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The following books were reviewed from ARCs and are being published in December:

Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl (Morris Award finalist)

Posh and Prejudice by Grace Dent



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© Elizabeth Burns of A Chair, A Fireplace & A Tea Cozy

Posh and Prejudice by Grace Dent. Little Brown, June 2009. Reviewed from ARC from publisher. (The publisher link says a June 09 release date, as did the ARC, but all I can find at Amazon or B&N is the December 09 paperback release).

The Plot: Shiraz Bailey Wood, 16, is waiting to hear about her exam results. Shiraz isn't sure what she wants -- but a dead end job, and a living the life her mother wants her to is NOT what she wants. So it's off to Mayflower Academy, AKA Superchav Academy, for another year of studies.

The Good: Shiraz is hysterical. I love her, I love her world view.

A little background. This is the second book in Dent's Diary of a Chav series. Do you have to read Diva without a Cause, the first book, to read this? No; but why wouldn't you? A Chav, is, well, a Chav is "Chav: (n.) A British insult for white working-class people fixated on street fashions derived from American hip-hop such as imitation gold and fake designer clothing, e.g.,"It's a bruv who wears crap clothing and manky gold jewelry, innit?"" It's an insult; and Shiraz explains she is not a Chav. And those who attend Superchav Academy (also known at one time as "the worst school in Britain") are not Chavs. Even though they may wear hoodies; and listen to hip hop; and are working class people on the lower socio-economic class. While this definition says "white," Dent's book portrays Shiraz's neighbors and classmates as a very modern Britain, with a mix of races, ethnicities, and religions.

Shiraz is named for a drink. As is her older sister (Cava-Sue) and younger brother (Murphy). Yep. That says a lot, doesn't it? This year in Shiraz's life includes her best friend, Carrie, whose parents are the local people who made it good so the family has money so can spend it on anything; Uma, the "real Chav" who surprises everyone with her grades; Wesley Barrington Bains II, Shiraz's boyfriend; and the new kids at school, including Joshua Fallow, who if this was set in the US I'd call an uberpreppie but in Shiraz's world is, I guess, "posh."

Shiraz talks about school, and her subjects, and what she likes, and how hard it is, especially without support at home; but it's all very funny and part of me was tempted to write this all in Shiraz speak, ending every sentence with, innit. Except, I'm not funny like Grace Dent (or Shiraz) is. When Shiraz explains about a show she and her friends put on, and the outfits the participants insist on wearing -- you're just going to have to read it.

Dent (and Shira

Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl. Little Brown. Publication Date December 2009. Reviewed from ARC supplied by publisher. Official Book Website.

The Plot:

Ethan Wate wants out of his small, sleepy, South Carolina town, where nothing ever changes and only "the stupid and the stuck" stay. It's a town where any "new girl" is the subject of much attention. All the more so when the new girl is Lena Duchannes, niece of Old Man Ravenwood, the town recluse who lives in a run-down plantation house. She is pale in a town where the girls are tan; wears black; and has numbers scrawled on her hands. Weird; but Ethan cannot stop thinking about her, even dreaming about her.

Odd thing is; the dreams started even before she moved to town.

The Good:

There are family trees. More than one. There are certain types of readers who, just knowing this, will put this on their TBR list.

The tricky thing about reviewing a book like this -- a book that is about secrets -- is figuring out just how much, if any, of the secrets to reveal. On the one hand, readers like to discover things for themselves as they read the book; on the other hand, one or two of those secrets may need to be told up front, because they could be the reason a reader wants to read the book. For example, in my review of Carrie Ryan's The Forest of Hands and Teeth, I said "zombies". So here I will say "supernatural" and "witches" (er, "casters" is the preferred term in Beautiful Creatures.)

Now that I've given that away, this is a lushly written Southern Gothic tale, with family and town secrets, and teens discovering that the world is not what they thought it was. It's not just finding out that the supernatural is real; it's learning that trusted adults have kept secrets. And then trying to figure out what to do about it; and trying to take charge of your future when everyone is telling you that future is set in stone.

I won't say this is the next Twilight (because I'm scared of Carlie and she hates reviews that do that.). I will say that this has several elements that will appeal to those who liked Twilight: an against-the-odds, everything-is-working-at-keeping-them-apart romantic pairing; a unique author(s) created supernatural mythology built around "casters"; a setting (Gatlin, SC) that is as much

Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl. Little Brown. Publication Date December 2009. Reviewed from ARC supplied by publisher. Official Book Website.

I'm trying something new here at Tea Cozy; when the publication date of a book is significantly in the future (say, more than six months) I'm timing the actual post for closer to the pub date combined with an early teaser.

So, what you should know about Beautiful Creatures:

It's a spooky, Gothic, Southern tale, full of atmosphere and description, with suspense, romance, and supernatural elements. Ethan Wate falls for new girl Lena Duchannes. He discovers that not only does she have secrets -- so, too, does his home town and the family and friends he's known all his life. And while the title is Beautiful Creatures, I keep on thinking of it as Dangerous Creatures.

A longer review will be posted closer to the pub date.

Interested in getting an ARC? Victoria Stapleton at Little Brown has some available! Send the email to Littlebrownschool @ hbgusa.org and put the title in the subject line.

© Elizabeth Burns of A Chair, A Fireplace & A Tea Cozy