From Z to A: Blue Lily, Lily Blue by Maggie Stiefvater

Dear Aly,

After all of the drama of trying to acquire Blue Lily, Lily Blue by Maggie Stiefvater, I’ve finally finished it and am ready to review!! My beautiful copy was doodled in by Maggie and came with a signed bookplate that depicts some of the characters from the book! I ordered mine from Fountain Bookstore in Richmond, Virginia; they have signed copies of all Maggie’s books!

Blue Lily, Lily Blue is a continuation of the Raven Cycle story. I won’t spoil the story for anyone, since it is the third book, but it does continue Gansey’s search for the Welsh king, Glendower, who is supposedly buried somewhere in Henrietta, Virginia (where the story takes place). After The Dream Thieves focused on Ronan’s story and struggles, Blue Lily, Lily Blue refocuses on Gansey’s search. Of course Ronan is still a big part of the story, but the narration is less about him. Blue is still as strong-willed as ever, Adam is still troubled, and Noah is still dead.

I absolutely loved Blue Lily, Lily Blue. Maggie’s writing still is incredible! There’s such vivid language and such character complexity, that it’s a magical experience reading one of her books. In this installment of her story, things are beginning to come together and there’s a lot of foreshadowing. I understood some of it and some of it I know is going to be explained in the next book. Ronan is still probably my favorite character, and the little bit we get of him is so wonderful, and even though he probably thinks he’s not changing, he totally is.

If you loved the first two books in the Raven Cycle series, you need Blue Lily, Lily Blue in your life!!! I was skeptical about the title; it seemed a little long-winded and complicated, but of course, it actually fits right in with the story and the themes Maggie brings up. I can’t wait for the next book but I’m so sad it’s ending!!

Happy holiday reading,

Zoe

PSST!!! It’s holiday season, so of course, you’re looking for gifts!! If you know someone who would love a book, check out The Book Depository to get a discount on tons of books!!

http://www.bookdepository.com/?a_aid=FromAtoZBooks

http://www.bookdepository.com/?a_aid=zoedelellis

#hauntober Week Two!

From Z to A: Scarlet by Marissa Meyer

Dear Aly,

Marissa Meyer has done it again!!! Another fantastic fairytale retelling!

Scarlet is the second book in the Lunar Chronicles series (and based on Little Red Riding Hood), the first being Cinder. In Cinder, we met Linh Cinder, a lowly cyborg mechanic thrust into a world of kings and princes, Lunar queens and mind control. In Scarlet, we follow Scarlet Benoit, a girl hailing from the French countryside trying to find her missing grandmother. She stumbles upon a boy, names Wolf, who she thinks can help her find her grandmother. Things of course get turned on their heads and we find that some characters are not at all who they seem. Cinder is also prominently featured in this book; she is on the run with an escaped criminal, Carswell Thorne. Scarlet and Cinder’s storylines hurtle towards each other and when they collide, there are some pretty epic scenes.

I like where Marissa Meyer is taking this series. These novels build upon each other, and the fairytales embedded within. Kind of like the TV show Once Upon A Time, the fairytales become entertwined, creating new pathways to new and original stories. Meyer’s characters are very complex; they keep you guessing throughout the whole book.

One thing I would have liked to see more of is scenes with Scarlet. She is the title character, but Cinder is also important, and we get a lot of scenes with her, and we are just sort of thrust into Scarlet’s world. To give us more of a backstory on Scarlet would have been helpful, but I see where including it would drag the story down.

Overall, I really enjoyed this second effort from Marissa Meyer. It’s a solid second book and doesn’t fall flat or hide in the shadow of Cinder. I can’t wait to see what’s next in the Lunar Chronicles!

Happy reading,

Zoe

Book Haul and Bookstore Featurette!

Dear Z,

As it is the Christmas season my family and I are up in Park City, Utah. We have several traditions that we uphold when visiting up here and my personal tradition and favorite is to visit Dolly’s Bookstore on Main Street.

      

I discovered this bookstore named after the shop cat that lives there (Mr. Dolly) when my family first started having Christmas in this ski crazy town. I literally felt like I had just landed in a fairy tale. Here was an independent bookstore sitting adjacent to a chocolate store, with shop cats and the most charming layout I had ever seen. At the time there were two shop cats, Mr. Dolly and Che. Now both have passed on, each one’s death earning an article in the local paper, and the Young Mr. Dolly roams the many cushioned chairs about the store. He is quite friendly, eager to curl up with you and a book.

    

See! Isn’t it charming? It’s the highlight of my whole book shopping year to walk into this store which is scented faintly by the neighboring chocolates and full of book lovers curled in corners. And everyone will somehow no matter their age end up in the children through teen books section. If the rest of the store doesn’t enchant you, if there isn’t a cat that could tempt you, well this little bit of nostalgia from days of story times in libraries and bookstores of old will for sure wrap you up in the warmth and delight that is Dolly’s Bookstore.

 

Don’t you just want to lose yourself for hours? I sure do and the place never gets old.

So now on to my book haul. My grandfather had given my brother and I each 40$ to spend on our vacation and naturally I saved it for my annual trip to Dolly’s. After much deliberation these are the four paperback books I bought: Partials, Slated, The Madman’s Daughter, and Delirium!

So Zoe which should I read first?

Until the Next Read,

A

 

From A to Z: Attachments by rainbow Rowell

Dear Z,

I’ve read other books by Rainbow Rowell and absolutely loved them, in fact of the three she has written, the two I read before Attachments made it so she quickly became a part of my favorite authors list, however upon reading Attachments I was disappointed. To be fair I did read her books backwards from latest to first. And regardless of Attachments making the weirdest books I have ever read list I am still highly anticipating her new book coming out.

Attachments is about a young man at the beginning of the millennium. He works internet security for a newspaper in Nebraska. He has to read through flagged email and warn people not to break the rules, he works nights, lives with his mom, and is still hung up on his high school girlfriend. Beth is his I guess you could call her leading lady (though that hardly seems the case) and her and her friend Jennifer’s email gets flagged, but instead of warning them the guy just reads them, meanwhile falling in love with Beth. Now that would be fine if at page 70 or so the two actually meet in person, but no. The climax of the book is him simply meeting and then making out with her in an old movie theater ten pages before the book is over! and that’s it. There is no romancing, getting to know each other in person. We learn nothing about their relationship. So frankly in the end the book is rather boring.

In all honesty I do not recommend reading this book. I do however highly recommend the author and am very glad that I read other works by her before this one, or I might not have read her other books that I have fallen in love with.

Until the next read,

-A

From A to Z Books is now affiliated with Book Depository.com SOOO to buy this and any other books we review please click this link! http://www.bookdepository.com/?a_aid=FromAtoZBooks

or

http://www.bookdepository.com/?a_aid=zoedelellis