Marissa Meyer’s Heartless is Good Fanfiction

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I recently read Marissa Meyer’s 2016 book Heartless.  It is a story based on Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland stories, with a few references to some familiar nursery rhymes and Edgar Allen Poe thrown in for good measure.  I thought that it was an excellent piece of fanfiction and is well worth the read.

I’m not sure if many people refer to this novel as fanfiction, but that is what it is, and it’s not meant to be an insult.  As someone that’s written over 1000 pages of fanfiction myself (and have probably read at least a million words of it written by other authors) I happen to like fanfiction.  Meyer herself wrote more traditional fanfiction (based on Sailor Moon) years ago, so it probably shouldn’t be surprising that someone can make a career writing fanfiction based on works that are in the public domain.

Heartless delves into the question of “What was the Queen of Hearts like before she became the evil creature that Alice runs into?”  It’s a fair question, because most children aren’t calling for the heads of people that they’re angry with.  It turns out, at least in Meyer’s world, that the Queen of Hearts was just an ordinary girl with big dreams.  Big dreams, a love interest, and a family that didn’t quite have the same dreams for her that she did.

Like most good fanfiction, the story is much richer if you are familiar with the original stories that it is based on.  There are characters in this story that you’ll run into that play a minor part in Alice in Wonderland that play a larger part here.  You can still enjoy this story even if you aren’t familiar with Alice in Wonderland; the more you know about the original work, the more you will appreciate the little details in this story, however.

I enjoyed most of the elements of this story.  Meyer uses beautiful imagery to tell about the treats that the future Queen of Hearts, Cath, makes, she creates an interesting little love story, and the story ends with a good explanation of how the Queen of Hearts becomes the heartless creature that we see in Alice in Wonderland.

This is not a feel-good story, but that’s not really to be expected, because if it truly was a story that emitted happy feels, then the Queen of Hearts wouldn’t become who she becomes.  She is a character who, although she is brave in some areas, can’t assert herself in other areas, and is slightly unlikable as a result (overall, I do have a favorable impression of her though).  Her love interest, Jest, is a likable guy, and I would have liked to have seen more of the story exploring their relationship.  These are just minor complaints, however.

If you haven’t read this story yet, I recommend it, especially if you like stories set in an Alice in Wonderland-style fantasy setting.  If you like Lewis Carroll, I definitely recommend it, as there are some passages with witty banter like you would find in the Wonderland stories.  Although it is not the best book that I’ve read this year, I did enjoy it a lot, and I kept reading it on my work breaks and in the evenings until I finished it.

Win Some Free Books!

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Win some free books in JuneI love to win things!  I’m sure that you do as well.  When I started this blog a year ago (before life got sidetracked and I started spending a lot of time at a different job) I was thinking of making this blog into one where I had a lot of sweepstakes and reviews.  When I decided to reboot this blog a couple of weeks ago, I thought that it might make sense to focus on book reviews.  I still love sweepstakes though.  When I saw that there was a June blog hop going on, I thought that I’d share it with you here!

There are some great books coming out in June.  I’ve got almost my entire day set aside on Tuesday so I can read Smoke in the Sun.  Of course, there are a lot of other wonderful books coming out in June, and you can have a chance to win one of them!  In fact, there are several chances for you to win a new book, since this is a giveaway hop.

Here are some of the opportunities you have to win:

Each of these giveaways have their own rules and end dates, so make sure that you check the rules before you enter.  There may be some more added later to this giveaway hop, but the ones listed above are ones that are currently working and that I have successfully entered.

Good luck!  And may the odds be ever in your favor.

I Loved The Fates Divide

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The Fates Divide coverThe Fates Divide is Veronica Roth’s sequel to Carve the Mark, which I reviewed last year.  I loved this entire duology.  Some people anxiously await the releases of new movies… other people (that would be me) anxiously await the releases of new books, counting the days until they arrive in the mail.  I pre-ordered this book months in advance and couldn’t wait until it was released.  I currently work as a self checkout host at Walmart — right before this book came out, there was a sign saying how many days until Easter, and I would add nine days every time I looked at the sign and would excitedly think to myself “that’s how many days until The Fates Divide comes out”.  I’m currently anxiously awaiting the release of Marie Lu’s Wildcard on September 18th (and her scheduled 2019 release Kingdom of Back) and Renée Ahdieh’s Smoke in the Sun on my daughter’s birthday (June 5th), but I digress.

I had to go to my kids’ homeschool coop in the morning, but as soon as I got home, I went straight to the mailbox (oh, and I was tracking the package’s progress to my mailbox for days before its arrival), got my book out, and started reading.  Aside from having to take my daughter to American Heritage Girls that evening, I didn’t stop reading that evening until I was finished.  I love that I don’t have to work on Tuesdays, because that’s when all the new books come out :-).

