Monday, June 27, 2011
Review: A Kiss in Time by Alex Flinn
Summary:
This clever and humorous retelling of "Sleeping Beauty" follows an aimless American boy who awakens a princess who has been slumbering for 300 years. Jack is on a European tour mandated by his parents ("What they don't tell you about Europe is how completely lame it is") when he breaks an ancient curse by kissing the slumbering Princess Talia. Instead of rejoicing, she and other awakened members of their magical kingdom are confused and perturbed to find themselves in the 21st century. In order to escape the wrath of her father, who blames her for causing the curse, Talia flees with Jack to his home in Florida. While acclimating to the modern world-cell phones, television, Jell-o shots-the princess manages to charm everyone she meets and help Jack sort out his life. Alternating between the teenagers' distinctive points of view, Flinn skillfully delineates how their upbringings set them apart while drawing parallels between their family conflicts. Fans of happily-ever-after endings will delight in the upbeat resolution, which confirms the notion that "love conquers all."
Review
I really enjoyed this book. I love fairy tales to begin with so reading a modern day version of sleeping beauty was nice. In this book though you kinda get more of a connection to the "bad fairy" who cursed Talia. In all the regular fairy tales they don't really explain why the person or thing became bad. You just know that they are evil and thats that. I really liked how the author went into why the bad fairy became bad. Talia the princess actually feels bad for her in the end and helps her to become good again. Also I think the romance and friendship between Talia and Jack was really sweet. The change in Jack from the beginning and end was very easy to see. This whole adventure brought everyone closer together including all the families. This was a really good book and I can't wait to read another book by this same author.
This clever and humorous retelling of "Sleeping Beauty" follows an aimless American boy who awakens a princess who has been slumbering for 300 years. Jack is on a European tour mandated by his parents ("What they don't tell you about Europe is how completely lame it is") when he breaks an ancient curse by kissing the slumbering Princess Talia. Instead of rejoicing, she and other awakened members of their magical kingdom are confused and perturbed to find themselves in the 21st century. In order to escape the wrath of her father, who blames her for causing the curse, Talia flees with Jack to his home in Florida. While acclimating to the modern world-cell phones, television, Jell-o shots-the princess manages to charm everyone she meets and help Jack sort out his life. Alternating between the teenagers' distinctive points of view, Flinn skillfully delineates how their upbringings set them apart while drawing parallels between their family conflicts. Fans of happily-ever-after endings will delight in the upbeat resolution, which confirms the notion that "love conquers all."
Review
I really enjoyed this book. I love fairy tales to begin with so reading a modern day version of sleeping beauty was nice. In this book though you kinda get more of a connection to the "bad fairy" who cursed Talia. In all the regular fairy tales they don't really explain why the person or thing became bad. You just know that they are evil and thats that. I really liked how the author went into why the bad fairy became bad. Talia the princess actually feels bad for her in the end and helps her to become good again. Also I think the romance and friendship between Talia and Jack was really sweet. The change in Jack from the beginning and end was very easy to see. This whole adventure brought everyone closer together including all the families. This was a really good book and I can't wait to read another book by this same author.
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
Review: The Ghost and The Goth
Summary:Alona Dare–Senior in high school, co-captain of the cheerleading squad, Homecoming Queen three years in a row, voted most likely to marry a movie star… and newly dead.
I’m the girl you hated in high school. Is it my fault I was born with it all-good looks, silky blond hair, a hot bod, and a keen sense of what everyone else should not be wearing? But my life isn’t perfect, especially since I died. Run over by a bus of band geeks—is there anything more humiliating? As it turns out, yes—watching your boyfriend and friends move on with life, only days after your funeral. And you wouldn’t believe what they’re saying about me now that they think I can’t hear them. To top it off, I’m starting to disappear, flickering in and out of existence. I don’t know where I go when I’m gone, but it’s not good. Where is that freaking white light already?
Will Killian–Senior in high school, outcast, dubbed “Will Kill” by the popular crowd for the unearthly aura around him, voted most likely to rob a bank…and a ghost-talker.
I can see, hear, and touch the dead. Unfortunately, they can also see, hear and touch me. Yeah, because surviving high school isn’t hard enough already. I’ve done my best to hide my “gift.” After all, my dad, who shared my ability, killed himself because of it when I was fifteen. But lately, pretending to be normal has gotten a lot harder. A new ghost—an anonymous, seething cloud of negative energy with the capacity to throw me around—is pursuing me with a vengeance. My mom, who knows nothing about what I can do, is worrying about the increase in odd incidents, my shrink is tossing around terms like “temporary confinement for psychiatric evaluation,” and my principal, who thinks I’m a disruption and a faker, is searching for every way possible to get rid of me. How many weeks until graduation?
