Tiny Navajo Reads: To Kill a Kingdom

To Kill a Kingdom by Alexandra Christo

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*Published March 6, 2018*

As with a lot of my books, I saw this on the book river that my library puts together on their catalog’s website. It was during a retellings river and I love me a good retelling, so this one jumped out at me and I had to try it. A darker retelling of the Little Mermaid that I liked quite a bit.

Princess Lira is siren royalty and the most lethal of them all. With the hearts of seventeen princes in her collection, she is revered across the sea. Until a twist of fate forces her to kill one of her own. To punish her daughter, the Sea Queen transforms Lira into the one thing they loathe most—a human. Robbed of her song, Lira has until the winter solstice to deliver Prince Elian’s heart to the Sea Queen or remain a human forever.

The ocean is the only place Prince Elian calls home, even though he is heir to the most powerful kingdom in the world. Hunting sirens is more than an unsavory hobby—it’s his calling. When he rescues a drowning woman in the ocean, she’s more than what she appears. She promises to help him find the key to destroying all of sirenkind for good—But can he trust her? And just how many deals will Elian have to barter to eliminate mankind’s greatest enemy?

The best part about this book was how much I empathized with Lira and with Elian. These are our two main characters, one a siren called the Prince’s Bane, the other a prince out on the hunt for sirens. These two kind of swirl about each other, coming close once or twice to killing each other, but something stopping them both times. What I empathize with both of these characters is that they are trying to figure out who they truly are when pushing back against what their societies tell them they have to be. Lira is told she must be as ruthless and as heartless as her mother the Sea Queen. Elian is told that he must assume the throne soon and stop gallivanting about the seas trying to be someone he is not.

Both of these characters are more morally grey, which seems to be the theme for retellings of any sort, but here I think it works. Lira kills, Elian kills, and they both think they are doing this for a good reason. I like the characterization of these two, and I like that this “little mermaid” has more agency, and she is still able to make choices in that affect her and the story, not just “follow the prince and hope all goes well” that a few other retellings seem to have done.

There has been a mild complaint throughout the book community that Lira and Elian are great as separate characters, but once they are pushed together by the story, or the way the story goes, then they start to fall flat as characters. I will say that while reading this, I didn’t notice it much, but there was some times when I noticed that Lira and Elian were almost the same person when they were being sarcastic together. It didn’t bother me too much, but just as a general warning.

I do wish that the book would have built up the world of the story just a little bit more, if just so that there is a little more context for some of the aspects of the story. Granted, there was some and it did support aspects of the story, but there wasn’t a lot of context. Just a little bit more to flesh out the world a bit. Other than that though, there wasn’t a lot to complain about. I enjoyed the story and the characters, and I liked that this was a slightly darker retelling of the Little Mermaid.

What are your favourite types of retellings? Do you prefer darker, or lighter? Comment below and let me know!

Tiny Navajo Reads: Snow, Glass, Apples

Snow, Glass, Apples by Neil Gaiman, illustrated by Colleen Doran

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*Published August 20, 2019*

I was looking for a new book to read while on desk during the first few weeks of my new job and I stumbled on this one while looking through Overdrive. I love fairy tale retellings, so I devoured this is just a couple of hours and it was worth it.

A chilling fantasy retelling of the Snow White fairy tale by New York Times bestselling creators Neil Gaiman and Colleen Doran!

A not-so-evil queen is terrified of her monstrous stepdaughter and determined to repel this creature and save her kingdom from a world where happy endings aren’t so happily ever after.

From the Hugo, Bram Stoker, Locus, World Fantasy, Nebula award-winning, and New York Times bestselling writer Neil Gaiman (American Gods) comes this graphic novel adaptation by Colleen Doran (Troll Bridge)!

I loved this version of the retelling of the story of Snow White. As it is a short graphic novel, I can’t say mch without revealing all of the story, but I love how we followed not Snow White, but the queen in this retelling. We saw Snow White from her point of view and how much she loved her kingdom and her people and Snow White. But as things progress and Snow White grows up, things start to change and we see the queen do what she can in order to protect her people.

