Genre: Young Adult

A Grimm Curse by Janna Jenning..

Posted 07/25/2019 by Charli in Book Reviews / 0 Comments

Ok, I’m all for reimagined fairy tales. After all, just look at the reviews I’ve done for three of the Disney Twisted Tales books. I love a good reimagined fairy tale. Please note I said a good reimagined fairy tale. A Grimm Curse is not a good reimagined fairy tale. As a prequel, I honestly feel this book raises far more questions than it actually answers. It is all over the place and makes absolutely no sense. There are elements of Rapunzel, Cinderella, The Frog Prince, and even Jack and the Beanstalk in this book. Just in case you wondered, as a general rule, fairy tales don’t crossover. Yes, I know… they do in Into the Woods and Shrek, among others. And it works in those places. But it didn’t work here. There was so little of Jack in the Beanstalk it seemed like that addition was pure afterthought – […]

Curse of the Dead-Eyed Doll by..

Posted 07/24/2019 by Charli in Book Reviews / 1 Comment

I don’t normally read middle grade fiction, but when a book is marketed as both middle grade and horror, I give it a read. I’m happy to say that Curse of the Dead-Eyed Doll is a great example of both genres. Now you might be thinking “How scary can middle grade horror be?” and from an adult perspective, you’re quite right! To an adult, middle grade horror isn’t going to be scary. But to a child in the middle grade reading level, it could be quite scary. I actually found the book to be quite creepy. Were the things in it believable? Probably not. At least not if you’re someone who watches a lot of shows like A Haunting, Haunted Hospitals, or Paranormal 911. But not everything needs to be realistic to be scary. If it did, we wouldn’t have horror films, now would we? I found the story to […]

No Fences in Alaska by Glen So..

Posted 06/29/2019 by Charli in Book Reviews / 0 Comments

For the love of all that is holy, get a box of tissues before you read this book. I’m not even kidding. You will need them, especially towards the end. Harper Lyons may not be your “typical” teenager, but I have to say, there were a few girls like her in my high school. Chases the boys, has sex, does drugs, drinks, you name it, she’s probably done it or thought about it. But Harper doesn’t really want to be that way, does she? This book will hit you right in the feels, if you’ll forgive the expression. You’ll laugh. You’ll cry. You’ll be furious. Glen Sobey writes teenage angst and problems with the best of them. Do all such stories get happy endings? No, sadly they don’t. But you’ll love the ending of this one… mostly. The way Glen Sobey writes his books, you’d think he has some sort […]

A Whole New World by Liz Brasw..

Posted 04/24/2019 by Charli in Book Reviews / 0 Comments

I’ve read some pretty unflattering reviews of this book. All I can say is, I don’t think they were reading the same book I was. I’m not even kidding. Many of the things people complained about didn’t seem to even be a part of the book. Yes, the beginning of the book gives a recap of events at the beginning of Aladdin. It is not word-for-word as some have claimed and things were added to the story as well. When the story does branch away, which is well before most reviewers claimed it did, it immediately and completely changes. For the better, in my opinion. Honestly, if Aladdin had gone like A Whole New World, I think it would be one of my favorite movies, even more than it already is. The action scenes are awesome. The feeling of pity for Street Rats, hatred for Jafar, and heartbreak at certain […]

Once Upon a Dream by Liz Brasw..

Posted 04/17/2019 by Charli in Book Reviews / 0 Comments

If you’re familiar with Sleeping Beauty, then you already know what Once Upon a Dream is going to be about. But trust me, this isn’t your Mom or Grandma’s Sleeping Beauty. Liz Braswell has woven a tale that asks what if it required more than just true love’s kiss to break the curse on Aurora? What if Maleficent had to be defeated before the curse could be broken? The world building in this story is top-notch. I didn’t even realize what was actually going on until a good way into the story. In fact, I didn’t figure out what was happening until just before Aurora figured it out. Fans of Sleeping Beauty who crave a stronger princess will love this book. While I didn’t enjoy Once Upon a Dream as much as I did As Old As Time, this book still gets a solid 4 stars for awesome character use […]