Review - The Weaver by Emmi Itäranta

 

 

Inside the Book:

Title: The Weaver
Author: Emmi Itaranta

Release Date: November 1, 2016

Publisher: Harper Voyager

Genre: Dystopian

Format: Ebook

The author of the critically acclaimed Memory of Water returns with this literary ecological tale in the vein of Ursula K. Le Guin and Sheri S. Tepper, in which an innocent young woman becomes entangled in a web of ancient secrets and deadly lies that lie at the dark center of her prosperous island world.

Eliana is a model citizen of the island, a weaver in the prestigious House of Webs. She also harbors a dangerous secret—she can dream, an ability forbidden by the island’s elusive council of elders. No one talks about the dreamers, the undesirables ostracized from society.

But the web of protection Eliana has woven around herself begins to unravel when a young girl is found lying unconscious in a pool of blood on the stones outside the house. Robbed of speech by her attackers, the only clue to her identity is one word tattooed in invisible ink across her palm: Eliana. Why does this mysterious girl bear her name? What links her to the weaver—and could she hold Eliana’s fate in her hand?

As Eliana finds herself growing closer to this injured girl she is bound to in ways she doesn’t understand, the enchanting lies of the island begin to crumble, revealing a deep and ancient corruption. Joining a band of brave rebels determined to expose the island’s dark secrets, Eliana becomes a target of ruthless forces determined to destroy her. To save herself and those she loves, she must call on the power within her she thought was her greatest weakness: her dreams.

 

My Review:

The Weaver by Emmi Itäranta is a fantastic book. I've not read much fantasy lately and this was just the book I needed to jump back in to the fantasy world with both feet. It was mysterious and magical and wonderful, even if sometimes in a bad way.

Eliana, at face value, is a dutiful weaver. She does what she's told when she's told and never seems to veer from the course that the rest of her House is on. Until a girl appears and flips her world completely upside down. Then she realizes that there is so much more than what she's told to say and do and not say and not do.... and not all of it is as it should be. The secrets she keeps aren't as secret as she thinks anymore either.

There are so many characters in this story that are just amazing. Eliana, Valeria, Janos, Alva... all magnificent and strong and willing to put their lives on the line to save those who need to be saved. There are also so many frustrating things going on... people happy to be kept ignorant... to believe everything they're told because it's easier than thinking for themselves. Even if it means people they know and love are going to be ripped from them and taken somewhere horrific and terrible for the rest of their lives. Sometimes ignorance is bliss... but not for everyone.

The Houses of Crafts were intriguing. All the different districts and positions... A place for everyone and everyone it their place kind of thing. Everything was described in so much detail at all times that sometimes I lost the actual purpose of what I was reading, but still... the imagery was beautiful and haunting and downright terrifying in spots.

I couldn't put this book down. I just couldn't. Read it in less than a day. If you're looking for a suspenseful and fantastical read with absolutely beautiful imagery, I highly recommend you pick up The Weaver.

Meet the Author:

Emmi Itäranta (b. 1976) was born in Tampere, Finland, where she also grew up. She holds one MA in Drama and Theatre Studies from the University of Tampere, and another from the University of Kent, UK, where she began writing her debut novel Memory of Water as a part of her Creative Writing masters degree. She later completed the full manuscript in both Finnish and English. The novel won the Fantasy and Sci-fi Literary Contest organised by the Finnish publishing house Teos. It was published to enthusiastic reviews in Finland in 2012 under the title Teemestarin kirja. In 2015 the English language version, Memory of Water, was nominated for the Philip K. Dick award in the US and the Arthur C. Clarke award in the UK. Translation rights to the award-winning novel have been sold in 21 territories to date. Itäranta’s second novel Kudottujen kujien kaupunki was published in 2015, and it won her the Tampere City Literary Award. In the UK the novel is known as The City of Woven Streets, and in the US as The Weaver. Itäranta’s professional background is an eclectic blend of writing-related activities, including stints as a columnist, theatre critic, dramaturge, scriptwriter and press officer. She lives in Canterbury, UK.

