10/28/12: I enjoyed this a lot more than I expected I would. It's a fantasy world, but the magical elements are mostly understated and background. It'10/28/12: I enjoyed this a lot more than I expected I would. It's a fantasy world, but the magical elements are mostly understated and background. It's more a story about a group of young women and men dealing in different ways with the privileges and burdens of being heirs or children of ruling monarchs. Smith does a great job of making the characters interesting and human, and hinting at the broader politics of their world while keeping the focus on the characters. It's not the most action-packed story out there, but a nice story about interesting people.
Merged review:
10/28/12: I enjoyed this a lot more than I expected I would. It's a fantasy world, but the magical elements are mostly understated and background. It's more a story about a group of young women and men dealing in different ways with the privileges and burdens of being heirs or children of ruling monarchs. Smith does a great job of making the characters interesting and human, and hinting at the broader politics of their world while keeping the focus on the characters. It's not the most action-packed story out there, but a nice story about interesting people....more
No big comments that I didn't already put on my volume one notes, but Carey did manage to ALMOST make me want to read Moby-Dick, so that's a plus for No big comments that I didn't already put on my volume one notes, but Carey did manage to ALMOST make me want to read Moby-Dick, so that's a plus for him. Of course, then I read some of the transposed text and remembered why I don't enjoy reading the classics, so I'll stick with the comic book adaptations for now. I wonder if volume five is out yet.
Oh, and Pauly is definitely my favorite character now. I certainly don't like him, but he's fascinating to watch/read. In fact, I've generally enjoyed these side stories more than the main story, probably a result of not feeling especially invested in the three main characters....more
A nice quick Halloween read. I don't read a ton of older books these days, but this is a great one.A nice quick Halloween read. I don't read a ton of older books these days, but this is a great one....more
Bought this on a whim (damn cheap Kindle books) and loved it. It's great how just a little change to a well-known story can cast the whole thing in a Bought this on a whim (damn cheap Kindle books) and loved it. It's great how just a little change to a well-known story can cast the whole thing in a fantastic new light....more
7/29/13: I won't lie, I liked that the prince was the one who faints. I wasn't quite as irritated by the ending on reread, but I still think that it's7/29/13: I won't lie, I liked that the prince was the one who faints. I wasn't quite as irritated by the ending on reread, but I still think that it's pretty weak. George does a great job of writing bad-ass young ladies, though, and I especially enjoyed seeing the consequences of the events of the past book in a very human way, as mentioned in last year's review.
10/25/12: A semi-sequel to Princess of the Midnight Ball, there's no need to have read the previous book, though it certainly fills in the back-story. It's great to see the aftermath of a fairytale curse. Poppy doesn't live happily ever after once she and her sisters are freed from their curse. She has to live with what happened to her. I know that the line between mid-grade and young-adult can be fuzzy, but I feel like this kind of emotional depth is one thing that makes this series more mature than George's Dragon series.
In a lot of ways I liked this book better than the prior book, and I might have given it five stars except that the end kind of fell apart for me. Where Princess of the Midnight Ball was a fairly straight retelling of The Twelve Dancing Princesses, George plays much looser with Cinderella here, to great effect. Much like Deerskin, this my favorite kind of fairytale retelling. The familiar story is there and recognizable, but it's shuffled around enough to keep things fresh.
That said, I had problems with the end. (view spoiler)[I found the sequence where Prince Christian has to choose between the two girls incredibly anti-climactic. The Corley has all this magic at hand, but the only thing she can do to disguise the two girls as each other is to put them in the same dress and make it so they can't talk? She just forgot about how she turned Ellen's feet into glass? (An awesome touch that doesn't get entirely explained but is still super creepy). I kept expecting a twist from when the Prince has identified Poppy and was pretty let down when it didn't happen.
I get that Cinderella ends with the prince identifying his true love by fitting the shoe to her foot, but they already twist that by him recognizing that their eyes are different colors (the Corley didn't notice that either, I guess?), so why not go back to the idea from the masquerade about how the girls have very different personalities and mannerisms and make it so that the Prince recognizes her based on something more substantial than shoe size and eye color? That would also be a much more satisfying ending from a feminist perspective, as it makes true love about something more than shoe size and a pretty face. Plus, it doesn't make the Corley, thus far a significant threat, so suddenly impotent.
Second, and related, I didn't see how the Prince identifying Poppy got rid of the Corley and her spell on Ellen. I'll certainly read the book again, as I really loved it up until the last couple of chapters, but I hate when you've got a story that's humming along nicely until it turns into a big cluster-fk of handwaving at the end. Spindle's End is a particularly bad example of this, as is The Iron Dragon's Daughter.
