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Lottie disney bookworm (1056 KP) rated As Old As Time in Books
Aug 16, 2019
Review by Disney Bookworm
I’m going to come right out and say (although you will probably be able to tell if you make it to the end of this blog) that this is, so far, my favourite book in the twisted tale series. Seriously, this is the second time I have read it and I loved it just as much as the first time. I got just as engrossed in the story and I seriously think Liz Braswell and I could be best friends!
As Old As Time is the retelling of Beauty and the Beast and opens with the familiar story of the enchantress and the young, vain prince that we all know. You can probably still picture the stained-glass scene from the original 1991 movie and the dramatic ballroom scene in the 2017 remake.
Refusing to be eclipsed by these though, Braswell follows the well-known tale with: “It was a very good story. It often entertained the woman who lay in her black hole of a room, manacled to a hard, cold bed.”
Wait! What?
There, with one fell swoop, on the second page, Braswell brings an almost gothic darkness to the fairy tale. Of course, some would say it is already dark: very few people who are cursed to become a beast are particularly jolly about the situation! However, Braswell goes one step further by both revealing the story behind the enchantress and taking us on a journey to discover the ugly truth in the present.
Liz Braswell creates a kingdom where magic and non-magic people have lived together peacefully for years but where politics and a lack of cultural understanding is threatening to tear that apart as les charmantes find themselves persecuted by les naturels. (I can’t imagine where she draws her inspiration from(!))
It is in this kingdom that we meet a young dreamer called Maurice and the enchantress Rosalind, Belle’s mother (nicknamed Rose- so clever!). Maurice is very much a younger version of the character we grew up with: loveable and devoted to his inventions. Rosalind however is much more headstrong and impulsive: even changing her appearance on a whim. Her pride is fierce and we first meet her holding her own against a large man insulting ‘her kind’, calling her unnatural and a child of the devil. The bully soon learns the error of his ways when his nose is replaced by a pig’s snout but a warning runs all the way through this tale: “magic always comes back on itself”.
Maurice and Rosalind’s life is happy and settled at first but they soon start to witness the persecution of les charmantes for themselves. Thus, when the King and Queen call on Rosalind to protect them against the advancing plague, she passionately fights for her people…only to be rejected and turned away. Maurice, always the voice of reason, convinces Rosalind to at least protect the children and servants and so it comes to pass that Rosalind later visits the young prince, on the eve of his coronation, carrying with her the simple gift of a rose.
Braswell’s character development is, as always, impressive. Belle is immediately relatable as the kooky bookworm we know and love: her story running parallel to the film until we, as readers, develop a relationship with her parents. It is then that we discover there is a slight edge to Belle. Although clearly tortured by the fact her mother cursed a 10-year-old boy, Braswell’s Belle is desperate to be adventurous and heroic like the characters in her books but soon realises an adventure is not all it is cracked up to be. Like her mother, Belle can be quite impulsive: grabbing the enchanted rose before the beast can stop her and destroying any chance of breaking the spell. However, she is also quick and cunning, tricking the wardrobe into revealing the curse’s timeline. Nevertheless, the bravery of our protagonist can never be doubted and Belle embarks on one hell of a journey to discover the truth about her family and herself.
Uniquely, within As Old As Time we slowly see side-line characters weave their way into the lives and stories of our characters. Levi and Alaric, for example, are old friends of Maurice and Rosalind and are seemingly insignificant to the story at first. However, Levi is also the godfather to Belle and the village bookseller (“If you like it that much, it’s yours!” – that guy). Alaric on the other hand has a significant link to the castle and both carry clues with them that assist Belle on her quest.
Any Beauty and the Beast tale would not be complete without LeFou and Gaston – that infamous double act- but even Gaston is ever so slightly darker than his animated counterpart. Frederic: another friend from the past and, quite frankly, odd from the start also plays a pivotal role in the story but I won’t spoil the surprise for you!
As Old As Time is true to its name: weaving two stories into its plot at different points in time: the story that we all know and the story of how that came to be. It is an ominous tale with curses, murder, creepy ivy statues and a frankly terrifying tour of the lunatic asylum.
It is not all doom and gloom however; Liz Braswell takes a very tongue-in-cheek attitude towards the infamous scenes within Beauty and the Beast: invoking a dry sense of humour into the story. From a chapter named “Be Our … Oh You Know the Rest” to a direct reference to Stockholm Syndrome: Braswell makes sure that we do not expect her novel to be a copycat, heartfelt tale with a happy ending. Belle even remarks to the Beast that hoping she would fall in love with him within a month or so was wildly unrealistic.
This is very much a novel for the cynical Disney lovers amongst us and highly deserving of its title of a twisted tale!
