Six Degrees of Separation - From Alice's Adventures in Wonderland to the Twilight Series

This is a monthly link-up hosted by Kate at Books Are My Favourite and Best, and I came across it on The Chocolate Lady's Book Review Blog last summer.  I thought this would be a great thing to do for my blog ahead challenge.  Also, this is supposed to be the first Saturday of the month thing, but I fit it into a little later in my month. Still thought it would be fun to do.

Anyway:  Each month a book is chosen as a starting point and linked to six other books to form a chain. A book doesn’t need to be connected to all the other books on the list, only to the one next to it in the chain.

This month we start with Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll:

So, I think at some point in my childhood I read part if not all of this book, but I of course know the story well either way, having seen the cartoon that I think Disney made when I was younger.  And of course, the very first book I thought of to jump to from this was:

Splintered by A.G. Howard is the first in one of my all time favorite series that is a retelling of Alice in Wonderland, and actually made me want to go back and make sure I had read the original. Not that I ever found the time to do that.  The book that I jumped to next was:

Now The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde is not a retelling per se, but it did make me go back and read a book I'd never read because of how it featured in the story.  I'd never read Jane Eyre, until after this book.  This is also the time when I decided I needed to try to go back and start reading the classics that I felt I probably should have read when I was in school.  So of course, what book will I jump to next:

 Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte is one that I'd always heard a lot about, but had no idea exactly what the story was until the book above, and then I read it.  It was okay I guess, nothing that I got overly excited about.  Now, when we're talking about the classics I decided to read, I chose one that I'd heard was one of the greatest romances of all time:

I can honestly tell you that I pretty much HATED Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte.  They all deserved the way things ended for them because they did it to themselves!  But of course this book really inspired so many other books, and one of those is the book that inspired me with my second tattoo:

The characters in this book, After by Anna Todd, love, hate, re-read the book Wuthering Heights over and over.  I can forgive them that, since the relationship is so similar in a way of how they keep messing it up.  But I couldn't put this book down, this whole series really. Even though I knew it was a totally toxic relationship, I liked how the author ended up getting them together in the end, with some realistic things to be done.  And of course that book will lead into the book that inspired me to get my first tattoo.

Say what you will about Twilight and the whole series, but I loved it.  It sucked me in and I couldn't put it down.  It connected me and my 11 year younger sister in such a wonderful way that we both got tattoos based on the covers of the books.  It got so many of my middle school students at the time hooked on reading, and that to me is more of what makes it so awesome!  Now I guess there is a lot

So that was fun!  Interesting to see what I think of as each new book in the chain.  Have you read these?  Honestly, other than two of them, I read and reviewed these so long before I started blogging I can't share my review. 

If you want to participate, the link above will take you to the host's site and you should totally join in!

Review: The Hummingbird Heart (Haunted Hearts Legacy #2) by A.G. Howard

Book info:

Title:  The Hummingbird Heart
Author:  A.G. Howard
Series:  Haunted Hearts Legacy #2
Genre:  New Adult, Paranormal, Historical Romance
Release Date:  August 15th, 2017
Source:  E-galley received from author for honest review
My rating:  5 stars

Synopsis:

Set 19 years after The Architect of Song.

Shortly after escaping a circus tragedy, young Italian orphan, Willow Antoniette, seeks refuge at The Manor of Diversions—a holiday resort in England born of a ghost story. For eleven years, she’s raised alongside the children of the resort’s owners: Julian, his twin brother, Nick, and their younger sister Emilia. Now that Willow is of marriable age, she's determined to escape finishing school along with everyone's efforts to make her a proper lady. The only man she wants to spend her life with is Julian, after all. Yet how can she tell him, when he thinks of her as nothing but a friend? 

As a machinist and engineer, Julian Thornton prefers a governable life. He can't allow his ever-deepening attraction for Willow to distract from his amusement park plans to lure a younger, wealthier clientele to their family's resort. In hopes to escape Willow and find investors, Julian sets off on a transatlantic ocean liner headed for the St. Louis World’s Fair, unaware Willow has secretly stowed away on the same ship. 

A tiny, mute orphan named Newton and a pair of haunted Italian shoes bring Willow and Julian face to face on deck. Forced to work together to solve the mystery of Newton and his vindictive, ghostly companion, Julian and Willow can no longer fight their untapped passions. However, time to admit their true feelings is running out, for the ghost and her murderer have enlisted them as unsuspecting pawns in a karmic game of cat-and-mouse that could cost all of them their lives.

My Review:
I have been a huge fan of Howard since her Alice in Wonderland retelling, Splintered.  Then when her new series started with The Architect of Song, I was very much pleased to get a new group of characters to love, as well as another world built with her beautiful way of weaving words.    This second book is set at a different time than the first one in the series.  It's something I always wish would happen, but rarely does.  We get a  look at our couple Juliet and Lord Thornton in the future, and we are getting to see their children.  Of course in order for their children to have a romance, the author has to introduce some new characters, and we get quite the emotional introduction of Willow at the beginning of the story.  

