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neverlearnedtoread · 4 months

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Midnight in Everwood

⭐⭐; reading this book is like letting a kid explain their drawing to you - 'this is the cotton candy castle with a prince and princess and their 29 dogs and cats', they say, pointing to a wobbly blue squiggle and a patch of snot. all you can do is smile and nod and let it happen

Oh?? 👌😉😏

the narration, while over the top, fit the atmosphere the book wanted to create (confectionary sugar world). its probably annoying to listen to as the descriptions dont let up but im good at skimming so i could swim my way through the syrup just fine

i liked the beginning, before the author's hand became too glaringly obvious to ignore later in the plot - while marietta was never entertaining as a main character to follow, she felt more 'real' in her home environment, more believable as a character. i liked her relationship with her brother

I'll say this: finishing this book made me want to rewatch Barbie in the Nutcracker, just to feel something. what a classic! unlike this book 😭

No.. ❌🤢🤮

oversaturated with metaphors and flowery language - enough synonyms, hoity-toity French vocabularié and verbiage to rot your teeth out. it's also an 'oh?? 👌😉😏' point because i do think the author did it on purpose to create a certain tone, but it's A LOT.

i get the distinct sense that the author understands on a surface level that her character is a privileged whiny baby, but doesn't have the writing prowess to make her compelling OR put her through her paces of a satisfying character arc.

#girlboss #modernfeminism #womenarejustasstrongasmen played completely straight. a main female character who stays entirely, pretentiously convinced of their own girlbossery the whole time, despite doing NOTHING to earn it, and an author who reshapes the story to meet those expectations. anything for her #slay #girlboss #queen!!!!!

stuff constantly gets introduced just to not add anything to the story - the mouse king equivalent has in his castle a captured FAIRY and WARRIOR PRINCESS as part of his menagerie of women marietta finds herself a part of, and we just leave it at that. the guard captain is revealed as part of a SECRET REBELLION and all that happens is marietta gets weirdly horny about it.

the romance develops at the most annoying moments - they even decide to fuck in the snow (their bare asses!! in the SNOW!!! and not even a hint of pneumonia to show for it 🥶) before marietta returns to her world. i expected her to be hornt up, but the guy?? my brother in butterscotch we have got to get you better standards in women

Summary: Marietta Stelle wants to dance but she's too damn privileged to be allowed to pursue it as a viable career - she needs to get married to some creepy old man for the sake of her family's ambition, damnit! As her last performance draws near, Marietta is pushed into accepting the marriage proposal of the creepiest man in town, a mysterious toymaker named Dr. Drosselmeier. Of course, she's a #strongfemalecharacter, so she vehemently rejects him - only to fall victim to his (very heavy-handedly hidden) magic, which transports her in a magical world made of sugar, full of hidden dangers.

Concept: 💭💭💭 The Nutcracker isn't my favourite story ever, but I'm a sucker for a good fairytale - and for good music! I think it's a story that lends itself very heavily to a specific kind of whimsical, airy aesthetic - while allowing for darker themes or storytelling aspects to lurk in the shadows. A friend whose taste I trust recommended this book to me, and while I was skeptical that the summary (mostly because the blurb included a list of #tropes, which is a bookish red flag for me) would really deliver on its vague promises, I've done more for less.

Execution: 💥 This book should come with a 'NO DIVING! THIS POOL IS ONLY LESS THAN 1M DEEP' warning - it's so shallow I was encouraging my own reflection to keep going after every chapter. Bafflingly, this issue actually worsens when Marietta gets to the magical isekai world of Everwood - which is the OPPOSITE of what is supposed to happen! You would think a world governed by an evil mouse king (who is not a mouse, just a guy. he has enchanted mice running up and down his coat, ooh scary) and literally made of sweets would be fun, but we only get TOLD the names of its stories and legends and then the book is like 'next chapter! marietta felt more at home because her new friends told her stuff!' Plus, in the latter half of the book you really chafe against the author's lack of skill - like watching a puppet show while clearly being able to see the fingers / hands of the puppeteers, her characters are angry, awestruck, and miserable in the most wooden of ways as the author stomps on the next bullet point in her outline with all the subtlety of an elephant.

