So Silver Bright Animated Trailer & Link to Contest

Evening Fellow Bookworms!!!

Lisa Mantchev, Author of the Theatre Illuminata trilogy, has announced the release of a animated book trailer for SO SILVER BRIGHT her latest book. Check it out below!!!

 If this trailer has piqued your interest have a look-see: So Silver Bright

In honour of the release of her animated clip Lisa is holding a contest with awesome goodies to give away. Check it out at So Silver Bright Contest.

Go Forth & Good Luck!!

Book Review: The Thirteenth Princess by Diane Zahler

My name is Zita, and I am the thirteenth of thirteen princesses. My twelve sisters have become the subject of legend, even in farway kingdoms, but I am sure that you have never heard of me.

Another tale for lovers of Fairy Tales with a fresh twist.

Zita works in the kitchen with the palace cook and is known for baking delicious pastries but anyone who'd look at her would not consider her more than a palace maid. With flaming curly hair and green eyes, you wouldn't think she was related to the pale blond & blue eyed beauties, the princesses of King Arician & Queen Amara. Being the 13th and last born girl in a long line of daughters of a king who only wanted sons, she was named Zita after the patron Saint of Servants. Blamed for the death of her mother in child birth, Zita was disowned and banished to the servant quarters, away from the sight of the King.

As Zita grows older and learns of her past, she is secretly welcomed among her sisters with open arms and for one night a week, with the help of a forgotten dumbwaiter, can spend time in the company of her sisters freely. Shortly after Zita's birthday her all of her sisters are suddenly stricken down with a strange sickness. Weak and sickly pale, the princesses do not eat & sleep away the day. Only Zita has noticed their dancing slippers worn away each morning.

With the help of Babette the witch, the stable boy Breckin & Milek the soldier, Zita must face her fears & find away to save her sisters from a strong mysterious enchantment that is killing them.

Not a bad re-telling of an old Brothers Grimm fairy tale The 12 Dancing Princesses from author Diane Zahler. It has magic, romance, revenge & redemption. A good read, with a surprising climax.

Note: If you like this book or are a fan of the original tale try Juliet Marillier's Wildwood Dancing, an old favourite of mine.

Pages: 243 pages.

Book Review: The Undrowned Child by Michelle Lovric

Where's our Studious Son? Who's our Lost Daughter?
Our Undrowned Child plucked from the water,
Who shall save us from a Traitor's tortures?
That secret's hidden in the old Bone Orchard.

The Undrowned Child by Michelle Lovric is unlike any other book I have previously read. It is a book full of historically interesting facts about Venice with a fantastical twists but also includes a wide variety of colourful characters, human and not human.

The story is set in 1899 & is told from the viewpoint of the two main characters; Teodora (aka Teo) a girl from Naples & Lorenzo (aka Renzo) a boy from Venice. My first impression is that the story is very heavy for a child. The book covers everything from death to betrayal to racial discrimination to violent/bloody battle scenes to evil revenge centuries old. It's definitely not a lighthearted child's fairy tale.

The book begins with tragedy as generations of a single family drown in the Venice lagoon one fog filled night under mysterious-magical circumstances and of the baby whose body was never found...

Fast forward to "present day" and Venice is under threat of destruction. The best scientists from around the world are being sent to Venice in the hope they can figure out way to save the drowning city scientifically. Teo is the bookish daughter of two such scientists and a visit to Venice seems like a dream come true but it all turns into  nightmare from the moment a book called The Key to the Secret City falls on her head.

As the lines of an old prophecy begin to come true, Teo, with the help of a local Venice boy called Renzo, must find a way to save the city from an ancient enemy and travel throughout Venice encountering many strange/wonderful creatures. One of which are mermaids who talk like sailors & have a love of spices. The mermaids were one of my favourites and often gave comedic relief in this dark story.

If you want to read something new and unlike any other story you have read before, give this dark tale a go.

P.S. At the end of the story the author has included facts about the history Venice and where you can find places you read of in the book. It might surprise you to learn what was actually true...

Pages: 396 pages

Book Review: Magic Under Glass by Jaclyn Dolamore

"It's beautiful." Fascination replaced fear, and I ran my fingertip along the automaton's sleeve. The velvet was nearly as soft as a rabbit's fur, and beneath it traced the line of a metallic skeleton.

We find our heroine Nimira (Nim) dancing & singing as a "trouser girl" on a dank music hall for a living in New Sweeling. Nim was once the daughter of a privileged family in the court of Tiansher but after her mother, a favourite in the Royal Court Troupe, died everything changed for the worst and Nimira set sail leaving everything behind to seek her fortune.When she catches the eye of dashing sorcerer Hollin Parry, he offers her an escape from her dreary existence but at what cost?

In return for a home, new clothes & food in her belly Nim must sing in accompaniment to an Automan, a fairy-made clockwork man who plays a pianoforte when wound up with a key.

