Do you ever read a non-fiction book and learn something valuable that you then apply to your life? Maybe relaxation techniques, a new hobby, tricks for dealing with anxiety, etc. We all do that, right? That's why we read non-fiction much of the time. Well, I also have some weird habits that I have picked up from fictional books. Particularly books that I obsessed over when I was younger, but they are habits that I still carry with me to this day. Please, enjoy this video all about my embarrassment:
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Personal Rating: 4 Stars Goodreads Rating: Content Rating: Light R (many, many sexual comments, but nothing graphic, violence used for comedy, some language) TW: Drink spiking (with magical potions) Sasha Pierce hasn’t had a single dream since she was a child… ... until she accepts a substitute teaching position in the charmingly witchy village of Old Middleton. Her first dream in twenty-five years ought to be enchanting, but her wonder quickly turns to shock when she realizes that it’s not a dream at all, but an entirely different sort of magic. Catapulted into the fairy tale kingdom of Between through an ancient portal, Sasha’s astonishment is swiftly upgraded to panic when she accidentally performs a supposedly impossible feat and is declared the True Queen of Between … and betrothed to its infuriatingly handsome sorcerer-king. Lorn, Shadow King of Between, is desperate to break free from Between’s clutches. Magically tethered to the ramshackle kingdom, he wages a daily battle to save his disreputable subjects from rampaging magical creatures, sinkholes, and catastrophes of the distressingly lethal variety. To avoid an early grave, he needs an escape plan, not a wife...until he learns that this magicless mortal holds the key to his freedom. Unwilling to leave her world to accept the crown—or the husband—Sasha must race against the clock to disentangle herself from this fairy tale. But her empty throne leaves a dangerous rift between their worlds. As dark forces descend upon Old Middleton, the two must make a choice: work together or unleash fairytale chaos upon their realms. (goodreads.com) I’m going to warn you now, this review might get a little bit fangirl-y. I might geek out about it a little too much and this might turn out to be a very long review. So, don’t say I didn’t warn you. I found this book at one of the libraries that I work at. My thought process at seeing this book went something like this: Oooh, pretty cover. Goodness gracious, this book is hefty! How many pages? Sheesh! 750? Well… what is it about? There is a unicorn on the cover and unicorns are fun. *reads description* Oh dear, I think I might have to read this. Oh dear, but I already have so much I need to read… *proceeds to read it anyway and have a great time* Now, before I get to all of my gushing, I am going to talk about the things I disliked in this book, but I’d rather do it in bullet points so let’s go ahead and get those out of the way:
Okay, that’s enough negative. Onto the gushing! THIS BOOK WAS SO GREAT. OH MY GOODNESS GRACIOUS SAKES ALIVE. It turned out to be a perfect read for this time of year too because it is set in October, right around Halloween. The small town it’s set in feels like an autumnal Hallmark movie with super atmospheric descriptions of leaves changing color, pumpkins, moonlight tours of the town, a cute bookstore, and cafes! This book is like a fall Hallmark movie crossed with a Diana Wynne Jones book, crossed with Hocus Pocus, crossed with Labyrinth, with a garnish of terrible rom-com jokes thrown on top. Also, Sasha works as a kindergarten teacher, so there are opinionated five year olds running around, which is great. Also, also, *slight spoiler*, there’s a coven of fierce old lady witches running around—also great. End slight spoiler. The sense of humor in this book (apart from the sex jokes) was my favorite kind of humor. Things like “oh, this place isn’t so bad” *giant monster flies past window*, or the terrifying Wraith Queen not understanding sarcasm of subtlety, or a mail truck being used as a weapon of self-defense, or the elves being awful poets. I laughed so much throughout reading this and I may have even hugged the book a few times. My cat probably thinks I am deranged. I just remembered something else that you need to know: THIS BOOK IS ALSO ILLUSTRATED. There are not a ton of illustrations, but the few that we get are FAN-FREAKING-TASTIC. The expressions on the characters are perfect and their body language fits them so well. Plus, any magical symbols that are described have a picture to show what they look like, which is really nice for someone like me who is not great at imagining symbols. You’ve probably figured out by now that this review has no real structure to it, so rather than me trying to come up with an