Penny Reid, Smart Romances, and the bearded Winston brothers....

A couple of years ago I dated a guy with a beard. A beard reminiscent of the Duck Dynasty fellows. And then like it was total Universe-ordained synchronicity I caught my eyes on the cover for Winston Brothers #3 "Beard Science". The wildness of the beard digitally cross-stitched on the cover was nearly identical to the beard of my then-current beau. I, of course, picked it up for the irony of it. And while my bearded beau and I did not last - me and the author of the bearded brothers series were to embark on a long-term reader-author relationship that has yet to fizzle out. 

Penny Reid self entitles herself as the author of 'smart romances'. Romances that do not coddle the reader and books that include smart ladies with interesting edges and backgrounds. I, being a mildly intelligent and discerning reader with a few edges and a interesting background myself, was intrigued by this statement 'Smart Romance' and I fell in love with Beard Science and with Cletus and all the Winstons (and most of all - the Banana Cake Queen leading lady who stole my heart faster than she stole Cletus's). 

I have not read every single book in the series yet nor have I read many of her others but each book in each of her many series seems to be able to be read as a standalone novel. Which is why I was able to hop right into the third official book of the Winston Brothers series without feeling like I was lost in a sea of pre-established story lines. And, yes, I do find this a very smart move. Get it? Smart. Yea. I'm cheesy that way. Her other series include (but not exclusive to) - Knitting in the City Series, Hypothesis Series, Rugby Series, Ideal Man Series. 

I have a fondness for imaginative authors who don't mind being upfront and very clear about their genre. Example...my befuddling and slightly embarrassing but entirely guilty pleasure obsession with Kirsten Ashley's Fantasy Land and the Dream Man series. It's a successful genre for a reason and there's just no point in trying to make it otherwise when you're writing it. Honestly, just own what you write. It gives you freedom to rock what you got. Penny Reid is a perfect example of this. I prefer authors who aren't afraid of being like "Yea, my main characters are fantasy men. They're real and perfect and flawed but yea, in a perfect way, and I write them so you can root for them. I own it. And so should you. BECAUSE THAT IS THE GENRE I WRITE IN." In her case especially, I think her ownership of her chosen genre gives her the ability to stomp over formulaic cliches and write romances with fantasy-level characters in a very real way. 

To me, The Winston Brothers are a huge fantasy. Handsome, bearded, genius, diverse but complementary personalities, tight-knit, and honorable. As a reader you alternate between wishing that you were a long lost Winston or fated to marry one of them. Err...well, at least that's what I was feeling when I read them. (Note : I haven't finished the series yet - the last one isn't published yet. So the jury is out on which I'll end up being. Long lost sister or destined soulmate although..now that I think about it - if my former bearded beau ended up being half as dashing and sturdy as a Winston brother...our story would have ended a whole other way). 

I recently (as of yesterday) finished the first actual novel in the series. I have read the .5 book (the Winston Brothers is a spin off of the Knitting in the City series and features the one and only Winston sister Ashley) and I have read Beard Science. I'm currently listening/reading my way through Grin or Beard It (Winston #2). To be honest, Cletus is my favorite and I wish I hadn't started with his because the other brothers pale in comparison to his mad genius brain. And the other brothers are absolutely amazing it's just...Cletus is my favorite. I want more of him and his no-longer Banana Cake Queen. Because I think its best to start with the first novel of the series (despite each being able to be read as a standalone) I've included the first 'Truth or Beard" (Winston #1) here:    

Truth or Beard by Penny Reid (Winston #1)

Visual Description : The digitally created cover is set up as a cross-stitch piece in a wooden frame. A outline of a man with a red beard and hair with 'Truth or Beard' where his face features should be is cross-stitched in the center. Above and below is a line of blue hearts. Every illustration except the wooden frame is cross-stitched. Note: All covers in this series is set up the exact way except the beard and hair styles are different colors and shapes as they depict the Winston brother the book features. (Beard Science is more zany)

"Beards, brothers, and bikers! Oh my! Identical twins Beau and Duane Winston might share the same devastatingly handsome face, but where Beau is outgoing and sociable, Duane is broody and reserved. This is why Jessica James, recent college graduate and perpetual level-headed good girl, has been in naïve and unhealthy infatuation with Beau Winston for most of her life. His friendly smiles make her tongue-tied and weak-kneed, and she’s never been able to move beyond her childhood crush. Whereas Duane and Jessica have always been adversaries. She can’t stand him, and she’s pretty sure he can’t stand the sight of her…But after a case of mistaken identity, Jessica finds herself in a massive confusion kerfuffle. Jessica James has spent her whole life paralyzed by the fantasy of Beau and her assumptions of Duane’s disdain; therefore she’s unprepared for the reality that is Duane’s insatiable interest, as well as his hot hands and hot mouth and hotter looks. Not helping Jessica’s muddled mind and good girl sensibilities, Duane seems to have gotten himself in trouble with the local biker gang, the Iron Wraith. Certainly, Beau’s magic spell is broken. Yet when Jessica finds herself drawn to the man who was always her adversary, now more dangerous than ever, how much of her level-head heart is she willing to risk?" - Nabbed from the Goodreads Blurb 

Yes, the main female lead has my name. And yes, I enjoyed that immensely. There were some very distinct differences between us though. She was a Calculus teacher. I never took Calculus. If I had I would have most likely suffered a nervous break down. Math is NOT my thing. I do, however, really admire how she commented on the sexist Halloween tradition of sexifying everyday career choices and mundane objects/creatures such as bees by dressing as a sexy Gandalf in the first chapter. That's how I knew I could get along with her. There was a beard and a hat and a very sexy short skirt.

Enough said? I think so.

I have yet to read my way through Penny Reid's entire library of books but I've adopted the habit of visiting her stacks several times a year. I loved Beard Science so much that I've listened to it five times over the last year and it took me some time to move on from it! (Again - don't start with Beard Science, start with .5 or Truth or Beard! Heed my advice!). Sometime soon I intend to be reading my way backwards through the Knitting in the City series. While she has earned her place in the quality list I keep of authors who I trust to purchase before reading...Reid's not in my library app and I have a strict budget in regards to what I purchase each month. She's got a huge list and I have a lot of books on my to-be-purchased TBR list.

I encourage you to give her and/or the bearded Winston Brothers a try when you next feel like your in the mood for a smart romance.

Happy reading!

Until next time,

Jess

Nostalgia Rules by Katherine Arden

Long live the spooky middle grade reads. Katherine Arden came out with her foray into the middle school reading group last year. It took me a while to get to it but when I did I was transported back to the era of reading books in secret late into the night. Oh, sweet memories. Stashing books between my wheelchair motor and my seat to hide them from my parents because I was always grounded from reading. I was a very well behaved child (although treated like I was the worst because I was the oldest kid in the house) but I would rebel against the system for my books! Oh, how I rebelled. Books hidden EVERYWHERE. But, anyway - I get distracted...ahem...

Small Spaces by Katherine Arden

Image Description: Illustrated so that the viewer is looking out from between two wide apart trees. The border of the cover are the blackened silhouettes of the trees. The right side has the black silhouette of a creepy looking scarecrow with straw hat, two empty see-through eyes, and a stitched smiling face. Above written in the branches of the trees is the title of the book "Small Spaces'. Ahead, through the forest is a school bus stopped on a road. Behind them a field of violet with dark silhouettes of scare crow and even farther a lavender silhouette of a barn and a silo. Everything outside of the forest (except for the scarecrows and bus) are various shades of violets and pinks casting the environment in twilight.

