Sign up
Search
Advanced search settings

Search only in certain items:

Search results
All (3204)
Content
People
Apps
Books
Orbs
Movies
Music
Podcasts
Shows
Tabletop Games
Tech
TV
Video Games
YouTube Channels
Videos
40x40

Lottie disney bookworm (1056 KP) rated Cinderella Takes the Stage in Books

Apr 26, 2020  
Cinderella Takes the Stage
Cinderella Takes the Stage
Tessa Roehl | 2017 | Children
7
7.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
This childhood tale of Cinderella is simple and light-hearted with beautiful sentiments and messages throughout: perfect for the little reader in your lives. The illustrations by Adrienne Brown are also incredibly beautiful, with pumpkin carriage watermarks and gorgeous details on each page.

Ella is a young girl, surrounded by the love of her parents in a fairly privileged surrounding. Her days are filled with stories about magic, playing with her new puppy Bruno, taking tea with her parents and preparing for the upcoming puppet competition at the midsummer festival.
It is this competition which is the focus of the short tale, as Cinderella displays her sheer determination to compete and win the prized gold coin, despite her lack of talents in sewing and a puppet which, in her words, looks like a potato.

This determination makes the character of Cinderella inspirational to the young reader, whether they realise that at the time or not. Yes her coveted possession is a silver and gold dress but, despite the tales of magic and fairies that surround her, she does not rely on wishes or her parents to obtain the dress: her sole plan is to earn the gold coin through winning the competition and purchase the dress herself, a refreshing change from the bibbidi, bobbidi boo methods which Tessa Roehl could have so easily reverted to.

Cinderella is not quite perfect though and can be headstrong in her beliefs: quickly jumping to conclusions when she meets a girl her own age who is not quite as well off as herself. As a mother to a seven-year-old, I can readily believe this! Luckily, Cinderella’s parents believe that there is good in every person, a theme which mirrors the original tale and films. Thus, Cinderella learns more about the little girl: significantly benefitting from both the practical lessons which the girl can offer; an insight into the world around her which is not straight out of a fairytale; and finally, the laughter, love and secrets that a childhood friendship offers.

Cinderella and Val are from different worlds, they find beauty in different things and their dreams could not be further apart. However, this does not limit their common interests or indeed their friendship in any capacity and this is something we should all instil in our children. As Tessa Roehl so beautifully puts it: “Our hearts don’t always need to want the same thing. As long as they want something.”
  
40x40

Shelle Perry (66 KP) rated Zombies for Everyone: A Jenna Sutton Supernatural Cozy Mystery in Books

Aug 10, 2021  
Zombies for Everyone: A Jenna Sutton Supernatural Cozy Mystery
Zombies for Everyone: A Jenna Sutton Supernatural Cozy Mystery
Kimberly Wylie | 2021 | Mystery, Paranormal, Young Adult (YA)
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
The mystery was well-paced with plenty of clues.
YA Cozy is a new one for me, though I will say this book feels more like a paranormal adventure story than a cozy mystery. The mystery was well-paced with plenty of clues. It was easy to assume why the attacks were happening once it came up in conversation, and from there, very easy to pick out the big bad. Still, the story was an enjoyable one with lots of action and plenty of pop culture references, some of which I am certain are less applicable to the YA crowd than their parents, but fun nonetheless.

In this book we are introduced to Jenna and her partner Kieron, high school students with a little something extra. She is a Hunter. Her job is to investigate and hunt down things that go bump in the night. Kind of a cross between Dean Winchester and Buffy Summers. Kieron provides moral, tech, and info support. They are asked to track down the source of a zombie bite before it leads to a full-on outbreak. It becomes apparent that there is more going on than a simple zombie attack and with several great suspects, it moves at a fair clip.

Despite the extracurriculars they really are just typical seventeen-year-old kids worrying about dating, homework, and mean girls. That is a fun contrast to the uber adult nature of the work they do. Jenna’s mother is missing, presumed dead (a story point that I am certain will be prominent in upcoming books) Leaving Jenna with the job of caring for herself while staying under the radar of adults who would put her in the system.

The magic world built for this story is sound, though it will need some bolstering ahead as it went up fairly quickly. I think another 50 pages of story could have easily softened the info dump feel. There is a lot of information to process about magic and recurring characters, as well as The Consortium and The Covens, but at some point in this series, things are going to get really interesting and my sixth sense is tingling in anticipation. This is a great story for age 12-18 readers and really for anyone who enjoys YA and/or paranormal cozy.

⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 4 out of 5.
I received an advance review copy for free through Great Escapes Virtual Book Tours, and I am leaving this review voluntarily