Countdown to Heartless: Review

HEARTLESS
Marissa Meyer
Young Adult/Retelling
464 pages
Feiwel & Friends
Available November 8th
Source: ARC from publisher for review

THE STORY (from Goodreads)
Long before she was the terror of Wonderland — the infamous Queen of Hearts — she was just a girl who wanted to fall in love.

Catherine may be one of the most desired girls in Wonderland, and a favorite of the yet-unmarried King of Hearts, but her interests lie elsewhere. A talented baker, all she wants is to open a shop with her best friend and supply the Kingdom of Hearts with delectable pastries and confections. But according to her mother, such a goal is unthinkable for the young woman who could be the next Queen.

At a royal ball where Cath is expected to receive the king's marriage proposal, she meets Jest, the handsome and mysterious court joker. 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 an intense, secret courtship.

Cath is determined to define her own destiny and fall in love on her terms. But in a land thriving with magic, madness, and monsters, fate has other plans.

MY THOUGHTS
Heartless returns us once again to the depths of Ms. Meyer's imagination, granting us access to a world of whimsy and darkness where we're able to view well-known characters through a looking glass all her own.

Catherine wants nothing more than to be covered in sugar and flour all day every day, creating recipes and baking to her heart's content alongside her lady's maid and closest friend, Mary Ann. Given she's the daughter of a marquess however, the path her life takes simply cannot be one of her own choosing, especially when the King of Hearts sets his sights on her. It's so very easy to sympathize with Catherine in the beginning–her dream one that's so simple yet so impossible at the same time– and once we're subjected to the giggly effervescence of the king, we can do nothing but wince along with her every time he opens his mouth and his tittering laugh escapes.

Cath's romance with Jest is full of tension both romantic and forbidden, and though we want to encourage her to follow her heart in this case, a knot of dread deep in our chests pulls tighter every time they're together, wondering when and how it's all going to come crashing down around them given who Cath is destined to become. Though Cath's descent into darkness is at times painful and we find ourselves futiley hoping for an ending we know can never come to pass, it's also a journey that holds us spellbound as Ms. Meyer leads us on a merry dance of wonder and madness. And when the moment comes that we reach the final page and are left with an infamous line ringing in our ears, we simply can't help the Cheshire-like grin that splits our cheeks.

Overall, Heartless is as enormously imaginative as all Ms. Meyer's previous books, and I cannot wait to see what retelling she takes on next.

Rating: 4.5/5

There are only 25 days left until Heartless! Pre-Order your copy:

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MARISSA MEYER

One of my first spoken words was “story” (right along with “bath” and “cookie”), my favorite toy as an infant was a soft, squishable book, and I’ve wanted to be a writer since I first realized such a job existed.

When I was fourteen my best friend introduced me to anime and fanfiction—over the years I would complete over forty Sailor Moon fanfics under the penname Alicia Blade. Those so inclined can still find my first stories at fanfiction.net. Writing fanfic turned out to be awesome fun and brought me in contact with an amazing group of fanfiction readers and writers. As Alicia Blade, I also had a novelette, “The Phantom of Linkshire Manor,” published in the gothic romance anthology Bound in Skin (CatsCurious Press, 2007).

When I was sixteen I worked at The Old Spaghetti Factory in Tacoma, Washington, affectionately termed “The Spag.” (Random factoid: This is also the restaurant where my parents met some 25 years before.) I attended Pacific Lutheran University where I sorted mail that came to the dorm, carted tables and chairs around campus, and took writing classes, eventually earning a Bachelor’s degree in Creative Writing and Children’s Literature. Knowing I wanted a career in books, I would also go on to receive a Master’s degree in Publishing from Pace University (which you can learn more about here). After graduation, I worked as an editor in Seattle for a while before becoming a freelance typesetter and proofreader.

Then, day of days, someone thought it would be a good idea to give me a book deal, so I became a full-time writer. CINDER is my first novel, though I have an adorable collection of unfinished ones lying around too.

I now live with my husband and our three cats (Calexandria Josephine, Stormus Enormous, and Blackland Rockwell III), who go in and out, in and out, about eight hundred times a day. My favorite non-bookish things include Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, re-watching episodes of Firefly, and playing all manners of dress-up.

