Book Review: Beauty (Tales from the Kingdoms #3) by Sarah Pinborough

Titan Books
Published Jan. 1, 2013
208 Pages

A retelling of Sleeping Beauty. 

Simple summary right? But that is the best way to explain this book without giving too much detail. I haven’t read the first two books so I can’t say if there is a connection or not. When you are reading this book it doesn’t feel like you are missing anything. It starts like it is own story. I appreciate that.

What I loved about this book was its directness. It still left a lot to the imagination but it didn’t add unnecessary conflict, romance, love triangle or messy emotions. I loved the fact the characters knew who they were and what they wanted from themselves and others. It made the book much more enjoyable. It did not by any means take away from the book by having sure characters. If you want drama from every character and internal turmoil then don’t read this book.

I loved the pace of the novel. It was a quick read and it gave a bit of a dark twist of sleeping beauty. However, I wish the book was longer because Ms. Sarah was on to something with Beauty. If it was embellished more or even had a greater back story then it would have been perfect. I felt the ending was too easy and would have jumped for joy if the ending was either darker or twisted in some form of way. But it was a better ending than a lot of other endings I have read in these past few weeks.

I can see why some people didn’t and wouldn’t like it because this book could have been way bigger than what it is but it was a good piece of work despite that.

Short review for a short read. I think this book is worth it plus I love the cover.

4 Pickles

 

Book Review: The Forest of Hands & Teeth by Carrie Ryan

Mary lives in a village that is controlled by the Sisterhood. This village is surrounded by the forest of hands and teeth. The only thing protecting them is a fence and obviously the Sisterhood. There are secrets as all small towns (villages) have. But the closely guarded secrets come to life when the fence is breached and Mary needs to make some choices.

Gollancz
Published July 2009
310 Pages

I was completely intrigued by the story but I couldn’t stand Mary. My issue with her is she was never satisfied with anything. She had to keep pushing and because of that she put a lot of people in serious positions.  For instance, she is in love with a boy but is promised to her brother. She makes this big fuss about being with him and when she finally gets him he’s not enough for her. She needs to explore she needs to know who what and why things are the way they are that she forgets to laugh. I don’t believe she was ever truly in love with the boy maybe when she lived in the village but after that I don’t think so.

Another issue I had with the book was there was no real high intense action minus the village invasion. The forest of hand and teeth is supposed to be filled with these evil flesh eating zombies (yes zombies) but some how Mary and her group manage to not really be in contact with them. This made the book a bit boring but I was filled with so many questions I kept reading.

Despite all of that the book was well written; you can see the time and though the author put into it. I appreciate that. I believe the story well built. Village controlled and fueled by secrets is perfect; the entire story up until Mary and her group leaves the village was great.

Overall the book gets 7 out of 10. It feels short on keeping the thrill and “horror” aspect. There are two other books so maybe questions will be answered.

 

Tania Lasenburg is a communications major that plays video games and cyber stalks Gym Class Heroes. Follow her on twitter @mrztanyapickles