Maire is a baker
with an extraordinary gift: she can infuse her treats with emotions and
abilities, which are then passed on to those who eat them. She doesn’t
know why she can do this and remembers nothing of who she is or where
she came from.
When marauders raid her town, Maire is captured and
sold to the eccentric Allemas, who enslaves her and demands that she
produce sinister confections, including a witch’s gingerbread cottage, a
living cookie boy, and size-altering cakes.
During her captivity,
Maire is visited by Fyel, a ghostly being who is reluctant to reveal
his connection to her. The more often they meet, the more her memories
return, and she begins to piece together who and what she really is—as
well as past mistakes that yield cosmic consequences.
From the
author of The Paper Magician series comes a haunting and otherworldly
tale of folly and consequence, forgiveness and redemption.
I
have no idea how to review this book. I rate it high because the
writing is great! Charlie can write! I'm just not sure how the story
affected me. It's intriguing and twisty and strange and clever and what?
and oh! and sigh.
Maire has amnesia. She can only remember her
name. But she has a gift of baking emotions into the foods she bakes.
She loves the people who took her in and are helping but soon Maire
finds herself captured and sold to a strange, groudy man. Maire tries to
escape and is almost crippled from a bear trap so she can't go anywhere
unless the groudy man takes her. Their relationship is strange. But her
time with him is kinda cool only because she's forced to bake a
human-sized gingerbread house for a witch and a living gingerbread boy,
among other treats.
Maire is visited by someone from her past,
which keeps her sane and motivated. The more he appears to her, the more
her fragmented memories start falling into place. But who they are and
their place is crazy strange and unique.
This is a story of one's journey and the cosmic effects our choices make on others and the world.
V: Physical abuse and war
L: No
S: kissing, committed relationship
5 STARS
Seventeen-year-old
Tayla Jonas longs for a simple life, but after a traumatizing family
loss, she is forced to be both mother and sister to her cousins while
caring for her mentally unstable aunt. Moving to her grandma’s quiet
town of Cody, Wyoming, Tayla finds some normalcy with her quirky green
activist friend, Chel, who spends no time converting her to
vegetarianism.
A few weeks into her new school, Tayla catches
the eye of Kyle Harrington—the high school quarterback and resident
millionaire—who can seduce any girl with his charismatic charm,
including Tayla. But Kyle is anything but what he seems.
Walking
through City Park, Tayla is unaware that an ancient curse has her in its
crosshairs. The silver moonlight illuminates the path to her van,
sprinkling shadows like evil twinkling eyes. Tayla’s skin prickles, and
she turns. Something—or someone—is watching her.
A powerful
werewolf steps from the shadows. An iridescent blue cord shoots from him
and slams into her stomach, dissolving instantly. Pain wracks her body,
and she tries to scramble to safety, but his silver eyes freeze her in
place as the curse binds them together. The cord settles deep inside her
body, coiling with dread around her heart.
Dismayed by the
prospect of a werewolf for a shadow, Tayla fears for the safety of her
friends and family. How will she keep the werewolf’s insatiable hunger
in check? Her plans for a vegetarian lifestyle quickly dwindle away, and
Tayla wrestles to fit her frazzled life back together—piece by piece.
But what she didn’t expect was her attraction to the werewolf or the
power of the full moon.
Will Tayla be strong enough to survive
the Curse of the Beast? Or will it consume her like so many before? Find
out in the first installment of this unique retelling of Beauty and the
Beast.
Last line:
"The music washed over me, like rolling waves swaying in the sea, turning me into a hopeful tide pool of dreams."
This book is a good, clean, exciting twist on Beauty and the Beast and werewolves.
Liked:
Tayla
Chel
Interesting retelling
Disliked:
Kyle (potential of enemy in the next books??)
First book of trilogy (I HATE waiting!)
The cover
4 STARS
It starts when Alexandria, a poor, plain goose girl, offers her own bread and water to a hungry old woman-who just happens to be a witch in disguise. Poof! Alexandria is suddenly heartstoppingly beautiful. Her hair rains down gold dust, and the tears she sheds turn to diamonds. Soon a prince and a king are fighting for her hand, and they've locked her in a tower to keep her "safe." How Alexandria wishes she was a goose girl again! Clearly the only thing to do is escape-which is when her problems really begin! Patrice Kindl's inimitable voice and craft make this take on the classic fairy tale extraordinary-and extraordinarily hilarious.
"A delightful, witty fairy-tale spoof.. . . Kindl's humor, the strong characterizations, and vibrant action give the story wings." (Booklist, starred review)
First line:
"The king killed my canary today."
What a great first line!
What a fun book to read! Full of fairy tale twists and characters.
Poor Alexandria became beautiful because of her god deed. Now the king of a neighboring kingdom seeks her hand in marriage as does the prince of her own kingdom. Her beauty helps as does the gold flakes that fall from her hair when she brushes it. Do these men really love her? Or her golden hair?
Alexandria is known as the Goose Girl because of the twelve geese she takes care of. And they take care of her. Rescuing, saving, protecting and hissing at their mistress is what those geese do well.
Goose Girl is told from Alexandria's humorous, biting voice. She only sees her side of the issues but soon grows up and cares about others. She's in a prisoner in a tower, is rescued, becomes a prisoner again, rescued again, imprisoned again...you get the gist.
Goose Girl is a great, fractured fairy tale that is a fun, twisting read.
Rated: G
V: Fairytale fighting
L: No
S: No
Liked:
Alexandria
The plot & twists
Disliked:
Sometimes the language got in the way of the story
4 STARS