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Review: Beast

BEAST
Brie Spangler
Contemporary Young Adult
336 pages
Knopf
Available October 11th
Source: ARC from publisher for review

THE STORY (from Goodreads)
Tall, meaty, muscle-bound, and hairier than most throw rugs, Dylan doesn’t look like your average fifteen-year-old, so, naturally, high school has not been kind to him. To make matters worse, on the day his school bans hats (his preferred camouflage), Dylan goes up on his roof only to fall and wake up in the hospital with a broken leg—and a mandate to attend group therapy for self-harmers.

Dylan vows to say nothing and zones out at therapy—until he meets Jamie. She’s funny, smart, and so stunning, even his womanizing best friend, JP, would be jealous. She’s also the first person to ever call Dylan out on his self-pitying and superficiality. As Jamie’s humanity and wisdom begin to rub off on Dylan, they become more than just friends. But there is something Dylan doesn’t know about Jamie, something she shared with the group the day he wasn’t listening. Something that shouldn’t change a thing. She is who she’s always been—an amazing photographer and devoted friend, who also happens to be transgender. But will Dylan see it that way?

MY THOUGHTS
Beast is a beautiful contemporary retelling of Beauty and the Beast, calling into question the standard definitions of both words as we look through the eyes of a young man struggling to find any semblance of comfort in his own skin.

We're treated to Dylan's point of view throughout, his self-deprecating sense of humor making us laugh right out of the gate even as we hurt for him, feeling the sting of casually flung words that strike far deeper than likely intended. He loathes his appearance, wanting desperately to be shorter and smoother so that his days might not be filled with laughter directed at him but rather with him thanks to packaging that better reflects the man he feels he is. He's a sympathetic character from the beginning, and we can't help but feel as overprotective as his adorable (and text-obsessed) mother when those around him tear at his self-confidence with insult-tipped claws.

He meets Jamie in group therapy, and having a gorgeous young woman actually talk to him–rather than look at him in fear and then recount her close encounter with the Beast to her friends later–gives him cause for a genuine smile instead of a forced one. He misses the fact that Jamie is trans when she admits it in group, but thankfully that misunderstanding doesn't continue too long, and we're spared the drawn-out suspense of knowing something Dylan doesn't while his relationship with Jamie unfolds. Though he doesn't handle it well in the moment, he does make a valiant effort to apologize to Jamie, and we get to spend the latter half of the book watching as Dylan gets out of his own way and lets his heart do the thinking.

Overall, Beast is a quick read with a truly lovable male protagonist who gets tripped up by perception and the opinions of others, but manages to get up again and walks away seeing clearer for having done so.

Rating: 4/5

Find Brie:

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This book was sent to me by the publisher  free of charge for the purpose of a review. 

I received no other compensation and the above is my honest opinion.

Stealing Snow Blog Tour: Interview + Giveaway!

Happy Friday Everyone!

Today I'm so pleased to welcome author Danielle Paige back to the blog as part of the promotional tour of her newest release, Stealing Snow. You guys know already how much I love a good fairytale retelling, so I couldn't be more excited about this book. A huge thank you to Danielle for taking the time to answer my questions, I hope you guys enjoy!

To introduce us to the fantasy world of Algid, what are three things we should know before we follow Snow on her journey there?

Algid is ruled by a prophesy that foretells Snow’s rise to power
Her father is an evil King who may just want to kill her
There is snow and magic everywhere and a lot of cute boys.

If you could write yourself into any one fairytale/ folktale, which one would you most like “visit” and what role would you play?

I want to be Maleficent for a day! Before Danerys (from Game of Thrones) was Mother of Dragons, Maleficent actually could turn into one. The power...the horns...loved!

But also the fairy godmother in Cinderella—I really want to know her story. Who the heck is she? And why is she sprinkling fairy dust on the world? In my mind there may be a less Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo-version of how she got to Cinderella.

If the Disney version of the Snow Queen were to meet your version, what do you think her initial reaction would be?

I am assuming she would attempt a “Let It Go” duet. I think Elsa would understand Snow! Snow is Elsa without the sisterly intervention. Disney’s Elsa grows up knowing about her power and fearing it. But Snow has grown up in the dark about her identity and her power. For Elsa, it is a journey of acceptance. For Snow, it is both acceptance and self-knowledge. And since Snow is a little bit older than Elsa, she also gets to deal with some more grown up complications, like romance!

Before making her escape, Snow is confined to a high security mental hospital, a situation that just happens to be one of my recurring nightmares. *shudders* If you were to find yourself in The Whittaker Institute alongside Snow, would you try to reason with the doctors to prove your sanity, or would you immediately start planning your escape route?

I am definitely much more of a mental strategist than an escape artist. I would have to try and outwit Dr. Harris.

