Book Review: Beastkeeper by Cat Hellisen

Beastkeeper by Cat Hellisen
Published: February 3rd 2015 by Henry Holt and Co. (BYR)
Format: Paper Book
Length: 208 pages
Genre: Fantasy, Middle Grade, Magic, Fairytale, Beauty and the Beast
Rating: 3.5 stars
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Sarah has always been on the move. Her mother hates the cold, so every few months her parents pack their bags and drag her off after the sun. She’s grown up lonely and longing for magic. She doesn’t know that it’s magic her parents are running from.

When Sarah’s mother walks out on their family, all the strange old magic they have tried to hide from comes rising into their mundane world. Her father begins to change into something wild and beastly, but before his transformation is complete, he takes Sarah to her grandparents—people she has never met, didn’t even know were still alive.

Deep in the forest, in a crumbling ruin of a castle, Sarah begins to untangle the layers of curses affecting her family bloodlines, until she discovers that the curse has carried over to her, too. The day she falls in love for the first time, Sarah will transform into a beast . . . unless she can figure out a way to break the curse forever.

Beastkeeper by Cat Hellisen is a beautiful, simple read that takes the Beauty and the Beast tale and twists the characters and events into a new story that delves deeper into the nature of curses and three generations of a family caught in the snare of magic, pride, and jealousy. Beastkeeper is a small book. It barely cracks 200 pages long. While I like stories that don’t overreach themselves and become rambling and unfocused, I do feel as if Beastkeeper could have been a little bigger. There are so many interesting characters that we learn so little of, that I wish the book had been longer just so they could have been fleshed out more. It’s a tease and we end up wanting more with no hope of getting it.

I liked Sarah as a character. She feels true to her age; as in there is a lot of crying when she feels overwhelmed and moments where she wants to give up and leave but the story won’t let her and she’s forced to grow up a little and deal with everything. Beastkeeper is dark for a children’s story. The ending is less a happy ending and more a balanced ending. The dead stay dead and the characters move on and deal with their fates for the most part. This is not your everyday fairytale revision. Hellisen creates an atmosphere with her writing that perfectly matches her story. From the cold in the forest to the twisting maze of the tower, her writing is magical and sets the tone for beasts and witches alike.

I found Beastkeeper in the young adult section of my library but the story is much better suited to a middle grade genre. The age of the main character and the tone of the romance angle are better aimed toward younger audiences (and adults like me who just like middle grade books for the stories they offer). Plus, there is the absolutely gorgeous cover. I’m seriously in love with it. I spent several minutes picking the hidden creatures out of the trees. I highly recommend Beastkeeper by Cat Hellisen for anyone who enjoys stories based in folklore and fairytales that have a touch of darkness to them.

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Book Review: The Darkest Part of the Forest by Holly Black

The Darkest Part of the Forest by Holly Black
Published: January 13th 2015 by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Format: Paper Book
Length: 336 pages
Genre: Fantasy, Fairytale, Magic, Urban Fantasy, Young Adult
Goodreads | Amazon

Children can have a cruel, absolute sense of justice. Children can kill a monster and feel quite proud of themselves. A girl can look at her brother and believe they’re destined to be a knight and a bard who battle evil. She can believe she’s found the thing she’s been made for.

Hazel lives with her brother, Ben, in the strange town of Fairfold where humans and fae exist side by side. The faeries’ seemingly harmless magic attracts tourists, but Hazel knows how dangerous they can be, and she knows how to stop them. Or she did, once.

At the center of it all, there is a glass coffin in the woods. It rests right on the ground and in it sleeps a boy with horns on his head and ears as pointed as knives. Hazel and Ben were both in love with him as children. The boy has slept there for generations, never waking.

Until one day, he does…

As the world turns upside down, Hazel tries to remember her years pretending to be a knight. But swept up in new love, shifting loyalties, and the fresh sting of betrayal, will it be enough?

