fantasy
Book Review: The Girl Who Ruled Fairyland – For a Little While
The Girl Who Ruled Fairyland – For a Little While by Catherynne M. Valente
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
I enjoyed this little short story, and was delighted to see the beginnings of Mallow’s adventures. It’s strange how I got used to thinking of her as the bad guy, but she really is such an interesting and complex character, that she doesn’t fit into the “bad guy” box. She’s so much more.
As always, I adore Valente’s whimsical and brilliant writing style. There are lots of delightful plot twists and surprises in this story, but it’s too short to really have much development.
A wonderful addition to the Fairyland series!
Book Review: The Box of Delights
The Box of Delights by John Masefield
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
When Kay comes home for the holidays, he meets a strange man who warns him, “The Wolves are running,” and entrusts him with a magical Box to keep safe. The evil Abner Brown is after the box with his gang of kidnappers and cutthroats, and when people begin disappearing in Kay’s town, Kay must use the Box to travel into the Past to save his friends.
I had high expectations for this book, and while I did enjoy it, I was a little disappointed. The plot has many gaping holes in it, the characters act in ways that don’t really make sense, and I never did figure out WHY exactly the villains wanted to steal the Box of Delights.
The one thing that lived up to my expectations was the Box of Delights itself. I loved the fairies, mouselings, and Herne the Hunter, and magical ladies of light, the Greeks, and pirates and Roman soldiers. All the butterflies, birds, and bees that helped Kay escape from the wolves were just beautiful written and wonderfully charming. All that magic was exactly what I wanted from this book! Continue reading
Book Review: The Clockwork Three
The Clockwork Three by Matthew J. Kirby
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
This is the story of three unlikely children living in a big city, where they find adventure, mystery, and even a little bit of magic. These children start their stories alone, but each meet the others along the way and learn to trust and rely on one another.
Guiseppe is a street musician, who finds a magical green violin. Frederick is an apprentice clockmaker and an orphan, who is determined to create a marvelous automaton. Hannah is a poor maid with an ailing father, who is desperate to get money for her family.
On the surface their problems seem simple, but the deeper the story goes, the more complex their difficulties become. Continue reading
Book Review: The Rivers of Zadaa
The Rivers of Zadaa by D.J. MacHale
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
How is it possible that every single book in this series is so amazing?! I adore every page!
In this book, Bobby is on Loor’s home territory of Zadaa, and there is a war looming between two tribes, the surface warriors of the Batu and the underground city of the Rokador. A terrible drought threatens both their civilizations, but the Batu think the Rokador are controlling the underground river sources and holding all the water for themselves.
Bobby and Loor are caught in the middle of espionage and small skirmishes between the tribes, trying with all their Traveler ingenuity to stop the war from starting. And of course, the horrible Saint Dane is lurking around causing trouble.
The plot twists! I still can barely wrap my head around the stuff that goes on in this story. Non-stop action, and things happening everywhere! Continue reading
Grandma’s House TBR
Recent Reads: #Hobbalong, Shakespeare, Graphic Novel
I Love Spring Book Tag
Now that Spring is over, I wish it would come back!!
I was tagged by Booktube Couple: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X4dktzGb_vU
Helene Jepsen and Amanda Original Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Shp2M…
QUESTIONS
1) How is Spring where you live?
2) Most anticipated book release this Spring?
3) Show us a book cover that makes you think of Spring.
4) Where are you going to read this Spring?
5) Find a cover with the sun on it!
6) What are your favorite Spring reads?
7) Find a book with many different colors on it.
8) Whom do you tag? Continue reading
Goodreads Guru: Episode 4
Ruler of Books Tag
Ariel’s Original Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DLRJx1d36sQ
Questions:
If you were the Ruler of Books…
1/ What book would you make everyone read?
2/ What would you abolish in book construction?
3/ What author would you commission to write you any book?
4/ What book would you demote to the library basement to make room for new books?
5/ What cover artist would you commission to make a mural?
6/ What characters face would you put on a coin?
7/ What book would you award the “Ruler of Books” 2016 Prize to? Continue reading
Luminous Libro 