Reviews Week 48

  Reviews Week 48

November 28th- December 4th

Book 165: The Boy, the Mole, the Fox, and the Horse: The Animated Story

by Charlie Mackesy

Read on November 29th

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I recommend this stunning book to the fans of the original. The illustrations are beautiful, and I enjoyed the story so much. It keeps the inspirational messages from the original text and follows a story of the animals trying to help the lost boy find his way home. This book is based on the movie version of the story that Charlie helped make. I cannot wait to see the movie. The style of the illustrations in this makes me think of the Christmas movie called The Snowman. It at least has a similar feel to that.

I love how this book kept the poignant and beautiful messages from the original and added in a narrative. This book and the original make me think of the Winnie-the-Pooh books with their insightfulness. I recommend this and the original to everyone.

Book 166: Raising Steam

by Terry Pratchett

Read on November 29th-30th

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This book was my least favorite book from the Moist Von Lipwig books in the Discworld series. The characters are not like they always have been and just seem off to me. Also, I really was not the biggest fan of the story as a whole. I’m glad that I read it though. Only one more book left in the series.

Book 167: The Little Mermaid and other Fairy Tales

by Hans Christian Andersen 

Read on December 2nd 

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This book was a collection of stories that I was really interested in picking up, especially since I have not read most of Hans’ fairy tales before. “The Little Mermaid” has always been one of my favorite fairy tales because of the Disney movie, and I really love the original fairy tale. The only others I had picked up before this were “The Princess and the Pea,” “The Ugly Duckling” (which I did not know was even one of Hans’ fairy tales), and “The Steadfast Tin Solider.” Most of the others I had heard about before but had never read. 

MinaLima’s edition of these fairy tales was beautiful, like the other books they designed. I love the interactive features throughout the stories, especially the ones that went along with “The Little Mermaid.” I highly recommend picking up this version of the fairy tales for your collection. MinaLima’s children’s classics are some of my favorite books from my own collection. They are perfect pieces for the fairy tale fan, the classic fan, and the lovers of reading. 

Book 168: The Truth About Magic

by Atticus

Read on December 2nd 

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I have been a poetry lover my entire life and love how a poet can create an image in your head with a few words. Atticus’ poetry collection was stunning, and some of his poems hit me hard. I listened to an audiobook copy and followed along with the book. Most of the time, I do not read poetry in Atticus’ style, but I will say I enjoyed it quite a bit. I have another collection of his that I plan on picking up next year. 

Book 169: Scattered Showers

by Rainbow Rowell 

Read on December 2nd-4th 

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I have been a fan of Rainbow Rowell’s books for about ten years now and love most of them. Before this short story collection, I had only read one of her short stories before: "Kindred Spirits.” I loved almost every single one of these stories. This is a collection that I have been eagerly waiting for ever since I first heard that Rainbow was writing it. Also, this was a great collection to read in December. 

“Midnights”- ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

I love how Rainbow formatted this story, how she starts in the present day of the story and then goes back to how Mags and Noel met. This was an adorable story that I enjoyed a lot. It made me think of the song “New Year's Day” by Taylor Swift. 

“Kindred Spirits”- ⭐⭐⭐⭐

This is the only story from the collection I read before picking up this book. It’s funny how much of this one stayed with me over the years. I read it right after The Force Awakens came out and enjoyed the story. After seeing the rest of the sequel trilogy, it was interesting to come back to it again. I remember how excited I had been for a new Star Wars movie when The Force Awakens came out. That excitement has dialed down a lot over the years, especially after The Rise of Skywalker, but I will say that this story really reflects those feelings. 

Before this story, I knew about the people that camped out for Star Wars movies, but I did not realize the extent that they went to. It was entertaining to see characters like Troy who just love Star Wars with their whole being. I loved the reenactment they did for Elena of the prequel movies; it was so much fun. This is a great little story that I had fun revisiting again after many years. 

“Winter Songs for Summer”- ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

I absolutely adored this story. Music is an integral part of my life, and I, like Summer, have listened to many songs on repeat for various reasons. Out of Rainbow’s stories, the characters I have related to the most were Cath from Fangirl and now Summer from this story. Over the years, I have listened to my fair share of sad songs to help myself wallow in misery. I had a similar thing happen to me in college with someone I thought the world of. Makes me wish I had a person like Benji in my life at the time. I loved this story so much. 

“The Snow Ball”- ⭐⭐⭐⭐

This was a cute little romance. 

“If the Fates Allow”- ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

I loved that we got a story from Reagan’s perspective and that we got to hear about Levi and Cath.  Fangirl was one of my favorite contemporary books in college, and I have always wanted some kind of continuation for it. This great little story hit me hard with what Reagan’s grandfather said to Reagan about her grandmother. 

SPOILERS for the story in red. Don’t read if you don’t want to know any plot points. 

My grandmother, like Reagan's, also passed away before Covid happened, and I cannot imagine how she would have been with Covid. This story had me tearing up at that point in the story. 

Overall, this incredible story hit me hard; I didn’t expect that. 

“The Prince and the Troll”- ⭐⭐⭐

My least favorite from the collection, but I did like it. I thought it was interesting that it is never obvious what the “troll” in the story actually is and that the “prince” wasn’t really a prince. 

“Mixed Messages”- ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Another story that was a continuation. This time it was a continuation of Attachments, one of Rainbow’s adult fiction books. It was like no time had passed at all for me when I started reading this story since I read Attachments. I have not read Attachments since probably around 2013, and I remember how much I loved it. Especially Beth and Jennifer’s emails back and forth throughout the book. I like how this time around that, Rainbow had them start the story with texts. Makes me want to pick up the original book again. This was an incredible story that I loved. 

“Snow for Christmas”- ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

My first thought when I saw that we were getting a new Simon Snow story was: Oh my god, Simon and Baz. I enjoyed the Simon Snow trilogy, especially the way Rainbow ended it, but I could not stop hoping she would return to their world in some capacity. It was great to see them dealing with a family Christmas dinner with Baz’s family. I love seeing how their relationship has grown since the first book and to this point. They are two of my favorite characters, and I am so happy that Rainbow has brought them back for this story. 

“In Waiting”- ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Other than the last two stories, this is another one that I adored. The idea behind this story, with the characters that an author comes up with, living in a world where they have to wait for their story to be written, is brilliant. As a writer, it just makes me think about my own characters. It was such a joy reading this story and seeing what happened to James and Anna. I would love to see something else from this story eventually. Here’s hoping.