Scarlet (The Lunar Chronicles, #2) by Marissa Meyer

After falling in love with Cinder and being left on something of a cliffhanger, I was eager to get my hands on the second book in the series. Thankfully, my mom had given me a $10 Barnes & Noble gift card that I had forgotten about. When I remembered it, I put it to good use.

When Scarlet's grandmother goes missing, she knows foul play was involved. Her grandmother would never leave her, never take off without telling anyone, and she certainly wouldn't have cut out her ID chip to do it. The police say there's no proof of foul play and drop the case, but Scarlet is determined to continue the search herself. Then she meets Wolf, a street fighter who is surprisingly quiet and a little awkward. Despite the fact that she's not sure she can trust him, she learns he may have a connection to the people who took her grandmother and asks for his help. While she is rushing into danger to save her grandmother, it soon becomes clear that danger might be trailing her already.

Meanwhile, Cinder has broken out of prison and hitched a ride with another prisoner she teamed up with in order to escape. They leave the Commonwealth, but it soon becomes clear that the entire planet is out to get them. Now Cinder has to make a decision. She can either go to Africa to be trained or flee elsewhere and try to learn more about herself and her past.

I was warned going into this book that it would feel "a little to Twilight-y." And though I've never actually read the Twilight books, I can see where they're coming from. (To be clear, I'm not a mindless hater of Twilight, I'm sure it has its merit, though I try to steer clear of anything that romanticizes abusive patterns in relationships.) However, I still deeply enjoyed this book. Again, this is another book that keeps you on your toes and definitely makes this aspiring author applaud at the very believable world-building.

Second books tend to be a bit duller than their predecessors, but this book doesn't fall prey to that lull. Marissa Meyer did a fantastic job in making sure Scarlet was every bit as good and exciting as Cinder. I am definitely eager to find out what happens next. I just have to wait for Cress to come out in paperback first!

Rating: ★★★★★

Cinder (The Lunar Chronicles, #1) by Marissa Meyer

I have heard quite a bit about The Lunar Chronicles in the past, but had never really gotten the chance to pick theme up. I'll go ahead and blame that on my taller-than-me TBR pile, because there's nothing about this that wouldn't appeal to me. A sci-fi fairytale retelling? Yes, please! A cyborg Cinderella? Count me in!

A coworker of mine who has heard me rant and rave about how much I love YA Fiction approached me about a month ago to ask if I'd read these books. She is in love with them and had learned that the author was going to be speaking at a Tacoma library at the end of January and wanted to know if I wanted to come with her. I regretfully told her I hadn't yet read them, but I would totally come with her and would do my best to read the three books in The Lunar Chronicles that had already come out.

Linh Cinder, our cyborg Cinderella, is a mechanic in New Beijing, known for being one of the bet at her craft. She works constantly to support her stepmother and stepsisters, who technically own her, since cyborgs are considered property, not people. When Prince Kai shows up in her shop one day, asking her to fix an android of his, Cinder doesn't want to admit that she likes the boy that every girl in the empire would kill to meet. Soon, it becomes clear that the information the android carries is more important than Cinder could have realized and may be the key to holding off the threat that is Queen Levana, the Lunar queen. Cinder wants to do everything in her power to help her country and the boy who has been so kind to her, but when she ends up getting pulled into the political skirmish, she can't help but wonder if she'll even be able to make it out alive.

I really loved everything about this book. Cinder is a great heroine. She struggles with her own insecurities and these insurmountable odds that rise up against her, but she's also smart, strong, and kind. I love the idea of a mechanic Cinderella. Her relationship with Prince Kai is incredibly believable and the romance almost creeps up on her. I really enjoyed that she was pretty resistant to the idea of falling in love with him and that he fell for her because she was someone he could talk to, not because she was the prettiest person who walked into the ball.

Cinder was a great opening to what looks like a pretty stellar book series. It keeps the reader on the edge of their seat from beginning to end, eager to put the pieces together and find out what is going to happen next. If this first installment is any indication, we have a pretty amazing series to look forward to, and it's going to be an interesting ride from beginning to end.

Rating: ★★★★★

Monstrous Beauty by Elizabeth Fama

“Pastor McKee, do you think we really have a ghost up there in the sanctuary? I mean, does the church even believe in ghosts? Because – if there is a ghost – maybe it's related to this drowning?”

