Ash & Bramble by Sarah Prineas

Description from Goodreads

When the glass slipper just doesn’t fit…

The tale of Cinderella has been retold countless times. But what you know is not the true story.

Pin has no recollection of who she is or how she got to the Godmother’s fortress. She only knows that she is a Seamstress, working day in and out to make ball gowns fit for fairy tales. But she longs to forsake her backbreaking servitude and dares to escape with the brave young Shoemaker.

Pin isn’t free for long before she’s captured again and forced to live the new life the Godmother chooses for her—a fairy tale story, complete with a charming prince—instead of finding her own happily ever after.

Sarah Prineas’s bold fairy tale retelling is a dark and captivating world where swords are more fitting than slippers, young shoemakers are just as striking as princes, and a heroine is more than ready to rescue herself before the clock strikes midnight.

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Ash & Bramble is most definitely one of a kind retelling of Cinderella. And to be honest, a very different retelling of many other fairytales. I was immediately captivated by the story when it started off with a very cryptic passage of meaning of stories and their power, and soon after the readers were thrown into this dark, oppressed world. It was all so mysterious and interesting that I was already forming a raving review in my head. But. The famous but. I'm afraid it all went downhill from there, in a vertical position. 

I found the concept (which also basically was the big reveal/twist - don't worry I won't spoil it) very intriguing, but also massively ambitious which I have to give to the author - it was a fantastic idea and very original at that. However, I feel like the execution of it wasn't very good. Even though it was explained and demonstrated in interesting ways, I couldn't help but feel that is was half-way done. As this reveal/twist in the plot line was also the heart of the whole novel and the driving force of the characters and all the events, I wished it had something a bit something extra to it. Maybe the word that I'm looking for is personification, and even though I suppose it was done in a way, I wouldn't have complained at all if the readers would have learned more about the big reveal and its origins. This probably doesn't make any sense to those who haven't read the book, but I hope it does to those who have. Long story short, even though the main twist was a fascinating concept (which was also the basis for the whole novel) it felt somewhat lacking to me. 

Another thing why I didn't come to like the book as much as I had hoped, was because it dragged, dragged, and dragged. There were pages and pages of events which didn't really add up to anything in the end or didn't really have any plot driving force. I think the first 20% and the last 20% were the most interesting parts of the book, but all the rest just plain boring. Even though there was something going on all the time, I just didn't find the events that compelling and I ended up power-reading majority of the time. And this probably was the greatest deal-breaker for me. I just didn't find myself entertained most of the time. The book had all the potential to be very exciting and adventurous, but for me, it just wasn't. 

The blurb says that Ash & Bramble is a retelling of Cinderella, but I have to say that it really wasn't. Well, it kind of was, but the focus most definitely wasn't on Cinderella's story most of the time. And I was really disappointed by this fact. Cinderella is one of my favourite fairytales, so I was really looking forward to seeing how the author had made it her own story. Even though we get a bold and different retelling which in theory is really good, I think this specific retelling was just a bit too ambitious and innovative for me. The main reason why I wanted to read the novel in the first place was because I love Cinderella, and then I came to realize that the book wasn't that much about Cinderella as it was about anything else. 

I really loved some of the characters though. Pin and Shoe, who are the two main characters and whose points of views alternate in the book, for example were both multidimensional and I loved their unpredictability. All the other characters like Huntsman, Zel, and Templeton were really cool characters too, but unfortunately  I didn't end up caring for them that much. And of course this was a pity, because they could've made me like the novel a lot more, only if I had really cared about what happened to them. Maybe at that point when things started getting interest, I had already lost my commitment to the storyline and characters.

I feel soooo frustrated at the moment, because the concept was so genius, so great. BUT. The plot was drawn-out, the language was like from a children's book, and majority of the characters left me cold. I have to say that I started reading with no expectations and I finished with no adoration. It's not always meant to be, even if it's with a fairytale. 

☆☆

Mirrored by Alex Flinn

Description from Goodreads

In #1 New York Times bestselling author Alex Flinn's modern and mysterious retelling of Snow White, beauty is in the eye of the beholder and true love doesn't necessarily mean Prince Charming.

Celine's life is the stuff fairy tales are made of. She's beautiful, talented, and brave. Unfortunately, her tale comes complete with a wicked stepmother! When Violet steps into Celine's life, everything changes and weird things begin to happen to her—bizarre accidents, strange illnesses, and rabid animal attacks. Celine doesn't feel safe anywhere. It's almost as if some hateful witch is out to get her.

And there is. Violet has been waiting all her life to have Celine's father to herself. Getting rid of his gorgeous daughter is child's play for a witch as powerful as she is. Happy-ever-after isn't enough for Violet. She wants to be the fairest of them all, and Celine is in the way . . . but not for long.

