Review: Sea Witch by Sarah Henning

Everyone knows what happens in the end. A mermaid, a prince, a true love’s kiss. But before that young siren’s tale, there were three friends. One feared, one royal, and one already dead.

Ever since her best friend, Anna, drowned, Evie has been an outcast in her small fishing town. A freak. A curse. A witch.

A girl with an uncanny resemblance to Anna appears offshore and, though the girl denies it, Evie is convinced that her best friend actually survived. That her own magic wasn’t so powerless after all. And, as the two girls catch the eyes—and hearts—of two charming princes, Evie believes that she might finally have a chance at her own happily ever after.

But her new friend has secrets of her own. She can’t stay in Havnestad, or on two legs, unless Evie finds a way to help her. Now Evie will do anything to save her friend’s humanity, along with her prince’s heart—harnessing the power of her magic, her ocean, and her love until she discovers, too late, the truth of her bargain.

This is a book of two parts and it makes it such a hard book to review and rate, because I both loved it but also thought it was quite 'meh' at times.

My main issue with this book was the pacing - this isn't an action packed book. This book focuses on building relationships between the main characters - Nik, Evie and Annemette (Anne in the past bits) and revealing the secrets bit by bit, which I must admit did mean that at times I lost the will to continue reading because it was so slow. Not a lot happens until the end and even then the book doesn't hit you hard.

But I did really enjoy the relationships between the characters, and the writing flowed so beautifully in places that it became a pleasure to read even when the pacing was atrocious. I really enjoyed the characters - Nik especially was just cute. 

Overall, Sea Witch was an okay read, with poor pacing but characters and writing that made an attempt to redeem it. 

Book released  21st July 2018 by Katherine Tegan

Book received from the publisher/author in exchange for an honest review

Review: Among the Beasts & Briars by Ashley Poston

Cerys is safe in the kingdom of Aloriya.

Here there are no droughts, disease, or famine, and peace is everlasting. It has been this way for hundreds of years, since the first king made a bargain with the Lady who ruled the forest that borders the kingdom. But as Aloriya prospered, the woods grew dark, cursed, and forbidden. Cerys knows this all too well: when she was young, she barely escaped as the woods killed her friends and her mother. Now Cerys carries a small bit of the curse—the magic—in her blood, a reminder of the day she lost everything. The most danger she faces now, as a gardener’s daughter, is the annoying fox who stalks the royal gardens and won’t leave her alone.

As a new queen is crowned, however, things long hidden in the woods descend on the kingdom itself. Cerys is forced on the run, her only companions the small fox from the garden, a strange and powerful bear, and the magic in her veins. It’s up to her to find the legendary Lady of the Wilds and beg for a way to save her home. But the road is darker and more dangerous than she knows, and as secrets from the past are uncovered amid the teeth and roots of the forest, it’s going to take everything she has just to survive.

Ok, so first off let me comment on that absolutely beautiful cover. The writing, the fox - it really does suit this book's setting. It is completely gorgeous and it gives me an idea of what I'm going to find inside.

Don't get me wrong, I was right. The cover does suit the book perfectly. The setting in this story is so rich and lush and so descriptive so I could envision it when I closed my eyes, especially the wood where much of this story takes place. In fact, sometimes the description was too much, it was a lot of words and a lot of adjectives and it did take away from the story, especially when the setting had already been established. This is something that I found a lot of in this book - repetitiveness. There's all the description and then there's the repetition of the "I'm just a gardeners daughter". 

I also struggled with the infodump at the start. There are all these people names and place names and barely any opportunity to acclimatise to it - I still don't think that I truly understood where we were by the end of the book.

The characters were a mixed bag for me - I did like Cerys, though she did come across as a bit of a Mary-Sue sometimes. She was a fun character and was witty as well. I did really enjoy her interactions with Fox. Fox as a whole was an okay character, but I did find that there were some issues with him. How does a character who was a fox and has no memories of being anything except a fox know what many human things are - for example a scar or a birthmark? I get that in a way this is semi-explained later in the book but it still doesn't all add up. Vala the bear was a great character. I loved her presence.

