Book Review: The Legend of Holly Claus by Brittney Ryan

The Legend of Holly Claus
by Brittney Ryan

Genre: Fantasy / Holiday / Romance / Adventure / Middle Grade

Ages: 8 and up

I received an e-copy of this book through NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Description:

Santa Claus is the King of Forever, Land of the Immortals. When one special boy writes to Santa asking what no other child has ever asked, a miracle occurs: Santa and Mrs. Claus are blessed with a daughter. But the birth of Holly Claus also brings about a terrible curse--from an evil soul named Herrikhan. Holly's heart is frozen, and the gates to Forever are locked, barring exit or entry.

As she grows into a beautiful and selfless young woman, Holly longs to break the spell that holds her people hostage. With four faithful and magical animal friends, she escapes to the wondrous world of Victorian New York, where she will face countless dangers, adventures, and a miracle all her own.

My Thoughts:

I"m not sure what led me to read this book, but I am very glad I did. Maybe it was the pretty cover, or the setting of mid-1800s New York. My family has never done 'Santa Claus' in any way, shape or form, so it was an unusual choice for me. However, from the very first page, I fell in love.

The Legend of Holly Claus is, in essence, a fairytale, and I'm a sucker for fairytales. The infant princess, Holly, is cursed by a terrible warlock and is then raised in a very sheltered, lonely way. She has a few unusual, loyal to the bitter end friends (I love Euphemia and Empy in particular). Holly grows up looking at the world from the outside, yearning to experience life outside of the magical palace that keeps her safe, but isolated. She is a sweet, fairly simple character, which would in other stories come across as boring, but in this one it was in keeping with the straightforward simplicity of the fairytale-style adventure, and with the curse that has frozen her heart in a state of perpetual innocence.

After breaking out of Forever, her homeland, Holly lands on her feet in New York, finding a place to work at a toyshop, which is owned by a man named Mr. Carroll, a brooding, enigmatic figure who lurks behind curtains and never says a word that is not bad-tempered. Then the dashing Mr. Hartman sweeps her off her feet. The men in the story are much more complicated then Holly, adding a bit of darkness to keep the novel from being to sweet.

Ms. Ryan's writing has a certain charm to it that I was unable to resist. While this book is usually to be found in the children's section of a library or bookstore, it has enough weight and intelligence to entertain any age of reader. I've already read and enjoyed it more than once. I'll be reading it again next year, a Christmas tradition in the making.

Rating System: Profanity, Sexuality and Violence 
1 (mild) through 10 (extreme). Ratings may contain spoilers.

Profanity:
I don't remember any swearing, but there might have been a 'damn' or 'drat'. Sorry, but my kindle isn't behaving today and refuses to do word searches.

Sexuality:
I rate it a 1.10 for some mildly sensual vibes and a kiss or two.

Violence:
I rate it a 5.10 for murder, attempted murder, and some brief violence, never graphically described. 

                          Lieder Madchen

Top 5 Sunday: Re-Told Fairytales

 

Hello! This week on Larissa's Bookish Life, they picked a theme I suggested! Re-Told Fairytales. :) I really, really love re-told fairytales. They make me very happy. Here are some of my favorites, in no particular order.

Daughter of the Forest by Juliet Marillier, a re-telling of the Wild Swans, my favorite fairytale of all time. This book is just beautifully written wonderful in so many ways.

Deerskin by Robin McKinley, a re-telling of Allerleirauh, another one of my favorite fairytales, and also one of the less common ones. This is a really dark story, but also very beautiful.

The Goose Girl by Shannon Hale, a re-telling of, shocker, the Goose Girl, another more obscure fairytale. This one's more kid-friendly than the previous two books on my list, and a lot of fun.

The Once Upon a Time series of YA books published by Simon & Shuster. These are short and sweet re-tellings of a variety of fairytales and legends, including Wild Orchid by Cameron Dokey (the Ballad of Hua Mulan), The Storyteller's Daughter by Cameron Dokey (Scheherezade), Water Song by Suzanne Weyn (the Frog Prince), etc.

Born of Silence by Sherrilyn Kenyon. Ok, so this one is not technically a fairytale re-telling, or at least, it isn't advertised as such. Still, I am convinced that the author was thinking of both Beauty and the Beast and the tale of Eros and Psyche when she wrote it. Really. Read the two stories, then read the novel and tell me you don't see the similarities.