Looking forward to this series as a whole, what warning or piece of advice might the Snow of the later installments give to the Snow in this first book?

Without being too spoiler-y, I would have to say be prepared for a pretty epic ending with a lot of twists and turns! The first book ends very, very far from happily ever after.

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STEALING SNOW

Seventeen-year-old Snow has spent her life locked in Whittaker Psychiatric—but she isn’t crazy. And that’s not the worst of it. Her very first kiss proves anything but innocent…when Bale, her only love, turns violent.

Despite Snow knowing that Bale would never truly hurt her, he is taken away—dashing her last hope for any sort of future in the mental ward she calls home. With nowhere else to turn, Snow finds herself drawn to a strange new orderly who whispers secrets in the night about a mysterious past and a kingdom that’s hers for the taking—if only she can find her way past the iron gates to the Tree that has been haunting her dreams.

Beyond the Tree lies Algid, a land far away from the real world, frozen by a ruthless king. And there too await the River Witch, a village boy named Kai, the charming thief Jagger, and a prophecy that Snow will save them all.

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DANIELLE PAIGE

Danielle Paige is the New York Times bestselling author of the Dorothy Must Die series, and the upcoming  Stealing Snow series (Bloomsbury, 2016). In addition to writing young adult books, she works in the television industry, where she's received a Writers Guild of America Award and was nominated for several Daytime Emmys. She is a graduate of Columbia University and currently lives in New York City.

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Fable Comics Blog Tour: Interview with Charise Harper

I'm super excited today to have cartoonist Charise Harper stopping by the blog as part of a very special blog tour for Fable Comics, an anthology that includes retellings of a number of Aesop's fables (and more) in comic form. I had a blast reading this book and seeing all the varying styles of artwork, so if you're looking for a really fun collection of stories I hope you add this to your lists. Charise was nice enough to answer a few questions for me about her contribution, "The Belly and the Body Members" (this one was new to me!), so a huge Supernatural Snark welcome to her!

If your various body parts could all talk to one another (or complain as the case may be!), which part of you do you think would be the chattiest/loudest or the first to mutiny against the others?

Oooh – that’s a personal question – very daring! Let’s see … Well, because of my job, which involves a lot of sitting and drawing and typing, I think my legs would be bummed out that they don’t get to do very much. They spend a lot of time just hanging out under my desk. If they were complaining, they’d say things like, “Get up!  Walk the dog!  Chase the cat!  Let’s do something! PLEASE!!!” But my butt would say, “No way man!  I’m staying right here until the brain runs out of ideas.” Then my bladder would be all prissy and full of herself (pun intended.) “I can move the butt whenever I want.”

During any given work day, which part of you would correctly argue that they are at a 6 on the Work O’Meter?

In waking hours, my brain is always way beyond a six – even when I want it to be at a three or a four. Drinking coffee probably doesn’t help. I’d say my hands are the work horses of the Charise Harper operation. They type, they draw and they always take time out to pet the dog and the cats. Plus that right hand is an expert at holding my coffee cup. He hardly ever spills a drop. “Great job little buddy!” 

In “The Belly and the Body Members”, the mouth recalls a particularly rough day when the guy he belongs to was younger and decided to eat a few things he shouldn’t have. What’s one food your mouth would raise a very vocal objection to having to eat? One food it would beg you to eat on a daily basis?

Mouth hate - My mouth would protest long and hard about having to eat brussel sprouts! I’ve never liked them. As a kid I always had to choke down two or three when they were on the table, and my mother would say, “When you get older you’ll love them, just like your father and I do.” Well Mom was wrong! I’m grown up and I’m not a fan. I have honestly tried to eat them, on numerous occassions, but my mouth does not like mutant cabbages!

Mouth love – My mouth would ask for my mom’s homemade rhubarb pie. Cold or warm, I could eat it every day! Maybe even sneak down in the middle of the night and have a bite or two – it’s that good!

“The Belly and the Body Members” is a retelling of one of Aesop’s fables, what’s one other fable you would love the chance to recreate in comic form?

My father is from France, and every year my french grandmother would take the long journey over to visit us for a few month. One year she brought me a present of a handkerchief, with the story of the fox and the crow printed in french around the edge and a lovely image of the two main characters in the middle. My french skills weren’t very good, but I practiced, until I could read the whole story out loud in French. I was so proud of myself. I made my whole family sit down and listen to me recite it from memory. Unfortunately for them – more than once. The Fox and The Crow would be my pick.

