Funnily enough, this book is the one that made me want to read this series, because it looked good, and I hate to start things in the middle. But when I picked it up the first time a few weeks ago, I couldn't get into it. Which might be because it does start things in the middle. Picking up right where Water Mirror left off. Merle and the Flowing Queen are still trying to escape the Egyptians on the back of Vermithrax, and Serafin, left behind, is desolate. 

An attack by mummy soldiers and a surprise rescue change things for Serafin pretty quickly. Especially once he realizes just who rescued him. Truly, he can't believe it. Honestly, he's quite impressed. So when asked to join up in the resistance movement, he agrees to be taken to the enclave, if for nothing else than to find out who's running this show.

Merle, meanwhile, has some pretty close calls with the Egyptians. Much closer than she liked, to tell the truth. And she really could have gone without ever seeing a collector up close and personal. Still. They need to get to Hell, to ask Lord Light's help in saving Venice. Without the Flowing Queen, there's nothing now to stop the Empire from moving in.

Back in Venice, Serafin is rather shocked (and that's an understatement) to learn the rebellion is being led by a Sphinx. The Sphinxes work for the Pharaoh. But...this is a very convincing Sphinx...so when she asks his help, for Merle, he agrees. Breaking into the Doge's palace to assassinate the Pharaoh doesn't seem like the best idea to him, but he'll do it. Really, what else can he do?

Merle, having found the entrance to Hell, is not much enjoying her trip. There are some pretty nasty beasties in Hell, as you can well imagine. And even a flying stone lion isn't a match for all of them. Plus, they don't actually know where they're going. Although they did manage to hitch a ride in a flying stone head, which they took for some sort of herald, leaving the odds at 50/50 that it would deliver them precisely where they wished to be.

Serafin's luck isn't going much better. The entire break-in, as it so happens, was a ruse. Although it beats a crazy little man wanting to cut out your heart and replace it with one made of stone.

Although hard to get into at first, once you're in, the action definitely never lets up in this installment of the Dark Reflections trilogy.

Sam Jones has some plans for his life. Mainly, be the first in the family to go to college, and not to impregnate anyone while still in his teens. While his grades aren't stellar, they're not bad, and his Art teacher recently recommended he study Art & design after school. He's single, and spends most of his time skating (on a board) so all in all, his plans seem to be going all right. He worries, every now and then, whether it will all really turn out all right, but who doesn't? Pretty much, he's content.

When his mother wants to bring him to a party to meet a girl, he has the reaction you'd expect. No way. But she presses the point, and off he goes. And Alicia is certainly something to look at. Not much to be with though. Obnoxious, pretty much. But the approach of telling her so and walking away seems to be some sort of magic for soon enough, she's at his side and pulling him back to the living room.

Alicia is not the kind of girl Sam would have expected to go for him. But she did. And soon his life has whittled down to a very small world.  Mainly, Alicia. They hang out, they watch tv in her room, they have sex. That's about the extent of it. Which of course worries the parents. But as far as Sam and Alicia are concerned, everything's fine.

Until it's not.

Eventually, Sam goes back to skating. Somehow, one day he was tired of her. And rather than tell her, well, he just stopped going round, or answering calls. He figured she'd get the point. Unfortunately for him, there was this whole potential incident he'd kept to himself, and would like to have forgotten. So when he gets a text one morning at breakfast, he's not really surprised. He's not happy either. But he goes to meet her.

And then he runs away.

And comes back.

Out the window go the plans. In come a whole new slew of worries. Like death at parent's hands. And how can this work? And how can it be, even though he's pretty sure he knows that part. Not that he's telling anyone.

A couple of trips into the future while sleeping don't do much to make Sam feel any better about the way things have turned out, though when he gets to those moments in real time it turns out they're not so bad.

This is a pretty funny look into accidental pregnancy. While the subject is itself heavy, Sam's dealings with it, while oh so wrong at points, are a riot to read about. And in the end he does what's right, which is the important part. And things will be ok, or they won't, but not for lack of trying.

