Lucretia and the Kroons

1.5 Stars
Victor LaValle
I received this ebook from Netgalley and I started reading it because the description of the book seemed to be interesting. When the book started it just seemed to drag and then as the story went on it picked up speed but it like threw me for a tailspin. I was so confused when Lucretia ended up in the apartment was that real or not real I understand that she was diagnosed with bipolar disorder, but as far as I know bipolar disorder has no such delusions like schizophrenia. I know I may be taking the book a little too serious, but I was really confused as to what the bipolar had to do with the adventure that took place in 6D. I did like how Lucretia was able to say goodbye to Sunny and she was able to let her go and not make her suffer anymore by letting her be taken. I think the point of the book was horror come for children too, but it really wasn't my cup of tea.

The Enchanted Truth

3 Stars
Kym Petrie
In this humorous and insightful tale, a modern day princess finds herself single and asking for magical intervention to change her sorry love life. Rather than casting a spell to bring Prince Charming to her rescue, a savvy fairy godmother gives the tenderhearted damsel an unexpected gift. By entrusting her true thoughts and desires to an unlikely confidant, the young royal soon discovers that the person who could make her life everything she dreamed it would be has been with her all along.As author Kym Petrie herself realized, every woman needs a froggy friend and a secret journal—and enough adventures with the girls to keep her heart pounding and her mind racing. Life is meant to be about happy beginnings . . . you can never have enough of them.

Though it was a short story I did enjoy it very much. It shows that you can't always wait for prince charming to come find you, you shouldn't have to have someone to complete you, you should complete yourself. You should be happy just the way you are and then your prince will find you. You need to love yourself before anyone else will love you. This story actually inspired me to write a list of what I want in my prince charming. I took some tips from the princess and added them to my list and though I am still looking for my white knight I will follow the princesses example and have fun while waiting for him. I loved how the princess grew as the story progressed and by the end she wasn't a damsel in distress waiting she was out their having fun. She learned she must love herself and respect herself enough to be able to find someone to share her life with. The fairy godmother was also another character I found entertaining she was able to help the princess by guiding her not by giving her everything she wanted. "When will they learn that happiness isn't a gift that comes to rescue you on horseback...it's a light you have to reach for inside." Fairy Godmother said it just perfect. The mother was kinda funny she represents the old belief that you must wait for your man which isn't true anymore.

Two and Twenty Dark Tales: Retelling of Mother Goose Nursery Rhymes

4 stars
In this anthology, 20 authors explore the dark and hidden meanings behind some of the most beloved Mother Goose nursery rhymes through short story retellings. The dark twists on classic tales range from exploring whether Jack truly fell or if Jill pushed him instead to why Humpty Dumpty, fragile and alone, sat atop so high of a wall. The authors include Nina Berry, Sarwat Chadda, Leigh Fallon, Gretchen McNeil, and Suzanne Young.

 I was given this ARC from Netgalley, so it doesn't have all the stories that will be in the final edition. I was really excited to read this book a dark twist on Mother Gooses nursery rhymes. I loved how it was put in the foreword "The tales now contain the other side of reality, the darker side of fear. Wishes are not always fulfilled, and the security and permanence of our parents' love is no longer a sure thing." As we grow up the rhymes seem to lose their innocence not because they are any different, but because we learn to deal with the darkness we were once protected from in our youth. Each story I read I found interesting in one way or another but I have to say the ones that I liked the best were usually the ones I knew the rhymes to before hand. I give this anthology 4 stars because over all I really enjoyed the book and I had to give it bonus points for being the only book I have ever read about retelling of Mother Goose Nursery Rhymes.
 
As Blue as the Sky and as Old
Nina Berry
2 stars
A story about Taffy the Welshman This was one of the nursery rhymes I hadn't heard before, so I really didn't understand the story. I was confused why the story was first being told from a completely random person that didn't seem to pertain to the story. There were facts given in the beginning of the story that didn't seem to make sense to til the end. Basically I felt confused about the story.
 
Sing a Song of Six-Pence
Sarwat Chadda
3 stars
Based off blackbirds baked in a pie. Of course I have heard this rhyme before, but it had an edge in this story I had never contemplated that blackbird was a person though I couldn't tell if he was a demon or a fallen angel or what. He description was confusing, I don't understand what he did to get punished by the king but I liked how the story progressed and though it ended with a sad ending I thought was a fitting ending and bought closure.
 
Clockwork
Leah Cypress
4 Stars
A retelling of Hickory Dickory Dock. A story based on a mouse not really being a mouse at all but an enchantment placed upon a girl. The clock being based in magic by the chimes it rings at the top of the hour. Murder and mystery, confusion and magic all coming to together to make this one of my favorite short stories in the book.
 
Blue
Sayantani DasGupta
2 Stars
Loosely based of the rhyme little boy blue. I was confused who the girl was in the story why exactly she was spinning stories or tattooing people or something like that. Didn't really like the story though I have always like the rhyme.
 
