[Blog Tour] Review + Deleted Scene + Giveaway: Hero by Alethea Kontis

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!

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:

Deleted Scene From Hero by Alethea Kontis

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.

Website * Goodreads * Facebook * Twitter * YouTube

Tour-Wide Giveaway

Sept 22 - Oct 17

Fairy Tale Gift Bundle: Signed copies of both Enchanted and Hero by Alethea Kontis plus swag!

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Review: Cinder by Marissa Meyer

Book Description via Goodreads:

Hardcover (US Version), 387 pages
January 3, 2012, Feiwel & Friends

Humans and androids crowd the raucous streets of New Beijing. A deadly plague ravages the population. From space, a ruthless lunar people watch, waiting to make their move. No one knows that Earth’s fate hinges on one girl. . . .

Cinder, a gifted mechanic, is a cyborg. She’s a second-class citizen with a mysterious past, reviled by her stepmother and blamed for her stepsister’s illness. But when her life becomes intertwined with the handsome Prince Kai’s, she suddenly finds herself at the center of an intergalactic struggle, and a forbidden attraction. Caught between duty and freedom, loyalty and betrayal, she must uncover secrets about her past in order to protect her world’s future.

Source: St. Martin's Griffin and Netgalley for the ebook + Andrew and Pan Macmillan Asia for the hardcover (Thank you!)

My Thoughts:

I have always been a fan of retellings, especially one that centered on my favorite tales as a child. Cinder gripped my heart and I knew right there and then that I would be fond of her. Cinder is a cyborg and a mechanic – two things that set her apart from the rest of the heroines of science fiction novels. But deep inside she has simple wants (well not entirely simple): she wants a dress so she could go to the royal ball; she wants a new foot – one that is preferably her size; she wants appreciation and love. Her stepmother held a deep grudge for the death of her husband and she blamed Cinder for it. She also somewhat enslaved Cinder by putting her in a booth in the market and letting her fix everything that needed to be fixed while she flitted here and there, thinking about gowns and royal balls. I respect Cinder for the way she treated her stepmom. She was civil, tried to be understanding and almost never talked back. Talent, manners and a vision, that were the things that Cinder had.

The storyworld of Cinder was superbly built. It was so detailed that I could imagine walking in the cluttered streets, the busy market and the sterile rooms of the Palace laboratory. What was incredible was how New Beijing seemed so Asian to me. Meyer made me feel that while I was reading her book and that was incredible. It was like a second home in a book. The attention to detail that was employed made the story all the more vivid.

Prince Kai was gorgeous, of course, and he had a great potential to fill in the empty throne that his father left. There were sweet, blush-inducing moments and I loved the push-pull reaction between Cinder and Kai. I felt that it wasn’t rushed and Meyer allowed the two to dance a series of attract and repel steps. However, I craved for a fireworks display. I’m excited to see if there will be blinding sparks when Cinder and Kai are together.

The element of Lunars injected into the plot was brilliant. I, personally, am not a big fan of aliens in YA science fiction but I was intrigued and fascinated with these mind-controlling moon creatures from the moon. Their biology and their gift were described into detail and was shown in the book in such a way that I didn’t raise my eyebrows at any of it.

Although I was able to guess the main plot points a few chapters in, do not let this discourage you. Albeit slightly predictable, Cinder will keep you entertained with politics, tragedy, humor, vivid imagery and of course, the flawless writing.

Cinder is a fairytale altered and injected with politics, tragedy and humor, with a one-of-a-kind heroine, an adorable android and an exotic setting that will captivate you. If you enjoy fairytale retellings and science fiction, this one is for you!

Rating:

4.5 Cupids = Obsessive book love.
Almost made it as one of my favorites! I strongly recommend this!

Review: Kill Me Softly by Sarah Cross

Book Description via Goodreads:

e-ARC, 331 pages

Published April 10, 2012 by EgmontUSA

Mirabelle's past is shrouded in secrecy, from her parents' tragic deaths to her guardians' half-truths about why she can't return to her birthplace, Beau Rivage. Desperate to see the town, Mira runs away a week before her sixteenth birthday—and discovers a world she never could have imagined.

In Beau Rivage, nothing is what it seems—the strangely pale girl with a morbid interest in apples, the obnoxious playboy who's a beast to everyone he meets, and the chivalrous guy who has a thing for damsels in distress. Here, fairy tales come to life, curses are awakened, and ancient stories are played out again and again.

But fairy tales aren't pretty things, and they don't always end in happily ever after. Mira has a role to play, a fairy tale destiny to embrace or resist. As she struggles to take control of her fate, Mira is drawn into the lives of two brothers with fairy tale curses of their own... brothers who share a dark secret. And she'll find that love, just like fairy tales, can have sharp edges and hidden thorns.

Source: Netgalley & Egmont USA (Thank you!)

My Thoughts:

All Mira wanted was to know more about her parents. But she would get more than that in Beau Rivage. She’s a likable, determined character who can deal with her own issues and can handle messy situations (aka Blue.) However, I'm sad to say that I seemed to like other characters more than Mira.

