Snowflakes and Spider Silk

Title:  Miranda and Caliban Author:  Jacqueline Carey Genre: Fantasy, Retelling My rating: 3 of 5 stars Goodreads Summary: Miranda is a lonely child. For as long as she can remember, she and her father have lived in isolation in the abandoned Moorish palace. There are chickens and goats, and a terrible wailing spirit trapped in a pine tree, but the elusive wild boy who spies on her from the crumbling walls and leaves gifts on their doorstep is the isle’s only other human inhabitant. There are other memories, too: vague, dream-like memories of another time and another place. There are questions that Miranda dare not ask her stern and controlling father, who guards his secrets with zealous care: Who am I? Where did I come from? The wild boy Caliban is a lonely child, too; an orphan left to fend for himself at an early age, all language lost to him. When Caliban is summoned and bound into captivity by Miranda’s father as part of a grand experiment, he rages against his...

Round 3 of Bullet reviews! I'm still working my way through November 2016, but I'm hoping to finish November this week and then I'll only be 2 months behind on reviews instead of 4! The bar is so low haha This week's books are Heartless, A Torch Against the Night, and Gemina. These were all "big" 2016 releases, ones that I/the bookish community was hugely anticipating. One book exceeded my expectations, one was a disappointment, and one was just as incredible as I thought it would be. So which one was which? Check it out below! Heartless by Marissa Meyer Genre: fantasy, fairy tale retelling Rating: 3/5 stars What I liked: the descriptions of the food! I love cooking and baking, and all the descriptions of Cath's baking made my mouth water and inspired me to try baking some lemon-flavored things Jest was a really cool character, as was the Hatter. It was interesting to see how archetypal Alice in Wonderland charac...

Title:  Of Metal and Wishes Author:  Sarah Fine Genre: Historical fiction, retelling My rating: 5 of 5 stars Goodreads Summary: There are whispers of a ghost in the slaughterhouse where sixteen-year-old Wen assists her father in his medical clinic—a ghost who grants wishes to those who need them most. When one of the Noor, men hired as cheap factory labor, humiliates Wen, she makes an impulsive wish of her own, and the Ghost grants it. Brutally. Guilt-ridden, Wen befriends the Noor, including their outspoken leader, a young man named Melik. At the same time, she is lured by the mystery of the Ghost and learns he has been watching her... for a very long time. As deadly accidents fuel tensions within the factory, Wen must confront her growing feelings for Melik, who is enraged at the sadistic factory bosses and the prejudice faced by his people at the hand of Wen’s, and her need to appease the Ghost, who is determined to protect her against any threat—real or imagined....

Title:  Winter Author:  Marissa Meyer Genre: Science fiction, retelling, young adult My rating: 5 of 5 stars Goodreads Summary : Princess Winter is admired by the Lunar people for her grace and kindness, and despite the scars that mar her face, her beauty is said to be even more breathtaking than that of her stepmother, Queen Levana. Winter despises her stepmother, and knows Levana won’t approve of her feelings for her childhood friend—the handsome palace guard, Jacin. But Winter isn’t as weak as Levana believes her to be and she’s been undermining her stepmother’s wishes for years. Together with the cyborg mechanic, Cinder, and her allies, Winter might even have the power to launch a revolution and win a war that’s been raging for far too long. Can Cinder, Scarlet, Cress, and Winter defeat Levana and find their happily ever afters? One of the best series endings ever :) I will always have a soft spot for fairy tale retellings, but I don't think anything e...

Title:  The Huntress of Thornbeck Forest Author:  Melanie Dickerson Genre: Fantasy, historical fiction, retellings My rating: 3 of 5 stars Goodreads Summary : "Swan Lake" meets Robin Hood when the beautiful daughter of a wealthy merchant by day becomes the region's most notorious poacher by night, and falls in love with the forester. Jorgen is the forester for the wealthy margrave, and must find and capture the poacher who has been killing and stealing the margrave's game. When he meets the lovely and refined Odette at the festival and shares a connection during a dance, he has no idea she is the one who has been poaching the margrave's game. Odette justifies her crime of poaching because she thinks the game is going to feed the poor, who are all but starving, both in the city and just outside its walls. But will the discovery of a local poaching ring reveal a terrible secret? Has the meat she thought she was providing for the poor actually been sold on ...

Title:  Lady Thief Author:  A.C. Gaughen Genre: Historical fiction, Young adult, retellings My rating: 4 of 5 stars Goodreads Summary : Scarlet’s true identity has been revealed, but her future is uncertain. Her forced marriage to Lord Gisbourne threatens Robin and Scarlet’s love, and as the royal court descends upon Nottingham for the appointment of a new Sheriff, the people of Nottingham hope that Prince John will appoint their beloved Robin Hood. But Prince John has different plans for Nottingham that revolve around a fateful secret from Scarlet’s past even she isn’t yet aware of. Forced to participate at court alongside her ruthless husband, Scarlet must bide her time and act the part of a noblewoman—a worthy sacrifice if it means helping Robin’s cause and a chance at a future with the man she loves. With a fresh line of intrigue and as much passion as ever, the next chapter in Scarlet’s tale will have readers talking once again.  This book tackles some un...

