Active Voice

By Wendy Mass [Book One: Librarything - Amazon / Book Two: Libarything - Amazon]

Rapunzel’s twelfth birthday is just ruined when a witch shows up and announces that Rapunzel’s parents traded their firstborn for a handful of lettuce leaves from the witch’s garden twelve years ago, and the witch has come to collect. Now Rapunzel is trapped in a tower with no doors, hair that’s growing freakishly fast, and a strange little green creature watching her every move. Meanwhile, Prince Benjamin is having a hard enough time getting through his awkward stage without the interference of his annoying cousin Elkin. He wants to distinguish himself, but how? He’s no hero. At least, not until he hears a girl singing in a tower…

Princess Rose’s parents didn’t really mean to not invite the oldest, meanest fairy in the realm to their daughter’s christening – they thought she was dead! Offended, the fairy places a curse on Rose: at age sixteen, she will prick her finger on a spindle and die. Although the youngest fairy in the realm is able to change “die” to “sleep for a hundred years,” Rose’s parents are understandably overprotective…at least until that fated encounter with a spindle. One hundred years later, the Prince (he’s still working on a name) is trying to solve the mystery of the nearby forest, and the castle hidden within it. Things are complicated by his mother the Queen, who is part ogre and still gets a taste for human flesh every so often…

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By Anne Ursu [Book One: Librarything - Amazon / Book Two: Libarything - Amazon]

When Charlotte’s cousin Zee comes over from England to live with Charlotte for a semester, she hopes the novelty will inject a little excitement into her relentlessly boring life. Unfortunately, Zee may have brought a little too much excitement with him, for a few days after his arrival, Charlotte’s classmates begin to fall prey to a mysterious illness – the same illness that caused Zee’s parents to send him to America. But this is not just any old plague. Philonecron - half-god, half-demon, and Assistant Manager of the Department of Sanitation for the Greek Underworld – is stealing kids’ shadows, and he plans to use Zee to lead his new shadow army to overthrow Hades. Can Charlotte save her cousin and stop Philonecron before every dead person who has ever and will ever be is doomed to an eternity of torment?

Even though they’ve just saved the Underworld, Charlotte and Zee have been feeling pretty helpless. After all, the Dead are still drifting in eternal ennui, and Philonecron is out there somewhere, undoubtedly plotting revenge. And when Poseidon’s grandson is plotting revenge against you, the last place you want to be is out at sea on a cruise ship. But, of course, that’s just where Charlotte finds herself. Now she’s got to save Zee again, plus a cruise ship full of people, and go head to head with Poseidon himself. At least she’s got the cute new boy Jason Hart on her side…or does she?

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By J. V. Hart [Librarything - Amazon]

James is not your average boy. With his lanky build, long black curls like candles, and sinister, aloof demeanor, he would be set apart from his peers at Eton even without the shame of being born a bastard hanging over his head – not to mention the fact that he bleeds yellow. He is also clever and fearless, however, and soon wins the admiration of his house (the Oppidans), the friendship of the loyal “Jolly” Roger Davies, and the love (he hopes) of the beautiful Ottoman Sultana Ananova. But ill fate dogs James, and before long he is exiled to sea, the first step in a chain of events that will turn him into the dreaded Captain Hook.

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Whither Rebecca leads, thither I follow. Here are some older reviews of mine of Kids/YA Genre Fiction:

The Circle of Magic #1: Sandry’s Book (The Magic in the Weaving), #2: Tris’s Book (The Power of the Storm), and #3: Daja’s Book (The Fire in the Forging), by Tamora Pierce. Three cupcakes for Sandry’s Book, four cupcakes for the other two. (Genre: High Fantasy)

Secrets of Dripping Fang #1: The Onts, by Dan Greenburg. Three and a half cupcakes. (Genre: Contemporary/Urban Fantasy)

Dealing With Dragons, by Patricia C. Wrede. Four and a half cupcakes. (Genre: High Fantasy, Fairy Tale/Mythic)

Sorcery and Cecilia, or the Enchanted Chocolate Pot, by Patricia C. Wrede and Caroline Stevermer. Four and a half cupcakes. (Genre: Historical Fantasy/Steampunk)

The Keys to the Kingdom #5: Lady Friday, by Garth Nix. Three cupcakes, although the series as a whole gets a tentative five (which may be reevaluated when the last two come out). (Genre: Portal Fantasy)

Not a review, but what’s with the torn edges on the pages of books lately?

Before we get started, here, some older reviews I’ve done, relevant to this site:

The City of Ember and The People of Sparks by Jeanne DuPrau. Five cupcakes, and a friggin’ cherry on top. (Genre: Apocalyptic/Dystopian Science Fiction)

Uglies, Pretties and Specials by Scott Westerfeld. Four and a half cupcakes for Uglies, three and a half for the other two. (Genre: Apocalyptic/Dystopian Science Fiction)

Bruce Coville novels, including the My Teacher series, The A.I. Gang, The Dragonslayers, The Nina Tanleven Ghost Series, and The Magic Shop series. I’d say the average rating is about four cupcakes. (Genres: Aliens Among Us, Other, High Fantasy, Contemporary/Urban Fantasy, and Fairy Tale/Mythic)

Pendragon, books one and two, by D.J. MacHale. Two cupcakes. (Genre: Portal Fantasy.)

Meta talk about writing and books:

Fantasy Females (Of the Literary Variety), about the roles female characters play in fantasy.

Seriously, What is Wrong With Cinderella?, about Disney princesses, ideas about how to keep female characters dynamic, and a little bit of repeated review of Pendragon.