Blue and Felix were two gorgeous brothers. Blue was the blue-haired, irritating, cocky rocker guy. At first, I didn’t like him. But as Mira got more and more involved in his life, he unveiled his dark, vulnerable side. He was actually nice and sweet underneath all the sarcasm. It was a relief to know he wasn’t really a jerk. Although the reason why he acted like that broke my heart into a million tiny pieces. Felix was the irresistible, gorgeous guy. He didn’t give mixed signals. He only gave one kind of signal: desire. Mira fell for Felix but it seemed that everyone was against him. He was the 'bad' guy. It only got more complicated from there.

In Kill Me Softly, there were three types of characters: (1) people like Mira who refused to surrender and kept on fighting fate, trying to get in control of her life, (2) people like Viv who didn’t like her fate but went along with the waves of destiny anyway because it was unavoidable and, (3) people like Freddie, the adorable knight in shining armor who was more than willing to rescue his princess, who embraced his fate with arms wide open.

Freddie was sweet. He was a perfect gentleman. He was the personification of ‘Prince Charming.’ Yes, he was definitely one of my favorite characters in Kill Me Softly. I was sad for him when he found out that there might not be a happily-ever-after in his future even though he was 100% willing and 100% ready to fulfill his role as Prince and Knight in Shining Armor.

Cross put her own twist on several favorite fairytales and changed the meaning of ‘fairytale’ forever. She delivered an eternal cycle of curses and blessings. I loved the concept. I loved the characters. I loved the plot. I loved the zing of magic, passion and intensity in the pages. The only thing that I didn’t like was the beginning. It was a bit slow for me and there were parts that stretched too much when all I wanted was to get a little more info that would make things clearer and more intriguing for me (aka the slightly big reveal.)

Kill Me Softly is bleeding romance, tragedy and humor. Kill Me Softly will hypnotize readers with its magical prose, unforgettable characters and engaging plot. I fell inlove, cried and had my heart broken. So be prepared. I highly this to fantasy and fairytale readers.

Rating:

 

Review: Enchanted by Alethea Kontis

Book Description via Goodreads:
e-ARC, 319 pages
May 8, 2012, Harcourt Children’s Books


It isn't easy being the rather overlooked and unhappy youngest sibling to sisters named for the other six days of the week. Sunday’s only comfort is writing stories, although what she writes has a terrible tendency to come true.


When Sunday meets an enchanted frog who asks about her stories, the two become friends. Soon that friendship deepens into something magical. One night Sunday kisses her frog goodbye and leaves, not realizing that her love has transformed him back into Rumbold, the crown prince of Arilland—and a man Sunday’s family despises.


The prince returns to his castle, intent on making Sunday fall in love with him as the man he is, not the frog he was. But Sunday is not so easy to woo. How can she feel such a strange, strong attraction for this prince she barely knows? And what twisted secrets lie hidden in his past - and hers?

Source: Alethea Kontis & Netgalley (Thank you!)

My Thoughts:
Sunday was the seventh daughter of a seventh daughter. She was doomed to a happy life but all she wanted was to be interesting. Right from the start, I was able to relate to Sunday. She was a regular girl: she gets mad, gets annoyed, complains, endures, suffers and loves. She had the same desire like everybody else – she wanted to be interesting.

Monday’s child is fair of face,

Tuesday’s child is full of grace,

Wednesday’s child is full of woe,

Thursday’s child has far to go,

Friday’s child is loving and giving,

Saturday’s child works hard for a living,

But the child who is born on the Sabbath Day

Is blithe and bonny and good and gay.

-from Enchanted

Sunday’s family was far from normal. Jack Junior, Sunday’s eldest brother was a hero. Her sisters were special and they stood out. Monday was the beautiful sister. Tuesday was the fabulous dancer. Wednesday was the dramatic poet. Thursday was the Pirate Queen. Friday was the talented and loving seamstress. Saturday was the strong one, the warrior-like and boyish sister. Sunday was a writer. She wrote stories about things that have already happened in the past because if she wrote something that hasn’t happened yet, they have a tendency to come true. She didn’t want to alter the future in some way.

Rumbold’s life was divided into three parts: pre-enchanted, enchanted and post-enchanted. Living as a small, frog in the middle of the Woods changed him. He had become humble, learned to live a difficult life out of the palace and of course, he met Sunday. When Sunday’s kiss transformed him back to his true self, the process wasn’t fast and easy. Unlike in fairytales, transforming from an enchanted frog to a prince didn’t just happen with magical swirls of colors. In Enchanted, Kontis elaborated the process of going back. It was difficult, nauseous and weakening and you only get your body first, the memories will follow bit by bit afterwards. So for a little while, Rumbold didn’t really know what he was like before.

Fall in love with Rumbold and Sunday as they struggle to discover who they really were in a world filled with drama, curses, grudges and dark secrets that bound not only their family against each other but also their fate.

Imagine all your favorite fairytales blending together in a novel. That was what Kontis did in Enchanted. She stitched together the key elements of each fairytale and made a brilliant, magic-filled story. If you’re thinking that all the fairytales stitched up as one would be a mess, I have to tell you this: No, not at all. It was fun and interesting and the each fairytale, each piece of the story clicked together.

Enchanted is an intriguing, bizarre and addicting tale of magic, love and secrets. Familiar and unpredictable at the same time, Enchanted is sprinkled with dark secrets and twists and turns that will surprise readers. I highly recommended this to fairytale and fantasy readers!

Rating: