Enchanted (Woodcutter Sisters #1) by Alethea Kontis (review)

Hardcover, 305 pages
Published May 8th 2012 by Harcourt Children’s Books
Source: Library

Synopsis:
It isn’t easy being the rather overlooked and unhappy youngest sibling to sisters named for the other six days of the week. Sunday’s only comfort is writing stories, although what she writes has a terrible tendency to come true.

When Sunday meets an enchanted frog who asks about her stories, the two become friends. Soon that friendship deepens into something magical. One night Sunday kisses her frog goodbye and leaves, not realizing that her love has transformed him back into Rumbold, the crown prince of Arilland—and a man Sunday’s family despises.

The prince returns to his castle, intent on making Sunday fall in love with him as the man he is, not the frog he was. But Sunday is not so easy to woo. How can she feel such a strange, strong attraction for this prince she barely knows? And what twisted secrets lie hidden in his past – and hers?

Review:

Enchanted starts off well. The Woodcutter family is diverse and magical and each family member is sufficiently intriguing. The trouble with this book is that the author tried to do too many things all at once. I think she had enough material in this one novel alone for four books and if she had only focused on one story – the frog prince story, for instance – the readers would have had a chance to immerse themselves completely in the magical world she created instead of feeling like they are getting scrambled glimpses of many stories all at once.

I would have liked there to be a slower progression to the prince’s story because there is so much that could have been done with it. I would have rather the author extricated the prince and Sunday from the narrative and start with them again – developing their characters more, showing the prince in his original incarnation so we can see the man he was and we can compare it to the man he becomes after the spell is broken. We would have been able to see Sunday as her own person and not in the shadow of her sister. She seems almost objectified in the story as this paragon of virtue and beauty – maybe this is because we see her so often from the prince’s perspective but we rarely get a chance to be in her head. Why is she so angry with the prince for not telling her he was the frog? Or for that matter, why does the spell break then and not when Sunday is present to witness it breaking?

Back to Sunday’s anger, it seems unwarranted because no matter what the back story, which itself is confused and a hodgepodge, I would think that first and foremost, Sunday would be happy that the man she loves has been restored to his man-shape. Then there are the other sisters who all have their own stories going on – the most confusing one being Monday – is she a princess? Who is her husband? Why is he present only in name? What country do they rule? Or is she a princess only in name? Then again, where is her husband?

The two godmothers are their own stories and then you throw in Wednesday and her arc – argh. Then the king. Then the fae brother whom I actually really liked – another story there altogether. The book is kind of exhausting, to be honest. There are so many threads of so many potentially good separate stories. The novel is not even long enough to accommodate all the stories it is trying to tell. I don’t know you guys. I think I would like to read whatever Kontis reads next because while I don’t doubt her ability to spin a tale, I think Enchanted does not do too good of a job in giving us an accurate glimpse of her true skill.

Wish by Beth Bracken, Kay Fraser (review)

Hardcover, 306 pages
Published April 1st 2013
Source: Publisher

Synopsis:
With one wish made in Willow Forest, Soli and Lucy are pulled into Faerieground – and into the middle of an ancient battle. In the faerie kingdom, an evil queen searches for her daughter while the palace crumbles. To save her best friend, Soli must find her hidden strength. This is a story about friendship, growing up, and the power of wishes. This is a story about faeries and spells, queens and lost princesses, fireflies and four-leaf clovers. But mostly, this is a story about love.

Review:

Wish tells its story using the illustrations and rather simple prose. The plot itself is mostly straightforward though it does contain some twists that you may or may not be able to guess. It all depends on your level of familiarity with the fantasy genre. The book is beautiful. I was sent an ARC and it was full of full colour illustrations and photographs that depict an eerie forest and strange otherworldly beings.

The story itself is about two friends who are close enough to be sisters until a boy comes between them. There is a forest, a wish and then the story plays out as it was meant to. The book deals with themes of friendship and family. There are mommy issues though that is not addressed with as much depth as I would have liked it to be. As I said previously, the prose is simple and this makes it suitable for younger readers. I would say it could work for elementary school kids because it is just this side of a picture book. Middle graders will love this one as well.

I was enchanted by the fairytale and look forward to more installments in this series. Buy this one for the fledgling reader in your life. She or He will love it and you too.

