Hey all the peoples! I know it’s been forever since I’ve posted, but I’ve been having computer issues for the past month or so and I have a new computer now (after a lot of rigamarole and trips to Best Buy) so I should be back to posting two or three times a week. Sorry about the long absence! Personal Rating: 4 Stars Goodreads Rating: 3.53 Nicolette’s awful stepsisters call her “Mechanica” to demean her, but the nickname fits: she learned to be an inventor at her mother’s knee. Her mom is gone now, though, and the Steps have turned her into a servant in her own home. But on her sixteenth birthday, Nicolette discovers a secret workshop in the cellar and begins to dare to imagine a new life for herself. Could the mysterious books and tools hidden there—and the mechanical menagerie, led by a tiny metal horse named Jules—be the key to escaping her dreary existence? With a technological exposition and royal ball on the horizon, the timing might just be perfect for Nicolette to earn her freedom at last. (goodreads.com) When I first saw this book I was filled with indignation. Was this not just a Cinder wannabe? Was it not a complete knock off? Turns out, it was not. I had expected this book to mimic Marissa Meyer’s Cinder in that they were both about mechanic Cinderella’s, but, as it turns out, this book is quite different from my beloved Lunar Chronicles. Sure, some of the concepts and plot points were the same, but there are only so many places you can go with fairytale adaptations. In addition to being unique, this book was also quite good. The setting is in a made up world of steampunkiness and magic. I’m kind of new to the steampunk genre, but I think this book made it very approachable and not so peculiar that my poor punkless mind couldn’t understand. I’m not overly fond of the way their world was explained, as the second chapter of the book was pretty much all exposition, but it still did a fairly decent job of not suffocating me with information. The stepsisters, or “Steps”, were pretty much like every set of evil sisters ever since the beginning of the Cinderella story. They were mean without reason, petty, and totally okay with treating their stepsister like a servant. The stepmother was no better. Basically, this trio was a brainless bunch without any original character traits. Oddly enough, we do see a few moments of sympathy for the stepmother, which don’t really result in anything and really only serve to show that Nicolette is a compassionate person. Nicolette herself is the main reason Mechanica is different from Cinder. While Linh Cinder is a spunky, majorly sarcastic character, Nicolette Lampton is quiet, somewhat shy, and spends most of her time in her basement. One thing that is the same about them is that they both take control of their less than ideal situations and work on getting out of those situations. Caro is a fun character who is always bursting with excitement and happiness. She has a few interesting insights on life, though I’m not sure I agree with all of them, and she always seems to ready to help. Fin is strange. His character seems to jump around a lot and he seems like he’s just thrown into the story at some points without any reason. This book seems to be attempting to make a statement about how wrong racism is, but it doesn’t quite get there. The setting gets everything ready for a thoughtful story about how treating someone as less than you because they are different isn’t right, but the plot gets in the way of this statement. However, I’ve recently discovered that there is to be a sequel to this book, and perhaps they will get around to it then. So, no, it wasn’t a perfect book, probably not worthy of the four stars I gave it, but I really enjoyed the writing. Something you should probably know about me is that I usually rate a book by how much I enjoyed it, not by how many things were wrong with it or not completely perfect. I liked reading this book, and it was easy to get into so I gave it a higher rating. If you read this book you might not like it, but that’s okay. It’s not flawless, but I liked it. What do you think? I’d love to hear from you. Leave a comment below on your thoughts about this book or you can leave me a suggestion on what you want me to review next. Okie dokie artichokies, I’m off to the inventor’s exposition (I just realized that the last book I reviewed was a Cinderella retelling and that I can’t use the “oh no it’s midnight” sign off again). Image source: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13455099-mechanica?ac=1&from_search=true
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Personal Rating: 4 Stars Goodreads Rating: 3.75 Stars Ella dreams of going to the royal ball and marrying Prince Charming, just like every commoner in the kingdom of Fridesia. But after she is chosen to marry the prince (no magic involved) life with the royal family is not the happily ever after that Ella imagined. Pitiless and cold, the royals try to mold her into their vision of a princess. Ella's life becomes a meaningless schedule of protocol, which she fears she will never grasp. And Prince Charming's beautiful face hides a vacant soul. Even as her life turns to misery, stories persist that Ella's fairy godmother sent her to the ball: How else could the poor girl wear a beautiful gown, arrive in a coach, and dance in those glass slippers? But Ella got herself into the castle on her own--and that's the only way she's going to get out. (goodreads.com) After I read this I went on to Goodreads to see what other people thought (something I’m learning to do after reading the book, rather than prior to so that my opinion won’t be tainted) and I was astonished at how many people disliked this book. To be fair, there were more people who liked it, but the amount of haters was alarming. The picked at things like the voice of narration, which I liked, the characters being empty shells, which I didn’t really notice except on one of the characters, and the improbability of it all, which I assumed had been because it is under the “fiction” section. I suppose these reviewers had some good points, but I really liked this book and it’s been the first book that I’ve read in awhile that I truly enjoyed and didn’t want to pick out all of its problems. I have missed