It’s rare for a retelling to come from the point of view of what is traditionally viewed as the villain of the story. And we see a side of the story that we wouldn’t normally see. Yet, when we see a villain humanized, that makes the villain that much more enjoyable for me. And I love this take on a Snow White retelling. It’s one that I’ve seen mentioned would be a good one to do for Snow White, based on her description, but it’s never been one I’ve yet read, so I was glad to finally read it. I highly enjoyed the writing, which I expected, but the illustrations were also beautiful and it matched the writing and the story wonderfully!

What retellings of Snow White have you read? What is some of your favourite versions? Comment below and let me know!

Tiny Navajo Listens: Spinning Silver

Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik

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*Published July 10, 2018*

I’ve read this book previously, but I had bought it from Audible some time last year and hadn’t listened to it yet. Seeing as I hadn’t listened to it yet, and I needed something to listen to while I work out, I started listening to Spinning Silver. It. Was. Fantastic!

Miryem is the daughter and granddaughter of moneylenders… but her father isn’t a very good one. Free to lend and reluctant to collect, he has loaned out most of his wife’s dowry and left the family on the edge of poverty–until Miryem steps in. Hardening her heart against her fellow villagers’ pleas, she sets out to collect what is owed–and finds herself more than up to the task. When her grandfather loans her a pouch of silver pennies, she brings it back full of gold.

But having the reputation of being able to change silver to gold can be more trouble than it’s worth–especially when her fate becomes tangled with the cold creatures that haunt the wood, and whose king has learned of her reputation and wants to exploit it for reasons Miryem cannot understand.

I love the voice acting in this book. It was fantastic and I loved how distinct all the voices where. Even if the narrator wasn’t introduced at the beginning of each chapter, you could tell who was talking just by how the voices changed and reflected who they were. You could also see how each character is fully developed for their own story but they still interact with each other fully as well. Each has their own reasons for what they are doing as well as working with each other.

I truly love how well the magic was woven into the story, that the magic was integral to not only Miryem, but to Wanda and Irina as well. And they all have different magics that they use, or what they believe to be magic. I love how to Wanda, numbers and money = magic; for Miryem, it’s taking the silver owed to her and her family and turning it back into gold; Staryk silver to transport Irina to her ancestor’s home. All of these magics are different, but they all work for each one and their magics help them in their trials and strife.

I love seeing each character’s growth and strength. As all three women are different, they all have different strengths and they use their strengths to the best of their abilities. Miryem, Wanda, and Irina all work to save those that they love.

What do you think of fairy tales that smack of familiarity? Do you like it when they go in a very different direction? Comment below and let me know!

Tiny Navajo Reads: Five Enchanted Roses

Five Enchanted Roses: A Collection of Beauty and the Beast Stories by Anne Elisabeth Stengl

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*Published July 27, 2015*

This has been sitting around in my Kindle TBR for a WHILE! I finally got around to reading it and I quite liked it. I’ve always liked retellings of all sorts, and one’s that are centered around a particular fairy tale are of a yummy interest to me.

REDISCOVER THE ENCHANTMENT
Summer 2015

A ship bearing the souls of sinful sailors drifts upon a ghostly sea. An abbey looms as the final defense between mortals and ghouls of the underworld. In the stillness of a throne room, statues stand forever frozen in a moment of terror. Monsters and men stalk their prey deep in the jungle’s shadows. A rose blooms in the dead of winter, sheltered in the ruins of an ancient Scottish castle.

And only true love can free the Beast from his prison.

ESPRIT DE LA ROSE
By Kaycee Browning

To steal from the Fee is to suffer their wrath! So Cecilia learns when these fabled beings charge her father with the theft of a certain mirror and sentence him to torment. But when she is taken as substitute, Cecilia discovers that the punishment meted out by the Fee is far stranger than she could ever have imagined. Trapped aboard a ghost ship with a crew of condemned souls and aided only by charismatic Captain Pepin, can this pirate’s daughter unlock the secret to the Fee’s dark omens?

WITHER
By Savannah Jezowski

As penalty for the merchant’s theft of a single rose, the Beast of Briarstone Abbey demands his youngest daughter, sweet and innocent Sookie. But Lilybet Haverly will never allow her sister to face such a dreadful fate! Armed only with a butcher knife and her own determination, Bet climbs the wall and plunges into the Neverway, where the dead walk and ghouls hunt human flesh. She will find this Briarstone Abbey—and the Beast who lives there—whatever the cost.

