Tahleen reviews: "The Hero's Guide to Saving Your Kingdom" by Christopher Healy

Title: The Hero's Guide to Saving Your Kingdom
Author: Christopher Healy
Publisher: Walden Pond Press, 2012

Rating: 4.5 stars

Love fairy tale retellings? Looking for something that will make you laugh out loud? Look no further.

We've all heard the stories. Snow White, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Rapunzel. All saved by the ever-present Prince Charming. But what you might not have known is that Prince Charming is actually not one person. Yes, each princess was saved by a separate Prince, and they all have very distinct personalities. The only thing they have in common is they don't REALLY get credit for doing anything in the stories, since they don't have names. And for some, that's actually a good thing.

So what happens when Cinderella runs away to find adventure, and spoiled but good-hearted Prince Frederic goes after her? He somehow meets up with three other princes, of course: Prince Gustav, Prince Liam, and Prince Duncan. And they set off to find the girl, but end up trying to save the world. (Of course.)

This is one of the funniest and most delightful books I've read in a good, long time. The dialogue is just perfect. I felt like I was reading conversations that actually happened, that I would hear or have in my normal day. Except funnier. Just trust me, it's awesome.

The concept is brilliant too. Four prince charmings, all fairly clueless, teaming up to combine their different (and very specific) talents? Fantastic. And their talents are awesome too! I love that Healy made the princes figure out what their contributions could be, since they all weren't the traditional hero or nearly perfect.

Basically this book has it all. Romance (sort of), great characters, action, and hilarity. I can't wait to pick up its sequel, The Hero's Guide to Storming the Castle, which is out  now.

Disclosure: I got this book from my local library.

Kelly's review of "Bitter Greens"

Bitter Greens by Kate Forsyth

Tour hosted by Historical Fiction Book Tours

Publisher: Allison & Busby, 25 February 2013

Twitter Hashtag: #BitterGreensVirtualTour

I received Bitter Greens about a week ago in the mail and was pretty worried that I wouldn't get it finished in time. However, even at almost 500 pages, I finished it in less than 12 hours! It was simply - and I don't EVER use this word lightly - unputdownable and is already a contender for my favorite book of 2013.

Bitter Greens is a retelling of the fairy tale about Rapunzel, but it still so much more than that. It's the story of three women: Selena, a great Venetian beauty in the early 16th century, who in order to preserve her youthful looks, kidnaps Margherita (of course not named Rapunzel, but that still has a part) in order to feed off of her youth, and Charlotte-Rose, a former lady in the court of French king Louis XIV who has been banished to a nunnery and is having the story of Selena and Margherita told to her. Sound confusing? It may be at first - if you need a better explanation, click HERE for the book's goodreads page. The POVs are not sequential and jump around a fair bit, but soon enough you'll get used to this. Kate Forsyth is one of the most wonderful storytellers I've come across - everything from the decadence of Versailles to the stink of Venice was written so vividly.

Charlotte-Rose's story is by far my favorite. Of course I love reading about kings and their courts, but Louis XIV is one of the best and Charlotte-Rose's role in it all was intriguing. She is a person who really existed and is a wonderful person to read about. She wrote books, was sassy to the king, and rescued her lover by dressing up as a bear. It was interesting to see her change from a fancy, liberal court lady to a humble woman in a nunnery. I can't wait to check out some biographies about her! In all three stories, witchcraft plays quite a big role, and as a historical novel, there is always some danger in those stories. Bitter Greens is a great look into the beliefs and laws of the times. God forbid if you were anything but Catholic in either France or Italy during these times! You'll certainly read about these wars and prejudices as well. I love that I received subtle history knowledge while reading an entertaining story.

I was going to offer up my copy for a giveaway but I've just become too attached to it (and the gorgeous cover)! If you guys do want a chance to win a copy, hit up the link under the banner for some blogs that may be having giveaways. I encourage you to do so as I can't recommend this book highly enough! 5+ stars.

