Not Your Usual YA Novel
Last week someone sent me an ARC (Advanced Reading Copy) of Strange Angels by Lili St. Crow. I'm not exactly certain where it came from, I couldn't track down the name on the envelope. But since I'm not one to refuse a gift, I started reading almost immediately. For one, I really like Young Adult Paranormal, and for another I've read other novels written by Lilith Saintcrow.
Lilith Saintcrow writes mainly paranormal romance and urban fantasy. This is her first Young Adult novel, written under the name Lili St. Crow.
Right away I could tell this one was different than most of the young adult books I've been reading over the past few years. This book had a lot more *meat* to it. St. Crow brought to the genre the same depth she has in the rest of her books. Which made it a lot more fun to read.
I really enjoyed the maturity in the story. She didn't write down to her target group. She gave the teenage reader credit for being able to get into a strong writing style. I loved it that she didn't skim over the story but dug into the motives and grit without being edgy for the sake of being edgy.
My favorite part was the section leading up to the end. Instead of racing faster and faster to the powerful bang up conclusion, St. Crow completely threw the usual technique out the window and crept toward the finale at an agonizingly slow pace. All the while I was anxiously wondering how Dru, (the main character... incidentally, I love the name Dru) could so blindly head off to where she shouldn't go... she was going to be in so much danger... couldn't she tell, didn't she guess, anybody else would have figured it out. I figured it out.
It was a fantastic, nail biting read.
In the bookstores today.
Last week someone sent me an ARC (Advanced Reading Copy) of Strange Angels by Lili St. Crow. I'm not exactly certain where it came from, I couldn't track down the name on the envelope. But since I'm not one to refuse a gift, I started reading almost immediately. For one, I really like Young Adult Paranormal, and for another I've read other novels written by Lilith Saintcrow.
Lilith Saintcrow writes mainly paranormal romance and urban fantasy. This is her first Young Adult novel, written under the name Lili St. Crow.
Right away I could tell this one was different than most of the young adult books I've been reading over the past few years. This book had a lot more *meat* to it. St. Crow brought to the genre the same depth she has in the rest of her books. Which made it a lot more fun to read.
I really enjoyed the maturity in the story. She didn't write down to her target group. She gave the teenage reader credit for being able to get into a strong writing style. I loved it that she didn't skim over the story but dug into the motives and grit without being edgy for the sake of being edgy.
My favorite part was the section leading up to the end. Instead of racing faster and faster to the powerful bang up conclusion, St. Crow completely threw the usual technique out the window and crept toward the finale at an agonizingly slow pace. All the while I was anxiously wondering how Dru, (the main character... incidentally, I love the name Dru) could so blindly head off to where she shouldn't go... she was going to be in so much danger... couldn't she tell, didn't she guess, anybody else would have figured it out. I figured it out.
It was a fantastic, nail biting read.
In the bookstores today.
For the virtual walkers, (all two of you) go ahead and put your miles on this post's comments. I'll be keeping track.
