Finder by Pepper Thorn

Author: Pepper Thorn

Title: Finder

Publication: March 24, 2014

Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform

Genre: Fairy Tale, Young Adult

Pages: 200

Audience: 13 and up

Rating: 4.5 out of 5

Source: Purchased

Synopsis (from the cover): All Sara wanted was her family, back again,but Faery bargains always come with a price,
and what you look for is not always what you seek.

Ever since she can remember, Sara McAlister has had a knack for finding things. What she has not had for the last year is a family.

Since the accident that stole her dad and little sister, Sara has been living a lie, pretending that everything was fine, and that she and her mom were moving on. But when Queen Titania summons her into the beautiful and treacherous Faery, Sara gets a chance to make her lies reality.

The Holy Grail has disappeared, and King Oberon with it. Sara's knack may be the key to saving them … and getting her life back. But there are more powers at play than even Queen Titania is aware of.

Can Sara use her increasingly unreliable gift to complete a quest that has claimed the lives and sanity of Faery’s finest knights

My thoughts:
I found out about this indie author and book from a small convention I went to called the Alabama Phoenix Festival. Pepper Thorn was a panelist in a panel I attended. She of course promoted her book. I had mentioned wanting it after spotting it in the Dealer's Room and reading the synopsis. My husband had bought it for me while I was at the panel. I went back to get it signed. 
This is a fairy tale...you have the Fairy Queen, Titania, and the King, Oberon. For me personally, it took a little while to get into. I think it really hit its stride around page 100. However, I was reading it each day for about 30 minutes at work, and I had just changed from night shift to day shift...so I was dealing with lack of sleep and other kinds of issues. It could have been me, not the book. I did have a problem with Sara just jumping into the fairy realm without thinking. I felt there were some things left untethered. Like how did Sara learn about her gift? How did the fairies know about Sara and her gift? Why did Nuthelm follow Sara through out her life? At the end Sara is given another gift in the fairy realm, but when she comes back to the human realm, there is no trace of it, so what happened to her gift? Why happened to the twin guards?
Also, this is the second novel that I have read that uses Rock City as a meeting ground. This first was American Gods by Neil Gaiman. I thought it was kind of neat especially since that is where I went for my honeymoon, and I know the landscape a bit. Sara goes into the fairy realm on Monte Sano Mountain, which is really close to my home town. To me, that was really cool.
I thought the book was great. It follows Sara who is on an fairy quest and pretty much learns how to deal with her grief and guilt along the way. There are many creatures from unicorns to tiny tree people. It stays pretty action packed, except for the walking/vision scenes. I found those a little slow, but I think they are imperative to the story. I put young adult for the suggested reading age, but I would suggest 13 and up for this story. It is a fantastic novel filled with all sorts of fairy creatures, villains, and heroes. 

 

Valiant (Modern Faeries Tales #2) by Holly Black

Author: Holly Black
Title:  Valiant (Modern Faeries Tales #2)
Publication: October  1, 2006
Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry Books
Genre: Young Adult, Faerie Tale
Pages: 320
Audience: 15 and up
Rating: 3 out of 5
Source: Public Library

Synopsis (fromGoodreads): When seventeen-year-old Valerie runs away to New York City, she's trying to escape a life that has utterly betrayed her. Sporting a new identity, she takes up with a gang of squatters who live in the city's labyrinthine subway system.

But there's something eerily beguiling about Val's new friends.
And when one talks Val into tracking down the lair of a mysterious creature with whom they are all involved, Val finds herself torn between her newfound affection for an honorable monster and her fear of what her new friends are becoming.

 
My thoughts: I have no idea how this book relates to Tithe, but I guess I will find out when I read Ironside. Unfortunately, the experience of the book was lessened as some jerk had censored the book.  

