The Maze Runner {Movie Review}

The Maze Runner

As A Movie: 7.3

If you go and see this movie without having read the book, it’s a pretty dang awesome movie. There is little character development, but the visuals and the set are amazing and the plot line itself is just cool. This movie never stops moving- there is always something exploding or people running away, or these creatures {The Grievers} coming to get everyone while things are exploding and people are running away. This a great action movie. If you are coming for a chic-flic STAY AWAY because this doesn’t even have hugging or hand holding. Got it? Sometimes Theresa’s British accent came out very obviously during certain scenes; she might need to work on her American-ness, but other than that I loved the character choices.

Like Dylan O’Brien, who acted EXACTLY like I thought Thomas would be like. He is prime, man. (Prime is how my best friend usually describes the visually attractive people.)

But can we talk about Newt because I just

From Book to Movie: 5

IF YOU HAVE NOT READ THE MAZE RUNNER, STAY AWAY.

I had two main problems.

1. They didn’t even do the MAP SCENE. Like, Thomas doesn’t even figure out the whole the-code-is-in-the-maps thing. I’m serious. They completely left that part out which just confuses me so much because I don’t get why you can leave that part out and I am so confused that I am writing run on sentences about it.

2. They didn’t do the whole Thomas-and-Theresa-have-telepathy thing. Instead they did this weird thing with dreams.

ONE THING THAT WAS AMAZING THOUGH WAS THE VISUALS. SPOT ON. The Maze was EXACTLY how I pictured it, if not better. The Glade was great as well, although I don’t know where the stick houses came from…. I thought they had more civilized places to live. The Grievers were pretty dang awesome, even though I imagined them sort of differently… but everyone has different pictures in their head, I guess.

Oh well. Another thing (as forementioned) that was kind of weird is that at different points in the movie, Theresa suddenly had a British accent, and then it was back to an American one. If I caught it, you would think that the directors would catch it.

Overall, some minor problems, but overall I loved, loved, loved this movie. Awesome action scenes, gorgeous visuals (including the men) and mostly a great book to movie plot line. Go see it and have lots of fun!!

MINI REVIEW: Cruel Beauty by Rosamund Hodge

Cruel Beauty by Rosamund Hodge

This book was kind of a dark twist on Beauty and the Beast, but unlike other failed attempts at this kind of story, Cruel Beauty actually pulls it off.

Cruel Beauty is a mix between Greek Mythology and The Beauty and the Beast. Here is my suggestion: if you don’t know anything about Greek mythology, do some research (perhaps by reading Percy Jackson by Rick Riordan) before you start this book.

“If one of us had to die, it ought to be the one with poison in her heart.”

Our main character is named Nyx. She has been destined to marry the evil ruler of her kingdom ever since she was born- and forced with the task of saving her people by trapping him- and herself- in his house forever, never to escape.

Nyx has built up burning rage and hatred for everyone- her father, who forced her into this horrible deal, her aunt, who replaces her mother’s place in their home, her sister, who everyone loves and adores, and most of all, she hates herself for the poison in her heart.

When she turns seventeen, she goes to marry the horrible monster that she will be trapped with forever. She goes unwillingly, afraid, angry, determined and prepared for anything. Anything, that is, except what happens-

She falls in love with him.

He isn’t anything what she expected- protective, caring, and maybe even loving. He makes her feel something she has never felt before- the wickedness coming out of her heart. As she learns more about him, she realizes that the treachery and despicable acts he has done to her people may not be entirely her fault.

“They said that love was terrifying and tender, wild and sweet, and none of it made any sense.

But now I knew that every mad word was true.”

This book wasn’t anything I expected it to be. It was so different from the other retellings of Beauty and the Beast that I’ve read, and yet at the same time it was so intense, dark and thrilling that I couldn’t put it down.

Were there some character flaws that I disliked? Some holes in the plot? Some annoying, cheesy quotes? The answer is yes. You might be confused- but here is my verdict. Pick this up to be entertained- not to find a new favorite book. It’s good, memorable, fresh; but not what I would consider to be amazing.

Short and sweet because I am out of time! See you guys in a few days for another review!

TOP TEN LIST: Classics

10. The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett

When orphaned Mary Lennox comes to live at her uncle's great house on the Yorkshire Moors, she finds it full of secrets. The mansion has nearly one hundred rooms, and her uncle keeps himself locked up. And at night, she hears the sound of crying down one of the long corridors.


