The Good Things: One of my top reads of the year so far! It’s a beautiful fantasy retelling. I read this as part of a readalong! Thank you, Tandem Collective Global and HarperCollins Australia for hosting. The writing reminded me of Juliet Marillier, one of my favourite authors. It was gorgeous writing that sucked you […]
The Good Things A YA fantasy retelling of The Goose Girl, and a reread for me! The plot had quite a few darker and brutal moments that I’d completely forgotten about (specifically the snatchers, Thorn’s brother, and the thieves). Written in present tense first person POV, so it was really easy to get into. Also […]
I adored Spooner’s previous stand-alone book, Hunted (you can find my review here!), but Sherwood fell a bit flat. I wish I liked it more, but for every good thing about it, there were two disappointing aspects. Honestly, reading this book had its ups and downs. Sometimes I would be hesitantly surprised at how something came […]
This Beauty and the Beast retelling may have some familiar tropes, but it’s definitely not a fantasy to be missed! Kemmerer writes fantabulous dialogue in a magical realm where a girl from our modern day and age travels to. This girl, Harper, has cerebral palsy, but she proves time and time again with her cunning […]
Spindle Fire closely follows the fairy-tale story of Sleeping Beauty, incorporating the love between two sisters and additional plotlines. While this book was a quick read, I was unimpressed it as a fairy-tale retelling and even more so as a fantasy. There was nothing I didn’t not like, but it just felt lackadaisical and boring. Spindle […]
I wasn’t sure whether I was going to like The Forbidden Wish, as retellings can always go wrong and I love Aladdin too much for that. But thankfully, I found myself absolutely loving the trapped jinni Zahra, the ever charming Aladdin and the magical Persian setting. Here’s 5 things I loved about it: 1. A successful Aladdin retelling […]
After hearing all the raves on The Wrath and the Dawn, I wanted to love it so much. But why do I have to overthink things? Why can’t I just enjoy a story for what it is? There were so many things that irked me about this book. Let’s start with the good bit. The sumptuous, atmospheric Arabian nights […]
The premise of this book, which is a YA retelling of A Tale of Two Cities by Dickens, features the conflicting sides of light versus dark. The winning factor of it all, in my opinion, is my YAWN, which is ultimately why I could not go on with this book. I’ve sectioned out the main factors […]
Steampunk isn’t my usual genre, but I thoroughly enjoyed The Diabolical Miss Hyde. While it isn’t particularly heavy on the steampunk elements, the gender swapped Jekyll/Hyde story in a fey-ridden Victorian London gave the story an interesting twist. I’ve read the original Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, and I’m pleased to say that in this […]