STONE CURSE
By Jenelle Schmidt

Years ago a terrible curse swept over the revelers at Thorndale Castle, turning them to stone and transforming Prince Barend himself into a hideous beast. But Karyna, a former lady-in-waiting, will not abandon either her father, who stands in the throne room among the other statues, or the prince. Indeed, she sets out alone on a dangerous quest to find the one responsible for this dreadful spell. If she can but discover the reason why the stone curse was cast, perhaps she can also discover the solution.

ROSARA AND THE JUNGLE KING
By Dorian Tsukioka

Maor has determined to take her as his third wife, by force if necessary. But Rosara would rather risk her life alone in the jungle than submit to any man’s brutality. When a beautiful jaguar tells her that it knows where to find one of the karawara, she resolves to seek out this jungle spirit and request its aid. The jaguar warns Rosara, however, that gifts from the karawara are never without a price . . .

THE WULVER’S ROSE
By Hayden Wand

A life is a high price to pay for stealing a rose. Nevertheless, Bonnie honors her father’s agreement and travels to the remote, ruinous castle wherein dwells the legendary creature known as a wulver—half man, half wolf. Though he is monstrous to behold, this beast is oddly gentle, tenderly caring for his beautiful rosebush, which blooms out of season. Is there more to the wulver than meets the eye? Is he somehow connected to the frightened child who visits Bonnie in her dreams?

These five stories that have tropes, traits, and threads from the Beauty and the Beast fairy tale. I loved how different were each of these stories, but each of these stories were the same. A girl goes to a hidden place, learns about the history of the place and it’s master, girl breaks the curse, magic and they live happily ever after.

Okay, maybe not always happily ever after, but that’s what’s so great about theses stories. They are all very different, but if you did not know that these were in a Beauty and the Beast collection, you would still know that this a retelling of the Beauty and the Beast story.

What sort of retellings are you favourite? Do you have a favourite fairy tale you like to read? Comment below and let me know!

Tiny Navajo Reads: Top Ten Reasons Why I Read

Hi guys! It’s time for another Top Ten Tuesday! TTT was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together.

Today’s topic for this particular Top Ten Tuesday are the reasons why I read the books I read. Now, ONTO THE LIST!!!

1.  Dragons! – how can you say no to dragons. I love dragons and I want to read all the books with dragons that I can.
2. Food! – I love it when books are centered around foods, especially foods from different countries. My area of food interest is East Asia, Japan and China. Nothing from Korea yet, but I hope to find some soon!
3. Epic fantasy! – I love fantasy and when it’s a huge series, that’s even better.
4. Specific covers! – I love it when a cover catches my attention, because for me, that’s supposed to indicate a unique storyline. Sometimes it’s not, but sometimes it is!
5. Broken faery tales! – I like it when faery tales are retold in a new light, or new point of view. Those are some of my favorite books.
6. Booklr! – the book community on Tumblr is one of my favorites, because of how much people are talking about the newest books and it makes me want to read a certain book. Good job booklr!
7. Book recommendations! – similar to booklr, just book recommendations in general will lead me to some of my favorite books.
8. Friends/co-workers! – working in a library, I have a lot of friends/co-workers who also love to read. When they find a book, they then recommend said book to me and we all suffer in misery together because how can you not?!
9. Book rivers! – if this sounds weird, I will explain. Book rivers are something my library does on their catalogue to put specific books that fit a similar theme on display. I have read quite a few amazing books because of the book rivers!
10. Letter communication! – I love it when books are told through letters. It feels a very obscure genre(?) but it’s one of my favorites!

Why do you read books? What catches your attention to read a book? Comment below and let me know!

Tiny Navajo Reads: The Surface Breaks

The Surface Breaks by Louise O’Neill

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*Published May 3, 2018*

**TW: Sexual abuse, abuse, fat shaming, eating disorders

A little mermaid retelling that I have enjoyed more than others. The reason I picked it up is because I saw the cover while scrolling through Tumblr and saw the absolutely beautiful cover and after reading the blurb, I had to see what was going on.

