Cruel Crown ~ Victoria Aveyard (Red Queen 0.1 & 0.2)

Cruel Crown 
by Victoria Aveyard
YA Dystopian Fantasy
Novella Collection
Link to Goodreads

Two women on either side of the Silver and Red divide tell the stories no one else knows. 

Discover the truth of Norta's bloody past in these two revealing prequels to #1 New York Times bestseller Red Queen. 

Queen Song

Queen Coriane, first wife of King Tiberias, keeps a secret diary-how else can she ensure that no one at the palace will use her thoughts against her? Coriane recounts her heady courtship with the crown prince, the birth of a new prince, Cal, and the potentially deadly challenges that lay ahead for her in royal life.

Steel Scars

Diana Farley was raised to be strong, but being tasked with planting the seeds of rebellion in Norta is a tougher job than expected. As she travels the land recruiting black market traders, smugglers, and extremists for her first attempt at an attack on the capital, she stumbles upon a connection that may prove to be the key to the entire operation-Mare Barrow.

My Review

I actually enjoyed the first story, Queen Song. It was interesting to see what Queen Coriane went through during her time at court. It was even more heartbreaking knowing what was going to happen to her. 

Steel Scars, however, I did not finish. I picked it up about five different times and was only able to get through one or two pages each time. It just did not hold my interest and felt way too slow for a novella. 

Even though I did not like Steel Scars, I would recommend the novellas to fans of the Red Queen series. 1.5 out of 5 Stars. 

Red Queen ~ Victoria Aveyard

Red Queen
by Victoria Aveyard
YA Dystopian Fantasy
Link to Goodreads

This is a world divided by blood - red or silver.

The Reds are commoners, ruled by a Silver elite in possession of god-like superpowers. And to Mare Barrow, a seventeen-year-old Red girl from the poverty-stricken Stilts, it seems like nothing will ever change.

That is, until she finds herself working in the Silver Palace. Here, surrounded by the people she hates the most, Mare discovers that, despite her red blood, she possesses a deadly power of her own. One that threatens to destroy the balance of power.

Fearful of Mare's potential, the Silvers hide her in plain view, declaring her a long-lost Silver princess, now engaged to a Silver prince. Despite knowing that one misstep would mean her death, Mare works silently to help the Red Guard, a militant resistance group, and bring down the Silver regime.

But this is a world of betrayal and lies, and Mare has entered a dangerous dance - Red against Silvers, prince against prince, and Mare against her own heart...

My Review

A perfect example of a book that I was super excited about that just fell flat. Ok, not really flat, because I did enjoy it - just not as much as I had anticipated. I expected an epic fantasy, but ended up reading a book that couldn't seem to decide if it is dystopian (with cars & airplanes) or epic fantasy (with the world building, magic, & royalty). Eh, ok... dystopian fantasy. 

The world building is pretty cool. There are different kingdoms - two are at war - and each of them is ruled by Silvers: those with silver blood and magical (god-like) abilities. Reds (red blooded, non-magical) are forced to work and fight for the Silvers. 

Somehow, Mare discovers that she is both. She bleeds red, but has silver abilities. This places her in a dangerous position, especially when she suddenly shows these abilities in front of the entire royal court. Forced to hid her red blood, Mare must become a Silver to live - at least until the King & Queen can figure out how to safely kill her without arousing suspicion. 

I really liked Mare until she started yo-yoing between Cal and Maven. She would hate Cal one minute, and be seeking him out in the next --- all the while, engaged to Maven and forming feelings for him. I hate love triangles, and while this was not completely a love triangle (actually, square if you add in Kilorn), it was close enough to one to bother me. 

The ending was expected. EVERYONE LIES. It just made me frustrated to see just how stupid and naive Mare still was after over a month of living with Silvers. 

Decent read, but not one I would ever read again. I can see where many people would really enjoy it. 3 out of 5 Stars. 

The Shadow Queen ~ C. J. Redwine

The Shadow Queen
by C. J. Redwine
YA Fantasy
Snow White Retelling
Link to Goodreads

Lorelai Diederich, crown princess and fugitive at large, has one mission: kill the wicked queen who took both the Ravenspire throne and the life of her father. To do that, Lorelai needs to use the one weapon she and Queen Irina have in common-magic. She'll have to be stronger, faster, and more powerful than Irina, the most dangerous sorceress Ravenspire has ever seen.

In the neighboring kingdom of Eldr, when Prince Kol's father and older brother are killed by an invading army of magic-wielding ogres, the second-born prince is suddenly given the responsibility of saving his kingdom. To do that, Kol needs magic-and the only way to get it is to make a deal with the queen of Ravenspire, promise to become her personal huntsman... and bring her Lorelai's heart.

But Lorelai is nothing like Kol expected-beautiful, fierce, and unstoppable-and despite dark magic, Lorelai is drawn in by the passionate and troubled king. Fighting to stay one step ahead of the dragon  huntsman-who she likes far more than she should-Lorelai does everything in her power to ruin the wicked queen. But Irina isn't going down without a fight, and her final move may cost the princess the one thing she still has left to lose.

