HarperCollins To Be Published July 21, 2015 400 Pages
“In the epic conclusion to Soman Chainani’s New York Times bestselling series, The School for Good and Evil, everything old is new again as Sophie and Agatha fight the past as well as the present to find the perfect end to their story.
As A World Without Princes closed, the end was written and former best friends Sophie and Agatha went their separate ways. Agatha was whisked back to Gavaldon with Tedros and Sophie stayed behind with the beautiful young School Master.
But as they settle into their new lives, their story begs to be re-written, and this time, theirs isn’t the only one. With the girls apart, Evil has taken over and the villains of the past have come back to change their tales and turn the world of Good and Evil upside down.” -Goodreads
With her home planet filled with corruption and violence, Princess Snow has gone missing and King Matthias and his wife will do nothing to find the ones that took her.
Essie is use to being cold and living on the planet Thanda you either get use to it or you leave. She spends her days repairing seven drones that help the miners in the mine.
When a mysterious boy named Dane crash lands near her home, in order to avoid attention, Essie decides to help fix his ship. Quickly Essie realizes that Dane’s accidental crash is nothing accidental and Essie is forced into something she has been avoiding all these years.
Essie must come to terms about her past and her future.
I was extremely surprised when I began this book. I am not big on dystopia nor science fiction but this was a retelling so I had to give it a try.
Essie is an amazing character. She knows how to defend herself and kick full blown ass. She knows all this stuff about electronics and repairs. She also has common sense and she is book smart. She has no experience with men/boys and that is okay because she has a lot of emotional baggage that she doesn’t want to involve someone in.
I also liked Dane. He was blunt when it called for it. He had a double motive but it was for an extremely good reason. I also loved the fact that he knew what he wanted. It wasn’t a back and forth game between Dane and Essie.
But my favorite part of this entire book the subtle reference to the original fairy tale “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.” It is there without the constant reminder that this is a retelling. This story is completely original and if you didn’t know about the original fairy tale you wouldn’t even think of it.
I loved the ending; how you got the happily ever after but in the most realistic sense possible.
Overall, a wonderful, surprising, detailed, creative read.
Delacorte Press To Be Published Dec. 9, 2014 368 Pagess
Imogen moves to NYC with new guardians from her family’s English estate after the death of her parents. When Imogen begins receiving letters about her cousin’s death, stating that Imogen is the only heir left to run the estate, she returns to England.
But the warm welcoming she is expecting is nothing but a dream and Imogen is left to face the fact that her parent’s death may have not been an accident. Living in a house full of secrets and having a past crush live next door, Imogen has to find the truth about her parents and her heart.
I really enjoy Ms. Alexandra writing style. Her first book “Timeless” was a great read. Didn’t get the chance to read the second book though :(
However, I digress. This wasn’t her best book. Firstly, this is a retelling from the classic book “Rebecca” written by Daphne Du Maurier. So the idea of an estate full of secrets is nothing new. What I liked about this book was the suspense. There was a lot of it. Who did it? Why did they do it? Who can you trust? The questions and how they were presented was I believe well placed and stretched at the reasonable amount.
However, what I didn’t like about the book was the bull crap love triangle well ; Imogen, her dead cousin, and two brothers. -.- The fact that Imogen wanted her cousin’s boyfriend after 10 years blows my mine and the fact that he is just as comfortable with it only because he didn’t love her is crazy.
I didn’t agree with Imogen obsession with him and I really REALLY don’t agree with the fact that after 10 years all of a sudden she knows him so well that she would defend him against a crime. BULL. This right here. . . dropped the book down so badly and so fast.
Overall, I didn’t like Imogen. She was just a load of crap. Without giving any spoilers all I can say is she was claims meant the world to her didn’t if she couldn’t figure something out. The author tried to cover it in the beginning of the book but I wasn’t buying it.
However, the author was able still be unpredictable in the big twist and I loved that. It showed talent as a writer and I was very upset with the characters.
Delacorte Press To Be Published Dec. 9, 2014 400 Pages
Princess Aurora is an enhanced human. . . She has been blessed with fairy magic that gave her super strength, bravery and a curse that makes anyone she kisses her slave. Disguised as a boy, Aurora gets the help of Prince Niklass, to raise an army to fight the Orge Queen, who stole Aurora’s throne ten years ago.
But Prince Niklass has a hidden agenda, one that makes him untrustworthy and with each step forward Aurora needs to decide which is true following her heart or following her destiny.
