Author: cherylmahoney

I'm a book review blogger and writer. I have published four novels, The Wanderers; The Storyteller and Her Sisters; and The People the Fairies Forget; and The Lioness and the Spellspinners. All can be found on Amazon as an ebook and paperback. In my day job, I'm a Marketing Specialist. Find me on Twitter (@MarvelousTales) and GoodReads (MarvelousTales).

Book Review: The Whisper (Riverman Trilogy)

On By cherylmahoneyIn Fantasy, Reviews, Young AdultLeave a comment

I recently reviewed The Riverman by Aaron Starmer, which left me with a very disappointingly ambiguous ending.  So naturally I went swiftly on to the recently-published second book, The Whisper.  I liked the ending better…but had mixed feelings about the book on the whole.  Spoilers to follow for the first book because it’s pretty unavoidable!

The Riverman was about Alistair and his friendship with Fiona, who tells him a strange and impossible story of traveling to Aquavania, where kids can create entire worlds with just their imaginations.  Alistair mostly believes that Fiona is inventing an elaborate metaphor, including the shadowy Riverman who stalks Aquavania, in response to dangers threatening her in the real world.  The Whisper blows apart that uncertainty between fantasy and reality, when Alistair follows Fiona into Aquavania.  Fiona has been taken by the Riverman, also called the Whisper.  Alistair chases through worlds, trying to find and fight the Whisper, hoping to find and rescue Fiona in the process. Continue reading “Book Review: The Whisper (Riverman Trilogy)” →

Book Review: Harry Kitten and Tucker Mouse

On By cherylmahoneyIn Fantasy, Juvenile, Reviews3 Comments

As far as I know, my book today is pretty obscure–but you may have heard of its more famous literary sibling, The Cricket in Times Square.  George Selden wrote seven books about Chester Cricket and his friends, and Harry Kitten and Tucker Mouse serves as a prequel to Cricket.

The book opens with a very young Tucker Mouse lost on the streets of New York–so young that he hasn’t even chosen a name for himself yet.  When he bumps into a tabby kitten, he’s ready to fight…because that’s what cats and mice do.  But Harry Kitten offers him a crust of sandwich instead, and the two become fast friends.  Together, they roam New York looking for a home, from the basement of the Empire State Building to manicured Gramercy Park.  But nowhere feels right until they find the bustle of the Times Square Subway Station.

This is an utterly charming series.  Chester Cricket doesn’t appear in this story, but I love Harry and Tucker.  Harry is always so calm, so reasonable, while Tucker is dramatic, anxious and avaricious–and usually the source of humor.  They’re one of my favorite literary friendships, all the more so because it’s between two traditional enemy species.  And their quest for a place to belong is perfectly familiar for humans too. Continue reading “Book Review: Harry Kitten and Tucker Mouse” →

Book Review: The Animal Family

On By cherylmahoneyIn Fantasy, Juvenile, Reviews1 Comment

In another read for the Once Upon a Time challenge, I picked up The Animal Family by Randall Jarrell, illustrated by Maurice Sendak.  It’s an old book and a Newbery Honor, but I’d never heard of it until recently.  It’s a short book, fable-like and charming.

The story centers around a hunter who lives all alone beside the shore–until one day he hears a mermaid singing.  He coaxes her ashore by singing back.  She learns his language and eventually comes to live with him.  Together, they find and adopt three orphans: a bear, a lynx and a human boy.

This is a sweet little story about family and home, and very different people (creatures) coming to understand and accept each other.  What might be most surprising is what doesn’t happen–the mermaid never becomes human.  She comes onto land to live with a human man, and certainly she and her life change, but she doesn’t give up who she is.  In fact, the book largely slides right over the practical problems of a mermaid on land, which in some ways is slightly bothersome (I mean, how does she even get around?) but I think is worth it in the end. Continue reading “Book Review: The Animal Family” →

Movie Review: Boyhood

On By cherylmahoneyIn Ruminations1 Comment

I was intrigued by Boyhood when I heard about in theaters, but decided to wait for the DVD–and now I’ve finally watched it, and returned the DVD to the library for the other 400 people waiting for it!  You’ve probably heard the buzz about this movie, especially since it won at the Golden Globes.  I found it interesting…and yet it ultimately didn’t quite work for me.

I realized as I started watching that I didn’t know anything about the plot.  Everything I’d heard about the movie was about the very unusual filming plan.  The director (Richard Linklater) spent 12 years on this movie, coming back to film the same actors each year so that the characters, especially the boy of the title, can age throughout the movie.  After watching, I realized there was very little word about the plot because there’s very little plot.  Mostly it’s about a boy (and his sister) growing up.

The back of the DVD box described this as the “epic journey” of a boy reaching adulthood, which I think gets it completely wrong.  Half the point is that it’s not an epic journey.  It’s an ordinary boy with an ordinary life captured on screen over 12 years.  That’s not to say that there’s no drama in the circumstances: when the movie opens, Mason and his sister Samantha are being raised by their single mom (Patricia Arquette), with an absentee father (Ethan Hawke) who drifts in and out over the years.  Their mother gets married (and divorced) twice more, and Mason goes through his own romantic ups and downs once he hits high school.  But the plot is not epic, and is still secondary to the simple passage of time and the development of the characters.

Which brings me to what was both the best and most problematic part of the movie for me.  I love this concept.  I mean, LOVE it.  And it was interesting to watch, and I absolutely appreciate the movie as an artistic accomplishment.  I think Linklater successfully made the movie he was trying to make, and the aging of all the characters (not just Mason) is fascinating and so different from anything I’ve seen before.

But.  The whole point is that we’re following the characters, and especially Mason, right?  And there we come to what, for me, was the absolutely impossible to overcome flaw of the film.  I didn’t like Mason.  Continue reading “Movie Review: Boyhood” →

Book Review: The Lost Hero by Rick Riordan

On By cherylmahoneyIn Ruminations1 Comment

I enjoyed Rick Riordan’s Percy Jackson series when I read it several years ago, and I always meant to go on to his next Greek (and Roman) mythology series…but those books were coming out just as I was desperately trying to get my unfinished series list down, and I had a terror of starting any new series!  But that list has been under control for a while–and mythology is one of the categories for Once Upon a Time–and so it finally seemed like time to pick up the first book in the series, The Lost Hero.

The book opens right in the middle of mysteries, when Jason finds himself sitting on a bus with no memories of his past or who he is.  It could be worse, since at least he’s holding hands with Piper, a pretty girl who thinks they’re dating–and they’re also sitting with Leo, a wise guy who thinks Jason is his best friend.  But it could be better, considering they’re attacked by wind spirits within the hour.  By the time the winds settle, Jason, Piper and Leo are collected by a group of teenagers who take them to Camp Half-Blood–the sanctuary and training ground for demigods, half-mortal children of the Greek gods.  Their leader, Percy Jackson, has gone missing, and the gods have stopped communicating with humans.  A prophecy points to Jason to lead a quest to rescue the queen of the gods and defeat an ancient enemy who is on the rise. Continue reading “Book Review: The Lost Hero by Rick Riordan” →