Lament
by Maggie Stiefvater Book Review by Miranda Fraser ISBN: 978-0-7387-1370-0 Alright, so I know they say you can't judge a book by its cover, but let me first address how awesome this book cover is! It is actually what caught my attention to begin with, a gorgeous Celtic designed dagger surrounded by clovers, it is just stunning! Then I look and see "Maggie Stiefvater" written on the cover. And as this woman has managed to steal my heart, over and over again with all of her amazingness, I knew this book had to be mine! Fast forward past two college exams and enough time to actually sit down and read this book- I get about 30 pages in and think, "My goodness this is amazing, is there a sequel, I must have it!". (So I ran up to Half Price Books and bought the sequel.) I get 50 pages in and I think, "PLOT TWIST!" and I can't put this book down! Almost 300 pages in and I'm borderline bawling my eyes out praying for an amazing ending. And so my lovelies let us discuss this amazing creation of the written word! To begin with, our important characters are Deidre, our main heroine, Luke, our main male hero (maybe, dun dun dun!), and James, our heroine's best friend and comedic genius. I would literally burst out laughing at his parts! So there you have it, our three important characters. But there's also family members and other people who come into play here and there and believe me, their parts can be just as interesting to the story as our main characters. Essentially, you have your basic run of the mill love triangle when you think of it, right? Male and female best friends, new boy on the block, can't see any strange tension there, right? WRONG! Boom! Maggie makes things interesting! Unspoken secrets all around, mysterious happenings, and unique, though seemly normal, teenagers! Now, we find out right away that our heroine is quite the harp player, actually she just might be one of the most gifted teenage musicians ever! But is she gifted in other ways as well? (I will approach that in a little bit *wink*). We also find out that her best friend James is a gifted big pipe player. And to top it all off Luke is an extremely talented flute player. Hmm, we have a very musical theme here, right? Well lets see Celtic cover, Celtic instruments, yep, there might be a theme here. So what in the wonderful world of Celtic legends loves music? The Fey, of course. Faeries! Brilliant! So this whole novel revolves around three musically talented teenagers and a mystery of the Fey. Of course, I said I would readdress my question of what else she might be gifted at, right? Well, if we have the Fey involved, and we all know they are not exactly the nicest creatures, (certainly not the Tinkerbell and friends that Disney mass feeds our little girls) there must be something they are after- and music isn't it. Turns out our heroine is very important to some very important otherworldly creatures and it just might be Luke knows more than he's letting on. Well, at least at first, after all it's hard to tell a story you're not allowed to tell. Perhaps this is confusing? Good! Nothing is better than a good mind game, especially to the Fey. If they're out there they are probably having a gay old time at Stiefvater's brilliant word puzzles, poetic songs, and perfectly placed carrot dangling. Luke may not be as innocent as he seems, and the Fey might not all be as wicked as we think, but with bad omens, mysterious abilities, and crazy evil freaks running around, this story certainly keeps you on the edge of your seat! Plus, as I said almost 300 pages in and I was an emotional wreck, I laughed so hard at these characters wit and humor, cried when things were looking hopeless, went gaga over the mushy lovey-dovey parts, and found myself wishing this story wouldn't end. I highly suggest this book, it is emotional, it is brilliantly played out, and shows a depth of a character growth that is remarkable in a story of its size! I am practically opening the sequel as we speak, to see where this otherworldly adventure takes us next! Links to Maggie Stiefvater's website and facebook are on the buttons below!
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Book of a Thousand Days
by: Shannon Hale Book Review by: Miranda Fraser ISBN: 978-1599903781 Book of a Thousand Days is based on an old Brothers Grimm story "Maid Maleen" and while I have not read that particular tale I stand by the Brothers Grimm as having some of the best tales known to man! We owe so much to their collection of tales! And I would also like to point out that this book has won the Whitney Award for Best Speculative Fiction in 2007. With that being said, this novel already has some great credibility! Plus the author, Shannon Hale is a Newbery Honor winner and has many amazing stories published! But this book... it's just truly incredible. It really leaves you with a yearning to finish this tale. This book of days, as it could be called, is written as a diary. There are not chapters, but rather the pages go on and every so often it's marked with "Day (insert number here)" and thus you've reached a new entry in her journal. Now this story focuses on a mucker maid (read the novel to find out what that is) and her Lady, whom she is a Lady's Maid to. She is sworn to take care of her Lady and follow her orders. The complicated part? Well, to start with, she is a maid to a Lady whose father has decided to lock her up in a tower for seven years for refusing to marry the man he chose. Complicated enough for you? But wait there's more! She refuses to marry this man for various reasons, but on top of that she has also betrothed herself to a different man. So now we have two suitors, an angry father, and finally a Lady and her maid locked in a tower. Rapunzel style, but more intense... So now that we've got your average, everyday princess locked up scenario lets move on. Normally, I just talk about the book, but really this is a story that deserves something different. This is a story that leaves you with a lot of emotions. It's the type of story you pick up and you read 60 pages and you think you're ready to put it down for a little bit. But the next chance you get, you will have it right back in your hands, enthralled with reading this girl's journal. If we've learned nothing from other famous journals is that you don't know how the story will end. Are we reading a dead girl's journal because she didn't make it? Or are we reading it because she left it for her children and their children and so on? You're stuck wondering how her story goes. You find yourself wondering what it must be like to live in a world such as this. To have such hardships. Dashti, the maid, is the one keeping the journal, she's just a peasant, a Lady's maid, nothing special as far as the world's concerned and even she feels this way at times. But she is more important to the kingdoms than she knows. And as you read you sense this importance, but you never know when it's going to come out. When are things going to take a turn? You wait and wonder and speculate. And I can tell you that I love books, and some stories just stick because you loved them, but this story sticks because it leaves you with a truly satisfied story-line. The plot to this story is beautiful. It just resonates with a pure storytelling. An ending you hope for but never see actually playing out. It's one of those books where when you think all hope is lost you slowly start to give into the negativity. And then suddenly something wonderful happens! Something just shifts and the entries change and you're on the edge of your seat! You find yourself laughing with the characters and feeling their frustration when things seem lost. It's a book that when it comes to the end you feel complete. Like a true fairy tale, beginning to end, just wonderful. And that's what I want people to know about this story, it's just wonderful. I highly suggest picking up this book and reading. Go to the library, the book store, eBooks (if that's your thing), just wherever you might find a copy. I found mine sitting on the shelf at Half Price Books and thought it looked perfect, boy was I right. What a story! And hey, if you saw this review and went out and read it, please let me know what you thought of it! Shannon Hale's official site and Facebook are linked on the buttons below! |
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