Teaser Tuesday #26

I’ve decided to join this ’cause I think it’s pretty fun and easy. Plus I really want to quote smart retorts, full blown bullying, words of wisdom, swoon worthy lines and the like without giving much to readers about the entire book. A quote or two won’t hurt I guess.

So here’s how it works:
1. Grab your current read.
2. Randomly open a page.
3. Share two (2) “teaser” sentences.
BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (Make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
4. Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists.

Name: Princess of Thorns
Author: Stacey Jay
Number of Pages: 400 pages in Hardcover
Published: December 9th 2014
by DelaCorte Press
Genre: Fantasy, Young Adult, Retellings, Romance

Game of Thrones meets the Grimm’s fairy tales in this twisted, fast-paced romantic fantasy-adventure about Sleeping Beauty’s daughter, a warrior princess who must fight to reclaim her throne.  […]

Here’s the Teasers 😀

Currently Reading│Book Beginning : Princess of Thorns by Stacey Jay

Currently Reading #39

Name: Princess of Thorns
Author: Stacey Jay
Number of Pages: 400 pages in Hardcover
Published: December 9th 2014
by DelaCorte Press
Genre: Fantasy, Young Adult, Retellings, Romance

Game of Thrones meets the Grimm’s fairy tales in this twisted, fast-paced romantic fantasy-adventure about Sleeping Beauty’s daughter, a warrior princess who must fight to reclaim her throne. Though she looks like a mere mortal, Princess Aurora is a fairy blessed with enhanced strength, bravery, and mercy yet cursed to destroy the free will of any male who kisses her. Disguised as a boy, she enlists the help of the handsome but also cursed Prince Niklaas to fight legions of evil and free her brother from the ogre queen who stole Aurora’s throne ten years ago. Will Aurora triumph over evil and reach her brother before it’s too late? Can Aurora and Niklaas break the curses that will otherwise forever keep them from finding their one true love?

Hopefully, I’ll post two reviews (Imitation & Deviation. Finally.) before Sunday so I’ve decided to start reading this since I can’t wait any longer. I really love retellings so this would be a treat indeed. A lot of my friends have already read the book and they’ve found it so good. Anyway, here’s a five star, three star and one star review respectively. Got them from book lovers on Goodreads.

PRINCESS OF THORNS is a compelling read for any fairytale fan. It stitches several together (including Little Red Riding Hood) while still managing to do its own thing. Jay isn’t so devoted to nodding to tales that she forgets the story she wants to tell. It helps that her characters are not the half-sketched things of fairytales. Aurora, Niklaas, and the Ogre Queen are all forceful characters.
— Liviania of In Bed with Books

Waiting on Wednesday #29

Waiting on Wednesday was started by Breaking the Spine and serves to showcase those books that aren’t released yet, but that we’re eagerly awaiting!

Name: Tear You Apart (Beau Rivage)
Author: Sarah Cross
Number of Pages: 384 in Hardcover
Published: January 27th 2015 by EgmontUSA
Genre: Fantasy, Young Adult, Retellings, Romance

An edgy fairy tale retelling of “Snow White” set in the world of Kill Me Softly for fans of Once Upon a Time and Grimm.
If you want to live happily ever after, first you have to stay alive.
Viv knows there’s no escaping her fairy-tale curse. One day her beautiful stepmother will feed her a poison apple or convince her on-again-off-again boyfriend, Henley, to hunt her down and cut out her heart before she breaks his. In the city of Beau Rivage, some princesses are destined to be prey.
But then Viv receives an invitation to the exclusive club where the Twelve Dancing Princesses twirl away their nights. There she meets Jasper, an underworld prince who seems to have everything—but what he really wants is her. He vows to save her from her dark fate if she’ll join him and be his queen. All Viv has to do is tear herself away from the huntsman boy who still holds her heart. Then she might live to see if happily ever after is a promise the prince can keep. But is life as an underworld queen worth sacrificing the true love that might kill her? Faced with a possible loophole to her “Snow White” curse, Viv goes underground, literally, to find the prince who’s fated to rescue her. But is life safe in the Underworld worth the price of sacrficing the love that might kill her?

I just stumbled upon this. As in today. Lol! If you haven’t noticed yet, I’m a sucker for retellings. Yes, I am. This one literally caught my eye among all the books I’ve checked today. The book cover is kind of cute (Though it has blood on it. Yeah.) and the rundown is so intriguing, I can’t even let this pass. I’m pretty sure this would be awesome. I just don’t like the idea of a possible love triangle. Really hoping there would be none or if there is, I’m hoping it won’t be annoying at least. Love triangles tend to be annoying right? Especially if it’s written poorly so I’m really hoping this book won’t be like that.

