Review: Gargantis by Thomas Taylor

Gargantis
by Thomas Taylor; illustrated by Tom Booth

Available as: hardcover, paperback, Kindle edition, ebook, audiobook
Pages: 352
Publisher: Walker Books US
Publication date: May 26, 2020
Suggested tags: middle grade, fantasy
Series: The Legends of Eerie-on-Sea (#2)
(You can read my review of Book #1, Malamander, here!)


From the publisher:

"In the second fantasy set in Eerie-on-Sea, Herbert and Violet team up to solve the mystery of Gargantis — an ancient creature of the deep with the power to create life-threatening storms.

There’s a storm brewing over Eerie-on-Sea, and the fisherfolk say a monster is the cause. Someone has woken the ancient Gargantis, who sleeps in the watery caves beneath this spooky seaside town where legends have a habit of coming to life. It seems the Gargantis is looking for something: a treasure stolen from her underwater lair. And it just might be in the Lost-and-Foundery at the Grand Nautilus Hotel, in the care of one Herbert Lemon, Lost-and-Founder. With the help of the daring Violet Parma, ever-reliable Herbie will do his best to figure out what the Gargantis wants and who stole her treasure in the first place. In a town full of suspicious, secretive characters, it could be anyone!"

It was SO GOOD to return to Eerie-on-Sea! I loved the first book in the series, Malamander, because it was adventurous and exciting and creepy and the setting was so wonderfully depicted. And I'm delighted to report that all my favorite elements of #1 reappear just as strongly in #2, Gargantis!

This installment of Herbert and Violet's story involves a huge storm, local fisherfolk lore, a sea monster, a clockwork crab, another terrifyingly not-quite-human bad guy, and some more hints revealed about the possible fates of Herbert and Violet's parents! All of my favorite characters from the first book appeared again - including Seegol and his seaside diner, which never fails to make me really crave a good batch of fish and chips.

I really cannot rave about this series enough. If you like your middle grade fiction chock full of adventure and mystery, featuring smart and capable characters, with just enough scary stuff to give you goosebumps without keeping you up all night, all set in the most fantastically developed and deliciously eerie seaside town, THIS IS FOR YOU.


Final verdict: I'm obsessed with it! I thought this book was amazing! It's now officially one of my favorite books! I shall be shouting about it from the rooftops for days and I am currently recommending it to everyone I come in contact with!

{ Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with a review copy.
My reviews are honest and my opinions are my own; 

your reading experience may vary, so give it a read and see what you think. :) }

Review: Eight Princesses and a Magic Mirror by Natasha Farrant

Eight Princesses and a Magic Mirror
by Natasha Farrant; illustrated by Lydia Corry

Available as: hardcover, Kindle edition, ebook, audiobook
Pages: 224
Publisher: Norton Young Readers
Publication date: May 5, 2020
Suggested tags: young adult, middle grade, fantasy, short stories, strong girls



From the publisher:

"Here are princesses for the Rebel Girls generation: bold, empowered, and determined to be true to themselves.

“Mirror, mirror on the wall . . . what makes a princess excellent?” When an enchantress flings her magic mirror into our universe, its reflection reveals princesses who refuse to be just pretty, polite, and obedient. These are girls determined to do the rescuing themselves. Princess Leila of the desert protects her people from the king with the black-and-gold banner; Princess Tica takes a crocodile for a pet; Princess Ellen explores the high seas; Princess Abayome puts empathy and kindness above being royal; and in a tower block, Princess saves her community’s beloved garden from the hands of urban developers.

Connecting these stories is the magic mirror, which reveals itself when each girl needs it most, illuminating how a princess’s power comes not from her title or beauty, but from her own inner strength. These beautifully imagined stories, complemented by vibrant and inviting artwork, offer the pleasure and familiarity of traditional tales with refreshingly modern themes."

This was absolutely beautiful in every possible way! What a lovely little collection of stories about strong princesses from around the world, connected loosely by a magic mirror that finds its way to each one of them. The synopsis kind of generalizes what each girl does, but these princesses do much more in each of their stories than you could explain in one sentence - they are brave, bright girls with many varied talents, interests, and attributes.

Each story was very different - some more based in fantasy, like the princess who switches places with a fairy, and some are more realistic, like the princess who saves the community garden outside her apartment. Some princesses are focused on family, some want to go adventuring, some stand up bravely against wrongdoings. Honestly, I'm not sure I can pick a favorite - I loved each story and each princess for different reasons.

The time periods and areas these girls come from are rarely specifically identified, but I tried to piece it together based on clues like character names and descriptions of places. There was a medieval princess, a Middle Eastern princess, an African princess, a Latin American princess, and perhaps Russian princesses (definitely reminded me of the Romanovs) who fled to France, but I guessed on the others: Ireland, Scotland, and a big city like New York, maybe?

I can easily see this book being read aloud for bedtime or otherwise, and asked for repeatedly. I've read a lot of collections of stories in the "strong girls/princesses" category, so my expectations for this were not super high, but I was absolutely blown away. I would highly recommend this for any bright, brave, adventurous princess's bookshelf. (And I'll be reading this to my little prince too, when he's old enough.)


Final verdict: I'm obsessed with it! I thought this book was amazing! It's now officially one of my favorite books! I shall be shouting about it from the rooftops for days and I am currently recommending it to everyone I come in contact with!

{ Thank you to Edelweiss+ and the publisher for providing me with a review copy.
My reviews are honest and my opinions are my own; 

your reading experience may vary, so give it a read and see what you think. :) }

Review: Mermaid Moon by Susann Cokal

Mermaid Moon
by Susann Cokal

Available as: hardcover, Kindle edition, ebook, audiobook
Pages: 336
Publisher: Candlewick Press
Publication date: March 3, 2020
Suggested tags: young adult, fantasy, mermaids



From the publisher:

"An award-winning author tells of a mermaid who leaves the sea in search of her landish mother in a captivating tale spun with beautiful prose, lush descriptions, empathy, and keen wit.