Connect with Emmi: Website | Facebook | Twitter

 

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Tour Schedule

 Monday, November 7 

Guest blogging at Books, Dreams, Life

Book featured at The Dark Phantom

Tuesday, November 8

Book featured at Literal Exposure

Book featured at The Literary Nook

Wednesday, November 9

Book featured at A Title Wave

Book featured at As the Pages Turn

Thursday, November 10

Book featured at Voodoo Princess

Friday, November 11

Book featured at The Bookworm Lodge

Book featured at All Inclusive Retort

________

Monday, November 14

Book reviewed at I'm Shelf-ish

Book featured at Confessions of an Eccentric Bookaholic

Tuesday, November 15

Book reviewed at Shhh...Not While I'm Reading

Book featured at My Bookish Pleasures

Wednesday, November 16

Book featured at Mello and June

Book featured at Harmonious Publicity

Thursday, November 17

Book featured at CBY Book Club

Book featured at Write and Take Flight

Friday, November 18

Book featured at Bound 2 Escape

Book reviewed at Cover2Cover

Book featured at Authors and Readers Book Corner

Review - The Raven King by Maggie Stiefvater

Nothing living is safe. Nothing dead is to be trusted.

For years, Gansey has been on a quest to find a lost king. One by one, he’s drawn others into this quest: Ronan, who steals from dreams; Adam, whose life is no longer his own; Noah, whose life is no longer a lie; and Blue, who loves Gansey… and is certain she is destined to kill him.

Now the endgame has begun. Dreams and nightmares are converging. Love and loss are inseparable. And the quest refuses to be pinned to a path.

So, I was stuck flying during the whole Delta debacle when the computers went down and flights were delayed and cancelled and everything was just ridiculous. Luckily, I'd brought some books. And luckily, one of those books happened to be The Raven King by Maggie Stiefvater. The Raven King, book 4 in The Raven Cycle, is one of the most beautifully written stories that I think I've ever read. While I have come to expect nothing less from Maggie Stiefvater, this one went above and beyond anything else I've picked up by her.

Everything was just so magically descriptive and fantastical that I couldn't manage to put it down. It really did save my trip up to Maine to pick up my daughter. Flights and accommodations were significantly less than stellar so it helped to have something that could completely remove me from the situation I was in and transport me somewhere else completely. The book was terrifying and haunting and heartbreakingly sad and beautiful all at the same time.

It was nice to be able to come back to Fox Way and see Maura and The Grey Man again. To be able to follow Ronan and Adam and Gansey and Blue around one more time. Learning more about Blue's father was a bit shocking, but seemed absolutely fitting considering Blue. There were also some other great plot twists that perhaps I should have seen coming but didn't, i.e. Cabeswater.

I loved the inclusion of Henry and his bee. Henry, someone who had been on the outside and absent for 90% of the story telling played such a wonderful part in this last story. I loved that I got to see Ronan for who he really was. Not just some jerk who liked to fight and piss people off. But someone who loved, and who wanted to BE loved. Who wanted to protect and to fight FOR people... not just fight people. Maybe he was that way the whole time, but the development of a certain relationship in this final installment of the story just made him so much more... Ronan... to me.

Fantastic.

That's really all I can say to sum up how good this book was. Well, fantastic and wonderful and beautiful and all of the other synonyms of all the words. If you've read the rest of the series, please finish it out and pick this one up. If you haven't, then start. The story and the journey they go on will amaze you.

Review - Splintered by A.G. Howard

This stunning debut captures the grotesque madness of a mystical under-land, as well as a girl’s pangs of first love and independence.

Alyssa Gardner hears the whispers of bugs and flowers—precisely the affliction that landed her mother in a mental hospital years before. This family curse stretches back to her ancestor Alice Liddell, the real-life inspiration for Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. Alyssa might be crazy, but she manages to keep it together. For now.

When her mother’s mental health takes a turn for the worse, Alyssa learns that what she thought was fiction is based in terrifying reality. The real Wonderland is a place far darker and more twisted than Lewis Carroll ever let on. There, Alyssa must pass a series of tests, including draining an ocean of Alice’s tears, waking the slumbering tea party, and subduing a vicious bandersnatch, to fix Alice’s mistakes and save her family. She must also decide whom to trust: Jeb, her gorgeous best friend and secret crush, or the sexy but suspicious Morpheus, her guide through Wonderland, who may have dark motives of his own.

Yay for book birthday presents! Splintered by A.G. Howard is a book that I've been wanting to buy for a long time but for some reason kept putting it off. Until my birthday last month. Thank you to my husband for buying it for me.

First of all, the cover art is absolutely stunning. And I probably would have gotten it based on that alone (yeah I know you're not supposed to judge a book by its cover, but I can't help it), but the premise of the story was pretty interesting as well. I don't need to say much in summary since the book blurb thingy pretty much sums it up.

