Saturday Discussions- Fairytale Re-tellings

You really can't escape them right now. Between shows like Grimm and Once Upon A Time on t.v., Snow White and the Huntsman, The Raven and Mirror Mirror at the theaters and all of the books coming out, you are bound to see/read a fairytale re-telling at sometime. These have been a huge craze lately and it doesn't look like it is going away anytime soon. I'm actually reading a retelling right now called Tiger Lily, which is sparking this discussion.

I want to know what you all think of this trend.

Personally, I can't get enough. I've always been a huge fairytale buff. Seriously, I listened to Disney songs in my car in high school and I've always been fascinated in reading about fairytales roots. For me, I like them when they are cutesy retellings okay but I really get into it when fairytales go a little slanted (as if you can't tell by my blog theme). Basically, Tim Burton makes my year everytime he comes out with a new movie. Plus, when fairytales go a little darker, they are getting back to their roots which I can definitely appreciate.

Seriosuly though, I'm always in awe of authors who can look at other stories and figure out how to re-imagine them. I have a hard time getting out of my own head as a writer and once I see a story going one way, it's hard for me to imagine an alternate route. So I tend to feel stuck when it comes to fairytales too. But some authors are so dang clever at nodding to the original and creating amazing stories on top of that. I love watching authors re-create figures that I love and bringing a whole new reason to love them!

I'm not saying that I want every author to only write re-tellings but I'm still definitely on this bandwagon and I don't plan on jumping off any time soon.

I haven't actually read too many fairytale retellings so why don't you tell me some of your favorites? Also, how do you feel about re-tellings?

Books That Need to Fall Down The Rabbit Hole

It's been a little while since I've showcased some wonderful new books coming up and I wanted to do it again. Here's a look at books that I can't wait for! Hopefully you'll find some new books for you wish lists!

The Blood Keeper by Tessa Gratton

Paranormal romance fans who are looking to up the ante will be drawn to this tale of horror, fantasy, and romance. For Mab Prowd, the practice of blood magic is as natural as breathing. It's all she's ever known. Growing up on an isolated farm in Kansas with other practitioners may have kept her from making friends her own age, but it has also given her a sense of purpose—she's connected to the land and protective of the magic. And she is able to practice it proudly and happily out in the open with only the crows as her companions. Mab will do anything to keep the ancient practice alive and guard its secrets. But one morning while she is working out a particularly tricky spell she encounters Will, a local boy who is trying to exorcise some mundane personal demons. He experiences Mab's magic in a way his mind cannot comprehend and is all too happy to end their chance meeting. But secrets that were kept from Mab by the earlier generations of blood magicians have come home to roost. And she and Will are drawn back together, time again by this dangerous force looking to break free from the earth and reclaim its own dark power.

The Blood Keeper is out August 28th 2012 by Random House Children's Books.

Rift by Andrea Cremer

Before Calla Tor, there was Ember Morrow

Sixteen-year-old Lady Ember Morrow fulfills a family obligation by joining her friend Alistair in the Conatus Guard and begins training to help with the order’s true mission, to seek out and stop evildoers and their unnatural creations.

Rift is out August 7th 2012 by Philomel.

Poison Princess by Kresley Cole

She could save the world—or destroy it.

Sixteen year old Evangeline “Evie” Greene leads a charmed life, until she begins experiencing horrifying hallucinations. When an apocalyptic event decimates her Louisiana hometown, Evie realizes her hallucinations were actually visions of the future—and they’re still happening. Fighting for her life and desperate for answers, she must turn to her wrong-side-of-the-bayou classmate: Jack Deveaux.

But she can’t do either alone.

With his mile-long rap sheet, wicked grin, and bad attitude, Jack is like no boy Evie has ever known. Even though he once scorned her and everything she represented, he agrees to protect Evie on her quest. She knows she can’t totally depend on Jack. If he ever cast that wicked grin her way, could she possibly resist him?

