Strands of bronze and glod by Jane Nickerson

Merry Christmas everyone! I hope you had a great Christmas with your families and your friends and I hope you read as much as I did. I re-read this book recently! It's a great re-telling. Oh, and I'm changing my reviews. I'm not gonna separate them into topics. It's gonna be just a long boring text nobody will read.

The Bluebeard fairy tale retold. . . .

When seventeen-year-old Sophia Petheram’s beloved father dies, she receives an unexpected letter. An invitation—on fine ivory paper, in bold black handwriting—from the mysterious Monsieur Bernard de Cressac, her godfather. With no money and fewer options, Sophie accepts, leaving her humble childhood home for the astonishingly lavish Wyndriven Abbey, in the heart of Mississippi.

Sophie has always longed for a comfortable life, and she finds herself both attracted to and shocked by the charm and easy manners of her overgenerous guardian. But as she begins to piece together the mystery of his past, it’s as if, thread by thread, a silken net is tightening around her. And as she gathers stories and catches whispers of his former wives—all with hair as red as her own—in the forgotten corners of the abbey, Sophie knows she’s trapped in the passion and danger of de Cressac’s intoxicating world.

Glowing strands of romance, mystery, and suspense are woven into this breathtaking debut—a thrilling retelling of the “Bluebeard” fairy tale.

I just loved this book. There are so few retellings of the Bluebeard tale and this is the first one I read. I love fairy tale retellings. Not those modern ones like a Modern Cinderella or something like that. I love those who turn a short fairy tale into a 200-page novel.
But lets focus on this book. Firstly I love the cover. It`s one of the things that made me pick it up today. I`m kind of happy that there isn`t anything blue on it. I don`t know why. Maybe the same reason I bought a copy of The Portrait of Dorian Grey with Oscar Wilde on the cover. I told my mom then: I don`t want the cover to remind me of what`s inside the book!...Strange, huh!
Moving on. The story is set in 1855 in America, I think. I thought at first it was a modern day fairy tale, but then the heroine mentioned a bonnet and a carriage and I dismissed that though. The interesting thing about fairy tale retellings is that you know the main story and that makes you more interested in the writing style and the details than in the plot.
I always have high expectations for the heroes in a novel. The main heroine, Sophia, was not one of the best characters. I liked her curiosity though it got her into trouble. Other good trait of hers is how she is ready to help her family in any way even if it means marrying for such a monster as de Cressac and I think that's what I like the most in her. I am very fond of clever and bright heroines. Sophia was not the brightest girl I have ever read about. I always see signs in books and can sometimes predict how a book is going to end. And I`m quite irritated when the main hero or heroine can`t see those signs. I mean if Sophia was that curious and eager to find out what really happened to the other wives she would have used the keys the first time de Cressac left her alone and gave her the keys. And she saw what beast "her husband" can be at the very beginning when he found out about those love letters she had received long time ago. And he was keeping her isolated, he even hid the letters her family sent her.
As for de Cressac`s character I can`t say much. I think it was well build. Only sometimes it looked like he had schizophrenia. One minute he was good and caring and the next he was mad and full of rage. Maybe that was what the author wanted to imply.

However the book was very good and I recommend it! I hope yu read it and like it. The second re-telling by Jane Nickerson comes out 2014 and I'm hopingto get an ARC.
See ya next time with another post!

Tiger Lily by Jodi Lynn Anderson

First of all, I'm so so sorry for not posting anything for a week. I've been so busy with school and reading that I actually had no time for reviewing. And the week is not over yet. But let me start with the review.

Before Peter Pan belonged to Wendy, he belonged to the girl with the crow feather in her hair. . . .

Fifteen-year-old Tiger Lily doesn't believe in love stories or happy endings. Then she meets the alluring teenage Peter Pan in the forbidden woods of Neverland and immediately falls under his spell.

Peter is unlike anyone she's ever known. Impetuous and brave, he both scares and enthralls her. As the leader of the Lost Boys, the most fearsome of Neverland's inhabitants, Peter is an unthinkable match for Tiger Lily. Soon, she is risking everything—her family, her future—to be with him. When she is faced with marriage to a terrible man in her own tribe, she must choose between the life she's always known and running away to an uncertain future with Peter.