Blood calls to blood; charm calls to charm.
It is the way of the world.
Come close and tell us your dreams.

Sanna is a mermaid — but she is only half seavish. The night of her birth, a sea-witch cast a spell that made Sanna’s people, including her landish mother, forget how and where she was born. Now Sanna is sixteen and an outsider in the seavish matriarchy, and she is determined to find her mother and learn who she is. She apprentices herself to the witch to learn the magic of making and unmaking, and with a new pair of legs and a quest to complete for her teacher, she follows a clue that leads her ashore on the Thirty-Seven Dark Islands. There, as her fellow mermaids wait in the sea, Sanna stumbles into a wall of white roses thirsty for blood, a hardscrabble people hungry for miracles, and a baroness who will do anything to live forever.

From the author of the Michael L. Printz Honor Book The Kingdom of Little Wounds comes a gorgeously told tale of belonging, sacrifice, fear, hope, and mortality."

Well, I've just discovered a new author whose words speak to my very soul. This story was so magical, a bit of a grown-up mermaid tale that edges just enough onto the dark side, and it was told in such an evocative way. I loved these seavish folk and their world, both on the shore and under the waves. And those mermaid songs... I wish I had a whole book of mermaid poetry to devour.

To be honest, I was expecting kind of a frilly mermaid story, but instead I got this intense, intricate, beautifully told masterpiece - and I'm so glad I did. If the synopsis sounds the least bit interesting to you, I would say definitely give this one a read - you might fall completely under its spell, like I did.


Final verdict: I'm obsessed with it! I thought this book was amazing! It's now officially one of my favorite books! I shall be shouting about it from the rooftops for days and I am currently recommending it to everyone I come in contact with!

{ Thank you to LibraryThing Early Reviewers and the publisher
for providing me with a review copy.
My reviews are honest and my opinions are my own; 

your reading experience may vary, so give it a read and see what you think. :) }

Review: Lifestyles of Gods and Monsters by Emily Roberson

Lifestyles of Gods and Monsters
by Emily Roberson

Available as: hardcover, Kindle edition, ebook, audiobook
Pages: 352
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR)
Publication date: October 22, 2019
Suggested tags: young adult, fantasy, mythology



From the publisher:

"Greek mythology meets the Kardashians in Emily Roberson's Lifestyles of Gods and Monsters, a fresh, fast-paced debut young adult novel about celebrity culture, family dynamics, and finding love amidst it all.

Sixteen-year-old Ariadne’s whole life is curated and shared with the world. Her royal family’s entertainment empire is beloved by the tabloids, all over social media, and the hottest thing on television. The biggest moneymaker? The Labyrinth Contest, a TV extravaganza in which Ariadne leads fourteen teens into a maze to kill a monster. To win means endless glory; to lose means death. In ten seasons, no one has ever won.

When the gorgeous, mysterious Theseus arrives at the competition and asks Ariadne to help him to victory, she doesn’t expect to fall for him. He might be acting interested in her just to boost ratings. Their chemistry is undeniable, though, and she can help him survive. If he wins, the contest would end for good. But if she helps him, she doesn’t just endanger her family’s empire—the monster would have to die. And for Ariadne, his life might be the only one worth saving.

Ariadne’s every move is watched by the public and predestined by the gods, so how can she find a way to forge her own destiny and save the people she loves?"

This was a nice escape from reality for a bit! I wanted to read it because it had a lot of elements I like: retellings, mythology, reality TV, competitions... and it delivered on all of that for me! The synopsis is accurate: it does feel like the Kardashians (or what little I know about them, since I don't watch their show or anything), with Ariadne's two sisters famous for their, um, anatomy and the things they may or may not be willing to do on camera, and their mother pretty much running their lives and focused only on making them all famous... They all live in a huge palace with cameras following their every move, and everything revolves around The Labyrinth Contest and its ratings.

The romance between Ariadne and Theseus was a bit... eh, for me. It didn't really do anything for me. I know it's part of the story and it explains why Ariadne would be willing to help him, but I just didn't really feel it while I was reading. It's said a few times that it's Eros (god of love) who's making people fall in love, and that's kind of how it felt: someone else was telling them they should be in love, so they were.

But honestly, I didn't need the romance, because I thought the best part of the book was Ariadne's interactions with the monster. Her motivations for wanting to care for and protect him were really well explained and I loved reading the parts where she went down to the maze to be with him.

The ending wraps up a bit neatly, but it felt right for this kind of book - an escape from reality. When I'm reading a book to escape, I want everything to work out and end on a positive note, and I got that here. It definitely left me with good vibes. 


Final verdict: I liked it! I thought this book was good! I enjoyed reading it and I would probably recommend it to others.

{ Thank you to Goodreads Giveaways for providing me with a review copy.
My reviews are honest and my opinions are my own; 

your reading experience may vary, so give it a read and see what you think. :) }

Review: Malamander by Thomas Taylor

Malamander
by Thomas Taylor; illustrated by Tom Booth

Available as: hardcover, ebook
Pages: 320
Publisher: Walker Books US
Publication date: September 10, 2019
Suggested tags: middle grade, fantasy



From Goodreads:

"Nobody visits Eerie-on-Sea in the winter. Especially not when darkness falls and the wind howls around Maw Rocks and the wreck of the battleship Leviathan, where even now some swear they have seen the unctuous malamander creep…

Herbert Lemon, Lost-and-Founder at the Grand Nautilus Hotel, knows that returning lost things to their rightful owners is not easy – especially when the lost thing is not a thing at all, but a girl. No one knows what happened to Violet Parma’s parents twelve years ago, and when she engages Herbie to help her find them, the pair discover that their disappearance might have something to do with the legendary sea-monster, the Malamander. Eerie-on-Sea has always been a mysteriously chilling place, where strange stories seem to wash up. And it just got stranger..."

