Audiobook Review - Iron Hearted Violet by Kelly Barnhill (3/5 stars)

Reading Level: Middle Grade
Genre: Fantasy
Size: 432 pages
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Release Date: October 9, 2012
ISBN: 978-0316056731
Stand Alone or Series: Stand Alone
Source: Audibook from Audible.com
Rating: 3/5 stars


I listened to this on audiobook. It was an okay fairy tale about how being ugly on the outside doesn’t mean you are an ugly person. I had some issues with the story and the narration.

I listened to this on audiobook and wasn't a huge fan of the narrator. All the women's voices sounded like men with clogged up throats.

This was a fairy tale like fantasy about Violent, an ugly young princess, who gets drawn in by an evil banished God. As a result she almost destroys the kingdom in her search for beauty. It's also the story about a King obsessed with a Dragon.

It is interesting how a storyteller narrates the whole story. I enjoyed the fairy tale feel to it. I loved the inclusion of dragons. The story ends with an interesting twist to it that will leave readers surprised and intrigued.

It does bother me a bit though how Violet is so beautiful on the cover of the book, yet throughout it a point is made to constantly described her ugliness. In the end it is the beauty of her personality that makes people love her, but I didn't enjoy the emphasis put on looks and how her main feature was her ugliness.

I didn’t enjoy or engage with most of the characters in this book. The exception was Dimitri who is a stable boy who is trying to solve the mystery of why the things are going so horribly in the castle. He was an engaging and interesting character and also pretty much the only “good” character in the story.

Overall it was a decently done story and decently written, I just never really enjoyed the characters all that much. I did like the fairy tale feel to it and the twist at the end of the story. I didn’t enjoy the inconsistency between the illustration and the description of Violet in the book. I personally wouldn’t recommend this unless you are really into the ugly princess type of story.

This book goes towards the following reading challenges:
- 150+ Books Reading Challenge

Early Review - Princess of the Silver Woods (Twelve Dancing Princesses, Book 3) by Jessica Day George (4/5 stars)

Reading Level: Young Adult
Genre: Fantasy
Size: 336 pages
Publisher: Bloomsbury USA Childrens
Release Date: December 11, 2012
ISBN: 978-1599906461
Stand Alone or Series: 3rd book in the Twelve Dancing Princesses series (last book in series)
Source: ARC through NetGalley(dot)com
Rating: 4/5 stars

This is the third, and final, book in the Twelve Dancing Princesses series by George. It was a well done story and did a great job of wrapping up the series.

Petunia is excited when she receives an invitation to visit a childhood friend in Westfalen. On the way though she encounters the strange two-legged wolves who are bent on distributing the wealth of the nobles to their own people. These two legged wolves end up being more earnest and handsome than dangerous. When Petunia finally arrives at Westfalen she finds that a plot is afoot that involves her old enemy the King Under Stone. It will take Petunia along with all of her sisters and their husbands to put the curse of The King Under Stone to rest once and for all.

This story was blend of Red Riding Hood and Robin Hood, with some background reference to Rapunzel as well. I loved how these fairy tales were blended into Petunia’s story.

Petunia was an interesting character. She’s not as tough as Poppy; in fact she is kind of the baby of the family. But she is determined to make it on her own and is deadly with her pistol when the need arises.

Petunia’s prince was a bit more lackluster; he just came off as your typical prince-type to me. Sure he starts off as a bandit, but his personality was much like those of the other princes we have seen in this series.

There isn’t as much romance in this book as in the previous two. This book is more about the curse of the King Under Stone and combating it. For this all of Petunia’s sisters are back in the story.

Much of the story involves Petunia’s sisters and their husbands. It was fun to see a lot more of Rose and Galen. Additionally some of the older mystical characters from the first book are back in the story as well. George does an excellent job of including all of these characters but not making the story confusing.

There was more action in this book than in previous ones and it was well done. The plot involving the Kind Under Stone was nicely resolved.

Overall this was a very satisfying conclusion to this series. Petunia is an interesting character and definitely adds her own flavor to the story. There is less romance in this book, but more action. The story involves all of Petunia’s sisters and their husbands as well. This whole series is recommended to those who enjoy princess stories or fairy tale retellings.

This book goes towards the following reading challenges:
- 150+ Books Reading Challenge

Review - Princess of Glass (Twelve Dancing Princesses, Book 2) by Jessica Day George (4/5 stars)

Reading Level: Young Adult
Genre: Fantasy
Size: 272 pages
Publisher: Bloomsbury USA Childrens
Release Date: February 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-1599904780
Stand Alone or Series: 2nd book of Twelve Dancing Princesses series
Source: Bought for Kindle
Rating: 4/5 stars

This is the 2nd book in the Twelve Dancing Princesses by George. This book features Poppy and I actually liked it even better than Princess of the Midnight Ball. It is a wonderful and sweet fantasy read; it loosely retells the story of Cinderella. The third book in this series, Princess of the Silver Woods  is scheduled to be released in December of 2012.

Princess Poppy is unhappy and when an opportunity comes up to participate in a royal exchange program she is happy to do so. While in a neighboring kingdom Poppy begins to develop a tenuous relationship with a Prince. Things gets complicated when her maid Ella is tricked by the evil Corley and ends up vying for the Prince’s attention.

This was a sweet and simple read. If you enjoyed Princess of the Midnight Ball you will enjoy this book as well. I loved that this built on some of the elements in the first book.

I actually enjoyed this book even more than Princess of the Midnight Ball; it is a creative and engaging retelling of the Cinderella story. It involves a lot of the same elements but with a twist. There is an evil fairy godmother, molten glass slippers, and of course a handsome prince and a beautiful princess.

Poppy is the sister that features in this story, and she is a lot of fun. She absolutely abhors dancing, because of the events in the first book, but dances exceedingly well. She is more of card-shark than anything. She is also witty and smart, and very good at investigating the mystery surrounding Ella.

The Prince, whose name I am blanking on right now, was your typical wonderful Prince. He falls for Poppy hard and of course is respectful and supportive of her...at least when he’s not being bespelled by the Corley.

There are lots of descriptions of the beautiful clothing the characters wear. Many of the characters are matched up with each other, making for a large dash of romance in this book as well. So definitely a kind of girly read.

The Corely made for a delightfully evil villainess. Her obsession with all things glass was intriguing and I enjoyed her back story as well.

The story was an easy, engaging read. This is a clean read that’s suitable for all ages; although I would recommend middle grade and older.

Overall a solid fairy tale retelling. This isn’t a heavy read, it is mostly light and sweet. Poppy is a plucky heroine that is fun to read about and easy to engage with. There are some creative twists on the Cinderella fairy tale in here as well. If you love retold fairy tales and princess stories you will enjoy this book.

This book goes towards the following reading challenges:
- 150+ Books Reading Challenge
- TBR Pile Reading Challenge