If you were to create a comic in which you starred, what would the name of that comic be?

Again – not an easy question. Sometimes I feel lke my outsides and my insides don’t really match up. I’m terrible at chit chat in a group. Shyness is not a plus – it often comes off as aloofness. People often seem surpised once they get to know me – like I was not what they were expecting, I’m like that rescue dog you adopt – it takes a while to get to know her personality, and then over time you find out she’s full of surprises – hoefully the good kind. So here is my title:

Rescue Girl – I Won’t Pee On Your Carpet.

Thanks so much Charise!

• • • • • • • • • • • • •

FABLE COMICS

From classics like "The Tortoise and the Hare" and "The Grasshopper and the Ants" to obscure gems like "The Frogs Who Desired a King," Fable Comics has something to offer every reader. Twenty-eight fables from different cultures and traditions are wonderfully adapted and illustrated in comics format by twenty-six different cartoonists. Edited by New York Times bestselling Fairy Tale Comics' Chris Duffy, this jacketed hardcover is a beautiful gift and an instant classic.

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This is an epic tour, so be sure and check out the full schedule so you can follow along and meet all the amazing artists included in this anthology!

Review: Anne & Henry

ANNE & HENRY
Dawn Ius
Contemporary Young Adult/Retelling
304 pages
Simon Pulse
Available Now
Source: eARC from publisher for review

THE STORY (from Goodreads)
Henry Tudor’s life has been mapped out since the day he was born: student body president, valedictorian, Harvard Law School, and a stunning political career just like his father’s. But ever since the death of his brother, the pressure for Henry to be perfect has doubled. And now he’s trapped: forbidden from pursuing a life as an artist or dating any girl who isn’t Tudor-approved.

Then Anne Boleyn crashes into his life.

Wild, brash, and outspoken, Anne is everything Henry isn’t allowed to be—or want. But soon Anne is all he can think about. His mother, his friends, and even his girlfriend warn him away, but his desire for Anne consumes him.

Henry is willing to do anything to be with her, but once they’re together, will their romance destroy them both?

Inspired by the true story of Anne Boleyn and King Henry VIII, Anne & Henry beautifully reimagines the intensity, love, and betrayal between one of the most infamous couples of all time.

MY THOUGHTS
Anne & Henry is an ambitious novel, one that modernizes and condenses the truly epic relationship between King Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn, plucking them from the annals of history and placing them in a more relatable high school environment. Unfortunately, the scope of Anne and Henry’s relationship is simply too big to fit in a contemporary YA setting, the explosive nature of their rise and fall something that gets lost in this retelling, and we’re left instead with plenty of drama minus the hard-hitting impact of the original infamous couple.

In this updated take, Anne plays the part of victim more than world-altering seductress and social climber, allowing things to happen to her rather than being a catalyst for change the way the woman herself was. Instead of fighting for Henry, claws out and masterful scheming in full effect as she attempts to usurp Catherine and win Henry’s affections, she simply waits, mildly baiting him here and there but ultimately remaining a passive player in Henry's casting aside of Catherine. The real Anne Boleyn changed the face of history in her quest to win Henry and become queen, and the force of her personality must have been something to behold in order to achieve–for better or worse–all that she did, but that fight and fire is sadly missing from the young woman splashed across the pages of this novel.

Henry, though, is more believable in his role than Anne, as fickle and impulsive as his historical counterpart, easily dismissing Catherine in favor of Anne and then turning on her just as quickly. He’s easily swayed by those around him, granting them his ear whenever they ask for it and allowing their words to settle in and take root; public opinion edging out personal preference time and again. Though he’s in a relative position of power–granted, one far less impressive than a royal throne–it’s all an illusion, and he remains a puppet bound to the strings wielded by those lined up beside and behind him.

Anne & Henry is undoubtedly well-written, Ms. Ius’s style one that flows well and keeps the pages turning with plenty of speed, and her creativity with the final parting line's nod to the real Anne’s fate beautifully executed. Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn are simply a couple too immense, too full to bursting with power, personality and tragedy to be reduced to high school angst, the brutality and Machiavellian conniving missing from their relationship and the petty jealousies of Henry’s peers.

Rating: 3/5

Find Dawn:

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This book was sent to me by the publisher free of charge for the purpose of a review. 

I received no other compensation and the above is my honest opinion.

