Across the Library

This new take on fairy tales focuses on Violet, a prickly court seer that doesn't particularly care if she is likeable. She certainly doesn't care if Cyrus, the prince she saved years ago, earning her place in court, likes or hates her, as she rather hates him. But it is her place as seer to prophesize whether he will find love in time to break his curse and save the kingdom from war and destruction as the previous seer's prophecy foretold. This book does so many things well! The "villainous" main character - this is my favorite type of character, so the bar was high, but this book does it well. The author made Violet properly prickly and supposedly unrelatable, but that just made me love her so much. Enemies to lovers - the chemistry is believable and enjoyable, moving the story forward as well as the rest of the plot. The beasts - The beasts were described so uniquely and beautifully, a strange combination of plant, fur. and horns. Camilla - Rivaling Violet and ...

  I read in an interview with Maggie Stiefvater that this book would appeal to both fans of the Disney movie Brave, as this is a sequel to the movie, and to her longtime fans. I happen to be an adult fan of both. I decided to rewatch the movie before reading the book because even though Merida is my favorite Disney princess, I haven't seen the movie since it was released, and I wanted to make sure it was fresh in my mind in case I needed to remember any plot points. This is not necessary though, as readers new to Merida's story can still find enjoyment in the book. It picks up a few years after the movie, and though it does occasionally mention the events of the movie, it is an entirely new story, where Merida, the princess of DunBroch, must spend a year trying to bring change to her family in order to save them after making a bargain with two gods. In a way, I think rewatching the movie first hindered my enjoyment of the book, because for the first half, I kept hearing movie M...

  Update 8/24/22: Liz Talley has written a sequel!  If the Dress Fits comes out October 25, 2022! There are so many things I love about this book. First and foremost, Liz Talley's writing style is fun, easygoing, and feels like a chat with your best friend. Cricket and Ruby are both fierce women, and their friendship is strong, with them truly being there for each other when it mattered. I particularly loved Ruby -- her background, her personality, her style and fashion designs. I wish I could see those designs in person or a drawing of them! No spoilers here, but her love interests and how they turn out are perfect. Yellow carnations -- nice touch. As for Cricket, her journey to catch her husband cheating is a wild, and enjoyable, ride (for the reader, not her!). Along the way, who can blame her if she wants to get to know Griffin better. My only complaint with the book is the little jumps forward between chapters (a week, a month near the end). I wanted more time to know ev...

Do you like alternate histories? Maybe mixed with a little fantasy? I just finished An Affair of Poisons, and I loved it. It's an alternate history tale of a Shadow Society that poisons King Louis XIV and then takes power. There are two perspectives, one told by a poisoned, the daughter of the Shadow Society leader, who doesn't agree with what has happened, and a bastard prince who is fighting to save his sisters. The two meet and try to take back the city in the name of the boy's brother, the dauphin Louis. I thought it was a beautiful story with strong characters. There is romance but it is slow to build and handled well. It has poison and curatives, magic and intrigue. I highly recommend it.⁣

Rayne and Delilah's Midnight Matinee is book about friendship foremost, but the characters (real names Josie and Delia) also have strong character growth individually. The girls host a horror film show, broadcasting old B horror movies that are so bad they're funny. Their hosting show is a little corny, but that's part of its charm. When one girl starts dating and talking of moving on to other things, the other is afraid of being left behind again (her dad left when she was young). The two attend a horror con with hopes of making connections and keeping the show going, but this has crazy results. Delia also goes on a search for her father. In the end the two learn how to survive as individuals, but vow to be there for each other as well. ⁣ ⁣ Strong humor and character growth. As a book about friends, is it refreshing to see that the romance doesn't overtake that story. All around, a good book.⁣

 Wow. Just finished this book, and I think it's outstanding. I admit, I found it a little confusing at first, and at times it felt too long. But overall -- outstanding.⁣ ⁣ Claudia comes home from spending the summer with her grandmamma a little upset that she hasn't heard from her best friend Monday. Then Monday doesn't show up for school, for days, weeks, ever. No one seems all that concerned about it, other than Claudia. She's determined to find out where her best friend is even if the adults won't help her.⁣ ⁣ This is both a story of a close friendship between two teen girls, and a chilling take of a girl gone missing.⁣

Thirsty? Too bad. We take water for granted. Some people won't even drink tap water, and that can be understandable. But what happens when the taps run dry? Nothing to drink, you can't take a shower, and flushing the toilet is out of the question.⁣ ⁣ In 𝘋𝘳𝘺 by Neal Shusterman & Jarrod Shusterman the drought in South California just got worse. The water has been turned off, and people are just trying to survive. This book is fast-paced and a bit haunting because you can't help but think it could actually happen. ⁣ ⁣ I really enjoyed this one, but I will say, I wouldn't have minded if it had ended on page 367. That would have been some ending, but maybe a little too macabre for a young adult book.⁣

Title: Girl at the Grave Author: Teri Bailey Black My Rating: 4 stars I've had this young adult book for a while and finally got around to reading it, and then still I wasn't sure I was going to be able to get into it.  Once I started though, it went by so quickly and and I engaged and excited.  It turned out to be a nice, kind of spooky, murder mystery, perfect for October! It is the set in the 1800's. Valentine is a teen girl who is a bit of an outsider, but not for the typical reasons one might be.  Her mother was hanged when she was a little girl for murdering a man, who was a prominent member of society.  The man's son, Rowan, is now a classmate of Valentine's, and he tends to watch her closely, in contempt she thinks.  Soon after the book starts Valentine finds out her mother was innocent, but the person who tells her this turns up dead, and it may have been murder.  Surprisingly Rowan wants to help her find out who the new murderer is ; m...

Title: Onyx and Ivory Author: Minee Arnett My Rating:  5 stars I'm not in love with the cover or the title, but the book? Absolutely! This has earned its spot in my top 3 of the year! In this young adult fantasy, the main characters are around 19-20.  Kate's father was a traitor, having tried to kill the king, and that has left her with the name "Traitor Kate." Plus she has had to hide her wilder magic ability to speak with and control animals else she be judged for that as well, since wilder magic is illegal. But then she rescues her old friend, Prince Corwin, from a drake attack and things begin to change. Corwin doesn't want to rule. He has accepted that his brother, Edwin, will likely be the heir. Then he sees Kate again as she rescues him from the drakes and old feelings are rekindled.  But there are more important issues at hand...why are the drakes, typically called nightdrakes, attacking during the day? Is wilder magic involved? Right at 500 p...

Title: Shadow Weaver Author: MarcyKate Connolly Rating: 4 stars This dark tale of friendship, magic, and secrets was enchanting. The main focus is a young girl who can control and speak to shadows. Her parents do not approve of her magic, and soon, she is on the run from those who want to take her magic. She meets new people who her shadow warns her against telling about her secrets, but she finds they have some magic of their own. The story of magic weaves into one of true friendship.  This is the first book in a duology.