Scarlet

Scarlet (The Lunar Chronicles #2) Marissa Meyer 4/5	Published 2013 First Sentence "Scarlet was descending toward the alley behind the Rieux Tavern when her portscreen chimed from the passenger seat, followed by an automated voice: 'Comm received for Mademoiselle Scarlet Benoit from the Toulouse Law Enforcement Department of missing persons.'"
Publisher's Description: Cinder, the cyborg mechanic, returns in the second thrilling installment of the bestselling Lunar Chronicles. She's trying to break out of prison--even though if she succeeds, she'll be the Commonwealth's most wanted fugitive.  Halfway around the world, Scarlet Benoit's grandmother is missing. It turns out there are many things Scarlet doesn't know about her grandmother or the grave danger she has lived in her whole life. When Scarlet encounters Wolf, a street fighter who may have information as to her grandmother's whereabouts, she is loath to trust this stranger, but is inexplicably drawn to him, and he to her. As Scarlet and Wolf unravel one mystery, they encounter another when they meet Cinder. Now, all of them must stay one step ahead of the vicious Lunar Queen Levana, who will do anything for the handsome Prince Kai to become her husband, her king, her prisoner.
Dear Reader, I enjoyed this book so much, even right after reading Cinder. I know I was a little harsh with Cinder but this series is growing on me and is starting to meet my expectations of what I want from a book. This one follows the story of Little Red Riding Hood, but completely twists it around. I think the Author did a much better job staying away from that linear approach she followed with the first book. Yes, the main character Scarlet has Riding Hood written all over her and she is searching for a lost Grandmother, plus she meets a guy nicknamed "Wolf" who might be connected to the missing Grandmother. However, you get a completely different story, she twisted it so much that the only recognizable things had to do with the characters themselves. I loved that. Scarlet is also set in France, which I found a little more comfort in. I don't know why but when reading Cinder, I didn't connect with the setting at ALL. Where was Cinder located? I almost felt like it was an alien planet. The setting brought me back to more of a futuristic Earth (which is what I think the Author was going for). My friend told me recently (Hi Marsha) that the Author used these countries (China for Cinder and France for Scarlet) because that is where the origin of the fairy tale originated. I thought that was pretty neat and clever. This book also feels a little more rough, almost like a mystery splashed with western but set in a futuristic land, space cowboy? I was digging it. We have rebels, outlaws, gangs, kidnapping but it all tied down to the cliffhanger in Cinder perfectly. I liked how the Author connected two very different storylines and characters but made it feel very believable. I was also happy to see that Cinder got quite a bit of page time in this one - the cyborg is not forgotten! I can't wait to see what happens next but after all the books I took home from BEA and all the ARCs that have been backing up on my Kindle... I need to take a break and come back to this. I hope it doesn't ruin it for me but I'd also love to finish the last half of the series in one giant chunk (sometime when Winter comes out). Happy Reading, AmberBug

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Cinder

Cinder (The Lunar Chronicles #1) Marissa Meyer 4/5	Published 2012 First Sentence "The screw through Cinder's ankle had rusted, the engraved cross marks worn to a mangled circle."
Publisher's Description: Humans and androids crowd the raucous streets of New Beijing. A deadly plague ravages the population. From space, a ruthless lunar people watch, waiting to make their move. No one knows that Earth’s fate hinges on one girl. Cinder, a gifted mechanic, is a cyborg. She’s a second-class citizen with a mysterious past, reviled by her stepmother and blamed for her stepsister’s illness. But when her life becomes intertwined with the handsome Prince Kai’s, she suddenly finds herself at the center of an intergalactic struggle, and a forbidden attraction. Caught between duty and freedom, loyalty and betrayal, she must uncover secrets about her past in order to protect her world’s future.
Dear Reader, Everything about this book screamed "Amber, pick me! Pick me!", but I waited. I was reluctant to pick up something that seemed so perfect and be crushed by horrible it was. I let this one stew in the world for a little bit, glancing out the corner of my eye as others gave it great reviews. Finally, the last book will be published next year and enough praise has been sung, so I felt comfortable taking that leap. Now, mind you... at this point I was less excited, I thought to myself that even though it had so much "ME" in it... it wouldn't hold that goblet for me. It didn't, but at that point I was okay with that. What had me enthralled from the start was the premise (and THAT cover), a fairy-tale retelling but twisted with cyborgs, aliens with a futuristic apocalyptic world. Who wouldn't want to read that? Okay, so I was a smidge let down but I knew it was coming (just like I could predict the ending). However, all this isn't too surprising and perhaps I need to cut down my book snobbery but the writing had quite a few problems from time to time and I didn't like that the author stuck to the Cinderella tale a little too closely towards the middle. I wanted more of a change, which I got but only during the beginning and the end. Those parts became my favorite and at least the ending was done well (I did click over to buy the next book right away). Without all the nitpicking though, this is solid and I see why it caught on so well. I can't wait to see where the story goes, how the characters intertwine and how epic this all becomes. I'm sold... bring on Red Riding Hood (Cress). Happy Reading, AmberBug

