Daniel Deronda Review

Daniel Deronda by George Eliot is a classic novel. It follows two people: Daniel Deronda, a young man raised as the ward of a wealthy British aristocrat with no knowledge of his heritage and Gwendolen Harleth, a beautiful yet poor young woman determined to get all she wants out of life. We follow them on both of their searches, where their path’s cross and the effect they have on each other’s lives. 

I gave this book 4.5 out of 5 stars. As expected, the writing style and quality were lovely. There is something about these classic works that is noticeable in the very way they are written and I find it quite enjoyable to read. The only thing I didn’t like was the quotes before every chapter; they felt jarring and pulled me away from the story, instead of adding to it (especially when in a foreign language).

The characters were fascinating. Some you dislike (and like to dislike them), others draw your sympathy, and still more are so heartwarming and wonderful. I can’t possibly go through all the characters and tell you what they made me feel, but my feelings about them were so diverse that it enhanced my pleasure in reading about them. I also really enjoyed the growth we got to see and how they responded to all they went through.

The story line dragged at the beginning, especially since it focused on Gwendolen (who I don’t like). We don’t really get to see Daniel until chapter 14, but that is where my interest really picked up and I began to truly enjoy it. The pacing wasn’t the best, it sped up and slowed down a bit, but thankfully it wasn’t too extreme or I would have DNFed the book. Overall, I loved the story with the redemption arc and the soul searching and the characters figuring out who they are and what they want to do with their lives.

Overall, a simply lovely read and it makes me want to read more by Eliot. Maybe I will get to one of her other works soon.

Side note: If you didn’t know and / or it interests you, George Eliot is the pen-name for Mary Ann Evans

April Overview

This month I decided to do the OWL’s readathon and had a blast. Overall, it was quite a heavy reading month for me and I have enjoyed every minute.

OWL’s readathon:

Ancient Runes - The Warrior Maiden by Melanie Dickerson (Christian historical)

Arithmancy – All the Stars Look Down by Grace Draven and Elizabeth Hunter (fantasy)

Astronomy – The Fox and the Star by Coralie Bickford-Smith (children)

Care of Magical Creatures – Two Shy Pandas by Julia Jarman (children)

Charms – One True Loves by Taylor Jenkens Reid (contemporary)

Defense Against the Dark Arts - Raven Flight by Juliet Marillier (fantasy)

Divination - Anomaly by Krista McGee (Christian dystopian)

Herbology - My Foolish Heart by Susan Warren (Christian contemporary)

History of Magic - Having Her Boss’s Baby by Susan Mallery (contemporary)

Muggle Studies - Geekerella by Ashley Poston (contemporary)

Potions - This Same Earth by Elizabeth Hunter (fantasy)

Transfiguration - The Light Within by Grace Draven (fantasy short story)

 

Christian Fiction:

Princess Ever After by Rachel Hauck (contemporary)

Fantasy:

The Caller by Juliet Marillier

A Hidden Fire by Elizabeth Hunter

The Force of Wind by Elizabeth Hunter

A Fall of Water by Elizabeth Hunter

Building From Ashes by Elizabeth Hunter

Contemporary:

Smooth-Talking Cowboy by Maisey Yates

Mail Order Cowboy by Maisey Yates (novella)

Brokedown Cowboy by Maisey Yates

Bad News Cowboy by Maisey Yates

The Snow Bride by Debbie MacComber

Scones and Sensibility Review

Scones and Sensibility by Lindsay Eland is a middle grade contemporary. We follow 12-year-old Polly as she uses inspiration from her favorite books, Anne of Green Gables and Pride and Prejudice, to help the people in her life find love.

I gave this book 3 out of 5 stars. It was funny and a quick read. I liked the concept, but it didn’t really rise up to my hopes. Polly is obsessed with her romantic classics and goes so far as to try and imitate the way they act, speak and even think. This could have been cute and quirky if she wasn’t the narrative voice of the story. As it is, it very quickly became pretentious with a sense of clearly trying too hard. It worked in the dialogue, but I found it overdone and annoying in the rest. In addition to that, Polly lacked the charm of Anne Shirley or Emma Woodhouse that endeared readers to them in spite of character flaws or exaggerations. If I was around 11 when reading this book, it may not have bothered me, but as an adult it did.