Finally, and most minor, it was a wee bit annoying to spend the whole book reading about these flawed, human, awesome young women, then to wrap it all up with the "let's reward them by getting married" ending. I kind of get that it fit with the way the story had been going, and I'll give George big props for having Poppy protest to the instant betrothal (although she undermines it a couple of paragraphs later when it seems that Poppy just wants a more romantic and private proposal). It's still a little tiresome. (hide spoiler)]
And it's entirely possible that the end isn't that bad, and reading it again will help. I may have been more disappointed than I would otherwise have been because I was enjoying the book so much and was expecting more of the end. Even with the end, I really did like the book a lot - definitely my favorite of George's books so far....more
7/26/13: I can't really add much on re-read to my prior review, except to underline that the racial elements here are definitely problematic, and real7/26/13: I can't really add much on re-read to my prior review, except to underline that the racial elements here are definitely problematic, and really detracted from my enjoyment of the story. I think that the main plot would have been served perfectly well, and even provided a light racial allegory (metaphor?) that wouldn't have been NEARLY as uncomfortable as what shows up here. Not enough to turn me off of George's books, but disappointing, and something that I'm sure has been pointed out to her, and, hopefully, that she has internalized.
10/23/12: I didn't like this one quite as much as the prior two books in the series, for a couple of reasons. (view spoiler)[ For one thing, the constant wedding talk was a little boring. I liked that Day made the prince the one who's anxious to get married, and Creel the one who keeps putting it off, but the fact that she's so focused on the perfect dress and the perfect day is a little tiresome. I get she's a dressmaker and all, but it's a little too wedding-industrial-complex for me.
Second, and more concerning, are the humans that have been enslaved by the lost tribe of dragons. The way that they're described (especially in contrast with Creel's blond hair and blue eyes) made me more than a little bit uncomfortable. It felt like Day was just brushing against the theme of racism but not really engaging it. I like Day's writing a lot, especially the matter-of-fact way that she includes women and people of color in her stories, so the black jungle savage thing stood out more than it might otherwise have.
The religious aspects also felt like they hadn't been filled in as much as I might have liked. (hide spoiler)] Overall, this installment in the series didn't feel as solid as the prior two. I'm not sure if it was a problem of not having enough to say, or trying to say too much and falling a little short. ...more
An excellent sequel. I think it could be read alone, but the books are so short, I don't know why one would bother, unless they found a copy of this oAn excellent sequel. I think it could be read alone, but the books are so short, I don't know why one would bother, unless they found a copy of this one sitting in the $0.99 bin or something. In that case, yes, do grab this book! Assuming that you enjoy reading stories about brave dressmakers who don't let their stymied (blocked? definitely not unrequited, thank goodness) romance get in the way of being a bad-ass. Like a good fantasy aimed at younger readers, there are seeds of big thoughts here--especially the idea that all thinking beings are deserving of respect, regardless of what they look like--without letting the big thoughts get in the way of a good story. And, remarkably for a book in this category, George doesn't wrap up her victories in a nice little bow - there are consequences, and sometimes they aren't fair, but that's life....more
I read the entire series online over the course of a day (available free and legally at http://www.freakangels.com/?p=23), and will be buying the grapI read the entire series online over the course of a day (available free and legally at http://www.freakangels.com/?p=23), and will be buying the graphic novels when I've got the funds. This is a fantastic comic, excellently written by Warren Ellis and amazingly drawn and colored by Paul Duffield et al. More than anything it's a story about people growing up, taking responsibility for their actions, and trying to make good. And having super powers. And living after the end of the world.
Having read and enjoyed Patrick Ness's Chaos Walking series, I decided to give this one a shot as well. I've had this on the tentative to-read list foHaving read and enjoyed Patrick Ness's Chaos Walking series, I decided to give this one a shot as well. I've had this on the tentative to-read list for a while, but was put off by the love triangle framing and the overly twee cover. As it turns out, I was really impressed.
Note to self: just because a book is packaged as a knock off of every other trendy teenage book out these days doesn't mean it might not be awesome, it just means the publisher is trying to sell books. Yes, there's a (kind of painful) love triangle. Yes, the main characters are a little flat in the personality department. That aside, the world just sucked me in. I didn't really care which boy Cassie ended up with, but I did care what was going on with the Society and what they were hiding.
