Tag: Rainbow Rowell

Lightning Review: The Prince and the Troll by Rainbow Rowell

Posted April 7, 2021 by Holly in Reviews | 0 Comments

Lightning Review: The Prince and the Troll by Rainbow RowellReviewer: Holly
The Prince and the Troll by Rainbow Rowell
Narrator: Rebecca Lowman
Series: Faraway #1
Publisher: Brilliance Audio
Publication Date: December 15, 2020
Format: Audiobook
Source: Audible Plus
Point-of-View: Narrated
Cliffhanger: View Spoiler »
Genres: Fantasy, Fairytale
Length: 46 minutes
Add It: Goodreads
Reading Challenges: Holly's 2021 Goodreads Challenge, Holly's 2021 New to Me Challenge
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | The Ripped Bodice | Google Play Books
three-stars
Series Rating: three-stars

A charming everyman and a mysterious something-under-the-bridge cross paths in a short fairy tale by the #1 'New York Times' bestselling author of 'Eleanor & Park' and the 'Simon Snow' series.

It’s fate when a man accidentally drops his phone off the bridge. It’s a fortune when it’s retrieved by a friendly shape sloshing in the muck underneath. From that day forward, as they share a coffee every morning, an unlikely friendship blooms. Considering the reality for the man above, where life seems perfect, and that of the sharp-witted creature below, how forever after can a happy ending be?

'THE PRINCE AND THE TROLL' is part of Faraway, a collection of retold fairy tales that take happily-ever-after in daring new directions. Whether read or listened to in one sitting, prepare to be charmed, moved, enlightened and frightened all over again.

This was a well-written short story that really seemed to serve no purpose. I enjoyed how the friendship between Adam and the Bridge Troll developed, and there was a lot of witty dialogue, but the story lacked any kind of cohesion or conclusion. The Road (aka Climate Change and Development) were bad, but there’s nothing we can do about it so let’s just wait until the rains come and wash it all away? Meh.

For a quick listen, I didn’t hate it, but I did finish it kind of scratching my head about the point of it all.

Rating: 3 out of 5

Faraway

three-stars

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Review: My True Love Gave to Me Anthology

Posted December 3, 2014 by Rowena in Reviews | 0 Comments

my true love gave to meRowena’s review of My True Love Gave to Me by Stephanie Perkins, Holly Black, Ally Carter, Gayle Forman, Jenny Han, David Levithan, Kelly Link, Myra McEntire, Matt de la Pena, Rainbow Rowell, Laini Taylor, Kiersten White.

If you love holiday stories, holiday movies, made-for-TV-holiday specials, holiday episodes of your favorite sitcoms and, especially, if you love holiday anthologies, you’re going to fall in love with MY TRUE LOVE GAVE TO ME: TWELVE HOLIDAY STORIES by twelve bestselling young adult writers, edited by international bestselling author Stephanie Perkins.

This book felt like it had a million short stories in it but I jumped in anyway because a lot of my favorite YA authors penned stories in this one so I was all about it. I’m going to briefly review each short story and hope that this review doesn’t end up being longer than the book. 🙂

“Midnights” by Rainbow Rowell: This was my favorite story in the entire book. Oh, how I adored Noel and Mags. I loved seeing how they met and then their anniversary celebrations each year. The way that their friendship blossomed over the course of their short story was too freaking cute and I just adored this book to pieces.

Grade: 5 out of 5

The Lady and the Fox by Kelly Link: This story was short but I didn’t connect with Miranda at all and that she fell in love with a ghost did absolutely nothing for me. I read through the whole thing waiting for that moment when I’d connect with Miranda and the story and sadly, it never happened.

Grade: 1 out of 5

Angels in the Snow by Matt de la Pena:  This story felt like it took me a million years to read it. I didn’t connect with either Shy or Haley. I wanted to smack Shy every time he lied to Haley and then when we get to finally know about Haley, I wanted to smack her too. I wasn’t at all mad that the story ended.