Personal Enjoyment: ❤❤ I can't say I enjoyed reading this book, because I really didn't - at one point I had to put the book down after SIX PAGES because marietta was getting on my nerves with her badly timed horniness (which she didn't know was horniness, because that builds ~~tension~~). But I had a LOT of fun recounting this book to my friend (the one who recommended it to me, who then gave up less than 20% in) and my sister. Everything that happened WAS frustrating, but in a way that made me laugh - which is the reason why I kept reading. It was like watching a collision in slow-mo - I had to know where it ended.

Favourite Moment: this entire book was painful but i had a good laugh when marietta and the captain fuck in the snow - and i do mean fuck. ass fully out behaviour. everwood is supposed to be stuck in a forever winter and they were all 'we'll just lay our coats down, it'll be fine'. like, i am absolutely sure it will NOT be fine, but you do you! it's not like marietta 'damn this feminism shit is easy' stelle is gonna listen to anyone anyway. that would be non-feminist! a ho never gets cold!

Favourite Character: Dellara, AKA the remains of a Sugar Plum Fairy equivalent stripped of every possible interesting thing and left on the floor to bleed out as a 'mean girl'. Don't get me wrong, Pirlipata was a fascinatingly underused character too, but Dellara actually snapped at Marietta multiple times (didn't amount to anything, but A+ for effort) and we simply have to stan her for that. Also she endures torture for the sake of others and is an otherworldly immortal being who becomes Queen at the end. I would gladly have thrown Marietta into the path of an oncoming bus to follow Dellara's storyline instead.

#midnight in everwood #M. A. Kuzniar #maria kuzniar #books #book review #booklover #bookblr #reading

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graysonfamfan2021 · 8 months

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13 books 📚 to get me better

1.unseelie , it’s part of a duology and I loved 🥰 that it was written by an autistic author ✍️ ivelisse housman and featured an enemies to lovers between raze and unseelie and found family and an autistic Fae protagonist as I’m autistic and it’s a fantastic book 📖.

2. the secret 🤫 of service of tea and treason by India 🇮🇳 holton , a autistic author ✍️ and it is part of a trilogy about autistic witches , spies 🕵️‍♀️ and witches in a magical 🧙‍♀️ Victorian world 🌎 and has an enemies to lovers romance 🥰 between Alice and Daniel and it’s an phenomenal book 📖.

3. a duel with the vampire 🧛‍♀️ lord by Elise kova and it is amazing 🤩 book 📖 with the found family trope and an enemies to lovers romance 🥰 between Floriane and Ruvan and it’s an amazing 🤩 book 📖 and a retelling of snow ❄️ white.

4. a taste 👅 of poison ☠️ by tessonja odette is an excellent book 📖 and a wonderful book 📖 featuring Fae in a beautiful 🤩 magical 🧙‍♀️ Victorian inspired world 🌎.

5. court of dragons 🐉 by frost Kay and it’s an epic fantasy romance 🥰 and it’s part of a trilogy and has dragons 🐉, romance 🥰 and elves 🧝‍♀️ and badass ladies .

6. Midnight 🕛 in everwood by m.a kuzniar and it is a wonderful retelling of the nutcracker and has an rivals to lovers story, and LBTQ representation as well as many other representations and relationships as well .

7. A throne of shadows by tessonja odette and it’s part of a trilogy and has unicorns 🦄 and magic and Fae and second chance and enemies to lovers romances respectively between the two different characters, Cora and teryn and larylis and mareleau.

8. These vengeful souls by Kelly Zekas and Tarum shanker and has an LBTQ relationship with the main relationship being enemies to lovers and has villains 🦹‍♀️ and heroes 🦸‍♀️ living in Victorian times and I’m a history buff 💪 and it’s x men meets the Victorian era. It also reminds me of the heroine complex series by Sarah Kuhn and the renegades trilogy by marissa Meyer as well as my favorite 🤩 shows titans and doom patrol and x men evolution.

