The Wishing Spell

Title: The Land of Stories: The Wishing Spell
Author: Chris Colfer
Genre: Children's book, Children's Fantasy
Source: Library Hardback
Rating: 3.5 out of 5 paws




Twins, Alex and Connor Bailey have just celebrated their 12th birthday, one year after the death of their father.  They both struggle in school and their mom is working hard to make ends meet.  For their birthday their grandma comes to visit and gifts them with a story book: The Land of Stories.  Alex becomes obsessed with the book and locks herself in her room.  One day she confides in Connor about the book making sounds and glowing.  Then they fall into the book and go on an epic quest to find the ingredients for the Wishing Spell so they can go home.  But this is not going to be an easy task as they have to travel to different kingdoms to get items that are rather sentimental to their owners such as Cinderella's glass slipper or bark from Red Riding Hood's basket.  But the Evil Queen is also hunting for these books as well as the Bad Wolf club out hunting for the kids to stop them.  Will the twins find the items they need before the Evil Queen?  Will they find their way home in time or are they trapped inside the Land of Stories forever?

I am a fan of Glee and when I saw the Chris Colfer who played Kurt had written a book of course I wanted to read it.  It is a book that tends to be up my alley with taking a different look at classic fairy tales that we have grown up with and know so well.  Colfer takes a very different look at these tales and comes with explanations for things that sometimes don't add up such as how can Snow White, Aurora (Sleeping Beauty), and Cinderella all marry Prince Charming??  Easy they are brothers!!




This was a fun book to read and the world he creates is beautiful.  He fills it with interesting and charming characters and gives fairy tale fans a different view of these characters.  The writing could be a little...simplistic at times, but then again this was a book geared towards middle school children not 30 year old women.  He tells the story rather than showing the story that some readers would be more used to, but again the way he tells the story gets a younger reader interested and entertained.  Longer sentences with a lot of description may not appeal to a reader of that age.  There is a certain beautiful quality to Colfer's writing that brings the tale to life.  You can tell there is a talent for story telling within these pages.

Colfer has a lot to offer within his book; it is an enchanting, enthralling tale that sends it's main characters on a magical scavenger hunt.  There is something new in each chapter.  I thought I had the small mystery solved, and I was only half right, but it was still entertaining to find out certain twists and turns to the tale.  I enjoyed how he gives the Evil Queen a small back story and makes her not so evil after all. 

While there were many things great about this book, there were some things that dropped the rating down a bit such as the over use of the same description: Steam coming from ears/nose/mouth, oddly placed similes, rigid dialogue.  Despite all that overall I thought it was a good book, and am interested to see where he takes the series. I felt it was a cute story that I can a younger reading and enjoying.  I think this is a great book that would get children not only using their imagination, but interested in reading on a bigger level.  It draws on stories they already know and can get them thinking about the stories they are reading.

Perrault's Fairy Tales

Title: Perrault's Fairy Tales
Author:Charles Perrault
Genre: Classic lit, Chidlren's lit
Source: Kindle Ebook
Rating: 4 out of 5


Collection of early versions classic fairy tales such as "Cinderella", "Puss In Boots," "Blue Beard" and more.  Each story contains a moral at the end to help readers know what the intention of the stories were.  These are the stories before they were touched by companies like Disney that changed things around to make them more....fairy talesuqe instead of the gruesome tales they may be.  Perrault is credited with laying the groundwork for fairy tales, and can be seen rewritten numerous times including the Grimm Brothers.

This collections holds about 8 or 10 classic fairy tales, some we know well some not so much.  Many we have seen reappear from other authors such as the Brothers Grimm and made into movies by the likes of Disney, but Disney changed quite a bit from these tales.  I liked being able to read the original versions of the stories and see how they became different throughout time from 1697 to now 2018 there are a lot of differences for example, Little Red Riding Hood does not get rescued, but devoured by the wolf.  Each of the stories have some sort of gore to them, not intended to really scare the children, but for the ew factor, though I do admit some stories I wondered how they were considered children stories.


