In My Mailbox #7

In My Mailbox is hosted by The Story Siren as a way to highlight the books you receive every week (or so). A full explanation and rules can be found here.




From Goodreads First Reads:


Tiger Lily
by Jodi Lynn Anderson

Available as: hardcover, Kindle edition, ebook
Pages: 304
Publisher: HarperTeen
Release date: July 3, 2012
Suggested tags: young adult, fantasy, retellings



A retelling of Peter Pan, focusing on Tiger Lily? Oh my goodness. SWOON.

From Goodreads:

"Before Peter Pan belonged to Wendy, he belonged to the girl with the crow feather in her hair. . . .

Fifteen-year-old Tiger Lily doesn't believe in love stories or happy endings. Then she meets the alluring teenage Peter Pan in the forbidden woods of Neverland and immediately falls under his spell.

Peter is unlike anyone she's ever known. Impetuous and brave, he both scares and enthralls her. As the leader of the Lost Boys, the most fearsome of Neverland's inhabitants, Peter is an unthinkable match for Tiger Lily. Soon, she is risking everything—her family, her future—to be with him. When she is faced with marriage to a terrible man in her own tribe, she must choose between the life she's always known and running away to an uncertain future with Peter.

With enemies threatening to tear them apart, the lovers seem doomed. But it's the arrival of Wendy Darling, an English girl who's everything Tiger Lily is not, that leads Tiger Lily to discover that the most dangerous enemies can live inside even the most loyal and loving heart."

From the bookstore:

Cleopatra's Daughter
by Michelle Moran

Available as: hardcover, paperback, Kindle edition, ebook, audiobook
Pages: 448
Publisher: Three Rivers Press
Publication date: July 13, 2010
Suggested tags: young adult, historical fiction, Egypt



Not sure if this is YA or Adult historical fiction, but it is indeed historical fiction, in Egypt, around the time of Cleopatra, so either way I'm pretty sure I'm going to love it.

From Goodreads:

"The marriage of Marc Antony and Cleopatra is one of the greatest love stories of all time, a tale of unbridled passion with earth-shaking political consequences. Feared and hunted by the powers in Rome, the lovers choose to die by their own hands as the triumphant armies of Antony’s revengeful rival, Octavian, sweep into Egypt. Their three orphaned children are taken in chains to Rome; only two– the ten-year-old twins Selene and Alexander–survive the journey. Delivered to the household of Octavian’s sister, the siblings cling to each other and to the hope that they will return one day to their rightful place on the throne of Egypt. As they come of age, they are buffeted by the personal ambitions of Octavian’s family and court, by the ever-present threat of slave rebellion, and by the longings and desires deep within their own hearts."

Moloka'i
by Alan Brennert

Available as: hardcover, paperback, Kindle edition, ebook, audiobook
Pages: 384
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Publication date: October 4, 2004
Suggested tags: young adult, historical fiction, 19th century



Also not sure if this is actually YA or Adult, but it's been on my to-read list for a long time, and I got it on sale. :D

From Goodreads:

"This richly imagined novel, set in Hawai'i more than a century ago, is an extraordinary epic of a little-known time and place---and a deeply moving testament to the resiliency of the human spirit.

Rachel Kalama, a spirited seven-year-old Hawaiian girl, dreams of visiting far-off lands like her father, a merchant seaman. Then one day a rose-colored mark appears on her skin, and those dreams are stolen from her. Taken from her home and family, Rachel is sent to Kalaupapa, the quarantined leprosy settlement on the island of Moloka'i. Here her life is supposed to end---but instead she discovers it is only just beginning."

From the library:

Entwined
by Heather Dixon

Available as: hardcover, paperback, Kindle edition, ebook, audiobook
Pages: 480
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Publication date: March 29, 2011
Suggested tags: young adult, fairy tales, retellings



A retelling of The 12 Dancing Princesses that I got on CD for my commute to work. So far, I'm torn - great writing, weak plot.

From Goodreads:

"Azalea is trapped. Just when she should feel that everything is before her . . . beautiful gowns, dashing suitors, balls filled with dancing . . . it’s taken away. All of it.

The Keeper understands. He’s trapped, too, held for centuries within the walls of the palace. And so he extends an invitation. Every night, Azalea and her eleven sisters may step through the enchanted passage in their room to dance in his silver forest. But there is a cost. The Keeper likes to keep things. Azalea may not realize how tangled she is in his web until it is too late."

