Uprooted by Naomi Novik

Naomi Novik, author of the bestselling and critically acclaimedTemeraire novels, introduces a bold new world rooted in folk stories and legends, as elemental as a Grimm fairy tale.

“Our Dragon doesn’t eat the girls he takes, no matter what stories they tell outside our valley. We hear them sometimes, from travelers passing through. They talk as though we were doing human sacrifice, and he were a real dragon. Of course that’s not true: he may be a wizard and immortal, but he’s still a man, and our fathers would band together and kill him if he wanted to eat one of us every ten years. He protects us against the Wood, and we’re grateful, but not that grateful.”

Agnieszka loves her valley home, her quiet village, the forests and the bright shining river. But the corrupted Wood stands on the border, full of malevolent power, and its shadow lies over her life.

Her people rely on the cold, driven wizard known only as the Dragon to keep its powers at bay. But he demands a terrible price for his help: one young woman handed over to serve him for ten years, a fate almost as terrible as falling to the Wood.

The next choosing is fast approaching, and Agnieszka is afraid. She knows—everyone knows—that the Dragon will take Kasia: beautiful, graceful, brave Kasia, all the things Agnieszka isn’t, and her dearest friend in the world. And there is no way to save her.

But Agnieszka fears the wrong things. For when the Dragon comes, it is not Kasia he will choose.

-- Goodreads.com description --

As you probably can already tell from reading my blog, I love fairy tale retellings. Uprooted is supposedly a retelling of Beauty and the Beast. However, as far as fairy tale retellings go, Uprooted is unique. I absolutely fell in love with it. The focus is less on the romance although it is definitely there as well. That's what I enjoyed so much about it. The character development is amazing, I loved Agnieszka and the Dragon so much. And the Wood, man, the Wood was creepy, dangerous and unpredictable. In fact, the whole book was unpredictable, which made it quite unique as a fairy tale retelling. Even if you don't like Beauty and the Beast you will still enjoy Uprooted! It was one of the best books I've read this year and I just can't stress enough that everyone should read it!

5 out of 5 stars!

Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor

"Errand requiring immediate attention. Come.

The note was on vellum, pierced by the talons of the almost-crow that delivered it. Karou read the message. 'He never says please', she sighed, but she gathered up her things.
When Brimstone called, she always came."

In general, Karou has managed to keep her two lives in balance. On the one hand, she's a seventeen-year-old art student in Prague; on the other, errand-girl to a monstrous creature who is the closest thing she has to family. Raised half in our world, half in 'Elsewhere', she has never understood Brimstone's dark work - buying teeth from hunters and murderers - nor how she came into his keeping. She is a secret even to herself, plagued by the sensation that she isn't whole.

Now the doors to Elsewhere are closing, and Karou must choose between the safety of her human life and the dangers of a war-ravaged world that may hold the answers she has always sought. 

-- Goodreads.com description --

I have to admit, after reading so many good reviews on this one, I expected a lot. And at first, I felt that Daughter of Smoke and Bone did not live up to my expectations. I actually put it down for a couple of days. When I started reading it again, I was sucked in and read the rest in one sitting. I was blown away with the direction the book took. I highly recommend to finish this book before making your mind up about it. Since I am currently taking a classical mythology class, I adored the fact that the author made up myths. In my opinion this is one superior young adult book you have to read! It is also very refreshing that it is set for the most part in Prague. That's something that doesn't normally happen in young adult books. This book is very original and I would recommend it to anyone! 5 out of 5 stars!

Once Upon Stilettos by Shanna Swendson

Click your heels three times and say, 
“There’s no place like Bloomies!”

Katie Chandler’s life is pure magic–literally. As an executive assistant at Magic, Spells, and Illusions, Inc., she’s seen more than her share of fantastical occurrences. A mere Manhattan mortal, Katie is no wizard, but she’s a wiz at exposing “hokum” pocus, cloaked lies, and deceptive enchantments. And she’s fallen under the all-too-human spell of attraction to Owen, a hunky wizard and coworker. Owen, however, is preoccupied. Someone has broken into his office and disrupted top-secret files, and it reeks of an inside job. CEO Merlin (yes, the Merlin) and taps Katie and her special ability to uncover the magical mole.