It sounded so ridiculous when she said it out loud.

“Tell me, lassie, have you paerchance heard any local tales o' sea folk?” he said out of the blue.

“Uh . . .” Hester wondered where he was going with this.

“I've haerd tell they live en the deepes' par' of our own bay.”

“Why do you ask?”

He shrugged and shifted his feet, preparing to sit in the chair again. She held his arm while he lowered himself into it. “Jus' tha' tales o' ghosts and tales o' sea folk paersist in the world. Even an educated paerson mus' wonder ef thar's a reason for et.”

“Monstrous Beauty” is another book I came across on the shelves of my local Half Price Bookstore. I hadn't ever heard of it or the author before, but the cover was stunning and the summary on the back sounded just dark and interesting enough to catch my attention. If I remember correctly, this wasn't long after I had read “Fathomless”, so I'll admit I was probably on a bit of a dark mermaid story binge at the time, though I obviously didn't read it until much later.

Hester Goodwin has pledged herself never to fall in love or marry. Most especially, she will never have children. Hester has made this decision because of her family history. After all, if all the women in the last one hundred fifty years of your family history had died within a week of giving birth to their first child, you would be concerned too. Though she definitely has feelings for her best friend, Peter, she suppresses them and pulls away. She can't fall in love. She can't be talked out of it. She doesn't want to die.

Then Hester meets Ezra, a strange and intoxicating man whom she only ever sees on the beach, and suddenly all of her resolve seems to dissipate. He claims he can help her, that her troubles sound more like a curse than a genetic fault and perhaps the two of them can solve it together.

As she begins to look into her family's past, Hester begins to uncover the pieces of a tragedy that took place long ago and may be the cause of her curse, as well as the rumored hauntings that have taken place in the church and its graveyard, where she used to play as a girl. It's up to her to uncover a terrible truth and set to rights that which was tampered with long ago, that is, if the forces that be will let her do it.

The further I sank into this book, the more surprised I was that I hadn't heard of it before. A beautifully written tale that can be dark, tragic, thrilling, and hopeful all in one excellent novel? I was smitten from the start.

I cannot get over how good this book managed to be and I will definitely be singing its praises for months. The reader is caught up along with the protagonist in the mystery that surrounds her and the terrifying adventures she must face in order to get to the bottom of things. Hester is fierce and resourceful and an all-around believable character that I enjoyed getting to know within the pages.

If you're looking for a good, dark fantasy preferably containing mermaids and other supposed myths, this is the book you need on your shelf. I suggest finding it as soon as you can manage.

Rating: ~★★★★★~

She struggled and writhed as the thing switched positions, easily hooking an arm around her neck and swimming her down – headfirst, faceup, deeper and deeper – in a death-spiral version of a lifeguard rescue. It was a distinctly humanlike arm that held her, and Hester clutched it with both ahnds, afraid of the speed, and afraid it would strangle her. The rhythmic thumping and pumping beneath her was the unmistakable action of a powerful tail, propelling them to the depths of the bay. Hester kept her eyes closed, but she knew without seeing the creature: it was a mermaid.

They were real.

McKee was right; E.A. Doyle was right.

And Hester was about to be killed.

Cold Spell by Jackson Pearce (Fairytale Retellings, #4)

"You think the fact that you love Kai means you'll win?"
"No," I saw slowly. "I think the fact that I love Kai means I'll fight for him."

[Click here to check out my review of book 1: Sisters Red, book 2: Sweetly, and book 3: Fathomless]

I adore fairytales and modern retellings that fit the old legends and make them even better are hard to come by. If you're looking for a good series that fits that criteria -- look no further.

After falling in love with each of the books in this series, one after the other, I was admittedly a little upset when I found out that this would be the last of the series. After all, I had all these ideas about how I wanted a final showdown to take place (and I cannot be the only one who was already beginning to ship Scarlett and Ansel, though they technically hadn't met). However, Jackson Pearce hadn't let me down thus far, so I knew I would be pleased however it turned out. I tore into it as soon as my preordered copy arrived in the mail.

When we first meet Kai and Ginny, they're skipping class to sit up on the roof of their apartment building and talk about their future. Kai, a extremely gifted musician, will be going to New York for a music program and Ginny intends to follow him. Extremely devoted to her young love, Ginny doesn't have much of a plan for her future. All she knows is that it absolutely involves Kai. Both look forward to the time away in the summer, especially Ginny, who is always happy to get out from under the loathing eye of Grandma Dalia, Kai's grandmother.

