DNF at page 103 (Chapter 21) before Beauty goes on the "quest." Riley just turned into the Beast, and I feel like I gave this book enough of a try. BeDNF at page 103 (Chapter 21) before Beauty goes on the "quest." Riley just turned into the Beast, and I feel like I gave this book enough of a try. Beauty and Riely are incredibly passive characters and the story happens around them. Especially with Beauty. Handsome got her her jobs. She's being taken on a quest. She's being pulled through the story by the other characters... And that's boring. And in terms of Riely being turned into a "Beast," there's no reason given (yet), and that's pretty lame. At least in the OG Beauty and the Beast, the Prince rejects the old woman and she curses him for it. Here there are no answers (yet), and I'm not interested enough to stick around and find out. Also, I found the cover to be pretty deceptive (I thought it would be more of a modern retelling.)
1.5 stars for about 1/3 of the way through. (I do like Beauty, I just don't like how her character was written so passively.)
P.s. And this cover is super deceptive, btw. I thought this was going to be a modern retelling. :( ...more
I have loved other poetry-in-verse books but found this one to be a little too flowery and dramatic for my tastes. Though I love YA/YA romance3 stars
I have loved other poetry-in-verse books but found this one to be a little too flowery and dramatic for my tastes. Though I love YA/YA romance, I think this book's genre and fairytale plot gave the poetry a really overdone reading, and while I can totally see how others would love it, it just wasn't for me.
Story-wise: I did like the story of Hilde, her sisters, and her cloak. I found Richter's character to be well developed (and evil), and I was surprised by Franz's Jewishness and non-binaryness. (This book will be added to my "Surprisingly good Jewish representation" shelf and my "LGBTQ+ characters" shelf.) I was also surprised by the "modernity" of the setting. I'd guess late 19th Century?
(Re: the ending, (view spoiler)[I did like that Hilde left King Ludwig's wings out for him to find, and while I don't understand how she got her wings back, I'm not all that bothered by it. Other than that, I didn't really see Hilde & Franz's romance... When Franz turned into a fox to be with her/live, I was happy this book had a HEA, but I wasn't really moved outside of the thought of "oh, good, a HEA. What I'm trying to say is: I wasn't really moved by them or their story. (hide spoiler)].)...more
A lot less compelling than Sea Witch. I found the characters pretty 2D, the romance(s) flat, and the plot(s) very slow. I pushed through by virtue of A lot less compelling than Sea Witch. I found the characters pretty 2D, the romance(s) flat, and the plot(s) very slow. I pushed through by virtue of listening (passively) to the audiobook.
What didn't work for me, THE PLOT: The sister storyline pretty much ends before it starts (with only the weakest tie-in to The Little Mermaid in the beginning), and what follows in its wake is underwhelming. And because of the sisters/u-boats/magic/king plot(s), Evie takes a backseat in this book, which is a bummer, as she's the only developed character here (from book 1). I thought her growth (in book 2) was kinda glossed over, & the ending (view spoiler)[where she became the Sea Queen (hide spoiler)] was bizarre, at best.
In general, the book suffers from poor pacing. It's hella slow. -Actual plot points only appear in Chapter 16, after (view spoiler)[they kill the King (hide spoiler)]. It also suffers from Henning telling us what we need to know (that the royal family has been bombing sea life, etc.) and not showing us. (Side point, I never got how Alia "fell in love" the prince if Runa says the royal family is evil, wouldn't her sister belive that too?)
Honestly, this book reads as though Henning didn't have a good grasp of her plot/story with the way it meandered, etc. :(...more
Read this after Ella, the Slayer & I really appreciated some more Henry time. He is so sweet and damaged, poor guy. <3 I think this is a great companioRead this after Ella, the Slayer & I really appreciated some more Henry time. He is so sweet and damaged, poor guy. <3 I think this is a great companion book to the Serenity House series! (I liked Hazel, but Henry is the "star" here.) We also get to see Ella "the Slayer's" origin story here, which we miss the details of in her book/book 1.