 This book is full of drama and twists and turns at every corner. You don’t expect the bad guys until it is too late. Val is a strong female character who runs away after finding out the truth about her boyfriend. So she jumps on a train and heads to New York on a date by herself…except she decides to stay in New York for a while. Val and her new street friends Lolli, Dave, and Luis aren’t exactly angels. They use fairy glamor, which they call Never to get high. They then have fairy powers to glamor people. Never is very much like heroin and has withdrawal symptoms.  Val runs into some trouble and indentures herself to a fairy to repay for the trouble she and Lolli caused. However, there is some major drama going on amongst the fairies and you don’t know who you can trust. It is a gritty, dirty story, but it is part of the series and it wasn’t terrible, but wasn’t fantastic either.

The Dresden File Series by Jim Butcher

Author: Jim Butcher
Narrator: James Marsters

Publication: 2000- present

Publisher: Roc

Genre: Urban Fantasy

Audience: 18 and up

Rating: 5 out of 5

Source: Purchased/Public Library

Photo credit: Google Images via www.ichimonchi.com

I probably have no right to discuss this series, as it is one that I have been working on for some time. I believe I got all the way to Small Favor before graduate school took over my life. So I get credit for reading over half the series, right? This series was ruined for me by the friend who likes to ruin all book series for me. However, since he told me this ending, more books have come out to add onto the series. Anyway, I am currently re-reading them and prepping for the new book, Skin Games which is due out on May 27, 2014.

When I meet people who love to read, especially love to read urban fantasy, I suggest this book. My friends and patrons who have actually gave this book a chance have ALWAYS come back telling me how great it is OR they ask me the title of the next book.  I strongly suggest listening to the audiobooks. Especially if you are a Buffy fan, that guy that played Spike, yeah, he is the narrator and a darn good one too! If you are not into audiobooks, then go to your nearest library and check it out or buy it on Amazon. Sorry hardback book lovers, but the first three are super rare in hardback and worth lots of money, so it will be paperback. Better yet, just get the audiobook, you won't regret it!

So you are probably wondering what the book is all about. It is essentially a grown up Harry Potter, set in our world, Chicago to be exact, during modern, current time. Harry Blackstone Copperfield Dresden is a Chicago wizard who is listed in the phone book and sometimes works on police cases for the Special Investigations Department. The book series really develops Harry in a way that he almost feels like a real person you know. He is awkward, but strong. He even battles with himself over the good and the bad he could do. This is something we all battle with at times. He is just a real-life like character and so loveable (to me anyways). You want to help defeat his adversaries, and unfortunately, Mr. Dresden has quite the army against him. However, he does not go into battle alone. He has his own army of friends to support him.
I like most of the characters in the book. A few really creep me out like the skinwalkers and the fallen angels. Of course, any friend of Harry's- I pretty much like. I love Molly, Toot Toot, Mister, and Mouse, and Thomas. I especially love Mab. She works herself into Harry's life...and he can't really wriggle free of her icy grasp.
You get a little bit of everything in this series. From faeries to Santa being of the high faerie court himself to a walking, talking, breathing archive of the world, to the Billy Goats Gruff to dinosaurs. It seriously has some fantasy topic for everyone.
 Sorry if I am being a bit vague, but I don't want to ruin anything for you because seriously you HAVE to go now and get Storm Front ASAP! NOW GO!

On a side note, my husband and I went to a convention in February and got to meet the author of the series, Jim Butcher. He is such a cool guy. I said some really awkward, uncool, fan-girl stuff in front of him, but I managed to keep my cool. Inside though, I was flailing about, crying, and screaming. It was one of the best days of my life. Here is a picture of me, Jim Butcher, and my husband. My husband had made each of us a wizard's staff before meeting Mr. Butcher, and we carried them with us. Have you ever met a favorite author?

