Category: Reviews

Book Review: The House of Hades (Heroes of Olympus)

On By cherylmahoneyIn Fantasy, Reviews, Young AdultLeave a comment

I’m still continuing my way through Rick Riordan’s Heroes of Olympus series, and have finished through the fourth one, The House of Hades. The series continues to be excellent fun! Spoilers to follow for the earlier books…

The last book ended with Percy and Annabeth falling into the pit of Tartarus, the darkest, deepest, most horrifying part of the underworld. Their friends must continue their quest to reach the House of Hades and close the Doors of Death, so that monsters can be killed and Gaea, the terrifying Mother Earth, can be prevented from rising up and destroying humanity. Percy and Annabeth, meanwhile, are searching for the Doors in the Tartarus, to complete the other half of the quest and close them from that side.

Let me just say first, while we’re up here at the top near the image–I love this cover.  That’s Percy and Annabeth there, and I love that you can’t really tell who’s holding up who.  Because they both lean on each other throughout the book.  Which always makes for a good romantic pairing. 🙂

All right, on to the text…  This was a big character growth book. Frank, the shape-shifting son of Mars, grows into his strength as a warrior. Hazel embraces new abilities and new confidence.  And Hazel and Leo come to a new understanding that helps resolve their uneasy triangle with Frank—and wise-talking Leo gets a more serious side, and a chance at an eighth-wheel to balance out his seventh-wheel status. By which I just mean he finally gets a bit of romance of his own! Continue reading “Book Review: The House of Hades (Heroes of Olympus)” →

Web Series Review: The Lizzie Bennet Diaries

On By cherylmahoneyIn Reviews1 Comment

lbd-cast-posterI’ve watched a number of adaptations of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, but one of the more unique ones is The Lizzie Bennet Diaries—and it’s one of my favorites!

The Lizzie Bennet Diaries is a modern adaptation, presenting the story through the video blog of Lizzie Bennet, a college student still living with her parents because she’s saddled with student debt. She has two sisters, incredibly sweet Jane and party-girl Lydia. Best friend Charlotte helps Lizzie with her vlog, chronicling her mother’s obsession with getting her daughters married, and the ups and downs of Jane’s romance with the cute Bing Lee. And how it would all go smoother without Bing’s deeply irritating friend William Darcy.

Like a real vlog, this story is told through short episodes, around five minutes each. They originally came out one or two a week for about a year but can all be found on YouTube now. Make sure you watch a playlist that includes the sub-series, like Lydia’s vlog.  I was also pleasantly impressed by the high quality of the filming (because it’s hard to know what to expect from a faux-vlog) and, for that matter, the acting!

This web series does an amazing job with the modern twists and the portrayals of the characters. They’re recognizably the characters from Austen’s story, but with modern angles. Jane is still sweet as gold but she’s not weak (and she has a career that’s important to her, instead of focusing on nothing but romance). Lydia is perpetually having a wild time and embarrassing her sisters at the local bar. And Lizzie is still witty and endearing but sometimes quick to judge, takes her loved ones for granted at times and makes mistakes. But is very likable too. Continue reading “Web Series Review: The Lizzie Bennet Diaries” →

Book Review: Inspector Dewey

On By cherylmahoneyIn Juvenile, Reviews1 Comment

Inspector DeweyWhen I had the chance to get a copy of Inspector Dewey by Kristen Heimerl (illustrated by Irene Bofill), I definitely couldn’t pass it up—a story from a cat’s point of view! I love cats and, perhaps just as important, the most popular character I’ve written to date is talking cat Tom!  I’m always interested to meet other literary cats and see how other authors have portrayed our furry friends.

This is a charming picture book with gorgeous illustrations. Dewey narrates the tale, introducing his family (fellow cats Thumper and Lily, and human Anna), and describing the night when a thief came to the neighborhood.

I love Dewey’s voice. He’s exactly the self-assured, egotistical type of cat that I love reading abouy. Because all cats, of course, are deeply aware of their own importance!   Dewey is very sure that he saved the day when danger threatened, and I enjoy that self-confidence. Continue reading “Book Review: Inspector Dewey” →

Book Review: The Help by Kathryn Stockett

On By cherylmahoneyIn Historical Fiction, Reviews2 Comments

Directly after reading Go Set a Watchman, I started listening to The Help by Kathryn Stockett on audio.  This was deliberate–on the surface, they’re similar books.  A young woman returns to her small Southern hometown and is appalled by the racism she observes in her friends and family.  But there’s a crucial difference–I liked The Help SO MUCH better!

The Help is the story of “colored” maids working for white families in Jackson, Mississippi in the early 1960s.  Three women alternate points of view chapters to tell their stories:  Aibileen, a maid who deeply loves the white children she cares for; her friend Minny, whose outspokenness has made her almost unhire-able; and Eugenia “Skeeter” Phelan, a white woman in her early twenties who has just returned from college and dreams of being a writer.  Skeeter starts seeing the racism in her friends and her town, and becomes inspired to write a book of interviews telling the story of the maids.

This book is so good because we get so far inside each of the major characters, learning their backgrounds, what inspired them, what led them to where (and who) they are now.  Skeeter is deeply influenced by Constantine, the black maid who raised her–and by her own mother, who seems to be perpetually disappointed in her.  Minny’s mother told her the rules for working for white families when she was fourteen (and Minny’s never been all that good at following them), and Aibileen’s own son died shortly before she began working for her current white family.  Those are just a few snippets, as the book gives such a rich and complex picture. Continue reading “Book Review: The Help by Kathryn Stockett” →

TV Review: Beauty and the Beast (1987 TV show)

On By cherylmahoneyIn Reviews2 Comments

BeautyAndTheBeast1987_Complete_2014rereleaseI found myself with a hole in my television viewing a while back, when Once Upon a Time and Castle both went on hiatus at the same time. I needed something to fill in for my fairy tale show and my crime mystery show—so I decided to watch Beauty and the Beast. Because it’s a show that manages to hit both themes at once!

The story centers around Catherine (Linda Hamilton) and Vincent (Ron Perlman), the two title characters. In the opening show, Catherine is attacked by muggers and left for dead. Vincent rescues her, carrying her below New York to a secret society living apart from the rest of the world. They grow close, forming an empathic bond—but their friendship is complicated by the fact that Vincent is a…well, “lion-man” is probably the best descriptor. Catherine returns to the world above, inspired to change her life, and leaves her cushy corporate position for a job with the DA, bringing criminals to justice and protecting the victims. She and Vincent still have their bond, but struggle with their inability to live in the same world.

This isn’t a show that I ever loved, but I liked it a lot—at least for the first two seasons (more on that later). Sometimes it’s cheesy, sometimes it’s implausible, but I enjoyed watching it. A big part of that was Catherine’s character. I do love it that, after she’s attacked, she takes self-defense classes. I think that encapsulates her character. She’s determined not to be a victim, and to fight back against corruption, violence and anyone trying to exploit or harm the weak. Granted, it does help that she has a lion-man who can sense when she’s afraid and come to the rescue if things get out of hand…but she’s hardly a passive heroine just waiting for him to show up and save the day.  And I love that she doesn’t just become fierce over night–she has to learn how to defend herself. Continue reading “TV Review: Beauty and the Beast (1987 TV show)” →