The gardens surrounding the large property are Mary's only escape. Then, Mary discovers a secret garden, surrounded by walls and locked with a missing key. One day, with the help of two unexpected companions, she discovers a way in. Is everything in the garden dead, or can Mary bring it back to life?

9. To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee

The unforgettable novel of a childhood in a sleepy Southern town and the crisis of conscience that rocked it, To Kill A Mockingbird became both an instant bestseller and a critical success when it was first published in 1960. It went on to win the Pulitzer Prize in 1961 and was later made into an Academy Award-winning film, also a classic.

Compassionate, dramatic, and deeply moving, To Kill A Mockingbird takes readers to the roots of human behavior - to innocence and experience, kindness and cruelty, love and hatred, humor and pathos. 

8. Black Beauty by Anna Sewell

A horse is a horse of course unless of course the horse is Black Beauty. Animal-loving children have been devoted to Black Beauty throughout this century, and no doubt will continue through the next. 
Although Anna Sewell's classic paints a clear picture of turn-of-the-century London, its message is universal and timeless: animals will serve humans well if they are treated with consideration and kindness.
Black Beauty tells the story of the horse's own long and varied life, from a well-born colt in a pleasant meadow to an elegant carriage horse for a gentleman to a painfully overworked cab horse. 
Throughout, Sewell rails - in a gentle, 19th-century way - against animal maltreatment. Young readers will follow Black Beauty's fortunes, good and bad, with gentle masters as well as cruel. Children can easily make the leap from horse-human relationships to human-human relationships, and begin to understand how their own consideration of others may be a benefit to all.
7. Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne

Hailed by Henry James as "the finest piece of imaginative writing yet put forth in the country," Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter reaches to our nation's historical and moral roots for the material of great tragedy. Set in an early New England colony, the novel shows the terrible impact a single, passionate act has on the lives of three members of the community: the defiant Hester Prynne; the fiery, tortured Reverend Dimmesdale; and the obsessed, vengeful Chillingworth.

With The Scarlet Letter, Hawthorne became the first American novelist to forge from our Puritan heritage a universal classic, a masterful exploration of humanity's unending struggle with sin, guilt and pride. 

6. Emma by Jane Austen 

'I never have been in love; it is not my way, or my nature; and I do not think I ever shall.'


Beautiful, clever, rich - and single - Emma Woodhouse is perfectly content with her life and sees no need for either love or marriage. Nothing, however, delights her more than interfering in the romantic lives of others. But when she ignores the warnings of her good friend Mr Knightley and attempts to arrange a suitable match for her protegee Harriet Smith, her carefully laid plans soon unravel and have consequences that she never expected. With its imperfect but charming heroine and its witty and subtle exploration of relationships, Emma is often seen as Jane Austen's most flawless work.

5. The Hound of the Baskervilles by Arthur Conan Doyle

We owe The Hound of the Baskervilles (1902) to Arthur Conan Doyle's good friend Fletcher "Bobbles" Robinson, who took him to visit some scary English moors and prehistoric ruins, and told him marvelous local legends about escaped prisoners and a 17th-century aristocrat who fell afoul of the family dog. Doyle transmogrified the legend: generations ago, a hound of hell tore out the throat of devilish Hugo Baskerville on the moonlit moor. Poor, accursed Baskerville Hall now has another mysterious death: that of Sir Charles Baskerville. Could the culprit somehow be mixed up with secretive servant Barrymore, history-obsessed Dr. Frankland, butterfly-chasing Stapleton, or Selden, the Notting Hill murderer at large? Someone's been signaling with candles from the mansion's windows. Nor can supernatural forces be ruled out. Can Dr. Watson--left alone by Sherlock Holmes to sleuth in fear for much of the novel--save the next Baskerville, Sir Henry, from the hound's fangs?

