Cinder Paperback News!!

I have some exciting news that I just had to share... well, exciting for me, anyway.  I read and reviewed Marissa Meyer's CINDER back in February.  I LOVED it, absolutely loved it.

 

Here's an excerpt from my review:

All in all, this was book was so close to what my perfect reinvisioning of a fairytale could be it was sort of eerie. I wish that we knew a little more of Cinder's story at the end, but I am SO absolutely looking forward to reading more of her journey in the following books. I cannot wait for Scarlet to get here!!

And, while we're waiting for SCARLET to come out in February, the paperback version of CINDER is coming out on January 8th...just in time for me to get a copy with a giftcard...

BECAUSE...

 

It's so very exciting!! In addition to the publisher adding the bonus story, Glitches, a Q&A with the author, a reader's guide, *AND* a sneak peek of SCARLET...

 

They also added this...

 

A super cool blogger thank-you page!  My blog is actually mentioned right at the top of the foot arch on the right... :)  What a great thing to include all of us in.  

 

This is just a preview copy they sent to all of us. I can't wait to see it in real life. 

The Humming Room

The Humming Room

by Ellen Potter

 

Hiding is Roo Fanshaw's special skill. Living in a frighteningly unstable family, she often needs to disappear at a moment's notice. When her parents are murdered, it's her special hiding place under the trailer that saves her life.

As it turns out, Roo, much to her surprise, has a wealthy if eccentric uncle, who has agreed to take her into his home on Cough Rock Island. Once a tuberculosis sanitarium for children of the rich, the strange house is teeming with ghost stories and secrets. Roo doesn't believe in ghosts or fairy stories, but what are those eerie noises she keeps hearing? And who is that strange wild boy who lives on the river? People are lying to her, and Roo becomes determined to find the truth.

Despite the best efforts of her uncle's assistants, Roo discovers the house's hidden room--a garden with a tragic secret.

Inspired by The Secret Garden, this tale full of unusual characters and mysterious secrets is a story that only Ellen Potter could write. (Description from Amazon.com)

It's been a long time since I've read The Secret Garden, but as I was reading this book based on it I found things coming back to me.  I liked Roo as a character, finding her brusque, but understandably so. I thought that the new setting on an island at an old children's tuberculosis hospital was creepy and interesting.  It gave a really remote feeling that would have been hard to come by otherwise in a modern retelling and allowed for a very distinctive secretiveness surrounding Roo's new friend, "the river spirit."

The backstory and description of the garden held me captivated and I found myself wanting to see it.  When the family reunites over the garden's restoration, I felt touched.  Things wrapped up very quickly at the end, though, and I was left wanting just a little more. 

The book did leave me wanting to reread The Secret Garden. Since I probably won't have time (and because a co-worker keeps telling me that the movie is one of her favorites of ALL TIME), I checked out the movie version instead. This will allow me to revisit the original story and see if there was a little more at the end and what things may have been left out in this newer version. 

A quick and intriguing retelling of one of my favorite classic childhood tales.

Full disclosure: Borrowed from my library

Hidden

Hidden

by Sophie Jordan

Firelight, book three

 

A dangerous journey.
Shattered bonds.
Undying passion.

Jacinda was supposed to bond with Cassian, the "prince" of their pride. But she resisted her fate long before she fell in love with Will—a human and, worse, a hunter. When she ran away with Will, it ended in disaster, with Cassian's sister, Miram, captured. Weighed down by guilt, Jacinda knows she must rescue her to set things right. Yet to do so she will have to venture deep into the heart of enemy territory.

The only way Jacinda can reach Miram is by posing as a prisoner herself, though once she assumes that disguise, things quickly spiral out of her control. As she learns more about her captors, she realizes that even if Will and Cassian can carry out their part of the plan, there's no guarantee they'll all make it out alive. But what Jacinda never could have foreseen is that escaping would be only the beginning. . . . (description from Amazon.com)


Though I realistically knew the way that the author would end this book and I enjoyed the action and the introduction of some new dragons, I was still horribly disappointed with how the romance worked out.  It's so hard when you latch on to a character and desperately want the main character to end up with them and yet, you know that they won't...

Aside from my heartbreak, this was a very good ending to the series.  I still love how Jordan can make these books steamy and adventurous without getting too graphic! The draki are still amazingly cool and I loved how Jacinda and her sister both really figured out exactly where they needed to be in the end.

But...I'm still Team Cassian... and my heart just broke for him.

Full disclosure: Borrowed through interlibrary loan