Heather
This is a great - though not perfect - adaptation of the classic Frog Prince tale. The added layers of depth are welcome, and decently executed - particularly the context for the princess (our heroine, Kartek). In the original, the princess is shallow, flippant, even childish. Here, she is relatively young and in over her head, but carries the weight of her station well. For me, the weakest part of the book was the pacing or placement... even as a novella (which obviously has less time for the story), there were parts that felt either rushed or stagnant, or that seemed to come out of nowhere without an appropriate setup. That, plus a handful of continuity or grammar mistakes, show this book could have used an additional pass of editing eyes. In contrast, the story is strongest when really digging its teeth into the deeper themes - having characters questioned by others or internally challenging themselves, we *feel* the process of growth and change, the struggle and the reward of a hard-won paradigm shift. The capital-m Moments that authors manufacture, that can easily feel forced, instead shine here, and made me reluctant to go back to the action.
Overall, this was an enjoyable read, but bumpy at times. The minor drawbacks just emphasize how close to being really wonderful this story came. I'm interested to see if future installments fulfill the potential shown here.
This is a great - though not perfect - adaptation of the classic Frog Prince tale. The added layers of depth are welcome, and decently executed - particularly the context for the princess (our heroine, Kartek). In the original, the princess is shallow, flippant, even childish. Here, she is relatively young and in over her head, but carries the weight of her station well. For me, the weakest part of the book was the pacing or placement... even as a novella (which obviously has less time for the story), there were parts that felt either rushed or stagnant, or that seemed to come out of nowhere without an appropriate setup. That, plus a handful of continuity or grammar mistakes, show this book could have used an additional pass of editing eyes. In contrast, the story is strongest when really digging its teeth into the deeper themes - having characters questioned by others or internally challenging themselves, we *feel* the process of growth and change, the struggle and the reward of a hard-won paradigm shift. The capital-m Moments that authors manufacture, that can easily feel forced, instead shine here, and made me reluctant to go back to the action.
Overall, this was an enjoyable read, but bumpy at times. The minor drawbacks just emphasize how close to being really wonderful this story came. I'm interested to see if future installments fulfill the potential shown here.
Hit-and-miss start to a surprisingly long series.
The first book in the Lucy Stone series does a good job of introducing the characters and setting of small town Tinker's Cove and it's primary employer - Country Cousins, a mail-order company with a popular catalog. Lucy and several others work the call center night shift, receiving and placing orders, until one night Lucy takes her break... and discovers the company's owner dead in his car.
As a Cozy Mystery, I found this book great at one half and lacking in the other. The best sections of this book are definitely the cozy, comforting family and Christmas scenes, which I found lovely, and the subplot with Lucy's mother is particularly rewarding. But the mystery itself leaves a lot to be desired. Avalanches of information that may or may not be relevant bog the story down, and rather than feeling like we're following a trail of bread crumbs, it feels like a drunken stumble down a rocky hillside in the wrong direction, until the answer is dropped in our laps in the second-to-last chapter.
Later books seem to have higher ratings, so I might continue the series, but for anyone looking to pick up the series or character for the first time, it could be worth it to start later in the series, or you may give up before you start.
Hit-and-miss start to a surprisingly long series.
The first book in the Lucy Stone series does a good job of introducing the characters and setting of small town Tinker's Cove and it's primary employer - Country Cousins, a mail-order company with a popular catalog. Lucy and several others work the call center night shift, receiving and placing orders, until one night Lucy takes her break... and discovers the company's owner dead in his car.
As a Cozy Mystery, I found this book great at one half and lacking in the other. The best sections of this book are definitely the cozy, comforting family and Christmas scenes, which I found lovely, and the subplot with Lucy's mother is particularly rewarding. But the mystery itself leaves a lot to be desired. Avalanches of information that may or may not be relevant bog the story down, and rather than feeling like we're following a trail of bread crumbs, it feels like a drunken stumble down a rocky hillside in the wrong direction, until the answer is dropped in our laps in the second-to-last chapter.