Who can Evie trust?

As Jack and Evie race to find the source of her visions, they meet others who have gotten the same call. An ancient prophesy is being played out, and Evie is not the only one with special powers. A group of twenty-two teens has been chosen to reenact the ultimate battle between good and evil. But it’s not always clear who is on which side…

Poison Princess is out October 2nd 2012 by Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers.

Lucid by Adrienne Stoltz and Ron Bass

What if you could dream your way into a different life? What if you could choose to live that life forever?

Sloane and Maggie have never met. Sloane is a straight-A student with a big and loving family. Maggie lives a glamorously independent life as an up-and-coming actress in New York. The two girls couldn’t be more different—except for one thing. They share a secret that they can’t tell a soul. At night, they dream that they’re each other.

The deeper they’re pulled into the promise of their own lives, the more their worlds begin to blur dangerously together. Before long, Sloane and Maggie can no longer tell which life is real and which is just a dream. They realize that eventually they will have to choose one life to wake up to, or risk spiraling into insanity. But that means giving up one world, one love, and one self, forever.

This is a dazzling debut that will still readers’ hearts.

Lucid is out October 2nd 2012 by Razorbill.

The Blessed by Tonya Hurley

A "re-imagined redemption remix", following three teenage girls in Brooklyn and drawing on the martyrdom legends of St Lucy, St Cecelia and St Agnes.

The Blessed is out September 25th 2012 by Simon & Schuster.

Alice in Zombieland by Gena Showalter

She won’t resist until she’s sent every walking corpse back to its grave. Forever.

Had anyone told Alice Bell that her entire life would change course between one heartbeat and the next, she would have laughed. From blissful to tragic, innocent to ruined? Please. But that’s all it took. One heartbeat. A blink, a breath, a second, and everything she knew and loved was gone.

Her father was right. The monsters are real….

To avenge her family, Ali must learn to fight the undead. To survive, she must learn to trust the baddest of the bad boys, Cole Holland. But Cole has secrets of his own, and if Ali isn’t careful, those secrets might just prove to be more dangerous than the zombies…

Alice in Zombieland is out September 25th 2012 by Harlequin Teen.

Crewel by Gennifer Albin

Incapable. Awkward. Artless.

That’s what the other girls whisper behind her back. But sixteen year-old Adelice Lewys has a secret: she wants to fail.

Gifted with the ability to weave time with matter, she’s exactly what the Guild is looking for, and in the world of Arras, being chosen as a Spinster is everything a girl could want. It means privilege, eternal beauty, and being something other than a secretary. It also means the power to embroider the very fabric of life. But if controlling what people eat, where they live and how many children they have is the price of having it all, Adelice isn’t interested.

Not that her feelings matter, because she slipped and wove a moment at testing, and they’re coming for her—tonight.

Now she has one hour to eat her mom’s overcooked pot roast. One hour to listen to her sister’s academy gossip and laugh at her Dad’s stupid jokes. One hour to pretend everything’s okay. And one hour to escape.

Because once you become a Spinster, there’s no turning back.

Crewel is out October 16th 2012 by Farrar, Straus and Giroux Books for Young Readers.

Extranormal by Suze Reese

Mira Johns is pretty much like any other teenage girl. Except that she knows how to harness electro-magnetic energy to communicate without words. And she's really, really far from home. Her assignment as an emissary to Earth sounds fairly simple: blend in, observe, and stay away from the planet’s primitive males. But after she finds one mysterious boy too irresistible for stupid rules, she realizes the real reason she's supposed to keep her distance: mates from her world can die if separated. But a series of serious accidents make it clear that someone wants to force her return. Mira decides her only hope is to uncover the truth to why she, the most mediocre of candidates, was actually chosen for this assignment—before the agency discovers her secret and sends her back home.

Extranormal is out April 2nd 2012 by Valarian Press.

