As many people are aware, 2017 was on the whole, a bit nuts. My personal and professional life decided to follow suit, and while I may appreciate the travel miles and hotel points that racked up, I’m looking forward to a more stable (personally) 2018. I started at new job with the new along with the new year, and while I’m searching for housing in a new area, I’ve been staying with family during the work week. Wednesday night, I sat down to read aloud […]
Trust Me, Hansel and Gretel Are Sweet!: The Story of Hansel and Gretel as Told by the Witch
We all know the story of Hansel and Gretel… or do we? This retake on the popular story takes a softer approach to the classic tale and creates a happy ending for everyone. The bright colors of the illustrations hint at the sweet treat that is the center of the commotion. Over all this book, while a fun read, it is very predictable. The witch is good…. she likes to make food art out of her mashed potatoes and the gingerbread house is just a […]
When Utopia Goes Pear-Shaped
Well, my first review of the year, and I have picked a bit of a doozy! Not only is this book series quite unlike anything else I have read, I’m starting my review with book three of four. (But, this is the first book I’ve finished reading this year, so I went with it.) I’m going to have to try to do my best to tiptoe around the spoilers while still giving some kind of picture as to what this series is about. Let’s see […]
High school drama with vampires
Last year got a little hairy when I had to write almost all my reviews for the year in the last three weeks of December. It wasn’t much fun, so I promised myself that this year I would get back on track. Unless I’m traveling, I will not finish my next book until I’ve reviewed the previous one. That way, I should only ever have one review to catch up on. I hope. I’m starting this year off with Richelle Mead’s Bloodlines (2011). It’s the first book […]
Spooky and snoozy
This is the second Brenna Yovanoff novel I’ve read that, to my taste, didn’t quite stick the landing. She really knows how to set a scene around an intriguing premise. Here, that idea is that our main character, Mackie, is a replacement, a fae child that was left behind with a human family after their own was taken. In Mackie’s town, this sort of thing happens every seven years, except that most of the time, the replacement doesn’t live — it becomes sick and dies. […]
You remember Alice? It’s a song about Alice…
Alice hated being interesting. (a couple of times throughout the book but p. 287 is where I recorded it.) I didn’t love it. I didn’t hate it. I’ll probably seek out the follow-up books, but I already know that the thing I think needs to happen–Alice becoming the Queen of Hearts–won’t.