Hello! Welcome to the blog tour for Sarah Porter's Vassa in the Night! Many thanks to Raincoast Books for setting up the tour and sending an advance copy. This is definitely not your average story, not your average fairy tale retelling. Today on the tour, you'll find an excerpt of Vassa in the Night. Enjoy!
Showing posts with label modern day retelling. Show all posts
Showing posts with label modern day retelling. Show all posts
Friday, September 23, 2016
Tuesday, May 17, 2016
Me on The Only Thing Worse Than Me Is You
Title: The Only Thing Worse Than Me Is YouAuthor: Lily Anderson
Release Date: May 17, 2016
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin (Macmillan imprint)
Trixie Watson has two very important goals for senior year: to finally save enough to buy the set of Doctor Who figurines at the local comic books store, and to place third in her class and knock Ben West--and his horrendous new mustache that he spent all summer growing--down to number four. Trixie will do anything to get her name ranked over Ben's, including give up sleep and comic books--well, maybe not comic books--but definitely sleep. After all, the war of Watson v. West is as vicious as the Doctor v. Daleks and Browncoats v. Alliance combined, and it goes all the way back to the infamous monkey bars incident in the first grade. Over a decade later, it's time to declare a champion once and for all. The war is Trixie's for the winning, until her best friend starts dating Ben's best friend and the two are unceremoniously dumped together and told to play nice. Finding common ground is odious and tooth-pullingly-painful, but Trixie and Ben's cautious truce slowly transforms into a fandom-based tentative friendship. When Trixie's best friend gets expelled for cheating and Trixie cries foul play, however, they have to choose who to believe and which side they're on--and they might not pick the same side.
The Only Thing Worse Than Me Is You is full of snark, sci-fi pop culture references, clever banter, and a silly reason to hold a grudge for a decade. It's fun, clever, and has some great female friendships.
Trixie is all brains and sass and snark and attitude. She's sharp and determined, will support and defend best friends Harper and Meg with everything she has (because she knows they also have her back, even when they're acting weird), and she won't let anything go. Like getting her revenge on Ben West, even if the reason, which dates back to their elementary school days, seems childish. But Trixie can't let it go. They always clash, battling with quips and snide remarks. Because she can't let go of anything, like her revenge, like her friends, like her comics and her fandoms, she can come off as harsh and unfair. As too stubborn. But every character has flaws. It's her confronting them, coming face to face with them and learning from them, that makes her interesting as a character.
The sci-fi nerd in me loves the idea of this book, of teens reading comics and loving science fiction. There are lots of references to shows and comics like Doctor Who, Firefly, Buffy, Spider-Man, and Battlestar Galactica. I do wonder if some of these are a bit dated, some of these shows were on when I was in high school, but the internet doesn't like letting things fall into the ether of the forgotten. Some shows, like Doctor Who or Buffy, are timeless. I also love that this is a modern retelling of Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing. Knowing the play means knowing how the characters will progress so I knew how it would all end, but it was still fun to read. Fun to see how everything would happen in a modern setting.
I had so much fun reading this. Every time a TV or comic reference came up that I knew I would chuckle and keep on reading, waiting for the next one. As a fan of certain sci-fi shows and certain comics (like Saga), this was the book for me. This is the book I wish I could hand to teenage me to have fun with. This is all kinds of geek fun and supportive female friendships. A must-read for self-proclaimed geeks.
Trixie is all brains and sass and snark and attitude. She's sharp and determined, will support and defend best friends Harper and Meg with everything she has (because she knows they also have her back, even when they're acting weird), and she won't let anything go. Like getting her revenge on Ben West, even if the reason, which dates back to their elementary school days, seems childish. But Trixie can't let it go. They always clash, battling with quips and snide remarks. Because she can't let go of anything, like her revenge, like her friends, like her comics and her fandoms, she can come off as harsh and unfair. As too stubborn. But every character has flaws. It's her confronting them, coming face to face with them and learning from them, that makes her interesting as a character.
The sci-fi nerd in me loves the idea of this book, of teens reading comics and loving science fiction. There are lots of references to shows and comics like Doctor Who, Firefly, Buffy, Spider-Man, and Battlestar Galactica. I do wonder if some of these are a bit dated, some of these shows were on when I was in high school, but the internet doesn't like letting things fall into the ether of the forgotten. Some shows, like Doctor Who or Buffy, are timeless. I also love that this is a modern retelling of Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing. Knowing the play means knowing how the characters will progress so I knew how it would all end, but it was still fun to read. Fun to see how everything would happen in a modern setting.
I had so much fun reading this. Every time a TV or comic reference came up that I knew I would chuckle and keep on reading, waiting for the next one. As a fan of certain sci-fi shows and certain comics (like Saga), this was the book for me. This is the book I wish I could hand to teenage me to have fun with. This is all kinds of geek fun and supportive female friendships. A must-read for self-proclaimed geeks.