As Old As Time is the retelling of Beauty and the Beast and opens with the familiar story of the enchantress and the young, vain prince that we all know. You can probably still picture the stained-glass scene from the original 1991 movie and the dramatic ballroom scene in the 2017 remake.
Refusing to be eclipsed by these though, Braswell follows the well-known tale with: “It was a very good story. It often entertained the woman who lay in her black hole of a room, manacled to a hard, cold bed.”
Wait! What?
There, with one fell swoop, on the second page, Braswell brings an almost gothic darkness to the fairy tale. Of course, some would say it is already dark: very few people who are cursed to become a beast are particularly jolly about the situation! However, Braswell goes one step further by both revealing the story behind the enchantress and taking us on a journey to discover the ugly truth in the present.
Liz Braswell creates a kingdom where magic and non-magic people have lived together peacefully for years but where politics and a lack of cultural understanding is threatening to tear that apart as les charmantes find themselves persecuted by les naturels. (I can’t imagine where she draws her inspiration from(!))
It is in this kingdom that we meet a young dreamer called Maurice and the enchantress Rosalind, Belle’s mother (nicknamed Rose- so clever!). Maurice is very much a younger version of the character we grew up with: loveable and devoted to his inventions. Rosalind however is much more headstrong and impulsive: even changing her appearance on a whim. Her pride is fierce and we first meet her holding her own against a large man insulting ‘her kind’, calling her unnatural and a child of the devil. The bully soon learns the error of his ways when his nose is replaced by a pig’s snout but a warning runs all the way through this tale: “magic always comes back on itself”.
Maurice and Rosalind’s life is happy and settled at first but they soon start to witness the persecution of les charmantes for themselves. Thus, when the King and Queen call on Rosalind to protect them against the advancing plague, she passionately fights for her people…only to be rejected and turned away. Maurice, always the voice of reason, convinces Rosalind to at least protect the children and servants and so it comes to pass that Rosalind later visits the young prince, on the eve of his coronation, carrying with her the simple gift of a rose.
Braswell’s character development is, as always, impressive. Belle is immediately relatable as the kooky bookworm we know and love: her story running parallel to the film until we, as readers, develop a relationship with her parents. It is then that we discover there is a slight edge to Belle. Although clearly tortured by the fact her mother cursed a 10-year-old boy, Braswell’s Belle is desperate to be adventurous and heroic like the characters in her books but soon realises an adventure is not all it is cracked up to be. Like her mother, Belle can be quite impulsive: grabbing the enchanted rose before the beast can stop her and destroying any chance of breaking the spell. However, she is also quick and cunning, tricking the wardrobe into revealing the curse’s timeline. Nevertheless, the bravery of our protagonist can never be doubted and Belle embarks on one hell of a journey to discover the truth about her family and herself.
Uniquely, within As Old As Time we slowly see side-line characters weave their way into the lives and stories of our characters. Levi and Alaric, for example, are old friends of Maurice and Rosalind and are seemingly insignificant to the story at first. However, Levi is also the godfather to Belle and the village bookseller (“If you like it that much, it’s yours!” – that guy). Alaric on the other hand has a significant link to the castle and both carry clues with them that assist Belle on her quest.
Any Beauty and the Beast tale would not be complete without LeFou and Gaston – that infamous double act- but even Gaston is ever so slightly darker than his animated counterpart. Frederic: another friend from the past and, quite frankly, odd from the start also plays a pivotal role in the story but I won’t spoil the surprise for you!
As Old As Time is true to its name: weaving two stories into its plot at different points in time: the story that we all know and the story of how that came to be. It is an ominous tale with curses, murder, creepy ivy statues and a frankly terrifying tour of the lunatic asylum.
It is not all doom and gloom however; Liz Braswell takes a very tongue-in-cheek attitude towards the infamous scenes within Beauty and the Beast: invoking a dry sense of humour into the story. From a chapter named “Be Our … Oh You Know the Rest” to a direct reference to Stockholm Syndrome: Braswell makes sure that we do not expect her novel to be a copycat, heartfelt tale with a happy ending. Belle even remarks to the Beast that hoping she would fall in love with him within a month or so was wildly unrealistic.
This is very much a novel for the cynical Disney lovers amongst us and highly deserving of its title of a twisted tale!
Hazel (1853 KP) rated Alice Takes Back Wonderland in Books
Dec 14, 2018
<i>This eBook was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review </i>
When a book starts with “‘Do you know fairy tales are real’ asked the cat,” you know you are in for a magical ride. Nearly everyone knows the tale of the seven-year-old girl from nineteenth century London who falls down a rabbit hole and spends a day of madness in the magical world of Wonderland. In David D. Hammons version, however, Alice was a young girl from twenty-first century Missouri. On her return to the real world she was diagnosed with ADHD and Schizophrenia and forced to believe that the Cheshire Cat and the Mad Hatter were figments of her imagination. But ten years later a white rabbit appears and leads Alice back to the world where nothing makes sense.
