Most Helpful Customer Reviews
21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Angieville: FADE, February 16, 2009
This review is from: Fade (Wake Series, Book 2) (Hardcover)
After finishing the wonderfully creepy Wake, I couldn't wait to extend my time with Janie and Cabel in FADE. The story picks up shortly after the end of Wake. Janie and Cabel are finishing up school, looking forward to the day when they can leave Fieldridge High behind and try the freedom (and anonymity) of college life on for size. And if there are a few key, seemingly insurmountable obstacles in their way, well, what's the use of letting your worry play on an endless loop? Particularly when real, peaceful, be-who-we-are moments are so few and far between.
When Captain hands them a new case to pursue, Janie and Cabel have no idea how far it will take them from those peaceful moments together. Cabel, particularly, begins to doubt the worth of their involvement when he realizes the case centers around a possible sexual predator(s) at Fieldridge High. That and the fact that Captain intends to dangle Janie out there as bait. What Cabel doesn't know is Captain has also handed Janie a folder. One that holds the contents of her predecessor's experiences and warnings as a dreamcatcher. Emphasis on the warnings. They are dire. As Janie works day and night to catch the predator and understand her abilities, Cabel tries to help but finds most of his time taken up worrying over Janie.
My favorite thing about FADE is that spare, distilled writing Lisa McMann excels at. It's a pleasure on ice to turn the pages and simply absorb the clean, concise lines of the story. I did find myself wanting a bit more in some areas. Janie's mother remains all but nonexistent and one begins to wonder just why she's there at all. And how she could possibly be that much of a nonentity, scores of empty bottles notwithstanding. I keep feeling like she's going to play a larger role at some point, but it must be yet to come. I also felt that everyone around Janie should have seen the eventual crisis coming from a mile away. (I did). And so I spent the last portion of the book gripping the pages, internally ranting that this shouldn't. be. happening. And wishing someone would listen to Cabe and not let her go there! That said, any scene Janie and Cabe are in together is breathless and lovely. And I really liked the developing relationship between Janie and Captain. Girl needs some halfway decent adult taking an interest in her life. The third and final book, GONE, will be out February of next year.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Dark, Tough, and Not as Dreamy as the First, November 14, 2009
This review is from: Fade (Wake Series, Book 2) (Hardcover)
I loved the first book. I raved about it. I practically forced my friends to read it. I was breathless waiting for the second to arrive in the mail from Amazon.
Well, it was very good. But it is so different than the first book and has a lot more developmental problems than the first that it almost didn't feel like it belonged to WAKE.
WAKE was dreamy - an extraordinary world opening up amidst darkness and loneliness - exacerbated by a complicated and hungry teenage love. I read it twice. I was on pins and needles the whole time.
FADE isn't even a little bit like that. It is harder, darker, faster, rougher. The subject matter is shocking and doesn't make the reading fun at all...not that that's necessarily a bad thing, but it is so uncomfortable to read sometimes that it really sucks the dreaminess out of the book entirely. It is hard to fall in love with Cabel and Janie's wonderful romance while having to face the twisted, sick sexual predators Janie is helping the police track down at her school.
Positives: I think that Janie is maturing as a character, really coming into her own. The writing style, sparse and beautiful like a constant weaving of thoughts and moments, is even better this time around. It reads as easy as breathing. Most of the time Cabel remains a great character, and towards the end we get real insight into WHO he is now, and less about who he was THEN. I also like the relationship between Janie and the Captain. The sensual love scene between Janie and Cabel is so beautiful it left me with goosebumps. It was such a beautifully written scene. So many authors either pretend that teenagers don't do that, that it's not appropriate for teenagers to read about, or they write it so awkward and uncomfortable to read that no one can mistake it for sensuality. I think Lisa McMann really took a chance with that scene and the results were a stunning success.
Negatives: There is so much plot in this book, there is very little character development and interaction. Carrie is a nonentity, the mom is even MORE of a nonentity in this book than she was before, almost to the point of implausibility. Even Shay, the girl that we are informed at the beginning of the book is still hot for Cabel doesn't even make an appearance in the entire novel. Instead we are inundated with creepy ass teachers and a lot of in depth analysis of teenage police work. Which is another thing that bothers me- the assignment is almost too horrible to believe. It seems impossible for me to think that the Captain, who seems to care about Janie, would put her in the situation that she does, and even more impossible to accept Janie's reactions to Cabel's reactions. He freaks out, she gets mad at him for trying to control her. And as for Cabel? While he is a fantastic character most of the time, the end is a little too neat. He seems to understand himself in the way an adult would understand their teenage selves looking back fifteen years later. He didn't seem like much of a teenager. Which was too bad. In the first book his teenage habits actually give more life to him.
Like I said, not as great as the first book, but still very good. I am excited to see how she pulls it all together in GONE. It should be very, very exciting.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Fade: Fast Entertaining Read, February 13, 2010
Fade was an enjoyable read. Lisa McMann skillfully builds upon the world she created in Wake. Lisa's prose is stark, littered with short sentences. It adds to the tension and grittiness of the book. Plus it makes the book go very quickly.
In Fade, Janie and Cabel are both working for the local police department. A fuzzy phone call leads the police to believe that one of the Fieldridge High teachers is having sex with a student. Janie and Cabel are assigned to discover the culprit. This assignment puts their relationship to the test. At the same time, Janie is learning more and more about her gift of dream-catching. She's discovering exactly how it is a gift and a curse.
Fade was definitely a page-turner. The plot moved quickly in a typical who-dunnit manner. I thought the discovery of which teacher was having sex with students was a little too much. It was so outrageous and creepy that it was just too unrealistic for me (at least I hope something like that never happens).
I loved the strong role played by the Captain. She becomes the mother Janie's never really had but sorely needs. Lisa also does an excellent job of making Janie and Cabel three-dimensional characters. We see how they "sparkle" but she also highlights their flaws.
I wish there were a few less swear words in Fade. It's not really a criticism of the book; the characters all swear frequently, but it sounded like many teenager actually speak. I just prefer reading fewer rather than more swear words. Depending on the age of the reader, the prevalence of swearing is definitely something to consider.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
|
![[Start the discussion]](http://g-ecx.images-amazon.com/images/G/01/x-locale/communities/discussion_boards/start-new-discussion-sec._V192250339_.gif){kind=small}