My Review

I really enjoyed this take on Snow White. But then again, who could argue with a retelling that includes dragons? 

Lorelai and her brother, Leo, are on the run from their step mother: the sorceress queen Irina. 

Kol is the rebellious second son of the Dragon King. His only interest is in parties. That is, until his father and older brother are killed by ogres and he is forced to become king. Kol seeks out the only one he think can help him agains the ogres invading his kingdom - the neighboring Ravenspire's own sorceress queen. 

Kol and Lorelai's paths collide as he is tricked into killing her. Will his blood thirsty dragon heart win? Or will Lorelai be able to help him remember his human side? 

Many of the characters are written beautifully. There is humor and hardship that can be found in each one. However, I think that Kol's character development is lacking. In the beginning, it is obvious that he is the party boy. Suddenly thrown into a leadership role, Kol abandons the party side of him completely. I just don't think this is believable for his character. I would have liked to have seen him trying to keep some of that part of him. 

A highly enjoyable read. I cannot wait for the next book (no this is not a cliffhanger ending). Recommended read! 4.5 out of 5 Stars!

Welcome to 2017

2016 was a good year for books. I read quite a few, and found some new favorites.

I am hoping that 2017 will produce even more favorites. This year, I have decided to take on the Edwards Challenge (info take from the Goodreads group page.).

Margaret A. Edwards was a seminal force in creating young adult spaces in libraries. Edwards authored The Fair Garden and the Swarm of Beasts, a book about her experiences as a librarian working to advise and advocate for young adults in the library. The Margaret A. Edwards Award, distributed by YALSA, is named for her, and the Alex Awards, also distributed by YALSA are sponsored by her trust. Edwards required her employees to read 300 books per year so they could be a living advisory resource. This challenge honors her thinking, and challenges participants (especially librarians and library and information science students) to read 300 books, YA and/or children's, a year.

Yup, this means that I am going to try and read 300 books this year. Yikes! Fortunately, one of my Masters classes that is coming up will knock out a handful of books from this challenge.

Also, 2017 means that I will be serving on a Nutmeg award committee. For those of you who don't know what that is, it is our state (Connecticut) book awards. Committees read through 80+ books and narrow them down to the final ten (10) that will be voted on by students across the state. The Nutmeg Book Award encourages children in grades 2-12 to read quality literature and to chose their favorite from a list of ten nominated titles (Nutmeg Award).


I'd like to end this post with just a couple favorites from 2016:

Heartless
by Marissa Meyer

Jackaby
by William Ritter

The Shadow Queen
by C. J. Redwine

My Lady Jane
by Hand, Aston, & Meadows

Cruel Beauty ~ Rosamund Hodge

Cruel Beauty
by Rosamund Hodge
YA Fantasy 
Beauty & the Beast Retellings
Link to Goodreads

Graceling meets Beauty and the Beast in this sweeping fantasy about one girl's journey to fulfill her destiny and the monster who gets in her way-by stealing her heart. 

Based on the classic fairy tale Beauty and the Beast, Cruel Beauty is a dazzling love story about our deepest desires and their power to change our destiny.

Since birth, Nyx has been betrothed to the evil ruler of her kingdom-all because of a foolish bargain struck by her father. And since birth, she has been in training to kill him.

With no choice but to fulfill her duty, Nyx resents her family for never trying to save her and hates herself for wanting to escape her fate. Still, on her seventeenth birthday, Nyx abandons everything she's ever known to marry the all-powerful, immortal Ignifex. Her plan? Seduce him, destroy his enchanted castle, and break the nine-hundred-year-old curse he put on her people.

But Ignifex is not at all what Nyx expected. The strangely charming lord beguiles her, and his castle-a shifting maze of magical rooms-enthralls her.

As Nyx searches for a way to free her homeland by uncovering Ignifex's secrets, she finds herself unwillingly drawn to him. Even if she could bring herself to love her sworn enemy, how can she refuse her duty to kill him? With time running out, Nyx must decide what is more important: the future of her kingdom, or the man she was never supposed to love.

My Review: 

I almost put this boon down several times. It wasn't until around 70/80 pages that it actually got interesting and began to hold my attention. However, around 150 pages it started to lose me again; then around 250 I was done. But, with only 100 pages left I decided to push through and see how it ended. Part of me is glad that I stuck with it, but mostly I'm mad at myself for not putting it down around thee 70 page mark. It was just not worth the read. 

The characters were flat and their actions made no sense to the overall story and what had already been established. Nyx was angry most of the time, yet in instances where she should be mad, she wasn't. She fell "in love" with Ignifex very quickly, but yet she still hated him. Oh... and if it wasn't confusing enough, let's just throw a love triangle in there. 

Nyx's relationship with her sister was also very confusing. It was clear that she hated and resented her sister, yet she still wanted to save her and in the end made a deal with her - that made no sense. 

