Hunted by Meagan Spooner

Beauty and the Beast has never been my favourite story, but when I saw that this BATB retelling was set in medieval Russia and incorporated aspects of Ivan Tsarevitch, the Firebird and the Gray Wolf, it went straight onto my TBR list!

Hunted follows Yeva (nicknamed Beauty by her family), a young girl who's a skilled hunter after training for years beside her father in the woods close to their village. Yeva has a comfortable life with her father and two sisters, spending most of her days accompanying the baronessa of the village with a group of other women. However, she grows tired of living up to the standards of high society, and longs to live in the woods and carry on hunting - and also to meet someone who will understand her unconventional ways and treat her as an equal with admirable skills, rather than a submissive woman. 

When Yeva's father loses his fortune, her family is forced to move back to his small hunting cabin deep in the woods. This may seem like a blessing in disguise for Yeva, who is finally able to escape the confines of high society, until the day that her father goes missing after becoming convinced that there is a beast living in the forest chasing away his prey. Yeva is then forced to go deep into the woods to search for him. What follows becomes a merging of Beauty and the Beast alongside Ivan and the Firebird, mixed with multiple other Russian folktales that I've come to love over the years.

I generally have three problems with Beauty and the Beast, and thankfully, Hunted eradicates all of them. First off, the stockholm syndrome. Yeva gets to know the Beast and forms a bond with him before knowing that he is the one who imprisoned her, and once she finds out, she struggles with her fondness for her mysterious friend Ivan, and the beast who chained her up and who she believes hurt her father. There is also a conversation between Yeva and a friend of hers about abusive relationships - something which I've definitely never seen in a Beauty and the Beast retelling before, and which improved the story as a whole so much. Issues like this need to be addressed in these sort of stories, and I was so thankful that Meagan Spooner took the time to add this conversation into the book. 

Second, I've never really liked Belle/Beauty in these stories. Thankfully, Yeva was a much more interesting character - she's a strong female character (and we can never have too many of those, in my opinion), she had depth, she was incredibly selfless and always put others before her (even those who hurt her), she was determined and she knew exactly what she wanted, and I really came to relate to her story. The author's note at the back of Hunted points out that this is very much a coming of age story that the author herself feels relates to her own life, and I could also relate to so much of it, so Yeva really grew on me. 

Third, the sisters. I don't think I've ever read or seen a version of Beauty and the Beast where Beauty's sisters aren't awful to her, but Yeva's sisters, Lena and Asenka, are both wonderful characters in their own right and are always looking out for their younger sister. I really enjoyed both of their individual stories and would definitely read more about them. 

Fourth (I think) the Gaston character. We've all seen this guy be the typical douche (lets take Tamlin in ACOTAR, for example) but Yeva's suitor, Solmir, is actually such a nice person and admires Yeva's talent for hunting and tracking - he doesn't treat her like she's below him or expect her to be the typical wife figure, and constantly reassures her that he'd never impose any expectations on her if they were to marry. When she's unsure about being with him, he doesn't push her at all and promises to protect her family when she leaves the cabin to search for their father. There was honestly a small part of me that was shipping him with Yeva, he was just that lovely!

And finally, the 'fall in love to break the spell' trope. Without spoiling anything, I'm so happy to say that the Beast isn't constantly trying to force Yeva to fall in love with him in order to break his curse. He believes that his curse has to be broken in other ways that require Yeva's help - but I won't say anything else on this as it'll spoil too much of the plot! 

I have to say that the incorporation of Ivan Tsarevitch, the Firebird and the Gray Wolf worked so perfectly with this story, and the second half of this book is definitely more of a retelling of this folktale than of Beauty and the Beast. It was done in such a clever way, and I'm still in awe at the way that the author managed to weave the two together and set the result in medieval Russia so perfectly. I'm always on the lookout for new books inspired by Russian folklore, and I'm so glad that I came across Hunted.

love Becky @

Kingdom of Sleep by E.K. Johnston

I don't think I quite enjoyed this book as much as its prequel, A Thousand Nights, but it was still an intriguing, beautiful story!