Grade: 1 out of 5

Polaris is Where You’ll Find Me by Jenny Han: I haven’t read any books by Jenny Han (though I do have her latest release waiting to be read on my iPad) but I was really excited to read this one since I’ve heard a lot of good things about her books.  I’m sad to say that this book didn’t work for me at all. It was just…weird. Natalie grew up on the North Pole, having been adopted by Santa Claus? She lives amongst the elves and even has beef with one elf in particular because that elf is dating the elf she wants but can’t have? The only part that I thought was cute was the end when Flynn hands her what she wanted all along but even that wasn’t enough for me to like the entire story.

Grade: 2 out of 5

It’s a Yuletide Miracle, Charlie Brown by Stephanie Perkins: I was excited to read this story. I adore all things Stephanie Perkins and I thought she delivered a great short story. Both North and Marigold were cute characters that really came to life in such a short amount of space. I laughed, I sighed and I grinned my way through this story. It was cute.

Grade: 4 out of 5

Your Temporary Santa by David Levithan: I haven’t read any books by Levithan but was hoping for great things since he’s a pretty popular author of LGBT YA fiction. Unfortunately, this story dragged and the longer it went on, the more I just wanted to skip to the next story. The bitchy sister got on my nerves but I did think that it was sweet of the boyfriend to play dress up to make his boyfriend happy. I just wish that I could have connected with the characters more.

Grade: 2 out of 5

Krampsulauf by Holly Black: Another story that was just …weird to me. It’s a contemporary YA but with some fantasy elements thrown in and throughout the entire story, I kept wondering, “What the heck am I reading?” when it was finally over, I was glad to move on to the next story.

Grade: 1 out of 5

What the Hell have You Done, Sophie Roth by Gayle Forman:  This is one of the stories that I was most looking forward to reading when I first got this book for review. I love Gayle Forman and knew that she would deliver another great story. I’m so glad that I wasn’t disappointed. I thought this story was well written, cute and I loved seeing Sophie fumble her way around Russell. It was just all around cute and I enjoyed this one.

Grade: 4 out of 5

Beer Buckets and Baby Jesus by Myra McEntire:  This story was cute. Bad boy doing bad things and Good Girl not casting any judgments, seeing the good in him. Something that not anyone else sees. I thought they were a cute little couple. I loved seeing them work together to try to fix the problems that were all around them. I’ve never read anything by McEntire before but I’m keen to try something else.

Grade: 3 out of 5

Welcome to Christmas, CA by Kiersten White: This was another great addition to the book. I loved getting to know both Maria and Ben. They were a fun duo. I thought it was cute that Ben had a sixth sense for what customers and employees of the diner would want or in some cases, need. He brought life into that diner and in turn, into that town and also to Maria’s life. I loved seeing them grow closer with each passing day and I thought White did a good job of telling their story in such a short space. I enjoyed this one.

Grade: 4 out of 5  

Star of Bethlehem by Ally Carter: This was one of those change places with someone and see how they live, or well, close enough to that kind of story line.  I was interested enough in the story to read it but there were times when I just had to roll my eyes down the street. Still, in the end, I was glad that I read this book and would definitely read more from this author because, Ethan was a cutie pie.

Grade: 3 out of 5

Overall, there were some pretty great stories but there were also some pretty bad stories. I’m not at all mad that I read this book though because while it wasn’t perfect, the stories that I did enjoy were just fabulous.

This book is available from St. Martin’s Press. You can purchase it here or here in e-format. This book was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

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Review: Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell

Posted May 28, 2014 by Rowena in Reviews | 0 Comments

Eleanor and Park
Rowena’s review of Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell.

Set over the course of one school year in 1986, ELEANOR AND PARK is the story of two star-crossed misfits – smart enough to know that first love almost never lasts, but brave and desperate enough to try. When Eleanor meets Park, you’ll remember your own first love – and just how hard it pulled you under.

I’ve been meaning to read a Rainbow Rowell for a while now because I’ve been hearing a lot of good things about this author. Of all of the stuff that I’ve been hearing, it was Eleanor and Park that I was most interested in reading.

This book is about first love between misfits and even though the beginning was slow, I was glad that I stuck with the story because I ended up liking it.

Eleanor is dirt poor and her mother is with an abusive boyfriend who kicked her out of their house once before for standing up to him. Now she’s back with her family and her life consists of walking on egg shells and keeping her head down while she’s at home. At school, her outrageous outfits and smart mouth keeps her name on people’s mouths (and not in a good way) and when she starts riding the bus to school, she finds herself sitting next to the quiet Asian kid named Park.

