Category Archives: Fairy-tales

December 11, 2012 · 7:33 pm

The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus by L. Frank Baum

The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus

 

Hey, look, a book review! I mean sure, the book was only like 150 pages and super cute and short, but still! Progress!

So, L. Frank Baum wrote this book in 1902, and I have to say that it’s pretty awesome. I saw this book at B&N last year at Christmas-time and have waited ALL YEAR to finally read it, so thank goodness I liked it. I think it may become a Christmas classic for me, to read every holiday season.

This tells the story of Santa Claus, how he was abandoned as a baby in the Forest of Burzee and raised by immortals, and when he finally went and saw the rest of the world and mankind, he grew a special place in his heart for children. He decides to dedicate his life to trying to make children happy, which leads to him creating toys for children and eventually distributing them all over the world.

I really liked that this book was whimsical and fun – it’s the story of Santa, with nymphs and fairies and other mystical creatures involved. As the book goes, you learn about all the different things that make up that “Santa Claus” image – why stockings were hung, why Christmas Eve is the night he gives presents to children, how he manages to do it all in one night, etc. It was adorable. In fact, this would make a really awesome movie – apparently there are some older animated adaptations, but I think Pixar should pick this up and do it, it’d be so magical!

The ONLY thing that didn’t sit quite right with me is how much the book goes on and on about how much Claus loves children. In 1902 maybe that was normal and sweet, but these days it just sound creepy, right?

STILL, a wonderful Christmas story and gave me the warm and fuzzies.

 

Sarah Says: 4.5 stars

 

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August 18, 2012 · 11:28 am

A Witch Before Dying: A Wishcraft Mystery #2 by Heather Blake

Well, this is the second in this new cozy mystery series by Heather Blake, but I don’t think you need to shy away because of spoilers. After all, the main focus of the story is the mystery! Here’s my review of the first book, It Takes A Witch.

So, Darcy Merriweather is settling into life in the cute little town of Enchanted Village in Salem, Massachusetts. She’s still working for her Aunt Ve’s business, As You Wish, and still learning more about her powers as a Wishcrafter. Aunt Ve’s getting ready to get married, and life is great – until Darcy’s next job cleaning out the house of a hoarder leads to her finding the body of a woman who’s been missing for over a year. Darcy makes a promise to the woman’s daughter to investigate the death, but it’s not easy. There are a lot of suspects and motives, and a mythical wish-granting amulet at the center of it all.

A Witch Before Dying was an adorable sequel, and I hope that this series goes on for a while. As usual, I had no idea who the killer was. But the mystery isn’t my favorite part of these books – it’s the absolutely charming setting, and the slow-growing romance between Darcy & a certain handsome police officer. I also love the quirky twist on magic (Wishcrafters, Curecrafters, Geocrafters, etc).

I do sometimes cringe at the over-cuteness of Darcy’s dialogue sometimes. Come on, “heebie-jeebies”? You can only get away with that once in a book before it starts to sound just silly. And this is a MURDER MYSTERY. Cutesy phrases like that are over-doing it just a tad. I’d also really like to see more of Harper, Darcy’s sister. It’s tough cause she’s doing her own thing, but she’s fun and bookish and there’s a cute romance in the works for her too.

These books are so much fun, perfect for an afternoon of lying around on the couch and drinking coffee. I’m already itching to read the next one, The Good, the Bad, and the Witchy, but it’s not coming out until next year. At least it gives me something to look forward to!

Sarah Says: 3.5 stars

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January 9, 2012 · 7:00 am

It Takes A Witch: A Wishcraft Mystery #1 by Heather Blake

  • Title: It Takes a Witch (A Wishcraft Mystery)
  • Author: Heather Blake
  • Publisher: Obsidian, 2012
  • Pages: 299
  • ISBN: 9780451235527

Yay! Okay so I’ve honestly never really been into cozy mysteries – I’ve never really tried them. However, Heather Blake is actually Heather Webber, the author of that Lucy Valentine series I love so much. And I enjoy those books so much that when I heard she was writing a new magical mystery series, I just knew I had to try it.