Daisy's Mini-Review of Splintered by A.G. Howard

Title/Author: Splintered by A.G. Howard
Publisher/Date published: Amulet Books, January 1st 2013
How I got this book: bought it

Goodreads summary: This stunning debut captures the grotesque madness of a mystical under-land, as well as a girl’s pangs of first love and independence. Alyssa Gardner hears the whispers of bugs and flowers — precisely the affliction that landed her mother in a mental hospital years before. This family curse stretches back to her ancestor Alice Liddell, the real-life inspiration for Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. Alyssa might be crazy, but she manages to keep it together. For now.
When her mother’s mental health takes a turn for the worse, Alyssa learns that what she thought was fiction is based in terrifying reality. The real Wonderland is a place far darker and more twisted than Lewis Carroll ever let on. There, Alyssa must pass a series of tests, including draining an ocean of Alice’s tears, waking the slumbering tea party, and subduing a vicious bandersnatch, to fix Alice’s mistakes and save her family. She must also decide whom to trust: Jeb, her gorgeous best friend and secret crush, or the sexy but suspicious Morpheus, her guide through Wonderland, who may have dark motives of his own.

I recently read Splintered and I just absolutely LOVED IT! For my full fangirling review of Splinter, go here. For now I'll just list 5 reasons why I can't stop gushing about it and why you should ALL READ IT:

-It's an Alice in Wonderland retelling, do you really need another reason to pick this up??

-It captured all the things I remember loving about Wonderland while managing to alter my perception of what happened in the original tale forever.

-Strong, quirky characters I found myself rooting for and I felt a little like I was saying goodbye to friends when I turned the last page. Alyssa is my kind of off-beat.

-THE BOYS, seriously, this was one love triangle I could fully get into! And A.G. Howard even had me rooting for the bad boy somewhat and that NEVER HAPPENS! I'm a good guy kinda girl through and through.

-Amazingly vivid writing that leaps off the page and just sucks you in until you turn the last page and all you want to do is READ IT AGAIN!

I could seriously go on and on but basically I'm saying: READ THIS BOOK! You will not regret it! The story is as stunning as the cover is!

My rating: 5 stars

Tahleen reviews: "Sweetly" by Jackson Pearce

Title: Sweetly
Author: Jackson Pearce
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers; 2011

Rating: 4 stars

In a modern telling of Hansel and Gretel, Jackson Pearce brings us to Live Oak, South Carolina, where Ansel and his little sister Gretchen, ages 19 and 18 respectively, run out of gas on a cross-country road trip after being kicked out of their home by their stepmother. Gretchen, still scarred from her twin sister being snatched by what she remembers as a witch one fateful day in the woods, is very withdrawn yet desperately wants to stand out so she doesn't disappear too. Ansel has always been her rock. Things look like they might be changing for the better when they find a temporary home with Sophia Kelly, the young woman who owns the local chocolatier. Yet there are secrets in these woods, and Sophia isn't telling them everything. What seems like paradise starts to look more and more like the woods Gretchen left behind.

In her second fairy tale book, Pearce has once again taken an age-old tale and brought it to the modern day. I love fairy tale retellings, but I was a little disappointed with Pearce's Sisters Red. But here, I think Pearce has improved as a writer. I liked the characters much more, and the language she uses for her characters is pitch-perfect.

I was intrigued by the mystery, and Pearce unraveled it at just the right pace. I was never too far ahead of the characters (I hate it when I can figure it out too soon), and I really like how she tied her two novels together. And man, did she bring on the action. My favorite part of Sisters Red was the fighting, and I was glad to see it return.

Oh, also? Delicious candy. I wanted chocolate pretty much the entire time I was reading this.

One thing I couldn't stand, though, was how often Pearce used certain words. The most memorable one was the word "tease." I felt like everything anyone said to anyone was followed by "I teased" or "she teased." It got so bad that I started rolling my eyes when I came across it—it was just aggravating. But I guess if that's my biggest complaint, that's not so bad.

I'm looking forward to the third novel, a retelling of Hans Christian Andersen's "The Little Mermaid" titled Fathomless, later this year. There were hints about part of the plot in Sweetly, and I'm eager to see how the series will continue and for the introduction of new characters.


Disclosure: I got this book from the library.

Daisy's Review of The Near Witch by Victoria Schwab

Title/Author: The Near Witch by Victoria Schwab
Publisher/Date published: Hyperion, August 2nd 2011
How I got this book: received it from the publisher through NetGalley

Goodreads summary: "The Near Witch is only an old story told to frighten children.
If the wind calls at night, you must not listen. The wind is lonely, and always looking for company.
And there are no strangers in the town of Near.
These are the truths that Lexi has heard all her life.
But when an actual stranger — a boy who seems to fade like smoke — appears outside her home on the moor at night, she knows that at least one of these sayings is no longer true.
The next night, the children of Near start disappearing from their beds, and the mysterious boy falls under suspicion. Still, he insists on helping Lexi search for them. Something tells her she can trust him.
As the hunt for the children intensifies, so does Lexi’s need to know — about the witch that just might be more than a bedtime story, about the wind that seems to speak through the walls at night, and about the history of this nameless boy."