9. Ana Maria and the fox 🦊 by Liana de la Rosa is a historical romance 🥰 set in the Victorian era in England and has a slow burn 🔥 romance 🥰 between a Mexican heiress Ana Maria who is the sunshine ☀️ to the grumpy African politician, Gideon fox as well and a marriage of convenience and Ana Maria and Gideon’s relationship is amazing 🤩 and I love ❤️ how he knows to speak 🗣️ Spanish and can talk to her and her family in their native language and I’m so excited 😆 to read the next book 📖 in the luna sisters trilogy next year as well as India 🇮🇳 holton and Elise kova and tessonja odettes books 📚 too etc.

10. the moonfire bride 👰‍♀️ by Sylvia Mercedes has Fae , slow burn 🔥romance and combines beauty and the beast with the Greek myth of Eros and psyche and it’s so good 😊 and the protagonist is a seamstress and she can weave dresses 👗 out of moonlight and other things in the Fae world 🌎.

11. Bellegarde by Jamie lilac it’s a retelling of the movie 🍿 she’s all that in 18th century France 🇫🇷 and has two slowburn romances between evie and beau and evie’s best friend Josephine and beau’s cousin , Mia Bellegarde and I love 💕 these two couples and the book 📖 is very well written and phenomenal and it’s awesome 😎.

12. Daughter of the pirate 🏴‍☠️ king 🤴 by Tricia levenseller has an abundance of magic 🪄, sirens 🚨, pirates 🏴‍☠️ and a heart ❤️ pounding enemies to lovers romance 🥰 between riden and alosa and it’s a stellar book 📖 .

13. Queen bee by Amalie Howard is a retelling of the count of monte Cristo by Alexander dumas and takes place in the regency era and has an array of different romances from enemies to lovers and slow burn 🔥 and friends to lovers and LBTQ relationships and representation from the many biracial characters in the book 📖 and it’s a fantastic book 📖

I’m tagging my besties @selinascatnip and @escapism-through-imagination and @not-so-mundane-after-all and @itsjustafia and @majima4587 and @ambelle and @amberpride and @ships-bynoa and @blackloislane and @amberpride and @lady-stirling and @meerakory and @meetmeunderthestarrynight

#13 books 📚

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whimsicaldragonette · 1 year

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Best Books of 2022 -- In Which I Fail Spectacularly to Compile a "Top Ten" List.

Image: Goodreads Year in Books 2022 - 166 Books read.

I read 166 books in 2022. Yes, some of them were shorter books: several middle-grade books and a few advance review copies of picture books. Most were novels, though few were truly giant tomes. I really enjoyed most of them. Which is to say, trying to pick the "top ten" was excruciating and an exercise doomed to failure. So... I cheated. Or rather, I modified the goal. Thus I present to you... my top 10 42 books read in 2022 (and even that is fudging things a bit as there are a few instances here of me using a single book to stand in for the entire series if I read the entire series in 2022 and didn't want my list to balloon uncontrollably) organized like so:

Top 18 (Non-Romance) Books read 2022

Top 9 Romances read 2022

Top 9 Nonfiction Books Read With Kiddo 2022

Top 6 Fiction Books Read With Kiddo 2022

And just for funsies:

Song of the Year 2022

I have linked to the goodreads page for each book (and the youtube page for the song). Obviously these are all recommendations as well.

Best (Non-Romance) Books read 2022 (Part 1)

Siren Queen by Nghi Vo

Babel by R.F. Kuang

Where the Drowned Girls Go by Seanan McGuire

What Souls are Made of by Tasha Suri

Sabriel (trilogy) by Garth Nix

Not Good for Maidens by Tori Bovalino

Vows of Empire by Emily Skrutski

Valiant Ladies by Melissa Grey

Even Though I Knew the End by C.L. Polk

Best (Non-Romance) Books read 2022 (Part 2)