So Darcy Merriweather and  her sister Harper have recently learned that they are witches, and have moved to Enchanted Village in Salam, Massachusetts to learn more about their heritage and abilities from their Aunt Ve. They are Wishcrafters – witches with the ability to grant wishes. Learning about magic in this quiant little tourist-y town seems wonderful,  until a local wannabe witch lady is found dead – and Aunt Ve’s boyfriend is the prime suspect. Though she’s reluctant to get involved, Darcy finds herself working hard to find the real murderer while trying to learn the ins and outs of her new magical powers.

This story was SO CUTE. It’s a very unique take on magic – there are different kind of witches – Wishcrafters, Curecrafters, Lawcrafters, etc. Each kind of witchery comes with it’s own set of rules, which makes for a lot of fun and enjoyment jut discovering what they are. It was really interesting to watch Darcy try to muddle her way through all of this new magical information. And the mystery aspect of this story was good – I never saw what was coming. And I particularly enjoyed a little twist revealed at the end.

Darcy herself was an okay character – she’s trying to get over a failed marriage and while I sympathized at first, I quickly just got a little bored with it. Move on, girl! Your ex-husband sounded like a jerk! Darcy was otherwise a good person though – compassionate, funny, and busy. And it’s looking like their may be some romance blooming for her in Enchanted Village anyways. I also liked Harper, even though you don’t see as much of her. She’s a book person, so how I could I not adore her? I also love the idea of Enchanted Village – in order to hide in plain sight, the town’s many magical residents made the town a tourist desination by really playing up the cutesy magical image and I loved it. I would move to a little town like that in a heartbeat.

So, overall this was fun and cute and perfect brain candy. I especially recommend it if you already like cozy mysteries. I’m definitely looking forward to the next in the series, A Witch Before Dying, which is supposed to come out this August.

Sarah Says: 3.5 stars

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November 6, 2011 · 11:00 pm

Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke

So, I finally did it! Sorry again to the October poll-voters… but hey, better late than never, right?

A few years ago, I was on my way to my mom’s house and didn’t have a book with me, so I stopped at the grocery store and bought a big chunky paperback book called Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell. And I got to my mom’s house, started to read it, but after a few pages decided I wasn’t in the mood, and it has sat on my shelf ever since. And then in September I got the genius idea to put a 1000+ paged book in my October poll… I was meant to finish this late.

So, this is about two men in 1800′s England – two magicians, actually. Mr. Norrell is a quiet, reserved old man, but he is also the only practicing magician left in England. He eventually decides to come out of his giant house and bring the magic back to England. He offers his talents to England’s leaders and starts using magic to fight the French, and gains popularity and respect. Soon, another practical magician emerges - Jonathan Strange. He becomes Mr. Norrell’s pupil and they join forces in the fight against the French, but soon grow apart over their beliefs about the legendary Raven King.

So, that’s the basic gist of it - two magicians who work together but cannot agree on one critical magical argument, and it almost seriously messes stuff up. I like the idea that magic once existed in England, and then was forgotten for the most part, and then comes back. This novel is written with an Austen-like tone. I’ve also heard it compared to Dickens’ writing but I can’t really make that comparison because I’ve only read The Christmas Carol by him, whereas I’ve read five Austen novels. So I’m going to say that’s it’s written in a semi-witty Austen-esque style that I actually really liked. Here’s the thing though – Austen knew to stop at around 500 pages at least. While there were all sorts of interesting things happening and plots thickening, it was done in an extremely long way and I’m going to say that this book could have been a good 300-400 pages shorter and would have been much more enjoyable.

I also think that I’m SO LUCKY I picked up the audio version at the library so that I could have the option of listening or reading. I enjoyed the audio version much more, and I think that’s because just on the page the characters were a bit dull. I couldn’t really pin down the personalities of Strange or Norrell, but they were both much more interesting and alive in the audio version. And I don’t even really like audiobooks that much. Overall though, I think that my favorite character was “the man with the thistle-down hair”, who was kind of a baddie but as a character, he was so much bolder. I also liked Stephen Black, a black servant who Thistle-Down takes a liking too.

