Michael Vey: The Prisoner of Cell 25 by Richard Paul Evans

326 pages

"'HAVE YOU FOUND THE LAST TWO?'
The voice on the phone was angry and coarse, like the sound of car tires over broken glass.
'Not yet,' the well-dressed man on the other end of the phone replied. 'Not yet. But we believe we're close - and they still don't know that we're hunting them.'
'You believe you're close?'
'They're two children among a billion - finding them is like finding a lost chopstick in China.'
'Is that what you want me to tell the board?'
'Remind the board that I've already found fifteen of the seventeen children. I've put out a million-dollar bounty on the last two, we've got spiders crawling the Web, and we have a whole team of investigators scanning global records for their whereabouts. It's just a matter of time before we find them.'
'Time isn't on our side,' the voice returned sharply. 'Those kids are already too old. You know how difficult  they are to turn at this age.'
'I know better than anyone,' the man said. 'But I have my ways. And if they don't turn, there's always Cell 25.'
There was a long pause, then the voice replied darkly, 'Yes. There's always Cell 25.'" -Back Cover

My mom is a huge Glenn Beck fan. (I think she might think his word is law.) He promoted this book on his show, saying it was one of the best books he's read. I think he's also friends with the author. Admittedly, I've never read a Richard Paul Evans book. I tend to steer away from the sappy/cheesy novels. This is his first foray into the world of young adult literature so I decided to give him the benefit of the doubt. I'm always a sucker for a good sci-fi novel so my sister, mom and I all ordered it. Actually, we went to Barnes and Noble to get it but we were a week early. Thanks, radio people.

{SPOILERS}

My sister finished this book first and said it was really boring until the very end. So, I went in with basically no expectations whatsoever and that probably helped my overall opinion of the book. It's good, not great. There were several elements that were borrowed from other stories: Michael Vey has Tourette's Syndrome. Hello Percy Jackson and Dyslexia. Obviously I'm not against a main character having a disability; it just didn't really add anything to the story in my opinion, unless it factors into the reason why he's probably the most powerful of the electric children. Like Percy, Michael is not popular. He's picked on in school. He spends time in detention for being shoved in his locker by the school bullies. He hates the principal. He is an only child and lives with his mother in an apartment. Lots of similarities to Percy Jackson.

Michael's best friend is Ostin. He's named for the Texas town but apparently his mom couldn't spell Austin, which just struck me as dumb because Ostin is somewhat of a genius. You'd think his mom could at least spell. He's also picked on at school. I like Ostin. He helps Michael out of some tough spots and his smarts are believable...just not inherited from his mom.

Jack and Wade are the bullies who pick on Michael one two many times and find themselves victims of Michael's gift. This led to the most implausible element of the story for me. One minute Jack and Wade are picking on Michael constantly and the next they're all buddy buddy. I guess that was one heck of a shock Michael gave them. I really like their relationship towards the end of the book, I just wish they would have come to it a different way.

Taylor is the cute cheerleader. She also has electric abilities; she can "reboot" people and read minds. I didn't quite get her instant attraction to Michael. Maybe it was an electric thing. She, Ostin and Michael form a club - the "Electroclan." Dumb name.

There are seventeen electric children, fifteen of which have been at the Elgen Academy for varying lengths of time. There was a strong resemblance to X-Men here. The kids all have different abilities. Some can shoot lightning from their fingertips, bring down planes, create a sense of fear, induce serious pain, etc. All but three of them do Dr. Hatch's bidding. The three who refused are locked up in the dungeon.

Hatch is like Magneto only without powers of his own. He wears a metal helmet for protection, not because it looks cool. His sidekick/bodyguard Nichelle protects him by inflicting mental anguish on whoever tries to harm him. They're both nasty pieces of work. Hatch is all sugar on the outside at first but Taylor's quick glimpse into his mind shows how deceitful and cunning he is even while he's trying to buy her Harry Winston diamonds. He has absolutely no regard for human life, his only ambition is power. His true nature is quick to emerge as he tries to get Taylor and then Michael to show their commitment to him. Michael winds up in Cell 25 when he refuses to kill Wade, where he's then tortured by Taylor's twin sister. In the end Hatch escapes with those kids still loyal to him. He's not the boss however. I like that we have yet to meet who he answers to.

I thought the second half of the book was much better than the first. The first half was a little slow. The ending set up a sequel, with the enlarged Electroclan planning on rescuing Michael's mom, who was kidnapped by Elgen and used as leverage against Michael. Book 2 should be pretty interesting.

