Arrow By R J Anderson (4/5)

Once again R J Anderson has allowed us to visit the wonderful world that she created in the first of this series “Knife”. (Review of previous book in this series, Rebel.) In this book we are shown the battle for the Oakenwyld through the eyes of Rhosmari, a Faerie who has lived her entire life on the Green Isles as one of The Children of Rhys. The Faerie population of these Isles are pacifist by nature and have no desire to join a fight, but after the loss of their Stone of Naming they are unsettled and one of the Elders, Rhosmari's mother, is considering aggressive action to get the stone back. The thought of this scares Rhosmari so much that she decides to run away to the mainland and try and find Garan, the Faerie responsible for the removal of the stone from the Isles and Rhosmari's ex betrothed, and get it back.

I loved Rhosmari's attitude in this book, she was strong and yet completely naïve to the world outside of her personal experience. Even though she was very knowledgeable and a very accomplished scholar she had some preconceptions about herself and the world around her that were altered quite extremely throughout her journey. I loved her gentle, idealistic nature and found her a character that was very likeable, especially when she found solace in research. She meets many people on her journey and doesn't always know who to trust, even though she is wise it turns out she is easily manipulated because of her somewhat optimistic spirit. Her morality is tested quite a lot throughout the story as she interacts with people who handle situations differently than she would. She questions her own extreme views and has to accept that in certain situations deception and violence are unfortunately a necessary evil. The development of her character in this way was a fascinating read, I respected her because of her peaceful attitude and watching her morality shift and change because of the distressing situations she finds herself in really pulled me into the story to travel with her on her journey.

Another theme to this story that I found great was the concept of loyalty and betrayal. When you are setting out on a journey on your own how do you know who to trust? What does someone need to do to prove themselves to you? And even then can you ever really know what someone, or even what you yourself are really capable of? Rhosmari's trust is tested a lot in this story, people she thought to be friends turn out to be less than trustworthy and people who she naturally distrusts because of actions which she sees as immoral turn out to be the ones she can rely on the most.

I really enjoyed reading this book and read it very quickly over a couple of days. I had a rather over excited moment when Cardiff was visited in the story, as this is the place that I am currently moving to. : ) Like the previous books in this series I loved the world building and vast amount of characters. This book also had a plot that was like a snowball, once it started to roll it just grew and grew. There was never a slow moment, or a part that felt like it suffered for editing, it was all great reading.

At the end of the book I am treated to the news that not only is Anderson releasing another book in this story, “Swift” but also a story for older readers, “Ultraviolet” I can't wait for more on these. I have great faith in this author to give me a rich world I can fall into it, main characters that I invest so much hope into and villains that I can't bring myself to dislike no matter how deplorable their actions are. This is because whatever she writes she makes it feel real and tangible, everyone has a history and a story of their own. I can't wait for more.


Currently Reading: The Iron Witch By Karen Mahoney

Beauty By Robin McKinley (4/5)

This is the first book in a while that I have found myself falling into, I read it in less than two days, whilst moving house and interviewing for jobs in a new country. I didn't care, they could wait. It was only The Book that mattered. : ) This happens quite rarely for me these days, so when I find myself unable to put a book down I just let myself go with the flow.

Beauty and The Beast is my favourite Disney film and one of my favourite films of all time. I don't care if it's meant to be for children, I fell in love with it when I was 6 and apparently it was a love that would last a lifetime. I still have the original VHS that I used to watch as a child and just got the DVD for Christmas.(*squeal*) I watched it three times in one week and feel no shame about this. Small town heroine yearns to escape, achieve more in life and have adventures? Me like. So, with this in mind it was with great trepidation that I picked this book off of the shelf. I'd been disappointed in a Beauty & The Beast novel before, (Beastly Review) Though I'd heard good things about Robin McKinley, I've been meaning to pick up something by her for ages, so when I saw this I couldn't resist. Also I really liked the simple cover, the white background with black and red detail is very striking.

Firstly in this story, I loved the main character of Beauty and the way that the story spent nearly half of the book developing her character and her relationship with her family before sending her to The Beast's castle. Far too often in some novels I've finished them thinking that the heroine had far too little personality, this was not the case with this book at all. Beauty was strong and independent, and I liked how she responded the best out of her family to their new labouring life in the country. You could feel a real sense of achievement when she was able to find a place in the new town and discover jobs that she could do well. The trials of her family and their personal journey from a life of indulgence to hard work and semi poverty was a great story on it's own, separate from Beauty's interactions with The Beast. This part of the story was written so well that even though The Beast doesn't enter the story for the first part of the novel, I was still gripped by what would happen to this family, and these characters that I had grown to like.

