T. Kingfisher’s A Sorceress Comes to Call is billed as a “dark retelling” of the Grimm fairytale The Goose Girl, but while there are some shared elements (a false bride, a horse named Falada, and some geese), there are no straight parallels. This book is perhaps more “inspired by” The Goose Girl than anything, which is fine because it’s still something altogether wonderful.
Amanda Foody and C. L. Herman’s All of Us Villains manages to be dark and bloody, but also tender and hopeful. It feels a bit like Hunger Games, but instead of fighting against mechanisms of a corrupt government, these kids are fighting against twisted family ties and traditions (and each other). Here, you also get magic, spells, and relics, which is always a little more fun than a gritty dystopia.
I loved Jennifer Donnelly’s Poisoned for many of the same reasons I enjoyed her book Stepsister – it’s a heartfelt, feminist retelling of a classic fairytale, with a strong female lead and enjoyable, fleshed-out side characters.
Fact: I had a terrible time getting through A Deadly Education by Naomi Novik. Reading it felt like being dropped into the middle of a conversation that’s in a language I don’t know. Disorienting is the only word I can think of to describe the feel and pace of this book. And yet…there are some great thematic pay-offs: coming-of-age, embrace-your-power, find-your-friends kind of stuff. And the last line? Perfection!
I knew very little about Jennifer Donnelly’s Stepsister, except it was a re-telling of Cinderella, and I typically enjoy re-tellings. This book is SO much more, though! It is insightful, a little heartbreaking, and very clever.
BOOK:30 