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graveyardgremlin (7194 KP) rated The Fairy Godmother (Five Hundred Kingdoms, #1) in Books
Feb 15, 2019
I love, love, loved this book! This is my first Mercedes Lackey book and it most definitely won't be my last! If all - or even most - of her other books are as good as this one, I'll be a fan for life! I do think the synopsis is a bit misleading, it's not exactly how everything happened, especially since the prince doesn't enter the picture until halfway through the book. Maybe hardcore fantasy readers won't enjoy it as much as those who love both fantasy and romance, but I thought it was a very smart and interesting twist on the usual fairy tales. I loved the epilogue and thought that added to the whole 'moral' of the story. I can't wait to get to the others in the series. :)
ArecRain (8 KP) rated Once Upon a Time: New Fairy Tales in Books
Jan 18, 2018
I absolutely love fairy tales, so of course I was thrilled to find this collection. It is impossible for me to give it anything less than 5 stars because I could not find fault with a single story. Even though I did not like every story, I could not blame the publisher or the authors for the story just not being my taste. I can admit when a story is good even though I don't like the genre. Every story was interesting, expertly written, and interesting. I found myself laughing, crying , and holding my breath as I read. Not to mention, I felt that each story was a brand new fairytale. Everything seemed fresh and new, even to someone who has loved fairytales since the beginning of time.
ClareR (5721 KP) rated The Night Country (The Hazel Wood #2) in Books
Dec 30, 2019
This is probably even darker than the first book. I really like reworked fairy tales, and I think the characters in this series are more like the characters that the Brothers Grimm had in mind before they were told to rewrite them less scary (I still want to get my hands on the originals - they sound deliciously dark, like this book).
This is a great continuation of the first novel. It looks at how Alice and the other Hinterlanders settle in to life in New York, and Finch’s continuing adventures in The Hinterland. I can’t say much more than this without giving the story away, but needless to say, if you enjoyed the first book, you’ll love this one!
Many thanks to NetGalley and Flatiron Books for my copy to read and honestly review!
This is a great continuation of the first novel. It looks at how Alice and the other Hinterlanders settle in to life in New York, and Finch’s continuing adventures in The Hinterland. I can’t say much more than this without giving the story away, but needless to say, if you enjoyed the first book, you’ll love this one!
Many thanks to NetGalley and Flatiron Books for my copy to read and honestly review!
Anne (15117 KP) rated The Shadow Queen (Ravenspire, #1) in Books
Nov 4, 2019
I've always strongly disliked Snow White, but Shadow Queen I like a lot - it's so much better than Snow White!
Also I love C.J. Redwine’s books - they're awesome! I love The Traitor Prince - it might be my favorite of her books so far. I'm reading The Wish Granter now after this book.
I love Lorelai, she's so much more relatable and awesome and Irina is even more understandable even though she is detestable and disgusting with her evil wickedness.
And I love Kol and his little group of friends and Kol and Lorelai together complement each other.
I am gaining a new level of appreciation and interest in the fairy tales because of these great retellings.
If you haven't checked this book out or any of these by C.J. Red wine, you should.
Also I love C.J. Redwine’s books - they're awesome! I love The Traitor Prince - it might be my favorite of her books so far. I'm reading The Wish Granter now after this book.
I love Lorelai, she's so much more relatable and awesome and Irina is even more understandable even though she is detestable and disgusting with her evil wickedness.
And I love Kol and his little group of friends and Kol and Lorelai together complement each other.
I am gaining a new level of appreciation and interest in the fairy tales because of these great retellings.
If you haven't checked this book out or any of these by C.J. Red wine, you should.
The Beauty and the Beast Colouring Book
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A wonderfully decorative and enchanting colouring book, full of familiar characters, irresistible...
The Mortal Instruments 1: City of Bones
8.2
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First in Cassandra Clare's internationally bestselling Mortal Instruments series about the...
Young adult romance vampire werewolves fairy faeries
The School For Good and Evil
7.2
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With her glass slippers and devotion to good deeds, Sophie knows she'll earn top marks at the School...