Forced to take refuge with her friend Goose and his family, Celine gives up everything she loves and goes deep undercover. But will it be enough to fool Violet, or will Celine's fate be decided by a reflection in a magic mirror? And where do you find Prince Charming in Miami anyway?

Mirrored is a modern retelling of Snow White—told from the points of view of Violet, Celine, and Goose—with all the magic and mystery readers will love.

❄❄❄

Well, well, well. I have to say that this was my very first Snow White retelling and I was really looking forward to it. The author also being a published writer made me even more excited. Yet, I finished reading Mirrored with very mixed feelings. Even though the novel was a light and easy summer read -type of book, there was this certain simpleness to it which made me a bit disappointed. However characters like Goose and multiple point of views definitely were the life savers, making me even smile a bit while reading. 

Maybe I should start off with the good things. First of all, I really enjoyed the compartmentalisation of the book  - 4 parts, 4 point of views. The novel began in 1984, when Violet, the evil step-mother, was just a child and wasn't aware of her magical powers. She was the teased 'ugly duckling' virtually with no friends, despite of being bright and kind. The first quarter of the novel was dedicated to showing the motivation behind Violet's action later on - which was the best freaking part of the book. I absolutely love it when authors humanise the villains by show their backgrounds, what they have gone through, and what made them eventually the people they are in the present. Even though I ended up hating Violet, I can't help but feeling empathy too for her. She really had it hard.  

Another amazing thing about this novel was the fact that Goose was just being Goose all the time - he must have been the only constant thing floating the whole boat called Mirrored. While our Snow White, Celine, was undoubtedly the most beautiful girl in the world (because it was announced pretty much in every paragraph, and it got pretty annoying pretty quickly - we got that the she is beautiful by the time it was told readers 50 times), I didn't really identify with her that well. Yes, she was described as kind and loyal, but at times she just felt too innocent and too good-hearted. I mean, I can't say one fault in her and that just isn't my thing because people aren't perfect, and that's perfectly fine! But on the other hand, I don't want to be too harsh on Celine, because well, there wasn't anything wrong with her (duh). Maybe she just wasn't my type of heroine this time. But yes, going back to the original point: Goose. Goose wasn't perfect with his insecurities, yet he was able to overcome them and that made him so loveable. With his funny, courageous and determined personality, who couldn't like him? Especially when Goose got his own point of view!

Something tells me that if I had been 10 years younger, maybe even 5 years younger, I would have probably loved this novel. I'm 22, so maybe I'm just getting a bit old for Young Adult fantasy? But then again, I've just recently read some amazing YA fantasy books which had the depth of adult fiction, good vocabulary, and general maturity to them. From my point of view, Mirrored was some what lacking in all of these aspects. The novel felt thoroughly superficial and immature (excluding Goose), and I kept wondering to myself "is this really a young adult novel, and not a children's book?", because it most definitely felt like one. Maybe it was the author's aim, to have a light and juvenile retelling of Snow White, but why, why would she do that when the book had so much potential to be so much more? All the ingredients were there: great themes of importance of family and inner beauty, very interesting characters, and original additions to otherwise well-known story.

I have to add though that there was some pretty serious raving about Game of Thrones and its brilliancy, so that alone made me to give this novel one extra star. I mean, if someone has so much good to say about Game of Thrones and its actors, there is always hope for the thing/person (surprisingly, it was Goose who was praising the show..). I think this novel will be right up someone's alley, but Mirrored wasn't just my thing. I did enjoy the novel but I think I started feeling that way after I'd read 70%. I suppose I could think Mirrored as a fun, light summer read, but for me, it was just a bit too childish. But I don't regret reading it either, it had its fun and deep moments, and that's why it's so difficult to give a rating to this book.

☆☆ 
+☆(For the Game of Thrones referencing)

Waiting on Wednesday (#31): Blackhearts by Nicole Castroman

Waiting on Wednesday is about sharing a book every week you cannot wait to be published. 

This week, I'm waiting on

Blackhearts 
by Nicole Castroman

Description from Goodreads

Blackbeard the pirate was known for striking fear in the hearts of the bravest of sailors. But once he was just a young man who dreamed of leaving his rigid life behind to chase adventure in faraway lands. Nothing could stop him—until he met the one girl who would change everything. This is their story.

Edward "Teach" Drummond, son of one of Bristol's richest merchants, has just returned from a year-long journey on the high seas to find his life in shambles. Betrothed to a girl he doesn’t love and sick of the high society he was born into, Teach dreams only of returning to the vast ocean he’d begun to call home. There's just one problem: convincing his father to let him leave and never come back.