All is not well in Wonderland. The Cheshire Cat is dead and the Ace of Spades is in charge. Barely anything is the way Alice remembers. Everything looks far too “normal” and similar to the world she comes from. Ace is determined to remove the wonder from Wonderland and create a place where madness is forbidden. Alice has a big fight on her hands as she tries to end this former playing card’s tyrannous reign and restore Wonderland back to its original insanity.
<i>Alice Takes Back Wonderland</i> is not purely a retelling of Lewis Carrols famous story. Although many of the well known and loved characters appear in this book, so do others from a variety of different fairytales: <i>Peter Pan, Pinocchio</i>, and various tales from the <i>Brothers Grimm</i>. As readers will discover, all is not exactly as it should be for these characters either. Despite them being contrasting, magical stories, Hammons has successfully merged them all together in an imaginative manner resulting in a humorous young adult novel.
Although mostly focused on the goings on in Wonderland and the other fictional locations, it is also a subtle metaphor to describe what Alice’s life had been like back in present day America. For a decade Alice was forced to take medication to help her understand the difference between reality and fantasy. It got rid of most of the nonsense thoughts she picked up during her first visit to Wonderland. In a way, that is what the Ace of Spades is doing to characters he believes are mad. He is taking the wonder out of them, just like the pills to the wonder out of Alice.
Lovers of fairytales will definitely love this book, especially those who grew up loving <i>Alice in Wonderland</i> and <i>Peter Pan</i>. In some ways it is a continuation of the original tale, yet in other ways it could be viewed as an alternative way the story could have gone. Primarily targeted at young adults, <i>Alice Takes Back Wonderland</i> is much darker than Carrols version and combines a mix of real life with fantasy. It also goes to show that no one is too old for fairytales!
When a book starts with “‘Do you know fairy tales are real’ asked the cat,” you know you are in for a magical ride. Nearly everyone knows the tale of the seven-year-old girl from nineteenth century London who falls down a rabbit hole and spends a day of madness in the magical world of Wonderland. In David D. Hammons version, however, Alice was a young girl from twenty-first century Missouri. On her return to the real world she was diagnosed with ADHD and Schizophrenia and forced to believe that the Cheshire Cat and the Mad Hatter were figments of her imagination. But ten years later a white rabbit appears and leads Alice back to the world where nothing makes sense.
All is not well in Wonderland. The Cheshire Cat is dead and the Ace of Spades is in charge. Barely anything is the way Alice remembers. Everything looks far too “normal” and similar to the world she comes from. Ace is determined to remove the wonder from Wonderland and create a place where madness is forbidden. Alice has a big fight on her hands as she tries to end this former playing card’s tyrannous reign and restore Wonderland back to its original insanity.
<i>Alice Takes Back Wonderland</i> is not purely a retelling of Lewis Carrols famous story. Although many of the well known and loved characters appear in this book, so do others from a variety of different fairytales: <i>Peter Pan, Pinocchio</i>, and various tales from the <i>Brothers Grimm</i>. As readers will discover, all is not exactly as it should be for these characters either. Despite them being contrasting, magical stories, Hammons has successfully merged them all together in an imaginative manner resulting in a humorous young adult novel.
Although mostly focused on the goings on in Wonderland and the other fictional locations, it is also a subtle metaphor to describe what Alice’s life had been like back in present day America. For a decade Alice was forced to take medication to help her understand the difference between reality and fantasy. It got rid of most of the nonsense thoughts she picked up during her first visit to Wonderland. In a way, that is what the Ace of Spades is doing to characters he believes are mad. He is taking the wonder out of them, just like the pills to the wonder out of Alice.
Lovers of fairytales will definitely love this book, especially those who grew up loving <i>Alice in Wonderland</i> and <i>Peter Pan</i>. In some ways it is a continuation of the original tale, yet in other ways it could be viewed as an alternative way the story could have gone. Primarily targeted at young adults, <i>Alice Takes Back Wonderland</i> is much darker than Carrols version and combines a mix of real life with fantasy. It also goes to show that no one is too old for fairytales!
Lottie disney bookworm (1056 KP) rated Mistress of All Evil: A Tale of the Dark Fairy (Villains #4) in Books
Sep 28, 2019
YES SERENA!
Mistress of Evil is precisely the book I wanted from the villain’s tales series: it had everything – an intriguing backstory; familiar characters as well as new ones who were pivotal to the plot; and of course, magic.
I couldn’t put this book down and I am so relieved that I can finally be super positive for the first time since Fairest of All.
Mistress of Evil takes place immediately after Poor Unfortunate Soul (these books have an order for a reason people!) and, with the odd sisters temporarily out of action, we learn that Maleficent must appeal to Circe and Nanny for assistance with a spell. However, it is soon revealed that Nanny, Maleficent and the odd sisters share a history.
