Tag Archives: retelling

November 1, 2013 · 6:00 am

Hollow’s End

18478892Title: Hollow’s End
Author: Marianne Morea
Source: from publisher for review
Rating: ★★★★★
Review Summary: This book had some of the most believable YA characters I’ve encountered and with a new ending the author wrote, I loved it.

Hollow’s End is inspired by both the legend of Sleepy Hollow and the history of the town where the legend is set. Events from the Revolutionary War  pitted the town’s inhabitants against each other, leaving lingering animosity that leads to paranormal activities as Halloween approaches. Although Rowen is from a family of witches, she’s never wanted to do anything with such things. Unfortunately, her relationships and her powers leave her little choice but to deal with visions sparked by ancestors of the towns current inhabitants… Continue reading →

8 Comments

Filed under Fiction, Gothic, Romance, Urban Fantasy, Young Adult

Tagged as , , , , , , , , ,

September 29, 2013 · 1:08 pm

Crux – Classics Retold Review and Giveaway

3523188Title: Crux
Author: Richard Aellen
Source: bought on Amazon
Rating: ★★★★☆
Review Summary: By far my favorite Count of Monte Cristo re-telling, this book kept all the most important things about the original and in doing so became a great thriller with a lot of depth.

Keith Johnson is happily married and pursuing a career as a helicopter pilot when he’s sent to Vietnam. When evidence suggests his sergeant has killed one of his own men, Keith is unable to keep silent. Unfortunately, one of his friends is willing to betray him for a chance at a safer posting and his sergeant is desperate to get rid of him. Sent on a mission meaning almost certain death, Keith is reported as missing in action but actually survives only to be thrown into a prison camp for 20 years. When he eventually escapes, his only thought is of revenge. Continue reading →

7 Comments

Filed under Fiction, Re-telling, Thriller

Tagged as , , , classics, dumas, , thriller

September 22, 2013 · 5:16 pm

Edward Maret – Classics Retold

658933Title: Edward Maret: A Novel of the Future
Author: Robert I. Katz
Source: bought on amazon
Rating: ★★★☆☆
Review Summary: Although this re-telling lacked the complexity of the original, it was a well written, believable story and the world building was fantastic.

In this futuristic retelling of The Count of Monte Cristo, Edward Maret is a happy man. He is engaged to a women he loves and destined to inherit a bountiful estate. Little does he know that he has enemies who are prepared to betray him because they covet what he has. Denounced as a revolutionary and condemned by a corrupt judge, Edward is turned into a mindless cyborg and sent to kill any who threaten his world. When he is eventually freed from the mind control, his first thought is of revenge… Continue reading →

6 Comments

Filed under Fiction, Science Fiction

Tagged as , , , classic, classics, , , ,

September 15, 2013 · 5:35 pm

Soundbites About The Eyre Affair

9781840328684Title: The Eyre Affair
Author: Jasper Fford
Narrators: Gabrielle Kruger
Rating (Story): ★★★★☆
Rating (Narration):★★★★★

Since I already reviewed the book version of The Eyre Affair, I won’t say too much about the story here. All of the strange things that happen in this book, the things that make it remind me of Douglas Adams, were initially a little harder to follow as an audiobook. That got better as I went, but I still might recommend the written version over the audio. The narrator was very good, however, doing both female and male voices convincingly and with emotion. For that reason, I would certainly recommend re-reading as an audiobook. In fact, I think I enjoyed the story even more than the first time, once I got into it. I wasn’t quite as focused on how novel the world was and was able to enjoy this more as an adventure/mystery. Now I can’t wait to read the rest of the series!

8 Comments

Filed under Soundbites

Tagged as , , , classics, douglas adams, jane eyre, jasper fford, ,

August 30, 2013 · 7:47 am

The Dashwood Sisters’ Secrets of Love

147866Title: The Dashwood Sisters’ Secrets of Love
Author: Rosie Rushton
Source: library
Rating: ★★★☆☆
Review Summary: Although nothing to write home about, this modernization of Sense and Sensibility was a cute, fun read.