I’ve tried to look for giveaways, but didn’t find any so I’ve checked NetGalley if it is available. Found it and requested. Crossing my fingers for my approval. Click the photo below so you can send your request too. Hoping we’ll be approved so we can share thoughts about the book. 😀

Book Review: The Witch Must Burn by Danielle Paige

Name: The Witch Must Burn
(Dorothy Must Die 0.2)
Author: Danielle Paige
Number of Pages: 100 pages in EBook
Published: November 11th 2014
by HarperCollins
Genre: Fantasy, Young Adult,
Retellings, Short Stories

There’s a new Wicked Witch in Oz—and her name is Dorothy. This digital original novella is the second installment in the prequel arc to the edgy and exciting New York Times bestseller Dorothy Must Die. Dorothy Gale is back . . . and she’s not the sweet little heroine of Oz anymore. She’s power-hungry and vicious, and she leaves a trail of destruction beneath her spike-heeled, magical shoes. But behind the scenes, there’s someone else pulling the strings. Someone who doesn’t want fame or glory—just control. Glinda of the North brought Dorothy back to Oz for a reason. And in The Witch Must Burn, a young maid is about to discover that a witch who says she’s Good might be the most dangerous kind of Wicked.

I love this series so I can’t really wait for the second book which will be released March next  year. When I’ve learned that this book has come out, I decided to get this right away. I assumed that this will be from a different character’s perspective and I still can’t believe I’m right.

The POV is from Jellia. The head maid of Dorothy’s palace aka the Emerald City. I love her witty personality and how she protected others from Dorothy’s tantrums. This is just a hundred pages and it’s all about the backstory of how Jellia has joined the Order. Of course, she also shared a horrifying experience of how evil Glinda is, the supposedly good witch. How she discovered that Jellia is part fairy and she can use her for her evil plots or so she thought.

Waiting on Wednesday #28

Waiting on Wednesday was started by Breaking the Spine and serves to showcase those books that aren’t released yet, but that we’re eagerly awaiting!

Name: Ensnared (Splintered #3)
Author: A. G. Howard
Number of Pages: 384 in Kindle Edition
Published: January 6th 2015 by Amulet Books
Genre: Fantasy, Young Adult, Retellings, Romance, Paranormal

After surviving a disastrous battle at prom, Alyssa has embraced her madness and gained perspective. She’s determined to rescue her two worlds and the people and netherlings she loves. Even if it means challenging Queen Red to a final battle of wills and wiles . . . and even if the only way to Wonderland, now that the rabbit hole is closed, is through the looking-glass world–a parallel dimension filled with mutated and violent netherling outcasts. In the final installment of the wildly popular Splintered trilogy, Alyssa and her dad journey into the heart of magic and mayhem in search of her mom and to set right all that’s gone wrong. Together with Jeb and Morpheus, they must salvage Wonderland from the decay and destruction that has ensnared it. But if they succeed and come out alive, can everyone truly have their happily ever after?

Remember when I posted a blog that I’ve requested for this on NetGalley? Well, I was declined. Sigh. Sadface. Anyway, I really really love to have this despite of me having issues with the first two books. Giving this series another shot since how the second book has ended intrigued me and I love Jed’s character who’s on the cover of Ensnared. I love the book cover. So gorgeous. Don’t you think? So here I am, waiting for this one to be released. Hoping to win an ARC on the latest giveaway I’ve found.

Click the links below to join the giveaways 😀

10 Hardcovers of Ensnared (US Only)

1 Signed Splintered Series ARC set (International)

A. G. Howard also released the first chapter of the book and
THAT made me so much more excited to have the book.

Book Review: Winterspell

Name: Winterspell
Author: Claire LeGrand
Number of Pages: 464 in Hardcover
Published: September 30th 2014 by Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
Genre: Fantasy, Young Adult, Romance, Retellings, Historical Fiction, Paranormal

“The clock chimes midnight, a curse breaks, and a girl meets a prince . . . but what follows is not all sweetness and sugarplums.
New York City, 1899. Clara Stole, the mayor’s ever-proper daughter, leads a double life. Since her mother’s murder, she has secretly trained in self-defense with the mysterious Drosselmeyer.
Then, on Christmas Eve, disaster strikes.
Her home is destroyed, her father abducted–by beings distinctly not human. To find him, Clara journeys to the war-ravaged land of Cane. Her only companion is the dethroned prince Nicholas, bound by a wicked curse. If they’re to survive, Clara has no choice but to trust him, but his haunted eyes burn with secrets–and a need she can’t define. With the dangerous, seductive faery queen Anise hunting them, Clara soon realizes she won’t leave Cane unscathed–if she leaves at all.
Inspired by The Nutcracker, Winterspell is a dark, timeless fairy tale about love and war, longing and loneliness, and a girl who must learn to live without fear.”

A review of this, at long last. The cover is so gorgeous. Who would have resist not reading it? Especially if you know your fairy tales well. Do I know? No. I don’t. As for me, I still haven’t Google what The Nutcracker is all about after reading the book. Wondering if the fairy tale is somehow like it or not. Others confirmed that it is loosely based on it. I think the statue is just the mere thing that connects it with the fairy tale, but then again I learned that the prince on the book is not trapped to a Nutcracker as per the fairy tale and as per the reviews I’ve read before reading this so that didn’t compute.