Tithe: A Modern Faerie Tale by Holly Black

Author: Holly Black

Title:Tithe (Modern Faerie Tales #1)

Publication: October 1, 2002

Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry Books

Genre: Fairy Tale, Urban Fantasy, Young Adult

Pages: 336

Audience: 15 and up

Rating: 4 out of 5

Source: Public Library

Synopsis (from the cover):

Sixteen year old Kaye is a modern nomad. Fierce and independent, she drifts from place to place until an ominous attack forces Kaye back to her childhood home. There, amid the blue collar New Jersey backdrop, Kaye, finds herself an unwilling pawn in an ancient and violent power struggle between two rival faerie kingdoms- a struggle that could very well mean her death.

My thoughts:

This book has been on my to-read-list for a while. I finally got around to reading it. I'm not sure what I was expecting, but it was different than I thought it would be. I guess part of it was I did not read the back cover before I dove into the book. I was expecting most of the book to take place in the faerie kingdoms. not in the modern world, or as the faerie call it, the Ironside, which is also the title to the third book in the trilogy. I read this book in about 4 days or so.  However, there are so many characters and places to keep up with, that by the end of the novel I had confused myself. I was wondering who certain characters were, but I finally got it all figured out.
If you like fairy/faerie tales, then I recommend this book. Kaye is an interesting character who is strong willed and fiercely loyal. I liked her a lot because I too am stubborn and loyal. I don't want to say too much about the other characters, but it appears just like faerie glamor some people are not as they seem.
It is a quick, fun read especially if you like faeries. I hope to find and read the second book eventually. Unfortunately, my public library does not have the complete trilogy.

Fables Volume 1: Legends in Exile

Author: Bill Willingham

Illustrator: James Jean,  Alex Medina, Steve Leialoha, Craig Hamilton
Title:Fables: Legends in Exile

Publication: November 21, 2011

Publisher: Vertical

Genre: Graphic Novel, Comic Book

Pages: 128

Audience: 17 and up

Rating: 3 out of 5

Source: Purchased

Synopsis (from the cover): In Fabletown, where fairy tale legends live alongside regular New Yorkers, the question is all anyone can talk about. But only the Big Bad Wolf can actually solve the case- and, along with Rose's sister Snow White, keep the Fabletown community from coming apart at the seams.

My thoughts:

I love Once Upon a Time. I watched an interview with the creators and actors of the show, and an audience member had asked the creators was the story and ideas of their own, from Disney, or Fables? The creators said it was a mix of all of them, but it was ideas that sprang up from their minds. I thought this would be similar and I should give it a try. It was okay, but it was lacking something. I'm not sure what, but it just wasn't my favorite story arc. I have bought some of the series, so I plan to give it a go. I hear from many people, "You have to read this!" Maybe, it will get better, but the first story was not the best. I found the characters more interesting than the storyline, and I really enjoyed the short story in the back of the graphic novel. The characters were really easy to pick out, and I found an eerie resemblance of Fables Snow White to Once Upon a Time's Regina. Everyone from Little Boy Blue to Prince Charming to Snow White to Cinderella were in the graphic novel. I am going to give the series another try just because I have bought a good chunk of it. Otherwise, I would recommend checking it out at the library and giving it a try. You aren't wasting any money that way.

Scarlet Lunar Chronicles Book 2: Audiobook

Author: Marissa Meyer

Narrator: Rebecca Soler
Title: Scarlet Lunar Chronicles Book 2

Publication: February 5, 2013

Publisher: Macmillan Young Listeners

Genre: Young Adult, Futuristic, Cyber-punk

Length: 11 hours
Pages: 464

Audience: 15 and up

Rating: 5 out of 5

Source: Public Library

Synopsis (from Goodreads.com): Cinder returns in the second thrilling installment of the New York Times-bestselling Lunar Chronicles. She's trying to break out of prison—even though if she succeeds, she'll be the Commonwealth's most wanted fugitive.

Halfway around the world, Scarlet Benoit's grandmother is missing. It turns out there are many things Scarlet doesn't know about her grandmother and the grave danger she has lived in her whole life. When Scarlet encounters Wolf, a street fighter who may have information as to her grandmother's whereabouts, she has no choice but to trust him, though he clearly has a few dark secrets of his own.

