Title: Plain Kate

Author: Erin Bow

Publisher: Arthur A. Levine Books
Publication Date: September 2010
Hardcover: 336 pages

Plain Kate lives in a world of superstitions and curses, where a song can heal a wound and a shadow can work deep magic. As the wood-carver’s daughter, Kate held a carving knife before a spoon, and her wooden talismans are so fine that some even call her “witch-blade”: a dangerous nickname in a country where witches are hunted and burned in the square.

For Kate and her village have fallen on hard times. Kate’s father has died, leaving her alone in the world. And a mysterious fog now covers the countryside, ruining crops and spreading fear of hunger and sickness. The townspeople are looking for someone to blame, and their eyes have fallen on Kate.

Enter Linay, a stranger with a proposition: In exchange for her shadow, he’ll give Kate the means to escape the angry town, and what’s more, he’ll grant her heart’s wish. It’s a chance for her to start over, to find a home, a family, a place to belong. But Kate soon realizes she can’t live shadowless forever — and that Linay’s designs are darker than she ever dreamed.

Stand alone or series: Stand alone

How did we get this book: We both got signed ARCs at BEA.

Why did we get this book: We went to the YA Buzz Editor’s panel at BEA and Erin Bow was one of the panelists, when she started talking about her book, we both started foaming at the mouth to get it. About half an hour later, we are walking around the signings session and lo and behold: Plain Kate! Erin Bow! THERE! So we just got in line and got us lovely copies.

Review:

First Impressions:

Ana: I came away from BEA in May with about 100 books in my suitcase and I can honestly say that Plain Kate was my most anticipated read out of the bunch after I saw the author speaking at one of the panels. We often say here at The Book Smugglers’ HQ that sometimes having that much expectation works against a book, as unfair as it is. I think this is at work here, at least in my case: I loved many, many things about Plain Kate: the writing, the setting, the main characters, and it is really, a very good book but ultimately I felt strangely underwhelmed and somewhat disappointed that it wasn’t as good as I hoped.

Thea: As Ana says, Plain Kate was a total surprise at BEA. I hadn’t heard of the author nor a peep about the book, but when we heard Erin Bow read a passage aloud, I instantly knew I had to get a copy. And you know what? I walked away from Plain Kate feeling emotionally worn, but immensely satisfied. For me, the book lived up to my expectations, and then some. I loved this book.

On the plot:

Ana: What I liked the most about Plain Kate was the atmospheric medieval Russian setting and the evocative, beautiful prose which combined to give the book a distinct flavouring, a feeling that the reader is taking part in one of those old tales. To start with, the story is extremely inviting, welcoming even, as the tale of Plain Kate unfolds. From her relationship with her father, then with the village and its support (or lack) system, from her pride on the fact that she was one of the best wood-carvers that there was even though she was not officially part of a guild; to the increasing fear of witchery and what happens to people who let fear dictate their actions. Had the story followed this pattern and had Kate’s story gradually develop on its own, it would have been awesome, I think.

But soon enough, after Kate meets the witch Linay and makes a Faustian deal with him, it becomes clear that Plain Kate is at its core a Revenge story, the Revenge is what moves the plot along but because the Revenge is to be exacted by someone OTHER than Kate it is as though the story suddenly moves its focus and the main character becomes a supporting character of her own story (but more on that further down).

I did find the story itself interesting (and I love the idea of how important one’s shadow is) even though not necessarily original but I liked its uncompromising darkness. Although the execution of the plot was not flawless and I counted at least two instances of Extreme Coincidence to move it along. I would say that the first part of the novel was my favourite, then it lags a bit in the middle and it picks a bit again towards the ending which makes for a very uneven read.

It also needs to be said that I LOVED the fact that there is no romance in sight, none, zero. It is all about Kate and her friends and enemies and that the ending was a happy as it could be given the circumstances. But writing this I realise that perhaps the one reason I have to LOVE the book is perhaps the wrong reason: I love it for what it is NOT, rather because of what it IS.

Thea: I have to disagree, Ana. Though the book is titled Plain Kate, and though Kate is clearly the protagonist, I loved that she is an indirect heroine, by someone else’s design rather than of her own choosing. I love that ultimately, Linay chose Kate as his subject, not because of any innate magical ability or because she was born under a certain star when the planets aligned or whatever Chosen One sort of hoopla – rather, Kate is our heroine because of her perceived weakness, and over the course of the book this flourishes into strength. Instead of following Kate on a journey of her own design, Plain Kate takes an ordinary – plain – girl, and gives us her adventure in a game of a much bigger design.

I think that’s awesome.

From a writing standpoint, Ms. Bow’s prose is smooth and lush – as I remarked to Ana in an email, this book reminded me so of Garth Nix’s Sabriel (and not only because there’s a talking cat). Written in the style of the fantasy novels of my childhood – relying on emotions and almost poetic descriptions as opposed to a focus on action or romance (as seems to be the modern trend), Plain Kate is almost nostalgic. And, as a fan of Tamora Pierce and Garth Nix, Ms. Bow is a bonafide throwback, and I mean this in the best possible way.

With regard to setting, I completely agree with Ana – the medieval Eastern European feel to the novel is perhaps not entirely unique, though it is well written and conceived. The brutality of people looking to blame “witches” for their misfortunes, their propensity for hate, the mob mentality, it’s all unflinchingly seen in Plain Kate. At the same time, there is this underlying thread for wanting to belong – for acceptance and love for oneself, which is handled beautifully, I think. As Ana mentions above, Plain Kate does have a revenge story (in fact, it is the impetus for the plot), but I don’t think it’s fair to say that this novel is a revenge book. More than anything, Plain Kate is about acceptance and sacrifice.

On the characters:

Ana: On one hand the majority of the characters are complex and never fall into one-dimensional territory. That is especially true with regards to Linay who has compelling characteristic that makes him sympathetic even when he is being heinous. I appreciated the difficult, intricate love-hate relationship he forms with Kate.

On the other have I have mixed feeling directed to the protagonist of the novel. She has all the markings of a great character: strength of character, a sense of self-worth, empathy and quiet determination. It is a shame that she is written into a story that increasingly becomes not her own and which makes her more of a “reactive” character than an “active” one as most of the things that happen in the book and which serve to move the story further are events that happen TO Kate rather than out her own volition, even those some of these reactions are actually pretty cool because of who she is.

And then there is Taggle, her cat, whom I loved so totally, although I can’t really say why for risk of spoiling it but he is full of heroism and dedication and has an arc of his own which is a very interesting pointing at another consequence of Kate’s Faustian pact with Linay.

Thea: I share Ana’s love for Taggle, and her mixed emotions towards Linay (and I would extend that to Behjet, as well); it is the mark of a gifted writer that a reader can loathe a character and yet still feel sympathy and understanding at the same time. Plain Kate’s world is a rough one, and her journeys take her to people that fear her skill at carving, taking her natural talent for witchcraft, and her mismatched colored eyes only exacerbating her position. Each character in this book has surprising depth, with no simple “good” or “bad” cookie-cutter types of heroes or villains.

And this, of course, extends to Kate as well. While I completely agree that Kate’s story is more of a “reactive” one, I do think this is part of the appeal of Plain Kate. Plain Kate begins her journey because she is singled out for her weakness – when she isn’t weak at all. Using the lessons of her father, Kate gradually takes hold of her own story, and by the end of the book, she has made her choices (heartbreaking though they may be) and won me over completely. It’s very clever characterization when you think about it, this slide from utterly passive and reactive to aggressively proactive.

And a quick note as to the adjective “Plain” prefacing Kate’s name. While it is true that Kate is neither beautiful nor ugly, I personally think that the “Plain” refers to Kate’s simple honesty, or as the Miriam-Webster Dictionary says, “free from artifice.” That is Kate to the letter.

Final Thoughts, Observations and Rating:

Ana: It is the strangest thing: Plain Kate has many elements that should have me truly love this book but I was left cold. I wish I could be more positive but two weeks after reading it, all I can remember is the cat. I did love the prose though and I will be first in line to get Erin Bow’s next book (which sounds awesome).

Thea: I loved Plain Kate from beginning to end, and I most certainly will be back for more from author Erin Bow. Absolutely recommended.

Notable Quotes/Parts: From the first chapter:

A long time ago, in a market town by a looping river, there lived an orphan girl called Plain Kate.

She was called this because her father had introduced her to the new butcher, saying: “This is my beloved Katerina Svetlana, after her mother who died birthing her and God rest her soul, but I call her just plain Kate.” And the butcher, swinging a cleaver, answered: “That’s right enough, Plain Kate she is, plain as a stick.” A man who treasured humor, especially his own, the butcher repeated this to everyone. After that, she was called Plain Kate. But her father called her Kate My Star.

Plain Kate’s father Poitr was a woodcarver. He gave Kate a carving knife before most children might be given a spoon. She could whittle before she could walk. When she was still a child, she could carve a rose that strangers would stop to smell, a dragonfly that trout would rise to strike.

In Kate’s little town of Samilae, people thought that there was magic in a knife. A person who could wield a knife well was, in their eyes, half-way to a witch. So Plain Kate was very small the first time someone spat at her and crooked their fingers.

Her father sat her down and spoke to her with great seriousness. “You are not a witch, Katerina. There is magic in the world, and some of it is wholesome, and some of it is not, but it is a thing that is in the blood, and it is not in yours.

“The foolish will always treat you badly, because they think you are not beautiful,” he said, and she knew this was true. Plain Kate: She was plain as as stick, and thin as a stick, and flat as stick. She had one eye the color of river mud and one eye the color of the river. Her nose was too long and her brows were too strong. Her father kissed her twice, once above each eyebrow. “We cannot help what fools think. But understand, it is your skill with a blade that draws this talk. If you want to give up your carving, you have my blessing.”

“I will never give it up,” she answered.

And he laughed and called her his Brave Star, and taught her to carve even better.

They were busy. Everyone in that country, no matter how poor, wore a talisman called an objarka, and those who could hung larger objarkas on horse stalls and door posts and above their marriage beds. No lintel was uncarved in that place, and walls bore saints in niches, and roads were marked with little shrines on posts, which housed sometimes saints, and sometimes older, stranger things. Plain Kate’s father was even given the honor of replacing Samilae’s wiezi, the great column at the center of the market that showed the town’s angels and coats of arms, and, at the top, supported the carved wooden roof that sheltered the carved wooden gods. The new wiezi was such a good work that the Guild Masters sent a man from Lov to see it. The man made Kate’s father a full master on the spot.

“My daughter did some of the angels,” he told the man, gathering Kate up and pulling her forward.

The man looked up at the faces that were so beautiful they seemed sad, the wings that looked both soft and strong, like the wings of swans that could kill a man with one blow. “Apprentice her,” he said.