Publishing: September 25th 2018 by G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers

Pg Count: Hardcover, 219 pages

After suffering a tragic loss, eleven-year-old Ollie only finds solace in books. So when she happens upon a crazed woman at the river threatening to throw a book into the water, Ollie doesn't think--she just acts, stealing the book and running away. As she begins to read the slender volume, Ollie discovers a chilling story about a girl named Beth, the two brothers who both loved her, and a peculiar deal made with "the smiling man," a sinister specter who grants your most tightly held wish, but only for the ultimate price. Ollie is captivated by the tale until her school trip the next day to Smoke Hollow, a local farm with a haunting history all its own. There she stumbles upon the graves of the very people she's been reading about. Could it be the story about the smiling man is true? Ollie doesn't have too long to think about the answer to that. On the way home, the school bus breaks down, sending their teacher back to the farm for help. But the strange bus driver has some advice for the kids left behind in his care: "Best get moving. At nightfall they'll come for the rest of you." Nightfall is, indeed, fast descending when Ollie's previously broken digital wristwatch, a keepsake reminder of better times, begins a startling countdown and delivers a terrifying message: RUN. Only Ollie and two of her classmates heed the bus driver's warning. As the trio head out into the woods--bordered by a field of scarecrows that seem to be watching them--the bus driver has just one final piece of advice for Ollie and her friends: "Avoid large places. Keep to small." And with that, a deliciously creepy and hair-raising adventure begins. - Nabbed from Goodreads

Nostalgia rules forever in the land of Small Spaces. And yet, it is entirely set in modern middle school-land. Cell phones are featured - because you know all kids have cell phones now. I remember back in the day me and my brother had to share this one cell phone and we only got to have it to ourselves when we were out and about doing stuff with friends. We weren't allowed to text on it. And middle school? HA. I did not have a cell phone in middle school! I'm getting distracted again! Grr...argh...

Ahem. 

I quite enjoyed Small Spaces. It was spooky but not terrifying. I think it could be too much for a sensitive child but just right for most kids. If there are children reading this (or my niece or nephew) - its absolutely okay to read a spooky book in broad daylight with your Mom in the kitchen in easy reach of a butcher knife (to defend you, of course) and with or without a stuffie for your snuggling comfort. It's also okay to stay up with a light from the cellphone that I would have never had at your age and read until your eyes are so heavy that you fall asleep with the book plastered onto your face. Whatever works for you is great when it comes to reading a spooky book.

Ollie is the kind of girl I could have been friends with. A reader with a Dad who cooks her good food? That sounds familiar to me! And her 'sidekicks' are exactly the friends she should have. Except she doesn't know she needs to have them as her friends. Spoiler...they become her friends. 

To avoid other spoilers I won't go into detail about the actual plot. I can, however, completely rave about how Small Spaces is a spooky delight. Much like one of my favorites - Meg in A Wrinkle Of Time - she's dealing with the loss of a parent and no one seems to be able to reach her. But, through the perilous journey she will find herself with companions and challenges that work her through the grief and trauma to becoming the heroine they all require in their hours of need. Our heroine is capable, strong, and developed. Her emotional journey is satisfyingly paired with her physical and material journey. 

I think, what also makes this book so successful in execution is that it doesn't treat the reader too carefully. I think that it might be easy when writing a middle school aged book to overthink what is appropriate or not to put into the story. Being afraid of going too far in the action or too much in the facts and historical context in case you either legitimately traumatize or bore the target audience. Arden balances both with grace. It's a kids book but its not a 'I'm an Adult writing down to children' kind of book. 

The reason I'm featuring it on my blog is because I think we as adults all need to go back in time every once in a while and read a book that we would have loved when we were the targeted reading age range of said book. Its good for the spirit and one of my favorite ways to take a grown up stay-cation. 

Also - I really love Katherine Arden. 

And so I  absolutely give Small Spaces an excellent five star review and hope that you all will pick it up for yourself or gift it to the middle school reader in your life.

Happy reading!

Jess

The Winter of the Witch by Katherine Arden

And so it ends.

This trilogy has meant so much to me. It has brought me so much joy and excitement. My love for reading started at a young age because books and stories transported me away to another world and relieved me of the stress of the real one I was living in. As I've gotten I've kind of lost that ability. I'm far too involved in adulting and other real life shenanigans to check out with a book like I did when I was a kid. But, every once in a while a book or two will grab me and keep me completely occupied long after I finish the final sentence. And with the Winter Night Trilogy - I got three books like that. I waited in anticipation for each new release. And when the final came (I got the ARC from Netgalley a couple of months before the formal release)....I found myself unable to pick it up and start it. Why? Because then it would be on its way to being over. But all things must come to an end,or so they say. More accurately - no amount of my epic levels of procrastination will stop the trilogy from coming its end and I wanted to read it and to be a part of it while it was a current discussion. I didn't want to be tooo late to the party.)

So without further ado..I bring to you my official review of the finale of the year.

Visual Description: This cover is primarily yellow, orange, and shades of wintery blue and lavender. The darkened silhouette of a young woman standing strong on a snowy boulder (her back to the audience) with a staff in her right palm. Ahead of her within her sight line are the silhouette of a medieval army. Rising above them is the pale but fiery image of a fire bird that is seemingly coming forth from her staff. It is the most striking image in the cover next to the silhouette of the young woman. Above these images bordered with old world filagree and written in blue "The Winter of the Witch". Below to the side of the woman in small italic 'a novel'. And below the woman and her rock, at the very bottom of the cover, is 'Katherine Arden. Author of The Bear and the Nightingale').

Publishing: January 8th, 2019, Del Rey

Pg Count: Ebook - 384 pgs

Following their adventures in The Bear and the Nightingale and The Girl in the Tower, Vasya and Morozko return in this stunning conclusion to the bestselling Winternight Trilogy, battling enemies mortal and magical to save both Russias, the seen and the unseen.Now Moscow has been struck by disaster. Its people are searching for answers—and for someone to blame. Vasya finds herself alone, beset on all sides. The Grand Prince is in a rage, choosing allies that will lead him on a path to war and ruin. A wicked demon returns, stronger than ever and determined to spread chaos. Caught at the center of the conflict is Vasya, who finds the fate of two worlds resting on her shoulders. Her destiny uncertain, Vasya will uncover surprising truths about herself and her history as she desperately tries to save Russia, Morozko, and the magical world she treasures. But she may not be able to save them all. - Nabbed from the blurb from Goodreads. 


We pick up straight away within the aftermath of the great fire. I was a bit surprised. I had it in my imagination that we would find her roaming the wintery Russia landscape on the back of Solovey as she had done so often in the book before. But, instead - she still has soot in her hair and everyone is scrambling to repair and assess and recover.

There is so much that happens within the first few pages of the book. I can't and won't give spoilers but your heart will literally be ripped apart from your chest and you will be sobbing within the first chapters. Like no joke. The Winter of the Witch will have the FULL RANGE of emotions fill every crack in your soul before it ends.

As before (and I deeply and heavily insinuate that you shouldn't even be reading this post if you haven't read the other two books in the trilogy and in fact should go right now and get which ever one is the one you need to read in order to get caught up like RIGHT now!) and in true Winternight fashion - we say hello to familiar friends and meet some new ones along the way. Arden dances a beautiful dance of revealing new things, meeting new creatures, and still keeping the old ones around. I think it would be easy to have the conclusion to any trilogy (or series) be confined to closing out storylines and drawing everything to a close without introducing anything new. But, this is Vasya and she attracts trouble and creatures to her like she is cheese and they are mice.

Vasya is as always a force to be reckoned with but finally SHE is the one reckoning with herself. She is the one who starts to be the dealer and not just the dealt. Grabbing the reins (no pun intended) and winging it is what she's done before. But she goes further than just grabbing the reins and hoping for the best. She begins to plan and to make deals and to exert and practice and explore her own power. In the end, she basically (as we all predicted) saves medieval Russia.

In The Winter of the Witch we finally meet Arden's end game goal - that big battle of Kulukovo against the tartars that has been foreshadowed, alluded, threatened, warned, and feared/desired since the start of the trilogy. Remember little Kolya and little Vasya playing battle against the tartars way back in The Bear and the Nightingale? Yea. It's been a-brewing since the start. And, in fact, it was her (Arden) absolute goal to get to that battle and make it not just about the unification and liberation of medieval Rus' but also a battle and reconciliation of the old with the new, the chyerti and the Church, Vasya against the way of life she is 'supposed' to inhabit (basically Vasya against medieval Rus' Patriarchy. It all comes to a violent head at the battle of Kulikovo.

The ending of the Winternight trilogy had a definite urgent pulse to it. More so than the other books. There were no significant lapses of times that wove like tapestry. It was all straight forward, hurtling towards the Battle of Kulikova. Which makes Arden's ability to introduce new creatures, lands, and ideas while closing out the old storylines even more admirable.

My only wish is that there would have been some visiting with her old village and with the siblings she left behind in the first book. Kolya and Olga were left behind and I missed them. To be truthful - they were better siblings to Vasya than Irina and Sasha. Irina and Sasha were caught up in politics and intrigue (not exactly their fault but of their choosing just the same) to be as good as a sibling as the sister and brother Vasya left behind. I wish we could have seen how they were turning out. I felt like there was a natural reason for Vasya to go back - to deliver their gifted niece to a safe place where she could grow up. But, that had to be sacrificed because there was a battle coming and there were things that needed to be done!