A Consuming Fire by Laura E. Weymouth

The Red Scholar’s Wake by Aliette de Bodard

Of Charms, Ghosts, and Grievances by Aliette de Bodard

A Scatter of Light by Malinda Lo

A Prayer for the Crown-Shy by Becky Chambers

Into the Riverlands (trilogy) by Nghi Vo

Fraternity by Andy Mientus

The Thousand Eyes by A.K. Larkwood

One for All by Lillie Lainoff

Best Romances read 2022

A Lady for a Duke by Alexis Hall

The League of Gentlewomen Witches by India Holton

Nobody’s Princess by Erica Ridley

Something Fabulous by Alexis Hall

The Perfect Crimes of Marian Hayes by Cat Sebastian

Love on the Brain by Ali Hazelwood

Delilah Green Doesn’t Care by Ashley Herring Blake

Paris Daillencourt is About to Crumble by Alexis Hall

Love & Other Disasters by Anita Kelly

Best Nonfiction Books Read With Kiddo (8) 2022

The Incredible yet True Adventures of Alexander von Humboldt: The Greatest Inventor-Naturalist-Scientist-Explorer Who Ever Lived by Volker Mehnert, Becky L. Cook (Translator)

All in a Drop: How Antony van Leeuwenhoek Discovered an Invisible World by Lori Alexander

Jane Goodall by Libby Romero

Can You Hear the Trees Talking? by Peter Wohlleben

Tree Beings by Raymond Huber

Explorers: Amazing Tales of the World's Greatest Adventurers by Nellie Huang

The Mysteries of the Universe by Will Gater

Darwin’s Rival: Alfred Russel Wallace and the Search for Evolution by Christiane Dorion

When Darwin Sailed the Sea by David Long

Best Fiction Books Read With Kiddo (8) 2022

Upside-Down Magic (series) by Sarah Mlynowski, Lauren Myracle, Emily Jenkins

Fortunately the Milk by Neil Gaiman

The Girl Who Could Not Dream by Sarah Beth Durst

The Ship of Shadows by Maria Kuzniar

The Silver Arrow by Lev Grossman

The Golden Swift by Lev Grossman

And finally...

Song of the Year 2022

"Wild Flower (with Youjeen)" by RM of BTS

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smalltownfae · 2 years

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Books I am Excited to Read

I decided to make this post after watching some booktube videos where people say they pick up every book expecting to love it. That is because I don’t do that. If I did my expectations would seldom be met and that would be worse and unfair for the authors. Instead, the videos made me think about the books that I actually want to read that are on my list. I admit that I have some books in my tbr only because I am curious about why they are hyped or because they were recommended to me even if they might not be exactly my thing. Due to this I separated the books that I want to get to soon and that have a synopsis that intrigues me or my kind of writing style. This list doesn’t include the books I am currently reading. I read the synopsis and checked at least the first page for all of these. Here are the reasons why I am expecting these books to be at least 4 stars whenever I get to them:

The Crystal Cave by Mary Stewart

This seems like a nice place to start my Arthurian journey. I read the first pages and it’s about Merlin telling his story. I love when characters tell their stories and a good coming of age plot so this seems like it’s going to be great.

The Lost Years by T.A. Barron

I heard that this a good place to start for the Arthurian legend from the booktuber that made me aware of the existence of Robin Hobb. Since this is a YA series it seems like a smoot fun introduction. Once again following Merlin from a young age.

The Winter Prince by Elizabeth Wein

Another YA series and for this one it seems like some knowledge of the legend id needed, but it seems like another coming of age fantasy and the writing is good so it’s hard to go wrong with that when it comes to my tastes. Some family conflict and jealousy. Sounds good.

By Force Alone by Lavie Tidhar

One more Arthurian inspired tale. This one seems a bit odd but it was praised by someone with a similar taste and I liked the Merlin portrayal in the first pages.

The Lost Queen by Signe Pike

This one is about Merlin’s sister. The main reason I want to read it is because two people said it was very similar to Daughter of the Forest by Juliet Marillier. Seems like a good historical fantasy.

I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith

I don’t know much about this one, but I liked the writing style of the first pages. Once again someone telling their story works for me.

Once Upon a River by Diane Setterfield

The synopsis of this one is very intriguing and I enjoyed the magical writing style so it looks promising. Besides that, I also have the 13th Tale on my list.

