Summerfall and Winterspell by Claire Legrand

Umm... Not the best prequel. 

I don't know if it's as poor as I thought it to be, or if Legrand's writing has filled me with too high expectations.

I must say, though, that I disliked Rinka, the blatant Mary Sue, the talk of ~destiny~, and the New Adult vibe that permeated the whole novella - I honestly wasn't expecting something like this from Claire Legrand...

Let us hope Winterspell is better...

arc provided by Simon & Schuster through Edelweiss

DNF @ 50%

TW: VICTIM BLAMING

I have to admit that, while I liked The Nutcracker when I was a little girl, since I grew up I find it absolutely terrifying. Toys and food coming to life in the middle of the night?! 

When you're a kid that's all fun and Christmas magic, but once you grow up... I mean, they come to life at night! I'd be setting the house on fire and moving to another continent, to be honest.

Still, it's written by the great Claire Legrand, whose writing style I absolutely LOVE, as you can see from my reviews of The Cavendish Home for Boys and Girls and The Year of Shadows.

Not to mention that Kate Beaton managed to prove that The Nutcracker can lend itself to worthy retellings:

© Kate Beaton

Still, I was a little apprehensive - Susana disliked Winterspell, and we tend to like, or dislike, the same books... Not to mention the fact that I really disliked the Summerfall novella...

There was nothing to do but to read it myself. I mean, I've had it pre-ordered for months now, and I was really, really looking forward to having the actual book in my hands - and I was fortunate enough to receive an arc!

Sadly, I really couldn't connect with this book.

The pacing is dreadfully slow, I couldn't bring myself to like Clara, I abhorred the victim blaming that permeated the whole book, and, worst of all, there was the disappointment that Legrand wrote this.

I don't understand how Claire Legrand writes such amazing Middle Grade books only to end up writing... this. I read up to 50% mark and I had to give up, I felt guilty somehow, for disliking it so much, I mean this is Claire Legrand!

I love how she has always written mature, determined and independent female leads - Victoria and Olivia hold a special place in my heart. They feel real, they are strong, you root for them, and you love them long after you've read the books.

And while I held some hope - not for Clara, but for Anise, this hope was dashed.

The relationships Legrand writes in MG are amazingly complex and satisfying. To quote myself: "Claire Legrand writes perfect little one-day-maybe OTPs". 

So I was extremely excited to finally read an actual OTP. Imagine my disappointment when the relationship was underdeveloped, their ~love~ rushed and senseless - she didn't know him, after all! He was a statue! - and the whole thing extremely boring.

Besides, while supposedly YA, it read an awful lot like New Adult... which I hate.

All in all, I was extremely disappointed. 

I can only hope Claire Legrand will keep writing Middle Grade books, she truly excels at those.

Buy Sumerfall

@ Amazon (with free worldwide delivery!)

Buy Winterspell

@ The Book Depository (with free worldwide delivery!)

The Duke Of Snow and Apples by Elizabeth Vail

 

Reading fairy tales retellings is one of my favourite things in the world...

....when they are well executed. And yes, that's what happened here!

 First of all, this is much more than a (lol) Snow White/Cinderella fairy tale retelling.

This is a Three In One! (...first book I've ever read that managed to make a whimsical and apparently impossible genre conjugation work!)

_Fairy Tale Retelling;

_Historical Romance;

_Fantasy.

 And it works flawlessly!!

That story's first page is/was...(wow.)..masterfully written. Here was I, thinking that I was reading something entirely different, and all of a sudden I get hit with a sylph!

People started talking about salamanders and sylphs, and I was: I am sorry...what??

Isn't this an historical romance?

It is! But with a fantasy background to it, which I loved. Brilliant Idea!!

The characters

I loved the inversion of roles that we see here!

It's not everyday _in fact I think this was the first time I ever read something of the type _ that the "classic" Cinderella/damsel in distress role is given to the guy!

Besides that, and accordingly to the role performed by Frederick, is is Charlotte who is given the alpha role.