When Ben Wolf goes for his yearly physical prior to Cross-Country season, he gets some rather unexpected news. the worst sort of unexpected news really. But Ben has always felt that he wasn't meant for a nice, long life on this earth, and takes the news about as in stride as anyone can. His doctor is none to pleased, dragging him to a specialist, and swearing him to twice weekly therapy for his silence and pass on the physical. Ben, being 18, knows the decision is his, and threatens legal action should his family find out.

Instead of returning to Cross-Country, where he's a shoe-in for the State Title, Ben turns out for football, much to the amusement of the other players, and bemusement of the Coach. For a pint-sized guy, he's quite the surprise as it turns out. And for a large part of the season, he's their best-kept secret. The Horseshoe Bend game, which will surely go down in Trout History gives him one of the best moments of his life.

Meanwhile, outside school, he's somehow landed the girl of his dreams. A thing he'd never conceived as a possibility. But dying made him bold. And is now tearing him to pieces. Not only does she like him, she forsees a future with him. One he won't be there for. She tells him so secrets so huge he knows he should reciprocate, and yet by that time it seems too late.

The more the year progresses, the more Ben finds that attempting normalcy when the reality is anything but really wasn't a good idea. And they tried to tell him. The doctor, the therapist, the next therapist, Hey-Soos. heck, even town drunk Rudy McCoy has confided an earth-shattering secret in him, and he still can't get the guts to come clean.

He does though. Starting with Rudy, as it happens. And then Coach. And Cody.

Sometimes it goes much better than he could hoped. Sometimes it's about the worst thing ever. Dying aside. Worse than that, even.

While it would seem that this would be a sad tale and a depressing read, it was uplifting throughout and largely funny, with its supremely serious interludes thrown in at just the right junctures. Definitely a recommended read for all.

Merle has spent most of her life in and out of an orphanage, where they were never too pleased to have her, so when she sets off for her new apprenticeship at Arcimboldo's mirror workshop, she has high hopes. The idea that she and Junipa will be the only girls in the shop doesn't occur to her until they arrive, and while it's not the most appealing prospect, at least she's not alone.

From the get-go, all is not quite right at Arcimboldo's. He's replaced Junipa's eyes with pieces of mirror, to give her sight. The effect is more than a little disturbing. Then there are the late-night excursions of the housekeeper, Eft, down into the well in the courtyard. The attack on the workshop by the Weaver's boys. The having no idea just what it is that Arcimboldo does.

Some questions she gets answers too. Like why the Weaver's apprentices attacked (ongoing fued), and why Eft climbs down the well. She and Junipa get to spend a day working with mirrors, even. And then comes the festival, which changes it all.

Venice is besieged. So it's been for quite some time, and so it may be forever. The Egyptians took over the world, but were kept out of Venice by the Flowing Queen. No one is sure just what the Flowing Queen is, but they know she kept them safe. And so every year, they celebrate her protection. And so the Mirror Maker's apprentices are treated to a night out on the town.

Merle, who was quite taken with Serafin, one of the Weaver boys, from the moment his mask slipped off his face, spends most of her time at the Festival searching for him. It's Junipa who finally spots him, and insists that Merle go see him.

From the way he pops up in front of her, it seems he was seeking her out too.

Their leisurely stroll around the canals takes a turn towards the dangerous when they run across a winged lion. Winged stone lions being the most rare form of lion in the city's employ. They protect the city counselors. Which begs the question, what are the City Councilors doing in that area, at that time of night?

Adventure turned spy mission turns to disaster when Merle's mirror falls from her pocket and lands on the head of one of the men they were spying on. With the help of Serafin, she manages to recollect it, and also the vial the councilors were about to hand off to an Egyptian emissary. Swimming with all her might, she manages to escape, though Serafin is caught by one of the much feared winged lions.

And if Merle thought her night was rough up til that point...the adventure's just begun!