“If she likes,” Poitr answered. “And when she is of age.”

When the guild man went away, Plain Kate chided her father. “You know I will be your apprentice!”

“You are the star of my heart,” he said. “But it is two years yet before you are of prenticing age. Anything might happen.”

She laughed at him: “What will happen is that I will be a full master by the time I am twenty.”

But what happened was that her father died.

Rating:

Ana: 6 – Good

Thea: 8 – Excellent

Reading Next: The Way of Kings by Brandon “we lurves him” Sanderson

Welcome to our latest guest post in the YAAM – 2010 edition. As part of our celebration of all things YA, we invited authors from different genres to write about the books and the genres they write.

Today’s guest is Malinda Lo, author of Ash, a lesbian retelling of Cinderella and one of Ana’s top reads of 2009. We invited Malinda to chat about writing her books, publishing it and everything in between.

The Book Smugglers: Hi Malinda, thanks for taking the time to chat with us. Could you tell us a bit about yourself?

Malinda: I’m a liberal, lesbian, Asian American, feminist, domestically partnered dog-owner in Northern California. And I write novels! My first, Ash, is a retelling of Cinderella with a lesbian twist. My second, Huntress, is a companion novel to Ash and will be published in April 2011. Both are young adult novels. Before I wrote YA novels, I was an entertainment reporter.

The Book Smugglers: Your book Ash is a retelling of the classic Cinderella story, with a twist – instead of falling for Prince Charming, your heroine falls for another girl. When you wrote Ash, did you have any fears that major publishers would not pick up your book?

Malinda: Absolutely! When I first realized I was writing a lesbian version of the Cinderella story, I actually thought it would be dismissed as a joke. It seemed like a completely bizarre idea to me, and I had to mull it over for a while before I got used to it and decided it was, in fact, a good idea. I was afraid it would be too gay for mainstream publishers, but to my surprise, it was actually rejected once because it wasn’t gay enough. (Essentially, there is no coming-out story, so the fact that Ash falls for a woman isn’t a big deal in the world of the book.)

The Book Smugglers: There is a solid market for same-sex romance novels (that is, F/F or M/M), but you chose to write a young adult novel instead. Why?

Malinda: There are two reasons. First, when I began working on Ash I did not read romance (same-sex or heterosexual) and had no knowledge of that market. Second, I didn’t think about what genre Ash fit into until it was finished and ready to submit to agents. I wrote the novel for myself, aka the Malinda Lo Likes It genre. Of course, book publishers don’t publish books in that genre (though they should!), so I had to figure out where Ash fit among the genres that are published. Young adult seemed most appropriate, although I did initially think it was an adult fantasy novel.

The Book Smugglers: Even in this day and age in the United States, books – especially those of “controversial” natures – are still routinely banned from libraries and schools. As a young adult novel with a F/F romance, have you been on the receiving end of any nastiness from readers, parents, schools, or other sources?

Malinda: I’d say that nastiness is too strong a word for what I’ve encountered. I’ve experienced two instances of parental objection to my book, but they weren’t all that nasty. At an event I did at the Brooklyn Public Library, one teacher told me that her students’ parents objected to my novel and therefore they did not send their students. She brought other students (younger ones!) whose parents had no problem with it. And in Marin County, where I live, parents objected to a story in the Pacific Sun (a local news weekly) about Ash that featured an illustration of two Disney princesses dancing together. These moms wrote in to say they didn’t want to explain two girls dancing together to their children. Many, many people wrote back in response and pointed out that girls dance together all the time, regardless of whether or not they are gay.

Both experiences struck me as surprising because they took place in locations I thought were pretty much liberal and gay-friendly. But in both cases, the homophobia was met with just as much (if not more) support for gay people in response.

The Book Smugglers: Ash is not a Problem Novel of a Coming Out story. In Ash’s world it is perfectly natural to fall in love with someone of the same sex. Was that a conscious decision and if so, why did you take this route?

Malinda: Yes, that was a conscious decision. I just didn’t want to force Ash to deal with homophobia. The idea of it made me cringe as a writer; I had absolutely no desire to go through the experience of writing that. I mean, I’ve done it in real life, and I didn’t want to do it again in fiction!

Also, I wanted Ash to have a fairy tale, just like Cinderella is supposed to have. Part of that fairy tale is about falling in love with someone whom others also desire — Prince Charming, you know, is charming partly because lots of ladies want him. So, Kaisa had to be seen as desirable by more people than only Ash. That meant that homophobia could not be part of the story, and gender could not be a limit to who you fall in love with.

The Book Smugglers: You recently wrote a series of great articles on “Avoiding LGBTQ Stereotypes in YA Fiction” – what prompted you to write these?

Malinda: Those posts were prompted by a talk I gave at a local SCBWI chapter for a panel on LGBT YA fiction. After the panel, I wanted to share that information with more writers, so I decided to turn the talk into a series of blog posts.

In my previous job, I wrote about the representation of lesbians and bisexual women in the media for AfterEllen.com and other LGBT publications, so I’ve thought a lot about what goes into stereotypes and how to avoid them in producing pop culture. When I began reading more widely in YA fiction, I kept encountering stereotypes that surprised me, and I didn’t see a lot of discussion about them in the YA blogosphere. I actually felt that several of the stereotypes I encountered were accidental — that the authors might not have been aware of what they were doing.

Part of my goal in blogging about the stereotypes was to get the discussion going and to provide an opportunity for those who were unfamiliar with LGBT issues to ask questions in a friendly environment. I think it’s important to be honest and open about these things, and allow people to ask things that might seem “stupid.”

The Book Smugglers: Do you have a list of recommended GLBT reading for our readers?

Malinda: This is not YA, but my favorite novel with lesbian characters is definitely Sarah Waters’ Tipping the Velvet. It’s a historical novel set in Victorian England about an 18-year-old girl who leaves home for the London stage and becomes a male impersonator. It is sexy and fun!

I recently read an ARC of Wildthorn by Jane Eagland, a YA historical novel that comes out this September. It is a lot like a Sarah Waters novel if it had been written as YA, and I really enjoyed it.

In terms of contemporary YA, I love Catherine Gilbert Murdock’s Dairy Queen trilogy, which includes a supporting character who is a lesbian. Even though the main character is a straight girl, I thought it was one of the queerer books I’ve read, since the main character is also an athlete and a tomboy.

About the author: Malinda Lo is the author of Ash (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers), which is a nominee for the Andre Norton Award, was a finalist for the 2010 William C. Morris Award, and was a Kirkus Best Young Adult Novel of 2009. Formerly, she was an entertainment reporter, and was awarded the 2006 Sarah Pettit Memorial Award for Excellence in LGBT Journalism by the National Lesbian & Gay Journalists Association. She is a graduate of Wellesley College and has master’s degrees from Harvard and Stanford universities. She has lived in Colorado, Boston, New York, London, Beijing, Los Angeles, and San Francisco, but now lives in a small town in Northern California with her partner and their dog.

Thank you, Malinda!

Title: Sisters Red

Author: Jackson Pearce

Genre: YA/UF

Publisher: Hodder Children’s Book/ Little, Brown
Publication Date: June 2010
Hardcover: 352 pages

The story of Scarlett and Rosie March, two highly-skilled sisters who have been hunting Fenris (werewolves) – who prey on teen girls – since Scarlett lost her eye years ago while defending Rosie in an attack. Scarlett lives to destroy the Fenris, and she and Rosie lure them in with red cloaks (a colour the wolves can’t resist), though Rosie hunts more out of debt to her sister than drive.

But things seem to be changing. The wolves are getting stronger and harder to fight, and there has been a rash of news reports about countless teenage girls being brutally murdered in the city. Scarlett and Rosie soon discover the truth: wolves are banding together in search of a Potential Fenris – a man tainted by the pack but not yet fully changed. Desperate to find the Potential to use him as bait for a massive werewolf extermination, the sisters move to the city with Silas, a young woodsman and long time family friend who is deadly with an axe. Meanwhile, Rosie finds herself drawn to Silas and the bond they share not only drives the sisters apart, but could destroy all they’ve worked for.

Stand alone or series: Book 1 in the Sisters Red series.

How did we get this book: We got ARCs from Little, Brown.

Why did we read this book: We have been waiting to read this book for ages – the cover is striking and the we are always up for a fairytale retelling.

Ana’s take:

Listen.

I could tell you that for the first pages of this book I was completely engrossed in the story. How could I not? I mean, a dark, violent even, retelling of Red Riding Hood in which two sisters are the hunters who kill the wolves? I am in. It helps that the first pages were very gripping: back in the past when the kids lived with their grandmother and were attacked by a passing werewolf and Scarlett, the oldest sister, protects the younger Rosie almost to her own death losing an eye in the fight and becoming scarred for life. Then, as teenagers they fall in the roles that they have taken for themselves that day: Scarlett, the protector, Rosie the protégée – both equally fierce Hunters but with a striking difference. Scarlett sees nothing but the hunt, Rosie wants something else for her life.

I could tell you that I like the prose. But also that the tale and the alternating chapters between the two sisters get repetitive very soon. I could tell you that when the next door neighbour, a woodsman-hunter named Silas comes back to town that I knew Rosie would fall for him and that their story was actually quite sweet.

I could definitely tell you that part of what makes me like the book to begin with is the fact that making the two girls the ones who go after the werewolves to kill them is rather an empowering take on the original tale.

I could tell you all that.

But what I really want to tell you is: when I hit page 108 (of the ARC) I went nuts. You see, it is part of this retelling that the werewolves are predators who are after young, pretty girls. As part of their hunting routine, Rosie will dress up, put on make-up and perfume (because she usually doesn’t do that as she is a “natural beauty”). Obviously, Scarlett, being the ugly, scarred sister, just sits back to attack when Rosie has played the role of prey. So, page 108. Scarlett is outside a nightclub observing the girls in the queue to get in:

They’re adorned in glittery green rhinestones, shimmery turquoise and aquamarine powders streaked across their eyelids. Dragonfly girls. Their hair is all the same, long and streaked, spiralling down their backs to where the tiny strings holding their tops on are knotted tightly. Their skin glows under the neon lights – amber, ebony, cream – like shined metal, flawless and smooth. I press harder against the crumbly brick wall behind me, tugging my crimson cloak closer to my body. The scars on my shoulders show through fabric when I pull the cloak tight. Bumpy red hills in perfectly spaced lines.

The Dragonflies laugh, sweet, and bubbly, and I groan in exasperation. They toss their hair, stretch their legs, sway their hips, bat their eyes at the club’s bouncer, everything about them luring the Fenris. Inviting danger like some baby animal bleating its fool head off. Look at me, see how I dance, did you notice my hair, look again, desire me, I am perfect. Stupid, stupid Dragonflies. Here I am, saving your lives, bitten and scarred and wounded for you, and you don’t even know it. I should let the Fenris have one of you.