Teaser Tuesday #15

I’ve decided to join this ’cause I think it’s pretty fun and easy. Plus I really want to quote smart retorts, full blown bullying, words of wisdom, swoon worthy lines and the like without giving much to readers about the entire book. A quote or two won’t hurt I guess. So this is how you do it:

1. Grab your current read.
2. Randomly open a page.
3. Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page.
4. BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (Make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
5. Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

This is for this week’s Teaser Tuesday:

Winterspell (Winterspell #1)

by Claire LeGrand

“”I’ll follow your impressive example, but I might stay away from the.. whatever it is on the ground that you’ve pasted over you front.” “You’d do well to use it.” Her breath thinning; she found it increasingly difficult to tamp down her building sobs.”

“”We’ve got to help her.” The figures threw the girl to the ground. “Please don’t!” the girl screamed. “Please!” Clara rose and turned away. She itched to run to them, to wreak havoc with her blades. But the threat of being caught held her still — her family depended on her. That did not ease the sick feeling in her stomach.”

What are your thoughts about my teasers? 🙂 Anyway, you could share some teasers on your current read too. Comment the link of your own Teaser Tuesday so I can check it out and have an idea of amazing books that I would want to read.

Teaser Tuesdays (TT) is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading.

Book Beginning #2: Winterspell

Book Beginnings on Fridays is hosted by Rose City Reader, where we share the first sentence (or so) of the books we are reading, along with initial thoughts about the sentence, impressions of the book, or anything else the opener inspires.

Name: Winterspell
Author: Claire LeGrand
Number of Pages: 464 in Hardcover
Published: September 30th 2014 by Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
Genre: Fantasy, Young Adult, Romance, Retellings, Historical Fiction, Paranormal

“Our stories say that when the human world was first made, not all of it fit. Pieces fell off the whole, like too much dough being stuffed into a small pan, and those bits dropped into cracks and were forgotten.
Our stories, the oldest ones, the ones most people no longer remember, say that my country,
Cane, is one of those forgotten places, hidden away in some cosmic pocket of existence, for the most part separated from the human world, but not entirely.”

So I’m back with Winterspell. If you’re a regular reader of my blog, you would know that I set this aside for The Blood of Olympus and here I am, picking up where I left off. I initially thought about faeries and other creature not really human when I first read this. A world that somehow there, but a few could only reach. Wonderland for instance or Atlantica perhaps. Did you think about that too after reading it? 🙂

Update + Giveaway: Ensnared by A.G. Howard

I must admit I have a love and hate relationship with this series, but I can’t help waiting for it too. Weird eh? January is still a long way from now. I dig up updates so I can share it with you guys since like most of you, I can’t wait to get my hands on this book as well.

Name: Ensnared (Splintered #3)
Author: A. G. Howard
Number of Pages: 384 in Kindle Edition
Published: January 6th 2015 by Amulet Books
Genre: Fantasy, Young Adult, Retellings, Romance, Paranormal

After surviving a disastrous battle at prom, Alyssa has embraced her madness and gained perspective. She’s determined to rescue her two worlds and the people and netherlings she loves. Even if it means challenging Queen Red to a final battle of wills and wiles . . . and even if the only way to Wonderland, now that the rabbit hole is closed, is through the looking-glass world–a parallel dimension filled with mutated and violent netherling outcasts. In the final installment of the wildly popular Splintered trilogy, Alyssa and her dad journey into the heart of magic and mayhem in search of her mom and to set right all that’s gone wrong. Together with Jeb and Morpheus, they must salvage Wonderland from the decay and destruction that has ensnared it. But if they succeed and come out alive, can everyone truly have their happily ever after?

I found a giveaway by Ms. Howard herself and I got so excited there’s no way I’m not sharing this with my friends. The ARCs for this book has finally come out and she’s sharing it with us. The book cover is amazing, I can’t wait to have mine. Please click the link below to enter the giveaway.

Giveaway: Ensnared by A.G. Howard

This is an international giveaway and here’s what’s up for grabs:

Teaser Tuesday #13

I’ve decided to join this ’cause I think it’s pretty fun and easy. Plus I really want to quote smart retorts, full blown bullying, words of wisdom, swoon worthy lines and the like without giving much to readers about the entire book. A quote or two won’t hurt I guess. So this is how you do it:

1. Grab your current read.
2. Randomly open a page.
3. Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page.
4. BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (Make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
5. Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

This is for this week’s Teaser Tuesday:

Winterspell (Winterspell #1)

by Claire LeGrand

“That was her credo these days, and an increasingly difficult one to follow: Keep your head, Clara, while everyone around you loses theirs, or already has.”

“For a few moments Clara dug through the narrow compartment, searching through wrapped envelopes and pages of correspondence. At every slight noise from outside, she froze, sweat beading on her forehead. Then, when she’d started to lose hope, Clara found something promising–”

You could share some teasers on your current read too. Comment the link of your own Teaser Tuesday so I can check it out and have an idea of amazing books that I would want to read.

Teaser Tuesdays (TT) is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading.