4 Stars. I had my reservations about this. I love me a retold fairy tale, don’t get me wrong. But it’s all science-fictiony. Cyborgs? Androids? Not my thing. And then it’s set in a future that sounds a little post-apocalyptic? Definitely not my thing. And yet, searching around for something mildly dystopian to read for a reading […]
Legends in Exile by Bill Willingham: Book Review
All our familiar storybook characters have had to leave their homelands because an evil creature known as the Adversary has destroyed them. They have all converged on New York. In order to fit into mainstream society, there are some pretty stringent rules in effect. Snow White is effectively in control but her right-hand “man” is […]
Ice by Sarah Beth Durst: Book Review
Cassie Dasent is growing up in an Arctic research station with her dad and his team. Her grandmother has always told Cassie stories about her mom and how the family lost her to the North Wind and the Polar Bear King. When Cassie was younger, she believed these stories, but as she’s grown older, she […]
Fairest by Gail Carson Levine
Aza was abandoned at an inn when she was an infant. Luckily, the innkeeper and his wife decide to adopt her as their own. Aza grows up to have an unbelievably beautiful singing voice, but she does not have a pleasing appearance, to put it nicely. Other Ayorthians value her for her voice, but they’re […]
The Tales of Beedle the Bard by J. K. Rowling: Book Review
This book is the one that Hermione inherited from Dumbledore. It contains the “Tale of the Three Brothers” that was told in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. It also contains notes about each story written by Dumbledore and J.K. Rowling. I’ll be honest here. True, morbid, Brothers Grimm fairy tales are just not my […]
Rapunzel’s Revenge by Shannon Hale
Take Rapunzel and plunk her down smack-dab in the middle of a Louis L’Amour book and you have the gist of this fun graphic novel. The framework of Rapunzel is here. Hungry mom, eager-to-please dad, evil witch, girl with crazy-long hair in a tower. But that’s about where the similarities end. See, Rapunzel doesn’t want […]
Stardust by Neil Gaiman
Young Tristran Thorn (who’s birth is maybe not as…aboveboard…as Victorian society would like) is desperately in love with Victoria Forester. He screws up his courage one night to ask her to kiss him or marry him or just–something! He is met with laughter. In desperation, he offers to slay dragons and bring back treasures for […]
Twice Upon a Marigold by Jean Ferris: Book Review
Marigold and Christian are living out their happily ever after, but they aren’t perfectly happy. Little spats and hurt feelings have started creeping in. Could Olympia’s evil be influencing their lives? And what about the rumors of a woman who washed up in a village downstream not too long after their wedding? It can’t be […]
The Good Fairies of New York by Martin Millar: Book Review
Heather and Morag are two punkish thistle fairies on the run from Scotland. Unfortunately, in a drunken stupor, they seem to have stumbled onto a jet bound for New York. Heather and Morag try to acclimate to the huge city, along with the help of their friend Kerry and the ever-reluctant Dinny. Heather and Morag […]
Instructions by Neil Gaiman: Book Review
This is Neil Gaiman’s poem, “Instructions” bound as a picture book and illustrated by Charles Vess. I love this. I have to admit that when I first came across Gaiman’s poem in Fragile Things, I read it, thought it was pretty cool, and moved on, both in the book and in my head. It wasn’t […]
The Goose Girl by Shannon Hale: Book Review
I loved this. I finished it with a huge smile on my face and that contentment that comes from a story well told. It’s like enjoying a feast for the reader’s soul. I had heard so many good things about this book, I went into it with very high expectations. I have to admit that I wasn’t too sure what to think at first. The…