Grandma Dalia has hated Ginny since the day she and her family moved into their apartment building. She didn't like Kai playing with a girl and seemed to take every precaution to keep them away from each other, but even that couldn't stop the two from falling in love. Grandma Dalia loves her grandson and only him. She has dedicated her life to keeping him safe from the beasts and the dangers that she knows are lurking just around the corner. Most of all, she yearns to keep him safe from the snow queen.

Both teens have always assumed that these delusions were just a part of who Grandma Dalia was, that she was missing a few marbles. Ginny, though, always wondered if maybe there was a bit of truth to her words. What if there really was a real danger out there?

It seems her suspicions are confirmed when Kai disappears with a girl whom Ginny can only assume is the snow queen Grandma Dalia had warned them about. Now it's up to her to save the only love she's ever known and the only person she can't live without.

I may not have gotten the exact ending I was hoping for, but Jackson Pearce gifted her readers with exactly the kind of stunning end to a great story that we were all hoping for. Cold Spell ties up the story told within the series in the masterful way that only she could. Every character was complex and unique, while the story itself kept me glued to the pages.

Cold Spell is a chilling conclusion to a stunning tale that will leave the reader feeling satisfied, yet wishing they could continue reading anyway. I fell in love with it and can't wait to recommend it and its predecessors to as many readers as I can coax into reading them. Definitely the perfect holiday pick for your last minute Christmas shopping.


Rating: ★★★★★

She's already figured out what she does--she steals boys. But right now, I can do everything. If Mora can steal boys, I can bring them back.

Into the Woods by Lyn Gardner [Illustrated by Mini Grey]

"I'm frightened, Storm. I am frightened fo Dr. DeWilde, of Mother Collops, of the mountains, of everything."
"Well, I'm sorry, Aurora," snapped Storm, "but you're just going to have to get used to being frightened. We're going to save Any, even if it kills us."

 I picked up Into the Woods because the cover caught my eye while I was perusing the local library. I picked it up, turned it over, and after reading the back, added it to my stack of books I was checking out that day. I thought it looked deeply interesting, but I still wasn't sure I would find the time to read it. After all, it was a rather large book and, though it looked good, I didn't think I'd have much time to read it. (As much as I adore reading, I only have so much time in which to do it, so I try not to get stuck on larger books that will take me so much longer to get through.)

However, this one kept screaming at me from my shelf, so once I finished City of Ashes, I decided to follow it up with a middle grade novel that I would almost certainly enjoy.

Storm Eden is nearly in her teens when she and her sisters become almost orphans. Their mother died after giving birth to the youngest Eden girl, Any, and their father soon abandoned them afterwards. Aurora, the eldest of the three, takes over. After all, it wasn't like her parents did much to take care of them before that. Aurora has long been in charge of the house, the cooking, and even Storm's education.

On her deathbed, Storm's mother presented her with a tin pipe. It hung on a chain that kept it around her neck and Storm listened in rapt attention as her mother cautioned her to use the pipe well and keep her sisters safe. At first, Storm is enchanted with the idea that the pipe is something special, but it isn't long before the doubt creeps in and she feels cheated, wondering if her mother was laughing at her by playing such a strange joke.

But when Dr. DeWilde, a menacing older man with a pack of wolves at his disposal, arrives at the girls' home in search of the pipe, Storm is quick to realize that there's more to the story that what her mother told her. Soon the girls are on the run in search of safety. When Dr. DeWilde gets his hands on Any, though, it soon becomes apparent that only Storm has the gumption and the fire necessary to save them all from Dr. DeWilde's evil schemes.

Into the Woods is a wonderful mashup of fairytales mixed up with an entirely new story, bringing with it a freshness and excitement that I was totally unprepared for. I really did love everything about this. Storm is a wonderful heroine, but then so are Aurora and Any. In an age where many take the easy route in making cookie-cutter heroines, I really appreciated having that contrast in each of them. (Aurora gets to be girly and scared, but still loyal and protective. Storm gets to be brave and the plucky tomboy, while still appreciating her sister's more feminine tendencies.) They all make mistakes and they all have their own brand of heroism, but they're in this together and each sister will do anything to protect the others.

