Pip Bartlett's Guide to Magical Creatures by Maggie Stiefvater & Jackson Pearce {review}

Pip Bartlett's Guide to Magical Creatures
by Jackson Pearce & Maggie Stiefvater
♦publisher: Scholastic Press
♦release date: April 28th, 2015
♦hardcover, 198 pages
♦intended audience: Middle Grade
♦series: Pip Bartlett, book 1
♦source: ARC from publisher for honest review

Pip is a girl who can talk to magical creatures. Her aunt is a vet for magical creatures. And her new friend Tomas is allergic to most magical creatures. When things go amok—and they often go amok—Pip consults Jeffrey Higgleston’s Guide to Magical Creatures, a reference work that Pip finds herself constantly amending. Because dealing with magical creatures like unicorns, griffins, and fuzzles doesn’t just require book knowledge—it requires hands-on experience and thinking on your feet. For example, when fuzzles (which have an awful habit of bursting into flame when they’re agitated) invade your town, it’s not enough to know what the fuzzles are—Pip and Tomas also must trace the fuzzles’ agitation to its source, and in doing so, save the whole town.

Review: Take two of my favorite authors, a fearless and determined heroine, and a fun plot full of magical creatures and the chaos they cause, and it’s pretty much guaranteed to have a story that I will really enjoy.  I ended this one with a smile on my face and the next second, I handed it over to my 9-year-old son (lover of animals both magical and not) and said “read this, you will love it!”

Pip Bartlett has an incredible gift.  In a world where magical creatures are just a part of everyday life, she is the only one who can actually talk to them.  One big problem is that no one believes she can do it. Another is that being able to listen to them always seems to get her into trouble.  There is a really great theme running through the whole story of just having someone that listens to you and believes in you, for both Pip and the magical creatures. I really rooted for her to find someone that would just put a little faith in her and I love that she found that in Tomas, a funny, fearful, and very sneezy new friend.  She also finds a few allies among the animals themselves on her quest to save the town and save an innocent (but very flammable) species from being exterminated!

The story is made even more fun by the addition of several creature sketches and notations on the characteristics of each one.  Some are familiar, some are brilliantly plucked from the endlessly creative minds of these two authors.  Though the writing style is very young--much younger and less complex than I think most of us might be used to when we pick up an MG book---it is as charming as can be, and I'll be happily reading and enjoying the future books in this series no matter how old I get!

Find Jackson Pearce online: Website  •  Twitter   •  Instagram

Find Maggie Stiefvater online: Website  •  Twitter   •  Instagram

Purchase the book: Indiebound   •  BookDepository  •  Amazon

Becky's View: Tsarina by J. Nelle Patrick

Tsarina by J. Nelle Patrick
♦publisher: Razorbill
♦hardcover,  331 pages
♦release date: February 27th, 2014
♦intended audience: Young adult
♦stand-alone
♦source: ARC from publisher for honest review

Natalya knows a secret.
A magical Faberge egg glows within the walls of Russia's Winter Palace.
It holds a power rooted in the land and stolen from the mystics.
A power that promises a life of love for her and Alexei Romanov.
Power, that, in the right hands, can save her way of life.
But it's not in the right hands.

Review: In Tsarina, and under a new pen name, Jackson Pearce shows us yet another side of her writing talents as she takes us on an alternate-historical adventure set in the world of the Romanov family and Russia on the brink of war.  Some die hard history buffs may be a bit bothered by the creative license taken with a few time lines and the ages of the Romanov children, but let yourself get past that, and you’re in a for a beautifully written, lushly descriptive, and romantic tale.

Natalya is a noble, comfortable in her life of glittering parties in the palace, but also fiercely patriotic in her love of Russia. She’s grown up alongside the Romanov children and will soon be married to Alexei.  One night, Alexei tells her the family’s greatest secret: they are protected by a magical fabrege egg created by the late Rasputin.  Shortly after, the family flees and the palace is overtaken by Reds.