Kingdom of Sleep, or Spindle, depending on where you live, follows Yashaa, Arwa, Tariq and Saoud, on a quest to return to their crumbling home of Karuf and save the Princess, Zahrah. At her fifth birthday party, she was cursed by a demon who intended to possess her once she had learned everything she needed to be a ruler, forcing her kingdom into ruin and resulting in the banning of spindles (this is where the Sleeping Beauty references come in), as the demon pronounced that once Zahrah learned to spin, she would be ready for inhabitation. Yashaa, Arwa and Tariq's families, who were spinners, were forced to leave their home at this point, but now the three of them along with Saoud are determined to break Zahrah's curse. 

A Thousand Nights was very much a slow building story, and whereas Kingdom of Sleep was also slow, there was still a lot more action in it. It was definitely more of a "journey story", focusing on the development of the characters and their relationships with each other rather than on the plot. I did struggle to get into this book at first, mostly because I wasn't expecting some of the differences between it and A Thousand Nights (for example, I assumed that the characters would all remain unnamed as they did in the previous book) but once I got into the book I really enjoyed it and began to connect with the characters a lot more. 

Although I thought the ending was a bit too rushed, the very last chapter really made the book for me. With A Thousand Nights, the thing that really stuck with me was how beautiful and poetic the writing was, and I'm so glad that Kingdom of Sleep still had such beautiful writing, even though it was written in quite a different style and voice. 

This definitely isn't a sequel to A Thousand Nights, but a companion novel - it's set in the same land, but quite a long time afterwards (hundreds of years, as far as I'm aware) and although key events are mentioned from the previous book, you could definitely read this as a standalone and have no trouble at all understanding what's happening. I'd also just like to mention something about the Sleeping Beauty comparisons - Kingdom of Sleep is marketed as being inspired by/a retelling of Sleeping Beauty, and I think this may have put some people off, but in my opinion, the two stories couldn't be more different - literally the main similarity is that in both stories, spindles are the triggers in the Princesses curses. Because of this, I would definitely not let the Sleeping Beauty inspirations embedded in this book put you off reading it, as like I say, they're barely there! 

+ 

Have you read A Thousand Nights or Kingdom of Sleep/Spindle? What did you think?

love Becky @ 

Heartless by Marissa Meyer

                

Angharad's thoughts:

I will admit that I had high hopes going into this novel despite never have read a book by Marissa Meyer before. I'm a huge fan of the Alice in Wonderland/Through the Looking Glass tale and to read not only a retelling, but a retelling of the series biggest villain sounded amazing. However, it fell short for me and I only ended up giving it three and a half stars. Here are my likes and dislikes -

Likes:

+ The character of Lady Catherine. It was so interesting reading an author's interpretation of the Queen of Hearts before she became a ruthless villain. Meyer writes her as a sweet young girl, the daughter of a Marquess and aspiring baker. She is destined to marry the King of Hearts and become a respectable Queen (delving into the idea of female repression in this world) but all she wants is to open a bakery with her maid/friend, Mary Ann. You feel Cath's desperation at trying to break free of the role forced upon her but it becomes a whole lot more complicated when she falls in love with the new Court Jester, otherwise known as Jest. I haven't read any of Meyer's other books but meeting Catherine has made me want to look into her other series. She is a dynamic character and develops massively along the course of the story. 

+ I loved Marissa's writing, especially her descriptive text when it came to Cath's baking. My mouth has never watered this much reading a book! She set the scene wonderfully, allowing us to feel Cath's love for baking and how much passion she had for it. It makes you all the more desperate to see her succeed even though you know she doesn't because, you know, the Queen of Hearts probably doesn't frequent her kitchen. Too busy cutting off heads.

+ The romance. Okay, it was cliche but it's a fairytale retelling, it's going to be cheesy but it developed wonderfully. Catherine and Jest had fun together and protected each other. Even when Cath was courting the King, Jest had to learn to accept it, even going as far as helping the King write his love letters. Their moments were very cute together, especially one of their first moments in the garden after they meet for the first time. 

+ Raven. Okay, so Jest has a Raven on his shoulder where others would have a parrot but this Raven is based off of Edgar Allan Poe so he speaks primarily in rhyme. I love him. I loved the moment where a lot of panic was happening and Raven pronounced something that didn't rhyme because he was panicking too. Probably one of my favourite characters in the entire story. Yes, a bird. Especially at the end! I also really enjoyed the character of Hatta. He was a very complex character and he had an interesting story to tell as we meet him at the first stages of his 'madness.' And yes, there is a tea party. 