So finding Willow with her new family is a bit of a jump from the tragedy that took her parents, but the skip over time feels natural, as it is obvious that Willow would not want to dwell on the sadness when she now has such happiness.  Or at least mostly happy times.  Of course coming from a past of being a circus performer, and now living with a proper family that will expect her to become a proper lady, that is hard for a girl like Willow to fit in with.  Fortunately she has her friendship with Nick for the mischievous pranks she enjoys.  Then there is the youngest sister, Emilia, who she gets to enjoy learning with, when she's not being sent away to what is basically a finishing school.  And finally, there is Julian,  who is her friend that she shares her interest in mechanical things, helping him with designing new attractions for their amusement park.  But while she feels something more for him, Julian is much more about propriety than his brother Nick, and at times this may come between them.

Really, the way their relationship came along was done perfectly.  Just the right amount of angst and stubbornness, but also the fact that Julian realized at a certain point he would not be able to keep Willow from her wild ways.  And that made me love him even more.  

There was also the surprise history that made a connection while they were all on the boat, and I loved all the hints that were given.  They made my brain work overtime as I read, trying to figure out just how all the puzzle pieces of the story would fit together.  The way it all came together was perfect though.  I enjoyed the time spend on the ship on their way to America, but had actually hoped for a little more time spent in St. Louis a the World Fair.  But it still was great despite that.

One thing I like about these stories is that characters are able to get redemption, even those that may be the villain, or come off as the villain in the beginning.  The fact that the way not only the reader, but also the main characters themselves can come to see a different view of those "bad guys" is something that I feel realistic and makes a great story.

As I finished, I found myself wishing that with the update we got on Nick, that maybe the next story would be his, and so I was very pleased to find that is how it is listed on Goodreads.  I also loved the idea of a hummingbird tattoo, imagine all the iridescent colors you could have in that!

A fun way to get a good glimpse inside the story before you read, or maybe during, is to go check out the author's Pinterest board for this story HERE.  There are some pictures of the inspiration for Julian, that were great to have in my mind as I read. 

Add it to Goodreads 

Pre-Order Links:
Amazon
Barnes and Noble
 

Waiting on Wednesday: Untamed (Splintered #3.5) by A.G. Howard

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine where we spotlight upcoming releases that we're eagerly awaiting.  For the second week in a row I've chosen a book of novellas that go with a series I love.  I remember when I finished read the third book in the series, Ensnared, and I think I tweeted about it, and the author replied cryptically that there might be more to read.  And then she announced this, and I'm so excited!  Here is the blurb from Goodreads:

Alyssa Gardner went down the rabbit hole and took control of her destiny. She survived the battle for Wonderland and the battle for her heart. In this collection of three novellas, join Alyssa and her family as they look back at their favorite memories of Wonderland. In Six Impossible Things, Alyssa recalls the most precious moments of her human life with Jeb and her immortal life with Morpheus. Alyssa’s mother reminisces about her own time in Wonderland and how she gave up the crown to rescue the man who would become her husband in The Boy in the Web. And Morpheus delves into Jeb’s memories of the events of Splintered in The Moth in the Mirror, available in print for the first time.




Of course I've already read the last novella, but I'm excited to read the other two now!  Have you read this series?  Are you as excited as I am for more?  What book are you eagerly awaiting this week?

Review: Insanity by Cameron Jace

Thanks to Xpresso Tours for allowing me to read a part of this as part of a tour.  As I've mentioned many times on here I am really a fan of fairy tale or other classic story retellings.  Honestly though, Alice in Wonderland was never one that I had really read all the way through.  My interest in the story though changed once I read Splintered by AG Howard.  I love her series.  While this book doesn't quite live up to what I loved about that series, it still had a very unique new look at this classic story, as well as the author and his history and other stories.

The main character is a girl named Alice, and she is in an asylum.  She's in an asylum because supposedly she killed  a whole school bus full of her classmates and friends, and all of it because she said there were creatures from Wonderland who had actually been there and caused the bus to crash.  But Alice can't remember most of this.  In large part she can't remember because of all the shock therapy she's been subjected to while in the asylum.  There's another person in the asylum, Professor Caterpillar, who goes by Pillar, who also claims to be from Wonderland.  And he is a serial killer.  And doesn't pretend not to be.  He also has his ways of escaping the asylum with no one being the wiser until they discover he's gone.  What's even weirder about it is that he always returns, and lets them "lock" him up in his cell again.

Outside the asylum there have been murders of young girls.  All the girls have been left with huge "Cheshire Cat" grins on their faces.  Very unnatural grins.  Pillar believes that it is the work of the actual Cheshire Cat, and he believes that Alice is "the" Alice from the stories.  And he thinks she can help catch the cat before he gets whatever he is after. While Pillar doesn't necessarily care about saving the girls, Alice does, especially with the first girl she saves, Constance.  Together Alice will work with Pillar to try to catch the Cheshire Cat and end not only these murders, but also stop him from causing the end to all humankind.