Natalya is incredibly brave and determined in her quest to retrieve the egg and get it back to the family. Of course, the secret egg is not so secret after all and more people than her are determined to get their hands on it.  Natalya and her friend Delia will definitely have their eyes opened to a world beyond their own as they find themselves kidnapped and crossing the country with a Red.  I love that she stays true to her ideals for Russia, but is forced to see that they are not the ideals of everyone, and she learns compassion.

There is a lot of magic running though this story, both pushing it along and tying it all together.  There is the egg itself, but Natalya’s fate also inadvertently tangles with the mystics of the land.   Their desperation to regain their magic spirals into an explosive struggle for power and control.

This story is beautifully crafted with vivid imagery of a Russian winter, wild magic, and a revolution about to happen.  It does sometimes get a little carried away and over-descriptive, but it’s still gorgeous and atmospheric and romantic in many different ways.

The author sums up the most important idea of the story she tells perfectly in her ending notes:

“When you forget that those you disagree with are people, not just your faceless opposition, you don’t end up proving who is right and who is wrong. You end up with a body count.”

Find J. Nelle Patrick online: Website  •  Twitter  •  Facebook

Purchase Tsarina:  Amazon  •  BookDepository  •  Indiebound

Becky's View: Cold Spell by Jackson Pearce

Cold Spell by Jackson Pearce
♦publisher: Little, Brown BYR
♦release date: November 5th, 2013
♦hardcover, 323 pages
♦intended audience: Young adult
♦series: Fairytale retellings, book 4
  book 1: Sisters Red (my review)
  book 2: Sweetly
  book 3:Fathomless
♦source: from publisher for honest review

Kai and Ginny grew up together–best friends since they could toddle around their building’s rooftop rose garden. Now they’re seventeen, and their relationship has developed into something sweeter, complete with stolen kisses and plans to someday run away together.

But one night, Kai disappears with a mysterious stranger named Mora–a beautiful girl with a dark past and a heart of ice. Refusing to be cast aside, Ginny goes after them and is thrust into a world she never imagined, one filled with monsters and thieves and the idea that love is not enough.

If Ginny and Kai survive the journey, will she still be the girl he loved–and moreover, will she still be the girl who loved him?

Review:
I haven’t read the Fairytale Retellings series since Sister’s Red---I have no idea why, since Sisters Red remains a favorite of mine to this day.  But that’s one of the beautiful things about this series: they are companion novels that can be read as stand-alones.  The stories loosely intertwine, you get little snippets of characters and storylines from the other books, but they are wonderful just on their own.

In Cold Spell, the story of the Snow Queen is reimagined with the expert Jackson Pearce touch.  Ginny and Kai are childhood sweethearts, with big plans for their future in New York, until the mysterious and seductive Mora seems to blow in with the snow storm.  Kai inexplicably turns on Ginny and disappears with Mora into the blizzard.  Armed with just her own certainty of their love and an old scrapbook full of clues about the snow queen that belonged to Kai’s grandmother, Ginny sets out after them. Ginny is a determined heroine, real and flawed when she blindly throws herself into finding Kai at any cost. She actually starts out quite reliant on their relationship, but grows into her own, finding strength and independence through her dangerous journey.

The story as a whole is just really enjoyable, lots of excitement and creepy moments with Mora and the ferocious Fenris attacks. There are two things in particular that I loved about this story, though.  One was a sort of build-your-own-family idea.  Ginny meets many people, all very different, on her road to rescue Kai.  You have these really unique types and opposing lives; they’re all just kind of floating along until they get thrown together one way or another and become this very odd-ball family unit. I loved that.

Another thing that I loved was the way Pearce gave her Snow Queen a good dose of humanity.  Sure, it’s one thing to write a villianess that is easy to hate, who personifies evil. But what makes this great is that there are moments that let you see what is really driving her, and even put her a little into the role of a victim.