Some of the stories I have read before in Brother's Grimm, other stories like Puss In Boots, I have not read before and enjoyed finally getting the chance to read them in their original format.  Children do enjoy stories with ogres and things and in the years that follow the publication of this book, children are protected more from things people think might be too scary like an ogre eating children, not to mention to tell the morals and convey the themes involved some of the stories needed to have a little gore and what some would consider adult themes.


While the author included morals of the story, they do seem to be morals that HE thought the story told and have room for each reader to form their own opinions of what the fairy tales are supposed to convey.  Some people may say classic fairy tales are no longer relevant especially with the movies and adaptations we've seen throughout the years, but I believe they are still relevant and convey the same if not different morals to an audience in today's society no matter how different things may be.


I recommend everyone read this collection, it may open your eyes to some beloved stories you thought you knew or rekindle a love for a story you loved as a child.  Pick up a copy from amazon.

Woodcutter

A man known as The Woodcutter stumbles upon a maiden's dead body, with no trace of foul play, nor who could have caused her tragic fate.  The only thing left behind were her glass slippers.  The Woodcutter seeks to find her killer before other maidens suffer the same fate.  The Woodcutter is not your average man, he is the keeper of peace between the kingdoms of man and the realm of the faerie.  He searches the realms for clues to the mysterious events happening around the kingdoms and the forest, along with three axes blessed by the River God, he begins to find clues to lead to the truth.  Shortly into his search he discovers information that is troubling: one of Odin's hellhounds has escaped, a nefarious mansion appears and disappears and princes and princesses along with it, pixie dust being turned into a drug ring, and more young woman proceed to go missing without a trace.  The Woodcutter must find the truth to all of these before it is too late, as task proven more difficult with an evil queen lurking in the shadows intent on stopping his every effort.  Will he be able to stop the queen before she destroys the kingdoms and the fae or will it be too late?

I love fairy tales.  Everything about them brings me back to my childhood.  I love reading retellings and other author's takes on the different stories.  When I picked this book up I expected it to be along the lines of the woodcutter in Snow White or Red Riding Hood, but was pleasantly surprised when it turned out to be something completely different.  I love the idea of a mysterious protected of the realms that no one knows his name, his name never gets revealed and leaves the read in as much a mystery as the characters.  It almost makes you as frustrated as the queen in not knowing his name.  That adds an air of mystery around this character, and at the same time the reader knowing he cannot bear children but must wait until the fates bring a child to him and his wife makes your heart break especially after he comes across young children.  You can almost feel the fatherly desire in his heart.

Danley creates a world where the characters come to life, without specifically referring to the characters by name or tale, readers can get an idea of who is supposed to be who based off minor descriptions such as the glass slippers left behind when the maiden was killed.  Readers get the idea that someone harmed Cinderella without specifically being told.  It was also interesting that Danley incorporated some mythology in the tale with the use of Odin and the hellhounds.  That was a great touch though I wanted more from that storyline, it almost takes a backseat to the other events of the tale. This was a great story, one that I finished in a few short days.

I highly recommend this novel if you enjoy fairy tales, fantasy, young adult, and a good story.  As for a rating I will give this a 5 out of 5, pick it up today.  You won't regret adding this to your book shelf.

Heartless

All Catherine wants for her life is to open a bakery with her best friend Mary Ann. But her parents have a different plan. For her to marry the King of Hearts. Cath believed her life to be boring and without excitement. That is until the new court jester, Jest, arrives on the scene. In the middle of a grand ball before the king makes a announcement the ball is attacked by a monstrous creature known as the Jabberwock. Since that night, Cath's life is forever changed as she tries to figure out how to open her bakery, avoid the king's advances, falls in love with Jest and evades the attacks of the Jabberwock.  All she wants to do is live the life she wants, but there are obstacles in her way at every turn.  Soon fate reveals itself and Cath learns sometimes you cannot outrun fate.

As many of you know I am an avid reader of Alice in Wonderland retellings, and absolutely love anything Alice in Wonderland related, so when I seen Marissa Meyer (Lunar Chronicles) wrote an Alice in Wonderland adaptation, of course I had to read it.  I have to say this was not what I was expecting, but I enjoyed reading it immensely.  There wasn't an "Alice" character per-say, but Catherine is a representation of the Queen of Hearts.  This novel is almost a backstory of how she became who she is and the way she is. We see some of the same beloved characters like Hatter, March Hare, Cheshire, but we also see different characters that seem to always take a backseat to some of the other characters like the Mock Turtle or the Walrus. It was interesting to see these characters in a different light than what we see in the classic tale.

I am a huge fan of Meyer's Lunar Chronicles and I came into this novel with high hopes, and this book met every one of my expectations.  I wanted to see more of Jest and Raven, and hope to see them more in the future maybe if there happens to be more novels, maybe one about the kingdom of Chess or the white kingdom.  Meyer has a certain style to her writing that paints the picture vividly, it is easy to envision everything happening from the turtle turning into the Mock Turtle or the Jabberwock attacks, even smell the delicious tarts that Cath makes.  I enjoyed the use of the Fate sisters and treacle, as well as many element from Carol's tale.  It was still very much a Meyer story, but held some of the traditional elements we would find in Alice in Wonderland.

I would highly recommend this novel for anyone who enjoys Alice in Wonderland, fairy tales, Lunar Chronicles, and young adult novels.  Even if those may not be genres/topics that are your typical go to novel, break out from the norm and check out this book.  You will not regret it.  I give this book a 4 out of 5 star rating.

Ensnared

Alainn's father is a genius when it comes to robotics, he has created some of the most useful AI units around.  He promises a unit to Lorccan, but needs more time to complete the project, time Lorccan declines.    The AI Unit Rose devises a plan of her own to send Alainn in her place and then try to rescue her when another unit is created.  When presented with this idea at the last minute Alainn goes through with it, against her better judgment.  She then spends the next few weeks having dinner with a scarred man, pretending to be a self-actualized AI unit.  Things begin to get cloudy when they begin to fall for each other and Alainn discovers Rose's true plans.  Will Lorccan still love Alainn once he discovers she is not a robot?  Will she be able to put a stop to Rose's plans before it's too late, and save her father from imprisonment.




**This is another book I have received through Netgalley for an honest review.  Seriously if you haven't tried it yet..do so soon.**




I have really gotten back into fairy-tale retellings lately and this one is fantastic!  I could not put my kindle down until I finished it.  I wasn't sure how I would feel about it when I began because I am not really one for stories with AI units, but I loved this one.  I loved the Lor has little monkey AI's and that they could communicate or that the tower itself was an AI unit.  Very interesting and different from others.  What I was a little confused on was what did her father do to get himself into this predicament, there were different things mentioned like fraud, gambling, booze.  Were those what got him into such trouble that he could have gone to prison for it?


I have seen shows and things about people falling in love with AI units, such as Ex-Machina movie or the anime Chobits, so this didn't faze me too much.  What I did question a few times was how did Lor not question a lot of things including romantic things.  Regardless, this was a great retelling.  It still had the feel of Beauty and the Beast, but it was it's own story.  It almost had the same feel as Melissa Meyer's Lunar Chronicles, but different as well.  Aliann is an interesting character, its a little uncertain of what she wants in life or even what she expects.  We get little snippets of her past that play a small role in the story, but it isn't heavy like we don't have whole chapters devoted to flashbacks and memories, which I liked.  The novel kept to the story and didn't deviate into something else. 


