Showing posts with label mythology. Show all posts
Showing posts with label mythology. Show all posts

Tuesday, August 4, 2015

Top Ten Tuesday (TTT, #32)


 Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme created by The Broke and the Bookish.



This week's post is:
Ten Fairytale Retellings I've Read/ Want To Read
In no particular order...

These are some of the retellings that I have read, currently reading, and want to read! :) Goodreads Blurbs below if you want to know more about these books!

Read

Cinder and Scarlet (The Lunar Chronicles, #1 and #2) - Marissa Meyer
Cinder (The Lunar Chronicles, #1)Scarlet (The Lunar Chronicles, #2)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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Beastly  - Alex Flinn
BeastlyI am a beast.

A beast. Not quite wolf or bear, gorilla or dog but a horrible new creature who walks upright—a creature with fangs and claws and hair springing from every pore. I am a monster.

You think I'm talking fairy tales? No way. The place is New York City. The time is now. It's no deformity, no disease. And I'll stay this way forever—ruined—unless I can break the spell.

Yes, the spell, the one the witch in my English class cast on me. Why did she turn me into a beast who hides by day and prowls by night? I'll tell you. I'll tell you how I used to be Kyle Kingsbury, the guy you wished you were, with money, perfect looks, and the perfect life. And then, I'll tell you how I became perfectly . . . beastly.
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The Wrath and the Dawn (The Wrath and the Dawn, #1) - Renee Ahdieh

The Wrath and the Dawn (The Wrath and the Dawn, #1)A sumptuous and epically told love story inspired by A Thousand and One Nights

Every dawn brings horror to a different family in a land ruled by a killer. Khalid, the eighteen-year-old Caliph of Khorasan, takes a new bride each night only to have her executed at sunrise. So it is a suspicious surprise when sixteen-year-old Shahrzad volunteers to marry Khalid. But she does so with a clever plan to stay alive and exact revenge on the Caliph for the murder of her best friend and countless other girls. Shazi's wit and will, indeed, get her through to the dawn that no others have seen, but with a catch . . . she’s falling in love with the very boy who killed her dearest friend.

She discovers that the murderous boy-king is not all that he seems and neither are the deaths of so many girls. Shazi is determined to uncover the reason for the murders and to break the cycle once and for all.
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Starcrossed (Starcrossed, #1) -Josephine Angelini

Starcrossed (Starcrossed, #1)
How do you defy destiny?

Helen Hamilton has spent her entire sixteen years trying to hide how different she is—no easy task on an island as small and sheltered as Nantucket. And it's getting harder. Nightmares of a desperate desert journey have Helen waking parched, only to find her sheets damaged by dirt and dust. At school she's haunted by hallucinations of three women weeping tears of blood . . . and when Helen first crosses paths with Lucas Delos, she has no way of knowing they're destined to play the leading roles in a tragedy the Fates insist on repeating throughout history.

As Helen unlocks the secrets of her ancestry, she realizes that some myths are more than just legend. But even demigod powers might not be enough to defy the forces that are both drawing her and Lucas together—and trying to tear them apart.
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Sweet Venom  (Medusa Girls, #1) - Tara Lynn Childs

Sweet Venom (Medusa Girls, #1)




Grace moves to San Francisco but fears monsters and girl who looks just like her who shows up to fight them. Orphan Gretchen is tired of battling monsters. Her mentor vanishes. Wealthy Greer has busy social life, no room for joining triplets on her doorstep. Three teen descendants of Medusa must unite and fight monsters only they can see -- or are some good?
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Currently Reading

Splintered  (Splintered, #1) - A. G. Howard

Splintered (Splintered, #1)
This stunning debut captures the grotesque madness of a mystical under-land, as well as a girl’s pangs of first love and independence.

Alyssa Gardner hears the whispers of bugs and flowers—precisely the affliction that landed her mother in a mental hospital years before. This family curse stretches back to her ancestor Alice Liddell, the real-life inspiration for Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. Alyssa might be crazy, but she manages to keep it together. For now.