Most of the characters are two-dimensional and lack depth (and the opportunity to build it). Everything is very surface level with general characters: like the terror child or the so in love parents, or the cranky older single lady. They didn’t feel like real people.

On top of that, the plot was fairly predictable and nothing new. We could tell where the story was going from the very beginning which is not always a problem if the execution is done well but it didn’t do much for me here.

In spite of the flaws, this book was still entertaining and, as I can see a young girl enjoying it and it being a middle grade target audience, I felt it should still get a positive rating.

Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue Review

Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue by Mackenzi Lee is a young adult historical fiction novel. It follows Henry (Monty), his sister Felicity and his childhood friend Percy as they set out on their “Grand Tour” of Europe, but things invariably go off course.

This book gets 2 out of 5 stars. It was pretty blah. The plot was kind of interesting, but like every bad thing that could happen did. Furthermore, many of the plot events were instigated by stupid and bad choices on the main character’s part. Nor was I really impressed by the conflict of the story. As a predominantly historical work I would have preferred the conflict to be more realistic than fantastical.

Another let down was that I didn’t like any of the characters. They were not just flawed but really just unlikeable people. Each of the three main characters expresses one way society of the time judged and put down people (homosexual man, education minded female, and half black epileptic). Those are not small topics or unimportant topics, but Lee doesn’t leave us with a sense of hope in the knowledge that things have changed over time (less discrimination all the way around) and in trying to address all of them she is stretched thin (no opportunity to go into real depth into any of them). At the end of the book in an author’s note she does give a little extra info on each of those topics in the context of that time, but that just isn’t enough. I would have preferred her choosing one topic to really delve into in novel form or make it a series and do one topic per book.

Furthermore, she also seems to try and excuse Monty’s terrible behavior and choices with his past (which is a very sad thing and what he went through is in no way okay), but I think at 18 years old a person needs to take responsibility for their own choices and actions. He was just completely driven by selfishness and that didn’t change through the book. None of the characters really grew through the story.   

There was obviously a lot of behavior going on in this book that was clearly not okay: getting drunk all the time, badmouthing and cursing, stealing, characters who were ready to have sex with practically anyone, stealing etc. The sexual content got a bit heavy and uncomfortable in three places, but not full on pornographic.

Overall, it was quite the let down after all the hype it has been getting. The only things really going for it is that it does bring up important issues about the time and the writing style is easy and quick to read. But that doesn’t make it a good book.

Lucky in Love Review

Lucky in Love by Kasie West is a young adult contemporary novel. It is about 18 year old Maddie who is in full control of her life with her future planned out as far as she possibly can. But with a spur of the moment purchase of a lottery ticket on her 18^th birthday, she unbelievably wins and her whole life changes.

I gave this book a 4 out of 5 stars. I really enjoyed it. The characters were complex and diverse, flawed and interesting. Their interaction (especially with Maddie) and the character development through the story felt very realistic. The relationships, both the dynamics and changes, were so well done.

The plot itself was a really nice look at money in our lives, both the lack of money and the abundance of it. I felt West did a very good job at showing people’s attitudes towards money as well as how they view others with money. This topic isn’t necessarily one that I love reading about, but it worked here. There was enough light hearted content to soften the harsh realities that Maddie was facing.

Overall this was a cute romance, but the story was so much more than that. It is one of those books that makes you think and sticks with you.

The Distance Between Us Review

The Distance Between Us by Kasie West is a young adult contemporary novel. This book is about 17-year-old Caymen who has lived in the small apartment above her mother’s porcelain doll shop her whole life. From there she had a great view of the rich clientele, that plus her mother’s warnings have left her with a very negative view of the wealthy. Until Xander shows up oozing “wealth” to get his Grandmother a doll and challenges all her beliefs on the rich.

I gave this book 4 out of 5 stars. I really enjoyed this story. It is very different than anything I have read before. As I expect from her works I flew through it and was on the edge of my seat the entire time. I found the topic quite interesting, but it isn’t really my favorite.

The characters were very well developed and fun to follow, but I lacked the relatability. Thankfully I was still invested in them and their story enough to stick with the story. These weren’t my favorite characters by West, but they were still high quality and multidimensional and flawed like I expect from her.  

Overall, this was a good book, it just wasn’t one of my favorites by her.

The Fill-In Boyfriend Review

The Fill-in Boyfriend by Kasie West is a young adult contemporary. It is about young Gia, student body president, the girl with everything under control, until her long-distance boyfriend breaks up with her in the parking lot of her senior prom. With her friends growing doubts about the existence of this boyfriend, she talks a stranger dropping off his sister into pretending to be her boyfriend in order to meet her friends. This sets into motion a series of events that will change her life.

I gave this book 3 out of 5 stars. It was okay, but just that. I was kind of disappointed that I didn’t like it more. The writing style was still really strong and fun to read. The plot was fast paced and smooth. I found her characters to be well developed (as I have come to expect from her) and did feel fairly invested in them.

My big issue with this story is the plot itself. It was entirely made up of teen drama. I understand the story is about teenagers, so expect a bit of that, but not as the driving force and main storyline. The story set up sounded so interesting and full of potential, but I was quite disappointed in her spin. Furthermore, the setup of many young people making immature decisions and mistakes wouldn’t have felt as bad if more people than the main character suffered consequences for them. But she was the only one who really suffered for her bad choices, even though she regretted them and was trying to make amends. All of that together just irritated me and diminished my pleasure in the book. My last issue was that the ending was really abrupt (as in, wait what?).

Overall, I don’t regret reading this book, but it definitely did not rise to my expectations.

Body in the Bookstore Review

Body in the Bookstore by Emma Lee is the first book in her Snow Ridge Mysteries series. It follows divorced mystery writer Bonnie Mayberry settling into her new farm house in a quiet small town, when a local teen is murdered and everyone’s eyes are on the new person in town, her.

This book only got 2 out of 5 stars. The skeleton of the plot is interesting and has major potential, but the execution falls far short of it. We are spoon fed information throughout the book, sometimes in info dumps, sometimes through unrealistic dialogue, and other times through villain speeches. It feels very amateurly written and poorly edited.

The characters also had potential, but again we never get there. They are either trying too hard to be unique or don’t reach the depth needed to make us feel invested in them. I felt like there were foundations in many of the characters that could have been built upon to really flesh them out and make it truly fascinating to read about them, but everything was left surface level, or spoon fed to us so we couldn’t really feel with them.

Overall, it was a good concept for plot and characters, but ruined with poor writing.

March Overview

This was a bit of a weird month for me. I didn’t stick to my original TBR, but did some major mood reading. So, my first attempt for March Mystery Madness was quite pitiful and I only got to 2 books for the re-readathon. However it was still a great reading month in number of books and in the quality of the reads.

March Mystery Madness:

1.      New – Body in the Bookstore by Emma Lee (own)

Re-readathon:

1.      Underrated – Mansfield Park by Jane Austen (Classic – own)

2.      A Second Chance – Barchester Towers by Anthony Trollope (Classic – own)

Christian Fiction:

A Heart Most Certain by Melissa Jagears (Historical – own)

A Bride for Keeps by Melissa Jagears (Historical)

A Cowboy Unmatched by Karen Witemeyer (Historical novella)

To Win Her Heart by Karen Witemeyer (Historical)

Waterfall by Lisa Tawn Bergren (Fantasy - own)

Cascade by Lisa Tawn Bergren (Fantasy)

Torrent by Lisa Tawn Bergren (Fantasy)

Deluge by Lisa Tawn Bergren (Fantasy)

Tributary by Lisa Tawn Bergren (Fantasy novella)

Bourne by Lisa Tawn Bergren (Fantasy novella)

Amish Promises by Leslie Gould

Fantasy:

Life and Death: Twilight Reimagined by Stephanie Meyer

The Goose Girl by Shannon Hale

The Master of Crows by Grace Draven

Shadowfell by Juliet Marillier

Ascension of Larks Review

Ascension of Larks by Rachel Linden is a Christian Fiction novel. We follow Magdalena a Porto Rican photographer when her best friend Lina calls with the tragic news of her husband Marco’s death, the man who happens also to be Maggie’s unrequited love. She rushes off to the aid of her friend to help her deal with the fallout, for Lina’s family as well as herself.

I gave this book 4 out of 5 stars. This is such a beautifully written, literary work. The quality of the writing style and story telling is top notch. It was intense all the way through with solid, smooth pacing. I was on the edge of my seat as wave upon wave of emotions pulled me through the story.