Fantasy Fairy Tales
The year’s best Fantasy and Horrror 2006 19th annual collection
Ellen Datlow, Kelly Link and Gavin J. Grant
6.0
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The legendary anthology is back, with witches and warlocks, fairy rings and gothic tales. "The...
BookwormMama14 (18 KP) rated The Beautiful Pretender (A Medieval Fairy Tale, #2) in Books
Jan 2, 2019
Forced into deception by the Earl of Plimmwald, will Avelina be able to keep up the facade of being his daughter Lady Dorothea?
The king has ordered Reinhart, the new Margrave of Thornbeck to marry. Knowing he can not deny the king, Lord Thornbeck summons the ten women the king has chosen as suitable matches. For two weeks he plans to test these women to find the most noble lady among them, and choose her as his bride. Little does he know that not all of the ladies presented to him are truly born of nobility. When Avelina arrives at Thornbeck castle, masquerading as Lady Dorothea, she is convinced she will be found out. However as the days pass, she finds it easier to pretend to be a lady, instead of the maidservant she truly is. She has two goals: To make sure no one discovers that she is a servant, and to keep Lord Thornbeck from choosing her as his bride. For if her secret is revealed, destruction and ruin will be brought upon Avelina and her family.
The Beautiful Pretender is "Happily Ever After" at its finest! Melanie Dickerson has a beautiful gift for bringing classic fairy tales to life in an incredibly new and different way. Every page is filled with beautiful descriptions of the castle, clothes, grounds and lifestyle of the medieval times. These fairy tales (and especially Avelina's story) are much more realistic than the Disney adaptations (however I am addicted to fairy tales in general), and makes me feel like these stories could have actually happened. The Beautiful Pretender will have you biting your nails from the first page and there are plenty of suspenseful moments that will keep you turning those pages until you can not keep your eyes open any longer! (Yes, I say this from experience...) This story is such a lovely romance. Seeing in our characters something that I believe we can all identify with, the desire to be wanted and loved for who we are. And we must never forget the One who loves us more than anyone ever could. He who loves us exactly as we are, regardless of our heritage and in spite of our imperfections. Never forget that as a son or daughter of our Lord, you are royalty.
I received a free copy of The Beautiful Pretender from Thomas Nelson Publishers through Book Look Bloggers in exchange for my honest review. All opinions expressed are mine alone.
The king has ordered Reinhart, the new Margrave of Thornbeck to marry. Knowing he can not deny the king, Lord Thornbeck summons the ten women the king has chosen as suitable matches. For two weeks he plans to test these women to find the most noble lady among them, and choose her as his bride. Little does he know that not all of the ladies presented to him are truly born of nobility. When Avelina arrives at Thornbeck castle, masquerading as Lady Dorothea, she is convinced she will be found out. However as the days pass, she finds it easier to pretend to be a lady, instead of the maidservant she truly is. She has two goals: To make sure no one discovers that she is a servant, and to keep Lord Thornbeck from choosing her as his bride. For if her secret is revealed, destruction and ruin will be brought upon Avelina and her family.
The Beautiful Pretender is "Happily Ever After" at its finest! Melanie Dickerson has a beautiful gift for bringing classic fairy tales to life in an incredibly new and different way. Every page is filled with beautiful descriptions of the castle, clothes, grounds and lifestyle of the medieval times. These fairy tales (and especially Avelina's story) are much more realistic than the Disney adaptations (however I am addicted to fairy tales in general), and makes me feel like these stories could have actually happened. The Beautiful Pretender will have you biting your nails from the first page and there are plenty of suspenseful moments that will keep you turning those pages until you can not keep your eyes open any longer! (Yes, I say this from experience...) This story is such a lovely romance. Seeing in our characters something that I believe we can all identify with, the desire to be wanted and loved for who we are. And we must never forget the One who loves us more than anyone ever could. He who loves us exactly as we are, regardless of our heritage and in spite of our imperfections. Never forget that as a son or daughter of our Lord, you are royalty.