OMG! OMG! OMG! Seriously, I LOVED this book! And I'm so glad I did, because I've been pining for it for a year! Seriously, it was amazing.

And let me tell you why: this book read like a fairytale. Everything flowed and was beautifully worded and gosh, I just fell in love with the writing. I wanted to slow down reading because I was so loving the words. This almost never happens to me, usually when I'm this excited about a book I'm reading so fast because I want to know what happens next. And I did want to know what happened next with this one, but I also wanted to just savor the words.

And then there's the part of me who will always be a little girl loving fairytales, lying awake at night hoping the scary part won't come to life and wishing for the fairytale prince to save her if it does. And I got to indulge in that part of myself and it was wonderful.

I loved Lexi, she's a wonderful caring girl who feels a huge amount of responsibility and appears to be one of the only sensible persons in the town of Near. Gosh, the reactions to a stranger in Near were just medieval (I get that was sort of the point, but still). I loved her little sister as well, she was so CUTE!
And Cole, how could you not love Cole, all tortured amazing boy-ness of him! I just wanted to give him a hug.

I even liked The Near Witch, who was sort of the villain, but with a very good reason. Very nasty good reason. Very evil thing that happened to her. I loved how I could understand her being angry and wanting revenge.
The only persons I didn't like: the men. Seriously, all of them were just cavemen and hello, sexual harassment on one of the boys' part! Seriously! Not cool.

Anyway, the point is: I LOVED this book, it was amazing. You should read it. You should follow Victoria Schwab on her blog, cause she's totally nice and funny and there's a video there of her dressing up as a cupcake :) But most of all: YOU SHOULD READ THIS BOOK!!

My rating: 5+ stars

Jessi Reviews "Plain Kate"

Title/Author: Plain Kate by Erin Bow
Publisher/Year: Arthur A. Levine Books, 2010
How I Got This: I won it a while ago from Adriana at Loves to Read!
Why I Read It: This had been on my to-read list from the first I heard of it--it sounded so good (and it was)!
Rating: 5 Stars 


Synopsis (from Goodreads): Plain Kate lives in a world of superstitions and curses, where a song can heal a wound and a shadow can work deep magic. As the wood-carver's daughter, Kate held a carving knife before a spoon, and her wooden talismans are so fine that some even call her “witch-blade”: a dangerous nickname in a country where witches are hunted and burned in the square. 

For Kate and her village have fallen on hard times. Kate’s father has died, leaving her alone in the world. And a mysterious fog now covers the countryside, ruining crops and spreading fear of hunger and sickness. The townspeople are looking for someone to blame, and their eyes have fallen on Kate. 

Enter Linay, a stranger with a proposition: In exchange for her shadow, he’ll give Kate the means to escape the angry town, and what’s more, he’ll grant her heart’s wish. It’s a chance for her to start over, to find a home, a family, a place to belong. But Kate soon realizes she can't live shadowless forever -- and that Linay's designs are darker than she ever dreamed.

Review: 


Okay, so I'm forewarning you all right now--this is totally going to be one of those reviews that rambles and babbles on because there are simply not enough words to convey the love I have for this book.

I remember seeing Plain Kate floating around the blogosphere last year and absolutely itching to read it. I didn't know too much about this book going into it, but looking back, I'm glad I didn't. I had no preconceived ideas about what to expect, except that this was a good book.

I'm going to come right out and say that this is definitely a book for those who love fairy tales and fairy tale retellings. While not a fairy tale or a retelling itself, it's got that dark edginess to it that all of the good fairy tales have. My heart wrenched for Kate throughout this one--from the very beginning to the very end. And yes, the ending made me cry. Oh, the tears! Kate just can't catch a break and she's such an awesome heroine. I was pulling for her the whole time, but it was like obstacle after obstacle kept getting in her way.

