April Rain by Delain

I first heard about Dutch symphonic metal band Delain through both Facebook and Amazon. I was constantly being bombarded by Facebook ads about the band since I belong to symphonic metal fan groups and have added several band fan pages. On Amazon, whenever I would check out my recommendations, Delain's April Rain was, 9 times out of 10, the top suggestion. I resisted for several months, citing the fact that I didn't know anything about the band, the general lack of information about them online and the fact that they were always advertised as the band from the "former keyboardist of Within Temptation." While I'm a big WT fan, it seems like singer Sharon den Adel and her partner and guitarist Robert Westerholt are the driving creative talent behind WT, so what could I expect from the "former keyboardist"?

I finally decided to do some research on Delain, and found that the WT former keyboardist is actually Robert's brother Martijin, who had left the band due to a chronic illness in 2001. After meeting then-relatively-unknown singer Charlotte Wessels, the pair formed Delain. Originally begun as a studio project, Delain's first album, Lucidity (which I haven't heard) was filled with guest appearances (notably by Sharon den Adel, Marco Hietala of Nghtwish and Liv Kristine of Leaves' Eyes). After success, Martijin and Charlotte decided to add band members, step out and become a touring band. That was the goal with April Rain -to help Delain become most established as a unique band rather than just a project.

At first listen, April Rain is barely a symphonic metal album, in fact, I would call in more of a rock album with some heavier moments, a lighter, more "pop" type feel and a few symphonic elements. Probably the best way to think of it is to consider April Rain as "Within Temptation light." It's not as heavy, intense, or emotional as most bands in the symphonic metal genre and tends to go more toward the "commercial," which many fans of the genre won't be too happy about.

For me, Delain's April Rain was a mixed bag. There were good and bad things. First, it's hard to really stand out in a genre that's saturated with so many established, talented bands and, as much as newer acts may hate it, they will always be compared to older bands, particularly Nightwish and, in the case of Delain, Within Temptation. Compared to these two bands, which are genre favorites for me, Delain's April Rain is very average. The music is good, and even has some flashes of awesome, but doesn't have the raw emotion or intensity that these other bands can evoke with virtually every song.

The biggest problem I had with this album was that it just felt overproduced, particularly with Charlotte's vocals. It felt like I couldn't hear or understand her for about 80% of the CD because of the mixing and production. When I actually did get to hear her voice, particularly on "On the Other Side," it was gorgeous. Sure, it's not a classically-trained opera voice, but it's still pure and amazing -I just wish that I got to hear more of that than production. Several songs also felt like they were just a little too overdone -kind of like the band had so many ideas, but weren't able to effectively edit them down for each song so some songs became just too much. If they would have taken out some of these ideas and broken them up, I'm sure there would have been potential for even more music -that could even be better!

Also note that there is a guest appearance by Marco Hietala of Nightwish (on "Control the Storm" and "Nothing Left"). Marco's vocals, as intriguing as always, don't seem to add much while Delain guitarist Ronald Landa's growls take the album to a completely different place ("Virtue and Vice") and just doesn't fit at all (his clean vocal on "Invidia" is better). I could honestly have done without any the male vocal work and just stuck with Charlotte. If Delain wants a duet with a male vocalist, maybe they should consider Mario Plank from Visions of Atlantis or Keith Caputo who sung with Sharon den Adel on "What Have You Done Now?" -I think they would fit the musical type (and work with Charlotte) better.

There are a few high points here, and I can't ignore those. Title song "April Rain" is incredibly fun and catchy -it kept getting stuck in my head and I would have a great time singing to it on the way to work. I really found a way to invest in this song, particularly the music itself, though it is a bit unoriginal, light and "commercial" (which would turn off many hardcore metal fans, but hey, I have to admit I like this song). Also, "On the Other Side" shows off Charlotte's vocals the best in its raw form. I loved the sound of her voice over all the strings, which made up the "core" of the song, and I finally felt like the band found a way for Charlotte to really engage with the symphonic aspect of the music. Of course, it would bother some that this has a more "pop" type sound, particularly around the chorus, but the rest of the song makes up for it in my mind. "Lost" is the last highlight. The song starts out with a pulse-pounding metal opening before leading into a lighter melody that carries Charlotte through the song. Again, I like this song because I can hear Charlotte more, I love the piano work, and I really thought "Lost" did the best job of keeping all the elements together without becoming a big mess.

April Rain is good for when I'm in a little bit lighter mood, but tends to be average for the most part. I've listened to this album several times now in an attempt to give Delain more chances (I really wanted to like it more). Maybe it would grow on me, like Visions of Atlantis' Trinity album. Heck, it even took a few listens before I became a Nightwish fan! But alas, I couldn't quite get to that magical place with Delain's April Rain. After a week of trying, when I put in the CD I listen to "April Rain" and sometimes flip to "The Other Side" and "Lost," but don't always get through them before I want to switch CDs. I really think that Delain could become better with future albums -I'm excited to see where they go -but they aren't quite there yet.