Also, this was supposed to be a retelling of Beauty and the Beast, but there was so much Greek mythology that the retelling did not make sense. It felt like the author couldn't decide what she wanted to do - nice retelling or Greek mythology retelling - so she didn't choose and decided to do both. It did not work. It make the book very confusing. What was even more confusing was that there really wasn't a "beast." Ignifex was a sworn enemy, but Nyx is attracted to him right away. There is no growth of love, or a long lost, lonely beast that captures her. 

Overall, the book was very confusing and the ending made no sense. I would not recommend this book. 1 out of 5 Stars. 

Stitching Snow ~ R. C. Lewis

Stitching Snow
by R. C. Lewis
YA Science Fiction
Snow White Retelling
Link to Goodreads

Princess Snow is missing.

Her home planet is filled with violence and corruption at the hands of King Matthais and his wife as they attempt to punish her captors. The king will stop at nothing to get his beloved daughter back - but that's assuming she wants to return at all.

Essie has grown used to being cold. Temperatures on the planet Thanda are always sub-zero, and she fills her days with coding and repairs for the seven loyal drones that run the local mines.

When a young man name Dane crash-lands near her home, Essie agrees to help the pilot repair his ship. But soon she realizes that Dane's arrival was far from accidental, and she's pulled into the heart of a war she's risked everything to avoid. With the galaxy's future - and her own - in jeopardy, Essie must choose who to trust in a fiery fight for survival.

My Review

I really enjoyed the book when I first started reading it. In fact, I couldn't put it down. However, once Essie was kidnapped my enjoyment started to wane. I did not agree with her reactions. Essie seemed too attached to Dane, even though she was still angry, but it was the attachment that came out of no where. There was nothing really leading up to that, and during the build-up to the kidnapping everything made it seem like she would just be in a blind fury, unable to control the rage. 

Essie is not your normal "Snow White" princess. She does live with seven.... well... drones (ones she made herself); but rather than the delicate little princess, Essie enjoys cage fights and stitching together computer and mechanical components. Living on the frozen mining planet Thanda, Essie thought she had escaped her past until Dane appears and kidnaps her in an attempt to ransom her for Exile prisoners. 

I did like Dane's character. His development was much smoother than Essie's. You do not fully understand Essie's aversion to people touching her until about three-quarters of the way through the book. And even then, it is hinted at but not fully realized until the very end. It turns out she wasn't just running away from being murdered by her step-mother, Olivia. She was running from her father as well. 

Overall, I think it was a clever adaptation of Snow White, and fairly well written. There were just a few character development flaws and a few situations that did not quite work for the story. 

Recommended, especially for fans of classic retellings. 4 out of 5 Stars. 

Heartless ~ Marissa Meyer (Warning, contains Spoilers)

Heartless
by Marissa Meyer
YA Fantasy
Wonderland Retellings
Link to Goodreads

Catherine may be one of the most desired girls in Wonderland and a favorite of the unmarried King, but her interests lie elsewhere. A talented baker, she wants to open a shop and create delectable pastries. But for her mother, such a goal is unthinkable for a woman who could be a queen.

At a royal ball where Cath is expected to receive the King's marriage proposal, she meets handsome and mysterious Jest. For the first time, she feels the pull of true attraction. At the risk of offending the King and infuriating her parents, she and Jest enter into a secret courtship.

Cath is determined to choose her own destiny. But in a land thriving with magic, madness, and monsters, fate has other plans.

My Review

Heartless? More like heartbreaker - that is, unless Meyer is referring to herself. 

Ok. I knew this was Wonderland going in, but I had forgotten that it was an origin story for the Queen of Hearts. Once I remembered that, I knew what was going to have to end up happening - which I was NOT happy about. 

All Cath wants to do is bake with her best friend & servant Mary Ann. All her mother wants is for her to marry the King, and that is all he wants as well. She has hopes and dreams in a time where it was impossible for a girl to have hopes and dreams of her own. 

Jest/Joker was a little too perfect the first time we meet him. I wasn't too sure how I felt about him until the second meeting. It was then, that we saw a little imperfections and I knew he and Cath simply had to end up together. 

SPOILER ALERT:  But of course, that would mean she wouldn't have become the Queen of Hearts. Stupid origin story. Why? Why, why, why?  SPOILER END

I do like how we see each character from Alice's Adventures in Wonderland grow into who they are in Carroll's classic. The characters may have each started out in different paths in Heartless, but in the end, everything was lined up - with the exception of maybe Jack the Knave. Oh how I hated him. I couldn't tell if he actually liked Cath, or really hated her. It was hard to tell, and annoying. 

Great book! Glad this is a stand-alone because it reads like one. Everything is laid out perfectly and wrapped up at the end. It is a fantastic fanfic prequel to Carroll's classic tales. 

Recommended for fans of Alice & lovers of retellings. 4 out of 5 Stars.