The thing about sequels, or any book that comes after the first in a series, is that you’re never quite sure how they’re going to stack up to the first. Obviously, the first was good enough to get you to come back for more, but will it be as you remembered? Will the characters and story not only hold up, but progress? That’s the tricky part, I think. Sequels have to be better, have to push the story further along and really get you invested. […]
I mean, I GET it, but I don’t have to be HAPPY about it.
I have liked every Jim C. Hines book I’ve ever read, and that holds true for The Snow Queen’s Shadow. But I didn’t LIKE like this book. In fact, I think I’m in a fight with it. We definitely weren’t speaking for a while, and I got kind of pouty and shouty with it. Pouty shouty, if you will. The thing about this book, which is the fourth and last in Hines’ Princess quartet, is that it’s a smart, well-written ending to the series. It […]
I’ve seen so many planets dancing
Poor Cress, man. In “The Lunar Chronicles,” Cress is our Rapunzel — locked away in a satellite orbiting Earth, performing high-tech intelligence operations under coercion by her Lunar mistress, who happens to be the chief aide to the evil Lunar Queen. So it could be said that Cress is the most important VIP whose political influence could never buy her own personal autonomy. Cress and our heroine of the long arc, Cinder, first crossed paths when Cinder intercepted classified data hidden by Cress in a […]
Gotta dance!
I was immediately intrigued by Melina’s review of The Girls at the Kingfisher Club. It looked like the kind of story that hit all my soft spots: Manhattan, fairy tales, Jazz Age, and, perhaps most importantly, ladies who shut down the dance floor. I cannot help myself with the dance stories. I love them all, from the cheesiest Step It Up #39 or whatever to the most discretely dramatic conversation during an Austen Regency dance, I will drink them all up. And I wasn’t disappointed! This is a […]
“Orange” you glad I didn’t say banana?
“Orange” is the title of the Neil Gaiman story included in this book, and as it was his name on the cover that got be to buy it in the first place, I thought it should get some sort of mention. While I enjoyed that story, it wasn’t my absolute favorite, so I left it out of my review.
Meeting the Big Bad Wolf and More with Chris Colfer
Chris Colfer, who many only know from his role as Kurt on Glee, has a trick or two up his sleeve. The Emmy Award-winning 24 year-old, has also, since 2012, published the chart-topping fantasy book series, The Land of Stories. His first book in the series, The Wishing Spell, aimed at middle-grade readers, also topped the New York Times best seller list for two weeks. The busy author has managed to turn out a book a year in the series, with The Land of Stories: The Enchantress Returns, debuting in 2013 […]