princess of glass

I knew I wanted to read this book, I really did. First off, I’m a sucker for the fairy tale sub-genre of fantasy. I have been since high school, when I discovered Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling’s adult fairy tale series and short story collections. I gobbled up re-tellings after that – everything from Robin McKinley to Jane Yolen to Charles de Lint and Mercedes Lackey. And I’ve adored the YA presence on the fairy tale scene, as well. Shannon Hale, Edith Pattou, and old favorite Patricia C. Wrede…these ladies know how a fairy tale should be told.

Secondly, I know I like Jessica Day George’s writing. I read her Dragon Slippers trilogy, and I enjoyed the enthusiasm and inventiveness that pervaded her writing. So, despite not having read its precursor, Princess of the Midnight Ball, I requested this book. I even ended up waiting in line at ALA for an autographed copy of it. I knew the blurb, I’d seen the cover, I’d decided I wanted it. And yet, when I had the ARC version sitting in my house for a week, I couldn’t bring myself to crack the cover.

Why? Obstinacy. When I am faced with a book that I MUST read, on a deadline, I (sometimes) get tetchy. I find fault with a perfectly good story. I’ll pick it up, put it down, decide to start another book, find another, 'better' one. In this case, it was orneriness, pure and simple. The cover was so PINK, and I wasn’t feeling PINK, if you know what I mean. I was feeling like swords and death and…well…you can look at the titles I’ve reviewed over the past couple of weeks: A Madness of Angels, Cold Magic (review forthcoming), and I Kissed a Zombie, and I Liked It.

Ahem. But today I was home sick from work, and I decided to do something ‘worthwhile,’ which ended up being to read and finish Princess of Glass.

The engrossing companion novel to Princess of the Midnight Ball, with a wicked twist on Cinderella.

Hoping to escape the troubles in her kingdom, Princess Poppy reluctantly agrees to take part in a royal exchange program, whereby young princes and princesses travel to each other’s countries in the name of better political alliances—and potential marriages. It’s got the makings of a fairy tale—until a hapless servant named Eleanor is tricked by a vengeful fairy godmother into competing with Poppy for the eligible prince.

Ballgowns, cinders, and enchanted glass slippers fly in this romantic and action-packed happily-ever-after quest from an author with a flair for embroidering tales in her own delightful way.

My worries from before? Tempest in a teacup. This was a charming little tale, engaging and just what it should be, in the best way possible. While it doesn’t delve too deeply into the darker side of fairy tale lore, it does have moments of introspection on the nature of fate and right and wrong. It will please those who pick it up for its cover, and perhaps guide them to a love of myth and magic. And it will probably pleasantly surprise those who pick it up in spite of its cover (hello, prime example here!).

One of those lovely surprises was the main character. Poppy is a perfect example of ‘a girl who does things.’ She’s not passive – she’s strong, smart, and she can run her own life pretty well, thanks! She’s not stupid with her courage, but she doesn’t hesitate to say what she thinks, and it is all very, very natural. I think Poppy is quite possibly one of the most likeable heroines I’ve met in a while. We would be instant friends, I say!

However (there's always some qualifying word like 'however' in my reviews, have you noticed?) I did have a couple of minor grumbles left in me. The ending was left very tidy. I…won’t go so far as to say I HATE that, but let’s just put it around that it’s not my first choice. Subtlety is sublime. Authors, I don’t want to know how the character’s entire life will evolve, especially if your story ends while she is still in her teens. Yes, I am the girl who was a bit sad to see the Harry Potter epilogue, thanks for asking, and I’ll shut up now, no worries.

Oh, except there was that one continuity problem…and the fact that Prince Christian didn’t act much like a teenage boy (I have three younger brothers, so I may qualify as an expert on them. In some circles.). He was noble and understanding and content to hang out with the girls. You're right, I refine too much. He must be the best eighteen year old ever invented! But that’s all inconsequential, right? Especially if I can tell you (and I can, dear readers!), that these small complaints did not alter my essential enjoyment of the story. So it was cute and neat – so what! It fit my mood perfectly tonight.

Recommended for: romantics, fairy tale enthusiasts, fans of light YA fantasy, and anyone looking for a spunky girl hero.

I am reviewing this title as part of Traveling ARC Tours, and it will count for the Once Upon a Time Reading Challenge.

steamboyz week + giveaway

Welcome to another steampunk feature week! Velvet at vvb32reads (the same blogger who brought us steamPINK) is hosting SteamBoyz, an event that features young adult books with teenage boy protagonists. It runs from July 9-17, and will feature giveaways, art, reviews and more. Be sure to check to check it out.

I’m going to take part and offer a giveaway here at my blog as well.

Prize:

The Clockwork Three by Matthew Kirby (signed ARC)

AND a YA steampunk book of your choice from the list below:

Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld

The Boy with the Cuckoo-Clock Heart by Mathias Malzieu

Airborn by Kenneth Oppel

Candle Man by Glenn Dakin

Larklight by Philip Reeve

Mortal Engines by Philip Reeve

Boneshaker by Cherie Priest

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To enter:

Leave a comment answering the question, “What is the essential steampunk accessory?”

Please include a method of contact. Giveaway is open internationally. Comments will close on July 17 at 11:59pm EST, and I will notify the randomly selected winners via email.

