New Penguin Threads.

Has anyone else seen the lastest from the Penguin Threads series? First there was Emma, The Secret Garden, and Black Beauty- now there is The Wizard of Oz, The Wind in the Willows, and Little Women.

I can't decide which I love most, they're all so gasp worthy.

Which one would you buy first?

A Hero for WondLa by Tony DiTerlizzi review...

Title- A Hero for WondLa.

Author- Tony DiTerlizzi.

Publish date- July 2012.

Publisher- Simon and Schuster.
RRP: $26.99 AUS.

*May contain spoilers for those who have not read A Search for WondLa.*

(Goodreads)

Review...

Synopsis:

Eva Nine is on a journey. She has found people like her and she is being taken to a human city- it's as if all her dreams have come true, everything she hoped for is right in front of her. But the city, New Attica, isn't as idylic as it appears- there are no aliens, everything is the same, everyone is the same... it soon becomes apparent that something is really wrong, and Eva finds herself facing challenges and making decisions that she never imagined she would have to consider...

Thank you to Simon and Schuster for this review copy!

What I thought:
It feels like such a long time since I read The Search for WondLa- I knew virtually nothing about it when I got it, and I loved it dearly. It popped up in a few of my earliest posts and I hold it as one of my most highly recommended books... it has everything- adventure, amazing characters, original and captivating storyline... and beautiful illustrations. So I have been dearly eager to get my hands on a copy of A Hero for WondLa, and I was lucky enough to be able to get sent one!

A Hero for WondLa is part two of Eva Nine's journey- it is suitable for any age and I find it wholly captivating- I didn't like Eva so much, in the first part of the book... maybe in the first third, because she changed herself to fit in quite a bit and I didn't like the way she did it, but for the other two thirds I loved her... she really is a remarkable character and even with her changes I once more grew very fond of her.

One thing in particular that I loved about A Hero was that it started immediately after The Search finished, which doesn't happen very often. You could virtually close one book and open the next, which I really liked.

I found it really interesting reading about some of the things Eva went through within herself, in particular- she faced quite a few miniature journeys, to find herself and accept being different, which I thought was excellent- she started off, in book 1, as being quite a childish character, but she grew a lot in the first book... again, she was still a child, only turning thirteen in this book, yet by the end of A Hero she, I feel, has really gone through changes that let her accept herself... she grows immensely and I really am keen to see what happens in book three.

As with all the books I have read by Tony DiTerlizzi (I was a Spiderwick girl, but I also read a few of his picture books) the illustrations were incredible. They set the scene, they show things that I wouldn't have been able to imagine without them, and they add so much to the story... each and every one is like a story in itself.

This would be a four point five book for me, and I can't wait for book three!

Insurgent by Veronica Roth review...

Title- Insurgent. (Divergent #2)

Author- Veronica Roth.

Publish date- May 2012.

Publisher- Harper Collins.

Read my review of Divergent.

*May contain spoilers for those who have not read Divergent.*

(Goodreads)

Synopsis: (I can't find any words to write a synopsis, so- Synopsis from Goodreads.)

War looms in sixteen-year-old Tris’s dark dystopian world as disputes between the factions grow. Tris must now fight against all odds to discover the truth that can save her and the people she loves. Sides must be chosen, secrets will emerge – and the choices she makes will have devastating and unexpected consequences

Thank you to Harper Collins for this review copy!

What I thought:
I was lucky. I only read Divergent this year, so I didn't have the massive wait that some people did, which was a relief, because of how much Divergent wowed me and how cliffhangery the ending was. Yet the wait did come and feel it I did, so when I started to see the buzz of reviewers reviewing away, I started to feel very excited. When my copy arrived I was in the middle of another book and almost paused half-way through it, but decided to hang on a few days more. And then I started.
Immediately I was swept into the story- the very first words captivated me and held me, unwilling to let me go. And so it was for the entire book- I couldn't look away, I couldn't not keep reading. Yet that's not to say I enjoyed it all- about fifty pages through Tris almost did something that I was shocked by... she didn't, but the fact that she almost went too far made me sad. Because if she had done it, she would have regretted it, the way she did it, and I regretted her even considering it.

I really enjoyed Insurgent, but I didn't like it nearly as much as Divergent- I think with everything Insurgent had to live up to for me personally it was made incredibly hard to be as good as Divergent... a lot of the choices Tris made, throughout the story, were hard to see the meaning behind; I understood and connected to her character really well in the first book, but she was a lot harder to relate to in this, and I felt she risked so much that she held close to her far too often.

The relationship between Tris and Tobias wasn't nearly as favourable for me, in this book- they argue a lot and tend to be quite prickily, all the while the tension, the wanting between the two is growing... they risk a lot and I was kept on my toes, hoping they wouldn't fall out, because I love them both so much.

