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Friday, September 29, 2017

Princess Sonora and the Long Sleep: A Review




Hello, my lovelies!

Back for Book Three! (Read the reviews for books One and Two)

Princess Sonora and the Long Sleep by Gail Carson Levine
3.5 Stars
A spiteful fairy. A beautiful princess. An outstretched finger. A spindle. A hundred-year snooze. A charming prince. A kiss. All the familiar ingredients.
But wait! Where did that extra prince come from? And those fairy gifts that were never there before? And what does a flock of balding sheep have to do with anything?
Gail Carson Levine has waved her magic wand over the old standby of "Sleeping Beauty" and presto! It reappears, transformed, sparkling and hilarious. Chuckles and giggles are guaranteed.
~From Amazon

I’m not going to lie, this one was harder to get through than the others- perhaps because I started reading it immediately after The Princess Test, which I enjoyed immensely.

But after getting through some rough patches at the beginning (which I’ll talk about later) I actually really started to enjoy this one. It certainly didn’t threaten Book Two’s spot as my favorite but is by no means a bad book.

What I Liked:
This was one interesting story. The author delves into things I’ve never seen before in a Sleeping Beauty retelling and explores themes I was really excited to find.

Sonora (our Sleeping Beauty) is cursed at birth to prick her finger on the spindle and die. She had been given the gift of being ten times smarter than everyone else earlier that day and so even though she’s still a baby she is fully aware of what’s going on when this happens. The fairy also never says when exactly this curse will take place. I haven’t seen either of these things done before and certainly never together.

Because of these events, Sonora spends a good deal of the story afraid of sleep and dreading the day when the curse comes. I’ve never seen that before and it was a really heavy subject handled very well. It really got me thinking about what it must be like to know something is going to happen yet being powerless to change it.

And while I’m not sure if the author was going for this or not (it’s quite possible I just read into it way too much) the story does seem to deal with the idea of what happens when we force our kids to be the way we want them to be. At Sonora’s birth she’s gifted with a loving heart. She then spends several different points in the book wondering if she loves someone because she loves them or because she’s forced too.

And beyond that, the gifts she was given often make her unlikeable- her being so much smarter than everyone else is more a curse than a blessing. So too it is with Prince Melvin XX. He’s so many things- brave, traditional, tall, honest, and strong, to name a few- and because of these things people find him hard to spend time with. These gifts often make them more awkward than anything and don’t enhance their place in society but rather make them fit into it even less.

Again, I’m not sure that’s what the author was going for and she was quite possibly just poking fun at a traditional fairy tale trope. But it made me think a lot and I enjoy it when books make me think so I wanted to include it.

There are also some very cute characters in this story. Elbert the shepherd and his family are such a fun addition to the story and Prince Christopher is the sweetest character (as we fangirls say- he is a cinnamon roll, too pure for this world).

What I Didn’t Like:
I'm going to try and keep this short and concise because I don’t want to keep anyone from reading this book. It really was a cute story, I just had issues with it. Mostly because there were a lot of places that were just plain illogical. I think the author was just trying to be humorous but it fell flat for me because of the jokes she was making.

Sonora is ten times as smart as everyone else and we’re told that even as a baby she thinks and acts as much like an adult as she’s able too- as she’s still a baby she still has to crawl and the like, but she can think and converse on a very mature level. She’s so smart that even as a kid, she never acts like a kid. She finds no use for toys and can’t play games with the other kids because she always finds problems with them. This bothered me because even highly intelligent children still act like children sometimes. Kids are still kids and they still have things that make them kids. But not so with Sonora!

But then, Sonora also spends a whole lot of time reading and studying and then sharing this knowledge with the world. And one of the things she likes to do is tell people what the purpose of things are. Except the purpose of things are more childish than factual.

For instance, she says that the purpose of winter is to produce ice so that people can eat flavored ice in the summer. Except that isn’t the purpose of winter, as someone who reads every book she can get her hands on would know. And it’s not like she can’t get her hands on a lot of books because she’s a princess who lives in a castle with the very well-stocked library.

Basically I just struggled with the inconstancy of whether or not Sonora was capable of acting childish. I felt like it kept me from really knowing her and that made me feel disconnected from her. A book can be really hard to read when you feel disconnected from the main character.

As I said, I’m sure it was just the author trying to keep the same light-hearted, comical tone of the other books, but in this story it fell short for me.

Overview:
Overall, this wasn’t a bad book; not my favorite but I’m also pleased to have reread it again. It’s an interesting take on Sleeping Beauty and one that certainly has a lot of merit. And as with the others, it’s a fun, light-hearted story that could easily be read aloud even to a younger audience.

Looking forward to reading the other books in the series.

I’ll be back Monday with some musings on my own writing and I hope to see you then. Until the next time we meet don’t forget to live happily ever after <3
~Jennifer Sauer, the Ivory Palace Princess

P.S. Let’s Chat! What are some of your favorite Sleeping Beauty retellings? What’s something you’d like to see happen in a Sleeping Beauty retelling someday?