I loved basically everything about this book. Erin Bow's style is so fitting for this story. Her writing is simple to the point where, at first, I almost felt like I was reading a middle grade novel. But every so often, a description would just take my breath away--she is one of those authors with ways of describing something that you would have never thought to describe that way. The style fits so perfectly with the setting, too. She never really comes out and says where this is taking place (I mean, there are town names, but I'm assuming they're fictitious). It felt very eastern European to me. So the way Ms. Bow spun her tale made it sound like a fairy tale from the old country. It was awesome. Not to mention, as you read, it's fairly obvious that this was set in the past at some point when people still believed in the "evils of witchcraft" and burning witches at the stake. It made this story seem more believable. I loved the descriptions of the towns and the markets and the countryside and the forests. I loved the concept of the Roamers--this story's version of a band of gypsies. As I mentioned before, Kate was an a-w-e-s-o-m-e protagonist. She's a strong female character, first off. But she also is not without flaws. Yay for realistic characters! Taggle--oh how I love thee, let me count the ways. I've always had a thing for animal characters...especially those that can talk. I loved how snarky he was and how he was so obsessed with food. I felt like my own cat had come to life. Linay was a great antagonist. I still haven't fully decided if I thought he was evil or just guided down the wrong path for the right reasons, and those are my favorite kind of "villians"--the ones you can't help but sympathize with. Even the minor characters like Daj and Stivo and Drina--I had such clear pictures and impressions of them in my mind.

Again, I apologize for the gushing, but I can't get over how much I loved this. I'm kinda bummed that this is a standalone novel only because I loved it so much. I'll be anxiously awaiting whatever Erin Bow writes next!

Julia Reviews "Beauty" by Robin McKinley

Title/Author: Beauty: A Retelling of the Story of Beauty and the Beast
by Robin McKinley
Publisher/Year Published: 2005 by Eos (first published in 1978)
How I got this book: I bought it from Borders
Why I read this book: Glowing recommendations
Rating: 4.5 stars

Once upon a time there was a girl. She was traveling to Boston for business. Alas! On her first flight she finished the only magazine she brought for reading. Her trusty nook did no good during the all electronic blackout. Wandering through the city a few days into her trip, she wished she could happen upon that large Borders she had run into the last time she was in Boston. Like a wish granted from a fairy, she turned the corner and there it was!

Now, this girl was cheap and in lots of student loan debt, so she didn't often buy books. She had to make a good choice. What to buy? Pulling out her Goodreads app, she flipped through her 300+ "To Read" shelf, mentally crossing off choices that could be easily purchased from a discount store or things that she could just get from the library.

All too soon, the announcement came over the loudspeaker announcing the close of the store. She would have to chose fast. "Beauty" she thought "I did really want to read that." Minutes ticked by as she tried to find the book. Not in fiction. YA maybe? She couldn't even find the section! Giving up, she grabbed her second choice and headed for the counter. That's when the saw the YA sign, and sure enough, nestled in between what was sure to be two books about teen vampires, was one copy of "Beauty".

Beauty and the Beast is a story you have heard before. I know it. I would bet money on it. The story itself is in so many forms and media these days that you would have to live in a cave to not be exposed to some sort of adaptation or inspiration. But how many of us have gone back to read the actual fairy tale? I have to admit, I haven't either, but this book is a pretty close second.

Beauty is a retelling. They tell that to you in the title. So going into it and hoping there will be a fresh twist is setting yourself up for disappointment. For me the joy was watching another version of this beloved story unfold.

Beauty is the daughter of a merchant who, upon losing his shipping fleet, must move into the country with his three daughters. The first part of the book follows them and their life. The second half deals with the Beast and his castle.

So how does it compare to my favorite Disney movie? There a moments where I was seeing the movie through Belle's eyes, others where I could see where Disney was inspired and still others where I was surprised at how different it was. For instance, Beast's clothing has ruffles and lace. Yay for that mental image!

While I normally am not a fan of first person POVs, I didn't mind it here. It gave it a more personal feel than third person would have. It was a good choice at distancing it from the source material.

In summary, this is a quick, little romantic read. It's nothing new, except for the feeling behind it. The focus is on Beauty as a person and the relationship she has with her family, herself and the mysterious Beast of her dreams.

If only we can always have a Borders pop up when we need it and deliver us just the book we were looking for.

Julia Reviews "Beastly" by Alex Flinn

Title/Author: Beastly by Alex Flinn
Publisher/Year Published: 2007 by Harper Teen
How I got this book: The Library
Why I read this book: Saw a trailer for the movie coming out, thought I would read the book.
Rating: 4 stars

I stumbled into a trailer for a new movie coming out in March called "Beastly." Upon doing a bit more research I discovered that it was a book first, as it usually is, and decided to read it. Two things sold me on this book from the relative get go: one, it's a retelling of one of my favorite Disney movies* "The Beauty and the Beast", and two, it's told from the Beast's perspective.