Truly Grim Tales – Priscilla Galloway (Review)

Mass Market Paperback, 132 pages
Published October 13th 1998 by Laurel Leaf Books
Source: Library

Synopsis:
Based on the well-known fairy tales of the Brothers Grimm, Charles Perrault, and Hans Christian Andersen, these retellings will intrigue and disturb readers. From a futuristic “Little Red Riding Hood” in which giant clams and carnivorous beasts stalk humans, to the real reason why the giant in “Jack and the Beanstalk” needs to eat human bones, to a version of “Snow White” told from the wicked stepmother’s point of view, fans of fairy and folk tales will find much to interest them.

Review

This little known anthology (I say little known because it is pretty old and I wasn’t even aware of it unless it appeared in a reading list of one of my LIBR classes) contains fantastic retellings of popular tales translated and made known to the world by the Grimm brothers. Galloway’s reimaginations are such that they give the stories in question a fresh look and make them a pleasure to read. Even though the anthology was published seventeen years ago, the retellings are still very pertinent and very much meets contemporary society’s need to revision folktales and shape them into answering our needs.

 

I loved the retelling of Red Riding Hood. As the synopsis mentions, it’s a futuristic setting and Galloway manages to give both the beasts and the humans new dimensions and new depths that give their actions a deeper and more substantial meaning than in the original (not that the original had much substance but you get my meaning). Worth a mention is Jack and the Beanstalk which tells the story from the perspective of the giant’s wife and the story becomes something entirely different. I also really liked The Little Mermaid because I must admit that the original is not one I am a fan of.

 

I really encourage fans of fairy tales to give this anthology a try. It brilliantly retells the stories using perspectives a reader would not usually consider as being suitable for the story. It gives each story a curious depth and a completeness that is very much different from the superficial frothiness that the original tales have with the happy ever after tagged on at the end.

The Cats of Tanglewood Forest – Charles de Lint, Charles Vess (Illustrator) (Review)

Hardcover, 304 pages
Expected publication: March 5th 2013 by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Source: ARC from Publisher

Synopsis:
The magic is all around you, if only you open your eyes….

Lillian Kindred spends her days exploring the Tanglewood Forest, a magical, rolling wilderness that she imagines to be full of fairies. The trouble is, Lillian has never seen a wisp of magic in her hills–until the day the cats of the forest save her life by transforming her into a kitten. Now Lillian must set out on a perilous adventure that will lead her through untamed lands of fabled creatures–from Old Mother Possum to the fearsome Bear People–to find a way to make things right.

In this whimsical, original folktale written and illustrated throughout in vibrant full color by two celebrated masters of modern fantasy, a young girl’s journey becomes an enchanting coming-of-age story about magic, friendship, and the courage to shape one’s own destiny.

Review:

The Cats of Tanglewood Forest is the kind of folk fantasy that de Lint is most known for. At least, in my circles. His brand of fantasy is half fey, half wild, dealing in ephemeral phases, whimsical. Lillian is a fun character to follow around; she is spunky, adventurous and very opinionated. She will appeal to younger readers for her willingness to travel beyond what is comfortable and take chances where less braver souls would falter.

I particularly like the portion when Lillian first discovers that she has turned into a cat. Her gradual realization and acceptance of this fact feels authentic and funny. The fox is a fun character and makes for a perfect sidekick. The book is a pastiche of different mythologies colliding to create something that is distinct and yet, somehow, feels very Canadian. There is First Nations mythology, there are what seems like Sasquatches and there is transformation.

I like that it is not overtly didactic and though there are some morals, they are hidden within the narrative and not explicit. The illustrations will be amazing in the finished copy. The ARC has rough sketches but I am familiar enough with Charles Vess’s work to be quite confident in the final product without seeing it for myself.

The only thing I found a bit awkward was the twist. I found it rather strained and it had the effect of pulling me out of the narrative as I had to resituate myself in the story. Nevertheless, I found the novel to be interesting and fun. It will appeal to beginning readers with a penchant for fantasy. Recommended.

 

“Real Life” Disney Princesses by JirkaVinse

These are so very amazing, you guys. But first, credit where it’s due:

JirkaVinse
DeviantArt | Blog

The Outspoken Princess and the Gentle Knight – By Various, Edited by Jack Zipes (review)

Hardcover, 237 pages
Published November 1st 1994 by Bantam
Source: Purchased

Synopsis:
Always provocative, frequently hilarious, and at times deeply poignant, these enchanting fairy tales–selected by children’s literature expert Jack Zipes–are as marvelous to read aloud with a child as they are to enjoy in solitude. Magnificent, original full-page and spot illustrations by Stephane Poulin enhance the text.

