Review of The Unseen Guest, by Maryrose Wood

Children's Fiction Review, Fantasy, Historical, Starred Review 0

The Unseen Guest

The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place

by Maryrose Wood
read by Katherine Kellgren

Listening Library, 2012. 6 hours, 46 minutes on 6 compact discs.
Starred Review

I love this series. It’s written for children and at a child’s reading level, but there is plenty for the adult reader to enjoy and that children will enjoy along the way. The main character isn’t so much the Incorrigible children of Ashton Place, three children raised by wolves, as it is their governess, fifteen-year-old Penelope Lumley.

I only started the series a couple weeks ago, and I didn’t hesitate a bit after finishing Book Two to start in on Book Three. I was wondering if Book Three would tie up all the dark hints we’ve been getting in the previous books. Well, it doesn’t. In fact, we get all sorts of new questions and new hints of deep dark connections. In this book, the series switches from a possible trilogy to an ongoing Saga, with more wild adventures at each step.

Now, you can tell by simply reading the first book if you will enjoy the series. If you will enjoy the series as much as I do, you will be quite pleased that Maryrose Wood is not stopping with three installments. The wild nature of the new adventures (Hunting an ostrich! Riding on wolves!) juxtaposed against the prim and proper Victorian society, far from making the stories so unlikely you don’t want to read further, is exactly what makes them so much fun you enjoy every moment.

Penelope is gaining a little wisdom along the way, but her naivete, her sweet admiration of her “friend,” Simon Harley-Dickinson, her pride in being a Swanbourne girl, and her earnest efforts to educate her pupils are all so endearing, you simply can’t help but like her. The narrator’s tendency to go off on a tangent and to define certain expressions and then use them again and again, far from being boring, tedious, dull, and uninteresting, will have you laughing with delight.

I recommend starting this series at the beginning. That will tell you if you like it enough to want to go on. Yes, it does get a bit more wild as it goes, but if you like the beginning, you will enjoy the continuation.

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Find this review on Sonderbooks at: www.sonderbooks.com/Childrens_Fiction/unseen_guest.html

Disclosure: I am an Amazon Affiliate, and will earn a small percentage if you order a book on Amazon after clicking through from my site.

Source: This review is based on a library audiobook from Fairfax County Public Library.

Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but I maintain my website and blogs on my own time. The views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.

Please use the comments if you’ve read the book and want to discuss spoilers!

Review of The Hidden Gallery, by Maryrose Wood

Children's Fiction Review, Fantasy, Historical, Starred Review 0

The Hidden Gallery

The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place, Book Two

by Maryrose Wood
read by Katherine Kellgren

Listening Library, 2011. 5 hours, 57 minutes, on 5 compact discs.
Starred Review

The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place simply make me laugh and laugh. For Book Two, I started listening to the series on audio, and I found myself chuckling on the way to work and had to tell my co-workers about the series. Listening always slows me down, and in this case it made me smile throughout the day.

Now, for most of the CDs, the narrator’s voice is lovely to listen to, a nice proper English voice, and perfect for the series. She gets awfully shrill when she’s doing some of the voices, particularly Lady Constance, and the children are a bit hard to make out when they’re howling. But overall, the reading is so good, I can overlook some shrill moments. (And they are totally appropriate for Lady Constance, I must admit.)

Okay, the plot of the books is getting yet wilder. Governess Penelope Lumley is making great progress in teaching her three pupils who were raised by wolves. In The Hidden Gallery, they go to London. Many strange and mysterious things are hinted at and there is a scene of uproar at the end. Most of the fun is found along the way, and Penelope’s naive but earnest approach to governessing and the big city makes a truly delightful book. In this book, she meets a young man, a playwright, who lives in a London garret, and Penelope’s making a “good friend” adds a heart-warming element.

Even though I listened to the book, I decided to check out the print version so I could include at least one of the delightful diversions.

If you have ever had the misfortune of getting lost in a crowded city, you are no doubt already acquainted with a surprising and little publicized fact: The greater the number of people who might potentially be asked for directions, the more difficult it becomes to get someone to actually stop and help.

