Review Copy Cleanup Results

Well I was only able to finish Holding on to Zoe this month. However I am 3/4ths of the way through Princess Academy: Palace of Stone, which I hope to finish and review this long weekend. Thanks to Nyx Book Reviews and Books, Biscuits, and Tea for hosting this event.

Reading Stack #20

I was able to finish one book while on my trip to Missouri to go to my cousin's wedding. Tiger Lily is done and reviewed, so the only book left for my challenges this month is Princess Academy: Palace of Stone. I decided The Perks of Being a Wallflower would be my next read for the Dusty Book shelf challenge. I also plan on starting For Darkness Shows the Stars very soon, so that I can finish the Classics challenge while Persuasion is fresh in my mind. Enshadowed comes out on Tuesday, so that is another book I would like to read very soon, but probably the library will not get a copy until the first part of September. For now I will try to stick with the first three and add others as time allows.

Tiger Lily by Jodi Lynn Anderson

I finally got around to finishing my Random Reads book for this month! I really enjoyed Tiger Lily and will try to read the Peaches series, because I enjoyed Jodi Lynn Anderson's writing.

Tiger Lily is Anderson's take on the story of Peter Pan, before Wendy. It is told from the perspective of Tinker Bell.Tiger Lily is the daughter of Tik Tok, shaman for the Sky Eaters. She is wild and unkempt and not your usual girl and her tribe both fears and respects her. As daughter to the shaman, her life and marriage is important to the tribe. In Neverland, no one ages, except for Englanders and others who land on the shores. For fear of the aging disease, the Sky Eaters and other tribes do not help the Englanders, so when Tiger Lily saves one of them, the tribe determines to tame her. She is to be forced to marry Giant, the worst man in the tribe at the end of the dry season and in the meantime, she escapes to the forest and meets Peter Pan and the feared lost boys. Tiger Lily learns that Pan is not what everyone fears and falls for him and him for her. Pan has his enemy in Captain Hook, who is angry at Peter for stealing away his cabin boys aka the lost boys. As Hook plots for Pan's life and Tiger Lily's marriage draws near, their relationship and their lives are in danger, but the main danger may lurk where the two least expect it.

I enjoyed Anderson's take on the Peter Pan story. She also deals strongly with the themes of good and evil and decides no one is truly good or evil. The romance between Tiger Lily and Peter in the story did not appeal to me as much as Tiger Lily's character and the struggles of some of the minor characters. Tinker Bell is a great narrator and it was nice to see her as not an irrational female as she is often portrayed, but as someone who cares for her friend Tiger Lily enough to overpower her love of Pan. Pine Sap, one of Tiger Lily's few friends, was another great character, because he truly loves her for who she is.

Her theme of good and evil often flips what we see as good and evil; she shows how 19th century "Englanders" used Christianity to replace native beliefs that lead to some evils occurring to the natives. At times the book seems anti-Christian, but I think it is really just a judgment on 19th century expansion and colonization and not necessary Christian beliefs. The one character of Tik Tok was an interesting way to show transgender people and talk about why saying things like, just change one thing and you are great are not ok. The ending shows the danger of this. There are many different topics that could be discussed with this book.

Favorite Character: Tinker Bell. I loved seeing a side of her that wasn't just a jealous, for lack of a better word, cougar woman. She has feelings and her love for Tiger Lily and Tiger Lily's for her was one of the best friendships I have read lately.

Favorite Quote: There were several I liked. "Sometimes I think that maybe we are just stories. Like we may as well just be words on a page, because we're only what we've done and what we are going to do." "Sometimes love means not being able to bear seeing the one you love the way they are, when they're not what you hoped for them."

There were a few things I had to think about with this book, before deciding on a rating. I did enjoy it, but a few things mentioned early did bother me. I give it 4 bars of chocolate, because I think it would generate interesting discussion and I loved Tink as the narrator.

Demigod Diaries by Rick and Haley Riordan

Demigod Diaries: The Heroes of Olympus is four short stories with a few puzzles and pictures in the middle.  The first story is the Diary of Luke Castellan and chronologically takes place before the Lightning Thief. This is a story from Thalia and Luke's time before finding Camp Half-blood. Thalia and Luke follow a sheep's advice and end up trapped in a house with a cursed adult demi-god.

In Percy Jackson and the Staff of Hermes, the story occurs following the Last Olympian. In this story Hermes's caduceus has been stolen and he asks for Percy's help. Percy and Annabeth agree to help and Percy needs to find a way to celebrate their one month first kiss anniversary while trying to recover the staff.