Pieces of Eight
Shannon Delany with Max Scialdone
2 Stars
This is again another rhyme I haven't heard before I was intrigued by the lost prince stolen away by his mother to protect to save the kingdom in the end. But the whole in between and the battle scene of the tree didn't really like.
 
Wee Willie Winkie
Leigh Fallon
4 Stars
From the rhyme Wee Willie Winkie, by far one of my favorite stories in the book. It was short but it packed a punch. It took me a while to figure out were in the world I was and then when the story line was told I found I was somewhere in Ireland which makes the plot of this story so much more understandable. Gives a whole new meaning to bedtime and that a price to pay to stay alive may end up being too steep.
 
Boys and Girls come out to play
Angie Frazier
3 Stars
I haven't heard this before but I was able to figure out what was going on in the story and rather liked it. A story based on picking only one and making the children come out to play. Another story of how tricky and cruel witches can be.
 
I come bearing souls
Jessie Harrell
2.5 Stars
This story was based on Hey Diddle Diddle. I didn't see how this had anything to do with the rhyme except the cow god and the fiddle being played in the first scene. Had mythology which was a plus in my book, I think it would make a great stand alone book I would love to find out more about Heather and her family and what Egyptian gods were doing in modern day America. It was too short for my taste.
 
The Lion and the Unicorn: Part the First
Nancy Holder
3 Stars
I love history and though I haven't heard this rhyme before I enjoyed the story that accompanied it. Rumors have always surrounded the monarchs of old and they expands on the notions already out there.
 
Life in a Shoe
Heidi R. Kling
3.5 Stars
Based on Old Woman who lived in a shoe.The story gave depth into why she had so many children, that it wasn't a choice it was forced. It also brought to life her children and I liked how it was told from the daughter's point of view and she wasn't willing to follow her mother. Another favorite of mine.

Candlelight
Suzanne Lazear
3 Stars
I hadn't heard this rhyme either but it was a story that could stand alone from the rhyme. It dealt with what all children want freedom from their parents, though all wishes come at a price something the narrator didn't find out until it was too late. It had just the right amount of resistence to make it seem more real and I think it should have explored how they had to learn how to live on their own how much they missed their mother and how their parent actually did a lot for them. And maybe just a little longer.

One for Sorrow
Karen Mahoney
3 Stars
I had never heard this rhyme but I still thought it was a pretty good story. Basic transformation story with love being the key but in the end the twist where she wants to be a beast with him was what I really liked about the story. Gave her and him a happy ending.

Those who Whisper
 Lisa Mantchev
2.5 Stars
Again a rhyme I have never heard of but I did like the story. It kinda seemed like snow white just a little bit. I would have liked to know why she was able to talk to the birds, but I loved how strong she was despite her horrid beginning.


Little Miss Muffet
 Georgia McBride
1.5 Stars
I didn't like the story was confused about what was going on in the beginning even though I knew the rhyme. Couldn't understand why they were spiders and the ending was a little creepy.

Sea of Dew
C. Lee Mckenzie
3 Stars
I like the story kinda a story about how one choice really does change everything. I hadn't heard the rhyme and I was kinda confused in the beginning but then I figured out what was happening. It did drag a bit in the middle though.

Tick Tock
Gretchen McNeil
1 Star
This was a creepy story and I don't feel like it had anything to do with what the rhyme was about. Like how was murder "what was right". 

A Pocket Full of Posy
Pamela van Hylckama Vlieg
1 Star
I had always heard that this was based on the black plague and I had thought that it would be dealing with that aspect of the story. The whole vampire thing was kinda weird like what did that have to do with the rhyme except the ashes. Yes the author gave everything in the rhyme a link to the story the girl Rosie, the flowers he was going to give her, and the vampire ashes in the ended. But then it just ended didn't even give closure like did the boyfriend get convicted of murder or what?

The Well
K.M. Walton
3.5 Stars
Based off the rhyme Jack and Jill.I don't know if this makes me kinda dark but I had just lately been thinking  about this nursery rhyme and how maybe Jack falling down wasn't really an accident I started thinking that Jill had pushed him down. I didn't have the whole plague involved or that they were twins that really hated each other and where the only two people left in the world. But I did like what the author did with the story.

The Wish
 Suzanne Young
3.5 Stars
I enjoyed this story based on Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. It is a story about to be careful what you wish for I was kinda hoping that the ending wouldn't happen that death would have taken her away to live with him, but like I've said before wishes have a price to pay so be careful what you wish for.

A Ribbon of Blue
Michelle Zink
4 Stars
I had never heard the rhyme before but this was one of my favorites. The story was well written and though it had a sad ending I didn't find anything dark in the story. Ruby was finally at peace and beautiful and happy everything she deserved.

Thank you to Month9Books and NetGalley for giving me a chance to review these Titles.

Why I Love Ariella Tularyn From the Iron Fey Series

So author Julie Kagawa is having a contest for a signed copy of her new book coming out The Iron Legends and since I love the Iron Fey series I couldn't help but enter. So here is my post of my favorite character in the Iron Fey series.