As Scarlet and Wolf work to unravel one mystery, they find another when they cross paths with Cinder. Together, they must stay one step ahead of the vicious Lunar Queen who will do anything to make Prince Kai her husband, her king, her prisoner.

My thoughts:

 Oh man, you guys! This series is a must read. I know my review and thoughts are a little late, but the audiobook for the Lunar Chronicles is well worth it!
This book picks up where Cinder left off. From the synopsis, I was wondering how Marissa Meyer would add another important/ main character and wrap her into the whole story. She does it perfectly! The storyline switches from back and forth from Cinder to Scarlet's perspective throughout the novel. As you also know, Scarlet is supposed to be a re-imagined, updated Red Riding Hood, so I was also intrigued as to how she would add that to the plot as well. One of my favorite characters from Cinder was brought back. I was a bit worried because I really liked the character and was unsure of their livelihood. New characters were introduced... and old evil ones were still there to make your blood boil from their wickedness. Wold was an interesting character and kept me second guessing my readings on him. I'm still trying to decide what I think about him. Cinder was not the main focus and Scarlet is a new leading lady. I liked them both and even though the book focused slightly more on Scarlet than Cinder, I still felt like there was a balance of the amount of time that was spent on each to character. I cannot wait for the next book, which according to Ms. Meyer's website is due out in 2014.
The one thing that really makes me love this series is the audio format.Rebecca Solar is great. She sounded a little different at first like she might have had a cold when recording the first part of the novel. After a while she started to sound like she did in the Cinder. I LOVE the French accents she had in this novel. I love all the accents she did, actually. She differentiates for each character. From memory there are three French characters and I could tell them each apart while listening to the novel. I apologize for the review being posted so late, but trust me the audiobook is worth a try and you will be not disappointed!

Fairest: Wide Awake Volume I

Author: Bill Willingham
Artists: Phil Jimenez, Andy Lanning, Matthew Sturges, Shawn McManus

Title: Fairest: Wide Awake Volume I

Publication: November 27, 2012

Publisher: Vertigo

Genre: Graphic Novel, Fantasy, Fairy Tales

Pages: 160

Audience:16 and up

Rating: 3.5 out of 5

Source: Purchased

Favorite Quote: "You're an addict. You need stories the way the furrow needs the plow."

Synopsis (from the cover):

They call her Sleeping Beauty, but life's always been ugly for Princess Briar Rose. Cursed at birth by a pissed-off fairy godmother, she wound up acting as a one-woman weapon of mass destruction against the Adversary in the last days of his war against the Free Fables. She won the day, but at the cost of sending herself into a permanent nap from which only true love's kiss can awaken her.

Few would have guessed that it would be Ali Baba Prince of Thieves, who would rise to the challenge- or that he'd be accompanied by an obnoxious, not-quite-a-genie sidekick. But as Briar Rose's true origin is revealed, can this no-longer sleeping beauty and her Prince Charmless escape the cold fury of the Adversary's former right-hand woman--the icily regal Snow Queen?

My thoughts:
 I started collecting the singles for this graphic novel, but then decided to wait for the trade to come out. I really enjoyed the storyline until the last 10 or so pages, which starts a new storyline from out of no where. I was a bit lost through out the entire story because it kept referencing Fables. I understand this novel is a spin off of Fables, but I thought it would be able to hold its own. Apparently, I was wrong. So I have really mixed feelings about the novel. I will want to know what happens so I may wait and check out the next trade to see if I want to continue reading it. Also, my favorite character was Jonah, the bottle imp, and the Snow Queen was pretty cool too. I enjoyed the storyline when background story was not necessary, but when it was it was confusing and irritating. If you have read Fables, then go for Fairest. If you have not read Fables but really want to read Fairest, go for it, but just know you may have to go back and eventually catch up on Fables.