Review: THE CAMELOT CODE by Mari Mancusi

Courtesy Goodreads

The Camelot Code
by Mari Mancusi
Author site
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Goodreads summary:

All fourteen-year-old gamer girl Sophie Sawyer wants to do is defeat Morgan Le Fay in her favorite Arthurian videogame. She has no idea the secret code sent via text message is actually a magical spell that will send her back in time to meet up with a real life King Arthur instead. 

Of course Arthur's not king yet--he hasn't pulled the sword from the stone--and he has no idea of his illustrious destiny. And when a twist of fate sends him forward in time--to modern day high school--history is suddenly in jeopardy. Even more so when Arthur Googles himself and realizes what lies in store for him if he returns to his own time--and decides he'd rather try out for the football team instead. 

Now Sophie and her best friend Stuart find themselves in a race against time--forced to use their 21st century wits to keep history on track, battle a real-life version of their favorite videogame villain, and get the once and future king back where he belongs. Or the world, as they know it, may no longer exist.

The Camelot Code is available in e-book and paperback through Amazon or B&N.    I received a digital copy from the lovely Mari herself and what follows is my honest to goodness review.

As an avid gamer, like the protagonist Sophie Sawyer, I enjoy hacking away at my enemies or casting spells to save the day. It's a wonderful escape from reality. However, if I suddenly found myself sucked back in time to the land of Skyrim, where dragons molested towns and the dead walked as skeletons in crypts, I might actually pass out from the sheer terror of it.

Sophie's handling of the situation is somewhat more along the lines of what I would wish to accomplish. She takes the event in stride and does her best to make things right, no matter how crazy they seem to get as the story goes along. As the Goodreads summary adequately explains, this historical, magical time swap is a romp in the park of fun.

I honestly had a blast reading this book. It's not what I typically read these days; I'm more of a darker YA reader/fantasy fan, but the lighthearted humor mixed with friendship and camaraderie as these friends embark on an adventure to save the world is exactly what kids these days need to read. There is just enough romance for the budding teen to giggle over, but not so much as to make it cross that boundary between middle grade and definitive YA territory.

As a 23-year-old graduate student majoring in creative writing, I found The Camelot Code to not only be enjoyable, but also well-written for its target audience, which somehow includes me as well. When I finally finished it I felt giddy like I did when I was twelve. I put down my iPad and simply relished the joy of the story.

Sometimes in this bustling world of books, that feeling is hard to come by. I applaud Mari Mancusi and wish her all the best with her other books (including the Scorched series, which I also now plan to read).


Until next time...

A Confusion of Princes

I'm struggling folks. Not with life, but with reading Dragonswood. I don't know why it's taking me so long to read it but perhaps it has something to do with the fact that it isn't that great. Admitting that to myself made me really sad. I hate when books fail to live up to my expectations.

BUT I will finish it and provide y'all with a full review. I just can't promise it will be a timely review. Until then, I can write a little piece about A Confusion of Princes by Garth Nix. I recently lost control of my credit card and bought myself a Nook Tablet and since that time I've been blowing up the download book option like it's going out of style. 

A Confusion of Princes was one of the first ebooks I read on it and it completely blew me away. As you all may know, or not if you don't know me, I adore Garth Nix's Abhorsen series. I've seriously read Sabriel about 30 times and it's only the first book. I keep that (--->) on my bedside table just in case I feel like reading before I go to bed. Yes. I'm that in love with those books. 

However, when I found out that Nix was writing a book based in space, I reached a whole new level of fandom. It was quite amusing. The first few sentences is where Nix always manages to get me. (For some reason my autocorrect wanted to make manages into mangoes. How odd.)

Just take a read for yourselves. 

I have died three times, and three times been reborn, though I am not yet twenty in the old Earth years by which it is still the fashion to measure time.  

This is the story of my three deaths, and my life between.  

My name is Khemri, though this is not the name my parents gave me. I do not know who my parents are, and never will, for I was taken from them as a baby.

                                        -A Confusion of Princes (Chapter 1, page 5) by Garth Nix



See what I mean? How can you not want to learn how Khemri died three times and still lives?

Nix does what I've rarely seen other authors do, at least not as well as he does: he combines a feeling of history with fantasy. I'm not sure of any other way to explain it than that. Even though his books are filled with magic or in this case, advanced science and alien technology, it still feels like it could be real. Nothing is too outlandish to exist. Everything feels plausible. And that distinction marks true fiction.

The worlds of Sabriel and Khemri have history. They have weight. The backgrounds aren't just filler, they are actual characters in the story, without which the main characters would be lost.

And I love every minute I spend reading about them.

Anyway, I feel like I've sufficiently sung the praises of Garth Nix today. Mission accomplished. I hope y'all follow the link to check out Goodreads' summary of A Confusion of Princes. It's a great book.

Until next time...

RTW: Best Book of October

Welcome to our 102nd Road Trip Wednesday!


Road Trip Wednesday is a ‘Blog Carnival,’ where YA Highway's contributors post a weekly writing- or reading-related question that begs to be answered. In the comments, you can hop from destination to destination and get everybody's unique take on the topic. We'd love for you to participate! Just answer the prompt on your own blog and leave a link -- or, if you prefer, you can include your answer in the comments. 


This week's topic: What was the best book you read in October?


Happily and oddly enough, October has been a very fruitful reading month for me. I don't know how it came to happen that I've read so much since it seems like October has been the busiest month of my entire life, but I like to think that the book fairies know I need to read to stay afloat and they took pity on me. So, with that all in mind, I have a rather large selection to pick from this month, but thankfully there has been one book in particular that stood out, so the decision wasn't too stressful.

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern is absolutely gorgeous. I was lucky enough to actually get to meet her at an event in my hometown a few weeks ago, and she is such a sweet person. Here is a little background on the novel, in case you haven't heard of it, and if that's the case, I'd be surprised since it's quite popular at the moment. I really can't say it any better than the jacket sleeve and Goodreads.

The circus arrives without warning. No announcements precede it. It is simply there, when yesterday it was not. Within the black-and-white striped canvas tents is an utterly unique experience full of breathtaking amazements. It is called Le Cirque des Rêves, and it is only open at night. 

But behind the scenes, a fierce competition is underway—a duel between two young magicians, Celia and Marco, who have been trained since childhood expressly for this purpose by their mercurial instructors. Unbeknownst to them, this is a game in which only one can be left standing, and the circus is but the stage for a remarkable battle of imagination and will. Despite themselves, however, Celia and Marco tumble headfirst into love—a deep, magical love that makes the lights flicker and the room grow warm whenever they so much as brush hands. 

True love or not, the game must play out, and the fates of everyone involved, from the cast of extraordinary circus per­formers to the patrons, hang in the balance, suspended as precariously as the daring acrobats overhead. 

Written in rich, seductive prose, this spell-casting novel is a feast for the senses and the heart.

While reading this, I fell in love not only with the characters, but also with the circus itself. It's a living, breathing entity that easily captured my imagination. I only wish that I could be a part of Le Cirque des Rêves.

The Night Circus isn't a YA novel, but it isn't entirely an adult book either. It's something that I would put in a category with the Harry Potter series and The Lord of the Rings, if only because of the rare illusive quality I'm trying and failing to describe. I suppose y'all will just have to read it to find out for yourselves.