She is a force to be reckon! In fact do not trust her around apples!

“Did you just hit me with a rock?”
“No,” said Charlotte, avoiding his eyes.
“Did you just hit me with a rock?”
“No.”
“You hit me with a rock!”
“It wasn’t a rock!” Charlotte brought her wandering gaze back to his. Fortifying herself with a haughty sniff, she said, “I hit you with an apple.”

The plot

Interweaving a great number of diverse and well developed characters, _some of them that remind us of other fairy tale characters like the fairy Godmothers or the Huntsman _ with a fresh new fantasy background _the Gnome chase? Loved it! _ the author also didn't forget to insert the expected Cinderella (Snow white) more known elements...

 There's the expected ball, disguises, and no, the guy doesn't lose one of his shoes...but he does lose something much more important.

But Frederick is much more than a ...Cinderella, Snow White or even a Snow Queen King.

And Charlotte is much more than a insignificant prince princess heroine taking her time to perform the great rescue.

Confession time:

I read most of this story, with a big goofy smile on my face _ and I have been steering away from romances in the last couple of months..so that is saying a lot _, but I loved seeing those two as a couple. 

I loved the way their relationship evolved, and the fact that in that, neither of them were idiots to not see the obstacles in front of them.

But then we get to the last third of the story, in which we were supposedly busy trying to figure out something...but then that something is not that difficult to guess.

Except to our heroine and hero, (lol) which ends up being not very flattering to them!

And that is why I am giving a four, instead of a five star rating to this story ;)

Now I am just going to pester Bookdepository until they have the paperback edition for sale! Because that is what I do...I pester people o_O

To finish: Go...read this book! Spread the word about this book (and pester your friends about it), and most importantly, just be ready to fall in love with this story. 

Oh, and I've just read on the author's twitter that there is going to be a SEQUEL!!

Author Oficial Site

Buy "The Duke of Snow And Apples"

@Kobo

@Bookdepository (I didn't know BD was selling ebooks!)

FYI: This can only be found through ISBN research o_O...and yes, I've tried finding the paperback through this method, but alas no such luck.

@Amazon.com (kindle edition) 

@Amazon.com (Paperback edition)

The Girl And The Clockwork Cat by Nikki McCormack

         Arc provided by Entangled Publishing through Netgalley

In a time when we're assisting to a growing demand for stories able to respect the world's, people's, readers diversity, here is a story that breaks with the old fashioned pattern.
*thumbs up*
Maeko our main character _as the name indicates _is of Asian ascendency. Her mother is Japanese.
Therefore she has the built, and appearance of someone with that heritage....

I can't remember the last time I read a book in which the main character wasn't Caucasian..well maybe CE Murphy's series The Walker Papers...although looking at Harlequin's latest cover you would never figure that out!
o_O
But I digress...thank you Nikki McCormack for writing such an interesting and culturally diverse character!
I loved Maeko! :)

She's fierce, courageous and resourceful. She survives as best as she can on the streets of a steampunk Victorian London, through any means available to her: Breaking and entering, pick-pocketing, the girl has had a decade to develop her skills.
But she also has a big heart, and that is what ends up getting her into one big mess.

Maeko, is a very well developed character. She is strong, but she has this sense of sadness and frailty encompassing her_which is only natural considering her life _. This helps to see her as a real person. Unlike her mentor, Chaff who is all that is cocky and arrogant.
In the end, all she wants is to be wanted, and to have a family of her own.

"(..)but a person could starve for company just as they could starve for food."

Despite liking what was given to me regarding her characterization, I guess I would have liked even more, to have seen how her life was when she started living on the streets.
Maybe a little more of how her relationship with Chaff begun...but maybe that is reserved to a future story, or even a short story? ;)

This is a very action packed story that takes place in a steampunk environment...and this is where I feel that the story should have been more developed.
I confess that I haven't read that many steampunk novels, but even to me, the descriptions used to characterize this world, felt somewhat generalist and basic.
I wanted more out of this steampunk world, and I wanted descriptions of how those things looked like!

