The Siege of Macindaw

The Siege of Macindaw is the sixth book in John Flanagan's Ranger's Apprentice series. 

"In this desolate northern fief, where can Will find the fighting men he needs to overcome the traitorous Sir Keren and his band of criminals? Across the border, the fierce Scotti tribesmen are waiting for the signal that Castle Macindaw is in friendly hands, and the way is clear to mount a full-scale attack. Time is running out. Will's courage and ingenuity - and the arrival of an old friend - may be the only things that stand in their way."

General Thoughts: It was a good ending to this little story arch. It's always fun to be able to see Horace come in to help Will especially when he isn't unexpected. And the strange cast of characters that end up helping will out for the actual siege is fun. I also liked Alyss throughout the whole event. While she is technically a damsel in distress, she does do a fair bit herself given her circumstances. 

<< Spoilers Ahead>>

Plot: This one, like many of John Flanagan's other books, is simple and straight forward. Take the castle, save Alyss, and watch out for the Scotti. But I like the way Will is able to succeed in taking the castle back over. Fear can be a powerful ally amongst the superstitious and I think he used it well. I like the fact that they also don't have magic in this world. It's all science and what have you which is different to many fantasy books out there now. I do like the nod, whether intentional or not, to Rapunzel with Alyss being in the tower and Will having to climb up to her to save her, though it didn't work the first time. 

Setting: Right now, I could do without the cold, but it works really well for the circumstances that Will finds himself in. I particularly like the change in cloak, obviously that happens in the first book but still. I like how John Flanagan, in general, uses the surrounding and environments in his stories to his advantage. In real life if going up against an imposing army you'd use the terrain to your advantage if you could and he often does that in his books. 

Characters: This book does have a strange range of characters and I think that is the point. We get all the outcasts to band together and made a difference. Is it a little odd that they are all just hanging out in the woods, yes, but he has to get his "mercenaries" from somewhere. I will say, though, that there isn't much in the way of growth from any of the characters in this arch that I can remember. I'm more like an Indiana Jones story where I know all the things already and I'm just going off on an adventure, not so much to learn something about myself. This can be okay at time. 

Spice: 1/5 Spicy Chilis. Alyss and Will like each other and he's working to get her freed, but there wasn't much time for more than a few flirtations. 

Writing Style: Again, Flanagan has a way of over describing the intents of his characters or giving us more of an explanation than we need when it comes to strategy. I know it bothers some, but I've looked over it and have just learned to accept that this is how he does it. I can enjoy the story anyway. 

Overall: It's a fun adventure. I wouldn't mind reading it again. 

The Smuggler's Treasure

 The Smugglers Treasure is an American Girl: History Mystery written by Sarah Masters Buckley.

"Sent to live with relatives in New Orleans during the War of 1812, eleven-year-old Elisabet determines to find a smuggler's treasure to ransom her imprisoned father."

General Thoughts: I was given a set of History Mystery books when I was a preteen and enjoyed this one. I wasn't much into reading so I didn't read many of the other books in this American Girl Series, but one can always go back and find a good book. I enjoyed the adventure part of this book and the fact that I hadn't read much in the way of historical books before and I've found that it still holds up pretty well. 

Plot: Elisabet's adventure in a new city, with new people, doing a job at her families bakery with busy, noisy customers, and seeing the differences between what she was as a pampered little girl (like some that she serves) and the waitress that she's become was fun to watch. It's amazing what hard labor will do when you have choice. What getting up early to do the job your assigned can do to change people's attitudes. I enjoyed the growth that Elisabet had throughout the course of the story. She does gain a friend who helps her on her adventure with potential ghosts and thieves and pirates. The treasure hunt and figuring out the clues to find the map was fun and, when I was younger, thrilling. 

Setting: When it comes to history and fantasy books, the setting is extremely important. One should easily get lost in the new city where you can "feel" the cobblestones or mud underfoot. I think Smuggler's Treasure does just that. The smells of the bakery, the rain, the darkness, sets the tone for the suspenseful moments and really help pull it through. 

Characters: Elisabet, as I said, has great growth through the story. She learns that she can do hard and at times scary things in order to do what she thinks will help her father. I liked the others in the bakery as well, in front of as well as behind the counter. They were memorable characters that even a year after reading it, I still enjoy thinking about. 