No, I didn’t mean that. I sigh and walk to the other side of the brick wall, letting my fingers tangle in the thick ivy. It’s dark on this side, shadowed from the neon lights of the street. I breathe slowly, watching the tree limbs sway, backlit by the lights of skyscrapers. Of course I didn’t mean it. Ignorance is no reason to die. They can’t help what they are, still happily unaware inside a cave of fake shadows. They exist in a world that’s beautiful normal, where people have jobs and dreams that don’t involve a hatcher. My world is parallel universe to their – the same sights, same people, same city, yet the Fenris lurk, the evil creeps, the knowledge undeniably exists. If I hadn’t been thrown into this world, I could just as easily have been a Dragonfly.

I felt extremely uncomfortable with this passage, but as much as this is some serious twisted thinking, I can understand Scarlett feeling this way. She is an angry character, full of regret, jealousy – and being scarred and ugly does get to her (seeing as how she keeps going on and on about it). So, the text above is in keeping with this character.

BUT

Two lines down and Silas joins her as she observes him:

His eyes narrow in something between disgust and intrigue, as though he’s not certain if he likes looking at them or not. I want to comment, but I stay quiet. Somehow it feels important to wait for his reaction. Silas finally turns to look at me in the shadows.

“It’s like they’re trying to be eaten, isn’t it? he asks pointedly.

“Can I tell you how glad I am that and Rosie aren’t like them?”

“No kidding.” I grin, relieved. “Rosie could be if she wanted, though. She’s beautiful like they are.”

“Beauty has nothing to do with it. Rosie could never be one of them. Do you really think they’d dress and act like that if they knew it was drawing wolves toward them?”

No. NO. NO. NO. NO. JUST NO.

By then, I was beyond uncomfortable, I was downright angry. The meta is thus: the girls should know better. If they knew better, they would change their behaviour and would not be attacked. This is what I read. But this is not what I should be reading.

NEVER, EVER blame the victims. The blame always, always lies with the criminal (or predator).

And just like that I am done with the book. Because I can’t respect the characters who think like this, because I lost respect for their motivation for being hunters (it’s not about REALLY about protecting the girls is it? It is almost about proving a point) and if I can’t relate with their plight then the book is nothing to me. Because the bottom line is this: the book empowers women yes, but ONLY certain types of girls, not all of them. And I am sick and tired of books that associate girls that are self-confident and beautiful with being shallow and superficial and deserving of bad things happening to them. SICK AND TIRED.

That is not ok. And I suggest you read the article in this link to see why exactly I think it is not ok.

I did read till the bitter end in the hopes that another character would come in and say: “yo, stewpid, GET A GRIP” but alas, no such thing has happened. I can’t even be bothered to rate this book. I will only say:

Verdict:

Thea’s Take:

Clearly, Ana feels VERY strongly about this book, especially about the excerpt above. Now, I’ll admit that when I first read this passage, I didn’t immediately see what Ana picked up on. I tend to get annoyed with flitty girls in general, and Scarlett’s anger at the “dragonflies” seems well-founded and in line with her character, regardless of whether I liked her character or not. As a scarred, bitter young woman dedicated to destroying all Fenris at any cost, this sort of thought process makes perfect sense for someone like Scarlett.

But then, after Ana pointed out the next section, it made me think about the overall message…and I stand firmly with Ana. Enraged.

Just because a girl is pretty, and likes to look pretty; just because a girl goes out to the club in revealing clothes; just because a girl likes the attention that comes with being young and attractive, this DOES NOT MEAN she is stupid, or a whore, or fucking “asking for it” (pardon my French, but this is a disgusting mindset and pisses me off to no end). It is frustrating – no, infuriating – beyond belief that the women in Sisters Red are so stereotyped and marginalized. Don’t get me wrong – I love warrior women/strong women/badass fighter women, as much as the next person. But this gross generalization that girls that go out to have fun and be noticed are somehow billions of times inferior to their too-tough-to-look-pretty (but OF COURSE are effortlessly gorgeous *eyes rolling*) counterparts?

Nu-uh. Not cool.

Now, you might be telling yourself, ‘well, these two seem to be taking a single passage a bit far’ or something to that end. Well, folks, unfortunately Sisters Red has a whole lot of other problems too.

1: The characters are mind-numbingly repetitive and boring.

Initially, I found a lot to like with Sisters Red. The opening scene with Grandma valiantly holding off the big bad wolf to save the children, and then Scarlett’s desperate last stand to save Rosie, is EPIC. I loved that Scarlett is abrasive and tough, that she’s missing an eye and is both terrified of the wolves, yet completely in love with the hunt. I love that Rosie is a different person – that she cannot remember the past too clearly, and that she clearly loves Lett, but needs to grow to be her own person.

BUT. All of this? All this promising characterization is exhausted in the first thirty or so pages of the book. From then on it is more of. the. same. Scarlett gets mad at Rosie for being careless. Scarlett goes hunting for Fenris. Scarlett gets mad again and wallows in her pit of eternal self-suffering. Meanwhile, Rosie wants to be taken seriously (and thinks Silas is freaking HAWT). But she wants to be taken seriously. She tries to make peace with Scarlett (and Silas is HAWT). And so on and so forth.

Things get pretty dull, pretty quickly. These characters never felt real to me – more like your standard cardboard stand-ins. (Just because characters are “troubled” doesn’t immediately mean they are well-developed. SHOW me. Don’t keep TELLING me.)

2: The “Romance” is the same predictable uninspired tripe.

From the second Rosie sees Silas, and vice versa, it’s all “he looks different, his jaw is so angular and manly!” and “she looks different, all ‘grown up’ and beautiful!” (I’m paraphrasing of course). To be honest, I’m sick of it. Could this book just have been about the sisters without one of them needing the catalyst of falling in love with the studly boy next door? ARGH.

Of course, this could just be me and how burned out I am with YA paranormal romance. Lots of people love this stuff. I, unfortunately, am at the end of my rope.

3: The hunting element of the story is STUPID.

*Caps lock engaged* WHY THE HELL WOULD THESE SISTERS BE HUNTING WITH HATCHETS AS OPPOSED TO…I don’t know…GUNS?!??? If Scarlett’s true ambition is to take out every single “Fenris” on the planet, wouldn’t it make sense to take out a bunch of them with a semi-automatic weapon, as opposed to the good ol’ woodsman hatchet technique? And while scampering around in a blood red cloak is awesome and all, this book doesn’t exist in a vacuum. The story takes place in MODERN DAY. The red riding hood cloaks, while they go great with the idea of the story, aren’t exactly…congruous with the time period. (Not to mention, you’d think the stupid wolves would remember two chicks – one with an eyepatch – hunting around not-so-incognito in bright red cloaks)

Also, in my opinion the term “Fenris” is stupid. Is it plural? Singular? Yeah, yeah, I get that it derives from Fenrir – but “Fenris” just looks stupid and forced to me. If you’re going with Norse mythology, stick with the root name. (That is, if you’re not going with the more familiar “werewolf” terminology, which doesn’t make sense in the first place given how much more prevalent “werewolf” is in modern vernacular!)

These were my issues with Sisters Red – which arose long before the club scene – and they were enough to make me put down the book.

Verdict: DNF – Life is too short to force myself to finish books that don’t work for me.

You want a good Red Riding Hood retelling? Stick with Bill Willingham’s Fables series. Now THAT has solid characterizations, a plot that won’t quit, and empowered characters – both male and female.

Reading next: A Wish After Midnight by Zetta Elliott

Title: East

Author: Edith Pattou

Genre: Fantasy, Retelling, Young Adult

Publisher: Harcort
Publication Date: September 2003
Paperback: 400 pages

Rose has always felt out of place in her family, a wanderer in a bunch of homebodies. So when an enormous white bear mysteriously shows up and asks her to come away with him–in exchange for health and prosperity for her ailing family–she readily agrees. The bear takes Rose to a distant castle, where each night she is confronted with a mystery. In solving that mystery, she loses her heart, discovers her purpose, and realizes her travels have only just begun.

As familiar and moving as “Beauty and the Beast” and yet as fresh and original as only the best fantasy can be, East is a novel retelling of the classic tale “East of the Sun, West of the Moon,” a sweeping romantic epic in the tradition of Robin McKinley and Gail Carson Levine.

Stand alone or series: Stand alone novel

How did I get this book: Bought

Why did I read this book: The “East of the Sun, West of the Moon” retelling is becoming a popular one, and it’s a tale that I’m rather fond of. After reading Ice by Sarah Beth Durst earlier this year, I was on the lookout for other retellings, and Edith Pattou’s East was the title that kept popping up.

Review:

Ebba Rose was the name of our last-born child. Except it was a lie. Her name should have been Nyamh Rose. But everyone called her Rose rather than Ebba, so the lie didn’t matter. At least, that is what I told myself.

East is the story of a mapmaker turned farmer, his superstitious wife, and their seven children. After the death of their steadfast, East-born daughter, Eugenia is determined to have another East-facing child. But when their eighth child, Rose comes into the world, she is delivered facing the dreaded North – a mistake that Rose’s mother makes sure to cover up and never speak of again, much to Rose’s father’s guilt. Throughout her childhood, Ebba Rose (though, to her father she is always Nyamh Rose for her true Northern nature) is adventurous, brash, and ever-wandering, much to the fear of her protective mother and older brother Neddy. Over the years, Rose’s family situation grows ever more destitute and precarious…and one desperate night as her elder sister Sara lies deathly ill, a great white bear (Rose’s supposedly imaginary friend from childhood) appears and offers an irresistible exchange: Sara’s health and the family’s success…for Rose. While Rose’s family (with the exception of her mother) are adamant against her going, Rose is fascinated and excited. She’s never fit in with the domestic, provincial life her family has, and she’s thrilled at the prospect of adventure and the unknown. And, when Rose learns that her birth nature was a lie and that she is truly a wild and wanderlust-filled Northern daughter, she makes up her mind to leave her home behind. Over land and sea, Rose and her great white bear travel until they reach an enchanted castle carved into a mountainside of ice and rock. Rose’s new home is luxurious – food appears as if by magic, beautiful fabrics and looms appear and occupy Rose’s thoughts, and two quiet servants make sure all of her needs are tended to. Every night, Rose sleeps in an impossibly dark room, and an unseen stranger climbs into her bed. Try as she might to see the stranger’s face, or to speak, she suspects there must be some kind of magical curse at work.

When Rose does figure out how to see in the darkness – with the indirect conniving aid of the creator of the spell, and Rose’s malleable, superstitious mother – Rose must journey far and hard to right the painful wrong her curiosity has wrought.