Everything that she foreshadowed or teased throughout the previous two books were tied up. Such as - where does the magic come from in Vasya's bloodline? Who was her great-grandmother? (My suspicion was correct!). And we get so much information with so much more adventure in store for Vasya that it breaks my heart that we won't be able to be with her through them. I'd love more Vasya. I'd ride to the end of the world and jump off in the name of seeing what was below if it was beside her.

I, of course, am giving this a five out of five rating. I love this book. I love this trilogy. I will continue to treasure it forever and ever and all that sappy book-loving jazz. Its bittersweet to find this particular story come to a close after it has given me so much joy. But, the magical thing about books? They don't change and they will always be there.

Until next time,

Jess

P.S. Have tissue ready because you will be bawling at the start and finish and in-between. But mostly the start and the finish. I had to literally stop reading and pick the book up later in the day I was crying so hard at the start. And in the end I  ended up listening to most of it on audiobook while clutching a dishrag to wipe away evidence of the sob-fest that was possessing my body.

Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik

Visual Description: The cover is wintery in shades of blue, gray, silver, and white, with some objects golden. In the lower quarter part of the cover is the author's name "Naomi Novik' in gold. Below in dark blue is the title "Spinning Silver". Both are in a Renaissance, Old World font. Below both is a small terrain of a mountain and some trees. Above the title and author's name is a large frame with jagged glass and a column with three shelves with crystal formation jutting up from the top on it's left side. In the mirror is a strong boned young woman with loose brown hair, blue eyes in a gray dress, her sleeves shover to her shoulder, and she's dropping silver coins into her outstretched palm and the coins slowly turn from silver to gold with the coins in her outstretched hands golden. In the top shelf of the column to the left is a silver bag of silver coins, the second shelf is full with a handsome man with long white hair and strong features with no expression on his face, and at the bottom shelf has golden coins spilling out from it. 

Publishing: July 10th 2018, Del Rey

Page Count: Kindle Edition 480 pgs.

Find the Author: Website

"Miryem is the daughter and granddaughter of moneylenders...but her father isn't a very good one. Free to lend and reluctant to collect, he has loaned out most of his wife's dowry and left the family on the edge of poverty--until Miryem steps in. Hardening her heart against her fellow villagers' pleas, she sets out to collect what is owed--and finds herself more than up to the task. When her grandfather loans her a pouch of silver pennies, she brings it back full of gold. But having the reputation of being able to change silver to gold can be more trouble than it's worth--especially when her fate becomes tangled with the cold creatures that haunt the wood, and whose king has learned of her reputation and wants to exploit it for reasons Miryem cannot understand." - Nabbed from Goodreads

Ok so...Spinning Silver is NOT a sequel to Uprooted. My hopes got high when I saw the cover and how similar it was to Uprooted. Alas, it is not. But - it is a sister novel in spirit!

Novak does what she does most excellently and twists and re-crafts an ages-old tale. With Uprooted it was the dragon who steals maidens. A tale that we have all read, thought of, and known. With Spinning Silver we get a completely re-imagined spin on Rumpelstiltskin. And while (if you watched Once Upon A Time) a re-imagined Rumpelstiltskin isn't a foreign idea to me - her approach as it was in Uprooted is original and enticing.

There are three young women at the center of this spinning tale. They are not instantly heroic girls with perfect hearts and admirable quirks. They are flawed, perfect, skilled, unskilled, soft, and hard in different ways.

Meryem watches for years people taking from her family with no intent of returning what they borrowed. Watching while they had luxuries and necessities that her family didn't. Her parents are absolutely loving and nurturing and kind but they have no back-bone when it comes to moneylending. Correction - they're great at the lending of money but they're terrible at the getting the money back. It hardens her and makes her a steely and clever moneylender. She appears to be far more cold than she truly is.

“They would have devoured my family and picked their teeth with the bones, and never been sorry at all. Better to be turned to ice by the Staryk, who didn't pretend to be a neighbor.” - Meryem

Wanda is the poorest and most vulnerable of the three young women. Her mother passed away years ago leaving two younger brothers, a string of dead babies long buried, and a very abusive father. Wanda is ignorant but not in a dangerous way. She is taken in early in the novel as a servant to pay off the debt that her father owed Meryem's family and she sees them as 'magic'. Their book-keeping is magic and when she learns it then she knows herself that she is now a magician, Meryem's ability to turn a profit is magic, and even Meryem's mothers ability to find a relative and a new friend in a string of strangers are magic in Wanda's eyes. Just as much magic as the elfin ice people who make the winter longer are. She struggles to form a loving connection with her brothers and her journey with the ability to love and to trust and to express love is beautiful to watch.

“I looked at Lukas. He did not look very pleased, but he did not look very sad either. He was only giving me a considering eye. I was a pig at the market he had decided to buy. He was hoping I fattened up well and gave him many piglets before it was time to make bacon.” - Wanda

Irina's the plain daughter of a beautiful, partially Staryk mother who died when she was a child. She's completely overlooked and underrated by her father and step mother. She's withdrawn and cool - so much so that her own nurse from infancy doesn't know if Irina loves her as she loves Irina until later in the story. I don't want to give too much away but she becomes a force to be reckoned with, a true Tsarina who embraces the responsibility to care for her people above all else. Irina's survival instincts have no chill and she is calculating without any shame or hesitation.

“The only thing that had ever done me any good in my father's house was thinking: no one had cared what I wanted, or whether I was happy. I'd had to find my own way to anything I wanted. I'd never been grateful for that before now, when what I wanted was my life.” - Irina

Their stories weave in and out of each other until they firmly tie together in a intricate knot at a height of the plot. I adore that the girls aren't perfect and have realistic flaws. They aren't bad but they aren't entirely good except they are. They are easy to root for, even if they're doing things that contradict each other because each one has a relatable motive.

But, its good to remember going into this story - that this is not the story of girls finding each other and banding together to defeat the big bad. Each girl is powerful in her own right and finds her own victory and losses.

The Spinning Silver world, in comparison to Uprooted, is more-so in our world than a fictionally created fantasy world often is. And it is even more fleshed out by the rare, accurate, and authentic representation of Judaism. Meryem and her family are Jewish. And Novak does not shirk from facing anti-Semitism straight on without looking away. I think, it's easy for writers to...write around horrible realities - especially so when writing Fantasy. But, to write a Jewish family and community in a medieval Russian-esque land without writing anti-Semitism would be lazy and false. One part (again trying not to give too much away) where Meryem is literally forced to acknowledge that a decision she is going to make is entirely self-serving and that it could very much take something that her people might need in the future to keep their lives is a profound moment, gutting moment of reality.

With Uprooted their religion was vague and entirely mystic and often times kind of useless. Religion in Spinning Silver is very familiar and very important - as it was in real medieval times in our world. The Christianity is familiar and usual but the focus on Judaism (Meryem and her family are Jewish) is refreshing and much needed in the genre. Or, well, any genre. There are not a lot of Jewish heroines out there and definitely not many in the fantasy medieval genre.

As for the ACTUAL magic of the world - The Staryk are, I believe, a completely original creation. The Staryk are cold creatures (literally made of ice) who possess their own culture of debts and worth and words and promises that are almost impossible to translate into the language of humanity. They live in another world that only connect to ours when winter comes. It drenched in silver, in cold, in winter. They come and hunt and terrorize humans. They crave gold above all else and they are making winter longer, and longer, and longer. It is them - their King to be more specific - that come for Meryem so that she can turn their silver into gold. And it is by her own human words that she unwittingly binds herself to her fate. Again - they have this whole almost-too confusing culture of words, worth, debt, and repayment.

There are other threats that weave around Meryem and her Staryk plot that aren't even alluded to in the synopsis. Irina's married off to the Tsar (thanks to some Staryk silver magic) who is harboring a terrible, terrible secret. Wanda and her brothers find this magic cottage in the woods where it seems invisible people live. There's a murder. A wedding. Actually like three weddings and like four proposals (attempts included). And I'm not giving away a quarter of what happens by revealing these details.