Spicy: 0/5. It's a children's book. No. 

Writing Style: I think it was well done. American Girl is not going to get newbies to write their books and Sarah Masters Buckley did a good job at setting tones, making likable characters, and developing an interesting story that was simple enough for me to read at 10 and enjoyable enough for me to read after age 30. 

Overall: I would read it again. I ended up gifting my niece a copy and hopes she enjoys it as much as I did. 

Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

 This is a super cute book that is for anyone wanting to read something sweet. 

Written in letters after the end of WWII, the story is about a woman named Juliet who gets a letter from a man on Guernsey who came into possession of one of her old books by Charles Lamb. They begin correspondence and she finds out that in order to deal with being occupied by Germans during the war, this small group of odd neighbors begin a literary society--with an interesting story as to how it started and its name. The Society has continued on after the war and from the society begin to open up about their experiences in the war. Juliet was also a writer for a local British news paper and wants to write a book with their collection of letters. Of course, Juliet has her own life back in London, men, writing, friends, post-war happenings. 

It is a great story with full characters, many of them with fascinating stories. This is one of the best parts of the books. So many different people with different points of view, with different happenings, ways of coping with trauma, and different ways of being heroic in times of difficulty. 

I also greatly enjoyed the romance part of it. Rich American guy who is charming and witty and a lowly country boy from Guernsey. A little love triangle without being high school dramatic. They are adults here and act as such, for the most part. It wasn't heavy on the sappy romance, which was good, but there was sweetness and a comedy about it. 

There isn't really anything that I dislike about it. It was written well. However, the audio book that I listened to for it was misleading. The gentleman they had voicing the younger men wasn't that young sounding. So the younger men sounded like they were in their sixties instead of late twenties, early thirties. When she started liking a certain person, I was concerned that she liked the oldest gent in the literary society. It wasn't until I looked at the Netflix cover that I realized, "Oh, he's much younger" which was a relief. 

I very much enjoyed it and will reread it again. I've also heard the Netflix movie did it justice, so I'm going to be taking a look at that soon. 

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

Number 7! Ah, the tears. Only good writing works this way. 

Harry, Hermione, and Ron aren't going back to school... at the beginning of the year anyway. They are on orders from Dumbledore to find Voldemort's Horcrux's and destroy them. Harder said than done. Between running away from Death Eaters, searching, not knowing where to go, infiltrating the Ministry while Harry is the most wanted man in the country, and then realizing that the Deathly Hallows are important too... they've got their hands full. 

This one is my first legit read though of the book. I've seen the movies a bunch of times and listened to the other books on audio, but this is a first. I very much enjoyed it. 

I think one of my favorite parts was Kreacher's Tale. You really feel for him and are reminded that every nasty person has a back story and often times if you take the time to get to know them or their story, they'll turn out to be a decent person. Not all the time, if they choose to be that way, but there is potential for everyone and that most of the time all they want to be is understood. Kreacher is awesome and I love how he ends up leading the House Elves at the end. 

I do wish though that we had been able to spread the narrative a little. Instead of solely watching it through Harry's eyes, to have gotten  other's points of view. Especially during the Battle of Hogwarts. Throughout the series we've loved everyone that is in Hogwarts at the end--the good guys anyway. I wish we'd gotten more of the individual battles for Lupin and Tonks, of Kingsley, Hagrid, Molly and Arthur, and all the others. Obviously Harry can't be everywhere, but I'd have loved to get POV changes. Even POV changes when we weren't at Hogwarts at the end. To know more about what the Weasley's were doing, what the DA did in an attempt to steal the sword, Fred and George when they were still manning their shop. And most definitely more at the end. To see how everyone coped or didn't with the losses they received. Even if it was just bit and snippets of weddings, of internal changes, of grief... A page. Three paragraphs. A small bit of dialog. Something just a bit more so then we can close with them and have a more finite resolve. 

But boy was it a great book. Before reading the series, I knew that there was a giant fandom for the Wizarding World. I know some fandoms can go crazy (I'm looking at you Supernatural) but now I understand why. The books were great, well done, and well made. In my opinion, there is very little lacking in the series. No, Harry Potter is not a happy book, but it is one that discusses many things that touch many people in many ways and hopefully helps us to grow. Those books are the best ones to read. 