Many Holmes fans prefer Doyle's complete short stories, but their clockwork logic doesn't match the author's boast about this novel: it's "a real Creeper!" What distinguishes this particular Hound is its fulfillment of Doyle's great debt to Edgar Allan Poe--it's full of ancient woe, low moans, a Grimpen Mire that sucks ponies to Dostoyevskian deaths, and locals digging up Neolithic skulls without next-of-kins' consent. "The longer one stays here the more does the spirit of the moor sink into one's soul," Watson realizes. "Rank reeds and lush, slimy water-plants sent an odour of decay ... while a false step plunged us more than once thigh-deep into the dark, quivering mire, which shook for yards in soft undulations around our feet ... it was as if some malignant hand was tugging us down into those obscene depths." Read on--but, reader, watch your step! --Tim Appelo

4. Les Misérables by Victor Hugo

Introducing one of the most famous characters in literature, Jean Valjean - the noble peasant imprisoned for stealing a loaf of bread - Les Misérables (1862) ranks among the greatest novels of all time. In it Victor Hugo takes readers deep into the Parisian underworld, immerses them in a battle between good and evil, and carries them onto the barricades during the uprising of 1832 with a breathtaking realism that is unsurpassed in modern prose. 

Within his dramatic story are themes that capture the intellect and the emotions: crime and punishment, the relentless persecution of Valjean by Inspector Javert, the desperation of the prostitute Fantine, the amorality of the rogue Thénardier and the universal desire to escape the prisons of our own minds. Les Misérables gave Victor Hugo a canvas upon which he portrayed his criticism of the French political and judicial systems, but the portrait which resulted is larger than life, epic in scope - an extravagant spectacle that dazzles the senses even as it touches the heart. 


This Signet Classic edition is a new version translated by Lee Fahnestock and Norman MacAfee, based on the classic nineteenth-century Charles E. Wilbour translation.

3. Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury 

Guy Montag is a fireman. His job is to burn books, which are forbidden, being the source of all discord and unhappiness. Even so, Montag is unhappy; there is discord in his marriage. Are books hidden in his house? The Mechanical Hound of the Fire Department, armed with a lethal hypodermic, escorted by helicopters, is ready to track down those dissidents who defy society to preserve and read books.

The classic dystopian novel of a post-literate future, Fahrenheit 451 stands alongside Orwell’s 1984 and Huxley’s Brave New World as a prophetic account of Western civilization’s enslavement by the media, drugs and conformity.


Bradbury’s powerful and poetic prose combines with uncanny insight into the potential of technology to create a novel which, decades on from first publication, still has the power to dazzle and shock. 

2. Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas

'On what slender threads do life and fortune hang'

Thrown in prison for a crime he has not committed, Edmond Dantès is confined to the grim fortress of If. There he learns of a great hoard of treasure hidden on the Isle of Monte Cristo and he becomes determined not only to escape, but also to unearth the treasure and use it to plot the destruction of the three men responsible for his incarceration. Dumas' epic tale of suffering and retribution, inspired by a real-life case of wrongful imprisonment, was a huge popular success when it was first serialised in the 1840s.

1. The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes is the series of short stories that made the fortunes of the Strand magazine, in which they were first published, and won immense popularity for Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson. The detective is at the height of his powers and the volume is full of famous cases, including 'The Red-Headed League', 'The Blue Carbuncle', and 'The Speckled Band'. Although Holmes gained a reputation for infallibility, Conan Doyle showed his own realism and feminism by having the great detective defeated by Irene Adler - the woman - in the very first story, 'A Scandal in Bohemia'. 

Austenland

Cute, but the movie is better.

I picked up Austenland for the first time shortly before seeing the film. It was a cute, light romance story, perfect for fans of Pride and Prejudice.

Then the movie came out.

This movie is one of the most adorable movies I have ever seen in my entire life. It was funny at times, with those “aw so cute moments” and the soundtrack was just amazing. Like the book it was based off of, it centers around a girl named Jane. Jane is a girl in her thirties that is obsessed, and I mean obsessed with anything written by Jane Austen. Especially Pride and Prejudice. She is so wrapped up in the idea of being content with her own “Mr. Darcy” that she falls in love with any man who ever shows even a remote interest in her. {Side note: The book did a better job of telling about her past boyfriends than the movie did, but that was really the only part of the book I liked better.} Because of this, her heart gets broken repeatedly, because “apparently the only good men are fictional.”

Jane Hayes: Speaking the minds of all fangirls everywhere.

So- realizing that this obsession over boys and Mr. Darcy needs to stop, Jane decides she will have ONE last trip to fantasize that she is in love, and then she will give it all up. {In the book, her aunt provides the trip, and in the movie, she pays for it herself.} What would be a more perfect trip than going to Austenland?