What I loved most about this book is that Valentino spends a lot of time in Maleficent’s backstory, and it was evident that she took a lot of pride in the younger fairy she created. Maleficent is not 100% bad. Don’t get me wrong, she isn’t 100% good either, but the reader witnesses the circumstances that have made her this way. We observe abandonment, bullying and rejection but overall we witness prejudice against someone who is different and I feel it is this that really humanises Maleficent.
Familiar characters are also introduced; namely Flora, Fauna and Merryweather. Now, Merryweather has always been my favourite of the three fairies: something about her sarcastic and feisty personality calls to me. However, young Merryweather is a bit of a cow and, although I didn’t want to, I loved this twist. As usual, Valentino’s world is not black and white: if the good fairies had always been good, events may have turned out very differently.
Snow and her mother also play a role in the progression of the underlying story throughout all these tales: the one of the odd sisters. It wasn’t a complete surprise that Valentino brings one of her previous characters into the story, after all each tale has led into the next. However, it was really interesting to meet Queen Snow and glimpse at her life since we left her in Fairest of All. Also, a book from the odd sisters that possibly binds all our heroes and villains together is pure genius- particularly for someone who was obsessed with Once Upon a Time.
The level of detail in Valentino’s writing is superb. You can really picture the village in which Maleficent was raised- an experience that I haven’t felt in the previous tales. She also doesn’t neglect Aurora just because she is asleep but creates a dream world of mirrors that for some reason conjured images of Labyrinth for me. I also appreciated that, although snippets of the original story are included, they are just snippets- not a retelling.
I think it’s pretty clear that I loved this book. It wasn’t perfect (I still just don’t “get” Tulip and Popinjay and the timing at the start of the book was confusing) but it was pretty close! A prequel to Sleeping Beauty, complete with a fairy school, tree lords, dream worlds and fallouts that would make Jeremy Kyle wince? What more could you want?
A MASSIVE twist? You got it! I always knew no-one would be that angry over not being invited to a christening….
Mistress of Evil is precisely the book I wanted from the villain’s tales series: it had everything – an intriguing backstory; familiar characters as well as new ones who were pivotal to the plot; and of course, magic.
I couldn’t put this book down and I am so relieved that I can finally be super positive for the first time since Fairest of All.
Mistress of Evil takes place immediately after Poor Unfortunate Soul (these books have an order for a reason people!) and, with the odd sisters temporarily out of action, we learn that Maleficent must appeal to Circe and Nanny for assistance with a spell. However, it is soon revealed that Nanny, Maleficent and the odd sisters share a history.
What I loved most about this book is that Valentino spends a lot of time in Maleficent’s backstory, and it was evident that she took a lot of pride in the younger fairy she created. Maleficent is not 100% bad. Don’t get me wrong, she isn’t 100% good either, but the reader witnesses the circumstances that have made her this way. We observe abandonment, bullying and rejection but overall we witness prejudice against someone who is different and I feel it is this that really humanises Maleficent.
Familiar characters are also introduced; namely Flora, Fauna and Merryweather. Now, Merryweather has always been my favourite of the three fairies: something about her sarcastic and feisty personality calls to me. However, young Merryweather is a bit of a cow and, although I didn’t want to, I loved this twist. As usual, Valentino’s world is not black and white: if the good fairies had always been good, events may have turned out very differently.
Snow and her mother also play a role in the progression of the underlying story throughout all these tales: the one of the odd sisters. It wasn’t a complete surprise that Valentino brings one of her previous characters into the story, after all each tale has led into the next. However, it was really interesting to meet Queen Snow and glimpse at her life since we left her in Fairest of All. Also, a book from the odd sisters that possibly binds all our heroes and villains together is pure genius- particularly for someone who was obsessed with Once Upon a Time.
The level of detail in Valentino’s writing is superb. You can really picture the village in which Maleficent was raised- an experience that I haven’t felt in the previous tales. She also doesn’t neglect Aurora just because she is asleep but creates a dream world of mirrors that for some reason conjured images of Labyrinth for me. I also appreciated that, although snippets of the original story are included, they are just snippets- not a retelling.
I think it’s pretty clear that I loved this book. It wasn’t perfect (I still just don’t “get” Tulip and Popinjay and the timing at the start of the book was confusing) but it was pretty close! A prequel to Sleeping Beauty, complete with a fairy school, tree lords, dream worlds and fallouts that would make Jeremy Kyle wince? What more could you want?
A MASSIVE twist? You got it! I always knew no-one would be that angry over not being invited to a christening….
Sophia (Bookwyrming Thoughts) (530 KP) rated Parting Worlds (Once Upon a Curse #4) in Books
Mar 24, 2020
Parting Worlds brings everything together.
