ARC Book Review: Wendy Darling: Stars

Wendy Darling: Stars by Colleen Oakes
Published: October 13th 2015 by SparkPress
Source: NetGalley
Format: eBook
Rating: 5 out of 5

Summary:
From the Best-Selling Author of Queen of Hearts comes a dark and mesmerizing twist on the beloved Children's Classic, Peter Pan.

Wendy Darling has a perfectly agreeable life with her parents and brothers in wealthy London, as well as a budding romance with Booth, the neighborhood bookseller’s son. But while their parents are at a ball, the charmingly beautiful Peter Pan comes to the Darling children’s nursery and—dazzled by this flying boy with god-like powers—they follow him out of the window and straight on to morning, to Neverland, a intoxicating island of feral freedom.

As time passes in Neverland, Wendy realizes that this Lost Boy’s paradise of turquoise seas, mermaids, and pirates holds terrible secrets rooted in blood and greed. As Peter’s grasp on her heart tightens, she struggles to remember where she came from—and begins to suspect that this island of dreams, and the boy who desires her—have the potential to transform into an everlasting nightmare.

Review:
I love Peter Pan. When I was a child (not that long ago, I'm 18), I had an embarrassing crush on him which is why I am totally obsessed with the idea of a Peter Pan story told through the eyes of Wendy. I want to fall in love with Peter all over again and see the magical Neverland. Let's just say, I got everything I wanted AND SO MUCH MORE. Wendy Darling: Stars is a dark retelling of Peter Pan that will surprise everyone.

If the stars above saw what I felt for you, they would pour out their wonders...

Peter Pan. Oh Peter. You beautiful, cruel boy. Wendy is drawn to Peter. His wicked smile promises adventure and freedom that she's missing from her life. Peter has a God complex because of the Lost Boys. They praise him for allowing them to stay in his kingdom of endless fun. Slowly Wendy realizes that Neverland isn't as perfect as it seems. It is violent and dark. Twelve year old boys kill pirates for a drink of alcohol. I found myself slowly falling into Peter Pan's trap along with Wendy throughout the book. He is charming and mysterious. I was so caught up in the feels for Peter that I never expected the game he played with everyone's mind. When I reached the dark twist of the book, my jaw dropped because I GOT PLAYED. Peter Pan is a convincing manipulative character. His love is addicting but dangerous and predatory. I was able to see the horrifying reality of Neverland that I was naive to believe in my entire life.

I knew I was bound for something different. Something better. I was meant to rule the stars, not gaze at them from under our poverty.

Details of every scene. I feel like a good portion of the book is descriptions of the setting and every action that happens. Usually I hate books that have too much description because I want to get straight to the story but it's different here. The author fed the readers' childhood desires of going to Neverland. I was able to perfectly imagine what Neverland looked and felt like from the details. It made everything more realistic and filled me with more passion in every scene because I felt like I was Wendy. I felt the luring of the mermaids' songs and felt the heart racing excitement of fighting pirates. I just want to applaud the author because the book is beautifully written and utilizes imagery to the max. If I could describe Wendy Darling in one word it would be: Wanderlust.

Even the light here was different, she marveled— it was as if every particle of light had been brushed with gold, giving a hazy glow to everything it touched.

Tinkerbell. There's no Peter Pan without Tinkerbell. I think everyone can agree that Tink and Peter have an intense relationship. Tinkerbell is one of the darkest parts of the book. She's the last fairy of Neverland and is totally devoted to Peter. You can imagine how she feels when Wendy comes in and disrupts her haven. This obsessive love turns the fairy crazed and violent.

He is the sun and the moon and everything in between.

SO MUCH ENERGY. I have never read a book with as much energy as this one. The energy just kept building with every page turn. My breath was stuck in my throat and I spent the last half of the book constantly dropping my jaw. The ending left me in terror. I also let out a scream at that cliffhanger. I am so excited for to learn more about the character at the end in the next sequel!!

I promise you energy and passion from this book. However, I admit the heart pumping energy doesn't exactly start until 50% into the book. The beginning is basically hyping up the crowd with the magic and beauty in Neverland. I still enjoyed it a lot because I'm all for swooning after Peter Pan and wanted to explore Neverland. But the dark portion of the book that I know most people are looking forward to doesn't start until halfway into the book. IT'S STILL A REALLY GOOD BOOK THOUGH. I know you will love it. It's worth it.