Soooo… I’m going to say that this was a good premise, poorly executed. I appreciated Clarke’s wit and style, but I think she definitely could have edited out a lot and could have worked at making Strange and Norrell more well-defined characters. The world she created was vivid and detailed, but the story itself wasn’t concise enough. If it wasn’t for the audiobook, I might have set this aside – I just wasn’t invested enough. I did have one favorite line in particular though, that was well-written and pretty: “She wore a gown the colour of storms, shadows, and rain and a necklace of broken promises and regrets.”

I do however want to read Susanna Clarke’s other book – The Ladies of Grace Adieu and Other Stories. It’s short stories about the same JS&Mr.N-world, but focuses more on women and magic. Also Jonathan Strange makes an appearance. I also already own this book, so I might read it this month and see if it changes my feelings on JS&Mr.N at all.

Sarah Says: 2.5 stars

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October 29, 2011 · 9:01 am

Beauty and the Werewolf by Mercedes Lackey

I always look forward to Mercedes Lackey’s new Tales of the 500 Kingdoms books. It’s a really fun series based on fairy-tales, and they work as stand-alone novels as well.

So, this is her newest – just came out this month. It’s kind of an unusual version of the “Beauty and the Beast” story, but very different. Bella (Ha, get it? Like Belle from the Disney movie.) is walking home from Granny’s one dark evening in her red hooded cape and is attacked by a huge wolf. Oddly, once the wolf bites her he runs away, but the next day Bella is taken captive by order of the King and brought to Duke Sebastian’s manor. Turns out there’s a chance that SHE might turn into a werewolf, and she’s going to be held there until the King is convinced she’s safe. Can she unravel the mystery surrounding her attack so that she can go home? If you’ve ever read these books before, you’d know that of course Belle’s being pushed down a fairy-tale path by The Tradition – that magical force that exists in the 500 Kingdoms that tries to make everyone fit into a fairy tale, even if it’s to the detriment of the person.

That red cape mention is pretty much the only reference to Little Red Riding Hood in the story – that fairy tale isn’t really present here. There’s also a bit of a Cinderella vibe to it too. The Beauty and the Beast story is most prominent and I have to say that the author re-interpretation of it IS really interesting. I was never quite sure where exactly she was going with it.

I was honestly a bit disappointed by this book. Bella was a hard character to get into a first, and it took almost 200 pages for the story to REALLY get under way. There was so much filler. Also there’s always a romance in the story, so I was expecting that, but it kind of happened really suddenly and didn’t fit the story very well. There was no real building to it. On the up side though, there are cool invisble servants and they were really interesting to read about.

Anyways, it kept my interest long enough for me to finish it, but it’s definitely not one of my favorites of this series. If you haven’t read any of this series before but want to (and I do highly recommend it), I recommend trying One Good Knight, Fortune’s Fool, or The Sleeping Beauty. Those are my favorites.

Sarah Says: 2 stars

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September 14, 2011 · 4:09 pm

My Wicked Wishlist

Hey ya’ll! So as you may have noticed lately, I have totally fallen in love with Gregory Maguire’s book Wicked, and I’ve been listening to the musical soundtrack on the constant and MAN do I want to see the play in RL but it’s not coming to my area this year.

Anyways, I have been browsing the internet and there a ton of Wicked-based things that I’m tempted to blow all my over-time money on right away. Instead, I’m trying to restrain myself by just sharing some of the awesome things that I want with you guys :-) So oooo and ahhhh with me, kay?

I love mugs, and I’m itching for a new one. And this Wicked mug would be perrrrfect! Basically though, I want all of the souvenirs, apparel, and jewelry from The OzDust Boutique.

So after looking around at the Wicked official store, I decided to poke around Etsy and one of the first things that came up was this book-purse! I have this pretty B&N copy of the book, and I would LOOOVVVVEEEE to have this purse, at least to use during fall. But it’s $45 which I’m having a hard time telling myself is a reasonable amount to spend on a purse, even such a cool one.