If you haven’t read Carve the Mark yet, don’t read on if you don’t want spoilers.

The Fates Divide follows Akos and Cyra as they fly off into the stars after they capture Eijeh and Ryzek.  Lazmet, Cyra and Ryzek’s father, was recently revealed to be alive, and they will have to put a stop to him; after all, Ryzek learned to be the cruel person that he was because of his father.  It is written in four POV’s: those of Akos, Cyra, Eijah, and Cisi.

Before I started reading this book, I was a little wary of how this duology was going to end, especially since the book has the tagline He’d die for her.  She’d kill for him.  I absolutely hate chapter 50 of Allegiant (and no, We Can Be Mended did not fix things for me), but I still love the Divergent series because the rest of the story is so good.  Before this book’s release date, I reread Carve the Mark 3 times (twice in English and once in Spanish) and mused over the fates that these characters have.  Is there any possible way for this story to turn out well? I thought to myself.

Fortunately, I’m very happy to say that this story did have a satisfying ending and did not leave me crying at 4 AM as I crawled into bed as Allegiant did.  There are a couple of twists in this book (one I kind of guessed could be a possibility of after I finished Carve the Mark, the other one that happens in chapter 2, surprised the heck out of me).  I was very happy with the direction that this book went in and I’m sure that most readers will too.

Although I loved this book overall, I didn’t really love the storyline with Cisi as much as I loved the storyline with Akos and Cyra.  Cisi’s POV chapters were an interesting side story, and they did contribute to the overall progression of the story, but I didn’t love her character as much as I love the characters of Akos and Cyra.  I didn’t really find Eijah’s chapters to be detracting.

The Fates Divide is definitely written for the older side of the YA audience.  I recently read The Weight of Feathers, and one of the readers commented about how he was disturbed by the scene where one of the characters was swimming topless in front of a boy that she liked because her bikini that she normally wore with her mermaid costume had been destroyed.  If that sort of scene disturbs you, then you should probably seek out Middle Grade books and avoid The Fates Divide for now.  Akos and Cyra do quite a bit more than kissing in this book, and some of the scenes are fairly descriptive.  I love their relationship, but it’s also part of what makes this book suitable for an older YA audience.

This is the kind of book that leaves me thinking about the characters after reading the book, and is one that I plan on rereading.  It is the kind of book that I might write fanfiction about (I actually did write a short fanfiction scene called Five Seasons Later the morning after I read the book; it contains spoilers for The Fates Divide, so don’t read it if you have not read the book yet).  I give this book a rating of 5/5 stars.

Ōkami and Yumi: Free (for now) Flame in the Mist Stories

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Okami coverŌkami and Yumi are two short stories by Renée Ahdieh that occur after the book Flame in the Mist (which I can’t say enough good things about).  They are currently free for now (although some of Renée Ahdieh’s other short stories are currently selling for $1.99 on Amazon.com, so you probably can’t expect them to stay free forever).  You will not want to read either of these stories before reading Flame in the Mist, because you’ll either figure out some spoilers, or you’ll be completely confused.  Neither short story goes into a great deal of world-building, and assumes that you are already familiar with the characters and the situations that they have gotten themselves into.

Ōkami is the story of… Ōkami (who else?).  It does advance the story of Flame in the Mist a little bit, although I’m sure that if you don’t read this short story, you’ll be caught up once Smoke in the Sun comes out.  It’s a story that allows you to delve more deeply into his character and thought process.  At only 13 pages, it doesn’t take a great deal of time to read.  It’s more of a scene than a heart-stopping action sequence or love story with a plot, but if you love this fandom, it’s well worth reading.  Plus, it’s free (for now) so you might as well pick it up, even if you are taking advantage of the generous offer to get a free paperback copy of Flame in the Mist when pre-ordering Smoke in the Sun.  Don’t read this first, but get it now so you can read it later.Yumi Cover

Yumi is the story of what happens to Yumi (duh) after the events of Flame in the Mist.  We don’t see much of her in the first book, but after reading this short story, I have a feeling that we’ll be seeing a lot more from her in Smoke in the Sun.  In this story, Yumi receives a letter from her brother, containing news of what happened at the end of Flame in the Mist.  As she reads the contents of the letter, and thinks about the recent shakeup that occurred at the capital, she makes a decision.  She had lived for quite a while as a protected bird in a gilded cage; her brother had done what he could to protect her, but she wanted more out of life than to be protected.  This story doesn’t show her taking action, but it does hint at the promise that we will see more from her.  I am excited to see more from her.  It seems like she may end up having a bold spirit like Mariko does.