(I received an advance copy of this title to review from Raincoast Books.)
Friday, September 11, 2015
Me on This Monstrous Thing
Title: This Monstrous ThingAuthor: Mackenzi Lee
Release Date: September 22, 2015
Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books (HarperCollins imprint)
In 1818 Geneva, men built with clockwork parts live hidden away from society, cared for only by illegal mechanics called Shadow Boys. Two years ago, Shadow Boy Alasdair Finch's life shattered to bits. His brother, Oliver—dead. His sweetheart, Mary—gone. His chance to break free of Geneva—lost. Heart-broken and desperate, Alasdair does the unthinkable: he brings Oliver back from the dead. But putting back together a broken life is more difficult than mending bones and adding clockwork pieces. Oliver returns more monster than man, and Alasdair's horror further damages the already troubled relationship. Then comes the publication of Frankenstein and the city intensifies its search for Shadow Boys, aiming to discover the real life doctor and his monster. Alasdair finds refuge with his idol, the brilliant Dr. Geisler, who may offer him a way to escape the dangerous present and his guilt-ridden past, but at a horrible price only Oliver can pay…
This Monstrous Thing has the feel of a gothic novel. It's full of shadow and mystery, it's dreary and searching. It's the exploration of the impossible and the supernatural, the battle between scientific exploration and morality, and the regrets that drip from a path paved with good intentions.
Alasdair has a secret in his past. One he keeps locked away. His days are spent working with his father, making secret clockwork limbs for those who need them. Sometimes he sneaks away to visit the brother he brought back from the dead. Alasdair is torn apart, wanting his brother to be like he was before he died. Wanting to have his life back, a life where he doesn't spend his days worrying about Oliver or in fear of the police coming to arrest him and his parents. But will he be able to escape his guilt and regrets? How? They hang over him like weights ready to fall.
There's some intriguing world-building in this book. There's a practicality in the people with mechanical/clockwork limbs, a reason for them. After the Napoleonic Wars, soldiers returned home across Europe with missing limbs, some blow off or lost to disease or injury. Factories were consistently unsafe, leaving workers with serious injuries. They would need new limbs to replace the ones they lost if they still wanted to work, still wanted to move around. Still wanted to be like everyone else. Plus the inspiration from Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, the man brought back to life, the hopes and regrets of his creator. The fear in the eyes of the townsfolk. I found how the author worked this in to be rather clever.
As much as this is a book of the impossible, it's a book of regret. A book of secrets and mistakes, of lies and stories. Alasdair brought his brother back to life using gears, clockwork, and pure luck, yes, but this is about what happens after. This is the aftermath, the repercussions. This is when Alasdair has to make a difficult decision. I imagine that fans of Frankenstein retellings and Megan Shepherd's The Madman's Daughter trilogy will enjoy reading this.
(I downloaded an e-galley of this title from HarperCollins through Edelweiss.)
Friday, October 7, 2011
Me on Tris & Izzie
Title: Tris & IzzieAuthor: Mette Ivie Harrison
Release Date: October 11, 2011
Publisher: EgmontUSA
A modern day twist of the German fairy tale "Tristan and Isolde," Mette Ivie Harrison give us the story of Izzie, a young girl with a perfect boyfriend and loyal best friend, but everything goes wrong when Izzie takes the potion meant for her friend and accidentally falls in love with a new guy at their school. While this book is filled to the brim with magic, secrets, and danger, something was lacking character-wise for me and it kept me from enjoying this book more.
What initially drew me to this book was the fairy tale Harrison drew from. Fairy tale retellings have a way of being just as magical as the original, and this was. Magic options, witches, monsters, magical enemies, sorcerers and healers. There is nothing lacking in the fantasy element.
Unfortunately, what had a habit of putting me off was certain characters and their choices. Because Izzie is the narrator, I connected with her far more than others, but that's because we're only given her opinions of them. Mark is her awesome boyfriend, Branna is her best friend. But Izzie couldn't see what was right in front of her face at times. She's clueless to the feelings of those close to her, and sometimes makes rash decisions that would often turn her life into a huge smoking crater.
The language also didn't agree with me. At times it felt too simple, too obvious, too just describing actions or surroundings. On the first page, I started to edit in my head, pick which words I would take out and imagine how I would phrase the sentence. That's not a good sign. At other points, the language felt dated and stilted
I wanted to love this book as much as I love the cover, but it fell flat for me in terms of characters and language. Perhaps this book would fit with a younger teen reading audience, thirteen- and fourteen-year-olds. The idea was amazing, the magic and fairy tale elements were sound, but the characters brought it down for me.
(I received this book from EgmontUSA through NetGalley for the purpose of reviewing it.)
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