SYNOPSIS

Trapped in a cursed sleep, the only experiences Princess Eglantine has are the ones in her dreams. There she meets Prince Henry of Fallund, a neighboring kingdom on the brink of war. 

Meanwhile, Prince Henry's brother Duncan discovers a vicious beast imprisoned for murder. Captivated by her, he works to free her from both the prison bars she's locked behind and the ones surrounding her heart and mind. Sleeping Beauty and the Beast reinvents and seamlessly intertwines the classic fairy tales Sleeping Beauty and Beauty and the Beast.

 

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REVIEW

I love fairy tales with a makeover and this combined two of my all time favorites. The first half of the book was great! From the very first page, this story was full of action and suspense that kept me guessing for a while. Since this was a dual fairy tale, there had to be two princes, right? I loved that the two princes were twins with totally opposite personalities. I also loved that the beast was a barbaric female and not the typical deformed man that we've come to expect. The second half of the story, however, fell a little short for me. I thought the ending was rushed and anticlimactic. The way the prince ended up at Sleeping Beauty's castle was totally unbelievable--even for a fairy tale. I also wanted to see more of the happily-ever-after with the beast's story line and a more meaningful reunion with the two brothers. Overall, I did like the story and thought it was creative and engaging.

I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

P.A.W.S. is a good example of why I love to read YA fantasy. I thought this was going to be a light and fluffy kid’s book about shape shifters but it turned out to be so much more. Miri, the protagonist, is only ten years old when her grandmother dies. Following the death of the only family she has ever known, Miri is forced to leave behind her home in New York, her only friend, and her two pet cats to go live with her estranged aunt and uncle in St. Louis. Shortly after arriving in St. Louis, Miri is sent to a boarding school where she is bullied and withdrawn. It is during this bullying that Miri discovers her ability to shape shift into a cat which I thought was a very clever way to incorporate fantasy into the story. The story itself was compelling and entertaining, the plot was well developed, and the characters were likable. Overall, I would say it was a great read but will only recommend for older kids and adults due to the violence in a few scenes. Originally posted at the Author Alliance

I received a free copy of this book for an honest review. This was a fantastic story! I loved the combination of historical fiction, fae hunting, romance, and some great steampunk devices thrown in for good measure. I was definitely left wanting more as the story ended with a major cliffhanger in the middle of an epic battle. It's difficult to even write a review since I feel like the book just ended in the middle of the story. Needless to say, I can't wait to read the next book!!

Fissure Free is book 2 in the Schasm series by Shari J. Ryan. After reading Schasm, I couldn’t wait to get my hands on this book! It’s no secret how much I loved Schasm and I had very high expectations for Fissure Free. Maybe my expectations were too high, but I thought Fissure Free fell a little short. The majority of this book takes place in the dreamlike state referred to as The Drift. The fantasy elements in Schasm swept me up and took me along for the ride but in Fissure Free I felt more like I was reading a really fabulous fairy tale. Don’t get me wrong, the writing was beautiful—almost poetic. The power of love between Alex and Chloe couldn’t have been more expressive if Celine Dion was singing it herself. The realistic aspects of mental illness and the tricky nature of the mind that was so brilliantly shown in Schasm, however, were almost missing entirely in Fissure Free. I actually found the fantasy elements to be more believable in Fissure Free than the reality. Although the story didn’t go as I had hoped and there were some obvious plot holes, it was still a very enjoyable read. I’m looking forward to the next book and hoping to see more of the realistic aspects that I found so wonderfully perplexing in Schasm.

 

Originally posted at the Author Alliance.

This was possibly the most disturbing book I’ve ever read, but also incredibly thought provoking and compelling. I sat for a long time after I finished reading and just contemplated the possibilities of what I had read. This book left me with more questions than answers. I can’t say with any certainty which parts were reality and which were fantasy–the line between the two was a blur. Mental illness is a scary topic to explore. The human mind is a fragile thing and the author did a fabulous job of demonstrating this fragility through Chloe. The question of whether committing a normal person to a mental institution could actually cause psychosis or insanity is a plausible argument. Since the story was told from Chloe’s perspective, I didn’t really believe her “condition” was an illness. The people she should have been able to trust most–her mother and doctor–were manipulating and controlling her through mind altering drugs and sedatives. Couldn’t that happen to anyone? If a doctor says you’re mentally ill and you say you’re not–who is everyone going to believe? What a terrifying thought! After finishing the book though, I had to remind myself that the story was told from Chloe’s perspective. If it had been told from someone else’s perspective, I would probably have agreed that she was crazy. After all, she does “drift” in and out of alternate realities.  I will probably still be thinking about this book for weeks to come. I loved it–highly recommended!!

 

Originally posted at the Author Alliance