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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.
Merissa (11704 KP) rated Lord of the Vampires (Royal House of Shadows, #1) in Books
Dec 17, 2018
This book is the first of a set of four, written by four different authors. It started with a single idea - rewrite fairytales with a mystical twist. Collectively, it's called the Royal House of Shadows.
I've enjoyed Gena Showalter's Lords of the Underworld series and wanted to see how she would write under a "Mills & Boon" title!!!
I enjoyed this book and read it in one evening. It is a fast-paced book, not 'heavy' at all, although there are some twists and turns to the story as it involves memories being taken and you have to stay up to date with who did what to whom.
On the whole, a pleasant read. It didn't blow my socks off or make me blush but wasn't a waste of time either.
I've enjoyed Gena Showalter's Lords of the Underworld series and wanted to see how she would write under a "Mills & Boon" title!!!
I enjoyed this book and read it in one evening. It is a fast-paced book, not 'heavy' at all, although there are some twists and turns to the story as it involves memories being taken and you have to stay up to date with who did what to whom.
On the whole, a pleasant read. It didn't blow my socks off or make me blush but wasn't a waste of time either.
Bethr1986 (305 KP) rated The Little Morgen (Fairytales of the Myth #2) in Books
May 5, 2021
Another good novella
Contains spoilers, click to show
This is the second novella in the fairytales of myth series and I was as hooked on this one as I was the first it really doesn't seem to go on long enough.The raw pain and anguish Thalliya feels watching her family murdered is horrendous i feel it with her, I also get why she freezes that heartache is certainly one that takes your breath away!The relationship between Ragnar and Thalliya and how it grows and flourishes is very steamy but also needed by both of them. Its sad to know it doesn't last.I enjoyed the fast pace of the tale and that it doesn't hang around there is adventure from the start deffinatly a fantastic read4/5 absolutly cannot wait for the next installment
Hazel (1853 KP) rated A Grimm Legacy (Grimm Tales #1) in Books
Dec 17, 2018
<i>This eBook was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review</i>
Fairy tale enthusiasts will love this young adult novel by Colorado based author Janna Jennings. Full with lots of magical references <i>A Grimm Legacy</i> is about four teenagers who get dragged out of their world and into the enchanted realm of Elorium. The mysterious Mr. Jackson, who they find in a mansion with a couple of elf servants, tells them that they have been brought there for a reason; but before anyone gets the chance to explain what that reason is, the four run away only to encounter many dangerous characters.
As the title suggests <i>A Grimm Legacy</i> is loosely based upon the stories collected by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm. To get the most out of this book the reader needs to have an understanding of a variety of fairy-tales, for instance <i>Cinderella</i>. As well as the more commonly known, there are less recognized stories, which are of great significance to the novel: for example <i>Jorindel and Jorinda</i> and <i>The Fisherman and his Wife</i>.
Whilst Jennings has done well in her research into the different fairytales, she includes <i>Jack and the Beanstalk</i> as one of the references, which is in fact not a Brothers’ Grimm tale. <i>Jack and the Beanstalk</i> is an English tale that was first recorded by Benjamin Tabart in 1807. Either Jennings failed to realize this or she was including all fairytales within this book, in which case the title is misleading.
The book on the whole was quick to read and was full of exciting twists. I enjoyed discovering the various references to the well-known stories. One thing that made the text confusing, however, was the lack of breaks between certain paragraphs. Within a chapter there were occasionally more than one scene or setting and without a gap to distinguish between them it was often difficult to understand the changes in time period etc.
This book was written with young adults in mind but can be enjoyed by older readers too. It is not suitable for younger children however, not only due to the sinister nature of the original fairytales, but <i>A Grimm Legacy</i> has the occasional violent scene in it.
Despite the inaccuracy regarding <i>Jack and the Beanstalk</i>, this is a fun book to read. My only advice is to read it after you have explored some of the Brothers’ Grimm collection.
Fairy tale enthusiasts will love this young adult novel by Colorado based author Janna Jennings. Full with lots of magical references <i>A Grimm Legacy</i> is about four teenagers who get dragged out of their world and into the enchanted realm of Elorium. The mysterious Mr. Jackson, who they find in a mansion with a couple of elf servants, tells them that they have been brought there for a reason; but before anyone gets the chance to explain what that reason is, the four run away only to encounter many dangerous characters.