The characterisation in this story was very well done. Her sisters were very different from her and yet still different from one another. It would have been easy for the author to have made them semi villain like, and yet they were loving and caring, in spite of the differences that made them superior in Beauty's eyes. Grace's loyalty and dedication to a lost love was quite touching, and I felt it made her character feel deeper, I was really hoping that she would find happiness. Hope's desire to settle with someone who many would think beneath her, gave an interesting twist to her character. The life that her and Ger made together was quaint and lovely, I liked the way that she responded to married life, and thought that as a couple they were nice to read about.

I found that Beauty's exploration of the enchanted castle was written very well. It captured the elegance and grand scale of the place very well. It was so well described that I could practically see it, the tall towers piercing the sky, and the grounds stretching out in front of the large castle doors. Throughout all of the descriptions of this marvellous place I was gripped by Beauty's views on it, her wonder and fear, her strength and yet hesitance. It was all great reading.

The Beast's characterisation is the only part of the story that I'm a little unsure of. I liked that he was stiffly formal in some ways, his complete acceptance that he would look terrifying to Beauty and that this was something that just had to be dealt with, was an interesting point of view. I loved the way that the characters spoke to one another, particularly when dining together. However, outside of Beauty's perspective it was sometimes hard to see the depth of The Beast's love for her. His formality in this matter made him seem somewhat cold, and it's hard to think of a character as being in love if they don't show a certain kind of weakness and vulnerability. This was communicated very well sometimes, one being when Beauty fainted on him and her subsequent reaction and anger, and again when she managed to get Greatheart to approach him, even though the horse was determined to bolt. I would have liked to have seen more examples of the depth of his fragility, as these were some of my favourite parts of the book.

The development of Beauty's feelings however were done wonderfully. I thought it was a great idea that she didn't even realise that she cared about him until she found herself defending him against her family's judgement. I liked the gradual dependence she began to have on him, even though she was still afraid from time to time. The solitary lifestyle she suffered made the small time she spent with him the highlight of her day. There was a certain feel of Stockholm Syndrome about the whole thing in some ways. :S Her change of opinion towards The Beast was so gradual that it's hard to pin point when it actually changed, and in my experience this means it has been written well.

The whole story had a certain poetical style about it and the writing style was beautiful and yet didn't detract from the story at all. The world building was brilliant and allowed you to fall into the story in many different ways, all of the different environments described were so three dimensional that you want to wander around them, from the small town that the family finds themselves making a life in, to the enchanted forest and the castle beyond.

The book was a pleasure to read and the whole world was one that I was unwilling to leave when the story ended. I think that a bookish heroine like Beauty would enjoy to read it very much.

Enchanted Glass By Diana Wynne Jones (4/5)

“When Andrew Hope's magician grandfather dies, he leaves his house and field-of-care to his grandson who spent much of his childhood there. Andrew has forgotten much of this, but he remembers the very strong- minded staff and the fact that his grandfather used to put the inedibly large vegetables on the roof of the shed, where they'd have vanished in the morning. He also remembers the very colourful stained-glass window in the kitchen door, which he knows it is important to protect.

Into this mix comes young Aidan Cain, who turns up from the orphanage asking for safety. Exactly who he is and why he's there is unclear, but a strong connection between the two very soon becomes apparent.

There is a mystery to be solved, and nothing is as it appears to be. But nobody can solve the mystery, until they find out exactly what it is!”

My initial response after putting down this book was that I may have just finished my favourite Diana Wynne Jones book yet and that I really wanted to read it again. I've always enjoyed her writing style and been amused by her work, but there has somehow been a barrier between me and the story, meaning that I couldn't connect with it as much as I would have liked to. This book was the closest I have come yet.

I really enjoyed the two main characters of Andrew and Aidan. I liked reading about Andrew because of the serious and practical ways he went about his business, and how this was directly contrasted by the rather old fashioned population in the town his Grandfather had lived in. Mr Stock and Mrs Stock were extremely entertaining characters, and the idea that they were loyal employees of the house, even though they never did what they were told and more often than not, directly made Andrew's life more inconvenient, was great to read. Aidan's curiosity and independent spirit made him a fun character to read the perspective of. I particularly enjoyed his exploration of the mysterious powers he had discovered and the subsequent dangers that he is exposed to. His repeated clashes with the various creatures in the community and the way he responds to each situation are great to read, one of my favourites being Rolf the Weredog. I particularly enjoyed the fact that most of the characters in the book were counterparts of Mr Brown's Folk, and that they responded to this rather comfortably and pro actively.

The only part of the book that felt slightly rushed and contrived to me was the love story between Andrew and Stashe. The two characters separately were great and their interactions were entertaining, but the change from impressed to besotted was too sudden for me. This may change upon re reading, but this was the only flaw in what I felt was a great book, with fabulous world building and realistic characters.

I also find the book itself absolutely beautiful, it's now one of my favourites. The colours and the text are just perfect. I was also lucky enough to find a signed copy of this wonderful book to add to my collection. *beams*

Currently Reading: The Princess Diaries 1 (Again!) : )