It will probably be a series I'll reread like so many before me. Enjoy. 

Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince

 

The sixth installment of the Harry Potter series is one that I enjoyed greatly. 

Harry goes back to school, a fair bit lighter than in previous years, hoping that things can find a good normal. Starting classes with a new potions teacher with a new and intriguing book, Snape taking over D.A.D.A., relationships bloom and flounder, and new lessons from Dumbledore on the history of the Dark Lord. Normalcy? At Hogwarts? Never. Draco is up to something and everyone thinks that Harry is off his kilter. But is he?

As I said, I enjoyed this book. I busted through it very fast (beings smaller than Order of the Phoenix does that) and was enveloped in the memories that Dumbledore showed Harry. Getting to know the enemy helps to destroy him, right? His background was something missed in the movies and it wounded the story it presented. 

I liked that it had gone from dark and death oriented all the time, back to something that resembled the first four books (before the ending of number four anyway). It was lighter and a last pick me up before the final battles of book seven. While the ending here wasn't happy, betrayal and death happens, it--over all--had a lighter tone. There were very tender moments where I had to choke back tears so then no one would see me crying over stuff that I knew was going to happen. Well written moments that deserve applause in a good hero's journey. 

Well done, Rowling. Well done. 

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix is a very large book. Sometimes they can be intimidating, but I've found that often the large books are some of the best. (Brandon Sanderson is a great example of this.)

Harry is distraught. After witnessing the murder of a friend and fighting Lord Voldemort himself and having the whole wizarding world calling him a liar, he has every right to be. His summer is silent and no one is telling him anything. He joins his friends at Sirius Black's house and finds out there is an Order of the Phoenix that he's been left out of as well. Then when he gets to school their new D.A.D.A teacher is psycho. No answers. No Dumbledore. No help. No hope. This year really sucks. 

The characters are amazing here. I don't know of any fan base who simply hates a character as much as they hate Umbridge. Professor Umbridge is hated beyond any fictional character I know (except for maybe"F-Moash" from Brandon Sanderson's Stormlight Archive.) She is one that we obviously just detest and some consider more of a villain that Voldemort. 

I think Rowling did a great job at showing that Harry was angry. #Angst or what have you. I remember hearing about how this was a bad book because Harry was constantly complaining and angry. They blamed it on Rowling being pregnant and therefore hormones coming out in her writing. I don't believe it's credible--if she was pregnant during that time, I don't think her hormones made Harry hormonal, he had his own problems (and teenage hormones) to worry about. Yes, he was angry. Yes, he felt like he had no one to confide in or that was willing to confide in him. He felt alone. He'd just seen death and been called a liar by everyone and everything that had lips aside from his friends and members of the Order who aren't telling him anything. Harry is going through a depression and instead of closing up, which he sometimes does, he lashes out. He's getting beat down from every side and feels like he can't get up, though he keeps trying. Rowling did it well. Depression, anger, misunderstanding, hate, fear, they are all things that are prominent here but realistic. It's sad Harry lashes out at his friends who are only trying to help him, but "they don't understand" and it makes it hard on everyone. 

Just as the books are, the plot is thickening here. More and more things are happening and lots are going on behind the scenes. 

I think it's very well written and the characters help pull this one through. 

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets is the second book in the Harry Potter series.

Harry has had the worst summer and now there a house-elf in his room telling him he shouldn't go back to Hogwarts. Well, that's not happening. Getting away from the Dursley's is a must. Between getting bailed out of the Dursley's house, missing the train and hitting a Whomping Willow on school grounds, he'll make it to school even if he is nearly expelled for it. But then there is more. Strange things keep happening. Harry is hearing voices, finding new abilities, and students all over the school are being attacked. Harry and his friends must find out what the Chamber of Secrets is, what is inside it, and how to kill this monster before someone dies...like last time.

I've discovered something about J.K. Rowling, she really likes her alliteration. Reading it in my head, I didn't notice so much, but reading it aloud to my son had me tongue timed at times. The constant repetition of letter sounds, while sounding nice and someone fun, had my dyslexic brain and tongue spinning. It takes a bit of a poet to keep that going and I think she did a good job at it.

I think the story is well laid out with funny tidbits and great (sometimes intentionally obnoxious) characters who move the story along well.