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Gretel and the Dark

Gretel and the Dark Eliza Granville 4.5 / 5	Published 2014 First Sentence "It is many years before the Pied Piper comes back for the other children."
Publisher's Description: A captivating and atmospheric historical novel about a young girl in Nazi Germany, a psychoanalyst in fin-de-siècle Vienna, and the powerful mystery that links them together. Gretel and the Dark explores good and evil, hope and despair, showing how the primal thrills and horrors of the stories we learn as children can illuminate the darkest moments in history, in two rich, intertwining narratives that come together to form one exhilarating, page-turning read. In 1899 Vienna, celebrated psychoanalyst Josef Breuer is about to encounter his strangest case yet: a mysterious, beautiful woman who claims to have no name, no feelings—to be, in fact, a machine. Intrigued, he tries to fathom the roots of her disturbance. Years later, in Nazi-controlled Germany, Krysta plays alone while her papa works in the menacingly strange infirmary next door. Young, innocent, and fiercely stubborn, she retreats into a world of fairy tales, unable to see the danger closing in around her. When everything changes and the real world becomes as frightening as any of her stories, Krysta finds that her imagination holds powers beyond what she could ever have guessed. Rich, compelling, and propulsively building to a dizzying final twist, Gretel and the Dark is a testament to the lifesaving power of the imagination and a mesmerizingly original story of redemption.
Dear Reader, A beautiful, haunting, unique book. A fascinating new take on World War II, mixed with the more sinister world of fairy tales (definitely not the Disney brand!).  Gorgeous writing with an ethereal feel to the whole thing, although it is also decidedly rooted in the horrors and everyday realities of WWII. The book alternates storytelling between two very different viewpoints and times: the first being a Viennese psychoanalyst (and those he interacts with) at the end of the 19th century, and the other being a young girl in 1940s Germany. The two stories seem to almost overlap, while at the same time remaining decisively distinct; the reader doesn't learn until the end of the book how the two are related. I don't have a lot to say about this book; the characters weren't terribly likable, but the story was so beautifully written. It felt like reading a fairy tale. Oh! I did have one thing I wanted to commend the author on: the "translations" were so well done. See, for me, reading a book that throws in a language with which I am unfamiliar (which is all of them, outside of English and French!), while lending the story more color and weight, also makes me feel like perhaps I am missing something important whenever I skim across a foreign word or phrase. However, this author did a wonderful job of guiding the reader to the meaning, working the English equivalent into a character's response, or some other almost invisible echo of the original phrase. I was thoroughly charmed by this whenever I caught the author at it, which was every time a foreign phrase was used (because I always itch to learn its meaning). So, Ms. Granville, well done on that count! Unrelated but also interesting, here are two wonderful and thought-provoking quotes from the book: "To take a man's life is not an easy thing--" "It's the easiest thing in the world," said Lilie. "It's much easier than giving birth. And considerably quicker."  and "It's easy to become a father, but being one is rather harder." (an aphorism) In this book, I loved how we were able to view Nazi Germany through a child's eyes, one who clearly didn't understand what was going on around her. Krysta made up fantastical stories to explain the strange behavior of those around her, to rationalize what she was experiencing. I also liked how this book circles back not once, but twice upon itself - repeating almost verbatim a few passages so that the reader is brought back full force to the place they began. I enjoyed that odd approach to the old in medias res.  A final note: It's easy to think that WWII has already been "done" in every way possible. This book proves that is far from true. Yours, Arianna P.S. I am, coincidentally, currently reading two other WWII books which are doing things differently - Code Name Verity and All the Light We Cannot See. More on those soon!

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The Witch and Other Tales Told