Parting Worlds is the fourth and final book in the Once Upon a Curse series, a retelling based on The Little Mermaid. This starts right where Chasing Midnight ends before going back to the very beginning and bringing everything to full circle.
We get a little intro to who Aerewyn is back in the third book, but Parting Worlds is where we truly get to know who she is and her side of the story. We get the chance to see her bond with Nymia and how it forms from complete strangers as young faeries to best friends as they train to become priestesses, where they can use their magic to protect fellow magical creatures.
I personally loved seeing their friendship bloom and how it ultimately withstands in the centuries of time they're apart from each other. I also loved seeing how they have ups and downs in their relationship and how they try to overcome those without straining it. It shows how they have a close bond with each other despite their differences.
I think Parting Worlds also gives us a chance to truly see Nymia's growth as a character as this is set before the third book but still connected. Chasing Midnight also shows her growth, but it was brief and fleeting as much of the focus was not in the past and rather on how she changes throughout the book through the events.
Going back to where all the disaster begins.
And finally, through Aerewyn's story, Kaitlyn Davis shows us how all of this began in the first place. I had so many questions after reading the third book and a lot of them were answered in Parting Worlds. Aerewyn's a faerie full of mischief and seeks to bend the rules whenever she can this sounds like me. She questions how the world can be different, where humans and magical creatures can live together in harmony, especially when she meets Erick and starts forming a relationship with him. Honestly, it's the Butterfly Effect in a fairy tale dystopia and I am living for it.
The majority of the book focuses on how Aerewyn and Erick meet and how their meeting becomes fateful for the rest of the world. But Aerewyn still grows as a character: she's still mischievous and up to no good, but she learns how her actions became major consequences for everyone, including herself. And I love how Davis does this really well.
A bittersweet end, but maybe there are more stories.
I don't know about anyone else, but Parting Worlds feels bittersweet with a (sort of?) happy ending. This puts the final piece of the story together with no loose ends in the story; it's answering all of the questions that have been there since Gathering Frost and connecting all the books together. At the same time, there sounds like there could potentially be another storyline in the future. If that happens, you know what I'm doing.
Parting Worlds is the fourth and final book in the Once Upon a Curse series, a retelling based on The Little Mermaid. This starts right where Chasing Midnight ends before going back to the very beginning and bringing everything to full circle.
We get a little intro to who Aerewyn is back in the third book, but Parting Worlds is where we truly get to know who she is and her side of the story. We get the chance to see her bond with Nymia and how it forms from complete strangers as young faeries to best friends as they train to become priestesses, where they can use their magic to protect fellow magical creatures.
I personally loved seeing their friendship bloom and how it ultimately withstands in the centuries of time they're apart from each other. I also loved seeing how they have ups and downs in their relationship and how they try to overcome those without straining it. It shows how they have a close bond with each other despite their differences.
I think Parting Worlds also gives us a chance to truly see Nymia's growth as a character as this is set before the third book but still connected. Chasing Midnight also shows her growth, but it was brief and fleeting as much of the focus was not in the past and rather on how she changes throughout the book through the events.
Going back to where all the disaster begins.
And finally, through Aerewyn's story, Kaitlyn Davis shows us how all of this began in the first place. I had so many questions after reading the third book and a lot of them were answered in Parting Worlds. Aerewyn's a faerie full of mischief and seeks to bend the rules whenever she can this sounds like me. She questions how the world can be different, where humans and magical creatures can live together in harmony, especially when she meets Erick and starts forming a relationship with him. Honestly, it's the Butterfly Effect in a fairy tale dystopia and I am living for it.
The majority of the book focuses on how Aerewyn and Erick meet and how their meeting becomes fateful for the rest of the world. But Aerewyn still grows as a character: she's still mischievous and up to no good, but she learns how her actions became major consequences for everyone, including herself. And I love how Davis does this really well.
A bittersweet end, but maybe there are more stories.
I don't know about anyone else, but Parting Worlds feels bittersweet with a (sort of?) happy ending. This puts the final piece of the story together with no loose ends in the story; it's answering all of the questions that have been there since Gathering Frost and connecting all the books together. At the same time, there sounds like there could potentially be another storyline in the future. If that happens, you know what I'm doing.
Sophia (Bookwyrming Thoughts) (530 KP) rated Princess of Thorns in Books
Jan 23, 2020
<i>Princess of Thorns</i> isn't even a retelling – it's <b>just a fairy tale (pun may be intended) where the original characters are quite dead (poisoned, murdered, suicidal, etc.) and the spawn of Aurora 1.0 and Stephen is cursed in exchange for her fairy blessings.</b>
That particular spawn, who I'm calling Aurora 2.0 (simply because <i>THE</i> Sleeping Beauty was born as Aurora but Stacey Jay calls her Rose), apparently has a brother who gets captured by the ogre queen and she decides to pose as said brother to raise an army to overthrow the ogre queen. Early on in her journey – the beginning of the book, in actuality – Aurora meets Prince Niklaas, son of the immortal king of Kanvasola and wait for it...
