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...

Title: The Tangled Lands Author: Paolo Bacigalupi and Tobias S. Buckell My Rating: 4 stars Magic has been banned in Khaim because it causes the bramble to grow, choking out the cities and life.  If the bramble touches you, you fall into a deep sleep, never to wake. Only the Majister Scacz is allowed to use magic and yet, so many others do, causing the bramble to continue to grow.  Stories of magic, yes, but these are really tales of the lesser people fighting back, while losing people along the way. At first I was disappointed to find out this was a book of four stories set in one world, instead of a novel, but I actually found it to be well written and the stories were moving.  Each author writes two of the stories.  I think my favorite was the Executioness. In the first story, an inventor is trying to protect his young daughter who is sick.  He creates a device that can fight the bramble, but Scacz and the duke discover it can be used to find those...

Title: The Wizards of Once Author: Cressida Cowell My Rating: 4 stars A wizard boy without magic.  A warrior girl with a secret magical object.  The two meet and fight off witches, thought to have been extinct. Will they save the day and manage to stay out of trouble? Xar and Wish are a pretty cute team up, though Xar can be a little annoying and selfish.  He does have a little bit of character growth by the end, but not much.  Wish is the true star of the team.  She is much more likeable.  The story is told by an unnamed narrator, though he/she tells you it is a character in the book.  My guess is the bird on the cover or the sprite named Squeezjoos,  but I'm still not certain. Overall, this middle grade novel is a fun magical adventure romp and the illustrations add to the exciting tale.