Aside from all of the above, I did enjoy the first three quarters of the book. The pacing was absolutely brilliant. My issue was when the story got to Voryn as it suddenly kind of began to remind me of all of the dystopian books that came out following The Hunger Games where the utopia is *gasp* not as good as everyone thinks and is led by a steel fisted leader and blah blah... I just started to lose interest around this area. It seemed rushed and not anywhere near as good as the first half of the book. The final part of the book is supposed to be driven by the twists and turns and secrets that are revealed but frankly, I had kind of predicted them in advance.

Overall, Among the Beasts & Briars was an okay book. I enjoyed reading it and it kept me interested enough but it's not going to stand out amongst all of the brilliant fantasy books that are coming out at the moment.

Book released  20th October 2020 by Balzer + Bray

Book received from the publisher/author in exchange for an honest review

Review: The Beholder by Anna Bright

 Selah has waited her whole life for a happily ever after. As the only daughter of the leader of Potomac, she knows her duty is to find the perfect match, a partner who will help secure the future of her people. Now that day has finally come.

But after an excruciatingly public rejection from her closest childhood friend, Selah’s stepmother suggests an unthinkable solution: Selah must set sail across the Atlantic, where a series of potential suitors awaits—and if she doesn’t come home engaged, she shouldn’t come home at all.

I feel like this review is going to be a hard one to write. it's barely been five minutes since I finished The Beholder and I can barely put my thoughts into worsdsbecause I'm in two minds.

1) Diversity, amazing secondary characters, intrigue, pretty princesses OMG!
2) What worldbuilding, magical radios and instalove... disjointed retelling.

Let's put these thoughts into words then.

Okay, first the pros. I really really loved the premise of this book. From page one I was hooked by Selah's life and her life in Pontomac and the intrigue with her evil stepmother and ailing father. There were some gorgeous descriptions and some amazing characters.

I particularly liked the crew of The Beholder. They were like a mixing pot of different cultures and backgrounds and they each brought something really fun to the table. Cobie is my BFF for life... I think that their loyalty to Selah even when they weren't being 100% truthful with her was beautiful.

That being said, the whole thing did feel disjointed at times. This is billed as a retelling of The Odyssey but that's nowhere near correct. it's more a retelling of different key tropes of different fairytales and folk stories and fables and they never really knit together as well as you might hope. That, as well as the poor worldbuilding (like really, why is a radio the only technology that exists... why are people in Norway - sorry, I mean Norge - living in a giant tree and where on Earth is Pontomac??) just made the whole thing difficult for me to swallow.

Now lets talk about the love interest. Really, Bright? Do you really need to introduce me to two handsome men that Selah falls for and then just rip through it. Firstly, it kind of makes 90% of the book about arc's which won't be significant down the line and secondly it makes Selah seem desperate, needy and it ruins the integrity of any future love interests. It looks like Captain Lang might be more important in the next book and I just hope that actually goes somewhere. (Torden for life).

The one thing that really saved this book was the writing. Despite a few phrases which seemed out of place for the setting, Bright's writing itself was descriptive and absorbing and took away from the many negatives of this book.

Overall, I will definitely be reading the sequel, but I hope that in it Bright spends more time developing the characters and the world...


 

Book released 6th November 2018 by Katherine Tegen

Book received from the publisher/author in exchange for an honest review

Review: Angel and Bavar by Amy Wilson

After the death of her parents, Angel has a lot to get used to: a new home, a new family, a new school. The last thing she’s interested in is making new friends. Until she meets Bavar, a strange boy who slips through the shadows, a boy who might understand her nightmares.

But Bavar doesn’t want to let anyone in. Everyone—and everything—in his enchanted house is already urging him to step up and protect the world from a magical rift and the fearsome monsters traveling through it, a responsibility he wishes he could ignore.

