Ella Enchanted

Level: Youth
Genre: Fantasy>Historical Fantasy>Fairy Tale
Obtained: Gift from my 6th grade English teacher
Reviewed by: Maggie W.

About the Book:
The novel is sort of a stand alone but also part of a loose series. Levine wrote this one as a retelling of the classic Cinderella tale and has since it's release gone on to do the same with others, such as Snow White and Rose Red. Rather than sticking to the theme of writing the usual princess story aimed at younger girls (the book is aimed towards readers 10-12 years old) where the princess is basically useless and waits around to be rescued, Levine writes what I like to refer to as self-rescuing princess.


"If someone told me to hop on one foot for a day and a half, I’d have to do it. And hopping on one foot wasn’t the worst order I could be given. If you commanded me to cut off my own head, I’d have to do it.
I was in danger at every moment." - Introduction from Ella Enchanted


Rating: 9/10
I first read this novel when I was in 6th grade because it was recommended to me by my English teacher, and have reread it at least once a year since then. There aren't a lot of books that I do this with but I still consider this book one of my all time favorites.

As I wrote before the story is loosely based on the story of Cinderella, or in the case of this story, just Ella. When the story opens, Ella, who has just been born, is visited by a fairy named Lucinda who decides to bestow her with a gift, common enough in Frell, the world where the story is set. When baby Ella starts to cry and her mother has trouble quieting her, the gift Lucinda decides on is obedience. Not so bad by itself but the way the 'gift' or rather curse works is that any direct order Ella is given she must obey, no matter now much she tries to resist.

Luckily Ella's mother manages to keep the curse secret from her opportunistic father. Sadly while Ella is still very young, she and her mother both come down with a mysterious illness. While Ella is able to recover fairly easily her mother isn't so lucky and dies soon after. After the funeral Ella meets prince Char and he becomes one of her dearest friends.

Ella's grief is made worse by the fact that her father, whose failing trade business has put them terribly in debt, remarries a horrible woman with two daughters Ella's age, Hattie and Olive. Shortly after joining their families all three daughters are sent away to a finishing school, where after discovering Ella must follow orders, abuses her horribly with it.

When it becomes too much, Ella decides the only thing she can do is find Lucinda and get her to remove her gift. In her journey through Frell on her search Ella meets many of the beings that live there, both good and evil, even managing to talk her way out of group of ogres' plans to eat her.

Without giving the ending away for those who would want to read it, Ella ends up finding something she didn't realize she was looking for in the first place when she set out on her journey. Being based on Cinderella, of course there's a fairy godmother, a royal ball to find a wife for the prince, and a happily ever after, but some how this book manages to keep with the fell of the original story, while also being something wonderful and original. In working as a bookseller at a major book store, I manage to recommend this book to at least one person a week.

What I'm Reading Next:

Bloody Valentine

 

Level: Older Teen

Genre: Fantasy > Vampires/Urban Fantasy

Obtained: Purchased on Amazon

Reviewed by: Nic Echo

About the Book:

In this Blue Bloods novella, Melissa de la Cruz gives us three short stories based around love (hence the title). The first short story revolves around Oliver as he tries to navigate the sense of loss and loneliness at losing Schuyler. The second story gives us insight into Charles's and Allegra's past. Finally, the third short delves more into Jack and Schuyler's romance.

Rating: 8/10

I honestly did not foresee me enjoying this book all that much. I'm not anti-romance, but I'm not the type of guy that wants my entire plot to revolve around it either. So needless to say when I heard that Bloody Valentine was supposed to be about love and romance, I was a bit hesitant. There were points I even debated skipping it all together. However, I am glad I didn't. 

 I ended up finding all the tales interesting, even the one involving Schuyler and Jack. I'll get more into that later. What I think I loved most about the first two is we get more insight into characters we haven't gotten to view much (at least from their eyes). Oliver's was probably the weakest of the three. I enjoyed it well enough, but there wasn't much there. Oliver is hurting from a broken heart and is trying to find a way to mend it. Now, this isn't a horrible concept to explore, but since this is only a short story, we are not given time to navigate those emotions. However, it still gives us more insight into Oliver's mind. We just happen to be at the end of the ride, making his healing seem a bit too quick.