Cold Spell is a thrilling tale and one that made me want to go back and make sure I find time to read the books that I missed in this fun series of fairytale retellings. This is the final book, but I know I’ll always be eager to pick up any of Jackson Pearce’s fantasy titles in the future.

Find Jackson Pearce online: Website  •  Twitter  •  Facebook

Purchase Cold Spell: Amazon  •  BookDepository  •  Indiebound

Waiting on Wednesday

"Waiting on Wednesday" is a weekly meme hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine. It lets us all gush about what soon-to-be released books we are jumping-up-and-down excited for.

Tsarina
by J. Nelle Patrick

hitting shelves February 27, 2014

description: 
Natalya knows a secret.

A magical Faberge egg glows within the walls of Russia's Winter Palace.  It holds a power rooted in the land and stolen from the mystics. A power that promises a life of love for her and Alexei Romanov.  Power, that, in the right hands, can save her way of life.

But it's not in the right hands.

My thoughts:  Magic, The Romanovs, romance, and one of my favorite authors (aka Jackson Pearce!).  All the ingredients for a book that I am certain I will fall in love with. 
 

Super Six Sunday: My six favorite author encounters!!

Super Six Sunday is a meme hosted by the fabulous Bewitched Bookworms. Join in the fun...see upcoming themes here!!

One of the most exciting things about being a book blogger and all-round book lover is meeting the wonderful people who give us these amazing stories to read.
In the past three years, I've definitely been lucky in being able to meet some of my very favorites.  Here are my top 6!!

Anna Carey
Such a sweet person to chat with. When I met her I had recently interviewed her on the blog and she remembered the cupcake question.  She signed my book "To Becky, My Sweetie!" :D

 Stephanie Perkins

This girl has so much fun energy!  I saw her and Maureen Johnson together in San Francisco and they both looked like there were have a blast together.

Tahereh Mafi

If you ever have a chance to meet this amazing author, TAKE IT.  She is so inspiring and fun to hear speak.

Jackson Pearce

I got meet Jackson Pearce at ALA. She is one of my favorites, so I was just so greatful to finally catch her on one of her rare visits to the west coast!

Ransom Riggs

Another amazing author to hear speak. SO much great writing advice and lots of funny stories. That's Michelle Gagnon and Tahereh Mafi on either side of him, and the three of them together were hilarious.

Kendare Blake

I met Kendare at ALA last year and her's was my most-wanted book at the conference.  I think she was the first author to tell me she knew my blog so you can image just how much that made my day!!

So that's my list!!  It's always fun to meet great our favorite authors and I hope I can meet many more in the coming years! :) 

Cover Story: Four from a few of my favorites!

A few of my favorite authors revealed new covers this past week! Take a look:

Cold Spell by Jackson Pearce
Jackson Pearce is back with another reimagined fairytale!
This time she works her magic on The Snow Queen.

Curtsies & Conspiracies by Gail Carriger

Book 2 in her Finishing School series! These books have got be some of my favorite covers! 

Inheritance by Malinda Lo
The second book to her Adaptation series! If you look on Lo's blog there is a really cool behind-the-scenes look at making the cover!

This Wicked Game by Michelle Zink

Always glad to see a new series from Michelle Zink.  I didn't get a chance to read Temptation of Angels but I absolutely love her Prophesy of the Sisters series! This cover, however, will take a little time to grow on me, I think.

Very excited for all four of these! What do you think?

Amy's View: Fathomless by Jackson Pearce

Fathomless by Jackson Pearce
♦pubisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
♦release date: September 4, 2012
♦hardcover, 304 pages
♦intended audience: Young adult
♦source: ALA

Celia Reynolds is the youngest in a set of triplets and the one with the least valuable power. Anne can see the future, and Jane can see the present, but all Celia can see is the past. And the past seems so insignificant -- until Celia meets Lo.

Lo doesn't know who she is. Or who she was. Once a human, she is now almost entirely a creature of the sea -- a nymph, an ocean girl, a mermaid -- all terms too pretty for the soulless monster she knows she's becoming. Lo clings to shreds of her former self, fighting to remember her past, even as she's tempted to embrace her dark immortality.