Tessa Scott is dying, and there's some things she'd really like to get to before she does. Ideas scribbled everywhere around her room. On the wall. On scraps of paper. Her best friend, Zoey, thinks she should gather them together, make a real list, get on with it. Anything's better than lying about in bed all day. And as much as Tess would like to disagree, she eventually comes to realize she has two choices. Get on with living or get on with death. And since her life has already been cut short, isn't making the most of the rest of it the best plan?

The list is not necessarily the kind of thing a parent would love. In fact, Tessa's pretty sure that her dad will hate most of it. But it's her life. And she wants to get to experience it. After all, what's the worst that can happen?

Of course, making up one's mind to go through with something so big and actually doing it are different stories. And when Zoey comes to collect her for their night out, where they intend to take care of number uno--sex--Tess isn't so keen to leave the house. Nor is her dad keen to have her out late. Zoey cares about neither objection, and off they go. It's not exactly everything Tessa was hoping for. In fact it might be nothing she was hoping for. But it's still one off the list. And it's a start. Which might make it easier to keep going. But nothing can make it easy.

Her relationships are strained at best. Her father is at wit's end. Zoey comes and goes. She meets the neighbor boy, after a long stretch of watching him through the window, only to get close, push him away, get close, push him away.

The day she decides to say yes to everything lands her in a river, and afterwards in hospital. Her wish for fame leads to a radio interview where she divulges some details her father could have done with out. But once she's really made up her mind to go out on her own terms, there's certainly no stopping her.

Not the easiest story to read, in terms of sunshine and happy times, but it's certainly well worth the read. Tessa is someone to aspire to, when all is said and done.

An eternity of reflecting one's misery back on oneself, as it turns out, gets quite dull. Really, it's torturous. You can't change anything at this point, it's all been said and done. And the thanklessness of it...well. It's just more than Kiriel can deal with. So what if he's breaking all the rules? He deserves a vacation. And the body he slipped into...well, it was about to die anyway.

After eternity as a spirit, the physical realm is quite something. In fact, Kiriel is giving the Creator props at every turn. Color! Wind! It's all just incredible. Of course, learning to be human whilst being supervised is more than a little awkward, so his first order of business is to remove himself from the company of Shaun's best friend and head home for some solitude.

After getting caught essentially making out with a t-shirt, spending a couple of hours in the bathroom, and overhauling Shaun's appearance, Kiriel thinks he's getting the hang of this physical thing. Each new experience is incredible. Like ketchup. Oh does he love ketchup! Ingenious.

But he has bigger issues at hand. Better experiences he wants to try to get to before someone notices and his trip comes to an end. Only at this point does he realize his choice of someone generally unnoticed may not have been the best. These are not the boys who...get on well with girls. But he can try!

Speaking is his biggest issue really. It's a bit hard to remember to try to talk like an uninterested, unenlightened teenage boy when you know pretty much everything. Eager to try to make an impact while he can, Kiriel decides to give some advice to a bully, who he knows he'll see in Hell if things don't change. But apparently attempting to counsel a bully on his fears of inadequacy in public is not the best idea.

After a few days as Shaun, Kiriel's curiosity is starting to wear off. The novelty is wearing off. Being human is hopelessly futile. Shaun has disappeared, and no one has noticed, aside from his cat. It's horribly depressing. And the changes he's begun, being nicer to Jason, well, he won't be here to carry through on that. So what's the point, really?

Still. It's been fun. And you can learn things while physical that you just wouldn't otherwise. So it wasn't all pointless. And maybe he will leave a mark after he's gone. Maybe it's not all futile.

For Alex, the fun ended when his brilliant plan went awry and landed him on a neighbor's lawn, crushed lawn gnome under tire, puking his guts out on an officer's shoes. Though if you asked him, it's nothing to get in a tizzy over. Just a lawn gnome. So what if he intended to drive across down and didn't make it to the end of the road? No way does he need to pay for it by spending his time with someone as old, unpleasant, and abusive as Sol Lewis. No way. Too bad Judge Trent and his mother don't agree.

