Door 5: Bon Om Touk

 

Book: I read Life As We Knew It (Last Survivors #1) by Susan Beth Pfeffer. That is one big moon and it gets bigger with each additional book in the series.

 

Task #1: List of rainy day reads - I don't do much, if any, re-reading. Rainy day reads means to me reading something that gets me so invested I don't want to leave my blanket fort, so mysteries - either cozy or historical. Something quiet and soothing, but with a puzzle to solve to keep me turning the pages.

 

1. Guidebook to Murder (Tourist Trap Mystery#1) by Lynn Cahoon

2. Spying in High Heels (High Heels #1) by Gemma Halliday

3. A Death on the Way to Portsmouth by Christine Trent

4. Mr. Churchill's Secretary (Maggie Hope #1) by Susan Elia MacNeal

5. Miss Frost Solves a Cold Case (Jayne Frost #1) by Kristin Painter

 

Task #2: Skipping

 

Task #3: Did someone say dragons? Toothless from the How to Train Your Dragon series by Cressida Cowell is of course my favorite literary dragon.

 

 

Task #4: Compile a list or stack – 4 books minimum – composed of books that either have opposing words in their titles

 

I had to search my current TBR pile as well as past reading (thank you BL reading challenge app!) to get these:

 

1. Living and Dying in Brick City by Dr. Sampson Davis

2. Black Man in a White Coat: A Doctor's Reflections on Race and Medicine by Dr. Damon Tweedy

3. Alone: The Triumph and Tragedy of John Curry by Bill Jones

4. Sun and Moon, Ice and Snow by Jessica Day George

I loved this book so much! Jessica Day George sets up a whole world and has dragons inhabit it. Creel (best name ever) is a heroine that kids will cheer for and her friendships with the dragons and her fight to keep them safe was heart warming. 

 

"Dragon Slippers" has Creel dealing with the death of her mother which has her and her brother living with their aunt and uncle. Like many fairytale relatives, Creel's aunt kind of sucks. She decides that the only way that the family will be able to live is if Creel catches the eye of a knight or lord after he saves her from a dragon. Problem is that there doesn't seem to be any dragons around. Creel's aunt decides to just make her stay in a cave (that a dragon used to live) with the hope that is enough to entice someone. Too bad though a dragon really does live in the cave and after Creel's relatives leave her there to be eaten, she is taken inside and gets to meet a dragon. They come to an arrangement and she ends up being let go with some shoes that she loves and is determined to make her way to the King's Seat in order to get a job working as a seamstress. Along the way Creel meets more dragons.

 

Creel was hilarious. I loved her up front saying she's not special, she can't spin straw into gold and isn't fair to look upon (subtle shade being thrown at the girl in Rumpelstiltskin and Snow White) but she does know how to sew. Her traveling to the King's Seat is fraught with danger and she is saved by another dragon (Shardas) when some bandits seem hell-bent on assaulting and stealing from her. Creel eventually gets to the King's Seat and realizes her working in a store for someone else isn't all it's cracked up to be. She meets one princes, a princess, and makes a ton of new friends. She also realizes that first impressions of people can be wrong and cause damage down the line. She doesn't know what the slippers do and it is odd at first that no dragon wants to tell Creel about them, but we know that they are special in some way. When it is eventually revealed why the slippers are so special and what they do I thought it was a wonderful reveal. 

 

I loved the dragons in this one and how all of them collect certain things (like shoes, glass windows, dogs) and laughed at all of them throwing shade about hoarding gold (who would want to do that?)

 

The secondary characters such as Luka (one of the princes) and some of her fellow shop assistants shine. I thought there were some humorous bits and nothing too scandalous. I also think that there are some great villains in this one (no spoilers) that will have everyone hollering for their downfall.

The writing was really good. Nothing too complicated that would confuse children and it held my interest as an adult. I also loved how Creel realizes that the history that was told about dragons and one of the founders of the kingdom was based on a lie. I do think the flow gets a bit funky in the end, it just seemed at a certain point the book was in a holding pattern and nothing was happening. 

 

The world building was great. We can imagine the kingdom, the warring families, and where the dragons that Creel meets are located.

The ending was so good and I was happy that I got an excerpt to read from "Dragon Slippers #2."

 

 

 

I loved everything about this story and now plan on reading the second book in the series. The main character was great, I loved the dragons and their collections.

 

Hold.

 

Please note that I gave this book 4.5 stars and rounded it to 5 stars on Goodreads.

After reading Silver in the Blood I was interested in reading George's other works. I really did enjoy this one. Probably because I read the story as a kid (loved it) and loved the cartoon version of it on Grimm's fairy tales.

George does a good job of taking this fairy tale and also tying it together in the real world at certain parts as well. We follow the former soldier Galen who comes home to find his mother's family after the war. After stopping to help an old woman, he is given some wool and a cape that apparently will make him disappear. Not knowing what he would do with these items he continues onward and eventually meets his family. Coming home, Galen starts to work with his uncle in the king's garden and there meets the eldest, Rose. Through all of this the princesses are found each day with worn out shoes which is leading to questions that could prove dangerous for them and their father.

I really did like how this was done. Galen was a great hero and I liked Rose as well as the other princesses. The backstory which led to this was done very well too. I honestly wish the book had a prequel to it, because I was interested in the magicians who are mentioned in this book too.

George does such a great job with dialogue and action that I wish that Silver in the Blood had been done as well as this book.

The ending had a can you believe it ending to it which was the only reason why I gave this 4.5 stars. I honestly don't know what was going on there since everything felt tacked on. I wish that there had been more information about this character that suddenly reappeared, but no such luck.