ARC Review: Whisper by Alyson Noel

Publisher: Square Fish

Publication Date: April 24th, 2012

This time, Riley might really have bitten off more than she’s ready for. After practically begging the Council for a more challenging Soul Catch, she is assigned an actual Roman gladiator—Theocoles, the Pillar of Doom. How is Riley, a skinny twelve-year-old, supposed to get through to him? Then she meets the beautiful Messalina, who convinces her that her only chance is to become part of this world. To accomplish this, Messalina helps Riley through a dramatic, mystical makeover, transforming her into the beautiful and mature teen she’s always wanted to be. Finally, Riley can experience her first boyfriend and her first kiss. With a dream this enchanting, will she ever want to leave? 

(Courtesy of Goodreads)

I really adore this series.  I stumbled upon it a couple of years ago because *surprise* I liked the cover of the first book, Radiance.  I didn't much care for Ever, the star of Alyson's companion series, The Immortals, but I sure do love her little sister Riley (the star of this series).  Riley is a spunky, stubborn, 12 year old dead girl whose job in the afterlife is to lead lost souls to the other side.  She doesn't really listen very well to authority, but she has matured a little in each book, and it's been great to be along for the ride.

Whisper is the fourth book in the series, and it is my favorite book yet. (You can read my reviews of Radiance and Shimmer HERE and my review of Dreamland HERE.)  In the first three books, her job as a Soul Catcher have been difficult.  The powers that be have assigned her some of the toughest, most stubborn souls out there, but Riley is really good at her job, and has been pretty successful.  This time around, her job is more than difficult, it's downright dangerous.  She has been assigned a Roman gladiator named Theocoles, who has not only refused to cross for every Soul Catcher sent his way, but has managed to suck them all into his world.  Countless Soul Catchers have been lost over the centuries, and now it's Riley's job to cross him- alone.  She has always had her mentor, Bodhi, and her trusty dog, Buttercup, by her side, but this time she has been assigned the job solo...  When Riley meets Messalina, a girl near her age who can give her everything she's ever thought she's wanted, she starts to get sucked in herself, which, previously, was something her ego could never imagine possible.

The story was pretty well paced, with only one or two places where I felt like it was repetitive.  That said, there was definitely a purpose in the repetition, I just felt like it could have been accomplished with less of it.  As I touched on briefly before, the characters and the character growth and development were great; the best I've seen yet, in any of Alyson's books.  The story itself was exciting and I felt satisfied at the end. 

This book (and series, as a whole) is great for both MG and YA readers.  Riley's got a great voice that most kids and teens will relate to in one way or another.  This series is also great for reluctant readers.  Each book is short enough and paced so that the reader will not lose interest, and although the covers are pretty, boys and girls alike will enjoy these books.

My Rating:  ★ ★ ★ ★ ½  

Grade Level Recommendation:  Riley experiences her first kiss in this book, but it is still perfectly fine for grades 3 and up (ages 8+).

Review: Dreamland by Alyson Noel, Read by Kathleen McInerney (Audio)

Publisher: Square Fish/Macmillan Audio

Publication Date: September 13th, 2011

Riley’s finding that the afterlife can be a lonely place when all you do is focus on work. So she goes to the place where dreams happen, hoping to find a way to contact her sister, Ever. She meets the director, who tells her about the two ways to send dreams. As a Dream Jumper, a person can jump into a dreamer’s dream, share a message, and participate. As a Dreamweaver, an entire dream can be created in a studio and sent to the dreamer. But Dreamweaving was outlawed decades ago, and the studio was boarded up. Thinking it’s her only way to reach out to her sister, Riley goes in search of the old studio. There she finds a ghost boy, who’s been creating and sending nightmares to people for years. In order to stop him and reach out to Ever, Riley is going to have to confront and overcome her own fears.

(Courtesy of Goodreads)

If you have been following my blog long, you know that I really enjoy the Riley Bloom series (read my reviews of books one and two, Radiance and Shimmer, HERE).  This is funny, because I really didn't care for the companion series, The Immortals, which is about Riley's sister Ever.  It took me weeks to get into and finally finish the first book, Evermore.  In contrast, I was immediately drawn into to Riley's world and finished Radiance in one day.  I enjoyed Shimmer even more, and was anxiously awaiting the September 13th release of book #3, Dreamland.  Imagine my surprise and delight when I opened my mailbox last week to find the audio ARC of Dreamland for review (Thank you, Esther Bochner and Macmillan Audio)!  

I love the idea of audiobooks because I spend a lot of time in the car.  I drive 70 miles each day just driving my oldest daughter back and forth to school, not to mention everything else.  In Atlanta traffic, that equals a minimum of 2.5 hours a day in the car...  That said, I'm not always thrilled with the audio version of a book.  Sometimes I dislike the reader or the reader's accent/intonation, sometimes I just feel like I could have done a better job with my own voice inside my own head, and sometimes the reader just annoys me.  Sometimes it's so perfect, it gives me chills (the audio of Beth Revis's Across the Universe is a perfect example).  I wasn't sure what direction Dreamland would go considering the protagonist is a 12 year old girl and the reader is an adult; I was a bit apprehensive.  Well, there was no need for my concern!  The reader, Kathleen McInerney, was great.  Although her voice didn't necessarily sound like that of a 12 year old, she nailed the intonation and the emotion behind the words.  It was extremely believable and I had no trouble picturing Riley as the narrator of the story.

As for the story itself...  It was very different from the first two books.  Radiance and Shimmer both focused on Riley's vocation as a "Soulcatcher", and her developing relationship with her "Guide", Bodhi.  Dreamland focused more on Riley's personal growth in the afterlife.  She is given a "vacation" from her job after she went on a rogue soulcatching mission in Shimmer, and has to find something else to do with her time, which is difficult because she had been a workaholic of sorts.   She's lonely and seeking companionship, and very much wants the advice that she would have sought from her older sister, Ever, had she still been alive.  She finds a way to contact Ever through Dreamland, but as always with Riley, things don't go quite as planned...  Through the course of the story, Riley learns many truths about the afterlife and who she is as a person; some of these truths are not pretty.

While I enjoyed the action that was such a large part of the first two books, I really found that I liked this book best even though it wasn't as action-packed and scary-ghost focused.  We meet several fabulous new characters who I believe (hope!) we will see much more of  in future books.  We also find out a great deal more about Here & Now.    Riley grows as a person in each book, but she becomes much more mature in this book.  She finds out that some of the things she was told early on were not entirely true and that she has a great deal more power than she originally thought she had.  Emotionally, 12 year old Riley ages a lot!  As with the other two books, Alyson Noel conveys a subtle message; a lesson that most tween readers would not even notice they are learning, and that is one of the truly great things about this book.

As with the other two books, it is a quick read.  If you are listening to the audio, it clocks in at just 5 hours; if you're reading the book, it is a mere 192 pages.  Great for anyone; ideal for the reluctant reader.

My Rating:  ★ ★ ★ ★  

Grade Level Recommendation:  As with the first two books, I would put this solidly in the "Middle Grade+" category.   Fans of The Immortals will enjoy it because it's Ever's sister and Ever makes more than one appearance, but it may be a bit innocent for their taste. Completely appropriate for advanced reading 3rd graders+ (ages 8+).