Fairfold has a fairy problem. The citizens of this town have lived side by side with the Folk of the woods, maybe not completely peacefully, but at least successfully. Obey the rules and don’t act like a tourist and you’ll be fine. But something has upset the balance and now Fairfold finds itself under attack. I was really excited to read The Darkest Part of the Forest by Holly Black. I was ambivalent about her Curse Workers series but adore The Spiderwick Chronicles. (Yes, I’m an adult and I read The Spiderwick Chronicles in my 20’s.) So I knew I had a 50/50 chance of liking The Darkest Part of the Forest. Anything with fairies is an attention grabber for me. I was ready for a good old romp in an unspecified medieval European setting and was very pleased to find that The Darkest Part of the Forest was set in modern times, complete with cellphones and IPods. It makes the setting and characters easier to identify with. The characters were amazing but the pacing of events was a little frustrating.

The world-building and storytelling were delightful. The way in which Fairfold and the forest are crafted with modern and fairytale elements is fascinating. People of Fairfold drive cars and use cellphones but at the same time follow a set of fairytale rules like a Grimm story, wearing Ronan wood charms and carrying oatmeal and iron nails in their pockets. It’s an interesting amalgamation of two very different themes and I loved it. It took me a while to get into the characters. Hazel, the main female character, started off as a character I didn’t much like, kissing boys like it was a game and breaking hearts right and left with no remorse, but this quickly falls to the wayside as the story progresses and she gets less annoying and more interesting. We get a bit of a fake out with the horned boy. For as much significance placed on him in the beginning, it’s actually another fairy boy who features more in the story. But that would be telling…

I must congratulate Holly Black on a masterful use of a homosexual character, Ben. Why do I call it masterful? Because it’s not thrust into your face, like the author is crowing that she included a homosexual character in her book. Ben is an important character; his sexuality is kind of secondary to the chaos that is going on. In fact, Ben ends up with the fairy prince and it’s done without fanfare. I want to hug Holly Black for not making Ben a joke or holding him up as an oddity to be gawked at. Not a single aspect of Ben as a gay man is trivialized by some ignorant stereotype. Nothing unusual to see here, people. Move along.

I did have problems with the pacing of events and there was a lot of information bumping. I know it’s hard to get information out there in a fairytale because a lot of the information is oral, told through spoken stories. It’s not like anybody wrote down the fairy prince’s story for Hazel to find but it’s always a little disappointing when information is just dumped into your lap. It’s anticlimactic. The pacing of events was very uneven. Things would start happening and I would think the book was finally picking up steam only for it to flag again. It was frustrating being jerked around like that. Kind of like running into a wall when you’re trying to sprint.

The Darkest Part of the Forest is a creepy and sinister fairytale. There is no Tinkerbell here, people. The Folk are creatures unlike any cute, childhood story you may remember. I liked that. The Fey are nothing to joke around with and it’s nice that Holly Black didn’t shy away from the darker creatures that are cruel and murderous. There are a couple of tropes that made me roll my eyes a little and I felt like the secondary characters could have used a bit more fleshing out. The fairy prince and the monster at the heart of the forest were kind of left in the dust. Maybe there were simply too many characters and too much focus on Hazel being a special snowflake. The romances were rushed, dull and, it felt, stuck on there just for appearances sake. The atmosphere of the story was incredible but the plot was chaotic and kept me from really loving it. The Darkest Part of the Forest by Holly Black has fantastic world-building but fails in the execution a little.

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Book Review: Uprooted by Naomi Novik

Uprooted by Naomi Novik
Published: May 19th 2015 by Del Rey
Format: Paper Book
Length: 435 pages
Genre: Fantasy, Fairytale, Magic, Adult, Beauty & the Beast
Goodreads | Amazon

Agnieszka loves her valley home, her quiet village, the forests and the bright shining river. But the corrupted Wood stands on the border, full of malevolent power, and its shadow lies over her life.

Her people rely on the cold, driven wizard known only as the Dragon to keep its powers at bay. But he demands a terrible price for his help: one young woman handed over to serve him for ten years, a fate almost as terrible as falling to the Wood.

The next choosing is fast approaching, and Agnieszka is afraid. She knows—everyone knows—that the Dragon will take Kasia: beautiful, graceful, brave Kasia, all the things Agnieszka isn’t, and her dearest friend in the world. And there is no way to save her.

But Agnieszka fears the wrong things. For when the Dragon comes, it is not Kasia he will choose.