Also cursed.
I won't complain too much about <i>Princess of Thorns</i> – it's a neat idea and there's really not much you can do with a retelling of a princess who sleeps a hundred years and gets woken up by a kiss from a prince who goes through thorns and fights a green-fire breathing dragon witch known as Maleficent. I pretty much applaud authors who toy around with Sleeping Beauty – it's interesting to see what comes out of it.
But <b>the book is <i>sooo</i> confusing</b>. From the beginning, Jay quite literally throws us in a world where Aurora is aware of what's going on around her, but <b>I have no clue what's going on.</b> Aurora thinks she's seeing a hottie who she thinks is a "Golden God" – great! But what in the world is going on? All I know is she's been with the fey for ten years and she may or may not be with them right at that time, and whatever was going on for fifteen pages certainly doesn't sound very fey-like. I also know that her mother, the original Sleeping Beauty, is dead.
There were also <b>a few things that just seemed really ridiculous.</b>
The <b>names are just not as creative</b> as Stacey Jay might be aiming them to be. Niklaas, Haanah, Ekeeta, and the name that almost made me bawl in laughter? Nippa. It's almost as though <b>in an effort to "foreignize" the names, Jay either "drawls" out a letter or it justs sounds like another word in the English language (sometimes, it's not even pleasant).</b> In that case, I'll be Sofeeyah.
<b>The entire concept of Aurora dressing up as her brother without anyone being aware was also a bit suspicious.</b> Aurora slips up A LOT in front of Niklaas throughout the journey, and <b>I'm a bit peeved he doesn't even question it THE ENTIRE TIME.</b> If her brother were younger than fourteen and disguised Aurora slipped up a few times, then maybe it would have worked better. But Aurora's captured brother is <i>fourteen</i> – I doubt fourteen-year-old boys sound like high-pitched girls. As much as I applaud Aurora for having the guts to venture out in the world on her own to take down an ogre queen, <b>I just don't buy her manliness.</b>
In all honesty, though, <b>Aurora as a Jor was a lot better than Aurora as a girl</b> – she's desperate as Niklaas gets closer to his eighteenth birthday. It's quite literally, "Dude, come on! Marry me already!" And Niklaas is all mopey. "All is lost. No princess loves me, so dear God and all that is Holy, END THIS AND TURN ME INTO A SWAN ALREADY SO I CAN SWAN THE REST OF MY LIFE AWAY WITH MY SWANNING BROS."
Aurora's approaching meeting with the ogre queen seemed <b>really weird, abrupt, and cheesy</b> – I felt like I just wrote a story in sixth grade where the bad guy goes all, "Oh, I'm so sorry! Let me just accept my punishment and go to flaming Hell." while being completely solemn. And obviously, the story becomes all happily ever after.
The entire explanation makes sense, but <b>the execution just seemed weird and quick</b> and somewhere in the process, the author realized, "Oh, wait. This is going on 400 hundred pages. I better wrap this up and wrap it up quickly, or I'll end up boring the crap out of my readers if I throw in deception and go on 600 or more pages!"
Disclaimer: I'm not making fun of the author. I'm quite literally saying I felt as though I was in sixth grade, writing a story with an actual limited number of pages and I <i>had</i> to wrap it up, so I did it abruptly. That was actually a true story. I did get a decent grade, so I must have done something right, right?
Also, at the time of writing this review, I was feeling more sarcastic than usual (though Lupe and Rundus would probably say I'm sarcastic 24/7). <b><i>Princess of Thorns</i> had a decent idea, but there were quite a bit of bumps and mucho ridiculousness throughout that made the story fall rather than burst out feathers and fly (see what I did there?).</b>
<a href="https://bookwyrmingthoughts.com/review-princess-of-thorns-by-stacey-jay/"; target="_blank">This review was originally posted on Bookwyrming Thoughts</a>
That particular spawn, who I'm calling Aurora 2.0 (simply because <i>THE</i> Sleeping Beauty was born as Aurora but Stacey Jay calls her Rose), apparently has a brother who gets captured by the ogre queen and she decides to pose as said brother to raise an army to overthrow the ogre queen. Early on in her journey – the beginning of the book, in actuality – Aurora meets Prince Niklaas, son of the immortal king of Kanvasola and wait for it...
Also cursed.
I won't complain too much about <i>Princess of Thorns</i> – it's a neat idea and there's really not much you can do with a retelling of a princess who sleeps a hundred years and gets woken up by a kiss from a prince who goes through thorns and fights a green-fire breathing dragon witch known as Maleficent. I pretty much applaud authors who toy around with Sleeping Beauty – it's interesting to see what comes out of it.