Now, why are all these books totally sold out online? :(...more
This is Cinderella meets Pride and Prejudice and Zombies and I loved it! I thought the writing was so strong! It's fun and a little dark and well writThis is Cinderella meets Pride and Prejudice and Zombies and I loved it! I thought the writing was so strong! It's fun and a little dark and well written! Ella is a fantastically strong lead & all the side characters are super-rich and I can't wait to see their character arcs in the coming books. I love her relationship with Seth and how she starts to share her burden with him and he relies on her... they are really well suited for eachother! I also just loved the reveal at the ball! I hate cringy "I lied about who I am" reveals, and Seth just made everything perfect. <3
I'm kinda shocked at the low ratings here because I have only the very littlest negative thing to say about the ending. (view spoiler)[Letting her step-mom go was OBVIOUSLY a mistake to push the series forward. I wish there had been some sort of escape instead of Ella just letting her walk away... That passivity will 1,000% come back to bite them. (hide spoiler)]
4.5 stars. Can't wait to pick up the rest of this series! ...more
Kinda wish this wasn't a retelling... I'm a sucker for HEAs, and well, this one doesn't get one... No, duh. But still. :(
While I'm not usually a sea/mKinda wish this wasn't a retelling... I'm a sucker for HEAs, and well, this one doesn't get one... No, duh. But still. :(
While I'm not usually a sea/mermaid story lover, there was something very soothing about Evie's narrative voice & Henning's poetic sea descriptions. I was totally immersed in the world & invested in the characters. (Great world building IMO!) Now, I knew this story wasn't going to have a HEA, but like, maybe I still had hope? Like a dumb dumb? Yeah, like a dumb dumb. The reveal (view spoiler)[of evil Anna in Chapter 26 (hide spoiler)] was not a surprise, but it still hurt. And that's what carried the book through to its heartbreaking ending. (Remember, I'm a dumb dumb and still wanted that HEA.) So, bittersweet, because I knew it was going to happen, but I still wish it hadn't.
The only part of the book I didn't like was the Epilogue. (view spoiler)[It takes place 50 years later! That A LONG time for Evie to become this jaded magical octopus creature & because of that, understandably, the whole tone of the book changes. And while it's understandable, it doesn't make for particularly good reading. I think it weakened the book's ending considerably and made me think twice about reading the sequel... (hide spoiler)] ...more
We do get our HEA, but at the cost of any pacing, excitement, budding love, and connection between Serilda and GiWhat a letdown from Book 1. Truly. :(
We do get our HEA, but at the cost of any pacing, excitement, budding love, and connection between Serilda and Gild. (view spoiler)[There's some weird will-they, won't-they flirting between Serilda and Erlkönig, which I could have also done without. (hide spoiler)] I have no idea what happened with Meyer's storytelling in Cursed, but this book was an honest slog and I'm so disappointed. Should have cut this down by 50%, or honestly, made Gilded a solo book.
Oh man, if I knew this book was going to be the first in a duology, I would have thought long and hard about starting it now...because I now have to wOh man, if I knew this book was going to be the first in a duology, I would have thought long and hard about starting it now...because I now have to wait a year to read book 2. (T⌓T)
The reason why I don't want to wait a year: I lovedGilded. The easy world-building, the storytelling, Serilda. I was 1,000% engaged from the beginning. Meyer does a fantastic job with a totally new genre (I honestly went in expecting something from The Lunar Chronicles world here & this is totally not that) & I really fell in love with Serilda and Gild. I have no idea how Marissa Meyer is going to spin a HEA out of this Rumpelstiltskin story (I pray she does!). I am actually pretty antsy about how Gilded ended and where in the world it can go from here. My little heart!（>﹏<）(*anxious*)
Trigger warning to potential readers: This book is a lot more morbid/gory/bloody than The Lunar Chronicles was, so heads up. I mean, it is modeled after German fairy tales, so... imagine bad things happening to children & be warned....more
I saw the Broadway play Peter and the Starcatcher & loved it! Literally LOLing the whole time. I didn't expect the same from this book, but I did expeI saw the Broadway play Peter and the Starcatcher & loved it! Literally LOLing the whole time. I didn't expect the same from this book, but I did expect to love it a bit more than I did (especially because Dave Barry is a well-known comedic writer & I didn't find this particularly humorous at all.). It was just fine. Sweet, and enjoyable, but nothing that will really stick with me as a mind-blowing Peter Pan OG story.