Ahhhhh. AAHHHHHHHH!
I loved the twist on “Sleeping Beauty.” It is dark, sad, and weird. What I loved about this book was the first half of the book. Aurora was focused, determined to get her throne back and to save her brother. Aurora maybe a bit naive but she had a plan and appreciated the help that was given to her.
I also liked Prince Niklass. I don’t consider him an asshole or the jerk. His intentions, once reveled, was justified and he was open to Aurora when he considered her a brother. He was a good guy and had morals that made sense.
What I didn’t like about this book was the speed. It was slow, painfully dragging, slow. This made the book extremely hard to keep reading. But that wasn’t the worst part. The worst was Aurora.
-_-
When Aurora realized that she deeply cared about Niklass and then eventually love him, everything she has been fighting for, everything she said wanted to do was put second to keeping Niklass by her side. It is and will always be the most annoying thing an author can ever do. Even Niklass had to check her on that and remind her she is a Queen.
I also didn’t like the hissy fit Niklass threw when he found out Aurora is a boy. He was pissed off and I couldn’t understand why he was so upset. Yeah, I understand for the first 10 seconds but beyond that really?
The book started off really good. But it went downhill because the downtime is too much, Aurora lost herself and the fights she and Niklass were having was ridiculous and took too much away from the book.
Overall, I like what the author was trying to do but that drive stopped. 2 Pickles
Oz Vessalius is about to have a day he will never forget. At his coming of age ceremony, he is sent to the abyss, an eternal prison, for a sin he has no idea he committed.
In the abyss, he meets Alice, desperate to escape the abyss. She needs Oz’s help in order to leave. But at what cost?
This manga was okay. Oz is okay. The plot is what saved this series.
If you just read the first one, you won’t get much out of it. But if you keep reading it gets good. The story is a play on Alice in Wonderland, which is something I didn’t pick up on til the third book (I think).
I love the fact that the story isn’t one note. It was extremely well written, mysterious and complicated just enough for me to keep reading. However, what I didn’t like about the book was Oz. He didn’t show any growth and I read eight books. He was boring, lifeless and he didn’t failed to actually understand anything that was going on. He was stupid but he did act stupid constantly. Oz had no backbone either.
I understand he is a 15 year old boy but he is the main character. Everything centralizes around him and he was so willingly to throw his life away for the sake of being a hero but he really didn’t know what it all meant. Oz made the manga feel really drawn out. I was seriously tired of his mess.
As for the artwork, it was great! The series is very violent; so there is a lot of aggressive movements in the art. I loved it.
Since the day she was born Nyx has been destined to marry the Ignifex, an immortal demon her father made a bargain with. Nyx has been trained to kill Ignifex and avenge her mother’s death and allow her twin sister to live.
With hate in her heart for the demon that caused her life to be this way and hatred in her heart for her father and her sister, Nyx goes full on ready to destroyed Ignifex. But Ignifex isn’t exactly who she thought he would. Charming and just as sarcastic as she is, Ignifex proves that there is more to the story than just the stories Nyx grew up on.
This was a interesting take on “Beauty and the Beast” and I’m not exactly sure I like the outcome. Firstly, I didn’t like Nyx. She was very whinny and she was discouraged very easily. The only thing I did like about her was the witty comebacks. But she was trained to kill this demon and yet there was no real training. She was smart but she wasn’t the lethal assassin the summary made her to be.
Nyx father was an asshole. He made a bargain to have children only to treat his first child like crap and dot completely on her sister. I didn’t blame Nyx for feeling some type of way about her sister or father. But what I didn’t like was the fact that because she hated her non-apologetic father and her oblivious sister, she was considered evil. I have no idea why the author decided to make that a underlying bond between the two or why she decided to make that not caring for the people that threw you under the bus makes you evil.
I loved Ignifex. He was a well developed character. Maybe a bit overcomplicated but he was written very well.
The story was written with such complication and dramatics that after a few chapters, I got tired of Nyx talking about killing Ignifex but not doing it. The author seemed to get tired of it too because out of nowhere Ignifex admits he loves her and then the next few pages Nyx admits the same thing.
I really didn’t like how the story ended. Yes, they did get to be together but the fact that Nyx considers herself evil is too much to bare. Overall, for the most part, I thought the story was written well and I do appreciate the spin but it wasn’t my favorite. This story gets 3.5 Pickles.