Later books seem to have higher ratings, so I might continue the series, but for anyone looking to pick up the series or character for the first time, it could be worth it to start later in the series, or you may give up before you start.
Moonville is a wonderful, lovely setting, the kind of place I wish I could make a yearly trek to, with vibrant characters that stop just short of cartoonish to land perfectly in recognizable small-town oddities/quirk. The premise of three sisters in a family with just-left-of-center magic is a treat, and all of the scenes with family (niece Aisling in particular) or the family business shine.
The weaknesses for me are partly my personal preference, and partly elements that I feel could've been used more effectively. After reading the preview at the end of Book 1, I expected this to be a new favorite for me (or at least a 5-star read), but it wasn't. The chemistry between the main couple is there instantly, strong and fierce, and hardly wavers. But the obstacle between them rubs me personally the wrong way (in a big way), and I was immediately ready to write him off and move on. I do think it was resolved well towards the end, but it took me all the way until the end to accept it.
There were a couple of side plots that I expected to be important that ended up going nowhere, which made me wonder why they were included. Then conversations/reveals that I expected to be game-changing or a major deal were over in a blink. I thought one piece of information was a misdirect because it didn't seem to fit the arc of the story. And so on.
In short - Pieces of the story that were done well were done really well. There were things that missed for me personally, & other things that I felt weakened the story. But overall, Moonville is still a lovely place to visit, and I'm looking forward to Book 3.
Moonville is a wonderful, lovely setting, the kind of place I wish I could make a yearly trek to, with vibrant characters that stop just short of cartoonish to land perfectly in recognizable small-town oddities/quirk. The premise of three sisters in a family with just-left-of-center magic is a treat, and all of the scenes with family (niece Aisling in particular) or the family business shine.
The weaknesses for me are partly my personal preference, and partly elements that I feel could've been used more effectively. After reading the preview at the end of Book 1, I expected this to be a new favorite for me (or at least a 5-star read), but it wasn't. The chemistry between the main couple is there instantly, strong and fierce, and hardly wavers. But the obstacle between them rubs me personally the wrong way (in a big way), and I was immediately ready to write him off and move on. I do think it was resolved well towards the end, but it took me all the way until the end to accept it.
There were a couple of side plots that I expected to be important that ended up going nowhere, which made me wonder why they were included. Then conversations/reveals that I expected to be game-changing or a major deal were over in a blink. I thought one piece of information was a misdirect because it didn't seem to fit the arc of the story. And so on.
In short - Pieces of the story that were done well were done really well. There were things that missed for me personally, & other things that I felt weakened the story. But overall, Moonville is still a lovely place to visit, and I'm looking forward to Book 3.
This was a sweet, if very dated story. I was familiar with some of it through an old animated movie which remains a favorite of mine: The Flight of Dragons by Rankin-Bass (1983). It combined two books, streamlining the story and (no pun intended) making it soar. (Also James Earl Jones voices an evil wizard. It's excellent.)
The main characters of Jim and Angie are fairly classic and have a good, if shallow, chemistry. The strengths of the story for me are the creativity of the overall premise, and the consistent surprises for the reader. As with most portal fantasies, having a character who's new to this world allows for things to be explained without having to face walls of text giving exposition.
The group of companions are sometimes clunky in their introductions or interactions, but they're very well defined and feel whole, not like caricatures or cardboard cutouts, which I've found in other fantasy books. I felt a good balance was struck with sharing Jim's internal thoughts, without feeling that the whole book was just philosophy and hypothesis. The climax was excellent, as was the resolution - different than the movie, but so well done that it may be the one area I'd say the book was better. In general, I'm not regretting this read, but I'm still far more likely to recommend the movie than the book.
This was a sweet, if very dated story. I was familiar with some of it through an old animated movie which remains a favorite of mine: The Flight of Dragons by Rankin-Bass (1983). It combined two books, streamlining the story and (no pun intended) making it soar. (Also James Earl Jones voices an evil wizard. It's excellent.)
The main characters of Jim and Angie are fairly classic and have a good, if shallow, chemistry. The strengths of the story for me are the creativity of the overall premise, and the consistent surprises for the reader. As with most portal fantasies, having a character who's new to this world allows for things to be explained without having to face walls of text giving exposition.