The story itself was fabulous and kept me guessing the whole way through. It's whimsical, yet dark, and kept me engrossed from page one. And of course, the little dashes of illustration sprinkled throughout only heightened my enjoyment. Mini Grey does a fabulous job at giving us these lovely illustrations that let us peer into the story in another way without overwhelming us.

Altogether, it's a very well done book and definitely one I'll be introducing to my nieces and nephews once they're a tad older and able to handle longer books like this. It's a wonderful story for all ages and one I'd suggested adding to your Christmas list before you close this page!

Rating: ★★★★★

"Leave?" said Aurorora, staring wildly at Storm. "Leave, and let you face Mother Collops alone? What kind of sister do you think I am? I will never, ever abandon you. Whatever the circumstances. I'd die first!"

Confessions of An Ugly Stepsister by Gregory Maguire

"Don't be ridiculous," snaps Iris. "You don't want to be caged in the shell of some stupid marriage, Clara, but don't be caged by your own limited experience, either."

I picked up this lovely volume in the Amsterdam Waterstones. I had begged my parents to let me visit that particular bookstore and was thrilled when we had the chance to drop by on our last day in the beautiful city. While I was exploring the fabulous four-story shop, I happened upon an entire shelf dedicated to literature based in the Netherlands, so of course I had to select one. When I spotted Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister and noticed that the author was the very same who wrote Wicked (which I have seen the play of, but have yet to read), I had to snatch it up.

Iris knows she is ugly. She doesn't need reminders, though everyone is more than willing to give them anyway. She's clever though, and her sisters needs her. That's what keeps her going. That's what consoles her when she watches others praise Clara, her step-sister, at every turn for her stunning beauty. For Clara, her own beauty is merely a gilded cage and she likes it almost as little as she likes those she comes in contact with. She has convinced herself that she is a changeling and therefore despises nearly everyone. After all, she's really only loved her father and step-sisters, whether she knows how to show it or not.

When a Prince comes to Haarlem to find a wife, Iris is told by her mother that she must do what she can to be his choice. Iris is confused by this advice, knowing that her mother must be losing her wits and her sight if she thinks a prince would choose her over any other number of choices. Beyond that, her heart belongs to another, though he too is blinded by the light of Clara's good looks. However, Iris begins to understand that this prince's arrival might just be the escape Clara has been looking for, that is, if Clara can be convinced to attend the ball at all.

I'm a huge fan of fairytale retellings in general, especially ones done well. So I knew I would like this. After all, how could the person who wrote Wicked possibly mess up a retelling of Cinderella? Let me tell you: I was right.

Iris is a smart and savvy heroine with a desire to take care of her family, specifically her older and developmentally delayed sister. She has seen the hardships that have befallen her small family and, after coming to England after the brutal murder of their father, does everything in her power to make sure they don't have to face that sort of terror again, though it makes her fearful and convinces her that danger lurks in every corner.

I particularly enjoy the way that Gregory Maguire makes his characters real people. By this, I mean that they make real choices, real mistakes. Their motives for any single action aren't always pinned down or for the reasons they want them to be. There is a little bad mixed into every character and no one makes all the right decisions.

The story itself was a very interesting and gritty take on the Cinderella fairytale. He did a fabulous job on this book and anyone who is even remotely interested after hearing the summary really ought to get their hands on it. It's absolutely worth your while.

Rating: ★★★★☆


But I suspect, some days, that beauty helps protect the spirit of mankind, swaddle it and succor it, so that we might survive. Beauty is no end in itself, but if it makes our lives less miserable so taht we might be more kind--well, then, let's have beauty, painted on our porcelain, hanging on our walls, ringing through our stories.

A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness [Illustrated by Jim Kay]

Stories are wild creatures, the monster said. When you let them loose, who knows what havoc they may wreak.

I picked up A Monster Calls at a bookstore after hearing more than a few people gushing about it on book review vlogs and blogs. The artwork on the cover is stunning and hooked me for certain and, to add that extra cherry on top, I noticed the blurb by John Green that stated, "Patrick Ness is an insanely beautiful writer."

How could I not read it?

My younger brother even got his hands on my copy before I did and tore through it in one sitting. When he finished, he couldn't stop telling me how good it was and that I needed to read it immediately. I got the memo and started in on in while waiting for my flight back to the States after visiting my family a few weeks ago.