I won an ARC of Uprooted by Naomi Novik from Goodreads and, to be honest, I put off reading it because of its size. It is 435 pages long. I’m the type of person that believes if you can’t tell a story in under or close to 350 pages, then you need to edit down. Longer books tend to be slow or rambling and drive me crazy. I end up losing my patience and giving up waiting for something interesting to bloody happen. But I was reading such good things from other reviewers that Uprooted piqued my interest and I gave in. And, man, am I glad I did! While Uprooted was a bit slow in places and the Dragon is a jerk without any redeemable characteristics, it wasn’t enough to completely put me off because the rest of the book is just that awesome in my opinion.

You have to understand that my taste for romance in books has soured over the years. So much so that I’d rather stab myself in the eye with a letter opener than read one more young adult book where the male is an asshole for mysterious brooding reasons and the female is a twit merely because of her gender. I’m sick of it. It’s completely put me off of YA books as a whole. But it is also very hard to find the stories that I find entertaining in the adult genre, where the romance is a little more palatable in my opinion. That’s why I was doubly pleased to find that Uprooted was being marketed as an adult genre novel. I saw the light of hope at the end of the dark, annoying romance tunnel.

Agnieszka and the Dragon are complete opposites and while a type of halting, grudging romance does develop between them, it does not take over the book or hinder Agnieszka in any way. The romance between them falls to the background and the main plot with the Wood and the history of the valley and its people takes center stage. There is more focus on the sisterly relationship and loyalty between Agnieszka and Kasia then the budding feelings between Agnieszka and the Dragon. In short, I don’t end up simmering in frustration and impatience because the main female character is so focused on the main male character being a jerk to her that the story stalls while we waste time on poorly contrived emotional angst. Agnieszka does not spend time pining for the Dragon but rather gets on with things. Thank god…

My peeves with this story are that the Dragon (who does have a name but that isn’t revealed until late in the book and so I won’t use it here) is a big old jerk. He has reasons for being a jerk but that just makes him fall into my loathed ‘asshole for mysterious brooding reasons’ category. If the Dragon was more of a driving force in the story, I probably would have liked it less. The beginning interactions between Agnieszka and the Dragon are also a little long and could be tightened up so the pace doesn’t slag. Same thing with Agnieszka and the royal palace and other mages. We all get that something fishy was happening under the surface of political intrigue and court maneuverings but that part could have sped up as well. Uprooted could have gotten a little more editing and been better off for it.

The fantasy genre has been growing by leaps and bounds the past couple of years. All you need to do is browse through a list of popular novels and TV shows to see that fantasy is becoming mainstream. And I am so thankful for that. Uprooted is firmly in the fairytale-esque tradition, playing off the whole ‘dragon kidnaps a princess for evil purposes’ story so familiar to us from childhood. But the story is so much more than that. It is so refreshing to see a capable, tenacious heroine in Agnieszka and a story rich in history, detail, and imagery. The malevolent Wood seems to have a life of its own within the story and the sense of creepy, malicious awareness reaches out to send cold chills up the reader’s spine. Everything in Uprooted is so vivid that putting down the book at the end of the day was a physical pain.

Uprooted by Naomi Novik captivated me. It was a touch slow but once the characters returned to the valley to confront the Wood and its far-reaching, evil manipulations and sorrowful past, the story picked up and I could hardly turn pages fast enough. The Wood is a character in itself in the book, much more than the flimsy creations in other fairytale novels. I was amazed by every detail and twist. The story telling in Uprooted is masterful and weaves a brilliant tale with excellent world-building and interesting characters. If you are looking for romance, you might be disappointed. But if you are looking for a fantasy fairytale novel suited toward adults, then Uprooted is definitely for you. Uprooted sinks its teeth into you and doesn’t let go until the end. Despite its failings, I completely enjoyed it.

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Book Review: The Hero’s Guide to Saving Your Kingdom by Christopher Healy

The Hero’s Guide to Saving Your Kingdom by Christopher Healy
Published May 1st 2012 by Walden Pond Press
Format: Paper Book
Length: 419 pages
Genre: Fantasy, Fairy Tale, Adventure, Humor
Goodreads | Amazon

Prince Liam. Prince Frederic. Prince Duncan. Prince Gustav. You’ve never heard of them, have you? These are the princes who saved Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, Snow White, and Rapunzel, respectively, and yet, thanks to those lousy bards who wrote the tales, you likely know them only as Prince Charming. But all of this is about to change.