Scientists who study human behavior call it the Who, Me? syndrome. For example, if you should have the truly awful luck to get a sliver of sparerib stuck in your throat while dining alone in a restaurant in which there is only one other customer, your fellow diner, although a total stranger, will almost certainly leap up and start performing the Heimlich maneuver as soon as you make the universal sign for choking. (If in doubt as to what this sign is, please refer to the informative poster on display in the dining area; this is assuming you are still conscious, of course.)

Whereas, if the same incident takes place in a bustling restaurant full of people, by the time you draw attention to your plight you may have already turned blue and fallen to the floor. At that point you are truly in a pickle, for instead of swift action there will be a lengthy discussion as onlookers try to determine which of them is best qualified to assist. Some will suggest mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, while others will strive to recall episodes of medical television dramas that may or may not be relevant to your case. A few will phone for help; others will panic and require medical assistance themselves; and many, alas, will simply be annoyed that their dinner was interrupted and will tip their waiters ungenerously as a result.

Knowing this, in the future you might well choose only to dine in unpopular restaurants. Penelope did not have this option. London was crowded, and there was no getting away from it. Each new street she trudged down with her three weary charges in tow seemed more packed with unhelpful people than the one before. After an hour’s aimless wandering she knew that she and the Incorrigibles were lost, but all her attempts to ask for directions went unanswered in the din and rush of the crowd.

I do recommend reading these books in order. There’s suspense slowly building, and questions about the children’s background and about Penelope’s background, too. A mysterious gypsy tells the children, “The Hunt is on!” and there are other ominous indications that they may be in danger.

I do know that if Maryrose Wood’s sense of humor appeals to you — and it fits mine exactly — then you will definitely want to read these books from start to finish. This episode deals with children raised by wolves in the big city, coming face-to-face with “culture.”

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Find this review on Sonderbooks at: www.sonderbooks.com/Childrens_Fiction/hidden_gallery.html

Disclosure: I am an Amazon Affiliate, and will earn a small percentage if you order a book on Amazon after clicking through from my site.

Source: This review is based on a library audiobook from Fairfax County Public Library.

Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but I maintain my website and blogs on my own time. The views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.

Please use the comments if you’ve read the book and want to discuss spoilers!

Review of Heart’s Blood, by Juliet Marillier

48-Hour Book Challenge, Fairy Tale Variant, Fantasy, Fiction Review, Starred Review 0

Heart’s Blood

by Juliet Marillier

A Roc Book (Penguin), 2009. 402 pages.
Starred Review

I love Juliet Marillier’s writing. She knows how to make characters from fairy tales seem like real people with their own complex emotions, set in a real historical time.

Heart’s Blood is a modified version of “Beauty and the Beast” set in Ireland at the time Normans were invading and taking land for themselves. But Heart’s Blood removes all the abusive elements from the fairy tale. In fact, Caitrin is fleeing from abuse. Her father never goes to the “Beast’s” castle. In fact, Caitrin’s beloved father died not long before the story begins. A distant cousin and his mother took over the family home, claiming that it belonged to the cousin as the only male relative. But he is harsh and abusive and his mother convinces everyone that Caitrin has gone mad with grief.

She flees to a castle on a Tor that none of the people from the village will go near. The chieftain needs a scribe who can read Latin, and her father trained her as one. Besides, she needs a place to stay where her cousin can’t find her.

The chieftain is no Beast, just someone who’s features aren’t symmetrical because of an illness in his youth. But his family is indeed under a curse. His great-grandfather raised a host from dead souls to fight his enemies, only something went horribly wrong, and all generations after that chieftain must stay at the castle to keep the host in check. And his retainers are souls from the host.

Meanwhile, Caitrin works in the library, copying documents and looking for a counterspell. A magic mirror, enchanted by the great-grandfather, shows her the dark spells he used, but not a way to counteract them. She gets to know the souls from the host who live there with Anluan. There’s even a small child who turns to her for comfort. Meanwhile, the Normans threaten attack, but how can Anluan go down from the Tor to even meet with them?

Once again we’ve got ancient magic, a romance based on two characters knowing each other well, and a young woman with a good heart who wants to do good in the world. Another lovely story by Juliet Marillier.

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Find this review on Sonderbooks at: www.sonderbooks.com/Fiction/hearts_blood.html

Disclosure: I am an Amazon Affiliate, and will earn a small percentage if you order a book on Amazon after clicking through from my site.

