i_will_papercut_a_bish's review against another edition
What a strange, ballsy plotline! The end was more than a bit jarring for me. I nearly defenestrated my laptop when I saw the word "acknowledgements". Ahhh, but there's *more*. Sneaky vixen.
I'll fully admit to humming "Kinap the Sandy Claws, throw him in a box...." throughout the entire last two chapters. ;P
I'll fully admit to humming "Kinap the Sandy Claws, throw him in a box...." throughout the entire last two chapters. ;P
waclements7's review against another edition
4.0
This was entirely not what I expected--in a good way. It started out much like many other YA novels, then took a sharp turn and never looked back. I loved that Charity is smart and clever and bi-racial and all the things heroines usually aren't. She falls in love, but it doesn't make her IQ drop in the process. The mythological aspect with Aiden is awesome and unique. I don't like cliff-hangers, but the epilogue kept it from being too much of one. Things are in motion for the next book, not just stalled in a heart-pounding moment. I also really liked Charity's friends--they are just an awesome group of people. Really enjoyable and a fun, exciting read.
vondav's review against another edition
5.0
Charity is a 16-year-old genius this has caused her to be an outcast at school. What hadn’t helped is she was the founder member of the Sceptics Club due to her non- religious ideas. Aidan is a homeless boy that Charity’s mom bought home, talking like he has stepped out of a Jane Ayre novel, he will not tell anyone about his family and where he has come from. There is an instant attraction between them but when one of Charity’s bullies turn up dead, Charity and Sceptic club start to investigate and find out more about Aidan and his evil father than they expected. Adding to Charity’s problems is also her drug dealer, regular bad boy brother Charles, who blames everyone else for his wrong decisions.
I took to Charity straight away, even though she was constantly bullied, she stuck to her beliefs and didn’t change herself to fit in. It was a pleasant change to have a girl who was into robotics and science. All her history made her a natural born leader that was admired within her close nit of friends. Aidan character came across as a really sweet and you can understand why Charity’s mom took him in. I enjoyed how he took to modern technology and embraced the simple tasks of learning to ride a bike and to get a part time job. One of my favourite characters was Michael keeping himself to himself, I loved his one liners and I enjoyed how the author developed these characters throughout the book, telling us more about their stories
Even though, throughout the book there were hints of who Aidan’s dad was. The way the author wrote about this Jekyll and Hyde character, I ended up doubting my suspicions as I could not just believe it, so when Aidan’s story came out, it was still a surprise.
This book is tagged as a children’s story, but I would say that this story is great for adults and teenagers alike. I tend not to read books with a Christmas theme, but I am glad I read this. This story has everything for a YA fantasy read, action, with a touch of romance and you get the horror element from Aidan’s brother and sisters. I got so into the story that I could not believe that it ended on a cliff-hanger, but after I read the acknowledgements I was pleased to come across the epilogue which I thought would complete the story. How wrong I was, it just made me yearn for book 2. My first book from this author but will definitely not be the last. A good read Christmas or not
I took to Charity straight away, even though she was constantly bullied, she stuck to her beliefs and didn’t change herself to fit in. It was a pleasant change to have a girl who was into robotics and science. All her history made her a natural born leader that was admired within her close nit of friends. Aidan character came across as a really sweet and you can understand why Charity’s mom took him in. I enjoyed how he took to modern technology and embraced the simple tasks of learning to ride a bike and to get a part time job. One of my favourite characters was Michael keeping himself to himself, I loved his one liners and I enjoyed how the author developed these characters throughout the book, telling us more about their stories
Even though, throughout the book there were hints of who Aidan’s dad was. The way the author wrote about this Jekyll and Hyde character, I ended up doubting my suspicions as I could not just believe it, so when Aidan’s story came out, it was still a surprise.
This book is tagged as a children’s story, but I would say that this story is great for adults and teenagers alike. I tend not to read books with a Christmas theme, but I am glad I read this. This story has everything for a YA fantasy read, action, with a touch of romance and you get the horror element from Aidan’s brother and sisters. I got so into the story that I could not believe that it ended on a cliff-hanger, but after I read the acknowledgements I was pleased to come across the epilogue which I thought would complete the story. How wrong I was, it just made me yearn for book 2. My first book from this author but will definitely not be the last. A good read Christmas or not
emlickliter's review
5.0
I won an advanced copy of this one, and my first thought was, "Cool cover!" And its a pretty cool story as well. For those of you not familiar with the Krampas myth, the idea is that Santa has an evil counterpoint to punish bad children. Apparently the Germans didn't think getting lumps of coal was good enough to keep their kids in line, so they made up a really creepy boogey man.
In this story, Santa's son runs away from his demented father who is both St.Nicholas and Krampas. Aidan falls in love with an engineering whiz of a teenage girl named Charity, and the two of them have quite a lot standing between them and happiness. For starters there is a monster terrorizing the town that Charity realizes may be more magical than she is prepared to believe in. Not to mention her brother has devolved into a sociopathic terror bent on ruining her life and getting Aidan in trouble with his dad. Charity along with a team of new friends devise a plan to take on Santa and protect Aidan from his fate.
Minor spoiler: Its not a happy ending, but the series isn't over yet! I'm hoping for a Christmas miracle in book 2!! I highly recommend this twist on all the Christmas myths we grew up hearing!
In this story, Santa's son runs away from his demented father who is both St.Nicholas and Krampas. Aidan falls in love with an engineering whiz of a teenage girl named Charity, and the two of them have quite a lot standing between them and happiness. For starters there is a monster terrorizing the town that Charity realizes may be more magical than she is prepared to believe in. Not to mention her brother has devolved into a sociopathic terror bent on ruining her life and getting Aidan in trouble with his dad. Charity along with a team of new friends devise a plan to take on Santa and protect Aidan from his fate.