As the title suggests <i>A Grimm Legacy</i> is loosely based upon the stories collected by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm. To get the most out of this book the reader needs to have an understanding of a variety of fairy-tales, for instance <i>Cinderella</i>. As well as the more commonly known, there are less recognized stories, which are of great significance to the novel: for example <i>Jorindel and Jorinda</i> and <i>The Fisherman and his Wife</i>.
Whilst Jennings has done well in her research into the different fairytales, she includes <i>Jack and the Beanstalk</i> as one of the references, which is in fact not a Brothers’ Grimm tale. <i>Jack and the Beanstalk</i> is an English tale that was first recorded by Benjamin Tabart in 1807. Either Jennings failed to realize this or she was including all fairytales within this book, in which case the title is misleading.
The book on the whole was quick to read and was full of exciting twists. I enjoyed discovering the various references to the well-known stories. One thing that made the text confusing, however, was the lack of breaks between certain paragraphs. Within a chapter there were occasionally more than one scene or setting and without a gap to distinguish between them it was often difficult to understand the changes in time period etc.
This book was written with young adults in mind but can be enjoyed by older readers too. It is not suitable for younger children however, not only due to the sinister nature of the original fairytales, but <i>A Grimm Legacy</i> has the occasional violent scene in it.
Despite the inaccuracy regarding <i>Jack and the Beanstalk</i>, this is a fun book to read. My only advice is to read it after you have explored some of the Brothers’ Grimm collection.
Lyndsey Gollogly (2893 KP) rated Friends With The Monsters in Books
Nov 21, 2020
195 of 200
Kindle
Friends with the monsters ( friends with monsters book 1)
By Albany Walker
Gather round close, for I have a secret to tell.
Late at night, while everyone is sleeping, dreaming of white knights and fairytales. I’m making friends with the monsters.
They call to me, like finds like, right? My biggest secret, I’m the scariest monster I know.
I think I’m the bad guy.
MFMM Reverse Harem novel with adult themes not recommended for those under 18.
Ok so this starts off a little strange and give mixed signals. It was quirky but on sometimes a little try hard. I was so curious about where it was going I stuck with it! I was pleasantly surprised to find I actually liked it! The sexual tension was dealt with very well!! Looking forward to more!
Kindle
Friends with the monsters ( friends with monsters book 1)
By Albany Walker
Gather round close, for I have a secret to tell.
Late at night, while everyone is sleeping, dreaming of white knights and fairytales. I’m making friends with the monsters.
They call to me, like finds like, right? My biggest secret, I’m the scariest monster I know.
I think I’m the bad guy.
MFMM Reverse Harem novel with adult themes not recommended for those under 18.
Ok so this starts off a little strange and give mixed signals. It was quirky but on sometimes a little try hard. I was so curious about where it was going I stuck with it! I was pleasantly surprised to find I actually liked it! The sexual tension was dealt with very well!! Looking forward to more!
ClareR (5577 KP) rated Hag: : Forgotten Folktales Retold in Books
Mar 13, 2022
I’m a huge fan of fairytales, so I was all over this collection of updated versions of local tales. I hadn’t heard of most of them, and I’d be hard-pressed to choose a favourite (but I do like the mermaids and selkies!).
What I especially liked about this collection, is that at the back of the book are all the original stories. So I could read the original before the updated version. It was so interesting to see how the authors updated them.
There are some phenomenal authors here. I’ve already read other books by Daisy Johnson, Naomi Booth and Kirsty Logan, have some of the others on my TBR, and now I can add some others to that list. This is one of the best things about reading anthologies: new to me authors!
So yes, I’d recommend this!
What I especially liked about this collection, is that at the back of the book are all the original stories. So I could read the original before the updated version. It was so interesting to see how the authors updated them.
There are some phenomenal authors here. I’ve already read other books by Daisy Johnson, Naomi Booth and Kirsty Logan, have some of the others on my TBR, and now I can add some others to that list. This is one of the best things about reading anthologies: new to me authors!
So yes, I’d recommend this!
Christina Haynes (148 KP) rated The Hazel Wood in Books
Feb 24, 2018 (Updated Feb 24, 2018)
The Hazel Wood
The Hazel Wood
By Melissa Albert
Review: Christina Haynes
Have you ever wanted to go into the world of fairytales. To see their stories unfold, to learn more about them and not just through the pages of a book?
Alice used to want to know more about them. When your Grandmother is the famous author of the ‘Hinterland’. A world where Fairytales are dark like the story of ‘Alice three times’ of course you would want to know more. Especially when you haven’t met the woman and your mother never talks about her.
