Listen this is not great literature although an interesting retelling of beauty and the beast. It’s a little meh tbh. She was scamming us the whole tiListen this is not great literature although an interesting retelling of beauty and the beast. It’s a little meh tbh. She was scamming us the whole time for book two when it gets way better. I consider myself an acotar hipster as I read this first nine years ago.
On a long road trip w darik challenged w him to listen w me. Was hilarious watching his face. He’s v curious about this Rhys guy. ...more
so I like fairytale re-tellings; Shannon Hale, Ella Enchanted, the like. So one day Amazon suggested this book for me and it was like, for two bucks, so I like fairytale re-tellings; Shannon Hale, Ella Enchanted, the like. So one day Amazon suggested this book for me and it was like, for two bucks, so I bought it. Last night I read it and I swear the only reason I couldn't stop is because it was such a train wreck. I expected a fairy tale, what I got was a christian romance that was dripping with the victorian views of women that still seep into our religious views and british law, namely that women are either:
(1) a saintly Mary or (2) a whorish Eve
there was not one woman in this book that didn't fit this to a T. For a better description of this false dichotomy, see this essay Women, Patriarchy, and Equality.
Just blah blah men are for strength and protection and women are for gentility and sweetness and blech. I suppose it's just because God made me to be someone who is Not this stereotypical feminine idealized woman that it's barf-inducing. I'm looking for complexity and interesting characters and people who are both good and bad. Maybe I should just steer clear of christian romances? Aye....more
I wish I had a little I could share this with. The book I wish had existed when El was 2-4. I'm sure this whole series will be excellent. I wish I had a little I could share this with. The book I wish had existed when El was 2-4. I'm sure this whole series will be excellent. ...more
I'm trying to put my finger on exactly why this wasn't a "wow" book for me.
In general I like atmospheric books, where you can feel the tone and the sI'm trying to put my finger on exactly why this wasn't a "wow" book for me.
In general I like atmospheric books, where you can feel the tone and the setting almost as a secondary character in the story. And being in a big nameless city in a big nameless quirky, creepy museum hits the sweet spot. It has a slight feeling of horror and foreboding around every corner. Which is just so well done.
Was it because I never connected with the Marvelous Boy? Was it because I never felt connected to Ophelia? I love it when ordinary characters do extra-ordinary things. But for some reason all I ever felt about Ophelia was ordinary-ness. Was it because I was exasperated at how daft everyone was? That it took until the last chapter of the book to figure out who the snow queen is when everyone else knows in the first chapter? Or was it because I tired of her journey just being going to different rooms and finding a bunch of keys . . . it seemed urgent to release the boy, right? And then??? Lots of action and climax resolution? Nope. Just need to keep on wandering around wandering around hoping to just run into whatever you need to run into to save the world. So it must have been that I felt that very little cleverness or effort on Ophelia's part was required except for being willing to show up and go into a scary room. That's big, it is. But can we get a little bit outwitting and complexity?
It ended up being meh for me, and I'm sad because it was very well written.
p.s. a copy of this book was provided by the publisher and netgalley in exchange for an honest review....more
It's about the same book as the other two: same frustrating pacing, convenient coincidences, and predictable G rated character romances (not knocking It's about the same book as the other two: same frustrating pacing, convenient coincidences, and predictable G rated character romances (not knocking the cleanness, just thought it should be described).
Don't get me wrong, I love her imaginative twists on the fairy tales.....and I don't require all my heroines to be invincible, but this one left me a little more blah: esp considering its length.
This series is very fun. The author is taking a fairy tale for each book and twisting it into a futuristic-dystopian-sci-fi adventure - and then crossThis series is very fun. The author is taking a fairy tale for each book and twisting it into a futuristic-dystopian-sci-fi adventure - and then crossing the stories all together. For book number two we have Scarlet (red riding hood) from France meeting Cinder from China. I think we may be heading to Africa next where we will meet Cress.
This book in some ways was stronger than the author's debut in Cinder. I didn't feel she was forcing things to get the plot to fit into the fairy tale. But the Scarlet/Wolf relationship was a little shallow. So a little weaker on that point. Also at one moment near the end I thought back on the story as a whole and it seemed kind of cheesy. A little hokey. Maybe because it strayed to far into the girly relationship stuff and not enough into the politics. I wish they could write these books with female leads and make them as kick-butt-ish/serious as Ender's Game or Hunger Games. Maybe it's too much angst ?
Anyways, still fun. I wish the books were all released at once. ...more
Okay, where to begin. Cinder is a retelling of a fairy-tale set in a futuristic dystopian world. Humans and androids mixUPDATED with review
3.5 stars.
Okay, where to begin. Cinder is a retelling of a fairy-tale set in a futuristic dystopian world. Humans and androids mix in the world of New Beijing, and Cinder is a cyborg (mix of the two) with mechanical inclinations and a mysterious past. What is not to love, peeps?!
I LOVED the originality of the whole idea of everything!!!!!! It's not amazing writing, but it's manageable and I love the twists she provides to the story for the first. i loved the moon colony and the politics and the plague and how everything was coming together and then . . .