The Dutch House by Ann Patchett

I want to try a book by this author and this one has the best rating on goodreads. The synopsis was interesting and I like the writing style.

Migrations by Charlotte McConaghy

I am very curious about this one because everyone keeps mentioning a mindblowing reveal. The story follows one character very closely so I am fine with this one.

Midnight in Everwood by Maria Kuzniar

Seems like this inspired by the Nuttcracker. I loved the movie as a kid and I still enjoy the story. I hope to read this one in December.

The Toymakers by Robert Dinsdale

Someone with a somewhat similar taste to mine loved this book so I am curious about it. I have been wanting to read more magical realism so this seems like a nice one to read in December.

Rebecca by Daphne duMaurier

I liked the short story collection I read by this author and everyone seems to love this book. I also want to watch the Hitchcock movie but don’t want it to spoil the story.

The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins

The synopsis sounds dark and mysterious so I am interested.

City of Lies by Sam Hawke

Seems that there is at least one character with an abusive parental figure so... this one sounds promising.

Giovanni’s Room by James Baldwin

A classic that seems up my alley. About a gay man coming to terms with his sexuality. The writing style is pretty good.

The Shadow of the Torturer by Gene Wolfe

Some people I know have read and enjoyed this book. It has a reputation about it being a messed up complicated read so I want to try it.

Now some from authors I already read before:

The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro

This is the most praised of Ishiguro’s novels and I am trying to keep the hype in check because, to be honest, the plot and the main character don’t seem like something I will love. I am sure I will still enjoy this book a lot, but I seriously doubt I will love it in the way I love Klara and the Sun or that will keep coming back to my mind like A Pale View of Hills and An Artist of the Floating World do. It might also be because I was also expecting more from his second more praised novel, Never Let Me Go. I still really liked it, but didn’t love it. It’s an odd feeling when everyone agrees on the two best books by an author and then your favourites by them are something they would put in the middle or the bottom.

The Buried Giant by Kazuo Ishiguro

This one just intrigues me. It seems like both literary fiction fans and fantasy fans didn’t enjoy this one. They admit that partly it was because they didn’t expect the Arthurian elements in it. Since I am expecting it my experience will probably be different. A story about an old couple with magical elements just sounds adorable to me, but everyone keeps putting this book at the bottom of top books by Ishiguro so I hesitate. I am hitching to get to Arthurian novels so next year if not sooner will be the perfect time to pick this one up. I just need to read other books about the legend first.

Tipping the Velvet by Sarah Waters

I keep trying Sarah Waters books even though I haven’t loved any of them so far. There is something about her writing that I enjoy, but I can’t describe. Maybe it’s her influences that make for stories that are a little dark and a little sad. It reminds me of my experience with Kazuo Ishiguro since I also knew I wanted to read more by him even though I didn’t love the first of his books I picked up. So far, I have read 2 Waters’ books and gave up on another. Tipping the Velvet is her first novel and features a wlw relationship so I am very curious about it. Affinity also intrigues me but the prison setting doesn’t seem as good to me. I will eventually get to that one too.

Going Postal by Terry Pratchett

If there is a Discworld book that I am almost sure I am going to love is this one. First because stories about conman trying to do better have so much potential for funny moments and second because I started to watch an adaptation of this book years ago and I was enjoying it. I can’t really get through the adaptations of Discworld books so the fact that that one was at least fine is already a success in my book. Plus, I like liars, trickster characters and messengers so I would be extremely surprised if I end up not liking Moist.

The Bell at Sealey Head; In the Forests of Serre; Ombria in Shadow by Patricia A. McKillip

Every time I am afraid that I already read her best books. It seems like she has no more books in first person or close third person, which is my preference. All of her other books seem to feature casts that are too big for such short books. Even so, these three had the most intriguing plots to me so I will prioritize them.

The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms by N.K. Jemisin

Two of my friends enjoyed some characters in this trilogy even more than the ones in Broken Earth so I am really curious about it. Still, I want to finish the Broken Earth trilogy first. I only have one book left but want to reread the other two before getting to that one.