When Conor wakes up in the middle of the night, he expects the monster in his nightmares to be lurking just out of sight. He knows with everything that is in him that the monster will come for him soon and he'll live the horror of his nightmares in his waking hours. But it's not the monster Conor expects when he looks out his window and finds the yew tree from the graveyard is now standing firmly in his backyard, his booming voice informing the young boy that he has come for him.

However, Conor is not scared of the yew tree that stands menacingly behind his house, because he's seen worse. Nothing is worse than the monster in his dreams and he'll take any horror over the reality of that nightmare coming true.

However, the great yew tree has different plans for Conor. He has come to demand the truth and to share it. He promises to tell Conor three stories, but after that, Conor must share his story, the one that haunts his every waking hour, as well as his sleep.

My absolute favorite illustration from within A Monster Calls.

I honestly cannot say enough about how utterly spectacular this book is. I can already tell it will be one of those that I read again and again and again, because of its breathtaking beauty and truth.

This is the first work I've read by Patrick Ness, though I've heard people raving about him for years now. I definitely regret not having enjoyed his prose sooner. The storytelling in this book is beyond superb and is only compounded by Ness's profound mastery of the material and his ability to spin and weave the words into something so stunning that it nearly leaves the reader breathless.

And speaking of breathless, look at that artwork! I'm not even sure I can produce words for how intensely beautiful the illustrations are. They litter nearly every page and make the text that much richer; the story that much brighter. I seriously have to find out how I can get my hands on some prints of these.

Overall, I have to say this: if you haven't read A Monster Calls you are seriously missing out. You need to get your hands on this book as soon as you get the chance. It is definitely one of my favorite reads of the year and I'm certain it will be yours as well.

Rating: ~★★★★★~


There is not always a good guy. Nor is there always a bad one. Most people are somewhere in between.
Conor shook his head. "That's a terrible story. And a cheat." 
It's a true story, the monster said. Many things that are true feel like a cheat. Kingdoms get the princes they deserve, farmers' daughters die for no reason, and sometimes witches merit saving. Quite often, actually. You'd be surprised.

GNW: The Last Dragon by Jane Yolen & Rebecca Guay

When Tansy finds dragon's bane while searching for herbs with her father, the town healer, she doesn't think much of it. She finds it's strange properties- how it burns the skin on contact and doesn't need much prodding to burst into flames- intriguing, but little more.

However, when her father goes missing and, only a few days later, her sister's suitor runs into town, claiming he has seen a dragon, the town turns to Tansy to tell them what they must do. She calls for a hero.

Lancot, a "hero" from across the sea returns with the boys who were sent out to find them, and Tansy immediately recognizes that the man is no hero. He's muscular and pretty, yes, but he knows nothing of danger, nor does he have the drive to protect Tansy's people.

However, they must keep up appearances and as Tansy does her best to nudge him in the right direction, she begins making plans of her own to save her people. There's something about her and her determination that draws Lancot to her. Maybe all he needed was someone to protect, after all.

The Last Dragon is a beautifully crafted tale of a man and woman who work together to defeat a foe that is larger than life, though both are scared and neither are particularly qualified. This was a beautiful graphic novel.

The story by Jane Yolen was wonderful and really wrapped the audience up in the story, but it was Rebecca Guay's artistry that really captivates the reader. The artwork is breath-taking. It varies from panel to panel, one being so life-like that it looks almost like a portrait, while others were more stylistically cartoonish. I could look at the color work and the attention to detail for days and still find new things I hadn't properly admired before.

Rating: ★★★★☆

Fathomless by Jackson Pearce (Fairytale Retellings, #3)

Maybe you have to know about your past to look to your future, to make a decision about it.

[Click here to see my review of book 1: Sisters Red and book 2: Sweetly]

After absolutely falling in love with the first two books in Jackson Pearce's Fairytale Retellings series, I was admittedly a little scared to read the third. What if I didn't like it? What if it didn't live up to the greatness of the first two? I had the utmost faith in the fact that she could make this one just as good as her first two, but what if she hadn't?

Well, my fears were totally unfounded. Fathomless turned out to be just as beautifully written and compelling as its counterparts. I'm already itching to get my hands on Cold Spell, the fourth book, which doesn't come out until November of this year. How will I ever manage to wait that long?