Large brown eyes stared glassily ahead from a finely crafted face, its lips shut and perked in a smile. I nearly believed it could come to life with the slightest provocation. Soft brown hair framed its forehead and cheekbones, with delicate ears poking out, and the rest drawn back at his neck into a blue satin bow.

Sounds easy right? As the story continues you find that the Automan is infamous in the Parry household for being haunted and that previously hired female singers have often not lasted longer than a day or two in its presence. If a haunted Automan wasn't enough, she also has to contend with Miss Rashten, a keeper of dark secrets hidden in the manor that makes her disapproval of Nim very clear and Mr Smollings, the new creepy Ambassador of Magic, who has more than keen interest in the Automan & Parry household. Does Nim have the courage to discover the truth?

Once I picked up and started reading the book I got sucked right in. Lovers of enchantments, fairies & hidden secrets will love this book. You can't help but admire Nim for her determination & courage through the course of the story. I hope that there is a sequel coming out soon, as the ending left it open to the possibility of a further adventure.

P.S. The characters I imagined as I read the book looked nothing like the ones on the front cover... I guess the illustrator didn't really read the book =-p

Pages: 225 pages

Book Review: Some Girls - My Life in a Harem by Jill Lauren

Thought I'd take a break from the supernatural & fantasy genre. And WOW did I ever!!!

Jillian Lauren's book "Some Girls" looks into her life as a modern day Harem Girl. If you're thinking I Dream of Jeannie stylized fantasies be prepared for a rude awakening.

Jill was a normal teenage girl who has gone through the typical angst & rebellious stage everyone else goes through, wanting more out of life that what she already had. The choices Jill makes during the course of her story eventually takes her away from everything she has ever known and lands her in what she first thinks is paradise compared to her usual everyday life. Little does she know that it's not all about filthy rich princes, fast cars, gorgeous jewelery, luxurious surroundings & jet setting overseas for outrageous shopping sprees.

“I fell victim to Stockholm Syndrome,” Lauren writes. “I knew I was a hooker, but somehow I felt like Cinderella.”

Vying for the attention of a prince who is charming & handsome,if emotionally unavailable, Jill finds herself in a gilded cage where there is no such thing as friends, only allies & enemies. How much of herself is Jill willing to trade up to get what she wants? Is anything worth giving up her freedom? Her humanity? Her sanity?

If you want a sugar coated fairy tale this is not your book. But if you are curious as to what it's like on the other side, what it truly takes. When you have well and truly crossed some lines in pursuit of something might seem unattainable, then read this book.

Jill's memoir funny, sexy, heart breaking, outrageous & full of feeling.

Truly an extraordinary story that you don't come across very often... Once you've read Some Girls you will never forget it.

-MystGrrl

Book Pages Total: 339 pages

Book Review: The Goose Girl by Shannon Hale

"Hear the trees a-listening, feel the fire whispering. See the wind a-telling me all the forest dreams."

I am a great lover of Folklore & Fairy Tales, ever since I was a little girl. So if I see a old tale with a fresh new twist I will usually end up reading it and The Goose Girl by Shannon Hale was no exception.

Now the main character of this book is called Anidori-Kiladra Talianna Isilee (Ani for short), Crown Princess of Kildenree and for the first third of the book you end up just wanting to slap her every time she utters a "Ah, yes" or "Um, thank you".

Sheltered by her father & heavily criticized by her mother, Ani is estranged to all (including her siblings) except her nursemaid aunt who fills her head with folktales of people who can speak with nature & lady-in-waiting called Selia who has a gift for getting her way. Ani has as much back bone as a limp noodle, is as meek as a mouse and beyond naive, so you think it would be hard to sympathize with her but a small part of you will. The ultimate royal misfit, Ani's only talent is a firm grasp on bird linguistics and a strange affinity with the element of air, which alienates her even more from her fellow peers & brands her as a bit loopy in country which does not tolerate the magical/unexplainable.

But that's not the end of her troubles. Following the tragedy of her father's unexpected death she finds herself replaced as the heir of the Kingdom by her younger brother & shipped off to marry a prince from a neighboring Kingdom of Bayern, who she has never met, in the hopes this alliance will prevent invasion or, in a worse case scenario, war. Before Ani gets halfway to Bayern she finds herself a victim of identity theft as Selia convinces the dodgy half of the royal escort party to crown her princess instead, kill Ani & marry the prince herself.

"You, what are you? The brat of lucky parents who were related to childless king. There is no such thing as royal blood."

What happens next you will have to read for yourself to find out but you will not be disappointed. As the story of Ani progresses you'll see her grow in confidence & character, finding friendship, love & acceptance where she least expects it. The book is filled with colourful characters, goodhearted humor, dangereous battle and you go from almost despising Ani to cheering her on towards the end of the book.

It's addictive & you will not want to put it down until you find out what happens in the end.

Pages Total: 383 pages
Series: Books of Bayern.
Other Novels in the Books of Bayern Series: Enna Burning, River Secrets & Forest Born.
Other Novels by Author : Book of a Thousand Days & Princess Academy.