This is a pendant necklace made out a Scrabble tile. My sister Heather actually makes these, so mayyyybe she’ll surprise me with a Wicked one! *hint hint sis*

This is acually more Wizard of Oz themed, but I’ve always loved that movie and I was SO JEALOUS of a girl in middle school who actually had replicas of the ruby slippers. I want the ruby slippers! But I’d settle for this necklace ;-)

This would be SUCH COOL wall art for the spare bedroom that houses all of my books. It doesn’t come with the frame, but that could be easily remedied.

I love magnets! Although I wouldn’t use all of the ones in this bunch – I’ve gotten so used to listening to Idina Menzel and Kristin Chenoweth and it bugs me to see other people playing Elphie & Glinda. I know, I know that’s just how plays are but still.

Anyways, that’s all I have for the moment. But I had so much fun shopping around the internet and making this list, I might make some future wishlist posts… like an Outlander wishlist, or other ones I can think of…. Hmmmmm….

~Sarah

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September 12, 2011 · 6:00 am

Son of a Witch by Gregory Maguire

So, just in case you haven’t read Wicked yet, there might be some slight spoilers here since it’s book #2 in The Wicked Years series.

Liir is found barely alive and taken to the Cloister of Saint Glinda, where he is slowly brought back from the brink of death by a young quiet girl named Candle. As he’s healing, we learn how Liir came to be so badly hurt – what he’s been doing in the ten years since Elphaba’s death. He’s set out to do and learn so much – help Princess Nastoya, find out who his parents were, find Nor, save Oz from what’s been terrorizing the countryside (and what hurt Liir so badly)… will he succeed?

Soooo… Obviously, Wicked is way better. But I don’t think I agree with all of the people who say that this wasn’t good – it was just a lot different. I think the main problem with this book is that it was a little too disjointed – partly because Liir himself is pretty indecisive and careless for most of the book.

Liir shares a lot of Elphaba’s qualities – he’s upset with the corruption in Oz, but pessimistic, he sets out to do good things but somehow it never pans out quite the way he thinks, he’s private but longs for some sort of human bond. Liir wasn’t an easy character to like – he actually did some things that to me were way more wicked than anything Elphie ever did. But overall, this was a story about a young boy with no concrete background trying to find himself and figure out what kind of person he wanted to be and I think that by the end of the novel this was accomplished.

The only real issue I have with the story in general is like I said, it’s disjointed. It just doesn’t flow as well as Wicked did – Liir’s goals change and jump with each chapter and therefore, certain storylines never really get resolved. Luckily, there’s a third book out (A Lion Among Men) and a fourth on the way (Out of Oz), so I’m thinking that I’ll find more answers there.

Oh, and here’s some spoiler-y stuff about things near the end, so highlight to read if you want:

1. I didn’t mind Liir’s romantic attachments to Candle or Trism, but I wish there had been more of a lead-up to him and Trism getting it on. I had to double-back to make sure I had read it right, cause that seemed to come out of no where.

2. LOL another similarity between Elphie & Liir – neither one of them realizes that they are parents. Elphie was in shock and never remembered giving birth to Liir, and apparently Candle sexed up Liir while he was practically comatose, so he wasn’t sure if her pregnancy was his doing. I guess the green skin confirms it though, no? I can’t wait to see her grow up…

Overall, an enjoyable read and a welcome addition to The Wicked Years. I’m really, really looking forward to reading the other books. I wish that Maguire would publish a short novella that would show us more about Elphie & Fiyero’s relationship… I miss them.

Sarah Says: 3 stars and can’t wait to read A Lion Among Men!

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September 3, 2011 · 4:05 am

To be or not to be… a supernatural creature.

So, recently reading and reviewing Perfect Fudge by Hazel M. Larsen (see previous post) has got me thinking about supernatural creatures, and the choices characters make in these books about whether or not to be one (if they even have the choice). Now, as a human I don’t want to live forever. I’m hoping to keel over when I’m a little over 70. But as a supernatural creature, it’d be so fun to be immortal. I know that’s not everyone’s cup of tea.