I received a free copy of The Beautiful Pretender from Thomas Nelson Publishers through Book Look Bloggers in exchange for my honest review. All opinions expressed are mine alone.
Goddess in the Stacks (553 KP) rated Spinning Silver in Books
Dec 25, 2018
I had previously read Uprooted, and adored it, so I was eager to get my hands on this book as soon as it came out. I was very excited to see it as a Book of the Month choice for July, and quickly made it my pick!
I received the book last weekend while I was at Anthrocon, so I didn't get a chance to sit down with it until yesterday. (It officially came out Tuesday.) I proceeded to read straight through the entire book because it was SO. GOOD. Novik writes absolutely ENTHRALLING fairy tales. And in Spinning Silver, she has written fae as beautiful, alien, capricious, and as absolutely bound by rules as they should be. Doing a thing three times, even by normal means, gives one the power to ACTUALLY do the thing; in Miryem's case, turning the Staryk's silver into gold (by creative buying and selling) means she gains the power to LITERALLY turn silver into gold. Which then gets her into the trouble the rest of the book is built on.
One of my favorite lines was very near the end of the book, about the Staryk palace:
"The Staryk didn't know anything of keeping records: I suppose it was only to be expected from people who didn't take on debts and were used to entire chambers wandering off and having to be called back like cats."
My only real quibble with the book is that it shifts viewpoints between at least five characters, and doesn't start their sections with names or anything, so it takes a few sentences to figure out who's talking. It never takes too long, but it did occasionally make me go "Wait, who is this....ah, okay."
The plotlines weave in and out of each other's way for most of the book before all colliding into each other at the end and showing how everything connects. I was definitely confused on occasion, but it was that enchanting Alice-in-Wonderland kind of confusion more than actual puzzlement. The book is, by turns, a mix of Rumpelstiltskin, Tam-Lin, Winter King vs Summer King, Snow Queen, and a little Hansel and Gretel. I love seeing elements of so many fairy tales woven together and yet still remaining recognizable.
And the ending! Oh, the ending was absolutely, marvelously perfect.
I loved this book, just as much as I loved Uprooted. I can't wait to see what fairy tales Novik spins next!
You can find all my reviews at http://goddessinthestacks.com
I received the book last weekend while I was at Anthrocon, so I didn't get a chance to sit down with it until yesterday. (It officially came out Tuesday.) I proceeded to read straight through the entire book because it was SO. GOOD. Novik writes absolutely ENTHRALLING fairy tales. And in Spinning Silver, she has written fae as beautiful, alien, capricious, and as absolutely bound by rules as they should be. Doing a thing three times, even by normal means, gives one the power to ACTUALLY do the thing; in Miryem's case, turning the Staryk's silver into gold (by creative buying and selling) means she gains the power to LITERALLY turn silver into gold. Which then gets her into the trouble the rest of the book is built on.
One of my favorite lines was very near the end of the book, about the Staryk palace:
"The Staryk didn't know anything of keeping records: I suppose it was only to be expected from people who didn't take on debts and were used to entire chambers wandering off and having to be called back like cats."
My only real quibble with the book is that it shifts viewpoints between at least five characters, and doesn't start their sections with names or anything, so it takes a few sentences to figure out who's talking. It never takes too long, but it did occasionally make me go "Wait, who is this....ah, okay."
The plotlines weave in and out of each other's way for most of the book before all colliding into each other at the end and showing how everything connects. I was definitely confused on occasion, but it was that enchanting Alice-in-Wonderland kind of confusion more than actual puzzlement. The book is, by turns, a mix of Rumpelstiltskin, Tam-Lin, Winter King vs Summer King, Snow Queen, and a little Hansel and Gretel. I love seeing elements of so many fairy tales woven together and yet still remaining recognizable.
And the ending! Oh, the ending was absolutely, marvelously perfect.
I loved this book, just as much as I loved Uprooted. I can't wait to see what fairy tales Novik spins next!
You can find all my reviews at http://goddessinthestacks.com