This reminded me a lot of Uglies, which also has a somewhat doofy premise but is awesomely executed. I was disappointing by the sequels to Uglies, hopefully that won't be the case here....more
I picked this up on a whim the last time I was at the used bookstore and am really glad that I did. I usually have at least heard of a book or author I picked this up on a whim the last time I was at the used bookstore and am really glad that I did. I usually have at least heard of a book or author when I buy a book, but not in this case. Set in a small Minnesota town, the story is kind of about a girl trying to help her bully cousin, who falls on the wrong side of river magic, but many of the chapters have the feel of little stories of their own. It's not quite as subdivided as The Graveyard Book, but it has a bit of the same feel of wonder and discovery. ...more
Somehow I managed to completely miss this one. I'm not sure where it would make sense to read this one. It's kind of a prequel, and kind of not. The sSomehow I managed to completely miss this one. I'm not sure where it would make sense to read this one. It's kind of a prequel, and kind of not. The stories are quite lovely, the kind of stand alone stories you sometimes get at the end of plot arcs. There's nothing in here that's necessary to the series, but it certainly fills in some of the universe. The art is lovely, although I was sometimes distracted by the whole "different artist for each story" thing....more
8/8/12: Not a book with a whole lot of substance, but a fun read nonetheless. I had some trouble telling the two main characters apart - the narration8/8/12: Not a book with a whole lot of substance, but a fun read nonetheless. I had some trouble telling the two main characters apart - the narration switches between the two of them and their voices weren't all that distinct to me. I understand that this is a sequel, so maybe reading the previous book would help keep the characters straight. Even without reading the prior book, though, I enjoyed this one....more
Maybe my favorite in the series, and I'm sorry there aren't more. I did have one big issue, which is also a big spoiler.
(view spoiler)[So maybe 3/4thMaybe my favorite in the series, and I'm sorry there aren't more. I did have one big issue, which is also a big spoiler.
(view spoiler)[So maybe 3/4ths of the way through the book, Lord Maccon dies. And pretty convincingly too - he's been shot a few times, he falls an indeterminate but substantial distance, and he's totally human at the time. So dead. And Alexia's reaction to it is very moving and feels very real. She's emotionally paralyzed, but she still does what needs to be done.
Only then it turns out that, tee hee, he's not dead after all! Indeed, he was rescued, badly injured, but not so badly injured that he can't go jumping into combat a week later (admittedly re-werewolfed at this point). And what was the point of all of this exactly? The baddies had already stolen a baby, so it's not like Alexia needed her reckless grief to motivate her to risk herself by following their demands. Given the rest of the series, it's not really a question that she and her husband will forgive each other. And the whole sequence seemed to trivialize the idea that werewolves are mortal when their powers are canceled out. I know Lord Maccon is awesome and all, but still! He was shot with an elephant gun and fell out of a balloon! (hide spoiler)]
/whew. In any case, I suppose I'm grumpy about the spoilery thing because otherwise I did like the book very much. Plus I'm grumpy because the series was over, just when I was really starting to fall in love with the Professor and Biffy. Ah well. Better to leave them wanting more than to wear out your welcome, I guess?...more
I liked this one a little better than books 2 and 3 in the series - maybe because the action was a bit more concentrated, maybe because I was more invI liked this one a little better than books 2 and 3 in the series - maybe because the action was a bit more concentrated, maybe because I was more invested in the characters, maybe because I loved the idea of a heavily pregnant protagonist, and maybe because I kept misreading "octomaton" as "octomom" and then laughing at myself. The end fell slightly flat, but maybe I just was expecting another crazy cliffhanger and was caught off guard when the story mostly tied up. I will say that I'm very disappointed that the next book is the last in the series....more
Oh Ms. Carriger, you sure have mastered the art of getting people to buy the next book in your series! I didn't love either this one or Changeless as Oh Ms. Carriger, you sure have mastered the art of getting people to buy the next book in your series! I didn't love either this one or Changeless as much as I did Soulless, but I certainly kept buying the series and devouring them. Other than fantasy, I've read very little of the various genres that this book is a mash-up of, but that might have to change. They're fluff, but they're fun fluff. Alexia is an excellently flawed, fun character and if the series were longer, I'd keep reading!...more
7/8/12: I enjoyed this a lot more than I expected to. It's a fun mix of urban fantasy, paranormal romance, steampunk and a little bit of mystery. I do7/8/12: I enjoyed this a lot more than I expected to. It's a fun mix of urban fantasy, paranormal romance, steampunk and a little bit of mystery. I don't read much of any of those genres so I didn't know what to expect going into this, but I enjoyed the main character a great deal and am planning on picking up the next book in the series. It's not heavy reading at all, but sometimes light is what's called for. Best to avoid this one if you're not much for romance, though, as that's a pretty significant part of the story. At least it's not angsty!...more
7/16/13: Upgrading a star for a second reading. It's a different kind of fantasy than I usually read, but a very nicely contained story. It's a little7/16/13: Upgrading a star for a second reading. It's a different kind of fantasy than I usually read, but a very nicely contained story. It's a little bit fairy tale, a little bit philosophy, a little bit poetry. I'd probably compare it to Stardust more than anything. I'm going to move it to fairy-tale and out of young-adult, because I think this is a little denser than young-adult typically is.
7/4/12: This was an interesting one that I think I'll need to read again. McKillip's style is a bit different from what I usually read - I'm having a hard time pinning down the difference right now. There was a bit more jumping from character to character than I would have liked, and I didn't feel like I was able to get into the heads of any of them as much as I wanted to. I liked the world building style, though - she doesn't explain much, but lets the world speak for itself....more
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