I read a lot of middle grade fantasy, but it has been a while since I've enjoyed one as much as Malamander. I think what made me love it most was the setting – the author builds such an amazing city by the sea, misty and mysterious, full of intriguing places and people. In Eerie-on-Sea, there is mystery, there is adventure, there are characters who are not what they seem and a dangerous creature lurking in the shadows that may or may not exist…

I loved both Herbert and Violet, our young heroes who must solve the mystery of Violet's parents' whereabouts while avoiding a sinister hook-handed man. I loved the writing, also – it has that familiarity to it, like a good friend is telling you a great story, but it never talks down to the reader, and the plot is carried along at the perfect pace. I was piecing together clues along with Herbert and Violet and almost literally on the edge of my seat when they made their daring escapes from the hook-handed man.

I devoured this book and am eagerly awaiting the next (Gargantis, due out in May of 2020)! I can't wait to see how Herbert's story continues and how the mystery of Violet's parents is unraveled. I'll be snatching up the next book as soon as I can, and settling into a shadowy corner to lose myself in the mist and wonder of Eerie-on-Sea again.


Final verdict: I'm obsessed with it! I thought this book was amazing! It's now officially one of my favorite books! I shall be shouting about it from the rooftops for days and I am currently recommending it to everyone I come in contact with!

{ Thank you to LibraryThing Early Reviewers for providing me with a free copy.
My reviews are honest and my opinions are my own; 

your reading experience may vary, so give it a read and see what you think. :) }

Pea-Sized Reviews: Enchantee -&- The Wren Hunt

Enchantée
by Gita Trelease

Available as: hardcover, paperback, Kindle edition, ebook, audiobook
Pages: 459
Publisher: Flatiron/Macmillan
Publication date: February 5, 2019
Suggested tags: young adult, historical fantasy, 18th century, France


First in the Enchantée series. From Goodreads:

"Paris in 1789 is a labyrinth of twisted streets, filled with beggars, thieves, revolutionaries—and magicians...

When smallpox kills her parents, Camille Durbonne must find a way to provide for her frail, naive sister while managing her volatile brother. Relying on petty magic—la magie ordinaire—Camille painstakingly transforms scraps of metal into money to buy the food and medicine they need. But when the coins won’t hold their shape and her brother disappears with the family’s savings, Camille must pursue a richer, more dangerous mark: the glittering court of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette.

With dark magic forbidden by her mother, Camille transforms herself into the ‘Baroness de la Fontaine’ and is swept up into life at the Palace of Versailles, where aristocrats both fear and hunger for la magie. There, she gambles at cards, desperate to have enough to keep herself and her sister safe. Yet the longer she stays at court, the more difficult it becomes to reconcile her resentment of the nobles with the enchantments of Versailles. And when she returns to Paris, Camille meets a handsome young balloonist—who dares her to hope that love and liberty may both be possible.

But la magie has its costs. And when Camille loses control of her secrets, the game she's playing turns deadly. Then revolution erupts, and she must choose—love or loyalty, democracy or aristocracy, freedom or magic—before Paris burns… "

YA historical fantasy? About Revolutionary France? With magic? OH YES. Dang, I loved this. It hit all the right notes for me - *just* enough drama, *just* enough magic, *just* enough romance. Reading about Camille living her double life, swinging between poor peasant girl and magical card-playing baroness, while also flirting with her hot-air-balooning beau, was amazing. I never learned French in school unfortunately (quel dommage!), but I've picked up just enough along the way that all the simple French phrases that were thrown in to Enchantée kind of added to the immersive feeling for me - and this book did a pretty fantastic job of drawing me in and making me feel like I was really there in this magical version of Revolutionary France. The only drawback I found was that I could kind of see how it was going to end up as the final chapters were playing out, but that didn't stop me from enjoying it and being a bit stressed out frankly over the high stakes of it all... Ah, it was so good. They're saying this is a series which, *shrug* I don't know, I felt like the first one wrapped it up pretty well? But if there's another, I will certainement be reading it!

Final verdict: I loved it! I thought this book was great! I might buy it for myself and I would definitely recommend it to others.



The Wren Hunt
by Mary Watson

Available as: hardcover, paperback, Kindle edition, ebook, audiobook
Pages: 432
Publisher: Bloomsbury USA Childrens
Publication date: November 6, 2018
Suggested tags: young adult, fantasy, romance



From Goodreads:

"Every Christmas, Wren is chased through the woods near her isolated village by her family's enemies—the Judges—and there’s nothing that she can do to stop it. Once her people, the Augurs, controlled a powerful magic. But now that power lies with the Judges, who are set on destroying her kind for good.

In a desperate bid to save her family, Wren takes a dangerous undercover assignment—as an intern to an influential Judge named Cassa Harkness. Cassa has spent her life researching a transformative spell, which could bring the war between the factions to its absolute end. Caught in a web of deceit, Wren must decide whether or not to gamble on the spell and seal the Augurs’ fate."

I feel like this synopsis doesn't really explain all that the book is about... but then I feel like *I* can't really explain it either. It's really unusual, but in a really good way. The magic is so interesting - it feels natural, and ancient, and logical, and... I don't know, but I loved it. Definitely my favorite aspect of the book. I also liked Wren's "dangerous undercover assignment" plotline - I felt like that was exciting and nerve-wracking and pretty well done. I gotta be honest though, I didn't really understand the meaning or purpose of Wren being chased through the town on Christmas? I missed something there. Probably something deep and symbolic that went over my head. The romance was *ok* for me, but I didn't really come for the romance, since it's not really mentioned in the synopsis at all. Overall, I thought the set-up for the story was great - a really creative and unique magic system, and a tense infiltration into the Judges' lair - but for me, it felt like it fell just a little short of what I had expected.

Final verdict: I liked it! I thought this book was good! I enjoyed reading it and I would probably recommend it to others.

{ Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for providing me with review copies.
My reviews are honest and my opinions are my own; 

your reading experience may vary, so give it a read and see what you think. :) }

{ Something Old, Something New } November 2018

{ Something Old, Something New } is a meant to help us focus on the new releases in our TBR piles and also hand-pick some older books that we've been meaning to read.

On my reading list for October 2018 was...

{ Something Old }
Of Monsters and Madness
by Jessica Verday

Publication date: September 9, 2014
Available as: hardcover, Kindle edition, ebook
Pages: 277
Publisher: EgmontUSA
Suggested tags: young adult (ages 13-17), horror, gothic, retelling



You can read my review here! (2 stars)



{ Something New }
Toil & Trouble: 15 Tales of Women & Witchcraft
edited by Jessica Spotswood & Tess Sharpe

Publication date: August 28, 2018
Available as: hardcover, Kindle edition, ebook
Pages: 405
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Suggested tags: young adult (ages 13-17), short stories, witches, LGBTQ*



My review is coming soon! (spoiler alert: it was great!!)

On my reading list for November 2018 is...

{ Something Old }
A Great and Terrible Beauty
by Libba Bray

Publication date: December 9, 2003
Available as: hardcover, paperback, Kindle edition, ebook, audiobook
Pages: 277
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Suggested tags: young adult (ages 13-17), historical fiction, gothic



First in the Gemma Doyle series. From Goodreads:

"It's 1895, and after the suicide of her mother, 16-year-old Gemma Doyle is shipped off from the life she knows in India to Spence, a proper boarding school in England. Lonely, guilt-ridden, and prone to visions of the future that have an uncomfortable habit of coming true, Gemma's reception there is a chilly one. To make things worse, she's been followed by a mysterious young Indian man, a man sent to watch her. But why? What is her destiny? And what will her entanglement with Spence's most powerful girls and their foray into the spiritual world's lead to?"

I'm in the mood for some historical fiction, and this one's been on my TBR for a long time. The spiritualism aspect really appeals to me - a reviewer described it as "gothic fantasy" and as soon as I read that I needed it in my hands. Like yesterday.


{ Something New }

The Wren Hunt
by Mary Watson

Publication date: November 6, 2018
Available as: hardcover, Kindle edition, ebook, audiobook
Pages: 432
Publisher: Bloomsbury USA Childrens
Suggested tags: young adult (ages 13-17), fantasy



From Goodreads:

"Every Christmas, Wren is chased through the woods near her isolated village by her family's enemies—the Judges—and there’s nothing that she can do to stop it. Once her people, the Augurs, controlled a powerful magic. But now that power lies with the Judges, who are set on destroying her kind for good.

In a desperate bid to save her family, Wren takes a dangerous undercover assignment—as an intern to an influential Judge named Cassa Harkness. Cassa has spent her life researching a transformative spell, which could bring the war between the factions to its absolute end. Caught in a web of deceit, Wren must decide whether or not to gamble on the spell and seal the Augurs’ fate."

This synopsis sucked me right in because tbh I have no idea what is going on... but it sounds magical and complicated and I can't wait!



What's on your { Something Old, Something New} reading list for this month? Pick a book that you've been meaning to read but haven't yet (your Something Old) and a new release or soon-to-be-released book (your Something New), read and/or review them, and share a link to your posts here or tweet it at me @PidginPea! I'd love to share your books and reviews when I do my { Something Old, Something New } post at the start of each month. If you'd like to read/review more than 2 books, be my guest! I'm hoping I can do { Something Old, Something New } AND a "something borrowed" and a "something blue" in the future too!

Want to put a { Something Old, Something New } button on your blog? I'd love that! Just copy and paste the code in the box below. I made the button using DeviantArt stock resources from flameshaft, gimei, and spiritsighs-stock and fonts from dafont.com and kevinandamanda.com.

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{ Spotted & Sampled }: Things that go bump in the Night, and a collection of kick-butt lady superheros/supervillains

Oh my goodness... October is almost OVER and I haven't yet posted a single Halloween thing! Or *any* thing!! I swear, it feels like I only skip a day or two of posting and all of a sudden I've missed 3 weeks! I'm sorry ... Sometimes being a mom, student, and blogger just don't all work together, and something has to go on the back burner... and unfortunately it has to be blogging. *sob*

But, getting back into it...


{ Spotted & Sampled } is a little weekly meme I started for myself to share books I've spotted that I'm excited about, and also books that I've been able to sample to get a taste of the plot and the author's writing style.

{ Spotted }

Beware the Night
by Jessika Fleck

Available as: hardcover, Kindle edition, ebook, audioboook
Pages: 320
Publisher: Swoon Reads
Expected publication date: March 12, 2019
Suggested tags: young adult (ages 12-18), fantasy



From Goodreads:

"On the island of Bellona, life is peaceful--as long as the citizens dutifully worship the Sun, which protects them from all harm. Seventeen-year-old Veda knows that keeping the Sun happy will protect her and her grandfather from the Night, the dangerous people who snatch innocent citizens from their beds under the cover of darkness, never to be seen again. As long as Veda follows the rules, she will be safe.

But when Veda's grandfather is offered up as the next sacrificial offering to keep the Sun's favor, she starts to see that the safety she's been promised comes at a dangerous price. Maybe there is more to fear above than there is below.

With a mysterious young man, Dorian, at her side, Veda has to figure out if the scary bedtime stories she grew up hearing are real--or dangerous lies."

Reviewers are using phrases like "Roman society" and "plot twists" and "deception," and I couldn't be more ready to read this. I kind of love when a synopsis gives you just the smallest taste of what a book is about, but you can tell from the reviews that it is so. much. MORE. That sounds like what's going on here and I can't wait to get my hands on it!