I am interested to see how/if Molly and Peter have more adventures since they part ways at the end, but I'm not sure I'll pick up the next books to see (I might just read the Wiki pages).
Overall, sweet kid's book on Peter's first adventures, but it didn't WOW me as an adult reader. 3 stars....more
Sweet & delightful. Listening to this felt like revisiting the fairytales I already knew, but new & better. I loved Imelda's and Ambrose's i4.5 stars.
Sweet & delightful. Listening to this felt like revisiting the fairytales I already knew, but new & better. I loved Imelda's and Ambrose's independence and stubbornness, and of course, their love. Their adventure was simple & cute. The honey badger was skeezy, and the horse cape was hilarious and corny but made me smile every time he talked lol. The bit with the witch-queen (view spoiler)[Imelda's Aunt (hide spoiler)] was high stakes scary & so was the ending with the slippers. Really enjoyed it all.
I get that this was made for Audible (& it was a bit short), but I kinda wish it was printed too so I could have it on my shelf as a sweet Feminist Fairytale Romance. <3
Edit: this is now an Audible exclusive title & Amazon printed it! Yay!...more
This collection was entertaining. It felt too long at times, even though it had too many short pieces. I didn't like the handful of ghost stories (theThis collection was entertaining. It felt too long at times, even though it had too many short pieces. I didn't like the handful of ghost stories (there were a few too many ghost stories for me), & I found each entry to vary wildly in terms of depth of story and telling. Some were thought-provoking and stayed with me, some were really only so-so snippets of an idea.
The whole collection gets about a 3/3.5-star rating from me.
Here's the book, broken down here: The Mapmaker I didn't fully get. I looked up some things online to try and better appreciate its cleverness, but I'm still "eh" about it. A study in emerald was twisty. I love a good Sherlock Holmes story, but this wasn't quite the Sherlock Holmes story I was expecting... A study in emerald is not written by Watson, it's written/bring told by (view spoiler)[S.M. And Watson killed the Prince?? (hide spoiler)]. I kept wondering why the story was interrupted by the Snake Oil advertisements throughout, but maybe that's the "false medicine" we're supposed to swallow here to believe ill of Sherlock & Watson? Not sure. The fairy reel is a fine short poem about age. October in the chair is the first of many ghost stories in this book. (view spoiler)[About a boy who is killed at the end to be free? (hide spoiler)]. Took me a minute to remember October has Halloween in it, so the ghost theme makes sense. The story wasn’t scary, but it is a ghost story with an ambiguous and creepy ending. The hidden chamber is also a creepy tiny ghost story. But not? Like a Poe introduction to a story? Forbidden brides of the faceless slaves in the secret house of the night of dread desire I didn't get at all. The flints of memory lane is not story-shaped but I liked it. A snippet of life. Closing time is also a half story. Going wodwo reads like The fairy reel. Bitter grounds is a runaway-man zombie story. Not scary, but also not impactful. Other people is my favorite story of the compendium. I had read it before & it's why I picked this book up. It's about a demon in hell. It's about a person who dies and goes to hell. It's about you. Or me. It's also a lot shorter than I remember. Wish it were longer. <3 Keepsakes and treasures I really liked but hated how it ended so abruptly. I thought the narrator was good and dark, in a fascinating way. Good boys deserve favors is a cute base (the instrument) story. The facts in the case of the departure of Miss Finch was a good story. There's a circus and an uppity woman who disappears into the "magic" of it. Strange little girls was a confusing bunch of random snippets about women. Harlequin valentine was good. I liked this story. In my notes while I was reading this, I wrote: "Omg it’s a human heart!!! Omg she ate it! She became the Harlequin!!! Now he’s Pete." It was