+ I did like the ending but when I say the ending, I mean around the last ten pages. They were amazing! I won't go into what happens but I just wish we could have had a little bit more because Catherine truly became the Queen of Hearts and everyone bows the hell down. 

Dislikes:

+ NOT ENOUGH FEMALE CHARACTERS OR DIVERSITY! Other than Cath, there were precious few female characters and if there were, they were poorly developed. The strong friendship between Cath and Mary Ann sours very quickly, Cath's mother brings nothing to the table other than wanting her daughter to become Queen and another female at court only exists for Cath to dislike and for some Duke to fancy (and at this stage I can't even remember her name.) It's such a shame there wasn't more, especially as Cath herself is a brilliant character. As for diversity, there was none that I was aware of so I can't even go into that. It's a retelling! You're allowed to put your spin on things so spin us some diversity!!

+ I didn't like the first half of the book. For me, it dragged incredibly. I'm all for books setting the scene and introducing us into its world but not for majority of the book and because of this, the second half had a lot of action, and although I loved the events of it, the ending felt a bit rushed. I mean, the entire first chapter of the book is dedicated to Cath baking some tarts and although I was hungry, I was bored. 

Becky's thoughts:

I had quite a lot of thoughts about Heartless but no real ideas as to how I was going to put them into words. So, here's a little list to make things easier for everyone:

Likes:

+ the character of Catherine.

I loved Cath! She was so authentic, determined and a breath of fresh air when it comes to YA protagonists. Cath is the daughter of a Marquess and therefore expected to be a Lady and be happy about the King taking a liking towards her, but all she wants to do is open a bakery with her best friend. The land of Hearts is incredibly sexist, and it seems that even if she weren't a Lady, no one would approve of a woman opening a business, but Cath perseveres and doesn't give up on her dream. This brings me onto my second point...

+ the cake descriptions.

When Cath is first introduced, she's baking lemon tarts, and I've craved the things ever since. All of the descriptions of food are just so perfect, and frankly I'm going to go hunting for some cake right now just thinking about them.

+ the ending.

The last 70 or so pages were amazing! They took a really dark, exciting turn, and although they were tragic, I really enjoyed them. I won't say anything more though as I don't want to spoil anything!

+ the world building.

The book is set in Hearts, with the land of Chess, where the White Queen rules, being on the other side of the Looking-Glass. It's completely Wonderland, but not the Wonderland that you already know. 

Dislikes:

+ the middle-ish section of the book.

I found the middle of the book to drag quite a bit and be quite boring. There was character development during this time, but I would've liked a bit more action within the plot as well.

+ most of the secondary characters.

I really liked Jest, Raven, and the Sisters, but apart from that, I couldn't click with any of the other secondary characters. Cath's family were awful to her, so were naturally meant to be disliked, but I didn't think her friend Mary Ann was very well rounded either, and most of the rest of her acquaintances are dull or aren't explained very well. 

(We'd like to thank Macmillan UK for sending us a proof copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.)

Love,

Vassa in the Night by Sarah Porter

Vassa in the Night, a retelling of the Russian folklore tale Vasilisa the Beautiful, tells the story of Vassa, a young girl living in an alternate Brooklyn that is plagued by dark magic. Residents of Vassa's neighbourhood have noticed that, whilst the days last mere hours, the nights last for days - and this all started when the local convenience store,  BY's, was open by Babs Yagg - a shopkeeper who has a tendency to behead thieves. When Vassa heads out to BY's in need of lightbulbs, she finds herself tied up in a contract with Babs, and her life will be forfeit if she's unable to work at the store for three nights without making any mistakes. However, Vassa has help - a magical wooden doll by the name of Erg, made for Vassa by her mother before she passed away. With Erg's trickery, can Vassa survive three nights at BY's, and maybe even break the curse upon her neighbourhood?

Bookmark from Behind the Pages

I've always been a huge fan of Russian-inspired fiction, so when I received Vassa in the Night in September's Fairyloot box, I was over the moon! I had previously read the tale of Vasilisa the Beautiful, and I would recommend reading it if you're planning on looking into this novel - if anything, it'll help you understand what's going on when the magic gets too much!