Rejected by their princesses and cast out of their castles, the princes stumble upon an evil plot that could endanger each of their kingdoms. Now it’s up to them to triumph over their various shortcomings, take on trolls, bandits, dragons, witches, and other assorted terrors, and become the heroes no one ever thought they could be.

Christopher Healy’s Hero’s Guide to Saving Your Kingdom is a completely original take on the world of fairy tales, the truth about what happens after “happily ever after.” It’s a must-have for middle grade readers who enjoy their fantasy adventures mixed with the humor of the Diary of a Wimpy Kid books. Witty black-and-white drawings by Todd Harris add to the fun.

The Hero’s Guide to Saving Your Kingdom by Christopher Healy is just the type of middle grade book I adore to pieces. It’s imaginative, original, and makes fun of every fairy tale cliché it can get its hands on. The humor is cheesy and ridiculous while the characters are bumbling but good-hearted. This was exactly the silly, funny book that I wanted to read and I think other readers will have just as much fun with it as I did.

What I Liked

 The Hero’s Guide doesn’t take itself seriously and the cheesy humor and fairy tale mayhem are great. This fractured fairy tale book takes familiar characters, the Prince Charming stock character, and really turns them on their heads. There are jokes and jabs galore aimed at the bumbling princes. Their incompetence is endearing but they are individuals and each prince’s personality is unique.

 I love fairy tale rewrites and The Hero’s Guide uses a lot of different fairy tales. There are a lot of in-jokes and references to other classics written into the story that the observant will catch too.

 The illustrations by Todd Harris were an unexpected additional surprise that added that extra touch. It was nice to see such detailed pictures of our heroes. (Even if Briar Rose, Sleeping Beauty, could be mistaken for Bell from Beauty and the Beast because of the yellow dress.) Snow White was especially amusing with all of her bows.

 There is a hilarious villain who encapsulates every clichéd and eye roll worthy action a fairy tale villain could ever take. The witch Zaubera is almost my favorite character of the whole bunch.

What I Didn’t Like

 There are points where the slapstick humor gets in the way of plot and can become annoying. The book stretches a little overlong.

 Some people might find this too inane and unstructured. You have to be in the mood to be amused and fluffily entertained.

Let’s be honest, The Hero’s Guide to Saving Your Kingdom is cute and funny but shouldn’t be taken seriously. Your brain can rest while reading this one and just have a good time with an adventure and some loveable characters. We get to see one author’s take on some important fairy tale characters and seeing the vastly different personalities of the princes is interesting. The Hero’s Guide to Saving Your Kingdom by Christopher Healy is a fat, squat brick of a book that I feel could have lost a little weight and been better for it but overall is a hilarious and fun fairy tale read. It breaths some new life into an old favorite.

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Book Review: Summerkin by Sarah Prineas

Summerkin by Sarah Prineas
Published April 23rd 2013 by HarperCollins
Format: Paper Book
Legnth: 320 pages
Genre: Middle Grade, Fantasy, Fairy, Adventure
Goodreads | Amazon

“Down through the Way she fell, feeling the wind and the pressing darkness, the dizzy thump when she landed on the bank. She was through. The air felt softer here, the shadows deeper—and the pull of her connection to the land settled into her bones.”

In the Summerlands, time moves slowly, roots grow deeply, and change is not welcomed. But change is needed.

After defeating the wicked Mor and freeing her kin from deadly oaths made to this false ruler, Fer is now the rightful Lady of the land. Yet her people don’t know what to make of their new Lady’s strange ways, and neither do the High Ones, the rulers of the magical realm, for Fer is an outsider—half human.

To prove herself worthy of the Summerlands crown, Fer is summoned to compete in an epic contest where her strengths and skills will be tested and her loyalties challenged. Can she trust Rook, the puck she calls friend? Can she trust herself? If Fer fails, she will lose her land and the Way will be closed to her forever.