Source: This review is based on a library book from Fairfax County Public Library.

Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but I maintain my website and blogs on my own time. The views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.

Please use the comments if you’ve read the book and want to discuss spoilers!

Review of The Fire Chronicle, by John Stephens

Adventure, Children's Fiction Review, Fantasy 1

The Fire Chronicle

The Books of Beginning, Book Two

by John Stephens

Alfred A. Knopf, New York, 2012. 437 pages.

I’m reviewing this book not so much as a fan, but as a librarian. I’ll explain some of the reasons it’s not a personal favorite — but why I will be very happy to hand it to certain kids who often come to the library looking for more books to read. And I did enjoy reading it. Enough to review it even when I’m swamped and much choosier about which books I review, just not enough to think of it as a favorite.

I’m calling the niche this book fills Magical Adventure Saga books. I think of them as books after Harry Potter, books for kids who find the Eragon books or the Ranger’s Apprentice books. They are very often quest books. One thing after another happens and evil sinister sorcerers and their creepy minions are after Our Heroes and they find out they have special powers of their own, and they must stay ahead of the bad guys, and the fate of the world is at stake.

Now to really give The Fire Chronicle a fair reading, I should have started with Book One, The Emerald Atlas, and The Emerald Atlas is the book I will hand to the readers I think might enjoy this trilogy. (One more book is planned.) On the other hand, I read the first book of another Magical Adventure Saga, The Dragon’s Tooth, and by the time I finished it, I found I couldn’t bring myself to finish the second book. (Though I had read enough in the first book to also be sure that it will have eager readers.)

In The Fire Chronicle, Kate, Michael, and Emma have been discovered, and are chased right away by the evil and creepy Screechers that they encountered in the earlier book. In the process of escaping them, Kate goes back in time and gets trapped there. So Michael is in charge in the present of the quest for The Fire Chronicle, the second of the Books of the Beginning, about which it’s been prophesied that three children will bring them together.

In the quest for The Chronicle, Michael and Emma get into one breathless life-threatening adventure after another. Meanwhile, I enjoyed Kate’s more thoughtful adventures in the past. She has arrived just before the Separation, when the magical world is going into hiding, and all of us ordinary folks will forget that magic exists. But meanwhile she meets someone whose fate she may affect, and whom she’s met before — in the future.

I am not a big fan of plots involving time travel, or prophecy, and the magic-working seemed pretty iffy to me, too. I didn’t like how many different perspectives the author used and felt some of the soul-searching was overdone. But there were many moments I enjoyed. I found the budding romance wonderfully poignant, and the spell the elf princess casts hilarious. I also think there are a lot of kids not as detail-oriented and persnickety as me who will thoroughly enjoy this tale. I like that the kids are firmly kids. Yes, they grow, but this is a children’s book from start to finish, and even J. K. Rowling moved her series to young adult before she finished. I’m not sure I’ll go back and read the first book, and I’m not sure I’ll read the third book, but in a time when I’m swamped with books to read, I couldn’t bring myself to stop reading this one until I’d finished. And I’ve already thought of a reader I’m going to recommend these books to the next time I see him.

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Find this review on Sonderbooks at: www.sonderbooks.com/Childrens_Fiction/fire_chronicle.html

Disclosure: I am an Amazon Affiliate, and will earn a small percentage if you order a book on Amazon after clicking through from my site.

Source: This review is based on a library book from Fairfax County Public Library.

Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but I maintain my website and blogs on my own time. The views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.

Please use the comments if you’ve read the book and want to discuss spoilers!

Review of The Time-Traveling Fashionista at the Palace of Marie Antoinette

Children's Fiction Review, Fantasy, Historical 0

The Time-Traveling Fashionista at the Palace of Marie Antoinette

by Bianca Turetsky

Poppy (Little, Brown and Company), 2012. 266 pages.

This book is simply fun. Not heavy, not overly philosophical, but with a bit of adventure and definite fun.

In an earlier book, The Time-Traveling Fashionista On Board the Titanic, which I haven’t read, Louise Lambert, lover of vintage clothing, tried on a dress worn on the Titanic — and traveled back to experience the voyage from the perspective of the girl who wore the dress. In this book we know by the title that she’s going to travel to the court of Marie Antoinette.