The plot was compelling and powerful. Linden did a wonderful job of looking at grief and loss. My one issue was that it felt like there were too many big topics looked at. There were the couple main ones that we got to see in-depth and many others that were just touched upon (topics worth going deeper into), but not all in the same book.

The characters were so well rounded and complex. They felt like they could be real people. I didn’t necessarily like all of them and definitely didn’t agree with all of their choices or motivations.

The faith element is very light. There is a theme (a faith lesson) threading clearly through the story and a side character of faith speaking into the lives of the main characters. I feel it is perfect for introducing the truth about what our faith is to non-believers in a non-threatening or pushy way.

Overall, I did like this book a lot, but it was a bit too emotional and sad for my tastes. However, I greatly appreciate the sense of hope we are left with.

Own Your Life Review

Own Your Life by Sally Clarkson is a Christian Non-fiction book on Christian living. She specifically looks at taking responsibility for the different areas of our lives.

I gave this book 4 out of 5 stars. The writing style is strong and clear. I find her very easy to follow and understand. I liked that she looked at each aspect of our lives one chapter at a time. There was a lot of truth in here and ideas of how to apply what she was talking about. My only struggle was that I found myself getting more and more discouraged through the book, like it was just adding one thing on top of another that I need to do to be living my life better for God. As a busy mother of three little ones, it feels too overwhelming to try and change and apply everything in all these areas of my life right now. I did like this book and do feel it can be very helpful, but maybe during another season of life.

Voyages of Doctor Dolittle Review

The Voyages of Doctor Dolittle by Hugh Lofting is the second in the Doctor Dolittle series. It follows Tim Stubbins, a young boy who meets and joins with Doctor Dolittle (the doctor who can talk with animals) and they go on some grand adventures together.

I gave this book 3.5 out of 5 stars. This was such a fun, quick and easy read. The chapters are short, yet filled with interesting things. The writing style is simple and yet lovely to read (ideal for reading aloud). The characters are all so different and well done. I love following them and seeing what they go through. The Doctor’s love of learning is so infectious and endearing and Tim is a wonderful new viewpoint to experience.

Their adventures were interesting and exciting, however there were a few plot holes that I thought were too big to ignore. These were things that just didn’t add up or are completely impossible (like being in an airtight location for over 4 days without getting new or filtered oxygen). Even with this having been written in the early 1900’s, I still feel these are things the author should have known about.

Yet, even with these distracting issues, I enjoyed the book and would even still recommend it for reading with children.

Top Ten Tuesday: Fairytale Retellings

Today’s topic was supposed to be the characters that I would like to switch places with, but that won’t work because I wouldn’t like to switch places with any characters. I love reading about many characters and going through things with them, but I wouldn’t want to go through everything they do and am content to live my own life. So, I am inserting my own topic: my favorite fairytale retellings (because why not?).

1.      Violet Eyes by Debbie Viguie – Princess and the Pea: I love the added context and political aspect to the story, as well as the few twists.

2.      Princess of the Midnight Ball by Jessica Day George – Dancing Princesses: I love the magic in the story and how closely it kept to the original, yet still managed to delve deeper and build this intricate and exciting story of its own.

3.      Entwinded by Heather Dixon Wallwork – Dancing Princesses: I loved the darker atmosphere of the story as well as the focus of family (sister dynamics as well as father-daughter relationships). 

4.      Cress by Marissa Meyer – Rapunzel: I love Cress (she is so cute and funny) and I was fascinated with the futuristic, science-fiction setting. 

5.      Scarlet by Marissa Meyer – Red Riding Hood: I love this spin on the original and especially in the science-fiction, futuristic setting.

6.      The Wild Orchid by Cameron Dokey – Mulan: This is such a beautiful retelling, staying true to the original while providing depth and feeling to the story.

7.      In the Garden of Gold and Stone by Ryan Muree – Beauty and the Beast: I loved this gender switched retelling. It was clever and fun and heartwarming (all the feels).

8.      The Merchant’s Daughter by Melanie Dickerson – Beauty and the Beast (Christian fiction): This is such an amazing retelling. It feels like something that could have really happened (no magic, set in the real world somewhere around the 1600s). I absolutely loved the characters and plot.

9.      The Fairest Beauty by Melanie Dickerson – Snow White (Christian fiction): Again set in the real world around the 1600s and so well done. It was exciting and quite the adventure.