I’m trying to be better about reading series. I have a horrible time keeping track of when new books come out. Since I liked Winterling by Sarah Prineas so much, I was really pleased when I found the sequel Summerkin. I adore classic fairy tales and being a middle grade book, I knew Summerkin would be imaginative and adventurous. I had a few issues with it but I still enjoyed reading it.

What I Liked

 It had that classic fairy tale touch to it that I’ve loved ever since I was a child and now feel so nostalgic and fond of as an adult.

 Rook and Fer’s bees were my favorite characters. Rook is a mischievous puck and his friendship with Fer causes a lot of conflict with him. I loved all of the pucks really. The bees were really interesting and it was nice to see nature helping Fer in such a way.

 The fairy folklore and law woven through the story is vastly fascinating. I’ve studied it a bit in my Pagan studies and especially find the law of three intriguing. (Being asked a question three times, swearing an oath three times, etc.) It was a pleasure seeing the fairy culture expanded in Summerkin and Prineas’ world building is exceptional.

What I Didn’t Like

 It was predictable. When using the fairy tale theme in a novel, it’s best to change it up somehow and make it truly original. But I knew pretty much what was going to happen in Summerkin after a few chapters.

 I could have done with some more character development. Rook gets most of the attention on that end and it leaves the other characters a little flat. As the main character, I would have liked more focus on Fer and her thoughts and we’re never given very much information on the bad guy. There are also a whole host of secondary characters that could have been amazing if given a little more attention. They end up as background scenery because they were no neglected.

Summerkin left me feeling a little bored and let down. I finished it but I wasn’t wowed and it lacked any punch. It’s filled with clichés and overused ‘pure-hearted maiden’ formulae that made the whole book predictable and Fer a little one-dimensional. Summerkin by Sarah Prineas was a comfortable magical read and gave a good hit of nostalgia to the heart but the plot was rote and the characters dull. It’s good for a lazy read but don’t expect anything exceptional.

Book Review: The Ugly Stepsister Strikes Back by Sariah Wilson

The Ugly Stepsister Strikes Back by Sariah Wilson
Published August 15th 2012 by Fire & Ice Books
Format: Kindle ebook: freebie
Length: 194 pages (or 224 pages?) / 330 KB
Genre: Young Adult, Romance, Contemporary, Fairytale
Reading Level: All Ages
Goodreads | Amazon

Everyone knows how all those fairy tales go. The princess gets beautiful, nabs her prince, falls instantly in love, lives happily ever after and leaves her evil stepsisters in the dust.   But what happens when you’re the ugly stepsister and your obnoxiously perfect — read pretty, smart, and, worst of all, sickeningly nice — stepsister is dating the charming, tall, devastatingly handsome guy you’ve had a thing for since you were nine years old?

Quirky, artistic and snarky Mattie Lowe does not lead a charmed life. Her mother is constantly belittling her on Skype. Mercedes, the school mean girl, has made it her personal mission to torment Mattie. But worst of all? Her stepsister Ella is the most beautiful, popular girl in school and is dating Mattie’s secret longtime crush, Jake Kingston.

Tired of being left out and done with waiting for her own stupid fairy godmother to show up, Mattie decides to change her life. She’ll start by running for senior class president against wildly popular Jake.

Ella can keep her Prince Annoying. Mattie’s going to rule the school.

And no one, not even a cute and suddenly flirty Jake, is going to stop her.

I first saw The Ugly Stepsister Strikes Back by Sariah Wilson during its blog tour and when I saw it was available as an ebook freebie, I snapped it up.  I adore fairytale rewrites. A fairytale mash up is pretty much guaranteed to make me happy. The Ugly Stepsister Strikes Back was fun and light and a nice, quick read. It made me laugh. It made me cry. It…ignited a fiery ball of rage in my chest that burned with the heat of a thousand suns. Let me explain my epic rage to you. (I’m about to be harsh. Sorry.)