Then Bavar discovers that the monsters are the same ones that killed Angel’s parents. Determined to stop the creatures for good, he reluctantly accepts Angel’s help. Together, Angel and Bavar must find the courage to stand up for each other and themselves to repair the rift between worlds…before it’s too late.

Ok. I'll admit something before I write this review.

I failed to realise that this book was middle grade when I downloaded it on Edelweiss, so I started it expecting a slavic inspired Beauty and the Beast. However, whilst the fairytale inspiration is there, the fairytale romance that I wanted was not. Not a bad thing, and completely my own fault, but not what I expected.

When I did get past that, I started to enjoy this book. There is a lot of depth there - something that MG books tend to lack - and Bavar especially was the type of broken character that the genre lacks. The friendship between Bavar and Angel was heartwarming, and that - I think - is the main point of this book. It's very well done.

That being said, there was a somewhat rushed feel about this book that stopped me being so into it. I would have loved Wilson to have taken a step back and used a little more time to flesh out the world and the characters. Kids like to imagine, and they need more description to do that.

Overall, Angel and Bavar was a lovely book about friendship and one of the better Middle Grade titles when it comes to characterisation. That being said, I do feel that the pacing was a little off and the descriptions were lacking which meant this book didn't quite become everything it could have been.

Book released 6th November 2018 by Katherine Tegen

Book received from the publisher/author in exchange for an honest review

Review: Queen of Hearts by Colleen Oakes

As Princess of Wonderland Palace and the future Queen of Hearts, Dinah’s days are an endless monotony of tea, tarts, and a stream of vicious humiliations at the hands of her father, the King of Hearts. The only highlight of her days is visiting Wardley, her childhood best friend, the future Knave of Hearts — and the love of her life.

When an enchanting stranger arrives at the Palace, Dinah watches as everything she’s ever wanted threatens to crumble. As her coronation date approaches, a series of suspicious and bloody events suggests that something sinister stirs in the whimsical halls of Wonderland. It’s up to Dinah to unravel the mysteries that lurk both inside and under the Palace before she loses her own head to a clever and faceless foe.

I wasn't aware that this was being re-published, I thought it was the first in a brand new series and it isn't. I'm actually surprised that this book is being picked up by a publisher as big as Harper because it wasn't actually all that great. The writing in Queen of Hearts  was at times very stilted and formal and this really made it difficult to be absorbed into the book. The story and the dialogue lacked depth and anything to make this book stand out and Dinah, the possibly slightly crazy and disliked daughter of the King of Hearts, was a very unexciting character. There was nothing about her or Wardley that really gave me any kind of feeling.

The thing is that there was not much plot in this story and things didn't pick up until the very end when Dinah's father makes a bad move and makes Dinah a wanted girl. Until then, it ad been DInah chasing after clues about a secret that frankly I still have no idea what it was - maybe it was the reason Dinah's father hated her, because I still don't know why that was.

Things seemed to work conveniently in the favor of Dinah and Wardley and I hate it when that happens. They should have been caught at the Black Towers but they got in and out with no harm. Dinah shouldn't have got out of the castle at the end, but conveniently the Hornhoov let her ride it. 

Overall, Queen of Hearts has a great concept and I was so excited to read it, but I was very much let down by the execution.

Book released 3rd May 2016 by HarperCollins

Book received from the publisher/author in exchange for an honest review

Review: Unhooked by Lisa Maxwell

For as long as she can remember, Gwendolyn Allister has never had a place to call home—all because her mother believes that monsters are hunting them. Now these delusions have brought them to London, far from the life Gwen had finally started to build for herself. The only saving grace is her best friend, Olivia, who’s coming with them for the summer.

But when Gwen and Olivia are kidnapped by shadowy creatures and taken to a world of flesh-eating sea hags and dangerous Fey, Gwen realizes her mom might have been sane all along.

The world Gwen finds herself in is called Neverland, yet it’s nothing like the stories. Here, good and evil lose their meaning and memories slip like water through her fingers. As Gwen struggles to remember where she came from and find a way home, she must choose between trusting the charming fairy-tale hero who says all the right things and the roguish young pirate who promises to keep her safe.