The set-up works for the book. Louise’s seventh grade French class is going to travel to Paris this summer (okay, maybe that’s a little unbelievable), but when her father’s laid off from her job, her parents tell her they can’t afford to send her. In history class, they’re talking about the French Revolution — not that I really think that’s in seventh-grade curriculum, but it’s told convincingly and Louise isn’t paying as much attention as the reader does (because of that title), so it doesn’t seem like a convenient information dump, but just enough for the reader to know what’s going on.

When she goes to another Traveling Fashionista show, she tries on a dress that takes her to Paris. She sees Marie Antoinette as a girl her own age. The events in the book take place well before the French Revolution, but the author does a good job of humanizing Marie Antoinette while making Louise think about her own life at the same time. And all the groundwork is laid for further adventures, as well as her finding out there are other time travelers out there.

Louise’s passion for vintage fashions and knowledge of historic designers makes her character all the more genuine. I read this in Advance Reader Copy form, so I didn’t see the full color art, but even the black-and-white artwork of clothes worn and palaces visited adds flavor to the book.

This has a little bit of magic, a good dose of history, and some information about vintage fashions, all thrown into a mix as much fun as playing dress-up.

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Find this review on Sonderbooks at: www.sonderbooks.com/Childrens_Fiction/time_traveling_fashionista.html

Disclosure: I am an Amazon Affiliate, and will earn a small percentage if you order a book on Amazon after clicking through from my site.

Source: This review is based on an Advance Reader Copy I got at an ALA conference.

Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but I maintain my website and blogs on my own time. The views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.

Please use the comments if you’ve read the book and want to discuss spoilers!

Review of Fake Mustache, by Tom Angleberger

Children's Fiction Review, Fantasy, Humorous 0

False Mustache

by Tom Angleberger

Amulet Books, New York, 2012. 208 pages.

This book is silly, over-the-top fun. Lenny’s friend Casper saves his money and buys the one-of-a-kind Heidelberg Handlebar Number Seven fake mustache. It is so good, that next thing Lenny knows, Casper is able to mesmerize anyone and everyone. He goes on a crime spree, takes over the town, and threatens to take over the country. Only Lenny knows the mustache is fake, so only Lenny can stop him. Well, only Lenny and Jodie O’Rodeo. (Why she is so smart kind of went by me quickly.)

After the first robbery, Lenny tries to give the FBI an anonymous tip, but Casper knows it was him and then convinces everyone — even Lenny’s parents — that Lenny is the Evil One, the one responsible for all the crime. He has to go into disguise. Good thing it’s Halloween.

Tom Angleberger never goes for plausibility with this one, but he does have fun giving us a genuine, nerdy middle school kid caught up in the middle of events beyond his control.

No, I didn’t find it believable. I did find it fun. Here’s a section from the first chapter:

Don’t ever buy a fake mustache at Sven’s Fair Price Store.

Sven’s Fair Price Store is an awesome place, and I recommend it if you want to buy fake tattoos, fake noses, fake thumbs, fake eyelashes, fake tuxedo shirts, fake books that have secret compartments, fake laughter machines, fake fog makers, fake feet, fake teeth that you wind up, fake teeth that you stick in your mouth, fake gum that snaps people’s fingers, fake dog poop, or fake people poop.

But the fake mustaches are just too good. They’re made out of real human mustache hair. Apparently, there are men in Belgium who grow their mustaches for a year, then cut them off and sell them to the Heidelberg Novelty Company.

This makes the fake mustaches really expensive. But they’re worth it . . . if you really want a good fake mustache — which you don’t! It’ll only lead to trouble. That’s what I’m trying to tell you.

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Find this review on Sonderbooks at: www.sonderbooks.com/Childrens_Fiction/fake_mustache.html

Disclosure: I am an Amazon Affiliate, and will earn a small percentage if you order a book on Amazon after clicking through from my site.

Source: This review is based on an advance review copy I got at an ALA conference.

Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but I maintain my website and blogs on my own time. The views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.

Please use the comments if you’ve read the book and want to discuss spoilers!