So, as you can see, East is pretty true to the Norwegian fable – girl meets bear, goes to castle, curiosity killed the cat and so she’s gotta save her Prince in Peril (I always preferred the Prince in Peril to the Damsel in Distress). By that measure, yes, East is familiar and predictable – it is a fairy tale, after all! BUT, that said, Ms. Pattou’s more traditionalist retelling of the classic works because of the sparse beauty of her writing, the alternating point-of-view narrative, and spunky heroine. (And really, who doesn’t love a traditionalist fairy tale every once in a while – especially in a literary landscape increasingly filled with wilder, crazily deviating retellings?)

While I didn’t care for some of the dire foreshadowing (e.g. “We couldn’t have been more wrong,” or “I wish that I hadn’t,” etc ad nauseam), especially considering these doom-gloom drops hardly amounted to much, I did love the style in which East is written – with sort of flash-chapters told from the voices of Rose’s Father, Neddy, Rose, The White Bear, and The Troll Queen. Each character has a distinct voice, and each is beautifully textured, from the careful Neddy and doting father, to the impassioned Rose, the poetic bear, and the selfish, enamored queen. The downside to this narrative technique, however, was that the alternating short chapters could feel somewhat episodic and stilted. Still, for the most part, I loved being able to see through different characters’ eyes, although I wish the chapters could have stuck with each narrator for a slightly longer stretch of time.

Of course, so far as characters go, this is most assuredly Rose’s book. And Rose is really cool. One of the things that has always appealed to me about this particular fable (or Beauty and the Beast, for that matter) is how it is the heroine that gets off her ass and saves her hero. (Of course, there are aspects of the myth that bother me too – such as the woman’s punishment for tasting the forbidden fruit – aka looking upon her sleeping visitor – or how only the right bride can wash the tallow out from her bridegroom’s shirt, but that’s not really the point) In East, Rose’s adventures only begin with the Great White Bear – they flourish when she’s out on a Norse ship stranded at sea, or traveling across a frozen tundra, or traversing an impossibly slick ice bridge, or fooling her captors and spinning troll-costumes in order to save a man (and all humans) imprisoned in a kingdom that lies east of the sun and west of the moon. That’s gutsy stuff, and Rose handles her impossible task with grim determination. The only character that I wish was a little more fleshed out was The White Bear himself. While I did like the way the story tied together by the ending (the awkwardness between Rose and the man that was the bear), I felt like we never really got to know this character. As a bear, his thoughts are poetic, short and lyrical – very effective – but I wish there could have been more to his human nature too. On the other end of the spectrum, I also appreciated that while the Troll Queen is clearly spoiled and manipulating, she’s not really vilified or portrayed as EEEEEVIL. She’s obviously not a nice lady…but she’s not human either, and as such, she doesn’t act like a human.

Also, on one final note on characters, I will simply say – I heart Tuki. Tuki rocks.

There are a number of beautiful images that East conjures up, by virtue of Ms. Pattou’s romantic writing style and descriptions. The killing fields of the Trolls, for example, or the image of a beautiful, white queen with her voice of rocks and skin of granite. This, along with the magical elements, the mother’s superstition, the wonderful integration of “birth direction” determining personality traits/destiny are marvelous, memorable additions that make East stand out.

And yet…for all this praise, I did feel like something was missing from the book. I’ll put it this way – East put me in the mind of Robin McKinley’s Beauty. Both are solid, lovely retellings, but both are missing that extra OOMF. That WOW factor that makes a truly wondrous retelling work (see Juliet Marillier’s Wildwood Dancing or Shannon Hale’s The Goose Girl for examples of what I’m talking about). Though it wasn’t quite at that level, East is beyond any doubt the best retelling I’ve read of East of the Sun, West of the Moon, and most CERTAINLY worth reading. Definitely recommended, especially for those looking for an adventurous, romantic fantasy.

Notable Quotes/Parts: From Chapter 1:

Once on a time there was a poor farmer
with many children.

Father

EBBA ROSE WAS THE NAME of our last-born child. Except it was a lie. Her name should have been Nyamh Rose. But everyone called her Rose rather than Ebba, so the lie didn’t matter. At least, that is what I told myself.

The Rose part of her name came from the symbol that lies at the center of the wind rose-which is fitting because she was lodged at the very center of my heart.

I loved each of her seven brothers and sisters, but I will admit there was always something that set Rose apart from the others. And it wasn’t just the way she looked.

She was the hardest to know of my children, and that was because she would not stay still. Every time I held her as a babe, she would look up at me, intent, smiling with her bright purple eyes. But soon, and always, those eyes would stray past my shoulder, seeking the window and what lay beyond.

Rose’s first gift was a small pair of soft boots made of reindeer hide. They were brought by Torsk, a neighbor, and as he fastened them on Rose’s tiny feet with his large calloused hands, I saw my wife, Eugenia, frown. She tried to hide it, turning her face away.

Torsk did not see the frown but looked up at us, beaming. He was a widower with grown sons and a gift for leatherwork. Eager to show off his handiwork and unmindful of the difficult circumstances of Eugenia’s recent birthing, he had been the first to show up on our doorstep.

Most of our neighbors were well aware of how superstitious Eugenia was. They also knew that a baby’s first gift was laden with meaning. But cheerful, large-handed Torsk paid no heed to this. He just gazed down at the small soft boots on Rose’s feet and looked ready to burst with pride.

You can read the full excerpt online HERE.

Additional Thoughts: As I mentioned before, East is one of many retellings of this particular fairy tale. This year there was also Ice by Sarah Beth Durst, or Sun and Moon, Ice and Snow by Jessica Day George.

Of course, the original was collected by Andrew Lang in The Blue Fairy Book – and variations of the tale have appeared throughout time, from Ancient Greece to J.R.R. Tolkien.

Rating: 7 – Very Good

Reading Next: Sisters Red by Jackson Pierce

Welcome to Day 1 of our Young Adult Appreciation Month ( July 18 to August 21). For the duration of the month we will be celebrating all things YA with loads of reviews, giveaways and guest posts by YA authors.

Today is dedicated to Romance. I chose to review Beastly by Alex Flinn and Forget You by Jennifer Echols together because the two books have a couple of things in common on top of being contemporary romances: they are both heartwarming, quick reads and all four protagonists have fathers who deserve the Worst Parent of the Year Award. And regardless of a few misgivings, I enjoyed both books a great deal.

Beastly by Alex Flinn

Publisher: Harper Teen
Publication Date: October 2007
Hardcover: 304 pages

How did I get this book: A present from a friend.

I am a beast. A beast. Not quite wolf or bear, gorilla or dog, but a horrible new creature who walks upright – a creature with fangs and claws and hair springing from every pore. I am a monster.

You think I’m talking fairy tales? No way. The place is New York City. The time is now. It’s no deformity, no disease. And I’ll stay this way forever – ruined – unless I can break the spell.

Yes, the spell, the one the witch in my English class cast on me. Why did she turn me into a beast who hides by day and prowls by night? I’ll tell you. I’ll tell you how I used to be Kyle Kingsbury, the guy you wished you were, with money, perfect looks, and a perfect life. And then, I’ll tell you how I became perfectly beastly.

Review:

I must have been living under a rock or something because I only heard about Beastly a few weeks ago when a friend gave it to me and told me it was about to become a movie. I saw the trailer and decided I had to read the book pronto. And here we are.

Beastly is another retelling of Beauty and the Beast set in contemporary NY and entirely from the beast’s point of view which makes it, as far as I can tell, unique amongst the tale’s retellings.

Kyle Kingsbury, our beast du jour, has it all: money, looks, popularity, friends and a hot girlfriend. He is also a jerk. His latest dastardly move is to lead on and invite a weird girl named Kendra to a dance only to humiliate her in front of everybody. Big mistake. Kendra is a modern-day witch and she curses Kyle to become a beast – to look as awful on the outside as he is inside. But because Kyle does this one kind thing on the night of the dance (he gives a rose to the girl selling tickets at the door) , the witch gives him a way out: he has two years to break the curse which can only be broken by a kiss from someone that loves him but only if he truly loves this someone back.

Kyle’s reaction to the curse is to first laugh it off (come on, magic? Witch? As if, it must be a dream) then to despair. His father believes he has a disease and takes him to the best doctors available but they can only be mystified and their verdict is that there is nothing to be done. Kyle’s father then decides that no one can know about his son’s “condition” and promptly dispatches him to a house in Brooklyn where he will live with a maid and a blind tutor where he will eventually learn to become a better person.

The best thing about the book is Kyle’s transformation and this insight about the Beast of the story is great. From being an egotistical jerk to realising that there is more to life than looks and popularity, the first part of the book – or the first year of the curse – follows Kyle and his slow transformation. It shows his uneasy, terrible relationship with an absent father; his despair and depression that he might be a beast forever and even feeble attempts to find someone to love online; his eventual acceptance that there might not have a way out and then the beginnings of a new life. Forming a true, believable relationship with his maid and with his tutor; studying and reading and paying attention to the world around him. This transformation is so profound that he even chances his name to Adrian.

Until one day, hope blossoms . A thief tries to break into his house and upon being caught by Kyle, ends up offering his own daughter Lindy to the beast on lieu of being sent to prison. Kyle accepts the offer. Lindy of course, turns out to be the girl he gave the rose at the beginning of the story to and he hopes she will love him one day. The relationship is difficult to start with because Lindy is effectively a prisoner and she hates being trapped. But they soon forge a friendship when they start to read and study together and Kyle falls in love hard but will Lindy love him back?

I liked that from the beast’s point of view, he does feel terrible about it all, at the same time that he sees no other way, perhaps this is his only chance to break the curse. We all know that the Beast eventually lets Lindy go and it is her choice to return for him. The same happens here but I felt that Lindy was less of a believable character and it is this second part that proves slightly problematic to me and somewhat diminished my enjoyment of the novel. I found that Lindy was too easy in forgiving Kyle/Adrian for ruining her life. Yes, so he rescued her from a life with a horrible father (who gave her away at the first sign of trouble) but still he made her a prisoner, made her lose her chance of getting a scholarship to college, something that was her one and only chance of getting away from her horrible life with her dad.

Furthermore Lindy is presented as being the ultimate good heroine: a martyr for her father, always taking care of him even when he beats her up and extremely naïve and innocence. There is one scene in particular when Kyle/Adrian takes her to the countryside to see the snow. Lindy’s reaction is that of a child, asking after only a couple of hours driving if they were “still in the USA”. Really? The girl is presented as a smart, intelligent, studious girl in the 21st century and she doesn’t know that there are OMG, mountains in the US? This is something that makes me angry, because it sounds as though a person cannot be “good” without being pathetically innocent. That somehow put the two in different level and makes it less of a believable romance in the end. This is why I think the movie seems to be promising: the trailer shows Lindy in a much more interesting light with a bit more of personality.