Alyssa is kind of morbid. But for good reason when you find out that she hears bugs and plants talking to her. Her mother is in a mental facility and she really doesn't want to end up there too so in an effort to silence the voices she turns bugs into art. She's got a pretty groovy sense of style. From synthetic dreads to tutu-like skirts to ass-kicking boots, but all of it is to try and squash any resemblance to her mother. She's got a lot of internal battles going on and, in this story, definitely a lot of external foes to fight as well, but she is courageous and strong and is determined to fix things her great-great-great grandmother messed up to free herself and her mother from the curse she believes she's inherited.

Jeb is, at first, the annoyingly intrusive but protective big brother to Alyssa. Butting in to her life and conspiring with her father to keep her "safe" and look out for her. Which is what big brothers are supposed to do. But he's something much different to Alyssa and is seemingly completely ignorant of it until their journey through the looking glass and in to Wonderland. Although, his appearance there is quite by accident. He's chivalrous and charming and everything you think a strong protector would be. He's prepared to sacrifice everything for Alyssa, even though she doesn't need him (or want him) to.

Morpheous was hard to pin down for me. The mysterious childhood friend of Alyssa's is both seductive and enticing while being suspicious and conniving at the same time. Dangerous combinations. His stated motives for bringing Alyssa to Wonderland and his actual motives are not exactly in line with each other, something Alyssa finds out too late. But while his intentions aren't exactly pure, he does care for Alyssa. So, there's a bit of redemption for him in that at least.

This story was kind of Tim Burton-esque for me. It was more like what I imagined his movie version of Alice in Wonderland should have been. The creatures were absolutely hideous and grotesquely wonderful and seeing all the characters in true form (the "Mad Hatter" was one of my favorite) was lovely. Nostalgic and yet... not. Old friends but complete strangers at the same time. We find out that the descriptions given by Carroll of Alice's adventures in Wonderland was very skewed and incredibly tame compared to the actual inhabitants of that world.

I loved the book. And I can't wait to read the next one. If you like "re-tellings" (although this wasn't a re-telling per se, it was more a modern day continuation), you should definitely grab this and give it a read!

Review - Sinner by Maggie Stiefvater

found.
Cole St. Clair has come to California for one reason: to get Isabel Culpeper back. She fled from his damaged, drained life, and damaged and drained it even more. He doesn't just want her. He needs her.

lost.
Isabel is trying to build herself a life in Los Angeles. It's not really working. She can play the game as well as all the other fakes...but what's the point? What is there to win?

sinner.
Cole and Isabel share a past that never seemed to have a future. They have the power to save each other and the power to tear each other apart. The only thing for certain is that they cannot let go.

Ok, so I finished Sinner by Maggie Stiefvater almost 3 weeks ago but I was putting off actually getting online and typing up a review because I am exhausted. Well, I'm less exhausted now than I was before... but still. So, sorry there hasn't been much activity on the blog as of late.

I was super stoked when I heard Sinner was coming out. I loved the Wolves of Mercy Falls series and I was so sad when it was all over. I was even more stoked when I learned that this one would be following Cole and Isabel. I love the Grace/Sam story with all my heart, but I wanted to know where Cole's story went.

Cole has gone to Los Angeles to find Isabel. In the process he's also supposed to be filming some kind of reality show and making a new record with a new band. Or at least, mostly new. Isabel is happy to see him, and she isn't happy to see him at the same time. She doesn't want to fall in love with him because she doesn't want to be hurt and she thinks that Cole is definitely the kind of person who is going to hurt her.

I have to admire Cole and his persistence. And the fact that even in the face of blatant temptation he didn't let his former addiction overcome him and cause him to undo all of the things that he's accomplished since becoming a wolf. I loved his carefree attitude and I loved being able to just be inside his head. He was trying so incredibly hard with Isabel.

Isabel kind of ticked me off a bit, but then I had to remember that she was putting up with a lot when it came to Cole's reality show. A lot that she didn't really have to put up with at all. And she was doing so quite well for the most part. I cut her some slack even though a few things she did still irritated me. Like insisting that Cole was doing things he shouldn't without really giving him a chance to plead his case.

She'd put up a wall though. One that she wasn't sure she wanted to put down for Cole. Well, in a way, she desperately wanted him to bust right through it and sweep her off her feet and carry her off in to the sunset with his mustang... but the rational part of her wanted to keep the wall in place because the lifestyle he was accustomed to (and she wasn't) was one that normally would have lead him to tear her heart to pieces and leave her broken on the ground. He had to prove himself. Over and over again. And I think he did that with flying colors. I love Cole. I really do.

And it doesn't hurt that when I read his chapters I hear Dan Bittner's voice in my head.

