Once Upon a Time... discussion

I picked up this book from the library Friday and will start reading it at the end of this week.

Anyone else?

I just put it on hold but it may be a while. I'm finishing up Tiger Lily this weekend. :) I'm excited for this book! It looks awesome.

I have it - bought it last week, but don't know when I will be able to start reading it.

I've read this one two months ago, I think. So I won't read it again with you as I didn't quite like it, but I'll join the discussion :)

I just picked it up! Will start reading it soon

Ooh, sounds like we're going to have a great discussion! My husband and I will be celebrating our 17th anniversary tomorrow with a little trip:) so I'll probably start reading this when we get back! I'm intrigued.

Happy Anniversary, Heidi! Hope you have a wonderful trip.

Lisa wrote: "Happy Anniversary, Heidi! Hope you have a wonderful trip."

Thank you, Lisa. I'm looking forward to a little getaway!

Okay, so this is really goofy but i love the new author pic i just posted on goodreads cause my husband photobombed it, heehee. Makes me smile huge whenever I see it...he's pretty much my <3!

I own it and I'm hoping to start it very soon

Megan wrote: "I own it and I'm hoping to start it very soon"

Yay!!!

I just started red queen...really like it!!!#!

Diana wrote: "I just started red queen...really like it!!!#!"

Awesome. I'm going to start reading it tonight!

I read this book in 2 days..yea it was that good and I am already wanting the next one to come out. it flowed nicely and had a good plot full of intrigue.

Diana wrote: "I read this book in 2 days..yea it was that good and I am already wanting the next one to come out. it flowed nicely and had a good plot full of intrigue."

I'm about 25% through and finding it easy to read. Very action-filled plot. So far, I really love (view spoiler)[the nickname Mare has earned "lightening girl. I feel like that is throwing it into the category of new/original fairy tale. But someone tell me, is this a retelling? (hide spoiler)]

Aveyard is also a screenwriter and I think this shows as considerable strength in her pacing and plot.

I feel like it's not a retelling but there could be a fairy tale like this..i did feel a lil like it was cinderella at parts( humble beginnings then going to the palace,into royalty)..but i loved it overall..and there's more to come in the series.

Diana, yes, it is kind of an upside down Cinderella;) Okay... so... there is a lot of movement/action in the story and the visuals are strong. At this point (75%) in I'm finding minimal characterization and some issues with the plot. Even with all the sensational elements I'm finding I'm not really engaged with the story. So...I've gone on a review hunt, hehe. I do that when I'm not having quite the response I expected to while reading a book. Derivative seems to be an issue with some reviewers. In the beginning I thought of the Hunger Games and farther in, I keep thinking of The Bone Season with the way the society is structured and named. That being said, all stories borrow from others, i.e. I've recently gotten into Gothic Literature and it's history, and was fascinated that the first portrait to come to life (walk out of the frame!) was in the first gothic novel, The Castle of Otranto. If you remember J.K. Rowling used this to wonderful effect at Hogwart's. So...I'm struggling to define what makes a trope: a commonly recurring literary device, motif, cliche, feel fresh and integrated into a story vs. that word "derivative." I did sneak a peek at Rachmi's review and she makes an excellent point about fantasy vs. dystopia.

only read a bit and its okay. its really cheesy so far in my opinion.. (view spoiler)[ everyone has said that there is a big twist with betrayal in the end. i wish i wouldn't have known. because now i don't trust her friend or anyone for that matter.
(view spoiler)[ (hide spoiler)] (hide spoiler)]

Only gotten to chapter 4, but am enjoying the tale so far. I agree with Heidi in the fact that the society does have a "Hunger Games" feel.

I started this one yesterday and am also enjoying it. It's definitely an easy and fast read (not like Spindle's End, omg remember how that one slogged along?!?!) but while I am enjoying the story and the characters something is just not catching me. Maybe it's going TOO fast?! Something is keeping it in the "like it" and not "love it" category for me and I've not figured out what yet.