Still, fun is to be had as I enjoyed to read the story from the Beast’s point of view. And there are these really fun additions peppered throughout the novel of the “Unexpected Changes” chat group that Kyle attends online where he chats with other teenaged fairytale characters that are undergoing changes like the Little Mermaid (who is considering a transformation,) and froggy (who thinks he will never find a princess to kiss him) that were really creative.

Rating:6 – Good. Recommended with reservations

Forget You by Jennifer Echols

Publisher: MTV
Publication Date: July 20th 2010
Paperback: 293 pages

How did I get this book: an ARC from the author

WHY CAN’T YOU CHOOSE WHAT YOU FORGET . . . AND WHAT YOU REMEMBER? There’s a lot Zoey would like to forget. Like how her father has knocked up his twenty-four- year old girlfriend. Like Zoey’s fear that the whole town will find out about her mom’s nervous breakdown. Like darkly handsome bad boy Doug taunting her at school. Feeling like her life is about to become a complete mess, Zoey fights back the only way she knows how, using her famous attention to detail to make sure she’s the perfect daughter, the perfect student, and the perfect girlfriend to ultra-popular football player Brandon. But then Zoey is in a car crash, and the next day there’s one thing she can’t remember at all—the entire night before. Did she go parking with Brandon, like she planned? And if so, why does it seem like Brandon is avoiding her? And why is Doug—of all people— suddenly acting as if something significant happened between the two of them? Zoey dimly remembers Doug pulling her from the wreck, but he keeps referring to what happened that night as if it was more, and it terrifies Zoey to admit how much is a blank to her. Controlled, meticulous Zoey is quickly losing her grip on the all-important details of her life—a life that seems strangely empty of Brandon, and strangely full of Doug.

Review:

Forget You was one of my most anticipated reads of 2010 after I loved, no, adored this author’s 2009 book, Going Too Far, a novel that made my top 10 last year. Forget You turned out to be an extremely well written story that pulled me in, even when it shouldn’t have. I devoured it like a starved reader but the end result was nowhere near as emotionally satisfying as Going Too Far. Perhaps it is not fair to compare both novels or to come to this one with such high expectations but that is how things are, to pretend that it is not so, would do me no good. And who knows, to make this plain in this review, will perhaps help to enlighten why I felt the way I felt when reading it.

The way I see it, both novels are very similar, expect when it matters the most. Both are set in small towns where the characters live under the weight of expectations, of their pasts or with the mask they wear in public. Both follow a similar pattern, with secrets being slowly revealed to the reader about who the characters are, building tension towards the ending when conflicts are resolved. But whereas in Going Too Far the conflicts (both internal and external) were believable, relatable which made caring truly and deeply for the characters an easy ride, in Forget You they seemed contrived.

Zoey is the seemly perfect girl, from a moneyed family, a good student, member of the swim team at school; she has many friends, including a popular boy named Brandon and she is in control of her life, or tries to be. But she is faced with so many things out of her control: her father leaves to start a new family with a lover and her mother tries to commit suicide, and is sent to a mental institution to recover. Her father forbids her to tell anyone about her mother but she knows that the resident bad boy Doug, whom she has a difficult relationship with, has seen them at the hospital and she doesn’t know what he will do with the information.

The only thing that Zoey still has control of is her body and on the night of her mother’s suicide attempt, she decides to sleep and lose her virginity to Brandon. It is a quick, non eventful affair but Zoey is adamant that this one night with Brandon means something and that he is her boyfriend.

A few days later, she is involved in a car crash. She wakes up the next day with a concussion and with Doug, not Brandon behaving as though they have something going on between them and no memory of it. Her father –the winner of Worst Parent Award – leaves for his honeymoon, but not before threatening Zoey with a trip to the loony bin if she keeps on “pretending” to have amnesia. What a champ. But now she needs to put the pieces together and try to remember what happened that night.

The novel starts well enough, it is easy to understand why Zoey makes the choices she makes when she makes them, she is very, very human. And I love Jennifer Echols’ writing and the greatest similarity between her two dramatic novels and a positive one at it, is indeed her prose and the construction of the novel. If I were to compare with anything it would be with an impressionist painting: with small smidges of paint or in this case details that only become whole or understandable when you look at it from afar or once it is completed.

But this story proved to be less inspiring, less challenging than I hoped for…….the romance between Doug and Zoey is sweet but their connection seemed to be based more on lust. Not that there is anything wrong with that, hell no, but since they exchange I love you’s pretty soon, it didn’t feel believable.

And that is because the conflict felt extremely excessive and contrived. Life can be messy, complicated, and full of mistakes and bad decisions, I get that. But the one thing that prevented Zoey from forming a relationship with Doug, was her insistence that she is dating Brandon: even though they don’t talk, don’t see each other, never once discussed being together AND he is seeing another girl. Denial makes it an interesting part of it all, and the reason for that denial makes sense, but since Zoey is presented as an intelligent young girl, who, as his friend, KNEW Brandon’s propensity to jump from girl to girl, it felt like it was unnecessarily prolonged. Similarly, Doug is represented as being a bad boy but I saw literally ZERO proof of this. Yes, he spent some time at juvie but that was due to his horrendous father and there is absolutely nothing that concurs with this assessment. He is a good guy through and through, even when he makes his own mistakes.

The prose, the two characters who are so human (and saddled with poor excuse of a parents) make it for an interesting, enjoyable read but one that is not as emotional and satisfying as I hoped.

Rating: 6 – Good. Recommended with reservations

AND, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, WE HEREBY DECLARE:

THE BOOK SMUGGLERS’ YOUNG ADULT APPRECIATION MONTH OFFICIALLY OPEN.

Title: Peter and Max – A Fables Novel

Author: Bill Willingham (writer) / Steve Leialoha (illustrator)

Genre: Fantasy

Publisher: Vertigo
Publication Date: October 2009
Hardcover: 400 pages

This story stars Peter Piper and his incorrigible brother Max in a tale about jealousy, betrayal and revenge. Set in two distinct time periods, prepare to travel back to medieval times and learn the tragic back-story of the Piper family, a medieval-era family of traveling minstrels. Then, jump into the present to follow a tale of espionage as Peter Piper slowly hunts down his evil brother for a heinous crime, pitting Peter’s talents as a master thief against Max’s dark magical powers.

Based on the long-running and award-winning comic book series FABLES, PETER AND MAX is its own tale. Readers don’t have to be familiar with the comics to fully enjoy and understand this book.

Stand alone or series: This is a stand alone novel which is part of the Fables’ comics universe.

How did we get this book: Bought

Why did we get this book: Because we absolutely ADORE Fables.

Review:

First Thoughts and Impressions:

Ana: Ah, Fables. How I love thee. I have to thank my esteemed Smuggler half for introducing me to the comics, because they are absolutely brilliant. I love fairytale retellings anyway, but Bill Willingham goes a bit further than that by not only retelling but reimagining and spinning the tales by making them his own. Peter and Max is another example of this and in spite of a few caveats, I really loved reading it.

Thea: It should probably come as no surprise that I am also a huge Fables fan – even with the slight dropoff after defeating The Adversary, this is STILL one of the finest monthly comics out there. So, when we learned that a strictly prose – well, dominantly prose – novel was coming out set in the Fables universe, of course Ana and I scooped up Peter and Max with alacrity (although we were somewhat slower in actually getting it reviewed). And, I am delighted to say that in the realm of prose fiction, Bill Willingham still manages to kick ass. Though there are a few uneven sections (probably better told with the graphic combination of art and writing), Peter and Max delivers, and is as darkly enchanting as its comic-form sibling.

On the Plot:

Ana: Peter and Max tells the story of two siblings, Peter and Max Piper, sons of a travelling family of minstrels and it alternates between past and present narrating how the two eventually become enemies. In present day, Peter and his wife Bo Peep are residents of Fabletown, living their quiet lives apart from the rest of the Fables due to Bo’s condition (a terrible spell who crippled her legs) when one day, Peter is informed that his evil brother Max has surfaced in the world and he sets out to find and finally face him off.

In the past, back in the homelands, we see Peter and Max’s childhood traveling around and playing with their mother and father, and their friendship with the Peep family, especially the link between young Peter and their youngest daughter Bo who vows to marry Peter one day. Peter is the gifted younger brother who inherits Frost, a magical flute and a family heirloom which Max fully expected to have for himself. The petty jealousy and sibling rivalry spirals out of control after the Adversary’s invasion of the homelands when the Pipers and the Peeps flee through the Black Forest where they are all separated. Max ends up with a pipe of his own and eventually becomes the infamous Pied Piper of Hamelin.

Plot-wise, Peter and Max is genius. It combines two children’s nursery rhymes, Peter Piper’s (who does eat pickled peppers) and Bo Peep’s (who does lose her sheep) with the tale of the Pied Piper of Hamelin flawlessly and brilliantly. The back and forth between past and present is done really well, and it builds up tension perfectly until the final showdown (although that face off is slightly anticlimactic in its execution). The details that Bill Willingham infuses the story with are also very clever from the fairytale romance between Bo and Peter, other characters appearances such as Frau Totenkinder’s or the fact that Frost’s has the ability to avert danger but can that only be used three times in its owner’s life. It is all very fairytale-ish both in writing and in format reminding me of old tales but of the very dark variety.

I cannot fault the plot of this book, I was enraptured by it and devoured the book in one sitting.

Thea: I have to wholeheartedly agree with Ana. Part of the sheer brilliance of the Fables series is in the ways that Bill Willingham finds to integrate familiar nursery rhyme fables into his dark, epic saga. This has become a popular trope as of late – what with Urban Fantasists, Paranormal Romanticists, etc taking iconic mythological figures and plopping them into modern times – but Bill Willingham’s take on fables, living amongst Mundys, fighting against a truly terrifying foe, and (most dangerously and importantly of all) trying to coexist with each other, is a class above the rest. In Peter and Max, Willingham takes a few lesser nursery rhymes – Bo Peep, Peter Piper, and the Pied Piper of Hamelin – and twists a heartwrenching story of sibling rivalry, betrayal, love, and magic across centuries.

Since Ana’s already covered the basics, I will just add a few specific points of interest. I loved the integration of these three fables together – how Bo really loses her sheep (it’s not pretty), how Peter eats the pickled peppers (and also hides his wife in a pumpkin shell later), and how most delightfully depraved of all, the Pied Piper Max leads the rats and children out of Hamelin for his own dark purposes. More than the simple nursery rhymes, however, Mr. Willingham also creates a backstory that fuels Max and Peter’s rivalry in the form of Frost, a magical pipe from a slain foe, that is both a magical gift and a curse for all the Piper family members that wield it. There’s a war story in the background, a court of thieves and assassins, another magical flute named Fire, and a background of bloody revenge. (I don’t want to get into too many specifics, lest I spoil some of the story’s reveals!)

