A literary Peter Pan: review of Tiger Lily

Posted on May 16, 2013 by sarazaske

tigerlily-andersonTiger Lily by Jodi Lynn Anderson

This book totally surprised me. I was skeptical of the idea of a Peter Pan re-telling from Tiger Lily’s perspective, narrated by none other than Tinker Bell. So weird. And I’ve never been a huge fan of Peter Pan. The story was too Disney-fied in my head. And the musical with Sandy Duncan really wheat-thinned it for me too.

But wow–Anderson’s Tiger Lily is awesome. It’s not simply a re-telling from another perspective: Anderson has re-imagined the story. It’s much darker, at times even brutal. But it’s also more real.  The novel is essentially a love story between Tiger Lily and Peter before Wendy shows up on the scene. And as ‘Tink’ warns it doesn’t have a happy ending. I usually don’t like books that let me know the ending from the start, but this one is well worth it.

Anderson has almost written a literary Peter Pan story. The characters are deep and complex, with conflicting motivations, and they grow and change in surprising ways. Sure there’s  subtle commentary on colonialism in there but also some real insight into ‘first love’ that I have not seen in the magical YA lit yet. (And I’ve read a lot of it. Did you see my Big List yet?)

The literary style and attempts at realism sometimes conflict with the magical silliness of the original tale of Peter Pan, but what Anderson had done with Tiger Lily is masterful and marvelous. A great read that will leave you with something to think about for weeks afterwards.

5_stars

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Oh my stars! What a big list of book reviews!

Posted on May 13, 2013 by sarazaske

A couple of changes to the blog:

First, I added a page called the Big List of Book Recs See it up there? It has all the books I’ve reviewed on the blog: all on one page! I hope to make it easier for you to find a book you like. And all the ones on the list are awesome because I have excellent taste. 🙂 Every book on the list has at least 4 or 5 stars. OK there are a few in the 3-star category at the end. But if it’s less than that, I usually don’t review it at all.

And about those stars… I’ve added stars to most of my reviews on the blog. I didn’t do this before because this is a recommendation site. (I’m a lover not a hater. ) Still, people seem to like stars, and they sure are purty. So now you’ll see stars at the end of each review, courtesy of free clip art from webweaver.

 5_stars(oooh shiny!)

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Stardust and my new author-hero Neil Gaiman

Posted on May 7, 2013 by sarazaske

StardustStardust by Neil Gaiman

As many of you know, I have a new author-hero: Neil Gaiman. I’ve started to read everything he’s ever written. OK so I’m only on the fourth book, but I do intend to keep reading until I’ve either read them all or one of his books seriously lets me down.

In Stardust, a foolish boy, Tristan, makes a romantic promise to fetch a fallen star for the girl he has a crush on. Then he actually tries to go get it from beyond the “wall” where there’s a fairy land like no other.

Gaiman breaks all kinds of rules in Stardust. (As an “emerging” novelist myself, I’ve been studying these rules). The story starts with the hero’s very conception! That’s something so David-Copperfield-antiquated that a modern writer rarely attempts it. Stardust also has quite a bit of summary,  a.k.a. telling instead of showing—eek!.

However, it also has a lot of tried and true storytelling elements: a great hook, some fabulously nasty villains and a “quest” plot where the hero goes in search of an object to help him win true love. The hero gets what he wants but not in the way you might expect—all good stuff.

But by far the greatest reason Stardust is such fun to read—and I’m beginning to suspect this is true for most of Gaiman’s books—is the quality and originality of its imagined world. So much fantasy these days just rips off a page from Tolkien’s world or a traditional fairy tale, but Gaiman manages to make Stardust’s magical world feel familiar while at the same time creating characters and situations that are quite different.

So check Stardust out. I highly recommend it.

5_starsOh and the movie adaptation isn’t bad either:

Author-Heroes: At one time or another I was obsessed with these writers, and I’ve read most of their book – Margaret Atwood, Stephen King, Ursula LeGuin, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, and Toni Morrison. Who are your heroes?

See other posts on Gaiman’s books:
Neverwhere
Odd and The Frost Giants
Coraline

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Awesome Indies

Posted on April 22, 2013 by sarazaske

Curious about the Indie book revolution?

