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Wednesday, November 20, 2013

Hero by Alethea Kontis (Woodcutter Sisters #2)





Rough and tumble Saturday Woodcutter thinks she's the only one of her sisters without any magic—until the day she accidentally conjures an ocean in the backyard. With her sword in tow, Saturday sets sail on a pirate ship, only to find herself kidnapped and whisked off to the top of the world. Is Saturday powerful enough to kill the mountain witch who holds her captive and save the world from sure destruction? And, as she wonders grumpily, "Did romance have to be part of the adventure?"







I went into Hero totally excited…I loved Enchanted, the first installment. It has such a silly and fun vibe. This volume of the Woodcutter series still had that same fairy tale feel but was a little bit more serious.


I have to admit I don’t particularly care for Saturday, of all the sisters she is my least favorite. I did enjoy that she is not considered beautiful; she is a flat chested strong girl, so quite far from the normal beautiful Mary Sues I am used to reading about. She doesn’t seem to care about her appearance too much. I found her a little too stubborn and like the author was trying too hard to get her away from girly stuff and into a tomb boy. The character natural fits into the masculinity role easily without much pushing, so it was unnecessary for the reader to be reminded of it all the time.

The cover is pretty bad... I mean it looks pretty...but that SO isn't Saturday on the front.

The plot line was a little all over the place and I found it kind of jumpy, but it was still fun…Evil witches, magic, dragons, shapeshifters and a boy in a skirt….All fantastical and entertaining.

I have to admit I was more interested in the back story surrounding Seven (the mother) and her sisters than I was Saturday’s tale. I also craved more about Monday’s lost daughter and Thursday, the pirate queen. I figure those story lines will be continued in the next books.

The love story was a little ridiculous and very insta-love, which was unfortunate because the novel didn’t need them! Saturday and her adventures could have managed on their own without mushy gooshy love…or if the love had only been hinted at.

We finally meet Jack Woodcutter which is nice since they talk about him ALL THE TIME.

The magic was great and the world the author has created was imaginative and very fairy tale like. Like an epic quest your mom would have regaled you with stories of when you were small.

Over all I enjoyed reading this…it wasn’t as good as the first one, but it was fun and I can’t wait for the next book.





Tuesday, November 19, 2013

Top Ten Books I Would Recomend to....


Top Ten YA Books I Would Recommend to my Daughter when she is a teenager


Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by: http://brokeandbookish.blogspot.in/






1) Dealing with Dragons by Patricia C Wrede- This series is one of the best and actually makes a lot of my top ten lists



2) Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets- technically my daughter has already read the first three of these novels…but I think Harry Potter is an important part of our culture now.





3) Twilight- Yeah I know it totally sucks, but in that guilty pleasure kind of way. It too is a HUGE part of our culture I don’t want her to feel left out. I mean I read them, after all



4) Some Quiet Place by Kelsey Sutton- this was the BEST YA book I read this year and I would want to be able to talk to my daughter about how much I loved this book you can find my review of it here if you are curious:http://hauntedgravebooks.blogspot.com/2013/08/some-quiet-place-kelsey-sutton.html





5) Strands of Bronze and Gold by Jane Nickerson- this was a great blue beard retelling and the writing was really great. I think my daughter would enjoy this. My Review is here:
http://hauntedgravebooks.blogspot.com/2013/03/strands-of-bronze-and-gold-jane.html



6) Thirteenth Child by Patricia C Wrede- this author is just amazing, this book is like Harry Potter meets Oregon Trail, just too awesome to miss out on.





7) Monstrous Beauty by Elizabeth Fama- I want my daughter to know not all stories are happily ever after, but that doesn’t mean the writing has to suck. My Review here:


8) The Grave Yard Book by Neil Gaiman- possibly more middle grade fiction, but this was a funny, dark coming of age book that takes place in a cemetery!





9) Vampire Kisses Book 1 by Ellen Schreiber- because this is the kind of vampire teen book I love, silly, playful and full of happy gothy nonsense.



10) Wildwood Dancing by Juliet Marillier- I don’t even know what to say about this fairy/frog prince/12 dancing princesses book….accept I have read it five times, it’s beautiful and I love it.



Bright Blessings