Monday, September 25, 2017

How to Connect With Non-Writers: A Guide


This post is dedicated to all the people in my life who aren’t writers but put up with me and my craziness anyway: 
Most importantly- Mom and Dad, thank you for everything. You are appreciated more than you will know. And Danielle and Stephie, you too are appreciated beyond words.



Hello, my lovelies!

Last week I talked to non-writers about how to talk to writers and this week I wanted to flip that around and discuss how writers can talk to people who don’t write.

As I mentioned last week we writers are a strange bunch. We’re full of quirks and idiosyncrasies, our mind working in ways that are complicated and confusing. We live in so many different worlds and stories and characters are as part of us as our childhood home or our church. We’re connected to fictional people and places and we create worlds and control lives with nothing but words.

So when the time comes to pull ourselves from those fictional places and we’re forced to interact with “normal” people, how do we do that? How do we talk to someone who doesn’t understand us and can’t even begin to?

Get Rid of That Attitude:
First and foremost, set aside the idea that someone who doesn’t write can’t understand you. Obviously the way your brain is wired is different than the brain of someone who isn’t a writer; that doesn’t mean your brain is more complex than theirs or more interesting.

One of my closest friends laughed at me and told me “no” when I told her she had a really good idea and she should write a book. She has no interest in being a writer and has no intention of changing her mind anytime soon.

I still love her to pieces. She lets me ramble to her about my stories and tells me to go write when I tell her I haven’t made my word count for the day. She teases me and coaxes me and bribes me to write. She gets excited for me when I reach a major milestone and is there for me when I’m stuck and need someone to commiserate with me.

She might not be a writer, but she’s there. She has made an effort to understand me and make my life a part of hers.

And then, as I mentioned in the dedication, my parents and sister have gone out of their way to let me be who I am, to understand me, to keep up with the way my brain works, and to not only tolerate but encourage my writing to thrive. So don’t ever think your brain is too special or weird for other people to understand. It’s not and you are so much better off for it.

Stop Making Writing Your Identity:
My brother-in-law isn’t a writer. But he codes like nobody’s business and understands the language of computers on a level I will never even begin to understand. He understands math and science when those things just make my head spin.

That doesn’t mean one of us has a better brain and that doesn’t mean that one of us is superior to the other. And it certainly doesn’t mean we can’t understand each other. I might not understand his coding just as he might not understand my writing. But neither of those things is who we are. Those are merely things we do.

It’s really easy for us as people to take on labels and make them our identity. But while I might be a daughter, a writer, a teacher, and a friend none of those things is my sole purpose or identity. While I might have different hobbies or interests, none of those things define me indefinitely.

It’s really easy to hide behind your writing identity- I say this as someone who is insecure and likes to hide behind anything I can get my hands on. So it’s easy to use your writing as a shield to keep everyone else at bay, to put a level of fantasy between yourself and reality.

But in the end, just like anything else, that box becomes so constricting and it will keep you from meaningful relationships.

Get Rid of the “Us” and “Them” Mentality:
I spend a lot of time with writers. They are “my people” and being with them I feel accepted and understood. In last week’s post I mentioned the judgement that often comes from the questions of non-writers and being around people who you know aren’t going to ask you those same questions is refreshing. You can be yourself- your strange, quirky self- and not have to worry about people judging you.

But guess what? People who don’t write are strange too. She insists she’s normal, but let me tell you, my sister is as quirky as they come (I mean that in the best way possible). She has all those little things about her that make her who she is and it’s wonderful.

But too often as writers we get so excited about the acceptance we find within our own “tribe” that we write off (no pun intended) relationships with people who don’t write, people who aren’t like us, because going out on that limb and making those connections is hard.

Life isn’t about finding our tribe. It’s about meeting people where they are and appreciating the unique perspective they bring to life. It would be super weird if the only reason my dad and I were able to have a relationship was because I worked that one summer at the same mortgage company as him. Or how out-there would it be if my mom’s only friends were other crossing guards?

My mom and I, we’re wired very differently and because of that she helps me see things I never would have otherwise. She keeps me grounded and brings strength to my weaknesses. She’s able to look at certain things more objectively than I am and I need her to offer that perspective.

Remember People Can’t Read Your Mind:
I asked some non-writers in my life about what they might want us writers to understand or keep in mind when talking to them. And there seemed to be a common theme in their answers.

Remember that people aren’t inside your head. When you start talking about a story the person you’re talking to doesn’t automatically know what story that’s from. And if you don’t specify that a character is fictional, people might even think you’re talking about a real person!

I tend to jump around from story to story when I’m writing and I just assume my family can keep up. But unfortunately, for all his amazing efforts to do so, my dad can’t if I tell him Thursday evening about the story I’m working and then switch to another story Friday morning without warning. When I start talking about the new story on Friday evening, he has no idea that I switched. He wasn’t there in my brain that morning or reading over my shoulder all day- thankfully- and so in his mind we’re still on the story from Thursday evening.