Here’s a good place to find some independently published gems: AwesomeIndies.net  features novels that meet strict criteria. They’ve received four or five stars from a professional book reviewer.  You can check them out by genre. Who knows you might just discover the next Amanda Hocking or E.L. James (both were originally self-published authors).

I personally like Awesome Indies Young Adult Urban Fantasy page–maybe because my book just got listed on it!

Happy reading!

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Another killer girl! Review of Grave Mercy

Posted on April 15, 2013 by sarazaske

AGraveMercy_final_hres-198x300h, who can resist a book about the handmaiden of death? Yes,  this is another YA book with a killer heroine—It’s becoming a trend I know, but I love it. There’s just something gratifying about giving a teenage girl so much physical power. Maybe it’s because in the real world young adult women are too often the victims of violence themselves,  so it feels cathartic to read about one that can kill at will.

And Grave Mercy gives you that catharsis in spades—and in daggers, poisons, and garrottes. The main character, Ismae, becomes part of an order of female assassins who do the bidding of the Saint Mortain (who is actually a pre-Christian god in Brittany). The real action begins when she’s assigned to watch over Duval, the close confidant of the duchess of Brittany. He’s under suspicion of treason, and of course, he’s also very dreamy.

LaFevers has done her homework, and Grave Mercy really does put you in medieval/renaissance France. It’s very interesting to follow all the machinations of a duchess’ court—at more than 570 pages though, it can be a bit exhausting. The book is definitely on the more mature side of YA. Our heroine could have been as easily 22 as 17, but at the time life was much rougher for teenage girls, and LaFevers doesn’t soft-pedal it.

Grave Mercy has a lot to offer: political intrigue, romance, French/Brittany history with a magical twist and even some interesting ruminations on the nature of death. If that all sounds good to you, than I highly recommend it, just be prepared for a rather high body count.

4_stars

Like bad-ass heroines in your YA lit?
Here are a few more books featuring killer girls:

Graceling: review on the blog;  or view on Amazon

Divergent: review on the blog; or view on Amazon

And of course…
The Hunger Games: review on the blog; on Amazon

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Review of Neverwhere: onward with my Neil Gaiman read-a-thon

Posted on March 29, 2013 by sarazaske


After reading two great Neil Gaiman books, I decided I needed to read everything the man’s written. So I picked up something outside of YA sci-fi/fantasy (I know *gasp*!), but it turns out I didn’t go very far outside. Neverwhere is definitely something that adults and “young adults” can read and enjoy.

The main character is 20-something Richard Mayhew (so I guess by today’s genre terms, that would make it a “new adult”novel); Richard has just started to get his life launched, moved to London, got himself a cushy office job, and a demanding girlfriend when he decides to help an injured girl and gets sucked into the world of London below. He loses everything in his normal life, and like Dorothy in some sort of upside down, subterranean-version of Oz, he starts on a quest to get home again.

The world of London below that Gaiman builds in Neverwhere is by far the best part of the novel. London below is filled with imaginative and frightening people from rat-speakers to homeless counts and subway earls. It’s a seedy, dangerous, magical world, and it is totally captivating.  However, the story itself was a little disappointing. While Gaiman’s children’s books like Coraline have a simple, elegant power, I didn’t find the story of Neverwhere to be nearly as compelling. The main character is a bit flat, and he’s often carried-along by the narrative instead of active within it.

That said, Neverwhere is well worth reading for its magical world alone. And there are few writers that can match the depth, detail and originality of Gaiman’s imagination.

4_stars

So I’ll keep on with my Gaiman read-a-thon. So what should I try next?

BTW, I also hear that Neverwhere is a radio-play on the BBC. Check it out.

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The write cause

Posted on March 6, 2013 by sarazaske

Bagley-Taliban-girl1-300x211 Here’s an issue that should be important to everyone who loves books: the right to read them and write them. Hard to believe it’s not a universal right, but it isn’t. In particular, women and girls are routinely denied the right to basic education in some countries.

This issue was really brought to the fore when the Taliban shot 15-year-old Malala Yousafzai for advocating for girls’ education in Pakistan. Miraculously, she survived and is continuing to advocate for the right to learn.

Ever since I heard this story, I’ve wanted to do something to support this girl with a book and anyone who is threatened just for wanting to read. I’ve started posting on Twitter and Facebook about these issues and organizations that are working to change things. I hope more will do the same.