Self Published Published July 12, 2012 129 Pages Kindle Ed.
Alice lives for all things wonderful. She’s a 24-year-old woman, who has opened Mad Hatter’s Cupcakery and Tea Shoppe with her best friend. Things are going well until a fairy godmother decides that Alice is the one to save the Mad Hatter and in total save Wonderland.
The Mad Hatter is everything Alice has and has not dreamed of. Sexy, strong, rugged and completely out of his mind, Hatter is not an easy egg to crack for Alice but with only three days to fall in love can Alice discover his secret and release her own?
This was such a surprisingly good book I am still flabbergasted. This is an adult version of Alice in Wonderland without the falling down the rabbit hole. Alice is a grown woman who although is single, is not one of those women who are overly shy or has a horrible past that damaged their future. I liked Rose because she held her own without being the overly aggressive woman or the damsel in distress.
I also loved the setting of this novel. Wonderland is a mess but not a dark creepy mess with hidden evils. It is bright, confusing, complicated, bad but really good and it was completely emotion based. When Hatter was feeling crappy, Wonderland was feeling crappy; so it was really cool to see the setting change as Alice and Hatter go through the process of getting to know each other.
I was completely surprised by Hatter because he was supposed to be this bad boy and there was nothing bad about him. He is an attractive man who has stopped looking for love due to some bad experiences. There are some turns in his story but it isn’t in bad taste.
However, despite my love for these characters what bothered me was the huge dramatic scene towards the end. That was extremely dramatic that I am not entirely sure I liked it. I understand why it was written like that to prove a point about fate but it was a bit over the top.
Overall I really enjoyed this book. It gets 4 Pickles
Princess Ira is blind and lives in Yuna, a city under a dome. Ira is considered a Smooth Skin, and is raised to be a human sacrifice to protect her people. Outside of Yuna, Gem, a mutant enters the dome in order to find food or something to save his people. However, Gem isn’t expecting to see Ira in her rose garden and taken by surprise he is captured.
Ira is fascinated by Gem and although she was taught to hate him she begins to care and the same is for Gem. As always things get complicated and feelings bloom between the two.
This story is Beauty and the Beast mixed with Rapunzel. Ira is locked in the tower pretty much her entire life . . . even when she becomes Queen she is still in the tower. Although this is a minor detail most people would miss I felt it was bold of the author to do that she silently slipped in. If you are expecting the same Beauty and the Beast story then this is actually not the book for you. The Beauty captures the Beast and the Beauty is completely in denial and reluctant throughout the entire book. It got annoying and it got annoying fast.
But that didn’t stop me from enjoying the story and the creativity the author put into this book. It is sci-fi, forbidden love and a corrupt kingdom. Seriously the near-perfect retelling of Beauty and the Beast. I say near perfect because maybe I am a bit bias but Sci-Fi stories need to have more actions, more movement for me to love it. With that being said the book stalled for me. It wasn’t too bad but it was enough for me to put the book down and get a couple runs in Call of Duty.
That is strictly just me. I am on the fence about Sci-Fi therefor it takes a lot to move me. Overall, I give this book, this fairy tale retelling a 9 out of 10. I can’t knock the creativity and the passion I felt in this book.
There is nothing like a fairy tale retelling. Beauty has been awaken by the Prince but unlike most stories is with a kiss . . . not in this one. Beauty is awakened with sex (kind of gross but bear with me). So at this point Beauty is supposed to get married to the prince, live happily ever after with some kinky sex . . . not exactly. Beauty does leave with the prince but as his sexual slave.
As far fetch this book may sound, it was actually a really good read. What Roquelaure aims to do is rid the world of the innocent people believe Beauty has. Yes, she is innocent in the beginning but as you go through the book you realize that she really had an interesting mind.
If you are looking for a story with depth and meaning this isn’t your story. It is purly about turning a innocent girl out and her liking it. Oddly enough once you realize that that is the sole purpose of the book. With all books you want to know the outcome of the main character and Roquelaure did a good job of making you want that because despite it all, I was curious as heck to know what is going to happen to freaky Beauty.
This is going to be a short review because what can you really say. The book is about BDSM and because it is dripping with so much of it the story (if there is any) gets lost. However, the summary of the book when you pick up tells you its about sex and the many different ways you can do it, so overall this book gets a 8 out of 10.
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Making and breaking your favorite reads since 2017
Motif by Tanya 