Allegra's tale had to be my favourite though, and again I did not expect to like it as much as I did. I was never much of a Gabrielle fan, but this story made her seem less glorious and more human. Yes, we have gotten to see a bit more into her past in the Misguided Angel novel, but even there, she seemed righteous and damn near perfect. In this story, we get to see her more as a girl rather than her glorious, angelic self. We also get to see Charles as a teenager, and honestly, it felt like real love in this story instead of something contrived. Again, he also seems a little less perfect than how we have viewed him before, and I think it is these things that set this story above the other two.

This now leads us  to the last story about Jack and Schuyler. Now, for those of you who have read my other Blue Bloods reviews, you will already know that I am no fan of Jack and Schuyler. However, dare I say it? I actually liked this tale. Now, without giving too much away, I can say that even though this tale is connected to their romance, it has plenty of adventure and fighting. Let's just say the Countess finds a way to use their love against them. Really the only thing I strongly disliked about this story was how the problem was solved, It just seemed false to me, and I found myself not believing it could work. Still, it was a lot more enjoyable than I originally expected so kudos to the author for that.

All in all, this was a pretty good read. It's not as deep in the romance department as you would expect either. Of course, romance is still there, but there is still action, and you also get more insight into some of the side characters. It's short. It's quick, but it's worth it. If you are enjoying the Blue Bloods series, make sure not to skip this one, even if it's not one of the main novels.

What I'm Reading Next:

 

Misguided Angel

 

Level: Older Teen

Genre: Fantasy > Vampires/Urban Fantasy

Obtained: Purchased on Amazon

Reviewed by: Nic Echo

About the Book:

Although still connected, Misguided Angel follows two main story lines told by three different points of view. The first one involves Schuyler and her continuation of the Van Alen Legacy. She and Jack are now in Europe, trying to find the other hellgates. While searching, Jack and Schuyler come across a group of red bloods who supposedly are under orders from blue bloods to guard a hellgate, but something isn't quite right.

Meanwhile, Mimi is having her own issues as acting regent. One of the young blue bloods have been captured and Mimi is given a limited amount of time to rescue her before the captors set her aflame with black fire. What's more is the hostage videos leaked out onto the internet, threatening the vampires with exposure. Then, there is the question of who is behind it. Not blue blood, not silver blood, but red.

Rating: 7/10

De la Cruz continues with an interesting story line. Although it's not packed with as much silver blood drama as The Van Alen Legacy, it is still quite gripping. Honestly, I think having a red blood as an enemy was an excellent move. We have come to expect a silver blood behind the trouble, but a mere human? Plus, we, the readers, need a less flashy threat after the Lucifer ordeal from the last book. However, as I said, this did not make Misguided Angel any less interesting. Except for a few sections, I found myself quite intrigued bu the installment.

Now, there were some factors that I disliked about this book. In all previous installments, each chapter is told by a different point of view, switching between Mimi, Schuyler, and Bliss. Misguided Angel is instead divided into four sections. The first follows Schuyler, the second follows Mimi,  the third follows a new vampire named Deming, and the final section is a mix of all three. Now, I have read in several reviews that many disliked the former style, saying it was more difficult to get into the story or it gave them character whiplash. Personally, I preferred that style. For one, it kept the story fresh in my mind, even if I needed to put the book down for several days. Secondly, I wasn't stuck with a character I didn't really care for for several pages on end. Honestly, I could not wait until Schuyler's section was finished. Don't get me wrong. She's not a dreadful character. I simply don't like reading about her all that much. 

Speaking of Schuyler, I am glad that Schuyler's story was more vampire/blue blood related than romance driven. So if you are a Jack/Schuyler fan, you may be a bit disappointed since they aren't given much romantic time. The other bit I disliked is the new POV character. Again, I don't hate her, but she ended up getting on my nerves a bit, especially with her "reading the aura" crap. However, the readers that enjoy the venator adventures should enjoy her tale. I have to say I did enjoy the story around her. I simply found her not to my liking.

Overall though, Melissa de la Cruz produced another entertaining read. The plot wasn't highly charged as some of the others, but that doesn't make it any less fantastic. De la Cruz keeps you riveted and introduces more twists and turns that will keep you glued to the page. Even after its fifth installment, there are still so many paths left to discover in Blue Bloods.

