Tiny Reviews: Enchanted & The Silver Bowl

Enchanted by Alethea Kontis

I was really expecting to love this book more than I did. It was perfectly nice and at points I really did enjoy it, but it just wasn't amazing like I was expecting it to be.

The integration of various fairy tales was fun and probably my favorite part of the book. The whole set up of all the different characters and their allusions to fairy tales and unique spins on those stories took up a lot of the pages and was interesting to read.

But, it felt more like a whole lot of description and background and not a whole lot of substance with the here and now story. I'm a reader who loves background stories, so I was mostly ok with this, but every once in a while I'd come up for air and realize I didn't have a cohesive story or characters I could really latch onto and care about. 

There was also a kind of overdone vibe that made me feel bogged down, but I can't pinpoint what it was exactly. That's sort of strange to say because I flew through the book, but it almost felt like I was under a fairy tale spell myself, compulsively reading until I finally finished and could surface again. Usually that's a good thing, but for some reason it felt sort of suffocating.

I'm still interested in reading the sequel, but it's on the back burner for now.

Library book
Rating: 3.5 out of 5

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The Silver Bowl by Diane Stanley

Another one I had high hopes for (not least of which because the sequels have beautiful covers), and another one that let me down. It's very middle grade, which can be fine but in this case made it feel boring and young.

I never fully connected with the main character, though there was nothing particularly wrong with her. The story was interesting, but nothing stood out and made me feel...much of anything.

Probably a good choice for younger readers who like historical fantasy, but it didn't leave enough of an impression on me.

Library
Rating: 3 out of 5

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Spotlight List: 2012 Books I Can't Wait to Read

2012 Books I Can't Wait to Read

We book lovers are always looking ahead, aren't we? Whether I'm waiting on my Wednesdays or obsessively adding books to my TBR (even when they are nothing more than a tiny sort-of blurb), I can't seem to help but look toward the future.

It was really hard making this list because most of the books I am most desperately waiting for don't even have covers yet.

*cough* Queen of Glass *cough* Poison *cough* Sorrow's Knot *cough* Shadow & Bone *cough* Edgling *cough* Skylark *cough* The Darkest Minds *cough*

Whew, is it dusty in here? Ahem, where was I? Oh, yeah, I'm way too much of a visual person to post about a book without a cover. Yep. So here are five books I can't wait to read that DO have covers.

Enchanted by Alethea Kontis
Release Date: May 8, 2012
Publisher: Harcourt Children's Books
Pages: 320
Goodreads Page

This is a retelling of The Frog Prince, and you know how I feel about fairy tale retellings! SO CAN'T WAIT! I doesn't look like it's exactly hate-turned-love, but there do seem to be some obstacles to their romance (and not in the "Oh, I'm too dangerous for you!" sense either). The "twisted secrets" in both of their pasts sound extra intriguing.

But really, what it all boils down to is: Fairy tale retelling = Give me that book! It's as simple as that.

Dark Companion by Marta Costa
Release Date: June 2012
Publisher: Tor
Pages: 368
Goodreads Page

Let's see...

Boarding school? Yes!
Hot guys? Yes!
A headmistress with secrets? Yes!
Mysteriously disappearing students and faculty? Yes!

I am a sucker for books like this. I'm not really sure if Dark Companion is paranormal, Gothic, or contemporary, but as long as it has those features, I will read it.

Glamorous Illusions by Lisa T. Bergren
Release Date: June 1, 2012
Publisher: David C. Cook
Pages: 496
Goodreads Page

I'm actually a little scared to read Glamorous Illusions. I am so insanely in love with Lisa's River of Time series, and I can't imagine much living up to that level of awesome.

But even if Glamorous Illusions is only half as good as River of Time, that's still pretty darn good. It already has a prettier cover, so points for that!

Besides, it has an historical setting, secrets, family, a journey, and romance--all things Lisa is a pro at writing.

Vessel by Sarah Beth Durst
Release Date: September 11, 2012
Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry books
Pages: 320
Goodreads Page

The blurb had me at "In a desert land where serpents made of unbreakable glass fly through the sky and wolves made of only sand hunt within storms..." 

How cool does THAT sound?! I'm already hooked on the imagery. And, speaking of imagery, that cover is amazing. Plus, it's high fantasy and I'm sensing the world building will be awesome!

I haven't read a book by Sarah Beth Durst yet (despite having several on my TBR), but everything I've heard has been fantastic.

The Hunt by Andrew Fukuda
Release Date: May 8, 2012
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
Pages:304
Goodreads Page

*sigh* I love it when a guy pursues a girl. Now, ok, Gene is pursuing this girl because he's trying to hunt her down and feed her to his comrades (who don't realize he's a human too), but, whatever, that still works for me.

Because, you know, HE isn't going to chow down on people. Probably. And if that cover is any indication, I'm sensing Gene and this girl will start a rebellion against the human-eating overlords.

The whole cover and blurb scream fast-paced book with fighting, running, and romance. Yes, sign me up for that!

Of course this is only a teeny tiny glimpse at the 2012 books I can't wait to read. I didn't even include any sequels (because that would be a whole 'nother list!)


How about you? What books are you impatiently waiting to read in 2012?

Want to see more Spotlight Lists? 
Click HERE to see more of my lists

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