Fade by Lisa McMann

*****
Fade by Lisa McMann

I was hoping that Fade would be better than Wake, but I wasn't hoping too hard. Wake was fantastic even if it was too short and a tad choppy. Those same 'flaws' are in Fade and it is every bit as good as Wake.

Janie and Cabe are back undercover at their high school this time working to stop a teacher that is suspected of being a sexual predator based off an anonymous phone call. The caller didn't say which teacher which is where Janie & Cabe come in. Captain Komisky thinks the deviant is probably male though which puts Janie in far more danger than Cabe, an issue Cabe has a hard time coming to terms with.

Even though that takes up the majority of the plot there is still plenty of time for Janie and Cabel to sort through their own personal issues together. Janie is still learning how to control her dreams and the dreams of others and Cabel's doing his best to try not to be too overprotective. He has a hard time of it and the results are adorable.

I think I even liked Fade better than Wake because they are together so much. Also, the action ties up nicely by the end but leaves plenty of room for a third book with Janie and Cabel.

Magic Burns (Kate Daniels, 2) by Ilona Andrews

****
Magic Burns (Kate Daniels, 2) by Ilona Andrews

This is not the first time I've read this book... but I don't think I realized how amusing Kate really was the first time. Kate makes all these great snarky comments that must have gotten lost in the action the last time I read it.

Kate Daniels is a mercenary that just can't seem to keep herself out of trouble. Her friends all seem to be business acquaintances (Curran the Beast Lord, Derek a werewolf, Saiman a shapeshifter she guarded once, Ghastek a vampire rider, Jim a werepanther, Andrea a beastkin that also works at the Order etc etc.) so when she takes on a mission involving an orphaned girl, a missing coven of witches, and a rogue deity set on making Atlanta his new home, Kate really doesn't think her friends will be able to help too terribly much.

It turns out that the missing coven of witches was worshipping the wrong deity and really messed things up when a cauldron of rebirth got stolen and the mythical enemies of Morrigan called the Fomorians begin chasing down Kate and the orphaned girl that Kate has taken under her wing. Things continue to get messy as artifacts get stolen, informants withhold crucial details, allies make decisions without all that crucial information and Morrigan's Hound (named Bran) continues to try to get into her pants.

Kate certainly keeps busy fending off, well, everything and everyone. The action is tightly worded and fast and can get confusing if you tend to skim when things get exciting so that you can take in more information in less time (like I do).

Kate continually turns down Bran but he's not the only one making offers and I was pretty pleased with Curran's role through most of the story. He's about as tough and snarky as Kate and so they make a good team for both fighting and bantering. His actions and commentary in this book were very amusing particularly at the end. ^_^

It does seem to take the author/publisher a long time before the next in the series comes out but if it's quality fiction like these first two books I can't really complain too much.

The Temptation of the Night Jasmine by Lauren Willig

*****
The Temptation of the Night Jasmine by Lauren Willig

I love this series by Lauren Willig! Each novel follows the continuing story of Eloise, an American researching for her thesis in Britain. Eloise is intent on unmasking the Pink Carnation, the only English spy that remains unmasked that was working in the early 1800s. And since the books started she has made quite a bit of progress in that quarter mainly due to the family papers of one Colin Selwick. Colin and Eloise are finally dating (yay!) and they've headed back to his home in Sussex so Eloise can continue going through the archives there.

Eloise means to continue her search for the the Pink Carnation and where her favorite spy headed after her brief stay in England, but she gets sidetracked with some documents written by Lady Charlotte Landsdowne that mention the madness of King George. Intrigued by the idea that Henrietta Selwick and Charlotte had anything to do with the king's bout of madness, Eloise reasons that she may as well take a look and she jumps right into the story in the past.

Charlotte is a bit of a shy and secluded creature that generally prefers the company of books to people. Despite all that when her long-missing (distantly-related) cousin Robert returns to the family seat, Charlotte is more than willing to walk down memory lane as long as it is with him. Robert on the other hand, returned to England from India to track down a possible spy that shot his mentor in the back in the heat of battle when the errant shot wouldn't be missed. His investigative skills take him into the heart of the Hell Fire club. The man Robert has been chasing is not just plotting with the French but also plotting against the king. Since Charlotte is a lady-in-waiting at the time and a great friend to the king she also becomes involved in stopping the plot.