When a handsome boy named Jude falls off a pier and into the ocean, Celia and Lo work together to rescue him from the waves. The two form a friendship, but soon they find themselves competing for Jude's affection. Lo wants more than that, though. According to the ocean girls, there's only one way for Lo to earn back her humanity. She must persuade a mortal to love her . . . and steal his soul.

Review:

Fathomless, as promised, is a retelling of Little Mermaid in only a way that Jackson Pearce can do it. Her mind is an amazing place where typical fairy tales swirl in a wonderland of their own. Spinning and twirling and falling into a rabbit hole only to emerge in our world. I love how she makes fairy tales relevant in today's world. 

This book was written from the view of a few different characters. At first, this made it alittle hard for me to fall deeply into each character, but as you read on you see why you need to read from so many character views at once. 

Fathomless is a creative spin on the true story of Little Mermaid not to be confused with Disney's happy, feel-good, red haired little mermaid longing to fall in love and become human. This tale grips you with the story of mergirls---death and the deep longing of discovering who they are and what they will do to regain their souls. Even thought this story is captivating in its own right, it is a dark and realistic retelling with a wonderful twisted ending which I have come to love and expect from Jackson Pearce. Once again a very quick read as all her books are, purely because you find yourself unable to put it down. I can't wait to see what fairytale is traveling down the rabbit hole, waiting for Jackson Pearce to spin out for us to read next.

Oh, and can I just add... It was such an honor to meet Jackson Pearce at ALA. She is everything you would expect her to be---beautiful, whimsical, and seems like she would fit perfectly into any fairytale. 

Find Jackson Pearce online: Website  •   Facebook   •   Twitter

Purchase Fathomless at:  Amazon  •  BN.com  •  BookDepository  •  Indiebound

Waiting on Wednesday

"Waiting on Wednesday" is a weekly meme hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine. It lets us all gush about what soon-to-be released books we are jumping-up-and-down excited for.

Fathomless
by Jackson Pearce

hitting shelves September 4th, 2012 from Little,Brown Books for Young Readers

description:
Celia Reynolds is the youngest in a set of triplets and the one with the least valuable power. Anne can see the future, and Jane can see the present, but all Celia can see is the past. And the past seems so insignificant -- until Celia meets Lo.

Lo doesn't know who she is. Or who she was. Once a human, she is now almost entirely a creature of the sea -- a nymph, an ocean girl, a mermaid -- all terms too pretty for the soulless monster she knows she's becoming. Lo clings to shreds of her former self, fighting to remember her past, even as she's tempted to embrace her dark immortality.

When a handsome boy named Jude falls off a pier and into the ocean, Celia and Lo work together to rescue him from the waves. The two form a friendship, but soon they find themselves competing for Jude's affection. Lo wants more than that, though. According to the ocean girls, there's only one way for Lo to earn back her humanity. She must persuade a mortal to love her . . . and steal his soul.

My thoughts: Excited!! I loved Sisters Red so much. And while I haven't gotten around to Sweetly, my best friend and guest reviewer gave it an ecstatic 5-cupcake rating. So when I heard the next retelling in Jackson Pearce's series would be of The Little Mermaid, I was freaking out with glee. I do have to say, I'm am so disappointed that they are changing the original covers of Sweetly and Sisters Red to match this one, instead of making Fathomless match the hardcovers (they were so incredible, artful, imaginative, and unique!). The new look is very pretty, but not nearly as striking. Still I can't wait to read this third installment in the Fairytale Retellings series!! I really hope she keeps going with these!