But when you do finally enter the Hinderland you see that it’s not all it’s cracked up to be.
Alice and her mother Ella have been on the run all of Alice’s life. Ella grew up on fairytales and Alice grew up on highways. They have both been running from this bad luck that always seems to follow them wherever they go. Which Ella believes comes from her mother, Althea.
Althea Properpine was traveling with a man and when their affair ended she vanished. Alike with Agatha Christie, she returned and no one knew where she had been. Unlike Agatha she remembered – she was in the Hinterland. A place where her stories began.
Althea’s books cannot be found anywhere, she has a huge fan base who never reveal the pages of her book. Everything about her is a mystery, even her home, The Hazel Wood.
Her only known interview was with Vanity Fair and even then no one could say where she lived. Her first husband Ella’s father died when she was young, she then married Greek royalty and then vanished to her home at The Hazel Wood. At eighteen Ella left home with her baby Alice and never stopped running.
One day Ella receives a letter in the post informing her of Althea’s death. To which Ella believes is a miracle, because now her bad luck won’t exist. So she marries and settles down, creates a home they both longed for. Until one day, the bad luck finds them and Ella is taken away, by the Hinterland. Ella leaves Alice a message “STAY AWAY FROM THE HAZEL WOOD” This is the start of the Fairytale that Alice joins.
Alice seeks the help of a boy at school, Ellery Finch who is a super fan of Althea and her stories. Together they travel to where The Hazel Wood is. But is Ellery a friend or just a super fan.
“Look until the leaves turn red, sew the worlds up with thread. If your journey’s left undone, fear the rising of the sun.”
4 ☕ – I REALLY LIKED IT
Love, Christina ?
By Melissa Albert
Review: Christina Haynes
Have you ever wanted to go into the world of fairytales. To see their stories unfold, to learn more about them and not just through the pages of a book?
Alice used to want to know more about them. When your Grandmother is the famous author of the ‘Hinterland’. A world where Fairytales are dark like the story of ‘Alice three times’ of course you would want to know more. Especially when you haven’t met the woman and your mother never talks about her.
But when you do finally enter the Hinderland you see that it’s not all it’s cracked up to be.
Alice and her mother Ella have been on the run all of Alice’s life. Ella grew up on fairytales and Alice grew up on highways. They have both been running from this bad luck that always seems to follow them wherever they go. Which Ella believes comes from her mother, Althea.
Althea Properpine was traveling with a man and when their affair ended she vanished. Alike with Agatha Christie, she returned and no one knew where she had been. Unlike Agatha she remembered – she was in the Hinterland. A place where her stories began.
Althea’s books cannot be found anywhere, she has a huge fan base who never reveal the pages of her book. Everything about her is a mystery, even her home, The Hazel Wood.
Her only known interview was with Vanity Fair and even then no one could say where she lived. Her first husband Ella’s father died when she was young, she then married Greek royalty and then vanished to her home at The Hazel Wood. At eighteen Ella left home with her baby Alice and never stopped running.
One day Ella receives a letter in the post informing her of Althea’s death. To which Ella believes is a miracle, because now her bad luck won’t exist. So she marries and settles down, creates a home they both longed for. Until one day, the bad luck finds them and Ella is taken away, by the Hinterland. Ella leaves Alice a message “STAY AWAY FROM THE HAZEL WOOD” This is the start of the Fairytale that Alice joins.
Alice seeks the help of a boy at school, Ellery Finch who is a super fan of Althea and her stories. Together they travel to where The Hazel Wood is. But is Ellery a friend or just a super fan.
“Look until the leaves turn red, sew the worlds up with thread. If your journey’s left undone, fear the rising of the sun.”
4 ☕ – I REALLY LIKED IT
Love, Christina ?
Mark @ Carstairs Considers (2072 KP) rated Snow White Red-Handed (Fairy Tale Fatal Mystery, #1) in Books
Mar 9, 2018
Prue and Ophelia take on jobs as maids to the Coops, Americans who are traveling to their castle in Germany’s black forest. Almost as soon as they’ve arrived, a cottage is discovered on the property that looks like a dwarf cottage, and fairytale experts are brought in. The next day, Mr. Coop is poisoned with an apple. What have Prue and Ophelia gotten themselves into?