As usual, the dual storyline of Eloise and whatever historical characters she is studying is both interesting and amusing. The characters don't always think or do things the way that we might expect them to and the little romantic interludes between the historical characters lighten up the feel of what could be an otherwise tense historical spy novel. We're teased with the short chapters between Colin & Eloise's relationship but that usually just makes me more eager to read the next one.

Blindspot: a novel of a Gentleman in Exile and a Lady in Disguise by Jane Kamensky & Jill Lepore

****
Blindspot: a novel of a Gentleman in Exile and a Lady in Disguise by Jane Kamensky & Jill Lepore

Blindspot refers to many different things in this novel. It encompasses Stewart Jameson's inability to see that his apprentice is female, Fanny Easton's blindness to her own father's cruelty and the freedom that she used to have, Parliament's lamentable habit of taxing their colonies for a war they already paid for, and even the colonists' ironically calling Parliament's taxation shackles when they still kept slaves in physical shackles...

Stewart Jameson has run away from his debtors in Scotland by crossing the puddle and taking berth in Boston and setting up shop as a painter of faces. He immediately hires an apprentice, one Frances Weston, to grind the paints, set up the canvases etc. Jamie is attracted to his apprentice which doesn't seem to bother him overmuch despite his normal preference for women. Weston(Fanny Easton in actuality) thinks Jamie is the best man she knows (considering her point of reference with other males one can hardly blame her). Several years ago Fanny was the daughter of one of Boston's leading families but an affair with her painting master left her a 'fallen woman' and Fanny refused to give up her freedom and marry the man despite her pregnancy.

Jamie is also more than he initially appears, having come into his debt with all the best of intentions - freeing his best friend, a university-trained doctor and a runaway slave. When the deal went awry Jamie got caught with all the debt and his friend got sold anyway.

To further complicate an already detail-driven plot the colonies are rebelling against England and abolitionists have already taken to the platform in Boston. When a prominent politician is murdered and a black man is blamed Jamie and Fanny (and Doctor Ignatius Alexander) work together to figure out who the real killer is.

The plot is fairly predictable despite the complicated details and switchbacks but the authors keep it fairly light and historically accurate. Jamie is something of a rake and has a unique way of looking at (and phrasing) things. It's really quite entertaining.

Bone Crossed (Mercy Thompson, 4) by Patricia Briggs

****
Bone Crossed (Mercy Thompson, 4) by Patricia Briggs

I was pleased to finally be reading the next Mercy Thompson book, but found it to be less edgy than the others that I had enjoyed.

I suppose that's to be expected. Mercy is still having panic attacks after her last adventure and is definitely a tad gun-shy about putting any of her friends in danger. As usual though, Mercy attracts trouble as easily as she attracts hot men...

Nonetheless when Stefan is dropped nearly dead (again?) in her living room she puts on a brave face to help. Similarly when an old college friend drops by to see if Mercy can solve her ghost problem, Mercy tackles it head-on.

One of the things I really like about Mercy is her ability to reach out to the 'outcast' members of society (Samuel, the loner, Chad, the deaf boy, fae, werewolves, vampires...) and bring them together around her even as she gives off a no nonsense, stick-it-to-the-man vibe. Her ability to be abrasive as well as protective, scared and still brave is what makes her such a kick-butt heroine. That 'live in the now' sense where she buries her fear makes her human and her attributes attainable and likeable.

This book feels like a bridge. Much DID happen in terms of action, but it also felt like there was much more of an emotional journey to this one than any of the last three (well, excepting perhaps the third - that was plenty emotional).

I'm VERY excited for the next Mercy Thompson (which Amazon lists will be available approximately six months from this review) and can't wait to see what Ms. Briggs has in mind for our Mercy next.

How to Ditch Your Fairy by Justine Larbalestier

**
How to Ditch Your Fairy by Justine Larbalestier

I had several major problems with this book.

My first problem occurred on page one in the first sentence. Spoffs? What the heck are spoffs? Every time I thought I could get into the book the language was a turn-off. Normally I have no problem adjusting to whatever strange and various words and/or names authors make up to cover vague or alien concepts. But most of the concepts in this book (while sometimes vague) were not exactly alien. Spoffs refers to breasts I finally found out about three paragraphs in (at which point I had to return to the beginning and recapture what I'd lost making the story seem choppier than it should have. The words she used may have been British or Australian slang but were so unfamiliar to me in the context that they were used that they might as well have been made up.

