Lucky me recently snatched up an advance reader’s copy of Danielle Teller’s new upcoming novel All the Ever Afters, the story of Cinderella as told by Cinderella’s “evil” stepmother, Agnes. This book is in a similar vein to Wicked, in that it deeply expands on, reinvents, and complicates the original fairytale in a way that feels very relevant and necessary, minus all the “bippity boppity boo.”
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Opening up a newly-released book by Tamora Pierce felt a little bit like breathing in sunlight. Okay, my inner poet likes being a little dramatic, but when I finally got around to reading Tempests and Slaughter, I was a little worried that returning to Pierce’s work after seven+ years would be disappointing. I still remember so vividly the magic and wonder of her Circle of Magic series, and the vivacity of the Alanna books, and the intensity of the Beka Cooper series. I was afraid that Tempests and Slaughter might reveal to me that I’d outgrown Pierce’s writing, or that it wasn’t as good as I remember it being, or that I simply wouldn’t like this new story.
I needn’t have worried. I first picked up Scythe a few months ago, when I saw that its sequel, Thunderhead, had come out. The cover was intriguing, the shiny Michael L. Printz Award on the cover was a definite indication that this might be worth a read, and the synopsis on the back was even more interesting. I ended up reading both books in a matter of days. While I didn’t initially feel compelled to do a book review, I think I’d be doing a disservice to these books by not writing about them on my blog.
So, without further ado, here is my review of Scythe and Thunderhead, of the Arc of a Scythe series by Neal Shusterman. Hello to my regular blog followers and Z Publishing followers alike! In this blog post, you'll get to know Z Publishing: who they are, what they do, and why they're publishing emerging writers in anthologies.
I was shelving books in the teen section at my bookstore job, as I do almost every night at work now, and I spotted among the nonfiction books a thick book whose cover was rendered in soft pastels, with the image of two lines of young girls figure skating, and the word “Spinning” in thick, purple cursive.
For years, I resisted the pull of reading fanfiction.
“I am way too picky about my reading content!” I would cry as my friends tried to show me novel-length, multi-chapter fanfiction featuring their favorite characters. “I don’t have time to sort through millions of fics just to find one that doesn’t have abysmal grammar!” I would wail. “I have enough reading to do just for class!” To conclude my “Forays into Fairyland” themed month, I will be reviewing an exciting new bestseller by Holly Black.
When I saw that there was a new fairy-themed book out by Holly Black, beloved author of the Modern Faerie Tales series that I adored as a wee teen, I nearly jumped up and down. I don’t follow Black on Twitter, so I had no idea that she was cooking up another faerie series. I brought the book home a few days later, practically vibrating with excitement. As you may know, I’ve been on a faerie (fairy, faery, faerie, fairie, whichever spelling floats your boat) book review kick this month. This particular book is by no means a new one--Bones of Faerie, by Janni Lee Simner, is the first in a trilogy first published in 2008. I don’t remember what year I picked it up from a shelf in a bookstore and decided to buy it, but it was probably relatively close to that publication date.
I don’t think I even read the first page of this book after I bought it—if I had, I definitely wouldn’t have let it gather dust on my shelf for 8+ years. Every so often, I’d see this book’s spine on my shelf, and wonder why I never bothered to read it. Finally, I decided enough was enough, and I read it in less than a week. Most people who know my reading habits and my writing tendencies could probably tell you that I have a certain preferred…aesthetic. You can probably sum up my personality by listening to Florence and Machine’s entire discography. I’m drawn to magic, myths, fairytales, and glitter. Always have been. It really shouldn’t have surprised me that somehow, I ended up unintentionally choosing to read three different books in the last two months that all transported me into worlds infused with magic, faeries, and darkness.
Man, it was fun. I Am I Am I Am: Seventeen Brushes With Death by Maggie O’Farrell is a collection of interconnected personal essays—described by O’Farrell as an attempt to “write a life, told only through near-death experiences.” Write a life she does. Each chapter, titled with a body part related to a cause of near-death, weaves together different moments in O’Farrell’s life that shaped her into the person she has become.
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AuthorWriter, reviewer, bookseller, book nerd extraordinaire. Fiction reader at Waxwing Magazine. Archives
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