Fairest of All: A Tale of the Wicked Queen by Serena Valentino

The tale of the young princess and her evil stepmother, the Wicked Queen, is widely known. Despite a few variations from telling to telling, the story remains the same--the Queen was jealous of the girl's beauty, and this jealousy culminated in the Queen's attempt on the sweet, naive girl's life.

Another tale far less often spoken of is the one that explains what caused the Queen to become so contemptuously vile. Still, some have attempted to guess at the reason. Perhaps the Queen's true nature was that of a wicked hag and her beautiful, regal appearance a disguise used to fool the King. Others claim that the Queen might have hated the girl for her resemblance to the King's first wife. Mostly, the Queen is painted as a morally abhorrent woman who never loved another being during the course of her miserable life.

In fact, the theories about exactly what cause the Queen's obsessive vanity and jealous rage are too numerous to catalog. This book recounts a version of the story that has remained untold until now. It is a tragic tale of love and loss, and it contains a bit of magic. It is a tale of the Wicked Queen. 

Why Read: I first saw this from Pbookbuddy who is one of the amazing book tuber that I follow on YouTube. He was raving how great this book is and I was totally sucked in and gave in with what he said about this that somehow made me really want it bad.

What I Liked: Where to start?! haha Its a retelling! For the N'th time, I LOVE RE-TELLINGS! Any twisted fairy tale re-telling's is a pleasure for me to read. NO JUDGEMENTS! haha I find it refreshing and mostly interesting to know the other side of the stories. For this novel if you still haven't noticed yet, This is from Snow White and The Seven Dwarf's story specifically the wicked queen's side and it's evil origin. I was so encapsulated by the story. The writing was so good that it made me feel the feels for her, if you know what I mean. haha! The plot works well from the Disney story that it really made me believe that it was really from Disney. After reading this I immediately watched the cartoon and it made me see it in a different way which really felt good. I was satisfied with the whole story line and the plot twist was AARGGHHH! It made me feel! haha I don't want to spoil anything but the feels ahaha    

What Disappointed Me: NONE!

GO READ IT!

PLEASE! :)

To tell you frankly even if I didn't had the chance to see this being raved from Pbookbuddy and just saw this from the book store, The book cover alone had me already. No need to know the book synopsis. It just got sold from the cover itself. I'd die for this cover. Its amazing!

 

These type of books is the reason why I LOVE READING.

CHEERS TO US BOOKNERDS!!! :)



The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman

After the grisly murder of his entire family, a toddler wanders into a graveyard where the ghosts and other supernatural residents agree to raise him as one of their own.

Nobody Owens, known to his friends as Bod, is a normal boy. He would be completely normal if he didn't live in a sprawling graveyard, being raised and educated by ghosts, with a solitary guardian who belongs to neither the world of the living nor of the dead. There are dangers and adventures in the graveyard for a boy. But if Bod leaves the graveyard, then he will come under attack from the man Jack—who has already killed Bod's family . .

Beloved master storyteller Neil Gaiman returns with a luminous new novel for the audience that embraced his New York Times bestselling modern classic Coraline. Magical, terrifying, and filled with breathtaking adventures, The Graveyard Book is sure to enthrall readers of all ages.

Why Read: This is the very first book that I've read or rather heard from Neil Gaiman besides Coraline which I saw when I was still in College. I got an audio book of this and I was interested with the tittle which is the reason why I chose this first.  

What I Liked: To be honest I thought that this was like a serious horror type book because of the fact that its from Neil Gaiman. It made me even curiouser that this was placed in a children's section in bookstores. Though, I didn't get the actual book but got the audio version plus delighted to know that Neil Gaiman was the reader or the narrator. His voice was perfect for the story especially that Brit accent its like your really watching a movie in my head. The characters were great and funny especially Bod. I really enjoy his adventures and his development in the story and fun to read. I love the eeriness, gothic and mysterious feel of whole book that is quite comforting for me and addictive.

But don't get me wrong this book I would recommend for all ages it has that kid friendly vibe to it.   

What Disappointed Me: NONE!

I know I didn't get the actual book so I decided to pick the book cover above from all the editions that they made for this book. It feels right for the story.

The Marbury Lens By Andrew Smith

Sixteen-year-old Jack gets drunk and is in the wrong place at the wrong time. He is kidnapped. He escapes, narrowly. The only person he tells is his best friend, Conner. When they arrive in London as planned for summer break, a stranger hands Jack a pair of glasses. Through the lenses, he sees another world called Marbury.

There is war in Marbury. It is a desolate and murderous place where Jack is responsible for the survival of two younger boys. Conner is there, too. But he’s trying to kill them.

Meanwhile, Jack is falling in love with an English girl, and afraid he’s losing his mind.

Conner tells Jack it’s going to be okay.

But it’s not.

Andrew Smith has written his most beautiful and personal novel yet, as he explores the nightmarish outer limits of what trauma can do to our bodies and our minds.