With the release of Smoke in the Sun being only a week away, now would be a great time to pick up these free Kindle books.  It will get you excited for Renée Ahdieh’s new book release next week.  Plus, they’re free right now, so even if you’re not planning on reading either book right now, you might as well get the books now so you can read them later.

The Fool: Ray Comfort’s Inspiring Documentary

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Ray ComfortI had the opportunity to watch Ray Comfort’s new upcoming YouTube documentary The Fool this evening.  I found it to be very interesting and inspiring.

If you’re unfamiliar with who Ray Comfort is, he’s an evangelist who was originally born in New Zealand, but has been working out of Southern California (primarily Huntington Beach) for the last decade or so.  He has partnered with the former atheist child actor turned Christian, Kirk Cameron, for many years.  He’s the guy in charge of Living Waters.com as well as The Way of the Master.

The Fool speaks about how a little comedy bit that Comfort had been using for years was ridiculed incessantly — but was eventually used mightily by God.  He had a comedy bit where he spoke about how a Coke can looked like it had a designer, and then compared it to a banana.  Eventually, the atheist community picked up on it, and started calling him a buffoon and an idiot, and gave him the moniker “Bananaman”.  While they were relentlessly mocking him, however, the gospel was getting out — to millions of people.

Being “Bananaman” opened the door for Ray Comfort to speak to many atheists and people who opposed his work, but most of the people were cordial with him.  His ability to reach all of these people would not have been possible if people hadn’t been mocking him for all of these years.

For a movie, The Fool is fairly short — it’s a little over an hour.  It kept my interest the entire time.  I cried a little towards the end.  When he goes to Huntington Beach, comfort often talks to people, and some people come to see him quite often.  The Fool cuts to scenes where he talks to one of these regulars; I’m not going to spoil what happens, but it did leave me in tears.

When it is released (sorry, I don’t know the date) it will be released for free on YouTube.  I will definitely be sharing it with my friends, because I found it to be inspirational and convicting.

A Free Book? Yes, Please!

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Want a free book?  Specifically, do you want a free book that I just raved about and said how great it was?  Preorder a copy of Smoke in the Sun and get a free paperback copy of Flame in the Mist, plus get a free book plate signed by Renée Ahdieh.  Yay!

I had been thinking about ordering the first book (since I checked it out of the library and definitely want to read it again) but then I saw this deal.  Since I had already pre-ordered my copy of Smoke in the Sun, all I had to do was fill out this form (alternatively, you can click on the picture above) and Penguin Teen will send you a free copy of Flame in the Mist.  That’s a pretty good deal!

I did the Carve the Mark pre-order deal and got a free copy of the Divergent Epilogue, so I know that they actually do send these things.

Flame in the Mist was On Fire!

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Flame in the Mist coverFlame in the Mist is one of my new favorite books. I was recently looking through Goodreads for something good to read that I could check out of the library on my Kindle, and I came across it as a recommendation. It was available for checkout, so I decided to take a look.

I couldn’t put it down. Well, I actually had to, because I had to go to work, but I read it at lunch.  I thought about it while I was working.  I read it on my break.  When I went home, I finished it.  Then I pre-ordered the sequel, Smoke in the Sun.  Then I read it some more.  Even though I checked it out of the library, I’m considering buying a copy of my own.

This book is set in a sort of medieval-fantasy Japan.  Our heroine, Mariko, is set to marry one of the emperor’s sons, but she is very resentful of that fact.  Mariko is very clever and wants to be more than just a bargaining chip that her family can use to improve their status in the kingdom; however, in the beginning of the book, she has resigned herself to becoming just that, and nothing more.

All that changes when she is traveling to the capital city of Inako and her party is ambushed by, presumably, the Black Clan.  She manages to escape, and must make brave choices in order to survive.  One of these brave choices is to dress up like a boy and infiltrate the Black Clan itself — she wants to find out why they tried to kill her.  While with the Black Clan, she finds that she is valued for who she is, and ends up falling in love.

As I read the book, I had to know what was going to happen next.  Surely, they’re going to discover that she’s a girl.  I had to go back to work right in the middle of a scene where she is taking a bath in these hot springs with a boy, and I’m at work thinking about whether she is going to be found out or not.  Of course, she is eventually discovered, and that does cause some complications, but I won’t give away any spoilers here.  You’ll really just have to read it to find out (I’m sure that you’ll want to).