Review: Of Dreams and Rust

OF DREAMS AND RUST
Of Metal and Wishes #2
Sarah Fine
Young Adult
288 pages
Margaret K. McElderry Books
Available Now
Source: ARC from publisher for review

THE STORY (from Goodreads)
n the year since the collapse of the slaughterhouse where Wen worked as her father’s medical assistant, she’s held all her secrets close. She works in the clinic at the weapons factory and sneaks away to nurse Bo, once the Ghost, now a boy determined to transform himself into a living machine. Their strange, fragile friendship soothes some of the ache of missing Melik, the strong-willed Noor who walked away from Wen all those months ago—but it can’t quell her fears for him.

The Noor are waging a rebellion in the west. When she overhears plans to crush Melik’s people with the powerful war machines created at the factory, Wen makes the painful decision to leave behind all she has known—including Bo—to warn them. But the farther she journeys into the warzone, the more confusing things become. A year of brutality seems to have changed Melik, and Wen has a decision to make about him and his people: How much is she willing to sacrifice to save them from complete annihilation?

MY THOUGHTS

Of Dreams and Rust is a stunning sequel, moving us out of the dirt, grime and politics of the slaughterhouse and out into a world we didn't get to experience at all in the first book. The taste of freedom we get in this story only has us turning the pages faster, eager for details about the escalating war between the Itanyi and the Noor, and thirsty for knowledge about a people of whom we only got a select sampling in Of Metal and Wishes. Suddenly what was a world of walls and blood is now vast and brutal, but death is as prevalent out in the open as it was amidst steel and machinery.

Wen, despite hearing nothing from Melik in over a year, is determined to warn him of the changing tide of the war, setting off on her own to save as many lives as she can. What she finds is not the clear cut battle of good vs. evil she expected, and Ms. Fine does a beautifully horrifying job of showing how war can make monsters of anyone, with mercy being a luxury neither side can afford. Though the new light cast on the Noor shakes the foundations of everything Wen learned of them in the first book, she takes the blow with a grace that's undoubtedly a rarity on the field of battle, continuing her quest to save human beings without separating them into Itanyi and Noor.

She keeps her feelings for Melik tight to her chest even when it's revealed that not everything she felt for him a year ago was the lie she initially thought, keeping our hearts in our throats as the tension between them remains at an all-time high throughout. As Ms. Fine has proven in previous books, she rarely pulls her punches, and though we desperately want everyone in this tale to miraculously dance their way out of death's reach, we're painfully reminded that life–even in fiction–is rarely fair. 

We're not left only with tears and heartache by the time we reach the last page however, instead our time with Wen and Melik comes to a close with a hopeful look toward the future, the fond memories of those we lost along the way a comfort in the grief of their passing. Ms. Fine never fails to write emotionally rich and romantic stories, delighting with layered and complex characters who slide easily under our skin and take up shop, refusing to budge no matter how many books we read after we close the back cover.

Rating: 4.5/5

Find Sarah:

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This book was  sent to me by the publisher free of charge for the purpose of a review. 

I received no other compensation and the above is my honest opinion.

Waiting on Wednesday: The Wrath and the Dawn

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event hosted by Breaking The Spine and is a fun way to see what books other bloggers just can't wait to get their hands on!

THE WRATH AND THE DAWN

Renee Ahdieh

Young Adult/Retelling

Releases May 2015 from Putnam Juvenile (Penguin)

From Goodreads:

A sumptuous and epically told love story inspired by A Thousand and One Nights

Every dawn brings horror to a different family in a land ruled by a killer. Khalid, the eighteen-year-old Caliph of Khorasan, takes a new bride each night only to have her executed at sunrise. So it is a suspicious surprise when sixteen-year-old Shahrzad volunteers to marry Khalid. But she does so with a clever plan to stay alive and exact revenge on the Caliph for the murder of her best friend and countless other girls. Shazi's wit and will, indeed, get her through to the dawn that no others have seen, but with a catch . . . she’s falling in love with the very boy who killed her dearest friend.

She discovers that the murderous boy-king is not all that he seems and neither are the deaths of so many girls. Shazi is determined to uncover the reason for the murders and to break the cycle once and for all.

I have to admit to not being overly familiar with the A Thousand and One Nights story, but I love the sound of everything about The Wrath and the Dawn. Give me secrets, murder mysteries and a love interest who's not altogether what he seems any day and I'm a very happy girl. I tend to gravitate toward anti-heroes because I want so desperately for them to prove themselves worthy of the love I'm ready to heap on them, and I'm already wishing and hoping for Khalid to be more than the monster he appears to be at first glance. DON'T LET ME DOWN, KHALID!!!

Find Renee:

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