Why I Love Ariella Tularyn from the Iron Fey Series

I love Ariella because she is so selfless. She is perfectly happy living her life in the Winter court with her lover Ash and sneaking away to have adventures with the infamous Robin Goodfellow. She has a great life everything was going swimmingly when one afternoon she was killed.  It was very sudden and she had no way to prepare for it a life taken so young even for a faery and yet she was never resentful for it. She was killed she had accepted it and then the powers that be resurrected her and she was installed as the Seer. When she was reborn she could have returned to Ash and lived with him again and yet she resided herself to be just the Seer. She took up the mantle and sat back and let the future play itself out. She watched her winter prince suffer for years and then she watched him fall in love with a mortal girl that had to be so hard for her. She set the pieces in motion for the future to be what it needed to be, so that though she may not be happy but faery would be saved and everything would work out. And then to top that off she even helped Ash obtain a mortal soul so that he could be with Meghan. She sacrificed herself for Ash and Meghan to be together and yes she was a little jealous of Meghan when they were in the dream, but I mean everything she loved was taken from her I would be furious. I mean she truly loves Ash because she wants him to be happy even if that means if its not with her, that is what true love is. She deserves so much credit for what she did throughout the series even if we don't see her until the last book. She is selfless, courageous, and just an all over amazing person and that's why I love her.

Pandemonium

 Lauren Oliver
4 Stars
I'm pushing aside the memory of my nightmare
pushing aside thoughts of Alex
pushing aside thoughts of Hana
and my old school,
push,
push,
push,
like Raven taught me to do. 
The old life is dead.
But the old Lena is dead too
I buried her.
I left her beyond a fence,
 behind a wall of smoke and flame. 

I have been waiting since February for my library to get anything other then an audio edition of Pandemonium and it has been grueling waiting for it. I am was so excited to finally start reading it and I can say that it was totally worth the wait. Lauren Oliver picks up were she left off in Delirium, at the fence with Lena running for her life and her heart breaking for the love she had to leave behind. Lena keeps running and running until pure exhaustion over takes her. She is found and nursed back to health and her life in the wilds begins. Now I don't wanna spoil anything so I won't say anymore specific plot details, because I don't wanna ruin it but I loved this book! Lena is reborn in the wild force to make due with whats she has, deal with issues she never faced in Portland and she must learn to get over Alex the one who she gave it all up for. She faces hardship and is forced examine the person she has become, along the way she deals with feeling she never thought she'd have again much less for her enemy. She also finds answers to questions she has long that solved and learns that if you harden yourself too much you become just like the enemy, she finds out that things are not always as they seem. Lena grows to become a strong heroine that I can really relate with Lauren Oliver did such a great job with the characters in this book I felt as though I have know people just like them. I have to say that the ending threw me for a loop, I literally was left staring at the last page in complete shock. This was amazing book and really well written for a second book in a series, I can't wait for the next book.

NetGalley Approved

I just got approved to review Julie Kagawa newest book The Lost Prince!! I am so super excited, I'm so glad my blogging and reviewing books is finally paying off! Now all I have to do is finish reading the four other books in front of it. Sigh the reading never ends (not that I would want it to) Later book lovers

Rapture

Lauren Kate
3 Stars
 Like sand in an hourglass, time is running out for Luce and Daniel. To stop Lucifer from erasing the past they must find the place where the angels fell to earth. Dark forces are after them, and Daniel doesn’t know if he can do this—live only to lose Luce again and again.Yet together they will face an epic battle that will end with lifeless bodies . . . and angel dust. Great sacrifices are made. Hearts are destroyed. And suddenly Luce knows what must happen.For she was meant to be with someone other than Daniel. The curse they’ve borne has always and only been about her—and the love she cast aside. The choice she makes now will be the only one that truly matters.In the fight for Luce, who will win?

The astonishing conclusion to the FALLEN series. Heaven can’t wait any longer
I was so happy that this was going to be the final book in the series. I wanted Luce and Daniel to be together finally for everything to work out and I am very happy with the way things turned out. I was eager to start this book and then I got to the like fourth chapter and I felt that the book started to drag so I put it aside hoping that I would back to it in a different state of mind. I finally picked it up again about a week later and though it was still dragging through the middle of the book I really wanted to see how the series ended, so I stuck it out. About half way through I started to remember why I started this series in the first place and I feverishly read to the end. I started guessing wildly about three quarters of the way through the book about how it was going to end, I kept putting clues together that Lauren Kate was subtly hinting at through out the chapter and it turned out my hunches were correct in the end. I'm so glad that Luce was able to grow so much as a person, she wasn't the same heroine we started out with from the first book. She grew stronger and though she still needed Daniel she developed a strength all her own, though Daniel helped her by believing in her the whole time. She uses this strength to explore her past and allow her to be able to forge a future she deserved. I have to say that I enjoyed the development of the characters, how they grew and changed through out the series and finally became the best of themselves. Let me tell you this book turned out so much different then I thought in the beginning. It took some bizarre twist and turns that left me yelling at the book at some points completely dumbfounded. In the end it worked out all for the best and I really enjoyed how Ms. Kate was able to bring closure and an ending to a really amazing series.