Nightlight by The Harvard Lampoon

I first heard of Nightlight when I was checking the New York Times Bestseller list of trade paperbacks one week. What first caught my eye was the cover art, an obvious jab at the cover of the original Twilight novel. I decided to check out the book and found myself rolling from the summary. I'm not a fan of Twilight, so I welcomed the parody's absurd humor. At the time I decided not to purchase the novel since the price was so high for something that's only 150 pages long. A few weeks later I discovered the book at Barnes & Noble with some friends. We picked it up and started reading various passages aloud just to see what it was about. We ended up rolling in laughter so much that a friend purchased the book and gave it to me as a birthday present (provided, of course, that I circulate it among everyone). I took the book home and started it the same day. Even with work, I finished Nightlight in just two days...and I thought it was hilarious.

Keep in mind, however, that it is meant to be an absurd (and completely out of proportion) parody of Twilight to poke fun at the characters and plot. While I admit that Nightlight didn't leave me rolling after every sentence, there were so many passages that left me with tears in my eyes from laughing so hard. The voice is ridiculous and the parody of Bella (Belle) as a ditsy and seemingly bi-polar nutcase and Edward (Edwart) as a nerd felt fresh and entertaining. Some of Belle's first-person comments were particular gems and made the book worthwhile.

Fans of the Twilight series may have trouble accepting the absurd, parody nature of Nightlight, but those who can just enjoy the absurd and comical style of Nightlight will find it entertaining (both fans and non-fans alike). I laughed nearly every other page and wished that the book didn't end. That's the biggest I issue I had with this book -it was only 150 pages while the original Twilight novel was longer. Heck, they could have even done the other Twilight books here and it would have been even better. Maybe there will be a sequel? I can only hope...

Rosemary and Rue by Seanan McGuire

October Daye is a changeling, a half-human, half-fae who is stuck between two worlds. After being cursed for fourteen years to live as a fish in the Japanese Tea Gardens in San Francisco, October is thrown back into a new life where her fiancee and daughter have moved on without her. After a close fae friend, and Queen, dies mysteriously, October searches for the woman's killer and returns to the world she would rather leave behind.

I'm not sure where to start with this book. I loved practically everything about it. The writing was vivid, rich and seemed to flow effortlessly between sentences and scenes. The dialog was fun, realistic and made the characters jump off the page. The characters were fabulous. Each one was unique, and I could feel their emotions living inside the book. Particularly October, even though she tends to seem a little pathetic and somewhat emo at points, felt like a truly multi-faceted characters with realistic (well, as realistic as you can get with an urban fantasy) problems. I was especially happy that October seemed to have viable motivations for her actions, rather than just doing something purely for the purposes of advancing the plot.

McGuire's world-building is phenomenal. It's one of the best I've read this year. McGuire has the amazing ability to build the world and explain its mechanics to the reader while still moving the plot forward and not dumping pages of information onto the reader at once. McGuire seamlessly integrates her own mythology, based off traditional Celtic lore, into the real city of San Francisco, and blends the two together into a unique world for the universe of October Daye.

Fans of paranormal romance beware. There is some romance in this novel, but it is not a major part of the plot at all. October does not have a love interest (just an ex). I found this very refreshing for an urban fantasy/mystery novel, but readers who are looking for romance shouldn't expect it here.

The only tiny issue I had with this book is that it felt like October spent much of her time in the middle of the book running between different faery locations for no other reason than for McGuire to introduce more of her world. There were plot reasons, but they seemed a tiny bit thin...but that's being really picky.

But in summary: loved this book. Can't wait for the sequel!

Heat Wave by Richard Castle

I was beyond excited when I heard about this book. I know that it is completely gimmicky, but the marketing genius behind it is fantastic: release the fictional novel in the popular ABC police comedy/drama Castle as a real one. Talk about score –not only does the novel already have a built-in fan base as well as already-existing hype and advertising (the show itself) but it fits in with the nature of the show perfectly. The popularity of Heat Wave (it was a New York Times Bestseller!) shows just how much America is in love with Rick Castle.

ABC even went to great lengths to make the book seem “real.” Nathan Fillion’s picture is on the back cover of the book as “Richard Castle” complete with bio. According to a friend in LA who attended, ABC held a book signing of Heat Wave, and Fillion appeared in character (from what I’ve heard, he was hilarious).

I wouldn’t say that I was disappointed in this book though –just not impressed.

The good: the story is fast-paced and Nikki Heat and Jameson Rook are easily recognizable as Detective Kate Beckett and Castle (come on, the guy’s name is ‘Rook’). The writing can seem a little elementary at times, but fits into the pulpy, suspense-thriller novel genre a la James Patterson perfectly. The novel also allows ABC to do some things with the Castle “universe” that they can’t do on broadcast TV –like curse or include little adult comments from/about characters. While Heat’s character is a little more fantasized version of Beckett, I thought Heat Wave helped give some additional insight into Beckett’s character.