Same goes for fictional characters- just because you told your sister about that one character that one time, when you start talking about Sarah two weeks later she isn’t going to know who you’re talking about. And she’s quite possibly going to assume you’re talking about a mutual acquaintance with that name or that Sarah is someone you met recently. And just because she askes “Who’s Sarah???” in that tone that says she has no idea what you’re talking about, that doesn’t mean she doesn’t care. It means she’s confused because she can’t read your mind. She doesn’t know Sarah isn’t a real person. She doesn’t know Sarah is yet another one of your characters in a very long line of your characters.

So just remember people can’t read your mind. Nor do they have any way of keeping up with it if you don’t explain things to them. It just takes a little extra mindfulness on your part and maybe an extra sentence or two. “So I switched stories I’m working on. I’m writing a sci-fi about cats who live on Mars. [Proceed into whatever you wanted to say]” or “You might remember me telling you about my character Sarah- she lives during the Great Depression and she and her brother are trying to find their father. [Proceed with whatever you wanted to say about her]”

In the End, Remember Life Isn’t About Writing:
A lot of my life revolves around writing- besides my own writing I also teach writing, blog about writing, read books to review so I dissect them on how they were written, and assist other with their own stories and writing. And when I’m not doing those things I’m consuming media and looking for the story in it just because that’s how my brain is wired- books, movies, shows, music, even television commercials.

But in the midst of all that God has been working in me to remind me that all those things that mean so much to me aren’t always the most important thing in the world. Not every situation needs me to analyze it from a literary angle and I don’t always need to equate everything to something that happens to one of my own characters or some other fictional character I love.

Sometimes my stories get in the way. Sometimes I get so caught up in fiction and the lives and problems of fictional people that I forget to be invested in the moment. I forget to look at the people in front of me- to really look at them and see them as something more than inspiration.

Remember to hit pause on your stories sometimes. Remember to hit play on life. Instead of going into conversations afraid of being judged, look for opportunities to learn about the people in front of you. Who are they, besides someone who has decided opinions about your chosen career or hobby? What makes them tick? What are their passions? What makes them laugh? What did they struggle with this week? What are they dreading or looking forward to in the week to come?

Look for opportunities to connect with people. If they were a fictional character you’d be all over getting to know them. Take that same interest in the people around you and you might actually find that they’re just as complex and intriguing as fiction. They too have stories to tell, if you only listen.

I hope to see you all on Friday for another review. Until the next time we meet, don’t forget to live happily ever after <3
~Jennifer Sauer, the Ivory Palace Princess


P.S. Let’s Chat! As a non-writer, what are some things you wish writers would understand? Or, as a writer, what are some things you’ve been learning lately about interacting with people?

Friday, September 22, 2017

The Princess Test: A Review

Hello, my lovelies, I’m back for book two!



The Princess Test by Gail Carson Levine
4.5 Stars
King Humphrey has decided it's time for his son, Prince Nicholas, to marry. But he must make sure the bride is a real princess. So he devises a series of princess tests, designed to weed out the phonies and the fakes. Meanwhile, Nicholas has fallen in love with Lorelei, a mere blacksmith's daughter. She's no princess, but he wants to marry her all the same--but how will she ever pass the terrible tests?
-From Goodreads

When I read this series as a teen I read them out of publication order because I read them in the order I could get them from the library. This was actually the last book that I read so it was nice to actually read it in the “right” order this time around.

I really love this book. It’s a Princess and the Pea retelling and the author does such a wonderful job with it. Her additions are clever and fun, while also keeping with the original heart of the tale.

What I Liked:
As I stated, I really like this book. It might be my favorite of the series (I’ll hold out on making that decision until I’ve reread all of them though). The story is sweet, much like its predecessor. But this story feels tighter than the other, better put together.

I love the twist the author put on the original tale, stating right from that start that Lorelei (our “princess” who actually happens to be a blacksmith’s daughter) is a very particular person. From her birth she has always needed things to be just so.

But this need is just that- a need more so than the desire most Princess and the Pea interpretations tend to make it out to be. Lorelei doesn’t do the dishes not because she’s spoiled and stuck-up but because she gets a rash when she does. She is also very accident-prone so any game she plays or chore she is set to almost always ends in blood.

At heart she is a sweet girl who hates how much of a burden she is to everyone. And when she does point out that things aren’t just so she does it kindly and discretely. She is never stuck-up, picky, or rude. She’s kind and loving and gentle and I love her so much.

Just as much as I love Prince Nicholas, the love interest. He’s kind and earnest and endearing. He isn’t particular at all, not noting the subtle imperfections that his parents and Lorelei so easily pick out. He is quite happy and content with taking life as it comes.

