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Girls Made of Snow and Glass
Girls Made of Snow and Glass
Melissa Bashardoust | 2017 | Young Adult (YA)
9
8.8 (5 Ratings)
Book Rating
Wonderful plot, subverted tropes, lesbian romance (0 more)
A bit of stilted dialogue at the beginning, some predictable actions by characters (0 more)
One of my best books of 2017!
I received an ARC of this book through Goodreads and got to read it before the release date (September 5th! GO GET IT!) and I was SO excited to read it. It did not disappoint! This is her debut novel, and the story is absolutely fantastic. It’s billed as a “fantasy feminist fairy tale” and I think it lives up to that pretty well. There are no princes in this story. There are a couple of men – the King, the Queen’s father, and the Huntsman, but they are not who the story is about. The story really is about the relationship between the Queen/stepmother and her stepdaughter, the Princess.

You can read my full review here: https://goddessinthestacks.wordpress.com/2017/09/05/book-review-girls-made-of-snow-and-glass/
  
Tarzan the Ape Man (1932)
Tarzan the Ape Man (1932)
1932 | Action, Classics, Romance
7
7.0 (2 Ratings)
Movie Rating
With this classic, Johnny Weissmuller is introduced to the world as Tarzan. Already well known as an Olympic swimming star by 1932, whilst Johnny was not the first on screen Tarzan, his has become the most famous.

Playing the role as a naive childlike action hero, king of his domain whilst being pitched as fish out of water when round westerners or “Civilized” folk, these early action movies spend no time delving into the The Ape Man’s origins, as many subsequent adaptions have.

Here, he is simply Tarzan; the athletic protector of the jungle, able to summon help from his wild allies, apes, elephants etc… as he fights white men, “savages” and any number of wild foes, including crocodiles, hippos and a selection of wild cats.

But only up until his fateful meeting with feisty Jane Parker (Maureen O’Sullivan), a fairy tale, innocent romance blossoms which is actually portrayed in such a way, that it is genuinely heart warming as the series progresses.
  
Ophelia and Prue have traveled to Paris where they hope to reunite Prue with her mother. Instead, they find that Prue’s mother is missing and there is a dead body in Prue’s step-family’s home – a body wearing a ball gown and only one slipper. Then Gabriel shows up and insists that’s not the only tie in to Cinderella.

The combination of fairy tale with cozy mystery is successful once again. There are a couple of plot points that seem a bit rough, but for the most part the story is a fun, fast paces romp. I love the trio at the heart of the series, and the rest of the cast is just as sharp and fun. I already can’t wait to see where they go next.

NOTE: I was sent a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Read my full review at <a href="http://carstairsconsiders.blogspot.com/2015/09/book-review-cinderella-six-feet-under.html">Carstairs Considers</a>.
  
The Buried Giant
The Buried Giant
Kazuo Ishiguro | 2015 | Fiction & Poetry
10
7.6 (10 Ratings)
Book Rating
If you want a book that will leave you thinking, without forgetting to keep you entertained, you should pick this up. Telling the story of an elderly couple in post-Arthurian England who set off on foot to meet their estranged son in his village, it uses a slew of fantasy elements to make us question if it is really worth remembering everything or if we are better off letting some things be forgotten. Also touching on themes of love, age, and death, there are a lot of heady ideas thrown into the mix. With the portions of the countryside the book takes place in being shrouded in a mist that causes rather extreme forgetfulness, pretty much everyone winds up being at least somewhat unreliable. The writing is superb, the characters quite engaging, and the main plot reminiscent of a classic fairy tale but for adults. This is a book to be savored and a story I will likely cherish for some time to come.
  
Scarlet (The Lunar Chronicles, #2)
Scarlet (The Lunar Chronicles, #2)
Marissa Meyer | 2013 | Fiction & Poetry
9
8.4 (36 Ratings)
Book Rating
I am huge fan of the lunar chronicles series. Just as the first book, scarlet surpassed my expectations. It's a refreshing and unique take on the fairy tale of little red riding hood. The book also continues with the story of Cinderella from the first novel of the series. The story keeps you interested the entire time and has simple twists and turns to keep you coming back for more. The characters are good kids but flawed in a way that lets you remember they are just like us, you cant help but love them all. The villain of the series is so vile the reader just cant wait to see her get what she deserves. I would recommend this series to anyone who loves the ya genre. It is also clean enough for my ten year old to read. I can not wait to read the next novel in the series: Cress.