Also, the world-building?
It could use more "building", lol, it is somewhat lacking. The characters, and non stop action disguise this to a point, but there's quite an informational lacuna about this world, that should have been info dumped (lol) on us readers in the beginning of this story.

We have the Literatis, which seems to be more of a mentality, because in the beginning it seemed as if they were  some sort of police officers who apparently didn't do much more than chasing the so called Rats, kids and teenagers who lived on the streets, but then there was this:

Since the Literati had taken charge of local government operations, some street development and sewer maintenance was cut back in favor of cleaning criminals off the street, which mostly meant the homeless population because they were easier to apprehend than the truly dangerous ones.

I am just going to place them in the conservative/corrupt box...

"The Lits called it neighborhood improvement. The pirates called it class separatism."

Then there's the Pirates....
But then a distinction is made between Pirates and Bad pirates....and I was like: Say what?
Like I mentioned previously, I really needed more info on that.

 But despite these things, I liked how the mystery was played, and I loved Macak, the cat !
Of course I am partial to cats...

 The cat stopped a few strides away, looked at her, at the alley entrance, then at her again and meowed.
She grinned. “Oh? Brilliant plan. A half-Japanese street rat and a cat with a mechanical leg traveling together. That won’t draw unwanted attention.”

Bottom Line: If you want a fast paced read with a different taste to it, and if you're not too picky, I think you may like this!

Oh, be warned however that there's this incipient love triangle (o_O) in the story.
You know... the basic: When it pours, it rains!
Because every girl, has to suffer a love triangle in her life.
Please!
She already had the cat! ;)

Oh, and most importantly _before I forget it_ I would really, really like to read more of Maeko's adventures!
Preferably without love triangles...but I can manage around it!
                                                       
                                                              Also my cat, Formiga approves!

Author Official Site

Buy "The Girl And The Clockwork Cat"
@Amazon.com

@ Kobo store

@Barnes & Nobles

I Hunt Killers ( Jasper Dent #1) by Barry Lyga

                                                  Copy provided through Netgalley

It had been awhile since I had read a thriller that I truly enjoyed, so curiously enough, I found myself  anticipating its read, and wondering why I had stopped reading thrillers a couple years back.

First thoughts while reading it:
"I am too used to fantasy, I don't think I can read about killers, and women being killed..."

After a few pages...
"Hummm..."

"Okay, I am hooked!"

This is a very clever psychological thriller, with interesting characters and a fast paced plot.
I am happy to announce that the person who I had thought was the culprit _right at the beginning of the story _ was not the culprit after all!!;)

The characters, especially the leading one, Jasper, and his "sidekicks" Howie and Connie, are extremely well developed, that I just want to read more about them.

Jasper (Jazz)
 I think its impossible to dislike Jazz, despite his manipulative self.
He is clever, astute, but also a deeply troubled person with a background mired in blood.
His head is a minefield of doubts and fears as he tries to just live an ordinary everyday life.
But can there be an ordinary life for someone who was raised the way he was?
Can he fight his demons, or is he bound to turn into just another monster?

A thing that I especially liked was how the author never tried to make Jasper into a goody two shoes...deep inside. The type of :"Oh, he's troubled and all that, and yes, he could lose it... but no, he will never do that..because deep down he is good."
No, we don't know that. I really hope he doesn't, but in the end who knows what is going to happen?

I especially liked how Jazz's friend and girlfriend weren't our usual stereotyped characters, and the fact that despite they being ya characters, this couldn't be further from the ya genre.

Bottom Line: My favourite thing in this book?
The way Jazz' mind works....even if that mind scared me once in awhile.

This means that I can't wait to start reading the second one...which I will do once I've read a few pending arcs.

Author's Official Site

Buy " I Hunt Killers"
@Bookdepository.com

The Swallow: A Ghost Story by Charis Cotter

 

Release Date: September, 9th

                                               Arc provided by Tundra Books through Netgalley

Things you should know about this story:

Incredibly addictive, once you start it, I dare you to stop reading it.