His and Lorelei’s relationship is sweet and charming (and like the last book very appropriate even for younger readers). The author puts a nice twist on the “love at first sight” cliché, while also avoiding the “bickering at first sight” cliché. I loved them together from the start and that never changes over the course of the story.

As with the last book (and as is a running theme in this series) the writing style is clever and fun. The King and Queen (as a twist on the original tale) are very finicky and their words choices fit that. It’s really fun and makes the story even better. The narration is also great, making it the perfect sort of book for reading aloud.

What I Didn’t Like:
The villain in this book is the housekeeper Lorelei’s dad hires to look after her when her mother passes. The woman gets fed up with how particular Lorelei is and how much work she is to care for and she decides to do her in. It’s honestly all a bit weird. I don’t know why the author felt this was the right thing for her story because I frankly find it really, really strange.

It’s only a part of the book’s conflict though and I was able to overlook how odd I thought it was (perhaps from all my years of reading actual fairy tales and having to overlook other really strange things?)

Overview:
As I have said several times, I really like this book. Save for the weird side-plot of the murderous housekeeper there isn’t much I dislike about it. I definitely liked it more than the first book and am so very excited to keep rereading the series to see what else the author has in store for this world.

The playlist, as I stated last week, will be up when I've finished reviewing the rest of the series!

On Monday I’ll be sharing my thoughts on how writers can talk to non-writers (a follow-up to this post) and I hope to see you then! Until the next time we meet, don’t forget to live happily ever after <3
~Jennifer Sauer, the Ivory Palace Princess


P.S. Let’s chat! What are some of your favorite Princess and the Pea retellings? What are some things you haven’t seen but would like to in a retelling of this tale?

Monday, September 18, 2017

How To Talk To Writers: A Guide

Hello my lovelies!

Today I wanted to talk about writers.





We’re a strange breed, don’t you think?

We can be introverted or extroverted, young or old. We come in all shapes, sizes, and races. The only thing we all really have in common is we’re all creatives who have a story (or several stories) to tell.

Also, we can be hard to talk to.

Now some of this is on us. We can be intimidating to talk to because writing, while a common enough career choice, isn’t one people come in contact with all the time. Writers are like garbage workers- you know they exist but how often do you really meet one?

And when you don’t come in contact with us very often it’s understandable that it can be hard to know what to say to us. And while it’s certainly a generalization and one that by no means applies to all writers, a lot of times we’re introverted individuals. We can be quiet, reserved, shy, whatever you want to call it. So when you start talking to us, while you’re being friendly, we’re a little nervous and what is coming across as maybe disinterest, snobbery, or shortness is nothing more than anxiety.

Introverted or extroverted, we’re wondering if you’re judging us. Because we’ve all been judged before. Are you going to tell me my career choice is a bad one? Are you going to make that same “joke” everyone makes about how you hope I like to starve or that I need to get used to rejection? Are you going to tell me that I should be writing this new idea you came up with the other day? Are you going to ask why I don’t just self-publish my books because you have a cousin who did that and it’s so easy?

But what else are you supposed to say? How are you supposed to talk to these strange and oh-so-fascinating individuals?

Don’t worry, I’ve got you covered!

Please Don’t Ask If We’re Still Writing:
Chances are if you talked to me a few months ago about my writing or you remember my mom mentioning it to you when you saw her at the store last week, then yes. I am still writing. Writing is a very important thing to me so when asked if I still am it comes across that maybe it isn’t obvious how seriously I take my writing. And that hurts. I want to make this a career so when asked about it as if it’s merely a passing craze can be a bit annoying.

Also the answer to that question is a one word “Yes.” I’m not sure if you actually care more about that and want me to elaborate or if you’re just being polite and would hate it if I went into detail about my writing.

Instead Maybe Ask:
“What are you writing?” If I’m not working on something it will be no different than the question above where I say I’m not and we move on. But there is a very high chance I’m working on something and I am usually very excited to talk about it. I have an answer to that question.

Other questions that are good to ask are “So what exactly do you love so much about writing?” “Why are your characters special to you?” “What does your writing routine look like?” “How often do you sit down to write?” or really any question directed to get the writer to talk about their writing. If you have questions we would rather you ask those, would rather share that part of our lives with you, than have you ask a question with a one word answer.

Please Don’t Make Jokes About Our Choices:
We know writing is hard. We know making a career out of it will likely pay little and that we might even have to get another job to support ourselves. We know that rejection letters are a common thing and we are going to have to accept them. We know. Any friendly advice you feel the need to offer in the form of a joke we have heard before. So many times before.

And it hurts, honestly. When you tell us you work at a bank or as a teacher or a secretary or in retail or customer service or any other career that isn’t in the arts we don’t make jokes about those. Or we shouldn’t. You know how annoying it is when people make jokes about your job or talk about it like they know more than you do. It’s the same with writers. Ours is a career choice like any other.