In Leo Valdez and the Quest for Buford, Leo's desk has walked away, taking with it a part he needs for the Argo II. If Leo, Jason, and Piper cannot find the piece in an hour, Half-Blood Woods will explode. Throw in the dryads crazy cousins and Leo will be lucky to make it out alive. This story takes place after the Lost Hero.

The first three stories were written by Rick Riordan and the last story, Son of Magic is by his 16 year old son Haley. Son of Magic is the story of Alabaster, son of Hecate, a demigod who sided with Kronos. Alabaster is hunted by Lamia, a daughter of Hecate and a monster who wants only to kill him. Alabaster befriends Dr. Claymore, a man who scoffs at religion and myths and studies the afterlife. Alabaster needs Dr. Claymore to help him find a way to keep Lamia in the Underworld, because for some reason (see Lost Hero/Son of Neptune for answer) she cannot be killed.

All the stories were just as good as the other books in Riordan's series, but Haley's surprised me the most. I loved his take on how the Mist was created and why monsters can find demigods. His writing was excellent and maybe even more mature and definitely a little darker than his dad's. I like that he did not shy away from the religious questions myths often create and even though he did not show his own beliefs, he did not attack others. If he is writing this well at 16, I can't wait to see what he writes as an adult.

Favorite Character: I could pick a character from each story, but I will just pick two. I have always liked Annabeth and her loyalty to Percy. She is all the good traits of Athena, with a few of the flaws, but she always is drawn to Percy and the two complement each other well. I also liked Alabaster, even though he chose the wrong side. He believes strongly in his causes and seems to want what is best for demigods and he wants to make his mother proud. I hope he shows up in other books.

Favorite Quote: "That is not the Bacchanalian Jingle! That is the theme song for Psych!"

I loved this short story collection, but then I haven't read a Rick Riordan book I didn't like yet. 5 bars of chocolate for sure!

Holding on to Zoe by George Ella Lyon

I received an e-galley of this from Netgalley.com, that is the only compensation I received for this review.

Jules's life has never been easy. Her dad left when she was really young, leaving her with a mom who selfishly ignores Jules's problems. On top of her bad homelife, now her boyfriend has left town. Unfortunately for Jules, he left after he found out she was pregnant. For Jules, Zoe offers her redemption, Zoe is her baby. Jules would do anything for Zoe and anything to keep Zoe safe, even when holding on to Zoe means putting her own health and sanity on the line. Jules will need her friend Reba, Reba's mom, Dr. Douglas, and even her own mother to put her life back in order.

This book was not what I expected at all. Without being too spoilery, Jules has problems on top of problems. Her problems run the gamut of selfish mom, absent father, sexual abuse, teenage pregnancy, abandonment issues, and mental health issues. I picked this up as a book about teenage pregnancy and it is so much more. At times her problems seemed like too much, but it was nice to see her mother finally start acting like a mother in the end, which made her problems seem more real. Thankfully Jules's best friend, Reba sticks by her and Reba's mother is like a real mother should be.

I love George Ella Lyon's picture books and her author presentations are great as well. This was a very different book compared to her usual stories, but it was still well-written.

Favorite Character: Reba was an ideal best friend. She was willing to stick by Jules no matter what and there was so many things she had to deal with regarding Jules.

Favorite Quote: "And what if the babies grow faster? What if they outgrow their moms? Can that happen?"

This is not my usual kind of read and at times Jules's problems seemed like too much, but overall it was well-written. I give it 3.5 bars of chocolate.

Bout of Books wrap-up

I enjoyed participating in this read-a-thon. I wish I could have done more challenges and kept more regular update posts, but maybe next time. I did finish The Strange Case of Finley Jayne and Persuasion, which surprises me. I should probably do more read-a-thons, because I tend to read more during these events. Thanks to  Amanda @ On a Book Bender and Kelly @ Reading the Paranormal for hosting the event!

Persuasion by Jane Austen thoughts

 I did finish Persuasion today, but will save most of my review for when I finish For Darkness Shows the Stars. This is the first Jane Austen book I have ever read. I know, I know, how could I have not read Jane Austen before! I have watched Pride and Prejudice (mini-series and movie) and Emma (movie), but never actually read the books. I had one friend tell me I started with the worst one, but I really liked Persuasion. The romance seemed mature and well developed and I enjoyed the characters. Anne and Captain Wentworth have a relationship that stood the test of time and influence. I liked the setting and I love reading books from this time period when people worried about silly things like social standing and talked about poetry. There are some great quotes in this book as well. I hope to read more Jane Austen at a later date, but for now I have other books waiting to be read.