As the Glass Rose Dims, So the Hope of Redemption

~Of Curses and Kisses~
St. Rosetta's Academy
Book 1
By Sandhya Menon
Amazon ~ Powell's

Will the princess save the beast?

For Princess Jaya Rao, nothing is more important than family. When the loathsome Emerson clan steps up their centuries-old feud to target Jaya’s little sister, nothing will keep Jaya from exacting her revenge. Then Jaya finds out she’ll be attending the same elite boarding school as Grey Emerson, and it feels like the opportunity of a lifetime. She knows what she must do: Make Grey fall in love with her and break his heart. But much to Jaya’s annoyance, Grey’s brooding demeanor and lupine blue eyes have drawn her in. There’s simply no way she and her sworn enemy could find their fairy-tale ending…right?

His Lordship Grey Emerson is a misanthrope. Thanks to an ancient curse by a Rao matriarch, Grey knows he’s doomed once he turns eighteen. Sequestered away in the mountains at St. Rosetta’s International Academy, he’s lived an isolated existence—until Jaya Rao bursts into his life, but he can't shake the feeling that she’s hiding something. Something that might just have to do with the rose-shaped ruby pendant around her neck…

As the stars conspire to keep them apart, Jaya and Grey grapple with questions of love, loyalty, and whether it’s possible to write your own happy ending.


The first of this year's 25 Reads of December from RivetedLit, I thought a Beauty and the Beast style romance sounded cute. While I'm not new to reinterpretations of fairytales/literature classics, B&tB wasn't one I'd picked up yet, plus I'm always excited for a good transformation and/or redemption story. And since time is kinda crunched with these book-a-day offers, I decided to get the audiobook from my library to read along with, so I'll include my Audiobook Addendum section at the end as well.

Before we get too much further into the review, I'm going to make the assumption that you are familiar with Beauty and the Beast's general story and ending. (The Disney version is actually preferred here.) If you're not, consider this a spoiler warning because I don't know that I'm capable of analyzing the interpretation without touching on all aspects of the story, especially the ending. I will, however, do my best to keep unique aspects of the story, the subplots and secondary characters' arcs spoiler-free. So with that said, let's dive in, shall we?

The Reverie Was a Living Tapestry of Memories and Dreams

~Reverie~
By Ryan La Sala
Amazon ~ Powell's

Inception meets The Magicians in this wildly imaginative story about what happens when the secret worlds people hide within themselves come to light.

All Kane Montgomery knows for certain is that the police found him half-dead in the river. He can't remember anything since an accident robbed him of his memories a few weeks ago. And the world feels different—reality itself seems different.

So when three of his classmates claim to be his friends and the only people who can tell him what's truly going on, he doesn't know what to believe or who he can trust. But as he and the others are dragged into unimaginable worlds that materialize out of nowhere—the gym warps into a subterranean temple, a historical home nearby blooms into a Victorian romance rife with scandal and sorcery—Kane realizes that nothing in his life is an accident, and only he can stop their world from unraveling.


I came across this one on my library's ebook app, Libby/Overdrive. It was part of their Big Library Read event, which picks one book every few months and makes it universally available to as many people who want to check it out. They then hold discussions and author chats, basically bringing everyone together for one big book club. And since November's selection was a stand-alone YA fantasy novel with a drop-dead GORGEOUS cover, I figured I had to pick it up. And I'm glad I did...even if it did set my brain on fire for a bit.

The Fowl Family Deny All Charges

SPOILER ALERT
This review is for those who have read or are familiar with the previous books in the Artemis Fowl series, specifically The Fowl Twins, or don't mind knowing spoilers for them.
SPOILER ALERT

The Fowl Twins
~Deny All Charges~
Book 2
By Eoin Colfer
Amazon ~ Powell's

The second Fowl Twins adventure starts with a bang – literally.

Artemis's little brothers Myles and Beckett borrow the Fowl jet without permission, and it ends up as a fireball over Florida. The twins plus their fairy minder, the pixie-elf hybrid Lazuli Heitz, are lucky to escape with their lives.

The Fowl parents and fairy police force decide that enough is enough and the twins are placed under house arrest. But Myles has questions, like: who was tracking the Fowl jet? Why would someone want to blow them out of the sky? These questions must infuriate someone, because Myles is abducted and spirited away from his twin.

Now Beckett and Lazuli must collaborate to find Myles and rescue him – not easy when it was Myles who was the brains of the operation. Their chase will take them across continents, deep underground, and into subaquatic super villain lairs. They will be shot at, covered in spit, and at the receiving end of some quite nasty dwarf sarcasm. But will Beckett be able to come up with a genius plan without a genius on hand…?


Since Eoin Colfer remains to be one of my favorite authors (possibly my favorite male author, period), I will continue to seek out each and every one of his books. And since this is the latest entry in one of my favorite series, I had no choice but to grab it as soon as was feasible and hope it would be every bit as enjoyable as previous entries. But really, was there ever any doubt?