The Reluctant Psychic
Book
We all, as children, saw imaginary friends and heard monsters in the closet. But for Suzan Saxman,...
Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow: My Life
Book
Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow is Sophia Loren's definitive autobiography, revealing her personal...
Identity Crisis: One Family's Experience of Manic Depression
Sally E. Dalglish and M.K. Dalglish
Book
No mother has endured four children with the manic-depressive gene for 36 years, and, in league with...
My Life on a Plate: Favourite Recipes from Around the World
Book
Kelis' love affair with food started as a child. A native New Yorker, her mother worked as a chef in...
Laura Doe (1350 KP) rated Mother Knows Best: A Tale of the Old Witch (Villains #5) in Books
Jul 21, 2021
We follow Gothel, of Tangled fame, a lifetime before she becomes Rapunzel’s guardian and mother. We learn about her life and what drove her to kidnap the princess when she was a baby.
We learn that Gothel had two sisters, sisters that she would do anything for as they were triplets. But their mother doesn’t seem keen to teach Gothel and her sisters her magic, which frustrates Gothel more than her sisters. Their mother dies one night, leaving Gothel to take on her duties as Queen of the Dead and rule over their “kingdom” otherwise known as the Dead Woods. Gothel thrives, while her sister do not and she becomes concerned for them, attracting the attention of the three Odd Sisters.
We follow them as they try to help Gothel help her sisters and learn her magic, whilst trying to get their hands on her mother’s spell books.
In the last part of the book, we discover why she kidnapped Rapunzel and what happens before she ends up in the tower and then follow her quickly (through the use of mirrors) through what happens in the film.
I really do love these different views on the Disney villains and the thought that goes into giving them a back story, so that they aren’t just “evil”. I can’t wait to continue on with the series and hope there are many more to come.
The Golden Age
Book Watch
The Golden Age is an immensely satisfying and generous-hearted story about displacement, recovery,...
Fiction
Why Not Say What Happened?
Book
Beautiful, intelligent and wealthy, Ivana Lowell seemed to have it all. Part of the Guinness...
Crying in H Mart
Book
From the indie rockstar Japanese Breakfast, and author of the viral 2018 New Yorker piece that...
The Rest of The Story
7.7
Rate It
Book
Emma Saylor doesn’t remember a lot about her mother, who died when Emma was twelve. But she does...
Lyndsey Gollogly (2893 KP) rated Gallant in Books
Oct 5, 2023
Book
Gallant
By V.E. Schwab
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Sixteen- year-old Olivia Prior is missing three things: a mother, a father, and a voice. Her mother vanished all at once, and her father by degrees, and her voice was a thing she never had to start with. She grew up at Merilance School for Girls. Now, nearing the end of her time there, Olivia receives a letter from an uncle she's never met, her father's older brother, summoning her to his estate, a place called Gallant. But when she arrives, she discovers that the letter she received was several years old. Her uncle is dead. The estate is empty, save for the servants. Olivia is permitted to remain, but must follow two rules: don't go out after dusk, and always stay on the right side of a wall that runs along the estate's western edge. Beyond it is another realm, ancient and magical, which calls to Olivia through her blood…
At first I was unsure it took a few chapters for me to get comfortable with it but once I was I just didn’t want to put it down. I’m really liking the gothic horror feel at the minute and this was done so well. A 16 year old non verbal girl just looking for a home and family to call her own. Abandoned by her mother and brought up in an awful place to find she has a family with a dark history. Loved it!!!!