That said, now I'm going to go hurry up and get back to reading it before I have to cook dinner! :)

Aside the fantasy vs dystopia that Heidi mentioned. I also have many problems regarding of the story and the characters. I agree with Heidi about the derivative, to me the story felt like everything all at one. I know I cannot avoid the similarities as it's quite impossible to read a truly brand new story, but at least I want something new, even if it's just a teeny tiny thing, that makes it stand out among other stories, or I feel like it's a refreshing story. Unfortunately I didn't get it in Red Queen.

And the character, especially Mare. She supposed to be a kick-ass character, well she leads me think that she is a kick-ass heroine in early chapters, but I only got a reckless one. I couldn't believe when she (view spoiler)[gave her real name that easily to the guy who is the heir of the kingdom, sorry I forgot his name :D while she said that she is a good thief and a good liar (hide spoiler)] in chapter 5, or so, I think. It didn't make sense to me, hence I didn't buy her story anymore. It's just too bad since it's still in early chapter and I have to admit it interfered my mood to read the rest of the story which made me quite hard to engage with it.

Great discussion here!

Megan, cheesy in your opinion:) What are some of the fairy tale retellings and or fantasy, dystopian you've really enjoyed? Just respectfully curious.

Lisa, I've found the beginning to be strongest part so far. But I've set it aside to finish it this weekend when I have more reading time.

Diane, haha! Yes, I remember Spindle's End! Also Bitter Greens was kind of a tough read. As far as Red Queen goes, the mechanics of the read is: easy read in my opinion, too.

Rachmi, Again, you made a great observation about dystopian vs. fantasy. I honestly didn't have such a clearcut delineation until I read your review, so thank you! As far as what makes something feel derivative vs. fresh, I'm thinking maybe it's the characters? I've kind of been thinking about this, and I realize my engagement in the book waned after (view spoiler)[ Gisa basically disappeared from the narrative. She was the most interesting character, and I was really upset when her hand got smashed. (hide spoiler)]

Well Heidi, I liked The Beast Within by Serena Valentino (the beasts story from beauty and the beast), the 5th wave series ( I don't know if it's classified as dystopian), Percy Jackson (fantasy sorta)... I haven't read many since I'm just kind of getting into those genres

@Heidi, thank you! I often bring that dystopian vs fantasy talk to my friends whenever we read dystopian stories but they were all like, "shut up just read the book and enjoy it! It's fiction, it doesn't have to make sense" But as you can tell, I disagree with them :)

As for Red Queen, I'm with you about the character. I think (view spoiler)[that chapter, when Gisa's hand got smashed is in the same chapter when Mare gave her name to the prince? That was the down fall for me too. That one chapter made me didn't buy the story. And not to mention Mare's bestfriend? I forgot his name :D She "took a bullet" for him, but then I didn't get the feeling that they were that close. I don't know, they just couldn't convince me. (hide spoiler)]

Megan wrote: "Well Heidi, I liked The Beast Within by Serena Valentino (the beasts story from beauty and the beast), the 5th wave series ( I don't know if it's classified as dystopian), Percy Jackson (fantasy so..."

I really like Percy Jackson, for me it's the closest retelling of Greek mythology for children/YA I've read so far. I haven't read The Beast Within and 5th Wave, though. Will check them out later :)

Megan, I added the Beast Within to my TBR! I haven't read any Percy Jackson yet... hmmm.... I probably should, lol. Let's see some of my favorites have been: Little Big by John Crowley and Of Love and Other Demons by Gabriel Garcia Marquez... that's a fairy tale, lol. Also, I keep thinking The Story Sister's by Alice Hoffman. None of those are "traditional" fairy tales but I have to say, they are to me in essence fairy tales and I love the unique and refreshing sensibilities brought to the tale.

Rachmi, I enjoy books more when they make sense too!

So, I finished Red Queen. Although I liked the end better than the middle, my overall assessment didn't really change. It was an ok read for me.

So much to comment on! I think I'll make this first comment just on the other books that have been mentioned. I also haven't read The Beast Within, so will have to add that to my TBR list too. Anything Beauty and the Beast will always go on my list. Unfortunately, I seem to keep forgetting that I have that nice tool here on Goodreads! I absolutely LOVE the Percy Jones series and the secondary series that goes along with it. As Rachmi stated, the first set is the closest retelling of Greek mythology I have found, and the second set throws in the Roman side. I also really like his Egyptian series. Hmmm, someone would get the impression that I like Rick Riordan's writings. lol Honestly, he is one author that I generally buy his new book as soon as it is released. Never heard of The Story Sisters either, so going to have to check that one out.

