Gilded by Marissa Meyer

Posted on by lynndellwatson
Suspenseful, dangerous and interesting fairytale retelling!

Serilda enjoys creating stories to tell and embellishing the tales every time she retells them. One snowy night, she hears noises outside her house. She dares to go outside and she sees two moss maidens trying to hide from hunters. Serilda helps them hide but lies to the Erlking to keep them safe. He’s intrigued by her story of being able to spin straw into gold so he sends for her to come to his castle. After that, she’s bound to keep going back to the castle because the Erlking won’t let her go. She meets Gild, who the Erlking classifies as a poltergeist. Gild has the gift of magic that allows him to spin straw into gold. He helps Serilda but requires payment in return each time he helps her. The first two times, Serilda gives him the gifts the moss maidens gave her when she saved them from the Erlking. The third time, she offers her future firstborn child as payment. That is the only thing she has to offer. Gild accepts this offer, so his magic will work. Everything grows more complicated and the people Serilda love become endangered. The Erlking is heartless, cold and brutal. He will do whatever it takes to get what he wants.
Gilded is one of the best fairytale retellings I’ve read because Marissa Meyer adds twists and brings original characters to the story. Suspenseful, dangerous and interesting fairytale retelling, 5 stars!

The Last Beautiful Girl by Nina Laurin

Posted on by lynndellwatson
Wonderfully spooky!

Isa moves from Brooklyn, where she loves her life, to a small community that doesn’t seem to have much to offer. Isa, her mom and dad move into the Granger House, which was elegant and decadent a century ago but has faded and become decrepit. The house also has deaths in its history. The community is in awe of the Granger House because of the mysteries surrounding it. Bodies have been found, supposedly homeless vagrants; a teenage girl has disappeared from there; and the home owners’ unknown endings. Isabelle Granger was a beautiful model who many artists painted portraits of. These portraits are all over the house. Isabelle’s husband was discovering new art forms dealing with photography but his shop was burned to the ground but no one knows what happened to him. Isa meets an aspiring photographer at school and together they recreate Isabelle Granger’s portraits through photography and post them on an Instagram account that becomes very popular. Isa’s personality begins to change and she becomes impatient, arrogant and self-important. Her family and friends notice and they try to intervene before tragedy strikes. This is a spooky, suspenseful book that I thoroughly enjoyed reading, 5 stars!

The Rumor Game by Dhonielle Clayton and Sona Charaipotra

Posted on by lynndellwatson
A cautionary tale!

A prime, fictional example of the harm rumors can do.
Bryn caused an accident out of anger and jealousy. The high school students have treated her harshly in person and online. She’s relieved when rumors start online about other students and their lives because it takes the attention off of her. She wants to use this chance to make things better. The story has much to learn from, such as never accepting food or drinks from anyone at a party because others might not be trustworthy; stay aware and alert at a party so you know what’s happening; photos can be taken out of context just like words, so don’t trust everything you see online; and there’s more than one side to every story. Full of diverse characters and very realistic, The Rumor Game is a cautionary tale. 4 stars!

The Last House on Needless Street by Catriona Ward

Posted on by lynndellwatson
Morbidly fascinating!

Weird. Psychologically twisted. Wow… This story is a mystery in itself because of the narrators. As I read, I was unsure if I could trust any of the narrators. They all seem unreliable in some way. Ted, the man with extremely odd behavior and lifestyle, Olivia, Ted’s cat, and Dee, a woman who moved into Ted’s neighborhood who’s secretly looking for her younger sister that’s been missing for years. Ted supposedly has a daughter, Lauren. It’s difficult to decipher her age and maturity. Also, it seems that Ted’s mother handicapped Lauren so she’s unable to walk. It took me a few chapters to get into the story but then I needed to finish it to figure it all out. By the time, I read the entire book, I was fascinated, albeit a bit morbidly. I completely appreciate the author’s notes at the end of the book, explaining everything and making sense of it all and her spoiler alert at the beginning of her notes. So, don’t read her notes until after you’ve finished reading the book. She shares her research also, which is impressive! I want to read more of Catriona Ward’s books now. She wrote an intricate and complicated story, The Last House on Needless Street, showing the fragility and capabilities we all have within us. 5 stars!

Stand Your Ground by Mia Reyes

Posted on by lynndellwatson
Another helpful guide by Mia Reyes!

Stand Your Ground: Build Ace Confidence and Self-Esteem, Survive Peer Pressure and Bullying While Staying True to Yourself by Mia Reyes is another wonderful, helpful guide to building confidence and self-esteem, understanding avoidance behaviors, dealing with bullying and myths about bullying, and cyberbullying. Inspiring stories are included and guidance to building boundaries, confidence and a positive future forward are a large part of this book. The author has a gentle way of relating to the reader and builds a mutual respectful relationship with you as you read. I purchased this book to include in the school library collection where I am the librarian and also include it in the Meditation Station that I have set up in the same library.