Wilson used the biggest, baddest ugly stepsister/duckling cliché of them all. The world is being tricked, everybody! The ugly stepsister isn’t really ugly at all and with a little bit of effort, some hair styling, and a touch of makeup she can be utterly beautiful. The underdog is only some eyeliner and lip gloss away from being the pretty princess. Mattie’s style is punkish and funky, she’s got an attitude and a problem with stupid people, but none of that matters because she apparently has great boobs. In fact, we’re told that one of the first real meetings between Mattie and her object of obsession Jake is between lover boy, a skimpy robe, and her awesome boobs. It’s one of those ridiculous situations where if the nerd takes their glasses off they are suddenly pretty or handsome and as a certified ugly person, I am deeply insulted. Ella is just misunderstood and Mattie really isn’t ugly. The only problems these girls have are the ones manufactured in their heads. They are rich, beautiful, and hormonal and I want to gag.

[deep breath] Sorry if some of my indignation got on your clothing. I think I was the completely wrong person to read this book. Yes, it has a basis in the fairytale Cinderella. But it is also a teenage drama and teenage drama makes me want to scream. I have zero interest in teenagers’ petty problems. I would have dropped Jake like a hot potato after he asked me to do the school project on my own and then add his name to it. No excuses; I don’t care how much pressure your parents are putting on you. Instead, Mattie continues to chase after the ass. I think my eye started to twitch at this point.

Despite my displeasure with many things, I did finish the book. The Stepsister Strikes Back has some charming points and watching Mattie make a real connection with Ella and then stand up for herself against her mother was nice. It’s predictable but that’s just the nature of the creature when dealing with a fairytale rewrite. It would have been nice to see some sort of twist but the plot remains fairly straight forward. It would help if the book followed the blurb it has but it’s less about Mattie taking charge and coming into her own and more about everyone around Mattie teaming up to get her and Jake together. It’s a disappointing fake out, really. The Ugly Stepsister Strikes Back by Sariah Wilson was just ok in my opinion. I’m mostly just glad I didn’t pay for it.

Rating: 2.5 stars : Meh

Book Review: Splintered by A.G. Howard

Splintered by A.G. Howard
Published January 1st 2013 by Amulet Books
Format: Paper Book
Length: 371 pages
Genre: Young Adult, Romance, Fantasy, Dark Fairytale
Reading Level: Mature Teen
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This stunning debut captures the grotesque madness of a mystical under-land, as well as a girl’s pangs of first love and independence.

Alyssa Gardner hears the whispers of bugs and flowers — precisely the affliction that landed her mother in a mental hospital years before. This family curse stretches back to her ancestor Alice Liddell, the real-life inspiration for Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. Alyssa might be crazy, but she manages to keep it together. For now.

When her mother’s mental health takes a turn for the worse, Alyssa learns that what she thought was fiction is based in terrifying reality. The real Wonderland is a place far darker and more twisted than Lewis Carroll ever let on. There, Alyssa must pass a series of tests, including draining an ocean of Alice’s tears, waking the slumbering tea party, and subduing a vicious bandersnatch, to fix Alice’s mistakes and save her family. She must also decide whom to trust: Jeb, her gorgeous best friend and secret crush, or the sexy but suspicious Morpheus, her guide through Wonderland, who may have dark motives of his own.

I adore Alice in Wonderland and any novel with even an inkling of connection to it gets a definite read from me. That’s why I was so excited to finally get my hands on Splintered by A.G. Howard after waiting for two weeks for a copy to finally become available at my library. I always say; it takes a bit of madness to deal with Wonderland. Unfortunately, all my excitement was for not. I was extremely disappointed with Splintered. It pinged every annoyance button I have in regards to YA novels and drove me nuts while I read it because I could see the potential for a great novel hidden underneath irritating main characters and the nauseating and aggravating teenage romance. I’m about to be very harsh here. You’ve been warned.

First; the good. I loved the dark, gritty remake of Wonderland. It’s a more mature version of the fantastical land, where everything is now covered with a layer of horror; completely unlike what we see in the original novel and the Disney movie. It’s a very English look at the fairy creatures, which are more often portrayed as not very nice or good. I love it when authors working with Alice and Wonderland revamp the story into a more adult version. Howard’s Wonderland is nightmarish and fascinating. All of the secondary characters are fantastic. The Twid Sisters in the cemetery are my favorite, although the dark fairytale quality to everyone makes the reimagined characters so much fun. The plot is complex and the twist surprisingly a surprise. The world-making in Splintered is the best part of the whole novel. 

