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Hmm...

I struggled to get my head around a world that is magic half the time/tech the other half. When magic was up I saw the world in some sort of old fairy tale type way but then Hugh'd be in a Lazyboy chair and it would just throw me off completely. I couldn't get myself to see it as some sort of modern world with magic. I just couldn't.

As for the romance between our two leads, I was enjoying the slow build up but now they're at that point where things could become more permanent if they'd just talk about things, like what she is...?I

I wouldn't mind reading the second one and hopefully the world building will sink in next time.
  
Sword of Destiny
Sword of Destiny
Andrzej Sapkowski, David French | 2016 | Fiction & Poetry
7
8.2 (6 Ratings)
Book Rating
55 of 230
Book
The Sword of Destiny ( Witcher saga book 2)
By Andrzej Sapkowski
⭐️⭐️⭐️

Geralt of Rivia is a Witcher, a man whose magic powers and lifelong training have made him a brilliant fighter and a merciless assassin. Yet he is no ordinary killer: he hunts the vile fiends that ravage the land and attack the innocent. But not everything monstrous-looking is evil; not everything fair is good . . . and in every fairy tale there is a grain of truth.

This was pretty average and what you’d expect from Gerald’s adventures. The last section The Sword of Destiny was more interesting as he’s meeting Ciri for the first time.
It was an ok read. Think it just lacked a little something for me.
  
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Hazel (1853 KP) rated The Hazel Wood in Books

Nov 12, 2017  
The Hazel Wood
The Hazel Wood
Melissa Albert | 2017 | Mystery, Paranormal, Science Fiction/Fantasy
8
7.4 (33 Ratings)
Book Rating
MARVEL-ous, apparently
I received this ARC for free from the Penguin Platform Team.

“Imagine Marvel did fairy tales …” Well, I cannot because I have never seen a Marvel film but I understand the sentiment. The Hazel Wood by Melissa Albert is a book where fairy tales and reality collide. However, these are not stories full of glamour and grandeur, they are the sort originally told by the Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm during the 19th Century. What begins as a fairly realistic tale rapidly spirals into chaos when characters from a book start appearing in New York, something that should be impossible.

For seventeen years, Alice and her mother, Ella, have been travelling on the roads, barely stopping in places for more than a few months. It would be nice to have a home and settle down, however, they are always chased by bad luck, causing them to flee at any moment. Alice is not sure of the cause of their misfortune but suspects it may have something to do with her reclusive grandmother who lives alone on her estate titled the Hazel Wood. Alice’s grandmother wrote Tales From the Hinterland, a book of pitch-dark fairy tales, many years ago and it has become a rare piece of literature – a collector’s item; not even Alice has read it. But when her mother goes missing under suspicious circumstances, Alice wishes she had.

Homeless without her mother, Alice seeks help from a school acquaintance, Ellery Finch, whom she knows is a fan of her grandmother’s work. Yet, before they can formulate a plan to locate her mother, the cause of her bad luck reveals itself in the form of impossible, murderous fairy-tale characters. As Alice learns more about the Hinterland, she discovers that she has been receiving glimpses of the characters all her life.

Alice is in danger, as is Ellery, but she will stop at nothing to retrieve her mother, even venturing into the Hazel Wood – a place she has been forbidden to enter. With Ellery using his father’s wealth and connections, the two make a long journey to the place they believe her mother is being held, but what Alice finds there is more dangerous and shocking than she could ever imagine.

Retellings of fairy tales have become a popular genre in recent years, particularly amongst young adult literature. The Hazel Wood, however, is only loosely based upon ideas featuring in ancient folktales; the stories themselves have been thought up by Melissa Albert with unique characters such as Twice-Killed-Catherine and Three-Times-Alice. Although it is often fun to analyse the comparisons and differences between old tales and new, it is refreshing to come across brand new fairy tales.

Initially, the book comes across as a thriller and mystery set in the real world, however, fantasy elements quickly creep in. Two-thirds of the way into the story, the setting and genre change direction, introducing a fictional world where rules of nature have gone out of the window. At this point, it becomes slightly confusing to fully visualize the situation, and the storyline begins to get darker and darker.