Aaaaand....Because I read so many fairytales, I can't stop at 5. I must add more, such as:

Cinder by Marissa Meyer & Sequels. Cyberpunk fairytales = awesome.

Five Hundred Kingdoms series by Mercedes Lackey; a fantasy world where the characters are forced to live by fairytale rules and sometimes twist them to their advantage.

Entwined by Heather Dixon, a lovely re-telling of the Twelve Dancing Princesses.

Seven Daughters and Seven Sons by Barbara Cohen and Bahija Lovejoy. This is a folktale rather than fairytale, but I love it so much that I'm counting it anyway.

Everything by Alex Flinn (loved Beastly) Jane Nickerson, Melanie Dickerson, Jessica Day George...I could keep going, but I'm already cheating enough as it is. :)

                      Lieder Madchen

Release Day/Book Bomb Review! Cobweb Bride by Vera Nazarian

Today is the release day of Cobweb Bride by Vera Nazarian! Very exciting, because this is such a lovely book (I will be saying that in a variety of ways in my review. Really, you have no idea.) and it makes me very happy to support lovely authors and share lovely books with lovely people (Such as Vera Nazarian, Cobweb Bride and yourselves).


Cobweb Bride
by Vera Nazarian

Genre: Fantasy

Ages: 14 and up

I received an advance e-galley through NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

You can find the official Cobweb Bride site here with more information and purchase links.

 Description: 

 Many are called... She alone can save the world and become Death's bride.

COBWEB BRIDE (Cobweb Bride Trilogy, Book One) is a history-flavored fantasy novel with romantic elements of the Persephone myth, about Death's ultimatum to the world.

What if you killed someone and then fell in love with them?

In an alternate Renaissance world, somewhere in an imaginary "pocket" of Europe called the Kingdom of Lethe, Death comes, in the form of a grim Spaniard, to claim his Bride. Until she is found, in a single time-stopping moment all dying stops. There is no relief for the mortally wounded and the terminally ill....

Covered in white cobwebs of a thousand snow spiders she lies in the darkness... Her skin is cold as snow... Her eyes, frozen... Her gaze, fiercely alive...

While kings and emperors send expeditions to search for a suitable Bride for Death, armies of the undead wage an endless war... A black knight roams the forest at the command of his undead father... Spies and political treacheries abound at the imperial Silver Court.... Murdered lovers find themselves locked in the realm of the living...

Look closer--through the cobweb filaments of her hair and along each strand shine stars...

And one small village girl, Percy--an unwanted, ungainly middle daughter--is faced with the responsibility of granting her dying grandmother the desperate release she needs.

As a result, Percy joins the crowds of other young women of the land in a desperate quest to Death's own mysterious holding in the deepest forests of the North...

And everyone is trying to stop her.

My Thoughts:

I read this book in one sitting, and was left speechless. I love Vera Nazarian's previous novels, but they pale in comparison to the utter perfection that is Cobweb Bride. It is quite simply one of the most beautifully written stories I have ever read.

The eerie descriptions paint a wintery world of shadow and breathless anticipation seemingly without effort. You know how in some books you find yourself skimming over the descriptions to get to the interesting part? Not in this book, you don't. The world is a living, breathing character.

In many ways, this story is a fairy-tale. A dark, shivery fairy-tale with an intensity that grabs hold and doesn't let go. I am having trouble describing the atmosphere, it is so different from other books. It is macabre and wondrous, beautiful and frightening, all at the same time.

I generally dislike books with multiple main characters and story-lines, but it didn't bother me for a moment in Cobweb Bride, so skillfully were they woven together. The murdered princess unable to die, the unappreciated daughter who finds purpose, the conflicted young knight...their unconnected lives suddenly inextricably bound together. I found it fascinating to watch everyone react to a world where people were suddenly unable to die. Wonder, horror, revulsion, fear, grief - everyone reacts differently.

The author does a wonderful job in explaining how important death is, in ways both obvious and unexpected. When suddenly no one and nothing dies, the world becomes, oddly enough, a scarier place. It is rare to find a fantasy novel of such depth.

I would recommend this book to pretty much everybody. I honestly can't think of a single complaint or flaw. This story can be enjoyed equally by men and women, teens and adults. It's the closest to a perfect book I've come across in a long time.

Rating System: Profanity, Sexuality and Violence
1 (mild) through 10 (extreme).

Profanity:
I rate it a 4.10 for some mid-level swearing and name-calling.

Sexuality:
I give it a 2.10 for some innuendos and mild references.

Violence:
I rate it a 7.10 for murder, battle and some descriptive gore.

                                     Lieder Madchen
 

Jane Nickerson Guest Post + Giveaway!

 Today I have a guest post, provided by Random Buzzers as part of their Ambuzzador program, by Jane Nickerson! I also have an ARC of her new novel, Strands of Bronze and Gold to give away, along with five special codes for free books!

Top Ten Changes I Would Make in Fairy Tales 

It’s obvious that there are many problematic aspects in most famous fairy tales. Why must everyone be beautiful? Why is there so much royalty going around? So many poor woodcutters? (Oh, now that I think of it, there probably really were so many poor woodcutters in that day and age.) Why so many childless couples who end up with either doomed or miniscule only children? Most of the problems are explained away because “it’s a magic thing.” However here are ten changes I would make if I were Queen of Fairy Tale Land:

10. The youngest child would not always be the most good-looking and clever, and the step-parent would never be evil, since step-parents have enough problems taking on a ready-made family as it is. But then again, one would hate to make the biological parent evil instead…

9. I would give the bright and beautiful heroine more choices for a love interest. A single prince should not be her only option. By the same token, it’s sad when only one sibling gets matched up. I would introduce the eleven unmatched dancing princesses to the (coincidentally) eleven unmatched princely brothers of “The Wild Swans” princess. That’s eleven options for each of them. If you stir them up, there’s bound to be one that each of them likes…but what if they all want the same one?

8 ½. Seven league boots for everyone!!! It’s only fair.

8. There should be more than three wishes. And the wishes are not allowed to be tricksy. Fairness again.

7. Several fairy tales involve the hero in burglary—The Tinderbox, Jack in the Beanstalk, Aladdin. The idea is that, because the owner of the object is evil, the hero isn’t really a thief. Huh. That doesn’t actually make sense. Therefore, there must be some clever, lawful way for them to get the loot. Gambling (if that’s legal in Fairy Tale land), labor, performing a service for the owner, some sort of trade, etc. Of course then the evil owner would probably try to cheat them out of the object, and then the hero would have to steal it…

6. How can King Midas turn everything he touches into gold and not be gold himself? It boggles the mind.

5. There’s got to be some reason why Little Red Riding Hood can’t tell that her grandmother has a furry face and pointy nose. It could be too dark, except that we need to keep those classic lines—“What big eyes, hands, teeth.” Perhaps the grandmother has some skin disease and needs bandages all over, except for the eyes and mouth. Leprosy?

4 ½. How can the wolf even blow that hard? Are wolves known for lung capacity?

4. Prince Charming has got to be able to recognize Cinderella in some other way than by her shoe size. For one thing, just how miniscule are her feet? Does she teeter about on points like
Barbie dolls do? Having a body part that is so different from every other human your age is sort of the definition of a freak. And yet the glass slipper and big-footed stepsisters are such fun components. Maybe Cinderella also develops a sudden skin disease so her feet really are the only way she can be recognized.

3. I don’t want the miller’s daughter in “Rumpelstiltskin” to end up married to the king. He’s a greedy guy who only wants her because she can spin straw into gold. How about she runs off before she has to marry him? And even before she spins any straw or meets Rumpelstiltskin. Except then there’d be no story. A problem.

2. Rapunzel’s hair is simply too long. It would totally get in the way, be absolutely disgusting because it would be crawling with dust bunnies and impossible to wash, and get yanked out of her head if anyone tried to climb up it. Unless, of course, the young man and witch were tiny. Perhaps we could mix together one of the miniscule only children stories with this. Then again, I’ve seen some illustrations for the story that involve special hooks and pulleys to fix the weight problem, but still…Must be magic.

1. Isn’t it icky that the prince kisses Snow White’s corpse? And how long has she lain there supposedly dead, but not rotting and without nourishment? The nourishment thing also causes problems with Sleeping Beauty. Must be magic.

