My Amazon shipment, which was due on June 28th, arrived yesterday. And since I’m still feeling absolutely horrid, I rushed into my bedroom, put on the jammies, and crawled into bed with my three books. Yay!
Into the Wild – Sarah Beth Durst
Julie and her mother live in a town that’s probably pretty much like the town I live in. Of course, unlike Julie, I don’t have the wild living beneath my bed, which avidly grasps anything that it can and turns it into fairy-tale magic. Nor do I have Rapunzel for a mother. Yes, Rapunzel owns a beauty salon, and her adopted mother manages the Wishing Well Motel. One night as Julie’s grandmother has joined Zel, Julie, and the Seven Dwarves for dinner–she’s left the Three Bears in charge of the Motel, lest anyone attempt to make a wish in the wishing well–Julie loses her temper in a big way and says something incredibly hateful to her mother. Well, teenagers do that sort of thing, and they and their parents pull through it okay. However, the next day Julie finds out that the Wild is no longer under her bed. It has escaped, and is taking over the world. Her mother and grandmother have vanished, and she knows what she has to do.
The story of how Julie rescues her mother, and learns a little something extra about herself and her family, is beautifully told. The adventures are fast-paced and enthralling. The support characters are supportive (Julie’s best friend, who valiantly blows her trumpet for hours to help Julie, and her “brother,” Puss-in-Boots, are among the most memorable of these) and multi-dimensional. I highly recommend this book. My thoughts upon finishing it were, “Wow! I can’t wait to read about Julie’s next batch of adventures.” I hope there will be a next batch of Julie adventures, because I like the characters, and I like Sarah’s writing style.
Curse of Arastold– Jo Whittemore.
This is the second book in the Silverskin trilogy. You can read my comments about the first book here. I liked this one. It lacked some of the jarring flaws that the first book had near the beginning. The characters had already been set up and developed, and they continued to develop in a very believable way. Ainsley has been infected with the Illness–a devastating scourge that inevitably turns its victims into dragons–, and this book tells of their pilgrimage to heal him. He doesn’t believe that he can be healed, and he’s not quite sure that he wants to. When he goes to sleep, he has dreams of being in another place, with someone called Penitent, and they are hunted by the dragon Arastold, who created the Illness in the first place. Megan doesn’t give up on Ainsley, however, and her valiant stubbornness leads them to some exciting places and the book draws to a very satisfactory close.
Onaj’s Horn– Jo Whittemore
The last book in the Silverskin trilogy, Ainsley and Megan, along with a unicorn, a ferret, an elf, and a few other assorted characters, save the world from a tyrannical despot. Just remember that things aren’t always what they seem. The Pearl of Truth that was given to Megan in the first book, and subsequently imbedded itself in her heart (for details, see Escape from Arylon) is a pearl of great price, and serves the intrepid heroine well. Ainsley continues the journey to likeability in this book. I was very satisfied when I finished the book. I want to know what happened next, as I always do with characters I care about, but their story is told in such a way that I can believe they’ll live happily ever after, for the most part.
So do I recommend these books? Whole-heartedly. Go. Read.
Can I borrow? Huh? Huh? Can I pretty please with ice cream and sugar on top? The kind of ice cream and sugar that tastes AMAZING and lets you lose weight instead of gain it? Pleeeeeeeaaaaaasssssse????
Wow, Faith, I haven’t been here forever. Your site is so pretty. You have Sarah’s book already. I’m so jealous.
Woohoo! Hooray for lack of jarring flaws! :o)
I’m glad these books suited you well. Thank you for the nice comments!