Ptolemy's Gate by Jonathan Stroud

501 pages

"Three years have passed since the magician Nathaniel helped prevent a cataclysmic attack on London. Now an important member of the British government, he grapples with numerous problems: foreign wars are going badly, Britain's enemies are mounting attacks close to London, and rebellion is growing among the commoners. Increasingly impervious and distracted, Nathaniel is treating Bartimaeus worse than ever. The long-suffering djinni is growing weak and vulnerable from too much time in this world, and his patience is nearing its end.

Meanwhile, undercover in London, Nathaniel's longtime rival Kitty has been stealthily completing her research on magic, demons, and Bartimaeus's past. She has a daring plan that she hopes will break the endless cycle of conflict between djinn and humans. But will anyone listen to what she has to say?" -Dust Jacket

Each book in this series was better than the one before. I liked that three year's time passes in between each book. Nathaniel is 17 years old in this book and he's become a bit jaded with the world of the magicians. He's started to see them for what they are: power hungry, greedy men and women who will betray and backstab each other to get ahead in their world. He's not really an exception to that standard either. He's constantly having to watch his back. He doesn't have any real friends. He keeps Bartimaeus around both for a connection to the past and for protection. He fears that Bartimaeus will reveal his real name. Bartimaeus spends most of the book exhausted and vulnerable which, admittedly, leads to some funny chases. His footnotes in this book are even funnier. Still, I felt sorry for him.

Kitty has also become a bit disillusioned with her world. She spends her nights working in a pub listening to commoners debate and never do anything. She realizes that the status quo can't sustain itself and that something has to change. She begins her own study of magic in an effort to contact Bartimaeus.

*SPOILERS*

I had sort of predicted who the real bad guy of this series would be. It's almost always the guy who plays the sidekick and doesn't seem to have much of a brain who is also secretly plotting behind everyone's back and masterminds the big climax. That was true here. What was surprising was how things went down after his identity is revealed. Kitty separates herself from her body and travels through Ptolemy's gate to find Bartimaeus to ask for his help. That journey forces a physical change on her body, leaving her a young person in an old woman's body. By this point she and Nathaniel feel some affection towards each other. For Nathaniel it's only about the third time he's ever truly cared about someone. It's touching to see how he tries to protect her.

I loved the conversation Nathaniel has with Ms. Lutyens on the street when she tells him that the boy she knew and tried to protect is gone and she doesn't recognize the man before her. It's kind of a slap in the face for him since all he wanted to do was thank her for what she'd done for him. He has a few other encounters like this that force him to take a figurative look in the mirror. I'm not sure he really likes what he sees. That creates an interesting internal dialogue and conflict throughout the story. He definitely becomes disenchanted with the world he's lived in for so many years.

Bartimaeus is really the main character; it's his story. I liked the flashbacks to his time with Ptolemy. You see how much Bartimaeus cared about his master then, and how much in the end, despite their rocky relationship, he cared about Nathaniel. Their constant nagging and bantering is evidence of a mutual respect. Bartimaeus has some interesting insight into humans. There was one footnote in which Bartimaeus said, "He was a human; always, always humans gravitate to surfaces." He was referring to Nathaniel looking at the outside of a person first, before the inside during one of the fights at the end. I thought that was a pretty accurate observation of human nature.

*MAJOR SPOILER*

I did not expect Nathaniel to die. I cried, I admit it. I didn't like him in the first book but about halfway through the second book I just felt sorry for him and that didn't change throughout the third book. He was lonely and basically just trying to survive a cutthroat world. He was just beginning to realize how off course his life was and I was hoping that he'd have a bright future, that he and Kitty would go on and do great things together so the ending was really sad. I think Nathaniel's death was a redemption of sorts and fitting in a way though. He sacrificed himself to save hundreds of people, and in the end to save Bartimaeus so that his story could continue. In that way, Nathaniel and Ptolemy wound up being very much alike. Who knows, maybe if the story were to continue Bartimaeus's form of choice would change from Ptolemy to Nathaniel.

Enclave by Ann Aguirre

259 pages

"In Deuce's world, an enclave deep underground, people earn the right to a name only if they survive their first fifteen years. By that point each unnamed 'brat' has trained to join one of three groups - Breeders, Builders, or Hunters, identifiable by the number of scars they bear on their arms. Deuce has wanted to be a Huntress for as long as she can remember.

As a Huntress, her purpose is clear - to brave the dangerous tunnels outside the enclave and bring back meat to feed the group while evading the ferocious monsters known as Freaks. She's worked toward this goal her whole life, and nothing's going to stop her, not even a brooding Hunter named Fade. When the mysterious boy becomes her partner, Deuce's troubles are just beginning.

Fade doesn't like following orders. Deuce has never known a boy like him before, someone as likely to touch her gently as use his knives with feral grace.