Overall, I love Wendy Darling: Stars and it is a new favorite. I will definitely buy this book when it COMES OUT ON OCTOBER 13, 2015. I recommend this book to everyone. It will cause you emotional pain and also an adrenaline rush. Prepare yourselves because you will be visiting Neverland and all its terrifying yet exciting promises in this book.

Book Review: The Wrath and the Dawn

The Wrath and the Dawn by Renee Ahdieh
Published:  May 12th 2015 by G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers
Format: Hardcover
Rating: 4.5 out of 5

Summary:
One Life to One Dawn.

In a land ruled by a murderous boy-king, each dawn brings heartache to a new family. Khalid, the eighteen-year-old Caliph of Khorasan, is a monster. Each night he takes a new bride only to have a silk cord wrapped around her throat come morning. When sixteen-year-old Shahrzad's dearest friend falls victim to Khalid, Shahrzad vows vengeance and volunteers to be his next bride. Shahrzad is determined not only to stay alive, but to end the caliph's reign of terror once and for all.

Night after night, Shahrzad beguiles Khalid, weaving stories that enchant, ensuring her survival, though she knows each dawn could be her last. But something she never expected begins to happen: Khalid is nothing like what she'd imagined him to be. This monster is a boy with a tormented heart. Incredibly, Shahrzad finds herself falling in love. How is this possible? It's an unforgivable betrayal. Still, Shahrzad has come to understand all is not as it seems in this palace of marble and stone. She resolves to uncover whatever secrets lurk and, despite her love, be ready to take Khalid's life as retribution for the many lives he's stolen. Can their love survive this world of stories and secrets?

Inspired by A Thousand and One Nights, The Wrath and the Dawn is a sumptuous and enthralling read from beginning to end.

Review:
I’m going to be perfectly honest with you and say that I do not know how to review The Wrath and the Dawn. This book blew me away so much that I didn’t even notice where it took me until I reached the end and realized that my life will never be the same. A whole new standard has been made. Nothing short of throwing the book in your face and screaming “READ THIS” will do The Wrath and the Dawn justice. Or maybe I’ll throw it softly at your face, letting you catch it and feel satisfied, before I punch you in the face BECAUSE THAT’S WHAT I FELT HAPPEN TO ME. It started as a soft blow that suddenly tore up my heart with its lyrical writing.

The thing is Khalid probably feels the same way I do. The only way to describe Shahrzad is that she’s a force. She’s unlike any other female character I’ve ever read. There’s so many powerful female protagonist out there but Shahrzad stands out. She’s unique.  She’s insecure yet confident. She’s all these things that you can’t quite know her exactly; which is what drew Khalid to her. He can’t explain why but he knows he wants her. He knows she must be in his life. This tortured soul wants to have a touch of light in his life even though he doesn’t deserve it. And before he knew it, he was invested in this plague of a girl.

For nothing, not the sun, not the rain, not even the brightest star in the darkest sky, could begin to compare to the wonder of you.

I’ve read so many books with cold-hearted turned good guys. And I admit, I have a type. I enjoy those kind of boy characters, it’s enjoyable. I was expecting Khalid to be this kind of boy but I was wrong. Khalid is so different. I don't even think he turned totally good at the end. He's a man of many faults but becomes better because of Shahrzad. This relationship didn’t go from hatred to love in a few pages. Khalid was uneasy to put himself fully into the relationship. I’m so obsessed with the dialogue. His lines starts off subtle as he tries to sort out his feelings, to sweet and heartbreaking. They didn’t come off as cheesy or eye-roll worthy. It was natural. I wish I could write the entire book in my quote notebook.

“And how will you know when you’ve found this elusive someone?” Shahrzad retorted.
“I suspect she will be like air. Like knowing how to breathe.”

Even with the book's magical writing, I admit it was hard to connect to. I remember reading the first half and thinking, “I know this is a good book, it’s easy to read and flows well, but for some reason I can’t get a feel for it. I can’t decide if I like it.” I kept thinking I can’t decide until I reached about the last 100 pages of the book. This part shines out to me the most and is what made me love it. It pulled the whole book together. The story got exciting and felt like a fire was lit inside me. I got emotionally involved and made me confident to ship Khalid and Shahrzad.