{ Sampled }

DC Ink Sampler
by Mariko Tamaki, Lauren Myracle, Kami Garcia and Danielle Paige

Available as: paperback
Pages: 100
Publisher: DC Entertainment/DC Ink
Publication date: July 6, 2018
Suggested tags: young adult (ages 13-17), fantasy



From NetGalley:

"DC Ink is for readers 13 and up, and features coming-of-age stories that encourage teens to ask themselves who they are and how they relate to others. DC Ink features storytelling that focuses on real-world situations and relatable characters who are not perfect, but are nuanced and complex–just like our readers. "

Sampled from: NetGalley

This is a sampler of DC Ink titles coming out in 2019 featuring some amazing ladies who will go on to become the superheroes and supervillains that we know and love. (Or, for some - like me! - they will become the superheroes and supervillains that we are just now getting acquainted with, as we haven't read much in the way of DC comics before.) It has samples from Mera: Tidebreaker, Under the Moon: A Catwoman Tale, Harley Quinn: Breaking Glass, and Teen Titans: Raven.

That synopsis from NetGalley doesn't really say a lot about what's inside, but my e-version had full-color samples of Mera & Raven, black & white for Catwoman, and kind of a mix for Harley (mostly B&W but with some color highlights). It seems like it's giving you the first 20-ish pages of each book, as they all seem to start at the stories' beginnings.

This is my first time reading anything about these characters... gasp! what?? I know. I just wasn't ever really introduced to superhero comics. My comics as a kid were Archie, Mickey Mouse/Donald Duck, Little Mermaid, Barbie, etc. ... So you can see that I've missed out on a HUGE chunk of the world of comics. And therefore I am going into this with no knowledge of these characters' backstories or origin stories or, really, anything about them. So keep that in mind as you read my mini-review...

Here's my take on which ones I'm most excited to read (with #4 being "meh, I'll get there when I get there" and #1 being "I will be first in line when this comes out"), just based on this sampler:

4. Teen Titans: Raven - I'm not not excited to read this... it just was the least interesting for me out of the four. Raven's story starts with a traumatic event, leaving her with amnesia and a new family taking her in. Later she falls asleep, and there's a huge 6-eyed red demon-looking thing standing over her saying their fates are intertwined. This probably means something to people who know her story already, but to me, it was just kind of a "meh" introduction to her and her story. Also, at some points, the expressions on the characters' faces seemed to not match what the characters were saying, which bugged me a bit.

3. Under the Moon: A Catwoman Tale - Again, this wasn't bad - it just didn't really tell much of Selina's story. It showed how she had to put up with all the guys her mom has dated as she was growing up - really terrible, disgusting, violent guys. Now there's Dernell, one of the worst, and her mom is clearly not going to stand up for her. I did like the ending - it kind of left me on a cliffhanger, showing that she's about to make a big move in her life, and it did leave me wanting to read more to see what happens. I also liked the art in this one, especially when it was showing some of the things she imagined doing and becoming.

2. Mera: Tidebreaker - I liked this one a lot. I had never even heard of Mera before I found this sampler, so she is completely new to me. The plot was a bit confusing for me as a newbie, but I gather that she's the daughter of the king, who used to rule an underwater kingdom called Xebel, but now the Atlanteans have come in and become the new rulers? Maybe? Anyway, Mera is running around vandalizing Atlantean stuff and escaping Atlantean guards with her water-powers ... but then she has to get ready for a ball, since she's the daughter of the king, and he clearly wants her to marry someone named Larken ... I mean, I'm completely lost, but I'm intrigued and I want to read more! I also really liked the blue-green color palette, with Mera's red hair standing out starkly against everything else.

1. Harley Quinn: Breaking Glass - This was hands-down my favorite of the four. I loved everything about it!! The selection gives a great intro to Harley and what's going on in her story - she goes to live with her grandmother, but finds out she's dead, so she ends up staying with a gay man named Mama instead ... she starts at a new school, and meets a girl named *Ivy* (ok, even I know who that is!) ... I thought it gave a lot of detail in a short amount of pages, and it left me wishing the whole book was already out so I could just keep reading. The art style was also my favorite of the four - very detailed, and the characters' expressions and movements were spectacular. I usually prefer color to black & white, but I found that I didn't even notice the lack of color in this one. There are some panels that have a red/orange scheme, and I liked those too. Overall, definitely the strongest one for me! I can't wait to read it!



That's all for this week! Hope to see you next week for more spottings & samples!

{ Something Old, Something New } October 2018

Oh man, has it really been since APRIL that I did this last?? Gotta get this one going again!

{ Something Old, Something New } is a meant to help us focus on the new releases in our TBR piles and also hand-pick some older books that we've been meaning to read.

On my reading list for April 2018 was...

{ Something Old }

Caraval
by Stephanie Garber

Publication date: January 1, 2017
Available as: hardcover, Kindle edition, ebook
Pages: 407
Publisher: Flatiron Books
Suggested tags: young adult (ages 13-17), fantasy



You can read my review here! (3 stars)


{ Something New }

Legendary
by Stephanie Garber

Publication date: May 29, 2018
Available as: hardcover, Kindle edition, ebook
Pages: 416
Publisher: Flatiron Books
Suggested tags: young adult (ages 13-17), fantasy



You can read my review here! (2 stars)

On my reading list for October 2018 is...

{ Something Old }
Of Monsters and Madness
by Jessica Verday

Publication date: September 9, 2014
Available as: hardcover, Kindle edition, ebook
Pages: 277
Publisher: EgmontUSA
Suggested tags: young adult (ages 13-17), horror, gothic, retelling



First in the Of Monsters and Madness series. From Goodreads:

"A romantic, historical retelling of classic Gothic horror featuring Edgar Allan Poe and his character Annabel Lee, from a New York Times best-selling author.

Summoned to her father's home in 1820's Philadelphia, a girl finds herself in the midst of a rash of gruesome murders in which he might be implicated. She is torn romantically between her father's assistants-one kind and proper, one mysterious and brooding-who share a dark secret and may have more to do with the violent events than they're letting on."