This was a great installment in the series. A definite deviation from the normal back and forth between Sam and Grace and their sort of ... innocence. Both Cole and Isabel are world weary and tired of the phoniness of people and the hurt they've gone through where as Sam and Grace were full of hope. Cole and Isabel hold each other up, though. They kind of find a new strength in each other and it makes the world not seem as bad.

If you've read the rest of the series, you should absolutely pick this one up. It's a fantastic read.

Review - Fathomless by Jackson Pearce

Celia Reynolds is the youngest in a set of triplets and the one with the least valuable power. Anne can see the future, and Jane can see the present, but all Celia can see is the past. And the past seems so insignificant -- until Celia meets Lo.

Lo doesn't know who she is. Or who she was. Once a human, she is now almost entirely a creature of the sea -- a nymph, an ocean girl, a mermaid -- all terms too pretty for the soulless monster she knows she's becoming. Lo clings to shreds of her former self, fighting to remember her past, even as she's tempted to embrace her dark immortality.

When a handsome boy named Jude falls off a pier and into the ocean, Celia and Lo work together to rescue him from the waves. The two form a friendship, but soon they find themselves competing for Jude's affection. Lo wants more than that, though. According to the ocean girls, there's only one way for Lo to earn back her humanity. She must persuade a mortal to love her . . . and steal his soul.

Fathomless by Jackson Pearce. The lastest that I've read of her FairyTale Retellings. It's a retelling of The Little Mermaid... but not the redhaired teenager with the fish for a best friend and the crab for a babysitter.

It's a retelling of the Hans Christian Andersen version of the story. The one where she falls for the prince, but he's fallen in love with (and marries) the woman he THINKS has saved him from the storm he almost died in. The little mermaid was permitted by the sea witch to turn her tail in to legs in exchange for her voice AND with the added awfulness of EVERY step on land being excruciating pain. Her sisters barter with the sea witch for a way out. They give their hair in return for a knife that will kill the prince and allow the little mermaid to return to the sea and just forget everything, but she can't bring herself to do it.

Lo remembers that she hasn't always been Lo. But she can't remember who she was before she was Lo. She tries desperately, but to no avail. Her "sisters" explain to her that if she were able to make a human love her she could drown them and steal their soul, turning her back in to her former self. But... who is that?

Celia can see a persons past through touch. She feels pretty useless compared to her sisters because who needs to know what they've already been through... right? Until Lo. FINALLY Celia can help SOMEONE. But at what cost?

Jude. The "prince".  A handsome guitar player who fumbles and falls in to the ocean only to be pulled to shore by Lo and subsequently "rescued" by Celia. He falls for Celia, thinking all along that it was SHE who saved him from drowning. Something Celia doesn't try to correct for a while.

So... Celia feels pointless. Her sisters always tell her that they are stronger together but she never feels like she fits in. I don't know how many of you can see the entirety of a persons past with the touch of your hand, but I think it would be a pretty interesting power to have. But I guess I can kind of see her point. In the... adventures of her sisters... the past doesn't really matter. Much. So I get that. I get the whole "Woe is me, what am I doing here. What's the point?" I do. She's looking for her purpose. And until Lo comes along, she hasn't found it.

I don't know if her eagerness to help Lo is because of her desire to actually be of some use to someone, or if she truly cares about Lo. I think after a while it may be a mixture of both. And I think that Lo got more than she bargained for. They say ignorance is bliss. Lo discovers that she is Naida (Sofia Kelly's sister from Sweetly!) and thinks that the knowledge of her past can bring her nothing but good things.

But it doesn't. She puts herself through excruciating pain on a regular basis to uncover more of her past, and again, I get that part. But unless she can get someone to love her to the point where she can steal her soul, what good is it? She knows that Jude doesn't love her. And even if he did she couldn't bring herself to kill him.

I like that there are different points of view in this story. Sometimes we read from Celia, sometimes we read from Lo. And sometimes, we even get to read from Naida when she remembers who she is enough to narrate. I can't remember how many times I've read a book where I wished I could get in to another characters head but it was only told through the point of view of one person. This book switches between the 3 seamlessly and effortlessly. I never got confused as to who I was reading. Not even when Lo and Naida switched between herself? each other? Anyways.

The more I think about the original story, the more parallels I can see between it and Fathomless. I think that for the most part, this follows it's original much more closely than the other two retellings. Not that that's what makes it better, just something I noticed. However, in tying together with Sweetly in that we find out where Sofia's missing sister went, it also brings in the werewolves from Sisters Red and from Sweetly.