With time running out and her enemies closing in, Gwen is forced to face the truths she’s been hiding from all along. But will she be able to save Neverland without losing herself?

All of these Peter Pan retellings coming out next year are soooo exciting. If Unhooked is any representation of how the rest are going to be, it's going to be an absolutely brilliant year.

From the start of this book I knew it was something very special. It immediately reminded me of Splintered by A.G. Howard with the Mother being a little crazy (except maybe not) and the daughter having to live with that. Then, Unhooked changed settings into Neverland and it really came into it's own - this book takes everything you know about Neverland and Peter Pan and Hook and flips it entirely on it's head. Pan isn't what he seems and Hook (aka Rowan) is one of the most swoonworthy heroes in the book. The romance developed at a really natural pace and I supported it so much!

Maxwell writes so well and I was absorbed in this beautiful, dangerous world that she wrote. I was on the edge, wondering who was the good and who was the bad and how things were going to work. Maybe the ending was a bit safe - a bit of a cop out - but the climax was brilliant and I loved how it went. 

Gosh, seriously, Rowand and Gwen and Pan and Olivia and all of these people here... this was such a brilliant book weaving such a gorgeous story and I enjoyed it so much. I cannot wait for the other Peter Pan retelling, but I do have to wonder if any of them will stand up to this one. 

Book released 2nd February 2016 by Simon Pulse

Book received from the publisher in exchange for an honest review

Review: A Whole New World by Liz Braswell

When Jafar steals the Genie’s lamp, he uses his first two wishes to become sultan and the most powerful sorcerer in the world. Agrabah lives in fear, waiting for his third and final wish.To stop the power-mad ruler, Aladdin and the deposed Princess Jasmine must unite the people of Agrabah in rebellion. But soon their fight for freedom threatens to tear the kingdom apart in a costly civil war.

What happens next? A Street Rat becomes a leader. A princess becomes a revolutionary. And readers will never look at the story of Aladdin in the same way again.

Call me boring, but I don't really see the charm in rereading the story of Aladdin down to a tee when I know the movie basically by heart. I really struggled with A Whole New World solely for that reason - the first quarter of the book was just a retelling of Aladdin - the Disney move - the last three quarters  was sincerely lacking in any development, expecting us to be familiar with the characters automatically. This meant that I really just had to push myself through this book.

I'm sure Liz Braswell is a wonderful author when she is working with original material, but she certainly didn't show that talent in just rehashing a 20 year old movie and not having any original characters to develop, that's why this book just succeeded in completely falling flat for me.  

Book released 1st September 2015 by Disney Press

Book received from the publisher/author in exchange for an honest review

Review: Winter by Marissa Meyer

Princess Winter is admired by the Lunar people for her grace and kindness, and despite the scars that mar her face, her beauty is said to be even more breathtaking than that of her stepmother, Queen Levana.

Winter despises her stepmother, and knows Levana won’t approve of her feelings for her childhood friend—the handsome palace guard, Jacin. But Winter isn’t as weak as Levana believes her to be and she’s been undermining her stepmother’s wishes for years. Together with the cyborg mechanic, Cinder, and her allies, Winter might even have the power to launch a revolution and win a war that’s been raging for far too long.

Can Cinder, Scarlet, Cress, and Winter defeat Levana and find their happily ever afters?

Happy ever afters are like, the best thing ever, and there was no way that after investing myself in Cinder, Scarlet, Cress and even Winter's stories so much I was going to settle for anything less. I just need to read Fairest now, and yes I am completely obsessed with this series. Let me try and find coherent thoughts...

Okay, I think I've got it. Let's get onto the actual review. Now, Winter was actually my least favourite of the Lunar Chronicles, but I still loved it. The book is quite long and this meant that there was quite a bit in there that was quite irrelevant and repetitive. I also just didn't connect with Winter the same way I did the other girls so I didn't support her budding relationship with Jacin as much as I did the other romances in the series. On it's own, Winter was a good book, but comparing it to the others makes it seem a little less engaging.