I love Edgar Allan Poe's writing - all of it, but perhaps especially Annabel Lee. I wanted to read this one a while ago, but I never got it done. It's really hard to find near me (had to do an interlibrary loan!) but hopefully I can get my hands on it in time for Halloween.


{ Something New }
Toil & Trouble: 15 Tales of Women & Witchcraft
edited by Jessica Spotswood & Tess Sharpe

Publication date: August 28, 2018
Available as: hardcover, Kindle edition, ebook
Pages: 405
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Suggested tags: young adult (ages 13-17), short stories, witches, LGBTQ*



From Goodreads:

"A young adult fiction anthology of 15 stories featuring contemporary, historical, and futuristic stories featuring witchy heroines who are diverse in race, class, sexuality, religion, geography, and era.

Are you a good witch or a bad witch?

Glinda the Good Witch. Elphaba the Wicked Witch. Willow. Sabrina. Gemma Doyle. The Mayfair Witches. Ursula the Sea Witch. Morgan le Fey. The three weird sisters from Macbeth.

History tells us women accused of witchcraft were often outsiders: educated, independent, unmarried, unwilling to fall in line with traditional societal expectations.

Bold. Powerful. Rebellious.

A bruja’s traditional love spell has unexpected results. A witch’s healing hands begin to take life instead of giving it when she ignores her attraction to a fellow witch. In a terrifying future, women are captured by a cabal of men crying witchcraft and the one true witch among them must fight to free them all. In a desolate past, three orphaned sisters prophesize for a murderous king. Somewhere in the present, a teen girl just wants to kiss a boy without causing a hurricane.

From good witches to bad witches, to witches who are a bit of both, this is an anthology of diverse witchy tales from a collection of diverse, feminist authors. The collective strength of women working together—magically or mundanely--has long frightened society, to the point that women’s rights are challenged, legislated against, and denied all over the world. Toil & Trouble delves deep into the truly diverse mythology of witchcraft from many cultures and feminist points of view, to create modern and unique tales of witchery that have yet to be explored."

I've had this one on my TBR for a while, and now that Halloween is approaching, it feels like the perfect time to read it!



What's on your { Something Old, Something New} reading list for this month? Pick a book that you've been meaning to read but haven't yet (your Something Old) and a new release or soon-to-be-released book (your Something New), read and/or review them, and share a link to your posts here or tweet it at me @PidginPea! I'd love to share your books and reviews when I do my { Something Old, Something New } post at the start of each month. If you'd like to read/review more than 2 books, be my guest! I'm hoping I can do { Something Old, Something New } AND a "something borrowed" and a "something blue" in the future too!

Want to put a { Something Old, Something New } button on your blog? I'd love that! Just copy and paste the code in the box below. I made the button using DeviantArt stock resources from flameshaft, gimei, and spiritsighs-stock and fonts from dafont.com and kevinandamanda.com.

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{ Binge, Borrowed, Bargain }: Circuses, Wonderland, & Mermaids

Book Riot does a thing called Buy, Borrow, Bypass that I like, and I wanted to do something similar but in my own style. So in my version, I'll share something I have binged or am about to binge-read (the Binge, obviously), something that I have discovered at the library (the Borrowed... again, kind of self-explanatory), and something I have found for free on Amazon for my Kindle (the Bargain).

{ Binge }

Violette Around the World, Vol. 1: My Head in the Clouds!
by Teresa Radice


Available as: hardcover, Kindle edition
Pages: 48
Publisher: IDW Publishing
Publication date: March 20, 2018
Suggested tags: middle grade (ages 9-12), graphic novel, historical fiction, circus/carnival


From Goodreads:

"A 12-year-old girl travels the globe with her parents' circus, having adventures and learning to appreciate the joys of being different.

"My name is Violette Vermeer: Dutch father, French mother...citizen of the world! My house has a thousand rooms...one for every place we've passed through!"

Her name is Violette, like the flower in the spring, like the seventh color of the rainbow. She lives with the Circus of the Moon, where her mother is the stuntwoman and her father is the insect tamer. At the end of the 19th-century, Violette is a curious, happy 12-year-old who is fascinated by the beauty of the world around her: music, painting, drawing, nature, and much more. She shares adventures with her friend Samir (a budding trapeze artist), her unusual animal friends, and her father's trained insects!

This, the first of three books, takes place in Paris, where Violette has to balance her time between the freedom of the circus and her homework at school. But Paris is the city of beauty and art, and soon she will make an encounter with a very special person!"

I grabbed this one just because I thought the cover was cute and I'm so glad I did! It's surpassing my expectations in every way - art, story, and charm. I love it so far, and I can't stop reading!

{ Borrowed }

One Fun Day with Lewis Carroll: A Celebration of Wordplay and a Girl Named Alice
by Kathleen Krull,& Júlia Sardà

Available as: hardcover, Kindle edition, ebook
Pages: 32
Publisher: HMH Books for Young Readers
Publication date: January 9, 2018
Suggested tags: children's (ages 6-9), picture book, nonfiction, biography


From Goodreads:

"The wordsmith Lewis Carroll is famed for the freewheeling world of Wonderland in his beloved classics Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass. In this gloriously illustrated picture book, Carroll's childlike love of life is showcased alongside his brilliance at creating and adapting playful words and phrases. From brillig and uglification to frumious and chortle, the award-winning author Kathleen Krull uses many of Carroll’s own words to tell the story of a man who wanted to make children laugh and whose legacy continues to entertain and delight."

I am a serious Wonderland fan... I love the original books, I love all kinds of retellings, I love nonfiction books about how Wonderland came to be. So when I saw this picture book biography about Lewis Carroll and his brilliant wordplay, I had to snag it.