Second; the bad. For me, this meant all of the main characters. Alyssa is a whiny child and Jeb is a controlling alpha male that should have been left on the opposite side of the mirror. Morpheus is okay but I feel he could have had a bit more mystery about him. He’s solidly cast as a sort of villain rather early in the book and I feel he could have had a bit more “is he or isn’t he” surrounding him. But my main peeve with this book is Alyssa and Jeb and their utterly stupid romance. Jeb is an obstacle to Alyssa’s journey and character development. He’s a controlling alpha male that needs to go away so Alyssa can continue her development into an independent person. As it is, Alyssa comes off as a whiny child that can’t deal with anything. This is not what I am looking for in a protagonist. The romance is clichéd, the page long descriptions of kissing are more nauseating than anything else, and the pair fairly ruins the book in my opinion.

The novel does get better near the end but that’s only because Jeb falls into a crevasse and is then carted off to the castle and Alyssa actually has to deal with things rather than focusing on Jeb’s honey sweet lips and perfect butt or whatever the hell it was. Look; I get that they are teenagers and I understand being focused on your crush but there is ‘focused’ and then there is obsessed and codependent and maybe you two should see other people. The novel is a touch too long in my opinion and would have gained from moving a little faster. So, Splintered by A.G. Howard was a fail for me. It reads like a check list of the most annoying things about YA novels for me. Maybe you like that type of romance and Alyssa and Jeb’s utter occupation with each other (completely ignoring any type of character development and bogging the plot down to a crawl) is something you might like. Your mileage may vary, as they say.

Book Review: Scarlet and the White Wolf by Kirby Crow

Scarlet and the White Wolf by Kirby Crow
Published June 28th 2006 by Torquere Press, Inc.
Format: Kindle ebook
Length: 246 pages / 446KB
Genre: Fantasy, Romance, M/M, Adventure
Reading Level: Teen
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Scarlet of Lysia is an honest peddler, a young merchant traveling the wild, undefended roads to support his aging parents. Liall, called the Wolf of Omara, is the handsome, world-weary chieftain of a tribe of bandits blocking a mountain road that Scarlet needs to cross. When Liall jokingly demands a carnal toll for the privilege, Scarlet refuses and an inventive battle of wills ensues, with disastrous results. Scarlet is convinced that Liall is a worthless, immoral rogue, but when the hostile countryside explodes into violence and Liall unexpectedly fights to save the lives of Scarlet’s family, Scarlet is forced to admit that the Wolf is not the worst ally he could have, but what price will proud Scarlet ultimately have to pay for Liall’s friendship?

It’s Little Red Riding Hood with a … ahem… twist. This isn’t my first foray into m/m relationships but this is the first time I’ve read an original novel with that themes. I mostly read fanfiction and I must admit that reading a proper book with a homosexual pairing as the main characters was a little odd for me. Scarlet and the White Wolf by Kirby Crow adapted a classic fairytale into an adventure story for adults and Crow’s story is detailed and vivid in a way the old fairytale can’t match. (Thank god. I can feel my childhood squirming.) I’m afraid that I might be a little bias because I’ve been reading fanfiction with m/m pairings since I was a teen and actually reading a proper novel with the same subject makes me too happy for words. Plus, I always enjoy classic fairytales being turned on their heads and Crow created a masterful world and characters from the base material.

There truly are no original plots anymore. Scarlet is a stubborn but handsome man that won’t back down from a challenge. Liall is a rouge with a secret heart of gold. Scarlet hates the arrogant Liall at first but then Liall does something to prove he’s more than he seems and Scarlet warms up to him. This is pretty much every love story ever. I pretty much expected that. But it’s interesting because under that overused premise lurks tidbits of a larger story and events that the characters are just barely getting into by the end of the novel. (Woe and frustration!) Those morsels of world building draw the reader in and we all love to watch the train wreck that is the relationship between Scarlet and Liall. Their story spans a whole continent and beyond.