Wild Seed by Octavia E. Butler

Even though Fledgling was disappointing, I gave high ratings to all other Butler books I read so far. Besides that, I heard that the Patternmaster series has a character that is similar to Nikanj, which is one of my favourites.

Bailey’s Café; Linden Hills by Gloria Naylor

These two are short stories, like the book I read from the author. I know that some characters from “Women of Brewster Place” appear in Linden Hills and I’ve heard that is a common occurrence in this author’s works. I’ve seen somewhere that Mama Day should be read before Bailey’s Cafe, but since that one is a retelling of the Tempest I think I will not like it. Plus, I really want to get to that book because short stories in a café setting are such a good match for me.

The Sundial; The Bird’s Nest by Shirley Jackson

Just like it happens with McKillip, I am afraid I already read the best works of this author. Still, these two seem to have intriguing plots.

#2023 tbr #booklr #books

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cassieswindon · 5 months

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Setting as a character

Songs of the Deep by Kelly Powell (4.3/5) A River Enchanted by Rebecca Ross (4.4/5) Wuthering Heights Where the Crawdad Sings Midnight in Everwood by Maria Kuzniar (4.87/5) Edgewood by Kristen Ciccarelli (4.9/5) House of Hollow by Krystal Sutherland (4.9/5) A Fire Endless by Rebecca Ross (4.4/5) Caraval by Stephanie Garber (4.9/5)

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alexsfictionaddiction · 4 years

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Review: The Ship of Shadows by Maria Kuzniar

Magical middle-grade is one of my biggest loves because it’s so easy to disappear into. When I learnt that this one featured female pirates, I was completely sold.

Aleja lives with her family in Seville but she dreams of getting out there and exploring the world. So imagine her excitement with the mythical Ship of Shadows docks in her home city and its crew of merciless women want to recruit her for an adventure. But Aleja is about to discover that there are even more secrets and mysteries surrounding the ship and the open waves than she could possibly imagine.

Each chapter is headed by beautiful shadowy illustrations and they add an extra dimension to the story. I started each chapter full of anticipation of what was to come. Younger readers will love the visual elements and it will help create even more vivid pictures in their mind.

The language is beautiful and conjures up gorgeous pictures of the ship and the magic within it. I also loved the nods to mythology in the inclusion of the owls and references to Athena. Her influence seeps through every piece of decking and filters through all of the crew members, who prize wisdom and fierce femininity above all else.

Aleja was raised in a patriarchal society where women were encouraged to be submissive beautiful creatures. The whimsical allure of Captain Quint and her diverse crew fascinate her and show her a different side of female beauty. I can’t quite remember when I first had the same revelation but I certainly grew up equating feminine beauty with fragility. The ‘strong female character’ trope did a lot to alter perspectives and it’s certainly made very good use of in this book.

The crew on the Ship of Shadows represent a possible new life path for Aleja. She has lived a life feeling like an outcast for having typically ‘masculine’ ambitions but on the ship, she can finally live her dream and be who she really is without judgement. I got the sense that her fellow shipmates probably have similar stories to Aleja, in terms of having grown up dismissed due to their gender. Their sisterhood has this glorious unbreakable familial vibe that anyone who has ever felt out of place or overlooked will desperately want to a part of.

No review of The Ship of Shadows would be complete without a gush about the spectacle that is the magic on board the ship. It’s possibly the most beautiful magic I’ve ever read and the above passage is the perfect depiction of it. I visited some of the most stunning, glittering rooms and became thoroughly immersed in discovering every secret possibility that the ship held. Like Aleja, I became completely enchanted with it and like her, I didn’t want to leave.

The Ship of Shadows is a wonderful, fast-paced adventure that will take you to places that you can’t physically travel to right now. Join a culturally diverse, kickass cast of women on a journey across the seas, solving puzzles and sailing far beyond the limits placed upon them.

I am delighted to have been part of TheWriteReads blog tour for The Ship of Shadows. For other reviews on the tour, please follow the #theshipofshadows and #thewritereads hashtags on Twitter.

#the ship of shadows #maria kuzniar #middle grade #fantasy #book review #review #books #blog tour #bookworm

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