Austenland is kind of like a Jane Austen theme park in England. {It is not a real place, I looked it up. I know, so sad.} When Jane goes there, she is whisked into a world of dresses, card games, and romance. Actors are paid to give her a romance that is only present in books- and she loves feeling adored, even if it’s fake. But when things keep happening, she wonders where the line is drawn between fiction and fantasy. Is she falling in love with a perfect stranger, and is he falling in love back? Even if he isn’t the one scripted for her?

So freaking cute.

If you have not read this book, I suggest you pick it up. Like now. I wasn’t huge into romance novels until I read this book. If you look up “adorable books” in the dictionary, there would be a picture of Austenland there. I’m serious. Pick it up and go check if you don’t believe me.

Because- two words:

Mr. Nobly.

Ah, he was everything boys should be. GENTLEMANLY. My number one pet peeve in life is when boys don’t open the doors for girls. If I see a girl opening a door for a boy and he doesn’t take it for her, it bugs me immensely. I could go off on a rant about this all day. But seriously, Mr. Nobly is a-do-r-a-b-le. And yes, I just made adorable a six syllable word. He’s one of those people who says things that make you feel like you’re the prettiest girl in the world (even though he is fictional and NOT talking to you.)

For example:

“I need to admit up front that I don't know how to have a fling. I'm not good at playing around and then saying good-bye. I'm throwing myself at your feet because I'm hoping for a shot at forever."

And just like all girls, Jane becomes super awkward in situations with cute guys.

“What are you doing?"

"Ya!" said Jane, whirling around, her hands held up menacingly.

It was Mr. Nobley with coat, hat, and cane, watching her with wide eyes. Jane took several quick (but oh so casual) steps away from Martin's window.

"Um, did I just say, 'Ya'?"

"You just said 'Ya,'" he confirmed. "If I am not mistaken, it was a battle cry, warning that you were about to attack me.

I, uh..." She stopped to laugh. "I wasn't aware until this precise and awkward moment that when startled in a startled in a strange place, my instincts would have me pretend to be a ninja.”

And so in closing, I would like to say: Read the book, and watch the movie right after. Or vice versa. Whatever suits you.

Sarah

September Newsletter

ARE YOU A BLOGGER? READ BELOW!!!

Next Friday, I will feature a guest post with another Blogger. Want it to be you? Email me at enchantedbyabook@outlook.com. With that in mind, here is September's Monthly Newsletter.

Books Coming Out in September 2014

Rooms by Lauren Oliver

Release Date: September 23rd

The New York Times bestselling author of Before I Fall and the Delirium trilogy makes her brilliant adult debut with this mesmerizing story in the tradition of The Lovely Bones, Her Fearful Symmetry, and The Ocean at the End of the Lane—a tale of family, ghosts, secrets, and mystery, in which the lives of the living and the dead intersect in shocking, surprising, and moving ways 

Wealthy Richard Walker has just died, leaving behind his country house full of rooms packed with the detritus of a lifetime. His estranged family—bitter ex-wife Caroline, troubled teenage son Trenton, and unforgiving daughter Minna—have arrived for their inheritance. 

But the Walkers are not alone. Prim Alice and the cynical Sandra, long dead former residents bound to the house, linger within its claustrophobic walls. Jostling for space, memory, and supremacy, they observe the family, trading barbs and reminiscences about their past lives. Though their voices cannot be heard, Alice and Sandra speak through the house itself—in the hiss of the radiator, a creak in the stairs, the dimming of a light bulb. 

The living and dead are each haunted by painful truths that will soon surface with explosive force. When a new ghost appears, and Trenton begins to communicate with her, the spirit and human worlds collide—with cataclysmic results.

Elegantly constructed and brilliantly paced, Rooms is an enticing and imaginative ghost story and a searing family drama that is as haunting as it is resonant.

Michael Vey: Hunt for the Jade Dragon by Richard Paul Evans

Release Date: September 16th 

Michael and his friends must rescue a child prodigy as the thrilling action continues in this electrifying fourth installment of the #1 New York Times bestselling series!

Michael, Taylor, Ostin and the rest of the Electroclan head to China in search of a girl who may have discovered why Michael and his friends became electric. Her name is Lin Julung, or Jade Dragon, and she’s a child prodigy with an IQ higher than Einstein’s—and Ostin’s.

But Hatch gets to her first, and the Elgen are holding her prisoner in their Taiwan Starxource plant. Now the Voice wants Michael and the Electroclan to go to Taiwan and free her before Hatch can realize his dreams of an army of electric children.