You know, all the solutions I can come up with are so problematic that, in the end, maybe we should continue to say that it’s a magic thing and leave it all as it is.

*****

Giveaway!

Just fill out this rafflecopter form to enter! I haven't done much with rafflecopter, so if there are any problems, let me know. I'm sorry, but I can't afford international shipping so this is US only. The codes are for prizes that are only redeemable in the U.S. as well. :(

The first prize winner will get the ARC, and five runner-ups will receive special referral cards for Random Buzzers. These codes, if entered when signing up for a free account, will give each winner 20,000 'buzz bucks', enough for a free book of their choice. These 'buzz bucks' don't have to be used immediately, so if there isn't anything you want in the store you can wait for something new. I'll give more detailed instructions to the winners.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Book Review: Strands of Bronze and Gold by Jane Nickerson

Strands of Bronze and Gold
by Jane Nickerson

Genre: YA Fantasy / Romance / Fairytale Re-telling / Horror

Ages: 14 and up

I received an ARC of this book from Random Buzzers as part of their Ambuzzador program in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Note: I shared an interview with the heroine, Sophie Petheram, here.

Description:

The Bluebeard fairy tale retold. . . .

When seventeen-year-old Sophia Petheram’s beloved father dies, she receives an unexpected letter. An invitation—on fine ivory paper, in bold black handwriting—from the mysterious Monsieur Bernard de Cressac, her godfather. With no money and fewer options, Sophie accepts, leaving her humble childhood home for the astonishingly lavish Wyndriven Abbey, in the heart of Mississippi.

Sophie has always longed for a comfortable life, and she finds herself both attracted to and shocked by the charm and easy manners of her overgenerous guardian. But as she begins to piece together the mystery of his past, it’s as if, thread by thread, a silken net is tightening around her. And as she gathers stories and catches whispers of his former wives—all with hair as red as her own—in the forgotten corners of the abbey, Sophie knows she’s trapped in the passion and danger of de Cressac’s intoxicating world.

Glowing strands of romance, mystery, and suspense are woven into this breathtaking debut—a thrilling retelling of the “Bluebeard” fairy tale.

My Thoughts:

This book is utterly bewitching. The author weaves a tapestry of magic and madness that is irresistible. Reading this book, I came to really admire her subtlety. Very little actually happens during the first third of the book, yet I was never bored and I kept getting this shivery sense of anticipation that something awful was drawing near.

The story starts with Sophie. She's a trusting girl, full of excitement about going to live with her mysterious godfather. When she first arrives, it is like she has entered a magical world full of delightful things. She's just a little spoiled, but in such an innocent, young way that you can't hold it against her. Sophie is also a girl of firm opinions, and even her godfather's best efforts can't get her to fully compromise her beliefs.

Into this sparkling house of wonder and beauty creep dark little shadows, slowly stripping away the glamour and leaving only unvarnished truth behind. And the truth is scary as heck. I mean, really. The story goes straight into the realm of horror, gluing your eyes to the page and removing any chance of sleeping when you're done. This book was amazing, but not for the faint of heart.

I would recommend this book for lovers of Gothic romance, horror and dark fairytales. If you're looking for an easy happily-ever-after, this is not the book for you.

Rating System: Profanity, Sexuality and Violence
1 (mild) through 10 (extreme).

Profanity:
I give it a 1.10 for some swearing, though no actual swearwords were used.

Sexuality:
I give it a 4.10 for several references, an attempted rape and references to past rape.

Violence:
I rate it a 6.10 for murder, attempted rape and other scenes of assorted violence as well as some gruesomeness.

                             Lieder Madchen

Ambuzzador Interview with Sophia Petheram, heroine of Strands of Bronze and Gold

Hello!

Today I have a Q & A to share with you courtesy of Random Buzzers through their Ambuzzador program. Please say hello to Sophia Petheram, heroine of Strands of Bronze and Gold by Jane Nickerson!


An Interview with an Adventurous Young Lady

“The Girls’ Friendly Companion of New England” takes this opportunity to interview a young lady who is about to commence a considerable journey. Seventeen-year-old Miss Sophia Petheram, of Boston, is shortly to leave the bosom of her loving family to travel the great distance southward to Mississippi, a destination that many in the more long-settled regions of our great country consider “the back of beyond.”