The beginning is pretty much perfect. 

We are given a plot that starts with a very likeable heroine, and a small insight into her less than "perfect life". Polly is a young girl on the verge of teenagehood , and it shows :)

There’s no place for me. I’m getting squeezed out of my own house. My parents want to save the world, and they’re doing it one unwanted kid at a time.

Told in dual points of view, "The Swallow" is a story about two girls that live next door to each other, each of them with their own very different lives...

Rose is the quiet girl, the one that feels abandoned by her parents, and basically ignored by the rest of the world. If only the ghosts that she sees would behave in the same fashion, her life would be much more bearable.

Polly is a force of nature. She is lively, with a large _ and what she feels as imposed _ family, and unlike Rose she would love to see a ghost...

 This a story about friendship and how friendship can make you stronger.

Once these two find one another, their lives will never be the same.

The writing

I can't help but recurring to a cliché to define it: Engaging, witty, and concise.

With its first phase _ see phrase copy/pasted above _ we are immediately thrown into the story! The author knows what she's doing, and she caught the story's tone perfectly!

If this were a song, Adele would be singing it.

By having two very different heroines, the author was able to _lets say _ lift the story's "natural" bleakness.

 Rose who has been haunted all her life by ghosts, carries this unbearable weight and this dark cloud with her. She feels as if they want to drain her of her life force. And we feel this, while reading it.

The atmosphere of the setting is just right.

But then comes Polly, curious Polly who would love nothing more than to see ghosts, and someone that in the end is able to change the way Rose feels about her "gift" or "curse". Polly with her red coat, and her enthusiasm for life, someone who _despite all that takes place _in the end is able to keep the narrative more grounded in the everyday life.

The mystery

Very well done! I take my hat to the author! ;)

Of course I am not going to reveal it!! lol So you can keep on reading this review:)

I am just going to say that I kept "piling all the clues" in my head, and trying to figure it out. 

I knew that most probably I was  being "directed" in the wrong direction _seeing the movie The Sixth Sense did wonders for my investigative skills! lol _ and something kept telling me that "the egg incident"_read the book!_ was important, but I just couldn't figure it out.

Hmppf, who am I kidding?

I couldn't figure it out, until it was almost spelled out to me!

First I thought it was the obvious one...then I thought it was both of them...then the least likely of them...but the twins DECEIVED ME!! o_O

Arghhh!

So, yes, as you can read, I loved this story!

So why not five star rating?

Because I can't help feeling that the girls pov's, should have been longer. They kept changing too often, and there was a moment in which I couldn't help feeling that they were disrupting the story's flow.

Besides that, I will say it again, I loved reading this story. And I am really happy that I requested, and most importantly that I was granted access to read it.

Thank you....I've just added another book to my to "buy list". o_O

September is going to be a disaster :/

Meanwhile I will try to restrain myself from doing...this..to my friends! ;)

Author Official Site

Pre-order "The Swallow: A ghost Story"

@Bookdepository.com (With Free Worldwide Delivery!)

September is coming...

....and with it... goes all our money! o_O

Have you already made a list of all the books that you're interested in reading in the next month?
Well I have, and the thing doesn't look pretty...for my pockets! :/

    


                        

   


Of course, this is just an initial list, because "bookworms" such as us, are prone to discover new and interesting books to read in a blink of an eye!


The Winter Long by Seanan Mcguire
(Because this is my all time favourite series!!)

The Shifting Shadows by Patricia Briggs

Kelly Barnhill' The Witch's Boy
(Because I loved reading its arc! Read my review Here!

Charis Cotter' The Swallow: A Ghost Story
(Review to be posted!)
 
Unmade (Lynburn Legacy #3) by Sarah Rees Brennan
(because this better be good, or I'll flip!!)

Sherry Thomas' The Perilous Sea
(Because I loved the first one, so yes...this is also in the " this better be good or I'll flip" category

Now comes the last three books, and I am completely lost here, because I've never read anything by the authors.