The last 150 pages were tense for me- I only ever (ocassionally) look at the endings of books that I don't like, if I thought it was an interesting premise but I didn't like it, I never do for books that I'm reading and enjoying ect. but with Insurgent I really, really wanted to know how things panned out, and I think it would have made it a much more enjoyable experiance for me, because I got quite anxious about how everything was going to work out, and I was really afraid that I wasn't going to like it and that I was going to be disappointed.
I wasn't. I wasn't disappointed in the ending at all, though parts of the book... parts did disappoint me- I would be lying to say that I loved it entirely... it had it's faults, and it's faults weren't few for me. Yet I love it... the scenes that really touched me didn't make up for those that didn't satify me, but they did make me glad that I had been drawn into this world of Veronica Roth's making.

Three stars.

Romi.x

Florentine and Pig have a very Lovely Picnic review...

Title- Floretine and Pig have a very lovely Picnic.

Author- Eve Katzler.

Publish date- July 2012.

Publisher- Bloomsbury.

(Goodreads)

Review...

Synopsis:
The story of a little girl and her best friend, Pig- they decide to have a lovely picnic and must decide what to bake. They could make some sweet things, some savoury things, some chocolat filled things or some lemony things. But disaster strikes when Pig eats the last apple! The two must be very dexterious to work out what to do.

Thank you to Bloomsbury for this review copy!

What I thought:
Florentine and Pig is a very sweet picture book- the pictures aren't quite like anything I've ever seen and the storyline is very sweet.
Florentine and Pig have a sweet, well tempered relationship- I have seen quite a lot of the childrens shows that are currently on telivision, and the arguing and bickering is becoming quite sickening, so I think it's lovely to have a book where there isn't any fighting and the manners are top notch- there needs to be more of this sort of book!
It is an easy to follow story that is captivating, and with the delicious sounding recipes at the back it will make for an excellent adition to any growing book collection.

Romi.x

The Forgotten Pearl by Belinda Murrell.

Title- The Forgotten Pearl.

Author- Belinda Murrell.

Publish date- June 2012.

Publisher- Random House.

RRP: $15.95

(Goodreads)

Review...

Synopsis:

A story of two people, set apart by a generation.
There's Chloe, she is having problems at school with her friends and doesn't know what to do; when Chloe goes to her grandmother's house she hears a story that reveals a lot about her grandmother's past that she didn't know.
Poppy, a young girl in 1941, living with her family in Darwin. Everything is relaxful, until the Japanese bomb Pearl Harbour. Everything changes as her family is threatened and her brother is captured. When she and her mother flee, the war follows. For Poppy, she needs all the courage she can muster to face her problems.

Thank you to Random House for this review copy!

What I thought:
I read Belinda Murrell's second book a few years ago, soon after it first came out, and I loved it. The mystery of the girl who puts on a piece of jewellery and is transported to a different era. But then, when I tried reading another book by Belinda Murrell, it fell flat. I found the situation too similar and it was like reading the same book with a slightly different storyline.
This wasn't really alike the books I know of by Belinda though- there were some similar circumstances, as with the main character having friend troubles, which appears to be a trait in her books. That, the fact that it seemed very unlike any of her previous books, I did like.

I felt the storyline fell flat, however. The characters didn't seem special enough, to me personally, to really be able to believe in, as has been happening with quite a few books lately. I didn't particularly like Chloe, what little of her was in the story, or Poppy- though she was more down to earth, which was nice- nor any of the other characters. The dialouge fell flat in my case, and I didn't find it to be a book I would return to.

I probably would have enjoyed it more if it was the first book I had read by Belinda Murrell, so for people new to middle grade fiction and who haven't read any books by Murrell, I would recommend it, and I also think it would be a good in class read, as it deals with war and the bombing of Pearl Harbour, things that aren't really taught widely anymore.

For me, this wasn't a winner, though I hope for many others it will become a favourite book!

Romi.x

Trying War by S.D. Gentill review...

Title- Trying War. (Book #2 in the Hero trilogy)

Author- S.D. Gentill.

Publish date- March 2012.

Publisher- Pantera Press.

*Review may contain spoilers for those who have not read Chasing Odysseus.)

(Goodreads)

Review...

Synopsis:
After Machaon, Cadmus, Lycon, and Hero return to what is left of Troy, ready to confront what lies ahead, they are met with a surprise. Amazons await their arrival and they take Hero before leaving, heading back to their country, leaving the brothers wounded but desperate to get her back. So, after only days back on their home soil, they set off once more, sailing to the land of the Amazon warriors, a land rife with danger. And that is just where the adventure begins...

Thank you to Pantera Press for this review copy!

What I thought:
When I read Chasing Odysseus back in November 2010 I adored it- it was unlike anything I had ever read before and the story stayed with me long after I finished it; I have been eagerly awaiting Trying War- after the cliff hanger that ended Chasing Odysseus- but I was just a little nervous, going back into the world that I hadn't visited in over a year, I wondered if I would slip back into the world of The Hero Trilogy as easily as I did with book 1, re-acquainting myself with the characters and following their perilous journey. It took me one page to realise that I shouldn't have even considered that it would be harder- I was sucked in before I knew it and avidly following the trail of the three brothers as they themselves followed the trail of their kidnapped sister. Trying War is, by now unsurprisingly, another excellent book from Sulari Gentill.