With enemies threatening to tear them apart, the lovers seem doomed. But it's the arrival of Wendy Darling, an English girl who's everything Tiger Lily is not, that leads Tiger Lily to discover that the most dangerous enemies can live inside even the most loyal and loving heart.

From the New York Times bestselling author of Peaches comes a magical and bewitching story of the romance between a fearless heroine and the boy who wouldn't grow up.

Tiger Lily

I always loved Peter Pan. The book, I mean, but I never really had a favourite character. Now I know that Tiget Lily is my favourite. Some of you might say: What about Wendy? Nah! Wendy was always the damsel that needed saving. Tiger Lily on the other hand is her exact oposite. She is brave and badass and all kinds of cool. I loved her story. How Tick-tock found her under a flower and brought her to the village. And that thing with the crow feathers in her hair. So good. I hated how they made her marry this awful guy. I don't even remember his name. But his mother was way worse than him. If she didn't like Tiger Lily whu did she insist on her son marrying her? I'm happy she died.

Tik-tok, Philip and some other stuff

I hated how Philip just went to the village and started talking about God and thing like that. Typical English. Trying to make the tribe Christian. He just goes there and...and...I'm just so mad at him! Not that he was  saying anything wrong, but he was behaving like some kind of God or at least that's how I see it. Tik-tok was a unique character. The way he wore dresses and he wasn't afraid that anyone would judge him. He was a great father to Tiger Lily. And then we go back to Philip. UGH! How could he make Tick-tok cut his hair and start wearing pants. That's discrimination! I was so sad when Tik-tok died. I wish Philip had died instead. I think he got what he deserved. I was so happy when this thing with the crows happend. You know when there were crows everywhere and the tribe though it was the gods. Another interesting detail was that the story about the crocodile was explained.

Hook, Smee, Peter Pan

We don't get a lot of Hook in this book, but there were a few things added to his story. There was a reason why he wanted to kill Peter. A strange reason, but still it wasn't just because Peter was there. Smee was maybe one of my most un-favourite character. He liked to kill people. Or he like to mourn the people he killed. At least that's what I got. And Smee was stalking Tiger Lily. Creepy! So, moving on! I know Peter is a main character, but I still left him for the end. He wasn't very different from his original version. Wild and fun and someone you can easyly fall in love with. I mean, who wouldn't. I can totally understand Wendy and Tinker bell and Tiger Lily and all the mermaids. And there was this little change from the original book. You know, the tribes and the lost boys were friend in the original story, but here the tribes thought Peter is some kind of monster which was a great twist to the story.

The Ending

I read a lot of review before I started the book, so I knew the ending would be sad. It wasn't that sad for me. I didn't cry or something. Sad books are a good read now and then. Of course, Peter couldn't stay in Neverland, because that would mean being with Tiger lily and we all now that just couldn't happen. So he went to London and married Wendy. And the lost boys stood up at their wedding. I can imagine Peter walking the streets of London already grown up and thinking about the past. About the pirates and the meramids and Tiger lily and the horses. If I was a painter I could have drawn it, but I'm not a good artist so I can't, but I know they will invent a mind reading machine some day and I'll be able to see it. OK I'm kidding! Back to the book. The letter was just too sad. And I was on the verge of crying. Now about Tiger lily's end. I loved it. It was happy. Well, almost happy. She got to marry and had children and I guess she was happy. She didn't love  Pine Sap the same way she loved Peter, but as Peter said himself: There are diffrent kinds of love. And she stayed fifteen forever. I don't know if that's a burden. Probably! Staying fifteen while your daughter and your husband grow old.

Tinker Bell

I saved Tink for the last. I never expected the story to be from her point of view, but it was very interesting this way. That way I saw more of te story not only Tiger Lily and her adventures. Also that way we don't get to know what the characters think and feel and that makes it even more cool and mysterious. I liked that we get to learn about fairies too.

I guess that's it! Ths book was so magical and beautiful and sad. I want to go to Neverland and hunt and run and just be free and a child again. Well, I'm not a grown up yet, but I'm not a child either.
I'll see ya next time!

For Darkness Shows the Stars by Diana Peterfreund

OK, so time to review one of my favourite books of all time.

 It's been several generations since a genetic experiment gone wrong caused the Reduction, decimating humanity and giving rise to a Luddite nobility who outlawed most technology.