I don't really have anything bad to say about it. The fact that my 7 year old is really enjoying it too is always a bonus. Way to go Rowling!

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

I know it's kind of out of order, but reading the second book with my son was taking too long and I wanted to read faster. So we're about 1/3 of the way through Chamber of Secrets, and now I'm done with Azkaban.

For book 3 of the Harry Potter series, a high security prisoner of the wizarding world has escaped and Harry is no longer safe. Harry runs away from his aunt and uncles house and sees this large, dark beast prowling around. Saved by the Knight Bus and somehow didn't get expelled for underage wizardry by the Minister of Magic--who came to get him personally. Being famous is one thing, but all this attention is a little off. On the train to Hogwarts, they meet their sleepy new teacher for Defense Against the Dark Arts, which is a good thing because the train was attacked by Dementors who are out looking for this escaped prisoner. Things become more high strung as the year goes on and Harry finally finds out who this escapee is and why he's after Harry.

Out of all of the movies (yes, I know, forgive me all you Potterheads), this was always my favorite one. I did very much enjoy the book and Sirius and Lupin so much more here than I had from the movie. Lupin is probably my now favorite character in the HP series. Ron is far more awesome than he is in the movies and I like how it showed how much Hermione was actually struggling throughout the year with all of her classes (not eluded to at all in the movies). I also really enjoy the growth that happens to all of them as characters.

Something that I'd noticed before in "previous readings" was that how in different books it gives time for both of Harry's friends to shine and grow. They both shined in The Sorcerer's Stone, Ron got his time while Hermione was petrified in Chamber of Secrets, and here Hermione gets to shine at the end while they both stand by their friend and help and support him.

The whole plot of the series is amazing. Filtered between schoolwork and teachers, Quidditch, Hogsmede, and Sirius Black (also Ron's rat), there are many things going on that makes it feel very much alive and vibrant.

Because of the movies, I do have a good sense of the setting but I do feel that J.K. Rowling has a problem with settings in the book. I am one who likes a good description of where the characters are at and I don't feel she did very well on that one. Basic descriptions, yes were we get the jest of where we are, but I like more. I know people don't like feeling "bogged down" by it so that is up to the individual person.

House of the Sun

This manga was a cute, simple and muchly needed story.

Mao is a girl who's family is broken. Her parents have divorced, her mom has practically vanished, and her cold dad is now remarried to a woman who already has a young daughter. She feels replaced by her new sister and unwanted by her father. There is one place she can go and has gone to every time she's needed to get away, the shrine. The shrine is where she is always found by Hiro who always somehow saves her. Hiro has his own problems and troubles. His parents are both dead, his two siblings are living with relatives, and he is left very much alone in his parents big house.

With Mao having no where else to go and feeling very much abandoned and so much room at his house, he offers his home as a place she can rest her head and sort out her troubles. He is older than her by eight years, but have known each other for years and years so it's not super weird. Except for the fact that they start liking each other, obviously!

Eventually Hiro's brother visits, new friends are made, crushes are realized and denied, and high school love drama ensues. Although it runs side by side with the need for families to come back together. Mending broken families.

I really enjoyed this manga series. Mao is a somewhat shy but strong girl who will do what needs to be done realistically. It takes time to gain the nerve and gumpshin to do it. Broken families aren't mended in a week, normally. Often, I think, not even a year. And this goes through the somewhat sticky process of real life and people and their choices.

I enjoyed the characters and how different they were. They grew in their own ways, each with their own moments of love in different varieties. Love and loss and denial and sadness, all real things in life and they were presented well.

This is one that I would probably read again. Enjoy.

Be Prepared

Be Prepared was a cute little story about the trials of a ten year old misfit.

Vera doesn't really fit in with all the rest of the girls in her neighborhood. They are more wealthy, they have both parents, and they don't come from Russia. She moved to the USA when she was five, but the rest of the kids don't get it. They invite her to things, but she still feels like the outcast. During the summer they all go off to their own camps and she stays at home, until she finds out that there is a Russian kids scout camp. After some begging, her mom lets her and her brother go the following summer. Only summer camp isn't what she expected it to be. She finds that it's more of the same. She's the youngest in her troupe, they are all already friends and have known each other for years, and she's very much alone. Invisible. This is where she was supposed to find friends, so where are they?

