Smashbomb

Search

Search results

All (619)

Content

Goddess in the Stacks (553 KP) rated Crimson Bound in Books

Apr 30, 2018

Amazing worldbuilding (0 more)

Well, Rosamund Hodge has done it again. I think this one was actually better than Cruel Beauty, and about on par with Bright Smoke, Cold Fire. Crimson Bound is billed as Cruel Beauty #2, but it doesn't actually seem to take place in the same world. They're only connected in that they're both dark fantasy retellings of fairy tales. Crimson Bound is loosely (VERY loosely!) based on Little Red Riding Hood. It's amazing.

In Rachelle's world, The Forest is the dominating theme - it encroaches on villages and towns, sending "woodspawn" to attack people, and Forestborn to turn more humans into bloodbound and ultimately Forestborn. Humans are sheep to The Forest; prey to the Forestborn. Once a Forestborn has marked a human, they have three days to kill someone or they will die. If they kill someone, they become bloodbound - an intermediary step before they become completely Forestborn. Bloodbound have increased strength, resilience, and fighting skills, so the King has extended an offer to Bloodbound - even though they are known murderers, since they had to have killed someone to gain their powers - he will grant them clemency in exchange for their service to the realm. Guard the people from the woodspawn, the mindless monsters the Forest sends to attack people, and he'll let you live.

So Rachelle is a Bloodbound, bound to the King. Unlike most, though, she still believes in some of the old pagan stories about The Forest and the Devourer - the ancient evil driving the Forest's predatory ways. The book is about her quest to stop it from coming through into their world and destroying everything. There are twists and reveals that I cannot mention here, but it is an AMAZING piece of world-building and myth and I LOVED IT.

I also discovered she has several short stories post on her website so I'll be binge-reading those for a while!

This book - and anything by Rosamund Hodge - is pure magic. If you like dark fairy tales, you can't do better than this.

You can find all my reviews at http://goddessinthestacks.wordpress.com

Kudos

Princess Dress-Up

Games and Entertainment

6.0 (1 Ratings) Rate It

App

--> Hundreds of dress up combinations - clothes, hairstyles, jewelry and much more! --> 4 beautiful...

Mitchell Knutzen (16 KP) rated Till We Have Faces in Books

Feb 21, 2018

Till We Have Faces

C. S. Lewis | 1956 | Science Fiction/Fantasy

10.0

(1 Ratings)

Book Rating

No Belief In Relious Fairy Tales Necessary To Enjoy (0 more)

Best Lewis Novel By Far

More than a simple retelling of the Cupid and Psyche myth, this is a masterwork of storytelling by an author often hobbled by his well known and, in my opinion, laughably ridiculous religious beliefs. Yet unlike so many others that let these beliefs dissolve their efforts of mainstream fiction into so many pieces of nonsense too hamstrung by foolishness to ever assemble something coherent, let alone worth reading, Lewis often managed to rise above it, as with (for the most part) his deservedly beloved Narnia chronicles. Till We Have Faces is nothing short of brilliant, beautiful, at times achingly sad, and very profound. Those of you not fooled by the Jesus parade, but who love a damn good book written by a master of his craft, do yourself a HUGE favor and read this gem of a book. Then do the literary world a favor by passing along the good word (lol, couldn't help myself) that this may be the best book that nobody has heard of.

Kudos

Nicole Hadley (380 KP) rated The Shakespeare Stories: Henry V, A Midsummer Night's Dream, The Merchant of Venice, Hamlet in Books

Jun 16, 2018

Contains spoilers, click to show

The Shakespeare Stories: Henry V, A Midsummer Night's Dream, The Merchant of Venice, Hamlet by Andrew Matthews presents four of William Shakespeare’s famous plays in an easy-to-digest format for kids. Accompanied by Tony Ross’ illustrations, Matthews re-imagines these Shakespearean plays as short stories more akin to classic fairy tales.

Matthews manages to take some of the most plot-heavy and confusing Shakespeare plays and break them down to their most basic elements. The language is easy to follow without lacking intellect or wit, and he stays true to Shakespeare’s concepts and characters. Illustrated short stories for kids are a no-brainer for getting children interested in William Shakespeare, and Matthews was smart to dive into the genre. He isn’t reinventing the wheel, but he is making the wheel accessible to a wide range of audiences.

I like how it has pictures, gives the cast and a quote from the original play. Then it tells the story and finishes up with an explanation of what just happened and some history of Shakespeare and the play.