Following her parents' deaths, Anne Barrett is left penniless and soon to be homeless. Though she’s barely worked a day in her life, Anne is forced to take a job as a maid in the home of Master Drummond. Lonely days stretch into weeks, and Anne longs for escape. How will she ever realize her dream of sailing to Curaçao—where her mother was born—when she's stuck in England?

From the moment Teach and Anne meet, they set the world ablaze. Drawn to each other, they’re trapped by society and their own circumstances. Faced with an impossible choice, they must decide to chase their dreams and go, or follow their hearts and stay. 

Genre: Young adult, Romance, Historical, Fantasy, Adventure, Pirates, Retellings

Pages: 320

Expected Publication: February 9, 2016

Publisher: Simon Pulse

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Adventure.. Pirates.. Romance.. This is exactly what I've been looking for! I can't tell you how difficult it seems to be for me to come across with fascinating adventure stories, and this one here, Blackhearts, this is definitely fascinating to me. It just sounds so perfect with the setting, and the forbidden romance, and ugh, probably heartache too and heart-pounding escapes. Count me in!

Scarlet (Lunar Chronicles #2) by Marissa Meyer

Description from Goodreads:

Cinder, the cyborg mechanic, returns in the second thrilling installment of the bestselling Lunar Chronicles. She's trying to break out of prison--even though if she succeeds, she'll be the Commonwealth's most wanted fugitive. Halfway around the world, Scarlet Benoit's grandmother is missing. It turns out there are many things Scarlet doesn't know about her grandmother or the grave danger she has lived in her whole life. When Scarlet encounters Wolf, a street fighter who may have information as to her grandmother's whereabouts, she is loath to trust this stranger, but is inexplicably drawn to him, and he to her. As Scarlet and Wolf unravel one mystery, they encounter another when they meet Cinder. Now, all of them must stay one step ahead of the vicious Lunar Queen Levana, who will do anything for the handsome Prince Kai to become her husband, her king, her prisoner.

❄❄❄

Another amazing book from Meyer! I loved the first book of the series, Cinder, so much and I started reading Scarlet right away I had finished the first book - and wasn't disappointed. Scarlet just like Cinder is an incredible retelling, but now the focus is on Riding Red Hood. Even though there are the same elements as in the original story (the grandmother, the red cloak, the wolf) the author is able make the story her own with a futuristic twist and with some of her own additions to this page-turner story. 

Oh boy, wasn't the book an exciting one! I think the events might have been even more thrilling than in Cinder. There just right amount of action and then some slower paced sequence of events - the pacing was perfect. While Scarlet was trying to find her grandmother, Cinder and Thorne were trying to escape from the prison, and Kai was struggling with the peace keeping with Queen Selena. I just adored the fact that even though all these people were having their own struggles in different locations, there was this thread of knowledge that interconnected them all, without them even fully knowing. It was so much fun to see this 'mystery' to unravel and I'm hoping that Meyer will include more of these surprises in the future instalments.

I first thought that the book would mostly include Scarlet and the story would focus on her, but there were almost as much Cinder included as well as few chapters from Kai's perspective. First I was just absolutely enthralled by the fact that Cinder or Kai weren't forgotten as those two are very well established characters. However, as much as I enjoyed their plot line, I couldn't help feel that something was taken away from Scarlet. I really liked her as a character - she is independent, not afraid to speak her mind, and headstrong, but I wasn't able to relate to her as much as I have with Cinder. Of course this might be just because I'm more like Cinder than Scarlet, but I think the situation would be different if the story would have solely focused on Scarlet. But then I wouldn't have met Thorne! See my dilemma?

Yes, Captain Thorne. He is absolutely fantastic! I think he is one of my favourite minor fictional characters at the moment. He is funny, charming, witty, resourceful, a bit of  daredevil, handsome, but not judgemental and is able to see through the surface to the more in-depth things. I loved the fact that he is paired with Cinder - they make one funny, but great team. While Cinder is the sensible and rational one, Captain has a bit more daydreamer quality to his personality. They balance each other very well, and I'm so just eager to read more of their adventures! Even though I'm head over heels in love with Thorne, I was rather pleased that it wasn't revealed just yet if there's going to be romance between Cinder and Thorne. They definitely have chemistry between them and I think they would be great together, but I assure you, I haven't forgotten Kai either. It's nice for a change that a girl and a boy can be just friends as well. 

Kai and Cinder's relationship was rather innocent in the first book, even though there was some electricity between their interactions. That's why I liked that Scarlet and Wolf's relationship was a bit more heated (but I still like Cinder and Kai more in general). Scarlet and Wolf are so different from each other yet they share the same feeling of abandonment and isolation which most likely contributes the most to their bond. Their relationship wasn't predictable and I really liked that there were things happening to them that I didn't see coming. I'm not sure if Little Red Riding Hood Story theme is going to continue in the next books, or if it is done for now, meaning that the author will write them their own story. I think it would be interesting if Meyer decided to continue the original Little Red Riding Hood story further as it would make pretty dramatic twists. 