just getting lost in a book and not caring about what the people on Goodreads think or what other book bloggers say. I felt like I connected with Ella more than I have with a lot of protagonists. She is in a situation that she isn’t used to and she isn’t sure if she wants to do things her way or to follow the rules and see how things turn out. I particularly like the opening scene in which her fireplace goes out and she reluctantly gets out of bed and starts it going herself. It is relatable to me that she is reluctant. She knows that it isn’t something the other people in the palace would want her to do, and she’s comfortable under the covers, but at the same time she knows it has to be done eventually and gets to it. I admire her willingness to get things done all throughout the book and her ethics. A character who I’m not sure that I like is Jed, the tutor. He seemed kind of flat and boring. He was very cliché in much of what he did and he didn’t really go through any development. There isn’t much I can say about him without giving away spoilers, but I will say he is a very nice character even if he’s boring. A lot of people didn’t like the plot because they thought it was bland and improbable. I liked it and I was surprised by some of the twists it took. The plot was moved forward by Ella and not some magical force, which was exciting to me and interesting. She took her life into her own hands and changed it, and though a man helped change her life, it was not in the way you would expect. Over all, I don’t really understand the negative reviews this book got. I guess, maybe, teenagers didn’t like it because it’s labeled as a teen book but it doesn’t feature a lot of the romance and violence that regular teen books have in them. That’s just a guess. Personally, I thought it was a good blend of middle grade and YA books. Perhaps a good segway for kids who want to start reading teen books but are ready for the full on force of some of them. Have you ever read this book? What did you think? Are you planning to read this book? Don’t want to ever read this book? Tell me what you think in the comments below, ‘cause I’d love to hear from you. Oh no! It’s midnight (not really), I’d better run! Dang it, lost my shoe. Image Source: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1536818.Just_Ella Personal Rating: 3 Stars Goodreads Rating: 3.58 Stars For as long as she can remember, Gwendolyn Allister has never had a place to call home—all because her mother believes that monsters are hunting them. Now these delusions have brought them to London, far from the life Gwen had finally started to build for herself. The only saving grace is her best friend, Olivia, who’s coming with them for the summer. But when Gwen and Olivia are kidnapped by shadowy creatures and taken to a world of flesh-eating sea hags and dangerous Fey, Gwen realizes her mom might have been sane all along. The world Gwen finds herself in is called Neverland, yet it’s nothing like the stories. Here, good and evil lose their meaning and memories slip like water through her fingers. As Gwen struggles to remember where she came from and find a way home, she must choose between trusting the charming fairy-tale hero who says all the right things and the roguish young pirate who promises to keep her safe. With time running out and her enemies closing in, Gwen is forced to face the truths she’s been hiding from all along. But will she be able to save Neverland without losing herself? (goodreads.com) Something you should probably know about me is that I love Neverland stories. I love the island, I love the mystery, I love the characters, I love the warnings, I love the fairies, the mermaids, the flying, the pirates - everything about Neverland I hold in high esteem. So, don’t be surprised if you see a great many more Peter Pan retellings reviewed on this site. I might even make a list of my favorites at some point. Okay, about today’s book: I was somewhat disappointed in this novel. When I started reading it I got really excited because “yay, a book about Neverland!”, but as I read through it I found it to be lacking in the wow factor. It did redeem itself a teensy bit with the heartbreaking, but lovely ending, but overall, not one of my favorite reads this summer. One thing I didn’t like was that this is, as the tagline says, not the Neverland I knew. Sure, the island was very much the same as it has always been with it’s changing geography, magic, and flying boy, but it was many shades darker than I was expecting. The island itself is almost a character in many retellings and it was sort of like that in this, but evil. Way, mega, creepy evil. And so were some of my favorite aspects of the story. The mermaids have always been nasty to everyone but Peter, so that didn’t surprise me. Tinker Bell, however, bothered me. For one thing, she could talk, for another, she was an irritating character. On top of all that, she wasn’t even named Tinker Bell. Captain Hook was pretty much everything I expected him to be in a YA novel, and I was anticipating many of Pan’s new traits as well, but - my word! Peter Pan has never been so disturbing. Not even in ABC’s Once Upon a Time, where some weird stuff happens. He was vile and gross and I wanted to slap him. Yuck. Something I did like was the “other story” at the beginning of each chapter. This was a story told in brief tidbits right before each chapter started and it was poetic and interesting, as well as extremely sad. It is about a boy during World War I and what he goes through as a soldier. At first it doesn’t seem to connect to the rest of the book, but it does and it was more interesting than the actual novel, I think. Even though I was entertained by this book and the writing was decent, I really can’t think of many complements to give to it. I’m sorry, book. I really wanted to like you, but Peter was a creeper and Hook was way off the original book. The main character, Gwen, wasn’t so terrible, but she was kind of an idiot. And she needed a lot of rescuing. And I couldn’t connect to her at all. So… y’know, she wasn’t great. Part of why I didn’t like this, might have been because of all the darkness. I’m used to Neverland being portrayed darkly, but this was nearly pitch. The creatures, the tone, the complete