With winter settling in for the long haul (I'm writing this literally at like 1 a.m. on Midwinter Solstice) Spinning Silver is one of my recommended reads. The only truly negative thing I have to say about it is the way its formatted or the lack thereof. There are so many narratives and none of them are labeled. And they are all written in first person. It's a testament to Novik's writing skills that you can follow along and there are icons breaking them up as they shift characters but it's still confusing. I do think it's clever to for-go titling each one with names in a tale based on Rumpelstiltzskin. Names are very important to the Staryk! BUT its' confusing! And threw me for a loop. Although I must note that I was reading the e-book on my Kindle and I have read accounts where reviewers mention that each character perspective has a different icon assigned to them. The icons did not change in my copy. I would totally not even complain about the lack of titling perspective shifts if that was so in my copy because that sounds clever and cool. So watch out for that! But don't let it deter you from diving into this story because it is well worth the read.

I hope the holidays have and do treat you well this year. If I don't post until after the first of the year (likely with my posting rate, lol) - please have a safe, happy, and warm New Years!

Good reading always,

Jess

“There are men who are wolves inside, and want to eat up other people to fill their bellies. That it what was in your house with you, all your life. But here you are with your brothers, and you are not eaten up, and there is not a wolf inside you. You have fed each other, and you kept the wolf away. That is all we can do for each other in the world, to keep the wolf away. And if there has been food in my house for you, then I am glad, glad with all my heart. I hope there will always be.” - Fav. quote! Read and find out who says it and to whom. lol. 

Toil & Trouble: 15 Tales of Women and Witchcraft - Tess Sharp, Jessica Spotswood

Visual Description: Purple cover with "Toil & Trouble: 15 Tales of Women & Witchcraft' in large white semi-cursive script. Framing the cover are simple illustrations colored in variations of gold, orange, and white - cats, swirling ivy, poison, skulls, moon, cauldrons, cawing crows, open palm, and a spider web.

Publishing: August 28th, 2018. Harlequin Teen.

Pg Count: 405 pgs, Hardcover

Find more info: Goodreads

"A young adult fiction anthology of 15 stories featuring contemporary, historical, and futuristic stories featuring witchy heroines who are diverse in race, class, sexuality, religion, geography, and era. Are you a good witch or a bad witch? Glinda the Good Witch. Elphaba the Wicked Witch. Willow. Sabrina. Gemma Doyle. The Mayfair Witches. Ursula the Sea Witch. Morgan le Fey. The three weird sisters from Macbeth. History tells us women accused of witchcraft were often outsiders: educated, independent, unmarried, unwilling to fall in line with traditional societal expectations. Bold. Powerful. Rebellious. A bruja’s traditional love spell has unexpected results. A witch’s healing hands begin to take life instead of giving it when she ignores her attraction to a fellow witch. In a terrifying future, women are captured by a cabal of men crying witchcraft and the one true witch among them must fight to free them all. In a desolate past, three orphaned sisters prophesize for a murderous king. Somewhere in the present, a teen girl just wants to kiss a boy without causing a hurricane. From good witches to bad witches, to witches who are a bit of both, this is an anthology of diverse witchy tales from a collection of diverse, feminist authors. The collective strength of women working together—magically or mundanely--has long frightened society, to the point that women’s rights are challenged, legislated against, and denied all over the world. Toil & Trouble delves deep into the truly diverse mythology of witchcraft from many cultures and feminist points of view, to create modern and unique tales of witchery that have yet to be explored." - Nabbed from Goodreads

'Tis the season for witches and things that go bump in the night. Actually - in my firm opinion - there is no such thing as a 'season for witches' because witches are timeless and deserve love every season of the year. If not because they are nature-based and obviously WAY more in tune with the seasons than we are - then because we are in desperate need of magick year around. That being said..there is something obvious about the cooling, coming Autumn time that inspires a person to curl up with a witchy book or two. "Toil and Trouble' was the first book I picked up this year when I started getting that witchy vibe coming on. I've been looking forward to it forever - I'm a huge fan of Jessica Spotswood's anthology editing work. She's brought me not one but TWO Tyranny of Petticoats books and now this...Toil and Trouble. Fifteen tales of women and witchcraft.

Absolutely and utterly my cup of mystic tea.

Toil & Trouble is everything that it promises to be. It spans time, the world, worlds (plural)...etc. Each one stands on their own and it's a terrible choice to figure out which ones deserve specific mention. It's one of the best anthologies in YA, if not THE best ever. I honestly haven't read much anthologies outside of YA so I can't say it's top dog outside of the genre BUT...I can suggest it to anyone whose interests are outside of the Young Adult genre.

There's layers upon layers of feelings and meanings that the anthology encompasses as a whole. And individually the stories will sing to you in different ways. Songs that sooth, that enrage, that heal, that inspire, that devastate, that make you burn as surely as our predecessors burned at the stake for being.

I am suggesting Toil & Trouble to basically everyone, ANYONE, who is remotely interested.

Until next time,

Jess

Wonder Woman : Warbringer by Leigh Bardugo

Visual Description: Background is blue cast with two cliffs and an ocean but the focus is the large wonder woman icon in blue and gold at the center, filling the lower half of the cover. And behind it is a shadowed image of a teenage Wonderwoman with her arms crossed together. Her hair is flowing to the side and you can see her face except her eyes. They are in complete shadow. At the top in white and call caps is "LEIGH BARDUGO" and below in gold and orange "WONDER WOMAN" and "WARBRINGER".  

Publishing: August 28th, 2017. Random House Children's Books.
Page Count: 364 pgs (Hardcover)
Find the Author: Goodreads
"Daughter of immortals - Princess Diana longs to prove herself to her legendary warrior sisters. But when the opportunity finally comes, she throws away her chance at glory and breaks Amazon law—risking exile—to save a mortal. Diana will soon learn that she has rescued no ordinary girl, and that with this single brave act, she may have doomed the world. Daughter of death - Alia Keralis just wanted to escape her overprotective brother with a semester at sea. She doesn’t know she is being hunted by people who think her very existence could spark a world war. When a bomb detonates aboard her ship, Alia is rescued by a mysterious girl of extraordinary strength and forced to confront a horrible truth: Alia is a Warbringer—a direct descendant of the infamous Helen of Troy, fated to bring about an age of bloodshed and misery. TogetherTwo girls will face an army of enemies—mortal and divine—determined to either destroy or possess the Warbringer. Tested beyond the bounds of their abilities, Diana and Alia must find a way to unleash hidden strengths and forge an unlikely alliance. Because if they have any hope of saving both their worlds, they will have to stand side by side against the tide of war."

Leigh Bardugo is one of the best authors in the Young Adult field right now. She's best known for her Six of Crows duology and The Grisha Trilogy. The DC Icon series are clearly angling to get well established YA authors to narrate their series. Sarah. J. Mass (Throne of Glass) helmed Catwoman's book. If you aren't aware of Bardugo and her writing - she's good at what she does and you should read her. So do that. Go read her. And you can start with this. Because I'm giving it a gazillion stars.

I don't do much in the way of comic books but I love Wonder Woman. I've loved her for her iconic image, what she has represented to women and girls, and as I grew older - how she is a pop culture reflection of Goddess spirituality and ancient mythology. I knew that I'd love anything written by Bardugo and I knew that I'd have a hard time saying no to a novelized YA Wonder Woman. Put two and two together and you'd think I would have expected to be obsessed. But, I really didn't expect for it to take me away the way it did.

Themyscera has never been brought to life like this before. Details effortlessly flow without feeling like info-dumping brought to life from Diana, teenage Princess of the Amazons, who belongs to the Island but struggles to belong amongst the people that it belongs to. The terrain, mystical but not alien, is brought to life through her eyes. And then, New York City. And then...well, I won't give too much away but I don't think it'll come as a shock that they road-trip to Greece (and a hell of a road trip it is). 

It's a fascinating concept - a society of women warriors living on a invisible, gifted mystical island separated from the outside, mainstream world. We see it both from Diana's POV and from Alia's POV. Omg - poor, poor Alia. She's basically convinced that she accidentally landed on a Greek-obsessed Cult Island. Not quite, Alia. Not quite.

One of my absolute favorite parts of the mythology that Bardugo created was how new Amazons came to be. When a female warrior is fallen in battle and she speaks the name of a Goddess and is deemed worthy - then she is reborn on the Themyscera as an Amazon. Diana's best friend on the Island and a newer Amazon (in comparison to many) spoke the name of St. Brigit when she went down fighting in a riot (not sure which one!) and was reborn an Amazon. St. Brigid is a carnation of the Goddess Brigid - ancient Celtic goddess of forge and fire. The story is the story of all the Amazons since Themyscera was gifted. EXCEPT Diana. Which, not a big shocker - is part of her teenage angst.

