For the Once Upon A Time Challenge
Five Children and It. E. Nesbit. 1902/2004. Puffin Classics. 240 pages. [Source: Book I bought]
Seven Wild Sisters: A Modern Fairy Tale. Charles de Lint. Illustrated by
Charles Vess. 2014. Little, Brown. 272 pages. [Source: Library]
Lady Thief. A.C. Gaughen. 2014. Walker Books. 304 pages. [Source: Review copy]
The False Prince. Jennifer A. Nielsen. 2012. Scholastic. 342 pages. [Source: Review copy]
For the Victorian Reading Challenge
A Rogue's Life. Wilkie Collins. 1856. 159 pages. [Source: Book I bought]
For the British History Reading Challenge
Scarlet. A.C. Gaughen. 2012. Walker. 292 pages. [Source: Library]
Lady Thief. A.C. Gaughen. 2014. Walker Books. 304 pages. [Source: Review copy]
For the 2014 Year of Rereading:
The Giver. Lois Lowry. 1993. Houghton Mifflin. 180 pages. [Source: Library]
A Long Way From Chicago. Richard Peck. 1998. Penguin. 148 pages. [Source: Library book]
Five Children and It. E. Nesbit. 1902/2004. Puffin Classics. 240 pages. [Source: Book I bought]
The Testing. Joelle Charbonneau. 2013. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. 344 pages. [Source: Review Copy]
Pride and Prejudice. Jane Austen. 1813. 386 pages. [Source: Book I Bought]
Vintage Mystery Bingo
In the Best Families. (Nero Wolfe). Rex Stout. 1950. 272 pages. [Source: Book I Bought]
© 2014 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews
Saturday, April 05, 2014
Friday, April 04, 2014
Reread #14 The False Prince
Last March, I read The False Prince and The Runaway King the first two books in Jennifer A. Nielsen's Ascendance Trilogy. It was love. Not just love, but LOVE, LOVE, LOVE. I considered myself lucky that I had waited until the second book in the series had been released. I didn't have to wait! I could continue reading right away! When I received a review copy of The Shadow Throne a few weeks ago, I was oh-so-tempted to read it right away. But I didn't. I thought the book would be even more satisfying, even more wonderful if I took the time to reread the first two books. It was worth the wait.
I thought it was love the first time around. I really, really did. But. If it's possible, I think I LOVED, LOVED, LOVED it even more the second time. The False Prince introduces the world and the characters so very well. And its a timeless fantasy story in many, many ways. Even knowing where the twists and turns were going, I still found myself very engaged with the story, still in love with its richness.
From my original review:
I thought this one would be good, but even I didn't expect it to be THAT GOOD. This book is WONDERFUL. Everything I wanted it to be! Readers first meet an orphan named Sage. When we meet him, he's on the run having just stolen meat from the butcher. He is "rescued" from the butcher by someone in the crowd, Connor. But is the rescue genuine? Connor goes with Sage to the orphanage and explains that he's just bought Sage. Sage soon meets other orphan boys his own age that Connor has bought from various orphanages in the land. He's taking them to his castle...
Sage is suspicious fearing that Connor and the men working for him are DANGEROUS. Yes, he could be beaten, he could be imprisoned, but he knows that he could also be KILLED if he displeases Connor. Does knowing this make Sage less defiant or outspoken? Not really.
Connor has a plan--an ambitious plan. The royal family has been killed, murdered, and no one knows the truth, yet. The second son was presumed dead at sea, but, what if one of the orphan boys could assume this second son's identity and become king? Connor wants the boys in competition with one another and in training to become the future king. In a few weeks time, he'll pick the "lucky" boy.
Sage wants to be the boy, for better or worse, perhaps knowing that to fail in this means certain death. But that doesn't mean he likes Connor or trusts him. He doesn't trust Connor...at all.
I loved spending time with Sage! I loved being introduced to this fantasy world!!! I loved the setting, the characterization, the writing!!! This is a magical, oh-so-satisfying read!
© 2014 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews
Thursday, April 03, 2014
The Good Lie (2014)
The Good Lie is a dark, haunting, compelling story of a broken family. While each member of the family might have their own story to tell, their own version of events, readers get Lizzie Aimes' story. Since Lizzie, at times, questions her interpretation of her family's MESS, it's only natural for readers to entertain a doubt or two as well. Lizzie, when we first meet her, is quite charming. Readers see her preparing for prom with her best friend, Posie. Her younger brother, Mikey, is hanging around. There is some teasing, some laughing. Things seemed so good, so normal. Lizzie's "big" problem is Jason. She really, really, really is falling for Jason, a boy who does not share her value system. In other words, he does not want a girlfriend. He wants lots of casual partners to hook up with. He would LOVE for Lizzie to be one of them. He would LOVE for Posie to be one of them. Lizzie is smart enough to know that feeling the way she does, Jason is just trouble. To be near him, to watch him with other girls, is painful and awkward because she wants it to be her, and, not be her at the same time. Jason, of course, knows that Lizzie has a tender spot for him.