Guest Review! Sweetly by Jackson Pearce

Today I have, for the first time ever, a special guest reviewer on Stories & Sweeties! My best friend and partner-in-crime in all other things, and the very person who started me on YA books in the first place, will be stopping by every once in while with her thought on books! Everyone please welcome Amy, and enjoy her first review!! :D

Sweetly by Jackson Pearce

publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

release date: August 23, 2011

hardcover, 312 pages

intended audience: Young adult

series: Fairytale Retellings, book 2 (companion, not sequel)
Book 1: Sisters Red (see review)

rating:


source: from publisher for honest review

description: SWEETLY is a modernization of Hansel and Gretel and a companion book to SISTERS RED.

Twelve years ago, Gretchen, her twin sister, and her brother went looking for a witch in the forest. They found something. Maybe it was a witch, maybe a monster, they aren’t sure—they were running too fast to tell. Either way, Gretchen’s twin sister was never seen again.

Years later, after being thrown out of their house, Gretchen and Ansel find themselves in Live Oak, South Carolina, a place on the verge of becoming a ghost town. They move in with Sophia Kelly, a young and beautiful chocolatier owner who opens not only her home, but her heart to Gretchen and Ansel.

Yet the witch isn’t gone—it’s here, lurking in the forests of Live Oak, preying on Live Oak girls every year after Sophia Kelly’s infamous chocolate festival. But Gretchen is determined to stop running from witches in the forest, and start fighting back. Alongside Samuel Reynolds, a boy as quick with a gun as he is a sarcastic remark, Gretchen digs deeper into the mystery of not only what the witch is, but how it chooses its victims. Yet the further she investigates, the more she finds herself wondering who the real monster is, and if love can be as deadly as it is beautiful.

Review: Sweetly captures you before you even open the book, with it's clever optical illusion on the cover, and continues it's grip on you until the very last page. Jackson Pearce spins a story so magical that I found myself not able to put it down.

Your mind bounces from the childhood fairytale that you thought you knew so well to a wonderfully sweet twist that makes you want to savor the mystery and keeps you constantly guessing if you are rooting for the right person.

I was delighted with the "Hansel & Gretel meets werewolves" theme and loved the shocking ending. Sweetly and Sisters Red and my new favorite fairy tales and I can't wait for the next book in this series.

The only thing I can find missing are recipes for the wonderfully delicious food that was described throughout the book---they truly made my mouth water!

Becky adds: Oh, wow, now I really can't wait to read this one. AND I just discovered the next book to get the Jackson Pearce makeover will be The Little Mermaid!! Fathomless comes out August 2012!!

Visit Jackson Pearce's site here.

Purchase Sweetly at: Amazon • BN.com • BookDepository • Indiebound

Waiting on Wednesday

"Waiting on Wednesday" is a weekly meme hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine. It lets us all gush about what soon-to-be released books we are jumping-up-and-down excited for.

Sweetly by Jackson Pearce

releasing: June 7, 2011 from Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

description:
Twelve years ago, Gretchen, her twin sister, and her brother went looking for a witch in the forest. They found something. Maybe it was a witch, maybe a monster, they aren’t sure—they were running too fast to tell. Either way, Gretchen’s twin sister was never seen again.

Years later, after being thrown out of their house, Gretchen and Ansel find themselves in Live Oak, South Carolina, a place on the verge of becoming a ghost town. They move in with Sophia Kelly, a young and beautiful chocolatier owner who opens not only her home, but her heart to Gretchen and Ansel.

Yet the witch isn’t gone—it’s here, lurking in the forests of Live Oak, preying on Live Oak girls every year after Sophia Kelly’s infamous chocolate festival. But Gretchen is determined to stop running from witches in the forest, and start fighting back. Alongside Samuel Reynolds, a boy as quick with a gun as he is a sarcastic remark, Gretchen digs deeper into the mystery of not only what the witch is, but how it chooses its victims. Yet the further she investigates, the more she finds herself wondering who the real monster is, and if love can be as deadly as it is beautiful.

My thoughts: Okay, A) This cover completely creeps me out...that is one sinister face of branches! B) I completely adored Sisters Red, it was one of my favorite reads this year. C) Its a fairy-tale modernization...I love those! Haven't read one yet that I didn't love. So it all adds up to this being one of my most highly anticipated books of 2011!