But <b>the book is <i>sooo</i> confusing</b>. From the beginning, Jay quite literally throws us in a world where Aurora is aware of what's going on around her, but <b>I have no clue what's going on.</b> Aurora thinks she's seeing a hottie who she thinks is a "Golden God" – great! But what in the world is going on? All I know is she's been with the fey for ten years and she may or may not be with them right at that time, and whatever was going on for fifteen pages certainly doesn't sound very fey-like. I also know that her mother, the original Sleeping Beauty, is dead.
There were also <b>a few things that just seemed really ridiculous.</b>
The <b>names are just not as creative</b> as Stacey Jay might be aiming them to be. Niklaas, Haanah, Ekeeta, and the name that almost made me bawl in laughter? Nippa. It's almost as though <b>in an effort to "foreignize" the names, Jay either "drawls" out a letter or it justs sounds like another word in the English language (sometimes, it's not even pleasant).</b> In that case, I'll be Sofeeyah.
<b>The entire concept of Aurora dressing up as her brother without anyone being aware was also a bit suspicious.</b> Aurora slips up A LOT in front of Niklaas throughout the journey, and <b>I'm a bit peeved he doesn't even question it THE ENTIRE TIME.</b> If her brother were younger than fourteen and disguised Aurora slipped up a few times, then maybe it would have worked better. But Aurora's captured brother is <i>fourteen</i> – I doubt fourteen-year-old boys sound like high-pitched girls. As much as I applaud Aurora for having the guts to venture out in the world on her own to take down an ogre queen, <b>I just don't buy her manliness.</b>
In all honesty, though, <b>Aurora as a Jor was a lot better than Aurora as a girl</b> – she's desperate as Niklaas gets closer to his eighteenth birthday. It's quite literally, "Dude, come on! Marry me already!" And Niklaas is all mopey. "All is lost. No princess loves me, so dear God and all that is Holy, END THIS AND TURN ME INTO A SWAN ALREADY SO I CAN SWAN THE REST OF MY LIFE AWAY WITH MY SWANNING BROS."
Aurora's approaching meeting with the ogre queen seemed <b>really weird, abrupt, and cheesy</b> – I felt like I just wrote a story in sixth grade where the bad guy goes all, "Oh, I'm so sorry! Let me just accept my punishment and go to flaming Hell." while being completely solemn. And obviously, the story becomes all happily ever after.
The entire explanation makes sense, but <b>the execution just seemed weird and quick</b> and somewhere in the process, the author realized, "Oh, wait. This is going on 400 hundred pages. I better wrap this up and wrap it up quickly, or I'll end up boring the crap out of my readers if I throw in deception and go on 600 or more pages!"
Disclaimer: I'm not making fun of the author. I'm quite literally saying I felt as though I was in sixth grade, writing a story with an actual limited number of pages and I <i>had</i> to wrap it up, so I did it abruptly. That was actually a true story. I did get a decent grade, so I must have done something right, right?
Also, at the time of writing this review, I was feeling more sarcastic than usual (though Lupe and Rundus would probably say I'm sarcastic 24/7). <b><i>Princess of Thorns</i> had a decent idea, but there were quite a bit of bumps and mucho ridiculousness throughout that made the story fall rather than burst out feathers and fly (see what I did there?).</b>
<a href="https://bookwyrmingthoughts.com/review-princess-of-thorns-by-stacey-jay/"; target="_blank">This review was originally posted on Bookwyrming Thoughts</a>
Dana (24 KP) rated Cress (The Lunar Chronicles, #3) in Books
Mar 23, 2018
There's going to be spoilers in the review, so be warned.
Marissa Meyer did it again! I have to say this series is a lot better than I had expected it to be. Since it is a book of fairy tale retellings, I expected it to be, not gonna lie, cliche as hell, but it isn't. Though it ties in aspects of the original fairy tales, they are still such separate things that I don't see it as a retelling as much.
Now, the introduction of the new characters, particularly Cress, Jacin, and Winter, was amazing. I love each of them in their own ways because they are not what one would expect them to be.
Cress is just a little ball of happy. I would not have expected her to be so lovely, especially after being mistreated for so much of her life! The little scenarios she makes up in order to get through each situation are just precious and super smart, if I am being completely honest! Cress is strong despite what she looks like. She has the capability of hacking anything she wishes, but even more that that, she is thrown (literally) to Earth after spending seven years basically in isolation and has to learn how to survive and keep another person (who she has a major crush on) alive as well. That's a lot to ask of a girl, but she does it with a smile on her face. If that isn't strength, then I don't know what is.