The book does a great job of modernizing the Beast's tale. One of my favorite highlights is the chat room group for mythically affected teens. But besides the obvious of updating the scenery to the 21st century perspective, the actual Beast transformation is really believable. The magic of the tale balances well with the modernity. There is a great story arc that isn't too sudden or unbelievable. He starts off quite unlikable actually, but the promise of his transformation is enough to spur you past his childish special snowflake syndrome.

One side comment that really has nothing to do with my review but I've read quite a few YA novels this year that have novels told from 1st person point of view. Why is that, I wonder? As a general rule, I dislike first person narrative because it limits what I can know about other characters. I learn a good deal about the main character but the secondary characters suffer. I concede that sometimes first person works well, I thought it was great in The Hunger Games, but it's just not my favorite. I'm curious to what opinions you guys have on POV. First person: love it, hate it, can't live without it?

Anyway, back to Beastly. While it does a good job with the modernization while keeping all the essential elements, it was missing something that would push me into 5 star territory. It just didn't have that extra kick. Is it a great read? Yes. Would I recommend it to anyone who likes the tragic romance of Beatuy and the Beast? Hell yes. Is it a book I would read again? Probably not. But it was definitely worth the read. And I'll probably go see the movie when it comes out in March. If only for Neil Patrick Harris.

*I know it's a fairy tale, but I am more familiar with the Disney version. I am still plowing my way through The Brothers Grimm ... then comes Hans Christian Anderson ... then I'll do the more famous ones I have not hit (like this French tale!)

Trivia! The second most familiar Beauty and the Beast version for me? The TV show from the late 80s. Oh, Vincent...

Daisy's Review of The Fairy Godmother by Mercedes Lackey

Title/Author:The Fairy Godmother (Five Hundred Kingdoms #1) by Mercedes Lackey
Publisher/Date published: Harlequin, published May 1st 2010
How I got this book: it was sent to me by the publisher through NetGalley
Why I read this book: I LOVE fairytale retellings

This is a totally refreshing take on fairytales: everything is part of The Tradition (imagine scary music entering).
And I'm not kidding when I say the Tradition can be scary. There are people who are sort of chosen, around which the Tradition gathers potential, a power that drives them to follow a certain character type and storyline. And sure that can be nice, but not all fairytales end well. And not all ways of getting to the happy ending are without casualties. For example, you've probably all heard of the tale of Rapunzel (the one where the girl is locked in a tower and lets down her hair for the prince to climb up and save her), but do you remember the prince falling into a bush with thorns, blinding him and almost killing him, wandering the land without sight?

This is where the Godmothers come in (only the first in history were real fairies). They monitor the people the Tradition seems to be pushing towards a certain path and try to either bend the Tradition into accepting another role for the person in case or try to make it cause the least amount of harm. Sometimes the role of a Godmother is to test the prince on kindheartedness on his quest and sometimes it takes a bit of matchmaking to distract an Evil Sorceress from cursing a princess at birth.

Elena Klovis was supposed to be her Kingdom's Cinderella, sadly the prince wasn't suitable and she got stuck playing housemaid to her stepmother without a chance of rescue. That is, until her Godmother showed up and offered her a job: to train as her apprentice and become the next Godmother. And all goes smoothly for a while with Elena being a fast learner and handling matters after becoming Godmother herself. But the Tradition isn't done with Elena.

When Elena turns one questing prince into a donkey for his rude behaviour, she doesn't know what's she gotten herself into. Because she was meant to be a Cinderella, the Tradition tries to get her together with any prince within reasonable distance. But since she's a Godmother as well, the Tradition will force this prince into a nasty role in which he will most likely betray her and break her heart. What will they do when they find themselves drawn to each other?

I absolutely loved this book! I love fairytales and now I realise some were rather gruesome, which kids somehow don't pick up on most of the time. I'd never thought about the possibility of other princes attempting to rescue the princess and failing and sometimes also dying because they failed.

Elena is a really likable character and the prince she turned into a donkey is as well after learning his lesson. I also loved reconnecting with all the fairytales I loved as a kid, a lot of them appear in the book.

It was a very smooth read, I'd never read anything by Mercedes Lackey before and was pleasantly surprised. I thought it was really original and I'm always looking for a nice new twist to the fairytales I know and love. I'm looking forward to reading the other books in the series!

