Hardcover, 304 pages
October 1st 2013 by Harcourt Books
Rough and tumble Saturday Woodcutter thinks she's the only one of her sisters without any magic—until the day she accidentally conjures an ocean in the backyard. With her sword in tow, Saturday sets sail on a pirate ship, only to find herself kidnapped and whisked off to the top of the world. Is Saturday powerful enough to kill the mountain witch who holds her captive and save the world from sure destruction? And, as she wonders grumpily, "Did romance have to be part of the adventure?" As in Enchanted, readers will revel in the fragments of fairy tales that embellish this action-packed story of adventure and, yes, romance.
Source: Alethea Kontis + Netgalley! (Thank you!)
My Thoughts:
Saturday was the daughter who had so much energy for a gift. Aside from this seemingly never-ending energy, she considered herself normal enough unlike all her sisters. To be honest, I didn’t expect to like Saturday as much I did. In Enchanted, I loved Sunday who was so different from her older sister. In Hero, I got to see the world from a very different perspective, all-too-practical and somewhat ‘magic-proof’ in such a way that she herself didn’t believe that she had magical capabilities until the day she summoned the sea to her doorstep. Quirky, daring yet in her own way, sensitive, Saturday grew on me.
Peregrine’s character was an intriguing addition to the set of characters. His story was just haunting and traumatic for me. It was a version of faery-wish-gone-wrong with just enough dark humor to make me pity Peregrine and at the same time wish that he could have thought over his decision. With his wish granted, he roamed the Top of the World as an immortal. He was a man stuck in a woman’s body, literally. For this reason, humor and tragedy coexisted in Hero.
Top of the World was freakishly intriguing. Betwixt, the witch and all the secrets and magic lying in the multitude of caves there, were part of why I kept reading on. I wanted to know more about each and every one of them, especially Betwixt.
I was curious how the author would mix together bits and pieces of fairytales into an original story. Alethea Kontis does it again with a vibrant, crazy-like (in a good way) novel. The plot was good, as unpredictable as ever.
All in all, Hero was like a tapestry of fairytales interwoven together: vibrant, fun, humorous, tragic and100% magical. I strongly recommend this to readers who love fairytale retellings and fantasy. (Though do take note that this isn’t, exactly, a retelling. This is more of a mix of more than one fairytale.)
Rating:
4 Cupids = Strong book love.
I really enjoyed this. I recommend this!
I really enjoyed this. I recommend this!
If you're up for more Hero and want to check out Alethea's writing style, here's a deleted scene from the manuscript. This is a part of the original chapter one of the book from Peregrine's POV:
On Tour with Prism Book Tours
New York Times bestselling author Alethea Kontis is a princess, a goddess, a force of nature, and a mess. She’s known for screwing up the alphabet, scolding vampire hunters, turning garden gnomes into mad scientists, and making sense out of fairy tales.Alethea is the co-author of Sherrilyn Kenyon’s Dark-Hunter Companion, and penned the AlphaOops series of picture books. Her short fiction, essays, and poetry have appeared in a myriad of anthologies and magazines. She has done multiple collaborations with Eisner winning artist J.K. Lee, including The Wonderland Alphabet and Diary of a Mad Scientist Garden Gnome. Her debut YA fairy tale novel, Enchanted, won the Gelett Burgess Children’s Book Award in 2012 and was nominated for both the Andre Norton Award and the Audie Award in 2013.
Born in Burlington, Vermont, Alethea now lives in Northern Virginia with her Fairy Godfamily. She makes the best baklava you’ve ever tasted and sleeps with a teddy bear named Charlie.
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Tour-Wide Giveaway
Sept 22 - Oct 17
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Well my family is part Scottish and British.
ReplyDeleteMy Father is a huge computer geek.
and my mother loves to read like i do.
we are pretty plan family but my family can have there crazy moments.
ok, you've got me intrigued. sounds like a great story.
ReplyDelete,
Think it sounds awesome. <3 I loved book one, and I cannot wait to read Hero :D Glad you loved it! Thank you for sharing :)
ReplyDeleteThank you for commenting on my blog. <3
Love, Carina @ Carina's Books
This sounds like a well-imagined fantasy. I can't wait to read it. I do have the first book but have yet to read it.
ReplyDeleteGlad you loved it, Precious.