I’m the girl you hated in high school. Is it my fault I was born with it all-good looks, silky blond hair, a hot bod, and a keen sense of what everyone else should not be wearing? But my life isn’t perfect, especially since I died. Run over by a bus of band geeks—is there anything more humiliating? As it turns out, yes—watching your boyfriend and friends move on with life, only days after your funeral. And you wouldn’t believe what they’re saying about me now that they think I can’t hear them. To top it off, I’m starting to disappear, flickering in and out of existence. I don’t know where I go when I’m gone, but it’s not good. Where is that freaking white light already?
Will Killian–Senior in high school, outcast, dubbed “Will Kill” by the popular crowd for the unearthly aura around him, voted most likely to rob a bank…and a ghost-talker.
I can see, hear, and touch the dead. Unfortunately, they can also see, hear and touch me. Yeah, because surviving high school isn’t hard enough already. I’ve done my best to hide my “gift.” After all, my dad, who shared my ability, killed himself because of it when I was fifteen. But lately, pretending to be normal has gotten a lot harder. A new ghost—an anonymous, seething cloud of negative energy with the capacity to throw me around—is pursuing me with a vengeance. My mom, who knows nothing about what I can do, is worrying about the increase in odd incidents, my shrink is tossing around terms like “temporary confinement for psychiatric evaluation,” and my principal, who thinks I’m a disruption and a faker, is searching for every way possible to get rid of me. How many weeks until graduation?
Review: While I enjoyed this book well enough, there was something that I really disliked about it. Often when writing a story from the point of view of a teenaged girl, authors will put snobby little tidbits in parenthesis after a though. If this is coming off confusing allow me to put an example...." I wouldn't be caught dead talking to a loser like him ( I mean hellloooo he was totally so pale and wore a green shirt like duh that's gross)". I HATE that. I've seen it done so much and it really irks me. We get that the girl is shallow, she makes that obvious enough in other ways that it's totally unnecessary to add in things like the parenthesis. I feel like this adds a sort of juvenile feel to the book, and even though I understand its YA, the little tidbits make it seem younger. Like the author is trying to impress younger kids into reading the book as well, because young kids like a mean girl e.g.: Sharpay in High School Musical. Aside from that I enjoyed the book. I thought it was cute. There is a second one out and I would definitely read it to see what's going on in Alona and Will's world. It was a nice change to be reading about ghosts, when most things are vampires and wolves as of late. I'd read the second one just for that reason, a change of scenery. I am hoping however; that in the second one the romance is more brought out and obvious. There were two kisses, but no absolute certainty of a romance. For a quick and easy read, yes, I'd recommend it.
3/5 Stars: I liked it
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
In My Mailbox- 6/21/2011
 | Paperback, 336 pages Expected publication: June 28th 2011 by Kensington |
| Swirling black descends like ravens, large enough to block the glow of the streetlights. A dull roar starts like a train on the 'L', a far-away rumbling that grows louder as it pulls closer, until it's directly overhead and you feel it in your chest, except this doesn't pass you by. Verity, white-faced and eyes blazing, shouts through the din, "Run, Mo!" Mo Fitzgerald knows about secrets. But when she witnesses her best friend's murder, she discovers Verity was hiding things she never could have guessed. To find the answers she needs and the vengeance she craves, Mo—quiet, ordinary, unmagical Mo—will have to enter a world of raw magic and shifting alliances. And she'll have to choose between two very different, equally dangerous guys—protective, duty-bound Colin and brash, mysterious Luc. One wants to save her, one wants to claim her. Which would you choose? |
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| My name is Gwen Frost, and I go to Mythos Academy — a school of myths, magic and warrior whiz kids, where even the lowliest geek knows how to chop off somebody's head with a sword and Logan Quinn, the hottest Spartan guy in school, also happens to be the deadliest. But lately, things have been weird, even for Mythos. First, mean girl Jasmine Ashton was murdered in the Library of Antiquities. Then, someone stole the Bowl of Tears, a magical artifact that can be used to bring about the second Chaos War. You know, death, destruction and lots of other bad, bad things. Freaky stuff like this goes on all the time at Mythos, but I'm determined to find out who killed Jasmine and why—especially since I should have been the one who died. . . |
Monday, June 20, 2011
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