Paper Magician
(Because it reminds me a little of the "Night Circus")

Miss Spelled (Kobo)
(because it sounds..cute?)

Haunted Ever After (Kobo)
(because it sounds cute and funny? lol)

More Book Goodies!

These two books are our latest arc approvals here on Pbwonderland.
Don't they sound deliciously scary? ;)

 

                   Expected publication: February 17th 2015 by Simon Pulse 

 

 

                                          
                                       September 9th 2014 by Tundra Books

The Castle Behind Thorns by Merrie Haskell

 

A expression that I wouldn't use to describe this book:

                                         A Magical adventure

This is not a magical adventure. This is a book about the journey of two teens, and by journey, I am referring to a journey of the heart.
And no, I am not talking about romance.  Forget about romance. This is a book about faith, forgiveness, and friendship, a story unlike any other I've ever read!

Also I wouldn't place this book in the so called middle grade "box". This is a very slow book, with characters that despite their young age (thirteen) _when compared with today costumes _ feel mostly grown up, in a setting that is firmly set in the Middle Age.

I would prefer to place this book in the historical fiction shelf....right beside the literary fiction one, and close by to the one featuring the magical realism....while trying to ignore the Christian shelf....because despite the Saints, and the faith thing, I really don't want to go there.
It's a complicated thing, trying to define this book....Oh, and there's this tiny bit that could be considered a fairy tale retelling! Ah!

Beginning:
Slow. Really slow, because I for one, am not that interested  in seeing someone just trying to repair and mend broken items!
Here's the thing: Sand our main character, one day finds himself in the interior of an abandoned castle. He has no idea how he got there. He can't leave, because the castle is surrounded by the most vicious thorns known to man, and he has no idea what to do!
No one is going to save him, and everything inside the castle is broken to bits. Even things that shouldn't be, like leather.
Story is, twenty five years ago there was this earthquake, and the castle was abandoned...in more ways than one.

Bit by bit, Sand _ whose father and grandfather are both blacksmiths_ is able to put the castle's forge to work, and he just starts fixing things...in a very "un-magical" way.

Forget about this book's cover, and the axe on the boy's hand. Forget about the vivid colours that you see in it!
Sand finds himself in a place where nothing grows or lives.

“It means, nothing grows here. Nothing lives. Nothing rots, either. Everything just . . . dries out.”

 A place that must have been stage of such a terrible thing, that even the ground, the chapel, and the tombs inside were split apart.
There he finds the body of a long dead girl. She's on the ground, outside of her broken tomb.
Sand knows he can't leave her just like that, so he tries to put her "to rights" inside her tomb...and then he gets the hell out of there...as normal people would do!

What follows next takes a little patience to read. I can't say that the descriptions are engrossing and page turning!
This is not an action...movie/book.
However this is extremely well written, and after awhile I did become fascinated with the story.
Probably about the time the dead girl comes to life (that or the falcon!)...and I am not talking about zombie alive.
Just alive, as if she had just been sleeping:

"Perrotte had never been a good sleeper, and maybe that was why she lived again. Death was the ultimate night, and she couldn’t keep her eyes closed even through that."

What can I say?
You would expect there would be a whole lot of drama, due to suddenly seeing a dead girl come alive, right?
Wrong. With time the blacksmith's son, and Perrotte, who was once the daughter of a Countess, become friends.

Okay, I have a pet peeve _well more than one, but this is the one we are talking about know _ I don't like when religion gets mixed in a story. I tend to always feel as if I am being lectured on something...and the characters end up being some of the worst liars I have ever read about, while the story continues to praise their goodness. It's infuriating. I am thinking about Sarah Sundin's "Distant melody"...which I shouldn't even get started on...

This one, I am glad to say, that despite having two very active Saints _long story _ and the fact that one gets a....you know dead girl/bird rising plot, which can be constituted as a miracle, or just some very strong magical realism setting, never did that! I never felt that I was being lectured! The characters felt real, and likeable (well after awhile...but the girl had her reasons), and not some "goody too-shoes" that just end up behaving like idiots...and liars!
Thank you. It just felt natural due to the time setting.