Why Read: I wasn't really planning to read this book this month. I was actually reading another book in my Kindle but ended up not liking it , then I just felt browsing some titles on my e-reader then remembered I had this. I wasn't expecting I was already reading chapter every chapter of this book. I got this on my Kindle because of the rave from booktubers.

What I Liked: Okay I must say I went into this book blind. Not even reading the synopsis nor remember why booktubers rave this. I was even thinking that there is a "The Sixth Sense" vibe in the story because of the glasses that it could see ghosts or monsters that the naked eyes wont see something like that but it all splattered a different and unique premise in my face. Ahaha I was blown by the premise its very unique and the way it was written was really good it was simple easy to follow with my imagination. I somehow related with the protagonists addiction especially with the glasses its like my addiction to books you cant help going back to the book and knowing what happens next. This feels like a lot of things for me in terms of the story and the adventure. If you like the movie The Matrix except of the slick upgrades of the characters or the TV series the walking dead except for the zombies or the computer game Counter Strike, You will definitely enjoy this plus expect of course weird gruesome parts which added a kick for me. The settings is very mysterious and scary to me that I felt as well the struggles in surviving in a horrendous world with the characters. This wrinkled my brain seriously.

What Disappointed Me: NONE!

Book cover is okay. It somehow gives you an idea how the glasses looks like or even a glimpse inside the book which I like in book covers.



A MUST READ! I must say its somehow my first favorite so far for 2015.
HAPPY HAPPY BOOK READING, CHEERS!

Insanity by Cameron Jace

After accidentally killing everyone in her class, Alice Wonder is now a patient in the Radcliffe Lunatic Asylum. No one doubts her insanity. Only a hookah-smoking professor believes otherwise; that he can prove her sanity by decoding Lewis Carroll’s paintings, photographs, and find Wonderland’s real whereabouts. Professor Caterpillar persuades the asylum that Alice can save lives and catch the wonderland monsters now reincarnated in modern day criminals. In order to do so, Alice leads a double life: an Oxford university student by day, a mad girl in an asylum by night. The line between sanity and insanity thins when she meets Jack Diamond, an arrogant college student who believes that nonsense is an actual science.

Why Read: Mainly because of the book cover. I have not heard nor read from this author before and I got this out of the whim.  Not knowing what to expect except that it was a retelling Alice In Wonderland.

What I Liked: One of the reasons I got to read this is because its a retelling. I'm currently into retellings and I was in the mood for this one. I like how the author started the novel it somehow creeped me out a bit. Its a totally weird world building and its a well written, fast pace and a bit of action thrown into it. Likable unique and fun characters as well. Its author really knows what his writing especially the facts about the real story Alice In Wonderland and about Lewis Caroll. I must say I learned a lot about this book. I literally read this in just 2 days which is a good sign that I enjoyed this. Every page is a turner for me especially the ending is so wickedly good.

What Disappointed Me: NONE!

Like I said, from the cover itself I was already sold. Loves it!

The Lost Hero By Rick Riordan

Jason has a problem. He doesn’t remember anything before waking up in a bus full of kids on a field trip. Apparently he has a girlfriend named Piper and a best friend named Leo. They’re all students at a boarding school for “bad kids.” What did Jason do to end up here? And where is here, exactly?

Piper has a secret. Her father has been missing for three days, ever since she had that terrifying nightmare. Piper doesn’t understand her dream, or why her boyfriend suddenly doesn’t recognize her. When a freak storm hits, unleashing strange creatures and whisking her, Jason, and Leo away to someplace called Camp Half-Blood, she has a feeling she’s going to find out.

Leo has a way with tools. When he sees his cabin at Camp Half-Blood, filled with power tools and machine parts, he feels right at home. But there’s weird stuff, too—like the curse everyone keeps talking about. Weirdest of all, his bunkmates insist that each of them—including Leo—is related to a god.

Why Read: The reason I was pushed to read this because a friend of mine at the office lend me the whole series, she is a fan of this novel. I already heard about this installment before and also wanted to read it but I didn't had a chance to get on board before because I was busy finishing my pile of TBR (To Be Read). And luckily I was able to get an audio book of this which I enjoyed a lot. I don't know why, but audio books are a blessings for me. I love it a lot.

What I Liked: To be honest when it comes to mythology and Rick Riordan combined nothing beats it. This first one is very mysterious and curiosity really kicks in that got me to finish this fast. Yet again a fast pace, action packed novel with a lot of complexity thrown in its plot. Again multiple characters that will get you to know more and see growth development with each of the character which I enjoyed too.

What Disappointed Me: Somehow I can see some similarities when it comes to Rick Riordan's work. I've already read some of  Percy Jackson series and Kane Chronicles and you can really see some repetitiveness in his plots and some aspects in the way he writes his adventures.

 

 

The I like that they depict a scene in the novel that'll help you visualize the settings of the book and helps you what the characters look like. That's a good book cover for me. I guess every book cover from Rick Riordan's work has that vibe going on which is a good thing.