A Really Cool Video from Jackson Pearce on Book Piracy!

Jackson Pearce, author of As You Wish and Sisters Red, put together this awesome video in reply to all the stupid excuses people come up with to justify illegal downloading of books. Take a look...its brilliant!!



I was a fan of hers before I saw this, even bigger fan after. :) Awesome stuff, Jackson!!

Review: Sisters Red

Sisters Red by Jackson Pearce

publisher: Little Brown Books for Young Readers

release date: June 7th, 2010

edition: Hardcover, 328 pages

source: library

intended audience: Young adult

rating:


description from Goodreads:
Scarlett March lives to hunt the Fenris-- the werewolves that took her eye when she was defending her sister Rosie from a brutal attack. Armed with a ...more Scarlett March lives to hunt the Fenris-- the werewolves that took her eye when she was defending her sister Rosie from a brutal attack. Armed with a razor-sharp hatchet and blood-red cloak, Scarlett is an expert at luring and slaying the wolves. She's determined to protect other young girls from a grisly death, and her raging heart will not rest until every single wolf is dead.

Rosie March once felt her bond with her sister was unbreakable. Owing Scarlett her life, Rosie hunts fiercely alongside her. Now Rosie dreams of a life beyond the wolves and finds herself drawn to Silas, a young woodsman who is deadly with an ax-- but loving him means betraying her sister and has the potential to destroy all they've worked for.



Review: I love a good fairy-tale retelling. Loved Ash, really liked Beastly, and though I haven't read the book, I am over-the-moon in love with the broadway show, Wicked. Sisters Red was definitely no exception. I actually wouldn't call this a retelling. More like a complete re-imagining of the Little Red Riding Hood fairy tale. It was brilliant.

From page one of the prologue, you jump into the excitement and eerie mood of this tale. You meet two little sisters, Scarlett and Rosie, and see them being approached in their front yard by a man you just know is pure evil from the moment he slithers up. By the end of the prologue (the prologue, people...not even having gotten to the first chapter!) I was hooked. The writing throughout was excellent and the plot flowed perfectly.

This is set in modern times, and at first my head refused to wrap around that! The girls, both in their teens, lived in the woods in their grandmother's cottage, so my mind imagined them in the time of Grimm fairy tales. In the next breath, you see them roaming the city in jeans and tees, and going to community centers for origami lessons...it was a shock to the brain! But this setting added edge to the plot, as the girls roam the city streets with their concealed Fenris-fighting weapons, sporting a red cloak and a flirtatious walk to entice the wolves to themselves. The fenris are transformed into perfectly gorgeous men to lure girls into the woods or down dark alleys where they change back to wolves and attack. Scarlett and Rosie let themselves be lured away, before revealing that they have trained their whole lives to fight and kill these monsters! I would love to see this book made into a movie---the fight scenes would be amazing!

The relationship between the sisters is very intense and special. They have always felt that they have one shared heart. Scarlett, who is older, lives her life with the need to protect Rosie and other young girls from the Fenris, so much so that she has completely sacrificed herself to that mission. She is marked from head to toe with her battle scars and she is missing an eye. You see her lament her stolen looks at times throughout the story and other times she just sees it as a small price to pay to have kept her sister safe. It's what drives her and makes her live for the hunt. Rosie, on the other hand, is conflicted between owing her sister her life and wanting more. She feels obligated to fight by Scarlett's side, but she isn't driven to it like her sister is. Plus, she is suddenly looking at their life-long friend and fighting partner, Silas, with new eyes. Yes, there is actually a beautiful and sweet romance woven into this tale of bloody battles with wolves!

I've heard some say this was a little predictable, and while I do admit that on a particular important plot twist, I literally shouted out, "I knew it!", it was more out of satisfaction that my suspicions were confirmed than disappointment that I'd predicted it. It didn't lessen my enjoyment of this story in the least bit.

Pick this one up and soon! I very highly recommend it!