10.   The Captive Maiden by Melanie Dickerson – Cinderella (Christian fiction): I loved this real world retelling. I was captured from chapter one and loved the context she brought to the original.

Raspberries and Vinegar Review

Raspberries and Vinegar by Valerie Comer is a Christian contemporary fiction novel. It is about Josephine and her two friends moving out to the country to try and build a sustainable farm and instill healthy values and choices into the neighborhood. Zachary is the veterinarian son of the next-door neighbor and only back home to help out on the farm while his father is recovering from a severe illness, with dreams of a high paying city job.

I gave this book 3 out of 5 stars. It was okay. There were a few good messages that I would have enjoyed looking at in more depth and I enjoyed the return to faith arc of the main male character. It was a quick and easy read with many enjoyable characters. However, I didn’t particularly like the main female character, especially the lack of character development. That also diminished my enjoyment of the romance. It took away the believability of their relationship and made me think that they were not compatible, especially for a long-term relationship. It also didn’t help that there was a large focus on the physical attraction and physical contact in their relationship (feeling more like lust not love). The sexual content was not too extreme (nothing beyond descriptive kissing). For the most part the pacing was good, and the plot moved smoothly, but the ending felt rushed and (I felt) omitted some vital development to the story. I didn’t hate the book or even exactly dislike it, but nor did I particularly like it.

February Overview

February was a really good reading month for me. I got to much more than I was expecting. Even better, almost all that I read were 4-5 star books. Also, I am really pleased with how the readathons went. All books with a * have a review up on the blog and all books with an > have a review coming.

Contemporaryathon:

1.      Blurple on the cover – Scones and Sensibility by Lindsay Eland (Middle grade)>

2.      Recently acquired – Once Upon a Prince by Rachel Hauck (Christian fiction)*

3.      Non-traditional format (audio book) – A March Bride by Rachel Hauck (Christian fiction)

4.      Diverse & emotional - Ascension of Larks by Rachel Linden (Christian fiction)>

5.      Meant to read in 2018 – Raspberries and Vinegar by (Christian fiction)>

Enchantathon:

1.      Romance & Fantasy – Eidolon by Grace Draven (Fantasy)>

2.      Retelling (Beauty and the Beast) – Belle by Sarah Price (Christian Fiction)>

3.      With Royalty – The Princess and the Goblin by George MacDontald (Christian Fiction)>

Christian Non-fiction:

Own Your Life by Sally Clarkson> (own)

Christian Fiction:

Where We Belong by Lynn Austen*

Healing the Soldier’s Heart by Lily George>

Fantasy:

Wundersmith: The Calling of Morrigan Crow by Jessica Townsend>

Radiance by Grace Daven>

Fairest by Gail Carson Levine> (own)

Dystopian:

The Selection by Kierra Cass>

Classics:

The Warden by Anthony Trollope (reread)>

Agnes Grey by Anne Bronte>

Poetry:

The Hymns of Anne Steele (own)

March TBR

This month I am participating in the March Mystery Madness (through the whole month) and the Re-readathon hosted by Merphy Napier (10^th -17^th). I actually intend to focus on these two genres/ areas, not without any others, but predominantly these.

March Mystery Madness:

1.      Old – The Innocence of Father Brown by G K Chesterton (own- Christian Fiction)

2.      New – Body in the Bookstore by Emma Lee (own)

3.      Borrowed – The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins (Classic)

4.      Blue – Death Comes to Town by K J Emrick (own)

Re-readathon:

1.      A second chance – Barchester Towers by Anthony Trollope (Classic- own)

2.      Old favorite – Little Dorrit by Charles Dickens (Classic - own)

3.      Underrated – Mansfield Park by Jane Austen (Classic - own)

Christian Non-fiction:

The Practice of the Presence of God by Brother Lawrence (own)

Top Ten Tuesday: Bookish Places to Visit

This is my list of places mentioned or visited (either in modern or historical times) in books that I would like to go to. I decided to include both fictional and real places because there are some fantastical places that I would love to go to if they were real. The real places I am not going super specific (meaning mentioning the country versus city) because there are many cities in those countries I would love to see.