The hunt for Jade Dragon is on, and it’s a race against time!

Unmarked by Kami Garcia

Release Date: September 16th

The heart-pounding sequel to the instant New York Times bestseller, Unbreakable, by New York Times bestselling Beautiful Creatures co-author Kami Garcia.

He is here... and he could be anyone.

Kennedy Waters lives in a world where vengeance spirits kill, ghosts keep secrets, and a demon walks among us–a demon she accidentally set free. 

Now Kennedy and the other Legion members–Alara, Priest, Lukas, and Jared–have to hunt him down. As they learn more about the history of the Legion and the Illuminati, Kennedy realizes that the greatest mystery of all does not belong to any secret order, but to her own family. With the clock ticking and the life of someone she loves hanging in the balance, Kennedy has to ask the question she fears most: what is it about her past that has left her Unmarked? 

Afterworlds by Scott Westerfield

Release Date: September 23rd

Darcy Patel has put college and everything else on hold to publish her teen novel, Afterworlds. Arriving in New York with no apartment or friends she wonders whether she's made the right decision until she falls in with a crowd of other seasoned and fledgling writers who take her under their wings… 
Told in alternating chapters is Darcy's novel, a suspenseful thriller about Lizzie, a teen who slips into the 'Afterworld' to survive a terrorist attack. But the Afterworld is a place between the living and the dead and as Lizzie drifts between our world and that of the Afterworld, she discovers that many unsolved - and terrifying - stories need to be reconciled. And when a new threat resurfaces, Lizzie learns her special gifts may not be enough to protect those she loves and cares about most.

Midnight in Austenland

Midnight in Austenland by Shannon Hale


This is one of those books that, while it is technically the second in a series, you do NOT have to read the first book in order to understand what is going on. There are only two similar characters, and the main character meets them with you there, so it isn't confusing. 

In case you don't know anything about Austenland, I will provide a little bit of background for you. But I suggest that a) you read the first book, because it's adorable b) and watch the movie, because it's even more adorable. The sequel is less adorable, and more of a bone chilling mystery with a little romance thrown in. Other than this book's overuse of the word "Ominous," I thought this was a pretty good book.


Ominous: giving the impression that something bad or unpleasant is going to happen; or in the case of this book; evil, creepily, uneasy, scared, dark, and a million other things.

This book is told from the perspective of a woman named Charlotte, who got her heart broken when she was dumped by her husband James. They divorced, he remarried, and she stayed behind with hurt feelings and two kids. After many failed first dates, Charlotte decides she needs a fantasy; and with plenty of money, she decides to take a vacation to Austenland, a place in England where actors are paid to pretend to fall in love with her. What could possibly be better to take her mind off the past?

But as she goes through the trip, it's hard to separate the fantasy and reality. A murder mystery has been invented to keep the guests entertained. During a game of Bloody Murder, Charlotte stumbles in a secret room and discovers what she is sure to be a dead body. The darkness hides anything she could see; but when she comes back in the morning, the body is gone. Is the fantasy making her crazy, or is something going on? 

What was supposed to be fun and games turns into something more sinister and scary. Can Charlotte uncover the secrets of Pembrook Park and the Windy Manor before it's too late?

*****************************************************************************
Bring a dictionary with you unless you are an adult, an advanced and intellectual human being, or in fact, a dictionary. 

This book used the word "ominous" a lot. I already said that, but it seriously does. And since they are pretending to be in the 1800s, there are some words that you might not know. 

Other than that, this is a really great read!!

Was this review long enough? Comment below! 

Sarah's Top Ten List: Fairytale Retellings

Introduction:

So, I've been looking around at all of the movies coming out soon, and it seems like we have faded from sci-fi dystopia into fairytale retellings. Maleficent has already been released, and Into the Woods is coming soon. 2015 is full of fairytale retellings, including Belle, starring Emma Watson, Cinderella, and many Peter Pan movies, with a Sleeping Beauty retelling also. I am so excited for this because my favorite genre is fairytale retellings. My absolute favorite fairytale to read about would have to be Beauty and the Beast, but I have thrown in some other fairytales that should satisfy your tastes. Some have been bestsellers, and some are not as popular as I believe they deserve to be. 