{ Bargain }

How to be a Mermaid
by Erin Hayes

Available as: paperback, Kindle edition, ebook
Pages: 214
Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform
Publication date: July 7, 2015
Suggested tags: young adult (ages 13-17), fantasy, mermaids



First in The Cotton Candy Quintet series. From Amazon:

"All Tara ever wanted was to be a mermaid.

So she takes a year off between high school and college to don a fake tail and tour aquariums across the country in a professional mermaid troupe.

Everything's great until she meets a gorgeous real-life merman named Finn. Suddenly, what she thought was a dream turns out to be a nightmare -- she's turning into a mermaid herself. For real.

Yet when she returns to the sea to seek out Finn and reverse her transformation, she finds herself in the middle of an impending war between the land and sea. Tara may have always wanted to be a mermaid, but now it's sink or swim. In order to survive, she has to learn how to be one, too."

I'm a sucker for a pretty cover. And what girl hasn't dreamed of being a mermaid at some point in her life? So when I saw this one for free, I snagged it!

*** This Kindle book was free as of the publishing of this post... 

but please double-check the price before you buy! ***

That's all I've got for now! Enjoy your Kindle freebie and see you next week!

{ Binge, Borrowed, Bargain }: Magicians, museums, & Vikings

More new blog things?? Sure, why not! :D

Book Riot does a thing called Buy, Borrow, Bypass that I like, and I wanted to do something similar but in my own style and at my own pace. (They read A LOT of books over there at Book Riot. Because I think technically that is their job.)

So in my version, I'll share something I have binged or am about to binge-read (the Binge, obviously), something that I have discovered at the library (the Borrowed... again, kind of self-explanatory), and something I have found for free on Amazon for my Kindle (the Bargain).

Ready? Here we go!

{ Binge }

The Paper Magician
by Charlie N. Holmberg

Available as: hardcover, paperback, Kindle edition, ebook, audiobook
Pages: 222
Publisher: 47North
Publication date: September 1, 2014
Suggested tags: young adult (ages 12-18), fantasy



First in The Paper Magician series. From Goodreads:

"Ceony Twill arrives at the cottage of Magician Emery Thane with a broken heart. Having graduated at the top of her class from the Tagis Praff School for the Magically Inclined, Ceony is assigned an apprenticeship in paper magic despite her dreams of bespelling metal. And once she’s bonded to paper, that will be her only magic… forever.

Yet the spells Ceony learns under the strange yet kind Thane turn out to be more marvelous than she could have ever imagined — animating paper creatures, bringing stories to life via ghostly images, even reading fortunes. But as she discovers these wonders, Ceony also learns of the extraordinary dangers of forbidden magic.

An Excisioner — a practitioner of dark, flesh magic — invades the cottage and rips Thane’s heart from his chest. To save her teacher’s life, Ceony must face the evil magician and embark on an unbelievable adventure that will take her into the chambers of Thane’s still-beating heart—and reveal the very soul of the man."

I'm very late to this party, but I read the first chapter yesterday and I'm so ready to get completely lost in this magical world! I envision myself tearing through this one. (um... was that an unintentional paper pun??)

{ Borrowed }

Archival Quality
by Ivy Noelle Weir & Steenz

Available as: paperback, Kindle edition
Pages: 280
Publisher: Oni Press
Publication date: March 6, 2018
Suggested tags: young adult (ages 13-17), graphic novel, mental health



From Goodreads:

"After losing her job at the library, Celeste "Cel" Walden starts working at the haunting Logan Museum as an archivist. But the job may not be the second chance she was hoping for, and she finds herself confronting her mental health, her relationships, and before long, her grasp on reality as she begins to dream of a young woman she's never met, but feels strangely drawn to. Especially after she asks Cel for help…

As Cel attempts to learn more about the woman, she begins losing time, misplacing things, passing out—the job is becoming dangerous, but she can't let go of this mysterious woman. Who is she? Why is she so fixated on Cel? And does Cel have the power to save her when she's still trying to save herself?"

I used to work in a museum and I loved it, so any book I see about museums pretty much immediately ends up in my hands. This one popped up on the list of new books at my library and I snagged it!

{ Bargain }

The Viking's Chosen
by Quinn Loftis

Available as: paperback, Kindle edition, ebook, audiobook
Pages: 300
Publisher: Clean Teen Publishing
Publication date: February 12, 2018
Suggested tags: young adult (ages 13-17), historical fiction, romance



First in the Clan Hakon series. From Goodreads:

"The prophesy must be fulfilled.

His orders are clear: launch a raid against England and bring home the spoils of war. But the prophecy is also clear: General Torben will take a foreign bride—one who is a seer and healer just like his mother. The eldest princess of England is said to be just that…a beautiful, charming, and headstrong woman. But he's a Viking army general and she's an English princess—and one who is already promised to the king of Tara.

Two worlds collide in this epic historical fiction centered on an undeniable chemistry that smolders against the odds. Richly written and injected with moments of humor, this action-packed romantic tale will leave you breathless."

I had this one on my "maybe read" list. Generally anything sold as a "romance" is just not my thing. But the Viking twist is calling to me, and it's freeeee, so I'll give it a shot!



Hope you liked my latest effort in new content! If nothing else, you got a freebie alert, right? ;) See you next time!

{ Spotted & Sampled }: A new YA take on Lost & Lord of the Flies, a blast from the 90s past, and a sneak peek at a royal murder

Hello, fellow bookworms! Hope you all had a great summer! I spent mine with my hubby (who is a teacher and therefore can party all summer, woohoo!) and my son, who is now a toddler and has way too much energy. We spent a lot of time outside and we went on a big road trip at the end, so it was a nice break for all of us!

But now I'm back - yay! - and I bring you new blog things!!

So I keep discovering all kinds of books that I'm so excited about, and that I really want to share with people. Also, I have recently become aware of SO MANY ways to read samples of books, which is so great because I love getting a taste of the plot and an author's writing style ahead of time. And so I thought to myself, why not just make a weekly post about what I've spotted and added to my TBR list, and also what I've come across in the way of samples over the past week?