I am so excited for the sequel, The Rose and the Dagger. I can’t wait to see where the relationship goes. There’s (unfortunately? I can’t decide.) a love triangle with a childhood friend named Tariq. But I can’t decide how I feel about him. I liked him in the beginning but started get annoyed at the end, however, that might have been because I started to like Khalid A LOT and didn’t like that Tariq was getting in the way. I am looking forward to learning more about Tariq so that I can make a more firm decision. Though I doubt I can ship Tariq after THE ENDING. It broke my heart. The book leaves off on one of the best cliffhangers EVER. PLEASE READ THIS BOOK!!

Sorry that there hasn't been much going on on my blog! If you didn't know, I started college on Thursday and am scrambling to find time to write reviews. For those of you who are in school or have a job, how do you put aside time to write reviews?
I WILL be trying to post more reviews soon. I just finished Wendy Darling: Stars and I LOVE IT. I am looking forward to writing that review and can't wait for you to read it! Hopefully it will be posted soon. :) You can always find me on Twitter (@booknadventure) to find out what I'm doing and probably my struggles in college. See you soon!

Book Review: Beastkeeper

I present to you for this week's Middle Grade Monday: Beastkeeper, a Beauty and the Beast retelling in which the Beast is the girl and fairytale rules are broken. I bolded the line in the summary that won me over. I was second guessing the book before but I was intrigued by that line. 

Beastkeeper by Cat Hellisen
Published: February 3rd 2015 by Henry Holt and Co. (BYR)
Source: Library
Format: eBook
Rating: 4 out of 5

Summary:
Sarah has always been on the move. Her mother hates the cold, so every few months her parents pack their bags and drag her off after the sun. She’s grown up lonely and longing for magic. She doesn’t know that it’s magic her parents are running from.

When Sarah’s mother walks out on their family, all the strange old magic they have tried to hide from comes rising into their mundane world. Her father begins to change into something wild and beastly, but before his transformation is complete, he takes Sarah to her grandparents—people she has never met, didn’t even know were still alive.

Deep in the forest, in a crumbling ruin of a castle, Sarah begins to untangle the layers of curses affecting her family bloodlines, until she discovers that the curse has carried over to her, too. The day she falls in love for the first time, Sarah will transform into a beast . . . unless she can figure out a way to break the curse forever. 

Review:
Sarah's life is good. Her parents love each other and they absolutely adore her. She likes that her parents are different. They aren't tied down by money and see no reason to buy fancy cars or big houses. She's been moving around all her life for a reason she doesn't necessarily understand but has accepted. Sarah's gotten used to moving and can even predict the exact day her parents will pack up from the geometry of dandelion seeds' flight in the air. Everything is good. Until the day her mom walks out. The shock is so big that the only reason Sarah can come up with is: the cold. Her dad becomes depressed. He stops talking, stop taking care of Sarah, and forgets to eat. This is where the beauty starts. The magic of the book is tied with the dark elements. 

She lost her mother to the cold and the winds, and now her father was also lost, lost to some strange sickness that ate away the inside of his head until he wasn't anything like her father at all, just a beast wearing his skin like a coat.

The writing is gorgeous. I loved how the author presented real problems as magic. Depression being her father's transformation and the cold as a symbol of a relationship without love. This book is dark. It's about unhappily ever afters. It tells the story of how jealousy turns into a big game of revenge that got so passionate it became impossible to end. Beastkeeper shows the realistic side of fairy tales. Where people's dreams are the worst thing that could happen to them. Where people fall in love with the image of true love but not with the actual person. It's about the dark side of human nature. The author calls out these conditions and intertwines it with magic. THIS IS MY MOST FAVORITE PART.

It was a jolt.
A strange moment when the world stayed exactly the same, and changed forever.
It felt like an invisible firework.
And Sarah's bones shifted just the slightest bit under her skin.

Since this is a middle grade book there's no big emphasis on romance for the protagonist. But the summary obviously promises you something, I mean that's the big part of the story. This curse looms over Sarah's head. If I could describe this book in one word, it would be bittersweet. Sarah sees the ugliness of humans and deals with it like a brave little girl. It is amazing and SO BEAUTIFUL. I can't emphasize how beautiful this book is!

This is a book about the cruelty of loyalty, love, and forgiveness. I highly recommend this to everyone. It's NOT your usual happily ever all but has the satisfaction of fairy tales and retellings.

If you did/do read this amaaaazing book but get a little confused at the curse (which no shame, because I was too), the author wrote a short prequel online HERE.
It's about the story of Igna and Freya falling in love and how everything went downhill.