Keeping her feelings in check while sleuthing alongside Owen, Katie is shocked to discover that her immunity to magic is waning, putting her in grave danger. Soon she’s surrendering to the charms and enchantments of everyone and everything around her, including a killer pair of red stilettos. Katie must now conjure up her natural instincts to get to the bottom of the break-in, regain her power, and win the wizard of her dreams.

-- Goodreads.com description -- 

This is the second book in the Enchanted, Inc. series by Shanna Swendson and I am absolutely falling in love in with the series! I picked this one up fairly cheap on kobo.com and the rest of the series will soon follow, I imagine. I am very stressed out at the moment and that's why I was looking for something light, fun and cute to read and I hit the jackpot with Enchanted, Inc. I can't believe it took a book promotion for me to get this series on my radar. It deserves to be a lot more popular. It has an interesting magic system and the romance in the story is just adorable. You all need to read this series, I, for one, can't get enough of it and I highly recommend it. 5 out of 5 stars! Read it!

Enchanted, Inc. by Shanna Swendson

DON'T MESS WITH HEXES

Katie Chandler had always heard that New York is a weird and wonderful place, but this small-town Texas gal had no idea how weird until she moved there. Everywhere she goes, she sees something worth gawking at and Katie is afraid she's a little too normal to make a splash in the big city. Working for an ogre of a boss doesn't help.

Then, seemingly out of the blue, Katie gets a job offer from Magic, Spells, and Illusions, Inc., a company that tricks of the trade to the magic community. For MSI, Katie's ordinariness is an asset.

Lacking any bit of magic, she can easily spot a fake spell, catch hidden clauses in competitor's contracts, and detect magically disguised intruders. Suddenly, average Katie is very special indeed. 

She quickly learns that office politics are even more complicated when your new boss is a real ogre, and you have a crush on the sexy, shy, ultra powerful head of the R&D department, who is so busy fighting an evil competitor threatening to sell black magic on the street that he seems barely to notice Katie. Now it's up to Katie to pull off the impossible: save the world and--hopefully--live happily ever after.

-- Goodreads.com description -- 

Well, this book was quite a surprise. I got a good deal for the first e-book in this series and decided to go for it. I must say, I liked it way more than I expected! It is a cute, fantastic and romantic read. At times it even made me laugh out loud which doesn't often happen. The characters were very entertaining and I adore all of them. In short, this is a very enjoyable read. If the synopsis sounds good to don't hesitate to give it a try! This book deserves a 5 out of 5 stars!

Chew Volume 2: International Flavour

Tony Chu, the cibopathic federal agent with the ability to get psychic impressions from the things he eats, is on a bizarre new case. A newly discovered fruit takes Agent Chu to a remote island full of secrets, Presenting the second storyline of IGN.com's pick for Best Indie Series of 2009 and MTV Splash Page.com's pick for Best New Series of 2009. Find out what the fuss is about in this latest a twisted and darkly funny comic about cops, crooks, cooks, cannibals and clairvoyants.strangeness-and a shadowy killer with a particularly sinister appetite.

-- Goodreads.com description --

After such an original and entertaining first volume, I expected a lot from this instalment. However, I can't help feeling a tiny bit let down. International Flavour got off on a good start and all in all it's not a bad volume but I had a problem with it. Out of a sudden, there was a vampire in the story. Now, normally I don't have problems with vampires but where did he suddenly come from? It felt very out of place. I do have high hopes that this question will have a satisfying answer in the next volumes, as I'm sure there is a perfectly disgusting answer to it. Furthermore, I would have liked to see more of Mason. It felt a bit off focus from the first volume but I'm sure this will be resolved in later volumes as well. 

Ultimately, I gave this comic 4 out of 5 stars! And I still highly recommend this series to anyone! Read it!