The group of companions are sometimes clunky in their introductions or interactions, but they're very well defined and feel whole, not like caricatures or cardboard cutouts, which I've found in other fantasy books. I felt a good balance was struck with sharing Jim's internal thoughts, without feeling that the whole book was just philosophy and hypothesis. The climax was excellent, as was the resolution - different than the movie, but so well done that it may be the one area I'd say the book was better. In general, I'm not regretting this read, but I'm still far more likely to recommend the movie than the book.
Hit-and-miss start to a surprisingly long series.
The first book in the Lucy Stone series does a good job of introducing the characters and setting of small town Tinker's Cove and it's primary employer - Country Cousins, a mail-order company with a popular catalog. Lucy and several others work the call center night shift, receiving and placing orders, until one night Lucy takes her break... and discovers the company's owner dead in his car.
As a Cozy Mystery, I found this book great at one half and lacking in the other. The best sections of this book are definitely the cozy, comforting family and Christmas scenes, which I found lovely, and the subplot with Lucy's mother is particularly rewarding. But the mystery itself leaves a lot to be desired. Avalanches of information that may or may not be relevant bog the story down, and rather than feeling like we're following a trail of bread crumbs, it feels like a drunken stumble down a rocky hillside in the wrong direction, until the answer is dropped in our laps in the second-to-last chapter.
Later books seem to have higher ratings, so I might continue the series, but for anyone looking to pick up the series or character for the first time, it could be worth it to start later in the series, or you may give up before you start.
Hit-and-miss start to a surprisingly long series.
The first book in the Lucy Stone series does a good job of introducing the characters and setting of small town Tinker's Cove and it's primary employer - Country Cousins, a mail-order company with a popular catalog. Lucy and several others work the call center night shift, receiving and placing orders, until one night Lucy takes her break... and discovers the company's owner dead in his car.
As a Cozy Mystery, I found this book great at one half and lacking in the other. The best sections of this book are definitely the cozy, comforting family and Christmas scenes, which I found lovely, and the subplot with Lucy's mother is particularly rewarding. But the mystery itself leaves a lot to be desired. Avalanches of information that may or may not be relevant bog the story down, and rather than feeling like we're following a trail of bread crumbs, it feels like a drunken stumble down a rocky hillside in the wrong direction, until the answer is dropped in our laps in the second-to-last chapter.
Later books seem to have higher ratings, so I might continue the series, but for anyone looking to pick up the series or character for the first time, it could be worth it to start later in the series, or you may give up before you start.
It amazed me how much of the feeling of the many years and iterations of Doctor Who was infused into this short collection. The changing styles and subjects across the poems brings up flashes of Classic or Modern Who, various companions or villains or stories, and the illustrations added a fantastic layer that didn't feel at all like an afterthought or something gratuitous. Even the references I didn't personally get were a lovely read, and I broke this up into multiple days reading to prolong my time with it. I will say that I think the two things that made the book for me were the poem honoring Verity Newman, and the lovely bookends of connected poems/stories of the Thousand Year Wood. Even though it's poetry rather than a novel, having those at the end gave it the same wonderful warm sense of contentment and resolution as reading an old favorite. Highly recommend to any and all Whovians.
It amazed me how much of the feeling of the many years and iterations of Doctor Who was infused into this short collection. The changing styles and subjects across the poems brings up flashes of Classic or Modern Who, various companions or villains or stories, and the illustrations added a fantastic layer that didn't feel at all like an afterthought or something gratuitous. Even the references I didn't personally get were a lovely read, and I broke this up into multiple days reading to prolong my time with it. I will say that I think the two things that made the book for me were the poem honoring Verity Newman, and the lovely bookends of connected poems/stories of the Thousand Year Wood. Even though it's poetry rather than a novel, having those at the end gave it the same wonderful warm sense of contentment and resolution as reading an old favorite. Highly recommend to any and all Whovians.
Added to listOwnedwith 7 books.
