Audiobook Review: The School for Good and Evil

The School for Good and Evil
The School for Good and Evil, Book 1

Author: Soman Chainani
Narrator: Polly Lee
Duration: 13 hrs, 46 mins
Publisher: Harper Audio
Read: May 22-June 7, 2013
Source: Publisher for review

Description from Goodreads:
At the School for Good and Evil, failing your fairy tale is not an option.

Welcome to the School for Good and Evil, where best friends Sophie and Agatha are about to embark on the adventure of a lifetime.

With her glass slippers and devotion to good deeds, Sophie knows she'll earn top marks at the School for Good and join the ranks of past students like Cinderella, Rapunzel, and Snow White. Meanwhile, Agatha, with her shapeless black frocks and wicked black cat, seems a natural fit for the villains in the School for Evil.

The two girls soon find their fortunes reversed—Sophie's dumped in the School for Evil to take Uglification, Death Curses, and Henchmen Training, while Agatha finds herself in the School for Good, thrust among handsome princes and fair maidens for classes in Princess Etiquette and Animal Communication.

But what if the mistake is actually the first clue to discovering who Sophie and Agatha really are . . . ?

The School for Good and Evil is an epic journey into a dazzling new world, where the only way out of a fairy tale is to live through one.

Review:

This is one of those times where I am super glad that I went for the audiobook rather than the print, because, though I bet this is fun in print too, I don't think I could have loved it quite so much. Just saying.

Why Did I Read This Book?
First off, there are those two magic words: fairy tale. Put that on a book, and I will probably try to read it at some point. On top of that, the book trailer is astounding, and I don't say that lightly, because most of them make me much less interested in the books.

What's the Story Here?
Sophie and Agatha live in a town beyond the woods. Every four years, two children are taken, one good and one evil. Sophie believes in the rumors and wants desperately to go off and be a princess at the School for Good and Evil, where it is rumored that the two kids go. To prove her goodness, she has befriended Agatha, the witchiest, most evil-looking girl in town. Agatha, however, does not want to go. Of course, you can't stop a fairy tale, and both girls are swept off to the school, as Sophie predicted. What Sophie did NOT predict was that Agatha would be put with the princesses, and that she would go to the school for evil.

How are the Characters?
OMG, Sophie is the worst. Seriously, I wanted to punch her in the face. She's such a snob, and so convinced that prettiness is what makes someone a good person. Chainani has created one of the most selfish characters in fiction. The voice Lee uses for Sophie even sounds exactly like the blonde girl in Stardust, all snooty and self-involved and perfect for the character. For reasons I'll explain later, I do think Sophie was probably the best-drawn character, though, because she has the most realistic character ARC.

Agatha I loved from the beginning, with her cynicism and snark and hatred of cocky princes. She's my kind of heroine. Plus, she's not gorgeous, and that was super satisfying, because heroines don't need to be gorgeous all the time.

The rest of the cast is well-suited to the tale too, falling into their stereotypes of good and evil initially, but most developing depth as the tale continues. Actually, in the end, evil comes off much better in terms of personality, where the princesses remain pretty shallow and appearance-focused.

And the Romance?
So, the romance is pretty much all centered around this guy, Tedros, son of King Arthur. If that's not how you spell his name, don't criticize me, because it was an audiobook and it's not written out ANYWHERE. Anyway, Tedros is a snobby princeling to start, but I was actually shipping him with Agatha pretty hard, though mostly just because I wanted Sophie's nose rubbed in it because she's the worst. Plus, you know my feelings for hate turning to love romance arcs. However, once that ship started coming about, I was less of a fan.

Throughout, I was also nurturing a hope this might go LGBT, with Sophie and Agatha being like "forget Tedros" and falling in love with each other. Alas and alack, there was one moment where I thought that was happening, but no.

What Are My Reservations with this Book?
Much as I loved listening to The School for Good and Evil, and thought much of it was hilarious and clever, I have some serious concerns. No, they're not the similarities to Harry Potter, which do exist but that I didn't find to be overpowering. What upsets me is the overall commentary on beauty and princesses. Agatha starts out as this incredibly talented, intelligent girl, where Sophie simpers and doesn't study. The moment Agatha discovers that she is pretty if she's confident and smiles, she becomes weak, blushing over Tedros constantly and suddenly unable to fight battles, fainting left and right. NO NO NO. Love should make you stronger, not weaker. Meanwhile, Sophie goes from an airhead to monstrously powerful villain in no time. I expected the final message to be more clearly that beauty does not equal good, but by the end apparently Agatha is gorgeous and princess-like, which also means she has to be less of a badass, I guess.

Am I Going to Continue with the Series?

Most definitely, and I will be sticking with the audiobooks. Though I'm not entirely comfortable with all of the moral messages, I really did love this. The fairy tale references, the humor, the action and the awesome narration made this a must listen for me, despite those issues.

How was the Narration?
Freaking AMAZING. Polly Lee is one of my favorite narrators hands down, and I will now make it my mission to listen to anything she's narrated, even the romance novels, because her voice is so pretty. She's British, and her accent is awesome. Plus, she does a ton of great voices, and handled the whole cast incredibly deftly. *bows to Polly Lee's awesomeness*

Sum It Up with a GIF:

Rating: 4/5

Review: How Zoe Made Her Dreams (Mostly) Come True

How Zoe Made Her Dreams (Mostly) Come True

Author: Sarah Strohmeyer
Pages: 320
Publisher: Balzer + Bray
Publication Date: April 23, 2013
Source: YA Books Central for Review

Description from Goodreads:
From Sarah Strohmeyer, author of Smart Girls Get What They Want, comes this romantic comedy about one girl's summer job from hell. Think The Devil Wears Prada set in Disney World.

When cousins Zoe and Jess land summer internships at the Fairyland Kingdom theme park, they are sure they've hit the jackpot. With perks like hot Abercrombie-like Prince Charmings and a chance to win the coveted $25,000 Dream & Do grant, what more could a girl want?

Once Zoe arrives, however, she's assigned to serve "The Queen"-Fairyland's boss from hell. From spoon-feeding her evil lapdog caviar, to fetching midnight sleeping tonics, Zoe fears she might not have what it takes to survive the summer, much less win the money.

Soon backstabbing interns, a runaway Cinderella, and cutthroat competition make Zoe's job more like a nightmare than a fairy tale. What will happen when Zoe is forced to choose between serving The Queen and saving the prince of her dreams?

First Sentence: "There was no getting around the fact that Tinker Bell was a little bitch."

Review:

Y'all, I freaking adored Sarah Strohmeyer's YA debut Smart Girls Get What They Want, and I was very excited to get my hands on  her next YA effort, also given a super long title. What I wanted from How Zoe Made Her Dreams (Mostly) Come True (henceforth to be called How Zoe because my fingers are tired) was a light, funny read to combat all the science fiction and dystopian books I've been reading. How Zoe was the perfect little palate cleanser, and just what I needed to read at this moment.

How Zoe is super cutesy. Like, cutesy to the power of kittens dressed up like princesses, okay? It is not, however, set in the 80s and does not involve cotton candy, as the cover seems to suggest. The mood is light-hearted and Strohmeyer's goal is to make the reader laugh and smile. At this point in my reading, I really wanted something sweet and funny, and How Zoe fit the bill perfectly.

How Zoe takes place at a fairy tale-themed theme park, Fairyland. Zoe and her cousin (and best friend), Jess, have gotten coveted internships to work in the park over the summer with 38 other teens. Two of the interns, one male and one female, will win $25,000 dollar scholarships at the end of the summer for being the best of the best and showing that Wow! spirit. Both Jess and Zoe could really use that money, since Jess' parents lost their jobs and have already used up her college fund, and Zoe's family is strapped for money due to her late mother's medical fees.