As Deuce's perception shifts, so does the balance in the battle for survival. The mindless Freaks, once considered a threat due to their sheer numbers, now show signs of cunning and even strategy...but the elders refuse to heed any warnings. No matter how hard she tries, Deuce cannot stem the dark tide that carries her far from the only world she's ever known." -Dust Jacket

*SPOILERS*

This is a pretty short book and before I started I wondered how much story could really be told in those 259 pages, but I was pleasantly surprised. Ann Aguirre's dystopian world is gritty, dangerous, and sort of a Darwinian world, where the fit survive and the weak die. She dives right into the story with Deuce's naming ceremony. Names are picked by putting items on the ground and then cutting the person's hand. Whatever item the person's blood drops on becomes their name and they keep that item. It becomes sort of a sentimental thing for the person to hold onto.

The enclave is located in New York's subway system. Most of its members have never been above ground or even left the enclave. It has survived because it weeds out the weak. The elders (in their 20's) keep order and make the rules. Hoarding is not allowed. In fact, punishment for being caught with something is banishment. Members must bring anything they find from the outside world to the Wordkeeper, a historian of sorts. By the end, there's evidence that the elders know more about the outside world then they've let on.

Deuce is banished about midway through for speaking up for a friend. She knows he is being framed so the elders can make an example of him, an annual reminder to the people of what happens if you break the rules. Fade, her hunting partner and friend, goes with her. Above ground she faces a world that's completely foreign to her. She's never been exposed to the sun and Fade, who grew up above ground, has to teach her words for various things. Fade is a great character, much like Four in Divergent. You learn more about him as the story unfolds, but in the beginning all you know is that he's an outsider who's been taken in by the enclave and allowed to become a Hunter. (By the end you know that the choice they gave him was either fight for them or die.) The enclave keeps him at a distance and Deuce thinks that she's being punished when she's made his hunting partner. She quickly learns that allow he appears hard to like, he's brave and respects Deuce and her abilities.

Deuce is pretty clueless emotionally. She hasn't grown up with affection or knowing what love is so she has a hard time figuring out how she feels about Fade, and how he feels about her. She has an even harder time realizing how a new relationship with Stalker affects Fade. Stalker is a scary guy when you first meet him but you soon realize that he's just a guy who's had to adapt to a violent world of his own, basically a kill or be killed type place. He winds up leaving the city and traveling with Fade, Deuce and Tegan, a girl Deuce rescued from Stalker's gang, which creates an interesting dynamic since they are forced together. You hate Stalker at first and then you sort of like him. I'm sure that's the beginning of the ever-present love triangle. (I'm Team Fade.)

The Freaks are scary, especially when they start showing signs of thought and strategy. They are mean and they are everywhere.

The book leaves Deuce and her group seemingly safe in an aboveground city with the fate of the enclave unknown. Deuce fears they may have all been killed by Freaks, but I have a feeling that some of them at least have survived, maybe even come above ground. I loved the names the author uses for her characters: Deuce, Fade, Thimble, Stone, Stalker, Tegan, Silk, Copper, to name a few. Of course this book will have a sequel...in the fall of 2012!

The Golem's Eye by Jonathan Stroud

562 pages

"At only fourteen, Nathaniel is a rising star: a young magician who is quickly climbing the ranks of the government. There is seemingly nothing he cannot handle, until he is asked to deal with the growing Resistance movement, which is disrupting London life with its thefts and raids. It's no easy task: the ringleader Kitty and her friends remain elusive, and Nathaniel's job - and perhaps his life - are soon at risk.

As the pressure mounts he is distracted by a new series of terrifying attacks in the capital. But is it the Resistance again, or something more dangerous still? To uncover the perpetrators, Nathaniel must take desperate measures: a journey to the enemy city of Prague and - worse - summoning once again the troublesome, enigmatic, and quick-witted djinni Bartimaeus. Meanwhile, Kitty and her fellow rebels are planning their most daring exploit of all - one that will make their fortune and change the history of London forever." -Dust Jacket

Much, much better. I think I'd assumed that Nathaniel would be like that other famous 11-year-old magician, good and willing to fight evil. But in Nathaniel's world magicians seek power and prestige at the expense of their fellow magicians and all their power comes from the demons they summon to do their bidding. Nathaniel doesn't really stand a chance in that world, being trained by those kinds of people so I had a little more empathy for him. He's still ambitious in this book, still arrogant and self-serving, but there's a faint glimmer of hope for him that he'll turn out all right.

More of Kitty and the Resistance is a great addition to this book. She's a commoner and likable, yet has some immunity to magic, which added an interesting element to the story. Their raid on Gladstone's tomb was exciting and released a very funny character. Bartimaeus comes across as even wiser and wittier than he was in the first book. He's still bound to do what Nathaniel commands but he also seems to make a few more independent decisions. He's like the wise grownup of the book. The three worlds collide and intertwine in this book and I'm hoping that Kitty and Nathaniel will eventually team up in the third...and that Nathaniel will finally grow up.