My rating: 5 stars

Tahleen review: "Fractured" by Joanna Karaplis

Title: Fractured: Happily Never After? 3 Tales

Author: Joanna Karaplis

Publisher: McKeller & Martin, 2010

How I got it: It was sent to me from the author for review.

Rating: ★★★★

Fairy tales have been told and written down for centuries. Throughout the years, they've not only been told, but retold, and many have been completely revisioned. Fractured gives us incarnations of Snow White, Cinderella and The Little Mermaid, all old favorites, but with a very different twist. They're modernized: Snow White is Yuki (meaning "snow" in Japanese) White, budding graphic designer and friends of the seven dorks who hang out in the computer room. Cinderella is Cindy, fangirl extraordinaire and texter to the extreme—who manages to snag tickets to see her reality-TV crush at a Halloween party. And the little mermaid is Adrianna, a girl with a beautiful voice but the perceived impairment of a gigantic schnoz—thank goodness YouTube can get her an audience without her having to show her face.

All three tales are completely rewritten and re-imagined in ways I have never seen before, but they all retain the structure and basic story of the original fairy tales collected by the Grimm Brothers and written by Hans Christian Anderson. Karaplis manages to make everything work incredibly well—Snow White's apple, Cinderella's fairy godmother and the ball, and the little mermaid's impairment keeping her from her love (in this case, it's not a prince at all, but fame as a singer).

So let's break it down by story.

"Snow White and the Seven Dorks" is about, as I said, Yuki White, new girl in school, slightly badass, and awesome artist. She eventually falls in the geek crowd, not necessarily as one of them, but as their hang-out buddy, someone who also happens to use the computer room. Yuki is seriously awesome—she's got a sassy, sarcastic air to her that is just great (funny and charming) and it makes her incredibly likable. I wanted to be her friend. I also really liked how the story alternates between the present at the dance she's at with her crush and how she got to that point. There's a lot of development within the 30 pages of the story, not only in Yuki's character, but in her relationship with Kevin, head dork and all-around nice guy. This was by far my favorite, if only because I loved Yuki so much.

"Cyberella" is, of course, the Cinderella story. But this story is told completely in texts and blog posts (which are done by Trevor, fan blogger for the reality show True 2 Life). Some might find the texting to be a bit annoying, but I quite liked looking at the story through them. It's a new sort of epistolary telling, along the lines of ttyl by Lauren Myracle. Karaplis completely captures the language tweens and teens use in texting, accidental misspellings included. It makes it real. At times they seemed more like IMs than texts, but then again I'm sure there are people who text that frequently. My one problem was that the "prince" of the story, the True 2 Life star, says his Mystery Girl left something behind at the party, but then we never find out what it is. But all in all it's a cute story and I enjoyed it.

"Swan Song" is the story of the Little Mermaid, Adrianna (nicknamed Adi), who has a beautiful and professional voice, but a nose that she is incredibly self-conscious about. Her friend Fiona convinces her to create YouTube videos after a particularly awful encounter with a bully who targets her nose, and Adi agrees, as long as she doesn't face the camera. But looks aren't everything, and she makes a decision that will change the course of her life forever. It's a story about self-acceptance, even if Adi might not accept herself as she is—we can learn from her, as the story's title page indicates. And the ending gave me goosebumps, by the way. It's a great retelling, even if I didn't quite identify with Adi or agree with the decisions she makes. I kept telling her NO DON'T DO IT. But she did anyway. And if she didn't, we wouldn't get a Little Mermaid story.

One quick note about Jenn Brisson's illustrations. Each story began with a title page that included a tag line and an illustration. I loved them all. They look like pencil drawings, and they're set in a white oval on a black background. They all have this surreal quality, which goes very well with the fairy tale theme, and are all slightly creepy. Again, I especially love the Snow White one, a girl holding a circle with an apple on it and looking slightly anxious, with a crow in a top hat swooping under and around. Very nice.

If you like fairy tales, especially fractured ones as I do, I would definitely check out this one. Completely original tellings in a modern context—fabulous!