As a reader of the comics, I think the thing that impressed me most about Peter and Max, however, was a different side to some of our favorite “heroic” fables. Since all fables were granted general amnesty for past villainous acts once they sign the Fabletown charter, we’ve seen all of these characters work together toward a common goal. Bigby Wolf is seen as a hero, as is Frau Totenkinder and assorted other reformed villains…but in Peter and Max, we see how truly terrible some of these characters were back in the homeland. And…it’s a pretty cool, sobering contrast.

Finally, I think we should at least address Steve Leialoha’s artwork – which is kind of in the style of Dave McKean’s work in Coraline (the book, not P. Craig Russell’s graphic novel adaptation) and The Graveyard Book. What can I say except, bravo? Although I think I prefer Mark Buckingham’s representations ever-so-slightly, Leialoha’s work is gorgeous and fitting for Peter and Max – slightly disney-cartoonish, but with a darker, ink-heavy edge.

On the Characters:

Ana: Now, this is where I take a step back to say that as much as I loved the plot of the novel, something was missing. Whereas plot and setting are brilliantly done in a very clever way, the author never really fully, explores the characters in depth. Let’s face it, the original takes are basically short narratives, that TELL rather than SHOW a story. I love them, of course, growing up as I did, listening to grandpa reading them to. The reason is why retellings speak to me in such a wonderful way is because most of the retellings I have read explore and take character’s motivation further, deeper than the originals. It is a great opportunity for authors to play with themes and stories and sometimes make them even better.

Yes, a Retelling but really, for it to work it should also be a Re-showing and I feel that Bill Willingham passed on this opportunity here. For example, Max’s turn from troubled teenage to EVIIIIIIL Villain, quite jarringly, happened without cause in the space of a few lines. Similarly in the grand finale, there was nothing from an emotional point of view to make it grander and more impacting. Also, once the families are separated, peter becomes a thief and basically forgets about his mother for example. What in the world happened to her?

That is not to say that some of the characters don’t have depth – I particularly liked Bo, for example, becoming an assassin (you have to read it) and how she uses her condition to try and dissuade Peter from going after his brother. It is ugly and it is dark but also very human, I though (which is strange to say, since these characters are not really human).

Thea: I’m a little torn here too. I have to agree with Ana in that Max’s transformation from petty jealousy to EVIL MONSTER was a bit abrupt (this takes place over approximately a paragraph of text) – reminding me of the somewhat anticlimactic reveal of Anakin crossing over to embrace the Dark Side in Revenge of the Sith. I would have loved it if the transformation was more subtle, told over a longer time period. This was the one time that I felt Mr. Willingham’s writing was limited by its lack of supporting art to help tell the story. Whereas this shorter time frame could have been more convincing with the incredibly gifted Steve Leialoha completing full panels to accompany the story, instead it felt slightly jarring and unbelievable in the brevity and totality of Max’s transformation.

The other quibble I have with regards to characterization concerns Peter himself – who is a tad bit Too Good. You know what I mean? He’s a loving younger brother, a patient husband, the best flute player in all of the land, etc, etc. In contrast, Bo -with her very human manipulations, as Ana mentions – feels much more real and concrete a character.

But then…there’s also Max. Abrupt transformation aside, Max is pretty damn awesome, and his corruption basically makes the book. One of my favorite scenes is when Max stumbles across an elderly couple in the woods and forces them to do his bidding. All the while, Max’s pettiness and sense of over-importance characterizes his narrative, and later when he has to rely only on himself…well, it’s great stuff. I loved it, plain and simple.

Final Thoughts, Observation and Rating:

Ana: I really enjoyed, heck, I can say that I did love Peter and Max but I feel that I could have adored it. In comics format, the story might have worked splendidly because you would have the aid of the images to convey more feeling but this first foray into prose format was missing that extra awesomesauce to make it a Keeper.

Thea: While I agree with Ana, and I do think that certain parts of the story in particular could have benefited from full-fledged accompanying artwork, for the vast majority of the book Peter and Max stands strong on its own. Mr. Willingham’s storytelling abilities are in top form here, and this is a book that should be devoured by any Fables fan or newbie alike.*

*On a continuity note, this book fits in shortly before Fabletown’s attack on The Adversary – and Peter and Bo both play a role in the war by the end of the book. You’ll see.

Notable Quotes/Parts:

For most of his long years Peter Piper wanted
nothing more than to live a life of peace and safety in some
remote cozy cottage, married to his childhood sweetheart,
who grew into the only woman he could ever love. Which is pretty
much what happened. But there were complications along the way,
as there often are, because few love stories are allowed to be just that
and nothing else.

(…)

Our tale, the one that couldn’t quite remain a simple love story,
begins then in Fabletown and almost immediately moves up to the
Farm. It happens because a witch learned something that she told to
a beast, who phoned a wolf, who in turn called his wife’s twin
sister, who never was a princess but perhaps should have been.

And here are two samples of Steve Leialoha’s art (by the way, how great is that name – Lei + Aloha? Someone likes Hawaii!):

Rating:

Ana: 7 – Very Good

Thea: 7 -Very Good

Reading Next: Fat Vampire by Adam Rex

Title: Calamity Jack

Author: Shannon Hale & Dean Hale

Illustrator:Nathan Hale

Genre: Fantasy, Fairy Tale Retelling, Graphic Novel, Young Adult

Publisher: Bloomsbury USA / Bloomsbury PLC
Publication Date: 5 Jan 2010/ 4 Jan 2010
Hardback/Paperback: 144 pages

Stand alone or series: Sequel to Rapunzel’s Revenge but can be read as a stand alone

Why did I read the book: I read Rapunzel’s Revenge earlier this year and loved it.. I was delighted when I heard that there was going to be a sequel.

How did I get the book: Last week, I opened a package from Bloomsbury PLC and there it was in its shinning glory! I let out a SQUEE!

Summary: Jack likes to think of himself as a criminal mastermind…with an unfortunate amount of bad luck. A schemer, plotter, planner, trickster, swindler…maybe even thief? One fine day Jack picks a target a little more giant than the usual, and one little bean turns into a great big building-destroying beanstalk.

With help from Rapunzel (and her trusty braids), a pixie from Jack’s past, and a man with inventions from the future, they just might out-swindle the evil giants and put his beloved city back in the hands of good people ….while catapulting themselves and readers into another fantastical adventure.

Review: A few months ago I read Rapunzel’s Revenge and loved it: loved the retelling of the fairy tale set in the Wild West in which Rapunzel saves herself and is a very strong-willed young lady. A Native-American Jack of the Beanstalk was her side-kick and eventually, her romantic interest and when I heard he would get his own story, I was delighted.

Calamity Jack is a story in two parts, past and present. The first part is a retelling of the original Jack and the Beanstalk in which our esteemed protagonist is a con artist, working together with a pixie called Pru. He is not a highly successful schemer though: he has the plans, he has the guts topull them off but he lacks the one thing that is most important: luck.

Maybe because his heart is not entirely in his cons ? Nevertheless, life is hard for Jack and his momma and he will do anything to make her life better, including plotting the greatest scheme of them all; his target: the town’s most powerful man, the giant Blunderboar and his fortress. If he can get this one coup right, he and his mother will be well-off for life. Unfortunately things go awry and not only Jack’s momma is terribly disappointed in Jack but the whole town and the Giants are after him. He has no choice but to run which is how he ends up in the West (meeting Rapunzel and the events of the previous book take place).

In the second part, Jack and Rapunzel decide go back. He now has the means to help his mother and he needs to set things right. What he didn’t expect is that the repercussions of his own scheme are much worse than he expected; couple that with the fact that the city is now under siege from the terrible Ant People and you have a Situation. Together, Jack and Rapunzel will work to free the city and Jack’s momma and eventually answer the question: is Jack a good man or a bad man?

Calamity Jack is as much fun as Rapunzel’s Revenge: full of action, gimmicks and wonderful characters. Rapunzel remains my favourite and even though the story here is not from her point of view, she is still a very important part of the story. And a cool one at that: I love how she still uses her braid, now unattached to her head, as a lasso. Even if Jack is the narrator here, Rapunzel is still the proper Heroine, the one that gets in danger to save everybody. And I just LOVED to see how he is incredibly aware of how cool, amazing, powerful she is and how he has such admiration for her – even if he feels he is not good enough for her.

And this is it really: this is Jack’s journey to become a man. He is surrounded by strong, capable women, his momma and Rapunzel; both have a strong sense of right and wrong whereas Jack navigates in a greyer area and this contrast makes him very aware of his shortcomings. He wants nothing but to be worthy of these two women and of his traditions. The conclusion of the story is very sweet and ever so right.

As for the art, I took me some getting used to it when first introduced to Nathan Hale’s illustration in Rapunzel’s Revenge. Now, that I am, I like it. The panels are very clean and bright and I loved how the difference between the wild, wild west from the previous book and the slick, steampunkish feel that the city has.

In the end, I didn’t think Calamity Jack was as brilliant as Rapunzel’s Revenge (mostly because Jack is not as a larger-than-life a character as Rapunzel is) but I still very much enjoyed it.

Notable Quotes/ Parts: Every single scene with Rapunzel. Oh my, I might have a girl-crush!

Verdict: Although Calamity Jack lacked the sheer brilliance that was Rapunzel’s Revenge, I still thought it was fun and highly recommend it.

Rating: 7 – Very Good

Reading Next: Naamah’s Kiss by Jacqueline Carey

Title: The Mermaid’s Madness

Author: Jim C. Hines

Genre: Fantasy

Publisher: Daw Books
Publishing Date: October 6, 2009
Paperback: 352 pages

Stand Alone or series: book 2 in the Princess Novels’ series

Why did I read the book: I read the first one and loved it.
How did I get the book: Bought

Summary:

There is an old story — you might have heard it — about a young mermaid, the daughter of a king, who saved the life of a human prince and fell in love.

So innocent was her love, so pure her devotion, that she would pay any price for the chance to be with her prince. She gave up her voice, her family, and the sea, and became human. But the prince had fallen in love with another woman.

The tales say the little mermaid sacrificed her own life so that her beloved prince could find happiness with his bride.

The tales lie.

Review: After reading and enjoying The Stepsister Scheme, I immediately picked up its sequel, The Mermaid’s Madness, and ended up enjoying it even more than the first one.

The three princesses Sleeping Beauty (Talia), Snow White (Snow) and Cinderella (Danielle) return and this time, they must face another fairytale princess turned villain: The (not so) Little Mermaid.