My second major problem was the depth of the characters. They were all amazingly shallow. The main character doesn't want or see value in her parking fairy merely because she's not old enough to drive yet. Her immaturity could have dissipated throughout the book but didn't. I'm not sure any of the characters made any kind of lasting impression on each other either except maybe with the poor girl whose name really IS stupidly long...

The school that the kids attended was also a point of distraction for me. Who would elect to go to school for 10 hours a day for 6 days a week? Even if you do love sports that length seems a tad extremist and should probably be checked out by a therapist. Their tight rule system, while intended to instill discipline in the children, only seemed to make them anal retentive (as evidenced by the growing list at the beginning of each chapter, which incidentally was the only thing keeping me turning the pages).

All in all this book was a disappointment for me since I was so interested in the concept to start. *sigh*

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

****
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

I'm not quite sure what I thought the Hunger Games would be about when I picked it up (Amazon recommended it) so I was a tad disturbed with some of the Lottery-like imagery. Despite several loud comments from a friend (to whom I had described the plot a few pages in) that I should just "put the book down and walk away," I perservered and finished the book. I'm really glad that I did.

Katniss Everdeen has been providing for her family since her father died in a coal mine a few years ago in District 12 (Appalachia). Her mother is an apothecary but couldn't care for either Katniss or her younger daughter Primrose (Prim for short) right after her husband's death. All three would have starved if not for Katniss' hunting abilities.

As if life wasn't cruel enough in this post-apocolyse world, every year one boy and one girl from each of the twelve districts must be sent to the Capitol (somewhere in the Rockies) to participate in the Hunger Games. The participants are chosen on a lottery system with every boy and girl between the ages of 12 and 18 putting at least one name into the pot. 12-year-olds must put in one slip, 13-year-olds two slips etc. Life is so poor in some parts of the district though that you can enter your name more than once to receive a yearly food stipend for your family. On Katniss' first entry into the reaping (the lottery) she entered herself four times: once for the requirement and then once for food for herself, for her mother, for her younger sister. Moreover the slips are cumulative so Katniss will enter at least 8 her second year and increasing her odds of being chosen to particpate in the Hunger Games.

The Hunger Games are held each year to remind the Districts of their loss and the participants are rightfully called 'Tributes.' Once all 24 names have been chosen the Tributes are taken to the Capitol to prepare for the televised games (which are mandatory for the districts to watch). Only one Tribute can survive the Hunger Games and the reward for winning is a life of luxury and fame. No one from District 12 has won one of the Hunger Games in 30 or so years and the last winner spends all of his time drunk.

The odds are against Katniss the year that her beloved younger sister Prim is forced to enter her name into the reaping. She has 20 or so slips in the pot with her name on it and made sure her sister would only be putting in her obligatory one entry. Despite the odds, Prim's name is chosen and Katniss, knowing her younger sister would definitely not survive the Games, volunteers to go in her place.

I did see many plot points coming (the banding together in the arena for one) but others were unexpected (her coming to truly care for her comrade Peeta) and it was a violent and bumpy ride. The effect at the end though was cheering as Katniss stands against the system. I look forward to the next book in the Trilogy and hope it clears up some of the lingering questions I had since the book ended so abruptly.

Dragon Flight by Jessica Day George

*****
Dragon Flight by Jessica Day George

I loved this sequel to Dragon Slippers. We pick right back up with the adventures of Creel and Prince Luka. Creel now has her own dress shop and has quite a bit of business including making the trousseau for the new queen-to-be and helping her friend Marta design and sew her wedding dress. But with Shardas and Queen Velika laying low so they can rest and recover and with Luka out of the country on dipolmatic prince duties things are not as exciting as Creel might want.

Things definitely get more exciting though when Prince Luka writes to Creel from the southern country where he had been saying to say that the king planned to destroy Feravel and every country in between. Worse, the king has an army of dragons and riders. This is, of course, more than Creel can stand since the dragons are obviously being coerced into doing human fighting by some sort of evil alchemy.

I very much enjoyed seeing Creel and Luka again and was pleased by the progress all the characters made within the book. Things wrap up beautifully for not just Luka and Creel but for Marta and Tobin, Shardas and Velika and all the dragons. For being an unplanned book things certainly tied up nicely.

Shadow Kiss (Vampire Academy, 3) by Richelle Mead

*****
Shadow Kiss (Vampire Academy, 3) by Richelle Mead

This book, the third in the Vampire Academy series by Richelle Mead, ended very sadly...

