Gathering Frost is the first novel in Kaitlyn Davis' new series, Once Upon a Curse. It tells the story of Jade, once a happy little girl living in New York Ciry until an earthquake shakes her world in unimaginable ways.

It wasn't just her city that was destroyed, but the way of life all over the world. The earthquake allowed the magical realm to merge with the Earth's realm, and that magic changed everything. In New York, the city was taken over by an ice queen named Deirdre, living under a curse that gave her great magic but took away any hope of true love of any kind for herself. Her only way to feel was by stealing emotion from those around her, the people of NYC that came under her thrall. When little Jade first saw her, she was certain that the beautiful woman was a princess sent to save them. But that was not what happened...

Jade's life changed and she became a warrior in the service of the queen, the only girl to make that choice. When out on a mission within the ruins of NYC, she came upon a face she had been trained to recognize... Prince Asher, the queen's runaway son. After telling the queen, she finds herself on a mission to capture him, but nothing goes as planned.

Feelings are something that the people of the new kingdom remember nothing about. The thrall that they are under takes that part of their humanity, reducing relationships to nothing more than practical interactions. Yet Jade still yearns for freedom, even if she doesn't know why. Whenever she is in the ruins, she seeks out the library and the knowledge it holds, dreaming of a world outside the walls and away from the queen's hold. She is such an interesting character and watching her as she learns about feelings and emotion is interesting. She has no idea what the love of a friend is like, much less the romantic feelings of love.

Feelings and magic are at the heart of this story, and it is hard to pick a favorite character beyond Jade and Asher. Even the evil queen... she has a story of her own that makes her often a sympathetic character. The idea of a world without any emotion is terrifying and makes you realize just how much emotion is a part of being human.

My Recommendation

This is a bit of a retelling that reimagines the Sleeping Beauty tale in a totally different way. Sleeping Beauty is not literally asleep, but her humanity is asleep with the lack of emotions. Such an original take on a classic tale!!

The Last Changeling is the first book in the new Faerie Revolutions series and I love the fact that it is so much more than a YA fantasy romance novel. At its heart, it is a story about equality and standing up for what is right. It is about fighting prejuice and making the hard choices in order to remain true to what you believe is right.

That being said, it is also not a book that really hits you over the head with those messages. They may be the driving force behind the story, but they don't overwhelm it. There is also magic, romance, danger, friendship, and a whole lot of intrigue woven all around the true messages of the story.

The characters in this book are fantastic. Elora, our main character, is fighting to change her world... the world of Faery. She has been brought up in a world of racial prejudice, the light and the dark realms of Faery fighting against one another for centuries. She has been brought up to believe that humans are yet another enemy, lesser creatures incapable of true compassion and love. She has come to realize that those racial prejudices within her own world are weakening it for both sides and is trying to change that. When she moves into the human world and is saved by Taylor (a human guy), she is faced with the realization that perhaps humanity is not what she thought it was.

The destructive prejudices that she has found to be true of the Faery realms are also present in Unity High School, the human school she has "infiltrated" with a name that does not fit its reality. The prejudices here are manifested in sexuality and the treatment that those who are thought to be anything other than straight is horrendous. Taylor and Elora team up to change that, along with some unexpected allies.

I really enjoyed the premise behind this story, unlike any others I have read. I am a sucker for all things faery and I loved that this one came from the perspective of a Dark Faery. The story was engaging and engrossing and I can't wait to read the next installment!

Things to love...

--Elora and Taylor. The romance was there, but it wasn't in your face. Sweet!
--Kylie and Keegan. The twins, friends of Elora and Taylor, figure prominently and I love what they represent for the story.
--The attention paid to real issues and the ways in which they were handled.

My Recommendation

If you love the realm of the faery, this is a great read! If you love a story that has some depth and some messages to it, this is a great read!

Note: I received this for free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Views from the Depths is a collection of short stories, retellings of four classic fairy tales. The stories are explored from much darker, more melancholy perspectives, bringing an entirely new light to stories that most of us are more familiar with in their more sanitized Disney-style formats. This collection answers questions that most of us never realized needed to be asked, Each story is told from multiple first-person POVs, which truly expands the story.

The first story is based on the classic The Little Mermaid. This one was told from the POVs of the Witch herself, as well as the mermaid, her sister, and her land-born rival. It is a story of choices and how those choices affect others. It made me look at the story in an entirely different way!

The second story is based on Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. The story begins with The Huntsman's version, and then tells the story from the POVs of the Queen, one of the dwarves, the Prince, and finally, Snow White herself. This story is about jealously and betrayal, unexpected emotions, and the fight for survival.

The third story is a retelling of The Twelve Dancing Princesses. This story is told from the POV of the King, the oldest daughter, the captive/champion soldier, and the youngest daughter. This story is interesting in that it is a bit "behind the scenes" to the classic tale.

The last story is based on The Beauty and the Beast. It is told from the POV of the Fairy, the Merchant, the Beast, and Beauty. This is a story of pridefulness, good intentions gone wrong, arrogance, and love.

While there may be a HEA or two, these stories are rather bittersweet and often without that classic HEA.

Things to love...

--The fresh twist to fairytales. I like that they are told from POVs other than those that we are used to.
--The darker tone, as opposed to the overly perfect Disney-style versions.

My Recommendation

If you love fairy tale stories, especially those with a darker edge, these are perfect!

What did you recently finish reading?

I finished reading Mind Fuck by Manna Francis some time ago. It dragged a lot by the end -- not enough sex and too much focus on the boring investigation in my opinion -- but I still enjoyed it. I am considering if I want to get involved with the sequels. There are seven books out so far and they all sound promising, especially in terms of how they explore the relationship between the two protagonists -- Toreth and Warick. The relationship is set up nicely in the first book (remember all the awesome BDSM sex?) but hardly taken anywhere meaningful. Also, I am really interested in the overarching conflict that's bubbling up between Toreth and The Administration but I am not sure I am patient enough to see it through 7 books, especially if there is going to be a ton of focus on crime/investigations like there was in the first book. Not that Manna Francis didn't handle the crime aspect nicely (actually, the plotting was really clever at times) but it's not something that personally appeals to me. So basically, I just want good world-building and sex without any sleuthing. I am in the wrong series, I know. 

What are you currently reading?

I am still reading Pantheon Collection of Japanese Tales and Sex at Dawn. I WILL NEVER FINISH READING THEM. And this is why I don't start on non-fiction books. In my defense, I did finally get through the introduction section of the Pantheon Collection and started reading the actual tales, and MAN, THEY ARE TRIPPY. Some of the are really preachy and remind me of Russian басни, others are really silly and sexual (like there is this paragraph long one about a magistrate who took out his penis in the palace) and some are really cool (like the one about a tree that grew over a whole province and the people had to chop it down because it was blocking the sun and ruining crops). 

I also made good progress on Sex at Dawn and foresee finishing it within a reasonable period of time (which could be the next year, but whatever). A quote from it that I really like:

"Societies in which women have lots of autonomy and authority tend to be decidedly male-friendly, relaxed, tolerant, and plenty sexy. Got that, fellas? If you're unhappy at the amount of sexual opportunity in your life, don't blame the women. Instead, make sure they have equal access to power, wealth and status. Then watch what happens." 

What do you think you'll read next?

The Monk came in today and it's that nice Penguin Classics edition so I can't wait to start on it. I am also thinking I need to read the two Heinlein books I shamelessly stole from BF many a moon ago and still haven't touched.