They need our support. Yes, they need donations, but your political and moral support is very important too. Learn what’s happening. Speak about these issues to your friends. Write politicians. Email, tweet, post about it. Let them know that people care—a lot of people.

Want to get more involved? Here are some great places to find out more:

The Malala Fund: Support the education of girls in Pakistan and around the world

Afghan Women’s Writing Project: To tell one’s story is a human right

The Half the Sky movement: Turning oppression into opportunity for women worldwide

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Fantastic deal: The First is only 99-cents this week!

Posted on February 25, 2013 by sarazaske

The First book cover

If you’ve been waiting to get your copy of The First, now’s the time. The ebook is on sale this week at Amazon for 99-cents!

A young adult urban fantasy, The First, has receive great reviews on Goodreads and Amazon.

“creative and original”

“a fast paced joy to read”

“a wonderful story with a nice balance of adventure, magic, suspense, wonder and love”

“one of those books that will stay with you long after you’ve put it down”

Click here to download The First for 99-cents on Amazon.

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Fantastic Fairy Tale: Opal by Kristina Wojtaszek

Posted on February 18, 2013 by sarazaske


Opal  by Kristina Wojtaszek

This is the story of an owl who is changed into a girl when her mother dies— which seems almost the reverse of your usual fairy tale when the changing happens the other way. In Opal, when the young owlet becomes a girl, she starts to unravel the story of her mother, who was well-known to be as white as snow, as black as ebony, red as . . . Well you know that story right?

While it might have some familiar fairy tale elements, Opal is a very different from any fairy tale I’ve read. 

It’s so fun to discover a book, and if you’ll excuse the obvious pun, Opal is truly a hidden gem. I picked this novella up on a whim. A small press followed me on Twitter, so I checked out their books, and downloaded a sample of Opal. And that was it. I was hooked. I think I’ll be like the second person to review this on Amazon. But I’m sure I won’t be the last.

Opal is lyrical, beautiful, and haunting. It’s very original despite being a fairy 51-Q5hvvvML._SL160_tale re-take and fabulously well written. My only criticism was that it didn’t feel like it told the whole story. The main character does undergo a massive change in the novel, but she’s not very active in making it come about. Still, the novel is so enchanting, I didn’t mind.

And if Opal is, in fact, just the beginning of a story, I’ll happily pick up the next one by Kristina Wojaszek.  She’s a talented new author and one well worth watching.

(Speaking of—warning: when you go to pick up Opal make sure you get the one by the right author. There’s another novel called Opal out there that’s part of a romance series. I have no idea if it is any good.)

4_stars

Want more fairy tales? You may have noticed I’ve been on a bit of a fairy tale bender lately.  Here are some of other favorites:
Cinder by Marissa Meyer
Odd and the Frost Giants by Neil Gaiman
Howl’s Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones
The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of her Own Making by Cathrynne Valente

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Fantastic Recommends: Cinder

Posted on February 4, 2013 by sarazaske

Cinder by Marissa Meyer

Cinder has a problem with her foot. It’s the wrong size. Not her shoe, her foot. Because Cinder is a cyborg. Intriguing twist on Cinderella huh? Fairy tales seem to be made to be re-told and adapted, but by far Cinder is one of the most ingenious I’ve come across.

Cinder isn’t a straight re-telling of the fairy tale—it doesn’t merely shift the time and setting. Meyer’s main character Cinder has a lot more say in what happens in her story than the traditional Cinderella who’s just passively good and is rescued by a fairy godmother and true love.

Meyer’s tale is set in New Beijing in some far strange future where humans, cyborgs and androids intermingle, but where only the humans have any real status. And then there’s Luna—a civilized moon with a terrifying queen who is constantly threatening war, if she doesn’t get to marry the prince (and takeover the world that way no doubt.)

Enter Cinder, a mechanic hired to fix the prince’s android which holds a key national security secret. Of course, she’s hindered in everything she does by a stepmother and at least one nasty step-sister. Still, Cinder fights for her rights and ultimately for her prince in ways that surprise and delight.

I cannot say enough good things about this book. It’s well-written, fast paced with a lot of action, and a bit subversive. It left me with something to think about.

If you like sci-fi or fairy tales, or romance, then Cinder is for you.

5_stars

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