surprising & took a few unexpected twists and turns. Locks was underwhelming. About Goldy. The problem of Susan I liked until the weird murder sex scene. Instructions I liked, but think it would have fit better at the beginning or end of the book. How do you think it feels? is a gargoyle story I sadly did not love. My notes: "Blech cheating husband. Blech seamen gargoyle. Blech no love. " My life is a collection of weird snippets of a crazy person. Eh. Fifteen painted cards from a vampire tarot Eh. Another collection of snippety pieces put together to make "a story", sort of. Feeders and eaters is a story about feeders and eaters; it's a creepy sad story about a monster. Confused by the ending about the lady with a baby in the jar who needed to sell it... Diseasemaker's croup is a little scientific book entry about hypochondria. Eh, OK. In the end Short, and OK? I didn't really care about this either way. Goliath I actually loved. It's a bittersweet Sci-Fi story about a man who is exposed to the aliens behind the curtain, as it were. (I see now it was written as a Matrix story, and that makes sense.) Pages from a journal found in a shoebox left in a Greyhound bus somewhere between Tulsa, Oklahoma, and Louisville, Kentucky is an OK mystery/time loop story of searching. How to talk to girls at parties is another alien story! I really liked this one too! I'm starting to think I really like Neil Gaiman's Sci-Fi stuff. I certainly don't love his ghost stuff. The day the saucers came is kind of like a sci-fi poem. OK. Sunbird was a fine short story. Didn't love it, but was kept interested. Inventing Aladdin was super short. Wasn't wowed by his take & didn't think he added to the story here. The monarch of the glen was a fun one for me since I loved American Gods & I LOVE Shadow. Is the Mr. Alice the same Mr. Alice from Keepsakes and treasures? Cool continuity....more
A sweet simple little book about searching for fairies. I love Phoebe Wahl's art. The premise of this book is magical & should be read with any littleA sweet simple little book about searching for fairies. I love Phoebe Wahl's art. The premise of this book is magical & should be read with any little kid who believes in fae folk....more
What a sadly disappointing read. Not really sure how to review this, as it completely underwhelmed at every turn. I guess I'll break it down.1. 5 stars
What a sadly disappointing read. Not really sure how to review this, as it completely underwhelmed at every turn. I guess I'll break it down.
PLOT: The synopsis promising a Project Runway story is pretty misleading. The contest for the role of Imperial Tailor is only the first half of the book; the second being a straight-up magical 3 challenge quest. My real problem with the split in plot is that the first half of the book (the actual Project Runway part) feels like it had no bearing on the second half. It (the PR contest) could have been skipped entirely with the same outcome and plot development in the second half of the book. (If Maia had just shown up at the palace and been given the role, she would have had the same interactions with Edan & would have been given the same quest to make the three godly dresses...) Instead, we have an awkwardly two parted book...
IMO, this book is not Mulan meets Project Runway, but a fairytale retelling (blending aspects of fairytales and popular fables), which was cool, but not the unique premise as advertised.
NARRATION/WRITING: Stylistically, a First-Person narrative was the wrong choice for this book. It reads WAY younger than it's supposed to (more Middle Grade than YA), and highlights how immature Maia sounds (and is) as a young protagonist.
CHARACTERS: Another reviewer called Maia a Marry Sue, and I sadly have to agree. Yes, she has the drive to bring honor to her family and prove herself to be the best tailor in the land (even though she's a "girl"), but that's kinda it. The book happens around Maia. The adventure and magic and quest all happens to her as a pretty passive heroine. She's also super immature (and sheltered). She and Edan describe her as a "girl" throughout & not a young woman.