The story opens and it’s one year after the events of The Stepsister Scheme. Princess Danielle and her mother-in-law Beatrice are at high seas, preparing to parley with the Undine in their annual meeting when they exchange tributes and reinforce their association. But this time around something goes awry when they are attacked by a group of merfolk led by their new Queen, Lirea – she is looking for her missing sister and she believes Queen Bea is keeping her. Lirea ends up stabbing the Queen who falls into a magic-induced coma. The undine declare war against the humans until the queen’s sister is returned. This is when Danielle and Talia learn that Snow knows where the mermaid is and why is Queen Bea keeping her. It turns out, she is hiding in fear of her sister’s madness, a madness that comes from her tragic story, a gritty and sad story worse than anyone ever thought.

A young girls fall in love with a prince and her sorceress grandmother helps her become human so that she can woo him. In order to become fully human he has to marry her within six days. The prince uses the young princess and ditches her without ever committing because no Prince could ever marry a half-animal; driven by grief, the mermaid stabs the prince with an enchanted knife provided her grandmother (which is the same knife used to stab Queen Bea) ; in her guilt and sadness the mermaid goes crazy, kills her father and older sister and is in search of her other sister for revenge for helping in the creation of the knife.

It is this knife that Snow, Danielle and Talia must find in order to save Queen Bea and on their perilous journey (full of adventure!) they will meet many friend and foe and they will once again, save the day but not before realising some truths about themselves.

Now, this is what I am talking about: a good, adventurous story, great fighting sequences, with truly fleshed out characters. This time around, we get the three princesses’ PoV and I loved it. These three are absolutely great characters: courageous, determined, interesting far from being timid, spineless, feeble protagonists. They are also complex: Snow for example, has a tendency to get lost in a power trip whenever she is using her magic; Talia is on the brink of losing control – not only for feeling guilty for not preventing the attack on the Queen but for her unrequited love for Snow (by the way, I am so shipping these two). Danielle is concerned about her son and what exactly did the black magic used to speed up her pregnancy DO to him. Plus her need to clean whenever she is anxious is both funny and a bit sad.

The true tragedy and sadness of the story lie in finding out that the villain is far from being one-dimensional. Instead, even though it is clear that she really must be stopped, it is impossible not to feel sympathy for her. And towards the end, there is a new revelation that was somewhat sad but not unexpected – and I think that will open a new possible thread in the next instalments. And I can’t wait to read them – these books are fun, quick reads and the author do not keep from packing some punches. I can feel such a potential for this series and I am deeply connected with these characters: I totally, truly LIKE them.

Notable Quotes/ Parts:
The final showdown between Talia and the Little Mermaid – when Talia knows what she must do, Lirea knows what must be done and it is not only sad but poignant. Especially when Talia says that she “knows”: because she too, was never lucky in love.

Additional Thoughts The next book in the series will be released in 2010 and is called Red Hood’s Revenge:

Roudette’s story was a simple one. A red cape. A wolf. A hunter.

Her mother told her she would be safe, so long as she kept to the path. But sometimes the path leads to dark places.

Roudette is the hunter now, an assassin known throughout the world as the Lady of the Red Hood. Her mission will take her to Arathea and an ancient fairy threat. At the heart of the conflict between humans and fairies stands the woman Roudette has been hired to kill, the only human ever to have fought the Lady of the Red Hood and survived:

The princess known as Sleeping Beauty.

Can’t wait!

Verdict: These books are a lot of fun and of the highest quality. The Fantasy elements are great, the twists to known fairytales are creative and the characters…. I just love them. And where else can you get a Sleeping Beauty that is gay and a ninja?

Rating: 7 – very good, leaning towards a 8

Reading next: The Magicians by Lev Grossman

Title: The Stepsister Scheme

Author: Jim C. Hines

Genre: Fantasy

Publisher: DAW Books
Publishing date: January 2009
Paperback: 352 pages

Stand alone or series: First in the Princess Novels series.

Why did I read the book: Kaz Mahoney pointed it to me when we were visiting our favourite book store (that would be Forbidden Planet) and I just had to buy it.

How did I get the book: Bought

Summary: Cinderella–whose real name is Danielle Whiteshore (nee Danielle de Glas)–does marry Prince Armand. And if you can ignore the pigeon incident, their wedding is a dream come true.

But not long after the “happily ever after,” Danielle is attacked by her stepsister Charlotte, who suddenly has all sorts of magic to call upon. And though Talia–otherwise known as Sleeping Beauty–comes to the rescue (she’s a martial arts master, and all those fairy blessings make her almost unbeatable), Charlotte gets away.

That’s when Danielle discovers a number of disturbing facts: Armand has been kidnapped and taken to the realm of the Fairies; Danielle is pregnant with his child; and the Queen has her own very secret service that consists of Talia and Snow (White, of course). Snow is an expert at mirror magic and heavy duty flirting.

Can the three princesses track down Armand and extract both the prince and themselves from the clutches of some of fantasyland’s most nefarious villains?

Review: What happened after the Happily Ever After – IF there was ever one?

I love Fairytale retellings and the more different from the originals, the better and when I saw this book in the store, I knew I had to have it. But what I did not know, or what I did not expect was how much I would enjoy The Stepsister Scheme and its sequel, The Mermaid’s Madness. The cartoonish covers may indicate a cutesy (thanks to Thea for the choice of word) read but what is inside is anything but. Instead we get a somewhat dark take on known fairytales, good Fantasy writing, with strong, female characters as protagonists and yes, a good dose of humour.

The Stepsister Scheme is the first in a new series which follows a trio of fairytale princesses: Cinderella, Snow White and Sleeping Beauty. This first book is centred on Cinderella or Danielle de Glas as she settles down on her married life to Prince Armand, heir to the throne of Lorindar. It’s only been four months but the stories are already circulating about how she was a slave to her evil stepfamily and how she fell in love with the prince after sneaking into the Ball; how with the help of a magical influence (not a fairy godmother though – but actually the spirit of her mother), she got a beautiful dress and glass slippers and then one night she left one slipper behind and the besotted prince went around the reign looking for her. The rumours are mostly correct although the version that includes a magic pumpkin is a gross fabrication.

The story starts as Danielle is attacked by Charlotte, one of her stepsisters, who doesn’t seem to have gotten over the loss of Princess Charming. Crippled by her own mother (who tried to cut her foot to fit in the Glass Slipper) a resentful Charlotte tries to kill Danielle with the help of an undisclosed Magic source only to be thwarted by one of the Danielle’s servants, Talia.

Talia proves to be a good fighter, yet Charlotte escapes but not before revealing that Prince Armand has gone missing. Danielle is then confronted with the fact that her husband has been captured and that her mother-in-law, Queen Beatrice has a special force in charge of dealing with problems that can’t be solved with diplomacy and politics. Talia is one of them and to Danielle’s surprise she is the princess everybody knows as Sleeping Beauty. Snow White is the other. The three of them are entrusted with the task to go searching for Armand, a quest that eventually leads them to Fairytown (there is a diplomatic treaty prevents Queen Bea from using official channels to rescue her son) , where Danielle learns that her unborn baby is a most wanted commodity and where all three of them must face their worst nightmares.

The Stepsister Scheme is a fast-paced read ( I was done in one afternoon) and it was so much fun! Starting with the twists to the well-known fairytales: Sleeping Beauty did sleep for 100 years cursed by the fairies only to wake up in pain, giving birth to children born of rape by the grandson of a man who killed her entire family and usurped her throne; Snow White on the other hand fell in love with the hunter sent to kill her and they lived together in the woods until her mother, dressed as an old lady fed her a poisoned apple. Both women turned killers and had to escape their respective kingdoms and hide in Lorindar. Talia uses the gifts the fairies granted her to be a most skilled martial arts fighter and Snow has inherited her mother’s skills with magic Mirrors and became a sorcerer (and just wait till you learn what exactly are the seven dwarves and how they come into play in the story).

My one and only grippe with this book is how very plot centric it is – I tend to prefer character-driven stories or at least to have some character development. As this story is exclusively from Cinderella’s point of view – the one character that truly did get her happily ever after, married to a loving, passionate prince – and there isn’t a lot in the way of character’s growth (except for going from mostly passive to quite active) , I felt that there was something missing. And that something was the point of view of the characters I loved the most – Talia and Snow. We get only but a peek at how they are still suffering the consequences of their tragic pasts (Talia can’t sleep for example and hates fairies for all the “gifts” they gave her) in TheStepsister Scheme and I wished for more.

Although there are other interesting secondary characters (the Duchess is one I wish to see again) they are even less flesh-out than the three protagonists. But even if less fleshed-out than I hoped these three are strong characters and strong women. I loved how loyal and determined they all were and I revelled in the fact that Cinderella was the one to do the rescuing of her prince this time. And I absolutely adored how we find out that Talia has feelings for Snow.

Although for the most part, the book is a light read with a definite resolution of this particular story, both the repercussions of the princess’ pasts and the prospect of darkness in their future are great overreaching threads that I hope will come back in future instalments.

Bottom line is this: I finished reading The Stepsister Scheme and immediately opened the sequel, The Mermaid’s Madness.

Notable Quotes/ Parts: I have several favourite parts: from Talia and Snow’s bickering to the kiss of love (I am purposely cryptic) ; from the revelation of the villain to their adventures in fairy town (including the pixie bar) .

Additional Thoughts: I recently read another retelling of Cinderella which I loved: Ash by Malinda Lo.

Ash is a beautiful tale of a girl who suffers of depression after the death of her father and becomes obsessed with the world of fairies; and who ultimately, actively seeks to free herself from her stepfamily and then finds happiness in the arms of another girl, the King’s Huntress.

Highly recommended.

Verdict: The Stepsister Scheme is a fun read, with great Fantasy elements and three great protagonists. If you like fairytale retellings and strong female characters, look out for this one.

Rating: 7 – Very Good

Reading Next: The Mermaid’s Madness by Jim C. Hines

Title: Ice

Author: Sarah Beth Durst

Genre: Fantasy, Retelling, Young Adult

Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry (US) / Simon & Schuster Children’s (UK)
Publication Date: October 2009
Hardcover: 320 pages (US)

Stand alone or series: Stand alone novel

How did I get this book: Review Copy from the publisher (UK)

Why did I read this book: Sarah Beth Durst’s new novel has been popping up all around the blogosphere, and when I learned it was a retelling of the Norwegian fairy tale “East of the Sun and West of the Moon,” my interest was instantly piqued. It seems to be one of the more popular of the lesser known fable for retellings, but I had yet to read one. So, when we receive a review copy, I was more than eager to dive in.

Summary: (from amazon.com)
When Cassie was a little girl, her grandmother told her a fairy tale about her mother, who made a deal with the Polar Bear King and was swept away to the ends of the earth. Now that Cassie is older, she knows the story was a nice way of saying her mother had died. Cassie lives with her father at an Arctic research station, is determined to become a scientist, and has no time for make-believe.
Then, on her eighteenth birthday, Cassie comes face-to-face with a polar bear who speaks to her. He tells her that her mother is alive, imprisoned at the ends of the earth. And he can bring her back — if Cassie will agree to be his bride.