I think if you go into this series understanding that Nathaniel is not Harry Potter - in fact he's quite opposite in a lot of ways - you'll enjoy it more. It's still hard to nail down the exact time period of this story. There are cars and computers, but they refer to America as the colonies and make it sound like America is only developed along the eastern seaboard. Nathaniel goes to the aerodome rather than the airport to fly to Prague. The author is English so maybe those are still modern English terms, I don't know. They make it a bit confusing for me. I'm not sure if the author intended to make the exact time period a bit vague but it bugs me just a little.

The Amulet of Samarkand by Jonathan Stroud

462 pages

"Nathaniel is eleven years old and a magician's apprentice, learning the traditional arts of magic. All is well until he has a life-changing encounter with Simon Lovelace, a magician of unrivaled ruthlessness and ambition. When Lovelace brutally humiliates Nathaniel in public, Nathaniel decides to speed up his education, teaching himself spells way beyond his years. With revenge on his mind, he masters one of the toughest spells of all and summons Bartimaeus, a five-thousand-year-old djinni, to assist him. But summoning Bartimaeus and controlling him are two different things entirely, and when Nathaniel sends the djinni out to steal Lovelace's greatest treasure, the Amulet of Samarkand, he finds himself caught up in a whirlwind of magical espionage, murder, and rebellion." -Dust Jacket

This book was okay. It's supposed to take place in a modern-day London but it didn't feel very modern, as compared to Harry Potter's modern-day London. Maybe the movies helped out with that a bit. This story felt more like it was happening in a different century except for the black limos the magicians ride in. Nathaniel lives in a house that is old, he dresses old, his master's appearance is old so the story feels a bit old.

Nathaniel is a whiner. His behavior throughout the whole story is pretty much one big magical tantrum. He's smart and he wants people to recognize and praise him for it. He wants to get even with a powerful magician whose basically given him a public spanking and so he does some reckless things that set even more reckless things in motion. I didn't like his character much at all.

Bartimaeus, on the other hand, is arrogant yet actually likable. His footnotes were at first annoying and then entertaining. They're basically side comments. He provides some comic relief in this whine fest.

I liked how the author switched points of view throughout the story. Had the story been told strictly from Nathaniel's POV I would have stopped reading. Bartimaeus feels like the main character anyway. He's been around a long time and has learned a thing or two. Some of his observations of humans were pretty insightful. I'm going to read the other two books in the hopes that Nathaniel will grow up. He has potential, both magical and otherwise, but he's got to develop a moral center and be motivated by something other than revenge for me to like him. He needs to learn from his mistakes. Bartimaeus gives him some advice at the end of this first book that hopefully he'll follow.

Plain Truth by Jodi Picoult

405 pages

"The discovery of a dead infant in an Amish barn shakes Lancaster County to its core. But the police investigation leads to a more shocking disclosure: circumstantial evidence suggests that eighteen-year-old Katie Fisher, an unmarried Amish woman believed to be the newborn's mother, took the child's life. When Ellie Hathaway, a disillusioned big-city attorney, comes to Paradise, Pennsylvania, to defend Katie, two cultures collide - and for the first time in her high-profile career, Ellie faces a system of justice very different from her own. Delving deep inside the world of those who live 'plain,' Ellie must find a way to reach Katie on her terms. And as she unravels a tangled murder case, Ellie also looks deep within - to confront her own fears and desires when a man from her past reenters her life." -Back Cover

The pros: Lancaster. Having been one of those tourists who stares at the Amish and takes pictures in front of the Intercourse, PA sign I gained a new respect for them and their way of life and if I go there again I will be a different kind of tourist. I thought of them as a bit strange and different, not so much as people who are similar to me in many ways. I admire them for their beliefs and for their desire to be "in the world but not of it."

The story. I liked the melding of two worlds and I liked that Ellie had a connection to the Amish world through her aunt. It was fun to read about her having to help around the farm and petition for electricity to do her work.

Katie's dad. He was a tough nut but every now and then he'd crack.

Coop. He's one likable psychiatrist.

The cons: The ending. I pretty much had the who-done-it part figured out and I almost wish that the author would have left it ambiguous. Telling us in the end just made me frustrated with that character for not doing the right thing earlier on (or ever really).

Language & some adult content. That's one of the things that I hate about "adult" books; I have to read with a pen so I can cross out offensive words. I'm not very good at quitting a story once I've started unless it's completely offensive. I get too interested in finding out how the story's going to end. I think that's one of the biggest reasons why I love YA/Kid's books. You don't have to always be on your guard and the stories are often just as interesting. This book had some language (including a few of the big ones) and some adult content. It wasn't graphic but still. So, I liked this book, but I'd recommend it with reservation because of those things.