Review of Quintana of Charyn, by Melina Marchetta

Fantasy, Starred Review, Teen Fiction Review 0

Quintana of Charyn

by Melina Marchetta

Candlewick Press, 2013. First published in Australia in 2012. 516 pages.
Starred Review

Quintana of Charyn is not merely a sequel to Froi of the Exiles, it’s the second half of the story begun in the earlier book. Both books are a sequel to Finnikin of the Rock. As such, you definitely should read these books in order, and I wish I had taken the time to reread the earlier books, as it would have been easier to keep straight the many characters and situations. I wasn’t wanting to take on that much time — but some day in the future I know I will want to reread all three books in order, and I’ll be in for a treat.

With both Froi of the Exiles and Quintana of Charyn, I was struck by how Melina Marchetta dares to introduce her main characters, particularly Quintana, as not very likeable. But they definitely grow on you. These books are intricate and complex. You have characters who do awful things who later do good things, with all the complexities of real life.

Since this book is the second half of an epic tale, I won’t talk much about the plot. If you’ve read Froi of the Exiles, you will want to find out what happens. Why is this book so grand?

— The epic scope. This is a fantasy series that creates a world with incredible complexity. There are many nations, and they have their own concerns, their own curses. We’re still dealing with Lumatere after the breaking of their curse, and the repercussions in their dealings with Charyn, which has its own curse to break.

— Dealing with racism, and cross-cultural relations. How can Lumaterans ever relate to Charynites? This book shows both parties overcoming their prejudices.

— Individual characters in all their complexity. Characters in these books are never flat. We see complicated and conflicting motivations. We find out about histories that affect them and new choices they have to make.

— Choosing the side of wonder. In the middle of bleak circumstances, some characters, and naturally cynical ones at that, choose to look at things on the side of wonder. I love this!

And there’s so much more. As I said, some time in the future, I’m definitely planning to treat myself to rereading all three books. I know I will discover even more riches — there’s too much to fully grasp in one reading. This is a magnificent tale with amazing complexity.

candlewick.com

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Find this review on Sonderbooks at: www.sonderbooks.com/Teens/quintana_of_charyn.html

Disclosure: I am an Amazon Affiliate, and will earn a small percentage if you order a book on Amazon after clicking through from my site.

Source: This review is based on a library book from Fairfax County Public Library.

Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but I maintain my website and blogs on my own time. The views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.

Please use the comments if you’ve read the book and want to discuss spoilers!

Review of Greenwitch, by Susan Cooper

Children's Fiction Review, Fantasy, Old Favorites, Starred Review 0

Greenwitch

by Susan Cooper

Collier Books, 1986. First published in 1974. 131 pages.
Starred Review

This book is the third in the Dark Is Rising sequence, which I’m rereading in honor of Susan Cooper winning the 2012 Margaret A. Edwards Award.

I love that in Greenwitch the ordinary children from Over Sea, Under Stone get to come back into the story and have a crucial part. Will, seventh son of the seventh son, who’s discovered he’s immortal, doesn’t seem like he has as much challenge once he got his powers as an Old One.

But the grail that they discovered has been stolen from the museum. And I love that Jane, Simon, and Barney have a part to play in its recovery. They go back to Trewissick, meet a sinister stranger, and Jane gets to witness the making of the Greenwitch — usually only reserved for locals. Jane does a small act of kindness that has big repercussions.

In her Margaret Edwards speech, Susan Cooper talked about a sense of place, and that’s something she does so well here. You feel what it’s like to be kids in Trewissick, surrounded by ancient magic.

Here’s Jane, just arrived and looking out her window:

She was high up on the side of the harbour, overlooking the boats and jetties, the wharf piled with boxes and lobsterpots, and the little canning factory. All the life of the busy harbour was thrumming there below her, and out to the left, beyond the harbour wall and the dark arm of land called Kemare Head, lay the sea. It was a grey sea now, speckled with white. Jane’s gaze moved in again from the flat ocean horizon, and she looked straight across to the sloping road on the opposite side of the harbour, and saw the tall narrow house in which they had stayed the summer before. The Grey House. Everything had begun there.

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Find this review on Sonderbooks at: www.sonderbooks.com/Childrens_Fiction/greenwitch.html

Disclosure: I am an Amazon Affiliate, and will earn a small percentage if you order a book on Amazon after clicking through from my site.

Source: This review is based on my own copy.

Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but I maintain my website and blogs on my own time. The views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.