The last 1/3 of the book happened. Plot device after plot device was forced into the story to have a climax and resolution. It was super disappointing. The reasons things were happening or how they were happening were not smart or clever, but seemed a little like juvenile explanations. For instance: (view spoiler)[1. How the doctor turned off her blocking device that had been implanted so she couldn't use her Lunar powers. So he just touches her neck and ta-da! it's fixed. 2. How she got to the ball. Really? Some teenager comes up on the bugged devices and says, "like, OMG, the prince is in danger and going to die!" It wasn't a compelling enough reason for me to see Cinder abandoning her escape plans to crash the ball. Um, just to tell him what he already knows? 3. The ball, it was a let down of a climax. Grrrr. It seemed so cheesy. 4. Also? Super annoying she couldn't put two and two together and figure out who she was earlier. She's obvs a smart girl, ya know? (hide spoiler)]
Of course, it left a cliffhanger to lead to the next in the series - which sounds intriguingly even more original and fun. This is a summary of the whole series taken from a comment on Flannery's review of the book:
Enna Isilee (Squeaky Books): I know about the next books! There are going to be 3 more, and each one will star Cinder as the MC, but she will also interact with other fairy tale people in their stories.
1) Scarlet (2013) is about Little Red Riding Hood and will take place in France. 2) Cress (2014) is about Rapunzel and will take place on the moon 3) Winter (2015) is about Snow White and will take place in the Sahara Desert
And even though I was disappointed in the plot, this book was flat out fun. It was Marissa Meyer's debut. I'm looking forward with hope that the series keeps getting better as she becomes a better writer.
PS I just found a short chapter prequel that is a good intro to the series found here: Glitches...more
It's interesting to put a book on both the "holocaust" and "fairy tail" book shelves. Jane Yolen retold the story of Sleeping Beauty set amongst a HolIt's interesting to put a book on both the "holocaust" and "fairy tail" book shelves. Jane Yolen retold the story of Sleeping Beauty set amongst a Holocaust mystery. It wasn't hard-to-put-down, but it was interesting once you got into the mystery. I really liked how she weaved the stories together I was able to learn a little more along the way. For instance, did you know the Nazis also rounded up homosexuals (pink triangles instead of yellow stars)? One of the characters was a man in that situation - and while I didn't mind having him in the book, the focus on his relationships and the detail of his encounters didn't sit too well with me. Maybe if it hadn't been so preachy about it -- but in the end all of the references to gay rights felt clunky and preachy and forced. I think it would have been more powerful to be subtle about it - people still get the message. In the end the book was ok. 4 stars for the retelling but the rest kind of dragged it down....more
3.5 stars - I believe this is one of my favorites of JDG - probably tied with Princess of the Midnight Ball. This is a retelling of an old Norse tail 3.5 stars - I believe this is one of my favorites of JDG - probably tied with Princess of the Midnight Ball. This is a retelling of an old Norse tail - "East o' the Sun, West o' the Moon." This has girl power written all over it, which I'm down with. I love that I hadn't heard this fairy tale before, so to me it was very original and creative.
Once again I'm a bit let down with the climax/resolution. I like it when I am not able to guess how my books will end - and usually it has to be pretty clever to impress me . . . with this one I couldn't guess how it would end, but then instead of impressing me I just thought - that's cheesy!...more
Meh, this doesn't really earn 3 stars from me but I'm not mean enough to give it a 2.
So. What to say? Hmm, well it was a creative twist to CinderellaMeh, this doesn't really earn 3 stars from me but I'm not mean enough to give it a 2.
So. What to say? Hmm, well it was a creative twist to Cinderella (godmother=evil sorceress, glass slippers=literally molten onto feet) . . . and I think I was starting to get wrapped up in the first part of the story when ...
the author resorted to just telling. SHOW me, don't TELL me. The antagonists background is given as, "well this guy gave me a book that told me the background and story of the witch so I will just tell you what happened." Uughhh.
And the ending? Seriously? Seriously? It was pretty much just "smash, smash. alright let's get married. the end."...more
**spoiler alert** I would give it 3.5 stars if I could . . . So many original elements: the different dragons and their 'collections', the master slip**spoiler alert** I would give it 3.5 stars if I could . . . So many original elements: the different dragons and their 'collections', the master slippers, etc. And you know I love a feisty heroine . . .
But. {sigh} Why does the prince immediately crush after a country bumpkin? Why does everything come SO EASY for little Creel? She just happens to make a perfect deal with the first dragon, just happens to run into Amalia and Luka on the same day, just happens to run out and have the duchess see her stitches, just happens to . . . you see the pattern. And why, if our hero is supposed to be so fabulous, is she the so clueless about these magical slippers? I mean, my 4yo would have known those darn 'itching, magically comfortable slippers' were actually magical. It almost makes me like Larkin that the girl had enough brains to figure it out in 5 minutes.
It seems her idea of character development is to go from being friends with Larkin to friends with Marta. I actually didn't see any character grow or change. I guess Creel had an element of self-discovery and she realized she was stronger than she thought she was? And at the end, always JDG, with the telling of the story instead of showing. {double sigh}.
I guess the only reason why it seems I'm ripping into the book is because I think it has SO much potential. Like it was {so} close to being absolutely AMAZING! Oh well. ...more
This was SO much better than Princess of Glass I was surprised! The faults with the resolution in Glass were not found here. I found the ending a littThis was SO much better than Princess of Glass I was surprised! The faults with the resolution in Glass were not found here. I found the ending a little rushed, but this was a cute, fun little read that I have very little to complain about!...more
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