Children’s fairy tales always have a happy-ever-after, however, the traditional ones rarely did, therefore, it is impossible to guess how The Hazel Wood will end. This, along with humour and enchanting action, hooks the reader and, according to other reviewers, has resulted in many hours slipping away without notice.

The Hazel Wood is a unique story on the cusp of young adult and adult fiction. It is not only a good work of fiction; it is clever and well thought out, too. Melissa Albert is certainly an author to look out for, especially if you like dark mysteries and thrillers.
  
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Hazel (1853 KP) rated The Hazel Wood in Books

Dec 7, 2018  
The Hazel Wood
The Hazel Wood
Melissa Albert | 2017 | Mystery, Paranormal, Science Fiction/Fantasy
8
7.4 (33 Ratings)
Book Rating
<i>I received this ARC for free from the Penguin Platform Team.</i>

“Imagine <i>Marvel</i> did fairy tales …” Well, I cannot because I have never seen a <i>Marvel</i> film but I understand the sentiment. <i>The Hazel Wood</i> by Melissa Albert is a book where fairy tales and reality collide. However, these are not stories full of glamour and grandeur, they are the sort originally told by the Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm during the 19th Century. What begins as a fairly realistic tale rapidly spirals into chaos when characters from a book start appearing in New York, something that should be impossible.

For seventeen years, Alice and her mother, Ella, have been travelling on the roads, barely stopping in places for more than a few months. It would be nice to have a home and settle down, however, they are always chased by bad luck, causing them to flee at any moment. Alice is not sure of the cause of their misfortune but suspects it may have something to do with her reclusive grandmother who lives alone on her estate titled the Hazel Wood. Alice’s grandmother wrote <i>Tales From the Hinterland</i>, a book of pitch-dark fairy tales, many years ago and it has become a rare piece of literature – a collector’s item; not even Alice has read it. But when her mother goes missing under suspicious circumstances, Alice wishes she had.

Homeless without her mother, Alice seeks help from a school acquaintance, Ellery Finch, whom she knows is a fan of her grandmother’s work. Yet, before they can formulate a plan to locate her mother, the cause of her bad luck reveals itself in the form of impossible, murderous fairy-tale characters. As Alice learns more about the <i>Hinterland</i>, she discovers that she has been receiving glimpses of the characters all her life.

Alice is in danger, as is Ellery, but she will stop at nothing to retrieve her mother, even venturing into the Hazel Wood – a place she has been forbidden to enter. With Ellery using his father’s wealth and connections, the two make a long journey to the place they believe her mother is being held, but what Alice finds there is more dangerous and shocking than she could ever imagine.

Retellings of fairy tales have become a popular genre in recent years, particularly amongst young adult literature. <i>The Hazel Wood</i>, however, is only loosely based upon ideas featuring in ancient folktales; the stories themselves have been thought up by Melissa Albert with unique characters such as Twice-Killed-Catherine and Three-Times-Alice. Although it is often fun to analyse the comparisons and differences between old tales and new, it is refreshing to come across brand new fairy tales.

Initially, the book comes across as a thriller and mystery set in the real world, however, fantasy elements quickly creep in. Two-thirds of the way into the story, the setting and genre change direction, introducing a fictional world where rules of nature have gone out of the window. At this point, it becomes slightly confusing to fully visualize the situation, and the storyline begins to get darker and darker.

Children’s fairy tales always have a happy-ever-after, however, the traditional ones rarely did, therefore, it is impossible to guess how The Hazel Wood will end. This, along with humour and enchanting action, hooks the reader and, according to other reviewers, has resulted in many hours slipping away without notice.

<i>The Hazel Wood</i> is a unique story on the cusp of young adult and adult fiction. It is not only a good work of fiction; it is clever and well thought out, too. Melissa Albert is certainly an author to look out for, especially if you like dark mysteries and thrillers.
  
