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Sideways Stories from Wayside School (Wayside School #1)
Sideways Stories from Wayside School (Wayside School #1)
Louis Sachar | 2004 | Children, Fiction & Poetry
10
8.5 (4 Ratings)
Book Rating
When I heard that another book in the Wayside School series was coming out, I had to reread the book that started it all. These books were my childhood! I found out that I still love this series even as an adult.

Each chapter tells a tale about each individual student, and there are three chapter dedicated to each teacher of the class on the thirtieth story of the school. Some of the time, the stories of each child/teacher don't make much sense, but that's the beauty of this book. It leaves you to ponder on what that chapter was about and come to your own conclusions. There are a couple of chapters that teach some good lessons too.

One thing I also loved were the illustrations of each character before their chapter started. They are drawn very well. It was a nice touch, and it made it easier to picture that person in the story. I think it's a great idea for kids who feel like they are too old for picture books, yet they still like some illustrations in their book.

This is such an easy and fun novel to read. It's not very long which is perfect for the intended age group. I believe kids ages 8 - 13 will definitely love these stories the most although it's a fun book for any age.

I would definitely recommend Sideways Stories from Wayside School by Louis Sachar!
  
Straight on Till Morning
Straight on Till Morning
Liz Braswell | 2020 | Science Fiction/Fantasy, Young Adult (YA)
8
8.0 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
My first twisted tale of the series and I wasn’t disappointed.
It did take a little while for me to get my head around that Wendy had never been to Never Land in the first place as I kept going back to the original telling where all of the Darling children joined Peter Pan in Never Land for an adventure. Once I had got my head around it not happening like that for the sake of this story, I did thoroughly enjoy it.
Tink is one of my favourite Disney characters, her sassiness and mischievousness has always drawn me to her and I’m glad there was so much more of it in this book.
While I’m fully aware that part of the book was finding Peter Pan, I felt that it took far too long to find him and then the main action in the book was over extremely quickly. The author spent a lot of time describing the landscapes, creatures and plants in the lead up, but when it got to the climax of the story it just seemed to be glossed over completely.
Overall, it was well written and I love anything Disney, so I will definitely be looking at reading more of these Twisted Tales, but I think my favourite alternative Disney series is still the Villains series currently! Hopefully I will come to love this series as much as that in the future.
  
Dine With Me
Dine With Me
Layla Reyne | 2019 | Contemporary, LGBTQ+, Romance
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
DINE WITH ME is a change of direction from the Romantic Suspense novels I have read by Layla Reyne. And I don't mean in a bad way, as I thoroughly enjoyed reading this.

Miller is a chef, who has just closed down a restaurant, is getting a divorce from his best-friend/wife, oh, and by the way, has throat cancer too. There are many trials and tribulations he goes through, most of which are completely understandable, and you will certainly empathise with him as a character.

As for Clancy, he is a foodie and also a doctor. He has just agreed to work at his dad's plastic surgery clinic, although he has major doubts about that. His calling is for oncology, but he doesn't know how to let his dad down.

You travel with these two as they go from one special place to another, with Miller sharing his love of food. The attraction between these two simmers all the way through, overflowing at points.

With a fantastic supporting cast of characters, I thoroughly enjoyed the story as it panned out. I loved Miller's thought processes, and how Clancy worked.

There were no editing or grammatical errors that disrupted my reading, and I found the pacing to be perfect for the story.

Although we had an epilogue, I would still love to hear more from this couple! Absolutely recommended by me.
  
His Hideous Heart
His Hideous Heart
Dahlia Adler | 2019 | Fiction & Poetry, Horror, Young Adult (YA)
10
8.5 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
His Hideous Heart is an anthology collection of 13 re-imagined tales inspired by works of Edgar Allan Poe. The book is split into two sections: The Tales Retold and The Original Tales. What I liked about the layout of this collection is that it’s easy for those of us who’ve read the originals to revisit them before or after reading the retold stories — and it’s also convenient for readers who’ve never been introduced to Poe before. When it comes to retellings in any form, catching on to the fact that a story was inspired by another can be a challenge, especially if the inspiration is rather loose. But that’s another reason why I love the layout of this collection: It’s clear as to which original story inspired a retelling, and I loved reading along, connecting the dots and yet, being surprised by all the new twists and turns.

In a perfect world, I’d love to review each and every retelling in this collection, because many of them were downright gorgeous and grotesque. However, my absolute favorites were:

1. It’s Carnival! by Tiffany D. Jackson
2. Lygia by Dahlia Adler (inspired by “Ligeia”)
3. Happy Days, Sweetheart by Stephanie Kuehn
4. The Glittering Death by Caleb Roehrig

Check out my full review to find out WHY I adored these stories: https://bookishvalhalla.com/his-hideous-heart-by-dahlia-adler-a-poe-etic-review-of-genre-bending-tales/