With no choice but to persist, Alex does eventually learn to handle Sol, eventually developing a rapport with him, if an uneasy one. Not until he arrives late one day, an occupies himself with guitar, thus accidentally discovering Sol's love for music, do they really begin to bond. And at this point, Alex has another brilliant idea. But this time it really is good. He's going to hold a concert at the home, with two of his insanely musically talented classmates, who he likes to call the Cha-KINGS.

Soon Alex is in it deep. After school practicing, trying to learn to keep up with two musical gods. Off-days, visiting Sol, trying to make the most of their time together, hard as that may sometimes be. In fact, he's begun thinking of staying on after his time is up. Even after Sol finds out he's not been there of his own accord and they have a falling out on New Year's Eve. Even after Sol shows him up at his own gig.

With the arrival of Valentine's Day, the situation gets more dire. Sol, who has emphysema, has been hospitalized with pneumonia. Alex gets the news as he's about to leave, and has no option but to go pick up his date, explain the situation, and head to the hospital. After enduring the visit, during which Sol does nothing but call her Laurie, Alex sets his date up with Laurie's date at the dance, after arriving, filling her in, and being directed to take her to the hospital right now.

By his return visit, Sol is looking better, but Alex is beginning to be forced to face the hard truth. He won't be around forever.

Back at the home, Sol and Alex continue their lessons, and Alex learns that Sol and the Cha-KING's have scheduled another show for April. Alex isn't entirely interested, but agrees on the condition that Sol will take part.

Though she didn't attend the first time, Alex takes the chance to invite Judge Trent to the concert, and this time she accepts. A fact that is even more surprising than Alex knows.

This was a really, really fun read, and exceptionally quick. You could add it to your pile and it would be gone again before you knew it.

Lily Samson is sure her family is the craziest. Her brother lolls around, dropping in and out of school, unable to find a path in life. Her Pop, though she loves him, is a bona fide racist (as far as she's concerned), her Nan has an invisible friend, her mother is fond of bringing home clients from work to stay with them, and Lily, in all her Year Ten glory, is the responsible one in the house. Her friends giggle about boys, she makes shopping lists. Her friends makes up new words, she makes dinner plans. Really, there's most definitely something wrong here.

Lonnie,  errant brother, has moved out after a blow-out with Pop, involving an axe. Living in a Boarding House for Gentleman, and once again enrolled in school, he's still trying to find his way. His mother, with no real way to know how he's doing, worries. Endlessly and pointlessly, if you ask Lily.  Indeed, Lonnie nearly does repeat his cycle yet again, but a little intervention stays his hand. In fact, meeting Clara has changed the world for Lonnie, and all for the better.

Back at home, Lily has concluded she needs to fall in love. It seemed just the answer to her premature aging. And yet, once decided, she quickly changes her mind and finds the whole process of having a crush to be quite horrid. Unfortunately, she can't go back.

She's sure as anything that Daniel Steadman doesn't even know she exists; across town Daniel is plagued with dreams of a mystery girl with a beautiful voice.

Waking in a frenzy one night, unable to recall the color of his mother's eyes, Pop takes a trip to his old neighborhood at Nan's urging. Most of it is gone, replaced with stores and shops and food all foreign to him. Worse yet, while sitting on a bench recollecting, he calls aloud a most unfortunate phrase and insults the Chinese woman who just happened to be across the way at the time. He runs for it, but determined not to take abuses anymore, she chases him down. They find in one another an unexpected friend.

Nan, feeling certain that the family needs a celebration, decides to hold a party for Pop's eightieth birthday. A grand event, it will be! She's just sure it will help Pop and Lonnie to reconcile. She's been pestering Lily to try to make it happen, and to make sure Lon comes to the event. Though Lily is certain this can only end badly, what with Clara being Chinese, she does as asked.

In fact, Lily decides this party is important. Maybe the most important thing in their lives. She needs it to be a success. And because he hears this quiet desperation in his sister's voice, Lonnie agrees. To make up, and to attend. Lily can only hope it will be the one, perfect day she feels she, and they all, deserve.