Fairyland serves as the perfect set up for romantic drama, because it's 40 attractive kids away from home for the summer. Plus, there's mystery and backstabbing and general rule-breaking. Yes, it's a bit silly, but that's totally the point. How Zoe is a great readalike for Strohm's Pilgrims Don't Wear Pink or Sales' Past Perfect, both of which take place at historical reenactment towns, and, personally, it's my favorite of the three.

What I like best about Strohmeyer's YA novels is that, though romance is a big part of them, she doesn't spend all of her time on that. She really highlights the importance of female friendships and of reconsidering first impressions. Though Jess and Zoe don't get to spend too much time together through the course of the book, because Zoe's role keeps her so busy, Zoe always keeps Jess' well-being in her thoughts. Never at any point does Zoe resent Jess for being the princess-type, while she's not. Jess and Zoe are totally supportive of one another at every turn, and it's so great to see healthy female friendships in YA.

My only real complain with How Zoe is the ending. The last chapter feels rushed and infodumps a ton of information on the reader. What could have been a cool twist ends up feeling way too neat and rushed. Plus, the whole resolution seems a bit unlikely, even in the context of the story. Why would Zoe have specifically been chosen for this? How could it have been in play the whole time and what if it fell through? Both the conclusion and the romance, while decent, would have been much more satisfying with a bit more time put into them.

Even more than in Smart Girls, How Zoe is a fluff book. If you're looking for something with a dark center or deep themes, How Zoe is not going to be your book. However, if you're looking for a fast-paced read full of heart and humor, you can't go wrong with Sarah Strohmeyer's YA novels. I know all of her future YA efforts will continue to end up on my to-read list!

Rating: 3/5

Favorite Quote: "'Really, whoever you are, your puns are pun-ishment enough.'"

Review: The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland

The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making
Fairyland, Book 1

Author: Catherynne M. Valente
Pages: 247
Publisher: Square Fish
Source: Gifted by Kayla of Bibliophilia, Please

Description from Goodreads:
Twelve-year-old September lives in Omaha, and used to have an ordinary life, until her father went to war and her mother went to work. One day, September is met at her kitchen window by a Green Wind (taking the form of a gentleman in a green jacket), who invites her on an adventure, implying that her help is needed in Fairyland. The new Marquess is unpredictable and fickle, and also not much older than September. Only September can retrieve a talisman the Marquess wants from the enchanted woods, and if she doesn’t . . . then the Marquess will make life impossible for the inhabitants of Fairyland. September is already making new friends, including a book-loving Wyvern and a mysterious boy named Saturday.

With exquisite illustrations by acclaimed artist Ana Juan, Fairyland lives up to the sensation it created when the author first posted it online. For readers of all ages who love the charm of Alice in Wonderland and the soul of The Golden Compass, here is a reading experience unto itself: unforgettable, and so very beautiful.

First Sentence: "Once upon a time, a girl named September grew very tired indeed of her parents' house, where she washed the same pink-and-yellow teacups and matching gravy boats every day, slept on the same embroidered pillow, and played with the same small and amiable dog."

Review:

Though Catherynne M. Valente's novels have been on my radar for a while now, I've honestly been a bit terrified to read them. They're so lauded by readers I respect highly and I really feared that I would be the black sheep of dissidence. I'd heard they were strange and that doesn't always jive so well with my tastes, but, oh, The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland is just the right kind of strange.

The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland recalls many classic tales: Alice in Wonderland, the myth of Persephone, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe to name a few. I make these comparisons not to suggest that Valente's tale lacks in originality in any way, but that she cleverly weaves a story full of allusions to those classic tales. Though I don't usually do this, I'm going to structure much of my review around these comparisons, since The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland has been reviewed by many people already, and I feel free to do my own weird thing with it.

The tone and the sheer madcap adventure-filled feel of The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland is one hundred percent Alice in Wonderland. Though there was little that specifically seemed directly out of Carroll's classic absurdist tale, his influence is visible on every page. The girl stumbles into a magical land and bounces from quest to quest, with the ultimate goal of unseating an evil female ruler, who destroyed the benevolent queen. Valente fully embraces the absurd, but, where Carroll's story lacks for me—characterization, Valente shines, but I'll talk about that more later.

The Persephone myth works as a frame story to September's adventures. There are clever references throughout, but the main purpose is to explain why September will eventually return. I love the way that Valente set up the very end. It's simply perfection, bringing the rest of the plotting full circle. Sometimes it feels like the weird novels are so spontaneous and surprising because the author didn't know what was going on either, but it's very apparent that Valente knew exactly what she was doing.

I have two points to make with reference to the The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. The most overt similarity is that one of the characters traveled to Fairyland by means of wardrobe, an obvious omage to Lewis' tale. However, there's another comparison to be made, a bit subtler. Like Lewis' classic, September travels to a magical world during wartime. Her father is off fighting in WWII and her mother works as an engineer. She feels lonely and doesn't understand what's going on very well. Valente turns September's adventures in Fairyland into a neat platform by which to make observations on the nature of war.

As I said, there's so much more to Valente's tale than those structural similarities, all of which I love a lot. Her characters are a delight, though I must admit this is one of those times where the supporting cast is much more dear to me than the MC. September is a delightful girl, it's true. She has a lot more strength and graciousness than the average heroine, and is much more empowered in her story than any of the ones in the three classic tales I mentioned previously, which is utterly fantastic. She just can't compete with her sidekicks, though.

Those who know me well will probably not be surprised to learn that my favorite character is A-Through-L, affectionately known as Ell, the wyverary. He's a wyvern, sort of like a dragon, but also the son of a library. He knows absolutely everything about anything found between the letters A through L, which is immensely helpful on a journey, and he's the most delightful companion a girl could want through Fairyland. I also love Gleam, a lantern over a century old and desperate for adventure, and Saturday, a creature similar to a genie who I'm really looking forward to getting to know better in the next installment.

Even the evil Marquess is a marvelously well-drawn character. Often villains take a back seat to the good guys, lacking complexities in books with otherwise sophisticated characterization. Valente, however, made her villain one of the most complex characters in the piece. She gives the Marquess a reason for the way she is, and makes her at least a little bit sympathetic.

On top of all of that, The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland is one of the most beautifully written books I've ever read. Her writing is a veritable feast of deliciously underused words. Though I do think this might be a tough read for children, it would be a perfect choice for parents to read aloud to their kids, though they may end up explaining quite a few terms. This is a story that will delight children, I think, but adults even more so, in a rather different way perhaps.

Valente's The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making is absolutely marvelous, and I can't recommend it highly enough to anyone who delights in verbiage, characterization, fairy tales, or any of those stories I mentioned above. With this one book, Valente goes on my auto-read list.

Rating: 4.5/5

Favorite Quote: "All children are heartless. They have not grown a heart yet, which is why they can climb tall trees and say shocking things and leap so very high that grown-up hearts flutter in terror. Hearts weigh quite a lot. That is why it takes so long to grow one. But, as in their reading and arithmetic and drawing, different children proceed at different speeds. (It is well known that reading quickens the growth of a heart like nothing else.)"

Audiobook Review: Stardust

Stardust

Author: Neil Gaiman
Narrator: Neil Gaiman
Duration: 6 hrs, 38 mins
Publisher: Harper Audio
Source: Digital Copy for review from Publisher

Description from Goodreads:
Tristran Thorn will do anything to win the cold heart of beautiful Victoria Forester - even fetch her the star they watch fall from the night sky. But to do so, he must enter the unexplored lands on the other side of the ancient wall that gives their tiny village its name. Beyond that stone barrier, Tristran learns, lies Faerie . . . and the most exhilarating adventure of the young man's life.