Instead Maybe Ask:
Again, ask why we’ve chosen that career. It’s crazy if you think about it- we know we’ve chosen a job that may never make us any money. We understand the truth behind the starving artist stereotype. So why, knowing what we know, have we still chosen to follow that career? Instead of assuming it’s because we’re delusional or don’t understand what we’re getting into, ask us what our reasons are.

Because trust me, we have them. There are as many reasons as there are writers but I promise that every writer has their reasons. So if you want to know, please ask. We would love to tell you our reasons.

Please Don’t Tell Us Which Publishing Path to Take:
A lot of times when the fact that we’re a writer comes up, we’re asked about publishing. Have we done it? Do we plan to? What route are we going to take?

Publishing is a very complex world and one that should never be entered lightly (as I discuss at length here). Just because your cousin Martha self-published doesn’t mean it is right for every writer you come into contact with. In fact, there are a lot of writers it isn’t good for. But a lot of young, impressionable writers don’t know that and it is the people who don’t understand the publishing industry, who tell these writers that self-publishing "is a wonderful option!" that end up hurting writers in the end.

Writers need to do their research and seek the advice of professionals before they take any steps toward publishing. Just as we don’t tell you how to work toward getting a promotion at work, so too non-writers really shouldn’t be telling writers how to go about publishing their work. Self-publishing is something that needs to be approached with absolute surety that it is the right option for the writer. It's not right for everyone and if it isn’t right for a writer then doing it can hurt their chances of publishing traditionally in the future.

So please, if you take one thing away from this, please stop telling writers to self-publish.

Instead Maybe Ask:
What our publishing plans are. We’re either going to say traditional publishing, self-publishing, we don’t plan to publish, or we’re not sure. From there you have so many questions you can ask us! Why have we chosen the path that we did? If we don’t plan to publish then what drives us to still write consistently? Ask us what steps traditional or self-publishing entail and how we plan to approach them.

There are so many complexities to publishing and if we have the answers we would love to share them with you. So please don’t assume you know more than we do about any of this and instead maybe listen? Or if you want to share profound wisdom with us about something, tell us about your own job. I’m sure whatever career you’re in I know next to nothing about it and I would rather you tell me about it than you tell me how to do my own job.

Please Don’t Tell Us What to Write:
This one happens all the time. Someone finds out we’re a writer and their first response to it is “I had this idea that you should write.”

The problem with this is that most times it isn’t a genre we write. I write Young Adult Fairy Tale Retellings. Romantic Adventure Comedy is my preferred genre to write in and I write stories that are driven by characters and their interactions more so than plot. So when you start telling me about that hard sci-fi idea you had that I really need to write I honestly get overwhelmed. I can’t write hard sci-fi. I didn’t grow up with it and haven’t fully gotten into it since. So while I can appreciate it as a genre it’s not one I understand enough to actually write a story in. So you telling me I need to write the story puts me in a very awkward position.

How do I tell you no without it coming across that I hate the idea? But how do I tell you that I like the idea without it coming across that I plan to write it? I start to panic then and look for a very quick way out of this conversation. Which is sad, because I really did enjoy talking to you before this.

Instead Maybe:
Either ask about what we do write and what sort of things we’re working on or else just tell us you have an idea you’d like to write someday. Your idea probably isn’t a bad one; it’s just not something we want to write. Don’t take it personally.

And even if it is in the genre the person writes that doesn’t mean they have to love it to make it worth something. Sometimes an idea just doesn’t click for a certain writer. That doesn’t make it a bad idea, it just means that isn’t the writer to write it.

Please Don’t Ask Questions Out of Judgement:
As I have stated again and again, we writers really don’t like to be judged. No one likes being judged.

When I asked my writer friends what some things were they would like to be asked by non-writers or things they hated being asked the theme that popped up the most was that it wasn’t always the questions so much as how the question was asked.

“So why do you write?” can be a very loaded question. If you ask it out of genuine curiosity it makes us happy because we can share a piece of ourselves with you. But when asked out of judgement because you don’t deem it a worthy endeavor we pick up on that and it makes us not really want to continue with the conversation.

Same goes for any question you ask really.

Instead Maybe:
Ask out of genuine curiosity with a desire to hear our answers and have a conversation or change the subject. We aren’t going to be offended if you don’t want to talk about our writing.

Writing is a very personal thing to us. It is important and valuable and we are learning how to use it to say what we want to say, how to tell stories as we seek to understand the role stories play in our society, and how to understand ourselves and the people around us. It means something to us and it hurts when someone comes along and tells us condescendingly that they don’t approve of our choices.

We don’t ask you why you became a bank teller or a waitress or a mother or a sales clerk. We don’t offer snide comments and pointed looks about your wages or whether you offer anything of value to society. And if we do it’s wrong of us to do so. So very wrong.

So please, don’t do the same to us. Either seek to understand us or move on with your life. We have ourselves figured out and assuming that we don’t isn’t going to benefit either of us.