After returning from their successful mission to the Underworld, Charlotte and Zee have returned to life as usual. Minus the nightmares/generally strange dreams, and the fact that Charlotte isgrounded forever, because it turns out, once you learn that the gods are real, lying to your parents just doesn't work anymore. Life is just too real for that. Still, it's not all bad. When a cute new boy moves to town, and seems to have an interest in Charlotte, it's hard not to feel at least a little uplifted.

Unfortunately, things don't stay smooth for long.

There's the strange old man Charlotte, Zee, and even Mr. Mielswetzski have seen around town. And Jason gone missing. And Zee taking an interest in Maddy, Charlotte's best friend, only to dump herand pick up with an Ashley. And let's not forget the total personality make-over he could have done without. And to ice Charlotte's cake, her father has won an award, and the family is going on a cruise. A History cruise. Every day to disembark and visit local sites. Every teenager's dream.

Or not.

Still, at least she can get out of the house.

Things go amiss on the cruise almost from the get-go. Her parents arrive late to breakfast on their second day raving about Thalia the lounge singer. It starts pouring just as she's about to lay out by the pool. Her parents make a date to meet her for breakfast the next morning (after locking her in her room due to a misunderstanding), and miss the appointment. Upon exploration Charlotte discovers the ship to be empty, and in the Mediterranean. Just a wee bit off course from the East Coast.

Eventually, Charlotte finds the passengers and all the crew locked in the Lounge with Thalia, who happens to be a Siren, and her powers don't work on Children. It's up to Charlotte. Who, by somestroke of fate, isn't alone. Jason, whom she thought she'd seen the day before, is indeed on board. There to help her. Turns out, he knows about her escapades in the Underworld. His dad's a god, kin to Poseidon. Poseidon doesn't take well to people messing with his family, and it turns out Philonecron is his grandson. Which puts Charlotte on the hit list. For which an entire ship full of people are about to pay the price. So of course they do the only sensible thing. They head forPoseidon's yacht, with the plan of stealing his Trident to control Thalia and free the passengers and crew.

After a near miss with a couple sea monsters, Charlotte and Jason make it to the yacht. They hatch a plan.Charlotte, never big on patience, sets off on her own. Suffice it to say her plan takes a turn for the disastrous, but fate seems to be on her side, handing her an unlikely ally, and one more shot to save the day.

Again.

James Sveck is not happy. And that's really the least of his worries. After realizing he felt separate, alone as in not a part of this species, life took a bad turn for James. 

It all came to a head with the whole America Classroom debacle. He doesn't like to think about it. He doesn't want to talk about it. And so for weeks he plays avoidance games, silence games, power games---pretty much any and every game---with his therapist.

His parents are worried. His sister is worried. James is just annoyed.

He doesn't have much use for people, especially those his own age. Which makes college an extremely daunting proposition. He can't see any point. He doesn't want to be in that kind of environment, considers it an appalling waste of money, and would really rather just skip it and learn from books. To him, the idea is brilliant. To his parents, not so much.

And then there's the whole sexuality debate. Suddenly, both of his parents become keenly curious as to his interests. As if knowing he were gay would suddenly answer all questions, solve something, allow them to help him. As if it were so simple.

And he's alienated one of his only friends. John, who works at his mother's gallery, and is one of the few people James feels he can talk to, liked to surf the web at the front desk, and wasn't so good with covering his tracks. After stumbling upon John's profile on a dating site, James creates John's ideal mate. Anyone else would have realized, more than likely, what a bad idea this was, but to James it was just fun. A joke. Not to be taken seriously. To John, when James shows up in place of his date at a party, it's nearly unspeakable. And it leaves James out of a job; fired by his own mother.

His college, or lack thereof, plans are falling to pieces, no one seems to understand him, everyone is hounding him, and now James has only Nanette (his Grandmother) to turn to. Luckily, Nanette is very good with both listening and advice. And she's right about John coming around. The very next day James gets his job back. And faced with a pleading mother and sister, he even picks up the phone to speak to his future roommate, unsure what else to do.

There might just be hope after all.