Q. Miss Petheram, will you tell our gentle readers what causes you to launch on this undertaking?

SP: My dear father passed away during the spring, and so my godfather and guardian, Monsieur Bernard de Cressac—along with his wife, of course—has invited me to come live with them at their home. It’s a house with a name—isn’t that charming? Wyndriven Abbey. He wrote once that it was brought all the way across the ocean from England. In pieces, of course.

Q. And is your guardian well-known to you?

SP: Not in person. He only came to our home once when I was a mere babe, and of course I do not remember that meeting, and neither do my siblings. It makes him quite mysterious. My brother Harry calls him my fairy godfather, and plagues me by descriptions of M. de Cressac as an ogre with tusks of pure gold. Harry is a silly goose. But my father knew my guardian from long ago and says he is a distinguished gentleman. I do feel I know him, though, through his letters to me. Such lovely letters. Through the years he has written of his travels and explorations with great detail. He even penned fanciful little tales in which I was the heroine. And that he would take so much time for a motherless little girl, makes me believe he is a person composed of kindness itself. And then there’s the delightful gifts.

Q. Has he been generous with you? I believe he is internationally well-known as a successful man of business.

SP: Indeed he has. I cannot tell you how we all anticipated the arrival of his parcels. Sumptuous is the only word for them. There was a rocking horse with a mane of real horse hair—his name is Araby, since he is an Arabian steed. And a doll with a wardrobe fit for a princess—her name is Elodie, since she is French. Oh, I wish your readers could see her clothing! Glorious gowns in the height of style and underthings trimmed with the daintiest broderie anglaise. Tiny kid slippers and plumed bonnets. I still love them, even now when I am grown; there is something so enchanting about miniature things, isn’t there? I visit Araby and Elodie now and again in the attic. Of course when I was older the gifts were more appropriate for my age.

Q. Did he never send presents for your siblings?

SP: Well…no. But then he is not their godparent. They were not jealous. I do not think. I have always shared everything.

Q. Did you ever expect that the day would come when you would actually live with him and his wife?

SP: I suppose it has always been one of my fancies. For one thing, he has arranged for me to take riding and music lessons, and I have wondered if, perhaps, he were preparing me for at least an extended visit to his estate.

Q. The southern states of our country are very different from our own New England. Have you any trepidation?

SP: Of course. Some. I shall miss my family dreadfully. I have never been anywhere, so everything will be new to me. Also, my people have abolitionist leanings. I must worry about living in a region that does not share those views. However, mostly I am excited. My heart begins palpitating when I think of where I am about to go. I hear that Mississippi has a lush and beautiful landscape.

Q. You appear to be a modern young lady, most brave and adventurous. Thank you so much for your time. We wish you great good fortune.

SP: Thank you for speaking to me. I adore your periodical. Especially the serial stories. They provide such scope for imagination. I sometimes daydream that I am living in one of them. I hope I would be as brave as those heroines.

***

Thank you for coming! Stay tuned for my upcoming review of the novel as well as a giveaway! 

                                        Lieder Madchen

Jane Nickerson is on Random Buzzers!

Starting tomorrow, Jane Nickerson will be on Random Buzzers, answering questions. Make sure to go say hi and ask her about her book, Strands of Bronze and Gold. To pose your questions, go here.

 Lieder Madchen, Spring Ambuzzador for Strands of Bronze and Gold

Coming Soon: A Giveaway!

Take a look at what arrived in my mailbox! (Thanks too my little sister for modeling them.) I was picked to be an Ambuzzador for the novel Strands of Bronze and Gold by Jane Nickerson by Random Buzzers. So, I got two copies in the mail, one for me and one for you! I also have five special registration codes you can use to get a free book from Random Buzzers.

I'll be posting a review of Strands of Bronze and Gold in a couple of weeks, along with a giveaway where one person will win my extra ARC and five runner-ups will receive Random Buzzers referral cards that come with enough Buzz Bucks to pick out your own free book!

Anyway, something to look forward to. 

Description:

The Bluebeard fairy tale retold. . . .