What I liked was all the ways the mythology of the original story was related back to things from Lewis Carroll's life.  The history of Carroll's life and writings, all of that was fascinating, and I wonder how much was real, and how much was embellished.  It makes me want to learn even more about the author.  I also liked the character that was kind of thrown in as a love interest, Jack Diamond.  I hope to see more of him in the next story in the series, and I hope he does turn out to be a real love interest.  I will read on some day in this series I'm sure.

What I didn't like are just a few things.  I feel a lot of time was spent in the story just telling us all the history and other background things.  While they were important to the story, definitely, and yes they were interesting, sometimes it felt like there were too many "info dumps."  I also saw a few grammar and spelling errors, that I don't know if my copy I got was maybe pre-editing, or else hopefully those types of things were looked at closer in the 2nd and 3rd books in the series.  For the most part these errors didn't interfere with the story, and that is really all that matters.

If you are a fan of the Alice in Wonderland stories, or other stories/poems by Lewis Carroll, then I think you could really enjoy this.  Also fans of retellings like I am, or people who enjoy very unique takes on stories and themes, should probably pick this series up and give it a shot.

Giveaway: Romance is in the Air Blog Hop 2015

I think this is my 3rd or 4th year participating in this and it is one that I enjoy picking out my favorite romance books. I have set my own plan for February of reading romance type books in between the review books I have scheduled to read.  This is sponsored by Kathy at I Am a Reader.  This Hop features Young Adult and Clean Adult Romance only.  This year I'm picking 12 books that I think of romance when I think about them.  They are also books that I think are underappreciated and need some more love in some cases. All except one are YA, and the one that is not YA is a fun memoir about romance.  Whoever wins will choose one of the books, and this is open internationally as long as The Book Depository ships to your country.  Here are your choices of books:

 

(Forgive my funky spacing on the pictures, I had a lot of issues trying to get this post finished for some reason!)

So, now, fill out the rafflecopter, and then hop along to the other blogs in the linky below that for more chances at winning more great prizes!
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Review: Ensnared (Splintered #3) by A.G. Howard (Series Ender Challenge #1)

I got an ARC of this from trading through the YA Book Exchange with Jane from Much Ado About Books.  I didn't get around to reading it last weekend though, about a week after I got it.  But once I picked it up, it was all I could do to put it down in order to do things like sleep, work, drive, etc.  This review is going to be soooooo hard!  I loved it so much, but a lot of what I loved would be spoilers for other people, and I really don't want to ruin it for anyone.  So I'll do my best to be unspoilery.  Of course, if you haven't read the first two, I won't be able to help you with that, there will be things from those books.

We begin where the last one had left off.  Alyssa is on the train on her way to try to get the entrances to Wonderland opened back up.  Her dad has learned that all of the things that made her and her mother "crazy" are true.  And that at one time he was a part of all of it.  Alyssa's heart feels messed up thanks to when Red had been sharing her body.  Her mom is stuck in Wonderland, and Jeb and Morpheus are trapped in AnyElsewhere where they landed with Red.  There is an iron dome over AnyElsewhere that keeps magic from being used.  And Alyssa is so worried for Jeb, afraid that Morpheus either won't protect him, or will do something to keep Alyssa from ever getting to spend time with Jeb.  We learned in the last book that Alyssa and Morpheus's child will be what is needed to save Wonderland, to help with the imagination and dreams.  But Alyssa wants a life with Jeb as well.

Alyssa's father comes from a family that protects the two entrances of AnyElsewhere to keep things living there from getting out.  With her newly met Uncle, she and her father go in to try to save Jeb.  Only Jeb has changed.  Something about going into the world at the same time as Morpheus and Red has changed him, and he is cold to Alyssa.  He seems to be unable to forgive her.  While Morpheus has done his best to protect Jeb, Morpheus has lost his magic to Jeb it seems.  And along with that, he has told Jeb everything detail of the things that he and Alyssa have, making Jeb so unforgiving as he doesn't hear the whole truths, only what Morpheus chooses to tell him.

To save the world, they must capture Red, get through to Wonderland, and recreate all that has been destroyed.  But in the end everything will come with sacrifices. Some that may seem too great to survive, will in the end be just what is needed and even make their lives better in their own ways.

Can I just say, wow. The heartbreak, the sadness, the wonderful world, the beautiful imagery, the layer upon layer upon layer of story.  Things may turn out the way we want, but not in the way we think.  As I mentioned above, everyone has to give things up.  Even to a point, Morpheus.  One thing that I loved the most, I can't really even share, because I don't want to spoil that part about the ending for those of you who haven't read it yet!  And what is even more exciting is that the author posted today that there is a possibility of a follow up novella, here is the evidence from Twitter:

If I hadn't been at work on Wednesday when I saw this, there would have been some yelling and screaming going on!!  I need more of this world!  One thing that tells you how much I loved this, everyone knows that I never have time to re-read anything anymore.  But I want so much to go back and re-read all three of these books because I know I missed out on beautiful images from the land of Wonderland because I was in such a hurry to read and know what would happen.  The way the author writes is so wonderful, so beautiful, such an imaginative wonderful world.  Better even than the original stories that inspired her.