Welcome to Litsy!

I can‘t believe it‘s time for May‘s #bookspin list already! Where has the year gone?

Here is yet another “slice of my bookshelves”, plus a few options for my topic bookclub: May‘s topic is a book with a map. And Advice for Future Corpses is for another bookclub.

What will @TheAromaofBooks choose for us this time?

Hmm. Intensely atmospheric. I felt like I could smell the wilderness when reading.

The lack of plot here leads me to docking points. But despite this being more of a love letter to Alaska rather than a “beauty & the beast” style story, I found myself caring about all of the characters, even through their shocking mistakes.

Found this re-telling of The Grimm' s "Six Swans" to be compelling and evocative. There was beautiful world building and Sorcha, the heroine, was strong. I found the last few chapters dragged. The fairy tale was complete so they were dedicated to completing the love story and I'm not much of a romance reader.
Still, it was good. And I think I'll take a break from fairy tales for a while.

As a mood reader craving something dark, this delivers in spades. I like retellings, even when I am not familiar with the original fairy tale. I enjoyed the writing and was surprised by the underlying narcissistic abuse, gaslighting, and resulting behaviour of those being abused. I felt it on all on a personal level and wondered if I was imagining it. The blending of the retelling, themes, and plot were quite genius, and there was humour.

What an incredible read! Although this book will not be for everyone, I personally loved it. The book explores themes of loneliness, freedom, acceptance, and love, all happening in the beautiful and often brutal natural landscape of Alaska.

The ending wasn't quite what I expected, but having reflected on it for a few days now, it really was a perfect ending for this story.

I've shelved this book dozens of times as a library staff member but watching my tween be engrossed in it and reading ahead of her assignments for school is what made me finally pick it up. Definitely left open for more titles in the series.

The princess is cursed to die by a spindle, she is stolen away & raised as ordinary. But her fairy gifts cause problems, & there is still the curse to worry about.

The scene setting is unparalleled, as I expected from McKinley, but lord the plot is glacial. I think I would have enjoyed this better as an audiobook as the writing is lush & lyrical. & I wasn‘t invested in the romance. I kept thinking Rosie & Peony should get together.🌕🌕🌕🌗🌑

What a great what if... fractured fairy tale of Frozen this was! Loved the story from beginning to end.

For the rest of my review, visit my Vlog at:

https://youtu.be/D7H-kvgTfIc

Enjoy!

A delightful, fast-paced fantasy read with characters (non-magical) you would want as IRL friends. I did not know what to expect as I haven‘t read Brother Grimm‘s Goose Girl, but there‘s quite a number of heroic geese in this one!
Fantasy isn‘t my top genre, but I‘d recommend this one to start with for sure!

#DynamicDs Day 1: In this picturebook, we find out From The Files Of A Hard-Boiled #Detective what really happened to Humpty. The main character of the story is Joe Dumpty, Humpty‘s younger brother who happens to be a #detective. Most naturally, he is keen on cracking the case of his brother, whom he feels has been pushed from that great wall. My review: https://wp.me/pDlzr-iqi