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May 9, 2019

STEPSISTER by Jennifer Donnelly

May 9, 2019

Book cover & and 4.5-star rating for STEPSISTER by Jennifer DonnellyThe first time I heard the term “retelling,” I expected it to refer to reimagined fairytales. I didn’t exactly expect these to be simply be stories inspired by fairytales. Stepsister, however, is exactly that which I had originally expected of a retelling. It builds upon the well-loved fairytale of Ashputtel, blood and all. It was entertaining with its dark humour as it continued to tell the story of how it might have continued. Stepsister was more detailed since it’s a novel rather than a short story but stylistically, it still very much read like a fairytale.

· Categories: Fiction Keywords: abuse, ambition, american authors, betrayal, bravery, death, despair, fairies, family problems, fate, feminism, forgiveness, friendship, gender, grief, hardship, hope, horses, jealousy, life, loss, magic, on love, poverty, relationships, retellings, romance, royalty, self discovery, self-esteem, single parenthood, sisters, stepsiblings, villains, war

March 13, 2018

CHILDREN OF BLOOD AND BONE by Tomi Adeyemi

March 13, 2018

Book cover & rating - CHILDREN OF BLOOD AND BONE by Tomi AdeyemiThis book, this book, this book!!! Children of Blood and Bone was such a treat to read. Right from the start, the stakes are high. With each chapter, they get even higher. Whenever I thought the plot would plateau, I was wrong.

· Categories: Fiction Keywords: abuse, american authors, beliefs, betrayal, bravery, death, diverse authors, diverse books, ethnicity, eugenics, family, fathers and sons, friendship, gods, grief, guilt, hardship, holidays, insurgency, legends, magic, multiple points of view, on the run, own-voices, religion, romance, royalty, sacrifice, siblinghood, spirits, supernatural, violence, war

March 8, 2018

TO KILL A KINGDOM by Alexandra Christo

March 8, 2018

Book cover & rating - TO KILL A KINGDOM by Alexandra ChristoTo Kill a Kingdom is a fantasy standalone done right. Even better, it is so much more than I had envisioned!

· Categories: Fiction Keywords: abuse, betrayal, bribery, british authors, choices, cousins, death, deceit, diverse books, emotions, language, legends, lies, loyalty, mermaids, mind control, monsters, morality, mothers and daughters, murder, on love, pirates, royalty, sacrifice, secrets, sirens, villains, violence, war

November 4, 2017

THE LONG WAY TO A SMALL, ANGRY PLANET by Becky Chambers

November 4, 2017

Book cover & rating - The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky ChambersMy problem with space operas is that usually not much happens besides the characters floating through space. On that front, I felt The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet fit squarely fit that trope. Conflicts outside of the spaceship didn’t arise as often nor as intensely as I had liked, even with their unpredictable mission and the threat of war looming. The reason I enjoyed this book anyway were the characters. They were absolutely wonderful!

· Categories: Fiction Keywords: aliens, american authors, artificial-intelligence, clones, culture, diverse books, family, friendship, lgbtq characters, politics, social commentary, space opera, space travel, technology, war, work life

September 7, 2017

DEFY THE STARS by Claudia Gray

September 7, 2017

Book cover & rating - DEFY THE STARS by Claudia GrayFor better or for worse, the UK book cover of Defy the Stars isn’t befitting of the story. Romance isn’t central to the plot. The overarching theme was what constitutes humanity, which I thought was explored exceedingly well in this book. It was also about sacrifice to save others and the chase to live forever.

· Categories: Fiction Keywords: american authors, artificial-intelligence, autonomy, beliefs, choices, crime, death, faith, friendship, futuristic, grief, on love, philosophy, robots, sacrifice, space opera, space travel, terrorism, war

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About

Joséphine. Word reveller. Loves books. Reads books. Talks about books. Photographs books. When she’s not blogging, she can be found on Instagram under @wordrevel.

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