One of the other aspects that makes this a stand-a-lone worthy of it's own series is Bardugo's fully fleshed out cast of diverse characters. Alia is half-Greek, half African American (as is her brother) and there is no shying away from the realities of being a person of color in the modern world. We see it both from the bewildered eyes of innocent Diana and from the world-exposed Alia. It isn't just some side-observation either, it's fully acknowledged and absorbed part of Alia. Basically - it's realistic where others would either forget, neglect, or sugarcoat. Furthermore in the diversity aspect - Alia's best friend Nim is a full-figured plus sized lesbian Indian girl with epic fashion sense. Actually here, just take a look at this fanart I found on Leigh Bardugo's tumblr:

Visual Description: Background is a blue rust texture with two large Ws. From the left (all sitting) Jason, a young black man in loafers, slacks, and a white office shirt. Diana in sandals, blue jeans, and a pink tank top. Her hair is loose, wavy and blue-black. Alia, a young black woman with her hair up on the top of her head, in sneakers, jeans, a blur shirt, and a red athletic jacket. Theo, a dark skinned black young man in blue sneakers, gray jeans, and a green t-shirt. Nim, a full-figured dimple-cheeked olive skinned young woman, in dressy blue shoes, a colorful bodycon dress (legs showing). She's wearing necklaces, make-up, and her hair is loose with it shaven on one side. 

All she needed to flesh out the diversity was a character with a disability.

While there are some fine looking males - the heart and center of the story is coming of age as a young woman and the strength of female friendships. Diana and Alia both come of age in their friendship together and the challenges and plot twists they face together. The choice to stand together, an iconic oath they make to each other, and the mythology and mystery behind Helen of Troy when she was just a girl herself, entwine together to create a anthem of modern maidenhood and the purity of female friendships. 

It's not all coming-of-age angst and mythology, though. There are so many epic twists and unique and original turns in the plot that I will not spoil but can I just say - AWESOME. The BIG twist, the one that I will not speak of or even think of in too much detail - is jaw-dropping and utterly heart-crumbling. There's a legit moment (actually several) where I thought that that they were going to fail, that they were totally going to lose, and that the ending might just be something incredibly dark and tragic. And, if I'm being honest - it is tragic and it is dark and it is bittersweet.

But it's also entirely and completely wonderful. 

And, I could go on and on and on and ON about this and how much I love the mythology, imagery, sassiness, the emotional journey, the character development - but it's like 2 a.m. and I need to go to bed and wrap this post up. So, I shall leave you with this. The Amazon Oath:

SISTER IN BATTLE

I AM SHIELD AND BLADE TO YOU

AS I BREATHE,

YOUR ENEMIES WILL KNOW NO SANCTUARY

WHILE I LIVE

YOUR CAUSE IS MINE

Until next time, 

Jess

Autumn Time Reading

Autumn is here.

It's time for dying leaves, scalding hot drinks, graying skies, layered clothes. My favorite time of the years for all those things and so much more. I have some seriously summer-inclined friends and they lament the arrival of Fall because to them it means...Winter is Coming. However, I refuse to have such glass-half-empty look on it. I don't wish fall wasn't here - I wish it was longer. Much, much longer. Like as long as summer. Or better - winter! I live in Iowa. I'd take any other season longer than winter. Except maybe summer. I'm not a summer girl. It's so hot. And I wilt. And then I do wilting things like drooping until I melt like the wicked witch did when Dorothy attacked her with water. It's not fun. I am...I am a autumn time girl. Give me the rain. Give me the dead leaves. Give me the LACK OF INSECTS TRYING TO GET ME TO INHALE THEM AND/OR EAT MY BLOOD. But, I'm getting distracted and off topic. Ahem...

In honor of my favorite season I've accumulated a small but mighty list of some of my favorite autumn time reads. Books that are natural fits for when the leaves turn orange and the nights grow longer and the air gets nippier and I am my best self living my best life.

The Sugar Queen by Sarah Addison Allen

Visual Description: The top half has the image of a back of a woman in a red tank top, dark loose hair staring out of a open window with autumn trees. Beside her is an open book. She's sitting on what seems to be a window seat with purple pillows. Below, in the bottom half, with a background of orange is the title in cursive 'The Sugar Queen" with the author's name in smaller, white letters above. Golden filigree borders the title in the background. 

The first thought I had was of this novel. Sarah Addison Allen's super power is invoking the seasons and the natural world and tying them firmly with her character's world and development. I would also highly suggest reading First Frost, her sequel to Garden Spells for equal fall vibes. The Sugar Queen is a standalone and holds bittersweet and happily ever afters that is best read and experienced in the Fall. 

Anne of Windy Poplars by L.M. Montgomery

Visual Description: Anne, a redheaded young woman, is strolling down a path with her arms around books, gazing towards the reader. She is wearing a straw hat, a oversized orange cardigan, and a dark green-brown tweedish looking skirt. Behind her and down the lane is a white house with a green roof. Several very large windy-blown trees surround it. In white cursive and above Anne's head is 'Anne of Windy Poplars'. Above that in blue, smaller and simpler print is  The Anne of Green Gables Novels #4, LM MONTGOMERY. The cover is bordered in sold dark pumpkin orange. 

Everything about Anne-with-a-E screams love for autumn. What is that quote? Oh yes. "I'm so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers". I've read the entire series over and over again and out of the entire set - Anne of Windy Poplars, for me, is the most Autumnal. (With Anne of the Island a very strong second). Perhaps because it details her time as a teacher and the season of autumn is heavily featured. 

Frankenstein by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley

Visual Description: Top half is a artistic painting of a shirtless pale man, with black shaggy hair, staring down at his reflection in a pool (his reflection is staring back up at him). Behind him is a black sky, a leafless tree, and a huge rock. Red poppies are strewn across the pool of water before him. The bottom holds the title and author with a background of black. MARY SHELLEY in orange, Frankenstein : The 1818 Text in white, italicized font. 

Well, I'm sure this is a no-brainer. You cannot live through an October or even a November without reading something classic and gothic and enthralling. With the new movie that came out about Mary Shelley, I've been feeling the need to re-read Frankenstein this season. 

A Wrinkle In Time by Madeleine L'Engle

Visual Description: The cover is artistically drawn. The center has the title "A Wrinkle in Time" and the author's name "MADELEINE L'ENGLE' above in front of a black night sky with tiny white star. the border of the book is made up of cartoons. Top of the cover: three children flying. Left A small house, a old lady in black witches attire, a old woman drawn with white and pencil, below a old woman in a a top hat and oversized coat and skirt and boots. Below golden plains and mountains with a trio of children on the back of a winged pegasus. Right is a very tall school with children walking towards it. In the bottom right is a golden sticker. 

Children's books are my favorite to re-read and A Wrinkle In Time is TOP on the list for me. While it spans across the galaxy and universe and encompasses many types of worlds let alone seasonal-types - it starts on a stormy autumn-y night. A wild night when all the things start happening. Curling up with this and a hot cup of cocoa or cider while the wind is blustering orange and brown leaves around....hmmmm...yes. That sounds exactly right to me. 

The Magician's Nephew (Narnia #1) by C.S. Lewis

Visual Description: Emerald green background, "The Magician's Nephew' in large white, all caps front and center and below a medallion shape with a child in blue, with blonde hair riding a winged caramel colored pegasus just barely flying out of it. The green background lightens around the medallion shape as if the shape was glowing light. C.S. Lewis in all white caps but smaller than the title at the very bottom. 

Ok, this is set in summer time. And it might not be the most autumnal of reads. But, it's magical and the start of amazing, classic series. And to me, that makes it worth being on this list. Autumn is the best time to re-read your favorites and start a series to last you through the winter. Chronicles of Narnia is one of THE best series to have on your reading plate for the colder months of the year. 

Great Expectations by Charles Dickens

Visual Description: A painting of a large gate with two stone pillows. A foggy forest and green hills with a blue sky above lay beyond the gate. Below with a background of black states "Charles Dickens' in orange and in white, italics 'Great Expectations'. 