Elliot North has always known her place in this world. Four years ago Elliot refused to run away with her childhood sweetheart, the servant Kai, choosing duty to her family's estate over love. Since then the world has changed: a new class of Post-Reductionists is jumpstarting the wheel of progress, and Elliot's estate is foundering, forcing her to rent land to the mysterious Cloud Fleet, a group of shipbuilders that includes renowned explorer Captain Malakai Wentforth--an almost unrecognizable Kai. And while Elliot wonders if this could be their second chance, Kai seems determined to show Elliot exactly what she gave up when she let him go.

But Elliot soon discovers her old friend carries a secret--one that could change their society . . . or bring it to its knees. And again, she's faced with a choice: cling to what she's been raised to believe, or cast her lot with the only boy she's ever loved, even if she's lost him forever.

Inspired by Jane Austen's Persuasion, For Darkness Shows the Stars is a breathtaking romance about opening your mind to the future and your heart to the one person you know can break it.

Jane Austen:

I can begin to tell you how much I love Jane Austen! I have been in love with her novels since I read Pride and Prejudice! Alas, I'm the only person who loves her in my family. My relatives think Jane Austen writes girly books and that that kind of literature is not good enough for  their tastes. But enough on my relatives. I haven't read Persuasion yet. It's the only Austen novel I haven't read. Shame on me! But this book has been on my shelf for ages and I'm very happy I picked it up!

Reading:

I have been having trouble sleeping these days so after I woke up at 4 AM this morning I decided to start this book. And I loved it. (I think I said that already! Several times!) It's a very fast read. It took me around 4 hours to read it. And I was tire and sleepy.

World:

The book is set in a dystopian world. In the future after The reduction there are now two races of people. The Ludite aka. the great, good and rich and The Reduce- their slaves, servants, workers. So mainly before the Reduction the Reducted wanted to improve themselfs so they started making themselfs better body parts and new eyes, you get it. Right? But a group of people refused to improve themselfs. That group were the Ludite. But the improvements went too far and the people who were improved became very disorientated. You can call it stupid, too! So the Ludite became the masters and the Reduced- their slaves. But The genes of The Reduced started getting normal again and the new generations became cleverer and cleverer. Those were the so called Children of The Reduction. They are the same as Ludite generations, they can think and speak and they are normal. Like you and me! (Well, technically I'm not normal!) But The Children of The Reduction were discriminated. So that's the world where the story is set. I explained it because for people who haven't read the book it will be easier to understand it if they read this first!

Elliot North:

I loved Elliot. Firstly, if you have read Persuasion youu have already noticed the name similarity Anne Elliot/ Elliot. Then Ellliot was a working girl. She took care for everything after her mother died. She could live in the same house with her sister and father without killing them. (Something I wouldn't have been able to do!) And she wanted to leave and see the world with Kai, but she stayed. Because she is responsible and she puts other people's needs before herself. And she broke the law. She experimented on the seeds so there could be food so her friend and family and the other Reduced won't die.

Kai:

Kai was an enjoyable character. Of course, I was very anoyed with hima at times. I just wanted to shout at him: Can you see she still loves you? And you love her. Don't try to hide it. Just freaking tell her. But in the end everything was alright. Kai became himself again and it was hreat.

The Ending and a little before that:

This is the moment weh I say how much I hate Elliot's father. He was so mean and selfish and the only thing he ever thought about were money and himself. And sometimes about how to entertain himself. But I think I have mixed feeling about him, because on the other hand he wasn't broughtup to be a leader. They just thaught him how to be a party boy. I was just so mad at him after Elliot's grandpa died and he left that will. But as always Elliot did the right thing. She made  a bargain with Tatiana, her also annoying sister. And again Elliot proves to be a working girl and makes not one, but two masions wealthy. Now moving on to The Ending. It was so great! I loved it. Sailing away to see the world and to find other survivors.

Ro:

And how couldn't I mention Ro. She was alovely little thing. I think she was example that the Redused are not brainless. She was actually clever. She couldn't speak or write or read, but how can anyone be sure what she is thinking. Maybe she is cleverer than all of them. And the moment when they re-named her to Tommorow was...was..well, I actually have no word for it.

So I think that's it. If there's anybody reading this blog, please comment.