(Image from Barnes & Noble)

Everyone knows that preachers' families are perfect - home cooked dinners around the table every night, love and harmony permeating the very air, and absolutely no skeletons hidden in the closets (those are filled with crocheted booties for the congregation's newborns and afghans for the shut-ins). The Divine Family fits the cliche pretty well. Except that Grace, a high school junior, knows that beneath her family's shiny facade lies a murky little secret. It has to do with Daniel Kalbi, a troubled teen who once found solace at the Divine home. It has to do with the night Daniel vanished, the night Grace's brother came home dripping blood.

I was excited to read this book for several reasons: (1) It's generated a lot of buzz in the book blogosphere; (2) I always get excited when a young (ish - roughly around my age) LDS author publishes for a mainstream audience; and (3) Bree Despain is one of the infamous "6" that the hilarious Brodi Ashton can't quit talking about. So, naturally, I had to give it a whirl. What did I think? Honestly, I wanted to be a lot more impressed than I was. The Dark Divine is not a bad book, it's just not unique enough to stand above the crowd in a market saturated with this exact kind of story. It could have used some depth, some development, and a whole lotta originality. That being said, I did read the book in one day (sucking in a couple of chapters whenever I surfaced from my Vicodin-induced coma), so it was engrossing enough to keep me turning pages. However, I had a hard time recalling much about the story when I sat down to write this review which means one of two things - either my mind's still fuzzy from pain meds or the book just wasn't that memorable. Unfortunately, I think it's the latter.

Now, don't think I'm giving up on Despain (I have dumped the Vicodin, however - I just can't stand the mind cloud) - I'll definitely be checking out The Dark Divine's sequel. I'm just hoping for a little originality, a few surprises, something to make this series different than all the other YA paranormal stories out there. C'mon, she's LDS, a BYU alum and a member of the illustrious "6" - I think it's fair to expect great things out of this girl.

(Readalikes: Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater [my review])

Grade: B-

If this were a movie, it would be rated: PG for some language and violence

To the FTC, with love: Another library fine find

Back-to-School is the brainchild of Julie P. over at Booking Mama. I'll be using this button whenever I publish a review of a book by an author who went to my alma mater, BYU. Go Cougs!

(Image from Barnes & Noble)

Sent begins when two boys - Chip and Alex - are shoved out of "real" time into the past. Terrified for their friends, 13-year-old Jonah and his sister Katherine grab on for the ride. The foursome find themselves plopped into 15th Century England. Chip and Alex find their new surroundings weirdly familiar. After all, Chip is really Edward V, England's boy king, and Alex is his younger brother, Richard, Duke of York. Jonah and Katherine, who never belonged in this time period, can't wait to leave the stinky, dirty time period. They can't get out without Chip and Alex, though, so they're stuck for the time being. In the meantime, the kids need to figure out how to save Edward V and Richard from being assasinated by their power-hungry uncle, Richard of Gloucester. They also need to navigate the complexities of the 15th Century to figure out how to eat, bathe, and survive in a world very much different from the one they've left behind.

Sent, which grew from such a clever premise, soon becomes a time travel tale like any other. Jonah and Katherine have to figure out how to save their friends from the dangers of court; Chip and Alex become more and more enmeshed in their own time period; all the while, the kids have to decide if it's really worth it to mess with history and how much they can change things without completely destroying the past. The story seems to exist only to teach kids about history. Action gets swallowed up in historical detail, the complexity of which slows the tale down to a yawn-worthy crawl. I did read part of this book while under the influence of Vicodin, but still - it got slow, dull and predictable awfully fast. After enjoying Found so immensely, I was really disappointed in its successor. My faith in Haddix, however, is strong. I know if she can breathe some life into the next installment, she can save this series. All the next books need is a little of the originality and adventure that drives the first book and voila! you've got another fun, interesting, exciting series of historical stories for kids. If anyone can do it, it's the indomitable Margaret Peterson Haddix.

(Readalikes: It really is like a middle grade version of The Magic Treehouse books)

Grade: C

If this were a movie, it would be rated: PG for mild violence

To the FTC, with love: Another library fine find