That is the beginning of Cassie’s own real-life fairy tale, one that sends her on an unbelievable journey across the brutal Arctic, through the Canadian boreal forest, and on the back of the North Wind to the land east of the sun and west of the moon. Before it is over, the world she knows will be swept away, and everything she holds dear will be taken from her — until she discovers the true meaning of love and family in the magical realm of Ice.

Review:

Once upon a time, the North Wind said to the Polar Bear King, ‘Steal me a daughter, and when she grows, she will be your bride.’

With this grandmother’s bedside story begins Ice, a modern retelling of the Norwegian fairy tale “East of the Sun and West of the Moon.” On the eve of Cassie’s eighteenth birthday, she has left the Arctic research station that is her home, on the tail of one of the largest polar bears she has ever seen. As a present to herself, she has broken her father’s strict survival and research protocol, in order to tag the bear for research purposes. But just when she has him cornered, the enormous bear seems to walk into an ice wall, disappearing from sight. Dejected and disbelieving, Cass returns home and explains her actions to her father – who, instead of berating her, becomes irrationally scared, telling Cassie that he will have a helicopter come immediately to the station so that she can be taken away to live with her grandmother in the Alaskan city of Fairbanks. Cassie is bewildered – for she learns that the same fairy tale her grandmother told her every night of her childhood is actually her family story.

Cassie’s mother was the stolen daughter of the fairy tale, brought by the Polar Bear King to the North Wind to raise as a daughter, and then who would become the Polar Bear King’s wife. Once she grew into a woman, however, she fell in love with another mortal – Cassie’s father. When the Polar Bear King came to claim his bride, he made another deal with Cassie’s mother as he would not take an unwilling wife. In exchange for protecting Cassie’s mother and her human husband from the angry North Wind, the Polar Bear King would get their daughter – Cassie – as his bride. The North Wind, however, discovered his wayward daughter’s whereabouts. To protect her husband and Cassie, she begged her father to take out his rage on her alone. The North Wind blew Cassie’s mother to the ends of the earth – east of the Sun and west of the Moon, to the court of the spiteful trolls, where she has remained ever since.

And, Cassie learns, as she has turned eighteen, the Polar Bear King has come for her as payment for the bargain made by her parents.

Instead of running away with her grandmother, however, a shellshocked and still-disbelieving Cassie sneaks out of the station and into the snow, calling out for the Polar Bear King to show himself…and he does. Cassie decides to strike a deal of her own with the bear – save her mother from her imprisonment with the trolls, and Cassie will go with the bear and become his bride. It’s a bargain that Cassie has no intention of truly keeping, but when her mother is freed and she gets to know Bear in his magical icy palace, her plans change as she, inexplicably, falls in love. Things are never so simple, however, as Bear has made another bargain of his own – and Cassie must determine to what lengths she will go to in order to save her husband from a terrible fate.

Ice is a romantic fantasy novel, a retelling in the young adult fashion of Shannon Hale and Robin McKinley. Ms. Durst’s version of the familiar fable updates it with a modern twist. In conception and in terms of plot, Ice is an irresistible, fast-paced read. Ms. Durst creates a world that is both familiar and enchantingly alien, weaving a Norwegian fairy tale with Inupiaq (that is, Inuit/Eskimo) myth. The Polar Bear King, which sounds a little cheesy, is in fact a munaqsri – a guardian of spirits. I loved the concept of the munaqsri as keepers of souls, with at least one for each living species. In terms of magical world building, Ice shines. Traversing the north pole, the arctic tundra, rich green forests and the very ends of the earth, this novel also takes on the ambitious task of writing a difficult, non-traditional love story – it’s traditional in the sense that there’s marriage and children involved, but it’s rare that the heroine of a young adult novel is a wife and teen mother. The love story that unfolds between Bear and Cassie is sweet and devoted, especially in the book’s first act.

While the story is fast-paced and engaging (in fact, I finished Ice in a single sitting) and the fantasy element of different munaqsri undeniably compelling, Ice unfortunately feels a little lacking in the execution department. Everything happens so quickly – in the space of a single sentence, weeks have passed and Cassie has dramatically transformed from suspicious to a deep friendship bordering on love. There’s a lack of finesse in the writing – something extra that is missing, setting Ice beneath the caliber novel of, say, Juliet Marillier’s WIldwood Dancing or Shannon Hale’s The Goose Girl. There’s enough romance and engaging plot to make this a quick read, but Ms. Durst’s prose lacks the lyrical magic that would have brought Ice to the next level. The same applies to the characters, particularly Cassie and Bear. They are sympathetic and sweet, but lack a level of believability because of how abrupt and episodic the plot is. It boils down to the writerly cliché of showing versus telling. Ms. Durst tells readers that Cassie feels a certain way and that she and Bear fall in love, but she doesn’t show readers the actual process – which is a shame, because part of the magic of romantic books such as this one is feeling those emotions as two different characters connect over time. I also felt a disconnect between the first act of the book and the second. Ice starts off strong and Cassie begins as a capable, intelligent heroine – the first few chapters as Cassie decides to save her mother and her curiosity as she travels to Bear’s ice castle is compelling, spellbinding stuff. But, the focus soon changes as Cassie returns home, then must set out on a quest to save Bear from a terrible fate. The transition from curious, driven and somewhat skeptical young woman to lover, wife and expectant mother is a rocky one, and I couldn’t quite suspend disbelief. I felt as though the novel was working on a word count and was truncated throughout, especially by the dramatic finale.

And yet, despite these drawbacks, Ice is a compulsively readable novel and one that I certainly enjoyed. It felt a little rushed which worked to its detriment in terms of characters and believability, but the story is undeniably well-conceived and compelling. Recommended for those fairy tale enthusiasts looking for a new retelling.

Notable Quotes/Parts: From Chapter 1:

PART ONE: The Land of the Midnight Sun

One

Once upon a time, in a land far to the north, there lived a lovely maiden…

Latitude 72° 13′ 30″ N
Longitude 152° 06′ 52″ W
Altitude 3 ft.

Cassie killed the snowmobile engine.

Total silence, her favorite sound. Ice crystals spun in the Arctic air. Sparkling in the predawn light, they looked like diamond dust. Beneath her ice-encrusted face mask, she smiled. She loved this: just her, the ice, and the bear.

“Don’t move,” she whispered at the polar bear.

Cassie felt behind her and unhooked the rifle. Placid as a marble statue, the polar bear did not move. She loaded the tranquilizer dart by feel, her eyes never leaving the bear. White on white in an alcove of ice, he looked like a king on a throne. For an instant, Cassie imagined she could hear Gram’s voice, telling the story of the Polar Bear King… Gram hadn’t told that story since the day she’d left the research station, but Cassie still remembered every word of it. She used to believe it was true.

When she was little, Cassie used to stage practice rescue missions outside of Dad’s Arctic research station. She’d pile old snowmobile parts and broken generators to make the troll’s castle, and then she’d scale the castle walls and tie up the “trolls” (old clothes stuffed with pillows) with climbing ropes. Once, Dad had caught her on the station roof with skis strapped to her feet, ready to ski beyond the ends of the earth to save her mom. He’d taken away Cassie’s skis and had forbidden Gram from telling the story. Not that that had slowed Cassie at all. She’d simply begged Gram to tell the story when Dad was away, and she’d invented a new game involving a canvas sail and an unused sled. Even after she’d understood the truth—that Gram’s story was merely a pretty way to say her mother had died — she’d continued to play the games.

Now I don’t need games, she thought with a grin. She snapped the syringe into place and lifted the gun up to her shoulder. And this bear, she thought, didn’t need any kid’s bedtime story to make him magnificent. He was as perfect as a textbook illustration: cream-colored with healthy musculature and no battle scars. If her estimates were correct, he’d be the largest polar bear on record. And she was the one who had found him.

Cassie cocked the tranquilizer gun, and the polar bear turned his head to look directly at her. She held her breath and didn’t move. Wind whistled, and loose snow swirled between her and the bear. Her heart thudded in her ears so loudly that she was certain he could hear it. This was it—the end of the chase. When she’d begun this chase, the aurora borealis had been dancing in the sky. She’d tracked him in its light for three miles north of the station. Loose sea ice had jostled at the shore, but she’d driven over it and then onto the pack ice. She’d followed him all the way here, to a jumble of ice blocks that looked like a miniature mountain range. She had no idea how he’d stayed so far ahead of her during the chase. Top speed for an adult male bear clocked at thirty miles per hour, and she’d run her snowmobile at sixty. Maybe the tracks hadn’t been as fresh as they’d looked, or maybe she’d discovered some kind of superfast bear. She grinned at the ridiculousness of that idea. Regardless of the explanation, the tracks had led her here to this beautiful, majestic, perfect bear. She’d won.

A moment later, the bear looked away across the frozen sea.

“You’re mine,” she whispered as she sighted down the barrel.

And the polar bear stepped into the ice. In one fluid motion, he rose and moved backward. It looked as if he were stepping into a cloud. His hind legs vanished into whiteness, and then his torso.

Impossible.

She lowered the gun and stared. She couldn’t be seeing this. The ice wall appeared to be absorbing him. Now only his shoulders and head were visible.

Cassie shook herself. He was escaping! Never mind how. Lifting the gun, she squeezed the trigger. The recoil bashed the butt of the gun into her shoulder. Reflexively, she blinked.

And the bear was gone.

You can read the prologue and first two chapters online HERE.

Additional Thoughts: The “East of the Sun and West of the Moon” fairy tale is a popular one for retelling in young adult novels. Other retellings include Edith Pattou’s East and Sun and Moon, Ice and Snow by Jessica Day George. I have yet to read either version of the retelling, though I do have East on my TBR – I’ve heard that it’s the definitive retelling. Now that I’m more familiar with the fable, and have given Ice a read, perhaps it’s time to dust off East!

Rose has always felt out of place in her family. So when an enormous white bear mysteriously shows up and asks her to come away with him, she readily agrees. The bear takes Rose to a distant castle, where each night she is confronted with a mystery. In solving that mystery, she finds love, discovers her purpose, and realizes her travels have only just begun.

As fresh and original as only the best fantasy can be, East is a novel retelling of the classic tale “East of the Sun and West of the Moon,” told in the tradition of Robin McKinley and Gail Carson Levine.

Verdict: A solid, romantic retelling of a lesser known fairy tale that is impressive in its scope and story. Though a bit rushed and episodic, it’s still definitely worth reading for fans of romantic fantasy and fairy tale retellings. I’m eager to see what else Ms. Durst has to offer in the future!

Rating: 7 – Very Good

Reading Next: Tainted by Julie Kenner