Fairy tale re-telling – Casey Carlisle

Beauty and the Beast turned Fae – Yes Please!.

Genre: Y/A, Fantasy

No. of pages: 416

From Goodreads:

When nineteen-year-old huntress Feyre kills a wolf in the woods, a beast-like creature arrives to demand retribution for it. Dragged to a treacherous magical land she only knows about from legends, Feyre discovers that her captor is not an animal, but Tamlin—one of the lethal, immortal faeries who once ruled their world.

As she dwells on his estate, her feelings for Tamlin transform from icy hostility into a fiery passion that burns through every lie and warning she’s been told about the beautiful, dangerous world of the Fae. But an ancient, wicked shadow grows over the faerie lands, and Feyre must find a way to stop it… or doom Tamlin—and his world—forever.

This is the first novel from Sarah J Mass that I’ve read, and I have to say I was impressed.

Not being a fan of fairy-tale re-tellings, but am finding this genre to continually grow on my bookshelf – ‘A Court of Thorns and Roses,’ puts an original spin on the Beauty and the Beast fable.

Outstanding story telling – although there are a few moments, one at the start and one near the end, that felt a little too convenient and were made to happen for the sake of the story line (and to fit into the original fairy tale mould). Which is what ultimately knocked this down half a point for me; I guess because the writing and character development had so far exceeded my expectations that these contrived plot points were glaringly contrite. But that is the worst of my criticism.

It has been years since I’ve gotten lost in a fantasy world. I’m usually reading contemporary, science fiction or supernatural. But Maas got me hook, line and sinker…

Feyre is obstinate and challenging from the first page – and we really get to believe her assumptions, ‘know’ that she is right. And then it slowly gets pulled apart like a slowly unravelling jumper. I loved her fierce independence and will to stand up on what she feels is right. Feyre is the type of character that spurns me to continue reading page to page – and that’s without the action and intrigue of her story.

Tamlin is a great beast. Scary, complex, intelligent and handsome. Most incarnations of beasts are superficially frightening, but Tamlin is righteously terrifying in all his glory. And, as the story goes when he’s softened and tamed by Belle (Feyre) we get to see more of his beauty. Don’t think he’ll become any less infamous though.

The adventure has only just begun. It’s obvious upon completion this is not a stand-alone, and I am very excited and eagerly awaiting the next instalment. So, in the meantime, I will catch up to many of my bookish buddies and fill in time working my way through the Throne of Glass series.

‘A Court of Thorns and Roses’ left me feeling a little shell-shocked by the end. We really get put through the ringer. It’s fast paced adventure makes the 400+ pages a breeze and Maas’ beautific writing style pull you into a magical world and make reading effortless.

Even though we all know the story of Beauty and the Beast, this story still manages to surprise. Definitely adding this to my favourites list and it is listed in my Top 5 Favourite reads of 2015. Highly recommended, even if you are not into fantasy, this will blow your mind.

Overall feeling: *uplifting music*

© Casey Carlisle 2015. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Casey Carlisle with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

A face off of crackling magical babes that at times fizzled.

Genre: Y/A, Fantasy, Adventure

No. of pages: 293

From Goodreads:

To make Oz a free land again, Amy Gumm was given a mission: remove the Tin Woodman’s heart, steal the Scarecrow’s brain, take the Lion’s courage, and then Dorothy must die….

But Dorothy still lives. Now the Revolutionary Order of the Wicked has vanished, and mysterious Princess Ozma might be Amy’s only ally. As Amy learns the truth about her mission, she realizes that she’s only just scratched the surface of Oz’s past—and that Kansas, the home she couldn’t wait to leave behind, may also be in danger. In a place where the line between good and evil shifts with just a strong gust of wind, who can Amy trust—and who is really Wicked?

I really wanted to be swept away in the tornado of Amy’s world, but for the Sequel of Dorothy Must Die, I was even less impressed than with the debut novel. That’s not to say I did not enjoy The Wicked Will Rise, because I thought it a fun read – but that was about all.

My attention waned in many parts, and didn’t get that feeling that I must read on until the last quarter of the novel. I’ve rated this the same as Dorothy Must Die, but must admit I felt it did not match the quality on any count. I’m afraid I’m starting to lose faith in this franchise…

The action in this novel is fantastic, and I feel if the pacing was tightened up would have greatly improved the reading experience.

The mythology in regards to magic is fascinating, but there wasn’t enough explained in this book to give it some ‘pow’ and suffered the fate of many middle novels in that too many questions go unanswered.

I still think the story of Amy needing to assassinate Dorothy is a great one – and the events in The Wicked Will Rise around this are dealt with really well in this novel.

With so many good points, I don’t know why I’m not more excited for this read – I just felt like there was something missing. Or maybe I was expecting it to be bigger and better than its predecessor? Quite possibly there was too much going on with side stories and not enough ‘meat’ along the core storyline. I would have liked to have seen more pressure but on Amy too – with her environment and personal relationships.

Danielle Paige has a pleasant enough writing style and paints a vivid world, but I got lost at times when she darted off on tangents. Yes, they were interesting, but the pacing suffered.

The story is original enough (a quasi fairytale re-telling) but failed to draw me in completely. Maybe I’m just not a fan of this sub-genre. The only book to date I’ve enjoyed in the trend of new novels based on childhood stories has been the Lunar Chronicles… I will see if A Court of Thorns and Roses measures up in the coming month before I abandon acquiring any more titles in this area.

Overall feeling: Meh!