Blaine&#039;s Beast
Blaine's Beast
Joel Abernathy | 2022 | LGBTQ+, Paranormal, Romance
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Needed Rohan and Beast
Independent reviewer for GRR, I was gifted my copy of this book.

This is a retelling of a fairy tale, but please shove your knowledge of that fairy tale aside, cos this was brilliant! Bar one teeny tiny thing!

Blaine finds himself caught out in a storm, and then surrounded by wolves and then looked after by some lovely, if slightly odd, people. But nothing is as it seems and when Blaine finds out the truth, he vows to help fix things.

I thoroughly enjoyed this, I really did.

While, to me, it was very obvious who Rohan was, I liked that THAT fact wasn't dragged out for too long.

What surprised me was how things went down at the end. I was happily reading away, there was an ending of sorts and I was expecting that to be it. But I still had 25% to read! And then things happened and I loved being surprised!

It's steamy, and smexy and dark and gritty. It has a few sweeter moments too.

BUT!

And this is the only reason I can't stretch to 5 stars. It pains me, but its my review.

We ONLY get Blaine. And I wanted Rohan and Beast, I really did. I needed them to tell their story. And I don't get them. So, I was not very happy about that. I wanted in their head, you know? How they felt about Blaine arriving, then leaving, then things happening at the end. I needed that, and I don't get it.

so, 4 very good stars

*same worded review will appear elsewhere
  
SW
Snow White & the Huntsman
Lily Blake | 2012
6
6.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
You know what I love? Creatively re-told fairy-tales. You know what I hate? Terribly re-told fairy-tales made into crappy movies and then made into a book, written with poor prose. That pretty much summarizes how I feel about this (audio)book.

Let's start with the good:

1. The narrator was excellent. She also read for Daughter of Smoke and Bone, Why We Broke Up, the Iron King, and many other audiobooks. She made even the dullest most pointless sentences, pieces of dialogue, and descriptions sound interesting, and managed to hold my attention most of they way through the audiobook (until I stopped for dinner, and then realized I really didn't want to start listening again.)

2. It was fast-paced. The plot never slowed... but there were parts where the unneeded descriptions seemed to slow down and break the tension, or unnecessary interior monologue broke the mood.

3. The bad guys were very bad, and the good guys were very good. It made it a classic hero-vilan fairy-tale.

Now for the not-so-good:

1. Poor writing. It wasn't Stephenie-Meyer Terrible, but every sentence started with "he..." "she..." "He said," "She felt..." and it felt repetitive and boring. There was no sentence structure besides basic subject-verb-direct object. Also, the adjectives, adverbs, and overall descriptions and vocabulary was boring, expected, and unfeeling.

2. Who names a princess "Snow White?" Really? I can see naming her "Snow" or something, but if you're going to re-tell a fairy-tale, at least give your heroine a name that doesn't stick out like a sore thumb. I realize that this is a complaint about the movie screenplay, not the book adaption... but still. It felt awkward to have all these names like William, Eric, Gus, Anna, Lilly, and... Snow White.

3. The bad guys were soul-less, and the good guys were perfect. Even bad characters have some redeeming value as to why you kind of wish they didn't have to die, but they're bad so you have to kill them. The bad guys in this story were just so bad, there was no way you could not hate them. The good guys were flawless: children obeyed their parents, men saved their women, women sacrificed for their families, and Snow White was a sweet innocent little angel. I'm sorry, but even good guys have a bad side. And if you're perfect, I couldn't care less what happens to you, because I can't relate to you.

So that is, essentially, why I stopped listening to the audiobook halfway through.
  
SW
Snow White, Blood Red
7
7.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
62 of 230
Snow White , Blood Red (Fairy tale anthology book 1)
Edited by Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling
⭐️⭐️⭐️

Exploring the darker side of popular fairy tales, this anthology features dark and erotic tales of trolls and ogres, bewitched princesses, and magical kingdoms.

There were a few I picked out that I liked and I found a few new authors to try.