So, yes, despite what I saw as a slow start, I really, REALLY, ended up enjoying this book, and I think that this is going to be one of those whose reads, that will just keep getting better with constant re-reads.

So, grown ups! You, who like "a bit of the odd" in your stories, what are you waiting for to read this book?

Author Official Site

 Buy "The Castle Behind Thorns"
@Bookdepository.com

School Spirits by Rachel Hawkins

School Spirits, a Hex Hall spin-off has in Izzy Brannick its leading character. Remember her?
She appears in the last Hex Hall book: She's Sophie's younger cousin.

More "grounded" on earth, Izzy's  is nothing like her demon cousin. Well for starters she tends to hunt people with magic...
The Brannicks have been fighting monsters for all their lives, and have been paying the price for that.
The most recent casualty has been Izzy's older sister, Finn, who has disappeared without a trace.

Izzy's confidence is shaken, and her mother decides to give her a small "case" in order to boast the girl's confidence.
Now, how can someone who has been raised away from the civilization know how to adapt, when faced with the prospect of having to attend High School?
.....
She buys lots and lots of teen series dvd's....
I'm serious.
*Gulp* Poor girl.

The case Izzy's mother decides to give her, involves a somewhat run of the mill...situation involving a ghost.Which according to Izzy is just plain boring.
That is, until the basic "exorcism" techniques stop working : you know, the basic stuff like going into graveyards at night to drop salt into the ghost grave.

“You can’t just go around following people,” I told Dex as I tossed the empty salt carton into my backpack. “It’s creepy. And inappropriate.”
“Says the girl pouring salt onto graves.”
I glared at him. “This is…part of my religion.”

Suddenly, teachers, and students alike seem to have been turned into a target...and not even the family "heirloom" Torin, the guy who has been stuck in a mirror for more than four hundred years, knows what to do.

In high school Izzy makes some friends and meets a potential love interest...but how can a girl less than ordinary, get to live a plain old life?

Just like the Hex Hall series, School Spirits reads itself in a blink of an eye.

Unlike Hex Hall, and despite continuing to have a very particular sense of humour, I am happy to say that Izzy doesn't try to emulate her cousin's peculiar sense of humour!
Don't get me wrong! I love Sophie...but after awhile the girl drives a person insane!

This had a strong plot. I honestly had no idea who was the guilty part up until the end, which is always a bonus.
The sidekicks were all interesting people, and of course I couldn't help but love Dex's charm! Who cares if the guy likes his coats in purple?
They look good on him! lol

“It’s just…purple suits you. Which is good since you wear so much of it.”
Preening, Dex raised his head and pushed his shoulders back. “It brings out the color of my eyes.”

The end...delivered quite a kick in the gut, and despite wishing that some things had been more developed _and questioning Aislin's ability to, lets say...receive another person in the Brannick family _ I have to admit being pretty happy with how this one turned out . *Thumbs up*
In the end, my only question is:
For when the second one? :)

Author's Official Tumblr
Oh, I just read this on the author's Tumblr:

"(..)there are no more School Spirits books coming in the near future. Never say never and all of that, but for now, those are over."

Excuse me:

 

 

Buy "School Spirits"

@Bookdepository.com 

Just saw this...

...on the author's Facebook page, and since both of us here on PbWonderland, loved the first book in the author's trilogy, I decided to help spread the world!
Yes, I am a fan of the series ;)

"Sherry Thomas

54 mins

The Burning Sky is on sale for $1.99 right now. Read it before its sequel, The Perilous Sea, comes out in September!"

( This was posted 54 minutes ago, and I don't know how long it is going to last!) 

Amazon.com

Barnes & Noble 

Read Isa's review of The Burning Sky

And also mine:

 Susana's review

 

Pre-order " The Perilous Sea"

Bookdepository.com