This is day four on the Fractured blog tour—see what other bloggers had to say about Fractured and some interviews of Jo at the other blog stops:

Nov. 15: Steph Su Reads and Word bookstore
Nov. 16: Word of Mouse Book Reviews and Bella’s Bookshelves
Nov. 17: The Reading Girl and Between the Pages
Nov. 18: Page Turners and Tahleen’s Mixed-Up Files
Nov. 19: YA Addict and YA Book Shelf

Jessi Reviews "The Stolen Child"

Title/Author: The Stolen Child by Keith Donohue
Publisher/Year: Nan A. Talese, 2006
How I Got This: Checked it out from the library  
Why I Read It: I love anything to do with fairy tales/folklore
Rating: 4 Stars


A quick synopsis (from Goodreads): On a summer night, Henry Day runs away from home and hides in a hollow tree. There he is taken by the changelings—an unaging tribe of wild children who live in darkness and in secret. They spirit him away, name him Aniday, and make him one of their own. Stuck forever as a child, Aniday grows in spirit, struggling to remember the life and family he left behind. He also seeks to understand and fit in this shadow land, as modern life encroaches upon both myth and nature.

In his place, the changelings leave a double, a boy who steals Henry’s life in the world. This new Henry Day must adjust to a modern culture while hiding his true identity from the Day family. But he can’t hide his extraordinary talent for the piano (a skill the true Henry never displayed), and his dazzling performances prompt his father to suspect that the son he has raised is an imposter. As he ages the new Henry Day becomes haunted by vague but persistent memories of life in another time and place, of a German piano teacher and his prodigy. Of a time when he, too, had been a stolen child. Both Henry and Aniday obsessively search for who they once were before they changed places in the world.

The Stolen Child is a classic tale of leaving childhood and the search for identity. With just the right mix of fantasy and realism, Keith Donohue has created a bedtime story for adults and a literary fable of remarkable depth and strange delights.
I have many mixed feelings towards this book. I have picked up this book off of my library's shelves countless times for the past several years. I've picked it up, read the synopsis, have been rather intrigued, and for whatever reason, put it back on the shelf for a later date.

This time, I finally decided to read it.

At first, I was kind of disappointed with this. My library has this shelved in the YA section, but I don't think it really fits there. I don't know how to put into words why I feel that way, I just do.

Once I got past the fact that this was going to be different than what I had expected, I immersed myself in this story. Like any good fairy tale, this is rather dark. It sort of brought to mind John Connolly's The Book of Lost Things in that sense.

As far as the characters go, I never really liked Henry Day (or I suppose I should say his substitute), but by the end, through Donohue's telling, I grew to understand him and what he was going through. I thought he was a jerk at first. I mean, he didn't seem very grateful for his new life, and, for having stolen someone else's life, he just seemed like a brat. Like I said, Donohue's character development really lets the reader come to see and understand how he is tormented by his own demons by the end. I did like Aniday, though, and overall, I have to say that I preferred his chapters. Seeing the world of the hobgoblins (or whatever you want to call them) and seeing our world through their eyes was really fascinating to me. Aniday's character grows throughout the tale, as well, as he learns and begins to understand his role as a "indifferent child of the earth."

This story really isn't about the plot, so not much goes on there. This was much more focused on the characters and their struggles to understand just who they are.

Donohue also did an excellent job with the alternating chapters. I was never once confused by what was going on, and the switch never seemed abrupt to me. While I did prefer Aniday's chapters, I started to enjoy Henry's chapters more when their separate stories began to overlap.

Donohue's writing style took me a little bit to get used to, but I suppose it was because the last book I read was by the short and simple Agatha Christie, and his language is a bit more flowery. He states that this story was inspired by Yeats' poem, "The Stolen Child." I thought that he deftly portrayed the sense of myth and imagination found in Yeats' poem.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book. One of the reviews I read on the cover or somewhere (maybe his website?) mentions that this tale is like a bedtime story for adults, and I find this quite accurate. I enjoyed immersing myself in this age-old fairy tale and find myself still thinking about the world of changelings.

**MINOR SPOILERS**

Oh, and before I forget again--two things. 1) I loved Speck! She was a kickbutt female character. 2) I also really enjoyed how she and Aniday would spend time in the library. Donohue drops literary references to various authors and as a bibliophile, I just love stuff like that.

Jessi Reviews "Wildwood Dancing"

Title/Author: Wildwood Dancing by Juliet Marillier

Publisher/Year: Knopf Books, 2007

How I Got This: From my much-beloved (and completely awesome) public library

Why I Read It: I love anything to do with fairy tales and fairy tale re-tellings!

Rating: 5 Stars

This, my friends, is how you tell a story! 

I've been on a kick of fairytale-related books recently, and this is easily the best of them. I was completely hooked on this book and found it nearly impossible to put down. 

