Review: For the Wolf by Hannah Whitten (#Ad)

I received this eProof for free from Orbit Books via NetGalley for the purposes of providing an honest review.

For the Wolf by Hannah Whitten

Published: 1st June 2021 | Publisher: Orbit Books | Source: NetGalley
Hannah Whitten's Website

The first daughter is for the Throne. The second daughter is for the Wolf.

For fans of Uprooted and The Bear and the Nightingale comes a dark, sweeping debut fantasy novel about a young woman who must be sacrificed to the legendary Wolf of the Wood to save her kingdom. But not all legends are true, and the Wolf isn’t the only danger lurking in the Wilderwood.

As the only Second Daughter born in centuries, Red has one purpose-to be sacrificed to the Wolf in the Wood in the hope he’ll return the world’s captured gods.

Red is almost relieved to go. Plagued by a dangerous power she can’t control, at least she knows that in the Wilderwood, she can’t hurt those she loves. Again.

But the legends lie. The Wolf is a man, not a monster. Her magic is a calling, not a curse. And if she doesn’t learn how to use it, the monsters the gods have become will swallow the Wilderwood-and her world-whole. From The StoryGraph

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Review: A Curse So Dark and Lonely by Brigid Kemmerer (#Ad)

I received this eProof for free from Bloomsbury YA via NetGalley for the purposes of providing an honest review.

A Curse So Dark and Lonely by Brigid Kemmerer

Published: 29th January 2019 | Publisher: Bloomsbury YA  | Source: Publisher via NetGalley
Brigid Kemmerer's Website
Fall in love, break the curse.

It once seemed so easy to Prince Rhen, the heir to Emberfall. Cursed by a powerful enchantress to repeat the autumn of his eighteenth year over and over, he knew he could be saved if a girl fell for him. But that was before he learned that at the end of each autumn, he would turn into a vicious beast hell-bent on destruction. That was before he destroyed his castle, his family, and every last shred of hope.

Nothing has ever been easy for Harper Lacy. With her father long gone, her mother dying, and her brother barely holding their family together while constantly underestimating her because of her cerebral palsy, she learned to be tough enough to survive. But when she tries to save someone else on the streets of Washington, DC, she’s instead somehow sucked into Rhen’s cursed world.

Break the curse, save the kingdom.

A prince? A monster? A curse? Harper doesn’t know where she is or what to believe. But as she spends time with Rhen in this enchanted land, she begins to understand what’s at stake. And as Rhen realizes Harper is not just another girl to charm, his hope comes flooding back. But powerful forces are standing against Emberfall . . . and it will take more than a broken curse to save Harper, Rhen, and his people from utter ruin. From Goodreads

Trigger Warnings: This book features death due to cancer, loan sharks, threats of violence from loan sharks, kidnap, violent death, magical torture, violence, discussion of attempted suicide, threat of child murder and sexual abuse of a child, and a scene of blood, gore and viscera.

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Once Upon a Retelling: Echo North by Joanna Ruth Meyer

Welcome to Once Upon a Retelling! I'm a huge fan of retellings, and I'm really interested in hearing about authors' own love of the original stories, and what inspired them to retell those stories. And so Once Upon a Retelling was born, a feature in which I interview authors about their versions of well-loved tales.

Today, I'm so excited to have Joanna Ruth Meyer stopping by the blog to discuss her Beauty and the Beast and East of the Sun, West of the Moon mash-up retelling, Echo North.

Can you tell us a little about Echo North? What kind of a retelling of Beauty and the Beast and East of the Sun, West of the Moon is it?

Echo North is a re-imagining of East of the Sun, West of the Moon, starring a girl with a scarred face, a white wolf (instead of the white bear like in the original), and an enchanted library filled with books you can literally step into. The setting and landscapes are inspired by 19th-century Siberia, and I’ve borrowed a big element from the Scottish ballad Tam Lin for the ending!

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Review: The Beast's Heart Leife Shallcross

The Beast's Heart Leife Shallcross (eProof) - A sumptuously magical, brand new take on a tale as old as time—read the Beast's side of the story at long last.

I am neither monster nor man—yet I am both.

I am the Beast.

The day I was cursed to this wretched existence was the day I was saved—although it did not feel so at the time.

My redemption sprung from contemptible roots; I am not proud of what I did the day her father happened upon my crumbling, isolated chateau. But if loneliness breeds desperation then I was desperate indeed, and I did what I felt I must. My shameful behaviour was unjustly rewarded.

My Isabeau. She opened my eyes, my mind and my heart; she taught me how to be human again.

And now I might lose her forever.

Lose yourself in this gorgeously rich and magical retelling of The Beauty and the Beast that finally lays bare the beast's heart From Goodreads.

I received this eProof for free from Hodder & Stoughton via NetGalley for the purposes of providing an honest review.

Trigger Warning: This book features a suicide attempt.

Warning: This review contains minor spoilers, but as this is a retelling of The Beauty and the Beast, it only spoils the aspects of the story we already know about from the original fairy tale.

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