Celia, Anne, and Jane Reynolds are a set of triplets with surprising powers. Anne can see the future, Jane can see the present, and Celia sees only the past. The youngest in their family, they were sent off to boarding school after the death of their mother. Since then, they've really only had each other, having lost contact with each of their brothers and the father who no longer remembers them (due to his Alzheimer's). They've always known that they're stronger together, but lately Celia has been feeling more and more like she is the odd one out. It's Jane and Anne who are the identical ones. She's just the one that somehow got thrown into the mix to complete the set. She believes that her power is useless, that her siblings received the ones that they could do something with whiles she only gets memories, but that's before she meets Lo.

Lo is an ocean girl. She used to be human, but now she lives under the water with her sisters, other ocean girls who have forgotten their pasts and bide their time until the day the angels who brought them here pluck them out of the sea and take them away to be with them. When they first arrive, though, many of the girls just want to go back. They want to be human again. According to the legends of the old ones, there's only one way to do that: they must get a human to love them and then drown them, taking the human's soul for their own.

When Jude, a hapless musician falls into the ocean one night, Lo decides that she doesn't want him to drown. She has tried drowning a boy to restore her soul and knows it won't work. Instead, she fights her sisters to save him, bringing him back to the shore with Celia's help. Celia touches Lo and discovers her real name, the one she forgot. This awakens a longing within Lo to remember what she was before she was an ocean girl.

Celia agrees to help her recover her memories and suddenly feels like her power has a purpose--that it can finally help someone. But this tentative friendship she's made is fraught with dangers and Jude may not be the only one in danger of drowning now.

In Fathomless, Pearce once again proves that she has an imagination of gold. And she has certainly struck gold with this series of retellings. I cannot express enough how much I adore this beautiful series and everything in it. Filled to the brim with the same strong bonds I have admired in the beginning, as well as another great dose of the magical and mythical beings we've seen in the first two novels, these books are positively addicting and the kind you'll want to pester everyone you know to read so they can enjoy it just as much as you did.

What are you waiting for? Go get this book immediately! Get the whole series! And pray the Jackson Pearce never ever stops writing.

Rating: ~★★★★★~

"Because there's nothing there. There's no future between you and the girl- the water girl. Naida. Whatever she is."
"We stop being friends-" 
"You're not listening," Anne snaps, and there's so much worry in her voice that I feel cold. "There's nothing there, Celia. There's no future because there's no 'you and her.' It's blank."
"What does that mean?" 
Anne sighs, shakes her head. "What have you gotten yourself into?" she mutters before looking me in the eye. "It means," she says, voice serious, "either she dies or you do." 

Sweetly by Jackson Pearce (Fairytale Retellings, #2)

She turned forward and sped up, faster than the others, driven by the yellow eyes that overpowered the sharp aches in her chest, her legs begging for rest. There was light ahead, shapes that weren't trees. THeir house, their house was close- the candy trail had worked. She couldn't feel her feet anymore, her lungs were bursting, eyes watering, cheeks scratched, but there was the house. 
They burst from the woods onto their cool lawn. Get inside, get inside. Ansel flung the back door open and they stumbled in, slamming the door shut. Their father and mother ran down the stairs, saw their children sweaty and panting and quivering, and asked in panicky, perfect unison:
"Where's your sister?"

[Click here to see my review of book 1: Sisters Red]

The sequel to Sisters Red by Jackson Pearce, Sweetly is the story of Gretchen and Ansel, a brother and sister duo who leave their home in Washington to find a new one where they no longer live under the shadow of the sister they lost, Gretchen's twin. Still feeling the ache of her disappearance and the deaths of their parents, they are driven out by their surviving stepmother and drive straight to North Carolina. Gretchen hopes to escape the fear of vanishing the way her sister did by going to live on the beach, far way from the trees and forests that have surrounded her since she was a child, a constant reminder of what she lost and how she lost her to the witch in the woods.

Before they can make it to the beach, though, their car breaks down and they are forced to seek help in the small town of Live Oak. They take refuge in the home of Sofia Kelly, a chocolatier living just outside town. The two and Sofia hit it off immediately, but most people in Live Oak hate Sofia just as much as they hate strangers, if not more. Most are either convinced she's an angel or a devil in disguise. Immediately, Gretchen and Ansel stand beside Sofia's claim of innocence in the part of the girls who have gone missing from the town, both knowing first-hand what it's like to be blamed for the disappearance of another.

