Reviews Week 25

    Reviews Week 25

June 19th-June 25th

Book 93: Hansel & Gretel

By Neil Gaiman

Read June 19th

Pages Read: 56

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Hansel and Gretel is a standard telling of the original fairy tale with a couple of little additions made by Neil. If you have yet to read the story, I recommend this one because it is a good telling of it. I liked it, but it does not stand out like I have come to expect from Neil’s retellings of fairy tales. 

Also, the illustrations from Lorenzo Mattotti are too dark to see at times while you are reading the story. Sometimes, they don’t even fit with what is going on in the story. One of the most telling times for this is near the end. They should have ensured the illustrations went along with the plot. 

Overall, I’m disappointed with this retelling, and that might be because I have come to expect something different from a Neil Gaiman retelling. He has far better ones than this, but I can’t say that it is not a good story. If you know “Hansel and Gretel,” you will know this story. 

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

Book 94: Wyrd Sisters

By Terry Pratchett 

Read June 20th-21st

Pages Read: 297

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Reread from June 20th-21st, 2023:

It was an absolute delight rereading this wonderful novel with the new Penguin audiobook. I love the Shakespeare references throughout like the theatre being named The Disc (based on The Globe), along with his plays King Lear, Macbeth, and Hamlet. Terry did such an incredible job incorporating all of this and so much more into his story. 

This was a great introduction to Gytha “Nanny” Ogg, Magrat Garlick, and Verence. It’s been so long since I read this book and I had forgotten some of the plot points so it was a fun experience this time around. I loved reading this after reading the entire series and knowing where each of these characters is going to end up. 

One of my favorites scenes from all of the Discworld is still in this book, with Death at the end. It is just a brilliant scene that I cannot help but crack up with. I highly recommend this book! 

Review from October 30th-November 2nd, 2017:

The sixth book in Terry Pratchett's Discworld series and the second in the Witches subseries. This book is part of the overall series but can be read on its own. If you are new to the Discworld series or would like to know more about it you can use this link to see my other posts on them: Terry Pratchett's Discworld.

This book reintroduces Granny Weatherwax. It also introduces two other witches Nanny Ogg, the matriarch of a large tribe of Oggs and the owner of the "most evil" cat ever, and also Magrat Garlick, a junior witch, who firmly believes in all things of the occult. This annoys the other two older witches greatly. The three witches/ wyrd sisters are the main characters in this book.

A Short Synopsis

    "As the cauldron bubbled an eldritch voice shrieked: 'When shall we three meet again?' 

     There was a pause.

     Finally, another voice said, in far more ordinary tones: 'Well, I can do next Tuesday.'"

This book parodies many of Shakespeare's plays: Macbeth, Hamlet, and King Lear. It borrows themes from each of these plays to help form this story. The book starts with the witches deciding on a time to meet. Magrat wants to start a witch coven with the other witches because she believes that this is what is meant to be done. "Granny" Esmerelda Weatherwax and Nanny Ogg, who are much older witches do not really care for this sort of way of using magic. Throughout the whole book, we see them try to teach her the ways of magic and also learning from her. 

We then find out that the king of the land, King Verence has been killed by his cousin who wanted to take the kingdom for himself. Instead of being left to die peacefully, King Verence becomes a ghost and will remain a ghost until he fulfills his destiny. His cousin, Felmet was guided by his wicked wife to murder Verence for the throne (Terry really has fun with making the duke's wife).  Over the course of the novel, we see him trying to keep hold of the kingdom, while he slips into insanity. A major hindrance for him, at least as he believes, is the witches. He does not realize though that the witches really do not like getting into politics. Also, that witches are not actually what he believes.

After the witches are given the son of King Verence with a crown by mistake, they know that they have to find him a home. This is until he can take his rightful place on the throne. They know that it will eventually be his destiny to take over the throne. He is given to a troupe of theatre performers and the witches hide his crown in prop boxes. The story continues on from there to hilarious and strange places.

Overall Thoughts  

    "'Ah,' said Nanny. She took the girl's (Magrat) arm. 'The thing is,' she explained, 'as you progress in the Craft, you'll learn there is another rule. Esme's obeyed it all her life.' 

'And what's that?'

      'When you break rules, break 'em good and hard,' said Nanny, and grinned a set of gums that were more menacing than teeth." 

First of all, I have always thought Lady Macbeth was bad, well the duchess could give her a run for her money. She's just as manipulative, but more in a humorous way.  I don't find her to be as mad as Lady Macbeth though. Her husband, on the other hand, has completely lost any touch with his sanity. This is where the King Lear elements fall into play. The duke is followed along by his loyal Fool, who is probably the most sensible person on the duke's side. 

I love when an author uses themes from other stories and makes them their own. I have always been a fan of Shakespeare's plays, especially Macbeth and Hamlet. It was great being able to recognize the references to his plays throughout the book and made the scenes even funnier. Where it diverges from the original source material is what makes this book for me. I enjoyed getting to know each of the witches and seeing their relationship with each other and others. Granny Weatherwax became one of my favorite characters ever in Equal Rites and this book has just solidified that for me. All of the witches are so complex and intriguing. I cannot wait to read the other books with them. 

Also, the scene with Death near the end of this book is my favorite. I will never get enough of Death as a character. He's the best. I would write out the whole scene here, but it would spoil the book. I will put one quick quote though. 

"This worried Death. He was used to people claiming that they were not dead, because death always came as a shock, and a lot of people have some trouble getting over it. But people claiming that they were dead with every breath in their body was a new and unsettling experience."

By all means, you don't have to have read any of the plays I mentioned to read this book. I believe that you would still enjoy it. But I do feel that many of the jokes that Terry Pratchett uses in this book are funnier because of my knowledge of these plays.

I cannot recommend this series enough. It may seem intimidating, but really it isn't once you get into it. You can really start it anywhere you want and you won't really miss anything. Each of the books stands on their own for the most part. I hope you enjoy Terry Pratchett's Discworld if you do decide to pick any of them up. I know that I do.

Book 95: Lore Olympus Volume 4

By Rachel Smythe 

Read June 21st

Pages Read: 416

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This series just keeps getting better with each book. I cannot wait to read the fifth volume later on this year and see what happens next with Hades and Persephone. Rachel Smythe’s books are definitely one of the most unique takes on Greek Mythology that I have read. I love this version of the myths.

Book 96: Stargazing at Noon

By Amanda Torroni 

Read June 21st

Pages Read: 144

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I really liked the way this collection was formatted with the phases of the moon and how the poetry fit with these phases. The final section was the most heartbreaking and hit me hard while reading them. I loved that section the most. Overall, I liked this collection of poems.

Book 97: All or Nothing

By Riina Y.T. 

Read June 21st

Pages Read: 145

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I have kept up the tradition of reading at least one Christmas book in the summer. All or Nothing was such a sweet story that I highly enjoyed. Remmy and Carter were great characters that I loved following on their trek to get Remmy home to his family for Christmas. I loved the roadtrip and just watching them get to know each other better. A cute time that made me happy, which is why I decided to read it.