It was a well drawn true-mostly story of Vera Brosgol's time at camp. She even has some of her letters and pictures from her time at camp. Vera is also the author of Anya's Ghost, which I didn't realize until I read the author bio.

I think this is a very potent and prominent story for many people. Trouble with friends is always something hard and pretty much everyone goes through it at some point. So it touches many people right in the hearts.

I think many people would enjoy this simple, well depicted story. It might even be one that I'd put on my bookshelf. Eventually.

Garden Spells

After a need for a good, happy book,  I was recommended Garden Spells and wasn't disappointed.

Claire and Sydney never got along as kids. After high school Sydney left and Claire found solace in the old family home with her Grandmother and the somewhat magical garden with an annoying apple tree.  Ten years later, new neighbor moves in next door who won't leave Claire alone and suddenly Sydney is back with a bag full of mysteries and a sweet little girl named Bay.

Old towns have legends and the people in small towns have ways about them, also known as stereotypes.  Nearly everyone in town has a family stereotype and the Waverley's, Claire and Sydney, carry the weird gene. Claire has this uncanny way with food that can make people feel a certain way. Have an awkward conversation? Have some Lemon Verbena in your muffin. Want to see better? Have some Honeysuckle. Etc. Rather smart move for a caterer. But for Sydney, going back to a small town with old faces you'd rather forget is hard, but far safer than where she had been.

I thought it was a good book. Not something I'd recommend to a teenager whereas there are parts toward the end where there is slight descriptive nudity. All sexy times are curtain closed but there are some moments that lead up to it and lots of talk about sex, but nothing descriptive or erotic--thank goodness.   It's slightly beyond the PG-17 range. I most definitely would be blushing if I was reading this at 17, like I did with the Notebook by Nicholas Sparks.

The characters were good, engaging all around and surprisingly the apple tree was one of my favorite characters. Claire and Sydney were fun and well developed as well as the other side characters. All the other characters got their moments and segments of chapters which helped bring the whole story and town community to life. Which makes the story more fun all around.

I enjoyed the book and if I chose to read it again would probably skim past some parts about 3/4 of the way though, but the rest of it was well done and I enjoyed the storyline.

Saint Anything

Saint Anything is a good book and this audiobook has a good reader.

Sydney has always lived in her brother's shadow. When he started doing drugs and getting drunk, her parents had eyes only on Payton and the drama he was dragging their family through. When he ended up hitting a kid with his car after being out drinking, everything changed. And nothing changed. Payton went to jail and everything stayed Payton oriented. Sydney was, as she had been for years, invisible. The good kid. The kid with good grades and always kept her nose clean. Nothing to worry about, so easy to forget.

She then makes the decision to change high schools. She was known as "Payton's sister" never actually Sydney and desperately wanted to not have that stigma. There she finds friends that dissipate the monotony and feels seen for once. Sydney finds that she likes it.

I really liked Sydney and the individuality of all the other characters. It's actually pretty hard to find a good young adult novel with parents being prominent characters that aren't just "my parents" or "the evil bad guys who never want me to have fun" let alone parents who have personalities are individuals with their problems and equal strengths. It's even rarer to find parents in YA novels who actually get along and have each others back. This was nice to see that change where everyone, not just the teens, are real people who have wants and ambitions that go beyond the scope of the plot line of the novel.

The setting that they are in are the same for Sarah Dessen's other novels and characters make appearances from other stories. Seaside Pizzeria makes its appearance in Sarah Dessen novels as well. They are fun little easter eggs that she lays around.

I think one of my favorite things is when the cover and title finally make sense. Those little light bulbs that go one were very pleasing even if one of them took to the end for me to finally get. That was probably my fault. I also very much like it how her books, like this one, come full circle. Practically every loose end is tied and the metaphors she uses work well for the story she is creating. Finding the carousel and the sinkhole and even the thrift stores and valuable things that some people have either lost, given away, or forgotten runs powerfully through the story.

The predictability of the book was kind of sad. I knew what was going to happen long before it did, but it was still satisfying nonetheless.

I love Sarah Dessen's books for the characters and metaphors she uses. They are both always strong. The hopeless romantic in me loves the romance that takes place too. It makes it a fun, enjoyable read, that are often different and give voice to someone who is searching for their own.

Please enjoy.