Title:  Scarlet Author:  A.C. Gaughen Genre: Historical fiction, retelling, young adult My rating: 4 of 5 stars Goodreads Summary : Many readers know the tale of Robin Hood, but they will be swept away by this new version full of action, secrets, and romance. Posing as one of Robin Hood’s thieves to avoid the wrath of the evil Thief Taker Lord Gisbourne, Scarlet has kept her identity secret from all of Nottinghamshire. Only the Hood and his band know the truth: the agile thief posing as a whip of a boy is actually a fearless young woman with a secret past. Helping the people of Nottingham outwit the corrupt Sheriff of Nottingham could cost Scarlet her life as Gisbourne closes in. It’s only her fierce loyalty to Robin—whose quick smiles and sharp temper have the rare power to unsettle her—that keeps Scarlet going and makes this fight worth dying for. I basically read this book in one sitting at the airport. Part of the reason why was because I was bored out of m...

DiverSFFy is a new feature hosted by yours truly! The goal is to get the word out about books in science fiction and fantasy that do a good job of portraying people from diverse backgrounds and perspectives - be it race, sexual orientation, gender, socioeconomic levels, etc. I'd love it if you joined in - just link me to your posts in the comments or on twitter (@spidersilksnow)! This week's pick:  Ash  by Malinda Lo The Rundown Title: Ash Author: Malinda Lo Genre: Fantasy, retelling, LGBTQ fiction Full synopsis and my review here ! So what's so diverse about this book? This is a gorgeously written retelling of Cinderella, with a twist. Ash, this story's Cinderella, doesn't want to marry the prince. Ash ends up falling in love with someone else - Huntress, a respected member of the King's court. Yes, this is a lesbian romance. It may make some people uncomfortable, but I highly encourage those people to read this book anyway. When...

Title:  Boy, Snow, Bird Author:  Helen Oyeyemi Genre: historical fiction, magical realism, adult fiction, retelling (very loosely) My rating: 3 of 5 stars Goodreads Summary: In the winter of 1953, Boy Novak arrives by chance in a small town in Massachusetts, looking, she believes, for beauty—the opposite of the life she’s left behind in New York. She marries a local widower and becomes stepmother to his winsome daughter, Snow Whitman. A wicked stepmother is a creature Boy never imagined she’d become, but elements of the familiar tale of aesthetic obsession begin to play themselves out when the birth of Boy’s daughter, Bird, who is dark-skinned, exposes the Whitmans as light-skinned African Americans passing for white. Among them, Boy, Snow, and Bird confront the tyranny of the mirror to ask how much power surfaces really hold. Dazzlingly inventive and powerfully moving, Boy, Snow, Bird is an astonishing and enchanting novel. With breathtaking feats of imagination,...

Title:  Alias Hook Author:  Lisa Jensen Genre: Fantasy, retellings, adult fiction My rating: 4 of 5 stars Goodreads Summary: "Every child knows how the story ends. The wicked pirate captain is flung overboard, caught in the jaws of the monster crocodile who drags him down to a watery grave. But it was not yet my time to die. It's my fate to be trapped here forever, in a nightmare of childhood fancy, with that infernal, eternal boy." Meet Captain James Benjamin Hook, a witty, educated Restoration-era privateer cursed to play villain to a pack of malicious little boys in a pointless war that never ends. But everything changes when Stella Parrish, a forbidden grown woman, dreams her way to the Neverland in defiance of Pan’s rules. From the glamour of the Fairy Revels, to the secret ceremonies of the First Tribes, to the mysterious underwater temple beneath the Mermaid Lagoon, the magical forces of the Neverland open up for Stella as they never have for Hook. And ...

Title:  Cruel Beauty Author:  Rosamund Hodge Genre: Retellings, fantasy, young adult My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars Goodreads Summary : Based on the classic fairy tale Beauty and the Beast, Cruel Beauty is a dazzling love story about our deepest desires and their power to change our destiny. Since birth, Nyx has been betrothed to the evil ruler of her kingdom-all because of a foolish bargain struck by her father. And since birth, she has been in training to kill him. With no choice but to fulfill her duty, Nyx resents her family for never trying to save her and hates herself for wanting to escape her fate. Still, on her seventeenth birthday, Nyx abandons everything she's ever known to marry the all-powerful, immortal Ignifex. Her plan? Seduce him, destroy his enchanted castle, and break the nine-hundred-year-old curse he put on her people. But Ignifex is not at all what Nyx expected. The strangely charming lord beguiles her, and his castle-a shifting maze of magical r...

Top Ten Tuesday is a meme hosted by  The Broke and the Bookish . This week's theme:  Top Ten Most Unique Books I've Read Ash by Malinda Lo - A really unique and sweet retelling of Cinderella. Ultraviolet by R. J. Anderson - I don't want to say too much for fear of spoilers, but this book takes quite a few unexpected directions from where it starts out.   Vicious by V.E. Schwab -  So you think you know your superheroes from your supervillains? Think again...   Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman -  Gaiman is a genius. That is all. The Golem and the Jinni by Helene Wecker - Gorgeously written historical fantasy, with mythology from not one but two different cultures! Bruiser by Neal Shusterman - Another gorgeously written book. It's at times thoughtful, disturbing, hopeful, and above all beautiful. A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness - This b...