MAGIC: Wow there were no descriptions. (The scissors do everything, but *how*?? *What* did they actually do??)
WORLD BUILDING: Barely there & superficial. :(
ROMANCE: Immature/young Marry Sue character + young narrative voice + 500-year-old magician who emotionally & visually looks 20 for the sake of the plot = is this even remotely believable? Maybe it was the narrative voice, maybe it was the lack of character development, but I didn't buy or care about Edan and Maia's romance. It also went from 0 to 60 in 2 seconds. They went from like/lust (Edan: "I'm interested in you because I'm bored") to love and talking about kids and marriage way too fast even for a book that's supposed to have an old-world feel to it.
The ending drama/hook for book two is interesting ((view spoiler)[how will Maia break the demon curse/deal & what's going to happen with the politics/peace of the realm now that Edan is no longer a sorcerer? (hide spoiler)]) but I sadly couldn't care less about the characters....more
DNFing at Chapter 4. I know, I know that's so early on, but I just can't stand First Person Present Tense POV. It reads boring and slow and I'm just sDNFing at Chapter 4. I know, I know that's so early on, but I just can't stand First Person Present Tense POV. It reads boring and slow and I'm just so uninterested. From reading other reviews I know the story gets more exciting eventually; there's adventure and romance further on in the book, but I'm just not going to make it through. I know these characters are without their memories now, but they read very 2D, and reading on just to "look forward" to meeting the third point in a love triangle is eh, imo. ...more
Fantastic series. The Sinister Mystery of the Mesmerizing Girl is a strong book on it's own & acts as a strong finish to the series.
What I love aboutFantastic series. The Sinister Mystery of the Mesmerizing Girl is a strong book on it's own & acts as a strong finish to the series.
What I love about this series: *Because of this series' unique storytelling (the book within a book), Theodora Goss is able to recap the series' "what's happened so far" in each book without making it feel like a tedious info dump. I absolutely adore how she weaves the information (from books 1 & 2) seamlessly into the narrative; told by the characters in their own voices to each other (and us!). Making book 3, a book with a whole new adventure, brilliantly connected to the rest of the series by the same characters and institutions from books 1 & 2.
*The name drops/character introductions to new monsters from Victorian/Gothic literature was awesome. I'm not a huge fan of Gothic lit & creepy monster mysteries (vampires, etc.), but somehow, Theodora Goss dropped each new character into the story in the most natural way possible. I don't know how she did it. I never found a introduction cheesy, or forced, or unnecessary. (Especially Sherlock, Lestrade & Watson, etc.)
*I absolutely love all of the Athena Club members & their unique voices, attributes, and talents. In other book with so many "main characters", I end up usually liking just some characters and disliking others, waiting to go back to the characters I like when the story is focused on the other half. I never found that with The Extraordinary Adventures of the Athena Club; I like them all (ok, maybe I like Diana a bit less than everyone else for being so whiny lol, but her role in the action is always key, so I also loved reading her bits too!).
With The Sinister Mystery of the Mesmerizing Girl, the series wraps up some plot threads, while leaving others open for us to continue in our own imaginations (or maybe, hopefully, a series encore?!). While I SO HAPPY to see the hint of Mary's own happily ever after at the end (view spoiler)[her kiss with Sherlock!!!! (hide spoiler)], I want to know about Justine and that shy strong-man from the circus, or what happens to Beatrice and Clarence, and Diana and the Baker Street Irregulars! I want to see Irene Norton again, and more of Dorian Gray(!), and read more of Catherine's writing. I'm not ready to see this series end. :( It's a good one....more
This book is hefty! (706 pages!) But I really enjoyed every minute of it! I love the characters, the storytelling, and the way new characters are intrThis book is hefty! (706 pages!) But I really enjoyed every minute of it! I love the characters, the storytelling, and the way new characters are introduced and fit seamlessly into the narrative (while you're doing a little dance of recognition in your chair, because hello Count Dracula, vampires, & Irene Adler).