Thank You:
Some of my favorite people in the world are the ones who don’t write and don’t understand it at all but have taken the time to care because it means something to me. So to everyone I know who has played that role in my life, thank you.

And if you have a writer in your life, seek to play that role for them. I promise, we’re not so strange once you get to know us. We really do make sense, I swear.

What are some things you have learned from the writers in your life that you might not understand otherwise?

I hope to see you on Friday for a new book review. Until the next time we meet, don’t forget to live happily ever after <3

~Jennifer Sauer, the Ivory Palace Princess

Friday, September 15, 2017

The Fairy's Mistake: A Review

Hello, my lovelies! Excited to share today’s book with you!



The Fairy’s Mistake by Gail Carson Levine
3.5 Stars
Two very different sisters have two very different encounters with the fairy Ethelinda. Rosella is kind and helpful. Her reward: Jewels and gems tumble out of her mouth whenever she speaks. Myrtle is rude and spiteful. Her punishment: Bugs and vipers slither out of her mouth. The fairy Ethelinda feels she's meted out justice just right--until she discovers Rosella has been locked up by a greedy prince and Myrtle is having the time of her life!
-From Goodreads

This is the first book in the Princess Tales series.  It’s a retelling of Toads and Diamonds, a classic, lesser-known fairy tale. This series has been a part of my life since I was a teen and I am so excited that I get to read it again and share it with you over the next several week!

What I Liked:
This book is cleverly written, the tone being set from the very first sentence. You immediately know this is going to be a fun, light-hearted story. It has a very classic fairy tale feel, this story able to be put right alongside an original fairy tale with ease.

It’s a quick read- I read it in a single sitting- with the airy tone making the story move easily. There isn’t much meat to the story; the plot advances rather fast with each scene furthering the main plot. And yet the author manages to pack a good deal of character development into what little space she uses.

The characters are so well-done. I really loved Rosella, who is “blessed” with precious jewels. She is sweet and kind but the author, though she doesn’t delve too much into it, gives her a depth that makes her feel more than a pushover. She is sweet and kind and she lets herself be taken advantage of by the people around her partially because of these qualities but also partially out of fear. It’s a well-done explanation and one I really appreciated seeing.

Myrtle as well, Rosella’s sister and the one “cursed” with toads and snakes and bugs, is someone I found myself liking. There isn’t much to like about her as she isn’t necessarily a nice person. But still, for some unexplained reason, I found myself unable to dislike her. Still, her rudeness is never portrayed as something that is good or right or that should be emulated.

Prince Harold has some nice character development as well. He changes the most over the course of the story and I really like what the author did with him.

The relationship between Rosella and Harold is really adorable, despite my reservations about their age (see my comments below in “What I Didn’t Like”). It’s hardly such that can be called a romance given that there is so little time to dwell on it, making it a good story even for a younger audience.

And the book has illustrations! I don’t know when the last time I read a book with illustrations was and it’s quite refreshing.

What I Didn’t Like:
The story is simple and sweet but I felt it moved rather fast in places. I wished there was more time to delve into the characters or plot a little deeper, instead of just moving on quickly. It suffered from the same things original tales do- there were holes I wished to see filled instead of glossed over. Also, as much as I liked Harold’s development, it might have been nice to see it take a little more time so that it could grow more naturally. And I would have maybe liked to see Myrtle grow a little more as a character.

My biggest concern is that Rosella and Myrtle are only fourteen. I didn’t remember this being the case when I first read the series but it’s stated quite clearly in this first book. And from what I've reread of the others it feels like this is a common theme in the stories- very young people getting into relationships. There is a disconnect, given that it’s a fictional kingdom and things move too quickly to really delve into how young they are, so I don’t think the author is encouraging anyone that young to actually be in a relationship. But it still startled me a bit when I read it now.

Overview:
I enjoyed this book a lot. It’s simple and quaint and while not anything extraordinary, it’s charming and clever and well-written. For the first book in a series I think it could have started out on a bigger bang. But it offered hope for greater things to come in the future and I’m looking forward to rereading the rest of the series!

I would highly recommend this book for middle grade readers or older. Or it could even be read aloud to younger readers who might not quite be able to read some of the bigger words on their own.

Have you read this book or any others by this author? Does this sound like something you would like?

Since the book is so short I’m going to hold off posting a playlist until I review the last book since it will be a series playlist rather than a separate list for each book. I look forward to sharing that, along with the rest of the books, with you in the upcoming weeks!

I hope to see you on Monday for a writing related post. Until the next time we meet, don’t forget to live happily ever after <3

~Jennifer Sauer, the Ivory Palace Princess

P.S. Let's Chat! What's your favorite fairy tale retelling series?

Monday, September 11, 2017

Is Your Story Fit For the Internet Age?

Hello, my lovelies!



Let’s be honest: we all want to be famous.

As we plan, and outline, and write, and edit, we picture our book on the bestseller list. We picture book signings in huge fancy stores, packed, with lines longer than any book signing has had before.

