Tag: historical

YA

Review: The Ugly Stepsister by Aya Ling

Andge @ Down the Rabbit Hole

the ugly stepsister -aya lingWhen Kat accidentally rips apart an old picture book, she’s magically transported into the world of Cinderella–as Katriona, one of the ugly stepsisters!

Life turns upside down now that she’s a highborn lady and must learn how to survive the social season, including how to get through the door in a huge metal hoop skirt. To get back, she’ll have to complete the story, right to the end of happily ever after.

But the odds are huge: the other stepsister is drop-dead gorgeous, the fairy godmother is nowhere to be found, and the prince, despite being insanely hot, openly dislikes balls. Can she ever return to the modern world?

4 Drink Me Potions

Thank you Xpresso Book Tours and Giselle for the copy in exchange for an honest review

Now, who doesn’t love a good fairy tale retelling? I sure love ’em, and it’s clear that author Aya Ling does too (and that’s not just because I read her exact words describing this in the Acknowledgements –which yes, I do read too). She provided a beautiful backdrop in Cinderella land for The Ugly Stepsister.

The story jumps right to it. Our protagonist Kat is terribly shy with boys and loves to just hide in her room with a good book in hand rather than party it up like the other girls at school. Now why does that sound so familiar?

Oh right. That’s ’cause I can totally relate to that when I was around that age. As I’m sure many other readers out there can also relate to that sentiment.

Anyway, there was an immediate understanding and bond with Kat which made me like her all the more. Soon after, she falls into a completely crazy world of fairy land, but nothing seems to be working right. How does one find a fairy godmother? What’s with all these corsets? And what? The other stepsister is NOT ugly? How can that be? Kat has a lot on her hands to get the story going so that the prince would fall for Cinderella in this tale. Oh, and not to mention, all these crazy antics are pure hilarious entertainment for the goblins that had cursed Kat to this fate.

I loved a whole lot of this book. Kat had to go through a lot to first just even understand how this old historical-like kingdom system worked. And then to do it all alone, with barely any help from the goblin intermediate that would pop up in her room at night occasionally to just ask for progress. She was strong and through it all, it pushed her out of her comfort zone. Talking to hot guys? Check. Facing down lords and other royalty while trying to not completely make a fool of herself? Check. Having to live with a horrible mother who only cared to find Kat a suitor? Check.

It was slow towards the middle, I will admit. I felt Ling didn’t have to drag the plot out so much with all the horrid parties Kat had to attend in order to “find an appropriate suitor”. And man, her awful sister! Did I want to strangle that girl sometimes? And this was coming from the point of view as the sister and NOT as Cinderella? That says a lot how much I hated her.

But overall, the story brought out a lot of greatness. Kat was an amazing girl. She fought hard for things in this kingdom that mattered only in her “normal” modern day life. It didn’t matter that she kept telling herself at night that these people were only just characters in a book. She was living it and these people mattered to her regardless. Haven’t you ever felt that way about characters in a book before?

And the romance . Oh my goodness. Prince Edward was swoon-worthy (of course!). What kind of Cinderella retelling would it be without a gorgeous prince? But he wasn’t just a face. He cared about things that other high ranking nobles didn’t. His cousin was just as amazing, choosing a profession that helped the common people. It’s always good in a book to enjoy the PERSONALITIES of the hot guys the protagonist is vying for.

Alas, the ending melted me. It absolutely did. I won’t say much beyond that so it wouldn’t ruin a thing, but it did make sense from a writing point. I loved it; it was ingenious of course. But it was definitely bittersweet as well.

Overall Recommendation:
The Ugly Stepsister is not just some fairy tale retelling. There are so many of those already, aren’t there? It’s a beautiful twist of possibly the greatest classic fairy tale, and it contains such remarkable elements. With immense detail into what life would be like in Cinderella’s kingdom, and a protagonist with such strong convictions to get home, this story leaves you cheering for Kat to finish the fairy tale story and crying with her when things go so horribly wrong. I love fairy tale retellings and this definitely made it to the list of books I thoroughly enjoyed.

YA

Review: Chantress by Amy Butler Greenfield

Andge @ Down the Rabbit Hole

Series: Chantress #1

chantress -amy butler greenfield“Sing, and the darkness will find you.”

This warning has haunted fifteen-year-old Lucy ever since she was eight and shipwrecked on a lonely island. Lucy’s guardian, Norrie, has lots of rules, but the most important is that Lucy must never sing. Not ever. Now it is 1667, Lucy is fifteen, and on All Hallows’ Eve, Lucy hears a tantalizing melody on the wind. She can’t help but sing—and she is swept into darkness.

When she awakes in England, Lucy hears powerful men discussing Chantresses—women who can sing magic into the world. They are hunting her, but she escapes and finds sanctuary with the Invisible College, an organization plotting to overthrow the nefarious Lord Protector. The only person powerful enough to bring about his downfall is a Chantress. And Lucy is the last one in England.

Lucy struggles to master the song-spells and harness her power, but the Lord Protector is moving quickly. And her feelings for Nat, an Invisible College apprentice and scientist who deeply distrusts her magic, only add to her confusion…

Time is running out, and the fate of England hangs in the balance in this entrancing novel that is atmospheric and lyrical, dangerous and romantic.

2.5 Drink Me Potions

I was very excited for another historical fantasy, but my expectations may have been too much. Don’t get me wrong. The premise of the story was beautifully created. In this fictitious version of olden day England, evil creatures known as Shadowgrims create fear in the hearts of all people, especially in those that the Lord Protector to the King condemns as traitors to the crown. Chantresses, magical women who weave magic through “song spells”, have all been hunted down. Except Lucy, of course.