Rose has been feeling more and more dark and depressed ever since her friend Mason died while he, Rose, Eddie, Christian and Mia were trying to escape their kidnappers. Rose had managed to get them all out and was facing the two Strigoi herself but Mason came back for her and got killed in the fight.

Rose managed to slay the Strigoi captors and now bears the molnija tattoos, but nothing can take away the pain of his death. Worse, Rose fears she's going crazy when she begins to see Mason's ghost around campus.

Rose had a theory or two about why that was happening. And Adrian and Christian seem to have a few theories about her many violent outbursts lately. They surmise that with her bond to Lissa and being shadow kissed that she is able to pull the darkness away from Lissa.

More trouble comes when the Strigoi attack the school leaving several Moroi and dhampir dead and many more captured. Rose helps the other guardians (including Dimitri) come up with a plan of offense to get the kidnapped back.

I can't tell you how it ends; I don't want to spoil it. But it is well worth reading even if it did make me terribly depressed. I have a theory about what will (hopefully!) happen in the fourth book that will put things to rights and I can't wait until it comes out to see if I'm right.

Dragon Slippers by Jessica Day George

*****
Dragon Slippers by Jessica Day George

I loved this book! There's something very satisfying about this book that borders on fairytale but pulls back before getting too out of hand.

Creel is a girl from a small town that is orphaned and goes to live with her aunt and uncle who are also very poor. Her aunt (who is not quite all there in the head) comes up with the idea to give her to the local dragon so that a rich lord's son will rescue her and take them home to his grand house etc etc.

This doesn't sit well with Creel, who is a practical girl. Once she meets the dragon (she gets over her fear fairly quickly considering the circumstances) she asks him to just let her have a piece of his hoard and she'll stop the oncoming son (bent on slaying the dragon) and be on her way without any further trouble.

That's when things get amusing. I believe the dragon says something along the lines of "What would you want a pair of my shoes for?" in a surprised grumpy/exasperated voice. So Creel gets her first lesson in dragons. Not all dragons like gold or gems. The dragon she first meets collects shoes and he eventually lets her take one pair even though he was NOT keen on giving her the pair she eventually took. The next dragon she meets collects stained glass and one very silly dragon collects dogs...

But Creel couldn't always stay with the dragons, despite her friend Shardas being very nice to her while she stayed with him. So she heads to the capitol to try to find a job embroidering clothing. She gets a job finally but barely survives a harrowing day where she gets yelled at by a princess for almost stepping on her dog, nearly arrested by a guard for being out after curfew and rescued by a prince who has been the only one to give her a kind word all day.

The story plot continues as delicate and complicated as the patterns Creel embroiders and doesn't lose an ounce of humor (or cuteness) along the way. I was ecstatic to learn that she'd made a sequel as well even though this first one ended well enough. I like Creel and Luka and Shardas well enough that I want to continue knowing what happens to them.

Frostbite (Vampire Academy, 2) by Richelle Mead

*****
Frostbite (Vampire Academy, 2) by Richelle Mead

I think I liked this second one better than the first! The story continues pretty much right where we left off with Rose and Lissa. Rose is still trying to catch up in her guardian training with Dimitri (made only slightly awkward by the events that happened at the end of the last book) and Lissa is working with a teacher specially to help her train and find out what the magic of Spirit will mean for her.

The real action starts when Rose and Dimitri take a little drive (5 hours) so that Rose can take her Qualifier exam as a guardian. When they arrive at the house where the legendary guardian lives they find that the entire Moroi royal family that lived there as well as their guardians have been murdered by the Strigoi and that humans possibly had a hand in helping them take down the magical wards guarding the house.

All the sudden things are different in the vampire world - parents of students come to the Academy for Christmas and with it comes their guardians as well (including Rose's mother, the legendary Janine Hathaway). The entire school is taken to spend the Christmas holiday at a huge ski resort in Idaho so that they can pool their guardians for protection. Lissa is spending more and more time with her boyfriend Christian and Rose is having a difficult time of thinking about anybody but Dimitri even though she's been trying to move past them with her friend Mason.

Nothing is ever easy for Rose but she does learn and grow a great deal more in this book than in the last. She's reckless and headstrong but has her friend's best interests at heart and she's a really terrific character.

