A Court of Thorns and Roses

TITLE: A Court of Thorns and Roses
AUTHOR: Sarah J Maas
RELEASE DATE: May 2015
PUBLISHER: Bloomsbury
PAGES: 419 pages 
SERIES: A Court of Thorns and Roses book 1
GENRE: Paranormal, Fantasy
OVERALL RATING: 4/5
APPROPRIATE AGE: grades 8-12

SUMMARY: Feyre's homelife is depressing, their house is barely standing, her father can no longer work due to his injuries, her mother is dead, and her sisters treat her like trash; but still Feyre cares for them. One day while out on a hunt, while she is preparing to shoot a deer, a large wolf approaches, only considering her own protection, she shoots the wolf through the eye. Well, this wasn't any wolf walking through the forest, this was a Fae in his wolf form and according to the accords between the Fae and the Humans, it is a life for a life. Now the High Fae, Tamlin is demanding her life as punishment. He takes her into his kingdom, in the Fae world, and  Feyre must figure out how to survive long enough in this strange land before she can return to her family.

   

FAVORITE QUOTE: "I was as unburdened as a piece of dandelion fluff, and he was the wind that stirred me about the world." (Maas, ) 

WHAT I LIKED: This story is kind of like a retelling of the classic fairy tale, Beauty and the Beast. But in this story, the beast is a fae and the beauty is a tough

READALIKES: Throne of Glass series by Sarah J. Maas, Graceling by Kristen Cashore

SERIES UPDATE: Book Two: A Court of Mist and Fury releases May 3, 2016

BOOK TRAILER: I wasn't able to find an official book trailer for A Court of Thorns and Roses, but I was able to find a video of the author, Sarah J. Maas, describing the book. 

Winter

TITLE: Winter
AUTHOR: Marissa Meyer
RELEASE DATE: November 2015
PUBLISHER: Feiwel and Friends
PAGES: 827 pages
SERIES: The Lunar Chronicles
GENRE: Science Fiction, Fantasy
OVERALL RATING: 4/5
APPROPRIATE AGE: grades 7+

SUMMARY: In this fourth and final installment of the Lunar Chronicles, Winter is the stepdaughter of Levana, the queen of Luna. She refuses to use her Lunar gift to manipulate people after she, herself, was manipulated (by the queen) to create three hideous scars on her face. But those scars do not keep the Lunar people from completely adoring Princess Winter, and this upsets Queen Levana, who we know will do anything to get her way. 

All of the characters of the Lunar Chronicles come together to defeat the evil Queen Levana and help Cinder reclaim her throne to Luna. But will they make it in time to stop Levana's wedding to Prince Kai and the coronation to the new Queen of the East Commonwealth? 

FAVORITE QUOTE: "My point is that I am going to figure this out, like I always do. First, we're going to find a way to get into Artemisia. We're going to find Cress and rescue Cinder and Wolf. We're going to overthrow Levana, and by the stars above, we are going to make Cinder a queen so she can pay us a lot of money from her royal coffers and we can all retire very rich and very alive, got it?" 

WHAT I LIKED: I loved each of the characters and how they all come together in this final book in the Lunar Chronicles series. I will admit that I absolutely loved Cinder, the first book in the series. Scarlet and Cress were good fillers, but I didn't LOVE them. However, book four, Winter, really brought it all together. It did not disappoint. 

WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE: I'm trying hard to find a way to explain what I did not like about this book without giving away major spoilers. If you have read Marissa Meyer's novella, Fairest, which is Levana's backstory, then you know what happened to the queen as a child. I don't like how the story of Winter refers to this and how it brings about the downfall of Levana. Are people really that superficial? That's all I'm going to say about the subject, if my explanation didn't make any sense, I apologize, but come back and reread it after you have finished the novel. 

READALIKES: The Shadow Queen by C.J. Redwine

SERIES UPDATE: Stars Above: A Lunar Chronicles Collection due out February 2016

BOOK TRAILER: 

The Madman's Daughter

TITLE: The Madman's Daughter
AUTHOR: Megan Shepherd
RELEASE DATE: January 2013
PUBLISHER: Balzer + Bray
PAGES: 369 pages 
GENRE: Science Fiction
SERIES: #1 in The Madman's Daughter series (Book 2:Her Dark Curiosity, Book 3:A Cold Legacy)
OVERALL RATING: 4/5
APPROPRIATE AGE: grades 9-12

SUMMARY: Juliet's life was perfect until her father's medical experiments become outrageous and he is banished from London. Six years later, she is able to track him down to a remote island where he is free to continue his experimentation with human and animal genes. Juliet, at first, is thrilled with the reconnection with her father until she sees, firsthand, the consequences of his medical practices. But throughout her survival on the island, she begins to ask herself if she isn't a little mad as well. 

WHAT I LIKED: I liked that The Madman's Daughter follows H.G. Wells' story of The Island of Dr. Moreau so closely, while changing the perspective to the madman's daughter. Readers at this age won't be as familiar with the original and therefore won't expect the plot twists. The second book in the series, Her Dark Curiosity, follows the story of The Strange Case Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. At the time of this review, I had not read the first book in the series, A Cold Legacy, but from hints at the end of the story, I'm thinking it will have something to do with Frankenstein.

WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE: All of the doctor's experiments, the combining of humans and animals left me with a whole lot of questions. How exactly do you create a human with animal traits without first a human specimen. Throughout the story, Dr. Moreau is collecting animal specimens, but only uses human blood to complete the experiment? I also had a hard time picturing these creatures in my mind. The character of Balthasar was a combination of a dog and bear, was covered in dark hair, but yet could pass on the streets of London as human? I find this difficult to believe. 

READALIKES: Libba Bray's A Terrible Beauty series, Kenneth Oppel's This Dark Endeavor 

BOOK TRAILER: 

Dorothy Must Die

TITLE: Dorothy Must Die

AUTHOR: Danielle Paige
PAGES: 464 pages (sequel: The Wicked Will Rise)
GENRE: Fantasy
OVERALL RATING: 2/5
APPROPRIATE AGE: High School, there is a lot of unnecessary language

SUMMARY: Everyone knows the story of Dorothy and her trip to Oz, but everyone also knows how the story ends: Dorothy flew home with Kansas with the Wizard in a hot air balloon. In comes Amy, another girl from Kansas with a pathetic trailer park life. One day a tornado comes, picks up her doublewide and drops her off in Oz, or what is left of Oz. Everything from the story has changed. Dorothy came back, became Princess and is hoarding all the magic out of Oz. The Scarecrow, Cowardly Lion, and the Tin Man are now her evil henchman. Even the beautiful Glenda is taken the Munchkins into slavery to help drill magic out of the land. When Amy walks into this un-fairytale, she joins forces with the Wicked Witches and the only thing she knows is DOROTHY MUST DIE!

WHAT I LIKED: I was really excited about this book. Who doesn't love the Wizard of Oz? Dorothy, her fun companions and the beautiful Glenda. Sure this book has all the same characters, but that is about where the similarities end.  It made me think of the book: Splintered by A.G. Howard.

WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE: Following the Yellow Brick Road with Amy made me think more of the 1985 creepy sequel to the movie: Return To Oz with Fairuza Balk. All of the beloved characters were made morbid. The Scarecrow is now an evil scientist who tortures people and makes weird experiments out of them. The Cowardly Lion goes town to town sucking the fear out of people to make himself bigger.Overall, it completely ruined any happy memories of the movie from my childhood.

READALIKES: Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum

BOOK TRAILER: Official Book Trailer by Harper Teen