The Bone Spindle by Leslie Vedder

Posted on by lynndellwatson
Fun read!

Fi hunts for books and historical artifacts. She’s been given a message to meet someone for a proposition. That someone is Shane, a treasure hunter that’s given up her inheritance to her brother. The two of them search the vacated woods known as the Witches Jewelry Box. Adventure and action make up most of the story along with the flashbacks and memories that build the characters’ backgrounds. Transitions were sometimes abrupt and jarring and the love between characters didn’t feel truly believable. Still a fun read, 4 stars!

The Fire Keeper’s Daughter by Angeline Boulley

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Strong characters!

Daunis is looking forward to college and her future. She’s attending with her best friend Lily. They’re both descendants of members of the Tribe Council who are Native American. She befriends a new hockey player that just moved to town. His name is Jamie and he’s good at avoiding answering questions about his personal life. When a murder-suicide affects Daunis, she’s asked to help the undercover investigation to catch and stop the drug dealing happening in their community. She reluctantly and cautiously becomes an FBI informant. Daunis worries that she’ll betray her people by not helping the FBI see the good in her community, only the drug issues. A wonderful glimpse of a piece of Native American life, language and culture. Strong characters, true character development and the surrounding mystery pulled me deep into the story and it’s still sticking with me days later. Betrayal, deception, mistrust, broken family, violence, loyalty (sometimes misplaced), and manipulative behavior are all parts of this book. 4 stars!

Cold the Night, Fast the Wolves by Meg Long

Posted on by lynndellwatson
A wonderful mix of dystopian, science fiction and adventure awaits!

Running from someone she stole from, Sena ends up accidentally hiding inside a feral wolf’s cage. She’s caught by the den boss, Kalba, so he makes a deal with her that she’ll pay her debt by healing the wolf. The wolf’s name is Iska. Kalba named his prized fighting wolf after Sena’s mom. This irritates her horribly. She agrees to help heal Iska but she gets sidetracked more than once with trying to steal enough to pay her way off the ice planet. After a few misadventures, Sena ends up with a racing team that’s planning scientific studies of the exocarbon that the planet is known for. Sena is angry with herself because she vowed that she would never race. She learns how much she can truly handle and how teamwork helps tremendously with problem solving. I enjoyed this read, even through Sena’s pessimism and stubbornness. A wonderful mix of dystopian, science fiction and adventure awaits readers who want to plunge into another world, 5 stars!

The Forest of Stolen Girls by June Hur

Posted on by lynndellwatson
Love the historical aspects of this story!

A young woman disguises herself as a man to look for her missing father. She visits the sister she hasn’t seen in five years and there’s still much animosity between them. The sisters have a history in the forest. When they were younger, they were lost and then found unconscious in the midst of a crime scene. Now the sisters work together to find out what’s happened to their father after he went searching for thirteen missing girls in the forest. The mystery surrounding the missing girls and their father twists and turns until the sordid truth is unraveled. Based on the forced sacrifices of young women of Korea around the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, the historical aspects are the most fascinating parts of the story and the danger builds suspense. 3.5 stars!

This Woven Kingdom by Tahereh Mafi

Posted on by lynndellwatson
Reads like an old-fashioned fairytale!

Alizeh is alone in the world, hiding her true identity and living as an overworked servant. She’s Jinn and has ice in her veins. She’ll be in danger if anyone discovers who she is because she’ll be seen as a threat to the human king. Kamran, the young prince, sees Alizeh help a homeless thief and is intrigued by her actions. The more he observes her, the more curious he becomes. The king, Kamran’s grandfather, sees that the prince is interested in the girl so he explains that their kingdom’s peace is at stake if they let her live. He orders Kamran to put her to death and then be ready to attend the planned ball the next evening and choose a wife. Alizeh works as a seamstress after her servant hours are finished for the day. She’s helping Miss Huda with several gowns. Alizeh is exhausted and after she leaves Miss Huda, she’s attacked by six men. She warns them but they laugh at her so she subdues them with the only weapons she has available, seamstress needles and scissors. Afterwards, she’s approached by a man who has been searching for her and wanting to protect her from harm. He sees the attack and knows she can protect herself. He offers her assistance and safety. He will take her away at the ball the following night. He also gives her a nosta, a rare orb that warms in your hand when the truth is told and chills like ice when a lie appears. This man’s identity is a surprising twist to the story! Huzzah!!!
The action takes over and another twist is revealed, ending the book with a bang! I can hardly stand to wait for the next book! Elegant storytelling, 5 stars!