The bad: while Heat Wave was shown as a massive novel in the series, it’s only 200 pages. I felt like it was simply too short and just read as an extended episode of the series (even though it plays like a movie in your mind when you read it)–I was hoping that it would go more in-depth and give more insight into characters and situations. I also think that this book wouldn’t be able to stand-alone very well without the TV series. Heat and Rook feel like relatively flat characters without previous knowledge of Beckett or Castle to back them up.

I wouldn’t say it was a horrible book, but I was just looking for more. In the Castle cannon this book was meant to launch a new character and a new series, but in reality it tends to feel like an extra element tacked onto the TV show.

First Truth by Dawn Cook

Alissa doesn't believe in magic. Even though her father has filled her head with stories of the Hold and Keepers, she was convinced that they were only stories. But when Alissa's mother throws her out of the home to find her destiny, Alissa finds that stories can be real. As Alissa journeys through the foothills and plains, she meets up with Strell, who helps her find the truth.

I was so disappointed in this series. As a big fan of Kim Harrison's Rachel Morgan series, I thought her debut YA fantasy novel as Dawn Cook would be just as fun -but it seemed like this was written by a completely different person. I was looking for an exciting, action-packed YA fantasy novel filled with magic. I didn't even mind if it followed a very traditional story structure -I just wanted something fun in the vein of Percy Jackson and the Olympians or something of that nature. First Truth wasn't like that at all -while the world was interesting, the characters were incredibly flat and impossible to relate to. Not only that, but it felt like it too far too long for the plot to start moving and when it did, it didn't seem to go much of anywhere until the very end.

While at times charming, First Truth just doesn't deliver. The plot was slow-paced and the action felt nearly non-existent. The world was fascinating and fun, but was populated by uninteresting characters and a bland protagonist. I really wanted to like this book -I wanted it to take me back to my childhood and be so fun that I just went along for the ride -despite the fact that the plot isn't incredibly original. This book actually spawned three sequels, and I'm afraid that I wasn't interested enough to continue.

The Clone Codes by McKissack

Young Leanna lives in the future where virtual history classrooms allow students to experience historical events firsthand and clones are used in every part of society -to work in homes, help in the academic universe and in any other way possible. Like many people in this futuristic world, Leanna doesn't see the clones as people -only as mindless slaves created according to the strict clone codes of the future Clone Humanitarian Society. Leanna's mother, however, is active in a fictional clone-freedom movement known as The Liberty Bell (which has a strangely Dan Brown Lost Symbol/Da Vinci Code secret society kind of feel). After Leanna's mother is arrested by the government, her world is turned upside-down and everything that she has ever believed about the clones is challenged.

The Clones Codes is an intelligent, entertaining and refreshingly deep novel that explores themes of freedom, slavery and politics. I was completely suprised by how strong the story was, and how it is so infused with history, secret socities, politics and government -it just didn't feel like a typical YA novel due to to depth, but the plot is explained simply enough that it still makes sense to the casual reader.


Despite all of the great things about this novel, it does have a few flaws that could have been better. The plot, while fast-paced, at times felt almost too fast. The length (less than 200 pages) also seemed off -the book was so short that I didn't feel like I had enough time with the characters or the world to truly get into it. I really would have liked to have seen more -the world-building here really is enjoyable, I just wanted more of it.

The only other flaw (and this can be a big one for some readers) is the ending. It drops off on a cliff-hanger without having everything being completely resolved (and felt a little like a cop out to me). While I'm sure this is meant to lead into future novels (which I can't wait to read), it just didn't feel like the ending of The Clone Codes was very satisfying.

While not perfect, The Clone Codes is a great, intelligent new YA novel and a fabulous start to a new series that can only get better.

Queen Victoria: Demon Hunter by A.E Moorat

Fresh off the success of the zombie mayhem in Pride and Prejudice and Zombies comes a new "historical fiction" novel about the young Queen Victoria and her untold life as a demon hunter. But unlike P&P&Z, the story is original and the characters are taken from history, but with a demon/comedy-horror element thrown in.

While the concept is completely absurd, that's where the amusement comes in. The story is based very loosely off history and spun into something original and genuinely funny. The characters were surprisingly well constructed for an absurdest horror-comedy novel. Maggie Brown is a fun demon hunter that I couldn't help but cheer for and Victoria is young, interesting, spunky and passionately in love with Prince Albert. Heck, even the romantic element between Victoria and Albert was well-done in this novel, despite the focus on demon mayhem.

I found myself laughing out loud several times during Queen Victoria: Demon Hunter, and thoroughly enjoyed it. Queen Victoria is a fun, light read that filled with absurd demon hunter antics and is perfect for fans of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters and any other type of zany horror-comedy that doesn't take itself seriously at all.