Then we go onto Jacin Clay. Now this boy is an enigma that I just can't quite figure out yet, but I have a feeling that I will in the next book. So he is a shell in the employ of Sybil, and therefore the queen, but kind of wants to rebel against them because he is in love with the princess, Winter. It gets confusing because Cinder thinks he is a supporter of Selene (her) instead of thinking of the more obvious choice. Jacin seems like he's going to be a pretty okay character, but we haven't gotten enough interaction with him for me to sort him out. There was that last scene in the book where he says he was on the Queen's side the whole time, but I don't think he's telling the truth. There's just something about him that seems trustworthy, and maybe that's myself being too naive, but I want to like him.
Finally, for the new characters, we get to Winter. She seems like a sweet girl, although going a bit mad, but understandably so. She, too, is a captive to the queen, and though it may seem that she has it better because she gets to be on Luna, that also means she is under constant scrutiny. We only get to see her really in one scene, so I can't wait to see what will come of her in the next book!
I loved getting to see all of the old characters again. Thorne is such a romantic loser, I love him so much. He just wants to act all tough, but he's got a major soft spot for Cress and Cinder. Speaking of, Cinder is getting more badass, which I appreciate. She's got some good plans too, so I want to see how that all pans out. Scarlet needs to be rescued ASAP. I need her and Wolf to be besties (and in a relationship forever because, yeah). Wolf needs to be happy, in general.
Now, I'm giving Kai his own paragraph because he is actually doing things in this book. Yay for active King!! Yes, he makes some stupid mistakes. And yes, he got misinformation about Princess Selene, but holy crap he got close to the truth! I am just happy he is taking action, but especially that he and Cinder are in the same space again. (get it...space? I crack myself up). No, but really, the laws he is trying to impose are sound and I stand by them. He is acknowledging the wrongs that have been put into place and is trying to change them for the better, all while sacrificing his own happiness for his country, and inevitably, the world. Go Kai!
I cannot wait to read the next book (but I have to buy it first!!)!!
Marissa Meyer did it again! I have to say this series is a lot better than I had expected it to be. Since it is a book of fairy tale retellings, I expected it to be, not gonna lie, cliche as hell, but it isn't. Though it ties in aspects of the original fairy tales, they are still such separate things that I don't see it as a retelling as much.
Now, the introduction of the new characters, particularly Cress, Jacin, and Winter, was amazing. I love each of them in their own ways because they are not what one would expect them to be.
Cress is just a little ball of happy. I would not have expected her to be so lovely, especially after being mistreated for so much of her life! The little scenarios she makes up in order to get through each situation are just precious and super smart, if I am being completely honest! Cress is strong despite what she looks like. She has the capability of hacking anything she wishes, but even more that that, she is thrown (literally) to Earth after spending seven years basically in isolation and has to learn how to survive and keep another person (who she has a major crush on) alive as well. That's a lot to ask of a girl, but she does it with a smile on her face. If that isn't strength, then I don't know what is.
Then we go onto Jacin Clay. Now this boy is an enigma that I just can't quite figure out yet, but I have a feeling that I will in the next book. So he is a shell in the employ of Sybil, and therefore the queen, but kind of wants to rebel against them because he is in love with the princess, Winter. It gets confusing because Cinder thinks he is a supporter of Selene (her) instead of thinking of the more obvious choice. Jacin seems like he's going to be a pretty okay character, but we haven't gotten enough interaction with him for me to sort him out. There was that last scene in the book where he says he was on the Queen's side the whole time, but I don't think he's telling the truth. There's just something about him that seems trustworthy, and maybe that's myself being too naive, but I want to like him.
Finally, for the new characters, we get to Winter. She seems like a sweet girl, although going a bit mad, but understandably so. She, too, is a captive to the queen, and though it may seem that she has it better because she gets to be on Luna, that also means she is under constant scrutiny. We only get to see her really in one scene, so I can't wait to see what will come of her in the next book!
I loved getting to see all of the old characters again. Thorne is such a romantic loser, I love him so much. He just wants to act all tough, but he's got a major soft spot for Cress and Cinder. Speaking of, Cinder is getting more badass, which I appreciate. She's got some good plans too, so I want to see how that all pans out. Scarlet needs to be rescued ASAP. I need her and Wolf to be besties (and in a relationship forever because, yeah). Wolf needs to be happy, in general.
Now, I'm giving Kai his own paragraph because he is actually doing things in this book. Yay for active King!! Yes, he makes some stupid mistakes. And yes, he got misinformation about Princess Selene, but holy crap he got close to the truth! I am just happy he is taking action, but especially that he and Cinder are in the same space again. (get it...space? I crack myself up). No, but really, the laws he is trying to impose are sound and I stand by them. He is acknowledging the wrongs that have been put into place and is trying to change them for the better, all while sacrificing his own happiness for his country, and inevitably, the world. Go Kai!
I cannot wait to read the next book (but I have to buy it first!!)!!
