I Believe I'm Not in Kansas Anymore...

It's been a while, and that's on me. It takes a while to find the time to read lately, but I did finally finish this one:
Dorothy Must Die by Danielle Page is set in a small town in Kansas, where we meet Amy Gumm. Amy lives in a trailer with her neglectful and absent mother and is misunderstood. She doesn't seem to fit in anywhere, and all just seems lost. When a tornado hits her trailer, Amy is transported to Oz, where things are not as "peachy" as the tale might make us think.

Dorothy became the leader of Oz, but her all powerful demeanor raised a city of evil. She's selfish in her ways, kills the innocent before they can object, and controls all. The scarecrow has a brain, which he now uses to experiment and kill the traitors of Dorothy's power, the Tin Man has fallen so deeply in love with her highness that he would do anything to protect her, and the Lion seems to have trans mutated into a horrible beast set to eat and kill. The good witch, Glinda, hoards the power and forces the munchkins to work the long and brutal hours to appease the queen, and the Wizard doesn't even seem to be there.

All seems lost, until Amy is rescued by the side of evil; and they are convinced she will be the one to kill Dorothy and bring order back to Oz. Amy is trained, sent undercover, and the entire time her team of "wicked witches" hopes that she can succeed in this mission. If she fails, Oz is going to get a whole lot darker.

So usually when books take me a while to finish it's because I don't have the time, but in this case....I think it's just because I wasn't interested. I mean don't get me wrong, the whole "dark Oz" was very cool. It was neat how everything transformed into death and despair and how Dorothy's ultimate goal was to keep all the magic and just get more powerful, so she is no longer that innocent girl from Kansas. However, it took almost the entire book to lead up to Amy being "ready" to fight Dorothy. We only meet Dorothy when she captures her in the beginning, and then it isn't until the last few chapters we see her again. The focus is strictly on the side of "evil", or good depending on how you see it. And...not to put in a spoiler, but Dorothy doesn't even die. You have to read the next book in the series to find out what happens from here...so I almost felt like...why did it take so long? I get it! The author wants to keep you on edge for the next book, but I felt like there was so much build up and not enough actual action. When there was action and fighting it seemed too short.

The book had a good concept, but I just felt it fell short in a lot of different areas. I have no interest in continuing the story, so I will not be reading the other books in the saga. I just didn't care about the characters or the whole idea of making the greater Oz and saving the city. It was kind of a bust for me. It was easy to read and follow, but it makes you aggravated because the story line just takes too long.

Two Hearts, One Destiny

Scarlett and Rosie March are sisters, best friends, and hunters. They hunt Fenris, werewolves who stalk and kill young girls. Years ago, Scarlett saved Rosie's life from a Fenris; however, no act of courage goes without some tragedy. Ever since the day their grandmother was killed and Scarlett lost her eye, both girls have been hunting these werewolves, hoping to put an end to their existence.
Their long time friend, Silas, returns from his trip, only to realize that the Fenris population is gaining. Scarlett discovers in order for them to keep fighting, they need to go to Atlanta where the 3 packs ( Bell, Coin, and Arrow) are planning to hunt down their Potential. Once they find this specific wolf, they could gain power among the other packs, but it is up to the three friends to find the Potential first.

On their hunting spree,  Rosie discovers she may not have hunting in her soul as her sister does; also she thinks she may be falling in love with Silas. But what would a huntsman of 21 years old want with her? The more the trio encounters, the more danger they find themselves in. Finally, they see the end in sight, but are they willing to come face to face with the truth, or will it separate them and change their lives?

Sister Red by Jackson Pearce first caught my attention because of the Red Riding Hood angle. The story paints a different picture from the classic fairy tale, but it shows the true heart of both these sisters. Scarlett is fearless and married to the hunt, whereas Rosie is constantly repaying the service her sister did for her years before, but she has a different life path and different desires. Silas helps to convince Rosie of her abilities and experiences outside of hunting; he tries to help her free herself from the hunt and constant turmoil it causes.
Bottom line, there is not much to this book character wise. All three characters are clearly labeled, and they stay this way throughout the novel.
The one thing I really liked about this book was there were different twists that I did not expect. This may be a fluff read, but the sudden plot changes did impress me and cause me to react. Yes, I gasped a few times out loud, which did result in odd looks by my fellow gym members. Oh well.
The ending was not as expected, and Rosie does surprise readers with her abilities and strengths that we did not assume she possessed.
It's a quick read, there's not much to it, but it's worth it if you are interested in warped fairy tales. Definitely an interesting take on a classic. 

True Love's Kiss May Prove Deadly...

Mira's sixteenth birthday is approaching, but the only thing she wants is to find out what happened to her parents. Her god parents are so wonderful, but Mira has so many questions about her parents' passing, the old town they were from, and why she has this strange birth mark shaped like a spinning wheel on her back.
A few days before the big day, Mira leaves home in search for Beau Rivage, the town she was born in. She stumbles into a casino, called The Dream, where she first encounters Blue and Freddie. Freddie is stunningly handsome, but seems too chivalrous for a boy in today's age. Blue is just a jerk. He continues to insult her and tells her to stay far away from the casino and his brother, Felix. But when Mira meets Felix, she can't imagine why. He's the perfect gentleman, and he seems interested to help her with her quest.
The more Mira stays in Beau Rivage, the more strange things begin to happen. She meets Viv, who keeps talking about choking on apples and falling asleep for years, Layla, who is very beautiful and intelligent, but it appears she has a tie to Rafe who is beastly and rude, and the more Mira speaks to Freddie, the more she realizes he may be a modern day prince charming. These people have secrets, and they aren't always quick to share. It seems so familiar, yet Mira is completely baffled. It isn't until she discovers that these people all have marks on their backs similar to hers that she sees there is something different about this town. Everyone is cursed, like in the fairy tales. Some people are heroes, some are waiting to be rescued, and some have an evil inside to them no one can quite figure out. Mira needs to figure out her curse and her trigger before it is too late. And the more Blue says to stay away from Felix, the more Mira is pulled to him. But there is definitely something off about these two, and it isn't your typical fairy tale.

Kill Me Softly by Sarah Cross was a modern take on today's fairy tales. She doesn't only focus on Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, and Cinderella, Cross goes in and uproots tales from the Grimm brothers and tales not typically seen in Disney movies. I really liked how the book was in 3rd person instead of 1st. It makes a difference because in certain instances she was able to get different characters involved as well. Plus, towards the beginning Mira is completely annoying and bratty, so it was nice to not feel completely connected to her the entire book.
What really intrigued me was the idea of new fairy tales. Half the ones mentioned I had no recollection of. It was really interesting how Cross managed to put in more gruesome fairy tales, while still keeping to the wholesome view of these stories.
The whole book was a typical high school summer vaca party. It was very trite at times, but the whole aspect of these fairy tales being such a huge part of these kids' lives was interesting. Plus it was really neat to see what characters were the damned, the white knights, and the distressed. She did a great job characterizing these three main roles per tale.
Some parts of the novel I felt were rushed, left unsaid, or very predictable, but the book was very good. Like I said, the best part was the fairy tales and how she managed to make them all fit together in this mixed up town. Really neat. Plus, her writing is quite good. So the characters didn't really pull me, but the story did. Worth a look if you enjoy retellings of old fairy tales.