Still, Meyer's writing is absolutely flawless and I just love what she brings to the genre. There's something totally original and engaging in her tone and the storylines are so well thought out and the way each individual storyline intertwines is so brilliant. I love how witty and individual each character and their dialogue was and despite the fact that Winter was a ittle underwhelming, I can't say it was a bad ending.

In fact, the end of Winter brought me to tears - I was so emotional because I have been so engaged in this series for so long and the ending brought me all of the things that I wanted to see. Awww, I'm getting teary eyed even thinking of it now!

Book released 10th November 2015 by Fiewel and Friends (US) and 12th November 2015 by Puffin (UK)

Book purchased by myself

Review: Mirrored by Alex Flinn

Mirror, mirror in my hand…

Beauty is the key to everything. At least, that’s how it seems to Violet—ugly, bullied, and lonely. To be beautiful, in her eyes, is to have power and love. And when Kendra, the witch, teaches Violet how to use magic, she may finally get what she wants.

For Celine, beautiful since birth, her looks have been a hindrance. She discovers that beauty is also a threat—especially to her stepmother, Violet, who doesn’t want anyone sharing the attention she worked so hard to get and who will do anything to be the fairest of them all.

But beauty isn’t only skin deep and love isn’t based on looks alone. And though Violet and Celine may seem to be completely opposite, their lives are almost… mirrored.

I've been really struggling with Alex Flinn recently - I just didn't enjoy Towering and now that I have finished Mirrored I feel let down again. Was Beastly just a fluke? I really enjoyed that book, but no other books by Flinn have really lived up to my expectation.

I just struggled to get into Mirrored - Violet's story at the start seemed completely necessary but it also dragged, I like that we got to know the characters of Violet and Greg and Jennifer, because it gave the bad guy a face and personality and a reason behind her evilness, however I just didn't feel like I connected with any of the characters at this part.

The pace did pick up a bit with Celine, the beautiful daughter of Violet's first love. At first Violet is a loving stepmother to Celine, but then things change. Celine gets beautiful and Violet is threatened, leading her to become abusive towards Celine. I really liked Celine's character, she is nice but also spunky, however her bit was too short and then the next chapter began too soon.

Goose, the narrator of the third part and I guess the love interest of Celine, was a great character. He makes up for his diminutive size with his caring personality and his heroics, but as much as I liked his character I didn't really enjoy reading from his POV - maybe it's because the pace dropped again but this last part sort of died for me.

The saving grace is the appearance of Kendra - this story gives you an idea into why she is the way she is, and also shows you a more caring, motherly side of Kendra.

Overall, Mirrored is a typical book by Flinn, with simplistic writing and a basic plot but not much else to offer. I felt disappointed by Mirrored, because whilst I finished the book, I didn't feel much after I closed it.

Book released 15th September 2015 by Harper Teen

Book received from the publisher/author in exchange for an honest review

Review: Cress by Marissa Meyer

In this third book in the Lunar Chronicles, Cinder and Captain Thorne are fugitives on the run, now with Scarlet and Wolf in tow. Together, they’re plotting to overthrow Queen Levana and her army.

Their best hope lies with Cress, a girl imprisoned on a satellite since childhood who's only ever had her netscreens as company. All that screen time has made Cress an excellent hacker. Unfortunately, she’s just received orders from Levana to track down Cinder and her handsome accomplice.

When a daring rescue of Cress goes awry, the group is separated. Cress finally has her freedom, but it comes at a high price. Meanwhile, Queen Levana will let nothing prevent her marriage to Emperor Kai. Cress, Scarlet, and Cinder may not have signed up to save the world, but they may be the only hope the world has.

The thing that I love about this book series is the fact that Marissa Meyer manages to write different characters and different romances with her own style without it feeling like all of the characters are some variation on the same. Scarlet felt different to Cinder and Cress, dear Cress with her idealistic views and childish ways, is different to them both. 