Please use the comments if you’ve read the book and want to discuss spoilers!

Review of Dark Triumph, by Robin LaFevers

Fantasy, Historical, Paranormal, Starred Review, Teen Fiction Review 0

Dark Triumph

His Fair Assassin, Book II

by Robin LaFevers

Houghton Mifflin, 2013. 387 pages.
Starred Review

When this book came in, it gave me the obvious excuse to reread Grave Mercy, which I loved as much the second time, appreciating some of the intricacies of the plot even more this time around. The second book, Dark Triumph, contained more detailed history you never knew and sinister political intrigue of medieval Brittany, with the same light touch of mystical gifts from the god of Death himself.

I do recommend reading these books in order. Technically, you could follow this book without reading the first, but you understand the political situation much better having read the first book, and it’s much easier to keep the characters straight. Once you’ve read the first one, it’s hard for me to imagine not wanting to read the second.

In Dark Triumph we find out what Sybella, the second novice from the convent devoted to Saint Mortain has been doing. Like Ismae, she’s been trained as an assassin, but her assignment is even more difficult than Ismae’s, as Sybella has to infiltrate a place where evil reigns. We learn more about Sybella’s background, which drove her to the edge of madness.

I don’t want to say a lot about the plot. It’s set in 15th Century medieval Brittany, with a young duchess who needs to form an alliance to hold back the French prowling on her borders. The main events are based on actual historical events I knew nothing about — with the insertion of the Daughters of Death going out to do political assassinations. The second book wasn’t quite as heavy on the political intrigue, but there was plenty of action and psychological intrigue to keep the reader anxious.

I love how Robin LaFevers puts it on her website, talking about Anne of Brittany, an actual historical figure:

Her substantial inheritance was complicated by two things. One, she was a woman at a time when traditionally women did not inherit kingdoms. Since the time of Charlemagne, Salic Law had been invoked to prevent women from becoming rulers. When Anne became Duchess of Brittany, it defied all the conventions of that time. Secondly, and perhaps more importantly, not only was she unmarried, but her father had promised her hand in marriage to at least half a dozen European nobles, if not more. As he plotted and strategized, trying to keep his lands and title safe from the French Crown, he dangled his daughter (and her substantial dowry) as bait for the aid he needed from other princes and dukes. Consequently, when he died, she had been promised to more than one suitor.

To say that this created problems for her in keeping her duchy independent is an understatement. Which is why she needed the help of assassin nuns. What? Doesn’t everybody call for assassin nuns when they’re having political difficulty? If not, they should….

There’s romance in this book, just as in the first one. But the romance is a wholly different story, fitting with Sybella’s wholly different character. The two girls’ gifts from Death are different as well. The author builds character beautifully, as they act and think and love consistently with who she’s shown us they are inside.

The romance in this book is beautiful. Sybella’s deeply damaged, so we’re not surprised when she doesn’t easily trust love. But she’s still a strong character, able to easily kill a man. The man she falls in love with has his own amazing strengths, and they fit to help Sybella exactly where she’s damaged. We can believe in their love, and I found myself fully happy for Sybella. Yes.

I also loved the scene in both books where each girl meets Saint Mortain, their father, Death himself. I love his portrayal, not as a god who demands their dutiful, exacting service, but as a father who loves them no matter what. I didn’t expect to find such a beautiful portrayal of God in a description of the god of Death. I love the way each girl comes to understand and serve a different aspect of Death, even realizing he’s the same god.

It’s also well done in each book how the girls come to understand the gifts they have as Death’s daughters and how that doesn’t necessarily fit what they were taught at the convent.

There’s some ugliness in this book. Sybella’s past isn’t pretty, and she’s been sent to an evil place. But the story is rich and deep and I’m so glad at least one more book is promised, telling about the third fair assassin from the convent of Saint Mortain.

This series is another example of books written in present tense that I loved anyway. I noticed the present tense (in a negative way) occasionally, but only very rarely. The gripping story far outweighed that little annoyance, and I might grudgingly be convinced this was the best way to tell the tale. I am already certain this book, like its predecessor, will be a Sonderbooks Stand-out.

