Reviews Week 13 & 14

Reviews Week 13 & 14

March 28th- April 10th 

Book 35: The Lost Wonderland Diaries

by J. Scott Savage

Read April 2nd- 3rd

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Love the wordplay, puzzles, and the many different riddles throughout.

This was really great the second time around and I loved getting back into this world before I read my ARC of the sequel. Loved following Celia and Tyrus again.

My favorite part of this book is the fact that Savage has created a world that feels so much like Carroll's original. I loved the characters that he created this time around that fit so well with the world of Wonderland. They feel like they could be pulled off the pages of the original. Also, it was great seeing so many familiar faces of Wonderland. My favorites of his takes are probably Cheshire and the Mad Hatter.

An enjoyable read that I highly recommend! Below I will also show my review from when I originally read the book. 

Original review from August 27th-30th, 2020:

I really enjoyed this take on the world of Wonderland and the characters. Savage does an incredible job adding to that world and creating a voice that feels reminiscent of Carroll's but also so unique. This version of Wonderland was quite different and the additions to the story felt just as zany and nonsensical as Carroll's own creation.

Celia and Tyrus were great protagonists in this story. I enjoyed watching them grow throughout the book. It was also interesting to see the major focus on Celia's dyslexia throughout the entire story. This focus fits along perfectly with the story and I believe will be a great thing for middle-grade children to read about.

I loved the wordplay, puzzles, and riddles throughout the entire story.

Book 36: Night Watch

by Terry Pratchett 

Read April 3rd-5th 

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Absolutely wonderful! Probably my favorite of the Watch books so far. 

Loved following Sam as he travels back in time to his past and starts to mentor his younger self. It was really enjoyable seeing so many of the characters that we have come to know and love throughout the series in the past. Loved seeing Lu-Tze again as he tries to help Sam fix everything. Sam molds many different aspects of the series that he doesn't even realize.

“But it must’ve happened!” snapped Vimes. “I told you, I can remember it! I was there yesterday!” “Nice try, but that doesn’t mean anything anymore,” said the monk. “Trust me. Yes, it’s happened to you, but even though it has, it might not. ’Cos of quantum. Right now, there isn’t a Commander Vimes–shaped hole in the future to drop you into. It’s officially Uncertain. But might not be, if you do it right. You owe it to yourself, Commander. Right now, out there, Sam Vimes is learning to be a very bad copper indeed. And he learns fast.”

Sam goes through a lot in this book. We see him as a young man just learning in the Night Watch and we see him as a husband and a future father. He has come a long way in the series, and I have loved watching him on his journey. In this book, he is just trying to get back home to his wife and his life as a whole. But he also is trying to stop a revolution.

“Well done,' said a voice somewhere behind him. 'Consciousness to sarcasm in five seconds!”

Terry's humor is spot on as always, but the messages and story arc overall were the best part of this one. I recommend this book highly.

Time travel books are always favorites of mine and this one was a great example of that.

Book 37: The Twilight Library

by Carmen Oliver

Read April 5th 

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The preschooler that I watch, and I really enjoyed reading this book a lot. First of all, the illustrations were stunning. She could not stop talking about how pretty the book was which, she really never usually mentions with books. Also, the story was great in this one. Loved the Twilight Library and the lyrical writing in this piece. I definitely recommend it for preschoolers. 

*Thank you to NetGalley and to the publisher for my ARC of the book. All opinions are my own. *

Book 38: There's an N on Your Nose

by Dennis Canfield

Read April 5th 

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This was a cute little book that used a lot of the letters in the alphabet while also showing body parts to go along with them. The preschooler I watch really did not enjoy this one as much as other books that are similar to this where they teach you the alphabet. I also think that this one could have been better if it used all of the letters throughout the book in some way. 

*Thank you to NetGalley and to the publisher for my ARC of the book. All opinions are my own. *

Book 39: Ballet Bruce

by Ryan T. Higgins

Read April 5th 

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A cute addition to the Mother Bruce series. My preschoolers have always loved the Bruce series and I always pick them up when they come out. This is the first one I have read from the World of Reading part of the series. It was good but not as great as the others in the series. The little girl I nanny for does ballet so I thought that it would be the perfect fit for her. We were both hoping it would have the geese do ballet, but it never got to that point. It was cute though and she did think it was funny that they wanted to do ballet. 

*Thank you to NetGalley and to the publisher for my ARC of the book. All opinions are my own. *

Book 40: In the Shadow of the Throne

by Kate Sheridan, Gaia Cardinali (Illustrator)

Read April 5th 

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This was a pretty good take on portal fantasies. It just felt too short for the story as a whole and I did want more of it. The story felt rushed throughout most of it and felt like it could have been a much longer story.

One aspect that could have been expanded on was the characters in general. Would have loved to see more interactions between them all and also to get to know them more. I just don't feel like we got to know these characters much at all.

I would have also loved to see more of the kingdom too. Worldbuilding to me is essential to a fantasy world and we didn't get much of this. It would have been interesting if Jordan was given a tour of the kingdom when Griff and Prince Astel bring him to the capital. Seeing more of the Elf kingdom would have been nice. This would have given both Jordan and the reader a chance to learn more about this new world that we are both getting thrust into.

Loved the fact that this had LGBT representation, even though it was brief. I hope that eventually, the authors come back to this world because I think there could be so much more added to it.

Also, the illustrations and coloring were very nice. They went along nicely with the story and it drew me to it in the first place when I saw the cover.

Overall, this was a pretty good graphic novel that I recommend to portal fantasy lovers that what a little bit more LGBT representation.

*Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for my ARC*

Book 41: Secrets of the Looking Glass

by J. Scott Savage

Read April 4th-7th

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This is a series that I love and is a great retelling that I believe young and old readers will both enjoy.

I loved the first book in this series, so I was excited to see that there was going to be a sequel based on Through the Looking Glass. The plot in this book was very enjoyable and it was great getting to follow along with Tyrus and Celia again in a new adventure.

This zany adventure was a great follow-up to the first book, with lots of riddles, wordplay, and characters that I was looking forward to seeing Savage's take on. I am not as big of a fan of the original book Through the Looking Glass as I am of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, but I will say that Savage's version of this story was awesome. I'm glad that the adventure for Tyrus and Celia was unexpected, especially the ending.

It was great that so much of the plot dealt with the chess battles since chess is an important part of Through the Looking Glass, but that it was not bogged down in chess. Every instance of it in the plot made a lot of sense and it was entertaining to see how it fit into the story overall.

Loved the riddle battle with Tweedle-Dee and Tweedle Dum, the poetry with Humpty and Dumpty, the different chess battles throughout the entire book, the wordplay (both physically in the book and in the story in general), and I loved the eerie scenes with the Black Sheep.

Also, I want to mention how much I love the fact that Tyrus has started a book club in this one and that they are reading Inkheart. Makes me want to read that book again. It's one of my favorites, that I first read in ninth grade. And I hope that this will lead even more young readers to pick it up.

What a great follow-up that added so much more to the world and to the characters as a whole! It was great to see Tyrus and Celia learn even more about themselves and grow as young people. I'm glad that young readers get to see such great character growth throughout both books in this series.

*Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for my ARC of the book. All opinions are my own. *