So, here are a bunch of supernatural / paranormal / fantastical beings I’ve read books or seen movies about.

Angels: I’m about to get a little spoiler-y here, because I want to clarify why the angels in Perfect Fudge (see previous post for review) are so cool and a fun concept. As you know if you read my review, it introduces a unique concept of guardian angels. These guardian angels don’t really have any biblical connotations, but they help people. They can also fly, teleport, turn invisible, cook food with their mind, heal, clean with the blink of an eye, and whether they start out older or younger, they’ll eventually and then forever appear to be in their 20′s. Of course this is a kind of new version of the idea of angels, but I think it’s awesome.

*I would totally choose to be an angel. There’s almost zero downside.

Vampires: Of course the paranormal lore is different according to legends / authors / movies, but most agree that vampires drink blood (human or animal in most cases), have super speed and strength, and are burned by sunlight. I think the slight majority opinion is that vampires can hold on to their humanity if they choose – at least Christopher Moore, Anne Rice, Charlaine Harris, and Stephanie Meyer think so. (I probably just discredited this theory a bit by mentioning Meyer, but hey whatever). I personally agree with this – I think vampires can choose how humane they want to be. I don’t believe that vampires are “damned”, but that has more to do with the fact that I don’t believe in heaven or hell, so how could I believe in damnation? And even if someone showed me proof that all that existed and your soul could be damned… well I don’t know if that would convince me not to be a vampire.

*If a vampire walked up to me tonight and offered to make me a vamp… I would definitely want to say yes. Honestly, the only thing holding me back here is that the honeyman said that if I was a vampire, he’d have to try to kill me. And you know, that kind of means breaking up, and I don’t want that, I love my honeyman. Honestly, angels can do more cool shit than vampires, but for some reason the idea of being a vampire is more appealing to me… it’s probably just more familiar of an idea.

Werewolves: Again, the lore is really different here. Some say that werewolves only change during a full moon and have no control during that time. Some say that weres that change whenever they want and are conscious the whole time. Most agree that you transform into a big huge scary wolf-like creature (unless you’re the director of the 3rd Harry Potter movie, in which you think weres transform into some weird, sad hairy mandog-looking creature). Generally though, werewolves are bad-ass and powerful and scary-looking.

 *Whether or not I agree to be a were would depend on the lore we’re going with here. I personally choose to think that weres are like the ones on True Blood – that they can change at will and know what they’re doing when they’re in that form. And if that were the case then hell yes I’d be a werewolf.

Witch / wizard: Okay, does this one even need much explaining? The term witch general means one who can do magic – cast spells, has powers, etc. They’re usually not immortal. My personal favorite? The Charmed witches. I love Piper. Oh and Harry Potter of course, can’t forget him.

*I’d agree to be a witch in a heartbeat.

Elves: Elves are cool fantastical creatures. They’re usually nature-nuts, proud, arrogant, secretive, and skinny. But they’re also powerful, graceful, and have magical abilities. In most fantasy, elves are not to be trifled with.

* I suppose that yes, I’d agree to be an elf. Even if meant me getting all weird and slender looking.

Fairies: I think that sometimes the lines between fairies and elves blend and are kind of together called “fae” creatures. I usually think of fairies as little pixies – tiny winged creatures with magical abilities, like Tinkerbell. Gotta love Tink.

* I don’t think I’d agree to be a fairy… depends on the scope of magical abilities. But I think I’d feel too vulnerable being that tiny, and the biggest appeal of being a supernatural creature is being able to feel like the shit and be powerful and stuff.

Mutants: Now here’s a fun one. I’ll let in on a little secret… I believe almost any of these paranormal creatures could exist. Who the hell am I to say that they don’t just because I’ve never had the luck to meet one? I know, I know, I’m like a big kid. Anyways, I like the idea of mutants because to me they are the most likely supernatural creatures to exist. Well, actually they’re still technically humans. They’re not magic, they’re just evolutionally-advanced humans. But still, I’m counting em. Think of the X-Men, the X-Men are awesome! Sure, some of them have pretty lame mutations, but most of them are cool and useful in some way (after all, the point of nature evolving like this would be the progression of human life).