Like I said, I’m probably bias because the two main characters are men and I’m fascinated with nontraditional relationships. Past their love story is a tale involving entire populations, royalty, and a fading goddess. I really want to know what those little teasers will revolve into and how Scarlet will fair in the far north with Liall’s people. I think the series might end up being a nice fantasy epic if my predictions of where the story is going are right. I think this is one novel where the sequel might be better than the first book. Scarlet and the White Wolf by Kirby Crow has the makings of a great series and I think well worth the read. It’s a romance that can be a readers’ guilty little pleasure and will surprise you with how complex it is. There is some petting and smooching between the two main characters but I think an older teen should have no problem reading this book.

Rating 3.5 out 5

Wishlist Wednesday #67 (12/19/12)

Wishlist Wednesday is a book blog hop where we will post about one book per week that has been on our wishlist for some time, or just added (it’s entirely up to you), that we can’t wait to get off the wishlist and onto our wonderful shelves.

Enchanted Glass by Diana Wynne Jones
Published April 6th 2010 by HarperCollins Children’s Books

Something is rotten in the village of Melstone

Aidan Cain has had the worst week of his life. Creepy, sinister beings want him dead. What’s a boy to do? With danger nipping at his heels, Aidan flees to Melstone, a village teeming with magic of its own. There he is taken in by Andrew Hope, the new master of Melstone House, who has some supernatural troubles too. Someone is stealing power from the area–mingling magics–and chaos is swiftly rising. Are Aidan’s and Andrew’s magical dilemmas connected somehow? And will they be able to unite their powers and unlock the secrets of Melstone before the countryside comes apart at the seams?

Diana Wynne Jones is pretty much my favorite classic fantasy author and has been ever since I read Howl’s Moving Castle as a teen. Her stories are a return to pure fairytale storytelling and are always a joy to read. I made it my mission in life to read all of her books and then watch any movie that might have been created. The Studio Ghibli Howl’s Moving Castle is a masterpiece of Japanese animation. Some of DWJ’s older books are harder to find. I’ve been unable to find a copy of Witch’s Business for example and have been quietly driving myself insane for years looking for it. So, when new books come out by her they go right on the TBR list. I’ll get to all of them eventually. DWJ has been writing for longer than I’ve been alive and I need to catch up!

Mini Book Review: The Fairy Ring by Mary Losure

The Fairy Ring: Or Elsie and Frances Fool the World by Mary Losure
Published March 27th 2012 by Candlewick
Length: 166 pages; plus notes
Genre: Fantasy, Children’s Books
Reading Level: Ages 10 & Up
ISBN 0763656704 (ISBN 13: 9780763656706)
Goodreads | Amazon

The enchanting true story of a girl who saw fairies, and another with a gift for art, who concocted a story to stay out of trouble and ended up fooling the world. Frances was nine when she first saw the fairies. They were tiny men, dressed all in green. Nobody but Frances saw them, so her cousin Elsie painted paper fairies and took photographs of them “dancing” around Frances to make the grown-ups stop teasing. The girls promised each other they would never, ever tell that the photos weren’t real. But how were Frances and Elsie supposed to know that their photographs would fall into the hands of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle? And who would have dreamed that the man who created the famous detective Sherlock Holmes believed ardently in fairies — and wanted very much to see one? Mary Losure presents this enthralling true story as a fanciful narrative featuring the original Cottingley fairy photos and previously unpublished drawings and images from the family’s archives. A delight for everyone with a fondness for fairies, and for anyone who has ever started something that spun out of control.

For a mini book, we have a mini review. I’m hesitant to call The Fairy Ring by Mary Losure a proper fiction book. The events in the book are true and a simple internet search will lead you to many sources. At the same time Losure fleshes out the events with a bit of background and more from the girls. There are direct quotes from letters and articles and the like. It’s a mish-mash of material. It’s a mini book. It’s a book waiting to grow up. The Fairy Ring could have been something more if the author had just taken the story farther but as it stands we’re kind of muddling in the middle with a half story. It’s a pleasant read and very cute but I had the feeling I was reading someone’s report rather than a proper fiction book. There was a story lurking somewhere in there but it wasn’t fully portrayed. That being said, The Fairy Ring by Mary Losure was amusing and enjoyable.