First of all, happy birthday to Mr. Shakespeare!  Did I ever tell you that I once was in a college Shakespeare class that happened to meet on Shakespeare’s birthday?  I brought cookies.  The professor was (adamantly) not a Stratfordian, but that was actually part of the fun…

Anyway, on to the business of the day!

When I read Tuesdays at the Castle by Jessica Day George, I loved the concept of a sentient castle, constantly remaking itself.  So I was excited to revisit Castle Glower in Wednesdays in the Tower (spoilers to follow for the first book in the series).  This fits Once Upon a Time, and my goal to read more sequels.

Princess Celie knows Castle Glower, and its quirks, better than anyone else.  But even she’s not sure what it means when the Castle shows her a new tower, with a mysterious orange egg in it.  The egg hatches into a griffin–and Celie finds herself trying to raise a mythical creature in a castle that won’t let her reveal the griffin’s existence to anyone except her wizard brother Bran, and his friend Pogue.  Celie does manage to enlist her younger brother Rolf in helping her look for any information on griffins, which seem to have mysterious ties to Castle Glower’s history.  Meanwhile, the castle begins behaving increasingly erratically, and a very ominous wizard has arrived to look into matters.

The Castle was my favorite part of the previous book, so I was glad to see it, and its mysteries, take such a prominent role in the sequel…I think! I’m a little worried that finding out too much (in the third book still to come) will ruin some of the mystery…but what answers we have so far are intriguing, so I’m optimistic!

I felt like Celie grew as a character in this book, both through taking care of the griffin (who she names Rufus), and through trying to determine her proper place in the castle. At first she seems to have found that place, as the Castle Cartographer, but it isn’t long before she’s feeling shunted to the side and still looking for her role.

Rufus is great fun as well, and rather adorable! It’s funny that I just read another book (The Pinhoe Egg) about raising a baby griffin, but this felt distinctly different. Rufus has a very different personality (even though, unlike Cat’s griffin, he can’t talk). I loved it when he started learning to fly, and was so eager about it!

Unlike the previous book, this one ends mid-story, with a definite cliffhanger. And now sadly I have to wait for the next one! The disadvantage of catching up with current series…but I get to look forward to Thursdays with the Crown (and to wonder if there will eventually be seven books—one for every day!)

Don’t forget, you can win a signed copy of my fairy tale retelling, The Wanderers! Just put #WanderersGiveAway in your comment to enter.

Author’s Site: http://www.jessicadaygeorge.com/

Other reviews:
Shelah Books It
Batch of Books
Escaping Reality (One Book at a Time)
Charlotte’s Library
Anyone else?

Buy it here: Wednesdays in the Tower