10. Princess of The Midnight Ball by Jessica Day George 

A tale of twelve princesses doomed to dance until dawn… 

Galen is a young soldier returning from war; Rose is one of twelve princesses condemned to dance each night for the King Under Stone. Together Galen and Rose will search for a way to break the curse that forces the princesses to dance at the midnight balls. All they need is one invisibility cloak, a black wool chain knit with enchanted silver needles, and that most critical ingredient of all—true love—to conquer their foes in the dark halls below. But malevolent forces are working against them above ground as well, and as cruel as the King Under Stone has seemed, his wrath is mere irritation compared to the evil that awaits Galen and Rose in the brighter world above. 

Captivating from start to finish, Jessica Day George’s take on the Grimms’ tale The Twelve Dancing Princesses demonstrates yet again her mastery at spinning something entirely fresh out of a story you thought you knew.

9. Cloaked by Alex Flinn

I’m not your average hero. I actually wasn't your average anything. Just a poor guy working an after-school job at a South Beach shoe repair shop to help his mom make ends meet. But a little magic changed it all.

It all started with the curse. And the frognapping. And one hot-looking princess, who asked me to lead a rescue mission.

There wasn’t a fairy godmother or any of that. And even though I fell in love along the way, what happened to me is unlike any fairy tale I’ve ever heard. Before I knew it, I was spying with a flock of enchanted swans, talking (yes, talking!) to a fox named Todd, and nearly trampled by giants in the Keys. 

Don’t believe me? I didn’t believe it either. But you’ll see. Because I knew it all was true, the second I got CLOAKED. 


8. The Fairy's Return and Other Stories by Gail Carson Levine


Ever since Newbery Honor author Gail Carson Levine introduced the magical village of Snettering-on-Snoakes in the faraway Kingdom of Biddle, young readers have been laughing their way through her hilarious retellings of famous and not-so-famous fairy tales.

Now, for the first time, the six beloved Princess Tales are together in one magnificent volume:

The high jinks begin in The Fairy's Mistake, which pokes fun at a meddlesome fairy whose plans for good go terribly awry. In The Princess Test, the author spoofs the notion that a pea can prove a person's pedigree. Princess Sonora and the Long Sleep features a genius of a princess, a hundred years of snooze, two princes, and a flock of balding sheep! Cinderella is a boy in Cinderellis and the Glass Hill, and the glass slipper is a glass hill. In For Biddle's Sake, Parsley tries to forget her beloved prince and get used to life as a Biddlebum Toad. The road to happily-ever-after isn't easy when a baker's son and a princess fall in love in The Fairy's Return.


Elements of the classics are woven into these not-so-typical retellings of "Toads and Diamonds," "The Princess and the Pea," "Sleeping Beauty," "The Princess on the Glass Hill," "Puddocky," and "The Golden Goose." The fresh and funny twists on favorite fairy tales will win the hearts and capture the imaginations of young readers everywhere.

7. Sun and Moon, Ice and Snow by Jessica Day George 


When a great white bear promises untold riches to her family, the Lass agrees to go away with him. But the bear is not what he seems, nor is his castle. To unravel the mystery, the Lass sets out on a windswept journey beyond the edge of the world. Based on the Nordic legend East of the Sun, West of the Moon, with romantic echoes of Beauty and the Beast, this re-imagined story will leave fans of fantasy and fairy tale enchanted by Jessica Day George.

6. Fairest by Gail Carson Levine 

Once upon a time, there was a girl who wanted to be pretty . . .

Aza's singing is the fairest in all the land, and the most unusual. She can "throw" her voice so it seems to come from anywhere. But singing is only one of the two qualities prized in the Kingdom of Ayortha. Aza doesn't possess the other: beauty. Not even close. She's hidden in the shadows in her parents' inn, but when she becomes lady-in-waiting to the new queen, she has to step into the light—especially when the queen demands a dangerous favor. A magic mirror, a charming prince, a jealous queen, palace intrigue, and an injured king twine into a maze that Aza must penetrate to save herself and her beloved kingdom.

5. Peter and The Starcatchers by Ridley Pearson and Dave Barry 

Don't even think of starting this book unless you're sitting in a comfortable chair and have lots of time. A fast-paced, impossible-to-put-down adventure awaits as the young orphan Peter and his mates are dispatched to an island ruled by the evil King Zarboff. They set sail aboard the Never Land, a ship carrying a precious and mysterious trunk in its cargo hold, and the journey quickly becomes fraught with excitement and danger. 