When seventeen-year-old Sophia Petheram’s beloved father dies, she receives an unexpected letter. An invitation—on fine ivory paper, in bold black handwriting—from the mysterious Monsieur Bernard de Cressac, her godfather. With no money and fewer options, Sophie accepts, leaving her humble childhood home for the astonishingly lavish Wyndriven Abbey, in the heart of Mississippi.

Sophie has always longed for a comfortable life, and she finds herself both attracted to and shocked by the charm and easy manners of her overgenerous guardian. But as she begins to piece together the mystery of his past, it’s as if, thread by thread, a silken net is tightening around her. And as she gathers stories and catches whispers of his former wives—all with hair as red as her own—in the forgotten corners of the abbey, Sophie knows she’s trapped in the passion and danger of de Cressac’s intoxicating world.

Glowing strands of romance, mystery, and suspense are woven into this breathtaking debut—a thrilling retelling of the “Bluebeard” fairy tale.

 *****

Doesn't it sound fascinating? See you soon!

                         Lieder Madchen

Shady Glade's Book Battle Sign-Ups!

Sign-ups are open for the 2012 Book Battle at The Shady Glade! The theme (nominated by yours truly) is retold fairy-tales, myths and legends. If you know of any wonderful books in that genre that you would like to see win, go here to nominate them so they can duke it out for the top spot. If you want to become a judge or moderator, sign up here. I was a judge last year and I'm signed up again. If it is even a fraction of as much fun as it was last time, it will be worth it. So go SIGN UP! And tell Alyssa that Lieder Madchen sent you. :)

Once you have signed up, go here to spread the word and enter to win a book of your choice or a mysterious prize. Good luck and have fun!

                                    Lieder Madchen

Book Review: Lies Beneath by Anne Greenwood Brown

Lies Beneath
by Anne Greenwood Brown

Genre: YA Paranormal / Romance / Fairy-Tale

Ages: 14 and up

I received an advance e-copy of this novel through NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Description:

Calder White lives in the cold, clear waters of Lake Superior, the only brother in a family of murderous mermaids. To survive, Calder and his sisters prey on humans, killing them to absorb their energy. But this summer the underwater clan targets Jason Hancock out of pure revenge. They blame Hancock for their mother's death and have been waiting a long time for him to return to his family's homestead on the lake. Hancock has a fear of water, so to lure him in, Calder sets out to seduce Hancock's daughter, Lily. Easy enough—especially as Calder has lots of practice using his irresistible good looks and charm on unsuspecting girls. Only this time Calder screws everything up: he falls for Lily—just as Lily starts to suspect that there's more to the monsters-in-the-lake legends than she ever imagined. And just as his sisters are losing patience with him.



My Thoughts:

This book is written from the point of view of Calder, a merman who has not killed anyone for five months. He says as much at the very beginning. I couldn't help but give my computer a funny look. And then leaned closer to read the explanation. Calder is an interesting character. Despite his sister's murderous propensities, he fights his nature (which tells him to drag people into the lake and absorb their happiness). His abstinence starts out as an experiment, but after interacting more with humans it becomes more than that. Though he and his sisters have sworn to kill Jason Hancock in revenge for something his father did, fulfilling a bargain made between their mother and his father. To do this Calder gets close to Lily, Jason's daughter, and his views begin to change. I enjoyed watching how is character developed, and it should be interesting to see what happens in the sequel.

Lily Hancock, naive and poetic, is a far less complex character than Calder and yet she suits him. Her innocence teaches him a lot, and I loved how simple it was for her to accept his mythical status with the simple belief of those who read too many fairy-tales. And this story is essentially a fairy-tale; the dark and savagely beautiful kind.

The storyline is fairly predictable, with nearly the same plot as half a dozen other YA novels, only with mermaids. I loved the setting of Lake Superior and the writing style was pretty good with a lovely slow reveal of past secrets. There is a lot of potential for the second novel and I can't wait to read it.

Rating System: Profanity, Sexuality and Violence
1 (mild) through 10 (extreme).

Profanity:
I rate it a 4.10 for some mid-level swearing.

Sexuality:
I give it a 2.10 for some mild references.

Violence:
I rate it a 7.10 for murders and torture, none of which is particularly graphic but mildly disturbing.

                                   Lieder Madchen