Here’s how the book begins:

I did not arrive at the convent of Saint Mortain some green stripling. By the time I was sent there, my death count numbered three, and I had had two lovers besides. Even so, there were some things they were able to teach me: Sister Serafina, the art of poison; Sister Thornine, how to wield a blade; and Sister Arnette, where best to strike with it, laying out all the vulnerable points on a man’s body like an astronomer charting the stars.

If only they had taught me how to watch innocents die as well as they taught me how to kill, I would be far better prepared for this nightmare into which I’ve been thrust.

robinlafevers.com
hmhbooks.com

Buy from Amazon.com

Find this review on Sonderbooks at: www.sonderbooks.com/Teens/dark_triumph.html

Disclosure: I am an Amazon Affiliate, and will earn a small percentage if you order a book on Amazon after clicking through from my site.

Source: This review is based on a library book from Fairfax County Public Library.

Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but I maintain my website and blogs on my own time. The views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.

Please use the comments if you’ve read the book and want to discuss spoilers!

Review of The Hero’s Guide to Storming the Castle, by Christopher Healy

Adventure, Children's Fiction Review, Fairy Tale Variant, Fantasy, Starred Review 0

The Hero’s Guide to Storming the Castle

by Christopher Healy
with drawings by Todd Harris

Walden Pond Press, April 30, 2013. 479 pages.
Starred Review

I’m so happy to get my hands on the sequel to The Hero’s Guide to Saving Your Kingdom. Here’s more of the same: Silly, adventurous fun.

Yes, you should read these books in order. The first book tells you all about the Princes Charming, who aren’t named in their respective fairy tales. The author makes it very clear this is a second book right on the first page:

Now, you may be asking yourself, Who is this Prince Duncan, and what makes him such an expert on heroes? To which I will respond by saying that perhaps you may have skipped a book on your way to this one. You should probably check on that.

In this book, the selfish, cruel, and calculating Briar Rose blackmails her Prince Charming, Liam, into finally marrying her and getting the league of heroes to recover his family’s sword from the castle of the Bandit King. Hence the name, as the main action involves storming the castle to get that sword.

The plot, as before, is convoluted and full of setbacks, adventure, and silliness. The characters are colorful and cartoon-like. Although adults of marrying age (except the Bandit King), they are quite childlike in their motivation.

But it’s all in good fun. Here’s a random chapter beginning to give you the flavor:

The four princes, along with Ella and Briar, sat at the round table in Avondell’s War Room, waiting for a report from Smimf. Only one day had passed since the League of Princes sent the young messenger to Rauberia armed with a fake advertisement that would serve as his excuse for getting inside the castle gate (“SPECIAL DEAL FOR NEW MONARCHS! HALF-PRICE CROWNS! FREE ESTIMATES ON RESIZING!”), and already he had returned. He stood at attention before the group, loosened his scarf, and hiked up his shorts.

“What did you find out?” Liam asked.

“Well, I found out that the king is not interested in purchasing a new crown unless he can get at least seventy-five percent off,” said Smimf.

“What did you learn about the castle?” Liam more specifically inquired.

As with the first book, the story went on a bit long for my personal taste, but again I don’t think that will be an obstacle for kids who are once hooked. It reminds me of a Disney cartoon, with simplistic emotions, a convoluted plot and lots of gags. But in a good way! The illustrations perfectly fit that feel. I think that, like the first book, this one would make a good classroom read-aloud. It’s light-hearted and fun, even if as an adult reader, I get a little tired of the juvenile humor after awhile.

And there’s a larger plotline slowly building. We do have the sense that most of the princes weren’t necessarily paired with the right princess in their respective fairy tales. And the ending gives an ominous note of danger ahead. We know our bumbling heroes will be required to save the day.

The Hero’s Guide to Saving Your Kingdom is a Summer Reading Program selection for our library system. I’m looking forward to booktalking it in the schools at the end of the year, and especially telling the kids that if they like the first book, there’s more fun in store for them.

Yes, it’s silly. Yes, the characters are somewhat cartoon-like. Yes, it goes on a bit long for me. But the fact is, these books are well-written. The plot is coherent, the characters are truly charming, and they’re up against high stakes, which they plausibly overcome, even with all their shortcomings. You can’t help but root for these guys. And I can’t help but want to find out what happens next.

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Source: This review is based on an Advance Review Copy sent to me by the publisher.

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