Like before, I was kind of disappointed to find that there was no actual sea witch. And that the "angels" all of the "old ones" spoke of were, in fact, the werewolves from the previous two stories. But I suppose for the sake of bringing the plots full circle it was necessary. It is interesting to see what a different role the "bad guys" played in stories that don't seem like they'd be related in any way.

I love retellings. and I loved this one a lot. I suppose you could read it as a stand alone, but it's more impressive if you've read the other two. Once you find out who is who and what is what it's one of those "OOOOh!" things. I definitely recommend giving it a read!

Review - Stone of Destiny by Laura Howard

Allison thought it was crazy enough when she found out her father, Liam, wasn't entirely human. But now she has to join his magical allies to unravel his former mistress's plans. Aoife wants to keep Allison's parents apart forever.

Despite Allison's efforts to keep Ethan, the only guy she's ever cared about, out of this supernatural mess, fate keeps throwing him back into the mix.

Will Allison be able to find the amulet that holds the enchantment Aoife placed on Liam and destroy it? Are Ethan' s feelings for Allison strong enough to endure the magic of the Tuatha De Danaan?

Stone of Destiny by Laura Howard is book 2 in The Danaan Trilogy.

First of all, I want to say THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU for putting a pronunciation guide in the beginning of the book. It was EXTREMELY helpful (even though I still pronounced some of them wrong, haha). I don't like when I have to stumble through words or names that I don't understand or can't pronounce because they're in a different language. So having the key in the front was awesome.

Second, I am just going to say that every time I see the words Tuatha de Danaan I just picture Liv Tyler as Arwen from Lord of the Rings saying them. It just sounds like something she'd say. Is that weird? Oh well. Too late now.

Ok, so book 2. Aoife has escaped the fey globe, Allison's mother is starting to write music again, Ethan hates Allison, and it looks like Allison is going to have to travel back to Tir na Nog.

Aoife has plans for Liam though. She wants to perform a binding ceremony to keep him away from Allison's mother and Allison is terrified to lose her mother (and now her father) forever. Deaghlan is intent on messing with people, it seems just to irritate Allison. He's the all powerful fairy king and can pretty much do whatever he wants to whomever he wants whenever he wants. Allison has to constantly remind herself not to look him in the eye or else she's entirely held captive in his gaze. Liam is tired and worn out and comes to find out he has ANOTHER daughter that's been more or less hidden from him and just wants to stop Aoife before she ruins him (and as a result everyone he loves) forever.

Allison seems to have adapted well to her knew knowledge of all things magical and fantastical in this book. She's torn, though, between the fairy world and being there for the people she loves in the... real?... world. She's a daughter completely dedicated to the well being of her mother and she does what she can to be considerate to the people around her. Except the Danaan are making it difficult for her. Deaghlan has made Ethan hate her. Aoife is trying to steal her father. And now she has a sister she never knew who thought she was hated by Allison and Liam.

Ethan does come around though, thanks to Niamh. And Allison FINALLY stops trying to save him from her life and her goings on with the Danaan and lets him decide for himself whether or not he wants to be a part of it. THANK YOU. SO much. Ethan is there for Allison every step of the way, like he should have been able to be from the beginning. Dangit Allison.

I loved that I got to see the relationship between Niamh and Aodhan. They are both fiercely loyal and protective of the people who they call friends and are doing everything that they can to make right what Aoife has obliterated. In our world and in Tir na Nog.

Allison's new sister was an interesting new addition. She was like Allison's complete opposite. From personality to the way she dressed to how she grew up and how much of the Danaan was in her. But, she also grew up never knowing her real father. Or her mother for that matter. Although her mother didn't go crazy. At least, not in the way Allison's did. And she's more Danaan than Allison. Since Aoife is her mother. She can read minds which I totally wish I could do sometimes. She definitely becomes an asset to the group at the end.

These books always end with a cliff hanger and I'm SOOOOO not patient. I want to know what happens NOW! I can't stand waiting. And it figures, it ends RIGHT when I didn't want it to. If you read the first book go grab this one and give it a go. You won't be disappointed. If you love all things Fairy and fantasy go grab it and give it a go. If you like Irish Mythology give it a go! This book will appeal to so many different types of readers it's hard to say no.

Review - Sweetly by Jackson Pearce

The forest invites you in . . . but will never let you go.