That was her "big problem" before. She returns home from prom to a different situation entirely. Her mom is gone. She's left her husband and her two children. She has admitted that she's having an affair and is in love with another man. This is the catalyst for the BIG, BIG, BIG mess that follows.
Lizzie witnesses her family crumble. She sees her father change, in some ways very dramatically change. She sees the stress on her brother. She feels it herself. But it is her worry--her deep, deep worry for him--that leads Lizzie to ultimately make a life-changing decision.
Throughout the novel, their is a focus on justice, on doing the right thing even if its hard. That is what makes The Good Lie so thought-provoking in a way. Does Lizzie do the right thing? Do the ends justify the means? Can doing something morally wrong ever be the right thing to do? In other words, is there such a thing as A GOOD LIE. There are no easy questions to these questions.
The Good Lie definitely has adult situations in it, it is not a book for younger readers.
© 2014 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews
Wednesday, April 02, 2014
Switched at Birthday (2014)
I really enjoyed this middle grade novel. I thought the premise--which was explained in the prologue--to be fun. Here's how the book begins, "Once there was a boy who lived in Kalamazoo, Michigan. His father was a baker and his mother was a candlemaker. They owned the Cake and Candle Company of Kalamazoo. The cakes and candles that the boy's family made were perfectly ordinary in every way but one: When, on your birthday, you lit a Kalamazoo candle on a Kalamazoo cake and made a wish, a tiny spark of magic was ignited." The boy in the prologue is, the reader supposes, the theatre teacher at the school our two heroines attend. (There is definitely something a bit magical about him.)
Lavender and Scarlet share a birthday in October. The two hardly share anything else. Scarlet supposedly lives a perfect life: she's beautiful, she's stylish, others look up to her, she has plenty of friends. Lavender sees Scarlet across the hall and thinks she lacks nothing. Lavender represents the stereotypical imperfect life: she's unattractive, she's clumsy, she's awkward through and through. If Scarlet was someone you'd seek after, Lavender, well, she's someone you'd want to avoid just in case her unpopularity was contagious. Lavender is clueless to Scarlet's hardships; Scarlet is clueless to Lavender's blessings. But. All this changes with a little magic.
When Scarlet and Lavender switch bodies, well, things may never be the same again. The two discover that they both have things to be thankful for and they both have things they struggle with.
Switched at Birthday is a coming-of-age novel with a fantasy twist. I especially enjoyed the theatre scenes, both girls audition for the Music Man: one lands the role of her dreams, the other a spot on the chorus.
© 2014 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews
Tuesday, April 01, 2014
Lady Thief (2014)
I definitely enjoyed Scarlet by A.C. Gaughen. But I LOVED the sequel Lady Thief even more. This one is all about "Lady" Marian and her not-so-fortunate marriage to Gisbourne. Unfortunate for several reasons: one, HE'S cruel and abusive and just wicked through and through, the puppet of Prince John; two, because her heart belongs to another: Robin Hood, of course!
I loved Lady Thief for many, many reasons:
I loved how it brings more history into the story. I loved seeing Prince John and his wife, Isabelle. I really, really, really loved seeing Eleanor of Aquitaine (the mother of King Richard and Prince John). The character of Eleanor was just awesome, I felt. It truly added something to the story to have her there, and Eleanor truly did impress and inspire Scarlet!
I loved how it uses other Robin Hood stories, but, somehow makes them even cooler. For example, in Lady Thief, Prince John comes to Nottingham to appoint a new sheriff. (The old sheriff having been killed in the first book.) Gisbourne is there, of course, eager and anxious to be appointed. He has every intention of being THE ONE. Yet, Prince John puts a twist on it: the new sheriff will be the man who wins a competition...the competition covers many things, but the last day of competition, of course, you guessed it AN ARCHERY CONTEST.
I loved the romance between Marian (whom readers know by another name) and Robin. But this is not an easily grasped love. It will be a love that demands sacrifice and hardship and call for heartbreak and angst too. If their love is to be realized, it will take both of them fighting all the odds.
I loved the characterization of Robin Hood. I loved seeing him drawn with such substance from the times in which he lived. I thought it was very well done having him suffer so horribly, so realistically, from PTSD. He is a haunted hero whose past in the crusades has left him broken and changed.
I continue to love the other characters: John Little, Much, Tuck, and in this one we meet Alan a Dale.
© 2014 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews
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