This is my first read of Juliet Marillier, but now I know that I definitely want to check out the other books that she's written. She is quite talented as a storyteller. I was completely transported to Piscul Dracului and the surrounding forest as I read. 

In a genre of books that is slowly all melting together to look the same, this is delightfully original. The fantasy elements are creative, but not overdone. Set in a time when most everyone believed in the magic of the fairytale, the characters believed in what happened and thus does the reader. It all combined together to create this really cool feeling of an old-time, traditional fairy tale. 

I loved this book for all of this and, not to mention, the characters! Jena was an excellent choice for a narrator, and by the end of the story, I was emotionally invested in each of these characters lives. You all know how much I love good characters, so I LOVE when they grow to become my friends. Jena is one of those kickbutt girl characters who isn't afraid to speak her mind. The bond her and her sisters had was really sweet, too. I enjoyed how each sister has a distinct persona, and each character had a very clear voice. Cezar made me want to punch something (specifically his face), and he was a character that I loved to hate. And I LOVE LOVE LOVED Gogu! I thought I was so smart--I thought I had figured out the twist, but I was wonderfully surprised. 

I can't intelligently review this book--all I can do is gush about how good it is. This has definitely become one of my favorites. For those who enjoy fairy tales, I can't recommend this enough.

Tahleen Reviews: Sisters Red by Jackson Pearce

Title: Sisters Red

Author: Jackson Pearce

Publisher: Little, Brown and Company, 2010

Where I got it: I got it through InterLibrary Loan.

Why I read this book: I read about it in a Ypulse interview with the author and liked the sound of it. Fractured fairy tales have always been an interest of mine.

Rating: 3.5 stars

Sisters Scarlett and Rosie March are hunters. They track and kill the Fenris, werewolf-like monsters that hunt and prey on young women (obviously not Twilight-esque, dreamy werewolves). Ever since one attacked her and Rosie as children and took her eye, Scarlett is determined to kill as many Fenris as she can. Rosie feels it's her duty to her sister to fight alongside her, even though she longs for a life outside of the hunt. Meanwhile, their friend Silas, a woodsman who has been their neighbor, playmate and fellow hunter through the years, returns from California to join them again in their self-appointed quest.

Yet all of a sudden, more and more wolves are found in their small Georgia town of Ellison, and even more in nearby Atlanta. Why are they coming back in such numbers? They're looking for something, or someone, but what? A determined Scarlett, somewhat reluctant Rosie, and loyal Silas decide it's their duty to find out and hunt them all down. Things get even more complicated when Rosie discovers she's falling for the woodsman, her sister's partner and only friend, aside from her.

This fractured version of "Little Red Riding Hood," narrated alternately by Scarlett and Rosie, has a whole lot of action. From the very beginning, we get to the wolves and the fighting, and it doesn't really stop until the end. Scarlett and Rosie are some pretty awesome butt-kickers—they're deadly with their weapon of choice (Scarlett a hatchet, Rosie daggers). Silas is also someone not to trifle with.

The characters are all believable, though they seemed a little underdeveloped to me. I could see why Scarlett is the way she is, all fight and passion when it comes to the wolves, but a little distant when it comes to people. Rosie is a sympathetic character, someone who feels obligated to a certain way of life because she was saved by the one she follows, yet wants something more. It's hard to judge Silas in the same way, however, since we are never inside his head. I never really understood him completely; it would have been nice to get more information about him, like about his relationships with his siblings (who no longer speak to him) and with his father. But for the purpose of the story we get enough.

My problems with it start from maybe 50 pages in. Yes, there's a lot going on, but I didn't feel like there was any real point or direction in which the story was headed until about halfway through. It just seemed like Scarlett wanted to kill Fenris and Rosie didn't really, but went along with it anyway, and that would be it. It finally all came together, but it took too long in my opinion.

I would also have liked more information on the mythology of the world in which the book takes place. We keep hearing that Pa Reynolds (Silas' father) knew everything there is to know about Fenris, but we don't really hear any legends. Just that they lure and slaughter young women, don't have any souls, and travel in packs. It would have been nice to know more about them. I also got super frustrated with how long it took them to figure out what was going on; but that's just a pet peeve of mine. I hate knowing the answer and waiting for the characters to figure it out too.

Even though there are some flaws in the plot, the main characters are strong and admirable women who don't need a prince to save them, and that always wins points in my book. They're their own people and don't take anything lying down.