From number-one New York Times best-selling author Neil Gaiman comes a tale of the dark and miraculous - a quest for true love and the utterly impossible.

Review:

This is my third format for Neil Gaiman's Stardust, having first seen the film and then read the physical book. Thus far, Stardust has been my favorite Neil Gaiman work, perhaps in great part because of my love for the movie. The book has a few key differences from the film, but I do like it quite well. I find, however, that Stardust as a book works so much better, for me at least, as an audiobook.

Fairy tales were passed down through generations as part of an oral tradition, captured on paper eventually by enterprising souls like the Brothers Grimm. As such, Gaiman's fairly tale comes alive on audio. The format just seems so utterly appropriate for the story. I've also listened to the audiobook of The Graveyard Book, narrated by Neil Gaiman, and this one feels much more intimate, more like he's telling you personally a story. There's just something about this book read aloud.

The strength of Gaiman's writing lies in his world building and his writing, both of which I think are phenomenal. Neil Gaiman, much as I admire him, is not among my very favorite authors because I do not think he does quite so well with characterization, which is my favorite aspect of books. This is most definitely the case in Stardust, but, in audiobook format, this did not bother me or particularly diminish my enjoyment of the story the way it did when I read it myself. This format also really allowed me to appreciate the beauty of Gaiman's prose.

I'm not precisely certain how the Gift edition differs from the other Stardust audio, but it may be the inclusion of a few extras, like an interview with Neil Gaiman. In this interview, Gaiman made some clever observations on audiobooks and how different a reading experience they are. He observed that they can really make a person listen to every single word of the text, rather than skimming through description-heavy passages in favor of action scenes and dialog. This is so true, and precisely why I could develop a slightly stronger appreciation for his writing talent.

So far as the story of Stardust goes, I really enjoy parts of it, like the concept and the wall separating faerie from the human world. Other things are less well done, and, to be entirely truthful, I largely prefer the changes the film made to the plot. The characters come alive on film in a way they don't, and the romance is believable where it really isn't here. I also feel the ending is rather anticlimactic and rushed in the book.

What it really comes down to, though, is that having Neil Gaiman read you a story is a beautiful thing. He has a lovely voice, and he does a great job narrating his stories. If you've struggled with Gaiman in the past or been hesitant to try his books, I would highly recommend the audio versions as perhaps a bit more accessible.

Rating: 4.5/5

Review: Scarlet

Scarlet
Lunar Chronicles, Book 2

Author: Marissa Meyer
Pages: 464
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Publication Date: February 5, 2013
Source: Publisher for Review

Description from Goodreads:
Cinder returns in the second thrilling installment of the New York Times-bestselling Lunar Chronicles. She’s trying to break out of prison—even though if she succeeds, she’ll be the Commonwealth’s most wanted fugitive.

Halfway around the world, Scarlet Benoit’s grandmother is missing. It turns out there are many things Scarlet doesn’t know about her grandmother and the grave danger she has lived in her whole life. When Scarlet encounters Wolf, a street fighter who may have information as to her grandmother’s whereabouts, she has no choice but to trust him, though he clearly has a few dark secrets of his own.

As Scarlet and Wolf work to unravel one mystery, they find another when they cross paths with Cinder. Together, they must stay one step ahead of the vicious Lunar Queen who will do anything to make Prince Kai her husband, her king, her prisoner.

Series:
1: Cinder (Review|Goodreads)
2: Scarlet

First Sentence: "Scarlet was descending toward the alley behind the Rieux Tavern when her portscreen chimed from the passenger seat, followed by an automated voice: 'Comm received for Mademoiselle Scarlet Benoit from the Toulouse Law Enforcement Department of Missing Persons."

Review:
When picking up the sequel to a book you adored, there's always a little frisson of fear that the book might disappoint. This fear increases tenfold when the new book focuses on a different character than the first. I love Cinder, so I admit to a bit of concern as to whether I would like Scarlet as much as a character. Introducing a new cast can be really difficult to get right, but Meyer did so brilliantly.

Turns out that I actually like the new cast even better, though I'm sure not everyone will feel the same. Scarlet, like Cinder, is a powerful girl, who will not let anyone stop her from doing what she feels she needs to do. In this case, what she needs is to locate her grandmother, missing two weeks. The authorities don't care, seeming to think that her former military grandma just wandered off and forgot where her house was. Scarlet knows better and she will get her grandmother back, even if it means facing danger and relying on unsavory characters.

Enter Wolf, a street fighter, who knows more than he's willing to let on about the group that took her grandmother. Scarlet doesn't know if he's trustworthy, but he's the best resource she has to try to rescue her grandmother. I actually really liked their relationship, and the complexities of Wolf's character, except for one thing. They definitely flirt far too much with instalove. Everything gets serious a bit too fast, because, despite the book's length, there are a lot of things going on, and not much time for falling in love. I really like them (perhaps because they remind me of The Tenth Kingdom), but they got a bit too cutesy and I would have liked them to have more time to develop romantic feelings naturally.

In fact, though the new cast members do get more screen time, Cinder remains a main character and we get to spend quite a bit of time with her. Iko, Kai, and Levana all make appearances as well. The rotating third person narrative worked quite well for the most part, though Kai's narratives tended to bore me. I like Kai, but he's not as interesting as the other characters in play, and he doesn't really get any character development in Scarlet.

As with Cinder, the characters that will really steal your heart are secondary. Iko continues to be completely delightful, especially in her new form. She still fangirls with the best of them over Prince Kai, and is still just as vain, hilarious, and flirty as before. Perhaps my favorite scene occurs when she interacts with Captain Thorne, another new cast member. They have a lot in common, both focused huge flirts and clowns, and they are incredibly funny together. Captain Thorne serves to lighten the mood, keeping even scary scenes funny, and he is just delightfully unscrupulous when it comes to pretty women or items worth stealing.

The world building remains utterly brilliant. I just cannot get enough of the mix of fairy tales and science fiction, and Meyer is a master of blending these elements into a cohesive, dark, magical whole. Meyer raises the stakes in Scarlet, global tensions rising and danger much closer to the forefront. The directions Meyer's taking the story and the characters gives me every expectation that the next book will be even more dynamic and powerful.

With Scarlet, Marissa Meyer has cemented herself as one of my very favorite authors. Cinder was great, but Scarlet blows it out of the water. I absolutely love this book and this series, and cannot wait for more!

Rating: 4.5/5

Favorite Quote: "Iko, are you intentionally blushing?'"

Review: The Spindlers

The Spindlers

Author: Lauren Oliver
Pages: 256
Publisher: HarperCollins
Source: For review from YA Books Central

Description from Goodreads:
One night when Liza went to bed, Patrick was her chubby, stubby, candy-grubbing and pancake-loving younger brother, who irritated and amused her both, and the next morning, when she woke up, he was not. In fact, he was quite, quite different.

When Liza's brother, Patrick, changes overnight, Liza knows exactly what has happened: The spindlers have gotten to him and stolen his soul.

She knows, too, that she is the only one who can save him.

To rescue Patrick, Liza must go Below, armed with little more than her wits and a broom. There, she uncovers a vast world populated with talking rats, music-loving moles, greedy troglods, and overexcitable nids . . . as well as terrible dangers. But she will face her greatest challenge at the spindlers' nests, where she encounters the evil queen and must pass a series of deadly tests--or else her soul, too, will remain Below forever.