Discover richly developed characters in the sweet but sophisticated Molly, the scary but familiar Black Stache, and the fearless Peter. Treacherous battles with pirates, foreboding thunderstorms at sea, and evocative writing immerses the reader in a story that slowly and finally reveals the secrets and mysteries of the beloved Peter Pan.

4. Entwined by Heather Dixon 

Come and mend your broken hearts here. In this retelling of the classic tale "The Twelve Dancing Princesses," the eldest princess must fight to save her family—and her heart—from an ancient dark magic within the palace walls. "Full of mystery, lush settings, and fully orbed characters, Dixon's debut is both suspenseful and rewarding."—ALA Booklist

Just when Azalea should feel that everything is before her—beautiful gowns, dashing suitors, balls filled with dancing—it's taken away. All of it. And Azalea is trapped. The Keeper understands. He's trapped, too, held for centuries within the walls of the palace. So he extends an invitation.


Every night, Azalea and her eleven sisters may step through the enchanted passage in their room to dance in his silver forest, but there is a cost. The Keeper likes to keep things. Azalea may not realize how tangled she is in his web until it is too late. "Readers who enjoy stories of royalty, romance, and magic will delight in Dixon's first novel."—Publishers Weekly


3. Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine 

At birth, Ella is inadvertently cursed by an imprudent young fairy named Lucinda, who bestows on her the "gift" of obedience. Anything anyone tells her to do, Ella must obey. Another girl might have been cowed by this affliction, but not feisty Ella: "Instead of making me docile, Lucinda's curse made a rebel of me. Or perhaps I was that way naturally." When her beloved mother dies, leaving her in the care of a mostly absent and avaricious father, and later, a loathsome stepmother and two treacherous stepsisters, Ella's life and well-being seem to be in grave peril. But her intelligence and saucy nature keep her in good stead as she sets out on a quest for freedom and self-discovery as she tries to track down Lucinda to undo the curse, fending off ogres, befriending elves, and falling in love with a prince along the way. Yes, there is a pumpkin coach, a glass slipper, and a happily ever after, but this is the most remarkable, delightful, and profound version of Cinderella you'll ever read.


Gail Carson Levine's examination of traditional female roles in fairy tales takes some satisfying twists and deviations from the original. Ella is bound by obedience against her will, and takes matters in her own hands with ambition and verve. Her relationship with the prince is balanced and based on humor and mutual respect; in fact, it is she who ultimately rescues him. Ella Enchanted has won many well-deserved awards, including a Newbery Honor.

2. Cinder by Marissa Meyer

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.



1. Beauty by Robin McKinley 

A strange imprisonment...

Beauty has never liked her nickname. She is thin and awkward; it is her two sisters who are the beautiful ones. But what she lacks in looks, she can perhaps make up for in courage.

When her father comes home with the tale of an enchanted castle in the forest and the terrible promise he had to make to the Beast who lives there, Beauty knows she must go to the castle, a prisoner of her own free will. Her father protests that he will not let her go, but she answers, "Cannot a Beast be tamed?"

Robin McKinley's beloved telling illuminates the unusual love story of a most unlikely couple, Beauty and the Beast.

Goose Girl {Review}

Goose Girl by Shannon Hale

If we don't tell strange stories, when something strange happens we won't believe it.”

This was a re-read- the book was on sale on my Kindle, and I happened to have a Amazon gift card, therefore resulting in my purchase.

The reason Shannon Hale is one of my favorite authors is because she weaves words in a way that is different and mesmerizing. Her stories are so imaginative, yet they follow the basic rules of a fairytale.

Goose Girl is about a princess named Anidori. Anidori has a special gift- she can speak to animals, especially her horse, Falda, and the swans in the pond. When Anidori grows older, her mother sends her off to the kingdom of Bayern. She wants to force Ani to marry the crown prince in order to create peace between their kingdoms.

Ani reluctantly agrees to go- along with a few guards and her lady in waiting, Selia. They begin to make the long trek to Bayern on horseback, stopping every night to rest in the tents. Ani can’t help but feel a bit uneasy about some of the guards, and after she is almost certain one of them tried to drown her in the river, she isn’t sure who she should trust.

On the way there, Ani overhears her Selia and guards. They are planning to kill Ani so Selia can pose as the princess in her place and take over the throne. Before they can carry out their plans, Ani flees the forest and stumbles upon a woman and her son. She stays with them for a while and then makes her way to Bayern in disguise.