As a child, Gretchen's twin sister was taken by a witch in the woods. Ever since, Gretchen and her brother, Ansel, have felt the long branches of the witch's forest threatening to make them disappear too. Years later, when their stepmother casts Gretchen and Ansel out, they find themselves in sleepy Live Oak, South Carolina. They're invited to stay with Sophia Kelly, a beautiful candy maker who molds sugary magic: coveted treats that create confidence, bravery, and passion.

Life seems idyllic, and Gretchen and Ansel gradually forget their haunted past -- until Gretchen meets handsome local outcast Samuel. He tells her the witch isn't gone -- it's lurking in the forest, preying on girls after Live Oak's infamous chocolate festival each year, and looking to make Gretchen its next victim. Gretchen is determined to stop running and start fighting back. Yet, the further she investigates the mystery of what the witch is and how it chooses its victims, the more she wonders who the real monster is.

Gretchen is certain of only one thing: a monster is coming, and it will never go away hungry.

I love Jackson Pearce's Fairy Tale Retellings. Sweetly is a retelling of the classic Hansel & Gretel. It comes complete with the candy house, "witch", and the "fattening up" of the brother while the sister wants to leave. Sort of.

There are enough similarities in the two stories to consider it a re-telling. But it is definitely a modern, YA uptake on the children's story. Gretchen had a twin sister who was taken by a "witch" in the forest when they were little. I don't believe we learn her name until almost the end of the story (if I'm even remembering correctly). Ansel falls in love with the owner of the "candy house", Chocolatier Sofia Kelly. Now, her house is not literally made of candy, but there is definitely plenty of it to go around. And... he falls in love with her.

Now, she doesn't stuff him in the oven and try to eat him, but she does plan to offer up Gretchen to the "witches" we find out from Samuel are actually werewolves. I was a tad disappointed in that. BUT, there was an actual tie in with Sisters Red so it was easy to overlook the fact that there weren't ACTUAL yellow eyed old-lady witches in the story.

The small town seems typical of small (read: TINY) towns where everyone knows everyone and they all know your business. It's also an old town with a lot of old people who, once they're pissed at you they stay that way. Which is unfortunate for Sofia Kelly.

That part did bother me, however. She seems genuinely hurt that the towns people dislike her... because they believe she had something to do with the disappearance of their daughters after her Chocolate Festival for the last few years. She's upset when there aren't as many RSVPs as she was hoping for.

But I mean... can you blame the people? She really DID have something to do with their disappearances. And in a WAY worse way than the towns people can even fathom. So, while I can kind of understand her motives behind her actions (her sister Naida who was taken before hand and is being held captive by the "witches"), I do NOT understand her butt-hurtedness at the fact that some of the people in Live Oak can't STAND her. They really do have every right to their feelings and are, in fact, justified in them.

Ansel... love sick puppy. A rock for his sister, but a drooling love sick puppy. You've got to hand it to him though... he is definitely a "Knight in Shining Armor". He wants to save Sofia and he's been saving his sister their entire lives. Almost without regard to himself. But, the fact that he's a love sick puppy blinds him to the fact that there's something not right with his precious Chocolatier.

Gretchen. She's the oldest teenager I've ever read. Forced to grow up way beyond her years with the disappearance of her sister, the death of her father, and the subsequent disowning of her step-mother. I guess you could say Ansel was too, but when I read him I just picture him falling all over Sofia. Oy. Anyways. Gretchen has PTSD and rightly so. Even being near trees gives her anxiety like you wouldn't believe. She doesn't want to disappear (metaphorically and literally). She doesn't want to feel like she doesn't exist. But she's tired of being scared all the time. So she finds Samuel and decides to take her fate in to her own hands. She starts making things happen rather than being terrified of things happening TO her. Good for Gretchen.

And Samuel. Kind of the actual hero of the story in my opinion. The one who opened Gretchen's eyes to the reality of her "witches" and helped her overcome her fear of the forest to the point where she was able to take care of herself AND make the decision to try and protect the other girls of Live Oak.

It was a good book. Again, kind of disappointed about the werewolf thing but I liked the tie-in to the other novel. If you like retellings or contemporary fantasy (whether you know Hansel & Gretel or not), I definitely suggest you give this one a read.

Review - The Replacement by Brenna Yovanoff

Mackie Doyle is not one of us. Though he lives in the small town of Gentry, he comes from a world of tunnels and black murky water, a world of living dead girls ruled by a little tattooed princess. He is a Replacement, left in the crib of a human baby sixteen years ago. Now, because of fatal allergies to iron, blood, and consecrated ground, Mackie is fighting to survive in the human world.

