Tag: magic

YA

Review: Princess of the Midnight Ball by Jessica Day George

Andge @ Down the Rabbit Hole

Series: The Princesses of Westfalin Trilogy #1

princess of the midnight ball -jessica day george A tale of twelve princesses doomed to dance until dawn…

Galen is a young soldier returning from war; Rose is one of twelve princesses condemned to dance each night for the King Under Stone. Together Galen and Rose will search for a way to break the curse that forces the princesses to dance at the midnight balls. All they need is one invisibility cloak, a black wool chain knit with enchanted silver needles, and that most critical ingredient of all—true love—to conquer their foes in the dark halls below. But malevolent forces are working against them above ground as well, and as cruel as the King Under Stone has seemed, his wrath is mere irritation compared to the evil that awaits Galen and Rose in the brighter world above.

Captivating from start to finish, Jessica Day George’s take on the Grimms’ tale The Twelve Dancing Princesses demonstrates yet again her mastery at spinning something entirely fresh out of a story you thought you knew.

 

2.5 Drink Me Potions

If you know me well enough, you would know that I absolutely adore fairy tale retellings in general. However, something about Princess of the Midnight Ball just lacked in excitement.

Overall, this novel was a fun enough read while it lasted, but it’s easily forgettable.

The story is based off of one of the Grimm’s brothers fairy tales. This wasn’t one of those famous ones remade by Disney. It did give off a bit of a creepy vibe so I suppose Disney would have to change it up a bit. Anyway, it starts off with the evil villain. Some dude named the King Under Stone. Like, what the heck? I don’t know the fairy tale so it may have made tons of sense but it just seemed like a lame name for such a powerful villain. So what if he lived underground? Doesn’t make it right to give him such a stupid name.

There were 12 girls, all sisters and princesses of the kingdom, who lived under a curse of having to dance a Midnight ball every third night. For the evil villain himself. Of course, no one could know of this except the fact that they kept disappearing to who-knows-where in the middle of the night from their rooms, no matter how hard their father king tried to prevent them.

Enter Galen Werner, just an ordinary soldier boy coming home from a war that was over in the kingdom. He was a likeable character. He seemed to follow some sort of moral code. Maybe it came from seeing the sights he did in war that not many other young people his age did. He wasn’t jaded though, but gave off a trustworthy vibe, a you can count on me kind of feeling.

Of course, turns out that he really was the kind of guy who would sacrifice his own safety to help 12 princesses for their sake.

There’s a bit of romance in it between Galen and the eldest princess, Rose. Not by much for YA standards. It was an innocent first bloom kind of love, with glimpses from afar and the occasional conversation in the garden. It was still nice, I guess. Just…not the kind of thing to get your heart racing for them.

But all these things I mentioned above? Lackluster. That’s the best word I can come up with. There’s not much emotion beyond a slight oh hey, that’s cool, I guess kinda feeling. Things were predictable, it was just a matter of how they got there. Although there wasn’t much, here are the few things that I found unique and somewhat memorable:

1. All the girls were named after flowers. (I know, right? That’s also hard to keep track of with so many of them)
2. The lair of the evil villain reminded me of the Underworld, but described with water instead of fire.
And lastly,
3. Galen’s adventures with his invisibility cloak. (Harry Potter, anyone? Hmm?)

Princess of the Midnight Ball is not a bad fairy tale retelling, but may just be memorable for the younger YA audience. If I had read this a few years earlier, maybe my rating would have changed. Who knows? But as of right now, this story will probably fade from my memory amongst the many, many books I’ve read. It’s just missing that extra umph.

Overall Recommendation:
Princess of the Midnight Ball was a retelling of an unfamiliar fairy tale. This could’ve made it more intriguing and mysterious since I had no prior knowledge of how the story may go, but the story was still fairly predictable from the start. The characters were okay, especially our hero Galen who fits the knight in shining armor stereotype to a T, but no one stuck out as unique. The romance was innocent and cute and that’s not bad, but that doesn’t even give the story a little extra excitement that it clearly needed. Overall, it was decent, but it’s no competition amidst the rather large genre of fairy tale retellings in YA these days.

YA

Review: Endure by Sara B. Larson

Andge @ Down the Rabbit Hole

 

Series: Defy #3

endure -sara B larsonThe remarkable third novel in Sara B. Larson’s bestselling Defy series!

At last, Alexa and King Damian are engaged to be married. But their lives are far from safe. The kingdom of Antion is under siege, and Rylan is a prisoner of the enemy. Even worse, Alexa remains at the mercy of the evil Dansiian Rafe, who controls her mind and can force Alexa to kill or harm Damian at any moment. Despite this, Alexa is determined to rescue Rylan, which soon leads her far from Damian and deep into enemy territory.

