Prepare your torches and pitchforks. I’m probably the one person in the whole world that did not fall hopelessly, head-over-heels, over-the-moon in love with Hamilton: An American Musical. I know. What a disgusting, wretched heathen am I for not rabidly loving the groundbreaking music, ingenious storytelling, and the renewed national interest in the American Revolution! … Continue reading Alex and Eliza: A Love Story, by Melissa de la Cruz →

I’ll let it be known that I have never read Jane Eyre—at least, not in its entirety. I began it sometime in college, but distractions prevented me from finishing it. However, that didn’t prevent me from picking up Alexa Donne’s Brightly Burning, a sci-fi retelling of Charlotte Bronte’s classic. Like with Jenna Moreci, Ms. Donne’s … Continue reading Brightly Burning, by Alexa Donne →

Romance novels don’t frequent this blog very often. But sometimes, when I walk past my family’s bookshelf, I see the same books that pique my interest, and I have to finally give them a read. Catherine Anderson’s Only By Your Touch was one such book. I established in a previous entry that I was beginning … Continue reading Only By Your Touch, by Catherine Anderson →

My freshman year of high school, I took a Leadership for Life class, where we wrote our own eulogies and discussed our bucket lists—pretty heavy, I know. We also watched many thought-provoking movies, my favorite being Tim Burton’s Big Fish. I forgot, until recently, that the story of a dying father recreating his life as … Continue reading Big Fish, by Daniel Wallace →

I have a love-hate relationship with disaster stories. On the one hand, they can give me anxiety, but on the other hand, they can be riveting in how their characters react to the disaster. Much in the vein of Susan Beth Pfeffer’s Last Survivors series (which I recommend checking out), Karen Thompson Walker’s The Age … Continue reading The Age of Miracles, by Karen Thompson Walker →

It would be more than redundant at this point to say that I love fairy tales. The sad truth, though, is that very few contemporary authors make that world seem close and true to life. However, once in a blue moon, when the sweeping language, the charming characters, and wondrous locations of old tales is … Continue reading Wildwood Dancing, by Juliet Marillier →

Me oh my, is my reading lineup eclectic this month: first, a Halloween read with Jekyll and Hyde, and now a winter read with Winterspell. That is not intentional though. It just so happened that personal and worldly anxieties drew me to pick up, to my knowledge, the only YA retelling of The Nutcracker there … Continue reading Winterspell, by Claire Legrand →

One of the scariest moments of my childhood was watching The Pagemaster, and seeing the part with Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. To see Dr. Jekyll writhe around his laboratory, to hear his screams of pain turn to ape-like grunts, then to a soaring maniacal laugh as he gleefully revealed his monstrous face…it still sends … Continue reading The Strange Case of Doctor Jekyll and Mister Hyde, by Robert Louis Stevenson →

If I could trace the popularity of contemporary young adult fairy tale retellings, I might start with Gail Carson Levine’s Ella Enchanted. It might not be precisely the first retelling of a popular fantasy, but it is certainly ranked among the most well known. Like I mentioned in my Geekerella review, it is ridiculously easy … Continue reading Ella Enchanted, by Gail Carson Levine →

Last summer, I made the acquaintance of Sarah Henning, who offered me some writing career advice, and in return for her kindness, I reviewed her debut book, Sea Witch. Little did I know that there was a sequel on the horizon, called Sea Witch Rising. I knew even less that I would be offered the … Continue reading Sea Witch Rising, by Sarah Henning →