Saturday, 9 May 2015

TWO QUICK REVIEWS: BATTLE OF FANTASY RETELLINGS

For this month's Two Quick Reviews post I decided to pick up and compare two recently released and highly praised fantasy fairy tale retellings. Who won? 
"Red Riding Hood" or "Beauty and the Beast"?


Just a little reminder, I started using "quick rating" with this feature last month. Here is detailed explanation in case you missed my April edition of Two Quick Reviews:



Crimson Bound by Rosamund Hodge

Published by Balzer + Bray

Genre: Young Adult Fantasy 

Purchase: Amazon / B&N

     
      

When Rachelle was fifteen she was good—apprenticed to her aunt and in training to protect her village from dark magic. But she was also reckless— straying from the forest path in search of a way to free her world from the threat of eternal darkness. After an illicit meeting goes dreadfully wrong, Rachelle is forced to make a terrible choice that binds her to the very evil she had hoped to defeat.

Three years later, Rachelle has given her life to serving the realm, fighting deadly creatures in an effort to atone. When the king orders her to guard his son Armand—the man she hates most—Rachelle forces Armand to help her find the legendary sword that might save their world. As the two become unexpected allies, they uncover far-reaching conspiracies, hidden magic, and a love that may be their undoing. In a palace built on unbelievable wealth and dangerous secrets, can Rachelle discover the truth and stop the fall of endless night?

Inspired by the classic fairy tale Little Red Riding Hood, Crimson Bound is an exhilarating tale of darkness, love, and redemption.

 MY THOUGHTS:


Dark, mysterious and full of twists. I really enjoyed these particular aspects of this book. It took me some time to get used to author’s prosaic writing style. But by the end of this novel I grew fond of it and I plan to read some more by this author in the future.

Writing was great, atmosphere was fantastic but Crimson Bound lacked "the" spark that would make it a memorable read for me. So even with all the positives, Crimson Bound failed to impress me and get me personally involved in the story. Some parts even bored me a little bit and I had to force myself to keep reading until story picked up again.

It was all okay until heroine’s self-pity and frustrating decisions ruined it for me. I would prefer if whole novel stayed romanceless (as first half), rather than having this unnecessary love triangle that author presented later in the story. Still, I would recommend this for those who enjoy serious and darker undertone in YA fantasy genre as well as imaginative scenery and writing style.





A Court of Thorns and Roses 

Written by: Sarah J. Maas

Published by: Bloomsbury

Purchase: Amazon / B&N

Genre: YA/NA Fantasy

    
    

A thrilling, seductive new series from New York Times bestselling author Sarah J. Maas, blending Beauty and the Beast with faerie lore.

When nineteen-year-old huntress Feyre kills a wolf in the woods, a beast-like creature arrives to demand retribution for it. Dragged to a treacherous magical land she only knows about from legends, Feyre discovers that her captor is not an animal, but Tamlin—one of the lethal, immortal faeries who once ruled their world.

As she dwells on his estate, her feelings for Tamlin transform from icy hostility into a fiery passion that burns through every lie and warning she's been told about the beautiful, dangerous world of the Fae. But an ancient, wicked shadow grows over the faerie lands, and Feyre must find a way to stop it . . . or doom Tamlin—and his world—forever.

MY THOUGHTS:


As Sarah J. Maas's newbie, I wasn't sure what to expect from this book. Fortunately, result was quite satisfying. Engaging writing, fantastic scenery and great gradation of the plot - those are the best attributes of this book.

Call me crazy but I truly enjoyed how slow paced first 60% of this story was. It allowed for beautiful writing and detailed world-building to shine brightly. And most importantly, it created the best possible atmosphere for the start of magical chemistry between Feyre and Tamlin, the chemistry that gave me warm fuzzies and brought huge smile to my face.

However, I was a little bit frustrated with reckless heroine and with all those unnecessary complications she created. Partnered with the fact that I wasn't a big fan of side characters (sorry Lucien and Rhysand, you didn't impress me), ACOTAR did not reach a must-read status for me. Still, it was very enjoyable read and I recommend it to all lovers of fantasy romance!



VERDICT ?


So it was Feyre's & Tamlin's "Beaty and the Beast" story that won me over in this battle. What about you? HAVE YOU READ ANY OF THESE? BOTH? WHAT DID YOU THINK?
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Lucia @Reading Is My Breathing

Lucia is 29 years old passionate reader and reviewer who enjoys talking about all bookish things. Currently she lives in Prague, works in business industry and dreams of starting her own publishing company. Her weakness? She can never say no to cake, coffee or good novel.