Mackie would give anything to live among us, to practice on his bass or spend time with his crush, Tate. But when Tate's baby sister goes missing, Mackie is drawn irrevocably into the underworld of Gentry, known as Mayhem. He must face the dark creatures of the Slag Heaps and find his rightful place, in our world, or theirs.

The Replacement by Brenna Yovanoff is different kind of book than I'm used to reading.

Mackie is a changeling. Or a Replacement. Whatever you call it he's not really human. He replaced something human a long time ago and it seems the only one who's ever truly loved him is his "sister". She's more or less what's kept him alive up until the point that the book really takes off, and the one person willing to sacrifice everything to make sure he stays that way for as long as she can keep him. His parents know what he is and while they've done their best to take care of him, he feels like he's never really fit in with the family. But really, who can blame them? Some monster came and took their TRUE son out of his crib when he was tiny and helpless and replaced him with something that looked similar, but was dying... and NOT their son.

He has managed to make a few good friends during his years as Mackie Doyle but when he starts crushing on Tate it kind of sends his world spinning. She indirectly and sort of directly almost brings about his downfall. Something his friends are trying to help him prevent.

Mackie is an interesting character. Kind of a typical stupid guy, in a way. Always going for the pretty girl with no personality instead of the girl with personality to spare but who may be a little bit of a hard shell to crack. He came around though. But it sure took him a long time to get with the program. You don't always see that. A guy who is reluctant to play the hero, even when it means he gets the girl. But Mackie doesn't want to be the hero. He doesn't want to be noticed at all. Even if it means disappointing Tate. Eventually he screws his brain back on the right way though. So he redeems himself.

Poor Tate. We first meet her after her sister's been taken and after the thing that replaced her has died. So she didn't get much of a chance to establish herself as anything but depressed and moody (and rightly so). But I did feel it was kind of unfair of her to expect Mackie to just automatically save the day when he's just as clueless as she is.

Roswell is a perfect best friend. And a seemingly unlikely one. He's popular and outgoing and fun loving. A complete contrast to Mackie. Which, I suppose, is part of what makes him perfect. With Roswell around no one really pays too much attention to Mackie. On top of the fact that he kind of lets Mackie hide in his shadow, he's loyal and understanding and would really do anything for Mackie. Despite the fact that Mackie's different.

When Mackie ventures down in to the Slag Heap it gets a little weird and disturbing. And kind of confusing. But they help him, in their own way. It was kind of hard to tell at some points if The Morrigan (sort of like the ruler of the "otherworldy" and "undead" who lived under the Slag Heap) was really supposed to be a GOOD character or a BAD one. At some points she helps, but then at others she really doesn't care what happens. She has something to gain with Mackie and if he fails to deliver then it seems she washes her hands of him.

It's a weird story, I will give it that. But it was a good one. A quick one. And different enough to keep me interested even when it moved kind of slow. I'd recommend it to anyone (probably 16 and above) who loves paranormal things or dark and creepy things. It fits the bill quite nicely if you're in to that stuff. Go check it out!

Review - The Flight of the Griffin by C.M. Gray

The Kingdom is dying…

The Darkness is coming… the balance between Order and Chaos is rapidly shifting and the world is falling towards evil and horror, and all misery that Chaos will bring.

But there is hope…

Pardigan’s had enough, he’s only 12, but he’s breaking into the home of one of Freya's richest merchants... and he’s doing it tonight…

A burglary that will change their lives forever sets four friends upon a quest, a race against time, to locate three magical objects and complete an ancient and desperate spell.

Sailing their boat The Griffin, the crew are quickly pursued by The Hawk, an evil bounty hunter and master of dark sorcery, and Belial, King of Demons and champion of Chaos who seeks to rule the world of man… yet first he must capture the crew of The Griffin and end their quest…

It's been a while since I picked up a book like The Flight of the Griffin by C.M Gray. I've been reading mostly Amish Fiction lately so it was nice to jump back in to the world of fantasy.

The four friends in this story embark on a Quest that has fallen to them to complete thanks to the skilled thievery of one of their own. With the stolen loot comes a guide that can take the form of a cat, owl, panther, and girl. Mahra. It's her job, although she can't quite remember all of it, to ensure that specific tasks are carried out in a specific order in the hopes that the world will once more balance itself out and Chaos will no longer reign supreme. Their efforts are thwarted by the victim of their theft, his hired thug, and a demon with a hunger for human flesh.