awkward transitional phrase to get from my last point to the next, let’s just save time and skip right on to the characters: Sasha was lovely. She is sensible and sweet. She’s not really sure what she’s doing with her life and she’s moved all over the world during her lifetime, taking one teaching job after another. I feel like, in that sense, she is very relatable to people in their mid-twenties to thirties. Obviously, not to everyone, but I felt a connection with not knowing exactly where I want my life to go. Sadly, I am not a world traveler like her, but I do understand moving from one choice to another looking for the right fit. So, I really liked Sasha as a protagonist. Except when she first met the Shadow King at which point I was screaming at her with second-hand embarrassment. Oh my gosh, I nearly had to stop reading because I was so embarrassed for her. Then there is Lyla, Sasha’s best friend. While I found her annoying at times, I also felt somewhat of a connection with Lyla. Especially the part where Sasha has to physically drag her away from a bookstore with cats in it. A BOOKSTORE WITH CATS IN IT MUST BE VISITED FOR SEVERAL HOURS, SASHA, C’MON! LET LYLA HAVE HER BOOKSTORE EXPERIENCE. Then we’ve got the mysterious, handsome, magical, scheming but chivalrous, Shadow King, Lorn. I’m going to say it outright, you can make fun of me all you want: I think I have a crush on Lorn. This is a historic moment everyone, I’ve never actually admitted to having a crush on a fictional character before (no, I did not have a crush on Artemis Fowl when I was twelve, I had a friendly fascination, there’s a difference), but Lorn is just such a wonderful character it’s impossible not to love him so we may as well all admit it now. The man has the best sarcastic sense of humor I’ve ever read in a book, he’s kind to his subjects and friends, but also murderous to his enemies when need be, he’s protective, fierce, but also bashful—not to mention he’s a powerful sorcerer and a wealthy king to boot. And such a good king! He has to put up with a lot of crap, as you find out in the second half of the book (which is told from his perspective), but he still dutifully takes care of everything with flair. The way he speaks reminds me of Obi-Wan Kenobi from the Star Wars Prequels, which is sardonically satisfying. Also, he wears a sentient cloak some of the time and that’s rad. If we ever see him wield a sword in the upcoming sequel I may actually swoon. The supporting characters in this book are probably some of the best I’ve ever read. The coven, the kindergarteners, and my favorite of all, THE JOLLY MONARCHS OF THE LOWER KINGDOMS, whom we meet in chapter nine of part two. Reading that chapter made me feel like I was old friends with the characters and we were all sitting around chatting together. Also, let it be noted that the Wraith Queen is a sweetheart and I would protect her with my life if she wasn’t also terrifying and totally capable of protecting herself. My other favorite side characters were Daisy, Violet, Izzy, Setzel, the imp with the notepad (who doesn’t have a name to my dismay), Maddox, and Mason. I would also like to note right now that I don’t trust Penelope and I have my suspicions about Felicia. We don’t learn a ton about them in the first book, but if one or both turn out to be evil, let the record show that I totally called it. A couple of brief notes about the plot and then I promise I’ll shut up: At times the plot moved a little slowly, but it still kept me reading so that didn’t really bother me. This book is split into two parts, the first is from Sasha’s perspective and the second is from Lorn’s. I knew this going into is, but I thought that time would keep moving forward even after the switched perspective, but it actually jumps back in time to show you what Lorn was up to while Sasha has various Ordeals. When I figured this out I didn’t think I would be as interested in the second half of the book because it would just be rehashing things but I WAS SO WRONG. I loved the second half of the book. The second half is why I now have a crush on Lorn. Okay, this review has gotten wildly out of hand. Let’s wrap this up. Basically, I love this book and will be ordering my own copy as soon as I lift my self-imposed book buying ban (I have a problem). I do wish that the humor in it weren’t quite so adult, but it is a book targeted at adult audiences, so whatcha gonna do? But other than that, I found Between delightful and I am quite anxious to read the sequel when it comes out. Well, the Shadow King has banished me to endlessly wander the swamps of Between because of my ridiculous declaration of adoration for him, so I’d best be off. Thanks for reading! Image source: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/55820016-between |
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