Orange

This manga was a sweet book that I constantly wanted to go back to. One that I would curl up with in bed.

This is a story of a group of friends who suddenly receive letters from themselves ten years in the future. They are told to save their new friend, Kakeru. These letters are accurate about the day to day things and tell Naho, our main character,  to do things that the older self has regrets of not doing. 

From stepping up to the plate in a softball game to confessing to Kakeru. She isn't the only one to receive letters,  so together with her friends they work to save Kakeru.

It is well drawn with lovable characters. Although there are six of them,  each character has his/her own temperament and quirks. I really like Sawa.

This book, though, is about coming together as friends to support and lift one another. Suicide is very prevalent throughout the story. The grief and depression associated with it is real. I think Ichigo Takano did a good job conveying that emotion, as well as the need to help but feel like you're not doing enough.

The day when all of the letters were revealed, I cried. That is one of the biggest recommendations I can give. Tears were shed. Read it!

Take the Key and Lock Her Up

The last book in the Embassy Row series by Ally Carter. This is one that I needed to pick up quickly to figure out what happened. Though the ending of the last one (See How They Run) ended rather abruptly but it just kept coming to mind and it was in at the library so I quickly snatched it up and put it on a higher que than the other books on my nightstand.

Grace, Jamie, Alexie, and Dominic are all running. Someone tried to kill Jamie. They don't know who and they aren't for sure why. They are constantly on the run until another secret about her mother is unfolded and Grace runs away from the boys to keep them safe, have the bad guys chase her instead of Jamie who is still injured and Alexie who is still wanted for a murder he didn't commit. She goes to the Society but finds no friends there, same with the palace. With the help of her Embassy Row friend and a little bit of espionage she breaks an insane woman out of a penitentiary and yet still finds herself in her mother's country trapped in a corner and no way out. Also, she supposedly the Lost Princess which she doesn't want to be. She just wants to be left alone to live her own life. How is she going to get that?

I do like how Grace has developed of these three books. She still has the mentality of "get out of my way or don't and get run over" while also still trying to deal with her PTSD. Any fire, any smoke triggers her and she's starting to learn to cope. She's starting to learn whom she can really lean on while finding out the hard way whom she can't. Some people might not like her, but I'm glad Ally Condie took this step in giving us a main character who really needs help and might not have been likable (on the verge of annoying) at the start. What Grace does is true growth, not just getting over a boy/crush. She gave us an unreliable narrator who knows she's unreliable and more than a bit crazy.

I really enjoyed the ending of this. It was complete. It also came full circle where Grace is able to face fears and is able to take steps forward. She wouldn't have been able to accomplish the things she did at the beginning of the story without turning into a pile of ash or rocking back and forth in a corner or running away from everything. She's willing to go down dark tunnels and tell secret societies to stuff it, which is pretty awesome.

While Alexie is pretty cool and Jamie has been an awesome brother since he clocked his friends, but I really like Thomas. I get that Grace is not princess material. She is not one to do benefits or worry matching handbags or knowing how far to bow to a countess and that's cool I so wouldn't be able to do that. But Thomas... he took things in stride. He was willing to follow her down those tunnels and willing to let her run after another boy. He was such a real person that it makes me want to have more of him. I'm glad him and Rosy are friends, but more screen time would have been cool. I don't know how Ally Carter would have done it, but it's what I want.

The title was also rather ingenious. Very fitting. :)

I don't know how Ally Carter would be able to extend this to another story (one that included my happy Prince, of course), but I would happily read another Embassy Row series. It was very good with intriguing characters and a very interesting world that I want to dive more into.

Thornhill

Thornhill is a well written, well drawn book that was a bit strange.

The written words are part of the diary of a girl named Mary from 1982 who is being bullied by the girls in orphan home. She has been bullied so bad that she stopped talking and her journal become her a solace, next to her handmade dolls, and the garden on the orphanage grounds. The artwork is the story of Ella, a girl who just moved in with her dad into a house that bordered the old Thornhill building in 2017. She goes exploring one day and follows a mysterious figure into a garden and finding dolls around the dilapidated building.

It was an interesting book, but a strange one. We feel really sorry for Mary and her trials. No one helps her and she feels like she can't confide in any of the adults around her. Then there is Ella where we don't get much from her. It's summertime and she doesn't do much but fix the dolls she finds around Thornhall. She doesn't do much else besides explore the grounds. We don't see her with friends or even with her father (who always is off at work and has no time for her).