Overall, Vassa in the Night is quite a quirky, nonsensical book - but this is often the case with folklore, and definitely isn't a negative. It reminded me a lot of one of my favourite books, Deathless by Catherynne M. Valente, but is written in a much more whimsical style to this. The book is very much written like a fairytale, what with the "things coming in threes" aspect, the overarching quest to save Brooklyn, the hero (Vassa) and the villain (Babs). There were also interludes which took place whilst Vassa was asleep, a little touch which I really liked - and these definitely complemented the plot. 

Vassa as a main character was interesting, but I didn't fully connect with her. I liked her attitude and sarcasm, but would've liked to have got to know her a little bit better. I do feel as though Erg got in the way of this at points, as she could be a very irritating character at times. I sometimes struggle with magic realism as a genre, but it managed to (mostly) make complete sense in this book - it worked well, in any case. It stuck to both the original story and to Russian folklore in general really well, and I appreciated this as the Russian aspects were basically what made me want to read it in the first place. 

The only negatives I had with this book was that it could be a bit slow at times - considering that the majority of it is set in one location, this is bound to happen. I also did get a bit confused at some points, such as some sort of crazy fight scene towards the end (which confused me so much that I genuinely am not quite sure what happened). There was also a bit of a love interest at one point, which I just didn't understand - it came from nowhere and had absolutely no build up or purpose.

I'm not entirely sure who to recommend this book to, just because it's written in such a niche style, but if you're interested in Russian mythology or magic realism, I would definitely recommend taking a look at it! 

Have you read Vassa in the Night? What did you think of it? Let us know in the comments!

Love,

The Rose and the Dagger - Renée Ahdieh

"No. He was not here to wreak revenge. For revenge was trifling and hollow.

No. He was not here to retrieve his wife. For his wife was not a thing to be retrieved.

No. He was not here to negotiate a truce. For a truce suggested he wished to compromise.

He was here to burn something to the ground."

*this review may contain spoilers from The Wrath and the Dawn, but not from The Rose and the Dagger*

The Rose and the Dagger, the highly anticipated sequel to The Wrath and the Dawn and final book in the series, opens with Kohrasan on the brink of war, and Shahrzad separated from Khalid and taken to the desert. Now, Shahrzad must uncover her powers, protect her family, save her country from its imminent war and find her way back to Khalid despite being held amongst people who want him dead - all whilst trying to discover a way to destroy his curse. 

The Rose and the Dagger was the most perfect ending to this duology! Although it maybe wasn't as fast paced as The Wrath and the Dawn, Renée Ahdieh wrapped up the story perfectly with this instalment in the series, and it ended on just the right note.

As with the previous book, the writing style was exquisite - the descriptions are beautiful and winding, and I could really picture each scene and setting that was being described. 

I think my favourite thing about this book was the development of characters and relationships that is seen throughout it. In The Wrath and the Dawn, we already saw Shazi as an amazingly strong and sassy protagonist, and I'm so glad that her character hadn't changed in this book - if anything, she just gets even better. I also loved the insight into her relationship with her sister, Irsa, and the development of understanding between her and her father (I can almost guarantee that this part will make you cry, just a warning). 

Although this story is obviously primarily a love story, The Rose and the Dagger didn't have to rely on forced or cheesy love scenes. Once again, Shazi and Khalid's romance is perfect and natural and I genuinely can't get enough of those two. There is also more magic in this book, which I was hoping we'd see more of! 

The last part of the book was just packed full of beautifully heartbreaking plot twists, and at some points I was quite literally on the edge of my seat/in tears/about to scream/cursing Renée Ahdieh for destroying my soul with her literature. I won't say too much about the ending except that it was absolutely perfect. 

I have loved this duology so much, it literally doesn't have a weak moment in my opinion and would definitely recommend it to anyone. I can't wait to see what Renée Ahdieh comes out with next!

A Court of Mist and Fury - Sarah J Maas

• this review will be spoiler-free •

from the blurb:

Feyre is immortal. After rescuing her lover Tamlin from a wicked Faerie Queen, she returns to the Spring Court possessing the powers of the High Fae. But Feyre cannot forget the terrible deeds she performed to save Tamlin's people - nor the bargain she made with Rhysand, High Lord of the feared Night Court. 