I love just about everything about this book.  I love the characters, I love the setting, I love the relationship between Mariko and her newfound love (and I’m not saying who that turns out to be either) and I find the plot twist at the end interesting as well.  There are still a few unanswered questions left as I finished the book, but I’m sure that they will be resolved on June 5th, which I will be spending reading Smoke in the Sun (hooray, I don’t work on Tuesdays and can spend the entire day reading it!).  I feel fortunate that I just discovered this book last week and only have a few weeks to count down before the sequel comes out (whereas I spent months anticipating the release of The Fates Divide).  I think that the one drawback that some people might find a little hard to deal with is all the Japanese terms that are used.  Some of them I understood, like katana, but then there are others that I didn’t.  There is a glossary in the back (which I didn’t know about until I finished reading the book for the first time), but even without the glossary, I still had the general idea of what all the terms meant.

Read this book though.  It’s great.

Can You Name a Book?

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Can you name a book?  Any book?  I’m sure you can, if you’re on this blog.  If not, I’ve reviewed some that you might want to take a look at.  Sadly, not everybody can name a book when asked.

I was thinking about this as I was eating dinner.  In most circumstances, I think I’d prefer reading the book to watching the movie.  There are a lot of books with scenes that I absolutely adore in the book, but I’m not sure if I’d really like the same scene in a movie.

At any rate, I couldn’t imagine not being able to name a book.

The Titan Strain: A Warning for Our Future?

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Genetics is a huge topic in the media today. It can potentially contribute to the cure for cancer and other elusive diseases, it might be able to eliminate inherited diseases, and it might even be able to enhance our own abilities. One of my favorite books, Allegiant, deals with what can happen when genetic manipulation can go astray. A new book, which will be out on May 29th, also deals with genetic manipulation gone bad: The Titan Strain. I was fortunate enough to have been given the opportunity to receive an advance copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

The Titan Strain is the first book in Virginia Soenksen’s Genetics Chronicles.  It takes place in London in the future — the world has been devastated by World War III, and the politics of London has changed.  It is now ruled by the fascist Libertas party.  The world is laxly policed, and people have started to illegally genetically manipulate themselves to gain superhuman powers to run faster, jump higher, or be stronger.  The people that genetically manipulate themselves are known as “mods”.  Modding often comes with negative side effects; the genetic material that they use comes from animals, and as they manipulate themselves this way, they become more like the animals themselves.

Liane, our heroine, is far stronger and far faster than any of these mods.  Her sole purpose in life is to carry out the wishes of the Agency through her handler, Damian.  She’s not allowed to speak to anybody outside of the Agency, and she has to obey all orders that Damian gives her.  It’s a little creepy, because if, as an example, Damian wants to go to the theater with her, he even tells her what she has to wear.

Over the course of the book, Liane meets Seth, a normal person who is a police officer working on a serial killer case, and she ends up rebelling against Damian.  All of the murder victims are mods, and as she (and Seth) try to figure out what is going on, they end up discovering a new modification that has been developed, known as the Titan Strain.  Over the course of the book, her entire outlook on life changes, and her world will never be the same.

It’s an interesting concept, and the plot is pretty good.  Overall, I enjoyed the book, and I will probably end up reading the next installment of The Genetic Chronicles when it comes out, as I am interested in finding out what happens next.  It’s definitely a book worth checking out.

However —

This is a good book, but it is not a GREAT book.  It’s not a book where I will fall asleep dreaming about the characters, or write hundreds of pages of fanfiction about because I’m in love with these people.  I’m not going to ruminate about this book while I’m at work.  Some of my favorite books do that to me.

There are things that could have made this book better.  Amazon.com describes the world as one where “People frequently go missing in this world, and those who want to survive must close their eyes to the crimes committed on their streets.”  Ooh, dangerous.  For some reason, I really don’t feel the danger of this world, however.  The same holds true for the characters.  They don’t have the life that some of my favorite characters have.  As I thought about this, I thought that maybe it was because it wasn’t written in first person point of view, like some of my favorite authors, like Veronica Roth and Marie Lu, tend to write in; but then I realized that Flame in the Mist, a book that I recently finished and loved, doesn’t have that problem and is written from a third person point of view.

The Titan Strain is currently available for Pre-Order on the Kindle for $4.99, which is a fairly good price, considering that I just pre-ordered Smoke in the Sun (the sequel to Flame in the Mist) for $10.99, and I pre-ordered the hardback edition for Marie Lu’s Wildcard a month ago for $14.63 (although it’s now selling for $17.09). If you’re looking for something interesting to read and are interested in genetics, this is worth checking out.  If you’re looking for the next Divergent, or a book that will invade your dreams and thoughts for months or years, this probably won’t be it.