Review

Let me tell you the story about how this book and I met.

It was a rainy day in September and I was frantically looking through books at the Vancouver Public Library sale. This novel caught my eye but I put it aside convinced that I had no room in my suitcase (yes, I took a suitcase) for this title but then my eye snagged on it and it seemed to regard me sadly. So finally I decided that back be damned, I must have this book. And 75 cents later, it was mine.

Of course, it languished on my shelf for quite a while before I picked it up but it only took the first page before I fell in love. This series is edited by Jack Zipes, whose work in folktale and mythology is legendary and that this collection has been edited by him is only the highest badge it can receive. The novel contains stories by a variety of authors who write in a variety of styles but all of them do one important thing: they give new colour and a fresh twist to the tried and tired fairy tale.

The titular tales are also favourites of mine. The Gentle Knight by Richard Schickel goes a long way to recreating the tales of knights while the Outspoken Princess gives you another side to princesses. Another tale that I particularly liked is The Faithful Bull by Ernest Hemingway. All short tales are by turns poignant, funny and speak more candidly about what contemporary society needs in the way of fairy tales than the tales of yore. If you are like me and consume fairytales insatiably, this collection is for you.

The Hero’s Guide to Saving Your Kingdom – Christopher Healy (writer), Tod Harris (Illustrator): A Review

Hardcover, 419 pages
Published May 1st 2012 by Walden Pond Press
Source: Library

Synopsis:
Prince Liam. Prince Frederic. Prince Duncan. Prince Gustav. You’ve never heard of them, have you? These are the princes who saved Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, Snow White, and Rapunzel, respectively, and yet, thanks to those lousy bards who wrote the tales, you likely know them only as Prince Charming. But all of this is about to change. Rejected by their princesses and cast out of their castles, Liam, Frederic, Duncan, and Gustav stumble upon an evil plot that could endanger each of their kingdoms. Now it’s up to them to triumph over their various shortcomings, take on trolls, bandits, dragons, witches, and other assorted terrors, and become the heroes no one ever thought they could be.

Review:

What can I say about this novel that will properly convey to you how much I enjoyed it? I love fairy tales; they rock my world. I’ve studied them, wrote academic papers on them, retold them in my own words and so on. I find them to be fantastically illuminating on the goals of a patriarchal society and I find that fairy tales are often reflective on the needs of the society they are most famous in.

The Hero’s Guide to Saving Your Kingdom is in particular very revealing of the shifting and evolving gender expressions so prevalent in contemporary society. Some would argue that gender itself is a social construct and that may be true if one considers that children often assimilate culture and gender behavior from fairy tales and/or other tales fed to them in their formative years. However, since everything is in flux at the moment and traditional norms are being challenged and overturned, Christopher Healy’s novel is both pertinent and entertaining. Gone are the days when Prince Charmings were satisfied being nameless beings of perfection. Now they demand to be seen for who they are rather than what they represent. Healy presents his princes as being less heroic and more real. Some are quite less than charming and some would not recognize bravery if it came and quacked at them.

What I appreciated about Healy’s characterizations was that they were dynamic. The characters grow and change and Healy does not promote the princes in favor of demonizing the princesses. There are brave princesses, good ones and even a bad one. The plotting remains awesome and there’s a skein of absurdity in the whole narrative that reminds the reader not to take anything seriously. This makes the novel accessible for both adults and children. Children will be immensely entertained by Tod Harris’s illustrations and tickled by the escapades of the princes while adults will appreciate the deeper and darker humour in the novel.

The various romances in the novel are also intriguing, showing that the matters of the heart are rarely as simple as love at first sight or kiss. I look forward to seeing how things play out in the sequel that I have been told is going to be released next spring or summer. If you love fairy tales, I suggest checking this out. It has all the elements of a wonderful book that should become a staple of childhood reads.

Disney Princesses on Vogue Covers by Dante Tyler

Another amazing find. These are genius in both setup and execution.

Artist: DanteTyler
Site

Visit her site for more of her amazing art. Seriously.

Scarlet (Lunar Chronicles) – Marissa Meyer (Review)

Hardcover, 464 pages
Expected publication: February 5th 2013 by Feiwel and Friends
Source: ARC provided by Raincoast Books

Synopsis:
Cinder returns in the second thrilling installment of the New York Times-bestselling Lunar Chronicles. She’s trying to break out of prison—even though if she succeeds, she’ll be the Commonwealth’s most wanted fugitive.

