Enchanted - Alethea Kontis

A lovely twisted fairy tale based largely on the tale of the frog prince, Sunday is the seventh daughter of Seven who is also the seventh daughter of a fairly unimaginative mother. Sunday is a writer, however since everything she writes about comes true she only writes about the past. She writes stories about her many brothers and sisters who are the characters from many familiar fairy tales. Sunday meets the frog grumble at a small pond in the forest near her house. Several times she kisses him without effect but one day after discovering how she really feels about him she kisses him after she has left to go home he changes and becomes a prince once more, however Sunday has no knowledge of the transformation and is heartbroken thinking that he has become fully frog and is gone forever. 

I really enjoyed how Kontis wove the different fairy tales around each other each one fitting perfectly with the one before it to create a really delightful storyline. Sunday and her sisters are each so different from each other a fit perfectly into the old adage of Monday's child is fair of face Tuesday's child is full of grace etc. Her mother's words always come true and her aunt's are fairy godmother's. For those who loved fairy tales as children this book will fit perfectly into your more adult reading list!

Enjoy!

Shadow and Bone - Leigh Bardugo

This was a pretty different read from some of the other fantasy fictions I've read. Set in a late 19th or early 20th century mythical Russia Shadow and Bone blends the opulence of the Russian aristocracy of that era  with some dark and frankly creepy magical elements. Alina is a cartographer for the army of Ravka sent on a large expeditionary mission into the fold. A place of darkness created by a sorcerer thousands of years ago. Within the fold are creatures who feed on the flesh of the living and the only thing that frightens them is light. In Ravka those who have any kind of magic are identified as children and sent away to the palace to learn how to  properly use their magic. As a child Alina and her best friend (and secret love) Mal were tested for magic at the home for orphans where they grow up together neither is discovered to have magic and together they make their way through the world.

When Alina and Mal and the rest of their party make their way into the darkness of the fold they are set upon by thousands of monsters and when Mal is potentially fatally wounded Alina lights up the night with her previously undiscovered power coming to the notice of the Darkling the most powerful sorcerer in Ravka.

This was a thoroughly enjoyable read the contrast between the glittering wealth of the Ravkan court and the darkness of the magic that they use strikes just the right cord. Alina is an interesting character with believable flaws and failings, not simply a selfless hero and so many protagonists in fantasy fiction before her. She faces some very difficult choices leaving the life she has known for one that is completely outside her realm of experience. She is suddenly bestowed with not only magic but also wealth and influence, but not all is what it seems and Alina struggles and makes mistakes like any real person would.

Well worth a read!
Enjoy!

Thirteen Reasons Why - Jay Asher

This book is so sad. If you don't like to read sad books perhaps it would be best to take a pass, however, it is also a really deep and emotional look at the consequences of bullying and how deadly they can be. Asher's novel is particularly apt for Canadians right now as there have been string of recent teen suicides.

The book begins with our protagonist Clay arrives home from school to find a package addressed to him and filled with cassette tapes on his front porch. The tapes were recorded by Clay's classmate and crush Hannah who committed suicide days earlier. On the tapes she outlines the thirteen reasons (people responsible) for her suicide. 

This book is so intense that I am struggling to find the words with which to describe it. Hannah's struggles are those faced by most teens today and I think that the book really brings home how small acts can have a huge impact both good and bad on the people around you. Certainly none of the people who Hannah names on her tapes would have felt responsible for her death had they not heard her describe her feelings in the aftermath of their interactions.

Well worth a read

Enjoy

Ship Breaker - Paolo Bacigalupi

Nailer is a ship breaker. This means he spends his days deep in the pipes and ducts of beached oil tankers stripping the valuable wires and metals from the insides of the ship. When you are on a 'light crew' like Nailer and his friends you have to have each other's backs. your crew is your family and you keep each other safe from the dangers that abound in this post apocalyptic United States. When Nailer is betrayed by a member of his light crew and manages to survive everyone thinks he's found his lucky strike, but when a storm washes up a ship worth more than Nailer could earn in a lifetime of breaking ships he knows he's finally found his luck. But when he discovers a survivor on board he has to balance his desire for fortune and his moral compass.

Bacigalupi has created a really interesting world here. In the wreckage of the Southern United States, which have been ravaged by city killing storms and drowned by the rising waters of the ocean the strong survive and the weak perish. The book is a bit scary in that it seems totally believable that in a hundred years the world could be in such a terrible state. Nailer is a great character, believable as a product of his upbringing, but also full of promise.

The book is also the companion of Bacigalupi's The Drowned Cities and features one common character, but it's not necessary to read one before the other.

A really great read!
Enjoy!