When her mother’s mental health takes a turn for the worse, Alyssa learns that what she thought was fiction is based in terrifying reality. The real Wonderland is a place far darker and more twisted than Lewis Carroll ever let on. There, Alyssa must pass a series of tests, including draining an ocean of Alice’s tears, waking the slumbering tea party, and subduing a vicious bandersnatch, to fix Alice’s mistakes and save her family. She must also decide whom to trust: Jeb, her gorgeous best friend and secret crush, or the sexy but suspicious Morpheus, her guide through Wonderland, who may have dark motives of his own.
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Want to Read 

Cruel Beauty (Cruel Beauty Universe, #1) - Rosamund Hodge
 
Cruel BeautyBased on the classic fairy tale Beauty and the Beast, Cruel Beauty is a dazzling love story about our deepest desires and their power to change our destiny.

Since birth, Nyx has been betrothed to the evil ruler of her kingdom-all because of a foolish bargain struck by her father. And since birth, she has been in training to kill him.

With no choice but to fulfill her duty, Nyx resents her family for never trying to save her and hates herself for wanting to escape her fate. Still, on her seventeenth birthday, Nyx abandons everything she's ever known to marry the all-powerful, immortal Ignifex. Her plan? Seduce him, destroy his enchanted castle, and break the nine-hundred-year-old curse he put on her people.

But Ignifex is not at all what Nyx expected. The strangely charming lord beguiles her, and his castle—a shifting maze of magical rooms—enthralls her.

As Nyx searches for a way to free her homeland by uncovering Ignifex's secrets, she finds herself unwillingly drawn to him. Even if she could bring herself to love her sworn enemy, how can she refuse her duty to kill him? With time running out, Nyx must decide what is more important: the future of her kingdom, or the man she was never supposed to love.


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Cress and Winter  (The Lunar Chronicles, #3 and #4) -Marissa Meyer


Cress (The Lunar Chronicles, #3)  Winter (The Lunar Chronicles, #4)
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A Court of Thorns and Roses
(A Court of Thorns and Roses, #1) -Sarah J. Maas

A Court of Thorns and Roses (A Court of Thorns and Roses, #1)
A thrilling, seductive new series from New York Times bestselling author Sarah J. Maas, blending Beauty and the Beast with faerie lore.

When nineteen-year-old huntress Feyre kills a wolf in the woods, a beast-like creature arrives to demand retribution for it. Dragged to a treacherous magical land she only knows about from legends, Feyre discovers that her captor is not an animal, but Tamlin—one of the lethal, immortal faeries who once ruled their world.

As she dwells on his estate, her feelings for Tamlin transform from icy hostility into a fiery passion that burns through every lie and warning she's been told about the beautiful, dangerous world of the Fae. But an ancient, wicked shadow grows over the faerie lands, and Feyre must find a way to stop it . . . or doom Tamlin—and his world—forever.
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The Madman's Daughter (The Madman's Daughter, #1) -Megan Shepherd

The Madman's Daughter (The Madman's Daughter, #1)
Sixteen-year-old Juliet Moreau has built a life for herself in London—working as a maid, attending church on Sundays, and trying not to think about the scandal that ruined her life. After all, no one ever proved the rumors about her father's gruesome experiments. But when she learns he is alive and continuing his work on a remote tropical island, she is determined to find out if the accusations are true.

Accompanied by her father's handsome young assistant, Montgomery, and an enigmatic castaway, Edward—both of whom she is deeply drawn to—Juliet travels to the island, only to discover the depths of her father's madness: He has experimented on animals so that they resemble, speak, and behave as humans. And worse, one of the creatures has turned violent and is killing the island's inhabitants. Torn between horror and scientific curiosity, Juliet knows she must end her father's dangerous experiments and escape her jungle prison before it's too late. Yet as the island falls into chaos, she discovers the extent of her father's genius—and madness—in her own blood.

Inspired by H. G. Wells's classic The Island of Dr. Moreau, The Madman's Daughter is a dark and breathless Gothic thriller about the secrets we'll do anything to know and the truths we'll go to any lengths to protect.
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What Are Your Picks?

Thursday, June 11, 2015

Starcrossed (Starcrossed, #1)


 Starcrossed (Starcrossed, #1)

Author: Josephine Angelini
Series: Starcrossed, #1
Pages: 487
Challenge: Goodreads Challenge 2015, Fairytale Retelling Challenge 2015
Genre: Paranormal, Retelling
Acquired: Bought
Rating: ★★★


*****

Goodreads Summary:

How do you defy destiny?