lack of any humor, and the many, many deaths. Like I said, I’m used to a darker Neverland, but this was too much for me. All together, it was entertaining to some extent, but it was hard to read at a lot of parts. It wasn’t what I was expecting. I only recommend it if you are a die-hard Peter Pan fan and even then, I’m not sure you’d like it. Thanks for reading, be sure to tell me what you think in the comments below. Do you have any good books you think I should read/review? How about terrible books you think I should read/review? To get off the computer would be an awfully big adventure, but I suppose I must… Image source: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/21518344-unhooked?ac=1&from_search=true Personal Rating: 2.5 Stars Goodreads Rating: 3.98 Stars Alyssa Gardner hears the whispers of bugs and flowers—precisely the affliction that landed her mother in a mental hospital years before. This family curse stretches back to her ancestor Alice Liddell, the real-life inspiration for Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. Alyssa might be crazy, but she manages to keep it together. For now. When her mother’s mental health takes a turn for the worse, Alyssa learns that what she thought was fiction is based in terrifying reality. The real Wonderland is a place far darker and more twisted than Lewis Carroll ever let on. There, Alyssa must pass a series of tests, including draining an ocean of Alice’s tears, waking the slumbering tea party, and subduing a vicious bandersnatch, to fix Alice’s mistakes and save her family. She must also decide whom to trust: Jeb, her gorgeous best friend and secret crush, or the suspicious Morpheus, her guide through Wonderland, who may have dark motives of his own. (goodreads.com) Well this book annoyed me. The characters, the writing, the complete lack of morals, the alarming love triangle - pretty much everything but the plot bothered me. Somehow, the story line turned out really well and I really wanted to find out what happened. If it weren’t for the captivating plot then I probably would have dropped this book after the first couple of chapters. There were a lot of clichés in this book such as: a love triangle, a mysterious supposedly attractive dude, a girl who is considered an outsider because she dresses differently, a mean girl who gets whatever she likes, and special magic powers. On top of that this book also had many inaccuracies in it. Alyssa’s mom is in a mental institution that kind of reminds me of Arkham Asylum from the Batman comics. It doesn’t seem like anyone in this place is actually getting better and the nurse even subjects Alyssa’s mom to a straight jacket and then stuffs her away in a padded cell. Um… they don’t really use straight jackets in hospitals anymore. I also didn’t think this book did a very good job of portraying mental illnesses in general. The MC of this story, Alyssa Gardner, is kind of a mess. I’m not sure if she’s emo or goth or punk or a skater girl or what. The book describes her original outfits in detail, which made me think of some of the stories I used to write when I was younger. I mean, the clothes your character is wearing are important, but you don’t need to describe every single outfit change. Alyssa also didn’t have that much going for her personality-wise. She’s kind of moody and overly-trusting in some situations. A lot of the time she’s cranky, but the things that would make a normal person peeved make her almost happy. Ultimately, I have to say that she’s a bit of a Mary Sue. The only way I could put up with her is by imagining her with a voice like Gollum from Lord of the Rings. Then we have the two boys *insert enormous eyeroll here*. Jeb, Alyssa’s bestie and secret crush, started out kind of decent but I just started hating him somewhere in the book. I don’t like him or his stupid lip ring thing. He’s kind of the “I’m too cool” type and he’s good with cars, skateboards, art, emotions, inter-world travel, walrus-squid things, pretty much any situation you throw at him and he’s ready to go - unless that situation involves another dude and Alyssa because even though he won’t dump his girlfriend who he dislikes, he still doesn’t want Alyssa to date anyone else. Speaking of anyone else, there is also Morpheus, who I like to refer to as Cheeto-Emo-Man, or Cheeto-Emu-Moth-Man. Not sure why the word “cheeto” is in there… no wait! I remember. Cause he’s supposed to be the - minor spoiler - Caterpillar from Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, and in the movie Despicable Me Agnes laments that her caterpillar never turned into a butterfly, to which Edith replies “that’s a cheeto”. Therefore, Morpheus is a cheeto and an emu since “emo” sounds like “emu”. But I digress. This guy, who supposedly smells like licorice (I don’t even know), is a creepy, creepy person. He’s just disturbing and that’s really all I can say without too many spoilers. Bleck. The quality that almost redeems this book is the plot, as I said, and I was really interested in how things turned out. There were some parts where I just had to put it down and then give it a break, but for the most part it held my attention. I liked how thought out it seemed and the twists in it. I also really liked that in the copy that I read the words were in purple ink. I kind of love colored ink. All together, not the worst book I’ve read this summer, but not really a great book either. I started to read the sequel (which has a terrifying cover - yikes), but I was busy reading other books and I had my driver’s ed class going on and it wasn’t really holding my interest so I returned it to the library but maybe I’ll pick up again at some point to see how things turn out. I was pretty satisfied with the way Splintered ended though, so I don’t really feel the need to start reading this series again. What are your thoughts on this book? Have you read it? Do you plan to? Do you like Wonderland books or retelling books in general? I’d love to hear what you think! Leave me a comment or a suggestion or a question or anything! I’m late, I’m late, for a very important… snack time, I guess. Image Source: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12558285-splintered?ac=1&from_search=true |
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