Review: Princess of Thorns

Title: Princess of Thorns
Author: Stacey Jay
Genre: Fantasy
Pages: 400
Release Date: December 9, 2014
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Summary: Game of Thrones meets the Grimm's fairy tales in this twisted, fast-paced romantic fantasy-adventure about Sleeping Beauty's daughter, a warrior princess who must fight to reclaim her throne. Though she looks like a mere mortal, Princess Aurora is a fairy blessed with enhanced strength, bravery, and mercy yet cursed to destroy the free will of any male who kisses her. Disguised as a boy, she enlists the help of the handsome but also cursed Prince Niklaas to fight legions of evil and free her brother from the ogre queen who stole Aurora's throne ten years ago. Will Aurora triumph over evil and reach her brother before it's too late? Can Aurora and Niklaas break the curses that will otherwise forever keep them from finding their one true love? (via Goodreads)

My Rating:

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The Princess of all fairy tale retelling stories! This book was astounding from cover to cover! This is everything I want in a book! Excitement, action, romance -but not too much- bravery, flaws, loyalty! I absolutely love it! Did you love Arya in Game of Thrones? How about the Alana series? Fairy tales? Then you will love this book!

The main character is a young girl who disguises as her brother in order to rescue him - and her kingdom! She teams up with Niklaas, the eleventh son of a king to help her. Stacey Jay writes a beautiful romance for them that feels so natural you can't help but love it!

I will say, I was a little bit resistant to it at first because of how much I loved their relationship as friends! Every character was beautifully written, and the story never lets up! Each new adventure follows right behind the previous!

I particularly enjoyed that this was not a typical retelling story. This was about Princess Aurora's (Sleeping Beauty) children, although that took a moment for me to figure out because in this story Sleeping Beauty's name is actually Rose. Bit confusing, but once you get that down it's fascinating. 

This is a stand alone book with no sequel, and although I am disappointed because I would love to keep reading about theses wonderful characters, I thing I am actually glad. So often anymore, we have authors pumping out trilogies, and 7 book series there are very few stand alone books in fantasy anymore (or at least that I can find!). I did notice while poking around Goodreads that Stacey Jay has written about 14 books to date and one of them is called Of Beast and Beauty so I think I know what I'm looking into next!

Basically I have nothing whatsoever to complain about for this amazing piece of literature and everyone ever should pick this book up! Do it yesterday because you need to read this book!

What is your favorite retelling story?

Review: The Last of the Firedrakes

The Last of the Firedrakes by Farah Oomerbhoy

I received this book as an advanced reading copy through Netgally from Wise Ink Creative Publishing and before I say anything I would like to say a big thank you to them for allowing me to read this book. 

The long asked question of 'what to read after Harry Potter' has been answered, as long as you don't mind a bit of déjà vu. I thoroughly enjoyed Oomerbhoy's masterpiece, from the stunning cover, to the cliff hanger at the end, and all the wonderfulness between. It took me a bit to get going, but once I did I couldn't put it down! 

I was initially a little put off by the similarities in the plot to the Harry Potter series, it felt like someone chopped the books into chapter sized hunks, mixed them up and stripped away the details, then put them back together and filled in with a new story. As the book went on, however, the comparisons lessened and it grew in it's own right, blooming into a very compelling story. It still puts you in mind of Dursleys, Hogwarts, and a certain blonde would-be villain, but it has a flavor all it's own. 

I was very impressed with Aurora's character. She was flawed, and young, but she was very likable. I don't always love main characters, but she felt very real to me. She was not obnoxiously over confident, but she also did not float about putting herself down so others would praise her. I liked that she has dark hair, and that she loves her dark hair. This stuck with me for some reason, and I started to picture her like princess Jasmine from Disney's Aladdin!

There was a romantic side to this book, and again, I must say it was beautifully written. I am normally left on the outside of romances looking in thinking 'good, she is happy,' or 'they want to be together' but that was not the case here. There is a point in this book, where Aurora and Rafe's inevitable romance just hits me! Not only did I want it to work out, but Oomerbhoy paints such a beautiful picture of longing that it leaks out of the page and you can feel it. 

Rafe was probably my favorite, and I couldn't help but picture him as a cross between Flynn Rider, and Aladdin! He put me in mind of a Robin Hood character immediately and I loved the depth his character has! I really feel for him in his current mess he find's himself in, and I can't wait to see how he fixes it! 

I think the biggest drawback to this book was that there were places that the plot similarities did become a bit overwhelming, mainly in the begining of the book, so if you are someone who is bothered by that you may not enjoy this book as much as you should. But the similarities are less as you go, so I have high hopes for the next book. No word on when the next book will be out, but I'll be here waiting when it does!

This book is set to be published on August 15, 2015 hop on over to Amazon right now and pre-order your copy!


The Last of the Firedrakes on Goodreads
My review on Goodreads