I feel like I'm betraying Cress and Thorne if I say this here, after all this is their book, but Scarlet and Wolf are my fave Lunar Chronicles couple and I felt so heartbroken for the two of them in this book, I also loved the fact that we get to revisit Cinder and Kai in this book - Cress and Thorne are cute, but their romance doesn't develop in the same way as the first two couples and I didn't feel as invested into them.

Maybe the reason for that is that Cress felt to me like a weaker character than Cinder and Scarlet and as much as I liked her - she was so cute - she wasn't as kick ass as the other girls. She is lonely, and totally has a crush on Carswell Thorne even before he comes into her life, but this made me wonder whether her feelings were really developing from that at all.

I also feel like the plot in Cress slowed down a bit - I was still absolutely gripped but not as much as I had been for Cinder or Scarlet. Marissa Meyer's writing was as amazing as before, but the plot slowed down a bit, which unfortunately dampered my enjoyment a teenie bit.

That being said, Cress was a thoroughly enjoyable read, with great characters both new and old. Whilst the pace drooped a little, I know it will pick up in Winter and I cannot wait to get started on that!

Book released 4th February 2014 by Feiwel and Friends

Review: Ash & Bramble by Sarah Prineas

A prince.

A ball.

A glass slipper left behind at the stroke of midnight.

The tale is told and retold, twisted and tweaked, snipped and stretched, as it leads to happily ever after.

But it is not the true Story.

A dark fortress.

A past forgotten.

A life of servitude.

No one has ever broken free of the Godmother’s terrible stone prison until a girl named Pin attempts a breathless, daring escape. But she discovers that what seems to be freedom is a prison of another kind, one that entangles her in a story that leads to a prince, a kiss, and a clock striking midnight. To unravel herself from this new life, Pin must choose between a prince and another—the one who helped her before and who would give his life for her. Torn, the only thing for her to do is trade in the glass slipper for a sword and find her own destiny.

Oh my gosh, I can't stop thinking about this book. Not because it was flawless and the best book I've ever read - that's not true - but because it takes fairytale retellings and turns them on their head in a way reminiscent of Cinder, just without the sci-fi. In Ash & Bramble, the fairytale is the dark force our protagonist is running from - the story that has been decided for her, and that makes for a fantastic read.

I nearly gave up on Ash & Bramble near the beginning. The start was brilliant and had me hooked, but the run away sequence and Pin waking up as Penelope slowed the pace down and I nearly gave up at that point. I pushed through though, because I so desperately wanted to love this book and thankfully Prineas didn't let me down. The pace doesn't pick up massively until later in the book, but the storyline itself built up so I was interested again, then I was hooked again, then I had to go to sleep because I was at work at 6am and couldn't stop thinking about this book until I got home. It was brilliant - it just crept up on me.

Now I'm not saying that the book was perfect, flawless  or any of those things. It was lacking in some areas and there were some things which I didn't find necessary. The love triangle? I get why it was there, but it seemed not needed. I knew what the only outcome could be. Also things that annoyed me throughout the book, like why didn't Pin just restore her own memories instead of being torn between Cor and Shoe, that would have resolved the situation pretty quickly. I also feel like the end felt a little rushed which I didn't appreciate after all the time waiting for action to happen.

That being said, Ash & Bramble was still a brilliant book, and I am so torn because I don't know what to rate it. I'm going middle of the range. This was an engaging, interesting, gripping read which had it's flaws but still stands out to me as a book in the YA-fantasy-fairytale subgenre. If you like books that turn a genre on it's head, read this. It's great.

Book released 15th September 2015 by HarperTeen

Book received from the publisher/author in exchange for an honest review

Review: Chasing Ravens by Jessica E. Paige

Orphaned at a young age, 15-year old Anouk’s punishment for being too outspoken is an arranged marriage worse than any she could imagine. Fleeing on horseback, yet without a sense of where to turn, she stumbles upon an idyllic village where she finds safe haven. Could this be home?