We’ve got a dream cast picked out for when they make our book into a movie (not if, when), ignoring the little voice in our heads that reminds us by the time we get famous none of these people will be the right age to play our characters.

We’ve practiced interviews in our heads, have posts planned, have dreams of what kind of author we plan to be (the kind who hangs with their fans, the mysterious and elusive writer, etc.).

We all want to be famous, all picture our book going big.

So, I’m going to indulge you in that fantasy. You want your book to go big. If it does, is it suited to the internet age?

See, everything’s on the internet these days. People don’t mean to do it, but they go see a movie or they read a book and they posts spoilers without meaning to. They write a review and mention the ending. They screenshot scenes with the dialogue on screen and it gives just a little too much information. They post a Facebook status, they post to Tumblr, they post on a “book confessions” thing, and then it gets posted around, shared and reshared.

Then I see it on Pinterest and know how it ends.

Before I even started reading the Divergent series, I knew how it ended. I hadn’t read one single word in the book and I knew the most major spoiler at the end. I also knew every major character and most of their backstories in the Heroes of Olympus series before I finished reading the series that comes before it (Percy Jackson).

I finished the entire Divergent series in the space of a week. I never finished the first Heroes of Olympus book, Son of Neptune. So, why did I finish one but not the other?

I couldn’t get through Son of Neptune for a number of reasons, but I think I could have overlooked every other reason if the author hadn’t hit me in the face with the idea of suspense every five seconds.

There’s this huge mystery surrounding one of the main characters in the book. Major, major mystery with so much suspense. The entire book rides on it. Now, years ago, you could make your book ride on one thing. You could center your plot around one key point. But not today. Not in the YA world.

See, I knew the answer to the question the author was dangling over my head. So every time he dangled it, every time he made the engaging part of his story ride on the fact that I didn’t, it fell flat. I didn’t care, because I knew. And, that was the only thing his plot seemed to ride on. The burning question, the big things that needed an answer, I knew what was going to happen.

So I didn’t care.

On the other hand, knowing how the Divergent series ended didn’t change anything for me, because there was so much else going on. The books have so many layers, so many facets, that if one or two of them are spoiled, there’s still so much there, so much that is unknown and so much else going on, that the series is still engaging to read.

And yes, the story’s working toward the major spoiler, but the author never dangles it over your head. It’s not a huge mystery, not some huge thing that the entire series hinges on.

Now, I’m not saying your story can’t hinge on a plot twist. I’m saying you have to give your story more of a draw than that.

A good example of this is the original Star Wars trilogy. We live in an age where almost everyone knows Darth Vader is Luke’s father. “Luke, I am your father” is one of most quoted movie lines of all time (even though that’s not actually a direct quote from the movie).

But people don’t hate Star Wars because they know that, even if they know it before they watch the movies. Because there is so much more to the story. The entire plot doesn’t ride on whether or not we know Vader is Luke’s father. There’s more to it and that’s why people are able to enjoy the movies even knowing what is going to happen.

Your story can have plot twists. Major plot twists. It can have the biggest plot twist in the history of plot twists. But your story can’t hinge on that.

Basically, books that are only good the first time through don’t work anymore. Those worked in an age where people didn’t have spoilers, people didn’t know what was coming. Now that we have stories being spoiled left and right, you need something better.

The internet has presented us with a challenge; one that the great writers will rise above and see as a push to make their book even better. It needs to stand the test of time, needs to be able to be read and reread and still be just as magical to read as it was the first time through.

It might take a little more time, might be a little more work. But then, writing is work. It’s so much work.

And, I would like to specify that I think this mostly applies to the YA genre. Spoilers don’t seem to get out as much in books written for the adult world. Like, Agatha Christie’s books have been out for ages and I haunt a lot of literary sites, read a ton of literature related blogs, but I have yet to see a single spoiler for any of her books. So, I’m not sure it applies as much with other genres as it does the YA. I think it’s because young adults are more active online and they especially seem to interact through stories. But that might only seem to be the case because I’m in more contact with young adults and read more young adult books than adult.

Anyway!

What are some of your favorite stories that include plot twists? What are some that fall short for you?

I hope to see you all on Friday for a new book review! Until the next time we meet, don’t forget to live happily ever after <3

~Jennifer Sauer, the Ivory Palace Princess

Friday, September 8, 2017

Rapunzel's Revenge: A Review

Hello, my lovelies!



Rapunzel’s Revenge by Shannon and Dean Hale
4.5 Stars
Once upon a time, in a land you only think you know, lived a little girl and her mother . . . or the woman she thought was her mother.

Every day, when the little girl played in her pretty garden, she grew more curious about what lay on the other side of the garden wall . . . a rather enormous garden wall.

And every year, as she grew older, things seemed weirder and weirder, until the day she finally climbed to the top of the wall and looked over into the mines and desert beyond.