From "New York Times" best-selling author Lauren Oliver comes a bewitching story about the reaches of loyalty, the meaning of love, and the enduring power of hope.

First Sentence: "One night when Liza went to bed, Patrick was her chubby, stubby, candy-grubbing  and pancake-loving younger brother, who irritated and amused her both, and the next morning, when she woke up, he was not."

Review:
Lauren Oliver debuted in 2010 with Before I Fall, and The Spindlers is her fifth published work, not counting novellas. Her sixth, Requiem, the conclusion to the Delirium trilogy comes out early next year. Simply put, she has blasted into popularity, prolific and talented, to become one of the most loved and admired YA/MG authors. Of the three books of hers I've read, The Spindlers was my least favorite, but still contained some of the wonderful bits that make Oliver's work such a joy to devour.

In The Spindlers, Lauren Oliver tackles a pretty standard fairy tale plot: the child whose sibling has been replaced with a changeling and the resulting quest bent on rescue. Liza wakes up to find her brother not himself. He looks the same and he has a lot of the same behaviors, but he is both too nice (perfect table manners and politeness) and too mean (spelling out 'I HATE YOU' to his sister in his alphabet cereal). Liza immediately knows what has happened to him: the Spindlers, spider creatures, have taken his soul, and, should it not be replaced soon, the shell of his body will turn into dust.

As is common in middle grade books, only Liza can save her brother from this tragic fate. Her parents refuse to believe her assertions that something is wrong with Patrick and tell her to grow up, now too old for stories. Unwilling to allow her brother to die, Liza determines to go look for him herself, so she goes down to the basement and into the crawl space. Once there, she falls into a deep hole.

It turns out the crawl space in her house connects to the Below, a world populated by the magical creatures her favorite babysitter, Anna, always told her about. She immediately gains a companion in the form of Mirabella, a rat who imitates humans. Mirabella also happens to be in possession of a number of articles stolen from her family. I'm glad to know that all of the things I can't find were not in fact lost through my carelessness but swiped by troglods.

Mirabella creeps me out a lot. Now, it's not because she's a rat. I know rats can be alright. One of my best friends in college had three rats senior year, and they were friendly creatures. Mirabella, though, sounds every kind of unpleasant. For one thing, she's person-sized. She wears clothing and a matted wig. She smells like a sewer, but covers her face in powder and mascara in an attempt to meet human standards of beauty. Basically, she will probably haunt the dreams of some. Call me vain, but I could not get past my immense distaste for Mirabella.

Liza's journey reminded me of any number of books. There was little I found especially original about this tale, except for the nocturni, which were really cool. Otherwise, the monsters, while new to me in name, fit classic molds. Still, I suspect the array of creatures will delight and terrify younger readers as they are intended to do. What Lauren Oliver brings to the story is her way with words. She has a glorious way of writing, one that I think will hold a lot of appeal for children, who also often like stories to follow familiar paths more than I do.

For fans of books like Gregor the Overlander or Coraline, The Spindlers will be a delight. 

Rating: 3/5

Favorite Quote: "That was what her parents did not understand—and had never understood—about stories. Liza told herself storied as though she was weaving and knotting an endless rope. Then, no matter how dark or terrible the pit she found herself in, she could pull herself out, inch by inch and hand over hand, on the long rope of stories."

Review: The Sinister Sweetness of Splendid Academy

The Sinister Sweetness of Splendid Academy

Author: Nikki Loftin
Pages: 284
Publisher: Razorbill
Source: Penguin Young Reader's Group via NetGalley

Description from Goodreads:
When Lorelei's old school mysteriously burns down, a new one appears practically overnight: Splendid Academy. Rock-climbing walls on the playground and golden bowls of candy on every desk? Gourmet meals in the cafeteria, served by waiters? Optional homework and two recess periods a day? It's every kids's dream.

But Lorelei and her new friend Andrew are pretty sure it's too good to be true. Together they uncover a sinister mystery, one with their teacher, the beautiful Ms. Morrigan, at the very center.

Then Andrew disappears. Lorelei has to save him, even if that means facing a past she'd like to forget – and taking on a teacher who's a real witch.

What Lorelei and Andrew discover chills their bones – and might even pick them clean!

First Sentence: "When my mom was alive, she read me stories every night."

Review:
Middle grade fiction is my new favorite thing. I still haven't read that much, but I have yet to be seriously disappointed by any of the ones I've picked up. The Sinister Sweetness of Splendid Academy is incredibly delightful, one of my favorites thus far. Full of dark humor and classic fairy tale plot elements, it's a story that delighted me from beginning to end, giving me a perverse desire to eat everything.

If you pay attention to my little reading widget, you might know that it took me weeks to read this despite its brevity. This was my iPod touch book, for reading while in lines. I read a lot of it while waiting at the DMV so I could get my license renewed. Thank goodness I had a delightful book to buoy me up during that harrowingly mind-numbing experience. While, you could easily devour this delicious book in one sitting, it also worked well as a book to nibble at and savor. I had no trouble picking it back up after a week of not reading, the story remaining fresh in my mind.

I will say that TSSoSA is not a book you should read if you want to be surprised. Maybe if I were a middle grader, I would feel differently, but, as a lover of fairy tales, I always knew where the plot was headed. Sometimes, though, I think that's a good thing. There's something comforting about that, like a big ol' bowl of mashed potatoes. This retelling of Hansel and Gretel (with a whole bunch of other tales mixed in) does some unique clever things, but reads very much like a classic fairy tale.

Nikki Loftin's writing is simply perfectly matched to the tale. She's witty and clever. The story is told in first person by Lorelei. Unlike a lot of children's books, she's not a prodigy, just a regular girl. Her voice rings pure and authentic, complete with childish snits, self-recrimination, and problem solving. She struggles with feelings of guilt over her mother's death and anger at her father's marriage to the obnoxious Molly.

The one thing I don't get about TSSoSA is Molly. She certainly fills the role of evil stepmother incredibly well, money-grubbing and child-hating. However, I fail to see why Molly would ever have married Lorelei's dad. She obviously has expensive tastes and begrudges any money spent on the kids, but she married a poor man. Why? It really doesn't matter from a plot perspective, but I found myself musing on that a lot.

When Splendid Academy pops up over night in their little town, Bryan and Lorelei desperately want to go, lured by the siren call of the coolest playground ever. Due to the convenient burning of the local school and the affordable nature of Splendid, they get to go. Not only that, but it turns out to be every child's dream, school days consisting solely of breakfast, lunch, snack times, and recesses. I think I'm getting old because instead of being even slightly envious, I kept worrying about how much their education would be set back if they survived Splendid and went back to public education.

Also, I loved Andrew. He's Lorelei's only friend, the fattest boy in school. I feel like there are rarely fat people in fiction, and they are usually figures of mockery. Not so, Andrew. He does get mocked of course, children being terrible, vicious creatures (something Loftin does not flinch away from depicting), but he is obviously one of the best and smartest in the school. Even better, Andrew knows why he's overweight and is working on it, which has given him incredible self-control to the degree that he figures out what's going on at Splendid, having had to train himself not to pig out on food.

TSSoSA is utterly charming. If you're looking for a wonderful fairy tale, look no further. Get yourself a big bag of M&Ms and start reading!

Rating: 4.5/5

Favorite Quote: "'Use your imagination, Lorelei,' she'd say, 'and your whole life can be a ffairy tale.' I wanted that to be true. But I should have paid more attention to the fairy tales."