OK now to comment on Red Queen. I finished it Saturday and I really enjoyed the book. As I can't remember how to do the spoilers and don't want to look it up right now (being lazy and have time constraints) some of my comments will be cryptic. I agree with Rachmi's spoiler about chapter 5 to some extant. However, considering the emotional upheaval, I can understand her actions. We all do things that we normally wouldn't do when we really aren't thinking straight. I actually enjoyed the fact that throughout the entire book, I was never sure who Mare should really trust. As for the character of Kilhorn, I didn't like him from the very first introduction of the character, and my opinion did not change throughout the book. I did love the surprise at the very end of the book, and it makes me look forward to future books that I am sure will be in this series.

Lisa, I'm glad to hear you enjoyed it! The surprise worked for me, what didn't work was (view spoiler)[ how it was never addressed as to why Elara didn't reach into Mare's mind while all these attacks were going on. In the end, it was explained, but that question kept me from enjoying the entire middle of the book! (hide spoiler)]

I wondered the same thing, Heidi, but didn't allow it to spoil my enjoyment of the overall tale. I think I really kind of suspected what was going on all along.

Lisa wrote: "I wondered the same thing, Heidi, but didn't allow it to spoil my enjoyment of the overall tale. I think I really kind of suspected what was going on all along."

I always love hearing how others respond to story. As an author who constantly studies craft I find that I'm both more generous and more critical in my readings! When an author finesses something that I know is really hard to do, it just makes me dizzy with joy! The lack of attention to a major plot detail, Elara's wicked ability to read minds, which could have been executed with a couple of sentences or small scene was just disappointing to me:( Although for me the bigger drawback was not being able to engage with the characters in spite of the dazzling plot and strong visuals. It wasn't a bad read, and I hold in mind it was a strong debut.

Diane wrote: "...but while I am enjoying the story and the characters something is just not catching me. Maybe it's going TOO fast?! Something is keeping it in the "like it" and not "love it" category for me and I've not figured out what yet."

that's what I wrote in my initial comment about this book and that's pretty much how I ended up. I whooshed right through it, so I enjoyed it enough to do that, but I never really felt engaged. Part of that, I think, is because it *did* feel derivative in a lot of places and I found myself thinking "wait, i've read this before...." even in instances where I couldn't exactly pinpoint what was familiar/repetitive about it. So I think some of that kept me from fully appreciating the characters as who they were; I kept having the feel of them being a conglomerate of characters I'd already read about.

I also completely agree with Rachmi about the (view spoiler)[giving her full name away and how that really really bothered me. Yes I understand she's a teen and people make mistake and blah blah blah but a mistake like that when I'm supposed to otherwise believe she's this whole street-smart rogue just didn't wash. (hide spoiler)].

So, that bothered me.

And then for some reason I never engaged with any of the characters really deeply. I could see where I was *supposed* to feel sympathy, feel liking, feel pity, whatever it was... I just never did. It's not that I didn't like them, because I did. It's more that (view spoiler)[when someone died or otherwise got injured or removed or had a bad thing happen to them, I felt more "eh, too bad for them" instead of "OMG NooooooooooOOOOOOOoooo!" like I have with other books (hide spoiler)].

But all that said I found it entertaining. I guess that's it. It was entertaining but not heart-grabbing.

Diane wrote: "But all that said I found it entertaining. I guess that's it. It was entertaining but not heart-grabbing."

Pretty much felt the same.

Ok! So I am just now chiming in because I've only just now begun to read it. I had to wait for ages for it to come in at the library! I am only in chapter one right now as I just started it a couple nights ago right before bed and haven't gotten a chance to get back to it yet. I fully intend to read lots more on my day off and this weekend when I have off. I will read the comments and chime in more probably closer to the end of the month. :)

Shanna wrote: "I will read the comments and chime in more probably closer to the end of the month. :)"

Look forward to hearing your thoughts whenever they come!