I read this entertaining mid-grade fantasy with my own mid-graders and not only did they enjoy it, but I did as well. The story has a good flow and is fast paced and exciting. It's full of magical creatures and a quest to save a kingdom. Marabel's journey is perfect for sparking the imagination of young readers and keeping them engaged in the story. 

Marabel and the Book of Fate by Tracy Barrett is a story of a young girl, Marabel, on a mission to save her twin brother, Marco. With the help of friends, Marabel soon finds it's harder than she first thought.

This is a wonderful and delightful story of a young girl who's trying to find her brother while finding herself. Tracy's has a whimsical imagination and a knack for storytelling. The characters were believable, and I enjoyed getting to know Marabel. This was such a fun book to read.

Received a copy via NetGalley, and all opinions are my own.

The Song of Orpheus has a fun way of connecting a number of lesser known Greek myths together through the story of Orpheus, who has to tell a lot of stories before the sun sets.

For those readers that are rather unfamiliar with Greek mythology, but would like to read some of the lesser known stories, this is a wonderful book. For those, who like myself, took some classes into Classic Greek -- well, let's just say that Orpheus would still be a stone... Most of the stories though I hadn't heard before, although there were some where it was not hard to discover why they aren't better known nowadays.

Lovely, quick read. Would recommend.

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for providing me with a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

An interesting retelling of the fairytale classic Cinderella. I very much enjoyed the nods to the original fairytale, such as the prince suggesting the girls cut off their toes to fit in the glass slipper, as well as the classic themes twisted on their heels, such as that the prince is a bratty gold-digging fortune hunter and Isabella (our Cinderella) is a young spoiled girl with an unexpected character arc.

The writing was pretty good, though the descriptions and narration were far better than the dialogue, which was slightly lacking. The book was rather dull for the 160 pages in the middle, because nothing really happens, excepting foraging for food and sewing. Once the ball storyline is mentioned is when the whole book starts to pick up, most of the twists are thrown in and acted upon, and the characters are fleshed out. So that is when I started to enjoy the book and not just tolerate it. Overall, I'd recommend it for a once-over, but beware of the slow beginning.

Two things noted that have no affect on the rating: The cover is waaaaaaaay off concerning the characters and the story. None of the clothes look remotely like what they would be wearing, let alone all the make-up. Jane (the brunette) is 15. That cover model looks to be between 18 and 25. Ella is 13, and her cover model appears to be a bit older than that. Anyways, it is just a bit annoying, is all. And then, in the book, Maude, who is younger than Ella and was even younger than she is now when this event took place, once tried her father's riding boots on and they were too small for her to wear. Now, unless her dad was Tom Thumb, I can't think of a single young and slightly malnourished girl whose feet cannot fit into her father's boots.

“You’ll still be beautifully yourself when that pretty kitten has grown up to be a nice-enough cat and the wildflower has faded.”

I am one to never pass up a chance to read a fairy tale retelling. So it comes to no surprise that I just had to read The Stepsister’s Tale. A Cinderella story told in the eyes of the “wicked” stepsister? This should be interesting.

The Stepsister’s Tale indeed have quite an intriguing opening; how expectations of high society could push a person to deceive and live in denial.

Jane was a receptive character, it’s not hard to feel compassion for someone who refuses to stick to what is expected of her or what society dictates, and choose to do what it takes to take care of her family. I wouldn’t say the same for Jane’s younger sister, Maude, and her mother though. They felt a bit insignificant unless needed, but I can see that there really isn’t much for their characters to do in the story.

Cinderella – or rather, Isabella in this book – was such a spoiled brat! I’ve always come to love and pity our little heroine in the other stories but I had a sudden change of heart with this one. Goodness! I don’t think I have the patience to watch children such as her.

While I find the beginning of the book to my liking, I felt a little skeptical with the middle of the book. It seemed to have gone through a redundant strain of events with not much excitement. Although I understand the need to show the harshness of Jane and her family’s situation, I have to admit it was kind of boring.

I like the interesting twist to the classic fairy tale. I also highly appreciate the fact that another person was set to be the villain in the story – that was new! However, I feel like it was a little short on closure over some details. For one, whatever happened to the King’s lands? Given the scarcity of food for the village where Jane and her family lived, did the people get the chance to thrive again? What of the fairies rumored to be hiding in the woods? Did they truly exist or was that simply a figment of the imagination?

Although I must say I am happy over how Jane’s story has ended, there were several parts left unrequited, which I would have respected a lot more if given some conclusive answers.

*Thank you, Harlequin Teen and Netgalley for granting my request to view The Stepsister’s Tale.

For more of my reviews, please visit my blog:
The Blair Book Project @ www.theblairbookproject.blogspot.com