1.      England – from Persuasion by Jane Austen (I have been to London and Brighton, but would love to go back to those cities as well as see many more)

2.      France – from The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Emmuska Orkzy

3.      Ireland – from A Light in the Window by Jan Karon (Like England I have been once before, but there is still so much I want to see)

4.      Scotland – from Outlander by Diana Gabaldon (I have been once in high school, but that was a long time ago)

5.      Italy – from Little Dorrit by Charles Dickens

6.      Israel – from Daniel Deronda by George Eliot

7.      Egypt – from Where We Belong by Lynn Austen

8.      Mars – from Out of the Silent Planet by C S Lewis

9.      Narnia – from “Chronicles of Narnia” by C S Lewis (I would specifically like to go during The Horse and His Boy)

10.   Nevermoor – from Nevermoor: The Trials of Morrigan Crow by Jessica Townsend

Once Upon a Prince Review

Once Upon a Prince by Rachel Hauck is a Christion Contemporary novel. Susanna Truitt is in no way a romantic with her life all planned out, until her high-school sweetheart boyfriend of 12 years breaks up with her. Now she is just trying to get her life back together again. Prince Nathaniel is on a last vacation before he is expected to soon take the throne in the midst of a tense political situation and is struggling with insecurities and doubts. When these two collide, their lives get tangled in life changing ways.

I loved this book and gave it 5 out of 5 books. This was such a fun and entertaining story. It was everything I wanted from a modern Christian Cinderella story. There was insta-love (which I am not always that fond of), but it worked for me here. The pacing was very strong and steady, and the story flew by. I liked the writing style; it was smooth and easy to read.

The characters were fascinating to follow. I liked watching them learn and grow. Their faith was fairly realistic and, if not, at least felt genuine. It was especially nice to see their faith grow and change them through the story. There were some nice lessons learned that we can apply to our own lives (I always appreciate practical application that can be gathered from a story). I also really liked that there was practically no sexual content but still had all the romantic feels one wants from a romance.

This book was exactly what I was hoping for and I am thrilled to continue with the series.

Anxious For Nothing Review

Anxious for Nothing by John MacArthur is a Christian non-fiction book on the topic of dealing with Anxiety.

I loved this book and gave it 5 out of 5 stars. As I have come to know with MacArthur’s books, it is very well written, researched and heavily thought out. He is clear and easy to understand as well as thorough in content. I found this book to be very convicting and helpful. God has really spoken to me through this work and I know it is one I will reread and reference for years to come. There isn’t really much more that I can say about this book except that I think every Christian should read it.

Gregor and the Code of Claw Review

Gregor and the Code of Claw by Suzanne Collins is the fifth and last book in her middle grade fantasy Underland Chronicles. It picks up pretty much where we left off, and any more information may be too spoilery. 

I gave this book 4.5 out of 5 stars. I really enjoyed this book. Just like with the others it was thrilling and gripping and I flew through it. This last adventure took us through a whirlwind of emotions. I was constantly wondering what would happen next and how things would work out in the end.

The characters were of course amazing. They were still growing, learning, changing and being themselves. The best thing about them is how real they feel and how attached I have become to them over the course of the series. Of course, not all of them make it to the end, and none are left without scars (well maybe Boots), but it all felt very fitting and realistic.

My only problem was with the end itself, specifically that I felt it was left too open. I have far too many questions left unanswered and they are things I really want to know as I have become so invested in Gregor. It would have been better (in my opinion) if there had been an epilogue to give us at least a glimpse into some of the decisions Gregor made and what becomes of him.

Even so, I have loved reading this series. This is definitely a new favorite for me and one I may come back to re-experience.  

Top Ten Tuesday: Underrated Favorites

Today I am sharing my favorite books that are less known or underrated (with less than 2000 ratings on Goodreads). 

1.      Prevailing Prayer by Dwight L Moody (Christian Non-fiction)

2.      Praying the Bible by Donald Whitney (Christian Non-fiction)

3.      Growing in Gratitude by Mary K Mohler (Christian Non-fiction)

4.      The Hidden Arrow of Maether by Aiden Beaverson (Christian Fiction)

5.      To My Husband and Other Poems by Anne Bradstreet

6.      Poems by C S Lewis

7.      Bronte Sisters: The Complete Poetry by Charlotte, Anne & Emily Bronte

8.      Cyrano by Geraldine McCaughrean (Classic Retelling)

9.      In the Garden of Gold & Stone by Ryan Muree (Young Adult Fairytale Retelling)

10.   No Man Can Tame by Miranda Honfleur (Young Adult Fantasy)