Speaking of re-reading...Great Expectations is dreary and spooky and heart-wrenching and classic. It's not quite as gothic and dark as Frankenstein but it's got that old Victorian gloomy tilt to it. And plus, well, Dickens. And reading (or re-reading) a Dickens novel is an excellent goal for every year. 

The Thief Lord by Cornelia Funke

Visual Description: The title in the center in all caps, slightly Renaissance-esque font 'THE THIEF LORD". At the bottom in a cursive, handwritten font the author's name "Cornelia Funke". The background is entirely blue and white to give the painting a twilight/midnight feel. It is the end of a canal of Venice. You see ab bridge between two narrow buildings. And an archway at the top with a mysterious figure capering over the top of the arch with the details of the body invisible against the light of a full moon in a starry night sky. 

Set in autumn-time Venice with a smattering of snow. The runaways fight runny noses while they follow their Thief Lord and the friendly Detective who loves turtles chases them around. Cornelia Funke has several books that are perfect for the season. But this one is my favorite. It's stand-alone, it's enchanting, and it utterly transports you to another world even though it's set in this one. 

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

Visual Description: Bottom quarter is plain back with orange, all capital "CHARLOTTE BRONTE" and below white, italics title "Jane Eyre". Above is a classical painting. A a brown haired, pale sitting woman in a 19th century black gown with a white collar. She has a piece of paper on her lap and a child with ringlets and a red 18th century child's gown leaning over her lap and looking at it. To the left, standing is a golden haired woman in a rose 19th century gown with a bustle and lace. They are all posed in a corner by a window with large drapes where sunlight steeps in from. 

If you're new to my blog - oh hey, guess what? I love Jane Eyre. So I take any excuse to add it to a list or to mention it or to even think about it. If you're not into Jane Eyre then I encourage you to try it right now. It's part gothic, part romance, part female anthem of empowerment, and entirely classic. It's an invigorating read that, I believe, pairs well with walks in the park and tea. 

Blackbird House by Alice Hoffman

Visual Description: The background of the cover is a painting, very realistic that it seems almost like a photograph, except the softness of the hues. Old fashioned laced up red boots sit next to a roaring fire on a stone floor. The corner of a basket of what looks to be peaches or maybe bread next to it. The title is on top of the cover and in all capitals 'BLACKBIRD HOUSE' with 'A Novel' in smaller letters. Bottom part has the author's name 'ALICE HOFFMAN' with 'Author of 'The Probable Future' in smaller caps below it.

I checked this out as a audiobook on my library app last year and fell in love with it. Alice Hoffman is always a win, in my book. But, this one is special to me because it's a series of short stories but they all center around the same place and the people around this house. The Blackbird House. It's meandering and intimate at the same time and I love that kind of feeling in a book. It's why I treasure A Tree Grows In Brooklyn so much (it gets a honorary mention below!). And, of course, blackbirds - especially one in particular - soar in and out of the skies of the various stories. My favorite features the red boots which is central to the cover. Lots of possible-witchery happens, heart-warming charm, sad and melancholy resolution, happy and content endings. I really adored it and I think it fits well into the autumnal spirit of this list. 

Honorary Mentions! 

The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling (my favorite HP!). Bram Stoker's Dracula. The Sleeper and the Spindle by Neil Gaiman. Coraline by Neil Gaiman. Ok...well...anything by Neil Gaiman. The Hobbit by Tolkien. The Book Thief by Marcus Zuzask. A Tree Grows In Brooklyn by Betty Smith. Uprooted by Naomi Novak. The Hounds of the Baskervilles by Arthur Conan Doyle. Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie. 

I hope that this autumn is full of everything that you love about this season. I hope its crunchy underneath your boots, with lots of hot drinks that just only slightly burn the top of your mouth, rainy and blustery afternoons, nights that dip into freezing and bring frost to your windows just so you can trace happy faces on its surface, and I hope that you get many a-lazy hours to dive into each and everyone of these books to bring optimal autumnal reading glory into your lives. 

Until next time, 

Jess

Rebel of the Sands by Alwyn Hamilton

 

  Image Description: Three covers above. Each have a teenage girl completely covered in black, desert garbs, her face hidden except for piercing blue eyes. The first has her striding ahead with fire and embers at her back. The second has her standing on a ledge with a large bow and arrow with a Arabian-esque ivory city in the distance. The third cover as the same girl falling with her hands stretched out in a attack pose across the landscape of a city. 

"MORE GUNFIRE THAN GIRL"

Recently I was chatting it up with a friend online who was explaining her RP story/character on a steampunk sim on Secondlife and it went a little like this -

Friend - "She's part Djinn, you see...and its like western --"

Me - "WAIT, OMG OMG - I KNOW A BOOK SERIES YOU'D LOVEEE!!!"

The next day she tags me in a post saying that she has bought all three in hardback in expectation that they'll be awesome. And she was absolutely right. Because Rebel of the Sands is an awesome trilogy. Epic, even. Actually - absolutely epic. And then I realized I had never fully reviewed or talked about this series. I read it earlier this year and never, ever posted about it. So..here I am, now posting about this epic trilogy.

Put a strange blue-eyed girl with serious determination into a world part western, part Arabian Nights, part steampunk - with Djinn in the mix and a couple of rebel princes to boot...and you get Rebel of the Sands. Alwyn Hamilton (Hamilton) creates a world built from things from our world that you don't think should fit together but does when she's finished world building. And at the heart of this story in this world is Amani - always and it's through her eyes that we journey through the world and experience all the things that her world has to offer (or not offer, lol). She's poor, orphaned, and her Uncle-by-Marriage/Guardian is thinking of marrying her himself instead of marrying her off to a local douchebag. She's been practicing her gunfire in the desert and she's preparing, waiting, planning to get the hell out of dodge when it all goes kablooey and she's forced to leave her dead, desert town but not in the ways that she had planned. Amani is all fire and I love the analogy that's perpetuated through her physical self and her emotional self. Her world is cool and calculating but also complete and utter explosive fire. She's surrounded by characters - friends, loves, enemies, family - that play with that enhance that fire. 

Oh, the characters you'll meet in Meraji...there's rebel princes, a troublesome cousin that just POPS UP OUT OF NOWHERE when you least expect it, and Djinn who either care not at all or too much but you seriously can't tell at all until YOU KNOW. (I feel so young and fangirl-ish right now typing this up. It's awesome. I love it, lol). A disabled character! Long-lost family members. A general who is a woman. A young, beautiful woman who gave up a life of luxury and nobility to fight for her country!!! She does both, guys!!! I LOVE WHEN THEY DO BOTH. I could go on but I don't want to give away too much and I think, with this trilogy, that the punches and surprises should be experienced with out anyone having a hint about them beforehand.

Something that I really appreciated about Hamilton's character development of Amani is that she becomes more 'herself' than she was in the previous books. More strong, more determined, more badass, more wise, more wild. However, her moniker 'The Blue-Eyed Bandit' (not a big spoiler, they slap that on her in the first chapter of the first boo, lol) follows her through out the series. And, as I've read the entire series, I've come to the conclusion that it was a statement of prophecy as it was a statement of truth. She was the Blue-Eyed Bandit her entire life. And she would always be the Blue-Eyed Bandit because it's her authentic, original self. When she wears the mantel of other titles - she's still the 'Blue-Eyed Bandit' and she only becomes more certain of this, more powerful in that truth as the story goes on. 

Oh, oh and last but not least - speaking of the 'Blue-Eyed Bandit' -  cue up the 'legend' shout out! Hamilton weaves in a side-study of the power of storytelling, legends, and the truth that remains behind them that ultimately assists in the tie up of the end of the trilogy. Amani's world is a place of legends but behind those legends is truth. And what is that truth? And what about the legends the 'Blue-Eyed Bandit' is making with her crew of rebels? I like when writers do that - when they make you think a little while giving you a great damn story with a great damn character. 

I completely understand if no one does what my friend did and goes out to buy the hardback trilogy in completion based on my ramblings (Don't be afraid to though - if you're so inclined!) - but, I seriously do encourage you to go out and find the first book and start the journey. Go, go, go now! Read the story about the girl who was more gunfire than girl her friends and her loves that became legends and stories in a land of legends and stories. 

Until next time,

Jess

Bonfire by Krysten Ritter

I'm a lover of stories. This blog is targeted towards my love of books but really - that stems from my love of stories. Stories are told in various ways. Actors tell stories. So, it shouldn't be too much of a stretch to assume that an actress would feel drawn to writing a book and like...do a good job at it. Actors are story tellers (reading is basically at least a third of job their description). Krysten Ritter's debut novel 'Bonfire' is the evidence.