Review: Princess Academy

Princess Academy
Princess Academy, Book 1

Author: Shannon Hale
Pages: 314
Publisher: Scholastic Inc.
Source: Own

Description from Goodreads:
Miri lives on a mountain where for generations her ancestors have quarried stone and lived a simple life. Then word comes that the king's priests have divined her small village the home of the future princess. In a year's time, the prince himself will come and choose his bride from among the girls of the village. The king's ministers set up an academy on the mountain, and every teenage girl must attend and learn how to become a princess.

Miri soon finds herself confronted with a harsh academy mistress, bitter competition among the girls, and her own conflicting desires to be chosen and win the heart of her childhood best friend. But when bandits seek out the academy to kidnap the future princess, Miri must rally the girls together and use a power unique to the mountain dwellers to save herself and her classmates.

First Sentence: "Miri woke to the sleepy bleating of a goat."

Review:
On the surface, Princess Academy seems a silly tale, a story of a Prince choosing a bride, an obvious read-a-like for Kiera Cass' The Selection. Of course, that is the crux of the story: the prince of Danland is to choose his bride from among the twenty girls of the proper age in Mount Eskel, a small territory town full of quarriers. The girls are required to spend a year in training for the Prince's coming. However, Princess Academy is so much more than that, and you would be a fool to pass it by because of that expectation.

The covers given to Shannon Hale's books market to middle grade readers, which I think is a shame. While middle graders could certainly read this book and enjoy it, so too can teens and adults. There is nothing childish about Hale's writing or the stories she tells. They are, however, free of swearing and sex, which might age them in the eyes of publishers. These books are not just for young folks.

When I saw Shannon Hale in person, she spoke to her motivations in becoming a writer for young people. She talked about how much reading meant to her as a child, and how she loved the stories of journeys. She compared that to all of the literary classics she was made to read in college, beautifully composed, but lacking in plot and story. As an author, she aims to compose books that do both, that can be both quality literature and entirely fun to read, told in a classic story arc. To my mind, she succeeds beautifully.

One of the largest themes of Princess Academy is that of class. Those in Mount Eskel live far from the rest of Danland. They have their own customs and interests. Their sole source of income is from the mining of linder, the best building stone in the land. Only in Mount Eskel can linder be found, and those that live there build their lives around it. They even have their own form of speech for use within the quarry, which is so loud normal conversation cannot be used. Quarry-speech constitutes the only truly fantastical element of Princess Academy. This ability feels magical and wondrous, and I commend Shannon for devising it.

Despite their unique skills, those in Mount Eskel are looked down upon by the lowlanders, the traders that come through town. Seen as stupid blue collar workers, the mountain people get no respect. As such, they have just as little affection for the lowlanders, viewing them solely as hateful people out to mess with hardworking citizens. These tensions can be felt in any society, the gap between the wealthy and the poor.

In the Princess Academy, the possible princesses get an opportunity no Mount Eskel person has ever had before: the chance to obtain a traditional education. In Mount Eskel, the learning always ran to the mining of Linder, and other skills necessary to survive on the mountain. No one in the town knew how to read or much of anything about the history of their country. Princess Academy points to the value in book learning and of language, but also indicates the power and beauty of the work of the miners. Both are important, and learning can improve anyone and any profession.

Miri, our heroine, is a tiny girl, not strong enough to mine linder, who does not really fit in. Perhaps the most important theme of the book is about realizing one's own strengths. While Miri may have no physical strength, her extraordinary cleverness helps her and others through life. Even that, though, might not be her largest contribution. Miri has a wonderful attitude and the ability to make others laugh. She excels in finding common ground with others, in creating friendships. This makes her such a wonderful, touching heroine.

The other girls, too, have real personalities. Unlike The Selection, in which only a couple of girls receive much notice, Shannon manages in this short book, to make sure that we have a good sense for quite a few of the girls. She gives even the most annoying ones a real sense of self, and attributes them with motivations for acting the way they do. In fact, even the evil school marm, who reminds me quite a bit of Umbridge in her disdain for the students and draconian punishments, is not simply a figure of evil. Shannon develops fascinating, lovable, flawed characters.

The romance, which I just have to comment on, is so well done. Shannon does not go for the easiest and most obvious routes. Her books always make me feel and give me butterflies of happiness when the couples finally get together. She manages to make me swoon without even writing in a kissing scene. This, my friends, is true skill.

This was my second read through Princess Academy and I love it every bit as much as I did on my first time through. Shannon is one of my favorite authors for a reason.

Rating: 4.5/5

Favorite Quote: "'I keep thinking about a tale mmy nurse used to read to me about a bird whose winds are pinned to the ground. Have you heard it? In the end, when he finally frees himself, he flies up so high he becomes a star. My nurse said the story was about what keeps us down. So here's what I'm wondering—if Miri's wings are free, what will she do now?'"

Better Together - Jack Johnson

The Understory

Author: Elizabeth Leiknes
Pages: 249
Publisher: Bancroft Press
Source: Bancroft Press via NetGalley

Description from Goodreads:
Story Easton knows the first line of every book, but never the last.

She never cries, but she fakes it beautifully.

And at night, she escapes from the failure of her own life by breaking into the homes of others, and feeling, for a short while, like a different, better person.

But one night, as an uninvited guest in someone's empty room, she discovers a story sadder than her own: a boy named Cooper Payne, whose dream of visiting the Amazon rainforest and discovering the moonflower from his favorite book, Once Upon a Moonflower, died alongside his father.

For reasons even she doesn't entirely understand, Story decides that she will help Cooper and his mother. She will make his dream come true.

When the decision is made, the lives of other broken people start to come together: Hans Turner, the door-making magician who can't shut the door on his past; Martin Baxter, the author of Cooper's beloved book, who wrote it with the daughter he misses every day; and Claire Payne, Cooper's mother, struggling to keep her son sheltered from the anger that threatens to consume her.

The Understory is a magical, moving, funny, and poignant story of failure and success; of falling apart and rebuilding; and of coincidences that never really are. Part comedy, part drama, and part fairy tale, Elizabeth Leiknes's second novel is a wonder you won't soon forget.

First Sentence: "There once was a woman named Story Easton who couldn't decide if she should kill herself, or eat a double cheeseburger."

Review:
You guys probably know that I've now instituted strict guidelines for what I'm allowed to request on NetGalley. This book is a perfect example for why this makes me sad. Under my new rules, I would not have requested this book, and I would have missed out big time. This book charmed me immediately, even though I had no expectations for it. I knew nothing about it, and the cover is incredibly lame, but something made me request it and I am so glad I did. This is the bonus of requesting ALL THE THINGS: you find books you might otherwise never have read.

First off, let me talk about the writing in The Understory. Elizabeth Leiknes has a way with words, guys. She is so clever and incredibly hilarious. So many lines in this book made me laugh out loud. Also, she swears, not constantly but to great effect. So if you're offended by swearing, this book will not be for you. If you are amused by it, you'll love it. I also loved that though her writing is quite beautiful, it also feels very natural, in the dialogue as well.

The Understory is, more than anything, about the serendipitous connections between certain people. Told in a fairy tale type manner, characters come together in a way that is either entirely coincidental or fated. Either way, everyone finds the people that they need in their lives. They come together in the perfect way to fix broken hearts, to move on in grief, to realize strength, and to grow up. I loved this. This is what I want life to be like. The subtle magic running through the story, though not actually MAGIC like in a fantasy novel, reminds me strongly of Sarah Addison Allen (who I love). Though there wasn't any legit magic, this book felt hella magical to me.

The characters in this book are amazing. Story Thyme Easton (poor girl) is delightfully and unapologetically bitchy, as well as being really messed up. She lives in the shadow of her incredibly successful mother, burdened by her name, and considers suicide. Her dream is to write honest, sarcastic greeting cards that say things like "Life Sucketh. Sorry." Dudes, I would buy cards like that. Her only comforts in life are greasy hamburgers and breaking into other people's houses to try on their shoes and sleep in their beds (like a modern Goldilocks), because she so desperately wants out of her life. She is obsessed with first lines of novels and quotes them to herself constantly.