The Witch and Other Tales Told Jean Thompson 3.5/5	Published September 2014 First Sentence "My brother and I were given over to the Department of Children and Family Services after our father and his girlfriend left us along in the car one too many times."
Publisher's Description: A brilliant new collection of stories that put a modern twist on classic fairy tales, from National Book Award finalist and New York Times-bestselling author Jean Thompson. Great fairy tales are not necessarily stories designed for children. The lurking wolf in “Red Riding Hood,” the gingerbread house that lures Hansel and Gretel, the beauty asleep in her castle—these fables represent some of our deepest, most primeval fears, and satisfy our longing for good to win out over evil (preferably in the most gruesome way possible). In this captivating new collection, critically acclaimed author Jean Thompson takes the classic fairy tale and brings it into the modern age with stories that capture the magic and horror in everyday life. The downtrodden prevail, appearances deceive, and humility and virtue triumph in The Witch, as lost children try to find their way home, adults tormented by past unspeakable acts are fated to experience their own horror in the present, and true love—or is it enchantment?—conquers all. The Witch and Other Tales Re-Told is a haunting and deeply entertaining collection, showcasing the inimitable Jean Thompson at the height of her storytelling prowess.
Dear Reader, I reached out to the publisher to get this book early because it caught my eye as being "my thing". And it was but I've been reading so many short stories lately which had me craving a good novel. Without that trouble, I really did like this book. This is a compilation of revamped fairy tales and folklore, each one brought to the modern day (or almost all of them). Most of the stories don't have that "happy ending" and are steeped in actual tragedy within the world we live in. I really liked that realistic take on those magical stories we've grown up on. The introduction to the stories talks a little about the strong connection the Author has to these tales and how she wanted to do something a little different with them. She also introduces her "kid" self sitting in the dentists chair gobbling up a fairy tale painting with her eyes. Thompson explains that this beautiful print was called "The Land of Make Believe", it beheld a map of all the magical creatures and places any kid would want to visit or befriend. The original painting was done by Jaro Hess and can still be found to this day. I think it would make a wonderful "deluxe" edition to this book of stories and can only hope the Author and publisher think so too. Here is the map: How magical is that map? I wish I had it in my own house growing up. Talking about pictures, I LOVED the cover of this book and I can't really pinpoint why. Maybe because these "real" girls have a haunted look to them and they also exude fantasy too?! Whatever it is, the cover most definitely caught my eye. The stories had a great quality to them and stuck to those same lessons learned from the earlier tales. My only gripe would be the length of them, some of the stories I thought could have been better written as their own book (they ended so abruptly). For example, in "The Witch", just as things start to get dramatic, the story ends so abruptly. I could have seen this turned into a novella or something. Despite that, I did like what she did with the stories, modernizing them and giving them relatability. Overall, this story collection is worth a read. Happy Reading, AmberBug

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The Forgotten Garden

The Forgotten Garden Kate Morton 5 / 5	Published 2008 First Sentences "It was dark where she was crouched but the little girl did as she'd been told.  The lady had said to wait, it wasn't safe yet, they had to be as quiet as larder mice.  It was a game, just like hide-and-seek."
Publisher's Description: A foundling, an old book of dark fairy tales, a secret garden, an aristocratic family, a love denied, and a mystery. The Forgotten Garden is a captivating, atmospheric and compulsively readable story of the past, secrets, family and memory from the international best-selling author Kate Morton.  Cassandra is lost, alone and grieving. Her much loved grandmother, Nell, has just died and Cassandra, her life already shaken by a tragic accident ten years ago, feels like she has lost everything dear to her. But an unexpected and mysterious bequest from Nell turns Cassandra's life upside down and ends up challenging everything she thought she knew about herself and her family.  Inheriting a book of dark and intriguing fairytales written by Eliza Makepeace - the Victorian authoress who disappeared mysteriously in the early twentieth century - Cassandra takes her courage in both hands to follow in the footsteps of Nell on a quest to find out the truth about their history, their family and their past; little knowing that in the process, she will also discover a new life for herself.
Dear Reader, Wow.  I just LOVED this book.  I can't think of anything that was wrong with it.  It was an adventure story, a mystery, a family saga, and much more, all rolled into one.  Oh, and I can't forget: it was also a fairy tale of sorts, and fairy tales play a very large part in this book.  The premise is that there is a very young girl who is found on the docks of a port in Australia in 1913.  She has no memory of her past, and no idea who or where her parents are.  The things she carries with her lend no clues to her identity.  Therefore, the harbormaster takes her in and eventually he and his wife adopt the child as their own.  Over the years, Nell grows up believing she is their daughter.  When she is finally told the truth of her origins - or rather, her lack of them - her world is turned upside down.  She begins a quest to learn the truth of her heritage.   The book jumps back and forth between a turn-of-the-century story about a destitute young girl trying to survive in a corrupt London, daily life in a lord's manor house at around that same time, a 1975 trip which Nell takes to the England town where she believes she has roots, and another 2005 trip which her granddaughter Cass makes to dig deeper into the mystery.  I love all of the layers and the wonderful writing style which Morton employs.  Her characters are real, very multi-dimensional, and truly sympathetic - even when some of them become corrupted, that just makes them more human.  The whole book feels like something of a fairy tale, and very magical, even though the entire book is at the same time totally realistic.  I think it's more the way the book is framed, and how the tale unfolds.  It's as if Morton has written something of a modern-day fairy tale.  I don't know if I've mentioned how I do things regarding my bookshelves, but my general rule is that if I truly love a book, I want to own a copy for myself.  That way, I can return to it (although I rarely reread) or lend it, or simply see it and smile at an old and happy friend.  I definitely plan to aquire for myself a copy of this book.  One of the best I've read in a while.  Beautiful and enchanting.  I didn't want it to end. Yours, Arianna

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