Minor spoiler: Its not a happy ending, but the series isn't over yet! I'm hoping for a Christmas miracle in book 2!! I highly recommend this twist on all the Christmas myths we grew up hearing!
evavroslin's review against another edition
5.0
I don't read a lot of YA, although I'm happy to say the number of those titles has been increasing for me every year because there is a lot of wonderful material that even adults will enjoy. Having loved the author's previous book, "Mr. Wicker," I knew I had to check this one out. It's about a biracial teen, Charity, who shares her father's aptitude for engineering. Her parents adopt a new foster brother, Aidan, who is a mystery from the start. Things go down a terrible path when Charity discovers the body of one of her gruesomely murdered classmates, and when she finds out the culprit, as well its connection to Aidan, things start to take a turn for the worse. Given the subject matter and the appearance of a certain memorable mythological figure from Christmas, it would have been very easy for this book to get ridiculous, but the author deftly handles the plot with intrigue and thriller elements that made this book impossible to put down. Maria Alexander's prose is clear and engaging, her characters memorable, and the plot riveting. It's also the perfect time of year to read this book as we're approaching the winter holiday season. I cannot wait for the sequel!
stephaniemwytovich's review
5.0
What a delightfully, refreshing winter read! Especially as I'm currently encased in Pittsburgh's chilled embrace...
SNOWED quickly swept me up in a storm of strong characters, mythological fantasies, and a romance that balanced out the horror of Krampus...and growing up. Charity Jones is a fantastically brilliant character and her wit and charm proved both intoxicating and inspiring. I look forward to seeing what she (and Alexander) do next, and as I quite literally couldn't put this book down, it has my highest recommendation.
SNOWED quickly swept me up in a storm of strong characters, mythological fantasies, and a romance that balanced out the horror of Krampus...and growing up. Charity Jones is a fantastically brilliant character and her wit and charm proved both intoxicating and inspiring. I look forward to seeing what she (and Alexander) do next, and as I quite literally couldn't put this book down, it has my highest recommendation.
bookertsfarm's review
4.0
After quite a bit of thinking, I'm giving this book 4/5 instead of 3/5 because even though there were parts of it that really bothered me (more coming up on that soon), I have to give credit for it being a very diverse, horror-filled Christmas tale. Charity Jones is a 16 year old attending school in California. Her mother is an attorney/social worker, her father, a weapons engineer, and her brother, a punk. Charity has an eclectic group of friends and she herself is bi-racial. One day she comes home from a particularly hard day at school to find her mom has brought home a stray foster child - a dashing, yet odd and backward, Aidan. Little is known about Aidan other than his father is a very dangerous man and is out to locate him and bring him back home. Suddenly a bully at Charity's school is brutally murdered and Charity and her friends find themselves right in the middle of this zany and sometimes terrifying Christmas caper.
First, let's look at the things I liked about this book. Somewhere within the past two years I've become obsessed with Krampus. Perhaps it's because Halloween and Christmas run neck-and-neck for my favorite holiday and Krampus kind of combines them both. Needless to say, this book takes the Krampus legend and greatly expounds on it. Secondly, the diversity in this book is great. We have geeks and nerds, Asians, bi-racial families and LGBT characters. Friendship really is at the root of this book and it's great to see such a wide variety of individuals. Finally, the book is fast-paced. You run into villains and heroes every time you turn around and for a while, you are trying to figure out who is who.
Now on to what drove me crazy. INSTA-LOVE. I know this is a young adult book and I guess some writers feel there has to be a love element to keep teens interested. Personally I don't think that is the case but either way, Charity and Aidan are madly in love before the reader is about 40% into the book. Now while the relationship between them drives a lot of the other things that happen in the book, I found it annoying nonetheless. Also, although I applaud the diversity in this book, I almost feel like at times it's thrown in the reader's face. Almost like there was a checklist of races and cultures which the author wanted to mention and as she was writing, she mentally checked them off.
Overall, I'm glad I read "Snowed." As I mentioned, there just aren't a lot of decent horror/fantasy Christmas reads and this one definitely fits that bill. If you are interested in that type of read, I would recommend picking this up. However, if you really can't stand insta-love, then this is probably not the book for you and you'll have to decide if the good I mentioned outweigh it enough for you to give it a chance.
First, let's look at the things I liked about this book. Somewhere within the past two years I've become obsessed with Krampus. Perhaps it's because Halloween and Christmas run neck-and-neck for my favorite holiday and Krampus kind of combines them both. Needless to say, this book takes the Krampus legend and greatly expounds on it. Secondly, the diversity in this book is great. We have geeks and nerds, Asians, bi-racial families and LGBT characters. Friendship really is at the root of this book and it's great to see such a wide variety of individuals. Finally, the book is fast-paced. You run into villains and heroes every time you turn around and for a while, you are trying to figure out who is who.
Now on to what drove me crazy. INSTA-LOVE. I know this is a young adult book and I guess some writers feel there has to be a love element to keep teens interested. Personally I don't think that is the case but either way, Charity and Aidan are madly in love before the reader is about 40% into the book. Now while the relationship between them drives a lot of the other things that happen in the book, I found it annoying nonetheless. Also, although I applaud the diversity in this book, I almost feel like at times it's thrown in the reader's face. Almost like there was a checklist of races and cultures which the author wanted to mention and as she was writing, she mentally checked them off.
Overall, I'm glad I read "Snowed." As I mentioned, there just aren't a lot of decent horror/fantasy Christmas reads and this one definitely fits that bill. If you are interested in that type of read, I would recommend picking this up. However, if you really can't stand insta-love, then this is probably not the book for you and you'll have to decide if the good I mentioned outweigh it enough for you to give it a chance.
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