Tag: Fairy Tales

Book Review: Dearest (Woodcutter Sisters series)

On By cherylmahoneyIn Fantasy, Reviews, Young Adult1 Comment

I picked up Dearest by Alethea Kontis very soon after it came out—then kept renewing my library copy, waiting for the Once Upon a Time challenge to begin. This is the third book in the Woodcutter Sisters series, with its seven sisters named for the days of the week.

This book’s heroine is Friday, whose chief talents are sewing and loving others. Friday is staying at her sister-queen’s castle, helping with refugees and tending herds of children in the wake of the magical flood that swept the kingdom near the end of the last book. Friday meets a mute kitchen maid with a strange connection to seven swans—who turn out to be enchanted princes. Friday swiftly falls for one of them, and sets about trying to help the princes and their sister break their curse.

If you know fairy tales, then you know this is a retelling of “The Seven Swans,” with a sister who must weave shirts to free her cursed brothers. Dearest embroiders (ahem) some extra elements on, weaving Friday into the story as a helpful friend and introducing two villainous magicians and their decidedly spooky assassin. Continue reading “Book Review: Dearest (Woodcutter Sisters series)” →

Fairyland Beckons…

On By cherylmahoneyIn Ruminations2 Comments

oncetimenine400The first day of Spring is…either today or tomorrow, I never remember (and yeah, I’m sure Google knows, but where’s the fun in looking it up?)  Either way!  It’s been warm and sunny in my neighborhood for at least a week, the daffodils have been blooming for over a month, and the real point of all this is that Spring is here (or as good as) which means it’s time to turn towards fairy tales and fantasy for the annual Once Upon a Time “challenge.”

If you know this blog, it won’t surprise you that this is my favorite reading challenge. 🙂

I’ve decided to be unplanned this year, and let the books, magic and possibly pink sparkles fall where they will.  I have lots of fantasy books on my To Be Read list, and since I’m also aiming to do more rereading this year, I’ll see if I can rustle up any past-read fairy tale retellings too.  I’m curious to see if they read differently to me now, after the last five years or so of immersing myself in fairy tales so much more!

I only have two definite books on my list for this challenge, only because they’re the two I already picked up at the library:  Dearest by Alethea Kontis, third book in the Woodcutter Sisters series, which I’ve been holding onto waiting for this challenge to arrive.  And A Question of Magic by E.D. Baker, which has a really cool premise and I hope will change my mind about this author (because I wasn’t able to get into the previous two books I read…)

And beyond that…we shall see!

Stitching Snow by R. C. Lewis

On By cherylmahoneyIn Reviews, Science Fiction1 Comment

I ran across Stitching Snow by R. C. Lewis when it was suggested at one my book club meetings (and described as “Snow White meets Star Wars”–which means I’m having a Snow White-themed week on the blog…)  This book wasn’t picked for our monthly read, but I decided to read it anyway.  Because: fairy tale retelling!  It wasn’t quite Star Wars…but it might be “Snow White meets Mockingjay,” in a good way.

Sixteen-year-old Essie has been fending for herself since she was nine years old, living in a mining colony where her closest “friends” are seven drones (droids) she built herself.  She trusts no one, spending her time fiddling with tech and earning extra money fighting cage matches at the bar (really!)  Everything changes when a small ship crashes nearby, and Essie pulls Dane out of the wreckage.  He tells her he’s on a treasure hunt–but the treasure turns out to be the missing Princess Snow, heir to the throne of the most powerful planet in the system.  Essie, of course, is really Snow, and soon she’s unwillingly drawn into interplanetary politics and conflicts.  But she has a choice–to be a pawn or to be a leader, to run away again from her father and stepmother, or to embrace the courage and compassion her mother tried to teach her. Continue reading “Stitching Snow by R. C. Lewis” →

Book Review: Fairest by Marissa Meyer

On By cherylmahoneyIn Reviews, Science Fiction3 Comments

I really, really, really want to read Winter, the final book in Marissa Meyer’s Lunar Chronicles Quartet.  But it won’t be out until November.  So in the meantime, it was some consolation to read the prequel, Fairest, providing the backstory of the terrifying Lunar Queen, Levana (and, incidentally, Winter’s stepmother).

I’ve reviewed the first three books in this series (Cinder, Scarlet and Cress).  It’s a sci fi series, where a Lunar kingdom is hostile towards Earth, and fairy tales are played out in clever ways with cyborgs and satellites.  This one…is the story of Snow White’s stepmother.

Fifteen years old when the book opens, Levana is the unwanted, disregarded younger princess, always in the shadow of her cruel and shallow sister Channary. Levana dreams of attaining renown, respect…and the eye of Evret, a handsome palace guard.  But Evret is devoted to his beautiful wife, and they’re expecting a child.  This doesn’t interfere with Levana’s belief that they’re fated to be together, and she’ll use all her royal power and her ability to manipulate minds and emotions to seize what she wants–beauty, Evret, and the throne too. Continue reading “Book Review: Fairest by Marissa Meyer” →

NaNoWriMo 2014 Revisited

On By cherylmahoneyIn NaNoWriMo3 Comments

I wrote throughout November about my experience doing National Novel Writing Month this year, when thousands of crazy writers set the goal to write 50,000 words of a novel in one month.  I told you at the end of November that I hit my personal goal of 60,000 words, but I seem to have neglected to update on how my December writing turned out!

My larger goal was to complete the novel draft by the end of the year, and I estimated it would be about 75,000 words.  So I wrote away at roughly 500 words a day through December.  And it was much harder!  Maybe it was because I’d already been writing so much in November, or because I lost the NaNoWriMo communal motivation, or just because I re-set my word goal and so I met that instead of the higher one.  Or maybe December’s just a busier month…

But, regardless, I did keep moving forward through the story and the word count, and I crossed the 75,000 word mark on December 29th.  (!)  Which left me with just one problem–I still wasn’t at the end of the story! Continue reading “NaNoWriMo 2014 Revisited” →