* Sign me up! I know I’m 24, but I’m still hoping some sign of cool mutant abilities will show… or maybe I’ll just go the Alex Mac route and get cool mutant-like powers from radiation and chemicals :-) It’s either mutant powers or cancer… 50/50 odds aren’t too bad, right?

Zombies: Okay, who the hell would want to be a zombie? I’m including them on the list because they are a really popular paranormal creature these days, but they’re basically rotting humans that can’t think anything other than “BRAAAIIIINSS”.

* Hell no, I wouldn’t be a zombie. But I can’t wait for the zombie apocalypse so I can be a zombie-killer! I’ll judge anyone who actually says they’d choose to be a zombie. Weirdo.

Unicorns / Dragons: These are two of the most popular paranormal animals really. Unicorns are supposed to be all sweet and crazy magical, and dragons are supposed to be all nasty and fire-breathing. Honestly, I think both are really cool but I don’t think I’d ever choose to turn into one. I’d feel like a magical pet.

Giants / Goblins / Leprechauns: So these don’t need much explaining. Giants are huge, goblins are tiny and mean, and leprechauns are tiny and lucky. I think I’d reject all of these just on basis of size. 

 Gods: Well, gods are pretty self-explanatory too. I’m thinking of two sets of gods in particular – the Greek mythology gods, and the gods and godlings in the Inheritance Trilogy by N.K. Jemisin. Either way, all are bad-ass. I love that gods are such all-powerful beings, but that they’re also usually petty just like humans. I don’t know why humanity ever gave up on Greek gods as a religion, I probably would have been a believer.

*I would totally be a god. You practically can’t be killed, and you are the baddest mofo out there. Seriously as powerful as all hell. For someone whose severe lack of ambition means I want to be a housewife, I’m surprisingly power-hungry when it comes to paranormal creatures.

I think that covers most of the supernatural creatures I’ve been thinking of…

Oh, and for funsies here are some of my favorite books / movies relating the all of the above:

  • Perfect Fudge by Hazel M. Larsen (angels)
  • Sookie Stackhouse series by Charlaine Harris (vampires, werewolves)
  • Inheritance trilogy by N.K. Jemisin (gods, godlings)
  • Bloodsucking Fiends /You Suck / Bite Me by Christopher Moore
  • Interview With A Vampire by Anne Rice
  • X-Men movies
  • Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon (time-travellers, not mentioned)
  • Living With the Dead series by Jesse Petersen (zombies)
  • Inheritance Cycle by Christopher Paolini (dragons, elves, fae)
  • Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling (witches, wizards, unicorn)
  • The Kingkiller Chronicles by Patrick Rothfuss (wizards, fae)
  • True Blood tv show (vampires, werewolves, fairies, fae)
  • Charmed tv show (witches, leprechauns, giants, fairies, vampires)

So, whatcha think?

If one of these creatures walked up to you and offered to make you one of them, would you do it? Which one would you want to be the most? Any that I missed that you’d choose to be? Or would you go the crazy route and refuse them all and choose to remain human?

 ~Sarah

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June 17, 2011 · 3:13 pm

Wicked by Gregory Maguire

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OK, let me start by saying that…
~Though I love the movie, I’ve never actually read the Oz books by Baum. Yet.
~I’ve never seen the play.
~I went into this book expecting to be disappointed… I’d heard a lot of mixed reviews, and a lot of people said it was hard to get into and they couldn’t even finish it.
~I FINALLY read this because it was one of the winners for the June poll. And I’m so glad I did.