The descriptions were interesting, I could picture the scar on Lor's face or the feel of the computerized windows.  Something I found very interesting and plausible was the use of 3d printing, it seems this is something that is making headway now and I enjoyed seeing the ideas that Rita took with this concept.  She used a lot of things in her book that I have not seen used before.  The novel is well written, it didn't feel slow or forced, everything flowed well together.


For those who enjoy fairy tales, retellings, Beauty and the Beast, then I highly suggest this novel.  I also suggest it if you like sci-fi, and romance because those elements play a large role in this story.  As for a rating I would give this a 4 because there were still some questions left unanswered.  I look forward to reading more from Rita, maybe a retelling of Aladdin or even Thumbelina *hint hint Rita!**

Neverland Wars

Gwen is a typical 16 year old girl, dreaming about the boy in her algebra class and hoping he will ask her to homecoming to getting frustrated at her little sister and parents.  Then her little sister goes missing and her parents tell Gwen that Peter Pan has taken her to Neverland, and that magic is real.  She escapes to Neverland to try and bring her sister home only to find out there is a war going on between the two worlds.  Peter Pan is not the child we remember from the stories, but is now a teenager due to his constant visits to reality.  Gwen is faced with a decision of whether or not she will join Pan and his band of children in their war or hurry home to her normal teenage life

I have never been more disappointed in a book than I was with this one.  I had such high hopes for Neverland Wars.  I haven't read a "re-telling" of Peter Pan yet, so when I found this book I was eager to read it.  But when I got to the point where it discussed Peter Pan as kidnapping children and reality engaging a war with Neverland.  I am not sure what exactly I was expecting but that wasn't it.  Granted once Gwen gets to Neverland there is a lot of the Peter Pan elements like flying, child-like imagination, mermaids, the crocodile etc.  It was interesting of reality wanting to harness and utilize Neverland magic, I am not sure if it was executed properly.

It starts off setting the premise of Gwen being a teenage girl in love with the homecoming king, Jay Hoek.  I honestly thought somehow this would come back to him being somehow related to Captain Hook, but no cigar.  All of this becomes a moot point when Rosemary is taken and everyone is in an uproar, not because she is taken, but because they need to explain to Gwen now about magic and how it is being used to operate things like smartphones.  Ookay, cut the next scene where she runs off with Peter Pan to Neverland and the next large portion of the book feels like nonsense of the kids playing and having festivities.  At times Peter is borderline abusive to Gwen calling her a dumb girl and instead of standing up for herself, she takes it and agrees with him.  Like what the heck? any man calls me dumb and I will fight heaven and hell to prove him wrong.  So far were are about 70% into the story and there is still no sign of a war until suddenly a bombing attack of Molotov newspapers which is almost immediately forgotten.

Finally when there is about 10 - 15% of the story left is when things shift to Gwen going back to the reality (sans Rosemary which was her whole point of going to Neverland) and again nothing remotely close to the original plot line of a war between the worlds, but hey she finally kisses the boy of her dreams before being attacked by a shadow.  Yes a shadow....this is the part when I got completely confused and unsure of what in the world was happening.  I honestly have no idea what happens in this part, to the point where i kept asking WTF. 

The writing was good enough, I think the issue was there is a lot of build up for future novels.  Sometimes when trying to develop a series too much time is spent building up the story in the first book and I think that is what happened here.  I hope the next novel in the series (if there is one) follows the storyline better and provides more to the war between the two realities better.  Unfortunately because it came off as being so laughable, I am giving this a 2 out of 5.

Cold Spell by Jackson Pearce

When I picked up Cold Spell by Jackson Pearce, I originally thought it was a retelling of Beauty and the Beast, but as I read more of the story it is a retelling of the Snow Queen's fairy tale.