The other characters are lovely too. Hans, the carpenter, who totally made me swoon. I don't usually go for the strong silent type but YOWZA. Also, he and Story have insane chemistry. There is some excellent romance in here, for those of you who enjoy that (and why wouldn't you?!?). Story's mother is obnoxious, but in that real mother kind of way. Cooper is one of the most adorable little moppets ever. Plus, I love that he and his mother, Claire, have a parrot that swears constantly. Amusing animal, ftw!

Guys, seriously, this book was super amazing. I loved all of it, except for the book within the book which was kind of lame. Thankfully, those bits were pretty brief. If you like magic, fairy tales, and humor, read this!

Rating: 4.5/5

Favorite Quote:

"Deep down, Story Easton knew what would happen if she attempted to off herself—she would fail It was a matter of probability. This was not a new thing, failure. She was, had always been, a failure of fairy-tale proportion. Quitting wasn’t Story’s problem. She had tried, really tried, lots of things during different stages of her life—Girl Scours, the viola, gardening, Tommy Andres from senior year American Lit—but zeero cookie sales, four broken strings, two withered azalea bushes, and one uniquely humiliating breakup later, Story still had not tasted success, and with a shriveled-up writing career as her latest disappointment, she realized no magic slippers or fairy dust was going to rescue her from her Anti-Midas Touch. No Happily Ever After was coming.
    So she had learned to find a certain comfort in failure. In addition to her own screw-ups, others’ mistakes became cozy blankets to cuddle, and she snuggled up to famous failures like most people embrace triumph.
    The Battle of Little Bighorn—a thing of beauty.
    The Bay of Pigs—delicious debacle.
    The Y2K Bug—gorgeously disappointing fuck-up.
    Geraldo’s anti-climactic Al Capone exhumation—oops!
    Jaws III—heaven on film.
    Tattooed eyeliner—eyelids everywhere, revolting. Really revolting.
    Fat-free potato chips—good Lord, makes anyone feel successful."

"Love is the answer,
At least for most of the questions in my heart
Like why are we here? And where do we go?
And how come it's so hard?
It's not always easy and
Sometimes life can be deceiving
I'll tell you one thing, it's always better when we're together"

Lil' Red Riding Hood - Sam the Sham & the Pharaohs

Sisters Red

Author: Jackson Pearce
Pages: 324
Publisher: Little, Brown and Company

Description from Goodreads:
Scarlett March lives to hunt the Fenris--the werewolves that took her eye when she was defending her sister Rosie from a brutal attack. Armed with a razor-sharp hatchet and blood-red cloak, Scarlett is an expert at luring and slaying the wolves. She's determined to protect other young girls from a grisly death, and her raging heart will not rest until every single wolf is dead. 


Rosie March once felt her bond with her sister was unbreakable. Owing Scarlett her life, Rosie hunts ferociously alongside her. But even as more girls' bodies pile up in the city and the Fenris seem to be gaining power, Rosie dreams of a life beyond the wolves. She finds herself drawn to Silas, a young woodsman who is deadly with an ax and Scarlett's only friend--but does loving him mean betraying her sister and all that they've worked for?

First Sentence: "Strangers never walk down this road, the sisters thought in unison as the man trudged toward them."

Review:
Wow. The opening scene of Sisters Red has such an amazing hook. Sisters Scarlett and Rosie are ages 11 and 9 respectively when their family is attached by a Fenris (a sort of werewolf/shifter). Their grandmother, their only caretaker since their mom has taken off, is murdered. The eleven year old Scarlett manages to kill the Fenris in order to protect her baby sister. Flash forward seven years. Both Scarlett and Rosie are hunters, trying to kill Fenris before the wolves kill people.

I freaking LOVED the idea behind this one. Of course, I'm always super excited about anything purporting to be a fairy tale retelling. That's definitely one of my favorite genres of literature. However, there are also a lot of horrendously bad, or at leas unoriginal, fairy tale retellings out there. Sisters Red is gloriously new to me. I loved the idea of red riding hood luring the wolf to his doom, rather than the other way around; that's such a wonderful spin on the tale.

The fairy tale told here definitely hearkens back to the origins of fairy tales, not to Disney's reworkings. If you like the perkiness of the Disney tales, this may not be your cup of tea. The Grimm's fairy tales for example include much more bloodshed, like the evil stepsisters getting their eyes pecked out at Cinderella's wedding as they perform their bridesmaid duties. Jackson Pearce has written a dark, lush, violent fairy tale. Scarlett, for example, is missing an eye and wears an eye patch. Sweet YA paranormal romance this is not, and I like it all the better for that.

As I've mentioned before, writing multiple first person perspectives can be very tricky to get right. Often, the characters come out sounding exactly the same. Scarlett and Rosie have some similarities (they're sisters and very close), but there was no point where I couldn't tell whose chapter I was in. Their narration is different; Scarlett is sharp, predatory and jaded, while Rosie is soft, sweet and hopeful.

Sisters Red has also given me a new ship. I completely adore Rosie and Silas. He's a bit old for her, but he's also an old family friend and a woodsman/hunter. At the beginning of the book, he has just come back to their small Georgia town from a long trip. Before he left, Rosie was still a child, but, now, they are both different people, suddenly attracted to one another where they were not before. The awkwardness of their trying to handle this change is so completely real; I could feel tentative butterflies for them. That whole romance line I want to give two thumps up and a big goofy grin to.

My one issue with the book is a seeming inconsistency that I noticed. I sort of saw the big plot twist coming. In fact, I would have been wholly unsurprised by it, had I not convinced myself that I must be wrong about that since what I was expecting couldn't be the case because of something that happened early on. In other words, they're trying to prevent a particular event, but, so far as I can tell, that event occurred near the beginning of the book. There may be something to explain that, and I do intend to ask Jackson about it, but, for now, it's going to skew my rating down to a 4. Sorry if that whole paragraph didn't make sense, but it was the best I could do without spoilers!

That last thing aside, I devoured this novel like a Fenris devours tasty lady flesh. Okay, that was too much, but I'm rolling with it. I urge those who love fairy tales and incredibly strong ladies to go pick this book up pronto. It is as awesome as this cover; I promise.

Rating: 4/5

Favorite Quote: "I hurry over to whip the Sexy Meatloaf out of the heat."
Weird quote to choose, I know, but I loved this whole scene because it captures Jackson's humor so well!

"Who's that I see walkin' in these woods
Why, it's Little Red Riding Hood
Hey there Little Red Riding Hood
You sure are looking good
You're everything a big bad wolf could want
Listen to me
Little Red Riding Hood
I don't think little big girls should
Go walking in these spooky old woods alone
Owoooooooo
What big eyes you have
The kind of eyes that drive wolves mad
So just to see that you don't get chased
I think I ought to walk with you for a ways"

Me and the Moon - Something Corporate

Shadows on the Moon

Author: Zoë Marriott
Pages: 447
ARC Acquired from: Candlewick Press via NetGalley

Description from Goodreads:
Trained in the magical art of shadow-weaving, sixteen-year-old Suzume is able to re-create herself in any form - a fabulous gift for a girl desperate to escape her past. But who is she really? Is she a girl of noble birth living under the tyranny of her mother's new husband, Lord Terayama? Or a lowly drudge scraping a living in the ashes of Terayama's kitchens? Or is she Yue, the most beautiful courtesan in the Moonlit Lands? Whatever her true identity, Suzume is destined to use her skills to steal the heart of a prince in a revenge plot to destroy Terayama. And nothing will stop her, not even the one true aspect of her life- her love for a fellow shadow-weaver.