I found that most of the poor-er reviews on Goodreads came across tainted by this expectation that the novel had to be on a whole different level because the author's primary career. It's my pet peeve when a book is judged like it's got to be something on a whole other level when it doesn't have to be. Example : You read a review of a historical romance novel. And they spend most of the time complaining about how unrealistic and stupid it is to have it be completely focused on the relationship and how they wish the heroine would spend less time thinking about the hero, etc. And thus because of this opinion they give it a bad review. It's a historical romance novel. You open a book from a specific genre section, be ready to get that genre. If you don't dig the genre - don't read (coughs-review-coughs) it. Same principle applies here.

Bonfire by Krysten Ritter

Visual Description: A bonfire with orange sparks cast out over the pitch black cover. Font: modern, white, thin and angular. Krysten Ritter is low capped. Title is all caps. 'A novel' is off in the corner, smaller and italicized. 

Publishing: November 7th, 2017. Hutchinson
Page Count: 288 (hardcover)
Find the Author: Goodreads

"Should you ever go back? It has been ten years since Abby Williams left home and scrubbed away all visible evidence of her small town roots. Now working as an environmental lawyer in Chicago, she has a thriving career, a modern apartment, and her pick of meaningless one-night stands. But when a new case takes her back home to Barrens, Indiana, the life Abby painstakingly created begins to crack. Tasked with investigating Optimal Plastics, the town's most high-profile company and economic heart, Abby begins to find strange connections to Barrens’ biggest scandal from more than a decade ago involving the popular Kaycee Mitchell and her closest friends—just before Kaycee disappeared for good. Abby knows the key to solving any case lies in the weak spots, the unanswered questions. But as Abby tries to find out what really happened to Kaycee, she unearths an even more disturbing secret—a ritual called “The Game,” which will threaten the reputations, and lives, of the community and risk exposing a darkness that may consume her. With tantalizing twists, slow-burning suspense, and a remote, rural town of just five claustrophobic miles, Bonfire is a dark exploration of the question: can you ever outrun your past?" - Blurb nabbed  from Goodreads

Before I forget - I have a paralegal degree. While I don't have much experience with environmental agencies and law - the last class (most fresh in my mind) was all about Administrative Law.

Returning to a small hometown with success and a mission that compromises the feelings of the people you left behind feelings towards you...it's a premise that's been done before. However, I'm never the one to judge the re-used premise. Especially when it's a classic. Because in the familiar premise is the freedom of choices and a unique perspective - a different take. And that is endlessly fascinating to me. It's a known premise for a reason - it's resonating. It's not just something that's repeating in the fictional world - it's a premise that plays out hundreds and thousands of times over history in the everyday world.

In Bonfire's case - it plays out with the themes of toxic. Toxic environmental factors, toxic friendships, toxic homes, toxic habits, toxic fears. Accompanying 'toxic' is the theme of overcoming and what it takes to get through and recover - for real. There's a difference between running away and suppressing and the rebirthing experience of true recover from toxicity. It plays a recurring theme in Abby's (MC) characterization and plot and the characters around her. Each person is either not recovered but pretending or still actively participating in toxicity or never ever recovered and knows it and now is just..living in the aftermath. Sounds like a fun town, amIright? 

Abby literally stars in two different stories in the same book. Two stories that merge together in the end. It's not entirely surprising - most 'two stories' come together as a general rule so the book doesn't suck. In Bonfire it plays out as (perhaps unintentionally) a homage to the female intuitive powers. The breed of female intuitive powers that are usually considered crazy by those not experiencing them within themselves. I almost thought, as the reader, that she was projecting her obviously suppressed emotions onto certain things and that her (again) suppressed emotions were getting tangled with her purpose in returning. However, (and I won't spoil how it goes down) it doesn't take the reader much to realize that there are two stories and they're heading towards each other in a twisted way. The questions are 'who, what, when, where, why?' do they converge?

Four out of five. Because it's a solid read with solid writing with texture and a theme that has depth.

Until next time,

Jess

P.S. I must confess - the entire time I was reading it I heard Ritter's voice narrate it in my head. As in - the voice over narration stuff she does for Jessica Jones. Not a terrible way to read a book, imo. lol.

The Radical Element : 12 Stories of Daredevils, Debutantes, & Other Dauntless Girls

A purple cover with graphic designs of a girl in a dress with an umbrella, playing cards, old time film reel and camera, a guitar and clouds. In the center is a dark silhoouete of a girl's windblown head, she's looking off into the distance. The title is in gold. On very top "12 Stories of Daredevils, Debutantes, & other Dauntless girls. Center title (girls head between the tmwo words) 'The Radical Element'. Below 'edited by Jessica Spotwood'.

Publishing: March 13th, Candlewick Press

Pg Count: 320 pgs, hardcover

Find the Editor: goodreads

"To respect yourself, to love yourself—should not have to be a radical decision. And yet it remains as challenging for an American girl to make today as it was in 1927 on the steps of the Supreme Court. It's a decision that must be faced whether you're balancing on the tightrope of neurodivergence, finding your way as a second-generation immigrant, or facing down American racism even while loving America. And it's the only decision when you've weighed society's expectations and found them wanting. In The Radical Element, twelve of the most talented writers working in young adult literature today tell the stories of the girls of all colors and creeds standing up for themselves and their beliefs—whether that means secretly learning Hebrew in early Savannah, using the family magic to pass as white in 1920s Hollywood, or singing in a feminist punk band in 1980s Boston. And they're asking you to join them." - Nabbed from Goodreads Blurb

This is book two in the Tyranny of Petticoats series. I dearly hope that there are more books to come. I have loved historical fiction since I was a little girl and was introduced to The American Girl series and so this anthology series naturally has a special place in my heart. And I am pleased to be able to say that The Radical Element is just as great as it's predecessor. (link to my thoughts on the first book here). The Radical Element includes a variety of heroines, settings, and themes. Each author delivers. And the works combined create a multi-colored tapestry of the young, female face of American history. And the anthology includes in their diversity a face that is often over looked and especially so in American History.

The Disabled Girl.

It's only in the past decade or so that I've noticed a real turn in the way that persons with disabilities are portrayed and how much people are trying to actively represent people of all dis/abilities in their works. However, there's still quite a ways to go. Me Before You, anyone? (There's a reason this disabled girl has not blogged about that book on her book blog. lol). When I was a kid and my love for historical fiction was probably at it's apex - there weren't any disabled characters. Hell, there weren't many disabled characters ever. So to find in my hand an anthology that has intentionally main characters who are disabled and female and in history - well...my tween self was pretty damn excited. There was inner-tween squealing and hand clapping going on in the back of my head.

I appreciate that there is a representation of both a visible disability and a invisible disability. It's no spoiler since it's literally in the description blurb above ('balancing the tightrope of neurodivergence'). In years of never getting any representation and then to get it in one of my favorite genres...it makes me a happy girl. Both stories are void of any of the ableist traps. I won't lie - one is a bit cheesy, but I'll take it!

With short stories it's hard to give out information without giving out the majority of the plot..and essentially the whole story. I think with an anthology of short stories it's best if you keep it well...short! The anthology gives everyone a little bit of everything. It spans to the eighties. It is inclusive. You even get a little bit of each genre within the genre...with in the genre. Magical realism, mystery, law drama, etc.

The Radical Element continued to give me what I loved about the first installment and it gave me more.
And I want more. I think you'll want more too. And when I say I want more - I mean, I want more inclusion in the fiction I read. More accurate, un-ableist stories.

Until next time,

Jess 

The Bear and the Nightingale and The Girl In The Tower by Katherine Arden

Maybe I'm naturally inclined to fall in love with stories of brave, magical girls in medieval worlds who are not the typical princesses or damsels. Now that I write that I'm thinking "Well, duh I love those kinds of stories. Why wouldn't I? WHO WOULDN'T?". I think a large majority of the books I love end up being brave, magical girls in faraway times and places. My Grammy asked over Thanksgiving last year...do you ever read non-surreal books? I had to think for a moment. I like what I like! Although, I should probably work on getting a little more variety in reading diet. It's just so hard when there are books like this out there. Actually - this isn't just a fantasy novel. It has history in it. It's set in Medieval Russia so yea...variety. 