These Broken Stars by Amie Kaufman & Meagan Spooner

Luxury spaceliner Icarus suddenly plummets from hyperspace into the nearest planet. Lilac LaRoux and Tarver Merendsen survive -- alone. Lilac is the daughter of the richest man in the universe. Tarver comes from nothing, a cynical war hero. Both journey across the eerie deserted terrain for help. Everything changes when they uncover the truth. 

The Starbound Trilogy: Three worlds. Three love stories. One enemy.

-- Goodreads.com description --

I've heard amazing things about These Broken Stars but for me, unfortunately, it didn't live up to my expectations. This is a sciencefiction survival story and the thing that bothered me most was the fact that it is very reminiscent of the first book in The Under the Never Sky trilogy by Veronica Rossi. Since I read that entire trilogy already and quite liked it, I also prefer The Under the Never Sky trilogy above These Broken Stars. I felt that only the last hundred pages of These Broken Stars were different from Veronica Rossi's books. But they still weren't enough to really enjoy it. I am not sure yet if I'm going to read This Shattered World but it definitely won't be in the near future. This book certainly did have some good qualities but unfortunately even the characters were reminiscent of Under the Never Sky. Ultimately, I gave this book 3 stars although I doubted for a while if it didn't deserve a 2,5 more... If you are really interested in reading sciencefiction survival stories than I would say: go for it. If not, but you want to try it out, I would recommend The Under the Never Sky trilogy, even though I only gave the first book in the series 3 stars, the last two are completely worth it!

Gilded Ashes (Cruel Beauty Universe) by Rosamund Hodge

A romantic and fantastical reimagining of the classic Cinderella tale,Gilded Ashes is a novella by Rosamund Hodge set in the same world as the author's debut novel, Cruel Beauty.

Orphan Maia doesn't see the point of love when it only brings pain: Her dying mother made a bargain with the evil, all-powerful ruler of their world that anyone who hurt her beloved daughter would be punished; her new stepmother went mad with grief when Maia's father died; and her stepsisters are desperate for their mother's approval, yet she always spurns them. And though her family has turned her into a despised servant, Maia must always pretend to be happy, or else they'll all be struck dead by the curse.

Anax, heir to the Duke of Sardis, doesn't believe in love either—not since he discovered that his childhood sweetheart was only using him for his noble title. What's the point of pretending to fall in love with a girl just so she'll pretend to fall in love with him back? But when his father invites all the suitable girls in the kingdom to a masked ball, Anax must finally give in and select a wife.

As fate would have it, the preparations for the masquerade bring him Maia, who was asked by her eldest stepsister to deliver letters to Anax. Despite a prickly first encounter, he is charmed and intrigued by this mysterious girl who doesn't believe in love. Anax can't help wishing to see her again—and when he does, he can't help falling in love with her. Against her will, Maia starts to fall in love with him too. But how can she be with him when every moment his life is in danger from her mother's deadly bargain?

HarperTeen Impulse is a digital imprint focused on young adult short stories and novellas, with new releases the first Tuesday of each month.

-- Goodreads.com description --

After I read Cruel Beauty I needed to read something short and this novella seemed like the perfect choice. A choice that definitely did not disappoint! I enjoyed it even more than Cruel Beauty. The reason for that is most likely because the story progressed a lot faster since it's a novella. And that was exactly what I was in the mood for. Since my mind still lingered in the Cruel Beauty universe I couldn't have picked anything else that would have suited me better. What I loved the most about Gilded Ashes was probably the fact that it was short and the action parts followed each other quite quickly, if you can call them 'action' parts. I have to admit Cinderella isn't one of my favourite fairy tales. I always thought she was kind of boring. However, since reading Cinder and Gilded Ashes I already like her a lot better.
I like Rosamund Hodge's writing style and originality. You never know how her stories will end, even though they're based on famous fairy tales. I love the fact that they're so much darker than their originals and I'm looking forward to reading Crimson Bound, her next book that comes out in May but I'll probably will have to wait a while before it comes out in paperback.

I highly recommend this original retelling of Cinderella if you enjoyed Cruel Beauty or Cinder by Marissa Meyer than this is a must read for you!