Helen Hamilton has spent her entire sixteen years trying to hide how different she is—no easy task on an island as small and sheltered as Nantucket. And it's getting harder. Nightmares of a desperate desert journey have Helen waking parched, only to find her sheets damaged by dirt and dust. At school she's haunted by hallucinations of three women weeping tears of blood . . . and when Helen first crosses paths with Lucas Delos, she has no way of knowing they're destined to play the leading roles in a tragedy the Fates insist on repeating throughout history.

As Helen unlocks the secrets of her ancestry, she realizes that some myths are more than just legend. But even demigod powers might not be enough to defy the forces that are both drawing her and Lucas together—and trying to tear them apart.

  *****

 My Thoughts:

Starcrossed tells the story of a sixteen year old Helen Hamiliton who finds out she is destined to reenact an age old Greek tragedy. Can Helen break the curse before she loses those she loves most or will the destiny of the Fates be too strong to overcome?

I found Helen to be an okay character throughout this book. She was annoying at some (most) points. I wanted more from her, more determination and less "I can't do this" attitude. I definitely liked the overall plot and dare I say it.... literally every other character 10x more than I liked Helen. Ehhh... she was really a piece of work!

Speaking of other characters, I loved Lucas and his family! <3 His personality and protectiveness over those that he loves made him even more amazing for me! Also Creon and his connection to everybody was interesting as well as Daphne and her story definitely made the plot more intriquing towards the middle/end of the novel. Their stories gave the story that extra jolt of action and mystery to add interest that kept me entertained!

I really liked the retelling aspect of this story, but with a twist. I liked that even though I knew the most basic points of the retelling, the book wasn't predictable for me, which is great!

Liked Most: the magical powers the characters had from the Gods
Liked Least: Helen's personality/ let's just say her whiny attitude wasn't my favorite
Favorite Scene(s): Learning more about Lucas and his family's history, they were all so interestingly connected and different. Loved how despite their differences they all meshed well together and complemented each other.

Problems?:.... in some parts the story suffered from info dumping also the overall pacing of the story was slower than I was expecting.

Ending: was OK, it ended in a good place for the next book to pick up and continue. I obviously still have questions and confusion, but that's expected and should be answered in the next books.
Cover: 6/10... I love that it fits the storyline and its mood well
Rating: 4/5.... Overall I really enjoyed this book's plot and characters, it was a really good book!
Recommend: I would recommend to those who like retellings and mythology, paranormal romance, and magic/powers!

I hope to continue on with this trilogy and someday know how everything wraps up and ultimately ends!


If you have read this book, let me know your thoughts below!!

*****

Wednesday, May 20, 2015

"Waiting On" Wednesday (WoW, #41)


 "Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Breaking the Spine that highlights upcoming releases that we are eagerly awaiting!


This week's selection is:
The Eternal City The Eternal City
Author(s): Paula Morris
Series: none
Publisher: Point/ Scholastic Press
Expected Publication: May 26, 2015


Pre-Order Now!: Book Depository


 Goodreads Blurb:
From master of suspense Paula Morris comes a tale of gods and goddesses, thrilling romance, and mystery set in present-day Rome.

Laura Martin is visiting Rome on a class trip, and she's entranced by the majestic Colosseum, the Trevi Fountain, the Pantheon. . . . Everything in this city seems magical.

That is, until the magic seems to turn very dark.

Suddenly, statues of Cupid and ancient works of art come to life before her eyes. Earthquakes rumble and a cloud of ash forms in the sky. A dark-eyed boy with wings on his heels appears and gives her a message. Laura soon realizes she is at the center of a brewing battle -- a battle between the gods and goddesses, one that will shake modern-day Rome to its core.

Only she and her group of friends can truly unravel the mystery behind what is happening. As tensions mount and secret identities are revealed, Laura must rely on her own inner strength to face up to what may be a fight for her life.

Acclaimed author Paula Morris brings the ancient world to vivid life in this unstoppable tale of friendship, love, and the power of the past.

What books are you "Waiting On" this week? 

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