The Frog Prince by Gahan Wilson - Really enjoyed this it was a strange little story very Alice in Wonderland feel.

Stalking Beans by Nancy Kress - This is definitely a different adult spin on Jack and the beanstalk!

Snow Drop by Tabitha Lee - This was my favourite by far. A dark twisty version of Snow White and her step mother very dark.

Little Red by Wendy Wheeler - This gave me creepy shivers. Very well written unfortunately I can’t find anything by this author!

The Root of the Matter by Gregory Frost - This is a very adult version of Repunzel kinda dark and to the point.

The Changelings by Melanie Tem - Strange little story with some very sad undertones.

Troll Bridge by Neil Gaiman - I love Neil Gaiman he has such a unique storytelling ability and this did not disappoint!

Overall it was a good little anthology!
  
The Company of Wolves (1984)
The Company of Wolves (1984)
1984 | Drama, Horror, Sci-Fi
Curious British-made feminist werewolf movie retells the story of Little Red Riding Hood (along with various others). A young girl dreams of a fairy-tale world of wolves and dark magic, where some people are hairy on the inside and everyone has a bit of a beast in them.

One of those movies laden with a slightly ponderous symbolism; doesn't really make sense except as an allegory for something-or-other; quite what that is is a bit unclear. It's not that all men are wolves at heart, but something slightly more even-handed. Good cast, nice production values; some of the special effects have dated a bit, but not risibly so. In the end it is all quite impressive but at the same time wilfully oblique.
  
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Sjon recommended The Taiga Syndrome in Books (curated)

 
The Taiga Syndrome
The Taiga Syndrome
Cristina Rivera-Garza | 2019 | Contemporary, Fiction & Poetry, Thriller
10.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Favorite

"This slim novel is one of the most intriguing works of literature I have come upon in a long while. Part mystery, part metaphysical journey, part fairy tale, part adult love story, it brought me to a state of the most welcome strangeness, similar to the one I sought out as a young reader of books that challenged how we perceive reality and reconstruct it in text. In the narrative’s mysterious, slow burn of a chase, a woman who has left her husband is tracked down in The Taiga, a territory where the laws of nature are as much out of joint as the rules of its isolated human society. In its uneasy atmosphere there are echoes from Tarkovsky's film Stalker as well as from golden age private eye novels."

Source
  
Captain Hook: Villain or Victim
Captain Hook: Villain or Victim
6
6.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
<a href="https://diaryofdifference.com/">Blog</a>; | <a href="https://www.facebook.com/diaryofdifference/">Facebook</a>; | <a href="https://twitter.com/DiaryDifference">Twitter</a>; | <a href="https://www.instagram.com/diaryofdifference/">Instagram</a>; | <a href="https://www.pinterest.co.uk/diaryofdifference/pins/">Pinterest</a>;

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<b><i>Has it ever occurred to you that there might be another version to Peter Pan’s story? Would you want to see Captain Hook’s point of view? If so, then you will truly enjoy this lovely short read: Captain Hook: Villain or Victim by Ellwyn Autumn. </i></b>

I have always loved Peter Pan and this fairy tale is without a doubt my favourite fairy tale. The world is unique, and the story is amazing. Maybe Peter Pan was the reason I was always so in love with England. I will never know.

When Ellwyn introduced me to her book, I knew I had to have it. I had to read it and find out what Captain Hook’s story might be. The book is quite short, but full of adventures throughout. We follow the journalist, David J. Locke, who sails through the seas searching for Captain Hook. When he finally gets a clue, he dives into the story of Captain Hook and discovers truths that have never been told before.

Even though there were times when the Captain Hook’s story seems like a side-story to David J. Locke’s adventures, it was a pleasure to read it, and I read it in one sitting. The book keeps you interested throughout, and the fiction of the re-telling is quite smart and uniquely thought through. I am very happy that I read this book! I would recommend it to all of you that love retellings and love fairy tales.

A huge thank you to Ellwyn Autumn, for sending me a paperback copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

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