Deep beneath the sea, off the cold Irish coast, Gaia is a young mermaid who dreams of freedom from her controlling father. On her first swim to the surface, she is drawn towards a human boy. She longs to join his carefree world, but how much will she have to sacrifice? What will it take for the little mermaid to find her voice? Hans Christian Andersen’s original fairy tale is reimagined through a searing feminist lens, with the stunning, scalpel-sharp writing and world building that has won Louise her legions of devoted fans. A book with the darkest of undercurrents, full of rage and rallying cries: storytelling at its most spellbinding.

In this version of retelling, we learn that the Sea King has taken extreme control of not only his family (seven daughters) but of his kingdom as well. No one seeks to step out of line and incur his wrath. His daughters, Gaia included, strive to conform what the King of the Sea says is right, correct…perfect. In this feminist retelling of the The Little Mermaid, Louise O’Neill pulls from real life abuse where the females of this realm are oppressed by the males of the kingdom.

The main thing about this book was how much you could see the abuse Gaia and her sisters endure, as well as many others throughout the kingdom. But it’s when Gaia go to see the Sea Witch that she sees that there is a different way to live life, that there are ways to live without conforming to the unrealistic standards the Sea King has set, but she just wants to escape her impending arranged marriage and live life with the human she saves from drowning. But not everything is as it seems when she makes it to the human world. It when it comes to her decision to go through with the ending of the original fairy tale that she starts to stand up for herself and learn somethings about the world she grew up in under control of her father.

I think what also scares/makes me think about the characters in this book is how much the abuse is real. It feels real and it’s not something that I want to think about. That’s the reason books like this need to be written though, because there are others out there that have experienced this and may need/want to see someone overcome or fight back. I think…I’m not sure, like I said, I have not experienced anything like this. So, if I am wrong, please let me know so that I can reword what it is I’m trying to say.

I think what I enjoyed most about this story though is that we see the Sea Witch as a sympathetic character. I loved how well-rounded she was and how much a real character she seemed. She was my favorite part and if there is a sequel, then I would read it just to find out more about the Sea Witch.

How do you guys deal with books that have heavy subject matters? How do you rate them? Comment below and let me know!

Tiny Navajo Reads: Teaser Tuesday

Hi again to another Teaser Tuesday guys! We’re finally back to our regularly scheduled posts, there shouldn’t be any more interruptions; at least for a while. It’s a wonderful weekly meme that is hosted by The Purple Booker, go check out her site! To play Teaser Tuesday is easy, here’s what you do:

1. Grab your current read
2. Open to a random page
3. Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
4. BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
5. Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers! Everyone loves Teaser Tuesday.

So, here are my two sentences for Teaser Tuesday! And as an addendum, I choose two sentences from throughout the whole book, so there’s a variety. Enjoy!

“It is difficult, feeling as I do, when you are a part of my father’s court, meeting his demands that his daughters be charming at all times.” – Louise O’Neill, The Surface Breaks

and

“The Rusalkas being to sing, the tune vibrating sharply in my teeth like gritted sand.” – Louise O’Neill, The Surface Breaks

What books are you looking forward to this year? Are they any that have been on your TRB list for a while? Comment below and let me know!

Tiny Navajo Reads: The Girl in the Tower

The Girl in the Tower by Katherine Arden

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*Published December 5, 2017*

Yep, I FINALLY got around to reading this book and I’m so glad! I loved the first book and I had been meaning to read this second once it came out…but as you can see, it was published last year…I was slow at getting around to this book. It was WORTH IT!!

The magical adventure begun in The Bear and the Nightingalecontinues as brave Vasya, now a young woman, is forced to choose between marriage or life in a convent and instead flees her home—but soon finds herself called upon to help defend the city of Moscow when it comes under siege.

Orphaned and cast out as a witch by her village, Vasya’s options are few: resign herself to life in a convent, or allow her older sister to make her a match with a Moscovite prince. Both doom her to life in a tower, cut off from the vast world she longs to explore. So instead she chooses adventure, disguising herself as a boy and riding her horse into the woods. When a battle with some bandits who have been terrorizing the countryside earns her the admiration of the Grand Prince of Moscow, she must carefully guard the secret of her gender to remain in his good graces—even as she realizes his kingdom is under threat from mysterious forces only she will be able to stop.