When a curse threatens to kill the villagers she’s come to love, Anouk takes on the dangers of the natural and magical worlds to save them. Her journey takes her deep into the Dark Woods where she must draw on all her strength to survive, but will come to realize that these magic woods hold the key to discovering a gift she never knew she had.

Ultimately, it will lead her to confront the very face of death, yet amidst the danger and darkness, she meets a handsome woodsman and finds a glowing blue flower with power beyond her wildest dreams.

Inspired by Russian fairytales and steeped in ancient folklore, Paige’s novel is ripe with fantasy, love, and courage.

The first thing that I have to say is that Chasing Ravens is absolutely beautiful. The writing is gorgeous, the storytelling is fabulous and I could just imagine the rich Eastern European settings in this book as they were described. If there is one thing that I must say about this author it's that she is a very talented storyteller.

That being said, I am pretty torn with this book. The start and end were both fully engaging and I was so intent on following Anouk's story because I grew to care for her very quickly, but there is this clump of story in the middle when Anouk enters the Dark Woods where things are happening but the pace is so slow that it doesn't really feel like much is going on, and if it hadn't been for that I would have been babbling about this gorgeous book. 

I also feel like the magic side of things and the romance were thrown in where they really didn't need to be, and if they did they should have been a little more established. I think that the reason I enjoyed this book so much was to do with the fact that it's a pure fantasy and the romance isn't the main focus - as much as I love a good love story - that being said, I would rather have had no romance than the little bit that we got.

Overall though, I can't say much more than that Chasing Raven's was a beautiful fairytale tying in parts of Slavic and European mythology seamlessly. Despite the issues with pacing, this is definitely a recommended book.

Book released December 2014 by Booktrope publishing

Book received from the publisher in exchange for an honest review

Review: A Wicked Thing by Rhiannon Thomas

One hundred years after falling asleep, Princess Aurora wakes up to the kiss of a handsome prince and a broken kingdom that has been dreaming of her return. All the books say that she should be living happily ever after. But as Aurora understands all too well, the truth is nothing like the fairy tale.

Her family is long dead. Her "true love" is a kind stranger. And her whole life has been planned out by political foes while she slept. 

As Aurora struggles to make sense of her new world, she begins to fear that the curse has left its mark on her, a fiery and dangerous thing that might be as wicked as the witch who once ensnared her. With her wedding day drawing near, Aurora must make the ultimate decision on how to save her kingdom: marry the prince or run.

It's an idea that I had never really thought about, what happens to Sleeping Beauty after she wakes up? I always thought that was the happily ever after, not taking the time to consider that the princesses family are dead, or the kingdom is ruled by somebody else. It was a fantastic premise to build on and really there is no way this book could fail on the delivery.

This book reads as part fairytale retelling and part fantasy on it's own, with all of the court intrigue that keeps me going in this type of book. I did feel like at times the book felt rather plotless and it definitely took a while to get to the bit where Aurora starts to make things happen - up until then Thomas seemed to just be building up this world and this character so the start was a bit slow, but I got past that. I loved Aurora's character from the start as well, she isn't a princess that does as she is told and I appreciated that. Aurora waking up from the kiss and screaming was fun, and it was definitely a great way to get me interested in this book. Although the pacing did pick up later in the book, the ending was definitely very weak to the point where I can't actually remember what really happened. I know I enjoyed it at the time though...

The love triangle (square?) did fit the needs of the book, that being said it was very annoying that such a feisty character was bogged down with a cliche love triangle. I did really like Rodric (poor guy just couldn't get a break) and Tristan. Finnegan is one I wasn't sure about, but I guess he was just the typical rogue character - I don't really now what direction that triangle is going, but I'm not massively excited to follow it through...

Overall, A Wicked Thing was a feisty, sassy take on the Sleeping Beauty fairytale. I really connected with Aurora and I enjoyed her story. That being said, the pacing needed a lot of work and the love triangle left a lot to be desired, so I can't say this was the most amazing book ever....

Book released 24th February 2015 by HarperTeen

Book received from the publisher in exchange for an honest review