Skylark by Megan Spooner

Sixteen year-old Lark Ainsley has never seen the sky.

Her world ends at the edge of the vast domed barrier of energy enclosing all that’s left of humanity. For two hundred years the city has sustained this barrier by harvesting its children's innate magical energy when they reach adolescence. When it’s Lark’s turn to be harvested, she finds herself trapped in a nightmarish web of experiments and learns she is something out of legend itself: a Renewable, able to regenerate her own power after it’s been stripped.

Forced to flee the only home she knows to avoid life as a human battery, Lark must fight her way through the terrible wilderness beyond the edge of the world. With the city’s clockwork creations close on her heels and a strange wild boy stalking her in the countryside, she must move quickly if she is to have any hope of survival. She’s heard the stories that somewhere to the west are others like her, hidden in secret – but can she stay alive long enough to find them?

 Skylark is out  October 1st 2012 by Carolrhoda Lab.

What are you all looking forward to?

Dark Days of Supernatural Tour: Book Review: Slide by Jill Hathaway

This is a very special book review because it is not only for a book very near and dear to my heart but also becuase it is part of HarperTeen's Dark Days of Supernatural Tour!

Slide by Jill Hathaway

Reading Level: Young Adult
Hardcover: 256 pages
Publisher: Balzer + Bray (March 27, 2012)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0062077902
ISBN-13: 978-0062077905
Series: Yes!
Source: Finished copy provided by publisher
Cover: I think this cover is interesting. I'd definitely pick it up in a bookstore but I'm not sure I understand what it has to do with the book. I like the deep blue color a lot!
First Sentence: I'm slumped at my desk, fighting to keep my eyes open.
 
Mini-Review: Slide is an awesome mystery with one heck of a heroine you aren't likely to forget!
 
Summary:

Vee Bell is certain of one irrefutable truth—her sister’s friend Sophie didn’t kill herself. She was murdered.

Vee knows this because she was there. Everyone believes Vee is narcoleptic, but she doesn’t actually fall asleep during these episodes: When she passes out, she slides into somebody else’s mind and experiences the world through that person’s eyes. She’s slid into her sister as she cheated on a math test, into a teacher sneaking a drink before class. She learned the worst about a supposed “friend” when she slid into her during a school dance. But nothing could have prepared Vee for what happens one October night when she slides into the mind of someone holding a bloody knife, standing over Sophie’s slashed body.

Vee desperately wishes she could share her secret, but who would believe her? It sounds so crazy that she can’t bring herself to tell her best friend, Rollins, let alone the police. Even if she could confide in Rollins, he has been acting off lately, more distant, especially now that she’s been spending more time with Zane.

Enmeshed in a terrifying web of secrets, lies, and danger and with no one to turn to, Vee must find a way to unmask the killer before he or she strikes again.

 
Review:

Slide into the mystery indeed. I've spent the past few weeks talking up this book because I was lucky enough to beta for it. I could have written a review on what I read before but I would have missed a lot about this book. Vee is one of those unforgetable characters with her bravery and kind heart, the relationship between Vee and her sister is moving and the mystery element will have you racing through the pages.

I liked Vee from the second she started talking. Her point of view felt different to me and I appreciated it. Though she's in an odd situation, I felt like she respected not only what she could do but that she respected the person she slide into as well. She knew that what she was seeing were the parts of life meant to be secret and didn't try to use those secrets to her advantage. I love that she has pink hair but I love even more is that she has a reason for having pink hair. Nothing about Vee felt forced or improvised. She is fiercely loyal to the ones she loves and will do anything for them. Plus, she isn't scared to put herself in danger if it will help. Her fearlessness is endearing and her in struggle figuring out how to put her family back together after her mother's death truly make Vee and unforgetable character.