I do find it interesting though that Mary only talks once in the whole book where there are quotations around what she says and Ella never says anything either (mainly because her side of things are all in pictures). The only time we see Ella "say" anything is when she writes a note. The similarities between the two girls are prominent but not screaming from the pages, obviously they are quiet.

It's a very sad book. Not one to read when you are sad. Especially the ending when it was supposed to be a happily ever after for the girls, but it wasn't in my opinion. A tragic ending to me, though it was supposed to be something happy-ish for the girls. I think it could have ended differently.

It was okay. Not a favorite but okay.

Princess Academy

If you enjoyed the book Ella Enchanted, you'd enjoy Princess Academy. This is a book I've been told to read since I was in junior high but never really got around to. It was supposedly one of the books that every one is supposed to have read.  It just took me a long time go get to it.

It is about this village of girls high up in the mountains who are suddenly told they need to join this Princess Academy so they they can learn to be a lady who would be suitable for the Prince to marry. These girls are quarry girls who know nothing but the stone they help produce. Well, all except Miri, our main character, who has been told by her father not to be in the quarry and he never tells her why. So being forced to go to this Princess Academy gives her a change of pace and a chance to be with the girls that seem to have ostracized her. The headmistress of this academy is a cruel one where if a girl speaks without having been spoken to first she gets her hands whipped and sent into a dark, rat infested closet for hours on end.

Miri slowly gains friends and enemies throughout her time there while she studies. She learns a lot, not only to be able to read or curtsy, but about economics and histories that can help her little village that is isolated from everywhere else. Over the course of the book she finds purpose and a power she didn't know she had.

This book is an award winning book for a reason. It was very well written with good scenery and setting. The characters, side characters and all, had depth to them and improved as the story went on. My only problem is the slowness of the book toward the beginning and early middle. Simply studying and figuring out this new power of her's took a long time where it felt like nothing was actually going on. It very much picked up toward the end as bandits suddenly lay siege on the academy, so far away from their own village and families. That part was most fun. It even had a good bad guy, with good foreshadowing so then it wasn't something completely out of the blue that happened.

I enjoyed the book and agree that young girls (and boys) would enjoy this as they would Ella Enchanted. It would be a book I would offer as an introduction to most fantasy books for young people if they were hesitant toward dragons and sword fights.

Winter

Winter is the last book in Marissa Meyer's Lunar Chronicles. I think one of the best parts of this book is the depiction of how Winter is crazy. Because Winter has chosen not to use her Lunar Gift she legitimately is going insane. She sees blood dripping down walls, thinks she's a wolf, becomes ice and is about to shatter... Her episodes may have to grow on you, but Winter is amazing.

For the climax of the series, Cinder and the crew must sneak onto Luna (the moon), find Scarlet who is somewhere held captive inside the palace, raise an army, and take the crown from Levana.

But of course nothing can be so simple as their plan was. The moment they step foot onto Luna the chase begins and they are separated. Cinder's group heads to the mines where friends may be found, others are hidden inside the palace do to Jacin and Winter's help. Scarlet is being held in the menagerie as Winter's pet, so then she wouldn't be executed.

Constantly when things start going right, everything gets flipped on it's head. Jacin is ordered by Levana to kill Winter because Levana knows he loves her. Cinder and Wolf are captured. Wolf gets changed into more of a brute and begins to forget Scarlet. Cinder is brought before Levana and Kai who just got married and is to be executed. Iko constantly is getting shot at, which is kind of funny. Everything constantly goes awry and the we, as the reader, have to constantly remind ourselves that this has a Happily Ever After, right? Meyer isn't going to wrench in our Happily Ever After is she? She's messed with all of these stories soooo much, she wouldn't take the Happy Ending away! Right?

Oh, it's such a good book. Although there are 830 or so pages in the book, it reads fast and like all the rest of the series (Cinder, Scarlet, and Cress) such a joy to read. This series, next to some of my Brandon Sanderson Favorites, these are my favorite books. I work at a library and constantly tell the patrons who are looking for a good book to read these. They aren't your normal fairy tale, but I love them just as much.

Read and Enjoy!