Wildwood Dancing by Juliet Marillier

If I remember correctly, this was one of the books recommended by Goodreads. And woah, were they accurate! I loved this book.

Wildwood Dancing takes place in Romania, as Jena (Jenica) and her four sisters are left alone for the winter while their father goes out to heal. During this time, a tragedy happens and their cousin Cezar, starts to exert his control over both his land and theirs.

That short summary may sound boring, but it's not. Especially if you love fairy tales like me. The book is based mainly on the 12 Dancing Princesses (but with 5 girls - maybe it's because they don't want a huge age gap? Or the O.o-ness of giving birth 12 times?) but there are pieces of other fairy tales inside. I saw a little bit of The Frog Prince, a little bit of the beginning of Beauty and the Beast (in the final meeting of Cezar, Costi and Jena) and of course, there is the Other World, full of dwarf's and fairies and vampires.

I loved the main character- Jena. She likes to think herself as practical (which she is), but she's also a bit of a romantic at heart. She cares for her siblings, and I really admire the way she took care of them the whole time. Honestly, she behaved way more like a firstborn child than the actual first born (Tati).

I didn't like Tati so much. In fact, she was my least favourite character. What kind of girl falls in love at first sight and then spends the rest of the book wasting away? (Ok, but name me one other girl within the book) The whole love-at-first-sight thing would have actually been sweet if it weren't for the fact that Tati ended up neglecting her role as the oldest sister to pine over Sorrow (her true love). Hello, your family is in the midst of a crisis, pull yourself together and help out! I was really annoyed when I found out that because of her "love", she ended up not teaching her younger sisters, leading them to think that they had done something wrong. This may be the older-sis in me talking, but really, don't be such a wimp. She almost doesn't deserve the happy ending that she gets.

Speaking of happy endings, Jena does get hers. While it's a bit unrealistic for a 15 year old girl to find a happily ever after without invoking some "..." this book manages to overcome it. That's mainly because unlike a lot of books, Jena and her love (not giving names in order to avoid spoilers) were best friends first, which would explain why their love was real. It wasn't some whirlwind romance -coughTatiandSorrowcough- it was based on friendship. Yup, you can go "awww" now.

When all's said and done, this book is fantastic. I loved (most of) the characters (and the one I didn't, well, it's just me) and the plot was fantastic. If you like fairy tales, you really need to read this book.

Grave Mercy R. L. LaFevers (ARC)

The only reason why I have a copy of this book to read is because there was a 2 day special on NetGalley. And in an interesting coincidence, I finished reading this book exactly one month before it comes out (April 3 2012).

And in a nutshell, this book was excellent! Although it was fairly long for a short story (more than 500 pages), the pages flew by quickly. The story centers around Ismae, who was rescued from what would have been (to say the least) a terrible marriage and brought to the convent of St. Mortain, the god/saint of death, and taught how to be an assassin. After about 3 years, she gets sent to court to protect the Duchess (who's slightly less than 13) and finds that the convent may not be totally correct in all matters after all.

Of course, she also falls in love with Duval. I realised that most romance plots can be divided into two main categories (there may be others, but they don't appear that often). The first one, which is infamously characterised in Twilight, is the insta-love. This also appears in other stories like Die For Me and can get cliched at times. The second one is what Ismae and Duval fall under: hate-at-first sight then love. One similar example is Interrupted (Allie spends her time arguing/insulting Sam and then they fall in love). Like the first type, it can be cliched. While Grave Mercy went perilously close to this line (into cliched territory), especially with the amount of argueing they did at first, but generally, it was a very sweet romance.

But what I liked best was the intrigued. The Duchess (to be) Anne was wonderfully portrayed. I did some reading up, and while she eventually married two French Kings, this book gave her a happier ending. She's the kind of person that has an "old soul". She's mature, but still has the vulnerability of youth, and is an extremely likable character. In fact, she's my favourite character.

Judging from the fact that his is "His Fair Assassins #1", I'm guessing that there is going to be 3 books (has this been said already?). The next one is Sybella, but I think the third book would be about Annith. But sadly, I'm going to have to wait a year for the second book and more for the third. I'm just happy that at least each story can stand as a separate novel or the wait would be unbearable.

Disclaimer: I got this book from NetGalley in exchange for a free and honest review.

Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss!

Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss! 生日快乐！誕生日おめでとう！

In honor of his birthday, here's one of my favourite quotes (I hope I haven't used it). Unfortunately, I can't quote the whole poem because that would be the whole book. Which I'm sure is somehow copyright infringement. So, here's a small quote:

"You'll get mixed up, of course,

as you already know.

You'll get mixed up

with many strange birds as you go.

So be sure when you step.

Step with care and great tact

and remember that Life's

a Great Balancing Act.

Just never forget to be dexterous and deft.

And never mix up your right foot with your left.

And will you succeed?

Yes! You will indeed!

(98 and 3/4 percent guarantted)"

This is from Oh, The Places You'll Go. Although, having been looking through past photos, this is the place where I want to go now:

This pretty little spot is called Huis Ten Bosch in Japan, and it reminds me of my Secondary 3 trip, which in turn inspires feelings of sehnsucht (a German word which according to Lewis is the "inconsolable longing" in the human heart for "we know what not")
But anyway, if you do not own a copy of Oh, The Places You'll Go, I suggest you go and buy one right now. It's a wonderful poem and has way more meaning that just a kid's poem. It was actually recited at my school prom night in honour of our graduation (and this is when I was 18), so it's really for both grown-ups and kids.

Promise Me Eternity by Ian Fox

What a difference a chapter makes. Chapter 2 of Promise Me Eternity is a normal blah introduction to the main character. Thankfully, the feeling of drama and suspense from Chapter 1 is carried over, making the book a really exciting read.

When the author Ian Fox emailed me to ask if I wanted a copy for review, I was intrigued by the promise of a gripping storyline.

The book may sound boring at first: unfulfilled neurosurgeon meets devastatingly beautiful woman, both parties are married, of course. But add in a Mafia connection and it suddenly becomes a whole lot more interesting.

Initially, Dr Patterson has the typical life of a neurosurgeon, except for the fact that he's obsessed with his research and his wife is getting impatient with their lack of money. Until one day, he saves the lives of businessman/gangster Carlo, who, out of gratefulness, invited him to his house for dinner.

The book is engaging, and I finished it relatively quickly. What I liked most were the characters. Dr Patterson is human, and that makes the events of the book plausible. That being said, most of the characters, while captivating, were really annoying people I wouldn't want to meet in real life. E.g. Helen his wife, Anita the anaesthesiologist, Jerry the assistant surgeon

Plus, there were some characters whose existence I didn't understand. What was the use of Dr Miner? He didn't have much relevancy to the main plot.... But I suppose he was needed to the twist at the end. And yes, the twist was good.

Speaking of the ending, it was good. Not a perfectly happy ending, but in the circumstances, that would have been unrealistic. But there were several characters that I thought deserved a harsher consequence :p

All in all, I like this book. It has a very strong start that created excitement and was sustained throughout the book.

Disclaimer: If you didn't read paragraph 2, then you should know that I got this book for free. The review is my own opinion though.