But when Gretchen meets Samuel, she begins to question Sofia's side of the story, as well as the secrets that seem to surround her. As she learns more about the town's past and the witch who took her sister, Gretchen learns that the witch is back . . . and this time, it's after her.

I didn't think it was possible for Pearce to make a book that was just as good as the first in the Fairytale Retellings series, but she has definitely managed to pull that off without a hitch. Sweetly is filled with just as many memorable characters and strong bonds as the first book and a plot that keeps you guessing until the end. As I've mentioned before, I am a major sucker for loyalty and relationships where every person would be willing to lay down their life for the next at a moment's notice and this book had both of those; not to mention, incredible fight scenes. All that, and the more intense scenes still had me biting my nails and actually yelling during one particularly frightening bit. (I may or may not have woken my brother with that yell.)

This series is looking like it will turn out to be an all-time favorite of mine and I can't wait to see where it goes next, as well as where it will culminate in the end. It's going to be an epic collection and you absolutely won't want to miss it. I suggest you get started reading it right away. In the meantime, I'll be scouring the internet for book three.

[Click here to see my review of book 3: Fathomless]

Rating: ~★★★★★~

"Poor Sophia," Ansel says, shaking his head. I can hear it in his voice- he wants to save Sophia. That's how Ansel works. Someone is in pain, and he wants to save her- he ran back into the woods after our sister, he became my rock. He didn't give up on our father, even when Dad became someone Ansel barely knew- it wasn't long after Mom's death that he started drinking, and once he remarried it got worse. He couldn't escape the guilt- over my sister, over my mother . . . Guilt ate him through the mouth of a bottle.

As You Wish by Jackson Pearce

All I've learned in Shakespeare class is: Sometimes you fall in love with the wrong person just so you can find the right person. A more useful lesson would've been: Sometimes the right person doesn't love you back. Or sometimes the right person is gay. Or sometimes you just aren't the right person.
Thanks for nothing, Shakespeare.

After falling in love with Jackson Pearce's sophomore novel, Sisters Red, she became one of those authors whose section in the library I check nearly every time I visit. Thus I found her debut novel a few weeks ago and immediately checked it out. I just now managed to get around to reading it, but I am immensely glad I did. I read it all on one sitting that lasted about five or six hours. My day off couldn't have been better spent.

Viola Cohen's whole world felt like it had been ripped apart when her best friend and boyfriend, Lawrence, admitted to her that he was gay. Months later, they're still best friends, but Viola feels invisible and alone, as if a part of her has been broken.

Her greatest desire is to feel like she's a part of something again, the way she felt when she was with Lawrence. She doesn't want to feel invisible anymore. She wants to love someone and know that they love her too. It's the strength of this inner wish that summons the jinn.

When the jinn appears, he informs her that she has been granted three wishes. He expects it to be a routine venture to the world of humans, but Viola isn't like any of the other masters he's come in contact with up to this point. She speaks to him like a person, not just a wish-granter, and she evokes something in him that he's never experienced before--a longing for the friendship both she and Lawrence extend to him and, even more consuming, a longing for her. These are unprecedented and entirely unusual for a jinn. They aren't meant to get attached. They're meant to grant their wishes and go, but Jinn's not so sure he wants to go home anymore.

Viola gets three wishes. Three wishes and Jinn will be gone from her life forever. She won't remember him and he'll go back to his world, Caliban, until he is summoned by another human with a wish. It's not until after she has made her first wish that they begin to realize that they're feelings toward each other are more than anything they could have expected. Will Jinn help heal the brokenness in Viola's heart, only to have it broken once more and break his own heart in the process?

Once again, Jackson Pearce has created a fantastic story based on a classic fairytale. Technically, it isn't a part of her series of fairytale adaptations, but I still think it fits in that category regardless. I don't think I've ever read an adaptation of any stories involving genies before. In fact, it took me a few pages to get the image of the Aladdin genie voiced by Robin Williams out of my head. But it wasn't that difficult. After all, Jinn is a whole other species of genie than the crazy blue one I'm thinking of.

I particularly liked her description of Jinn's home world of Caliban, where the jinn have been banished. It's a beautiful place filled with beautiful people, but because of its lack of flaws is subpar in a way that makes complete sense, yet is kind of mind-blowing. It's our flaws and differences that make the human race so different and, eventually, so appealing to Jinn.