First Sentence: "On my fourteenth birthday, when the sakura was in full bloom, the men came to kill us."

Review:
The opening of this novel definitely grabbed my attention. I mean, her family is attacked, most of them killed, and there are the first signs of her power. Um, awesome and tragic? I think so. On top of some of her family members dying, Suzume also has to deal with the fact that since her dad was marked a traitor, if anyone finds the remaining members, they too will be killed, as will anyone who helps them. Yikes, right?

This is a thing that happens a lot in history and probably now too. People get judged based on the actions of a single family member. For example, in Escape from Camp 14, which I read a few weeks ago, if a family member is found guilty of treason, the whole family is condemned to a camp...for generations. Families are raised in the camps; they have schools, because even the kids born after the incident are guilty of whatever their parents or grandparents did, so they can't leave. Argh! This makes no freaking sense, so how about we stop doing it! People can't help their families!

Oh, also inspired by this book is a rant about being a woman. Basically, it can be summed up into the following: it sucks to be a woman! Certainly, it sucked hardcore to be a woman in the past. While this book is definitely not straight historical fiction, I don't doubt the accuracy of every single female being completely at mercy of male society. Argh! Whoever it was that originally decided women should be second class citizens, I hope he never got any and I hope he's in the special hell. 

Anyway, done ranting now and going back to the book. I loved it, even if it did make me ranty. Most historical fiction does that to me, because the way people were treated just makes me so mad. The storytelling is completely beautiful. I spent much of the book trying to figure out if it was history with a small fantasy element or a history based on Japan. It seems to be a combination of both, a retelling set in a fairy tale Japan. Whatever that means. Definitely not 'History,' because I'm pretty sure Onieto's country does not really exist, and that, even if it does exist somewhere in Africa, there was no trade with Japan. Marriott openly says at the end that this not intended to be history at all.

Speaking of Onieto, my goodness does Marriott know how to write a scene to make the reader swoon. He's amazing. I love how he accepts Suzume with any name and any face. I love that he can sense her. I love how sweet he is to her, and how much respect he has for her. Which, of course, meant that every time Suzume breaks his heart because she feels as though she is unworthy of love, I wanted to smack her upside the head and tell her to lock it down. If someone amazing is willing to love you, accept that miracle, don't push them away to create a self-fulfilling prophecy about your not deserving love!

I mentioned that this is a retelling of a fairy tale. Apparently, the fairy tale in question is Cinderella. I would never have figured that out, had I not read reviews by other bloggers. While I totally sensed the fairy tale-ish quality too it, the story definitely didn't bring a particular tale to mind, nor, thinking of Cinderella, am I especially convinced. Only very loosely does it fit my conceptions of Cinderella at all. Some liberal changes have been made. I approve of what Marriott has done, but it just came out feeling more like her own story than a retelling, if that makes any sense. Actually, the more I think on it, the more impressed I am about the skews she put on the original fairy tale, like how her evil step-mother is a combination of her step-father and her jealous mother. Ouch.

Suzume can be hard to like sometimes. She makes a lot of bad decisions, blinded by her pain and her hurt. Rather than dealing with her admittedly awful life in healthy ways, she cuts herself and throws herself at vengeance. She's much colder and more calculating than a lot of YA heroines, a lot less interested in love or her own well-being. Still, I could not help but root for her, both because she was a mess for a reason and because I love Onieto.

Shadows on the Moon is haunting and beautiful. Though I was not previously familiar with Marriott's work, you had better believe I'll be hunting more of it down!

Rating: 4/5

Favorite Quote: "Better naked and alive than decent and dead, I thought."

"Away with these nightmares
Away with suburbia
Shake down away
You marry a role and
You give up your soul til you break down

'It's me and the moon,' she says
'I got no trouble with that, but i am a butterfly, you wouldn't let me die'
 'It's me and the moon,' she says"

Piano Black - The Seatbelts

Magic Under Glass
Magic Under Glass, Book 1

Author: Jaclyn Dolamore
Pages: 225
Publisher: Bloomsbury

Brief Summary:
Nimira works in a music hall as a trouser girl, scraping together just enough pennies to stay alive. So much for earning a fortune like she planned when she left her home country of Tiansher for Lorinar. Her luck seems like it might finally be changing when sorcerer Hollin Parry offers her a job after having seen one of her performances. He wants her to sing to accompany a piano-playing automaton he acquired. Thrilled at first, both at the prospect of a better life and at Parry's attentions to her, she begins to realize that there are a lot of dark secrets in Parry's House. The automaton which was rumored to be haunted turns out to be a fairy trapped inside a clockwork body; she must find a way to set him free, hopefully while finding a purpose for herself.

Review:
The opening chapters did not interest me immediately, and I feared that I would not care much for this book or the sequel. Then Nimira went to Parry's house and suddenly, without noticing the change, I realized that I was reading voraciously, completely wrapped up in the story Dolamore created. From that point, she didn't let me go.

Nimira is not the typical strong heroine, nor is she a shrinking violet. She lacks in physical strength and she cries several times. Still, she is a powerful girl to be reckoned with. When the chips are down, she does not let fear stop her. She fights for those she loves and for herself.

Okay, who would have thought that an author could make this work so well? I mean, Erris can't say anything but "Mmm," and can communicate solely by piano. His movements are similarly limited. Yet, Dolamore manages to make him come across as a real, dynamic character with a personality, rather than a static one. Wow. Just wow.

The inside flap compares Magic Under Glass to Libba Bray and Charlotte Bronte. My initial reaction to this was skepticism. I definitely didn't see the Bronte at all. When I found it, my like for the book became even stronger. This was pretty much the deciding factor for loving this book over merely liking it.

This book has everything. I would recommend it to anyone who enjoyed Cinder or A Long, Long Sleep, other recent favorites. I am so incredibly excited to read Magic Under Stone.

Rating: 4.5/5

Note: I love this song for this book, because I like to imagine that this is what the automaton's piano sounds like, very different from the fairy music. :-p

Note 2: I prefer this cover, because it's the same girl who's on the cover for book two, who looks way more like Nimira than the girl on the cover of the edition I read.

Cinderella Undercover - Oingo Boingo

Cinder
The Lunar Chronicles, Book 1

Author: Marissa Meyer
Pages: 387
ARC Acquired from: Feiwel & Friends via NetGalley

Brief Summary:
Linh Cinder is a cyborg, a fact which her stepmother and one of her stepsisters will not let her forget. Being a cyborg makes her a second-class citizen, worth nothing to anyone, except as a test subject in the ongoing search to find a cure for letumosis, a plague killing many Commonwealth citizens. As yet, Cinder has been spared this fate because she's worth more to her aunt using her skills as a mechanic. Cinder tries to avoid notice, but somehow catches Prince Kai's eye when he comes to her shop to have a robot fixed. Thus begin Cinder's adventures.

Review:
First of all, I need to state clearly for the record that this was a totally stellar read. It reminded me quite a bit of A Long, Long Sleep by Anna Sheehan, which I read and adored a couple months ago. The stories are not the same at all, but the general idea is. Both take a well-known fairy tale, put it into a futuristic setting, and make something completely new and original with it. Cinder is, in case you couldn't guess, a revisionist version of Cinderella.