While I loved The Strange Case of the Alchemist's Daughter, I think I enjoyed European Travel for the Monstrous Gentlewoman more (which just means the series is getting better, yay!). While The Strange Case of the Alchemist's DaughterM/b> was novel & read well (and surprised me!), I liked the familiarity of the cast of characters in book 2, the way the plot separated them and then brought them back together, and I enjoyed the rescue mission & mystery of Lucinda Van Helsing's kidnapping over the murders from book 1.
4.5/5 stars. I recommend the audio-book very highly & I can't wait to read book 3!...more
Awesome(ish) premise (or, at least a promise filled premise), which fell flat within the few first pages. Astrid is an annoying, whiny, and bratty chaAwesome(ish) premise (or, at least a promise filled premise), which fell flat within the few first pages. Astrid is an annoying, whiny, and bratty character who has a 2D relationship with her mom, whom she calls by her first name (I hate that!), and a destiny. She is packed up and shipped off to unicorn hunting school within the first 2 chapters and I really couldn't continue past chapter 3... I DNF'd at page 40. I was super surprised by the lack of any description of pre-unicorn life or any show/development of any sort of mother & daughter relationship within the book's first two chapters. There's one "scene" where Astrid is packing and she describes the smells of home, and it's super stilted and weird, because home isn't given any time for us as readers to get nostalgic over. Super disappointed in the writing....more
This might be my first book of poetry about dragons and Shabbath (Shabbat/Shabbos) observant Jews, and reading it was just so niche and perfSO SWEET!
This might be my first book of poetry about dragons and Shabbath (Shabbat/Shabbos) observant Jews, and reading it was just so niche and perfect. Representation in books (and all media) is so important, and though I personally didn't get to read this as a little girl, I can't wait to IYH share it with the next generation of little girls (and boys) who will get to see themselves in such a sweet and fantastical book! I especially loved how Mindel is so smart and strong and dedicated & how all the dragons found their purpose together (around Shabbat observance).
The book is covered in illustrations and written in calligraphy. I usually have a problem reading script, but the text is super clear and legible (and beautiful) and the illustrations are fun if you're reading alongside a smaller reader/buddy....more
This fell in-between poetry and short story, neither one nor the other...And I don't quite know what to make of a book of "poetry" that is not a book This fell in-between poetry and short story, neither one nor the other...And I don't quite know what to make of a book of "poetry" that is not a book of poetry.
I love the idea of Feminist Fairy Tales, but I've seen these ideas before in Amanda Lovelace's work, and I enjoy her poetry (poetry, which is actual poetry), so... Two stars for the repetitive type of work of lesser quality imo....more
This is somewhere in the Historical/Gothic Light Fantasy Sc-Fi genre. But don't let that put you off if that's not generally your jam! This book was gThis is somewhere in the Historical/Gothic Light Fantasy Sc-Fi genre. But don't let that put you off if that's not generally your jam! This book was gifted to me & I knew nothing about it when I started it... which is one of the reasons I ended up loving it so much. It surprised me! But not in a boo scary way ;) I don't think I would have been interested in trying a Jekyll and Hyde retelling with Sherlock Holmes & a monsters' daughters club, but The Strange Case of the Alchemist's Daughter surprised me with its easy story-telling, great voice, humor & interesting cast of characters. (I'm generally not such a huge monsters fan.) I loved all the ladies; how their stories all came together, and how their stories were told! I also really loved how they broke the 4th wall while telling this story -I thought that was actually a great story-telling device and a fun way to introduce everyone before their "parts". (Another reviewer wrote that it was all too gimmicky for them... but I didn't think it was too much at all! Everything worked here for me in a way that felt easy & enjoyable!)
The audiobook was fantastic FYI, and the paperbacks have a really nice soft cover if you are a more tactile reader.
4-4.5 stars for my new favorite gothic girl group!...more
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