Comments (25)

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I'm just about to start ACOTAR so it's good to know that you enjoyed it, I'm really excited for the romance ;) Crimson Bound, I'm still pretty conflicted about it. I too would probably have given it 3 stars but as I was writing my review I kept thinking of positives and realized I liked it more than I thought I did, if that makes sense. Still, that true spark was missing for me as well!
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2 replies · active 527 weeks ago
To be honest, I decided to read Crimson Bound based on your review and I am glad I did :)
Oh I like this feature! And it seems like you picked two interesting books for it too :) I haven't read either of these, but I have both on my TBR, so I'm sure I'll get to them eventually!
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1 reply · active 527 weeks ago
I hope you will enjoy both books when you get to reading them :)
Exactly! Sometimes, couple of words are enough to express my opinion :)
I actually really enjoyed Rhysand in ACOTAR. I think i liked him more than Tamlin. Tamlin kind of annoyed me because he lacked a personality. Feyre was pretty awesome, though, IMO. I know there were a lot of drama complications but I ended up really enjoying the slowness of the plot, like you!
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1 reply · active 527 weeks ago
Tamlin and Rhysand are such different characters that it is impossible to love them both simultaneously and equally I think. Readers have to pick and Tamlin overshadowed Rhysand for me. I am definitely in minority though :)
Rhysand didn't impress you?! He was the next big thing there!! HAHAHA I literally fell for him and am actually entertaining the idea of a possible threesome =))) But yes, absolutely loved ACOTAR and even Crimson Bound, too! Sorry that the heroine's wallowing in self-pity didn't impress you. They don't usually impress me either but I thought it worked out great for me for this case!
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1 reply · active 527 weeks ago
Yeah... I am different like that, I just could not find anything impressive about Rhysand *shrugs*. Tamlin overshadowed all male characters in ACOTAR for me :)
I read Crimson Bound, I liked it but I didn't read ACOTAR. I'm still waiting for my pre-order to come which depresses me seeing this book everywhere <3/ I love the cover of both books though, Mass' book more.
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1 reply · active 527 weeks ago
I hope your ACOTAR copy arrived by now :) And yes, I agree, both covers are gorgeous!
I absolutely loved Cruel Beauty and have heard mixed reviews from Crimson Bound, it's a shame that you found yourself bored at times! Yeah, I actually didn't mind the slow pacing at the start of ACOTAR either, and I loved Tamlin <3 Wonderful reviews Lucia!
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1 reply · active 527 weeks ago
Tamlin was amazing :D Thanks, Jeann!
Oh I feel sooo much better for my iffy feelings towards ACTOAR now. XD I feel like everyone is raving about it and here I am giving it only a few stars. >_< MY BAD! I'm glad you liked the slower pace though. It definitely was beautiful...but I'm more of an <i>I need action or I'll fall asleep kinda reader. ;-) I REALLY want to read Crimson Bound!
1 reply · active 527 weeks ago
I did enjoy ACOTAR but I wasnt impressed by it as other readers. And I heard that Throne of Glass series are packed with action so I am looking forward to reading it since I liked Sarah J. Maas's writing in ACOTAR :)
Great feature! Would you let us do this too in the future? Anyway, I have not read those books but I would love to! The hype of these books is intense!
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1 reply · active 527 weeks ago
Thanks :) And as I said before, if you credit to my blog (Reading Is My Breathing) and link back to my Two Quick Reviews feature (http://readingismybreathing.blogspot.cz/search/label/two%20quick%20reviews) you can do it on your blog as well. But please fulfill both requirements in order to do this feature on your blog.
I unfortunately DNFed Crimson Bound about 70/80% of the way in. I just couldn't keep going, and I think part of the problem was because there were so many things going on and I couldn't keep up which was a shame. The writing was fantastic but alas, it was a miss for me.

Totally agree with you when it comes to ACOTAR. I loved the slow pace of it, it let the story grow organically imo. Fabulous reviews, Lucia! x
1 reply · active 526 weeks ago
Thank you, Jess :) And yes, writing was the best domain of Crimson Bound but storyline itself wasnt that great. What a shame.
I've been planning on reading both of them, since I love fairytale retellings, but I've been a little hesitant. Now I'll have to read ACOTAR. Is Crimson Bound worth reading, if you like fairytale retellings, or do you think I should put it off?
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1 reply · active 518 weeks ago
If you are fan of fairytale retellings in general, you should read Crimson Bound. Maybe I wasnt impressed but it was still a decent read :)
I haven't read either of these authors, but both books were on my list. I totally get when you say the book didn't have a spark, with the darkness and bad heroine I think I'll put that one off.

I agree, sometimes a slow start to build the world is nice. I'm sorry the guys didn't work for you. So often the heroine is stupidly reckless to get the plot going, how annoying!
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1 reply · active 515 weeks ago
Yeah, neither of these books were perfect and I had my issues but still...both books were okay reads and I dont regret reading them :)

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