I really adored Scarlet, but I have to say that I might have enjoyed Cinder a tad bit more - but not a whole lot more anyway. They are so different from each other in terms of characters, settings, and events that it's hard to compare such books even though some of same elements are still there. Nevertheless, Scarlet was incredibly enjoyable book and I can't wait to see what happens in the third book, Cress! I think I need to go and buy it in the very, VERY near future! (Actual rating 4.5)

☆☆☆☆

Cinder (Lunar Chronicles #1) by Marissa Meyer

Description from Goodreads:

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.

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Do you ever get the feeling after finishing a book that why on Earth haven't you picked it up earlier even though people have constantly been praising it?? Well, that's me at the moment!  I was aware of the fact that Cinder was a retelling of Cinderella, but somehow I imagined the whole novel to be completely different. Most of us know the infamous story of the poor Cinderella under her stepmother's cruel regime, so at least I was expecting the story be rather predictable - but it wasn't! There were twists and turns that made me gape, and I absolutely loved some of the modifications Marissa Meyer had decided to make to make the story her own. 

I'm not even sure where to begin with this review! First of all, I loved Cinder. So much. In the future, some of the people who have been gravely injured are made into cyborgs - half-human, half-robot. These half-mechanical humans are looked down to as they aren't seen as fully humans; they are unnatural beings. Cinder happens to a cyborg which of course makes her life twice as hard, as if it wasn't difficult before. I love how Cinder nevertheless is never bitter, but wants to look the bright side of the things and even shows a little rebellion from time to time. She was such a sympathetic character and I can't imagine a person who doesn't feel for her. However, she isn't exactly damsel in distress as Cinder is also very resourceful and smart which made me like her even more. One another thing was highly appreciated as well. Even though characters like Kai see her as pretty, I liked that her appearance wasn't compared to an ultimate beauty - sometimes the author used phrases like "mousy hair".  I find authors too often to make the heroines look like beauty queens and it's a nice change that (at least for a while) the heroine might look like an average girl. 

I already mentioned the cyborg theme, but I just need to talk about the technology part even more! I loved how this retelling takes place in the future, and how well Meyer was able to depict the setting without tumbling or overdoing anything. The author makes the readers to be absolutely sure that the world in which Cinder lives is so very different from ours. There aren't cars anymore but they are replaced by hover cars, cyborgs and robots are part of everyday functioning, the world has faced World War IV, the good old plastic ID cards are forgotten and digital chips embedded under your skin have taken their place. The small details like these make the world building very believable and it absorbs you straight into it without you even noticing. However, even though there are lots of technology included, it was nice also to notice that this element wasn't overwhelming - there were enough to see the world in which Cinder lived in your mind, but it never took the spotlight away from the actual story. 

Kai. Kai. Kai. Kai. KAI. Yes, Kai. He and Cinder were so great together, and there were no insta-love (even though they obviously found each other attractive)! Kai was so wonderful as even though he was a prince he still got his feet on the ground without losing his oh-so-glorious charm and sass. I loved the fact that he had no preconceptions of Cinder even though she was a second-class citizen and a mechanic. Kai in fact was more of surprised and impressed by the fact that so young woman had a such reputation of being the city's best mechanic. He was also rather persistent with Cinder, at various levels, but I liked the fact that Cinder pushed as well. There were undeniable chemistry between them but they don't act on it - just like people in real life. Despite the fact that Kai is a prince and Cinder a mechanic living in the future, their relationship felt very real and realistic with a good-pacing which still makes me smile. I can't wait to see what will happen to them in the next instalments! 

I really loved the way Meyer had decided to write this retelling! There are lots of parallels to the original story but with interesting twist of the author (spoiler): the glass shoe for example being her prosthetic mechanic leg, and how from the two evil stepsisters only the first one was really mean and the other one actually really nice and caring. Like I already mentioned, I was rather sure that I could predict all the events that were about to come, but this wasn't really the case. Of course the novel being a retelling, some of the things you can see coming, but there were so much included which just made me gasp and read some of the chapters again just to make sure if that just really happened. I haven't read that many retellings, but I have to say that Meyer really has raised the bar high for the next authors who will decided to write the next big retelling stories. Cinder was just so amazing with the sci-fi twist and the addition of Lunar people - so interesting. 

There really isn't anything bad that I can come up with this novel - so many things were just so superb that even if there were some things that I didn't like I would just overrule them with all the amazing things. I think the hype around the book is well deserved, even though I can see why Cinder isn't everyone's piece of cake. But it definitely is mine - another favourite series acquired! 

☆☆☆☆☆