Halfway around the world, Scarlet Benoit’s grandmother is missing. It turns out there are many things Scarlet doesn’t know about her grandmother and the grave danger she has lived in her whole life. When Scarlet encounters Wolf, a street fighter who may have information as to her grandmother’s whereabouts, she has no choice but to trust him, though he clearly has a few dark secrets of his own.

As Scarlet and Wolf work to unravel one mystery, they find another when they cross paths with Cinder. Together, they must stay one step ahead of the vicious Lunar Queen who will do anything to make Prince Kai her husband, her king, her prisoner.

Review:

The second installment in the Lunar Chronicles introduces various new characters into the exciting world created by Marissa Meyer. I have many things I want to say about this novel so bear with me.

As one of my friends, Stephanie Sinclair, said in her review, (paraphrased) it felt like Meyer attempted to do a whole lot more in one book than was possible. I really liked some of the things she did and I understand why she wanted to do everything she did but it just felt like there were too many things to focus on. As a reader, I felt that too many separate things wanted my attention and the things I really wanted to pay attention to weren’t granted enough page time. Know what I mean? No? Well, maybe you will sooner or later.

I loved Scarlet. She’s kickass, badass and all sorts of spunky. I loved how much she adored the farm she lived on and how close she was to her grandmother. In fact, while I knew the story was a retelling of Red Riding Hood, I felt that Scarlet, her grandmother and the world she lived in were totally original. I appreciated the troubled relationship she had with her father, it made Scarlet more multifaceted than she would have been. We’ll talk about Wolf later.

I was SO glad to see Cinder, you guys! I had been afraid that most of the focus would be on Scarlet and Cinder would be reduced to having a cameo in the book, with like ten pages dedicated to her troubles. I didn’t need to worry about that at all as she was very much present in the novel as was Kai though both were separated. The new character introduced, the unrepentant, irrepressible Carswell Thorne who is redeemed by his good heart and his willingness to help Cinder, adds a much needed lightness to the fare. More pieces of the puzzle that is Cinder as the Lunar princess fall into place and we get an intriguing look into the evil queen’s mind. I found that portion to be very satisfying as that glimpse into her thoughts made the queen more than a random villain and gave her motivations that are still reprehensible but understandable.

The pacing is swift, oh how swift it is. It moves at a breakneck pace and things happen whether you are ready for them or not. Scarlet’s Wolf is both interesting and not. His twist was unexpected and I thought his real colours show a brilliant sleight of hand by Meyer. I didn’t think too much of their romance as it happened too fast and there was never enough time for Scarlet and Wolf to develop the feelings that would have been necessary for them to achieve that level of emotional intimacy. I would have been satisfied with ambiguity where their feelings were concerned with the hint that they may have something more to them than could be shown. Then in the third book there could have been a continuation of their love-fest.

What I really wanted, I did not get. I wanted a sisterhood of sorts to spring up between Scarlet and Cinder. I hope it happens in book three though I am not sure there will be enough page time for it to happen. Cinder is faced with some existentialist questions in this installment – like who is she, what is she, can she accept who she was born to be – stuff like that and I think it is about time she sat down and had a good think about what it means to be her. I wasn’t too surprised by the ending and I had gathered Kai would make the decision he did from the desperation that seemed to rule him after Cinder disappeared. I’m certain it won’t go through but it does give the narrative a lot of tension which makes for wonderful reading.

All in all, I liked Cinder a bit more than I liked Scarlet simply because Cinder gave me a lot more time to get to know the characters in and out and empathize with them. However, Scarlet is a very strong installment to the series, developing the primary narrative in very strong ways while bringing another fairytale heroine into the melee. I can’t wait to see what happens in Cress because I know lots of things will. If you haven’t read Cinder yet, what are you waiting for? Seriously!

Shoes Inspired by Fairy Tales

Artist: ~becsketchWebsite: www.becsketch.com

Amazing talented artist. Visit her site for more of her work and prepare to be amazed. Here is a sampling:

Inspired by Alice (in Wonderland)

Inspired by Ariel (The Little Mermaid)

Inspired by Aurora

Inspired by Belle

Inspired by Cinderella

Inspired by Jasmine

Inspired by Merida

Inspired by Mulan

Inspired by Pocahontas

Inspired by Rapunzel

Inspired by Snow White

Inspired by Tiana

Inspired by Tinkerbell (my favourite)

Inspired by Jane