Newbery Honor-winning author Shannon Hale teams up with husband Dean Hale and brilliant artist Nathan Hale (no relation) to bring readers a swashbuckling and hilarious twist on the classic story as you've never seen it before. Watch as Rapunzel and her amazing hair team up with Jack (of beanstalk fame) to gallop around the wild and western landscape, changing lives, righting wrongs, and bringing joy to every soul they encounter.
 ~From Goodreads

This graphic novel has been one of my favorites from the first time I read it! I was going to say that I was ten or eleven when I first read this book but a quick look at the publication date shows I was fourteen when it came out. So I’ll just say it feels like this book has been a part of my life for a very long time.

What I Liked:
The Retelling- This is such a clever take on Rapunzel! The author sticks close to the themes and ideas of Rapunzel but sets it in a new setting and offering us some delightful twists, making the story more one of Rapunzel coming into her own and learning to stand not only for herself but also those who’ve had their voice taken away from them.

The Setting- This book is set in a fictional world that is based off the Old West and It. Is. Glorious. It had all the feelings that you want out of a stereotypical western and then some. My little western loving heart was so incredibly happy.

Jack (and Jack and Rapunzel’s Relationship)- Jack (from Jack and the Beanstalk) happens into Rapunzel’s life quite by accident. And from there the two bicker, banter, and become fast friends. Jack’s exactly the type of conman you want in a story- shady but lovable- and he runs into your heart right from the very first page. He’s funny (partially because he isn’t funny but thinks he is), clever, terrified of getting into danger and yet always scheming some scheme, and just really, really fun.

He and Rapunzel have a wonderful relationship, starting as two strangers thrown together, growing into friends, and then developing into something more. It’s sweet, natural, and I love it.

The Story- As I mentioned above this is more a story of Rapunzel coming into her own, learning to be strong, and standing up not only for herself but others as well. It starts when Rapunzel is locked in the tower and she realizes she has to get out on her own or stay there forever.

But the moment she realizes she needs to save herself is also the moment she realizes the villain is evil and that Rapunzel isn’t the only person she’s oppressed. So when Rapunzel decides to save herself she also decides to save the others who’ve suffer so much worse than her. And the more she travels the kingdom the more oppression she sees and the more her resolve is strengthened.

It’s a really powerful message and one I think more girls need to hear. So often empowerment is portrayed as a personal thing- “You’re strong and capable and you don’t need anyone but yourself to save you!”- but here we’re given a step further. “You’re strong and you’re capable and not only can you save yourself but you can save the people who aren’t strong enough to save themselves too.”

The Diversity- It’s sad that I have to put this (because this should be so normal I shouldn’t have to mention it). But I loved the fact that Native Americans get a good amount of screen time in this book in portrayals that aren’t just stereotyped or as nothing more than a threat to induce excitement or as villains or as token POC characters. They’re portrayed both as individuals and an incredible group of people, fierce and proud and worthy of respect.

This is a fictional west. The authors could have easily done what other have done and written them out of it altogether, claiming that they weren’t part of this west, which is a grievous error I’m glad these authors didn’t make. They included a very forgotten or otherwise misrepresented part of the west with respect and dignity and for that I am so very grateful.

What I Didn’t Like:
The Prince- The book strays a little into “Girls rule, boys drool!” territory for a quick second after Rapunzel escapes the tower and comes across the arrogant prince who declares he’s going to save the princess. He’s super sexist and Rapunzel is rightly revolted by him so she sends him on his way. I just feel like this character pops up in nearly every book like this. Can we not have a book meant to empower girls that features a character like this? I get the idea of showing girls that even when they encounter negative guys like this they’re stronger than that and they can rise above these things. But this character is always flat and a walking political point, which is distracting when the rest of the cast is so well-developed…

And I’m spending why too much time on this because this character is literally on maybe two or three pages so it’s not a huge deal. And Jack does a good job making sure the readers know that the author doesn’t think all guys are arrogant and incompetent. So yeah, it’s not a huge deal. It just bugged me…

Overview:
I love this book. It’s not perfect, no. Not even close. But it’s fun and well-written and it has good characters and it makes me laugh. It’s also played a huge role in shaping how I view Rapunzel. Much like Rapunzel in Tangled, this Rapunzel has given me a view of her as spunky and strong, determined and driven, rather than the timid and stupid girl people often try to make her out to be.

I also realized rereading this that there are things I associate with Rapunzel that come from this story. More often than not, I picture Rapunzel as a redhead, instead of the blonde she traditionally is. I also associate her with Jack and the Beanstalk and I’m not sure if that came from my retelling that includes Rapunzel and Jack or if the idea for that part of the retelling subconsciously came from this book.

I would recommend this book to middle schoolers or older. And I would definitely recommend it. In a heartbeat.

You can find the playlist here!

I hope to see you all on Monday for a new post about writing. Until the next time we meet, don’t forget to live happily ever after <3


~Jennifer Sauer, the Ivory Palace Princess