He's Just Not That Into You: The No-Excuses Truth to Understanding Guys by Greg Behrendt & Liz Tuccillo

****
He's Just Not That Into You: The No-Excuses Truth to Understanding Guys by Greg Behrendt & Liz Tuccillo

I'm not sure that I needed to read this book, but I'm glad I did anyway. Both Greg and Liz have that air of 'been there, done that' and it is refreshing to get a guy's point-of-view.

The situations presented are ones that crop up in real life and the advice he gives to each situation is sound (and sometimes silly). Greg will make little snarky comments that are not just amusing but true. Even when you're getting depressed about your chances of finding a decent man he throws in some optimistic and self-conscious boosting comment that makes you feel hopeful again.

I also enjoyed the 'workbook' sections. I liked having another opportunity to get out my crayons ^_^

The Becoming (The Anna Strong Chronicles) by Jeanne C. Stein

***

The Becoming (The Anna Strong Chronicles) by Jeanne C. Stein

Anna Strong is just your typical teacher-turned-bounty hunter that chases down bail skippers when one of the skips gives Anna and her partner the slip. After leaving her partner (David) unconscious in an alley the skip comes back to brutalize Anna and leaves her for dead. A day or two later (after being seriously sedated at the hospital) Anna gets better and completely loses her reflection. Shocker.

But nothing is ever too easy and once Anna finds out about her new undead status her house burns down and her partner, David, gets kidnapped. Anna is counciled by her new vampire 'Family' to just let it go - that since David is mortal he no longer really matters. Anna is convinced his kidnapping is her fault and takes all necessary steps to find him. This leads her to question her instincts and the many of the people that she knows.

The plot is okay. Nothing too far out of line here. I was a tad weirded out by how easily she accepted the idea of sex with a strange vampire but hey, who am I to judge? Those bits were even glossed over... There also seemed to be no motive given for the villain. Was he just bad? There is absolutely no backstory on him - making him very shallow and Anna is very nearly as bad.

There does seem to be an effort to expand the plot near the end where one of the vampires says something about the villain being right, that Anna is 'the One' which is so cliche ... And the worst thing is that Anna doesn't even pick up on it.

Vampire Academy by Richelle Read

****
Vampire Academy by Richelle Read

There were several things that I really liked about this book.

I liked that Lissa and Rose were friends despite their differences (or because of them). There was a whole opposites attract thing in their friendship that makes all of Rose's assertions that she is guarding Lissa for the continued good of their kind seem like just an excuse for her to be near her friend.

I liked that each girl had her own set of problems that both girls could face on their own if they had to, but with the friendship of the other the problems pare down to something mangeable.

I liked that the past helped shape their future and that neither girl really ran from the past but mostly accepted it. Rose's research into the life of St. Vladmir was interesting and it showed that Rose was continuing to grow up and take her duties seriously.

I liked that Rose wasn't put down for liking Dmitri even though he is older than her and a mentor. I liked that Lissa liked Christian despite him being unpopular at the academy. I'm interested to see where both relationships go because although Lissa and Christian's relationship can go forward there are several pitfalls for Rose and Dmitri: age, job & the fact they're both dhampir...

I'm looking forward to the next one. ^_^

Graceling by Kristin Cashore

*****
Graceling by Kristin Cashore

I absolutely loved this book and was terribly disappointed that since it was the author's debut novel and had only just come out in October that there was nothing else by Kristin Cashore for me to read.

I really enjoyed the characters in this novel and much of the action was really driven by them. Katsa is the king's niece and a Graceling, one who is very skilled in one thing. When Katsa was young she unintentionally killed a cousin of hers and was marked with the Grace of killing. She is unhappy with the distinction the Grace gives her and sought for many years to train herself and keep her Grace under control. Katsa is a character that while self-assured of herself in some ways is desperately unsure of herself in others. Like so many other heroines in popular YA books right now Katsa is afraid of the power within herself and of changing the status quo. Despite that Katsa is unhappy with her status of court bully and seeks to change things outside of her sphere with the Council.

It's on one of the missions for the Council that Katsa meets Po, a prince from the island kingdom of Lienid and a Graceling himself. Po tells her that his Grace lies in fighting - any of the hand-to-hand combats. Katsa has been basically undefeatable as a fighter for many years and enjoys the chance to use her skills to their fullest against him. It is an unlikely start, but theirs becomes a true friendship that weathers a multitude of trials.