Speaking of Vee's loyalness, one of the best parts of this story was the realistic portrayal of Vee's family. She and her sister didn't always get along but when her sister needed her, Vee dropped everything to be there. Even though times were rough for them, it truly made the novel special to see how they bonded together and struggled to get through their struggles. Vee's Dad was equally complex and the author did an amazing job portraying him. I could really see how much he wanted to be there for his daughters but he just didn't know how. Watching them all learn to become a family again was awesome!

If the tender family moments aren't your thing, then the mystery will be. The author does an awesome job painting everyone as a suspect. Just when you think someone is cleared, more evidence is thrown their way to cast them in an entirely new bad light. I'm not sure I'd have guessed this time around who was doing the killing and I liked it. The ending brought the story to a statisfying close and I was happy to see Vee gain control over her ability to slide so she can learn to cope with it in the future.

Hathaway's writing didn't feel green. Vee's voice flowed smoothly and confidently through the pages and it felt like each new sentence brought something unique to make her whole. I think my experience reading this was amplified because I was reading for all the differences from the first draft I read. I have to say, I couldn't be more statisfied with the way things went, the changes and the final outcome (and also that one of my favorite lines made it into the book--I'll mark it in favorite lines).

If you're into deeply statsifying mysteries with unique and fearless leads then Slide is for you. If you like contemporaries, I think you could get into this one too because Slide balances something a little supernatural with the realistic world perfectly. Basically, if you like to read, I suggest Slide to you. I really don't think it's going to disappoint!
 

Rating:
 
Favorite Lines:

Mrs. Winger's voice is snippy, cutting me into tiny pieces she can easily brush into the trash.

--Pg. 3 of "Slide" by Jill Hathaway

 If she's the pink glitter on your valentine, I'm the black Sharpie you use to draw mustaches on the teachers in your yearbook.

--Pg. 5 of "Slide" by Jill Hathaway

...It's wrong that death is a loss. It's something you gain. Death is always there, whispering in your ear. In your memories. In everything you think and say and feel and wish.

--Pg. 18-19 of "Slide" by Jill Hathaway

On Friday, Sophie was here in the flesh, and now she is only words carved into red paint.

--Pg. 74 of "Slide" by Jill Hathaway

"Jelly doughnuts. They're like an instant orgasm for your tongue."

--Pg. 134 of "Slide" by Jill Hathaway

I know what it is. A Sharpie. Rollins's sword to tear the world apart, (This is sentence I loved so much! Glad it made it in!)

--Pg. 195 of "Slide" by Jill Hathaway

...Maybe the part he showed to me was the only part of him that was real...

--Pg. 236 of "Slide" by Jill Hathaway



Also, I was listening to this song in the car a few nights ago and it really reminded me of Rollins and Vee so I wanted to share it. Let me know what you think!

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Leg 4-
4/3 Kimberly Derting at Confessions of a Bookaholic
4/5 Jill Hathaway at Down the Rabbit Hole
4/10 Kimberly Derting at Confessions of a Bookaholic
4/12 Jill Hathaway at Down the Rabbit Hole
4/17 Dan Wells at Bookalicious

Happily Ever Endings... Everneath by Brodi Ashton

Happily Ever Endings... was born out of sheer frustration. You know how when you read a series and you love it but the last book takes a little while to come out and then you sort of forget parts of the novel? That's what these posts are going to serve to remedy. Happily Ever Ending... is a short post about what happened at the ending of each book that is going to be in a series for people who need a quick reminder of what happened in the previous installment. I hope this saves someone else the frustration that I went through!

Everneath by Brodi Ashton

Last spring, Nikki Beckett vanished, sucked into an underworld known as the Everneath, where immortals Feed on the emotions of despairing humans. Now she's returned- to her old life, her family, her friends- before being banished back to the underworld... this time forever.

She has six months before the Everneath comes to claim her, six months for good-byes she can't find the words for, six months to find redemption, if it exists.

