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Wednesday, January 8, 2014

The Ghost in the Glass House- Carey Wallace



In a 1920s seaside town, Clare discovers a mysterious glass house in the backyard of her new summer home. There she falls in love with Jack, the ghost of a boy who can’t remember who he was before he died. Their romance is a haven for her from the cruel pranks of her society friends, especially her best friend, Bridget, who can’t wait to grow up and embark on romances of her own. As Clare begins to suspect an affair between her mother and Bridget's father, she retreats to the glass house. But that haven begins to crack when she realizes that Jack has lied to her about his name . . . From a dazzling and fearless new voice comes a shimmering story full of wonder and mystery, in a world where every character is haunted by lingering ghosts of love.





I love my local library…just saying.

I got Ghost in the Glass House because I love ghosts. I was pretty disappointed. First off Barnes and Noble is selling this in YA and my library had it in YA as well. This is NOT a YA book, it is at best middle grade fiction. The main character is 12 and while she talks and acts more grown up than the 12 year olds I know…she isn’t even a teenager.

There is some mention of booze and sex, which is probably why this is being marketed at YA, but honestly it is so delicately handled it didn’t need to be, my 9 year old knows more about booze and sex than what was mentioned in this novel.

The characters were good, the writing wasn’t bad and the background for the plot was colorful, well written and interesting. That’s where my compliments end.

I have no idea what the actual plot of this novel was aside from girl and mom go to seaside town, spend the summer, girl meets boring ghost, helps ghost cross over very randomly and then girl and mom go home. There are a few side story lines about  what Clare and her friends get up to, but most of it felt forced and ridiculous, like the author was trying for something deeper, trying to make me feel for characters I didn’t really care about and trying to give this group of 12-15 year olds some semblance of love lives.

I read this very fast and mainly finished it because by the time I realized the plot was pointless I was almost done. Maybe my daughter would like it better.


Ending on a positive note the cover was pretty.




The Reflections of Queen Snow White by David Meredith


What happens when "happily ever after" has come and gone? 
On the eve of her only daughter, Princess Raven's wedding, an aging Snow White finds it impossible to share in the joyous spirit of the occasion. The ceremony itself promises to be the most glamorous social event of the decade. Snow White’s castle has been meticulously scrubbed, polished and opulently decorated for the celebration. It is already nearly bursting with jubilant guests and merry well-wishers. Prince Edel, Raven's fiancĂ©, is a fine man from a neighboring kingdom and Snow White's own domain is prosperous and at peace. Things could not be better, in fact, except for one thing: 
The king is dead. 
The queen has been in a moribund state of hopeless depression for over a year with no end in sight. It is only when, in a fit of bitter despair, she seeks solitude in the vastness of her own sprawling castle and climbs a long disused and forgotten tower stair that she comes face to face with herself in the very same magic mirror used by her stepmother of old. 
It promises her respite in its shimmering depths, but can Snow White trust a device that was so precious to a woman who sought to cause her such irreparable harm? Can she confront the demons of her own difficult past to discover a better future for herself and her family? And finally, can she release her soul-crushing grief and suffocating loneliness to once again discover what "happily ever after" really means? 
Only time will tell as she wrestles with her past and is forced to confront The Reflections of Queen Snow White.





Well I am back from my holiday Hiatus! What a great ending to 2013 I had and welcome 2014!!! I will be back t blogging at least once a week now

The following book was given to be by the author for an honest review

When I was asked to review The Reflections of Queen Snow White by David Meredith I was pretty excited, I love a fairy tale retelling and this is of Snow White and with a really nice twist!

The author’s writing style is solid and entertaining. I found this book well written and I enjoyed reading it. The author took characters I am very familiar with and kept them mostly the same at the core while adding pops of newness I quite enjoyed.

The mirror is renewed as a character of interest and substance.

This isn’t a Disney Retelling but a new version of the Grim version, which was also good and different. It blended innocence and vulgar, beauty and gruesome in a brilliant way.

I am giving it four stars, however I do want to point out the issues I had with this novel first.

     1)The beginning started out slowly, I would recommend getting rid of all the stuff about the hawks.
     2) The sex scene between Charming and Snow White is gross. He is 30 and she is 16. He was confused that the 16 year old who grew up without a mother was a virgin and didn’t know about sex…. So a little unbelievable.The wording was also fairly unsexy and disturbing.
     3) The ending was too “and they all lived happily ever after.” You can have a happy ending without clichĂ©s.

So I recommend this book if you are looking for a grown up retelling of Snow White, this is no YA novel.