Good luck!

identity confirmed: baking addict

Berries are summer food (fairy food) and a delicious way to take the edge off the heat. I look forward to the months when the berries are cheap, the heat calls for a juicy treat, and I get to look around the web for new recipes. I was searching specifically for a dessert that would use a lot of blueberries and yet keep pretty well. This Blueberry Almond Upside Down Cake got fantastic reviews from my friends, and made a perfect end treat for the Fourth of July weekend.

The recipe below is an adaptation of Deborah Madison’s Pear Almond Upside Down Cake from Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone. The Artsy Foodie reworked it as a tarte tatin, and that’s how I found the recipe (and altered it).

Blueberry Almond Upside Down Cake

INGREDIENTS

Fruit


3 tablespoons butter


1/2 cup brown sugar, packed

3 cups blueberries

The Cake


1/2 cup butter, at room temperature


3/4 cup granulated sugar


1 teaspoon vanilla


1/4 teaspoon almond extract
(I just added extra vanilla instead)

3 eggs at room temperature


2/3 cup blanched almonds, finely ground
(I only had regular, whole almonds, so I put them in the coffee grinder, and that worked to perfection)

1 cup flour


1 teaspoon baking powder


1/4 teaspoon salt

DIRECTIONS

Preheat the oven to 375 F. Heat the butter with the brown sugar in a 10-inch cast-iron skillet (I used my tarte tatin dish) over medium-low heat until the sugar is melted and smooth, then place blueberries in pan over low heat for 3 minutes. Remove from heat.

Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, then add the vanilla and almond extract. Beat in the eggs until smooth. Stir in the nuts, followed by the remaining dry ingredients. Spoon the batter over the fruit and smooth it out with a spatula.

Bake in the center of the oven until the cake is golden and springy, about 35 to 40 minutes, Let cool in the pan for a few minutes, then set a cake plate on top to the pan, hold tightly, and flip over. Carefully ease the pan off the cake.

Let cool to room temperature and serve with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream.

Note: If you don’t have a cast-iron skillet, a plain old baking dish will do; melt the butter and sugar in a pan, and then pour into the baking dish (round or square), skip heating the blueberries on the stove, and proceed with the recipe.

Recommended for: dessert, breakfast, tea…any time you feel like something delicious and not too sweet, but sweet enough to go with an iced coffee or tea.

a madness of angels

Most of the time my process for selecting the next book to read is very transparent, and then other times it seems mysterious. I have a couple of questions that I can’t answer about how I came to acquire and read A Madness of Angels. Where did I first see it? Who recommended it? What was it about the recommendation that caused me to finally buy it? Because I bought it off of Amazon on a whim and read it immediately. Immediately, as in it arrived in the mail at work and I started it at the bus stop. While the other 80 books in the to-read pile stared at me with reproach in their eyes.

I CAN tell you that the cover art and the title worked a bit of magic. It looked dark and fantastical and like it might just fit in for the Horns and Halos Reading Challenge. Also, though I am always skeptical when blurbs claim that the writing is ‘Gaiman-like,’ I can’t shake the desire to see if they’re right.

For Matthew Swift, today is not like any other day. It is the day on which he returns to life.

Two years after his untimely death, Matthew Swift finds himself breathing once again, lying in bed in his London home.

Except that it's no longer his bed, or his home. And the last time this sorcerer was seen alive, an unknown assailant had gouged a hole so deep in his chest that his death was irrefutable...despite his body never being found.

He doesn't have long to mull over his resurrection though, or the changes that have been wrought upon him. His only concern now is vengeance. Vengeance upon his monstrous killer and vengeance upon the one who brought him back.

Kate Griffin (an alias of Carnegie-nominated author Catherine Webb) writes a tale that is bright with vision, reeking with the scent of urban life and bustle and waste, and earsplitting with the sounds of a city’s chaos and rhythm. A Madness of Angels is mesmerizing, smart, descriptive (a bit to excess, on that score), violent, geographical and magical.

Matthew Swift (he of the ‘resurrection’) is a conundrum, even to himself. He’s unraveling both the mystery and his sanity, and the journey and chase and characters he meets on the way are the meat of the novel. But a close second is the city of London. Its secrets and byways are both the setting and an entity in and of themselves. The novel is urban fantasy in a very pure sense. It’s so tied to the geography of a particular city that I almost felt like I could take a copy with me and do an A Madness of Angels tour of London.

And the madness is catching. Shortly after finishing the book I referred to myself as “we” in front of my roommate. She was tipsy, so the explanation didn’t go over well. But…I’m not sure I can explain this book. I’ll try, though, by referring to other writers. It’s got a bit of the flavor of Charles de Lint’s urban magic, the barest taste of the absurdity of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, and it follows in the footsteps of Gaiman’s odd and wonderful London Below (in Neverwhere). Add to that a certain horror-flickiness, and you’ve just about got it.

Recommended for: fans of horror, dark urban fantasy, superb mystery and danger. Oh, and there’s some solid humor, too. In sum, quite satisfying, and definitely an adult level book. The story continues in The Midnight Mayor.

Although a rather unorthodox pick, this book counts for the Horns and Halos Reading Challenge.