Nikki longs to spend these months reconnecting with her boyfriend, Jack, the one person she loves more than anything. But there's a problem: Cole, the smoldering immortal who first enticed her to the Everneath, has followed Nikki to the mortal world. And he'll do whatever it takes to bring her back- this time as his queen.

As Nikki's time grows short and her relationships begin slipping from her grasp, she's forced to make the hardest decision of her life: find a way to cheat fate and remain on the Surface with Jack or return to the Everneath and become Cole's...

Click "Read more" to read the ending of Cold Kiss so you'll be ready for the next installment of the series!

Teaser Tuesday (78) & Top Ten Tuesday (22)

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly bookish meme hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along, just do as following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page

Share two (2) "teaser" sentences from somewhere on that pageBe careful not to include any spoilers so as not to ruin the book for others!Make sure to share the title and the author so other TT participants can add the book to their TBR piles!

I imagine myself with a stake, chasing after a shadowy figure in a mask carrying a knife wet with Sophie's blood. I tackle him to the ground and rip away the material obscuring his face.

--Pg. 112-113 of "Slide" by Jill Hathaway

I'm still loving this novel though it is taking me a while to get through it. My review will be very soon though. We're actually talking the 5th of this month so stay tuned. I'm so in love with this character and this novel!

What's your teaser?

Top Ten Tuesday is a 10's list meme hosted by The Broke and The Bookish. There is a different question every week and all you have to do is answer their question with your top ten results!

Top Ten Books To Read In A Day

I can't really read a book in a day. I'm just not that focused and I'm not that fast. But here are a list of the books that I tried to read in a day or that I couldn't put down until they were finished. Whether it be for the stories, plots, writing, characters or all of the above, these book are not to be missed!

Alright sure, there are a few more than 10 but it was really hard to choose. I've read quite a few wonderful books this year alone and I'm pleased with how many made the list. Though, it's made this year pretty hard to top as far as expectations go.

What made your list?

Book Review: Freshman Year and Other Unnatural Disaster by Meredith Zeitlin

Freshman Year & Other Unnatural Disasters by Meredith Zeitlin

Reading level: Ages 12 and up
Hardcover: 288 pages
Publisher: Putnam Juvenile (March 1, 2012)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0399254234
ISBN-13: 978-0399254239
Series: No
Source: ARC provided by publisher
Cover: This is a really cute cover and definitely fit the tone of the voice from the novel. It doesn't have a whole lot to do with the book but it would definitely catch my attention on the shelf and I like the design!
First Sentence: Here it is, practically mid-September, and it's still too hot to live.

Mini-Review: A cute contemporary with a strong lead aimed at younger audiences.

Summary:

Kelsey Finkelstein is fourteen and FRUSTRATED. Every time she tries to live up to her awesome potential, her plans are foiled – by her impossible parents, her annoying little sister, and life in general. But with her first day of high school coming up, Kelsey is positive that things are going to change. Enlisting the help of her three best friends — sweet and quiet Em, theatrical Cass, and wild JoJo — Kelsey gets ready to rebrand herself and make the kind of mark she knows is her destiny.

Things start out great - her arch-nemesis has moved across the country, giving Kelsey the perfect opportunity to stand out on the soccer team and finally catch the eye of her long-time crush. But soon enough, an evil junior’s thirst for revenge, a mysterious photographer, and a series of other catastrophes make it clear that just because KELSEY has a plan for greatness… it doesn’t mean the rest of the world is in on it.

Kelsey’s hilarious commentary throughout her disastrous freshman year will have you laughing out loud—while being thankful that you’re not in her shoes, of course…

Review:

Freshman Year and Other Unnatural Disasters is one heck of a cute contemporary perfect for all ages. Combining a quirky lead character, loads of awkward situations and tackling some big questions, it is an easy read. While it's not going to change the way you look at things, the main character is hilarious and there is plenty of drama to keep you plowing through the pages.