As Feyre is drawn ever deeper into Rhysand's dark web of politics and passion, war is looming and an evil far greater than any queen threatens to destroy everything Feyre has fought for. She must confront her past, embrace her girls and decide her fate. 

"I wonder if some part of me knew what was waiting for me. That I would never be a gentle grower of things, or someone who burned like fire - but that I would be quiet and enduring and as faceted as the night. That I would have beauty, for those who knew where to look, and if people didn't bother to look, but only to fear it... Then I didn't particularly care for them, anyway. I wonder if, even in my despair and hopelessness, I was never truly alone. I wonder if I was looking for this place - looking for you all."

I've been looking forward to reading this book ever since I finished A Court of Thorns and Roses. In fact, I was so desperate for it that when the copy I'd ordered didn't arrive on time, I went straight to town and bought a new copy (which happened to be a signed copy, so for once, I won't begrudge my impatience!) 

This book as a whole was a strong, addictive piece of writing - something that I've come to expect from Sarah J Maas. When it was announced that this would be a reselling of the story of Hades and Persephone, I think a lot of fans worked out what (or who) that meant that this book would feature a lot of. ACOMAF explores some new areas of Prythian as well as expanding on old characters and introducing new ones - almost all of whom I loved, especially Mor. As with ACOTAR, the majority of the action was definitely in the last third of the book, and once again this irritated me slightly but has also left me anticipating the final book in the series. Looking back, this middle section definitely had a lot of important character and relationship building parts, and I'm so glad that they were included. 

ACOMAF also deals with a lot of important issues, mostly related to what is right and wrong within a relationship, and the importance of equality. 

I was blown away by this book, and had no choice but to give it 5/5 stars! 

Is anyone else reading A Court of Mist and Fury at the moment? What did you think? Let us know in the comments! 

- Becky x 

The Wrath and the Dawn by Renee Ahdieh

“It’s a fitting punishment for a monster. to want something so much—to hold it in your arms — and know beyond a doubt you will never deserve it.” 

The Wrath and the Dawn (a retelling of A Thousand and One Nights) follows Shahrzad, a girl who has volunteered to marry Khalid, the Caliph of Khorasan. Every night, Khalid marries a new girl, just to see them hanged by a silk cord the following dawn. After Shahrzad's closest friend is chosen for this fate and killed, she is determined to break this cycle and distract Khalid until she finds an opportunity to kill him. What Shahrzad doesn't expect is that the two of them will fall for each other, and she will be sucked in to the many secrets that Khalid is hiding from her and the people of Khorasan. 

Becky -

I have to say, I was unsure about reading The Wrath and the Dawn, and at first I wasn't really getting into it - but I'm so glad I gave it a chance and carried on reading. This book was amazing and the ending blew me away! I'm in the middle of preordering The Rose & the Dagger as I type this.

Usually, I feel as though I would find this sort of plot to be too cringey for me, but I loved Shahrzad and Khalid. Their romance was developed perfectly and with just the right pacing so that it didn't seem too unrealistic. 
Aside from the romantic aspects of this book, the fantasy world is set and created really well, and I love the hints of magic throughout - it does seem as though this is something that will be expanded upon in The Rose & the Dagger as well, which I'm really excited about! 

The ending was awfully heart-wrenching and has left me counting down the days until I can read the sequel, but I don't know why I expected anything different of such a brilliant book. 

My one initial problem with The Wrath and the Dawn was the beginning - it seemed to jump into the plot very fast, and I wasn't too sure what was going on for the first couple of chapters. However, it did encourage me to keep reading so I could work out what on earth was happening and who each character was, and once I'd properly got into it I loved it!

Angharad -

I wasn't sure about this one, purely because I've never been a fan of retellings but the beautiful cover and good reviews finally convinced me. I'm not kidding when I say I finished this book in ONE sitting. As in, I didn't go to bed. As in, I sat still for a few hours until it was done. Why? Because it was so good.

Without mentioning spoilers (which I am prone to do), I will just say that this book was a fantastic and refreshing read. I loved the Arabian setting, I loved the concept and I love how we had to wait until pretty much the end of the novel to find out the reason for Khalid's actions, making us as desperate to find out his secret as much as Shahrzad. 