Park keeps his head down at school because while he’s not popular, the bullies and popular kids leave him alone, probably because they grew up with him but he doesn’t really know why. When he lets the new girl sit next to him, he wasn’t expecting to develop feelings for her because 1) she’s unpopular and awkward and 2) he’s kind of embarrassed at the attention she causes with her outrageous outfits and fuck you attitude. But she quickly becomes his favorite person and this story follows them as they try to make an impossible relationship work.

What I found most interesting about this book was how authentic and real the story felt. Each emotion, each issue that Park and Eleanor had to work through felt like it was happening to me. I could totally see that happening in real life and I thought she captured the thoughts and feelings of a teenager really well. Teenagers are passionate and they’re strong. Some are bullheaded and think they know everything. Some have attitudes to hide their insecurities. Some bury their heads in the sands to survive each day and Rainbow Rowell captured these feelings with Eleanor and Park.

Their relationship felt like a whirlwind teenage relationship and I was caught up in all of it. My heart hurt for Eleanor with everything she dealt with at home and then at school. My heart hurt with Park as he struggled to be strong in his feelings for Eleanor, even though he stumbled over and over again. This is exactly how I think teenagers deal with their problems.

This wasn’t an easy story to read but it was good. It was a solid story and I enjoyed it.

Grade: 3.5 out of 5

This book is available from St. Martin’s Griffin. You can purchase it here or here in e-format.

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Review: Attachments by Rainbow Rowell

Posted May 22, 2014 by Rowena in Reviews | 2 Comments

Rowena’s review of Attachments by Rainbow Rowell.

“Hi, I’m the guy who reads your e-mail, and also, I love you . . . “

Beth Fremont and Jennifer Scribner-Snyder know that somebody is monitoring their work e-mail. (Everybody in the newsroom knows. It’s company policy.) But they can’t quite bring themselves to take it seriously. They go on sending each other endless and endlessly hilarious e-mails, discussing every aspect of their personal lives.

Meanwhile, Lincoln O’Neill can’t believe this is his job now- reading other people’s e-mail. When he applied to be “internet security officer,” he pictured himself building firewalls and crushing hackers- not writing up a report every time a sports reporter forwards a dirty joke.

When Lincoln comes across Beth’s and Jennifer’s messages, he knows he should turn them in. But he can’t help being entertained-and captivated-by their stories.

By the time Lincoln realizes he’s falling for Beth, it’s way too late to introduce himself.

What would he say . . .?

Ames recommended this book to me a while ago.  I’m talking, years ago. And I’ve been meaning to read it but never got around to it until now.

Holy goodness this was a cute read.  Lincoln is an average 28 year old male who got his heart broken in college, transferred to another college, graduated, moved home and is pretty content with his life.  He doesn’t mind living with his Mom but the one thing that he’s pretty bummed about is the new job that he has.  He was under the impression that his job as Internet Security Officer was going to be doing more than just reading people’s emails.  While going through the flagged folder in his Websense folder, he comes across two friends/co-workers email thread.

Beth and Jennifer.

Seeing Lincoln make that transformation to the man he was in the end made this such a satisfying read.  In the beginning, Lincoln is a nerd and he’s in a funk.  But over the course of the book, you see him come alive and you see him fumble his way to living a life that was for him and that made him happy.

Now, don’t get me wrong.  There were times when I wanted to smack Lincoln upside his head but for the most part, I thought he was adorable.

I really enjoyed getting to know both Beth and Jennifer through their emails.  The friendship those two shared was pretty great.  Theirs was a strong friendship that was built on respect and care.  I was right there with Lincoln, all up in their emails and rejoicing when they were happy and gutted when they despaired.

Rainbow Rowell does a great job of sucking the reader in to the books that she writes and this book was no exception.  I was wrapped up in Lincoln’s world, rooting him on to that happy ending that he was searching for.  The book is a little long but don’t let that scare you into reading this book.  It’s good, I promise so read it! =)

Grade: 4.75 out of 5

This book is available from Penguin. You can purchase it here or here in e-format.

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