Review: Every Last Kiss

Every Last Kiss
by Courtney Cole

Available as: paperback, Kindle edition, ebook
Pages: 252
Publisher: Lakehouse Press
Publication date: April 21, 2011
Suggested tags: young adult, paranormal, time travel, mythology



First in The Bloodstone Saga. From Goodreads:

"17-year old Macy Lockhart has the weight of the world on her shoulders.

For thousands of years, she has been a Keeper in the ancient organization, the Order of the Moirae. She literally holds fate in her hands.

But this is something that she forgets, because her memories are wiped clean when she is reborn each time, until it is time for her cycle to begin again in her seventeenth year in each life.

And for the last two thousand years, this has never been a problem. Until now. But now, fate is being challenged and to fix it, she is forced to return to a previous life, one where she was Cleopatra's handmaiden, Charmian.

Cue up the second problem: Unless she interferes with the fabric of time, the very thing she has returned to repair, then her soul mate, Hasani, will die leading Marc Antony's armies against Rome. Can she really stand aside and allow the love of her life to die all over again?"

I saw this book's Kindle listing on Amazon, and after reading that description, I could not click "download" fast enough. It has some of my very favorite elements: history, mythology, ancient Egypt, time travel/reincarnation, romance... Yeah, this was definitely right up my alley.

Every Last Kiss starts off with a flashback (or flash forward, depending on how you look at it) of a memory of Macy's previous life as Charmian, Cleopatra's handmaiden. The scene was tense and powerful; it really set the tone for the book, and let you know right away that Macy's role in her past life was huge.

Then we meet Macy, modern day, who is living a pretty average life in Pasadena, until she receives a mysterious gift - a bloodstone. She starts having strange visions, including visions of a man she knows and loves, but hasn't met. Then a mysterious stranger shows up in her room; Annen, a priest, helps her to remember her past life as Charmian. He reminds her of the Order of the Moirae, and then he tells her that everything she knows about it could be a lie.

This book kept me reading and reading and reading, chapter after chapter, devouring Charmian's story as she tried to figure out what was true and what was not, and whether her role as a Keeper meant she should try to change fate or help fate keep its course. The details of ancient Egypt were fantastic; I could picture every room Charmian entered in Cleopatra's palace. Cole's portrayal of Cleopatra was exactly like I had always pictured her: beautiful, spoiled, but kind to those she cared about and dedicated completely to Egypt.

The relationships between Cleopatra and Antony and Charmian and Hasani were sweet and sexy; intimacy was implied, but never detailed. I prefer books like this, the "fade to black" types. I don't really want to read every detail of what the characters are doing together. Just reading about them sharing a meaningful smile and slipping off to a bedroom is perfect for me.

The only thing that bothered me a little in Every Last Kiss was the characters' tendencies toward modern ways of speaking. I'm no historian, so perhaps the phrases the characters use are older than they seem, but sometimes their word choice made me feel like I was reading a conversation from Macy's time in present-day California rather than Cleopatra's time in ancient Egypt.

The ending of Every Last Kiss was just amazing, and it's going to be hard for me to talk about it without giving things away, so there will be many hidden spoilers ahead. Highlight at your own risk!

It's clear that Macy has been much changed by her time in Egypt. (SPOILER - highlight to read: She's absolutely done with Derek, her cheating boyfriend from the beginning of the book. That relationship, which was very important to Macy before, now fades to nothing. Hasani is all she can think about.) The very last pages... (SPOILER - highlight to read: where Hasani reappears as Gavin... oh my gosh, I wanted to cry. Macy found her soul mate. I really hope to see more of them getting to know each other, or re-know each other I guess, in the next book.) I really appreciated the Epilogue, which wrapped up the story beautifully, and the Author's Notes, which gave a lot of great historical info about ancient Egypt and the main characters.

There was one other small moment in the book (SPOILER - highlight to read: near the beginning, where Macy has a premonition of her friend Jenn being hit by an SUV), and it isn't addressed again in Every Last Kiss - I'm wondering if this will become a major plot point in one of the next books?

Every Last Kiss was a spectacular blend of history and fantasy, and I really can't wait to read the next book in the series, Fated. I'm totally wrapped up in Macy and her role as a Keeper for the Order of the Moirae now, and I'm so looking forward to seeing whether she finds her Daedal in her present-day life in Fated, or if she jumps back to another previous life...


Overall rating: 4 out of 5 stars


Coming tomorrow: Q&A with the author of Every Last Kiss, Courtney Cole!