Now most of us are familiar with the story of The Wizard of Oz… The movie is about Dorothy, a girl whose house is caught up in a tornado, and her house (with her and her dog Toto inside) lands in the wonderful land of Oz – right on top of the Wicked Witch of the East. The Wicked Witch of the West (distinguished by her green witch skin) shows up and is pissed, but goes to grab her sister’s magical shoes. Then Glinda, the Good Witch of the North, puts the magical shoes on Dorothy’s feet and directs her to Emerald City to see the Wizard of Oz, who will hopefully help her get home. There’s also Munchkins, a yellow brick road, flying monkeys, a tin man, a talking lion, and an animated scarecrow.

Wicked is the intricate story of the sadly misunderstood Wicked Witch of the West – here now known as Elphaba. The story starts with Elphaba’s birth to a minister and his wife in Munchkinland. From there we see Elphaba as a young adult attending Shiz University and rooming with an ambitious socialite, Gelinda (AKA Glinda). Nessarose, Elphie’s sister and later known as The Wicked Witch of the East, is introduced. I don’t want to ruin the story for anyone, but you basically see Elphie develop her passions and purposes – for better or worse. Throughout the book I really grew to love Elphaba, to feel for her, and to totally side with her. And the book raises some very thought-provoking issues of what exactly evil is, and whether it actually exists.

I love how detailed the land of Oz has become in the hands of Gregory Maguire. Oz is divided into four main areas – the tribal Vinkus, agricultural Munchkinland, poor Quadling Country, and elite Gillikin – with Emerald City smack dab in the middle. There’s religious and political turmoil and plots. There’s moral and ethical dilemmas, there’s discrimination, there’s deception and intrigue. It’s all just SO GOOD. And Elphie is a great heroine – yes, that’s right. This book really does explain why the Wicked Witch seems so darn wicked, and you can’t help but cheer for her, even though you know that her fate is doomed.

Honestly, I could go into a LOT of detail here. I could go on and on about the things I loved about this book, the issues it raises, etc. But I’m going to save all that for when I meet others who’ve read the book, cause I don’t want to get all spoiler-y on you. But I do HIGHLY recommend this book, and I do plan to read the sequel, Son of a Witch. Also I’m totally dying to see the famous Wicked play now, even though I read up on it and I don’t think I really like the changes that were made. (For those of you who have read the book AND seen the play – what is up with Fiyero being a white guy on stage? I was looking forward to a cool dark-skinned guy with little blue diamond tattoos!)

Anyways, that’s my verdict and I’m sticking to it.

Sarah Says: 5 stars, and I’m going to go buy the soundtrack to the play tonight.

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June 8, 2011 · 3:53 pm

Godmother: The Secret Cinderella Story by Carolyn Turgeon

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The last book I read was Mermaid by Carolyn Turgeon, and I really enjoyed it. Which is why I immediately started this book, by the same author. I can’t say that I enjoyed this one as much though.

OK, so this is about an old lady named Lil. Lil works daily at a used bookstore shelving and cleaning, and spends her nights lonely in her apartment, remembering her old life. Lil has a secret – she used to be Cinderella’s fairy godmother. But on the night that she was supposed to bring Cinderella to the ball to meet Prince Charming, she went to the ball herself instead – and has been living out her days as a human as punishment. When she meets a vibrant young woman named Veronica, she sees instantly what a great match she’d make for Lil’s employer, George. And if she can successfully pair them up, maybe it will be her redemption and she’ll be allowed to come back to the fairy realm.

I really loved the first half of this book. It alternates between Lil’s present life, and her fairy life up to the night of Cinderella’s ball. I liked the glimpses into Lil’s fairy world – it was pretty and exciting and vivid. I enjoyed Lil’s present-day life as well – her working in a used bookstore, her conversations with George and (later) Veronica. It all had that fairy-tale feel to it.

Something went wonky during the last 100 pages… Lil suddenly seems more like a crazy person that anything else. And while I still enjoyed her friendship with Veronica, internally Lil was turning into a mess. I just spent the last 100 pages of the book half confused and half frustrated. And now that I’m done with the book, I still don’t know 100% what exactly just happened. I hate that.

Since I enjoyed Mermaid so much, and I did enjoy most of this book, then I’ll probably read whatever else Turgeon writes. I just wish that this story had gone a little differently.

Sarah Says: 2.5 stars

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