Review - Cinder By Marissa Meyer

"A forbidden romance.
A deadly plague.
Earth's fate hinges on one girl . . .
CINDER, a gifted mechanic in New Beijing, is also a cyborg. She's reviled by her stepmother and blamed for her stepsister's sudden illness. But when her life becomes entwined with the handsome Prince Kai's, she finds herself at the centre of a violent struggle between the desires of an evil queen - and a dangerous temptation.
Cinder is caught between duty and freedom, loyalty and betrayal. Now she must uncover secrets about her mysterious past in order to protect Earth's future.
This is not the fairytale you remember. But it's one you won't forget."

I heard about this recently and was instantly excited by the idea of it.  All girls grow up hearing the fairy tales of Cinderella, Snow White, etc.  We all know the stories so well, so finding out that the story is being retold but with a futuristic twist is beyond exciting!!  I wasn't sure when I was going to get the opportunity to read this, but looked through the UK Book Tours blog and found they were touring a copy - OMG I had to get on board with that and literally JUST finished reading it!!

The UK cover is still undecided I believe, but this cover seems to be the only one on show.  I really do hope it is picked as the UK cover as it pretty much is perfect.  It tells you exactly what you need to know about the book and is a great opener to the story.

I must admit when I started to read this, although I was really excited by it, I wasn't that keen.  It just felt too strange having the mix of fairytale and sci-fi.  But I was determined to carry on and I'm so glad I did, as I enjoyed it more and more.

I was a little concerned at the beginning of the story that this would go exactly on the same lines as the original fairytale, meaning that there would be no surprises.  Once again I am thrilled to say my concerns were unwarranted.  You don't lose any of the wonderfulness of 'Cinderella' but just get a whole load of new and fantastic parts that actually fit in with the original premise.  For me it just made this tale completely fresh.

You are left with somewhat of a cliffhanger, again this is really exciting.  I'm so eager to read what is going to develop, but also how the tales of Red Riding Hood, Snow White & Rapunzel are going to be woven in.

Rating 4 Out Of 5

This Is Published In The UK By Puffin

Due For Release January 2012

This Can be Pre-Ordered HERE and will be available from good book retailers

Review - Ash By Malinda Lo

"In the world of ASH, fairies are an older race of people who walk the line between life and death, reality and magic. As orphaned Ash grows up, a servant in her stepmother's home, she begins to realise that her beloved mother, Elinor was very much in tune with these underworld folk, and that she herself has the power to see them too. Against the sheer misery of her stepmother's cruelty, greed and ambition in preparing her two charmless daughters for presentation at court, and hopefully Royal or aristocratic marriage, Ash  befriends one of these fairies-a mysterious, handsome man-who grants her wishes and restores hope to Ash's existence, even though she knows there will be a price to pay. But most important of all, she also meets Kaisa, a huntress employed by the king, and it is Kaisa who truly awakens Ash's desires for both love and self-respect...Ash escapes a life with her grim and self-serving stepmother and finds her beloved one...ASH is a fairy tale about possibility and recognizing the opportunities for change. From the deepest grief comes the chance for transformation"

I've had this book for quite some time now, but never actually gotten round to reading it (I say that a lot I know!!)   But then in a twitter conversation with some awesome book bloggers it was mentioned that Caroline over at Portrait of A Woman was doing a Lesbian Teen Novels Week.  I realised I had never read anything that fit into the genre, but remembered I had this beauty on my shelf and so thought it was the perfect time to read it.  I'm so pleased I did - its really opened my eyes to a style that I may not have considered in the past.

The cover is just GORGEOUS!!  I love the way the girl is standing very carefree staring into the dark wild woods.  It really is like opposites working together.  The colours are mesmerising too.

So I have to admit I did find this quite difficult to get into at first.  I just couldn't warm to the characters and the story just didn't draw me much, but I persevered and I'm pleased I did.  I guess when I heard this was a take on Cinderella, I was expecting more of a carbon copy but was happy that it took its own path.  Unpredictable stories are more fun!!

Speaking of unpredictable, I found the characters quite that at times.  But that more confused me, than anything.  Some of them I just expected to react to circumstances in one way, but they would do something completely different.  Kept me on my reading toes though!!

There was one thing in this story that completely grossed me out and that was a hunting scene.  I actually had to kind of skim over it, instead of reading it properly.  It really turned my stomach.  What can I say, I am a lover of animals!!

As mentioned earlier this is in fact a lesbian love story, but it was done in such a way that it was beautiful and sweet.  There was nothing done to be risque or make a statement.  It was just a lovely tale that happened to be about two girls instead of a girl and a guy!

I did wonder if the characters may have questioned their feelings more, but at the same time it was refreshing to read of teenage girls that just knew what they wanted and kind of go for it, despite peoples possible reactions.

For me this was the perfect way to try reading another style of YA fiction, as I do love anything mythological.  Its great to work from a place of interest.
This really is a lovely tale that gets you thinking what may be considered different, just isn't!  I would highly recommend giving this a go!!

Rating 3 Out Of 5

Published In The UK By Hodder Childrens Books

This Can Be Purchased HERE and at good book retailers