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Blue Bloods: Keys to the Repository

 

Level: Older Teen

Genre: Fantasy > Vampires/Urban Fantasy

Obtained: Purchased at Borders

Reviewed by: Nic Echo

About the Book:

Keys to the Repository is a companion book to Melissa de la Cruz's bestselling Blue Bloods series. In this book, de la Cruz gives us a little more insight into her world.

Rating: 8/10

Most companion books tend to be a bit dull or a bit useless. I didn't find this to be the case with  Keys to the Repository. Melissa de la Cruz did a fine job at organizing the information that is great for catching up in the series (at least the first four books) or looking up small tidbits such as canine familiars or minor characters. She also has an appendix of terms used in the series. I know this would have been extremely useful for me when I came across some terms in the sacred language.

Now, even though all this information is useful, we've all read it before. Yes, it is a handy refresher, but what I thought was great about this companion piece was the short stories. In this book, we are given five different stories involving Jack, Schuyler, Bliss, Kingsley, and even Dylan. Although I dislike reading about the Schuyler/Jack romance, I still really like that de la Cruz gave us the extra shorts. They were quite enjoyable. I especially enjoyed learning what happened to Dylan in between Blue Bloods and Masquerade. Melissa de la Cruz also gives us a sneak peek into her new spin off series, Wolf Pact. When I originally heard about this, I was a bit iffy since spin offs are rarely great, but after reading the short story, I must admit I am quite intrigued. 

Overall, I found this to be an excellent companion book. It is easy to navigate and informative. Plus, it also holds some fascinating short stories that fills in some of the gaps of the main story line (or a sneak peek in Bliss's case), which allows use to see more into the characters. This is a must for any major Blue Bloods fan, and it's an interest for any range of the fandom of the  Blue Bloods.

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The Van Alen Legacy

Level: Older Teen

Genre: Fantasy > Vampires/Urban Fantasy

Obtained: Purchased at Borders

Reviewed by: Nic Echo

About the Book:
The plot thickens in the fourth installment of the Blue Bloods series. As before, we continue to witness the stories of Schuyler, Bliss, and Mimi. It has been a year since we last left our characters. Schuyler is now on the run with Oliver and hiding from both the blue bloods and Leviathan. Mimi is on a mission with Kingsley and other venators to find the angel, Sophia, and then Bliss is having trouble with her visitor, who is trying to destroy the blue bloods. Then, if this wasn't enough, our heroes still must deal with the matters of the heart. Jack and Schuyler still have their forbidden love, but Mimi is starting to have her own issues as well. However, love or no love, she and Jack are still destined to be bonded.

Rating: 7/10
I have to say the Melissa de la Cruz knows how to keep you hooked. As I have mentioned in prior reviews, the writing is pretty low level (he had the voice like a movie star is one example), but the plot is entertaining enough that I don't mind so much. I was especially intrigued with Bliss's story, which ends up giving us more insight into the silver bloods' plan. Mimi's tale was also quite interesting though, at first, it felt like de la Cruz was trying too hard to show that Mimi is more than the it girl. Whenever Mimi was supposed to care about children, it seemed like de la Cruz was screaming, "Mimi is more than just a selfish brat. Please, believe me!" I do think the added character seemed a lot less forced later on though. The only thing I really disliked about Mimi's plot was Mimi's and Kingsley's relationship of sorts. The love/lust between them, I guess you could say. It did not take the path the way I though de la Cruz was going to take it however so that is something.

Schuyler's story was the least interesting for me. Don't get me wrong. It had its moments where I didn't want to put the book down, but mostly I couldn't wait to finish Schuyler's chapters so that I could get back to Mimi's and Bliss's stories. It seemed to me that the majority of Schuyler's story seemed to be romance. "I want to be with Jack, but he's destined for another," is getting old. Meanwhile, Oliver is also in love with Schuyler so she doesn't want to hurt him therefore there is more angsting. I just do not find myself rooting for her at all.

Even with all the romance and "love", I am still highly enjoying the series and can't wait to see how it ends. How will the silver bloods be defeated? Who will end with who? And what else could possibly happen?

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