Review: Untamed by A.G. Howard

Title:Untamed
Author: A.G. Howard
Source/Format: Won, Hardback
More Details: Young Adult, Fantasy, Retelling 
Publisher/Publication Date: Amulet Books, December 15, 2015

Goodreads     Amazon     Barnes & Noble     Book Depository

Synopsis from Goodreads...

Alyssa Gardner went down the rabbit hole and took control of her destiny. She survived the battle for Wonderland and the battle for her heart. In this collection of three novellas, join Alyssa and her family as they look back at their memories of Wonderland.

In Six Impossible Things, Alyssa recalls the most precious moments of her life after Ensnared, and the role magic plays in preserving the happiness of those she loves. Alyssa’s mother reminisces about her own time in Wonderland and rescuing the man who would become her husband in The Boy in the Web. And Morpheus delves into Jeb’s memories of the events of Splintered in The Moth in the Mirror, available in print for the first time.

This collection expands upon Ensnared's epilogue, and includes some deleted scenes to provide a “director’s cut” glimpse into the past and futures of our favorite Splintered characters...

After finishing Untamed I had to carefully think about what I wanted to say. It took me a while to find the right words that fit with what I thought about it. Untamed was one of my most anticipated books back in December of 2015. So, I was really excited to get my hands on a finished copy.

Did I like it?

Well, yeah, sort of. Untamed did have some great content to add to the Splintered series, but I also found myself a little disappointed by some of the stories.

This collection includes Six Impossible Things, The Moth in the Mirror, and The Boy in the Web. Out of the three, I was most excited for Six Impossible Things since it was set in a time after the end of Ensnared. That expanded epilogue was my main reason for getting Untamed. I never really liked Jeb as a character, and I had some problems with the way he treated Alyssa back in Splintered. But I was willing to tolerate some mention of him in Six Impossible Things. The story, for me, was just alright, which kind of reflects how I felt about the whole collection. It wasn't bad. I liked it.

For me, Wonderland was still the best part. I liked Howard's take on Lewis Carroll's classic story, specifically the changes she made to the well-known characters and setting of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.

Untamed ended up just being okay for me. I liked it well enough, but I did have a few issues with it. Even so, I still want to check out A.G. Howard’s next novel, Rose Blood.

The Friday 56 (52) Untamed by A.G. Howard

The Friday 56 is a weekly meme hosted by Freda's Voice where every Friday you pick a book and turn to page 56 or 56%, and select a sentence or a few, as long as it's not a spoiler. For the full rules, visit the the page HERE

Synopsis from Goodreads...

Alyssa Gardner went down the rabbit hole and took control of her destiny. She survived the battle for Wonderland and the battle for her heart. In this collection of three novellas, join Alyssa and her family as they look back at their memories of Wonderland.

In Six Impossible Things, Alyssa recalls the most precious moments of her life after Ensnared, and the role magic plays in preserving the happiness of those she loves. Alyssa’s mother reminisces about her own time in Wonderland and rescuing the man who would become her husband in The Boy in the Web. And Morpheus delves into Jeb’s memories of the events of Splintered in The Moth in the Mirror, available in print for the first time.

This collection expands upon Ensnared's epilogue, and includes some deleted scenes to provide a “director’s cut” glimpse into the past and futures of our favorite Splintered characters...

"He hesitates. There are other stories, too, about the fairy-kind. That some are tricky and deadly."--Untamed by A.G. Howard


What are some of your favorite fairy tales or retelling's? Or what are you reading this week?

Review: The Marvels by Brian Selznick

Title: The Marvels
Author: Brian Selznick
Source/Format: Won, Hardcover
More Details: Middle Grade, Historical
Publisher/Publication Date: Scholastic Press, September 15, 2015

Goodreads     Amazon     Barnes & Noble     Book Depository

Synopsis from Goodreads...

Two seemingly unrelated stories--one in words, the other in pictures--come together. The illustrated story begins in 1766 with Billy Marvel, the lone survivor of a shipwreck, and charts the adventures of his family of actors over five generations. The prose story opens in 1990 and follows Joseph, who has run away from school to an estranged uncle's puzzling house in London, where he, along with the reader, must piece together many mysteries...

I read two of Selznick’s books before I finally got to the last one I had on my shelf, The Marvels. Following Selznick’s previously established style, The Marvels is told half in pictures and half in words. Thus, the book was a delightful, thoroughly engrossing story from beginning to end.

Half the story belonged to Billy Marvel, the sole survivor of a shipwreck. And the other half belonged to Joseph, a young boy in 1990 who has run away from school. Part of the intrigue with Selznick’s books, for me, is seeing how the stories will eventually connect. And with The Marvels, that was one of my primary reasons for reading the book. Joseph was a good character. I liked his story. He was a boy who caused some trouble even if that wasn’t what he intended. Billy’s story was equally enjoyable and just as integral to the plot. To understand Joseph’s story, Billy’s had to be told as well. The other characters were delightful as well, and their stories tied in with Joseph’s. Their interactions were some or my favorite parts.

The illustrations perfectly conveyed the characters emotions, and were effective at telling a story on their own. The setting was, again, historical, and developed in a way that showed that Selznick knew what he was doing and had done his research. In the end, I am glad that I read The Marvels. It’s easily become one of my favorites.