“But when she turned her back to the lights, she saw that the night was so dark...She could not see the stars. The world felt as high as the depthless night sky and deeper than she could know. She understood, suddenly and keenly, that she was too small to run away, and she sat on the damp ground and cried.”

Ani becomes a goose girl for the king, and soon finds that she can talk to geese almost as easily as talking to swans. She discovers that she loves working with the geese, and befriends a girl named Enna. Just as she becomes comfortable with her new life, she overhears that Selia has been spreading false rumors that Kildenree {Ani’s home kingdom} is planning to attack Bayern in order to start a war. Ani must confess to the king who she really is before it’s too late- the only problem is that Selia is surrounded by many guards, who also want to kill her.

This book is a fairytale, but it is so action packed and full of surprising twists that you will not be able to put it down. The ending is definitely something you will not see coming. Also- for the girls out there that want a little bit of romance, Ani falls in love with the prince’s guard, Geric.

“Geric," she called.

He turned back around.

"What kind of flowers were they?"

"I don't rightly know," he said. He made faltering gestures with his hands, forming their size and shape from the air. "They were yellow, and smallish, and had lots of petals."

"Thank you," she said. "They were beautiful.”

To conclude this fairly short- and long overdue review, I would just like to say: read this book. Hale’s story of betrayal, love, magic, and finding the power inside yourself will stay with you long after you shut the pages.

Books Coming Out in August

Rule of The Thoughts by James Dashner
Release Date: August 26th

From the New York Times bestselling author of the Maze Runner series comes The Rule of Thoughts, the exciting sequel to The Eye of Minds. Fans of the Divergent series by Veronica Roth and The Hunger Games will love the new Mortality Doctrine series. 

Michael completed the Path. What he found at the end turned everything he’d ever known about his life—and the world—completely upside down.

He barely survived. But it was the only way VirtNet Security knew to find the cyber-terrorist Kaine—and to make the Sleep safe for gamers once again. And, the truth Michael discovered about Kaine is more complex than they anticipated, and more terrifying than even the worst of their fears.

Kaine is a tangent, a computer program that has become sentient. And Michael’s completing the Path was the first stage in turning Kaine’s master plan, the Mortality Doctrine, into a reality.

The Mortality Doctrine will populate Earth entirely with human bodies harboring tangent minds. Any gamer who sinks into the VirtNet risks coming out with a tangent intelligence in control of their body. 

And the takeover has already begun.

A Wonderlandiful World by Shannon Hale
Release Date: August 26th

At Ever After High, everyone is expected to sign the Storybook of Legends, pledging to follow in their fairytale parent's footsteps. But when Raven Queen came along, things became fairy, fairy confusing. Now no one's destiny is certain, not even for the most royal of them all, Apple White.When a mysterious being from Wonderland begins to infect Ever After High with a strange magic, everything goes topsy-turvy. The students transform into animals and objects, palace mice talk, and the beautiful green grounds on campus fade to black-and-white. Lizzie Hearts, Wonderland's future queen, Cedar Wood, daughter of Pinocchio, and Madeline Hatter, heir to the Mad Hatter's Hat and Tea Shoppe, seem to be the only ones who haven't completely lost their heads. It's up to them to save their best friends forever after from a curse that threatens to give their school-and their lives-a very unhappy ending.Don't miss Book #1, Ever After High: Storybook of Legends and Book #2, Ever After High: The Unfairest of Them All!

35 Days of Wonder by R.J. Palacio

Release Date: August 26th


In the #1 New York Times bestselling novel Wonder, readers were introduced to memorable English teacher Mr. Browne and his love of precepts. Simply put, precepts are principles to live by, and Mr. Browne has compiled 365 of them—one for each day of the year—drawn from popular songs to children’s books to inscriptions on Egyptian tombstones to fortune cookies. His selections celebrate kindness, hopefulness, the goodness of human beings, the strength of people’s hearts, and the power of people’s wills. Interspersed with the precepts are letters and emails from characters who appeared in Wonder. Readers hear from Summer, Jack, Charlotte, Julian, and Amos.


There’s something for everyone here, with words of wisdom from such noteworthy people as Anne Frank, Martin Luther King Jr., Confucius, Goethe, Sappho—and over 100 readers of Wonder who sent R. J. Palacio their own precepts.