A lot of originality has definitely gone into creating such a world, with certain facts that are actually based on real English history. For that, I had to round up my rating. Because other than my admiration for this world the author has created, everything else was sub-par.

The beginning of the story was an information overload. I understand that to allow readers to fully grasp the history and background of this version of England, a lot has to be explained. However, it just wasn’t done very tactfully. The information felt more like it was dumped and squished into the first 100 pages in order to make sense of the next 200+ pages. That was NOT the end of it, though.

I thought there’d be some sort of adventure to this story. Come on! Throwing a rebellion against the Lord Protector? Learning magic in order to do that overthrowing? Sounds exciting, right? Please, I had to read continuously in order to get through those pages, as I knew I would never pick up the book again if I stopped in the middle. I kept hoping there would be more twists, but barely any came through. Learning magic? More like pages written about Lucy practicing scales and holding notes. For months. And explaining the goings of the scholars as they checked in on her for the months she was holed up in practice. Honestly, the plot could’ve gone in so many directions, but it was just TIRING. And dragged a whole lot.

Picture it. The whole chunk of the middle was like explaining what Lucy did that day, what problems she encountered with magic, and possibly who checked in to see her progress, which was namely Nat. Then multiply that by like quite a number of days that seemed endlessly the same. Talk about tedious.

Speaking of which, the romance part of Chantress? I had such hopes for that. There was barely any true chemistry between Nat and Lucy. Oh sure, it was actually written that Lucy felt a spark pass between them as they gazed at each other, but explicitly written chemistry doesn’t equate to a chemistry that is just felt through their banter and time spent together. They hardly hung out, and when they did, Nat was rather cold to her. So his change of heart to her and the magic she did felt kind of…off. I wanted to believe in it, but I’d rather Greenfield didn’t tell me to believe in their love but rather showed it through their actions.

I must say that although I am disappointed in the start of the series, I will give the rest of the series a shot. I do love the idea of Chantresses a lot, and maybe the author can redeem the story from here on out, considering all the background information has been laid out already. Here’s to hoping, optimistically.

Overall Recommendation:
Chantress could have been a beautiful historical fantasy set in olden day England (which by the way, is one of my favourite settings for historical books). However, it lacked an exciting plot, although its premise was creatively imagined. There was a lot of potential in the adventure of overthrowing a tyrant, but Greenfield never built the story up to any sort of climax and thus the whole story kind of fell flat. As for the rest of this series, I still believe in its potential and will give it a shot. However, I may not recommend this for those who bore easily.

YA

Review: Now and For Never by Lesley Livingston

Andge @ Down the Rabbit Hole

Series: Never #3

now and for never -lesley livingstonPast and present collide on the high seas when Clare and Allie hurtle back in time once more in a perilous attempt to retrieve Marcus Donatus—Allie’s blast-from-the-past crush—and put an end, once and for all, to the Time Monkey Shenanigans. But when Clare and Allie unexpectedly find themselves temporal stowaways on a Roman warship full of looted Celtic gold, sailing straight for the heart of a magic-fuelled maelstrom, there’s not much they can do but hang on for the ride—and hope Milo can tap into the Druid lore trapped in his genius brain to help bring them home, before it’s too late. The only thing that’s going to save Clarinet Reid and Allie McAllister now is if they join forces with old enemies, new loves … and unexpected friends.

2.5 Drink Me Potions

It’s been a long time since I’ve last read the other two books in the series. However, I feel that Lesley Livingston did a great job of kind of recapping the important parts of what had happened earlier. I wasn’t left feeling lost for long, and for that, I greatly appreciate it.

I really tried to enjoy the concluding installment to the Time Travelling Monkey Shenanigans Gang. But I found myself a little disappointed. Now, I’m a fan of Livingston’s, even have a personally autographed book from her, but her other series are more….serious. The mythology was more compelling and suspenseful in the way the plot slowly unwinded.

Clare and Allie are both very unique protagonists. You won’t find another personality quite like theirs. Allie is all fireball attitude, wears only black, references nerdy things like Star Wars and Star Trek ALL the time, and is quite good with the tech stuff. Meanwhile, Clare is the more serious of the two and not so great with the nerd lingo, but she dives head into crazy time travelling adventures to save people (and trying not to change the course of history).

This series is all fun and definitely more lighthearted out of Livingston’s collection of stories. I guess I just wasn’t in the mood for that kind of the story so it was harder to enjoy the crazy hairball plans the two came up with to save Marcus from the past (where Every Never After left off).

What I can say that was positive is that Livingston did an amazing job trying to wrap up the loose ends after all the time travelling the two girls did in the previous 2 novels. No one wants to change history so….there goes the girls again for their last adventure to the past to make sure their reality doesn’t change after all their meddling. It was a little confusing at times as to what artifact had to be found where and when exactly so that, say, Clare could find it two millennia later.

I’d say that Now and for Never concludes the series well. It just wasn’t the kind of book I was looking for so that may have skewed with my rating. It’s definitely ideal for younger readers, possibly in their earlier teens. The lighthearted banter and nerdy lingo were great additions to the comical atmosphere.

Overall Recommendation:
Now and for Never concludes the Time Travelling Monkey Shenanigans that have been going on in the previous two novels of the series. Although I didn’t rate it too high, I still think it was a good way to wrap up the adventures that Clare and Ally had experienced back in the past, with appearances of both the Druids from Clare’s story and the Romans of Allie’s.

With the usual fun and lighthearted atmosphere, this book is perfect for those who enjoy some history (and meddling with it through time travel!), magic and nerdy references thrown in there. I recommend it for a light and funny read, so if you’re in one of those moods, this would be more enjoyable.