Like the book, this review is going to be a quick, easy read. The plot is almost exactly that of Sense and Sensibility, just a modernized version. My first reaction was disappointment that the author didn’t even try to copy Austen’s beautiful prose or understated humor. Once I got past that, I was better able to enjoy the book for what it was. Elinor and Marianne were both updated very nicely. Like the actions of Austen’s characters, the update wasn’t predictable but just felt right. Of course Elinor would be good at academics! Of course Marianne would act! I was also impressed by the way the update translated events with no modern equivalent. For instance, some of the social constraints on the original characters’ actions have no longer exist, but the author managed to come up with suitable substitutes. Continue reading →

6 Comments

Filed under Fiction, Re-telling, Young Adult

Tagged as , , , contemporary, , , , , , , ,

August 17, 2013 · 9:18 am

Bookends About Awaken

13061500Title: Awaken
Editor: Meg Cabot
Source: from publisher for review
Rating: ★★★★☆
Series: Abandon|Underworld|Awaken
Review Summary: As usual, Meg Cabot has written a fun, light read about an admirable and unique protagonist.

Earlier in this Persephone/Hades myth based trilogy, John (Hades) and Peirce (Persephone) made a decision that has imbalanced the forces ruling the underworld. Having finally (mostly) worked out their relationship, Peirce is suddenly faced with the possibility of losing John because of this imbalance. As she tries to rescue him and restore balance to the underworld, she’ll have to take advantage of all the connections and cool powers that come with being the queen of the underworld. And it will be awesome. Continue reading →

2 Comments

Filed under Fiction, Re-telling, Young Adult

Tagged as , , , female author, greek mythology, hades, Meg Cabot, , persephone, re-telling, ,

July 15, 2013 · 10:15 pm

Thorn – A Fairy Tale Re-telling

14059999Title: Thorn
Author: Intisar Khanani
Source: from author for review
Rating: ★★★★☆
Review Summary: This book was darker and more violent than I expected from the pretty cover, but I was pleasantly surprised when the main character turned out to be a strong heroine you could really root for.

As I mentioned in my previous review of a Goose Girl retelling, the basic gist of both this book and the original fairy tale is as follows. A princess is sent to marry a prince in a foreign land and on the journey, her maid uses some form of magic to take on the princess’s identity. Once they reach the foreign capital, the princess becomes a goose girl and must decide if and how she wants to regain her place as a princess.

Continue reading →

7 Comments

Filed under Fiction, Re-telling

Tagged as , books book review, fairy tale, fairy tale retelling, fairy tale retellings, , Intisar Khanani, , , the goose girl, thorn, , , young adult fiction

July 14, 2013 · 9:48 pm

Bookends About The Goose Girl

179064Title: The Goose Girl
Author: Shannon Hale
Source: library
Rating: ★★★★☆
Review Summary: I really liked how true this book was to the style of a fairy tale and how well it fleshed out the original story.

I picked up this version of The Goose Girl planning on using it as an original to read before another re-telling. Further research suggests you’d need a children’s book (or the wikipedia page) to get the most original story, since the original is far too short for a book. The basic gist of both this book and the original fairy tale is as follows. A princess is sent to marry a prince in a foreign land and on the journey, her maid uses some form of magic to take on the princess’s identity. Once they reach the foreign capital, the princess becomes a goose girl and must decide if and how she wants to regain her place as a princess. Continue reading →

1 Comment

Filed under Fiction, Re-telling, Young Adult

Tagged as , books book review, fairy tale, fairy tale retelling, fairy tale retellings, , middle grade, , , shannon hale, the goose girl, , , young adult fiction

June 15, 2013 · 7:50 am

Jane Eyre – A Bookish Movie Review

downloadFor my watching of Jane Eyre,  I just grabbed what was on the shelf at the library and ended up with this BBC miniseries. It was about 5 hours long and stuck very close to the book. I’m not sure if this is typical of BBC productions, but the acting often struck me as over the top and rather theatrical. It wasn’t bad, but it was definitely different.

Proving that you simply can’t please everyone with an adaptation despite the mostly meticulous following of the book, there were still a few things I thought important that got left out! There wasn’t anything specific I feel the need to complain about though, as overall this was a very faithful adaptation. Strangely, even with most events kept intact, I felt something was missing. A lot of this story is about what Jane thinks and feels, as she explains the story to you in the book. In the movie, her thoughts weren’t always clear and I think it lost a lot of the depth and beauty of the book as a result. I might try another adaptation in the future, but this one made me feel like this was a story that’s just better told by a book.

9 Comments

Filed under Book To Movie Challenge

Tagged as adaptation, BBC, , , charlotte bronte, jane eyre, miniseries, , movie review, re-telling, , TV