I loved how Meyer weaved in the core elements of the fairy tale, but felt free to make some changes too. For example, Cinder was adopted into a family by Linh Garan, who promptly died, leaving her in the care of her stepmother, rather than him being her father as in the original story. One of her stepsisters is evil, but the other one is actually her best friend. She attends the ball where Kai is to choose his bride, despite having been ordered not to go. All of that clearly draws the correlation to the fairy tale.

Cinder is all about dramatic irony, or at least it was for me. The book ends with a big reveal. I'm not sure whether it was supposed to be a twist, or if the audience was supposed to be sitting there shaking the book all the way through because they knew what was going on and no one else did. I suspect it may be the latter, because what happened was so obvious. Really though, I don't think the knowledge of where the overall story was heading detracted from the book at all.

The setting here is completely amazing. Earth has apparently been through some serious turmoil. It now contains only six countries. The formation of these large powers occurred during the peace conference following World War IV. Ouch. Not to mention the fact that there are now folks living on the moon. What I am not sure of is whether the Lunars were initially human, although I suspect so.

Cinder is a powerful heroine. I love how much she is not run of the mill. She has expert skills as a mechanic, is over a quarter machine, and hardly cares about her appearance. She cares deeply about the few people (or androids) she's close to and will risk herself to protect them. Plus, having a crush on the prince does not turn her into a brainless puddle of goo, something that I see a lot when the heroine hangs out with the hero of her book.

Book two promises to be even better. I have no idea where the story will go from here and cannot wait to find out! Recommended to all fans of science fiction and fairy tales.

"Cinderella undercover
I say, better alive than dead

The war is coming, but there's nothing much that we can do"

The Trees Were Mistaken - Andrew Bird

Suddenly in the Depths of the Forest

Author: Amos Oz
Pages: 134
ARC Acquired from: Harcourt Books via NetGalley

Brief Summary:
There is a small town, much like other towns, except for one thing: there are no animals (except for humans). No bees buzz around the plants, no fish swim in the river and no wolves howl at the moon. All of the animals left, taken by the mountain demon Nehi. Everyone in the town just ignores the curse that has come over them, pretending they don't remember how things used to be. Except for some of the children, who sometimes think they hear or see an animal.

Review:
Suddenly in the Depths of the Forest reads like a folk tale/fairy tale, and actually frequently reminded me of a number of other stories, although it never actually turned into any of them. At one point, there was a clear reference to Persephone, for example. I expected a bit more fairy tale than folk tale, I guess, so I was a bit surprised to find it without a neat ending tied up in a bow.

The story is well-written and clever. I love stories about animals, even in their absence. Can you imagine a town with nothing but people? Ugh! Of course, I wouldn't mind getting rid of, say, all the cockroaches. What do they do anyway? And, given that I'm petrified of bees, I wouldn't mind them being gone either, except for the flowers and the honey. But kittens and dogs and horses and goats and everything? And beef and chicken and pork?

What the story seems mostly to be about is not so much the absence of the animals, but the way people react to the lack. In some ways, this seems to be a study of human nature, of hubris and curiosity, of bravery and fear, of cruelty and friendship. Really, the story doesn't fit into a particular box and is told in a somewhat atypical manner. I enjoyed this brief tale, and think it conveys an interesting message, although I think it's up to the reader whether the message is positive or negative.

P.S. About today's song. Andrew Bird is not always the most clear in his enunciation, so I was not able to locate or discern certain lyrics for this song. Nevertheless, I feel like he has the perfect feel for this book: nature, darkness, a bit of hope, and some craziness.

P.P.S. Although I usually post a picture from the cover I have, I'm not this time, because I like this cover so much better. Good change!

"This is a story, some kind of a story
This is a story about about a boy and girl,
A girl and a boy, a boy."

Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite - The Beatles

Wisdom's Kiss

Author: Catherine Gilbert Murdock
Pages: 284
ARC Acquired from: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt via NetGalley

Although not obviously apparent for most of the book, this is actually a reimagined fairy tale. The whole thing does read like a fairy tale, with princesses and betrayal and cats and magic. What makes this book really stand out is the method that Murdock uses to tell the story. Most of the plot unfolds through characters memoirs written ex post facto, diary entries or letters written to others. There are also little snippets of plays interspersed between the other formats. These generally depicted a scene that had been already described but in extra-dramatic Shakespearean style. I thought this way of telling the story showed ingenuity and was surprisingly effective.

The characters, however, did not meet with similar satisfaction. So many of them were incredibly dumb, including the poorly-named wisdom. Really the only one I liked at all was Trudy, who had a seriously awkward ending. She's the first character you meet, but her story is rattled off like a note in the end credits. The Queen Mother, who I believe is Ben from Princess Ben, one of Murdock's earlier novels that I have not read, is awkward. If her young character is anything like this crazy grandmother, I'm not sure that I want to read that book. If young Ben is not this way, why would you do this to her? And what happened to her husband?

My only previous experience with Murdock was Dairy Queen, which I did not like. For one thing, I have no interest in football. For another, the main character was not the brightest bulb on the Christmas tree, which, since the story was written in first person, meant that the writing was not particularly good. Plus, she was a serious jerk to her best friend when the friend confessed that she was a lesbian. The writing in Wisdom's Kiss was, for the most part better, although Tips' letters drove me crazy.

All in all, this is a very odd book, but it was rather amusing and constructed in a unique manner. I enjoyed reading it and my opinion of Murdock has improved slightly, but she's still not going to be a favorite author.

Oh, and there's a circus. Just imagine that instead of Mr. Kite, it's Felis el Gato.

"Having been some days in preparation
A splendid time is guaranteed for all
And tonight Mr. Kite is topping the bill"

Once Upon a Dream - Mary Costa & Bill Shirley

Cinderella: Ninja Warrior

Author: Maureen McGowan
Pages: 314 (if you read all of the scenarios)
ARC Acquired from: Baker & Taylor Publishing Group via NetGalley

Brief Summary:
This is Cinderella as you've never seen her before. This Cinderella has magical powers and, as the title intimates, ninja skills. Why is someone so rocking a prisoner, you might conceivably wonder. Well, that's because her stepmother has magical powers too, only she works for the dark side. Can Cinderella escape her evil stepmother's grip in time to win a contest in magic and a dance with Prince Tiberius (and, more importantly, with Ty, the royal messenger)? You decide!

Review:
When I was a kid, I absolutely loved choose your own adventure books. In fact, they were the only Goosebumps books I could bear to read, since I have always been a complete and utter wimp when it came to anything remotely horrific. Additionally, I adore fairy tales, so this new series that does its best to combine the two was impossible to pass up.

Unlike the choose your own ending books of my youth, these books aimed at teens or adults have many less decision points, a sacrifice made for story and plot. On the one hand, this is a good thing, but, on the other, I really wanted to make all the choices. Oh well. I only read one of the eight possible outcomes (along with one of the other sections, just to get an idea), because my reading pile is ridiculous, but it was pretty good. I imagine it would probably be my favorite of them, should I read all of the others.

Actually, this book reminded me, rather strangely, of The Post-Birthday World by Lionel Shriver, which has nothing to do with fairy tales or choose your own adventure. In this book, you see two possible courses a woman's life could take, based on whether she decided to have an affair or not on the night of her birthday. There are two story lines in all but the first and last chapters, where everything comes together again. Here, too, all roads lead to the same place. Again, that's cool, but not altogether realistic, I feel. Some of the plot lines always feel forced to get you back to that specified ending.

All that aside, this was a charming, fun way to spend an afternoon. It was nice seeing a powerful Cinderella; in fact, my favorite parts were the ones that were off book, where she was doing magic. If you miss having a say in some of your main character's choices, give this a try!

"But if I know you, I know what you'll do
You'll love me at once
The way you did once upon a dream"