My criticisms are that I do wish that there had been more world-building so we could learn more about the fantasy aspect of the world. I also wish Shahrzad hadn't of forgot her thirst for revenge so quickly. I think if the book had been longer, this would have been explored more. 

Renee's writing was spellbinding. I could imagine the atmosphere in great detail and the magic of the book was in the writing itself. The romance was beautiful, really bloody beautiful. I love that it built up slowly but surely and then it just burst into so much intensity and want. "My soul sees its equal in you." I mean?? It was lovely and I'm not usually a reader who likes the romance being the main point of the book. 

Overall, I do recommend this book. As I mentioned, a few things could have been improved but other than that, it was a captivating read and I am very much looking forward to the sequel.

What were your thoughts on this book?

Let us know in the comments!

A Court of Thorns and Roses - Sarah J. Maas

"Be glad of your human heart, Feyre. Pity those who don't feel anything at all.”

A Court of Thorns and Roses is Sarah J. Maas's retelling of Beauty and the Beast. The story follows Feyre, a young girl who is forced to hunt in order to keep her father and sisters alive. However, when Feyre kills a wolf that turns out to be a faerie, she is taken across the wall that divides the mortal lands and faerie lands to pay for her crime by spending the rest of her life in the Spring Court of Prythian, where she will face trials that she could never have anticipated.

Angharad:

Oh wow, this book was a roller coaster of a ride.

I almost put the book down after 100 pages. It just did not hook me in any way and I found the huge information dumps about the fae world to just be monotonous. Although in its defence, I have never been a huge fan of fairy tales/stories. I was originally going to give this book 1 star but the last 100 pages saved it, in my opinion.

Before the last few pages, I was reading purely for the sake of reading. I found Feyre's time in the Court to be so uneventful that I nearly tore my hair out. Painting, eating, hunting, painting, eating, hunting and on and on and on. The occasional event happened but other than that, it was extremely boring.

On to the romance side of things. The relationship between Feyre and Tamlin, in my opinion, was quite problematic (the whole bite thing. Her fault apparently??) but other than that, it was... there. They were basically like horny teenagers. The three characters I enjoyed the most were the side characters - Lucien, Rhysand and Nesta. 

Basically, to cut a long story short, as soon as the trials began, so did the story. It's such a shame that we had to wait until the end of the book for that. I'll be in no rush to get the sequel.

Becky:

Well. What can I say about A Court of Thorns and Roses?

I LOVED THIS BOOK.

I haven't found a fantasy novel that I literally couldn't put down in a very long time (probably since I read Throne of Glass, to be honest) so I was so happy when I was immediately sucked into Feyre's story. 

I thought that Maas adapted the classic story of Beauty and the Beast enough so that it didn't feel as though you knew exactly what was going to happen whilst reading, but at the same time the inspiration for the book still very much shone through. A Court of Thorns and Roses really is a fairytale through and through - from the events leading up to Feyre's actions and the consequences of it, the way that the love story develops, the folklore elements, to the three trials at the end of the book. As always with Sarah J. Maas's books, it was written beautifully and I thought that the world building was perfect - I really could imagine what both the locations and characters looked like whilst reading. 

As for the characters, I loved Feyre from the beginning. The Hunger Games (as it did for many others, I imagine) ignited in me a love for girls who are good archers, and Feyre's passion for art touched a soft spot too. As well as this, I loved that she had shouldered the task of keeping her family alive, despite being the youngest and not really being noticed or appreciated for all that she did for them. Her strength and bravery carries on throughout the book, when she willingly goes with Tamlin to Prythian in order to protect her family yet again, and when facing the three trials. 

On to Tamlin - of course, I hated him to begin with, but as his and Feyre's romance developed, he grew on me more. However, Rhysand is the faerie that truly has a place in my heart after reading this book. 

I really enjoyed most of the other side characters as well, especially Lucien and Nesta (her development was perfect!) and Amarantha was an amazing antagonist. 

I did feel like this would have worked really well as a standalone book, but at the same time I am so glad that it isn't and I can't wait for the sequel!

I'd definitely recommend A Court of Thorns and Roses to all fantasy and fairytale lovers, and definitely to people who've loved the Throne of Glass series so far!

Have you read A Court of Thorns and Roses? What did you think? Let us know in the comments!