Ginny has been friends with Kai since childhood; they even had plans to live in New York for a little while together.  Kai was a genius on the violin and Ginny was still learning her way in life.  When Kai's grandmother died suddenly, their plans and lives changed.  A mysterious girl shows us and puts Kai under and spell.  He leaves town with Mora and Ginny begins her journey find and win him back.  Along the way she learned the things that Kai's grandmother spoke about were real, even comes in contact with a few werewolves.  She does everything in her power to overcome her odds and rescue the man she loves.  Will she be able to defeat Mora and win Kai back?

This story was a little different from the other books in that it wasn't about what the wolves did with the women, but what happened when one of the women escapes the clutches of the wolves.  It really played on the Snow's Queen's themes of acceptance and belonging, not just with Mora, but also Ginny and Flannery.  It ties in with Fathomless in that Mora's ocean girl name was Ry, someone we briefly met in the previous novel.  The story was a little slow going at points, and I don't think this was one of Pearce's better novels, but it also isn't the worst.  It is still an thoroughly entertaining book.

The characters are interestingly strong.  Ginny is a woman who will not allow anyone to come in her way of accomplishing her goal, nor will she allow the man she loves to disappear without sound reason.  There were times when she came off as borderline obsessive, but if an evil woman steals your boyfriend what would you do?    Flannery is a character that I wanted more from, she seemed like she could have been a strong, powerful character as well.  Mora is the villain readers feel compelled to sympathize with.  She was conscious about what happened and wondered why she never felt as if she belonged or why she struggled to hold onto a love she lost. 

I am beginning to be able to see this series turned into a movie series as epic as Twilight or Harry Potter.  Pearce has an ongoing story that entralls readers and draws them in and causes them to crave more.  I personally cannot wait to pick up the next book in the series and see where Pearce takes this amazing story.  I give this book a 3.5 out of 5 stars for a rating.  I am excited to see what Pearce will come up with next and which fairy tale will be next in this roller coaster ride.

Sweetly by Jackson Pearce

Sweetly by Jackson Pearce is the second book in her Fairytale Retelling series.  This book takes a look at the classic fairy tale of Hansel and Gretel.  As young children Ansel and Gretchen mysteriously lose their sister, Gretchen's twin sister.  Their step-mother basically kicks them out when they turn 18, and the siblings take a trip across the country hoping to find a place where they fit in.  To their dismay, their car breaks down in a small little town, and in order to earn money to fix the car they take odd jobs at a chocolate maker.  One night, Gretchen decides to face her fears of the witch and comes face to face with the thing of her nightmare, only it is not a witch, but a werewolf.  Samuel helps her learn the things she needs to fight these monsters.  All the while she begins to learn that Sophia has been keeping secrets from her and Ansel.  What they discover could change the course of all four of their futures and cause them to face something they never imagined existed.

Sweetly was a good second novel to the series, it played on elements from Sister's Red with things like the wolves picking girls who wear red.  The plot build-up was well done with Gretchen finding different things showing that Sophia was hiding something.  Elements of Hansel and Gretel still remain such as the lore of the chocolate shop and the townspeople being weary of her, as well as the siblings' fear of a witch.  The twist of the witch actually being wolves was well presented and somewhat unpredictable.  I honestly wasn't aware that the two novels would be related, which makes me wonder if the rest of the series will be related as well.  I hope so.

Throughout the book readers don't know what Sophia's secret is and can only speculate.  When it is actually revealed readers are almost caught off guard.  The build-up to this reveal can be a little slow, but at the same time Pearce needed to develop a kinship with the characters and develop their personalities so that it would be a jarring ending.  Through this build-up we see Gretchen growing into her own strength, Ansel being torn between sister and the woman he loves, Sophia being torn apart by her love for the siblings and her secrets.  Pearce does a fantastic job engrossing his readers into a story that will keep them captivated.

I was weary about reading this book, but found it to be a great novel.  I would give it a rating of 4 out of 5 because it does take a while to get to the climax of the story, but when it does the rest of the story flies by.  I am anticipating reading Fathonless next, wonder what Pearce has in store for us now.