so likeable. And now that we know the playing field, where will she take us and how can we reconcile ourselves to this protagonist? Or is he even a protagonist after all (I think he is, and the very fact that I ask this question, is how this book raises the bar for YA fantasy)?

YA writers everywhere...the game just got interesting.

And check out the author: http://sarahtales.livejournal.com/

The Forest of Hands and Teeth - better than the hype!!

How often does a book measure up to the hype? Seriously, like, never. Mostly because it is far too easy to find people who are willing to say good things about your book. Even if it's crap. Even if it's crappy crap.

There has been a lot of hype about The Forest of Hands and Teeth on the writers blogs and I have to say, it was beautiful. It fuses the notion that while a biological apocalypse has infected the world there are some who remain uninfected and they try to somehow create a future in a world that seems very nearly extinct. They don't know if there are others who have also survived, or if they are the last of humanity. The main character is flawed, it is her end and her beginning. The world in which she lives is complex and believable.

Now bear in mind, this is a story about a post apocalyptic world in which there is the ever present moan of Zombies and from everywhere in the village, you can see them, eyes glazed over, as they press against the chain link fence hungry for the humans they can sense lie just beyond the perimeter...

Creepy and I totally bought it. All of it. It was perfect.