I wish I had read this book when I was younger. Or rather, that it had been around to read. One of my favorite parts of the entire story was when Pardigan, Tarent, Quint, and Loras were transformed in to the version of themselves they it seems they were supposed to be all along. I mean, what young person wouldn't give their left arm to go from being just an ordinary, trouble making dreamer to a super human version of themselves with the ability to turn invisible, or perform outstanding magic, or disappear from one place and reappear in another. It's an amazing story simply for that part of the book. It gives voice to the wishes of countless people who secretly wish they could do the things these 4 do in this story.

I love the world that they live in, minus the bad things that are happening as a result of it being unbalanced. I loved the ugly Hidden and the entertaining Azif. Bartholomew was ridiculous but provided comic relief on more than one occasion. The descriptions of all of these people and the places they were going was such that I could imagine it all in my head as if it were right in front of me. There were also some awesome plot twists, especially toward the end, that made the story that much more... just... wonderful.

There wasn't really one character that I'd call my favorite, I don't think. Each one had something special about him (or her) and a purpose that made them all equally important and interesting to read about. I can tell you, though, that Hawk was definitely my least favorite. Why not the demon he summoned, you ask. Well, a demon is a demon and will act as demons do. It's in their nature. Hawk was the evil behind the demon and the reason for it's existence in the human world.

The fact that there were mysterious characters that appeared or awakened at certain points throughout the story was another of my favorite parts. Kind of reminds me of how, at the end of Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, Capt. Barbosa is hidden in the back room of Tia Dalma's hut, just waiting to be brought back in to the story.

The Flight of the Griffin was fantastic. It was a fun read and it kept me entertained. It's good for younger readers but can be enjoyed by older readers as well as everyone in between. And I would recommend it to anyone looking for a quick-ish adventurous fantasy novel that's action packed and magical.

Book Spotlight - The Flight of the Griffin by C.M. Gray

The Kingdom is dying…

The Darkness is coming… the balance between Order and Chaos is rapidly shifting and the world is falling towards evil and horror, and all misery that Chaos will bring.

But there is hope…

Pardigan’s had enough, he’s only 12, but he’s breaking into the home of one of Freya's richest merchants... and he’s doing it tonight…

A burglary that will change their lives forever sets four friends upon a quest, a race against time, to locate three magical objects and complete an ancient and desperate spell.

Sailing their boat The Griffin, the crew are quickly pursued by The Hawk, an evil bounty hunter and master of dark sorcery, and Belial, King of Demons and champion of Chaos who seeks to rule the world of man… yet first he must capture the crew of The Griffin and end their quest…

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About the Author:

Born in England, C.M. Gray spent most of his youth growing up in the Essex countryside. A beautiful part of England, close to the Suffolk border, but he was born with the need to expand his horizons, so as soon as he could get a passport at the age of just seventeen he packed a backpack and went exploring!

A slightly risky decision, and one his parents were not too taken with, yet a number of years later he is still traveling…. but with a slightly larger bag. Over the years, C.M.Gray has been lucky enough to live and travel in many many parts of the world, met some incredible people and experienced some amazing places. In fact, he has now lived for more years outside of England than he ever spent living there – It is, after all, a very big and exciting world!

During his journey he worked and trained as a carpenter and a house restorer… picked more types of fruit over the years than he knew existed - from grapes in France to avocados in Israel. After living in Israel for a year, he was lucky enough to be invited to travel with the Bedouin in the Sanai desert for several months and then moved on travelled around India and then called a Buddhist monastery in the Himalayan Mountains home. A short while later he had changed tact, bought a suit and did a stint as a stock broker in the clamor of central Hong Kong.

To celebrate the millennium he traveled back to Europe, then found and restored an old farmhouse in deep rural Burgundy, France… but then looked to the open road and spent an number of years in Amsterdam… but the winters were cold so he went south again in search of the sun.

Always vowing to return and sink some roots back in English soil... he hasn’t quite got there yet, but maybe someday, it seems there are just too many interesting places out there to see first! He does, however, live a little closer to England now, just outside of Barcelona in Northern Spain, in the middle of the forest with his dogs and two wonderful children, he claims the Pyrenean mountains and forests of northern Spain are a great place to write and let his mind do the traveling.

As you will have noticed, his writing is mostly fantasy and he says that many of his experiences in Asia, India, Africa and the Middle East come to life in his writing. He has seen and done some pretty strange things on his travels, and bumped into some amazing characters, so writing fantasy is almost like writing fact for him… you just wouldn’t believe it if he presented it as fact – there are people and things out there in this world of ours that would simply amaze you!

His latest book is the mystery/thriller The Flight of the Griffin.

To explore his life and writing more, please visit his webpage and blog at https://author-cmgray.blogspot.com

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