Politics play a huge role in this novel (rather like in the Poison Study books by Maria Snyder or Crown Duel by Sherwood Smith) but augment the novel by forcing the characters to move faster, take leaps and create bonds. The politics of the Seven Kingdoms are what drive the characters to take action.

I can't wait to see what's next from this author.

Bewitching Season by Marissa Doyle

*****
Bewitching Season by Marissa Doyle

I thoroughly enjoyed this book as it is very much similar to the book 'Sorcery & Cecelia' by Sterverner & Wrede.

Persephone & Penelope Leland are twins and gifted in magic. This book mostly focuses on Persephone or Persey for short. Persey is definitely a more diligent study than her sister mostly thanks to their governess Miss Allardyce or Miss Ally as the girls call her. Preparing for their first season is harrowing work especially when Ally is kidnapped and Persey and Pen have no idea where she's been taken. To make matters more troublesome for Persey, Lord Lochinvar Seton, has grown into quite a distinguished and handsome young man - a fair bit different from the boy who would chase them with frogs in his hands when they were all very much younger.

Persey is a bit perplexed about how to deal with this handsome young man and gets rather tongue-tied when he is near. Add to that trying to save Ally, ruining the plot of Sir John who is trying to take regency over Princess Victoria, and not ruining their evening gowns and you've got a fairly complicated plot. There are a number of difficult problems for the Leland girls to overcome but they tackle them mostly head-on. It is a good growing up story as well as a lesson in that things don't always turn out the way you would think or expect them to. It is very uplifting and at times was downright humorous. I'm looking forward to the next Leland sisters book.

Night Life by Caitlin Kittredge

**
Night Life by Caitlin Kittredge

Eh, this was not the novel I was hoping it to be. Luna Wilder and all her antics seemed very much thrown about and rushed into. Understandably with Luna being a werewolf we should expect some unpredictability and agression but that seemed to be par for this character no matter what time of the month it happens to be. As a cop she rushes unthinkingly into dangerous situations without heed to herself or others (like her sister, her boss, or her friend Dmitri).

Luna is repeatedly fired - at first for just being a smartmouth but then for getting too close to the truth (although I'm still not quite sure how that happened). As she blunders her way through the investigation she repeatedly accuses (and arrests) her suspects even though she has minimal basis for the arrest.

It seems only due to luck and the friends and acquaintances she has managed not to scare off that she is able to save the day. Both Luna and her alpha werewolf 'friend,' Dmitri, are unlikeable as heroes.

Oh and the plot... Ukrainian illegal immigrant women (mostly prostitutes) are being killed in a ritual of death to release a demon and the DA, his assistant and his son are all in on it. Frankly I feel worst for the women who had to rely on Luna to keep them safe...

Breath by Donna Jo Napoli

**
Breath by Donna Jo Napoli

*Spoiler's below*

I was a tad disturbed by this book. I know that all fairy tales aren't happily ever afters but I was still hoping for some optimistic twist near the end.

Instead I found that every possible thing that could go wrong did. The story is tragic starting with the fact that the main character Salz (basically 'Salt') has cystic fibrosis a disease that makes it difficult for a person to breathe due to mucus accumulating in their lungs. That he survived into his teenage years during the medieval times is practically a miracle.

This affliction is not so bad in comparison to the rest of the plot but it makes the sorrows heaped upon Salz seem even more unbearable. Salz lives in the German hamlet of Hameln and during the spring the countryside suffered a rainy spring followed by a summer of dying livestock and an infestation of rats. Strange behavior by the townsfolk followed by disturbing symptoms makes the residents of Hameln think the rats are responsible for the disease. But despicable as the rats are, they are not spreading the plague. Desperate to relieve themselves of the disease the townsfolk seek out an end to the rats. At one point Salz is accused of witchcraft but manages to save himself. Eventually Salz recalls the strange piper that called the forest animals to him one day in the woods and somehow convinces the town to find this piper to lead away the rats. Thus the rest of the story is familiar. The piper is unpaid and leads the town's children (the only remaining healthy members) away leaving only Salz behind as he could not catch up due to his CF affliction.

As I stated before I kept hoping for some glimmer of hope but the story kept seeking out darker and sadder plotpoints. Salz's grandmother dies under a scythe meant for him and the little sister he had adopted and truly loved is taken from him by the piper. The illustrations on the front of the copy I read are disturbing at best and the naked death they display is a bit disturbing just like the story within.