Thanks to Fiction Flock for providing me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Sword-wielding heroines are everywhere now, setting a new standard for “strong” female protagonists. While the concept of a young medieval woman challenging gender norms and saving the day with a sword is appealing, it teeters on the … Continue reading Not Every Girl, by Jane McGarry →

Every young adult fantasy reader has a favorite: vampires, werewolves, zombies, etc. My personal favorite? Fairies. Seelie, unseelie, tricksters, changelings, forbidden love, blood contracts—fairy lore has it all! Young adult fantasy hardly ever shies from fairy lore’s darker elements, but I like it when there’s a symbiotic relationship between humans and fairies. In the case … Continue reading An Enchantment of Ravens, by Margaret Rogerson →

Sleeping Beauty is as ripe for retellings as they come. A majority of the story—the Grimms’ version, anyway—mostly details what happens when the princess falls asleep: what happens to the castle, the peasants, even the flies in the stables. The evil fairy’s spell, the rescue, the famous kiss of true love—all that is a footnote … Continue reading Spindle Fire, by Lexa Hillyer →

For whatever reason besides fluff and escapism would I pick up a romance novel? With nothing better to do but sit and read these days, it makes sense to read something that will remove me from all the anxiety and uncertainty. And what is more escapist than a title that has the word “princess” in … Continue reading My Fair Princess (The Improper Princesses #1), by Vanessa Kelly →

Today’s book serves two purposes: one, I’m still kind of coming down from the emotional high of Finding Dorothy, and second, I’ve seen this book many random times at bookstores and libraries. So I guess today is the day where I finally sit down and read it. Not that it’s been hyped up or anything; … Continue reading The Four Dorothys (Drama! #1), by Paul Ruditis →

Every once in awhile, I just need some fluff. I don’t want to think; I just want to feel. I never thought in a million years I would turn to romance novels for fluff, as my haughty reading tastes had prevented me from enjoying them before. But now, I have to admit, they’re growing on … Continue reading Strawberry Hill, by Catherine Anderson →

As you all know, fantasy is my Kryptonite: give me a modern character, a fantasy world to explore, and I’m gone until that journey is finished. But sometimes, magical realism all by itself is just as powerful as any real magic spell. The greatest adventures can be found with your own friends, in your own … Continue reading The Looking Glass, by Janet McNally →

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, and consequently the Wizard of Oz film, is a rare entity: a story whose characters, settings, and adventures just exude magic. From childhood, the story of Dorothy and her strange companions has been a warm source of comfort and enchantment for me. And yet, I find I know very little … Continue reading Finding Dorothy, by Elizabeth Letts →

When I reviewed Kendare Blake’s Three Dark Crowns last summer, I knew I had landed on something pretty awesome. A little over six months later, and here I am, reviewing the sequel, One Dark Throne. It’s taken me long enough to read it, and therefore long enough to review it. Because this is a sequel, … Continue reading One Dark Throne (Three Dark Crowns #2), by Kendare Blake →

Of all the world’s pantheons of gods, I remember the Greek one the best, having learned about them in school, watched them in movies and television, and continued to read them in fiction (cough Percy Jackson cough). Ah, distinctly, I remember watching the 1997 film version of The Odyssey in English class—Odysseus bending to the … Continue reading Circe, by Madeline Miller →