The Princess and the Snowbird-Mette Ivie Harrison

So this book was a bit of a lucky find. I happened to chance upon it when I was browsing the library. I had heard about it, but I hadn't known our library had it, so I was very pleased. I saw some reviews for it on Goodreads, and what really puzzles me is that there are so many negative reviews! I don't really understand why people didn't like it, but I guess people are just different in their tastes. As for me, I loved this book. It read like a dream, had no lulls, and was very engaging. I really liked both the main characters, and I really enjoyed reading it. I've read both the two books before this one, and I found myself liking it as much or even more than the previous book. Harrison's writing style is marvellous. The book feels a bit like a fairy tale, only with more substance. I really got into the book. There were definitely a few parts where I was so engrossed, that some of the more dangerous scenes for the characters had me very anxious for them! All in all, I thought this book was great, and it comes highly recommended, especially if you read the previous two books and enjoyed them. 4 stars

Beauty-Robin McKinley

I've been meaning to read this book for a couple years now. I've really enjoyed most of McKinley's books, and only disliked a couple, so I knew I'd be in for a treat with this one. I wasn't disappointed.

This book was so well paced. It reads very easy, with no convoluted long sentences that I've found in other McKinley books. I liked that she stayed quite close to the original fairy tale in her adaptation. I also really liked the characters in this book. The fairy tale focuses on Beauty and her father, but this book made her sisters convincing and sympathetic characters, and I really enjoyed that. Occasionally Beauty's stubbornness was annoying, but this was very minor. It really was only annoying when she insisted how plain she was, even when others told her otherwise. However, I didn't find it realistic that she somehow had gotten pretty red hair by the end. Unless I'm mistaken, hair can't turn red from blonde. People have to be born with it. But that obviously is a very minor annoyance and I'm rambling now.

Overall, this is a great adaptation on the classic tale Beauty and the Beast. Well written and very enjoyable, it's one of my favourite McKinley books. 4 stars!

In the Forests of Serre-Patricia A. McKillip

I really enjoyed this book. I've never read a book by McKillip, but I think in the future I'll have to. I really loved her writing style in this book. It was languid and flowed well, like a dream or a fairy tale. I loved all the fairy tale elements in this book. I don't think I've read a book like this in a while. Her writing style is very well done, with an excellent choice of words. She knows what should be said and what doesn't need to be. I think the book ended well; the conflict was resolved, but I was left still wondering at what might happen to a couple of the characters. The little bit of wonder left at the end of this book was just perfect. Overall I greatly enjoyed this book, and I highly recommend it to lovers of fairy tales. 4 stars.

Reckless by Cornelia Funke

Summary on Goodreads
After a long hiatus, I'm back, hopefully for good. I recently read Reckless, and loved it! It was everything I was wanting in a book: fairy tales, complex characters, adventure, and wonderful writing. I loved the new world Funke gives us here. I also really enjoyed the relationship between the two brothers! The pictures at the beginnings of every chapter were a bonus, but one chapter near the beginning really freaked me out because of them! All in all it was a good read, although I felt there were a few loose ends. I would recommend reading this if you're a fan of Funke and fairy tales. (Bonus alliteration!)

Ice

...So I haven't vanished from the face of the earth. I'm just in university. And I went to the bookstore yesterday! Yay me! So I picked up Ice by Sarah Beth Durst, and The Maze Runner by James Dashner. Planning on reading the latter after I've finished my English term paper on Shakespeare's The Winter's Tale. I'm actually excited about this paper. Shocked? Here's why:
One of the topics centers on how the play is kind of like a dramatic fairy tale. What? I get to discuss fairy tales... for my term paper? Sign me up!
So basically I'm quite excited for that paper, especially since in our lecture today, the prof talked about elements of a fairy tale, and I got a new book that I need to read. It's called When Dreams Came True: Classical Fairy Tales and their Tradition.
And now on to the book on my left. Yes, that one with the pretty cover.
Ice is based off of the classic fairy tale East of the Sun, West of the Moon. I know, I've already read (and possibly reviewed) a few of these books. Like Belle of Beauty and the Beast, "it's my favourite!" Sorry, had to put in a reference there. Anyway. Ice is set in modern times, and involves a very practical heroine. Her mother was promised to the Polar Bear King, but things got complicated. Sarah Beth Durst gives a refreshing take on this story. It's completely different from any of the other retelling I've read, and I loved that. This story was compelling and interesting. I did predict in a way the ending, but I didn't mind that. I think the fact that I finished in one day shows how good a book this was. 4.5 stars!

I think I'm going to add something new to my blog in an attempt to have something to actually write about. After all, my lack of posts doesn't stem from a lack of ideas but from a lack of books to read. (and time to read them) So in the future there will be a new style of post. I'm hoping those of you who read my blog before haven't abandoned me. Come back, please! I'd love to hear your comments on this book, or, if you've read it, The Winter's Tale.

-Your time-management challenged friend,
Clairedelune

Forest Born

Yay! I finally got Forest Born, and read it. I really liked it. I like how every book was about a different person, and it was really cool to see how much the other characters have grown since their books. I liked the character of Rin. She was interesting to read about. And I really like Razo, so I loved having him in most of the book. But I didn't think this book was as good as the first, though I still liked it. Four stars.

And a sidenote. I know there aren't that many of you who read my blog, but I'm going to let you know now that I'm not sure how often I'll be able to post, because I'm going to university now and so i'll be pretty busy. Just check this page every two weeks, and there will probably be something. Does anyone want to hear about university? I'm taking math, enriched english, medieval studies, classical studies, and history. Sound interesting? Post a comment. And talk to you later then!

Inkdeath

"Ever since the extraordinary events of Inkspell, when the enchanted book Inkheart drew Meggie and her father, Mo, into its chapters, life in the Inkworld has been more tragic than magical. Dustfinger is dead, having sacrificed his life for his apprentice’s, and now, under the rule of the evil Adderhead, the fairy-tale land is in bloody chaos, its characters far beyond the control of Fenoglio, their author. Facing the threat of eternal winter, Mo inks a dangerous deal with Death itself. There yet remains a faint hope of changing the cursed story–if only he can fill its pages fast enough."

Wow. Inkdeath was really something. The Inkworld is so rich in description and characters. Funke's writing is wonderful in this story. It has everything a good book needs: wonderful description, intriguing plot, strong characters, and a beautiful lyrical style of words. I thought that the characters were excellently fleshed out; everyone from Mo to the Adderhead were vivid, and seemed like real people. This was an amazing story, was well written, and highly entertaining. 5 stars, hands down.

Beastly

Okay, so the first book I'm going to review here is...Beastly by Alex Flinn. It's basically a new version of Beauty and the Beast, written from the Beast's point of view, and set in present day New York.
I really liked this book. It's fresh, and very entertaining. I wanted to read it in one sitting, so the whole day at school I kept on wanting to reach into my bag and start reading, even though I should have been paying attention. I liked that the book told about what it was like for Kyle/Adrian before he was changed. Most Beauty and the Beast stories tend to start after the fact, and I liked the new take. I liked the fact that instead of making the story too modern, the author still kept a lot of the fantasy of a fairy tale in it. The chat room sequences were also pretty funny, especially if, like me, you can tell which fairy tales each speaker came from. The only bad thing I can say about the book is that I found some parts to be a tad cheesy, especially when Adrian took to calling Lindy by terms of endearment in his head. But it was overall a very good book, and I recommend that anyone who likes retellings of fairy tales read it.

Coming Soon: Hush: An Irish Princess' Tale by Donna Jo Napoli.