I love fairytales and fairytale reimaginings, so I had to give this cozy mystery series a try. It was so much fun. The story was fast paced, and the fairytale aspect provided a nice twist to the cozy formula. The characters were sharp as well, and the author made perfect use of a multiple viewpoint story. Can’t wait for the sequel.
Read my full review at <a href="http://carstairsconsiders.blogspot.com/2015/06/book-review-snow-white-red-handed-by.html">Carstairs Considers</a>.
I love fairytales and fairytale reimaginings, so I had to give this cozy mystery series a try. It was so much fun. The story was fast paced, and the fairytale aspect provided a nice twist to the cozy formula. The characters were sharp as well, and the author made perfect use of a multiple viewpoint story. Can’t wait for the sequel.
Read my full review at <a href="http://carstairsconsiders.blogspot.com/2015/06/book-review-snow-white-red-handed-by.html">Carstairs Considers</a>.
Joelene Marie (28 KP) rated The Hazel Wood in Books
Oct 1, 2018
Deliciously dark take on fairytales! Creepier than I expected, I almost didn't want to read it after dark lol. And that cover is gorgeous!
I'm a huge fan of anything related to the fair folk so this was right up my alley. As soon as I started reading it I didn't want to put it down, the writing immediately grabbed my attention and wouldn't let go. The plot was one of the most unique I've read among the fairytale genre. I adored the Tales of the Hinterland referenced throughout, they were so interesting that I'd love to see them published as a companion to The Hazel Wood.
Fans of books like Holly Black's The Cruel Prince or anyone who likes their fantasy on the darker side will love The Hazel Wood!
**Thanks to Flatiron Books for sending me an advanced review copy! All opinions are my own.**
I'm a huge fan of anything related to the fair folk so this was right up my alley. As soon as I started reading it I didn't want to put it down, the writing immediately grabbed my attention and wouldn't let go. The plot was one of the most unique I've read among the fairytale genre. I adored the Tales of the Hinterland referenced throughout, they were so interesting that I'd love to see them published as a companion to The Hazel Wood.
Fans of books like Holly Black's The Cruel Prince or anyone who likes their fantasy on the darker side will love The Hazel Wood!
**Thanks to Flatiron Books for sending me an advanced review copy! All opinions are my own.**
Laura Doe (1350 KP) rated Cold Hearted in Books
Jan 15, 2022
This book takes us on the journey of Lady Tremaine and her daughters - the stepmother and stepsisters of Cinderella. We spend the majority of the book getting to know Lady Tremaine before she met Cinderella’s father, and I actually quite liked her character. She lost her husband six years before the start of this book and has ended up spoiling her daughters in their shared grief, trying to make up for them only having one parent. She does decide that she’s spoiled them too much and she needs to be discipline them more and so as a punishment ends up going to a friend’s house in the country without them. There she meets the man of her dreams, Sir Richard.
This book doesn’t go the way that the Cinderella story does, where we think that Cinderella was the only person that was horribly mistreated. We see the reasoning for why Lady Tremaine in the future orders Cinderella to clean the house from top to bottom and adding in ridiculous requests at the same time. Once you have read the story, it’s completely understandable. Although, I will admit that at some stages you know that she has pushed the boundaries too far.
I was also quite glad at the reappearance of the Odd Sisters, although the time line is hazy but I would guess that it was before the events of The Odd Sisters book. I would also like to learn more about the stories that the Book of Fairytales has in, this may possibly be the stories that Serena Valentino is writing and all of these books will create her own Book of Fairytales? Only time will tell. I am hoping that Serena Valentino is in the process of writing more of these books, because I think the series is extremely clever and I do enjoy the fact that they are quick reads that are very interesting.
This book doesn’t go the way that the Cinderella story does, where we think that Cinderella was the only person that was horribly mistreated. We see the reasoning for why Lady Tremaine in the future orders Cinderella to clean the house from top to bottom and adding in ridiculous requests at the same time. Once you have read the story, it’s completely understandable. Although, I will admit that at some stages you know that she has pushed the boundaries too far.
I was also quite glad at the reappearance of the Odd Sisters, although the time line is hazy but I would guess that it was before the events of The Odd Sisters book. I would also like to learn more about the stories that the Book of Fairytales has in, this may possibly be the stories that Serena Valentino is writing and all of these books will create her own Book of Fairytales? Only time will tell. I am hoping that Serena Valentino is in the process of writing more of these books, because I think the series is extremely clever and I do enjoy the fact that they are quick reads that are very interesting.