The Characters-
are all just as thrilling to read about as they were in Chasing Odysseus... I could never pick a favourite because they are all completely different and I love them all, but I will never stop loving how Machaon, Lycon and Cadmus all love Hero so dearly, despite all her rituals and prayers to the Gods!

The Storyline-
was just as maravllous and captivating as that of book one- there was even more danger and adventure... and a touch of beautifully written romance. It was never slow going, but not too fast.

Overall-
What can I say? It is another beautiful creation from the epic mind of Sulari Gentill. Now I just have to wait for more.

Romi.x

Favourite Quotes of June...

My favourite quotes from some of the books I read in June.


"'This is Oedipus, once king of Thebes,' Demus introduced. 'He is a dead man, but at least he is not mad.'
'You speak well for a dead man, my Lord,' Lycon ventured.
'And yet I am dead and buried,' Oedipus chortled. 'Thesus erected quite a fabulous tomb for me, though I have never seen it.'
'How exactly did you die?' Cadmus asked, intrigued.
The old man turned towards his voice and answered sadly.
'I died saving my daughters.'
Demus and Nikias rolled their eyes. Apparently they had heard the story many times before.
'You see, unlike my ungrateful sons, my daughters were devoted to me. When I pierced my eyes with the brooch of my beloved, my youngest girl, Antigone, became my guide.'
Hero barely stifled her horror. 'You pierced your own eyes- but why, my Lord?'
Oedipus nodded. 'I had just learned I was married to my own mother... I was a little distraught.'"
Trying War by Sulari Gentill. Oedipus to the siblings.


"Thomas looked around one more time, the feel of the place completely different now that all the walls were solid with no way out. He tried to imagine the purpose of such a thing, and he didn't know which guess was worse- that they were being sealed in or that they were being protected from something out there. The thought ended his brief moment of calm, stirring in his mind a million possibilities of what might live in the maze outside, all of them terrifying. Fear gripped him once again."
The Maze Runner by James Dashner. Thomas.


"Darkness cannot drive out darkness;
 only light can do that.
Hate cannot drive out hate;
 only love can do that.
Hate multiplies hate, violence multiplies violence, and toughness multiplies toughness,
in a descending descending spiral of destruction."
Quote in the beginning of The People of Sparks by Jeanne DuPrau.
Quote by Martin Luther King, Jr.


&


"'I'll see you sometime,' she said, and she road back to the doctors house feeling lonlier then ever."

&


"'But then why did the wars happen? To wreck your whole city- almost your whole world- it seems like something only evil people would do.'
'No, not evil, at least not at first. Just angry and scared.'"
All from The People of Sparks by Jeanne DuPrau.


"'...Views are really like crowds- crowds of trees and houses and hills- and are bound to resemble each other, like human crowds- and that the power they have over us is something supernatural, for the same reason.'"

&


"'...A crowd is more then the people who make it up.'"

&

''As you came through the woods I saw that nothing else mattered.''
All from A Room with a View by E. M. Forster.




"I have done bad things. I can't take them back, and they are a part of who I am."

&


"I am his, and he is mine, and it has been that way all along."
Insurgent by Veronica Roth. Tris.

Little Lord Launtleroy by Frances Hodgson Burnett review...

Synopsis:
Cedric Errol lives in a poorer street in America with his mother, who is his world and he hers, and a few friends (he was a knack for making friends from anyone he meets), it's all he's ever known and all he needs to be happy, but one day he is bought hurridly home and told something quite remarkably amazing.
He's a lord- through some unfortuante and confusing curcumstances Cedric's father would have been next in line, if he hadn't died when Ced was a child, so the title goes onto be his own.
He and his mother are packed up from their regular life and world and landed in England, a place of trees and countryside, and though they are seperated they both settle in very well.
But then there's the old man, the current Earl of Dorincourt, the man who has bought them all this way and who is determined to despise (and show it) everyone he meets- and who doesn't have a very high opinion of this family... will Cedric be able to use his kindness on this man, and make things happy for them?

Thank you to my mother for buying me this awesome book! It was brilliant!

What I thought:
Little Lord Fauntleroy was quite remarkable- I didn't know much at all about it and wondered where the big lead up in the story was heading, but I throughly enjoyed reading it!
Cedric and his mother were equally brilliant characters and I loved being friends with them and living in their world for the two days it took me to read, all the characters were one of a kind and wholly unique and un-removable from the story.
The only problem was that I may've rushed it a little because of a slightly stacking up reading pile, so I can't wait to go again into the world of Little Lord Fauntleroy!

Romi.x
(I wrote this months ago!)