One of the things I really enjoyed about Pearce's other book was the creation of characters that were believable, well-rounded, and that carried strong emotional bonds for each other. Though these relationships were inherently quite different than the ones portrayed in Sisters Red, they still bore that essential loyalty to the people that were most important in the main characters' lives. Each cared deeply for the others and wanted most of all for the ones they loved to be truly happy. They wanted them to be happy being themselves, not trying to be copies of anyone else or copying what others were doing. Being happy with oneself and being happy with that was a major theme throughout the book that I deeply appreciated.

Jackson Pearce is clearly a fabulous storyteller. I cannot wait to read more of her work and it certainly won't be long before I'm scrambling for the next of her books I can get my hands on.

Rating: ★★★★☆

I'm . . . jealous.
Wait. No. I can't be jealous. My fingers tense and I can feel my pulse throbbing under my skin. My heart pounds in my chest and my mind races. The image of Viola and Aaron collides with the realization that I'm jealous. Jealousy is a mortal emotion. One that means I have something to lose--something that, if gone, will tear away a part of me. Jealousy is not for my kind. And yet there it is: I'm jealous.

Sisters Red by Jackson Pearce (Fairytale Retellings, #1)

The wolf opened his wide, long jaws, rows of teeth and bloodstained tongue stretching for her. A thought locked itself in Scarlett's mind, and she repeated it over and over until it became a chant, a prayer: I am the only one left to fight, so now I must kill you.

I picked up Sisters Red after hearing a pretty great review of it on another book reviewing blog. I bought it a few weeks ago and just now got around to reading it. My reaction? I love almost everything about this book.

You'll often hear avid readers getting "book hangovers," meaning basically that after they've finished the book, they have trouble starting a new one or thinking about anything besides the book they have just finished because they're still in that world. As many good books as I read, I don't usually experience that as much anymore. I still often find my mind going back to a good story or book that I really enjoyed, but I don't often have trouble breaking away from thinking only about a particular story for a day or two after I've finished it. But I definitely experienced that with Sisters Red. Long after I'd finished it, I was still poring over the tale and everything that had happened within it.

Sisters Red is the shared story of Rosie and Scarlett March. When they were children a werewolf (or Fenris, as they're called by those who are familiar with them) attacked them, killing the grandmother who raised them as well as taking Scarlett's eye and leaving scars all over her body. To save herself and her sister, Scarlett killed the beast; and ever since, she has had an all-consuming passion to hunt Fenris so that no one else has to suffer the way she and her sister have.

When a good friend of the sisters and an excellent woodsman and Fenris hunter, Silas, returns from a long family visit in California, things start changing. Not only does Rosie suddenly find herself drawn to the woodsman, she also begins to guiltily dream of a life where she isn't constantly fighting Fenris. But, more immediately, something is changing about the Fenris. They're getting bolder and more numerous, drifting into territory they had long abandoned. As more and more lives come in contact with the murderous creatures, the three are going to have to come up with a plan to take them on and fast. Otherwise, they could lose a lot more than they already have.

A modern and incredibly well-done spin on the old Red Riding Hood tale, Sisters Red was a compelling read from the very start. Not once did I lose interest or feel the tale was moving either too slow or too fast. Pearce did a fantastic job at pacing her story just right, as well as creating characters that the reader can identify and empathize with.

In particular, the relationships Pearce portrays really struck a cord with me. The loyalty between Rosie, Scarlett, and Silas was beautiful and the fierce love that each portrayed for the others was absolutely stunning. Their love for each other was probably the thing I loved most about this book. No matter how much fighting there was or how high the tension got, you never once doubted that each would do anything to protect the others and I cannot say enough how beautiful that is to me.

I would definitely suggest this to everyone, particularly lovers of fairy tales. It was an all-around wonderful book and I will definitely be snatching up the next Jackson Pearce novel I see. I'm thinking her Hansel and Gretel retelling looks like just the right book to be the next addition to my bookshelf.

Rating: ~★★★★★~

[Click here for my review of book 2: Sweetly and book 3: Fathomless]

The plan forms in my mind slowly, more like a tide coming in than a wave crashing over me. I am confident, I am capable, and I will not wait to be rescued by a woodsman or a hunter. I will escape.