Musing Mondays (46) Favorite Book Settings

Musing Mondays is a weekly meme hosted by Jenn at A Daily Rhythm, that asks you to muse about something book related each week.

My Musings for the Week...

Random Weekly Question from January 11th: What book(s) are you most excited to read, this year? Is there anything special on tap?

 I read some amazing books last year and I'm just sitting around waiting for the next books in the series. So, I want ALL of the sequel's.I've already read some of the ones I was looking forward to. Some of them have been great, while others fell a little short. However, there are some new books on my radar, so here are just a few I'm still desperately waiting for:

• Gemina by Amie Kaufman & Jay Kristoff
• Love Charms and Other Catastrophes by Kimberly Karalius
• Rebel of the Sands by Alwyn Hamilton 
• Blood for Blood by Ryan Graudin

This list is not exact, so there will probably be other books that catch my interest later in the year. But for now, those are the one's I'm definitely looking forward to.

Other Musings...

One of the aspects I look for in a book is the setting. The world is what draws me in, and I always look for the rules that the author has come up with to base that fictional world around. Characters and plot are also important too, but setting, for me, is one of the best parts. So, for today, I wanted to talk about some of my favorite fictional book settings.

To start off this list, I'm going with Julie Kagawa's Iron Fey series, the first four books. Don't get me wrong, the first four books are some of my favorite novels, and I absolutely adore them. But I haven't finished the spin-off series, not that it's bad, but I just haven't. Anyway, I liked the way Kagawa handled the fey in the novels, and to be honest, the books had one of my favorite settings of all time because it was developed so well.

Up next is Hover by Melissa West. I liked a lot about the book, and the setting was pretty much perfect for the story. The alien planet and their method of travelling from there to earth was pretty cool.

The Radiant Road by Katherine Catmull also had an interesting setting, which ended up being one of my favorite aspects about the book. It was developed pretty well and it was magical.

The Madman's Daughter by Megan Shepherd. Shepherd managed to create a setting that was seemingly innocuous but also mildly unsettling, which was absolutely perfect for the story. I'm not joking, the setting basically set up the atmosphere that, to me, was necessary in terms of execution. And Shepherd did a wonderful job at it.

This next one is kind of obvious, but it is one of my favorites. The town of Grimbaud from Love Fortunes and Other Disasters by Kimberly Karalius. It was cute and charming, but also a little dangerous despite is romantic atmosphere.




I'm going to leave it there for today, but there are more books that I have read that had some fantastic settings. So, how about you? What are some of your favorite fictional settings/worlds? (It can be in movies or books, doesn't matter as long as it's one of your favorites.)

ARC Review: The Radiant Road by Katherine Catmull

Title: The Radiant Road
Author: Katherine Catmull
Source/Format: First to Read (publisher), EARC
More Details: Young Adult, Fantasy
Publisher/Publication Date: Dutton Books for Young Readers, January 19, 2016
Goodreads     Amazon     Barnes & Noble     Book Depository 

Synopsis from Goodreads...

And sometimes the Strange came to visit Clare, and dreams walked through her waking life...

After years of living in America, Clare Macleod and her father are returning to Ireland, where they’ll inhabit the house Clare was born in—a house built into a green hillside with a tree for a wall. For Clare, the house is not only full of memories of her mother, but also of a mysterious boy with raven-dark hair and dreamlike nights filled with stars and magic. Clare soon discovers that the boy is as real as the fairy-making magic, and that they’re both in great danger from an ancient foe.

Fast-paced adventure and spellbinding prose combine to weave a tale of love, loyalty, and the strength we carry within ourselves...

Here’s the thing about The Radiant Road by Katherine Catmull: it was just okay. There was nothing too bad about the book and there were things that I liked about it.

The things I did enjoy were the concept. This was a fairy book; there was no mistaking it since the themes were present throughout the entire book. I have read a handful of books with similar themes, and I did like Catmull’s take on it. The house was especially interesting for many reasons, mainly because it was magical in a natural sort of way. It also contained elements that connected directly to the fairies. So I did like the setting.

Another aspect that I liked were the fairies. They were interesting, and it was the conclusion to that aspect of the story that kept me reading.

Here are some of the things that fell into the gray area for me, between good and bad, just sort of alright. From the start, it was made clear that Clare was special, she could see things no one else could, spoke of magical creatures and sort of believed in them despite being ridiculed for it. Her life seemed typical for this kind of book, and of course, things do take a turn for the worst once her father moves their family back to Ireland—to the house where she was born. In this way The Radiant Road was a little predictable. I could see things happening but Clare still plodded into them anyway despite being warned of the consequences. As often was the case, Clare wasn’t the one paying the majority of the price for her mistakes, but she did suffer some consequences.

Despite that, I found Clare and Finn’s friendships to be nice. And the plot still held some twists. The ending was okay and it wrapped up the story. The majority of the book was spent building up to this end and, I don't know, I was a little disappointed, but despite that it was an okay ending. So the characters and the story were pretty good.

Overall, The Radiant Road was a book that I found to be okay. It was fun for the most part with some faults. And if I was ever in the mood, I might consider picking up another book by Catmull.

This copy of the book was provided by Penguin First to Read (publisher) for this review, thank you!