Freshman Year definitely wouldn't have worked without its lead Kelsey. Though I found her a bit selfish in the beginning I loved watching her grow throughout her year. With each quirky new dilemma for her to deal with, she became a better person and as her frustration and sarcasm where turned to more worthy causes, I liked Kelsey more and more. Her over-dramatic tone made even the tiniest of problems into something huge and therefore made for some great laughs. But what was truly endearing about her was the way she took all of these really terrible situations in stride and instead of focusing on the things she couldn't change, she decides to focus on the things she could. I'm not sure I would have been able to live down some of the crazy situations that Kelsey did but she always tried to remind herself that she could make the best of her situations.

I also enjoyed that there was a little something for everyone in the story. Kelsey played soccer the first half of the book but she also tries out for the school play. All of her friends have their own side stories which affect Kelsey and directly affect the way she sees and treats the world. When I picked up this book, I did so with a smile, excited to get back to the words not because I was invested in the plot and needed to know what happened but because I was generally invested in the character.

Though some of the characters were stereotypical and the plot was pretty straightforward, I liked that the story covered the entire year and the pacing didn’t ever lag. I did feel like some of the sub plots were brought up and forgotten too quickly. This novel also seemed like it was aimed at a slightly younger audience which is completely fine but I not something I tend to read much of. I also wish that Kelsey’s romance had started a little sooner though in all fairness, that is clearly not what the story was about.

While Freshman Year isn't going to change your life, it is a really cute story full of funny situations and the perfect protagonist to survive them. Each potential disaster made Kelsey into a stronger protagonist and her humor made the story special. If you’re a fan of fun contemporary novels geared for younger audiences, Freshman Year and Other Unnatural Disasters is perfect for you!

Rating:
 
Favorite Lines:

Years from now, when my mother complains because I don't visit her in the nursing home, I will cite the Loehmann's dressing room as the reason.

--Pg. 14 of "Freshman Year and Other Unnatural Disasters" by Meredith Zeitlin

I wish she'd just eat her toast and reminiscence to herself about her own high school experience...

--Pg. 37 of "Freshman Year and Other Unnatural Disasters" by Meredith Zeitlin

If I hear the words you or know one more time, I may have to burn the school to the ground.

--Pg. 59 of "Freshman Year and Other Unnatural Disasters" by Meredith Zeitlin

...It certainly never occurred to me that I'd ever end up bonding with Lexi in a bathroom next to my crush's foot fungus cream...

--Pg. 74 of "Freshman Year and Other Unnatural Disasters" by Meredith Zeitlin

Within minutes, my who grade will think that I moonlight as a mashed potato scooper.

--Pg. 140 of "Freshman Year and Other Unnatural Disasters" by Meredith Zeitlin

Now I look like an out-of-work Santa Claus who just woke up in an alley after a three day booze binge. In an apron.

--Pg. 231 of "Freshman Year and Other Unnatural Disasters" by Meredith Zeitlin

I don't know if I'm prepared to slow dance with Voldemort tonight.

--Pg. 259 of "Freshman Year and Other Unnatural Disasters" by Meredith Zeitlin

In My Mailbox 76

In my mailbox is a weekly meme created by The Story Siren that encourages other book bloggers to share what they bought, won, begged for or borrowed. It is usually held on Sundays!

This is a bigger mailbox than usual because it's several weeks put together. I was planning on taping it but then I got called into work so you'll have to deal with a list and pictures instead.

From Scholastic:

• 2 ARCs of Underworld by Meg Cabot (I'm giving 1 away on the blog here)

From HarperTeen:

• ARC of Tigerlily by Jodi Lynn Anderson
• ARC of Something Strange and Deadly by Susan Dennard
• ARC of Thumped by Megan McCafferty

Purchased from Barnes and Nobles:

• Pandemonium by Lauren Oliver
• Grave Mercy by Robin LaFevers

Southern ARC Tours:

• ARC of Take A Bow by Elizabeth Eulberg

What did you get in your mailbox this week?