I love Vasya. She is a girl I think I would love to be friends with and I love how much she stands up for herself. Yes, she is a bit of an idiot at times, but that’s really only because she has not lived outside of her little village/hamlet before and thus doesn’t know a lot about the world. And it was interesting to see how her interactions with her sister Olga and her brother Sasha and how much they have changed since they both left to life in Moscow. Her memories were different from her interactions in the present.

Overall, I loved that we got to see how one’s choices affect not only you but those around you. What seems to be one small little lie turns into something that could gravely endanger your family, though it didn’t seem like it at the time. And for Vasya, a girl who doesn’t fit in anywhere really, her little lie at the time may have saved her, but it also doomed her should anyone find out.

I also love how well Katherine Arden involves the lore and creatures of Russian fairy tales. You not only get the magic and supernatural stuff, but you get some of the political issues of medieval Russia. I love retellings and in my opinion, this series is an excellent way to introduce a new form of fairy tales that we don’t get to see as much. I loved this book and I seeing Vasya grow and change and learn more about the world around her.

Have you guys read any Russian fairy tale retellings? What did you think of them? Comment below and let me know!

Tiny Navajo Reads: Top Ten Retellings

Top Ten Retellings

I love retellings! It’s something that I will say again and again, but I love retellings. I like to read different interpretations of fairy tales, folklore, and stories we love and know from our childhoods. Today, I’m going to share ten of my favorite ones with you!

The Sleeper and the Spindle by Neil Gaiman

Forest of a Thousand Lanterns by Julie C. Dao

Stitching Snow by R.C. Lewis

Hunted by Meagan Spooner

Cinder by Marissa Meyer

Ella, The Slayer by A.W. Exley

Dorothy Must Die by Danielle Paige

Beauty and the Werewolf by Mercedes Lackey

The Woodcutter by Kate Danley

An Assembly Such as This by Pamela Aiden

Dorothy Must Die by Danielle Paige

I was surprised but some of these books. I was not expecting to like Pride and Prejudice retelling, but it got me in that it’s a series (yay!) and it’s told from Darcy’s point of view. I also found that Dorothy Must Die was an interesting retelling, it’s definitely an OZ retelling that I enjoyed. Now, what sorts of retellings do you guys enjoy? What are some that seem to come out of left field but were still so good? Comment below and let me know!

Tiny Navajo Reads: East

East by Edith Pattou

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*Published May 1, 2005*

I love this book! I love this fairy tale and I’m glad that I got to read this book for youthbookreview’s Traveling Book Project. The Traveling Book Project is a fun thing you can do with just about anyone. What it is, is you get a group of people, each with a book they don’t mind reading and annotating, and you send the books around the group with each person reading and annotating the book in a unique color. Eventually, everyone should get their book back with awesome notes and doodles and everything else people have added to your book.

This is the fourth book I believe I’ve read for this project and it has definitely been my favorite one thus far. East tells the story of Rose, the youngest born of her family and the one who seems to have a marvelous destiny in front of her. Ever since Rose was born though, her superstitious mother has kept the circumstances of her birth a secret, hoping to keep her adventurous daughter home. But this secret cannot be kept, and when a white bear shows up at their house one cold night, saying that he would give the family health and prosperity if Rose would come to live with him; she agrees.

As Rose lives with the white bear, she starts to realize that there is more to the bear than just a magic curse. As she lives in the castle, not only with the white bear but a stranger who sleeps in her bed at night, she tries to figure out what exactly is going on. The more she learns though, the more she starts to realize that she has lost her heart. To retrieve it, she needs to travel to a land few have heard of and even less has visited; a land east of the sun and west of the moon.

When it comes to retold fairy tales, this is one of my favorites. I love the multiple, short points of view, I love the story itself, and I love how strong and determined Rose is but she is also shown to have flaws, She is angry at her father and mother about the secret of her birth, she almost hates her mother for her superstitions, she is depressed living in the castle with just the bear, and then she makes her way to the land east of the sun and west of the moon with the help of multiple people. She is a strong and flawed character and I loved it!

What sort of characters are your favorite? Why are they your favorite? Comment below and let me know!