When she arrives, what awaits her is deadlier than anything she could have ever imagined: an army of black sorcerers, and a horrifying plot to destroy the world as Alexa knows it. Will she be able to gather the strength to free herself, protect the love of her life, and save the land? Will there ever be true peace?

Acclaimed author Sara B. Larson has woven a stunning, romantic, and evocative finale to the Defy trilogy, that is sure to leave readers breathless until the very last page.

3.5 Drink Me Potions

I have literally endured months for this novel to come out, and it doesn’t totally disappoint.

Endure picks up right from the top where we left off in Ignite with Rylan gone with the evil sorcerer Rafe and Alexa’s other friends a bit unnerved from the climactic events that had taken place at the palace. The action was on a furious high in this last installment, which I guess shouldn’t surprise me as it is supposed to be the ultimate conclusion. But for all you romance lovers out there, the cute, but albeit few and far between, romantic scenes between Alexa and her handsome king were definitely a highlight. The raw emotions between them really showed how strong their love was, to the point they were willing to let each other go into danger for the sake of the other.

I do believe my expectations were a little high due to the seemingly endless wait for this book. It was a fast and pleasant read. The evilness brewing in Dansii was every bit as creative as I had hoped, with plenty of grossly intriguing villains to hate. Alexa was her same strong self, the guard we’ve grown to love who could take down any man twice her size.

So….why can’t I give this a higher rating?

I guess Endure was missing something for me. It had action, and it had a little bit of romance thrown in there, but I guess I was hoping for some kind of fantastical twist that I would have never even dreamt of putting into the plot. Basically, this book reminded me of a story plot that even I had conjured up back in the good old days. It lacked a sort of pizazz if you will that would have greatly spiced it up to a 5 star rating. However, this could just be a me thing and should not be taken as a “I didn’t like it” sign.

Overall, Endure made for a lovely conclusion to a trilogy. The ending was sweet, but the whole story wasn’t all mushy-gushy. Sacrifices were made and not everyone survived. So it was a little bittersweet at the characters we had to say goodbye.

Overall Recommendation:
Endure was a cute little story filled to the brim with action against the unknown evils that were hiding in the kingdom of Dansii. Alexa Hollen, brilliant female guard, continues to shine in this concluding installment with her ability to stay alive no matter the crazy situations she’s thrown into. With bittersweet sacrifices and little intense romantic scenes with our favourite king, this novel mostly holds true to everything it promises, although may be lacking in the surprising twists department.

YA

Of Triton by Anna Banks

Andge @ Down the Rabbit Hole

Series: The Syrena Legacy #2

of triton -anna banksEmma has just learned that her mother is a long-lost Poseidon princess, and now struggles with an identity crisis: As a Half-Breed, she’s a freak in the human world and an abomination in the Syrena realm below. Syrena law states that all Half-Breeds should be put to death.

As if that’s not bad enough, her mother’s reappearance among the Syrena turns the two kingdoms—Poseidon and Triton—against one another. Which leaves Emma with a decision to make: Should she comply with Galen’s request to keep herself safe and just hope for the best? Or should she risk it all and reveal herself—and her Gift—to save a people she’s never known?

Once again, Anna Banks infuses Emma and Galen’s points of view with humor, intrigue, and waves of romance. 

2 Drink Me Potions

I’m starting to think that Banks can only write female characters as psychotic, PMSing hellcats. Like, I sure complained about Rayna’s actions in the previous novel, Of Poseidon, but it just escalated almost immediately with Emma’s mom. She literally whacked Galen and attempted to maim (kill?) him out of the blue. Oh, and let’s not forget where she chloroformed a pretty much helpless Rayna in order to escape and get a head start.

Whatever could be the reason for such maniacal actions? Why, that would be paranoia, of course. Emma’s mother believed she had killed the love of her life ages ago and so thought Galen had come to arrest her or something. Um, a little overboard? You know, just a little?

The plot didn’t give Of Triton any bonus points. The Syrena from both camps, Triton and Poseidon, were at an impasse in the middle of the ocean, holding some sort of court decision whether or not the Royals were still capable of leading their society. It wasn’t all that exciting to be honest. It was an impasse, for goodness’ sakes. Not an all-ensuing battle between the two, which frankly could’ve given some much-needed brownie points for the plotline. It ended all too quickly and without too much drama (or at least, worthwhile drama).

I’m tired of this series already. If Banks doesn’t make Of Neptune, the last of the series, any better, I’m gonna scream in frustration. You decide whether or not this sequel was even worth reading – although, if I’m to be honest, I somewhat regret reading it myself.

Overall Recommendation:

Of Triton felt like a mini story rather than a full-fledged, developed plot. With barely any true action, it followed flighty characters who haven’t improved on their tempers and the melodrama they brought on themselves through miscommunication. I wouldn’t say this book was worth reading at all, but it may prove entertaining if you like seeing just how these amusing characters flail about in their problems.