So here we are! Spotted & Sampled! LET'S DO THIS.

{ Spotted }

When We Were Lost
by Kevin Wignall

Available as: unknown
Pages: unknown
Publisher: Little, Brown & Company
Expected publication date: 2019
Suggested tags: young adult (ages 12-18), survival, thriller



From Goodreads:

"When a plane bound for Costa Rica crashes in deep jungle, the tail section breaks free and nineteen teenagers miraculously survive. Joel Aspinall, son of a local politician and student rep on the school’s council, is quick to take on the mantle of leadership, to organize everyone until a rescue party arrives. But the plane was crashed on purpose, no one knows where they are and no rescuers are coming. To make things worse, Joel’s decisions lead to more people dying, and he’s determined to wait it out.

Tom Calloway didn’t want to be on this trip. Tom doesn’t want to bond with his classmates – he isn’t the bonding type. He’d rather they just left him alone, and he’s always been unfriendly enough that they’ve been happy to oblige. But that was before the crash. Now he finds himself building the friendships he’s always tried to avoid. And despite his determined efforts to be left alone, he begins to see that he might be the one to challenge Joel and pull off another miracle, by getting all the survivors to safety.

When We Were Lost, featuring elements of Lost and Lord of the Flies, is a novel of survival, of teenagers thrust into a hostile environment. It’s a novel of life and death and the razor-thin dividing line between them. And it’s a novel about finding a place for yourself in a world that’s infinitely complex."

Lost + Lord of the Flies + YA = YES. Survival stories are so my thing. I'm already lining up for this one.


The Race to Chimney Rock
by Jesse Wiley

Available as: hardcover, paperback, Kindle edition
Pages: 160
Publisher: HMH Books for Young Readers
Publication date: September 4, 2018
Suggested tags: chapter book (ages 7-10), historical fiction, choose your own adventure



From Goodreads:

"Go west, young pioneer—your journey begins here! In this first leg of your trek on the Oregon Trail, you need to find your way to Chimney Rock—but not without unpredictable challenges ahead. This is the first installment of four books that will take you all the way to Oregon Territory—if you make the right choices.

In book one of this exciting choose-your-own-adventure series, it's 1850 and your first goal is to get your family, covered wagon full of supplies, and oxen to Chimney Rock on time. But hurry—you'll need to make it through the rugged mountains before winter snow hits. Plus, there are wild animals, natural disasters, unpredictable weather, fast-flowing rivers, strangers, and sickness that will be sure to stand between you and your destination!

Which path will get you safely across the prairie? With twenty-two possible endings, choose wrong and you'll never make it to Chimney Rock on time. Choose right and blaze a trail that gets you closer to Oregon City!"

IT'S AN OREGON TRAIL CHOOSE YOUR OWN ADVENTURE BOOK OMG THIS IS MY '90s CHILDHOOD IN BOOK FORM

Ahem. ... I'm fine. Everything's fine. ... But yeah, as soon as I saw this it was IMMEEEEEDIATELY on my to-read list. And you better believe I'm gonna read until I find all 22 possible endings.

{ Sampled }

Four Dead Queens
by Astrid Scholte

Available as: hardcover, Kindle edition, audiobook
Pages: 432
Publisher: G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers
Expected publication date: February 26, 2019
Suggested tags: young adult (ages 13-17), fantasy



From Goodreads:

"Seventeen-year-old Keralie Corrington may seem harmless, but she's, in fact, one of Quadara's most skilled thieves and a liar. Varin, on the other hand, is an honest, upstanding citizen of Quadara's most enlightened region, Eonia. He runs afoul of Keralie when she steals a package from him, putting his life in danger. When Varin attempts to retrieve the package, he and Keralie both find themselves entangled in a conspiracy that leaves all four of Quadara's queens dead.

With no other choices and on the run from Keralie's former employer, the two decide to join forces, endeavoring to discover who has killed the queens and save their own lives in the process. When their reluctant partnership blooms into a tenuous romance, they must overcome their own dark secrets in hopes of a future together that seemed impossible just days before. But first they have to stay alive and untangle the secrets behind the nation's four dead queens.

An enthralling fast-paced murder mystery where competing agendas collide with deadly consequences, Four Dead Queens heralds the arrival of an exciting new YA talent."

Sampled from: Bookish First (If you haven't heard of Bookish First, go check them out! You can read samples of upcoming books every week, and reviewing books earns you entries into weekly drawings and points towards FREE BOOKS. Yes please!! ... P.s. I'm not affiliated, just a big fan.)

Ok, so... YA fantasies are like THE THING right now. There are soooo many of them. And I'm starting to feel like they're all kind of... the same? I feel like I haven't read a new YA fantasy in a while that's really unique. So I'm a little hard to please when it comes to this type of book.

And after reading this sample, I'm kind of torn on this one. Parts of it I liked, and parts of it I didn't. I wasn't wowed by Keralie's story at the beginning - she's basically a pickpocket, working for an Oliver Twist-esque Fagin character, and the hints of her backstory (she left home apparently, after some kind of situation with her father) didn't really make me all that interested to know more, I hate to say.

Then we move over to a scene at the palace, where there are four queens of four different areas of this world called Quadara. I mean... again, I'm torn. Quad, four - clever, I get it. There are four distinct areas, but I wasn't really all that interested in any one of them. And I didn't really get into the queens' story line until (SPOILER! ... Well, not really, since it's in the title...) one of them is murdered.

Both Keralie's and the queens' story lines end in cliffhangers, and I *did* find myself wanting to read more to find out what happens from there. So I give this a solid "meh". I do want to keep reading, but I'm not going to be first in line when it comes out.



That's all for this week! Did you like it? I hope so. I liked doing it! So I'll hope to see you next week for more spottings & samples!