There's a lot of parts and thoughts of my experience with the books that I want to share. I think it's safe for you to assume that I highly suggest that you read them. AND when you do so...know that they are part of a trilogy. The third and final installment will be released next year! 

I don't think the author meant to write a trilogy. The Bear and the Nightingale was her debut novel (neat note - she wrote it in Hawaii. Interesting since it's set in Russia and predominantly in the winter time). Bear and Nightingale could stand on it's own however its one of those novels in which finding out that there are more stories to be written makes you deeply, deeply happy as a person, a reader, and a human. 

And so, without further ado...I introduce the best damn thing I've blogged about all year. 

The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden

Visual Description: A wintery night-time forest (colored blue) is pictured with a mysterious glowing cabin and a figure of a girlish woman entering it.

Publishing: January 10th, 2017. Del Rey Books

Page Count: Hardcover, 322 pages.

Find the Author: website, twitter

"At the edge of the Russian wilderness, winter lasts most of the year and the snowdrifts grow taller than houses. But Vasilisa doesn’t mind—she spends the winter nights huddled around the embers of a fire with her beloved siblings, listening to her nurse’s fairy tales. Above all, she loves the chilling story of Frost, the blue-eyed winter demon, who appears in the frigid night to claim unwary souls. After Vasilisa’s mother dies, her father goes to Moscow and brings home a new wife. Fiercely devout, city-bred, Vasilisa’s new stepmother forbids her family from honoring the household spirits. The family acquiesces, but Vasilisa is frightened, sensing that more hinges upon their rituals than anyone knows. And indeed, crops begin to fail, evil creatures of the forest creep nearer, and misfortune stalks the village. As danger circles, Vasilisa must defy even the people she loves and call on dangerous gifts she has long concealed—this, in order to protect her family from a threat that seems to have stepped from her nurse’s most frightening tales." - Nabbed from Goodreads

We start out slow, drawing out the foundation and foreshadowing possibilities for extended story telling, and giving us enough time to feel the loss and tragedy of Vasya's tragic birth and her mother's decision. We meet her family before we even meet her. And it is this opening picture that sews the emotional core to the reader's subconscious mind. The span of time encompassed in this first book's plot is over sixteen years so while Vasya (Vasilisa) is just a little girl (getting into scrapes) we learn about the political and grown up decisions that lead her unfortunate step mother to be married to her father. Vasya's home is deep within the wilderness. Her Father is a a great Lord but in the first scenes he is in the stables helping an animal give birth to a baby.

Arden does an illustrious job of bringing feudal Russia alive for the reader. A giant oven with a bed over for it for the elderly and sick, descriptions of food (or the lack of it), women covering their hair, the use of a steaming bath house, dangers and lore of distant 'Tatars' invading, reverence of paint icons. A poetical voice lyrically and quaintly describes the world in a way that could only be described from someone who lived in that world. You forget that the author wrote this in Hawaii, had gone to college, grew up with TV and cereal for breakfast, and knows (I'm assuming!) how to work a microwave.

And the CREATURES...the magical, strange, ancient creatures! Everything it seems has a guardian or a creature of its own. A little stout man creature protects the hearth, a prophecy giving bathhouse spirit, a guardian caretaker of the horses in the stables. You will fall in love with them like I did. Russia folklore creatures are both fairies and goblins rolled up in one. Both terrible and endearing. Strange and familiar. Good and bad.

Family and the love that is held by Vasya's family is absolutely rejuvenating. From the premise and the death of her mother in the start you might naturally assume that Arden will follow the trope that Vasya is forlorn and unwanted by her family. Despite her step-mother's malice against her Vasya is given nothing but love and loyalty from her siblings - even from her half-sister (her step-mother's daughter). Her brothers protect and love her. Her father loves her and though his attempts might be stunted by his perceptions of the world and as it 'should be' - he loves her and that love is rarely if ever questioned by the audience. Her grandmotherly nurse Dunya is a mother and guardian to them all. Their home is cozy and warm because of the strength of their family.

And that warmth and strength is what keeps both Vasya and us readers going when the Vasya's world steadily becomes more narrow, more dangerous, and more mysterious. By the time we are in the middle of the book she is a strong-willed teenager who does not fit the cage that, as a woman of that time, she was born to, a Frost King has been seeking her since she was a girl, a Priest is obsessed with her, her tormented step-mother conspires against her, her Father wants to marry her off (apparently the Dad Solution of feudal Russia - get your daughter married so she'll settle down....it doesn't go as planned to NO one's surprise), and the ancient creatures that only Vasya and one other can see are warning of a Bear and it's awakening, and a horrible winter to come. And yes, she definitely inherited her mysterious grandmother's mystical abilities.

If I go further, I will give spoilers. And I don't want to do that. Not for the first book! So, go forth, read away!

Disclaimer: Spoilers (mild but telling!) lay below!

The Girl in the Tower by Katherine Arden

Visual description: A silhouette of a girl on a horse galloping down a slope. A large tower rises behind her and in the background the slopes towers of Moscow look hazy. The sun is rising in the background. Snow flake flurries dust the illustration. 

Publishing: December 5th 2017

Page Count: Hardover, 363 pages.

Find the Author: (same as above, lol)

"Orphaned and cast out as a witch by her village, Vasya’s options are few: resign herself to life in a convent, or allow her older sister to make her a match with a Moscovite prince. Both doom her to life in a tower, cut off from the vast world she longs to explore. So instead she chooses adventure, disguising herself as a boy and riding her horse into the woods. When a battle with some bandits who have been terrorizing the countryside earns her the admiration of the Grand Prince of Moscow, she must carefully guard the secret of her gender to remain in his good graces—even as she realizes his kingdom is under threat from mysterious forces only she will be able to stop." - Nabbed from Goodreads blurb.

She literally just unwittingly throws herself into the fire and then she realizes she's in the fire - she just keeps doing her thing. In 'Nightingale' (don't we love Solovey!?) though she was in danger - she was in the safety of her home. Sure, that home was surrounded by neighbors who called her a witch, the guardian spirits were dying, and vampires were literally rising up from the grave to claw at their door at night - but it was still home. The action, the stakes, the choices are far more daunting and heart-pounding. Little Vasya has grown up. She becomes a woman but on her own terms. And if you think the harshness of her childhood realities was heavy? It has absolutely nothing on Moscow. 

Like in the first book - we are introduced first to her family. In this case - it is her sister and brother (Olya and Sasha) in Moscow. Instead of one chapter - we spend a good chunk with them setting up the environment that we know that Vasya is destined to be in eventually. Women aren't just sheltered and covered - they are secluded, separated, partitioned away from the men. They can only go out to church and to visit to each other. If a woman was to step out of this norm - they would bring disgrace and ruin to their family and the repercussions could be a matter of home or no home. On the plus side - her niece sees a ghost of a mysterious girl wandering around. It turns out that Vasya is not the only one who inherited the mysterious grandmother's gifts.

There are new creatures and some familiar. Vasya has wholeheartedly accepted the mysterious, supernatural world that only she can see. She willingly wishes to learn about her gifts and uses her connection to the supernatural to save herself and others. Solovey is her constant and amusing companion. And whether he likes it or not - Morozco cannot help but watch over her.

The relationship between her and her siblings are more tense and partially questionable than we are used to. These siblings have lived in the dangerous world of Moscow and her appearance is dangerous and startling to their world. It's sad to see the stress between her and her siblings when in Nightingale the love she had for her siblings and that they had for her kept everything going in the darkest times. In the darkest times of this story - Vasya must rely on herself.

I can't go much further without giving away things I don't believe should be given away. 

The same illustrious voice narrates and weaves the new faces of feudal, medieval Russia and yet it matches the new daunting, adventurous pace. Where we spent a whole book to meander through her childhood and to set up her world in 'Nightingale' - we cover a few months in one book in 'Tower'. The tempo is like a fire. At first it's just a flicker, kindling, then it lights and the embers burn, and it slowly crackles and starts to light, and then all of a sudden - it takes off! And when it burns - it burns with passion, heartbreak, and magic. 

There's so many tidbits thrown out through the book - questions that are leading and need to be answered. Where does the magic come from? Her grandmother - who was she and who was her people? The legacy of a line of witches and the weight of being born different in a world where being different and a woman at the same time was considered a curse is explored. What will happen to Morozko when no one believes in him? Some questions are answered in this story and some are still yet to be faced...

So. Go read. It's worth it. 

Until next time, 

Jess